Several days had now passed since Jet had joined the Crystal Gems. It was nighttime, and Steven was now asleep in his bed at the beach house. Outside on the beach however, something strange was starting to happen. The ocean water suddenly started to turn a strange greenish color, which spread with a consistency almost like that of ink leaking into water, and dead fishes began to float to the surface.
The next morning, everyone was gathered in the temple, relaxing and minding their own business. The day felt just about as normal as any other day there had ever been in Beach City. Upstairs in his room, Steven was watching T.V and simply enjoying himself, as was everyone else on this perfectly normal day. Then, someone rushed into the beach house. It was Pearl, who seemed to look very worried.
"Everyone, this really bad!" said Pearl, frantically. "We might have a serious problem on our hands."
"What is it now? asked Garnet. "More trouble?"
"I don't really know how to explain it." said Pearl. "Just go look outside."
Everyone, now noticeably worried by what it could be, got up and followed Pearl outside to see what was wrong. Immediately upon reaching the beach, they were all greeted by a strange and sickening sight. All of the water in the ocean had turned a disgusting greenish color, and it had a nasty, polluted, and toxic look to it. The water bubbled and oozed in several places on the surface. All along the shore were various dead sea creatures and fish that had washed ashore from the ocean. Many of the residents of Beach City were gathered along the shore, looking out into the ocean, obviously puzzled by what was going on.
"What in the world..." said Garnet. "How did this happen? The beach was perfectly normal yesterday."
"I don't know." said Pearl. "When I went outside this morning, the beach was like this."
"What could have done something like this to the ocean?" asked Steven.
After examining the water for a bit, everyone then went back inside. They sat down and started to discuss many possibilities and theories. Steven then walked over to the sink to get a drink of water and started to fill a glass. Suddenly, he had a fearful thought dawn on him.
"Wait a minute, what if this is somehow related to Lapis!" said Steven, calling out loud in a light bulb moment.
"Oh yeah, she's still at the bottom of the ocean isn't she?" said Amethyst.
"That could definitely be a possibility." said Garnet.
"What would be causing her to do this?" asked Pearl. "Could it be related to her fusion with Jasper?"
"Do you think Lapis is in pain?" said Steven, putting his hands on his face in worry."Is she hurt?"
Steven now seemed frantic and worried.
"Oh no, this is bad..." said Garnet, suddenly looking at Amethyst and Pearl with a very serious and worried expression that seemed to convey that she knew what was going on.
"What's happening to her!?" asked Steven.
"Steven, Lapis is starting to turn into a corrupted Gem." said Garnet, with a solemn tone. "Her hateful fusion with Jasper is starting to corrupt her, and that in turn is probably what's causing the oceans to become toxic like this. Her internal pain and is starting to affect the surrounding environment."
"Not only will Lapis turn into a corrupted Gem, but if this continues, all of Earth's oceans could become poisoned." said Pearl, coming into the conversation. "If the ocean's become toxic, then all of the marine life on this planet will die, and that will in turn cause a chain reaction that could permanently damage this planet's ecosystem, and lead to the extinction of all life on Earth."
"What!" exclaimed Steven. "Are you serious?"
"If something isn't done quick, it could have serious consequences for Earth." said Garnet. "We have to do something about this."
"From the way things look, we don't have much time either." said Pearl. "At the rate at which it's expanding, I'd say we have about five to ten days before all of the Earth's oceans die."
"We're really between a rock and hard place now aren't we?" said Steven. "What should do we do?"
The group was now debating amongst themselves what their next course of action should be. They were starting to realize that the problem of Lapis was now a more serious and immediate danger to the Earth than they wanted to admit.
"Anyone have any ideas for how we should fix this? asked Amethyst.
"First we have to find out where she is now." said Garnet. "That's the part we still don't know."
As they were talking, Steven heard someone knock on the door nearby and call over to him.
"Hey, Steven." said the voice. "Are you there?"
Steven walked over to the door to answer it, and found that it was Jet.
"There you are." said Jet. "I've been looking for you all day Steven."
"Hey Jet." said Steven. "You're here too now? I take it you already know about what's going on with the oceans by now?"
"Part of it." said Jet. "You can explain the rest to me later, but right now, I really need your help with something."
"What is it?" asked Steven.
"It's about one of your weird friends." said Jet. "The whole day they've been following me around. He just won't go away. For some reason he really wants to see you, and he keeps insisting that I take him to meet you. I can't understand anything he's saying. He speaks in some weird language. You probably know who I'm talking about. He's short, has yellow hair, doesn't say much, and he's very mischievous."
"You mean Onion?" said Steven, now noticing Onion arriving behind Jet.
"So that's his name?" said Jet.
"What is it buddy?" asked Steven, turning to Onion.
Onion then started to speak to Steven in his weird mumbling language. Steven seemed to understand some of it and nodded his head a few times.
"I see... I don't get it it." said Steven.
Onion then grabbed a hold of one of Steven's arms and started to pull him on him and lead him away.
"What is it Onion?" asked Steven. "Do you want me to follow you?"
"I guess he does." said Jet.
Steven and Jet started to follow after Onion as they both left the beach. As they were leaving, Garnet seemed to notice them.
"Where are you going Steven?" asked Garnet.
"I'm not really sure." said Steven. "It's an Onion Emergency. We'll probably be back later."
"Don't worry, I'll go with him." said Jet. "See ya later."
"Garnet, while we're gone, try to think of some kind of plan for us to fix this and save Lapis." said Steven.
"Okay, we will." said Garnet, waving goodbye to Steven.
Steven, Jet, and Onion then disappeared into the town.
As Steven and Jet continued following Onion through Beach City, it was starting to turn dark.
"Dang Steven, where is this kid taking us?" asked Jet, now annoyed. "It's already nighttime. He better not be leading us to some creepy dark alley to do who knows what to us."
"Onion, are we almost there?" asked Steven.
The three of them soon arrived at the docks of Beach City. Anchored at the end of one of the piers was the boat of Yellowtail, Onion's father, who was waiting on board. Onion then began babbling in his strange language and started gesturing towards the boat.
"What is it?" asked Steven. "You want us to get on the boat?"
Onion nodded his head, giving a positive response that signaled that Steven's guess was correct.
"Okay then." said Steven. "But we have to be back before dinner, so we'll have to make this quick."
"Steven, can we trust this kid?" asked Jet, feeling somewhat suspicious of Onion's intentions. "I don't feel too good about this."
"Yes, we can." said Steven. "It might not seem like it, but me and Onion are actually good friends. He wouldn't do something like this unless he had a very good reason to... whatever it might be."
Steven and Jet then got on the boat with Onion. When everyone was on board, Yellowtail released the boat from the docks and started to steer it out towards the open ocean.
"So Steven, what's going on with the oceans?" asked Jet. "You kind of seem to know a little bit about what's happening."
"It probably has something to do with Lapis." said Steven.
"Lapis?" said Jet. "Who's that?"
"Oh yeah that's right, I haven't told you about her." said Steven. "Lapis is Gem who's a friend of mine. She was originally a Homeworld Gem, but decided to help us instead, and she fused into Malachite with an evil Gem named Jasper in order to drag her down to the bottom of the ocean where she can keep her imprisoned so that she can't hurt anyone or report back to Homeworld. We've been trying to find her ever since, but so far we've had no luck."
As Steven explained the story to Jet, the boat continued off into the horizon until it eventually reached an outcropping of rocks that jutted out from a shore further out into the sea. As the boat came near the rocks, Steven and Jet noticed something strange near one of them. The greenish polluted water in the surrounding area all seemed to be focusing from here and spreading outwards. In the middle of the spot in the water, there was a cluster of dead fish floating on the surface, and the water seemed to be boiling and creating many bubbles. Soon, the boat was right next to this center of death. Onion and Yellowtail then both started to speak in their strange language and gestured towards the water.
"Why did they take us here?" asked Jet. "What's so significant about this spot?"
Steven looked at the water for a while and examined it closely, trying to figure out what it could mean. He then started to have a thought.
"Can if be..." said Steven. "It is! Lapis is here! She's here, right beneath the surface of the water!" Steven began jumping up and down excitedly.
"Now that we know where she is, what are we going to do about it?" asked Jet.
"I wonder if she can hear me?" asked Steven.
Steven began calling out to Lapis, but there was no response. He then began to lean over the side of the boat and tried to reach his hand down into the water. Yellowtail then immediately pulled Steven back and started to frantically say something in his language, almost as if he was chastising Steven for something. Yellowtail then held out a fishing rod and dipped it into the water. He pulled it out, and as he did so, the end of the pole started to melt and dissolve from having touched the polluted seawater. It was now obvious why Yellowtail had stopped Steven from touching the water. In this area, the water seemed to be highly acidic.
"Yikes, I'm glad you stopped me Yellowtail." said Steven.
"We've found her, but it doesn't really seem like there's anything we can do right now." said Jet.
"We have to go tell everyone at the temple that we've found her." said Steven.
"Let's start heading back then." said Jet. "It's already late. By the time we get back, it'll probably be morning."
"Pearl must be worried." said Steven. "Okay Yellowtail, take us home."
The boat then left the rocky atoll and headed on its way back to Beach City.
The sun was now starting to rise in the sky as morning approached. Inside the temple, there was a news report being broadcasted on the T.V about the current situation going on with the ocean.
"It's spreading very far." said Pearl. "It's already reached all the way down the east coast now. The humans on the news think that it's some kind of toxic chemical spill, but they have no idea where it's really coming from."
"We've got to hurry and find her before this gets any worse." said Garnet.
"How can one Gem be causing all of this?" asked Amethyst. "She's effecting the ecosystem of an entire planet."
"Lapis is a very powerful Gem." said Pearl. "You might not be aware of this, but there are actually Gems out there who are capable of devastating entire planets with their powers. Gems who are even stronger than all of us here put together."
"What!?" exclaimed Amethyst, shocked. "There are actually Gems like that out there somewhere!?"
'Yes, but not to worry, aside from Lapis, there aren't any others like that here on Earth, and we encountered very few of them during the rebellion." said Pearl. "The only Gems who really posses that kind of power would be the Diamonds, and possibly their highest ranking commanders."
As they continued talking, Steven and Jet ran into the beach house, panting and their clothes covered in dirt, and the other passengers from the boat catching up behind them. Pearl then immediately ran up to Steven.
"Steven, where have you been!" exclaimed Pearl. "Do you know how worried I was when I heard that you'd gone off on a boat with that demon child?"
Ever since that one incident with Onion in Beach City, Pearl has harbored an immense distrust and fear of Onion.
"Finally, I'm off that stupid boat." said Jet.
"I'm glad at least you went with him to keep him safe." said Pearl, looking at Jet.
"We don't really have time to explain, but we have some, good news." said Steven, still breathing heavily from running all the way to the temple. "Everyone, we've found where Lapis is!"
The Crystal Gem's attention seemed to be immediately grabbed and they all turned towards Steven.
"You do!?" exclaimed Pearl.
"Yes, we found the spot in the ocean where she is." said Steven.
"How in the world did you find her?" asked Pearl.
"It was actually Onion and his dad Yellowtail that led us there." said Steven.
"He of all people found Lapis, when we couldn't after months of searching?" said Pearl. "I will never understand the method behind that child's madness."
"Very good Steven, and Jet." said Garnet. "That's already one part of the plan taken care of. Now that we've found her, we can move on to the next part of the plan; removing Malachite from the ocean."
"Removing her from the ocean?" asked Steven.
"Yes." said Garnet. "At this point, it may be the only option me have left to stop the spread of the toxins she's releasing into the ocean before they destroy the Earth's ecosystem. Removing the source of the toxins could possibly even reverse their effects."
"Our hand is being forced." said Pearl. "Malachite's imprisonment at the bottom of the ocean has now turned into a serious problem that we can no longer just ignore and turn our heads away from, like we've been doing up until this point."
"We'll have to remove her by force." said Garnet. "It doesn't matter if we have to drag her out kicking and screaming ourselves. No matter how much she wants us to leave her alone, we have to do it. She doesn't realize what her pain and selfishness is doing to the Earth. It's either her or the planet."
"I guess you're right." said Steven, sorrowfully. "As much as I don't want to accept it, it's the truth."
"So what's the plan?" asked Jet.
"Here's how we'll do it." said Garnet. "First, Pearl and Jet will wait here on the shore, and I'll go with Amethyst and Steven on the boat to where Malachite is. Steven, we'll need you to lead us there. Once we're there, Amethyst and I will fuse into Sugilite and go into the water. From there, we'll have to grab a hold of Malachite and drag her out of the water. When we start to drag Malachite out of the ocean, we'll need to make our way towards the shore. Once we're back on land, we'll most likely have to fight her. Pearl and Jet will then join in and help us in fighting her. This will likely be a very difficult fight. We'll have to cause enough damage to Malachite in order to make her defuse, and if we have to, we'll also poof Lapis and Jasper."
"Sounds like a plan." said Jet.
"Alright then, lets put this plan into action." said Garnet.
"Are we going to have to hurt Lapis?" asked Steven, sounding worried.
"We're not going to hurt her; we're just going to give Lapis some tough love." said Garnet, putting her fists together. "She may not like it, but it's for her own good."
Everyone then began to walk outside and went about preparing for the task at hand. Pearl and Jet both got into position at the shore of the beach, while Steven started to lead Garnet and Amethyst towards the docks, where Onion and Yellowtail would take them with his boat to where Lapis was.
The boat was finally starting to come into view of the spot in the ocean where Malachite was located. Upon reaching the bubbling spot next to the rocky outcropping, Garnet stopped to examine it.
"She's down there." said Steven. "Be careful though, the water here is very acidic. It's too dangerous for me to go in."
"Is everyone ready?" asked Garnet. "Amethyst, are you ready to form Sugilite?"
"I am." said Amethyst.
Garnet and Amethyst then began to do their fusion dance on the deck of the ship. As they moved in closer to each other, they began to fuse and their size grew as they formed into Sugilite.
"Wait a minute, is it a good idea for you to to do that on the boat?" asked Steven.
It was too late however. Sugilite had now been formed, and the boat immediately became weighed down on one end, causing it to stand up into the air.
"It feels so good to finally be back." said Sugilite. "Here I come Malachite. Canon ball!"
Sugilite then jump straight into the water, releasing the weight from the boat, allowing it to settle back down on its hull. As she splashed into the water, it created a large shock wave below that sent the boats back a little bit. The water where Sugilite had entered from started to quake and thrash, as if a violent struggle was going on underneath. As Steven watched the surface of the water, he saw something begin to emerge. It was Sugilite, and in her arms she held Malachite above her head, so that she couldn't escape back into the water. All that could be heard were Malachite's screams and cries, which sounded very monstrous.
"The corruption really is getting worse." said Steven. "She can't even speak anymore. She's losing herself."
Sugilite then began to wade through the water towards the direction of the shore. There were acidic toxins dripping from Malachite's skin right onto Sugilite, causing her to scream out in pain.
"Ahh, it burns so much!" yelled Sugilite. "We have to hurry. I can't hold out like this forever. We just need to make it to the shore before we defuse."
Sugilite now held Malachite tightly in her grip, and as she made her way back towards the shore, the boat followed behind her.
As Pearl and Jet were waiting on the shore by the temple, they looked off into the horizon. In the distance, they could see the boat approaching, and alongside it was Sugilite, who was carrying Malachite in her grip. Sugilite finally reached the shore and dropped Malachite onto the sand, and as the boat reached the shore, Steven immediately jumped off and ran over to join Pearl and Jet. Sugilite had now finally reached her limit; she was about to fall apart.
"It hurts, it hurts!" said Sugilite, screaming in pain from all of the acid burns.
She then finally defused, separating into Garnet and Amethyst again.
"Ow ow ow." said Amethyst, who rolled around in the sand due to the pain of all the acid burns, and then poofing in order to regenerate her body.
"It's all up to you guys now." said Garnet, slowly crawling towards Steven, Pearl, and Jet. "You know what to do."
Garnet gave them a thumbs up, and then she too poofed into her two separate Gems in order to take time to repair the damage that had been done to her body by Malachite. Steven, Jet, and Pearl then began to direct their attention towards the monstrous Gem fusion Malachite standing on the shore. She looked even more deformed and hideous then the first time they had seen her, no doubt due to the corruption that was beginning to take hold of her. All over her body, acidic toxins dripped from her skin, and it looked almost as if she were melting. Having to fight her up close would be very difficult. Everywhere she stepped, the ground sizzled and hissed, as a blueish-green acid flowed all around her like lava.
Pearl, Steven, and Jet then summoned their weapons. Pearl summoned her spear, Steven summoned his shield, and Jet summoned his sword. Jet's black sword seemed to catch Pearl's eye.
"I remember that weapon Jet." said Pearl. "That was Onyx's sword."
"I've been practicing how to use it for a while now." said Jet. "I've gotten pretty good at it."
Pearl, Jet, and Steven then charged towards Malachite and began to fight her. As they were fighting, something strange started to occur. Out of the acidic toxins flowing on the beach,there sprouted several fluid-like greenish arms that attacked and grabbed at everything around them. Steven rushed out in front of Malachite and started deflecting her attacks with his shield.
"Steven, don't fight that monster head on!" Jet called out. "She's too strong!"
Pearl and Jet then circled around to where Malachite's legs were and began to attack them, and managed to chop two of them off, causing Malachite to let out a scream of pain. As they were doing this, several liquid-like green arms started to sprout from Malachite's back to attack them. This forced then to get away from her in order to avoid the sprouting arms. Jet blocked each of the arms with his sword, and as one grabbed his sword, the blade did something very unusual. Suddenly, the tip bent into a sharp right angle and began moving on its own and piercing the arms in a snake-like, zigzagging pattern. The blade of the sword had suddenly become flexible, and Jet was now controlling its movements, almost like a steel whip. After stabbing the arms, he had the black ribbon that was the blade retract back and harden into a normal sword again.
"That's so cool." said Steven. "I didn't know your sword could do that Jet."
"It's a special ability my sword has." said Jet. "It isn't very easy to control."
Malachite resumed her attack with increased ferocity. As this was happening however, something unexpected started to occur. All of the surrounding green liquid began to freeze, and it started to travel up Malachite's body, causing her liquid covering of acidic toxins to freeze as well, and her legs and body became trapped. Everyone turned around to see where this ice was coming from and saw that Sapphire standing nearby, using her ice powers to assist them.
"Ruby seems to be taking a little longer to regenerate, so I decided my powers might be useful to you." said Sapphire. "Now's your chance! She's trapped! Hit her with everything you've got and force her out of her fusion!"
Everyone then turned their attention back towards Malachite. It was likely that she would not stay subdued for long. She would eventually break free from the hold of the ice. It was now all or nothing, as everyone prepared for the final attack.
"Are you ready to do this Steven?" asked Jet, raising his sword and getting into position. "It'll be our final, special attack, just like we've been practicing."
"I'm ready." said Steven, raising his shield. "Remember, we have to be careful not to crack Lapis' gem."
"Okay then, let's do this." said Jet.
The two of them then started to charge towards Malachite, ready to attack with all of their might. Jet with his sword drawn to attack, and Steven with his shield out to defend. It was like a mirror image of Rose and Onyx when they fought together in the past. They reached Malachite, who was now starting to break free and attack. Steven blocked all of her attacks with his shield, until she started pushing her arms against it.
"Sorry Lapis, you may not like it, but this is for your own good." said Steven. "Jet, do it now!"
Jet jumped onto the top of Steven's shield, and then as he crouched, launched himself off with a powerful jump, heading straight towards Malachite's head. He held out his sword and as he flew straight towards her, it pierced her right in the head, and his blade slid down her face.
"Look away Steven." said Jet. "You might not want to see this."
Malachite convulsed, and then fell over, motionless. Jet removed his sword from Malachite and looked to Steven.
"Did we do it?" asked Jet.
"I don't know." said Steven.
Suddenly, Malachite's body began to glow and swell. It kept getting bigger and bigger, until it just burst, causing all of the acidic toxins that covered her to be shot into the air, which then rained down all over the beach. Everyone on the beach started looking for cover and running away to find a safe place from the deadly shower. Steven formed a bubble around himself and Jet, keeping the two of them safe. As the rain fell, the two parts that made up the fusion fell to the ground. One was the Gem of Lapis Lazuli, and the other was Jasper herself, who had managed to hold out a little longer after being separated from Malachite.
"Curse you, you filthy traitorous Gems!" yelled Jasper. "You'll pay for this! Just wait until Yellow Diamond finds out about you!"
Those were the last words she was able to say before she too was poofed from the damage done to her body.
"Quick, someone bubble her!" Pearl called out when the acid rain had stopped.
Everyone on the beach immediately began rushing over towards Jasper's Gem. As they got there, a red bubble formed around it. Everyone turned to see who it was that had created the bubble and found that it was Ruby, who had now fully regenerated.
"How does it feel Jasper?" said Ruby. "This is payback for what you did to us on the ship."
Ruby then made the bubble disappear, sending it on its way to the Bubble Room in the temple.
Steven immediately released his bubble shield and then ran over to Lapis' Gem. He picked it up and held it close to him.
"Everything's okay now Lapis, you're safe." Steven said to her gem.
"It's finally over." said Pearl, now relieved and plopping down into the sand.
After assessing the damage to the surrounding area, everyone started to go back into the beach house. As they were walking back inside, Pearl noticed Jet holding onto one of his arms. Curious, she went over to him to see what was wrong.
"Is something wrong Jet?" asked Pearl. "Did you get hurt."
"It's nothing." said Jet. "I just got burnt a little by some of Malachite's acid during the battle."
On Jet's arm was a small burn mark, which already looked as though it was fading.
"It seems you've also inherited something else from Onyx." said Pearl, smiling. "Her healing and regeneration abilities."
"She had healing powers?" asked Jet. "I suspected something like that might be true."
"What do you mean?" asked Pearl.
"A long time ago, back when I was a kid, I had once broken my arm." said Jet. "It was obvious that I would have to go to doctor to have them look at it, and my dad was pretty freaked out it. He was worried about what would happen if they ever saw my Gem, and didn't know how he would be able explain it to the doctors. I'm not really sure why it was such a big deal if they found out I was a half-Gem. A lot of people already know Steven is one, and they don't seem to care much. I think that he might have been worried about it for another reason, which he wouldn't say. Despite all that, over the next few days, my arm somehow was able to heal on its own. It didn't really make sense to me at the time, but now I understand."
"Onyx may have had healing powers, but hers were much different from Rose's." said Pearl. "Rose's healing powers were outward; she could heal others. Onyx's healing powers on the other hand were inward, meaning that she could heal herself. She could regenerate any damage done to her body without having to first retreat back into her Gem."
"Something like that will definitely be helpful in the future." said Jet. "I'll most likely end up getting hurt a lot."
Pearl then went over to Steven to speak with him, and she was joined by Ruby and Sapphire.
"With Malachite gone, the ocean should now go back to its original state over the next few days." said Sapphire. "Now that we've stopped the corruption before it could fully consume her, Lapis has been saved."
"What about Lapis' Gem?" asked Pearl. "Are there any cracks in it?"
"No, none at all." said Steven, holding up Lapis' gem. "But she still hasn't come out yet. Why? Is she too scared to come out?"
"She should be perfectly fine now." said Pearl. "The only thing keeping her from coming out now is her. It's all up to Lapis now, but it doesn't seem like she wants to come out. A Gem can stay inside their gem forever if they wanted to after poofing, so who knows when she might decide to come out."
Steven seemed to have a sad look on his face upon hearing this.
"Well, until she comes out, I'm going to make sure her Gem stays safe." said Steven. "I'll carry it with me wherever I go."
"Hey man, at least we saved the oceans." said Amethyst. "You should at least be happy about that."
Everyone then began to relax, having had a very long and exhausting day.
Several days passed by, and Lapis had still not emerged from her Gem. As expected, the oceans eventually returned to normal, and the acidic toxins had completely dissolved away. Even so, Steven did not give up hope. He acted as though Lapis was really there with him, and he took her gem around Beach City with him, showing her everything. He even introduced her to Connie. Over the course of the few days that passed, Steven and Jet took turns carrying around her gem around and protecting it. They took her everywhere with them. To the movies, to the beach, to the lighthouse, to Funland, to the car wash, and even to the Big Doughnut.
Later one day, Steven and Jet were alone in the living room of the beach house, both of them bored out of their minds. They were sitting on the couch next to the table, and were playing a board game. Suddenly, something started to happen. Lapis' Gem, which was laying on the couch in the space between the two of them, started to glow and levitate. As it did so, a figure began to form in the air, and when it was done forming, it fell out of the air and landed on the seat of the couch. Both Steven and Jet looked at the new arrival with shocked expressions.
"Hi there." said Jet, casually. "Nice to meet you."
"Lapis, you're finally back!" Steven yelled in excitement.
Steven was jumping for joy. Lapis had finally decided to come out of her Gem, and was now right there next to him. Steven embraced her, happy to finally have her back.
"Hello Steven." said Lapis, softly. "I'm glad to see you too."
"Finally decided to come out?" said Jet.
"What happened to me?" asked Lapis, taking a look around the room. "How did I end up here?"
"We saved you from becoming a corrupted Gem when you were Malachite." said Jet. "It sure was a close one."
"Who are you?" asked Lapis. "I've never seen you before."
"Oh me, I'm Jet." said Jet. "I'm a friend of Steven's. The two of us are almost like brothers."
"You're free now Lapis." said Steven, tearfully. "You've been separated from Malachite. You don't have to suffer anymore. Jasper has no power over you now, and she can't hurt you anymore. We made sure of that."
"You really did that for me?" asked Lapis, puzzled. "Why would you do that?"
"You're memory must be a little fuzzy right now." said Jet. "The corruption probably took a heavy toll on your mind, but now you should be fully recovered."
"Hey Steven, what's with all the racket?" asked Amethyst, walking into the room.
Amethyst then turned around and saw Lapis.
"Oh..." said Amethyst, now surprised.
A few minutes later, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were all in the living room, gathered around Lapis and eager to greet her.
"Why are all of you..." Lapis started to say.
Suddenly, everything started coming back to Lapis, and all of the memories of what had happened before she reemerged from her gem suddenly flashed through her mind.
"Is something wrong Lapis?" asked Steven.
"No, no... Steven why did you free me?" asked Lapis. "I'm so terrible... You should have left me at the bottom of the ocean where I belonged. That's what I deserved."
"Why would we do that Lapis?" asked Steven. "You're my friend Lapis. I couldn't just leave you there to suffer at the bottom of the ocean, boiling in your own anguish. We couldn't just leave you. You didn't deserve any of what happened to you. Not only did we save you from Jasper, but we also saved you from yourself."
"Lapis, there's something we'd all like to tell you." said Garnet.
Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl then suddenly got on their knees and faced towards Lapis.
"What are you doing?" asked Lapis, now confused.
"Lapis, we would like to apologize to you." said Pearl.
"Apologize for what?" asked Lapis.
"For leaving you trapped in that mirror for so long." said Amethyst.
"We had no idea you were even in there." said Garnet. "If we'd have known, we would have done everything in our power to set you free. If we'd have done that, all of this could have been prevented, and you wouldn't have had to suffer for our sake to keep Jasper imprisoned. It just wasn't right what happened to you. For that, we apologize."
Lapis looked all around the room, and saw everyone gathered there looking at her with such welcoming faces. There wasn't even a single hint of malice towards Lapis on any of their faces.
"How can they all just look at me like that." Lapis thought to herself. "They all risked their lives, both body and soul, to save someone worthless like me. They cared enough about me to risk death for me. This is way more than someone like me deserves."
Tears then started to flow down Lapis' eyes as she looked at everyone.
"What's wrong Lapis?" asked Steven. "Why are you crying?"
"I'm the one who should be apologizing." said Lapis. "I've done so many terrible things to all of you. Steven, I tried to drown you and your friend Connie, I stole away the Earth's oceans just for my own selfish goal of getting back to Homeworld, I sold you all out to Yellow Diamond's forces after they interrogated me, and because of that, they came here and hurt all of you. Even after that, I still continued to cause all of you grief when Malachite started poisoning the oceans and almost killed all life on Earth because of my corruption, and then I ended up hurting you even more when you fought against Malachite. How can you so easily just forgive me after all that I've done?"
"Its because that's just the kind of person Steven is." said Garnet, smiling. "Steven doesn't care about any of that. He accepts everyone, regardless of their background or past mistakes, as friends and family. Everyone he meets is somehow changed by just being around him, turning them into better people than they were before. He just has that effect on people. He's in every way just like Rose Quartz."
"Hey I know!" said Steven. "Why don't you stay here with us Lapis?"
"What!?" said Lapis, seeming shocked that Steven would even suggest such a thing.
"You're finally free from the bottom of the ocean, and from Jasper's hold on you, but you can't really go back to Homeworld either because of what happened can you?" said Steven. "You've got nowhere else to go, so why not stick with us here at the temple? This place is meant to be a sanctuary for lost Gems just like you."
"You would still accept me, even after everything I've done?" asked Lapis.
"Of course we would." said Steven. "Isn't that what friends do?"
"Friends?" Lapis said to herself in her mind. "I could have friends like these too? Friends who would accept me for who I am?"
She took a good look at everyone gathered in the room, taking them all in.
"Thank you Steven." said Lapis, tearfully embracing Steven. "This is something I never could have imagined happening, even in my wildest dreams. I'm never going back to Homeworld. I want to stay here, with you."
"Then welcome to the Crystal Gems Lapis." said Steven. "We're happy to have you here with us."
"How can I ever repay you for what you've done for me Steven?" asked Lapis.
"You don't don't have to repay us for anything." said Steven. "But if you want to make up for what you've done, then you can start by apologizing to all of the people you've hurt, like Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Connie, my dad, and everyone else."
"I'll start with you then." said Lapis, hugging Steven even tighter. "I'm sorry I hurt you Steven."
Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Jet then all surrounded Lapis and hugged her as well.
Fun fact: The gemstone Malachite actually starts to turn toxic when it is left in water for too long. This is very fitting for the situation, as it represents the toxic nature of Lapis and Jasper's relationship.
Jet's Weapon: If you don't know, Jet's sword is supposed to be based on an urumi. An urumi is a type of Indian sword that is like a sharp, flexible metal whip, which some users attack with as if it were a snake. It is a very difficult weapon to master. Jet's sword has two forms that he can switch between. The first is its sword form, where the blade is straight and hard, and it can be used as a regular sword. The second is its whip form, in which the blade becomes flexible, but still sharp, and Jet can control its movements in various ways, almost as though it were alive.