Pearl watched as Rose stepped out of the way at the bottom of the stairs. She motioned to the dining room, which was completely empty.
"This is the new training room," she said. She pointed to mannequins about Pearl's size.
Pearl stepped up, staring at the room. The others all stepped up and stood in a line in front Rose.
The room was massive with a high ceiling. There was Tiger's Eye, carrying the able over the shoulders. She leaned it against the wall and reached for her side. She dipped her fingers in a bucket and painted red circles over it.
She turned to see Pearl and huffed. She turned away quickly, smoothing down her veil.
"You," Rose said, pointing to the purple Gem. "You're a Quartz, right?"
She didn't respond, making an obscene hand signal.
Rose stood up taller, nonplussed. "As your new Diamond, I demand respect. What is your name?"
At this, the purple Gem seemed to shrink in her shoulders and look down at the ground. "Amethyst."
"Which Amethyst?" she asked.
The Ruby jumped in front of her. "She doesn't know. She emerged alone."
Rose narrowed her eyes, but nodded after a few seconds. "Well, an entire shipload of Quartzes are coming onto Earth in a few days. We need to differentiate her."
The Amethyst looked up at Rose. "The small one? I could just be Amethyst, right?" She gave a half-hearted laugh, and Pearl watched as Rose's face loosened.
"Of course."
Peridot leaned closer to Pearl. "I've never seen an overcooked Gem that had such… high… spirits."
Pearl stepped back into line, shushing Peridot.
"Fine. I'll just call you Amethyst. Ruby, do you still remember your name?" She pointed to Ruby and looked down at her.
Pearl heard the crackling of flames. "No. I'm the only one left, anyways," Ruby muttered. There was a pause. "My Diamond."
Rose tilted her head. "Which Diamond did you serve before Rubies were decommissioned?"
"Blue, Ma'am."
Pearl noticed the lack of a diamond on both the Gems' uniforms.
"I see. Well, you don't serve her anymore. Understood?" She sounded almost bitter after the mention of Blue Diamond, and Rose wondered what had happened between them recently.
Ruby nodded, her hands crackling with embarassment.
Pearl flinched as Rose gave a iron-black stare to Pearl. "Any Gems that have never summoned their weapons before, raise their hands."
Pearl raised hers meekly, shrinking under the unsurprised gazes of the others. She looked around to see that Peridot and the human never summoned theirs either.
"Well then," Rose said with a grin. She crossed her arms. "Tiger's Eye, would you train these Gems?" She turned to Sapphire. "I'm surprised that you've summoned a weapon before, Sapphire."
Pearl noticed Sapphire's cheeks turn dark blue. "I—I learned on Homeworld."
"I see then. Well, those who haven't got a weapon, head out." Rose pointed to a corner of the 'training room.'
Tiger's Eye strode to them, clapping her hands slowly. "So I've got you, now. A Pearl, a Peridot, and a human. Never thought I'd have to force a weapon from this."
Pearl turned away, her cheeks turning to a sky blue. The human, Greg, interjected. "I'm not a Gem. You can't force a weapon from me."
She watched as he backed away, gripping his hair in his hands.
"None at all." Tiger's Eye stepped towards him, brow raised.
"Nope."
"Another reason why humans are the inferior race."
"I've got a list," Peridot offered. She lifted her arms and a screen popped out of her 'hand.' "First. They're too diverse. How would they—"
"Stop!" Tiger's Eye turned to Peridot.
"What?" Peridot stepped back and adjusted her visor. "How would humans organize themselves?"
"No, no." The Tiger's Eye put on the most forced smile that Pearl had ever seen. (And that was saying something.) "You need to wean off of those fake arms."
Pearl turned to Peridot and saw her blanche. "What? No! My limb enhancers are very important to me and they hold all of my logs and lists and everything I need for—" She was muttering so fast that Pearl had to strain to catch each of her high-pitched words.
"But how are you going to use a weapon if you instinctively reach for your cannons? Because guess what?" The stripes running up and down her body glowed. "Those things are going to break." She poked the gemstone on Peridot's head hard enough that even Pearl flinched. "Your weapon's reliable. Got it?"
Peridot nodded quickly and over-enthusiastically. "Yes, Tiger's Eye." She blushed to a teal colour as she removed her limb enhancers. Her arms went first, and she hesitated at her legs. Pearl watched as she unclasped the strap around her knee and hopped down from them.
At that moment, Greg burst out laughing. "Oh my God!"
Peridot flushed until her face was splotchy blue. She was at least three feet shorter and was now the size of Ruby.
"We thought you were cyborgs or something. But glorified stilts? This is gold. Wait until I tell Mar—"
"Don't even think about it!" Peridot shouted. She reached for her arms like limb enhancers were still attatched to them. "Oh. Yeah."
"Human, lay off of Peridot," Rose shouted from the other side of the training room. She had her shield up. Pearl saw the Ruby leap at her, fast as lightning and use her shield as leverage. Pearl's legs tightened. She should be protecting Rose, even if she didn't have a weapon. "You haven't got a weapon yourself." Rose pushed with her shield, deflecting Ruby. "And good try. Try getting around my shield."
Pearl shuddered and noticed Tiger's Eye glaring at them grumpily. "Are you done?"
She nodded, noticing as Greg stepped back and Peridot saluted.
"Think about your Gem, like you're retreating back into it. Reach for it, and Wham! Your weapon should be summoned." Tiger's Eye stepped back. "Peridot. You go first."
Peridot shook her head. "Pretending to poof isn't logical."
"Then do what you want. You can't use your cannons."
Pearl watched as Peridot cleared her breath and counted quietly. "One," she took a breath. "Two…"
Peridot, at Three, decided to take her visor off. Her eyes were closed now. "Four…"
Pearl watched, waited for Peridot to do anything. She didn't. Now she was at ten, and only then did her hands start to move. She flared out her fingers. "Eleven!" She squinted her eyes shut and expected to grab something from her Gem. Pearl looked into Peridot's open palms. Nothing came out of her Gem. There wasn't even a flash of light.
"That was disappointing." Peridot shook her hands. Pearl met her glance. "Let me try again!"
"One." Peridot's catlike lips pursed. "Two." This time, by Five, Peridot had dropped her visor. It disentegrated. "Three."
Tiger's Eye grinned at Pearl and Greg. She quickly pulled out her morning star and by Four was swinging towards Peridot's face.
"Fiv— Aaah!" Peridot reached for her limbs with one hand. Her hand got in Tiger's weapon's way, colliding then swinging in the completely wrong direction. "Ah!" she squealed.
Pearl stepped back, seeing how all of the finger's on Peridot's left hand hung limp.
She saw as Peridot blinked away tears, stepping back catlike from Tiger's Eye's next swing. She gritted her teeth, and with her right hand reached for her Gem. Peridot stepped on her visor, but didn't even wince. Pearl stared as there was a flash of light from Peridot's Gem.
Her hand pulled away and Pearl saw Tiger's Eye's weapon stop in its tracks. A ball-and-chain gripped the spikes tightly.
Tiger's Eye grinned right into Peridot's pained face. "Perfect."
Peridot squeaked as Tiger's Eye jerked her weapon-hand and pulled Peridot into the air. "We'll try again later."
Pearl knew exactly what was coming next, and could only hope that Tiger's Eye would turn to Greg.
"Pearl!"
Pearl flinched at Tiger's small boom. She backed away, gripping her veil tightly. "Yes?" She forced yet another smile.
"Now it's your turn." She pinched her brow. "Stars, never though that I'd be training a Pearl. Now come on. Let's see if you work like Peridot."
"Excuse me, Tiger's Eye," Pearl heard Greg say. "You just broke Peridot's hand. Isn't that…"
"She won't poof, she's fine." Tiger's Eye waved a hand. "Prepare your weapon, Pearl."
Fear struck Pearl, and her smile fell away quickly. She'd be forced to do this. She was a Pearl, designed to follow orders at the risk of shattering.
She wasn't able to summon a weapon. Pearls haven't been able to summon a weapon since the beginning of gemkind! She wasn't going to do it now. She looked around. Something had to be around that she could used. There was nothing on the wall. A few floorboards looked broken, like they were just waiting for something heavy to get on them so they could fall. Pearl'd use those.
She saw Tiger's Eye's muscles tighten. Her hand lifted. Pearl leaped out of the way instinctively from her blow. The morning star managed to graze her hair. Pearl breathed a sigh of relief. She then saw Tiger's Eye's surprised face. It quickly curled downward into a sneer of rage. Oh no.
Ther was another blow and Pearl seemed to dance out of the way. She ducked when the weapon neared her head, and leaped when it was aimed for her legs. She took a massive step backwards when the weapon was aimed for her chest.
She saw herself nearing the weakened boards. Another swing.
A few more steps…
Pearl felt sweat drip on her forehead as she was forced away from the boards.
"Summon your weapon already!" she heard Greg shout.
Pearl turned her head to see him hiding his face beneath his too-large hands.
Something crashed into Pearl's leg. She crumbled to the ground. She gasped in pain when she tried to stand up.
The whiteness of when she poofed before threatened the edge of her vision.
She rolled out of the way painfully when Tiger's Eye threw another blow downwards. "Summon your weapon, already!"
"But I can't!" she shouted back. "I'm just a—" She caught herself. No. She was not just a Pearl. She was certainly a Pearl, but not just a Pearl.
The whiteness crept to the tops of her vision, until she could only see tunnels. No. If she wasn't going to summon her weapon, she was not going to poof.
She rolled out of the way. THe whiteness stayed, getting larger with every jolt of pain. No!
She had to think of this as something she did every day.
A dance! Of course! She always had to dance for the other Diamonds' entertainments back at home.
A stab of bitterness panged her. She rolled elegantly, even when the morning star wasn't headed for her. She imagined Tiger's Eye's slit eyes to be like Yellow Diamond's, but darker.
She kept rolling. One two three, one two three…
She stopped rolling to take a breath. Only after the inhale did she realize her mistake. The morning star came barrelling down at her. The whiteness nearly took over her vision. She realized that fighting the poof would be useless. She was calm, focused, and still couldn't…
Or wait. She could summon her weapon.
She didn't remember what happened. In a flash, she felt a weight put on her arms, and then it stopped. Pearl could barely see through the whiteness.
But she could swear that she was holding a spear. And it had just stopped Tiger's Eye's attacks.