As Pearl neared one of the main training halls at a dead run, the BOOMs became louder and more frequent. Then, she heard a voice cut through the air - loud, but not at a yell or a shout.

"...Upon the Earth!"

BOOM

It was a voice Pearl didn't recognize at all, husky and sultry and clear at once - a bell made of indestructible glass.

"-Beneath the Sea!"

B-BOOM

Two explosions, one after the other, all loud enough to hear from where she was. Something dangerous was happening in that hall, something it wouldn't benefit Pearl to run blindly into. She slowed down and crept up to the entrance.

"-and through the Skies!"

B-B-B-B-BOOM

Pearl peeked into the hall. As she'd guessed, there was a Gem there, casually fighting their way through mid-level drones, whipping up enough dust in the process to make it hard to see what was going on. She could make out the silhouette, but between that and the voice thought she'd never heard of nor met one like that before.

"-No matter where, I arrive to vanquish threats to this world!"

BOOOOOOOM

The explosions were continuous now, but Pearl couldn't see how the strangely theatrical mystery Gem was causing them, and it didn't sound like a hand-to-hand fight. Nor could she see why the lighting in the hall seemed to pulse in intensity. Needing a closer look, the danger be damned, she withdrew a spear and snuck into the hall.

"Scoundrels! See me well, hear me well! The Aegis of the Heavens, Sapphirine stands before you!"

The battle was over, the dust began to clear, and bit by bit, Sapphirine became visible. She had a study humanoid form, standing an inch or two taller than Garnet, with a red chestplate over a black-and-silver body and enormous, opaque green eyes. In keeping with her being the kind of Gem who had a large 'S' decorating her chest, she was striking a pose - one finger raised above her head, the other fist at her side - for its own sake and not for anyone else. A bolt of electricity, now clearly both her form of attack and the source of the uneven lighting, struck her raised finger.

"...huh," Pearl said, unable to say much else.

"Steven. We're all glad you-" Sapphirine began, turning towards Pearl. "Wh- PEARL?!" And just like that, she began to defuse.

It hadn't been obvious before, but those enormous green eyes were actually large, masking glasses; they disappeared first, revealing two pairs of oddly familiar eyes and a very familiar green gem in her forehead. As her chestplate disappeared and her form turned into light, another gem, tear-shaped and blue, was visible between her shoulder blades. Then, from the bright, vaguely humanoid mass of white, those two gems split away with some violence, her reagents crashing into the dusty floor before they could take form again.

In a moment, Lapis Lazuli and Peridot were fully reformed where they'd landed, surrounded by triumphant piles of wrecked training drones.

"Why are you here?! Where's Steven?" Lapis demanded, having recovered first.

"He still had that prior engagem-" Pearl began. Something seemed off, and so she kept her tone diplomatic.

Something about the situation had enraged Lapis, more so than Pearl had ever seen her before (admittedly, not very many times). "So what! Why are you even here at all?"

Lapis looked more angry than violent - which was a good thing, under the circumstances, because it meant she could still be reasoned with. Pearl took a breath and let it out slowly, calmly, to try and set a tempo for the discussion, while she dissipated her spear. "You two sent a distress call to the beach house, while Steven was out. I'm here because I answered it." She looked around at the wreckage decorating the hall. "Though it... doesn't look like you needed it?"

"...ooof," Peridot groaned, face-up on the ground. "I feel like a moose threw me out of its territory."

"Are you okay?" Lapis asked, her voice suddenly less fiery. She ran over to Peridot and slid onto her knees, gently cradled her head slightly upright.

"Yeah, yeah, just, ah, give me a minute. ...Wow, that was a rush."

It wasn't the first time Pearl had seen a fusion end poorly, but if they were both conscious and talking it meant that they were going to be okay. "Well, I'm relieved that you're both safe, and congratulations on a successful fusion. ...But please explain what's going on here." It was getting more difficult to not speak through gritted teeth. "Did you even need help?"

"Shut your squawking trap!" Lapis growled. "We don-mmmph?"

When it was clear that she'd gotten the hint, Peridot moved her hand from Lapis's mouth. "Close your eyes, imagine you're in the barn, count to one hundred," she said, and waited until Lapis had started counting (quickly, and through clenched teeth) to continue. "Pearl, I'm sorry about all of this. We, ah, needed help, and then the fusion worked."

"Oh! Well, it's good that it worked out. But then why-"

Lapis had gotten to about thirty, when she appeared to have decided it was enough. "Nope! NopeNopeNope! I'm gonna go break stuff until I feel better! You explain it!" She let go of Peridot's head and produced her wings of water.

Pearl watched as she flew out of the hall, then went to Peridot's side and squatted down close to her. "So what's going on here?"

In response, Peridot raised a finger. "Give me - whooph - a moment."

After a minute Peridot pushed herself upright, and then into a sitting position. "So, as you may have guessed, Lapis is a little Lazuli'd off that you're here."

"...I noticed. Why?" Pearl offered a hand, and then pulled Peridot up onto her feet, where she wobbled a bit.

"That's kind of a, ah, story," Peridot said, blushing with embarrassment.

Author's note: Lapis appears to read manga, so for this I've extrapolated that and figure she'd eventually discover Shotaro Ishinomori - which would then have an effect on Sapphirine's decisions about his appearance.

(This is not the first time they've fused or fought together, but this is the first time they've fused in battle, and this is Sapphirine's first battle.)

"Lazuli'd-off" is my favorite phrase and curse word dodge in this whole fic.

TO BE CONTINUED...