When we last left the Crystal Gems and the DinoGems, Turquasar had unwittingly released Malachite, the highly unstable fusion between Lapis Lazuli and Jasper. Now that Malachite has returned, can the Crystal Gems survive her wrath? And how can the DinoGems face this powerful enemy?
Read on to find out!
Topazorn stared in horror at the kaiju of a Gem before them. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Steven, Onyxcor, and Azuron were all frozen in shock, while Turquasar looked up in immediate regret for how much of an idiot he'd been. This was all his fault. He had released Malachite, all because of a moment of well-meaning short-sightedness. Now he'd brought this threat to all his friends.
Cackling wickedly, Malachite took a huge step forward onto the beach, reaching out an arm as the ocean began to stir. Turquasar roared a terrified cry for the others to run as he scrambled away, moments from being stepped on. Malachite set her terrifying gaze on the Crystal Gems, seeming not to care about the dinosaurs. The Gems watched helplessly as the ocean contorted, and a stream of water rose into the form of a gigantic hand, looming over the temple.
Topazorn shook his head, and roared to the other Gems. Azuron and Onyxcor grunted and summoned their jaw mask and horn swords, and Turquasar nervously summoned his gauntlets and rose onto his hind legs. Topazorn snorted and leaped from the temple, his thagomizer turning into his flail. The DinoGems stood their ground in front of the monstrous fusion, roaring monstrously at her.
While Malachite took notice of the DinoGems, Garnet snapped back to reality.
"Amethyst! Get Steven out of here!" She shouted. At once, Amethyst grabbed Steven and tossed him like a football back toward the house, where he was hastily caught by Garnet. "Steven, stay inside the temple!" She told him.
"But Garnet-"
"Get inside!" Steven decided not to argue and hurried into the house, watching nervously from the window. All of a sudden, the bathroom door swung open and Peridot came running out, terrified.
"What's going on?!" She screamed, hiding behind the wall.
"Giant fusion!" Was Steven's equally scared response. Peridot had no idea what he was talking about, but then there was a huge crash followed by a distressed bellow, and Onyxcor came crashing through the wall, making both Peridot and Steven fall over in shock. The Tyrannosaurus rex merely shook his head and grunted before hurriedly getting back up and charging out the hole he'd made.
The DinoGems tried to attack Malachite, but the giant fusion was easily too much for them. Topazorn charged and swung his flail at Malachite, wrapping it around her arm. In retaliation the teal-patterned fusion grabbed the chain and swung the Stegosaurus into the cliff. Topazorn growled in annoyance at this happening twice in the same day. Onyxcor roared in fury, charging the giant enemy and shooting a torrent of red fire from his jaws. The blaze surrounded Malachite, but she was hardly shaken and merely extinguished it using her water.
Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst knew what they had to do; they all looked at one another and nodded. There was no time to perform the entire dance, but in a time of crisis Gems could fuse with relative ease. Amethyst and Pearl concentrated, their gems beginning to glow. They raised their arms and twirled towards Garnet in the center, who extended her arms and clasped hands with Pearl and Amethyst, and then their bodies transformed into bright light, their forms melding into one another and forming into an enormous, towering Gem. The DinoGems looked on in bewilderment and Malachite snarled coldly as the titanic, six-armed fusion known as Alexandrite appeared.
"You think fusing will save you?" Malachite sneered tauntingly. "You clods!" Malachite then charged and grappled with Alexandrite, the force of the two enormous fusions colliding rattling the cliff. The DinoGems hurriedly fled to avoid being crushed, and Topazorn ordered to attack Malachite's legs, and swung his flail into the four-legged fusion, followed by Onyxcor who roared out a blaze of flame around her feet. Malachite growled, stomping her feet to try and crush the dinosaurs, but they were too quick for her. While Malachite was distracted, Alexandrite pulled back her three right fists a triple-punched the other fusion in the cheek.
Recoiling, Malachite growled and clenched her fists angrily before lunging at her opponent, tackling her into the cliff and onto the ground. Alexandrite gritted her multiple teeth and grappled Malachite with four arms while pushing herself up with the other pair. The six-armed Gem then flung Malachite off her and regained her stance, growling. Malachite hit the ground rolling, stirring up a cloud of sand in her wake. She snarling monstrously, pounding her fists on the sand, a torpedo of water rising out of the ocean.
From the relative safety of the house, Steven saw the weaponized water fly straight toward Alexandrite.
"Garnet! Pearl! Amethyst!" He screamed desperately. "Look out!" Distracted by Steven, Alexandrite didn't notice Malachite's attack from behind until it was too late.
"Oof!" Alexandrite was slammed into the cliff by Malachite's hydrokinesis, the tentacle of water wrapping around her torso like an enormous snake, binding her arms to her sides. Laughing demonically, Malachite stomped toward her hapless rival, hers to finish off at her convenience. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl struggled to escape her grip, but even all together as one they weren't strong enough to break free. Steven and Peridot watched in horror as Malachite prepared to dispatch the Crystal Gems, when a resounding roar caught everyone's attention, and Malachite turned to see the DinoGems charging her all at once, then leaping into the air and bearing down on her.
"What is this?!" Malachite roared as several tons of prehistoric fury bombarded her, making her step back from the still-trapped Alexandrite. The DinoGems attacked Malachite all over, kicking, biting and clawing at her body in addition to their weapons. Malachite repeatedly swiped at them, but each time they leapt out of reach and resumed their assault, trying to buy the others time. Malachite was rapidly losing control, in fact her face distorted for but a second. Where did these organic creatures get the nerve to attack her? "Enough!" Malachite growled, before a huge torrent of water washed over her, carrying the DinoGems with it and onto the beach where they landed hard against the ground.
With the distraction gone, Malachite turned her attention back to Alexandrite, who was still struggling to escape. Malachite snickered wickedly, and began tightening the water's grip, squeezing Alexandrite harder and harder like a gigantic python.
"You thought you could beat me?" The toxic fusion jeered. "There's nothing that can save you now. You're as good as shattered!" Steven, Peridot and the DinoGems watched in horror as Alexandrite's form began to contort, struggling to stay fused, but Malachite only laughed sadistically and tightened her grip even further. Knowing that she couldn't get free, Alexandrite looked at Steven.
"Steven...Run!" Pearl's, Garnet's and Amethyst's voices cried, before Alexandrite destabilized and vanished, the three Crystal Gems landing hard on the sand.
"Oh no!" Steven cried. Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst picked themselves off the ground weakly, only to be met with Malachite's terrifying laughter.
"Pathetic." She sneered, sounding very much like Jasper. "Give up, Crystal Gems. You're weak! You're pointless stand only bought you time! You're worthless." Malachite then raised another giant hand of water, looming over the Gems with a sadistic grin. "Any last words?" In silence, Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst glared defiantly at Malachite, each summoning their weapons. They would fight to the bitter end. Malachite wordlessly glared, raising a second water fist over her. The Crystal Gems were helpless, the DinoGems were incapacitated, and Steven and Peridot were frozen in terror. But Steven wasn't just going to stand by while his family was killed.
With a yell, Steven leaped from the hole in the wall and ran across the beach, straight towards Malachite.
"Steven!" Peridot screeched. The DinoGems looked up and roared for Steven to stop, but he wasn't listening. Malachite's water arms came down like torpedoes. The Crystal Gems stood unflinching, thinking Steven to have already run away, when he stopped right in front of them.
"Steven?!" They cried. In an instant, Steven's gemstone glowed a shocking pink, and a massive version of Rose Quartz's shield appeared overhead, deflecting the water and blinding Malachite. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Topazorn, Azuron, Onyxcor, Turquasar and Peridot stared in shocked silence, and even Malachite froze in awe at the sight before her.
The enormous shield disappeared in a flash of brightness, and Steven looked directly at Malachite.
"Lapis!" He called. "Don't do this! I know you're in there! We're beach summer fun buddies, remember?" Malachite was still, but for a moment, her narrowed, catlike eyes became rounder, her gaze softer.
"...Steven?" Came Lapis Lazuli's soft voice. A glimmer of hope crossed Steven's expression, but then Malachite recoiled, her expression reverting to anger and malice. It seemed the Lapis had lost control of the fusion. It was just what Garnet feared: Malachite had developed her own personality.
Malachite stomped toward the Crystal Gems menacingly, a furious snarl on her lips. Struggling to stand up, Topazorn saw they were in dire need of help. He roared to the other DinoGems as they got up, and turned to Onyxcor, a knowing look in his eyes. The Tyrannosaurus looked unsure, but he quickly snorted with a nod, knowing they had no other choice to defeat this enemy.
Malachite raised another tower of water, forming it into a sword-like tip.
"Steven! Get behind us!" Pearl commanded as the Gems stood protectively around the boy. The Crystal Gems stared up in horror, as Malachite prepared to finish them, when an enormous flash of light caught everyone's attention, accompanied by a thunderous roar.
They turned to see Azuron and Turquasar standing off to the side, as a huge mass of white light twisted and contorted into a gigantic dinosaurian shape. Steven's eyes widened in wonder: Topazorn and Onyxcor had fused.
The bright light dissipated, and left standing on the sand was a huge dinosaur fusion. The fusion had the body style of a T-rex with the added bulk of a Stegosaurus, with a long tail and three rows of plates running down his back, giving him a very Godzilla-like appearance. The tail was tipped with four sword-like spikes, the jaws were lined with double rows of teeth, his arms were huge and muscular, and Topazorn and Onyxcor's gem shards had migrated onto the elbows. The dino-fusion was reddish-gold all over with an orange tint, and his four eyes were covered by a red visor.
A thunderous roar broke from the dino-fusion's throat, challenging Malachite. The toxic fusion snarled, turning to face her new rival. Even fused, Onyxcor and Topazorn were only about half Malachite's height. The dino-fusion roared into the sky, spreading his arms as his elbow gems began to glow. A pair of long, white chains appeared from his shards, twisting around his arms. One ended in a spiked flail, the other in a metal T-rex skull. The dino-fusion gripped his chains in his claws, and whirled them around rapidly in a threatening display. The dino-fusion roared and charged Malachite, his chain weapons trailing behind him. Malachite lunged and smashed the ground, just missing the dino-fusion, who dodged impossibly quick and whipped his flail into Malachite's head.
Malachite growled and lashed out again at the dino-fusion, only to again be met with a hard hit to her facial region. The dino-fusion ran circles around Malachite, evading her attacks before countering with his own. When Malachite swung at him, he threw his metal jaws at her and gripped her arm, and was pulled into the air where he again landed a blow to her cranium. The dino-fusion vaulted off Malachite's shoulder and swung his jaw-flail into the cliff, swinging on it like a vine to the other side of his opponent.
Her attention focused on the dino-fusion, Malachite was unaware of the Crystal Gems making a run for the temple. Azuron and Turquasar were flanking them, as their two other teammates were occupied at the moment. However, after being hit in the face yet again, Malachite glimpsed them escaping.
"Get back here!" She growled, raising a stream of water from the ocean and throwing it at the Gems. Turquasar roared for the others to run, and turned to face the onrushing attack.
"Turquasar!" Steven called futilely from Garnet's hold. Turquasar pounded his fists and reared up, raising his arms back as his thumb spikes suddenly shot out from his gauntlets on two long whips, which he swung forwards at Malachite's attack, slicing through the water and breaking Malachite's hold on it. Malachite snarled and Turquasar roared, lashing his spike-ended whips. Malachite glared and stomped toward him, when she was halted by the dino-fusion ensnaring her rear legs and pulling back on the chains, strong enough to stop her advance. While she was distracted, Azuron ran up beside Turquasar and grunted urgently, saying "Throw me!"
Turquasar hesitated briefly, before nodding and retracting his whips. The Iguanodon gripped Azuron by the tail and frill, lifting his teammate off the ground and swinging him in a wide circle. After gaining enough centripetal force(i.e. becoming a green and blue blur), Turquasar released his grip, throwing Azuron with swords aimed straight for Malachite's torso. Malachite turned at the sound of a screaming roar, not quick enough to avoid ten tons worth of razor-sharp, quill-covered dinosaur slamming into her chest at terminal velocity.
The impact knocked Malachite flat on her back, and taking the opening, the DinoGems charged.
Turquasar leaped into the air and pounded his gauntlets, Azuron teleported all over the huge fusion as he slashed his horn-swords, and the dino-fusion relentlessly battered her with his flails and bombarded her with his golden fire breath. Malachite suddenly lashed out with her hand-feet, grabbing the DinoGems and tossing them off her body. The DinoGems regrouped in front of the temple, staring down the gradually destabilizing Malachite. The teal fusion snarled animalistically at the dinosaurs, before the gem on her back glowed. Suddenly, four gigantic wings made of water sprouted from Lapis' gem, and both the Dino and Crystal Gems stared in awe.
Malachite flapped her four sparkling wings, taking off from the beach and soaring into their air. Thinking quickly, the dino-fusion roared to the others, before charging at Malachite and throwing his flails into the air, grappling her feet and pulling her back with all his might. Turquasar did the same, swinging his spiked whips and lashing them around one of the airborne fusion's legs, struggling to pull her down. Malachite retaliated, beating all four of her huge, quadruple wings harder, but somehow the dinosaurs were strong enough to hold their grip on her.
The dino-fusion roared an order to Azuron, and without hesitating the Triceratops turned tail and galloped back toward the temple, passing Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven as he ran toward the cliff, teleporting every few moments to get there faster. Azuron appeared on the grassy hill, charging rapidly upward toward the lighthouse.
"This is pure gold!" Ronaldo Fryman gushed from outside the lighthouse, video camera in hand as he filmed the DinoGems' battle with Malachite. Suddenly a roar sounded from behind him, before Azuron teleported to the top of the cliff and leapt over the annoying teenager, landing on the very edge and vaulting into the air, shooting toward the fusion and landing swords-first on her back, stabbing into her physical form.
"Eeuuurrgghhh!" Malachite growled, her wings turning to limp water as she fell to earth. Turquasar and the dino-fusion leaped out of the way just before the huge Gem collided with the ground, rattling the temple itself.
When the dust cleared, Malachite pushed herself off the ground with an aching groan. She turned to the sound of a bellowing roar, as the DinoGems regrouped before her. The dino-fusion snarled and flexed his chains, Turquasar and Azuron standing beside him, snarling at their enemy. All of them were tired and beaten up from the fight, but there was no way they were giving in now. Malachite rose up to her full, towering height, staring down the DinoGems intensely. The air was tense with whoever would make the next move.
With a roar, Malachite charged, her feet shaking the ground as a huge plume of water rose up behind her. The dino-fusion roared an order, before stepping forth and shooting out his spiked flail, breaking Malachite's hold on the water, only for her to raise several more into writhing tentacles.
Turquasar and Azuron charged from both sides, slicing through water tentacles whenever they were attacked. Malachite constantly took more water, forming more tentacles, but no matter how much she lashed out at them, the DinoGems countered her every move. Turquasar punched water tendrils into sprinkles and sliced through with his whips, while Azuron leapt and bounded around Malachite, slashing and twirling his blades and effortlessly cutting down Malachite's attacks. The dino-fusion swung his flails left and right, deflecting the tendrils with the mace and breaking them off with the jaws.
Malachite snarled, rapidly growing furious at how easily the dinosaurs kept her on her toes. She clenched her fists in rage before throwing a surge of water on the beach, overtaking the DinoGems and leaving them laying on the beach again. The dino-fusion hurriedly lurched up, pounding the ground with his fist and growling, the others behind him. The dino-fusion ran towards Malachite, gnashing his teeth monstrously before coming to a halt halfway between her and the others. Eyes not moving from the toxic fusion, he whirled his flails before swinging them...behind him where Turquasar grabbed onto the mace and the jaws clamped onto Azuron's horn, and in a show of incredible strength and power, the dino-fusion yanked the chains forward, whipping the Iguanodon and Triceratops straight towards Malachite.
Malachite hurriedly summoned a wall of water in front of her, but the dinosaurs splashed through and hit her square in the chest, nearly knocking her back. Then the dino-fusion came running, throwing his flails forward so they embedded into the ground, and then he pulled with all his might, slinging himself forward like a projectile.
Azuron and Turquasar jumped off at the last second, and Malachite felt the wind knocked out of her when the dino-fusion rammed into her, pushing the huge fusion back considerably. Malachite growled and knocked the dino-fusion off of her in retaliation, but the dino-fusion swung his flails into the cliff, anchoring himself to the rock face. Seeing this, Malachite slammed her fist into the cliff, just missing him. The dino-fusion leaped and swung out of reach every time Malachite made a lunge for him, rapidly climbing up the cliff face using his flails and claws to grip the rock.
The dino-fusion snarled at Malachite, before charging up the cliff, slinging his jaw flail ahead where it gripped the top of the cliff, and then he swung himself into the air, diving toward Malachite below. Malachite swung numerous tendrils of water at the fused dinosaurs, but the dino-fusion whipped his flails, deflecting all of her attacks. The dino-fusion swung the jaw flail when Malachite was right below him, the Tyrannosaurus skull snapping tightly onto a lock of Malachite's hair. With a huge, echoing roar, the dino-fusion swung from the fusion's unruly mane in wide circle, flying back at her and reeling back his mace, before slamming it right into the gemstone on Malachite's nose with the sound of a thunderbolt.
Malachite screeched in pain, before her body contorted into light and disappeared, a pair of much smaller shapes falling to the ground.
Jasper was the first to regain awareness, a painful ache in her head. As the orange quartz weakly pushed herself off the ground, she saw Lapis Lazuli struggling up beside her. Jasper gritted her teeth, when the dino-fusion suddenly landed on his feet before them, getting the attention of the two Gems. The dino-fusion snarled, raising his mace to finish them both.
"Wait!" Steven gasped, breaking free from Garnet's grip and running towards the scene.
"Steven!" Pearl and Garnet screamed. Steven jumped in front of the dino-fusion just as the spiked flail came down, summoning his shield at the last moment and deflecting the blow. Everyone present was frozen in silence as the rose-colored shield spiraled and dissipated. In a flash, the dino-fusion unfused and Topazorn and Onyxcor tumbled to the ground.
Onyxcor scrambled onto his feet and roared scornfully at the boy, gnashing his teeth in anger. But Topazorn grunted at the rex to stand down, and, grumbling, he did so. Topazorn growled deeply, demanding to know what Steven thought he was doing. Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Azuron and Turquasar arrived at the scene, all looking toward Steven.
Lapis Lazuli had little idea what was happening. One moment, she been nearly lost as Malachite took over. The next, she and Jasper had been defused, and now they were being faced down by the Crystal Gems, the ones who had left her trapped in that horrible mirror for millennia, and now four gigantic, primeval behemoths she'd never seen before. Then there was Steven, who'd just saved her and Jasper from being poofed and undoubtedly shattered. Lapis hadn't the slightest idea of why he'd saved Jasper as well, the brute of a Gem who'd kept him prisoner and whacked him in the head. In fact she'd fused with her and dragged them both into the ocean to protect Steven from the warrior Gem. What was going on?
"Steven?" The blue Gem said meekly, struggling to get up.
"Lapis!" Steven called when he heard her voice. Out of nowhere, Lapis felt herself suddenly tackled in a tight hug from Steven, at first making her blush a bright yellow color. Lapis was startled by a low moan from beside them, and turned to see Turquasar sauntering up. She reacted appropriately, grabbing Steven and pulling him away from the huge creature.
"Lapis, it's okay!" Steven said, wriggling out of her grasp. "He's a friend."
"What?" Lapis then heard another grunt, and the rest of the DinoGems approached. Topazorn made a quick observation of Lapis and Jasper, and grunted back to Garnet, clearly asking "Who are these Gems?"
Garnet stepped forward, keeping her gauntlets on in case anything else happened. Lapis and Jasper displayed noticeable contempt upon seeing her. "Lapis Lazuli, and Jasper." Garnet said. "They're Homeworld-aligned Gems who've both been on earth before. We've never been on the best terms." The DinoGems growled hatefully upon learning these Gems were in allegiance to the Homeworld, Turquasar especially, oddly enough.
"Lapis is my friend, you guys." Steven announced, stopping the DinoGem's snarling as they turned their attention to him. "We met a long time ago, after she was stuck in a mirror for...well a long time, I guess." Lapis glared harshly at Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst at this memory, and Turquasar began to feel guilty, having heard this story before. Before Steven explained any more, the Iguanodon stepped forward and grunted, hanging his head as he explained how this whole mess had started. Upon the revelation that Turquasar had gone and freed Malachite, the other DinoGems were furious; Azuron snorted that what Turquasar had done was extremely brash and foolish, and Onyxcor harshly berated the younger DinoGems for his idiocy. Topazorn bellowed, silencing his compatriots, before rumbling to Turquasar that they would discuss this later. Turquasar nodded in shame.
While all this was going on, Jasper was angrily confused. What in Yellow Diamond is going on?! She thought crossly. What in Homeworld were these creatures? And what affinity did they have with Rose Quartz? She tried to get to her feet, only to grunt in pain at the ache emanating from her gem, drawing the other's attention to her.
Against everyone's wishes, Steven was the first to approach Jasper. Pearl, Amethyst, Lapis and the DinoGems first moved to stop him, but Garnet gestured for them to stay back. The stable fusion had an idea as to what would go down.
Jasper looked up as the young boy warily approached her. Her gem was cracked, and now that she was weakened her adversaries had the perfect opportunity to eliminate her. Ah, well. She thought, almost passively. I've lived long enough.
Steven seemed confident enough, and Jasper wasn't leaving her crouching position. Still Onyxcor felt he should make an approach, lest the large quartz try anything. Jasper looked up at shaking footsteps, seeing the crimson Tyrannosaurus rex stride up beside Steven, a silent growl on his lips as he bared his massive teeth in what was clearly a threat. Jasper was hardly fazed.
"Just get it over with." She growled, slumping against the sand. Steven wasn't sure what she meant, but Onyxcor looked toward Topazorn, whose returned gaze was a definite "Not yet."
"Get what over with?" Steven asked softly, prompting Jasper to looked up at him, scowling.
"Just do it, Rose!" She growled, prompting the same from the theropod. "You've won. You've got me at your mercy. Just shatter me already!" Onyxcor's expression betrayed his readiness at the idea, but Steven's response was one of shock.
"Jasper," The Gem child said softly, speaking the orange Gem's name. "You need to understand: I'm not my mom! I'm Steven. I'm just a kid who's half-human, and half-Gem. My mom sorta became half of me, when I was born, and I inherited her gem." As Steven said this, he lifted his star shirt to reveal the pink gem on his stomach. Jasper's eyes widened in confusion, and even the DinoGems looked on in awe as Steven shared the story of his own origin; they hadn't heard of such a thing ever before. Steven then noticed the small crack in Jasper's gem, and the minor disturbance in her physical form only confirmed that she needed help.
"Uh, hold still, please?" Steven asked, before licking his palm and leaving a trail of his healing spit. Steven reached out his saliva-laden hand, the strange gesture making Jasper reel back in uncertainty, but an audible snap of Onyxcor's monstrous jaws made her sit still. All eyes were on him as Steven reached forward and delicately pressed his palm over Jasper's gem, a brief aura of light emanating from it. When Steven pulled his hand way, Jasper felt her gem; the crack was gone, and her gem healed! Jasper looked at Steven, unable to form any words. Why? She was defeated, at her enemies' convenience to dispose of, and yet the boy chose to heal her. Jasper simply couldn't grip the reality of what was going on. But Steven only smiled a kind smile.
"Now," Garnet said as the earth Gems approached the two from Homeworld. "Without your ship, and no way of contacting Homeworld, you're all stuck here." Jasper grumbled as she stood up, while Lapis looked down at the ground, indifferent.
"And there's no way we're going to just let you walk away, not after all that." Pearl added, referring to the havoc caused by Malachite.
"So, what?" Lapis asked sternly, barely looking up. "Are we prisoners? Again?" Pearl was about to answer, when Garnet stepped in.
"No. You're not our prisoners." She said. "But we're still going to keep an eye on you both. Just like we've been doing with Peridot."
"Peridot?" Lapis said, clearly not happy. "You have Peridot here, too?" Jasper huffed, seeming not to care for the green Gem.
"Yup." Added Amethyst. "So I guess you two'll have to join her in exile." Neither Gem was happy about this reality, but, ironically, Jasper was the first to accept.
"Fine." She grunted, glaring at the fusion. Garnet had no response, other than a blank nod, before leading the others back to the temple, the DinoGems glaring at Lapis and Jasper quite intimidatingly. It was unspoken, but it was clear Garnet wanted the dinosaurs to keep an eye on them.
Escorted by the DinoGems, Lapis and Jasper followed the Crystal Gems back to the temple, with Steven eagerly walking alongside Lapis and taking her hand. This small gesture caused the ocean Gem to give the slightest smile. However, she took a moment to look over at Jasper, who refused to look at the...things that were leading them on. Jasper stole a brief glance at Lapis, who glared hatefully at her.
Evening had arrived on the beach, and as twilight began to set in, serenity had returned to the temple. After the battle with Malachite had been won, Connie and Steven's dad, Greg, had been quick to arrive on the scene. Steven and the Crystal Gems, thankfully, had been able to explain everything, including why the DinoGems were guarding a pair of somewhat familiar Gems, one of which had stolen the entire ocean previously.
As for Lapis Lazuli and Jasper, Topazorn had tasked Azuron and Onyxcor respectively with keeping them under surveillance, which both dinosaurs were ready to do. Turquasar, however, had been forbidden from leaving the immediate area around the temple for next few days, due to his short-sighted actions that nearly resulted in disaster. The bespectacled Iguanodon graciously accepted his punishment, and was lying under the beach house by himself.
Topazorn was outside the temple, watching the setting sun and reflecting over the hectic day that had gone by. It had been the first time in a very long while that any of the DinoGems had fused, mainly because they could easily defeat most rivals on their own, the amplified strength and power of a fusion hardly ever required. Topazorn had never before seen a fusion of such reckless hate and rage that was Malachite, and hoped he never would again.
The Stegosaurus turned to the sound of footsteps approaching, and saw Steven walking up to him. Topazorn groaned in acknowledgement as the young boy sat down beside him, leaning against his leathery hide. Topazorn could tell the quartz child had much on his mind.
"Today was pretty eventful, I guess." Steven said eventually. Topazorn rumbled his agreement. "I guess I should tell you about Jasper, and Lapis." Topazorn grunted, before dragging his snout through the sand, writing another message. Turquasar told me of the Lapis Lazuli's story. What of the Jasper?
"Well, to make a long story short, Jasper and Peridot came to earth a while back and brought Lapis with them, and they took all four of us prisoner." Topazorn listened intently as Steven recollected. He had known about Peridot since arriving, but had long since deemed her not a threat. "Then I found out that Garnet was a fusion all the time, and she beat Jasper and sent the ship crashing back to earth. We all escaped, but then Lapis fused with Jasper and dragged them both into the ocean." Topazorn's eyes were wide with intrigue; he had heard of Gems that powerful, but had never thought of them to still exist. He then wiped away his first message, scrawling a new one. That does sound difficult to go through. It read.
"Uh-huh." Steven affirmed. A long silence followed. Then, Topazorn thought of something. Quickly erasing the old and writing a new message, he asked; Steven, would you like to know a secret about me?
"Oh my gosh, yes!" Steven replied, stars forming in his eyes in excitement. "What is it? What is it?" Topazorn rumbled a laugh, before giving his answer, not bothering to use the sand.
I can see into the minds of other beings.
Steven froze. He had heard that. It had come from inside his mind, the voice deep and wise.
Steven looked in disbelief. Topazorn was grinning at him, and Steven could hear his rich, baritone chuckle inside his head. "Oh. My. Gosh." Steven gushed. "Topazorn! You're psychic?!"
I had always referred to it as thought transference, but yes, Steven, I am indeed 'psychic'. Steven was practically shaking with wonder.
"That's insane!" He gasped. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
Initially I had planned to wait. Topazorn thought to him. But after the events of today, I thought you could use some good news. In response to this, Steven got up and hugged Topazorn tightly around the neck, grinning from ear to ear.
"Thanks, Topazorn. I can tell everyone else, right?" Topazorn chuckled deeply again, but confirmed Of course. Beaming, Steven ran off to tell the Gems, leaving Topazorn to himself. The Stegosaur Gem glanced back at the beach house, where Turquasar wallowed under the porch. Hmm. The DinoGem leader mulled. Perhaps I was too hard on him…
After night had fallen, the DinoGems settled down by the temple. With the exception of Turquasar, none of them had plans to sleep, focused on keeping watch over Jasper. So far the quartz had made no moves to escape, but the DinoGems weren't taking any chances.
With the three older DinoGems watching from afar(knowing they could instantly be on the scene should trouble arise regardless), Jasper sat angrily by the temple. Nothing was making sense. Why had they chosen to spare her? There was no way she'd ever obey them, a bunch of lousy traitors. But she didn't have much of a choice, if the snarling half-Gem beasts these 'Crystal Gems' had on their side was any indication. Not to mention she had no ways of contacting Homeworld from this worthless rock.
While Jasper was stewing in her own frustration, she heard the sound of someone approaching. The soldier Gem stood up to see Lapis, slowly walking toward her with a serious expression. Jasper growled behind her teeth.
"What do you want, brat?" She grunted.
"I don't want anything." Came the blue Gem's reply. "I just want to make sure you know that we're both still stuck on this 'miserable planet', whether we like it or not. I'd rather leave this place behind and never see you again, but there's no way they'll let either us leave." She gestured to the DinoGems, whose eyes shined creepily in the dark from the hill. "But that's not why you should be worried; I want to make it clear, that if you step out of line, if you do anything to try and hurt Steven, or even make me think you'd try something, I will personally shatter you into dust myself." Lapis' sinister words were enough to make the hardened soldier visibly recoil, her eyes uncharacteristically shocked. "Do I make myself clear?" Wordlessly, Jasper nodded, truly frightened at the the smaller Gem's scarily realistic threat. Lazuli then walked away, the horned Gem beast soon getting up and following at a distance.
Jasper breathed out nervously, sitting back down and looking up at the starry sky, spotting Homeworld's galaxy among the the twinkling lights. I guess we really are stuck.She solemnly thought.
And there you have it! Lapis and Jasper have returned, but is it for the better?
I understand that this update may be be overshadowed by Malachite finally returning in canon this Thursday. My version is obviously going to be much different than canon, but take it as you all will. Anyway, this is likely the last chapter I'll be posting for a while, at least until school lets out. And I'd like to ask, does anyone else like the idea of one of the DinoGems (Topazorn) being able to easily communicate with the main characters? I have no plans to give the other DinoGems voices, so cool down. As always, reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.
A/N: The chapters following this one(whenever they may come out) will most likely detail how the Homeworld Gems adapt to life with the Crystal Gems, Steven, and the DinoGems, and then the whole Cluster arc will come into play. Cheers!
