This one's a bit shorter than I would've liked, but it's still good.

Chapter Three: The Male Pearl

The Pearl's form finally finished, the light blasting off of it.

He had only his right eye, the other missing, along with a good portion of the left side of his face, and what was there was twisted and gnarled. The upper half of the right side of his face was somewhat intact, having smooth skin near his eye. His iris was pure white, his skin was porcelain white. His nose was small, almost nonexistent, and was pointing up, a single nostril on its right side. Even his teeth were malformed, being crooked and jagged.

He was a little taller than Pearl. Most of his left arm was missing as well, with only a small stump jutting out of his shoulder in its place. His body seemed to be disturbingly skinny, especially his right arm; despite being the same size as Pearl, he looked as if he wasn't the right size. The hand attached to it lacked two fingers, and those it had were skinnier than they should have been.

A small tuft of orange hair sat just above his massive Gem, falling over the top of it. His clothes looked similar to the ones Pearl wore after she was Rejuvenated by Spinel, except outfitted for a male. His clothes were extremely white, almost transparent, as if he were wearing clear clothing.

"Is that a GUY!?" Lars yelled in surprise.

The Pearl turned around to look at the pink teen, then lunged at him. He grabbed Lars by the hand, taking his sword from him and tossing him over his shoulder and into the nearby wall.

"Captain!" the Rutile Twins yelled, running to their captain to help him up.

The Male Pearl, now armed with a weapon, immediately struck Peridot, Bismuth, and Rhodonite in a smooth, single swing, going between the three in the blink of an eye, leaving a blue streak where the blade had passed. He was fast, too fast for them to react. They all Poofed, with only Pearl managed to avoid the attack, raising her trident to defend herself, causing it to get cut in two, while Lapis managed to avoid getting hit due to being in the air.

"Peridot!" Lapis yelled. She dove for Peridot's Gem, managing to avoid the Male Pearl's strike when he swung at her. She grabbed Peridot's Gem, then flew over to Steven. She looked at her Gem and hugged it, sighing with relief when she saw it wasn't damaged. "Oh, thank the stars!"

Pearl summoned two swords from her Gem and charged at the Male Pearl. She swung her swords gracefully at him, avoiding making contact with the Glass Sword itself, knowing her weapons would once again be destroyed if hit by the superior sword.

"Pearl!" Steven yelled, summoning his shield.

"Steven, stay back!" Pearl yelled, not taking her eyes off the Male Pearl. She was next to Bismuth's Gem, which she kicked over to Steven. "Protect the others!"

Pearl resumed swinging her swords at the Male Pearl, who effortlessly dodged them. Pearl dodged his swings as well, but not nearly as gracefully. She kicked Rhodonite's Gems to Steven as she fought the Male Pearl, getting all the Poofed Gems away from their fight.

Steven watched the Pearls fight, trying to figure out what he should do. This Pearl was not only fast, despite his heavily damaged Gem, but he was skilled, too. He'd never seen anyone match Pearl in combat, not without a severe power advantage, let alone a Gem with a heavily damaged Gem. He looked to Lapis, who didn't move, focused solely on keeping Peridot's Gem safe and away from the fight.

Steven noticed the way the Male Pearl fought, going for Pearl's Gem without hesitation, while Pearl only attacked his physical form. This Pearl was going for the kill with each swing of the sword!

The Male Pearl swung at Pearl's Gem again, narrowly missing it. Pearl tumbled backward, stabbing her swords into the floor to prevent herself from falling.

The Male Pearl took the opportunity to jump at her, bringing the Glass Sword down at her head. Pearl let herself fall to the floor, grabbing the Male Pearl's hand to prevent him from bringing the sword all the way down.

Pearl looked the Male Pearl in the eye as she struggled to keep him at bay. She let out a gasp as the Male Pearl started overpowering her, slowly bringing the sword down, mere inches from her Gem.

"PEARL!" Steven threw his shield, hitting the Male Pearl's hand and making the Glass Sword miss Pearl's Gem. He looked Steven, tilting his head at him in curiosity. Pearl used his loss of concentration to kick him off her, quickly rising to her feet and pulling her swords out of the floor, swinging both at his neck in attempt to destroy his form. He jumped back before she could land the hit, once again focusing on her.

The beach house started shaking, loud tremors coming from outside. Only Pearl and the Male Pearl managed to stay on their feet, the Male Pearl keeping his stance and Pearl slightly staggering around, while Steven and everyone else who wasn't Poofed, fell to the floor from the force.

"The front of the beach house will be destroyed!" Padparascha yelled.

Lars immediately grabbed the Rutiles and rushed towards Steven. He had a few seconds at best to get them out of the way of whatever it was Padparascha had foreseen destroying the house.

The front of the beach house suddenly broke apart in a loud crash, everyone falling to the floor, save for the Male Pearl, who still kept his stance with a slight wobble. An enormous purple object was in place of the wall. The Male Pearl looked up at it, his single eye focused on the new, primary threat.

"STEVEN!" The purple object rose up, revealing Sugilite! She looked at the Male Pearl with a menacing stare. She roared as she spun her enormous flail in the air, bringing it down toward the Male Pearl, who merely jumped at it!

Steven summoned a giant shield to protect himself and the others from the fight. He could hear the two fighting. Sugilite roared angrily, then two loud crashes came from the beach. Lars ran to the center of the shield alongside Padparadscha and the Rutiles, going next to Steven.

Steven's shield was bombarded by something, three loud crashes following each strike. Whatever was hitting it was strong. Steven's legs buckled under the pressure, causing him to fall to his knees. He could feel his shield giving way; he forced himself back up to a stand, turning pink in the process, reinforcing his shield as he did so. He felt more hits to his shield, even more powerful than before, but still kept it up.

A loud crash sounded from outside, silence coming soon after. Steven shrank his shield, seeing his house destroyed. He ran to the remains of the porch, only to see Sugilite on her back, her massive flail cut to pieces, several slivers littering the beach, and two large chunks on either side of its fallen wielder. The Male Pearl landed on her chest, unscathed from the battle, his Gem glowing an intense light. Sugilite groaned as he walked up to the Gem on her chest.

Amethyst's Gem.

The Male Pearl flipped Lars's Glass Sword in his hand, raising it above Amethyst's Gem. His Gem glowed even more, as did the sword; Steven could feel immense power coming from both of them.

"NNNOOOO!" Sugilite screamed. As the Male Pearl brought the sword down, Sugilite unfused, Garnet and Amethyst rolling over to opposite sides, leaving a massive crater when the fusion once was, the Male Pearl falling inside it.

"How did he beat that thing!?" Lars yelled. "It was enormous!"

Garnet ran over to Amethyst, who was heaving on all fours. Steven and Pearl jumped off the remains of the beach house and ran over as well, helping her up. Lapis, Lars, and the Rutiles stayed behind to take care of the Poofed Gems. Amethyst seemed scared.

No, terrified.

"He was gonna Shatter me," she said in a frightened whimper. "I almost DIED!"

Steven looked at the crater of sand, finding the Male Pearl jumping on the corner.

The Male Pearl looked at Steven with his one eye, giving him what seemed like a death glare. He charged at them, aiming the Glass Sword directly at Steven.

Steven put his arms up to summon his shield, trying to make a large enough one to protect everyone, but could only summon one slightly larger than his standard shield. He kept his eyes on the newly formed Gem, bracing for another attack.

The Male Pearl suddenly stopped, lowering his stolen weapon to his side. He looked to either side of him, as if looking for someone. He grabbed the side of his head and groaned, still holding the sword, shutting his eye as he winced in pain. He clenched his teeth as he squeezed his eye shut tighter. He opened his eye, then felt his Gem, a look of realization dawning upon him. He gave a small nod, then looked at Steven and the others.

Steven lowered his shield, thinking the Gem was done fighting.

"Listen," Steven said slowly. He took a few steps towards the Gem. "Things got out of hand. Just put down the sword, and we can talk."

"Steven!" Garnet yelled. "Stay away from him!"

"He was just defending himself!" Steven told her. He looked back to the Male Gem. "You were just defending yourself. I don't blame you. You were Shattered, you probably thought we were the ones-"

The Male Pearl's Gem suddenly began to glow. The glow intensified into a bright light, making everyone close and cover their eyes. When the light died down, everyone uncovered their eyes; the Male Pearl had disappeared.

Lapis flew down to them, Lars and Peridot in her hands, and Padparascha and the Rutiles wrapped in water. They landed next to the Crystal Gems. They stood in silence and shock at the recent events. A Male Pearl. Sugilite's defeat. And perhaps most importantly, Padparadscha's ominous prophecy.

"The Male Pearl will escape us!" Padparadscha yelled.

….. Not that one.

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