Lapis and peridot then took each other's hands, and as they embraced, their light forms began to glow, in an instant, they were no longer alone; their bodies transformed into a new being with vibrant turquoise colors, their eyes filled with power,
"I am neither lapis nor peridot, you may call me turquoise," the fusion replied,
With immense speed, turquoise flew toward the monster, grabbing it by the hair and throwing it against a destroyed house, the monster laughed, leaped toward turquoise, and punched her in the face, sending her flying, turquoise crashed onto some cars, lying on the ground as she struggled to get up, she soon straightened up and faced the monster, who was already waiting,
"Seriously, turquoise? is that all you've got?" said the monster,
Turquoise gave an angry look and charged toward 38k, she raised both hands, creating clones of lapis and peridot made of metal and water that ran alongside her, pointing her hand forward, the clones surged at the monster, annoyed, 38k activated a blade on her forearm and, with incredible speed, destroyed the clones, then advanced toward turquoise,
Turquoise was weakened by the damage lapis and peridot had taken but needed to keep going, 38k jumped and slammed her elbow onto turquoise's chest, sending her crashing into the wall of a house, with her right eye still closed, turquoise struggled to stand straight, 38k sighed in disappointment as she slowly approached turquoise, facing her up close, though turquoise was tall, her height meant nothing to the monster, 38k grabbed her by the neck and, drawing close, removed her scratched, dented mask,
Turquoise looked closely at the monster as it revealed its face, it appeared as a shifting black shadow with lifeless white eyes, after a few moments, the dark specter raised her arm, blade ready to strike, turquoise felt disappointed by her own weakness, knowing the monster was holding back,
"i can't do much, being like this," thought turquoise
But before 38k could deliver the final blow, eight soldiers appeared, pulling her away from turquoise, there were four topaz soldiers, two jaspers, and two amethyst quartzes, 38k rose and roared at them, challenging them to fight, the first amethyst unsheathed her sword and attacked directly, 38k sidestepped, slamming her to the ground, with a spin, 38k activated a laser weapon on her forearm, firing at the two jaspers and hitting them directly, poofing them,
38k stood tall, placing her hands on her waist as she drew what looked like two knives and hurled them at the two topazes, she smiled quickly and turned invisible, the four remaining warriors looked around, terrified,
In a swift strike, 38k poofed the penultimate topaz, and the other was stabbed directly in the gem, shattering it, seeing this, the two remaining amethysts stood back-to-back, hearing the monster's malicious laughter echo, suddenly, without warning, a spear pierced both of them, 38k raised the spear as a trophy, laughing, turquoise looked on in horror as the two amethysts poofed, their gems dropping to the ground, only to be crushed under the monster's foot,
38k slowly walked toward turquoise, staring down the small fusion with a look of disdain, she raised her arm blade to strike turquoise's neck, but another blade intercepted hers just in time,
It was pearl's blade, pearl looked at the monster, who smiled at her
"An peridot specter? what a nostalgic feeling" pearl recalled, having once fought peridot
Pearl then pushed 38k a few inches back from turquoise, lapis and peridot quickly unfused, clutching their torsos and arms, pearl and 38k circled each other, locking eyes without a break, with a roar like a lion, 38k and pearl charged at each other, exchanging blows mid-air before 38k retreated far away, lapis slowly stood up,
"Peri... let's go... it's not over yet, we still..."
Lapis stopped speaking as she saw peridot lying on the ground, soon peridot poofed, her gem falling to the ground, lapis approached peridot's gem and lay down beside it, smiling softly
"it's alright... my love, take a little rest" lapis said before poofing as well
Their gems lay side by side, meanwhile, pearl and 38k were still fighting in the air, leaping back and forth, 38k suddenly grabbed pearl by the waist and hurled her into the ground, slowly standing up, pearl realized where they were,
"The galaxy warp? why did she bring me here?" pearl asked herself
She noticed the specter's absence and scanned the area, feeling a dark presence, suddenly, a laser shot toward her, nearly missing, pearl flipped backward and drew a spear from her gem, landing lightly on the ground, she looked around but saw nothing, running across the field as more lasers fired, pearl dodged two beams, pointed her spear at the source, and successfully struck a column, only the specter's evil laugh echoed around her, two attacks came toward pearl, invisible to her sight, but through her senses and agility, she sidestepped the first and ducked under the last, twirling around, she kicked the invisible attacker, hitting nothing, then, she was grabbed by the neck, the specter removing her spear and throwing her against another crystal column,
Pearl spun to regain her footing and drew a sword from her gem, holding it up to her face, 38k appeared, grinning,
Slowly, 38k took a screw-shaped pin, pressing a button to reveal a long, sharp sword, she drove it into the ground and knelt, waiting for pearl to do the same in an obvious code of honor, pearl slowly knelt in respect, and they both bowed, rising, they charged each other from opposite sides, locking eyes, 38k sheathed her large sword, activating the two spears on her arms, pearl struck first, each attack met with a dodge or deflection from the monster, the specter tried to strike pearl's leg, but pearl jumped, kicking her directly before somersaulting over her, 38k attempted a direct spear attack, with a twist, pearl dodged and slashed the monster's back, who continued running alongside her,
Pearl could see her attack only scratched the monster's armor, she pushed forward without losing her breath, shouting as she charged and slashed the specter's abdomen, but in that same moment, 38k raised her forearm, the blade cutting into pearl's back, pearl struggled to mask the pain, refusing to show weakness, bleeding, pearl attempted the same strike once more, but 38k grabbed her by the neck, leapt, and smashed her into a portal, shattering it, 38k laughed,
Pearl rolled to the side, catching her breath, as 38k took out a portable spear, pearl got up, raising a wooden shield, 38k attacked with a frontal strike; pearl blocked the spear with her shield, 38k then spun, aiming the spear sideways, but pearl quickly drew another sword from her shield and spun the spear away, disarming the monster,
Pearl tried to strike 38k's leg, but the monster slightly lifted it, placing her forearm shield over pearl's sword, pearl attacked upward and to the side, and the monster blocked both, countering with a punch to pearl's face, sending her to the ground again, grunting in frustration, pearl summoned another sword from her gem and charged the specter, who evaded her blows and cut pearl's arm, pearl attacked again, aiming for the monster's neck, who dodged and aimed a strike at pearl's eyes, ducking quickly, pearl tried to slice the monster's thigh but missed, realizing she'd lost one of her swords,
Breathing heavily, pearl could see the specter was indeed elite, the specter slowly raised her sword, staring into pearl's eyes, pearl braced for the final blow,
Both pearl and 38k charged each other again with intense cries, each attacking as they passed by, holding their stances, pearl was left panting, while 38k straightened up, looking at pearl without emotion, after a few seconds, 38k suddenly dropped to her knees and fell back, finally poofing in a yellow light, pearl smirked, preparing to use one of the portals, but, as she maintained her stance, she soon realized that 38k's final blow had struck her as well, pearl closed her eyes, and with a calm sigh, she fell backward, her sword slipping from her hand