*THERE IS MAJOR VIOLENCE AND STRONG LANGUAGE IN THIS CHAPTER* Well in the last chapter we had a few major revelations. And in this chapter something even crazier is set to happen. It's all been leading up to this, the ultimate revelation, the big reveal of Homeworld's secret weapons, one's Ash and the Crystal Gems have never encountered before. *POKEMON AND STEVEN UNIVERSE ARE NOT OWNED BY ME*
Ash felt a nervousness in his stomach he had never felt before in his life as he stood on the Delmarva beach, the summer heat causing him to swelter in his tuxedo. He turned to his left to see Brock, Tracey, Cilan, Clemont, Buck, Sour Cream, Jamie, Lars and Kevin were all standing by his side, each wearing similar tuxes. Turning to his right, he caught a glimpse of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Bismuth, Jenny, Misty, Serena, May, Dawn, Sadie and Iris were all standing on the right hand side of the beach. Greg was standing in the center of the two groups, under the gazebo standing with a prideful look on his face.
Turning his attention to in front of himself, he saw his mother, Professor Oak, all his pokemon, Jessie and James, Uncle Andy, and almost every friend he had ever met on his journey, from both his world and Steven's were all sitting on a large collection of chairs.
Greg nodded at Sour Cream, who began to play "Here Comes the Bride" on his soundsystem as Lapis began to walk down the aisle.
Ash felt a tear fall from his face as his eyes met his bride's. The pain and fear that Lapis normally had on her face was completely gone, and for the first time in clearly a long time, he looked happy, and that made him happy. Because Lapis didn't have an actual father to walk her down the aisle, Steven had the honor of walking her towards him, her sky blue dress sparkling in the sunset.
Once he walked her to him, Steven gave Ash a thumbs up and took his place with the rest of Ash's groomsmen, as Greg began the ceremony.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join Ash Ketchum, and Lapis Lazuli in holy matrimony." Greg started as he continued the normal, extremely long reading that occurred at weddings, but before he had them read their vows, he asked the rhetorical question "if anyone has any objections to this marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace"
"I OBJECT!" everyone heard a loud angry sounding voice exclaim as the ground began to shake. Ash looked up in horror to see Malachite rise from the ocean behind them, Jasper riding on her shoulder, as they reached down and grabbed Lapis. As he looked up, Jasper claimed her prize from him, squeezing Lapis's face in her fists as she turned to look ash in the eye with a mocking smile, before she turned back to Lapis and forced a kiss on her lips as they melted back into Malachite's body
"Ash! Ash!" Steven shouted at him as he snapped back to reality, realizing the wedding was a nightmare induced by him being knocked unconscious by Aquamarine. Lapis was perfectly safe, but the rest of his friend's weren't.
"We've got to hurry!" Steven exclaimed as he returned Serena's Braxien and lead Ash and Pikachu out of the forest "i've already called the Gems to meet us back at the Temple!" he shouted as he lead them back to the house.
"THEY TOOK CONNIE!" he shouted throwing the screen door open, a look of extreme panic on his face.
"Why is Homeworld stealing humans off the boardwalk!?" Pearl asked with extreme worry for Connie's safety
"I don't know, but they're only taking our friends! If we don't do something, they're going to take them into space!"
"And Navy took our ship, so if they leave Earth…."
"They'll be gone forever" Garnet finished Ash's sentence
"Ugh! Who were these guys?" Amethyst asked
"The little one we saw before, her name's Aquamarine! And she's with a bigger Gem to, a fusion named Topaz"
"A topaz fusion and an aquamarine?" Pearl asked sounding panicked
"Are they a big deal?"
"Uh, yes! Blue and Yellow Diamond must have sent them personally"
"The Diamonds? Oh, no. They must be collecting more humans for the zoo!" Steven concluded
"But there's loads of humans on Earth. Why are they only grabbing your friends?" Amethyst asked
"There's more" Ash revealed "both Aquamarine and Topaz have pokemon, and they know how to use them. Team Rocket and Giovanni must've trained them" all of a sudden, Steven's phone buzzed and they saw Connie's number appear on the screen.
"It's from Connie! I know where they are!" he shouted after checking her message, presenting a photo of the hot dog stand close to the front entrance of Funland.
"You guys go ahead, i'll meet you guys there with the others!" Ash shouted as he made his way to the barn, knowing how tough Aquamarine and Topaz were, he knew the Gems needed everyone to be onboard.
"Geez Ash who died?" Brock joked to him as he threw the doors to the barn open.
"Nobody yet, but Serena and Jamie might be soon! An Aquamarine and a Topaz fusion with pokemon from Homeworld kidnapped them and a few others. We've got to get to Funland to save them!"
As soon as he said "Aquamarine", Ash saw a fire begin to glow in Lapis's eyes as a look of pure anger appeared on her face and her fists balled. And before he could even tell her where Funland was, she sprouted her wings and flew out of her home without a single word.
"Lapis what's wrong!?" he shouted at her as she just began hovering above the barn waiting for the others to go with her, a furious scowl on her face.
"Lapis Lazuli's and Aquamarine's naturally hate each other." Peridot explained as they began to run back into town "i'm not aware of the details, but other Peridot's believe it's because they're the only Gems that can naturally fly and somehow developed a deep seeded hatred off Blue Diamond's court."
"Like Zangoose and Seviper" James compared the two, sounding out of breath from running with the others.
The five finally reached the gates of Funland, meeting up with the Crystal Gems, as well as Misty, May and Dawn at the gate
"Stay alert could be anywhere." Garnet warned as the group of twelve entered
"Did Connie send you any more pictures?" Amethyst asked Steven
"No"
"They could be anywhere in this park, i suggest we split up" Pearl said "if you find them DO NOT APPROACH THEM wait for us"
Following Pearl's advice, the group split into three groups. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl went to the northern side of the park, while Brock, James, Peridot and Misty searched the west side, leaving Ash, Steven, Lapis, May and Dawn to search the south.
The five ran towards the area Ash remembered seeing the figure the last time he was at the park, and found themselves at the edge of the peer by the water.
"Don't worry Steven, we're gonna find them" Ash tried to reassure him as they ran. Before he could respond, May suddenly tripped over herself and fell to the ground, dropping her bag in the process allowing it to spill open, and it's contents spilled put over the boardwalk. Trying to be nice, he picked it up trying to return it to May, but found himself a little confused at exactly what he was holding "May, what is this?"
May looked at him with a look of worry, as if she was thinking about what she was going to say, before telling him "it's…. It's just a water bottle"
"No it isn't" Lapis contradicted her "Ash, she's lying. That's a Gem incubator, used for keeping poofed Gems from being cracked!"
"NO IT'S MY WATER BOTTLE! ASH YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!" May shouted, looking extremely paranoid and desperate.
"Guys we don't have time for this!" Dawn declared "Aquamarine and Topaz could be anywhere around here!" she shouted before May looked at her again with dismay and disbelief
"Dawn, you weren't there when we identified Aquamarine and Topaz, how did you know their names?" he asked
"P.. Pearl told us before you got here" May answered for her
"No she didn't" Steven contradicted her "why are you lying, what's in there!?"
Ash looked from Lapis, to the extremely distraught May before deciding to take matters into his own hands and opened the canister. To his shock, he saw a familiar, orange Gem of Jasper resting inside, quickly closing the canister to prevent the corrupted Jasper from reforming, he turned his attention back to his friends.
"What the hell is this?" he asked noticing May was losing almost all the color in the face, panicking and a few tears were running down her face. Dawn on the other hand simply looked at Ash as if she was conflicted as what to do next
"I'll ask again, what the hell is this? Why was your bag in the desert? And why were you watching us in the alley?"
Both May and Dawn just stared with the same faces as he noticed Lapis was balling her fists in case something happened
"So it comes to this?" May asked herself with her voice thick with tears "after everything we've all been through, we deceive and lie to each other? How can i trade the lives of one part of my family for another? It wasn't supposed to be this way, we were supposed to grab and go, nobody was supposed to get hurt, let alone you Ash. We didn't know the people we were hurting, all we knew was that we just needed to get them, and we'd be out of the woods. But if I only knew that these people were like Steven, I….. I WOULDN'T HAVE LET MYSELF BECOME THE MONSTER THEY WANTED ME TO BE!" she shouted as her face went from despair to anger
Ash could sense that something horrifying was about to happen, so he followed his instinct and pulled Steven behind him as Pikachu got between the girls and the other three and charged his cheeks.
"But what's done is done i suppose" May continued as she unexpectedly began to remove her red shirt "damned what i know is right or wrong anymore. I only have this one choice in life now"
Ash and Steven both gasped as she parted her shirt to reveal her chest, and located in the middle, was a large, red Pearl gemstone.
"MAY YOU IDIOT!" Dawn shouted "this wasn't according to the plan! Our orders were to wait for Aquamarine and Topaz to get the last human! Then we get Ash!"
These words were enough for Lapis to finally strike to defend the man she loved. Summoning a jet stream of water, she sharpened it into a blade and struck at May as she reached for Ash. May let out a cry of agony as Ash saw Lapis's slash had struck with enough force to cut to the bone on her arm.
Dawn began to reach for one of her pokeballs, but Lapis was quicker and slashed at her front, cutting her dress to reveal a navy blue Amethyst gemstone on her chest as well. Dawn fell onto her back from the shock of Lapis's attack as Lapis held her down to protect Ash and Steven from her
"ASH! STEVEN! RU-" she began to exclaim before she was cut off by May stabbing her through the stomach with a spear similar to Pearl's except it was red with a black highlight. Lapis looked at him with a look of pain and fear before she poofed into a cloud of blue smoke, leaving behind only her teardrop shaped gem.
A rage he never felt before grew in Ash's chest as he turned to Steven, and they both embraced each other as he could tell Steven felt the same rage as he did as they fused.
"HOW COULD YOU!?" Stash screamed with fury as he summoned Steven's shield and clashed Ash's sword against May's spear, memories of Ash and her together flashing through his head.
Dawn then joined the scuffle as she drew a thorned whip just like Amethyst's from her gem and attacked from Stash's other side.
The other two groups heard the fight and ran towards them, Peridot quickly bubbled Lapis's gem and sent her off back to the barn to keep anyone from accidentally stepping on her. The other's were about to get involved to help him before they heard Aquamarine
"Enough!" she demanded as she and Topaz stepped out from the shadows. This lead to both May and Dawn stepping down and joining their superiors
"Guys, save yourselves... after you save us!" Jamie shouted from Topaz's body
"It's almost astonishing that these organics are capable of fusion" Aquamarine regarded Stash "but now that i think about it, that Steven does seem to know everyone on our list, it did come from a Steven after all"
"Just let the humans go!" Garnet demanded
"Uh, no. Who are these dullards?" she asked Topaz, May and Dawn
"We're the Crystal Gems, you chump!" Amethyst answered
Aquamarine rolled her eyes "Yeah, yeah. Rose Quartz's old lackeys. That was in the report, too. We're not here for any of you rogue gems. We'll leave you totally alone... if... you tell us where we can find my dad."
"We don't know what you're talking about!"
"Let's see. Yellow Diamond asked for, uh, my dad, a Connie, a Lars, a Sadie, a mailman, an Onion, I think, and the only pokemon trainer in the world whose name was never recovered. Six human variations for the Clemont to experiment on, specified in a report by Peridot 5XG"
Everyone turned their attention to Peridot with resentment, Amethyst looked the most betrayed as Garnet began to grab her by the throat before Stash stepped in
"NO GARNET! She told them before she was one of us!" he pleaded as the memory of when Peridot first met Steven, he told her about the humans he knew about, with his exact words being "oh there's lots of humans, there's my dad, Connie, Lars and Sadie, the mailman, Onion, I think, and of course there's the only pokemon trainer in the world, he's my friend-" was what he told her before the Crystal Gems intervened, that's when he realized the truth
"It's all my fault, i gave them the list"
"What?" Pearl asked the fusion
"Aquamarine doesn't have a dad. She's looking for someone named "my dad!". This is all my fault"
"Don't worry about that now. Our objective's still the same, beat the gems…"
"Save our friends!"
"Hey, Topaz, look! They want to lose another fight." Aquamarine said with a cheeky smile as Garnet launched into an attack, but realized if she struck Topaz, she'd be hurting their hostages
"No, Garnet, I've moved on, I swear!" Jamie pleaded to her, realizing the same thing.
Topaz took advantage of Garnet's moment of weakness and struck her into one of the booths
"I've got this!" James declared as he summoned Gyarados "return our friends or Gyarados will have a snack!"
"Oh, i'm SO scared. Topaz if you'd please?" Aquamarine requested as Topaz summoned Magnezone, sensing her opportunity as Topaz was distracted by Gyarados, Pearl leapt into action
"My spear can reach her without hurting the hostages!"
But Aquamarine wasn't having it, she drew her wand and froze both Pearl and James in their place and tossed them into the sky as Magnezone took down the relatively untrained Gyarados
"BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" James shouted
May and Dawn then decided to join in on the fight, summoning Blaziken and Piplup to battle Brock's Swampert and Misty's Politoed, but their pokemon were left to without orders, as Stash preoccupied their trainers in his continued rage for stabbing Lapis.
"This is getting annoying. Hey, Topaz, can you remind me? I mean, my memory is perfect, but our orders were to bring back these seven humans. I'm just not sure. Did they specify... alive?" she made herself clear, causing everyone to stop fighting with concern "you know what? I don't think they did!" as an evilly enthusiastic smile appeared on her face. Topaz took the hint, and grabbed both Jamie and Serena by their throats. "I just think, if you care about your friends or whatever, you should tell me where my dad is, all right?"
"STOP!" Stash screamed "i know where you can find "My Dad"
"Ooh! Where? Where?!" she asked with excitement
Stash began glowing as he defused, Steven stepping up "Right here. I'm the one you're looking for. I am my dad!"
"Steven don't!" Ash pleaded
"I know what you're thinking, Topaz. It seems a little suspicious that "My Dad" is also a Steven. But you know... if it means getting out of here, I'll believe it." she shrugged as Topaz approached him to add to her collection
"Steven, do you know what you're doing?" Pearl asked. Steven looked back at them and gave a thumbs up to show he had a plan as he was absorbed into Topaz.
"Very nice meeting you all, and your compliance is appreciated, but…." she was interrupted by Pearl attempting to stab her, but she was able to avoid it "our job here is done, so…" she blew a raspberry as an insult.
"NO STEVEN!" Ash screamed as he tried to charge them, but Brock grabbed him and held him back as Aquamarine, Topaz, May and Dawn boarded a Homeworld ship that was disguised as the top of one of the rides, and began its take off, but Ash wasn't about to abandon him.
Summoning Greninja after breaking from Brock's restraint, Ash boarded his pokemon and leapt into the air, sneaking his way on board just in time to listen to Aquamarine gloat, and Jamie having a panic attack.
"Glad we got this over with, let's get back to Homeworld already"
"But I'm already on my home world. I haven't even delivered all the mail today! The threat of us perishing in this quagmire of yellow feels very real - a real encompassing kind of real. A neon death trap, which has imprisoned us so tightly, like a winter coat that's too big in the sleeves." he screamed
"Ugh. If I never get sent on another mission to Earth, it'll be too soon. What an ordeal. But the Diamonds needed me. That's the burden of being the best."
"WHAT JUSTICE IS THERE IN SUCH A GROSS TANGLING OF SYMBOLS!?" Jamie again screamed as he interrupted her.
"WILL YOU STOP! YOU'RE RUINING MY MOMENT!"
Ash took full advantage of Jamie's distraction and leapt out of the shadows, taking out his sword and aiming it at Aquamarine's throat
"I wouldn't do that if i were you Ash" Dawn stated as May pressed her spear against Ash's neck in response
"ASH!" he heard Serena shout with concern from her prison in Topaz
"You are a very determined human. Much more physical than the trainer we did catch, and definitely much more cute. Maybe when we get back to Homeworld i can send a request for this extra human we nabbed to be MY personal plaything"
Ash could only cringe at Aquamarine's flirtatious threat, but before he could respond, everyone heard a groaning sound emit from Topaz. To his horror, he saw her beginning to expand like a bubble. She then exploded completely sending bodies everywhere as Ash saw that it was Steven's doing.
"What? Topaz! Get this mess cleaned up. And, Topaz, help her out. May and Dawn, get to the trainer!"
"We're already in the air. How are we going to get back?" Steven asked as he, Connie and Serena circled in battle formation, Jamie grabbed Onion and ran towards the door, with Sadie being cornered by one of the Topaz twins, but he also saw Lars cowardly run away from her rather than try to save her. Thankfully he was able to defend her with a cut attack by Greninja
"Thanks Ash" she said joining the other humans, Serena took to defending the captured humans, Connie began searching for the exit and Steven and Ash took on the two Topaz that had refused and threw down her weapon.
"Ash i'm sorry!" he said as he wrapped the two in a bubble
"What are you talking about!?"
"This is all my fault! If it weren't for me, the diamonds wouldn't have come for our friends. If it weren't for my mom, they wouldn't even be trying to destroy the Earth!"
The entire ship shook as something large struck it. Connie was finally able to open the door to see that Ash was finally meeting the three way fusion of Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl as she was holding the ship in place. Gyarados was in the water with her carrying Brock, Misty, James and Peridot on his back
"Alexandrite!" Connie named her
"Take us close to the water. We're gonna jump!" Steven ordered as Alexandrite lowered the ship down
Onion immediately got a running start and cannonballed into the water
"Guys, i seem to be paralyzed with fear" Jamie said with pure fear. But Serena took him by the hand with a trusting and supportive smile
"Jamie it's alright, i'll be right behind you. I believe in you" she told him with a blush
This seemed to give him the edge he needed to jump, but before he could Aquamarine froze everyone except Steven, Ash and Pikachu in place with her wand
"Nice try. But it's hopeless, my dad. I can't go back to Homeworld without getting what the Diamonds want."
Steven looked at his frozen friends in deep thought before making his choice "I'm...not my dad"
"What?"
"I'm not my dad!"
Aquamarine groaned "How much longer is this mission going to take?" she asked in anger
"We tried to tell you there was no such thing as a person named "My Dad" Dawn told her superior with annoyance
"Shut up!"
"Well i can end it for you right now. I'm someone the Diamonds will want more than any of these humans, the leader of the Crystal Gem rebellion, the gem that shattered Pink Diamond. I'm not my dad. I'm my mom. I'm Rose Quartz!"
"No, Steven don't!" Ash pleaded
"I surrender to you, on one condition, you let these humans go. Then i'm all yours"
But Ash wasn't going to just let them take him, he knew what he had to do "i can do better, you guys were trained by Giovanni i assume, so i also assume he warned you of the Shamouti Prophecy. "Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice or lightning, lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash. O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea." Well i'll tell you something, I am the ash the world turns to. I am Ash Ketchum. I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!"
"Ash, what are you doing!" Serena asked him
"You get two for the price of one. The Leader of the Rebellion, the one who shattered Pink Diamond, AND you get the only person who can stop the entire thing! All in exchange for leaving these humans behind. What'll be?"
Aquamarine smiled evilly with delight, "oh i'll take it" she said releasing her grip on the others.
"No please Ash don't go!" Serena pleaded next to him
Ash took her by the hand, "it's funny Serena, my journey began with you. Now it looks like i'm gonna end it with you. Take care of yourself Serena" he told her as he kissed her on the cheek goodbye "tell Lapis i love her with all my heart, and i'll always be thinking of her"
"No i won't because you're gonna tell her!" she begged as tears fell down her face
"These belong to you" Steven somberly told her as he returned her pokeballs to her
"Goodbye Serena" Ash finally said, deciding that the only way to keep her from jumping into the ship with him, was to push her over the edge into the water below, the last thing he saw before he followed Aquamarine, Topaz, May and Dawn into the ship was her face of hurt that looked up at him as she dropped into the water.
"STEVEN! ASH!" he heard Connie scream as the door close and felt the takeoff to Homeworld