Jasper was leagues under the sea fused as Malachite and struggling to get free from Lapis. The gem was persistent to keep her away from Steven, but at the moment the mini Rose was the last thing she was thing she was thinking about. She needed to get out of this fusion now to get back to her mate. Peridot was all alone and without protection. What if the Crystal Gems caught and bubbled her or worse yet shattered her? Peridot's egg was ready to come out of her and she wanted to be there for her as well as protect her until a ship arrived and then she could send both of them home while she dealt with the Crystal Gems and Rose.
"Steven, you have to go!" She heard Lapis say. "I have to concentrate on her!"
Who was she talking to? She then realized she was talking to the brat. While she was distracted with him, she quickly took brief control and tried to get to the mutt. She'd make him tell her what he had done to Peridot or if he had seen her. Too distracted by him, she found herself being pulled back as Lapis was back in control. She clinched her fists in anger and then clawed at her face which Malachite also did. Lapis tried restraining their hands but not before Jasper yanked on her hair and managed to poke one of Lapis's eyes. For everyday they were held together, the older gem was starting to be more in control for longer periods whenever Lapis lost control. If this kept up, Jasper was going to fully control Malachite and find Steven. She tried telling herself that they had to stay fused but deep down she knew she wasn't going to be able to do this forever.
Meanwhile Peridot was still inside of the bathroom, she was thinking about her mate. She had wanted to ask Steven about the location of her mate, but she couldn't help but to think that she may be pushing her luck by asking about her. If she was bubbled too, she was probably not unbubbled due to possibly being considered a threat compared to Peridot who was much smaller and without her enhancers. Where were her enhancers anyways? Knowing them, they had them stored somewhere. She couldn't go looking for them now without leaving behind her egg.
"Perhaps I can go outside and..." Peridot's thoughts were interrupted by knocking on the door.
"Peridot, are you still in there?" asked Steven. "It's me, Steven."
Peridot didn't answer. Maybe if she didn't talk or make any noises, he would think she was gone. Then she heard voices other than Steven's. It was those traitors! She heard the pearl mention ask the younger gem if he was sure she was still in there while the amethyst wanted to break the door down. The fusion made a good point that it would spook her and make her run off. Given how small the window was above the toilet, she wasn't going to be able to slip out with her egg. Peridot searched frantically for another exit. How about that the large white thing with water in it? It looked like some kind of portal. Grabbing her egg, she got into the toilet and pushed down the lever. All that happened was that the toilet overflowed and Peridot was getting wet.
"I've tried that before and it doesn't work like that," she heard the amethyst say outside of the door.
Peridot put her egg down on the floor and attempted to get out of the toilet only to get her foot stuck. Once she had pulled it out and tried to get back in the tub, she slipped and hit her head against the toilet. She cried out in pain and rubbed her head.
"Ow that hurt!" Peridot whimpered.
"Are you okay in there?" Steven yelled from the other side.
"I'm fine! Go away!" Peridot crawled back into the tub and held her egg tightly.
"We're not going to hurt you!"
"I find that hard to believe," said Peridot. "Why don't you leave me alone?"
"You mentioned something about danger."
"You mean the Cluster?" asked Peridot. How did they not know about it? She wondered if she should say anything in detail about it. No they didn't need to know a thing. She doubted even if she told them, they'd let her go. The fusion told her they wouldn't do anything to her but Peridot didn't believe it. She heard low talking and then heard her say that they wouldn't hurt her egg either.
Peridot chose not to answer and waited to see what would happen next. She heard footsteps leaving the hallway and then she knew she was alone with her geode. She hoped it didn't hatch at the moment. What if it more than one inside of it? Considering the size, it very well could be. If it did hatch, she could then climb out of the window with her or them. But then where could she go?
The gem sat inside of the tub for a while before she heard knocking. "What?"
"I need to come in."
"Go away."
"I have something you want."
Peridot came near the door. "What is it?"
"One of your feet." Periot thought for a moment. "Which foot?"
"Left."
Peridot opened the door for Steven to come inside. She snatched her limb enhancer from him and opened up the compartment only to find it empty. No that had been the other foot that had it in there. As Steven was about to brush his teeth, Peridot asked about her other limb enhancers.
"Oh we kind of threw those away."
"Where?"
"In the ocean." Peridot's eyes widened and she hit him out of anger. "Ow! What was that for?"
"My notes were in there and so was Jasper's hair!" The green gem had a lock of her mate's hair inside of her right leg to make up for her lover's absence whenever Jasper went off world. She needed it even more now that she had no clue where she was or even if she would ever see her again. And it wouldn't hurt to introduce her unhatched young to her other parent's scent just in case. She couldn't believe those clods threw her stuff away but kept one.
"Why would you keep her hair?"
"That's none of your business." The older gem noticed Steven looking over at her egg. "You know I'm surprised you all didn't smash it. Do you even know what's inside it?"
"No, but when you called it your egg..."
"It's mine and Jasper's. I laid this one not too long ago." She explained. "Jasper hasn't laid her's yet. At least I don't think she has. You know where she is, don't you?"
"She's with Lapis. They fused and..."
"They what?!" On the homeworld, fusing wasn't a natural thing and when it was done, it was done with other gems of your kind. Jaspers fused with Jaspers, Amethysts with Amethysts, Rubies with Rubies, and so on. Even then it wasn't done if it wasn't necessary. Why had Jasper fused Lapis? The older gem didn't like either of them so there had to be a reason why they teamed up. It was probably to fight the Crystal Gems. Now that she thought about it, if that had happened why were the Crystal Gems still around? "Jasper wouldn't fuse with anyone. We don't even fuse."
"She was trying to use Lapis to form Malachite to attack us, but Lapis took over and dragged her into the ocean," Noticing the horror on the older gem's face, he quickly added, "They're okay though."
"She's under the water where that maniac is!" She shouted at him. "She'll hurt them!"
"I'm sure Lapis wouldn't..."
"You don't know that!" Peridot began panicking over her mate and their eggs. Lapis didn't like either of them and wouldn't hesitate to harm their eggs.
"Calm down, Peridot," He said laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be okay."
"No it isn't!" Peridot sobbed. First losing her mate and their ship, then her being stuck on Earth, and now the cluster was probably going to kill them all as she didn't have anyone to help out with doing something about it. "I hate this stupid planet. Nothing's gone right since I've been here!"
Steven thought for a minute. "Peridot, I can talk to them for you."
"You...you will?" She looked up at the younger gem. "How?"
"I've been able to see her in my sleep so maybe if I try hard enough to see her again, I can tell Lapis not to hurt your eggs." Steven hadn't mentioned anything about Jasper for a reason. For the moment, Jasper was still pretty much a threat in his guardians and Lapis's eyes. He knew there was bound to be some good in her though despite whatever hostility she had towards him. If she could see him as more than Rose Quartz, maybe they could get along though Pearl said otherwise.
"Please do it and if you could please tell Jasper I love her, okay?" Steven nodded. Peridot thought for a minute before saying, "Okay, I'll tell you about the Cluster...but only if you help me with it."
Steven agreed, happy that Peridot was starting to open up to him though he wished it had extended to the other gems. Whatever the Cluster was, the others would be able to help.
