TW: Blood and Injury

This was the last thing Amethyst wanted. As she turned around to see Twoie, standing a couple of feet behind her, she felt panic claw at her gem. "Twoie? What are you doing here?" From the quick glances she got of Garnet's and Pearl's shocked expressions, she knew her friends were thinking the same thing.

Twoie didn't take his eyes off of Bismuth as he spoke. "I was pretty sure this conversation wasn't going to go well. You saw my memory of how this happened. She was adamant that the Breaking Point was a good idea. So, I figured you'd probably need me if we're going to change her mind."

Bismuth's fists clenched even tighter as she glared at the half-gem. "So you do admit it! You really are Rose, aren't you? How dare you turn them against me!" Everyone startled at her revelation.

"What? No! I already told you, I'm not Rose Quartz!" Twoie growled as his cheeks lit up in a pink glow at the comparison. Bismuth snorted sarcastically.

"You can drop the act. You used time travel as an excuse to hide what you knew under the pretense of 'finding out in the future.'" The blacksmith took a step forward. "You shape-shifted to look like Steven, so I'd buy into the idea that you were different, but your build is too similar to Rose. And those weird features of yours are something only gems are capable of." As she took another step forward, Amethyst summoned her whip and brandished it threateningly. Pearl and Garnet exchanged a look of fear before standing beside Amethyst to form a wall between their old friend and their ward. Bismuth ignored her friends, continuing to close the gap between her and 'Twoie.' "And you just admitted to showing them a memory about the Breaking Point. A memory you shouldn't have if you weren't Rose Quartz."

Bismuth stopped right in front of the Crystal Gems, her towering figure allowing her to look over Amethyst to meet 'Twoie's' eyes. "Admit it! The only reason you let me out of the bubble is that you know you can't beat Homeworld without me. But you wanted to make sure my friends would never want to use the Breaking Point like I did, so you waited until you knew they would be against the idea before releasing me. And to make yourself look better, you hid until you could come back and pretend to be from the future. Because you knew your actions were wrong. And you would be despised if they found out."

Twoie's fists clenched in anger. He thought he had escaped this scenario with his explanation, but it seemed like he only fueled her misunderstanding. Why did he always make things worse? "Bismuth, I have been nothing but nice to you. I really am from the future, and I released you because you didn't deserve to be bubbled for mom's mistake." Twoie's cheeks glowed even brighter when Bismuth scoffed at him. "I told them about the Breaking Point because I wasn't going to take any chances of you going after Steven. In my time, you tried to kill me for disagreeing with you. You thought I was Rose just like you do now, and it led to you being bubbled away again! I want to change that, but I can't if you refuse to listen to us!" He swung his arm out in anger.

Bismuth took another step forward and, instantly, her arms pinned to her side as Amethyst wrapped her in her whip. She barely batted an eyelash at the action. "Well, now I know how you swayed them to your side! I'd never do anything to hurt the little meatball. What a sick tactic to get them to believe you." Pearl and Garnet flanked Bismuth, holding her back so she wouldn't get closer to 'Twoie.' "I never wanted to fight you back then, but you left me with no choice! And you know what? You can't expect me to believe you now after you lied to me about everything? You're lying to all of us about your form and what I 'did' in your timeline." The time traveler flinched and took a step back. Bismuth chuckled coldly as 'Twoie's' body became encased in a pink glow. "See? You really were pretending. You may look like an older version of Steven, but you can't hide who you really are. You know what I see? I see a liar." He hugged himself tightly. "I see a manipulator." Twoie tensed as Bismuth's voice became deeper. "I see Pink Diamond."

Twoie felt his heart stop. He paled at her words, staggering back slightly as the glow faded away. He was too horror-struck to speak, mouth moving but no sounds forming. Bismuth grinned smugly at Twoie's slowly retreating figure. "Just shut up!" Amethyst shoved Bismuth backward. "You don't understand anything, so stop acting like you've figured out this huge scheme! You sound crazy right now!" The purple gem was frightened at how defeated her friend looked. At first, she was too horrified by Bismuth's monologue to say anything, but Twoie's sudden change in demeanor snapped her out of her stupor.

Bismuth finally shifted her gaze from Twoie to Amethyst. "Why do you continue to defend her? Can't you see from her reaction that I'm right?"

Pearl shook her head. "Bismuth, please! You couldn't be further from the truth! We all saw Rose leave us for good. She's not here anymore. You're the one trying to convince us of something that isn't true!"

Bismuth turned to Garnet, hoping that maybe she had gotten through to at least one of her friends. But the permafusion glared at her as she held her ground. "You need to stand down, or we'll be forced to bubble you away."

That was the final straw. The blacksmith knew she wouldn't be able to convince her friends unless they saw for themselves that Rose was lying. "Then, I'm sorry it has come to this." Before the gems could reply, Bismuth flexed her arms against her constraints. The whip snapped apart, allowing her to break free, and she pushed her friends away from her. Twoie didn't have time to process what had happened as Bismuth charged him with one of her hands morphed into a hammer. She punched him hard in the stomach. The momentum of her punch carried them over the edge of the platform, and into one of the waterfalls.

Amethyst was quick to get her bearings and wasted no time in helping the others up. "Come on! We gotta-!" An agonized scream faintly echoed through the room. Amethyst didn't even bother to finish her statement as she lunged for the waterfall she thought she saw them fall into. She wasn't prepared for what met her in the Burning Room.

A couple of feet away, Twoie was lying on his side with his back to her. The back of his hoodie was shredded, and tiny spiny things poked through the tattered remains. Little shards of light purple were scattered around her feet. Nearby, Bismuth was staring at all of the bubbled gems floating in the air around them. Pearl and Garnet landed right behind her as the white noise in Amethyst's head cleared enough for her to hear what Bismuth was saying. "Beryl? Serpentine?" Bismuth turned to face Twoie, twisted in rage and horror. "I never thought you'd stoop so low!" She finally noticed the others in the room. "I can't believe you guys let her bubble everyone away! How could you?" Bismuth jumped into the air and grabbed the bubble containing a corrupted gem.

Amethyst decided that Bismuth could handle herself and ran over to Twoie's side instead. She didn't bat an eyelash at the 'pop' that sounded in the room, nor the confusion in Bismuth's voice as she realized something was wrong. Twoie was far more important. The young man was curled in on himself, bunching his hoodie with both hands at the spot near his gem as he whimpered in pain. His eyes cracked open when he felt her kneel next to him. "A-amethy-!" He hissed in pain. The small gem's hands fluttered around him in panic.

"Okay, Twoie, you gotta tell me what's wrong." The sounds of growling and a fight started up in the background. She brushed a hand through his hair to comfort him but reared back when her hand touched something hard. She parted his hair to see a light purple horn protruding from his skull. "Dude? What's happening to you?" A poof resounded in the room, and everything went silent.

Amethyst didn't know what to do. She growled angrily as she watched Twoie's skin grow paler. Dark bags were beginning to form under his eyes. She felt truly helpless. At the sound of footsteps, she looked up. Garnet and Pearl had rushed over and were now kneeling around Twoie as well. "What are these things?" Pearl asked as she poked the spikes sticking out of Twoie's back. She flinched at how sharp it was.

Amethyst frowned as she looked Twoie over. " I don't know. He has them on his head too, just can't see it because of his hair." She combed her hands through her own hair in frustration. "I don't know what's wrong with him! He won't tell me anything, but he's obviously in pain."

Garnet grasped the young man's hands and gently pried them off his hoodie. "I think it's his gem." Pearl's and Amethyst's eyes widened. The purple gem pulled the hoodie up, gasping in horror at what she revealed. A big crack spiderwebbed through the center of Twoie's pink gem.

"Stars, no…" Pearl whispered. Amethyst's face pinched in rage.

The short gem stood up and turned to face Bismuth, who was staring at the ground in shock. "YOU DID THIS!" Bismuth turned to face her at her exclamation. She was sent stumbling back as the Amethyst lunged for her and punched her in the face.

"Amethyst!" Garnet shouted at her. Pearl wasn't paying attention as she moved Twoie's head to her lap and started whispering words of comfort and encouragement to him. Amethyst disregarded her to stare down Bismuth.

"No, Garnet! I'm gonna bubble her for this, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" Amethyst summoned her whip and prepared to launch herself into another attack.

"TWOIE NEEDS YOU RIGHT NOW!" She paused, turning to face Garnet. The normally stoic gem had dissipated her glasses and narrowed her eyes at her. No one commented at the tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. "Amethyst, Twoie is cracked badly. We can't move him, or else the cracks will get worse. I don' have a vial of Rose's tears on me, and neither does Pearl. You need to go into the house and bring Steven here. Now."

Amethyst growled as she looked back at Bismuth. "Fine. But you better keep an eye on her." She turned and ran out of the temple door.

Garnet directed her attention back to Twoie as he started coughing. She flinched when she saw a small amount of blood drip from his mouth. "Do gems bleed, Bismuth?"

The gem in question looked at her in surprise. "Is that some kind of trick question? Of course not. Gems are made of light."

The permafusion turned her steely gaze back to the blacksmith. "Then, I hope this is enough to finally prove to you that Twoie is not Rose. He is bleeding because of you." Bismuth stepped forward so she could get a better look at Twoie. Regardless of whether she was Rose or not, Bismuth never meant to crack her gem. Rose looked sickly; the dark red trailing down her mouth was a stark contrast to the paleness of her-, no, his skin. Her eyes widened as she came to a sickening epiphany. Twoie really was half-human. He really wasn't Rose Quartz. She had cracked an innocent gem, all because she was too consumed with getting vengeance. Bsmuth backed up, hands covering her mouth as the gravity of the situation settled heavily upon her.

The sound of the door opening rang throughout the room as Steven and Amethyst rushed inside. "Twoie!" Steven screamed in horror as he ran over to his brother. When Twoie didn't respond, his younger brother realized that he'd passed out from the pain. Steven licked his hand and gently pressed it on the cracked gem. Everyone sighed in relief as the gem sparkled, and the spit healed the crack.

Now assured that Twoie would be okay, Steven rounded on Bismuth. "I trusted you!" She startled at the degree of anger in his voice. "I was happy you were here because you made the others really happy! You were the first gem I met that didn't try to kill me before wanting to be friends. But Twoie is my older brother, and you hurt him!" Bismuth rubbed her arm in shame and looked away. "How could you? He never did anything to hurt you! So, why did you hurt him?"

The blacksmith sighed. "You're right. He was kind to me, but I thought it was just a trick to get me to lower my guard. But it wasn't. He's nothing like Rose." Steven stiffened. He knew how much his brother hated being compared to his mom. Although Steven didn't fully understand why, he knew how much that would've hurt his older brother.

"I don't want you here anymore." The room was quiet. Bismuth nodded quietly and walked over to the door. She paused in front of it.

"I don't think I can ever make up for my actions today. But I want to try, once you're more comfortable being around me. If that time comes or if you ever need me, I'll be at the forge." She turned back to look at the group. Twoie was finally waking up, looking around in confusion as he tried to piece together what was happening. She met his bewildered gaze with a somber smile. "I'm sorry. For everything." The door opened, and Bismuth was gone.