Chapter 90: Back to Bismuth

Summary:

A rainbow enters the fray

Chapter Text

"Alright, time for the lastest hunting spoils." They may have still not been able to find Jasper and Mina, but every corrupted gem they captured was another the nightmare duo didn't have. "Lets see …" Steven looked through the pile. "Axes, a can of soda, unicorn statue … and three choco bars." It was a weird day.

"Oh, dibs on the unicorn statue!" Star shouted as she grabbed it, but Lion began gnawing on it. "No, bad kitty! Get another unicorn to chew on!"

"I'll take the soda can." Peridot grabbed the object. "I've been working on carbonation power … if I manage to shake it enough, I could probably get a decent generator going for cloudy days." She laughed. "Plus, another subject of my METAL BENDING!" She made the can float after glaring at it with effort. "Yes, I can do it on command now!"

"Oh no, all fear the power of aluminum." Kelly snorted as she grabbed the ax. "Soon you'll move on to soup cans and we'll all be trembling in terror."

"My reign of power commences!" Still didn't get sarcasm down pat.

"I still can't get a good reading on either of them." Garnet sighed as Pearl looked worried. "Both of them are so sporadic and unpredictable, Mina in particular."

"I'm honestly more surprised Mina isn't shattering the corrupted gems instead of poofing them." Marco pointed out. 

"She knows how to restrain herself when there's a big pay off … it's the only reason she tolerated Rose being around the queens for as long as she did." Pearl sighed.

"Great, a magic psycho with over a hundred year grudge. Why not add boiling searing anger to that." Star sighed. "Maybe if I got the spell mom used against toffee.."

"Not worth it." Steven answered. "She may have done it to herself, but she was right about her spells being dangerous. Look at what happened to her arms." Steven shuddered. 

"Yeah, what does dark magic do exactly?" Kelly asked.

"Dark magic types into a bad side of magic of course. Older and more dangerous." Steven recalled. "Eclipsa explained a bit. When someone uses more extreme stuff, it hurts a piece of their soul and body with every use. Eclipsa barely has any feeling left in her hands due to constant use."

"I mean at some point we're not gonna have a choice." Star deadpanned. "So what are you taking?"

"I'll take the candy bar." He knew he should avoid sweets … but he can't help it. "I'll put it in Lion for now."

"Grrr.." His lovable and fluffy companion moaned as he bowed his head.

"Hey, I don't want to overload Kelly's hair too much, that ax alone is going to take up a lot of space."

"Come on, I still have plenty of room." Kelly tried to defend by shaking her hair, only for a few dozen swords, war hammers, and goblin dog wrappers to fall out of it. "…Okay, maybe I should start organizing my storage space."

"We can do it when we're not busy gem hunting." Steven laughed and took a deep breath before diving right in. Going into Lion's mane was a pretty fun experience, but the lack of oxygen inside put a bit of a cap on the enjoyment.

The inside of the mane was just as calm and serene as he remembered it. It was like walking through a nice pink grassy field as he reached the island in the middle of everything, where the tree hanging most of his stuff laid, including the extra large mr universe t-shirt, the tape, the bubble floating next to it, and the large chest.

He always wondered what was in that chest. It could be anything! Frozen cookie cat, baby Lion, Toffee's head … Please don't let it be that last thing.

Maybe it was better to leave that question unanswered. He internally sighed as he put the piece of candy on top of the tree branch. Steven sat as he put it with all the others. Eclipsa got him hooked on those chocolate bars, and now he basically had a compulsion to empty the vending machines of them.

He looked at the empty pink landscape. If it was breathable here, it would have been the perfect spot for a date-the branch broke. He never even knew it could break.

He didn't have to worry long about hitting the ground as his stomach hit the bubbled gem that was underneath the branch, and just like Centipeetle, it popped open as he was bounced out of Lion's mane.

"I MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE!" Steven stated once he was finally able to breathe again.

"Oh come on, it couldn't be that bad." Star waved off. "I've set the school on fire so many times, most things pale in comparison."

"I freed a bubbled gem in Lion's mane!"

"There was a bubble in there!?" Everyone who hasn't been inside Lion shouted.

"Don't worry, if I hurry, it won't form again!" With fierce determination, Steven dove into the mane again, intent on fixing this mess before it started.

He was far too late when he got a good look at the now glimmering gem floating in the air. The gem turned on its side as the body formed around it, with most of it pointing inward.

The body was soon shown to be a gray one with rainbow hair, wearing what looked like a dark apron as she struggled to get a look at the world around them. She…she wasn't a corrupted gem. She turned to him, eyes widening in surprise. Steven jumped out of Lion's mane

"Alright, good news, I didn't free a corrupt gem."

"Oh thank the stars!" Pearl shouted a bit prematurely.

"Bad news … I may or may not have freed a homeworlder."

"What!?" Star shouted. "Why the heck would there be a Homeworld gem inside of Lion!? Don't tell me this is another Lapis situation.

"Steven, could you describe her?" Garnet asked.

"One second." He quickly popped back and peeled his head out, doing his best to get out before the gem could ask him anything. "She's gray, really muscular, and has rainbow hair."

Garnet stepped forward with her glasses off, a desperate look in her eyes. "Her gem. Innie or outie?"

"An innie." Steven recalled. "Actually, do gems just get stuck in one position or can you move them around how you.."

"Let's not get into details at the moment." Pearl weirdly pushed past the question. "Take her out, we might not be dealing with an enemy at all."

"A new gem that doesn't want to kill me? That's rare." Steven nodded and popped his head back in, only for the gem in question to be out of view. Weird, it wasn't like there was a place for her to run..

"Hey, little friend." The gem's face popped right in front of him, and he almost instinctively ducked out. "No, no, don't run again!" She waved calmly. "I'm a bit lost here, and you're the only other person around here, so do you mind lending a hand?" She stretched out her arm in a show of peace.

Steven waited for about a second before accepting it, cherishing the fact that this new gem wasn't actively shooting lasers or punches on him. He pulled her out, turning to Garnet and Pearl, who had tears in their eyes.

"Wow…total stranger." Amethyst commented before noticing the teary expression on the other gems. "Guys, you're weirding me out. Who's…?"

"BISMUTH!!!" Pearl for once was the excited one of the group, jumping into the arms of the beefy gem and hugging her in the tightest squeeze he's ever seen the pale woman give."

"Oh, who is this? The Pearl I know wasn't this touchy!" The new gal smiled. "Hey, has anyone lost a Pearl? Uptight and a firecracker!" She patted the girl's head. "Who do you belong to?"

"Nobody!" Pearl shouted proudly. Huh, Steven never thought she had it in her to go along with a running joke.

"Alright, settle down." Garnet approached the happy gems.

"Oh, like you're one to talk. Oh, I'm sorry, I mean two to talk." That jab got a playful gauntlet punch into the gem's arm. "Oh, looks like your Ruby is showing."

"So who's the architect?" Peridot asked with confusion.

Bismuth turned to her in surprise, which became elated glee. "A peridot? Didn't see much of those back in the day. We actually managed to get new members! That's amazing!" She gazed at the rest of the group. "We can never have too many Amethyst, and I don't remember recruiting that many humans into the fold this much, but any and all help is appreciated."

"I'm not..not important." Star shook her head. "Again, who are you, and why were you in a bubble?"

"Steven, everyone, this is Bismuth!" Pearl announced proudly. "She was one of the original members of the Crystal Gems! The first gem to join after Garnet." Pearl kept looking at the gem in bewilderment. "I still can't believe it! Rose said she lost you in the battle of Zigorath! We were afraid your were captured, or worse, shattered!"

"Me? Shattered? Hah, come on Pearl, I thought you knew me better than that! Homeworld couldn't even come close to touching me.." Bismuth's eyes widened as if she realized something. "Rose…where is she?"

Oh boy, they'd had to go through this again. "Hey, I'm Steven." He called her attention to her. "Rose…had a kid and that kid is me." He lifted up his shirt to reveal the gemstone. "I have some of her powers, but nothing else…she's not around anymore." Bismuth looked at his stomach in curiosity.

"Yeah, Steven is a completely separate person from Rose. And if you have a problem with that, then you gotta answer me personally." Star half threatened, pounding her wand in her hands.

"… Nah, seems like something the crazy broad would do." The gem shrugged. "So you've got … oh wow, is that the wand?" She looked down at it. "Never thought I'd see this beauty again."

"Wait, you know what this is?" Star asked.

"Do I know what this is?" The rainbow woman gave a cocky smirk. "I helped a familiar blue bastard with the blueprints."

"WHAT!?" Everyone in the temple shrieked. 

"Yeah, Rose found this weird well that connected Earth with that other moon, and had me work on this little number with Glossaryck to help protect life there." He didn't know how to feel about this secret being revealed. "I can take you to the workshop, but we should wait for the others. Like Bigs, little Laramar, and Snowflake."

"Who?" Kelly asked.

"You know, the other crystal gems." Bismuth said, looking around as there was an awkward tenseness to the air. "What, somethin I'm missin?"

"Bismuth." Garnet started. "It's been six thousand years since the war ended … we lost."

"Six thousand..six thousand!?" Bismuth yelled, looking horrified. "What happened!? What did homeworld do to our friends!?"

"It's not a pleasant story to tell." Pearl said glumly. "You will be seething with absolute rage and despair upon hearing it."

"Pearl, I've had nothing but rage for those Diamond bastards since day one …" Bismuth let out a weak smile. "And despair isn't too bad with you crazy gems."

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Bismuth punched five Opal sized holes in the wall as she cried her heart out. Now they were on a Mountain trail, something Marco took to naturally. "I can't believe it…after all this time, after all that effort.."

"It wasn't a complete loss. We managed to save life on earth and keep it out of Homeworld's control." Garnet did her best to stay positive. 

"Yeah, and the gems are still around … more or less." Steven tried helping. "I managed to befriend a couple of the corrupted ones, they're kinda wild, but they mean well."

"And we managed to turn around Lapis and Peridot from their old evil ways." Marco added in.

"Yes, now I have the power of anarchy and metal, all will fear me!" The gem cackled.

"Yet you can't climb a Mountain." He deadpanned, having had to carry her after the first fifteen feet.

"Hehehe, I like you Peridot, you definitely got the crystal gem fire burning inside you." That definitely seemed to cheer up the beefy gem just ever so slightly. "Definitely could've used some of that while protecting the planet."

"Oh, and speaking of saving planets." Star said as they climbed. "Does anyone care to explain what happened with 'Mewni was a moon'?"

"Oh, right." Bismuth scratched her chin in thought. "Couple thousand years ago during Earth's colonization, it was rumored that Pink Diamond was supposed to colonize Mewni first, but switched her target to Earth upon meeting some of the inhabitants there. When the rebellion first started, it was said the Pink Diamond fought back the way she did because of Mewni's 'savage influence'."

"I don't even know whether or not to be offended by that." Steven deadpanned. "I mean probably but … they weren't wrong ."

"Deal with one problem at a time bro, we already know how much history can suck already." Star patted her brother's back. "So, what exactly are we doing here, and does it have anything to do with why you were bubbled?"

The beefy gem snorted. "We may have taken a huge blow from homeworld, but now that I'm here, we can finally get back to Bismuth."

"Heh, she's got jokes." Kelly let out a small chuckle. Marco could take solace that Bismuth wasn't at least a hyper active goofball like Quana was.

"And … where is it … there!" She punched a rock, and a massive opening appeared in the wall. "My workshop, it's got the good old silver smell."

"Workshop?" Star asked out loud.

"Bismuth's are typically the main source of architecture and construction on Homeworld." Peridot clarified. "Most of the temples and spires on earth you've seen have been built mainly by their cut."

"Yep, I thought I could only make buildings … but Rose showed me a whole new world." The gem cackled as she flipped a lever inside, magma falling. "I can be my own gem, make whatever I want."

"Wow, so many weapons." Kelly's eyes sparkled seeing all of them. "You've made all of these!?"

"That and many more shrub head! Every material weapon used for the rebellion was made right here!" The magma flowed into little tunnels that let up the room as it heated everything up. "I made every weapon for every Crystal Gem … other than the ones they pull out of thin air, I ain't that impressive." She snickered.

"Homeworld typically didn't bother with physical weaponry, so that definitely put us at an advantage." Garnet smirked. "That and the fact we didn't have sticks up our butts about fusion."

"Nice to see the power couple's fire hasn't died down after all this time." Bismuth laughed. "Oh that reminds me, put these on!" She tossed golden brass knuckles that managed to form around Garnet's gauntlet.

"Did you just upgrade the fists of power even further!?" Kelly shouted. "I have met the god of weapons, I bow to thy amazing glory!"

"Hey, none of that here! If you're here, then your a crystal gem too, which means you bow to no one!" Bismuth cheered gleefully as she tossed something else to Pearl. "And no offense to your spear, but I always saw you as more of a trident user."

"You say no worship then you hand me such a divine weapon." Pearl smirked as she gave it a twirl. "Are you trying to send me a message?"

"I don't know, do you want me to?"

"This is so weird." Steven muttered next to him.

"I know, I've never seen Pearl this chummy with another gem before." Amethyst added in.

"Hey, Amethyst right?" Bismuth tossed a mini mace to her. "Do these spiked chain whips do it for ya?"

"… Back in Bismuth!!" They lost her.

"What about the rest of you?" Bismuth asked. "Can't upgrade the wand, but I'm sure you all could use a touch up, and the little runt here definitely needs some fire power." The rainbow gem smiled, apparently in the zone as she pulled out an assortment of materials.

"Anything will suffice as long as I can continue to exercise my dominance over metal!" Peridot exclaimed. Bismuth snorted as she tossed the green girl three small shuriken-like disks into the air that Peridot caught easily with her powers.

"They oughta do you well, unless you want the big stuff." She gestured to the war hammer the size of some bigger fusions.

"Oh, dibs on that one!" Star shouted and caressed the big item. "Definitely can use this bad boy whenever we need to bring out Starry Quartz for a fight."

"That's the spirit." Bismuth laughed. "This is fun, it's like the good old days of showing off the workshop to newbies and watching them pick out their first weapon … magical times I tell ya."

"Surprised you're going along with this so well." Marco whispered to Steven.

"Hey, this is the first gem that hasn't tried to kill someone on sight. I call that a win." Steven shrugged with a small smile. "Plus we need all the help we can get dealing with Jasper and Mina."

"If you say so." Marco was unsure. This definitely felt like a too good to be true moment, especially with a gem he never heard the others talk about before…

"Hey, hoodie kid, catch!" Bismuth tossed the human a set of gloves. "Can't increase your punching power, but you can definitely pull off some elemental attacks that can reach Garnet's level of kickass."

"…Would you mind if I bowed just a little to your amazingness?" Marco practically drooled over the new gloves. "A perfect fit too!"

"That's the power of Bismuth in action!" She shouted. "How about we all do a test run, get the old joints running again."

"I don't think they look a day over four hundred." Pearl joked.

"Meh, could be older." It was still weird to see Pearl and Garnet so casual.

"Nice. Let's see how your new stuff handles against this baby." Kelly snickered as she pulled out the pink sword from her hair.

"My oh my, never thought i'd see that beauty either."

"Seriously, you made this kickass sword!?" Kelly shouted with awe.

"Rose asked for it to be custom made." The gem took it up, holding it to the light with nostalgia. "She said 'I'd like something that can take out any gem's light form with a single swing, but never even crack a gem no matter how hard you wack it'". Bismuth paused just a bit, almost freezing in place, before laughing again. "Hopefully six thousand years hasn't dulled it down too much."

"Heck no, it's as strong as ever, and Kelly's even stronger!" Steven hyped up his girlfriend, who blushed from the praise. That must be nice…having someone like that. Now he was the only single guy in the group. Was this how Star felt the whole time? … Must have sucked.

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Bithmust shook her hammer hand after that last clash. "I can't tell if it's my weapons or you just managed to up your game, but Garnet, you definitely got a bigger fire in you then last time."

"What can I say? I've just been very motivated as of lately." The powerhouse coyly smirked as she continued her assault. "I've never felt more alive or happy to be me than now."

"Is that right?" Bismuth smirked, before moving to the left to avoid some whips. "And I see Amethyst here is a wild fire of her own. Let's see what you can pull out."

"I will, but you're going to regret it!" Amethyst glowed before shift shaping into a larger, musually, and hairier form. "I'm going to wreck your Bismuth!" The gem shouted as she wrapped her leg in her weapon and threw her overhead.

"Heheh, very clever." She chuckled, before having the duck out of the way from an attack from above. "What the, Lasers!?" Bismuth looked up, seeing Pearl having leapt overhead gracefully, firing beams of energy from her weapon. "Since when was that ever a thing!?" She asked, brewing in excitement at how the lanky looking gem had grown.

"Since I really needed a reach." Pearl smirked. "I just thrust harder than the air can take it."

"Seriously, the innuendos." Star groaned. "Maximum sunshine overdrive!" The princess flashed some blinding light into her eyes.

"Oooh, now we're getting fancy up in here! Guess magic's more than just a pretty light show." Bismuth blocked the attack with her hammers as she felt herself get blown back just a litt, skidding across the sand. "But how do you deal with an attack that's up close and personal?"

"That's where I come in!" With a 'wacha', the hoodie kid came in with a fiery punch from his right, and an icy chop from his left. "How do you like the taste of your own medicine!?"

"I'll have to talk to my doctors about the side effects of gloating." Bismuth retorted as she grabbed the skinny guy by the leg and tossed him aside, although he showed off some impressive agility by managing to land on his feet. "Better to Bark when you know how to Bite!"

"I don't know, you might not like how loud the bark is." 'Steven', as she chose to believe his name was for the moment, created two bubbles from his palms and tossed them at her.

"Hah, it's going to take more than a bubble to.." She formed her weapon and swung at the tiny orbs, only to flinch when they detonated on contact. "What the?! Since when do those bubbles explode!?" That was a useful power that would've come in handy on MULTIPLE occasions in the past.

"Since always." The 'boy' shrugged. 

"And it's a nice set up for this!" The bushy one, Kelly, raised the sword and stopped just at her neck. "Checkmate." The girl blinked. "Wait, chess wasn't invented back then. Was checkmate still a thing?"

"Don't know, I'll get back to you once I put YOU into check!" She bosted, as she swung the girl away from her with just a little more force then she intended to. The sword being aimed at her…it just brought her back to that one moment.

"Don't worry Kelly, I gotcha!" 'Steven' jumped into the air pretty high, and caught the girl in midair, their bodies beginning to glow. "Whoa, this is getting easier to do more and more. I barely had to try!" The new figure shouted with glee.

"Fusion with an organic." Bismuth stood with wide eyes, impressed at 'steven's' versatility.

"Sneak attack!" A few shurikens became lodged into her side, turning to see the confident look on little Peri going down. Time to fix that up.

"Ah, no, sneak attacks, my one weakness!" She spoke dramatically. "What can I do when all I have are these massive rocks to throw back!?" She almost lost her composure entirely as she grabbed the biggest boulder near her and tossed them at the little green fireball.

"Mistakes have been made!" She screamed, running behind the new fusion who sliced and diced.

"Aww, and here I thought the new guy wouldn't have to resort to pebbles." They smirked, cutting the boulder with Rose's blade easily.

"Nice, seems that there's a little fire power in those skinny arms of yours." Bismuth whistled. It took a massive amount of strength for the sword to cut through stone when it was supposed to do everything EXCEPT cut rock.

"Skinny!? It's pure muscle packed within these! All power by love! And magic, mostly the last part though." The fusion chuckled before burst ahead right towards her, striking fiercely as Bismuth had to struggle to keep blocking and evading each strike. "Don't be fooled by my pretty looks, I'm a tough nut to crack."

"Pretty? I'd call you a … six or seven." She smirked, swinging her hammer arms to clash against the sword.

"Oh I'll show you what a ten can do!" The strikes came in faster, along with hardened hair strikes Bismuth had a hard time deflecting. Those eyes … they had the right kind of fire in them.

"When you're out there fighting, you need more than a ten, you need an eleven, twelve, all the way up to freaking infinity!" Bismuth found herself lost within the thrill of the fight, forgetting to hold back at all as her hammer strikes managed to actually absorb most of the blows. "You can't afford to throw half your ass into a fight at any given time!"

"Oh yeah…?!" The fusion's skin actually started to glow pink as she felt herself get backed into a wall. "...Let me show you what some life and death can do you no good stay behinding gem who's only good for making us gear so the real fighters can-"

"That's ENOUGH!" They were punched back by Garnet, a dark look on her face. "Stelly, you're close to crossing a line. Defuse, now."

"Hey, no harm, no foul, it's all training banter, just like the old days." Bismuth waved off the concern even if she shifted her hands back to normal.

"Yeah, but it's not the first time Stelly has … gone rough." Marco rubbed the back of his head before screaming. "Ah, fire hand, fire hand! I'm not increasing that bald spot!"

"Rough is fine." She walked up, patting Stelly on the back. "Listen, it's fine how you act how you do. When a no good no redeemer comes through, we can trust you to blaze your way right through them."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's not get TOO hasty here just yet." Star pushed Stelly out of the way.

"I mean, she kind of has a point." Stelly shrugged. "That's what you and Steven had to do against Toffee. And like you said earlier, there comes a point where we're not going to have another choice either way. Besides, it gives me more chances to come out and be my amazing self."

"And you are amazing!" Bismuth laughed. "So, tell me, has celebrating in a nice tub of lava changed in the last six thousand years?"

"Not really, although human's do it in near boiling water to preserve their fragile skin." Pearl explained.

"In that case let's warm up some water and party it up!" The gem smiled. It was nice … Rose really was replaced with someone better.

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"So you're telling me you moved an entire moon to another dimension." Kelly watched as her new favorite gem sat in the hot tub, shock evident on her face. "I just, HOW!?"

"I'm guessing magic." Star shrugged.

"Something like that." Pearl explained. "After the Diamonds attacked, they then set their sights on Mewni, intending to go there personally and demolish every single bit of life on it. Using Rose's particular relationship with Magic, along with that era's wand user and Heckapoo, they were able to transport the entire moon to another universe entirely."

"And they left earth to fend for itself." Steven grumbled. "Cause why not?"

"I like to think we did fine …" Marco answered. "Humanity is still alive."

"I don't know, we already know they're the biggest assholes in any universe" Kelly reminded everyone. "I mean, we haven't checked specifically how they are with those other universe versions of Steven, but I got to imagine it isn't that different."

"Hey, the past is in the past, what we should be focusing on now is the future." Bismuth smirked. "I can definitely help take down Jasper, but I'm not sure what we're gonna do against this Loveberry girl if she's as tough as you all made her out to be."

"My fusion with Marco was able to leave a pretty big dent on her face, so there's something right there already." Star smirked. "If we're really going to stop her, then Alexandrite combined with Starry Quartz should probably do the trick."

"Double team fusion wombo combo for the win!" Amethyst laughed. "Some good old power punches and obliterating atom magic! We. Will. Be. Victorious!" She finished with a cannonball … by literally turning into one as she jumped into the hot tub.

"Ah, it really does feel like the good old days." Bismuth side. "For a couple of meatballs, you guys are made out of sterner stuff I've seen from most gems. You definitely don't mess around."

"Well back home, fighting is literally everything." Kelly shrugged. "You wake up in the morning and punch your neighbors to say hello. To get a ride somewhere, you give another punch. And if you want the day to go really well, then you start a mob and burn the nearest building."

"Forget worshiping me, you're living in my heaven." The gem laughed and patted the girl's back. "You got some moves, girl. Just put a little more meat on those bones and you'll be unstoppable with Rose's…well, guess I should be calling it your sword now."

"True, but Kelly's Sword doesn't sound as badass …" She grumbled. "Oh, what about the K Blade!?"

"There you go, name it like you own it!" Bismuth supported her, before turning to Steven. "Curly head, do yourself a favor and don't let go of this one, she's a keeper."

"Believe me, that's the farthest thing from my mind after everything that's come before." Steven scooted next to her, and she felt even warmer than the hot tub should be making her.

"So, did you have a special gem yourself?" Star asked with curiosity.

"Eh, there was one, but she occupied herself with someone else and I didn't wanna get in the way." She waved off. "And I gotta say, I don't quite like how it moves through you, but human food is AMAZING!" She bit into what they called a 'goblin dog'.

"That's what I keep telling the others, but they just don't see it." Amethyst snorted as she chugged a bottle of 'soda' down her pipe whole, plastic and all.

"Oh, this is just so wonderful, it's like everything is finally coming back together after so long!" Pearl cheered. "When Rose disappeared, we were stuck in such a rut for so long."

"Hey, don't be like now, you me back, and you got Steven." Bismuth pointed out, and the gems got weirdly quiet. "What? Something I said?"

"Before Rose…gave birth, she was warped away to Mewni by an unknown foe at the time." Garnet solemnly stated. "The problem was that we didn't know where she was, so for thirteen years, we struggled to find where Steven was while he was raised on Mewni." The fusion sighed. "I separated during that time because the grief was too much to handle.

"I'm sorry to hear." The rainbow gem lost her mirth for a moment. "Must have been hard, I can understand."

"Yeah, Toffee messed with our heads, using both me and Steven as pawns for his sick game against my mom." Star growled, holding onto her brother protectively. "But jokes on him! I love my brother, and it was that very same love that turned that lizard into paste!"

"Now that's what I'm talkin about!" She held up the two on her shoulders. "Give it up for the royal duo of Mewni, kickin butt and takin names like no one else!"

"Yeah, family for life!" Her boyfriend shouted happily. "Star Butterfly and Steven Universe! Now all we need is our own theme song! One that doesn't end with a jerk spilling secrets on stage."

"Definitely need to call up your dad for that." Star smiled.

"Hey Star, I actually have a bit of an arsenal upgrade in mind, is it okay if I bring you back to the workshop?"

"Oh..okay." Star got up and followed the beefy gem out of the tub. "See you guys later."

"See yah." Steven waved her off. "Wonder what cool weapon she's going to give her."

"If it's for the wand, it's gotta be good." Kelly smirked. "It was nice being Stelly again, wasn't it?" The way they formed was so natural, and they didn't defuse out of disagreement or fear this time, but in encouragement.

"Yeah, it was. I felt…lighter than last time." Steven agreed. "Bismuth really knows how to get you pumped, doesn't she?"

"That's why she was one of our best." Garnet nodded.

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Star followed the gem, a silence surrounding the pair. "I thought the wand was a 'masterpiece', how could you upgrade it?" She asked, a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"More of a side piece than an upgrade." The gem clarified. "For some reason it acts weirdly around gems, especially on the diamonds."

"So I keep hearing." Star chuckled, trying to ease her nerves as her surroundings got darker. "Steven's gem actually makes my magic stronger."

"Yeah, Rose could do it too." She smirked. "I added a little programming in there, you can only wield it if you're an organic. So even if homeworld got their grubby hands on it, it wouldn't do squat."

"You should've seen Peridot's face when I gave it to her to hold for a second." Star recalled and laughed. "Yelled for about two hours on the piece of 'cloddy pebble ridden archaic overhyped stick of weaponry'." 

"She is a lovely little critter, ain't she." Bismuth chuckled. "The spirit of a Quartz warrior inside of such a tiny package. You and your friends have it too." She smiled. "Man, life has become something amazing, hasn't it?"

"It has, it has, whether for better or for worse." Star sighed fondly as they entered the forge. "It's funny, it's thanks to the biggest, baddest bad guy I've ever faced that I have the best thing in my life." She laughed. "Just having Steven by my side has made everything terrible worth it."

"One person makes it all worth it …" The gem nodded. "Don't tell her this, but I always had a bit of a thing for Pearl."

"Wait, seriously!?" Star shouted. "Someone as awesome as you has it bad for the strict gem of rule and order?"

"She's a bit of a rebel if you know how to work it." She smirked. "But she was happy with Rose, so I let her be."

"Oh, you have no idea how much I feel you right now. I had this thing for Marco, but he was with another friend of ours, so I just had to ignore the pain and move on." It felt good to let that out.

"And now that they're free, you don't know if you want to move on to them or not?" Bismuth added in with a point of their finger.

"A little bit, I mean, I'm with someone else now, and I don't just want to jump back on that old ship when I spent so much time working past it."

"Right right …" She nodded as they entered. "You see, the war was getting serious, and nobody could even get close to the diamonds, much less scratch them." The crafter explained. "I even heard they were using shards for a project … which turned out to be a cluster at the center of the earth. Freaky stuff."

"Uggh, believe me, the cluster is a nightmare I will be spending the rest of my life trying to forget." Star shuddered. "It's a miracle my bro managed to bubble it."

"Yeah, and we can't let another enemy come at us again. So I cooked up this beauty. The thing that could have turned the tides." She pulled out a wrist strapped device, a point at the end and a metallic pump in the back. "The breaking point."

"Whoa, that's pointy." Star inspected the weapon. Seemed small but powerful. "So is this like a fancy missile launcher or cannon?"

"Oh, this baby can do more than a thousand laser cannons against Homeworld. Just watch." Bismuth turned to a stone statue with a gemstones symbol right in the middle of it. "Hey you elitist upper crust!" The pump was pushed back as she aimed it. "We…are..the CRYSTAL GEMS!" The pump thrusted forward as the pointed tip pierced the stone…shattering it completely as the rest of the body burst into pebbles.

"Oh … that's what it does …" Star watched the statue fall.

"Yep, a full powered attack that puts the bastards down for good." Bismuth gave a smile as if she hadn't just theoretically killed one of her own kind. "No more constant reformation, we wouldn't have to worry about them breaking out of bubbles, and we had a clear shot weapon to take on the Diamonds themselves." The rainbow gem stomped on the rubble, turning it to dust.

This…she didn't just want to kill her enemy…she enjoyed it. "Bismuth…why were you bubbled?" She asked the question that she's asked all day and everyone seemed to brush past.

The crafter sighed. "I showed it to Rose, said we could win the war she started. And you know what she did? She didn't even talk to me about it! She just stabbed me with her sword when I had my back turned, and now it's been six thousand years!!" Tears fell. "I could have saved them all … SHE could have saved them all … Rose didn't even tell them anything about me …" She let out a deep breath. "But don't worry, I really believe you guys when you said Steven isn't her, he's a lot more aggressive." There was a smile.

"Aggressive?" She wouldn't really use that word to describe her brother.

"You saw Stelly! That killer instinct, and raw power. A fusion's personality doesn't just come from one part, it comes from both." 

"Wha.." that couldn't be..but Starry Quartz…they BOTH wanted Toffee gone by any means necessary.

"Exactly! He's BETTER than Rose could've been! He has the nice guy thing for recruiting more gems, and he knows how to play to win!" This gem…this monster was twisting the image of who her brother was. 

"But … but … you're killing your own kind." Star stated, looking at the statues. "It's not just some other invasive monster or some psychotic maniac. They're gems fighting for a cause they don't know is wrong!"

"Well they should know! And if they don't want to get shattered, they'll join the right side or else!" Bismuth countered. "They had their chance during the war to change their minds and leave us alone, but now we're going to take the fight to them. We'll crush those upper crust, we'll shatter the diamonds in front of everyone! And I want you to carry the breaking point!"

"You want me to do what!?" She shouted.

"Here, come on." The woman strapped the horrid object onto her arm. "With magic and this in mind, nobody can stand up to you, you'll be an unstoppable battle machine!" 

"I don't know.."

"Trust me girl, you're a perfect fit for it." Bismuth slapped her back. "Mewmans are some of the most relentless and determined buggers that I've ever seen, and you're no slouch either. Besides, with Stelly's strength, they could easily start shattering gems now with that dulled down sword."

"Oh … they can do that …" She needed to warn them.

"But come on, why don't you give it a test drive!? I have one shaped like a Jasper too." She gestured to a very tall one with a gem in it's arm.

Star stared at the horrid device that was now strapped to her arm. A sure fire way for no gem to ever hurt her friends again…a way to get Jasper off her brother's back for good. "Bismuth..I can't…this isn't what the gems would do.."

"Don't tell me what the Crystal Gems can and can't do!" Bismuth got defensive at that and yelled at her. "I'm more of a Crystal Gem than anyone!"

"... I understand why Rose bubbled you …" Star dropped the weapon. "She was just wrong to tell no one the reason for it." She raised her wand. "War corrupted you Bismuth, it made you hate your own kind!"

"Why shouldn't I!? They corrupted my friends, shattered and ruined their minds, and now they're out there, trying to take away our home, to take away your home, your brother!" Bismuth pointed at her accusingly, shaping her right hand into an axe. "If you care about protecting Steven, then you know what must be done!"

"I do…I'm going to make sure he doesn't come close to being a blood hungry maniac like you! Mega Narwhal Blast!" She fired off her most well used spell.

"Your cheap tricks are not going to work on me Star! I made that wand! I know what to expect!" Bismuth used her axe hand to chop the narwhals to sushi.

"Well I bet you can't expect a flaming rainbow beam!" The blast of magic fired directly at Bismuth, who just laughed and took it head on"… I guess you did expect it." This was going a lot worse than she thought.

"I'm a Bismuth! I'm made of the most solid, flexible, and dimetic material around! I was formed from pure magma, I can stand a little heat!" Bismuth stretched out their arm and tried to strike her from far away almost like Quana would attack. She managed to roll to safety, but they were separated from their wand. "Give it up Star, I really don't wanna hurt you."

"Oh really, could've fooled me!" Star needed to keep its distance. "Crystal Dagger heart attack!" She dipped down and fired from her hands.

"Oh, you can use that stuff without the wand?" The gem looked surprised, even as she blocked the attack with a shield hand. "I can't tell if that's awesome or a medical concern."

"Probably both!" Star said off handedly. "Even if I agreed to this horrible plan, you really think the other gems are just going to follow along with it!?"

"With Rose truly gone, I'll get them to see it my way! I'll make the Crystal Gems into the rebellion it should've been from the start!"

"Make them!? You clearly aren't hearing yourself! Wasn't it anarchy and chaos for all!?" She fires a cupcake blast.

"Every fire needs a spark, and I'm the match!" Bismuth cut through the blast and was charging right at her. "I would've liberated everyone! I would've ended the Diamond's tyranny, I could've even been there to help with all the crap on Mewni! Everyone would see it my way! It's either us or them!"

"Mega Rainbow Crystal gauntlet Fist Punch!" Star leapt at the gem and pounded her right in the face, knocking her on her back. "The whole 'us or them thing' caused a war between monsters and Mewmans for generations, you know that right!?" She shouted at the gem.

"Haven't met a monster … I'll let you know how it is after."

"You're! Not! Getting! The! Chance!" Star reiterated her point with a magic punch each time. "There is no us or them! We're all just people living and trying to learn to live! If you can't see that, then I don't know how to help you!"

The punch was grabbed by Bismuth, who growled and tossed her away. "Maybe I'm not the one that needs help …" Star reached around for something, anything, and found … the horrid object. She aimed it at the gem, who's eyes widened. "I'll poof you … I swear." Star threatened, tears in her eyes.

"If you're gonna take me down, do it right." She grabbed the Break Point, aiming it at her own gem. "Come on, do it! It's better than being bubbled while your friends suffer, and the one you fought for never even told them why!"

"For a thousand year old rock, I didn't expect you to be this stupidly dense!" Star did her best to fight back the overwhelming despair that she was feeling right now. "Something's not going your way, and you immediately jump to wanting to die!? No!! I'm not doing that!" Star disregarded the breaking point and backed away, realizing that she stepped on her wand as she did. "You're a friend to the Crystal Gem's, to my brother's family! I'm not going to kill you over one disagreement!"

The gem just looked disappointed at what she said, grabbing the breaking point and pumping it. Star didn't need to be a genius to know that this wouldn't ONLY kill gems, so thinking faster than she ever did before, she kicked the wand in her hands and focused on making something nice and sharp while ducking her head.

Shing

The bubbling of the lava around them was the only thing that could be heard for half a second. Star, while closing her eyes, had created a shiny glittering sword of yellow energy through her wand, and it pierced right through bismuth's torso, just barely missing the gem she tried her damnedest to not touch even after the murder attempt.

"... Just …" She could see the tears form in her eyes. "Just please tell them this time … no more secrets?"

"I promise…I hate keeping secrets.." Star watched the gem give a smile one last time before poofing, the square stone falling to the ground. "Just … ONE gem that didn't try to kill us." Was that too much to ask?

She took a good look at the weapon Bismuth tried to get her to use. Star wasn't stupid. There were just some people that couldn't be reasoned with, no matter what..

But that didn't mean she had to strive to kill somebody when she can actively work to end the fight before it started. With an exhausted sigh, she tossed the breaking point into the nearby flowing lava, letting it sink and melt into the molten mess.

"I swear Steven, we're going to bring peace to Mewni, without getting into this mess." She kneeled down and concentrated hard to bubble the gem. "The first non-corrupted gem I've poofed…lovely." Even less so was explaining it to everyone else.

========================================================================

Pearl placed the bubble into the room with the others, only silence emanated from all the individuals. "Even Bismuth wasn't immune to the pressures of war it seemed …"

"I can't believe it, she was so kind and supportive too." Steven looked down and inspected his sister. "You sure you don't need me to kiss you better any more? It doesn't hurt to double check."

"Just one was fine, it's just … introspection I guess." She stayed silent, being the only one to see the dark side of one of the best gems she knew in effect. "She … Iused to be like that."

"Star, you were never that into fighting before." Marco tried to reassure.

"Yes I was! Or at least, that's where I was heading if I didn't get my head checked so thoroughly this past year!" Star shouted. "I was that cold to monster lives, I wouldn't have cared if genuine, breathing, and thinking people would've died! I may have never tried to kill Ludo or his minions, but I wouldn't have felt guilty if I did."

"Star, look, you changed. You're trying to help them." Kelly tried to console her.

"Yeah … but I haven't been doing much about it …" She sighed. "Tomorrow, I'm doubling down on monster relations … I'm gonna fix it with complete focus." She paused, turning to the gems. "Do you guys need a moment?"

"No..I…it's just so much to process." Garnet struggled to let herself cry. "It's just..why did Rose never tell us? Why would she hide her away without telling us!?" Garnet punched the wall and left a hole. The fact that they weren't coming undone meant Ruby and Sapphire were in complete agreement on this matter.

"She apparently didn't tell us a lot." Amethyst grumbled, having bonded well with the also boisterous gem. "Like the pink Lion she was kept in in the first place."

The creature in question only gave an indifferent huff as it tried to consol Star with a rub. "That reminds me..Kelly, Steven, you REALLY need to be careful about using Stelly, and I mean absolutely when there's no choice. Bismuth said that with their power, they could use that sword to shatter gems."

"No, no, no we can't be able..we wouldn't..Stelly can't.." Kelly looked like she was in complete denial. "They're not a bad person! They can't be…I can't be.." Steven dove straight into hugging his girlfriend with all that he could muster at the moment.

Pearl sighed. "It's probably why Rose didn't say anything." She muttered. "She wanted us to remember Bismuth for what she was … not what she became." The exact opposite of Rose, how ironic.

"That wasn't her choice to make, it's yours." Steven said bitterly. "Secrets really are the bane of our existence." And yet she had to keep one of the most vital ones. "So what's the plan, Star?"

"We're going to round up every kingdom in Mewni, and get every Prince and Princess to agree to fair rights for Monsters, that way we can ensure a future that's equal for everyone!" Such an optimistic dream to have…one she knew Rose had given up on long ago.