The wind whistled through the canyon, its whine almost deafening in the silence. Amethyst and I stood shoulder to shoulder, weapons at the ready. Mo didn’t take any fighting stance. She just watched us, hands dangling at her sides. She was stock-still, not a twitch, as if she was carved of ivory.

Amethyst moved first, the sound of her whip filling the clearing. Mo easily sidestepped the lashes, her feet hopping from one to the other without stumbling. Amethyst pulled out a second whip and continued her assault. Mo wasn’t faltered, moving so swiftly that the wicked spikes on the ends of Amethyst’s whips meet only open air. Mo grabbed one of her weapons, smoke curling around her fingers. Amethyst’s whips vanished in a blur before Mo’s power could wrench it away. Mo raised her other hand at us, smoke forming a funnel cloud before shooting towards us.

Before I could think, I moved so that I was in front of Amethyst, my shield protecting both of us. The smoke collided with the shield, collapsing back into harmless wisps with the shield unscathed. So she actually has to touch the weapon to steal it? At least that’s a break.

“Steven!”

Amethyst’s warning had come too late. In an instant, Mo had closed the distance between us. Her gem started to glow, her body shining along with it. She leaped, catching the rim of my shield and twisted, using her momentum to swing around my weapon. Mo drew her legs in, angled her path, and slammed her feet into my chest, kicking off with remarkable strength. My feet left the ground as I went airborne, colliding with the cliff a moment later. Pain flared from my back and meet around my chest, the air knocked out of me.

The way she moved was impossible! It’s not like that smooth and coordinated precision that Pearl has or even Spinel’s ridiculous body structure. She had calculated the exact path of her attack, timing each moment perfectly to separate me from my shield. What’s more, she matched it with shapeshifting so that her form could pull off the maneuver, shrinking during the twist and jump, but expanding rapidly to increase the power of the kick. Her opening move was flawless, and we’re only getting started.

Mo had my shield in her hands. Smoke engulfed it, monochrome veins seeping out where the cloud made contact. In seconds, it glitched before vanishing completely.

Amethyst jumped up and curved her back forwards, her rotation increasing until she was a roaring ball spinning dangerously on the stone. Amethyst streak by me, aiming straight at Mo. She didn’t move as Amethyst slammed into her. Mo fell onto her back, her arms wrapping around the spinning gem. She rolled with her, somersaulting back onto her feet. In that same movement, Mo threw Amethyst up, her dashing useless in midair. Mo leaped towards the cliff on her right. She pushed off the stone to the opposing cliff, repeating the action again and again. Effortlessly, she bounded into the air after Amethyst. When she neared, Mo spun, aiming a kick at Amethyst’s side where her attack left her vulnerable. The two hung suspended in the air, the impact of their attacks momentarily stalling their movement. Then, Mo’s leg finished its movement, hurling Amethyst back to the stone far below. She landed in front of me with a crash, the ground underneath her broken into a crater.

I rose to my feet, the world spinning as I did. I kissed my hand and pressed it to my chest. The pain dulled and ceased, my injuries restored by my healing powers. Amethyst pushed herself up shakily, her teeth bared from the impact. Mo landed lightly a few yards away, looking exactly the same as before the fight began. She’s not even breaking a sweat.

“Dude, she’s insane,” Amethyst grunted. “We just started and she’s already moping the floor with us.”

“She’s tough,” I panted, the air finally returning to my lungs. “But we can beat her.”

“Maybe we should-”

Amethyst got cut off as my shield sailed through space between us. We both jumped away from it, widening the distance between us. Mo was bearing down on Amethyst before her feet touched the ground. She pulled back her fist, her knuckles spewing smoke. Mo’s blow struck fast, landing squarely against Amethyst’s gem. Amethyst yelped, her form glitching as the blow knocked her into the center of the clearing.

“Amethyst!” I started to move towards her, but Mo was on me next. I summoned another shield, barely blocking her foot that was aimed at my temple. I pushed her leg to the side to throw her off balance as Pearl showed me. Mo leaned back, shifting her fall to her back. She adjusted mid-fall, caught herself on her hands and swinging legs around, repositioning her hands fluidly. She had swung her body 360 degrees in an instant, keeping her weight on her palms as she drew her legs to her chest and then kicked out. Her heel collided with my chin, stars exploding in my vision. I stumbled back as Mo regained her footing.

I shook myself to clear my head. Mo aimed another punch at my side. I formed bubbles around my fists and blocked her punch with one of my own. My bubble held, but gray fissures covered the spot where it connected with her knuckles. Mo changed her stance, balancing her body as she put her full force into throwing punches. I match each of her blows, her pale knuckles pounding against the pink shell of my bubbles. More and more gray streaks appeared as our fists collided. Every few blows, the bubbles would glitch and break, and I would hurriedly replace them to continue defending. Even though my hands were armored, I felt the force of Mo’s punch ripple up my arm, making my muscles burn as we countered each other.

We pushed back and forth, neither one of us willing to give up an inch for long. Mo was relentless, each strike followed by another and another aimed so precisely that I could barely protect myself. Her movement was so fast that I had to follow blurs to read her movements. I’d been practicing with Pearl for years, even after we stopped fighting Homeworld. We had moved on to sparring with other Gems of all shapes and sizes. I thought I’d come across every possible opponent and learned how to fight them in case of an emergency. Mo proved me wrong. It was if she moved like four Gems combined into one. The precision of Pearl, the grace of a Lapis, the tenacity of a Quartz, and the strength of Bismuth or maybe even Garnet. Against any of them individually, I might have stood a chance. Against all of their styles combined and altered, I won’t last long. Already, Mo’s barrage of punches is breaking through, striking my shoulders and my arms when I failed to keep up. I kept the most attention on my head and torso, but that didn’t stop her from landing punches in my blindspots that started to bruise instantly.

I heard a howl, followed by a whoosh in the air. A streak of purple lashed Mo’s shoulder, flames of the same color licking up from the gem-studs. I threw up a full bubble just in time to save me from the explosion. Mo was thrown off her feet, bouncing on her side once before skidding across the ground.

Amethyst hobbled over, her free hand clutching her gem.

“Amethyst! Are you alright?” I dropped the bubble and ran to her side. I pulled her hand away to see her gem, but there wasn’t any visible damage.”

“I’m fine,” Amethyst panted. “She just… did something to my gem. I can… hardly move…”

“Your form glitched when she punched your gem. Do you think her smoke did this?”

“Maybe… It felt… familiar…” Amethyst managed to say as she leaned on me. The whip fell from her hand and vanished. “Like… like… Steven… we need to fuse.”

At any other time, I would have agreed right away. Now, Amethyst can’t even support herself. Whatever Mo did had sapped her strength to the dregs. I’m amazed she didn’t outright poof. “Are you sure you’re up for it?”

“Who do you… think you’re… talking to?” Amethyst gasped. “I’m ready… for anything…”

“But-”

I cut off when I saw Mo back on her feet. Our moment of peace was gone. Mo took one look at us and sprinted towards us, a shooting star streaking over the ground.

I put my worries aside and trusted Amethyst. I took her hand and pulled her close to me, the warmth from my gem exploding into a searing light. I saw Amethyst’s gem do the same, our forms lost in the brilliance. The world lost its bearings. My thoughts broke apart. Our bodies scattered and collided, blending and rebuilding into someone new. When the last piece was in place, a blast of energy burst out of us, an enormous mushroom cloud erupting and pushing Mo away.