A/N – This is my first Steven Universe fanfiction. This is probably going to be a three-shot. If not, oh well. Other than that note, I hope you all will enjoy.

P.S. – This fanfiction is actually for a friend who wanted this fusion to happen tragically.

Steven looked at Peridot for the fifteenth time since their descent. She looked jittery and shaken in the light coming off of the drill. The green gem messed around with dials and buttons. Steven still had no idea what the purpose of them were other than they were cool. However, all the pushing and pulling Peridot did to the controls seemed to make the drill go quicker. He looked down at his quivering hands. He knew he was afraid. He could feel it deep within the core of his being. It wasn't because he didn't think they'd be able to handle the Cluster; it was just that he felt like something bad was going to happen. It was quite contradicting. They're the Crystal Gems who always save the day, right? That means that after he and Peridot handle the Cluster, everyone can just put this behind them and laugh.

"Peridot." His whisper barely caught her attention.

The gem stopped her movements momentarily to look at him, "What is it, Steven?"

"I-" The brunette looked out the window of the drill, seeing the dirt being pushed away at an alarming rate, "I'm scared."

She looked away, a frown marring her features, "I am too."

The conversation died off. Neither of them could speak. The two just stared out the front window, watching the dirt move passed them. This allowed Peridot to slow her mind and think. She hasn't ever been this terrified to face something since forever ago. Now that she's gotten the chance to appreciate Earth and its inhabitants, seeing as how the Cluster could take all of that away… it hurt. It really did. There was no other way to put it. Without this world, she would probably still be serving Yellow Diamond. Though she wouldn't admit this to the gems, Peridot loved Earth much like the other members of the Crystal Gems. All this life would go to waste if the Cluster was loose. She felt her fists curl and her eyes shut. The very thought felt as though it were physically hurting her.

Suddenly, Peridot felt two chubby arms surrounding her waist. She looked down to see a very frightened boy hugging her. Steven looked up at her, tears clouding his eyes. "Peridot?" He whispered again.

The green gem placed the drill on autopilot for the moment so that she could wrap her own arms around the boy. She held him close, the two calming each other with their presences in the other's space. "It's alright, Steven, we can get through this." Peridot said, surprising herself. She wasn't one to show emotions or sympathy because she practically lacked in that area. Now, here she was, consoling a petrified Steven that everything was going to turn out okay. It made her feel proud. "Shove it, Pearl!" Her mind instantly cheered as Steven released her.

He whipped his tears away and smiled up at her, "Thanks."

Peridot gave him her trademark grin before turning off autopilot, getting back to controlling the drill. "So," She spoke after a few minutes of silence, "Why didn't the others come back with you?"

Steven looked ahead, though there wasn't much to see, "They said they'll make their way back but since the Cluster was making a fuss, they told me to go on without them. They wouldn't make it in time to stop the Cluster from forming."

"They're still on the island?!" Peridot gawked, "Wasn't Malachite there too?!"

"Yeah." He said, "Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl formed Alexandrite to beat up Malachite. Jasper and Lapis spilt. Alexandrite managed to grab Lapis but Jasper fell into the ocean. We don't know where she went but she's not going to be happen when she reappears."

Peridot sighed, "Well, at least we got Lapis back."

Steven closed his eyes, "I wish I could have saved her."

"Who?"

"Jasper!" His eyes snapped open, "She deserves a second chance just like you and Lapis but she won't listen to me! All she sees is Rose Quartz and I'm not Rose Quartz; I'm Steven!"

The green gem looked startled by the sudden outburst but softened up a little, "Maybe one day you can talk her into joining the Crystal Gems. I think it's possible."

Stars seemed to sparkle in his dark eyes, "R-Really?!"

"Absolutely." She stated, smiling slightly, "Just don't force it. Force leads to violence and Jasper is always in for a fight." The two chuckled as the drill started to violently shake. Steven's eyes went wide with fright, looking at Peridot for answers. She grunted while trying to get the drill under control, "We're nearing the Cluster!" The drill shook more and more the closer they got towards the Cluster.

Steven clutched his gem for comfort. He anxiously sat forwards, wanting to get a look at the Cluster that has been plaguing his home for years and years. However, he could hear something. The brunette furrowed his brows and listened again. It sounded like screams, but the noises were vague. He turned to Peridot, thinking it was her but after continuing to listen to the shouts and not seeing her mouth moving he knew that something was wrong. Steven continued to listen, sensing that they were getting louder and louder the closer they got to the center of the Earth. He bowed his head, the screaming progressing further. His head hurt; there were so many voices. Some were crying out their problems, others were shouting for help. It felt nauseating.

"Steven!" Peridot's shout made him look up, teary-eyed again, "Steven, what's wrong?!"

"I don't-" He started but was stopped when an especially violent tremor shook the drill. Steven couldn't hold onto the seat he was sitting in. He yelped as his body fell forward towards the floor of the drill. He blinked, readying himself to get up when the drill lurched forward. Peridot gave a startled screech as she made a move to stop the drill. Steven held his head as the screaming increased tenfold. He needed to stand up. Steven sat up, curling in on his knees to get off of the floor of the drill. However, the sudden scratching and clawing noise underneath him stopped all movement. He was frozen in fear. Though it felt like an eternity he crouched frozen, it wasn't even a second. Illuminated hands ripped through the bottom of the drill. It pulled away the floor, leaving Steven's feet to crouch on air. He gasped as he felt his body falling. With reflexes that would make the Crystal Gems proud, her gripped onto the seat. His heart pounded in his chest while tears pricked his eyes, "PERIDOT!"

She looked away from the controls that started to malfunction a little bit to stare at him with horror in her eyes, "STEVEN!" The green gem grabbed his wrist, trying to pull him up with all of her might. Using both the seat and Peridot's help, Steven tried to get out of the hole. He was nearly successful until the hands that belonged to the Cluster took interest in him. Dozens of broken and twisted hands wrapped around his abdomen and legs. Steven froze, heart stopping for a few seconds. A tear fell from his eye. "Don't let go!" Peridot shouted frantically, tears in her own eyes, "W-We can get through this!"

The hands grip on him tightened. Steven yelped slightly, the pressure on the lower half of his body starting to hurt. He blinked away the tears to stare into Peridot's eyes. The more she held onto him, the more she slid closer towards the open hole above the Cluster. His bottom lip quivered, he knows what he's got to do. "Peridot…" It was barely a whisper, one that scared the small gem, "You need to let go…"

"WHAT?!" She screamed, "Are you an idiot?! I'm not letting the Cluster get you!"

"But I don't want to bring you down with me!" He shouted back. The well in his eyes broke as he sobbed, the Cluster's arms lurching backwards. He gasped, the pressure on his lungs starting to choke him. "I'm sorry, Peridot." Steven cried, snatching his hand away as the Cluster dragged him into their lair.

"STEVEN!"

The colored arms hugged him tight, pulling him closer and closer to the middle of the Cluster. His hand was still in midair, his mind not believing that he actually sacrificed himself to whatever torture the Cluster was capable of. "Peridot, please forgive me for what I did. Garnet, please don't think this is your fault. Pearl, please don't cry too much. Amethyst, please don't be mad. Lapis, please don't be sad. Everyone… please… that's all I beg of you." He thought, sobbing uncontrollably. The screaming from before started to gradually turn into words. The Cluster chanted his name, over and over again, as if it were some creepy horror movie. Steven wished it was a horror movie because then the end credits would roll up and he could go to bed, forgetting all about the movie. However, this is actually happening. There's nothing he can do now.

The Cluster finally managed to carry him to the middle of the shattered pieces of past gems who once walked and talked and had lives of their own. The shards danced around in as if in some ritual that involved them saying his name over and over again. He could hear Peridot's screams for them to stop, but he couldn't do anything. Steven notices that the Cluster as a whole started to swirl quicker and quicker, the shattered gems glowing brightly. They lifted off of the ground and came closer to him. He wanted to push them away, but the hands that was still attached to his abdomen wouldn't let go. Closer and closer they came. His eyes widened. Inches ever so slowly towards his personal bubble. Then…

Pain.

That's all he could feel. He gave an agonized scream. Steven couldn't process what was hurting or what's hurting him. He suspected the hand gripping around him, but that couldn't be it. It was like something crawling under his skin and digging into his head. It burned and hurt. He screamed. It was all he could do because he couldn't think properly.

Peridot gasped, tearing free falling from her eyes as she watched the boy she's known for the past few months become one of her closest friends in pain. He was crying and screaming. It went on during the display the Cluster was doing. She shouted for them to stop, that they would kill Steven if they don't. The collection of shattered gems did no such thing. Then, with a brilliant glow of light, the shards latched onto each other. They danced with each other in the glow of their gems around Steven. The Cluster grabbed him, twirling him around. He shouted, gripping his head. Peridot couldn't figure out what was happening until Steven and the Cluster disappeared. Her eyes widened in fear.

The two formed started coming together, their bodies nothing but light now. The Cluster gave one last shout before the two were gone and instead was replaced with giant woman. There wasn't enough room in the place the Cluster previously called home. Instead of staying cramped, the fusion punched and pushed away the dirt and rocks above her to get out. Peridot quickly got the drill to go in reverse, trying her best to ignore the hole in the floor where she had failed Steven as a friend. She needed to help him.

Garnet stopped, her body frozen. Pearl noticed, turning around, "What's wrong?"

"S-Steven…" She whispered, her fists tightening as tears left her eyes, "We have to hurry!"

"Why? What's happened to Steven?!" Lapis, who had just woken up a few minutes ago, exclaimed as the group picked up their pace.

"Something's happened." Garnet stated, a hand gripping her head, "I can't see exactly what's happened but it's bad."

"Ste-man's in trouble…" Amethyst whispered, obviously shocked, as she sped in front of the group. The four ran – or in Lapis' case, flew – with all of their might towards the barn where they spent weeks building the drill together. Pearl was sobbing, overly worried about the boy she's raised since birth. Garnet had gotten her crying down, a deep frown marring her face. Lapis was tittering in anxiousness. Amethyst was just running, mumbling to herself every now and then.

It was only when they got closer towards the area when they heard heavy screaming and crying. Five minutes, they finally reached the barn and they froze. A giant woman, taller than any of their fusions, screamed in agony and sobbed into one of her four arms. She was on her knees, hunched over. Two of her arms helped her not fall on her face while the last of the four clutched a pink, circular gem.

Steven's gem.

It was only when the drill popped out of the ground did any of the four move. "Peridot!" Pearl sobbed once the green gem crawled out of the drill shakenly, "Peridot! W-What happened?!"

They noticed the tears falling from her eyes. She sniffled, "Our mission was compromised."

"How?" Garnet's stern voice hurt Peridot more than she thought.

She closed her eyes, "Everything was fine until an earthquake made S-Steven fall to the floor of the drill." She whipped her eyes. "The Cluster was starting to form limbs and pulled the bottom of the drill off… Steven almost fell. I… I t-tried to pull him up, but-" Peridot started choking on her words, "He knew that I wouldn't be able to pull him up, s-so he… he let go! The Cluster took him and they f-forced him to… to f-fuse!"

All eyes were wide, especially Lapis' who had experienced something like this. Garnet ran over to the fusion, "STEVEN! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

"G-Garnet?!" It asked, swinging it head up and around, "Garnet! P-Please help me…"

Garnet took a second to stare at who he had become in this fusion. The fusion's hair was long, tousled, and poking out in several places but still kept Steven's natural curls. Steven's dark brown eyes were the largest on their face. However, ten other eyes accompanied the face. Their skin was a pale pink with blue on the joint. Steven's trademark clothing, except the flip flops, were present on the fusion's body. Though, the shirt and pants were shortened. Instead of one yellow star on their shirt like Steven's, it had three smaller ones to the right. Broken shards from the Cluster littered the fusion's body. The biggest thing was that the fusion was humongous. "Steven, is that you in control?" She asked, feeling herself starting to freak out. Fusion was everything to her.

"Y-Yes, but… but they keep screaming!" The assortment fusion said, "T-They won't let m-me go! I-I can't get out!"

Garnet took deep breaths, "Steven, you need to calm down. We can get through this."

Steven's voice came clear as daylight from the fusion's mouth, "I'm scared."

Pearl ran up to Garnet once she had composed herself, "Tell them to let you go!"

"They won't." Steven's voice was more present the more they spoke, "They're dying and screaming and crying and hurting and… and" They clutched their head with four arms. "PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!" They begged.

While the assortment of gems before them begged and cried, Garnet turned towards the group. "Everyone. I know what we have to do." They gave her a hopeful look, but it disappeared when they saw the sadness covering her face, "We have to bubble Steven in order to release him."

"You want us to fight him?!" Pearl shouted.

"How do we know that Ste-man can even go into his gem?!" Amethyst gawked at their leader.

"You can't do that to him! You can't trap him like that!" Lapis sobbed out.

Peridot froze and looked at the ground, "Will it save him?"

Pearl, Amethyst, and Lapis looked at her in shock. Garnet stared directly at her, "My future vision says that he'll be able to into his gem. We just have to set him free."

"Do it." Steven's stern voice filtered over the area.

"No!" Lapis shouted.

"We can't do that to you!" Amethyst cried out.

"There has to be another way!" Pearl screamed out.

The fusion gave one of Steven's trademark smiles, though it was sadder. "I said that I was in control, I just wasn't able to escape." Tears fled from the brown eyes on the fusion's face, "Please, save me. I promise I won't fight back." Ghostly hands appeared from the ground, wrapping around the fusion. "The Cluster is getting feisty and I don't know how long I can keep this up!" They ushered, "If they even get so much of an ounce of control… it's over. Please, please, please… I need you to bubble me."

Garnet nodded, getting her gauntlets readied. She turned to the group, "I can't do this by myself… but together, we can save Steven. Are you with me?" They looked at each other. Tears were shed and nods were given as they all summoned their respectful weapons. "Steven." Garnet spoke, the other members of the Crystal Gems beside her, "This will only hurt for a moment. I promise that everything will get better from her on forward."

"Thank you." Steven's brown eyes shut as the Crystal Gems launched themselves at him. The Cluster screamed and sobbed inside his head, but he didn't dare let them hurt his friends. In a second, the fusion was gone leaving dusted shards of the Cluster and one pink gem.

They succeeded.