Chapter 3

The injector towered over the city. It's glowing goo slowly filling the ground and wilting the organic material all around it. While the people of Beach City had evacuated, it was only a matter of time before the device would destroy the world if left alone. Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth monitored the drill, trying to find ways to turn it off.

The results were not very successful.

"This isn't good," Peridot said, looking over the data. "The injector is already reaching critical mass!"

"It's amazing how this little machine is destroying the planet," Bismuth said.

"Is there any way to stop it?" Lapis asked, looking over the data.

The triangular green Gem shook her head. "Even if we could find a way, I doubt we have the means to by force. It's withstood a great amount of wear and tear and showed no signs of slowing down."

"Well what then?" Lapis asked in frustration. "Isn't there anything you can do to lower its mass?"

Peridot looked at Lapis. "Okay, first of all, it's not that kind of mass. Second, the device is calibrated by sound frequencies. I would need to find the right one to turn it off, but if I do it incorrectly, it could dump its entire payload, causing a backflow to occur and contaminate the entire area."

Bismuth raised a brow. "Backflow?"

"Yes," Peridot gestures to the screen. "The reason the injector is taking a long time is due to trying to drill through the crust. While it can go at a faster pace, going too fast would just have it splash backward due to the lack of space being created."

"Oooh. Like dumping molten ore into a mold too quickly. I gotcha."

"Granted, the backflow would prevent global devastation, it'd take ages to clean up as well as cause possible biological casualties within the area." Peridot shows the drill exploding on the screen. "Oh, and let us not forget the potential of it EXPLODING!"

Bismuth frowned. "Sounds like we need a more subtle approach."

Peridot nods in agreement. "Quite right."

"So... how do we do that?" Bismuth asked. "We need something that would go with the sound wavelengths to stop the drill. We just use a horn or something?"

"Sounds like we're on time," Amethyst said. She and the others had arrived, with not a moment too soon.

"Amethyst!" Peridot held out her hand. "Get away; I can't stand you all vacant and berupt of personality."

The purple gem gave a deadpan stare. "Yo I'm back, ya dip... I JUST TOLD YOU EARLIER!"

"Oh, thank goodness," Peridot said. "Did you get Spinel's memories back and-who is that?" She pointed to Taaffeite.

"It's a fusion of Steven and Spinel," Amethyst said.

"Huh... and that somehow allowed access to her memories despite the effects of the rejuvenator?" Lapis asked.

Taaffeite forced a grin. "Uh, yeah! Definitely! Nothing went wrong! Haha!"

Amethyst narrowed her eyes. "Right..."

Taaffeite calmed herself down, looking over the massive drill. "Okay, let me just turn off the injector."

She warped and stretched her finger into a horn, enlarged due to her size, then blew into it. The sound echoed across the hill and around them. They saw the drill move, shifting and altering its shape. The drill bit pulled itself out and the legs pulling in as it hovered back into the air. It left behind a small pool of biopoison, but other than that, nothing had exploded yet.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank the stars..." Peridot said. "I was worried it would blow up."

Connie groaned, facepalming. "Please don't jinx it."

"So, we're good now?" Amethyst asked.

"Doesn't seem like it," Peridot said. "We still don't have a way to expel the poison. Even if we did, the planet won't be able to regenerate what the drill injected."

"We can pump out the poison into some storage vats," Pearl said. "Then we can cover what's left with the healing waters from Rose's Fountain."

Lapis raised a brow, lifting her arm and taking out a small blob of poison with her powers. "Or I could just float it all into space?"

Pearl sighed. "Yes, or you can float it all into space..." She folded her arms, pouting as Lapis got to work, removing all the poison. "I wanted to use the pumps..."

"So we good now?" Amethyst asked, rolling her hand through her hair.

"Yeah, I guess," Peridot said, stepping away from the monitor.

"Alright!" Amethyst smiles. "Now let's go find out what's on TV! I didn't get to see the end of the episode last night!"

"We still need to fix Garnet's memory," Pearl said, rubbing her head in frustration. "Honestly...Alright Taaffeite, you can unfuse now."

A record scratch could be heard in Taaffeite's mind, bringing it to a full stop. '...ohnoohnoohnoohno! Can't unfuse! But I can't tell them! Misunderstanding! Steven is still weak. They'll think Spinel/I did it! Quick! An excuse!'

Taaffeite quickly gave a pouty face. "Awwww, can't I stay like this a little longer? I wanted to try out this form more."

'Yes! Score one for Taaffeite~.'

Pearl was unsure, weakened by the sad expression. "Well... I guess-"

Pearl felt two pairs of limbs wrapped around her body and pulled towards Taaffeite in a full-on hug. "Thank you, Pearl! You're a real gem~" Taaffeite said with a smile.

"Oof!" She had some trouble speaking due to the constriction. "O-of course I'm a real g-gem. Mmmmph-you can let me go now!" Pearl dropped to the ground with a thud. "A little more gently next time..."

With the injector out of the way, there was only one problem to solve. Or, in Taaffeite's case, two. First was Garnet's memory. Had to figure out what memory to tackle to bring her out. The second would be getting Steven back to normal She was not sure if she could unfuse while they were in this state. Spinel would, in all likelihood, remain fused even if they could, and this was a very delicate process that could only be done with a healed Steven.

Of course, it wasn't like she had too much time to decide which way to go about this. She'd just have to wing it. Her ear jacks drooped as she sighed in defeat.

"What's the big deal," Amethyst asked. "Ya can fuse later. We kinda need Steven to get Garnet's memories."

Taaffeite glared at her, then chuckled. "Oh ho ho, no need for that. I'm just as reliable as Steven." She bent and twisted her arm in front of herself and took a bow.

"Well, why don't we ask Steven?"

"Why not ask him yourself?"

"I would if you would stop smothering him!"

"Uh guys," Connie said. "There's no need to-"

"Excu~se me?" Taaffeite snarled, eyes spiraling. "I'm not smothering him!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes! You are!"

"No! I'm not!"

"Then say that to my face, ya big rubber-band!"

With a yell, Taaffeite's body glowed and pulled apart. Spinel stomped forward, pointing her finger right into Amethyst's gem.

"Think you're hot stuff, ya smug, purple-faced, vegetable?!" She lifted her left fist, expanding it three times its size. "I'm gonna RAM my fist so far into your face, you'll be seeing Steven next week-"

"Steven!"

Spinel stopped dead, eyes widen. The realization dawned on her and processed through her mind, daring her to look to prove her growing fears. She turned her head behind her, seeing Connie next to Steven's prone form. His body was as pale as the moment she fused with him, his breathing slow.

And now he was in full view of Spinel and everyone else.

"Uh oh."