Hey, guys. Ellis here.
So, I actually had some trouble with this chapter. So, I actually went ahead and wrote Part 11. Yeah, I know it's crazy, but you guys get two Parts in one sitting. That normally doesn't happen.
So here's Part 10 first.
Around two, Penelope walked towards the ruins with Jasper, the two bubbled corruptions they caught, and a plan. She figured it would be the best place to test her theory since it was relatively remote and away from everything else. They reached the ruins with no problems and she turned to Jasper.
"Okay, so the idea would be to keep it contained here. Since the song Biggs mentioned seemed to be the trigger for her corruption, my only theory is that a song can reverse it. However, it's possible that a song from a mere Gem alone can not fully heal corruption as my experience demonstrated. So, we're merely going to test if a song is the key. I brought Biggs, that one that was reverting, and her companion for a repeated test of consistency. You got all of that?"
Jasper groaned, "Yeah, I get it. Just keep them here and don't let them escape. Geez, you're almost as bad as a Peridot!"
"What do Peridots normally do on Homeworld?"
"They're low-class technicians that think they're smarter than you. Their rants are so annoying. I had to work with an Era two Peridot while coming here. SHE WOULD NOT SHUT UP! I wanted to poof her the entire trip!"
"Wait. You came here with another Gem? Shouldn't you be concerned about her? Do you even know where she is!?" Penelope asked, incredulously.
"Oh, she'll be fine. She's very good at running..." Jasper chuckled, darkly.
Penelope stared, "I suddenly feel very concerned about that poor Peridot..."
"Whatever. Let's get this over with." She yawned and phased into her uniform. Her hair was still in a ponytail which showed off her pretty feminine features as well as her masculine jawline.
"You know, you look pretty with your hair up like that. You probably had a bunch of admirers back on Homeworld." Penelope commented, making Jasper blush.
"Please, like anyone would want to be with me!"
"Don't sell yourself short! Besides, I'm still here, aren't I?"
"Then, why does no one want to fuse with me?!"
"As in fusion? Why can't I fuse with you?"
Jasper blushed bright orange, "Y-y-you're too young! You don't need to fuse yet! I need someone that can handle my power!"
"So, I just need to be strong enough to be a worthy match?"
"I-I-I..." She stuttered, then sighed, "You know what, sure. You prove that you can be a good match to fuse, we'll talk. Got it? Now can we please just get this thing over with?!"
Penelope grinned, "I'm holding you to that!"
She grabbed the other corruption's bubble she nicknamed Crazy cause she can't keep calling these poor Gems monsters. She brought to the middle of the ruins and took a deep breath. This was it.
"Ready?"
"Hit it!"
She popped the bubble and ran back to Jasper before it could fully reform. It completely reformed the minute turned around. She started to sing vocals first, see if that did anything. It let out a series of growls and began to shake it head like the song was bothering it. She smiled while still singing; it was working! She began to shift to words next, but Crazy had gotten ahold of herself and began to charge at her. She gasped as Jasper pulled her out of the way. She watched as Crazy crashed into Biggs' bubble and popped it.
"No!" she cried, as she watched Biggs reformed.
She watched as it when humanoid at first, but it screamed, fizzed out, and began to reform back into her corrupted state. She cried when Biggs roared and the two ran off towards the cliffs.
"What the—" she turned to find Jasper staring wide-eyed at where Biggs was.
"Jasper, please. We have to stop them! They're might head toward the city if we don't!" She begged, "Come on!"
Jasper shook her head and turned serious. "Not if I can help it, but you're staying here!"
"But—" She protested.
"No buts! I know you can handle it, but I need you to stay here in case they loop back. Got it? Just don't argue with me right now!" she shouted, sternly.
"…Okay…" She muttered, felt rejected.
Jasper sighed, "I'll let help me something later, okay? Just guard the house!"
She didn't stay long to let Penelope answer, but she understood the situation. There really wasn't any time to argue about it. The corruption pair could be in Beach City already as they speak. It wouldn't hurt to at least search for them on higher ground, just in case. Jasper still didn't know about her new abilities, anyway. So, as long as she made it back before Jasper, it should be okay.
She shook her head. She promised Jasper that she would stay and guard the area. They had just began to trust each other, she wouldn't risk breaking that! Penelope sighed and hopped back to the house with a plan. She'll stay at the house and go on patrol every hour till Jasper came back.
She started to prep for dinner for the first hour. She patrolled the area, humming cause Biggs was attracted to her singing. But, found nothing and headed back to continue cooking and cleaning. It continued till later that night. She had just got done with her patrol five minutes ago and was sitting on the front porch, waiting. She heard rustling in the garden and phased her Gauntlets in a battle-ready stance.
"Whoa, sister! It's just me!" Jasper hollered, coming up towards the house.
"Auntie!" she cried out and ran towards the buff Gem after dispensing her gauntlets.
"Sorry, it took me so long. I got caught up by those rebels from our last hunt." She sneered at that last part.
"That's okay! Did you get Biggs and Crazy back?" she asked, hopefully.
She looked mad and held out her hand with Crazy's Gem, "The Rebels got a hold of the other one."
Penelope looked disappointed that it wasn't Biggs, but she knew there was nothing she could've done. She gave Jasper a sad smile, "It's okay. One's better than none. Come here, Crazy."
She took the Gem, bubbled it, and brought it into the house so it can float up to the others. She sighed and sat on the couch with Jasper, who was in regular clothes again. They both sat in silence for a moment. Penelope became aware of Jasper's annoyance with the rebel Gems.
"You want to talk about it?" She asked, curiously.
"Fusion." Jasper muttered as she got up and began to pace, "Fusion. Fusion. Always Fusion! They always beat me with Fusion and it's an outrage! A cheap tactic to make weaker Gems stronger! I just hate that I keep getting beat up by Fusions!"
She looked like she wanted to punch something now, but was restraining herself. Penelope was impressed by Jasper's control. She sighed now, her control wouldn't last much longer if she continued to dwell on the issue.
"Breathe, Auntie. You'll break something again if you don't." She chasted the brute Gem.
"I know" she sighed, heavily. She could tell that she was still frustrated, though.
"Is it because you believe that no one still wants to fuse with you? Do you feel jealous of them?"
Jasper remained silent, but she felt the anger drained from her as she slowly sat back down on the couch. She was right. She leaned over to hug the big Gem.
"You know, it's okay. Even if no one else wants to, I'm still here. I know you're not a bad Gem. You're quick-tempered and stubborn, but that's okay, too. I still like you just the way you are, Auntie. Nothing will change that for me." She smiled.
A moment later, she felt Jasper give her a one-armed hug back. They stayed like that for a while, before Jasper pulled back.
She chuckled, "You really are something, sister."
Penelope shrugged, "I been through a lot. So, I try to help others when I can, cause I don't want them to feel the same as I did."
"Is that right?" she smirked, then stared at the bubbled gems above them, "You weren't lying about her revert back, were you?"
"No, I didn't. What you saw was her before corruption took back over." she sighed and stared at the bubbles, too.
"I see. Then, we need a new place to hold them if we're going to continue with this experimenting of yours. It's too risky to let them out in the opening like that after what happened today."
"Yeah, you're right. Got anything in mind?"
Jasper sighed, "Yeah, I think I got a place. I'll scout it out tomorrow and we'll move the Corruptions after that."
So, what do you think? Please give a decent review.
Laters,
Ellis Alpha