Chapter 19 – Blam blam Heartslam

 

Rebecca laid in bed, school having passed like a starship over the stars these past few weeks. Laying on her back, she looked around the bedroom and thought about everything that had occurred. Her and Thatti meeting, their adventures in the Glitterkiss academy, meeting Nathan, the sudden assassination, being transferred to Echostar in Xi, Caleb’s kidnapping, the sudden news that her best friend was still alive. Could he even be called her friend anymore? Could he even be called David? The scene conflicted with the most important one in her mind, Thatti’s

death.

 

She thought of his name every time she closed her eyes to go to sleep. Even if she pretended to sleep at night, she often found herself awaking in the early hours, unable to fall back to sleep, ridden with guilt and fear for the life of him. Fear of him. Fear for him. Conflicting emotions.

She had no idea why she cared for him so much. “Why did you have to come back, David?” She murmured, speaking into the blanket she was holding, tears forming on her eyes. She sniffed and wiped her face, her eyes swollen red with the crying. “Why did you have to come back and become such a big JERK?!”

She rolled off the bed and into a sitting position, her knees pressed to her chest. Her breathing was fast, her eyes shutting. "D-David.." She whispered, her eyes shutting in shame. "I didn't mean it. I'm so sorry, I-I really don't know what came over me." She whispered, and slowly got up. "Please, please, please don't let anything happen to you!" She sobbed. Her feet shuffled out of the room and closed the door. She found herself in the kitchen, the clock still set on the same time as it was when she went to sleep. So many memories.

The only thing keeping David from his own, was her, and her stupid spell. She griped and regretted doing that now, bereft of answers. The door knocked, taking her from her own laments. She opened it, letting Hyde and Lapis in.

“Hello Kaz.” She turned to Hyde. “Tsk. And you.” And slammed the door on him. “H-hey wait!” He knocked on it rapidly.

“Why are you here?” She asked, still looking at him with disgust. “Are you okay?” She looked down. “You’ve been skipping classes.”

“I mean, I’m not really Thatti. Why should I resume classes?” Rebecca snarled.

 

“I mean, if they call Thatti’s mom she might find out. Wasn’t the whole point of your disguise plan so that the Domina doesn’t find out her daughter’s, not alive? But, honestly I.. just came to check on you.” Hyde knocked on the other side of the door, then moved to the window. Rebecca closed the window curtains on him "If you’re not going to kiss my ass then don't bother coming over here." She said, rolling her eyes. "I need to be alone right now."

“I know you’re not Thatti! Lapis told me.” Hyde yelled. “You told him?” She said somber.

“Well I kind of told her. I suspected it at first, confronted her, she tried to cover for you and then just spilled.” Hyde said.

“I’m sorry! I’m a terrible liar.” Lapis sighed, sitting on the couch. “Diane, Garnet, Amethyst and Nefcy were there, they all saw Thatti explode. I’m assuming Pearl did too.” “Yeah, but you didn’t need to tell devil-dickface over there.” Becca threw her shoe at the window Hyde was peeping at.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “And why are you here now? I don’t need someone to check on my feelings.” “Actually, you’ve been sulking so, me and some of the other gems have been talking.

We’ve come up with a way..” She pulled out a black rubbery ball with a small disc-shaped device on it. “To cheer you up! Sports!”

 

 

 

“Blam-Ball?” Rebeca yelled outside the dorm in the school’s grassy extracurricular field.

Lapis turned her cap around, putting one of her matching color on Becca. Behind her, Amethyst, Lapis, Diane and Dylan stood on one side, including several of his Dylan Doubles. On the other, Hyde, Garnet, Bliss, Jel and Veronica stood, with several of Hyde’s court gems and a Dylan Double with a black-eye. “He’s still trying to get the other Doubles to unionize and go on strike. I think he’s mad about, y’know.” Amethyst whispered to Becca, who nodded confused. Hyde's motley crew, a menacing skull logo emblazoned on their vests looked like they'd wandered straight out of a Mad Maximus (AU’s finest road gang) cosplay convention. “Here’s your vest! T- thatti designed it with me..” she chirped sadly, handing Rebecca a matching cap emblazoned with a sparkly unicorn.

Everyone soon looked down at their vests which beeped electronically.

 

Lapis began to explain. “The rules of the game are quite simple really! It’s a game of team- elimination. Players can run anywhere on the field, there are no sides among the two teams.

You’ll notice every player has two scores on their vest. A Blam score, set at 50, and a health score set at 25.” Lapis opened a large crate and pressed a remote, dozens of white rubber balls falling upwards floating around the field, like planets in orbit over a sun. Then she tossed both teams a couple black orbs. “If you get hit by a white ball, you lose health. If your health falls to 0, you’re eliminated. Hitting someone with Black balls will add to their Blam score, but subtract from

yours. But the higher your score is over 50..” She booped Nefcy with the black ball, her digit rising to 51, her own to 49. A white ball constantly orbiting above the field detected her and slowly flew towards her, everyone watching as it drifted like a lazy balloon hitting her in back of the head with a gentle bloop. Her health ticked down to 24. “You get BLAMMED! The white balls over the playing area start to drift and swing towards you sometimes. The higher the number, the greater your magnetic generator on your vest will be, attracting white balls with

stronger, faster intensity.”

 

Blam-Ball Gameplay:

•        Players move around the arena, dodging white balls and aiming black orbs at opponents.

 

•        Getting hit by a white ball reduces your health score. A player may take 25 hits.

 

•        Hitting an opponent with a black one increases their Blam score and decreases yours.

 

•        As your Blam score rises above 50, your magnetic vest attracts white balls towards you, eliminating you faster.

•        The team with all members eliminated loses the game.

 

 

 

“I see, so it’s just like Gravity Ball. I used to fuck so much with this game!” Rebecca threw her arms around herself. “Fun fun.” “What’s Gravity Ball, Becca-Nye?” Nefriset asked. “It’s literally the same game.” She said. She huddled in with her team, “Win this for me or you’re all fucking dead, you hear me?!?” Rebecca shouted.

“Or we’re all dead!” They put their hands together and jumped up as a team.

 

The whistle blew, and chaos erupted. The two teams began pelting balls at one another. The moment scores ticked up over 50 White rubber balls rained down from the arena ceiling,

bouncing erratically across the field. A nearby Dylan Double fainted dead away as Jevy, Hyde’s butler slammed a black ball at the kid’s head. “Nothing happens for a reason, life is chaos!” He declared. The kid tried to get up, a white ball pelting him after. The Doubles were falling fast. “Oh c’mon, they have literal Bedlam gems on their side and we’ve got little kids!” Amethyst yelled, trying to dodge the orbit of white spheres whacking her and whittling down her score. “Like you’re any help either fatty.” Diane quipped, just barely dodging Hyde’s flaming shot. “Hey! No powers you dipshit!” Several gems held Amy down on the ground, slamming her with their balls in hand. “Heyyyyy!” Amethyst’s score ticked down to 13. “Oh my god! I’m going to be the first casualty!” she wailed. “Well we could just take our sweet ass time getting a match off!” Lapis yelled at Amethyst. Dylan Double’s heads were crashing like a pile of bowling pins, all

their health scores lowering to single digits, eliminations beginning. “Or you can do something. I’m fine without you.” She pouted. “I guess you idiots could take a break and then do something useful for once!” Diane shot a black orb at Garnet, who caught it. “Damn.” She murmured, her Blam score going up to 51. “Rebecca, we’re getting creamed! Get on it!”

Rebeca was already surrounded by the group, her Blam score on the verge of 65. “It’s okay, I got this!” She murmured, pelting the ball fast enough to ricochet over several of Hyde’s staff. Garnet caught one Becca’s tosses, her score decreasing. “Future sight makes this game trivial.” “Catgirl, now!”

Nefriset tackled Garnet from behind, bonking her repeatedly with two balls dozens of times,

Rebecca grabbing her leg and tossing her high up. “Oh f-“ She was pelted like bullets and eliminated.

The whistle blew, and pandemonium erupted. Lapis panicked. “Look out, it’s the Ka-blam round!” She shouted. “W-whatttttt?” Rebecca looked up, white rubber balls rained down from the field, bouncing like hyperactive popcorn kernels. Rebecca dove behind Amethyst who was hit enough to be eliminated. “Every 10 minutes the Blam scores tripple!” “Are you kidding me? That’s not the fucking rules of Gravity Ball!” “What’s Gravity Ball?” Lapis weaved through the barrage with the grace of a drunken butterfly. “It’s just like Blammm ball, except without this stupid rule!”

Hyde clapped his hands together, every white ball turning to flames and swirling around Lapis like a vortex. “Kazzy!” Becca yelled.

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” She was overwhelmed and knocked far away, and soon after eliminated. The scores returned to normal after. Rebecca's team, battered, bruised, and covered in grass and blood, stood breathlessly amidst the scattered rubber balls.

“You’re such a dirty cheater!” Becca yelled. As the game progressed, the tide began to turn, most of the Dylans and Becca’s team eliminated. Diane had taken care of Veronica and Jel who sat on the sides. Hyde's team, fueled by the anarchist gem from bedlam began picking off Rebecca's

team one by one until her and Diane were the only ones left. “Can you do anything right? Look, we’re losing!” Diane held two bars in her hands. Suddenly a force entered the front, Bliss

stepping forward. She muttered something with a yawn, then her body erupted into muscles and beef, 8 legs behind her. “S-shoot. Her.” Diane tossed her two balls, the bounced with a BOING on her cheeks. She roared and ripped through the field, digging over the lawn and charging at them like a bulldozer, 8 legs rapidly wiggling along the ground.

“You were always doing that to Thatti.. flirting with girls behind her back!”

 

"I... I never meant to hurt Thatti," he finally managed, his voice barely a genteel whisper. "We were just friends, that's all. Then she came onto me, we dated and, I wanted to be just friends." Rebecca scoffed, her eyes blazing with a mixture of anger and hurt. "Friends? She cried for weeks after your breakup!” The girl was barely outrunning Bliss, before she finally was smacked in the face with her ball and cratered into the ground. Her score went higher. Ah fuck it.

Numerous of the gems pelted her on the ground, rising her score again and again and again. “And then you pulled that whole team Crystal Gem bullshit, harassing her on school. Sending

your girlfriend after her, then that stupid monster.” 95..97..99.. 100. With her score maxed out, Rebecca slowly got up and could hear what sounded like hear rumbling thunder from above, the entire orbit leering towards her. “Not to mention getting her KILLED!”

"I... I'm so sorry, Rebecca," he mumbled, his voice thick with regret. "I never meant to cause you any pain."

“Shutup!” She yelled back, every single white ball taking on maximum gravity, bulleting towards her. “Mega FREEZE!” Rebecca yelled, before the light from her veins overclocked and she sprayed blood from her mouth. The world seemed to slow, although it didn’t have the same easy

kick as her usual, she felt herself fighting against frozen time, her body choking to move against the blocked clock. Every ball above them became a frozen platform, unmoving. She hopped on one, then the next until she reached above the top of the constellation. When time resumed, they flooded downwards on every other player like a meteor shower, Sloth attempting to shield some without success. The ground exploded and field collapsed in the serenade.

When the dust cleared, every gem was bloodied and bruised. Sloth stood up- with 1 health point left. “Hihi!” Rebecca soon landed on the ground, dizzy visions. She stood on her knees, then collapsed. Sloth held a ball, but before she could strike yawned, then fell back laid on the grass. “Zzz…”

A white ball landed on Becca’s head with a kid on it. “Eliminated.” The sole Dylan Double on Hyde’s team shouted. Diane erupted into flames, her Blossoming mode having her horns and wings grow, skin taking a crimson red shiny sheen. She crushed a ball with her clawed hands and sent it flaming at Hyde. Rebecca's team, battered and bruised but victorious, stood breathlessly amidst the scattered rubber balls. Diane, still covered in dirt, sputtered in outrage as Hyde picked up the Dylan Double, his face becoming bloody as it took Diane’s shot. "That was cheating! Using a human shield is against the rules!" she shrieked, her voice laced with impotent fury. “Ayuh!” Hyde began to strafe, holding the kid as he walked. “If you just got me her wand quicker dear, Thatti would still be here instead of… her.” Diane raged. “Oh so it’s my fault you

trusted some crazy bitch and your mom, then got yourself kidnapped?” she spat, her voice hoarse from exertion. "Thatti made her own choices, and you had no right to manipulate her!"

[]

 

Lapis sighed. “You guys are fun.”

 

"Listen to yourselves fight!" Rebecca exclaimed, picking herself off the ground, her voice still choking.

“You know what Diane you’re perfect for him. Prince gem dickbutt is yours.” She slowly made her way to the bench on the side, but passed out. Lapis picked her up and carried her over her shoulder, before resting her on her lap along the bench.

 

 

Unconscious, Rebecca’s mind drifted back to other days long gone.

 

Opportunity for money and mischief shone through the stars of Xi, a group of runners making yet another paycheck. “DIE YOU TRASH!” Rebecca yelled at the terrified woman. Several other bodies lay shot up in the railway cart, Xi’s infrastructure carrying supplies to Night City’s

adjacent Lots. The mission had become a bloody soaring success, Lucy, Kiwi, Rebecca and Marinez infiltrating the Lots patrol routes and retrieving an expensive target in far back the

transport. The only incursion had been another group of rival Runners, sent to retrieve the cargo first. Five men, two women, one of them barely taller than Rebecca, chromed out to the nine’s, she arrived last as the shootout cooled over and after seeing her grieving teammates in the throes of death, despaired. She looked at a women who lay dead at the runner’s feet, a bullet hole in her forehead. The chromed girl saw the women dead, screamed and tried to take out Becca, charging at her. Rebecca, out of bullets for her PE-19 Rifle retaliated by smacking her with the metal end of the barrel and stabbing her like one does with a bayonet. She knocked the girl down and then struck her repeatedly, goring her torso and face to an absolute pulp. The others watched the macabre spectacle.

“Ahahaaa! That’s what you get for messing with us, piece of shit!” The corpse lay at her feet.

 

“Woah woah Becca, aren’t you taking it overboard?” David asked, his yellow jacket stained with blood from the shotgun jamboree. The boy grabbed the other end of the rifle and held it firm.

“Says who? Humans aren’t precious! They were trying to steal our heist, fuck’em! Just more bags of meat for the grinder. That’s the truth!”

Kiwi sighed. “These guys were Merchant Guild, they’re rather protective of their own. It would’ve been wise to spare atleast one of them rather than deal with an organization we try to work with. Well, maybe we can pay them to sweep it under the rug, but it’ll be way more than this job covers.”

“Well, I feel kinda bad for the girl,” David pointed, shaking his head. Rebecca spit. “Nah. She

wanted to be a part of this, right? She wanted to kill us. Who knows how many people she’s shot in her career? Probably tons, right? I’m just giving her a taste of her own medicine.” “Maybe. But are you alright? You’re always so passionate about everything, you should just relax a bit. Our job is torture if we’re not having fun right?” He said.

“Taking care of trash like that IS fun.” Rebecca grit her teeth. “Besides, she was gunning for you!”

David scratched his head uneasy. “Look, I get it, you’re in love with me or whatever, but killing people for the fun of it is not a solution.” Rebecca grabbed the whole gun and aimed the rifle. “Whatever! I’m a killer, it’s what I do! And I get paid for it, so David my man, might as well ride the Becca train.” Rebecca stepped over the girl’s corpse. “Whether we’re bags of organic meat, or hunks of chrome and metal, life is nothing precious. A life lost, means nothing to the stars.” Her gaze took one last look at the fallen lass, and she stopped.

“That’s the truth.”

 

 

 

 

She wokeup and gasped. The dream faded from her mind like a painful memory. Most of the players had either left or were bandaged on the sidelines. From what she could see, Diane held a spear and Hyde a sword, the two were clashing on the field, now filled with hellflames. “W-what the? What’s happening?”

“Oh, you’re awake.” Lapis said said, putting her reading glasses and a book away. “Are they, still going at it?” Becca asked.

Lapis nodded. “Yep. The game kinda ended, but also not? It’s been a full hour, they were pelting each other with balls for awhile, and now they’re just full-on fighting-fighting.”

Their verbal jabs had escalated into playful shoves, which quickly devolved into a full-blown wrestling match on the grassy field. Rebecca watched, dumbfounded, as they rolled around in the dirt, hitting and stabbing each other. “Dumb idiot!” “Hag.” “Bedlam dumbass!” “Frigid bitch.”

"They're like children," Lapis remarked, returning to her book.

 

Diane, her crimson eyes blazing, retorted, "You sniveling little brat, wouldn't know nerve if it bit you on your scrawny ass!" She slapped him. “As if a fire-breathing banshee like you could ever stop shouting for one damn second.” He kicked her back and they rolled around. They picked up balls and just pelted them with each other violently and repeatedly, then began punching one another until finally Diane’s hands were around his neck. “AAAAAAAAAGGGHHH, YOU INFURIATE ME!” “FUCK YOU.” FUUU- UERRK!!“

He felt her choke him softly.

 

Her lips met his. Their tongues cradled and groped the others greedily, the kiss was a tempest, a clash of fire and steel mirroring the battle around them. Diane, fueled by adrenaline and fury, pressed against him, her lips demanding, her movements rough. He responded in kind, his own frustration and hidden desire igniting within him. Their bodies, heated from exertion and the

inferno raging around them, intertwined in a desperate dance of pride and wrath. Rebecca just cringed. “Those two. Just like he and she used to.”

Lapis turned away from the makeout and cleared her throat. “There’s, been something I’ve been meaning to ask, but I was waiting for the right time.”

“Spill it Kazzy my Gem compadre.” Rebecca said.

“Who is, the person that Nathan used to be, Thatti’s brother you mentioned? You said it weeks back in Orchid but never explained.”

Rebecca’s expression went stark. She looked up at the sky.

 

“David. He used to be my co-worker kinda. I was, kind of a very dangerous person in my past life.” She said. Rebecca's voice trailed off, a tremor running through her body. The playful chaos on the field seemed to fade away, replaced with an eerie silence. Her gaze fixed on Rebecca with a mixture of concern and curiosity.

"Dangerous?" Lapis prompted gently, her voice low.

 

Rebecca took a deep breath, her eyes flitting across the battlefield before finally settling on the intertwined figures of Diane and Hyde. A faint bitterness tinged her voice as she spoke.

"I was a runner. Not like these kids playing around here, no. Real runners, the kind who did jobs that would make your hair stand on end. David... he was my partner for a while. We were good together, efficient. But that life… it takes a toll on you, you know? You see things, do things that nobody should ever have to. It hardens you, twists you inside."

She paused, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the edge of the bleachers.

 

“Yeah?” Lapis tried to listen as patiently as she could. Runners, she’d only heard about those in crime dramas and old documentaries. Glorified smugglers and assassins for the old Xi Lots, corporations and the Merchant Guild.

Rebecca continued. “No matter how many bullets I put through others heads or people I chopped up, my heart never wavered. I never looked back or felt any remorse. Do others feel this way? Life, lives, family, friends, everyone said they were precious, so I wanted to know whether these things I couldn’t feel really existed.” She looked at her fingers. “Once I was given another

chance with Thatti I kept wondering, with all the people I’ve killed. Whether it was my eyes that were messed up, or it was the whole world that was wrong. Y’know?”

She turned to Lapis, trying to laugh off her pain.

 

“I, g-guess..” The gem girl swallowed. “Garnet told me something about you once.” “She did?” Rebecca leaned back abit.

“It was after I first joined the Crystal Gems, and you were still a wand. She told me, if you’re going to try to stay with her or befriend her, sooner or later you’re going to find out just how frightening she really is. And how fundamentally different she is from us. She tried to dissuade me from joining her or capturing you.”

"Yeah," Becca said finally, her voice stronger. "Yeah, I guess she was right."

 

Diane and Hyde had stopped smooching and simply cradled in one another’s arms, their wounds all regenerated, the two softly comforting each other.

“The question in my mind though is..” She turned to Lapis. “If you knew that, why did you stick with us? That’s the part I don’t get.”

Lapis’s hands shook a little, she pouted. “If I had to give a reason, I’d guess it’s because.. Thatti is a liar! She lies all the time.”

“Thatti is, a liar? What do you mean?” Rebecca stared.

 

She hit one hand with another. “Like when she pretended there was a distinction between her and gems. I don’t actually think she believed that, even for a second. She was so nice to me.. And I doubt she saw you any different either! Autonomy is complex right? So even if you were just a wand to her, an object or tool, she saw you as a friend too! Me, you, Hyde, she even tried to save Caleb. She was always trying to do the right thing, because Thatti isn’t the kind of person who

makes distinctions or takes others for granted. To her, friends she makes are all the same, just with different relationships.” Her eyes were getting abit teary. She gasped. “SO! In her eyes, we

were all her friends..“ The gem girl breathed easy, and looked up at the sky. “Do you think I’m just making excuses for her? Maybe I am. But, she even treated assholes like Hyde and Caleb with love. So if she thought you were a good enough person to trust, and always looked so happy with you, I thought to myself, maybe I could dismiss Garnet’s warning. Whether I was trying to be as kind as Thatti, or just wanted to have friends for once.”

Rebecca looked at her, a flicker of hope glimmering in her eyes. "You really think so? Tsk. Nothing wrong with being selfish." She hesitated. “But, you have to understand, David. My old choom.. he’s from my era. My old crew. He thinks like I did back then. If he wants something, if he’s been given a second chance, he won’t hesitate to act or even kill. That’s why I have to

confront him. If he gets his memories back, it could be dangerous..” Rebecca laid her head under the bench, bending backwards. “So here we are! Starting our new lives together. Exciting huh?“ “Uh, sure..” Lapis nodded.

The magical girl hopped off the bench and walked over to Hyde, slapping him. “You! I need to talk with you dickbag.” Hyde opened one eye, Diane hissing protectively. “Y-yes? Beckyboo.” He said.

“First off don’t call me that. You don’t get to call me cute nicknames. Secondly, you two are gross and your weird toxic abusive relationship is even worse than what you and Thatti had once. Now anyway listen,” She tapped her foot, unable to believe what she was able to say. "I... I'm sorry for what happened to Thatti. And that you kind of got her murdered, though it wasn’t entirely your fault. Okay kind of your fault- maybe 10, let’s go with 30% your fault. Pretty much all your fault really.”

“Are you finished?” He asked sternly.

 

“SHUTUP LET ME FINISH. I know it doesn't change anything, but I wanted you to know that I understand why you did what you did. It doesn't make it right, but..." She offered her hand. “I forgive you. If I was desperate to try to save someone I loved, I’d act like a dumbass too.”

Hyde stared at her outstretched hand, his eyes flickering between it and Rebecca's determined face. He took it and shook gently. A wave of emotions washed over him, guilt, shame, and a flash of unexpected gratitude.

Garnet came up to them and tapped their shoulders. “Great teambuilding. But we’ve got probs.”

 

“Hm?” Rebecca looked up, a broom floating just a few feet above them, Eldric sitting beside the white shimmering catsuited figure. “Not another one.”

White Nebula stood, Becca reflected in her shades. “Yep. Another one.”