Greetings from Negaboss2000 ^^

Back with another chapter of AOTG

So sit back and enjoy ^^

Doug Out

One evening on Beach City, right after School for Nora and Connie

Steven was just picking up a bag of Fry Bits from Peedee, and Nora was even excited to finally try some of them after what Steven said about them. "Thanks for the bits Peedee." Steven said before him and the girls began to walk off. "Oh, and tell Ronaldo Steven hopes his weird rash clears up soon." Nora added with a smile, causing Peedee to blush slightly.

The three kids then sat up on one of the benches to eat the Fry Bits and watch the sunset. "Phew...life can get really intense, huh?" Steven said with facination. "Yeah, especially your life Steven. Let's see, alien abduction." Connie started, recalling what happened a while back. "Going to a weird zoo for humans in space just to rescue you." Steven added with a smile.

"And sneaking out past a few of intergalactic tyrants! Thanks to Red Diamond of course." Connie then added once more, causing the herself and Steven to laugh. "What do you both mean?" Nora asked in confusion. "Long story short Nora, Connie was abducted and taken to this human zoo, but me and the gems got her back." Steven explained from what he experienced at the zoo.

"What?! No wonder I wasn't able to message you that time." Nora said in shock. "Yeah...I know how you feel Nora." Steven said calmly before taking a Fry Bit from the bag and lifting it up towards the sky. "But on the plus side, it's nice to know we can still have peaceful days like this without any trouble." He then said, throwing the fry bit into the air and attempting to catch it with his mouth.

However, it hit the side of his face and fell to the ground. "Almost." Connie stated as the three kids laughed. "Anyways, I still can't believe you two are related to each other." Connie said, stating about the two twins. "Me neither. I mean, I should have figured it sooner, but yeah. Although it was hard with Pearl around." Steven said sheepishly.

"Pearl's been hard on me since I moved in. She took my doll and refused to give it back, she tried to kick me out and even attempted to lure me away with a flute." Nora explained, doing her best not to tear up. "Yeah...it's true. Also, I missed the point about what the flute was for." Steven admitted, feeling like he knew the reference but couldn't quite get it yet. "Woah...that's so unlike Pearl. How could she do that?" Connie asked in shock, learning that Pearl was abusing Nora in a way.

"Pearl has her reasons." Purity's voice suddenly spoke, appearing behind the three kids and accidentally scaring them once again. "I swear Purity, one day you're going to be the death of me." Steven groaned as he got to his feet. "Apologies. But I couldn't help but overhear you about Pearl. My point is, she has her reasons, and she doesn't wish to tell them...for now anyway."

"Oh...well one day I'll ask her. But for now, I think we've got a brilliant day ahead of us." Steven then said with a smile before the unthinkable happened. "Hey kid!" A voice through a microphone yelled, gaining the attention of the the gang.

Everyone then looked over to see someone looking at them with a pretty serious attitude. "Drop those fry bits! Drop em'!" He barked. "Oh no, it's the cops!" Steven yelped in panic, also worrying Nora too. "Huh?" Connie asked in confusion. "All the years of ordering off menu have finally come back to taunt me!" Steven explained in a panic.

"Steven...you're scaring me." Nora said, almost on the verge of panicking herself. "Also, don't you mean haunt you? Steven that's not even a police car, it's just-" Connie started, relieving Nora, but it didn't work for Steven. "I surrender! I knew I was breaking the rules but, I did it anyway! The bits had their hooks in meee!" Steven confessed after running over towards the guy and putting his hands up.

Connie and Nora on the other hand, ran after him and laughed. "Dad, quit joking around." She said with a chuckle. "Come on, Connie I almost had him." The guy said, revealing himself as none other than Doug Maheswaran. "Mr. Maheswaran?!" Steven said in shock before he sighed and fell to the ground in relief.

Doug then put his microphone back in his car and walked over towards the kids and Purity whilst Connie tended to Steven. "Wow...I honestly didn't think he would take that seriously." He said sheepishly. "And that's just what worries me." Purity said with concern.

"You ok there Steven?" Doug asked as he squatted down to Steven. "Oh, yeah, I love it down here." Steven sheepishly. "And how's my swashbuckling swashbuckler doing?" Doug then said, looking over towards his daughter.

"I'm good." Connie said with a smile. "Oh hello Nora. How's it going with you? Did you dye your hair again?" Doug then asked Nora upon seeing her hair. "Hello. Y-Yeah, something like that happened." Nora said, trying to avoid the subject. "Anyways, Steven, maybe you're dehydrated. Probably from eating all that garbage before dinner." Doug explained jokingly. "Respectfully, Fry Bits are not garbage." Steven said nervously. "And honestly, this was my first time eating them." Nora added.

"Don't worry guys, he's just messing with you both." Connie said with reassurance. "Sorry about that. Anyways, let's get you up Steven." Doug said after a chuckle.

After getting Steven to his feet, the kids followed Doug to his car. "So what are you even doing in Beach City dad?" Connie asked her own father as he took a note out from the car. "I'm out here on a job, actually." Doug explained as he lifted up the paper and looking at it.

"The private security company I work for got a call from a Mr. Harold Smiley stating that someones been lurking around Funland after hours. So it looks like I'll be here all night. On...a stake out." Doug explained as his glasses shined.

"Woah, a stakeout!" Steven said in amazement. "That sounds so exciting!" Nora added with glee. "Dad, that's so cool!" Connie then added with joy. "Yeah, it is pretty cool, huh? Protecting the citizens of Beach City. Just like you guys." Doug pointed out as Purity nodded her head in agreement.

"Wouldn't that be fun, guys?" Connie asked her two friends. "Yeah! Id love to go on a stakeout sometime." Steven said with approval. "Um...I don't know...but it did hear it was kinda exciting." Nora said sheepishly. "Well then maybe you kids, could help me out tonight." Doug said, giving an offer to the kids.

"What?!" Steven, Connie and Nora said in shock. "You'd really let us tag along?" Nora stuttered in disbelief. "Even though we're not officially sanctioned security personnel?" Connie then added in amazement. "Hey, why not. It's probably just some kit loitering. Hey, kid!" Doug said to Connie before turning his gaze to another kid, also known as Onion.

Onion looked over at Doug and put his right arm up. "Yes, hello! The sign above you says no loitering!" Doug said, pointing out a bit of an obvious fact that Onion saw immediately. He then shrugged and walked off. "They get younger every year." Doug said to himself before turning back to the kids. "So, are ya'll ready for this? Some of these teens can use some pretty strong language." He then asked "Hey Steven, you wanna help ruin some teen's night?" Connie asked her Jam Bub. "Always." Steven replied with a smile.

"What about you Nora?" Connie asked, looking at Nora. "Um...sure. Why not?" Nora said with a shrug. "Hmm...I predict this could end badly, though I've been wrong before." Purity said with a suspicious look.

Later that night at Funland.

Doug was waiting the car for something suspicious to happen. Steven peeped out the back window just in case someone suspicious came, and thankfully, there wasn't. "The coast is all clear behind us." Steven whispered. "Things seem pretty quiet so far." Connie added. "Too quiet in fact." Nora said with a shiver.

"Well yeah, nobody's gonna even try hopping the fence with all of us here. But you never know, sometimes, I actually leave the car." Doug stated with an epic whisper. "Wow..." The three kids responded in amazement.

"It is often a very bad idea for one to leave the car. There could be an ambush waiting for us, to catch us off guard until the very last moment. That's how most of the Crystal Gems became monsters." Purity stated with a serious tone, scaring Nora slightly. "Yeah...I see your point miss..." Doug started, but forgot Purity's name immediately.

"Diamond. Paragon Diamond, but my allies call me Purity." Purity said, shaking Doug's hand in the process. "Anyways, I'm sure you guys do a lot of waiting when you're saving the world. It can't be all bam, pow action all the time." Doug pointed out. "A wise leader, never seeks out a battle...but, they must always be ready for it." Purity explained.

"Aw, I wish. There's a lot of fighting, I mean, I kind of inherited a intergalactic war." Steven pointed out, relating to the gem war and the recent battles him and the Crystal Gems had fought. "S-Steven, what do you mean?" Nora asked nervously, causing Steven to realise that he couldn't tell Nora about the Gem War and about Pink Diamond's shattering. "It's nothing to worry about Nora." Steven said, calming his twin sister down.

It was then that Connie noticed a box with a couple of things in it. "Hey dad, what's in box?" She asked with curiosity, causing Doug to turn around to see what she meant. "Oh, I just confiscated that from a kid who was shoplifting in a costume shop." Doug explained from one of his other experiences on the job.

"Woah...You could totally use these for disguises! Don't you even need to go...Undercover?" Steven said, getting a perfect idea. "How do you know I'm not under cover right now?" Doug asked as he lifted his glasses up, causing Steven, Nora and Connie to look at him in surprise. Also causing Purity to summon what appeared to be a Rubix Cube with caution. "Just kidding, I need these to see." Doug said as he put his glasses back on, giving Purity a bit of relief.

"But if you guys want to play with that stuff then go ahead." Doug said, allowing the kids to use the costumes. "Hmm...I do not need a costume. My cloak has been the only thing to keep me from revealing my identity." Purity stated calmly.

"Ok, well I want to be undercover. I'll be..." Connie started, looking through the box along with Steven and Nora.

Seconds later...

"...Veronica Cucamonga." Connie said, now wearing a red fedora and coat. "Along with Mysteria(1)." Nora said with excitement, wearing a pink costume and a mask which seemed to be a costume of a quiz themed superhero. "It's a-me, Peter Pizzapoppolis, from Italia!" Steven said in his Italian accent.

"Pizzapoppolis? That sounds Greek." Connie said with a light chuckle. "It kinda sounds Italian to me." Nora said sheepishly. "Nevermind. You sure you don't want anything dad? There's a clown nose back here." Connie then asked. squeaking a clown nose that she found in the box.

"No thanks, being a security guard isn't joke. That's why, they equip us with these." Doug said, pulling out a flashlight. "Wow, a flash light! Jinx!" Connie and Nora said in unison. "Yeah. It gets pretty dark out there." Doug stated with a serious tone. "Indeed it..." Purity started, but was cut off by a loud crash which came from outside.

"Um...what was that?" Nora squeaked in fear, hugging Steven in the process. "We'd better find out." Purity said instantly before phasing through the door, freaking Doug out slightly.

Everyone then got out of the car and ran up to the metallic fence which had been somehow, disintegrated magically. Everyone looked in shock at how the fence was damaged, and couldn't make heads or tails of how it was disintegrated. "Mama mia the fence-a!" Steven pouted in his Italian accent.

"Stars above..." Purity gasped, picking up a piece of debris. "How on earth did this happen?" Doug asked, walking over to inspect the damaged pattern. "If this were some punk and his gang with a pair of bolt cutters this would have been a clean cut." Doug added with shock. "But the chain looked as if it was torn to pieces." Purity added "And disintegrated." Nora frightfully answered.

"You girls are right...this was no kid." Doug said, jumping to a bit of a conclusion. "Well, if it wasn't some misguided teen and his gang, what could it be?" Connie asked nervously. "It could be a gem...or..." Purity started, but cut off by Nora. "A diamond?" She asked nervously.

"Yes, exact...wait, how do you know what a Diamond is?" Connie said before realising something. "That's not important. For now, we have to find out what did this." Purity stated, quickly interrupting the question for Nora before she went into Funland alone. "She's right. It's up to us to find out! Sounds like we better investigate. Cucamonga, Mystoria, Pizzapoppolis." Doug said with confidence as he got to his feet.

"Right!"

"Right answer!"

"Right-a!"

All three kids said in unison before they began walking in. However, Connie noticed a ripped piece of leather on the fence and picked it up before moving on, thinking that it might be important evidence.

"Hello? This is security! You are trespassing on private property. Do not attempt to make yourself a corn dog. Funland incorporated is not liable for the harm you may incur on trying to operate a deep fryer without a license." Doug called out to the intruder whilst searching around for anyone suspicious. "You need a license to operate a deep fryer?" Steven asked quietly in shock.

"That's useless. Allow me." Purity said, before speaking with a dark tone. "Whoever you are, whether human, homeworld gem or Diamond, come out and show yourself. I am Purity Diamond, mentor of the Crystal Gems. I can tell you this now: If you try to run, I will find you." She spoke, her voice echoing through the place and her eyes lighting up with pure vengeance.

"Huh...that's a little scary...but acceptable to me." Nora said with an impressed tone. "Thank you. It's a bit of an old habit, but it still works after all these years." Purity said with a smile before everyone heard another loud crash that gained their attention.

"Woah..." The girls said as they saw a shadow of a huge figure. "Hey, stop right there!" Doug said as the group ran towards the shadow which quickly left around the corner. They then hid behind one of the prize booths to make sure they didn't blow their cover. "Follow my lead." Doug then said before he did a somersault across the ground along with Steven, Connie and Nora, one by one.

"Don't move." Doug ordered as he shined his flashlight to try to find the intruder...only to find that nobody was there. "Did we lose them?" Connie asked in concern. "It appears that we did. I'll check from the skies, you make sure they don't escape by ground." Purity said before immediately levitating off the ground and into the skies.

"Wow...she must be some kind of witch..." Nora said in amazement. "Never mind-a that-a Nora. Which a-way did they go so fast-a?" Steven asked in his italian accent. "Mouths closed, eyes and ears open." Doug ordered before the kids did so.

They waited for a moment, to hear something, anything in fact. And in that moment, they heard something, a door creaking and from the looks of it, it was the door from a ride called the Hyper Space. "Bad move chump, that space ship's permanetly earthbound." Doug said before he and the kids ran onto the ride.

Once inside

Doug held his flashlight and pointed it around the place. "Gotcha! I mean, Freeze!...Oh man." He said, looking around to see that nobody was in the ride. "Are we dealing with some sort of escape artist?" Doug asked in confusion as the three kids looked around the ride. "Hey steven, do you think that maybe we should get our weapons?" Connie suggested just in case.

"You have weapons?" Nora asked in surprise. "Don't worry Nora. It won't be neccessary. We're not here to escalate the situation. Besides, a good security guard only needs their trusty flashlight." Doug stated with pride, but suddenly the door behind him slammed shut with a loud bang.

Doug heard this and turned around to pull on the handle in attempts to get the door open once more. "Hey! Open up this instant!" He ordered as Connie and Steven rushed over to the door to help him, but Nora however, just stood there, frozen like a deer in headlights.

"Yeah let us out!" Connie added, still trying to open the door. At that moment however, they heard a scream from in the ride, it was actually Nora's scream. Steven turned to see Nora backing away from a shadow figure who was taller than him, advancing towards her. "Nora! Hang on I'm coming!" Steven yelled in panic as he summoned his shield and threw it at the figure, immeidiately knocking him over.

He and Connie then rushed over to Nora who was in tears after that frightening moment. "You ok Nora?" Connie asked with concern. "T-The correct answer i-is Yes. I'm ok." Nora responded, wiping her tears away. Steven then turned his attention to the kid who was knocked over. "Alright buster, you think you can mess with my daughter's friend's sister? You thought...wrong?" Doug started, but upon flashing his light over at the figure, the kids were shocked to see who it was.

The trio saw that the figure was actually a kid(2). He was around the age of 15, He had black hair with indigo streaks dyed into it, blue eyes, wore a purple neck scarf, a dark purple hoodie, a pair of shorts and a pair of boots.

"Zach?!" Connie and Nora said in shock. "Wha...? Connie, Nora?!" The kid called Zach asked in the same amount of shock. "What are you doing here?!" The three kids asked in unison. "Wait, you know this kid?" Steven asked in confusion. "Yeah. He's the kid I told you about before, remember, when I went up to that mansion with Nora and him?" Connie explained, causing Steven to remember.

"Zachary Connors? Oh of course. Hang on, why are you even in here?" Doug asked with a cross attitude. "I was hiding. I thought you guys were actually one of those people in the shadows who were going around the place." Zach explained, confusing Doug. "Right, but I mean...what are you doing in Funland, exactly?" Doug asked again.

"Well...if you insist." Zach said as he got to his feet. "I came here with Darren, Cadence and a few of the other bullies so we could have the place to ourselves. I got knocked out by one of the bullies hitting me on the head with a baseball, I woke up 30 minutes later, I couldn't find the others and then I freaked out and hid in here, upon seeing those people in the shadow I mean." Zach explained, telling the whole story of why he was in Funland.

"Darren Galaxy. Of course. Why am I not surprised?" Doug grumbled in annoyance upon hearing the bully's name. "Shadow...people? What did they look like Zach?" Connie asked in confusion. "They were many shapes and sizes, a few of them were short, one of them looked like a child, and the rest were big...look I really don't want to talk about it right now." Zach said in annoyance.

He was about to make his way out of the ride but he discovered that the door was shut. "Um...please tell me you guys locked the door to keep me in here." He asked sheepishly, but saw the others looking at him with a nervous attitude. "Um...I thoughta you did-a that-a?" Steven asked in confusion as he and everyone else made their way over to the door to try and open it once more.

"Great. What could possibly go wrong now?" Zach asked rhetorically. He must have spoken too soon, because the next moment, the lights in the ride turn on and what's worse was that it started to move as well. "The ride's moving!" Steven and Connie screamed in panic as the Hyper Space suddenly started getting up to high speed. "Ugh, me and my big mouth!" Zach groaned.

"We gotta shut it off!" Connie said as she tried to move. "But the question is how? We're all stuck to these boards." Nora asked in panic, really freaking out and leaving Steven to comfort her as best as he could. "Don't worry! I'll just use my trusty flashlight." Doug said before he threw the flashlight towards the Off Button on the ride...but because of the ride's movement, it missed.

"Oh no!" Steven said in panic. "Is that..." Nora started until Connie finished the rest. "The laws of physics!" She said as the flashlight flew back and hit Doug in the face, causing him to yell in pain. "You ok Dad?" Connie asked in concern. "Yeah, I'm ok. I've got a new idea. This time, I'll throw it at an angle!" Doug said, saying a very bad idea.

"Dad, I don't think that'll work." Connie stated with concern. "Oh no...this can't end well." Zach said as he felt Nora's hand hold his much to Steven's annoyance. "GO!" Doug said, throwing the flashlight to the left, causing it to everyone of their heads multiple times.

From outside the Hyper Space, Purity heard the screams of her allies before turning in concern towards the ride spinning rapidly. "Stars above." She murmured in fright before rushing off to the ride, oblivious to the several shadow figures watching from behind her.

Back inside the Hyper Space however, Zach tried to catch the flashlight a few times and nearly had his teeth knocked out of him, but he caught it in the end. "Well, it's official: You are the worst Security Guard ever." He stated bluntly. "Hey, that's my dad you're talking about." Connie pouted in annoyance.

"Well do you have any better ideas Connors?" Doug asked crossly. "Please-a hurry! We got to get out of this spicy meat-a-ball!" Steven grunted in an italian accent as he tried to push himself off the wall. "Well, I have a trick, yes!" Zach said before reaching into his hoodie to take out a blue object.

It was a turquoise stone with a blue line going through the middle with a diamond shape in the centre. "What's that?" Nora asked upon seeing the object. "Dunno. I found it when I woke up." Zach explained before pressing the purple diamond in the centre, causing it to glow a light blue colour before he swiped it through a couple of symbols until he reached a star symbol on it.

"Right, hopefully this'll work." Zach said, clutching the gemstone before he used it to magically push himself onto the middle platform along with Steven who managed to push himself off the wall and onto the middle too.

To their surprise, the platform was the only part which wasn't moving at all. "Hey, this part isn't moving at all." Steven said in surprise. "Well duh, all rides work like that. Nice problem solving skills by the way." Zach said in the form of a complement. "GUYS!" Connie yelled in annoyance. "Oh, sorry!" The two boy said before they rushed over to hit the off switch together.

The ride then shut down all together and switched off to their relief. The ride's door suddenly burst into pieces and Purity bursted in with a sword in hand. "Alright you scoundrel! Unhand those humans or face my..." She started, but was cut off when Steven rushed over to reassure her. "Purity it's fine, we're ok." He said, causing Purity to stand down in relief.

Everyone then got off the ride, groaning in the process. Nora nearly stumbled and fell on her face, but thankfully Zach was there to help her. "Nice going Zach. You're a good kid." Nora said with a little smile, causing Zach to blush.

"Eh, it was nothing really." He said before Steven came to his sister's side. "You ok Nora?" Steven asked in concern, but was reassured by his sister. "I'm alright, really." She said in a big sigh. "Hang on, didn't you say Nora was your sister?" Zach asked, having thought about it for a moment. "Yeah. I'm her twin brother, Steven." Steven said, introducing himself and shaking Zach's hand.

"Huh...I never knew Nora had a twin brother." Zach said with facination. "Neither did I." Nora admitted. Zach then helped Nora to her feet as he put the blue gemstone back into his hoodie pocket. Purity however, caught a glimpse of the gemstone being put into Zach's pocket, but she shrugged it off.

"Listen, you bodybuilding escape artist criminal. This isn't a game. You've endangered a officer of the law and four small children. Show yourself before you get into serious trouble!" Doug ordered in anger. "Technically I'm a teenager Mr Maheswaran." Zach said with a deadpan expression.

"Steven, do you think it's some sort of Gem Mutant or Monster?" Connie asked, still feeling pale thanks to the ride. "It could be, but the monsters and mutants aren't that smart." Steven pointed out. "I have to agree. Even rubies are said to be clumsy enough to cause this kind of damage." Purity stated, noticing that some parts of the ride had been sabotaged by the same disintegration patterns like the gate outside funland.

"Hey! I resent that!"(3) A voice suddenly spoke up, gaining everyone's attention, but they saw nobody around. "Well...could we be dealing with a Homeworld Gem?" Connie then asked. "Maybe we're dealing with a boss during this level." Zach stated from his point of view.

"What?" Doug asked in confusion. "This is similar to a game I played once. It could be a boss monster that we need to discover, who has a lot of minions, part of a powerful authority and who's waiting for us to find them, so they can kill us." Zach explained, getting a bit carried away. "Are you even speaking english?" Purity asked in annoyance.

"Homeworld? Gem? Mutant? Boss Monster? I, uh...well whatever it is, if someone's tresspassing, and tries to hurt my daughter and her friends, they'll have to answer to me." Doug said firmly, starting off nervously as he took batteries out of his flashlight and put new ones in before turning it on.

A few moments later

Doug lead the kids along with Purity and tried to search around for the figures. All the while, Zach was busy talking to the gang who told him everything, about the Crystal Gems, about what they do and where they originally came from.

"So let me get this straight: Your mom gave up, her physical form to make your brother, and somehow you were born too?" Zach asked in confusion. "And if what I'm hearing is true, then you've been with a family of powerful beings from space for fourteen years Steven?" He added in slight disgust.

"Yeah...please don't ask that again. It's kind of...gross." Steven said, nearly turning green at the thought of how he was even born. "So anyway, how did you propel yourself off the wall like that Zach?" Nora then asked. "It's because of this blue gemstone. Like I said, I found it when I woke up. I think it's some kind of mental powered gem, because when I tried it at first, I could have sworn I heard my mom's voice, but she's outta town along with dad." Zach explained with a whisper as he showed the gemstone.

"Hmm...it looks like an ancient relic from homeworld, but something like this can't be found without a reason." Steven said as he examined the gemstone. "Well...maybe it's some kind of ultimate weapon?" Zach suggested, but never got an answer because Connie got everyone to stay quiet.

"It's so...quiet." Connie said in suspicion, feeling like this was bad. "Too quiet..." Steven and Nora both said in unison. "Yeah...three quiet." Zach spoke, causing the three kids to turn towards him. "What? It's one higher than two." He said in his own defence.

At that moment however, all the streetlights and lights on the carnival turned on instantly, causing everyone to gasp in fright. "I can't believe this. They're mocking us. Show yourself! What is it that you want here?! Prizes? Fun? You think this is the place to get your kicks? You sick monster. Destroying the sanctity of this land of fun!" Doug growled in annoyance as walked around and looked into one of the prize booths to see if someone was there.

"Calm yourself Douglas. Getting angry about it won't solve anything." Purity said to Doug with reassurance. All the while, Zach had his phone out and ready to take some photos of whoever the culprit was. It was then that he and Purity spotted a small shadow above the mimigame that Doug was pouting at.

"Behind you!" Connie quickly yelped as Doug turned around to see the fence falling onto him and Zach. Thankfully, Zach was able to take several pictures before the figrue disappeared. "Dad!" "Mr. Maheswaren!" Connie and Steven both yelped in fright as they both rushed to help the security guard. "Zach!" Nora squeaked in fear as she helped Zach to his feet. "Don't worry, I'm fine." Doug managed to say before Zach interupted. "It's fine...I survive stuff like this anytime." Zach insisted as Nora helped him out of the fence.

Suddenly, a few shadows run past, catching everyone's attention. "There they are!" Doug said after a gasp, causing the four kids to gasp too. "Come on Steven!" Connie said as she and Steven got up to follow the shadows. "Hold on tight Nora!" Zach said as he gave Nora a piggyback before following his friends. "I'm right behind you!" Doug said as Purity helped him out of the fence.

"You're not getting away this time!" Connie yelled with determination. "Yeah, you villainous...villainous...! Phew, Bro, I gotta get out more often." Zach said, sounding pretty much out of breath. One of the shadows nocked over a trash can, but luckily Steven, Connie and Zach made it through without any problems. "Yuck, that's pretty gross." Zach said in disgust. Another one of the shadows then knocked over a gumball machine, spilling countless gumballs all over the floor.

"That's a lot of gumballs!" Connie said, worried about tripping up on the gumballs. "We're not gonna make it!" Zach said in a panic. "JUMP!" Steven and Nora said in unison. Connie jumped and Steven caught her hands which allowed them both to float over the gumballs. Nora on the other hand, constructed a pair of pink polygonal wings so she could fly like an angel as Zach put it.

The kids then ran into a dead end, but managed to see the figures run down an allyway. "It's time to give it up!" Connie yelled as she and the others blocked the entrance to the allyway. "There's no way out!" Steven then said firmly. "Whoever you are, you'd better come quietly, or else!" Zach called out with pride.

"Gumballs?! Aaah!" Doug said as he tripped up on some of the gumballs on the floor before falling on his face. Zach, couldn't help but snicker at this until Connie glared at him. "Hey kids. So how'd it go?" Doug asked after catching up with the kids. "The culprits are at the end of this corner dad." Connie said, pointing to the end of the allyway.

"Good work you kids. Now, let's shed some light on this subject." Doug said as he turned on his flashlight and shined it on a few figures. One looked brutal, another was a female, the third and fourth were two hooded goons and the fifth was...Onion?!

The figures looked towards the light, and while the others gasped in shock, one of them growled angrily. "Wait...Onion?!" Steven yelped in shock as Onion turned towards the gang squinting. "You? What are you doing here? We're in the middle of a very important investigation." Doug said before pointing his light at the other teens. "And you four, you're all in big trouble." He said firmly.

"Dad..I think those other kids were the ones causing all the trouble, maybe Onion was running from them." Connie explained, causing the other kids to groan in annoyance. "Onion, it's me. Steven, you know, Steven Universe." Steven said with reassurance, taking off his hat and mustache, giving Onion a bit of relief and even causing him to hide behind Steven after he murmured frantically and did something similar to charades.

"Relax, it's just Mr. Maheswaren. Oh my gosh. Did you think a bunch of shadow strangers were chasing you who were actually these kids? Well no wonder you were trying to throw us off your trail. Everything's ok Onion, and these kids aren't gonna hurt you anymore." Steven said, giving more reassurance before Onion stepped back and smiled.

"It can't just be a kid. It doesn't make any sense! What about the huge shadow, maybe he was leading this band of vandals?" Doug asked has he walked between Steven and Onion. "And what about that smaller figure too?" Zach wondered to himself as he looked at the picture of the small figure on the prize booth. Connie then turned on the flashligiht and shined it on Onion, revealing his shadow being huge and possibly similar to the one they saw earlier. "I think the flashlight just made Onion look big." Connie said, figuring this was true.

"But the fence was ripped apart! Disintegrated even!" Doug argued sheepishly. "I've have seen Onion with a blowtorch before...but maybe the kids had something else to destroy the gate." Steven said sheepishly. "I also found this piece of fabric stuck to the fence." Connie said, holding out the piece of cloth before looking at Onion who showed his foot to reveal a tear in his heel.

"Ugh, of course. It's never actually something." Doug groaned in frustration, gaining Connie's attention. "What's wrong?" She asked. "Nothing's wrong, it's just my job isn't the exhilarating adventures you've been having with Steven or his twin sister. Or the life-threatening emergencies your mom deals with at the hospital. The most action I see is telling kids to quit loitering around. I was hoping maybe you'd get to see me take on a serious job. But I guess all I'm good at is being your silly, old dad." Doug admitted sadly before he accidently triped up on a gumball and fell.

The vandals laughed mockingly. "You're right, you are silly." Connie admitted, getting the vandals to stop in confusion. "But that's why I like hanging out with you. I've got enough serious things going on in my life, like defending, being kidnapped or whatever. Sometimes I just wanna spend time with my dad." She finished with a soft smile.

"Thanks. You'er a keeper Veronica Cucumonga." Doug said with a chuckle before Connie laughed herself. "So did we stop the foes? O or X?" Nora asked with a smirk, pointing at the two symbols on the back of her hands. "I think the correct answer is O." Doug answered with a smile. "Correct." Nora said, as a sound went off, sounding like it was the correct answer.

Outside Funland once more

Doug had brought the four kids to his car and handcuffed them. Purity had also caught up after dismantling their getaway "Well, this'll be one heck of a story to tell back at the office." Doug said, feeling quite proud about catching the vandals. "Wow...I guess that's a job well done Mysteria." Zach said with thumbs up.

"Zach, you treacherous dumb loser! You ratted us out to the cops!" The teenager growled in anger and betryal, trying to hit Zach but was held back by Doug. "Bro take it easy. You're the one who ditched me!" Zach said coldly in his own defence.

Looking at the brutal kid, Steven could see that he was taller than Zach, looked to be around 15 years old, almost 16, had long brown hair, black fingerless spiked gloves, a dark green ripped tank top with an UFO being destroyed with an alien inside it and also saying: E.T Go Home. The teen also had a galaxy tattoo on him which had a purple middle within it.

"You're gonna pay for this!" Darren growled and nearly broke free from his cuffs. "Yeah, like he is so ignorant. But don't kill him because of that Darren." The female vandal pleaded, revealing to be a 14 year old blonde girl who was taller than Connie.

Immediately, Connie and Nora recognised them. "Cadence and Darren. Why am I not surprised?" Connie asked rhetorically while Nora cowered behind her brother. "Just...leave Zach alone." Nora squeaked. "Heh, well well well...Looks like you've chosen the side of Connie Maheswoozer and Nora Uslessverse." Darren said smugly.

"Leave them alone Darren. I like being around them, unlike you, I have found my place in the world, and I'm gonna keep defending them, even if I am with you idiots." Zach responded in anger. "It don't matter anymore." The hooded vandal yelled from within Doug's car. "Yeah, cuz you can consider yourself outta this gang permanetly." One of the other vandals yelled.

"Fine by me." Zach said with satisfaction. Cadence was then thrown into the back along with her vandal team. "Like, get your hands off me sir. You're gonna ruin my makeup!" Cadence pouted sadly.

"Wow...nice standing up for yourself Zach." Steven said with amazement along with Onion who smiled and put his thumb up for approval. "I see your future to be a very bright one yet." Purity added with a proud smile.

"Well...what are you supposed to be? A little dwarf version of Uslessverse?" Darren said to Steven and even glaring at him. "My name is Steven Universe, I'm Nora's twin brother." Steven said with a serious voice. "Huh, well...you just made the biggest mistake kid. Messing with my family, the galaxies, 'cause billions of em make up the universe." Darren threatened with a smirk.

"Well you forget one thing: A universe holds galaxies together. So you'd better leave my friends alone, because I'm not in the mood for fighting anyone like you." Steven said firmly before Darren was shoved beside Cadence and his two goons.

Doug was about to head out when he heard took notice to Onion one last time. Onion murmured something in Doug's ear and he pretty much understood what he meant. "What's that Onion? These kids said they also wanted to deliever you to here for some giant woman?" He asked in shock. Onion nodded in fright before Doug looked over at Darren and his gang sternly.

"Well...you guys are going to be staying overnight in a cell for attemptive kidnapping, breaking in and hurting the innocent." Doug said, getting into his car before getting ready to drive away. "Rgh! My father is gonna to hear about this!" Darren growled like a lion. "Yeah...let's not get him or your brother involved." Doug said firmly as he drove away, leaving the four kids and Onion on their own.

"Well...that was pretty awesome. What did you think Pu..." Nora said before looking at Purity, only to find that she was gone. "Where'd that lady go?" Zach asked, looking all around for any signs of Purity. "She teleported off. She tends to do that." Steven explained to Zach who shrugged in confusion. "So...can you give me a lift home Zach?" Connie asked her friend.

"Sure thing Connie." Zach said as he guided the gang to his Quad Bike. "Wow...a solar powered Quadbike? That's so awesome Zach." Steven complemented with amzement. "Thanks my dad made it so it saves a lot of energy. By the way...do you think I could crash at your place for tonight Steven?" Zach said sheepishly before asked with a sigh.

"Well...ok. But how come?" Steven asked as he got onto the back of the Quadbike with Connie and Nora. "Well, my parents are outta town for a while and I'm almost outta gas and...and...I got suspended from Middle School." Zach said before confessing at the end. "Suspended? What for?" Connie asked in fright. "Well...Darren framed me for something I didn't do. Plus Cadence suduced me to do her dirty work and the others...well I'd better not mention what they do." Zach explained sadly.

"We'll sort something out Zach, don't worry." Connie said with reassurance before Nora hugged Zach, helping him a lot. "Right, then let's get you girls home." He responded before starting up his quad bike. "Oh, I nearly forgot. Bye Onion, stay safe." Steven said before Zach rode off.

Onion then started to walk home, until he suddenly heard a large stomp coming from behind him. A large shadow of a figure appeared behind him along with a smaller shadow with wings and a tall and menacing figure. "Well well well, what do we have here?" A voice spoke, causing Onion to look back nervously.

(1) Bit of a reference to Kamen Rider Quiz here. Plus a little hint of Miraculous Ladybug in a way.

(2) The Return of Zach Connors

(3) I know what you guys are thinking. Even one of the Rubies are stupid enough to nearly reveal themselves.

Well, am I glad that's over and done with

Pretty good nonetheless anyway ^^

Adios for now and stay turned for the next chapter

Negaboss2000 out ^^.