The four Gems kept hidden behind a short cliff, with Spinel holding Steven close to her.
Amethyst clutched her whip, "Jasper!"
"So this is where she's keeping them," Spinel narrowed her eyes.
Peridot stared at her, "That's what she's doing?" Steven nodded.
"Pipe down!" Jasper scolded the Gem, which Spinel and Steven recognized as 'Ocean'. Ocean growled at her, but the orange Gem kicked at the bar, shocking the Gems.
"You take orders from me now," Jasper grunted, "You used to be a Quartz too. What happened?"
Ocean snarled, clawing at the metal bars in fury. Spinel looked on with nothing but sympathy for the poor creature.
Jasper scoffed, "Disgraceful. I can't believe I've resorted to recruiting you freaks! You're almost as bad as that Crystal runt or that coward. Just look at you, this planet ruins everything!" She then grinned to herself, "Well, ha ha, except for me."
"Should we go back and get reinforcements?" Peridot asked.
Spinel was about to answer, but felt unsure, seeing how it was four against one.
"I think that's a good idea," Steven decided to agree, "Amethyst?"
However, the purple Gem was nowhere to be seen, much to their dismay until they saw her shuffling along the edge of the cliff wall.
"I'll never let this planet twist me like it twisted you," Jasper taunted the monster, "You weakness embarrasses Homeworld. You suffer because it's what you deserve! We all only get what we deserve! Right... Amethyst?"
Knowing she was discovered, Amethyst fell off the ledge and onto the ground.
"What do you want, runt?" Jasper turned her head, "You here for a rematch?"
Amethyst stomped her foot, "I'm here to win!"
Jasper turned her body to face the short Quartz, "You were fated to lose, the moment you came out wrong!"
Spinel and Steven ran out of their hiding spot, the pink Gem holding her back as Steven spoke up, "That's not true!"
"... Rose. Of course," Jasper's amber eyes narrowed, "Your lackeys never stray far. And why would they? They have no place in this, or any world!"
Spinel snapped her head up, "Why do you think we like it here on Earth?! We know we don't belong in their ranks anymore, so why bother being like them?"
"Ranks?" Steven questioned.
Jasper chuckled darkly, "Guess this Gem's really told you nothing, Rose. You see, every Gem has a ranks for their separate purposes. To serve the order to the Diamonds. Those who cannot fit inside this order must be purged!"
"No!" Spinel stood up, her pink eyes slightly spiraling, "No one deserves to be purged for being something that they didn't want to be! The Diamonds are cruel, mind-controlling, loveless beings who only care for their colonies! It's too bad you're following their every order, because you know they'd shatter you if-"
"SHUT IT!" Jasper angrily screamed.
Steven ducked behind Spinel, Amethyst bracing herself and Spinel holding the boy behind her. Jasper also noticed something behind them, "... What are you doing here...?"
Peridot peeked her head out, "I… I'M A CRYSTAL GEM NOW!"
Angered, Jasper summoned her helmet. Steven brought out his shield and Spinel held her fists up.
"I-I'm not afraid of you! My limb-enhancers don't have the beams anymore, but I've got metal powers!" Peridot exclaimed, trying to sound brave, "I'll show you!" But for an awkward moment, Peridot struggled to lift a metal rod off a ledge. Even Spinel face-palmed.
"Anyone else got something so say?" Jasper groaned.
"Yeah!" Spinel answered, "Eat THIS!" She fired a punch to Jasper's face, knocking her backwards.
"UUUUGH! Stay OUT of this!" Amethyst angrily wrapped Steven and Spinel with her whip and threw them to the side. She glared back at the orange Gem, "It's just you and me, Jasper. One on one!"
She lashed out her whip and struck Jasper on her face, and Amethyst brought out another flail, smacking Jasper to a cliff wall.
Steven and Spinel cheered for the purple Gem as she proclaimed, "Who's the runt now?! You ready for more?"
Recovering quite fast, Jasper got up from the wall, only to get smacked across her face… but she became unfazed.
Amethyst froze slightly, "Uh! Th-There's more where that came from!" She continued to lash out her whip on the Quartz soldier multiple times, the last hit knocking her to the ground, but she got up.
Cracking both her whips and creating purple fiery energy through them, Amethyst spun, followed by her whips to create a fiery Spin Dash and charged into Jasper, creating an explosion.
After falling back from the impact, Amethyst coughed as the smoke cleared, and much to her horror, Jasper was still standing.
"Is it sinking in yet?" Jasper gruffed, brushing the ashes off of her chest.
"Are you SERIOUS?!" Amethyst tried to stand up, but Jasper kicked her away.
"Amethyst!" Steven cried out.
Jasper stepped towards her opponent, "You never had the chance."
Thinking fast, Steven noticed an injector above them and fired his shield to knock it down. Jasper and Amethyst were able to jump away from the impact, but Amethyst coughed from the dust.
Spinel took a step, "Amethyst..." But Steven stopped her and ran over to the purple Gem's side.
"Steven…" Amethyst breathed, "I can't win. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I work, she came out right, and I came out… wrong."
"That's just what Jasper thinks!" Steven told her, "She's the only one who thinks you should be like her!"
"But-"
"Stop trying to be like Jasper! You're nothing like Jasper! You're like me! You're like Spinel! Because we're not like anybody! And yeah, it sucks…"
Jasper lifted the injector and tossed it away.
Steven continued, "But at least I've got you, and you've got me! So stop leaving me out of this!"
"Us worst Gems stick together, right?" Amethyst smiled softly, sniffling.
Steven held out a hand for her, "That's why we're the best."
Taking his hand and standing up, Amethyst chuckled… and brought Steven for a hug as light burst around them, clouding the area in smoke. When it cleared, Spinel, Peridot, and Jasper laid their eyes on the new fusion of Steven and Amethyst.
"... What a beautiful day!" The fusion proclaimed, stretching her arms, the right arm having two conjoined arms.
"Huh?!" Jasper stood her ground, "Who are you supposed to be?!"
"Oh yeah, who am I now?" The fusion pondered, "I feel like Amethyst knows this…"
Spinel almost began squealing as Peridot shouted, "Forget your name! You've got a fight to win!"
"I think a Rose Quartz…" The fusion threw the shield into the air and summoned Amethyst's whip, "And an Amethyst… Make a..." She leapt into the air, the weapons combing and forming a yoyo and she landed, "Smoky Quartz."
"Oh please! Fusion just can't be only trick you Crystal Gems know!" Jasper snapped.
"Oh, I've got plenty of tricks," Smoky Quartz replied, "Ever see 'sink the dink'?" She hit Jasper with her yoyo multiple times, the last one knocking her backwards.
Peridot laughed, running up the ledge along with Spinel cheering, "WOO! Go, Smoky Quartz!"
Jasper finally had enough and used her Comet Charge. Wrapping her yoyo on an injector, Smoky Quartz pulled herself up and avoided the attack, making the Gem crash into a wall, accidentally causing the cages to collapse and the multiple corrupted Gems ran for their lives.
Jasper stopped what she was doing, "NO! My army!"
"Take that!" Peridot taunted, "And take this!" She struggled to lift up the rod, but Spinel noticed that the Quartz soldier was gazing at something; the last monster, Ocean.
Spinel suddenly gasped, "Smoky! Hold Jasper back! I need to free Ocean!" She hopped off the ledge and ran, with Peridot shouting, "Hey! Where are you going?!"
"Roger that!" Smoky Quartz grinned as her yoyo stretched and wrapped around the Quartz soldier, pulling on it and sending her back into a cliff wall. Spinel ran over to the cage, and pulled on the metal bars. Almost immediately, Ocean recognized the pink Gem and whimpered, clawing at the bars.
"Hang on, Ocean! I'll get you out!" said Spinel as the already-bitten bars gave way after some brute force, setting the corrupted Gem free. Ocean purred and nuzzled Spinel, who briefly accepted the affection before gently stroking the mane.
"Aww Ocean!" She said happily, "It's so good to see you're okay!"
Ocean purred, nuzzling her.
Spinel peeked an eye open, "Now just let me..."
This time, her hand reached the gemstone and she lightly tugged it, forcing Ocean to retreat into it. Sighing in relief, she bubbled the gem and sent it away.
"NO!"
She heard Jasper shout, breaking free from Smoky Quartz's yoyo, sprinting towards her. Spinel yelped as she was knocked to the ground by her throat.
In her panic, Smoky Quartz unfused into Steven and Amethyst. Peridot also ran over, only stopping beside the purple Gem and the boy, as they watched, unable to help.
"You dare come here, bring Rose and her weaklings, and let my army escape?!" roared Jasper.
"Those Gems were just like us! Not tools for anyone like you to use!" Spinel spat back.
Jasper's lips formed a cynical sneer, "Except you. You were Pink Diamond's tool, remember? Those weaklings may already know, but you were made to be a plaything for our Diamond, before you followed Rose."
The three Gems behind them gasped.
"I... I had no choice," Spinel stopped struggling.
Jasper nodded menacingly, "Oh yeah, you probably didn't. That's because Rose knew you were weak, that you were nothing, so she took pity on you. Even from what I've seen back there, I'm surprised you made it this far, I admit. But unfortunately, this galaxy doesn't need someone like you."
Amethyst summoned her whip, Peridot steadied herself, Steven felt tears well, "N-No! Mo-" But he was stopped by the pink Gem holding up her hand, and what Spinel said next, made his blood run cold.
"Go ahead. Shatter me then. I'll gladly die for any life."
Jasper was momentarily taken aback, brushing it aside and summoned her helmet, ready to strike. Steven and Amethyst cried out for her, Peridot instinctively threw a metal rod, directly into Jasper's back.
The Quartz soldier stilled, slightly trembling and eyes stretched wide as she stared at Spinel, almost as if she was... begging.
Unexpectedly, Spinel gave her a calm, reassuring smile as she whispered, "We'll talk later, alright?"
Jasper didn't answer, only becoming even more baffled, shutting her eyes and retreated into her gem. Spinel caught the gemstone, bubbling it in time and stood up, sighing.
"... S-Spinel?" Steven murmured, stepping towards her, "Are you... okay?"
Spinel nodded slowly, "Yeah."
Amethyst also approached her, "What you did was awesome, but... why?"
"I... don't know."
Peridot let out a sigh of relief, "Well, thank the stars we've got her bubbled!"
"Yeah," Spinel spoke, letting the three Gems stare at the soldier's gem before she sent it off, "Now... let's head back. The others must be waiting- Oh?"
She stopped as Steven hugged her leg, and lifted his head up to look at her, "Spinel...?" He didn't finish.
"... Come on, love. Let's get Peridot back to the barn, and then head home."
Soooooo… I guess Spinel almost died here?
But hey! Jasper's not corrupted!
