Agent Phillip "Phil" Coulson drove the jet-black SUV under the setting sun of Delaware. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to an unknown tune. He had his sunglasses on, as well as his earpiece and crisp, Shield suit.

He had just been on a small flight from New York City, wherein he had recruited Tony Stark to the Initiative. The World Security Council, in the wake of the possible alien incursion, had rescinded their original motion of relegating Stark to a consulting role in the Avengers.

It was nice to see Ms. Potts once again. He idly thought of when they were going to tie the knot, as he pulled into the road bearing a sign, 'Welcome to Beach City!'.

Coulson drove through the supposed 'city' (it was really more of a small town, fifteen residents top), before stopping at a car wash on the edge of town. He got out, and to avoid suspicion, had his car washed and bought some snacks in the little stand in the waiting room.

Outside the car wash, Phil encountered a large man, clearly well past his prime, working on the engine compartment of a van labeled 'Mr. Universe'.

Phil took off his sunglasses, and held up a large map. "Excuse me?", he said to the man. "I was hoping you could help me find some sort of landmark."

The man, clearly not paying attention, said noncommittedly, "Sure..."

"I'm trying to find some sort of... statue on the shoreline. A... temple, if you will."

"It's just below the lighthouse.", said the man, pointing a wrench towards the cliff from below the engine. "You can't miss it."

"Thanks." Phil walked back to his clean SUV, got in, and pulled out. As he was driving down the road, he saw the man, worry now in his eyes, appear from the car wash.

Phil parked his car outside a donut shop, walked across the scorching hot sand, and passed the edge of the cliff.

The sight that greeted him made his take off his sunglasses again. A towering statue (a woman-like... thing, with multiple arms) was carved into the cliff face. Multiple hands fallen off from the statue's arms littered the beach. A small, wooden house was nestled in the woman's mid-section.

Coulson's surprise at the modern house erected in the shadow of the clearly ancient statue was evident on his face, though he soon adopted the stony expression most agents like him had. He folded his sunglasses up, put them in his breast pocket, and strode up to the house.

After climbing the incline of sand and the porch stairs, he knocked on the simple screen door.

A small, plump boy in a red shirt opened the door. He was currently eating what looked like a 'Cookie Cat', and had ice cream smeared on his face. The boy froze in bite, then wiped the ice cream off his face self-consciously.

"Um, hello, can I help you?"

Phil smiled warmly. "Hello, I'm Agent Phil Coulson, of Shield. You must be Steven Universe, son of Rose Quartz. Am I right?"

Steven's surprise at the recognition was embarrassingly obvious. "Uh, y-yeah?"

"May I speak with your guardians?"

"My... what?"

"The Crystal Gems, if you will."

"Um... sure..." Steven, still looking suspiciously at the man, opened the door a little wider. Phil walked in, looking appraisingly at the tasteful interior of the house.

Steven walked to a strange door at the back of the house, as Coulson sat on one of the stools near the counter.

Steven banged on the door, yelling, "Pearl! Pearl! Pearl!" He looked back at Coulson sheepishly. "You have to yell really hard to get their attention."

The door opened up in a suitably odd way, revealing an impossibly slender and pale woman. As Steven talked to the woman, Coulson absentmindedly looked at a pizza brochure on the counter. When he looked up again, the woman (Pearl, he presumed) was staring at him.

"Are... are you from social services?", said Pearl, looking suddenly nervous.

Coulson raised an eyebrow, and his warm smile faded. "No, ma'am." He stood up, and adjusted his tie. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. But you can just call us Shield."

Pearl's expression changed from curious to annoyed in a heartbeat. "Oh, you're from one of the human's governments?"

"Actually, we're more of an international..."

"You Shield people are the worst out of all of them. Always poking your nose around the old Gem ruins and battlefields, where you don't belong. It just drives me crazy; can't you just be blissfully unaware like the rest of them?"

Coulson didn't look annoyed at this slight against his species; in fact, he looked downright amused, like someone hiding a secret. He reached into his suit, pulling out a dossier. "We aren't all as blissfully unaware, as you may think." He put the dossier on the counter, and slid it down towards Pearl.

Pearl, looking curious again, picked up the dossier and read it. Steven looked over her shoulder, seeing pictures of a slight man in green wielding some sort of spear.

Steven looked up at Pearl's face, seeing it pale even more than her usual color. "An Asgardian... Loki is coming here, with an army?"

"We believe so.", said Phil.

Pearl stood stock still for a millisecond, then turned abruptly to Steven. "Steven, use the warp whistle to contact Garnet and Amethyst. Then, stay out of the house for a while. We have things to discuss with this man."