It was a beautiful day up at the barn. It was clear and sunny with seagulls softly crying and the waves softly rolling. The Crystal Gems were in the barn discussing what their next move with the drill would be. Steven and Peridot stayed out side and looked at the finished drill. Peridot couldn't help but smile at seeing their finished work.
Steven looked over at Peridot and couldn't help but smile himself at seeing Peridot so happy. "You know, Peridot, you've really surprised me," Steven said out of nowhere.
Peridot looked over at Steven revealing a little blush. "How so?" she asked sounding like she was expecting Steven to say something bad.
"Well," Steven started off. "when we first saw you, we did not think of you as a friend in the slightest. Yet today, here you are, helping us stop the cluster. Even part of the team," he said sounding so proud of Peridot.
Peridot's blush increased when she heard Steven's remark. She chuckled slightly and said the only remark she could think of. "Well, if I didn't help you, who would," she said smiling.
Steven scratched his neck and looked away for a second. He began to blush, too. He didn't know why, but he always felt strange whenever he was near Peridot. It just felt like a warm, fuzzy feeling.
Steven was about to say something else, but the ground began to shake lightly but kept shaking harder and harder with each passing second.
"Peridot?" Steven asked slightly nerve-sounding.
"Yes?" Peridot replied back in an unsure way.
"Why is the ground shaking?!" Steven cried hoping Peridot would have answer.
"I don't know!" Peridot cried.
Dark clouds began rolling in and covered the sun to where no light could be seen. The seagulls could no longer be heard over the rolling thunder and rain as it came pouring down hard. The waves weren't rolling softly anymore. They were now giant if waves hitting the shore with loud thuds.
The Crystal Gems came rushing out of the barn once they heard the commotion. "Steven, Peridot, what's going on?" Garnet yelled over the storm.
"We don't know!" Steven panicked. "We were just standing here and he ground started shaking!"
"Oh no!" Peridot gasped. /div
"What?" Pearl asked while freaking out. /div
"What if it's," Peridot paused. "the Cluster?!"
"It can't be!" Amethyst yelled./div
"Why not?!" Garnet yelled.
"Peridot said it would pound on the Earth from the inside, but this almost feels like it's in some weird rhythm!" Amethyst yelled.
"Amethyst is right!" Pearl exclaimed. "This doesn't feel like a simple earthquake, it feels like giant footsteps!"
"Uh, guys?" Steven asked so quietly that it was almost inaudible.
"What?" Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Peridot cried in unison.
"Look behind you!" Steven yelled.
The Crystal Gems turned around and saw a gigantic tidal wave headed straight for them.
"Steven, get out of here!" Garnet exclaimed.
Steven grabbed Peridot by the arm and ran towards the barn. "Come on!" Steven cried at Peridot.
"What's happening?!" Peridot exclaimed when she and Steven were in the barn.
The storm was getting worse and was practically a hurricane. The rain and waves kept hitting harder, and the ground kept shaking harder and harder.
"I think Malachite is coming back!" Steven exclaimed.
"What?! Malachite?! Did I miss something?!" Peridot yelled.
"Well, after you escaped from the ship, Jasper and Lapis fused and Lapis dragged them to the bottom of the ocean!" Steven explained trying to be louder than the storm.
"But that's impossible!" Peridot yelled.
"Why is it impossible?!" Steven asked still panicking.
"Because Malachite isn't even real!" Peridot yelled.
"What?!" Steven exclaimed with great shock.
"Malachite is just a myth from Homeworld! She is a forbidden fusion! She is too toxic to allow any gem to have control! She quickly gains a mind of her own and the two gems are lost unless they can find a way to unfuse before they lose themselves forever!" Peridot exclaimed over the storm.
"But I saw them with my own eyes! They fused I'm telling you!" Steven yelled.
"But Yellow Diamond outlawed the fusion thousands of years ago!" Peridot cried.
The waves kept hitting harder, the rain increased and got more severe, and the ground shook even harder.
"Well, it's real, and it's coming!" Steven yelled.
A loud screeching was heard outside the barn only a few seconds later.
"What was that?!" Peridot asked.
"I don't know!" Steven exclaimed.
Giant feet could be seen through the barn doors only one minute later.
"Is that…?" Peridot asked in a whisper.
"Yeah," Steven whispered after a quiet whimper.
Malachite's giant hand came through the doors and started to feel around.
Steven quickly grabbed Peridot's arm. "Behind the truck!" Steven exclaimed in a whisper.
Steven and Peridot started to move towards the back of the barn. "Uh, Steven?" Peridot said in her normal tone.
"Yes?" Steven asked really nervous.
"She has my leg," Peridot said in a scared squealing tone.
Malachite started to pull Peridot out of the barn.
"Ahhhhhhhh! Steven, help!" Peridot cried.
Once holding onto the barn's wall, Steven grabbed Peridot's hand. "I got you!" Steven yelled.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" Peridot screamed still freaking out.
Peridot's hand started to slip, and Steven tried holding on tighter. But Peridot's hand slipped out of Steven's hand.
"Help!" Peridot yelled.
Malachite kept pulling Peridot higher and higher by her left leg in her right hand. In no time flat, Malachite had brought Peridot up to her face
"Long time no see!" Malachite roared.
"Ahhhhh! What do you want from me?" Peridot panicked.
"Can I not see and old friend?" Malachite sarcastically asked.
"Okay, you officially lost your minds!" Peridot exclaimed.
"Now, I can tell you have been these traitors' prisoner for a long time! Yes?!" Malachite continued to roar.
"Well, um…" Peridot hesitated. Has she really been a friend or a prisoner. She wasn't entirely sure.
"Don't tell me that you already have forgotten your Homeworld! Or that you would betray Yellow Diamond! If you tell me where those traitors are, I can end this for good!" Malachite yelled.
"Okay! Listen to me! Lazuli, I know that you are still in there, and I know why you agreed to fuse in the first place! Well, the fact is, the longer you keep holding her in there, the more danger you're putting Steven in! If you want to keep Steven safe you have to let her go!" Peridot exclaimed.
"If I let her go, all the gems, humans, and Steven will be great danger!" Malachite said in a slightly higher voice.
"Well, I would rather face a Jasper than a Malachite any day! If you really want to save Steven; you have to let her go! Listen to me!" Peridot yelled.
Malachite was getting closer to Beach City and was reading havoc on everything else along the way.
"You're putting the Earth in worse danger than Jasper ever could! If you want to end this and keep Steven safe; you have to let her go! Lazuli let her go!" Peridot yelled.
In that moment, Malachite started to glow and come undone.
"Uh-oh," Peridot mummers do before she started to fall back to the ground
The waves began to calm down until they stopped, and the rain was turned into just a light sprinkle.
Lapis and Jasper were finally unfused and face down in the sand on different spaces of the beach.
"Lapis!" Steven happily exclaimed running over to the barely conscious gem.
"Huh? What? Where am I?" Lapis lightly groaned.
"Lapis! Lapis, it's me! It's Steven!" He exclaimed slightly shaking her.
"Steven? Just let me do this for you," Lapis said light and weak.
She has been through a lot. She's lucky enough that she still has her physical form. She just needs some time to get used to being a singular gem again. After all, she has been fused at the bottom of the ocean for months," Pearl said.
"My head," Peridot groaned when she weakly got up from where she landed.
[Garnet walks up behind Peridot]
"Good thing you landed in the sand or your gem could have been cracked," Garnet said walking up behind Peridot.
"Yeah, good thing," Peridot chuckled.
Deep grunts were heard from across the beach as Jasper very weakly got up. Garnet and Peridot were dangerously close to where Jasper was.
"Garnet! Peridot! Behind you!" Amethyst yelled.
Jasper started to walk very slowly towards Peridot and Garnet with no expression in her eyes and no motivation in her step.
"Ahh!" Peridot screamed seeing the quartz approach them.
"Lapis! Wake up! Wake up!" Steven exclaimed shaking her again.
"I beat you once, I can do it again!" Garnet exclaimed. Jasper just kept walking forward and remained silent.
"Okay, you asked for it," Garnet said launching her gauntlets in Jasper's direction. Jasper dodged them by flipping to the side.
"What was that? What was that?!" Peridot exclaimed.
"She shouldn't be able to do stuff like that after unfusing like she just did!" Pearl panicked.
"Well, she is a quartz," Amethyst said.
Surprizingly, when Jasper wasn't that far from Garnet, she had more strength than before. Garnet launched a punch at Jasper as son as she had a chance. Jasper, however, caught Garnet's fist perfectly and flung Garnet across the beach.
Peridot, Amthyst, Pearl, and Steven carrying Lapis ducked behind the barn.
"Lapis! We need you now more than ever! Wake up!" Steven yelled shaking Lapis harder.
"Steven, she won't be able to wake up for at least another hour," Pearl said.
"What?! Why not?" Steven asked.
"She needs to regain her strength!" Pearl exclaimed.
"We are officially running out of time! We can't fool around with these two forever! We have to stop the Cluster before it emerges!" Peridot yelled.
"Well, how do we stop her?!" Steven asked.
"Your a quartz! Surely you know a way to stop another quartz!" Peridot cried.
"No! I'm only half quartz!" Steven panicked.
"Wait. I got it," Peridot said. Peridot quickly ran over to Amethyst, whispered something in her ear, and pointed in a direction down the beach.
"Alright, P-dot!" Amethyst shouted with a huge smile and started to run in the direction Peridot pointed.
"What was that about?" Steven asked Peridot.
"Shhh!" Peridot said and sneaked up against the wall of the barn.
"Peridot, what are you-?" Steven was cut off when Peridot made another shushing gesture but didn't make a sound.
"Yellow Diamond is a big muddy clod!" Peridot exclaimed out of nowhere.
"Peridot, why did you-?" Steven began to ask.
"Run," Peridot quickly said running towards the beach.
"Huh?" Steven asked. Steven turned around and saw Jasper charging in his direction. "Ahhh!" Steven exclaimed following Peridot. "What are you doing?" Steven asked Peridot once he finally caught up with her.
"Come on!" Peridot exclaimed.
"Huh?" Steven asked still confused.
"Now!" Peridot yelled.
Amethyst's whip quickly wrapped around Jasper and kept getting tighter until Jasper's physical form was destroyed. Once she was proofed, Steven ran over and bubbled the gem.
"How did you-?" Steven began to ask.
"Simple," Peridot stated. "Anger the target to lure her to a trap and destroy her physical form."
"So that's what you told Amethyst," Steven said finally understanding.
"Steven?" Lapis asked finally standing up and feeling more conscious.
"Lapis! Lapis is back! Lapis is back!" Steven happily exclaimed running over and hugging Lapis tightly.
"Yeah, I'm back," Lapis managed to say. "Squeezing too tight!"
"Oops. Sorry," Steven said and quickly let go of Lapis.
"Steven! What happened?!" Pearl exclaimed running up behind them.
"Peridot lead Jasper into a trap," Steven explained.
"Well, at least that problem is gone for now," Garnet said with a bit of relief.
"Good thing, too. We really need to start drilling soon to terminate the Cluster," Peridot said.
"The Cluster?" Lapis asked.
"You've been gone for a while," Amethyst giggled.
Steven just continuously stared at the gem in the bubble. He was just thinking.
"Stee-man, aren't you going to send that back to the temple?" Amethyst asked pointing at the bubble.
"Something seems wrong," Steven said.
"Steven, I think you can send the bubble away now," Pearl said not hiding the panic in her voice.
"There's a dangerous gem in there, Steven. You should get rid of it. Best time might be now," Lapis said getting tense.
"But what if she knows something," Steven said.
"Steven, I know what you are thinking, and that is a very bad idea!" Pearl exclaimed.
"What? What is he thinking?!" Peridot asked while really freaking out.
"Remember what Steven did to you when we caught you?" Amethyst asked.
"Steven! Don't let her out!" Peridot exclaimed.
"We gave you a chance. You changed," Steven said.
'Well, I'm just a Peridot, but she is a Jasper! A Jasper!" Peridot exclaimed. "Don't you remember what I told you about quartzes?" she asked.
"Huh?" Steven asked.
"They are huge, loyal soldiers! Loyal soldiers!" Peridot exclaimed.
"Well, Amethyst is a quartz. She helped the Crystal Gems instead of Homeworld," Steven said.
"Well, she's defective. No offense," Peridot said.
"None taken," Amethyst replied.
"My point is that Homeworld won't take in defective gems. So Amethyst went with the Crystal Gems and became loyal to them!" Peridot yelled.
"Well, my mom was a quartz, and she is known as the greatest traitor in gem history," Steven calmly said.
"Well, yeah but… it's… it's Jasper!" Peridot yelled.
"But Pearl always says that everyone and everything, whether it is a gem, a human, or a creature, deserves redemption," Steven said,
"For once, Pearl, I really wish you didn't give such good advice," Garnet said turning to Pearl.
"I know what I said, but this gem seems determined to defeat Rose. Even if she is shattered in the process," Pearl stated.
"Something just didn't seem right, though," Steven said.
"What do you mean?" Amethyst asked.
"Didn't you guys say that the war took place thousands of years ago?" Steven asked.
"Yes, it was. Why?" Pearl asked.
"Well, Jasper said she was there at the first war, but she immediately recognized my mom's shield," Steven said. "What if she had some kind of connection with my mom?" he asked.
"Even though we know that Rose kept secrets, even from me, I'm sure I would have known about something as big as that," Pearl said.
"Steven, you should just give us the bubble, or send it to the temple yourself," Garnet said walking towards him. Steven started to back up when Garnet made her approach.
"Stee-man, you know I always support you, but even I agree you got to get rid of that bubble!" Amethyst yelled.
Steven turned around and ran away screaming, "Nooo!"
All the Gems quickly chased behind Steven as soon as he started running.
"Steven, get back here!" Garnet yelled.
"She's not worth it, dude!" Amethyst yelled.
'I know Peridot changed, but that doesn't mean you can tame a beast like Jasper!" Pearl exclaimed.
"Trust me, you'll have better luck with Yellow Diamond than with Jasper! She is mentally unstable!" Peridot cried.
"Listen to them, Steven! There is no fixing her! I should know! I was stuck with her for months!" Lapis called after him.
Steven quickly stopped in his tracks and lifted up the bubble. "Everyone deserves redemption!" he exclaimed smashing the bubble.
All the gems gasped as the Jasper gem started to glow.