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It was a rare rainy day in Beach city, at the beach house Lion was lying outside under the porch of the house, he yawns and curls up getting ready to take a nap.
Inside however Steven, Y/n 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 confront each other.
"It was you! You were the one who killed my brother. Cursing me to fight alone forever!" One of the characters says in Japanese.
Amethyst was laid down on Steven's bed upside down looking at the TV. Steven himself was laying belly-down on top of Garnet's hair while Y/n was sat in between Pearl and Garnet.
"Oh Lonely Blade, you so lonely." Steven comments.
"You think you can defeat me? The President of the Shadow Samurai Government?!" Another character on the screen says before he unsheathes a hidden sword in his mop.
"What?!" Steven cries in shock. "The janitor is the evil samurai president?! That's bananas!"
"Oh come on, it was so obvious." Pearl says looking up to Steven and getting his attention. "He's been mopping in the background of every fight scene." She picks up a case and shows Steven the movie cover box. "Look, here he is on the cover of the box."
Steven looks at it. "Oh yeah."
"For my honor and for my brother! I will strike you down!" Lonely blade says in Japnese on the screen before he unsheathes and joins two swords together. "Boomerang Blade!" He throws the combined swords.
Samurai President leaps upwards and thrusts down his sword. "Piercing Shadow of a Thousand... Screams!"
"Go, Lonely, go! Do the Boomerang Blade again!" Steven cheers.
"Oh come on, this is ridiculous. Just look at their form, this is nothing like real sword fighting." Pearl complains but Garnet and Amethyst shush her.
Y/n just chuckles. "It's just a movie, Pearl. I wouldn't take it to heart...or Gem I suppose." He says unsure.
Pearl just closes her eyes. "Well, if you two ever want to see a demonstration of proper sword techniques, I'd be happy to show you." She says.
Steven puts his hand on Pearl's head getting her attention and she turns to see Steven staring at her excitedly. "Now?" She asks surprised.
The group had moved to a large open area with tiled ground and marble obelisks lining both sides of the area. The place is surrounded by low hanging clouds.
Pearl was holding two swords in her hands. "Alright, 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.
"Luckily, I have the perfect candidate right here." Pearl says and she does a short ballet and summons a Holo-Pearl with her gem.
"Cooool! Hologram Pearl!" Steven says.
"Wow fancy." Y/n comments.
Amethyst who was lying on a small cloud groans. "Ah, geez."
"Do you wish to engage in combat?" The Holo Pearl asks speaking in a robotic way.
"Let this be the perfect battle." Pearl says and she throws a sword at Holo-Pearl.
Holo-Pearl catches the sword. "You've already made a mistake by challenging me!"
Pearl laughs. "We shall let our swords decide."
"Nerd!" Amethyst calls out and Garnet and Steven shush her.
Y/n however leaned forward in his seat as he prepared to watch the fight with some intrigue.
Holo-Pearl's eyes redden. "Commencing duel." She cries before she immediately lunges towards Pearl. Pearl easily parries several of the Holo-Pearl's attacks. "Defense rank S. Zero openings detected."
"Go, Pearl, go!" Steven cheers.
"Go Holo-Pearl!" Amethyst cheers instead.
Distracted by Amethyst's mockery, Pearl gets disarmed by Holo-Pearl and the sword flies across the tiles to the other side of the arena behind Holo-Pearl.
"Opening detected." Holo-Pearl begins a sword sweep attack. Pearl slides underneath Holo-Pearl's attack and towards her sword. Holo-Pearl then does an aerial lunge at Pearl, which she skillfully parries, leaving it vulnerable in mid-air. Pearl then stabs Holo-Pearl and defeats it. "Match set. Challenger wins!"
"Woohoo! Yay, Pearl!" Steven cheers as he and Y/n get up and head onto the area platform now.
"Do you wish to battle again?" Holo-Pearl asks from the ground.
"Pearl!" Steven runs around Pearl. "That was amazing, you were so cool!"
"I was also really impressed, I never realised so much skill was required to wield a sword." Y/n says as he looks at the blade in Pearl's hand.
Pearl blushes and chuckles. "Oh-hoho, well, one does try their best."
"Will you teach me to sword fight like you?!" Steven asks now as he starts pretending to swing a sword.
Pearl laughs. "Alright, but we should start with the basics." Pearl turns to Holo-Pearl. "Ahem! Initiate, training mode."
Holo-Pearl quickly jumps up from the floor. "Training mode initiated. Level 1. Begin!" The Hologram takes a stance.
"I want you to stand back, and watch me carefully, okay?" Pearl says to Steven and he and Y/n do so.
Holo-Pearl begins sparring with Pearl in very basic way. "Parry! Parry! Thrust! Parry! Parry! Thrust!" The hologram continuously chants in the background.
Pearl was effortlessly matching the holograms moves as she attempted to teach. "Do you see what I'm doing with my feet, Steven? Notice where I keep my center of gravity." She points out.
Steven quickly begins to lose interest whereas Y/n keeps an eye on Pearl's feet and what she does.
"Aww, can you show me something cool? Like the Boomerang Blade!" Steven asks now.
"Steven, you know that's not a real sword technique." Pearl tells him.
"Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade!" Steen begins chanting.
Pearl turns to Steven, annoyed. "Steven, these are real sword techniques. Not those silly things from your movies. It's about waiting carefully for the perfect moment to str..." Distracted, Pearl is suddenly stabbed by Holo-Pearl's thrust.
Y/n and Steven gasps in shock and horror.
The action seems to get the attention of Garnet and Amethyst too now.
"Woah."
"Oh no."
Pearl drops her sword, which hits the ground with a loud clang.
Steven immediately tears up while Y/n stand in shock and disbelief.
"...Pearl?" Y/n asks.
Pearl sees the distressed looks of Y/n and Steven before she slowly looks down to sees the sword impaled through her and she chuckles nervously. "W-whoopsie-daisy! It's okay you two. I'm gonna be just f..." Pearl suddenly poofs into a white cloud, leaving just her gemstone, as it falls to the ground.
"NOOOOOO!" Steven cries and he slides to Pearl's gemstone and picks it up. "P-Pearl? Pearl..."
"Challenger defeated. Level 1 failed!" The Holo-Pearl says in the background.
"She just..." Y/n falls to his knees in front of Steven as he looks down at Pearl's gem in Steven's hands.
Garnet & Amethyst quickly rush to two's side.
"I.... I-I was just... a-aand she was trying to..." Steven begins crying feeling guilty.
Amethyst puts her hand on his back. "Steven, it's okay, Pearl's gonna be just fine." She reassures him,
"But she was just impaled with a sword! How is she going to be fine!?" Y/n asks not understanding.
"Sometimes, if our bodies are badly damaged, we release our physical forms and retreat to our gems to regenerate." Garnet explains to Y/n and Steven.
"So she's gonna be okay?" Steven asks and Garnet nods.
Y/n and Steven both let out a large sigh of relief now.
Amethyst sits down. "Don't worry, These kinds of things just happen sometimes. Usually to me.
"Always to you." Garnet comments.
"Hey, I'm scrappy. Whaddya want?" She says back and it makes Steven laughs a little.
"So, how long will it take her to regenerate? 5 minutes? 10 minutes?" He then asks as Garnet and Amethyst frown.
Inside the beach house Steven places Pearl's gem in a hand basket and places it under a lamp, hoping to incubate it. "What's taking so long?" He sighs.
Garnet and Amethyst warp in on the Warp Pad. Amethyst was still riding atop the small cloud from the sky arena. "Whadup, No Y/n today?" She calls out.
"Heeey. He's coming by later..." Steven says back sounding down.
Amethyst floats over to look at Pearl's gem. "She's still not done? Man, she's really taking her time with this one. She then looks to the rest of the Beach house. "Gotta tell you though, love what you've done with the place."
Steven and Amethyst observe the messy state of the house, with trash everywhere, things lying carelessly on the ground, and dishes piled up in the kitchen. Garnet returns back to her room in the background.
"Pearl usually helps me tidy up." Steven says.
"Eh, I say leave it." Amethyst comments.
Suddenly Steven gets an idea. "Hey! If real Pearl can't be here, there's always the next best thing!" He runs to unravel a blanket hiding a figure in the corner of the room, revealing it to be Holo-Pearl, holding a sword.
"Do you wish to engage in combat?" Holo-Pearl asks.
"Steven." Amethyst sighs. "Cover that thing back up."
"But it's like Pearl. Look at it." Steven points.
"Yeahhh... That ain't Pearl." Amethyst says.
"Well, maybe I can get it to act like her." Steven suggests now.
Steven was showing Holo-Pearl his room, which is as messy as the rest of the house. "Here we have, a mess. Organizing messes is one of Pearl's favorite hobbies. Here." He bends down and picks up various figurines. "Pearl likes to organize them by type." Steven explains and he starts to put the figures on his window shelf. "Animal, humanoid, miscellaneous. Now you try." He picks up a figurine with a sword prop holding it up to her.
Holo-Pearl looks at the figure and switches to combat mode. "You've drawn your sword in vain!" It cries and lifts it's sword arm back.
"What?!" Steven asks but she soon cries out in shock when Holo-Pearl thrusts forwards, which Steven quickly ducks under, and stabs the toy Steven was holding.
"Challenger defeated." Holo-Pearl cries and switches to stand-by mode.
Steven sighs. "Maybe we need to try something else."
Garnet and Amethyst are standing on the beach, as Steven and Holo-Pearl watch from a distance. Amethyst holds the cloud, all clumped up in her hands.
"I'm gonna do it." She says to Garnet.
"Go on then." Garnet says not bothered.
Amethyst stuffs the cloud into her mouth and swallows it, causing her to inflate like a balloon and float upwards. Garnet grabs Amethyst's legs before she floats off.
Steven in the distance laughs before he turns to Holo-Pearl. "Pearl always likes to tease Amethyst when she does funny stuff like this."
Holo-Pearl was holding an umbrella Steven had given her. "I won't go easy on you this time!"
"That's the spirit!" Steven says and he takes Holo-Pearl over to Garnet and Amethyst. "What are you rascals doing over here?"
"Draw your weapon, challenger!" Holo-Pearl cries and she points the umbrella like a sword at Amethyst and opens it.
"Ugh, Steven, why are you still hanging out with that thing? It's gross." Amethyst say before she burps out a piece of cloud.
"I just really miss spending time with Pearl." Steven confesses.
Pearl will come back to us in time, Steven, have patience." Garnet says to him. "... And stop hanging out with that thing. It's creepy." Garnet crosses her arms, accidentally letting go of Amethyst. Amethyst then quickly floats into the sky.
"Wh-o-o-o-oa!" Amethyst calls out and Garnet looks up.
"Hmm..."
Holo-Pearl and Steven stand atop the hill with Pearl's tree, Steven is holding a stuffed walrus toy and Holo-Pearl is holding a balloon sword, wearing a balloon crown.
"You had fun at the boardwalk, right?" He asks Holo-Pearl.
"Parry!" Holo-Pearl cries.
"Oh come on, you gotta work with me here. This is Pearl's favorite tree. Don't you recognize it? What's on your mind? Come on, don't hold back." Steven says.
Holo-Pearl switches to combat mode at Steven's words. "Challenge accepted!"
"What?!" Steven cries and Holo-Pearl quickly swings the balloon sword, which Steven ducks under, and slices the tree clean in half .
"Oh no, the tree!" Steven shouts in horror.
"Challenger defeated." Holo-Pearl switches back to stand-by mode.
"Real Pearl would never do that! Grr, you're hopeless! Get away from me!" Steven shouts as he runs off now.
As Steven returned to the Beach House he could see a figure waiting on the porch him.
"Y/n!" Steven calls out as he runs up the stairs.
"Hey Steven." Y/n greets as he takes notice of the younger boy now. "What's Garnet doing on the beach?" He asks Steven as the two look out to Garnet on the beach throwing a rope high into the air.
"I think she's trying to get Amethyst down." Steven tells him.
"Get her down?" Y/n asks confused as he look up at the clouds. "Maybe, I shouldn't have asked." Y/n awkwardly chuckles.
Steven notices a bag in Y/n's hand and he asks him about it. "What's with the bag Y/n?"
Y/n looks at Steven for a moment before he realises what he had asked him. "I almost forgot I was carrying it." Y/n says as he reaches into it and fishes out a box. "Ta dah! I found a sequel of that film series we watched a couple of weeks ago." He says handing the box to Steven.
"Woah!!!" Steven says looking at the box with stars in his eyes.
"I came across it when I was doing some grocery shopping for me and my dad. It was cheap so I thought you might like it."
"Wait. I can keep it?" Steven asks.
"Of course, I got it for you after all." Y/n says with a smile and Steven grins before giving Y/n a hug that makes him chuckle.
"Thanks Y/n!" Steven says.
"It's alright Steven. I thought you could use a pick me up after the last few weeks." Y/n says and Steven's mood changes slightly. "She's still not back huh?" Y/n guesses by Steven's change in mood. "Well I'm sure it will any time now." He reassures Steven and Steven nods with a sigh.
A light rumbling could be heard in the sky now and the two look up to the clouds.
"Sounds like it's going to be quite the storm. Good thing I brought Popcorn to go with that movie." Y/n comments.
"Yay Popcorn!" Steven cheers as he rushes inside the Beach House with Y/n following.
Rain and lighting was belting down once more. Y/n and Steven were in Steven's room as they watched the downpour through the window. Pearl's gem was nestled in a blanket beside the two.
"It's too bad you're still not back, Pearl." Steven says as he holds up the movie cover box. "Because Y/n just found a copy of the fifth Lonely Blade movie!"
"I don't think Pearl will approve that I brought you that movie considering her comments about the last one." Y/n jokes.
Steven just sighs. "How long are you gonna make us wait, Pearl?" A beeping sound go off in the background. "Oh, the popcorn's done, stay right there."
Steven goes to the kitchen and takes out a bag of popcorn from the microwave. Holo-Pearl suddenly appears behind him. "Do you wish to test your skills against me in a duel?" It cries out getting a shock out of Y/n and Steven who hadn't even heard it enter.
"No! No sword fighting!" Steven tells it as he makes his way up to his bedroom, when lightning flashes, and Holo-Pearl appears behind him again.
"Draw your sword and fulfill your destiny!" Holo- Pearl says.
"No! Leave real Pearl, Y/n and me alone!" Steven cries and he tosses a blanket over Holo-Pearl. "Go back under your sheet."
"That things kind of creepy." Y/n comments looking at the Holo-Pearl as Steven began to put the movie on.
The two were now watching the fifth movie of Lonely Blade with Pearl's gem, this time it is dubbed in English.
"Brother, is that you?" Lonely Blade asks.
"Yes. It's me. Your... brother. Your technique is... "
"Woah, this dub is really good. What do you think, Y/n? Pearl?" Steven asks
"It's not bad but I still think I prefer the sub version." Y/n says giving Steven his opinion.
Holo-Pearl appears suddenly, still under the blanket, piercing through it with her sword. "Parry!"
"Gah!" Steven cries out as she and Y/n are startled by the sudden act. "Grr..." Steven then grumbles as he and y/n continue to watch the movie.
"Brother Brother!!"
"Just wait a minute... you're not my real brother! Grr, Boomerang Blade!" The character cries on screen and unsheathes his swords.
"Brother Your technique is impressive. But it won't be enough."
Steven begins to think back at the moment Pearl was struck down.
"It's about waiting carefully for the perfect moment to str-" Pearl voice was saying but Steven eyes are shut tightly with tears forming.
"Hey, Steven are you..." Y/n begins to ask but he is interrupted however when Holo-Pearl suddenly attacks the TV destroying it.
"Thrust!"
"Ah, the TV!" Steven cries. "Why must you destroy the things I love?"
"Challenger defeated. Continue?" The Holo-Pearl asks.
"I hate you, I HATE YOU!" Steven shouts angrily now. "You're nothing like Pearl! Pearl is smart, and she always wants to protect me from danger. All you want to do is FIGHT ME!"
"Oh this can't be good..." Y/n says cautiously.
"Challenge accepted!" Holo-Pearl says.
"Grr, alright fine!" Steven growls and her shoves Holo-Pearl.
"Basic attack mode, initiated." Holo-Pearl starts sparring. "Parry! Parry! Thrust! Parry! Parry! Thrust! Parry! Parry! Thrust!"
"Stop saying that!" Steven says annoyed as he picks up nearby toys and throws them at Holo-Pearl, landing a single hit.
"Basic attack mode defeated. Now initiating advanced mode!" Holo-Pearl's eyes redden.
Holo-Pearl quickly shreds the blanket over it and attacks Steven, forcing him to retreat as he jumps from his room and onto the couch. Holo-Pearl follows as he tries to impale him with it's sword but Steven luckily jumps out of the way in time leading to it impaling the couch.
Y/n had quickly gotten to his feet as he desperately looked for something he could use to help with.
Steven picks up the toy walrus. "Walrus shield!" He cries but the walrus toy gets decapitated by Holo-Pearl. "Ah!" He searches for another item. "Snacks, pillow, fuzzy flower, boomerang? ...Boomerang!" He cries and throws the boomerang, which promptly flies around Holo-Pearl whose head rotates 360 degrees as it watches the boomerang fly back to Steven's hand. "Ah!"
Holo-Pearl gets ready to move forward but an object strikes her back and her head turns to look at Y/n who had thrown it. "New challenger accepted!" She hurries and hurries in his direction.
Y/n rushed to kitchen dodging a swipe at his torso as he grabbed the only item in the house that resembled a sword in the form of a mop. He jumped over the counter top bar and back towards near the warp pad as he tries to remain calm and remember what Pearl was attempting to teach Steven back at the Sky Arena. Holo-Pearl however quickly chops the mop short and unleashes a flurry of attacks at Y/n who struggles to dodge well with his lack experience.
Steven had retreated into the kitchen himself now while he could nothing but watch. "Pearl! I should have just ... waited for you to come back. I should've waited for... " Holo-Pearl raises its sword above its head, revealing an opening. "The perfect moment... Y/n Boomerang Blade!" He shouts.
Hearing Steven Y/n launches the mop at Holo-Pearl, striking it in the torso, and finally defeating it.
"Challenger wins. Do you wish to duel again?" Holo-Pearl asks.
"NOOOO!" Steven cries as he runs from the kitchen and grabs the mop stuck in Holo-Pearl and begins swatting it away, dissolving its form. Garnet and Amethyst, still inflated, enter from outside.
"Steven, we heard fighting." Garnet says as she pulls Amethyst in like a balloon.
"Ow." Amethyst comments Are you alright? What's going on?"
Y/n lets out a sigh of relief now as he sees Garnet and Amethyst and he wipes his sweaty brow.
"Oh, well..." Steven begins but the hologram begins to regenerate, and Steven swats at it. "DIE!" He says until it disperses properly now. "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 begin to glow inside Steven's bedroom. It hovers into the air as Pearl begins to regenerate, sporting a slightly different outfit from before.
"Never mind! Pearl's back!" Steven says excitedly.
"Ah... " Pearl lets out a sigh as he looks over her new form. "That's much better."
Steven runs over to envelop her in a big hug. "Oof, hey, miss me much?" She asks.
"Ah man, I had this whole thing planned out for when you came back!" Steven says before he runs off towards the kitchen.
Pearl notices the messy state of the house. "Uh, Steven. What happened to your room?" She asks but sees the inflated Amethyst and she begins to frown. "I don't even want to know what happened to you."
"I got hit by an airplane!" Amethyst says.
Steven returns, with his shirt tied around his head, using a pot and a wooden spoon like a drum. "Pearl's back! Pearl's back! Pearl's back!"
"Steven, what are you doing?" Pearl asks.
Steven continues to chant as Amethyst burps out more of the cloud.
"Ughh... I can't leave you guys alone for a second." Pearl sighs.
Steven pops back in. "Pearl's back!"
Y/n picks up the broken mop handle from the floor now as he looks at it and sighs.
"Oh hello Y/n." Pearl says getting his attention. "I didn't notice you what with all this mess and well that..." She says pointing to Amethyst.
"Hey!" Amethyst says back but burps out more cloud.
Y/n looks at the broken mop handle in his hand for a moment and he clenches it now. "Pearl." He calls out her name getting everyone's attention. "Could...I make a request of you?" He asks looking at her properly now.
"A request? Of me?" Pearl repeats the words. "What sort of request?" She asks Y/n.
"Will you teach me how to use a sword?" Y/n asks determined.
Pearl just raises her hands to her mouth excitedly as tears form in her eyes.
It was the next day and both Pearl and Y/n were in the sky Arena. "Now, I want you to to pay attention to my feet Y/n." Pearl says as she stands across from Y/n.
"I watched as you tried to teach Steven but I'm not sure If I fully understand, It's like a dance right? You have steps you have to follow with your feet and if you get them wrong you can fail the dance?" Y/n tries to summarize his understanding of what Pearl was trying to teach him.
"Very good!" Pearl surprisingly praises him. "That's a Pearl Point." She then adds.
"Pearl Point?" Y/n asks confused.
"For now we'll need you to start learning and memorising the basic footwork." Pearl says. "Move to stand next to me and try and follow my lead." Pearl instructs Y/n who now stands besides Pearl and the two begin to spend hours practicing and learning together.
And that's the chapter! So Y/n has now begun sword training under Pearl. But what will his weapon be? You shall have to wait and see. If you liked this chapter then don't forget to leave a vote and a comment below as it does really help and I still can't believe how popular the story has gotten this quickly so thank you once again readers. I hope to see you all next week in...
Lion 2: The Movie