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Steven tried to dodge the first blow, but he couldn't avoid the next one, which hit his helmet directly. He felt the vibration shake his skull and, in an instant, he spat out a large amount of blood as he was sent flying out of control.
He thought it was all complete stupidity, although he didn't have time to reflect on anything, because he ended up crashing into the water. He swore before submerging, and as the icy liquid enveloped him, he opened his eyes only to find a blurry vision that filled him with panic. A gigantic figure moved beneath the surface, distorted by refraction, but still completely menacing.
He didn't care if it was ridiculous, because as soon as he could react, he swam using his buoyancy, and although he wanted to get out of the sea, that monstrous fusion followed him like a dog chasing cats. The grotesque form seemed almost excited to hunt him down.
He thought fast; he needed to get his feet on solid ground, even if it was the seabed. He settled himself as best he could, digging his heels into the sand, and channeled all the strength he could into his legs. He immediately ran toward the fusion, which opened its eyes in surprise at such madness. However, instead of bracing for a blow to the jaw, it opened its mouth as if it were expecting something.
Steven couldn't care less about what it was trying to do. He summoned his shield just a second before impact, and in that critical instant, he expanded a protective bubble full of spikes around himself. The collision generated a painful explosion against the fusion, which let out a bloodcurdling growl. Amidst the blood and fractures, Steven clearly saw his face contort between two distinct expressions: Peridot and Jasper. It was obvious that Peridot no longer wanted to be part of that union.
He didn't have time to think for long, because he had to dodge an immediate blow. He propelled himself upward, landing on the creature's hand, and began running along its enormous arm as if he were on a living highway. When he looked up, he noticed that the crazed fusion trying to crush him with a headbutt using its helmet.
He summoned his shield again, added spikes to it, and threw it straight for the eye. The creature reflexively twisted its head, narrowly deflecting the attack, but it still managed to hit him hard enough to make him feel like the world was spinning again.
Steven let out a choked growl and felt his body tremble with rage. Jasper cursed Rose Quartz with a strangled scream just as, suddenly, countless stones began to float around him. He thought about the absurdity of the scene just before yelling an obscenity, because those same rocks, laden with iron, rained down on him like a deadly storm.
The impact raised a cloud of dust so thick that even the fusion stopped, surprised. This wasn't an ordinary attack; the stones vibrated, they seemed to have gravity, they seemed to obey some hidden force. The fusion cackled at the sight, delighted with the spectacle, and with almost childlike enthusiasm, she exclaimed how incredible her own power was as she continued to hurl more and more rocks at him.
She said between laughs that Peridot wasn't as useless as she had thought, and that taunt only made Steven clench his teeth in rage. From below, Steven withstood the bombardment, tanking as best he could, feeling his skin tear open, blood begin to run down his face and chest. It was a pain worse than facing Sugilite, perhaps worse than any blow he had ever received.
He thought, almost desperately, that if only he had someone to merge with, the violence would lessen, but he immediately rejected the idea. He didn't want to depend on anyone. Not now. He needed strength, power, something born within himself. His gem began to glow with a roaring light, so intense it seemed to tear through the storm of stones. It was anger. It was despair. It was the responsibility of carrying an entire planet on his shoulders.
Every hidden feeling, every breakdown, every tear held back over time now coalesced into a roar within him. He screamed that he wouldn't die, that his body could shatter into dust, but if his gem survived, even a tiny fragment, he would keep fighting. He swore to safeguard everything he could, swore to protect that foolish planet he'd ended up calling home.
The fusion, lost in its madness, heard none of it. Steven's gem glowed brighter, and his hands were covered in a pink hue he didn't even notice, so absorbed was he that he forgot himself. Without realizing it, that power repressed for so long was now unleashed. His entire body turned pink, and with a brutal surge of energy, the stones still floating in the air fell to dust.
The fusion, which had been laughing maniacally, now stared at him, wide-eyed and confused. It asked what it was, even though the answer was right in front of it. It was Steven, not quite. The pink hue, the gem itself, manifested in a pure pink. And in his eyes, shifting shapes were reflected: square, triangle, diamond, all fragmenting until they ended in a round, firm, imperfect, and real form.
Steven spat blood, smeared saliva on the visible wounds, trying to seal them as best he could, and observed his own pink-tinted body. He wondered if he had reached this point, though he didn't say it to anyone in particular. He seemed to have awakened sooner than necessary, and he didn't seem afraid. He felt the presence of that form coursing through him, nourishing him, enveloping him with a new power that had previously been inaccessible. It was a force so strange that it seemed impossible to contain.
The fusion now glared at him with fury. He smiled with a controlled madness, barely sustained by anything more than concentration. He thanked Jasper with an ironic smile, admitting that he never thought he would reach this point so soon. He created a platform of pink energy beneath his feet and rose into the air. There they stood, both facing each other.
A desperate voice pierced the air from within the fusion. It pleaded for help. It was Peridot, begging, crying, unable to separate. Steven opened his eyes in surprise, but before he could intervene, Jasper forced her back together. The voice faded as if it had been forcibly stifled.
Steven whispered that he would imprison her in a bubble for the next millennia. His fury was cold, indignant, horrified at how Jasper used fusion as a weapon. Without further hesitation, he launched himself at her, summoning two shields.
The fusion charged as well, a psychotic grin on her face. Their fists clashed. One, two, four, five, eight, ten, fifteen, ninety, one hundred blows. A barrage of impossible punches. Both were hurt, both were descending into madness, but Steven adapted. Each blow taught him something new about his strength, an absurd and overwhelming power.
The fusion sent him flying with a brutal impact, then launched itself after him like a human meteor. Steven created a shield beneath his feet, using it as a floating platform, and watched its approach with an even more unbalanced grin. He moved both hands and created another platform, launching it like a projectile. The fusion dodged it, missing the crucial point: Steven hadn't launched it to hit it, but to propel himself forward.
He seized the opportunity. He flew toward it, his hands covered in a bubble of pink spikes that vibrated like a living saw, ready to cut through any obstacle.
The fusion unleashed a ferocious blow that struck Steven directly in the face. The impact shook him to his core and made him stagger, but before the fusion could even celebrate, Steven's arm whipped out like a pink whip, extending far beyond its normal reach and returning the attack with a punch so brutal that the fusion's face convulsed on impact, spitting out saliva violently.
They both recoiled, one spitting blood, the other gasping, jaw trembling. The fusion smiled as if it had found something exquisite in all that chaos. Its words were broken, full of weariness, but charged with a seething hatred.
He seemed to have discovered something. He claimed he now understood how Steven had destroyed his Diamond, or rather, his Diamond. There was pure resentment in every word, like a poison that had been accumulating for years.
Steven didn't respond. He remained motionless, listening to the hum of power coursing through him, as if a pink electric current were running through his veins. He wanted to feel every fiber of that energy, every bubble of unknown force. He wanted to master it, train it, mold it. His eyes closed slowly, breathing calmly, intending to absorb it all before losing control.
But at that moment, the fusion raised a hand, as if issuing a silent command. Around him appeared the Topazes Steven had seen before, still encased within the bubbles. Two gems he barely remembered, barely recognized. His eyes narrowed, confused.
He didn't even have time to ask a question. The bubbles burst with a sudden explosion, freeing the gems with a force that unleashed flashes of light in the air. The fusion trapped them in a grip that felt not physical, but suffocating, and in the blink of an eye, an even more intense light enveloped the entire fusion.
Steven let out an uncontrollable curse and sent a barrage of pink spikes toward the light, but it was no use. The light grew, and grew, and grew even larger, becoming gigantic, so bright that Steven had to shield his eyes with his forearm. A jolt of terror shot through him when he heard that laugh. A completely deranged laugh.
HA... HAHA... HAHAHAHAHA!
The voice resonated with monstrous pride. It declared with jubilation that it was powerful, as if the mere thought excited it. The light dissolved, and there she was: a fusion of four gems, deformed, enormous, saturated with corruption stains that spread across her arms, legs, and face like a disease devouring her sanity.
She was grotesque. She was overwhelming. And three of those gems were forced to be part of that mass.
Steven stared, wide-eyed, unable to fully comprehend what was before him. And then that thing spoke. Its voice was Jasper's; it was obvious that only she was in control. The others were trapped, suffocated within the monstrosity they now formed.
The fusion proclaimed that Steven must observe her, that he must witness the power of her perfection. Around him, gigantic rocks began to rise as if the air had acquired reverse gravity. It was a terrifying sight.
Steven managed to blurt out "fucking hell," but the insult died in his throat as a pile of rocks rained down on him like miniature meteorites. He ran to dodge them in pure panic, bouncing, launching himself, smashing them to pieces when he had no other choice. Each rock traveled at an even more brutal speed than before; each impact against his shield vibrated to his very bones.
As he shattered rocks with his newfound strength, his mind wandered in chaos. He thought about the message he had sent earlier. He thought about Lapis. He thought about his father. He thought about everything he was leaving unanswered while his life hung in the balance in an ocean teeming with madmen and fused monsters.
And yet, he kept fighting.
The focus shifted to Lapis, who awoke calmly, as if nothing in the world could disturb her morning peace. She glanced beside her, expecting to see Steven curled up in a ball or sprawled out like a comfortable corpse. But the bed was empty. She sighed, not particularly surprised, though a little annoyed, and got up as if still weighed down by dreams.
She walked to the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror with ridiculous seriousness, as if analyzing her reflection in search of existential answers. She tried to remember what Steven was doing at that hour. Her gaze fell to the boy's toothbrush. She took it between her fingers, staring at it as if it were a sacred artifact, the secret of universal knowledge.
After three seconds, her brain reached its deepest conclusion.
"I don't know what the hell I'm doing," she muttered, putting the brush back exactly where it was.
She left the bathroom and went back upstairs to her room, still half asleep. Her phone vibrated. All the weirdness in the world concentrated in that instant: Steven was practically the only person who had her number, or so he'd told her fifteen times. He himself had said there was no point in giving it to anyone else because no one else mattered that much to him. And now she had a message.
She picked up her phone without emotion... until she read it.
The Zetas have arrived! If you can, come to this location.
The screen displayed an insane address, lost in the middle of the ocean, right near Watermelon Island. Lapis blinked once.
"Damn," she said immediately.
She ran through the house, going up and down stairs for no reason. She banged on doors urgently.
"PEARL! AMETHYST! GARNET! STEVEN IS IN DANGER!"
Silence. Not a sound. Not a movement. Not a cough. Nothing.
Panic coursed through her. She prepared to rip doors off their hinges if necessary, glancing at the floor to see if she could squeeze through the crack when she noticed a note taped perfectly, almost mockingly.
"We're off on a mission. Take care. Att: Pearl."
...
...
...
"Damn it," she repeated, her anger barely contained.
She ran to the portal, trying to use it to teleport to the location, pressing buttons she didn't even understand.
...
...
Nothing happened.
"It broke, didn't it?" she asked the air, her voice flat, though no one could confirm it.
Fed up, she bolted out of the house. She glanced at her phone, looked up at the sea, and without wasting a moment, placed her hands in the water, feeling as if the ocean were an extension of her own body. She closed her eyes, focusing. As soon as she felt the right direction, her expression transformed into absolute determination.
She summoned massive wings of water, which burst back with force, raising a spray of foam. And without another thought, she took off at full speed, as if the speed itself depended on how much she wanted to save Steven.
"I'm coming, Steven," she muttered through gritted teeth, and accelerated even more.
Minutes later, in the distance, she saw what she could only describe as a natural disaster with a kaiju complex. A gigantic figure moved among the debris of earth and rock, distorted, grotesque. And something pink slithered between the stones, moving like a restless lightning bolt.
"And Steven?" she asked, frowning as she desperately searched for him.
She would find him a second later.
And her heart would sink.
"My name is Steven, you filthy fusion!" That's what the pink voice screamed into the air as a shower of spikes formed around its body and shot out at the monstrous fusion in front of it.
"Steven?" Lapis wondered, completely confused. It was pink, it was screaming like it was someone else, and it had said something strange to the fusion. Why was it calling it that?
"Rose Quartz, I'll tear you apart!!"
That tone, that hatred, that way of spitting out the name left her with no doubt. Lapis narrowed her eyes and looked more closely. It was Jasper, it was Peridot, and also two gems she didn't recognize. All of them forcibly mixed together.
She had to help Steven. There wasn't time to think about anything else.
With a swift movement of his hands, he raised the sea and launched enormous liquid chains that ensnared the fusion, who roared in surprise. This sudden restraint caught her off guard, forcing her to frantically scan the surroundings until she found Lapis.
"You rebel."
Jasper spat the insult furiously as the fusion struggled. Lapis only snorted and tightened the water binding even further. The creature was enormous and strong, but she wasn't going to let go.
Steven saw that he wasn't alone and let out a sigh before propelling himself in a pinkish wake toward the fusion. Jasper reacted with a roar that shook even the air; her size increased dramatically, and a storm of rocks was hurled at Lapis. This forced her to release the chains to dodge, losing control of the restraint.
The fusion broke free, tearing through the hardened sea as if it were nothing. Steven managed to strike her, but the kick he received in return was titanic. Furthermore, the creature's strength was multiplied by the six legs it now possessed. Steven shot out like a projectile toward Lapis, who, bewildered by his new form but still focused, managed to catch him just before they both fell into the sea.
Before hitting the water, Steven created a bubble that protected them as they sank. The fusion regained complete control of itself, while Peridot and the Topazes tried to separate. Jasper wouldn't allow it. He roared with an almost animalistic fury and forced the three of them to remain within his control.
Inside the bubble floating underwater, Steven sat up on top of Lapis, still panting. They both stared toward the surface where the fusion was having an episode of pure delirium, screaming incoherently as if arguing with itself.
The creature trembled, shook, laughed, and growled, trapped between its own mind and Jasper's control.
Lapis didn't know which was worse. Steven transformed and screaming like Rose, or a giant fusion arguing with itself in multiple voices. She knew only one thing with absolute clarity.
This fight was far from over.
What? Lapis finally realized Steven's appearance. She studied him more closely and noticed that his body was covered in a pinkish glow. His clothes were completely torn to shreds; only his pants remained, and the shirt he once wore was barely recognizable.
What's wrong? Lapis asked urgently.
Jasper. Steven spoke with barely contained fury. She forced Peridot and two gems to fuse. The latter two were corrupted. He said this while staring intently at Lapis, who met his gaze without blinking.
We have to stop them. They could become completely corrupted. Also, we need information about the Cluster. Steven spoke while observing the fusion on the surface, a gigantic creature throwing rocks in all directions with darker patches spreading across its skin.
Lapis remained silent. Her face didn't change, but something in her eyes hardened. Without a word, she extended her hand toward Steven.
He looked at her, perfectly understanding what she wanted to do.
"Are you sure?" Steven cautiously took her hand, though he already knew the answer.
"I don't want to see anyone suffering like that." Lapis's voice was firm, without doubt.
They both began to dance. Their movements were swift, elegant, and charged with intense emotional force. The combination of fury, empathy, and determination made the energy between them surge like a raging river. As they took the final step, an explosion of light enveloped them.
Above the island, Jasper didn't have time to react. A gigantic fist composed of water struck her squarely in the jaw, sending her flying a great distance. The monstrous fusion shrieked in rage before regaining her balance.
"What the hell?" she growled in confusion as she looked down.
A female figure floated with wings of water. Her body was pink, like Steven's before the fusion, but with Lapis's aquatic elegance and a presence that seemed to command the storm.
The fusion was at its full potential. Nothing could stop it. Its power seemed to break its own limits.
Rose Quartz. Jasper roared with visceral hatred and lunged straight at her.
The fusion of Steven and Lapis just smiled. The name didn't matter to her. Nor the roar. Nor the fear.
She was simply Estela.
End of Chapter 48.