Hearing the sound of the warp pad, Pearl let out a sigh of relief. Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven were out checking the warp pads for the umpteenth time this week. They couldn't risk having any more fixed and having gems that could be potentially harmful teleporting here. But the sigh wasn't because she would have a reassurance of safety. It was because now was the best time to indulge in her favorite pasttime.

Pearl wasn't much for human hobbies. Well, there were some exceptions. Laundry, cleaning, dusting, and many other household activities made up most of her time when the others were here. But those seemed more like chores than actual interests. In fact, there was something more that she was interested in: sword fighting.

Now, Steven has already known that Pearl loved to fight. She was a skilled bladewielder and knew attack methods that could rival any championship fencer. With her lightweight body and her careful and focused movements, she was a rather graceful fighter. But grace wasn't what she looked for in this kind of sword fight. There was a reason she did it while the Gems were away. But before she headed to the battlefield, she didn't grab her ordinary fighting sword. She went over to Steven's bed, opened his signature cheeseburger backpack, and pulled out Rose's sword.

Rose's sword was one of the only things that she kept close to her that reminded her of Rose. The pink blade being a lighter shade of her hair, and the handle fitting Rose's hand so perfectly, she could've sworn she felt the warmth of her hand on it. She stood there for a few moments, guiging her fingers along the blade and making a few practice swings in the air. Finally, she decided to start practicing.

Making her way to the battlefield, she started thinking of new techniques she could use. Maybe something along the lines of an aerial attack, or maybe a slow spinning move. Pearl's weakness in fighting was that she moved too fast, therefore being easy to capture. Not only that, but she would lose coordination from moving so quickly, possibly losing her footing and messing up. But she was still excited to try out these moves. Finally, she stood in the center of her battlefield and began concentrating to make her opponent.

Whenever she fought, she always used Holo-Pearls, holographic projections of herself to fight against. But Pearls weren't the only Gems she could project. After all, Pearls weren't the only thing she fought. There were other holograms too, of other gems. Quartzes, Rubies, and so on. But this time, she had a special hologram that she loved to use. Focusing all her power onto her gem, she finally projected the Gem opponent she wanted.

A burst of light blasted from her gem, and a short hologram of Steven appeared. The figure looked almost lifelike, save for the sky blue color and the robotic voice. The Holo-Steven looked at her with emotionless eyes.

"Would you like to engage in combat?" it asked in a voice that sounded surprisingly similar to Steven's.

Pearl did not respond. She always spent the few moments before she answered figuring out a reason or scenario as to why she would be fighting the hologram. For this special Steven hologram, she rarely needed any time to think of so many reasons. She liked to pretend this hologram was the actual Steven and that she was in a frantic battle with him. The reason being? Even though she would never in her immortal life tell Steven this, she secretly had a very hard grudge and a slight hatred towards the gem boy.

Before Steven was, well, Steven, she had Rose, who was the love of her life. She had utter devotion towards her and needed nobody else except her. Her beauty left her in awe. To her, she was the most wondrous and beautiful creature in the entire galaxy. And it was not just her looks that did it for Pearl. She loved who she was, a wise, curious, fun-loving, and outgoing individual. She was also the one that started the entire gem rebellion, and she had to thank her for that. And that did not change, even when Greg came into her life. Even though he took Rose away from her, she still had somewhat of that same connection they always had. She was still nice, and she was still Rose. But, it actually changed ever since she decided to change into Steven. What Rose had been was now washed away and was made into a young boy that didn't know any better and needed to learn. He wasn't wise, all-knowing, and he certainly wasn't as inspiring as his mother. And that is why Pearl stood there now, ready to fight the hologram version of the boy that took everything away from her. She gripped Rose's sword in her hand.

"Yes, Steven, I wish to fight you." Pearl replied. Suddenly, the Holo-Steven rushed forward, pulling out a holographic sword and pointing it towards the pale gem. She jumped over him, rolling over her shoulder behind him and turning around. Before he could face her, she sprinted towards him, crying out a high pitched war cry. Holo-Steven turned his head, and slashed his blade, but since Pearl was so close, he only managed to hit her on the side of the head with the handle. Her, with the advantage of close proximity took her shot, jumping into the air and pointing the blade downwards, preparing to stab down into the mock Steven. The next thing she saw the him looking upwards, accepting its fate.

She stabbed through him, but she didn't let the hologram fizzle out. Instead, she let him fall to the ground, lying on his back. She began to attack him, even though she had already won and he was already down. It wasn't tactical moves, it was just Pearl continuously stabbing the hologram version of the person that took her Rose away. With every stab, she enunciated every word.

"Why... *stab* did... *stab* you... *stab* take her *stab* away from me?!!" She yelled, her voice now breaking down. She jabbed a couple more times before she finally stopped.

She kneeled down, and took in the sight. The hologram, the thing she had now just maliciously defeated, was the only thing that was preventing her from actually harming the real Steven. This thing that she created herself was the only thing that relieved her stress from the hybrid gem. Guilt sunk into her, as she covered her face, and cried softly. As tears ran down her face, she realized everything she had lost and gained from Steven's existence, and most of it was incredibly depressing. But her cries, which had now turned into sobs, were interrupted when the hologram spoke. This time sounding exactly like Steven's voice.

"Challenger defeated! Would you like to try again?"