Past Days…
Things were really starting to look up for everyone. After some time freaking out, as well as time with Garnet, Peridot started to integrate well with the Crystal Gems, and they accepted her as such. Because of the new cohesion, the drill was completed in no time.
After double checking their work, it was determined that everything was ready to go. Provided nothing else came up, the coming mission to the Cluster should go swimmingly. Unfortunately, things were hardly ever that easy for the Crystal Gems.
Barn, Day…
"Did you feel that?" Peridot suddenly asked.
Steven was waking from a nap while Jason exited the barn.
"Feel what?" Amethyst asked, with Pearl, Lapis, and Garnet next to her.
"The ground shook!" The green gem began. "This could be the start of the emergence of the Cluster." She pointed to a diagram on a chalkboard next to her. "Stage 1: slight tremors every quarter hour. Stage 2: full-scale earthquakes. Stage 3…"
She turned the chalkboard over revealing a drawing of a destroyed Earth with the text 'CLUSTER EMERGES' 'BYE BYE EARTH.' "The Earth is destroyed! We're running out of time." She pointed down. "We need to drill, right now!"
"I was hoping we'd have a little more time to expand the cockpit, but you're right Peridot." Garnet nodded. "Jason, how many can fit within the drill at this time?"
"At most, I'd say two of our smaller and two of the taller members. Four in all." Jason declared. "Any more than that, and we run the risk of someone accidently pressing something they shouldn't due to lack of space."
"I don't want to rush this, but we should really get on with stopping the world from ending." Peridot declared.
"Just, one moment." Garnet retorted as she was using her future vision to see just what formation gave them the best odds down there.
At that moment, Steven received a phone call.
He saw it was coming from his father, so he walked a few feet away to take it. "Hey Dad, I don't think this is…"
"Steven, you and the Crystal Gems need to come home." Greg sounded like he was hurt and disappointed with himself.
"What's wrong!?" Steven asked concerned.
"She's a little too impatient to let me explain." Greg informed. "She wants…"
"If you care about this human Rose, I better see you back at your base soon." Jasper stated.
Steven's eyes widened before he heard was sounded like the phone being crushed. It naturally didn't last long before there was a disconnection sound.
"Guys!" Steven immediately ran back to the debating group, drawing their attention. "My dad called because Jasper has him back at the temple, and she wants me there! I need to go rescue him!"
"Why couldn't Jasper wait one day?" Amethyst groaned.
Hearing Jasper was back had Garnet narrowing down potential futures. Just from what she was seeing, there weren't many good options with the inclusion of the quartz soldier. It was simply down to the fact that her reappearance today meant more.
Even though Garnet had taken her in a fight prior, another altercation with a Jasper who hadn't been bubbled all this time didn't guarantee a thing. That's not even mentioning the fact that Jasper appearing on this day, in this way, spelled trouble down near the Cluster.
The fusion was processing this all, in mere moments, as she attempted to pick the best outcome, but before she could come to a decision, Jason spoke up. "Lapis, Steven, and I should go."
"No way." Pearl immediately shut that down. "You can't take Steven to confront Jasper."
"Yeah, are you crazy?" Amethyst questioned.
"Jasper has my dad, so I want to be there." Steven argued. "I need to be there because he sounded injured."
"This also makes the most sense." Jason informed. "You, Garnet, Amethyst, and Peridot have everything to do with the Cluster over us. You and Garnet once called the gems they were allies, Amethyst was born here before I or Steven, and Peridot warned us about this.
While all of us were there for Jasper, she wanted Steven, Lapis was made her prisoner, and I have unfinished business of my own. Not to mention, it's my SUV since taking the nearby warp into the beach house could spell trouble given the opponent."
"Not to mention how he wants to divide us works well." Lapis defended. "This way both teams have equal shares of power and intelligence."
"Whatever you all decide to do, make it quick!" Peridot stated frantically. "We need to stop the world from ending!"
"We'll go with Jason's idea." Garnet declared.
"Garnet…" Pearl stated while Amethyst just looked at her shocked.
"We've already been over this." Garnet stated. "Steven is a Crystal Gem just as much as any of us, and we must believe it him like we would one another. In the end, Jason's logic is sound while Lapis' power alone should be enough to handle Jasper.
Between a beach or the center of the earth, she'll do better there. With Jason accompanying them, that's more power, and his logic can guide them in securing Greg. In short, this is our best path." She looked at her oldest comrades. "Now, we need to go."
"No kidding!" Peridot shouted.
"Oh, alright!" Pearl yelled before looking at Lapis and Jason firmly. "Whatever happens, make sure Steven is safe, and all three of you make it out of this."
"You four do the same on your end." Lapis returned.
Amethyst nodded before speaking to all three of them. "Give Jasper a good hit for me."
"I'll see to it myself." Jason stated.
"Good luck, you three." Garnet declared.
"Same to you four." Steven returned.
Beach House
Jason drifted onto the beach before he, Lapis, and Steven lept out. Steven attempted to sprint ahead, clearly worried, and anxious over the fate of his father. Since Jasper had to be here somewhere, the super soldier kept up alongside him with Lapis following behind.
The main problem with their current predicament was that there seemed to be no sign of the quartz soldier. Even as they made it up the steps, the only real sign Jasper had been there was the missing door, ransacked house, and Greg laid out on the floor.
Steven ran up to his father. "Dad!"
"Lapis, stay near the door and keep a lookout." Jason ordered as they entered the building.
"Right." Lapis stated.
The soldier began carefully, yet quickly, investigating the entire house while ensuring he looked behind any open doors. Lapis stayed near the door and glanced outside in every possible direction. They didn't find any signs of Jasper.
Steven had licked both his hands and applied them to Greg healing him which resulted in the man coming too. "Dad, what happened?" He helped his father to a sitting position while still looking worried and concerned. "Where is Jasper?"
"I came to the temple with a load of groceries only to find the door broken in." Greg responded. "Before I could leave, that gem lunged at me. She'd seen pictures of us and figured I was important to you. I don't know where she went because she knocked me out after the call."
"Dad, it's alright." Steven hugged him. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"While it's fine you don't know where she is, that doesn't change the fact that she's got to be somewhere around here." Jason reasoned. "Even if we don't know much about her, she doesn't seem the type to call us here only to leave."
Lapis spotted something emerging from the water. "I don't know about Jasper, but I think what's just appeared is one of those corrupted gems I've heard about!"
Jason ran to the front door and stared out to see what Lapis was talking about. There was a dull colored, four-legged gem that most certainly looked corrupted. Sounded it to give the noises it was making. It had come from the ocean evident by it shaking off the water.
"Yep, that's one of them." Jason nodded. "Lapis, poof it."
Lapis nodded as she sprouted her water wings and flew out before controlling the nearby water. Just as the corrupted gem saw her, a large fist of water punched down on it hard enough to poof the monster.
"Good job…" Jason began as he lept over the railing.
He was interrupted by Jasper. The gem had hidden herself where all the light canons had been and only now revealed herself since the three Crystal Gem who arrived were separated. She had lunged out at Jason catching him by the back of his neck and slamming him into the ground.
"Gahhh!" Jason exclaimed.
"No!" Lapis had immediately turned and saw this before glaring at her former, last, captor. "Jasper, let him go!"
The orange gem was hardly worried. To be fair, she'd probably feel the same way even if there weren't a second, more colorful version of the same type of corrupted gem springing at her from the water.
With Lapis currently focusing on Jasper, she didn't notice this until it was too late. The orange gem even picked up Jason's head just to make him watch as the monster slammed down atop Lapis sending her plummeting to the ground.
"This time, you can't rely on fusion to save you." Jasper smirked as she got closer to Jason's head. "Without fusion, you Crystal Gems are nothing. What do you have to say to that, Emeralds?"
"I'd say you're wrong, and Homeworld only gets by because other races couldn't put up a fight." Jason chuckled. "Especially if you have more gems with elemental powers on par with a lapis." At that moment, water from the ocean flowed under the monster before erupting in a geyser.
"All they need is that desire to fight." The water gem summoned forth the trident she received from Jason and held it upwards with both hands meaning it skewered the monster as it came down. "How long did it take you to wrangle those two into following your orders?"
Jasper growled, at that and the fact that another of her soldiers poofed, before a familiar, pink shield hit her from behind. It was more of an annoyance than anything painful, but it was enough to draw the quartz's attention to the steps where Steven now stood. Greg stood behind him.
"Let go of my brother!" Steven declared firmly.
"Rose…" Jasper growled.
The orange gem was briefly distracted, which wasn't in her best interests considering Jason began to spark with electricity. He lept up pushing Jasper back before speeding around her. The super soldier then grabbed Jasper's neck and smashed her head into the ground.
That wouldn't be enough to crack her gem, Jason could figure that much out, but it felt good to repay the prior sneak attack. Rather than attempt to restrain her, he merely kicked her with all his current might, managing to send the quartz down to the beach.
"Thanks for that Steven." Jason smiled back at his brother figure before turning back to Jasper and walking down to her. "Now, stick with your dad and keep him safe. I'm going to handle this."
"You got it, Jason." Steven declared.
"Is he going to try and take that quartz on alone?" Greg asked worriedly.
He knew Jason was strong, but Jasper had worked him over before the others arrived. Not to mention she had just restrained the guy not even a moment prior.
"Don't worry dad." Steven smiled. "Jasper got lucky, but a sneak attack won't work a second time. Besides, Jason's been preparing for her return."
Lapis may not have necessarily seen it, due to dealing with the second corrupted gem, but she did hear Jason turning the tables on Jasper. As such, she collected the gems and, thanks to Amethyst showing her in one of their hang outs, bubbled them.
She then sent them off to the temple before brandishing her trident and approaching the currently recovering jasper. "I don't know what you were expecting Jasper, but I'm not the same Lapis you captured before."
"I don't care what type of lapis you are now." Jasper retorted firmly. "I brought those gems here to get you, those defective Emeralds, that fusion, and all the rest out of the way to have my shot at Rose. Now, it seems I'm just going to do that myself."
"I welcome you to try." Lapis retorted.
"Hold it!" Jason shouted, preventing them from going at it. "You've done enough by stopping those corrupted gems she brought, Lapis." The super soldier stopped behind Jasper as he smirked. "Allow me to pull my own weight by being the one to stop her."
Lapis knew Jason was strong, but she couldn't deny the concern she felt. "Jason…"
"Don't worry." Jason nodded to her with a confident grin "If I can't handle this, you'll know. For now, join Steven in making sure Greg is safe." He focused his full attention on Jasper. "Right now, I just need to know how far I've come."
"Alright, I'll let you handle her." Lapis conceded as she flew back to Steven and Greg.
"You're sounding confident for someone who already lost to me before having to resort to fusion." Jasper stated. "That simply makes sense considering Emeralds like you are more diplomatic gems who lead from a distance while I am soldier in the thick of it."
"You're narrow minded and short sighted." Jason summoned forth his five blades and let his electricity flow around them. "You attacked us at this beach with Lapis on our side and assumed it'd be okay because all they're good for is terraforming.
You assumed the Crystal Gems would play by Homeworld's rules which makes me question the validity that you were anywhere near that first war. The Crystal Gems didn't just deploy standard soldiers. They utilized any gem who wanted to fight for their freedom.
It makes perfect sense that your diamonds lost the prior war. Especially if they couldn't see the value in gems with powers like Lapis'. No, they're more concerned with keeping everyone within the boxes they made. I doubt such thoughts ever even crossed their minds."
"You say all these words, but it doesn't change what you are." Jasper responded, angered by what Jason said. "You were set to be gems blessed by the diamonds, but just look at what you are now. You're no better than those corrupted gems I utilized."
"You know, I'd argue that point." Jason smiled. "Though, I think I won't since it'll make poofing you all the sweater if you think nothing more than some corrupted gem did the deed."
Jasper charged Jason at that declaration and threw a punch he was able to dodge by moving to the right; however, the follow up was the exact opposite. The quartz slammed her fist into his face knocking the super soldier away.
He leaned back and caught the ground with his hands before flipping to his feet. Jasper was already charging him, but Jason simply had his swords come to him which just happened to involve all five plowing in her back knocking the orange gem flat on her face.
"I hope you're beginning to see why I had to step in." Jason taunted. "Lapis would have wiped the floor with you while our fusion would have only ended this faster. At least this way you stand to last a few minutes."
That only succeeded in raising Jasper's anger, which was exactly what Jason wanted. The super soldier came to realize that gaining strength to match her was viable but doing that while exploiting a similar weakness as what Garnet ended up revealing in her would work even better.
Jasper charged at the super soldier once more, but this time he had his sword come out in front of him while rotating rapidly. Her fist clashed with the flat of a blade before he had them all converge and pushed her to the side. Almost immediately, the soldier rolled up into a ball.
She sped at Jason, before his swords could get in her way, and began rapidly rolling into him from multiple angles. Just because he could anger his opponent, it didn't mean this would be a walk in the park. It meant she was sloppy and predictable though.
As she came at his backside, Jason was ready this time with his blades and managed to hold her back. Then, he had them form around her before ascending into the air and coming down as fast as they could, essentially spiking the quartz into the ground.
Jason was already rushing in and lept above the currently dazed quartz. "You want to know another way your short sighted and narrow minded?" He came down landing a powerful axe kick into Jasper's gut. "You failed to account for the native species of this planet!"
As he landed, he reared back his foot before slamming it into her side kicking Jasper away. "Think of it as a corruption if you will, but Steven and I are hybrids. Part human" He began approaching her. "If there's one way humanity trumps gems, it's the ability to adapt!"
He attempted to throw a fist, but Jasper blocked it with one hand. "The ability to adapt…who needs whatever nonsense you're talking about?" She glared daggers at Jason. "When you're a perfect soldier like me, you don't need anything else!"
She slammed her helmet into Jason's head hard before slamming her foot into his chest, knocking him away. She was prevented from following up as the super soldier wasn't unconscious. He was more than able to send his five blades at her, giving him time to recover.
"You shouldn't disregard such an important factor." Jason commented as he stood up with his head down. "It's my bodies ability to adapt that led to me being able to better utilize what I showed you before!"
Water began to flow with the lighting around Jason before merging into one. Soon, electrified water flowed faster than either element could have alone around the super soldier. He clenched and unclenched his fist with a deep breath before moving.
Unlike their last fight, it was more powerful due to the control over and practice with it Jason had. As such, Jasper wasn't ready when he suddenly moved and ended up behind her. Her eyes widened as she felt a hand on her back. The quartz turned only to receive a fist to the face.
She was knocked away, but Jason sped in to catch Jasper by the throat before slamming her into the ground. He ran her body along the sand which finally saw the quartz brought to her absolute limit. A burning, orange flame ignited around her so powerful that it threw the hybrid off.
He managed to flip into it and land on his feet, opposite Jasper who snarled. "You were talking about gems with elemental abilities before, so do you still think the diamonds don't know what they are doing now?"
"I don't know." Jason smirked. "Can you control fire or only produce it? If it's merely the latter, then Lapis still has you beat. Even if it's the former, attacking us at the beach, near access to the ocean, wasn't a good plan. No matter what sneak attack you tried."
Jasper clenched her fist and yelled out in rage before rushing Jason again. Only this time, he rushed to meet her head on. When she threw a punch, Jason countered it with his own. The resulting collision created a crater beneath them.
Jasper attempted to slam her helmet down on him, but the same electrified water flowing around Jason was also now flowing around his blades. That made them fast enough to collied with the helmet and keep her from headbutting him again.
That said, this time they were not enough to knock her away. Forget even forcing her back. Jasper still had a free fist which she slammed into the hybrid's face. While it certainly hurt, he wasn't really budging either. This resulted in the two of them moving around the beach.
They collided at several points. Mostly fists on Jasper's part and feet and fists on Jason's. Eventually, Jason threw a kick and Jasper threw a punch where their respective limbs were centimeters from touching, but they just didn't.
This resulted in both landing powerful strikes on the other's faces. The super soldier was slammed into the ground creating a crater while Jasper was sent flying before impacting with the ground and sent skidding along it. For the longest moment, neither of them were getting up.
Then, Jasper proceeded to rise first thinking she'd won until Jason followed suit. By this point, both were in rough shape. Their fire and water & lighting dissipated, respectively, and they were panting. It was clear that this fight would be decided shortly.
"Why do you insist on fighting this hard for such a useless, waste of a planet?" Jasper asked. "How could you have let yourselves be corrupted to the point you'd follow Rose Quartz? Back on Homeworld, you'd both have status even greater than my own."
"Firstly, Garnet is the leader of the Crystal Gems, so she's the being I follow." Jason retorted. "Secondly, I fight for Earth because it's my home. I'll defend it from a whole other race that thinks they have any claim to it.
Humanity was here before any gem; however, they couldn't fight for this planet themselves before. This time, I'm here. While I do have gems, I fight for this planet as a human. The real question is, why couldn't you have just left us alone when asked to?"
"The diamonds had this mission, so I volunteered. I would finally finish Rose Quartz and her Crystal Gems. Decimate them for everything they did." Jasper declared. "She is responsible for everything that happened to my colony, my planet, and my diamond! Pink Diamond!"
"I won't let you stand there and call this your planet!" Jason retorted. "Not when you fought for the side that did irreparable damage to it and would gladly see everyone who lived here crushed beneath your feet. This is the home of humanity and the Crystal Gems!"
"You want to stand there and say those words to me." Jasper got eerily quiet before she roared at the top of her lungs. "ROSE QUARTZ SHATTERED MY DIAMOND!"
"Are you saying Pink Diamond would have been merciful to Rose Quartz?' Jason didn't believe that for a second and was officially done making her mad as he let his ruthlessness out in full force. "There is no such thing as a good war."
Just like when he spoke to Yellow, Jason's hair, gems, and eyes flashed from their normal color to green. "Gems were shattered on both sides. I've already said I'd shatter Yellow Diamond, so it's no stretch of the imagination to say I would have shattered Pink Diamond as well."
Jasper gave the mightiest, angriest yell she's ever given in her life before sprinting at Jason. "Then you won't mind me shattering you!"
Jason only gave Jasper a silent, ruthless look as he held out his right arm. His five blades suddenly appeared, now green, before five new blades appeared. All ten began to spin rapidly in a circle as a massive amount of green, electrified water collected between them.
Just as Jasper got close enough to throw a punch, the electrified water shot forth like a beam slamming into her. The quartz was picked up and entrapped as green electricity constantly bombarded her. With all her prior damage, her body just couldn't take much and she poofed.
It was at this point that the electrified water dissipated, and Jason slowed made his way forward only to stop right before where the orange gem was left. He picked the gem up and bubbled it before sending the thing to the temple.
Jason sighed. "It's over."
His gems, hair, and eyes returned to normal before he passed out and fell back onto the wet, sandy ground. Not long after he entered unconsciousness, Lapis flew on over and landed next to him.
"What was that?" Despite her shock over seeing what Jason did, as well as things on him changing color, it didn't stop the water gem from gently picking the soldier up. "Whatever that power is, he's much stronger than I thought."
Lapis' shock eventually faded as she smiled down at Jason and began to make her way back to the beach house. After achieving what he did, the super soldier deserved a nice rest. Despite the place being ransacked, the couch at least seemed intact.
Outside the Beach House
Unlike Lapis, Steven was too ed shocked over what Jasper said to go check on Jason. "No… mom would never do that. S-Sure, she had to fight, but…" He looked at Greg, with tears in his eyes, who could only look at his son sadly. "Dad, she wouldn't shatter someone, right?"
Even though Steven accepted what Jason had done, as well as what he would do…Even though he's spent all this time with the older hybrid, Steven never once thought his own mother could have done something like that.
"Steven…" Greg got on one knee. "Like I said before, and Jason just said out there, there's never such a thing as a good war. I don't know much about what any of them, even Rose, did during the war, but I do know none of this would be here without them.
The Earth, Beach City, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Jason, and you wouldn't have been here had they failed. I believe that whatever the gems and Rose did during the war, it was necessary to bring Earth to this point."
"I-I just thought…" Steven looked around. "Even though Jason has and will do this, I never thought mom would…"
"The gems should really be here for this." Greg rubbed the back of his head. "Look Schtu-ball, your mother cared a great deal for Earth to the point I don't doubt she'd always do what was best for it over what was best for her."
Steven grew silent as he looked out over the beach where Jason and Jasper had battled. His gaze then transitioned to the sea. Greg just didn't know what more he could personally say, so he simply gave his son a comforting hug.
Before getting to explanations, I'd like to start by informing you that I couldn't really contact the owner of the third hybrid I'd implemented within this story, so I changed that. You can go back and read it if you want, but you don't have to. All you need to know is that I changed the hybrid to a female named Vera, her mother is Lea, Andrew is now her older brother, and I made it clearer she wants to be part of things like the other hybrids.
I also decided to nix the inclusion of those two new gems which is why they didn't show up in this chapter. I didn't exactly feel confident in that decision upon coming back to this story, and I'd rather leave room to include more full humans rather than simply resorting to add more gems. Not that Connie isn't great, but it is about time I introduce at least one other fully human character. I have an idea for that, so be on the lookout for them in season 3.
As for this chapter, it is officially part I of the season 2 finale. I would like to start by drawing your attention to the fact that Jason's gems, hair, and eyes became green. This is not something unique to him nor the other two hybrids. In theory, every gem has the potential to reach this new level of power called Overclocking. Yes, it was an idea proposed by Round Table that I do like. Now for Jasper being poofed here, she simply wasn't going to get away this time.
Jason made her too angry to even think of possibly retreating, and even if she did come to that conclusion, Lapis is right there with the ocean not that far away. It's exactly the inclusion of Lapis that made Jasper come up with this plan she utilized rather than coming up on the corrupted gem. As for collecting these gems now, Jasper has been free all this time with none of the baggage that came from Malachite. So yeah, next chapter will be on the other team.
3bodyjaa: Thank you.
Guest: Eh, not exactly the way Jason would have wanted it, but his emotions were running pretty high. He doesn't regret it though.
Marbled Gold: I don't really blame anyone on the show staff for how they handled it since they just didn't want humans to really participate like that. As for me, I want to write a story like that. Glad you liked that little tidbit I threw in with Jason confessing his love.
Fantasy Lord 77: I've said it many times before that I do like canon as it is, but if someone were to make a character of their own, giving Steven someone who truly understands him is a way to go in my opinion. As for the other humans coming in, it's been a bit of a slow build up as I didn't want to overwhelm the story. Now, season 3, intermixed with things that will still be happening, is going to be the season on integration.
On the topic of Jason and Lapis, they aren't exactly like Garnet in that regard, they both do like being themselves, but they don't exactly mind fusing with each other either. Oh man, on the topic of the diamonds, I got some stuff planned for season 4. Canon still exist for those that loved it, but this story is not going to end the same way. It just can't with everything that's already been building up.
Guest: Thanks.
Guest: Thanks.
Random Dude: Here you go.
mann3ify & K-L95: Here's part I of the season 2 finale.