The Transdimensional Hillbilly

by GeekHillbilly

An old mountain man's adventure in the world of Steven Universe and the Gems.

The Trans-dimensional Hillbilly

October 30,2018 by Geek Hillbilly using characters from Steven Universe Copyright Rebecca Sugar and Cartoon Network This is a work of fan fiction - not done for profit but written for the fun of it. This work is not to be considered canon and was never meant to be. There will be reference to other works of copyrighted media,used only to advance the storyline. The main character is partially based on the life of the author. Part 1 of 2 of the combined work The Gems and the Hillbilly All of which is under the Creative Commons license. It may be shared freely,but no alterations may be made without written permission of the author. Author's note: The biscuit recipe given in the story is my actual biscuit recipe. And yes,it is just that easy. Give it a try.

Chapter 1 - A Cold Winter's Morning

The Old man seated himself in front of his old $6 junkyard salvaged computer, trying to catch up on the news. 7:00 AM January 2 on a cold snowy morning. Outside, the snow was piling up." Damn,Marcy. I haven't seen this much snow at one time in 20 years or more." Marcy is an 8 year old Chihuahua laying on the bed behind him. She yawned and shifted herself slightly. Smiling, the old man gently rubbed the dog's head that was sticking out from under a comforter and turned back to the monitor screen.

"Same old crap every morning – at least the coffee is hot" he muttered to himself. Sipping the black coffee,he thought back over the past 9 years. The illness that caused his right leg to lose circulation resulting in a below the knee amputation. The betrayal and abandonment by his kids,wife and his entire family. Years of hard times of isolation, of relearning how to walk with a prosthetic leg without any help, the rebuilding of his broken life. The birth of Marcy on the bedroom floor,the later loss of Marcy's mother Sally due to old age. The emotional release of doing electronics and computer repair,resulting in becoming his area's computer expert. "Doesn't help a damn bit. Hell of a way to treat a guy" he thought – life really sucks.

Shutting off the computer, he leaned back in the chair and stretched. Old aches & pains making themselves known yet again. He grabbed an old 1970's copy of an electronics project book,opened it up and smiled. "Wonder if half this stuff is even made anymore?" he muttered. The old man has went days at a time without saying a word – no one else to hear it,except for the dog.

Getting up, he walked toward the bedroom door. And stopped dead as though he had ran into a brick wall. "What the hell?" A white foggy cylinder formed around the old man, his prosthetic foot still outside the fog. A wave of nausea flooded over him and a high pitch whine fill the the room vanished.

Chapter 2 – Beach City at the Temple

Garnet looked outside, light snow slowly coming down. "Not too bad out,Pearl. Steven loves the snow and Connie is due over for her sword training. Not too cold. Should be an interesting day." "One of us should go get Connie to make sure she is safe. Steven & Connie won't admit it,but they love each other. I wouldn't be surprised if they get married one day. Don't want anything to happen to her. Connie's mother is a worrier anyway" said Pearl.

Garnet sat down on the couch and set down a cup of coffee. She had recently tried the human drink and liked it. "You're right Pearl. We'll send Amethyst – she loves to go to town anyway. Steven will be waking up soon and Peridot will be here shortly" Garnet said. The front door opened and Peridot stepped inside,covered in snow and she was fascinated by it. "Steven explained rain to me but never mentioned this stuff" Peridot said. Shaking herself off,sending the snow flying everywhere. "PERIDOT! That will melt and get into the Warp Pad's electronics" Pearl said. A fist sized lump of snow was on the edge of the pad and was melting rapidly,running into a tiny space between the pad and the floor.

"I'll clean it up" Peridot said while grabbing a roll of paper towels and moving toward the warp pad. The snow was almost gone with a good sized puddle beside the pad bubbling slightly as the water leaked into the pad. A loud snap erupted,with a foggy white cylinder forming on the pad,going to the ceiling. "Nyah! what is happening?" Peridot screamed with a touch of panic in her voice.

"The pad has shorted out. Don't enter the field. You could wind up anywhere" said Garnet, rising quickly from the couch and moving rapidly toward the pad. Looking into the pad's field, a human looking figure was forming,but something was wrong. It was standing on only 1 leg with the other being about 6 inches short of the pad's surface.

Peridot, who had raced away from the pad,turned around and watched the figure quickly form. It took the shape of an overweight human male,wearing some eyeglasses. The fog vanished and the old man was there,falling from the pad. His right foot was missing.

Chapter 3 - The Old Man from Eastern Kentucky

"OW! What the hell just happened and where am I? This damn sure doesn't look like my bedroom"said the old man, eyes going wide as he viewed Garnet, Peridot & Pearl. "Who are you?" The old man rolled over, sitting on the floor eyeing where the missing piece of his leg was suppose to be. He felt no panic,just surprised on his sudden change of location.

"Peridot,help me get him to the couch" Pearl said, lifting the man carefully as so not to give away just how strong she really was. Gently with the man between them, they moved the man across the room to the couch. "Thanks,ladies. I appreciate this" the man said after sitting back and rubbing his right arm. He had the look of bemusement on his face. What had started out as another long boring day had got interesting real fast.

"I'm Garnet, there is Pearl and this is Peridot" Garnet said "We are the Crystal Gems and you are in our home. It was an accident that brought you here" Staring at the man, Peridot blushed a darker tone of green.

"The name's Keith. I'm from Eastern Kentucky and I assume I ain't anywhere near there." Garnet smiled. This human is very observant. I should call Greg to talk to him in depth.

Peridot said sheepishly "Are you alright? Are you hurting?" Peridot was on the edge of panic,hoping she would not see the red fluid that appears when a human gets hurt or wounded. "I'm old,tired and ugly. You ain't never gonna hear I'm just fine out of me. Right arm hurts a bit,but that will go away." Peridot blushed further – the man had verbally smoked her but good, without hesitation.

Garnet smiled to herself, trying but failing to keep it from her face. He is a quick thinker and a bit of a smart ass,as the humans say. It should be very interesting when Amethyst comes out of her room.

Speaking of Amethyst, the temple door opened and out she strode. "Good morning, Garnet. You too P. And Our resident nerd is here." Amethyst said before looking on the couch and see the old man there. "Who is this?"

"The warp pad malfunctioned and this man was transported here from his home. He says he is from Kentucky, but I haven't heard of that place. Kentenn is the closest I know of."

"Oh" Amethyst said. "Why can I see a faint shimmering around him?"

Not noticeable in the well lit area of the pad, the old man was surrounded by the faintest of a rippling surrounding him. A human wouldn't have seen it, but a gem would.

Chapter 4 – Quantum Signature

" I don't know. Pearl, can you check it out? "asked Garnet. Pearl grabbed something that erupted from her gem and turned it on. Reading the display, "It says that his quantum signature is different. He is not from our universe,but a different one. Almost identical but not quite. A very slight difference. It should fade after a while" Pearl said in a quiet muted voice. "Normally it would have killed him,as it does shatter gems but his reality is so close to ours that the difference is extremely slight."

"WOW! I wonder if gems are in his world as well?" Peridot muttered. She hadn't spoke since the verbal burn. "I have to be careful, he isn't stupid,he isn't a clod" she thought as she walked over to examine where his right foot should have been. Looking close,she seen a sheared off stainless steel pipe,cut at the molecular level so fine that it was as shiny as a mirror. "Your right leg is mechanical?"

"Yep, sure is. I have a hard enough time walking with a cane,running is a lost dream for me. At least I can drive with it without any hand controls"said Keith,smiling slightly. He had gotten used to stares when people seen his prosthetic leg.

"Can you take it off? I can repair it" said Peridot. "Thanks, I can't get to a bathroom the way it is now and I hate to crawl. "said the smiling man. It had become obvious that he wasn't dealing with anyone human here,but they seem friendly enough. Proceed with caution he thought.

Reaching down after pulling up the right pant leg some, he pressed the release button and the leg came off easily. Picking it up, he handed it to Peridot. "Take care of 's the only fake leg I have."

Ha ha thought Peridot. Reaching for the leg, she examined it. Very primitive, no sensors for touch or movement of where the foot should be – well that's gonna change. She felt bad for yanking this man out of his world,even by accident. She was going to make it up to him,some how,some way. "I'll get right on this - this shouldn't take me long" said Peridot." Go get 'em,nerd" said Amethyst. Peridot blushed a dark green and growled a bit. Keith spoke up "Ha ha Ha,Peridot - don't let Amethyst get to you. We nerds & geeks stick together. I have a gut feeling you'll fix it better than I could believe possible. I'm pretty good about reading people."

"But I'm not human, I am a gem" Peridot muttered under her breath. Keith heard her " I may be unusual, but Gem or human,you are still a person and besides,you seem not to have a poker face handy. Your face is as readable as a book." Peridot stopped,stunned by this show of respect from this old man. "Amethyst,I need some items from your room to fix this. Do you mind?"

"Not at all, Peri – follow me" Amethyst said jokingly." I have tons of stuff in there." Peridot retorted "Be careful not to step on the warp pad. It malfunctioned and that is how this mess started." Pearl spoke up, serious as a heart attack. "Don't worry about that. I deactivated it until we can find out what went wrong." Peridot and Garnet spoke simultaneously "Thanks"

A loud yawn and thumping on the stairs - Steven was awake. "Good Morning, guys. Who is visiting us today?"

Chapter 5 - Steven and Connie on the phone

"Morning Steven. Peri and me will be back in a few minutes. We have a little bit of work we have to do." Amethyst said as her and Peridot went through the open door into her room, the door almost flowing shut behind them.

" Hi I'm Steven. Glad to meet you" Said Steven. Keith looked at the young teen,smiling. Steven was a bit pudgy,but a good looking kid and he seems to radiate goodness. "Good morning. I hadn't intended to go visiting today,but you folks 'Warp Pad' had other ideas." Keith has lapsed into hillbilly slang. Garnet spoke in her stern but soft voice"Steven,this is Keith. He was yanked by the warp pad from another universe,another reality, when it shorted out. He'll be our guest until we can determine how to return him to his home. I think your dad would like to meet him". "Is he human?" "Yes he is,Steven. Very human". Steven nodded. He looked at the older man. More than a little overweight but with a kindly face and a smile that would have charmed Jasper. "I think I'll like him" Steven thought to himself. He hasn't been as quick to speak out to get attention lately - he no longer seen a need to act like a child. Steven was rapidly growing up,in body and mind. And he knew it,too.

Steven glanced out the window "It's really coming down. Think Connie can make it here today? She has sword training with Pearl today" Pearl spoke up "I don't know, Steven. You ought to call her and see if she's coming. It's not that cold out but this is the worst snow I've seen since you were just a baby. I wouldn't want her to get hurt trying to get here." That's Pearl,Steven thought. Over protective but well meaning. She has always been like that. "OK,let me go get my phone. It's been charging overnight" said Steven,rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. A sound rang out - it was Connie's ring tone. Steven ran up to his bedside to answer the call.

"Hello" said Steven into the phone. "Pearl was mentioning you just now and you called. She's worried about this weather and you trying to make it here."
"Sounds just like Pearl" Connie's voice rang out from the phone. Steven had turned on the speakerphone function. "Mom asked that I not come over today. It is getting dangerous out and you know Mom" Pearl, upon hearing this, spoke out loud enough for the phone to pick it up. "That's fine,Connie. There will be another day. Stay warm & stay safe" Pearl did not want to upset or even slightly antagonize Doctor Mashewan, Connie's mother. She was suspicious of the Gems to begin with after the incident with the corrupted gems at the hospital.

"Tell Pearl that I heard her, Steven. I'll come over when this storm is over with. Besides, Dad is going to stop by the car wash to check on your father when he goes to work" Connie's voice echoed out with a charming lilt to her voice. Connie's father ran a Security company and he had to go regardless of the weather. Staying home was not an option.

"I'm sure Dad is OK." Why he doesn't buy a house instead of living in that van Steven hasn't figured out yet. "OK Connie. I'll call later. We seem to have company here and I want to talk to him." "Really, Steven? Who is it?" Connie's puzzled voice hinting at curiosity. " I don't know,Connie. Garnet hasn't explained much about him,except that he came here due to a problem with the Warp Pad. All I know that he is human and older." Steven said. Connie was very reluctant to let Steven get off the phone,Keith thought to himself. She must like Steven a LOT.

"Goodbye Connie" "Goodbye Steven. We'll talk later"

Chapter 6 – The Hillbilly from Another Earth

Hanging up the phone, Steven walked back down to where the old guy sat . "That was Connie. She's my Jam bud" A huge grin broke out on the old man's face. Jam Bud? He thought. Well,this is an alternate universe and social norms may be a bit different here.

"Steven, Keith said he is from Kentucky,but there is no place named that here. Closest I could remember is Kentenn. It's been a while since I've look on a map. Maybe your phone could bring up a map and we could see just where it may be" Garnet said quietly. She thought that Steven was growing up fast and was acting much more mature than he did in the recent past. She wasn't about to inform the stranger of Steven being only half human until she could be sure that this old man wouldn't be a threat to Steven. Sensible as always.

"Sure Garnet. Coming right up." Flipping on his phone, Steven brought up a map and in close enough details so that the states are listed. He zoomed down on Kentenn and spoke "I have a map up. See if you recognize anything. Hope this helps."

"Thanks, son. I really appreciate this" Keith said,taking Steven's phone looking onto the screen. Wonder what operating system the phone used. The old man said in a muffled voice 'Kentenn is exactly where the states of Kentucky and Tennessee are in my world." States seemed to be combined here. Wonder if the town of Hazard exists here? Yes it did but spelled different. Double Z. "Aha" Keith thought Later he'd have to see what this world's version of the Duke boys looked like. That ought to be fun. What in the name of hell had he gotten drawn into? This had to be the weirdest day in his long life.

Handing back the phone,Keith asked" I smell coffee. Got an extra cup?" He had only had a sip or two before being transported to this strange yet familiar world,but he knew that he was too much of a java hound to miss a good hot cup of Joe. And he was thirsty. That trip has somehow dried him out. Pearl spoke up from the kitchen. "Plenty. How do you like it?" "Black as the devil's heart,Pearl. Thank You." He looked at Pearl and was puzzled. Why did the slim woman look a bit odd and was that some kind of a jewel in her forehead? He hadn't noticed it before.

"Well, that explains that. I have to get Peridot to check the Warp pad and find out why it brought you here. And if there is any way to send you back." Garnet said. "Pearl,you should help her. Between the both of you,figuring this out shouldn't be too hard to do." If Pearl & Peridot didn't kill each other first. There was still a bit of a rivalry between those two. "The fault should be logged and easy to trace down."

Pearl stepped over handing the old man a cup of steaming hot coffee. "No,it shouldn't be but can we reverse it? One mistake and we could send him into deep space or even into a star if we are not very precise on the settings." That worried Keith,blowing on the coffee to cool it down for a taste. Sip. Excellent. "At least the heart of a star would be very quick. I'd rather die at the age of 200. being shot by a jealous wife." Watch the wise cracks,Keith. Last thing you want to do is piss off these folks. Your old hide depends on it.

Garnet tried to suppress a laugh,failing completely. Pearl gave an amused snicker. This guy was a fast thinker. I'm beginning to like him thought Garnet. Hearing a sound,both Garnet & Pearl saw Amethyst & Peridot emerging from the temple, Peridot carrying the reconstructed prosthesis. " It's the best I can do on short notice,but it should be a lot more comfortable than what you originally had. How you could walk with that I'll never know."

" Thanks. My doctors said I was too damned stubborn to just lay down & die. My will to live is strong, even at my age. Worse than an old army mule"Keith said. "What did you have to do to it?"

"I'm sure Peridot made it much better" Steven said "She can fix almost everything." Peridot blushed. She hadn't had this many compliments since she first arrived,so long ago. Steven was sweet but he was still a kid. " I have to adjust some items after you put it back on. You won't need that spike thing to hold it on and you will be able to feel and move the foot just like a natural foot. I used both Earth and Gem tech to rebuild this. You will have to charge it every night,but I have a charger for it as well. I hope you like it."

"I've never seen Peri work so hard to get it right." Amethyst said. She had wondered why Peridot has gotten so picky about an item. Guilt about the accident and snatching this man from his home without any warning? or was there more?

Slipping off the silicon sleeve that had held the old leg on,he put his stump of a right leg into it. A low buzzing sound erupted and Peridot,busy at a small display panel,made hurried adjustments. The Buzzing noise ceased. "I didn't have any Gem power storage,so I used old batteries I took out of a busted laptop computer. Needed 2 of them. I think they are called 18650 batteries."

"Lithium Ion? Yea, we have those. I have a drawer full at home. I do computer repairs as a way to keep myself busy. Salvage lots of them. Handy as all hell for powering projects and easily charged,too. Just need a cell phone charger." Keith said. It was true. One dresser drawer contain more than 100 of those recycled batteries,with another section having at least 20 new ones,still in the wrapper. "Are they easy to change in case the batteries give out?" Peridot push a panel on the inner side of the leg and a door popped open. 2 batteries side by side. She pressed above it and a smaller door opened. "This is the charger port. Micro USB,as you humans call it. No more than 1500 milliamps of current. Like an average cell phone charger." "Thank you so much,Peridot. That is gonna make it much easier to care for." Keith said. Standing up,he took a step. "It's comfortable and I can feel the ground. No pain in the stump. and I can feel cool air there. This is great. It's been years since I could walk without pain. Bless your heart."

"I don't have a heart, not that it matters,but I believe 'You're Welcome' is the proper response." Peridot said. Human language had been difficult for Peridot to use,but she has mastered it well.

" Now what do we do?" Amethyst asked. "We have to diagnose the pad and fix what went wrong. We can get parts from some broken pads at the Galaxy warp. We will have to use the outside pad until this one is fixed." Said Garnet. "Meanwhile, we can talk and find out more about each other." This is gonna be some fun,thought Amethyst.

Chapter 7 – Interval

The days that followed past swiftly. Garnet,Amethyst,Pearl & Steven left frequently to hunt for some corrupted Gems (Garnet explained this to him in detail - the tearing in the fabric of the mind phrase stuck in his memory). Working with Peridot,assisting her when he could on repairing the warp pad. (He had learned so much about gem technology and inter-dimensional physics that sometimes he thought his brain was spinning. Some of the concepts he could not grasp but followed as best as he could - at least he was an extra pair of hands when needed.). Nights spent outside looking over the beach and up into the sky to see if the constellations were the same. Some were,some wasn't. Discussion with the Gems on the day's events and anything worth mentioning. They even discussed The Many Worlds theory, in which Keith's presence had confirmed. Peridot's detailed description of what was left to do,what parts she needed to get and what she could slap together.

One evening,Keith came out after cleaning up,sat on the couch and went fast to sleep. He wasn't exactly a spring chicken anymore and he had pushed himself to the point of collapse. Snoring quietly,he never heard Peridot come over to sit next to him,finding him engaging the human activity of sleep. Humans are strange, Peridot thought. They need to shut off their awareness of their surroundings and stay unconscious for a few hours every night. Some rest sounded good to her as well. Staring at the man,Peridot muttered quietly"Why are you here? Why do I feel the need to stay close by you all the time? Is it where you seem to understand most everything I try to say, To do. Why do I feel this way?" She had no understanding of emotions,let alone human emotions,try as she might. Pondering these thoughts,a wave of tiredness washed over her. She leaned to one side,resting her head against the man's arm and closed her eyes. Sleep rapidly followed.

The next morning, Garnet emerged from her room and seen an amazing sight. Laying back on the couch,Keith was still asleep,with his left arm draped over Peridot,holding her close as they both slept. "This somehow feels right" Garnet thought. "Those two belong together. It's too bad they are from different worlds. What a couple they would make. Amethyst and Pearl came out of their respective rooms and seeing Keith & Peridot sleeping,started to say something,but Garnet motioned them to keep quiet. "Let them sleep. They've earned some rest and seeing that they are resting together,there is no reason to disturb them." whispered Garnet.

Amethyst thought " Oh boy Let me get a few pictures. This will be fun showing them to Peridot and Steven. Peri will be so embarrassed". Pearl smiled,said nothing and went to make some coffee,which both Garnet and Keith usually drank in quantity.

Keith awoke,finding Peridot still asleep,her cuddling resulted in Peridot being all but on his lap,with her arm around him. " I have made more than just friends here" He thought. A smile formed. Yes,more than just friends.

Chapter 8 – Feeling at ease with Peridot

Keith had noticed in the weeks he had been here,Peridot took every opportunity to get close to him. Not that he minded. He had been alone for so long and it was refreshing that his company was wanted. She (he assumed Peridot was a she - they used female pronouns when referring to each other) took every opportunity to do so. He had said nothing to keep her from getting flustered. Also he had met Connie (Steven's girlfriend. No wonder Steven was so smitten with her) Greg Universe (Steven's father) and met Sadie Miller. Lead singer for "Sadie Killer and the Suspects" Beach City's very own horror based band. Their music was pretty good at that. Steven had introduced Keith to all of his Beach City friends,even Kevin. ( Kevin was a pure A-Hole to put it mildly. He had enjoyed cutting the little narcissist down a few hundred pegs) As it was,he was sitting outside on the steps. Peridot came out and sat down. "We are almost ready to test the warp pad. We got the precise co-ordinates to return you soon and this trip won't be near as bad. Pearl figured out how to compensate for the different quantum frequency so you shouldn't be so nauseated on the return trip". "Thanks,Peri. You have put a lot of work in and you ought to take a break. Concentrating on such small items for too long gives a person a mean headache and blurts one's vision".

"Why does Amethyst keep calling me a nerd? It makes me mad when she calls me names" Peridot asked Keith."She is jealous of you,Peridot. You have the smarts and technical know how she will never have. I faced the same thing growing up. I was called nerd,geek and some names a lot worse. Nerds like us have a hard row to hoe,if you will pardon the expression. I was even denied the chance to go to college just because the people who controlled the money needed by me to take the classes, the ones who decided who got the grants and scholarships could not stand the thought of a son of a coal miner succeeding where they themselves failed. I easily qualified for all of them,being in the top 10 of my class.I still have the denial letter they sent,stating some obscure excuse why. I wound up going to war while they sat safe at home. It's not fair,never has been and never will be. Just ignore it. Just know that you can do better than they ever will. We have a concept back home. It is called karma - the eventual balancing of your actions. What goes around comes back around. You reap what you have sown. Those people eventually paid dearly for their actions, some I made damn sure of. As for me,I was forever scarred by the path I was forced to take. All I can do is make the best of a bad situation. That's what you can do. Piss them off by never giving up. That gives enough satisfaction, at least it did for me. That is just my 2 cent opinion,for whatever it's worth." Keith answered "By the way,if somehow you could make it to my world, I have a movie stored on my computer's hard drive about people like us and the ways they fought back. It's old,goes back 35 years. It is called Revenge of The Nerds. It is funny as all get out."

"What is your world like? I am curious." Peridot inquired

"Peri,My world is far different from yours. Racism, hatred of others just because of skin color, area of origin,sexual orientation and religion are the norm. Fear and hate of the other. Since the 2016 stealing of the White House by the winner using Russian help, his constant lies, his obvious corruption and that of his supporters, things have gotten steadily worse, almost amounting to a civil war. Killings occur almost daily by the extreme right wing nut jobs who are too stupid to realize that they are being duped. It was getting almost like the war zone in that hellhole many years before."
"Oh! Lapis left some time back, taking the barn with her and I have been somewhat lonely. I do miss her"said Peridot. "She was scared of another attack by the Diamonds and just left."

"Sounds like your friend Lapis is suffering from PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I have 1st hand experience with that,fighting for eight years in a tropical hellhole called Vietnam. I still have nightmares about it,after all these years. War is hell,General Sherman had said and he was right. Taking a life,even in the line of duty,kills part of your soul. Something inside dies a little. You cease to feel anything,just to survive. Some people recover quickly. I'm not one who has. Not a day goes by when I haven't thought of friends lost forever,because of that stupid useless war." Peridot face was a mask of surprise. This man had seemed so cheerful most of the time. "From your looks,Peri,I think you heard more than you bargained for. I wear a poker face most of the time,never daring to show any real emotions until I am comfortable enough with someone to open up. Which isn't very often."

"He understands. He actually understands. I didn't think this was possible for a human" thought Peridot. His description of his own trauma described Lapis almost perfectly.

"How do you deal with it?" Peridot said. Keith slowly spoke "It is day to day. One day at a time. Take things as they come. It's taken me 34 years to deal with it so far,though at times I still get overwhelmed. I had to press on through the fear,the anxiety and the pain. Both physical and mental. I can't allow it to control me. I do the best I can. Right now I am worried about my chihuahua Marcy,wondering if my sister next door cares enough to find out why she is more than likely howling. Marcy is all I have in my world and she has been with me since her birth." Peridot looked into the older man's face and seen tears forming. His heart is breaking,as the humans claim. His love for an animal is that intense. Unconditional. Real

" I'm sorry. I have gotten much more emotional in my old age. And you, Peri. From what I can find out, you pissed off Yellow Diamond big time,calling her a clod to her face. She'll have it out for you if she ever sees you." "I know" Peridot said "I doubt the Crystal Gems could stop her,but they will try. I wish I could see your world"

"I wish you could,too but you risk almost certain death trying. The frequency difference would shatter your gem. I wouldn't want that to happen,not for my sake. Love your friends and family, Peridot. Protect them. Let them know how you feel about them before it becomes too late. Don't hold it in. Let them know." Keith said very softly.

" I will and we have another problem" Said Peridot

Chapter 9 – Corrupted Gems on the Loose

"And what problem is that? I might be able to offer some small bit of help." Keith said, wiping his eyes.
"I know Garnet told you about the corrupted gems they look for, but there are six of them that no gem weapon can work on. Nothing seems to slow them down,let alone poof them. Spears,fists,energy blasts seems to just bounce off. The only thing that hurt one of them was a piece of steel that was thrown at high speed. Nothing else works."

"High speed chunk of steel, huh? Peri,have you ever heard of a rail gun? It is simple in concept,more difficult in actual engineering but sounds like something for the job" Keith explained." It's an electromagnetic weapon that turns electrical energy into kinetic energy. A series of electromagnets, pulsed in sequence,can accelerate an inert piece of ferrous metal,such as a steel welding rod,into a devastating weapon. At a high enough speed,even a common welding rod could go through everything short of thick depleted uranium armor. It would hit with the energy release of a small sized tactical nuclear warhead,without the radioactive side effects. I have built a few small ones,as toys really,but the concept is the same. Just the scale has to be increased. One of the small ones I made put a piece of a welding rod through a big iron block car motor. That ain't that easy to do. Car motors are built tough for a reason. And I was just playing around at that"

"The real trick is to make it portable and still as powerful. A power bank made of your lithium ion Batteries ran through a simple joule thief circuit to charge the high current capacitors ought to help. Got some paper and a pencil handy? I can draw out a rough draft of how it works" Getting up, Peridot ran into the house saying" I'll be right back" Keith thought"This ought to be something she can mull over. Peri is a technical genius,but lacks some creative imagination. But once she grasps how something works,she makes it work somehow."

Peridot returned with a notebook and several pens & pencils. Taking them,he drew a rough block diagram of what he had talked about. Nodding,Peridot caught on fast. "That should be easy. Amethyst has huge spools of heavy wire in that junkyard she calls a room and scrap steel for the projectiles is easy to find. It will be heavy but usable for a first effort" The Old man had a photographic memory when it came to electronics. He could close his eyes and see it,as if he was looking at a book. Keith continued with the notebook,drawing out the schematics for the joule thief,adding a parts list of components and capacity of the high current capacitors needed. He added a potentiometer. Peridot gave him a puzzled look. "Making it power adjustable. There is a limit on how fast you can accelerate something in an atmosphere before it vaporizes because of friction from the air it passes through. On the higher power settings,I wouldn't doubt this producing a sonic boom from hell. This ought to be enough to take out King Kong"

"Who or what is King Kong?" Peridot asked. Keith laughed" Monster Ape from some old monster movies. about forty feet tall. Tough as they come. Has a tendency of climbing tall buildings while holding a pretty girl in one hand. Loves bananas" Peridot looked up in shock,but seeing the smiling face,relaxed. She realized that he was joking with her. "I have to study what humans call humor sometimes. There seems to be plenty around this human man." She thought. " Keith,When do we start?

Chapter 10 – Construction

Steven asked "have you seen Peridot? She hasn't showed up in a while." Garnet spoke "She's down in her make shift workshop making that weapon to poof those gem monsters we couldn't handle the other day. Our other worldly visitor told her of a weapon on his world that should do the trick and he knew how it worked. Peridot is making that knowledge into reality"
"She always was good at building and making stuff, even those Meep Morps." He giggled at the thought of the erupting toilets Lapis & Peridot had made. "This weapon,will it shatter their gems?"
"Not if the aim is careful. They should just poof and we can then bubble them. But their outside is almost impenetrable. I've never seen one of them so tough" Pearl said with a worried sound in her voice. "They resisted everything we could do, neither Opal, Sardonix, Sugalite or Alexandrite could poof one."
" Yea, Steve-O. They were a lot tougher than Jasper. Smokey Quartz could not attempt to take one on." Amethyst said.
"Wow. That's tough!" Steven said surprised.
"Keith had been a warrior in his younger days and he kept up with his world's technology over his life. He acquired a lifetime of knowledge of how and why things work and how to put that knowledge into practice. He has seen much in his lifetime. We are lucky to have him here. I really hate to see him eventually return to his home." Garnet explaining to Steven.

" I could keep him tied up in my room for you, Garnet. Just Saying" Amethyst laughed out.

"Amethyst, I think you would have a real serious fight with Peridot if you did that. Have you noticed how she looks at him when they are together? There is a lot more than just a liking there. It is the same look Rose had when she met Greg but it seems to even be much more intense with Peridot.. You know what came of that." Pearl added with a bit of a chill in her voice. Pearl had finally made peace with Greg over Rose after Steven was born,but she hated to think about it.

" Maybe it is because Keith describes himself as a nerd. Nerds attract nerds" Amethyst said a little quietly

"No Amethyst. They are both two lonely people who met through the wildest stroke of luck. Let them have their time together. Let them be." Garnet said in her softest voice.

" OK OK I'll leave them alone - for now" Amethyst said with a smirk on her face.

Peridot came striding into the room. "It's ready for testing. Keith said we need to take it somewhere isolated, just in case something goes wrong. He quoted something he called Murphy's Law."

Pearl spoke up a bit puzzled. "Murphy's Law ?"

Keith walked in . "Yep, Murphy's Law and I quote 'The perversity of the Universe tends toward a maximum, Nothing is as it seems. Anything that can go wrong will and at the worst possible moment'. It just means take no chances."

" Murphy was very wise" Garnet stated.

Chapter 11 – Testing the Monster Buster

Keith was surprised at the strength of the beings called Gems. That make shift cobbled together rail gun must have weighed 20 Kilograms or more,yet Amethyst hefted it like it was a feather. He carried the portable battery pack, That's all Peridot would let him carry. Peridot brought a tin of welding rods and a good car battery,with jumper cables, and a prototyping circuit board,what Keith called a perfboard, with circuitry of something that he called a DC to DC Buck converter. Something to boost the voltage that the rail gun received from the battery pack. He was going to install it into the rail gun. The car battery was use for auxiliary power just in case the test drained the battery pack. "I tend to analyze things to death, looking at a problem from every possible angle. In a situation like this is . just like in combat, I want to make damned sure that I'm right the first time. " Keith had told Peri. Pearl led the way,spear in hand. Garnet was taking rear guard. This was close to the area where they has fought those six gem monsters and they could show up at any time. She was taking no chances with the old man's safety. Steven was with Connie,enjoying each other's company at the beach within eye shot of the Big Donut. They'll be fine there.

"This place ought to do. It's at least six km away from anything and is surrounded by mountains. That should provide enough safety in case the range is more than you two thought." Pearl said. "Thanks Pearl, this is perfect. Amethyst,since you are the fastest,can you go find the projectile after firing? It would give us some ideas on the range and scale of this contraption's power." Keith asked. Both him & Peridot would need those figures. Keith,as his old habit,had a pocket sized notebook and a new ink pen to write everything down. He had learned long ago to never trust vital data to memory. Excitement could make a man forget something very important real fast.

"Yea,sure.I need a good run or a spin. All I have to do is follow the direction which you aim that thing" Amethyst said.
Peridot spoke up "Keith and me decided to use steel welding rods as the projectiles,since they are easy to get and are uniform in size." "The buck converter is installed, Peri. No clods on this project." Peridot looked surprised "you can out do Amethyst in a wise crack contest. you'd win hands down, Keith. Well, let's get this set up and charged. here is test rod #1. 1/4 power as you said" Inserting the rod into the projectile holder,she had flipped on the switch and watched the power indicator rapidly rise to firing position. Aiming level at the distant mountain,she pressed the trigger button. A very loud boom rang out as the welding rod went supersonic and sped away from them.

"What was that"? Pearl said. "It was a sonic boom caused by the rod breaking the sound barrier. This is much more powerful than we had hoped" Keith said. His ears still ringing from the sound 'You're up Amethyst" She sped off after their welding rod.
"Peri,how is the battery pack holding up? " " I still have nine lights out of ten – not bad. Not bad at all. Why did you decide on just multicolored LEDs instead of a meter for the power level?" "Well Peri, it's called the kiss principal - Keep it simple stupid. LEDs are super easy to get and we were in a big hurry to get this thing up and operational. A meter would have taken up too much room as well. The battery drain was much less than we could have hoped for." Keith answered

Off in the distance,a cloud of dust was heading their way. It was Amethyst. " I found it. it was about two km away and it did this" Holding up the rod,it had went half way through a good sized rock,meaning when it hit, it had momentum to spare. Range was great - so far two klicks at 1/4 power. Keith wrote the figures down.

" OK Test #2 same sized rod 1/2 power" Keith inserted ear protectors and passed several sets around. "You will want to use these so you won't go deaf" "Not a bad idea. That first shot hurt my hearing" said Garnet " I still hear some of that roar"

Peridot aimed the rail gun, again dead level and pressed the trigger button. A roar that would have shamed doomsday rang out,loud even through the ear plugs. Amethyst sped off,not needing to be told to do so.

"WOW! and only 1/2 power. Sheesh!" Peridot said. "Power level?" "6 lights left - getting to the point of diminishing returns already. That last shot consumed 30% of the battery power and the batteries are getting warm"

" I don't think we have to test this at full power. If we did, that projectile could go into orbit,if it didn't vaporize first. That should be plenty of oomph to stop anything. You did one hell of a job,Peri. Congratulations It is a success" Keith said with more than a little pride in his voice." Please hook up the external battery to recharge the pack"
Peridot, with a big smile on her face, connected the jumper cables to the car battery and to the two bolts sticking out the rear of their weapon used for charging."Judging what what the power lights are reading,it will be back to full power in about two minutes."

"That is a hell of a fast charging rate for old salvaged batteries. Wouldn't that damage them? " Keith asked puzzled. "Normally yes, but if and when this is needed,you really can't wait for the batteries to charge. Besides,I have enough to rebuild the battery pack ten times over. I'll put together a couple more to have on hand" said Peridot,satisfaction clearly sounding in her voice.

Amethyst returned but empty handed " I couldn't find that rod, but I know where it went to" A puzzled looked crossed everyone's face " I found a hole where it went into the cliff face,five klicks away. How far back it went, I don't know,but that is more than twice the range of the first shot and it was still three feet off the ground." Keith rapidly wrote those figures down and did a couple of fast calculations. "'That 2nd shot I estimate was traveling at over 15000 feet per second. Less than two seconds after firing,the rod had embedded itself into solid rock"

"Think that could handle your monsters, Garnet?" Nothing could stop that." said Keith. " I think it should do nicely. I hate going to extremes, but this is necessary" Garnet said with some authority in her voice. "You two have done an excellent job" "Naw,I gave Peri the concept,She was the builder,making my idea real. I just hope this thing only needs to be used as few times as possible. It should be kept only for dire emergencies."
" A diamond attack? That would qualify and this would utterly destroy them." Pearl said. "Yea,but the taking of life,either Gem or human,should not be considered lightly. I've become something of a pacifist in my later years. I'd wind up like Albert Einstein,agonizing that some of my work made horrible weapons possible. That made him reject life saving surgery I wouldn't want that on my conscious." Keith said softly." I have seen first hand the horrors of war,as you both have, Garnet and Pearl. You know the cost" Pearl & Garnet nodded in agreement. Words were not necessary

"100% Power This recharges rapidly." Peridot said. "Peri, turn off the power and unhook everything. We are done here. Let's go home"

Chapter 12 – Monsters Appear

Walking along side Peridot, Keith spoke softly "I hope I didn't sound like a frigging drill Sargent back there,barking out orders." "No" replied Peridot "You didn't. You just told us what had to be done and we done it. Nothing for you to worry about. Are you always this way?" "Pretty much anymore" Keith said. "My ex wife told me before she took off that I had the tendency to be bossy. And she was right. I've had to watch myself for that."

They walked along,arriving at the warp pad about half an hour later. Winded,Keith looked around. Smiles abounded among the Gems and Peridot was happily chatting with Garnet. Good,thought Keith. She has reason to be proud of herself. That rail gun had exceeded every expectation he had. Pearl & Amethyst had loaded the gun and rest of the equipment onto the warp pad. "We are going to surprise Steven and Connie. They won't be expecting us back so soon."

Keith remember a song lyric from the old Pink Floyd – The Wall album. " Pink Who?" Peridot queried. Keith realized that he had spoken out loud enough for her to hear him. "Pink Floyd. A rock & roll band from my world. Did one of the best albums of all time,The Wall. There was even a movie made from it - mixed live action and animation. Great to listen to when you are by yourself" Keith said, answering Peridot's question. He loved that about the small green alien. She was always trying to find out more information about things.

Stepping onto the warp pad,Peridot & Keith turned around and Garnet activated the transportation device. Almost instantly,they were standing on the pad at the base of the temple. Keith view the scene. There was Connie,with Steven strumming his ukulele. Gulls screech overhead. Don't dive bomb me,birds Keith thought chuckling to himself. Another old song came to mind. One he had heard long ago,on the Doctor Demento show. Peridot had this amused look on her face. "They sing about bird droppings?" Keith had done it again,singing out loud when he hadn't meant to. " yes they do,Peri. I had a huge collection of the broadcast vinyl LP records and Compact Discs, with the cue sheets. That radio show was known for weird and strange music. No subject was safe from being made fun of there. And most of the time,it was regular people,not professional singers,that wrote and sang those odd songs. It was a two hour laugh riot a week."

"I'll let you in on a small secret Peridot. The Gems do exist in my world, but as characters in a children's cartoon series,One I had gotten hooked on it like the Camp Pining Hearts you speak of so much. I liked the story line." Keith said to Peridot. " You folks look pretty close to what the animated characters did and that is why I didn't panic when I first showed up. I half knew who you all were."

"Surprising" Peridot said." A cartoon. Not real" She looked downcast for a second." Don't worry, Peri,I probably do not have a counterpart here. If I did,he's more than likely long dead. I wonder what Neil DeGrasse Tyson would say if he knew that the Many Worlds Multiverse theory that the physicists talk about all the time was for sure a reality. "Keith said." and who would believe me if I told anyone? They would lock me away as a mad man in the Psych ward and throw away the key. Not that sometimes I need to be there anyway.

"Why? What is wrong? " a worried voiced Peridot asked.

" Something I hope to whatever god or gods may be that you do not ever have to see happen. I have at times a vicious temper,given to almost a berserker rage if and when I get really mad. It first came out in my first experience of combat. When it happens,I am clearly insane and am way past the point of caring about anything. Later,I was called Lieutenant Death by the enemy and this gawd awful legend grew up around my berserk alter ego. Some of the surviving enemy still tell tales about it. Some have tried to hunt me down, but so far most have failed to find me. The few that did found out the hard way that you don't come after a hillbilly man on his home turf. They never will find them. You'd be shocked on how fast penned up hungry wild hogs can get rid of a tied up & gagged human. Takes less than 10 minutes and there is virtually nothing left. On some night raids,I used to dress as a mythical figure, The Grim Reaper, a human representation of Death itself. Something you would see in some cheesy low grade horror movie. It terrified the ones we fought against. It took years of therapy for me to accept that I could be like that. It hasn't happen since I left the military but it's there , just below the surface. I am really afraid of it erupting again. If it does,people get hurt,people will die. That's why I opened up to you when you mention your friend Lapis and the way she acted. I have seen this in myself and believe me, it is ugly. I don't know why I am telling you this now. Maybe in the back of what passes for my mind, I sense that you need to know this. Maybe I needed to get it off my chest,after being bottled up over half a lifetime.I truly don't know why. But I feel that I need to be honest,to tell you everything. Just so you could know. It would be OK if you never spoke to me again after finding this out. It has happened before,that is why I live alone. Fear of what could happen. I overthink about it a lot. and it haunts me like a vengeful ghost. I'm sorry if this frightens you.." said Keith,with tears filling his eyes.

" I could never be frightened by you" whispered Peridot. " I too was an uncaring clod until I met Steven & the Gems. We were instructed never to have any feelings,as you humans call your emotions. Feel nothing and just do your job. That is what we were always told. After being on this world, I've learned about some emotions. I have come to accept this world, adopting it as my home since I can never go back to Homeworld. I care about those around me,even Amethyst and her constant teasing. I have seen nothing but kindness out of you . You have treated me as an equal, never putting me down,calling yourself a nerd like Amethyst calls me just to make me feel at ease. You have never said anything about me being smaller than the rest. You never said anything when you awoke and finding me asleep on the couch with my arm around you. I was embarrassed but you just smiled and said nothing. All I have ever seen is your smile, heard nothing but your kind and tender words toward me. It seems that you do not evaluate people by their outer appearance. I have also had what you humans call dreams, all about you. Very pleasant and strange at the same time. I almost hate to wake up when those occur. I do not want them to end. I have felt more at ease with you than I have with anyone else,even Lapis. Lapis was so distant at times but you seem to explain, in your own self depreciating way, why she was like that. You have opened my eyes and allowed me to understand something I could not figure out, a human emotion that you have awaken and it is very strong with me. You humans have a word - love. I do not fully understand it but I just feel it. Love. That is what I feel for you right now." Peridot looked into the old man's face, their eyes locking. She too was crying.

"Confession time, you two?" Garnet said while removing her reflective glasses and winking one of her three eyes. Garnet had heard most of what was said and was not really surprised. It was obvious to anyone that Peridot and the man from another Earth had grown very close. " Don't you two think it is about time to start putting your toys away and join the rest of us down by the water. Come on both of you have had a full day and it is time you relaxed. Join us"

" OK OK Garnet. We can take a hint." Peridot said back. Turning around, Peridot suddenly spoke,in a fear tinged voice " What is that in the water ? ". About twenty feet from the beach,something rose up out of the water. Something big." GARNET ! LOOK AT THAT!" Peridot screamed,pointing to the huge whatever it was. Keith snapped his head around,seeing the monstrosity for the first time. " What in the name of Old Billy Hell is that thing,Peri?" Garnet,too, had seen the figure and the others following behind it.

"PEARL! AMETHYST! GET STEVEN AND CONNIE AWAY FROM THERE!" Garnet yelled in a voice that would have awakened the dead "GET THEM TO SAFETY! IT'S THOSE CORRUPTED GEMS"

Chapter 13 – Grief and a Showdown

Pearl snatched up Steven and ran inland as fast as she could. Amethyst grabbed Connie, Starting to run but she tripped over a piece of driftwood. Down both of them went. Peridot ran toward Connie & Amethyst,helped both get to their feet and sending them to safety. Keith grabbed the heavy rail gun,flipping on the power and loaded a welding rod into their strange machine. Peridot ran back toward the other gems when a claw from the lead monster lashed out. Peridot hit the beach,her body sliced in two. A small explosion and a cloud when her body poofed,her gem landing on the sand. Keith saw this and felt horror at the sight. "YOU MURDERING BASTARD" he yelled as he raised the gun. Looking at the power setting He realized it was still set at 1/2 power. He twisted the power adjustment,ramping the gun past the danger mark. Keith's vision narrowed,tinged red on the edges and his perception of time changed,as though everything else had gone into super slow motion. "It's happening again" Keith thought "The madness. So be it"

His back was to the temple, so he couldn't run. 3 feet in front of him was Peridot's gem,nested in the sand. A dozen feet beyond was the first of the corrupted tougher than hell gems. He could only see one,but knew the rest were in single file behind the lead monster. Raising the gun and sighting through what little space the coils had, he aimed. An another red light came on. The overload indicator, blinking rapidly. Careful old boy - you get only one shot. Make it count. The smell of burning electrical wire wafted up, overload warning now a constant bright red and Keith knew that either he had to fire or the gun was going to burn out and the batteries were going to explode in flames. He pressed the trigger.

A sound that would have rivaled Hell itself cracking open rang out. A white hot streak left the rail gun,striking the first monster and continuing on through the rest. Silence. Pain. The smell of burning flesh. The gun had indeed burned up from the overload,becoming red hot. Keith dropped it and the shock of the burns and his eardrums rupturing hit him. The monsters forms poofed in total silence,their gems dropping to the ground. He had gotten them all. Staggering forward,he dropped to his knees,blackness now beginning to intrude on his eyesight. He reach for the green gem ,picked it up,and viewing it in his charred hand. Looks intact. Blackness continued to close in. He heard nothing. 'You're done old boy. Finished. At least you went out fighting." The thought raced through his addled mind. His eyesight faded out. Still holding the green gem,he fell forward onto his face.

Steven had summoned his shield and it protected Connie,The Gems and himself. It had also deflected the shock wave,redirecting it away from the town of Beach City,although the sound of some breaking glass could be heard off in the distance. " Everyone alright?" Garnet asked. 'Yes" said Steven. "My ears are still ringing,though. I'm fine" Connie quipped. "I'm good Garnet." answered Amethyst. Pearl said "Is he dead? He dropped so fast after he fired." "We will soon find out but I sure hope he is still with us." Garnet said. "Connie,call your mother. He needs a human doctor and fast".

All of them walked down to where the old man lay on the beach. In his right hand,which had the skin burned off,was Peridot's gem. Blood leaked from both of his ears. Not daring to move him,Garnet looked toward town and saw Connie's mother running as fast as she could toward them. She had brought her medical bag as well.. Doctor Mashewan grabbed her daughter hugging her tightly. "Are you alright?" "I'm fine Mom,but Keith is hurt – bad. Please do what you can for him. He saved us all"

Dr. Mashewan kneeled to where he lay. Seeing the blood still leaking out, She asked what happened. "He fired his rail gun and destroyed the monster gems,but he caught the full force of the shock wave. Plus his hands got burned when the gun overloaded." Pearl quietly said to the doctor. Rolling the big man over,she checked for a pulse." He's alive but just barely. Why he is alive,I don't know. He has taken quite a beating. He has four broken ribs on the right side. third degree burns on both hands. Can we get him off the beach and somewhere more suitable?"
"Yes we can" said Garnet. Gently picking up the old man, She walked toward the house,hurrying her pace. Amethyst asked" What about the rail gun?" "Leave it for now,Amethyst. It's junk now. We have more important things to worry about. We can get it later" Pearl spoke sternly.

Inside their home, Garnet had lay Keith onto the couch,his right hand still gripping the green gem. Doctor Mashewan was looking inside one of his ears and she did not like what she saw." He'll never be able to hear anything again. His ear drums are completely gone. His breathing has improved some, he should make it although he should be in the ICU . He is still very weak. What kept him alive in the first place, I've have absolutely no clue. He must be one tough old man. But healing is another matter. He is older and older people heal slower. Recovery depends on a patient's state of mind a lot of the time and I really don't know enough to speculate on how he will take losing his hearing. The burns will heal but scarring is a certainty. He might regain the use of his hands but it will take a lot of therapy and maybe surgery." Dr. Mashewan began to clean & dress the wounds.

" Garnet, I can heal him" Steven whispered into Garnet's ear. "Yes you can, Steven but wait until Dr. Mashewan leaves. She does not know you can heal people and I wouldn't want her to be upset." "OK. I understand" Steven whispered back. Garnet thought that Steven was showing some reluctance on revealing his powers to some people. No use of making Connie's mom any more nervous than she already is.

"Garnet, Pearl, I have treated the burns and his ears. He may have suffered a concussion as well,so keep an eye on him. Let me know the instant anything gets any worse or he wakes up. Right now, he is too weak to move. I want him in my office tomorrow morning if he wakes up. Please let me know if he doesn't. I'll make sure I am in there early." Dr. Mashewan said. With that,she closed her medical kit and turned to Connie. "Ready to go home?" "Can I stay here,Mom? Keith was my friend too and he is going to need all the help he can get." "Well, OK but only if Garnet & Pearl says you can."

"She'll be fine, Doctor Mashewan. Don't worry. We will take good care of her. She can be a big help" Pearl said. Garnet added " Yes she can. Your daughter is very smart and her helping us care for him can do nothing but help him recover."

After Doctor Mashewan left,Garnet looked at the man. His face was bruising and he still had a death grip on Peridot's gem. Even the doctor could not pry it loose from him." Humm" though Garnet. Peridot must be precious to him,since even unconscious,he won't turn loose of her. It must have been his last thought before he passed out. Such a strange and caring human.

"Steven,please come here" Garnet said. Steven and Connie put down the video game controllers, though they was not playing, and walked over." Can you try to heal him? If he was awake, he would be in severe pain and we would not want that. It must have been horrible, the pain he felt before he passed out. He has hurt enough." " I can try, Garnet". Licking his hand,Steven laid his open hand on the old man's head. A slight tingling noise was heard. His head,which was scraped bad from the fall,was clearing. His skin had been restored. Taking a small flashlight,Garnet remove the cotton from an ear and looked inside. His ear drum was back and intact. Removing the bandages from his hand,she could see that the skin had grew back. She undressed his right hand. Completely healed,his hand began to relax,allowing Garnet to remove Peridot's gem and placing it on the coffee table. Connie found a small pillow and placed the gem onto it.

"He should wake up soon, if everything is healed. Thank You Steven" Garnet spoke softly to the boy. He truly is Rose's son. "You're welcome,Garnet,Glad I could help"

Chapter 14 – Awake Again

Waking up after a severe trauma or from surgery is strange. Scary. Waking up comes in stages. You are not fully awake yet you are not sleeping either. You exist in a weird twilight zone between life & death. You are confused. Your mind doesn't comprehend everything properly. Your thoughts are disconnected and jumbled. You have no idea about the passage of time. Especially when you are older.

Sounds. Someone talking but can't understand it. It was so quiet before. Hands not hurting. Right hand - where is Peridot? Her gem is gone. Panic flooding in. I've got to get up and find her but I can't seem to move. Try to open your eyes. Lights and shadows. Figures out of focus. More sounds. Sounds like talking but closer. Smells. Fresh coffee brewing? A face - looks like Garnet – she has her glasses off and it looks like she is crying. At least I can see. Lift your arm. Turn your hand around. No burns What is going on? Where am I? This isn't the beach. I must have blacked out. Try to speak. "Garnet?"

" He's awake! Pearl,Amethyst,Connie Steven – He's awake" Garnet practically shouted, relief clearly sounding in her voice

Awareness flooding back in. Sit up. Got to sit up. Can't lay here like a knot on a log. Get up, you old hillbilly. Do it because you must. GET UP! GET YOUR ASS UP! GET YOUR SORRY ASS UP!

Pushing down onto the couch, he slowly raised himself up into a sitting position, Hands grasping his arms and helping him up. Why do I feel so weak? He shook his head, trying to shake out the cobwebs. "Keith,how do you feel? Are you hurting"

Suddenly,he was fully awake. Back to what passes for normal. "I am not experiencing any pain at all, which is odd. Normally something hurts,especially when you are my age. I feel like I have been beaten to death by an expert. How did I get here? Last I remember,I was on the beach. Where is the gem? Peri's Gem?"

"Whoa,slow down, dude. You are one tough old guy. Take it easy. "Amethyst said,trying hard not to make it sound like her normal joking.

"Her gem is sitting right in front of you. We almost lost you. What happened? What did you do?" Garnet asked

"We were counting on taking on those monsters one at a time, not all six at once. Peri did not know I had added the overload option. Almost 150% of the safe full power setting. That was why I added that extra Perfboard before we tested the prototype rail gun. It would completely drain the batteries to the point that those 18650 batteries would rupture and catch fire. It takes less than 10 seconds to start. I took a risk. I ran it up to overload to insure we stopped all of them. I waited to the last instant to get everything, every iota of power that contraption could deliver. You have to be ready for anything when it comes to combat." Keith muttered. His mouth still didn't want to work right.

"You did at that. Poofed all six with one shot, but you almost killed yourself doing that"Pearl said

" I didn't care. My battle madness came back,stronger than ever, after over 30 years. To me every thing else was in very slow motion. They hurt Peridot. I wanted them DEAD" Keith snapped back, then apologized for his harsh tone of voice.!

"Yea, dude. You sure know how to kick ass but good" beamed Amethyst

" I'm the original 1 legged ass kicker. 8 years in the Vietnam Hell, long haul trucker, being a Deputy sheriff, underground coal miner, security. I've had to kick major league ass all my life, not that I have enjoyed it. I haven't. We hillbillies from Eastern Kentucky have the reputation of being some of the most vicious fighters on Earth. Even some drill sargents turn pale when they find out a new recruit is from there. There are 2 mountain families that had a feud with each other that took the US Army to stop. The McCoys & The Hatfields. Ironically I am descended from both." Keith said,his voice getting stronger.

"Connie call your mother. Tell her he is awake and not to worry any. He says he is not hurting at all. We'll have him down in the morning." Pearl said

"Yes Ma'am. I'll do that right now" Connie said,relief filling her voice.

"Keith, you were nearly dead. The skin on both hands had burned off, ears bleeding and your eardrums completely destroyed. You had 4 broken ribs from where you braced the rail gun against your right side. I'm guessing the kickback from the rail gun did that. Steven healed you" Garnet spoke softly, concern flooding her voice on how he would take this new information.

"How? He is just a teen boy"

"We did not tell you before, but Steven is only half human. His mother was Rose Quartz. Her portrait is over the door. Steven has her gem and a lot of her powers. He has her power to heal."

" Not that it makes any difference, but now you tell me. I knew you Gems were different, but I never suspected just how different" Keith said,a touch of nervousness creeping into his voice.

"We didn't know how you would react when you first arrived. We had to be careful. I apologize for doubting you" said Garnet, embarrassment showing up in her voice.

" Don't be embarrassed. That was the sensible thing to do. Can't blame you at all.. What did you do with the monsters? I had never seen anything like those things in my life and I am not exactly a youngun."

"Your weapon destroyed their physical bodies and they retreated into their gems. We bubbled them, where they will stay in stasis until we find a way to heal the corruption. They are not hurting and they can't hurt anyone."

"There is so much I still don't understand about you, even taking in account the time I have been here"

"Your appearance here, although accidental, has been a blessing in disguise. There wasn't any way we could have stopped them without you"

"Like I said at the testing range, Thank Peridot. She build the contraption, scaling it up from a toy I had once made. I'm surprised that none of you had heard of kinetic energy weapons before. The US Navy had installed such devices,much larger than that,onto some battleships years ago.

Garnet laughed "Not the Navy of this planet, although I don't really keep up with the humans here day to day."

"Keith, you need to get some rest and your leg needs to charge. We'll talk later" Pearl said. She wanted to hug this old man, but she did not know how he would react to it. He had been through so much today, thought Pearl. "Pearl,I'll be alright. I was wounded in Vietnam at the Fall of Saigon and spent over a year recovering. There is 2 enemy bullets near my spine that could not be removed. Removing them would have paralyzed or killed me. They're still there and they hurt like hell at times. I no longer feel the pain from them. I recognized that look on your face. Yes, I'll take that hug you want to give me. I told y'all that I can read people pretty damned good. A hug just might be wanted." Pearl sat down and hugged Keith. He had become a very important part of her life and she had started to love this old human man. He hugged her back as well. She didn't let go for a long time. "Thank You,Pearl. I needed that" Keith said wearily. He was so tired.

About 4 hours later, all was quiet. Keith had woke up,screaming in horror, having relived the battle with the monsters in his dreams. He couldn't get the vision of Peridot's death out of his mind. It kept repeating again and again. He began to cry. Grief had overwhelmed him

Garnet heard the sobbing and came out to find out what was wrong. The kids were sleeping, Connie on Steven's bed and Steven using his sleeping bag. In the kitchen,the coffee pot was still plugged in,indicator showing the coffee was ready. The crying came from the couch. She walked over.

"What's wrong? I heard you. Why are you crying?"

"Garnet, I did fall asleep, but the scene of Peridot getting killed played over and over in my dreams. I used to have recurring nightmares like this when I came home from Vietnam. I'd wake up screaming. It took decades for those to quit. I saw Peri die right in front of me. I got overwhelmed again.

"Keith, you are under a false impression. Peridot is not dead. She just retreated into her gem until she can regenerate her body again. I should have explained."

"She's not dead? I saw her die."

"No you didn't. When she poofed, her body was damaged so she retreated into her gem to repair the damage and then she will regenerate,including any improvements to her form. She will be back and soon"

The sadness abated in the old man. He looked at the green gem in front of him and asked "Can she hear me the way she is right now?"

"I really don't know, but it couldn't hurt anything. Maybe she can and she might come out a little quicker if she knows you are out there. Oh there is something else I need to show you"

"What?"

Garnet began to glow, her form dissolving into two smaller forms. A red one and a blue one.

"Hello" said the red being. "I am Ruby"

"And I am Sapphire. Together we make up the fusion you know as Garnet"

"I had no clue."

" Garnet is the expression of love Ruby and myself have for each other. We have been together for close to 6000 years. Together we are happy, a happiness that allow us to remain fused for as long as we want. Fusions such as us are banned on Homeworld,Here We can live as Garnet"

"Wow. Blow my mind, why don't you?"

Sapphire raised her hair, her 1 big eye showing. "I have future vision. I can see possible futures."

"I kinda guessed. Garnet seemed to know what was coming up most of the like precognition."

"Yes, Keith."

Ruby spoke up. "we are so glad that you came here.

'Thanks, Ruby. I am glad to have met you, Sapphire and Garnet.. Garnet has become a very close friend."

Both Ruby and Sapphire took his hands. "We know. We both feel the same about you."

Releasing his hands, Ruby and Sapphire held each other and danced. They began to glow. Garnet reappeared, smiling

She held up her hands palms facing out. "You can see I have 2 gems, one is Ruby and the other is Sapphire. Together I - we are Garnet "

" Absolutely amazing. Nothing like you exists where I come from. Now I wish they did"

" in a way, be glad they don't We are rebels, we fought a 1000 year war for our freedom. Both Ruby & Sapphire were due to be shattered, gems destroyed because each had made just 1 mistake. In my case,I fought for the freedom to exist"

"That's horrible. Who is so cold hearted that they would do that?"

"The Diamonds. They rule with an iron fist."

"Garnet, Thanks for telling me more about what gems are. I can sleep much easier now that I know that Peri didn't die, I can maybe sleep without the nightmares. Bless you. You have been a comfort to this old codger."

"You ought to rest some more. You have to see Doctor Mashewan in the morning and she is not going to believe what she finds. She is Connie's mother and she treated your wounds before Steven healed you"

"Thanks a lot, Garnet. Good night"

"Good night Keith – Pleasant dreams"

"Thanks to you, they will be now"

Chapter 15 – How to Shock a Doctor

Morning came. Garnet came out, got 2 mugs of coffee and walked over to the couch. Setting one down on the coffee table,she sat down,looking at Keith with a kindly look on her face. Keith was still asleep, his face looking like he was at peace. Good,she thought. He was so distraught last night,believing Peridot was dead. I hope his dreams were peaceful. This human was like no other human I had ever met,even Greg. He doesn't put on an act,trying to be someone he wasn't. His personality felt genuine and he wasn't afraid of Gems., even after he had explained the xenophobia and race hatred that he said that was so rampant in his world,spreading like a cancer. He even told me that the Gems were only animated cartoons in his reality. He said he had told Peridot about that. I borrowed Steven's phone and did a search. He did have a counterpart,but that Keith had died in a human war long ago. The Many Worlds theory he had called it,the idea that different realities existed and every possible world existed independently in its own universe. A Multiverse. For an older human,he remained aware and he sought knowledge,not personal power nor the human item called money. So complex a mind yet so simple. I wish he could remain but I need to get him back to his home. I even wish we could find a way to put his mind into a gem,so he could live on after his human body gives out. Maybe I could find a way to visit him in his world. So many possibilities.

Keith stirred and his eyes opened. Seeing Garnet, he smiled and eyeing the coffee,he reached for the cup.

"Pardon the expression, but I slept like a dead man. A dead man who had went to paradise. You haven't been there all night, have you?" Keith asked.

"No, I just came out and knowing your fondness for coffee, I brought you a cup. Did you sleep well? "Garnet softly responded

"Garnet, I found these under my shirt last night,before I went back to sleep . Here." Keith dropped two metallic objects into her hand. "Steven's healing was even more complete than either of us thought. Those are two A K- 47 Cong bullets that came out of my back. They have been there for over 40 years. This explains why my back quit hurting. Consider them mementos. " Garnet looked at the 2 slugs in amazement. "And yes I did dream, but it was pleasant. Very pleasant." the old man said.

"Feel like describing it? I'd be interested" Garnet said, amusement in her soft voice

"Garnet, you've become a close,trusted and dear friend to me. As you may have guessed, it was about Peri but I'd be kinda embarrassed to describe it. It was that type of a dream. When she reforms, I'll probably be so happy that I would kiss her so hard it would scare her half to death" Keith said, with a cockeyed smile on his face.

"I guessed right. Keith,before Steven healed you , when Connie's mother was examining you and before she bandaged your hands, you have what the humans call a death grip on Peridot's gem. Try as she might you would not turn loose of it. The harder she tried,the stronger your grip got. I know Peridot is special to you. I won't ask further then"Garnet had a good idea of what that type of a dream' was. Ruby and Sapphire did that quite often when she decided to sleep, not that she needed to. It must have been VERY pleasant,judging from the odd smile on his face.

Sipping the coffee, Keith spoke" You have good coffee here. I am addicted to it. I can't function most mornings unless I can down a cup or 2. Or a pot full. Before my father died,I got him a joke coffee cup known as the nervous cup of coffee. It would vibrate when you picked it up off the saucer. Dad loved it. Believe it or not,I use a washed out glass jelly jar, that looks like a pint mason canning jar with a handle on it,as my favorite coffee cup. I live frugally, wasting as little as possible. I didn't see any sense in throwing a perfectly good glass away. Besides,it holds twice what a regular coffee cup holds"

Garnet laughed "I started drinking this not long before you showed up and I can't quit. It has become something I do every day although I have no need to eat or drink."

"To us java hounds then. A toast." Keith said, raising the mug up. "May your pot never run out" Keith took a drink.

" To Java Hounds, then" Garnet knew what a toast was. She drank from her mug..

"We have to leave to take you to town. Dr. Mashewan is expecting you in about an hour or so. But how much will it shock her to see you fully healed. She will not understand" said Garnet,concern in her voice.

" It might shock her some, but just explain about Steven's nature. I'm sure she will understand, being a doctor and all. I worked in a hospital once. Most doctors do not give into panic,not in my experience anyway" Keith said

" Doctor Mashewan, Connie and Steven had a run in with forced fusion gem monsters once at the hospital. She freaked out some but handle it fairly well" Garnet said "She knows that Steven is not fully human,but she doesn't know about his healing powers"

"If she handled that, then she can handle this just fine. Just plan on what to say. On my Earth, there is an organization known as the Boy Scouts. I was one as a child in Hazard. Their motto was " Be Prepared" Not a bad idea. I have lived by that and that small piece of advice has served me well over the years." Said Keith thoughtfully.

"Be Prepared indeed. I'll remember that. said Garnet, nodding in agreement.

Sound came from the top of the stairs where Steven's bed was. Connie was awake and Steven was stirring. Connie gathered some things and came down the stairs. " Good morning Garnet, you too Keith. I have to go change. I'll be right back." Connie said,as she swiftly walked to the bathroom.

"Sweet girl" Keith said 'Reminds me of my daughters when they were that age, before they grew up and left." Sadness started to make its way onto his face.

"What is wrong?" Garnet asked.

"Oh, nothing. Memories are all I have left of my younguns. Both grew up and moved off. I hadn't heard from them in years. I keep wondering what went wrong, why no contact. Of course I am viewing this from an old man's perspective. They have their own lives to live and they don't need to be tied down to a crippled old coot. "Keith said. "Besides,I have proven that I can take care of myself, Prosthetic leg and all the rest"

" I have wondered about that. Why didn't your right leg grow back when Steven healed you" Garnet said, a bit puzzled.

" I have no idea but my guess is that my stump was long healed anyway. In my world, I was playing with something called Kirillian photography,which seems to capture the energy field around all living things. When I first started,You could see where my full leg had been, the energy field persisting, but about 6 months before I came here, it had changed. Only my stump now showed up and the phantom pain I had experienced had ceased. Steven did, however,heal a skin rash that had developed on it where the leg grips my stump. It does feel a whole lot better. The leg that Peridot made is far lighter than the old one was. It allows me to walk normally,without a cane. I sometimes forget that I even have a prosthesis on. The old one sometimes felt like it was made of neutronium or something. It got tiring to wear it was so heavy" Keith said

Connie came out of the bathroom,wearing fresh clothes and walked over to the couch. "How are you feeling this morning? You were hurt so bad yesterday. Steven is amazing. He healed my eyes as well,years ago. Mom was concerned that you might not make it through the night . She is gonna be surprised this morning." Connie said in her musical sounding voice.

" I'm sure she will be. Garnet and I talked about that very subject this morning. As for how I feel, sweetie, I feel like going bear hunting using a switch. The bear won't stand a chance of a snowball in Hell.." Keith said

Laughter broke out." I've never heard that expression before. " Connie said, laughing between words.

" Me being from the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, such sayings are common. We hillbillies use humorous expressions to get our points across. City slickers view us as ignorant, inbred, half savages, but nothing is further from the truth." Keith said with a gentle tone

Steven came down the stairs, hands holding onto his clothes." Good morning guys. Going to change. Have to use the bathroom"

"Don't drown" Keith quipped. More laughter broke out. Connie was bent over, laughing hard,holding herself. Garnet was laughing too. She knew exactly what the old man had meant.

"You are in rare form this morning. Are you always this funny?" Garnet asked

"Not usually. Years ago, I developed what is known as the quick wit. I became a sarcastic comeback artist. I learnd early how to verbally burn and puncture the egos of people who were being smart asses and to take narcissistic self important idiots down a few dozen pegs in a hurry. It has become 2nd nature by now. I learnd when not to say anything as well. I often use humor to defuse a tense situation,especially when I worked at the hospital's Psych ward. It's much more desirable than having to physically restrain them or possibly beat the hell out of them if they get too combative. I've had a few that tried to kill me and the staff. My combat training came in handy then. Another skill you can mark up to just being older. I sometimes go as far as to say a little something off kilter to see if folks pay any attention. I even unintentionally burned Peridot like that when I first arrived here. She mentioned it to me later on. I'm real glad she didn't hold a grudge" said Keith

Steven came out. Walking to Connie, he asked Keith " How did you sleep last night?"

"I had a rough time early on, but Garnet talked to me some and I had a good sleep after." Again that odd smile crossed his face

" Keith had woke from what he described as a nightmare. He dreamed of Peridot being poofed, repeated it over and over and he really thought she had died. He was grieving over her. He did not know about how we gems regenerate when we get poofed. He also got to meet Ruby & Sapphire" Garnet said very softly.

Surprised, Steven said"You unfused?"

"Just for a minute, Steven. I wanted him to know what we are, what I am. After realizing that he did not know our true nature,I wanted him to know everything. He deserved that much"
"Garnet, please don't take this wrong,but Ruby & Sapphire were both beautiful in their own ways and I did somehow sense the love between those two. That was very nice to see." "Why Thank you ,Keith. As you may not know both are aware of everything when they are fused as me"

"Steven, You and Connie stay here until Pearl and Amethyst come out. Keith and I will go see Dr. Mashewan and get him checked out. We will be back soon"

"OK Garnet. Which controller do you want, Connie?"

Walking toward Beach City, Keith had mentioned liking this tourist town. " I live in the mountains,where the woods come down almost to your back door. One narrow paved road in front of the old mobile home I live in. The 20 year old blue Ford Ranger pickup truck that I bought last year parked in front. Marcy,my Chihuahua dog and constant companion who shares my home with me. Lovely in the summer,but can be rough in the winter. But a guy can get used to almost anything"

"Sounds wonderful."

"Not really. I've lived there since I was 12,but I still feel like an outsider. People are so standoffish. If you ain't a member of the local church,you are considered a pariah, someone not to be associated with. I have few friends, The few I have I have known for more than 20 years or have grown up with them or they are my surviving brothers-in-arms. My old commander is in the veterans home just outside Hazard and I visit him every chance I can.I'm old enough to see people I have known for decades starting to die off,knowing that one day,it will be my turn to go. Facing your own eventual mortality. I ceased to fear the thought of dying long ago. Truth be known,I should have died a hundred times over. I've been lucky."

"In your world, yes you have. Forgive me, but I looked you up last night online,looking for your counterpart here. Records show that you died in this world in a human war a long time ago.."

" I suspected as much and I can guess when and where. The Fall of Saigon. I was badly wounded then"

"Yes, that's right. Here, you did not survive your wounds."

"That's is the main difference between our respective universes. Here, I didn't make it and there, in my world, I did . My daughters do not exist here, having never been born. It's Schrodinger's Cat all over again."

"Schrodinger's Cat?"

"Yes. It is a thought experiment where you have a cat in a box. You do not know if the cat is alive or dead. In one world, you open the box and the cat is alive. In the other, the cat is dead. If you do not open the box the cat is both alive and dead. All 3 points of view are valid. The Many Worlds Theory. All possible outcomes that exist in universe after universe,all at the same time. Different timelines. It is much like Sapphire's future vision that you told me about. Seeing many different possibilities according to your actions and events. Each decision splits realities, An example. One where you say yes, another where you say no. In a third,you do not decide. Infinite realities. Confusing for most folks. I understand it somewhat"

Keith continued " If it wasn't for Marcy, I wouldn't try to return. But I won't abandon my baby girl. She is a very small dog, but I have had her with me since the minute she was born. I am not willing to give her up. Besides,here I am a living ghost. Legally I would have no status of any kind,not with the human governments. To them,I would not exist. And I am too old to start my life over from scratch."

Garnet spoke in a muted tone "You could always stay with us. We would be happy to take you in."

"No, I wouldn't impose myself on you like that. I am an old man. I do not have that many years left before it becomes my time to die. Although if I could be sure Marcy was cared for, I would seriously consider the offer' Keith said, his voice sounding like it was mixed with gravel.

"And there is the matter of Peridot. She loves you, you know. She would be devastated when you leave." Garnet mumbled in a very low tone.

"I know, I probably knew for a long time. I have really agonized over that as well. She was walloped once when her friend Lapis left. I hate the thought of doing her like that again,but the trip would kill her. Shatter her gem into mono-atomic dust unless it was shielded by organic matter. Only organic Matter can pass through the dimensional barrier,at least the barrier I must cross. Pearl & Peridot taught me a hell of a lot about dimensional fields,so I can hazard a good guess. Me being the cause of her dying would for sure cause me to suicide out. I couldn't take it. You seen how I was when I thought she had been killed."

"I understand. You are a good man and deserve much happiness, but you won't let others suffer for your sake. Ah,here we are. The doctor's office" said Garnet,opening the door

" Garnet, remember what we talked about this morning about being prepared. She is not gonna expect me to walk in like nothing happened." Keith muttered. Garnet nodded a yes.

Entering the waiting room, Garnet & Keith went to the receptionist's window. The woman yelled toward the back,"They're here Doctor Mashewan"

" Have Garnet bring him back here."

Walking into the patient area, Keith sat on an exam table while Garnet seated herself in a chair, Dr. Mashewan entered, asking Garnet" "Does he know he has lost his hearing for good?"

"Ask him yourself Doctor. He can hear you just fine" Garnet replied. "There is no way. His ear drums were destroyed",Turning around, Dr. Mashewan looked at the old man, noticing that the bandages were gone. Grabbing one of his hands,she looked. Perfectly healthy skin.. She turned on the light on the ear scope and looked into his ear. A normal ear drum She felt along his right size,where just yesterday she had felt 4 broken ribs. His ribs felt normal. "HOW?" she gasped. "How is this even possible? He was dying when I first examined him on the beach." Her mouth dropped open in a look of utter shock.

Keith said quietly "There is a tale to tell about that. Garnet, if you please"

Dr. Mashewan turned to Garnet," Doctor,you know that Steven is only half human. What you didn't know that he inherited his mother's ability to heal. Connie not needing glasses anymore,remember? Steven used that ability on Keith after you left yesterday. Otherwise Keith would have been in extreme pain from his injuries and would more than likely haven't woke up yet, if he ever would have. We didn't want you to be shocked by this,as you would have been if we had done this in front of you at the house. and there is one more thing you should know. Keith is not from this world. He was brought here involuntarily from another universe when one of our warp pads shorted out, snatching him from another version of Earth that exists there. He is human. I hope that you won't stop Connie from seeing Steven,as those two are very close. Please try to understand."

Dr. Mashewan just stared for a moment, finally speaking in a voice that sounded like a squeak " This has to be a miracle,but who would believe me?" Swallowing and composing herself,,she continued in a stronger voice "That explains Connie's perfect eyesight. For that I am very grateful. Of course Connie can continue to see Steven. I doubt I could stop her anyway. You could have told me earlier."

Garnet spoke up. "Yes we should have but after the gem mutants you ran into at the hospital, we were afraid that you would 'Freak Out' which I think is the proper human term. Too many shocks too quickly. We gems are not human. We are not even organic. But we have been protecting humanity for nearly 6000 years and will continue to do so. Earth is our home as well as yours." Garnet removed her reflective glasses,showing her face fully,3 eyes included. " I myself am a fusion,a combination of 2 gems who care for each other very much. We exist as 1 being. Pearl is a former slave. Amethyst was made here on Earth. Please understand. We want only to live in peace among you humans."

Dr. Mashewan stared off for a moment, her lower lip quivering. Then she walked over to Garnet,flung her arms around her and hugged her tight. "Yes oh yes. You are very welcome here, and I will keep your secret. You have nothing to worry about,Garnet. and Keith,no more reason for you to be here. Hope to see you later"

Walking out of Dr. Mashewan's office,Keith gave a short quip" Well,that went a lot better than we had a right to expect"

Garnet shot back ' That is an understatement. Even Sapphire's future vision did not predict this possibility. It is the best thing that could have happened"

Chapter 16 – Peridot Reformed

A couple of days later after Steven had went to bed, Keith was sitting on the couch, giving a remembering of an old comedy routine he had heard years ago, The Utah Phillips story of the Moose Turd Pie. Everyone broke up laughing,even Pearl who was having trouble mastering the human art of cooking. "Pearl, the food in this world tastes so much better. It does not contain most of the artificial crap that is so prevalent in my world . If you have some salad dressing and self-rising flour, I'll teach you how to make the best cat head biscuits you have every tasted". Pearl gave a puzzled look at Keith and asked " Oh, you mean you have to put a cat in it?" Keith replied after he quit laughing " No Pearl. No cats involved. They are called that because they bake up so big & fluffy, about the size of a cat's head. I'll need a cast iron skillet to bake it in."Keith said then he related his first attempt to make home made biscuits for his daughters and how horribly wrong it went. A story he called "The Curse of the Biscuit".

"Me being an old country boy, I'll take a home made biscuit over a piece of store bought bread every time. Nothing beats biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Or supper for that matter" Keith said. He went into the kitchen,made a big batch and brought them in. Everyone tried one and they all loved the taste. Pearl was intrigued. "How did you learn to make these?"

"An old friend gave me the recipe a few years ago. I learned how because I had to. I had to fend for myself.. If I wanted a decent hot meal,I had to learn how to cook. The recipe was very simple - 2 cups flour,1 heaping tablespoon of salad dressing and stirring in hot water until the dough is a very thick paste. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and drop the dough in with your mixing spoon, forming each biscuit into a greased Cast iron skillet. I usually get 6 or seven per skillet. I usually use oil to grease the skillet." "This type of oil, Keith?" Pearl asked,holding up a quart of motor oil that had appeared out of her gem. Laughing hard,Keith said " No Pearl. Vegetable cooking oil. Put the skillet in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the top of the biscuits turn a light brown. Take them out and eat. It's that simple. Make that dough thinner to where it will pour, you have pancake batter. Once I got that through my thick skull, it came easy after that. We hillbillies have learned to make do with what we have. Comes from a couple hundred years of isolation and hard times."

"That sounds easy as it can be" Pearl said, getting a little excited." I'll make some in the morning"

Late that evening,Keith had noticed everyone else had went to their rooms. In the quiet,he picked up Peridot's gem,cradling it in his hands and he began to talk to it as if she could hear him. "Peri? Peri? You have to come back to me. Can you hear me Peri? I sure hope you can. I have to see you again Peri. Please come back you green munchkin. Come back to me please. Peri, I miss you something awful. Please come back." He repeated this several times,hoping against hope that this will work. Nothing. He gently place the gem back on its pillow and wiped his eyes. It was worth a try,he thought. Disappointed,he started to settle back when the green jewel began to glow. It got brighter and lifted itself off of the pillow. Drifting over toward him,it lifted higher. A humanoid form came into view,going through several different versions until it stopped on one. The triangle hair formed,her hands,feet and the rest of her. Color rushed into her face as she became solid. Lightly landing next to the couch,she finished her regeneration. Looking around,she seemed not to see anything until she locked her eyes on the old man sitting there. Recognition showing in her face,she flung herself at him. "I heard you. You're here. I hoped you were. I did hear you and I was glad to hear your voice, begging me to reform. I had to concentrate,building up the energy to reform, but I was scared that the monsters had hurt or killed you. I was scared to reform until I heard your voice. Letting me know that you were OK. What happened?"

" Thank the stars and whatever else is out there. You are the most beautiful sight I've seen in a few days..You would be a lovely sight to wake up to. Me,I can look in a bathroom mirror without my reflection barfing."

Crying tears of joy, Keith hugged her and related what happened after the monster poofed her. He did not tell her just how bad he was hurt, he didn't want her to worry. Hearing a sound,he looked toward the temple door and Garnet was standing there,having sensed Peridot's regeneration "PEARL AMETHYST PERIDOT'S BACK" she yelled. Steven woke up,running down the stairs saying "Peri's back" He ran over to her to hug her tight. Pearl and Amethyst came out and together with Garnet,went to see her. Laughs. cries and hugs were swapped all around. Everyone was glad to seen Peridot again. After a while,the excitement settled down and everyone started to drift off to where they were before Peridot reformed. A round of "Good Nights" was passed around and soon the house became quiet again.

Sitting in the moonlight,they both looked through the windows at the perfect night sky. Peridot snuggle up close to the human and whispered " I Love you" into his ear. He pulled her even closer,not willing to let her go. He even smacked her butt with his hand. "What did you do that for? That hurt" Peridot said. Keith,with a sly smile said "Sorry,want me to rub it?" Peridot suddenly realized why her butt got hit, not very hard at that, and she liked the idea. Keith,you sneaky devil. You want to feel me up and more. That's fine with me" she thought. "If you really want to " she said,giving a sly smile of her own. " I sure do,Peri." Finally Peri looked up and said" Keith,I have a couple of questions if you don't mind." "Peri I don't mind at all. I'll answer any question you want me to." " That's nice to know. Keith, Who is Old Billy Hell?" "Grand-pappy Hell's boy" was the answer she got. She snickered,getting a human joke for the 1st time. "And what is a munchkin?"

Chapter 17 – Home

For several weeks, you could not pry Peridot and Keith apart. They were both too happy seeing each other to care about much else. They even vanished for a couple of days,finally being found in the lighthouse. Garnet,Pearl and Amethyst told Peridot about just how bad Keith had been hurt when he fired the overloaded rail gun,which started Peridot to crying and giving Keith one of the most loving looks the other gems had ever seen on her face. "Why didn't you tell me,you clod?". Keith said it was not important,that his only concerns at the time was that her gem not be damaged. He also told her of the battle madness that he had experienced again. "It saved you,Thank the heavens. I didn't care if doing what I did killed me or not. As long as your gem was safe. I had thought the monster had killed you. That triggered the rage. I was wanting revenge. I wanted to kill everything that caused what I thought was your death. I told you it was ugly. That killer is back where it belongs. Submerged and dormant." Peridot grabbed Keith,kissed him on his lips,which brought a gasp from Pearl,who was seemingly shocked at Peridot's ungem like behavior. " Please don't ever do that again" Peridot pleaded. 'I hope I will never need to again" was the reply she got.

One morning,Pearl came around "Keith if you are going to go home,you had better do it fast. The field intensity between universes is increasing and soon there will be no way to get through it You have about an hour left"

A hour. Too little time to say his goodbyes, but it would have to do.

Peridot was heartbroken. She wanted to go with him. "Peri, it would kill you. I can't let you. It would be 2 suicides. Yours and mine. I couldn't stand to live knowing that you died trying to go home with me. I am going to be miserable enough as it is."

Pearl announced ,"Keith, it's ready. I have entered all the co-ordinates and all I have to do is start it. 15 minutes tops"

Keith stepped onto the warp pad when Peridot screamed." NO I want to go too!" Garnet grabbed Peridot, trying to restrain the grief stricken gem. Keith said "Gems, I hate to say goodbye. You have become so important to me,especially you, Peri. I do want to take you but it would mean your total destruction and I just can't face seeing you die. I hope you will understand.."

Pearl started the pad. Again, surrounded by a foggy white cylinder, Keith was expecting the wave of sickness to hit him again,but nothing. He was on his way.

Peridot broke away from Garnet, who could no longer hold her back, and flung herself at the pad. Hitting the foggy energy field with her head, she was flung backwards,landing flat on her back. She was crying, screaming "NO NO NO!"

Unseen by the Gems,a green object had gotten into the field. Glowing brightly it headed toward the man. Keith saw it and cupped both his hands around it,holding it tight. Whatever it was it was vibrating wildly,but the vibrations slowed down and quit within a few seconds when his hands surrounded it. It felt smooth but he dared not unclasp his hands. A few seconds later,he was back in his bedroom. Looking outside, snow was coming down hard. He looked at the bed. Marcy was laying there with just her little head sticking out from under the comforter. He looked at the clock on the wall 7:15 AM January 2. "What in the name of Hell is going on? Have I dreamed a lifetime standing here?" Looking down,he seen the sheered off lower portion of his old prosthetic leg laying there. Then he remembered something.. E=MC Squared. Time is relative. Einstein was right. The other universe had a different rate of the flow of time. Pearl's programming of the co-ordinates was more precise than she realized,not only dimensional space,but time as well. He had arrived just 13 minutes after he had left. 13 minutes here, 9 months in the world of the Gems. So it was real he thought. He felt a motion between his tightly clasped hands. Unfolding them,he seen a green jewel laying there – a peridot. The gem started to glow,levitating off of his hands going near the low ceiling of his room. Forming rapidly,a human like figure took shape and landed gently in front of him. Peridot! but somewhat different. Instead of the gem outfit,she was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of work pants,just like the ones he was wearing. The T-shirt clearly showed that the figure was female. Behind her, her butt was a bit bigger,but not too big. She opened her eyes and asked" Where am I?" "Peri, you are in my home in Kentucky." 'I MADE It!" She grabbed him and kissed him,knocking him down onto the bed, not turning him loose for many minutes.

Chapter 18 – Epilogue

"Peridot, that was stupid, you could have been killed"

Numbed, Peridot sat mumbling "I've lost him. I've lost him"

Garnet led her to the couch, sat her down and waited until she wanted to talk.

"I wanted to go,Dammit Garnet. I wanted to go. Now I have lost him forever."

" I know, Peridot. I am sorry but it would have meant him killing himself if he seen you get destroyed. He had told me that himself. That he couldn't take seeing you die again. This is for the best. Any ill effect of hitting that field?"

"Nothing serious. I feel like someone is touching places all over my body, especially my lips and I am seeing double images. One image of here and another image of a place I've never seen before but it seems so familiar" Peridot said

" Peridot, close your eyes. Tell me what you see"

"I see an old but comfortable bed with an old man sitting on the side,connecting a charger to his – right - leg Garnet It's Keith! I see my Keith. Garnet, He made it. He's home. and I see a mirror next to him on a dresser, In the mirror is - a - Reflection - of - Me!. it's me! I see myself in his mirror But how? And why can I see this? Now it's fading - it's gone"

Pearl spoke up after checking some instrument. "Apparently, when you hit the field,your gem was duplicated exactly. It should have been shattered but somehow,Keith protected it with his body by closing his hands around the gem. We did not like to ever get your gem out of his right hand after he fired that weapon you two built. Those hands were more than big enough to surround your gem if he used both hands That is the only explanation I can think of"

" Peridot, we all miss him and I wished he didn't go myself. Pearl, Amethyst and Steven all feel the same way. He became a part of us and we will never forget him. But at least we know he is safe at his home. He probably doesn't know that his Peridot is a duplicate, not that it matters much. Keith told me once a quote from a famous science fiction television show in his world. The character that said it was named Spock." " A difference that makes no difference is no difference" Garnet said with a sympathetic voice

A smile broke out on Peridot's face " He made it. Damn the Diamonds, he had made it. And in a way,I did too"

She did not tell Garnet about her backup plan if she wouldn't be allowed to go. A way to insure that one way or another that Keith wouldn't have to be alone anymore. The ever so slight changing of the warp pad programming to produce a divergence field when it initiated trans-dimensional transfer. It had only a slim chance of working but it had succeeded much better than she had hoped. None of the other Gems had any clue that if she concentrated, she could still feel herself being touched, very often all over her body and she could see what her duplicate sees, feel what she feels, hear what she hears. It would be like she had two bodies. That she could be with him anytime she wanted. "Quantum entanglement can be a good thing" she thought, especially for her. And Peridot was happy.

Back in Kentucky,the other Peridot felt the original's presence at times and she was happy with that. She knew that she herself was an echo of the other, as if it had been planned, a Plan B and did not mind. She had learned how to live as a human female,even changing her appearance in ways that pleased Keith, although he had never asked her to.. And he showed his appreciation of those changes every day. Even the little dog had accepted her. Keith no longer held back his love for her, as he had when he was around the other gems before the battle on the beach,he had no reason to anymore. He opened up himself to her completely. She felt happy with her new life here in this strange world. And she had the one thing she wanted more than anything in any universe sitting beside her, reaching for her, pulling her to him, kissing her.

This is the end of Trans-dimensional Hillbilly, Part 1 of the 2 part combined story "The Gems and the Hillbilly". This is covered by the Creative Commons License as of October 30, 2018. Written on the freeware suite Libre Office,running on Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit on the $6 junkyard salvaged computer mentioned at the beginning. An Audio version is available, created using the freeware Text to Speech program Balabolka with the Microsoft Anna voice. It may be freely shared but no alterations can be made without written permission from the author. I can be contacted on Twitter as Geekhillbilly. I hope you enjoyed this. I had fun writing it.