Chapter Seven: Back in Black!

So there they were…in a mad funhouse of Bruja's own creation. The children the Crystal Gems and SheZow came to rescue dangling over a glowing boiling vat of unknown substance, while the maniac responsible was standing in front of them laughing like a maniac. Eventually, Bruja calmed down and stared down at the heroes with a smirk on her face before saying, "Oh, it's been fun watching you Gems work through your nightmares. Really…it's given me some ideas on future projects! But all things must come to an end, as they say. So…before we get this lucha libre started, I will allow each of you one question that I will answer truthfully. So, how about we start with…Amethyst!"

Amethyst glanced around as the other looked at her expectantly, before she finally asked her question, "Why'd you take the kids?"

"Really, I was hoping for something a little more…relevant to the situation." said La Bruja exasperatedly, before continuing, "The truth is, I was really only after Stevie-boy here. But once I had the rest, I realized 'more hostages!' Plus SheZow would no doubt stick his pre-teen nose into my business, so…win-win."

Garnet decided to ask the next question, "What was in the venom of the snakes you unleashed on us?"

"Ah, finally a relevant question." replied Bruja, "You see…ever since I learned about the Gem species and their relation to certain…monsters, I began studying what would cause corruption in your species. It turns out that other than physical damage to the Gem, emotional factors can lead to the transformation. Care to guess which emotions I found worked the best? You might be surprised…

"Grief. Self-loathing. Despair. These are the emotions most prominent after a large scale civil war that end inconclusively-"

"There was nothing inconclusive about the end! We saved the Earth!" exclaimed Pearl in outrage.

Bruja simply laughed and replied, "Saved the Earth?! Oh, you really don't know what Peridot came here to do, do you?! And even if you somehow get rid of it and keep the girls back home from finding out your involvement…Someone back home's got a hard on for the destruction of this planet! Next time it won't be one ship…it'll be an armada capable of wiping the life clean from the planet!"

"Now, I'm counting that as your question Pearl. So now it falls to SheZow to ask the correct question." explained Bruja while pointing to SheZow.

SheZow carefully took a few minutes to ponder his question, "What exactly do you plan on doing with the 'misery potion'?"

Bruja gave an evil smirk pulled out a remote from a secret pocket and said, "I'll show you!" Pushing the button on the remote, the children suspended over the vat began to slowly descend to the toxic mix. The Gems and SheZow rushed forward…only to push by a black shockwave. "You fools have no idea what you dealing with. I not just upping my game, I'm…"(1)

"Back in black I hit the sack

I been too long I'm glad to be back

Yes I am

Let loose from the noose

That's kept me hanging about

I keep looking at the sky cause it's gettin' me high

Forget the hearse cause I'll never die

I got nine lives cat's eyes

Using every one of them and runnin' wild

Cause I'm baaaaack

Yes I'm baaaack well I'm baaack

Yes I'm baaaack

Well I'm baaaack

Well I'm baaack in blaaack

Yes I'm baaack in blaaack

Back in the back of a Cadillac

Number one with a bullet I'm a power pack

Yes I am

In a bang with the gang

They gotta catch me if they want me to hang

Cause I'm back on the track and I'm beatin' the flack

Nobody's gonna get me on another rap

So look at me now I'm just makin' my play

Don't try to push your luck just get out of my way

Cause I'm back

Yes I'm back

Well I'm back

Yes I'm back

Well I'm back back

Well I'm back in black

Yes I'm back in black

Suddenly the rock song blared across speakers, with Bruja lip-syncing to the song. The Gems and SheZow charged at Bruja again, hoping to catch her off guard will the music was playing. Boy, were they wrong! If anything, Bruja seemed more focused and powerful while going along with the music, using her bone staff to deflect attack and knock back her attackers.

Struggling to get up, the heroes were surprised by Bruja seemingly blurring to Pearl position and knocking her into the air with an uppercut! As Pearl flew through the air, Bruja leapt up and spin kicked Pearl into the ground, causing the ground to crack. Garnet charged at Bruja, who smirked before vanishing behind Garnet with an elbow strike to the back. Amethyst watched this in frustration, angrily asking, "Okay, how do we stop this freak?"

"Usually, the song is what's effecting her abilities. Plus this will one a lot shorter. Meaning she should run outta steam once the song ends." explained SheZow. Meanwhile, Bruja stopped 'playing with Garnet and Pearl and turned to Amethyst and SheZow…and split in two!

"What the-?" SheZow started to ask before the Bruja with a topaz charged forward, kicking him into a wall. The only difference between the two Brujas was one had a topaz in one hand, while the other a sapphire in the same hand. They still have a ruby in the other hand but of a different shape. SheZow, recognizing the gems, knew they had something to do with Bruja's new powers. This was going to be a tough fight…

"Well I'm back yes I'm back

Well I'm back yes I'm back

Well I'm back back

Well I'm back in black

Yes I'm back in black

As SheZow and Amethyst were busy fight the duo of Brujas, Pearl and Garnet picked themselves off the ground. "We have to free the children, now!" declared Garnet, before she and Pearl rushed towards the hostages being lowered into the vat. However, out of the pair of Brujas' back sprout…another set of clones! The clones with rubies continued to fight Amethyst and SheZow while the new paired charged a tackled Pearl and Garnet. As the group fought, neither of them noticed Connie pull something shiny from her pocket…

"Ho yeah

Oh yeah

Yes I am

Oh yeah, yeah oh yeah

Back in now

The group continued to fight, neither side possessing a distinct advantage…until the Brujas pulled out brand new weapons from the gems on their hands! The 'Sapphire' pulled out an energy whip, the 'Topaz' a pair of kamas, whilst the 'Rubies' pulled out a tiger claw(2) each. Each of the Brujas seemed to be quite proficient in their chosen weapons, adding a whole new dimension to the fight. Meanwhile, the children grew closer to the vat of dangerous chemicals…

"Well I'm baaack, I'm baaaack

Baaack, (I'm baaack)

Baaack, (I'm baaack)

Baaack, (I'm baaack)

Baaack, (I'm baaack)

Baaack

Back in black

Yes I'm baaack in blaaaaack

Garnet tried to fight off the Rubies to allow Pearl to reach the children…only for Pearl to be forced to dodged buzz saw blades appearing in the floor! One of the Rubies then grabbed Pearl's leg, dragging her back into the fight. Meanwhile, Amethyst was in a duel of whips with Sapphire, who was surprisingly good with a whip. Topaz was holding off SheZow, blocking with one of the kamas while attacking with the other one. It got to a point where SheZow had to use her Super Shriek to get the Bruja clone to back off…straight into the Sapphire! Hurrying Amethyst and SheZow rushed to the vat, hoping they weren't too late…

"Outta sight"

"You're TOO LATE! HAHAHAHA!" said the Bruja double simultaneously. Looks up, the heroes saw that she was right…the rope holding the children had already plunged deep into the vat. Laughing, Bruja 'pulled herself together' turning back into her four armed singular state and pressed another button on the remote. The rope began to ascend revealing…that the rope had been cut, and the children weren't tied to it anymore! Puzzled, Bruja stared at the rope trying to figure out where her hostage had gone…

"HEY!" exclaimed Connie, as she threw the blade she had used to free the children at Bruja. The blade sailed through the air…and struck Bruja right in the eye! Screaming in pain, Bruja moved to yank the blade out of her eye, distracting her long enough for the children to reach our group of heroes. Finally, getting the blade out of her eye, Bruja blinked several times as her eye repaired itself. Turning around in a fury, Bruja's hands glowed with the energy from the gems imbedded in them.

"So…how did my little song birds escape their cage?!" asked Bruja angrily.

"Next you start throwing knives everywhere, make sure you count them before and after." explained Connie in an acidic tone. Rather than being afraid of the maniac, Connie was just that much more determined to see Bruja in jail!

Furious at being shown up by a child, Bruja summoned all of her Gem weapons and combined them to form…a strange spiked whip! The handle had the kama blades at the bottom, while the tiger claws formed a star-like blade at the other end of the whip. Twirling around, Bruja swung the weapon at the group, who duck or dodged as needed. What Bruja did not seem to realize was that when twirling above her head, Bruja kept hitting the vat behind her, leaving multiple scratches on the shatter-proof glass. Seeing this, Garnet got ready for Bruja's next strike…

And then launched her rocket fist straight into Bruja's guts, knocking the wind out of her and knocking her into the weakened spot on the vat! Seeing what Garnet had planned, the other Gems and SheZow grabbed the children and leapt up into the rafters. Bruja picked herself up, annoyed at Garnet's attack…then heard the sound of glass cracking. Curious, she turned around to see that the heavy blow to the weakened section of the tank was splitting the vat open. Bruja was only able to stand in shock before the whole broke open, showering her in broken glass and the toxic material it held.

The heroes shield the children eyes and ears just as Bruja began to shriek in a blood curdling manner! Looking down, the heroes saw that Bruja was melting as if she had been dunked in acid. Flesh and clothes gave way to organs and bones which then slowly dissolved away, leaving behind only the gems in her hands. The toxic chemical slowly dissipate, leave the gems and the bare floor. The heroes jumped down, Garnet quickly collecting the four gemstones into a bubble and transported it to the Crystal Temple.

SheZow took this moment to look after the children to see if they were alright. Onion and Peedee were shaken but alright, Steven rushed over to the Crystal Gems for a warm group hug, while Connie stood away. "Hey what's up with you kid?" asked SheZow, making sure to keep his falsetto tone.

"It's just…I never attack anyone like that before…and now she's dead. And I don't even feel bad about it!" exclaimed Connie.

"Look, I'm not saying it's okay to be violent or anything, but you were protecting yourself. Beside, you didn't kill Bruja! If anything, she set herself up for a-" SheZow started to reassure Connie until she stopped suddenly at a realization. Bruja's strength comes from feeding off of misery and pain, which that tank was filled with a concentration of! There's no way that should have hurt her at all!

Shooting up SheZow rushed over to Garnet and frantically asked, "Where are the gemstones?!"

Garnet look curious, before her returning future vision revealed the horrible mistake she had made….

STEVEN UNIVERSE

Back at the Crystal Temple…

All was quite in Garnet's room of the temple, the capture Gems still in their bubbles. Then the bubble containing the Reality Gems appeared floating for a moment before a black smoke filled the bubble. Suddenly it burst filled Garnet's room with darkness…and maniacal laughter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe or SheZow nor any characters or elements that are contained in the series. I only own this story and the original characters (i.e. villains and monsters) and concepts that go with it. Just two more chapters! I know the wait between updates is excruciating. Please read and review!

1 "Back in Black" by AC/DC

2 Basically a set of 'Wolverine claws' strapped to the wrist, sometimes used to scale buildings.