A/N: And now for the moment you've, or one, have all been waiting for! it leads off exactly where the previous chapter left off! I hope you enjoy!
A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Sixty-Four: Act of Desperation
Connie glanced up at the fight every now and then, as Peridot focused her entire concentration on these weapons, whispering, "Almost done..."
The contraptions started to look more like a plasma gun, long-range taser, magnet ray, and a hookshot. Bill Cipher had woken up just a fraction, but still seemed out of it. He groaned and mumbled some stuff, his eye only slightly open. Steven noticed and scooped Bill up and hugged him, happy he was awake again, even if he wasn't really awake.
The small demon hugged back, groggily, "Ugh.. what's going on..? I feel like I got hit by a truck..."
Connie smiled, "We're rescuing you." But she didn't complete it, still watching Peridot, who glanced over at the triangle, who still seemed confused. The Gem then began rewiring some of the wires through these weapons, and they started glowing. She smirked, and grabbed a joystick she'd found and installed, aiming the plasma gun at the felled Gem, chuckling, "Let's see what this baby can do..."
Garnet saw this occurring in her future vision, and backed away, making it look like she was going to jump onto the Quartz. Jasper gasped and rolled out of the way of the anticipated attack, and Steven watched anxiously. Bill closed his eye again, still majorly out of it. Peridot smirked, taking aim and soon firing at the orange Gem. Connie grinned, clenching her hands. Jasper had no time to get up and move, and so was hit, shaking as it affected her painfully. Connie cheered quietly. Garnet looked over and flashed a thumbs up over at them. The green Gem blushed out of humility. The demon reopened his eye, and slapped himself a few times to get his head back in the game.
Jasper struggled to get up again, panting and grunting. Garnet stood over her, but did nothing, giving her a fighting chance. Peridot grinned at how this weakened her. Connie glanced at Bill then, and winked, as if she knew what he was thinking at this point. The demon then grinned, almost lopsidedly, and teleported away. He had a plan.
The Quartz managed to stand. "You'd be NOTHING without your cheap tricks!" she yelled in Garnet's face, before throwing her fist towards the fusion.
The fusion smirked, not bothering to move. Anyone else would question why, until a certain demon blocked the punch with sheer power and will.
Connie gained diamonds in her eyes, and so did Peridot, as they took to watch. They were about to witness just how powerful he really is, and Peridot seemed to forget he was the one the Stans were after. However, he was going to hold back a lot. But Jasper still wouldn't stand a chance. Jasper huffed, glaring at the fusion. "I'd like to watch you beat me without the help of your friends!"
"I already have.. it's his turn now," she then stepped back, grinning. "And he has quite a lot to say to you."
"Darn right, I do!" Bill cracked his knuckles just to show off, also grinning. "Unless you'd like a round two with her?"
He again shifted into Garnet, a perfect replica, aside from the snazzy suit. Connie started clapping quietly, eyes still diamonds, "Woah! Steven! are you seeing this?!"
Peridot couldn't speak for a moment, hand still on the joystick. She soon mustered out a, "Wow..."
Steven grinned and cheered, doing a little jig.
"Speak, then!" the large Gem would have told him he had no right to talk to her, but she needed the break, to restore her energy.
"I'd rather speak.. with my FIST!" and Birnet punched her, right in the face.
"Oooh," Peridot and Connie had shared reactions while Garnet's grin got bigger. Her guard was down, so she fell back to the ground immediately. She knew, for certain, she would lose to these traitors if she didn't do anything...
She glanced around. Peridot was obviously on the other side. The kids were out of the question, and Bill too. That left...
"...Lazuli..." she muttered, and then shouted, "LAZULI!"
Lapis was still out cold on the cold, hard ground, her cheek pressing up against it. Birnet growled a little, grabbing her and pulling her up, "I'm not finished with you!"
Garnet was unsure whether to get Bill to stop or to let this continue. Which was saying something. Connie seemed to be becoming distressed. Peridot didn't seem to care. As long as Jasper lost.
The Ultimate Quartz pushed away from Birnet, running the best she could towards the fallen Gem, the last one she could trust. Birnet stepped towards Jasper, and for a moment it seemed like he had the intent to shatter her. The brunette then shattered, hands cupping her mouth, "BILL! peace! peace!"
Birnet glanced at her, and then at Steven, and stopped cold in his tracks. He growled and shifted back into his usual form, and Garnet stepped up to pat him on the back. Peridot was focused on the burly Gem and Lapis, who was just now waking up, groaning softly.
"Lazuli..." Jasper grabbed her and pulled her to her knees. "Please, we're being overwhelmed... we need to..." something then clicked in the orange Gem's mind, "...to fuse."
Steven was watching also, a bit confused, however. Lapis's eyes widened briefly, and then she frowned softly, "But that's looked down upon back on Homeworld..."
The demon and the fusion walked over to the boat then, with the latter still prepared for anything, and Connie and the green Gem were getting horrible feelings about this all, their stomachs sinking. Peridot grabbed at the sleeves of her trench coat.
"We don't have a choice, Lazuli. I wish we did. But we have to. These Gems - they're traitors. They'll shatter us both!" Jasper subtly, partially lied, desperation creeping into her tone. "Bill - he started the rebellion. If we beat him, Homeworld will praise us, no matter how we get it done!" she smiled a little.
"W-what's going on?" Steven cautiously approached the subject, wondering why it was so quiet.
"I think they're planning to fuse," Peridot informed him, small bags of worry forming under her eyes, and he gasped. Garnet nodded to confirm this. Bill clenched and unclenched his fists every now and then. It was clear he was very understandably mad at Jasper.
The hydro-Gem glanced at the boat where everyone, her enemy, was crowded, and then back into Jasper's eyes. She nodded then, if only to get back at Bill, "Fine. But we target Bill and only Bill."
Connie saw the nod, and bit her lip, whispering, "Lapis, no!"
Jasper scoffed, "Fine..." and picked up Lapis properly, so that they were standing. The blue Gem then held out her hand, and the rest could do nothing but watch. Bill raised an eyebrow at his allies, becoming irritated, "Why aren't we doing anything?"
Neither Connie, Peridot, Steven nor Garnet could answer. And so Jasper started to dance, and Lapis followed her motions, a little reluctantly, however. She spared yet another glance at the haphazard group of allies, but focused mostly on this dance. Connie took back her sword, intent on doing something, but Garnet stopped her. A human wouldn't stand a chance against two Gems. She also wanted to see if the Homeworld Gems could stand a chance. She doubted it, however. They then started to glow, and to merge. Garnet held onto Steven protectively, and so did Bill, while Peridot chose Connie. All of them frowned at this.
The light grew taller, and larger too, and it somehow didn't look as deformed as they thought it'd be. Steven gasped, watching with eldritch horror. The fusion started to laugh, weakly, as it formed. And then it was complete. It stood, with wild hair, four eyes and four arms. But one pair of feet that looked like hands. They grinned at them all. Bill didn't look scared in the slightest. Connie did for a split second before she raised her sword again, jumping out of the boat. Peridot had much the same look as the boy's.
Malachite towered over all of them, a smirk on her face. Water rushed up from behind her - Lapis's part of the fusion. Bill glanced at them all, Connie in particular, "I'll take care of this.."
She lowered her sword, about to speak, that she was going to help no matter what.
"Wait!" Steven's voice cut through the slight silence, as he ran up to join Connie, "Lapis, I know you're in there... please!" he couldn't find the words, and Malachite was in no mood to listen. The water slapped down where the children stood.
Bill zoomed in front of them, putting up a shield, and the water rushed off of it. Garnet merely watched. She was sure things were going to go fine. Peridot's eyes shimmered, as she grabbed the rim of the boat, "Woah.."
And then she glanced at the control. Maybe she could help..? but then the fusion stopped her, and she soon obliged with a reluctant nod. More tendrils of water shot up from the ocean, and then shot towards Garnet and Peridot. The monstrous fusion laughed, displaying expert control over them. Peridot freaked out, her hair going all over the place, but Garnet grabbed her and jumped out of the boat just before the tendrils hit. Luckily, the boat was okay.
"Hey, leave them alone!" the demon shouted, narrowing his eye and firing a laser at them through his finger. "Your business is with me!"
Connie started running back to Garnet and Peridot, her sword held out so she could hopefully counter any attacks, and Steven followed, shield out to help. Malachite chuckled, before focusing all her water on Bill instead. She intended to crush him like a bug. But the demon just wasn't going to let this happen. He shielded himself from the water, and flew towards her face. She lifted a set of her arms with which to catch him like a net. Bill then let loose a chuckle of his own and fired a rather powerful beam, right at her forehead. He took care to avoid the gem located where her nose would be. A wall of water rose up to intercept the beam, while her hands closed in around the triangle.
Peridot glanced at them all, and said out of the side of her mouth, "I think we should leave..."
Connie and Garnet looked at her, and seemed to second her statement. But at the same time, they wanted to see this. They wanted to see how it would turn out, even though it would go in their favor. Hell, it was Bill. But they wanted to see how.
"Lapis! stop fighting, please!" Steven yelled again, hoping she could still hear him in there. He didn't want anyone getting hurt.
The demon glanced at the boy, and frowned softly. He moved upwards to avoid the hands, and snapped his fingers, enclosing the spectators in a bubble. Rain soon afterwards began to fall, but it quickly turned into something lethal. Malachite glared at Bill, and swung her arms towards him; she heard a hissing noise, but ultimately ignored it. The triangle dodged this too, just barely, as the fist caught the tip of his foot. This wasn't enough to knock him completely off-kilter, however, but it did something. Seeing as he had summoned the acid rain, he wasn't by any means affected by it, so it was all good.
Connie kept cheering him on, hoping her voice carried through the bubble. Peridot, however, chewed on her nails, completely unsure. Garnet was simply smiling, arms crossed. Steven again tried to get through to his blue Gem friend. But it was ultimately unheard. Malachite dove into the ocean.
"Ah.. uhm.." Peridot was the first to speak up, green eyes wide, "where is she going...?"
Garnet seemed a little taken aback, particularly by a vision that Malachite was heading towards Beach City now...
Bill kept his guard up, having steadied himself in the air, looking around for any sign of the large fusion. Connie had her sword out yet again, even though she and her friends were protected by this dome. Malachite resurfaced behind Bill, close to the bubble, and pounced on it almost immediately. Steven yelled out, terrified, as it was so sudden.
Connie and Peridot recoiled, while Garnet covered them, trying her best to protect them. Bill turned around, alerted by Steven's shout, and it was almost all he could do. Malachite managed to burst the bubble, and grinned.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" the demon shouted at the rogue fusion. He then snapped his fingers, stopping the acid rain, and a barrage of weapons flew towards Malachite. They were heat-seeking too, focused only on her signature. Garnet led the trio away from the fusion, sweating almost profusely. But she tried her best to keep calm. She really did.
Malachite caught the weapons in her water, and forced them down into the ocean. She glared, and her arms slowly reached for the group huddled together, intent on separating them...
"Stop! they don't have anything to do with this! you want me! and only me!" he tried almost everything to bring her attention back to him.
The fusion made of love wrapped her arms around the trio and jumped away, landing far on the other side of the Galaxy Warp. Okay. They really had to leave now. She grunted a little, "Steven! Bill is busy. Work your magic. Quickly."
Peridot was about to interject, saying that she could fix a Warp Pad too and that they could take the one that wasn't broken, but they had little time. So very little time. Connie kept a close eye on Malachite, narrowing her eyes. She remembered Lapis was the one who wasn't keen on hurting them. What if that changed? what if she was becoming infected with Jasper's hatred? what if.. they were becoming one..? she remembered Steven telling her what happened with Sugilite, what almost happened to Garnet and Amethyst... a thought dawned on her then. Bill had to separate them.
Steven was frozen in place for a second before he gasped and licked his hand, slapping it on the pad quickly. Malachite slammed all four of her fists onto the Galaxy Warp, shaking the structure. She realized this was distracting Bill, and would as long as they were in danger. Until they were gone, he wouldn't be able to completely destroy her. Peridot screamed, unable to control her fear. Connie remained calm, "Come on, Steven..."
Garnet glanced up at Bill, who conjured up more weapons, coupled with some slow-moving reality-damaging waves. He was starting to get serious. Especially because his friends were in danger. The crack in the Warp Pad began to mend, but not as quickly as the quad would have hoped. Malachite's arm moved to sweep them off the pad and into the ocean. Focused on the four, she didn't prepare for the weapons.
The arm came too quick for all of them to jump out of the way, so it was quite a long way down. Bill was too distracted at the moment to try and rescue hem. Garnet was the first one to pop up from the water, along with Peridot. And they proceeded to look around for Connie and Steven, freaking out. Fortunately, the brunette resurfaced, gasping for air, and then spat, narrowing her eyes, "Well, I wasn't expecting to get wet more than thrice today..."
She then looked for the boy, becoming just as worried as the two aliens were. Steven finally popped up in a little air bubble. He looked sad. "Sorry..." he whispered, and was more than a little disappointed.
"It's okay, Steven.." Garnet gathered them all up, and proceeded to swim back. Back to the beach. Bill and Malachite needed to get this out, on their own. The large, monstrous fusion grinned down at them. Now, they were in her water. But that's all she was able to think before she noticed the weapons Bill had just thrown and had to use the water to protect herself again.
The weapons were caught in it, but the reality-bending waves just cut straight through the barrier of water. And then Malachite vanished, just like that. No, not dead, merely transported somewhere else. Those waves sent her to the other side of the planet. The demon blinked, but then smiled. Since they only wanted him, the fusion was no longer a problem. They'd probably unfuse at this point anyway. He chuckled, and then floated down to the boat. He set a hand on it and teleported just then, to where Garnet and the others were. He had to give the fusion more credit. She managed to get this far, even while holding three people, in such a short amount of time.
Connie glanced back towards the towering structure, and noticed she was gone. She then looked at Bill, frowning, "Where'd she go?"
"Is Lapis going to be okay?" asked a distressed Steven.
"They're all the way on the other side of the planet, kids, safe and sound," the demon grinned, as Garnet hopped onto the boat and then let the three go. Peridot smiled at this. "They probably wound up near a Warp Pad. So they'll have nothing to do but either come back or report failure, and I don't think they'll come back."
Of course, the fusion had no way to get off the planet. She struggled to defuse, but Jasper wouldn't let them. She had never failed a mission, and wasn't going to start now. Lapis, of course, didn't want to go back and fight again, especially with Steven there, but Jasper didn't give her much of a choice.
"Well, that's a relief," the green Gem sighed. She seemed on board with the whole thing. She sat down and so did Garnet, while Bill started up the boat and headed for home. Steven and Connie could finally relax, sitting down as well. Of course, the thought that the fusion was still out there was a scary one, but it couldn't get to them that quickly, could it?
"I wonder if Stan and Ford will like the new addition to their boat," the green Gem smiled, already moving on.
"Something tells me they will," Garnet answered, watching the watery environment pass them by. The golden triangle set the boat on a magical autopilot, and then floated over and sat next to Steven.
The boy sighed. "So.. did I introduce you two?" he glanced at Garnet and Bill.
"You don't have to," Garnet slightly lost the smile. "I already know."
The demon suppressed a shudder. Sapphire. He knew she remembered what he did. Peridot glanced at the two, already sensing drama, and wrapped her arms around herself, casting a little look towards Connie, who took to watching this sadly.
"Oh.. wait, how?" Steven asked with a frown. "You two met before?"
"You could say that," the fusion was blunt. "More than five hundred years ago. Before I was formed."
Bill looked at the ground. Peridot started humming, getting up and eyeing the environment. They were getting closer to shore.
"Were you two friends?" he gleefully queried, smiling, head filled with the thought of them being friends. Garnet shook her head, frowning. Bill closed his eye. Poor, optimistic Steven. He was evil five hundred years ago. And even longer than that.
"Oh, wait..." Steven remembered how Bill used to be just then, and sighed, looking down at the wood. "Sorry for prying."
"It's fine," the fusion sighed. "You deserve to know. But not right now. We all need to recover."
The dream demon nodded, and soon the boat reached land, the docks, coming to a stop. Bill was the first to leave, while Peridot sought to anchor it into place. Yellowtail smiled up at them, glad they came back safely. He wasn't sure about the two men, but he assumed they had as well. Peridot nodded at him, "Thanks for watching the boat."
The little man saluted then, and the Gem saluted back, grinning, as she was reminded of Stan. How were they? Garnet stood up, stretching out and stepping out too. She vowed to herself that she'd tell Steven. After they recovered.
A/N: Alright. Finally. Here it is. The conclusion of the battle. That was exciting, wasn't it? xD
Ace had Jasper, Connie near the end, Steven and Malachite. I had Bill, Connie from the beginning (until later in the chapter when they got in the boat - Ace took her back then), Garnet, Peridot, Yellowtail, and Lapis. :3
Hope ya enjoyed! next chapter is coming next Thursday. xD
Also, I forgot to say two chapters ago, but I had gotten the Switch and Super Mario Odyssey a few weeks ago. It's amazing! and I also got gifted Cuphead on Steam and I'm very slowly going through it. xD If y'all wanna add me on the Switch, here it is: SW-7128-9721-4607.
By the way, HAPPY THANKSGIVING and have a wonderful BLACK FRIDAY! WOO!