Mission after mission, Phosphosiderite became more trustworthy, integrating herself into the Crystal Gems. After years of experience together, they began to work as a team, Sid even giving advice on occasion.
It was Steven's seventeenth birthday before any distress was felt from the ocean. Before then, Malachite had been on the edge of stability and chaos for several years, sending the occasional colossal wave towards the beach, but otherwise sedentary. Sid wondered about the safety of having Malachite exist, but now, it was nearly certain they were on the brink of unfusing.
"Ruby, Sapphire!" Steven called to them. It had become a birthday tradition for Garnet to unfuse for every one of Steven's birthdays, and since age 13, he would beg to see the two of them together. "Come on, we're gonna take a group picture!"
Even the Maheshwarans had joined in for the beach party. The skies had been sunny when the party began, however the clouds were quickly approaching from the oceans.
He and Connie looked out towards the sea. The water had a deep green tint, and the tide was coming in so steeply, only several yards of the beach were spared.
"Oh, well, I guess no swimming," Connie sighed. "It's still been loads of fun, though, being with you guys," she blushed.
"Yeah…" Steven gazed at the ocean grimly. "I've never seen it look like this before."
"I'm sure it's just a thunderstorm or something," Connie smiled reassuringly.
As time passed, the clouds multiplied, releasing heavy rain that forced the gems to head inside and the Maheshwarans to leave, speeding away in their SUV.
"I'll call you later, Steven!" Connie yelled from the car's window.
Later that day, as Steven was talking with Connie, the other gems had gathered in Garnet's room for a meeting.
"You all saw what happened to the ocean today. It wasn't right, and I definitely think Malachite is behind it. We need to get to the source of this immediately," Garnet was refused and ready to take action.
"I agree. But once we find her- or them, -can I please try to talk to Jasper? She trusted me, and I think that she would want to join our side if she knows I'm here," Sid explained.
"What?" Pearl screeched. "She's far too unstable! We don't know what type of threat she could pose, and-"
Garnet interrupted her. "We need her on our side. Even though Sid has been a huge help on missions, Homeworld could be looking for her and Lapis, and if they come for us, we could actually stand a chance if we have more gems with us. Plus, if she tries to fight, I'm stronger than her."
"I guess you're right," Pearl said nervously. "Since Rose is gone, it's fractured the strength of our team, and so many died in the last war it would be catastrophic to have another one."
"As long as Lapis doesn't try to fight us, it would be easy to capture her. Now, we need to act quickly. Let's go, gems," Garnet prepared a yellow raft, large enough to fit all of them.
The chaos had transferred itself from the sky to the ocean, waves crashing against the base of the Temple under a clear night sky.
"This thing isn't going to last a minute on that water," Amethyst scoffed.
"We can always just swim if the raft breaks, anyways," Sid shrugged, placing herself near the edge of the boat as she looked into the ocean.
They started their trek on the unrelentingly chaotic waters the moment Steven fell asleep. After several hours of sailing, they approached a large whirlpool, emitting pillars of green light that reached the stars. The waves ripped at the raft until it had nearly fallen apart, barely keeping the weight of all of them.
"This thing doesn't look like it can hold up much longer!" Amethyst yelled over the roaring seas. "I think we need to jump-" she was interrupted by a colossal wave that forced them into the whirlpool, consuming and destroying the remnants of the boat.
Phosphosiderite was ripped from her team, falling through the eye of the storm and landing on the immense mane of Malachite.
"Jasper!" Phosphosiderite screamed. "Can you hear me?"
The fusion was writhing and pulling at her own chains.
"You can't keep me here!" Jasper was heard through Malachite's mouth. "You're not doing this to save anyone! All you want is someone to trap-" Malachite's eyes searched the ocean frantically until she spotted Phosphosiderite. Between Jasper's recognition and Lapis' confusion, Malachite fell apart the moment she laid eyes on her.
The whirlpool caved in, crushing them all under the weight of the sea. Sid could barely make our Jasper's silhouette, grabbing her arm and dragging them both to the surface of the ocean.
"Phosphosiderite?" Jasper said weakly. "Is that you?"
"Jasper, I'm so glad you're okay!" Sid's eyes filled with tears. "Just hang in there, I'll get us back to shore-" she could feel Jasper's body relax as her eyes fluttered closed.
"I'm not okay. Have you destroyed the Crystal Gems?"
"I am a Crystal Gem, Jasper. I'll explain it when we get out of this stupid water," Sid struggled to support both their weight as she swam towards the shore, the lights of the Temple barely visible.
"How could you betray everything we stood for?" she growled. "You… traitor!"
"If you had listened to me during the Rebellion, we could have joined them together, fighting for this planet. You've never understood, have you? You're a slave to Yellow Diamond, and you always have been. And now that we're both here, on Earth, we finally have the chance we've been waiting for need to live a valued life, one without all the dictatorships and bloodthirst and-" she could still remember Yellow Diamond's sword, the way it burned through her core. "You remember what she did to me."
"This planet is hopeless!" Jasper yelled with all her strength, body turning limp as they washed up on the shore. Her eyes filled with tears. She knew that there was no hope left for her, and the chances of her fighting were remote. She wasn't stronger than them, and they all knew it. The utter dread and defeat she felt consumed her. "I'm hopeless," she muttered, vision darkening as she felt warm arms around her. Sid lifted her off the ground, carrying the unconscious gem to the Temple. She sat in stunned silence as the other gems towered above her, sun peeking behind the horizon and casting golden light onto the peaceful ocean.