Chapter 27

The Gem pad back at the Crystal Temple shined down a beam of light, Steven leaping out from it, "Zircon!" Steven called out; having went after Zircon by himself despite Pearl's warnings. He quickly ran upstairs to his room, hoping Zircon was still there, only to see that Steven's room reverted back to normal before Zircon ever came to Beach City. Zircon's bed covers and sleeping bag were gone, all of his anime videos and figures that were on a shelf in the corner, and Steven looked outside to see that Reaper was also gone, along with his friend. "Oh no…oh no oh no oh no oh no…" Steven slouched against his bed on the floor while a bright shine came from down in the living area. "Steven!" Lapis and Peridot's voices could be heard.

Steven looked up with tear-filled eyes to see Lapis and Peridot at the top of the steps at his room. "No…" Lapis gasped out, seeing exactly what Steven just witnessed.

"Oh Zircon you clod." Peridot whined out, worried. "He's not in any state of mind to be out there by himself! He could hurt someone through that Nega-Dust inside of him!"

"We need to find him then!" Steven shouted out as he was about to run down the stairs before Lapis grabbed him by the collar, "Steven, we don't even know where he went."

"Ugh…" Peridot groaned over in the corner as she seemed to be on her knees, looking at something. "Steven, do you ever organize anything?"

"What do you mean?" Steven ran over to where Peridot was as she seemed to be looking at Steven's movie collection. "That's strange…When Zircon arrived, he would usually alphabetize them himself, but…why are they out of order?" Peridot quickly eyed at Steven before looking back at the collection.

"I wonder…" Peridot muttered as she collected the movies that were out of order, accumulating a total of eight movies. She placed them on the floor and started to think diligently.

"Why are we messing with Peridot?" Lapis asked a little annoyed about this.

"Don't you think it's strange why before Zircon left, he took time away just to put movies out of order?" Peridot responded, now making Lapis think, not quite understanding what Peridot is getting at. "Don't you see? What if Zircon left behind a code?" Steven and Lapis both looked at Peridot, shocked, as now they too are looking at the eight movies.

"I…don't really see a connection." Steven started. "I mean, all of these movies are different genres, no reoccurring actor…what kind of code was Zircon thinking of leaving behind?"

"You're thinking a little too complex, Steven. Think about how he left them." Peridot explained. Steven closed his eyes, putting himself in deep thought before opening them wide, "They were out of order, alphabetically."

"Bingo. Let's see if we can make anything from the first letters of each of these movies." Peridot started looking over the movies. "M…H…E…C…T…R…O…I. An anagram, but for what word? Troi-Mech?" Peridot guessed.

"Octerhim?" Lapis tried.

"G-Guys, those aren't words." Steven sweated before thinking himself. All at once it came to the three, "Chromite!"

"Oh no! This is even worse!" Peridot began to freak out again.

"But I don't understand. Why would Zircon leave something like that behind?" Steven held his head, scared for the well-being of his friend.

"…Maybe he left it for you Steven?" Lapis commented.

"What?" Steven looked up at Lapis, who smiled back lightly, "Think about it…you're the only one who never doubted him before. Not even from what Pearl said earlier, you never doubted him. He may trust a lot of us, but you Steven, I think he trusts 100%." Lapis's little pep-talk almost made Steven tears of joy, but he wiped his eyes and donned a more serious look, "Guys, we need to go and find Zircon and that Chromite."

"Are you crazy?!" Peridot freaked. "Chromites are very dangerous for a reason! Steven, Chromites are masters of shapeshifting. If they are able to get a sample of any kind of living organism, they can copy them, perfectly! That's why White Diamond wanted them destroyed." Peridot lectured.

"I don't care about that, Peridot! I want my friend back!" Steven stated as he ran downstairs towards the door, "Steven wait, Where are you heading?!" Lapis called down.

"My dad's place! We need a ride!" Steven called back up.

The sound of Reaper's engine roared throughout the forest-side, concrete road as Zircon was zipping down it at insane speeds. He would soon stop as he spotted something strange in the middle of the road. It was a stream liquid, but the weird thing was, it seemed like some kind of liquidated metal. Zircon parked Reaper and kneeled over at the trail of liquid to see if he can track whatever left this. It wasn't long before honks could be heard from behind Zircon. "Hey motor-hog! Move your piece of metal trash out of the middle of the road!" It was a big, gruff looking guy who was driving a carrier truck. Zircon didn't respond, ignoring the man until the sound of revving engines could be heard from behind. The guy was going run right over Reaper…not a smart idea. Zircon stepped in front of the truck and placed his hand out, stopping the truck in its track right before driving his hand even further into the front of the truck and pulling out its engine.

"E-Eh eh eh…" The driver now looked like he needed a new pair of pants as Zircon glared at him with his orange-turned eyes. Zircon eventually dropped the engine before getting on his motorcycle and driving into the woods, following the liquid trail.

Just minutes later, the Universe Van was driving down the same highway, close behind Zircon's trail. "How exactly did this happen anyway?!" Greg questioned.

"Well Zircon got the wrong idea after Pearl said something that was taken completely differently." Steven explained.

"Why am I not surprised about any of this?" Greg rolled his eyes at what's been happening right when the group came upon the driver whose truck was recently assaulted by Zircon. He was yelling at his phone to get a tow truck to where he was as the group stared on from the van. "Yeah, he's been here." Lapis stated.

"And from the looks of things, his personality is deteriorating from the Nega-Dust." Peridot stated, making Steven whimper in worry. Lapis elbowed Peridot, "Peridot!"

"What?! I'm speaking the truth!" Peridot yelped out when Steven saw the metal liquid across the road and the motorcycle tracks that were out in the forest, "Dad, follow that trail!" Greg weaved out into the forest, a determined look being worn by Steven. Lapis placed a hand on Steven's shoulder, "Steven, it's ok. I know we'll find and help Zircon."

"…I plan on doing just that." Steven stated.