Chapter Text

"I'm heading out to get the bits." Steven revealed, walking out of the bathroom after just changing out of his pajamas.

Pearl was sitting down at the counter, talking with Amethyst and Garnet, who were sitting away from the direction of the bathroom. They seemed to be deep in discussion, but they pause when they hear Steven.

Amethyst turns to him before replying.

"Hey Ste-man, ya' mind if I come with? I wanna get the bits as well."

"Sure, Amethyst." He replies, smiling before looking Garnet and Pearl. "What about you guys?"

"No thank you, Steven. Just come back right after, we have to discuss something about..." She pauses, looking at Garnet briefly before continuing her sentence. "A mission."

Garnet turns around to face the half-human, half-gem and nods her head.

"It's a serious mission."

He nods as Amethyst gets up from the counter.

"Yeah, we'll come back quick." She says slightly more tense than usual, but not as much as the others. "Ready, bro?"

He nods and grins, waving goodbye to Garnet and Pearl as he and Amethyst leave the house.

Steven started speaking a few seconds after they left.

"Hey Amethyst?"

She turns to him, walking backwards away from the temple.

"Yeah?"

"What were you guys talking about?"

She stops walking for a moment, then continued as if she never stopped.

"We were talking about some corrupted gems we have to handle. Usually, we just go and take 'em out, but apparently there's a hoard of them near the Sky Spire. According to Garnet, we have to be cautious, as they could take us down, even though we've done stuff like this before."

She turns back around and continues walking, considerably faster than Steven was.

That's odd. He thinks to himself. Maybe the corrupted gems are trying to do something?

He couldn't think about it anymore. At the same moment he finished the thought, that's when it happened.

Without warning, a huge light appeared and flashed across the sky in only seconds. It produced a loud noise, but Steven rapidly summoned a bubble around himself instinctively.

He had no idea what had happened until the vibration stopped and he dismissed his bubble.

He looked in front of him. Amethyst was now looking down while on her knees, groaning in pain. Her form also started developing purple spikes on her arms.

He froze in horror as he realized what was happening.

She was corrupting.

He doesn't think as he runs to her side, kneeling beside her.

"Amethyst, I'm here." He tells her, his hands shaking in fear as he licks the left one. He was trying to stay calm, especially considering this was something he had tried before with Jasper, except now it was someone in his family.

She groans, not even looking at him. "Go-away."

Her voice was shaking, sounding more raspy and exhausted with every word.

Steven closes his eyes and puts his spit-covered hand on a small, non-spiky area of her right arm.

Nothing happened.

His eyes widened, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"It's not working." He whispers, his voice cracking.

She groans again and turns to him. She looked like she was going to poof, but was forcing herself to stay alive.

"Go-please." She begs. Steven had never seen her so defeated, not even when Jasper defeated her again in the Beta Kindergarten.

"No. I-I can fix this! I can help!" He knew he couldn't. He was helpless.

He was crying freely now, even though he wasn't able to hide his emotions in the first place.

"I'm sorry Amethyst." He tells her.

She was still looking at him, groaning every few seconds as the spikes grew more and more. He had a bad feeling she wouldn't be able to fight much longer.

He had to calm himself down quickly. He had to focus. He had to.

"We, are the crystal gems." It was almost out of instinct. He was singing. To his surprise, Amethyst had stopped groaning and was paying attention to him singing. The spikes also seem to slow down in growth; he let's himself continue.

"We'll always save the day. And if you think we can't,"

He closes his eyes, trying to keep himself calm.

"We'll always find a way." He opened his eyes and looks at his corrupting family member. To his astonishment, she had started singing with him.

He gulps, having a thin, somber smile start to develop on his face.

Amethyst smiles back. She picks her right hand up from the ground, wincing in pain as she does so. The tips of her fingers had claws on them, the spikes are her arms seemed to no longer grow at all.

She reaches and places her hand on Stevens' arm, before suddenly using his arm to pull herself up, embracing him.

He gasps in surprise before hugging back, even though a spike was poking him in his left arm.

Then there was a light.

Steven could feel it, but it wasn't the same feeling he feels when he fuses with her.

What is happening? He thinks to himself.

Then the two were forced out of the embrace.

Steven lands away from her, his head hitting the sand.

It felt like a blow to his brain, as he lied there. His eyes closed and the world spinning around him.

He opens his eyes after a few seconds, but he was almost shocked to see what had happened.

"Hey! Are you dead?" It was Amethyst. Despite a few purple spots on her arms, she looked normal.

Steven had star in his eyes, before he pushes himself up and hugs her before than she could react.

"Amethyst!" He screams in joy. He couldn't believe it. He healed her. He actually did something his mother couldn't. He couldn't be happier.

He lets go from the embrace seconds later, still looking at her as she looks at the only parts of her that show she was corrupting, her spotted arms and clawed fingers.

"Oh man, wait till Garnet and Pearl hear-"

He pauses, the color draining from his face.

Amethyst must've had a similar realization, as she looks at him, eyes widening.

Without saying a word, the two quartz's ran back to the temple to see if the damage from the diamonds affected Garnet and Pearl.