Debbie was skeptical to put it mildly.
"Peri...neither one of us have ever fused before. And you're the only one who's even supposed to be doing something like that."
"It should be fine! At least I think so. The human Connie has managed to fuse with Steven." Peridot reminded her. Again.
"Peridot, he's half human. That's not reassuring."
"Perhaps under normal circumstances, that would be true. But the gem belt should warp your biology far enough that you temporarily become half gem yourself. See! It all works out."
Debbie bit her lip and sighed. Peridot looked so pleased with herself. Eagerly the little gem tapped away at the screen of her tablet, taking note of every thought. The leathery feeling of the belt itself was sending chills up her arm.
"I...It's...Peridot-." Debbie honestly didn't know what to say.
"Why are you being so weird about this?" Peridot asked, "You said using it didn't hurt."
"Well, yeah. It doesn't hurt it's just kinda...scary. I mean I changed. There were these lights and then I was totally different!"
"That's part of fusing. You're supposed to change. Become of better version of the parts you throw in. At least that's how it seems to work."
"A better version, huh?" Debbie tensed a little, "Why isn't that reassuring?"
Peridot flinched a little and stopped typing, she looked uncomfortable. "Look...I'm not too sure about how it all works...not really. Back on homeworld fusing isn't really allowed, and after seeing what it did to Jasper I think I'm starting to see why."
"What...what happened to Jasper?"
For a moment, Peridot said nothing. She tapped her knee, like it was a nervous twitch. "Jasper became obsessed with the idea of fusing. But I have some theories."
"Wait, so you're saying that fusing can be...like...addicting?"
"Maybe...but also no? I don't think so!" Peridot groaned, "I think there was something else. Jasper would always decimate other gems one on one, but always lost against fusions. I think she became obsessed because she finally met something, a lot of somethings actually, that she couldn't defeat. Jasper never lost until she had to fight a fusion."
"That makes sense, actually." Debbie let out a little sigh, "It's reassuring at least."
"In that case, do you want to give the belt a try?"
The woman gave a sigh of defeat. "Alright, alright fine. We try it. But nothing else."
"Great! Now, fair warning. It might not be the exact same as last time."
"Wait...what do you mean?" The woman asked, giving the gem a look as she weaved the belt through her belt loops.
Peridot looked pleased, "Your gem belt is made up of two gem shards fused together, meaning there are two ways the fusion can go. If the gems were complete it'd simply be a case of combining all three people. Since you're fusing with shards, you fuse with one or the other."
"Uhh, okay. I guess that makes sense." Debbie scratched at her neck out of nerves, "So how do I know which one I'll end up with?"
"It's pretty simple actually." Peridot smirked, "These belts were used for the purpose of battle or industries like construction. Gems that could fall into either category were given these belts to enhance their properties in those two fields. You were panicked when you used the belt the first time, right?"
"Uh, yeah. That's right."
"I hypothesize that the belt responded to your emotional state and activated the battle protocol. Since you're much calmer, you should access the industrial side this time. You'll experience a different look and a boost in strength at the very least."
The redhead was somewhat reassured by Peridot's confidence, and certainly impressed by her knowledge about the little device. It almost made her feel less silly standing in the middle of her closed barn, fretting over whether or not to put on a belt.
"You ready?" Peridot asked, finger hovering over the button set to start recording.
"Yeah...I think so. Here goes nothing!"
I apologize for the severe gap in content for anyone who still remembers this old story. I bet going back through and reading it is something of a ride now. If you're wondering when this episode is taking place, I'd put it sometime shortly before the Kindergarten kid, which is the first episode in season four as I plan to do something with the events of that episode.
That's right! There are more chapters in the works. I plan to have a few chapters out before potentially ghosting again. Hehe. Again, so sorry. I'm actually just now getting back into writing and this chapter marks the first day of my winter break from college. So for those of you who've stuck with this story, I can't thank you enough.