Chapter Twenty Two: Brain Food
Nephrite picked out groups of Crystal Shrimp, skewering them to make it more efficient.
The one that Nephrite called "The Kitten" was Bornite, who had claws and a tail. And cat ears.
Bornite brought out Tiger's Eye's claws and Altaite's mini-cannons. She created a crossbow.
She loaded it with some bolts from a little satchel which was hung over her shoulder. She helped Nephrite kill the Shrimp but paid no actual attention to her.
Onyx lowered his spear. "Not as bad as I thought."
Turquoise nodded and smiled at him.
Garnet began to help the other fusions. She then created a hole in the roof.
The Gems jumped to the next floor.
A light shone, and Malachite and Tourmaline were there. Tiger's Eye and Altaite defused too.
There was a particular monster on that floor that Steven liked.
A creature stayed in the corner.
Its right eye was a cracked red gem. It looked like one of those small, chubby creatures that appear on television. It had a patch of pink hair between its ears.
Steven walked over to it. He already knew he could heal its gem.
He licked his hand and walked over to it, hoping it wouldn't turn around and attack him. He quickly grabbed it and put his hand on the gem.
Its body glowed. A skinny Gem appeared in its place.
Her hair was pink and long. She wore a red skirt and coat. She had boots which covered most of her legs.
Steven looked at her, then at Garnet. "Can we keep her?"
Garnet was about to say "We kept Amethyst," but she'd already said that when Steven asked if he could keep Lion.
Instead, she nodded.
The Gem looked at Steven.
"Thank you… Steven, right?"
He nodded.
"I'm Andesine. And I'm guessing this is your crew?"
The Gems kept defeating monsters and advancing to the next floor while talking to Andesine.
At last, they were at the top.
Malachite pointed at a giant… thing. "That's the Cerebral Core! Gems, do your thing!"
Three fusions.
One, Nephrite.
Two, Bornite.
Turquoise jumped into the air, landing on a piece of ice she created. There, she started to create more and jumped onto them, spinning as she did.
Onyx snapped his fingers, stopping gravity's effect on him. He landed on the ceiling and pushed off of it, landing on the platform behind Turquoise.
He started to dance in a style that was similar to both Pearl's and Amethyst's.
Their gems started to glow and a tall, see-through Gem appeared in their place.
Nephrite looked at it and smiled. "Finally one I can live with. Nice to see you again, Hematite."
"Nice to see you too."
Bornite was mad at Nephrite for that.
More specifically, it was Tiger's Eye who was jealous.
Bornite started to shoot at the brain-like object, which was hovering over a cauldron of crimson liquid.
Nephrite summoned her javelin and started to fly using the crystalline wings.
"These are heavier than I remember."
She started jabbing at the Cerebral Core, infecting it with poison, which made it decay it from the inside-out.
Hematite unleashed her halberd upon the giant brain-like structure, frost and shadows making their way to the tip of it, where they'd be used as an attack method.
A laceration appeared in the Core, crimson liquid oozing out and meeting with the liquid below, boiling.
The fusions split up.
Bornite was to its right,
Hematite was to its left,
and Nephrite was still in front of it, infecting the red liquid with poison, slightly changing its color.
The Malachite side of Nephrite yelled out, "Gems! Attack on my three, and don't hold back!"
"One!" The fusions raised their weapons.
"Two!" they aimed at the inside of the Core.
"THREE!"
All of the Gems, fusion or not, unleashed their wrath upon the structure.
A pink, fleshy orb rose from it and exploded.
The Gems celebrated until they heard rumbling outside.
The Spine was collapsing.
Hematite grabbed Steven, Garnet, and Andesine, while Bornite picked up Rose, Amethyst, and Pearl.
Nephrite, who remembered how to fly properly, let Hematite and Bornite hang on to her while she flew them out of the blood-red tower.
And it would not come back for a couple thousand years.
They'd make sure of that.