Everyone stared at the young half-gem for a long time, none of them saying a word. Steven just met their gaze and hoped that they saw why he needed to do this. He only had a taste of what Jasper was going through and already he would rather be bubbled than go through it all over again. Jasper had to deal with the cycle of darkness and death for weeks.
"Steven," Pearl began and Steven felt his confidence chip a bit. Whenever Pearl used that tone of voice it meant that she was going to sway him over with logic, or whatever logic Pearl deemed fit to use at that time. "Jasper is corrupted. She's in that bubble for a reason. If we let her out, she could hurt a lot of people."
"I don't think she wants to hurt anyone anymore," Steven countered. He ignored Pearl's scoff and continued. "She's trapped and scared and all she wants is for the pain to stop." Tears brimmed in Steven's eyes as he looked at the door to the temple. "Jasper is in so much pain right now and it's because of me!"
Garnet chose that opportunity to get up off the floor and walk over to Steven. She sat down at the edge of his bed and conjured her visors to hide her eyes. "Jasper is in pain because she refused the help you offered to her. It is not your fault."
"Garnet's right dude," Amethyst spoke up. "If Jasper hadn't been such a sore loser when we kicked her butt then she wouldn't be the way she is now. Thinking that it's your fault that she's a monster won't help anything."
"THEN IT'S MOM'S FAULT!" Steven screamed, his patience finally snapping. He looked at his shocked family and then pointed at Rose's portrait. "Jasper thought I was her! The gem that shattered her diamond!" The other crystal gems looked away for a moment as if they forgot what their righteous leader was capable of. "Of course she didn't accept my help!" A few tears spilled out of his eyes and he angrily wiped them away as he whispered, "She must have thought that I was going to shatter her too."
Pearl tried to pull Steven into a hug but he shoved her away. Hurt flashed on her face before she schooled her features into one of professional disinterest. "Jasper didn't accept your help before so why do you think that she'll accept it now?"
"Because I know how she feels," Steven answered evenly.
"That's enough," Garnet said as Pearl opened her mouth to counter Steven's point. Garnet stood up from the bed and looked at Rose's portrait and then at Steven. "Do you truly want to try this Steven?" Steven nodded without hesitation. Garnet looked at Pearl, "I think we should let him try. For his sake."
Pearl looked at Amethyst for support but the purple gem just shrugged. "If he wants to try then let him. If Jasper gets too rowdy I'll just poof her again," Amethyst said, morphing into Purple Puma and smashing her fist into her palm for effect.
Pearl just sighed and glanced at Lion. The pink lion yawned and licked Steven's cheek. "You too, huh?" Pearl squeezed the bridge of her nose. "Fine, let's release the gem that caused all of us trouble for so many months. Just let me warn Lapis and Peridot and deactivate the warp pad in case Jasper breaks out."
"That's the spirit!" Amethyst said, still in her Purple Puma form. She pumped her fist in the air and chanted, "Do it, do it, do it!"
An hour later, all four of the Crystal Gems and even Lion walked over to the door that led to the temple. Garnet laid her hands flat against the door and it opened to the heart of the temple. They all went inside and looked at the different bubbled gems that they had collected on their journeys. Steven rushed over to one of the amethyst's bubbles that held Jasper's gem. He jumped up and grabbed it, floating back down gently. He inspected the gem, wondering if there was any part of Jasper in there or if the beast from his nightterrors had destroyed any semblance of her.
Steven took a deep breath and popped the bubble. The gem fell to the ground with a soft tink but neither Jasper or her corrupted-self leapt out. The Crystal Gems surrounded the gem and waited. Jasper's gem just laid there for several seconds without any sign of either forms of Jasper forming.
"Maybe she's still regenerating from that beating we gave her?" Amethyst suggested, trying to liven the mood but everyone could hear the concern in her voice.
Garnet bent down and poked the gem but it still did nothing. She looked up at Steven, "Perhaps she just isn't ready."
"No, she is," Steven argued, picking up the gem that belonged to Jasper. "She wanted to leave that place and find" Steven trailed off.
"Find who?" Pearl asked, taking a step forward.
"I don't know," Steven lied. He knew that Jasper wanted to find Lapis but he didn't want to tell the others. They would think that Jasper wanted to form Malachite again but Steven knew better. Despite what Jasper said on his father's boat, the quartz gem was absolutely terrified of that fusion. She just wanted to find Lapis, just so she can see her again. Steven looked down at the gem and an idea bloomed in his head. "I know what to do but you guys have to cover your ears." When none of the gems did as he requested, Steven pouted and turned around. He held the gem to his mouth and he whispered low so that the others wouldn't hear. "You have to come out Jasper, if you don't you'll always be trapped inside of Malachite." The gem grew warm and Steven hurried to continue. "I know you want to see Lapis and if you come out, you'll get to again."
The gem twitch in his hand at the sound of Lapis's name. Soon it grew too hot and Steven dropped it with a pained yelp. The gem continued to twitch as it hit the ground.
"Remember everyone, if Jasper loses control we push her into the vat!" Pearl said, conjuring her spear. The other Crystal Gems except Steven nodded in agreement. Steven conjured his shield on instinct but knew that it was more to make the other gems feel better than for his actual safety.
A bright light exploded out of the gem, blinding everyone. The gem rose into the air and Lion hissed at the form taking shape. Steven rested a hand on the pink fur and watched as the blob seemed to struggle to choose a form. It went from Jasper to the corrupted creature again and then back to Jasper.
"She's actually fighting it," Pearl said in wonder.
The blob halted at a form between the two before it rapidly reverting back to the corrupted gem's. Steven lowered his eyes as corrupted Jasper began to form, not wanting to witness the proud warrior's defeat at her own hands.
A thud echoed throughout the temple when the creature that used to be Jasper landed on the floor. It got up on its legs shakily and swerved its head back and forth as if it was unsure of what to do. It sniffed at the air and ignoring the shocked gems, started to pace around the room. Steven lowered his shield and took a step forward towards the creature. It lifted its head in the direction of the young crystal gem for a moment before growling low in its throat. Steven could see the other Crystal Gems advancing from the corner of his eye and he held up a hand.
"Don't!" Steven said. "I need Jasper to trust me and feel safe." His attention was brought back to the creature. It backed up a few steps, still growling continuously. Steven took another step forward and the creature took a few more steps back, snarling when its back bumped into a wall. It raised a forepaw and Steven could clearly see the claws that once raked against his legs in his nightmare. He gulped and held up a hand, wishing that his entire body would stop shaking. "It's okay Jasper, I swear."
The creature snarled at the name, bringing down its paw and slamming it into the floor. Cracks grew from where the paw hit the ground and Steven took a deep breath before taking another step. The creature raised its hackles and hissed at Steven.
"I won't hurt you, I'm not like my mom," Steven said softly. He noticed that the rest of the Crystal Gems lowered their own weapons and that tears were falling from Pearl's eyes. The hissing stopped but the creature did not relax its stance. "I know why you hate her so much, she took something precious from you. She took away your diamond." Steven dropped his hand and made his shield go away. The creature reared its head as if it could not believe that the human boy vanished his only weapon. "I am not her. I want to help you." Steven took the last few steps and looked straight up at the creature.
The corrupted gem could easily shatter him, Steven knew, but he wasn't afraid. He couldn't be. The creature lowered its head and sniffed at Steven. Steven slowly raised his hand and licked it. "Please let me help you Jasper," he said, holding his hand out.
The two stayed in that stance for a full minute, the creature not moving an inch. Steven could tell that Jasper was grappling with the corrupted gem inside herself and he could only hope that she won. The corrupted gem gave out a strange noise that was between a whistle and a whine. It started to tremble and growl loudly.
"Steven get back!" Pearl yelled out.
"No! I can do this!" Steven held out his hand to the corrupted gem. "Jasper, please! You have to beat this thing!"
The creature roared and its forepaws scratched at the floor. It slammed its own head against the wall, creating a crater in the surface. Another high pitch whistle escaped the creature as it slumped against the floor. Slowly, it raised its head and stared at Steven somehow, like it could sense him. Steven took it as a cue and took a tiny step forward, his hand now an inch from the corrupted gem's nose. The creature hesitated before it pushed its face into Steven's palm.
Immediately, the corrupted gem reared back on its hind paws, throwing Steven to the other side of the room in the process. Garnet jumped up and caught Steven before he slammed into the wall.
"You all right?" Garnet asked, her eyes not moving away from the yowling corrupted gem curling into a ball and uncurling several times.
"Yeah, I think so," Steven said, gripping at his right arm. The corrupted gem had slashed at him when it reared back. He looked down and saw the blood pool through the gaps of his fingers.
Pearl and Amethyst rushed over to inspect the wound. "Oh no, oh no," Pearl whispered, moving Steven's hand away to look at the injury. She covered it up with her own hand and looked over at Amethyst. "Go get the medical supplies," she ordered. Amethyst looked back at the shrieking corrupted gem with a deep frown. "Now Amethyst," Pearl yelled.
Pearl's yell snapped Amethyst out of her stupor and she ran up the steps to go find the medical supplies, Lion following close behind. Garnet looked at Pearl who nodded. Garnet let go of Steven and summoned her two weapons. She walked over to the thrashing corrupted gem and rolled it onto its back with her foot.
Steven saw what Garnet was about to do and yelled out, "DON'T!"
Garnet looked back at Steven who was watching the two in horror. "I'm sorry Steven but she's too dangerous." Garnet pushed down the corrupted gem and raised a fist, aiming at the gem. She ignored Steven's pleas and brought down her fist. Right before she was able to hit the corrupted gem, however, she halted. Garnet stared at the creature for a long time before letting go of it so it could continue to thrash and screech in pain. She walked back calmly and covered Pearl's hand with her own, helping to stem the flow of blood from Steven. "I couldn't do it," was all she said.
Steven sighed in relief when he noticed that the corrupted gem's body started to glow again. It deformed into a messy blob, once again struggling between becoming Jasper or the corrupted gem. It would start to form Jasper but then deform again and start to form the corrupted gem. The blob smacked together and the gems heard the high pitch whistle again, only this time is sounded more like a scream. Pearl raised a hand to her mouth while Garnet covered Steven's ears as the screaming became more distinct.
The blob rose up to the ceiling in jerky-like movements before it slammed itself back to the floor. It finally seemed to settle on a form and the figure started to develop. Steven watched as the blob started to form Jasper and he was about to yell out in excitement when the sound of a gem shattering reached his ears. The entire room became quiet, the Crystal Gems barely breathing as the figure fully formed. It tried to get up on its feet but slumped down a moment later with a pained groan.
"J-Jasper?" Steven asked, struggling to get out of Pearl's grip. He looked up to tell the gem that he wanted to go and see if Jasper was all right when he saw the look on Pearl's face. It was mixed between horror and amazement. He looked back to Jasper and saw that she had managed to get up on her feet.
"L-Lapis?" Jasper asked, her voice rougher and deeper than Steven remembered. She looked around the room, not realizing where she was. Jasper stumbled a few steps forward before falling back onto her knees.
Steven gasped and finally broke free from Pearl's grip. He ran over to the quartz gem and touched her shoulder without a hint of fear. "Jasper?"
Jasper's body jerked at the mention of her name and she looked up in shock. "Y-you," she stammered, "you were, you were there." A look of pure terror covered Jasper's face and Steven quickly tightened his grip on her shoulder to get her attention.
"It's okay Jasper, you're back."
"I got the medical shit!" Amethyst hollered. Not even Pearl bothered to chastise Amethyst's use of language. She and Lion ran down the stairs and skidded to a stop at the sight of Jasper. She dropped the medical kit as she stared at the once corrupted gem. Amethyst pointed at Jasper. "Horny Jasper," she whispered.
Jasper's face showed her confusion and she heard Steven gasp. She looked at him and noticed that he had stars in his eyes as he stared at her. He jumped up and down in excitement, forgetting about his wound and gasping in pain as he reopened it. He grasped at it with a grimace but he still stared up at Jasper. Jasper raised a hand but at the last moment she brought it close to her face. Her fingernails had elongated to deadly claws but it was the coloration of her skin that caught her attention. She still had her stripes on her biceps but she now had turquoise dots littering her arm where her spikes had come out during her corrupted form. Jasper's breathing increased as her hands dashed to the top of her head to grip her hair. She felt something hard on either side of her head and for a moment she thought that she had unconsciously summoned her weapon but she disregarded that notion when her hand felt her hair in between the objects. Her hands trailed up and felt the objects curl around. She tensed when she realized what the objects were.
"Horns," she whispered. "I have horns."
"You have horns," Steven repeated, apparently excited by the new form of Jasper. His eyes zeroed in on Jasper's face and he gasped again. "You have a nose!"
"A nose?" Jasper crossed her eyes to see and raised a hand to touch the spot where Steven was looking at. Instead of feeling her gem, she felt a nose. She took an experimental sniff and she could smell Steven's scent and all the others. Jasper gripped at her head, accidentally raking her claws against her horns and creating a sound that made her flinch. "Where the fuck is my gem?"
"Language!" Pearl said on instinct.
Jasper snarled at the gem, surprising everyone at the animalistic sound. "I don't give a flying fuck! Where is my gem!?" She patted down her body and felt something hard on her chest. She pulled at her shirt and looked down. She indeed had a gem but it wasn't like the one before. It was oval in shape and like her skin, it was striped with reddish-orange and orange with turquoise dots here and there.
"Wha-" Jasper shook her head and looked around again, trying to figure out what was happening and where she was. Her eyes took in all the bubbled corrupted gems and then at Steven. She bared her fangs at him and hissed at Steven, finally realizing who was in the same room as her. Jasper got up on shaky feet and backed away. Soft clicking sounds echoed through the room and Jasper glanced down, seeing that she now had claws on her feet as well and no longer wore shoes. She looked back at the Crystal Gems and sneered at them. "What are you going to do with all these corrupted gems? Try and build your own army?"
Pearl scoffed and grabbed the medical kit that was still on the ground. She moved to Steven now that Jasper was away and started to bandage his wound. "Only you would do something so despicable."
"We are keeping them safe from you," Garnet said.
Jasper growled at the answer, unable to keep her fangs from being bared. Lion tilted his head at the quartz gem and got up from his haunches. It padded over to Jasper and rubbed its head under Jasper's chin, making his strange purr as if the two were the closest friends. Jasper shoved Lion away with a snarl but the creature came back, rubbing his head against Jasper's side while continuing to purr.
"Aw, he likes you," Steven said. Now that his arm was bandaged, he acted like Jasper had never wounded him in the first place. He got up and started to move towards Jasper who hissed at him while shoving Lion away again. "How do you feel?"
"Annoyed," Jasper answered. Lion again tried to rub his head against her but the quartz gem hissed and bared her fangs at him. Lion sat down and stared up at Jasper for a moment before slinking away, apparently hurt from Jasper's actions.
"Don't be mean to Lion," Steven chastised Jasper.
Jasper just hissed at him too.
"Stop hissing Jasper," Garnet said, allowing her weapons to dissolve into nothingness. "Steven saved your life and you should thank him."
Jasper shook her head and straightened her back. "I won't," she growled. She stomped out of the room and banged at the door. "Let me out!" she snarled.
Steven jumped up and rushed over to Jasper, placing a hand on the door. It immediately opened up and Jasper looked down at him, confused. "You said you wanted to get out," he said. "I would want some peace and quiet too if I was you," he said with a grin.
Jasper seemed hesitant to do anything, staring down at the boy who was grinning widely up at her. She scoffed and left the room without another word, Lion bounding after her. The group heard Jasper yell at the pink animal to stop following her around.
"At least she's not trying to shatter anyone," Amethyst said, still unable to believe what just happened.
Steven simply walked back down with a broad smile. He looked at Pearl who was busy staring at the still open door with a slack jaw. "I told you I could help her."
"S-she, yo-you," Pearl stammered before gripping her head, her eyes wide, "HOW!?"
Garnet just smiled at Steven and put her hands together, "I knew you could do it."
Amethyst looked at them and then the door. Soon, Pearl became a stuttering mess with Steven looking smug and Garnet not doing anything but grinning. The purple gem sighed and slipped out of the room before any of them could notice. She went into the beach house and saw Jasper punching the warp pad with one hand and keeping Lion at arm's length away with the other.
"Fucking work damnit!" Jasper roared.
"Punching it won't make it start," Amethyst said, going over and sitting on a stool. She watched Jasper continue to struggle to start the warp pad with no success. "You do realize that we had Peridot deactivate it before we set you out. We aren't that stupid."
"Fuck off," Jasper growled. Her punches were becoming weaker and her vision began to blur. She shook her head and punched the warp pad again with a snarl. Lion was able to swat her arm away but he didn't try to rub his head against her. Instead, Lion started to mew and paw at Jasper's arm.
"Hey, are you okay?" Amethyst asked. She noticed that Jasper's breathing getting heavier and sweat started to bead on her forehead and face. She pushed herself off her seat and walked over to the quartz gem. As she neared, she saw that Jasper had started to tremble and was no longer trying to start the warp pad. Amethyst was about to rest a hand on Jasper's shoulder but the quartz gem slapped it away.
"I was sent here as an escort," Jasper said, a hand burying into her hair. Her eyes were wild and unseeing. "I was to help Peridot restart the Kindergarten and destroy the earth. I-I wanted the earth to be destroyed, I wanted to shatter you all!" Jasper screamed, her fist slamming down on the warp pad. "And yet, you Crystal Gems, you brought me back from that hell." Jasper turned her head to look at Amethyst. "Why?" The question was so desperate and uncertain.
"Because it would be what Rose wanted," Amethyst said with a tired sigh. She sat down next to Jasper. "Rose believed that everyone deserved a second chance and that each gem could be who they want." Amethyst shrugged and played with a lock of her hair. "I guess Steven just inherited all that."
Strangely, Jasper started to laugh, falling down her back and her hand covering her eyes. "You got to be fucking kidding. I spent my entire life serving the diamonds, first Pink and then Yellow. And yet it is the rebels that save my ass." Another sarcastic chuckle escaped Jasper. "Fate is a fucking cunt."
"Yeah she is," Amethyst agreed. "You tried to shatter us all at one point or another, some of us several times." Jasper removed her hand and turned her head to look at Amethyst, one of her horns tapping against the warp pad. "You tried your hardest to destroy this planet and everyone I love. You forced Lapis into a sick, twisted version of a fusion and even got corrupted trying to kill me and Steven. Yet here you are," Amethyst said bitterly, glaring down at Jasper.
"Here I am," Jasper said. She turned her head to stare at the ceiling. She felt Lion curl up next to her and she growled softly but did not waste her energy trying to push him away.
"What the fuck," Amethyst said.
"What the fuck," Jasper repeated.