With the Gems on his back, Lion lunged out of the portal and landed on his feet before collapsing. Steven gasped for air as he poked his head out of his mane and stroked Lion's head, "Lion, are you okay?"
Lion growled weakly as Spinel also exited the mane and Garnet walked towards the hub, "It's as I feared."
Looking up, they saw that the Communication Hub Sugilite had previously destroyed had been crudely put back together, emitting a wavering pillar of light into the sky.
Pearl examined the hub, "It looks like Peridot somehow repaired the Communication Hub. Well, at least some of it."
"Oh stars, please don't tell me we're going to use Sugilite again!" Spinel exasperated, but then Amethyst wrapped an arm around her side tightly.
"Aw, come on, Stretch!" said Amethyst smugly, "If you really wanted to fuse with me, you can just ask!"
Spinel shook her head, "N-No, I don't think Charoite would have enough strength."
Steven gasped, "Yeah, you totally should! I wanna see what she looks like!"
"U-Uh, maybe some other time, sweet-"
Amethyst brightened up, "Come on, Spinel! Let's give our kid some good ol' Charoite!"
"No." Amethyst, Spinel, and Steven all stared at Garnet.
"What? Why?" Amethyst raised a brow.
"I'm afraid Charoite won't be any better than Sugilite. Sure, she's smaller than her, but you two can get seriously out of hand. We only need her when things get serious and I'm not around. So, for the time being, Sugilite is benched and Charoite is out of the question," explained Garnet, the light reflecting on her visors.
Spinel nodded in agreement, "She's right, Amethyst. It's fun being Charoite with you... but I really don't wanna go through what you guys went through."
Amethyst shot her a scowl, but didn't retort.
Steven scratched his head, "Then who's gonna destroy the hub? And not to insult Peach Moonstone and Opal, but I don't think they could do much..."
"No insult taken," said Spinel. Amethyst shrugged.
"Pearl and I will do it." said Garnet, earning Pearl's attention. Turning to face her, Garnet smiled, "It's you and me. Let's fuse."
Pearl's eyes welled up with tears.
"Don't cry, Pearl."
Pearl grinned happily, sniffling disgustingly and trembling, "I'm right behind you." She followed Garnet to another area for some space.
Steven jumped excitedly, "Fusion! Fusion! Fusion!" He, Spinel, and Amethyst stood beside Lion.
"Ready." Garnet stood prepared, the gems on her palms glowing.
Pearl continued to stretch, "Hang on, it's been such a long time." She then stood in place, her gem glowing.
Spinel playfully elbowed Steven, "You're really gonna like this one." She whispered.
Pearl and Garnet began to dance, more gracefully as their gemstones glowed brightly. After Garnet dipped Pearl and tossed her upwards, Pearl dove back down to Garnet and when they made contact, they began to glow white and a pillar glowed. The fusion of Garnet and Pearl appeared behind the curtains, and when the curtains parted, white dragonflies flew around.
"Goooooood evening, everybody!" The four-armed fusion cheerfully greeted, strutting over to the others, "This is the lovely Sardonyx, coming to you live from the soon-to-be-former Communication Hub! How are y'all doing tonight?"
"Great..." muttered Amethyst.
Steven's eyes became stars, "Giant woman!"
Sardonyx picked the boy up with two of her hands, "Oh my stars! If it isn't Steven Universe! We finally meet! So, what do you think?" She spun her torso 360 degrees, "Was I worth the wait? What am I saying? Of course I was!" She laughed.
"Heeeeey Sardonyx!" Spinel waved her hand up to catch the fusion's attention, which she succeeded.
"Oh! And if it isn't the darling Spinel!" Sardonyx lowered one her hands to lift Spinel up and brought her close, "I just love what you did, especially your dress!"
Spinel grinned happily, bowing in a lady-like fashion , "Aw gee, thank you!"
"It's been so long since we've last met! I can't seem to recall how many years!"
"Maybe I could, but if I had to count on my fingers, I'd run outta room!"
The boy, the pink Gem and fusion laughed altogether. Sardonyx stopped, wiping a tear from her eye, "Sorry, I'm just so excited to be here! You see, I haven't exactly been myself lately!" Once again, the three of them burst out laughing at the joke.
"Fusion joke!" proclaimed Steven while Spinel gave the fusion a big thumbs up.
Amethyst just groaned and plopped her head on her crossed arms as Sardonyx placed Steven and Spinel down, "And jokes aren't the only thing I've got."
Sardonyx summoned Pearl's spear, one of her hands tapping her one the shoulder and she pretended to be distracted as she tossed the spear up. Summoning Garnet's gauntlets, she bumps them against the spear and created a giant mallet, hoisting it over her shoulder.
"What do you say, Donnie?" Spinel asked while smiling, "Are you gonna… "smash" with your mallet?"
"Yeah yeah!" Steven somehow leapt onto her shoulders.
Sardonyx pondered, "Smash… Well, that would be the word to describe what... Someone else might do."
Amethyst frowned.
The fusion then leapt up, knocking down the pillars as she narrated, "The proper words to describe yours truly are… Specific! Intelligent! Accurate! Faultless! Elegant. Controlled! Surgical! Graceful! Aaaand…. Powerfuuuuul!"
She paused on the last pillar, "... But yes, occasionally, I am known… to smash."
She lightly tapped the pillar with her mallet and it fell, deactivating the hub. Sardonyx landed on the ground, her mallet spinning and dissipating into dragonflies. Lion tried to catch one in his mouth and Spinel contently held one of them.
"Now, just remember everybody," spoke Sardonyx, "If you ever have any need of the lovely Sardonyx, let Pearl and Garnet know. I'll be there in a flash. Literally!"
She poofed away, revealing Garnet and Pearl in their dance position. They opened their eyes, releasing each-other until Pearl squealed and spun with Garnet while laughing.
"Wooo!" Steven whooped, running after the two, Spinel following behind, "You two were amazing!"
Spinel nodded to the pale gem, "Yeah, it's almost like whoever you fuse with, they come out just amazing!"
Pearl flushed, her face becoming bright blue as they stared at each-other for a second before Garnet pulled them and Steven in for a hug. The four of them continued to laugh and cheer for their victory, but Amethyst sat down, sulking away from them.
"How could she have done this?!" Sad Apple screamed angrily, stomping on the broken parts of the shattered plate, "Why why WHY?!"
Steven frowned sympathetically, "Aww, Apple should calm down. Pear didn't mean to."
Garnet shrugged, just in time as Spinel warped back, "Hey guys. What did I miss?" Behind her, Amethyst appeared from her room, moving out of Spinel's way and headed over to the fridge.
"Hey Spinel! Amethyst!" Steven waved to them, "You're missing Crying Breakfast Friends!"
Amethyst shrugged and opened the fridge, "That's okay, I'm fine."
"What's happening up there?" asked Spinel.
Steven turned to the screen, "Don't worry, Spinel, I'm recording it for-"
Suddenly, static interrupted the TV and it jumped.
"It's the signal again!"
"What?!" Spinel hopped up to Steven's room and saw the static.
"Peridot!" barked Garnet, turning to the front door where Pearl entered, "Pearl! The signal's back!"
"Again?" Pearl asked.
"We need to get back out there!"
Pearl firmly nodded, "Right. Steven, where's Lion? Amethyst, get your head out of the fridge!"
Amethyst ignored her, but a pink arm circled around her and then tightened, squeezing the purple Gem and pulling her away.
Garnet beckoned the other Gem, "I hope you're ready."
"You know I am," replied Pearl.
Steven and Spinel smiled and Amethyst rubbed her arm sadly as Sardonyx was formed again. "What's this? An encore performance? Just couldn't get enough of me, could you?" She laughed, "What are we waiting for? Let the show begin!"
She leapt up, and Amethyst walked away, catching Steven's attention. However, Spinel continued to watch Sardonyx disable the hub.
As Steven walked over to follow Amethyst, Spinel became... somewhat suspicious. Somehow, she remembered what the hub looked like when it was rebuilt, and the position of the pillars were. And looking at it again, Spinel saw that they were exactly in the same places as before.
Plus, she didn't even see Peridot's message on the television when the static came up. Her suspicion only grew as Pearl and Garnet unfused, seeing the pale Gem's grin. Determined, Spinel pounded her fist on her palm, thinking of a plan.
When Spinel was sure Steven were asleep, she snuck outside the Beach House. Much to her relief, the sun hadn't touched the horizon, but she knew she couldn't waste time. Jumping on Lion's back and whispering where her destination was, Lion ran down the beach and jumping into a pink portal.
Arriving to their destination, Spinel hopped off the animal and saw that the hub wasn't activated, the pillars that Sardonyx had knocked off still plunged into the ground.
"Looks like we're gonna be waiting for a while, bud," Spinel commented and patted Lion's mane.
For what felt like hours, Spinel kept on the look-out for the green Gem to appear, with Lion napping beside her.
When a strange sound came close and over her, Spinel looked up, covering her mouth so she couldn't gasp in shock. It was the escape pod Peridot had used, and with its tractor beam, began to place the pillars on the hub.
"Did Peridot steal it from the temple?" She whispered to herself, pressing her back against the rock, "Without alerting us? No... It has to be someone we know... But... Who is...?"
Trying to play it safe, Spinel stretched her right eye out and stared up at the top of the tower as soon as the orb landed on the top, the figure stepping out of it. She had to squint, though oddly enough, the figure looked strangely looked like...
"Pearl?"
Spinel retracted her eye, her initial shock was to scream her teammate's name out, but she stopped herself. The communication hub began to glow once again, emitting a beam of light into the sky. Pearl nodded to herself, now satisfied, climbed back into the pod and flew away.
Lion peeked an eye open, and flinched as he saw that Spinel was shaking, her fists trembling, teeth gritted, and angry tears spilling down her face.
"How... How could she do this...?" She snarled to herself, slowly approaching the hub. Her eyes formed into spirals, her pigtails bristling, and her fists held up.
"Does she really think this is some sort of game? Is this her version of 'fun'? Well... if that's so..." Spinel grabbed her wrist and enlarged her clenched hand like a balloon. "Then her fun is OVER!"
With all of her strength, Spinel knocked down the tower with one blow. This still didn't satisfy her, so she kept punching, smashing, and crushing the pillars into bits and pieces while screaming in unbridled rage. Lion watched her, his eyes wide with fear and ducked behind the rock once more.
When there was nothing left of the hub except the broken pieces of the pillars, Spinel fell to her knees, panting heavily and shrinking her hands back to normal.
There. It was destroyed. Gone. Demolished. Finito.
Spinel stood up and silently walked over to Lion, petting his mane, "... Let's go home."
"Lion!" Steven called out, "Spinel!"
He and the other Crystal Gems ran down Beach City, looking not only for their animal friend, but also the pink Gem.
"Ugh, where is that beast when you need him?" Pearl grumbled. Garnet didn't reply.
They all stopped when they saw Spinel sitting on a bench at the Big Donut, eating. A bag sat her side, and Lion was napping by the bench.
"Spinel!" Pearl called out, rushing over to her, "The signal's back! We need to head to the hub right away!"
Spinel stared at her and sighed before the others would suspect anything, "Alright."
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" screamed Pearl, staring at the demolished chucks of the pillars.
Spinel blinked, remaining dull, "Wow. False alarm."
Amethyst picked up a piece of the pillar, "B-But how? The whole thing's wrecked!"
Garnet readjusted her visors, "Well, all that matters is that it's destroyed. It won't do anymore harm. Let's go back."
Lion panted out of exhaustion, Steven petting his mane reassuringly, "Sorry buddy."
"I-I don't understand!" Pearl gripped her hair in distress, "The signal went off! How could this have happened? Who could have done this!?"
"Come on Pearl, it doesn't matter anymore." Garnet stated. Pearl turned around and solemnly followed Garnet and the rest onto Lion's back.
During their journey back home and the moment they got home, Spinel watched Pearl slowly follow the Gems back inside the house, her pink eyes still boiling in silent rage.
"Y-You'll do that for me?" Crying Pear asked.
"Of course!" Sad Apple replied, hugging the pear, "I still care about you-ho-ho-ho!" She sobbed.
Steven and Amethyst continued to watch their show until Spinel (with her gardening items) walked through the front door, not even glancing at them as she stormed over to the warp pad and warped away.
Pearl also stopped by, looking up at them with distress and worry, "Hey, did Spinel say anything to you?"
Steven and Amethyst, weirded out by Spinel's silence, shook their heads.
Pearl let out disappointed sigh, "Oh stars... I don't know why, but something's made Spinel... upset. She won't even talk to me or Garnet either. And I'm... I'm worried about her..." She nearly sobbed, yet contained herself.
Garnet stepped beside her, "I'm sure she'll be alright. She'll be back soon and everything will go back to normal."
"Hope so," said Amethyst.
"Yeah..." Steven mumbled, shutting off the TV.
I don't know if this ruins the arc with Ruby and Sapphire dealing with Pearl's lying, but hey, Spinel's here. Things are gonna change.