Hologram Hauntings

The wind howled outside as a storm swept through Beach City. Rain fell against windows, and a certain pink lion was sleeping under a house.Inside the house, a movie kept the attention of four gems and one special kid.

Steven and the gems sat at the foot of his bed, watching a movie named, 'Lonely Blade IV'. Steven laid on his bed, and watched from on top of Pink's curly afro. Amethyst was watching upside down from the side of the bed, and Pearl sat on the opposite end with her knees held near her chest. Garnet sat next to Amethyst on the floor, her hand resting on one of her knees, while the other propped up her head. Between all of them was a large bowl of popcorn, filled to the brim with golden popcorn.

"Oh Lonely Blade, you so lonely." Steven muttered as Lonely Blade faced off against a man in a janitor suit. The man revealed himself as the President of the Shadow Samurai Government, and Steven gasped in shock.

"What!? The janitor is the evil samurai president?!" He said as he raised himself upright, "That's bananas."

"Oh come on, it was so obvious," Pearl said before pointing her hand at the television, "He's been mopping in the background of every fight scene."

Pearl grabbed the case of the movie and held it up to Steven, "Here he is on the cover of the box."

"Oh yeah." Steven muttered before returning his attention to the movie. Lonely Blade pulled out two katanas and put their hilts together, shouting 'Boomerang Blade' and throwing it at the villain.

As the character's fought, Pearl felt anger bubble up in her chest. 'They aren't even fighting properly, this is ridiculous!'

"Oh c'mon, look at their forms! This is nothing like real sword fighting." She muttered, but was shushed by everyone.

"It's just for entertainment. Don't think too hard on it." Pink whispered to the pale gem, giving her a wink.

"Yeah, calm down Pearl!" Steven laughed as he reached down and took some popcorn, then shoved it into his mouth.

"Well, if you ever want to see a demonstration of proper sword techniques, I'd be happy to show you." She said, and was met by a hand gently laying on her forehead. Looking up, she was met with Steven's star-filled eyes.

"Now?" She asked, gaining a small but excited nod in response.

Now sitting at a wide arena, Steven watched as Pearl took out two swords from her head. Next to him sat Garnet, Pink, and Amethyst.

"Alright, for this proper demonstration, I'm going to need a sparring partner." Pearl said as she stepped up to the middle of the arena. Steven slowly raised his hand, but was pushed down by Garnet.

"I'll do it!" Pink shouted as she raised a hand, making Pearl falter and frown. "C'mon, let's fight!"

Pearl glanced over to her and glowered slightly, "Well then, come here and we'll spar, if you're that determined."

"Good luck Pinky-D." Amethyst said jokingly as she laid on her back. Now in the middle of the arena, Pearl and Pink faced each other, and Pearl tossed one of her swords to Pink.

"We haven't sparred in a while, Pearl. Think you lost your touch?" Pink said in jest as she pointed the sword at Pearl, cracking a smirk.

"We shall let our swords decide." Pearl said as she narrowed her eyes and lowered her body, raising her sword.

Pink raised the sword and aimed at Pearl's upper body, before moving her right foot forward and aiming it to her knees.

Pearl lunged at Pink, sword aimed straight ahead. Pink parried the lunge, causing a shockwave. Steven nearly fell backwards from the shockwave, but held together.

Pink pushed Pearl away and swung towards her left arm. Pearl parried her swing and the two exchanged swings, blocking each other.

After Pearl parried another attack, Pink stepped backwards, enough to make Pearl's swing miss. Pink smiled devilishly as she lunged forward, swinging the blade straight at Pearl's head.

Pearl, with a determined gaze, swerved her body backwards, letting the sword pass by her. Pink's eyes widened as Pearl brought her blade down on Pink's head. The blade stopped mere inches away, and the fight was settled.

The two froze and Pearl smirked triumphantly, "I win." Causing Pink to frown and sigh. Pink got up off the ground, handed her sword to Pearl, and walked back to the stands, murmuring something unintelligible to Amethyst.

Steven clapped as he stood up, "That was amazing! You're so good at fighting, Pearl!" He ran over and bounced in front of her. "Can you teach me to do that stuff!?"

"Well, I don't see why not," Pearl said as she rubbed the back of her neck, her cheeks a light blue, "So we're gonna use a new fighter."

She turned on her heel and spun around. Leaning forward, her gem glowed and shot out a hologram that looked nearly... identical, besides the mouth and eyes. Amethyst groaned at the sight of Holo-Pearl, "Here we go."

"Now Steven, let's start with the basics," Pearl turned to Holo-Pearl and coughed into her hand, "Initiate training mode."

"Training mode initiated." Holo-Pearl confirmed, "Awaiting Combatant."

Pearl gave a sword to Holo-Pearl and stepped back away from it. "Now Steven, watch where I place my feet as I take my stance."

"Combatant Detect, Level one, begin!" Holo-Pearl said as it took an identical stance to Pearl. The Holo-Pearl moved forward and began saying "Thrust! Parry! Parry! Thrust!"

Pearl did as it said, parrying the swings in sync. "Now Steven, look at my footing."

Steven slowly lost excitement as Pearl continued talking. It wasn't anything like Lonely Blade!

"C'mon Pearl, do something cool! Like a Boomerang Blade!" Steven said as he mimicked the action.

Pearl huffed, "Steven, you know that's not a real sword technique!"

"Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade!" Steven began chanting with growing enthusiasm, causing Pearl to grow even more annoyed.

"Steven! These are real sword techniques! Not those silly things from your movies!" Pearl said as she waved her hand, facing him.

"It's about waiting for the perfect moment to-"

"Thrust!"

"Augh!" Pearl's pupils contracted as she felt a burning pain in her stomach. Dropping her sword, she looked down and saw that Holo-Pearl stabbed her straight through her form, the area hit pure white. Steven gasped and covered his mouth, tears beginning at the sides of his eyes.

"Oh no!" Garnet, Pink, and Amethyst stood up from their seats, looking on in shock.

"W-Whoopsie daisy! S-Steven! It's alright, I'm gonna be just-" She disappeared in a large puff of smoke, leaving behind her gem to roll on the arena floor.

"Pearl!" Steven screamed as he ran up and picked up her gem, tears running down his cheeks. "P-Pearl!"

"Challenger defeated! Level one failed!" Holo-Pearl said robotically, placing the blade of the sword on the ground.

"Steven!" The rest of the gems ran over and came to his side.

"I! I… I was jus-and she- I di-" Steven tried explaining, feeling his throat tighten up.

"Steven, it's okay. Pearl's gonna be just fine!" Amethyst said, giving him a reassuring smile.

"W-What do you mean?" He asked, his tears slowly fading away.

"Sometimes, when our forms are badly damaged, we retreat back into our gems to regenerate." Garnet explained, placing a hand on his back.

"Yep, so Pearl's just in her gem, remaking herself." Pink said, pointing to the white, oval gem in his hands.

"So she's… she's okay." He said, his throat hurting slightly. Despite that, he smiled down at Pearl's gem.

"Don't worry bud, stuff like this happens all the time. Mostly to me," Amethyst said, laying down on the ground next to Steven.

"Always to you." Garnet said jokingly with a smile.

"That's true, you've probably changed form twenty times!" Pink said as she looked at Amethyst with a smile.

"What can I say, I'm scrappy!" Amethyst remarked, making them laugh and smile.

"So, how long will it take for her to regenerate? Five minutes? Ten?" Steven asked, looking towards each of them.

"Well… Pearl takes her time with her form. It's best if we just head home and wait for her." Pink said as she stood up, putting a hand on Steven's head.

"Okay, I'll get her a little place to sit. Oh! And she can watch movies with me." Steven said as he and the gems began walking away from the arena. They forgot about the hologram standing in the arena, not moving an inch.

Holo-Pearl glitched for a second and opened her eyes wide, "Combatant detected!" And began dashing across the arena.

Two Weeks Later

Steven laid on the counter in the kitchen, a half-eaten Cookie Cat sitting next to him. He stared at Pearl's gem, which was wrapped in a blanket and in a wooden basket. It looked almost like a bird egg, positioned under a small desk lamp as if it were its mother bird.

He sighed longingly and shifted his head over, revealing half his face red from laying on the table. Under his eyes, small but dark eye bags were forming from not sleeping.

The warp chime rang out, but Steven didn't even look to see who it was, instead lifting a hand to eat a piece of Cookie Cat.

"Hey Steven, are you awake?" He felt a hand nudge him, and he slowly turned his head to see Pink. She looked worried, and he decided to respond.

"Yeah…" He sighed, looking away from her. Pink frowned and laid her hand on his back, moving it around soothingly.

"Are you still waiting on Pearl to reform?" Steven nodded in response, and lifted himself up a bit.

"She's still not back, it's been two weeks." He said, exasperated, before dropping back down.

"I know, but Pearl's very… thoughtful, when making her form." Pink said, looking off to the side. She took notice of how trashy the house looked, and glanced back down at Steven, "How about you and me clean up a bit, huh? It's a bit of a mess."

Steven shook his head, making Pink bite her lip and frown. "Well, do you know where Garnet and Amethyst are? I haven't seen them since this morning."

"They're outside." Steven muttered, pointing at the front door weakly. Pink patted his back and smiled faintly, "Thank you Steven."

He lowered his head again, and heard her walk away, the sound of the screen door opening and closing signaling her departure.

He groaned and crossed his arms under him, laying his head down on them. While he laid down, he heard footsteps from the cave area, which made him raise his head to look at who it was. He saw no one, but yet he still heard more footsteps.

It spiked his curiosity, and he pushed himself off the table. Looking around, he suddenly felt a quick brush of wind behind him, making him spin on a dime.

"Hello? Who's there?" He asked as he felt paranoia creep up on his spine. Walking towards the warp pad, he heard footsteps right behind him, and he turned around to see Holo-Pearl staring straight at him.

"Ahh!" He jumped back with a scream, trying to get away from the hologram.

"I won't go easy on you this time!" Holo-Pearl said, her arms straight at her sides, and a sword still in her hand. The hologram stood still as it faced him, and didn't move an inch. Steven calmed down slowly, and passed the hologram, keeping his distance.

"Wait a minute, were you looking for me?" Steven asked, glancing over at Pearl's gem. "Unless… Pearl, are you controlling the hologram!?"

He smiled before hugging Holo-Pearl around the waist, "I've been waiting forever! I'm sorry we left you behind!"

Holo-Pearl didn't react at all, but Steven didn't seem to care. "C'mon! I gotta show you to the gems!"

"I'm gonna do it!" Amethyst said with a challenging smile, holding a floating cloud in her hand.

"Go on then." Garnet said, smirking while crossing her arms. The front door to the house opened up, and the two gems looked up to see Pink walking down to them.

"Hey, how did that mission go?" Pink asked, stopping next to Amethyst.

"We got this cloud thing! It started disappearing, so now I'm just gonna eat it!" Amethyst explained, holding up the cloud in her hand.

"Amethyst," Pink started, placing a hand on the small Quartz's shoulder, "That is the greatest idea you've ever had!"

"I know, now stand back! I'm gonna eat it!" Amethyst said, stepping back away from Pink and Garnet. She shoved the cloud into her mouth and began chewing, before swallowing it down.

Her entire form puffed up like a cloud, and she slowly rose in the air before she was grabbed by Garnet.

"That isn't good." Pink muttered as she scratched the side of her head with a finger.

"What're you rascals doin' out here?" Steven's yell made Pink and Garnet look to the side, and they saw the boy standing next to Holo-Pearl.

"Draw your weapon challenger!" Holo-Pearl yelled before pointing her sword straight at Amethyst, poking her lightly.

Amethyst burped out a cloud and stared at the hologram, "Ew, Steven, you got Holo-Pearl?"

"She appeared in the house! Isn't she cool!?" Steven said as he pointed at Holo-Pearl with his hands, "It's gotta be a sign, right?"

"Steven, we know you want Pearl to come back, but… that's just a hologram." Pink said as she warily looked Holo-Pearl up and down.

"I…" Steven looked down a bit before sighing, "But what if she's controlling it! What if it's her?"

"Yeah, that's not Pearl." Amethyst said while glaring at the hologram.

"Pearl will come back to us in time, Steven. Have patience… and stop hanging out with that thing, it's gross." Garnet said, crossing her arms.

Amethyst began floating away into the sky, making Garnet and Pink glance at each other.

Steven looked up to Holo-Pearl and frowned, biting the inside of his cheek.

"Alright, you had fun at the boardwalk, right?" Steven asked Holo-Pearl, who had a balloon crown and sword. In his own hands was a big, blush walrus.

"Parry!" Holo-Pearl shouted, moving her sword up to parry nothing.

"C'mon, work with me here." Steven said, glowering at it slightly, "This is Pearl's favorite tree, do you recognize it?" He asked while pointing to a large cherry blossom tree behind him.

"Come on, what's on your mind? Don't hold back!"

"Challenge accepted!" Holo-Pearl yelled before her eyes turned red and narrow. She drew back her sword, Steven ducking down with his walrus, and hit the tree. Her balloon sword squeaked against the bark, causing no damage, but Steven still looked at her angrily.

"Real Pearl wouldn't do that! Ahh! You're hopeless! I hate you!" He yelled before hugging his walrus and running away from her.

Lighting and thunder roared out in the night sky, the pale moon looking down through the windows of the beach house.

Inside, Steven was at the end of his bed, Pearl laying next to him. Downstairs, Pink was in the kitchen pouring two bags of popcorn into a large bowl.

After throwing away the now empty bags, she picked up the bowl and walked up to Steven's room and nudged him a bit.

"Are you ready to watch the fifth Lonely Blade movie, Steven?" She said enthusiastically, only to get a slow nod from Steven.

Pink set the bowl down and picked Steven up, then sat in his place and put him down in her lap. "Cheer up a little, I thought you loved these movies?"

She slid the movie into the television, and clicked play. Steven watched the movie as Pink silently watched with him, but he was more focused on other things.

"It's about waiting for perfect moment to-"

He shook his head as tears started at the edges of his eyes. A slight tap made him look up, and he met black diamond-shaped pupils.

"Steven, are you okay?" Pink asked, frowning worriedly at him.

"Yeah… I'm okay." He wiped at his eyes and tried to hide a sniffle. Pink saw through his lie and paused the movie.

"Steven, you can tell me what's wrong. Here, we don't have to watch the movie if you don't want to."

"No! I… I don't want to ruin it. Let's keep watching." He turned the movie back on himself, and awkwardly stared at the movie. Pink gave him a worried glance and sighed.

As the movie continued, it was sadly discontinued by a sword running straight through the television, making both Steven and Pink jump in fright.

"Test your skill against me in a duel!" A robotic voice yelled, and the pair turned to see Holo-Pearl standing next to them.

"Why did it come back here!?" Steven asked, clutching to Pink.

The hologram raised its sword and faced them, "Do you wish to engage in combat?"

Pink pushed Steven behind herself and summoned her longsword, glaring at Holo-Pearl.

The hologram's eyes turned red and glitched, "Challenge accepted!" And it raised its sword in a stance. Holo-Pearl swung at her, striking her blade as she blocked it.

"Steven run!" Pink shouted, and the boy quickly passed her and moved away from the hologram. Holo-Pearl's head twisted like a swivel, staring at the boy.

"Unregistered combatant detected!" Holo-Pearl shouted, before it turned its entire body to Steven, holding up its sword to strike.

A pink gloved fist punched it away before it could properly swing, sending the hologram falling down into the living room.

It rolled and landed straight on its feet, arms by its sides, "Basic attack mode defeated! Now activating…advanced mode!"

Holo-Pearl jumped up and spun around behind Pink, who had barely any time to react before she was hit in the back. She screamed in pain, before being sent down to the living room by a well placed hit to the legs.

Steven watched the fight with growing fear. 'I can't even help her! If I had waited for Pearl, she wouldn't have been killed!'

He glanced over to a mess in the corner. 'What would Pearl do! She… would... wait for the perfect moment!'

In the mess was a random boomerang, and he snatched it up and looked back at the fight. Holo-Pearl dashed around Pink, who was dodging or parrying any hit she could.

After a well-timed leg sweep, Holo-Pearl brought her blade up and was ready to strike down onto Pink.

A boomerang came flying in from nowhere, and hit the sword from the hologram's hands. Pink quickly looked over to the side to see Steven catching the boomerang, glaring at Holo-Pearl. The hologram spun it's head at him, its eyes ruby red.

Without hesitation, Pink brought her sword up and stabbed Holo-Pearl straight through the head. The hologram's form glitched and fizzled, before she put her arms straight at her sides.

"Challenger wins! Do you wish to duel again?"

"No! You stupid hologram." Pink groaned tiredly as she stood back up and used her sword for support. After so many leg attacks, it's bound to get to a gem.

"Are you okay?" Steven ran over to her and grabbed her arm, trying to support her.

"Y-Yeah, thanks for helping Steven. That boomerang throw was really impressive." Pink said before the front door opened, revealing Garnet and Amethyst, who had a string tied around her foot.

"We heard fighting, what's going on?" Garnet asked, pulling Amethyst into the house.

"Pearl's hologram went crazy! And it attacked us! But we got it, so we're a' okay!" Steven said, snapping his fingers at Amethyst.

"Pearl makes those things too hard. It nearly got me, but Steven saved me in the end." Pink said, smiling at Steven in appreciation.

"Do you wish to engage in com-" Before the hologram finished its sentence, a mop came crashing down on it, sending its form into pieces.

Steven began swatting at the remnants of it, and sighed in relief, "Well, I… think I learned something today. You can't-"

A bright light came from Steven's bedroom, and they all looked over to see Pearl's gem float up into the air. A light form generated from it, looking like a marionette, before quickly shifting through different forms.

Soon, it stopped and revealed Pearl's new form. Her hair still had the side curls, but they were much larger and lower on her face. Her hair widened and curved back, and ended in a messy point.

Her clothes remained mostly the same, except she had a bright blue ribbon around her waist, and a translucent collar and sleeves, which curved outwards. On the new collar, a star was cut out in it.

Landing on the ground, Pearl let out a sigh of relief before feeling a tight hug around her waist. "Pearl! You're back!"

She chuckled and looked down at Steven, who looked incredibly messy, "Why… hello Steven, miss me much?"

"Oh man, I had this whole thing planned out for when you came back!" Steven said excitedly before running away to the kitchen.

Pearl looked all around and frowned, "Uh… Steven, what happened to your room?" Looking up, she saw Amethyst floating like a cloud and Pink looking like she fought off an incredibly enraged ghost with a sword.

"I don't even want to know what happened to you two." Pearl said as she crossed her arms.

"I got hit by an airplane!" Amethyst said, looking at Pearl with a smile.

"I got attacked by a hologram." Pink said, smirking at Pearl's exasperated sigh.

"Pearl's back! Pearl's back! Pearl's back!" Steven came back wearing his shirt over his head, and banging on a pot with a ladle.

"I can't leave you guys alone for a second." Pearl muttered, lowering her head in defeat.

"Pearl's back!"