Jaspers were quarts, soldiers made for war. They prized strength and strength alone. Their strength allowed them to be the backbone of the Homeworld army, the defense and offense of the Diamonds. They were strong, but Jasper, herself, had never felt so weak. Fusion was the one thing she despised and now she felt an urge, a calling. She needed to fuse and Lapis had given her answer. No.

"It'll be better this time!"

She was weak, mentally corrupted. Lapis had refused to fuse, obviously the more stable of the two halfs of Malachite. She was right, Malachite was bad for them. She was unhealthy.

"I've changed! You've changed me!"

Jasper lifted and arm out of the water to look at her hand. Water dripped onto her gem. Yes, she did change. She liked fusion, she could never go back. She could never return to Homeworld. She did and liked the one thing that her Diamonds despised. The one thing the traitors practiced. Jasper let her arm drop back into the water. Who was she now?

A traitor?

A soldier?

A corrupt?

She felt a flash of pain from inside her gem at the thought. Those memories would have to stay locked away for now. Bright flash or not, Jasper would not give in, not in that way. She would never give her physical form. She felt her arm rest on a familiar material, sand.

Had she already washed up on the beach? She closed her eyes. No matter, she had a lot of thinking to do. But, one thing was certain . . . this throbbing pain, the pain of being alone needed to go. She couldn't fuse again, that much was certain, but she needed some way to cope with or neglect the feeling that Malachite brought.

She let out a sigh as her eyes locked onto the Earth's moon in the sky. She stayed still, laying in the sand as it ran from high in the sky until it vanished over the ocean in the distance. The sun would rise to about half way until she heard a sound. She tilted her head upwards and her eyes widened.

The cheap imitation of rose and the pearl walked outside. They hadn't seen her yet, so she moved with haste. She slid up against the side of the wooden structure, the Crystal Gem's base. Jasper wasn't necessarily sure if she wanted to fight them. It would be easy, sure. But, it didn't seem worth it anymore.

"It was strange, Pearl. It was like I wasn't even there,"

"What do you mean?"

"Jasper didn't come after me until the end, she was only there to . . . to fuse with Lapis."

Jasper listened with interest. "Does Garnet—"

"No, I'm not sure how she would react. And to be honest, I'm worried." Steven shuffled his feet.

"Worred? How?"

"Jasper wanted to fuse with Lapis after everything that happened. She wanted the strength. I don't— I don't think she's alright. That and she's still out there, who knows what she's doing right now,"

Jasper's eyes widened, he knew. She clenched her fists, a thought entering her mind. The fusion . . . Garnet. She had stayed together for a long time, was there a secret? Did she have some kind of . . . cure for Jasper's obsession? The orange quartz made up her mind and flipped around the corner, startling the two Crystal Gems. She jumped up and landed on the porch, not even ten feet away.

"I appreciate your concern, The Steven."

Steven took a step back, "How do you know my name?"

Jasper took a step forward, eyes locked on the renegade pearl."I learned a lot from Lapis during our time as Malachite. Wait . . . you have healing powers." She stopped in her tracks.

Pearl summoned her spear, "Stay back!"

Jasper narrowed her eyes, "Tell me, Quartz. Can you heal the mind?"

Steven's eyes dilated, "The mind?"

"Yes! The mind. These urges, the want to fuse is tearing me apart. I can't stand the— the withdrawal!"

"I— I—"

"Enough!" Pearl charged forward and slashed forward with her spear. It bounced off Jasper's helmet. "Don't underestimate me! I may be a Pearl, but I'm enough!"

"Who do you think you're fooling. You're not just a Pearl, you're Rose's Pearl. You've struck fear into Generations of Gem creators. You are the symbol of defiance and you've earned it; oh yes, you have. I will not underestimate you, but understand one thing. We don't have to do this."

Pearl's stance falted for a second before she corrected it, "I won't fall for it."

"I am not here to fight, no matter what you think. I need to get this desire for fusion out of my Gem. I can't go on with it. It's killing me."

Pearl lunged forward and swiped at Jasper with her spear, earning several dodges. Jasper grabbed the spear and kicked Pearl's stomach, sending her to the other side of the balcony. The spear disintegrated in Jasper's hand. "Let me talk to the fusion,"

Pearl looked up, shocked. "You want to talk to Garnet?" She narrowed her eyes, "Why?" Her eyes widened slightly, "Garnet would not fuse with you!"

"What? That's not—" Jasper jumped up as a plasma bolt slammed into the wood, the place she stood before. Jasper grabbed onto the roof and pulled herself up. Pearl jumped up, higher than Jasper did and threw her spear at the Quartz.

Jasper did a backflip as the spear broke through the roof, creating a small hole. Pearl landed and summoned another spear. "You don't understand! Fusion is not something to seek for power, it is a relationship. You have to work for it, earn it. It's not yours to take."

"Are you cracked?! I'm not here to fuse. What kind of idiot do you think I am?! I JUST NEED IT OUT!" Jasper took a deep breath, trying to control herself. "Just let me talk to the fusion. She has to know. She does know,"

Pearl's grip loosened, "Know what?"

"Yo, P!"

Jasper turned behind her to see a spin blur of purple approaching her. The Runt. Jasper put her arms in front of her, forming an X shape, to block the attack. Her feet dug into the roof and she pushed on the purple gem, they bolted over her.

"Amethyst! Don't be so reckless!"

"C'mon, P. Garnet isn't too far and with Steven's powers back a little crack won't do much! Besides, we have something she doesn't! Fusion!"

"Amethyst, I'm not sure that's the best idea."

"What? P?" Amethyst looked over at Jasper, who looked very mad. "I think it's a good enough idea when Jasper's giving us that death stare."

"ENOUGH! Where is the fusion?!"

"Hey."

Jasper's eyes widened and she spun around, lashing out with her arm, intending to strike the person who snuck up on her. Only problem was that her arm was grabbed and she was twisted and thrown off the roof. She landed in the sand, a small crater forming in her wake. She pulled herself up, feeling the sand in her hair. "Great," She shook her head and stood to her feet.

She heard three thuds behind her and a series of smaller footsteps. "Garnet, be careful." she turned to face the Crystal Gems, not a single one missing to her knowledge.

"Fusion, finally. We come face to face once again,"

"What are you doing here? Are you still here to take us out?"

"No, as I've stated before, I didn't come here to fight. I need your help, fusion."

"I doubt I can help you with your . . . problem."

"But you have to! You're the only one who can! You're the fusion, you know how fusion works and feels. How do I get rid of this obsession?!"

"I can't help you. I haven't defused for a lengthy period of time in the last five-thousand years. You're on your own."

"What? No! I can't live like this! I need to get rid of the is feeling," She clenched her fists. "If you aren't going to help me, then I want you— I want— you need to— SHATTER ME!"

Garnet took a step back, "What?"

Jasper fell to her knees and put both of her hands into the sand, plunging her fingers through the rough substance. "Just . . . end it. I can't go on," Jasper stayed like that for several minutes, waiting. But, nothing came.

"Absolutely not." Jasper looked up to see the Pearl looking down on The Steven. "No way. We let you have your way with Peridot and Lapis. Even Centipede, a Corrupted Gem."

Steven sighed, "Yeah, I know it's not a good idea. But, Jasper's not the same as she was before. She's hurting. During our time on the boat and now, I can see that Malachite affected her. It hurt her in ways that I'm not sure I can understand. Besides, if it isn't this, then you guys are just going to kill her. So, please, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, let me try." Steven waited for a response.

Garnet cleared her throat, "You will be watched the entire time,"

"Right," Steven turned towards Jasper. "Hey, Jasper. I'm not sure what will happen from here, but you can come with us. We'll try our hardest to help, as long as you don't try to kill us."

"Not like I have much of a choice."

"That's . . . uh, not the spirit I was hoping for, but it will do. For now." Steven looked up at Garnet. This was not going to be easy and extremely dangerous. But he knew, Jasper needed closure. He looked out towards the ocean. Lapis needed closure.