I was thinking how it would be kind of neat if a Fusion was able to break out of Fuse’s hive mind for whatever reason. Basically a Crystal Gem of Fusionfall.
It’d be extremely difficult, but not altogether impossible. The problem with Fuse’s hivemind is that most of the fusions and fusion monsters lack an actual sense of their own identity, the monsters largely just following whatever commands they’re given and straight-up causing havoc when they’ve got nothing else to cling to, more like beasts, and the fusions copying the traits and abilities of their original counterparts with Fuse’s influence altering them to his desires and purpose. To make a Steven Universe comparison, it’s closer to White Diamond’s control of gems like with Pink’s original Pearl than typical gem creation/society. Fusions are a bit of an exception, as Fuse needs them to have a bit of independence to lead his armies, but that’s about it. Even then, their minds are still warped to obey only him.
But to get to breaking that control, there’s the silver lining unique to the war with Earth due to the influence of Imaginary Energy (IE). Fusions who’ve been copied from imaginary friends have that IE in them, which constantly fights off against their fusion matter makeup. As a result, Fusions like Edwardo and Coco have actually sabotaged some of Fuse’s attempts to conquer Earth by assisting the Fusion Fighters. Basically, it’s two forces fighting for control inside them: The fusion matter and thereby Fuse himself vs. IE trying to free from that influence so that they’re more like true individuals, pushing them to be the friends that their counterparts were imagined as–like two, differently shaped pieces cut from the same cloth.
They do feel better and are their “true” selves when broken from fusion matter’s influence; however, most will still give back into it due to just how strong it affects them, both physically and mentally. More often, they’re really confused by their free-thinking decisions to do good, like it’s a tick they need to break. And if they can’t break it–or, worse, become more independent–Fuse is likely to find out. To him, all of his minions are just goo. If they die, he can just create more of the same or start from scratch. He won’t think twice of pounding one into oblivion and using the fusion matter left behind to create a fresh copy if one falls out of line. He could even send a command for them to destroy themselves before things go too far.
To free one completely, a Fusion would first need help keeping them safe both from other fusions/monsters and themselves. Then, there would need to be a way to stabilize their form without the reliance of fusion matter in order to liberate them from it without destroying them in the process. The result would likely be something similar to a nano, as they’re also beings made of fusion matter, imaginary energy, and some personal affect/DNA of an original model. There’s a chance they could help with the war effort by providing info from the hivemind, but it’s also likely that they’d lose memories of their time under Fuse’s control like Kevin did after “Kevin Help Us,” with only pieces of random knowledge to offer. Their personalities would remain similar to that of their counterparts, but their experiences up to that point would also make them strikingly different, solidifying themselves as their own persons.
…Now I want an arc of this in the game.