"...fine." The others looked at Garnet with surprise.
"Thank you Garnet." Max gets in position, Garnet summoning her large powerful fists.
Before Max could pull out a weapon though, Garnet rushed at Max, and delivered a powerful punch to his chest, sending him flying several meters until he hit the ground,
"I'm sorry Maxwell, but I will have to finish this fast for your own good." She took a few steps forward before hearing a chuckle from Max. He slowly stood up, clutching his chest but smiling wide.
"I knew something like this would happen. I'm too exhausted in this form...I need to stop relying on my human body...I am to be superhuman."
The Crystal gems look to Max as he puts his hands together, one flesh and blood, and one a superheated volcanic rock. As he holds them together, the link between Max and Obsidian grows more. His cloak vanishes back into his hand and his body goes on fire. His skin becomes covered soot as fire surrounds him.
"This form relies on both my skills as a human, and the fiery power of Obsidian. You can't beat me now!"
"We'll have to see about that." Garnet runs at him at full speed, throwing a powerful punch at Max, only for him to grab it with with his crystallized hand. The obsidian seems to have grown bigger. With his free hand his gives his own devastating punch, making Garnet launch into the ocean with a massive splash.
Max stays in the lookout, knowing Garnet wouldn't be bested so easily. Suddenly out of the ocean a seashell is thrown at his head, but his heat destroys the shell before it can hit him.
"Hehehe, is that your best?" Just after he says that, Garnet comes flying out of the water and punches him incredibly hard in the face, then throwing punch after punch, just a barrage attacking Maxwell. It looked like it would defeat Max, but then his eyes widen as his body heats up more. With a yell, the area around him explodes, ash everywhere.
The whole fight was impossible to see from all of the ash. Steven looks around as best as he can, but then the ash clears, showing that only Garnet was standing and Max was in the floor.
It seemed like Garnet was the victor, but then she falls forward, face planting into the sand. Max gets up, slightly scratched but overall victorious.
"H-he won?" Pearl was absolutely astonished, Amethyst had her mouth agape, and Steven had stars in his eyes.
"That was awesome!" He goes to congratulate Max, but first checks on Garnet.
"D-don't worry Steven, I'm fine." She adjusts her position, sitting up and smiling at Steven as she fixes her visor.
"I have to say, even with the flame form, that was not easy. I need to train some more." Max chuckles as he struggled to stay standing, his body exhausted.
"Well before that, let's get inside. You all rest, I'll make some food and some ice packs." Steven smiles as he helps everyone into the house.
"Gotta say, you three really helped raise this kid into a model good citizen."
"Well I don't like to brag." Amethyst acts as if she did all the work, just for Garnet to lightly bop her head.
"We always had Steven's best interests at heart." Pearl almost went to memory lane as she thought of Steven growing up into such a kind young man.
"...how has his training been going?"
"He's really progressing well, gaining so much more control, and discovering more abilities as he grows." Garnet smiled as she looked to Steven as he tried to subtly eat some of the whip cream he put on his pancakes.
"Heheheā¦"
"Dude please don't tell me you wanna fight him."
"No it's not that...but I'd kind of like to train with him" The gems looked at him confused.
"Um, may I ask why?" Pearl asked concerned.
"Well, I know you three trained him well..but you gave him training as a gem...I was thinking maybe showing him the human side of combat can help him progress more. I may not of known Rose well, but she helped me become a better being...so the least I can do is help be there for her precious kid."
The gems considered his offer together until Garnet spoke to him. "We'll think about it."
"Hehehe, good enough for me." He smiled as Steven came back with plates of his...creative dishes. He smiled as he looked at the four, thinking that maybe this was the start of something amazing.
