"Well, what should we do? I have received rumors that the Cluster has been somehow delayed from its formation! I mean, how can that thing not form? It can't stop, and it's too big to be bubbled..." Yellow Diamond paced across the throne room like a caged animal, her shoes clicking and clacking on the floor. She was ranting to White Diamond, who was laying seductively on her stomach on her throne of bones. She wore a long white dress and a large gold necklace with three lapis lazulis embedded in gold on the end.
"Or is it?" White Diamond asked, her tone smooth and low. She propped her chin up with her hand, which was propped on the armrest of her chair.
"Of course, it is! And now the Militia of Flames is almost completely wiped out by Fire Opal! That bastard!" Yellow Diamond shouted, throwing her arms up in the air. "I say we go and slaughter them all, so then I can focus all my attention back to Earth."
"Now, now. Let's give them their victory. Life is a beautiful lie, let's let them live it a little longer. I want to see them run to us with stars broadcasted on their chests only to watch us crush them. Now wouldn't that be fun? We can do it together. You know, fuse." White Diamond voice said seductively.
Yellow Diamond stopped in her tracks, wrinkled her nose and widened her eyes, her signature angry face. "Fuse?" Okay, maybe it was more of a face of bewilderment.
"You're so cute when you make that face. Come on, it'll be fun. I miss being Brown Diamond. We haven't seen her since we were young." White Diamond said. Yellow Diamond remembered back when they were younger Gems, still small, yet they had to rule. It was their destiny, it was their main lust, to conquer this world and all others. However, Yellow and White still had their follies.
"I do wonder how she'll look now that we're grown." Yellow Diamond gave in to White's pleas.
"There she is! We'll wipe out every trace of nonconformity...and look fabulous while doing it. Maybe afterwards we can take her for a spin on that pesky planet of yours, Earth. Wake that Cluster up, haha!" White Diamond smiled.
"You drive a hard bargain, but we evacuate the people today. Is the shelter ready?" Yellow Diamond asked.
"Yes, and if we run out of room, we may have to put them in the corruption facility for a bit, but I'm sure whoever has to go in there will be fine." White Diamond shrugged.
"So it's a plan." Yellow Diamond crossed her arms, feeling proud, yet relieved.
"Yep, I can't wait to dance with you again." White Diamond smiled devilishly.
Fire Opal was crouching just outside the trench, watching from behind one of the support beams for the train bridge. There was a large crowd of Gems of all shapes and sizes walking towards the Diamond Palace. The nearby warp pads and spaceship landing zones were heavily guarded to prevent evacuation. Fire Opal squinted, trying to naturally zoom in, before turning to go back to the Temple Base with all the intelligence she had received from watching the streets since early hours. Once into the trench, she entered the Temple, only to find an anxiously anticipating Aura Quartz, Gaspeite sleeping on the floor, and Moonstone and Rhodonite drawing in the sand. Black Pearl was the only one doing a form of training. Her fists were wrapped in tape and she was punching the wall. "Why aren't you all training? The Diamonds are evacuating people today, meaning we could battle any day now!" Fire Opal barked.
Gaspeite sat up and rubbed her eyes. "We'd be ready to train if you'd just let us sleep a little later."
"They're evacuating today? This is going by quicker than I thought..." Moonstone said to herself.
"What? You thought we had more time to sit around? Sleep a little? Nah, this is happening now. Today, we move to the one thing we need to know how to do." Fire Opal said.
Black Pearl gave the wall one final punch and muttered to herself. "Oh gold."
"You don't mean-" Aura jumped up.
"Yep. Fusion. It's required for the course. You want to get those credits, don't ya?" Fire Opal crossed her arms smugly.
"What?" Moonstone tilted her head in confusion.
"Nevermind. I forgot this isn't like my old training class, hehe. And Cluster, since you can't fuse, you can watch and judge us." Fire Opal explained. "Now who's going first?"
"Not me," Rhodonite said.
"That was redundant. Everyone knows you can't." Black Pearl said quietly and gruffly, walking up to the rest of the group.
"Jet! You'll go first!" Fire Opal shouted and smiled.
"Did you not just hear her grumble about this whole thing a few seconds ago?" Moonstone mumbled.
"And who to pair her with...Let's see..." Fire Opal scanned the group of tired Gems.
Please be Moonstone, Please be Moonstone! Black Pearl thought to herself, but she quickly denied it. No! Fusing with anyone is not desirable!
"Aura Quartz! Let's see how good you do!" Fire Opal pointed a long, fiery finger at Aura, who flinched at her name.
"Oh gold." Black Pearl sauntered up to Aura, then backed up a few large paces. Moonstone, Gaspeite, Rhodonite and Fire Opal stepped back to give them space.
Black Pearl and Aura Quartz eyeballed each other for a bit, although Blackie was the first person Aura had seen of Rhodonite's outfit besides Moonstone. Black Pearl looked annoyed, but occasionally her scowl would falter to show something that Aura Quartz knew well. Fear. She tried to help ease Blackie's anxiety. Aura shrugged and gave her a patient smile. "This should be fun."
"Apparently you've never done this before." Black Pearl growled. "Let's get this over with." The two Gems bowed respectively to each other, and Black Pearl was not entirely sure what to do next. The last time she fused, when she fused with her, the other Gem took control. She was the other half, the puppet of a ballerina. Aura Quartz, who preferred ballet as well, brise'd towards Black Pearl, who twirled into her embrace gracefully. Once Aura Quartz' hands lightly touched Black Pearl's shoulder, Blackie kicked off of Aura's knee and twirled away. While Aura caught her bearings, Black Pearl repeatedly fouette'd. In the background, she could faintly hear Gaspeite's laughter that happened ever since Blackie kicked Aura in the knee.
"Jet!" Aura called before covering her mouth. "Sorry, if we're not supposed to talk." Black Pearl turned to face Aura, still standing en pointe. She frowned, then started to sprint to Aura Quartz, much to her surprise. She did a few cartwheels before jumping into Aura's arms. Aura lifted up the surprisingly light Gem into the air, and it was the most professional looking part of that whole dance, even if the pose lasted for only a few seconds. Aura had held Black Pearl by the center of her back, and Black Pearl obediently posed so that her arms flared out, her left leg bent, the knee only a few inches from her chest. She kept her toes pointed. Aura Quartz looked up at her elegant dance partner, smiled, then pulled her back down into a fish dive lift before throwing her into the air. Black Pearl did a few flips, both her and Aura's Gems glowing before she landed in Aura's arms. Together they formed their fusion at last and the minute Aura Quartz caught her, they both knew who they now were, and their name, which came to them like a word that was on the tips of their tongues all their lives.
The rest of the team's eyes widened as the Quartz and Pearl formed a fairly tall fusion with an elegant and agile, yet muscular body shape. The fusion's four, jet black arms were quick and methodical with every movement they made. However, the fusion's skin had a technicolor iridescence to it, much like her three eyes. Her clothes were also multiple neon colors, mostly bright green, pink, blue and purple. The fusion inherited Aura's long, poofy hair, which was black with glittering streaks of the same neon colors with hints of gold on the ends. Fire Opal leaned forward as though waiting for something, but it never came. The Gem fusion just stood there. "What's happening? We should be seeing a weapon." Fire Opal whispered to Moonstone.
"Give her a minute. This is a first for Aura...and it is certainly something for Jet. Give them time to think." Moonstone whispered.
"What could they possibly be thinking about?" Fire Opal muttered to herself before resting her chin on her palm.
"Oof!" Aura Quartz woke up inside the fusion. A black room with multicolored swirls on the floor, which felt like jello. "We did it! Jet, we did it!" Aura Quartz smiled and looked over to Black Pearl, who was on her hands and knees, panting. "Jet? Did you land hard? Was I too rough?" Aura Quartz scooted over to her.
"It's fine." Black Pearl said, not even looking up at Aura.
"This isn't as bad as you thought, was it?" Aura asked quietly.
"What?"
"It's just," Aura adjusted her seating position. "You seemed so nervous, and angry too."
"Nervous? No. Angry? Get used to it." Black Pearl grunted.
"Oh...Well, we better do something. Prove our strength." Aura Quartz said. She and Black Pearl focused on summoning their weapons...
On the outside, the fusion got into a dramatic battle pose and summoned each Gem's weapon. Black Pearl's obsidian spear and Aura's silver boomerang. She combined the two into a double-bladed sword, which she threw in the style of a frisbee, and it whirled back into her hands, like a boomerang.
"Cool!" Gaspeite had starry eyes. "Can I fuse with Blackie next?"
"Moonstone, come here. Let's spar with them." Fire Opal got up, stretched and sauntered over to an empty space near the left wall. Moonstone followed. Fire Opal started shaking her hips quickly and rhythmically, almost like a rumba or samba, waving her arms to make circles of flames, which Rhodonite found flamboyant. Moonstone mimicked Black Pearl's ballet, and unlike their dance, Moonstone and Fire Opal's was quick. They formed a large orange Gem with the same iridescence in her skin and clothes as Fire Opal and the Aura/Blackie fusion, but this sparkle was golden, like a sunrise. Her hair was back in a braid similar to Fire Opal's, but she didn't waste time marveling at her appearance. She summoned Moonstone's bo staff, and flames ignited on the ends. She twirled the flaming staff, the fire making loud whooshing noises as it moved, before jabbing it into the aloof fusion of Aura and Black Pearl.
"Spessartite Garnet," Rhodonite whispered the name of Fire Opal and Moonstone's fusion. "Incredible." She hadn't seen a fusion as powerful as these since the Gem War. However, she couldn't stop her face from reddening at Moonstone's dancing. She longed to fuse with her, but knew she couldn't. So she watched like a bird unable to fly.
As the fiery staff stabbed into the other fusion, Aura Quartz was knocked into something she wasn't meant to see. At least, Black Pearl didn't want to let her in. She was knocked out inside, if only for a brief instant. Black Pearl was left to spar with Spessartite Garnet alone from inside the fusion. "Aura! Get up! Now is not the time to be sleeping! We need to prove our strength to that stupid militiawoman." Black Pearl growled, but Aura couldn't hear her. She was in a flashback, a memory, but she wasn't sure whose eyes she was looking through.
It was White Diamond's court. Aura Quartz remembered the horrible memories she experienced in that part of the palace. Is this one of my memories? Why am I having this now? The flashback continued when a sharp, harsh voice called, "Pearl! Come in at once!"
White Diamond. Wait, Pearl? It was almost like watching a movie. The person she was watching from moved reluctantly through the tall, grand doors of carved ivory with designs of dragons and great fusions, their head down, hands tight to their sides. When they looked down, Aura noticed a black leotard and ashen skin tone that was familiar to her. Jet. Once in the grand room with marble floors and great pillars, assorted weapons and heads of powerful intergalactic beasts mounted on the wall, which happened to be White Diamond's specific throne room, Jet looked up to face the lavish figure, sitting on another throne of bones, furs, and shattered Gems. Once she got close enough, White seized her limp, weak arm by the wrist, her long fingernails digging into her skin to send a pinching sensation up her arm, and pulled her close so that there was no way to not meet eyes. White smiled menacingly. "You'll never guess what I tried with my sisters today."
Jet bared her teeth to hide her fear and glared at her Diamond.
"Brave, a trait of a defective Pearl. Let's see if you're brave enough to do this." White Diamond smiled. Jet's thoughts took over Aura's, echoing through her mind as though she were taking over as narrator. This is unusual. Very unusual. White Diamond stood up from her throne and dragged Jet into the middle of the room, then looked down at her. "Such a delicate little ballerina. A frail little flower. Dance for me." She twirled Jet and pulled her in, their Gems involuntarily glowing until everything went black. No consent, no choice, not even the freedom to really speak. Once fused, Jet felt trapped for only a few minutes, but she couldn't pull away. It was like their Gems were stuck together. All that echoed now was a voice, a young, pleading voice. "Let me out!"
Aura Quartz woke up in the heat of the spar, repeating the words that she had just heard. "Let me out!"
Jet, before she could screech at her for not helping, couldn't help but remember those words. She blinked and the moment flashed in her vision for a few seconds before the two unfused, landing on the sandy floor in front of Spessartite Garnet. Aura Quartz had a headache. She had no idea that sharing one form meant sharing one mind too...especially Black Pearl's mind, of all people. Black Pearl, on the other hand, seemed okay. Although Aura didn't necessarily cooperate, there was something about her. When they fused, there was a certain comfort in her arms. She had no idea that fusion could be that comfortable, that safe and caring, it was a feeling of never being alone, a feeling of having someone stand beside you through everything. Blackie always thought fusion meant being trapped, being stuck together with someone. She pitied Rhodonite for being that way forever, hearing voices, seeing memories and never being able to grasp them and feel those moments again, or at least, not as you. This time, she wanted to do it again. She wanted to be with Aura again. It wasn't a lust, a thick, passionate desire, more like a comforting daydream.
"Jet!" Aura Quartz panted and crawled towards her, who was taking a minute to rest.
"What is it? Are you going to tell me 'We did it' again? Yeah, I know. You also made us stop in the middle of a spar." Black Pearl growled.
"You know, you two would be good together if you would stop lolly-gagging and actually fight!" Spessartite Garnet said, her tone passive-aggressive. Made sense, Moonstone was passive, and Fire Opal was aggressive.
"Sorry." Aura Quartz held her head low.
"Alrighty, since now we know what not to do, who's next?" Spessartite Garnet put her four arms on her hips.
I'm not one for fusion dances,
No, I don't like fancy-schmanse,
But your movements put me in trances,
Dreaming of future romances!
I don't know what happened,
No, I'm not sure what went wrong,
I'm supposed to be independent, strong,
Now I'm in so deep I'm writing you a song!
Ugh, why I am still writing poetry?
I shouldn't want our relationship to be,
I don't know what's happening to me!
But Aura Quartz, when I look into your eyes,
I'm transported to a distant planet with blue skies,
A place where greed does not cause all life to die,
Together, we sit upon a grassy hill looking at a beautiful sunrise,
You and I.
Is this what attraction feels like?
If so, I would hike,
A million miles to find who made me feel this way,
For this feeling makes life feel a lot less gray.
No, I must hide it,
To this revolution, I must commit,
If not, all my hopes and dreams could be tossed down a pit!
So, Aura Quartz, when it comes to attraction, I must quit.
*sigh*
And a random sketch I wrote in the car because I felt like it fit:
It was pitch black in the Temple Base. All of Rhodonite's crew was asleep, except for Moonstone, who made rounds every few hours. Little did anyone know, the mischievous Gaspeite was awake as well, and she had found her way to Black Pearl's room.
"Blackie, Blackie, Blackie!" Gaspeite jumped on Black Pearl excitedly, like a kid on Christmas morning.
"Uuuugh...what is it?" Blackie moaned.
"You wanna pull a prank?" Gaspeite asked in a sing-song way.
"At this time of night? What are you thinking?" Blackie asked.
"You have to get up to find out!" Gaspeite whisper-yelled and scuttled off into the dark.
"Oh geez, I'm gonna regret this..." Blackie groaned as she stood up, cracked her back, knuckles, and neck and followed Gaspeite.
They met in the main room near the entryway, where the walls were decorated with prophetic murals that Moonstone and Rhodonite loved to look at and the floors also bore mosaics of the same caliber. Blackie couldn't tell by the dark, but Gaspeite had a mischievous smirk on her face. Gaspeite couldn't tell that Black Pearl's usually tied up hair billowed over her shoulders messily. "What is this prank you speak of?" Black Pearl asked.
"We're going to jump-scare Moonstone during her rounds!" Gaspeite replied.
"That's not exactly the crime of the century...I've been responsible for those 4 times in a row." Black Pearl said.
"But it's still gonna be hilarious!" Gaspeite whisper-shouted.
"Why do you need me?" Blackie asked.
"We're gonna fuse. Come on. We need to be big and scary for this." Gaspeite said.
"So much for only fusing in deadly situations," Blackie muttered. "Besides, you don't need to be big to be scary."
The two Gems bowed to each other, even though Gaspeite was never much for formalities when fusing. Black Pearl always hated her natural love and aptitude for ballet, and Gaspeite just didn't like looking bad with her sloppy breakdancing. Gaspeite decided to mimic Blackie's ballet by twirling into her embrace. However, the experience isn't quite the same when you are only up to your fusion partner's waist. Black Pearl grabbed Gaspeite by the wrist and lifted her so that they made eye contact.
"Why do you have to be so short?" Black Pearl snarled before flinging Gaspeite into the air.
"Why do you have to throw me?" Gaspeite shouted before landing into Blackie's arms and getting into a tangled white blob, forming the fusion, Emerald. Before landing, Gaspeite shouted, "You're a piece of schist!"
Emerald rubbed her head, mostly from Gaspeite's fall, which was a little rough. The fusion had dark green skin, short black hair that was kept in a messy undercut, yellow snake-like eyes, plump lips which hid sharp fangs, sharper than Rhodonite's. Emerald was tall, surprisingly muscular, and was the kind of fusion to have a deranged spider type look, especially with six arms and four eyes. She was wearing a black and green jumpsuit, which had no distinct Diamond or Star patterns due to both Gems lack of allegiance.
"Alright, what's the plan?" Emerald asked gruffly, in a tone that sounded much like Blackie, yet her voice was still different. It always sounded sarcastic or annoyed, yet it had a sort of gruesome humor to it.
"We're going to hide behind that statue over there, and wait for ol' Moonstone, come on!" The Gaspeite side of Emerald whisper-shouted then cackled quietly as it scurried over to a statue of what looked to be the goddess Sunstone, carved of jade. It was tall, and the figure was wearing a long, toga-like dress. The pedestal had a message written in Ancient Gem language. Emerald was able to read it due to Blackie's knowledge of the language. "May We Preserve The Great Light" It read.
Emerald hid in the shadows, giggling quietly yet mischievously, like a bunch of little girls talking about crushes at a sleepover. They were quietly waiting for seve ral minutes, the two Gems inside the fusion conversing in thoughts.
I hear we're going to have to add stars to our clothes. Gaspeite said.
Ah, shoot, why? They had to choose the ugliest logo design. Blackie scoffed.
I know right? Why couldn't we have like a skull or something? Gaspeite replied.
That's even uglier! I think we should have something cool like a flame, or a spade! Black Pearl argued.
A spade? Why a spade? Gaspeite asked.
If we're sticking to playing card designs a spade is the only thing cooler than diamonds. Black Pearl replied.
Fair point. Oh, hang on, Moonstone's coming. Gaspeite said as the fusion caught a glimpse of the light radiating from Moonstone's torch.
Moonstone was humming a song that Rhodonite taught her, which she learned from Steven before. "Life and Death and Love and Birth..." The melody rung.
She looked exhausted with dark bags under her eyes and hair that seemed to stand on end. To try to get Moonstone's attention, Emerald picked up a wayward pebble and dropped it on the jade pedestal, making an ominous clicking sound. Moonstone stopped in front of the statue, not noticing that the torchlight revealed Emerald crouching in the shadows with a demented and rather creepy looking facial expression. "Is anyone awake?" Moonstone asked, shining the torch out into the room in front of her, but never looking at the statue. Emerald reached out with her six, long, muscular hands and grabbed Moonstone's shoulders suddenly, clutching them tightly. "ROAR!" Emerald shouted to add effect. Moonstone screamed and drew her bo staff, only to realize it was all for nothing as Emerald unfused. Gaspeite fell onto the floor laughing, her legs pointing up like a dead waterbug. Black Pearl landed gracefully on her feet next to Moonstone. She chuckled and placed a hand on her shoulder as Moonstone put away her staff.
"We got ya good." Black Pearl smiled.
FUSION, FUSION, FUSION!
Personally, one of my favorite parts of Steven Universe. I really hope I could do it justice in this chapter. If not, well, that sucks...really bad. I first got the idea to pair Black Pearl and Aura Quartz together when I watched the original Fantasia for the first time since I was really young. I love watching Fantasia and Disney shorts for inspiration, and when I watched the part when "Dance of the Hours", played, I liked the way the hippos, crocs, elephants, and ostriches danced. It had a certain timelessness to it. I imagined Aura being the danseur, and Black Pearl as the graceful ballerina. The one scene I imagined clear in my head was when Aura lifted Blackie over her head, and it was meant to be grand and flamboyant. Aura Quartz and Black Pearl have a certain relationship after that. They're both completely traumatized by White Diamond in some way, but Black Pearl goes about it...much more tsundere than Aura Quartz. She doesn't want to be seen as weak or submissive, whereas Aura portrays herself as the helpless victim. Blackie just wants to prove that she's stronger than her past. And with that, I've been waiting for several months to compose this chapter.
And yes, I wrote a song. I wasn't sure when I would insert it. It's almost like a Love's Lacrimosa...which I ended up titling it. After the fusing, Blackie can't seem to get Aura off her mind. Gah! Reminds me of when I had one of my first love interests, hehe (Too bad it was unrequited, a lot of songs I wrote were inspired off of my feelings then.)
By the way, I never actually mentioned it, but Aura and Black Pearl's fusion is Mystic Quartz. :)
Onto the other ones. Spessartite Garnet is one of my favorite fusion designs I have come up with besides Mystic Quartz and Benitoite (Howlite and Sodalite's fusion). I imagine her being curvy and strong, yet at the same time graceful and elegant. Also, her personality is passive-aggressive, obviously. As for Emerald, she's very much like Sugilite lol. Playful, mischievous, and scary as heck, oh, and did I mention cocky?
OH MY GOSH! I just realized...the final battle is next! An action packed fight where the team faces off with Maw Sit Sit, Carnelian, Amazonite, and the notorious Brown Diamond...along with their pasts. Will Rhodonite, Moonstone, Jet, and the gang buckle under the pressure, or will all their pain be worth it? (I'm filled with determination, but it may take a while to complete.) DRAMA! ROMANCE! BLOODSHED! YOU CAN FIND IT ALL IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!
About Gem Drill and Same Old World, I loved them both. The way they portrayed the Cluster was incredibly interesting, and I did take notes for a certain scene in the next chapter. The music was gorgeous as always, I might add, and so were the backgrounds. Another thing I'd like to add is the little bit of character development in Peridot while in the drill. (Howlite relates, Peridot.) As for Same Old World, I mostly enjoyed Lapis saying more than a few lines and SMILING! Lapis and Peridot are currently tied right now for my second favorite character. Peridot is hilarious and relatable, but Lapis is tragic, elegant, beautiful...and by beautiful I mean beautifully drawn and constructed. Her character is gorgeously tragic, and the way she is drawn feels different from all the other characters. It's like she's drawn to look like a fallen angel, and I like her design the best. From her wings to her hair to her body and clothes...URGH! I LOVE HER! I am very happy to see her again.
What do you guys think of this chapter? And what do you expect from the chapter to come?
(Also that geology pun in the Emerald sketch tho)
Fusion Dance Themes in Order of Appearance:
Brown Diamond (YellowxWhite): Collusion: Aivi and Surrashu. (Also Malachite's fusion theme but that's the best theme for the job.)
Mystic Quartz: Chopin Ballade No.1 in G Minor, Op. 23
Spessartite Garnet: Cavern Tango: Aivi Tran. (I also really like Enticement and K.K. Crossing by Aivi and Surrashu.)
Emerald: Amalgam (From Undertale): Toby Fox. (Spider Dance is also a good substitute.)