Chapter 1
Training day
The lime green ray of light landed Peridot and Lapis at the warp pad in pearl's floating ruined coliseum. Pearl used the ruins to train Connie and Steven but lately all of the crystal gems have been training in the ruins on Sundays. The warp pad was located at the front of the ruins. There was a staircase followed by an old corridor that led into the sparring area. There was fighting noises and battle cries coming from the arena.
"Here we are…" Peridot said with a nervous chuckle. She was a bit wobbly getting off the warp pad. This was mainly because the warp beam was spinning the entire time. Peridot took a few steps off of the pad before turning to check on Lapis who was a mess after the warp.
"W-was that supposed to happen?" She asked almost falling to the ground.
"Heh heh so the warp pad definitely has some kinks I need to work out." Peridot answered, rubbing the back of her head. " I'll worry about it later. C'mon I think they already started" Peridot made their way in the arena. There was a thick gloomy fog that spread outward for the center of the arena.
Peridot and Lapis figured it would be better and wait on the sidelines that to jump into the fray, so that's what they did. In the smoke, Peridot and Lapis could hear the clashing of swords and swift footsteps. Lapis and Peridot sat on an old half pillar to observe. The noises from the Smoke intensified and out of smoke, Connie was blasted into the air. She regained her composure mid air and managed to gracefully flip to the ground and land safely. Her stance was firm she stood facing the smoke. In both hands, she wielded Rose's pink sword, holding it defensively against any incoming attacks. Connie was wearing her usually purple training garb complete with a read belt.
"Whoa! Lapis did you see that!?" Peridot asked wide eyed.
"Yeah." Lapis responded enthusiastically. "She's got flips." Peridot and Lapis had met Connie before, but definitely not like this. When Steven and the other crystal gems went to outer space, they left Connie, Peridot, and Lapis to watch over beach city. It had been a while since they'd seen Connie but they both were very surprised to see her in action like this. Suddenly, Amethyst zoomed out of the smoke. She was in the middle of her spin dash attack so all Peridot and Lapis could see was a white blur zooming towards Connie. In an instant, Connie planted her feet firmly on the ground, gripped her sword in her right hand, place her left hand on the dull side of the sword, and faced Amethyst. Amethyst collided with the sword full speed creating sparks that flew off in every direction. Connie struggled to hold up against the attack. Sweat rolled down her forehead as dash started to push her whole stance back.
"I-intense.." Peridot said admiring Connie's struggle. "I've never heard of an organic giving a gem a decent fight." Lapis nodded now fully invested in the fight. Connie grunted, determined not to give in to the attack. She took a deep breath in before pushing back against Amethyst with everything she had.
"Ahh!...G-Get…..Back!" Connie shouted before pushing Amethyst out of her spin dash and knocking her several feet across the arena. Connie stood across from Amethyst, who was getting up rather quickly and preparing for another attack. Connie was exhausted. That little power struggle with Amethyst took a lot out of her, and while she was huffing and puffing Amethyst was ready to roll. Connie gripped her sword and winced from the pain. Her hands were bruised to say the least and her joints were already aching. They had only been group sparring for five minutes and here she was out of breath and energy. Connie fell to a knee. She stabbed her sword in the ground to support herself. She stared at the ground as sweat dripped down from her chin. The clinking of swords could still be heard in the fog. Connie glanced over to the fog and realized that Steven is still in there fighting hard to become stronger. She realized that she had to become stronger to if she wanted to protect him. This drove her back to her feet. She turned to Amethyst.
"Done Dreamin' about Stevie-poo?" Amethyst said in a mocking tone. "Good!" Amethyst's gem glowed, as she pulled out one of her whips and slung it at Connie. Connie raised the sword in defense, but the whip tightly wrapped itself around it. Amethyst grinned. She slung the whip to the left, which slung Connie into a nearby pillar. Connie landed on her stomach and hit the ground with a thud. She struggled onto her hands and knees and began to cough up some blood.
"You're still conscious!?" Amethyst hollered. "C'mon kid I'm not trying to kill ya" Connie took a minute to stand back up and at this point she was super wobbly.
"Kill me?" Connie asked. "Oh please, your attacks tickle like butterflies!" Connie's insult took Amethyst by surprise, but she smiled before responding.
" Oh yeah? Well this next one's gonna sting ya like a bee!" Amethyst said before swing her arm down and sending a purple electric current jolting through the whip. The electric current traveled down to the end of the whip, which was still wrapped tightly around Connie's sword. The purple electricity ravaged Connie's body and she screamed out in pain. She refused to let go of the sword but the pain intensified.
"I…. can't…. Quit!" Connie thought to herself falling to knee. "I have to be strong for the earth, for everyone, FOR STEVEN!" Connie struggle to her feet once again. The purple electricity was still stinging every fiber in her being.
"For S-Steven." Connie whispered to herself.
"What wassat?" Amethyst asked channeling even more electricity into her whip. Connie gritted her teeth to withstand the pain. She gripped the sword with both hands and turned away from Amethyst.
"FOR STEVEN!" Connie screamed swinging her sword down to the ground. This maneuver caught Amethyst completely off guard and it sent her flying toward Connie full speed. The second Amethyst was about a foot away, Connie turned around and stabbed the sword into Amethyst's gut. Amethyst's expression was filled with pain and shock. Connie held her up on the sword, breathing heavily.
"G-gotcha" Connie managed to say proudly in between gasps. A moment passed before Amethyst poofed and returned to her gem. Peridot and Lapis stood by the pillar paralyzed in amazement.
"Oh my stars!" Peridot exclaimed, stuffing her hands into her hair frantically.
"Hardcore." Lapis said as Amethyst's gem hit the floor. Connie fell back to a knee, once again using her sword as support in the ground.
"Heheh..I did it!" Connie said to herself with a laugh. "Don't worry Steven I won't give up."
"Taking a break already?" A voice inquired from the fog. "I could've sworn I taught you to be on guard until the fight is over." Lapis looked into the fog.
"That voice sounds familiar." She said trying to put a name to the voice.
"It's Pearl." Peridot said squinting her eyes negatively. Out of everyone, Pearl could definitely push Peridot's buttons the best. They weren't enemies anymore, but there was definitely still some tension between the two. If anything, they were more like rivals. Mostly because Pearl was the only one who could challenge Peridot in her own field. That and the fact the Peridot considered herself above Pearl while she was still getting used to earth.
Peridot and Lapis stared at the fog and the seemingly defeated Connie. Suddenly, Pearl's spear flew out of the fog. Connie's eyes widened. Every movement she made sent waves of pain through her body. Regardless, Connie yanked her sword out of the ground just in time to deflect the spear that was aimed at her head. While deflecting the spear saved Connie from being stabbed, it knocked Connie's sword several feet away from her. She ran towards the sword at full speed.
While she ran Pearl came out of the smoke calmly. She pulled another Spear out of her gem on her forehead. She dusted off the gold star on her aqua blue leotard. Her ivory skin shimmered in the sunlight as sweat perspired off of her body. She looked over at Connie as she was about to reached her sword. Pearl smiled. As Connie got to about a foot away from the sword, a Halo Pearl appeared in front of her. The Halo pearl was a product of one of Pearl's techniques. The Halo Pearl looked almost exactly like Pearl with the exception of the Halo Pearl's bright red eyes, lighter color palette, and robotic voice.
"Whoa could she do that before?" Lapis asked quite impressed.
"Oh I don't know Lapis. Why don't you ask Pearl?" Peridot responded with jealousy.
"PREPARE FOR BATTLE" The Halo Pearl stated holding her sword in front of her and pointed it at Connie.
"Oh great!" Connie said squatting defensively. The Halo Pearl swung its sword vertically. Connie reacted by rolling to the right side of the Halo Pearl. Then, Connie ducked to avoid the Halo Pearl's follow up horizontal slice. After that, Connie got behind the Halo Pearl by nimbly rolling underneath her legs. Connie snatched her sword off of the ground and horizontally cut through the Hollow Pearl at the waist.
After the Halo Pearl disappeared Connie was left with the real Pearl and the ominous fog behind. She stood up slowly bearing all of the fatigue her body had already put on.
"Very well done Connie." Pearl said clapping. "I'm very proud of you Connie. I know it's difficult for a human to fight for extended periods of time without a break. Look at you though. It's amazing that you can still stand let alone fight." Connie frowned.
"With all do respect mam. The fight's not over and we can talk later." Connie got down into her sword fighting stance. Her legs wobbled but she stood as firmly as she could.
"Yes of course." Pearl said preparing herself to fight. "You did well to handle my Halo pearl in your condition, but let's see you handle this!" Pearl aimed the end of her spear at Connie and fired a super fast energy shot. Connie lifted her sword in an attempt to block the attack, but the energy blast exploded in front of her. She ducked to shield herself from the debris and smoke. When she looked up in front of her she saw Steven standing in front of her. He had summoned his rose pink shield around his forearm and and shielded him and Connie from Pearls attack. Connie's eyes lit up.
"Steven!" She shouted hugging him tightly. "Thank goodness you showed up."
"I told you Connie." Steven said with a smile. "We're in this together!"
"Is that Steven?" Peridot asked squinting over at Steven and Connie. "Oh there's no mistaking it! I'd know that red shirt and blue jean combination anywhere."
"HEY STEVEN!" Peridot and Lapis called out in unison. Steven turned to Peridot and Lapis with a smile.
"Hey guys! What took you so long to show up?" Steven asked across the arena.
"We had some technical difficulties." Peridot yelled back.
"Oh really?" Steven asked. "what happened?"
"Keep your attention on the fight!" Pearl shouted before launching her Spear at Steven.
"Steven lookout!" Connie yelled. Steven's gem began to glow in response to pearls attack. Steven surrounded himself and Connie in a pink energy bubble. Connie's aches finally caught up to her and she collapsed inside of the bubble.
"Connie!" Steven exclaimed kneeling down to her. He got on his knees and leaned Connie over his lap. He supported her with his arms. "Are you okay Connie?" Connie smiled at Steven. At this point is was pretty obvious that she wasn't ok, but she still found Stevens concern sweet.
"I've got to admit. I've had better days." Connie said managing to be modest about her pain.
"Don't worry." Steven said, wiping the blood out from under her lip. "I'll heal you." Steven leaned down closer to Connie before kissing her gently. Connie lifted her hand up to Steven's cheek and caressed it softly while enjoying Steven's lips. After a moment, Steven's embrace began to gradually lift the fatigue off of Connie's body. Her bruises disappeared, her scratches faded, and the feeling of Amethyst's electricity attack was nothing more than memory.
Steven and Connie's lips parted.
"Is that better?" Steven asked standing up.
"Much better." Connie answered with a smile. Steven dropped the bubble and an impatient Pearl ruined the mood.
"I hope you two are done smooching!" She said. "This is a fight after all." On the sidelines there was a very awkward silence between Lapis and Peridot.
"Umm go Steven?" Peridot asked. "I think he won the tongue war."
"Must be nice." Lapis said diverting her eyes away from Peridot who was still uncomfortable with kissing after living on Earth for over a year.
"Yea! We're done I hope your ready Pearl!" Steven said in response to Pearl.
"Wait Steven." Connie interrupted. "What about Garnet?"
"What about Garnet?" Steven asked.
"Well how did you deal with Garnet." Connie asked raising an eyebrow.
"Pillars" Steven answered nervously.
"Pillars?" Connie asked skeptically.
"Yeh Pillars." Steven answered with a nervous laugh.
"You beat Garnet with pillars?" Connie asked. "I'm pretty sure she could bench press a skyscraper, so how did you beat Garnet with some old ancient pillars?"
"Ok ok." Steven said giving in to Connie's questions. "Maybe "Beat" is the wrong word. Look let's just focus on Pearl for now and then worry about Garnet." Connie nodded and the two turned and faced Pearl.
"Ug, Finally." Pearl said spinning her spear into a fighting position. "Seriously, Steven you can't expect Homeworld gems to wait idly by while you and Connie cuddle inside of a bubble." Pearl was blushing. She secretly adored their relationship and thought it was one of the cutest things on the Earth. However, it was vital that they took the training seriously.
"They aren't gonna have a choice if they can't break through it." Steven said confidently turning to Connie. "You ready." Connie nodded and the two bolted towards Pearl. Steven ran towards Pearls right side and Connie ran towards Pearls left. Pearl leaned back and began to fire energy shots at both of them. Steven and Connie manage to dodge the energy attacks skillfully by ducking and dodging. Steven jumped high into the air and began to float. Pearl aimed her spear up at Steven and began to shoot. The energy blasts cut through the air at high speeds. Steven, seeing the oncoming attack, surrounded himself in another pink bubble. The energy shots bounced off of the bubble and into different areas of the arena. The last shot flew back at Pearl who hit a combat roll to evade it. She let out a sigh. She didn't expect Steven to combine his floating ability with his bubble power, but why would he?
Pearl sense someone behind her and ducked, avoiding Connie's horizontal sword slash. Pearl hit several back flips away from Connie and put herself in a defensive fighting stance. She understood now. Steven flew into the air as a distraction. He knew pearl would attack him first because of his lack of control, but while she attacking Steven, it gave Connie the element of surprise. Pearl smiled. They were finally using their heads like real gem warriors.
Connie lunged forward swinging her sword expertly in an attempt to poof Pearl. Pearl backed up and fought defensively. She angled her spear several different times to shield herself from Connie's attacks. Pearl leaped back several feet away from Connie to plan her next move. She aimed her spear at Connie and started to shoot, but she was knocked to the ground forcefully by Steven who flew down from the air and kicked Pearl in the back of the head.
Steven's attack sent Pearl tumbling across the arena. Steven landed with the sound of his red flip-flops clapping against the ground. Peridot laughed at the seemingly defeated Pearl.
"Oh common Pearl!" Peridot laughed. "You've been defending this planet for centuries but you can't handle a couple of kids?"
Pearl grumbled something mean under her breath before struggling to her feet.
"Really, it's a good thing that i'm struggling." Pearl said brushing herself off. "The stronger they are now, the easier the fight against Homeworld is going to be. However I'm not ready to poof just yet." Pearl stood still facing Connie and Steven. It was about time she went on the offensive. Pearl took off towards Connie and Steven. She ran with her spear in her left hand and with the tip behind her. She was fast. Her body cut through the air and in an instant she was in front of Connie.
She jabbed her spear forward. Steven got in front of Connie and blocked Pearl's spear with his shield. Steven swung his shield upward opening Pearl up for a kick that sent her on her back. That second, Connie jumped off of Steven's head stabbed the directly into Pearls gut. She poofed, leaving Connie and Steven standing there above her gem.
"Looks like that's it for Pearl." Connie said somewhat somberly. "Or at least for now." After Pearl was poofed The fog was lifted from the arena revealing Garnet who stood in the center of the arena with her arms crossed.
"Yeh I thought as much." Connie said nudging Steven and motioning to Garnet. "There's no way you beat Garnet with some old pillars." Steven looked over at Garnet and face palmed.
"Errr ! Garnet what are you doing!? this is supposed to be a real life battle simulation!" Steven asked slightly frustrated.
"Sorry Steven." Garnet said walking towards Steven and Connie. "I knew you didn't have anything in your arsenal that could challenge me, but if you two form Stevonnie that would probably be a different story."
"You want us to fuse?" Connie asked looking at Steven with a blush.
"Well if that's what it takes." Steven said turning to Connie with a smile.
"W-Wait they're going to fuse?" Peridot asked turning to Lapis who just shrugged nonchalantly. Steven pulled Connie into a hug. During their embrace, Steven's gem lit up brightly and both of their figures glowed brightly before merging together. When the light finally dimmed, Stevonnie stood there holding Connie's sword facing Garnet.
"Oh wow." Stevonnie said realizing her existence. "Hey Garnet! Long time no see."
"Stevonnie." Garnet said acknowledging her. Garnet summoned her gauntlets and squatted down into her fighting stance.
"Oh right!" Stevonnie said, remembering that she came to fight. She summoned Steven's shield and nodded at Garnet to show that she was ready. Garnet nodded back before leaping forward. Stevonnie's eyes widened. Garnet was way faster and stronger than Pearl. She was going to have to be careful. She leaped backwards up onto a pillar that was behind her avoiding Garnets fist. Garnet wasted no time leaping up next to the top of the pillar. She punched the top of the creating a small smoke cloud. Stevonnie had Leaped off of the tip of the pillar before Garnets attack landed. Stevonnie used the smoke as a cover. She flew into the smoke wrapping her arms around Garnet in the process. She took them both towards the ground at high speeds. Just before impact, Stevonnie threw Garnet into the floor creating a huge crater and stopped her momentum letting herself land safely behind the crater she had made with Garnets body. After the smoke cleared, Garnet stood up in the crater and cracked her neck.
"Not bad Stevonnie." She said cracking the other side of her neck.
"Thanks" Stevonnie replied summoning Stevens shield in her left hand. Her grip on her sword tightened. The two leaped at each other. Stevonnie thrusted her sword forward in an attempt to poof Garnet, but Garnet flipped over the sword, grabbed the back of Stevonnie's garb mid-flip, and slung Stevonnie into another old pillar upon landing.
"Wow that was really good." Lapis said to Peridot. "But how did she do that?"
"Well that's a bit hard to explain." Peridot replied. "The perma-fusion Garnet is consisted of a Ruby and Sapphire. As you know Sapphires are rare gems that can see into the future. They were created to assist the diamonds in making good decision for the good of the empire, but Garnet is a crystal gem and has learned to use her future vision in battle as well as in decision making."
"So you're saying she already knows what Stevonnie's gonna do?" Lapis asked slightly worried.
"No not exactly." Peridot answered. "While her future vision powers are a unique advantage, they also have a unique disadvantage."
"Aaand what's that?" Lapis asked.
"She can see into the future." Peridot started. "But sometimes it's not that simple. There are many times where things can happen in many different ways and when this is the case it's a matter of picking the right scenario."
"Ooh ok I understand now but how do you know Peri?" Lapis asked.
"Well, when I decided to help the Crystal gems deal with the cluster, I had a lot of time to get to know the Crystal gems." Peridot answered with a chuckle. "I remember not liking any of them, but I came around."
"I can relate." Lapis said with laugh. Meanwhile Stevonnie was picking herself up out off what used to be a pillar. She looked up to see Garnet Flying at her with super man punch with her name on it. She rolled forward avoiding the attack and stumbled to her feet. She held her shield in front of her ready for garnets next attack. Garnet pointed both of her arms at Stevonnie and smiled.
"Bang." Garnet said, as one of her gauntlets flew off of her wrist. It zipped through the air and found itself up against Stevonnie's shield. Stevonnie struggled to hold her ground against Garnets rocket gauntlet. The force was too great and Stevonnie was sent on her back as the rocket whizzed by her headed towards Peridot and Lapis.
"Uh oh!" Lapis said, grabbing Peridot, sprouting her wings, and flying away. The gauntlet crashed into the ground where Lapis and Peridot were standing and exploded sending debris everywhere.
"Yikes!" Peridot said looking down at the damage from that attack.
"Are you okay Peri?" Lapis asked flapping her wings to keep them above the action.
"Yeah I'm fine. Thanks Lapis." Peridot said looking up at Lapis who had her arms tightly around her waist.
Stevonnie sat up just in time to see Garnets second gauntlet flying at her much like the first gauntlet. In seconds, the gauntlet was an inch away from Stevonnie's face.
"Ohhh shit." Stevonnie said before the gauntlet exploded creating another substantial explosion once again sending debris everywhere.
"Steven!" Lapis called out to no avail.
"Oh my stars" Peridot said softly to herself. She was shook but what she saw. Peridot knew this was a bad idea. She wouldn't last three second in a fight like this one. She clenched her fist. She was so far behind everyone. She wouldn't have even been able to watch the fight if it wasn't for Lapis saving her.
"Darn it." Peridot whispered to herself.
"What's wrong?" Lapis asked noticing Peridot's pouting face.
" Oh it's nothing" Peridot lied. "I just remember I left my visor at the barn."
"But you got your cool gem shades." Lapis said with a smile.
"I know, but I think I like my visor more." Peridot replied. Meanwhile, on the ground, the dust finally cleared revealing Stevonnie inside of a pink bubble with her arms crossed over her face.
"Wooah god that was close." Stevonnie said, happy to see herself still alive. "That could have ended way worse." Stevonnie stood up inside her bubble and looked over at Garnet. Garnet looked back at Stevonnie with a smile. She was impressed. Fusion or not, countering Garnets rocket gauntlet in point blank range was no small feat. Stevonnie sighed. Garnet had her trapped in her own bubble. The second she drops her bubble, Garnet is gonna be all over her with those rockets.
"Those rockets of yours are pretty fast huh?" Stevonnie asked Garnet, setting her sword down at the bottom of the bubble and letting her shield disappear.
"Eh they're alright." Garnet shrugged. "I like to be up close but they get the job done when I can't be."
"Neat." Stevonnie said allowing an awkward silence to creep up on them. "It's a good thing i'm Stevonnie. I don't think Steven would have had enough energy to do this." Stevonnie whispered to herself. She placed both her hands on the wall bubble. She closed her eyes,took in a deep breath, and began to concentrate on something. Suddenly, a pink hand of energy stretched out from the bubble and slithered it's way towards Garnet just above the ground. Stevonnie's gem glowed brightly as the hand picked up speed. In a matter of seconds, the hand was a few feet away from Garnet. With speed, it lunged forward. Garnet swung at the palm of the pink hand of energy, but the hand avoided the blow by opening up around her and forming a bubble similar to the bubble Stevonnie was in.
Garnet inspected the bubble that encased her. It was much like Stevonnie's bubble the only difference being her's was more roomy.
"So what now?" Garnet asked still looking around her slightly cramped bubble. "Are you shielding yourself by shielding me?"
"Not quite" Stevonnie said in between pants. She was expelling a large amount of her magical energy with this technique. She needed to make her move. Stevonnie dropped the bubble around her and focused on the bubble that held Garnet. Sweat rolled down her cheek and dropped to the floor from her chin. Stevonnie lifted her hands into the air. In response, the bubble that held Garnet rose slowly into the air.
"Woah what's she doing?" Lapis asked still flapping her wings.
"I have no idea" Peridot said squinting down at the fight. Stevonnie took a deep breath in and exhaled.
"Here goes nothing!" Stevonnie said to herself. She swung her towards the ground as fast as she could. That moment the bubble that held Garnet was transformed into an inescapable prison that was plummeting to the ground. Bubble crashed into the ground creating a huge crater and plenty of cover smoke. Stevonnie reached down and snatched her sword up from the floor and dashed full speed towards Garnet who was still recovering from the impact. Stevonnie sprinted full speed towards Garnet with her rose pink sword held to her side samurai style. Garnet struggles onto her hands and knees. She looked up through her cracked shades and saw Stevonnie approaching. She struggled to her feet and looked up. One moment Stevonnie was in front of her carrying her sword samurai style and the next moment Stevonnie was behind her sword drawn in front of her. An audible slash was heard afterwards and it was followed by a powerful shock wave. The sound wave pushed Lapis back. She struggled to stay in the air. She grunted trying to endure the fierce winds.
"Woah woah you okay?" Peridot said staring down.
"I should probably take us down huh?" Lapis asked, after shock wave subsided.
"That would be nice." Peridot said, holding on tightly to Lapis' arms. Lapis glided down to the ground and landed.
"Wow thanks." Peridot said Gratefully. "It feels good to have have my gravity connectors connected to something. Well uhh you can let me go now." Peridot said to Lapis who was still holding holding her tightly around the waist from behind.
"Oh right." Lapis said letting Peridot go with a blush. Meanwhile Stevonnie fell to a knee and leaned on her sword for support she struggled to catch her breath. Garnet spoke with her back to Stevonnie.
"Nice work Stevonnie." Garnet said. " I am very proud of you." Garnet poofed and her gems hit the floor with a clink. Stevonnie went back to where pearl and Amethyst were poofed and picked them up. Then she approached Lapis and peridot. She released a bright light and unfused. The light faded and Steven and Connie stood in front of Peridot and Lapis. Connie held her sword in her left and the gems in her right.
"Steven!" They yelled, rushing to Steven. Peridot hugged Steven around the waist and Lapis wrapped her arms around Steven's head and pulled Steven's face in between her breasts.
"Steven that was amazing!" Lapis said letting go of Steven.
"yeh how did you do that?" Peridot asked stepping back to get a better look at Steven.
"I've had a lot of practice." Steven said rubbing the back of his head.
"I'll say." Peridot said, getting a bit nervous. "You were amazing!"
"Yeh" Lapis said, looking down at the gems Connie held in her hand. "Maybe a little too amazing."
"Oh don't worry." Connie said comfortingly. "We've been at this for a while, so I'm sure they'll reform soon."
"Oh that's right!" Steven said excitedly. "You guys showed up late so you missed out on the action."
"Oh darn!" Peridot exclaimed, trying to sound sincere. "Maybe next time huh?"
"Nah, I'm sure we can get a quick match in before you guys leave right?" Steven asked.
"I dunno Steven." Lapis replied. "You guys' training might be a little intense for us." Peridot nodded in agreement.
"No way! you guys will do great." Steven said reassuringly. "Worse case scenario, someone gets poofed."
"I don't know Steven." Connie said worriedly. "They might be gems, but as a human, the training is intense." Steven gave her a reassuring smile.
"Everything's going to be fine guys." Steven said. "Besides if homeworld is really coming back, we need to be sure we do everything we can to protect the Earth. We don't have time to doubt ourselves." Lapis started to feel uneasy and diverted her eyes away from everyone. Connie nodded, while Peridot continued to sweat profusely.
"Ok here's how this is going to work." Steven said clearing his throat. "We are going to break into teams. Connie's with me and you guys are a team. We're gonna fight until you guys get poofed or we get knocked unconscious. There are no rules besides no killing and so it's fair we won't fuse."
"Hold on Steven." Peridot cut in. "Are you sure you guys don't need a break you guys seem exhausted."
"It'll be fine." Steven reassured. "Besides, it's more fair this way. This is you guys' first time training with us and we're tired. It evens out." After Steven finished going over the rules, Lapis and Peridot backed several feet away from Connie and Steven.
An awkward moment passed. Connie put the rest of the Crystal Gems into her pocket and drew her sword. Steven took a breath before summoning his shield and squatted into his fighting stance.
"Lapis! What the hell are we gonna do!?" Peridot asked Lapis in a whisper.
"Umm…" Lapis stammered. "They'll attack us, and we'll attack back and win."
"Wow your optimistic." Peridot said sarcastically.
"Look I dunno Peri! You're the planning gem." Lapis said frustratingly. "To be honest, they're probably gonna poof us!"
"No no no." Peridot answered. "Look just say "we'll do it together and it's gonna be great""
"Umm ok." Lapis said slightly confused. "We'll do it together and it's gonna be great."
"You think so?" Peridot asked hopefully.
"LET'S DO THIS!" Steven shouted flinging his shield at Lapis. Lapis looked up just in time to get hit in the forehead by Stevens shield. The shield bounced off of Lapis' forehead and sprang into the air. Steven sprinted forward and boot kicked Lapis in the stomach, sending her onto her back several yards away. Steven leaped into the air for a follow up attack. Peridot went to help Lapis, but Connie hit a combat roll in front of her and held her sword up in front of Peridot.
"Don't even think about it!" Connie said threateningly.
"Eeep!" Peridot squealed in fear, before taking a deep breath in. "Now Connie, you're a smart earthling. I'm sure we can get through this without fighting like Neanderthals."
"Save it Peridot!" Connie said sternly. "Your mind games aren't gonna work one me! Besides, we can talk after you reform!" Connie rushed peridot with a flurry of slashes. Connie swung her sword left, then right, and then dove in for a jab. Clumsily a Peridot avoided the slashes then hit an unbalanced back bend to avoid the the jab. Connie jumped back in fear of Peridot counter attack, but instead of attacking, Peridot retreated on all fours like a scared animal.
"What the?" Connie said confused about Peridot's battle tactics or lack thereof. She threw her sword at Peridot who was retreating with her back to Connie. Peridot turned around just in time to see the sword flying at her. She rolled onto her back avoiding the pink sword that pierced the ground beside her. Peridot smirked before rolling onto her feet. She attempted to pull Connie's sword up out of the ground but, it was wedged in the ground pretty good.
While Peridot was distracted Connie ran forward for another attack. She greeted Peridot with a slug across the face that knocked her away from the sword. Connie sent a karate kick crashing up against Peridot's chin. The attack sent Peridot flying into the air and landing on her neck. Peridot plopped onto her stomach and winced in pain. Connie ripped her sword out of the ground and quickly approached peridot to continue her onslaught
Meanwhile, Steven leaped into the air catching the shield he bounced off of Lapis' forehead and focused it around his forearm. After that, Steven began his descent to the ground face first to continue his attack on Lapis. Lapis rolled back onto her feet and shot her head up to see Steven's incoming attack. She squinted her eyes to get a good view of him. Steven had been training to focus his emotions in combat situations to better manipulate his powers, and right now he was speeding towards the ground like a bullet ready to do major damage to anything he comes into contact with.
Lapis waited till the last second to dodge Steven's bullet headbutt. At the last second Lapis hit a combat roll several feet away from where she was standing. Steven, inches from the ground, brought his shield in front of him to break his fall and bounce back onto his feet facing Lapis. A moment later the shield shattered due to its heavy impact on the ground. He stared at Lapis who stared back intently.
"What's wrong Lapis?" Steven asked summoning a new shield around his forearm. "Why aren't you fighting back?"
"Well I mean I was going to." Lapis stated honestly.I-I just don't really feel comfortable fighting you. You've done so much for me ya' know?"
"Yeah." Steven said trying to relate. "I know how you feel. It was hard for me to start fighting Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl at first too, but it's for the safety of Earth. If we don't train, we won't get strong. If we don't get strong, we won't be able to protect the earth and we'll lose. I don't want that,even more than I don't want to hurt you guys."
"S-Steven..." Lapis said realizing that Steven didn't want to fight anymore than she did. "Ok Steven, I'm gonna do this, not Just for you but for me."
"Thanks Lapis." Steven said dropping into his fighting stance. "Just pretend I'm Jasper." Lapis' eyes widened as the memories of Jasper and their fusion, Malachite, came rushing back to her. Those memories were reminders of the suffering Lapis had endured. She shut her eyes in an attempt to stop the memories.
Steven threw his shield at Lapis full speed, but when the shield got inches away from her face, Lapis' eyes burst end open and she knocked the shield away from her with one hand. Steven leaped forward this time aiming for a direct attack. Lapis crossed her arms over her chest and blocked Steven's first punch. Steven threw several punches that collided with Lapis' guard. Lapis winced in pain under the pressure of Steven's attack.
"Jeez" Lapis thought to herself. "I don't remember Steven being this strong. Then again, I've never really been in a serious fight with Steven." Steven hit a front flip and started to bring his heel down on Lapis, who crossed her arms above her head to block the attack.
After blocking the attack, Lapis grabbed a hold of Steven's leg and slung him away from her. Steven was flung just above the ground, before cartwheeling onto his feet. He stood across from Lapis who formed her wings and flew towards Steven. Her speed was was incredible. In mere moments she was in front of Steven and her dropkick sent Steven flying into a nearby pillar.
Meanwhile, Connie skillfully swung her sword again and Peridot clumsily dodged.
"Woah woah WOAH! Please take it easy with that sword." Peridot said narrowly escaping the blades reach.
"Not a chance!" Connie shouted, leaping into the air attempting to come down with a jump slash. Peridot's eyes widened. She threw her arms up and her powers slung Connie's sword along with her into a nearby pillar. Connie's body collided with the stone pillar with a thud, and she slid to the ground just below her sword.
"You know you could have made that experience a lot less painful if you would have just let go of the sword." Peridot said approaching a still collapsed Connie.
"Oh I know." Connie said, struggling to her feet. "But a good swords woman never lets go of her sword!" Connie stood strong and yanked the pink blade from the stone pillar behind her.
Connie held her sword confidently in her right hand. She adjusted herself back into her fighting stance. This time she got lower and had her left hand free in front of her while her right hand held her sword slightly behind her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, causing Peridot to internally gulp heavily. Connie opened her eyes calmly. Her new focus reawakened her fiery determination to win. With all the emotions running around in her head under her control, she lunged forward to continue the attack on Peridot.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ruins, Steven was struggling to keep up with Lapis' speed. It was one thing when the fight first started,but when Lapis went airborne, it has been that much harder for Steven to get close to her let alone inflict damage. Lapis flew along the edges of the arena, before turning around and zipping back at Steven full speed. She flew into Steven forcefully knocking him onto his back. Steven groaned before leaping back onto his feet just in time to get knocked back to the ground by Lapis' aerial attacks. Steven realized that if he wanted win this he was going to have to be on his toes to avoid taking extra damage. Steven flipped back onto his feet and immediately turned himself to the right just narrowly dodging another one of Lapis' high speed aerial attacks. That instant, Steven grabbed a hold of Lapis' ankle, jumped into the air, and slung Lapis around before slamming her back first into the floor of the arena.
The attack caught Lapis completely off guard. The slam knocked the wind out her and she found it extremely difficult to regain her composure. Steven landed on the ground still holding on to Lapis' ankle and used his improving strength to sling her over 50 feet into the air. There Lapis finally started regained her composure. She formed her water wings and hovered there for a moment. Steven blasted up from the ground approaching Lapis, who was still trying to catch her breath. As Steven flew up higher Lapis finally completely composed herself.
She saw Steven now only a few feet away from her, but something was different about him. He to was fully composed and focused, just like the day he first summoned his shield against her. He seemed determined at all cost just like back then to prove himself and stand up for what he believed in, but his eyes bothered Lapis. The look Steven carried in his eyes was nothing new to Lapis.
That look of frightening determination even if it was for the wrong cause. It was that look Jasper had when she begged Lapis to fuse with her. It was the look the gems had when the war for earth trapped her in a mirror for thousand of years. The memories malachite and the mirror came rushing back to Lapis and she closed her eyes to shield herself from its torment. However, Lapis shutting her eyes wouldn't shield her from Steven, who was now directly above her. Steven clasped his hands above his head and brought them down on Lapis, sending her spiraling down to the arena floor. Lapis' descent was deadly fast, and her impact with cause a huge explosion of dirt and debris.
Peridot and Connie shielded themselves from the force of the impact.
"Lapis!" Peridot cried out worriedly. Eventually the dust cleared to reveal an enormous crater dead in the center of the Ruins. In the center of the crater, Lapis laid there battered and bruised. Scratches from the impact had made themselves at home all along Lapis' arms and legs. Her blue skirt was tattered and torn to the point to the point to where it barely covered her right leg at all. Lapis laid there seemingly unconscious with her limbs laid out in all directions. Steven, still floating around in the air, looked down in disbelief.
"No way!" Steven thought to himself. "That's insane. I didn't hold back at all! She should have poofed on impact." Steven started his descent to finish his fight with Lapis. Peridot darted off toward Lapis, completely abandoning her fight with Connie. Peridot ran as fast she could toward the crater. Her steps had meaning and purpose, and that pushed Peridot to run even crater was only a few meters away. Peridot started to close in on it, when the pink blade zipped past her and lodged itself in the ground. The blade had nicked Peridot's arm on its way past her. Peridot turned to Connie sprinting toward her with great speed.
"Your fight is with ME!" Connie yelled leaping into air. "And I'm not finished yet!" Connie forcefully brought her left heel down on Peridot's head and once her left foot hit the ground, Connie brought her right foot up successfully connecting it with Peridot's chin. The attack lifted Peridot into the Air. Connie finished her attack by bringing her right foot down and sending her left foot into Peridot's gut sending her tumbling several feet across the arena.
Peridot struggled to her feet.
"So much for not letting go of your sword." Peridot quipped glancing over the crater where Lapis was.
"The rule doesn't apply to you if you're also a martial artist." Connie said falling into her fighting stance. Peridot heard Lapis groaning in the crater and became wide eyed.
"Listen Corey, I really really need you to move." Peridot said seriously.
"It's Connie." Connie corrected. "And like I said before NOT A CHANCE!" Connie leaped toward Peridot again.
Meanwhile Steven just landed a few feet outside of the crater. There was no rush to poof Lapis especially since she was already unconscious. Lapis struggled to wake up. She found herself floating in void that was completely free from any form of light. Then, from the deepest darkest corner of the void, Malachite appeared charging at her full speed with the intent to kill. Malachite's roar shook the void and split the very essence of fear all over Lapis' body. That gruesome and horrifying image made Lapis' eyes pop open. Seconds after Lapis' eyes opened, the waves of pain set in and weighed her body to the ground mercilessly.
Through the pain Lapis struggled to sit up slowly. She rolled over onto her hands and knees and finally inched herself onto her feet. Steven, now on the edge of the crater, was now in even more disbelief that Lapis was able to stand up after the attack he put her through. Steven slid down the side of the crater, ran to center of the crater where he met a barely standing Lapis Lazuli, and greeted her an outstanding gut punch that sent her flying out of the crater and into a nearby pillar. Lapis hit the ground forcefully, causing cracks to spread out and away from where she had landed. Again she managed to stand with the help of the ancient pillar.
Steven leaped out of the crater and charged Lapis with a barrage of fists. The force of the attacks had Lapis' back against the pillar. She crossed her arms over her face to prevent Steven from getting anymore face shots, but Steven took the opportunity to focus on stomach punches. One after another, Steven's fists pounded away at Lapis to the point to where the pillar behind Lapis began to crack and crumble. Steven finished his combo by kicking Lapis directly in stomach, sending her through the pillar and onto the ground where she slid on her side until she was directly in front of Connie, who had Peridot trapped in a headlock.
Peridot's eyes widened on Lapis. Lapis was beaten down horribly. Her body was extremely bruised and every so often Lapis would twitch from the amount of pain she was in. Peridot teared up. She couldn't stand to see someone she cared about in this much pain. She stopped trying to resist Connie's head lock and Stared at her friend, who had just when through the beating of a lifetime. In an instant her sadness boiled into an enormous rage. Peridot clenched her fist tightly in anger and her gem began to glow a radiant light that only got brighter and brighter. The light edged around Peridot's body and her eye sockets radiated the green light as well.
"Wooah." Connie said in awe of the situation. She moved to tighten her grip around Peridot's neck but was blasted on to her back by Peridot's energy. Peridot's shades slid off of her face and hit the ground, revealing Peridot's eyes, which were completely engulf in the lime green light.
"No way!" Steven said landing in front of Lapis. "Looks like someone's getting into the training!" Peridot lifted her hand at Steven who had just formed another shield around his arm.
"That's enough." Peridot said authoritatively.
"Sorry P-dot." Steven said remorsefully. "but the fights not over until you guys are poofed or we are unconscious." In an Instant Steven moved to bring his shield down Lapis, while Connie flipped back onto her feet to attack Peridot. A moment passed but no one moved a muscle. Steven stood there unmoving with his shield inches away from Lapis' face and Connie stood behind Peridot fist cocked back but unable to move forward.
"W-what the heck is going on!?" Connie managed to say frozen in place.
"I-I can't move at all!" Steven muttered as sweat dripped down from his chin.
"Allow me to explain." Peridot said calmly. "The human race is composed of both a male and female gender. Males have on average 4 grams of iron in their body, while females have about 3.5 grams of iron in their body. While this is a relatively low percent of metal it is still evenly deposited throughout your bodies, and I have the ability to manipulate metal."
"Okay, but how are you going to knock us out?" Steven asked.
"Oh right now I could do a lot worse than knock you two unconscious." Peridot said confidently. "You have any idea the damage of every single fiber of iron leaving your body at one time would do?"
Connie sighed. "We inevitably die shortly afterwards."
"Oh wow." Steven said not realizing the position he was in. "Looks like you win. I give."
"I give up too" Connie said nervously. Peridot let go of their inner metals and Steven and Connie fell onto their hands and knees exhausted. Peridot's Green energy faded away and her eyes dimmed back down to normal. After that, she to fell to her knees in complete exhaustion. The four laid there together to catch their breath after a long day of hard work.