Okay, so I just wrote like three chapters...but they work better if I establish some things that take time to establish, so this is coming out pretty late unfortunately enough.
Now, I'll just go ahead and state this: I'm hoping to get another chapter done ASAP so I can release those chapters, but if I don't, it's because I'm enjoying my vr too much.
Also- I'd like to apologize for my inactivity, I've just been stuck with this chapter and kind of putting it off while I try to think of something, so I'll be releasing the other two or three soon (a day or so) after you read this. (hopefully but unlikely)
That being said, go ahead and enjoy this chapter where idk what I'm trying to write.
(Forgot to mention- we hit 25k reads, thank you very much!)
-=Steven's room=-
It was the day after their team training and Steven was in his bed still asleep despite the fact it was eleven o'clock in the morning. "Psst, Steven-" A voice spoke as the hybrid could feel repetitive poking on his cheek. "Pearl sent me to wake you up."
He let out a groan as he grabbed the attacker's wrist. "Why am I being woken up so early?..." He questioned as he let go of their hand and put a pillow on his head only for it to be removed, prompting him to open his eyes, revealing his pink friend, Spinel.
"Oh come on, yesterday's training wasn't bad, I thought we were having fun." She responded as she set the pillow down on the bed. "Even then, it's already later than when you usually get up."
"What?" He sighed as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" He questioned as he took his pillow back and set it down where it was supposed to go.
"I think Pearl said it was eleven, all I know is that I've been getting bored just sitting here and waiting for you to wake up." She commented as she hopped off the bed. "Pearl said we have the day off, so let's go out and do something."
Steven was awake now, and there was no helping that, so he decided to get out of bed as well, straightening it up before turning to her. "Wait- you said you were bored just sitting here waiting for me to wake up; what have you been doing when I'm asleep, do you really just sit there all night?"
"Nah, I know how that makes you uncomfortable, so I just lay down and sleep too." She shrugged casually. "Though I'm usually up as soon as your sun begins shining into your room."
"W-Wait, in my bed while I'm sleeping?" He asked as he looked over to the stairs to check and see if anyone was there, knowing that Pearl would never allow such a thing, Amethyst would use it against him in every way she could, and Garnet would be weird about it.
"Um- Yeah, is that bad? You let me sleep with you back on homeworld when we came back from earth, and I slept very well that time..." She began before looking out the window nervously, trying to avoid his gaze while wondering if she messed up. "I've come to enjoy sleeping and it's the only way I don't have those 'nightmares'. I've tried to use the plushie that usually calms me down when I'm left alone, but it doesn't work when I'm asleep..."
Steven wanted to tell her that it was inappropriate for her to sleep in the same bad as him but her excuse pulled on his heart strings too hard. He couldn't just tell her not to sleep anymore if it's something she enjoys doing, and it's not like he could tell her to sleep on the floor or something if she was having nightmares that made her wake up in tears. "I- Listen, just try not to get caught by anyone when sleeping in the same bed as me, they might get the wrong idea."
She looked back to him with an excited smile of appreciation. "Really? I can sleep with you from now on?" She asked, happy that he would let her do that despite how uncomfortable it seemingly made him at first.
"Well, it's better than having a pair of eyes on me the entire time." He shrugged with a light chuckle as he went over to his dresser. "But why don't you just play on the GameStation? I thought you liked doing that."
"Well, it's fun and all but it's just another game and I've already played and beaten everything that was there. But when I go to sleep, I get to do that dreaming thing and it's really only when I'm there that I feel like I can just let everything go and not have to worry about anything, because it's only me and my imagination there...but when I do it alone, I get bad thoughts and they make the dream go bad and I feel less safe there than I ever do out here." She explained, seemingly embarrassed about having to admit just how much she still relied on him despite all the progress she had seemingly been making.
Steven was quick to take notice of her sudden change in demeanor. "Spinel, don't worry about it. Listen, when I was a kid, I had nightmares a lot and I needed someone to be there with me until I fell asleep...now that I think about it, that's probably when Pearl decided to stalk me in my sleep whenever she could... anyway, just know that needing someone to help you is nothing to be embarrassed about, no matter what the situation may be."
"But...I just ask so much of you, and I still can't figure out why you even put up with me." She said with a sigh of her own. "I mean, I don't want you to leave me by myself...but I don't want to be hindering you either..."
"I see, so that's what this is about then? Don't worry about any of that, I've already said that I really don't see you as a hinderance at all." He reassured his friend as he grabbed some clothes and made his way over to her. "You were abandoned by someone who claimed to be your best friend for such a long time; she hurt you and now you're scared of being hurt again, so I plan to keep my promise and be here for you for as long as you need, and if that means that I'll be here with you forever, then so be it."
Spinel wasn't sure why she kept coming back to feeling horrible about this but she knew she could always count on Steven to make her feel better, she just hoped that she could return the favor one day. Sure, this is why she chose to fight for him, but she also wanted to be mental support as well, she just needed to find a way to get him to open up about his own feelings. This morning had already gone so far off track though so she chose not to push for it right this moment. "Thank you...you always know what I need to hear some how."
"Come on, let's go downstairs and figure out what we're doing on our day off." Steven offered as he turned back around and started heading to the door, Spinel being quick to follow closely behind.
Steven thought about yesterday's training as he made is way downstairs. It was a bit more fun for the inseparable duo, the two of them having a better time when fighting the same battle. They found a simple method: Steven was the heavy hitter and protection. He would fight off enemies that would attack her blind spots as well as any of them that proved to be a problem for her, keeping his shield ready to protect both of them as well. Spinel was the crowd control, she would defeat multiple enemies each time she swing of her blade, taking out large quantities of attackers so the hybrid wouldn't be overwhelmed.
They fought side by side, the two of them having each other's backs, their fighting styles almost perfect for one another after all. "Oh, good morning, Steven." Pearl greeted with a wave. "You slept in pretty late so I called up to Spinel so she would wake you up."
"Yeah, she told me." He said with a nod as he continued making his way towards the bathroom so he could get ready for the day. He stopped to turn on the tv and handed Spinel the remote. "Here, find something you want to watch while I get dressed."
"Alright, if you say so." She shrugged and began flipping through channels while trying to find something that caught her eye. Steven on the other hand went ahead and started his morning routine of teeth brushing, face cleaning, and dressing.
"So, are you and Steven going to spend your guy's day off from training together as well?" Pearl asked, seemingly working on making something in the kitchen.
"Yeah, we're gunna find something to do later though we aren't sure what we're doing for now." Spinel responded, landing on a channel that was airing old-timey cartoons that she found interesting due to the way the characters moved.
"Well that's nice, if you two need anything, go ahead and let me know." Pearl responded with a nod. "Anyway- I must be going, let Steven know there is food on the stove when he gets out, there should be enough for the two of you as I know you enjoy eating as well."
"Thank you, I'll let em know when he gets out." She said, mostly paying attention to the television in front of her. Pearl left the room, walking to the warp pad and leaving for little homeworld. It wasn't long after that when Steven walked out of the bathroom, dressed for the day. "Pearl made you food, it's on some stove thing." She said absentmindedly as she watched television.
"Oh, where is she?" He asked, making his way to the kitchen to see a bunch of eggs and bacon on separate plates, deciding to spread them evenly between two other plates.
"She went away on the warp pad, telling me to let you know that there's food. She also said to go to her if you need anything." She responded, still watching the cartoon like a hawk.
"Hm, so you found something you like huh?" Steven questioned as he sat next to her, setting her food in front of her.
"Yeah- But have you figured out what we're doin' today? I'm still not exactly accustomed to earth stuff so I should just leave the planning to you." She responded, grabbing her plate with a thankful nod.
"We could spend some time at Fun Land, there's not really much else to do around here now that I think about it, but I don't think I ever took you on any of the rides there- then maybe we can hang out in little homeworld for a bit? Garnet has been there for a while trying to teach them the true meaning of fusion and how to do it for the right reasons, Amethyst helps out with everything that she possibly can, and Pearl directs things" Steven planned, hoping that they would run into something else that could entertain the two of them.
"Okay, sounds fun." She nodded before scarfing her food down like she always did. They sat there for a while watching tv while Steven finished his food, eventually getting up to leave when he was done. The duo made their way into town, Steven being greeted by most the people he walked by as it was rare they ever got to see the teen anymore.
"Gee, you sure are popular around here- why don't you go to town more often?" She questioned as the walked into the Fun Land area of the boardwalk.
"I really do wish I could come around more often, but I have responsibilities on homeworld and while I'm here, I'd rather spend what little time I do have with my family; nothing against everybody else in town, it's just that the gems need me more than they do." He explained as they walked around. "But never mind that, let's see what we should do first."
They walked around a bit, going to booths that were so rigged that not even Spinel could win legitimately, getting sweets, and just enjoying each other's company. The two of them finally came to the rides, Spinel taking note of the screaming from the humans riding them. "Why are those humans being punished?"
"Hm? Oh, those are screams of fun and joy- they're happy, don't worry." Steven responded with a chuckle as he lead her to the line in front of the ride. "In fact, that's actually what we're doing next."
Spinel gave a slightly nervous look but followed him nevertheless. "Right- let's do this." She said with a forced smile. "I'm training to fight rebel gems, this shouldn't scare me- he said those were screams of joy, but what if they're not? No, he wouldn't lie about something so stupid; we're doing this." Spinel had a mental back and forth with herself until she came to the conclusion.
The ride was finally over for the current people, allowing the next group to get on, setting Steven and Spinel at the front. The pink gem waited as a panicked feeling settled in her stomach before they shot off down the tracks.
-=After=-
The two of them came off the ride, Spinel still laughing and smiling. "Hahaha, that really was fun- if there is anything humans are good at that homeworld isn't, its having fun." She commented as Steven rushed to a trash can.
The hybrid grabbed the edge and spewed out all of the sweets and other food they had today. "Woah, you ok there Stevie?" Spinel questioned, making her way over to him.
After a bit, Steven was sure he had nothing left to puke out so he pulled away from the trash can, still hunched over slightly. "Ugh- I'm never having that much sugar again." He spoke mostly to himself as he approached a stand that sold water, mouthwash, tooth brushes, and toothpaste, which was actually a suggestion Steven made to mister Smiley himself after loosing his lunch here before and not being able to eat again because of the bad taste left in his mouth, mister Smiley agreed cause it was a good idea for more money.
Spinel waited patiently as the teen washed his mouth out before returning to her. "And that's what happens to people who eat too much before getting on one of those thing." He answered the unasked question.
"Wait- that was all of what you've eaten today?" Spinel asked, giving a disgusted glance into the trashcan. "Definitely don't look like it..."
"I'm not going to ruin food for you by telling you his digestion works, so let's just move onto the next thing- preferably something a little more calm." He dismissed as he walked past her, looking up to the Ferris wheel. "That looks nice and relaxing right about now." He spoke as he began walking over to it with Spinel in tow.
"So, what does this ride do? I don't hear the joyous screams here; is it any good?" She questioned as they got into the short line.
"It's more relaxing that the last one- it's usually something you do at night or in the evening when the sun is setting, but I'd like to ride something else that won't make me puke my guts out before we leave." He explained as their turn came up, him motioning for her to go ahead and get in.
She got in to the pod and sat down, surprised on how comfortable the seating was compared to the last ride. Steven joined her soon after, sitting down next to her and giving a sigh as he got comfortable. "So basically this ride will take us into the air a couple times while going in the circular motion you saw out there."
"Can't you jump really high and float? This feels kind of useless when you could just do that, doesn't it?" Spinel questioned, looking out her window, the entirety of Beach City in her sight.
"Yeah but this is much more relaxing than that, it's hard to explain I guess when I can float." He said with a slight chuckle, looking over the ocean, taking in the beauty of only one part of what he's fought so hard to keep safe.
Spinel on the other hand just kept glancing over to him. These feelings she has, have gotten stronger over the past week, and she now found herself only wanting to be closer to him, to be in his arms like when he introduced her to the new homeworld, she wanted to tell him all of this...but she knew it would hurt if he didn't feel the same.
She looked over to him, noticing his hand on the seat as warmth spread over her form. "He's right there...I could easily get closer." She thought to herself as she reached for said hand slowly. "I could tell him how I feel..." She continued to get closer to the oblivious teen, stopping right above his hand. "But I cant. I don't want to ruin the friendship we already have..." She decided, pulling her hand away as the warmth faded with it.
The ride stopped not too long after that, Steven slightly reluctant to get out and continue moving, but never the less hopping out, followed by Spinel. The two of them looked around for a bit after that they just decided to leave for little homeworld.
The two of them walked side by side over to the newest addition to Beach City, neither having too much to say but still enjoying each other's company in silence nevertheless. They entered the little town that was still being built, all of the uncorrupted gems working nonstop along with Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis along with help from the core three crystal gems wherever they could help.
Garnet would talk to gems that were interested in fusion and help them understand things better, Amethyst would usually come to hang out with the new gems as well as her other three friends and lend a hand wherever she could, and Pearl was usually helping to keep everything organized and moving along well.
Speaking of Garnet, she was just finishing up with two gems who seemed to be looking to her for advice. The fusion glanced over to them while waving goodbye to the other two. "Steven, Spinel. How are you two doing? I hear you're both training now."
"Yeah- I'm sure you remember his little incident a week or so ago...and well, because of that, I've chosen to fight by his side." Spinel responded with a smile as they stopped in front of Garnet.
"She's actually been learning really fast, and I've just been training a little to readjust myself; I was getting a little rusty after all." Steven continued, giving a smile of his own. "So, how are things going around here? I see you have a new role with the gems here now."
"Things have been moving along greatly- construction is half way done at this point and all the uncorrupted gems are adjusting to their new lives pretty easily." She responded, giving a thumbs up to a cross fusion that was walking down the street.
"That's great, I'm so glad everyone is integrating so easily." He grinned, happy that everyone was taking the change well...unlike on homeworld. He brushed the thought off though and went back to talking with Garnet.
"So, I hear you're leaving next week to go back...do you really think that's a good idea?" Garnet asked, her smile fading to a frown, genuinely worried that he would only go back to face more pain.
Steven dropped his smile as well, not particularly happy about the conversation turning to her inevitably trying to keep him here. "It's not a matter of if it's a good idea, I have to go back and figure things out with the Diamonds; I can't just leave them when some gems rebel against me, and even then, I have to make sure they change their ways before I come back, cause as it is now, I'm the only one with proper authority to keep things running they way they are for the time being."
"You've left them alone for this long without feeling the need to go back and check on things, why not just deal with the rebellion from here on earth where you're safe?" The fusion suggested, trying her hardest to come up with solutions to the problem that didn't involve him going back.
"I told them to continue running things as is; to only do anything if it's necessary and if there's anything that forces a change that they need to contact me before they do it. Homeworld needs constant work- I am just taking a small vacation for my physical and mental health, me doing this for a few weeks is already a scary thought, much less for the rest of the time that homeworld needs my help." He explained with a sigh. "Let's not talk about this- it's our first day off from training in a while, so we would like to enjoy it without a lecture please."
"Right...sorry, go ahead and enjoy your break- if you need anything, you know where to find me." Garnet nodded, her voice as stoic as ever. "And Steven, don't push too hard."
"I'll try not to." The hybrid responded with a grin as he turned around, leaving with Spinel to go find Amethyst and check up on how she was doing. It didn't take him long to spot the familiar form of Purple Puma carrying an impressive amount of heavy stuff.
"Hey Amethyst." He greeted with a wave. "I see you're occupying yourself with chores around here; I'm sure that must be fun." He spoke, giving a slight chuckle.
"It's nice to be able to help and all, but like- none of these gems are as fun as the Famethyst or you if I'm being honest." She responded, setting the items down where they go and returning to her normal self. "But enough about me and whatnot; what's going on here? Do I smell some kind of date?"
"Why would you assume that just because we came to little homeworld together?" Steven questioned with a raised brow, trying not to let her get to him with her teasing.
"Dude, I came from town not to long ago; I saw the two of you enjoying yourselves but decided against interjecting cause it looked like you were trying to legit have a fun day, but since you're here, you can stand a bit of teasing." She responded, a grin coming to her face.
A blush forced its way onto Steven's face. "I mean- well it's not a date, we're just having a break from training and she's been doing so well that I thought I'd give her a good time with rides at Fun Land and stuff- we just ended up here afterwards."
"Wait- what's a date?" Spinel asked him, seemingly confused as she looked between the young Diamond and purple Quartz. "Like a calendar?"
"Nah- it's when two people who are in love go out and do a bunch of fun stuff together as a couple." Amethyst answered, still grinning. "So, what brings your guy's date here?"
"It's not a date, Amethyst, we're just taking a day off and decided to make our way over here to check up on how things are going." Steven corrected, his face never getting any less red than before.
"Yeah, whatever- so what do you think? Everything coming along fine?" Amethyst questioned, looking around the half way finished town. "It's been nearly a year now; things are going a bit slow but I think it's looking nice."
"Yeah, it looks great- what do you think Spinel? When all is said and done with homeworld and if you end up getting over your separation anxiety, do you think this is a place you'd like to stay?" Steven questioned, turning to her.
"L-Live here?..." She asked looking around, shifting her eyes over to the beach where the temple was located, literally all the way on the other side of Beach City. "And you'll be living in that house?"
"Yeah, but it's not like you'd have to if you were still uncomfortable with leaving my side." He reminded her, sensing her anxiety by watching her body language. "But if you do decide to stay here, you could make lots of friends and even have your own place."
"At the moment, I would like it if I could just stay with you." She responded, somewhat embarrassed to admit it in front of Amethyst who was just watching her with a knowing smile.
"Alright you two love birds, how about you find something to do- I gotta get back to work." Amethyst chuckled as she shape shifted back into Purple Puma. "I heard Pearl say that the moss should be about ready to blossom, maybe you'd like to figure out how to get it to the hill?"
"Really? Well, I suppose I could just wrap it all up in my bubble this time around." Steven shrugged before giving his gem sister a wave goodbye. "I'll see you around, bye."
"Right on, not so little man, have fun you two, just not too much fun." Amethyst said, her grin returning to her face giving them finger guns as she backed away, presumably to go help with more heavy lifting.
"Moss? I know what blooming is, but what's that?" Spinel questioned as they started walking again. "I don't think there was any of that in the garden."
"If so, it was nothing like this stuff." He answered with a sigh. "If you're not careful, it'll wrap around your body and try to eat you or something. I don't really know much about it other than it belonged to Rose, Pink, mom, or whatever I'm supposed to call her...but yeah, it belonged to her so I decided that I might as well take care of it as well before it starts hurting humans."
"Well at least it isn't as bad as having to run a multi-planet society, inherit some ancient gem war, or fix broken gems like myself." Spinel chuckled lightheartedly.
"Well the whole war thing and running an alien race is true enough, but I don't really see helping you as a challenge or anything- I mean, you were there for me when I felt I had no one else I could turn to and trust to understand me." He countered, "I mean, I've had to deal with gems trying to destroy the planet and kill me; you'd nEvEr do something like that after all."
"Right- I mean that's as plausible as me hearing about you by myself before stealing a planet destroying weapon that shares a design with my gem in a time of peace that I alone can control with a horn or something, learning everything about you, stealing some kind of homeworld weapon that would reset your powers, and getting here from homeworld all within the time span of a couple hours at the very most." She responded with a laugh. "That would be just crazy to even think about."
"Haha, yeah, just insane." He agreed with a laugh, noticing that they had gotten quite a while away from little homeworld. "Dang, we've passed more time than I thought."
"How far away is this moss?" She questioned, looking around and realizing that they were now in the middle of nowhere. "There doesn't seem to be anyone around here."
"It's not too far now- the moss is dangerous so it's for the best that it's far away from people." He responded, the small body of water known as Dead Man's Mouth coming into view.
They approached it, but suddenly they found themselves evading an attack. "Woah- what the heck was that?!" Spinel panicked as she looked up to see a battalion of Quartz soldiers now in between them and the water, two cloaked figures standing behind them all.
Steven let out an annoyed groan. "Figures- on my day off of all days. Alright, what do you all want from me?" He asked, summoning a shield on one arm and a bubble around his other hand. "You gems are really getting exhausting."
"Steven Universe, you are responsible for changing homeworld to this weak imitation of what it once was. I wanted a change to come from the newer generation of gems, but this is just too much." The taller cloaked figure spoke, her voice sounding spiteful. "Do you know that just the other day I was talked down to by a Pearl? A Pearl of all gems, talking down to who used to be an elite gem. The way you're shaping homeworld will only result in disaster- so as to bring back the old homeworld and hopefully mold it in a better way than before, we are going to bring Pink Diamond back."
"Didn't Jasper already tell you that she's gone? The only thing left in this gem is me." He informed her, keeping ready for an attack as he noticed that his gem hadn't bothered him in a while. "What will you do now? Do you really think that if you shatter my gem that thing's will go back to normal for you? You'll never be accepted back on homeworld."
The Quartz soldiers seemed a little put off by that, seemingly realizing that he was right. "Demantoid, what should we do? He's right after all..." One of them spoke up.
"You imbecile! Don't use my name you brainless muscle bound idiot! Why not give them a picture of my face while you're at it?!" The taller one of the cloaked figures shouted. "Ahem- anyway, we are sticking to the plan, if it doesn't work then we have to shatter him, it's not like anyone will know."
"R-Right, sorry." The Quartz responded, turning back to Steven and summoning her weapon: a large battle axe. "Alright then, let's just take care of these two. And remember, we are to capture the Spinel alive."
The aforementioned gem gave them a glare as she summoned her scythe. "I thought you said she didn't have a weapon." The taller cloaked figure identified as Demantoid spoke quietly to the short one, keeping her calm demeanor.
"If you would've listened to the reports I made before we just ran head first into battle, we wouldn't be in this situation- she has been training while you told me not to attack for whatever reason you would do such a stupid thing." She responded, just as quietly as the other.
"We had a hostage situation with the other head of the rebellion if you must know, and now that we got her back we can do this, so I'm sorry for wanting to get this whole ordeal over with as soon as possible." Demantoid said sarcastically, obviously annoyed by the attitude of the other gem.
Back with our two protagonists, Steven was blocking a mace from hitting Spinel in the back, creating spikes on his bubbled hand and punching the attacking gem in the gut, instantly poofing her while Spinel took out a few gems that were making their way towards Steven before coming across a gem who blocked her attack.
They stood on even grounds of blocking and dodging before Spinel had enough. "Steven, trade off- this one's all yours!" She announced to the teen who was quick to swap positions with her, letting her take care of the gems he was fighting while he took on this one.
He slid out of the way when she swung her axe down to where he just was, stepping on the back of it and jumping above her while her weapon was stuck in the ground, doing a front flip as he summoned a spiked bubble on his foot before slamming said foot into her head, poofing her as well.
The two of them continued to be an annoyance to the attackers, seemingly impossible to stop and eventually defeating all of them except the two spectators. "Alright, that's enough." The smaller one stepped forward.
"You are not to intervene, I'll handle this-" Demantoid began but was cut off when a cold, sharp object went flying into her gem. "Y-you...you'll be shattered for this!" She threatened before her gem was covered in ice, shattering it immediately.
"I'm sick of your attitude." The smaller gem spoke, raising her hands to her hood, pulling it down to reveal the gem with white hair Steven had come to know. "Dendrite?! Please tell me that was you saving us?..." He asked, hoping he wouldn't have to fight his homeworld friend, even if they really weren't all that close.
"No, you thick skulled idiot- I'm part of all this." She said with an icy glare. "She was just annoying, so I took care of it."
"Wait- are you the one who was getting information out of Ronaldo??? I thought it was Aquamarine!" Steven shouted, seemingly becoming irritated that this gem he trusted betrayed him just like that.
"Oh- there was an Aquamarine that hated you personally, but she fused with a Ruby who also hated you personally and now no one takes the little freak seriously." She continued to let him talk, deciding that she could afford such entertainment for the time being.
"And what about Citrine? Is she with the rebellion too?" He questioned, almost not wanting her to answer him. "We're both of you just using me for information?"
"No, Citrine liked you- unfortunately enough, she saw what I really look like and I had to do the only thing I could." She said calmly, dropping yellow shards in front of the boy. "It's a shame too, she was such an interesting gem."
Steven had to work really hard right now not to loose control. "Anger levels rising:60%" His gem spoke to him in his head as he thought back on how Citrine was the most welcoming gem on homeworld that didn't see him as a Diamond since the beginning. "Why?...Why are you doing this?"
She let out a sigh. "Well since I plan to kill you both anyway- I might as well let you know why." Her form glowed as her body began to change. "This is why I had to kill her- because she saw what the Diamonds did to me."
There she stood, two sharp horns coming from her forehead made of ice, many spots on her body made of different shades of blue in the shape of snowflakes, and her eyes were blacked out except for a ring of piercing dark blue eye color.
"You were...corrupted?..." Steven questioned, feeling a twinge if sympathy before reminding himself of what she did. Spinel looked between them before speaking up. "Corrupted? But how did she keep herself looking like a normal gem?"
"I shape shifted constantly, enduring the strain on my body as I kept reminding myself it was all worth it for my vengeance. I had to take many breaks, but I was still able to keep up with everything...until that nosey little gem came into my living quarters." She explained, glancing down to the yellow shards.
"Anyway, I'm sure you're inevitably going to ask more specifically why I'm doing this, I'll explain before killing you- not like I have anyone else to vent to." She said dismissively. "Back in the prime of homeworld: era one, I was a respected assassin that even the Diamonds often acknowledged. Well I guess it wasn't enough because they screwed me over in the end."
"I was on the most important mission of my life: kill Rose Quartz. But of course, my deadline was literally by the end of the day, and apparently that means sunset for this planet. I went to contact the Diamonds for a little more time because I was so close that I could literally see her...but they didn't answer and attacked without warning me. No one contacted me, no one told me anything...I was left to deal with the wrath of the Diamonds sure that after my loyalty I was going to die."
"Now, I could forgive such an act in due time, but now I find out that the whole war was a farce, just some issues between Pink and the other Diamonds? No- I won't forgive my disfiguration, I won't forgive all that time that was stolen from me, and I won't forgive the Diamonds."
"So why me specially?! I wasn't even apart of that!" Steven argued, Spinel putting a hand on his shoulder in hopes to calm him down but he didn't even notice as his face began glowing pink.
"I have nothing more against you than I do the other Diamonds...but this is the easiest rout to destroying the authority as a whole- it would be easy to manipulate this army if they fear that the Diamonds would want them shattered. Then again, I'll be shattering the gem of the core reason for my pain." She explained, the area getting colder. "Anyway, enough talking, it's time to get past this phase of my plan."
Steven couldn't take it anymore! Citrine being shattered, him being pulled back to being the one everyone wants dead because of his mother, the stress of the past few years came flooding back and broke the fragile wall that was his patience.
The area under his feet exploded as he launched at her, his entire body going pink and Spinel flying through the air. Dendrite was taken by surprise, never reading any of this in the book that human gave her, but never the less she created a thick wall of ice, blocking his attack from hitting her but he nevertheless showed his terrifying power as it shattered to pieces after he hit it.
Spinel slowly got up, recovering from the surprise attack that Steven let loose. "Ugh, what was that?.." She asked no one in particular as she rubbed her head, looking up to see Steven launching attack after attack at their old friend who seemingly began to get used to the new speeds he fought at, though she was definitely stuck on the defensive.
She shot her arm up, summoning a ice pillar from the ground to throw him into the air, the teen using his shield as a surface to launch himself back down towards her. She gave a glare as she waited, opening her palm. Steven hit the ground with the force of a large bomb, only to look down and see that she had thrusted an ice dagger into the joint of his right arm, making it too painful to move.
The ice gem was hurt from the previous attack, but she took it as a win, giving a slight grin of victory before creating an ice gauntlet around her small fist and slamming it into his face, sending him flying all the way back to Spinel. "Damage taken too severe, shutting down for repairs."
"No...Spinel,...get out of here and- and get the gems." He said weakly, his voice hushed as he felt his consciousness fading before blacked out. Spinel grabbed onto him, "Steven- no, you need to wake up, I can't do this alone! I know I'm supposed to be protecting you, but...I'm weak alone, you know that! Please, don't go, I can't loose you..." She cried out to him, tears flooding her eyes. "Please...I love you." She continued quietly.
Weak laughter could be heard from the uncorrupted gem as she got up on wobbly legs. "You love him? A Diamond? That's a pathetic claim- do you really think a Diamond would put himself as low as to have feeling for a lower gem such as yourself?" She teased.
Spinel blushed, embarrassed that she said such a thing out loud, but she held him close to her nevertheless. "I know he might never share my feelings...but I still love him, and I won't let either of us die here!" She proclaimed, hugging him tightly.
The smaller gem continued laughing until the light caught her eye, that laughter slowly dying down as she realized what this meant for her. Spine looked down in confusion as both of their forms began to glow, the most powerful lights coming form their gems. "Are we-?!..."
There was literally an explosion with a flash of light that shook the ground so hard it could be felt miles around. The already beaten and battered gem backed away slowly, slightly terrified of the power the two of them emitted just from the act of fusing.
She could see four pairs of glowing eyes coming from the dust that was kicked up as the outline of a figure could be seen stepping from the crater they created. "Stay back you disgusting abomination!" The small gem demanded.
She could see it summon Spinel's scythe and Steven's shield, a smile coming to its face as it threw the shield into the air and swung the scythe around elegantly, catching the teen's weapon on it's bladed side. The weapons glowed as they merged together, the shield separating, creating gaps between each part that was left.
There was a giggle from the settling dust as the shield part began to spin, clearing all of it out of the area, leaving the new fusion standing clearly before her. They stood at eight feet tall with a slightly lighter pink than Spinel's skin tone, their curly magenta hair having bright pink stripes and held up in pigtails. Their upper eyes being Spinel's wild dark pink ones and the bottom ones a brighter pink with diamond pupils, the latter having a slight glare but the former seemingly happy. Their weapons seemed to form some sort of bladed pinwheel, the wind from spinning it seemingly being what blew away all the dust.
They wore Steven's jacket and jeans over Spinel's attire, the aforementioned jacket a darker pink and the star from Steven's shirt on their chest, right under Spine's gem, still wearing Spinel's pointy little boots as well. "Hehehe, the name's Morganite- wanna play a game?" She asked with a smile.
-=End of Chapter=-
Isndjdisjsjdjdj I apologize for the hold up with this and the sudden change in a villain.
So ye- Bluebird showed us the fate of Aquamarine: a prankster... I couldn't just completely change her into the bad guy so I substituted her and got rid of some side characters that I had forgotten about. Same thing with Demantoid, I couldn't use Topaz as I wanted to because 1. Aquamarine wouldn't be around to keep her in line against her will and 2. She was seen on little homeworld.
So yeah- I'm sure there are many who aren't fans of bringing such a light to an OC in a story like this, but it's all I have now unfortunately and I've been gone of ten days so I need to get this out.
Now, I would like to give her more than this weapon they have now as I'm not 100% sure how they would use it to fight, so I'm taking toy-like things that their weapons could create so I can weaponize it, giving her multiple weapons- maybe even a serious weapon it two.
Anyway- have a merry Christmas or happy Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate, I'll try to get another chapter out soon so I can release the three chapters I have ready. I would like a vote- all at once or keep a schedule with them so it'll be longer before I'm late again?
Anyway, as always-
Good morning, goodnight, or good afternoon, I'll see you all again soon.