Bet you didn't see THAT coming huh? But May and Dawn's betrayal is the least of Ash and Steven's problems as they are now on a seemingly one way trip to Homeworld, with another unexpected guest in tow. Tensions rise on their way to their unknown fate, as well as from Ash's fury at his two friends. WARNING THERE IS SOME LANGUAGE IN THIS CHAPTER. *STEVEN UNIVERSE AND POKEMON ARE NOT OWNED BY ME*
Ash felt a weightlessness in his legs as the ship began it's voyage home. The two Topaz were still unfused as one was holding Steven, while both May and Dawn restrained himself, and Aquamarine had Pikachu trapped in her suspending wand.
"THE Rose Quartz and the Chosen One of legend" she said in a mocking tone as she addressed them "Can you believe it? And they just turned themselves in like that?"
"That's right. You caught us Galactic Criminal Rose Quartz, and the Chosen One. I love shattering Diamonds. I just want to shatter 'em all the time"
"You think shattering's bad?" she asked, "just wait till the Diamonds get their hand on you" she then turned her attention back to Ash, forcefully taking his belt with all his pokeballs on it off his waist "you won't be needing these anymore "o chosen one" she examined Ash's belt before finding Pikachu's pokeball, ready to return him.
"NO!" he pleaded for her not to do it "Please he hates being in there!"
"Aquamarine please let me do it," Dawn calmly requested as she took matters into her own hands and summoned a navy blue bubble around Pikachu. She then gave Ash a look of mercy as she rejoined May in restraining him.
"At least everyone else is safe." Steven remarked in Topaz's grip
"What are you doing? Let go of me!" they suddenly heard a familiar voice exclaim as the second Topaz emerged from the lower level, carrying Lars
"Oh! Looks like we got one of the humans anyway. Don't know what we'll do with just one of them, but I guess that's for the Diamonds to decide."
"WAIT! Aquamarine, the deal is off. You were only supposed to take us. No humans. That's a human." Steven angrily told her
"Oh, no. Is Rosie upset 'cause her widdle "deal" didn't work?" she asked in a condescendingly mocking tone "Look. I'm so moved, I'm crying" she said pointing at her gem "Just kidding. That's my Gem! Topaz, what do you think? Should we let their widdle friend go?"
Both Topaz's looked at each other in silence
"May? Dawn? What do you think?"
Both girls looked at each other as if they didn't know how to answer her
"I agree" Aquamarine answered for them "release the Chosen One. and Topaz and Topaz, do your thing"
May and Dawn both released their grip on Ash, only to be grabbed by the same Topaz that carried Lars as the two Topaz fused, trapping the trio into her body.
"I'll go let the Diamonds know about our little prisoners. Say, Rose, how do I look?" she asked
"Awful, small, and mean!"
Aquamarine just laughed at his attempt at an insult "Is that how you flattered so many gems into joining your rebellion? How cute. Topaz, I trust you'll still be able to fly the ship despite your, you know, additions?" she flew up towards the control pad "May, i trust you can keep our Jasper present in line? Dawn just babysit Topaz"
After Aquamarine left, May released Jasper's gem from the incubator and bubbled it in a red colored bubble before she sat down and began to use a roboniod to heal the wound Lapis gave her.
"How long?" Ash asked Dawn with bitterness
"What?"
"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME!" he screamed at her "how long were you planning this? How long have you both been Gems!?"
Dawn didn't answer him and just looked at the ground as if in shame.
"The May and Dawn i fought beside, who i taught everything i knew about pokemon, whose friendship i cherished more than anything. Was it all a lie?" he asked as he felt tears fall down his face
Dawn took a deep breath before she finally looked up to face him "no, it wasn't a lie Ash, we really were the people you knew. And we were never always gems. You seriously thought we signed up for this? That we voluntarily gave up our humanity? That we sold out our home? Our families? You?" by this time she to had began to cry herself "we were forced into this Ash, snatched up from out of nowhere, turned into monsters by an Arceus be damned alien race of all things, then forced to do these horrible things to ensure our family's survival" she then dropped to her knees as if she were begging "I'M SO SORRY ASH!"
"QUIET DOWN THERE OR I'LL CRACK YOU ALL!" they heard Aquamarine shout from the captain's chair in the upper level.
Hearing her superior's threat, May grabbed Dawn and dragged her down to a lower level "i'm sorry Ash" Dawn continued to mumble
Ash finally understood what May had meant when she said "how she could trade the live of part of her family for another", their families were being threatened and were being forced to serve the Diamonds.
"this is all you guy's fault." he suddenly heard Lars say from Topaz's bottom, "All this weird alien stuff, this is 'cause of you, isn't it?"
"Yes, of course it is! That's why we turned ourselves in! To save all of you!" Steven angrily confronted him
"Well, it didn't really work out too well, did it?"
"LARS YOU CAN'T EVEN BE RESCUED RIGHT!" Ash angrily told him "i can't believe i actually thought you changed. But i saw you abandon Sadie as Topaz was about to get her, you betrayed her so many times i can't believe she stays with you with how badly you treat her! She believes in you, and you abandon her, you abandoned her at the party, and you abandon her at work!"
"Wait Lars, i thought you got abducted on your way to the potluck?" Steven asked
Lars sighed with guilt "no, i trashed my roll and ran. Then i got abducted. And you're right Ash, i am a coward, why couldn't i just let people just taste my food!?"
"We have to get you out of here." Steven stated "Here, just leave it to me. Hey! Look! You have Rose Quartz and the Chosen One! Why bother with him! He's worthless!" he tried to plead with Topaz, but she just ignored him
"Thanks a lot, Steven" Lars told him with a tone of insult
"No! I meant like "worth less," not "worthless" like... relative to us!" he tried his best to explain to him
"At least I make a great seat cushion. You feeling cozy, you big banana?" Lars shouted at their living prison cell
"I don't think she's listening to us" Ash said as he looked from Topaz's shoulder to her face.
"Of course she can't hear you. She's got those big headphones on." Lars said referring to her two Gems
The entire ship suddenly began to rumble and shook violently. After the turbulence, Aquamarine looked down at them from the captain's seat
"Those Crystal Gems must have screwed up the engine during takeoff. Topaz, go fix it" she commanded, to which Topaz complied and retreated to the lowest level, walking in on May trying her best to comfort Dawn. Once she saw their privacy was compromised, she lead her to the deck that Topaz just came from, as Topaz began to resett what Ash assumed was the engine.
"Guys, look for something that can help us" Steven pleaded, assuming that it was alright to talk about their escape plan right in front of Topaz, as she was obviously either ignoring them, or simply couldn't hear them over her gems being on her ears.
Ash followed Steven's advice, and began to look around the room, there he saw a familiar looking item resting on a perch "Steven look, gem destabilizers"
"A destaba-what?" Lars asked having never heard of the destabilizer before
"It's a weapon that disrupts a Gem's physical form."
"Cool. Thanks for explaining. I still don't know what that means"
"Just hear me out. I have a plan. I'm gonna need you to be my arms." Steven pleaded "take my pants off"
"WHAT!?"
"Trust me it's gonna save you!"
"What if I don't want to be saved? What if I want to stay trapped here and fly around space, and why your pants, you weirdo?!"
"Just do it!" Ash shouted at him in anger
Lars groaned "fine. There. I did it."
"Great. Now tie one of the legs into a lasso" Steven instructed
"I can't. They're on the floor."
"WHAT!? What are they doing on the floor?!"
"I don't know, Steven. What are we doing in space?"
"LARS PICK UP THOSE ARCEUS BE DAMNED PANTS AND TIE THEM INTO A LASSO!" Ash screamed at him
"Fine." he angstily said as he followed their directions "Wow. It worked. We're back home. Great plan."
"Now lasso the destabilizer."
"I still don't know what that is."
"It's that thing over there, You can do it." Ash encouraged him, even though he knew in his heart that Steven's pants weren't long enough to reach it.
"Come on. Just one more try."
"I don't want to try again"
"LARS THROW THE LASSO!" Steven angrily shouted
"FINE!" Lars angrily screamed back at him as he threw the pants across the room
"What is your problem, Lars?! Why did you do that?!"
"Why do you think I'm capable of anything?! You think I can do all this stuff, but I can't! I can't because, because i'm a wuss guys!" Lars revealed as tears began to fall from his face "i'm afraid. I've always just been stupid and afraid. Not like you. You're always helping people. You're never afraid"
"Lars... I'm afraid right now. I thought if I turned myself in, it'd fix everything, but, I don't want to do this, Lars. I've been to space before, but not like this. They're taking me straight to their terrible leaders that want to destroy Earth and destroy me for something I never even did. I just wanted to save everyone, but I couldn't even do that because, look you're still here! I'm afraid Lars, i'm afraid that they're gonna kill me, i'm afraid they're gonna kill Ash, and i'm afraid that i'm never going to see my family again. I'm sorry. I don't know how I'm gonna get you guys out of this"
"I'm scared to Steven" Ash revealed "i know i never act scared but i know that there's a good chance we're never gonna make it back. I'm never gonna live out my life. I'm never gonna achieve my dream of becoming a pokemon master. I'm gonna fail Arceus. I'm gonna fail my friends. I'm gonna fail Lapis"
"We'll figure it out. We've got like a billion light-years till we get there, right?" Lars asked with a smile
"For the first time ever, you're gonna look on the bright side? Y-You don't have to sugarcoat this, but come on, you never do that. You're always real with me about how much everything sucks"
"Okay. You're right. This is really, really messed up, guys"
"You know what's even more messed up? Even though you're both in huge trouble and it's all my fault... I'm kind of glad you're both here. I... I don't want to be alone right now"
"Steven, you're never alone. I'll always be here for you. Even if i wasn't the Chosen One and they never wanted me, i would've gone with you" Ash told his brother as he finally felt a song coming from his heart in an attempt to comfort him,
You've been such a good friend, I've known you since I don't know when. We got lots of friends, but they Come and go… Even though we've never said it, There's something that the two of us both know
Together forever, no matter how long. From now until the end of time. We'll be together, and you can be sure That forever and a day, That's how long we'll stay Together and forever more.
At this point, Steven felt the melody Ash was singing to and joined him in song
Always gone the extra mile Depended on you all the while Even in the good and bad times,
You will see… From now until our journey's end, You know you can always count on me.
Together forever, no matter how long From now until the end of time. We'll be together, and you can be sure That forever and a day, That's how long we'll stay Together and forever more.
Ash once again took over the song to express how much Steven's friendship meant to him
No matter where our destiny leads, I'll be there for you, Always come through, And that you can believe!
With Ash's solo over, he, Steven and now Lars all sang together in harmony
Together forever, no matter how long From now until the end of time. We'll be together, and you can be sure That forever and a day, That's how long we'll stay Together and forever more.
"I'd give you a hug, but I can't use my arms" Steven joked to them
"I could try using my legs, but it might be weird." Lars remarked
"As long as we're together, we can fight this" Ash told them "i know we CAN make it home. And Steven, the second we do, i'm going to ask Lapis to marry me, and when she says yes, i want you to be my best man Steven. Lars you're invited to the wedding to"
"Ash…" Steven tried to respond but not knowing what to say, but someone else had beaten him to a reaction
"That's so, so beautiful" Topaz remarked as she began to sob from how powerful their song and their revelation was "Even in the clutches of certain doom, you're happy to have each other. I don't know what Topaz would do if she didn't have Topaz. I've always wanted to tell me how I'm helping me through this, but there's always someone between us! They're always sending me on these miserable missions. I'm always pretending I'm fine with it. I have to pretend I'm fine. But you three, you're so honest and open." she sniffled as she wiped her eyes with Steven's pants "I wanna help you guys. What do you need?"
"A way off this ship. And my pants."
After Topaz returned Steven's pants and then snatched the bubble carrying Pikachu and the rest of Ash's pokemon, she snuck over to a circular craft and began to activate it
"All right. You can use this escape pod. I'll set the coordinates for Earth."
"Alright Lars, Ash, just get in and let it do its thing." Steven ordered
"What are you talking about? You're coming, right?" Lars asked
"I can't. I turned myself in. I still got to go. Someone's got to pay for what my mom did. Lars you've got Sadie and your parents back home to worry about, and Ash you've got to make that wedding a reality."
"But you don't want to do this? Dude, forget it. Let's just go."
"Steven, i'm not leaving you. And Topaz, come with us. On Earth you can be yourself. You won't have to pretend anymore! You can be together in peace!"
But before either Topaz or Steven could react, Aquamarine came down "Topaz, what are you still doing down here, you big boulder? We're almost to Homeworld" it was only then when she saw the position Topaz was now in "What... are... you... doing?" she asked with rage as May and Dawn joined them
"Look, I can explain. Um, they had this whole heartfelt thing about being there for each other, and you missed it. It was so moving" Topaz began to try and explain herself, but Aquamarine wasn't having it, and cocked her wand ready to fire, narrowly missing Topaz and grabbing the escape pod
"I can't see what's happening. Are we still escaping?" Lars asked
"NO! NOBODY'S ESCAPING!" she screamed like a child having a temper tantrum as she threw the pod to the ground, smashing it.
"Aquamarine, let's talk about this!" Topaz exclaimed
"Yeah, I-I bet you don't really want to hurt us. You, You probably just act mean because deep down you're afraid you're weak. Go ahead. Let it out. We're all sharing right now" Steven pleaded with her
Aquamarine just looked at them with a mix of disbelief and ridiculousness "Topaz, you had one job, and if you're not gonna do it, you're of no use to me!"
Topaz finally had enough and quickly grabbed one of the destabilizers and pinned Aquamarine against the wall, holding the weapon at her head as she held her by her small neck. May quickly responded by placing her spear against Topaz's right gem as Dawn just looked on, almost as if she didn't know whose side she wanted to be on.
"So, a revolt huh?" she asked as she caught her breath from the unexpected assault "and what do you plan to do after this huh? Go back to the Diamonds? My gem in your hand? I'm sure they'll love that. And i'm certain they'll reward such behavior by separating you, and shattering you. Or give you a fate worse than shattering, send you to the Clemont for his experiments"
Taking her threat seriously, Topaz couldn't bare the thought of being separated, or the thought of whatever Clemont was being forced by the Diamonds to do to Gems. reluctantly, she released her grip on Aquamarine's neck and dropped her her knees "What was I thinking?"
"That's the problem with you fusions. Sooner or later, you all become sentimental." Aquamarine scolded her as the ship suddenly rumbled "We're here. Look, just unfuse, and we'll never speak of this again."
Topaz obeyed and unfused back to the two gems. The one on the left took Steven as the one on the right took Lars and began to leave
"No Topaz stop!" Ash desperately pleaded as they began to leave "where are they taking them!?" he demanded to know from Aquamarine
"That's not for you to know Chosen One. May, Dawn, please escort him to Giovanni's quarters. I'll make sure his pokemon are properly sent to The Clemont's lab for his analysis" she said as she snached the bubble containing Pikachu and his belt "goodbye "O Chosen One" she told him with an evil smile as she flew off towards another door as May and Dawn began to drag him off
"NO PLEASE! DON'T TAKE THEM!" he screamed at Aquamarine
"Ash don't struggle, it's not going to help" May told him as the two dragged him into a dimly lit room with a table, standing at the edge of the table was the Viridian City gym leader, the leader of Team Rocket Giovanni.