Tag: Gems vs

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

More SU thoughts:

While Lapis may be more powerful than Leviathan in terms of hydrokinesis, I do still think Leviathan would win if it were between the two of them, at least if Lapis didn’t fly way out of reach quickly enough. Lapis is a glass cannon while Leviathan is practically invincible, and even if Lapis is immune to water attacks (unknown), Leviathan has attacks that don’t use the water, like using his claws or tail. Lapis, on the other hand, doesn’t have much in terms of non-watery attacks besides using water to levitate objects above a target and letting gravity do the rest – as far as we know, anyway.

However, if anyone can contain Leviathan, it’s probably Lapis. She has displayed the ability to keep people trapped in levitating bubbles of water (though Leviathan’s swimming speed might mess with that), and she has the power to make a city-sized one if she cares to. She can also make chains out of hardened water, which can be quite effective. She’d need to find a permanent place for him or keep sustaining these restraints, though. Maybe she could make him a little lake on a different planet?

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

(spoilers for SU ahead, right up to the latest episode)

So, what with Lapis and Bismuth (and Diamonds???), do you have anything to add regarding CGs vs. Undersiders or S9?

Apart from fire resistance (good against Burnscar, obviously) and a specialty in shapeshifting her arms into tools and weapons, Bismuth doesn’t have a lot of good combat powers that we know of, beyond what most Gems have. She’d be super good as a motivator and weaponsmith, though, and is capable of making weapons with magical properties. Her weapons and weapon upgrades might give the other Gems some new tricks, and while she doesn’t have many combat powers, she does have experience in using what she’s got. But yeah, send her (alongside Garnet, the best Burnscar counter the Gems have) after Burnscar.

The Diamonds may be less useful than you’d think simply because so far, all the powers Blue and Yellow have shown us only work on Gems (and Steven). Still, though, they’re resilient and big, making them similar to Fenja and Menja. And, judging by Pink, it’s likely they have a lot of powers they haven’t shown us yet, some of which may be incredibly strong against the Undersiders or the Nine.

Lapis… oh, boy, Lapis.

Apart from being only tangentially affiliated with the Crystal Gems up until the latest episode, the main reason I left Lapis out of previous “Gems vs” posts (I’m gonna make a tag for that at this point) is that she made the outcome too clear.

Lapis is more powerful than Leviathan. Not defensively (she’s a glass cannon like Shatterbird), admittedly, but her hydrokinesis could drain an ocean while she was cracked (not to mention pull all that water upwards). If the battle happens somewhere there’s a lot of water – which describes both Beach City and post-Leviathan Brockton Bay, Lapis is practically a goddess. It’s just a matter of staying alive and unpoofed to use that raw power. Jack and Shatterbird might be her main threats, considering Lapis is typically out in the open and sometimes flying, but Lapis is far from defenseless.

Huh, Burnscar really gets the short straw against the Gems, doesn’t she? Discounting non-Garnet fusions, the Gems have three members who are immune to fire, two members who can predict where Burnscar will teleport, one member who can exude coldness and create ice, one member who controls large amounts of water… Apart from Lapis “OP” Lazuli, Garnet is definitely the best one to match up against Burnscar, though, between fire resistance, future vision, super speed and rocket gauntlets. Burnscar can’t even teleport through the fire before a pair of explosive hands are soaring towards where she’s going to be.

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

…so remember when I was discussing the Crystal Gems versus the Undersiders a while back?

Well, what about the Crystal Gems versus the Slaughterhouse Nine? Or, well… just Shatterbird, honestly.

Amethyst is dead. Just fuckin’ dead, immediately. Shatterbird’s power works on her gem, which is made of the same material as glass, silicon dioxide.

The same goes for Jasper if she’s involved, and it might affect Peridot, Lapis (if she’s involved – I left her out last time) and/or Garnet (but not her components) depending on how purely silicon the materials need to be.

Connie and Steven may have their phones in their pockets, which could cause severe injuries.

Pearl might be able to counter Shatterbird’s sand control somewhat, though I doubt it. Pearl’s sand control seems to be significantly weaker.

But sand isn’t the Gems’ biggest problem (though it absolutely is one for Steven and Connie, who have actual flesh to tear at). It’s that they generally seem to be particularly weak to piercing and slashing damage, and there’s almost nothing Shatterbird does better than piercing damage. Garnet’s future vision would help her dodge, but there’s only so much that can help when you’re a big target.

The Gems’ best bet, unless she’s not involved or has been shattered from the get-go, is Lapis. It’s worth noting that her composition is the most complicated one, as lapis lazuli isn’t a crystal, so if more non-silicon elements being involved reduces the efficiency of Shatterbird’s power, she’s less likely to be shattered than Peridot or Garnet (and Garnet is a special case since we don’t know whether her composition is that of garnet or those of a ruby and a sapphire).

But there are reasons I left Lapis out last time. She’s not a Crystal Gem, just affiliated with them, and she’s hella overpowered as long as she’s in her element. Lapis is on par with Leviathan, maybe even stronger. She’s capable of draining the ocean and making a tower to space out of its water. If she’s involved, survives the initial Shattering, and there’s water around, she can easily sweep away Shatterbird and all her glass.

Basically, what I’m saying is that you don’t even need the rest of the Slaughterhouse Nine here. Unless they have Lapis on board, the Gems are almost certainly fucked.

Hell, Shatterbird could probably take on a whole Homeworld army, since they’re primarily made of Quartzes like Amethyst and Jasper. She’d still have the Rubies to deal with, but that’s not that difficult, especially with the shards of the Quartzes lying around to be weaponized.

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

It took almost five days, but I finally caught up! I just wanted to say I love your style for doing this, because I’ve never read Work before, and this way I get the full story along with the commentary, without any of the text being left out. I also have ADHD, so somehow reading the story in chunks like this makes it much easier to get through. Thank you! …Whoops, I need a question. Who do you think would win: The Undersiders or the Crystal Gems, with whichever team configurations you prefer?

I’m glad I could help! 😀

As for the question… Let’s see.

Steven Universe and Worm spoilers ahead.

The Gems have fairly basic powers, but they have a lot of them.

  • Garnet: Fire resistance, future vision, shapeshifting, strength, toughness, weapon summoning (gauntlets),

    rocket gauntlets, fistkind proficiency, gem bubbling, fusion, super jump, passive gravity adjustment, weighted hair.

    • Ruby: Strength, passive heat manipulation, fire resistance, probably shapeshifting, weapon summoning (gauntlet),

      gem bubbling(?), passive gravity adjustment,

      fusion.

    • Sapphire: Passive cold manipulation, future vision, probably shapeshifting,

      gem bubbling(?),

      passive gravity adjustment,

      fusion.

  • Amethyst: Shapeshifting with proficiency, spindash, weapon summoning (whip), electric whip, whip proficiency, gem bubbling,

    passive gravity adjustment,

    fusion, super jump.

  • Pearl: Hammerspace (slow retrieval), weapon summoning (spear or sword), finesse, spear and sword proficiency, laser spear, allegedly shapeshifting, projections, summoning holographic duplicates with swordfighting capabilities, minor fog/cloud and sand manipulation, gem bubbling, fusion,

    passive gravity adjustment,

    super jump.

  • Peridot: Toughness, metallokinesis (weak), gem bubbling,

    passive gravity adjustment,

    fusion(?).

  • Steven: Weapon summoning (shield, throwable Captain America style), defensive bubble (optionally spiked), gem bubbling, fusion, healing spit, active gravity adjustment, ability to create sentient plants, resurrecting tears that bestow pink powers, dreamwalking, body hijacking.

  • Lion: Force shouts (similar to Triumph), creating portals, walking on water, mane portal to pocket dimension, cat.

  • Connie: Fusion (with Steven), sword proficiency, being great.

(If the gems got Lapis to care, the Undersiders would be in some serious trouble. Her hydrokinesis is way stronger than Leviathan’s.)

And then we have the Undersiders:

  • Skitter: Complete control of insects, arachnids and crustaceans within a range of 2-3 blocks (sometimes 4-6).
  • Grue: Generation of gas-like substance that blocks light, muffles sound and provides minor resistance to movement.
  • Tattletale: Superpowered Sherlock, constant influx of information based on what she’s looking at.
  • Regent: Nerve manipulation, body hijacking (requires very slow process).
  • Bitch: Empowering of dogs and wolves.
  • Imp: Who’s Imp?

As we go into this, let’s start off with a very important question:

How does Grue’s darkness interact with beings made of hard light? It’s entirely possible that Grue could singlehandedly destabilize and poof everyone except Steven, Connie and Lion at once, and probably make Steven jittery too. After that, dealing with Steven and Connie shouldn’t be too hard, though Lion might still be an issue.

Let’s assume that isn’t the case from now on.

One other thing I feel is worth noting right away is that Regent’s power is probably of limited use. It is unlikely that Gems have nerves for him to manipulate. He could still affect Steven, Connie and probably Lion, though.

Apart from Peridot, the Gems are highly skilled melee fighters, and are generally tougher than humans. Among the Undersiders, Grue in particular is good at melee, and has been training some of the others, but he is probably nowhere near as well-trained as the superhuman war veterans. If the Undersiders want to win, they should avoid melee as much as possible. Even then, some of the Gems have decent ranged attacks too, with Garnet’s explosive rocket gauntlets, Pearl’s laser spear and Steven’s shield throwing.

However, Bitch’s dogs could cause the Gems a lot of trouble. Garnet might be able to pick one up and throw it, but even so. It certainly helps that Bitch has a lot of them these days – we’ve seen the Gems overwhelmed with sheer force of numbers before, by far weaker enemies (specifically watermelons). Unlike the watermelons, the hellhounds could easily poof most gems and maim or kill Steven and Connie. Lion might put up more of a fight against a single doggo, maybe three, but with the numbers Bitch has now, he’d be overwhelmed too.

Speaking of Garnet, her future vision is very powerful in combat, allowing her to predict the opponent’s next moves in advance. The closest counter to this is Tattletale’s power, but Tattle’s knowledge is far less reliable as far as predicting the enemy’s actions goes.

Tattletale is very good at manipulation. The Gems are good at not listening to people, but do have their sore spots, such as Amethyst’s feelings about herself as a defective gem, or Pearl’s past as a slave. Tattletale might find a way to use this to her advantage, if she can get the Gems to listen.

Imp might be highly useful. With the Gems forgetting her existence each moment, she could sneak up behind them with a piercing weapon, which has usually proven to be the most reliable way to poof a gem. This might be countered by Garnet’s future vision (the same way Tattletale seems immune or resistant to Imp’s power), or it might throw the future vision for a loop and make Garnet’s predictions less accurate.

Even if it doesn’t destabilize the Gems by itself, Grue’s darkness would probably be quite effective. Most of the Gems’ fighting relies on sight, both melee and ranged, and the darkness would take that away. Garnet’s future vision might help her, but the rest would quite literally be left in the dark.

Skitter’s power could probably take out Steven, Connie and maybe Lion quite easily. I doubt it would do much against the Gems, but at least it would let her track their locations and movements.

So far, the Gems have a chance, but the Undersiders have a slight upper hand. But that’s before we pull out one of the Gems’ most powerful tricks: Fusion.

  • Sardonyx (Garnet+Pearl): Probably everything Garnet and Pearl can do, weapon merging (gauntlets+spear=hammer), considerable size, fourth wall breaking, 360 degree torso spin.
  • Sugilite (Garnet+Amethyst): Probably everything Garnet and Amethyst can do, weapon merging (gauntlets+whip=flail), considerable size, toughness.
  • Opal (Amethyst+Pearl): Probably everything Amethyst and Pearl can do, weapon merging (whip+spear=laser bow), considerable size, acrobatics.
  • Alexandrite (Garnet+Pearl+Amethyst): Probably everything all of them can do, weapon merging (every combination), even more considerable size, fire breath, 360 degree torso spin, possibly other abilities of the previous three fusions.
  • Smoky Quartz (Steven+Amethyst): Probably everything Steven and Amethyst can do (definitely including active gravity adjustment), weapon merging (shield+whip=yo-yo), strength, rapid spinning.
  • Stevonnie (Steven+Connie): Probably everything Steven can do (minus active gravity adjustment and possibly shapeshifting), sword proficiency, Yoshi hover.

Fusion is incredibly versatile and can cause a lot of trouble for the Undersiders as some of their human-sized enemies become bigger and more powerful at the cost of numbers.

Surprisingly, this might be a thing for Tattletale to deal with. The fusions need to keep their state of mind focused on their task and on working together in order to remain stable. Tattletale, if she can get them to listen, would probably be able to manipulate some of the fusions’ component personalities and pit them against each other, causing the fusions to fall apart.

But until that happens, the fusions will have a much easier time dealing with threats like Bitch’s dogs or Grue’s darkness (by way of being tall enough to look over it, though he could adjust to that). Not to mention the fact that some of the fusions could squash all the Undersiders in a single attack, provided they were gathered together.

So I guess my conclusion is this:

Despite a large amount of powers for each member and numbers slightly on their side, the Crystal Gems might find themselves at least reasonably challenged by the Undersiders, if not necessarily defeated, and they might have to resort to fusions in order to beat them.