A/N: We beat Just Another Stone in the word count department! That's sweet! I'm the number two most-worded story in the fandom, I guess. (Yeah, I checked Ao3.) Next stop, beating Polished Gems 1: A Fated Meeting.
And I say, this story is number 10 in the reviews department. There's just so much excite in me. And yes, excite. Not excitement. Ughhhh, being late again is not something to look forward to. It took six days for this?! It's not even that good... welp, I guess that's what happens when I'm not exactly at home for four of those days.
Chapter 48: Song of Ice and Fire
The ice started breaking.
Sapphire stepped back, glancing at Ruby, and going for her. Black Pearl immediately got in her way, putting on a ferocious stance to block her away from the Rebellion's leader. The icy Gem's fists were clenched in frustration, all her energy and focus used up on breaking time.
"Move!" Sapphire cried desperately, voice cracking. She could see the future now, vividly.
Craters everywhere, the land scorched till nothing but ash was seen for miles.
"I sense your fear rising." Black Pearl said, "But I cannot let you have the chance to harm one of my teammates."
"Are you serious?" Sapphire shouted, losing her stoic composure. She couldn't rely on anyone right now due to them being focused on the war. She had to act on things herself. She pointed at Bloodstone. "This being is much more dangerous than the war itself. And even if she won't target the world, she hates Ruby! She's going to kill her."
"Then what do you propose?" Black Pearl inquired, still not moving from her position. "What do you plan that requires you getting to Ruby?"
"I..." Sapphire paused, thinking over it, before shamefully answering, "...fusion."
"No."
"Why?" she instantly barked, already void of her shame.
"It is not for me, but for those around her. You'll take those Gems' greatest leader from them." Black Pearl pointed at the vine barrier. "They will be aimless. They won't have someone with Ruby's resolution to lead them to safety. I don't see any tactical breakthroughs in surrendering the only competent leader."
"I promise. I won't take Ruby from you." Sapphire declared, "We'll fuse into Garnet. We'll defeat Bloodstone. Then we're going to separate and go back to the way things were. Then this pointless war will go on..." She bared her teeth, seeing the cyborg stay still. Since she didn't make a move, Sapphire got frustrated and continued, "If you don't let me, Ruby is going to die!"
"We don't know that," Black Pearl replied nonchalantly. "Bloodstone could be beat. And Ruby is a powerful individual herself, saying she would be able to take care of herself."
The Amedot ship laid in a pile of heap, smoke rising from the ground. Emerald, Black Pearl and Amethyst were down, better dead than ever, their bodies covered in rubble. The others had poofed or shattered. Bloodstone laughed at the mess, her eyes setting on the lone warrior.
Sapphire was about to retort, when...
CRACK!
Sapphire immediately turned and the unified shield slammed into her chest, taking the air out of her lungs. The blue Gem held the sides of the shield, grunting painfully as it had embedded into her torso, blood staining her dress and painting the shield. The unified shield flew back to Bloodstone's freed arm and Sapphire was flung with it. The red monster was still encased in ice, only one of her limbs had escaped prison. The shield returned to her, and Sapphire was hurled away agonizingly by the momentum, leaving the shield and exposing her wound into the dirt.
"SAPPHIRE!" Kyanite screamed, dashing for her downed body. The young Gem whimpered as she neared her, kneeling down and turning Sapphire over. She gasped, watching the silver blood stream down everywhere. With shallow breaths, Sapphire caught the younger Gem's wrist, and pointed at the bigger objective.
"Focus on her," Sapphire groaned, head arching back from the pain.
Ruby glared back at the monster, holding her bloodied right arm. She muttered something. Behind her, Lapis nodded gravely, and started to flee away with Steven and Kyanite in her wounded arms. Bloodstone was about to follow, when Ruby put a stop on her plans.
"Hold it!" Ruby cried, getting Bloodstone to focus on her. The lone red warrior smirked as she got her attention. "Your fight is with me now. The others are of no concern to you... got it?"
"So, you've finally gotten serious, huh?" the energy thief asked. Ruby grinned boldly.
"I've finally realized how to annihilate you," she declared, drawing another cackle from her.
Kyanite nodded.
CRKKK! Bloodstone's arm circulated around, trying to break the ice and free herself. She used the unified shield to bash against the barrier, surprised it was much denser than she thought it was. Black Pearl gracefully jumped onto the top of the ice like a feline, and slashed her claws against Bloodstone's arm. The ex-teacher grabbed at Black Pearl, who nimbly dodged her attempts, striking again and slicing skin, drawing blood this time.
Bloodstone shouted in the ice, before realizing that she still had another thing in her arsenal other than the shield and her power. She poured energy into her gauntlet, which was on the arm encased in ice. The sonic blasters started cracking the barrier, its vibrations bouncing off the solid and hitting another part. This continued until sound echoed around and amplified, cracking her prison quicker.
Black Pearl saw that and stabbed at Bloodstone's other gauntlet, only for it to be blocked by the unified shield. The cyborg's attack bounced off her defenses, before the ice exploded, sending Black Pearl flying.
Bloodstone emerged from her chilling cocoon, her physical form buffing up from the energies coursing through her. Eyes glowing blood red, the energy thief bathe in riches of power, smirking to herself as she stepped out. Bloodstone snarled almost immediately, turning to where Sapphire was. She spotted her on the ground, vulnerable, and made her way over.
"You just had to intervene, didn't you? All I wanted was to kill Ruby, but you had to go betray your own side and work for the enemy. Now, I do recall the last time Ruby and I fought, she mentioned that you were her only solution to stopping her rage." Bloodstone stated, holding up her shield over Sapphire's hand. "I would like to see if that's true."
"Is that true?" Bloodstone sniggered.
Ruby kept grinning, eyes focused on the enemy. A red aura grew from within her, swirling around, before humming triumphantly like a glow around her, rapidly rushing upwards. Energy began to build up in the red warrior, rising continuously until her physical form couldn't take it. Bloodstone smirked as this would be more energy for her to feed off of.
"I'm going to obliterate you," Ruby announced, draining herself of her own life. Seeing Bloodstone still smirk ignorantly fueled her confidence. "Have fun taking this."
Bloodstone realized her mistake too late. She destroyed everything, there wasn't anything left for Ruby to lose. Ruby put too much energy. There was no escape from this. Everybody had a limit. And Ruby surpassed her own.
There's just too much to take. Too much to absorb. Their physical forms won't handle this. Their gemstones would be eradicated. Ruby smirked in the face of death; she was killing herself killing Bloodstone.
And then, all of the energy the red Gem attained coalesced into an explosion.
Kyanite leaped from the shadows and charged with her dagger aimed for Bloodstone's back. But the thief turned and smacked Kyanite upside the head, sending her to the ground.
"We have a winner!" Bloodstone announced as she picked Kyanite by the hair. "You just earned yourself a trip!"
Bloodstone threw the cyan Gem, hurling her into the sky.
Black Pearl got back up, setting herself up to another battle. But Bloodstone leaped over and struck her shield at the cyborg, knocking her down predominantly. Black Pearl's mechanical defenses took the brunt of the attack, however, she knew handling any more would result to her downfall, so she stayed down.
Bloodstone turned and readied her shield by her side, waiting for little Kyanite to come back down. The teleporter flitted through the skies, having no ability of flight and nobody to save her. But, in a last ditch effort, she tried to create a portal in front of her, sensing the dimensions around her.
"Come on..." the falling Gem said, eyes closed to concentrate on her inner senses. "...focus!"
Bloodstone narrowed her eyes at the sky, and the moment she saw the Gem falling back down at terminal velocity, she brought her shield back, and swung it as hard as she can. She calculated the trajectory and was sure it would hit. Kyanite had no way to lose speed, and even a change in direction would be too insignificant, as the shield expanded to cover more area.
Kyanite's senses spiked as she felt a chance at a portal, and opened up the rift. At that moment, Bloodstone's unified shield flew at her, swallowed into the portal.
"NO!" Bloodstone exclaimed, clenching her fist.
Kyanite's portal ended up behind the energy thief, and the little Gem pointed both feet out, slamming all of her force into the back of the red Stone.
Bloodstone staggered forward, gritting her teeth as she turned back to swing at the smaller Gem. Kyanite ducked under her hook, and stabbed her dagger into Bloodstone's solar plexus. A cluster of nerves were touched and stunned the red Stone.
"You little brat!" Bloodstone remarked, grasping at her stomach.
Kyanite tried to think of a retort, but really couldn't. All she could think of was, you old hag.
"Hey, shithead!"
Bloodstone turned immediately, a wave of fire engulfing her face. The flames left superficial burns as it disappeared into the air, smoke taking its place. From a few meters away, Ruby was standing up, fuming at the blood-red Stone.
"Your fight is with me!" Ruby exclaimed vainly, "The others are of no concern to you!"
Sapphire tensed as she heard the words. Words that brought Ruby to her doom.
Quickly, Sapphire staggered onto her feet, blood pooling on the earth around her. She looked to the vine barrier, where Rose's fountain was, where the healing tears were, then glanced down at her lethal wound.
The explosion covered a radius of miles.
The bright-hot sphere of energy had reached the epitome of its destruction, atomizing everything in its grip. It reached supernova levels of temperature, energy never seen before ejected outwards in a beautiful display of colors splashing against the land. And in the epicenter, the red warrior vanished.
All that was left in the end was a smoking crater.
And the laughter of an immortal enemy.
Bloodstone chuckled boisterously as she laid eyes on Ruby.
"You think you can still defeat me with this power?" the energy thief exclaimed, showcasing her shield by punching the air. Air pressure destabilized and a small tornado shot out of her fist, wreaking havoc by a hundred feet. She turned to Ruby. "Please, show me how you still think you're hot shit."
"I already know your weakness," Ruby smirked. "You might've learned how to absorb energy attacks by lord-knows-what, but you're still vulnerable to—"
"—physical attacks? Hmm?" Bloodstone finished for her. She pointed at her chin. "Go ahead. Hit me."
Ruby, dumbfounded by her confidence, begun to think. Looking at Kyanite, the younger Gem was glancing at the two, taking a step back. Ruby stared at Kyanite for a while, a single idea frequenting her mind. It was a stupid and impractical idea, which was to portal Ruby into the sky and make another portal where she would fall, directed at Bloodstone, using all of the force amounted to hit her. But that wouldn't make much kinetic energy if she could already summon lightning.
Bloodstone kept her haughty composure. "Come now, I'll let you two work together! Isn't that fun?"
She's becoming dangerously arrogant, Ruby thought to herself. That's how power screws you up. I could use it to my advantage, but how can I if there's nothing to overpower her with?
Kyanite walked over to Ruby. She said, "You know, Sapphire proposed that you should fuse with her. She looked really desperate, like its our one chance. And since she's the one with future vision, if she wants a plan to succeed, she knows the most efficient way."
Ruby glared at Kyanite. She explained, "Or, it could be a way for Sapphire to rid of me and herself from this war in the long run. Then, I'll have to leave the whole rebellion to Lapis or Emerald, and you know as much as I do that both of them are crazy."
"Yeah, I know how crazy Emerald is..." Kyanite remarked, "...she activated the Kindergarten."
Ruby had to replay that sentence in her head.
"What?" she demanded.
"Emerald activated the Kindergarten."
"That son of a bitch," Ruby muttered, fists clenched. "And she still thinks it's the perfect idea to use it as a temporary base... Damn it! All those signs..." she gritted her teeth, realizing Emerald's twisted behavior. "...that asshole is still loyal to Homeworld."
Bloodstone shouted, "Any day now!"
"I, uh, don't think now's the time to focus on Emerald." Kyanite whispered.
Ruby created a gauntlet, before letting that disappear. "Well, focusing on our main problem isn't easy. We can't use energy attacks, and we can't get too close or the sucker will steal your energy. Our only hope are physical attacks, but we can't get too close to her. She's already powerful enough, fighting her now would be suicide."
"So, we flee?"
Ruby glanced at the vine barrier, seeing the swirling portal still active. "Have our Gems escaped yet?"
"I... don't know," Kyanite admitted.
Bloodstone snarled. "You guys really know how to disappoint!" she said, "No matter! I'll just bring the fighting to you."
Ruby kicked Kyanite out of the way, a shield barely scraping their cheeks. Ruby flipped backwards, her cape ruffling in the back, before she felt herself get pulled by the neck. Bloodstone caught Ruby by the end of her cape, and pulled her closer for a punch. Ruby disregarded her fasion sense and ripped herself out of the diabolical cape-mistake from last year, and was able to avoid a hit.
Bloodstone just glared at Ruby's cape, and tossed it away, focusing on the red Gem.
"You're gonna have to do better than cheap tricks to beat me!" Bloodstone snarled, as Ruby threw a fireball at her face, realizing she never did absorb that one.
Far away...
"Why am I even dealing with this?!" Lapis demanded, mostly to herself than the only other person with her. She flapped her wings and soared into the air. "I don't even need to deal with you! I've got other things to worry about!"
Wild Card pulled out a pistol and shot Lapis with a Gem destabilizer dart. The ocean Gem staggered back, holding a nub over the pain. She growled as she used her other hand, her only hand, to take over and pull the dart out. Lapis flapped her water wings again, turning them into icicles, and firing them at the assassin. Wild Card ducked and rolled, the shards of ice missing him completely. Lapis didn't want to hurt Greg Universe out of all the people in the world, but he was too determined to stop her. So, she needed to remember a way to disarm him without lethal force.
Lapis swooped down to tackle him, but Wild Card fired at her, pinning Gem tranquilizers into her skin. The ocean Gem worked through it, thinking nothing of it as she dive-kicked him. Wild Card stumbled back and expected more damage from it, before realizing she wasn't going all-out on him. He threw a smoke pellet on the ground below him, covering him in a cloud of mist laced with Gem destabilizers. That should defend him against Lapis' antics for a while.
He didn't expect for her to grab him from behind and put him in a chokehold.
"Stay down," she warned, not moving a muscle as Greg kept squirming around, trying to get out of her hold. Whenever he got a chance to free a limb, Lapis would immediately counteract and trap it. "You're not going to defeat me. Ever. Not with that little party trick of yours. I've already found a way around it." Lapis stated, having covered her body with water to stop the mist from ever reaching her.
"What about this one?" Greg asked as yellow light began to form over parts of his armor. Lapis felt her skin burning from his shoulders, chest, arms and legs. Yellow holograms appeared over those places, acting like solid armor. Except they were just projections of light, right?
"What is this?" she demanded, her muscles weakening and her hold on him diminishing.
"It's something Pearl worked on. Basically, solid-energy-light made of Gem destabilizers... something along those words." Greg replied, his arms starting to overpower Lapis' hold on him. "So, if I make a comparison for us humans, it's like... a guy, with fire armor, fighting another guy."
"Pretty deadly," Lapis remarked, concentrating more on water to hold him down than her physical strength. She felt her own mind dying, screaming in agony. But pushing all those thoughts aside, her body still felt like going through hellfire. "Still, not gonna—"
Wild Card elbowed her in the stomach, causing her to lose her focus momentarily.
He used this to his utmost advantage, instantly freeing himself from her hold, and slamming his forearm into her head, knocking her down. Of course, if it were just him doing that, she would just stumble back. But since he had the destabilizer armor covered over his forearms, shoulders, shins and upper body... he was practically on an even level with her.
Lapis' tenacity disagreed.
The ocean Gem got up and leaped backwards, giving herself and him some space in-between. She spread her wings to the side, letting them broaden in length, extending into a pair of dragon wings that she sported back when she fought in the Bloodstone war against that jasper.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" Greg taunted.
Lapis huffed. She didn't want to admit it, but inwardly fighting off Gem destabilizers was taking a toll on her. Her physical form was straining itself and starting to... complicate. Her abilities were getting jittery, dying in an instant before restarting.
"I ripped someone's arm off doing this." Lapis told him, dark circles starting to form under her eyes due to exhaust. "Truth be told, that person snapped me in half. On the moon."
"That's..." Greg glanced up at the sky, imagining the moon up there. "...a little too... extravagant."
She retorted, "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger."
Saying that would be a slap to his face, she realized. His dream was to become a rock star, she remembered that, and he became the world's greatest assassin instead. She had to question the legitimacy of that title, but since she took the title of strongest Gem on the planet, she knew there were some exaggerations. If he was the greatest assassin, then he wouldn't be heard of, would he now? But even so, Lapis couldn't help but pity him. His face was full of tense rage, and his hair was just the same as it was back when he first met Rose. He looked almost the same, except... older. Fiercer.
She ruined his life.
He was the unspoken victim of her hate. The one overlooked because he was just human. And Lapis couldn't kill him, that would be messed up even further. To have the person he disliked the most kill him after eleven years of preparation from his son's birth, and kidnapping, and his wife's death. Truly, a messed up life to live.
Saying sorry would just spit in his face. All that torment for all that time, and it all amounted to an apology. What a massive middle finger to send.
Lapis narrowed her eyes at the assassin, wondering what he's trying to do. Would he kill her now? No, that wouldn't seem like him. He wouldn't want to see his son wallow in grief. Or was he planning to reveal himself to Steven, and think he'd accept him? Nonsense. Steven would never leave her side. This man in front of her was a dead man to Steven.
"I don't do well with drama," Lapis said, gradually raising a hand, and her giant wing rose twenty feet into the air. Wild Card stepped back subconsciously. The ocean Gem thought of non-lethal ways to attack him, and settled with one. "But, if you have anything leftover to say before I drown you... say it."
"You're a monster, Lapis," Greg stated.
The ocean Gem felt like that actually meant something for once. Coming from the person who had ruined his life ruined by her, and said with such confidence as his last words, it got to Lapis. She was a monster.
An impossible villain to his story.
Lapis swerved her hand down, the giant wing slamming into Wild Card, who rolled out of the way. Still, her water wings easily maneuvered around this small obstruction, shooting out narrow lines that grew in number around the human, trapping him in a bubble. The bubble began to fill, rising into the air, with Greg trapped in the sphere of liquid. Getting a rebreather would be a waste of energy for Greg, since he knew she would just rip it out of his teeth.
Greg swirled around in the water bubble, holding his breath until he lost. Lapis just let the water do its thing to the human, waiting several minutes, before his body went limp in the water. Lapis reached out to him, motioning her hand to the ground, letting the assassin's drowned body lay dead by her feet.
Lapis crouched, putting her ear to his chest for a pulse. His heart was still beating. Good, he was still alive. She put a palm on his chest and began to rid of the water in his lungs...
There's no water, she found out, looking unimpressed. It took her a moment to realize. Wait! That means—
A blinding flash of yellow slammed into her neck, pushing her down before her nerves received the horrid energy of a Gem destabilizer. Greg was pinning her to the dirt, glaring as water began to drip from his hair and onto her. His breaths were heavy, his eyes... cold and dead.
"I'm a monster too, Lapis," he whispered. "I've plunged myself into the deepest abyss to get to this point. I've tortured myself physically and mentally. I've killed hundreds of people, Lapis..."
The ocean Gem's eyes widened.
"...I did what I had to, to make this world better for whatever you've planned for Steven. And you go on to make greater evils. I mean, you're a crime boss. Don't you have any sense of morality? Am I really going to leave my son to you?" Greg asked.
Lapis tried to exert her confident composure, albeit the fires burning through her throat. "You don't have a choice now," she replied, smiling painfully. Vivid memories of Steven smiling at her, looking up to her, sharing moments of peace that mothers would crave, fueled Lapis. "He sees me as his mother. You kill me now, and he won't forgive you... Plus, you're a dead man."
Greg glared at her.
"I'm not going to kill you. That would be stupid." he said. "I don't care for what Pearl ordered me to do. She sent me to put you back in your Gem."
"Then what are you doing?"
"I just want to say... I'm here. I'm alive. And please..." Greg's eyes stung, and Lapis realized he was crying.
He waited a few moments.
"...make sure Steven lives a good life."
Lapis' eyes widened.
"Make sure you're there for him at every corner. Make sure... he becomes what Rose destined for him to be. Do all that... for me. And don't tell him... don't tell him that I'm alive. It'll crush him... I'm not that good person he'd expect... I'm not what anyone would expect. I'm a killer, and I don't want him to think of his own father that way. I want him to be the best damn person in the world. And I could see it coming from you."
Lapis looked up at Greg in awe. She finally had permission to take care of Steven by his parent. That scorching pain in her neck subsided, as Greg got off of her, his Gem destabilizers switching off. The assassin took a couple steps, before dropping to the ground, sitting and contemplating at the clear skies.
Lapis laid there, still surprised that whatever happened just now... happened. He was just about to kill her... and then, decided to change his mind, and officially cross himself out from Steven's life. He had just promised to her, that he wouldn't want Steven to know about him, with his reputation and all, and let her become Steven's parent. He just gave her official permit to become his guardian. Steven's dead father approved of her. She just felt... surprised.
The ocean Gem sat up, looking at Greg's back. All that responsibility and all the opportunities... he left it to her.
"I love him, Lapis." Greg frowned, feeling nothing but utter disgust about himself for what he had done. All those people he killed, the lives he took. He would never be able to see his son again because of his actions, even if it was for the greater good. "Take care of him for me."
Lapis just stared blankly at him. She couldn't understand how could anyone just do that. She ruined his life, and he just gave her his most prized possession. There were so many happy emotions stirring inside of her, that she was really going to stay with Steven, no matter what. And then all of her sympathetic emotions... were all focused on that man. The amount he would have to go through to make the decision he made, the amount of courage and strength to even tell her. She just felt heartbroken about it.
But pitying him would be an insult.
"I..." She tried to speak, and encountered a lump in her throat. "...I'll make sure of it, Greg."
The assassin nodded stoically, letting his finger trail through the sand.
"LAPIS!" Steven's voice cried. "LAPIS, ARE YOU OKAY?"
"Steven..." Lapis whispered, glancing at Wild Card, before turning to the sound. The demigem was a mile away, confused, as he ran over to her, slowing down when he noticed there weren't any imminent threats to her.
"Uh..." Steven looked around, spotting Wild Card and a glimpse of his face. He looked so familiar without the mask he wore. It was like looking into a mirror, but... more handsome. And sad. There were a lot of things stirring in his mind, ranging from clones of him and him from the future, but he guessed the only way to know was to ask. "...Who are you?"
"Nobody, Steven," Lapis answered, getting up and patting the boy's shoulder. "He's just a Wild Card."
"I see what you did there," the assassin retorted, keeping his facade, making it look like nothing had happened. Steven glanced at him and Lapis, knowing there was something off.
"Yeah..." Lapis added. She flapped her water wings out and carried Steven into her arms. "We're done here."
Steven raised a brow at her. He felt so much sadness in the air... and so much pride as well. The ocean Gem hovered into the air and turned to the direction of the battlefield.
"I wish this war wasn't here. Perfect day for a family outing." Lapis told him as she flew.
"Yeah, we could go to the carnival. All of us. Connie and Peridot included."
After a bit of silence, with his words sinking into her, she finally broke.
"You know what, Steven... Your father loved you."
"He did? You know him?"
"No. I never met him in person, but I saw him from Pearl. And I know, he loved you very much. He'd risk everything for you. I wish... I would've known him more."
Steven kept quiet, conflicted about that topic.
"Steven?"
"Yes?"
Lapis shut her eyes, relaxing herself for a moment. She nuzzled her nose into his hair, all the doubts she never knew she had were gone. She sighed the words, strangely happy despite everything that was going on.
"Happy birthday."
The Battlefield...
Ruby threw another fireball at Bloodstone, which barely fazed her.
"Do you really think that could stop me? Puny attacks like that... Weak!" Bloodstone exclaimed, rushing in and delivering a nasty blow to Ruby's neck. The smaller Gem flew into a boulder, shattering it into pieces. "You can never stand up to my power! Face it, you're done for!"
"Y-...Yeah," Ruby groaned, gripping the dirt and getting back up. The swelling injuries all over her body wasn't going to make her give up yet. "You and your stolen power..."
Bloodstone smirked. "Stolen? You want a fair battle?"
The larger Gem sped over to Ruby and smashed her fist into her stomach, providing another hefty blow that could crack mountains. The younger one doubled over onto the ground, yelling silently in anguish.
"There is no such thing!" Bloodstone stated, grabbing Ruby by the hair and heaving her up. "Nothing is fair... you should know that. I taught you that!"
Bloodstone slammed Ruby into the ground, enough to make cracks into the hardened crust of the Earth. The red warrior grasped at her solar plexus, all of her nerves being sent tremendous shocks. Bloodstone raised a hand, forming Pearl's spear, and stabbed it into Ruby's thigh.
"AAAAAGHHHHHhhrrghhhh..." Ruby screamed, holding it in at the end.
Bloodstone narrowed her eyes at her pain. She enjoyed it, yes, but something did feel wrong. It wasn't satisfactory enough, like she had cheated her way here. Did that feeling even matter to her anymore? She shrugged off her distaste and soaked herself in the moment, priding herself in her victory.
This would be a memory. She finally defeated Ruby.
That didn't sound right.
Bloodstone shook that off too, focusing on relishing in the moment and ignoring her pitiful state; taking pleasure in finally defeating a ruby.
BLASSHH! An explosion went off on her shoulder. She waved the smoke away and found a squad of Rebellion troops standing ready by a portal, which Kyanite was holding. Berry and Beryl had their arrows nocked at her. A few other Gems held out other weapons like rusted swords.
"This is... funny," Bloodstone remarked. "Sending an army to fight me? Just to defend you? They think you're some sort of Diamond, worthy to be protected. Now that's beautiful. To think how far a single ruby can go..."
Ruby gritted her teeth, fingers digging into the dirt. "Get out of here, guys... You're smarter than this..." she muttered.
Megaruby's foot accidentally stomped on the vine barrier, her massive weight no longer tolerable to the vines. The giant fusion tumbled back into the base, creating a giant hole in its defenses. Amethyst let out a chuckle as she finally knocked the titan down. Looking to the ground, she caught a glimpse of Bloodstone standing against a squad of Gems and Ruby being tortured in front of her. Amethyst grunted as she heaved her foot up, and slammed it down at Bloodstone. Even if she was on her side, Amethyst knew there was something fishy about Helios, and having her true colors revealed into the monster from months ago made Amethyst seal her decision.
Bloodstone felt a shadow loom over her, and much to her chagrin, she looked up.
Despite Amethyst's slow speed, Bloodstone was too late. The energy thief got squashed under the ginormous mass.
The Rebellion Gems looked confused. Wasn't she on Bloodstone's side?
Megaruby got back up and seized Amethyst by the waist, tackling her back. Amethyst almost lost her balance, but she regained her footing in time, and struggled against Megaruby. Both their strengths were equivalent, and Amethyst didn't have time. She was compensating a ton (literally even more than that) of Gem energy to turn into this form, and she may give out any moment. The giant purple Gem was pushing against Megaruby, but she decided to pull her, bringing the fusion into surprise at the action. Amethyst pulled her, causing her to fall over her, and the purple one caught all her weight and began to lift her whole body into the air.
The weight made Amethyst rethink her battle strategy, it felt like the weight of the entire sky was on her shoulders. The violet giant grunted, her feet sinking into the Earth due to both their masses planted into only two shoes. Amethyst had to do it quick, Megaruby was squirming around hard, flailing her arms, shifting their central weight around, and causing her to lose her balance. Amethyst, with a hand under Megaruby's neck and the other on her bottom, Amethyst began to pull her apart.
Megaruby yelled, her waist lengthening and glowing white. Amethyst's arms began to part, the space between them widening gradually, until...
FVVISSHHH!
Amethyst's hands were by her sides.
Rubies rained.
The Amedot...
Pearl saw an opening and took it.
"Howlite, Pyrite... you two are going to get into that hole in the barrier."
The two nodded, rushing out of the room and out onto the ship's deck.
The Battlefield...
Howlite's energy is moving... Black Pearl noticed. Their trajectory is aiming for the barrier. Her yellow eyes moved, staring at the point in the sky she expected Howlite's route would take. The silver Gem's aura was seen, along with an identified gold one. My revenge will be exacted.
Black Pearl got up, her mechanical components running efficiently at a hundred percent. She saved up for this moment. The moment of truth.
"Black Pearl!" Kyanite yelled after her, but her pleads fell on deaf ears, as the cyborg promptly entered the base to confront the ex-prince.
"That Gem is smart. Playing dead to flee at the chance!" Bloodstone exclaimed, glaring at the rest of the Gems. "Why don't you follow her example? I sense a portal in that defensive plant mucus. Why don't you all flee like her?"
"The portal..." Kyanite remembered, forgetting to check on that. She took a quick glance into the entrance of Rose's fountain, noticing that the cloak had been torn off to reveal Rose's statue, and it was... crying.
All at once, the vine barrier began to bloom into rose petals, their entire defense... withering away into the air.
"No..." Ruby groaned, fist burning at whoever had done it.
In the center, where Rose's fountain lay, Sapphire was standing against it, letting the statue's tears invigorate her. To replenish her energy and to rejuvenate her body. The icy Gem sighed as non-fighting Rebellion Gems rushed to the portal, after seeing that the vine barrier had transformed into nothing but rose petals. A beautiful signal of their defeat, and a beautiful signal of their victory.
Pyrite and Howlite landed as the rose petals fell, the former watching in awe at the display, and the latter focusing on her objective. Her eyes fell on the portal.
"Howlite!" Black Pearl screeched, gunning for her. Howlite raised a brow at whoever said that, since it sounded so much like Pearl, and then...
She saw her.
Shock immediately kicked in, and then an array of sadness and guilt. Howlite just stared, watching as Black Pearl came closer. She could just move or dodge, but she was so stunned to see who it was.
"B... P...?" Howlite whispered the cyborg's initials, like she had said it so many times before. Of joy, of sadness, of rage... now, it was of grief.
And then, Black Pearl hit her in the head.
"Prince Howlite, this is your new pearl."
The silver Gem looked up at her new servant, since she was short compared to the standard height of Gems. Howlite just looked at the pearl, seeing small hints of her nervous composure. Her slim build was already disappointing to the prince.
"We've trained her to your standards. Just like the King ordered."
"I've told White Diamond that I didn't need a Pearl. A prince is destined for greater battles. They do not need fancy ornaments at their side. They'll get shattered."
"Then shattered they will be. There will always be new ones. Besides, the king has ordered for her to teach you in the beauty of the Homeworld's ecosystem."
Howlite's eyes studied the pearl. The silver Gem sighed, she herself was a young prince, only made several years ago as an experiment of recreating a Diamond. Procedures didn't go as planned, and White Diamond told the scientists never to speak of this accident, and being too prideful to admit it, called her a prince.
"Then we shall go with the learning schedule. The Gem scrolls are so archaic it blinds me reading them. A pearl will do good." Howlite turned to the pearl.
She nodded.
Outside...
Ruby harshly tugged at the spear, able to rip it out of her leg. She silently hissed at the pain, glaring up at Bloodstone, who was too focused on the others. The energy thief had her hand raised against the rebels, energy building up in the palm of her hand, and... released. Kyanite stomped in front of the rebels, creating a portal for the energy ball to go through. The energy was sent into the dimensions, but what Kyanite forgot was to make an outlet for the portal... and instead it ended up going through and blasting her right in the chest.
Ruby screamed in rage, alerting Bloodstone. The energy thief turned to her and shot every projectile weapon she had. Ninja stars, daggers, spears, purified energy blasts.
They all stopped in front of her face.
The red Gem glared for a while, expecting death to be swift and painful. But it never came. The weapons were stuck in flight, and so was Bloodstone, who didn't have any reaction to what just happened. She was as still as a statue. Ruby stared at awe and wonder, contemplating if whether this was a latent ability she just discovered or time just broke around her. Color began to melt away, turning all of this into a gray painting.
"Ruby."
Said Gem turned to Sapphire's voice, who seemed to be the only one conscious about what was happening. And the only one moving besides her. Everyone else had been in a pause. Everything stuck in one place. Ruby stared at everything, this beautiful scenery. Was this even possible? Or was she really just hallucinating after death? Except, Sapphire was there, so...
"You know what we have to do," said Sapphire.
Ruby snorted in derision. "What?"
The word echoed in her head.
"Fusion."
Ruby glared, looking at her surroundings to see if they were desperate enough to do it. She stepped away from the weapons being flung at her.
"Fusion?" Ruby asked. "You'd have to think I'm a nutjob or something if you think I'm even considering that."
"Do you see any way of defeating her?" Sapphire retorted. "If we combine our strengths and form Garnet, we will have a better chance. Both of our abilities, all used at their maximum. Bloodstone may have more power, but we will have the better."
"And then I lose. Because I'm the leader of this rebellion... and you'll never let go of Garnet. Sapphire! I'm not going to do it! You're just going to screw with my mind!"
"I'll never do such thing! I promise... we'll fuse. We'll fight the battle. And we'll separate. We'll go back to doing... this." She turned to point at Gems fighting each other.
"No..." Ruby's voice cracked.
"Oh, come on!" Sapphire burst, frustrated. "Whatever we had! You're just going to throw it away. We're just going to pretend like we never had each other? Just because of a grudge from ten years ago? We already fixed the problem! We have Steven back! We're not angry at Lapis anymore. You've become her friend. We're all together now. We've just grown... distant because of this experience... haven't we?" she realized, "We never talk to each other anymore. We're like... strangers." She turned her head. "Maybe I shouldn't have been confident about this plan working out... It's just.. We fuse, fight, and separate. Simple as that. Ruby, I promise... I'll... I'll just..."
"I can't," Ruby replied. Sapphire glared at Ruby, already at her limit, but instead of Ruby standing up for herself, she found her looking disappointed at herself. "I know you promised that you'll separate after we fuse. But... I'm not worried about you. I can trust you on that." Ruby confessed and looked up at Sapphire, looking shameful. "It's that... it's me. I don't trust myself. I don't think I'll be able to separate from you again."
Sapphire's mouth hung open at Ruby's words. She shortly regained her composure.
"Then... I guess... This plan won't work out after all..." Sapphire replied. "I know, you have a whole army to take care of... I wouldn't want to hold you back from that responsibility. There's always another way. Someone else could... save the day."
"But who else has that kind of power?"
"Onyx?"
"She's not here."
Sapphire sighed, "My time is running out. We have to think of another way quick. That monster you're facing? I've seen you die trying to kill it. Self-destruction doesn't work."
Ruby looked around at this frozen reality. Bloodstone wouldn't be able to absorb their power if they attack her like this. It would be more than instantaneous, that Bloodstone wouldn't be able to process any attack. She looked over at her Rebellion, something she prided herself in making, something that made her worthy to be seen like Rose Quartz. And at Sapphire's words, saying that she resorted to self-destruction, would mean she would give her life to destroy Bloodstone. She would be gone after that, and in what kind of mindset did she have to be in order for that future to happen?
Everyone would be dead.
Her own Rebellion of Gems... dead. She was going to resort to be in a state where she would never lead the Rebellion, just like if she chose going to fuse with Sapphire. At least, in that choice, they would have a chance. Everyone will be safe.
"Sapphire."
The blue Gem just stared aimlessly at the scenery, enjoying the silence. "Yes?"
Ruby hummed a familiar tune, giving her a hand.
Sapphire looked at it, then at her eyes; full of devotion. "Are you sure?"
"C'mon. For Garnet."
Bloodstone watched her weapons being flung at Ruby, already on target. Missing her had never crossed her mind, since it was impossible to dodge it at this speed. And yet, she continued to astound her by vanishing completely in the act.
And a new challenger approaches.
"No such thing as a fair battle, huh?" the new being's voice said. The anticipated fusion had all three eyes glaring at Bloodstone. Ruby's cape (which was a mistake) had made its way into her design, along with Sapphire's warrior garment (her gi jacket), which was now shaded crimson. Ruby's star belt-buckle was placed in the center of Sapphire's sash, which was wrapped around her waist. The two trails of Sapphire's gi made its way down Garnet's thighs, adding some flair into her swooshes.
Garnet spawned a pair of her iconic sunglasses, putting them on. The shades of blue and red were at even size. Both of their personalities were at unified control.
"Well, you're not wrong," Garnet remarked playfully, crossing her arms over her chest. She cracked her neck, giving off a satisfying sound. She noticed her body was stiff, so she started unwinding herself by doing some warm-up exercises. "It's been a long time since I've been me. So, sorry that my body's a little rusty. Just give me some time to get used to this." she deadpanned.
Bloodstone snarled. "So, you've fused. That's not going to change anything. I've got your powers as well. I could very well replicate your same energy!"
"Oh, really?" Garnet asked, working on her legs. "Well, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve. Ruby and Sapphire have learned a lot on their own time apart. And I know all of their new knowledge."
Kyanite grunted as she sat up, clutching her chest. She looked over at the fusion and marveled at her, thinking she would never see Garnet ever again, and she was gladly proven wrong.
"Well," Garnet stood up to her height, finishing her warm-up. "I'm ready now."
Bloodstone narrowed her eyes. She had used that time, which Garnet used fooling around, to think of a plan. But now, she realized she didn't even expect to fight Garnet.
The fusion raised her hands, both gemstones shown in her palms.
"I'm ready," the fused warrior repeated.
"Just because you two have fused doesn't change anything." Bloodstone lied, knowing full-well how much this changes. She mentally kicked herself for repeating the same line she just used moments ago. "Your confidence is going to get the better of you soon, after I unleash my power."
"I think your confidence is dwindling with every passing second, since I appeared." Garnet lamented, like she already knew who was going to win, and was disappointed with the results. "I'm pretty sure, in this form... you'll never be able to touch me." she concluded gravely.
"What? Is your speed something to brag about?" the energy thief demanded.
Garnet smirked, putting her arms down to her side.
The fusion didn't move from her spot.
But Bloodstone still felt the force of a fist punching her in the face. The red Stone flew backwards, crashing into the dirt and making a straight pathway. Bloodstone touched her cheek, and it was grazed with blood. She slowly got up, wary of the situation.
"She... didn't even move..." one of the Gems remarked.
"She's incredible!"
"Wait, who's she a fusion of?" asked Beryl, dumbfounded.
"Ruby and Sapphire," Kyanite smiled.
"That's amazing!"
Bloodstone harrumphed, glaring at Garnet. "That didn't even hurt." she remarked honestly. "I was expecting more from that. You only caught me off guard."
"It was only a demonstration," Garnet told her, shrugging nonchalantly. "But if you want my best shots..."
The fusion brought her hands up, and her gauntlets popped into existence with a bright glow. Her fingers clenched and unclenched, the crackling sounds of her gauntlets' joints clinking with every movement was satisfying to hear.
Then, Garnet vanished.
In the next instant, Bloodstone felt the force of a thousand punches throughout her entire body. Garnet appearing in front of her with only a hand outstretched, even the fingers, and her other fist winded up by her side. The shorter of the two staggered back, gasping as blood dripped from her mouth. Bloodstone felt sore all over, everything was mind-numbingly painful.
"Did that hurt?" Garnet asked in a monotone, clearly uncaring about Bloodstone's state.
"I couldn't even see you... What the hell..." uttered Bloodstone, holding her chest and wheezing. "How did you..."
"You keep your secrets of revival. I keep my secrets of my speed." Garnet retorted, "Isn't that fair?"
Bloodstone growled and brought out her unified shield. The energies of every major Gem in the vicinity were all placed in this one disk. It's power was so immense, even Garnet would admit she wouldn't be able to beat that. It was as if all the powers of each powerful individual, excluding Lapis Lazuli and Onyx, were fused into one weapon. This would be the result.
It was much powerful than Steven's unified shield from last year. Now, having eleven Gems to take from, double from last year's six.
Bloodstone didn't throw it at Garnet, knowing that she'd just dodge it with whatever instant teleportation ability she was using. She also knew that this shield couldn't protect her at all sides, so she had to figure out a way how. Thus, she enlarged the shield, and wrapped it around herself, like a thin coat of rainbow armor.
Garnet raised a brow at that. She'd have to get creative to get around this.
"You can't hit me like this! My defenses are impenetrable," Bloodstone stated, still hurt over Garnet's last attacks. The fusion knew she wasn't lying. There would be no getting through it, there was too much power that her hits now would do nothing.
But, Ruby knew a trick on how to raise her offenses, and Garnet would like to implement that. The same technique was used on Bloodstone before, efficiently killing her inside. So, Garnet raised both gauntlets, letting them glow white with energy.
The temperature heightened around her, her gauntlets superheating rapidly to create the state of matter that the stats were made out of. Plasma. Her white gauntlets started fuming, rising through temperatures above lava. Then, with a crackle of energy, her gauntlets struck each other without even touching, only because the electricity generated was so great it was unstable to hold it all. Garnet separated her hands from each other, creating a wide electrical arc in front of her due to the plasma being too stubborn to move. Eventually, it had to.
"Oh, so you're doing the same thing Ruby did last time." Bloodstone informed, creating a unified spear to use against Garnet. Her hand was shaking. She was going to lose, and she feared that. Her own confidence went from an all-time high to an all-time low.
Garnet flicked her fingers open, and electricity struck where her fingers were pointed.
Jagged white lines took over the air, sending a static vibe everywhere. Her lightning went, making a loud, booming thunder in following.
Garnet remained stoic as usual, seeming unimpressed at every turn. In fact, inwardly, she was laughing to herself at the new powers at her fingertips, but also reminded herself to end this quick, and not get too arrogant. The fusion looked at Bloodstone, ignoring that electricity was striking the ground from her gauntlets. She felt the air, she felt the dimensions close in, and one in particular, with two mending holes in it, Garnet jumped into.
Using Ruby's knowledge over Kyanite's dimension-hopping skills, Garnet learned a better way to freeze time without damaging the realities. She would enter a time dimension where time is just a fixed point, and let this dimension coexist with reality in her favor, causing a whole time freeze without ever creating holes in time.
Garnet went over to Bloodstone, delivering a punch to her new armor, letting her plasma explode, and then added another hit in, doubling the effort.
Garnet let time flow again, and Bloodstone's unified armor exploded with white. Electricity ran amok, sending discharges everywhere, and a wild display if hot white zigzags scattered. Billions of volts transpired in those two hits, running through the shield and causing tremendous amounts of force, also creating thunder that boomed through everyone's ears. Bloodstone went deaf, and her armor crumpled where Garnet hit her, punching holes like a pencil through paper.
Bloodstone screamed in agony, hell wrapping around her.
Like last time, the electricity sparked where she got struck, killing Bloodstone with the indescribable force and the supernova-like temperatures. She had already become crippled with those thousand punches, and these two blasts of energy were just reapers sent for her death. Bloodstone would've tried to absorb this energy, but...
It was already too late.
Garnet picked up a piece of Bloodstone, inspecting it for a while, before flinging it into the sky with her daunting strength. That one shard was officially gone. For safety measures, Garnet picked up another shard of Bloodstone and bubbled it, sending it to the Temple. She then took another piece, and smashed it into dust, hopefully confirming that Bloodstone would never regenerate ever again.
Garnet dusted her hands, her job here was done.
But something troubled her. Something interested her. There was something more important for her to investigate now than joining the war with her comrades... of which she had no side to partake in.
So, with Sapphire's ability to hover and Ruby's technique of flight, she was about to soar into the sky to "investigate" the world.
"Garnet," Kyanite called.
The fusion turned, all three eyes landing on the short Gem.
"Where are you going?" Kyanite asked.
"Somewhere. Enjoying myself." she answered simply.
"Didn't..." her eyes narrowed for a second, "...Sapphire promise to... bring Ruby back after this?" she asked, motioning to the rebels. "They don't have a leader. And this war is still going on..."
"It's best for me to stay out of this. I'm too excessive for this battle." Garnet replied, not really wanting to think on which side she would pick, mostly because the Ruby and Sapphire in her would counter endlessly and never make a choice. In the end, all it would give would be a headache. "Me being here would cause a nuclear war. But I'll be around. Don't worry. I have faith in Steven and Lapis to take care of you."
"Ruby said Lapis was crazy." Kyanite informed.
"Ruby doesn't know everything." she answered solemnly.
"So, Ruby's not coming back?" Kyanite asked, deeply disappointed. "Did you really... just lie to us?"
Garnet sighed, "Sapphire promised to give her back. But Ruby doesn't want to. It's too much for her to bring me back and separate." She put a hand on Kyanite's hair, ruffling it. "That's from Ruby."
Kyanite gave a sad smile. "I could tell."
Garnet waved and turned to the skies. With a smile to herself, she fled from the battlefield and into the skies.
"Ruby isn't coming back?" one of the Gems asked. "She's staying as Garnet?"
"Well, that sucks." another said, "She could've easily beaten the Revolution."
"Guys, she's a fusion of Ruby and Sapphire. Sapphire is from the other side. Since both ideologies are clashed, Garnet will never pick a side."
"Ohhh..."
A blue blur made its way onto the ground, looking around. The vine barrier was gone. Rose's fountain was working. Megaruby and giant Amethyst vanished. Mostly huge signs of change to Lapis that something went down here. She was gone for a few moments to fight a human, and they've accomplished a crap load without her.
"Aw, what did I miss?" the ocean Gem whined. Steven was about to say the same, though now in hindsight he now knew that would've sounded whiney.
"Where's Ruby and Black Pearl?" the demigem asked instead.
"Black Pearl went for the Gems there," Kyanite pointed at the stadium of Rose's fountain, where a few troops were battling other troops. A few rebels with them started to run for their comrades. "And Ruby... well... She fused with Sapphire to fight off a bigger threat."
"A fusion? Ruby and Sapphire? Wow, I've... only heard that one story." Steven said.
So, Garnet is back, Lapis thought. I never thought I'd see the day.
A/N: Haha. Garnet's finally back. Oh, the amount of people writing to me about Garnet... Wait. Nine?! Only nine reviews with at least hints of Garnet on them? What was I so anxious about?! Never mind then.
Anyway, a song I found years ago has fueled me once again! It's "Firewall" by Les Friction.
I had decided to cut this chapter off just before Garnet, but I decided... You know what? People are starving out there, wishing for the moment Garnet would come back. Their hopes are already beyond -23, and are only continuing for the satisfaction... the reward. It's been forty chapters overdue. I gotta make someone out there proud for reading all 295k words of this. And c'mon, I can't make another cliffhanger after leaving Garnet out for so long.
Also, that line where it said, "Ruby hummed". Well, she was humming a song. And to be specific, it's Stronger Than You. Now, I know what you're thinking, "but that doesn't fit with the timeline, Garnet sang it when fighting Jasper, and you didn't put any of the lyrics here, other stuff." Well, I had this headcanon that Garnet has been saving this song for centuries, and already had the basic idea for it. So, no worries here.
P.S. I'm sorry. I got lazy again at the end there. Well, not exactly lazy, but uninspirational. And a bit anticlimactic in my opinion. Oops, I'm not supposed to say that. Welp, my careers over. I can't carry moments!
To David Blackwood: No worries, man. I'll let you put a fave on Lapis. And, about Onyx... well, Gem Ex Machina.
Breaking News: 'Tis a reference. Don't sue me. Anyway, if you still need explaining, well... Sapphire is ice. Ruby is fire. Their song, an experience together, is a fusion. Garnet.
Next Chapter's Title: "Gem Ex Machina"
Character faves:
Lapis Lazuli: 3
Peridot, Ruby, Sapphire: 2
Amber, Amethyst, Kyanite: 1
