The night sky was clear and cloudless, with thousands of stars dotted across the endless black cloth; the moon was out and almost full, hovering high up in the sky, casting a slivery illumination in lieu of the sun over the ocean and landscape below.
Steven was sprinting across the deserted stretch of beach at a break neck speed, leaving a trail of footprints in the sand behind him, that were quickly been washed away by the crashing waves. Despite his speed, Steven was running in a rather awkward manner, keeping his arms held out in front of him and his hands were clamped together at all times as he darted along the sand, fearful that the slightest trip or misstep could cause him to fall and risk damaging his precious passenger.
He wasn't sure how long he had been running, but he refused to stop or slow down, aside from taking a few cautionary glances every once in a while, checking to see if the Crystal Gems were anywhere nearby. Steven knew were still out looking for him and that it wouldn't be long before they eventually found him again. Pushing these thoughts out of his head, Steven tried to remember the place where Sapphire had told him to meet her once he brought Ruby's gem out of the Temple. Or rather, he tried to remember the place where they were supposed to meet, which he had seen in his brief vision of the future when Sapphire passed her powers onto him.
From what Steven could recall, their meeting place was going to be small, secluded cove that was close to the cliffside on the right of town, a place that Steven didn't usually go out to venture due to its isolated and slightly hazardousness nature, but it was still familiar enough to him that he recognised the placement of rocks and curves of the beach as he drew nearer. All the while as he ran, Steven hoped that Sapphire was still there waiting for him. He was supposed to have been back much sooner than this, but everything had been delayed thanks to his previous mistake with Ruby's bubble. He started to become worried that Sapphire may have thought he wasn't really coming and decided to leave already. That idea made Steven's heart sink; he couldn't beat the thought of leaving Sapphire disappointed without being able to explain himself.
As Steven approached the cliffside, he saw where he needed to go. Up ahead was a series of large rocks and boulders, which looked to be the result a landside perhaps, that stretched into the ocean, cutting the beach off. It would appear that nothing was behind the rocks, but Steven knew that there was another cove and beach just on the other side. All he had to do to get there was climb over these rocks.
Approaching the toppled boulders and being sure to keep Ruby safe in one hand, Steven began to scale the rocky surface, pulling himself upwards using his single free hand, with took a little extra effort. Careful of his footing, Steven reached the top of the largest boulder and then slid down the smooth surface, landing on the other side, where he was treated to a rather strange sight.
It was an entire beach covered in a thick blanket of white snow. For a moment, Steven felt like he had just walked onto the middle of the Arctic rather than a tropical cove. It was so cold that Steven could feel his hands and feet beginning to sting with the change in climate. Even the top of the water surrounding the beach was frozen solid by a sheet of ice that stretched over its surface.
Looking up at the sky, Steven observed a thick, grey storm cloud hanging overhead, where seemed to be raining snow down into this one secluded area. Steven didn't even the cloud, since the sky was perfectly clear a moment ago on the other side of the rocks; it seemed to be snowing here and nowhere else. Realising that this could only mean one thing, Steven hurried along the edge of the beach until he found the source of the weather pattern.
Sapphire was pacing back and forth across the same patch of snow along the edge of the ocean. She appeared distressed, anxiously fidgeting with her hands, unable to keep herself still for very long.
"Sapphire!" Steven called out.
Sapphire ceased her pacing and turned around to see an ecstatic Steven running through the snow towards her, almost tripping over his feet before he finally reached her.
"Sapphire" Steven panted. "I did it! I brought you the gem".
"You did it?" she said, as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing. But her face soon lit up into a wide, jubilant smile. "You really did it! When you didn't come right away, I thought that it was all ruined! I thought because I let you that picture of us, I had messed everything up again. I thought I threw us off the path"
"Things didn't go exactly the way I thought" Steven said, with a slightly embarrassed shrugged. "But I still got here in the end. I brought you the Gem you asked for"
Steven presented Sapphire with Ruby's gem in his open palms. Although her eyes were hidden behind her veil of white hair, Steven was sure that they both were as wide as dinner plates at the sight of the red gem in his hands. Sapphire slowly inched closer to Steven, who patiently waiting for her to take the gem. She raised a cautious, almost shaking hand toward the gem, as if she was afraid to touch it for fear of it biting her somehow
The tip of Sapphire's finger barely made contact with the gem, when it released a bright red glow once again, levitating out of Steven's hand and into the air. Light emerged around the gem, forming into a set of arms, legs, body and then a head until it took the full shape of Ruby as she materialized out of the light and landed down on the sand on her own two feet.
Ruby opened her eyes, appearing a little bit groggy. The first thing she saw was Steven, who smiled nervously her, before backing away several paces. Still confused, Ruby glanced around the snow-covered cove, until she finally turned to the right and saw Sapphire, standing less than five feet away from her, staring back at Ruby with her mouth gaping open.
Everyone and everything suddenly went very still. The freezing chill in the air was gone as the surrounding snow beginning to melt away, the ice over the water breaking away and the clouds above departing. But despite this change, there was no great heat wave present either. Instead, everything just seemed to balance itself outside, hovering at the prefect degree between degree between hot and cold. It was like everything, the temperature, the air, the ocean, maybe even the entire planet, had stopped moving for this single, miraculous moment in time.
"It's really you…" Sapphire whispered, barely audible.
"Sapphire?" Ruby said, blinking hard, making sure that this wasn't some trick and that her eyes weren't deceiving her.
"Ruby!" Sapphire cried.
"Sapphire!"
The two Gems crossed the distance between them almost instantaneously, embracing each other in a hug so tight they might never have detached again.
"I'm so glad your safe!" Ruby said, wrapping her arms around Sapphire's head and neck.
"I thought….I thought I'd never see you again" Sapphire whimpered, burying her head on Ruby's shoulder.
"See me again?" Shocked, Ruby gently lifted Sapphire's head up, holding face up to the moonlight. "What do you mean see me again? We only just…." Ruby fell silent, her face turning gaunt, as a terrible realisation dawned onto her. Pulling away from Sapphire, Ruby clenched her fist and lowered head down low, staring hard at the sand.
"How long have we….?" she whispered.
Sapphire sighed. She obviously had been expected Ruby to ask this question, but it seemed no less painful when she answered. "It's been almost five thousand years since we were separated. You've been inside a bubble all that time"
Ruby flung her head back up to Sapphire and looked as though she was about to be sick. "Five thousand years?!"
The ocean briefly sizzled with steam as Ruby threw her head back and railed up to the sky in anguish, pulling at fistful of her brown hair in rage as she fought back against her own tears. "What's the matter with me! How could I be so stupid? I should have listened to you when you said it was about to happen! I should have been there with you! I should have-"
"No, it's okay" Sapphire said at once, taking Ruby's hands, which immediately calmed her down again. "I understand that you felt that you had to go back for the others. I thought I would be able to wait for you, but I was wrong. But none of that matters now. We're finally together again. And it's all thanks to Steven. Without him, I could never have found you"
Ruby turned around in surprise to look at Steven, most likely having already forgotten he was present the whole time. Steven chuckled bashfully, blushing in embarrassment and turning his eyes away from Ruby.
"You really did help us?" Ruby said with stunned disbelief, but her gratitude was no less obvious.
"Well, yeah I-" Steven was suddenly cut off as Ruby wrapped her arms around his body in a strong bear hug, lifting him off his feet
"Thank you so much!" she cheered.
"Your welcome" Steven wheezed happily. Ruby set Steven back on the ground and released him. She beamed at Steven, but her smile soon turned into a frown.
"But wait, I thought you said you were a Crystal Gem?" she asked, clearly confused
"Um, yeah?" Steven said, not really understanding Ruby's question. But soon, the question no longer mattered as Ruby turned her attention back to Sapphire, the sole object of affection.
"What happened to you after I was gone?" she asked, gripping Sapphire's shoulders, inspecting her for any sign of injury. "Did anything bad happen to you? Did good happen that wasn't there for!? I want to know everything"
Sapphire signed again, now appearing weary, like someone who had just finished a lifetime's worth expedition. "It's just a long story" she said. "So much has changed back home, you might not even believe me. I only wished I could have come sooner, but circumstances prevented from getting back here. It was only a short time ago that a narrow window of opportunity opened to allow me to return."
Steven glanced back and forth between Ruby and Sapphire, listening to every word of their conversation as it would be impossible to block it out. The more they spoke, the more curious he found himself becoming. What were they talking about? Where did they come from? What exactly happened to break these two apart in the first place? Steven wanted to ask them these questions, wanting to hear and know their full story, but right now he couldn't bring himself to get in the way of Ruby and Sapphire's reunion for fear of spoiling.
Ruby was in the middle of tenderly creasing Sapphire's cheek with the tip of her fingers, looking at her like she was a work of art. She then moved her other hand to top of Sapphire's head and parted the bit of hair hanging over her face, revealing a single, bright blue eye so large that it took up almost half of Sapphire's face. Steven briefly had to supress a slight squawking noise in his throat at the sight of Sapphire's real face. His initial reaction was that of surprise, thinking that Sapphire's singular eye was rather peculiar, but the more he looked at it, the more Steven realised it only Sapphire look even more beautiful.
"You came back here? Just to find me?" Ruby whispered, sounding like she was thoroughly underserving of such devotion, more tears forming in her eyes. Sapphire closed her single eye and pressed her cool cheek into Ruby's warm hand, resting her head in her palm with an expression of sheer bliss
"I've thought of nothing else but to see you again" she said,
"That's funny" Ruby chuckled in a low voice, drawing closer to Sapphire, who opened her eye again in surprise. "Cos the very last thing I remember seeing before I got poofed, was your pretty face"
Without warning, Sapphire let out a loud and very undignified sounding snort of laugher, breaking into a fit of uncontrollable giggles, playfully pushing Ruby away from her.
"Stop it!" she said, unable to contain herself, blushing with embarrassment.
"There's my laughy, Sappy! Come here you". Despite her half-hearted protests, Ruby grabbed Sapphire up by her waist and swept her off her feet, throwing her body into the air before catching her again, making her squeal in delight. Ruby squeezed Sapphire by the waist and began to plant a series of kisses into her neck, until Sapphire finally broke free of Ruby's grip and baited her to give chase. Happy to oblige, Ruby ran after Sapphire with a confident smirk, charging headfirst at her with outstretched arms to grab her again, but missed as Sapphire swiftly side stepped her, making Ruby miss and land face first in the sand. Ruby popped her hand out of the sand, but rather than be upset she merely laughed along with Sapphire. She soon was back to her feet and started chasing Sapphire up along the beach, each of them playfully teasing and goading the other as part of some personal game, having as much fun as they could possibly muster as though determined to make up for five thousand years of separation.
Standing afar, Steven watched in silence as the two Gems danced, laughed and frolicked around the beach, so caught up in their own merriment that they became oblivious to his presence. Steven soon felt the colour rise in his own cheeks, beginning to feel as though he may have been intruding on something private, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to look away. Never in all his life had Steven seen two people, or in the case Gems, so inconceivably happy together. It was like nothing mattered to them but each's other continued company and wellbeing. All that they wanted to simply be together.
Even more remarkable, Steven thought, was how unlikely it ought to have been for these two get along so perfectly well.
Sapphire, who was distant and emotionless, was now giggling with unrestrained joy and Ruby, who was impatient and violent, appeared far more relaxed and gentler. From everything Steven had experience with both of them, these were two Gems who were as different to each other as night and day. Yet here and now, they appeared to complement each in the most perfect way imaginable. Sapphire's cold exterior melted away while Ruby's enteral burning flame was doused to a control fire.
Steven found their bond with each other to be nothing short of amazing. He felt like he was witnessing something truly special. But at the same time, he also felt as though he couldn't fully comprehend it either. This kind of closeness, this intimacy and familiarity, was something he had never truly experienced or witnessed before. Not among his friends or even the Crystal gems. What really going on between Ruby and Sapphire? More than anything he wanted to know, but the more he thought about, the more he realised that there was only one thing this could be.
Sapphire suddenly squealed again as Ruby caught her by the waist and pulled in for another embrace, refusing to let her go. Trapped in her arms, Sapphire took one look at Ruby and without warning, leaned in to kiss her full on the lips, a gesture which Ruby returned in kind. After breaking away again, Ruby swept Sapphire off her feet and held up as she spun them around. Faster and faster they spun until a bright glow emanated from their individual gemstones, their bodies meddling together in a whirlwind of pure light and from within that light, they became something entirely new. They became a Fusion.
The Fusion that was now standing on the beach in place of Ruby and Sapphire was tall, elegant, strong and most of all beautiful. It's overall colouring seemed to be a mixture of both Ruby and Sapphire clothes. On top of its head, it spotted Ruby's trademark square shaped bushel of hair, though slightly more angular; in the middle of its brow, the Fusion spotted a third eye in addition to a normal pair.
Steven gasped, shocked by the sight of this abrupt Fusion, backing up so fast that he tripped over his feet and fell down on the sand. For the first time since he arrived here, he felt a sudden sense of danger, as he vividly remembered his past experience with Malachite and how quickly she went out of control. For a moment, Steven wondered if this fusion between Ruby and Sapphire was about to burst into flames or turn into a block of ice.
But unlike Malachite, this Fusion didn't appear to be vicious or destructive. In fact, it appeared extremely calm, almost peaceful looking, wrapping its two arms around his shoulders, hugging itself closely, and letting out a small, joyous chuckle of laughter. The Fusion then turn its head in Steven's direction, making him to flinch in fear. Still too stunned to get up again, Steven remained where he was on the sand as the Fusion walked over to him.
Steven held his breath as the Fusion stared down at him, wondering what was about to happen. But then to his surprise, the Fusion smiled at him before bending down and offering Steven not one, but two hands for him to take. Looking into the Fusions open palms, he could see both Ruby and Sapphire's gemstones embedded into the centre of the its respective hands. Taking this as a good sign, Steven grab each of the Fusion's hands and allowed it to pull him back up again.
He stared up at the Fusion with a strange kind of awe, as it continued to smile back down at him. "Sapphire? Ruby?" he said.
"Garnet" the Fusion said softly, placing both her hands over the middle of her chest. "My name's Garnet. Thank you, Steven, for bringing us back together"
"You two are fused" Steven said, hesitantly, taking a minute to look over their new body, as though he still couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Are-are you ok?
"No, no, we're fine. I'm fine" Garnet said reassuringly. She kneeled down in the sand, allowing Steven to view her at eye level. "I know I must seem strange like this, but this is who are, Steven. It's who we were meant to be. This form is merely a manifestation of the feelings that Ruby and Sapphire have for each other. Everything that they are, everything they care about is what I am."
"So, does that mean you're like….made out of love!?" Steven whispered, his eyes going bright.
"Yeah" Garnet chuckled lightly, with vague shrug. "I'm made of love". Taking Steven by surprise again, Garnet wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer to for a warm embrace. "We can never thank you enough for this, Steven"
Steven felt another flush of colour in his cheek, which disappeared again once Garnet had released him.
"So, was this it?" he asked, sounding hopeful. "Was this my fate? To bring the two of you together?" Garnet's happy expression suddenly turned sad, as she avoided Steven's eye.
"Steven, I'm sorry" she said heavily. "But Sapphire lied to you". Garnet paused before continuing, allowing Steven a moment to contemplate his own surprise. "It's true that Sapphire can see the future, but nothing we see is set in stone. You have to be the one to create your own future. That's why she…we used you. I'm sorry.
"You used me?" Steven said. He couldn't help but sound a little bit hurt. Garnet sighed and stood back up again.
"Please understand. Sapphire had been trying for hundreds of years to reunite with Ruby. She saw thousands of different visions of possible futures, hoping she might find a path of reaching Ruby again. When she arrived here, she saw a vision of meeting with you and how you would help bring Ruby to her. Sapphire hoped that by playing into that specific vision, she could coerce you into following it exactly as she saw it so that it would come to pass"
"Well, that is what happened. Except for the part when I let Ruby out of her bubble too early. After that I kinda had to improvise" Steven said, still feeling a little bad over the earlier debacle had caused.
"That's exactly the point Steven" Garnet continued. "No one can truly predict the future. All we can really see is just possibilities and trajectories, trying to navigate our way through a myriad of different outcomes in an ocean of infinite timelines as we try to find the best course of action. But no matter what future came, there was still one thing that was always a constant."
Garnet placed her hand on Steven's shoulder, smiling brightly at him. "You, Steven. That you would find a way to help us no matter what it took. You promised us you would help and without even knowing who we are, you kept that promise. We had faith in you and our faith was rewarded. We can never repay enough for what you've done for us"
Garnet beamed at Steven, staring at him as though she thought of him as something that was truly amazing and special, mirroring the way Steven was looking back at Garnet.
"But, why couldn't you-I mean, Sapphire, trust me with the whole truth?" Steven asked, still not fully understanding.
Garnet's gentle expression suddenly hardened, her face now appearing angry and grim. "It wasn't you we couldn't trust" she said darkly.
"Over here!"
Steven turned his head back up to the sky and spotted Lapis hovering high above them. She landed on the beach, a few yards opposite Steven and Garnet. There then came loud explosion as the boulder blocking the way into the cove was shattered to pieces, courtesy of Jasper, preferring to go straight through rather than over. She was followed closing behind by Peridot as they entered the cove. Seeing Steven by the shore of the beach, Peridot rushed on ahead past Jasper, stopping next to Lapis.
"Steven, what's going on here?" Peridot said, sounding frantic and worried. "Are you alright? What are you-?" Peridot's eyes then settled onto Garnet standing next to Steven, and she recoiled back, totally flabbergasted. "A Gem!?"
"A fusion!" Lapis gasped, once she had a moment to properly inspect Garnet, placing her hand over her mouth in shock.
Jasper entered the cove and stood behind Lapis and Peridot; if she was surprised by this turn of events, she didn't show it. She merely pushed Peridot and Lapis out of her way as she stepped forward, stopping roughly a dozen feet away from where Steven and Garnet were standing, surveying the unknown Fusion for herself.
The two of them locked eyes with each other and one thing was very clear from the onset; that neither of them liked the other in the slightest. Jasper was staring at Garnet with a look of suspicion and distrust, while Garnet retuned her gaze with a truly venomous glare. Curling her lips back in a snarl, Jasper then snapped her head over to Steven who still standing anxiously beside Garnet.
"Steven, how many Gems did you take out of the Temple?!" she roared, no mistaking her fury any longer.
"Just the one, I swear!" he replied shakily, fearfully of doing anything else that might incur Jasper's wraith.
Jasper turned back to Garnet again, throwing an accusing finger at her. "That means one of you came here on your own. How did you find us? What are you doing here?!"
"Please, it's ok" Steven said quickly, hoping he could defuse the situation with a proper explanation. "Let me introduce you guys. This is Garnet, she's-"
"KEEP AWAY FROM HER!" Garnet snapped loudly, cutting Steven off. He turned to her, surprised by the sudden volume of her voice as well as her obvious display of anger. Steven soon felt the humidity in the air rise once again as sweat formed on his forehead; the ocean behind them was beginning to boil and the sand beneath Garnet's feet was burning, thin traces of smoke raising upwards as she continued to glare dangerously at the Crystal Gems. "I won't let you hurt her!"
"Steven, back away from her! Now" Lapis said, at once with perilous concern.
"No, wait, you don't understand" Steven said, stepping between Garnet and the Crystal Gems, both sides looking ready to go to war with the other. "She's my friend"
"She is not a friend!" Jasper said angrily, looking more than ready to charge headfirst at Garnet at the slightest sign of provocation.
Steven opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he saw his own breath appear as vapour the air. His sweat was gone and there was now a cold chill running down his spin. He turned back to Garnet; her shoulders were trembling violently as stared down at the sand, hugging her arms around her body as she now seemed to be absorbing heat rather than releasing it.
"You….you're just like everyone else" she whispered, her anger now replaced with an equal proportion of sorrow. "You want to keep us apart. You won't let us be together".
She turned her head up to look at Crystal Gems once again, her two lower eyes brimming with tears, while the topmost one was curled in a kind of angry glare; it was almost comical how mismatched they were.
"This is all your fault" Garnet continued, now sounding vengeful again. "All of it! You're the ones who caused all this to go wrong in the first place. Why? Why can't everyone just leave us alone?"
"Wha-what?" Steven said, looking at Garnet with concern, trying to understand the root of her distress. "Garnet, what's the matter?"
Over on their side of the beach, the Crystal Gems were not moving, but they were as far from reassured as possible. Clenching her knuckles tightly, Jasper tensed up, shifting her heels in the sand, her entire body ready to move at the drop of a pin. Her eyes shifted from Garnet down to Steven, who was still standing close enough next to the Fusion that he surely would be in harm's way if something were to happen. Jasper then glanced very briefly at Peridot, who return her look with the slightest of nods, her own expression just as serious. Already on the same page as Jasper, Peridot slowly folded her arms behind her back, silently powering up her finger-cannon, keeping her eyes on Garnet at all times. Jasper turned her gaze over to Lapis, who didn't turn to look at her. Instead, Lapis' eyes, which appeared cold and merciless, were focused on the ocean behind Steven and Garnet, the water already beginning to ripple and rise at her command.
They knew what was going to happen next. They knew the moment they had seen Garnet.
Steven hesitantly approached the still disconcerted Garnet, putting his hands on her upper thigh, hoping to try and comfort her in some way. He didn't know what it was, but something about the Crystal Gems presence was upsetting her. He knew had to say something before things got any further out of hand.
"She wasn't trying to hurt me" he began, turning his head back to the Crystal Gems. "She was just-"
In an instant, chains made of clear blue liquid shot out from the ocean as fast a pack of vipers, the watery shackles latching onto Garnet, clamping around her neck, waist, arms and legs as tightly as if they were made of real iron. Garnet cried out and struggled against the chains as they began to drag her backwards toward the water.
"Garnet!" Steven immediately rushed after her, but before he could reach her, Jasper leapt forward and landed next to Steven with a heavy thud, scooping him up by his waist in one of her massive arms before then jumping backwards in another might leap, putting as much distance as possible between them and Garnet.
"Peridot, now!" Jasper yelled, after she had gotten Steven out of the line of fire.
With Lapis holding Garnet in place with her chains, Peridot pulled her arm out from behind her back and fired her fully charged finger-cannon, the concentrated bolt of green energy crossing the distance between them in just a few seconds, hitting Garnet squarely in the chest in an erupting flash of green light that lit up the surrounding beach.
Still secure in Jasper's arm, Steven gasped, horrified by what he had just seen, tears already beginning to form in his eyes. The rest of Crystals Gems watched in suspenseful silence as the smoke began to clear, expecting to see two discarded gems lying in the sand.
But to their surprise, what saw instead was Garnet herself, standing upright, still bound by Lapis watery chains, but otherwise unharmed. Crossed in front of her chest in an X-shape, were two massive red gauntlets in place of her normal hands, acting as shield; each one was about ten times as thick her own arms, with fists the size of the tip of a torpedo head, sparkles of green energy cackling off them, having shielded Garnet from Peridot's attack, absorbing the full brunt of the blast without so much as a scratch or blister.
Garnet opened her three eyes again and she no longer appeared indecisive or afraid. Her mind, body and soul were now united in a single goal. The temperature dropped once again. The watery chains holding Garnet turned to solid ice, as did much of the surrounding ocean behind her within the span of a few seconds. With a single flex of her arms, Garnet shattered the chains holding her in place, shards of icicles flying everywhere.
Growling, Garnet opened out her the fingers of her gauntlets and clenched them shut again, as each one lit up with a different coloured sphere of energy. The left gauntlet was sizzling with a crimson red aura, while the right gauntlet was emitting a chilling blue mist.
With a heavy grunt, Garnet thrust her right arm forward in the form of a punch and sent a concentrated blast of cold wind directly at Lapis, with the force of small blizzard. As Lapis was bombarded with the freezing air, she instinctively opened out her wings to fly away, but this was a fatal mistake as the wings were frozen instantly and were then shattered by the sheer force of the arctic tempest as it battered against her body before lifting her off her feet and sending her tumbling backwards across beach, leaving her covered in frost and unable to move.
Peridot glanced at her fallen teammate and quickly prepared another shot of her cannon, but before she was ready to fire, Garnet smashed her left gauntlet into the sand, creating a streak of pure heat that travelled in a straight-line underground like a red neon signal toward Peridot. The sand beneath Peridot's feet began to bubble and swell violently with the extreme heat before exploding from underneath her in the form of a miniature volcano, blasting her up into the air with a shrill scream until she landed on the sand next to Lapis.
Having handily dispatched both Peridot and Lapis, Garnet now turned her attention to Jasper, gauntlets still raised and glowing, throwing her a challenging look, practically taunting her.
Jasper, of course, was not one to back down from a fight in any circumstance. Keeping her eyes firmly on Garnet, Jasper lightly tossed Steven over her shoulder, where he landed on his backside in the sand. Satisfied that he was far enough out of the danger zone, Jasper formed her crash helmet and squared herself off against Garnet.
Steven immediately rushed back to his feet and made a futile attempt to speak up, hoping he could talk sense into them before they seriously hurt one another.
"Stop! Why are you guys fighting?!"
But it was neither Jasper nor Garnet were interested in talking; right now, all that mattered to them was the fight. Jasper craned her neck from side to side and cracked her knuckles. Despite the situation, she allowed herself a slight smirk, feeling more than just a little excited to face a real challenge.
Garnet did not appear to return the same eagerness for battle. Instead she simply raised her gauntlets in the air and held her stance, poised, steady and confident; she was prepared herself for anything that Jasper might throw at her.
"You won't take us apart ever again!" she declared.
Neither Gem warrior made any attempt to move, both of them remaining perfectly stationary as if waiting for the other to strike first. Then, on some unspoken cue, Jasper tucked her head downwards, rolling herself into her a rapidly spinning ball of orange spikes, kicking the sand up all around her she built up her speed before finally releasing her ball form and launching her body headfirst at Garnet like a missile.
Garnet made no attempt to run or dodge Jasper's attack. She simply held her ground, gauntlets on either side. Then, moving with inhuman reflexes and airtight precision, Garnet snapped her gauntlets together at the last second like a bear trap, catching Jasper by the tip of her crash helmet as came inches from hitting her own face. Garnet's feet skidded over the sand as she was pushed back by Jasper's momentum, until she managed to dig her heels into the sand and brought them both to a halt. Jasper planted her own feet in the sand and maintained her pressure on Garnet, bearing down on her with all her strength. For a long moment they both pushed at each other in titanic struggle, neither of them able to budge the other one by an inch.
Thinking that she could not overpower Garnet fast enough, Jasper formulated another plan in her mind; she would pull her back, detach herself from Garnet, grab both of her arms and keep them separated, creating a clear opening to headbutt Garnet. All Jasper needed was one solid hit and she knew she would end this.
But no sooner than Jasper had contemplated this thought, Garnet acted first, as if she read her mind. Before Jasper had the chance to react, Garnet broke her hands free from Jasper's crash helmet and then simultaneously punched her on both sides of her face with each gauntlet, shattering the helmet visor, temporarily robbing the Quartz solider of her vision. Jasper faltered backwards, her hands over her stinging eyes, but before she could recover, Garnet clenched each of her gauntlets, forming a powerful ball of energy around each fist, one red and one blue. Garnet struck Jasper in the chest with both gauntlets, the red and blue energies combining together to create a massive bolt of lightning that blasted Jasper clean off her feet and sent her flying backwards.
On the other side of the beach, Peridot had managed to get back to her feet with Lapis arm draped over her shoulder as she was of helping her to stand again when the two of them were suddenly greeted with the backside of Jasper smashing into them, knocking all three Crystal Gems into the side of the rocky cliff with a loud crash.
Steven threw his head back and forth between the defeated Crystal Gems and the victorious Garnet, both of her gauntlets already disappearing, as if to signal the end of the battle. What in the world just happened? Just a few seconds ago they were talking and then it somehow turned into an all-out battlefield. Why did everyone start fighting? Why did they want to hurt each other without any provocation? Nothing about any of this made any sense to him.
Steven was about to rush over to Jasper and the others, afraid that they may be injured and hoping his healing powers would return to help, but he was stopped when he felt Garnet grab him by the arm. Steven turned and flinched at the sight of her, but Garnet now looked afraid once again.
"No, Steven, please listen!" she said, dropping to her knees, placing her hands on his shoulders. Steven hesitated; after what had just happened, he didn't know whether to consider Garnet a friend or foe right now, but he nevertheless remained silent, allowing her to continue.
"Steven, you have to come with me" she said, gripping his shoulders almost painfully. "Something terrible is coming here. And this time the Crystal Gems can't stop it. If you stay here, it will be your end. You must escape with me. We'll go somewhere safe, somewhere far from here, someplace where don't have to worry about what others think or say. And this time, I promise, I'll help you find your answers to your own questions"
Steven stared at Garnet, her eyes pleading at him to accept her offer; though he had no physical proof, he could feel her desperation and fear, knowing instantly that they were genuine. He wanted to help Garnet in any way he could, but after what had just happened, he didn't exactly know how he go about. If tried to talk to the Crystal Gem again, it likely would start another fight. And after seeing exactly what Garnet could do, he wasn't sure whose safety he should be more worried over. He thought perhaps it would be best if she left now, before there was any more conflict. The last thing he wanted to see was Garnet and the Crystal Gems fighting again.
But despite everything that had just happened, Steven didn't want to see Garnet to go as he still found her to be truly amazing. He wished nothing more that she would stay. Part of him actually considered going with her but this feeling was soon overshadowed by his concern for the Crystal Gems, who were in the middle of dislodging themselves from the cliffside just behind him. He couldn't abandon them. Not now
"I don't know what my future is yet" Steven admitted. "I don't understand anything that's happening anymore. All I know, is that I'm a Crystal Gem no matter what and that this is my home. I'm sorry, but I can't leave"
Garnet was speechless; for a moment she appeared disappointed, but then closed her eyes and nodded her head solemnly. Without another word, she stood up and walked away from Steven, moving closer to the ocean.
Steven reached his hand out to her, hoping there might be still a chance for them to talk this over. "Wait, this could be your home too!"
"There's no home for me. Not here" Garnet said softly. She turned her head up to the sky, staring a singular patch of the sky covered in stars. "Not anywhere".
In another flash of light, Garnet re-summoned her gauntlets, each one lighting up with the corresponding red and blue energies. Garnet turned her head around, and gave one last look at Steven, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
"Goodbye Steven"
With a mighty clap, Garnet snapped her two gauntlets together, her body surrounding itself in a field of electricity before erupting in a flash of lightning so bright Steven had to close his eyes for fear of going blind. Just like real lightning, the flash was instantaneous, lasting only for a second, but when Steven opened his eyes again, he found himself standing alone on the beach, his friend or rather his two friends, now gone without a single trace. Steven moved closer to the spot where Garnet had vanished, the sand having been crystallised from where she had been standing. He then moved to the edge of the ocean, staring out over the empty horizon and then up to the sky, hoping to find some sign of where Garnet had gone, but there was nothing.
"She's… gone" he said. Normally in this kind of situation, Steven may have felt some of excitement or relief, but day like today, he soon realised he was completely tapped out of emotion, positive or negative Steven was so detached from the world around him, that he barely even noticed Jasper, Peridot and Lapis as they came rushing up behind him, seeing for themselves that Garnet had escaped.
"Oh Steven" Lapis whispered, with great sadness. "What have you done?" She was clutching her right arm, as though it was in pain, but there was no obvious sign of injury.
"I didn't know" Steven said numbly, still staring out over the ocean. "I didn't know things would turn out like this. I had no idea there were other Gems out there"
Peridot got down to her knees next to Steven and placed her hand on his shoulder. "There's a lot you don't know about Gems, Steven" she said, sounding serious, though not too unkindly. Steven turned his head to her, but Peridot soon averted his eyes, as if trying to hide some kind of shame. "And most of it, isn't pleasant"
"Will she…come back?" Steven asked, more to himself than anyone. He couldn't really tell if he hoped or feared for it.
"With our luck, she probably will" Jasper growled bitterly, casually brushing away from sand from her shoulder, the scorch mark still visible on her chest from she had been hit. "And she'll bring trouble with her when she does. But we'll be ready"
Steven and the Crystal Gems gazed out over at the darkened horizon, unaware of the dangers that lay out waiting for them. Peridot glanced up to Jasper with a look of concern and worry, while Jasper herself appeared far more surly and grim than her usual self. Beside her, Lapis was still clutching her arm tightly, looking down at the sand as though all joy had been sucked from within her.
"Oh, and by the way" Jasper said, taking one last look down at Steven in front of her. "Your grounded" she said. Despite how trivial that seemed to be compared everything else, there was no doubt Jasper meant.
"Yeah, I figured" Steven said quietly, not even turning around to look at Jasper, his eyes still on the horizon. Somehow, he felt that grounding would be the least troubling thing that was set to occur for him.
Well that's finally done. Whew. Couple of points
1). Yes, I admit I cheated a little with Garnet by giving her extra powers, but I really loved the way the fight plays out, though I fear I may have made Garnet a little too OP in how she defeats the Crystal Gems. On the other hand, maybe they just weren't prepared for a surprise Fusion and were unsure of its capabilities?
2). Should say now, but no. Garnet won't be back, and she won't be trying to steal the world's ocean, because there's really no way for me to work in a way it would any make sense. So, for now, let's just say she's gone
3). Fun fact, but the main reason I decided to do this little arc of Garnet was in a response to what happened with Malachite. In this AU, I already established that Steven had never seen any Gem fusion except for Malachite and that ultimately turns out badly. So, I decided, rather than leave Steven with a sour taste of fusion due to one bad example, that I would let him meet the best example of Fusion. This ended up the being result.
4). If anyone is wondering about Ruby and Sapphire, basically what happened was before the Corruption hit, Ruby was separated from Sapphire who was taken back to Homeworld, while Ruby was left behind. But Ruby avoided the corruption herself because she was poofed before it happened and later bubbled. So, Sapphire was stuck on Homeworld the entire time, while trying to a find a way back to Earth. And how she finally does that is a spoiler.
I hoped you enjoy this chapter and the conclusion of this three-part story. I had a lot of fun with this one, and I'm happy at how it came together as a whole. I know last time I mentioned about making this story more serialized. For now, that's still up in the air, but the next chapter won't directly follow from the events of this one per se, but it will be referenced again going forward.
Anywho, please leave a review to let me know what you think or a favourite, and I'll see you next time. Peace out.