What Must Be Done

-

“Well, have you tried doing some of the things humans do? Mr. Greg got me into music, and now me and some other Gems have our own band.”

She was joined alongside the pink Sapphire called Cherry, the violet Pearl called…well, Violet, and the experimental Gem, Amber, in this band of theirs, they currently made experimental electronic music.

“If you give a chance, you might not feel how you feel about it now, that’s what I’ve come to learn.”

The one eye still open rolled briefly, before all four swiveled to focus on the other Gem.

-

When RuPearl twisted her weapon inside, Black Star’s form glitched again.  This time her entire form looked like it was composed of several large pixels.  Then with a scream, Black Star’s form dissipated.  The tiny dual-colored gemstone landing on the ground with a soft clinking sound.

It was an upfront, yet brutal attack.  So it would be some time before Black Star could reform.

~-~-~

Black Moonstone was delightfully surprised when her Pearls returned with their new treasure, looking over the familiar black Gem with a twisted sort of glee. “Oh my, what a lovely little gift! Thank you, my sweet Pearls.”

-

The more Black Moonstone talked, the more she wanted to faint. Even though such actions were foreign and impossible for her, she felt like throwing up. Grinding broken Gems to dust, instead of gathering the pieces in hopes of them getting put back together? Purposely gouging out and cracking Pearls? Fusing the two things together, when neither party could consent?

Garnet could not, would not, stand idly by while fusion was used and abused. And if said fusion was irreversible and unethical…well…

Roaring, she summoned her gauntlets and tackled the monster in front of her. She ignored Perowlite; the poor thing never asked to be made. She raised her fist upwards, aiming for a poofing blow.

“You monster!! Neither party asked to be made into this horrible experiment of yours! It’s never even occurred to you until now, has it? How many of these do you have lying around?! Give me one good reason that I shouldn’t split you apart, forever!”

Black Moonstone gave a startled cry, her large form sliding back under the sudden assault. Two hands flew up to protect the Gem at the base of her throat, and she twisted to keep Garnet away from the other on her back - Garnet might have been aiming for Poofing, but Black Moonstone wasn’t going to risk it.

“Calm down, you beast! My Pearls are beautiful creations - how dare you insult our work?!” She kicked out, her clawed feet slicing through air and dirt with equal ease as she worked to put distance between them. “Pearowlite!”

To the various folks I owe replies to:

I’ll be working on them shortly! I’ve just been getting some attention over on my multi-fandom RP/Ask/Writing blog @slootsforshace​ 

-

“I told you,” she growled, reaching her limit. “Fusion is not a-”

She stopped, eyeing the Pearl that she pulled from her back. As much of a monster as Black Moonstone was, at least they could agree that what Yellow-yes, she somehow knew it was Yellow that made those shards-had done was even more monstrous. However, her mood completely changed at this off-color Pearl, Perowlite.

Her Gem looked normal. Even her appearance wasn’t unusual for a Pearl. But her eyes and the way she had formed were. Anger dulling a little bit in order to get some answers, she backed away a bit and spoke.

“W-What is this? That’s just a normal Pearl with some very vast customizations. There’s no two Gems, no extra eyes or body parts…”

Her eyes narrowed, voice raising a little again. “How is this fusion?” She almost didn’t want to know, but she had to ask. Her components were begging her to.

Black Moonstone beamed, practically giddy as she leaned down, one hand sweetly petting the Pearl’s head. “Yes, she does look almost real, does she not?” One finger reaches down, her nail tapping gently against Pearowlite’s Gem - the smaller doesn’t flinch. “My sweet little projects are made using unclaimed Pearls from the Reef, and the remains of broken Gems - in this case, Howlite Shards that I ground down to a fine Dust.”

She lifted her two upper hands, her palms glowing and shifting into interlocking, jaggedly spiked tools. “Once the Dust is fine enough, I score the surface of the Pearl, until it is completely covered in gouges and grooves,” Her second, more slender pair of hands came up then, their palms shifted smooth and shiny like polished metal. “Then, I simply pack each opening full of Dust, then aggressively buff them fast enough that the heat permanently bonds the Dust to the Pearl. And voila~!” She gestured down to Pearowlite again, every movement oozing with pride. “A fully customizable Pearl, with the powers of whatever donor Gem is used - the perfect way to upcycle otherwise lost resources!”

Pearowlite raised up onto her tiptoes, doing a showy little twirl, like a child showing off a new dress. Her face remained expressionless, even as her Mistress clapped.

Black Moonstone huffed, angerly swatting tree branches out of her way as she moved through the woods on the outskirts of Beach City. Organics were such panicky creatures - even the ones apparently used to Gems were frightened of her form, and despite generally not caring what anyone thought, it was still tiresome to repeatedly deal with Earth’s native Organics.

“A bit of private time, to experience this wretched place at my own pace,” She exposited aloud - her thoughts were always clearer when not trapped in her head. “I do not know what I was thinking - every place I go is even more of a disappointment than the last.”

Sighing heavily, she paused as she reached the edge of the tree line; should she continue forward, back toward the Organic settlement? Or turn around, and keep aimlessly wandering the woods?

-

“Because most are just living their lives, like Greg, who runs this car wash I work at, when he’s not helping people clean their vehicles, he’s enjoying his free time with his son, Steven.”

Jade owed a lot to Steven, were it not for him, she along with Cherry and Violet, may have had a different reception from the Crystal Gems upon the discovery of them being on Earth.

“Anyway, I don’t us Gems are any better than humans, don’t you remember how we could get shattered by a Diamond at any time just for the simplest mistake?”

“Yes, I am aware - I may not have experienced it, but one of my lesser selves was an executioner and the other was slated for Shattering.” Black Moonstone explained lightly, absently toying with her hair. “But still - even if it was darkened by the looming threat of destruction - at least we were being productive.”

-

As soon as the beige fusion finished speaking, the warp pad activated. However, it took them not to Little Homeschool, but to the long abandoned Strawberry Battlefield. Garnet clenched her fist and managed to just restrain the raw anger she was feeling.

“I cannot allow you anywhere near Steven. You’re far too dangerous! You treat fusion like a joke, with every Gem involved’s precious life being treated as a gear in your game. To think that you’d think someone like him can be forced into existence….”

She whirled around and roared, all three eyes staring right at the monster before her. Garnet was many things, but one thing she was not was someone who stood idly by while fusion was abused.

“What have you dared to call yourself, you forced fusion monster?! And who are these ‘little ones’…? Are there more like you? Are you teaching others your dangerous ways?!”

Black Moonstone’s excitement faded rapidly as she looked around in confusion at their new location. “This does not--”

The sudden anger startled the Fusion, causing her to take a stumbling step back and off the warp pad. She stood stock still while she listened, absently taking the moment to shift back to her regular size - it certainly helped her feel more in control.

“... I am Black Moonstone,” She answered, shifting her weight to brace herself. “And Fusion is not a joke to me, little Garnet - it is a science, one with near limitless potential. As for the little ones...,” She stood a little straighter, telegraphing her movements as she reached with one hand behind herself to her lower gem, a bright flash indicating that she’d summoned something. “I can show you.”

Drawing her hand back in front of herself, Black Moonstone revealed a Bubbled Gem - a Pearl, specifically. She dug her thumb into the side of the Bubble, popping it and catching the gem in her hand.

“As I was trying to explain - Fusion comes in different forms. There are ones like us, ones like the Diamond Child, even Yellow Diamond made a version with her little mutants. But this kind?” She held up the Gem, showing off its unnatural red sheen and the strange metal band clamped around it. “These are my favorite. Garnet, meet Pearowlite.”

-

Aqua’s smile didn’t waver from her face.  But with that expression and her words, it sent chills down the Diopside’s spine.  Clearly, it was do or die now.  With a sigh, Black Star pulled out her sword from her gemstone with a loud ‘shing’!

“I-I’m sorry to.”  Black Star gulped, both hands tightly gripping her weapon’s hilt.  Razor-sharp water was hurled towards her, and Black Star defensively rose up her sword.  Body trembling as she managed to keep the shuriken from hitting her, and then both weapons would deflect one another.

However, her focus was on Aqua.  For moments Black Star forgot about the red Gem in their company.  When she noticed RuPearl close in on her, Black Star didn’t have enough time to react.  She let out a pained cry when the spade went directly through her chest.

“No.. no.. I-I can’t” Black Star’s form started to glitch, attempting to force the defective gem to poof into her gemstone.  But Black Star was trying to fight it off!

RuPearl grunted quietly, the barest hint of a smile quirking her lips before she twisted hard, slashing her weapon sideways and tearing it loose again.

-

Garnet bit her lip as she stepped onto the warp pad. She wasn’t liking what she was hearing, not one bit. The things about Steven were nothing new, but describing fusion as a science made her skin crawl. If she had skin, of course.

“Fusion is not a science. It is an experience, one that is supposed to be precious and innocent. As someone who has stayed together for the majority of 5,752 years, I know that better than anyone.”

She put her hand on her hip. “Besides, Steven is not a fusion. He is the child of a human and a Diamond. He has her powers, but is completely organic in form and nature.”

Despite her urge to add more and confront her, she stopped. What she said in reaction to her spiel about fusion would determine what happened next.

Black Moonstone couldn’t contain a scoffing laugh, her face splitting wide into a grin.

“Little Garnet, I have been together for almost as long - my lesser selves needed me to survive the Culling during the War - and I assure you, I am neither precious nor innocent. I am simply greater than the sum of my parts.”

-

“a fusion?!”

He sounded excited, with wonder in his eyes before realizing he was getting sidetracked

“well, my aunt’s a gem, and so is my mom!”

He pulled down the neck of his shirt to reveal the pink Sapphire gem on his chest

“I, I wanna know more about gems, my aunt doesn’t like talking about it, and my mom’s asleep so I can’t ask her, I was wondering if you’d be able to tell me something?”

He sounded hopeful, looking up at her with a slightly nervous look, he really hoped he’d learn something about gems, anything really

Black Moonstone’s eyes lit up with the reveal of the gem, her upper half practically folding over itself as she leaned down closer.

“A Hybrid.” She breathed quietly, a wide grin stretching across her face. “Very well, little Sapphire child - do you have any questions you would like to start with?”

-

Oh, so she was one of those Gems that were simply interested in the “saviors of the galaxy”, as they were known. Allowing the fusion through the door, she rolled her eyes under her glasses and answered her questions.

“Most of the time. I’m pretty split with all of my classes-sometimes literally,” she joked, winking. “And yes, Steven will be checking out everything. He made up the idea of Little Homeschool, after all.”

As she approached the warp pad, her lips briefly curled into a frown. “Please do not call him ‘Pink Diamond’ or ‘Rose Quartz’, though. He really hates that.”

“Do not worry - I am not one for groveling.” Black Moonstone chuckled in that odd dual-tone voice that came and went, stepping up beside Garnet. “I am simply... intrigued by him, I believe is a good word for it.”

-

“manager? Do you mean like… My dad?”

he shook her hand slightly while looking a bit confused, though he guessed her not knowing would make sense if she was a gem, his aunt did say - on the few occasions she spoke about gems - that they were from space

“he’s at my house! I was walking there but then I saw you over here and i decided to come over, if it’s okay to ask, you are a gem right?”

‘My Dad’? The title tickled the back of her mind, a vague recognition, and she nodded slowly.

That's correct! Black Moonstone is part Other Mother in the finale, part raptor-style dinosaur and just a little bit of animated!Cruella de Vil.

-

Swallowing a lump in her throat, the shortest of the three Gems shuddered when flames danced around the red Pearl’s feet.  “B-But it should still be an option!  I mean.. i-it isn’t nice to force things!”  Like a lecture in manners would sway either of the Pearls from their plan.  But it was like the healing Gem to say such, she really didn’t want to fight them.

Black Star let out a sigh, hovering right hand over her left palm.  The gemstone inside of it starting to glow “look, we don’t have to fight.  In fact, I.. I’d rather not fight you guys.”  Words were delivered nervously, though the Diopside would engage in combat if it came to.

RuPearl briefly rolled her gaze skyward, checking in with Aqua for permission silently.

Calmly forming her water into shuriken once more, Aqua simply sighed through her wide smile. “I am sorry, Black Star.”

-

The noise that escaped the fusion’s mouth was concerning, but Garnet ignored it for now. Perhaps it was just the personality of the fusion to be that way towards somewhat idealistic things like that. In any case, she turned her attention to her words.

“I’m not sure how you knew that we were here-” She had never seen the fusion before, after all-“But right now all of the former Crystal Gems are at Little Homeschool. If you want to ‘observe’ us, that will be the place.”

Garnet gestured back towards the house. “The quickest way is the warp inside. Do you want to try to squeeze in and take it?”

Normally she would never allow a stranger in Steven’s house, but both were heading to a warpable location anyway.

Black Moonstone frowned a little at the news, mulling over her options.

“Yes, I will try. Thank you, little Garnet.”

Finally, she closed her eyes, glowing briefly as she shrunk herself carefully - it would still be a bit of a squeeze, but she’d be able to fit through the door with some shimmying.