Welcome to Season 3! Let's go!
Steven slowly opened his eyes, gasping when he saw he was underwater. Specifically, in the ocean. What shocked him more was that he was still breathing, so he suspected this was some kind of lucid dream.
At first, when he stared at the scenery around him, he was amazed at how beautiful it was. The sunlight shone through the surface, reflection light onto the multiple coral, the fish's scales shimmered as they swam by him. He even recognized them as the purple fish on Mask Island, the place Sadie got Lars and him stuck in.
But the moment didn't last for over a minute when he heard loud screaming and grunting, muffled by the water. Swerving his body around, Steven gasped when he saw Lapis and Jasper fighting.
He definitely couldn't understand what they were saying, but Lapis's tone sounded desperate, and Jasper screamed back, furious.
However, Jasper saw him, prompting Lapis to turn around as well. While the blue Gem's eyes widened in horror, screaming at him frantically, Jasper gave out an angry roar of fury and charged towards him-
Steven woke up in a cold sweat. When he sat up and looked around, the Crystal Gems were already gathered nearby.
"Today's already the day?!" Spinel exclaimed, the panic in her voice made known.
"Yes!" Peridot pulled up a file of the Cluster on her limb-enhancer screen, "The Cluster's starting to make some tremors every quarter hour, then full-scale earthquakes, then it'll destroy the Earth! We have to drill right now!"
Steven got up, "But Lapis and Jasper are still out there!"
"Lapis and Jasper?!" The Gems yelled in shock.
Peridot just looked confused, "What?"
"I was in the ocean with them, and they were fighting!" Steven explained, "I-I think they were at Mask Island!"
Amethyst coughed out a piece of her sandwich.
"I know. Jasper is starting to break free from Lapis, whose power is weakening," stated Garnet.
Spinel's eyes were filled with sympathy, "Poor Lapis, we've got to save her!"
"And stop Jasper," added Pearl.
Garnet straightened up, "Alright Gems. Pearl, Amethyst, Spinel, and I will warp to Mask Island. Steven, it's too dangerous for you. Stay here and watch the drill with Peridot. Let's go, Gems! To the nearest warp-"
"WAIT!" Spinel interrupted them, and walked over to Peridot, placing her hands on her shoulders, "Peridot, please keep Steven safe."
Peridot nodded firmly, "I will."
Spinel smiled, giving her a quick, tight hug before parted and then crouching down to Steven's eye level, "Be good, love. We'll be right back."
"I know," Steven hugged her, "Love you…"
Spinel hugged him back, "I love you too." Sighing, she parted from him and stood up, "Let's go."
Then she, Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst ran off to find the closest warp pad. Steven continued to wave them goodbye, even when they were out of his sight. Peridot patted his shoulder.
At Mask Island
By the time they arrived, the four Gems only made it to the beach, they watched Jasper (still enveloped in water shackles) struggled to push herself out of the ocean, grunting and gritting her teeth. Behind her, was Lapis.
"NO!" The blue Gem protested frantically, "You're not going anywhere! Get... back... HERE!" She almost succeeded, with a surge of anger, pulled Jasper towards her.
"Give... up!" Jasper continued to push, stepping onto the sand, completely drenched, "You can't keep me there forever!"
"I... can...!" Lapis gasped, trying so hard to drag her back. But it seemed that the months of using all her powers began to take a toll upon her. And finally, Lapis fell to her knees, the water chains falling to the ground and releasing Jasper.
Jasper heaved for breath, "Huh... But... I will say... I'm impressed. You really held out."
"Lapis!" Spinel shrieked, catching the Gems' attention.
Jasper instantly glared at the Gems, "You..."
Garnet stepped up, the three other Gems readied themselves, "Jasper, we don't need to fight! Just leave Lapis alone and go!"
"Leave? Like a coward?!" Jasper snapped, "NEVER! I'll fighting if it's the last thing I do!"
"No, Jasper!" Spinel shook her head, "You're facing off against four! You're outnumbered!"
But the Quartz soldier grinned, "I may be outnumbered... but four Gems is nothing. I can't wait to TEAR YOU GEMS APART!" With a battle cry, she summoned her helmet and charged towards them.
Lapis tried to lift herself up, but was too exhausted to do so and fainted, lying on her side and half submerged underwater on the shore.
The fight immediately started, Jasper charging at Garnet first, the fusion blocking her helmet with her gauntlets. Amethyst cracked her whips and began to spin-dash towards the orange Gem, but that was only enough to knock her down.
Pearl came with her spear, ready to strike, but Jasper shot up and tried to slam her helmet onto her, but Pearl quickly dodged away.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Spinel had turned her legs into a spring, bouncing off a rocky wall and crashing into Jasper, the two sliding on the beach with Spinel pinning her down.
"You don't have a chance against us…" Spinel panted, "Just leave. We don't have to do this."
Jasper grunted, grabbing Spinel by the throat and slammed her into the sandy ground. Spinel struggled against her as Jasper loomed over her.
"If you don't want to fight so badly, why are you doing it anyway?" She taunted, interrupted when a spear was tossed at her.
"You're not poofing her this time!" Pearl proclaimed, pulling out another spear and thrust it towards Jasper, striking her again.
With the Gem distracted, Spinel kicked Jasper off of her, then grabbing her, spun around, and threw her against a crystalline wall. She could've sworn she saw a small green shape dart away from the impact, but ignored it.
Spinel turned her attention to Lapis and ran over to her, "Lapis! A-Are you alright?"
Lapis didn't respond, but Spinel could tell from her heavy breathing that she was just exhausted.
"Gems! All together!" Garnet ordered, along with Pearl and Amethyst behind her, "We can't beat her when we're attacking her individually. We need to stick together!"
Amethyst, Pearl, and Spinel all nodded, "Right!"
Garnet: Our world's about to break,
Tormented and attacked.
With no way to go back...
But we're not standing on our own-
Amethyst, Pearl, & Spinel: And we're never alone!
Garnet: Gems! Assemble!
Jasper was already charging at them once more, but the fight escalated, causing destruction around the beach of the island.
Crystal Gems: Always we will fight as one!
Till the battle's won…
With evil on the run,
We never come undone!
Now Jasper was beginning to have a difficult time to fight them all. They kept attacking her together, she was unable to pick one and fight without another intervening.
Before she could land a hit, and as if in slow motion, Garnet was right in front of her, "We will fight for our love!" She then punched her upwards into the air.
"We look out for each-other's mind!" Amethyst sang, using her two whips to slam her down to the ground.
"There isn't any problem we can't solve!" Pearl ran towards her with her spear, but Jasper blocked, only to get wrapped up in Spinel's coiled arms.
"And we won't let you hurt mankind!" Spinel nearly screamed her verse as she swerved her body and threw Jasper, the force of the throw making the orange Gem crash through the trees. Wounded, Jasper tried to get up, but the Gems approached her.
Crystal Gems: Assemble, we are strong,
Forever fight as one.
Assembled, we are strong,
Forever fight as one...
Jasper didn't make a move, only panted out, "... You.. You four only beat me because you're all together. If all of you weren't here, I would've beaten any one of you!"
Spinel scowled at the Quartz soldier, "Go away, Jasper. You've caused enough trouble today."
Jasper stared at her, then snarled, "You Crystal Gems got lucky this time... but I'll be back. Next time, I'll be stronger than you..." She turned and fled into the ocean, planning to keep her promise.
"... Ya know, you coulda just squished her right then and there." said Amethyst.
Spinel paused for a moment, "... Let's just get Lapis somewhere safe and sound."
The Gems gathered around the shore, Spinel holding the still passed-out Lapis in her arms. They heard a grunt and saw... a Watermelon Steven running towards them.
"Huh?" Spinel almost stepped back when the watermelon creature hugged her leg, "Oh! Hello there, little guy!"
The Watermelon Steven looked up at her, making weird but desperate noises, pointing at itself. The Gems were confused as to what the thing was trying to say, but realized who it actually was.
"Steven?" Spinel asked, "Is that... really you?"
Steven nodded, then stared at Lapis in concern.
"Oh, don't worry, Steven. She's just exhausted. She'll be fine."
"We even beat Jasper!" Amethyst joined in excitedly, "Isn't that cool?!"
But before Pearl or Garnet could say anything else, the island around them began to shake, a fissure creating itself, the giant gaps spreading around the island, even splitting the warp pad in half, the crack heard throughout the island. Spinel wrapped her arms around Steven, the Gems, and Lapis. Garnet clung onto the edge so they didn't fall into the crevice.
"It's the Cluster!" Garnet realized, "Peridot was right. Steven, it's up to you. The warp just got destroyed. We won't make it back in time. Wake up, get Peridot and start drilling."
Steven clung to them tightly, but Spinel was quick to reassure him, "It's alright! We'll find a way back home. You can do this, Stevie. We all believe in you!"
Steven nodded, beginning to close his eyes, hearing the Gems still speaking.
"You got this, dude!" said Amethyst, "You know the drill!"
"Be careful Steven," Pearl added, "Watch each-other's backs!"
"We all love you!" Garnet finished before Steven saw nothing but black.
HA! Get it? Cause…. In canon… Garnet sang "Stronger than you"... And Jasper just referenced that… …. Yee.
Oh look, another unoriginal song.
And no fusion too. Believe me, if Malachite did exist in this AU, the Crystal Gems would fuse, but to me, it seemed kinda unreasonable and over-doing it if they fused into… Well, we'll have to wait a bit longer.
The time when they fuse together will come.
But do you guys wanna hear this?
The alternate song for this episode was gonna be "We Will Rock You" by Queen.
hahahahahahahahahah lol nope :)
eh, not proud of this either. :(