"You two should spend some time apart." Alexandrite released the tautly drawn bow, an arrow of light shooting forth towards Malachite. The ray pierced her before she could react, overwhelming the fusion with energy until she burst, a radiant explosion revealing a newly-separated Lapis and Malachite who began plummeting towards the ocean below. Alexandrite ran forward and reached out with both arms extended to catch the falling pair. They landed with a muted thump, both gems out cold from the trauma of the battle and their forced separation.
The triumphant fusion staggered onto the tropical beach where the semi-sentient watermelon Stevens awaited, cheering the victorious gems. Alexandrites legs wobbled and gave out before she collapsed onto her knees, dropping the unconscious Homeworld gems, followed by a luminous glow covering her form as it separated into the Crystal Gems. Garnet managed to strike a dignified kneeling pose, one fist on the ground; Amethyst simply collapsed, conscious but exhausted. Pearl laughed in relief as realization set in that they had won.
Amethyst raised her hand in a thumbs-up, her face still buried in the sand. "I'm all right..."
The watermelon Stevens approached the trio as a group, one of them running forward to embrace Pearl. She looked at it in confusion. "Steven? Is that you in there?"
The watermelon nodded, grinning with satisfaction.
Garnet stood over the pair and smiled. "Thank you. We couldn't have done it without your help."
"Good job melon head." Amethyst mumbled, her voice muted.
"Thank you, all of you! We are truly grateful." Garnet shouted to the melons.
The assembled melons beamed with pride; a few looked embarassed. Garnet could have sworn she saw one blushing, but she was fairly certain that there was nothing in the laws of nature that would allow a fruit to blush.
The celebration was cut short by a low rumble emanating from all around them. The Gems looked around for the source of the noise, but they were quickly presented with a more immediate concern. The ground cracked open in front of them, a deep fissure quickly growing in width, separating the Gems and the possessed Watermelon from the remaining watermelon Stevens. They looked around in a panic—behind them, the once-tranquil ocean was surging with waves.
The very land on which they stood twisted and tilted without warning, sending the unconscious Lapis and Jasper sliding towards the abyssal chasm in front of them. Amethyst grabbed onto Lapis' limp hand as soon as she saw what was happening; Pearl grasped at Jasper, but the heavy Gem slipped out of her grip and slid towards the precipice below. Throwing caution to the wind, Pearl dived after her—sliding on her stomach and grabbing onto Jasper's ankle with both hands. Amethyst used her free hand to pull her whip out of her gem, reeling back her arm before directing it at Pearl with all of her strength.
The whip wrapped around Pearl's waist just as she approached the edge of the now-massive gap in the Earth, with Jasper dangling over the edge, Pearl's small hands her only hope for survival. Amethyst strained against the immense weight pulling at her whip until Garnet grabbed onto it with both fists, pulling the endangered Pearl and Jasper back from the edge. Together, Amethyst and Garnet reeled them in until they were back on stable ground.
Garnet turned to the helpless Watermelon. "It must be the Cluster! Peridot was right. Steven!"
He looked up at her face, gripping Garnet's leg in fear. "It's up to you!"
Jasper gasped, her eyes shooting open as she sat up with a start. She looked around—she was back in Peridot's ship, in the central hub room connecting the aft and fore of the vessel. A sharp ache prompted her to touch the gem that sat in place of her nose—it was cracked. She winced and stood up, gathering her thoughts. The ship had crashed, that she remembered very well. Her humiliation at the hands of the fusion called 'Garnet' and her ensuing imprisonment by Lapis Lazuli was burned into her memory. Could someone have brought her back to the ship? Perhaps Peridot? She still didn't know where that technician was; probably hiding somewhere on Earth and waiting for Homeworld reinforcements. Jasper didn't need to wait—she would act.
A twinkle of light prompted her to look up, and what she saw defied explanation. The blue Earth sky she had expected to see was not there. Instead, past the windowed ceiling covering the atrium, was an ocean of stars. Somehow the ship was adrift in space—but that was impossible. She herself had been thrown into the engine core and had fallen to earth with the wreckage. The memory made her wince again and reflexively rub the crack on her gem.
This time a noise demanded her attention; a 'clang, clang, clang' from deep within the ship's bowels. Could Peridot have dragged her here and restored the ship to working order on her own? She smirked at the thought. Impossible—the ship had landed within eyesight of the Crystal Gems' headquarters. Still, if that is what Peridot had managed to accomplish, Jasper would have to be sure to commend her initiative in her post-action report to Yellow Diamond.
"Who's there? Peridot!" Jasper's deep voice echoed throughout the ship's halls, returning to her with no answer.
"Why are you yelling for her? I thought it was me you wanted." A soft voice behind Jasper made her spin around—in front of her stood Lapis Lazuli, her face cold and expressionless.
Jasper snarled. "You! How did I get here?"
"I'm done being everyone's prisoner!" she shouted, her face twisted with naked anger.
"Answer me, brat!" Jasper went to grab Lapis' wrist, but as soon as she gripped it, the Gem dissolved into a cloud of pink mist.
"What is this?" Jasper looked down at her open hand, where the mist was fading away into nothingness. "Where did you go?" She shouted.
"Now you're MY prisoner!" Lapis' voice came from all around—not echoing within the ship, but as if she were speaking inside Jasper's own head. The doors lining the room slammed shut, locking her into the circular room.
"And I'm never letting you go!" Jasper looked down at her feet, where water was beginning to pool up from the floor. Within seconds it had risen from the tips of her toes to her ankles. How was the brat doing this? Jasper ran over to the largest door, the one leading to the command center of the ship. The control panel unresponsive, she began pummeling the door with her fists. The metal caved inwards after a dozen heavy blows, but Jasper was tiring out fast, and she wasn't in any shape to fight.
"Just let me do this for you!"Jasper looked down—Lapis was reflected in the water that had now risen halfway up Jasper's shins, her visage distorting with the ripples that Jasper was creating with her mighty blows. She looked all around—Lapis Lazuli was nowhere to be seen. Turning back to the water below her, she saw that the reflection had dissapeared. Jasper cocked her fist back and prepared to strike the door again. It was all she knew how to do.
The creaking of wood brought Steven back to the waking world. The moon shone brightly overhead in the night sky. It had only been a day since he and the Crystal Gems had dealt with the Cluster, but the rapid fire crises of the past few days had made it feel like an eternity had passed. He turned his head to the barn door—he had camped outside, hoping to be there when Lapis awoke. Garnet had warned him that it could take a long time for her to recover, but he wanted to be there when she did.
He wriggled out of his sleeping bag and tip-toed over to the barn, bare feet pressing on cold grass. He eased the door open to peak inside and saw Lapis standing in front of a large gap in the barn wall. Twin wings of water were extended outwards from the gem in the middle of her back, the moonlight filtering through them in an eerie display of light.
"Lapis! You're ok!" Steven threw the barn door open, abandonding any pretense of stealth.
"Steven!" Lapis jolted with surprise and turned towards him.
Steven's joy quickly turned to dissapointment. "You're leaving?"
"I have to, Steven. I don't belong here. Not with that... animal so close by."
"She can't hurt you anymore. We've got her locked up."
"So, you bubbled her?"
Steven rubbed his neck. "Well, no. Pearl wanted to poof her, but Garnet said that since her gem was already cracked it might shatter her, so we locked her in my mom's room until we figure out what to do with her." He nervously rattled off the explanation to Lapis, who raised an eyebrow.
"Your mom's room?"
"Yeah, it's like this magical place, and you can create whatever you want in there. Well, I can create whatever I want in there since I've got my mom's gem." He patted the gem underneath his shirt.
The blue Gem frowned. "So Jasper gets to live in a fantasy world while I'm stuck on Earth?"
He shook his head. "No no, I'm the only one who can make the room do stuff. On its own its just endless pink clouds. Kind of like being bubbled, is what Pearl said."
Lapis looked back towards the moon. "Maybe you should shatter her."
"W-what?" Steven stammered.
Lapis turned back to Steven. "Kidding! I'm just kidding."
Steven breathed a sigh of relief. That had scared him.
"So it won't be fun for her in there?" Lapis asked.
"I don't think so. Not bad, but not really good either. Garnet said that when you're in that room it's just you and your thoughts."
Lapis looked down at Steven. He was staring at his feet, toes wriggling nervously. "I should get going now, Steven."
Steven smiled sadly at her. "It seems like you're always leaving as soon as we meet again."
She leaned in and kissed him on his forehead before turning back towards the sky. With a flap of her wings she was in the air, a fine mist of water falling back onto Steven as the distance between them grew.