The planet Earth, a rich history of war and culture on one body of the entire galaxy. It should seem insignificant, but it hosts life that can determine the future for every species of the universe, including the powerful gem race. One such being with that power is Jack Divinos, a human with a Labradorite gem imbued within his chest and connected to his heart. A betrayed Crystal Gem, now loyal to Homeworld and the Diamonds. After much training, he soon gained full power over his gem abilities, and is now one of the top warriors of the colony. Today he is sent on a mission to inspect the Earth, as an anomaly was detected. Jack didn't necessarily care what happened to Earth, but apparently this anomaly had the capacity to destroy even Homeworld if left alone. Now Jack is to investigate it, his support being his close allies Diopside, Rutile Topaz, and Onyx, as the ship descends to one particular settlement.
Beach City, a place to call home and center of all things weird. Of course there was that one place in Oregon, but this human was more concerned about what happened here. Maxwell Ignitus, human wielding an Obsidian gem in his right hand. Long ago after escaping and killing the awful family that abused him, he found the Crystal Gems. An accident caused him to lose his right hand, but Obsidian saved him and replaced his appendage. Over five decades later he returned to the gems and accompanies Steven, using his newly mastered combination of gem skills and powers and human creativity and weaponry to battle the forces of evil. Unfortunately now though, he's suffering a bad headache and reoccurring nosebleed.
"Aw come on, I can still fight!" Max protested as he was laid in bed by Steven and Garnet.
"You're too sick Max, we don't want you getting hurt even worse." Steven says caringly as he fluffs Max's pillow.
"There are only three gems on the ship coming toward us, we can handle this." Garnet informs Max as she finally manages to make him stay down on the bed.
"Fine, but if I hear anything bad happening, I'm jumping in to fight!"
"Is something wrong Jack?" Diopside said with concern as she puts a hand on his shoulder, confused to see his nasal cavity protruding blood.
"I'm fine, just a nosebleed. Maybe my body is trying to get used to the new gravity, I haven't been on Earth in over a year...so what do the scanners say?" He directs his attention to Onyx who was piloting the ship.
"We can confirm that there are 5 gems, a Pearl, Amethyst, the fused Ruby and Sapphire, and the human child of Rose Quartz."
"What of the anomaly?"
"Hard to pinpoint, but it's definitely near them."
"Alright, prepare for landing."
"Here they come." Garnet announces as she and the rest of the Crystal Gems ready their weapons for combat. The black ship soon sets down onto the sandy beach before a hatch opens. "Don't lower your guard, they may have destabilizers." The four watch as new gems walk out of the ship.
"We have arrived, and it seems we have a welcoming gift." Onyx chuckles as she walks out, Rutile and Diopside walking behind her. Jack takes a deep breath of Earth's air, a small part of him missing the sensation as he walks off the ship, then glares at the Crystal Gems.
"Wait… one, two, three… four?" Amethyst said confused as she looks at the new gems. "I thought you said there were only three."
"I-I did… it's three gems… and a human." To say they were surprised was an understatement as they see the new human.
"Well that's just rude. You all forgot about me? After just abandoning me!?" Jack yells infuriated, his head hurting though and the world around him seeming to shift.
"The anomaly is getting stronger, just what is happening?" Onyx said as she looks at a tablet shaped device.
"A human...no, Jack. How did we forget?" Pearl seemed unsure about herself as she looks at Jack, then glances toward the temple...where Max was sleeping.
"Wait, we met Max first? No it was Jack, no um…" Steven tried to make sense of things, until he felt his own nose bleeding slightly.
"Hmm...so whatever this anomaly is, it's affecting their memories as well. That explains the nosebleed, but why me? That could only mean...no that's impossible." Jack tries to make sense of the situation, but then Onyx's tablet blows up.
"Darn it! The anomaly is too much for the device, we need to find it and destroy it now while these traitors are confused." Onyx summons her sword as she points at the temple. "It must be coming from over there."
"Jack...or Max?" Garnet tries to focus until she hears the temple door opening, and Max walks out.
"Sorry, but I can't resist the temptation of seeing something...new." Max and Jack immediately lock eyes, the whole world seeming to pause. They look at each other's respective gems with an odd curiosity. The two walk towards each other slowly, wind blowing around them softly as they reach out with their arms, fingertips barely touching before a shock wave separates them, blasting Max into Garnet's arms, and Jack into Diopside's.
"Well, that hurt a lot. But I believe I understand what the anomaly is." Jack carefully stands back up, looking at Max intensely. "This human isn't supposed to exist, at least not in my world. Something is causing alternate timelines to meld into each other."
"Wait wait wait, what you're talking about is impossible." Max shakes his head before getting onto his feet. "Two timelines can't just suddenly rip and stitch together like this, there's gotta be a catalyst, and I'm pretty sure I'm looking at it."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm almost 70 years old, and I've never seen another human with a gem besides Steven. If anything, you must be the source of the problem."
"Idiot, your theory means nothing. Homeworld's technology has detected the disturbance and led us here, and the detector blew up once you were close enough. If I want to keep Homeworld safe, you'll have to be destroyed." Jack reaches for his gem with both hands before pulling out two sharp knives glowing with a strange blue light.
"Everyone stand back, it's time I teach this wannabe some manners." Max smirks as he reaches into his right hand and pulls out a black cloak before adorning it.
GO FOR BROKE
ENGAGE
Jack immediately dashes toward Max, knives ready to slash, but Max was all too prepared as he reaches into his cloak and pulls out his favorite combat shotgun, firing repeatedly at Jack once he was close enough. With Jack stunned by the unexpected damage and force of the blasts, Max takes the opportunity to repeatedly slam the gun against Jack's gut and face before delivering one more round directly into his face and blasting him across the sand.
"What? Where were you hiding that?"
"Interdimensional portal, got the inspiration from the gems' warp pad, now I can summon whatever weapons I own into my hands. Check this out." Max puts away the shotgun to reveal a machine gun, which he uses to fire rapidly at his opponent.
"Not this time. Jack be nimble, Jack be quick." With that phrase said, Jack focuses his energy into an incredible burst of speed, dodging the bullets with ease before rushing at Max, then removing the ammunition from the gun.
*click click click*
"Out of ammo?" Max looks at the gun, only to feel the back of his head hurting as Jack threw the ammo clip at him. Then Jack runs quickly once again at the disarmed gunner, dealing many incredibly fast punches to Max's body.
"Jack be lethal, Jack be slick." Jack's speed lowers slightly, but in return gets a large boost in power. He brandishes his knives again as he slashes and stabs at Max. But as he gives an especially deep stab, Max grabs onto his arm and glares.
"I'm gonna hurt you." He says in a voice oozing in venom, flipping Jack over his body by the arm and slamming him hard onto the ground. Max reaches into his cloak and brandishes multiple daggers. He stabs at Jack's palms and ankles to pin him onto the ground while leaving bloody mess as well. He switches weapons once more as he pulls out several grenades and pulls out the pins, laying them around Jack's body. Then he jumps high into the air and pulls out one last weapon. "Here comes the rocket launcher!" With said large artillery pulled out, he aims carefully through the scope from above before finally firing, a large missile launching directly at Jack and the grenades before finally exploding all around him.
"Hmph, done and done." He puts the RPG back into his cloak as he lands back onto the ground. As the dust settles, he looks to see...Jack is nowhere, all that was left are the daggers, blackened sand, and some red and...blue blood.
"What the?" Before Max can try to understand what happened, he feels his cloak yanked off. He looks to see Jack holding it before slicing it into nothing but strips.
"Next time you try to pin someone down, make sure it's not on loose sand." Jack says, his eyes glowing a bright blue color.
"...DARN IT! I FORGOT WE WERE ON THE BEACH!" Max yells out as he clutches his head with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
Is this guy for real? Jack thought to himself before sighing and deciding to continue the fight. "Now witness the power of Labradorite!" Jack roars out as his gem glows brightly, his veins glowing as bright blue blood courses from his heart. He flips backwards and lands into the ocean, then digs his knives into the seawater. His magic energy is harnessed through the knives and begins to shift and change the water before it begins to take shape, growing holes for eyes and a mouth with sharp teeth, fins and gills forming, and a large tail. It keeps swelling with Jack's energy until it finally took form, a saltwater beast shaped like an enormous orca.
"...Now that's just not fair." Max says as he looks at the watery beast. Jack's eyes flash once more, and the orca attacks, swimming through the air before slamming against Max, playing with him like a soon to be meal. The orca repeatedly bounces Max with its nose, then smacks him down with its tail onto the sand. Before Max can even try to recover, the orca rams itself head first into Max, violently smashing him further and further into the sand until he was buried deep.
"It's done." Jack says solemnly as he looks at the orca and carefully directs it back toward the water, only to feel some resistance. "What's wrong with you? Get back into the water, I want my magic back." Then he looks to see the Orca was grabbed by the tail by a bloodied and bruised, but incredibly angry Max.
Max says nothing as his body now bursts into an incredibly hot inferno, the sand around him turning into glass and the orca's tail vaporizing into steam.
"Impossible, how are you still alive, and producing so much heat?"
"Oh please, my sister hurt me worse than your stupid fish. As for the heat, Obsidian is no slouch when it comes to firepower, she and I harness enough power to rival the sun, you could use the entire ocean against me, and I'll still be standing." Soon the water formed orca screeches as it was completely evaporated by Maxwell. He slowly walks toward the ocean, the water at his feet turning to steam.
"I will not fail my Diamonds and lose to some scum of the Earth. My magic has no limits!" Jack stabs one knife into the sand and holds the other into the air. The sand and wind swirls around his knives before being blasted at Max, the wind rotating around Max into a vortex to try and suck away the oxygen, and the sand trying to chain down his feet and slow him down. The fires around Max slowly shrink as the wind attacks and sucks away any useable air. Having no other choice, Max stomps into the sand to make it work for him. Jack looks confused until he sees the water around him bubbling and boiling. He looks underneath to see a hotspot forming beneath the sand before erupting into hot lava, blasting away Jack. This causes the winds to diminish and let Max breathe again, his fires strong once more.
This isn't good, this Jack guy is pretty strong. Maybe I could use fusion, no I can't rely on that and put Steven at risk, I know I can win, but how? Max wonders to himself as he tries to formulate a plan.
This must be a nightmare! No human can be this strong! I threw everything but he's still standing. Maybe there is a way to put out his flame for good, but how? Jack thinks to himself as he looks at his knives curiously.
Max Ending
You know, I don't normally step in to help, but I don't mind lending a helping hand.~ Max flinched as he heard the familiar voice ringing in his head. Zero was the result of Max's sanity pushed to the breaking point. Whenever exposed to extreme pain or anger, Zero takes control of the body to deliver brutal agony to his enemy. Zero had no alliance to good or evil, but feared not existing, so he would help if necessary. Max knew it was a deadly gamble, but he had little choice.
"Enough of this!" Jack rushes at Max once more, his knives elongating with blue energy surrounding them. He jumps into the air to slash at Max, only to cut through smoke in the air. "What the?"
"Peekaboo~" A mischievous voice says from behind before Jack cries out in pain. He looks down to see his own abdomen pierced by a gray and pale left hand. "It's Zero's time to shine!"
Zerum quickly redraws his hand and smirks as he looks at Jack struggling to heal the large wound. "Let's see if you can still heal after this!" Zero morphs his obsidian right hand into a makeshift razor sharp edge. Jack turns his head only for it to be too late as Zero slices repeatedly across Jack's body, his blue blood spurting into the air and coating Zero's crazed face and smile. Once he was done, Jack was lying on the ground, bleeding from several open wounds and struggling to get up. "Take it from here Max." Zero chuckles as the body returns to it's natural color and Max returns with control. Max wipes the blood off as best as he can before looking down at Jack
"I'm sorry, but when you threaten my family, I give you a taste of hell." As Jack slowly gets up on his feet, Max shakes his head and sighs before reeling back, his obsidian hand glowing with heat. With one last burst of power, Max throws the finishing blow, a final punch directly to Jack's face before giving a large explosion of flames.
KO
Jack is sent flying into the air, his body seemingly lifeless until Diopside finally intervenes and catches him. "Jack! No, please don't die!" She sobs as she holds him close, Rutile and Onyx rushing to guard him, but look extremely unnerved as Max glares at them.
"He's not dead, just exhausted from overworking his healing abilities and suffering so much damage. If you look you'll see his gem intact and hear his heart beating." Max says nonchalantly as he jumps over them and looks at his own team, the Crystal Gems cheering for his success in the battle.
"That was amazing! You had me worried there a few times." Steven exclaims before hugging Max tightly.
"Homeworld lost this battle, what do you suggest we do with them?" Garnet directs everyone's attention to the knocked out Jack and the three gems with him.
"Hmm, might as well try to get some information out of them. Something is causing our timelines to mix, and they might be our only choice of finding out what's going on…" Max looks at Jack, knowing this is far from over.
Jack Ending
Wait, the obsidian! If I can stop her from giving power to this human, then he'll be too weak to stop me. This is a risky move, but I have no choice. Jack uses another speed boost as he rushes at Max. Max tries to shield himself by summoning a wall of fire around him, but Jack's speed made him able to tackle Max out of the fire with little damage. With knives ready, he makes several different cuts and slashes to Max's right arm before leaving a strange four diamond marking onto the obsidian hand. Max kicks Jack off and rolls backwards.
"I'll turn you into ashes!" Max raises his right arm to release a column of fire...but nothing comes out. If anything his right arm feels weaker and heavier. "W-what did you do to me?"
"A technique the Diamonds have taught me, while your body is still intact, all power from your gem is now worthless. Now feast your eyes on true power." Jack brings his knives together, a large ball of blue electricity forming in front of him. "For Homeworld and my true family!" Jack finally releases a massive orb of pure magic and electricity directly at Max.
KO
As the dust settles, Max is seen on the floor, unconscious and heavily damaged.
"MAX!" Steven and the Crystal gems run over to his body, holding him close. Steven tries to use some healing spit, but before he can even gather some saliva, Jack puts his knives at Max's throat.
"Don't even try it Steven, or I'll finish him off permanently. That goes for the rest of you Crystal Gems...Diopside, Rutile, Onyx, take these prisoners to the ship."
"Do you think we will be captured so easily?" Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl summon their weapons, but Jack just chuckles.
"Just like you rebels, trying to fight even when it's futile. But will you still fight if it means the death of your ally and beloved Steven?" He grins maliciously as he raises his knife gently in the air, only for the sand underneath Steven to violently shake and shift, surrounding him as incredibly sharp needles aiming directly at his vital points, including his gem.
With little choice, the Crystal Gems return their weapons and surrender. Diopside grabs and carries both Steven and Amethyst with ease while Rutile Topaz and Onyx escort Garnet and Pearl onto the ship. Jack looks down at Max before using his magic to levitate and throw his body into one of the prisoner of war cells. The anomaly and the Crystal Gems are captured, now all that was left was the Diamonds judgement.