Season Premiere
"Finally!" Peridot squealed. "After two long weeks, the season premiere is finally here!"
"I know!" Pearl said, clasping her hands together. "I'm so excited! I still can't believe Rebek'ca did that to Noel."
"Did what?" Steven asked, peering up from the book he was looking at with Connie.
"In the Season 3 finale, Rebek'ca got so mad that she used her Silver Sword and slashed Noel across the back. Everyone was so upset and Aria used her air powers to push her out of the safe house," Pearl explained.
"Noel kinda deserved it, though," Peridot said. "She wouldn't leave Rebek'ca alone and kept trying to force her to talk about something she didn't want to talk about."
"Are you guys talking about Galatic Guardians?" Connie asked with a smile.
"Uh, yeah! Duh!" Peridot said with a smile. "Are you another Junior Guardian?"
"Totally!" Connie said happily. "No universe too big, no cosmos too small!"
"No evil can hide, for we will find it all!" Peridot said, continuing the chant.
"No fear in our hearts!" Pearl said, full of determination.
"No tears in our eyes!" Said Connie.
"No one to stop us, no matter their size!" Said Peridot.
"Our light of justice, shining bright for all to see!" Pearl continued.
"For Nova's heir, we will save the galaxy!" The girls said in unison, giggling at the end.
"Great. Another Galatic Psycho..." Amethyst mumbled.
"Do you want to join us for the premiere?" Pearl asked.
"Sorry, I'm gonna have to decline," Connie said sheepishly. "I got VIP access from the Galaxy Giveaway and I was part of the Blackhole Society Leaked Footage viewing party. I already saw the pilot and I don't wanna risk spoiling anything for you."
"Aww, man!" Peridot whined. "I entered and all I got was the Supernova Surprise."
"Was it cool?" Connie asked.
"It was a cheap notebook."
"You were so lucky, Connie! I wish I could've seen it with you," Pearl said.
"Yeah! If I had known you were Junior Guardians then I would've come over with my computer so we could all watch it. It was so good," Connie said. "Especially when Noel-"
"No spoilers!" Pearl and Peridot shouted in unison before the youngest human could say anything.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Connie said with a sheepish grin. "C'mon, Steven. We should go outside so I don't talk about them FINDING A NEW-"
"NO SPOILERS!" Pearl and Peridot screamed.
Connie held back her laughter as she started to leave the beach house. "Sorry!"
"Wait for me!" Amethyst said as she hopped off the couch.
"Garnet, lock them out!" Pearl said as they were walking out.
"There is no lock on the door," Garnet said.
"Then barricade it!" Peridot insisted. "We can't let the Spoilers in!"
"I'm sure you'll be fine. Why don't you go watch your little show?"
"Well, we have an hour left before it starts. I think we can wait for a while," Pearl said.
"But they're doing a marathon of some previous episodes before the premiere. We can catch some hidden details we didn't see the first time and still watch the premiere!"
"That's...a great idea! I'll make the popcorn!" Pearl said excitedly as she rushed to the kitchen area.
"I'll set up the viewing station!" Peridot ran up to Steven's room, messing with his sheets until she created the perfect nest of blankets and pillows.
Pearl came up with the bowl of popcorn and sat down, messing with the blankets a little to cover herself up and let Peridot snuggle in close. She smiled a little and turned on the tv, only to be met with static. "What?" She asked in confusion. "Why..." She never finished her question, instead getting up to mess with the tv. "What's wrong with this thing?" She tried flipping through channels, but each one was static.
"Oh, I know!" Peridot said as she got up. "Steven said you had to hit these things to make them work!" She pulled her foot back and kicked the screen, causing it the shatter immediately. Peridot and Pearl fell silent, trying to process what she had done.
"OH MY STARS!" Peridot finally said. "How much time to de we have left?"
"53 minutes. That should be enough time to find an alternate viewing method. What about your little tablet thingy?"
"Galactic Guardians isn't on any streaming service! And the new episode won't go to Filmlicious until it's aired!" Peridot said.
"Ok. So we just need to find someone else with a tv. Umm..." Pearl went downstairs and started to pace while she tried to think, trying to hide her panic. "What about Greg?"
"Yes! Where is he?" Peridot asked.
"He should still be at the car wash. Let's go!" Pearl ran out with Peridot running behind. They passed the little trio, not noticing them throwing rocks at the satellite dish.
"Where are you guys going?" Steven asked.
"Car wash broke your TV buy you a new one sorry bye!!!" Peridot yelled over her shoulder.
Steven started to ask questions, but they ran off faster than he could catch them.
The two gems eventually made it to the car wash and threw open the back doors of the van. "Greg! We need your tv!" Pearl yelled, waking up the man in the back.
"Whu... Fine, just don't be too loud..." He turned over and fell back asleep.
"Shouldn't you be tending to the car wash?" Peridot asked as she climbed in.
"Closed on Sundays..." Gerg mumbled.
Peridot just shrugged and turned on the TV, only to be met with more static. "WHAT?!"
"Hey, I said-"
"HAVE YOU NOT HEARD OF CABLE TV, YOU CLOD?!" Peridot screeched in his face.
"C'mon, Peri!" Pearl grabbed her hand and they ran away from the car wash. "I think Vidalia has cable! We can try her house!" They ran all the way to Vidalia's place and ran into the garage.
"We need your TV!" Peridot screamed with no greeting. "It's a matter of life or death!"
"Sorry, sweetie," Vidalia said as she put away her art supplies. "Onion took it apart yesterday and were still trying to figure out how to put it back together. I think it's a lost cause, though. I was gonna get another one today but Yellowtail said we should at least try to put it together before we give up."
Peridot groaned and mumbled angrily to herself, stomping out of the garage while Pearl just sighed. "Alright. Sorry to bother you Vidalia."
"May I ask why you need it?" Vidalia asked.
"It..." Pearl chuckled to herself. "I know it's stupid, but me and Peridot started to connect over this children's show and they're doing a season premiere today. We absolutely adore it and everyone's TV is apparently broken, so..."
"I don't think that's stupid!" Vidalia said with a smile. "I think it's nice you two are getting closer. Why don't you try the Big Donut? I think they have a TV in the backroom."
"Thanks, Vidalia," Pearl said with a smile. "I'll come back after the show and try to help with the TV!" She said as she ran out. She picked up Peridot as she ran past, holding her close as she carried her to the donut shop. The duo burst through the door, startling Lars and Sadie from their slow day.
"It's a long story but we need your TV!" Pearl said, slamming her hands onto the counter.
"It's a matter of life and death!" Peridot screeched.
"No it's not, but it's really important and we got no time to explain," Pearl said.
Sadie just looked confused and pointed to the door that led to the back.
"Thank you!" The gems said in unison. They rushed back and sat in front of the tv, quickly flipping through the channels and hearing that oh-so-sweet theme song.
"Finally!" Pearl cheered.
"Just in time for the premiere!" Peridot said.
"This is what you need our TV for?" Lars asked as he came into the back. "Some stupid kids show?"
"It looks kinda interesting..." Sadie said, pulling up a chair. "Can you watch the counter for me?"
"No."
"Then close the store until its over," Sadie said nonchalantly, which Lars did happily. And since he had nothing better to do while the store was closed, he pulled up a chair beside Sadie and the four watched the children's show. Minutes passed by and eventually four faces crowded around the TV in curiosity.
The show's protagonist, Noel, ventured through the woods, trying to find the cloaked figure she was chasing.
"I really like her hair," Peridot mumbled to fill the silence.
"Me too. Those are cornrows, right?" Pearl asked.
"No, those are braided onto the scalp, I think," Sadie responded. "I think those are called box braids."
"SHHH!" Lars said loudly.
Noel caught up to the cloaked figure and hid behind some bushes, watching them duck into a large building, made with black bricks and covered in the natural red vines of the planet Sinda. Once the coast was clear, Noel went up the building and, despite her recent back injury, began to climb up the vines.
The show cut back to the A story, which was the rest of the Guardians trying to find a new Chosen Warrior of Flame, since Rebek'ca had betrayed them in the previous season finale.
"Oh come on..." Lars groaned. "Why do they always do this? Just when one part is getting good, they cut away and show us this useless filler!"
"I know," Peridot said. "And the reveal at the end won't even be that good. I swear, G.G. has started going downhill since they switched animation companies. I mean, two episode a week has got them so stressed that they're just pumping out pure clods now!"
"I'm sure things will get better as we get further into the season," Pearl said, trying to stay optimistic.
"What are we gonna do now?" Nierra whined. "It's been forever and we can't find anyone! And I'm way too hot! How do these people live like this?!"
"I can't believe you all are this stupid...." Aria mumbled. "How did you become a Chosen Warrior?" She asked Nierra.
"I won the competition to honor my Goddess, Nava, during the Festival of the Sun."
"Yeah. And where are we?" Aria asked.
"On Sinda."
"At what?"
"The Festival of.... Ohhhhhh..." Nierra said.
"To the Battle Arena!" Aria said, leading the group to the amphitheater.
The group watched in partial boredom as the Guardians went to the Battle Arena and watched some pointless ceremonial fight.
"I got my money on the skinny dude," Lars said to break the silence. "It's always people like him that surprise the competition and come out on top."
"The 'skinny dude' is Daisa and he's only there because his father is forcing him to do it. He actually has a really complicated backstory in the 'Tales of Sinda' webcomic," Peridot explained.
"A couple of the animators actually went to the creator and got permission to take creative liberties and write about what they thought would happen on each planet as the show continues," Pearl said. "I think it was very generous of the creator to do that. Most would say no or demand profit for their creation, but all Taelyn asked was that they give proper credit to her with each mini-series and that she overviews each chapter to make sure it's canon compliant."
"That's really-" Sadie was caught off by Lars' loud shushing as the show cut back to Noel.
Noel was grunting and groaning, climbing up the thick vines as blood seeped through and stained her clothes. Eventually, she made it to the top and stumbled over to the skylight window. The window was tinted black with ash and soot, so Noel took off her shirt and wiped the window as best she could, shoeing a brief backshot of the bloody bandage wrapped around her torso.
Once the window was clean, Noel cupped her hands around her eyes and pressed her face to the window as best she could. Inside the room, there were people in black cloaks, surronded with ritualistic symbols. There was the sound of chanting in a language she couldn't understand, and the scene cut back to Noel's terrified face as three people screamed in pain at the top of their lungs.
The man at the front of the room closed his giant book, an almost deranged smile on his face. "Rise, Brother Thadzash."
A man stood up and pulled down the hood of his cloak, showing black eyes with a dark, blood like substance dripping down them.
"Rise, Sister Amaria."
A woman stood up and did the same as Brother Thazash, showing the same eyes as his.
"Rise, Sister Rebek'ca."
Rebek'ca stood and pulled down her cloak, red hair covering part of her face as she looked ahead in shame. The blood like substance dripped down her face like heavy tear tracks.
Noel gasped loudly and held back her sobs, pulling away from the window. And the show cut to a commercial break.
"I knew it!" Pearl said, jumping up from her seat. "I knew it! I-K-N-E-W-I-T knew it knew it! I! Knew! It!" She yelled at Peridot, who stared at the TV in disbelief. "We couldn't trust Rebek'ca from the start! She was a recruit for the Blackhole Society!"
"There has to be some explaination!" Peridot said. "My baby can't be a Sister! She can't! She must've been forced!"
"Forced or not, I think your baby is evil now," Lars said.
"She was crying!" Sadie defended. "I don't know much about the show, but that blood stuff looked like tears. She doesn't want to do this. She's probably gonna betray the Society sometime in the future and be a reformed villain."
"And it'll be revealed that she 'betrayed' the Society in order to gain more information about the heroes and foil their plans!"
Pearl and Peridot watched in silence as Lars and Sadie began to bicker about the show and slowly snuck out of the backroom. They started a slow walk home in silence. "Do you know if the episode is up yet?"
"It'll probably be up by tomorrow," Peridot said. "We'll finish it then..."
"I'm sorry if I hurt your-"
"It's ok. I mean, Rebek'ca was pretty sketchy from the start. I mean, she was even the Chosen Warrior for her Goddess!" Peridot reasoned. "I really hope she goes back to he Guardians, though. It doesn't feel complete without her."
Pearl just smiled as she walked along the beach. "It was kinda fun, running around to find a working television."
"Yeah. But we're never doing it again," Peridot said.
"Agreed."