A little housekeeping note – I made an index page so these recaps are now listed in chronological order.

The cover of the fourth issue shows Amy, Emmy, and Taffy cowering in a basement. Dark Opal is standing in the doorway sayng “Hello girls…fancy meeting you here!” Carl aka Carnelian is rubbing his hands together with glee. That can’t be good!

This issue is called “There and Back Again.” Amy wakes up wth the sunrise and is surprised to see her mom and dad sitting in chairs across from her bed. They explain about Amy’s mysterious coma. Amy talks about her visit to the Gemworld as Amethyst and says “I feel like I’m remembering a nightmare, but it really happened!”

She explains that Citrina seemed to be calling her to the Gemworld. Amy remembers the time that she almost faded away on the Gemworld, and comments that her parents could have woken her up without any harm. Amy isn’t sure if fighting Fire Jade was the reason she was called back, or if there’s another threat to the Gemworld that she might still need to fight. Mrs. Winston yells at Amy not to even think about returning.

One of the little details that I like about this series is that Amy has a Wonder Woman poster in her room. Amy’s habit of following Wonder Woman comes in handy later in this issue.

In the Aquamarine islands, the nobles and the rebels are working out an experimental form of government to turn Aquamarine into a Republic. Quaar has refused to be made king, and reaches out to the Aquamarine nobles to join him on a council of representatives. Lord Moonstone exhibits a freudian slip, calling the rebels “rabble.” He does push the Aquamarine nobility to accept the new form of government, even though he finds it distasteful himself.

Outside Castle Amethyst, a dark figure wearing a green hooded cloak pulls himself out of a hole in the ground. He thanks the fairies who helped him, commenting that he knew he could depend on their trusting natures. He transforms into a green bird and flies into Citrina’s chamber. He looks down on her and says that there are forces at work in the room that are working towards the witch-mother’s death. There’s a crack of lightning. Lord Garnet sits outside his castle communing with the storm. He thinks that while in the past storms spoke to him in his hour of need, now he detects only mocking laughter.

Amy and Emmy rush to school. Amy wonders why her mom is such a pain, and Emmy blames herself for talking about the dire fates that might have befallen Amy while she was asleep. They are late to homeroom! Their teacher makes a comment about Amy’s tardiness last semester, and Amy is unable to suppress a yawn. Her teacher mentions that the vice principal frowns on sleeping in class and then introduces a new transfer student from Metropolis.

It is Carnelian! He keeps being drawn with his hook hand hidden in these school scenes. Tom goes to sit with Amy and Rita during lunch. He mentions to Amy that he saw all the lights on at her house early in the morning. Amy promptly has another narcoleptic episode. Tom asks Rita “Am I really that boring?”

When Amethyst wakes up on the Gemworld, she’s super tired. Once she realizes where she is, she runs to Citrina. She sees the mysterious man in the green cloak bending over the witch-mother and yells “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!”
He replies “You do not truly want my explanation, nor would it sit well with you if you did!” He waves a hand and tosses Amethyst to the floor. The man transforms into a bird, saying that Amethyst’s wish is to capture him, and he won’t allow that to happen. He flies out the window into the storm. Amethyst goes to check on Citrina but quickly fades away. Rita is shaking Amy’s shoulders. Lunchtime is over.

Sardonyx frees himself from a pile of sand. I find it a disturbing bit of racial stereotyping that the only noble from a Gemworld desert kingdom modeled on Egypt or the Middle East has horns and strangely cloven feet. The entire kingdom and the people have been swept away. Sardonyx wonders why he’s still alive. He spots a familiar animal.

Fire Jade’s pet claims credit for the destruction of Sardonyx’s kingdom and says that his people are stolen, not dead. He says that Sardonyx’s subjects will experience an agonizing death if Sardonyx doesn’t obey him.

At the Winston household Amy’s mom apologizes for yelling at her. She says “What I said came out angrily only because I love you.” Amy’s looking away, saying “I know, Mom.” Mrs Winston asks if they’re friends again. Amy says “sure” and excuses herself to do her homework. Way to go child psychologist lady! Emmy says that she’ll go talk to Amy. Mr. Winston says that whatever is troubling Amy is so far outside their own experience that they can only wait for her to talk when she feels like it.

Amy tells Emmy that she went to the Gemworld again during lunch break. She’s worried about what will happen the next time she falls asleep. Taffy starts barking at the window. A strange creature runs from Amy’s window to Carl’s house next door. Amy and Emmy hop out the bedroom window and decide to investigate with a little help from a cloaking spell that Emmy summons up. Amy notices that the cellar door is unlocked, and the girls go down into the basement.

There’s a strange glow emanating from a funky looking machine. It appears to be radiating magic. Carl’s uncle who looks suspiciously like Dark Opal enters the cellar saying “What fools are these who dare invade my home, and in so doing guarantee their deaths?”

At Castle Turquoise Lady Turquoise is fighting one of her subjects while Prince Topaz looks on. Turquoise easily defeats Gruna, and Topaz rushes to her side to tell her how awesome she is. Topaz doesn’t have an answer to Turquoise’s question about his lover for Amethyst lingering. Prince Moonstone interrupts their conversation. He’s brought some pretty flowers!

Amy and Emmy start to fight Uncle Orville. Emmy uses her elemental powers to take control of the garden hose and spray him in the face. When the water runs out she can’t use the hose to attack, so Amy takes over with a little Wonder Woman lasso action.

Orville seems to have uncommon reserves of strength, and he breaks the hose by flexing his chest muscles. Amy starts fighting him with weapons improvised from garden tools. She still remembers all of her warrior training as Amethyst, even though she’s in her younger form. Amy decides to try a face-kicking move that Lord Garnet taught her and Orville’s head falls off.

He’s a robot! And he can still function without his head! He picks Amy and Emmy up and takes them to a trap door that concels an incinerator. He’s going to throw the girls into the flames! I think that Orville gets extra creepy bonus points for the way his disembodied head is staring at the flames.

Ack! What will happen to Amy and Emmy? Will Amy develop narcolepsy if she escapes a fiery death? Who will Prince Moonstone try to date next? What is the deal with the mysterious man in the green cloak who enjoys lurking around Citrina? Is Tom really that boring? Tune in next week for the answers to these burning questions!