On earth, the fusion was still in a state of inner conflict.
'So now that we are a fusion…what are we called?' asked Steven.
'Uhhh, we are dark in colour. Obsidian? But we're not that dark.' Pearl said thoughtfully.
'But we are mostly reddish pink.' commented Ruby.
'Oh, how about Tourmaline?' suggested Pearl, 'It's mostly reddish pink but can also have other colours.'
'Alright! We are Tourmaline!' Steven said animatedly.
'Besides that, we should use this opportunity to practise this fusion, so that if the Diamonds come, we can be a little more prepared,' said Sapphire in her calm voice. They all agreed and individually started doing their own things. While this may have seemed perfectly normal to them in their fusion, their actual appearance was a different matter.
Greg and Connie snapped out of their daze and confusedly watched the fusion. It seemed as if she was doing some crazy dance. After a few minutes, she settled down and knelt on the beach. Except the beach was too small for her giant body. Her knees wound up half submerged in the ocean.
'Helloooo Greggg aaand Cooonnniiiieee…' said Tourmaline.
'Um hi?' replied Connie politely, if a little unsure.
'What are you guys doing?' asked Greg directly.
'Weeee deciiideeed tooo maaaaake uuuuse oooof oouuur fuuuusioooon…' replied the fusion, 'Weee aaaare gooiiing tooo practiiiise oouuur cooooordinaaaaatioooon…'
'Sounds like you'll be needing it,' observed Greg, 'but maybe some other time. It's getting late and Steven's bedtime was an hour ago.'
'Buuuut daaaaaaaad…I feeel fiiiine…I'm not sleeepy at aaall…' said Tourmaline with a whine that was distinctly Steven's.
'Because we are fuuused, our physicaaaal and mentaaaal compoooneeents are combiiiined…Steeven nooow has several thouuusand yeaars added on to himmm…weee are one being nooow…buuuut…you humaaans should get your sleeeep…' said Tourmaline with an educational tone that was distinctly Pearl's.
Greg didn't seem too convinced but he nodded anyway. 'Well, I'm off to bed then, don't stay up too late Steven. Connie, do you want me to drop you off?'
'Yes please, Mr Universe. Goodnight Steven, tell me everything tomorrow.' Connie waved jauntily at the fusion before making her way to Greg's van and hopping in.
'Ok, goodniiiight da— Greeeeg and Connieeeee…' replied the fusion as the van drove away.
Little did they know that for the first time in thousands of years, diamonds had taken residence in the gem base on the moon once again. They were calmly awaiting their chance to strike back.
Tourmaline was testing out her fusion. She brought out her hammer and swung it around in a few experimental turns. She waddled into the ocean and probingly swung the hammer in a wide arc, slamming it down on the surface of the sea. Instantly, massive waves surged from the impact and water showered down, along with various forms of marine life such as fish and seaweed. A wry smile twisted her mouth and she twirled the hammer once more before bringing out her bow and arrow.
Fusion allows gems to enhance their individual and innate abilities so that they are better than they had ever been before. This meant that due to Sapphire's amplified future vision, she had predicted the diamonds' arrival on the moon base as soon as they'd fused. They had also seen their plan and decided to mix things up a bit. Now that they had sent away potential casualties, they could go all out.
Of course, they had also noticed Peridot hiding behind a few rocks. She waddled back to the shore and braced one of her hands on the beach. With two fingers, she leaned over and picked up Peridot by her triangular head. Peridot wriggled furiously.
'Hey! Hey! Put me down!' she yelled, 'I wasn't doing anything!'
'Noooo, you were merely obserrrrving our actions weren't youuuu? Weeeell, never mind, I wasn't going to ask about thaaaat. Actuallyyy, I have foreseen the diamonds watching us from the moon and I just wanted to notify youuu. I will be confronting them soon, so if you want to run, now's your chancccce.' Tourmaline murmured to the now still Peridot. She gently placed her down on the ground again.
'No way! I am an integral part of this group, you need me! When you are stuck in a tricky situation, I'll jump out and surprise them. I'll impress them with my amazing magnetic abilities, and they'll be so surprised, they'll lose! I'll just stay in my hiding spot, so make sure they don't see me!' Peridot ran over to her previous hiding spot.
Tourmaline 'hmm'ed and turned back to the ocean. She stood up but didn't go back to the ocean. She stayed on the sandy beach. Tossing up some boulders, she summoned her bow and formed an arrow made of light. She precisely shot each boulder straight through the middle, then shot the pieces that broke off from their shattering. She purposely sent one extra arrow straight for the hands that were on the moon.
The arrow twinkled out of the earth's atmosphere and disappeared into the image of the half moon. Tourmaline smirked. Five minutes later, a giant battered yellow hand careened into sight and crashed into the ocean. A second later, two giant figures shot out of the top, another second later, the hand exploded.
Yellow shards flew everywhere, but thankfully didn't reach the town. It mostly fell back into the ocean, perhaps going on to create a whole new legend. One of the two figures that had escaped from the sinking wreckage slammed down on the beach with such force, a plume of sand and dust shot up into the air, forming a thick, opaque haze. A gust of wind blew away the dust and revealed Blue Diamond standing alone on the beach. Blue Diamond's shoulders drooped slightly, and she held her hood close so that it covered her face. Slowly, she raised her head so that a furious expression could be seen under her hood. Her eyebrows were furrowed uncharacteristically, and a cold blaze burned in her eyes. Tourmaline tensed, ready for battle.
'You dare destroy my ship and claim this land that Pink was shattered in, you filthy fusion? You are an affront to her legacy and her will. I thought we had destroyed you in the war, but it seems that you have persisted, and lived on this little scrap of land for far too long. No matter, we shall put an end to that now. No more will her resting place be contaminated by you disgusting off colours,' Blue Diamond spoke in a celestial voice laced with steel and sorrow.
Blue Diamond raised her hands and a blue light cascaded from them. She drew her hands together and the blue light shrunk to the size of a marble before widening out in a far bigger radius, enveloping the fusion within it. A deep feeling of grief and devastation flooded Tourmaline's emotions until she could barely think of anything else. It took everything just to remain fused.
The other figure, meanwhile, had flown off into the direction of where the cluster had been buried. A loud boom echoed from there soon after Blue Diamond's attack and dust clouds started floating to the sky. Thankfully, there was a protective bubble enclosing the cluster, but Tourmaline knew it wouldn't last. It would certainly delay the impending formation, but that would be it. The fusion watched the violent explosions with mild concern and a whole lot of sorrow, but thanks to her amplified future vision, she had foreseen only two possible outcomes, one potentially earth destroying and the other certainly far more advantageous. It was all up to Steven to direct the path of time into their favour.
Normally, sleep would be a requirement for Steven to telepathically and empathetically connect to the billions of gem shards fused inside the Earth's mantle, or any sentient life form really. However, Tourmaline amplified this ability so that Steven could link with the cluster's conscience with little difficulty, and that's precisely what Tourmaline did. This was, of course, made far more difficult with Blue Diamond's soul-crushing sadness bearing down on them, but thanks to the emotional stability and support of their fusion, Tourmaline managed to push through.
With a booming roar, she extended a pink light outwards, with her in the centre, and a feeling of calm reassurance and the emotion that a warm blanket and a roaring hearth evoked to her surroundings in a broad enough radius so that it reached the cluster. It was soothing and gentle, like a comforting hand with a cup of hot chocolate, and though it did not delay the cluster's imminent emergence, it eased the force and the struggle of its formation, as well as the burden of Blue Diamond's despair.
The strength of Tourmaline's feelings didn't dissipate, and though the radius reduced in size, it still remained as a thin protective bubble around the fusion. In fact, the range of Tourmaline's empathetic wave was so extensive that the entire population of Beach City felt it, and then some. They felt just a little closer to each other, and just a little warmer towards their immediate company. Their struggles seemed to disappear and the day became just a bit brighter, which may or may not have been due to the rising sun that was less than an hour away.
The diamonds had definitely felt it. It was as if Blue Diamond had been pushed away by a physical force. In fact, she had been pushed all the way back into the ocean. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she let go of her attack.
'What…that aura…how…how did you do that…? What was that…?' she said sounding a little lost.
Tourmaline answered with just one word, a whisper that seemed to push through the air, magnified by the raw emotions raging behind it and proliferate in strength and power. The corner of her mouth curled up into a warm smile.
'Hope.'
Then, the bubble popped.
A/N: Sorry (not sorry) for the cliffhanger. Actually, I thought of this idea right after Pink Diamond's reveal, and it was mostly about fusion. I wanted them to fuse and I just randomly thought of a dance party. I really wasn't trying to copy Rebecca Sugar's idea for Reunited! But anyway, this fan fiction will be a little different to the story so far, since I want to explore fusion. Please leave comments on my writing! I would love lots of positive feedback, and I wouldn't hate some constructive criticism. Thanks for reading and thank you for the reviews! XD