Well this is gonna be fun. Based off my favorite episode, behind Alone at Sea, Bismuth was such a disappointment, I loved Bismuth's character and was ready to welcome her as a new main character, but no Rebeca doesn't let us have nice things. Anyway, now that we're basically done with all that filler crap we can get back to the good stuff. *STEVEN UNIVERSE AND POKÉMON ARE NOT OWNED BY ME*
Ash and Brock were both finished with work for the day so they decided to hang out with Steven some more at the Temple, Ash had invited Lapis but she declined as she was really looking forward to an after sleep nap. The two trainers got some training in before going and arrived to see Steven and the Gems all crowded on Steven's bed playing video games. Steven was distracted by them opening the door and wound up dying with the Gems groaning in defeat.
"Sorry" Ash apologized, realizing he had just ruined a perfect game.
"It's alright guys" Steven reassured him "man dying in video games stinks" he said. There was a thud on the floor next to them as they turned to see Lion rolling around on the floor, playing with a shirt. "Lion no!" Steven scolded the big cat swiping the shirt from him. As soon as he returned to the game, Lion pounced back onto the shirt and continued to play with the article of clothing. "Lion stop!" Steven once again told him. This time, the pink giant turned and headed for the door, but Steven blocked his escape and snatched the shirt from him.
"Since you can't play nice, i'm putting this somewhere where you can't get it. In ya mane!" he exclaimed as he leapt into Lion's mane. Ash was fully aware of the pocket dimension that somehow exists in the maine but Brock wasn't and began to freak out.
"How did he do that!?"
"There's a pocket dimension Steven uses as a storage closet in Lion's mane, apparently Rose Quartz left some surprises in there for him to." Ash explained
The two trainers and Pikachu joined the other Gems on Steven's bed, Amethyst had taken over for Steven and began playing, the others giving her instructions
"How long is he gonna be in there?" Brock asked
"Not for much longer hopefully" Pearl stated "there's no air in there". As soon as she said this Steven emerged from the mane.
"I've made a huge mistake!" he screamed
"What happened?"
"Hold on, i can fix it!" Steven insisted returning to the pink fluff. After a few more minutes, he came back breathing heavily. "There's a Gem in Lion's mane!"
"What!?" Ash asked
"Describe her" Garnet demanded
"Hold on" Steven said, taking a deep breath and going back in.
"What does this mean?" Ash asked the others
"It means we might not get that day off after all. Get ready for battle"
Steven's head popped back out "she's big!" he then returned for a closer look, he quickly returned "with rainbow hair and tattoos!"
"Rainbow hair?" Pearl asked thinking about the Gem's appearance "what does her gem look like?"
"It's an, innie?
"It can't be"
"Can't be what?" Amethyst asked finally joining the group on the ground floor
"Steven, bring her out" Garnet ordered the youngest gem, who retreated to the mane to retrieve their new friend. They waited anxiously as Steven finally returned, hand-in-hand with a large, well built, gem with rainbow dreadlocks and an apron with a star on it.
"Wow" Amethyst remarked "a total stranger"
"Pearl? Garnet?" she asked looking at the two older gems.
"BISMUTH!" Pearl screamed with happiness as she ran into the enormous gem's arms for a hug "you're back!"
"Woah" she said with a smile "the Pearl I know never jumps into my arms!" she then looked off into the distance "hey did somebody lose a Pearl? Who do you belong to?"
"Nobody!" Pearl said with a cheeky smile causing Bismuth to laugh
"Alright settle down" Garnet insisted
"Oh you're one to talk, oh excuse me, you're two to talk!" she said playfully punching the leader in the arm laughing happily.
"Where were you? We all thought you'd been captured! Or worse shattered!"
"Shatter me? Pearl, Homeworld couldn't lay a scratch on this gem!"
"Is anyone going to tell me who this is?" Amethyst asked annoyed
Garnet placed her hands around Bismuth's shoulder "guys, this is Bismuth, she's one of the original Crystal Gems"
"Hey there new recruits!" she told the four she didn't know "we could always use more Amethysts. And who are these?" she asked directing her attention to the humans
"I'm Steven! Y-you were in my lion and now you're in my house."
Bismuth grabbed Steven's hand and aggressively shook it "well thank you for having me!" she then turned to Ash and Brock "and who are the skinnies?"
"I'm Ash, this is Brock and Pikachu, we're the newest Crystal Gem members"
"They're humans from another dimension" Steven added
Ash took Bismuth's firm handshake "he's pretty well toned for a skinny kid" Bismuth remarked feeling Ash's muscle causing him to blush, she then turned to Brock who instantly fell to his knees.
"Well Bismuth, you are certainly a gem to me" he remarked taking Bismuth's hand. But Croagunk again had other ideas and poison jabbed his trainer, who fell to the floor.
"I can't believe it!" Pearl said ignoring Brock, who was still on the floor in pain. "Rose said she lost track of you during the battle for the Ziggarat! She was worried sick"
Bismuth then looked at them with concern "wait, where is Rose?"
Steven awkwardly raised his hand "I'm Rose's son. She kinda turned into me, well I have her gem, the rest is from my dad."
Bismuth recognized the pink stone in his belly button. "Do you remember me?" She asked. Steven shook his head.
"It's not always easy to understand Rose's choices" Pearl stated, "but we have to stand behind them"
"Rose really is something else" Bismuth said solemnly, she then turned to the others with a goofy grin "I mean look, she really is something else!" She said with a laugh and put Ash and Brock into two chokeholds playfully. "Wow everything's changing! And we're building bases out of wood now?" She asked tearing a piece of floorboard off "who's dumb idea was this? And where is everybody else?"
"Everyone else?" Brock asked through the pain of Croagunk's poison jab, still lying on the floor.
She turned to face the humans "yea, the rest of the Crystal Gems! Old Crazy Lace, Biggs, Snowflake, where they at?"
Considering Ash had no idea who these gems where, he didn't have high hopes for their fates, the grim look Pearl and Garnet gave Bismuth confirmed his thoughts as they lead them all to the warp pad without a word. He was surprised they all managed to fit on the pad, as they teleported to a strawberry field with what appeared to be weapons scattered everywhere. There was a chill in the air.
"No" Bismuth said looking away "how long was I out?"
"It's been nearly 5,300 years" Pearl said placing her hand on her shoulder "we were able to save the earth,"
"But we're all that's what's left of the rebellion" Bismuth sadly finished her sentence.
Pearl looked at the fields, a graveyard holding the final remains of her old friends, and began to tear up.
"Oh come on Pearl, don't cry" Bismuth told her begging to tear up herself "you know I can't take it when you cry"
"Homewold's final attack wiped out ALL of the Crystal Gems" Garnet said
"Rose was able to save Garnet and I with her shield, and by the looks of it, she saved you to"
"Then we found Amethyst in a Kindergarten, a relic of Homeworld. Rose had Steven, and then these two and another human came to our world from another version of earth. We also recruited two Homeworld defectors, a Peridot and a Lapis Lazuli, as well as another human from our world. Other than that, we're all that's left of the Crystal Gems."
"Homeworld defectors huh?" Bismuth said rhetorically "good to see some of those Homeworld Gems can still think straight. I knew those Homeworld elites were twisted, how many of us did they shatter? Crazy Lace, Biggs, Snowflake? If I'd just been there! Maybe I could've stopped it!"
"Well it's not like they've stopped trying"
"Homeworld is still interested in this planet"
After she put some thought into it, a determined smile crept into Bismuth's face "good. I thought I'd never get the chance to show those uppercrusts who's boss again! Let's show them what happens when you mess with the Crystal Gems!"
"Yea!" Ash and Steven shouted in unison.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted in agreement
"Bismuth, Homeworld outnumbers us greatly" Garnet intervened
"And their technology out masters anything we have here on Earth," Pearl added
Bismuth just laughed and pulled the two into another hug "what else is new? Garnet, remember when you and I took on an entire battalion of quartz soldiers? We walked out with our stones shining brighter than when we started!"
"As I recall it was three battalions" Garnet said with a smile
"And Pearl, remember when we stopped that dropship, I'll never forget the look on that Nephrite's face when you threw her out of the cockpit!"
Pearl chuckled "I know, how embarrassing for her"
"So let's pick up where we left off. To the forge!"
"Yea to the forge!" Steven repeated
"What's the forge?" Ash asked
"You'll see" Bismuth said leading them to the warp pad again, they teleported to what appeared to be an active volcano and crept their way through a small path away from the lava. Eventually they made it to a large door, with a lock it appeared only Bismuth could open, she threw open the door to a large, open space with various contraptions and a large anvil in the center of the room. It was even hotter there than outside.
"Whew, it's like an oven in here" Steven stated
"You think it's hot now?" Bismuth asked pulling a lever, releasing a river of lava all over her, she exited the shower of molten rock stretching. "Nothing like a hot lava bath to put you into a working mood"
"Bismuth, what do you do here?" Ash asked
"Homeworld used us Bismuths to erect towering spires and temples for the Gem elites to enjoy, but Rose Quartz taught me my life was my own. And I could choose to be whatever I wanted. So I chose this." She said taking a flaming sword from the magma pit and placing it in water to cool it
"Bismuth, you make weapons?"
"Yep, I outfitted the entire rebellion. Every material weapon used by a Crystal Gem can thank me and the Forge. I wonder if, yes they're still here!" She said taking some items and handing them to Garnet and Pearl. "Here's something to give a little extra punch" she joked giving Garnet a pair of spikes for her gauntlets, "and how bout you try a trident?" She said turning one of Pearls spears into a trident.
"Oh Bismuth you shouldn't have"
"Hey, it's a pleasure doing Bismuth with you"
Steven began laughing at the pun "oh man Bismuth's so funny"
"I don't know" Amethyst said "she's one of the original Crystal Gems yet no one ever mentioned her to me before, not even Rose? Don't you guys find that suspicious?"
"I guess" Ash stated staring at Bismuth oddly, he couldn't tell where, but he had definitely seen her before somewhere.
"Hey deep cut! Don't think I forgot about you, what you packing?"
Amethyst took out her whip "this old thing"
"Oh wow" she said admiringly
"What?"
"Not many Amethysts can make a whip like this, give me a sec" she said taking the whip to the other side of the Forge
"Ash can I talk to you about something? Privately?" Brock asked redirecting his friend to a corner where the others couldn't hear their conversation
"What's up?"
"Bismuth's a builder"
"Yes so?"
"So? So that means she could build anything! With Peridot doing the science part, Bismuth could work with her to build some sort of portal machine. Ash, Bismuth could be our ticket home!"
Ash thought about it, could Bismuth really be the key? The key home that could be the end of his quest? But then he remembered, returning meant leaving Steven, leaving The Gems, leaving Lapis. "Brock I don't know if Bismuth could build something like that. Besides, don't you remember? Arceus has a plan for us. Once we complete whatever he wants James and us here for, then we can go home" he was interrupted by Amethyst laughing and playing with Bismuth's upgrade to her whip.
"Aw yeah, Bismuth's the best!"
Once they all were upgraded, they returned to the Temple to begin Bismuth's idea of training. After Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl got a taste of what Bismuth could do, her attention turned to Ash and Brock "so boys, show me more of those Poke-my-whats"
Brock laughed at the bad misspelling of the word and Ash corrected her. He summoned Greninja and Brock selected Swampert.
"Greninja, show Bismuth cut on that boulder!" Greninja's arm illuminated and he swept his hand vertically own the large rock, once Greninja landed, the rock split in half.
"That's nothing" exclaimed Brock "Swampert use earthquake!" The monstrous pokemon bashed his fists into the ground until the ground violently shook, causing the other nearby rocks to shatter under the immense pressure.
"Ok, you got me, you boys pack a serious punch, but can you fight without your pokemon?" Bismuth asked as she began approaching them, ready to spar one on two before Steven stepped in.
"Bismuth no, Ash and Brock are fragile"
"But the Crystal Gems always spar before battle, it's like a ritual"
"Well, the modern gems have rituals to" Steven insisted
"Really?" she asked with interest, "show me"
The group all spent the rest of the day playing badminton until Amethyst and Bismuth underestimated their power and destroyed the court they set up. They all went inside, and Brock taught them all how to make pizza and everyone worked together making them. Amethyst combined several pizzas and ate them in one bite, while Bismuth participated in eating and began to let go and enjoy herself. As the sun began to set, Ash began dreading to hear Steven say the phrase "she can live in the barn". He liked Bismuth, but space was extremely limited now with five people, six if you include Pikachu, living there. It didn't help that Bismuth was very large and most likely wouldn't fit. But much to Ash's surprise, Steven actually asked if she could stay at the Temple with him, which she agreed.
"Goodnight guys, see you tomorrow" Ash wished the group as he and Brock began heading home.
"Goodnight Ash, Brock, Pikachu, see ya later" Bismuth told her new friends with a warm smile. Ash turned around to wave at her as he left.
The two friends returned to the barn, to see Peridot, James, and Lapis sitting on the truck watching TV again.
"Where were you guys?" James asked
"We were with the newest Crystal Gem" Ash proudly exclaimed
"Ah, so Jasper finally saw the light?" James asked, the mere mention of her name caused Lapis to begin thrashing around into a panic attack.
Brock smacked James across the face for forgetting the barn's cardinal rule: Never mention Jasper around Lapis.
"DONT LET HER NEAR ME!" she screamed while Ash grabbed her by the shoulders trying desperately to calm her down.
"Lapis, please" he said in a soothing, calm voice "she's not here, she's not going to get you, and even if she was, I won't let her let a finger on you. Remember my promise? Please tell me you remember!"
By this time, Lapis finally calmed down and broke down crying, landing her head into Ash's chest, while he held her tightly. "Ssshhh. Sshhh. It's ok, you're safe with me Lapis. You're safe with me". Not knowing what to do, he walked her to their bed and just tucked her in, kissing her on the cheek, promising to return after taking with Peridot and James.
"I'm sorry" was all James could manage to say
"It's alright James"
"Geez she's never reacted that badly before," Peridot said with concern "i think it might be getting worse"
"She just needs time, after everything that happened to her, i don't blame her"
"So tell us about this new gem?" Peridot asked trying to change the subject
"Please tell me she's not living here with us" James stated "we're like sardines in here all cramped up"
"No she isn't, she's going to be living at the house with Steven, apparently she was an original member of the Crystal Gems" Ash explained, "her name is Bismuth and she's gonna" but it was at that exact moment when he realized why Bismuth seemed so familiar to him, he had seen her before in the memories Lapis showed him and Steven at the Galaxy Warp, her memories of when she was trapped in the mirror. Bismuth was the gem that caused her to be trapped in the mirror. "Oh my sweet Arceus" he said softly.
"What's wrong Ash?" Peridot asked
Ash explained what he thought to them
"Well, maybe it was a different Bismuth?" Brock suggested, "i mean, there are different ones out there right?"
"Perhaps," Ash thought "we'll ask her about it in the morning, James should come to, Peridot, you should make sure Lapis doesn't meet her yet, you saw how she reacted to "you know who's" name, now imagine what'll happen if she meets the Gem that trapped her in that damn mirror?"
The group agreed, and after taking a few minutes of trying to make sense of everything, Ash returned to Lapis as promised and went to bed.
"I'm sorry about that" she said
"You don't have to apologize Lapis, you were scared and reacted, i'm not upset" he told her kissing her forehead
"This is why i love you Ash Ketchum" she told him closing her eyes, but Ash didn't get any sleep that night, as he was too busy trying to comprehend the Bismuth situation and how he was going to confront her in the morning.
That morning, Ash, Brock and James marched down to the Temple to confront Bismuth about what she did to Lapis and how to fix their relationship. They opened the door to see the grim faces of the Gems sitting on the couch with Steven, their weapon upgrades Bismuth gave them were on the floor, Pearl was crying her eyes out and Steven just stared at the floor.
"What happened?" Ash demanded "where's Bismuth?"
After Steven explained everything that happened the previous night, where Bismuth took Steven back to the forge and showed him the breaking point, and what it was for, the three trainers took their leave and began walking back to the barn in complete silence. Ash finally realized the Lapis/Bismuth situation, how Bismuth had gone straight for Lapis's gem all those years ago. She wasn't just trying to defeat Lapis in battle, she was trying to kill her.
"Brock what are you doing?" he heard James ask from behind him. Ash stopped in his tracks to see Brock was now standing on the edge of the ocean, staring at the horizon. He bent over and picked up several rocks and shells.
"FUCK!" he screamed as he began to angrily throw them into the sea. "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" he screamed as he continued throwing, his face turning redder and redder with each throw.
"BROCK STOP!" Ash yelled to his best friend as he and James held him down trying to calm him.
"HOW CAN I STOP KNOWING IM GOING TO BE STUCK HERE FOREVER!?" he screamed "SHE WAS OUR ONLY WAY HOME ASH! AND NOW WE'RE NEVER GONNA SEE HER AGAIN!"
"Can someone explain to me what the heck is going on?!" James asked
"What's going on James," Brock said standing up "is that Bismuth, was probably going to build us a machine that could bring us all home! But now we're stuck here! Stuck here with our merry little band of space lesbians, serious mommy issues, and Arceus be damned stupid fucking restaurant wars!" he fell to his knees
"Brock Arceus's plan includes all of us"
"Oh shut up with that crap Ash! You're just happy now that you don't have to pick between leaving Lapis and going home!"
"Ok guys" James tried intervening "let's take a break here"
"James," the angry trainer said turning his attention to James "for once in your life, stay out of our business!"
"No, because I'm here too Brock! And Ash is right, Arceus has a plan for us! These past few days, I've seen things I never thought I would, things that made me think, and I've wasted most of my life. Ash, I've renounced Team Rocket for good! This world has changed us for the better! And Ash, i trust him, and if i trust him, then you should to Brock."
By this time, Brock had calmed down and his face turned back to normal. He took a deep breath in "i'm sorry guys, it's just that i miss my damn family so much, and i have no idea what Arceus has for us, but i know one thing Ash Ketchum, you will always have my back. No matter what."
They shared a three way hug in apologies.
"I still believe in Bismuth" Ash stated, "and i hope one day we can help her understand. I don't think this will be the last time we see Bismuth" he said looking toward the ocean, unsure of what is going to happen next in Steven's Universe.