Chapter 5: A Gem and a Hard Place

White Diamond's Jasper arrived back on the Earth shortly after, as well as a group of ten Rubies. Amethyst saw the Jasper's arrival on the beach. Immediately, she could tell that this Jasper was even stronger than the Jasper that got corrupted. Amethyst quickly ran to tell the others.

"Pearl! Garnet! Connie! Steven! Lapis! Peridot! Bismuth! Onion! Sadie! We've got a problem!"

"What? What is it?!" Pearl asked, frantically hurrying to the window Amethyst was peering out of with everyone else following not too long after. Peridot was the first one to comment on the sight they saw.

"Another Jasper? That clod looks even tougher than the Jasper that got corrupted! She's even got a squadron of Rubies!" She exclaimed.

"Calm down, Peri. There are ten of us now; eleven if you count Garnet as two." Amethyst said, though there was some apprehension in her voice as she said this. "Not to mention, Rubies are fairly easy to take out compared to most other gems, even some of the corrupted gems. We should be able to beat them."

The gems, Steven, Connie, Onion, and Sadie were peering out the window at the Jasper that was on the beach. Suddenly, the Jasper seemed to notice them, as she looked directly at them through the window.

"Looks like she knows we're here." Garnet said. "Sadie, Onion, you two stay here. We'll handle this noise."

"Got it."

The gems, Steven, and Connie went out to confront the Jasper and the Rubies. When they were all outside, Jasper addressed them. "Crystal Gems! I have been sent here by White Diamond to destroy you! Resistance is futile! Albeit entertaining…" Jasper said, saying the last part a bit more quietly.

"You need to leave immediately!" Garnet warned.

"Yeah, step off!" Amethyst added, with a slight snarl.

"Get out of here you clods!" Peridot yelled.

"This is not a gem-controlled planet." Said Pearl, in a surprisingly level tone, but still clearly panicked, nonetheless.

The Jasper laughed. "Ha ha! Well, well, well. What do we have here?" She said coldly. "Some lost, defective Pearl," she said, gesturing to Pearl, "a puny, overcooked runt," gesturing to Amethyst, "some construction gem," gesturing to Bismuth, "an Era-2 technician," gesturing to Peridot, "this shameless display," gesturing to Garnet, "a Lapis Lazuli," gesturing to Lapis, "and two pathetic hybrids?!" She finished, gesturing to Steven and Connie with clear disgust. "Do you really think you can beat me and my Ruby crew?!" As she said that, the Rubies behind her called out in agreement as they all got into a fighting stance.

The gems readied their weapons, and the ten Rubies fused into two large Rubies of five each. Jasper pulled out two gem destabilizers and charged at the gems. She poofed Amethyst, and tried to poof Steven, but was shocked to discover that he was immune to it, as Steven fought back to keep the Jasper from shattering Amethyst. Meanwhile, Lapis, Bismuth, and Connie were fighting one of the Ruby fusions, and Peridot, Pearl, and Garnet were fighting the other one.

The Ruby fusion that Pearl, Peridot, and Garnet were fighting had picked up a nearby metal rod and was trying to hit Pearl with it. "You pathetic thing. Who did you used to belong to before you defected?" The Ruby fusion chided, as Pearl caught the rod in her hands and was attempting to fight back.

"That is none of your concern," she said. "Peridot! Use your ferrokinesis!"

"My what?" The green gem called out in confusion.

"Your metal powers!" Garnet clarified.

"Oh! Right!" Peridot reached out her hands and 'grabbed' the metal rod from the Ruby and proceeded to use it against the Ruby fusion until finally, they unfused. Garnet and Pearl then proceeded to take out and bubble the Rubies one by one with little effort.

Meanwhile, Lapis, Bismuth, and Connie were having a little bit of trouble with the other Ruby fusion. Bismuth had shape shifted her hands into hammers and was pounding away at the Ruby, but the fusion blocked most of her attacks. Connie pulled out her sword and attempted to flank the Ruby fusion, but they turned around and punched Connie. Hard. She flew back over towards where Steven was struggling to fight the Jasper as she fell on the ground in pain. Lapis used her water wings to fly up, carrying Bismuth, and threw Bismuth down at the Ruby fusion, who struck with incredible force.

Meanwhile, the Jasper was blocking every attack that Steven was throwing at her, as Amethyst was reforming. After Amethyst reformed, she ran over to the other gems to help them with the Ruby fusion.

The Jasper then kicked Steven, sending him flying over to where Connie was laying. "S-Steven! We need to fuse into Stevonnie!" Connie called. Immediately, Steven knew what the plan was. "Right!" The two joined hands, and in a flash of light, Stevonnie was standing where the two young teens had been. They pulled out their shield and sword, and brought them together to form their spiked shield. Stevonnie charged at the Jasper, who put her gem destabilizers away and pulled out her gem weapon: a battle axe. Jasper tried to strike Stevonnie, but they blocked the attack. Then, the Jasper pulled out another battle axe and blindsided Stevonnie, causing them to unfuse. They both lay on the sandy beach in pain.

Connie watched in horror as the Jasper walked up to Steven, and struck her battle axe into his torso, instantly causing him to poof. "N-no… No! STEVEN!" The Jasper picked up his gem, about to shatter him. Connie got up, ignoring her body screaming in pain, and pulled out two swords and charged at the Jasper, and struck the swords into her head and torso, poofing her. Connie bubbled the Jasper and made her swords disappear as she fell back down to the ground in pain, clutching Steven's gem. "Steven! I'm so sorry."

The other gems had poofed and bubbled the remaining Rubies and had watched as Steven got poofed and almost was shattered before Connie poofed the Jasper. They all had looks of shock, horror, and fear on their faces. Connie, Pearl, and Peridot were crying, and the rest were struggling to hold back tears of their own.

The gems walked back into the temple, with Garnet carrying Connie, and saw the look on Sadie and Onion's faces, and knew they saw Steven get poofed as well. Garnet proceeded to walk up the stairs and placed Connie on Steven's bed, who was still crying from Steven getting poofed. Pearl, Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth went to their respective areas; Pearl going into her room in the temple, Lapis and Peridot going back to the barn, and Bismuth going to the forge. Garnet and Sadie went up to try and comfort Connie, who was clutching Steven's gem in her hands, and Amethyst and Onion just stood back in silence, who had looks of concern and sympathy on their faces.