S2-30
Justice Emerald

Following her betrayal of the Diamonds, Peridot was recording another log. "Log date 7-1-5-2. I have disobeyed my orders and went against Yellow Diamond's wishes, and I called her a clod... to her face! MAN that felt good!"
"Peridot? You OK?" Steven wondered. "Better than OK! I feel... free." "That's great!" "I'm protecting a planet I was once trying to destroy! I once followed every order, every rule, and now I'm a traitor, a rebel, a Crystal Gem! I feel... I feel like a new Gem!"

With that, William exited the barn, watching as a few of the Freedom Shield's Construction Drones attached the drill head to Peridot's old escape pod.
After relaxing for a bit, William got some company. "William...?" "Yes, Peridot?" "I... I don't know what I'm going to do anymore..." Seeing an opportunity to teach Peridot a new path, William put together an offer. "How about you come back to the Freedom Shield with me and I'll help set you on your new life?" "OK. Thank you."

Arriving at the Freedom Shield, William began his teaching.
"Peridot, as a Crystal Gem, it is your duty to uphold the protection of this planet and its natural inhabitants. Humankind was born on Earth, it is their home. Emerald protocol is to NEVER colonize a planet that is already inhabited, and it is also by that same protocol that pre-inhabited planets are marked for protection. Normally, one Emerald is assigned to watch over a planet every couple years, but with Epsilon 7-B eradicated off the face of the universe, and nearly all Emeralds with it, only me, Morlax, and Thavix remaining, the rotations are... gone. Thavix betrayed her own kind, aligning herself with the Diamonds, so it stands to reason she told them where our home planet was. It makes sense that Morlax was found in the Kindergarten, since he was the last Emerald assigned to watch over the Earth, and the Emerald artist Cade was up next. With Epsilon 7-B destroyed, we need a new home." William explained. "That explains why the Path-forger was on Mars's smaller moon of Deimos, gathering atmospheric readings and calculating effective terraforming procedures to make it safely habitable for organic life." "Precisely."

"Emerald William, I have completed my analysis of the recovered limb augments." Peridot immediately figured out what the Freedom Shield was talking about. "MY LIMB ENHANCERS! YOU HAVE MY LIMB ENHANCERS?!" "PERIDOT!" William raised his voice, silencing Peridot. "Yes, we have your limb enhancers, but until we can be sure of your alignment to our cause, they will remain beyond your reach. Are we clear?" "Yeah... We're clear..." "You'll know you can regain them when you gain my trust, and my trust is not so easily earned."

Later at the barn, Peridot was still with Garnet, stargazing. "You can see Homeworld's galaxy from here." "You're right." "We're very different. I appreciate that." "We're all special in our own way." "If you really want to understand Fusion, I can help you." "What do you mean?" "Let's fuse." "OH MY STARS!" Peridot then fell off the hay bale. "Heh. I get it. You're not ready. That's fair. Another time then." "No! No no no! Just-"
William joined in. "What's going on over here?" "I asked Peridot to fuse with me." "What...?"
"I wish to make an effort to understand Fusion, and to understand why Garnet remains fused all the time." "You've been watching that show, right?" William asked. "Camp Pining Hearts? Yes." "Garnet is basically Percy and Pierre." "Ohh!" "I guess you understand Garnet now. So, now for you to understand Fusion. Allow me to help you with that." William's physical form dispersed, the synthetic particles being absorbed back into his gemstone. The green crystal then merged itself with Peridot's form, embedding itself in the back of her right hand, causing her form to ripple like water.

"What... What just happened?" Peridot wondered, looking at the gemstone in her hand. "This is a special type of Fusion only possible if at least one member of the Fusion is an Emerald."
From William's gemstone, Peridot started receiving a complex understanding of Garnet's Fusion, an understanding that could not be shared vocally. "I... I understand now." "Good." "And I wish to experience it for myself." "Uh..." William ejected himself from the power meld, somersaulting in the air before landing next to Garnet, his human form reconstituted. "Maybe later. There's still a few things we have to take care of."

Later that night, William was running manual diagnostics on the drill, and Vilo was taking Peridot's limb enhancers for a spin, while showing off that she was a fast learner. "Drill diagnostic: complete. Functionality is at optimal levels. The drill is ready." The Freedom Shield reported.
With that job done, William went over to Peridot. "I think we'll try it now. Fusion?" Peridot got up on her feet, nervous about what'll happen next. "Fusion with an Emerald does not require dancing, only true trust." "But you said I don't have your trust!" "I'll... I'll have to make an exception."
As William was surrounded in a large bubble, his physical form became holographic, and his gemstone detached from the back of his hand, floating between all ten of his digits. It was a higher form of Emerald meditation. This continued on for several minutes before William resumed his physicality. "I'm ready if you are." William and Peridot made their gemstones glow, causing Fusion energy to surround them.

Suddenly, a power surge fluctuated around them. This was an Emerald Link Fusion! Peridot's limb enhancers were mysteriously pulled off of Vilo, being sucked into the energy vortex.
When the glow died down, a new cybernetic Fusion stood in the place of William and Peridot, with the latter's augments integrated perfectly into its form. The Fusion's hands protruded from the arm enhancements like coming out of a sleeve, with the floating fingers orbiting the rims of the devices like a slowly spinning rotary cannon. The boots covered the lower legs, but where the kneepads normally ended were flawlessly integrated into the bottom of the Fusion's own knees. The Fusion had William's head, but with Peridot's gemstone and visor, the latter of which appeared to be functioning as a sort of HUD. The rest of the Fusion's form appeared armored, yet remained entirely unhindered from any form of previously available movement. The Fusion itself appeared to retain the Emerald's gender.
"William? Peridot?" Morlax was concerned.

The Fusion opened his eyes, then discovered himself.
"What just... What happened?! I... A Link Fusion...?! I've only heard the rumors... I didn't think it was real...! William, what is this?! I demand to... Wait... I... I understand now... I understand everything. I understand your pain now... I... I'm sorry... It's OK, Peridot. It's OK... No. No, it's not... You have every right to be angry at the Diamonds. Calling her a clod wasn't enough. She deserves worse! She deserves the judgment you will bring upon her! William, thank you for giving me a chance. You shouldn't be thanking me, Peridot. Steven deserves that praise." In the corner of the visor was an indication of who was talking at the moment, as it was switching between an upside-down triangle for Peridot and an emerald-shaped hexagon for William.

"What should we call this new Fusion, you two?" Garnet asked. The corner of the Fusion's visor was flickering between William and Peridot at an extremely fast rate as the Fusion itself seemed to be in thought. He looked to the green gemstone on the back of his right hand, then at Homeworld's galaxy with a scowl on his face.
The two Gems reached a conclusion, and it appeared on the visor, with the corner of the HUD now showing both William AND Peridot. "Justice Emerald."

That morning, William and Peridot had warped to a desert, which was the perfect place to test their Fusion's capabilities. They fused, bringing out Justice Emerald.
Eight of the floating digits converged together, creating a screen that displayed every single weapon William had replicated so far, with the other two stacking together to make a sort of pen.
"Which do you think we should try first, William?" Peridot asked within the Fusion. "I don't know... I'll let you make the first choice. Hmm... Steven's shield? Alright." The floating finger sticks returned to Justice Emerald's arms.
The Fusion extended his right arm, causing the orbiting fingers to rearrange themselves into a star-shaped orientation just beyond his hand. Justice Emerald made a circular motion, making the rods outline Steven's shield.
With a pulse of Emerald energy, the shield was formed, with the finger rods integrated perfectly. Instead of pink with a rose thorn spiral pattern like Steven's shield, this one was jade green with an emerald green pentagon connecting the digits.

"Incredible...! What's next, William? Let's try Pearl's spear."
The shield vanished, followed by the rods returning to that star orientation.
Justice Emerald waved his hand through the air in a straight line, causing the finger sticks to create a green spear.

"Garnet's gauntlets?"
With all ten rods ready, Justice Emerald lined them up with his own fingers, the digits lightly pressing against his graspers before green gauntlets appeared around his arms.

"Amethyst's whip!"
Three digits aligned themselves in a wavy fashion while the other two stuck side-by-side together, becoming the handle of the weapon.

"How about Fusion weapons? Peridot, which should we do first? Opal's bow!"
The ten rods aligned themselves to form the main part of the bow, lacking the string, which was created nonetheless.

"Sugilite's wrecking ball!"
Five of the digits created a fist while the other five oriented into Amethyst's whip, connecting to the base of the fist. A green wrecking ball with what looked like a fist on the end of the chain was formed.

"Last, but not least, Sardonyx's war hammer!"
Two fists, each comprise of only four of the digits, including the thumb, were made, along with the other two rods spaced out along where the handle would be. A green war hammer was created.

Before the two could unfuse, William had an idea. "Wait... Will this work with the Plasma Buster? Only one way to find out."
Two of the rods went to both sides of his right elbow, each spinning in a blurred circle, while the other three started spinning in a circle around Justice Emerald's right hand.
In a flash of energy, the Plasma Buster was formed.

"This is... This is incredible...!" Peridot was in amazement. "Together, we are Justice Emerald."
On their way back to the Warp Pad, William felt something. "Hey, Peridot? Yeah? What is it you're feeling toward Amethyst? Wait... WHAT?!"

This is a Fusion I have had in my mind since before I even made my account, and now I've integrated him into the story.

Justice Emerald's armor holds a very strong resemblance to Tony Stark's MK 41 armor, but in the place of the 'exposed internal components' is more armor that only looks like it.

See you next time, guys.