"So I don't get to see the Cluster?" Steven looked up at Garnet, who placed a hand on their hair and ruffled it.

"Don't worry, you won't be missing anything."

"Yes." Peridot clasped their hands together. "If the diagrams I've seen are correct, it should just be a greatly enlarged version of the forced fusion experiments."

Garnet nodded, and then began walking away towards the drill.

"Oh-okay... but Garnet! What'll the mantle look like?" The boy scampered up to the side of the drill. "Is it just rock? If it's just rock, can you get me one?"

The fusion gave a thumbs up from the top of the drill.

"Garnet, we can't promise that!" Pearl then looked over the edge, waving. "Goodbye, Steven! Make sure you stay around the barn, and keep an eye on Peridot and- where's Aventurine?"

Rather abruptly, Garnet grabbed the pale Gem's arm and pulled them down. Before they could protest, Amethyst spoke up.

"Alright! This is to, uh, not getting blown up by the Cluster!" The purple Gem pressed a button and the hood of the drill came slamming down around them. The head of the machine began to spin; Garnet tilted it forwards and steered it into the ground.

And then they were gone.

"Peridot?" Steven asked after a moment.

"Yes, Steven?"

"Are they gonna be alright?"

The green Gem frowned. "Technically speaking, they have only a very small chance of survival. But they have survived much more dangerous situations before, so... I don't know."

"Oh, okay." The boy looked around. "Garnet told me to look out for Aventurine."

Peridot raised a sceptical eyebrow. "That is... a difficult task. I highly doubt we will find that Gem unless she wants to be found."

They stopped and thought for a moment. Then a smile began to creep up their lips. "Well, maybe the two of us can't catch her..."

"What are you implying?"

"But I know who can: Lion!"

The large pink animal lying a little ways away flicked their ears, but otherwise remained completely still.

"You want to ride that thing again? Peridot cautiously followed Steven as the two approached Lion. "Why?"

"Lion knows where to find Aventurine." Steven kneeled down and buried their face in Lion's soft mane. "Don't you?"

There was no response.

"Come on, Lion! We'll give you lots of, uh, Lionlickers. And naps... though you're taking a nap right now so-"

The green Gem crossed their arms. "Pfft, this dumb animal could never find Aventurine. Maybe if we-"

Lion's eyes snapped open at their words, and they hauled themselves to their feet. Then they gave a great roar that ripped a portal through the fabric of reality, and looked back at the green Gem with bared teeth.

"I mean, uh, nice... animal?" They looked at Steven's face. "You want me to ride it? Nyeh... just as long as you don't stick me in its mane again."

"Yeah!" Steven grabbed Peridot's hand, and enthusiastically dragged them up to Lion. After helping their companion reluctantly get seated on the pink animal's shoulders, they hopped on behind.

Lion waited patiently until this was done, and then they started forwards, charging into the portal at such a speed Peridot grabbed onto their mane and Steven wrapped their arms around Peridot's waist, their legs flying behind them in the wind.

Inside the portal was a confusing mess of pink and white, and then suddenly they passed back into reality, landing in a dim, water-logged area. Only a strange warm light that emanated from tubes around the walls provided any sort of vision.

Peridot blinked and shook themselves, trying to recover from the experience. Then they looked down at Steven's arms.

"Ahem."

Steven removed their arms around the green Gem's waist.

"Thank you, Steven." They then switched on their Gem light. "What is this place? It looks... familiar."

Steven looked down. "Lion, is this where Aventurine is?"

Lion groaned, and laid down with a puff. They didn't seem to mind about the water.

"Lion?"

Peridot looked over at the boy. "What's the matter with this lion?"

"I think he's just tired." They slid off Lion's back and landed with a splash. "But he looks relaxed, so this can't be so-"

There was a series of plunks in the water, as if a collection of somethings had fallen down to the ground. Peridot snapped around to look at the disturbance, but all they saw were ripples.

"Wait a minute," Steven motioned for the green Gem to look up, and the vast array of bubbled Gems left no room for doubt. "Peridot, we're in the Burning Room!"

Of course, Peridot thought as they slid off Lion with a splash. This was the room they reformed in.

"Peridot, what are you doing?" The boy started pushing Lion. "We gotta get out of here!"

"What's wrong?"

"Garnet told me the Temple was reforming." Steven tried lifting Lion's head, to no avail. "Come... on... Lion!"

Lion puffed and turned their head away. Behind them was an almost inaudible swooshing sound.

"What's so bad about that?" The green Gem raised an eyebrow.

"I... uh, I don't know. I never asked any follow up questions!"

"Nyah!" Peridot threw their hands in the air and began walking away. "This is great, just great."

"Where are you going?"

"To investigate, you clod!" They waded their way across the room. "I saw something drop over here."

They arrived at the spot, but upon examination the objects they had seen fall were nowhere to be found.

"Did you find anything?" Steven called, and the green Gem answered in the negative. "Oh. Lion's still not moving, maybe we should take-"

A small scuffing noise sounded from the dark ceiling of the Burning Room. Peridot looked up, and perceived the faintest bit of shadow slip away from their light. Their eyes widened.

"Steven, we're not alone. We need to get out of here!"

"What about Lion?" The boy frowned. "Maybe it's just Aventurine. Aventurine!"

The call echoed in the darkness, but there was no answer.

"I don't think that's Aventurine." Peridot looked towards the front, where the ledge and the entrance was located. "We can leave your lion here."

Steven frowned. "But-"

Before they could argue much further, a clinking sound interrupted from the back of the room. Peridot trained their gemstone light onto it, revealing a twisted forced-fusion gemstone half-submerged in the thin layer of water.

Lion sat up. After a moment of stunned silence, a bright light streamed out of the Gem, lifting it up off the ground.

"Ohhhh nooo..." Steven backed into Lion's soft fur.

A series of screaming faces bubbled out of the light as it stretched out. Then it splintered into a giant hand-like shape, which then mutated further hands and feet on the tips of its fingers.

And then the light faded, and the room shook as the monster crashed into the ground. It struggled up with difficulty before slowly, painfully crawling towards Steven, wailing and grunting.

"Oh my stars." Peridot stood frozen, unable to tear their eyes away from the monstrosity. Steven hopped on Lion, who stood up and began to run towards the green Gem.

The boy reached out and pulled Peridot onto Lion's back, and they screamed and latched onto Steven's waist for dear life as the animal leapt up onto the platform and charged out of the Temple. Lion didn't slow until they were in the standing in the middle of the beach, nice and safe from whatever was going on in the Burning Room.

Peridot was still trembling. "Oh, my stars. What was that?"

"It was one of the fusion-"

"No, not that!" They snapped. "The thing on the ceiling."

"I don't know. We need to tell the Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl once they get back." The boy scratched their head. "And we still don't know where Aventurine is."

The green Gem looked down, and gingerly removed their hands from Steven's waist. "I don't care about that anymore. Let's just get out of here before that thing comes after us!"