The gems go to investigate Ronaldo's claims only to find troubling signs all around them.

Mostly just a set up chapter since the next one is gonna be a lot more action packed. I hope you can bear with me here. Next chapter will have more action.

On their way to the visitor center Steven and Amethyst were talking amongst themselves while Pearl and Garnet followed silently behind. "So does anyone actually go to this place or what." Amethyst droned.

Steven looked at her in confusion. "Sure they do! I mean, how else would visitors know what to visit?"

"I don't know, just by walking around? This town isn't all that big."

"It's still essential. Visitors might get overwhelmed and lost without it! You never know."

"Yeah right Steven. I've literally never heard of this place before today. I mean, who actually goes to the end of a boardwalk?"

Steven opened his mouth to answer but Amethyst took the liberty of answering for him instead.

"Trick question! The answer is no one. No one does. Except for nerds. And guess who went down there?"

Steven opened his mouth yet again to respond but shut it out of his own volition this time. She got him there.

The rest of the walk down the boardwalk was mostly uneventful as people went about their business and ignored the procession of gems. If there were more people swarming around than usual the gems didn't notice as they reached the end of the boardwalk. There lies the seldom used visitor center.

It was a squat two story building, the front primarily being made of glass. The rest of the building was made of wooden boards brightly painted terra-cotta red and tan. Seeing into the lobby they could see the front desk pushed far back into the room where no one was currently stationed.

"Guess it's closed. It's a shame really, guess we gotta go home. Let's go Steven, we can get some fry bits on the way back." Amethyst began strolling back to the house but didn't make it far as Garnet grabbed her back.

"We don't need the building. Only the back."

Amethyst groaned. She hated logic. She was a terrible detective. Fighting things? Now that was her area of expertise.

The group stepped off the boardwalk, moving off of weathered wood to cracked, sand covered concrete on their way to the backside of what could politely be called a shack.

On the side where the security video footage seemed to be taken from was a singular disgruntled worker scrubbing a poorly drawn half finished graffiti tag. Their bright uniform shirt and cap did nothing to hide the annoyed expression on their face.

Steven promptly walked over to the worker, hoping to maybe get some information out of them. "Hello!" He enthusiastically greeted.

The worker looked at their group head to toe with a blank expression before going back to work scrubbing.

Pearl approached him next. "Have you seen any strange occurrences as of late? Or know what happened to the two who were painting this?" She pointed to the dripping wet mass of half cleaned paint. The worker stopped scrubbing, dropping their sponge with a sigh and looked up at Pearl.

"Lady, not to be disrespectful but I really don't get paid enough to pay attention to every jackass who decides that vandalizing public property is a perfect way of sorting out their daddy issues." They replied in a scathing tone. Steven winced at the usage of profanity.

"You work here, surely you must've noticed something strange in the last few days." Pearl questioned next. The human didn't even bother looking at her.

"My job is to just maintain the visitor center. Nothing more nothing less. I've already had to deal with some curly haired weirdo speaking in tongues about snake people. I really don't need rainbow colored aliens bothering me too. You're welcome to look around all you like but just don't bother me, ok? I just want to live a quiet life. I don't need this."

Slightly unnerved by their response and unsure whether to be offended or not she slowly clapped her hands together. "...right. Well Steven let's leave them be while we search around for any clues." She grabbed his hand, dragging him closer to the foliage surrounding the building as the worker silently went back to scrubbing. Humans could be so unnerving sometimes.

"The camera is right there so going off of the angle our area should be right here." Pearl pointed to a section of woods that looked just as remarkable as the rest, at least on first glance. From how violent the encounter in the video was surely there had to be some sort of sign left.

"Alright gang let's split up and look for clues." Amethyst joyfully quipped.

Pearl pulled a magnifying glass from her gem. "Exactly Amethyst! Glad you're taking this seriously." The joke seemingly flew over her head.

While Pearl spent time talking Garnet had already started searching for signs of their mystery monster. And lucky for her she was able to find some evidence of a disturbance rather quick. "Look over here." She pointed to the ground in front of her for the others to see.

In the dirt leading off into the woods were drag marks. They were wide and mostly shallow if not for what looked like nail marks. They stopped as they reached the woodland edge, being replaced by crushed plant life instead of dirt.

"Great start Garnet!" The two of them walked along following what visible marks were left as Amethyst reluctantly followed behind.

Meanwhile Steven had stayed behind to see if there was anything else he could find. There were two guys but only one draw mark so there had to be another one right? He spent the next few minutes looking around looking for an excess of crushed plants though with how much he was stomping around it wasn't exactly doing him any favors. He was about to turn back-. Wait.

Tucked away beneath the undergrowth Steven could see something bright sticking out of the green foliage. Steven inched forward, digging his fingers through the crushed plant life until they brushed over something smooth.

"Gotcha!"

Steven emerged covered in leaves and grass triumphantly holding up his prize in the air.

"You find something Steven?" Pearl called over.

"Yeah it's..." Steven lowered his arm to take a good look at just what he picked up. It was..scales.!?

In his hand he held what looked to be a cluster of large, smooth scale. What was odd about it besides it's enlarged size was it's color. It was a bright turquoise, glittering in the afternoon sun. He had to admit, it was rather pretty but it was also pretty odd.

Definitely a clue though.

Garnet reached Steven first, hanging over him in an attempt to get a good look at what he found in the bushes. He was so focused on the blue scale that he didn't hear her approaching and ended up falling over in a dramatic fashion and a loud "Ahh!".

In mid air Garnet managed to catch both Steven and the scale that slipped out of his hand. The coloring didn't surprise her that much but what did confuse her was why this was here. Gem bodies corrupted or not were simply projections of light, so they typically didn't shed. And while she's fought gen monsters that have left debris like claws, spikes, teeth or some sort of gooey substance they would eventually disappear on their own sooner or later. Even then that was rare so the fact that there was anything left behind was peculiar. The gen leader shared these thoughts out loud to the rest of the gems.

"Well there's never been any sort of consistency amongst gem monsters before. So perhaps when we finally poof it it'll fade away as normal?" Pearl replied.

"Hmm." She was unconvinced but she wouldn't say anything for now due to the sheer lack of information they had. Steven piped up next.

"Hey Garnet since we have this scale now do you think you could use it to help with your future vision?"

She looked down at the scale in her hand once again. Having this in her hand while meditating would definitely speed up her search. "It could certainly help me narrow down the timeline. Yes, thank you Steven for finding this." She patted his head affectionately, Steven giggling as she did so.

Amethyst butted in "So does that mean we're done here?"

Pearl sighed. As loathe as she was to admit there wasn't much left they could do here. The trail they had been filling abruptly stopped at one point not too far along, which was strange. It wasn't as if the two victims could have gotten up and calmly walked away from a gem monster. There had to be more to it but that was something they wouldn't find out here.

"Well seeing as there's not any evidence left to be found I would say yes Amethyst, we can go now." She answered to Amethyst's complete and utter joy, fist bumping the air.

Really there wasn't much left for them to do except wait for Garnet to have a break through. They had no information on where it could possibly be roaming or any sort of hint to its attack patterns. All they could do now outside of trying to draw it out and luck was wait.

The four of the departed from the visitor center, on their way back to the temple in hopes that Garnet could find something out. Amethyst asked if they could possibly get food before they went home.

The worker watched them go for a moment with no comment. Good, they're finally gone. And he went right back to scrubbing.

-

They only made it halfway back to the temple before being halted by a growing crowd. At first they noticed an increasing human population buzzing about the boardwalk but it became much more dense as they reached the outside of Fish Stew Pizza. Not to mention, much more loud as the cries and complaints of various citizens rang out.

Over the crowd they could hear Nanefua calling out for peace and order. "Please calm down one at a time! Screaming will get us nowhere!"

"My husband is missing! I haven't seen him in days!"

"Or my son! He went out and never came back!"

"What if one of us is next!? I don't wanna get mauled!"

The gems looked out in confusion. What's happening? Why were they panicking? How did they all know about the gem monster? The questions collectively swum through their heads as they watched the new mayor get swarmed by citizens, some with flyers in their hands. They got their answer as a certain blogger jogged up to Steven, calling out his name.

"Isn't this great Steven!

"Great? This is chaos!"

Ronaldo triumphantly laughed. "This is what had to happen Steven! I had to inform the public of the truth!"

"Informing the public? You caused a panic Ronaldo!" He gestured to the crying masses running around like chickens.

He shrugged it off. "Truth hurts Steven. Now that they know they'll be able to deal with it."

Steven shook his head in frustration. "We had it handled Ronaldo! The Gems were on this!"

"Pfft. Well it's not like you guys had it handled when that invasion came." He sniped back nonchalantly.

Steven stared at him in shock, stunned into silence. Once again he was being reminded of one of his greatest failures. Why did it keep haunting him? He thought he did what was right! Except...it wasn't. He hurt his family, he hurt his friends, he hurt Beach City and most importantly he hurt Connie... How could he protect anyone when all he did was mess things up?

If the sad look on Steven's face wasn't off putting to a smug Ronaldo then the collective upset looks from his aunts was. Remembering the beating he got from them he slowly scampered away, rejoining the frightened crowd.

Garnet was first to comfort Steven. "Steven-"
"He's right Garnet. How can I protect anyone when I've messed up so badly?"

She dropped down to his level. "The town hasn't lost faith in us yet Steven. We may have failed once but the best thing we can do is to try to improve from our mistakes instead of wallowing in them. Do you understand?"

Steven still looked upset, but slowly nodded. He trusted Garnet's judgement on things. She was their leader for a reason after all. He'd drop it for now, but the thought still remained in the back of his head. What if he gets someone else killed?

They could hear the new mayor call out to them. "Crystal Gems! Over here!" Nanefua attempted to wave to them despite her short stature. After a bit of crowd surfing and some help from her guards the Gems found themselves in front of the newly elected mayor Nanefua Pizza.

"It's good to see you four. It is complete madness right now! Because of these!"
She handed them a small stack of fliers. On them besides crude handwriting about beasts and sneeple and just as crude illustrations were some of the photos Ronaldo had shown them earlier that day. If the man himself hadn't told them himself he was behind this then these definitely would have sealed the deal.

Pearl cringed at the sight of the flyers. "I believe these are the work of that Ronaldo boy Mrs. Mayor."

Nanefua laughed. "That much is obvious. We all know how much that boy enjoys his theories. But it's a problem when it causes a town wide panic like this." As if to punctuate her point the yells from the crowd grew louder for just a moment.

"I need to know if this is an actual problem we should be concerned about or if it's just another one of that fryboy's fantasies."

Pearl scoffed. "Unfortunately, despite his reputation for less than reputable information, we do have reason to believe this is an actual issue and not something made up." At this Garnet held out her hand to show the mayor the blue scale they found.

"I see. Then this is another one of those gem beasties running amok isn't it?"

"We believe so." One of them refrained from commenting on their doubts. No need to cause further panic.

"Then I can trust you four to handle it. You know best out of all of us. Goodness knows these old bones aren't made to slay monsters." She chuckled. "Your job is to take it down. Meanwhile I'll issue a lockdown mandate until it's all over. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to practice emergency drills for gem incidents, I've been meaning to have a meeting about that with you all. "

"That would be the best considering it has qualms about going after humans." Pearl agreed, hand on her chin. Emergency procedures for gem related incidents, now that would be rather efficient at keeping civilians out of the way.

"Now let's address the crowd, no? Can't leave them hanging for too long." Nanefua turned to the crowd.

"People of Beach City! I hear your cries for help and help has come. Our community is faced with an unknown force that has taken members of our own. I know it's upsetting but don't panic! The gems are already on the case to find what's responsible. But now it's our duty to stay out of the way."

This was met with half agreement and half outrage from the crowd.

"We can't just sit by and be useless at home!" Someone cried.

"It's not being useless when it's the best course of action! Can anyone of us claim we have experience hunting magical monsters? If there is something out there going after people don't you think it's best to stay away instead of offering yourself on a silver platter?"

The silence that followed her question was telling. "Exactly. I know that each and every one of you has the bravery of a lion within you but one must know when to pick their fights. I can't bear to see anyone here get hurt from something they can't handle. So as your mayor I am mandating an immediate lockdown until the threat is taken care of."

This was meant with further crises until a forceful wave for the mayor quieted them down to a murmur. The Gems seeing as things were handled started to walk off until a small hand grabbed Pearl's wrist. Nanefua looked up to the four of them.

"Before you go, would the four of you mind helping me sort everyone out? No doubt some people still have questions or fears to be assured. Not to mention if anyone needs an escort home or last minute supplies."

Pearl was about to politely decline on behalf of the gems before Garnet answered first. "Pearl, Amethyst and Steven can help you. I, on the other hand, need to go home to meditate." With that she turned around and began walking home to the temple once more leaving the other three behind.

Pearl wanted to argue but she knew as much as Garnet that this was a prime opportunity to let the future seeing gem have some alone time uninterrupted to do her work. So she let it pass.

"Can I get some pizza if we help?" Amethyst asked the mayor.

She lightly chuckled and said of course, though they would need to make sure the citizens had good for the night first. Empowered by the promise of food Amethyst quickly went to work helping out, dragging a just as enthused Steven and a less so Pearl.

Ronaldo however soon tuned out the noise of the mayor explaining what to do once everyone went home.

'I can't just let this opportunity slip away. This could be the story of a lifetime! Actual proof of the supernatural on earth!' Looking at Steven and the gems he knew what had to be done.

He started walking home with a set face, ignoring the stay at home protocols. He had some preparations to do.

-

Meanwhile Garnet went ahead back to the temple by herself. With the alone time she's been given she would attempt to sift through the various improbable timelines she mostly ignored in hopes of finding an answer to just what they were to face.

On her own time she found the endeavor to be amusing and pleasurable, as improbable timelines were rather nonsensical and fun making for good entertainment. However trying to dive into these timelines for something specific was about as easy as, as humans would put it, finding a needle in a haystack.

But she was truly thankful to Steven as the scale in her hand greatly sped up the process. If she were to continue the hay analogy it was rather like dumping gasoline on that aforementioned haystack and promptly lighting it on fire, then sifting through the ashes to find that needle. Still took time but it was significantly cut down.

If anything, the scale acted as a compass as various futures and timeline flitted through her head. She caught a few glimpses of each but none were quite right. A world where humans actually did evolve from reptiles instead of apes. A beach city located in Japan instead of Delmarva. A timeline where Connie has her own strange powers along with several other humans, all posing dramatically. A young teen in a pompadour fighting Sardonyx and winning. That last one stuck out to her, it felt close and yet so far.

Finally, after sifting through dozens upon dozens of futures she landed on one that matched the bright blue thing in her hand. It was...rather unbelievable but it was the closest one she could find. And if what she was seeing was correct then this could potentially majorly change their timeline. Whether it was for better or for worse she couldn't see too far in yet, too many variables that hinged on how their battle would go and the aftermath.

Shortly after having reached this conclusion the sun had gone down a considerable bit, and her family tumbled in through the front door.

"I never knew humans could be so..particular!" Pearl squawked. Really, did it matter that you didn't have a tub of ice cream for one night? It's not like it was actually essential. And gosh, trying to get that onion boy to go home took half of her time. Something is severely wrong with that boy.

Amethyst shrugged. "..Come on it wasn't that bad. Helping the townies was nice! Plus we got free food." She held up the pizza she was munching on in between words. Steven agreed as he happily also ate out of a pizza box.

"Community service is important." Garnet also agreed to Pearl's chagrin. Out of all of them she always did like interacting with humans the least, though she certainly didn't hate them far from it. She just preferred to keep her distance.

Time to cut to the chase. "I believe I've potentially seen the timeline we're currently going down."

Steven looked at her in wonder. He always did adore hearing about her future vision even if the power stressed him out in the past. "Really? What did you see Garnet?"

She took a moment to think over how she should answer. "I could only describe it as being one of the more bizarre timelines I've ever witnessed, but it's the one that potentially matches where this came from." She held up the scale to make a point.

"So what should we do?" Steven asked expectantly.

"We should search the woods to the west of town. It'll be roaming around there before crossing into town." She pointed out in the general direction of where she was describing.

She continued. "If we leave now we can intercept it and potentially take this thing down by tonight."

"Right! And..any idea on what we're actually dealing with?"

"Hmm. Some, but not much. Try not to get scratched."

-

In the slowly setting sun a feral creature stalked the woods around Beach City, with a small army following behind it. Though coherent thought was mostly absent in its mind outside of pure instinct it had but one repeating thought.

"...Protect...user...end Valentine..."

-

At least had to add a hint of a certain dino boi at the end while hinting at plot :)

Thank you for reading! Comments are immensely appreciated and as well as any suggestions! Overall I hope these two chapters were an enjoyable introduction. It's an odd idea but eventually I wanna have more wholesome moments featuring Diego because he deserves so much more happiness in his life. But for now apologies he didn't appear much in this chapter. It might be one more until he properly shows up.

I don't know when the next chapter will be out due to finals and just general IRL stuff but I'll try to get it out as soon as possible!

Feedback is appreciated and I promise Diego will be properly showing up soon! Thank you for reading!

safe friends.