Steven watched as the soldiers swarmed towards them. He recognized the Rubies, but the others were alien to him. Some were wielding hammers, so he guessed those were the Citrines, but others carried sickles, swords, spears, and axes. He put his shield up and hoped none of them had abilities that were too surprising to him.
If the soldiers were planning on overwhelming the four gems coming at them, they were sadly mistaken. Amethyst's whips started tripping up those in front, causing those behind to stumble. Pearl fired bolts of energy from her spear, striking those that hadn't fallen, even managing to strike one Ruby just right to poof him. The soldiers fired back with their own thrown weapons and waves of energy, but Steven stood firm with his shield, catching blast after blast, each blow causing his arm to sting with the force of it. The soldiers that ended up reaching the Crystal Gems were staggered, burnt, and disorganized, allowing Garnet to lay an indiscriminate beating on them. Pearl and Amethyst swiftly moved to help.
Once the melee was joined, Steven had trouble positioning himself in a way where he was any help at all. Once everything was all spears, swords, and fists, projectiles stopped pouring in from the ship and each Gem was doing what they could to keep themselves from getting shattered. He moved around their sides and backs, making sure no one struck them from some unseen angle, but while the others were doing well, poofing a full dozen enemy soldiers, five times that number were within a fifteen second jog and closing on them fast.
And Ten was also closing in. She moved toward them steadily, not running as her soldiers were, but sizing up the battle as she cut the distance. She was a mountain of calm in this chaotic desert. And she moved with a deadly purpose.
Steven knew where he was needed.
He rushed past the other three. "Steven!" he heard Pearl yelp behind him, but he didn't turn to reassure her. He had to keep Ten busy if they were going to have any chance of surviving. Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet were all here fighting to protect him, so he could at least do the same for them.
A handful of soldiers took swipes at him as he passed, but he put up his bubble, deflecting any attack coming his way. He bowled over a group of Rubies, and suddenly the only thing between him and Ten was empty desert air. He knew Emerald was in control, and if she was in control…
Steven pivoted to his left and instantly knew he was right. Ten immediately altered her path, turning slightly to her right and coming straight for Steven. He moved more to the side and she followed. He kept moving, drawing Ten away from the crowd of soldiers that made their way towards the other Gems, more than happy to leave the little bubbled boy to Ten. Steven hoped the Gems would be alright, but he knew this was the most useful thing he could do.
He also knew his bubble wouldn't stand up against a single blow from his mother's sword. As soon as he was far enough away from the other soldiers, he let the bubble drop and allowed Ten to approach.
Emerald was clearly trying to take advantage of the opportunity as quickly as she could, because Ten struck immediately with a vicious stab aimed directly at Steven's gem. It was an easy block for Steven, and no sooner had her sword met his shield then he brought his bubble shield back up around both himself and Ten, effectively sealing them off from the battle outside. He wouldn't have a lot of space to maneuver, but so long as he blocked with his shield, he wouldn't have to take a step back. If worse came to worst and he needed to get out of the way, he could drop the bubble and leap backwards.
Ten didn't seem to care that a bubble surrounded them, nor that Steven was clearly using himself as a distraction; she came at him with a barrage of vicious strikes, and suddenly Steven remembered with burgeoning dread how insanely fast she had been during her duel with Pearl. All at once, this seemed to him like his worst idea ever.
"She's going to kill Steven!" Pearl screeched, nearly losing her head as an axe cleaved the air next to her. "For good this time!"
"Keep your head in the game, Pearl!" shouted Amethyst, who's whip was around the axe owner's arm. She tugged again and they fell off balance before being quickly dispatched by Pearl.
"We have to do something!"
"You can't do anything if you get yourself shattered!"
Garnet chanced a look at Steven. Indeed, Steven was doing little more than curling up and cramming as much of his body behind his shield as possible, moving only to turn in shallow angles left, right, up, and down to catch attacks as they came. He was keeping on the extreme defensive, not even attempting to strike back, which was doubtless the only reason he was surviving. Due to the shield being almost as big as his crouched body and the fact that it absorbed the vast majority of the impact energy, it took minimal effort for him to block. He was buying them valuable time.
Garnet punched out, catching an Agate in the face as she moved to strike what she thought was a distracted Garnet. Garnet followed it up with another blow to the side of the head that sent the Agate reeling and falling into those behind her.
"We need more power. We need Sardonyx."
A spear came at Amethyst. She dodged to the side, wrapping her whip around the arm of the attacking gem and crushing it as if it were an empty soda can. "If you guys can find five seconds to fuse," said Amethyst, "then go right ahead, but good luck with that."
Garnet frowned. Amethyst was right. There was no way they were going to find enough time to form Sardonyx. They were holding their own for now, but in the time since Steven had run off, they had only managed to destabilize two additional gems. Each was purest luck and hard won, but it would take a miracle for them to cut through this whole group of gems and survive, much less reach Steven.
She wished they had Ten on their side.
Steven's arm was growing tired. He wanted to look at where the others were to see how they were faring, but he knew that turning his attention elsewhere for even a fraction of a second would mean instant death. If he only knew how long he had to hold out before they came to the rescue, he could psyche himself up to hold out for just that much longer. Instead, he had to defend himself for an indefinite period. He didn't have to hold for just thirty seconds or three minutes; he just had to hold.
Steven grunted with the exertion of moving his shield. He looked up into Ten's eyes, still seeing nothing of his old friend in there.
"Come on, Ten," he heard himself saying, an almost unconscious action. "I know you're still in there. You told me yourself that last time you were taken, you could see what your body was doing, you just had no control. Do you have any control at all anymore? Can you blink for me?" He watched Ten's eyes, but she stared at him with an even, uninterrupted gaze. "I guess not."
Ten continued to strike at him, and he soon went from tired to exhausted. He was pouring sweat, thanks in no small part to the intense desert heat. Ten, naturally, showed no signs of tiring. Steven struggled to think of what he could do, because it was becoming clear that holding out for help wasn't going to cut it anymore.
What could he do? He ran through the mental catalogue of his powers. He had good strength and speed, but only that of a half-gem: impressive for humans, laughable compared to Ten's. He had his shield and bubble of course, but he was already using both. He could draw a second shield, but to what advantage? He could grow or shrink his bubble, but again, to what advantage? Even if he shrunk the bubble enough so that Ten couldn't move easily, Ten could easily pierce the bubble with mom's sword if she wanted to, she just hadn't yet been given a reason.
Jumping and floating were pointless, as was his healing. What else did he have? Think, Steven, think! He racked his tired brain, trying to shake it from a stupor caused by thirst and fatigue and wake it up.
His eyes went wide. That was it! Kiki and Lars, his watermelon Stevens, Lapis and Jaspar: Emerald had control of Ten's mind, but Steven could delve into the minds of people and gems…
…in his sleep.
No, wait! The Cluster! He had been completely awake when he had delved into the mind of The Cluster!
…and then fell unconscious during that ordeal. Steven's mind reeled. He knew he was on the verge of something. He had no other powers that could possibly trump Emerald's. There had to be some way he could utilize it without rendering himself completely vulnerable to Ten's attacks. He just had to think of something.
There was only one thing he could do, and that was give himself time. He would have to concentrate.
He let his bubble drop.
He had exactly one shot at this, but before he took any actions, he had to see if he could even access Ten's mind. He had dived into minds dozens of times before, albeit involuntarily. This time he had to do it through his own willpower. And he had to do it fast: his arm was no longer exhausted, but in incredible pain from the constant rain of blows. Steven forced himself to ignore that, for to acknowledge the pain was death.
He focused with all his might, letting the unconscious part of his mind watch the attacks and move the shield. He was taking a big risk, but it was his only choice. He focused harder, focusing until his brain hurt with the stress of it. I have to get to Ten, his mind echoed. I have to get to Ten. Where are you? I have to get to you. I have to get to Ten.
He focused and strained until his face turned red and his eyes felt like they were going to pop from his skull, but still he repeated in his head. I have to get to Ten. Where are you? Where are you? Ten, where are you?
Ten.
Where are you?
His gem began to glow. He couldn't see it, his eyes set as they were on Ten, but he felt it to be so. It was happening. He was doing it. He didn't know how much time he had before he slipped into sleep, but he knew it wasn't long. He grasped at the last vestiges of his consciousness and reached deep into his well of powers. With the last breath he had, he whispered to himself, "Surprise bubble bomb."
His bubble formed about him and exploded outward stronger than it ever had before, every last ounce of his energy poured into it. Ten was struck by it in mid swing, propelled away by a force that would have obliterated a human being. She kept going, carried out by it as it expanded at breakneck speeds. The bubble expanded until it crashed into the army and the other Crystal gems, pushing them all through the air as it spread out a quarter of a mile, then burst with a deafening blast. Gems were scattered everywhere, tumbling through the air like ragdolls and crashing to the Earth in confusion and amazement.
Ten slammed into the ship and slipped down to the sand below. She stood slowly, knocked nearly senseless from the blow. Emerald commanded her to shake her head and clear her sight and she did so. When she could focus again, she looked over toward the boy, the Steven, and saw him lying on the ground, his bubble and his shield gone, utterly unprotected. Sensing her moment, she picked up her sword and strode toward his unconscious body.
Steven twirled through the unconscious world. Ten's gem, so close at hand, shone like a beacon to his mind. He wasted no time, racing toward it as quickly as he could, remembering without delay all he had learned of navigating this place from his time in his own gem. He felt that resistance that came with entering another gem's mental space, and soon felt the warm, comforting glow of the pink interior of the gem.
Or, uh, the writhing chamber of misery that was the inside of Ten's gem.
Pink cloud's and peace were completely missing from this place, replaced instead by chains and blades and spikes and the jarring scream of spinning metal grinding on metal. Steven did the closest thing to tripping over his own feet that being a floating mind allowed. The place was a horror show come to life and—while he would prefer to imagine that this was Emerald's doing—he knew in truth that this was just what the tortured Ten's gem was like.
He was honestly amazed she had been able to keep herself together at all, but he didn't have time to sit here and feel bad for her; he was in the middle of a mission. Steven's mind shot forward and he began looking for signs of the out-of-the-ordinary, something that screamed outside interference, something that was probably subtle and easy to miss.
What he didn't expect to see was a dozen blindingly bright emerald green tendrils arcing from all around the edges of Ten's gem toward some unseen central point, acting like a beacon and guide. Steven supposed when it came to mental powers, Emerald wasn't as subtle as in the physical world. After all, what had she to fear here?
He rushed along one of the tendrils, spinning around it and examining it. It seemed to stretch out into the nothingness between gems, vanishing in the infinite distance. He had little doubt these would lead back to Emerald's gem if he followed them far enough into the black void, but if Jaspar was able to blast him out of her mind with pure emotion, he was sure Emerald could do worse.
He continued along, the tendrils converging on a black mass ahead. His mind pivoted around the object, trying to get a good look. Just like within his own gem, here was a crystal cage that held Ten in suspension, green tethers keeping it bound in place.
Steven floated above the crystal and materialized a body so that he could interact with this place. It was much easier this time, perhaps because his body existed outside the mindscape this time. Whatever the case, he fell atop the crystal, grabbing the point at the top, landing hard, and causing it to bounce within its green confines. Much to his surprise, that tiny jostle was enough to cause several of the delicate green tendrils to snap.
Steven jumped experimentally, causing the gem to jostle again and more green lines to break off. He jumped again and it sank a bit, then bounced upwards, a score of tendrils breaking free. He began to rock it up and down, each time it sank a bit lower and more and more lines were shaken loose. Finally, with one mighty thrust of his body, the entire structure went into freefall, striking the metallic ground and shattering into shards, Ten's body spilling out and laying in a heap on the ground.
Steven pulled himself off the ground, his body in a surprising amount of pain considering it was some sort of psychic projection. He was stumbling over to Ten when another green tendril snapped from the darkness and wrapped itself around Ten's arm. Steven was shocked to see dozens more crawling their way back toward Ten's and starting to wrap themselves around various parts of her body. He ran over and started pulling them off, finding them easy enough to snap with his bare hands, but numerous enough that he couldn't keep them off Ten.
"I don't know if this will work here," he said to the unconscious Ten, "but let's see if I can bubble you." He concentrated and, much to his relief, his bubble enveloped them both. The tendrils poked and prodded the outside of his bubble, but they were unable to penetrate it, much less pop it.
Despite the apparent weakness of the tendrils, however, he could feel his bubble fading. He gave a heroic effort to sustain it, but he was just too tired. His physical body was exhausted and dehydrated. He could not keep this up on his own.
He reached down and rocked Ten gently in his arms. "Ten, I'm trying to help you out here. You have to wake up and help yourself." Ten didn't respond. "You need to form your bubble and keep yourself protected from Emerald's mind." He placed a hand on Ten's projection's gem, sparing only a moment to consider the oddity of touching a representation of the very place he was inside of, half-expecting a giant hand to crash against the black dome above. Pushing that from his mind, he reached out to Ten. "Come on, buddy. Give us that bubble."
Her gem lit up a moment, then dimmed. "No, like this," said Steven, expanding his own bubble demonstratively despite the monumental effort that took. Her gem glowed again and this time a tiny pink sphere appeared, half enveloped in her stomach.
"Yeah, come on. Like that, but bigger." He put a hand on each side of the bubble, slowly moving them outwards. The bubble expanded to match. "Good job. Bigger." He spread his arms as wide as possible, and soon her bubble was almost as large as his, pressing him against the interior of his own. He let his bubble burst, pulling hers with him so that it grew until it covered her from her feet to her head. With that done, he fell to his knees, watching as the tendrils slapped helplessly at Ten's solid bubble.
He looked down at his hands as they seemed to dissolve into sand and poor away. As fatigue overwhelmed him, his whole projection collapsed and his consciousness was swept aside by the wind of sleep.
Ten blinked and looked around. She was standing in the desert, just as she remembered, but there was a strange loginess in her head that left her foggy and dizzy. She felt Rose's sword in her hands and looked at it. She was holding it point downward, ready to plunge it into something. She glanced down and saw Steven lying unconscious at her feet.
"Steven?!" she cried in surprise. After a moment, she added "I'm free?!" She pulled her arms back, letting the sword fall to the sand as she dropped to one knee and lifted Steven. "Steven, are you okay?" She shook him gently and one eye opened slowly.
"Ten," he murmured, "you're okay."
"What happened to you? I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"No. Backpack," he said, pointing. She pulled it off him and opened it up, pulling out objects and showing them to him. When she showed him the water bottle, he nodded and reached out for it. She unscrewed the top and helped him drink, much as she might have nursed a wounded animal. "Thanks," he said shakily. "Leave the bottle with me and let me drink more. I'll be fine in a bit, I think."
"And what, just leave you here?"
"They need your help." He pointed behind Ten, who turned and noticed the other Crystal Gems for the first time. "I'll survive here by myself. They might not. Go help them."
A terrifying look crossed her face as she picked up Rose's sword and stood. "Gladly," she said, her voice a threatening rumble.
"Don't shatter anyone," said Steven softly.
"I know."
With that, she strode away.
A spear found Amethyst's leg, impaling it. Amethyst's leg collapsed, sending her to one knee. She let out a scream of pain and rage. Grabbing the spear shaft, she jerked it sideways, ripping it from the hands of her attacker, then shoved it back in the other direction, crushing her assailant's nose. As they backed off, clutching their face, Amethyst yanked the spear from her wounded leg and shoved the point a foot-and-a-half down their throat.
Garnet pushed Amethyst to the side, and all three of them put their backs together in a triangle formation, but it was too late. With one of their members wounded and unable to defend as effectively, blows started coming in and doing real damage. A sword cut Pearl along the stomach, Amethyst took another spear to the arm, and an axe took off a chunk of Garnet's hair and shoulder, the price she paid for preventing a more deadly attack. They had dispatched maybe twenty foes, but it looked like that was their limit.
A cry went up from the gathered soldiers. The Gems were sure it was a victory cry, the overwhelming charge now inevitable that they were wounded and surrounded. They braced themselves, swinging wildly to thwart whatever last attacks they could, their only regret being that they had failed to save Steven.
Then there was an explosion of air and dust. Sand was kicked up, blinding many of those nearby. As they struggled to regain vision, a sword cut through the whipping sands, cleaving three soldiers in one strike, destabilizing them and scattering their gems into the sand. As they exploded, yet more sand was kicked up, and soon the area was practically a sandstorm.
The soldiers around the Crystal Gems were distracted or blind. Garnet turned and shouted at Pearl. "Sardonyx! Now!"
Pearl could only nod. Though both were wounded and in pain, they reached out to one another. Garnet grasped Pearl's hand and Pearl twirled into her arms. Garnet lifted the delicate gem with her one good arm and spun in place, kicking up even more until she created a small dust devil. It reached upward, towering over the battlefield for a moment before two hands split the sand and parted the tornado like a curtain, spraying sand outward in a wave.
"Sardonyx takes the stage!" Sardonyx shouted. She whirled her Warhammer in one hand and immediately struck out with it, swiping away a handful of soldiers. "I have to say, nothing about this tickles my fancy, not in the least. Why, this sun would burn me to a crisp if I wasn't already red!" She laughed loudly, twirling and delivering a vicious blow to another group of soldiers.
With a spin and a sweep, she picked Amethyst up with a free hand. She plopped the wounded Gem down in her hair. "Amethyst, be a dear and stay put up here, won't you? You're looking a little rough around the edges, if you catch my meaning."
"You ain't looking so great either, Sardine," said Amethyst.
"You're not wrong: My tuxedo is ruined, one of my arms in nearly useless, and—excepting the Amethyst that really gives my ensemble that je ne sais quoi—my hair is just a mess. I must say, it doesn't put me in a smashing mood—" she turned and slammed her hammer into the ground, poofing two soldiers and knocking a dozen more to the ground, "—so much as it puts me in a smashing mood."
Amethyst groaned. "Please, no puns! I'm in enough pain already."
"Now, now, no need for the pointy edges, my little diamond in the rough. We need to put on a chipper smile while we greet out savior, do we not?"
"I vote not."
"Hush, now. There is work to be done."
While Sardonyx had made quick work of several soldiers in a handful of hammer blows, their ally below was even quicker. They didn't have to wonder who had come to their aid. "Ten, dear, cover your eyes. The show is about to get spectacular!" She spun her hammer overhead, creating a massive wind that blew sand in every direction, then slammed it down, creating another shockwave that blasted away the last clouds of sand and dust.
As it cleared, they saw Ten standing there with her shield raised in front of her face to block the sand. Several soldiers struggled with blindness nearby and she dispatched them savagely.
"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes, though I supposed ours are the only eyes not sore in this bunch. Regardless, it is delightful to see you alive and well." She bowed, both gracefully and in a calculated manner to allow her hand to knock away a charging soldier as she swept it back. "You must catch us up as to what marvelous miracle Steven has performed to bring you back to your senses. I'm Sardonyx, by the way. Pleased to finally meet the guest star of the story. You're not too shabby as far as OC go."
Ten frowned up at her. "What?"
"Never you mind, that comment wasn't for you, just some self-satisfied back-patting. Anywho, I think it best if we clean up the riffraff and make sure Steven is likewise feeling himself."
"Now that I can understand," said Ten with an evil smile.
The soldiers around them were trying to get themselves organized into a proper defense, but Ten and Sardonyx had cut their numbers in half in a matter of seconds with the ambush and fusion combo and they were clearly shaken.
"I don't need future vision to tell you that a whole bunch of gems are about to make a terrible mistake. Someone is going to win quite handily, but don't worry," Sardonyx assured Ten, "I won't spoil anything."
"It's going to be us!" shouted Ten, charging at the soldiers before they could coordinate, causing several to panic and flee.
Sardonyx tsked. "I don't think she understands the concept of a 'spoiler.' Ah, well, she'll learn." She hoisted her hammer and rushed to join in the fun.
Emerald's soldiers, moments ago more than happy to press the attack on weakened and outnumbered foes, were now either fleeing in terror if trying to stand and fight a clearly lost battle. On the one hand, they had Sardonyx, her weapon's reach and size making her attacks nearly impossible to avoid and who gave them a jubilant smile before she smashed them, and on the other they had Ten, who wielded three distressing things: an unstoppable blade, an unbreakable shield, and a look in her eyes that was the stuff of nightmares.
As Ten and Sardonyx chased, their attacks thinned the number of foes. Before long, little more than a dozen gems were stampeding up the ramp to the ship, knocking each other over in their attempts to get inside. The one in the lead slapped her hand on the entry panel, looking back just as the Crystal Gems closed in. The door slid open and the soldier turned to make her escape.
She ran right into Emerald. She staggered back into the troops trying to rush in behind her. For all the terror they held for the pursuing Crystal Gems, the presence of Emerald stopped them in their tracks.
"E-Emerald!" stammered the soldier in the lead, giving her the Diamond salute.
"Retreating, are we?" said Emerald, her voice dripping malice. The gems on her hands began to glow.
"No, no, wait!" cried the gem, waving her hands in front of her. "We were just—"
Sardonyx and Ten came to a halt as a shockwave enveloped them, blasting them with sand that cut into their arms and faces. When they could see again, they looked with amazement at the ship, its ramp now snapped in two and its façade dented around the door. Of the dozen gem soldiers, nothing was left. Whether their gems had been blown away by the attack or blasted into smithereens, the Crystal Gems couldn't tell.
Emerald leapt down from the doorway and landed gracefully in the sand. "It looks like things haven't gone according to plan," she said, her condescending humor gone, replaced by seething anger. "You were supposed to stumble into my ship and die. You ate up every trap, played right into my hands every step of the way, I even let you think yourselves clever for avoiding some more obvious pitfalls, all so I could watch you get shattered by your former comrade from the comfort of my cockpit. Instead, you've brought insult to my person, I now need to dust a dozen cowards off my ship, and you've even somehow managed to break my control on my current favorite toy."
Instead of her jagged daggers, she had what looked to be thick, steel spikes affixed to her forearms. They gleamed menacingly as she pointed an angry finger at them. "You low-level pests should have been no hindrance to my soldiers whatsoever. That you have survived this long is a display of incredible luck and nothing more. Now that I'm short over a hundred soldiers, it's clear that I should have just taken care of things from the beginning. This is just what I get for trying to keep my hands clean." She slammed her fists together, causing the spikes on her arm to meet and let loose a blast of air and a deep and deafening note. "Now you've forced me to get my hands dirty and, believe me, with what I am about to do to you, it will be a very long time before they are clean again."