Revised the chapter a little... again. Spoilers for Monster Reunion and Earthlings in case anyone hasn't seen those two episodes yet.
The Warp Pad activated with a brilliant blue flash of light and a distinct ringing sound. Once the glow faded, it left a young light-skinned boy standing upon it, his hair a thick, curling bush of dark brown, his eyes a dark brown, almost black hue.
Steven scanned his surroundings as he started forward. The sky overhead was light blue, which faded to a red-purple, which faded to an orangey pink. The Sun would be setting soon, but he didn't want to put this off any longer. He hadn't seen her in so long, he knew that she was probably missing him. Ever since she had found a new home in the ruins of her old dropship alongside the Corrupted remnants of her crew, Steven had made sure that he would come out there to visit every once in a while. Not only was he visiting to make sure they were okay and to give her some extra company, but he also wanted to make sure that his memory remained fresh within her broken mind and make sure that she never thought he had forgotten about her.
But lately, with everything that had been going on, from saving his dad from a zoo made for humans and being kidnapped and dragged away to the Gem Homeworld, he rarely found the time to visit her anymore, if at all.
Pearl had been cleaning up the Temple when he found it: an illustration the Centipeetle Mother had drawn in order to communicate with him after he almost managed to heal her Corruption. It was a white field with three diamond outlines drawn in black marker over it. He could still see the tiny, dried tear stains left on the paper... just before Centi began uncontrollably began reverting back into her Corrupted form.
Steven momentarily lost himself in the memories: warping away to the forest where Centi's 5000-year-old dropship had crash landed back during the Great Gem War, following her through the trees and vines as she cried and screamed in agony, clawing at her head in desperation to get the echo of the Corruption Song out of her mind. By the time they reached the ship and gained access to it, Centi had finished her transformation, the black-and-green centipede monster that she was named for, but, at the very least, she was with her old crew again and no longer had to spend eternity trapped in a stasis bubble.
At least she could have some semblance of happiness now.
Steven pushed through a few tightly woven vines as he closed in on the spaceship, summoning his shield in order to make the process a bit easier. Allowing it to vanish again, he eagerly approached the closed grey door, lifting his hand and putting his palm to a hand-shaped scanner beside the door. It let out a soft ding! of acceptance and the door slid open.
The first thing Steven expected was Centi to come rushing towards him, chirping excitedly to see her old friend after such a long time. Other than Centi being a bit larger than her companions, Steven always recognized her right off when she came running to meet him, affectionately curling around and nuzzling him. He never expected the interior of the ship to be completely devoid of the black-and-green Corruptions. In their place were various pools of reeking, smoking acid that scorched and burned the metal they laid upon.
He coughed and bit back a disgusted gag as he cautiously entered; the pungent acidic aroma becoming more potent the further he went in.
"Uh… Centipeetles? Centi? Are you in here?" He paused, listening hard for an answering chirp and giving his surroundings a brief surveillance, near pitch black except for the light filtering in from the outside, for one of the towering green forms to come crawling towards him. None of the Corruptions appeared and all he could hear was the occasional creaking of the millennia old steel.
He continued forward a few more steps, looking around cautiously for any sign of the Corrupted Gems or what may've caused them to vanish like this. "Centi… ah!" Steven hastily pulled his foot from his sandal and recoiled a couple of feet, watching in stunned shock as it became blackened by the acid he'd accidentally stepped in, beginning to melt away into the puddle.
He flinched, coughing as the reek of burning rubber wafted over and into his nostrils, before turning around and heading outside, where he began his search yet again. He cupped his hands around his mouth as he called out for Centi or her crew, but he had no luck. A brief glance at the sky revealed to him that it was getting darker, and fast. He'd be alone out in the wilderness in the pitch darkness of night here soon. Steven considered warping away and returning in the morning, but another side of him pushed that decision to the back of his mind.
Even though she was a Corrupted Gem, Steven still considered Centi his friend and knew he wouldn't be able to sleep well that night until he knew that she was okay. He'd never be able to live with himself if he discovered that they were attacked by something or someone and he hadn't been there to help them simply because it was starting to get dark out.
The only problem was that he had no idea where to start to find what became of the Centipeetles or whatever it was chased them off. The puddles of acid suggested that something had entered the ship that they tried to defend themselves against, but what? He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind that he might be searching for their shards rather than their actual physical forms.
However, his worries were abruptly dismissed when a glob of acid came flying at him from behind. He heard the sound of his assailant spitting it at him before he saw it, giving him enough warning to jump forward with a startled yelp less than a second before it splashed to the ground in an acrid puddle. He watched with wide, startled eyes as it began scorching away at the grass and dirt beneath it before he turned his attention to the acid's origin.
From just inside the trees, he could barely make a monstrous black-and-green form watching him with a hard lime green gemstone that doubled as an eye, silently waiting for his next move. More acid dripped from her wide black pincers. They stared eye-to-eye for a long time, the silence hanging over them so thick it could be cut with a knife. Then Steven leapt over the smoking green puddle and immediately raced towards the Centipeetle. She flinched at his abrupt movement.
"Centi! You're back!" But when he went to embrace her, something the Corrupted Gem often didn't seem to mind and would usually return, she let out a low, aggressive hiss, startling Steven and causing him to cautiously recoil a few steps. "Centi? Hey… what's wrong?"
With a screech, she leapt from her hiding place, pincers agape… and heading straight in Steven's direction. If he hadn't thrown himself to the ground and rolled out of her way, she would've crashed right into him. Landing a few feet away, she whipped around and faced him with another angry screech, the tiny black dot in the round centre of her gemstone shrunken to a pinprick with a mix of rage and what looked like… fear? Putting his hands up as a sign of surrender, Steven backed away from her a couple more steps.
"Hey, it–it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you, Centi, you know that! Is that what's wrong? Are you hurt?"
She chirped something indistinguishable at Steven, as if she were trying to speak to him, then she abruptly spat three more globs of acid in rapid succession at Steven. He stepped to the right to avoid one that splashed into the vegetation on his left side and ducked to avoid one that soared over his head. The final one flew straight at him, but he summoned his shield at the last possible second, causing it to splash onto the shield's sleek pink surface. Steven looked down at his shield in surprise as it began glitching and distorting in his grasp.
"Wha…? Centi, stop! What's wrong? J-Just tell me and I'll help you!" He gasped softly as he shield dissipated from his hand thanks to the corrosive projectile… and Centipeetle was charging straight at him again. He outstretched both arms at his sides and a translucent magenta bubble appeared around him, just in time too. Centipeetle crashed into the bubble shield, sending it flying backwards and crashing against a tree.
Steven grunted painfully as he regained his composure and stood upright again after being thrown to the back of the bubble shield; he prepared to pop it, but hesitated the moment Centi spat another, much larger acid projectile at him that landed atop the bubble and began streaming down it on all sides. Steven cringed and let out a soft grunt of disgust, before turning to face Centi as the acid cleared from view.
He opened his mouth to speak, but instead, she opened her dripping pincers wide as if she were about to shoot acid at him again. Instead, her lime green gemstone began glowing a vivid white.
Steven cocked his head in confusion as she did so, but he quickly realized what she was doing: four glowing white silhouettes appeared in front of her, and when the light faded, what looked like four tiny versions of Centipeetle were standing there. One of them spat more acid inches in front of Steven's bubble, before all four of them began rushing him.
"Huh? Centi… what're you doing? S-Stop! I…!"
But she didn't show any sign of making them stop, nor did she show him any mercy. She simply watched, pincers dripping with acid, as her children did their work. Steven looked on in horror as the tiny Centipeetles began crawling all over his bubble, then he summoned Rose's shield in front of him and destroyed the bubble, sending all four of the Centipeetles tumbling to the ground. However, despite their small size, they made up for it in numbers.
He had one by the tail before it had a chance to make a move, using it to knock away its two companions as they closed in on him. He grabbed its head with his opposite hand and pulled both ends in opposite directions, causing it to vanish in a cloud of bright green smoke. The momentarily forgotten fourth Centipeetle, one that landed near his foot, took advantage of the opportunity, opening its pincers wide and latching on tight to Steven's ankle while he occupied himself with the other three.
He let out a pained shout and desperately jerked his ankle away from the Centipeetle, to no avail. He jumped as he felt one of them latch onto his back, quickly throwing himself backwards onto the ground, poofing the spawn between the ground and his body weight. That was two down and two more to go, and he could already feel the Centipeetle's pincers beginning to secrete acid that burned into his skin, causing a burst of excruciating pain to explode into his ankle. He began screaming painfully, using his opposite foot to try and kick the Centipeetle off in desperation. He briefly glanced up at Centi as hot, painful tears formed in his eyes, a desperate, longing look in them, but she continued to do nothing but watch.
With a grunt of agitation, he grabbed an approaching Centipeetle in his hand and crushed the middle of its form with his bare hand, causing it to vanish in a puff of smoke with a barely audible crunching sound. Grabbing the Centipeetle attached to him, he let out an involuntary scream as he forcibly jerked it off of him, the creature taking a chunk of his flesh with it, and dismissively threw it off to the side. He hastily pushed himself upright before Centi had a chance to surprise him with another attack.
Again, he put both hands up as a gesture of surrender, forcing himself to remain calm as he approached Centi, who stood there, snarling softly, acid dripping in torrents from her pincers.
"Centi, you have to stop this! Please! I-It's me! Steven! Ste—ven!" His faux cool, collected expression suddenly melted into a more disappointed, worried one as she stepped back a few inches, continuing to snarl dangerously. "Centi, don't you… d-don't you… remember me?" The Corruption didn't do anything that suggested she even heard or understood him at all, but she didn't attack him either.
She stared down at where Steven stood, a couple of feet in front of her, hands up as a sign of peace. Tears began to form in his eyes as he stared up at her, no longer because of the pain in his damaged ankle, but because of the realization slowly dawning on him. Centi opened her pincers again, as if she were going to try and say something. Instead, she threw her head forward, more acid splashing to the ground, Steven hastily side-stepping to avoid getting splashed by it.
"C-Centi, I… ahh!" He jumped back as she spat another acid projectile at him. "Centi… I-I'm sorry I haven't come to visit you lately! I—I couldn't help it, I…!" He was cut off as she continued shooting spates of acid at him in rapid succession, to the point that Steven was backed up against a tree, trying to avoid the ones that had been melted and scorched with the tiny Centipeetles' prior acidic attacks.
Tears streamed from his eyes as Centi approached him, towering over him with a low, dangerous hiss. He hated seeing her like this; after all he'd done for her, after all they'd been through together, why did it have to end this way?
"Centi, please! You—You have to remember! You just have to! R-Remember back when I released you from your bubble, and you were really small a-and I tamed you? A-And back when I tried to heal your Corruption? And when… and when I brought you out here? To be with your old crew? Don't you remember any of that?"
She hissed and spat acid again, this time at the top of the tree he was leaning against, causing the acid to begin rapidly working its way down towards him, melting through the bark, the leaves, and the branches like they were warm butter. "Wh… What about Chaaaps? Y-You remember those at least… r-right?" Her eye seemed to widen at the mention of her favourite snack. "Yeah, th-that's it! Y-You love chips, and I love chips… we both love chips from Chaaahh!"
Steven cringed painfully as the acid began dripping down upon him, causing him to instinctively jump forward, running straight into Centi's dark form. The physical contact was enough to send her into a frenzy again. She used one of her legs to kick him back and began fiercely snapping her pincers at him. Steven summoned his shield, holding it up when she nearly snapped her pincers around his torso, snapping them around the shield instead.
"Ahh! Centi, I'm sorry! Y-You don't have to do this! I almost made you remember! Y-You can fight this, I know it!"
Steven's shield dissipated as Centi's pincers snapped closed, before she attempted to snap them around Steven's smaller form yet again. She would've succeeded if Steven hadn't summoned his bubble again at the last possible second and summoned a number of lighter pink spikes across its surface, sending Centi recoiling with a cry of pain. Popping the bubble, Steven watched as Centi shook her head rapidly after biting down on the spikes, struggling to regain her composure.
While she was distracted, Steven slowly but surely approached her, holding one hand up, his palm facing the Corruption in front of him. He was breathing heavily, anxious beads of sweat streaming down his forehead. His entire body was trembling uncontrollably, but he couldn't let himself be afraid, not now. After all this time, he wasn't going to poof Centi and bubble her away again; he'd done so much to try and help her, he couldn't bring himself to trap her in that stasis prison all over again.
No, he was going to try something else. It was risky and could end up costing him his own life. He thought back to a certain orange and red Quartz soldier, splotches of teal Corruption crawling uncontrollably across her banded skin after fusing with a Corrupted Gem. Her face and skin covered with sickly teal splotches, two tumorous spikes replacing her intense golden eyes and piercing through her long, messy mane of blonde hair.
"Centi," Steven said, his voice barely over a whisper. The Corruption in question shook her head like a dog shaking water from his fur, before turning to look at Steven again, letting out a piercing screech, her white mane bristling. "I-I know you're still in there, all you need to do is fight this."—Steven squeezed his eyes shut and tensed—"And I'm going to help you!"
Without hesitation, he threw himself forward and wrapped both arms around Centi's long, centipede-like form. Even as she screeched and desperately tried to shake him off and as burning acid dripped down upon him like corrosive rain, he only squeezed her tighter. Then, beneath his red and yellow shirt, Steven's rose quartz gemstone began to glow with a brilliant pink light.
Centipeetle's panicked screeching came to a stop as her own gemstone began to glow as well. A couple of seconds passed before both of them were engulfed in a brilliant white light, edged by a pink and green glow. The towering white silhouette rippled and began changing shape, glitching every couple of seconds. At first, the silhouette took a towering, humanoid form with long bushy hair that stuck out in all directions and had four arms, two thin and two a bit plump, outstretched at her sides.
The silhouette abruptly began to distort again before the Fusion even had a chance to take her form. It lost its shape entirely for several seconds, forming little more than a massive, deformed white shape that began to take another form. Once the light faded away, the Fusion towering there looked more like a monster than any Gem Fusion.
Centipeetle's physical form was dominant in the Fusion, looking like a slightly larger clone of her with a chubbier body and the green crystals that lined her back were replaced with an intermittent pattern of pink and green ones. A small pink and green gemstone with a pentagonal facet rested in the middle of the Fusion's long, insect-like form, nearly touching the ground. In the middle of its massive, sharp pincers was a glowing lime-green face with empty, white eye sockets and a jagged mouth reminiscent of the fanged maw of a Corrupted Quartz.
On the face's forehead was a single eye with a black-ringed gemstone in place of the pupil. Over half of the Fusion's thin, skittering legs reminiscent of those found on an ant or a spider were black arms bent at an unnatural angle, the humanoid hands pressed to the ground to be used as feet.
Opening its pincers wide, the Fusion let out a long, monstrous roar that echoed across the landscape and seemed to shake the ground beneath it, before slinking away deeper into the forest, disappearing from sight.
Okay, since Watermelon Tourmaline was the name of that Corrupted pufferfish monster, I dunno what the Corrupted Fusion between Steven/Rose Quartz and Centipeetle/Nephrite is, but the design is going to stay the same because pink and green makes an ugly brownish-greenish colour when mixed. That, and since the Fusion was forced, their colours wouldn't blend much anyway because the Fusion is as unstable as a Fusion can get.
I might take a break from No Going Back (not discontinuing it, just putting it on hiatus) for a little while to work on other fanfics, possibly starting with this one. I came up with a new idea for a chapter two so I'll be working on that and it'll be uploaded... eventually, but I don't know if this fic will ever be longer than only two chapters. A two-shot, if you will. That is all.