I walked across the beach, my feet slipping slightly in the sand. I was far enough away now to not be able to see the temple. I sat down, contemplating the things that had happened throughout the day. "I had found out that one of the few people I had in my life, my dad, was an enemy, and made new friends. I lost them, too, though. I hurt Zina, who apparently was a childhood friend who had experienced my outbursts before. I didn't even know her before today... That's not true. I just forgot. Stupid head trauma. I learnt I had powers, but they ended up being a burden. I got hurt pretty bad, too." I tried to move the fingers in my right hand, but my arm just sat there, limp. "I don't know what happened, but after I came too, I couldn't move my arm. I also had my ribs broken earlier today. That wasn't a huge deal though. They were healed. But man, that was a painful process. I wonder why that even happened."

I thought about it, but didn't dwell to much on it. "You know, I'm still confused about one thing. What was it that pushed me out of the ocean earlier? I know it wasn't me. I can't even control water. Or at least, I can't remember how to." I focused on the water and tried to manipulate it, but nothing happened. I continued to focus on the water, the waves drawing me into a trance like state, when I started to here voices. Two voices, faint, but completely obvious. One angry, the other... Exhausted, but determined to do not give up.

"Let. Me. GO!" Screamed one voice. It was a woman's voice, deep and full of hatred. "You can't keep me trapped here forever!"

"Yes I can! Now get back here and fuse with me!" Another woman, this time with a higher voice, gentle, yet fierce. I could hear her voice waver slightly, as if she were almost to a breaking point. Then, they were both silent. But, I could hear erratic water rushing under the surface. It sounded different than the waves from the ocean. uncontrolled, with no pattern. Suddenly, a large stream of water erupted from the surface of the abnormally calm water, and I heard a roar from something I had never heard before. I covered my face to avoid the salt water getting in my eyes.

When I looked back, what I saw was terrifying. A large, light green, six armed woman stood before me, wild hair billowing around her head. She had four eyes, and I could note a gem in the center of her face, as if it were her nose. She looked at her own body for a minute, then started to get angry. "I HATE THIS FORM! Let me GO, Lapis!" The creature said, as if it were talking to someone. Wait, I know that name. Lapis Lazuli, that's the name the gems had mentioned earlier. "No, I can't let you harm Steven or this planet. We're staying fused, Jasper, and we're going back under the water." A few seconds of silence, and she just stood there. "What? Why can't I control anything?!" Laughter. "Looks like you're too weak to do anything more than keep us fused!" The woman looked around the beach, and for a second looked past me. I thought I was in the clear, until it snapped it's head back towards me, a grin on her face that screamed murder. "You!"

"Um... Hi?" I waved shyly to the giant creature. "Can I help you, giant, terrifying woman?"

"Tell me where those gems are right now, and I will let you live... probably." She said, grabbing me and holding me closer to her face.

"And if I don't?" She began to squeeze my body, and I could feel my bones about to break. I screamed in pain, and she laughed, then released her grip slightly. Out of breath and in pain, I looked her in the eyes... the bottom two, anyway. "I... Who are you?" I said, gasping form the lack of air in my lungs.

"Well, that depends. Right now, this body is Malachite. But, you're speaking to Jasper, warrior from the home world. And, if you don't cooperate, your murderer." She laughed again.

"Jasper. That's a nice name. To bad I have to kick your butt. Lapis, you should defuse."

"What?! I can't do that! She'll get away!" Malachite screamed, Lapis talking now. Malachite began squeezing me again, but this time, it was ineffective. She looked at me in shock, and squeezed harder. Still nothing.

"Lapis, she is to strong like this, and you can't control her. Trust me, just defuse. I won't let her escape."

"But how could you..."

"JUST DO IT! I can handle this, okay?!" I yelled at her because I was holding back Malachite's strength with only one arm. It wasn't impossible, but my strength was about to give out and I wouldn't have much time to talk.

"... Fine. I trust you." Malachite started glowing, and I noticed two separate gems in the light. The one form split into two smaller forms, each gem separate from each other in it's own amalgamation of light on which to grow. I fell to the ground as the hands around me had faded into an ethereal form, and when I looked up from the sand, I watched as both the two gems became solid figures. To the left stood a tall, well built woman with wild hair and orange skin, who must have been Jasper. On the right, a small framed, slender woman with blue hair and blue skin, lying on the ground, obviously exhausted. I knew this must have been Lapis because of the coloration of her body. Jasper looked at her, then began to walk towards her, rage erupting out of her like a volcano.

"I've had enough of you interfering with my plans. I'm going to break your gem and finish you once and for all!" She was stomping her way towards Lapis, and I knew I needed to get over there and stop her, but I was having trouble getting myself off of the ground with my right arm immobile and my left arm worn out and sprained from keeping Malachite from crushing me.

"Help me! She's going to kill me!" Lapis was crawling away slowly. I could feel panic rising into my chest. I needed to do something fast, or I would witness a murder.

I screamed in frustration, putting all of my energy into getting my arms to work. No good was coming of it, but Lapis was losing time to be saved. "WORK, YOU STUPID ARMS!" I bit into both each arm, hoping to get them moving. pain shot through my left arm, but I felt nothing in my right. I was about to give up hope. I laid my head down on the sand, gritting my teeth, pain still shooting through my body. "WHY CAN'T I BE STRONGER THAN THIS?!" I rose my head of the ground and rammed it into the sand. I almost didn't notice it, but I looked back up again, blood running down my face. There was a small shimmer of light coming out of the wounds I had made on my arms, and a tingling feeling in them. I wasn't sure what was happening.

Jasper looked in my direction, noticing the light herself. She stopped walking towards Lapis and stared at me as my arms began to turn into light, similar to the effect of the two defusing gems. The light was sucked up into my gem, and I sat for a minute, staring at the stubs that had been left behind. My arms weren't bleeding, rather, they had what looked like shards of crystals sticking out of them, similar to the gem in my shoulder. My gem began to glow, letting out a large beam of light that, after it cut off from the gem, split in two, and flying towards the stumps that were my arms. The two separate orbs of light started to form into shapes. After a few minutes, they finally solidified into arms. However, they weren't like the arms I had previously. They were a lighter shade of blue than my gem, and I couldn't actually feel anything with them. No, they seemed fake. But, I could still move them as if they were a part of me. I used them to push myself off of the ground, sending myself into the air slightly. They were stronger than my normal arms.

"I don't know what just happened, but I am ready to beat someone into a pulp. Walk away now, and it won't be you." Jasper interrupted my thoughts, and I remembered what was about to happen. I began walking towards her. "So be it. But, just remember, I warned you. Now, prepare to die." She charged at me, a helmet forming on her head. She was going to headbutt me, but I just kept walking forward.

When she got withing range of me, I grabbed her and spun around with her in my arms. She seemed caught of guard by this, and pushed me away, skidding to a stop. She looked at me with anger in her eyes. She charged at me again, pulling her arm back for a punch. Somehow, everything seemed to be going in slow motion to me. She swung her arm, and I dodged, grabbed it, and turned her around. As she fell backwards, I caught her, and held her a few inches away from the ground. I noticed her gem begin to glow, and she must have seen mine do the same, because she pushed me away and starting throwing punch after punch at me. I continued to dodge them, moving in rhythm with the crashing of waves. When she had finally tired herself out, she tripped while throwing a punch at me. I grabbed her as she landed on top of me. Our gems began glowing brighter, and I could feel myself fading away.


I awoke to the sound of waves and Lapis yelling for Benny. I looked around and found that it was just me standing there with Lapis. I was confused for a moment, when a sudden flash of memories that weren't mine passed through me, and I realized what had happened. We had become a fusion. "SSSSOMEONE JUSSSST KILL ME NOW!" I said, unable to control myself. "SSSTUCK ASSS A FUSION AGAIN!" I put my hand, which was a nearly black gray color, against my head. "Who... I... Grey Topaz... Wait. No, I'm sssstill me. I am Benny Toite." I stopped talking, and realized that I had hissed. "What the... Why issss thissss happening?" I tried moving towards Lapis, and I noticed I couldn't feel my legs. I looked down, and what I saw answered all of my questions. Instead of legs, I saw instead a long serpentine tail.

"You two need to defuse. This seems... Unnatural." Lapis was talking to us from a distance, and I didn't know why, but I was starting to agree with Lapis.

"We're not defusssing. I like thisss feeling. I feel... ssstrong. Much more deadly than before. Thisss power isss kind of addicting." I said, not in control again. The longer I stayed fused, the less aware I was of what was happening. It was like living a dream, where nothing seemed real. Everything became blurry and gray. "He'sss losssing control, once I gain full control, then I will be ssstronger than anyone! That fusion won't win again, and I can take Rossse Quartz'sss gem back to home world."

"...No" I forced out, barely conscious. "I am not going to be taken over. I am ssstronger than thisss. I am ssstronger than YOU. I am ssstrong!" I started forcing my conscience away from Jasper's. I fought and fought, resisting the urge to just quit and let her take over. I felt myself starting to split apart from her. It... Hurt, like being ripped in half. I started noticing that I didn't want to separate from Jasper. It was as if I NEEDED her to feel... Complete. I couldn't understand this feeling. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally split up, and I felt hollow.

Jasper and I sat in silence for a few minutes before looking at each other. We both had the same look, as if we were still processing what had happened. Which, I was. Then she blushed and looked away. I just felt like something had disappeared from me. I just felt a unnerving sense of calm. "What just happened? Why... why can't I feel... anything?" I looked around, then saw Lapis. Not sure why, I was instantly filled with one emotion. Pure rage. I balled up my fists. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. "What did you do to me, Jasper?"