Ash is back. Despite having saved Clemont and established a group of allies on Homeworld, he's got bigger problems it would seem with Lapis at home. But before we can get to their reunion, I feel like we should've seen the reactions of the Gems, and Ash's friend's to him and Steven's abduction from chapter 43. Personally I would have preferred to have seen the Gem's reaction and attempt to get to Steven in an actual episode, but I've got to make due with what we've gotten episode wise. This chapter will follow the point of view of different characters besides Ash this time.
Well, here we are. As of this point in time I have become fully caught up with Steven Universe, and as you may know by now I try my best to be up to speed in the series timeline with this story. Unfortunately, it has been around five months since the newest episode has aired, and we haven't received any information save for the podcasts. Although I am still holding out hope for a November or December update from Cartoon Network. As for this story, I have made the decision go through with it by going into a brief hiatus, just to get my school work done and to figure out if I might need to just go with my gut and just make the story a complete AU from this point on, if no new episodes are released or announced by October.
However, I am not the type of person to just leave you guys empty handed, as I have another story in the works, it's not set in stone and Ash's Universe is still my top priority, but this new story will I hope be something to keep you guys entertained while you wait for my brief hiatus to be over. More information on this story will come later, but if any of you guys have any questions or concerns feel free to message me.
I do apologize for my lengthy disclaimer, but I feel like you guys deserve to know what's going on. When I began writing this story forty nine chapters and six months ago, this was just a little thing I was doing just so I could escape the tough times I was going through. I know I've said this to you guys before, but I never expected the love I've gotten and the friends I've made writing this, I'm much happier now and I do believe I'm starting to get my life back on track thanks to you guys and my writing. Thank you so much for standing by me all this time. But enough of this, let's get to the story! *I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR STEVEN UNIVERSE*
A million thoughts ran through Serena's mind as she looked up to the Homeworld ship. She felt a stinging sensation on her back as she landed in the water, through the waves she saw the ship take off. As she just sunk deeper into the ocean, she thought she could hear Connie scream Ash and Steven's names, but it was muffled under the waves. She stayed frozen in place, even as her lungs began to tighten and beg for air, the image of Ash's face as he boarded the ship continued to flash through her mind, and so she just sat in the water. The next thing she knew, she had breached the surface and began gasping for air. Turning around in her weakened state, she saw that Misty had dragged her from the water's grip, and was now pulling her to shore.
"Oh sweet Arceus, this isn't happening" Brock exclaimed as tears fell down his face, "this isn't happening!" Pearl was also in hysterics, crying and covering her eyes while both Amethyst and James tried to console her, but they were both teary eyed as well. Peridot had just stared into space with an empty face. But Garnet was acting the most out of character, trembling and tears began to fall down her cheeks. Suddenly, she began to glow and defused back into Ruby and Sapphire, with Sapphire uncharacteristically crying.
"Saphy," her partner asked, with a level headedness and calmness that equally matched Sapphire's, "what's wrong, what do you see?"
"I don't know" she sobbed into Ruby's arms "I don't know" mumbling over and over.
Seeing the Gems and her friends panicking, and with the inclusion of her own feelings of terror, confusion and concern for Ash, it was all too much for Serena to handle, and after falling onto all fours, she vomited onto the sand.
Headlights then appeared on the boardwalk behind the group, and the sound of a car door opening came from the source of the light.
"ONION!" Sour Cream screamed, running from the pizzamobile and reuniting with his younger brother, who was happy to return his brother's loving hug.
"How'd you guys know we were here?" Serena asked, her voice breaking from both her crying and her vomiting.
"Steven texted Sour Cream saying he was saving Onion at Funland, so we figured we'd come and make sure he's alright" Jenny answered her as she and Buck joined them.
"What happened?" Buck asked
"They took them. They took Steven and Ash" Amethyst answered him with her voice breaking as well.
Lapis regained consciousness as she re formed, landing on the wooden floor. Standing up, she looked around, at first confused as to where she was, but then realized that she was back home in the barn. She remembered Funland, and that Dawn and May had Jasper's gem, then she remembered the pain she felt after May had stabbed her, poofing her and leaving Ash, Steven and the others alone with them. She quickly ran towards the large mirror standing on the wall to look at herself, hoping that her new form wouldn't be too drastic to the point she wouldn't be recognized by Ash. Thankfully, she looked almost the exact same as she did before, with the exception of her dress now being a slightly brighter shade of cerulean and her hair being about a quarter of an inch shorter. Then she remembered, Ash and Steven were still in danger at the hands of Aquamarine, Topaz and those two traitors.
She immediately ran outside the barn to face the darkness from the night. To her annoyance, in her concern she was far too overcome in her emotions and her water wings wouldn't take form, forcing her to try to run to Funland. She had just made it to a paved road when she saw two bright lights appear behind her, followed by the hnk of a horn and the screech of a car skidding to a sudden halt.
"What the hell are you doing in the middle of the road you crazy bitch?" the driver angry asked her, getting out and standing in front of her.
Lapis at first was too scared and confused to react, so she just stood still in the road and covered her eyes to shield them from the headlights of the car, ready to fight this human in case he tried to get violent with her. But to her surprise, the man began to examine her up and down with his eyes as if he recognized her.
"Wait a second, blue skin, blue hair, you wouldn't happen to be Ash Ketchum's girl would you?"
Lapis just stood in silence for a second before she answered, "yes. How do you know who Ash is?"
"Uh, Ash is a pal of mine. He kinda helped me out. Sorry about, you know, threatening you. But still, what the hell are you doing in the road?"
"Ash is in trouble!" she answered him, while just jumping in the yellow car "take me to Funland!"
The driver just jumped into the car with her and followed her order "uh, I'm Kevin by the way" he stumbled through his confusion.
Lapis didn't respond to him and just watched the shoreline speed past them through the window. Then she saw everybody on the beach. "STOP HERE!" she screamed to her chauffeur, but Kevin had no time to stop the vehicle, as Lapis forced the passenger door open and jumped out of the moving car, running down the sand to the crowd. "What happened?! Where's Steven? WHERE'S ASH!?"
"Lapis?" Peridot asked, confused to her appearance "what are you doing here? Did you actually reform that quickly?"
"WHERE'S ASH!?"
"Lapis" Misty somberly said, placing her hand onto her shoulder "Lapis, he" she stuttered through the tears that finally began to fall from her face "he was taken to Homeworld with Steven. They're gone."
Lapis felt as if a dagger went straight through her heart. Tears fell down her face and she dropped to her knees, screaming until her blue face turned purple and she began to gag.
Misty tried her best to consult the devastated Gem. "shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay. We're going to get them back" she calmly told her, squatting down to her level and hugging her tightly.
Lapis suddenly broke free from her supportive hug, sprouting her wings and began to take flight straight up into the sky.
"Lapis no!" Garnet ordered her, having quickly refused and grabbed her by the legs, preventing her from flying off
"LET GO OF ME!" she screamed, struggling and kicking at her in absolute hysterics, trying to break free from her grip. "HE NEEDS ME!"
"And then what?" Garnet asked, pulling the distraught Gem to the ground, forcing Lapis to look her in the eyes "you're gonna just fly there all by yourself? Didn't work out so great for you the last time did it?"
"Yo crazy blue chick!" Kevin shouted, running down the beach towards the group "geez who died?" he asked with an arrogant smile.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Brock screamed, grabbing him by the shirt collar and throwing him to the ground. He would've started to punch him but, thankfully for Kevin, Buck and Jamie held him back.
"What the hell is going on?" he asked after stumbling to his feet, "is Ash alright?"
"Oh what do you care?" Connie angrily asked her enemy
"If you've got to know squirt, he's a buddy of mine"
She chuckled sarcastically "like a guy as nice as Ash would socialize with garbage like you?"
"It's true, me and Ash are tight. And blue girl, I'm sorry about you now being single so-" Brock was this time able to land a solid punch on the teen, sending him to the ground awestruck "I deserved that. I'll keep my mouth shut now"
"Wait, where's Lars?" Sadie finally asked, looking around.
"I thought he jumped off the ship with you?" Jamie asked, "I didn't see him when I jumped"
Everyone began to examine the beach for the missing teen, calling his name and scanning the ocean, but he was nowhere to be found.
"Oh no, he must've not gotten off the ship in time!" Sadie concluded, breaking down. "They're gonna kill him!"
Those words were what finally pushed Lapis too far, the thought of Homeworld killing Ash flooded her mind and she couldn't bare to be around everyone anymore. She broke free from Garnet's grasp and flew back towards the direction of the barn, sobbing nonstop.
"LAPIS WAIT!" Peridot pleaded to her closest to a best friend and ran after her.
"Hold up Peri!" Amethyst called after the little, green Gem and followed her.
"LAPIS JUST LISTEN!" Peridot continued to shout to her, both small Gems struggling to keep up with her. In her attempt to reach out to her, she didn't notice the rock directly in front of her, tripping over it and falling flat on her face. That's when she finally lost it and started to cry herself.
Normally Amethyst would be chuckling at Peridot's fumble, but considering the situation, she just squatted down to her knees and held her friend "hey Peri, it's alright"
"It's all my fault Amethyst" she weeped "it's my fault they're gone, it's my fault Lapis is devastated, it's all my fault"
"No it's not"
"Didn't you hear the Aquamarine? I GAVE THOSE CLODS ON HOMEWORLD THE LIST OF HUMANS! If it weren't for me they wouldn't have come! If it weren't for me Ash and Steven would still be here and Lapis would be happy!"
"Also if it weren't for you, they would've probably shattered Lapis back there, Peri you probably saved her. You didn't mean this to happen, Stash said it himself you did all that before you were one of us, before you became our friend, before you became my friend" she reassured her, more tears falling down her cheeks as she helped her up.
Peridot wiped her eyes and took a second to regain herself before the duo continued to go to the barn, rehearsing what they'd say to Lapis once they got there. Only to be met by a giant column of water surrounding it like a wall.
"Yo Lapis!" Amethyst shouted "this isn't healthy big blue. Just come with us and we can all come up with a plan to-"
"GO AWAY!" Lapis's voice boomed from inside
"Lapis, please. We need everyone on board if we're going to save them!" Peridot pleaded
The water column parted slightly, and Lapis walked out slowly. Her eyes were now blood red and puffy, all hope and life that she had on her face around Ash was gone, and in its place was emptiness, expressed in her angry scowl. "I. Said. LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed directly in their faces before closing the water blockade once more.
After seeing the horrible face she gave them, the two Gems decided to give her some space and went back to the Temple. Lapis on the other hand, retreated back to the bed she shared with Ash and tried to sit down. Unfortunately, she couldn't bare to sit alone on it without him, and using her water powers, she threw the mattress across the room, before she could recover from her sudden outburst, something resting where the mattress once was caught her eye. Picking it up, she saw that the item was a soaking wet, paper envelope and after tearing it open, she saw inside was a felt covered, black box. Clicking the box open, she gasped in shock at the piece of jewelry looking back at her, the ring with the single, white diamond resting inside. At first she thought of it as barbaric, had Ash and the Gems taken the fight to the Diamonds, and shatter the fabled White Diamond herself, placing one of her shards into a trophy for their cause? Then again, amongst the Gems she did socialize with before the Gem War White Diamond was but a myth. No Gem had any concrete proof that White Diamond actually pulled the strings from behind closed doors, or that she was a tall tale told by Yellow, Blue and Pink Diamond to scare Gems and to prevent others from joining the rebellion. Then another memory returned to her, during the season three finale of Camp Pinning Hearts, Percy gave Paulette a ring similar to the one she now held. Because she and Peridot had no idea what he was doing, Ash, Brock and James had explained to them that he was proposing marriage to her, then came the explanation as to what marriage was. She finally put two and two together, and fell to her knees, knowing now she would probably never be able to answer Ash's proposal, and screamed into the empty barn.
With Lapis, Peridot and Amethyst gone, the cool kids volunteered to take Onion back home, leaving the rest of the large group alone on the sand.
"If we are going to be able to help them, we need to act immediately!" Pearl decreed to the group.
"Of course-" Garnet began to say before she was interrupted by Serena vomiting again onto the sand
"Are you going to be alright?" Sadie asked
Serena answered her by just lurching forward and vomited a smaller pile of throw up
"I'd better get her home" Jamie told everyone, gently helping her up, and assisting her back to their shared home in the city.
An idea suddenly came to Brock, who turned around and ran straight towards the Temple without a single word.
"Brock where are you going?" Misty asked, running after him with Garnet, James, Sadie and Kevin close behind. Pearl began to run with them, until she turned around to see Connie just standing there.
"Connie, come on it seems as if Brock has an idea" she said, shaking her back to reality.
"Mr. Universe and Lars's parents deserve to know first" she explained to her, pushing past her mentor and ran into the city.
"Connie wait!" Pearl screamed as she leapt in front of her, blocking her path.
"You can't stop me Pearl!"
"I know. I must admit Steven's father and I have not been on good terms all these years, but Steven is still my baby to, and Ash is my second best pupil behind you, don't tell him I said that when we save them. What you're doing here is the most mature thing I've seen for the longest time, and I'm sorry to say but you're more of an adult than I. Come on, let's find Greg and give him the news.
The two of them didn't have to look long, as Greg had parked his van in front of the car wash and was practicing on his guitar without a care in the world.
"Hey Connie, Pearl, what's going on?" he asked sounding very chipper. "Oh boy I've seen that look on you before Pearl, what's wrong?"
"Greg, it's Steven and Ash…"
"Are you sure you're alright?" Jamie asked the girl slouched on his shoulder as they slowly walked home.
"No Jamie, I'm not. I should've done something. I should've gone with them"
"Hey, I mean, he pushed you off the edge of a spaceship, I don't think that's what he wanted for you. I anybody was to blame it's me, I froze up during the escape and if I hadn't we all probably could've gotten away in time." he confessed to her as he opened the door
"There you two are!" Bonnie told them from the sofa "Where were you two, I was so worried!" she exclaimed, bringing the two into a big hug "wait, why are you both soaking wet?"
"Bonnie, we need to tell you something….."
"Brock, what the heck are you trying to do?" Misty asked, entering the beach house to the sight of him banging his fists against the door to the Temple.
"Garnet! Open the door! We need her!" he demanded
"Need who?" Sadie asked extremely confused
"He means Bismuth" Garnet answered them all "and Brock, I don't think that'll work"
"We have to try!"
"Who the hell is Bismuth?" Kevin asked
"Bismuth was a member of the original Crystal Gems who went rogue and tried to orchestrate genocide. Rose Quartz bubbled her until Steven accidentally freed her, then he fixed his mistake once we saw her for what she was. But what Brock clearly thinks is that she can build something to take us to Homeworld".
"She wanted to take the fight to Homeworld, we have to go to Homeworld, it's a win win! Now open the door!" Brock screamed at Garnet, pounding on the door, unable to open it himself.
Garnet just put her hand on the angry trainer's shoulder and gently pulled his away from the door "Brock, Bismuth is a loose cannon, I don't think she would cooperate with us for them, not after what happened between her and Steven. Besides, Bismuth's a blacksmith, not an engineer, even if she wanted to, I don't think that she is capable of building a fully capable ship to bring us there"
The mention of spaceship gave James an idea "maybe we don't have to build a ship. We've already got one"
"What do you mean?" Misty asked
"I mean, The Centipeetle's live in a ship that came from Homeworld don't they? Maybe it's about time we payed them a visit"
Garnet lead everyone to the warp pad and teleported to the ruins of the Homeworld dropship "Sadie, guy Steven hates, you two might want to stay outside"
"Steven, Ash and Lars are my friends, and they need my help. I'm not just going to sit around while they're all in danger" Sadie responded
"Nothing's too big for Kevin to take on" Kevin arrogantly told her
Garnet opened the door, because it was established that the Centipeetle's trusted James, he went inside first to avoid them attacking. Sure enough, the three creatures dropped from the ceiling of the ship and all began to hiss defensively.
Misty's fear of bugs finally reared it's ugly head at the sight of the monsters the size of a school bus. She began to shake and whimper at the sight of them and tears began to form in her eyes, but Sadie held her hand, noticing her complete utter fear and stood by her side. Kevin on the other hand, began screaming at the sight of the monsters and began screaming, grabbing a large rock ready to attack.
"Stop it you idiot!" James shouted to him before turning back to the corrupted gems "hey girl, you remember me don't you? Your friend James?"
The Centipeetle captain examined him and upon recognizing him, she nuzzled her beak against him affectionately and purred happily. James laughed at the Gem's affection "alright girl, listen up. Steven and Ash are in danger and we need your home to help get them back home, will you let us stay here a little bit to help them?"
Centipeetle nodded in approval, happy to help the only people who would listen to and help her.
"Thank you so much" James answered her with a hug "alright, let's get to work!"
Garnet and James began to pick apart at what was once the control pad, Sadie staying close to see how she could assist while Kevin nervously hid in the corner furthest away from the Centipeetles.
"You really put a number of him" Misty told Brock as the two began to examine what Garnet told them was the engine.
"Well what did you expect? He was being horribly disrespectful"
"You've been acting more angry lately, are you alright?"
"I'm, I'm just tired Misty. In those four years I traveled with Ash I was always the adult, in the twelve years before I met you and Ash I had to be the adult to my brothers and sisters. Even now, surrounded by aliens thousands of years old, with the exception of Garnet, I still feel like I have to be the adult around here. Not to mention my best friend has been abducted by aliens doing Arceus knows what to him, two of the people that I trusted more than anything else in the world just betrayed me by helping them take him, and even worse my family's in danger now because May and Dawn knew just about everything about me!" he screamed to her, he to finally started to cry "I just, don't know if I can do this anymore"
"It's alright Brock, it's alright to be angry. I'm scared for him to"
Greg wiped the tears from his eyes as he drove the van down the street with Connie and Pearl, finally parking in the townhouse driveway. "You two should stay out here" he managed to choke out through his voice cracking. He exited the car and knocked on the door, where the owners of the house answered.
"Oh Greg, have your boys found Lars yet? You came just as I was about to call the police" Lars's mother informed him
"Martha, Dante, our boys have been taken" he somberly said
"Oh Goodness" Mr. Barriga said while Mrs. Barriga reached for the phone crying her eyes out
"The police aren't going to help. They've been taken to deep space. Me and the Crystal Gems are trying our best to help get them back, but you deserve to know the truth. I'm so sorry" he said leaving the house, more tears falling down his face, not being able to bare seeing Lars's parents reaction.
"Are we ready?" Pearl asked in the passenger seat of the van
Greg sniffled, "yeah, I'll get my toolkit"
After driving back to the Temple, they saw Amethyst, Peridot, Serena and Bonnie had all arrived back at the Temple, ready to get to work.
"How's Lapis?" Connie asked the smaller Gems
"Not good. Let's get working on the ship Garnet told us about so we can get them back quickly." Peridot told her.
Bonnie spent time with the Centipeetle's, who were happy to have her company, while James, Pearl and Peridot tried their best at rebuilding the ship. Garnet eventually took Sadie and Kevin back on the warp pad after they had worked through the night and all through the next day.
"THIS WILL NEVER WORK!" Peridot finally screamed, throwing her tools in frustration, scaring the Centipeetles. Bonnie and Serena taking their time to calm them down. "This engine is beyond repair without the proper tools and materials! Not to mention we have absolutely no source of fuel powerful enough to power it for a fast return trip!"
"We can't give up hope!" Greg told them, "We can call Andy and see if he can get us a supply of oil from his plane company!" he desperately cried out "we have to try! We can fix this thing! We can fix it!" he then broke down, bashing a wrench against the control pad over and over again. Everyone was taken aback by Greg's breakdown, in fact they all honestly never even seen Greg angry, yet alone melting down like this.
"Greg, I agree, we have to keep trying, but you and the others haven't slept in the past twenty four hours" Garnet finally reached to him. "Amethyst take the others back, they deserve to rest. Pearl, Peridot and I will continue to work"
Amethyst obeyed Garnet's wishes and Brock, James and Misty began to make their way back to the barn, only to be reminded of why they were fighting to bring the two home by the blockade of water surrounding the barn, Lapis refusing to talk to them. As a result, the trio had to sleep at the Temple house.
The next morning Amethyst brought the group back to the ship, to the sight of Garnet holding a screaming Pearl down to the ground, Peridot screaming back at her armed with a blowtorch.
"IT'S NOT HOPELESS! WE CAN STILL FIX IT!" Pearl screamed
"You don't think I don't want them back as much as you?!" Peridot responded to her, sounding both exhausted and desperate "I'd give my life to get them back, but I'm telling you this ship is beyond repair!"
"If only Clemont was here" Bonnie reflected "he'd probably be able to help fix all this"
"This is a disaster" Amethyst finally opened up to the group "without them, this group is completely falling apart. I mean look at us, we're all fractured. What's going to keep us together if we don't get them back? What's going to keep us together if or when Homeworld finally invades? We have to work together guys, for both Steven and Ash."
With Amethyst's inspiration, the group was able to push through another day of work. That is, until the engine exploded.
"NO!" Peridot screamed trying to put the charred and fractured engine pieces back into place to no avail. "Now, it's hopeless Pearl" she said in a defeated tone. "Without that engine, this ship will never be operational. This ship is doomed".
With all hope seemingly gone, everyone boarded the warp pad home and warped home as the sun began to set. Pearl then broke down once again "IT'S HOPELESS!" she screamed as she began to pace the room in a circle "we'll never get that dropship to fly, and we're losing time! Who knows what they're doing to the boys! Hi boys. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO D-" she began screaming, only to turn to see Steven, Ash, Pikachu, Lion and a boy with yellow hair and glasses she didn't recognize standing in the living room, looking exhausted.
Almost instantly, Greg shoved past everybody on the warp pad and grabbed his boys in the tightest hug Ash had ever received in his life.
"I never thought I'd see my boys again!" he cried
"ASH!" Peridot shouted, squishing into the trio's hug, then she noticed the boy resting on Lion "who's that Clod?"
"CLEMONT!" Bonnie screamed from the group and ran to her brother, crying her eyes out as she tackled herself into him.
After Ash received his hug from Brock, Misty, Serena and James, and then from Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Connie, he noticed how one person was missing.
"Where's Lapis?"
Amethyst and Peridot then looked at each other with concern, knowing her current state of mind.
"Where's Lapis!?" he again demanded, this time sounding much more angry.
"Ash," Pearl began to try to explain to him.
"Don't sugarcoat it Pearl, tell me where she is!"
"Ash, she's at the barn" Misty began to tell him "but you need to know she's-"
But Ash was having absolutely none of it. He ran past everybody and forced his way through the front door, desperately scurrying down the beach to get to her. As he ran, he felt the ground squish under his feet, soaking wet. As he got closer to his home, he was greeted to the sight of an enormous wall of water surrounding his home.
"LAPIS!" he screamed as he pounded his fists against the wall "LAPIS IT'S ME! PLEASE LAPIS I'M HOME! LAPIS!"
Time had slowed down to Lapis, she didn't know nor care how long she had been sitting on the soaking wet floor of the barn for, all she knew was that he was gone, and she felt inconsolable grief. Outside, she suddenly heard a voice calling to her. "Great", she thought, "Peridot and Amethyst are back trying to talk me out. I already told them I want to be alone" she projected her face onto her water barrier to tell them to go away. But to her shock, it wasn't Amethyst or Peridot demanding to be let in
"ASH!" she screamed with joy through her projection, dropping the wall to allow her beloved inside
"LAPIS!" he screamed as he ran into her arms, spinning her around once they embraced each other, sealing it with a deep kiss.
"I. Thought. I'd. Never. See. You. Again" Lapis exclaimed, kissing him over and over between each word.
"Lapis, I made a promise to both myself and to you that I'd do this as soon as I got back" he said looking over towards where their bed normally was "wait, where's our bed?"
"Looking for this?" she asked, pulling the small black box out from her gem, handing it to him.
"Aw man, I really wanted this to be a surprise" he explained, accepting the box
"It's alright Ash, I'll pretend"
With that, he took the her hand and presented the closed box. "Lapis Lazuli, you have become my sole reason to give me hope, even as I was escaping the Diamonds and Homeworld knowing you were back home waiting for me kept me going. You have become my heart and soul, and I never want to be separated from you ever again. Lapis Lazuli, will you make me the happiest trainer in the world by saying "yes"?" he told her getting down to his knee, and opening the box "Lapis Lazuli, will you marry me?"
Lapis cried harder than she had when Ash was taken from her, but this time it was because she was happy "yes. Yes Ash Ketchum, I will. I will marry you"
Standing up to his feet, the two locked each other again into another kiss, but this time, he felt something different, recognizing this feeling, he welcomed it as it overtook his body.
Opening their eyes, Lapis was not standing in front of them anymore, but the new person knew that they weren't Ash either. They ran towards the mirror and gasped to see Malachite was looking back at them. The part of it that was Lapis immediately began to panic at the sight of the face she never wanted to see ever again, but the part that was Ash she reassured her and made her feel more comfortable with the fusion.
Because Ash was only half Gem, Malachite was now standing only around seven feet tall. She still possessed the teal colored skin, two sets of eyes and the large messy hair, but that was where the comparisons between the original and this new version ended. Where she originally had pale white hair, it was now jet black, with navy blue ends. He possessed and actual nose instead of Jasper's gem, and had Ash's lightning shaped birthmarks on her cheeks. She actually had a pair of legs, and at first she thought she only had two arms, but then a third arm snuck around her waist from above her buttocks like a tail. The feeling of anger, fear and pain that Malachite originally felt before was gone, and in it's place, there was love and trust. This great feeling overcame Malachite that she started to cry tears of joy. But the name Malachite sickened her, this was a new Malachite, and she never wanted to remember the horror that she felt before, and wanted a new name to reflect on the new her. She then remembered what Amethyst called their couple name the day they announced their relationship.
"Lash is a pretty good name" she spoke out loud, surprised that she sounded coherent and not two people talking at once.
But Lapis began to feel uncomfortable and the two mutually defused back into their true forms.
"How?" she asked awestruck
Ash didn't feel the need to explain, so he only removed his shirt and jacket to reveal the Jasper gem on his bare chest.
She gasped at the sight, then began to examine him to see if they had hurt him in any other way.
"I'm fine. Just not used to it yet is all. I'm so sorry I accidentally fused with you without your permission"
Lapis gently smiled at him "I'm not mad Ash. Lash was a beautiful experience I just shared with you. That's what fusion should be" she said kissing him gently again. Lapis then pulled away from his lips and placed their bed back into it's original position, removing every last drop of water from it and crawling on it. Ash joined her, thinking they were just going to go to sleep, but then Lapis began kissing his neck passionately, and he knew what was about to happen.
"No Lapis I don't want to lose you the way Greg lost Rose"
She moved her lips from his neck and then removed something from her gem, "I know, that's why I kept this" she explained, presenting one of the condoms Kevin gave him as a joke gift.
"I thought you turned them all into meep morps?"
"I knew what they were for Ash, I'm not dense. Now do you want to? Because I'm not going to force you to if you don't. Besides, Gems only get pregnant if they create they create the proper anatomy" she explained
"You know I would do anything for you to keep you happy" he elaborated, accepting the condom. And so that night, he lost his virginity to his now fiance, Lapis Lazuli
"A minor setback in the overall plan my Diamonds" Giovanni pleaded his case to his partners.
"It is not because of your incompetence that Rose Quartz and the Chosen One escaped us Giovanni" Yellow Diamond scolded him, turning her attention towards Jasper, kneeling before her leaders "we give you an army and you dare attack them alone?"
"Forgive me my Diamond, but the elite soldiers provided for me betrayed me. I was not accounting on that happening, as the Peridot who designed them with the Clemont assured me that they were loyal." Jasper pleaded her case.
"Did she now?" Yellow asked turning her attention to Squareidot
"No my Diamond, I was betrayed mysel-" but she was interrupted by Yellow Diamonds squishing her with her finger, ending with her shattering the square Peridot's gem in her bare hands.
"Perhaps we overestimated you Jasper, you clearly require more support. Blue, members of your court have successfully captured them in the past correct?"
Blue Diamond nodded, and with a gingerly clap of her hands, Blue Pearl brought in Aquamarine and Holly Blue Agate
"Excellent, Jasper, meet your new lieutenants"
"Thank you my gracious, glimmering, magnificent, luste-"
"Thank you my Diamond shall suffice Agate. All of you leave our presence"
Blue Pearl escorted Jasper, Holly Blue, and Aquamarine out of the room.
"The timing for the invasion depends on the emergence of the Cluster, we require more time. Giovanni, might your Team Rocket agents keep those pesky rebels at bay?"
"Of course my Diamonds, my Team Rocket operatives are relentless, not only that, we know the Chosen One's weakness, his precious Lapis Lazuli. My agents are natural thieves, I'm sure that they can steal a single Gem for us" he explained with an evil smile.
"Excellent, Pearl, inform White Diamond of our plan. Tell her that we require her most capable soldiers. The Jasper is going hunting on Earth. And the invasion goes as planned"