After helping Yellow and White out of the arena, Blue Diamond set them down before Pink began to heal them.
"Can I say something?" Pink asked.
"No." Yellow and White said, unable to move while Pink healed them.
"That was a complete debacle." Pink said, ignoring their answers.
Blue groaned at this before she just sighed, shaking her head.
"I say, how did it end up like this?" She asked.
"I can answer that but they might not like it." Pink said, nodding to Yellow and White.
"Pink, enough! We don't need your smart mouth right now." White said, gritting her teeth.
''Oh really? You want to piss of your healer? You lost! There is no way to describe what just happened back there, we all lost a fight." Pink said, annoyed.
"But we haven't lost this war yet! We still have one more round to fight and then win!" Yellow said, finally relaxed enough to revert to her full size. "And this time, we won't underestimate any of his little gems."
"No but they know all our tricks now and will be prepared after all these battles." Pink said already finishing the healing Yellow before focusing on White.
"Pink is right but who do we send out for the final round? All of us have already participated in one round each and this last one will be another team match. It's unknown if we will be able to counter each other at this rate." Blue said as Yellow leaned up to sit next to her.
"Great, so who will we send out? Me and Yellow? White and Blue?" Pink asked, rolling her eyes.
They really did have to decide on who would represent them in the final round. OR maybe if they could change the rules again from a team match to a solo match?
"I…I might have an idea." Blue said, gaining all of their attention. "White, you can make any rule change before the final round since you called the trial by combat this time, right?"
"I…..suppose so but why do you ask?" White asked, still being healed by Pink.
"Because it's been clear by now that we can't exactly win if we keep doing the same things again and again, we have shown all of our cards and there are no secrets left for us to use. Even if we gained new abilities from our previous matches." Blue said, looking at her hand as it flashed with red aura. "There has to be a change."
"And what would that change be?" White asked again.
Blue let out a sigh as she shut her eyes, steeling her nerves as she bored into White's gaze.
"We allow fusion." Blue said, shocking the three diamonds.
Fusion, the one thing a Diamond would never allow outside of missions or same gems. To even suggest such a thing just to defeat Black Diamond, were they that desperate?!
"Wait...are you for real?" Pink said, not believing what her comrade said.
"Have you lost your mind, Blue? We can't do that! Not after all this!" Yellow shouted at Blue.
"Blue, how dare you suggest that? To even joke about that with us is heinous!" White said, glaring at Blue.
"What other choice so we have?! We barely won the first round and Black with his Jasper outsmarted you in the second! If we don't try something drastic, he will show his new way could replace our way." Blue said firmly.
This brought silence to the three of them, making them think about the advantages of fusion and the disadvantages of fusion.
"I, for one, never thought too bad of fusion between different gems. I mean fusing with the same type does make a gem bigger and stronger but different gems? The potential is limitless." Pink said, with interest.
'Especially those two fusions in Black's inner circle.' she thought.
"You mean like those abominations Black has in his court?" White asked with a glare. "That "Rhodinte" created from a Pearl and a Ruby and "Flurite" created from six other gems? Completely ridiculous."
"You may be right but at the same time, maybe not. From what we've seen, I think they fuse either out of curiosity or need, and it doesn't look that well stable thanks to their personality. A Pearl was never meant for combat, so its only hindering the Ruby soldier." Pink said with some logic.
"Exactly! Fusion between different gems is a sin and fusion between the same type are barely acceptable outside of missions! So why suggest it, Blue?" White said, looking to Blue.
"Because it's the perfect way to throw off Black and guarantee our victory without question." Blue Diamond said with a firm lip and a small glare. "Depending on which two of fight, our combined powers would outclass anything Black and his group could send out."
"You may have a point but-" Yellow said before Pink cut her off.
"Besides we are losing, you want to let your pride be the reason this ends next match?" Pink quipped, smirking to Yellow and White.
"GRRR!" White Diamond growled at her, her eyes flashing white.
"Getting angry at me will solve nothing." Pink said, standing her ground. "We have options but it's up to us if we want to take them or not."
The diamonds fell silent from this, mulling over the option of using fusion or not. About how the gems would see them if they actually allowed it and PERFORMED it for the final match! What would their world think of them?!
"...Put it to a vote." Yellow Diamond said, crossing her arms.
She was so desperate that she might actually be considering this as a viable option.
"I say we do it." Pink started, gaining the other Diamond's attention. "Fusion will give us an edge, it may make us look like we are changing the rules too much but what other choice is there? We need more power, more versatility. Something that will throw them for a loop and give us victory."
"I agree. Two diamonds fusing would be incredibly more powerful than anything they could do. At most, it would be just Black fusing with a normal gem or two normal gems fusing together. They might be stronger than most but the point still stands." Blue said, nodding.
"But Diamonds have never fused before, what if something unstable comes out of it?" White asked, thinking about the outcome.
"Not if it's between two diamonds that truly trust each other. It can't be me since you guys don't trust me enough." Pink said, turning to the others.
"What? We completely trust you." Blue said, making Pink give a blank expression.
"No you guys don't. You waited centuries to give me a colony before Black took it for me and you STILL haven't given me a new colony yet." Pink said with a bland tone of voice.
"That's because you act too much like a gem who was born yesterday, we tried teaching you how to behave like one but you never listen." Yellow said with a smirk.
"Black was the same but look at him, his colony is thriving. On Earth and on Homeworld." Pink countered.
As they argued, White Diamond was rubbing her forehead like she was having an actual headache, would she really go back on her word when it was about something she disliked so much?
'Even if I disagree, Yellow could vote yes because of how much she wants to win.' White Diamond thought.
"We are going to look like a bunch of clods after this." She said as she sighs.
"More than we do now for losing?" Yellow Diamond asked White.
White lips furrowed in annoyance but seemed to relent as she shut her eyes and exhaled through her nose.
"Fine, what else is there to lose? Maybe You and Blue can be the ones to try." White said, giving her vote.
"I suppose so, yes." Yellow said with a nod.
"It makes sense, if you think about it bond wise." Blue said with a smile.
"I wonder what would come from a fusion between you two, but practice is needed to perform it perfectly too." Pink suggested to them.
"We'll have to improvise and do it as we go in. We want to surprise Black and his little team, so we'll have to dive in and pulled it off in the spot." Yellow said.
"How long do we have until the next match?" Blue asked.
White and Pink looked towards the timer above the arena, seeing it was now about 19 minutes until the final round,
"Almost a third is done. Healing you both took some time." Pink said, almost down healing White Diamond.
"Very well, Blue and Yellow. You two have nineteen minutes to practice your fusion." White said to them.
"But where would we practice it privately?" Yellow asked.
"Figure it out. Use your own palanquins if you need to." White Diamond said, shutting her eyes to rest and focus on healing.
'Do they even care if it's done in secrecy?' Pink thought, shaking her head a bit.
"I'll be done quickly." Pink Diamond said to White.
"What? Do you wish to watch?" Yellow asked with a raised brow.
"No, I wish to see you fail." Pink said with a smirk, still sassy.
"Why you little!" Yellow grumbles, glaring down at Pink.
"Not now Yellow, every second counts." Blue said, touching her shoulder.
The taller diamond growled again as Blue and her got up, walking towards the palanquin as Pink chuckled at them.
"Pink, that's enough of your-" White Diamond said.
"Shut up, White. I'm DONE letting you all talk down to me, I am a Diamond too and you WILL respect me as such." Pink said firmly, stopping her healing. "You're healed enough. I'll be in my palanquin."
White glares at her with anger, as if to do something against her for talking in such a way...but she just sighs, too tired to complain about Pink anymore.
"If that's what you want, fine Pink." White said to her.
'Another thing I blame on Black, he's made Pink more infuriating.' White Diamond thought, slowly getting up and walking off to wait until the next round. 'Hopefully, Blue and Yellow will have enough time to make a decent fusion.'
That's all she could hope for, because if they lose again, things will change...a lot.
Meanwhile with Black Diamond, he and Jasper were being congratulated by their inner circle while Lapis was using some Quartz tears to heal them a bit.
"Great job you two, knew you could do it." Spinel said with her trademark smile.
"I never had a doubt. Okay, I had some but nothing too bad!" Rhodonite said as she waved her hands.
"And now victory is so close! Who do you think they'll send for the final round?" The Rutile twins asked together.
"The more important question is who do we send?" Topaz asked, rubbing her chin.
"I'm sure we can do it, we saw what each one of them is capable so even if Pink Diamond heals them what is left to fear?" Lapiz asked.
As if irony was hearing them, Holly Blue Agate was receiving word from White Diamond's Pearl about the sudden rule change and gasped in surprise.
"What?" Holly asked.
"You heard me. White Diamond is changing a rule for the last match." White Pearl said, even though she was against it a bit.
A part of holy wanted to show she felt frustrated, because changing the rules yet again was such a sore move, but she had to hold her tongue for now.
"And what is it that...Our Diamond wants?" She said, but not with excitement.
White Pearl walked closer and whispered it to Holly, making sure only she heard it. Holly Blue's eyes go wide as the expression of her face shows fear, confusion and bewilderment, not believing her ears at what that Pearl had just told her and if this was real...well it would shake the foundation of what they knew.
"You can't be serious." Holly said in shock.
"I'm afraid I am. So before the start of the final match begins, you will announce this." White Pearl said with a nod.
"This won't end in just an uproar. It will end in complete and total outrage!" Holy Blue said in distress.
"I agree but what my Diamond says goes." White Pearl said, walking away from Holly Blue.
Holy sighs sadly, knowing that White Diamond ranks above all the other diamonds for her "pure" color.
"So be it..." Holly Blue Agate said.
'This is going to be a problem. a BIG problem.' Holly thought.
*A few moments later...*
"Hey guys, it looks like there is going to be another announcement." Jasper said to her comrades in the room.
Turning to the arena, everyone saw that Holly Blue was up on her platform with a straight look on her face but Black could tell there were some worry behind it.
'What's going on, Holly?' He thought as she cleared her throat.
"Attention, Homeworld and beyond! I have just received an order from White Diamond! For the final match of the Trial by Combat, fusion has been allowed for both teams!" She shouted for all to hear, earning gasps from all sides.
"Wait what?!" Both Rutile twins spoke at the same time.
"Are they for real right now?" Spinel said, mixed feelings of anger and astonishment.
"Did they really change the rules to allow fusion? Does that mean that they will do it too?" Lapis asked, not believing the diamonds would ever do that.
"They must be really feeling cornered." Aquamarine said.
"Concerned and desperate." Black Diamond said with a glare as Holly Blue held her head down in shame, her platform lowering her down. "A fusion between two diamonds has never been done, not only because it was seen as below them but because two already powerful entities fusing into one would be something Homeworld has never seen."
"I sense grave danger for the future of the final match." Padparadscha said, shivering in fear as she held herself. "A danger we had not even thought of."
"Wait...if she sees things that already happened does that mean..." Spinel said, starting to feel worried.
"She might already know that we're going to be fighting." Lapis said, knowing that her and Spinel we're the best chance in a fusion match.
Black Diamond and Jasper had never fused with anyone before and Flurite and Rhodinite were not fighters. Black then chuckles, having a bad feeling yet a good hunch about this.
"Heh, looks like we managed to really get under their skin." he said, crossing his arms.
"Yeah but maybe this could be a good thing. Lapis and Spinel have as good a bond in fusing as Me and Topaz." Topaz said about herself.
"But would we be strong enough two beat a diamond fusion? They lack preparation but I can only imagine the power to make up for the disadvantage." Lapis said in thought, rubbing her chin.
"That's only if they could maintain the fusion. At best, Blue and Yellow are their best chance since they have the best bond of all the diamonds but their fusion would still be unstable due to Yellow's rage." Black Diamond said.
"It will be a unpredictable battle, that's for sure. Anything can happen." Jasper said.
"Agreed." Aquamarine said, looking up to the clock. "And with only 9 minutes left, I wonder if they'll be able to perform a stable enough fusion before the match."
"Well if they calm themselves down and don't act like new gems when doing it. Maybe, JUST maybe, they can have something solid." Black said, rubbing his chin.
'Though, I wonder what exactly will they form. A normal large woman or some sort of monster?' Black thought as Lapis and Spinel went off to practice their fusion a bit.
"I believe we can win!" Jasper said, bashing his fists together.
"Us too!" Rutile twins said.
"Their bond is greater than anything the diamonds could have. Lapis and Spinel will be victorious." Fluorite said in a wide tone, nodding.
"I'm glad I have you guys here with me." Black said, truthfully and happily.
"Us too, Black." Topaz said with a smile.
"Even if you didn't create such a colony, we'd still stand by you." Rhodinite said with a smile.
The rest of his inner circle agreed, showing the full opinions of his entire court up to now. A court Black will defend and fight for against anything.
*A few minutes later...*
The time for the final match has finally arrived and every single gem on Homeworld was watching it, on the edge of their seats, just waiting for when was about to happen. So many things have happened in such short amount of time, they were a species that were used to the passage of time, after all what is a hundred years besides the blink of an eye? But now? Even just a few seconds of waiting felt unbearable.
"May both teams present their final pair of representatives?!" Holly Blue spoke, in the middle of the arena as it was on the planetoid ground.
Everyone on Black Diamond side was nervous, their throats dry and on the edge of their seat for the possibilities of what was about to transpire. Walking out from Black's side, Lapis and Spinel entered the arena floor with determined expressions. They weren't planning on losing this time, no matter what. Walking out from the Diamonds side was Blue and Yellow Diamond, their expressions icy cold and focused. Their pride refused to allow themselves the humiliation of losing again. Holly and everyone in the arena could feel the pressure in the air as the four of them stared each other down, ready to end this once and for all and decide the fate of Homeworld from this day.
"T-The third and final round shall be Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond vs Lapis Lazuli and Spinel of Black Diamond's Court!" Holly shouted for all to hear her. "Are both sides ready?!"
Neither said said anything, just nodding to Holly as the blue gem quickly summoned her whip.
"Then let the final round of the Trial By Combat, BEGIN!" She shouted before swinging, cracking her whip against the floor!