Scene #3006: Snowblind Mountain

Owner	Pose
Garnet	A number of weeks ago... They'd been there on the beach, all of them, the Gem Warship begining to float again as it recovered from its impact. Then Lapis and Jasper had fused disappearing under the waves within moments. "Yikes...they are really bad for each other." Garnet had said as she adjusted her visor, then she'd looked over to where Steven was standing as she heard the ringtone from his phone but he wasn't there. She looked to Amethyst who was also gone suddenly then she looked for Pearl but the slender Gem was gone as well. The oddest feeling of vertigo as the water seemed to float upwards in bubbles, before her senses went black as all the stars seemed to shift and zoom around the sky in an almost hypnotic pattern... At first darkness ruled, then slowly stars seemed to tinkle into being, followed slowly by the tell tale glow of a planet. In the glow of the distant world a monolithic rectangular like structure could be seen rotating along its axis, tumbling end over end. Getting closer as it spun, the squared hair becomes more apparent and instead of a monolith it becomes a noticibly humanoid figure with its arms crossed as though it were waiting for something. The weeks out in the void had been a little rough on Garnet, she'd been waiting and waiting for the right moment she knew would come eventually. But that hadn't dulled the worry or frustration of being stuck out here had given her so as things started to occur as she hoped they would a small smile spread across her face. In the distance a comet began to pass by, chuncks of ice breaking off from it as it does what comets do. One particularly large piece suddenly whipped out of the tail, Garnet changed her stance spun her arm once and launched it like some sort of stetchy toy grabbing onto the fragment before reeling herself in! Now having momentum and something to manuver off of, the Crystal Gem springs off the ice chunk and hurtles down towards the oddly convexing planet's surface below. It'd be at this moment anyone tracking Gem signatures would get the blaring alert that yet another star fall event was occuring. Meanwhile Garent rockets down through the atmosphere picking up a lot of heat and moisture as she burns across the sky. She then summons her gauntlets and stretches both fists forward and in a pose like a certain super hero uses when flying slams into the earth of the Great Mountains with a tremdous crash setting off a small avalanche that buries her and her crater site for the moment in snowy debris.
Sunstone	BWEEEEEE-OOP Sunstone's vehicle pulls over as it picks up an alert. She holds the device up into the sky, this area having had a very faint signature she couldn't pinpoint until now. And then-- It happens. The loud crash and the snowfall in the distance makes Sunstone suddenly glad she uses a futuristic hovercar to get around. She throws the little sensor device into the passenger seat, and then revs the whirring engine to take off in the direction of all of the chaos. She wonders what kind of Gem it could be, to herself. Her brows lift and her pleasant smile shines on her face, the image of someone that you would expect to be driving to a pleasant vacation destination and not to the site of a potential horribly lethal rampaging magical monster. The white and orange vehicle thrums as it climbs a hill and hovers over the snow banks, struggling to reach the spot where the star fall event occurred. "Where...?" she wonders, grabbing the scanner again and hopping out of the side of her hover car-- Crunch. She ends up waist-deep in snow, her arms awkwardly lifted. "Haha. Oops..." She looks around at the deep snow and scrunches her face in uncertainty. "Couldn't it have landed on a beach again? Hmmmm~ I guess I will have to make due..." And she starts walking, equally awkwardly, to try to locate the source of the event, following the keening beeps and whines of her handheld scanner like it were a metal detector.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis is floating across the mountains in a spherical pod. The green pod is easily identifiable as one of Peridot's. In the same pod as her is Jasper. While Jasper is completely capable of flying the craft by herself, Lapis is the one with Elvisbot and by extension the one capable of seeking out starfall signatures. While Elvisbot is perched on her shoulder, she navigates to the mountain and slowly lowers the pod. That is, before Garnet strikes the earth and launches the snow into an avalanche. In a gasp of surprise, Lapis reacts violently and ascends the pod with enough force to nearly throw herself from the control tube. "It worked!" She shouts, "Did you see that, Jasper?"
Jasper	Jasper lets her boots hit the ground with far less 'enthusiasm'. "Yeah," she drawls out, "I saw it." She kicks at a snow bank, practically blasting it into pieces with the movement. "But now I don't see much of anything." The large Gem gestures at the general area with a vague sweep of her arms, looking at Lapis and Elvisbot. "So, go on, find the source of the signal! I'm not here to freeze!"
Garnet	Garnet had done an amazing job of not damaging herself as she slammed into the mountain as though she'd somehow found the softest part of the mountain as she fell. Her gautlets had absorbed the majority of her impact but her visor had cracked slightly from the thunderous blast of air that hit her as she was wedged into the mountain face's rock and then became buried under the snow. The Crystal Gem then took awhile to gather her wits. The distant muffled sound of a voice speaking slowly rejoining reality and with dazed fantasy as her body strains to move. It quickly let's her know she might've over done it a little with a few sharp pains here and there as she begins the process of digging herself free. Digging upwards is relatively slow going, the snow and rocks keep sliding back into the spots she has dug out. The debris had made the sound of the pod hard to hear but there was clearly some more voices all of the sudden. Thus Garnet stops her digging for a moment and focuses on the possiblities before she flexes her legs and gives a strong push against the more solid rock below her. The snow on the surface shifts and vibrates, is it a secondary avalanche? Then a the surface of the snow shatters as a large ice laden stone rips free and tumbles towards Lapis, Jasper, and their Pod... Due to her different angle Sunstone might see brief flash of a brownish purple hand sink back into the snow from where the rock freed itself.
Sunstone	Sunstone overheard the other two gems over there, tracking this Gem just as she was. She crouches in the snow up to her eyeballs, giving a wide-eyed look. The sound of Jasper's voice in the distance is not comforting for a Gem not geared toward combat with high-powered types. She deactivated her hover vehicle and tried to blend into the environment in deep layer of snow she had landed in. It would be very hard to distinguish her from the landscape... especially when distracted by sudden boulder tosses. The sight of it gets Sunstone's head turning. The hand is noticed. Another /sane/ Gem? And is she... BWOOP BWOOP The brightly-colored Gem fumbles with the scanner and drops it in the snow, and it just starts going off like a fire alarm. BWEEEE BWEEEE BWEEEE. She shoves her hands in the snow and desperately tries to find the device and shut off its busted theft alert function. "Oh dear, oh dear," she breathes out, as if talking more quietly would make up for the absurd racket coming from her direction, over a hill and out of sight. She just shoots her blaster into the snow and breaks the dang thing, and then she thinks fast and leaps somewhere else, diving into the snow and using a shield of light and some shuffling to entrench herself and hide beneath the deeper snow layer.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis looks at Jasper, "You'll just have to follow me. I think it's up here." Moving forward, she begins to move up the incline towards the impact site. She only gets a bit before the boulder is launched out of the snow. Lapis' eyes widen, "Watch out!" And her wings immediately unfurl with white energy. Bending down, she leaps into the air and flaps once as she and Elvisbot ascend rapidly. Jasper can fend for herself. She could probably just punch the boulder. Ascending further, she takes survey of the environment. Sunstone is leaping into snow. Cover is hardly any use at this altitude. And.. a figure is in the snow crater. Elvisbot beeps at her a couple times and she nods, as if understanding. She doesn't. But Elvisbot started beeping some time ago randomly. Flying down, she lands near the edge of the crater. Her feet sink back into the snow, and she starts to slowly advance towards the edge of the crater.
Jasper	Lapis is right. Jasper /could/ just punch the boulder - and she does just punch the icy shard, shattering it into a thousand pieces. "Hrrrghh..." Jasper growls. "Stupid planet." She trudges along, following Lapis, her fists clenched and a scowl on her face. She stands atop the edge of the crater, her bulky silohuitte trailing a long shadow into the crater. She looks to Lapis as she approaches and then turns her golden eyes to look down into the crater. "So. We've found a crater. Fantastic work. Have Peridot take another look at this robonoid."
Garnet	Beneath the snow, Garnet can't really determine what's going on above her but she can feel the shifting of the snow from Sunstone's location and the noise of the alarm going off before it is blasted into silence. She used the stone as a distraction while she burrows across to a more shallow side of the crater. Her cover of debris explodes away as she leaps up through it rather close to were Jasper is standing, as she arcs through the the air backwards each of her hands wielding a snowball she hurls at the Orange Gem and Lapis aiming for their faces. "Working for Homeworld again?" While her visor remains locked on Jasper as she lands, it's highly likely from the tone and the odd feeling Lapis might have that she's being looked at that Garnet is speaking to the blue Gem. Her landing puts her between the Homeworld Gems and their pod, Garnet makes sure the Homeworld Gems have no destabilizers ready while they are hopefully dealing with the snowballs. If neither of them have a destabilizer this is going to make things much easier for the Crystal Gem leader.
Sunstone	Sunstone heard Garnet's voice from where she had hidden herself. The voice of another Gem. And someone who was against Homeworld, by the sound of it. So that could mean it's one of these Crystal Gem rebels, and that instantly makes the very shiny gem super excited. But she tries not to let it get out of hand, and she patiently waits and listens for combat activity to, potentially, pick up so that she can help this rebel gem out. After all, they're practically on the same side! Sunstone isn't about to leap out into the fray until just the right moment. She's not a combat gem and the thought of ending up in prolonged conflict is not an appealing one.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis looks curiously at the hole as she approaches the edge. Only to be greeted by a snowball to face. She stumbles backwards as she swats at the air, then wipes the snow off of her face with a sneer. Her wings extend out almost as if in attack position. There's no water nearby for her to manipulate to draw to her defense. Face clear of snow, she looks for her aggressor while hearing the question. Looking at Garnet, she shouts back, "You! What does it matter to you!?" Looking to Jasper, she watches to see what the orange gem will do.
Jasper	Jasper swipes at the incoming snowball, blasting it out of the air with the impact from her fist. "You," Jasper seethes, staring right back at Garnet. "No insipid songs this time? Even if you're a fusion," Jasper sneers, "You only got lucky that last time. There's no power generator around for you to use here." Jasper doesn't appear to have a destabiliser on hand. However, she still stalks towards Garnet, who is between the Homeworld Gems and their pod. Her footsteps are heavy in the snow and she appears to have no issue with walking through it all, stepping closer to Garnet step by step. "It was a mistake not shattering your halves when I had the chance!"
Peridot	She had lagged behind her two colleagues. Having been fed a few bad reads from her scanners. But eventually she caught up to the blue and orange gems. And like them, her jaw dropped when the sight of Garnet makes her appearance. Involuntarily, Peridot took a step backwards. "Whaaa-?" she gasped, moving behind Jasper. She remembered Garnet. She was stronger... Peridot squinted. Was she stronger than Jasper? There was so much she still didn't know about that day everything got ruined! She looked towards Lapis as she spits her own measure of defiance. That was reassuring at least. "Crystal gems?.. here!?" Her fingers curled into fist. "Of course." She continued sarcastically. "I'm going to have to report this to the confederacy." Her holopad formed as she began typing into it rapidly.
Garnet	Sliding down the snowy mountain face before she digs her heels in, Garnet shrugs, "Doesn't matter to me." She scoops up a bit more snow with her right hand, "Steven won't like it, though." Her tone completely matter of fact as she shapes her projectile. She tilts her head at Jasper, "Maybe next time." She pauses as her heel checks the snow behind her, it'd iced up slightly from the heat of impact. She grins at the assembled Homeworld Gems... "Are you so sure about that, Jasper?" She raises her empty hand and beckons the Orange Gem to 'come get her' making note of Peridot's sudden arrival. "Maybe you should fuse with one of them first." Is Garnet taunting Jasper? "Might be safer for you." Yep definitely provoking the fighter amongst the Homeworld's as she backs carefully onto the sheet of iced snow in front of the Pod.
Sunstone	Now's the time. With everyone focused on Garnet, Sunstone bursts out of the snow bank with a huge spray of snow and sparkles, leaping in a dynamic fashion and flipping in the air. She tries to land between Garnet and the others with a stunning grace, and immediately puts her hands up at her sides with fingers outspread, and just shouts a single word at them through a mad grin. "Surprise!!!" She emits an absurd amount of collected sunlight in their direction like a flash blast to try to temporarily interrupt their ability to see. Even Gems are susceptible to a sudden spike in light, with the possible exception of Sunstone herself! Everyone for miles would see the burst of light coming from the mountains like an explosion had gone off.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis lifts off into the air after Garnet. Jasper can trudge through the snow all she wants, but for a tiny gem like Lapis, moving through the snow is proving difficult. Garnet's counter taunt seems to give her some pause. If she were willing to make a risky attack against Garnet without water before, she certainly doesn't seem as keen now. Peridot's entrance also is of some interest to her, and she watches her superior join in on the action. When Sunstone hops out and does her HI THIS IS A BRIGHT LIGHT attack, Lapis shields her eyes and continues to glide through the air. She was closer to Garnet than the other homeworld gems, and is spared the blunt of the stun, but it's still a little disorienting from this altitude.
Jasper	"As far as I'm concerned, we're one-for-one, and I intend to make that /two/ for me!" Jasper roars, breaking into a charge, a golden glow flashing from her gem and summoning her helmet to her head. The snow churns around her feet, and even Sunstone's bright flash of light doesn't quell Jasper's rage - however, it might give Garnet a moment or two to redeploy and catch the larger Gem by surprise!
Peridot	Peridot was busily typing away. After hearing that taunt, she knew her escort was not likely to let something like that slide, which mean Peridot wouldn't be able to utilize her as a direct shield for much longer. "If THAT one is here and the Steven is here, that means the Pearl and the runt can't be that far behind." She grumbled out loud as she looked around. Well, it appeared as though Peridot completely neglected the other possible gem in this scenario. Sunstone had managed to fall off her radar, so when she suddenly appeared Peridot could only look directly at her. "You!" She spat, before the light of a thousand suns suddenly filled her vision with stinging heat. "My eyes!" She fell onto her back, covering her face with her forearms. "Augh!" Damn that Vega, hadn't he took care of this nuisance for her yet? Useless! Meanwhile, Peridot was also busy being useless, flailing on the ground as she tried to get back up while momentarily blinded. "Gaahh! Someone take that overblown night light out!"
Garnet	While she doesn't show it, Garnet was a bit suprised by the sudden appearance of another Gem. While she'd seen the posibility of it happening she'd not counted on it when choosing her course of action as she didn't know the Gem in question well enough to know what her odds of helping or not were. Changing to an alternate plan, Garnet lobs the snowball at Lapis. "Have a fast way down this mountain?" Garnet calls to Sunstone in the brief moment before Jasper is upon her, "If you do, it is time to go." Then as Jasper rushes her, Garnet takes full advantage of the warrior Gem's blindness summons her gauntlets and puts her hands to Jasper's chest before letting her legs give way, dropping to her knees and hopefully redirecting the force of Jasper's charge up and over her. If all goes well Jasper shaped missile into the region of the Pod that corresponds to its power core.
Sunstone	"Oh!" Sunstone looks over her shoulder with a smile unusual for someone in the middle of a battlefield where she may get poofed at any moment. "Right! This way!" She runs off in the direction of her hover vehicle, making a few quick and calculated hops. She manifests her Gem weapon from the shimmering gemstone on her solar plexus, a sort of firearm that blasts beams of bright light. She sweeps a sustained blast in Lapis' direction, but the purpose of it is to aim at her wings and try to clip one of them. Minimizing her ability to follow is the best idea. For some reason, she shouts, "Sorry!" back at Lapis. Huh.
Jasper	"I'll show you the fast way down the mountain - head first!" Jasper growls, blindly swinging high, acting on pure instinct and whatever passes for the Gem equivalent of adrenaline. And then Garnet has her in her grip and Jasper, despite the size difference, is hurled towards the pod - it collapses under the force of the throw and Jasper's weight, leaving a Jasper-sized dent. Electricity arcs from the damaged core, shocking Jasper and keeping her immobile! That trick again!
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis cries out as she's hit by another snowball, unable to really unavoid it while rubbing at her eyes. She wipes the snow off off her body just in time to get hit in the wings by the light blast. Her left wing instantly disintegrates into steam and she drops a few feet in a spiral before it reforms. Gracefully, she regains her control and glides down after Garnet. Sweeping down low to the ground, she scoops up some snow and balls it tightly while on approach. Pulling up at the last second, she throws the snowball back at Garnet's face while ascending back into the air.
Peridot	Rubbing at her eyes Peridot finally finds her way to her feet, her vision steadily coming back in a dull grey blur. Peridot hears the pod taking some damage and grumbles. Bringing up a damage report on her holopad. She squinted painfully, seeing the orange blur on the green blur of their ship. "Jasper! Off the ship!" She yelled.
Garnet	"You first!" Garnet says as she strains under the weight of Jasper's body and the force of her charge, before the other Gem goes sailing down the mountain. Two birds, one Gemstone...Garnet takes full advantage of any lingering blindness and bounds after Sunstone the moment Jasper is airborne. If it were just her and Jasper it'd be fine to settle things but with Lapis and Peridot here escape was the far better option. Leaping into the Hover vehicle in a pose not unlike Washington crossing the Delaware, it is at this point she is struck in the face by Lapis' big snowball ruining any diginity in her getaway pose at all. Raising a hand and pointing down the mountain without wiping off the snow, "Let's go." She calls in her normal deadpan.
Sunstone	Sunny jumps into the hover vehicle with a certain precision and grace and is already reactivating it when Garnet lands in the passenger seat! The 'paff' of snow is acknowledged and her smiling gaze is directed up vacantly and notes the presence of harmless frozen water. Sunstone doesn't laugh at the indignity, after having hopped in her seat. "Okay!" So... cheerful. Yet not about that snowball. She just finishes the start-up and motors down the hill and revs it so that she can speed away faster than the other Gems can pursue on foot. The shiny Gem grins toothily while she does this, expecting the escape to go off without a hitch. She probably shouldn't jinx herself.
Jasper	It takes Jasper a few moments to collect herself, and she begins wrenching herself out of the Jasper-shaped dent, snarling incoherently. "I'm working on that!" Jasper shouts at Peridot, landing on her feet. And then she turns left and right, glowering behind her helmet. "And where'd that miserable fusion go?!"
Peridot	Peridot narrowed her eyes as the numbers and figures on her holopad slowly came into view. Though she still struggled making out the exact visuals, she was able to intuitively use her digital interface even under stress. "Come on.." She hisses as she types. "Okay, it still works!" She adds brightly. "Let's give Lapis some teeth." She says in delightfully sinister tone, as her fingers danced over the screen. Soon, the pods lasers and propulsion jets began firing in all directions. The seemingly pointless and random display at first appeared to do nothing. It was neither a threat to Garnet, Sunstone or the Homeworlds. However, the purpose soon revealed itself. The icy terrain around them- what started out as useless frozen ice began under going a rather predictable process of converting itself from a solid to a... ...liquid. Her job done, her eyes squinted shut from the burn they received earlier. "Let them have it!" A vicious grin spread across her face as Peridot pointed... in the wrong direction.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Having ascended, Lapis gives chase to the hovercart. Water formed by Peridot's lasers immediately begins to take shape and animate, pulling up and after Lapis as she sails over the hovercar. It's almost as though she had an internal 'radar' for these things and new instantly when water became available for her use. The water coalesces and forms a floating pedestal under her with additional droplets coming up to help form it as snow is melted. As Lapis and her water pedestal close in, she extends a massive hand out from the pedestal to grab the back of the hovercar to drag it to a halt. 'Sorry' she mouths silently to Sunstone, looking to her for a second as her wings extend to give the pedestal even more stopping power.
Garnet	Finally taking a moment to wipe her face clear of the snow, Garnet turns to see if Lapis is chasing them via the air. Not seeing any immediate danger she slumps down into her seat while desummoning her gauntlets, "Garnet." She says without prompting from Sunstone. Was she answering a question before it was asked or had she merely answered before the question came up, either way she's introduced herself, "Thanks for the help." Before any further conversation can happen, there is jarring rattle as the pedestal of water rushes after them, Garnet sighs, "Should've known." Thankfully they're high up in the mountains the water is going to freeze back again soon enough but not soon enough if it gives Peridot and Jasper time to close in. Garnet stands back up and starts swinging at where the water construct is holding them hoping to disperse the water enough that it refreezes quicker!
Sunstone	"Sunstone," the bright Gem replies, not bothered at all by the terse nature of the introduction or the way it seemed to predict when she was going to ask who this one was. She laughs at the gratitude, her teeth mostly visible in this big goofy grin. A grin that feeds for a surprised look with a much smaller smile when her vehicle jerks to a halt. The vehicle sputters and roars beneath her and Garnet, and the scout Gem looks down at the struggling dials. She gets up out of her seat and takes up a bracing posture, aiming right at the water holding her vehicle down. She then releases several big cones of white light to try and vaporize the water that's holding her vehicle down. Fog crystallizes far faster, so it should help release her hover vehicle, which seems to be set to flee on auto-pilot.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis flaps her wings a couple times as she halts the hovercar. "You're not going ANYWHERE!" She shouts angrily at Garnet and Sunstone. She's rather intent on capturing them. They could actually find Steven before her. Though Sunstone, from what she's heard, isn't looking for Steven just yet. As Garnet steps up to wail at her water hand, the water just reforms instantly every time. They've been through this dance before. A couple tendrils rise out of the hand's wrist and start snaking to entangle Garnet. They'd just about reach her if it wasn't for the sudden burst of light that fries a substantial amount of Lapis' water. In counter-force, she flies back into the snow from her pedestal. Gritting her teeth she sits up, wiping some of the snow off of her body as that car zips away from her.
Jasper	Jasper shakes off the last of the energy surge from the pod's generator as she races towards Lapis. She thrusts a finger at the escaping hovercar and bellows at Lapis, 'helping' her to her feet by hefting her by the back of her dress to a standing position. "THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!"
Garnet	"Yes..." Garnet speaks as she throws punch after punch, "we..." yet more punches fly, "ARE!" Fed up with her lack of effect she sees the water snaking towards her throws back her fist and starts to concentrate she's going to need a massive fist to take ou...Sunstone fires a number of solar powered shots and dissipates a huge amount of the water and sends Lapis flying making any action on her part unnecessary. With that problem solved Garnet flops back into the passenger seat, "That girl has issues to work out." She says as she adjusts her visor. Hopefully the rest of the ride is a lot less eventful.
Sunstone	The vehicle motors away, and Sunstone catches a glimpse of Jasper lifting Lapis up forcefully in the distance, with her sharp eyes. The sight, for a moment wipes any smiles from Sunstone's face. She slowly squints... "More than we could ever know," she agrees, as she climbs into her seat and dematerializes her weapon, and shines her little smile again, checking the dials to make sure nothing is busted and finding the nearest warp gate to get both of them away from this place as soon as possible.