Steven Universe: Evhoes In Our Minds
Chapter Six: Back In The Saddle
At the Beach City hospital, Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, Diamond, Micheal, Connie and Steven waited in the hallway, anxiously waiting for word on Echo's condition, as Connie's mother, Dr. Maheswaran, stepped out of the room, holding a clipboard.
"Well, I have your friends results." The doctor declared, with a frown "But I'm afraid that it's nothing good."
"Mom?" Connie whimpered "Is he going to be okay?"
"I'm afraid that he'll be in a comatose state for quite some time." The doctor explained "He's also lost a very large amount of blood, and his pulse is very weak. I'm afraid that without some miracle, he might not make it."
"But he's gotta make it, Doc!" Amethyst yelled "Can't you do something?!"
"Look, I'm trying everything I can, but your friend is in terrible shape." The doctor countered "Not to mention he's lost his arm as well. It can be fixed with an amputee or two, but without an expert in that kind of field..."
"But there's GOT to be a way!" Amethyst frowned "There's just gotta!"
"Actually, I might be of help."
They all turned to see Perin, Arlyn and Lapis, approach, as they joined in.
"What're you guys doing here?" Pearl asked "I thought you guys might be busy?"
"Yeah, but then we got an emergancy call from Greg." Arlyn declared "Said that our masked crusader is badly hurt and needs medical help."
"But why are you here?" Micheal raised an eyebrow "Being pirates, I'd think you disliked technology."
"We may be scourges of the seas, but we're not cavemen." Perin shrugged "Before I joined up with Arlyn's crew, I got a masters degree in medical and technology science. I believe that with some tech, and a bit of luck, Echo will be back on his feet, before you know it."
"But why would you join with a bunch of pirates?" Garnet asked "Why not find work in a hospital?"
"Because my skills were better put to use, by helping those who can't afford expensive medical help." Perin declared "If they can pay, great. If not, I help anyway."
"That doesn't make any sense." Pearl frowned, rather suspiscious of Perin.
"Look, you don't really have much options." Arlyn shrugged "Now do you guys want help or no?"
Silence ensued, before Amethyst spoke up.
"I say it's worth a shot." She declared.
"Yeah." Steven nodded "Echo needs that help."
"Can't say no to free treatment." Garnet shrugged "It's worth a try."
"Can't argue with ya there," Micheal agreed.
"I'm still not sure it's a good idea." Pearl frowned, before sighing "But it's worth it."
"Thank you, all of you." Perin smiled "I promise, you won't regret it."
And so, for the past six months, with the occurence of some chaotic events, Echo's rcovery has been slow, but he was certainly reaching full health. After some shocking events, Echo's arm was reatched, with the exception of his arm being amputated, and his eye being rebuilt into a synthetic eye, and by the end of the seventh month, Echo was released from the hospital, having fully recovered. But the Gems wanted to make sure that he's back on his feet, they decided to take him for a trail run.
Later, in a far off plain, filled with tall standing trees, with many paths, as the warp pad lit up, and the Gems, minus Garnet, alongside Steven, Connie, Micheal, Arlyn and the new and improved Echo, appeared, stepping onto the grassy ground, observing their surroundings.
"Looks clear to me." Amethyst shrugged "No sign of any trouble."
"Try to take this seriously, Amethyst." Pearl said, sternly "You never know where danger could be lurking."
"And besides, we need to give Echo that trail run." Diamond added "And this place would be perfect, to make sure he's in top condition."
"As long we get done quickly," Micheal rubbed the back of his neck "Garnet gets a bit...cranky, surprisingly, given her condition."
"I still can't believe you pulled it off!" Arlyn chuckled "Earning the love of a fusion seemed impossible!"
"I'm still not sure what happened." Micheal admitted "But, what's done is done."
"And after what you guys have been through, I'd say you earned her affections." Diamond smiled "You weren't the first, but you may as well be the last."
"I'm not sure I follow, bud." Micheal frowned.
"You see, this friend of mine, Jamie the mailman, had a crush on Garnet." Steven explained "But Garnet wasn't really interested because, well, she's a fusion. So, we tried to help her let Jamie down easy, considering he's had bad luck with women in the past."
"Sounds like the poor pard's had it rough." Micheal whistled sharply "What happened next?"
"Well, after a misunderstanding, Jamie was heartbroken." Connie explained "But then, Garnet helped him back into high spirits and he's happy, and they agreed to just be friends."
"I see." Micheal mused "Quite the lesson fer Jamie, huh?"
"Yeah, but at least he's happy." Steven declared "He's even following his dream of becoming an actor!"
"Really? Well, I look forward to seeing him on the big screen." Micheal smiled.
"Can we focus on the task at hand please?" Echo spoke up, tired of waiting "I'd like to get this done and over with, if you don't mind."
"Right." Diamond chuckled "Let's move, and keep your eyes open."
The group moved deeper into the forest, seeing more trees as they went deeper, as Echo heard a rustling noise from the bushes.
"I heard that!" Echo growled, drawing out his sword and readying his stance.
"I didn't hear anything." Amethyst shrugged.
"He's right, actually." Micheal declared, pulling out his machine gun "We're not the only ones out in the woods. Ready yourselves."
The Gems pulled out their weapons, Steven and Connie simply stood behind them, but Arlyn simply stood in a neutural stance, as the bushes rustled louder, followed by a vicious growl, sounding like something not human.
"Guys." Arlyn instructed, staying perfectly still "Don't. Move. A muscle."
They simple stood still as instructed, and as if on que, something crawled out of the bushes and what they saw brought out the horror in their eyes.
It stood on two legs, as a human usually does, but it stood much taller than the average man, and it was thin to the bone, its skin was pale, and its lips were missing, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth. Its hair had fallen out, its nails grown out into claws, and its eyes were black with insanity. The odd thing was is that the creature was covered in some sort of armor.
"Bloody Mary." Micheal silently gasped, recognising what the creature could be "That's a bloody Wendigo."
"A wendi-what?" Amethyst raised an eyebrow.
"Screw this." Echo sighed, as he charged at the creature.
The creature roared, as it ran towards Echo, with inhuman speed, but Echo, using a quick combination of his new speed, and Rose's speed, his swung his sword, cutting the creatures head off, as the body tumbled to the ground.
Suddenly, two more of the same creatures emerged from the bushes, both snarling and hungry for blood, as they both charged at Echo. Echo, being a much smarter thinker, drew out his pistol, which was loaded with stronger bullets, only fired two bullets into one of the creatures eyes, killing it instantly, then sliced the last creature in half with his blade.
"That was incredible!" Lapis gasped "I've never seen anything like it!"
"I can't believe my flipping eyes!" Pearl gasped in awe "All those cybernetics Perin and I fixed Echo up with REALLY did pay off!"
"No doubt, love." Diamond agreed.
"I can't believe this." Micheal shooked his head, gazing at one of the bodies "These bloody wendigo's are real!"
"Okay, what the heck is a wndigo?!" Amethyst demanded.
"Basically, they're human, sorta." Arlyn shrugged "They just turned into monsters, as a result of them converting to cannibalism."
"Cannibalism?" Pearl frowned.
"It's strange, I know." Micheal nodded his head "But basically, cannibalism is something that a very small percentage of humans follow, which concerns humans eating human flesh."
"Humans eat other humans?! Gross!" Lapis gasped "So disgusting! And most of you wonder why I never once tried to give humans a chance."
"Except for me, right, darlin'?" Arlyn smirked.
"With the exception of you, dear, of course." Lapis smiled half-heartedly "You and Steven were the only two humans I ever gave a chance to."
"But what does this 'cannibalism' have to do with such...abominations?" Pearl asked.
"Acording to God's bible, cannibalism is considered the ultimate sin, right next to suicide." Micheal declared "Such an act is considered unholy, something not of Earth or even the underworld. Once a man gets a taste of human flesh, they begin changing, to the point where you can't even recognise them. Like what you see before you."
"But where did they come from?" Amethyst asked.
"I can only dread to guess." Micheal shuddered "See the tech they're covered with? The muscle fiber has enough force, over five hundred pounds times the power of a jackhammer in one fist. And the stealth cloak? Something unearthly, I can tell you that."
"No." Pearl gasped "You mean they were..."
"I'm afraid so, lass." Arlyn nodded "They were humans, ubducted randomly by the Homeworld Gems."
"But what use would the Diamond Authority have for such creatures?" Lapis asked, disturbed "Or better yet, how did they discover such evil?"
"I'm not sure." Micheal shrugged "I guess they wanted to make an army of super sodliers, like me and Arlyn there, but one they can control. I've seen it before, during my first couple of months on Homeworld. They would starve humans for weeks, months, heck, even years, before tossing in a fresh corpse and sometimes forcing their prisoners to chow down on human meat."
"Thank Jesus that I didn't get put through that." Arlyn sighed.
"You saw this before?!" Pearl gasped, before growling "And yet you did nothing to stop it?!"
"It was years ago, Pearl." Micheal shrugged "And besides, I was still a soldier, when Maria's life was on the line. I still followed orders. But there was nothing I could do to put a stop to it."
"Couldn't you, I don't know," Amethyst said "Try telling them it's wrong? Let alone disgusting?"
"Don't ya think he tried that?" Alryn glared "But the Authority is notorious for being stubborn. And when I escaped and took Micheal and Lapis with me, you can say that the Authority got desperate for their armies. They're still human, course, just a lot of power, and far less predictable."
"A fate worse than death." Micheal sighed.
"I'm not complaining." Echo shrugged, the others finding this rather surprising to his nature "As far as I'm concerned, Homeworld's just building a bunch of walking vending machines."
"Aye," Arlyn shrugged "Vending machines full of blood."
"Chill out, Vamp." Micheal chuckled, before turning to Echo "But Arlyn's right. They're still human."
"Humans that terrorize innocents for a bite of flesh." Echo stated, holding up his blade "They knew what they were asking for when they took their first bite." Sheathing his blade, he declared "I'm just the Reaper."
"A bit cold, Echo." Arlyn smirked "Even for you."
"Well, if the trail run is complete, we'd best make for home then." Micheal declared "Before Garnet comes out here, just fer mah arse."
"Right." Pearl agreed, before turning to Echo "Don't worry. Things will get better for you, before you know it."
"Right." Echo simply grunted.
"Aye." Arlyn grinned "Time to bring up the peace."
As they made their way to the warp pad, Echo took one last glance at the Wendigo corpses, rather disgusted at what he had to see, before turning to the warp pad, following his group.
Meanwhile...
On Homeworld, Yellow Diamond lookied out her palace window, as one of her servants entered the throne room.
"Madame, I have news." She declared "I'm afraid Peridot has been captured, and her mission comprimised."
"And Yuki?" Yellow Diamond asked.
"Dead, I'm afraid." The servant said "Also, word has gathered that the Gem Stalker has recovered to full health."
Silence ensued, as Yellow Diamond spoke up.
"Find him." Yellow Diamond said stirnly.
"At once, madame." The servant bowed, before leaving the room.
"So you live after all." Yellow thought to herself "It's only a matter of time, before all is revealed..." She stopped for a moment, before completing her sentance "My son."
I hope you guys are still enjoying the story so far, and like I said, I apologize if I post these new chapters late, I've been rather busy, but don't worry, for I only have for days of this institute left, so once I'm done here, I can focus more time on my stories, so bear with me. Anyways, thank you for your patience, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter! And be sure to review!