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andrewmoocow · 2 years

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Little Homeworld Life chapter 11: From Russia with Hate, Part 2 (originally posted on October 24, 2022)

AN: And we're back, everyone! That ending surely took you in for a loop, huh? Mr. Bond may have faced his fair share of strange adversaries in both novels and cinema, but I'm definitely sure he never went up against the forces of magic before, though that would be real interesting. Anyways, when last we left our band of heroes, Tina has revealed her true colors as the descendant of Rasputin the Mad Monk, and she's out for revenge on the Crystal Gems for their crimes against her forefather! Can they save Little Homeworld and stop von Bowling and The Sickle from starting World War III?! Where does Black Rutile fit into all of this? Is she merely using P.H.A.N.T.O.M for her own nefarious deeds and will abandon them the first chance she gets? Find out now, comrades!

Synopsis: In their battle against The Sickle, the Crystal Gems fight a different kind of foe in the form of Rasputin's descendant.

Cast:

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Jennifer Paz as Lapis

Pierce Brosnan as Bane Jones

Estelle as Garnet

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Shelby Rabara as Peridot

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Vladimir Mashkov as The Sickle

Olga Kurlyenko as Rasputina

Christoph Waltz as Francis von Bowling

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Diedrich Bader as Lennie

Wayne Knight as Milton

Andrey Batt as Konstantin

Edward Furlong as Pavel

Seth Green as Leo

Susan Egan as Rose Quartz

Featuring John Cusack as Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich

Hank Azaria as Prince Felix Yusupov

And Kelsey Grammar as Vladimir Purishkevich

Though the people of Russia hated and feared the Crystal Gems for destroying their ancestral homeland, it wasn't always this way. During the early 20th century, when Rose Quartz still led them, the team maintained a civil working relationship with the family of Tsar Nicholas II before the Romanov family's murder on Red October and thus were acquainted with Grigori Rasputin. However, some were very wary of how Rasputin seemed to influence the Romanov royal family ever since the holy healer had cured Alexei of his hemophilia. To try and stop Rasputin should he turn out to be more than he seemed, the Crystal Gems were enlisted by the grand duke Dmitri Pavlovich and his noble cohorts to investigate the healer. Unfortunately for Pavlovich, not only did the Gems turn up with no evidence, but they were also suspicious of his true motives.

"I am sorry, Sir Pavlovich, but we were unable to find anything insidious about Mr. Rasputin." Rose said to the grand duke and his two associates, Prince Felix Yusupov and Vladimir Purishkevich, as everyone gathered at Moika Palace.

"You must be joking here." Dmitri groaned in disappointment. "You Crystal Gems are legendary warriors of Earth's ancient past, yet one man completely befuddles you?!"

"It's not just that, but I'm unsure if we believe your claims." Pearl agreed with Rose. "Rasputin is such a kind and genial man of the cloth; alcoholism and womanizing aside, how could he possibly be plotting against Tsar Nicholas?"

"That is what he wants you to think!" Prince Yusupov yelled angrily. "He probably seduced you with the cursed magic he gained from selling his soul to the powers of darkness that be! If you are under a spell now, just tell us!"

"Oh, I see what's going on!" Amethyst declared. "I bet you guys are just jealous that Razzy is getting more attention than all three of you combined, and you probably want him dead for it!"

"Since when were you under the impression that we were plotting against Grigori?" Purishkevhich asked while sitting down in a chair with his fingers steepled together. "We are only working together for Russia's best interests."

"Don't get too cocky, boys." Garnet coolly said to the trio of noblemen. "You may think you're doing what's best for the royal family, but this will prove disastrous in the long run."

"Oh, enough of this tomfoolery!" Prince Yusupov yelled in disgust. "Guards, escort these Gems off the premises at once!" Just then, the Yusupov family's royal guards stormed into Moika Palace to drag the Gems away from the prince and his allies, but they refused to back down and give up on Rasputin.

"Please, you have to listen to us!" Rose cried out to the noble trio. "You don't understand; there is more to Rasputin that you haven't learned yet!"

"Ugh, foreign women, am I right? They simply have no clue what I'm suffering from here." Felix scoffed at Rose's claims as the Gems were tossed out of the palace. With the Crystal Gems out of the picture, Felix had another plan. "My friends, it would seem that no matter what, those Gems retain their good image to the Tsar. Might I suggest we change that?"

And change that they did. Rasputin would die shortly after the Crystal Gems' confrontation with Prince Yusupov. Although reports differed on how the assassination was carried out, one rumor they spread like wildfire was that the Gems had sold out Rasputin before fleeing like cowards. The story would be passed down from Rasputin's daughter Maria to her children, to their children, and then to their children, one of whom would include Rasputina.

"So, is that what really happened to him?" Maria's great-great-granddaughter Rasputina said while being bounced on her father's knee.

"No one can truly know for sure, my child." Tina's father said with a gentle stroke of his daughter's hair. "Of course, your great-grandmother also once said that she was psychic, and Nixon's wife met her in a dream, so there's no telling if there is any truth to those claims."

"Where are those scary Gem ladies now, daddy?" Tina asked again.

"No one knows about that, either." Tina's father answered. "Some say they came from space, or maybe they're from another dimension entirely! But one thing is certain: they have betrayed our family and our people." With that last word, he gave his daughter a gentle pat on the head. "Now, up to bed, my dear. Rasputin would want you to have a happy and healthy mind when you wake up tomorrow."

"Okay." Rasputina obeyed as she picked up her stuffed bat Bartok and walked away. "Good night, daddy."

"Good night, my darling." The father said before Tina took off for her bedroom and slept. As her father commanded, Rasputin would've wanted Rasputina to wake up the following day with a happy and healthy mind. And happy and healthy that mind was, but it was also clouded with thoughts of revenge.

As Tina grew older, she began taking a scholarly interest in her family history to prepare for the day she would avenge her great-great-grandfather Grigori and search for ways to practice the mystic arts as he did. By the present day, Rasputina had molded herself into a true successor to Russia's mightiest monk, but one key ingredient was missing to complete her look. Rumor has it that Rasputin kept a mysterious spellbook now hidden somewhere in Russia, and she needed some help locating it. Luckily, she began corresponding with a certain criminal mastermind at that time to assist her.

"So you are telling me you are the descendant of the Mad Monk Rasputin?" The Sickle laughed in disbelief at Tina's claims as the two met one night under a bridge. "Next, you'll tell me he's still making comic books!"

"Laugh all you want, Nikolay, but allow me to demonstrate why you should be helping me." Rasputina scowled at The Sickle before taking her childhood toy Bartok out of her pockets. The stuffed bat had aged quite a bit over the years, but Tina did everything she could to keep it in one piece. With a wave of Tina's finger, a dark aura swallowed the toy, and it suddenly came to life, much to The Sickle's alarm. "I'd like to introduce you to my familiar, and oldest friend, Bartok. He's a little beat up, but very loyal all the same."

Unfortunately for Tina, The Sickle still didn't believe her. "THAT! IS! A! TOOOOOY!" he abruptly screamed. "I can see through your parlor tricks, little girl; he is not alive at all! He is mere child's plaything!"

"You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity." Rasputina rolled her eyes and literally zipped The Sickle's lips shut with a snap of her fingers. "Dosvidanya!" As Tina walked away with her sentient toy perched on her shoulder, The Sickle unzipped his lips and finally caved in.

"Okay, I give, I give!" the Russian crime boss yelled. "You may join me; just name your price, anything!"

"Oh, a price, you say?" Rasputina smirked as she came back to help The Sickle to his feet. "How does the complete and utter annihilation of a shared enemy sound to you?"

"Shared enemy, you say?" The Sickle raised an eyebrow with intrigue. "What kind do you mean?"

"Just a motley crew of strange women calling themselves Earth's defenders." Rasputina explained before conjuring up an image of the Crystal Gems that Nikolay immediately recognized.

"The Crystal Gems?" Nikolay gasped as his eyes widened at the sight of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. "How did you know?"

"I just did a little mind reading, is all." Rasputina replied. "I saw you have some history with these creatures back in your youth."

"Yes, and I never forgave them since." The Sickle grinned before the two of them shook hands. "If you bring me Crystal Gems, I shall find you spellbook. Da?"

"Da." Tina grinned as the alliance between the two was formed that fateful night.

"Mmm, you won't get away this time, Lord Gravy." Amethyst stirred in her sleep as she began hearing a faint but very familiar voice almost right next to her.

"I knew I chose the right man to assist me." Black Rutile chirped as she looked at the imprisoned Crystal Gems before her. "Thank you very much, Mr. Sidorov. Now, please give me everything I need for my portal."

"In due time, Madame Rutile." The Sickle responded as Amethyst slowly woke up. "Ah, it seems one of them is finally waking up. Let us greet them, shall we?"

"Oh, my head hurts." Amethyst said as she woke up in a prison cell and hung upside down by her ankles. "Last thing I remember was some magic lady taking us by surprise before knocking us all out after putting us in some excruciating pain. Oh, wait."

"Rise and shine, insipid Crystal Gems!" Black Rutile laughed triumphantly as she was flanked by Francis von Bowling, The Sickle, and Rasputina. "Surprised to see me, eh?"

"I want to say I am, but then again, figures you'd team up with someone with a beef with us again." Lapis snarked. "What did you want with these guys?"

"It is only a little trade." Francis explained. "She helps us capture you, and we give her what she needs for this portal she's building."

"Wait, a portal? To where?" Pearl wondered as everyone else woke up as well.

"I think I may have heard rumors about one back when I worked for Yellow Diamond." Peridot declared. "The Diamonds wanted to conquer other universes and commissioned Black Rutile, Bloodstone, and Serpentine to build a portal, but too many failed tests caused them to reject the idea."

"Well, it looks like you found out my big, evil plan this time." Black Rutile agreed with Peridot. "Since you can't seem to agree that I'm doing what's best for all Gemkind, I'm going to look for a dimension where you actually do and where evil finally wins!"

"Fat chance!" Peridot yelled from the cell. "We'll stop you!"

"Stop me?" Black Rutile smirked cruelly. "You'll have to speak with whoever I meet on the other side about that. But in the meantime, my dear friends here will show you around. Toodles!"

"Oh, you're gonna love what we have here, Rutty!" Leo said as he led Black Rutile away from the cell.

"So what will happen to us now?" Bane finally asked.

"Oh, not much." Rasputina declared. "We're just going to torture you all into confessing that you're terrorists on live television so we can be justified in destroying your friends!"

"And it shall be glorious doing to them what you did to me so long ago." The Sickle added. "You remember me, don't you, Gems?"

"If we did, we'd rather forget." Garnet defiantly replied.

"Oh, ye of little faith." The Sickle tutted and shook his head. "For someone with three eyes and the power to see the future, you are blind to what's in front of you. Before I became the most powerful criminal in Russia, I was known as Nikolay Sidorov!"

Back in 1950s Russia, when the Soviet Union reigned supreme, there lived a little boy named Nikolay Sidorov whose family and neighborhood in Kazan were frequently endangered by corrupted Gems that infested the Russian wilderness and often would menace nearby cities. Though the Crystal Gems were there to defend the Russians from their mutated brethren all the time, it was not without its casualties.

"Mother, father!" the then-four-year-old Nikolay yelled for his parents as he searched for his family through the rubble left behind by the Gems' latest battle with a corrupted Gem. "Sofia, Igor!" he called out for his older siblings too. "Anyone?!"

Luckily for Nikolay, he was able to find the building that his family called home. Unfortunately, he could only find what was left of it, as it now was a large pile of rubble with a few hands sticking out of it. "No! No, no, no, no!"

"Whoo, how much damage did you think that did?" Amethyst asked, causing Nikolay to hide behind a large piece of rebar as the Crystal Gems strolled throughout the destroyed neighborhood, fresh off saving Kazan from a corrupted Gem.

"I'm going to assume a lot." Rose replied before turning to some of the gathered townsfolk. "We sincerely apologize for any damage caused. We were only saving you all, even if it meant accidentally letting some things get destroyed." This enraged Nikolay like no other. His family had just died, and they were just regarded as mere things instead of formerly living human beings? No, he could simply not allow this to continue any longer. If the Gems were so ignorant of the lives they ruined, then someone should try and return the favor.

For many years afterward, Nikolay spent his years in the slums as a criminal. He started snatching purses to steal the money in them for himself, then selling drugs as a petty fence in the alleyways. Eventually, he finally evolved into a powerful enough crime lord to become a close associate of Francis von Bowling. By then, Nikolay Sidorov was dead, as his friends and family once knew him. Now, there was only The Sickle, the most powerful gang leader in all of Russia.

"So basically, corrupted Gems have been endangering lives in Russia, and you forgot about this one family, which caused him to go evil?" Bismuth asked as soon as The Sickle finished his story. "Geez, and they said I was a little messed up."

"I should've known there was at least someone we forgot." Garnet declared in heartbroken realization. "I just didn't consider it because too many others lost their lives to the corrupted Gems."

"Is this true?" Bane asked Pearl, who looked utterly crestfallen at how it was their fault their captor was the way he was.

"Yes, very true." Pearl proclaimed sadly. "Please, Nikolay, if you still want to be called that, Garnet, Amethyst, and I are so sorry for our carelessness. I know it's been ages since that day, but Steven has taught us that it's never too late to be given a second chance."

"I am sorry Pearl, but Nikolay died ages ago. I am simply too far gone to be helped." The Sickle calmly answered with his back to his prisoners. "Besides, turning over a new leaf would take all the fun out of being one of the most powerful criminal masterminds in the world."

"But in the meantime, let the karma begin." Francis proclaimed. "Lennie, Milton, bring Bane and his companions to my quarters! As for the rest of them, do your thing, Rasputina."

"With pleasure." Tina agreed evilly as Bane, Lapis, and Amethyst were dragged away by Lennie and Milton as some video cameras began rolling. "Greetings, my fellow Russians. I am Rasputina, great-granddaughter of the Mad Monk Grigori Rasputin, here to deliver a message on behalf of the loathsome Crystal Gems."

"You clods won't get away with this!" Peridot yelled as she struggled to break free.

"Quiet, you!" Tina yelled at Peridot before turning back to the camera. "Now, you may believe that I am telling the most outlandish of tall tales regarding my heritage, and you'd be justified. In fact, that's what my associate believed when we first encountered each other."

"It is true." The Sickle agreed while looking into the cameras focused on him.

"Anyways, I am here to finally bring the Crystal Gems to justice as their judge, jury, and executioner." Tina announced. "Once I have tortured them enough, they shall confess to their terrorism wrought upon our people, and we shall react by wiping the rest of their kind off the face of the Earth with these nuclear missiles!"

"But wait, aren't Gems invulnerable?" Konstantin asked off-screen, only to be greeted by a blast of dark magic to the face.

"Now, without further ado, let the torture commence!" Rasputina announced before she read another incantation from her grimoire. "Higitus figitus bibbidi bobbidi boo!" With another wave of her hand, Garnet, Pearl, Peridot, and Bismuth were put through more agonizing pain, just like when she first revealed herself. "If only your friends could see you now!"

Meanwhile, Bane, Lapis, and Amethyst were forced into Francis von Bowling's quarters by Lennie and Milton, where their archnemesis was awaiting them patiently. "Ah, Bane Jones." Francis sneered as he entered the room. "If only you kept away, then maybe all of this would've been water under the bridge, but alas. I figured you'd try to interfere with my plans."

"We won't let you or The Sickle nuke Little Homeworld!" Lapis yelled. "Gems are far stronger than that!"

"You see, that's the thing, we'll destroy everything around them and let the general public sort them out." Von Bowling responded. "You could've been given the world, but you choose to defend it instead. Why is that?"

"Sometimes, the world is not enough." Bane declared defiantly. "Family motto, just FYI."

"We chose to keep the Earth safe because Rose Quartz valued organic life so much." Amethyst said.

"If you valued us men so much, then why did you act so ambivalent towards the lives of one family?" Francis inquired coldly. "Seems awfully hypocritical, don't you think?"

"For crying out loud, it was an honest mistake!" Amethyst cried. "Seriously, we've had enough Gems dragging her name through the mud, and now humans who barely know a thing about her are getting in on it too?!"

"Out of all you three, I think I found you the most obnoxious." Francis declared to Amethyst. "But thankfully, that will no longer be a problem." He then turned to his two lackeys. "Gentlemen?"

"Oh, you guys are gonna love this!" Lennie snickered as he rubbed his ratlike hands together and pulled off a tarp revealing a pair of medieval torture devices, a garrote, and a rack, both modified with Gem technology and reserved for his foes. "Dug these out of some old ruins in England years ago, and we've been using them ever since! Hook them up, Milton!"

"Ooh, you're gonna have so much fun!" Milton said as Bane was forcibly sat down at the garrote while the Gems were hooked up to the rack. "Can I do the chair thingy, can I boss?"

"Yes, you can do the "chair thingy," Milton." Von Bowling chuckled as his massive minion began turning the wheel on the back of the garrote, slowly beginning to crush Bane's neck bones. "And as for you, Lennie, start turning the rack."

"With pleasure!" Lennie laughed evilly as he slowly began pulling Lapis and Amethyst both ways on the rack, eagerly awaiting their oncoming demise. "This is for what you did to us in Los Diego!"

"Do they honestly think they can torture us like this?" Lapis gave Amethyst a wry smirk while forming some vines made of water to help free herself.

"I got a better idea." Amethyst replied while shapeshifting into a mouse and leaping onto Lennie's head before she began pulling at his hair, thus manipulating von Bowling's henchman like a puppet.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Lennie yelled as he struggled to free himself from the mouse's grasp, only to be puppeteered to shove Milton away from the garrote and save Bane from a gruesome death. "Someone stop this filthy rat!"

"That's far enough, Amethyst!" Francis yelled as he pulled a gun on the purple Gem, but Bane quickly smacked it out of the mastermind's hands. "Someone, stop them!"

"We'd love to stay and chat, but we got a world to save." Bane declared as he and his Gem sidekicks raced to save Garnet, Pearl, Bismuth, and Peridot while the alarms began sounding.

"PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED, I REPEAT, PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED!" the intercoms bellowed throughout the facility while Black Rutile was making a deal with Pavel and Leo. "REMAIN CALM. THE SITUATION WILL BE PROMPTLY DEALT WITH!"

"Well, it seems that our friends have made their grand escape." Black Rutile proclaimed. "No need to worry though, I already got everything I need here, now to leave the rest to you."

"But how, girlie?" Pavel asked the Rutile. "You barely did anything!"

"Anything that you saw." Black Rutile responded. "In case you didn't know, I helped build the nuclear missiles that should be launching right about now. I was going to wait until the Gems confessed after enough agonizing torture, but it seems we have no time to waste now." She then pulled out a remote and pressed a big red button on it, ordering the missiles to start launching.

"Blast, 00014 escaped already?!" The Sickle cursed as he and Konstantin watched Bane, Lapis and Amethyst escape through the security cameras installed around the headquarters. "Forget torturing our prisoners into confessing; let us launch the missiles now and blame them for it!"

"Oh, already?" Rasputina complained as the Gems were about to reach their breaking point. "But I'm having so much fun!"

"All right, Lapis!" Peridot cheered as she yelled in agony. "I knew she could do it!"

"Wait, did she just say missiles?" Pearl asked as the four Gems discovered three large missiles emerging from behind them.

"That is right, fools!" The Sickle declared proudly. "You forced me to watch as my home was reduced to a giant pile of nothing! Now let's see how you like it happening to you!" As the crime lord laughed evilly, a sizeable holographic screen appeared and started depicting the distance between his lair and Little Homeworld. Just then, however, he was suddenly punched out of the way by a giant fist made of water as Lapis raced to save the other Gems while Bane tangled with Rasputina, and Amethyst tried her best to stop the missile launch.

"Come on, how do any of these buttons work?!" Amethyst cried as she started mashing at the console, which somehow caused a pop-up to appear. "To halt missile launch, press any key." She read. "Well, where the heck's the any key?!"

"You can do that later, Amethyst; we must stop him!" Garnet cried as the Gems were freed from Rasputina's torment through her being distracted by fighting Bane.

"You're a traitor to your species, 00014!" Rasputina proclaimed. "You have sold us all out to these infernal mineral maidens, and you will pay for it!"

"And I will not allow such hateful rhetoric towards my friends!" Bane replied before he grabbed Tina's grimoire and tossed it away from her before knocking her out cold with a single punch. "Guess that old black magic couldn't save you this time."

"Hey, Bane, over there!" Bismuth yelled while pointing at The Sickle climbing onto one of the missiles as they began takeoff. "What do we do now?"

"Easy. I can just use my water powers to keep them from flying." Lapis suggested plainly, but Bane had other ideas.

"No Gems, I think this shall be mine to take." Bane declared calmly. "I don't care if it means I perish in the process, just as long as my friends are safe from harm."

"B-Bane, are you serious?" Lapis stuttered as the secret agent made his decision to sacrifice himself for the greater good, but Bane immediately calmed her down with a gentle stroke of her hair.

"It's a shame it had to come to this, but I'm only a man." Bane replied. "You Gems seem to have all the time in the world, and then some. Be well, my friends."

"You are doing a truly noble deed, Mr. Jones." Garnet saluted the spy. "We'd love to make you an honorary Crystal Gem if we could."

"I'd be much obliged." Bane replied to Garnet. "But save the knighting for later." He then turned around and raced to the missile The Sickle was clinging onto as it took off, leaving the Gems behind at the villain's secret base.

"Come on, where is it?" Bane muttered as he tried burning through the missile's exterior with the laser on his watch. "The controls must be here somewhere!"

"Going somewhere, Mr. Jones?" Nikolay asked the agent while looming behind him. "I'm afraid you might be too late to stop this missile, but if you'd like, I'd be happy to beat the living daylights out of you."

"No thank you, Mr. Sidorov." Bane replied coolly. "I think I'll die another day." He then presented the razor-rimmed derby hat given to him by G and tossed it straight at The Sickle's neck with the intent to either slice open his neck or even decapitate him, but instead, the hat bounced off of him before returning to Jones' hands. Jones then threw the hat again, this time aiming for Nikolay's arms. Again, no use.

"Hmph, hats off to you, Mr. Jones." The Sickle smirked before he grabbed the hat in mid-air and tossed it back at Jones, managing to leave a scar on his cheek. "If you are done throwing your wonderful toys at me, then bring it on!"

"With pleasure." Bane scowled as he put up his dukes and engaged in a brutal, no-holds-barred fistfight with The Sickle as the missiles soared through the sky. The two of them seemed to be evenly matched, with Bane's years of spy training up against Nikolay's life on the streets of Kazan and experience in the criminal underworld of Russia. However, every time he got a chance to take a breather, Bane continued searching for a way to disarm the missiles and save Little Homeworld.

"Come on, come on!" Bane yelled as he once again tried cutting through the missile to find its source after briefly knocking The Sickle off his feet. Luckily, he was able to find some wires beneath that he was quickly able to cut, allowing him complete control of the missile he was on. "I knew you'd pull through, G."

"You fool, what have you done?!" The Sickle roared angrily. "You could've been a hero to your species, but instead you betray humankind for those Gems! Why, why do you do this?!"

"Because it's my God-given duty to defend the world!" Bane replied sternly. "And the Gems happen to live on that world too!" With his presumed final act of heroism, Bane's watch immediately took control of the missile. It began steering it off its course, flying it straight at the other two rockets so The Sickle could finally be defeated once and for all, with Bane dragging the crime lord with him kicking and screaming to the great beyond. "Goodbye, my friends."

"NYEEEEEET!" The Sickle screamed in horror as all three missiles collided with each other, causing a fiery explosion that seemingly killed the two men and ending The Sickle's menace once and for all, but at a great cost. However, the shape of a flying car soared away from the explosion immediately afterward.

"NOOOOO!" Amethyst screamed in horror as the Crystal Gems watched Bane Jones seemingly die, sacrificing himself to save them all. "You had so much to live for! You can't just die like that!"

"Just calm down, Amethyst. He did the right thing regardless." Lapis said mournfully as she and Peridot wrapped Amethyst in a comforting hug, unaware that a certain someone had just landed.

"Now, who did the right thing, might I ask?" Bane smirked playfully as he stepped out of his Tormenta, to the Gems' delight at his survival. "Probably not The Sickle. He just had too much of an explosive temper."

"Holy cow, you're alive!" Bismuth cheered. "But how?"

"Rumbakini Tormenta, of course." Bane said while patting his car like a loyal pet. "Had to call it up in case something awful happened."

"Well, we're all glad you made it." Amethyst wiped some tears off her face before hugging the agent's legs. "Come here, big guy!"

"Still, it's a darn shame that The Sickle died before he could try to make amends with us." Pearl said, mourning how they didn't get a chance to change the Russian mastermind and perhaps save him from death. "But then again, I guess that's life. Sometimes you can't always get what you want."

"HOLD EVERYTHING, YOU FOOLS!" a disheveled Francis von Bowling yelled as he stood alongside Rasputina, Lennie, Milton, Konstantin, Pavel, and Leo, all yearning for revenge. "You may think you won after offing The Sickle, but you still forgot about us! Rasputina, ready your spells!"

"With pleasure!" Rasputina agreed before cracking open the grimoire and preparing one final spell. "With this spell declared, let these animals be snared!"

"Oh no you don't!" Bane declared and pulled out the derby hat one last time. This time, however, he successfully managed to get a hit and turn the spell against Rasputina and Francis before transforming them into an owl and a frog. "Someone call animal control. We got a wild pair on the loose."

"Oh man, oh geez!" Lennie yelled while holding the owl that was once his boss in his hands. "Milton, we gotta get the hell outta here! Grab the book and find a spell to save us!"

"But I don't know any magics." Milton replied with a shrug just as the Russian police stormed The Sickle's base and had both groups of henchmen arrested along with their transformed superiors.

"Looks like we're going to prison again, boys." Konstantin glumly proclaimed while the officers slapped handcuffs on the trio of assassins.

"I can't go back to jail; I can't handle any more abuse!" Pavel screamed in terror like a little girl.

"Oh, put a cork in it!" Leo yelled angrily while the head of the Russian Police stepped forward to meet the Gems.

"The Crystal Gems, am I correct?" the head officer said. "Are you the ones that stopped The Sickle?"

"Well, it was really Bane Jones who did it, but we helped. But why do you ask?" Lapis answered.

"I am asking because we wish to honor you after learning what you did." The officer replied. "Let bygones be bygones so we can start fresh!"

"Really, after all the prejudice you heaped onto us, now you want to say sorry?" Bismuth asked. "Listen here, buddy, we appreciate your sincerity, but it's gonna take a long while for everything to be forgotten about."

"We understand, miss." The officer said. "But please understand that not all Russians are against you. We just didn't speak up until now. Anyways, please come to Saint Petersburg with us so we can honor your deeds."

"Well, if you say so." Lapis agreed reluctantly.

"Whoo, party time!" Amethyst celebrated as the group left The Sickle's headquarters behind. However, none of them had a clue that Rasputina's grimoire was left behind in the building, with no one even considering bringing it along as evidence.

A few hours later, as the Crystal Gems were hailed as heroes for stopping World War III and Bane Jones was honored for his heroics, the spellbook was never moved from where it landed on the floor. Suddenly, however, the silhouette of Black Rutile approached the book, and she picked it up to read some of its pages herself.

"Hm, let's see what I can use from this book." Black Rutile purred to herself as she skimmed through the book. "Eye of Agamotto? No. Jewel of Four Souls? No. The Phoenix Gate? Maybe. Planispheric Disk? What good could that do?" Despite all the powerful artifacts that could aid in Black Rutile's cause, there was one in particular that she was very interested in. "Hm, what could this be?"

Black Rutile discovered a page detailing a mysterious amulet that the book dubbed the Seer to the Void, a jet-black stone wrapped in gold that was able to access planes of existence beyond mortal comprehension. "Planes of existence, huh?" With an evil smirk, Black Rutile closed the book and stored it inside her gem before she pulled out a communicator. "Black Rutile to Aquamarine, come in Aquamarine. Pardon my absence; I've just been away for a while. And what I've got for when I come home is sure to excite."

Say goodbye to this two-parter, and hello to our biggest hint towards the future of Little Homeworld Life! That's right, the mysterious jewel that Black Rutile has discovered will be the key to her traveling of other dimensions, but where it is shall remain a mystery for now. But now that the Crystal Gems know what she has planned, how long will it be before they decide to react? Probably a while because next up, we got a pair of holiday specials to end the season. First off, we have a Treehouse of Horror-style Halloween special right on the day of Halloween itself, and as our season finale, we got a big Christmas special too! See you all then!

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #little homeworld life #lapis lazuli #amethyst #garnet #pearl #peridot #bismuth #bane jones #francis von bowling #the sickle #rasputina #black rutile

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