Note: Takes place on the day of "Drop Beat Dad"
Scrapping claws lightly dragged behind as Amber followed Pearl down the steps leading into the Sky Arena, notebook and pencil and a honey-orange cellphone cradled in the crook of her left arm.
The past few days since the reunion turned out to be uneventful. While Amber's near-daily visits to the Temple switched up everyone's routine, they hadn't imposed any significant change other than the temporary addition of another Gem in the house and an extra activity on Quill Mom's schedule.
All the golden rock had been doing consisted of examining the abode, getting a feel for the place, Steven offering his humble services by explaining everything's location.
But beneath the surface, Amber could sense the tension underlying the interactions between her and the other older Gems, a notion that did not go unshared.
Steven showed only openness and welcome while Amethyst seemed neutral if not curious. Peridot and Lapis hadn't dropped by yet so their take remained unknown, though Amber suspected the former was still racking her illusory skull over corruption. No idea about Lapis.
Then there were Pearl and Garnet with their constant aura of concern. Not that Amber suspected they viewed her as a threat; rather that, like Steven, they perceived her 'resolve' as less than comforting. To their credit, the fusion and knight unanimously circumvented this topic altogether in lieu of catching up with Amber, seeing what she'd been up to all this time.
Not until the topic of 'certain spats over the years' came up did Pearl realize something important: Amber had gotten accustomed to fighting corrupted Gems all these centuries. And with Yellow Diamond's imminent suspicion over Peridot's betrayal, the Cluster's lack of activation, and the Ruby Squad's lack of reports on Jasper—
"Have you considered training with us?"
Amber's continued focus on the teacup in her clawed hands had sent the lean Gem backtracking quickly, recalling her mistake from days ago.
Pearl only got as far as 'Just in case you're in a tight spot or' before Amber had finished her tea then turned and walked over to the Warp Pad, her patient stare expecting Pearl to follow through on the offer, much to the leaner lithomorph's surprise.
Not that I can blame her. I had to face this sooner or later. That fact did nothing to ease Amber's nerves, even moments later as the stone-tiled openness beckoned her to demonstrate her full potential.
Clasping her hands together with peppy vigor, Pearl faced the smaller stone with a grand smile. "Alright, since you've been missing in action for so long, it's only fair we start with the basics. Though considering your performance at the Kindergarten, those shouldn't take long for you!"
On cue with its owner's frisk claps, the oval gemstone on her head glimmered white before projecting a large light like a projector onto the arena center, the light taking shape into a neon-blue version of Pearl herself. The moment two white diamonds took shape where the copy's eyes belonged, a robotic facsimile of the original's voice sprang forth from its flashing angular mouth.
A loudrobotic facsimile.
DO YOU WISH TO ENGAGE IN COMBAT, AMBER?
Uh huh, the yellow Gem, grimacing from the volume, mused with a half-lidded stare at the Holo-Pearl before sending a questioning eyebrow at the genuine article. This thing already knows my name apparently.
Pearl gestured a hand to her flickering double, unabashed. "I just thought it'd do to be ready when necessary."
Amber decided against focusing on the 'when' in place of 'if'. Count on Pearl to subtly zero in on inevitabilities. Ah well, the preparation was still a nice gesture. After setting her belongings down on a nearby seat, Amber did a few limb-stretches then stepped forward, hardly batting an eye when a sword sprung into existence in Holo-Pearl's right hand.
Or when seven more of them, also armed with swords, materialized in a circle, surrounding their tiny target.
Her peripherals caught the mild surprise on Pearl's face. From my lack of surprise, no doubt. Here's hoping my confidence isn't misplaced.
"Begin!"
Diamond eyes, now red, zeroed in.
Three sharp thrusts to her left: flamenco-spin to the right.
Diagonal strike from the right: MJ-lean to the left followed by spinning kick, leaving a gash in the Holo-Pearl's chest and destroying her. One down, seven to go.
Horizontal slashes from front and back: full front split, causing her opponents to slice each other instead and fizz out of existence. Five left.
Three coming in with ballet twirls from three different directions: high spinning leap just before the blades connected while quills fired in all directions, missing the holograms completely... until the projectiles, forming a perfect circle, lit up and electrocuted their targets into oblivion. Only two more.
Speaking of which, the survivors, who'd been hanging back until now, performed The Robot to fuse into a dual-wielding version of their selves.
Land and cue stare down, dust unsettled by the near-silent wind.
One...two...
Mega-Pearl made the first move, charging in with a spinning swipe that Amber jumped over, scrapping the ground where the molehog had been. To the left, to the back, weave around the legs: everywhere Amber went, Mega-Pearl tried to keep track, unable to attack at such close range.
Until finally the hologram managed to sidestep far enough and slash.
Only for Amber warp out of existence then reappear on the goliath's outstretched arm, a current of chain lightning spreading from her feet all over her opponent, allowing her to string around Mega-Pearl's body like an electron and resist being thrown off despite the hologram's fierce attempts to—
BZZZKTT!
Mega-Pearl stiffened, swords falling to her sides with a clatter while her eyes abruptly returned to their original white, her form flickering like bad reception. Then like a tree, she fell face-first and dissipated into fritz upon impact, swords fizzing out as well.
Amber landed a foot away from where her opponent collapsed, claws sparkling from the final blow, still alert, still ready.
Clap! Clap!
"That's enough for now."
Amber looked upward just in time to see Pearl approach her with a contemplative chin-rub and remained tense, wary as to what the knight had to say.
Empathy had never been Pearl's strongest forte, but her sharp eyes knew they hadn't imagined the resigned way in which Amber faced her like a child bracing for punishment. The taller Gem faced her friend with a ginger look of curiosity. The molehog shuffled her feet and Pearl twiddled her index fingers, both aware of the metaphorical elephant yet unsure how to acknowledge it.
Before too long, Pearl cleared her throat. "Some of those moves you used. Did you...learn those from humans?"
Automatically Pearl could sense the slight incidental charge of particles in the air. She couldn't exactly blame Amber for feeling self-conscious about this issue, least of all around her. "I'm not going to condemn you for thatif that's what's worrying you," she sighed, "I admit: my views of them have never been the most flattering. Regardless, their ways of fighting are nothing to scoff at."
Humans were more physically fragile than Gems, yes; for that exact reason, however, they excelled at using other forms of fighting besides brute force. Most of them would have shied away from Gems anyway, let alone corrupted ones, so Amber's teachers had to have been exceptional individuals. Besides, they'd been her only option for the longest time.
Pearl stifled a chuckle at how Amber's eyes widened at her in wonder. "Oh come on now!" she retorted with crossed arms, "Give me more credit than that at least."
Amber shook her head with a good-natured scoff, hands akimbo. Okay, I jumped the boat there. Still...
Seeing the lingering questions in Pearl's eyes, the yellow Gem returned to where she left her belongings and returned with the notebook and pencil, writing down her next statement on the way back.
Apparently, the terminals make for good combat simulation. Just have to tweak the programming a bit, insert some data, and viola, perfect holograms—colors, voices, and everything!
"I see," Pearl commented with contemplative chin rub, impressed, "That's how you could practice the techniques of your human teachers to keep your skills sharp." Even long after their, ahem, 'passing'. "I take it Rose helped with your Gem abilities in the meantime."
To her confusion, an oddly upset look flashed across Amber's face before the molehog wrote and presented with more force than usual. Yes. The point is that I've relearned how to fight.
Pearl cleared her throat, knowing better than to comment. "True, you've regained your skills to the point that you're formidable enough," she crossed her arms over her chest, "but there's still plenty of room for improvement. There were times you left yourself open."
Amber looked away and rubbed her head in embarrassment. Yeah, she suspected as much.
"Not many, mind you!" Pearl added in haste. "Your style and stance were well managed. In fact, I'm considering letting you in on Steven and Connie's training so they can get experience with speedier enemies!"
That sounded pretty good, but it brought up an important point that'd been bothering Amber since her visits started.
About Steven. Did he know about me before we met?
"W-Well...," Pearl admitted with a slight blush, not caught off guard by the question but still self-conscious, "no. We never thought telling him would have made a difference. From what Rose told us, you're perfectly happy here on Earth. You made this new life on your own without us," the sad twinge in Pearl's voice as she looked towards the clouds did not go overlooked, "She didn't want us forcing ourselves onto you."
Amber turned her gaze to the ground for a moment, pensive. Yeah, that sounded like something Rose would do, even after the...'incident'.
Steven's a good kid, though. Would telling him beforehand have been that bad of an idea?
"Steven means well; it's just that he can come off as a bit too...," Pearl sidled her eyes for a moment, considering her next words carefully, "forthcoming to people who don't know him personally."
I don't mind forthcoming. I'm just worried you guys might be waiting a bit longer than necessary.
"A fair enough concern," Pearl begrudgingly sighed as she walked back to the front seats and sat down on one of them, hands together, Amber following suit beside her. That lesson definitely came back to bite the CGs in the arsenic more than once. "Steven wanted to know the same thing once we came back from the flower shop."
Garnet's words from that night as they sat around Steven's bed echoed in Pearl's memory: Even if we were friends long ago, it's her call whether to face the past, not ours. When she's ready, so will we.
Amber gestured her palms out in a 'see my point now' manner. They couldn't keep the little guy in the dark forever.
Cue the perfect unamused stare from Pearl. "Regardless, we aremaking an effort to be more honest and forthright with Steven about matters like this. Of course," she wagged a finger, "you realize that now includes you as well. You didpromise to share stories of your own."
Amber shrugged her shoulders to say 'a promise is a promise'. Just fair warning: any earth-shaking revelations on my part will not be filtered. I'm good at silence, not censorship.
"Oh ho, trust me," Pearl scoffed with a lighthearted smirk, hand held up in faux lament, "I remember. Well, now that we have that issue talked out," she returned to her feet with a flourish, back to business, "what's say we continue with training?"
Popping her neck (mainly for show), Amber got up as well, standing on the seat so she'd be closer to Pearl's eye-level.
Alright, but when Apollo starts kissing the horizon, I need to go.
For a moment Pearl blinked at the strange saying then shook her head to return to the topic at hand. "To where exactly?"
Sour Cream and Steven invited me and Greg to a special rave tonight. Care to join in?
The taller stone waved her hands in mild rejection. "Oh no, no, no. I appreciate the offer, but I already have plans for later."
She clapped her hands together excitedly, sky-blue eyes glimmering, "I'm going to attempt a puzzle rendition of Van Gogh's 'Starry Night'! 1000 pieces," then cleared her throat to tone down her eagerness, "Despite his dramatics, his art style was among the more genuine in my opinion."
That and...well, as tamer as her relationship with Greg has become recently, certain aspects still left a certain tension between the knight and ex-rock star without someone else (namely Steven) to fill in the gap. The last thing the Universes needed was her bogging down their fun.
Amber quirked an eyebrow, amused. Good taste. I've always favored the styles of Miyazaki myself.
"That's animation, Amber," Pearl replied incredulously.
Which is also a legitimate form of art, I must add.
Pearl rolled her eyes skyward with a dry smile before gesturing a hand to the arena, signaling her intent to continue where they left off. Not that Amber lacked a valid point, but Pearl would rather forego a potentially silly argument when more productive pursuits could be done in the meantime.
"Be thankful I'm here to critique your style and not your preferences. Speaking of which, about your way of fighting..."
A tune emanated from Amber's cellphone, interrupting Pearl. The lyrics got as far as 'I'm dripping down from the fangs, when I hear your name...' before Amber unlocked the device and switched to the Private Messaging, where she discovered a recent text from Connie.
MightOfLisa: Coming in late today. My parents had a schedule conflict. XP
Amber was quick to reply.
SuaveSaturn5: No worries. We've barely started anyway.
MightOfLisa: BTW, did you get Steven's text about the rave being moved over to the beach? He mentioned Sour Cream's dad. Judging by the mad emoji, I'm guessing he means Mr. Universe's old manager.
A puff of air escaped Amber's snout as she pinched her eyes in consternation. Oh yay, Marty was back in town.
Even Pearl winced once she read the last part, recollective enough of what Greg shared about the circumstances surrounding his and Rose's first encounter to recognize why this particular human's presence in Beach City insinuated trouble.
SuaveSaturn5: Thanks for the warning, kiddo.
MightOfLisa: Don't mention it! By the way, I convinced my parents to invite your family over for dinner tomorrow.
A smile came over the golden being's face. Granted, Priyanka and Doug weren't her first choices for company, but they were good people.
SuaveSaturn5: We'd be happy to come! I'll tell Marcus, Uma, and Kurtis the news!
MightOfLisa: Great! And Amber? Don't stress over seeing my parents.
Amber and Pearl furrowed their brows at the last statement and shared a worried look.
SuaveSaturn5: Why? What's wrong?
MightOfLisa: I also told them you're a Gem.
Oh!
Oh.
...Oh.