Spinel and Steven finally arrived at the most wonderful place in the universe-the worst place in the universe. A dry and desolate place once meant to be a safe haven-now turned to her own personal hell. She loved-hated this place. It held so many lovely-horrible memories for her. The flowers were all but dust, the pillars were essentially rust, and the water was no longer a clean blue, but a dark, dirty, and algae filled mirror that reflected the dark and endless void that was the galaxy around them.
She let Steven stew in silence for a bit. "... This place is … kinda nice when you look at the-"
"It's a dead and forgotten garden full of dead and forgotten things." She deadpanned.
"Cool, cool … Why does Gem Homeoworld have such lovely names for such horrible things?" He asked under his breath.
"It wasn't always like this." Spinel walked around, trying to recapture that whimsical feeling she used to have while she ran around, but only felt more and more empty. "This used to be our world. Me and Pink's. It was our Garden." She held her hand's close to her gem, feeling just a slight spark of happiness inside of her. "We played for hours and hours for hundreds of years.."
She recalled the faces of joy Pink had, the clear and obvious fun she had, but also how that smile got smaller and smaller as the years went on. "Pink wanted nothing more than her own colony. She'd beg and beg the Diamond's for one day by day." She remembered being right beside her as she asked, how she jumped on her shoulders…how Pink ignored her as she talked. "One day she got her wish, and I was so excited. We'd finally have an entire planet to ourselves." It was a dream come true….a dream that quickly turned into a nightmare.
Steven looked at her, a curious and worried gaze. "What … Did she do to you?" He asked with hesitation.
"... One day she began walking. I wanted to follow like always, but she looked at me with a smile." Spinel looked at one spot, holes in the ground from her torture. "And she said these words …"
"Here in the garden … Let's play a game … I'll show you how it's done." The most amazing person she knew leaned down. "Here in the garden … Stand very still." They explained the rules to the most horrific game in existence.
"This'll be so much fun." Spinel innocently assumed. "And then she smiled, that's what I'm after …. A smile in her eyes, the sound of her laughter."It was beautiful and amazing. "Happy to listen … Happy to play." They watched her vanish for the last time. "Happily watching her driiiiift away."
The memories were practically displaying themselves in front of her with every step she took in the garden…every step she didn't take for so many centuries. "Happily waiting … All on my own … Under the endless sky." The stars swirling endlessly without any rhyme or reason.. "Counting the seconds, standing alone … ….As thousands of years go by." She could see the horror etched on Steven's face … she didn't want her friend to cry but he abandoned her and she wanted him to suffer for it.
"Happily wondering, night after night … …" One century passed, two centuries passed. Four passed. No problem. A few hundred years were nothing. "Is this how it works? … Am I doing it right?" Was she not playing the game right? Did she mess up and loose? What was taking Pink so long to show up? She wouldn't forget all about her after a thousand years, right?
"Happy to listen….Happy to stay.." Soon the planet life began to wither. Vines and weed grew around her still legs. Even the tiny insects that passed through the garden dried up and died. Spinel had never felt more alone and scared. "Happily watching her driiiiift away." It would be fine … she'd come back eventually. She'd have to. She'd have to.
"You keep on turning pages, for people who don't care." Time has blurred into non-existence. Some part of Spinel was always aware that she was just a toy for Pink, that she was just something for her diamond to use. That was the role of all gems everywhere, But Spinel had so much fun with Pink that she didn't care. "People who don't care about you." Even if the emptiness and isolation grasped and strangled her. It choked all optimism out of her life.
"And still it takes you ages … …To see that no one's there." Believing she'd come back was the only reason Spinel hadn't broken. She thought Pink was having just as much fun with her. She thought the years of laughter and joy wouldn't be traded for anything. She truly thought Pink saw Spinel as her best friend.
"See that no one's there….See that no one's there." She'd stare at that warp pad, waiting for the second it would light up, waiting for the second that Pink would come back and say she's won the game, come back and tell her they were going to start a brand new one. "Everyone's gone on without you …" She just couldn't accept it … she couldn't …
"Finally something." A light sparkled in the midst of the garden. "Finally news." Something, something other than standing still, even if she was looking away for a moment. "About how the story ends …" Did she win? Did she win did she win did she win?
"She doesn't exist now…" A human boy named Steven Universe. "Survived by her son…" The only piece of Pink left in existence. "And all of her brand new friends." Friends…that didn't include Spinel. She had been left behind, she had been abandoned, she had been forgotten….and Pink died without ever coming back or saying a damn thing about her to anyone.
"Isn't that lovely?" She broke from the ground for the first time in what felt like eons. "Isn't that cool?" This was reality … Spinel didn't matter to anyone. "And isn't that cruel?" Left in a dying garden thinking she was playing a game.
"And aren't I a fool to have …" She was the biggest moron to ever exist. " "Happily listened …?" Because she believed she was Pink Diamond's friend. "Happy to stay." All her suffering was for nothing … because Pink didn't need her anymore... because she believed that her friendship with Pink was unbreakable. "Happily watching her driiiiift…" Because she believed she mattered in any way to someone.
"Driiiiift…." Her form lit up, her hair became undone, her gem shifted upside down, her rounder features became sharper, and her face held permanent tears falling from her eyes. "Driiiiift away." Nothing more than a sad, miserable clown toy that was good for nothing but being tossed away.
"I'm sorry … I can't believe she'd …" The boy paused. "Actually yeah, I can totally believe it." And now all she had left was this echo of Pink….who Pink chose to die over rather than come back to her.
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Steven learned to live with a lot of what Rose had done over the years. Solaria was crazy and needed to be stopped, the Diamonds took being proven wrong on even a single thing they did for them to stop their genocidal path of destruction, and secrets were something she thought was needed. He even learned to accept her in his life enough to fight alongside her ghost against Mina. Steven put in the work to at least tolerate her. "I'm sorry … I can't believe she'd …"
This, this right here, this is where the freaking line was dragged through the dirt they stood on. Lie after lie, secret after secret. It was one thing for the secrets to be kept from him, but when they hurt someone innocent like Spinel, who wanted nothing more than to have a friend…that's when he was officially done with Rose…Pink…whoever she was. "Actually yeah, I can totally believe it."
"And now I can't even make her suffer … cause she's dead …" They glared at him. "But I can ruin her legacy … hurt everything that Pink cared about." Spinel walked to him. "That rock she chose over me … those friends she chose over me …" The gem stretched over him. "The person they died for instead of telling anyone about me!"
"Spinel…" He gently put his hands up in an attempt to pacify her. "You're not alone here. You're not the only one she hurt.."
That only made her angrier as she shoved him to the ground, enlarging her head and arms as she raised her fist. "Yeah, you know all about having a life without me! Rub it in, why don't yah!"
"Wait!" He tried to raise a shield, only for him to feel drained and for it to flicker out of existence! "She was wrong to abandon you, and I should've known the concert would've hurt you! You deserve a better friend!"
Spinel looked at him, looking at him with that face marked with permanent tear stains, before turning around and smashing the communication device in the middle of the garden. "No wonder she abandoned me. I can't even follow through on my anger. I can't do anything right." She fell limp, letting her arms and legs sag in a noodley pile. "I must look real pathetic to you, don't I?"
Steven knew self doubt and depreciation all too well. Here they were, just two pieces of Pink Diamond, left behind to deal with the fallout. The only difference was that Steven had the rest of his friends and family to prop him back up. Spinel had no one. "Not as pathetic as me. Whenever I get too depressed or stressed out, I LITERALLY turn into a monster. Horns, tail, and everything."
"You're not pathetic …" She said, closing in on herself. "You have friends …"
"So do you." He sat down next to her.
"No, because everyone leaves when I want to hang out with them …" Spinel muttered. "Even you …"
Steven winced. He messed up, but he was going to fix this. "Well, that's the great thing about living on earth. There's always a chance to start over. You can begin again, and make new friends, ones that will understand you."
"You really think someone's gonna understand me?" She asked.
"Do you know how many people have tried to kill me because of Pink? I'm sure you'll meet someone." He joked. "There'll be no shortage of people on that front."
Spinel looked at him hesitantly, but then looked away. Even if she wasn't malicious right now, those hurt feelings she felt weren't going to fade away soon. She needed to know she could trust him. "Someday….Somewhere….Somehow…" He slowly started singing, cautiously and gently approaching the lonely gem. "You'll love again." He tried to rest a hand on her shoulder, but the gem pulled away. "You just need to find someone …"
He looked at her and their eyes met. His tired expression matched her exhaustion. They were both drained, mental, physically, and emotionally. "Someday, Somewhere, Somehow…." They sang together this time. They were both tired of feeling pain, of feeling alone.
"You'll/I'll love again. You/I just need to find someone." A single friend. "Someone who treats you better." Better than him. "Someone who wants you around." Someone who can deal with her insanity … maybe that Hooty owl tube Luz talked about.
"Someday, Somewhere, Somehow … You're gonna feel found." He assured the gem, sitting next to her as he rubbed their back. "You got that?" Steven asked, reaching out his hand to her. "It's never too late for anyone."
Spinel's eyes seemed to have widened, looking at his hand hopefully. "I'll love again." Yes, yes, YES! She was understanding! "I just need to find….someone…." She took his hand, and allowed him to pull her to her feet.
"Someone who treats me better." Definitely better than Pink. "Someone who wants me around." Maybe they could try meeting some gems on Homeworld looking for a new gem to hang around.
"Someday…." He would help her find that somebody. "Somewhere…" He would make sure she never felt alone again. "Somehow.." Maybe someday, when they could look past their rocky start and they were both in a better headspace, they could try and be friends again. "I'm gonna feel found."
He gently lead her to the warp pad. "So…are you ready to give earth another shot?"
Spinel looked at the garden one last time, then up at the starry night, something that would've looked more beautiful if it didn't signify just how dreary of a situation Rose put this poor girl through. "Today … Right here." She looked at him with a smile. "Right now." Spinel gave him a hug. "I already feel found." … Well add not abandoning her to his long list of responsibilities.
"Thank you, Spinel." He gave a short hug back, before turning serious. "So, there wouldn't be anyway to turn off the injector, would there?"
"Oh yeah, I made sure to lock all the codes to my songs so nobody but me could control it." She giggled. "... You know, before this."
"Yeah, I get it." A stray thought came to him. "How did you get one of those if you were here for thousands of years?"
"Oh, it belonged to me already. It was one of Pink's toys the Diamond's gave her." Spinel waved off. "Told her to use it as practice for the real deal on a couple dwarf planets, though we mainly used it for joyriding across asteroid fields."
"Of course you did." As if he didn't have enough headaches. "Come on, let's go turn it off then."
"Anything for my best friend."
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Kelly watched as they waited for Steven to return with a now possible more homicidal Spinel. "Dang it, I knew I should've jumped on top of that thing when I had the chance!" Luz snapped her fingers as she prepared a couple of glyphs to be used.
"Be grateful you didn't or else we wouldn't have known where you guys had gone." Marco commented as he adjusted his gauntlets. "This is going to be a tough one, Star's still fritzing, and she took out all the cg last time."
"She only got that far because we were unprepared. And we haven't fought super hard in anything in the last two years." Amethyst rolled her eyes as she stretched out her whip.
"And we know how to deal with crazy stretchy gems, we've been able to survive Quana before and make it out with our heads intact." Star nodded as she waved around an ax.
"Correction, you guilt tripped Quana after you got hurt." Kelly reminded Star.
"Tomato Potato."
"That's not how that works-never mind." Marco rubbed his head as the pad began to light up. "Okay guys, be prepared for anything!"
She stared at the object as it warped her boyfriend and the crazy gem in front of her, now in dark shades of pink, pointer clothing, and hair that was more fizzy than heart shaped like before. "Alright, let's-could you all put the weapons away please?" He asked with bottled up frustration.
"Depends." Kelly started. "Does she have her memory back?"
"Yes, she does, and she's going to help us. She's a friend." Steven placed an arm around who she's heard from the others to be a psychotic lunatic on par with Mina.
"... Wow, Lapis was right, you really did break your record on fastest redemption." Star muttered.
"Right, of course." The boy rolled his eyes. "Anyway, she's our friend now, and she's going to help turn off the injector."
"Yeperdo, that's what best friends are for." Spinel smiled, holding onto Steven very closely.
"Friend or Enemy holding back?" Pearl growled.
"Potato Tomato."
"So that's just a family thing you guys say, huh?" Luz snickered. "Well, half the best people I've ever met have almost gotten me killed before, so I say some benefit of the doubt can be made here."
"Exactly." Steven nodded his head. "And she's going to help us get rid of the injector too."
"You can rely on Spinel to help out there!" The gem gave a strained laugh. "Anything to make up for bad behavior, right?" She squeezed Steven's arm. "Anything for our friends, right?!"
"Yep, anything." Steven laughed, though it seemed hesitant as Kelly began to turn a couple of gears in her head about the situation…especially in regards to how...needy…Spinel seemed to be. "Mind if I talk to the other's for a second?"
"Sure…" Spinel looked like she gripped harder on his arm, before giving a wide smile and letting go. "Don't be too long!"
"Right." He turned to everyone else as Star, Marco, and Kelly gave him a look. "Yes, I know there's still a lot that needs to be worked out between us, but we got the ball rolling. When the injector goes away, we can help set her up with new friends."
"Steven, she doesn't want new friends, she wants YOU." Kelly pointed out. "She's imprinted onto you, and now you're treading a dangerous line."
"Look, I know i'm the one that got her out of this but-"
"No, I spent the last couple years obsessing over people, I know what it's like when I see it on someone else." She groaned. "And now she's going to emotionally cripple herself like I did and-" She paused, looking at the rest of her friends. "Is this what it's like to sympathize with a gem?"
"A little bit, yeah." Star nodded. "That's how it was for me and Bismuth."
"And me and Peridot." Marco agreed
"And me with Lapis, the Cluster, Amethyst, and so on." Steven sighed. "I know the situation's not the best, but…when we were in the garden…." Steven gripped his hands. "Mom told her to stand still, and she stood still alone for six thousand years. I know I'm not the one who can help her heal, but I can at least guide her on the path."
They couldn't help but be horrified at that notion. But even still, there was a part of the picture Steven wasn't seeing."Dude, that's a great thought and all, but her need for companionship has turned into obsession." Kelly emphasized. "It's fine for now, the moment she realizes you're not going to be with her 24/7, and think she's being abandoned, Spinel's going to snap, and she's going to snap hard." She went on. "Like, Stelly hard."
"Well she locked the passcode into music. Anyone want to try singing to the giant injector until we can get it?" Steven asked rhetorically.
"Memememe!" Luz shouted. "This can finally be my big musical number! The human witch, when all else fails, sings a heartfelt ballad and saves the day when hope seems lost!"
"Oh, are we signing!?" Spinel jumped in. "Sorry but it got kinda weird not being included and this sounds super fun!" She jumped up and down, holding onto Steven.
"We'll karaoke somewhere when the world's not endangered." Steven answered as he walked down the stairs. "Come one, lets save the multiverse again."
"On it, best buddy!" Spinel saluted as she fell down the stairs like a spring.
Star gave a tired sigh and looked at her. "This isn't going to end well, is it?"
"Not a chance." Kelly sadly confirmed.
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So this was music. It sounds incredible. Not as incredible as you. Garnet was content at the moment, in this confusing world. "Don't destroy my world, let us find peace, mr machine!" One of the humans, Luz, 'sang' to the injector thingy. "Let's rebuild the world, mr machine!"
"Luz, please stop it. At this point you're just embarrassing yourself more than you are fixing the problem." Star patted the girl on the back.
"Why is it embarrassing?" Garnet asked. She had a lovely voice.
"Like I said, Luz, the time for your singing voice to save the universe will come one of these days." The pink boy, Steven she thought it was, nodded to the human girl.
"Aww, but it comes so naturally for you." Luz pouted.
"Don't worry Luz, it's time for a best friend to fix the problem." Spinel walked up to the injector, looking different because she got her memory back. Do you think we had nice memories?If they were with you, then they were lovely.
"Spinel, did you get a haircut?" Garnet asked, thinking she had a good look going for her. The old one was cuter. Not as cute as you. Plus this one makes her more fierce.
She turned her hand into a horn, blowing into it as the injector stopped, the drill moving back inside. It wasn't as pretty as the human's singing, but it made the earth stop shaking, so Garnet suppose she could give it a seven out of ten. "There and done." Spinel turned to her. "Also yes."
"Well that's one problem solved." Star said. "Now we just need Garnet's memories back, along with your powers."
"With everything done, we should focus on Garnet first, then we can get back to our lives." Steven began walking back and forth. "What would work on Garnet? Fusion didn't work, maybe we need to focus more on the love angle?"
"What about me?" They all turned to the pink gem, who was shaking for some reason. "Is that all you needed me for?" Spinel asked. "To turn off my injector?"
"What, no." Steven shook his head. "Well, just for the moment, we need…"
"Steven, shut up." Marco jabbed his side.
"So what, you were just gonna move on?" She asked. "You were gonna leave me alone after I helped ya?"
"No!" Steven yelled.
"Then how are you going to go back to normal with ME AROUND?!" Spinel yelled. "I'm the source of your problems! You can't live normally if I'm around. So what's your plan, Stev-o? You're going to lock me away, make me stay in one place, all ALONE!?"
"Listen, you're not the first person to try and kill us." Kelly tried to explain. "Pink is the source of most of our problems, not you, alright?"
"Yeah, we can just forget this whole thing ever happened." Steven tried to coax her.
"You were gonna forget me, just like everyone else!?" They shouted in horror. "Some space dust floating on an asteroid belt!?"
"Listen!" The girl with heart marks shouted. "I don't know what you think is going on, but trust me when I say this. We never abandon anyone, ever!"
"Hey!" They all turned to an angry talking broom. "Remember me? Doop Doop, the friend you abandoned after playing a game and tricking me into staying away from you all, remember!?"
"You don't have any legs, how did you-!" Spinel turned to Star. "I mean…I've never met that broomstick in my life."
"I have a picture of our childhood friendship I put on a rocket launcher!" They shouted. "Attached to me by the people of Reflectacorp!" Aww, those sound like nice people. "In the name of vengeance and leaving me alone, I will get rid of all you love!" The wind blew, and knocked the broom through one of the cracks in the earth. "Eventually.....!"
"You know, when it was Pink, she only abandoned me …" Spinel turned to Steven. "How many people did you abandon?"
"I don't abandon people, that's not who I am!" Steven yelled, trying to get closer .
"Oh, I'm supposed to believe that you'll just accept me after everything that's happened!" Spinel yelled, pushing Steven away as something small flew out of his jacket pocket.
The other gems seemed to be afraid of it and backed away. "Oh, what's this thing?" It didn't look dangerous at all, especially when it had such a nice looking button on the side.
"No Garnet, don't touch that!" He yanked the strange glowing thing from her hands.
"Why … why do you have that?" The pink gem asked hesitantly.
"I..I didn't have a place to put it." Steven answered.
"Oh my corn we are related to Eclipsa." Star muttered. "We just keep incriminating ourselves."
"Ooooh, so that's what your playing, isn't it!?" They gave a really strange and creepy laugh. "I fix your problems, you stab me in the back, then Iforget that this happened! Woopty doo, little old innocent me is back in action!!" She chuckled like a maniac. "Can't say there's a problem if it's stuck acting like an innocent moron! Kablamo, happily ever after!"
"Spinel that's not what's happening!" Kelly talked to her. "No one is going to stab you in the back!"
Spinel turned their hand into a horn. "Well why is it still on?" And with that, the pink gem blew a horn, the injector turning to them.
"Eveyone scatte-AHHHH!" Pearl cried out, the machine digging itself into the earth and making the ground crack and crumble, making everyone fall through and separate.
Garnet found herself fumbling, feeling dizzy all over as she tried to find someone, anyone to make sense of the situation. Everyone was just getting along not too long ago. Why was there so much anger?
"Ughh." She heard Steven groan as she saw him in a crevice, having held onto Kelly. "I…I'm really hating today."
"I tried to tell you." Kelly gave him a knowing look as Spinel bounced in front of them. "Heads up, this isn't over it."
"I'm not going to let you get the leg up on me this time, Steven Universe!" Spinel stretched out her limbs, making herself look tall and menacing. "I won't let you trick me again!"
"I…I wasn't trying to trick.." Steven sputtered.
"You're the one that keeps harping on about having a happy ending." Spinel pointed accusedly. "What kind of happy ending allows any of this…!?" She gestured to herself. "To stay around!?"
"One where you try to not kill us and we introduce you to some nice people." Kelly said, standing up. "You've placed all your happiness on the whims of others, but it doesn't have to be this way. You don't need someone else to be happy."
"... I think this is the first time I've wanted to kill someone personally." The two of them tensed. "You think I WANT to be alone!? I've spent the last six thousand years with it, it's not pretty!"
"Why are we fighting?" Garnet asked. "Weren't we friends?"
"Oooh, looks like we still have an audience." Spinel gave what Garnet could only describe as a demented smile.
"Let her go!" Steven shouted, holding up that weapon from before.
"You know, despite the messed up situation … I'm happy." Spinel smiled. "Happy that you all found some part of me worth keeping around, even if it's little old innocent and stupid me." She held Garnet in front of her, wrapping around them. "Do you like that kinda thing? Innocent and dainty women?"
"I can clearly tell you that is not the case." Kelly said with a voice just like Sapphire's.
"But wouldn't it just be sooo easy for you to keep her that way. Better yet, striking me with that?" Spinel looked like she was actually asking to be attacked. "One strike, and POOF, you can be done with me forever!"
"But we don't want to do that!" Steven shouted.
"Oh, don't pretend like you don't wanna, just TRY it!" Spinel squeezed her tighter as her eyes became more and more crazed and dangerous. "Your friends are in danger, the world's crumbling around you, you're just itching to get rid of me! After all, what's more fun than hurting the people you hate!?"
"I'm not going to reset you, I don't want to hurt you!" Steven's face was filled with so much exhaustion and stress as he raised the laser scythe up.
"WHY NOT!?"
"Because no matter how much you push me, no matter how much you hate me, that will never be the truth!" He brought the weapon down and snapped it in half across his leg, crumbling it to pieces.
"The … truth." Garnet focused on those words. "Lies, confusions, hardships, deceits, I've known it all …" But it doesn't matterAs long as "We face the truth … together." She felt herself shift. Restoration. No matter what came their way, as long as she had her friends, as long as Sapphire and Ruby had each other, she could face anything the world threw at her.
"Oh what kind of coincidence is this!?" Spinel spoke with annoyance, jumping back and lodging a bolder at them … at her …
She instinctively felt her move her arms, forming a precise strike that shattered the boulder to pieces. Garnet glanced at the children, giving them a grin. "Sorry I took my sweet time."
"Better late than never." Steven spoke up with a small smile. "Come on, we have to talk her down."
"What part don't you comprehend, you moron!?" The pink gem shouted, arms stretching. "There is no talking anymore!!"
"Too bad for you, that's not really an option." Amethyst jumped into the whole they were in along with others.
"We're ready for you this time." Star cracked her knuckles.
"Then that means your ready for this!" Spinel threw an enlarged fist at them. In the heat of the battle, Garnet felt like there was no better time than now than to sing.
========================================================================
Star ducked under the fist being launched at them, grabbing onto her arm. "I've got her!"
"Oh, when a difficult day goes by." Garnet began singing … It was a very song-filled day.
She was slowly dragged back. "I don't got her!"
Marco came in with his gloves, punching the arm down.
"Keeping it together is hard, but that's why." For such an intense moment, the song felt very lounge style, like the kind of music you'd relax to while hanging in a lobby.
Marco's worked slightly, only for Spinel to bounce the arm back up and smack Marco across the face, sending them both flying sideways.
"You've got to try." Kelly went in next, surprisingly going for hair punching tactics rather than using her blade. "You've got to try."
"Just calm down Spinel, you're only hurting yourself!"
"And when there's a thundering storm outside…"
"Really, because it feels more like I'm kicking your butts all over again!" Spinel caught Kelly's hand and looked like she was going to throw her overhead, only for Amethyst to strike her in the back with a spin dash.
"Hah, told you we were prepared!"
"Underneath the covers, you huddle and hide."
"That was just luck!" Spinel snaked as she tried to kick Amethyst away with a giant foot.
"And this is just skill!" Pearl wrapped up Spinel's leg with her spear, spinning her around and launching her into a wall like a messed up cotton candy machine.
"Open your eyes…Open your eyes…"
"You guys can even make the middle of Armageddon a fun musical time…I love being a part of this family!" Luz shouted as she threw a couple of fire glyphs right into Spinel's face.
"It's the true, it's the true." Spinel tried to block the attacks. "It's the true kinda love." But got attacked by Star from behind with an axe. "It's the true, it's the true." And said distraction let Garnet through a right hook to her face. "It's the true kinda love."
Spinel was sent into the air, before she stuck herself to the side of the injector, bouncing off and launching herself at a defenseless Steven, only for Amethyst to catch her by the waist and slamming her into the ground. "Stuck in the middle of fear and shame."
"Even if I fall here, that injector's still gonna run rampant!" Spinel laughed. "Everyone's gonna go bye bye, even me! Isn't that just a jolly good time!?" She shouted, expanding her fist to deliver a punch.
"Everybody's looking for someone to blame."
"It doesn't matter if the injectors still on." Marco jumped on her arm and ran across it, delivering a bicycle kick to the gems face. "We've faced impossible odds before and won. We can do it again!"
"Like it's a game." The crazy gem laughed. "Like it's a game."
"Impossible odds over and over, I would love to watch you shatter from the stress before you do the same to little old me!" They extended their free hand to try and strangle marco. "After all, if I don't get a happy ending, nobody does!"
"And now I am better than "win-or-lose" Kelly shoved the attacking hands away and got in close. "There's a new direction that I'd like to choose."
"You've given up on trying to be happy. I understand that feeling more than anybody." Kelly said, looking at the gem straight in the eye. "That feeling of warmth you get when you attach yourself to someone, feeling like your needed by them, that feeling is amazing, but it's also crippling! I can help you deal with that!"
"It's called the truth." Spinel kicked Kelly away. "It's called the truth."
"You didn't get left behind and forgotten by everyone, people still cared about you even when you were a broken mess!" They spoke, grabbing Kelly and wrapping her around her arms.
"Kelly!" Steven reached out to his girlfriend.
"Hah, this one means more to you than just a friend, doesn't she?" Spinel snarled, squeezing tighter as she clung to the side of the injector. "I got a feeling when I watched how chummy you are with each other."
"Let her go Spinel, don't do something you'll regret!" Her brother shouted, gem sparking, but the spark died out after a few seconds.
"It's more than friendship you have. Yet it's also different from whatever you have with the Mewman. Either way, when she's gone, it's going to be painful for you one way or another." Spinel laughed as she climbed the injector. "Oh, and in case the lot of you try to follow me.." Spinel formed her hand into a horn again, and blew hard into it.
"Get out of the way!" Star screamed as they all jumped out, the pink poison that now filled the earth exploded the ground like it was pink lava.
It wasn't before long that the poison began to fill the streets, bystanders that hadn't left the city yet now stuck, trying to avoid the hazardous liquid. "Throw me." Steven said out loud, looking up at the injector.
"What?" Star asked.
"You guys need to save everyone left in the city, I have to face Spinel alone." He clarified. "It'll be easier to reason with her with less people around."
"Steven, I've never left you behind before, I'm not doing it now." She told him.
"You're not leaving me behind, Star. You're just…supporting me from far away." Steven shook his head. "Please, trust me."
Star wanted to argue, but a nagging feeling in the back of her head told her to agree. "Fine. But get out safely, or I'm blowing up the planet.
Steven laughed as he hugged her. "Hey you, show me a solvable problem." Steven sang as Garnet grabbed onto her brother, winding her arm back. "We can get through this." And launching him up like a baseball.
"I'll…do the…." She watched as her brother soared straight upward. "….hardest.." watched him as he clung to the side of the injector for dear life. "….part…with you."
"Come on Star." Marco held out his hand. "We've gotta go."
"It's the true, it's the true…"
Star kept looking at her brother, once again having to take the brunt of the hardship by himself. Having to face the unknown for completely undeserved reasons.
"It's the true kinda love."
She loved her brother more than anything. She wanted nothing more than the world for him.
"It's the true, it's the true … "
She looked out at the world they lived in, once again facing a catastrophe due to the sins of the past. It always seemed to be haunting them no matter what they did.
"It's the true kinda love."
This world…this was their home. They wanted nothing more than to live happily in it.
"It's the true, it's the true …"
"Alright." That happiness always seemed to have a price to it.
"It's the true kinda love."
"Let's save the world." A price that Star and her brother were always willing to pay time and time again.
"It's the true, it's the true …"
Even if they never rested, even if it never stopped…they would never stop fighting to be happy, to just be able to live.
"It's the true kinda love."
That was what they'd do. Because of that love they had for this world…and for each other…they would never give up.