Want to make it clear that the only thing I own of this story is Marcus Castellanos. Everyone else and the show Steven Universe belong to their respective owners.
"You alright, Marcus?"
"Yeah, I'm good." I say to Garnet as I move my arm in a circle. "It's been awhile since I've been with humans of that magnitude again. Still, I prefer you guys." I say to her while tapping the back of my hand to her arm.
"Thanks again for your help." She thanks me.
"No problem."
I went with Garnet on one of her missions because she said she needed a helping hand more akin to me. What that means is that she needed to access some sort cave in order to find out where exactly the next set of gems are, however that very same cave was right next to a Rave taking place. I had to move through the bustling dance crazy, possibly high, bodies of people while subtly clearing a way for Garnet to enter the cave and then had to make sure no one disturbed her.
I may have had to choke hold a couple people to knock them out. Mostly teens that were either high as the heavens or drunk off their asses and wandered into the wrong area.
It wasn't too terribly bad but it was the first time I've been out since my injuries at the maze so I was little worried that my wounds would slow me down but thankfully nothing happened. What also worried me was the fact that Garnet asked me to leave my pistols behind. I was a little vocal about it but she strictly said to go non-lethal, not even my swords at all were to come out. I begrudgingly went still so I could get out of the temple already.
"So we got the location?" I ask her as we make our way through the forest towards the warp pad.
"Yes. The locations of the heaven and earth Geode beetles are at the sky spire and at the bottom of boiling Lava Lake." She looks to me as we stop in front of the warp pad. "You'll be going to the sky spire for the heaven beetle."
"I won't fault your logic." I say as we step onto the warp pad. "Humans aren't to resistant to lava."
"Exactly." Garnet activates the pad, sending us back home.
'Ahhh the temple. I remember this place. I was held up for way too long here from my last mission.' As it turns out, my paranoia during the maze rang true. The arrows were very very old for being dormant for so long, so dust, dirt and possible bacteria latched onto them. Pearl scolded me on my rush patch job on me. She definitely didn't find the appeal in burning one's self in order to close their wounds.
However, she did take note that any mass bacteria present in the wound was gone because of the burning so she accepted my action because it saved me a lot of trouble in the long haul.
'"But that doesn't mean I have to like it." She said. I wouldn't fault her there. Hurt like hell but at least it meant I only had to deal with being incapacitated for a few weeks rather than months.' Steven was nice enough to let me stay in his bed while I recuperated but it also meant I missed out on some interesting adventures they had.
A little while after I got injured Amethyst kept sneaking out when we weren't looking but Steven and I spotted her. I was still grounded to the bed so Steven went to find out what's going on. Turns out Amethyst wanted some more excitement for herself so she participated in some sort of underground wrestling ring. Steven naturally joined in under the guise 'tiger millionaire' but it wasn't long until Garnet and Pearl found out, who weren't happy with Amethyst's disregard for their secret existence and all, but in the end they became good sports for both Amethyst and Steven.
Next, Steven got a new pet. I still remember what happened the first time I met him.
*Flashback*
I was sleeping away while the gems went on another mission. My skin was healed at this point but a small 'bout of sickness started to take a hold on me so Pearl specifically stressed that I stay in bed to avoid agitating it or catching something else by accident.
I was not expecting a very large ball of pink fur and wide eyes staring right at me when I woke up.
"…"
"…"
We started at each, neither one said a word.
I slowly reached forward to see if it was a dream or not.
"Rawr."
It was not. "Oh god! Oh god! Oh- Argh!" I bolt out of bed, trying to get away from the animal that somehow got in. Unfortunately, in my frantic running, I completely forgot that I was on the second floor and moving towards the stairs. So naturally when someone runs at stairs, they tend to fall down them.
I fell down the small flight of stairs and landed hard on the living room floor, right in front of everyone else.
"Marcus!" Pearl yells as she runs to me. "What are you doing out of bed?! I told you not to leave it!"
"But-I-pink-big- next to-lion-" I frantically say, still scared out of my mind.
"Oh! Lion's here. I was wondering where he went." I stare incredulously at the child so calm about the animal as he makes his way up the stairs. "Lion! There you are!" he hugs it like nothing. "Did you scare Marcus out of the bed? Bad lion. You don't do that to people unless they try to hurt. Marcus would never do that." He says to it as he hugs it again yet it just stands there staring at him. I stare at the others in a mixture of confusion and surprise.
"Steven found him in the desert." Pearl answers for me first.
"He wants to keep it." Garnet finishes. Amethyst nods as she carries a gem on a pillow or something.
Still staring at them in confusion, I have no idea what to say whatsoever. Only when I turn back do I find Steven and Lion right next to me.
No one says a thing and at that point the gravity of the situation hits me with what I've learned and happened.
I pass out in both a mixture of shock, confusion, and a lot of pain from both moving and falling down the steps.
*End Flashback*
Seriously I almost came close to voiding myself of everything in me when I woke up to a giant pink lion starring right at me. Naturally some things happened, confusion ensued but in the end Steven was able to use his new pet lion to stop a freakish land-manipulating gem from taking over all of beach city. Still freaky having a lion next to me at nearly all hours of the day but he's pretty friendly so things have calmed down now.
Finally, as a reward for a mission success they went on, Steven took the gems to the arcade place I crashed into when we rode the teacups. Amethyst naturally cheated her way on one of the machines, Pearl didn't understand how to play and Garnet… she went overboard. I know there are people in the world so addicted to games they spend days on end playing it non-stop, I never figured Garnet as one. According to Steven, Garnet stayed all night at the arcade place playing this dancing, movement game non-stop. The gems were dealing with a monster attack while Garnet was indisposed so Steven had to try to snap her out of it to get her to help. In order to do that, he smashed the arcade machine, which of course pissed off the owner, Mr. Smiley, while the gems fought the monster. Steven was going to have to work at the arcade in order to pay for the arcade machines that were broken, or he would have if when no one was looking, I went to the place and payed for the damages. 'I like Steven. He doesn't need to waste time sweeping the floors and cleaning the place up. Oh, also apparently Garnet has three eyes. Go figure.
After that, I was ready to start fighting again so when Garnet came back to say she was going to find the location to some more gems, I volunteered to help. She was a bit hesitant but allowed me, with some restrictions but I was happy none the less to be out of the house.
And now we are back home.
"So, any ideas on how we are going to do this?" I ask her as we walk to the kitchen.
"I have some ideas on how we can-"
"Ooh! Ooh! Did you bring me anything?" Steven interrupts her in his excitement. She pulls out a rock and gives it to him. 'Where did she get that?' "Whoa, a rock! Thanks, Garnet."
Pearl walks up to us, "So, was your mission a success?"
"It was." I answer.
"We located the Geode beetles of Heaven and Earth. We should split up to retrieve them." Garnet tells us.
"Well I'm going with not Pearl." Amethyst says as Steven for some reason starts biting his rock.
"Well that's perfect because I don't want to go with grammatically incorrect people anyway." Pearl retorts. 'Whoa. What happened while we were gone?'
"Is she talking about me?" Steven asks with the rock still in his mouth.
"No, I don't think so man." I say and pat his shoulder.
"You four go together, I go alone." Garnet decides for everyone.
"What? Why?" Amethyst and Pearl ask in a slightly surprised tone.
"The Earth Beetle's is at the bottom of the boiling lava lake, and only I can swim in lava." With that said, Garnet proceeds to conjure up a pair of goggles over her visor, where the strap hugs her afro hair, giving it a bit more of a curve to it. "You'll find the Heaven Beetle at the top of the Sky Spire. It's safer."
"You mean boring-er." Amethyst says with somewhat of annoyance.
"You mean more boring." Pearl corrects her.
"So you agree with me." Amethyst says with a slight smile.
"Ugh! Come on, you three, let's go." Pearl says in annoyance at her compatriot's attitude and heads to the portal. Steven puts down his rock and he and Amethyst meet Pearl on the pad.
"Hold up guys." I say, getting their attention. "I need to get some gear, since someone wanted me to go bare-handed." I say while emphasizing in Garnets direction and head to the door.
"You know I had to." Garnet says as I pass her.
"*Sigh* I know." I agree with her as I open the door and head out. "Doesn't mean I have to like it!" I call back and jump down the stairs. As I walk towards my truck I think on what I'm going to bring. 'Alright, my jacket Beretta's are inside those of course go back in there holsters in my jacket. What else should I bring? Garnet said Spire so we will be climbing something. I'll grab my ice pickaxe and some rope to go along. That deals with the climbing issue. Need a gun that doesn't weigh a lot so it doesn't slow me or get in my way as I climb.' As I pull down the hatch, I smile at my choice. "Got it." With my decision final, I grab the case.
"—NY... ! Oomph!" Steven falls onto the ground.
"You alright buddy?" I extend my hand to help him up. He takes it and I pull him up as he gives me a nod. "Good." I say and grab my Brügger & Thomet MP9 with both hands. This MP9 is a lightweight machine pistol, or submachine gun whichever you want to classify it as, that can be fired one handed or somewhat stability but max stability with both hands. That's why I got the grip on it, no other attachments, stock is folded and the best part is that it uses 9mm bullets, cheap when compared to more high caliber rounds used in rifles. It's lightweight and compact size will allow me to move with ease with this weapon and give me enough to work with should I be forced to use it one handed.
"Woah... is this where the Heaven Beetle lives?" Steven asks. It's no surprise it is but I'm going to say I was right in bringing my climbing supplies. This place is massive and tall with large staircases adorning the entire way up to the top and I'm pretty sure I see some pieces of land floating in the air. 'If any a place for something called the "Heaven Beetle", this would be it.'
"Apparently." Pearl says.
"All the way at the top." Amethyst comments as well.
"I can see that." I voice my thoughts on this place.
"So, when you fuse, do you turn into a giant giant woman, or just a regular-sized giant woman?" Steven asks to my confusion. "Does one of you control the right arm and the other control the left arm?"
"Steven, what are you talking about?" I ask looking at him.
"Pearl and Amethyst can fuse into a giant woman!" he exclaims loudly, pointing at said gems.
For more clarification, I look to said gems, "Help me?"
"Well, what Steven is talking about is that when gems fuse, they have the power to become an even more powerful warrior than they are alone. More specifically, Amethyst and I can fuse to become a giant gem warrior by the name of Opal." She explains to me with a smile, at least until she looks to Amethyst. "At least we would if some of us could fuse properly." She no doubt makes it obvious who this someone is. Amethyst only scoffs in response.
"Oh, that's cool." I comment. 'Fusion. It does have its benefits.' I look towards the two gems to see them slightly glaring at each other. 'Although I'm sure you have to be somewhat willing to fuse to make it work.'
"Come on you guys. We're burning daylight." I say and push forward towards some stairs.
Pearl and Amethyst keep up with me, "Wait, these are extremely important questions." Steven says, no doubt referencing his previous set of questions, and then jogs to catch up to us.
We spend a few minutes moving along the base of the spire trying to find some stairs for us to climb, all the while Steven continues to ask the others to fuse and even makes excuses to try and get them to. He even goes as far as to ask for a piggyback ride. "What about if you eat a hotdog? Whose stomach does it go into? Or do you share the same stomach? That would be gross."
"Steven, I really don't think these questions are necessary at this ti-"
*Rustle*
Completely dropping the conversation, I snap my guns sights on the rustling bush as the gems summon their weapons. We tense and wait to see what type of guardian or monster this place has protecting i-
"Baaaa!"
A goat. A goat jumps out of the bush and proceeds to eat a cricket, completely oblivious to the three heavily armed people behind him. I lower my gun. "False al-"
"Look out! It's a magical goat guardian! Quick, you have to form Opal! It's the only way to defeat it!" Steven cries out and pretends to cower. "Hurry before it kills us all!" Nothing is said as Steven no doubt expects the two to fuse and deal with the… 'threat.'
I pinch the bridge of my nose, "Steven… your trying to hard man." I breathe out as Pearl walks over to the goat.
"Steven, we only fuse for deadly situations, does this look like a deadly situation? Ow! Hey, bad mountain goat!" Pearl tries to explain but the goat bites her hand instead, causing Amethyst to completely lose it laughing and Steven to be a bit disappointed.
"Darn it. Aw, I'm never going to get to see Opal." After he says that, Steven proceeds to sing a song about a giant woman or something as we make our way further up the spire. As we move, on top of Steven's singing, Pearl and Amethyst are still at each other's throats, whether its scaring the other with a shark, Amethyst, or 'accidentally' knocking some rocks into the others face. Both times, I was caught in the crossfire. My pants and shoes are drenched and I would have fallen down the stairs after one of my feet caught one the falling rocks if I hadn't used my pickaxe to latch onto one of the steps. Now I'm the one leading the group up the mountain.
Interesting enough though, Steven has taken to calling the goat that's been tagging along with us Steven Jr. for whatever reason. Said goat also decides to show his proficiency at scaling mountainous areas by jumping across a bunch of floating pieces of land with ease. "Show off." I say.
"Wait up Steven Jr!" Steven yells and tries to jump across but I stop him.
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa there buddy!" I place him back down. "You ain't a goat. You aren't jumping that distance alone."
"Oh, you should fuse into Opal, and then lay across the rocks like a bridge!" Steven tells the gems.
"We don't need Opal to get across." Pearl states.
"Can you do it anyway? Pleeease? It would easier, wouldn't it?" Steven begs the gems to fuse.
"No." I bluntly say as I finish tying one end of my rope to my pick. "This is." With a throw, I send my makeshift grapple over to one of the floating islands. With it secured on one of its outcropping rocks, I pull and find the small island is easy to move. As it moves against the ground we are on, I step onto it, untangling my pick. "All aboard."
No one says anything as I work to taxi us through the floating islands, having Pearl use her spear to push us either forward or away from other islands. With careful maneuvering, we manage to make it across the massive gap without any incident. The others give me their thanks for my quick thinking on the matter and we continue our journey. We make it to the base of the spire and proceed to walk up the stairs to the top of it. Unfortunately, there are a lot of stairs and about halfway up Steven is already starting to feel the effects of fatigue set in and my legs are starting to feel sore. Soon, we are almost at the top and I look directly up to see the stairs connecting to the very top of the spire. Deciding to take a shortcut, is shoulder the strap on my MP9, take out my pick with the rope still attached and throw it up.
"Uhhh, what are you doing?" Amethyst asks next me, making Steven and Pearl look as well.
"Scouting ahead." I plainly say. I tug on the rope a few times to test its hold. Feeling satisfied with it, I plant my feet along the wall and pull myself up a few feet.
"Marcus, are you sure?" Pearl asks me a little worriedly.
"I'm sure." I reply with a slight grunt as I continue moving up. "I don't want this beetle to move so the sooner we get there, the better."
"Yeah! Let's go!" Feeling a small tug on my rope, I look back to see Steven hanging on at the end. No doubt he wanted to try to climb up my rope as well but doesn't know the proper way to climb the single rope or he doesn't have the arm strength. He slowly slides back down until he falls onto his back with a small 'thud.'
"Sorry Steven. But I'm flying solo up here. Just keep moving along the stairs and I'll give you guys the all clear." I pull the rope I already used to climb up and wrap it around my arm to steady myself better before looking at the others again. "Amethyst, Pearl. Take care of Steven." They nod in confirmation before I look to him. "Steven. Take care of 'them.'" I emphasize the gems, who give me slight glares while Steven salutes me.
"Yes, sir."
"Good man." I say and continue climbing.
"Be careful." Pearl warns me from below.
"Always." With that said I continue my trek upwards in silence, the only sound being my slightly strained breathing and the stepping of my feet on the spires wall. As I climb up, at one point a massive shadow passes over me. Quickly grabbing my gun in one hand, I examine the skies for any threats. The skies are clear and there is nothing out. Taking a few more seconds to look just in case, I still find nothing so I continue moving. It isn't long after that that I make it to the top.
Without pulling myself up first, I firmly grab the rope with my left hand and the right with my machine pistol. Taking a couple breaths to steady and prepare myself, I jump up and land on top of the spire, swerving my gun left and right to spot any targets.
So far the entire place is completely devoid of life with only a large pool of water, a massive round structure with holes in it, and a very small structure in the middle of the water. I grab my pickaxe, untie the rope, wrap it around my shoulder, and hold my pick in my left hand, held high in case something jumps out at me. Slowly I examine the large structure only to find nothing of interest in it before moving towards the small temple like construct. The water looks alright and nothing looks to be swimming in it. It does look slightly murky to it but nothing really stands out. I crouch down to take a closer look at the temple and to my surprise the building is actually a small home complete with all the furnishings. 'Must be where the beetle lives. It's the only thing I can think of that could be housed here.' What also interests me is that the place also bongos for some reason. 'What would a beetle need bongos for.' Shaking my head of the thought, I do one last sweep before I deem the area clear. Slinging my gun, I walk over to the stairs and wait for the others to get there. Barely a minute passes before we all spot each other. The gems look no worse for wear but Steven looks like he's about to collapse. They look to me expectantly. "It's all clear. The place is a ghost town." I inform them.
"Any sign of the heaven beetle?" Pearl asks me. I go to answer but Steven interrupts me.
"I can't feel my legs anymore." He groans out while panting. However he suddenly gets a second wind as he looks to the small temple. "Hey, look at that!" He points out and runs over to smaller temple. "It's a tiny temple!"
"That is about the right size to hold a beetle." I comment as I lead the gems over to it.
"Check it out, it's even got a little beetle bedroom, and little beetle bongos, and a little beetle baby book." He comments on the tiny structure as he laughs a bit.
"Yeah I really don't get the last two." I mutter as Pearl begins to examine the temple as well.
"ut where's the beetle? It's supposed to be here, the heaven beetle wouldn't leave, would it? Oh, it could be anywhere!" Pearl asks worriedly to no one in particular before looking to me. "Marcus you didn't see where it went did you?"
"If he did, he would have already found it. Not standing here like the rest of us." Amethyst answers for me, much to my chagrin, from over by the large round structure.
"I can't believe your attitude, Amethyst. And now you're just slouching over here doing nothing." Pearl angrily berates the purple gem as she stalks up to her.
"Hey, it's not my fault the beetle isn't there. Why do you have to make things worse by squawking at me?!" Amethyst counters, getting close to each other.
"Baaaaa!" It's at this point the goat starts to bleat like crazy, drowning out the argument of the two gems. Steven runs over to Pearl and Amethyst so he can try to calm them down while I stay with the goat.
"Hey! What's wrong?! What's gotten into you?" I say to the goat in the hope of somehow getting it to tell me or at least indicate what's wrong. It just keep bleating loudly. 'Geez. Usually an animal only gets crazy like this unless it meets a bigger preda-' My train of thought ends as I spot the water beginning to bubble.
"Hey, cut it out! You're scaring Steven Jr.!" Steven stops the gems argument on the spot.
Before I can warn everyone, I am suddenly pushed back as I am sprayed with water as something big emerges from the water. Looking around I don't spot what came out of the lake at least until I look up to see a blurry figure in the sky. Before I can wipe the water from eyes, the figure is suddenly next to me and Steven Jr. is gone. My mind finally catches up to me and I find a giant bird creature has eaten the goat whole.
It takes off back into the sky for another pass at us. I bring my gun up as Pearl throws her spear at the bird, which it promptly eats like it was nothing. The bird spots me and makes a dive bomb straight for me. Not moving from my spot, I open fire on it but my bullets ricochet off its hardened beak and thick feathers.
Unfortunately for it, it misjudges the point of me and the ground so its maw stabs into the stone ground above my head and feet. Quickly, I press my left hand to the top of the jaw and my feet on the bottom, forcing it open as it tries to close them on me but also picks me up in the process. Firmly holding my position, I aim my gun down its throat.
"I hope you're hungry!" I yell and depress the trigger, sending round down its gullet. Small bits of spittle and a loud screech are my answer as it swings its head around to try and get me off it. Only when I finish unloading 30 9mm rounds down its throat do I let go, instantly sent flying out as it continues to caw in pain and take flight.
I smack the stone ground hard, rolling a few times until I come to a stop near the others. They quickly help me up to my feet. Looking back up, I see the bird do a couple circles in the air before diving towards. "I think I made it mad." I comment.
"In here, guys!" Amethyst tells us. Not complaining, we all back up into the large structure as the creature begins pecking at the building.
"You know, I promised myself I wouldn't piss off anymore birds." I off-handedly say as I reload.
"I can't believe it ate my spear like that." Pearl asks in disbelief.
"Or my bullets." I add as I rack the bolt back, loading a bullet into the chamber from its fresh magazine.
"Guys this is great! Now's the perfect time for you two to form Opal!" Steven happily says. Normally his happy attitude in the situation might have irked me a little but he brings up a good point.
"He's right. Whatever power Opal brings, it's gotta be stronger than what we've got now." I say to them. Pearl and Amethyst look to each other but in a slight grimace before nodding.
The two get into their respective dance poses. Pearl as always moves with the grace of a renowned ballerina dancer and Amethyst…
I can't help but cover Stevens eyes, much to his disappointment at finally seeing how a fusion is done. However he doesn't get to see it as the two are completely out of synch with each other and end up messing up. Their forms bright up and begin to fuse and mold with each other but at the last second they are forced apart from each other.
"So you wanna try that again? With less hitting m in the face this time?" Amethyst says sarcastically.
"Well it would have worked if your movements weren't so erratic and formless." Pearl counters.
'Seriously guys? Now is not the time for this.' I mentally say as my fist tightens.
"So it's all my fault? Ho ho, you totally weren't even trying to sync with my dancing. You should know how I dance by now!" Amethyst yells at Pearl and the two begin to push each other.
At this point, my patience has run thin until it finally broke. "Will you two SHUT UP!" I yell loudly over their bickering. This gets them to stop fighting all together and look to me. "The whole time we've been on this mission you two have been at each other's throats and screwing around with each other!" They untangle themselves from their scuffle.
"But-"
"She-"
"No!" I cut them off before they could come up with any excuses. "You wanna know what's been happening as well as when you guys were messing with each other? I got hit too. The falling rocks Pearl? I almost fell down too! The shark scare Amethyst? I fell too." I reveal to them. They look away in shame that their bickering almost caused me to get hurt as well. "I don't know what's the problem you two have with each other but you have to knock it off now! In case you haven't noticed, we are in the middle of a crisis situation and if you guys don't fuse, then we are all going to-!"
Pain spikes through me before can finish talking. With my mouth slightly agape, I look down to see the creature's beak on either side of me, the sharp edges of it cutting through my shirt like tissue as well as my skin, both sides under my arms already leaking blood. The bird shot its narrow beak through the entrance that I didn't know I was so close to before and got me. I look up to see the horrified looks on all their faces, unsure of how to respond to what's happening to me. I can only think of one thing that also finishes what I was saying earlier.
"D-Die."
Before anyone could do anything, I feel myself suddenly sucked out of the building and sent hurtling through the air. I can't scream as my mind tries to make sense of where it is I am, what's going on, and what's going to happen. The flipping in the air slows down until I finally see that I am really, really, really high above the spire. As I slowly begin to free fall, I see the black mass of the bird coming straight up towards me, no doubt intent to make me its next meal. I grit my teeth knowing that in the air, I am useless and am good as gone. 'If I'm going down… I'm taking you with me!' With that thought firmly in my head, I grip my MP9 tightly in my right hand and my pickaxe in the other. I unleash lead straight towards the bird, the bullets perforating the creatures body but besides a slight difference in its intended flight path, remains headlong for me. As my gun slowly runs out, I raise my pick up and get ready to attack as it opens its maw.
"Raaaaa!" I yell a war cry. I bring my weapon down just as the maw closes on me and darkness engulfs me.
"Ow! Ah! Crap! Shit!" I tumble through my dark fleshy prison, my axe long since left my hand after I buried it somewhere inside the inner workings of my predator while my guns strap tangles around me. I come to a stop on the fleshy stomach floor with my face laying against something hard. "Fuck." I groan out and slowly lift my head. The inside of this thing is surprisingly luminescent and I find what I am laying on: a skull. I jump back in surprise to see many different types of rubble and pieces of the environment crowded around the things stomach, including a goat skull. My stomach drops a little at the implication. 'Please I hope this things stomach acids aren't surprisingly effecti-'
"Baaa!"
"Oh thank god." I say in happiness. Turning around, I spot Steven Jr. on top of a pile of refuse chewing on something. "Steven Jr. Good to see you alive, considering." I say as I limp over to the goat, reloading my weapons and gesturing to our surroundings as well. "Now that we aren't being cooked alive, maybe we can find a way out of here."
He just stares at me as he eats.
"Okay, I'll find us a way out of here." I look around to see if there's anything that either looks flimsy enough for me to cut through, or is a direct way out. "Okay nothing so far and I'm not privy to going out the back way." I comment. He just continues to chew on whatever he's eating. "What are you eating?" I ask for the hell of it, knowing I won't get an answer but still curious. Leaning in, I see that whatever it's eating is green, small and looks surprisingly like a-
"The beetle!" I exclaim loudly. It's still alive and still moving so it's definitely the Heaven beetle if its durable enough to stay alive through all the chewing. "Thanks Steven Jr. Now let me just…" I try to take the beetle but he stays firm in holding it. "C'mon Steven Jr. Be a good goat and let me- whoa!" I exclaim loudly as I manage to pull the beetle out of his jaw, causing me to fall back. I look at the little guy on my hand to see him slowly crawling. Now, normally I wouldn't like to associate myself with bugs but considering this is one that we 'really' need, and that the bright color doesn't dissuade me from it like most dark colored insects are, it's actually pretty cool. "Well, you were a hard one to find. Now I just have to- Hey!" I exclaim because the goat nearly barrels into me trying to eat the beetle again.
"Baaa!"
"Hey! No! No. No,no. This isn't for eating. You need to find something else to-" A hand bursts through the fleshy floor I am standing on. "Chew on?" I ask in confusion as more hands start to burst through. "The hell?" I say as I stare at the hand.
"Baaa!" Steven Jr. bleats loudly as one of the hands grabs him and pulls him through the floor.
"Holy… what's going on?" I ask as I back up from where he was taken from me and put the beetle in the inside of my jacket. Unfortunately, I back up right into one of the hands, which grabs both my ankles easily and pulls. "Whoa!" I yelp as I'm forced through.
A bright light blinds me and for a second freak out at the implication I'm dead but the arm around me and the bird I was just in breaking apart into dozens of pieces shoots that thought right out. More air rushes past me as I now find myself next to Steven, who looks on in wonder at who is holding me.
"Opal?" he asks. Curiously I look to my savior as well to see a four armed tall woman with light purple skin, white hair and a gem on her head and chest. 'Wait, so this is there form? This is Opal? This… is fusion?' The questions in my head come to a grinding halt as Opal grabs Steven and jump towards the stairs. With grace I have never seen before, she slides down the flat rail guards on the stairs while still carrying us and takes us all the way down to the bottom of the spire. As we stay there for a second, she puts us down.
"Stay low." She says in a low voice that still radiates with authority but gentleness. As Steven and I sit down, Opal pulls out Pearls spear and Amethysts whip before in a flash of light she combines the two into a bow. I look out towards where she's aiming at to find that the bird creature split off into dozens of other smaller versions of itself. Opal slowly pulls back the bow with two hands before sending an arrow flying straight towards the middle of the flock. The explodes in a flashbang effect, destroying the birds forms and making them explode into dozens of smaller flashes. Steven and I stare in amazement at the amount of power she exhibited to us in only a matter of seconds.
She walks over to us and extends a hand each to the both of us. Steven takes one and pulls himself up easy but my sides are agitated a little but I manage to nonetheless. "Uh... do you... know who I am? Who… we are?" Steven asks her. She stares at us for a second before chuckling with closed eyes.
"All you wanna do, is see me turn into-" She begins singing.
Steven gasps at what she means. "A giant woman!" he finishes her sentence, indicating she does remember us because that's what Steven was singing earlier about Pearl and Amethyst fusing. She nods at him before looking to me.
"Are you alright?" she asks me.
I look down at myself to see long rivers of blood already reaching my shoes. My sides are pretty cut up from the birds beak but other than that, I'm good. I open my mouth to answer her but my eyes widen as I push her behind me and spray the air with bullets behind her with my machine pistol. The two of them look to see that I just destroyed a small flock of the birds that were able to survive Opal's arrow. I let my gun fall to my side and give them a tired smile.
*Clang*
I got to open my mouth to say something but a loud sounds interrupts me. I look to the right of my feet to find my pickaxe embedded in the ground. "Oh." I say and grab my pickaxe, wiggling it around a little to pull it free. Once it's out, I strap it to my back and looks towards the others again. "I'm good. For now at least." I say and gesture for us to get moving. "C'mon, let's go home. I've had enough of birds for one day thank you very much."
The two of them agree with me and we make our journey home.
Garnet is drying her hair as we appear back home.
"We're back!" Steven yells happily with arms spread as Opal stands behind us in a pose.
"The Heaven beetle." Garnet states us.
Opal gasps, remembering the mission. "I don't have it." The sudden revelation is enough to screw with the gems making Opal as her form glows and disappears, sending Pearl and Amethyst away from each other.
"Amethyst, you got distracted!" Pearl immediately accuses the purple gem.
"Hey, you were the one getting carried away with all those fancy backflips!" Amethyst retaliates.
"Guys!" I yell, catching all their attentions. I pull the beetle out of my jacket. "I gotcha covered."
"Well done, Marcus." Garnet says. She walks up to me with a small plastic clear container that has another beetle in it. She opens the top for me to place the Heaven beetle inside, which I do. The little guy rights myself up before Garnet closes the lid and bubble them. "I also see you helped your teammates fuse." Looking back to Amethyst and Pearl, they look at each other in surprise about the situation.
"And all we had to do was have Marcus get eaten by a bird." Steven says with a surprising amount of joy.
"If that's the prerequisite for helping you guys fuse, no thank you." I grumble and walk over to the couch.
"Nice work, you two will be great at fusing one day." Garnet says as she walks off. 'Sure, sure, we can fus- Wait! We can fuse!' I think with a bit of surprise.
"Yeah... Wait! We can do that too?!" Steven voices my thoughts similarly to my surprise.
"Ugh. I'm not in the mood for anymore fusion." I say out loud. I look towards Pearl, "Pearl, can you get the first aid kit? I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need stitches."
"Very well." She says and grabs the kit from a kitchen cabinet. I pull off my shirt as she grabs a thread and needle. "You know, this does mean you're not going anywhere for awhile right?"
As Pearl points out, I can't help but let out a sigh, "*Sigh* I know." I say sadly as she makes the first push.
Still surprised at how long these keep turning out to be but still not deterred. Sorry for the slight delay between this chapter and the last on but college has started for me so I'll need to be focusing most of attention on my classes. However I do have a few hours between classes so that's free time I can use to write. In any case, another episode shift and I'll see you guys next time.
Hopefully either sooner, or as much time as this one at least.
