Gems are Unbreakable

by The Black Mage of Phantasm

Steven Universe and the Gems have saved the world so many times in the past, but now a new monster is rising in their town. Steven has to face off against a man unlike any opponent he has battled against so far. And what does a purple-haired teenager have to do with any of this? Steven doesn't know, but one thing's certain. He'll need everyone's help if he wants to save his home.

11. The Peaceful Town

Chapter 11: The Peaceful Town

Finally.

His black bike slowed to a stop. The roar of the engine died down as placed his foot on the concrete ground.

He made it.

He had stopped at the very top of a small hill. The road sloped downwards as he could see small houses scattered along the grassy fields that surrounded him. Pass these small houses, he could see the road continued for a few more miles before it finally led to a large town.

After so long, he had finally arrived.

He pushed down on the kickstand as it fully extended and touched the ground. Once he knew his bike was properly secured, he removed the key from the ignition. He slowly got down from his bike as his feet touched the ground; there weren't any cars coming from behind him, so he didn't have to worry about blocking anyone.

He took several steps forward as he took off his helmet. He then let out a breath as he shook his head, purple pompadour swaying slightly as he did so.

Blue eyes took in the sign not even ten feet away on the grassy field.

Welcome to Beach City!

The bold, bright yellow words on the blue sign were accompanied by a small star underneath it.

He placed a gloved hand on his right hip.

He pushed his crotch forward.

And while still holding his helmet in his other hand, he brought his left arm up until it was right above his head.

Finally.

Josuke Higashikata had finally arrived in Beach City.

He couldn't help the small grin that crossed his lips.

It had been absolute hell getting here. Fighting Let Me Live and Sheer Heart Attack were arguably the most difficult parts of his journey, but that did not mean the rest was easy. The FBI was actively looking for the person responsible for whatever caused the mess in New Jersey. At first, they had no leads as to what had caused the enormous explosions.

That was of course, before his fight with Sheer Heart Attack. And before several people reported a man with pompadour hair had seemingly been at the forefront of these explosions.

His luck really was getting shitter the longer he spent in this horrible place. He had been able to avoid the FBI so far, though several times he did have rather...close calls.

But, strangely enough, the police activity seemed to decrease the closer he got to Beach City.

He let out a sigh as he massaged the bridge of his nose. The material of his gloves felt rough on his skin.

Soon, it would all be worth it. Soon, staying in filthy motels, actively avoiding staying out in public for too long and traveling hundreds of miles across this awful country would be worth it. He had been in such a hurry to get to Beach City he didn't even have the time to stop at a damn tailor to get his clothes fixed. So instead, he had to change outfits.

No longer did he wear his usual dark blue high school jacket, but in its place was a dark black leather jacket with a long zipper at the center that stretched to his waist. The upper portion of his jacket was unzipped which exposed a small amount of the dark, long-sleeved shirt he wore underneath; on its sides were pockets lined with zippers. Two dark purples stripes ran along the length of his jacket's sleeves up to the button-up collar on his neck. He had replaced his blue dress pants with navy blue jeans and his purple shoes with dark black biker boots with straps. He had also decided to place two of his emblems on his new black leather gloves, the golden peace symbol on his right and the heart symbol on his left.

And to complete his outfit, he had bought a thin purple scarf that wrapped around his neck with the ends hanging loosely on top of the backpack he had acquired.

He did not want to change his usual clothing. But he realized that he would look suspicious if he walked around in burnt and ripped clothing. So, with some stolen money, he had bought some new clothes.

Still, he would have liked to have kept his original clothes. He felt uncomfortable without his usual jacket and pants clinging to his body. He had chosen clothes he could confidently say looked good on him, but...He still couldn't say he liked them.

He seriously needed to find a tailor to fix his old ones.

He felt his stomach rumble slightly. Right. He had barely eaten today.

He slowly maneuvered the backpack off his shoulder as he held it in the air with one hand. He then unzipped one of the dark blue compartments as he reached inside it with one hand. He had stored a number of items inside his backpack. Money, his clothing that had been burnt and the spare emblems that he couldn't work into his outfit, maps. And he had also stored a number of assorted candies in here. The ones that he found the least disgusting, anyway.

Damn. He would kill for one of Tonio's dishes. Okuyasu was right, that man was a genius when it came to cooking. Hell, he'd even take one of his mom's shitty miso soups. Or-.

Stop it.

He slowly removed a Kit Kat bar and began to unwrap it. He placed his backpack on his back as he began to bite into the candy bar.

There'd be no use in thinking like that. All it would do was make him see their faces. They would be right in front of him, but he could never touch them; they would always be out of reach. It would just be another reminder that his home kept getting farther and farther away with each day.

And his dreams hadn't exactly helped him stop thinking about Morioh.

Every night, he found himself back in his town. Sometimes he'd be hanging out with Koichi and Okuyasu, other times it would be with his shitty old man. There were times when he was training with Jotaro. And even times when he and his other friends hung out with Reimi and Arnold in that alley so they wouldn't be so lonely.

And each time he'd awake in cold sweat. It would always feel like he had lost a part of his heart whenever he woke up from those dreams.

Well, it could have been worse. He could be have been "dreaming" about that damn blizzard again.

He chomped into the last piece of the candy bar as he threw the wrapper onto the ground behind him.

He hadn't been transported to that strange place in a while. He had been worried that if he fell asleep that he would be sent there, but thankfully that wasn't the case. Then again, he didn't really know how exactly he kept getting taken there or why, so perhaps he shouldn't have been so surprised.

But even though he hadn't been back to that place in two weeks...he could still hear them.

The voices of the dead.

Shigechi.

Hell, there were even times his body would feel cold for no real reason. He'd swore he felt something wet and soft pelt his skin even though he never found anything there. He'd feel his heart racing as for a moment he believed he was back in that blizzard. Dread would fill his chest as he wondered what he would see this time in that strange place.

And sometimes he could see the face of that...thing that looked like his mom.

But he'd always snap out of it a second later. He couldn't let fear distract him. Not when that bastard still lived.

He felt his right hand slowly curl into a fist, and he looked towards the town in the distance.

After this...he could worry. He could figure out how to get home after he beat that sociopath. And he would get home...somehow. Even if he had to spend years finding out how, he would see his family and friends again.

He had experienced so many things most would consider impossible. He had a power that let him redefine what the word "possible" truly meant. He had literally been transported to a separate universe.

There had to be a way to repeat the process. There just had to be.

For now, all he needed to do was focus on that man.

His eyes narrowed.

Just focus on beating the ever-loving shit out of Kira Yoshikage.

He walked back to his bike. Once he was close enough, he jumped onto the black seat and stuck the key into the ignition. The engine let out a metallic roar as he placed his helmet back on his head.

He would finally get revenge for all those he had killed in Morioh. For those he had killed in this world.

And he would get to correct the biggest mistake of his life.

He moved the kickstand back into its place as he gripped the throttle with as much strength as he could. The engine once again roared, and he was off. He could hear the winds rushing past him as he went down the road.

And he prepared himself for what would be the most important battle of his life.

---

Well, well, well.

He had finally arrived.

Kira placed the book he had been reading down on the small table to the right of him. It had been a copy of Steven King's The Gunslinger. Admittedly, it wasn't his favorite King novel, but still, it was a good way to kill time. He had read through most of the books he purchased with only a few here left in his collection he hadn't read yet. He would read the rest after he returned.

He slowly got up from the bed he had been lying on. He was currently in his room, which after much cleaning, was now the least dustiest place in his entire house. There was a small closet across from his bed that held his spare suits, and a large four drawer chest leaned against the far wall to his left. In the first drawer his nail collection, the second his books, the third he placed his casual clothing, and the fourth an assortment of fashion magazines and spare cash.

Maybe later would go out to eat. There was a sushi place here, and he had heard nothing but praise from it since he first arrived. Though, it might have been closed just like most of the other stores as of late.

He walked towards his closet and pulled out two hangers. A wooden one where his suit rested on smooth shoulders and a plastic one with metal clippings that held his pants and tie. He placed the hangers on his bed as he began to take off the white t-shirt and blue cargo pants he had been wearing.

About two weeks ago he had called Let Me Live into existence. He ordered it to not attack anyone and to instead simply stand at the tallest building it could and watch out for a single heat signature. The connection the sentry version of his Killer Queen had with him grew stronger the closer it was to its master. Strong enough to the point where if it saw a certain heat signature, it could use said connection to make the signature appear right before its master.

So when his world suddenly turned into a distorted color of static like blue and bright red, as if inferred goggles had been attached to his eyes, he knew Let Me Live was responsible. And the fact that his sentry was showing him a heat signature that looked incredibly familiar made him realize one thing.

Josuke Higashikata was here.

And the words he heard accompanied by this image, words that were distorted and spoken in a voice similar to his own, supported his statement.

Outskirts. Fifteen minutes away.

In all honesty, he had expected he'd arrive at this town sooner. But with all the time Josuke provided him, he had thought up of so many wonderful plans to deal with him.

He was fully changed now as he looked down at his clothes. His usual blue business suit and matching blue pants had no wrinkles. He had just recently ironed his tie so it looked fresh and pristine. Though, there was something missing.

He turned his head to look at the drawer on the wall, and he saw the golden swiss watch laying on top of it.

Ahh, that was it.

He walked around his bed towards the drawer. He calmly picked up the thin watch and wrapped it around his wrist. He could see his own reflection on the glass that covered the tiny hands and Roman numerals.

His lips moved into a grin as he secured it. He then walked towards the door and left his room. He walked down the long and decaying hallway that would lead him to the spiral staircase.

He had thought of so many different ways to deal with Josuke and his Stand. He had thought up of equally creative ways to kill the team of broken aliens as well. But as he was scheming, he was struck with an idea. An oh so brilliant idea.

Why come up with separate plans to deal with his enemies when he could come up with one to take care of both?

It was why he waited for him to arrive. Why he was now no longer annoyed by his imminent arrival, but instead thrilled. He was happy that Josuke had finally arrived here.

Because now that he was, he could execute his plan.

He had made it down the staircase and proceeded to walk towards the wide doors at the entrance of his house.

After this, he wouldn't have to deal with teenagers with supernatural powers. He wouldn't have to deal with aliens and their half-breed child once his plan went into action. Becuase, by the end of it, there would be no one around to fight him.

There would be no one left to disturb his peaceful life.

He pushed open the doors and saw the clouds in the sky. He could hear the faint rumblings of thunder as he walked on the rotted wood the made up his porch.

Ahh, yes, there was suppose to be a storm later today. Hopefully, they would all be dead before it started to rain. He didn't want to get his suit wet.

He walked on the decaying grass that made up his front lawn and headed towards the forest. He had to complete the preparations for his plan, so he was off to make a few...stops.

---

Steven had no idea why he chose to come to the boardwalk.

Every store, from Beach Citywalk Fries to Funland arcade, were closed. A lot of places had been closing earlier than they ever had before. The reason why was because they were scared. Everyone knew that the Gems had still yet to catch whatever blew up one of their own family.

He'd be surprised if anyone in their town wasn't terrified right now.

His eyes stared at the sand that was only a few feet beneath the wooden boards he was sitting on. His legs dangled off the edge as his right hand slowly moved towards his gemstone.

In his mind, he saw the Gems faces. He could see the horror on their expression. The sorrow that swirled in their eyes. And he almost felt those awful emotions stab at his very heart.

He never would have thought that he could cause the Gems to feel like that before.

He let out a sigh.

Well, before, he hadn't realized just how awful they were. They didn't even care about each other so how on earth could they care about him?Now, he knew they didn't love him. And now, he knew that they never would.

They would only ever love that awful woman.

"Steven!"

He didn't bother turning his head when as he heard loud footsteps running towards him before they quickly stopped. He just kept staring at the sand.

"What the heck was that!?"

He still didn't turn around as he heard her walk on the creaky wooden boards towards him.

"You were...I mean...do you..."

She kept trying to find her words, and he still didn't respond or even acknowledge her.

"Steven...could you just...look at me. At us. Please."

He had never heard her talk in such a small voice before. Each word she spoke was so frail, like they would fall apart at any moment.

He slowly turned his head around.

Connie was staring at him with eyes full of worry. He could see the anxiety lodged in her expression, and it was slowly getting bigger with each moment.

Lion had on an impassive face, but it was different from usual. This time there was a gleam within its chocolate eyes. Something he wouldn't have noticed if the pink animal wasn't staring right at him. To him, it looked like...fear.

"Steven...what the heck was that back there?"

And the worry grew again. He could almost feel her concern as it wrapped around her face. He hated making Connie so worried, it always made him feel like garbage making his close friend feel such awful emotions.

He continued to stare at Connie before he slowly let out a sigh.

"...I was just telling the truth."

He could see the worry fade slightly as she carefully sat next to him on the boardwalk. Lion stayed where it was, choosing to look at the two of them as it stood.

"Steven...I think we both know that "the truth" is different from telling the Gems to...you know."

"Connie...you heard what I said. I was just letting them know..."

He trailed off.

Would Connie even understand? Could she understand all the pain they had caused him?

He looked into her eyes. Brown eyes that belonged to his friend. Eyes that looked at him as his own person. She viewed him as Steven Universe, not Rose Quartz. She hadn't kept secrets from him. She had never hurt him just because she had issues.

She was his best friend. If anyone could see what he saw, she could.

"...How them being awful people have surprisingly hurt not only me but so many others."

She saw her eyes widen.

"Steven, do you...do you really believe that?"

He felt his eyes narrow.

"I don't believe it, I know it. I meant every word I said back there."

She glanced to the side. He knew those words were harsh, but the only way for her to see just how much they sucked he had to be as honest as possible. Just like what Mr. Araki had done for him.

"I know that you said that they're not over their issues but, I remember a couple weeks ago before...everything became awful that you said that you were proud of them. That you were happy they were getting over their problems."

He had said that. But that was before he really thought about their actions towards not just him, but to each other and even towards themselves.

"And I could be imagining things, but I'm pretty sure you said you loved them back then too."

...Yeah, he had said that. But now, hearing how idiotic he had been before only made him mad.

"Connie...that was before I realized that they just kept repeating the same mistakes over and over again."

He could hear the anger rising in his words. He tried to control it, but it getting harder to do so by the second.

"They just pretend like they've solved their problems but there just letting them get worse. Amethyst still hates herself, Garnet is still a bad leader, and Pearl for some reason is still head over heels for Rose."

He wanted to growl; his anger kept rising despite his efforts to smother it out.

He let out a breath.

They weren't here. It was just him and Connie. And Lion.

"And then they take it out on me. Sometimes it's on each other, but it's mostly me. Whether it be letting me fall to my death because they were hurt, turning into my dead mom in front of my dad, or letting each other continue to do this cra-stuff over and over again without ever helping."

He was reliving those times again in his mind. And his teeth gnashed together as a small growl escaped his lips.

"They say we're a family, but what kind of family does that? What kind of family manipulates each other? Hurts the other just because they feel bad about themselves?"

It was so...infuriating how they continued to lie to themselves. Why couldn't they ever admit the truth even once?

"When exactly did you start feeling like this?"

He blinked.

Connie was looking at him with furrowed brows.

"When did you start thinking that they didn't love you. That your mom didn't-."

"Why are you asking me questions I already answered back at the Beach House?"

He raised his voice for the first time as interrupted her.

"Because I want to know what happened to the Steven I knew."

He saw Connie's eyes narrow.

"What?"

"Did you even hear yourself back there? Halfway through it sounded like you were a different person."

He had never seen such a serious expression on his friends face before. But all her words did was make the anger burning within him grow yet again.

"I know I sounded harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts. After everything they did, I have the right to be mad."

Connie's mouth turned into a frown.

"Steven, you didn't just sound harsh, you sounded like you wanted to hurt the Gems."

He thought back to that feeling of enjoyment he felt for a split second.

He bit his lip as he looked to the side.

"And you looked...scary."

He knew that. He knew that Connie was scared of him as he was yelling at the Gems. But...he had every right to scream at them. To let loose every emotion festering within him.

"Connie, everything I said back there was the truth."

He could feel the anger blazing within his eyes. He tried to calm himself, but with all the memories replaying in his head it was impossible.

But despite his growing fury, Connie still calmly looked into his eyes.

"Look, what you said before..."

She trailed off before letting out a sigh.

"When you really say it out loud, it's...messed up, to put it lightly. But...I think even you didn't want to say some of the stuff you said to them."

He blinked again.

He could see their faces again. The sorrow flooding every inch of their features. The agony that each word he spoke caused them. They were awful. But...that didn't mean he liked seeing anyone suffer like that. No matter how cruel they were, he hated seeing any person feel such awful emotions.

"...No, I didn't."

But then he remembered all the talks he had with Mr. Araki. All the times he had made him really question every act the Gems had done as he went over their history.

"But that doesn't mean I regret what I said."

He would never regret letting the Gems know just how tired he was of their lies.

"But Steven, you didn't have to be so...cruel. Don't you think you could have handled it a bit-."

"Connie, what would you do if your Dad said he was moving again?"

She stopped talking. Her eyes widen slightly. There was fear in her expression as she stared at him.

"Wha-what?"

He was well aware that one of her worse fears was that her Dad would announce they were moving again because of his job again. It would always make her a tiny bit afraid whenever she thought of that horrible possibility. He didn't want to mention that possibility, but he needed to. It was to make her understand.

"Why...why are you asking me that?"

"Just...please answer."

His words were quiet now, any anger left in his voice was gone now. Connie looked to the side for a moment, and then her eyes returned to him.

"I...I beg him not to. You know I would."

"Yeah, I know. But, what would you first ask him?"

She bit her lip before she spoke.

"I...I mean, I guess I'd ask him why when he knows how much I love Beach City."

He let out a sigh.

"Yeah, you would. You'd ask your dad why. You'd ask him a simple question, and you'd expect a simple answer."

He once again placed a hand on his gemstone.

"But what if your Dad didn't answer you? What if he just gave you a vague response that didn't answer your question in the slightest?"

His fingers dug into his shirt. He could feel them brush against the edges of his gem

"What if he gave you answers that didn't make any sense to you whenever you asked him about anything from his past? Like what he did before you were born or where he met his wife?"

Sadness drowned his expression as his eyes flickered to the ground.

"How would you feel about all of that?"

Connie didn't respond right away. She looked at the ground for a while before her eyes returned to look at him.

"I...I guess I'd be...upset at him for doing that."

He let out a sigh.

"Yeah, you would be. You'd be hurt, bitter, and sad. You'd wonder if there's a reason why they're not telling you something so simple, and start to think that maybe it's okay that they don't tell you anything."

He really was an idiot for thinking like that for so long.

"But soon, you start to realize some things. Things that make everything they've done look questionable. You try to think the best, you try not to let that voice that keeps bugging you convince you otherwise, but every day it gets harder."

After finally realizing just how many awful things they had done, he regretted not listening to that voice sooner.

"You ask again, but still no answers. Even when it would be so easy, they still refuse to answer anything. You feel sad and hurt again, and start to think that maybe it's your fault that they won't tell you anything. But then..."

He looked up and stared at the ocean.

"It hits you. You realize that the reason they don't tell you their secrets isn't because of something you did, but because of them. It's because their awful, cruel people that constantly hurt each other. That can never get over their issues even when the fate of the planet, of their 'home,' is at stake."

His voice became bitter.

"You realize that they never loved you...and that the family you lived your entire life with is nothing more than a lie. A lie resting on top of a massive pile of other lies."

Lie after Lie. Secret after secret. Why were they incapable of being honest with each other? Why couldn't they just talk like an actual family? Why couldn't they see just how awful they were or how they hurt him?

For a moment, he saw her face in his mind again. And he felt his eyes turn into a glare.

Why can't they see just how sinister Rose Quartz really was?

"I'm sick of it Connie. They had everything coming to them. If I hadn't been such an idiot, I would have said that stuff a lot sooner."

He could hear the faint anger in his words as he gripped his gemstone even harder now.

Neither he nor Connie spoke for a while. From the corner of his eyes, he could still see Lion standing only a few feet behind them as he watched them with chocolate eyes.

Then Connie broke the silence.

"Steven...you're wrong."

He couldn't have heard that.

"What?"

"You're wrong."

You have got to be kidding me.

"Are you serious!?"

He was shouting as he quickly stood up. He couldn't control his anger anymore; it now burned throughout his every word.

"Yes, I'm serious!"

Connie stood up and looked right into his eyes. Despite the anger he knew was in them, she didn't even blink.

"I know for a fact they love you! I can't count how many times I've seen them literally risk everything just to save you!"

"After everything I said, after you literally just admitted what they did was awful, you're telling me they still love me!"

He'd thought for sure he understood. But he was wrong.

The fury within him became hotter. Why couldn't his own best friend see what he saw?!

"It...I'm not saying you shouldn't be mad at what they did. But you're letting your anger blind you from just how much they care about you!"

"Connie, they don't care about me! They've only risked their lives for me because they think I'm just a carbon copy of Rose!"

"That's not-."

"Were you even listening to half of the stuff I mentioned! Calling me Rose, talking about her like she's right there in my place!"

"I-."

"They don't even care about each other! They just take their problems out on whoever's closest and-."

"Would you stop interrupting me!"

She was shouting at him.

And he was surprised at just how fierce her words sounded. The intensity in her voice actually made him stop talking. The anger in her expression only made the glare she was sending him all the more frightening.

She had never looked so...intimidating before.

But as soon as it came, the anger faded. She let out a long breath before she spoke.

"Look...they stink at being guardians. They obviously have absolutely no idea what the heck they're doing."

Her eyes became gentle, and for some reason, he felt at ease as he looked at her.

"I...I'm sorry for not realizing just how much you were suffering."

Guilt flooded her expression, and she glanced away for a moment before quickly looking back at him.

"But, Steven, I know they care about you. And it's not because they think you're Rose. You wanna know how I know?"

The remorse vanished from her face as she took a step closer to him.

"It's because I see them actively trying to get better at being parents. Every time Pearl watches TV with us even though she has no idea what the heck she's watching. Every time Garnet watches the stars with us even though she's probably seen it through her future vision a million times over. And every time Amethyst picks up a book of The Unfamiliar Familiar even though she hates reading long books."

He...remembered those times. Those memories were fun. There were before Peridot had died. Before every day of his life became darker as he learned that the Gems weren't what he thought they were.

He felt something heavy rising in his chest. It embedded itself firmly within him. What exactly it was, he had trouble describing. It wasn't quite sadness, but maybe it was...regret?

But why-?

"They are always trying to understand everything you like so that they can better relate to you."

Her words brought him out of his thoughts.

"If they didn't love you, then they wouldn't bother learning that your favorite cereal is Cookie Kittens. Or that your favorite show is The Crying Breakfast Friends."

They...they did know a lot about what he liked and didn't.

"I'm not saying that what've done to you is...acceptable behavior, but..."

She glanced at the floor for a moment. She gathered her thoughts before she looked back at him.

"They love you...and that might not excuse what they did...I think that maybe it should at least mean they're not as horrible as you think they are."

He never really understood how Connie could make her voice sound so warm. He could hear compassion in every word she spoke. The kindness in every syllable felt...calming.

He could see their faces again. Could see them smiling at him. Of times when they seemed to be...a real family.

He looked down.

But then he remembered everything else. He remembered all the bad times. Every time he learned something bad about them and they just brushed it under the rug.

His eyes slowly moved back to Connie.

"What about the fact that they're still not over any of their problems? Even with all their issues, you still think they're not toxic?"

She frowned.

"That...they're slowly getting better, I know they are."

"Connie, Pearl turned you into a tool who was more than willing to die for me just because of how she felt about Rose, and you're saying she's getting better?"

She flinched. It was a small flinch, but he still saw it.

"Steven, Pearl only did that one time."

"The fact that she only did that once is far from a good thing."

"I...am aware of that, but you're making it sound like she's done it a thousand times over."

"Becuase she has. They all have."

The disgust in his voice was foul and bitter.

"Pearl says she's over my mom, but she has a crush on someone who looks just like her. Amethyst says she no longer hates herself, but I could feel her self-loathing when we fused. And Garnet hasn't ever done anything to help them even when she knows there's something wrong with all of them."

The venom in his every word became stronger as he clenched his hands into fists.

"Their issues are only getting worse every day. At this point, it's only a matter of time before they hurt either me, each other, or someone else because of their problems again."

"Steven, I..."

She trailed off, eyes flickering to the wooden boards.

"They have their problems, but that doesn't mean they're awful people. Some things just take time to...heal."

She had to take a moment to consider that last word.

"It's been years Connie. They've had plenty of time to get over their issues, but instead they choose not to talk about them to anyone. It's only after they do something awful that they start to consider something's wrong with them, and even then it at most lasts for a couple seconds before they go back to pretending everything's fine."

Like pretending that their friend hadn't been trapped by their leader for centuries. Like Rose hadn't lied to them to the end and believing that Bismuth was still dead.

"Steven...okay, they stink at talking about their problems."

At the very least, Connie knew when to admit he had a point. Unlike the rest of the Crystal Gems.

"But, some of their issues...I mean, would you want to talk about it?"

"When they constantly hurt me or each other, I think at that point I would realize I need help."

His eye narrowed.

"When the fate of the world is at stake and their issues cause problems, I think they should be just a little bit willing to talk about the things that bother them."

It was ridiculous. With so much at stake, they still choose to keep silent about their issues. They really were that adamant on admitting they weren't awful.

"And that's not even getting into the secrets. I still don't know anything about what they did before the war. I don't know anything Homeworld, what Rose's past was like before she became the leader of the Crystal Gems, or even basic stuff about Gem society. For some reason, they refuse to tell me even the most basic of stuff."

"There...maybe they want to tell you...but they can't?"

He heard the disbelif in her voice; even she didn't believe her own words.

His eyes were now in a glare as he stared at the wooden boards on the ground.

"Connie, I...we risk our lives every day when we go out to fight some Corrupted Gem. We deserve to know what the heck we're fighting for at this point. What could possibly be the reason for not telling us stuff that could help us understand Homeworld Gems in an instant? I mean, they don't even tell us what their leaders, the people who are probably our biggest enemy right now, are like or even their powers."

He looked back up and saw Connie's eyes flickering to the side. She seemed to be considering his words.

"It's like I said before, they just don't want me to find out how awful they really are."

"Steven..."

She paused. She saw her open her mouth once before she quickly closed it.

He took her silence as a sign to continue.

"Connie, even if they did love me and not Rose, that doesn't mean they aren't awful."

His voice was quiet again.

"That doesn't mean we're a real family."

What they were...it barely even counted as a cheap imitation of a genuine family. It barely-.

"Talk to them."

He looked up and saw Connie's expression had hardened as she looked him in the eyes.

"What?"

"If you talk to them now, then I'm sure they'll answer your questions. "

No, they wouldn't. That would require them to actually consider something other than themselves. And it was so frustrating that Connie couldn't see that.

"No, they won't."

"You don't know that."

How could someone so smart be so stu-.

He crushed that thought before it could continue.

"Connie, why on earth would they tell me anything now?"

"Because now they know just how badly they hurt you."

Oh, now they realize just how much their actions had hurt him. After so long, they finally realize something any loving guardian would have realized years ago.

"It doesn't matter if they know. They've hurt me before, so adding just another time to the list won't even bother them that much."

By tomorrow, they'd probably pretend that everything was fine. Just like always, his toxic 'guardians' would go back to thinking their lives were perfect when they were not.

"Steven, that's not true. Please, You have to talk to them."

"No. I. Don't."

He hoped his curt words would make her see he wouldn't change his mind.

"Then what's your plan?"

He raised a brow.

"What?"

"Are you just gonna avoid them for the rest of your life? Are you just gonna ignore them and pretend that they don't exist?"

Connie's eyes were narrowed. The serious expression on her face was almost as intense as Garnet's. Something told him that she knew how aggressive the face she made was.

He glanced at the floor.

"It's worked so far."

"What?"

"I moved out of the temple two weeks ago. I've been living with my Dad in his van ever since."

"What?!"

She screamed at him. Her mouth dropped as she stared right at him like he was an idiot.

He tried to ease the irritation rising within him that was caused by such a look, but he found it very difficult to not clench his teeth together.

But a moment later, the look was gone. Connie took in a deep breath before slowly letting it out. Her expression was now gentle as she looked at into his eyes.

"Steven, you can't just not talk to them. You said it yourself, Homeworld is still a threat and you guys need to be at your best. You're upset that they don't talk with one another and their personal problems, yet here you are doing the exact same thing."

He took a step back as his eyes widened.

Was he...doing what they had done? No. That...he would never be like them.

He wouldn't be like her.

"I...Connie, they never talk about their issues before, and they won't start now."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do."

"They've made mistakes, but now that you've...brought them up, I'm sure they'll listen. They have to."

This was pointless. Nothing Connie said would change his mind.

"Connie...just stop."

He turned around and stuck his hands in his pocket.

"I'm not talking to them. You might as well-."

He felt something grab him by his forearm. He was then yanked backward as he spun around.

Connie was grabbing his arm with both hands with narrowed eyes.

"What are you-."

"Talk to them."

This time her words were far more forceful than before.

"You have to do it at some point, so why delay the inevitable?"

He tried to pull his arm back, but Connie's grip was strong.

"Because even if I went back there, they wouldn't admit to anything."

"Steven, you guys are the only thing between the planet and an army of aliens. If you don't talk to each other at some point, then what'll happen to the Crystal Gems?"

He didn't have an answer.

"Who's gonna protect Beach City if you guys can't even stand in the same room as one another?"

He...he would come up with something.

"I'll figure something out."

When he said it out loud, he realized how flimsy that reason sounded.

"That is not an answer."'

He pulled back on his arm a little harder.

"Connie, please, let go of my arm."

"Not until you say you'll talk to the Gems."

"Connie...let go."

She hadn't missed the irritation his words carried. Instead, she ignored it as she continued to pull even harder.

"Steven, please, talk to them. They love you-."

Those words made anger burn throughout his body.

How could she believe such an obvious lie!?

"No, they don't!"

He had realized what he had done until he heard her gasp.

His eyes widen as he saw her take a few stumbling steps backward and she fell on to her back. The backpack she had been wearing had been forced open, its contents spilling onto the wooden boards.

He had pushed her. He had pushed his own friend with strength he hadn't meant to use.

"OW!"

She let out a shout. And when she did, worry swallowed his heart.

"Connie!"

He immediately went to her. Lion was also a few feet behind, though he wasn't paying the animal much attention.

"Are you alright?"

"Ow..."

He saw her slowly bring up her right hand as he could see a cut on her palm. It wasn't very big, but a tiny amount of blood still leaked from her hand.

"Oh, man, I'm so sorry."

"It...it's fine."

Her curt words did not ease his worry.

"I didn't mean-."

"I know, Steven. Like I said, it's fine. I'm fine. It's just a little cut. Probably from one of the nails or something."

It occurred to him that he had done something similar to what the Gems had constantly done to him. Hurt someone else just because they were hurting, and that disgusted him. He suddenly felt nauseous.

"Here, let me heal-."

"Don't!"

He took a step back as she shouted. Even Connie was surprised at how loud her voice was as she blinked. She looked away from him as she glanced at the floor.

"I...I have some bandages in my-."

She turned her head around and saw all the supplies that had once been in her backpack were now scattered on the boardwalk. Books, a surprising amount of printed pictures, and other supplies haphazardly covered the boardwalk.

"...Really?"

She sighed, picking up her backpack as she slowly got up. She moved towards the nearest object, which happened to be a case of bandages. She opened the case and took out a brown bandage before placing it on her palm. She then placed the case back into her back.

He thought he should say something...but he decided not to. Instead, he chose to grab the nearest object to him, Buddy's journal. He had dropped it as he ran from the Beach House. Connie must have picked it up on her way here.

Hesitantly, he walked over to Connie as she was picking up one of her notebooks and handed her Buddy's journal.

She accepted it with a nod as she immediately turned away from him went back to picking up her stuff.

He did the same. He grabbed at the white background of the nearest picture that was scattered along the wooden planks.

And when he flipped the picture over, he saw that the picture was of Fun Land. Specifically of the various booths at night with many people walking between them. And he instantly realized when this picture was taken. He recognized the decorations, the night sky, and the lights that glowed from the booths.

He had seen it constantly in his dreams.

He looked around at the other pictures. All of them looked to be taken at Funland just like the one in his hand.

"Did...are all these pictures of Funland before Peridot..."

He didn't finish.

Connie turned around to look at him. She looked nervous as she bit her lower lip.

"Yeah...I took them before you and Lapis showed up."

Her eyes glanced to the floor. His friend was worried that just by talking about that night she'd make him feel awful again.

And...she was somewhat right.

"You...you sure took a lot of them."

He tried not to make his voice sound weak, but he was failing spectacularly.

"Yeah, well, I took as many pictures of the fair as I could because I was going to show them to my pen-pal."

Oh, right. Her school had assigned the students pen-pals from across the state. Apparently, they were to send messages by email to each other at least once every two weeks.

What was her pen-pals name again? Something...Pines?

"But, things changed. So, I decided to print every picture I took that night. I thought that since I took so many pictures, maybe..."

She trailed off. Her eyes glanced at him for a moment. She was hesitant to continue, but after a few seconds, she decided to finish.

"Maybe I could find out what killed Peridot. Maybe I somehow took even a single inch of it without realizing."

Well, that sounded like a good idea. But...

"But I couldn't find anything."

He knew that there was no way they could be that lucky.

"Are...you okay?"

Connie looked at him like he might fall apart at any moment.

He wouldn't. He had to be strong now more than ever. Especially since from this point on he might have to deal with whatever killed Peridot without the help of the Gems.

"I'm fine."

He bent down to pick up another picture.

"I just need-."

His eyes flickered to the picture in his hand.

And he stopped talking. His thoughts came to a crashing halt. Everything around him seemed to fade to black as his entire focus shifted to the photo in his hand.

What...what was he looking at?

By all means, the picture in his hand wasn't that different from the others he had seen. There were people walking along one of Funland's many lanes that were surrounded by various booths. There was nothing here that showed anything Gem like. Nothing that screamed monster.

But there was something very, very, wrong with this picture.

Because when he looked in the background, amidst the sea of people that were so close to not being included in the picture, he saw him.

His back was facing the camera so he couldn't see his face. He was so far away he almost had to squint to properly see him. But he could still make out his blonde hair. His blue suit that seemed to be highlighted by the orange lights that came from the stalls in the forefront.

Mr. Araki was there. Even though he said he hadn't been there on that night.

"Steven?"

Connie's voice sounded so distant, but the fear within it reached his ears with ease. Did he look different somehow? Was him staring at this photo disturbing to her?

Or perhaps his trembling was the reason his friend sounded scared.

Mr. Araki could have forgotten. That was the first thought to appear in his mind. It sounded possible. He could have arrived there earlier and had left before Peridot had exploded. And then he had just forgotten to tell him.

But then he remembered his words from their first talk.

Forgive me for that assumption. With that visor of hers, I can't see her eyes, so I couldn't tell. They're a lot like Ms. Peridot's now that I think about it.

How...how did he know Peridot had a visor? Mr. Araki had told him several times during their talks that he hadn't made any friends or even talked to any of the people of Beach City since he had gotten here. So no one could have told him what Peridot looked like.

So that meant he had to have seen her at some point. And if he did, why didn't he say anything about it? Why hadn't he had said he was there to see her blow up? There would be no reason to...to lie.

And then he remembered something else.

About Gems' fighting capabilities, does every different race of Gems have a different selection of abilities

Yeah, so far everyone's had a different weapon. Garnet's gauntlets, Pearl's spear, Amethyst's whip, even Jasper's helmet.

And what of those without physical weapons? Do they also have the elemental powers of say Lapis? Or even powers similar to Peridot's?

He felt his heart stop beating for a second.

How...how did Mr. Araki know Peridot didn't have a weapon like any of the other Gems? He never told him anything about Peridot's abilities before or during that conversation.

So...so how on earth did he know what Peridot could do? He would have had...to...seen her...use her powers.

The sweat falling from his forehead was cold.

And the only time he could have seen that was when...she was being hunted by that-.

Another memory appeared in front of him. This one of Lion growling at Mr. Araki with white eyes. The pink beast didn't like Mr. Araki. It was like-.

They see something in me that other people don't.

Those words, the words Mr. Araki had meant as a joke, brought up an image to his mind.

It was when he first saw the blonde businessman. When he thought Mr. Araki seemed to drip with malevolence. When his eyes seemed to emit a cruel gleam.

When...his eyes...for one moment just before he fell down those stairs...

Looked pink.

They looked pink...long before he had nightmares of that monster.

Of the same thing that killed Peridot.

His trembling was making it almost impossible to stand now. His heart that had stopped beating was now hammering against his chest.

"Steven!?"

He could barely hear Connie's frightened cry.

No way. There was no way...that was ridiculous. There was no possible way.

The fear within him said otherwise as it choked him. His dread slithered throughout his entire body. It felt like he was slowly being dragged to an abyss as the terror suffusing him grew colder.

And then he felt a hand grab his shoulder. His attention was finally pulled away from the photo in his hand as he turned his head.

The fear in Connie's eyes was unlike any he had ever seen in his friend before. Like it consumed her every thought and action.

"What-are you-what's wrong?"

Even Lion was looking at him with wide eyes.

Wait...Lion...

"Lion...can...can you make a portal to Mr. Araki's house?"

The pink animal's expression immediately changed. The fear vanished from his expression as anger now burned in his eyes; Lion then let out a growl that was quickly getting louder.

"Wait, what?"

He didn't answer Connie's question. He still stared right at his pink friend. From the corner of his eye, he could see Connie's expression. Confusion was wrapping around her face as it grew with each moment.

"Why do you want to go to his house?"

"Because..."

He...he had to be mistaken. It was absolutely ridiculous that he was assuming something like that with so little evidence.

How could he even begin to assume Mr. Araki wasn't human?

But...

The blonde businessman had lied to him...that much he knew for sure.

And he wanted to know why now more than ever.

"...I need to ask him something really, really important."

He looked right into Lion's pupils. His eyes pleaded for his pink buddy to listen to him. His expression hopefully told Lion just how desperately he needed to see Mister Araki.

And after a moment, Lion let out another growl. This one didn't have any anger in it. It was a growl that begrudgingly accepted whatever request he asked his friend for.

"Thanks, Lion."

He then heard a sigh coming from behind him. Turning around, he saw Connie take a few steps closer to him. He noticed that at some point she had gathered all of her spilled supplies and placed them back in her backpack.

"I'm coming with you."

Her words were crisp and firm as she looked at him.

"Why?"

"Becuase this sounds important, and I want to be there for you."

The serious expression she wore left him no room to argue.

"Especially now."

Right. With how she had finally learned about his feelings for the Gems, to her, leaving him alone now was out of the question. And she probably wasn't done trying to convince him to give the Gems...a chance.

He slowly nodded his head.

"Okay, that's fine."

Connie then moved to Lion and placed her backpack in his mane. The moment her backpack made contact with Lion's hair, a bright pink light began to shine. The light took the shape of a large oval that made it impossible to see the area of hair it shined above. As she continued to push her backpack forward, the oval began to swallow it. Eventually, the backpack was completely swallowed by the light and had vanished from the world.

"So, what are we waiting for?"

She glanced at Lion, who in return let out a small growl. The pink animal was still displeased that he had to make a portal to that led to the man he hated as his eyes slowly began to glow white.

He tried to stop the dread within him from growing. But his fear continued to overwhelm him as it twisted his heart. He could once again see the monster from his dreams cruel, pink eyes.

This...he had to be just paranoid. It was just the awful feelings within him making him see things that weren't there. Forcing him to ask ridiculous questions when there was no need.

There was no way he could be right.

---

He never thought a town could be so...quiet.

Josuke rode his motorcycle through an empty street. He was going at about ten miles as he looked around at the buildings that surrounded him. Most were painted some shade of blue, with a few exceptions here and there. He had passed a number of stores, and some of them looked rather...interesting, if their names were anything to go by.

Really, who named a clothing store "We Have Shirts?"

But the thing that got his attention was the absolute lack of people. He had yet to see anyone walking around since he rode into town.

And that felt wrong.

He had read that Beach City was mostly a place where people go to vacation, so there should have been some people out and perhaps hanging out with friends. Tourist traveling along the curbs to try and find a place to take photos. There should be at least some people going into the numerous stores he had seen.

But there was no one.

It was like this town was...dead.

And that made his grip on the handles tighten.

That bastard had something to do with this. He knew that Kira Yoshikage was responsible for the town's lack of life. That murderer had already left his mark on this town, and now the people were suffering because of him.

Anger rose within him as he was reminded that the master of Killer Queen was most likely enjoying this emptiness. That the silence smothering the town made his "peaceful life" all the better.

His mouth was in a deep frown. His expression tightened as his eyes narrowed behind his helmet. A purple aura once again surrounded his body.

But after a moment, he dispelled it.

His hatred was only distracting him now. It wouldn't help him find that bastard, and right now, all it did was make him lose his cool when he needed to keep a calm mind.

When he actually found Kira, then he would allow his hatred to cut loose.

But finding that murderer would not be easy. Kira had been able to hide from the police of Morioh for years. He knew how to blend in and act normal; how to fake being human with frightening ease. Even if he asked anyone if they had seen someone suspicious the only answer he would get would be no. Not that he was going to ask anyone in this town such a question. He wasn't even going to ask if they had seen someone matching Kira's description. And that was because of one simple ability Kira possessed.

Bites the Dust.

My Killer Queen enters a person's body, and if anyone asks the infected person any form of question about Kira Yoshikage, they will blow up into thousands of pieces.

That bastard wasn't lying as he explained his Stand's new power. In that moment, Kira thought that he had won and saw no need to keep secrets. Everything he told him was the truth, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.

He let out a sigh. God damn it. Why did that psychopath have to get such a pain in the ass of a power?

He wouldn't ask any of the locals for any sort of help. He couldn't take any chances, especially when that bastard seemed to be stronger than ever. For all he knew Bites the Dust could be even more powerful then-.

He heard a sound coming from behind him. He brought his bike to a complete stop as his head whipped behind him.

All he saw was an empty road.

He felt his eyes move into a glare. The sound that he heard was gentle and swift. It had only been for a second but he knew he heard something. It was like the wind except...different.

He remembered one of Kira's new abilities. And he could suddenly see that black Killer Queen glaring at him.

...Could that sound have been the sentry?

His eyes flickered to every building around him. There seemed to be no one here. He seemed to be the only person traveling this street.

But that didn't mean anything. Just because he didn't see anyone didn't mean something wasn't here. It didn't mean that something wasn't watching him.

The street suddenly felt very cramped. Even though it was wide and separated into two lanes, he suddenly felt like there was barely any space.

He let out a breath.

Well, it didn't really matter if he was being watched. In fact, the whole reason he was driving around town was to get that bastard's attention. Kira Yoshiakge knew he was coming. Which meant that he had plenty of time to think of who knows how many plans to deal with him. So he decided that he would walk into whatever trap that bastard had in store for him. It was the easiest way to find out where he was.

And after that murderer unleashed his plan, he would overcome it and proceed to beat him to death.

He took his hand off the brakes as his bike began to move again.

The determination within him vanquished any feelings of anxiety left in his body. His resolve was firm and would not waver, not after everything he went through to get here.

He revved up the throttle slightly as his bike accelerated. His eyes looked to the roof of the buildings surrounding him.

No matter what, he would win. He had to win. For his friends. For the people this bastard murdered as he smiled. He had to make up for all the times he failed. He had to make sure his mistakes would end here. That Kira Yoshikage would meet his end once and for all.

It was the least he could do for the dead. For the souls that were still in agony.

He was coming up on an intersection. He began to turn his bike to the left as his eyes gazed at that buildings.

For every horrible atrocity Kira had committed, he would get revenge for everyone who had been-.

His eyes looked away from the buildings and glanced back in front of him as he turned onto the adjoining street.

Just in time to see a man not even ten feet away from his bike as he walked along a crosswalk. He saw the man's eyes widen at the same time his own pair did.

"Shit!"

As he shouted, he quickly grabbed the brakes with all his strength. The bike immediately came to a screeching halt, his body jerking forward because of the sudden stop. The man meanwhile had taken a short jump backward as he let out a startled scream. The brown paper bag in his hand hit the road as several grocery items fell out and spilled onto the street.

But while he had made the man spill his shopping bag, he avoided hitting him.

The moment his bike had completely stopped, he propped up the kickstand and took the keys out of the ignition. He then hopped off his bike and ran to the man.

"Are you alright?!"

He took off his helmet as he got within a few feet of the man, placing it under his armpit as he crouched down. He reached out with one arm as he watched the man rub his head.

Now that he was so close to the man, he got a better look at his features. He looked like he was in his thirties, with long hair that seemed to be in the shape of a mullet. His hair reached all the way to his waist, though at the very top of his head he was bald, which was somewhat strange to him. He wore a dark green turtleneck that clung to his rather plump body along with dark blue jeans and dark brown boots.

The man let out a small grunt as he looked up at the extended arm he offered him.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

The man grabbed his hand and proceeded to pull himself up. Once he was standing, he let go of his hand as brushed off any dust that had gotten onto his person when he fell.

"You just startled me."

He let out a sigh. The last thing he needed to do was hurt some random passerby.

"Thank God. I thought I was gonna hit you for a second."

His paranoia had gotten the better of him and made him think that he was being watched. But as he quickly glanced around, he saw nothing, and he still wasn't being attacked. If Kira was observing him, then now would be the greatest time to attack him as he was seemingly distracted.

But nothing attacked him. The worry in his chest had made him feel hunted when there wasn't anything dangerous around him. And that because of it, he almost hit a man with his bike.

"I'm sorry!"

He bowed his head forward at the man.

"I wasn't watching where I was going! This is completely my fault!"

He expected for the man to be at the very least mildly perturbed. Perhaps spout an insult which he would accept without so much as a blink.

"Umm..."

He did not expect for the man to sound uncomfortable. He slowly got out of his bow and looked up. The man was glancing to the side as he rubbed the back of his head abashedly.

"You don't have to bow, man, like I said it's fine. No harm done."

Oh, right.

This wasn't Japan. This was America. And in the west, people don't bow when they apologize. He had...forgotten for a moment where he was.

He fought back against the sorrow that he had felt so many times throughout his journey. And he realized that he still hadn't replied to the man across from him. The air around them seemed stiff and almost smothering.

He coughed into his fist. He could feel heat rising to his cheeks; he didn't want to seem rude or strange to this man after all.

"Sorry about that. I'm...still getting used to this place."

He had said the first thing that came to his mind without any real consideration. He then walked away from the man and towards the pile of groceries that now littered the street. He crouched down and reached for the paper bag as he grabbed a head of lettuce before placing it inside the bag.

"Hey, you don't have to help."

The man got on his knees as he sat next to him.

"I beg to differ. I'm the one that caused this mess, it's the least I could do."

The moment he said that, the man smiled. He let out a small laugh as he grabbed a nearby can of tomato paste.

"Heh, Not gonna lie, I don't know a lot of bikers that would actually apologize to me if they did the same thing you did. Let alone offer to pick up my groceries."

The man's expression became contemplative as he dropped the can into the brown paper bag.

"Then again, I don't know a lot of bikers."

His lips moved into a grin.

"Well, I wouldn't call myself a biker."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I just...borrowed this bike to get here."

"Wow, you must have one friend who would lend you a sweet ride like that."

He did not have any such friend. At least here, anyway.

"So, you're new here?"

"Yeah, just arrived like...twenty minutes ago."

"Wow, guess that probably means I'm the first person from Beach City you've talked to then."

"You are, actually."

The man smiled again. This time it was even bigger than before as he stood up. The brown paper bag in his hands was once again full of groceries that they had picked up off the ground.

"Well then, let me introduce myself. The name's Greg Universe."

He also stood up as the man across from his extended his arm for a handshake. He quickly shook the offered hand with his own gloved hand.

"I'm Hi-, I mean, I'm Josuke Higashikata."

He had to remind himself that here, people don't give their family names first.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Universe."

"You can just call me Greg."

"Alright then."

When their handshake ended, Greg looked him over. His eyes began to narrow as they locked in on his forehead. No wait, he was looking at...his...hair.

"Hey man, can I just say that you're hair-."

His right hand was suddenly in a very tight fist. A familiar anger was ignited within him as he frowned.

Here it comes, the insults. No one had yet to comment on his hair throughout his journey, but that did not mean he missed the glances that some people sent his way. It looked like he had finally met someone who actually had the balls to-.

"Is awesome!"

...Wait, what?

His unclenched his fist as he stared at Greg.

"Are you being sarcastic?"

Those words left him in an instant as his eyes narrowed. He thought that maybe this was some sort of joke. And he'd be an idiot to fall-.

"Heck no man, that hair is seriously wicked! I've never seen anything like it before!"

There wasn't even a hint of a lie in Greg's voice. The man across from him meant every word he said.

A wide smile stretched across his face.

"Hehe...thank you."

"How did you even get it into that shape?"

"Well, it just takes a lot of effort and patience. The type of comb helps too."

"Do you use any type of hair products?"

"Usually whatever's lying around. I don't really have a specific brand I constantly use."

"Man, Steven would love-."

Greg's expression changed the moment he said "Steven." His lips went from a smile to a remorseful frown. The sorrow swirling on the man's face was cold as he let out a sigh. Something was wrong, that much was obvious. But he didn't feel like it was his place to ask what. He was a stranger to this man, after all.

Neither he nor Greg spoke for a while. And there wasn't a single sound around them to disturb the quiet.

It was then the man across from his seemed to realize the sudden lack of talking as his eyes widen slightly. He let out an awkward laugh before he spoke.

But as he did, he noticed that the enthusiasm from before was all but gone now.

"Oh, um, sorry about that. Didn't mean to just stop talking all of sudden, I was just...thinking about some things."

"It's fine, really."

"So...where are you from?"

He thought about how he should answer this question. He remembered how Jotaro once said that half-truths are sometimes better than complete lies.

"...Japan."

"Woah, you're pretty far from home then, huh?"

You have no idea.

"Yup."

He wouldn't let the melancholy within him slip into his voice. He couldn't get sad, not now. Not when he had to find that killer and bring him to justice.

No distractions, Josuke.

"So, why did you come to Beach City?"

"Oh, I'm just...visiting."

"Well, I won't lie..."

Greg trailed off as his eyes glanced at the buildings around him.

"You picked a bad time to visit. Usually, it's never this quiet here. It's actually really cool when there are people around here."

"I figured as much."

Greg sighed as he looked at the floor. Something about that expression was familiar to him. The sorrow in his eyes, the regret the filled his entire face, it all looked like he had seen it before.

And he had.

For the expression he wore was almost the exact same one Okuyasu had on when he lost his brother Keicho.

"Who died?'

Shit. Those words left his mouth before he could help it. He saw Greg flinch as he bit his lower lip. God damn it, he usually had far more tact than that.

"...I made it that obvious, huh?"

The sadness in his voice was highlighted by a deep pain present in every word.

"I'm sorry, I didn't...it's just, your face reminded me of someone I know and well...it brought up some memories."

"It's...fine. I just..."

Greg didn't finish as the pain in his eyes grew. Sorrow drenched his expression, and he could almost see just how

"It hasn't been easy since she was...Killed."

Killed.

Not died. Killed.

It did not take him long to realize what had happened.

Anger burned within him, and it was the same anger he had felt so many times before. The same wrath that had been born when he first learned about that blonde bastard. The only difference was that now his fury was more scorching than ever.

He made sure to keep his expression the same as Greg continued.

"I...geez, I still can't believe it happened...right in front of him, too."

He did not ask who "him" was. That was far too personal. In fact, he shouldn't have even started this conversation in the first place. He just...that expression he made reminded him of all the pain Okuyasu had gone through since he lost his brother. And he remembered how he did his best help his bro out. A part of him must have wanted to do the exact same thing here.

But he couldn't.

"I...it just really su...stinks. I mean...it's almost as bad as-."

"You don't have to tell me anything else."

He interrupted Greg as he glanced to the side. He couldn't bring himself to look at the misery within his face. Misery that...he had caused.

All because of his mistakes. All because he couldn't stop that murderer from hurting anyone else.

"This...sounds like something you should only share with people you know."

"Well, it doesn't really matter."

He raised a brow as he looked back towards Greg. The man's eyes were gazing at the floor, his hands in his jean's pockets.

"Everyone saw it. It happened right in front of a crowd of people. You have to be blind to miss the explosion."

His last words confirmed what he already knew. Kira was responsible for yet another murder. The blazing anger that he had gotten so used to feeling once again rose in his chest. Though this time, it was accompanied by another emotion that slowly enveloped his mind.

Confusion.

Kira wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible. He'd hide his true nature from anyone. He'd always maintain the front of a human being while carrying out his murders in secret.

So why the hell would he execute someone while they were in public?

An answer immediately came to his mind.

Because whoever this person was, she had seen that bastards true colors.

"Besides...if anything, her death affects you and everyone here as well."

He raised a brow.

"I...don't think I follow you."

How could a person who he didn't even know dying affect him? He had literally just arrived here, and granted the fact that someone died did anger him, he didn't think that Greg knew that.

So how was this death related to him?

"Well...the person who died was someone who protected this town."

"Oh. You mean like a cop?"

"No, well kinda, I guess. She was more a part of a group that dedicated themselves to protecting the people who lived here."

That sounded like what he and the other Stand Users of Morioh did when they learned about Kira. But what-.

"She was an alien that learned to love this planet and wanted to protect the humans here."

His thoughts stopped for a moment.

He blinked. He blinked a few times after the first blink. He thought he misheard him at first. He thought that perhaps he had mistranslated the words in his head.

But after realizing he did no such thing, he realized that yes, this man just said that there were aliens in this town.

He had said it like they were talking about the weather.

"...An alien?"

"Yeah."

Either Greg did not hear the disbelief in his voice or he chose to ignore it, because within seconds he continued.

"She was a tiny green gem with a lot of heart."

Tiny? Green? Was that really what aliens looked like?

"She was someone who was once apart of the other aliens that tried to destroy this planet."

Wait a damn minute "destroy the planet?" What the hell kind of alien was she? Was she like those aliens from War of the Worlds?

"But then she changed and became a part of the Crystal Gems. She fought for the people here and protected us from giant monsters and so much worse stuff."

Giant monsters?

"She found a group of people here she could call a family. And I was honored to know her."

There was a pause.

And he tried his best not to look shocked.

Though, he was failing miserably at doing so

"Um..."

Greg looked at him. He seemed to notice his expression for the first time as he raised his brow.

"...What is it?"

What is it? That's all you have to say?

"Just so I'm clear...this isn't some American joke, right?"

Greg's eyes narrowed slightly, somewhat offended by his words. But in the next second, his stopped narrowing his eyes as the man stared at him.

"...No."

"And...I don't want this to sound like an insult but..."

He rubbed the back of his hair.

"...You're not on drugs, right?"

"What?!"

Greg shouted slightly. The outrage in the man's words made it clear he should have chosen his words better.

"No! I've never once done drugs!"

He immediately put his hands in a placating gesture.

"Sorry, sorry, I really didn't mean to offend you. It's just-."

"It's just what?"

Greg's eyes were once again narrowed.

"...Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"

Now, it wasn't that he couldn't believe in the existence of aliens. Hell, he had met one in his world...probably...maybe...God damn it, he really wanted to know just what the hell Mikitaka was.

But, even if his strange friend wasn't an alien, he constantly battled against supernatural forces most would never believe in. His definition of what was possible had been greatly expanded upon since he learned about the world of Stands. He would be an idiot to dismiss something just because ordinary people would consider it ridiculous or impossible.

However, if someone wanted him to believe in very outrageous claims like this, they would have to show some evidence to support them.

And the fact that he not once seen any sort of articles online, any sort of newspaper shouting at the discovery of sentient life, the fact that nowhere else in this country did he see any sort of mentions to alien life made him just a tad suspicious.

"What?! I'm not lying! Do you think I would...make up someone I care about dying!?"

No, he did not. The pain in Greg's eyes looked genuine. The remorse drowning his expression wasn't fake, he could tell. The fact that Greg. had told him his friend had exploded did add to his credibility.

However...

"Look...you're telling me aliens exist?"

"Yes."

Greg said that like he was stating a fact everyone knew.

"...So, why exactly aren't scientist currently freaking out?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, you're making it sound like everyone in this place knows about the existence of aliens."

"Well...most do."

"So then, why isn't NASA or some government organization like that announcing plans to venture even deeper into space. I mean, the existence of sentient life would be a pretty big discovery to just about every scientist in the world, right?"

Even in 1999, scientist were constantly trying to discover new life.

Greg blinked a few times at his words.

"Um, well, the Gems-."

"Gems?"

"That's the name of their race."

"I see."

Some of the doubt festering within his chest slipped into his voice.

"They've been a part of humanity for a long time, and most people have just grown to view them as, well, normal."

"...But, if people view aliens as normal, then why isn't there a bigger emphasis on examining the culture of this sentient race."

If people knew about a sentient alien race, everyone would want to know everything they could about their culture. Alien life just being seen as normal as say, a box of tissues could never happen. Every group and organization on earth would want to know as much as they can about the people who were literally from another planet.

"I've traveled a very long distance across this country, and yet I haven't heard even a single mention of aliens. Wouldn't there be, I don't know, casual mention of alien life in everyday society? Organizations dedicated to studying their culture or people using the things from their society and implementing them into our own?"

He saw Greg blink again. There was hesitation in his expression now. It seemed like his questions were making the man consider his next words carefully.

"Okay...I don't know about...all of that stuff, but, I'm telling the truth. I can see why you'd be skeptical, but if you asked anyone here, well if they were out anyway, they would tell you about the aliens living in the giant temple on that hill!"

Greg pointed a finger over the buildings. He followed the direction he was pointing in, and when he squinted his eyes, he could partially see a hill. But not a giant temple.

"I don't see any temple."

"Wait, sorry, I mean engraved in the hill."

"...Engraved?"

"Yeah. The Gems carved out the temple right on the face of the hill. You can't see it from here."

...that sounded rather convenient. And somewhat impractical, at least to him.

"Before you said that...giant monsters attack this place, right?"

"Okay, I know that sounds dangerous, but the Gems have a good handle on that."

"And what does the local government have to say about that?"

"What?"

"I mean, wouldn't someone post that stuff online or call someone else to let them know about the dangers here? And if I worked for the government and learned that a town that was attacked by giant monsters, I would send in a strike team to deal with them. Kinda like what the people in every Godzilla movie have done. I mean, I don't know how effective that be, but at the very least I would do something."

"Well-."

"Also, if this place is attacked by giant monsters, wouldn't the military be worried about people getting hurt and, I don't know, advise people not to go here?"

"I mean, I guess-."

"And, with respect, but if this town is attacked by aliens, then how is it able to sustain itself? I don't see how you can market a place that is attacked by giant monsters as a vacation spot for tourists. How does anyone even have jobs or-"

"I'm not lying!"

Greg wasn't quite shouting, but he did raise his voice. The man wanted him to believe his words, and a part of him did want to. Greg seemed like a good enough man and was obviously hurting due to his loss, but everything he had said so far was...suspicious, to put it lightly.

"Look...do you have any evidence of these aliens?"

"Evidence?"

"Yeah. Like, pictures or something."

"Well...not on me."

"I see."

The doubt in his voice kept rising.

"But, look..."

He took in a long breath.

"The Crystal Gems, the group of aliens that protect this town, this planet, are real. And...they just lost someone very important to them."

Whoever this man just loss was probably as close as family; the pain on his face told him that much. This man didn't seem to be lying, and the sorrow swirling in his expression was real, there were no doubts about that.

But still...aliens?

Perhaps the man had...gone a bit over the deep end since the death of whoever he lost. Because, well, if he honestly expected him to believe that aliens lived in this town without any evidence what so ever, then-.

He heard something from behind him again. It was the same sound from before, the same gentle noise that was easy to hear in the empty streets. The noise that sounded like wind but was to...precise to be wind.

He slowly turned around.

And his eyes widened.

All the way at the end of the street, he saw it.

Both of his hands immediately went into tight fists. The leather of his gloves bit into his skin.

It was standing there, shoulders slouched forward as those pink eyes looked at him.

His mouth went from a frown to a feral snarl.

"Dude is something-."

"Leave. Right now."

He did not face Greg as he gave that order. His eyes were firmly fixed on the monstrosity that stood hundreds of feet away. But even from so far away, he could still see a black mist like substance was gathering around its feet.

"Wait, what's-."

"Leave, right now!"

Greg stopped talking, and he did not need to turn around to know that the man was worried. His words had suddenly become severe, every muscle in his body was tense for seemingly no reason. It looked like he was preparing to fight someone. And since Greg was the only man on the street...

"Hey, dude, I think you need to calm down."

The mist at its feet moved. As swiftly as a gale, strands of black mist traveled upwards through the air, slithering like snakes until they reached its' black leather palms. The mist then began to whirl, each black wisp spinning right above both hands like a small tornado. Each tendril of mist began to merge with one another as they continued to spin, and he could see them taking shape into a familiar object.

Within a second, the black mist finished converging as he saw two black orbs spinning at the very center of the monster's palms.

And then Let Me Live pulled back its arms as far as it could right before chucking them forward. The orbs flew off his hands as they were hurled through the air, traveling so fast they were already halfway up the street within seconds.

A purple aura surrounded him once again.

And then he moved.

He ran forward, focusing on the orbs as they were quickly approaching both him and Greg. His motorcycle was only a few feet away from him, and once he was in range, he channeled the energy within him to his right leg. Said leg quickly turned pink, bulging muscles accompanied by metal shin guards now covered his limb.

He pulled his leg up to his chest before kicking forward. The sole of his foot hit his motorcycle right in its center and sent it flying.

"Holy-!"

Gregs confused cry was cut short as his motorcycle flipped through the air. The bike hit the two orbs head-on just as they came about twenty feet away from hitting them.

And then there was a giant explosion. The explosion didn't make a single sound, only silence accompanied it. Columns of flames rose high above the surrounding buildings; the shockwaves from the blast reverberated throughout the street. He was so used to the explosions of that bastard he was barely even fazed, but Greg wasn't as the shockwaves sent him falling on his butt.

This time, he made his voice sound as furious as he possibly could make it.

"Get the hell out of here, now!"

With all the fury burning in his face, he knew that he looked absolutely terrifying. His anger told Greg bad of an idea it would be to not listen to him. The balding adult's eyes were engulfed with fear as he quickly got up. He then turned and ran as fast as he could, reaching into his pocket and pulled out a cellphone. He watched until Greg had turned around the corner and vanished from his sight, hopefully finding someplace to hide.

He slowly turned his head back to face what was left on the explosion. He watched as the flames licked the nearby buildings' walls as embers fell to the ground. And as the fire from the explosion slowly died down, he could see an outline moving within the remaining flames.

Slowly, Let Me Live strolled out of the flames, it's pinks eyes glaring at him.

He returned that look with an equally vicious glare. And then, the sentry of Killer Queen spoke.

"Josuke Higahikata...it's been a while, hasn't it?"

The slow manner in which it spoke made the anger within him all the more heated. That distorted voice brought up so many memories. Of his friends dying, of being transported to that frozen wasteland, of the voices of the dead.

Right now, he couldn't see Let Me Live. Instead, all he could see was Kira Yoshikage.

The purple aura around him grew.

He tossed his backpack aside.

The air in front of him glimmered a soft pink.

And Crazy Diamond appeared only a few feet away from him. His Stand floated in the air as its own glare was even more ferocious than his.

---

How had they been so blind?

Pearl was the only one standing in the room. She seemed to be the only one that could. Amethyst was on the couch as she stared at the floor, hugging her knees as she had been doing for the past twenty minutes. Garnet kept muttering the same three words as her back laid against the door; even with her visor, she knew that her leader's expression had as much sorrow in it as her own.

Her grip on the counter got tighter.

Why...why hadn't she seen how much Steven was hurting? Why didn't she realize it sooner?

You don't care about anyone other than yourselves.

That...that wasn't true. She cared, she could never stop caring about Steven. She had always-.

I can't count how many times you've called me Rose!

She flinched so badly it was like someone struck her.

She...she had done that. She had made...so many mistakes before. But...she learned from them. She did, beyond a shadow of a doubt. There was no way she hadn't. But those words...pierced her very core. They had hurt, of course they would hurt since they were coming from Steven, but...they struck something within her mind. Something that made her hear those exact same words over and over again.

Her frown got even deeper as tears were once again brimming in her eyes.

She had never thought Steven could hate anyone. That boy seemed to be a bottomless pit of empathy. But every word he screamed at them held a hatred that she couldn't believe came from Steven; the boy who always tried to see the best in everyone had such a vicious anger in his eyes as he let them know how they made him feel.

The boy who could forgive even his enemies told them all to fuck off.

...Damn it. How...why didn't she see it? How could she not have seen how much he hated her? How her shoving her problems onto him only made him worse?

How could she not even see that he hated his own mother because of everything she had said.

She remembered the day Rose left. And the promise she made that day. She was doing an absolutely horrible job at keeping it.

She heard a noise coming from a few feet away from her. She turned her head and saw that it was a phone. Steven's phone. He must have left it here without realizing it. It was vibrating slightly, and when she looked at the screen she could see an image of Greg with the words "Best Dad" appearing underneath it. Steven was receiving a call from his father.

She let out a sigh. She didn't see the need to pick up the phone. She didn't want to pick it up either. All of her strength was gone as she couldn't see it returning anytime soon. They would have to tell him what happened with Steven soon, but definitely not now. Whatever Greg needed couldn't be that important.

The phone stopped vibrating. And then she heard Steven's voice.

"Hey, this is Steven Universe. Once you hear the beep, leave a message and I'll get back as soon as I can."

Even though it was a prerecorded message and not the real thing, she still flinched. She was sure that the others did as well. Even just hearing a recording of Steven was enough to make the guilt within her all the punishing.

There was a beep.

And then there was a frantic screaming. She actually jumped a little as the words reached her.

"Steven dude, pick up right now!"

She had never heard Greg shout so loudly before. His voice was full of fear as she could almost see his widen eyes over the phone. Amethyst and Garnet's heads perked up as their attention was immediately drawn to the phone.

"Sh-I mean, stuff is really going down here! I don't know what, but there's definitely something really bad attacking Beach City right now!"

Her eyes widen.

Something was...could it be...

"Please hurry up and-!"

She immediately reached for the phone and answered it, fingers pressing down on the green "accept" button with far to much force.

"Greg, are you-."

"Pearl! I'm so glad you picked up, it's starting to get really bad here!"

"What do you-?"

"I mean, I'm not even sure if that guy's alright. He saw whatever made that blast but he just chose to stay there for some reason!"

"What guy-?"

"You guys have to get down here right now! People are already going crazy and-."

"Greg!"

She interrupted him before he could continue his ramblings. She only just now noticed that Amethyst and Garnet were standing right next to her.

Her voice was deadly serious as she asked the questions that were no doubt on her friends' mind.

"What's going on?"

"You mean you don't know?! How could you not know?!"

She winced. She knew he wasn't referring to their...talk with Steven but-.

She shook her head.

Now was far from the time.

"No, we don't know."

There was a beat.

"Then you need to look outside right now."

Neither she or anyone in the room had ever heard the human sound so grave before.

---

It waited.

It was weird watching those three move. They had no heat signature, so there wasn't the usual bright red mixed with orange contained in the outline of a meat bag. Instead, what it saw was just an emptiness. No heat, no signs of life, just nothing. All it saw was what looked like a meat bag, at least when it came to limbs and body appearance, with a hollowness in place of heat.

It was like looking at a God damn rock that moved like a person.

Heh. It supposed that was rather accurate.

It watched as the rocks ran out of their home. It watched as they stood on the very edge of the wooden deck near the railings and up at the hill. It could not hear them, but it didn't need to.

Even for not meat bags, it could tell fear when it saw it. And by God did these rocks wreak of it.

It would have laughed. It will laugh very soon.

Just not yet.

Because right now, it had a job to do.

---

"What the hell?"

Wide eyes and a vulgar question was Amethyst's response to what they saw. Pearl couldn't help but agree with her words as they all lifted their heads as far up as they could.

They all stared at the large trails of smoke they saw rising into the grey clouds in the sky. They could see smoke from here. Even with a hill that was hundreds of feet tall, they could see wisps of smoke.

"Greg, what's going on in Beach City?!"

She shouted at the phone in her hand. The fear slithering within her body was lodged into every word she spoke.

"I don't know! First, there was one explosion-!"

Explosion?

Her fingers tightened on the phone.

So she was right. Whatever was causing this was the same thing that killed Peridot.

"And then-."

There was a rumble on the other end. Whatever it was caused Greg to stumble in his words as he let out several small gasps. After a few seconds, he was back on the phone as he screamed.

"Then there's like explosion after explosion. I mean, I can't hear it, but you kind of have to be blind to miss the fire!"

Can't hear it?

She shook her head.

Never mind that, there were more important things to do now. Like making sure Steven was okay.

"Greg is Steven with you!?"

"What!?"

Even with the rumbling and faint screams on the other end, Greg's shout dwarfed both of them. His scream told her exactly what he was feeling right now. From Confusion to shock, sorrow to horror, she could almost feel every emotion the human was going through.

No wait, she was going through those emotions. She felt them strangle her as she realized what Greg's cry meant.

Steven wasn't with him.

"Why isn't he with-?!"

She never heard what he said because Garnet's shout canceled his voice out.

"Pearl, move right now!"

By the time their leader finished, she felt something hit her right in her stomach.

Hard.

She let out a painful gasp as she was sent off her feet. She careened through the air as she crashed through the wooden railings on the deck, now nothing more than splinters. And as she flew, she could still feel it.

She could feel whatever had hit her still on her stomach.

And then all she could see were flames.

---

The explosion happened at almost the exact moment Pearl was sent flying. Amethyst now knew why Garnet had been shouting at Pearl to move.

Too bad she couldn't have given her a similar warning. The explosion was absolutely massive as she felt the fire burn bits of her hair and clothes. She was a Gem, and as such, couldn't be burned unless something was very hot. But, there was still the force from the blast she had to deal with. And the force made it impossible to keep her eyes open as she was sent flying. Wind rushed against her skin as her body spiraled through the air. She was eventually able to open her eyes just in time to see herself crash head first into the sand from the beach.

Her body bounced off the soft sand as she was sent tumbling across the beach. Sand was kicked up into the air until she eventually stopped herself by digging her hands into the ground. She got up as fast as she could as she looked around.

The Beach House was on fire. The wooden deck was covered in flames as the front door had been turned to ash. Parts of the roof had been blown to smithereens as shingles fell onto the beach below. She could partially see small columns of flames inside their house and slowly getting bigger with each moment.

She turned her head to try and find her friends. And after a moment, she did. About twenty feet away to the left of the now burnt stairs, Garnet was slowly rising from the sand, small flames clinging to her afro before she quickly smothered them with her hand. Soot covered parts of her outfit as her head turned in every direction. And near the far end of the beach, she saw Pearl. Her tall friend had a harder time getting up, since she had been at the very center, she was in more pain than both her and Garnet.

"Are you guys okay!?"

Garnet and Pearl both turned towards her when they heard her shout.

"Ye-Yes, I'm fine!"

Pearl's answer was somewhat shaky as she slowly stood up.

"I...I'm fine as well!"

There was a slight tremble in Garnet's voice. She must have been more hurt than-.

"Amethyst, did you see what caused that explosion!?"

Pearl's question made her blink. Her mind went back to that moment, and she realized, she hadn't seen anything. One moment Pearl was talking to Greg, and then with no warning except for Garnet's scream, there was an explosion.

What the hell-?

She heard something.

It sounded kinda like...wheels?

She turned around. She didn't see anything. But she had definitely heard something, she knew that for a fact. But where-?

"Amethyst, get out of there now!"

Her head whipped to Garnet. She could hear the dread consuming her voice, and for their leader who never showed any emotion unless the situation was beyond bad, that was not a good sign. Even though Garnet was so far away, she knew that her expression must have been full of fear.

Her head began to swivel left and right.

"What?! What is it!? Where's the-!?"

She heard another sound. This time, she knew where it was coming from.

Her shoulder.

And in addition to that sound, she heard a voice.

"Hey..."

That voice was so hoarse. So rough that it actually made her want to cover her ears; it sounded like metal being grated by a train.

She slowly turned her head towards her left shoulder.

And saw nothing there.

But she did feel a weight. She did see the fabric of her shoulder wrinkle like something was right on top of it.

And she definitely heard that same voice coming from there.

"Look over here."

And once again she was swallowed by another explosion.

---

Something was wrong.

Josuke charged forward, his Crazy Diamond floating right by his side as it raised its fist. Let Me Live was running towards them as well, sprinting down the street as within seconds they were only a few feet apart.

His Crazy Diamond made the first move.

"DORA!"

His Stand had moved so that it was now between him and the black Killer Queen. In an instant, Crazy Diamond launched an uppercut that was aimed to hit Let Me Live right in its chin. The black Killer Queen's head dodged to the right and without breaking its stride, it jumped forward as it pulled its right leg backward. It then threw a kick with incredible speed right at Crazy Diamond's face, but his Stand was faster as it brought its arms into a cross and blocked the kick. The strength of Let Me Live's attack, however, sent him skidding backward, leather boots digging into concrete as he felt his own arms shaking slightly.

There was something strange about the sentry.

Black mist was secreting from Let Me Live's back as it landed. The individual wisps were all moving towards its leather hands as they converged, and in a second two orbs were once again spinning in its palms. It then raised both arms over its head before throwing them forward. The orbs soared through the air, spinning all the way as they got closer to him.

"DORA!"

His Stand moved in front of him and dug its fingers into the street, easily making holes in the cement. He heard the sound of the ground cracking and then watched as Crazy Diamond pulled out two large slabs of concrete easily half the size of his body. The pink-skinned warrior then threw both of the slabs at the spiraling spheres and he saw them hit the spiraling orbs head on.

Another silent explosion erupted into the air; his purple scarf fluttered against the intense winds from the blast. Boiling heat burned the very air around him as he felt himself sweat, the heat of the explosion seemed even stronger now than last time. Nearby buildings were now set on fire as parts of them fell to the ground as rubble. Once again he had turned another place into a war zone.

His eyes narrowed as the last bits of flames from the explosion faded. Let Me Live stood a good twenty feet away from him as the sentry watched him with its pink eyes. It did not move even an inch, remaining as still as a statue as it watched him.

Something was going on. The sentry had been fighting differently than last time. It hadn't turned into its mist form once since they began their battle. In addition to that, it paused at seemingly random times and just stared at him as it did now.

But...why?

"Josuke..."

For the first time since their fight began, Let Me Live spoke. It said its words in an even slower manner then it usually did.

"I'm...curious..."

It tilted its head to the left. Unfeeling eyes stared right his own as it paused. For several seconds, all he could hear was the crackling of the flames that surrounded him.

"How did...you find out about me?"

His eyes widen. He couldn't control the shock within him as it embedded itself in his face.

But then the shock gave way to another emotion. Anger. A burning anger that made his mouth turn into a snarl.

"Blowing up my friend was a pretty damn good way to let us know about your psychotic ass!"

The growl he let loose did not affect the black sentry in the slightest. He thought back to Shigechi. To Aya. To the voices of the dead.

And all of those thoughts made him all the more pissed off.

You have to keep your cool no matter what.

Jotaros words quelled the flames within him. He needed to focus. He couldn't fall for that bastards tricks.

Let Me Live slowly shook its head.

"No...no...no. I'm not talking about after I...blew your friend up."

He saw its eyes narrow. Eyes that now held a sharpness that only daggers could match.

"I'm talking...about before."

The anger on his face faded. Confusion now began to wrap around his expression as he raised a brow.

"What?"

Let Me Live looked to the sky. With its emotionless features, its expression looked the same no matter what. But right now, to him, its face almost looked...contemplative.

"You see, when I first cornered your friend, he said some rather...interesting things."

...Shigechi? What had he-?

"He accused me...Of being the murderer that his friends were talking about. He said that I was the one...who killed Sugimoto Reimi."

His eyes were now in a glare. Let Me Live began to walk, not towards him but to the left as it still stared at the sky. It placed a gloved hand underneath its chin.

"How on earth...did you know there was a murderer in your town before I...Killed your friends."

Crazy Diamond fists clenched. He did the same.

"Did someone...tell you? That the murderer from all those years ago...was still killing people? Could it have been Kishibe Rohan that told you? That man...was there that night I killed her."

He was shaking. His Stand was doing the same as the aura around it grew.

"No...he was too traumatized to remember that night. When I learned there was a survivor that night...I learned everything I could about Rohan. I followed every newspaper article about him...and I learned that he had been so scared he couldn't recall that night without crying."

You have to keep your cool no matter what.

His anger grew worse. Those words did nothing to help.

"So who...could have told you? Tell me Josuke...do you know about...a certain legend in Morioh?"

That bastard finally turned to look at him.

"According to my father, it goes a little something like this...there's a road where spirits of the dead roam. If you find yourself there...you must never turn around or else an unstoppable power will drag you off somewhere. And if memory serves right...that road..."

His teeth were gnashing together. Crazy Diamond's scowl was just as vicious as his own.

"Is supposedly around the place...where I killed Reimi. So my question, Josuke Higashikata, is this..."

Both his and Crazy Diamond's eyes were murderous.

"Did you talk to...Sugimoto Reimi's spirit?"

He began to walk forward. Crazy Diamond floated down and touched the ground as it to walked alongside its master.

"...You did, didn't you?"

Never before had he felt an unstoppable fury like this swallow his body whole.

"The girl I murdered so long ago...told you about her killer in hopes of getting...justice. She stayed behind...for fifteen years just to try and find her killer...and to stop him."

Never did his rage blaze like it did now.

"...I will not lie Josuke...That..."

That fucker brought a gloved hand to cover its lips like a schoolgirl. The corner of its eyes moved upwards.

"...Is absolutely hilarious."

And then it laughed.

A deep, throaty, distorted laugh.

And all he could see was Kira Yoshikage laughing at him. At all the people he had murdered.

And his hatred became absoutley massive. He felt it rise and burn throughout every part of him; his entire body was now full of nothing but red-hot rage. All he could feel was an intense heat that ignited from the very depths of his souls.

And now, the only thing he wanted to do, the only thing his body and mind commanded he accomplish, was one, simple thing.

To unleash every bit of animosity within him on this bastard.

Sorry, Mr. Jotaro, but...

A dark fire was the only thing within his pupils. There wasn't even a trace of his blue eyes left.

...Who the fuck could keep their cool now?

He was about five feet away from Let Me Live as it continued to laugh.

And then he let the sentry have it.

"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"

Crazy Diamond arms were blurs. Every punch it launched at the thing that looked so much like that fucker's Stand hit. Every powerful cross hit this thing on every inch of its body. But they didn't hurt it. Because just before each hit could do damage, just before he would have seen blood burst from its body, it turned its body to mist.

But he didn't stop. Not even when the only thing left of the sentry were strands of black mist.

"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"

His Stand continued its assault with even greater speed. Pink and silver arms tried to hit the gaseous energy that Let Me Live had become. Even when its punches went right through the mist, it still continued its assault. The sound of its blows breaking the sound barrier echoed throughout the blazing street.

And he let out a roar even more fearsome than Star Platinum's.

"YOU-!"

He was going to kill that murderer in the most gruesome ways.

"GODAMN-!"

He was going to make it so that his corpse wouldn't even resemble a human being.

"BASTARD!"

He was going to pummel Kira until his face was a bloody pool.

Crazy Diamond continued to roar as it fists continued to move even faster.

And in the middle of its barrage, the mist moved. In an instant, each tendril shot upward through the air. He followed the black mists movements as they traveled towards one of the roofs of the nearby buildings. The strands merged with one another, slowly forming the shape of that fucking bastard's Stand. It looked at him from down below with one leg crossed over the other, bringing its hands together before resting them on its lap.

"My...my...my... I don't think I've ever seen you this angry Josuke."

The top left of its head was slowly turning to mist. Once half of its face had become black strands just as it spoke again.

"I wonder how angry you'll be...once I make more Sugimoto Reimi's."

His eyes widened.

"Catch me if you can, Higashikata."

And then its entire body turned into mist as he watched it flutter through the air and away from him.

Oh crap!

He ran. His eyes looking towards the grey sky as he followed the movements of the mist. He wouldn't let that bastard have its way. He refused to let him claim another life.

He would not fail again.

He could see the sky momentary light up with blue as the sound of thunder rumbled through the street.

---

"How has Homeworld had such problems with you cunts!?"

Amethyst groaned as that voice awoke her. Holy...that explosion hit her like a train. How long had she even been out?

She slowly got up and rubbed the back of her head. The black spots in her vision began to fade as she could see the beach again. But now, she couldn't even see the temple from here, the blast had knocked her so far she could see the boardwalk a good distance away behind her. The fight had been moved and she could see her friends fighting...something.

Far away from the actual battle on the edge of the beach where the waves hit, she could see Pearl holding her spear with one hand as she backflipped in the air before landing on the sand. She saw Garnet jump back with her gauntlets out as she too landed on the sand before her head whipped left and right.

And she saw that on the sand there was something moving. She couldn't see what it was, but she saw the tracks it made. They were like tracks a small tank might make if it were running along the beach.

Except a tank couldn't move as quickly as this thing did.

Whatever this invisible thing was, it was fast. It moved in a zigzag like patterns across the beach as sand was constantly kicked into the air, causing a large cloud to surround both Garnet and Pearl that was growing thicker by the moment.

She would have run towards them, but the moment she took a step, she stumbled. She fell to her knees as the sounds of her friends fighting seemed so distant all of sudden. Her head was ringing as she brought a hand to her forehead. Her vision was once again fading as she felt her eyes beginning to close.

Damn it, that explosion hit three times harder than any of Jasper's punches.

"Garnet is your future vision telling you anything right now!?"

Even with her voice sounding so distorted to her ears, she could still hear the worry in Pearl's words.

"I don't-somethings wrong with my future vision! Whatever this thing is it's somehow-!"

Garnet didn't finish, because wherever that thing was, it unleashed another explosion. And this one was even bigger than the last one. The flames from the explosion rose high into the air, nearby birds who were almost caught in it now flew away as fast as they could. The blast seemed to get bigger with each second, she could feel the winds from the explosion hit her as her long hair swayed from the force.

And from within the flames, she saw Pearl and Garnet fly out, their bodies twirling uncontrolably as they crashed hard into the sand. She shook her head and ran towards her friends, her gemstone glowing a bright purple as she pulled out her whip with one hand.

And as the flames died and the smoke began to clear, she could see more tracks being made in the sand. Tracks that led right to Garnet and Pearl who were still laying down on their stomachs as they struggled to get back up.

Her eyes widened.

"No, you don't!"

She threw her whip as hard as she could. Her weapon cracked, the rope lashing forward as the segmented ends wrapped around both Pearl and Garnet waist. Once they the lashes were fully tied around her friends, she pulled her whip back. Pearl and Garnet were lifted into the air as she saw something glow red just as they began their flight.

And a second after a glow, there was another explosion.

She noticed that it didn't make even a single sound. Somehow, th explosion was incredibly quiet.

She saw her friends just miss getting scorched by the flames as she continued to pull with all her strength. Once they were right above her, she twirled her whip and watched as it unwrapped her friends as they began to fall. This time, they landed on their feet instead of crashing on the sand.

"Thank you, Amethyst."

She nodded at Garnets words before turning her attention to Pearl. Unlike Garnet, she wasn't able to stand for long as she fell to one knee. She saw her fingers dig into the sand as she let out long gasps.

"What...what are we dealing with?"

Her eyes widened.

"Wait...you don't know?!"

Her head whirled to Garnet.

"Neither of you know!?"

They didn't respond, the silence telling her all she needed to know. She felt dread growing within her as she looked around the beach. Crap. If they didn't know, then how the hell were they going to beat it?

"How do you guys not know? You know every Gem there is, and I'm pretty sure one that's invisible and can make explosions would be easy to remember!"

"Because there has never been a Gem that matches that description."

The way Garnet responded to her harsh voice made her pause. Her words held their usual monotone, but there was something else within them. It sounded like...fear.

"What?"

"Homeworld has never had any Gems like this. Not during the war, and certainly not before."

She turned her head and saw Pearl, head lifted up and eyes darting across the beach. She could see the fear slithering in her freind's expression.

"The only explanation for this is..."

Pearl trailed off, her eyes getting wider.

"Is if they made new Gems."

Pearl said that in a voice that was as quiet as a whisper, and her fear had become massive. She had no idea what exactly her words meant, but judging by her reaction, the situation they were in was bad.

"You call yourselves the protectors of this shithole!?"

Despite trying to control herself, she still flinched at those words. Whatever this thing was, its voice was seriously creeping her out. It sounded like worse than glass scratching a chalkboard. And despite trying her best not to, she felt...scared whenever she heard that voice. Because for all she knew, an explosion could soon follow it.

"How the hell you have protected this planet for so long is beyond me!"

She had never heard another Gems curse so much—she didn't think any Gem would show any knowledge of earth curse words. She saw Garnet and Pearl's head's whipping in every direction to try and find out where that voice came from as she soon did the same. But it was impossible. That thing's voice somehow echoed throughout the beach. It was-.

"No wonder that green midget was so easy to kill!"

Her thoughts were turned to ash with those words. Rage was blazing throughout her body the moment as her hands immediately clenched into fists.

"Say that again."

It wasn't her that said those words, surprisingly. Even with her visor, she could feel the glare that Garnet was giving the invisible thing. The anger in her voice wasn't like her own, for instead of being blazing, it was icy and cold.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you not hear me!? Well, allow me to repeat myself! I said that little fuck died like the God damn bitch she was!"

She could see Peri in her mind. Her smiling face. That cute look she got when she won her plushie.

And then she saw her shattered gem.

Her fury was unrelenting. She let out a snarl as her eyes were in a ferocious glare. She had never wanted to hurt one person so badly in her entire life.

"You-!"

"You motherfucker!"

Pearl's furious scream was even greater than hers. She was positive this was the first time she had heard her friend curse in years. Gone was the fear from before as Pearl's eyes were now full of rage.

"Will make you pay! Stop hiding so we can beat you the way Peridot would have if you weren't such a coward!"

Her fury grew with every word she shouted. Never before in any fight had Pearl's voice sound so heated.

There was silence for a few seconds.

And then it was broken by a laugh. A cruel laugh that echoed throughout the beach. A distorted machine like laugh that sounded nothing like a living person. It was a laugh that made her rage become vicious. She wanted to do nothing more than swing her whip around wildly to try and hit this thing, but she couldn't be reckless. Not now.

Eventually, the laughter stopped.

"Who said I killed that midget!?"

She blinked. As did Garnet and Pearl.

"What?"

There was more laughter after that word left her lips. This thing was enjoying the confusion in her voice as its laughter grew.

"Oh, this is precious! You all think that you finally found the one that killed that bitch! The one that's hurt your town! Well, I hate to disappoint you, but that honor does not belong to me!"

She growled and Pearl did the same. This thing kept mocking Peridot's death with every word it spoke, and she wasn't going to take this crap much longer.

"No, that honor belongs to my master."

"Master?"

Pearl asked that question through clenched teeth.

Another laugh echoed throughout the beach.

"Yes! The one who's been able to slip by your pathetic gazes for so long! The one who was easily able to crush that little midget without even breaking a sweat!"

She could barely even think. Her anger was getting worse the longer this thing spoke. A glance to her left and she saw Pearl with an expression of pure fury that matched her own. Garnet's visor hid her face from view, but she saw the way her arms trembled. The rage within her body was probably bigger than both her's and Pearl's. She could see her lips slowly twisting into a deep scowl.

"He ordered me to kill you three just like that other rock...but I think that can wait. I can do that at any time. For now, I think I'm gonna have some fun."

She tried to find where that damn voice was coming from, but she couldn't. She tried to see if there were any new tracks being made on the beach, but all she saw were the ones it had already made.

Wait a minute.

There weren't any tracks in the sand, but...

Her head slowly turned to the waves crashing on the shore. She had seen some tracks there before, but now because of the water, they were gone.

If it went to the water and traveled underneath the waves then-.

"Oi, behind you."

The voice was no longer loud or echoing. She could hear exactly where it came from.

Her body turned around and she saw it.

Sorta.

About forty feet in front of her there was something dripping with water. Something spherical was standing on the beach. Something far smaller than she had ever expected, maybe about as big as a bowling ball at best. Even with the water dripping down it, its body was still translucent which made it impossible to make out any other features.

She saw that Garnet and Pearl were staring at the thing with equally intense expressions.

"If you three want to die faster, then you're more than welcome to try and stop me."

Stop it from wha-?

There was another explosion. This one was also silent as flames erupted into the air. She felt the intense wind hit her again as she brought her arms up to try and block them. Though, this time she didn't have to worry about the force from the blast since it was so far away.

But then why had it done so from such a long distance?

It was then she saw another explosion follow that one. This one from even farther distance away from them. And a few seconds later, there was another blast of heat after that one. She could no longer see the thing, only the tracks it made. But she could see that from the tracks and the constant explosion it was unleashing that it was heading...for...

"I wonder how this town will look with all those meat bags' blood painting it red!"

Her eyes widened. And without even looking behind her, she knew that Pearl and Garnet were doing the same.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Oh, fuck!

"It's heading for the town!"

Garnet broke away from her and Pearl as she shouted, running as fast as she could after the invisible thing. Pearl quickly followed Garnet as she too ran, her expression now consumed by fear.

And she was right behind the ivory Gem. Legs running as fast as they could to try and stop that thing before it hurt anyone.

---

"Get the hell back here you bastard!"

Josuke had no idea if Let Me Live could hear him in its mist form, but he didn't care. Shouting at the top of his lungs was the only thing he could do right now to let out the rage within him. He was running down another street as he watched the mist fly through the sky. All it had done was lead him near the edge of the town; he had seen signs saying he was getting closer to a boardwalk as he chased the sentry. It had yet to attack anyone, even though he had passed some people on his way here who were running and screaming.

And he wouldn't give this fucker the chance to hurt anyone. No matter-.

The mist took a sudden nosedive. The strands suddenly sped down towards the roof of a building that was right across from him. He stopped running as he looked up towards the building.

What was this bastard plan-?

"Higashikata...catch!"

It didn't take him long to understand the meaning of Let Me Live's words. For he saw something thrown over the building and high into the air.

It was a person. A person who was currently falling right to the concrete at high speeds.

His eyes widened.

"Shit!"

Crazy Diamond appeared right next to him as he shouted. With one hand, the Stand quickly grabbed the back of its master's jacket before slamming its right leg onto the pavement as cracks formed on the concrete.

"DORA!"

The strength from that stomp was enough to send both him and his Stand flying forward. His body was hit by intense winds as he got closer to the falling person. Just as they were a few feet away from hitting the ground, he reached out and wrapped an arm around their waist. He then pulled them towards his chest as he continued to soar through the air. Eventually, he stopped flying and hit the ground, boots skidding along the concrete as he made sure to hold the person in his arms as tightly as he could to prevent them from slipping out of his grasp.

When he stopped skidding, he had Crazy Diamond take the person out of his arms and gently lay them on the ground. He was now able to get a good look at the person he just saved. She was a girl with brown skin and gold earrings. She wore red and white striped crop top and seafoam green jeans.

She was also currently tied up. Her arms were bound to her sides with a thick black tape. Her legs were tied together and both her mouth and eyes were covered by the same kind of tape. He could see her struggling against her restraints and she let out muffled words from behind the tape.

Without a word he made Crazy Diamond cut through the restraints binding her legs and arms with one swift chop. The tape fell off her body as she began to swing her legs and arms wildly. He had to take a step back to avoid getting hit.

"Hey, Hey, calm down, it's okay."

Crazy Diamond removed the pieces of tape covering her mouth and eyes at the same time with its swift fingers; so fast that the girl didn't even seem to feel the pain from removing the tape.

Calm blue eyes stared right into bloodshot and tear-stained brown.

"It's okay."

None of the anger within him was present in his voice. Instead, his words were calm and, hopefully, soothing.

Within seconds he found himself in a tight hug.

"Tha-Thank you. Tha-Thank you s-so much."

The fear that consumed her every word was so tangible he could almost see it choking her. And the sorrow alongside the fear told him all he needed to know. She had seen that bastard's power first hand; there was no way he wouldn't show off his abilities to this innocent girl. That bastard had most likely been as cruel as possible as he was tying her up-.

Wait...

Why the hell would Kira ever keep anyone alive?

He didn't dwell on that thought for long, because he remembered he had to go after Let Me Live. He was just about to get up and tell the women to get out of here when his eyes glanced up.

Let Me Live was staring at him. It stood on the same roof it had just thrown this girl off of and did not move an inch. It just stood over the edge and watched him. Its actions puzzled him as he tried to figure out why it continued to just stare at him and not even bother attacking him.

What in the hell was this thing-?

"Wait...you're not...him, right?"

"Him?"

He couldn't risk turning his head away from Let Me Live, so he spoke while still staring at the black Killer Queen.

"He said...he said someone would save me...someone named Josuke."

She pronounced his name a tad off, the "su" was overemphasized, but that wasn't his main focus.

Because what made him blink was the fear she spoke that one word with. The dread that he heard was something he never thought his own name would cause.

In fact...why did she even know his name in the first place?

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"...That's me, yeah."

The confusion in his chest rose as he raised a brow. Why would Kira mention him? Why did he leave this girl alive?

He fully turned around to face her.

And the terror engulfing her face was enormous. She looked at him like he was just as bad as that murderer.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no."

Her words were so low he had to strain his ears to properly hear them. The fear gripping her voice became stronger as she began to grip the side of her hair with both hands. He had never seen such terror before, and somehow he was partially responsible for it. He looked back to the roof. Let Me Live continued to just stare at him with lifeless pink eyes. The empty expression he had seen so many times before suddenly uneased him.

Something was going on.

"He said...he said that if I meet you...I'd have to do what he wants or else...my family's dead."

He could see tears brimming in her eyes as she gripped the side of her head with both hands.

"I've never met someone so...horrifying. He...he killed some jackass right in front of me. He...he exploded him!"

The tears fell as he continued to stare at her. This girl was a part of Kira's plan, but how exactly she fit into the bastard's scheme he couldn't figure out.

"What did he ask you to do?"

She didn't answer, her gaze now directed to the floor as more tears fell from her eyes.

And then he felt something hot hit his skin. It was familiar heat sensation he had felt so many times before. It was one of that bastards explosions. His head whipped around to Let Me Live. But the bomb hadn't moved an inch.

And he realized that there hadn't been any explosions near him.

He slowly turned his head in the direction he felt the heat coming from. He could see flames rising above a set of buildings. Confusion once again rose within him, this time he could feel it tear away at his every thought as he stared at the flames.

Something was very wrong. He hadn't really considered it before, but why was Kira openly attacking him? Before he had expected some sort of silent assault, but not something like this. When Let Me Live had attacked him, it had been hundreds of miles away from Kira's "home." He didn't have to worry about accidentally destroying the place he lived in if he went too far. He didn't need to consider the aftermath of unleashing explosions that, to normal people, would look like they happened from nothing. Yet now, the murderer seemed fine with unleashing as much wanton destruction as his powers could do.

His confusion grew stronger as it enveloped every inch of his body. He was missing something obvious, something that he could almost see if just gave it some thought.

His lips moved into a frustrated frown.

Kira wasn't flashy, he would never do something unless there was a reason for it. But what could be the point to possibly attacking him in broad daylight? It was like he was trying to draw attention to himself.

So what the hell-?

He saw something careening through the air. It came from the street all the way down at the end of this road where he had seen the previous explosion came from. Whatever it was, it crashed hard into a building as debris hit the ground.

He thought he heard a groan. He looked towards the girl still sitting on the street, but she hadn't said anything. He looked around the street, thinking that someone was hurt and needed aid, but he saw no one. His eyes narrowed as he was almost sure he heard someone let out a groan.

And then he heard it again. He heard another groan echo throughout the empty street. But this time, he was able to determine where it came from.

The groan had come from where he had seen that thing crash into the building. He turned his head and stared at the hole that had been made from the impact of whatever crashed into the building.

He saw something fall from the hole and crash onto the ground. It was hard to tell from so far away what exactly it was, and the smog surrounding the street certainly didn't help him see.

He channeled the power within him, and after a moment, his eyes turned into a different shade of blue. Crazy Diamond's pupils became his own as his vision became several times greater. As if he had put on a pair of high powered binoculars, he could instantly see what had crashed into the street.

And he blinked.

He blinked several times, in fact. He brought an arm to wipe his eyes as thoroughly as he could. The smoke on the street must have gotten to his eyes. It was everywhere, so of course it was going to cloud his vision. There was no way he actually...saw...

Once he finished wiping his eyes, he once again looked down the street.

And he saw the same thing he saw before.

A purple woman.

A short, somewhat round, purple woman. A woman with long white hair that stretched all the way to her legs. She was a best somewhat taller than Koichi, maybe by a few inches or more. She had on a white top and black leggings; the edges of said top burnt black and part of her leggings was ripped. The purple woman was also holding a whip with her right hand as she struggled to get up.

And there was a bright purple gem right above her chest.

...What the fuck? What was he looking at? What in the actual hell was he staring at?

At some point, his jaw had fallen off.

What the fuck?

---

Okay, that hurt. A lot.

Amethyst slowly got up. Stray pieces of rubble fell off her back as she shakily stood back on her feet. Shit, it looked like whatever that thing was made of, her spin attack did jack against it.

"Amethyst!"

Pearl's worried shout made her look up. She saw the tall Gem running towards her along with Garnet. When they reached the of the street, Pearl crouched down on the curb she had fallen on as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Her eyes then widened.

"Wait, what about that thing!? Why aren't you guys going after it!? It's gonna hurt someone if we don't-!?"

"Because it suddenly stopped exploding after it hit you."

She blinked at Garnet's words.

"What?"

Her leader turned around to look back at the street she had just flown from.

"That...thing said it had received a new order. And that it wouldn't be the one to kill us."

That thing must have been lying. Why the hell would it just-?

"And then it said since its master was right here, it could just sit back and watch us die."

She turned her head towards Pearl, the serious expression she wore made her words all the more severe. She saw her eyes darting left and right, like she was searching for something.

It clicked inside her mind.

"Wait...that thing's boss...is somewhere here?"

The boss of something that could explode a hundred times over. Someone that could order the thing that had been able to run circles around her and the other Gems.

The one that killed Peridot was somewhere around here.

She might have been worried were it not for the anger blazing throughout her body. The hatred within her was screaming at her to find that thing that killed her friend and make it pay. And she was more than willing to listen to her hatred now more than-.

"Amethyst, don't do anything reckless."

Pearl's words brought her out of her thoughts.

"We have to stay and work together if we want to win."

She felt her grip on her shoulder tighten.

"And...we can't let our feelings overwhelm us."

Right. She wasn't the only one who was furious, they all were. She realized that Garnet and Pearl probably felt the same anger as she did. They wanted to make what killed her friend pay as well, but they couldn't let their rage cloud their judgment.

She let out a sigh.

"You're right, my-."

She stopped herself as her eyes saw...something. It was hard to tell with all the smoke filling the roads, but she swore she saw something standing way down the street.

And as the smoke began to dissipate, she saw someone. She had to narrow her eyes, but she saw him. It was a human with...purple hair done in some weird way. He had on a biker jacket, blue jeans, and a purple scarf.

And he was staring at her with wide eyes and an open jaw. What? What why he was staring at her like that? Sure she had flown into a building, but on average she did that almost every two weeks and-.

She blinked as more smoke began to fade from the street. She was now able to see another person in the street. It was one of Steven's friends, Jenny.

And she was currently crying her eyes out. She looked absolutely destroyed. The human had never seen more terrified than right now. It hurt her to look at the human girl as her eyes widened.

"Jenny!"

She ran. She heard Garnet and Pearl shouting at her, but she ignored them. Why that moron next to Jenny was staring at her and not helping the obvious girl in need was beyond her, but since he wouldn't help, she would.

---

Okay...

So...

Maybe Greg wasn't crazy.

Josuke's mouth was still agape as he watched, through Crazy Diamonds eyes, as more strange women come into view. One was tall and had skin that was bleached white, peach colored hair, and an outfit that somewhat looked like a burnt ballerina's. The other was women he saw was even taller and had skin that was a shade of red, perhaps maroon, and had on a visor. She had on what looked like a somewhat singed bodysuit of purple and pink colors as well as a cube-shaped afro. But what drew his eyes gaze were the gems inside their skin. The one with bleach skin had a very large oval shaped white gem lodged right into the center of her forehead. And the woman with the afro had two red gems in both her palms.

Gems?

That's the name of their race.

Ahh, now he saw why. Gems. Because of the rocks.

Aliens were real here.

Holy shit.

Wait, no, now wasn't the time for this! It didn't matter right now if aliens existed here, all that mattered was that bastard. He had to ignore the wave of questions flooding his mind, he could have any distractions. Let Me Live was still staring at him, but at any moment it could move. He had to find that bastard quickly, get this girl out of harm's way, and finally, put an end to all of this.

So pick up your God damn jaw Higashiakta and stop staring at-!

"Jenny!"

The purple one's sudden shout interrupted his thoughts. He watched as she ran down the street towards him. No, wait, not towards him. She running towards the girl right next to him. Jenny, if he heard correctly.

And he saw that as the purple one ran towards her, the fear strangling her grew. She looked at him as the purple woman got closer, maybe halfway to them now.

"Amethyst, wait!"

The peach haired one screamed at her...Comrade, if what Greg said was true about the aliens being a team that protected this town. She saw her and her more muscular friend run after her.

But if they were protectors...

He looked at Jenny, whose eyes were darting from him to the purple one.

...Why did she look so terrified as they ran towards her? Why had she been trembling from the moment she saw them?

The peach haired woman and her friend had almost got up with the purple one. They were at most twenty feet away from him and Jenny.

She glanced at him again, though this time her eyes lingered on him for several seconds. And then she spoke.

"I'm sorry."

Sorry for wha-?

She suddenly got up and took several steps away from him. She suddenly looked at him like he was a monster.

"Guys, this thing is what's been destroying Beach City!"

What?

The three woman stopped dead in their tracks. All of their eyes were at him as he blinked.

"Wait, what?!"

---

Almost everything was going according to plan.

Kira could once again hear the faint rumblings of thunder as he walked through the forest, careful not to trip on any loose roots. He checked his watch to see the time, and it was currently 5:34. It had been about half an hour since Jouske arrived, and already he had that fool right where he wanted him.

He closed his eyes, and instead of seeing blackness, he saw red and orange. Of all his new abilities, this was one he found especially useful. He remembered how at first when he saw through Let Me Live's eyes it disoriented him, but now there wasn't even the slightest sense of nausea in his stomach.

He could see the outline of that infuriating teenager as well as three people who distinctly lacked any heat signature. He could also see the girl he had taken, and knew it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. His preparations had been completed, and he had ample time to get out of the town before Josuke could even catch a glance at him.

Yes, things were almost perfect. Unfortunately, there was just one little thing that had managed to escape his clever machinations.

He heard Let Me Live's message once again ring in his head.

He's...at the house.

Of course, soon enough that person would end up in the same place as his "family."

He could see he was approaching the edge of the woods.

In all honesty, he had expected something to go astray from his plans. Bites the Dust had seemed flawless, yet it was beaten by a small child. He had thought that no one could defeat his new ability, but a child had. But now, he had learned. Now, he was stronger than ever before.

And now, he was able to adapt whenever some hiccup appeared on his path.

He had reached the end of the forest as his shoes stepped onto the dirt road that stretched sideways for who knows how many miles.

And he saw him.

His lips moved into a smile he had practiced so many times before.

"Ahh, Steven, what a pleasant surprise."

---

"Wait, what!?"

Pearl would have said those exact words if this...person hadn't said them first.

It should have been ridiculous. Homeworld shouldn't have the capabilities to create a Gem that looked like a human. And the mere idea that the Gems there would want to make a new soldier that looked exactly like the humans they viewed as unnecessary and hideous at best was laughable.

But...the last month had been full of so many unexplained things. She had just fought something unlike anything she had ever encountered from the past. And because of that, the idea that Homeworld might have created something that looked as unassuming as a human seemed significantly more plausible in her mind.

And besides, what better way to infiltrate the sworn enemies home then by using a flawless disguise?

"He's the one that's been taking everyone from Beach City!"

The words in Jenny's accusation were consumed by terror as she stood several steps away from the person in front of her.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

The confusion in his voice matched his shocked expression. His emotions seemed genuine enough, he seemed to act just like a human...but...

She looked to her friends.

Confusion wrapped around Amethyst face as she stared at this man with...unsavory hair, not sure what she should do.

Garnet simply stared at the man barely even twenty feet away from them. She couldn't tell what she was thinking, somehow her emotionless features seemed more unreadable than usual.

"He went crazy and tried to kill the people here!"

Jenny pointed at the destruction around them. The severely damaged buildings, the flames that rose from several portions of the street. All of it had been caused by something, certainly not from whatever they had been fighting. And...that thing had said its master was here. And so far, she hadn't seen anyone other than Jenny and this man, who now that she thought about it, she had never seen once before in her town.

"He tried to kill me!"

The terror and anguish within Jenny's voice made her eyes narrow. There was no way Steven's human friend was faking these emotions, and she would have absolutely no reason to lie about this person being responsible for this mayhem. He may have looked nothing like a Gem, from his appearance to his gender, but with a witness who she knew telling her otherwise...

The man's eyes once again widened as he looked at her.

"Hey, wait a minute, that's not true! I-!"

He took a step forward.

And then Garnet shouted.

"Don't move!"

---

"How can I help you, Steven?"

Kira slowly walked forward. The boy sitting on his steps looked even worse than the last time he saw him. The rings under his eyes seemed to have gotten deeper. His expression was exhausted, though more in the emotional sense than physical. His pink shirt with a yellow star was wrinkled and his jeans had dirt on them; had he perhaps walked around his house a few times as he waited for him? Was he really that anxious?

He gazed right into Universe's pupils. Even from here he could see the nervousness within them was only rising with each moment. But there was also something else within the flood of nerves and worry.

Fear. A cold fear that he could see just lying underneath his expression. A ruthless dread that seemed to radiate from within his body. It was almost tangible and he could see it strangle the boy's entire chubby face despite his pathetic efforts to hide it.

Oh?

Now, this was interesting.

He put one hand in his jacket's pocket. He made the cheer in his smile increase as he continued to get closer.

"Did you perhaps want to have another talk?"

---

Shit.

This was this bastards plan all along.

Shit, shit, shit.

He had never once intended to fight him, no, he had come up with something far better.

Shit!

Josuke's mouth was in a deep frown as he resisted the overwhelming urge to clench his hands into fists.

The reason why he had been so flashy with Let Me Live? The reason why that bastard had left this girl alive? It was for this moment. To force him to face off against these...aliens. This bastard wanted to deal with him in a way that required as little effort as possible. He thought back to what Greg had told them about the aliens living here; the man had said that they were guardians of this city, and Kira would want to get rid of any potential threat to his life as soon as he could. The murderer thought that these aliens would either take him out or he them or perhaps they either exhaust each other to the point where he could easily beat them.

Or, in that bastard's dream scenario, they'd all end up killing each other

He had to fix this. The three women in front of him were now looking at him like he was a threat. He saw the way their bodies tensed as their stances slowly shifted.

He let out a long breath. He had to make his words sound as calm as he could. Any mistakes could be seen as hostile.

"Look...I did not do this. The person who is really responsible for this is-."

"Do-Don't listen to him!"

Damn it!

He glanced at Jenny. The girl who was forced to play a part in that bastard's scheme. Terrified out of her mind after seeing that monster and the threat of him killing her family, she was more than willing to follow that bastard's plan. Kira had turned this girl into his own personal tool. He could see just how much that murderer had traumatized this girl, and with his words alone he was able to control her with ease.

He became furious with just that one thought, and before he could help he let out a small growl.

"I said don't move!"

The anger in the red alien's scream was more heated than before. She thought he was growling at Jenny. God damn it, at this rate...

Be calm. Don't let your wrath get the better of you. You can't mess up here.

"He kept bragging about how his mission from Homeworld was going beyond well!"

The moment Jenny said "Homeworld," The three alien women all tensed again, deep frowns now on their faces as their gazes grew more intense by the second.

If nothing was done quickly...

"I-!"

"He kept saying how the Diamonds made a wise choice in sending him here!"

"That is-!"

"He kept saying how he was going to kill me just like Peri-!"

"I AM A HUMAN!"

---

"N-No...that's not why I'm here, Mister Araki."

His voice was so meek Kira barely heard him speak. It was like like a tiny mouse that was slowly dying. His words were shaky to the point that the boy was barely even able to form a coherent sentence. And the fear within them became clearer with each syllable. He could even see it slithering within the boy's eyes as he glanced at the steps.

Could it be?

His smile grew.

"Oh? Then, what seems to be the problem, Steven?"

He was now walking on the decaying grass that made up his lawn. The only other sound beside the crackling of the grass was the slow rumble of thunder.

Universe muttered something. He couldn't make out exactly what he said except for one word.

Peridot.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that. I didn't quite hear you."

The joy in his smile once again rose as he got closer.

---

"I am not an alien! I am a God damn human being and she-."

He pointed a finger at Jenny.

"Is being manipulated by the actual person who did this!"

"Then how come we haven't seen anyone like you before once here?"

The purple one spoke. The sharpness of her slight glare told him how close she was to believing Jenny's words.

"I literally just got to this town like forty minutes ago!"

"Convenient."

The red one took a step as she spoke. The edge in that one word was hard as steel; for a moment she almost sounded like Jotaro.

"He's lying!"

"No, I am not!"

---

"It's just...it's about Peridot."

"Oh? What about her?"

"I just...how did..."

He trailed off as Kira watched the boy's hands clench his jeans.

His smile was still wide and full of jubilance.

"How did I what?"

Universe didn't respond as he once again gazed to the steps. Then, after a moment, he spoke.

"...How did you know she had a visor?"

He blinked as he tilted his head to one side.

"...I'm not sure what you're referring to."

He was being honest as he raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what this id-.

"When we first talked the day after Peridot died, you said her visor was like Garnet's. You said you had never seen her before, yet...you knew she had a visor. And...you said you weren't there the night Peridot died...but I saw a picture of you at Funland a couple of minutes before Peridot exploded."

Universe paused.

He stopped walking once he was about ten feet away from the steps. His smile was gone and a frown took its place.

---

"Jenny...please, tell the truth. I swear that you'll family will be safe if you just tell them what's really happening."

"I..."

She was considering it, thank God. She was actually listening to him as her expression became conflicted.

"I-."

"Hey, what the hell do you mean her family will be safe!?"

The purple one was shouting at him as her eyes blazed with anger. He quickly realized how what he said could be easily misinterpreted.

"What I mean is that the one who is responsible for this threatened her family in order to get her to cooperate, and that's the whole reason she's lying to you!"

For one moment, he saw all of their eyes soften, if only slightly. For one second they were not as tense as before as their distrust and hostility faded from their expressions. But after another moment, their expressions hardened again.

"Jenny...Is this man really responsible for this?"

The peach haired one looked away from him for a moment and stared at the still crying girl. He saw her eyes dart from him and then back to the alien women. Just say no. Just say no and he'll help. Say no and he won't have to play into that bastard's hands.

But then he saw her eyes widen for a second. The fear within them became so much more powerful as it looked like she remembered something. Something that terrified her right to her soul. Something that made horror swallow every part of her face.

He instantly knew what. Kira. She was remembering that blonde bastard. She was remembering the malevolence that emitted from his expression, the horrible dread he was able to cause with one glance of his cold eyes. Koichi had described in great detail how terrifying Kira was when he first encountered him, and he could suddenly hear his small friend's words.

If a normal person was to encounter someone that evil...I don't think they'd be able to do anything...They would just sit there as his contempt ripped their resolve to shreds...and then...

"No, he did this! It was him!"

That piece of shit could do anything he wants to them after that.

Even mold them to his own personal weapon.

---

"And...how did you know...Peridot didn't have a weapon? She...she's never even shown the people here her powers...but somehow you knew."

Ah.

Kira had gotten careless. Again. He had let information slip from his own mouth. It wasn't anything truly revealing but...it was still bothersome. After all, before, when he had gotten Bites the Dust, all it took was him saying his name out loud, and then...

He could see Hayato.

That tunnel.

And the look in Josuke's eyes right before his Crazy Diamond-.

No.

That didn't matter. Not now. He was stronger than ever. Even if he made mistakes, it wouldn't matter. Because now, he was in control of the situation. He had planned for so long, he had Josuke right where he wanted him and the only thing left to do was tie up any loose ends.

And then his peaceful life would be secured.

He gazed right into Universe's eyes, and he could see the fear consuming them. He could see it growing with every second as it twisted every part of his body.

His lips moved back into the abundantly kind smile from before.

"Oh, is that all?"

He took a few steps forward.

"Well, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for that."

---

"Jenny, please, tell the truth!"

"Hey man, back off!"

The purple woman took a few steps forward, as did her teammates. Now they were about fifteen feet away from him.

"I am not your enemy!"

"Well, then where are they?"

The one with the long nose spoke this time, and he didn't have an answer to that question

"I...I don't know where, but-."

"Once again, convenient."

The edge in the afro-haired one's voice was even sharper than before, and behind that visor, he could feel the glare she was giving him.

"I-!"

"If you're a human, then why don't you tell us who the president of this country is!?"

The purple one shouted at him, and he felt himself gnash his teeth at that question.

"Do you even know the answer to that!?"

"Don't change the subject! You honestly expect us to believe you when we have someone right here telling us that you're responsible for this mess!?"

He saw her fist clench on the whip in her right hand as anger burned within her eyes.

"That you're the one who killed our friend!?"

---

"Re-Really?"

Universe lifted his head and stared at him. And in his eyes, Kira could see relief. Relief that whatever he was thinking was as far from the truth as possible.

His smile grew as he was now at the bottom of the steps to his house.

"Really."

---

"Please, listen to me! The longer you fight with me the more you'll be playing right into that bastards schemes!"

"The only bastard I see here is you!"

Josuke saw the two alien women next to the purple one shouting at him move forward. And he could see the beginnings of a glow radiating from the gems in their skin.

---

Kira ascended up one stair as he kept his smile perfectly cheerful. The smile he had given Universe so many times before. When he was crying, when he remembered something awful, when he talked about his pathetic guardians, he wore this exact smile. It was a smile that made Universe feel comfortable.

"It's quite an easy thing to explain, Steven."

---

"Do I even look like an alien!"

Josuke tried to think of anything he could say to convince these women that he was what he claimed to be.

"No, you don't. But I believe my friends, especially one that's crying, over a stranger any day."

The afro-haired woman's hands were swallowed by a pink light. The light was in the shape of an oval, and after a few moment, the light faded. Now covering her hands were a pair of gauntlets.

---

"In all honesty...you'll probably find it quite...funny."

Kira ascended up two more steps. Universe continued to gaze right at him as the little boy's fear slowly faded from his eyes.

"I..I will?"

His smile now stretched to the ends of his face. It emitted a warmth that he knew a truly kind smile would possess as he let out a small chuckle.

"Oh, beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's hilarious."

---

He watched as the bleached white skin one's forehead become engulfed in a light. She reached a hand towards the light, and from within the sphere, she pulled out a long spear.

Damn it, no! This was exactly what that bastard wanted!

"Guys-!"

Jenny was about to speak again, but he wouldn't let her. He couldn't let her words make things worse than they already were.

---

"The reason why I knew about Peridot's visor...her powers...and even why I was there that night is quite simple."

He reached the top of the steps now, Universe sitting only a few feet away from him.

And once he was at the very top of the stairs...he took his mask off.

---

"Would you shut the hell up already!"

When Josuke shouted at Jenny, he heard something behind him.

The sound of wheels clanking together as they slowly moved forward.

"As you command, master."

He felt a rush of wind blow past his skin the moment he heard those distorted words. And he could see a familiar spherical design flying past his eyes in just a few seconds as it hit its target.

---

The smile that had once radiated warmth was gone. The features that belonged to a kind and caring man had disappeared. The expression that was once full of joy was no more the moment he took his mask off.

Because that mask kept the world from seeing him. It kept everyone from seeing the monster that laid beneath.

Gone was his smile so full of joy and care, in its place was something far more sadistic. Eyes that held nothing but warmth now drowned with something cold and dark. Features that were once kind were now dripping with a cruelty none could match.

The malevolence that Kira suddenly released from within him was something he did so many times before. Especially when he was about to make someone his girlfriend.

"It's because I killed her."

---

He couldn't react in time, the bomb was already out of his range by now.

All Josuke could do was watch. As Sheer Heart Attack flew through the air. As the alien women turned their heads in the direction they heard that voice coming from.

As that tiny metallic bastard hit Jenny right in the center of her face. The wheels that made up its treads left deep imprints of her skin the moment it made contact. A squelching sound echoed throughout the street as blood popped from Jenny's face.

The alien women all immediately turned back to see what had happened. And when they did, the shock that overwhelmed their faces was something he could feel pierce his very soul.

And then, Sheer Heart Attack exploded.

---

The change was so sudden, yet Kira took in every detail.

From the widening of Universe's eyes.

The pure terror he could see consuming every inch of the boy's body.

The way the idiot felt his malevolence in the air as he began to tremble.

And as fear dragged him down into a cold and unfeeling abyss, the little brat could do nothing but drop his jaw and stare at the monster in front of him.

It all happened in less than a second, but he savored every change that Universe experienced. His cruel smile grew and became even more distorted.

Killer Queen's right leg overlaid his with his own.

And then he kicked the shitty brat right in his face.

---

The explosion was smaller than usual, but it was still large enough to completely engulf Jenny's body in flames. The force was also less powerful than normal, but he could still feel powerful winds brush against his skin.

And once the flames had died down, Jenny was no longer standing on the road. The only things on the spot that Jenny once stood were Sheer Heart Attack...and ash.

He had just failed to save another person. He wasn't even eight feet away, and yet he still failed. That bastard had taken another life right in front of him. Another innocent person had been killed in one the most horrific ways possible and he couldn't do anything.

Just like with Shigechi. And Aya. And who know how many others.

"Master, I truly hope I've lived up to your expectations."

Sheer Heart Attack was looking right at him with its empty sockets for eyes. And even with that gravelly voice, even with its emotionless skull, the sarcasm within its words could not have been any more mocking.

"I'll leave these cunts to you."

And then, a purple aura surrounded Sheer Heart Attack before it was lifted off the ground and began to fly through the air. Its mission was complete, so now it could return to its master.

He turned around to the alien women.

The peach haired one was on her knees, tears spilling from her eyes as she looked at the spot where a person once stood.

The purple one's mouth was agape.

And the one with the visor chucked a large piece of cement at him as she roared.

His eyes widened as the piece of concrete that was at least half as big as him hurling towards him. He channeled the energy within him to his right arm, and Crazy Diamond pink and muscular arm became his as he threw a punch forward. His now silver gauntlet coated fist smashed the piece of concrete to smithereens as dust was released into the air.

And almost immediately after he destroyed the rock, a whip shot through the dust and spiraled towards his arm. He could feel the harsh leather wrap around his jacket covered limb as it bit into his arm. It pulled him forward as he stumbled through the dust. He quickly regained his balance and planted his feet as firmly in the ground, his arm still forcibly extended because of the whip as he tried to pull it back. He shook his head to rid his vision of the lingering powder in his eyes.

And he saw the furious look the purple one was giving him from ten feet away as she pulled even harder on the whip. The absolutely livid expression the maroon skinned one had on as her gauntlets were clenched into fists. The bleach white one getting up as she wiped the tears away, her face now burning with a white-hot anger.

"I-."

"Shut the fuck up!"

The purple one's furious scream told him that she wouldn't listen. That there was no escaping the oncoming fight. He looked at the expressions her teammates had, and they said the same thing.

Damn it!

He bit gnashed his teeth together. That bastard-.

No.

He couldn't think about him anymore. Because right now, he had a new set of enemies to deal with. And with these enemies, he couldn't go all out. Right now they were just pawns in Kira's plans. They thought he was the enemy that just mercilessly killed their friend. He would try and hold back as much as he could and try to quickly defeat them. And afterward, he would heal their injuries.

His eyes narrowed as he thought up of as many plans as he could. He needed to-.

"I'm going to cut off that shitty hair and make you eat it like a sandwich!"

The purple one let out another enraged roar.

And he stopped thinking. The noise around him began to dull as he took a moment to process those words. They repeated over and over inside his mind, and they got louder with every repetition.

Within seconds he was suddenly consumed by an inferno.

What the was that?

He could feel a vein bulge near his forehead.

"If Homeworld thinks that someone with such awful and frankly ridiculous hair is going to beat us, then they have another thing coming!"

The inferno became greater with the words that bird-like one shouted.

Calm dow-they didn't-getting angry won't-just calm down and-!

"For killing a human right in front of us, we're going to make sure you regret ever coming to this planet!"

The maroon skinned one took a step forward as the fury in her words was somehow became both cold and hot. And while her voice was scathing, at least she didn't-.

"And you're face is gonna end up as ugly as your hair!"

The purple one shouted again.

And another vein bulged right near his forehead.

...

...

...Heh.

Heh, heh, heh, heh. Heh, heh, heh. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

Oh, he was going to beat the ever-loving crap out of every single one of these fuckers.

Animosity spread throughout his body.

He was going to beat them to the God damn ground.

The flames within him were familiar, he had felt them so many times before.

Then he was going to heal them.

The unadulterated hatred burning within every thought was something he could never control. No matter how many times it happened, he would always be overwhelmed by the urge to hurt the idiots that unleashed this storm within him.

And repeat the process.

A purple aura surrounded him.

"Crazy Diamond."

He muttered those words in a voice that was far calmer than it had any right to be. And when he said those words, he saw the bleach-white one's eyes widen, anger fading slightly as shock returned to her expression.

"Wait, what did you-!?"

She didn't finish.

Because when she was about halfway through her words, he called Crazy Diamond right next to him. The Stand reached forward and grabbed the whip that was still pulling on his arm. Then the pink-skinned warrior gave a tug far greater than the purple alien could match.

And the moment his Stand pulled on the whip, the purple one was lifted off her feet and sent flying through the air towards him.

"What the-!?"

She only had time to get those two words out before she got into his range, Crazy Diamond moved in front of him just as she was inches away from his face. The fury in its expression had never been more powerful, within its blue eyes there was an anger that could fill entire oceans.

And then it pulled both its arms back and attacked.

"DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!"

His Stand's arms moved at speeds that made its arms blur, silver and pink mixing together as they hit the purple alien women over and over. Gauntlet covered fists struck the purple women on every inch of her body, crosses and haymakers striking so hard they left visible dents on her body in the shape of fists. The barrage of his Stands fists was so fast Crazy Diamond seemed to be hitting the purple woman with a thousand arms. Each fist that smashed into the alien's body made a sound similar to cannons being shot echo through the alley and the only other sound to trump that was his own Stand's furious war cry.

And he watched as the alien women's expression shifted with each punch.

First confusion.

Then wide eye shock.

And then unholy agony.

"DORA!"

The wrath in his Stand's voice was had become absolutely scorching. It pulled its arm parallel to its gut as it unleashed an uppercut so fast he didn't even see it make contact with the purple alien. But he did see her careen through the air and hear another cannon like sound echo through the street. He watched with narrowed eyes as the alien women back flipped several times through the air until she hit a building. Her body slammed through the concrete that made up the wall with ease, a large hole now in the center of the building as rubble fell to the ground.

She didn't even have the time to scream.

He saw a soft glow coming from within the hole.

And he also saw her teammates staring at the hole, and while he couldn't see their faces because their backs were to him, he knew their entire faces were now drowning with shock.

"...What!?"

The ivory one was the one who shouted.

"How-!"

"Hey, you three bitches..."

He interrupted her, and the moment he did, both of them turned around.

And they flinched. It was small, but he still saw it. And he couldn't blame them.

His wrath was had been unleashed and blazed throughout the air. The flames in his eyes only highlighted his anger as his lips were in the deepest scowl known to man. His hatred was so burning that they could feel it as they took a step back.

He pointed a finger at his hair.

And then he roared.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT MY HAIR!?"

---

The chubby idiot was sent flying. His body careened through the air as he couldn't even scream, he had heard all his breath leave the boy's body the moment his kick landed. Universe body crashed into the wall of his house as he traveled along the wooden planks. Kira watched as his body made the wooden planks fly into the air until eventually there was no more wall to tumble on. The boy's body spiraled before crashing through the decayed rails on his porch and onto the grass below.

He slowly walked along the porch, the creak of the wooden planks the only sound he could hear.

It had been worth it.

Dealing with that idiot's ramblings. Not smacking his hand against his forehead every time he didn't realize how pathetic his guardians were. Allowing his tidy clothes be sullied this brat's snot and mucus. Holding back the urge to snap the boy's neck in an attempt to make him see the obvious.

Acting like a kind man had been worth it for that one moment. For that instance when Universe realized just what he had been talking to. The demons in his mind were almost cheering the moment his leg made contact with the boy. He had never felt elation quite like this.

He was at the edge of his porch as he looked down.

Universe had a bit of blood dripping down his forehead, but not nearly as much as he hoped; he supposed his Gem biology was to thank for that. There was a bruise on his face, large and already turning purple, but he expected more.

But what he really focused on was the terror within his face. He could see it growing with every tremble of his body. The dread within him was paralyzing the fool to the spot. Each shaky breath Universe released was because the malevolence he was still channeling to the air. And as his cruelty rose and became colder, it amplified the horror devouring Universe as the boy's trembling grew worse by the second.

And in that moment, he was reminded of something. A color, of all things.

The color green.

The smile on his face became bigger. And he knew that meant it became all the more terrifying to this chubby idiot.

"Oh, that expression."

He let out a chilling laugh as spoke.

"That expression is the same one she wore when I cornered her."

He tilted his head to the right, ruthless purple eyes easily crushing any feelings left in Universe other than immense dread.

"Tell me, did she have a similar expression when she exploded?"

He loved that he could see Universe's fear choke him with even greater strength than before. He loved how the idiotic boy could no longer say anything as he stared at him with eyes full of terror.

He enjoyed every moment of this. Soon, he would end this boy but until then-.

There was the sound of running footsteps coming from behind him.

And then a roar.

He whipped his around and saw a pink animal leaping at him, its jaws wide open as he could see its teeth. He reacted in time as he hit the floor and rolled away just at the animal snapped its mouth closed. His body collided with more wooden railing as he saw the pink beast land where Universe was sitting.

He quickly got up and saw the beast lift Universe up by the back of his shirt before sprinting away. Once the animal had decided it was far enough away from him, it placed Universe onto its back and into the expecting hands of the brown haired girl.

Lion, such an asinine name, was glaring at him. On his back, he could see Maheswaran fretting over the boy. But Universe ignored the worry in her face and whatever words she was sprouting as he stared at him.

He slowly hopped over his porch as he landed on the grass below.

When he had asked Let Me Live if it knew where Universe was after it reported he wasn't with the Crystal Gems, the bomb had done just that. It told him that Universe was at his house, and after receiving that message he had went back towards his home.

However, because of the distance, Let Me Live could only identify heat signatures that it knew was here. So it couldn't tell if Maheswaran or the pink animal was his house, at best they would look no different than other birds or animals through its vision.

He sighed as he slowly walked towards the ragtag group of children and one animal. The moment he took a step forward, the animal began to once again roar at him. Maheswaran now turned to look at him, and he could see so many emotions within her eyes. Anger, confusion, shock and so many other feeling ran rampant on her expression, she truly had no idea what exactly she was looking at.

Well, she was about to find out. She and-.

"You...You lied to me."

Universe words were barely above a mutter, but he still heard them even with the distance between them.

The rumble of thunder echoed throughout the area.

And Universe's eyes were now brimming with tears. The fear mangling his expression now melded with a cold sorrow that he had seen on his face so many times before during their talks. A sadness that was only rivaled by the agony now present throughout the boy's entire body.

Universe had just realized that the only one who seemed to tell the truth was just another liar. Then the person he had confided in was, in fact, the murderer of his close friend. And he realized just how many mistakes he had made, and the regret he felt because of them crashed into him like a tide. He had fully believed "Mr. Araki" was his friend. And now because of that belief, the pain became within him so much worse.

Right now, he had just lost the only person he thought he could rely on.

He shrugged.

"Now, to be fair..."

His features were no longer full of sadistic cruelty. There was no elation over the despair in Universe's face. There was no emotion whatsoever in his expression as he gazed right into the boy's brown pupils.

"It's not like I'm the first to do that."

The void in his voice could not have been colder. He could not have done anything else to show Universe just how unfeeling his "friend" really was.

He could not think of a better way to tell Universe that he did not give even the most remote shits about him.

He saw lightning strike somewhere in the distance. White light flooded the area for just a brief second.

The moment Universe heard those words, the tears in his eyes fell and mixed with the blood on his face. The sorrow became all the more powerful as it drowned his expression. The pink beast was now roaring at him with an intensity he had never heard from the animal before. Maheswaran head swiveled from Universe to him, having no idea what she should do. It looked like she was about to scream something at him, no doubt some pathetic insult a grade schooler like her could barely manage, but she didn't get a chance.

Because the furious scream that came from Universe's mouth interrupted her.

"You bastard!"

Sorrow was still flooding his expression, but now an unrestrained fury was also there. His anger blazed throughout his eyes as tears still fell down. Hatred that seemed to grow more scorching by the second burned within his face. The glare he gave him held nothing but foul venom—Maheswaran actually looked scared of the look he was giving him as she moved away from him slightly.

And once again, he shrugged.

"Even you can do better than stating the obvious, Universe."

The anger tripled as the sorrow in his face began to turn to nothing. A wrath he had only seen from the boy a few times before now radiated from the bottom of his soul.

"I'm going to beat you... I'm going to beat you until you cry!"

He scoffed. Now that, he would like to see.

It was then he once again heard the faint rumblings of thunder, but this time it was accompanied by something wet. He looked up and saw it had begun to rain, and he frowned. Getting blood out of his suit he was prepared for, but he had hoped to finish this before it started to rain.

Oh, well.

He saw Universe extend a hand to his right towards Maheswaran. The girl looked at a hand for a moment, then her eyes slowly moved towards Universe's crying face. She was hesitant, eyes flickering back and forth until they settled on him. The person who had caused such agony to her boyfriend.

And then her eyes moved into a glare. And she gripped his hand.

A bright light swallowed the two, and out came the person he had seen on his very first day here. A green top covering Universe's red shirt as a pink gemstone was exposed, curly black hair that reached all the way down to blue shorts.

The fusion of Universe and Maheswaran stood tall as...she?...He? Well, he supposed gender didn't really matter to a weapon.

The expression the fusion wore screamed just how badly it wanted to hurt him. It then reached into the pink animal's mane, a pink portal appearing just underneath the weapon's hands as it pulled out a long pink sword. And then from its gemstone, it pulled out Universe's pink shield.

The weapon known as Stevonnie gave him a vicious glare full of contempt. The animal it stood on gave out another mighty roar.

"I am going to beat you to the ground, Araki!"

If he had to guess, that scream was supposed to be threatening.

How cute.

He looked right at the weapon. Purple eyes that held nothing but cruelty glared at its brown.

And he saw it glance away, afraid.

As it should have been.

"My name is Kira Yoshikage..."

Everything about his features had changed. No longer was he an ordinary businessman, or a kind gentleman that helped those in need or even a sadistic creature that loved causing misery in others.

Right now, he was nothing but an unfeeling killer as a purple aura surrounded him.

"And it's about time I taught you shitty brats a lesson in manners."

To Be Continued~

That's a wrap!

And after almost a year since this story started, this chapter brings to a close the first part of this story as we head into the next arc. And with this chapter, Josuke finally meets the Crystal Gems! Though, admittedly, it could have been under far better circumstances. And Steven...Oh boy...This has not been his month.

Now, small announcement. I won't be updating this story for a bit because I want to focus mainly on my other JoJo crossover, The Requiem of Remnant. Those that follow it should prepare for an update within the next month!

But after that...We get to start the arc I have been dreaming of since the beginning! Next time, it's gonna be packed full of fight scenes! Josuke and Crazy Diamond vs Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet while Stevonnie and Lion face off against Kira and Killer Queen!

So get ready for the next arc folks! Get ready for an arc that will be full of action! An arc that will make you cry! An arc that will make you cheer!

Get ready for "The Crazy Bloody Beach City" Arc!

Next time:

Chapter 12: Shinigami

If any of you guys would be so kind as to add to the Tv Tropes page to this story, I would very much appreciate it! This is the Black Mage of Phantasm signing off! Peace!