Jailbreak


In the darkness, there was a pulse. It wasn't like a heartbeat, though. No, this was more like a bass line. Were Rhyolite and his dad jamming on the beach? He should wake up and join them. They always had so much fun whenever they…

But his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a voice calling out to him.

"Steven," said the voice. "Steven! Wake up, little dude!"

Steven's eyes snapped open.

A pink ceiling met his eyes. Steven groaned and rolled over, pushing himself to his knees as he looked around in worry and confusion.

"Hello?" he called. "Anyone here? Axinite?" A memory flash of three gems falling to the beach came back to him.

Steven gasped. "Rhyolite," he said, finally pulling himself to his feet. "Where are they?" he asked himself, moving to the cell door, looking to see where he'd been taken.

"Whoa," said Steven, as the rest of the place came into view.

Judging by the pink everywhere, he was betting that they were on the ship. Other cells were visible, some of which also looked occupied. What looked like power conduits snaked across the ceiling, and a door at the end of the hall had a diamond design inlaid into its surface. The sound of rhythmic thunking reached his ears, but Steven wasn't sure what to make of it. Whatever it was, that sound was definitely unsettling.

Steven turned his attention, instead, to the force field in front of him. He placed his palms on it and found them repulsed with a light sting. Determined to continue the experiment, he closed his eyes, turned away, and stuck a finger into the field. When nothing happened but a return of the light pins-and-needles feeling, Steven opened his eyes, fascinated to see the force field streaming around his finger.

"Ew," said Steven, seeing yellow veins of light work their way up his arm as he stuck his entire hand through. "Cool," he decided, seeing this as an overall win, taking the plunge and stepping through the field himself.

"Whoa-hoa-hoa-hoa," he gibbered. It was a decidedly weird feeling, going through the field, but if it meant getting out, it was a small price to pay…

…and then he was through. "I'm out," said Steven. "Whohoo!" he cheered.

"Okay, where are the others?" Steven took off at a run, muttering "Gotta find them, gotta find them, gotta find them," to encourage himself as he went.

He stopped abruptly as he passed an occupied cell. It contained a tall Gem who wore sunglasses.

He was reclined against the wall of his cell, throwing something round and jagged against corner where the floor met the wall across from him, and then catching it again. Steven realized that this must be the source of the thunking sound he'd heard earlier.

"Uh, hello?" asked Steven.

The Gem inclined his head, and resumed throwing what Steven now realized was a gear at the wall, in a solitaire version of catch.

"Are you okay?" asked Steven.

"Are any of us really okay?" returned the Gem, morosely. "You think you've got something worthwhile—you think you've found people worth protecting… and what do the Diamonds do? They show up, and they take it all away. It's all a cycle, kid: the Circle of Destruction. It happens over," thunk, thunk, "and over," thunk, thunk, "and over again. And nothing we do can ever stop it..."

"Um," said Steven, hesitantly, "Do you… need any help?"

With that simple question, the Gem seemed to be shaken, at least momentarily, out of his funk.

"Well, that depends," said the Gem, now looking steadily at Steven, "Got any way to get me out?"

"Oh," said Steven, "Well, I just kind of," he reached a hand out towards the field on the Gem's cell.

"Hang on," said the Gem hurriedly. "You don't…"

And then the force field was streaming around Steven's hand, partially blocked. "… have to," the Gem finished, staring, as Steven removed his hand.

Curious, the Gem attempted to touch the field himself, but recoiled at the contact in obvious pain.

"Ah, f—" he began, before remembering that Steven was still there. "Fudge," the Gem corrected himself, grimacing. "Well, that didn't work."

At that moment, the lights flickered, and a pulsing beat like the one from Steven's dream echoed through the hallways.

"I've heard this before," said Steven.

The Gem tilted his head, listening as well. "Sounds like Calcite's here, too," he said, smiling faintly before turning back to Steven. "Think you can make the gap big enough for me to get through?" he asked.

"One doorway, coming right up!" announced Steven, stepping partially into the field and stretching his arm out to form a larger opening.

From a running start, the Gem slid out across the floor and hit the opposite wall with a quiet "ow." The Gem then pulled himself to his feet and sighed in relief.

"Hey," the Gem said, in greeting.

"Hey," he returned, "My name's Steven. What's yours?"

"Slate," answered the matte gray Gem, straightening his sunglasses.

The beat continued for a few moments, before the power shorted out completely. It came back up a second later.

Slate shook his head. "Classic Calcite," he muttered, and headed off in the direction that the sound seemed to be coming from.

"Are they your friend?" asked Steven, tagging along. "I'm looking for my friends too!"

"Yeah," Slate answered. "There's four Gems I gotta find. First is Axinite—"

"I know Axinite!" said Steven, excitedly. "Were you two friends on Homeworld?"

"Sort of," said Slate. "We were in the same division during the revolution. Then there's Calcite," the lights flickered again, "and Flint."

"I haven't met them," Steven admitted, "But I'm sure they're great!"

"… and once we have those two, we should be able to get Rhyolite," Slate finished.

Steven's eyes turned to stars. "You know Rhyolite, too?" he asked. "Are you… are you a Crystal Gem?" he asked.

Slate shrugged. "Yeah," he answered, "But I haven't been around for the last couple years, so I'm a little behind on the times."

"Don't worry!" said Steven. "I'm sure we'll find our friends! And we'll do it together!"

He ran into Slate, who had stopped abruptly. "What is it?" he asked.

"Hold up," said Slate. "We gotta do something first."

"Okay," said Steven, uncertainly. He took the opportunity to steal a glance out the window at the Earth below. It looked a lot smaller from all the way up in space, that was for sure.

"Hey," he heard Slate say. "So, how's the Homeworld treating you?"

"Shut up," returned a familiar voice. "Just leave me alone."

Steven rushed over, hoping that it was really who he thought it was.

"Amethyst!" he called happily, in greeting.

The purple Gem flinched within her cell. "H-hey, Steven."

"Amethyst," said Steven, "I can get you out!"

Amethyst's face crumpled in guilt, "And why would you do that, Steven? Don't you get it? I betrayed you to Homeworld! I turned you in to save myself!"

Steven shook his head. "I know you didn't want to! But Pearl captured you, and threatened to do bad things if you didn't, right?"

Amethyst rubbed her gem, unconsciously, "Yeah," she admitted.

"And you still sent off a message warning us that they were coming, didn't you? Steven prompted.

"Well, yeah," agreed Amethyst, gaining a bit of conviction, before looking embarrassed. "I didn't want you to get hurt, or nothin.'"

"And I don't want you to get hurt," said Steven, stepping into the field.

"Amethyst, please," he said, his voice distorted by the wall of energy, "come with us."

Amethyst glanced at Slate, who shrugged, as if to say that he didn't have a stake in her choice, one way or another.

She took a breath to steady herself, then Amethyst rolled through the gap in the field, ending in a crouch.

"Yeah!" said Steven, leaving his position as living doorway and pumping his arms in victory. "Go, Amethyst!" he cheered.

"Come on," Steven said, "Let's go find the others!"

Amethyst shook her head. "Sorry, Steven," she said, "But I have a score to settle with Pearl. I'll catch up with you."

"But, Amethyst!" protested Steven. But before he could say anything else, she was gone.

"She'll be back," said Steven to Slate, "right?"

Slate merely shrugged.

"Yeah, no," said a new voice, in disgust, "she ain't never comin' back."

Steven and Slate both turned to see who had spoken.

"Hey, guys!" said a new Gem. This one was glossy black. She wore elbow-length gloves and her gem was in the place where a human's right eye would normally be.

"Flint," said Slate, cracking a fully-fledged smile for the first time since Steven had met him. "How'd you get out?" he asked.

She laughed, "Oh, you know," she said, with a dismissive gesture, "Waited for the power to blip, then blasted the cell's generator," she said, stepping forward and offering Slate a high five.

He slapped her raised hand with his own, though their hands remained clasped after they had finished.

"Nice," Slate said. "Now we just need Calcite."

"And Rhyolite and Axinite," Steven reminded him.

Flint dropped Slate's hand and turned to crouch down to Steven's level. "Well, hello there!" she said. "I don't believe we've met?"

"Steven Universe," he said. "You're Flint, right?"

She swept him up into a hug. "That's right! Oh, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do this!"

"Crush me?" asked Steven.

"Yes!" agreed Flint, spinning around in a circle, before depositing Steven gently back onto his feet.

"It's… nice… to meet you…" said Steven, staggering a bit as he regained his balance.

"Come on," said Slate, "It should be this way." With that, the three of them set out.

Steven, once again reminded of their purpose, took point, leading them down the corridor which Slate had indicated. At the sound of voices, they all pressed themselves against the wall, hoping not to be noticed.

"Are you absolutely sure we need to leave right this second?" Pearl was saying, in exasperation, as she followed Ruby and Sapphire down the hallway. "I mean, checking on the Cluster would take all of three hours…"

Sapphire floated to the ground before a prison cell, the field of which was twitching and spluttering erratically, though, unfortunately, never completely failing. The musical beat was sounding louder than ever.

Frost appeared and coated the entire inside of the cell, and even a good few feet outside of it. "Stop that," ordered Sapphire, in the same monotone she always used.

"Harsh, dudette," came a voice from inside the cell, but the flickering did, indeed, stop.

"Selenite takes priority," answered Ruby, who looked more than a little unenthused about the sudden addition of ice to the hallway. She made to stalk off dramatically to the bridge, but the heat of her footsteps melted a section of the floor and she slid a good foot or so before managing to catch herself against the wall. "Come on, Sapphy, you've made your point," said Ruby, brushing herself off.

The ice retreated to just inside the cell field. "Sorry Ruby," said Sapphire. "Let's go home, then, shall we?" She offered an arm to Ruby and the two of them left the immediate vicinity.

When she was alone, Pearl sighed. "You know I'd do anything for you, Rose," she said to herself, "But I'm more than ready to just be done with this," she said, also leaving the cell area.

When Pearl was out of sight, Flint stuck her head around the corner, checking to make sure the Homeworld Gems were really gone. "Clear!" she said, and they all made their way to the cell.

The prisoner within was now visible—as visible as he ever was, at least, for the new Gem was actually completely transparent. It was obvious where he was—because of the doubling distortion effect that he had on the light which passed through him—but if you weren't looking for him, he was surprisingly inconspicuous. Steven couldn't even tell where his gem was.

"Hey," said Steven, quietly. "I like your music. Are you Calcite?"

"Steve-man, you escaped!" crowed the Gem, "Yeah, that's me!"

"Calcite, disrupt the power again," said Flint, as her gem began to glow. "I should be able to get you out of there."

"Hang on," said Slate, "There's an easier way. Steven?"

"Right," said Steven, rolling up his sleeves as he stepped forwards into the barrier. "Steven: two," he said, forming a gap large enough for Calcite to crawl through. "Force fields: zero."

He steped out of the field, and turned to see the three Gems locked in a group hug. "Aww," said Steven.

The trio pulled apart slightly so that they could talk. "We're gonna need more space," said Calcite.

"For what?" asked Steven. The three broke the hug completely and smiled together at Steven.

"Duh, for our sweet reunion dance party," said Flint. "What else?"

Steven was skeptical. "Shouldn't that wait until we get off the ship?"

"Not necessarily," said Slate. "Come on, I know a place that will probably work." He set off at a run, Calcite followed, as did Flint, after scooping Steven up into a princess carry.

"Whoa," said Steven, as the walls flashed past.

They stopped in a massive atrium. The dome overhead was cracked, probably from the laser Steven had redirected on the beach, but it was still quite serviceable.

"Yeah!" said Calcite, "now this is more like it!"

"But we still need to find Axinite," said Steven, "And Rhyolite, too."

The three Gems looked slightly nervous.

"Steven," said Calcite. "About that. We have something that we need to tell you."

"Okay," said Steven, "What is it?"

Flint moved her hand up so that two fingers framed her glowing gem, which was where one would normally find a right eye. Slate slid his glasses down to reveal that his now slightly glowing gem was where a human's left eye would usually be. Calcite's gem glowed as well, making it visible. It was where a human would have a right ear.

"Look familiar?" Calcite asked.

And, indeed, it was… incredibly so. It took Steven only a second to make the connection. "Rhyolite," he said, in wonder. "Are you guys…?"

"And a one," said Slate.

"And a two," said Flint.

"And one, two, three, fuse!" said Calcite.

The three began to dance, looking and sounding more like teenagers shouting themselves hoarse in a mosh pit than they did millennia-old Gem aliens. This impression was not helped by the lights flickering on and off in a strobe-like effect. The three of them looked ecstatic throughout the process, though, and in seconds their forms were lost in a rush of light, as a familiar Gem appeared before him.

"Steven!" said Rhyolite, grinning broadly, "Thanks for the save!"

"…Rhyolite," Steven finished. "You're a Fusion?" he asked, his eyes turning to stars.

"Yeah," Rhyolite finished, awkwardly. "Sorry we never told you. There never seemed to be a good time…" They broke off, looking suddenly vulnerable.

Steven didn't notice Rhyolite's discomfort. "I actually met your Gems," he said, a little awed at the realization, "… did I make a good first impression?" he asked, a bit worriedly.

Rhyolite smiled, and brushed a hand reassuringly down his arm. "The best," they assured him.

For a moment, the two held each other's gazes.

"Where is he?!" came a furious outburst from down the corridor.

"It's Ruby," said Rhyolite. "And probably Sapphire, as well. Steven, you need to find Axinite. Get Amethyst, too, if you can, and get to the Control Bridge."

"But I don't know where any of that is," said Steven.

Rhyolite snapped their fingers, and a ball of light appeared. Steven touched it, and it vanished. As he looked around the ship, a few of the paths appeared more interesting than the others.

"Do what feels right, little man," said Rhyolite.

"Funky Flow," said Steven, marveling that Rhyolite had, once again, shared their ability with him. He turned to start, but paused. "Wait," he said, "Are you gonna be able to beat them on your own?"

Rhyolite laughed. "Don't need to beat 'em! We just need to stall."

Steven nodded in determination, then headed off down the rightmost corridor.

A few seconds later, Sapphire and Ruby made their entrance, limb-enhancers clanking on the floor as they skidded to a stop.

"Oh great," said Ruby, in exasperation. "This is just perfect!" she said, punching a wall in frustration and leaving scorch marks.

"So you're all out," Sapphire observed, "and you're fused again? Why? Fusion is just a cheap tactic to make weak Gems stronger…"

"Excuse us?" said Rhyolite, the fond expression they'd worn when talking to Steven sliding completely off their face. Their lower jaw hinged opened in a growl, revealing mask-like quality of their outer face. "You come to our planet, you displace our humans, you hurt our family, and now, on top of all that, you think you can tell us whether or not we can fuse?"

"Oh," said Sapphire, dismissively, "by all means, stay fused… but it won't do you any good. I've seen it. You may have vague precognition, but I can see the future," she finished, practically inflecting the last part of the sentence. "There isn't a single thing you can do in this fight to beat the both of us. Ruby and I are unstoppable. And do you know what? We don't need to fuse to defeat you. Because we're already stronger than you'll ever be."

"None of your component Gems are fighters," Ruby pointed out. "Fusing doesn't turn you into something you aren't… no matter how many failures you cram together… in the end, all you have is a giant wad of failures."

Rhyolite laughed.

And laughed.

And kept laughing. It was a full minute before they stopped. "Good one," said Rhyolite. "But consider this: loyalty doesn't magically turn its object into something that it's not. It doesn't matter how long or how faithfully you serve Homeworld. They'll never see you as anything but disposable. And they'll never see the universe as anything but material for making more Gems. It doesn't matter whether or not you can defeat us, because no matter how well you serve… Pink Diamond will never care."

Rhyolite swept a pair of arms across their body for emphasis. "You'll serve the Homeworld until you crack," they said, "and you'll never receive more than insincere thanks for your trouble."

"Well, of course you would think so, traitors," said Sapphire. "But—" her rebuttal was cut off as the ship lurched. "What?" asked Sapphire, catching herself.

"We don't need to beat you," Rhyolite explained, looming over Ruby and Sapphire, "We just need to win."

With that, they unfused and took off at a run, Ruby and Sapphire in close pursuit.


On the Control Bridge, Steven was sitting next to the security screens watching Rhyolite split into Slate, Flint, and Calcite and then scatter, leading the two Homeworld Gems on a chase. Ruby followed Flint, and Sapphire followed Calcite.

"Don't touch that!" Pearl was saying. "You'll crash and kill us all!" Amethyst's whip wrapped around the Homeworld Gem, pinning her arms to her sides.

"You've got this, Axinite!" Amethyst called.

"No, I don't," said Axinite, his eyes glazed over with numbers as his hands submerged in the light display and the ship lurched again. "No, you stupid hunk of ship, go down!"

In the distraction, Pearl formed a hologram, which cut her free, and then activated an escape pod.

"Oh no you don't!" said Amethyst, tackling Pearl as the escape pod formed around them. The two of them shot from the ship, still fighting within the pod as they fell to Earth.

"Amethyst!" cried Steven in dismay.

"She'll be fine! Worry about us!" said Axinite, before turning back to the navigation panel to try and figure out the ship's controls.


Flint, after running down a few hallways, to what she estimated to be one of the inner decks of the ship, let loose the charge she'd been building and laser-blasted the ceiling, blocking the hallway with rubble.

"Aargh!" screeched Ruby in frustration. "What's your problem?" she called to Flint, as she began to hurl fireballs at the blockage.

Flint, rather than doing the sensible thing and running, smirked at Ruby through a gap that the red Gem had created in the wall made mostly out of pieces of the ceiling, and began to sing.

"Honey, I was designed to work down in the mines," said Flint. "Never thought even once I'd get free. So I hid in the ground, lived on Earth, messed around, and what did I finally see? A Mirror, and in it was me."

With that, Flint judged that the time was right to leave, and took off running again. She was joined by Slate, and the two began a duet that was almost a chant.

"Weld, Sort," began Flint. "Quench, Report. Bow, Exhort. Delegate, Retort."

"I'm a technician," sang Slate, "a quick transistor. One tiny node in a vast array. When I was broken, I was discarded. Now, to the Homeworld, here's what I say:

"I'm a technician."

("Weld. Sort.")

"I built your starships."

("Quench. Report.")

"You think I'm useless and nothing more?"

("Bow. Exhort.")

"Well, that's your error."

("Delegate.")

"Now quake in terror."

("Retort.")

"Because the techies? We won that war."

The two fused with a flash, not even breaking stride, and put on an additional burst of speed as they ran off, Ruby in hot pursuit.


Calcite had run down to the ship's engines and then killed the lights. Sapphire dared not use too much ice while she couldn't see, lest she risk damaging the ship still further. "You know, a servant doesn't speak," sang Calcite, from the darkness.

("They just make lights and act in jest,") sang an unfamiliar voice that wasn't Ruby or Pearl.

"You know, a servant doesn't sing," continued Calcite.

("They have to work while masters rest.")

"And, well, a servant doesn't think."

("For it would crack their pretty gem.")

"That was before we fought a war. We're not on Homeworld anymore," sang Calcite. Something arced in the darkness and Sapphire took aim, only to see a flare of fire shoot towards it first. Ruby was here, too?

"I've taken time find myself," Calcite went on. "I've taken time to learn my place. And, if I still act as a servant, now I serve the human race.

"They hold that music is an art. They know that lives exist to save They fuse for matters of the heart. We broke their world, and they forgave.

"Their cities glow. Their people grow. They all know things you'll never know. So, come and try. You'll never win. We stopped you once—we will again."

Sapphire ghosted over to where she estimated Ruby should be, and tapped her on the shoulder. Ruby clasped her arm, then patted it, moving to stand at a guard position. They readied themselves for an attack.

Just then, however, there was a flash of light which was obviously from a fusion. The lights came back up, and Rhyolite was, once again, whole, and spinning their nunchucks, while lights along the stick's side formed circular pictures as it blurred in motion: a gear, the earth, a smiley face...

"For all the Homeworld claims to give," said Rhyolite, their jaw unhinged, not once, but twice, giving them a total of three mouths, and three voices to work with. "Do either of you truly live?" they continued, looking directly at Ruby and Sapphire.

"You'll never fuse outside a fight," said Rhyolite, using Slate's voice.

"You'll never watch the rain at night," said Rhyolite as Calcite.

"While you destroy, we three atone," said Rhyolite as Flint.

"We stand as one. You stand alone," said Rhyolite as all three of their components.

Rhyolite swung their weapon directly into the ship's engines.

Immediately afterwards, Rhyolite shrunk themselves and took off running again from a newly reunited Ruby and Sapphire, as well as from the explosion they had just created.


"The ship is going down!" announced Rhyolite, who had shapeshifted themselves down to about eight feet tall to fit into the ship's corridors, ducking as they entered the control bridge, narrowly dodging shots of ice and fire from Ruby and Sapphire, who were right behind them.

"Rhyolite!" said Steven and Axinite. "You're okay!" continued Steven in relief.

Rhyolite winced as the door started to melt behind them. "Yeah, but when the ship crashes, none of us are gonna stay that way!"

"On it!" said Steven. "Group hug!"

Axinite groaned, pulling himself away from the dashboard. Rhyolite smiled widely, shrinking themselves still further.

When the ship crashed into the beach, it exploded into hunks of flaming pink metal.

Lion ran over the sand, searching the wreckage for his friend. When he reached the piece of debris that felt most like Steven, he let loose a sonic roar, which cleared away the broken pieces of the ship and revealed Steven, Rhyolite, and Axinite, all safe within a translucent bubble.

The bubble popped.

"Nice," said Rhyolite.

"Oh my gosh," said Steven. "I can't believe you're a Fusion all the time!"

"You met the trio, huh?" said Axinite.

"Yeah, they're really cool!" Steven gushed. "How come you've never unfused before?"

Rhyolite shrugged. "Casual fusion isn't allowed on Homeworld. The novelty value hasn't worn off yet, so the three of them fuse whenever they can. Also, my… components... don't seem to think that they're very good role models. They're wrong, by the way, but they made me promise not to unfuse. At least, not until your next birthday."

Steven frowned. "Wait, are you saying that after that I won't see you anymore?" he asked, in dismay.

"No, no," Rhyolite assured him, "you will… but you'll probably also see a lot more of Slate, Flint, and Calcite… along with Feldspar, Marble, and Limestone."

Steven was curious. "Who are they?"

"They're the three different Fusions you get when only two of them fuse at a time," Axinite explained, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"And, of course, we're always open to forming Granite," said Rhyolite, with a grin in Axinite's direction.

Axinite scoffed. "Yeah, I think I'll pass."

Rhyolite and Steven laughed at the expression on his face.

But the lighthearted moment was quickly broken, as a gout of flame destroyed a nearby section of the wreckage. Ruby emerged, looking positively volcanic, and Sapphire wasn't far behind, dusting herself off.

"Don't think you've won," said Sapphire. "We were going to let you fight us, to truly give it your all… so that when you inevitably lost, you would have regained some of your honor."

"But now?" said Ruby, "You pranced around stalling for time, and we're all out of patience. We were going to bring you back to Homeworld in chains," said Ruby.

"But now?" said Sapphire, "I think I'd rather bring you back in pieces."

Ruby held out a hand to Sapphire. "For Homeworld?"

Sapphire smiled lightly, and took it. "For Homeworld," she agreed.

"Oh no," said Steven, in small voice. Beside him, Axinite looked incredibly worried, and Rhyolite was just remembering to shift themselves back up to their full height, in preparation for the inevitable fight.

On the beach, Ruby and Sapphire danced a formal Waltz, two short cycles of three beats, before spinning off into a symmetrical pose… and forming into their Fusion.

Though the Fusion was made of only two Gems, their limb-enhancers made them almost as massive as Rhyolite. Beside Steven, Axinite swallowed nervously.

Unexpectedly, though, the new Fusion was considerably less hostile than either Ruby or Sapphire had been. In fact, if one had to choose which emotion was dominant in her expression, the obvious answer would have been 'shock.' A remarkably vulnerable emotion, considering she'd been formed to kill them all.

"I…" said the Fusion, shaking her head, full sentences beyond her for the moment.

"Ruby?" said Steven. "Sapphire? Are you okay?"

"Garnet," the Fusion corrected him, softly. "Our name… it's Garnet."

"Okay, Garnet," said Steven. "Are you okay?"

"I… We…" the newly-formed Gem struggled with the sentence, "…I didn't know it would feel like this."

Rhyolite chuckled nervously. "Yeah," they said, "It's a rush, isn't it?"

"It's…" said the Fusion, but words failed her. A single tear ran down her cheek.

She shook her head, clenching her fists. The Crystal Gems tensed.

"I'm done," Garnet announced.

"With what?" asked Steven, cautiously.

"Today," said Garnet, with a shrug. "You. All of this. We need to think about things. This… Fusion… it's not what we expected… and I need some time together—alone, whatever I am now, so… bye," she finished.

And with that abrupt dismissal, Garnet waded into the ocean and out of sight.

… leaving the Crystal Gems to stare after her amidst the flaming wreckage of the Homeworld ship.

"You know," said Rhyolite, rubbing their chin. "Now that I think about it, they're actually a really great couple."

Axinite collapsed against Rhyolite's leg and tried to stop hyperventilating.

Steven continued to stare forward, it wasn't until the third repetition of the jingle that he realized his phone was ringing.

"Uh, hello?" said Steven, answering the call.

"Steven," came Lucy's coldly furious voice from the other end of the phone. "If this is a joke, I'm going to kill you. And if it's not a joke and you get yourself killed, then I'm going to spot-weld your gem back together, so that I can kill you again for making me worry!" she said, finally giving way to frazzled anger. "What on Earth is going on?" she demanded.

He did not have an immediate response for that. "Steven?" asked Lucy again, this time sounding more brittle than angry.


AN: Much as I love 'Stronger than You' it's a song for one voice, and I wanted something for three, so I used meters from other songs and musicals and such.

Not sure what the tune would be, since I'm a lyricist not a composer, but Flint's section was pretty much just the meter from the chorus of Joey Scarbury's 'Believe it or Not,' Slate's section took its meter from the chorus of Chicago's 'Cell Block Tango', Calcite's section was loosely based on the meter from Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive,' and Rhyolite's little poem at the end probably had more of Edgar Allen Poe's 'Alone' in it than it did anything else. So, basically, pick/write whatever tune you think will go best with the words, because I certainly didn't decide on one.