“This is bad…very bad.” Steven was panting; exhausted and bruised. He clutched his abdomen as he surveyed his situation through a swollen black eye. He stood within an unfamiliar place, where the ground seemed to be made of a marbled liquid, and the sky was filled with unnatural darkness; it was the mind of the gem fusion, Malachite. Scattered around him within this place were gemstones that had cracks on them; ruby, sapphire, pearl, amethyst, peridot, and lapis lazuli. To most people, they just looked like regular broken gems, but what they wouldn’t know is that those gems were actually living beings. Were they dead? No; they were just merely resting to restore themselves into a proper physical form. One gem that wasn’t cracked, Jasper, had walked a few feet in front of the boy; staring down angrily at him.

“Why…are you doing this?” Steven asked between pants. “WHY!? How dare you ask such a question!” Jasper shouted back as she charged at Steven, and sent a punch right at him. Steven was quick though, as he summoned his shield to quickly block the attack; the force of the blow had pushed him back a few meters away from the gem. “Look around you; all of this is your fault!”, Jasper continued to shout; “All of this could have been avoided, if you had just surrendered yourself, Rose.” With her fist raised, Jasper ran over to Steven in an attempt to punch at him again, but like before the boy had quickly defended himself. However, instead of using his shield, he formed a bubble around his entire body to protect himself; the force of the punch pushing back again.

Steven was now on his hands and knees; panting out once again, “hah…hah…hah.” Jasper just stood in place as she stared at the boy, “Is that all you’re going to do? How long do you think you can hold out against me without a weapon?” Jasper proceeded to walk slowly over towards Steven, and summoned her gem destabilizer as she did so; the weapon was surging with what seemed to be electricity. “Face it, Rose, you’re all alone and it’s all over for you.” As the gem got within Steven’s range, she raised her hand high as she was prepared to strike him with the destabilizer, until something very unexpected happened. “YOU’RE WRONG!”

Flipping out of nowhere was Connie, who landed in front of Steven; dressed in her training outfit. With the sword that she used in her training, she slashed at Jasper’s hand; making the gem drop her destabilizer and back away. “Steven is not alone”, she said as she turned around and offered and hand to Steven; “because I’m here with him.” Connie’s sudden appearance and how she found him would normally be the first questions on Steven’s mind. However, under present circumstances he was just happy to have her at his side. He gave her a smile as he took ahold of her hand, and Connie smiled back at him as she helped him up to his feet. Jasper was perplexed, “Why you little...WHO ARE YOU!?”, she growled angrily.

Connie focused on Jasper; staring the gem down sternly. “My name is Connie; I’m Steven’s friend”, she introduced herself and then pointed her sword at Jasper; “and I came here to protect him against you.” Jasper couldn’t be any angrier than she was now; she balled up her fists and clenched them tightly in her frustration. “How low have you fallen, Rose?”, she said; “Taking sides and getting help from a mere human, of all things. If you both think you can defeat me, then you’re sadly mistaken; you’re both weak.” “You’re right, we are weak”, Steven said as he took a few steps forward; “but we’re together now, and when we’re together, we’re like jam on a biscuit.”

Jasper narrowed her gaze, and tilted her head slightly, “How – What does that even mean?!” Her question was short-lived as the blade of Connie’s sword passed near her face; the gem dodged it by inches, as she jumped back to defend herself. “It means that I’m his sword!”, Connie rebutted. Jasper lurched forward to attack the girl, but her fist had instead connected with Steven’s buckler, “And I’m her shield.” Jasper growled as she clamped her hands together over her head, and slammed them down viciously. Steven and Connie narrowly avoided the attack as Jasper’s hands impacted the ground. Steven raised an arm to shield his eyes from the liquid; providing an opening for Jasper’s next attack.

The gem charged at the boy like a wild animal. This came as such a fright to Steven that he fell back to the ground, but he did raise his buckler up in defense. As the gem was about to attack him, Connie rushed over to Jasper and slashed the side of her body. “GAAAHHH!” she screamed out in pain, and switched her attention to the girl; “You little brat.” The gem had raised her left hand, as she prepared to backhand Connie, but upon seeing this Steven quickly ran to Connie’s side, and formed the bubble around them. Once the gem landed her attack, Steven and Connie were pushed back away from Jasper; the bubble disappearing afterwards. “Jasper, please let’s just end this; there’s no need for us to be fighting!” Steven spoke out as he tried to convince the gem to cease their battle; “Can’t we just talk things out?” “I’M THROUGH WITH TALKING!” Jasper shouted back.

It was no use; trying to talk sense into Jasper had proven to be a futile effort. Consumed with so much anger and hate, the gem rushed over to Steven and Connie; ready to attack them again without any sign of mercy. However, this also proved to be a setback on Japser’s part, as her attacks had become easier to predict. Steven and Connie both seemed to know this, as they had already spotted an opening on the gem to strike. Once within their range, Jasper was ready to strike, but Steven decided go for the offensive rather than defensive this time around. Seeing her attack, Steven surprised the gem by parrying her move; which in turn had left her wide open for a counterattack. Taking the opportunity, Steven charged over to Jasper with his buckler, and hit her in the gut in an attempt to knock her back, but didn’t have enough strength to do so. Seeing him in need, Connie rushed over to Steven’s side and joined him with shoving his shield forward; adding in enough strength to knock Jasper into the marbled liquid.

The rippling bubbles that appeared out from the liquid made it very clear to Steven and Connie that the gem wasn’t done. “Steven”, Connie said suddenly; getting the boy’s attention; “Let’s show that gem how strong we really are.” Bringing her hand out to him, Steven gave a nod of his head and took her hand. “GRAHH!” Jasper roared as she emerged from the liquid, and after shaking her hair dry, she was shocked at the site before her. Standing before the gem was Stevonnie; a fusion of both Steven and Connie, who wore Connie’s training outfit while Steven’s star shirt covered the chest area. “Have you no dignity? Fusing with a human!?” Jasper barked furiously, but shortly regained her composure; “Your new look sickens. Why would you make yourself even weaker by combining with such a feeble creature? It’ll just make it easier for me to bring you down!”, she chuckled. “Don’t underestimate us!” Stevonnie spoke with a serious tone.

“Hmph!” was all that Jasper said, as she summoned her crash helmet around her head; she was thinking that she didn’t need it, but she decided to have it on just in case. The gem got herself into a fighting stance, just as Stevonnie; with sword and shield in hand, had gotten into a fighting stance as well. The two just stood far from each other; waiting for one of them to make the first move. A bead of sweat traced its way down Stevonnie’s face; splashing down into the marbled liquid floor. At that moment Jasper charged forward; tucking her body closely and rapidly rolling into some kind of a spinning dash attack. Thinking the buckler wouldn’t provide much protection, Stevonnie formed the bubble shield around her. The attack connected and the bubble shielded Stevonnie, but only for a split second as Jasper’s attack popped the bubble; allowing the gem to spin dash into the fusion’s body.

Stevonnie was knocked down to her knees, and Jasper grinned as she cracked her knuckles; sending a punch to the fusion’s face. However, Stevonnie parried the punch with her buckler, and pushed the gem back; immediately sending a slash across Jasper’s chest. “GAAAHHH!” the gem screamed out. Stevonnie ran over and stabbed her sword forward, but Jasper grabbed Stevonnie by the wrist and flipped the fusion over her; slamming her onto her back. “AAAHHH!”, Stevonnie groaned. Using this time for another attack, Jasper jumped high in the air in an attempt to perform a downward elbow attack on the fusion. Stevonnie was quick though, as the fusion rolled to the side to evade the attack and once back on foot, Stevonnie slashed at Jasper’s back.

Turning her attention to Stevonnie, Jasper was greeted with a series of sword swipes, as the fusion went on an all-out attack. The gem was quick to see and dodge every incoming swipe and slash, and when she had the chance she grabbed Stevonnie by the wrist again. However, instead of flipping the fusion over like before, Jasper used her free hand to send a punch at Stevonnie, but the fusion blocked the attack with their buckler. Jasper grinned as she predicted that would happen and Stevonnie gasped in response, as the gem released her hold of the fusion’s wrist, and punched Stevonnie in the abdomen. The attack sent Stevonnie rocketing back a few meters away from Jasper; the sword and buckler were knocked out of her hands in process.

“GAHAHAHAHA!” Jasper laughed as she watched Stevonnie stagger back; “Now you’re without your sword and shield; you stand absolutely no chance against me now. Give it up.” Once back on her feet, Stevonnie again got into a fighting stance; looking sternly at the gem across from her, “I said to not underestimate us.” Jasper was annoyed by that response, but she wasn’t going to let it get to her, as she knew she had a much better chance in hand to hand combat. The two ran towards one another, and Jasper was the first to strike as she sent a series of punches at Stevonnie, but was surprised that the fusion managed to dodge and block all of her blows. Taking a punch to the face, Jasper staggered back and Stevonnie rushed over to her, sending a series of punches and kicks on the gem; leaving Jasper unable to block or fight back. After taking a kick to the gut, Jasper clutched her abdomen in pain and by the time she returned her gaze on Stevonnie, the fusion ran over and drop kicked her. Jasper was sent flying back and upon hitting the ground, she apparently lost consciousness.

After letting out a sigh of relief, Stevonnie defused back into Steven and Connie; the two smiling at one another for their victory. “Looks like we’ve beaten her”, Connie said. “Yeah”, Steven nodded in response. The two then walked opposite of each other in the direction of their sword and shield; unaware that Jasper had gotten back up. The gem stared at Steven with hatred coursing through her, “I…refuse to be beaten…by you…ROSE!” she said. “GRAAAHHH!” she shouted as she charged at the boy in a blind rage; “STEVEN, WATCH OUT!” Connie shouted. Just as Steven was about to pick up his buckler, he realized that Jasper was charging at him, and couldn't react fast enough to defend himself. But then, he was quickly pushed out of the way by Connie; leaving her to take the blow from the gem’s helmet, “CONNIE!” Steven shouted. Before all the strength could leave her body, Connie quickly stabbed her sword into Jasper’s nose; which just so happened to be her gem, “GAAAHHH!”

Jasper’s body dropped to the ground, while Connie’s slid across to another side of the place. “Connie, Connie!” Steven shouted as he rushed over to his friend’s side; “Are you ok?” There was no response, but Connie was still breathing, and as Steven was about to help her, he let out a gasp. The upper back part of her outfit was torn off, and what Steven saw was a cracked gem embedded in Connie’s back; a carnelian. “A gem?” he whispered; “YOU’RE A GEM?”

“GAHAHAHAHA, I knew it all along!” Steven had focused his attention over to Jasper; the gem was lying on her stomach and her body appeared to be distorting. “I knew…that brat was gem. There’s no way…a gem could ever…fuse with a human”, she said; “But…it’s all over for her; her gem is cracked beyond repair.” Startled by this, Steven returned his gaze back to the gem in Connie’s back, and saw in horror that more cracks were appearing on it. “No”, Steven whispered and upon hearing Jasper laughing some more, he looked back at the gem and saw the distortion of her body was going wild; “Live forever in loneliness, Rose Quartz.” Those were Jasper’s last words before her physical form vanished, and her gemstone fell to the ground and shattered into many pieces; never to be restored.

Steven remained speechless from the scene before him; no words could describe what he was thinking. “I don’t believe it”, Connie managed to speak; making Steven switch his focus back to her; “All this time…I’ve been a gem my whole life…and I’ve never noticed.” Steven pleaded for Connie to stop talking; suggesting to her to save her strength. He was in a state of panic; unsure of what he could do to help her, but then he remembered his healing powers. “Wait, I’ll use my healing powers on your gem, and you’ll be all better!” he said as he was preparing to fix her gem. Before he could start though, Connie placed a hand on the boy’s cheek, “No…you shouldn’t waste your powers on me”, she said in a weak tone; “It’s already too late for me.” Steven held his friend’s hand with both of his, “Don’t say that! Why would you say that?”

The sound of cracking was heard and upon looking down at Connie’s back, Steven’s eyes went wide in horror. Not only had the carnelian received more cracks, but there were cracks present on Connie’s back. Apparently her body was shattering, as even her face and arms had cracks appearing on them. Tears were shedding out from Steven’s eyes; the young boy afraid of what was happening to his friend. “Steven…I just want to say that…I’m really glad we were friends”, Connie said weakly. Steven held onto his friend’s hand firmly, “Connie…please don’t leave me”, he said as he sniffed his nose; “The world just…won’t be the same without you.” Hearing those words brought a smile to Connie’s face, as she felt the boy’s tears fall onto her face. She soon started to shed tears herself; not of sadness, but of joy from Steven’s kind words and the knowledge that he cared about her. “Steven…you should know that…I’ve always lo…”

Connie wasn’t able to finish her sentence, as her body completely shattered right before Steven’s eye. She disappeared, with nothing of her left behind, and from there Steven lost it. The boy sobbed loudly, as he pounded his fist against the ground in anguish. “Why did this have to happen; this can’t be real!” Steven was feeling very fragile, as if he could break at any moment now. Suddenly, another cracking sound was heard, and Steven lifted his shirt up to have a look at his gem. He was horrified once he saw that his own gem was cracking, and not just the gem, but himself as well, “Aaahhh, what’s happening?” Steven wasn’t the only thing that was shattering either; the darkened sky and the ground were shattering too. The cracked gemstones that lied on the ground the whole time, had all shattered in the same manner as Jasper’s gemstone. Steven was scared, he didn’t know what to do; there was nothing for him to do. All he could do was scream. “AAAAHHHH!”

“STEVEN!”

Waking up in reality, Steven was letting out a series of deep breaths; his body sweating from the nightmare he just experienced. Surrounding him were Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl; each of them with a look of concern present on their faces. “Steven…is everything alright?”, Pearl was the first of them to speak. A single tear fell down the side of Steven’s face, “No, everything’s not alright”, he answered back slowly. “What happened; what did you see?” Garnet asked; wanting know everything that happened to the boy.

After calming himself down and wiping the tear from his face, Steven went on to tell the Gems about his nightmare. He mentioned how they were beaten down into their gem states, along with Lapis Lazuli and Peridot. He then told them about he was defending himself against Jasper, with only his shield, until Connie came out of nowhere to his rescue. Steven then came to a stop once he had realized what he just said. “CONNIE!” he shouted out suddenly. With no time to waste, he rushed down the stairs and to the phone; leaving the Gems upstairs all to themselves. After pressing the buttons on the phone, Steven’s feet were jumping up and down uncontrollably, as he waited for someone to answer him, “Please pick up, please pick up!”, he said impatiently.

“Hello?” Connie answered tiredly. “Steven, do you know what time it is?” Although tired, Connie’s eyes had shut right opened as she listened to Steven; it was almost hard for understand most of the words he spouted, Steven, please, calm down and just tell me everything that happened.” Listening intently, Steven had told Connie everything about his nightmare. Even though he told her about her fate in the end, he did however, neglect to tell about her being a gem; afraid of what would come if that revelation was told. Connie was concerned as she listened to Steven crying on the other end of the phone; it reminded her about the time when he was avoiding her and wanted to end their friendship. “Steven, Steven listen to me”, she started; “You don’t have to worry; I’m not leaving you behind.” Connie could hear the boy sniff after he wiped his nose. “You promise?” he asked. “I promise.”

There was a moment of silence between the two, and although Connie knew that Steven was feeling better, she could still tell that he was sad. This in turn had made her feel melancholy; she wanted to do something for Steven to make him happy and feel safe. It was then that she decided to sing a song to him.

“You are a Crystal Gem.”
“You’ll always save the day.”
“And if you think you can’t, you’ll always find a way.”

Hearing her lovely singing voice brought a smile to Steven. The song she was singing to him, made feel that everything would be ok. Connie smiled as she could tell that Steven was happy. She walked over to a window and looked outside to see the stars in the sky.

“That’s why the people of this world, believe in…”
“Garnet…”
“Amethyst…”
“And Pearl…”
“And…”

Connie put an end to her singing; confused as to why she would end it so suddenly. “And?” he questioned; “Go on”, Connie replied back in a gentle tone. “And Steven”, Steven finished the last part of the song questionably. “That’s right, and Steven”, Connie said as she nodded her head. The boy couldn’t be any happier than he was right now, as he thanked Connie for singing that song to him. It wasn’t over yet, as Connie suggested that Steven should sing along with her. “You…” she started, but was suddenly stopped by Steven, who replied back with; “No, we.” Connie gave a brief chuckle as she nodded, and was getting ready to sing again, but with Steven singing with her.

“We are the Crystal Gems.”
“We’ll always save the day.”
“And if we think we can’t, we’ll always find a way.”

Back up the stairs, the Gems stood by the stairway as they listened in on Steven. “What do you think he’s doing?” Pearl asked calmly. “It sounds like he’s singing”, Amethyst replied; “HEY STEVEN, WHAT ARE YOU SIN…MFF!” She was suddenly silenced by Garnet, who had placed a hand over the gem’s mouth, “Quiet”, she said; “Just let him have this time to himself right now.”

“That’s why the people of this world, believe in…”
“Garnet…”
“Amethyst…”
“And Pearl…”

“And Steven”, Connie said as she finished the song. There was brief moment of silence, as another tear shed down Steven’s eye, but this time it was a tear of joy. “And Connie”, he added. Upon hearing that, a tear of joy had shed from Connie’s eye, “Yeah, and Connie.”

END!
The Nightmare
By Natsuru