Finally got around to revising this one... and the three chapters before it. Spoilers for Beta and Earthlings. Surprise, surprise. [/sarcasm]
"Steven!"
The boy in question was on his knees, cradling something in his hands that he held close to his chest. He was shaking uncontrollably, his chest heaving with rapid, anxious gasps. Tears streamed down in endless torrents down his cheeks. It was only when the voice called his name a second time that he choked out a weak, trembling response. "Go… g-go away…"
"Steven!"
"N-No… go—go away… I—I don't want to see you anymore…"
"St-Steven…?! Wake up!"
Steven shook harder, squeezing his hands closed as he pushed them against his chest. He breathed harder, trying and failing to suppress the tears that continued streaming from his eyes. He tried to block out the sounds of the voices, but it was no use, they only became louder in desperation to break through to him until, finally, the young half-Gem boy snapped altogether. He stood up on staggering legs that struggled to support his weight.
He cupped one hand at his side and clenched the other tightly into a fist, digging his nails into his soft palm.
"I—I said…" Steven paused for a second, and when he spoke again, he was practically screaming. "get away from me!"
He whipped around, a pink fire fuelled by his rage that matched the blinding glow from his gemstone engulfing his fist. He swung it forward, but the instant his fist slammed into its target with a sickening crack, a flash of white blinded him. For a split second, there was nothing and, as the light gradually began to fade, the dark scenery of the Beta Kindergarten swirled dizzyingly away and Steven lost his footing as the world fell out from beneath him.
He thrashed his arms and legs in a futile attempt to keep himself from plummeting into the dizzying blackness that awaited him below, clenching his eyes shut as he landed upon something large and soft.
The landing was surprisingly gentle and he suddenly found his body in the embrace of a blanket that kept him warm. He writhed momentarily until he felt two thin hands latch onto his shoulders, pulling him upright and shaking him violently. In the midst of the ordeal, he weakly blinked his eyes open to find himself face-to-face with a familiar pale Gem, a smooth oval cabochon placed upon her forehead. She shouted his name several times over, too distracted by her panic to notice the boy staring at her, eyes wide and confused.
"Maybe you should slap him!" another voice that sounded significantly younger chimed in from afar.
Steven gasped and quickly used his own hands to pull Pearl's off of his arms, sending him falling back onto his bed again.
"I'm awake, I'm awake!" Steven reassured them, holding up his hands in surrender. He waited for a few seconds, waiting silently for the Gem's response. He reached up to rub his vision clear as he continued, "Hey, wh-what's going… huh?" Steven winced when he felt that his eyes and cheeks were soaked with fresh tears, the salty liquid coming away on his hand. He stared at it in surprise as Pearl leaned forward, a concerned look in her eyes as she used her own thin fingers to brush his tears away.
She said something, but Steven didn't hear it. He was too occupied with the uncharacteristic pang of anger he felt when he looked at her, making him instinctively pull away from her touch, but she wasn't letting him go so easily. He didn't understand where this feeling was coming from, so occupied with thinking it over that he didn't notice Pearl had stopped touching his face and was now sitting on the side of his bed.
"Are… are you okay, Steven?" she asked, her voice low.
Steven looked up at her with wide eyes, then looked away with a soft, frustrated groan. She looked concerned as she stared down at him, almost scared, so Steven decided that it was best not to bring up the fact right now and went for the obvious question instead.
"Yeah, I-I'm fine. Really! It's just… what—what happened to me last night?" He didn't know whether he was lying or not.
He looked back up at Pearl as she turned away, exchanging glances with Garnet and Amethyst, both of which stood downstairs. Amethyst turned away silently with an indifferent shrug, and Garnet didn't say anything one way or another. Pearl let out a sigh and turned to face Steven again, forcing a smile down at him that disappeared as soon as he evaded her light blue gaze a second time.
"Look, we were… we were going to let you sleep in until Connie came over later so that all five of us could go to the Kindergarten together." Pearl paused for a moment. "But—But, well, I… you…" Pearl trailed off with a sigh, glancing at the floor as she did so, putting a frustrated hand to her face, covering one of her eyes. She tilted her head up slightly, looking at her fellow Gems in a silent request for assistance.
"You started crying. Like, really hard, and you were saying something in your sleep." Amethyst continued.
"We didn't know what to do, so Pearl decided to go up and check on you." Garnet added.
Pearl hesitated for a moment, before deciding to continue the story herself. "That—That's when you started… screaming. You were telling me or—or someone to—to go away an-and… you kept screaming her name. Over a-and over again…" Pearl trailed off as tears formed in her eyes, covering her mouth as she turned away from the boy's wide-eyed, unsettled stare. Steven sat there in silence for a second or two; he wanted to ask them, but he didn't know if he'd like the answer.
"Who? Wh-Who… was it…?"
He saw the Gems exchange glances again. All three of them looked unsure of themselves. Becoming slightly frustrated, he threw his legs over the side of the bed and sat upright beside Pearl, glaring bitterly at all three of the Gems as he demanded, "Who?!" He slammed a fist noiselessly to the bed's soft mattress to punctuate his statement. Again, the Gems were silent for several long seconds, before Garnet finally spoke up to answer his question.
"Jasper. You were calling out for… Jasper." she said, a bit hesitantly.
Steven's eyes went wide, but then again, he was hardly all that surprised. Pearl said something, but it faded into the background as Steven lost himself, finding bits and pieces of the dream's blurred, indistinct memory began to replay in his mind.
It was dark. They were in the Beta Kindergarten. Steven was on the ground, on his knees, cradling something in his hands that he held close to his chest; the dim moonlight glinted weakly across the jagged, battered surfaces of the orange and red gem shards he held. He heard the sounds of footsteps rushing towards him, the sound of the Gems' voices calling out for him, their tones thick with fear and concern. Regardless, he wouldn't listen. The boy had been overwhelmed with a mixture of unadulterated rage and rapidly building grief that he could hardly think straight.
He could only scream furiously for them to go away and that he never wanted to see them again… he even told them that he hated them. He was angry with the Gems, furious, to the point he tried to attack them until he was thrown unpleasantly back into the waking world, the emotions he'd felt in that dream still lingering heavy on his heart but the memories fading before he could even decipher them.
"S-Steven?"
The boy in question gasped softly as he looked up at Pearl, who only stared down at him, a worried look in her blue eyes. As he looked up at her, tears began to form in his dark eyes as the frustration and rage in his heart was suddenly replaced with increasing guilt and emotional hurt. He hardly thought as he threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around Pearl's waist as he began crying against her. She was caught off-guard for a moment, before she gladly returned the gentle embrace.
"I-I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Pearl! I—I didn't… I didn't mean…"
"Shh." the Gem interrupted, hugging him a bit more firmly. "It's okay, Steven. You didn't mean anything by it."
"But I—I thought… I—I thought that you… you sh-sha…" Steven quickly silenced himself, opting not to mention that part. At least not yet.
The majority of his nightmare was fuzzy and hard to distinguish, all except for that final, vivid moment when he was on the brink between slumber and the waking world. However, he still knew the truth of what occurred in that dream as clearly as ever, even if he'd never witnessed it. As much as he wanted to deny that as a valid possibility, that his mind would ever conjure up the Crystal Gems doing such a heinous thing, even to an enemy Gem, he still knew.
Steven had been attacked. As per usual, the Gems fought back. They were trying to protect him… but they had shattered Jasper in the process.
He felt a hand rest gently on his upper back. He remained like that for a few seconds longer, before finally pulling away from Pearl and sitting atop his bed, his knees tucked underneath him.
Steven stared down at the mattress, half covered with the blanket that was nearly on the floor now. He thought over his next decision for a second before looking up at where the three Gems stood over him, all of them silent as they waited for him to do or say something. Steven glanced away for another second, taking a couple of deep breaths to calm his rapidly beating heart and his slightly trembling arms and hands.
"Guys? Can… I ask you something?" he asked, looking up at them with wide eyes.
"Of course, Steven." Pearl said, smiling down at him.
"Yeah! Spill the beans, man!" Amethyst added with a playful laugh.
But Steven didn't find it funny. He avoided all of their gazes for a few seconds, wondering inwardly what the best way to say it would be.
"W-Would you…" Steven trailed off for a moment. He closed his eyes as he felt tears burning in them and spoke up again, almost shouting, "Would you shatter another Gem?!"
All three of them became tense, Pearl letting out a startled gasp, her eyes going wide with disbelief. She looked around, a bit worriedly, before looking back down at Steven, forcing an uneasy smile at the boy. "Of course not, Steven. The Crystal Gems never shatter an enemy to win their battles, poofing and bubbling them away has always proved sufficient enough. Wh–What ever made you think…?"
"No!" Steven interrupted. "I don't mean shattering to win your fights!I mean…" He hesitated for a second. "…I–I mean, shattering to protect me!"
Silence reigned over the four of them yet again, Pearl looking away from Steven's hard glare with a whimper as she lifted a hand and tearfully covered her mouth. Steven's heart went out to her, he never liked seeing the Gems upset like this… but he couldn't help but wonder what she was trying to hide from him. Garnet and Amethyst exchanged silent glances for a moment, before the former finally decided to speak up in her normal, stoic tone of voice that seemed to waver only slightly.
"We… do whatever we have to do, Steven."
"Wha…? In-Including shattering another Gem and destroying them forever?!" Steven retorted.
Pearl, recovering slightly, looked down at Amethyst in a silent request for help. All the Quartz did was shrug and say, "I've got nothin', P."
Pearl let out an agitated groan in response, but decided not to let her annoyance at Amethyst bother her.
"Well?" Steven asked, his tone uncharacteristically flat and cold. "Is that how it is?!"
"S-Steven, I…" Pearl began, but Steven cut her off.
"No! If shattering a Gem is what it takes to protect me,then… th-then…" Steven's agitated shouting trailed off, but before any of the Gems could speak up again, he softly finished his sentence, his frustrated tone replaced with a more solemn one. "Then… I don't think I want to be saved at all."
Pearl's eyes went wide in shock. "Steven!"
"Not if it means a Gem will die because of it!"
"What is this about, Steven?" Garnet asked calmly.
Steven was silent for about ten seconds as he wondered whether to tell them or not. He sighed and said, his voice still low, "My—My dream last night. Jasper was there, an-and… you guys were there too." Tears began to form in his eyes. "You—You all… sh-shattered her."
"Shattered…" Pearl echoed. She looked away for a second, then looked back at Steven and continued, "Steven… we would—we would never do something like that unless it was a last resort. Don't you… don't you know that?" A sad, disappointed look entered her eyes when Steven didn't reply after several more seconds. When he finally spoke again, it wasn't a direct response to her statement.
"I just… I don't want to risk you guys hurting her." Steven said. "I-If something happens, then… I—I don't want you guys poofing her an-and bubbling her away again, leaving her to suffer for eternity. Or… or breaking her…" All three of the Gems visibly flinched at those last three words, each of them feeling a bit hurt that Steven would actually think they would shatter a Gem in such an unprovoked manner.
A couple seconds passed, and then Garnet stepped towards him, resting a hand comfortingly on his shoulder.
"Steven, we all care about you. More than anything else in this world, just remember that." she began. "But… if it makes you feel any better, maybe you can go to the Kindergarten alone this time."
"What?!" Pearl exclaimed.
"Wha… really?" Steven said, ignoring Pearl for the time.
"Yes. You have held your own against Jasper before, and I think you can this time as well." Garnet smiled at the boy. "We believe in you, Steven."
In response, he smiled up at her, until Pearl jumped up and cut in. "No! Garnet, you—you can't be serious!"
"I can, and I am." the Fusion said tersely.
"But… but it's Jasper! I… you… w-we can't just send him off alone like that!"
"Why not?" Steven asked. "Don't you trust me?!"
"Oh. Steven, no… I mean, yes… I—I trust you, Steven. But I don't trust Jasper. What if something happens to you while you're out there alone and we're not there to help?"
"But it won't, because we aren't going to fight! I'm going to heal her, and I'm gonna try and reason with her!" Steven paused for a second. "Whether she likes it or not!"
"But, Steven, she's a Quartz soldier from Homeworld!" Amethyst pointed out. "Reasoning with her isn't going to be like reasoning with Lapis or Peridot. Gems like Jasper, Gems like… me," She glanced down solemnly at the dark purple stone on her chest. "we were formed to fight on Homeworld's behalf. It's gonna take a lot to convince her otherwise. You saw her the last time we were in Beta, and out on the beach, and on that Homeworld ship, and…"
Pearl gave the purple Gem a strange look before turning back to Steven. "I can't believe I'm saying this… but Amethyst is right, Steven. Jasper is as stubborn as she is dangerous."
Steven still sat on the bed, twiddling his thumbs as he thought over what they said. He sighed. "Don't try to talk me out of this. It won't work."
"Steven, please, just—just think about the risks you're taking!" Pearl said, practically pleading with him.
"I know the risks." Steven said simply.
"At least let me come along with you." Amethyst suggested. "I've been looking forward to seeing her again." Steven winced as Amethyst turned away, a bitter look in her indigo eyes.
"No," Pearl said. "you two alone are just another disaster waiting to happen."
Amethyst opened her mouth to retort, before both of them noticed Steven had gotten up and was walking downstairs.
"Steven!" Pearl cried out on the verge of panic, moving towards him in two quick strides. "Where are you going?"
"Nowhere right now." he reassured her. "I'm waiting for Connie to get here." He looked at the floor for a second. "And then… we're heading out to Beta."
The Beta Kindergarten's Warp Pad rang out as it activated. Steven and Connie, the latter carrying Rose's pink sword, the massive blade hidden within its scabbard, on her back, stepped off of the Warp Pad the instant the glowing cyan warp-stream disappeared. As the kids walked side-by-side through the Kindergarten, Connie scanned her surroundings with a bit of uneasiness, while Steven aimed his dark brown gaze at the orange ground, uninterested in the sight he'd already seen thrice now.
"So this is where the Homeworld's Quartz soldiers were formed?" Connie asked.
Steven perked up at her question, glancing at her in slight confusion until he remembered she hadn't been to a real Kindergarten yet. "Well, some of them. There were a lot of Gems, like Jaspers and Carnelians, that formed her during the Great Gem War. But Gems like Amethyst were formed in another Kindergarten. It's a lot bigger and a lot, ugh… different than this one is." He stopped in his tracks as Connie walked to one of the red sandstone walls, running her palm up and down the smooth surface, giving a deformed exit hole at eye level with her a weird look.
"There were more of these places?"
"Well, only one other… as far as we know." Steven said as Connie began running her hand along the shapeless edges of the hole. "It was the very first Kindergarten to be created here on Earth, called Prime. There were supposed to be a lot more, but then, well, my mom started the Rebellion and didn't give them a chance to." Connie made a disgusted sound as she pulled away from the hole, stepping back to look up at several more like it lining the walls.
"Wait, didn't you say Jasper was formed here?"
"Yep." Steven said matter-of-factly.
"Uh… Jasper? The huge overpowered Gem soldier that we fought before?"
"Mm-hm. A lot of Jaspers were formed here actually, and our Jasper was one of them."
Connie gave him a weird look, before gesturing at the hole she'd been standing near a moment ago. "But look at these holes. They're all… deformed and… small." She winced as she caressed the inner walls of it. "What happened to this place? Why are all the holes so… misshapen?"
"Oh, uh…" Steven paused, trying to remember what Peridot had told them. "The Prime Kindergarten was created here on Earth to form more Quartz soldiers to fight on Homeworld's behalf, but after my mom started the Rebellion and Homeworld learned that she had the power to heal her Crystal Gem soldiers, the Beta was made to create more Quartzes when the ones from Prime weren't enough. But the Beta was a rushed job, the Gems here were mass-produced, one right after another in rapid succession. Most of them came out, ugh… 'defective' because of that."
Steven stopped again, remembering the huge Quartz exit hole, its inner walls lined with solid glass. "Well… except for one."
"You mean Jasper?"
"Yeah. You'll know her hole when you see it."
They stood in silence for a moment, until a distant sound caught Steven's attention. It sounded like something sharp scraping against the sandstone walls, a bit grating, even from a distance.
"…Do you hear that?" Steven spoke up. Both of them fell silent again as Connie listened hard for the sound.
"Uh, not… really? What does it sound like?"
"I dunno. Come on!"
With little hesitation, Steven started running in the direction he heard the sound, listening as it seemed to gradually increase in volume the closer he got. The sound was at its loudest when the reached the corner of the red sandstone wall where Steven pushed himself up against its side, making a 'shh' gesture at Connie as she approached. She slowed to a stop beside her friend, reaching up and grabbing the hilt of Rose's sword as Steven stepped forward to check out the sound's source.
"No, wait," Steven said in a hushed voice. "I don't want to give her the wrong idea."
"Are you sure?" Connie asked.
Steven looked at the ground, silently thinking it over, before nodding once. With a disappointed sigh, Connie slipped the sword back into its scabbard as Steven cautiously stepped over, hands gripping the edge of the wall as he peered around, expecting the worst. When he did, he was surprised to find, not Jasper, but a completely different Corrupted Quartz there.
Her skin was a bright crimson, streaked and splotched with light orange and lighter red markings. Her mane and her fuzzy tail were a dark red hue and she only had a single spike protruding from her forehead, her face blank of features regardless. Her clawed forepaws were outstretched in front of her, relentlessly scraping against the sandstone wall, her doglike tail flicking back and forth every second or two. She looked like she wouldn't reach any higher than Steven's waist.
Steven recognized her colour scheme as that of a Carnelian, like the one he'd seen back in Homeworld's human zoo. She appeared to be 'overcooked' like Amethyst. He couldn't see her gemstone from the angle he stood at. Pulling back, he cast a glance at Connie over his shoulder.
"Get ready."
She nodded once with a determined smile, hastily grabbing the sword's hilt and unsheathing the massive weapon with a sharp metallic shing! Steven winced when he heard the scratching stop momentarily, before starting up again five seconds later. His gemstone glowed beneath his shirt as he summoned his shield, stepping just around the corner, silently peering at the Carnelian as she pointlessly clawed the wall. He glanced at Connie one last time, before putting two fingers to his lips and letting out a sharp whistle, quickly pulling back before the tiny Corruption spotted him.
He stood in front of Connie, his shield held in front of them protectively, while Connie held the sword up, resting its blade gingerly on her shoulder to keep from accidentally hitting Steven with it.
They both waited in tense silence as they heard the Carnelian's light footsteps against the ground. Rather abruptly, she appeared from around the corner, catching both of the kids off-guard. Her gem, a faceted orange-red stone, was on her chest, surrounded by unkempt dark red hair.
The kids stared down at the Corruption for a long time, the Quartz matching their tactic, standing there, frozen, the only sound her heavy, raspy breathing. Connie gave it an unsure look when she realized just how small this Quartz was. All three of them remained like that for a good ten seconds, the kids waiting to see if the Carnelian was planning to make a move, the Carnelian studying the humans that towered over her. Tense silence reigned.
Then, the Carnelian opened her fanged maw, letting out a deep, extended roar that was much bigger than she was.
Both of the kids were practically blown back by the force of the sound. They squeezed their eyes shut, Connie stumbled back a couple steps and Steven planted his feet firmly into the ground. By the time the Gem went silent and Steven opened his eyes again, he found her lunging straight at him, her mouth hanging open silently. She had one claw raised. Steven instinctively raised his shield and both kids flinched at the awful scraping noise that rang out as the Carnelian slashed at the shield, leaving three jagged white marks across the shield's translucent surface.
Steven looked down at it in shock until the Carnelian reared up again. Bringing both claws down at the same time, she split the shield right in two through the middle, causing it to vanish with a white flash in an instant. The boy cringed, stepping back once as Carnelian lunged at him again. This time, he didn't have his shield to block her blow. His gem glowed in preparation to summon a replacement, but Carnelian was faster.
"Steven! Watch out!"
Connie stepped forward, raising her sword over her head, but before she could swing it down, Steven cried out as one of Carnelian's claws ripped away part of his shirt. She didn't give him a chance to recover as she jerked to the side, tearing her claws viciously through the bare flesh of his arm. Both kids watched in stunned horror as two deep lacerations appeared on his forearm, both running the length of it, fresh red blood splashing onto the nearby wall; it took a moment for the pain to get to him.
"Steven!" Connie shouted, feeling scared tears burning in her eyes.
Steven had grabbed his arm tight, stumbling back and falling to the ground with a series of pained screams. He looked down with wide, tearful eyes as blood dripped onto his legs and onto the ground, even from beneath the vice grip of his opposite hand. He looked up with pleading eyes as Carnelian leapt at him, letting out a hostile snarl. He put both hands up and looked away, knowing deep down that it was going to work… until the Corrupted Gem's attack was abruptly ricocheted by his shield.
He watched as she skidded back, letting out a frustrated growl before she charged him again. Spreading both hands in a wide gesture in opposite directions from each other, he watched as the shield grew vastly in size… but became harder to keep summoned at the same time. He groaned with exertion as Carnelian repeatedly clawed at slammed her head into the shield's face, trying futilely to break through it, not realizing it was too big to simply destroy.
Steven thought to himself, now they knew why she was scratching that wall. She'd been sharpening her claws.
All it took a brief moment of inattention for the giant shield to suddenly falter, allowing the Quartz to break through it effortlessly. She was on top of Steven in an instant, relentlessly raking her claws across his shirt and, as the cloth was torn away, the bare skin of his chest and stomach. He cringed painfully as he struggled to push her back, trying not to watch as she repeatedly snapped her jaws, aiming her fangs at his face. He looked down, looking at his torn clothes and skin, then looked up, searching for Connie's whereabouts.
She was nowhere to be found.
Steven couldn't suppress a scared whimper as the pain in his arm rapidly worsened, to the point of being absolutely excruciating. He was beginning to shake as he held onto Carnelian's shoulders, clenching her thick, tough red skin beneath his fingers. His grasp was faltering rapidly and, before long, her jaws would snap around his neck and there wouldn't be a thing he could do about it. He briefly glanced at her sparkling red gemstone where it was on her chest, right at eye level.
If he could just get a good grip on it… no. Easy didn't mean right.
He looked up with tearful eyes at Carnelian, silently pleading for her to stop, but she wouldn't. She was too far gone, no longer capable of reason. Or mercy.
Just when Steven thought he was going to give in beneath her weight, her whole body went tenser than a rock and she froze in place. He didn't know why until he looked down at the light pink sword tip exiting out through her chest just to the right of her sparkling gemstone. Steven finally allowed his body to relax and, the instant he let her go, she vanished in an explosion of scarlet smoke. He winced as it cleared. When he looked again, the Corrupted Quartz was gone, nothing but her disembodied gemstone resting on his belly.
He looked up to find himself staring eye-to-eye with the blade of Rose's sword until Connie pulled it away from him, her cold, threatening glare instantly morphing into a concerned one as she looked down at her friend. She sheathed her sword again as she started towards him.
"Steven! Are you okay?!"
"Ugh… y-yeah." Steven picked up Carnelian's gem in both hands as he painstakingly pushed himself into a sitting position. He stared down silently at her for a second, a strange feeling of guilt entering his mind as he looked at her. Why was it they were working so hard to save Jasper… but they were just going to let Gems like this continue to suffer?
"S-Steven?" Connie said.
His eyes widened as he was pulled back into reality. "Oh, it… it's nothing, Connie."
He gasped when the gem was suddenly surrounded by a pink glow and he formed a magenta bubble around it, causing the glow of regeneration to vanish in an instant. He let out a sigh of relief as he tapped the bubble's top, sending yet another Corrupted Gem away to the Burning Room.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Connie asked. "It looks like that Corrupted Gem hit you hard."
Steven groaned painfully as he stood up, briefly looking at the bloody mess he'd left on the ground from his injuries before turning away with a disgusted grunt.
"Yeah, I-I'm fine, Connie." he reassured her, forcing a smile through his pain. He lifted his bloodied arm and gently touched it with a hand, before pulling away with a hiss.
"Steven… m-maybe we should call this off for now. You need help." Connie said.
He looked down at the bleeding scratches that zigzagged across his torso and the tattered remnants of his shirt. The front of it was completely torn away, only leaving the jagged edge of the red collar. The big yellow star wasn't even visible anymore. His left sleeve was half torn away as well, his right sleeve the only one that was left completely intact. He reached down and ran a finger across the surface of his gemstone. Fortunately, it was still untouched.
He couldn't lie to himself; it hurt, a lot, but he knew that Jasper was hurting out there even more. Not to mention he wasn't looking to prove the Gems right today. They might never let him go on a mission again… or at all.
"No. It-It's fine… it—it can wait until later." Steven said calmly. "Jasper needs us right now."
"But, Steven, you're hurt! And what if she attacks us? You're in no shape to fight right now."
"I've been through worse." Steven lied. "And the Gems entrusted me to do this mission alone. I'm not going to let them down."
Without another word, he continued on through the Kindergarten. Connie didn't follow right away, opening her mouth to say something, before going silent and running to catch up.
They continued on for several yards through the Kindergarten's twisting, turning, hole-lined canyons. They almost looked eerie, hundreds of holes in vaguely humanoid shapes looming silently against the towering red walls. That is, until they reached a much bigger, much more… normal looking exit hole. Steven rushed to meet at the second he laid eyes on it and Connie followed close behind.
"Is… that Jasper's hole?" Connie asked.
"Yep! According to Peridot, it's one of the most perfect Quartz holes she's ever seen!"
Connie stepped a bit closer to it. "Is that… glass?"
"Uh… probably?" Steven said, a bit unsure of himself.
"Whoa. Sand has to be almost 3100 degrees Fahrenheit to turn into glass!"
Steven's eyes went wide at Connie's words. After all, he hadn't even known that sand could turn into glass in the first place. He decided to change the subject instead.
"Um… yeah? Jasper was in that hole last night, and Garnet told me that she'll probably still be there now. Now all we have to do is find her, and then I can use my healing powers on her again and then Jasper won't suffer anymore!" Steven suggested eagerly. "Or… she'll attack us and we'll end up having to bubble her away again." He started walking towards the wall below where Jasper's exit hole was. I really hope it's the first one. he added inwardly.
Steven jumped up, slipping his feet and latching his fingers onto any and all exit holes lining the wall beneath it, using them as a makeshift ladder to reach it. Latching his fingers into the unnaturally smooth, slick edge, he pulled himself up and threw himself forward into its shadowy confines with a grunt of effort. Once he stood up, Steven took the time to stare upwards at how the exit hole dwarfed him in size; compared to it, he may as well have been little more than an insect that needed to be crushed.
He glanced down at where Connie waited and waved at her with a smile, before turning and starting into the dark tunnel of the exit hole. As he went, he lifted a hand and, after staring at it for a second, licked his palm until it was well coated with his saliva. The deeper into the hole he got, the darker it got as the sunlight was left behind and the harder it became to find his way about it. He glanced down towards his pink gem, recalling how Gems like Pearl and Peridot could use them as a lantern to light up dark areas.
He closed his eyes and silently willed the light to life. Opening one eye, he was disappointed to find that it didn't work. He grabbed the edges of the stone and even tapped the face of it a few times, beginning to talk to it.
"Light! Uh… activate? Turn on? C'mon, please? For me?" Despite Steven's incessant begging, the gemstone remained dark. He let out an irritated, drawn out groan of frustration, but jumped and threw both hands to his mouth when he heard how it echoed through the tunnel. He didn't even notice the much larger presence with him in the darkness, blindly walking straight into it. He grunted and recoiled back.
His eyes having adjusted to the darkness, he could barely make out a massive, wolf-like shape curled into a ball in a large hollow in the back of the exit hole.
Then, it began moving. And then, it started to get up.
Steven's eyes went wide and he shakily took a couple of steps back.
"Ah! Jasper!"
At first, the monster didn't do or say anything. She simply loomed over him in the darkness, her heavy, reeking breath the only sound in the darkness.
Steven cocked his head in confusion. "Jasper? H-Hey… I'm here to help you."
In response, the Corruption roared at the smaller creature, sending Steven cringing and stumbling back. The sound reverberated off of the narrow, glassy walls, making Steven's ears ring.
"No… n-not again. Ugh… J-Jasper! Calm down! I—I just want to…" But he was cut off as the Corruption shoved her head forward. Thankfully, the spikes on her face missed him, but when the hard skin of her featureless head rammed hard into his chest, it sent him to stumbling back with a pained cry, the boy nearly collapsing to his knees. He groaned in pain, tears beginning to form in his eyes again… until he heard the Corrupted Quartz beginning to rush him, effortlessly pushing herself through the hole as she charged the boy. She'd formed from it once, after all.
Steven whimpered as he staggered upright in a rush, whipping around and running quickly in the opposite direction, screaming desperately all the while.
Meanwhile, Connie stood just outside, her sword unsheathed, nonchalantly running a finger across the blunt edge of the blade. She made a soft sound to herself, until she heard the screaming echoing through the hole. It was gradually getting louder.
"What the…?" The closer the screaming got, the more she recognized the voice that was making it. "…Steven?"
She readied her sword as Steven was thrown from the hole, crashing hard onto the hard ground several yards below. He rolled for a second, before pushing a hand against the ground to stop himself. He let out a pained moan. Connie looked at him with wide, worried eyes until the Corrupted Quartz caught her attention. They watched as another roar emanated loudly from the hole, the huge Corruption bursting forth from it with such force that she broke off an entire chunk of sandstone from the edge. The kids shielded themselves as the debris came raining down, but Connie acted quickly as the Quartz towered over where Steven laid.
The boy's eyes went wide as he looked up at her. This wasn't Jasper. This was… this was…
"I will not be beaten by another Fusion!"
"Come on! We can beat them! If we stay… together!"
Steven froze at he stared up at the teal Corruption, splotches of pink and darker green covering her thick skin. A growl rumbled in her throat as she glared down blindly at Steven.
"You… y-you were there." Steven choked out weakly.
The Corruption snarled in response.
"I-I'm sorry that happened to you… but—but we don't have to fight. I—I can help you too… if-if you want…" Steven offered. He grimaced, the pain in his battered body becoming gradually worse.
The Corruption remained still for a little while longer, as if she were considering his offer. She shook her head rapidly like a dog throwing water from its fur, before lifting a dark teal claw and aiming it at Steven, letting out a raspy, monstrous growl. The sunlight glinted off of the tips of her claws. Steven's eyes went wide, before he let out a pained grunt, summoning his bubble shield the instant her claw came down. She snarled in surprise, pushing the bottom of her foot against the bubble's surface, cocking her head to the side in confusion.
"Please, Corrupted Quartz… Gem… monster. I—I don't want to hurt you, an-and I don't think you want to hurt me either. I—I can help you… I can heal you! I—I know you're suffering, and… I know you're still afraid of… her, but… I can help! I promise, j-just…" He was cut off as the Quartz slammed her flank into the bubble, sending it rolling uncontrollably away. Connie looked on in shock, watching as the Quartz repeatedly battered and threw herself against the bubble, sending it rolling chaotically about the Kindergarten.
"Steven!" she cried out, before rushing towards them, Rose's sword in tow.
With a grunt, Steven popped the bubble before the Quartz had a chance to hit it again. She didn't stop as she rushed him though, lifting a claw to deal a blow to him.
"Agh… p-please… stop! Why—Why are you doing this…?" Before she could hit him, he blocked it with his shield, but the Quartz reared up and put her other foreclaw atop the shield as well. Both paws on the shield, she shifted all of her weight onto it, making it much harder to keep it summoned. Steven watched in fear as the shield began faltering his grasp.
"Hey!"
The Quartz looked up at the voice and Steven weakly turned as Connie ran towards them.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" she shouted.
With a raspy grunt, the Quartz shoved her paws powerfully against Steven's shield. That was all it took to destroy it. Luckily, she simply pushed off of it to propel herself in the opposite direction, whipping around to face where Connie stood, her sword held out in front of her, the blade pointed at the Quartz, preparing for the Corruption to make a move. She stared blindly at the blade for a long time, her breathing seeming to slow down a bit as she looked at the sword of Rose Quartz.
Steven's eyes went wide when he realized what was going on.
She recognizes it. his thoughts told him. He pushed himself up into a standing position, summoning his shield while the Corrupted Quartz was distracted. He didn't want to hurt her, but he felt like he had no choice. He wanted to start with Jasper for now, not only because she was Corrupted in a different way than this Gem was, but because he felt like he had some sort of personal attachment to her. He couldn't place why.
He closed his eyes as he threw the shield, but instead of cutting through her physical form, it only hit her in the leg and bounced back towards the ground. It dissipated before it landed.
With a deep snarl, the Quartz abruptly whipped around to face Steven as he summoned another shield. She reared upright with a roar, claws outstretched, until something sent her stumbling clumsily back onto all fours. Steven looked up, surprised to find that Connie had somehow gotten up onto the Corruption's back, presumably while she'd been standing straight up the way she was. At first, she could only grab the Quartz's thick white mane as she began running around the Kindergarten, growling and snapping her jaws in desperation to get the human off of her.
She repeatedly slammed into walls, cracking and breaking them apart, and thrashed her legs, but Connie was hanging on tight.
"Ah!" Connie cried out, digging her fingers deeper into the Corruption's mane to avoid getting thrown off. Finally, she pulled herself atop the creature's head and latched onto one of the spikes on her face, seeming to make the Corruption panic even more. Lifting Rose's sword up over her head with her free hand, she brought the blade down hard, aiming its pink tip at the Quartz's blank face as she opened her jaws again to let out an enraged roar.
She screamed out a battle cry as the blade stabbed halfway into the middle of the Quartz's face where her nose would've been.
Connie held on tight as the Quartz roared in unbearable agony, beginning to charge in a completely random direction, before stopping and rapidly shaking her head as she started backing up. A final, dying roar was cut off short as she disappeared in an explosion of mint green smoke, sending Connie flying helplessly back, her fingers still curved from where she'd been gripping the Corruption's mane.
Time seemed to slow down. Steven's eyes went wide as he watched her slam hard into one of the sandstone walls before collapsing limply to the ground several yards below. Tears began welling up in his eyes as he stared at where she laid. It was like that incident back in the Homeworld Kindergarten playing out all over again right in front of him. He felt sick to his stomach as he stood there. He was frozen, the anxiety rapidly overwhelming him. And then, all at once, he broke into a run towards her, tearfully shouting her name.
He nearly ran into the wall himself in his haste and fell to his knees at her side. He ignored the pain as his injuries flared up from his exertion, cradling his unconscious friend in uncontrollably shaking arms. He choked back a sob and the first thing he did was push an ear to her chest. Part of his anxiety was instantly relieved when he realized that she still had a pulse and that she was still breathing. Both were abnormally slow, but slow was better than nothing at all.
He stared down at her for a moment, and whimpered as he pulled her close, beginning to sob quietly, hiding his face in her thick black hair.
Both of them failed to notice the new arrival almost ten seconds later. Heavy footsteps stomped across the orange ground in the kids' direction, stopping briefly as its form faltered into a glitching, static-y mess. As she walked, she felt one of her claws nudge something on the ground. Cocking her head slightly, the Corrupted Gem proceeded to lower her head close to the green and pink gemstone lying flat on the ground.
Somehow, she recognized it, and stepped back. She tipped it up onto its edge, resting her paw atop it. She rolled it back and forth a bit, letting out a barely audible snarl as she did so.
Steven didn't pay it any mind at first… until a deafening, sickening crack caught his attention. He jumped and looked up from his injured friend, his eyes widening when he saw the all too familiar shape of a red and orange Corrupted Quartz standing there, all four clawed paws on the ground. Beneath her left front paw was a pile of jagged green and pink gem shards. Steven instantly felt nauseous the instant his eyes fell upon it.
"Y-You… you shattered her." Steven choked out, his voice shaking.
Jasper snarled as she glared sightlessly down at the boy where he sat defenselessly on the ground.
Steven scanned his surroundings for a moment until he found where Rose's sword had landed, several feet away. He took the time to gently pull Connie over to one of the lower exit holes, whispering to her, "Wait here." before running over and grabbing the sword. He stood up, wincing slightly, and looked up determinedly at Jasper, holding the sword in his right hand, aiming the blade at the ground, letting the tip rest against it.
"Hey… you—you found us, Jasper!" Steven said, forcing a nervous smile up at her. She simply stared in response, the only sound her heavy, raspy breathing.
Steven tried to distract himself from the shards of that other Corrupted Gem still crushed beneath her foot.
"Uh… o-okay, um…" Steven flinched as he subconsciously stared down at the shards, the sunlight glinting off of them. "You… y-you shattered her because… she did this to you. R-Right…?"
A soft growl emanated from Jasper's closed mouth.
"I'll… take that as a yes. But… she—she was suffering too. Just like you are. Sh-She was just… upset, and afraid. Be-Because of what you did to her. You—You didn't have to…" Jasper cut him off with a loud but relatively brief roar, startling the boy and sending him jumping back with a soft gasp. He looked down at Rose's sword, still gripped in his hand, and then looked back up at the Corruption. She still stood there, motionless. Was she waiting for him to make a move?
Steven lifted his shaking opposite hand and licked his palm, the spit from before having since dried over time. He watched as Jasper seemed to sense this and took a single step back, deliberately leaving one clawed foot hovering in the air, ready to strike him at any time. She snarled bitterly, but it was cut off as her warped physical form began to glitch again, making Steven wince.
"Your… your gem. It-It's… it's cracked."
Jasper didn't 'respond' this time, only allowed a low growl to rumble in her throat.
"D-Don't worry, I—I can help you with that too. Just—Just be still…" He stepped towards her, but Jasper matched his footsteps in the opposite direction. She appeared to be trembling. He outstretched his hand towards her, but the Corrupted Quartz only lashed out at him in response with an angry growl. The simple act of clawing at him made her form fall apart as Steven recoiled. He squinted as he stared at her gemstone.
One of the cracks was stretching almost all the way through.
"Jasper, what's wrong? Don't you—don't you want me to help? I—I…" Steven let out a gloomy sigh. "Look, I… I know you hate me. Or my mom, or whatever. But being healed by your enemy has to be better than suffering for eternity!" He fiercely wiped away tears with his opposite hand, the Sun glinting off of the pink blade as he did so. That's when it caught his attention. "Oh. Is—Is… this why you won't let me come near you, Jasper?" He tested her by holding the blade out in front of him; she shrunk down a little in response, snarling defensively. "Is… this what you're afraid of?"
Steven exchanged glances between Jasper and the sword, before opening his hand, allowing it to clatter metallically to the ground. Jasper seemed to jump at the sound.
"S-See? It's okay." Steven glanced down at it before nudging the hilt with his foot, sending it sliding away. "It—It's gone now. I'm not going to hurt you, see?" He held up both hands in front of him, showing her that they were both empty despite the Corrupted Gem's distinct lack of eyes to see it with. Regardless, she seemed to relax a bit.
He began taking shaky steps towards Jasper, slowly at first, before picking up the pace a little. He winced when Jasper growled at him as he stood within arm's length of her, baring her fangs; she looked ready to strike at him at any moment. Every time he tried to move any closer or touch her, she recoiled back or growled dangerously, much to the hybrid boy's frustration. He remembered what Pearl had told him earlier: she's as stubborn as she is dangerous.
"I—I know you don't want help, but—but I know you're suffering in there. I-I've seen it for myself… I've felt it in my dreams! I know what you're going through, and… and all I want to do is help. Make it where you aren't suffering anymore." Steven said, his voice low so that only the two of them could hear. At this distance, he noticed the bruises and scrapes covering her banded, splotchy skin. The Corrupted Quartzes they'd fought earlier probably attacked her and, with a cracked gem, she couldn't put up a fight against them anymore. "I… I know it might be hard to think that anyone would ever care about someone like you, but… but I do. So, please, Jasper. Just… let me heal you."
Neither of them made a sound at first. The Quartz was breathing hard still, but she wasn't even growling now.
Steven glanced down and hesitantly lifted his hand, hovering it inches over Jasper's damaged gemstone, silently offering it to her.
A second passed. Then two.
Steven looked away momentarily, a disappointed look in his eyes as he thought over the situation, wondering just how he'd be able to get her to give in again… until he felt something hard against his palm. He let out a small gasp as he looked up, watching as Jasper silently pushed her gemstone against his saliva-coated hand. It had no effect for the first couple of seconds, but stars entered the boy's eyes as her gem became surrounded by a light amber glow. Beneath the glowing light, he watched as the fissures that ran through the length of her gem mended together until it looked like they were never there. Two more seconds passed, and Steven pulled away as her whole form became engulfed in white light.
He stepped back, silently watching, awestruck, as her monstrous form rippled and changed.
A few soft footsteps caught his attention and he turned to look at Connie as she approached him. She was holding onto her left arm with a vice grip and the dark skin was literally black and blue with ugly bruises. She was gripping the hilt of Rose's sword in the hand of her broken arm, but Steven could see that it was trembling violently. Other than the fractured bone in her arm, her clothes were torn slightly and her skin was scraped and bruised, but otherwise, she looked okay.
They looked at each other silently for a moment, before turning back to Jasper as the light faded away.
Jasper was on her hands and knees at first, before shaking as she pushed up into a standing position. She staggered a bit before she caught herself on a nearby wall. She looked the same as she had the last time her Corruption was healed, residual features of her Corrupted form still sticking around. She looked up with a weak groan, looking at Connie first, and then at Steven, her hard gaze remaining on him for a much longer period of time.
"So… you did come back." she stated simply. She chuckled bitterly, but it was cut off with another pained groan; the ground cracked as she lost her balance and fell onto her knees again, grabbing her still Corrupted right arm with her left hand. "Why…? Why do you keep doing this? What if I… just want to be left, ugh… a-alone…?" Jasper was surprisingly calm as she spoke.
"But you don't. I—I know it." Steven said. "You were suffering. I—I can't just let you stay that way!"
"So what?!" Jasper retorted, shooting a hostile glare at the boy. "Who cares whether I'm suffering or not?! Who…?!" Jasper's voice lowered with a raspy sigh. She lifted her right hand and flexed her red claws in front of her, a sad look in her single golden eye. "Who even wants me to come back…?" Steven's eyes went wide at that statement. "Ugh… who?!" She punctuated the word by slamming her clawed fist to the ground. She bowed her head, her blonde hair hiding her face from view.
"Well, um… there's…"
Jasper interrupted him, as if she hadn't even heard him. "Does that Peridot want me back? Does Homeworld want me back?!" She lifted her head, staring at Steven from the shadows of her hair. "Or… does she want me back?" Steven gave her a confused look and that made the half-Corrupted Gem shift her gaze to the ground, chuckling softly to herself. "That… brat. Lapis."
"Lapis? Why—Why would you ever want to see her again?" Steven asked genuinely.
"I think what you mean is… why would she ever want to see me again." Jasper 'corrected' him. She chuckled again. The more she did it, the more the kids began to notice the bitter, despairing edge to it.
"Well, m-maybe not her. But… I—I do. An-And Amethyst."
Jasper scoffed. "Why should I care what that… runt thinks of me? She's just another failure that should've been purged a long time ago."
Connie tightened her grip on the sword, her face twisting in an expression of disgust. She looked over at Steven. "Are you sure about this, Steven?" she whispered to him.
"Just… just wait." Steven whispered back. He rose his voice again as he took a couple of steps towards Jasper again, only for her to snap her head to look him in the eye.
"Don't come any closer." she warned. Steven's eyes went wide and he put his hands up, backing away again. "And… you. Why would you want me back? You… you're lying…"
"But I'm not!" Steven retorted bluntly.
"You have to be! You are a Crystal Gem… I am a Homeworld soldier. You're not supposed to care about me…"
Steven perked up slightly when she said that. "Actually, a-about that… I—I had a dream a few nights ago. I… I saw her, Jasper."
"What? Who?" Jasper asked.
"…your Diamond."
Jasper's eye went wide and she let out a shaky, higher-pitched gasp. She stared at Steven in surprise for a moment, before her expression abruptly melted away.
She turned away from him, laughing again. "You—You're mocking me."
"Wh-What? But—But I…"
"Don't waste your breath. I know why you're really here." Jasper said, half to herself. "I… know you're not Rose Quartz. Or… at least not the Rose Quartz. I—I can't… she was a savage rebel… but she would never forget our Diamond." She looked down at her uncorrupted palm for a moment, flexing her orange fingers in and out. "So, there. You can move on with your life now… and leave. Me. Be."
"Jasper, that's not with this is about! It's…!"
"I don't want to hear it!" Jasper frustratedly interrupted.
Steven opened his mouth to retort, but this time, Connie cut him off, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Oh, come on! I just… I can't understand this! Steven healed you because he cares, not because he wants to hurt or manipulate you for his own benefit! Is it really so hard to believe that Steven helped you because it was the right thing to do?!" All three of them fell silent once Connie's rant trailed off, before Jasper looked up and stared her down. If looks could kill…
"You don't get it… human. This isn't how it works on Homeworld, so why should I think that's how it works on Earth?" Jasper said. She leaned up and balanced herself on her knees, making corresponding gestures with both hands. "Gems don't just help other Gems… because it's right! They help each other if they're allies… or if one is looking to take advantage of the other." Jasper smirked and gestured towards the kids. "And since we aren't allies… I think even an unintelligent organism like yourself will be able to the math."
Connie growled under her breath as Jasper continued to insult her and humankind as a whole. She tried to lift her arm and, by default, her sword, opening her mouth to make a comeback, but was cut off as she let out a pained cry, letting her arm drop limply, immediately grabbing it again. Subconsciously, she lost her grip on the sword and it clattered to the ground, the metallic sound catching Jasper's attention. While Steven was occupied with comforting his pained friend, Jasper stared at the pink sword, wide-eyed.
"The sword… of Rose Quartz." Jasper choked out.
Connie's eyes went wide and she pulled away from Steven's comforting touch, picking up the sword with her good hand and pointing it in Jasper's general direction.
"Yeah. What of it?"
Jasper's gaze travelled between the sparkling pink blade and the human on the other side of it, before she looked away, genuinely beginning to laugh to herself, catching Connie off-guard.
"What…? Hey! What's so funny?"
"Haha, heh… that—that sword is meant to be handled by someone that can actually use it. Not some… short-lived organic… human. Heh… I guess I shouldn't put it past Rose Quartz to recruit humans into the fold too… unless this is some sort of sick joke. I could squash you into the dirt like an insect." Jasper mocked her.
Connie growled and Steven put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she pulled away, taking a couple of strides towards the Gem.
"Why don't you come over here and say that to my face?!" she shouted, a look of hatred in her dark eyes.
"Is that really a risk you're willing to take?"
Connie said something in response, but Steven didn't hear it. He was hugging himself, squeezing his eyes shut as tears formed in them, trying and failing to block out the insults tossed back and forth between his friend and the partially healed Quartz soldier. He just wanted to help Jasper and he wanted her to be friends with them… not for them to fight at first glance like this. He hesitantly opened his eyes, as Connie let out a shout, and he was surprised to see her lunging at Jasper with the blade. The Quartz's eye was widened in stunned surprise.
"No… it—it's not going to end like this." he whispered to himself.
Steven let out a horrified gasp and, in an instant, he was standing between them, facing Connie.
Connie's eyes, at first narrowed her determination, suddenly went wide and she let out a startled gasp as she still held her sword out in front of her. "S-Steven?!"
He positioned himself firmly in front of her, his shield summoned, the blade of Rose's sword piercing straight through it, the tip mere inches from his battered chest.
"Just… just stop!" he snapped at her.
Obediently, she slowly pulled the sword back, allowing it to slide easily out of the shield. Once it was removed, Steven's shield instantly dissipated.
"Thank you." Steven said bitterly, not looking up at his friend.
Connie lowered her sword with a disappointed sigh, looking at the ground as well.
"Hmph. Coward." Jasper snorted under her breath.
"What?!"
"No, Connie!" Steven retorted, grabbing the blade and pushing it down. "We're not here to fight!" He turned to face Jasper. "That goes for you too!"
Jasper snorted in disdain.
Steven sighed, stepping back to look at both of them. "I—I just wanted to try and help, but…" He looked up at Connie. "we can't help if we keep threatening to poof her!"
"But, Steven, she's an insensitive, good-for-nothing brute!" Connie snapped. Even Jasper's eye seemed to widen at that. "L-Look, Steven, I know you mean well and I know that you want to try and help her. But… not all Gems can be redeemed." She looked at Steven with a sympathetic look, stepping towards him and resting a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we should just… bubble her away and get it over with? Just… forget this ever happened."
Steven stared at the ground, a sad look in his eyes. "But—But she…"
"She's stubborn, Steven, that's all there is to it. She doesn't want your help, so she's going to make sure she doesn't get it." Connie told him, looking equally forlorn. "Maybe… maybe she wants to suffer. Maybe that's just what she deserves…" She gasped softly when Steven subconsciously pushed her back, sending her stumbling a couple of steps. She closed her eyes, silently willing for the instinct to fight back to go away.
"No. No-one deserves to suffer! What if… wh-what if it were me in that bubble, Connie? Or—Or Pearl? Or Garnet, or Amethyst?" Steven retorted, giving her a stern but saddened look. "We—We wouldn't just give up on them, would we?" His expression softened as he looked up at her, while Connie glanced away guiltily, searching her mind for a justifiable response.
"But they're not Jasper. They aren't as dangerous as Jasper, and they're not as stubborn as she is either…"
"But they'd still be Gems who need our help!" Steven interrupted. "And, right now, Jasper is too."
Connie opened and closed her mouth a few times, but eventually gave up, staring down at Rose's sword, casually swinging it back and forth in her grip. Steven stared at her for a bit longer, before turning to face Jasper. He opened his mouth to say something to her, up until he noticed something.
She was gone.
I feel like there were a few moments of OOC-ness here and there, like Amethyst in her only scene at the beginning and Connie throughout a lot of her scenes. The former I kinda have an excuse for: in canon, Amethyst seems to get really serious whenever it comes to Jasper, especially in 'Crack That Whip', 'Steven vs Amethyst', 'Beta', and 'Earthlings'. Oh, wait... And with Connie, well, I dunno really.
Also, Connie nearly dies because I just wanted to traumatize Steven a little more, and no, Jasper didn't recorrupt this time. She just ran away because savage Quartzes have feelings too... but she doesn't want them knowing that. They'll find her in the next chapter, don't worry, and that's when Steven will have a little heart-to-heart with her and that will be the official beginning of the whole "Steven tries to redeem Jasper but everyone else is kinda leery about her still" arc. So yes, Jasper's finally here, and this time, she's here to stay... mostly. The Corrupted Quartz the kids fought was the same one Jasper fused with in 'Earthlings', but when Jasper shattered her unbubbled gemstone, she shattered her. Like, really. Ocean Jasper (the proposed name of the green-and-pink Quartz Corruption) is destroyed forever, she ain't coming back except in occasional mentions.
I know Corrupted!Jasper's appearance didn't make the most sense; she was hiding off to the side somewhere while the kids were fighting Ocean and, while they were distracted, she came up and shattered her. The Corrupted Carnelian wasn't Homeworld human zoo Carnelian, by the way. She was just one of many Quartzes to come out of Beta "defective" and I wanted to give our protagonists an opponent that really means Bismuth, despite her small stature and status as a Corruption. Don't worry though, she wasn't completely pointless, she'll return in the future.
That is all. Read, review, or don't. Stay tuned for chapter six! And hopefully, the wait won't be as long this time. ^^