Now things get good.
Steven rolled as a foot stomped the ground he'd been before and backed away holding Rose's sword at the ready, he blocked an overhead strike before jumping back as a stab came at his gem. He parried a thrust slaping it away before trying one of his own that glanced of Diamond's face as he got a punch in the face for the trouble. Diamond stopped waiting for hi, to get back up, Steven was a hard worker even if he didn't notice how well his effort paid off. Steven got up and Diamond was on him before he was ready but thanks to his magic sight mixed with his restored regular sight Steven dodged and parried a side swipe to his legs.
Steven shuttered as he backed away. 'Its like this is getting harder the longer we go at it.' What he didn't know is that it was getting harder, Diamond started out only as strong as Steven was having carefully measured his physical capabilities through all the games he got Steven to play since they'd met. They started dead even and Steven did pretty well for someone who never held a sword and learned the basics in no time, though that part was annoying because of his inexperience. 'He's less aggresive than his mother was the times we fought but considering how much she apperently changed since we last fought that might make them even more alike.' Diamond afterwards slowly ramped up his strength speed and skill even changing his height slightly more and more as they fought so he could have greater leverage over Steven.
He hadn't noticed which was good, combat was unpredictable so Diamond had to mix it up first subtly then radically. Diamond mode changed appearing behind Steven before turning back to normal going in for a punch but Steven turned aiming to slash across his eyes, they scraped against his face causing him to instinctively back away. "You know Steven i lost my eyes like that." He flinched but Diamond paid it no mind as his sword disappeared. "Take five, you need a real break." Steven plopped down exhausted as Diamond mode changed again reappearing with a bottle of water. "You're going great, next we'll work on fighting in strange environments."
Steven sat up looking over at Diamond. "How come you haven't taught me any sword techniques or how to fight using a specific style?" Diamond shrugged. "Because i'm a blue diamond Steven, when we were created i was made to be the common foot soldier, in video games I'm the jack of all stats, red diamond is the fragile speedster, and black diamonds the mighty glacier." He sat next to Steven. "You're part human and you aren't fully in control of your power, Steven you'll always be fighting people more durable and physically capable than you. Me though I'm a Blue diamond I've been dealing with that all my life, and yet here i am sitting next to you. If nothing else i'm proof that the weaker fighter can win, back to your first question my answer ties into the second question too." Diamond felt bad about slapping Steven with a cold sense of reality.
"Techniques can be learned, but they can be countered same with a specific fighting style. For me knowing where to punch and kick and how and when to do it are good enough, same with a sword. If you have a style you have a pattern, and patterns can be learned and countered. While having no style is just as dangerous as having no training the number 1 swordsman doesn't have to worry about what the number 2 will do because he knows how to counter it, what he really worries about is some random guy will do because he has no idea how to counter that." Diamond sighed. "My point if there is one is that what i'm teaching you is Confusion Fu. With the right training you can beat almost anyone." Diamond shifted standing up and whipping his body of the sand. "Come on back to basics."
Pearl watched as the two fought wondering what to think of Daimond. "Ah will you stop spying on them." Pearl scoffed as several red diamonds attacked Steven while pillars of sand rose into the air at random. "Amethyst i am not spying!" Garnet shook her head as Steven scored a hit grazing the side of a red diamond's leg. "Steven's getting better. Last weak all he'd do is run." Amethyst shrugged. "Ya Daimonds been teaching him everything from school work to cooking." Pearl pouted. "I could have taught Steven to cook." Garnet snickered. "I doubt it."
Diamond looked at the flaming bowl honest shock and worry on his face, not only were its contents of fire but the bowl itself was. "I only asked you to make cereal, h-how did you even do this?" Amethyst shrugged Diamond looked at her in genuine fear. "Moving on." Next was Garnet's dish which wasn't so bad. "Well i did say something with a recipe, hmmm." Diamond tranformed his hand and cut into what looked like a pan full of cheese, he shuttered at how fleshy the stuff felt before he pulled it out and popped it in his mouth. "A little rare but this cheese is pretty good." Garnet kept a neutral face. "Its a cake." Diamond ran out the room through the front door the sounds of retching loud and prominent. "Garnet quick tip." Diamond gargled ocean water spitting it out in the sink. "Something like cake or fruit should not taste like something else." Diamond heard a rumble and looked at the pan in Garnet's hands.
"Did it just move?" Garnet shrugged. "Right let me see that." Diamond took the pan and ran outside, the sound of a distorted roar and Diamond's screaming followed by several magic blast continued for several minutes. Diamond came in looking like a soldier who'd been splattered in unmentionable things. "Tell Steven to never eat anything Garnet makes." He couldn't tell if she was embarrassed or not but he had a pretty good feeling she was after that Diamond thought it couldn't get worse, he was wrong. "Pearl, what is that? Pearl leaned against a sheet she'd used to cover something. "Well from here it seems to be a weather balloon." "Pearl" "probably just a lens flare and some dust." "PEARL!" She sighed moving the sheet. "Okay its a rip in the space time continuum." Daimond looked at it blankly. "Huh." Pearl looked at him shocked. "What do you mean huh?" Diamond shrugged. "I don't know i guess i expected worse."
Diamond shrugged again but Pearl looked at him confused. "But this is totally fudged, h-how did i even do this?" Diamond rolled his eyes. "I never understand how or why you do anything Pearl and after that monster Garnet made this isn't so Baaaaaaaaa-" Diamond suddenly screamed as the rip envoloped him before closing. The three looked at the place the portal stood only seconds ago before Diamond came through the front door in red diamond form. "You got back here pretty fast." Diamond looked at them like they were crazy. "Fast?! Ive been gone for three wee- oh i get it never mind."
Amethyst laughed not noticing the ground shake lightly Diamond noticed. He stopped Steven before channeling his magic to extent the range of his magic sight. Diamond gasped before grabbing Steven and moving to the house. "Guys incoming!" A giant geyser of water shot upout of the ocean revealing a giant green hand that slammed into the shore. It dug into the sand finding a firm grip before pulling itself up and out the water connecting to obviously a shoulder. "Fantastic." The gems and steven stared in shock as a giant robot pulled itself out of the ocean. "Peridot." Diamond looked at them. "Who?" Steven patted his leg. "We'll explain later." The top opened up and Peridot appeared along with some one the gems never expected to see. "Jasper!" Diamond shrugged rolling his eyes. "Dont need magic sight to know thats bad!" "Hello Rose miss me?!" Diamond held his hand out just as Jasper tried to jump down making her shoot up into the air.
"Gravity, its a cruel mistress." Jasper kept going until she was a dot in the sky before reversing direction and slamming into ground sending sand flying for several yards. "Diamond how did you do that?" He chuckled. "Precusurs have a few abilities that can't be replicated by gems and one of them is minor control of gravity. While most can use it to do passive thing i can out right control it but only for a few seconds at a time on living things." Peridot looked in shock as Jasper picked herself up. "Impossible a precursor gem! Coming to this mudball wasn't a bad idea after all, yellow daimond will be pleased if we bring him back." Daimond flew over the ports propelling him forward and keeping him hovering off the ground. "i don't know who this poseur you're talking about is but if she dares call herself that she's next on my hit list!" Jasper summoned her helmet and spin dashed hitting Diamond in the chest and pushing him back.
"Mode change, black diamond." Diamond exploded reforming eight foot tall colored black with gray designs. He was thick built like Sugilite but more evenly distributed in mass with massive forearms and fist being the only anomaly. Diamond's feet dug into the sand as he grabbed Jasper before lifting her over his head and power bombing her into the ground. "Feel free to do, anything really anytime now." Garnet summoned her gautlets leaping into action while Pearl and Amethyst began dancing Steven being lifted over away from the house as Diamond ran towards him. Peridot's lift moved back down into the robot and ports opened up and robots began pouring out. "Steven, i need to do something, something dangerous for me, i need you to be there for me when its over, i need you to catch me." Steven looked determined. "I'll do what i can." Diamond smiled patting his head with one large hand. "Thats all i ask." Opal destroyed several bots with arrows as Garnet ducked under Jasper's spin attack.
Diamond knew they'd get overwhelmed soon as robot charged them, not enough time to fuse. "Mode change, HOPE DIAMOND!" Diamond changed but instead of exploding his body rippled like a wave starting with his core going from light blue to dark grayish blue his head covered in a helmet like a thick headband around his head with a protective visor shaped like a star. "Get down!" Diamond blasted a thin laser out his visor that the gems and Jasper dodged heeding his warning. It carved a trail of destruction through the bots as he ran towards the giant mobile base. Peridot tried to swat at him with its massive hands but he disappeared appearing behind it and smashing into it busting through the material and out the front. Diamond's ports shot him into the sky so fast even Garnets future vision couldn't keep up with him before he blasted through the right shoulder and out the left leg making it fall to a knee before smashing into the beach smashing apart the robots converging on Opal while she picked off straglers occasionally shooting at Jasper to even Garnet's odds.
Steven actually managed to cut down a bot or two with his mothers sword but stuck to blocking with his shield only attacking when he could. Diamond flew in the air, he felt his time running out so he aimed for the cockpit using one final blast to obliterate the head and his mode change collapsed causing him to plummet to the ground bearly keeping himself from dispelling as his gen recharged. Steven ran as fast as he could jumping over wrecked and damaged robots to get under Diamond deploying his bubble shield and expanding it to cusion his fall. Metal tentacles shot out catching Diamond by his leg before he hit Steven's shield. "No!" The robot stopped smoking actually self repairing as itself as Peridot smiled. "Got you now!" It tossed Diamond into the air before wrapping around his chest as it caught him and squeezed. Diamond was to weak to fight back, even scream, as his gemstone started to crack being forced out of his body.
Opal and Garnet watched in horror as a metal tentacle impaled him and yacked out his damaged gemstone only a single small shard the size of Steven's gem. Peridot tossed Diamond to the ground reworking a few controls as Steven managing to catch him as the broken fragments began to course with energy. "Watch this." The shards fused together into an upside down five pointed star. A light appeared out of the new gem revealing a male looking hem with Jaspers build but with no specific color theme orange skin with a red shirt and green pants black boots and white hair that came to his back with purple eyes. "That's how Gems are made!?" Opal's fusion failed collapsing back into Pearl and Amethyst. "He has a precursor core?!" Diamond could barely move but he nearly shot to his feet seeing this new gem formed. "Who's this guy?!" Peridot looked down at the new gem wondering something. "Well do you have a name?!" He looked at his hand smiling sinisterly. "Call me Topaz." Steven and Diamond heard a snarl of anger at the back of their minds as their stomachs dropped into the sand.
one awful truth is revealed and nore to come!