"And this is… the magazine."

"Correct." Couple days have passed and already Pearls got a firm memory. "And it…?"

"Hm," she thinks, "Ah! It contains the projectiles used to send them through the weapon itself."

"You got it." I place it down. "Alright, looks like you've got all basics down. If you want, next lesson I can show you how someone properly uses this weapon to their advantage." I say as I slam the empty magazine into its weapon, my M4A1 Carbine with a holographic scope, adjustable stock, flashlight attachment, and two different magazines, the standard 30-round or the extended 60. A personal favorite of mine what with its multiple attachment opportunities and varying models. She knows the ins and outs of Assault rifles but it won't matter if one doesn't know how to properly hold the gun, clean it and what general order to operate it.

"That would be wonderful."

I place the gun in its case and turn back to her, "So not that I don't like talking about my stuff and all, but why are you here? You looked a little… frustrated."

"Ugh, it's Amethyst. She was being…" she tries to come up with a word to perfectly describe her immature friend.

"Amethyst?"

"Yes." She says with a defeated sigh.

I nod, "Ah, 'enough said."

"What's worse is I'm afraid of what kind of influence she can be on Steven. You know he can be very impressionable." She says worriedly.

"Ah, don't worry about it." I lay back against the inside walls of my truck, "I'm sure she won't do anything too destructive or mind crazy with him. She's not that crafty or irresponsible."

"Meow!"

"Ahh!" I jump in surprise at the sudden noise. Unfortunately my legs get caught on each other and I trip, right over the other side of my truck, and onto my back.

Pain follows. A lot.

And one bout of laughter followed by scolding.

"Ahhh hahahahahahahaaa! Gotcha."

"Amethyst! Don't do that!" Soon, Pearl looks over followed by a grinning Amethyst. "You okay?"

"Oh yeah. Yeah. Just peachy. My backs just twisted is all." I sarcastically say with a slightly strained voice. I grab onto Pearls and Amethysts extended hands, allowing them to pull me back onto my truck. With a twist to the left and right, I hear some satisfying 'pops', loosening me up. "So, any reason why you almost killed me?" I ask the purple gem with a frown and crossed arms.

"Eh, just wanted to have some fuuuunnn." She says in a relaxed tone as she leans back, hands behind her head.

"What? You didn't have enough with Steven?"

"Thanks Amethyst!" Said kid runs past us into town with a smile.

"Your welcome." She replys without looking at him and a lazy wave.

Pearl and I look to each other before back to the other gem. "What did you help him with?" Pearl asks warily.

"Eh, he was curious about shape shifting so I showed him some moves."

"Wait, you can shape shift?" I ask the purple gem in surprise. 'Shape shifting? Man that's pretty cool.'

"Of course. All gems can shape shift. Just ask Pearl." She points to her. I look to said gem.

"It's true. All gems have the ability to shape shift into different objects, whether its inanimate or alive, a gem can shift into it." She explains.

"Damn, that's pretty cool."

Suddenly I here a 'whiring' type sound to my side. Look over, "Meow." I spot a light purple cat with an Amethyst gem on its chest. We stare at each other for some time till look back to Pearl.

"While it is a useful ability, it seems you can't change your original color style, which to the trained eye would be easily picked up on." I point out. If Amethyst wasn't sitting there a moment ago, I would have been weirded out seeing a purple cat with a purple gem on it but I probably would have figured something was up eventually.

"But it's still awesome." The cat speaks. 'Okay, that's kinda creepy.' She turns back into her regular form. "Hey! You want us to teach you? It'll be fuuuun?" she says with a smile and wavy hands.

"Uhhhhh, thanks but no thanks." I turn down her offer, making her mood deflate. "I'm quite partial to how my body is how it is. I don't feel comfortable moving it around and possibly… misplacing something." I say the last part with a bit of a shudder.

"Awww, your no fun." Amethyst says with a pout.

"Whelp," I lean back, "Sorry to disappoint."

"Gems!" Garnet makes her announcement by slamming into the ground behind me.

"Gah!" I jerk forward but manage to keep myself from falling off, however this does make Pearl and Amethyst laugh. "Will you guys stop scaring me?!" I yell, more than a little peeved at getting scared to hell twice in not even half-an-hour. Garnet makes no comment; she just stares at me with a neutral look. "*Sigh* What is it?" I ask while righting myself up.

"We have a problem." She says seriously, stopping Amethyst from her laughing fit.

"What is it?" Pearl asks.

"A small island was infested with a gem and is heading this way." She explains.

"Wait wait wait, a whole island?" I ask in disbelief. She nods. "Damn that's a new one."

"This is a tectonic emergency and the island could do irreparable damage if it reaches the main land. We have to intercept it before it gets here. Pearl, we will go get the Gem Sloop." Pearl nods and jumps off into the air, making my truck bounce a little. "Amethyst, find Steven and tell him where we are going." She nods and takes off. "Marcus, see what you have on hand that could help. This'll be a good example for us to see how you do on a mission."

"Roger." I confirm and grab my M4 from its box and a couple magazines.

"We'll meet at the docks near the temple." Without another word, she jumps off.

After watching her jump off for a few seconds, I think on what I should bring, 'Alright, bringing my M4 because I need a little versatility. If we are going to be on the island itself, I need to be aware that everything around us can attack. But I can't just take this. What else do I-' "Aha!" Closing the hatch on my truck, I reach into the backseat of my truck and look around. "Where is it? Where is it? Ah! There you are." I mutter as I bring out what I'm looking for. One of those small folding shovels typically used by the military. "If its on an island, chances are its gonna be buried." Grabbing a couple of straps, I attach them to shovel and rifle and cross them on my back. Locking up my truck, I head over to the docks to find Pearl and Garnet already in the boat. "I'm here." I say as I carefully get in.

"What did you bring?" Pearl asks.

"My M4 and a military shovel. The rifle is for general purpose, you know in case the island or anyone else decides kill us," I say like it was nothing, "And the shovel is in case we need to dig it up or chip it out of something."

"Smart." Garnet compliments with her same still neutral expression.

"Thanks."

"Alright, lets go." Amethyst says as she plops down in the boat. Without a word, Garnet kicks us off the dock. With that we begin drifting towards our destination, slowly. 'Maybe I can use my shovel as a paddle.'

"Wait!" *Splash*

Looking back, we all spot Steven trying to wad his through the water towards us. "Steven?"

"Steven!" Pearl loudly exclaims.

"Hahahaha. C'mon, you can make it!" Amethyst tries to encourage him. He attempts to paddle but suddenly he jerks his arms back when a loud… 'Wait, are his fingers… cats?' The others gasp while I remain puzzled.

"Steven, what's going on?"

"Waah! I-It's nothing! I-I just turned all my fingers into cats!"

"Nothing my ass." I mutter to myself.

Pearl turns to Garnet, "We have to stay and help Steven!"

"We can't. This is a tectonic emergency. We'll deal with Steven when we get back." Garnet remains rooted towards our mission.

"Amethyst," Pearl turns toward the purple gem, "I blame you for this." She points an accusing finger at her.

"Eah, that's fair." She shrugs.

"Grrr!" Pearl growls. She attempts to calm down and turn to me, "Marcus, I'm sorry to impose but could you-"

"Stay here and make sure Steven is alright? Done." I answer for her and take off my rifle.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Besides," I hold the rifle over my head, "We may learn something from this. Hya!" With a grunt, I jump out. The water immediately engulfs all the way up to my chest. "Oooooh man, cold!"

"Steven, Marcus is going to stay and help! Just try to stay calm!"

"Okay!" He calls back. Before long I manage to wade my way through the all while keeping my rifle above my head towards Steven. "I'm sorry you didn't get to go on the mission because of me." He says sadly while looking down.

"Don't sweat it man," I pat his head, making him look up to me. "These things happen. Now c'mon. Let's get inside and find out how to fix you." I pat him on the back to send him moving.

"Yes sir!" He salutes with his cat fingers and moves. 'Creepy.'


"Enough! No more cat fingers! I just want Steven fingers! … And I don't mean little me heads on fingers, I mean my regular fingers!"

'Oh god that would be even creepier.' So far I haven't been able to come up with anything. I asked him if he could try to recreate the feeling of when he first made his cat fingers because apparently it's not cut and dry as just… thinking it.

"Wha! Aahhh! Stop!" I turn around and bolt back to the living area where Steven is.

"Steven! What's wron- Whoa!" Surprise hits me hard as I see parts of Steven turning into cats. Already his arm is one, his foot, parts of his chest and a spot on his head are moving around and meowing.

"Amethyst! Pearl!... Garnet!" he begins crying out. He turns to me with tears almost beginning to form in his eyes. "Marcus." He says with genuine scared and sadness.

"Oh god, Steven!" I crouch next to him and look him over, trying to find some means to help him. "Uhhh, uhhh, uhhhhhh… Screw this! We're going to find the gems."

"But-"

"No buts!" I try to pick him up. "I'll get you to them even if I have to hotwire a speed boa- Pah!" Before I can finish, one of Stevens cat arms smacks me hard in the chest, sending me crashing through the window and slamming against the wooden railing outside. It breaks as I try to get up, sending me over the side, hanging on by only my hands. "Oh crap. Ohhhh this is not good."

"Marcus!" Steven hobbles out the door and spots me trying to climb up. "Let me help."

"Thanks man. I appreciate- Ow!" Unfortunately one of his cats bites me, making me lose my grip on one o my hands. Looking down, I see just how far up I am. However its punctuated even more as my rifle loses its hold on me and plummets towards the rocks down below. It hits the rocks hard and I'm pretty sure I saw something snap off the gun itself. "Shit."

"Dad!"

"Wha!" I swing myself back up and see Steven running away down the steps. "Steven! Where are you going?!" I call out to him as I bring my arms up onto the ledge.

"To find my dad!" He calls back as he makes it to ground level.

"Your dad? Steven!" I call out to him but he's already gone. With another grunt, I bring my torso up and shimmy myself up until I'm fully onto the porch. On my hands and knees, I breathe slowly to calm myself down before getting to my feet. Reaching behind me, I take off the shovel and drop it to the ground, already making my way down the stairs. "Damn. Alright Steven, where are you going?"


An hour passes and it's already starting to get dark. What's got me so worried now is that at first his footsteps in the sand were normal but as he moved further and further away, they started to become even more erratic and it wasn't long before I was pretty sure they resembled to moving on all fours. "Damn, man. Where are you?" What's worse is my body is still a little sore from the small beating Steven gave me. I also had to pull a shard of glass out of my leg and side. Fortunately they coagulated pretty quick but damn does it hurt like a mother. Regardless I press on. His footsteps are all over the beach and what with the water messing up any indentations in the sand plus the low light of the moon, I've almost completely lost his tracks. "Crap. Lost him." With the sand tracks gone, I look around seeing if I can find anything else to lead me to him. A broken bench catches my eye. Jogging out of the sand and onto the boardwalk, I examine the broken piece of the bench to see teeth marks on it. "Alright, he came this way. Now where?"

"Aaahahahaaa!" A scream makes me snap my head towards it. At a nearby car wash called 'It's A Wash' is the source where I see a fairly large man blasting something with a hose. He has hair behind his head in a mullet style with a bald spot on top. He wears a white tank top with gray shorts or pants and flip-flops. I quickly make my way towards the man just as the mass he's spraying lunges at him. I tackle him out of the way.

"Gah!" I groan as I roll off the guy and stand up, seeing the mass is Steven, I think. He's really far gone with the cats. I barely even see his shirt. "You alright?" I ask the man I saved.

"Yeah, thanks." I extend my hand and help him to his feet.

"Steven! Are you alright?" I yell to him.

"…not enough."

"What?!"

"Hey!" the man I saved turns me to him, "How do you know my son?!"

"I know him because-!" I freeze at the mans words. 'Did he say…' "Son?!" I ask completely in surprise.

"Yeah! That's my son!" he points to Steven, who's still moving about, trying to force himself into puddles from the looks of it. "Kind of. How do you know him?" he asks with just a hint of anger in his voice.

"Wha- but- I-" 'Crap I was hoping to make a better impression on the man than now.' "Oh man. Look I'm a friend, alright." Thinking on the spot, I lift my sleeve to show him my gem. His eyes widen as a response, "Trust me."

"You're a gem?! But how-!"

"Look! I'll explain later but for now we have to help your son." I try to reason with him.

He takes a moment to collect himself then nods. "Uh, yeah. Yeah sure."

"Dad…" We turn to Steven to see him grabbing the entrance of the car wash. He turns back to see us, his eyes widening when he sees me. "Marcus! Guys, its not enough water! We need more!" he looks to the car wash he's holding, "Dad! Turn on the super-wash!"

"What?! No, I won't do it! It's too dangerous!" Stevens dad replys.

"You've got to! I'm a monster! I'm an adorable cat monster!"

'My leg and side beg to differ on adorable.'

"No you're not!" I look to his father and actually see him tearing him up. "You're my son!" he says, his voice sounding… worried. I smile at the man. 'He cares… a father who cares despite... good man.'

"Dad! Please! Aahhh!" Steven cries out as the cats engulf him more.

"Mr. Universe." He turns to me, "We don't have a choice. You get the machines started," I pick up the hose, "I'll get him in."

He looks toward the ball of felines. He closes his eyes, then turns back to me with determination. "Right." He turns around and heads throw the main office door.

Turning the hose on full blast, I hammer the felines with a concentrated spray, angling myself so they are between me and the entrance. I force them in a bit but they start to push back against my spray. "Nope." Throwing the hose away, I crouch down and take off hard at Steven. With a grunt of exertion, I rugby tackle the felines the rest of the way into the car wash. They start biting but I ignore it. Looking to the side, I spot Mr. Universe through the window. "Do it!" I order. He nods and presses a button. Closing my eyes, I continue to push the ball of felines through the car wash as we are bombarded with highly pressurized water streams, soap suds, pelted with those waxy brush things and finished off with another bout of water. By the time we are done, I'm holding a normal Steven in my arms with holes and tears all over his clothes. Sore from all my injuries, including my bite wounds, I carefully carry Steven out the exit, where his dad meets us with a hose in hand. Slowly I lower Steven to the ground then collapse as well.

"Dad." I turn my head to Steven to see him slowly getting up. He turns to me, "Marcus. We did it."

"Yeah we did." I say.

"Meow." My eyes widen in horror as one of Stevens fingers is still a cat.

"Aahhhhhhh!" All three of us scream as his dad hoses the beast. Soon, it returns to normal. We breathe a sigh of relief and collapse onto the ground.

"Soooo, uhhhh, son… care to introduce us?" Stevens dad asks, waving a hand in my direction.

"Oh, you're right. Dad, this is Marcus. He's a human-gem like me." Steven quickly explains, punctuating the statement by lifting his shirt and showing off his gem. The man looks at his son, then looks over to me. As a reply, I lift both my sleeves up and show him my gems on my shoulders.

"Wow. Another gem like my son? Cool." He scoots over to me and extends his hand, "Greg Universe."

I grasp is hand firmly and shake, "Marcus Castellanos, at your service." I say with a slight head nod.

"Oh no need to be so formal with me. I'm anything but. And you can just call me Greg." Greg tells me.

I chuckle and smile at the man, "Regardless, the past days have been an immense relief to me considering I actually found someone who's actually like me. I'm thankful to have found the gems and that they were willing to let me stay with them."

"Wait, the gems are letting you live with them?"

"Yeah. After we met over a week ago during a monster fight, we talked, I told them some things about me and they let me stay so I can help them and they can help me find out who I am."

"Who you are? Don't you know?" I know he didn't mean to but that question kinda hurts considering.

"… Hey Steven, why don't you head on home? It's getting late and we have no idea when the gems will be back." Sensing how the mood in my voice is, he gets up.

"Sure thing. I need to change too. Thanks you two!" Steven calls back to us as he takes off to the temple.

We wave back to him as he becomes smaller and smaller the farther he goes. I ask my question, "Do you love him?"

"What?"

"Do you love your son?" I ask him straight in the eyes.

"Of course I do! What kind of question is that?" he answers surprised. I don't immediately reply, just think for a bit.

"Did it hurt? Did it hurt when she disappeared and gave you… him?" I ask somberly.

His surprised expression turns to confusion, then he gets what I'm saying before he looks sad. "Yeah, yeah it did. At first I was depressed for quite awhile, seeing Rose give herself up for Steven like that… but after awhile, that bundle of joy just became such a handful that I didn't have enough time to be depressed. When taking care of him, it just reminded me how much Rose was… happy to have a son. I still miss her but… she left an amazing present behind."

I smile at the man's explanation. So much so that I'm pretty sure I'm crying. I wipe my tears. "Then your already a better man than most." He looks over to me seeing me clean my face, "My father wasn't so willing or happy with the results of my mom's action. He always resented me, telling me 'I'm not her.' He hated who I was and never bothered to tell me anything. I… I left. I may have been giving up on finding out who my mom is or knowing what I am but I couldn't stand to live with that man so I left. You can imagine my surprise when I found out about your son."

He stares at me for a long while before sighing, "Geez man. I'm sorry to hear that. Truthfully I was really depressed for the longest time after Rose, Stevens mom, gave up her form to have Steven. For awhile the gems hated and resented me for 'taking away their leader' so to speak. Feeling the cold shoulder they gave me, I didn't want to do that to my son I loved him, took care of him and so on." He places a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry your dad didn't… get it in time."

I pat his hand, "It's fine. In a way, I'm alright with it. If he hadn't driven me away, I wouldn't have met Steven or the gems so I'm cool with it." 'I'm partially lying but he doesn't need to know that. It's still great living with the crystal gems. That much is true.' "It's definitely interesting being with them and all."

"Hohoo yeah, those missions they go on are certainly one for the books." There isn't anything else for us to say after that so its silent between the two of us. "Hey, uhhh, Marcus?" I look to him, "Do me a favor and look after my boy? The gems expect a lot from him, having Roses gem and all, so if he needs anything that I can't help him with, can you?"

I smile and slap the man's back, lightly. "Don't worry about it. He's a pretty resourceful kid. I don't think he'll need me but I got his back. Don't worry."

He gives a relieved smile to my answer, "Thanks man."

"No problem."

Unfortunately an uncomfortable awkward silence follows. 'C'mon man, find something else to break the ice.'

"So Steven said you live in your van?"


After that, things mellowed out. We just talked about general things here and there after awhile but soon it was pitch black out so we had to call it a night. It was nice finally talking to Stevens dad and it was refreshing to know Steven had such a caring father.

"Can you teach me to shoot?"

With that being said, I may be his advice giver, because at this point I don't think I can teach him anything, but I'm not going to be a father.

"Hahhahahhaaaahahahah, hahahaaaaa no." I sarcastically yet awkwardly laugh before denying him. He visibly deflates at my answer. "Sorry dude. When you're old enough for sure. And I will show you guys some of my guns eventually so you won't get curious and try to break into my weapon cases just to satisfy your curiosity."

"What?! I would never!" he says in mock hurt with his arms cross. I give him a deadpan stare for a silent few seconds. He awkwardly scratches the back of his head, "Yeah okay, I may have gotten curious later on."

"Told you."

I think this only came up because right now we are sitting on the dock and I'm examining my M4. After it tumbled down to the ground the other day, I forgot it there so now I'm taking the time to examine any damages it might have obtained from the fall as well as cleaning it of any dirt and sand. "Sorry about your gun."

"It's cool. The only that broke off was the holographic sight so that's useless." I toss said item behind me to who knows where. "Fortunately, this gives me a reason to try out my red dot sight for this weapon. Plus I was never privy to that holo sight so it's good." I pat his back in reassurance.

He nods and we fall into a comfortable silence until the gems arrive. "Steven!" Pearl loudly exclaims as she leaps onto the dock and over to Steven. "Okay, let me see it." She begins examining his fingers to try and find the cats but I can only grin at seeing them gone. "W-? Y-you got them to go away?"

Stevens only response is a smile.

"He's resourceful this one." I tap his shoulder.

"It just goes to show, always listen to me, and never listen to Amethyst." Pearl advises. 'The first part sounds too much like a bigot but I won't fault the second part.'

"That's fair." Amethyst agrees with Pearl.

"It goes to show," Garnet interrupts, "You should have a little more faith in Steven." It's cute because Pearl blushes at the statement since it's directed at her.

"Yea, that would have been a total CAT-tastrophe!"

"Hahahahahaha…" Amethyst, Pearl and I awkwardly laugh at the bad joke.

"But I'm feeling much better MEOW!"

Now we just groan.

"Ehhh? What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"Okay, that's enough." Garnet says as she and the others walk away.

"Yeah man, your kinda trying too hard." I tap his head as I follow the gems.

"Wait, I've been coming up with cat jokes all morning. You guys, I'm FELINE fine." 'Oh god this is bad.' "Everything's PURRRRFECT!" 'Throw me through the window again.' "Oh come on! I'm just KITTEN around!"

By this point, he's just white noise as he continues to tell jokes and we make our way up the stairs with me leading. "So, how bad was it?" Garnet asks.

"What makes you think it was bad? OW!" I yelp as a sharp pain goes through me. Turning around, I find Garnet holding a piece of glass with a neutral look and a horrified Pearl and Amethyst looking. Reaching behind me, I find the wound the glass made. Giving an awkward smile and chuckle, I gesture upwards. It's not long until we make it to the top and the scene from yesterday is out and about for them to see. I turn back to them.

"There were some… complications."

Still surprised this one came out so long. I don't fully know if this is long or not but I guess I'm just comparing it to a 12 minute episode. Anyway, this was still alright for me to write. Wasn't expecting to have the small moment with Greg and all but there you go.

Until tomorrow… hopefully. Thanks for all the reviews and favs guys. I appreciate it.