[calling aku for help is literally -- literally -- the last thing yellow diamond would ever want to do. she's fully prepared to spend a couple of thousand years, alone, working on her current project, but it gets to the point where she has to accept that she can't get any further without help.
for some reason, her giant yellow arm ship had appeared. a gift from the arehtei or maybe a taunt. she's not sure, but the thing is absolutely busted. the best she can do is enter it, get a few screens up long enough to spit out red warnings and evacuation commands.
it won't explode.
she's... pretty sure. about 70% sure.
maybe 50%.
...20%.
aku will undoubtedly feel the familiar pressure that comes with yellow's messages through the crystal, though this one seems more... sparky than usual.]
Get down to the west side of the forest, and learn about space travel if you haven't already.
[In response comes Aku's similarly oppressive thought-aura with its inferno-like heat. There's a bit of incomprehensible growling and snarling because Yellow deserves nothing less than the full brunt of his ire sometimes, and then:]
How dare you address the Almighty AKU in such a tone. I should have your head for that!
[How ever much he'd like to defy her, there's something in Yellow's message that suggests something interesting is afoot and Aku can't help his own curiosity. So he appears shortly after in an irate pop of smoke. He's ready to snarl at her in person but his attention is quickly drawn to the giant arm instead.]
[Aku stands there taking in the unusual sight of the giant arm... ship thing. Or so she calls it. It's not like any space ship he's ever seen. Gem technology is a mystery to him. Even after she tells him what it is, he remains standing there blinking up at it, confounded by its existence.
Then he turns to Yellow while gesturing at the thing with his splayed claws.]
Am I to believe this is a ship? It's only an arm. What happened to the rest of it?
[very patiently, like she's speaking to a child:] Do you see where there is a gap at the shoulder? That means the rest of it didn't show up.
[yellow strides forward, putting her hand on the outside paneling. it lights up where she touches it, activating the doors. at least that stuff still works. she doesn't bother to wait for aku before striding in, calling up multiple floating pads. even if he can't read gem glyph, the warning signs (check engine) are unmistakable.]
[A roll of his eyes. Perhaps if they wait long enough, the other arm will arrive. Or maybe a foot!
Once Yellow has boarded the ship, Aku stretches his ridiculous neck through the doorway and his pupils dart around at the crystal interior. Then he follows after her, standing tall and proud with his clawed hands clasped behind his back. Blech, it's so yellow in here! Despite his annoyance at his surroundings, Aku does note the engine failure symbol. The thing she wants his help for. Of course, the Master of Darkness doesn't offer his assistance for free.]
Supposing it can be fixed, what is it you intend to do with this thing? Leaving this cursed atmosphere will lead to the demise of all passengers on board.
yellow's attention is focused on the multiple pads around her while she speaks. she doesn't care for what aku is saying, really.]
I'm going to see if the warp drive can get past whatever blocks the atmosphere. If that fails then I'll see about using it to get to the centre of the planet and see what's really going on with those moronic aspects.
[she doesn't comment further on that. steven will have to know eventually, but that's only if she has to go that far. certainly he wouldn't talk her out of it.]
Surprisingly, at the centre. Down here. [she leads him down a few corridors-- the first one is clearly full of holding cells, the next few have various weapons and gem augmentations for troops as well as gem glyph and diamond symbols. aku can probably feel the power humming from the core before they even get close, a bright yellow and green light shining through the corridor.]
I mean it when I say be careful. That thing will vaporize you, then I'll have to waste my time getting rid of your remains.
[and... there's the problem. there's no clear passage into the core. looks like the corridor collapsed.]
[Aku squints through the collapsed corridor at the bright light shining through from the core. Whatever is at its center seems to radiate energy like a small star. If only all this rubble wasn't in the way. Surely, Yellow is plenty strong enough to clear some of this mess herself. Unless...
Aku points a claw at her, fangs bared in a wide grin.]
Why if I didn't know better, I'd think you're the one who's worried about being vaporized.
[she scowls even harder, because aku DEFINITELY has her read.]
Try anything and you'll regret the day you crawled out of whatever greasy hole that was unfortunate enough to form you.
[that's enough of an answer in itself, isn't it? she's actually - though not admitting it, not ever admitting it - giving him this task as some degree of show of trust, of all things.]
[Her reply is just as good of an admission as any and Aku can't help but crow with laughter, his spiked shoulders rising and falling with his obnoxiously loud amusement. Yellow Diamond has one (1) fear and he knows what it is! Ah, the joy. The excellence.]
Very well. I will see what I can do...
[Aku cracks his knuckles and his neck. This is completely unnecessary but he makes a show of it anyway. Normally he'd bulldoze his way right through all this rubble or try to incinerate it with excessive force. But something tells him this is a delicate procedure that may require a less destructive approach. So he transforms into a writhing mass of Eldritch tendrils that begin to snake their way through the corridor via the tight spaces between pieces of rubble. One tendril is left behind which holds his blood-red crystal to keep it from being incinerated. He's taking her warning seriously. Plus he needs to keep an open line of communication with her as he hunts for the core.
Although he currently lacks a mouth, his voice still comes through the crystal connection with clarity.]
Perhaps in the future you will take better care of your things, Yellow Diamond. How did your ship fall into such disrepair in the first place?
[it is so very tempting to stomp on the crystal he leaves behind and knock the debris down, leaving him high and dry and vaporized. so very, very tempting, but yellow has to be better than that. not to mention killing the idiot would mean it'll take decades to repair her ship instead of... well, just one decade. they're both immortal, though, so who's counting?]
It wasn't in disrepair last time I saw it, [she snaps back.] I usually keep it pristine, but evidently some force saw fit to throw it around a few times before unceremoniously dumping it here.
[that gets an irritated huff; if he was wondering where most of her attitude was coming from that wasn't 99% having to deal with him.]
Something that can exert the pressure of a black hole, to damage a Diamond flagship like this...
Probably easily more, [she hits back, pulling up what she can of the systems to track his progress.] It doesn't have to literally be a black hole to have the power of one, you know.
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for some reason, her giant yellow arm ship had appeared. a gift from the arehtei or maybe a taunt. she's not sure, but the thing is absolutely busted. the best she can do is enter it, get a few screens up long enough to spit out red warnings and evacuation commands.
it won't explode.
she's... pretty sure. about 70% sure.
maybe 50%.
...20%.
aku will undoubtedly feel the familiar pressure that comes with yellow's messages through the crystal, though this one seems more... sparky than usual.]
Get down to the west side of the forest, and learn about space travel if you haven't already.
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How dare you address the Almighty AKU in such a tone. I should have your head for that!
[How ever much he'd like to defy her, there's something in Yellow's message that suggests something interesting is afoot and Aku can't help his own curiosity. So he appears shortly after in an irate pop of smoke. He's ready to snarl at her in person but his attention is quickly drawn to the giant arm instead.]
What in the name of Darkness??
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[she's standing by the ship when he arrives, raising a hand to wave off some of his FART TELEPORT.]
It's a ship. My ship, specifically.
[yellow holds her arm up and there's a strong hum of an engine starting before it coughs and sputters out.]
You can shrink. I need you to go into the core and see what's wrong. You probably won't be vaporized.
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Then he turns to Yellow while gesturing at the thing with his splayed claws.]
Am I to believe this is a ship? It's only an arm. What happened to the rest of it?
[One would think there would... more?]
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[yellow strides forward, putting her hand on the outside paneling. it lights up where she touches it, activating the doors. at least that stuff still works. she doesn't bother to wait for aku before striding in, calling up multiple floating pads. even if he can't read gem glyph, the warning signs (check engine) are unmistakable.]
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Once Yellow has boarded the ship, Aku stretches his ridiculous neck through the doorway and his pupils dart around at the crystal interior. Then he follows after her, standing tall and proud with his clawed hands clasped behind his back. Blech, it's so yellow in here! Despite his annoyance at his surroundings, Aku does note the engine failure symbol. The thing she wants his help for. Of course, the Master of Darkness doesn't offer his assistance for free.]
Supposing it can be fixed, what is it you intend to do with this thing? Leaving this cursed atmosphere will lead to the demise of all passengers on board.
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yellow's attention is focused on the multiple pads around her while she speaks. she doesn't care for what aku is saying, really.]
I'm going to see if the warp drive can get past whatever blocks the atmosphere. If that fails then I'll see about using it to get to the centre of the planet and see what's really going on with those moronic aspects.
[...
she looks over her shoulder at him.]
...Don't tell Steven about that part.
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The boy shall not know.
[He turns to Yellow, determined to get things started.]
Now then, where is the core?
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Surprisingly, at the centre. Down here. [she leads him down a few corridors-- the first one is clearly full of holding cells, the next few have various weapons and gem augmentations for troops as well as gem glyph and diamond symbols. aku can probably feel the power humming from the core before they even get close, a bright yellow and green light shining through the corridor.]
I mean it when I say be careful. That thing will vaporize you, then I'll have to waste my time getting rid of your remains.
[and... there's the problem. there's no clear passage into the core. looks like the corridor collapsed.]
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Aku points a claw at her, fangs bared in a wide grin.]
Why if I didn't know better, I'd think you're the one who's worried about being vaporized.
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Try anything and you'll regret the day you crawled out of whatever greasy hole that was unfortunate enough to form you.
[that's enough of an answer in itself, isn't it? she's actually - though not admitting it, not ever admitting it - giving him this task as some degree of show of trust, of all things.]
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[Her reply is just as good of an admission as any and Aku can't help but crow with laughter, his spiked shoulders rising and falling with his obnoxiously loud amusement. Yellow Diamond has one (1) fear and he knows what it is! Ah, the joy. The excellence.]
Very well. I will see what I can do...
[Aku cracks his knuckles and his neck. This is completely unnecessary but he makes a show of it anyway. Normally he'd bulldoze his way right through all this rubble or try to incinerate it with excessive force. But something tells him this is a delicate procedure that may require a less destructive approach. So he transforms into a writhing mass of Eldritch tendrils that begin to snake their way through the corridor via the tight spaces between pieces of rubble. One tendril is left behind which holds his blood-red crystal to keep it from being incinerated. He's taking her warning seriously. Plus he needs to keep an open line of communication with her as he hunts for the core.
Although he currently lacks a mouth, his voice still comes through the crystal connection with clarity.]
Perhaps in the future you will take better care of your things, Yellow Diamond. How did your ship fall into such disrepair in the first place?
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It wasn't in disrepair last time I saw it, [she snaps back.] I usually keep it pristine, but evidently some force saw fit to throw it around a few times before unceremoniously dumping it here.
[that gets an irritated huff; if he was wondering where most of her attitude was coming from that wasn't 99% having to deal with him.]
Something that can exert the pressure of a black hole, to damage a Diamond flagship like this...
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[He rumbles contemplatively through his crystal.]
Such a force would be nearly as powerful as Aku.
[Or even more so. Probably more so if Aku is being honest, which he rarely is. His tone of voice suggests he finds this rather troubling.]
Whatever forces are responsible for bringing us to this place may very well be powered by a black hole. Perhaps this damage is a clue.
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