So, I had only about two pages worth of notes for this accidental novel. Among those was the ending and how each of the diamonds would fight in the climax. Naturally, I changed it at the last minute. Am I insane? I'll let you decide that...
As the Crystal Beacon rushed off to find Yellow Diamond, Topaz took a look around from her captain's chair to note a few things. Despite Garnet technically being in charge, she had insisted the ex-bodyguard keep her position. What a refreshing change of pace, having a trusting and respectful commanding officer. If only Aquamarine were still here so Topaz could shove a positive example in that smug clod's face… Oh well.
They were rapidly approaching Yellow Diamond's location, also making the golden hued gem feel the irony there. Here she was coming to save the very same monarch she ditched months ago. She wondered what some of her old, more pleasant comrades would be doing now if they weren't under Rose's thumb.
A quick sweep of the systems showed that nothing was out of the ordinary. Padparadscha gave her a nod. Nothing overlooked for now. To think how many gems had written off the little ochre oracle as useless was a joke of cosmic proportions.
"Then again, look at what they're leadership was…"
"Incoming attackers!" Rhodonite called out, breaking the calm as two giant green hands came out to meet the Beacon.
"Are you sure Cinnabar can handle it?" Topaz asked Adamite only for the green gem to smirk.
"You needn't worry about that. I know the exact order to give her."
"You mean you haven't given it yet?!"
"Just watch…"
Standing on the roof of the Beacon was the pyrotechnic gem herself, wondering just what her longtime partner had in mind. She knew better than to question Adamite but seeing an oncoming ship that was already aiming weapons at the ship under her feet was enough to get ever her to worry.
Then, a single line came through her communicator. "Cinnabar, don't hold back. In fact, have fun…"
Those words set her off. She remembered the last time that happened. It ended up with Brimstone setting off a volcano near some big stone city. It was then that both of them agreed to keep their abilities restricted so they didn't scorch and shatter the ground under them.
But, if that was what the brains wanted, who was she to object.
Cinnabar ran off the front of the Beacon, cackling all the while, as flames rocketed out from her feet to propel her towards her nice, big, metal target. A fiery nucleus was already charging in her hands, making her giggle in anticipation as she packed as much firepower as possible into a sphere the size of a baseball.
"Ready or not, flunkies, here I cooooooome!" She let loose the hyper-condensed firebomb and the entire warship shuttered as an explosion big enough to blow up a city block hit out of nowhere. Back on the Beacon, the others watched in horrified awe at realizing just what their teammate was capable of.
"We share a house with that?!" Pearl squawked.
"It took a lot of conditioning to get her where she is today," Adamite assured, "It might have meant a few islands being broken or made but at least she knows when to release her inhibitions correctly."
"I know her pain, dude," Amethyst added, "I wish I could cut loose all the time…"
"Not if you want to be allowed into half of Europe again, you won't," Garnet reminded.
While the violet speedster just grumbled, Topaz shifted course around Cinnabar and her new plaything. No doubt that a firework display like hers was going to attract plenty of attention away from the diamonds.
Rose had to admit that maybe Stevonnie had a point with how all the energy she absorbed messed with her head. She could barely remember the last few days and even now she could feel her mind clearing up as more and more gems were poofed. She knew they would all be at the temple, thousands of miles away at this point but that could wait. Now it was time to focus on this fight and see her ambition through.
Stevonnie's punch met hers, a shock wave ripping through the air and down into the ocean that would carry aftershocks for miles. Their knuckles refused to budge, both of them trying put more force behind them until they spontaneously broke away. After a moment of sizing each other up, they rushed in again with Stevonnie going for a high kick that caught Rose off-guard and sent her into the air with the fusion quickly tailing her.
By the time Rose caught herself, her adversary was feet away with two crystalline sabers ready to slice her up. The gem met their cross slash with replica of her old sword made of pure light, catching the dual blades and now getting into a blade lock. Rose suddenly feinted, flinging her sword upwards to break Stevonnie's defense before suddenly firing a blast out of her palm.
Stevonnie simply sliced the plasma in half, two shots exploding behind them before charging again. With a bit of shapeshifting, they grew a second pair of arms beneath the first made of golden crystal. One artificial arm bore Garnet's gauntlet and the other was shapeshifted further into a hammerhead a la Bismuth while the other two still carried swords.
"You've come very far from the cat fingers fiasco," she noted, shaping her energy into three spheres the same size of robonoids.
"Thanks," the fusion replied before rushing in again before having to suddenly block from the side as one of the spheres fired at them.
"Drones…" they realized soon after as they spread out to surround them while Rose came in with an overhead swing aimed squarely at their head. Stevonnie blocked with one blade while the other forced Rose to break away or be down an arm. Their lower arms, which were supposed to be to keep Rose off balance with sudden swings, now had to be used to smack away potshots from the trio of glowing orbs.
Pearl did always say that using numbers was the smart thing to do in battle. Any concept of a "fair fight" out of a sparring match or a sanctioned competition. Stevonnie hoped that the rebel gem wouldn't try anything too underhanded but oh well.
Their clash continued for some time, neither side gaining an advantage until Stevonnie's crystal arms suddenly changed from blunt weapons to sharpened points and jammed into Rose when they were close enough. Rose yelled in pain, looking down to realize she was impaled only for Stevonnie to suddenly grab her head and throw her straight into her own drone.
Not wanting a face full of her own energy, Rose absorbed it back into herself and stopped her flight… Just in time for Stevonnie to wallop her with a right hook. In that moment, the fusion's four arms grabbed her and spun her around like a hammer before chucking her into her second drone.
"Oh, well played…" she thought languidly before righting herself again and bracing herself for another cheap blow. But when they looked around, Stevonnie was nowhere to be seen. She turned around but they weren't behind. Above? Nope. Below? Nothing.
Figuring they were nearby, she let out a quick burst of power like a miniature explosion. No grunts or impact?
Now Rose was lost. Did Stevonnie flee? Rose looked up at the starry sky only to wonder why a comet was falling right towards her… And another… And a dozen more?!
"Energy arrows!" she realized, immediately pumping her arms to let out a volley of pink blasts to counter the deluge. The night sky was suddenly alight with blinding booms as their shots collided, neither side giving ground. Rose could only note the irony that Stevonnie actually struggled with Opal's bow.
"Maybe that's from Connie?"
After several solid minutes of trying to shoot the other down, they stopped. Rose flew off in the direction the arrows were coming from, finding Stevonnie doing stretches.
"Yeesh, who knew archery did that to your shoulders and back?" they kidded.
"Where did you learn to fight so dirty with those grabs?" Rose asked.
"Amethyst."
The mother just chuckled. "Of course…"
They both stayed put for several minutes. Whether it was because they were both tired or planning their next move was either of their guesses, but the first round of their fight clearly ended in a draw.
As Fulgurite and Yellow Diamond traded blows, one firing concussive blasts and the other electrical bolts, the poor warship underneath them was halfway to buckling. If it did, the diamond knew she would be in deep trouble. Trying to keep herself afloat in frigid water while her opponent could fly would be about as doable as Amethyst becoming a philosopher.
"I've officially been around those gems too long," she lamented, "If I ever start becoming obsessed with cleaning like Pearl, I'm harvesting myself…"
"So, how much longer are you gonna keep this up?" the multicolored fusion asked, "I'm pretty new at this whole existing thing and there's some things I'd really like to try…"
This heartfelt request was followed by a leg sweep that sent Yellow onto her back with a thud. "So, either get the heck out of my way or poof already!"
"Yes, how dare me being alive inconvenience you!" the diamond bit back, kicking her legs up to catch her foe in the chest and send her toppling backwards. Fulgurite pinwheeled her arms as she teetered on the ship's edge until it finally cracked under the pressure and broke into two. The fusion quickly lifted herself into the air while Yellow Diamond splashed into the freezing waves.
"Well, this just became difficult…"
"For you, yep! For me?" Fulgurite leveled her palms at the giant yellow target in front of her with an eager grin.
"Any last words?!"
Yellow looked around, hoping in vain that something would come to her aid but what were the odds of that…
Then she noticed what looked like a miniature comet streaking in the distance. Yellow just smiled.
"Yes, actually."
"Huh? Okay then, what is it?"
"Is that suit fireproof?"
"W-What!? Of course it is! You designed it!"
"Oh, you better hope so…"
Fulgurite was about to blast her opponent only to wonder what the growing brightness to her side was. Sunrise wouldn't be for several hours. And even then, why would it be getting so bright so quick? And just what was that noise?!
"Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!"
Was she hearing things? Then she looked to her right and saw a massive fireball coming right at her?!
"What the crack?!" she burst, having to jet out of the way before that singed half her body.
"Hey, that's not fair!" that same voice cried, "Take your punishment like a big gem next time!"
Fulgurite squinted to make out the red gem throwing a tantrum on top of a floating pink saucer. This new pest then jumped straight off of the ship and fell right towards the ocean, landing with a splash next to Yellow.
"You know, I did expect a bit more of a landing…" she admitted but the pyromaniac still looked giddy.
"Well, now that I'm here, we're gonna teach that plasma-wearing pansy a lesson!"
"And just how do we do that?" Cinnabar answered by simply raising a hand to her with an odd look in her eyes. Yellow had to look back and forth between her, Fulgurite and quickly departing Beacon before she gaped.
"You're kidding!"
"Nope! This was actually Garnet's idea. She thought you'd all could use some perspective, whatever that meant!"
"Oh, that cube-coifed little tramp and I are going to have words when this is over…"
"You two aren't going anywhere!" Fulgurite ordered, aiming at them once again, "Rose is gonna bring us all into a new era! We don't need traitors and tyrants like you!"
As her weapons were primed and ready to fire, Yellow realized she was out of options. She might regret what she was about to do for the rest of her life. But she'd still have a life…
"We tell no one about this."
"Eh, you'll come around. They all do…"
Yellow Diamond met Cinnabar's hand with a finger. In a second, the two were consumed with light.
"W-What the?!" Fulgurite gaped, "A diamond fusing?! That's supposed to be impossible!"
Indeed, she would be the first to see a monarch of gem-kind join with another. She watched even as her eyes burned, the diamond-sized figure lift herself out of the water before flipping back onto Yellow's resting ship. As the light faded there stood a new figure. Standing eight stories tall was less of a fusion and more the diamond herself in a getup she'd never wear herself.
From head to toe, the newcomer was an eye-popping orange. Her skin was the same vibrant shade of a campfire. Her outfit was reminiscent of Yellow's original tailed coat, pants and boots only with several modifications. The heeled shoes were shortened to stop halfway up her calves and left her toes exposed. The pants stopped at her knees, black at the ends while the rest was a darker orange. Her tailed coat now left her stomach and had shorter sleeves with smaller shoulder pads, the colors matching her other garment. Her hair, meanwhile, was an almost neon orange pompadour with a smaller spike behind it like a half-finished mohawk.
This flaming goliath opened her eyes, the diamond's signature pupils now surrounding an alarmingly red sclera. Her first look was confusion, looking down at herself like a woman in a fitting room debating the outfit she had on. She twisted herself around to see the two orange tails draping down the back of legs, also a vibrant orange while the ends actually resembled flames. She poked her sharp nose and her fuller lips. She even reached up to feel her new hairdo, heedless of Fulgurite looking at her.
The multipart flier wasn't sure what to do at this point. Sure, it was still a diamond in front of her but mocking fusions was the exact kind of slander diamonds spat. She had to be more respectful than that, right?
"Um, hello? Are you alright?"
The new diamond tilted her head to the side like she honestly wasn't sure. She took a tentative step forward, then another. She stretched one arm to the side and then the other upward. Eventually she seemed to get her bearings, a pleasant smile coming across her face.
"Yes, I am," she answered in a gruff yet warm voice, "I'm just… Well, you know…"
"Heh, yeah, it's pretty weird the first time."
Fulgurite actually landed on the ship and the two walked towards each other, the yellow metal creaking underneath the two colossi standing in the center of the ship. They stood only a foot away, like they were about to have a civil chat.
That, of course, didn't happen. Fulgurite threw a punch at the new diamond's face and found it easily blocked. The diamond threw a kick at the plasma suited warrior and found it also blocked. Now their gazes turned more competitive.
"This ought to be fun…"
"Oh, I agree…"
The diamond then rammed her fist into Fulgurite's gut, making her opponent double over.
"And I know it may not be original, but I'm Orange Diamond."
"Could've… guessed…"
Fulgurite then felt an alarming warmth near her stomach. She looked down to see Orange's embedded fist was glowing…
"Now, where was Cinnabar before? Oh yes… FIRE!"
A colossal jet of flame worthy of a rocket launch erupted from the new queen's hand, sending Fulgurite flying into the air with a shout. Orange Diamond leapt off her ship, her feet released twin jets of fire that easily held her aloft before following after her opponent with a deafening battle cry echoing over the nearby tundra.
Stevonnie and Rose's break didn't last long. It was only enough for them to get their bearings straight and soon they were at each other again in close quarters. Both sides attacked in a flurry that left no room for error, their limbs flying in a blur. That changed when Rose blocked a punch aimed at her torso, twisted the fusion's arm around and then drilled a jab straight into their solar plexus.
Stevonnie had no choice but to stop as all the air suddenly flew out of their lungs but Rose gave them no room this time. Her arm was alight as she drove a punch directly into Stevonnie's face, exploding like a grenade and send them tumbling down into the ocean with a heavy splash.
Down beneath the waves, they quickly regained their senses and formed a bubble helmet so they wouldn't suffocate. Their face stung from the point-blank blast but it was already healing. That sudden combustion would be tricky to avoid but they'd think of a counter.
Before they could surface, they felt their arms being pinned to their sides by a ridiculously strong hug that made their bones creak.
"Seriously?" they gawked, "I didn't think you'd be willing to fight underwater."
"We didn't agree to any sort of arena," the mother shrugged, "And besides that, I could easily drag you to the ocean's depths if I wanted but I won't go there."
Stevonnie rolled her eyes before shapeshifting a crystal spine as long as a golf club to force Rose away. Rather than do that, she let herself be impaled and simply doubled her grip on the fusion.
The teenaged guardian could only glare out of their side-eye, but the message was clear. Rose wanted a battle of attrition? Then they would oblige. A second spine punctured her stomach, then another punched through her left elbow.
On and on it went, Stevonnie's face turning red as their stamina ran out while Rose grit her teeth. No vital organs or not, having ten barbs lodged through her like an extreme acupuncture treatment hurt something fierce. When an eleventh was sent straight into her throat, Rose finally gave up and let Stevonnie go. The instant she did, the fusion rushed up to the surface to take the biggest breath imaginable.
Rose came up soon after, her body healed but looking distinctly annoyed. Stevonnie appeared the same as much as possible while letting fresh air into their lungs. They mutually agreed to another break so they could think clearly again.
Blue Diamond could only imagine what her contemporaries would say now. Here she was tiptoeing around a deserted island, flotsam of what could have been her warships drifting around her feet and several hundreds of her ex-subjects (a few of them even being her court members!) were now floating in her old enemy's homebase.
The past several weeks had completely flipped her worldview and honestly? A part of her was happy for it. She couldn't speak for them but Blue knew that Pink was happier, Yellow was calmer than she had been in years and White? White was actually tolerable, even mostly pleasant, to be around! It only made her wish that Pink had teamed up with a rogue rebel and incited a multigalactic revolution eons ago!
Then, she was brought back to reality by a blitzkrieg of ships trying to blast her down. The lasers all felt like pinpricks against her but hundreds of those piled up. Her arms were getting sluggish, her legs ached from darting around in the ocean and even her energy was feeling drained. She had shot down at least thirty of these flighty little menaces but more kept pouring out. And she had only made a few grazing shots at the carriers above holding these nuisances.
Just as she was starting to seriously wish she had a weapon like the other gems, and some idea how to wield one, she noticed a pink glint on the horizon. She prayed it wasn't Rose coming, anything but the gem who could make her energy output look pathetic.
She actually gasped in relief when it turned out to be the Crystal Beacon. With their combined firepower, she could really thin these invaders. Instead of stopping, though, it simply flew overhead and Blue watched it soar out of sight with a pout. They weren't just abandoning her, were they?
She was about to turn attention to a V-formation of seven ships about rush her only for a massive tidal wave that forced them to scatter or get deluged by the sea. Blue blinked for a moment before looking up and seeing Lapis Lazuli flying towards her.
"You don't exactly look happy to have backup," the aqua gem noted.
"I was expecting more," Blue admitted sheepishly before looking up at the armada, "But at least we're surrounded by your element."
"Yeah… Except this might be a bit much for me."
The monarch looked down in confusion. "Didn't you make an entire tower out of the ocean once?"
"Because I was desperate to get home after millennia stuck in that stupid mirror AND I had energy to spare because I hadn't used my powers for so long. I couldn't do something like that again if I tried. But… There is one thing that could change that…"
Blue cocked an eyebrow, wondering what she could mean until she noticed Lapis was holding out her hand. The diamond instantly blushed purple and suddenly found the ground far more interesting to look at.
"Ehm, is this really… proper? I just… don't think I'm prepared for…"
"Relax, Adamite is cool with this. Plus, think of it this way: You might be less likely to execute 'abominations' if you actually know what being a fusion is like."
The diamond's shoulders slumped at that. "Oh, this new conscience hurts sometimes…"
"Hey, I have to wrestle with Malachite myself, so you aren't alone with your skeletons in the closet. Now let's do this before we both get too nervous…"
Figuring she wouldn't get a better chance, Blue held out a palm which Lapis landed in feet first. The two were quickly morphed into a ball of light and soon the ship pilots had to look away from the blinding display.
Soon the fleet was faced with a figure only slightly taller than Blue Diamond but bearing even more of her signature color. Her blue floor-length dress now revealed two deep blue feet wearing open-toed sandals which set off the aqua blue trim of her new garment. Said dress was a blue tie-dye with every shade from periwinkle to navy blue that bordered in black bleeding and blending into each other. While she sleeves stopped at her elbows and left a small window open for her electric blue stomach, every other inch looked like the color blue itself trying to be represented on one piece of clothing.
Coupling that was her hair, which looked like the diamond's hooded curls suddenly frizzed out becoming a slight perm along with streaks of Lapis's bright blue hair going down the sides and back like a partially done coloring job, she looked halfway through a makeover. Andy et her face, while having the same uncanny diamond pupils, were glancing at the island and wreckage around her as if it was a pleasant scene.
"Why, what a splendid night," she noted, her voice so gentle none of the other gems could hear her. Still ignoring the imminent threat, she waded her feet into the water and seemed to giggle at the feeling against her exposed feet. This proceeded for several minutes while the attacking fleet could only watch in curiosity and bafflement. Did she just forget about them all? One of them decided to test her luck by looping around behind the newcomer and blasting her down.
She passed the new diamond and flew several miles away before circling around and readying her nova blasters to fire. The ship was less than half a mile away and swiftly approaching only for a literal wall of water to come up so suddenly that the pearl piloting the ship had to eject or else ram right into it!
As she flew out of her seat, the new diamond plucked her out of the air and stared down at her. Despite the kind smile on her face, there was a hidden edge in those royal blue eyes of hers.
"Now that wasn't very nice, was it?" she asked like a doting mother, "It's only proper to wait until your opponent is ready before acting."
The poor pearl tried to stutter a response only for the towering mother figure to turn and see more ships following suit. Her thin lips turned into a disappointed frown.
"So, you want to play is that way…"
The fighters roared closer, charging their weapons. The pearl tried to escape but the fusion kept an iron grip on her. Her eyes closed expecting another sudden crash but the diamond glanced ahead with a stern glare.
"Very well. You all are getting punished."
Cyclones of water suddenly breached the ocean and twisted into the sky, forcing the jets to scatter or else be deluged. The five were flying in a tightly packed V but not anymore. The new diamond aimed her finger at the rightmost fighter, her finger glowing as more water appeared around the digit. The liquid-covered missile launched straight at its target. The flyer tried to evade only to discover the new diamond could control its course. Eventually she tried pulling a hard right to force it to crash into the ocean.
That one flier sighed in relief only to see a glowing ball rocketing beneath the waves only to burst out in front of the ship. In one last panicked scream, she ejected as her ship ran headlong into the plasma. The other fighters were trying to regroup only for a sudden explosion and dozens of small kinetic blasts to wreck their course. Only one of the four managed to outmaneuver the plasmatic shrapnel and return to the warships above.
The diamond then looked down at the quivering ex-servant still in her grasp.
"Learned your lesson?" she asked gently. The pearl nodded her head so fast it would have broken a human's neck. That saintly smile came back to her face as the diamond let her down onto the island she was just standing on.
Her sandals walking on water without any effort, she cleared her throat before announcing with all the presence of a ruler, "I am Cobalt Diamond, and I seek to defeat Rose Quartz and her forces. I seek to atone for the failures of the old regime and would prefer if you all quietly surrendered."
Cobalt looked up to see the three hand ships still circling began to move. Rather than fly away, they were pointing a finger at her.
"So you insist on fighting? Very well…"
From the gem still exposed by the back of her gown came two colossal wings of pure water, each over twenty feet long and much more solid than Lapis's. Each aquatic feather could be seen, glittering with motes of energy like the stars above were submerged.
"I respect your decision, but you should be ready for the consequences."
So, it was apparent as of now that Rose Quartz and Stevonnie were equals to each other in strength, tenacity and creativity. That left another avenue to explore - speed. Rose spontaneously flew away, arcing off into the sky with Stevonnie rushing after her. This made the fusion panic. Had she decided to abandon the fight? Was she just going after the diamonds anyway, or just to reclaim some gems and get stronger? They couldn't decide which was the worse option at this point because one thing had become very clear to the Crystal Gem.
Rose Quartz, at least in terms of raw power, was stronger than them.
Thanks to a combination of Steven's resilience in his full-gem form and Connie's additional durability, they could defend themselves from just about anything before utilizing shields and bubbles. They had a menagerie of weapons and all the training and, more importantly, experience to use them well. They even had a few tricks with their shapeshifting that had certainly worked on the diamonds.
But that made them the jack-of-all-trades, mixing and matching skills to suit the situation. Rose was a master of one ability to such a ludicrous extent it was almost comical. That energy of hers could be shaped into anything, launched in massive quantity, even detonated remotely, and supplied her with boundless strength, speed and agility. Was it any wonder considering she had the energy of millions upon millions in her body?
As Stevonnie flew closer, they could feel the exhaustion set in. They had no sense of time anymore, all that mattered was to keep going. Keep pushing, keep getting back up no matter what Rose threw at them. This was their last chance. For the sake of this world and who knows how many others Rose could reach like this, they had to keep up the pace.
Rose looked back for a moment, seeing that Stevonnie was falling behind. She wondered if they were finally getting tired after all of this only to smack into a massive shield. Caught off guard by this to the point of falling into the ocean, Stevonnie used the chance to get a breath in.
"Who knew that flying so much…" they panted, "Really does a number on your joints?"
As they stretched for those few brief moments, they kept that same goal up. Stay up for as long as possible, even if Rose tried something drastic.
Pink Diamond looked down at the seas around her, the water bobbing as per usual save for the tons of new detritus and the few leftover gems she was still poofing. The monarch then realized just how out of her league she was trying to ever own a planet like Earth. She knew the Crystal Gems (most of them, at least) were against shattering Homeworld forces but she never stopped to consider what it was like. To be suddenly bereft of consciousness, and how it felt to watch it happen to all your comrades.
She was trying to be as merciful as possible, combing through the wreckage for any gems and simply squeezing them into submission before bubbling them and sending them back to the temple. She never did ask if that's what Rose did or if she simply let them reform later on but that was then. Now, Pink had a job to do and this time she wasn't going to shirk or take the easy way out.
Once she had gotten them all, somewhere around a thousand at least, Pink called over her flagship and flew off back towards the east. When a rogue bomber or a flying patrol ran by, she struggled to fire a weakened version of her lasers to take them down. She hoped none of them would have too hard feelings once they were back in their right minds, outside of Rose's control.
Just as she was approaching the coast of some continent on the other end of the Atlantic, Pink noticed two growing shapes over the horizon. They were far too round to be more battleships. Then she caught sight of the color and promptly went pale herself.
"Red eyes?! What the heck are those doing here?!"
Considering they were heading directly for her ship, the diamond had no choice but to quickly crank her blasters to maximum and open fire before the satellites could hit her. She watched the two train-sized lasers fly up and hit her targets. She also quailed at seeing the blasts bounce right off.
"Maybe those zombie things Peri mentioned wouldn't be so bad…" Pink groaned, her mind buzzing a mile a minute. She wished one of her sisters were here. Heck, even one of the Crystal Gems managed to take down one of these.
Just as she was about to lament this, she noticed a pink blur rushing in between her ship and the oncoming suicide spheres. The diamond leapt out of her seat to see that the Beacon was indeed rushing to meet her.
She opened her communications to get a message through to them only for a familiar wave of green pixels to rush out and meet her. The techno haze soon faded to reveal not only Peridot but Rose's ex-handmaidens.
"Looking for assistance, milady?" Zoisite asked with a cheeky grin.
"Oh, how thoughtful," the monarch curtsied, Peridot already beaming herself back to the mothership while Kunzite was too busy bouncing from foot to foot in giddiness.
"So, are you ready?!"
"Ready for what? What's the plan?"
Zoisite simply placed a hand out, her sister-in-arms slapped hers on seconds after. Pink Diamond looked down to realize what they meant.
"You both really mean it?" she awed, "I thought… Beryl was something special to you both."
"Not really," Zoisite shrugged, "It's a pretty casual thing with us. Besides, imagine the others' reactions when they see us for the first time…"
Pink got a smile a mile wide and topped the pile with her hand, all three gems quickly being swallowed by a dazzling glow. The new form quickly raced out of the cockpit and up onto the roof of Pink's still zooming ship as they were quickly outgrowing the space around them. Those piloting the red eyes in an effort to bluff the youngest queen stopped as they saw a wholly new fusion for the first time.
Standing an impressive four stories tall, her skin was a pastel lavender with her new hair fluttering in the breeze. A massive pouf on top of her head coupled with a long curtain to her mid-back and bangs framing her face, all of them striped in a manic mix of gentle blues, pinks, and purples, all of it defying gravity. A tattered dress skirt reached her knees while a tutu rested around her waist. A thick jacket covered all four of her shoulders while her shoes were mismatched, one heeled pump and one flat slipper with a fuzzy purple bauble on the toes.
But beyond all of this, her mismatched fashion and style still radiated confidence. The smile on her cheeks could outshine the sun overhead, her glittering violet eyes brighter than amethyst (the speedy gem or her namesake stone) and all four of her hands were poised in peace signs as if regaling the entire world with her presence.
"WOOHOOOOOOOO!" she crowed, "Violet Diamond is ready to kick butt and chew bubblegum! And, uh oh, no gum! AND! All the gum stores are closed!"
The new diamond didn't care if she mixed her metaphor, too busy rushing back to the foot of the ship underneath before taking a running leap over the coastline beneath. She yelped in absolute adrenaline as four serrated great swords the size of cars appeared in her grasp, all poised to stab the nearest red eye.
"Ready or not, ladies, I'm coming for ya!"
The blades carved right through the metal, leaving a quartet of gashes each a foot wide in the blood-colored battlement. The one satellite ended up quickly sparking and exploding, thankfully drifting off towards the ocean and away from the beachside property.
It also meant that Violet Diamond was launched into the ocean as a smoking missile with several hundred pounds of scrap burying her.
A few cautious humans looked out to sea to spot their new savior, others to gawk and tremble in fear of the still looming artificial satellite.
"Fear not, humans!" a heroic voice announced, "I shall protect you and will accept any giant city-keys at a later date!"
Everyone looked to see Violet, smoking and soaking from the crash, proudly standing before the tide with a look that exuded absolute faith in herself. As she leapt hundreds of feet in a single bound, the humans below cheered and redoubled her faith. She had a new body, a new home to fight for, and she still had to get a picture of White's gobsmacked face after this! Like some stupid oversized death machine was going to stop her!
It only occurred to Stevonnie as they ended up crossing the Pacific coastline and flying over some mountain ranges that they might have gotten turned around. Funny how they could even see that given that Rose decided now was a good time to test their reflexes.
To Rose's credit, she was making sure that the dozens of energy balls being fired at them never hit the ground and potentially blew up wildlife or people. She also proved capable of looping them back into the air to hit Stevonnie like heat-seeking missiles. Now the fusion was spiraling through the air, slashing and deflecting everything like a mad person. Their only consolation was that they were easy to see coming and Rose did lose several of them either blowing up in the air or being sliced apart.
"Now if only she could be so kind as to stop shooting at me!" their screamed inside before having to severe beneath a trio of orbs that almost literally blew up in their face.
"Alright, that's it!" they cried, suddenly flying up and swerving around the pink death balls still trying to hit them. Rose kept up the assault, firing shot after shot out of her palm while dozens of others were circling her opponent as they corkscrewed up and out of sight. A bubble ten feet wide suddenly sprung up, all of the shots exploding off the surface in a burst of pink light and smoke.
"You just now thought of that?" Rose asked, half-disappointed.
"We've been doing this for almost half an hour!" Stevonnie griped, "You try not getting tired when you have to deal with bones and junk!"
"No thanks, tried that once, never again."
While Stevonnie tried to process that statement, Rose rushed in at near lightspeed and tackled the fusion before jerking their trajectory down and smashing the fusion back first into a mountainside.
"Welp, there's the first bit of collateral damage…" they groaned, Rose's hands still clasped around their arms.
As they tried to break free, Rose stopped and studied her opposite. She noticed the cuts and bruises on Stevonnie's skin fading incredibly quickly. She knew Steven inherited her healing abilities but could only guess that they become a full healing factor with Connie's power. She tightened her grip on Stevonnie, actually feeling the skin crystallize underneath.
"So, your skin hardens on instinct to immediate harm and heals off the rest…" she muttered, "You really are something."
"Heh, I've been told that before," they chuckled, "Man, if Kevin could only see half of this, he's flip…"
"Pity the fool who tries to take advantage of you, huh?"
They both laughed at that before Stevonnie suddenly swung forward, their forehead butting into Rose's face and making her let go out of shock. She then got a sudden roundhouse kick to her side, flinging her away until Stevonnie rushed up and spiked her down. Rose plummeted thousands of feet, her visage spinning and barely telling light from dark until something smashed her down directly into the ground.
Rose needed a minute to get up after that, her eyes swirling around in her head. She glanced up out of the hole she made to see Stevonnie shouldering a replica of Sardonyx's hammer with added crystal plates on the head.
"Well played…" she said before coughing up dust. Stevonnie soon lowered themself down to the floor of the canyon Rose had splatted in.
"So, are we done?"
Rose looked down at herself, her dress completely streaked with brown and green from the mud and grass she upturned. She looked up to see that the canyon walls were over a hundred feet tall on either side, shade blanketing the whole area. The mother could still see Stevonnie was reaching out a hand, trying to call an end to the fight.
"You are commendably noble," she said with a twinge of regret, "But this fight only ends when one of us cannot move. Any less is a disservice to my cause."
Stevonnie didn't look all that surprised but still disappointed. A whip suddenly shot out around Rose's neck before the fusion threw her opposite over their shoulder, spiraling back into the air like a ragdoll before crashing again.
"I know how you feel," they said to no one before flying out, "I can't let your vengeance ruin everything…"
They scanned the rolling grassy plains for any sign of her only to spot something on a rare patch of flat land in this range. They flew over and found Rose standing outside of a grey saucer with blocky silver spindles dangling in the air, the earth underneath it upturned and moss covering much of the metal.
"Oh my gosh…" they gasped, "This ship…"
Stevonnie looked to Rose, appraising the craft with a conflicted gaze. She clearly recognized it too.
"How long has it been?" she suddenly asked.
"Huh?"
"How long was it since Steven's very first mission? In that gem, time passes but it all feels so murky."
Stevonnie looked down at their naval, chuckling as they realized it had been a little under a year. One year ago, Steven Universe was a normal kid whose worse news was hearing his favorite ice cream was getting recalled. Now he was as part of a hybrid super warrior fighting his dead mom for the fate of gem-kind.
"I can hardly believe it myself…" they giggled.
They both looked up at the ship, then back to each other. Nobody so much as breathed for the longest time until Rose let out a sigh.
"Go. Help them."
Stevonnie turned to face the rebel only to see her hand outstretched.
"Those might be the last corrupted gems in the world. I know how much it hurt that you couldn't save the others. Consider this a truce."
The fusion took the handshake, their shoulders sagging in relief. With nothing else to lose, they headed through the triangular opening and soon found several insectoid creatures slithering along the walls and ceiling. All of their green circular gems turned towards them.
"Hey guys," they greeted with a wave, "I know I look very different, but it's still me. Sorry I don't have any chips…"
One slightly larger creature with a huge mane of white hair soon slinked out of the shadows with a harrowing shriek that would terrify anyone else. For Stevonnie, they could tell it was a happy hello.
"Hey, Centipeetle! I think I can help you this time."
The corrupted gem lets out a curious trill, immediately moving up to being inches away from Stevonnie's face. They paid no heed to the drops of acidic saliva dripping from the creature's jaws, only studying the bioluminescent green gem inside with a concerned frown.
"Okay, Stevonnie is a lot stronger than Steven in every way including healing. I just hope this works as good for you as it does for me."
After coating several fingers in their saliva, Stevonnie reached out to apply as much as possible to the glowing core. Almost as soon as they pulled their hand away, Centipeetle was consumed by a blinding light.
"Come on, come on, please work…"
They knew as a backup measure they could get the other diamonds to fix her and her crew, but Stevonnie just had to try. Hundreds of Crystal Gems and Homeworld troops never got the chance but this was the least they could do.
Soon the monster's form began to change, going from a chain of multiple sections to a single, slender shape. Spindly pincers became two fully formed legs, arms grew out of the new torso and soon the light faded. That glowing green gem was now a singular eyeball in the center of a proper face with a shorter flipped bob cut.
The now healed gem glanced down at her hands and legs with a growing jubilation until they glomped Stevonnie in gratitude.
"I'm finally myself again!" she cried, "Thank you so much, Stevonnie! I knew Steven would be there for me…"
The fusion didn't say a word, too busy hugging her back as tears dropped from their eyes. As much as they wanted to celebrate, they knew it wouldn't be long before the battle would resume. But that could wait. For now, the other corrupted gems had gathered around and crowed to be next. Stevonnie was all too happy to indulge them.
Outside of the ship, Rose could only guess that the cheers she picked up meant that it was a job well done. While most of her swelled with pride, there was that resentful little voice in the back of her mind. Stevonnie managed to fix a corrupted gem while she spent thousands of years sticking them in bubbles.
"Some leader I am…" she repeated to herself as Stevonnie stayed inside. At least they would have this to celebrate.
White Diamond was now flying over open ocean, still partially amazed that she never thought to use her powers like this. Then again she never left her palace ship before so she figured it was a moot point. Now she had flown over several islands, finding everything from fighter squads to full warships to a few stray naval units.
"Goodness, Pink might not have been made when we last used those…" White gawked to herself, "Although I know we never painted them burgundy and blue…"
Artistic liberties aside, the grand monarch had stopped counting how many gems she bubbled but a quick estimate put her at the lower tens of thousands. It was a nice ego boost given that
As she came across an impressive platoon of half a dozen flying hand-ships, White was primed to fire on them only to feel a sudden stroke of pain. She looked back to see her energy contrail was quickly dimming and realized what was happening to her horror.
She was out of power.
"Oh dear…" she whispered, lost over the rushing wind but fear palpable in her voice.
She only had a few more seconds before her power gave out completely, causing her to plummet out of the sky and belly flop onto a patch of shallows. While little was hurt from the fall, besides her pride, the bigger issue was the thousands of gems and their hardware barreling down on her. And for all of her strengths, throwing a punch wasn't one of them.
"I still can't believe I'm saying this, but where are those Crystal Gems?!"
She looked around, hoping that the Beacon would race to her rescue but nothing was in sight. Just a waning evening sky (making White realize just how long she stayed cooped up in her little fortress) and a small armada of her own technology and troops pointing their blasters at her.
"There is some poetic irony in all this," she said aloud, "A shame I'm already sick of it!"
As the ships pointed down towards her, White tried to summon any energy she had left. She mustered a faint glow around her hands but she knew it wouldn't do much. She might be able to take over one pilot and do some damage to the small fries but they'd be shot down by the giant cruisers in an instant.
So, she had no power left. She had no resources. She ended up abandoning her ship hundreds of miles away. She still had the remote for it but would it reach her in time? And then what, amscray until she recharged enough? Her best plan right now was planning a training regime to make sure that this whole embarrassment never happened again.
The idea that this could be the end left her feeling hollow. She still had so much to make up for, to fix everything with her and the other diamonds. Plus she hadn't even started a plan to change Homeworld's politics.
She looked up and saw the nearest ship glowing bright green, primed to fire any second. White's face somehow paled even more but she refused to budge. If this was to be her final stand, she would not bend or bow. On the off-chance Rose was recording this, she would fall with grace.
"My conduct with my encounter with Stevonnie was shameful but I shall learn from it…"
There was so much else to learn from but now there wouldn't be anytime to apply it. She knew the blast radius of the weapon by memory and unless she could flee several miles in a few seconds…
A sudden orange flash followed by a deep boom snapped her out of ruminating. She looked up to see that something had struck the side of the battleship, drawing its attention! Following the fading flash, she turned to the right and saw the Crystal Beacon flying overhead. Something had jumped off the top and falling next to her, landing with resounding splash.
"Sorry we're late," a six-armed fusion replied, still holding a massive bow.
"Eh, thanks… Alexandrite, isn't it?"
"You actually remembered," she smiled, "You've come a long way."
"In physical difference or maturity?"
"We can gloat later. Right now, we have to handle this."
"As touching as that is, you couldn't scratch a single one of these before. How did you even manage it this time?"
"Steven's upgrades have really come in handy. And we're gonna fight this together."
White looked over, puzzled beyond belief only to see the multicolored warrior offering her a hand. The monarch put two and two together and her mind blanked.
"No."
"Excuse you?"
"No."
Alexandrite sighed. "I know this is new for you but-"
"But nothing! I have never lowered myself to-"
"Didn't I just save your butt? 'Lowering yourself' means having the power to save your life."
White now pointedly looked away, only to find three hands gripping onto her arm to turn her around.
"You want to prove you've changed, right? You want to not go back to being a heartless tyrant, right?! Then step into someone else's shoes and you'll finally know what it's like to be different!"
White's eyes waffled, not wanting to admit that she wanted the very same thing. She then thought of the fractured planet she called home (a detail she was ashamed to have never realized) and the faces of her family.
"Are all of them…?"
"Yes. We wanted all of you to experience this. Think about it this way: Rose is convinced you'll never change, that our alliance is you four holding the rest of us hostage. If you want to truly prove her wrong and show you really want to turn over a new leaf, is there a better way?"
White so desperately wanted to insist there was, but she knew that was her pride talking. The same pride that caused this whole catastrophe.
She let out the longest exhale possible before looking at Alexandrite in the eye. "One time, and then never again."
The fusion smiled. "Hey, it's progress."
Three more hands grabbed White's other arm before Alexandrite pulled herself forward. As her body changed into White, she felt a tiny spark of excitement at what was coming.
The fleet paused, operating under the same belief that fusing should not be interrupted, and watched as the light grew into a towering flare that dwarfed the rising sun. Two arms longer than busses soon formed, followed by another… And another… And another.
The small supernova faded to reveal the tallest gem in existence, standing near twenty stories tall. Open toed combat boots revealed pale magenta digits beneath to reveal striped leggings with pastel green and purple bands until it turned a metallic pink area around her crotch. If that appeared confusing or flashy, it held nothing on the fashion above her waist.
A massive cape was still draped over her shoulders, its back a miniature rainbow of greens, purples and reds ranging from pale to electrically bright streaked across haphazardly. In front of that was a swooping torso going from broad shoulders to a slender waist that looked like a separate round section binding the halves together. Two polished white shoulder plates gleamed while her puce neck was surrounded by deep purple collar, drooping down over a mint green top with pale pink trim.
Each of her eight bus-length arms clad in multicolored sleeves, none of them matching even with their direct opposite. Her hair was an incorrigible green mane that barely kept White's shape but most of it was a shagged mess that draped behind her cape. Even her face was an anomaly with a thin visor perched on her pointed nose while eight eyes were clustered above, four on each side in an oval shape with two white ones on top, a purple to its lower left and a green to the right all over a bright pink. The only thing in common was the black, diamond-shaped pupil.
Even her gems were bizarre. A massive diamond was directly between her eyes, with a much smaller pearl almost touching it above. They too were a prismatic blend of all these colors, glimmers of pink and purple present on their pale surface. Another such gem rested beneath her collar and two tiny ones were embedded in the palms of her highest set of hands.
And yet despite the clashing colors, this gem merely glanced up. She barely gave her own appearance a second glance. Her silver-painted lips wore a calm smile.
"I am Diamond," she said simply, "This is your first and only chance to surrender."
With introductions out of the way, the lead ship immediately opened fire. A colossal emerald beam roared down at Diamond but she remained as poised as before. She simply leapt out of the way, an explosion rattled the seabed while she was unharmed.
"So that's a no… A pity."
With speed that should be impossible for something so large, Diamond flew forward with her left hands all curled into fists. That single wave of punches made the war machine buckle and tilt. All of her hands pierced the metal with the effort of pushing through a light breeze. She quickly withdrew them, flying miles away in seconds. Her radiant body a mesmerizing blur in the sky, she stopped before a bow the size of an apartment building manifested in her arms.
That tiny round gem on her forehead glowed, quickly producing more and more duplicates until twelve diamonds stood, all jut as armed. Half of their arrows were a blistering red and radiated heat. The others were a royal blue and chilled the air around them.
All twelve of Diamond shared the same victorious smile. "Then let's get down to business…"
3 chapters left. And since this story is almost over, I went absolutely nuts on creating a fusion for each diamond. I hope they don't disappoint! Voicing these OCS are:
Dawn M. Bennett as Orange Diamond.
Mae Whitman as Cobalt Diamond.
Tara Strong as Violet Diamond.
Ming-Na Wen as Diamond.
Tune in to see them in action and the fight with Stevonnie and Rose pick up next time!
Thank you all so much for reading! Feel free to leave questions or comments below.