Chapter Text
Steven groaned, the weight of something heavy pinning him down, crushing him. He could make out voices, but he couldn’t hear what was being said. Everything was dark, and he could practically feel every inch of his body ache. What had happened...? Oh right. Jasper, Peridot, Lapis, they had come to beach city. Garnet had been destabilized, Jasper had head butted him. They had lost; they had been captured.
Thanks to Steven being immune to the destabilizing forcefields, he was able to free the others. Ruby and Sapphire reunited and fused into Garnet! The newly reformed Garnet fought Jasper back, he freed Pearl and Amethyst, and together they took control of the ship. Then… the ship started to fall back to earth. As they huddled together, Steven remembered Lapis. He had promised her he’d be back for her. So, ignoring Garnet's warning, he’d rushed out of the main control room, screaming out for Lapis. He didn’t make it to her in time.
The ship had crashed, and instinctively his gem had formed a protective bubble around him during the impact. Said bubble must’ve popped after that, which is why he was trapped like this now.
“Don’t think you’ve won…” He heard Jasper’s voice as he mustered all of his strength to free himself from under the rubble. “You only beat me… because you’re a fusion. If I had someone to fuse with you’d all be shattered!” Steven frowned at that, shoving the hunk of spaceship off of him and pulling himself out of the rubble.
“Ow…” he groaned, rubbing his head.
“Steven!” He looked up, seeing the Crystal Gems and Lapis standing a little bit away. They looked relieved to see him, though a little banged up. He smiled widely as his eyes lit up. He didn’t hesitate to push himself up, rushing to hug the gems, to hug Lapis. To be with his family again-
“Oh no you don’t.” He yelped as his arm was roughly gripped with bruising tightness. The beach whipped around his vision as he was yanked back and pulled up, brought face to face with a furiously grinning Jasper. In his excitement, he’d forgotten she was there at all. “Where do you think you’re running off to Rose?” His mouth opened to protest, to say something, but all that came out were scared whimpers.
“Unhand him!” He heard Pearl shriek as she summoned her spear. The others followed her lead, even Lapis readied the nearby waves to attack Jasper.
“And why would I do that?“ She scoffed. Her grip tightened as Steven tried to pry her hand off of his wrist, squirming in her grasp. His squirming grew more frantic as she leaned close, whispering in his ear. The still burning fires and the crashing of ocean waves faded into background buzzing as her words registered. A threat and a promise that he hoped was a bluff. Just an empty threat. Only it wasn’t. He knew it wasn’t as soon as her gem began to glow, his own gem flickering to life as well.
“No… No- let me go!” He closed his eyes, trying to do something, even if he just bubbled himself it would at least be something. He looked to the Crystal gems and Lapis, their faces a mix of horror and confusion. He didn’t want them to be scared. He didn’t want them to be hurt. Gulping thickly, Steven managed to give them a wobbly smile before his body was consumed by blinding light.
As the light faded they let out a slow heavy sigh, opening their eyes one after the other. It took a moment for their vision to clear up. Slowly they looked over themself, taking note of their appearance. Tanned skin and orange markings, big poofy white hair swaying in the thick smoky breeze. Vaguely they mentally acknowledged the way Steven’s clothes stretched on their body, straining against the seams, as well as the fact that they had two sets of arms. The upper set Jaspers strong arms, the lower set Stevens smaller chubby arms.
A noise, a gasp maybe, drew their attention. Their gaze snapped to stare at the gems who were shakily holding their weapons toward them. One eye was Jaspers, glaring at them with the hatred of a thousand suns. The other eye was Stevens, tearing up from the unpleasant experience of the fusion.
“S-Steven..?” The shaking breathy question came from Amethyst. She had dared to approach them. “Are you in there?” They snorted at the question. Of course Steven was in them. He was part of them. But they weren’t him- not really? It was strange. Jasper had never fused with anyone before, and Steven’s only experience with fusion had been Stevonnie. This didn’t feel like Stevonnie. There was no love and harmony, there was no trust and honesty. All there was fear, pain, hatred, and control. It felt like a straining game of tug of war while balancing on a tightrope instead of a happy dance.
“I… I’m…” They struggled to speak, their components at war with each other. Instead of a seamless singular voice, they sounded like a mashing of their two voices. It… hurt. This hurt. “I’m not Steven.” They finally managed to say. It was true. They weren’t, though they weren’t sure what they were. What would a rose quartz and a jasper even make? “I’m… not Steven.” They reiterated almost solemnly, but that was replaced quickly with rage. “That doesn’t matter! What matters is that we’re going to shatter the whole lot of you defective lumps of dirt!” The words came out as a scream as they found their will to move. They charged forward, upper arms ready to punch down at Amethyst. Before they could though, their second set of arms reached out and to stop the attack.
“Meep!” Amethyst didn’t waste any time, backing away from them.
“…” Garnet, who’d been silently searching through possibilities, fixed her visor as she finally settled on what she hoped would be the best outcome for Steven. She just needed to keep this fusion here long enough. “You two, go find Greg and Connie. Bring them here.” She ordered. Pearl and Amethyst looked at each other uneasily, but ultimately nodded and ran off. “Lapis Lazuli… whatever you choose to do is your choice.” She approached the fusion, leaving Lapis to her own choices.
“Steven. Jasper.” Garnet addressed them, standing right in front of them. Her expression was cautiously blank, neutral.
“G…Garnet…” They felt themselves tearing up, lips quivering. The fear was back. “Please… it… this hurts- oh quit whining!” They hugged themselves with their smaller arms, their bigger arms all too eager to fight.
“I know this isn’t easy. Your fusion is unhealthy. Your components aren’t compatible and were already hurt.” Part of them listened to Garnet’s words, it made sense what she was saying. They- no Steven didn’t want this. Steven wanted to unfuse. But Jasper wouldn’t let him. Jasper kept him trapped in this fusion. She wanted to make him be part of destroying everything he knew and loved, and she was stronger than him... “I understand this is difficult, but hopefully with Greg and Connie present the Steven part of you will be able to take over long enough to unfuse.” A small smile formed on his face. That sounded great! They could unfuse, this could work. Garnet beat Jasper once she could do it again right? Right..?
A trickle of doubt couldn't help but worm its way into their mind, a doubt the Jasper part of them was all too eager to encourage.
“And what then..? Once we’re separated she’ll… she’ll just go after them. She’ll go after you. I-I can’t…” They took a step back. The world around them felt like it was spinning as their breathing grew more heavy and ragged. Garnet's hand reaching out for them was their final breaking point.
“LEAVE ME ALONE!” They shouted, bolting around her and making a mad dash for the beach base- home. They could hear Garnet running after them, hoping to calm them down. “I won’t let her hurt you guys!” They, or rather, Steven shouted from within their fusion. The second they burst into the house they beelined it to the warp pad.
“Please- please just take us somewhere no one will find us..! Somewhere no one will think to come looking…” They pleaded, genuinely surprised when the warp pad activated, warping them away at the last second. When the blinding light of the warp faded the fusion could tell where they were. The galaxy warp.
They turned to the warp pad they’d just arrived on, and with a deep breath summoned Jasper's helmet onto their head. In one swift, headache inducing movement, they rammed their head into the warp pad. Over and over and over again. Until the pain became unbearable. And even then, they didn’t stop. They went to each warp pad, until every single one was nothing but chunks of shattered crystal and rubble. And with that, they could finally let loose. They were properly contained, their… Stevens' friends were safe, and Jasper wouldn’t be able to safely leave unless she released Steven. After all, Steven’s human half of this fusion wouldn’t last swimming all the way back to land. And if they tried, they'd likely drown.
“Don’t think you’ve bested me Rose- Steven! I’ve still won this one. After all… so long as I have you, those pathetic excuses for gems have lost.” They managed to mutter to, well, themself before the pain and exhaustion took hold. They slowly tipped back, helmet disappearing from their head as they landed with a light thud.