"I fail to understand the appeal of this cartoon, Steven" Peridot said, sitting next to Steven in front of his bed, looking unimpressed at the images of a sad blueberry and a triangle shaped croissant on the TV screen, both of which were weeping profusely over some spilled ice-cream.
"I mean, why would a group of anthropomorphic breakfast theme nutrient consumables be so emotional sensitive to everything? Totally unrelatable. And why did that one episode waste so much time on Blue Blueberry and Sniffling Croissant? Clearly those two are going to end up together, why drag it out? And what, by my stars, is with all the filler?!" Peridot exclaimed, throwing her hands up.
"Peridot, there's no filler in Crying Breakfast Friends." Steven said, sounding aghast by her statement. "The story evolves naturally out of the growth and needs of the character, like a beautiful flower that blossoms its pedals when it's ready. Everything is told exactly as it needs to be." Steven said, placing his hands over chest.
Suddenly, the TV screen began to blur, the images of Blue Blueberry and Sniffling Croissant turning to static.
"So far, this is the best part of the episode" Peridot commented, with a perfectly straight face.
"Aw, it was doing the same thing yesterday too." Steven moaned.
Peridot got up and walked over to the TV, titling it back and forth slightly, examining it with a professional glare in her eye. "Hmm, no visible outward damage. Perhaps it's an internal problem. Let's bring it back to my lab for dissection." she added with a mischievous glee.
Peridot let out a high-pitched yelp as the TV suddenly began to shake very violently, hopping up and down as it literally came springing to life.
"Its never done that before." Steven said, in surprise.
"The machine has gained sentience!" Peridot exclaimed, rushing in to hide behind Steven's shoulder. "Quick, destroy it before it attempts to enslave us!"
The TV then stopped moving. The static playing on the screen had begun to stabilize as a cleaner picture started to form, as well as a garbled sound which slowly became more comprehensible as the static cleared.
Once the static finally dissipated, Steven and Peridot could now make out the distinct and familiar image of Pearl on the TV screen. Floating next to her was one of the small black cubes they had encountered before.
"Hello? He-llo? It is on?" she said, tapping her finger at the screen in front of her, likely checking the camera or whatever Gem equivalent of a recording device she was using.
The little black cube titled itself forward, in a gesture that seemed to try and mimic a nod of one's head, beeping in response.
Pearl cleared her throat and resumed speaking. "This is Pearl, assigned to Black Onyx, transmitting on all frequencies from the abandoned crystal system colony, planet Earth, requesting immediate assistance from Yellow Diamond. We've been left stranded and require support. We've lost our Amethyst escort as well as the Sapphire and Ruby who accompanied us. Please send help at once."
The small cube floated next to Pearl, its red eye looking directly into the camera, as it out a series of quick, rhythmic beeping noises as though it was trying to add some details of its own to the message.
"Peril, stop that" Pearl said reproachfully, shooing the little cube away. "Ok, now we just need to put it on a loop. Let me just delete that last part. Oh, wait that's not it. Maybe if I…" Just as Pearl moved closer to the screen again, likely to edit the message further, the TV flickered back to the initial image of Pearl when she had first begun the message.
Jasper and Lapis had soon joined Peridot and Steven in the loft, the four of them huddled together in front of the TV set as it re-played Pearl's message over and over again in an endless loop.
"Connie and Abe say they are seeing the same thing on their TVs". Steven said, having just gotten off the phone with both of them.
"They're trying to send a message back to Homeworld." Lapis said, with a grim frown. "We have to stop them."
"We gotta find wherever they're broadcasting that signal from." Jasper said.
"But where could that be?" Steven asked.
"There's only one place on Earth that could generate a signal like this" Peridot said. She then turned to Lapis and Jasper with a disapproving scowl. "Which clearly means you two clods failed to do your job properly last time."
Somewhere out in the desert, a pink portal appeared in the middle of the air and a second later, Lion jumped forth from it, carrying Jasper, Lapis and Peridot all on his back, landing down on the cool sand.
Lion slumped down to the ground, clearly exhausted from the trip and the additional passengers he was carrying. A moment later, Steven's head out from Lion's mane, taking a deep inhale of oxygen as he had been holding his breath since entering the pocket dimension. Steven pulled himself out from Lion's mane and stepped out into the desert.
"Thanks buddy" Steven said, giving Lion a grateful pat on his head, allowing him the chance to rest before they had to make a return trip.
Steven then took in the surrounding area. This had been the first time Steven had returned to the Communication Hub since Jasper and Lapis destroyed it as Malachite, and it was clear that quite a lot had changed.
The area where the Hub had previously been, was now noticeably a few feet lower than the surrounding desert, forming in the shape of a small crater, which was no doubt a result of Malachite's final attack. Pieces of broken pillars that had made up the Hub were laying scattered around the crater. Steven could also see why the Warp Pad now inoperable; a huge piece from one of the pillars had smashed down right on top of it, shattering the polished surface.
Seeing the destruction Malachite had left behind in her wake, Steven suddenly felt quite grateful that Peridot had made the decision for them to evacuate at the last minute.
Sliding into the crater, Steven and the Crystral Gems gazed up at the sight of the former Communication Hub. The Hub had been rebuilt, though not to its original form. Several of the pillars, the ones that were still intact, had been stacked together in a series of tiers, forming a smaller tower, which resembled a kind of skyscraper Steven had once seen in a brochure for Empire City.
The newly rebuilt Hub was not the only thing of note. Surrounding it, was a massive, transparent, crimson coloured dome, that had most definitely not been there the last time. Streaks of red and white energy raced across the surface of the barrier as it seemed to shimmer through the air, though it remained in a stable shape around the Hub. A shaft of light was emitting upward from the Hub within, passing right through the dome and into the sky above, no doubt transmitting Pearl's message across the world.
"It looks like Onyx and Pearl really did rebuild the Communication Hub." Lapis said.
"Hmph, barely." Peridot scoffed, evidently unimpressed at their feat of construction. After a moment, she inclined her head slightly with a frown. "Though this design seems like it would be adequate enough to send a signal that could reach Homeworld."
"What's that big red thing around it though?" Steven asked.
Peridot approached the red barrier that stood between them and the Communication Hub with a curious expression, lightly tapping her index finger against it; there was brief thudding sound as tiny ripples emanated from the point of contact with Peridot's finger as though she was touching some of solid water. Peridot then pressed her palms into the dome, grunting loudly as she pushed forward, her feet sliding into the sand while the red barrier did not so much as budge.
"Hmm, it appears to be some kind of force field." she concluded, following up one with a small, if futile kick of her foot against the barrier for good measure. "Onyx and Pearl must have placed it here as a precautionary measure, in case we tried to disrupt their efforts."
Steven walked up to the barrier, arching his head upward to try and see the top. Deciding to test out a theory, he started to dig his fingers into the sand at the edge of the dome where it made contact with the ground. After digging away several inches of the sand, Steven found more of the same red energy curving downward below the surface of the ground.
"Hey, it goes all the way down under the ground too." he said, knowing that this would rule out the possibility of tunnelling their way through.
"We'll have to get through this barrier first before we can destroy the Communication Hub." Peridot said, pacing back and forth along the edge of the dome, scanning her eyes over as if looking for any kind of weak spot. "The question is how?"
Steven pressed his face closer to the dome, trying to get a clearer picture of what was on the inside. He could make out the shape of four black disk hovering near the top of the dome, surrounding around the Hub. Steven got the impression that those disks must be what was creating the dome. And since they were on the inside of it, that just added further to the conundrum.
Steven pulled his face off the dome and stepped back. He glanced around to the Crystal Gems, expecting them to have idea of what to do next.
Lapis was staring up at the massive dome with some reservation. She then glanced at Jasper, who was glaring hard at the dome as well, no doubt eager to see it shattered.
Lapis then closed her eyes and let out a defeated sigh. "Okay, go ahead and say it." she said, crossing her arms. "I know you want to."
"Say what?" Jasper said, turning to Lapis with a confused expression.
"Say you want us to become Malachite again." Lapis said flatly, without looking Jasper in the eye. "That we need to be huge and strong just like last time and the Earth is in danger and there's no other way. That it will totally work this time."
Lapis spread her arms out wide expectedly, as though inviting Jasper to strike her first. "Come on, let's have it out already." she said with a deadpanned expression,
Jasper said nothing. She simply stared at Lapis for a long moment, her expression neutral, before casting her gaze down to the ground.
"No" she muttered.
Lapis blinked in surprise, then threw Jasper a look of deep scepticism. Behind her, both Steven and Peridot likewise exchange a surprised look with one another.
"You really don't want to fuse?" Lapis said, sounding unconvinced.
"No, we don't need to fuse." Jasper replied, pushing past Lapis. "I can handle this myself."
With a determined expression, Jasper formed her crash helmet around her head and lowered her body to the ground. In a split second, she launched herself off the ground with the force of cannon ball, a wave of sand kicking up behind her as she collided headfirst against the crimson dome. The dome let out a loud echoing chime, sounding like a gigantic bell that had been rung. The surface of the dome rippled for a moment from the force of Jasper's attack, but other than that, it appeared undamaged.
Jasper bounced off from the dome and landed back where she had started. She launched herself again, this time going straight upward, landing at the top of the dome, bring her crash helmet down upon it with a powerful slam. The dome chime and rippled once again, but still, it did not break.
Jasper let loose furious barrage of punches, her fists smashing against the crimson dome, which rippled and chimed loudly with each hit, sounding almost like a kind of electronic beatbox. However, in spite of Jasper's relentless attacks, the dome remained just as impenetrable as ever.
Growling in frustration at her lack of progress, Jasper jumped down from the dome. Taking up position, she charged forward and rolled into her spin attack, the sand kicking up behind her as she slammed the surface of the dome. Jasper continued to spin hard, maintaining the pressure on the barrier as it withstood her attack. Then, after a few moments, the shape of the dome began to retract inward, Jasper finally starting to push forward toward the Hub.
Steven, Lapis and Peridot all watched with anticipation, expecting the dome to pop like a balloon any second now as Jasper was now nearly halfway from reaching the Hub.
However, there was a loud whirling noise that came from within the dome. The four hovering disks began to spin very fast and then a flash of red crimson light shot across the surface of the dome, concentrating on the point where Jasper was pushing. A burst of red coloured electricity surrounded Jasper, and the next second, she was blasted off the dome, crashing back down onto the sand. The dome then snapped to its original shape, looking no worse the wear.
Despite the fact she was partly sizzling, Jasper pushed herself up with only a disgruntled groan, wiping away some of the sand from her shoulders, while glaring vengefully back at the dome.
For a moment, Steven thought for sure that Jasper was about to take another run at the dome, until Lapis put her hands on her hips and sighed with heavy resignation. She walked over to Jasper.
"Come on, let's just get this over with." she said tiredly, offering her hand to Jasper, while still refusing to look her in the eye.
Jasper stared at Lapis outstretched hand and for a moment. Instead of accepting it, Jasper swatted her hand away. "No. I said I don't want to fuse with you."
Lapis pulled her arm back in surprise. This time she knew for certain that Jasper was being serious about her refusal to form Malachite. This revelation however only seemed to damper Lapis spirits rather than heightened them.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to fuse with me either." she muttered.
"That's not what I meant, I just…" Jasper hissed in frustration before getting back to her feet, turning to face Lapis properly. She sighed heavily, rubbing the back of her head, looking uncharacteristically abashed.
"Look, I know I'm hardheaded and I know how fierce can be when you want to, but together, we just don't work. Malachite isn't good for either of us. I can't put you through that anymore." Jasper said, solemnly.
Steven watched in silence as Jasper and Lapis simply stared at once other for several moments, their faces partly obscured by the crimson light that was being cast by the dome.
"So, what do we do now?" Lapis asked finally.
"Maybe, we could try Prasolite instead?" Steven suggested, wanting to contribute.
"That didn't go so well last time" Peridot pointed out. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, we can't fuse together. And they can't fuse either. "
Peridot made a series of humming noises in her throat as she paced back and forth, as though dithering on the verge of some great discovery. She finally stopped in her pacing, her face breaking into a wide smile.
"Aha! I think I may have solution to our dilemma."
At the sound of Peridot's unbridled enthusiasm, Jasper let out a weary sigh and slowly ran her hand down her face, looking extremely reluctant to even ask the question.
"What?"
Peridot hesitated for a brief moment, before she cleared her throat and then spoke with confidence.
"What if… Lapis fused with me?"
Everyone turned to Peridot, looking certain either they had either misheard her or that she gone completely crazy.
"With…you?" Lapis said quietly, her eyes widening in shock.
"Well, yes. " Peridot said, cheerfully. "If I can initiate fusion with Steven, then it's certainly possible we can do fusion as well. We have nothing to lose by simply trying do we?"
"Peridot I….I don't know." Lapis said, looking very hesitant and uncertain, a sharp contrast to resigned apathy she expressed before when suggesting to simply fuse with Jasper. "I mean, I…I'm not sure what we'd would be like. What if we turn into something worse than Malachite?"
Peridot pondered this for a moment, before she simply shrugged. "What could be worse than Malachite?" she asked.
To this, Lapis had no answer.
Peridot then seemed to take a greater notice Lapis concern and slowly considered her next words more carefully.
"I know you're scared." she said gently. "I know this is a hard thing to ask of you. But the truth is, I do really think this is something we're both capable of doing if we put our minds to it and work together. I think we can do this. I think you can do this. It's worth a shot, right?"
"I'd love to see what fusion would between you two!" Steven said in earnest. "I bet everybody would!"
Lapis turned to Jasper, looking as though she was expecting her to voice an objection of her own any moment. But instead, Jasper simply crossed her arms, her expression neutral.
"Try it." she said gruffly. "Both of you. We need to have at least one fusion we can count on. And out of the four of us, you two might just be our best combination."
"You know, you could try and fuse with Jasper instead?" Steven said to Peridot.
Peridot stared blankly at Steven and then threw her head back with a shrill laugh, before she almost instantly shifted to a firm and serious face as she answered. "No"
Lapis, who was still looking very unsure, glanced between Steven, Peridot and Jasper, who all looked to be in agreement with this course of action. In desperation, Lapis turned to only other party present with them, Lion, who was resting his head down in the sand, making no gesture that would imply either support or disapproval, which at best could only count as an abstention on his part.
Seeing that there was no one left to debate the issue other than herself at this point, Lapis closed her eyes, and took a deep, slow breath, steadying herself before she answered.
"Okay, let's try it."
Peridot smile widened as she bounced up in the air.
"Alright!" Steven cheered, running up to sit next to Lion, wanting to have the best front row seat possible. "Fusion, fusion, fusion, fusion!"
Jasper joined Steven, standing next to him with her arms folded, not displaying anywhere near the same level of excitement as he was, simply observing everything with a stoic expression.
Lapis and Peridot took up positions opposite one another. Lapis took a few more quick breaths, shaking her arms out as though trying to dispel her nerves. Now looking somewhat more relaxed and focused, Lapis clasped her palms together, maintaining her composure. She opened one of her eyes to look at Peridot.
Peridot's own preparation consisted of her squatting her legs up and down several times with a concentrated look on her face. She then began to do a series of long and rather extravagate stretches with her arms, while arching her back forwards and backwards, as though she was performing some kind of elaborate form of yoga. Eventually, after several long minutes, Peridot had finished her stretches, finally looking ready to begin.
"Okay, all set!" Peridot said, giving Lapis a thumbs up.
Seeing that the time had finally come and no way of turning back, Lapis took one more breath to steady herself before she raised her arms up over her head, standing on the tips of her toes as she begam to perform a series of graceful, sweeping movements across the sand.
Peridot started to move as well, but whether or not what she was doing could be constituted as dancing was highly debatable. She was making series of strange and awkward jerking movements with her arms, while her feet were sliding across the ground; Steven thought she may have resembled a performance mime more than anything else. Peridot then started to bob her head from side to side, her palms raised up as she shuffled her feet forward.
Lapis blinked several times as she simply stared at Peridot with a wide-eyed expression, obviously unsure of how she should respond to what she was doing, before opting to simply continue with her own dance.
Gradually, Lapis and Peridot began to inch closer to one another as they continued their respective dances. Once they were close enough, Lapis performed another twirl, her arm outstretched expectingly, trying to catch Peridot's hand as she passed by. But instead, Peridot completely missed her hand as she went underneath her arm, evidently too caught up in her current momentum to pay attention.
This only seemed to be making Lapis more and more disconcerted as she kept trying to adapt her movements in order to sync them with Peridot's, only to find there were virtually unpredictable. Peridot herself seemed to be making no effort to work in coordination with Lapis, becoming lost in flurry of her own erratic movements.
Steven winced slightly as he watched Peridot now grabbing her left leg and beginning to hop back and forth; a dance move he recognised from an episode of Camp Pining Hearts he had watched with Peridot. Beside him, Jasper groaned heavily, covering her hand over her eyes in frustration.
Lapis froze up completely, too tense to move any further as she watched Peridot literally flop down to the ground and started to kick her feet in the sand, rotating her whole body around in circle. Or at least part of a circle. Nevertheless, Peridot ended her routine with a confident and undaunted pose, pointing two finger guns at Lapis.
Lapis simply stared back at Peridot in an expression of stunned disbelief, before she let out a slow snicker, which soon transitioned into a chortle of hearty laughter as she threw her head back. Once she finished laughing, Lapis smiled, almost like a sign to convey an acceptance of defeat, apparently giving up on any hope of trying to take this seriously. She then closed her eyes and simply began to shake her arms and shoulders back and forth, clapping her hands together, giving no further thought to her own sense of style any longer, dancing happily alongside Peridot who was kicking her feet in a merrily little jig.
Steven couldn't help but feel very happy to see Lapis now so at peace as she danced with Peridot, in contrast to nervousness she had displayed earlier. Seeing them have such fun together, Steven found he didn't care much if they actually would fuse or not. Steven turned to look at Jasper who was scowling slightly at what Lapis and Peridot were doing, though for the moment she remained silent.
After another few minutes of improvised dancing, Peridot suddenly tripped over a misplaced stone on the ground, causing her to wobble and tumble backwards on her heels, only for Lapis to catch her by her shoulders.
Peridot looked up to Lapis with a frightened expression as she held her aloft, while Lapis simply grinned amusedly back at Peridot. Peridot soon returned the smiled and broke into a fit of giggles, which caused Lapis to follow suite, the two of them laughing together as only a pair of best friends could.
Their combined laughter started to echo throughout the desert and in those moments, they were both engulfed in a flash of bright light.
Steven, Jasper and Lion watched with a mixture of anticipation, disbelief and wonder as the light began to contort and take shape, with only Peridot and Lapis gemstones still, knowing full well what this meant.
The light expanded outward, stretching at two opposite angles; for a moment it appeared almost like a kind of bird rising up from the desert sand, before the light faded away and the fusion was complete.
Standing in the place of where Lapis and Peridot had been, was tall, teal coloured Fusion. Though they were at least a several feet taller than Jasper, their overall figure was somewhat petite in nature, their limbs and body not appearing to be overly elongated or slim. They had two sets of arms, one at their shoulders and two shorter arms protruding from their waistline. They also had, somewhat to Steven's disappointment, a normal set of legs, as opposed the extra set of arms Malachite had in place of legs.
The Fusion's clothing was a mixture of Peridot and Lapis, with some clear distinctions and minor additions. One obvious change was a white scarf wrapped around their neck, with a star symbol embroiled in the fabric. Another change was a round, blue visor over their two sets of eyes, which at first glance appeared almost like giant spectacles without frames. Their hair was taken mainly from Lapis, though it was curled in a shape similar to Peridot signature triangle.
After several moments, the Fusion opened their eyes, blinking several times, taking in the world around them for the first time.
"Giant woman!" Steven cheered excitedly.
"Hey everyone" she said softly. "I'm…." She paused, with a brief look of uncertainly as she seemed to need a few moments to truly take in and comprehend her own existence, before she smiled warmly, her expression turning one of confidence and strength.
"I'm Turquoise".
"Wow, you look amazing!" Steven said, running up to Turquoise.
Taking notice of Steven as he approached her, Turquoise kneeled down to Steven at eye level, offering her giant hand to him. Steven eagerly grasped her fingers with both his hands.
"So glad to finally meet you, Steven Universe." she said, lifting Steven off his feet as she shook her hand up and down. "Frankly, I'm glad to have been met at all." She leaned in closer, holding one hand to the side of her mouth, dropping her voice to a whisper. "I don't get out much."
"Fusion joke." Steven laughed, looking back at Jasper and Lion, neither of whom seemed to find eager to laugh.
Steven then dropped his smile, recalling the first time he had seen Malachite and how quickly he had let himself be impressed by her.
"So, um, how do you feel?" Steven asked Turquoise, with a touch of caution.
"Good." Turquoise replied nonchalantly. "You?"
"Hmm, yeah not too bad" Steven replied, the casual exchanged helping to distil any fear he might have had about this new Fusion Gem.
Turquoise stretched her arms behind her head, satisfied smile across her face. "What a glorious night!" she exclaimed. She turned her gaze upward, toward the stars above, looking at them with a deep sense of admiration.
"You can see so many stars are out here tonight. I just want to get up there and dance a waltz with them. Maybe swing around the moon while I'm at it."
"Can I come?" Steven asked, eagerly, happily ignore all the implications of that last statement.
"Sure, little man." Turquoise picked Steven up and placed him on her shoulder, striking a pose like some kind of inspiring explorer. "Adventure is hiding out there somewhere, waiting for you. Just gotta hunt it down and mount it on your wall."
It was then Jasper cleared her throat in a loud and unamused manner, forcing everyone to look at her again.
"We got work to do remember?" she said.
"On it, Boss Gem". Turquoise saluted Jasper with one of her upper arms, while also giving casual thumbs-up with her lower arm. She set Steven back down to the ground beside Jasper.
"We need to take down the Communication Hub." Jasper said. "First thing we have to do is destroy that barrier. Think you can handle it?"
Turquoise stared up at the dome with an intrigued look. She then closed her eyes and shrugged indifferently. "Don't know" she said casually.
Jasper glared angrily at Turquoise, obviously not satisfied by her answer. Turquoise then smiled and strutted past Jasper.
From her exposed back, which showed off Lapis gemstone, a slivery liquid substance began to emerge. The gemstone on her forward began to glow as the slivery liquid floated upwards, forming a ring above her head.
"So, let's find out" she said, with unrestrained vigour.
Turquoise thrust her hands forward; a dozen blobs of the sliver liquid shot out from the ring, flying toward the dome. As they picked up speed, the blobs stretched out and formed into the shape of daggers. The daggers struck against the barrier with a sharp clang as they broke against its surface, shattering into pieces of shrapnel.
Steven yelped and quickly hopped to the side to dodge some of the incoming pieces of rebounded shrapnel. He flinched as one last piece of came flying toward his face, only to be caught at the last moment by Jasper. For a good measure, Steven decided it would be a good idea to huddle in behind Jasper until Turquoise had finished her assault. Jasper fiddled with the piece of sliver in her hand with a quizzical look. She now began to observe Turquoise with a renewed interest, clearly intrigued to see what else she could do.
"Hmm, takes a pretty good hit." Turquoise noted, sounding impressed, but undeterred as the barrier remained undamaged. "Well, we'll just have to hit even harder."
Turquoise snapped her fingers. The ring of sliver liquid shifted around to Turquoise's back. The liquid then re-shaped itself, forming a dual set of wings made of solid metal which hovered behind Turquoise, the underside of each wing lined with blades in place of feathers.
Turquoise then leapt backwards, the tips of her wings cutting two straight lines across the surface of sand on either side of her, forming a makeshift runway laid out between her and the Hub. Turquoise crouched low to the ground, planting her hands flat on the sand and stretching out one leg behind her as she took up a runner's pose, a devilish grin plastered on her face.
In the blink of an eye, she took off, shooting right past Steven and Jasper at blinding speed, with enough force that Steven was literally knocked off his feet, his legs sticking up in the air as he landed back on the sand, while Jasper had to cover her face with her arm, her hair snapping from the whiplash of the wind. Along with the wind came a loud booming noise, like a crack of thunder.
Jasper lowered her arm, just as Steven managed to push himself up again. Beside them a huge mound of accumulated sand broke apart away as Lion shook himself clean, rubbing his paws against his nose. Steven and Jasper turned to the direction of the dome, expecting to see Turquoise, but instead there was nothing but a faint trail of smoke leading right up to the dome which then arching upwards at a right angle.
Steven and Jasper shared a surprised look with one another, before they turned their heads upward in unison.
At first, they could see nothing, but soon they spotted a bright glimmer of light shooting across the night sky, followed by an unbridled cheer of joy.
Rather than going straight for the dome, Turquoise was now flying circles across the sky, her sliver wings glistening beautifully as she performed a number of acrobatic manoeuvres for seemingly no other reason that she could, clearly enjoying the freedom of movement far too much to stop.
"Woo-hoo!" she cheered, performing a barrel roll as she raced across the night sky, fearless and unrestrained. The clouds around her seemed to be drawn to her movements, puffs with vapour trailing behind her like a skywriter's plane.
Steven followed every one of Turquoise's movements, unable to take his eyes off her, his astonishment growing with each passing second.
Finally, Turquoise then came to a sudden halt in the sky, her figure silhouetted by the light of the moon, floating several miles upwards, the dome directly below her.
Steven couldn't see her face, but he had a feeling she looked very, very excited for what was about to happen next.
With another twirl, Turquoise dived straight downwards, aiming lining perfectly with the top of the dome. She spun around, her metal wings bending and wrapping around her body, forming the shape of a gigantic spear. The spear then continued to spin at high velocity, wiping up a small vortex of wind from its tip as it descended toward the dome.
The tip of the metal spear struck against the very top of the dome. Next, there came a flash of light so bright that Steven had to cover his eyes, unable to see what was happening, yet he could feel a powerful shockwave passing through the air, which was strong to send him flying off his feet until he felt Jasper's strong arms wrapping around him for protection, as she turned her back to the shockwave to shield him.
Once the light had cleared, Jasper unfurled her arms from around Steven and they both looked up at the Hub to see that the dome surrounding it was now gone. The four black disks that been powering the dome were now lying in the sand, each one impaled by a sliver spear.
A second later, Turquoise slowly floated down from above and hovered in front of a stunned looking Steven and Jasper. She let out another sly smirk and winked at them, before disappearing with another flap of her wings.
Steven and Jasper stared at the empty space where Turquoise had been. Suddenly there was a loud thud. Steven turned his head to see one of the pillars from the Hub. now sticking out in the sand. There was another thud, and this time Steven managed to catch a glimpse of second pillar as it came popping out from the Hub.
Steven now focused his eyes on the Hub, watching as a teal-coloured blur was streaking back and forth through the air in front of it, with another pillar being ejected from each time it appeared.
Suddenly, the streaks stopped appearing. Steven almost didn't notice he was holding his breath in anticipation. After a few more moments of suspense, there was loud popping sound that came from the top of the Hub and the pillar which was situated at the highest point of the structure came shooting out, having been struck by something from underneath. As final pillar was dislodged, the light from the Hub had dissipated, indicating that the signal had been terminated as result.
The pillar flipped through the air and landed, perfect up right in front Steven and Jasper. Moments later, Turquoise re-appeared in the air again, slowly hovering downward, her feet resting at the top of the discarded pillar. She stood there, looking nothing but confident, proud and unreachable, appearing taller than perhaps the whole world itself as she looked down upon Steven and Jasper below her.
Steven felt his jaw dropped at the sight of her. Never before in his life had he seen such an amazing display of power, speed and confidence. Even Jasper seemed impressed, staring wide eyed at Turquoise, looking almost mystified.
"Ta-da!" she said softly. "See? That wasn't so hard." Turquoise gave a slight frown and shrugged. "Well, I guess it wasn't hard for me. But then again, that's the benefit of being… me. Till next time"
Turquoise gave one final salute to Steven and Jasper, before she hopped off the pillar, her body reverting back into light as she descended, splitting up into the distinct shapes of Peridot and Lapis who landed back on the ground.
For a moment, Lapis and Peridot simply stared at one another in disbelief, before their faces broke into equally massive grins as they each let out a cry of joy.
"You guys were amazing!" Steven said, running up to both of them.
"We were incredible." Lapis said excitedly, clapping her hands to her cheeks. "I never thought we could be so secure. So…in control like that."
"That was glorious" Peridot shouted, stamping her feet with maniacal glee, her hands shaking in the air. "Praise us! Praise us!"
Without warning, Lapis suddenly picked up Peridot in her arms and twirled her around in the air, hugging her tightly.
"You were right." she said softly, resting her head on Peridot's shoulder. "You said we could do it and we did."
Standing behind Lapis, Steven could see a huge blush appearing across Peridot's astonished face. Lapis set Peridot down and released her.
Peridot then very quickly cleared her throat, trying her absolute best to re-gain her composure. "Well, yes. I obviously knew I would be right." she said, sounding as professional as she could.
"I can't wait to see you guys fuse again." Steven said, already feeling himself dying with the anticipation. "Turquoise was so awesome!"
"Uh, let's not get ahead of ourselves. " Lapis said quickly, raising her hands up in hesitation. "This was just a special occasion. We don't have to use Turquoise all the time."
"….oh, well, yes." Peridot said after a moment's pause, doing her absolute best to hide any sense of disappointment. She made several quick glances toward Lapis. "I mean, if, you're sure. I'd be up for fusion anytime. So long as so you…feel like it, of course"
Steven couldn't help but feel a small twinge of disappointment at this news, though he certainly could understand and respected Lapis feelings on the subject.
It was then Steven noticed that Jasper was still standing away from them, having not moved an inch since Lapis and Peridot ended their fusion. Steven always had troubling deciphering whether or not Jasper was pleased or angry under her perpetual frown.
"Job's done." she said gruffly, turning her back to the others as she walked over to Lion. "Let's go home."
The next day, Steven was watching another episode of Crying Breakfast Friends in his bedroom, this time with Lapis who sat behind him, as he rested his back against her lap. In this episode, Scary Sandwich, an antagonist of the show was now asking for forgiveness from Blue Blueberry and the rest of the cast after apparently amending their ways.
"I'm so sorry!" Scary Sandwich cried. "Please, let me be your friend!"
"Oh, poor Scary Sandwich. I'd forgive him." Steven said with a heartwarming smile. "Wouldn't you?" he asked, looking up to Lapis.
"No" Lapis said, frank and simple.
The Temple door chimed and opened as Jasper came marching out of it. She walked over toward the fridge in the kitchen and pulled out a full carton of fresh eggs.
"Hey Jasper, want to watch Crying Breakfast Friends with us now?" Steven asked from up in the loft. Jasper had previously rejected an earlier offer from Steven to join him and Lapis before she had entered the Temple.
"I don't want to watch food that can cry." Jasper said, while casually plopping a raw egg into her mouth and swallowing it whole.
"Aw, but it's a really good episode" Steven said, encouragingly.
"Not really" Lapis said, deadpanned.
Whatever the quality of the episode was, it soon no longer mattered, as TV screen blurred and turned to a familiar image of static.
"It's the signal again!" Steven gasped in shock.
"Looks like the Hub has been rebuilt" Lapis said with angry frown.
As though on cue, the front door opened, and Peridot walked into the house.
"Come on, Peridot." Lapis said as soon as she saw her. "Looks like we need Turquoise again."
"Really?" Peridot said with an excited face, though she quickly tried to hide it a moment later. "I mean, if, you're sure."
"Yeah, this won't be a big deal. We've done this once already" Lapis said, flying down next to Peridot. "Let's get going!"
"Alright!" Peridot cheered, ready for action. She pointed her finger up toward the loft. "Steven, get Lion ready. Jasper, put down those eggs, we've got work to do."
Jasper glared back at Peridot, clearly in no mood to part with her meal. She held the open carton above her face and dropped the remaining eggs into her mouth all at once.
Using Lion's portal, the Crystal Gems arrived once again to the desert and found that the Communication Hub had indeed been rebuilt, although this time there was no barrier around it.
"Okay, just like last time?" Lapis said, walking up to the Hub with confidence.
"You got it Lazuli!" Peridot replied, giving her a thumbs-up.
Smiling together, Lapis and Peridot interlocked their elbows, performing a jolly impromptu jig and a few seconds later, Turquoise materialized once more.
"Back again, huh?" Turquoise said smoothly, while examining her nails on one hand. "Well figures, you can't enough of me. I am after all…me"
Turquoise summoned her metal wings and with a quick snap, she took off into the sky once again. She started to loop and dive through the exposed sections of the Hub, clearly wanting to have as much fun as she could as she knocked out the pillars one by one in between her tricks.
"Whoa, they're so amazing together." Steven gushed, watching in wonder at Turquoise's display, as he couldn't help but feel immensely happy that he had another chance to see them in action.
"Yeah." Jasper said gruffy. "They really do bring out the best in each other. "
Steven took his eyes off Turquoise and turned to Jasper, who was staring up the Hub with solemn frown, which Steven noted looked different compared to her usual angry frown. For a few moments, Steven simply stared up at Jasper, no longer paying attention to Turquoise as she knocked out another pillar.
"Jasper, what was it like?" Steven asked. "When you and Lapis fused?
Jasper glanced at Steven in surprise and then let out a somewhat bittersweet sounding chuckle. "I used to think I was a brute." she said. "But Lapis? Lapis can be a real monster when she needs to be. And I'm the one who let it out of her. She is just so…strong. Whenever we fused, I could feel that strength as part myself. It felt incredible. But when I'm throw into the mix, that strength becomes unstable. Uncontrollable."
Steven could vividly recall how powerful Malachite had been and how enamoured he had felt by her the sheer power she exuded. In a way, she was as equally awe-inspiring as she was undeniably dangerous, like a kind of natural disaster that destroyed everything in its path, friend or foe.
"Never thought that she'd be the one to bring this kind power out of Lapis." Jasper muttered in disbelief, watching as Turquoise did another joyous and free-spirited loop. "Being with Peridot makes her feel so….fearless. It's like they're in total control of what they want but are completely unbounded by anything. Now that is strength."
Steven could sense the admiration in Jasper's words, and it was clear to him just how impressed she was with Turquoise. But based on the way she was looking at Turquoise, Steven soon realized it wasn't just admiration she felt. It was longing.
"You know, I still think Malachite is pretty cool." Steven said with an optimistic smile. "Even if she did break the Warp Pad. And attack Peridot. And threw a boat at me…" Steven trailed off, hoping that some kind of point would come to him eventually. "But remember when you guys fused to fight Onyx? That worked out pretty well."
At the mention of this last example however, Jasper's frown returned, and she now appeared rueful once more, turning her head away from Steven.
"I promised her we wouldn't have to go through that again." she said solemnly. "Malachite was always a mistake. And now the best I can do to make up for it is to make sure those two are ready without me."
Steven wasn't entirely what Jasper meant by that last statement. The light from the Hub disappeared as Turquoise knocked out the final key pillar.
"And done" she said, floating back down to the ground again. "That was even easier than last time. Well, then again, when nothing is a challenge for you, it's hard to tell the difference on what's easier. Oh hey, that is something that is hard for me!"
On final note, Turquoise's body converted into light and then split back into Peridot and Lapis. Steven didn't think it was possible, but the two of them seemed even more pleased with themselves, eagerly discussing their performance this time.
As Peridot and Lapis conversed, Steven looked up to Jasper, who was simply observing them stoically, making no move to take part in the conversation. Remembering what she had said earlier, Steven began to wonder if Jasper may really be feeling a left out over the fact she could not perform a successful fusion with Lapis. He considered what could be done about that, when he suddenly got an idea.
"Hey, uh, Jasper?" Steven asked. "I was just thinking, but Onyx and Pearl came here twice already to rebuild the Hub. So, odds are they'd come back again. So, if we just wait here until they show up again, then, bam, that's when we'll get them.
Steven smiled up at Jasper as he slammed his fist into his hand, while she regarded him rather coolly. Steven then adopted more sly expression and inched closer to Jasper.
"And you know, if you did catch them all by yourself, I bet Lapis would be pretty impressed." Steven added with a not-so-subtle wink, nudging Jasper's leg with his elbow.
Jasper let out a slight smirk as she looked down at Steven. She kneeled down next to Steven, putting her arm around his shoulders as she began to speak in a lower voice.
"Look, I know you want to help, but Lapis seems really happy right now." Jasper indicated toward Lapis, who was currently chatting energetically with Peridot. "She's never been this excited about fusion. Not since Rose was here. We shouldn't spoil that. Let's just let them have their fun for as long as we can."
Steven couldn't really argue with Jasper's logic, yet strangely he still felt a rather uneasy knot form in his stomach from the somewhat dismissive way she spoke. He wasn't certain of what the cause was, he elected to simply agree with Jasper in silence.
Back in his bedroom, Steven was once again in middle of another episode of Crying Breakfast Friends, this time with Peridot, who was, as per usual, taking no prisoners as she was harshly critiquing the story structure.
"Did they seriously have to do a redemption arc for Scary Sandwich?" she said with a roll of her eyes. "I mean, come on. Let villains just be villains."
Steven did not offer any rebuttal to Peridot, as he was too busy staring pensively at the TV screen, lost in a sea of thoughts that had nothing to do with the Crying Breakfast Friends.
"Is something wrong Steven?" Peridot asked, picking up that something was amiss. "Normally, you should be disagreeing me when I explain why your favourite show is horrible?"
"Just got stuff on mind." Steven said. He then decided to ask the question that was on his mind. "Peridot, do have fun when you get to be Turquoise?"
Peridot pursed her lips and turned her head away slightly. "Weeeell, I mean, if I am being honest…" she murmured, somewhat modestly, starching the back of her head.
Steven leaned closer, feeling his anticipation build. As soon as Peridot made eye contact with him, her face broke into a wide smile, as though she couldn't contain herself any longer.
"YES!" she cheered in an explosion of energy, literally jumping in the air. "It is so much fun!"
Peridot now began to pace back and forth in front of Steven, prattling on about her feelings regarding Turquoise, as though she was looking for any opportunity to express them.
"I always thought fusion could only make sense when it was for a functional purpose, simply a way of combining strengths to achieve a mutual goal. But when Lapis and I become Turquoise, I can feel her joy, her fears, her… strength. I had no idea she had so much fortitude deep down inside. It's almost overwhelming but at the same time it feels so liberating. It feels like when we together, we could accomplish anything. I can't wait until we can fuse again!"
There no sooner than Peridot said, there was a familiar rumbling noise emanating from the TV and for third time in a row, the adventures of the Crying Breakfast Friends was interrupted by a wall of static.
"Oh no, the Hub is back again." Steven said with disappointment.
"It…is?" Peridot said, blinking in surprise at the TV.
The front door opened below them, as Jasper entered into the house.
"Hey, Jasper, the Hub is back up again." Steven said, already a sensing a monotonous drawl developing in his voice as he said this.
"Again?" Lapis said, who just came walking out of the Temple. "How many times are gonna keep trying this?"
"You didn't think Homeworld would give up that easy, did you?" Jasper said bluntly.
"Doesn't matter." Lapis replied firmly, standing up right with a confident smile. "We can dismantle the Hub as many times as we need to. Right, Peridot?"
"Y-yes, of course" Peridot said, finally taking her eyes off the TV.
The Crystal Gems arrived once more at the rebuilt Hub. Steven sat down next to Lion, with a somewhat dull expression, finding himself no longer as enthusiastic about seeing Turquoise as before.
Jasper remained standing with her arms crossed, in what was likely the exact same spot she had been in before, watching both Peridot and Lapis carefully as they prepared themselves. Steven noticed Peridot pausing for a moment, as she cast a brief glance toward Jasper but then he decided it must not have been anything significant as Peridot quickly turned her attention back to Lapis who looked eager to begin.
Steven rested his head on his hand with a melancholy sigh, watching as Turquoise re-appeared and within a matter of seconds, she dismantled the Hub yet again with all her usual flair and daring.
Steven was sitting alone in his loft, preparing to watch another episode of Crying Breakfast Friends, already bracing himself for when it was inevitably going to be cut short by the rebuilt Hub. Suddenly he heard a loud yell coming from outside. Curious, Steven walked out of the house and stepped onto the balcony. Below him, he could see Peridot as she appeared to be arguing with Lion.
"Just take me there you four-legged carnivore!" Peridot snapped angrily. Lion merely yawned and lay down on the sound, clearly in no mood to follow Peridot's order as she scowled at him.
Wondering as to what this was about, Steven descended down the stairs to the beach and walked up behind Peridot. "What's wrong Peridot?"
Peridot nearly jumped in surprise at the sound of Steven's voice as she wheeled around to face him.
"Steven, I..I.." Peridot stammered for a moment, before regaining her composure. "I need to go back to the Hub, but Lion won't take me there!"
"Well, if you wanted to go, you could have just asked." Steven said with a smile. He quickly mounted onto Lion, who allowed Steven on without any resistance. After a small nudge, Lion awoke from his nap and rose up to full height, ready to go. Steven then offered his hand to Peridot. "Come on, let's go."
Peridot grimaced slightly, but reluctantly accepted Steven's hand and allowed herself to be pulled up onto Lion's back. On Steven's command, Lion opened his mouth and summoned another pink portal for them to leap through.
The portal took the three of them back to the desert, where the Communication Hub was still dismantled just as they left it.
Peridot quickly dismounted from Lion and walked toward the Hub. "Thank you for the assistance, Steven. I can manage the rest myself from here."
"Why exactly did you want to come back here?" Steven asked.
"I simply wanted to be sure the Hub has been thoroughly dismantled this time." Peridot said, impassively. "I don't require any further help. You can go back to the Temple."
"How will you get back?" Steven asked, concerned.
"I'll…take a bus." Peridot said, somehow managing to equally confident and uncertain at the same time.
"I don't think there's a bus strop around here." Steven said slowly, glancing around the desert. Another then thought crossed his mind. He then glared at Peridot a suspicious glint in his eye. "Wait a second, I know what you're really doing here."
"You do?" Peridot said, with a more fearful look.
Steven hopped off Lion and marched up to Peridot with a stern look. His face then broke into a wide, enthusiastic smile.
"You want to see if Onyx and Pearl will show up here again!" he exclaimed happily. "I had the same idea too! Great minds do think alike."
"Uh…yes. " Peridot said, slowly. "That is a good plan which I definitely thought of as well." Peridot cleared her throat loudly, while avoiding making eye contact with Steven. "In that case Steven, why don't I remain here and scout area for any signs of trouble. You and Lion can go back to Temple and then come to relieve of me of duty in an hour or so." Peridot placed her hands on Steven's shoulder and began to guide him back to over to Lion.
Steven was about to voice his insistence that he should remain with Peridot in case something went wrong, when he suddenly heard a strange buzzing noise coming from somewhere. Glancing around the desert landscape, he spotted something coming up on the horizon, moving closer toward them.
"Hey, what's that?" Steven said, squinting his eyes, trying to get a better look at the mysterious object. "I think someone's coming."
"Quick, quick hide!" Now in a sudden, panic Peridot quickly ushered Steven and Lion over to a formation of rocks which were far enough away from the Hub to be unnoticed and large enough to conceal their presence.
From behind the rock, Steven could hear the buzzing noise growing louder and then suddenly stopped. Steven noticed a small hole in the rock above his head. Climbing up on Lion's head, he peeked out through the hole to try and get a look at what was out there but couldn't make a lot of details from this distance. All he could see was a mysterious black object that had now appeared in front of the dismantled Hub.
Wanting to get a better idea of what was out there, Steven reached into Lion's mane and pulled out his telescope from within the pocket dimension, feeling pleased with himself for remembering to have stored it in there earlier just in case. He inserted the telescope into the hole in the rock, which miraculously was the perfect size for it.
Peering into the telescope, Steven could now see what the mysterious object actually was. It was a black, rectangular slab, hovering in the air. Steven recognised it at once.
"Hey that's Amethyst's escape pod." Steven said in surprise. "But how'd it get here? I thought we had it? Did she….ur, I mean, did Onyx and Pearl steal it from the Temple?"
Steven turned to Peridot, who appeared caught off guard by the question.
"Well, it would be a very poor attempt at thief if they did not get away with it unnoticed." she said evasively.
Steven looked back into the telescope. He watched as the slab shot out a bright red beam of energy which enveloped one of the stone pillars lying nearby. The beam then arched upward, lifting the pillar up into the air and placing it one of the lower levels of the tower. The object then fired another beam, picking up more pillars, and placing them back on the Hub.
"So that's how they keep rebuilding it." Steven said. He didn't even realize that the escape pod had a tractor beam. Now he felt a little disappointed he didn't get to use during his previous joy ride. If nothing else, he was happy at least that he and Peridot were able to make a useful discovery.
"Look, Steven, we obviously made a mistake in coming here." Peridot said, now sounding frightened. "The situation is far too dangerous. Let's just go back home and watch you poorly written cartoon."
The slab hovered upward to the top of the Hub as it continued to stack the pillars back into place. Steven could now see the blurry silhouette of someone exiting the slab and standing at the very height of the Hub. He adjusted the telescope again, wanting to at least get a good peek at either Onyx or Pearl, hoping that this would yield more other bit of information.
However, once the image came into view through the telescope, Steven could now see who it was standing on top of the Hub. But it wasn't Onyx, Pearl or even Amethyst.
It was Jasper.
Steven pulled his eye away from the telescope lens, blinking his eyes a few times, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"Is that...Jasper?" he said, planting his eye onto the lens again, wanting to double check his findings.
"Jasper?" Peridot said, terrified. "Oh, what is that clod doing here?"
"She's… rebuilding the Hub?" Steven answered, almost instinctively.
Steven continued to watch as Jasper stood at the top of the Hub, pacing back and forth as she gazed down below her. He didn't want to jump to any conclusion, thinking for sure this must be some kind of misunderstanding. But then Steven saw Jasper stamp her foot down hard and push the final pillar into the place. No sooner had she done this, the Hub was reactivated again, illuminating the desert as its shaft of light shot back upward into the sky.
At once, Steven tried to think of some rational explanation for why Jasper was doing this, but nothing plausible came to his mind. It simply made no sense to him. For a moment he thought perhaps he should simply step out and ask Jasper what she was doing, but then felt a very strong urge to stay hidden, thinking it best for Jasper to not realize they were spying on her.
Steven almost didn't notice it when Peridot grabbed him by the arm and was now desperately trying to usher him back onto Lion.
"Steven, please, we have to go!" Peridot implored.
Unable find any reason to argue, Steven simply followed Peridot as the two of them climbed onto Lion and in another brief flash pink light, they disappeared from the desert.
Steven and Peridot now sat alone together in Steven's bedroom, staring at the now blank TV screen which reflected their troubles back at them.
"Why would Jasper do that?" Steven asked aloud, trying to think of any number of plausible reasons for Jasper's odd behaviour, convinced there had to be a good explanation. "Does she want to know how it works? Or maybe get us more channels?"
"There's only one, logical reason Jasper would be doing this." Peridot said quietly, hugging her legs to her chest. "She must want me and Lapis to keep fusing."
"But why would she want that?" Steven asked, now more confused than ever.
Peridot tethered for a long moment, before she answered slowly. "It's possible… that Jasper believes this is good practice for Lapis. To help her overcome her issues with fusion. Lapis wouldn't have been willing to fuse unless the situation was important enough. So, Jasper is creating a situation."
"But she is still lying to Lapis at the same time." Steven said, horrified. "We gotta talk to Jasper about this."
"Yes, we should confront Jasper." Peridot said, at once. She then hesitated for a moment. "After… we dismantle the Hub again."
"But we gotta tell Lapis about this" Steven said.
"Steven, we can't tell Lapis anything about this." Peridot implored, reaching out to grab him tightly by the shoulders. Peridot paused again and grimaced slightly with a pained expression across her face which took Steven by surprise.
"She…she's been through so much already." she said softly. "Learning about this could be too much for her to bear. Its best we keep this to ourselves."
"But…" Steven began.
"Let's not worry about this right now" Peridot said, putting on the biggest smile possible. "How about we watch some Crying Breakfast Friends, instead?"
Peridot quickly picked up the remote and pointed it at the TV, turning it on. Peridot's smile soon dropped from her face again when she was met with nothing but static on the screen in front of her. The signal was back again.
"You gotta be kidding. It's back already?"
Steven and Peridot turned around in surprise to see Lapis walking up to the stairs to the loft. She sat down between the two of them, staring the TV with a frustrated look.
"When are they going to take the hint that we're not going to give up no matter what they do" she said heatedly as she glared at the TV screen. Steven and Peridot were doing their best to avoid eye contact with her.
Jasper entered through the front door and looked up to see the three of them gathered around the TV, obviously deducing at once what this meant.
"Signal's back" Lapis said simply. Steven and Peridot shared another awkward glance with each other.
"You two ready?" Jasper asked.
"Course we're ready" Lapis smiled and playfully nudged Peridot with her elbow. Peridot smiled back nervously and let out weak laugh.
Steven groaned painfully, looking between the exuberant Lapis, the apprehensive Peridot and the taciturn Jasper, his own feelings starting to twist and turn in any number of directions, as the four of them prepared to leave once more.
For the fourth time in a row, the Crystal Gems arrived back at the Hub on the back of Lion.
Steven climbed off Lion with the others, whole looking thoroughly uncomfortable about the whole situation. He glanced at Peridot, hoping maybe she would say something now. She appeared nervous and afraid, fidgeting slightly with her hands, yet remained silent as though she simply was wanted to get things over with as quickly as possible.
"You know, it actually looks a little smaller every time we come back" Lapis commented, gazing up at the Hub.
"Alright, get to it" Jasper ordered, taking up her position once again.
"Sure thing" Lapis said, happily, walking up toward the Hub without question.
"Yes, Jasper" Peridot muttered, moving to join Lapis without question, showcasing a submissive obedience Steven had never once seen Peridot display before when taking an order from Jasper.
Steven's face fell into an expression of despair and heartache as he watched events play out before him.
Jasper, who had her eyes focused solely on Peridot and Lapis, was standing afar, like judge, critically evaluating their performance as they prepared to fuse into Turquoise once again.
Peridot and Lapis took each other's hands, preparing to fuse once again. Peridot put on a strained smile, doing her best to hide any negative emotions. Lapis, however, appeared far too upbeat and cheerful to even notice that anything could be wrong with the situation.
Seeing the happy look on Lapis face only made Steven feel even worse, knowing that this was a happiness built on a lie. He couldn't stand the idea of Lapis being deceived like this, being pushed into doing something without being fully informed. Everything inside him was screaming that this was all wrong. Regardless of what Peridot had told him, for better or worse, Steven had to say something.
"Wait, stop! You guys can't do this!"
Everyone turned to look at Steven in surprise.
"What's wrong, Steven?" Lapis asked, releasing Peridot while they were still in mid-pose.
"Steven…" Peridot whispered, looking terrified, knowing at once what he was about to do.
Steven walked up to Jasper, who stared at him with a raised eyebrow. Steven hesitated, before standing upright, looking Jasper straight in the eye as he spoke.
"We saw what you did." he said, his voice echoing more disappointment than anger. "We know you're the one who rebuilt the Hub."
Jasper widened her eyes in surprise for a brief moment, before her face feel into a deep, unhappy scowl, not even making at attempt at denial.
"Wait, why would you rebuild it after we destroy it?" Lapis asked, clearly confused. "That makes no sense."
"You need to tell the truth, Jasper" Steven pleaded.
Jasper scowled deepened, as she clenched her fists now looking like a disgruntled child caught in wrongdoing. Lapis simply continued to look at Jasper with uncertainty. Jasper then closed her eyes and let out a long sigh, accepting her fate.
"I wanted to help you." Jasper said, quietly. "This was your chance to get better at fusion. So, I had to keep getting you to do it."
Lapis' eyes widened, her face slowly falling into an expression of shock and horror as she finally pieced together exactly what Jasper was saying.
"You…you did this to trick us into fusion?" she said, her voice shaking. "You…you…". Lapis staggered backwards, as she began to pant heavily, as though unable to catch her breath. "I…that is….that is just….why did…how could YOU!?"
"For once, you were actually happy to do fusion again." Jasper said, looking Lapis dead in the eye, with a touch of sympathy as her face softened a little. "I needed to be sure you could it again when the time came, so I used this as practice. You wouldn't have done unless you believed it was nesscessary."
"How dare you!" Lapis screamed, her eyes now alight with absolute fury. "How could you do this to me? And to Peridot! Lying and manipulating us? Forcing us into a fusion? Controlling us…imprisoning us! We are so outraged! Right, Peridot?"
Lapis paused, clearly expecting Peridot to speak up next, but then frowned in confusion when she realized Peridot was not saying a word. Lapis turned to Peridot, who was standing away from all of them, her hands covering her mouth, her eyes shut tightly.
"Peridot?" Lapis said, slowly.
Peridot gulped deeply, sweating rolling down her face, her body now trembling. "I….I knew what Jasper was doing" she croaked out weakly.
"Well, yeah, we saw her, remember" Steven said.
Peridot's expression now turned to one of absolute pain, tears now streaming down her face. "I knew…before that." Peridot inhaled deeply and then let a desperate cry. "I helped Jasper rebuild the Hub after the first time we fused!"
"You… what?" Lapis said quietly, face going completely gaunt, her eyes widening so much her pupils were dilatated.
"You were helping Jasper?!" Steven cried, shocked.
"Only the first time." Peridot said quickly. "She needed me to show her how to rebuild the Hub. And also, how to use Amethyst's escape pod, which I had been tinkering since we acquired it." she added, with a quiet note of shame.
Steven gaped in horror at Peridot's words, unable to believe what he was hearing. But then when he began to replay the events of the last few days in mind, he slowly picked up a few strange details he hadn't noticed before. Like how Jasper entered the house each time the signal had return, save for the first time it happened, when Peridot arrived shortly after she did. Steven also now realized the real reason Peridot wanted to return to the Hub by herself and why she was so quick to force them to leave once Jasper had arrived. She already knew what Jasper was doing and must have been planning to stop her by herself. Only for Steven to ruin her chance by getting involved.
"But...why?" Steven asked, painfully.
"Jasper convinced me that having us fuse together like that would be good for Lapis." Peridot quickly walked up to Lapis, holding her hands out desperately as though trying to better convey her explanation. "I mean, you seemed so happy."
Lapis did not react to Peridot's words, as she now looked so numb and devoid of emotion that she may not even being listening.
"I only thought that the experience would be helpful to you." Peridot pleaded, clasping her hands together. "So, you wouldn't have to be afraid anymore."
"Oh, please" Jasper snarled angrily. She turned to glare at Peridot. "Don't act you didn't want an excuse for yourself! It didn't take you very long before you agreed to help. You wanted to feel that kind of power for yourself."
"Well obviously I didn't realize you were intending on doing it again!" Peridot snapped, her sorrow and guilt now transitioning to anger as she turned to confront Jasper. "This wasn't part of the plan! Rebuild the Hub, practice our fusion, keep it secret forever!
"I only needed to know how to rebuild the Hub." Jasper said, coldly, crossing her arms, turning away from Peridot. "Whatever happened after that was my decision. Its none of your business."
"It is my business when your decisions affect the rest of us!" Peridot said, glaring daggers up at Jasper without the slightest bit of fear, despite the obvious size difference. "Just how long were you planning on doing this?"
"Until whenever I decided you were ready." Jasper said, unapologetic.
"Ready for what?!" Peridot exclaimed.
Jasper let out deep growl of frustration. "Wake up!" she screamed, so loud her voice carried throughout the desert. Peridot and Steven retreated away from her slightly as she seemed to be briefly taken over by a powerful and furious agitation.
"Onyx and Pearl are still out there, and I need to…." Jasper grimaced in anger. "We need to be ready to face them. If we can't use Malachite again, then we need Turquoise. Together, you have to be the ultimate Fusion warrior."
"Oh, so that now everybody can fuse except for you, you get to be the one who decides how we should be doing fusion?" Peridot said scathingly, rolling her eyes with contempt. "Oh, yeah that makes perfect sense.
"You want to be useful around here, then be useful!" Jasper stamped her foot in the ground as she drew closer to Peridot, pointing her finger down at her. "You have to be the one to bring out Lapis real strength. You know just as well as I do how powerful she really is."
"I also know how fragile she is!" Peridot said, holding her ground against Jasper. "This whole thing was a mistake. You shouldn't have put any more pressure on her than necessary."
"Do not talk to me about pressure." Jasper snapped, now looking more furious than ever as though that final word had eroded what little patience she had left. "I have to be the one to keep you all safe. I have to be the one who has to prepare us for the next big threat that's going come after us. I have to be the who holds everything together. Every. Single. Day."
Jasper's voice dropped lower and became more dangerous with each syllable she uttered. She glared down at Peridot with contempt. "You say, you don't like how I do things? Well, if you all weren't so weak, I wouldn't have to protect you!"
"Well if this is your definition of protecting us, then you clearly don't what you're doing, you monumental clod!" Peridot screeched, retaining her confidence through her trademark mantra. "So maybe we'd all be better off without you!"
Steven fearfully glanced between Peridot and Jasper, never having seen them so angry with one another before. He had known them to argue and disagree, but this was something else entirely. It was almost like he could feel the anger and resentment in their voices literally burning through the air. Their fury with one another was so intense it almost like the ground was shaking.
And it was then Steven realized something. The ground was shaking.
Jasper and Peridot ceased their screaming when then noticed it as well. They glanced around the desert, trying to find the source of the disturbance, when the three of them all slowly turned to Lapis.
Once Peridot and Jasper's argument had broken out, none of them had noticed Lapis moving away from the group. She now stood in front of the Communication Hub with her back to the others, clutching the sides of her head with her hands, her whole body now trembling as much as the ground.
The rumbling became so strong that Steven had to grab onto Lion to keep himself steady. Across the surrounding desert, a number of cacti abruptly exploded in a cloud of prickled dust, as blobs of water floating out from within them and converged toward the Hub.
From underneath the sand, droplets of water began to emerge, floating upward in the air, hovering around Lapis a powerful wind seemed to emanate from around her body, her hair and skirt rising up as well. The rumbling then stopped and the ground underneath the Hub erupted as massive geyser of water burst up out from the sand, enveloping the entire Hub within the torrent of water. The geyser then stopped in an instant, holding itself in that position, forming massive tower of liquid; the pillars which made of the Hub were suspended inside of it.
The top of the tower then burst apart in an explosion of water, with enough force to send every single pillar inside of it flying outward in multiple directions across the desert landscape, reducing the chances of anyone rebuilding the Hub ever again to absolute zero.
Instinctively, Steven rushed forward and summoned his bubble around himself, Peridot and Jasper, shielding them from the fierce spray of water as it came down from above.
Once the torrent of water had stopped falling, Steven lowered his bubble, the sand at his feet now soaked. In front of them, the Hub was now completely gone. In its place, was a calm and serene body of water, the size of a small lake, now resting in the middle of the desert like an oasis.
Lapis slowly lowered her hands from her head and stared down at the newly formed pool of water she had created. She didn't move an inch, standing perfectly still as the water below her.
Concerned for Lapis current wellbeing, while still remaining cautious, Steven slowly approached Lapis, stopping just a short distance away from her, unsure whether it was a good idea to get any closer to her at the moment.
"Lapis…?" he asked.
Lapis said nothing, keeping her back to Steven. Then, after a few moments, her gem glowed, and she summoned her water wings. With a single flap of them, she took off into the night sky, flying upward, toward the stars. Steven watched as she flew further and further away into the sky, never once changing direction, until she was out of sight altogether.
"She… must be going back to the house. Right?" Steven said, hesitantly. He then turned to Jasper and Peridot, both of whom were looking in the same direction Lapis had gone with the same shocked expression.
"Right?" Steven asked again, unnerved by the lack of response.
However, neither Peridot nor Jasper answered Steven. The only sound made was by a cold desert wind passing them by.
Steven now sat alone in his loft, no one around to join him this time as he finally was able to finish the new episode of Crying Breakfast Friends uninterrupted.
After all their latest misadventures, the Crying Breakfast Friends had now all reunited in this latest episode, now standing side by side as they hugged and expressed their love for Blue Blueberry who had just overcome her most recent turmoil.
"We love you Blueberry! We're all one big happy family!"
Steven frowned, unable to derive any real joy from this long-awaited moment in his favourite show, as the burdens the real world now weighted heavily on him. He turned away from the TV screen and looked down to the house below.
Jasper was sitting hunched over the kitchen counter, looking as surly and unapproachable as ever, though there was an unmistakable forlorn nature to her brooding. She seemed almost like a great stone statue; strong and imposing in appearance, but unbale to expression anything beyond its surface. Whatever Jasper's true feelings were, Steven doubted she would share them any time soon.
On the other side of the room, the door to the bathroom was ajar. Upon their return home, Peridot had calmly walked straight into Steven's bathroom, climbed inside the bathtub and curled up into a ball without so much as saying a word to either Steven or Jasper. As far as Steven could tell, she had not moved from position since. He made a small mental note to bring her a pillow later.
Steven glanced out the window, looking to the clear blue sky, the sun shining down upon Beach City. On any other day, it would be a sight that Steven could appreciate unconditionally, but every time he looked up at, he felt uneasy anticipation wash over him, as he kept hoping he would soon spot Lapis appearing any moment when she would return to the house. But so far, there was no sign of her. He didn't want to admit it, but Steven was beginning to get a little worried.
With a solemn face and tired sigh, Steven switched off the Crying Breakfast Friends. He was happy at least knowing that things could always work in cartoons by the end of the story. No matter how hopeless they seemed.
Too bad this wasn't a cartoon.