Hello and welcome readers to my Steven Universe fanfiction. Anyway, I don't own anything except for the OC.
The following is a non-profit fan-based parody. Steven Universe is owned by Cartoon Network and Rebecca Sugar. Please support the Official Release.
The Sword Fighter
It was nighttime, and outside the Beach House, it was raining heavily. Lion is lying outside under the porch of the house. He yawns and takes a nap. While inside the Beach House, Steven, Vergil, and the Crystal Gems are sitting inside Steven's bedroom and eating popcorn, watching Lonely Blade IV in Japanese with English subtitles. On the TV screen, two characters, a Samurai and a Janitor, confront each other.
Lonely Blade speaks in Japanese. {It was you! You were the one who killed my brother. Cursing me to fight alone forever!}
Steven is lying belly-down on top of Garnet's hair. "Oh, Lonely Blade, you are so lonely."
Amethyst ate some popcorn, and Vergil sat on the floor beside Pearl. He watched apathetically while Pearl watched with a confused expression.
The Janitor, who turns out to be the Samurai President, speaks in Japanese. {You think you can defeat me?} He pulled on the broom he was holding, which revealed a hidden blade. {The President of the Shadow Samurai Government?!}
"What?! The janitor is the evil samurai president?!" Steven gasped with surprise. "That's bananas!"
"Oh, come on, it was so obvious. He's been mopping in the background of every fight scene." Pearl told him before she picked up and showed Steven the movie cover box. "Look, here he is on the cover of the box."
"Plus, he keeps saying "I" as "Ore-Sama", only really arrogant people call themselves that in Japanese series." Vergil pointed out.
"Oh yeah." Steven understood.
{For my honor and for my brother! I will strike you down!} Lonely Blade declared as he unsheathed and joined two Swords together by their pommels. {Boomerang Blade!} He shouted the name of his attack as he threw the combined Swords like a Boomerang.
Samurai President leaps upwards and thrusts down with his own attack. {Piercing Shadow of a Thousand… Screams!}
"Go, Lonely, go!" Steven cheered as Amethyst ate more popcorn. "Do the Boomerang Blade again!"
"Personally, I think I prefer the Piercing Shadow of a Thousand Screams." Vergil admitted. "It has a better ring to it."
Pearl, on the other hand, simply complained. "Oh, come on, this is ridiculous. Just look at their form. This is nothing like real sword fighting." Both Garnet and Amethyst shush her in response.
Steven simply laughs. "It's just a movie, Pearl." He eats a handful of popcorn.
"If you're really upset, though, you could always write a letter of complaint to the director's board." Vergil suggested.
"Maybe I will." Pearl responded before making a suggestion herself. "But, if you ever want to see a demonstration of proper Sword techniques, I'd be happy to show you." She stopped when Steven put his hand on Pearl's head, staring excitedly at her with stars in his eyes. "Now?"
"Oh, I am so there." Vergil added, on board with this.
The Crystal Gems move to Pearl's Arena. It is situated among a mass of clouds. It is in a state of ruin, its structures exhibiting signs of damage and debris scattered about the surrounding clouds. The arena consists of an open center tiled in white and a set of stairs located to one side. Along the perimeter are some pillars, each engraved with a Gem statue and Gem language. The place is surrounded by low-hanging clouds.
As they waited for Pearl to get started, they waited by the stairs. Vergil, Steven, and Garnet sat on the steps while Amethyst was lying on one of the small clouds.
Pearl then walked over to them while holding two Sabers. "All right, in order to give a proper demonstration, I'm going to need a sparring partner." Steven tries to raise his hand, and Garnet immediately lowers it.
Pearl quickly points to Vergil. "Vergil, if you don't mind."
"Sure thing." Vergil approached her, seemingly glad he was chosen.
"And luckily, I have the perfect sparring partner for you right here." Pearl's Gem flows, and she does a short but graceful ballet dance and summons a Holo-Pearl with her Gem. It faced her in the same pose with holographic light coming from Pearl's Gem.
"Cooool! Hologram Pearl!" Steven lit up with enthusiasm.
Amethyst, however, didn't share the enthusiasm and groaned. "Ah, geez."
With a swing of her Sword, Pearl cut the light between herself and Holo-Pearl, which activated Holo-Pearl. "Do you wish to engage in combat?"
Pearl throws a sword at Holo-Pearl and moves behind Vergil. "Now, Vergil, I'm sure you're already aware of what to do."
Vergil nodded with confidence and summoned his Sword from his Gem. "Yeah, just leave it to me."
Holo-Pearl picks up the Sword. "You've already made a mistake by challenging me!" She said with confidence as she got into a stance.
Vergil smirked and entered his own stance. "The only mistake here is thinking you have a chance." He retorted. "Try all you want; your Sword will never reach me."
"Nerd!" Amethyst yelled jokingly before Garnet and Steven shushed her.
Holo-Pearl's eyes reddened and changed into a glare. "Commencing duel." She lunges towards Vergil.
Vergil saw her coming and waited until she got in close. Then, as Holo-Pearl thrusts her Sword at him, Vergil jumps to the right to avoid it. He then slashed at her side, and she used her blade to block him. They both then fixed their stances and kept hacking and slashing at each other, both of whom kept having their attacks collide with each other, creating a continuous sound of steel bashing against steel. At the same time, they both jumped back and stopped after being a few feet apart.
"Holo-Pearl Defense Rank-S. Zero openings detected." Holo-Pearl evaluated.
"Really? Because I can see plenty of openings in your defense." Vergil taunted.
With that, this time, Vergil lunged at her and rapidly started swinging his Sword at Holo-Pearl while running forward. This forced Holo-Pearl to defensively parring his attacks while back-stepping.
Steven cheers. "Go, Vergil, go!"
Amethyst also cheered. "Yeah, take out Holo-Pearl!"
The real Pearl glared at Amethyst for her obvious mockery.
Back to the match, Vergil continues slashing at Holo-Pearl, who then tries to thrust her Sword at him to counterattack, but he responds by reaching out and grabbing her by the shoulder. Then he uses that as a hold to jump, and with finesse, he leaps over her head and lands behind Holo-Pearl.
Vergil attempts to end it with a thrust, but even with her back turned, Holo-Pearl immediately reacts and uses her Saber to block his attack. She then turns around and slashes downwards, aiming to cut his legs. Vergil jumps to void her blade, but then Holo-Pearl makes several attempts to slash at his neck. Vergil avoids these by quickly leaning back a few inches before being cut.
After dodging this attack three times, Vergil stopped the fourth by holding up his Sword in front of the path of Holo-Pearl's Sword and succeeded in stopping it. He followed up by gripping his weapon with both and slashing downwards on Holo-Pearl's Saber with enough force to push it and the arm that was holding it downwards. With this new opening, Vergil resheathed his Sword and attacked with a quick-draw slashing attack.
Holo-Pearl acted fast and raised her Sword in a defensive stance while holding it with both hands. But the speed and power behind Vergil's attack were enough to knock her back a bit and break her stance.
At that moment, Vergil moved at top speed and tossed his Sword from his right hand to his left hand with enough speed that an untrained eye would believe it teleported.
TRICKSTER'S SLICE!
With that, he slashed his Sword at the unguarded torso of Holo-Pearl and succeeded in cutting her. His blade went through her, and Holo-Pearl stopped moving as her eyes went back to normal. "Match set. Challenger wins!"
With that done, Vergil lowered his Sword and then raised his fist with a big smile on his face. "Ah Yeah! I finally beat the Max Level Holo-Pearl!" He cheered like a kid, having beaten the final boss in a video game, as he ran to Pearl. "Did you see that?!"
As he reached Pearl, Pearl wrapped her arms around him and hugged him with pride and excitement. "Haha! Yes, I saw it. I'm so proud of you. All of your training really paid off."
Amethyst sighed when she saw their exchange. "Uhh, they're doing it again."
"Don't judge them." Garnet told her. "That's just how they show they care for each other. By cutting and slashing things."
Pearl released her embrace and looked at him. "Still, you could have done that better. You lowered your guard a bit too much, and you were telegraphing your attacks a bit to much." She listed.
"Pearrrrl." Vergil crossed his arms as he stared at her.
"Oh, alright." Pearl leaned her head back and gave a relenting smile. "No more Holo-Pearl sparring. Next time, we'll spar personally."
"Alright!" Vergil cheered like a child who was promised a gift.
"Woohoo! Yay, Vergil!" Steven runs towards the two of them. "Vergil!" He runs around Vergil excitedly. "That was amazing. You were so cool!"
Vergil grinned slightly. "Heh, Yep, but you've never seen that in a movie."
"What was that last move you made?" Steven asked, still excited.
"The Trickster's Slice. It was just a bit of Misdirection." Vergil explained before he raised his Sword in front of Steven. "You see, keep your eyes on the blade; I hold it in front of my opponent when they have their full attention on it, and then…"
Once again, he threw the Sword and caught it with his left hand.
"Wha! It disappeared!" Steven gasped.
"Nop, it's right here." Vergil showed it to him.
"Wow! How'd you do that?" Steven asked with wonder.
"It's a pretty basic magic trick. I got the idea from a magician I saw on TV. I direct my opponent's eyesight so they're fully focused on the hand holding the Sword, then at top speed and toss it to my other hand that's not in their line of sight, making it look like the Sword disappeared." Vergil explained the trick. "When they're thrown off by that for just a second, I slice them."
"How come I could still see it the first time?" Steven asked curiously.
"Because you were watching from a distance." Vergil informed him. "The trick only works if I'm right in front of you and really close. If I'm far away or you're on my side, you can clearly see both hands, so you just see the Sword going from one hand to the other."
"Not to mention it's reckless to use a technique like that." Pearl pointed out with disapproval. "Remember what I always tell you?"
"Only use a technique if you're sure it will work." Vergil recited what Pearl always told him.
Pearl nodded with approval. "That's right. On the other hand, I was glad to see that your Swordplay and footwork were on point."
"I learned from the best." Vergil complimented her.
Pearl blushes and chuckles at his praise. "Oh-hoho, well, one does try their best when teaching."
"Will you teach me to Swordfight like that?!" Steven asked as he excitedly pretended to swing a Sword.
Pearl laughs lightheartedly. "Alright, but we should start with the basics." She then turns to Holo-Pearl and clears her throat. "Ahem! Initiate training mode."
Holo-Pearl gets up. "Training mode initiated. Level 1. Begin!" She takes a stance again.
"I want you both to stand back and Steven, watch me carefully, okay?" Pearl asked them. The boys complied and backed away from her, giving her room to fight.
Holo-Pearl begins sparring with Pearl by doing some basic attacks that Pearl easily blocks. "Parry! Parry! Thrust! Parry! Parry! Thrust!" She continuously chants in the background.
"Do you see what I'm doing with my feet, Steven? Notice where I keep my center of gravity." Pearl demonstrated as she kept her feet apart while blocking Holo-Pearl.
But while Vergil is paying attention, Steven quickly loses interest. "Aww, can you show me something cool? Like the Boomerang Blade!"
"Steven, you know that's not a real Sword technique." Pearl scolded him.
"And she's only got one Sword." Vergil pointed out.
However, Steven started chanting. "Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade!"
Fed up with him, Pearl turns her attention to Steven. "Steven, these are real sword techniques. Not those silly things from your movies. It's about waiting carefully for the perfect moment to str—"
"Thrust!"
STAB!
Distracted, Pearl is suddenly stabbed in the stomach by Holo-Pearl. Steven gasped in horror while Vergil looked concerned.
"Woah." Amethyst gasped
"Oh no." Garnet uttered.
Pearl drops her sword, which hits the ground with a loud clang.
Steven slowly walks up to her and tears up. "…Pearl?"
Pearl looks down at the Sword impaled through her and chuckles nervously. "W-whoopsie-daisy!" he then looks at Steven and sees the expression of horror on his face as she attempts to reassure him. "Steven, it's okay. I'm gonna be just f—"
Pearl suddenly poofs into a white cloud of dust, leaving just her Gemstone as it falls to the ground.
"NOOOOOO!" Steven cries out as he slides to Pearl's Gemstone and picks it up, holding it gently and tenderly. "P-Pearl? Pearl…"
"Challenger defeated. Level 1 failed!" Holo-Pearl announced.
"Huh, so Holo-Pearl stays even when Pearl's not around?" Vergil noticed nonchalantly. "I didn't know that."
[Steven!] Meanwhile, Garnet & Amethyst rush to Steven's side.
Steven, still crying, looks up at them. "I… I-I was just…" He struggled to form words. "A-aand she was trying to—"
Amethyst puts her hand on his back and reassures him. "Steven, it's okay. Pearl's gonna be just fine."
Steven turns to Garnet. "Whaddya mean?"
Garnet calmly explains it to him. "Sometimes, if our bodies are badly damaged, we release our physical forms and retreat to our Gems to regenerate."
"It's true; I've seen it happen once before." Vergil added, hoping to put him at ease. "A while back, Amethyst got poofed halfway through the mission, and all that was left was her Gem. By the time we were done with the mission, she was back to normal."
Amethyst shrugged. "Yeah, not one of my finer moments.
"So she's gonna be okay?" Steven asked, now more at ease.
Garnet nods in confirmation.
Amethyst sits down beside him. "Don't worry, bud. These kinds of things just happen sometimes. Usually to me."
"Always to you." Garnet corrected.
"Honestly, this is the first time I've seen this happen to anyone but you." Vergil agreed.
"Hey, I'm scrappy. Whaddya guys want?" Amethyst joked.
Steven laughed and regained his smile. "So, how long will it take her to regenerate? 5 minutes? 10 minutes?" Garnet and Amethyst merely frown instead of answering. "20 minutes?"
"Look, there's no set time for when Steven. She'll be back when she gets back." Vergil informed him. "Now, let's go home."
[Time Skip — Two weeks later]
As the days passed, the sky outside still looked gloomy and ready to rain, while inside the Beach House, Steven placed Pearl's Gem in a handbasket and placed it under a lamp, hoping to incubate it.
Steven places Pearl's Gem under the light and then puts his hand over the light to see if it works. He then sighs when he sees no change in the Gem. "What's taking so long?"
Garnet and Amethyst then warp in on the Warp Pad. Amethyst is still riding atop the small cloud, and they greet him.
"Whaddup?" Amethyst greeted Steven.
"Heeey." Steven responded in a depressed tone.
Amethyst floats over to the counter to see Pearl's Gemstone. "Is she still not done?" She asked, surprised. "Man, she's really taking her time with this one."
Steven simply slumped.
"By the way, love, where'd Vergil go?" Amethyst asked, looking around.
She got her answer in the form of the front door opening and Vergil walking inside by dragging a large laundry basket filled with washed and dried clothes. While he drags the basket to the counter, Garnet returns back to her room in the background.
"We've you been?" Amethyst asked.
"Doing the laundry, obviously." Vergil answered her. "Considering Steven's just been sitting there all week, I've been doing all the chores so this place doesn't become a trash dump."
"Pearl usually helps me tidy up." Steven admitted.
"Eh, I say it would've been better that way." Amethyst suggested.
"Don't you have a trash dump for a room?" Vergil reminded her.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Amethyst had the cloud float her toward the front door. "I've gotta go; I'm gonna use this cloud for an.… Experiment." She said dubiously.
Vergil narrowed his eyes at her. "Amethyst, I know what you're thinking, don't eat it!" He warned her.
Amethyst just gave him a thumbs-up as she floated out the door.
When she was gone, Vergil sighed. "She's totally going to eat that cloud."
Steven came out from behind the counter and looked at Vergil. "Hey, do you think Pearl's close to coming back yet?"
Vergil went over to the front door. "Well, there's no way to know, but I'm sure it shouldn't be too long."
Steven had his back against the counter and leaned against it before sitting down on the floor. "But it's been two weeks already; what if something's wrong?"
Vergil closed the front door. "Pearl told me that she used to get poofed all the time when she was with your Mom." He then made his way to the laundry basket. "So this shouldn't be too different."
"What if… What if she stays gone?" Steven wondered, upset, looking down.
"As long as she doesn't stay gone for too long, it should be fine." Vergil replied, unconcerned, as he started dragging the basket up the stairs.
"Yeah, but what if she doesn't come back…?" Steven clarified as he stood up and looked in his direction. "What if, Pearl.…. Stays gone?" He asked as if he was depressing himself.
Vergil chuckled a bit. "Haha, but she really couldn't be because I'd be lost without her." He answered as if he had said something natural. "Who would I turn to on those days when I'm just… Not… Fast enough, ah!" He struggled to drag the basket all the way up, and with a final pull, he got it fully upstairs. "Or… Strong enough?" He said that last one with a hint of sadness.
Steven walked over to the stairs and looked up at him. "…Vergil."
Vergil went on. "And who would I turn to for advice when I didn't know what to do?" He then took out a shirt from the basket and started folding it.
Steven looked down a bit before he looked up again. "Vergil, we—"
Vergil interrupted him. "We simply wouldn't be unless Pearl was here with you and me." He added. "So she'll definitely be back.
"I guess you're right, but I really miss her." Steven replied, still depressed. Then he suddenly lit up as he had an idea. "Hey! If real Pearl can't be here, there's always the next best thing!"
Vergil stopped folding and looked. "Wait, what are you doing?"
Steven runs to unravel a blanket hiding a figure in the corner of the room, revealing it to be Holo-Pearl, holding a sword.
Holo-Pearl turned to him and spoke. "Do you wish to engage in combat?"
Vergil jumped down to Steven and face-palmed. "Steven, that thing was covered up for a reason."
"But it's like Pearl." Steven said hopefully. "Look at it."
Vergil didn't look happy to see it. "That thing is just creepy." He then noticed what it was holding. "And why haven't we taken that Sword away from it?"
"Well, maybe I can get it to act like her." Steven suggested.
Vergil just sighed and walked up to Holo-Pearl while summoning his weapon. "Do you wish to engage in combat?"
TENFOLD SLASH!
Vergil slashed Holo-Pearl in all directions and destroyed its physical form, dissolving it into light particles that quickly faded away.
"Thank goodness it was still set on basic mode." Vergil commented.
"Aw, why'd you do that?" Steven asked, disappointed. "I was gonna train it to act like Pearl."
"Three reasons: One, it was a program that had no free-thinking. All it can do is fight, which makes it dangerous to keep around. Two, at some point, someone was going to accidentally trigger it, and that would have made a mess. And three… It really creeped me out." Vergil listed his reasons. "This was really the only real solution."
"But now we don't have real Pearl or Holo-Pearl." Steven slumped.
"Look, waiting for a Gem to reforge is like waiting for a new episode of something every week." Vergil compared. "You'll feel better if you don't spend all your time waiting and checking. Instead, let's do something to pass the time."
Steven thought about it before he smiled. "Okay, and who knows, maybe Pearl will be back by the time we're done."
The sun went down as morning turned into night. Rain and lighting belt down once more. Steven watches the downpour through the window while talking to Pearl's Gem, nestled in a blanket beside him.
"It's too bad you're still not back, Pearl." He then holds up a movie cover box titled Lonely Blade V. "Because I just found a copy of the fifth Lonely Blade movie!"
"Steven!" Vergil called him from up the stairs. "Are you still talking to Pearl's Gem? I told you she can't hear you, right?"
"I know, but it just makes me feel better." Steven reasoned.
Vergil shrugged. "Aside from that, is the popcorn ready?" He asked.
A beeping sound suddenly goes off in the background, and Steven looks towards the kitchen. "Oh yeah, I forgot about the popcorn's done here. Hold Pearl for me." He threw Pearl's Gemstone at Vergil.
"Ahh!" Vergil panicked and quickly caught it. "Careful, would ya!"
"Right, sorry!" Steven goes to the kitchen and takes out a bag of popcorn from the microwave.
After that, Steven makes his way up to his bedroom as more lightning flashes. Now Steven and Vergil watch the fifth movie of Lonely Blade with Pearl's gem, this time dubbed in English. The current scene showed Lonely Blade facing off against a warrior-looking zombie that was apparently his brother.
{Brother, is that you?}
{Yes. It's me. Your… Brother. Your technique is…}
They talk to each other while the audio plays on in the background.
"Woah, this dub is really good." Steven commented.
"True." Vergil agreed. "A lot of people always say subbed is better than dubbed, but I say sometimes, the dubbed is better."
"What do you think, Pearl?" Steven asked Pearl's Gem.
Once again, he got no response, so they continued to watch the movie. Now Lonely Blade's Brother was yelling.
{Brother!}
Lonely Blade realized something wasn't right.
{Just wait a minute… You're not my real brother! Grr, Boomerang Blade!}
Lonely Blade unsheathes his Swords as lightning strikes behind him.
{Your technique is impressive. But it won't be enough.}
While watching the movie, Steven begins to think back to the moment Pearl was struck down.
(It's about waiting carefully for the perfect moment to str-)
The moment he remembers Pearl getting stabbed, Steven's eyes are shut tightly, with tears forming. Vergil notices this and pauses the movie.
"What's wrong?" Vergil asked.
Steven wiped away his tears. "Nothing, I was just… Thinking about Pearl." He admitted with sadness.
"But, you've been thinking about her for weeks, yet you've never reacted like that before." Vergil pointed out, thinking it was more than that.
"No, I mean…" Steven picked up her Gemstone. "I was thinking about her right before she got stabbed… And poofed."
Vergil heard him and immediately understood. "Oh, yeah, that definitely wasn't easy to watch."
"I never wanted that to happen. I just wanted to see cool Sword moves, like Lonely Blade." Steven said, upset.
"But Swordsmanship isn't just about cool moves." Vergil reminded him. "That's what Pearl usually said."
"But you use cool moves all the time. You even name them." Steven pointed out.
Vergil stood up. "Steven, let me show you something."
A little while passed, and now Vergil was holding a long plastic stick while Steven was holding two short brooms, and they were standing downstairs in the middle of the room.
"So, what are we doing?" Steven asked.
"A demonstration." Vergil answered. "Try pretending those brooms are Swords and throw a Boomerang Blade at me."
"Okay." Steven seemed to like the sound of that. He then placed the two brooms together. "Boomerang Blade!" He threw them at Vergil.
Vergil just side-stepped out of the way as the brooms sailed past him, and he dashed towards Steven, stopping right in front of him and holding the stick against his neck like it was a blade.
"Woah!" Steven lost his floating due to surprise and fell over.
"Now, do you know what just happened?" Vergil asked him.
"Uh…" It was obvious that Steven didn't.
"I was trying to show you that Boomerang Blade would never work in real life." Vergil explained. "In a real fight, all the opponent has to do is dodge the blades, and then you're wide open and have no blades to fight back with; anyone could beat you like that."
Steven gets up. "But Lonely Blade uses it to win all the time."
"Lonely Blade is just a character." Veril reminded him as though it should be obvious. "While some works of fiction use real techniques that can be used in real life, movies like Lonely Blade are just for entertainment. Nothing you see in them could ever really work. That's what Pearl was trying to tell you."
"But you use attacks like that a lot; you even name them." Steven pointed out.
"Steven, do you know what fundamentals are?" Vergil questioned him.
"Uh, something to do with fun?" Steven guessed.
Instead of responding to that, Vergil got into a stance and started doing basic swings.
"It's the same in most fields. When starting Basketball, amateurs only ever want to do Slam Ducks instead of passing and dribbling training, and in Boxing, instead of learning footwork of guarding, everyone just wants to start throwing Haymakers." Vergil explained. "No one realizes how important it is to first master the basics."
"Basics?" Steven repeated, unaware.
"The basics are the most simple drills you learn at the beginning of your training." Vergil explained. "All the greatest warriors and athletes practice the basics every day for years until they can do them almost instinctively because only then are you ready for the more flashy moves. Both Pearl and I have been practicing the basics for years now to get where we are now."
"Oh." Steven looked down. "I always thought you guys were just always this good."
"No way." Vergil then put the stick down. "Truth is, I'm not even a master yet. I'm still training to master the basics even now. And it's because I've worked on the basics so much that I've gotten to the point where I can use those flashy techniques." He admitted. "Those moves that Pearl was showing you were the same ones I always practice."
"I get it now." Steven said with a new understanding, putting his hands in his pockets. "Even though I said I wanted to learn, I guess I just wanted to see some cool Swordfighting."
"That's not unusual. Most people, on their first time doing something, always get excited about the bigger stuff, but when they see they have to start with slow fundamentals, their enthusiasm always wears off." Vergil informed him.
"Yeah, that's exactly what happened." Steven admitted. "Maybe I was just being a bother to Pearl."
"Hey, come on, you know Pearl would never think that." Vergil assured him. "Pearl loves teaching people; I bet she was really happy when you said you wanted to learn."
"You think so?" Steven asked, slightly reassured.
"You bet. Besides, whether you learn how to use a Sword or not, Pearl just likes spending time with you." Vergil informed him. "That said, even if she's not here right now, she probably wouldn't want us spending all our time missing her, so let's stop worrying."
"Yeah, I maybe you're right." Steven said, now in a better mood.
At that point, Garnet and Amethyst enter from outside. Despite what Vergil told her, Amethyst ended up stuffing the cloud into her mouth and swallowed it, which caused her to inflate like a balloon and float upwards. Right now, Garnet tied a string around Amethyst's leg and was carrying her around like a balloon.
"Steven, Vergil, we're." Garnet addressed them as she pulled Amethyst in like a balloon.
Amethyst hit her head on the top of the door while being brought in. "Ow. Sorry for being gone for so long. You guys okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine." Steven greeted them with a smile. "You know, I might miss Pearl a whole lot, but sometimes you just have to accept things the way they are before you—"
Just then, Pearl's Gem begins to glow inside Steven's bedroom. It hovers into the air as Pearl begins to regenerate, sporting a slightly different outfit from before. Now Pearl wore an aqua blue tunic with a small yellow star on the center of her chest and a lighter satin sash ribbon around her upper waist. Her leggings are amber-colored. She also wore pink socks with pale blue slip-on ballet flats.
Steven immediately reacted. "Never mind! Pearl's back!"
Pearl then floated down to the floor and breathed out. "Ah… That's much better." Steven quickly runs over to Pearl and hugs her tightly. "Oof, hey, miss me much?"
"You have no idea." Vergil told her, walking up to Pearl. "You really took your time back there."
"Ah, man, I had this whole thing planned out for when you came back!" Steven proclaims before he runs off.
Pearl then sees the inflated Amethyst. "Do I even want to know what happened to you?" She asked with half-lidded eyes.
Vergil shrugged. "It's a cautionary tale about clouds." He joked.
"I got hit by an airplane!" Amethyst stated.
At that point, Steven returns, with his shirt tied around his head, using a pot and a wooden spoon like a drum while chanting. "Pearl's back! Pearl's back! Pearl's back!"
"Steven, what are you doing?" Pearl asked as Steven continued to chant as Amethyst burped out more of the cloud.
Vergil just laughed and said. "Haha! Well, it looks like everything's back to normal.
The star iris started to zoom in on Pearl's face as she sighed. "Ughh… I can't leave you guys alone for a second."
Steven pops in. "PEARL'S BACK!"
And that's the chapter.
First of all, as you saw, there wasn't much conflict in this chapter since they got rid of Holo-Pearl immediately. I really wanted to use this chapter to show more of the relationship between Pearl and Vergil and Steven and Vergil.
Pearl and Vergil are a mix of teacher and student with parent and child thrown in. They just work well with each other. Basically, they fit. I wanted to put more emphasis on that while also showing that Vergil's way of coping when she's not around was different than Steven's.
And for Steven and Vergil, yes, they're best friends, but there's more to it than that. Vergil has been a Crystal Gem longer than Steven, so he's able to see things in a broader way than Steven has. That's why Steven looks at him in a similar light as the one he sees the Gems in. Vergil can easier sympathize with Steven more because, unlike the Gems, he used to be like Steven—Struggling to understand Gem stuff, and because of that, he's able to explain things in a way Steven would have an easier time understanding and help him stand on his own feet.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. If you want more, then be sure to leave a review. If you like the story, click follow or favorite, and as always, have an awesome day.