Spinel's New Game: FUTURE

Chapter 10 - Fusion Shards

Rhodolite, Pearl, Lapis, and Peridot all sat silently on the couch in the main room of the beach house. The front door hung at its hinges. They'd have to get Bismuth to fix it.

Rhodolite stared at Ruby's bubbled gemstone on the front table. An empty, dead feeling filled her. They'd completely screwed up. Then, Rhodolite glanced upwards at the ceiling. In the room above them was her old bedroom, where the bubbled shards of Pink Diamond had been put for the time being.

"Now what?" Pearl muttered, her voice deflated.

"I'm sorry, guys," Lapis sighed, slouching over. "I feel like this is my fault. I should have been able to grab Sapphire before she got away."

"It's okay, Lapis," Rhodolite assured her. "None of us could get her in time. You did good keeping hold of Ruby." Lapis managed a fake smile. Rhodolite glanced at the floor. Everything seemed bleak.

"Look on the bright side!" Peridot spoke up, giving a forced smile as she stood up. "Whatever was happening to Pearl is over; we all outpower Sapphire and Pearl's safe with us."

"Thanks, Peridot," Pearl huffed with a small grin at the green gem.

"We still don't know what she was doing," Rhodolite murmured in thought. "We don't know what she was doing with Pink Diamond's shards. It almost seems like... Dad and Amethyst are.. trapped.. in them, or, at least, in two of the shards. How can we save them? Can this be reversed?"

The other three stared at Rhodolite sadly before looking away. What were they going to do?

"We could try questioning Ruby again," Lapis suggested.

"It's pointless," Pearl told them. "Trust me, if she didn't tell us then, she won't tell us now."

"Peridot," Rhodolite thought. "You're good with technology, right? Maybe you can reverse engineer Garnet's machine downstairs? Figure out how it works?"

"It could be worth a shot," Peridot decided. "Show me where it is."

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Rhodolite and Pearl sat upstairs while Peridot worked in the basement on Garnet's machine. Lapis was downstairs with Peridot for moral support. The bubble with Pink Diamond's shards sat on the bed while Rhodolite and Pearl sat together on the floor, leaning up against the bed.

"Do you think Peridot will figure anything out?" Rhodolite asked. 

"We can only hope," Pearl murmured. Rhodolite sighed and stood up. She looked at the shards. Everything was always Pink's fault...

Rhodolite popped the bubble and the shards fell onto the bed. "What are you doing?" Pearl asked.

"Maybe we can talk to Dad and Amethyst," Rhodolite suggested desperately. "They're in there somewhere. We've seen that." Rhodolite gently placed a hand on the shards. "Dad," she murmured. "Amethyst? Are you in there? Are you okay?"

One of the shards briefly flickered. A weak voice pined, "Rhodilite... we're here." It was Amethyst's voice. Rhodolite picked up Amethyst's shard and held it close. Pearl stared sadly.

"We'll fix this," Rhodolite promised, hugging the shard tight. "We always do. We beat the Diamonds... we stopped Bluebird Azurite... you saved me from being a monster... and you and I, Amethyst, together we stopped Jasper in the Beta Kindergarten." Rhodolite began to cry, longing for her friend. "We stick together."

At that moment the shard lit up and Rhodolite burst into a bright white light. Pearl gasped in astonishment. She leaped backwards and stared at the glowing figure of Rhodolite. Rhodolite began to become misshapen as her form altered... Suddenly, a puff of dark smoke appeared, engulfing the room. Pearl heard someone hit the floor.

When the smoke had cleared, Pearl saw Spinel sitting on the floor, staring up in shock. Pearl let out an audible gasp as she covered her mouth. Smoky Quartz stood in front of her.

Smoky Quartz felt her arms and then her hair. "I'm..." she choked out. "I'm Smoky Quartz." She then went to her stomach and felt the empty spot where Steven would have once contributed Pink Diamond's gemstone. Then she felt her chest - where Amethyst's gem would have been - and in its place was the shard. Had Steven fused with the shard!?

Amethyst? Steven asked inside his thoughts.

Steven! Amethyst's voice returned his call. I'm alive!

Steven felt joy seep through him as he communicated to Amethyst through Smoky Quartz's body. Amethyst, you're okay! 

I'm just glad to have a body again instead of just being a shard! I can't reform as a shard!

Amethyst, what did Garnet do to you?

I don't know, she poofed me, put me in a machine contraption thingy and then I was just a shard! I can't control this fusion either, Steven, it's all you. I just have my thoughts.

Well, it looks like you're still you, just trapped in a shard. I don't know how this happened, but we'll fix it. Fusion still seems to work, so that's a start I guess. Suddenly, Steven had a thought. Amethyst, hang in there.

"Smoky?" Pearl gasped, shaking. 

Smoky Quartz gave Pearl a quick salute and then said, "See ya later, Pearl." Smoky Quartz burst and Steven fell to the floor, still weak and dying without a gemstone. The shard of Pink Diamond containing Amethyst clinked onto the floor beside him. 

"Steven!" Spinel called. "Let's hurry up and refuse! You look terrible!"

"Hold on," Steven insisted weakly. Another shard on the bed was dimly glowing. Steven struggled up and grabbed it before falling back to the floor. He hugged it tight and gave it a kiss.

Again, Steven lit up into a bright light and began to fuse with the shard. Pearl and Spinel stared in awe. A figure formed, the shard taking the place where Steven's gem had once been.

"It's a big ol' universe out there..." the new figure murmured in a deep voice. "And when you're gettin' crushed under the weight of them stars... Well, sometimes you need to find that special someone to remind you that -" the figure burst into existence. "THERE'S STILL HOPE!" he shouted. It was Steg!

"Steven!?" Spinel shrieked. "Ugh... this brings back some bad memories."

"You!?" Pearl shouted in shock. "Steven? Greg?"

Steg put one hand on his hips and glanced over at Pearl. "Amethyst and Greg are still in these shards," Steg rumbled in his deep voice. "There's gotta be a way to save them. Let's do this, guys." Steg exploded and Steven reemerged. Greg's shard fell to the floor beside Amethyst's.

"Spinel!" Steven called.

"Hang in there, sunshine!" Spinel exclaimed, rushing towards Steven and then wrapping herself around him. The two refused into Rhodolite. 

Rhodolite looked over at Pearl. "There's hope. Amethyst and Greg still have all of their thoughts. They're in there. We just have to figure out how to get their bodies back."

Pearl nodded. "Okay," she agreed. "That's hope. I can't believe you're able to fuse with them."

"They didn't seem to have control over the fusions," Rhodolite explained. "But they were certainly fused with me."

"Let's go downstairs and see Peridot and Lapis," Pearl suggested. "Maybe this new revelation will help explain how the machine functions."

"It's possible," Rhodolite agreed. "Let's go tell them what happened!" Pearl nodded and began making her way downstairs. Rhodolite bent over and bubbled Greg's and Amethyst's shards together. She then bubbled the rest of the shards. She left the bubble of shards on the bed, taking the bubble containing Amethyst's and Greg's downstairs with her.