Things are really starting to look up for us. Peridot's started to integrate well with being a Crystal Gem and we've taken to accepting her as such. My gift has also eased her a bit into a more comfortable state with what's happened lately.

Because of the new cohesion, there is now without a doubt that the drill is up and ready to go at anytime. Already we have the giant machine suspended on some large tall beams of durable wood with the drill part aimed directly down and easily able to cut through the earth when activated. After a couple of chill days and double, even triple-checking, our work do we get that much closer to taking our impromptu transport directly down to our target. All in all things seem to be doing alright and as long as nothing else comes up things should go swimmingly.

*RUMBLE*

*Sigh* Things just can't ever work out can they?


"Uh!" Steven gasps as he wakes up, leaving himself panting a little

"Didn't you feel that?" Peridot asks everyone.

"Feel what?" Amethyst asks through a mouthful of her sandwich with Pearl and Garnet next to her, except Marcus who is taking inventory inside the barn.

"The ground shook!" The green gem begins explaining. "This could be the start of the emergence of the CLuster." She explains and points to a diagram on a chalkboard next to her. "Stage 1: slight tremors every quarter hour. Stage 2: full-scale earthquakes. Stage 3…" She turns the chalkboard over, revealing a destroyed drawing of the Earth with the text 'CLUSTER EMERGES' 'BYE BYE EARTH.' "The Earth is destroyed! We're running out of time. We need to drill right now!" She declares while pointing downwards.

Steven however has a different theory in mind. "No, it's Malachite!"

"Malachite?!" Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst ask in confused surprise.

"WHAT?!"

*CRASH*

Marcus busts through the wall on the side of the barn and runs right up to Steven before sliding on his knees. "What's this about Malachite?" He asks his brother on his knees with a bit of hope that they've finally found her, especially since no one's spoken up about the fusion since this whole Cluster thing started. Peridot is also slightly freaked out at the sudden entrance the hybrid made without much effort.

"I was on Mask Island." Steven explains. Marcus gets up and now looks confused instead of hopeful, especially since the kid has been here the whole time sleeping. "I was in a Watermelon Steven." 'Ah, that explains it.' "They have a lovely community, but Malachite, she was there!"

Everyone stares in awe at the kid at the news they just heard about the fusion they've been searching for for a long time or tried to search for. Amethyst meanwhile coughs up a bit of the sandwich too.

"Malachite…" Marcus breathes and turns away. "We found you… we finally found you… Lapis…" He mutters in stunned happiness after finally finding her. The fusion that's kept one of his dear friends and hated enemies captive for so long.

"Lapis Lazuli is losing control. Soon, Jasper will overpower her and Malachite will be loose." Garnet explains the direness of the rogue fusions situation.

"Who knows what sort of destruction an unstable fusion like Malachite could cause?" Pearl asks.

"It doesn't matter." Marcus pipes up firmly. All eyes fall on his back before turns back to them. "Malachite has been out there for far too long and who knows when we'll be able to find her again. We need to go now and defuse her before we lose track of her again. We CAN'T let his opportunity be wasted." He says in a dead serious tone, leaving no room for argument.

Garnet nods in agreement. "Agreed. This is the closest opportunity we've ever gotten and can't let it pass up."

"Then let's go." Marcus impatiently says and starts walking to the nearest warp pad.

"Not you Marcus."

Everyone looks on stunned at the fusions words. The hybrid in question freezes at the denial. "… No?" He asks confused as he slowly turns around. Knowing just how this might play out, Garnet walks over to the hybrid and places a comforting hand on his shoulder. It relaxes him a little but he still has a cross and slightly angry look about him. "Garnet… you can't keep me out of this. Not when I'm this close. Not when I'm so close to saving her." He pleads to the fusion in a stern but low tone.

"I know that Marcus, but this is a very powerful and very unstable fusion that can do tremendous amounts of damage if the wrong gem takes over and gets free." Garnet begins explaining to him in a slightly quieter tone too so their conversation remains with them. "Pearl, Amethyst and I will engage her fusion to fusion, and you know who we fuse into when the three of us do?" She asks him with a smirk.

'Alexandrite.' Marcus remembers the massive fusion that they became to placate to Connie's parents. However another thought makes him smirk to the fusion. "Hm, don't you mean four?" He asks and taps her hand. She looks at bother her hands for a second before returning the smile.

"Yeah, I suppose they do." She nods and resumes her hand on his shoulder. "Besides, we need you as our last line of defense in case we somehow fail. Think you can prepare?" She asks him.

He stares up at her for a bit before closing his eyes and staring elsewhere. With some mental debate with himself, he sighs and looks back saddened. "Fine. I'll stay. I guess I can recheck the systems on the drill."

"Thank you Marcus." She turns back to the others. "Alright, Gems, Pearl, Amethyst, and I will warp to Mask Island. Steven, it's too dangerous for you. Stay here and watch after the drill with Peridot and Marcus. Let's go, Gems! To the nearest warp pad!" She declares loudly.

"To the nearest warp!" Pearl and Amethyst declare too and start running.

Just before Garnet takes off too, a hand grabs her wrist in a near death grip, stopping her in place. Turning Marcus givers her a fierce look. "You bring her back damnit." He demands in a low voice.

"Hm, don't worry. We got this." She reassures him. Satisfied with the answer, even just a bit, he lets her go. Immediately she takes off after the others and as one they all make it to the warp pad in the distance and the familiar beam of light in the sky signals their departure.

*Rumble*

Another tremor goes over the landscape, making those at the drill just a little uneasy at the new earthquakes that have been taking place recently. They settle down on the white blanket Steven was lying on earlier and just proceed to wait for the gems to come back. Some are content to stay while other are not, and also silently brood.

"So... Lazuli has Jasper trapped in a fusion? You're joking me." Peridot asks with them.

Marcus sighs at the truth of the matter. "I wish I was Peridot. I really wish I was." He groans as he lies on his back and stares into the sky with his arms behind his head.

"Yeah it's true! But Lapis must be getting tired from fighting Jasper for so long." Steven adds sadly.

"Geez how long has it been? I feel like it's been a year already but it's not."

"Just being on a ship with Jasper made me tired." Peridot drones as she recalls her own experiences with the Quartz soldier.

*Rumble*

"Man are these things seriously caused by Malachite along?" Marcus groans as he sits up. "If so then I'm a little worried for the gems in taking her on." He says with a mixture of genuine worry but also still angry that he was asked to stay back. 'If Vindicator was up and running I could possibly help but after my battle with Peridot he is still out of commission. What else could I use?' He thinks of what his arsenal consists of.

"Your right! We gotta help them! But they told me it was too dangerous." He says as he jumps up, ready to go but stops himself as he remembers the order from the gems.

"Why don't you just disobey them? Rebel. Isn't that, like, your guys' thing?" Peridot asks.

"Ughhh, Peridot. It's not like that. We don't just rebel at any point we want." Marcus lightly scolds her.

"You're right."

"What?" Marcus asks confused at his brothers agreement.

"Oh, I know! I'll fall asleep and go into a Watermelon Steven again. This way, I can help them and be safe at the same time. Eheheheheh." Steven proposes instead.

"Wow. You're a real anarchist." Peridot says sarcastically.

"Steven, are you sure you—"

"No one can tell me what to do." Steven softly says and before we know it he falls right to sleep.

"Steven." Marcus calls his brothers name at him thinking he's pretending to sleep. "Steven… Steven?" Now he's confused and snaps his fingers a couple times before really believing his brother just instantly fell asleep. "Wow, lucky."

"Well, what do we do now?" Peridot asks him.

He looks at her before looking elsewhere and thinking on what can they do. 'Steven's going to back up the gems with a Watermelon Steven, but unless he can get all of them to help I don't think he'll be much help to the gems. Malachite seemed pretty powerful but who knows exactly what type of power she has. Combining that of Jasper and Lapis… I'm worried.' He begins pacing. 'Garnet said no but we really can't let this opportunity escape us. But what do I have that can possibly take on—' He cuts off his own thoughts as he remembers something he has that can definitely put in an effort in fighting Malachite. Slowly a grin spreads across his face as he slowly turns back to the green gem. "Peridot, I'm gonna need your help."

She looks on in confusion at his request.


An intense battle takes place on the shore of Mask Island. The unstable fusion known as Malachite takes on the Crystal Gem fusion known as Alexandrite in the waters just off of Mask Island, now housing the village of the Watermelon Steven's.

Alexandrite lets out a roar before charging her opponent. Malachite sends one of her water fists straight her enemy, who dodges the attack and jumps forward. Malachite sees this and uses her remaining water fist to grab Alexandrite out of the air. Not wanting to be held for too long, she retaliates and frees herself by letting loose a large breath of fire at the water arm, quickly evaporating it and landing on her feet again. Malachite is angry at the attack and picks up several small balls of water in her top right hand before turning them to ice crystal shards and sending them towards her opponent. Alexandrite deflects the projectiles by pulling out Amethyst's whip and whipping them away. As she recovers does she pull out Pearl's spear and form them into Opals bow and fires a large energy arrow straight at Malachite before it splits into nine smaller arrows. She brings up a wall of water before they hit and quickly hardens it to ice, creating a shield strong enough to negate the arrow strike.

Malachite decides to go a different route and sprouts Lapis Lazuli's water wings before flying straight into the air. She does the spin attack used by Jasper and propels herself downwards towards her enemy before flying straight with Jasper's crash helmet on her head at her enemy. Alexandrite doesn't have time to dodge or properly take the hit and is hit full force by the attack. They both hit the island with Alexandrite cushioning the fall for Malachite. Unfortunately once of Alexandrites arms lands on the warp pad native to the island, cutting of quick access to and from the island.

Malachite breathes heavily at the momentary lapse in the fight and goes to punch her enemy but Alexandrite brings her leg up and hits her chest, knocking her away. Malachite grunts as she's pushed back before bringing her arms up to grab the pouncing the fusion. They both lock arms against each other and Alexandrite is about to use her remaining two free arms to hit but Malachite pulls her around.

At the end, Malachite gains the upper hand and pins Alexandrite to the side of the cliff on Mask Island.

"You know, you're right." She cackles at the pinned fusion. Alexandrite tries to breathe fire on her opponent to get her off but is interrupted by a punch. "There really is something more to this fusion thing. It's not just a cheap trick." She then throws Alexandrite away towards the ocean. She screams as she goes flying before splashing into the ocean hard. "You've really shown me a whole new world of possibilities." She boasts as she starts to make her way towards the kneeling fusion.

Alexandrite on her part stays on her hands and knees and groans before her forms starts to unfuse. She glows for a moment before stopping and retaining her form. "Keep it together." She tells herself firmly.

"Allow me to thank you." Malachite says and with a wave of her arms, a pair of water hands appear around her and close on Alexandrite before freezing. "Sorry, but there's only room for one abomination on this measly planet. Hahahahaaaa!" She cackles and starts to constrict the hands.

*BOOOOM!*

"Arrrrrhhh!" Malachite screams in pain as two plooms of explosions appear on her left side. She leans forward in pain at the sudden blasts against her. With Alexandrite incapacitated in the frozen hands, she turns around at the source that dares attack her. Her four eyes widen as she stares at the hovering Russian Hind helicopter several meters away from her.

The helicopter hovers in the air at eye level with the fusion but it's what's inside that makes her pause.

Peridot sits uncomfortably in the upper pilot seat as she shrinks from the menacing glare of the large fusion.

Marcus however, sitting in the lower seat keeps his face passively neutral as he stares at his target.

Neither say anything at first as they examine each other.

"Marcus…" For a moment, the face of Malachite shifts, allowing Lapis to give a smile at seeing the face of her savior from the crashing ship.

Marcus's face breaks away to awe and a smile at seeing her still in there. The instant later however the face morphs back into a snarl. "NOOO!" Malachite screams as she grabs her face. "I am done being held down. I'm in control now and you won't stop me!" She yells at herself.


My teeth grind and my hand comes incredibly close to tearing apart the flight stick in front of me in anger.

For a second, a goddamn second I saw her. I saw Lapis right there in that thing and Jasper pushed her back down.

'She's still in there. She's still trapped. I'm going to destroy you Jasper. I swear I am going to—'

"Uhhh, what are we going to do now?" Peridot's question knocks me from my mental threats. Glancing back up at her I can see she's still a little nervous being in this ship. No doubt confused and nervous about using this machine that's still archaic to her. "Because it looks like she's getting ready to clobber us!" She points out scared towards the fusion in front of us.

Turning back, I spot Malachite begin to form two giant water fists in the air with a sadistic smile. With a grimace, I flip on the speakers in this thing and put the pilots helmet with headset on me and adjust the microphone. "Jasper!" I yell into the microphone, the loudspeaker outside enhancing my voice several times louder than normal. The fusion stops moving and looks at me quizzically. "I am giving you just one chance to unfuse and go! Leave Lapis out this!" I demand loudly. In the back of my mind I hope, just hope that maybe she'll take it but from what I remember her, I know it's a fruitless endeavor.

Especially she screams loudly in anger and sends her fists flying straight at us. "Look out!"

"Ngh!" I grunt and shift the controls to the left, banking the helicopter to the side and out of the way of the flying fists at us. Peridot yelps at the sudden shift in gravity but holds steady, even when she accidentally depresses the trigger on her controls and sends a stream of 12.7 x 108mm bullets from the Yak-B rotary cannon under the chin of our ride. The bullets don't penetrate the fusions form but they do impact hard and rough against her, making her recoil and bring her arms up in a vain attempt to protect herself from the short onslaught. Soon I bring out ride floating to the side of the trapped Alexandrite. She looks surprised at us being here no doubt but we can't focus on that. "Alexandrite, you okay?" I aks over the loudspeaker.

"I'm fine! What are you doing here?! We told you to stay behind!" She yells at us.

"You did… but it looks like you could use some help." I state with a smirk. She doesn't retort and tell us to go because right now, her being trapped in the frozen contradicts anything she might try to say against us. I switch off the loudspeaker and address my copilot. "Alright Peridot, you have access to the controls for the precision guided AGM-114 Hellfire rockets and the 360 degree rotating turret under us." I start flipping and activating the controls necessary to get my armament system ready for use.

"What are you going to use?" She asks me from behind.

With a smile, I grip the flight stick controls and glance at my ammo counters from both the GSh-23 twin barreled 23mm autocannons under the wings, alongside Peridot's AGM's and my Hydra 70 unguided rocket pods carrying 25 rockets each, giving me a total 40 to work with. "Don't worry about me." I say with a smile as I firmly grip the controls and get ready to get this under way. "Hey." Peridot stops shaking and glances down at me. I turn to the side and give her my best comforting smile. "Don't worry, I got you… if you got me." I tell her.

She stares at me before taking a deep breath and gripping her controls. "I got you."

"Good." Turning back to our enemy, Malachite regains her bearings and stares at us with death in her eyes, although it's more like Jasper because I'm not seeing Lapis in that fusion. "Don't let up. Give it everything you got." I tell my copilot and set everything ready. "Take down that fusion!"

The fight begins.


Malachite with a roar sends her arms up. Taking the initiative the hind goes flying straight up as Peridot opens fire with her machine gun. Two water fists appear from below and slam into just where the hind was hovering. The bullets let loose forces Malachite to bring her arms up to block them as the Hind goes into a slight dip forward. Aiming as best he can towards his enemy, Marcus sends half a dozen Hydra missiles streaking towards the fusion. They impact hard against her, making her cry out in pain at the multiple explosions on her form but it still just makes her angrier. Pulling up some balls of water, they turn to sharpened ice crystals and fly towards the helicopter. The Hind banks to the ride and all three machine guns open fire, peppering the fusion across her entire form and making small splashes of water appear all around her. It continues to fire and circle around the fusion until she pulls up a dome of water all around her and hardens it to ice.

A salvo of rockets come flying out of the rocket pods and two Hellfire rockets streak towards the defended fusion. They impact the shield with a devastating blast that covers the entire dome and sends fire and smoke flying into the air. The ice melts a bit at first before it cracks and shatters all together. Through the smoke, a water fist comes streaking towards the Hind.

"Look out!"

"Evading!"

Marcus tries to pull the helicopter to the side but the water fist clips it right in its sides, sending it into a heavy tail spin through the air. Peridot screams in fright while Marcus tries to stabilize the out of control helicopter with alarms blaring all around them before it crashes into the island or water. He grunts as the spinning starts to make him dizzy but he regains control as the helicopter glides dangerously close to the water. It skims across it but continues to strafe to the right. "FIRE!" Marcus orders and both he and Peridot open fire with everything they have as Malachite brings her arms up. As bullets and missiles fly out towards the fusion, multiple water fists fly out from under them one by one, barely missing them as they continue to strafe and shoot around her. She uses one of her arms to form an ice shield in front of them but it quickly proves useless as they already move past where the shield was erected. Soon after they go and take a moment to reorient themselves with Malachite recoiling from the onslaught. "Peridot! You alright?"

"Ugh… yeah, kind of. Dizzy but I'll manage." She replies weakly.

"Alright, ammo check. I'm still good on bullets and rockets. You?"

"Uhhh, AGM's are out but I still have access to the turret."

"Good, but I don't think we can take her on ourselves. We need help." Glancing out the window, he spots Alexandrite still trapped. "Alright, get ready Peridot. We're going for a strafing run. Target the hands holding Alexandrite."

"Uhhhh, okay." She reluctantly agrees, not alright with the idea of shooting their ally but if Malachite can take their abuse, then so can she, especially if they focus on what's keeping her stuck.

"Get ready, we're going in." He tells her and starts dipping forward straight to the trapped fusion. They see Malachite start to get itself together so they need to finish this. "Alright, we're close. As soon as we get close, open fire."

"Right!"

"Almost there… almost…" He mutters as his aim on his weapon systems start to come onto target. "Ready… Aim…" Both of them press their fingers to their respective triggers. "Fi- Arh!"

"Ahh!"

Before they can free Alexandrite, a sudden force stops their momentum cold. Their accidentally fire a flurry of bullets but miss as their bodies pushed forward accidentally on their controls, sending the bullets hitting the water below her instead. They both groan as they sit back up. "Ow. What the hell happened?" Marcus groans after nearly cracking the window with his head.

"I don't know. We just stopped and…" Peridot begins to say but trails off. He looks at her in confusion but the look of scared horror on her face dictates she sees what's stopped them. Even more so when she points out the right side window. Marcus glances outside in the same direction and his eyes widen at the problem.

A very long water whip is connected to the tail of their helicopter. They were well out of the range of most of her water attacks, unfortunately this one leaves them stuck and captured by Malachite. She gives them a sadistic grin before chuckling darkly.

The whip pulls them back as they try to pull away but it jerks them towards Malachite before she grabs the water whip and starts twisting around in a spin, taking the helicopter too as it spins around her quickly. She brings it low to the water a couple spins before it skips off the surface, making a massive wave of water fly up as the machine impacts hard against it. Even more alarms go off in the cockpit as multiple systems get damaged from the attack. They finally stop spinning but its only to them seeing Malachite stare at them menacingly.

"You have been a thorn in my side for too long!" She yells and slowly reels in the helicopter to her. Peridot starts panicking as they closer and closer while Marcus tries to break free from her hold. "What?! Did you honestly think you could possibly defeat me in this?!" She accentuates the question by shaking the whip, in turn making the helicopter shake its occupants. "Your puny excuse for a ship! Your nothing compared to me! There's no way you could defeat me!" She screeches and as soon as they are close enough, she reaches forward and grabs the main belly of the helicopter from below. It's so she can keep a firm hold and so she doesn't have to worry about the spinning blades on top and behind. She glares through the right side windows of the helicopter with a maniacal smile. "Oh I am going to have so much fun tearing you apart in front of your friend here." She threatens and glances to Alexandrite. She gets angry and tries to break her prison but she's still trapped too well. "He he he hee." She cackles darkly and with one of her hands grabs the front and slowly applies pressure. The entire cockpits windows start to break and crack and controls start sparking and blaring loudly.

"Ohclodohclodohclod!" Peridot panics.

'Cmonc'monc'mon… theirs gotta be something!' Marcus thinks as he tries to do something but all his controls are frozen.

"HAHAHAAA!" Malachite laughs as the machine in her hand prepares to blow.

*Shink*

"Huh?" She stops all together as something taps her. She turns back to see something weird to her while also letting go of the cockpit, allowing the pilots to see as well what just saved them.

A loud war horn blares through the air, signifying an attack.

A flurry of spears and arrows rain down on Malachite from the direction of the island. She's confused at first from the attacks but she only laughs as the flimsy pieces of wood and metal barely makes a scratch on her. Another horn goes off, signaling another attack to strike. What hits her now is much stronger than arrows as several giant boulders of stone are launched from catapults and impact the side of her head. She growls as she stares at the contraptions but grunts as a delayed stone hits her right between her eyes. An aerial attack from the Watermelon Stevens is next as they use gliders to fly over her and land on her face. Once they attack themselves to her face, Malachite is confused at the attack but a Watermelon Steven in a skirt and wearing a flower necklace punches her in her bottom right eye. "Arrrrr!" She groans in pain at the small but still effective hit to her eye. With a groan, she uses one of her free hands to slap the nuisances from her face so she can see. "Grrrr- Huh?" She begins to growl and gets ready to retaliate but the helicopter in her hand gets her attention.

Marcus leans out of the open window of the pilot seat, one hand grasping the edge to hold himself steady, the other holding his refurbished, pristine condition sawed off double barrel shotgun. Now equipped with modern age material, the blackened at all angles shotgun points directly at Malachite face with Marcus sporting an angry and fierce face.

All four of her eyes cross to look at the barrel a half a dozen feet from her face.

"EAT THIS!"

*BOOM*

The world slows as he depresses both triggers on the gun at once. In the right barrel, a 12 gauge slug round propels itself from the barrel and flies straight at its target. The left barrel however fires a shell containing the contents of a dragon's breath round. The tiny metal shards fly out with the slug and fire explodes from the barrel, coating all the projectiles as fire and metal head straight or Malachite's face. The fire hits all of her at once, and the slug flys directly at the center of Jaspers gem.

"AAAAARRRRHHHHH!" She screams in agony as she covers her face with three of her hands, the fire burning her at all points on her face and the slug breaking on Jaspers gem, not enough to shatter or crack but enough to make her feel much much pain. Marcus flies back from into his seat from the force of the shots going off and quickly closes the window.

"NOW!"

"Raaaaah!"

Peridot aims the turret back and fires right at the wrist of the hand that's holding their helicopter in place. The close proximity bullets impact the fusions hand, making her let go of her captive opponent. Now free, Marcus pulls the controls as hard to the left as he can, pushing as much distance as he can from the fusion and them. "Fire!" Marcus orders and both he and Peridot open fire in front of them at their captured ally. Both machine gun sets fire and pepper the ice hands holding Alexandrite and cracks start to form all over. Unfortunately while Peridot is able to keep firing, Marcus's loses control and is barely able to keep his ride in the air what with all the damage they sustained.

For Alexandrite, the bullets are all that she needs and with a powerful flex of her arms does she send her makeshift prison exploding in a shower of ice shards. She growls before letting loose a loud fierce roar of anger towards her enemy.

Meanwhile Marcus is having trouble keeping themselves stable from all the damage they sustained. "Ahhh, damn. My controls are shot! Barely keeping us in the air! Peridot I'm transferring all weapons controls to you!" He informs her as she starts doing what he said.

"What?! Are you serious?!"

"We don't have a choice! My controls are shot and the only thing I have access to is flying and that's coming apart at the seams too!" He retorts and finishes the transfer. "We only got one more for a strafing run in us. Be ready!"

With Malachite, she still feels the burn on her face and the reverberating slug round hitting one of her gems directly. With a groan she takes her hands away from her face to reveal some scorch marks but she's absolutely pissed overall. "I have had enough of this!" She yells and slams her fists into the water, creating a massive wave that blasts the Watermelon Steven's on the beach away from her except one and its watermelon dog. "I am going to destroy you!" She yells and several water arms fly into the air and converge on the helicopter.

"Hey!"

"Wha—!" Before she can crush the barely stable machine, Sugilite's flail wraps around Malachite, pinning her arms to her sides before the weight at the end hits her in the face, dazing her. The attack also allows the water arms to fall back into the ocean and the hind to gain altitude.

"Bark bark!" The watermelon dog barks happily at the hold on Malachite and the Watermelon Steven, controlled by actual Steven, smiles at Alexandrite back in the fight.

"Don't forget about me!" She reminds Malachite about her before pulling her back. Malachite glides along the water towards Alexandrite before turning to face her. As soon as she gets close enough, Alexandrite stops her cold with a powerful gut punch, making her groan considerably. Momentarily stunned, Alexandrite takes the opportunity and forms Sardonyx's hammer before delivering a devastating uppercut, sending the rogue fusion spinning and flying high into the air. Once she stops, Malachite sprouts her water wings and stops mid-air. She growls as she stares down at the opponent that got the jump on her. She concentrates her powers to attack while still very far away.

*Boom*

"Arh!" She grunts as another explosion hits her. Looking to the side, she spots the hind speeding towards her before it opens fires with all its machine guns. No time to move or defend, she's forced to take every round full force followed by a cluster of rockets that block out her entire form in a cloud of smoke and fire. The hind speeds by just barely grazing the cloud before it stops and turns around. Once the cloud disappears, Malachite is still floating in the air but still noticeably weaker. She gives a low growl at the machine that's been hitting her again and again before looking down at her original opponent. She gasps as she sees Alexandrite ready with Opal's bow and arrow ready to strike.

"You two should spend some time apart." With a final statement, she lets loose the energy arrow. A loud snap permeates the air waves as it flies straight towards its target. Mid-flight, the arrow changes to the shape of Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst all holding hands as they spin in the air. They come together again before the arrow speeds forward and pierces flying fusion with ease. For a second nothing happens except for the glazed and surprised look on Malachite's face before her form glows, cracks, and finally, explodes.


I can only stare as I see the usual white cloud that appears when a gems form is destroyed. My breathing starts to get heavy as I watch both Jasper and Lapis fall to the ground without them looking like they're going to break their own falls. I'm half tempted to bring the helicopter in close above them and jump to capture Lapis but I can't. Not with Peridot in here and no knowledge on how to pilot this thing.

Thankfully my fears are suppressed as Alexandrite moves under them and easily captures the two before taking them to the island. "Hooooooo." I let out a breath of air I didn't know I was holding and lean back in my seat. With a heavy hand I take off the headset and place it in my lap. "That… was too close."

"Yeah… it sure was." Peridot gasps out from behind me. The entire machine around us rumbling pretty dangerously and its making me very uneasy at the shaking and alerts that are appearing on our consoles. Still it hasn't crashed yet and I can keep it somewhat stable.

Taking a few more moments to catch our breaths, I gently glide us down and close to the island where everyone is. Alexandrite unfused, no doubt the gems exhausted from the fight that took place, and Pearl and Garnet are standing up, thanking the Watermelon Steven's while Amethyst is face down in the sand with Lapis on their left and Jasper on their right. I'll admit, it looks weird seeing Steven's creations after so long, especially when they tried to kill us all, but he was right about them being okay now. Garnet makes a comment that actually makes them all blush and look sheepish. The act makes me feel lighthearted after the torment we all just endured.

Once I come down close enough to the ground, everyone starts to notice us and the watermelons cheer. Coming to a nice clear open spot, I gently take her down for a smooth landing on the gems right.

*Thud*

… Mostly.

The wheels break off as we roughly land, leave us inside in a stunned pose, waiting to see if this thing will topple over but it stays firm. "Huuuuu!" We both let out a breath of air with me slumping and Perdot laying her head on her console. Slowly I open the window as Garnet comes over. "Hey." I tiredly greet her.

"Hey. Nice work back there you two."

"Thanks." Peridot replies with a muffled voice. I smile too as wave back to the cheers of our audiences. The blades above are still spinning pretty fast but are taking a long time to fully stop.

As I glance over at Lapis however my smile drops and li look on in concern. "Lapis…" I glance at Garnet. "Is she…?"

"She's fine. Just exhausted is all." She explains, putting me at ease.

"Phew, that's good at least. She could use the rest." I sigh in relief. I lean forward a bit and shake my head to get my bearings. I look up to see the Watermelon Steven's looking at us. I smile and wave to them. "Thank you all! Your timing could not have been more perfect! I owe you my life. I'm grateful." I thank them from my seat in the pilot seat and even adding a small bow too with just the upper part of my body. She all blush sheepishly at my compliment with even one of them waving back at me. Everyone laughs at that and the overall mood seems to finally be lifted with everyone in good spirits. I lean back and close my eyes with a smile on my face. 'We got her… we finally got her. She's back. She's coming home…' I hate how I wasn't able to do as much as I would have liked in the search for her in the first place, but she's free and back now finally. 'Thank you…'

*Rumble*

"Wha—?!" I gasp in surprise as yet another tremor rumbles all around us, only this time it feels stronger. Peridot and I straighten up in our seats as the rumbling transfers to our ride too while everyone else struggles to remain standing. I look all around us to see what else might be causing but there's only one other option that makes my heart. 'Oh no! Not now!' Ahead of us I spot massive cracks starting to form and split the ground apart around us. "Son of—!" I immediately turn the engines and thankfully the blades were still spinning, making us gain some air a lot sooner than if they were stopped completely. Just in time too because a particularly large crack heads straight for us. "C'mon c'mon c'mooooon…"

"Up, upupupup! Get us up!"

"I'm trying!" I reply back to Peridot in her panicked state. Thankfully, just as it splits apart under us, we barely dip before finally get some traction in the air. Pulling up as hard as I can, we go soaring back up high into the air and away from the possibility of us crashing through the separating earth. I quickly look down to see if the other are alright. The piece of the earth that separates the gems from everyone else goes into a slant and much to my relief Amethyst manages to grab Lapis from sliding into the fissure while Jasper does. Not really sad about seeing her disappear into the earth. 'Hope you rot.' I can't help but think darkly.

"It must be the cluster!" Garnet yells surmises for what's going on. "Peridot you were right!"

"Of course I was right!" She yells back down to them as I try to bring it in close to them. "Now we need to get back to the drill and take care of the Cluster NOW before it tears this planet apart!"

"Hold on down there!" I yell down before putting the helmet back on and getting as close as I can to them so they can get in the back. "I'm bringing it in close! Get ready to board!" I tell them as I flip the loudspeakers on.

"Wait, Marcus! It's too dangerous!" Garnet replies.

"I am not leaving you all her—!"

*CRINK*

"Fuck!" My careful maneuvering completely goes out of left field as the sound of metal tearing cuts through the air, and we start swerving to the side. "Damn." I grunt and pull back on the controls to bring us up and possibly not hitting the ground.

"What was that?!"

"I don't know!" I yell back to my copilot before keeping it as stable as I can but that's a stretch. Quickly I lean out to examine the damage and I see what the problem is. The back propeller took a lot of damage, leading to it now spin dangerously with it wobbling all over the place. "God damnit!" I curse as I pull myself back in and try to keep us from crashing. "Rear propellers damaged. I can't keep her stable."

"Marcus! Peridot!" I look down at Garnet yelling up to us. "Get back to the drill before you crash!"

"But what about you?!" I call back.

"The warp pad was destroyed and you barely keeping that thing together! If you and Peridot are stranded here then Steven won't be able to use the drill! You have to get back NOW!"

I'm conflicted. The Cluster is emerging now but the others are stuck on that island and my hind is on its last legs. I can't leave them here but if it emerges were all dead!

My hands grip the controls tightly before I groan loudly. "Graaa! You all get back home in one piece do you hear me! ALL! OF! YOU! IN ONE PIECE!" I demand from them as loud as I can, even more so amplified by the loudspeaker before I pull away.

"We will!"

"You got this!"

"Good luck all of you!"

Those are the last words I hear from them before focus all my effort in speeding us as fast as I can back to the drill. Thankfully, the upgraded engine I gave the first time works out perfectly for us.

I just have to keep this thing from crashing.


"Huh?!" Steven gasps as he wakes up. Now out of the Watermelon Steven and back in his own body, he sees he's back at the barn with the drill ready to go. Only one problem: No anyone else to control it. "Oh geez!" He says worried as he stares at the machine as the rumbling starts to get worse. "Why didn't anyone teach me how to pilot this thing?!" He asks out loud with hands place on either side of his face. He looks around and sees no one else here. "C'mon you guys! Please hurry!" He worriedly hopes for them get here soon before the Cluster does too much damage. Thankfully his hoping works out as over the horizon he sees the familiar helicopter coming straight for him. "Yes!" He pumps his arms in glee and smiles widely at seeing his brother and friend so close.

*Boom*

His happiness fades as an explosion goes off on the flying machine. His eyes widen as he stares worried when the propeller in the back breaks off and a ton of smoke and fire flows of the vehicle. "Whoa!" Steven ducks to the ground.

*Crash*

Looking up and behind him he sees the propeller embed itself into the side of the barn, barely missing him. He stands back up and look on as the machine spins out of control.


"God damn! Propellers out! We're out of control!" I shout as we start spinning like crazy with me trying as hard as I can to keep us in the air. Through the spinning I can see we are over the drill and Steven down below but there's no way I can land this thing when it's out of control. 'Only one chance.' "Peridot! Get to the back! Grab some rope and get ready to repel down!"

"What?! Are you crazy?!" She replies and looks at me like I'm crazy, which I might be at this point.

"We don't have a choice! You are the only one that can pilot the drill and I can't land this thing properly! You need to get down there now before the Cluster emerges." I explain as best I can.

"What about you?!"

"…" I don't respond at first to her question. "Don't worry about me."

"… But…"

"Peridot… Go…" I turn my head to the side and look at her out of the corner of my eye. "…now." I order her to do.

Even though we are spinning, she still stares at me with a surprised and worried expression. After a moment, she hesitantly nods. "Right. Good luck." She wishes me and heads off to the back.

"I think you're the one that's going to need it." I mutter to myself as I focus on controlling this wreck. I don't know who strong Peridot is compared to the other gems but if she can use some rope in the back to lessen the speed at which she heads to the ground then she'll be in a better position to help Steven. I can bail just fine but I can't afford to let this thing crash into the drill or else everything is done for. After a few moments of forcefully controlling this thing, I hear her.

"Alright! I'm ready!" A glance back shows me Peridot gripping the rope tightly and leaning heavily against the wall because of the spinning, allowing her to be ready to throw it out.

"Alright! On my mark rope down and get going with Steven to the drill and deal with the Cluster got it?!" I yell back while glancing to her. She nods firmly. "Good! Get ready!" I prepare her and slowly bring it down as close as I can. The spinning is starting to get to my head now and its getting harder and harder to keep this thing as stable as humanly possible. 'It's now or never!' I grit teeth. "THREE…! TWO…! ONE... MARK!"

"Heyup!"

I grit my teeth harder as I pull the controls as hard as I can in the opposite direction of the spinning in hopes of some form of stabilization and it works… sort of.

The last of my controls are shot.

I'm going down.


"Peridot!"

"Whaaaaaaaaa- Oof!" The sliding green gems spins around hectically from the rope tied to the machine before she slams into the ground and rolls a few times before stopping in a heap. Steven runs up to her and helps her stand. "Uhhh, thanks." She groans as she gets to her feet.

"No problem. But where's—" He begins to ask her but the sound of metal tearing makes them look up. Above them they see the helicopter spin dangerously all over the air with the machine showing no signs of this going well. His heart starts to beat faster as he watches how bad this looks. He takes a step forward as the war machine takes a moment to spin up, then heads straight towards the ground.

With a fierce cry of metal tearing, fires break out with the ground tearing apart as the machine plows through the dirt and grass with the blades on top carving deep groves into the ground. Bits and pieces of the blades themselves fly off and flip through the air before embedding themselves in the dirt before the machine slowly comes to a halt. It balances on its side for a second, precariously about to fall entirely on its side before with the sound of metal straining, it lands on the bottom of it with a loud 'thud'. Peridot and Steven stare at the gnarled machine, hoping to find some movement of the pilot.

Steven takes a step forward.

An explosion goes off on the back of it and fire starts to encompass the machine. "MARCUS!"

"Steven no!"

"Let me go!" He tries to run forward to try to help his trapped brother but Peridot grabs him and holds him back.

"Steven we have to take care of the Cluster!"

"I don't care! I can't lose him!"

"Steven!" She turns him around and makes him look at her. Tears are close to breaking from his eyes as they stare at each other. "It won't matter if you save him if the Cluster emerges! This whole planet will be reduced to nothing and everyone will perish, regardless if you save him or not!" She explains. A look of realization graces his features but he still looks conflicted. "We have to do this Steven. He said he'll be fine. We have to trust him… just as he trusts us to save the earth." Slowly, she lets him go and takes a few steps away before running to the drill and getting ready to start drilling.

Steven watches her go before staring at the crash site, a pang of regret and guilt flooding for leaving. "Please come back."

"Steven! Let's go!" Peridot calls out to him and ducks back into the drills cockpit.

He glances back to her before staring one last time at the slowly burning wreckage and takes off to help Peridot finish this.


And yet another chapter is out. Love how this one turned out and Marcus finally is able to use his Hind helicopter. Can't think of any better reason for him to use it than going up against Malachite. Pretty much how I saw it was that Jasper all but took over after Lapis was in control for so long so in the fight, all he was picturing was doing all that explosive bullet riddled damage to the orange gem. Now though, it looks like things are going to get complicated for Steven and Marcus possibly trapped in his burning death machine with the rest of the gem trapped on Mask Island while the world tears itself apart.

Just a normal day in the life of Steven Universe you know?

Anyway, still gonna go on that train of chapters while also work a little on the star wars story a little at a time so hopefully expect another chapter within the next week or two.

I also bought the Assassin's Creed Syndicate bundle that includes the full game and all the DLC. I've already finished the main story and now I'm starting the Jack the Ripper DLC. Already I can tell it's going to be crazy.

Now for the guest reviews replies:

NatWutz: Don't about her limb enhancers, I have something else planned for those in the future. As for the gun and its power against the monster instead of Marcus, it may be powerful and can tear apart a lot with ease, its still a matter of flesh and bone like Marcus himself.

Bomberguy789 (Ch. 54: ICBG): Yeah over a year old. I was surprised myself and still surprised on how popular everyone has taken to it. Also, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT! I knew it. I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it. I had a feeling this was going to happen because it happened to me so long ago. Forgetting to check the M section because this site always sets the search parameters back to the most being T. That's why I did that one moment of temporarily setting the story back to T so I can tell everyone to remember to change the search rating so everyone can properly see my story. I'm glad you were able to find it again and no worries about not reviewing as often.

Bombrguy789 (Ch. 56: Log Date 7-16-2): Yeah, definitely pretty different between those two countries. Thanks again and I hope the chapters continue to excite you and everyone else.

Granted, after the last chapter these were the next set of guest reviews that popped up so sorry if others were expecting some replies here from before. Remember I'll be replying like this to guest reviews from now on. Those of you with accounts I personally try to send a message to reply to those reviews so don't worry about not seeing the replies here.

One final note, becareful everyone. I've heard some daunting reports from the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, and now with Irma on the horizon, things are looking bad. To anyone in or near the path of the hurricane and possibly others in the future, good luck to each and everyone of you.

And with that done, thank you all for the support. Fave, follow, review, have a great day, and as always, have fun reading.