"Arg!"

"Hold still!"

"Marcus please! Calm down!"

"Speak for yoursel-"

*CRACK*

"AHHH! Fuck!" I cry out as my arm is set back in place. I collapse back into the bed and breathe lowly.

"Alright… and that's the last of it." The doctor finishes setting the bones in my broken arm into place and writes on a nearby clipboard.

It's been over a day since our fight with Sugilite and while Garnet and Amethyst are still resting, I needed to make sure that my injuries were tended to so nothing would get healed wrong. Pearl was good, she managed to stabilize me but unfortunately we didn't have the proper medical equipment to treat me and make sure my bones were set right. Normally I would just steal the stuff but considering my condition, and Steven's insistence that stealing is wrong, Pearl and I had to actually go to the hospital and get me treated by an actual doctor.

"Thanks doc." I say and slowly sit up as a nurse proceeds to place a cast on the arm.

"Don't mention it." She says and turns back to us with the clipboard. "By the way, how did you get injured again?" she asks me.

"Well see he-"

"I fell off a cliff." I quickly interrupt Pearl before she says anything too revealing of our nature. Hell to make sure the doctors and nurses didn't notice my gems was we wrapped my biceps up in the type of tape boxers use on their fists and claim they were a way to help me train and not pull anything. Thankfully they bought it and were allowed to keep them on since my injuries didn't directly involve those areas.

"Really?" she asks incredulously.

"Yes, really." I say firmly. "The cliff over by the lighthouse? I wanted to challenge myself a little and decided to scale the cliff. I did… but unfortunately as I was standing on the edge, the ground gave way. Point is I hit a few things on the way down and landed on the sand but that wasn't enough to prevent my arm from breaking." I gesture to my arm. She looks at me for a seconds, trying to gauge my explanation and making sure nothing on my face gives her a reason to believe my story is false.

'Your different than most doctors… but this ain't my first rodeo lady.' I think as we continue our staring contest.

"Alright," She seems satisfied with what she thanks and goes back to her clipboard. "Well good news is that nothings permanently set in stone. Your rib didn't puncture your lung, thankfully, your spine is only sore from whatever you impacted against it, the cuts should heal up quite nicely, and your arm was broken in several places but you came here just in time where you shouldn't be able to have any complications in the future." She lists off.

"And the bad news?" Pearl asks.

"This isn't gonna be cheap and absolutely no strenuous activities for a few months."

"Months?!" I question in surprise.

"5 to be exact." She clarifies.

"Ugh." I groan and lay back against the bed.

"I'll write a prescription for some pain medication, some antibiotics and schedule you for when you should come back and get those stitches removed, as well as a check up to make sure your bones are healing right." She finishes writing on the clipboard and tears something off and hands it to Pearl. "Here."

"Thank you."

"No problem. You can check out at the front." She says and heads to the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, its my break and I have lunch plans with my daughter."

"Thanks again Doc." I call out. In return she waves to us through the glass window and continues on. "Alright, let's go." I say to Pearl and slide off the bed.

"You sure you're alright to walk?" she asks me in concern. I wave her off as I walk to the door.

"Yeah, yeah. Nothings impacting my movement, well except this bandage on my chest but nothing too bad." I reassure her. Usually when it comes to broken or cracked ribs, doctors may sometimes use a type of brace on your entire chest area to make sure you don't move your ribs as much so they can heal properly but other times they may use a simple thick tightened bandage across your mid-section to keep those particular ribs from moving. Thankfully I only had to deal with just the bandage part, that way it won't restrict my movement as much. We soon make it to the front desk. The receptionist hands me some forms and I proceed to fill them out… not truthfully but hey, whatever works.

"Just remember to tell me if anything seems wrong, okay?" she asks of me.

"No problem Pearl." I say and hand the receptionist back the forms. "Now let's get out of here."

"Marcus?" I look to the entrance and spot a familiar face.

"Connie? What are you doing here?" I ask her. Right off the bat she doesn't look injured and is instead carrying a bag.

"Visiting my mom. She works here. She's a doctor." She answers.

"A doctor? Nice. That's cool."

"What are you doing here? And… what happened to you?" She asks, no doubt surprised at how I look.

"I got into a bit of scrap with someone. Don't worry I'm fine. You should see the other guy." I say with a smug smile, which also earns me a jab from Pearl. "Ow. Okay okay. Point is I'll be back to normal in a few months or so."

"Oh! Well that's good." Connie says with a smile. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat but my mom only has a half-an-hour break so I kind of want to spend it with her." She says with an apologetic look on her face.

"Nah, it's cool. Go meet here. We have to get home too." I say and proceed to head towards the sliding doors. "See you around."

"Bye Connie." Pearl waves goodbye as well.

"See ya!" Connie yells as the door closes. So far it's the middle of the day so the sun is high in the sky.

"Hey Pearl?" Said gem looks at me. "Why don't you head back to the others? I can be fine on my own." I ask of her.

"Are you sure?" she questions uneasily. "I mean you just got your injuries bandaged and I'm worried-"

"Pearl," I place a hand on her shoulder and look her in the eye, "I'm fine. I'm gonna take it easy for the time the doctor said but for now…" I trail off and look to the ocean. "I think I'm gonna take the scenic route home. You know, get some time to my thoughts and look around before I'm hold up in the house for the months, alright?"

"Well… if your sure." She agrees albeit a bit hesitantly.

"I am. Get going." I nod my head towards the direction of the temple. "I'm sure Steven's still moaning about his soreness from all the exercise he did, and I'm pretty sure Garnet and Amethyst are still incapacitated. Maybe you can tell them how important it is to listen to you." I propose with a smile.

"Well, I was right." She says with a far off look to the temple. "Hehe, alright. You get home soon and I'll make sure everything is alright when you get there."

"Gotcha." I nod.

"Bye, take care of yourself!" she says and proceeds to jog home. I wave to her as she heads home with a smile on my face. As soon as she's out of sight, I retain a neutral look and start walking wherever.

Now that I'm alone, I need to get my thoughts together on what I did the last couple of days. 'My powered strikes that I did against the rock and Sugilit's weapon, as I've now dubbed them my kinetic strikes, were something that could be very useful should I need to use it in a pinch. I don't know if I can use to other parts of my body. If I could, I bet I could come up with more effective attacks, like maybe a more effective local earthquake or shock strike to everyone around me in case I get surrounded like that one stormy night. I need to make more contingency plans should things start get dire and I need to find ways to help in case I'm as hurt as I am now. I need to gain access to more weapons. My AK's barely holding on after repeated use and after falling off the cliff that only added to the potential breakage. It may be regarded as one of the most reliable weapons to use but that doesn't mean it's invincible. I need more powerful side-arms to use. Maybe an upgrade to my Beretta's or new ones all together. Some revolvers could also work…'

"Marcus?"

I'm brought out of my thoughts and planning by my name being called. Looking left and right, I find that I've walked myself along the boardwalk and am in front of the fry shack. At the counter window is Peedee. "Oh, hey Peedee." I haven't exactly talked to the kid on a daily basis but we both at least knew each other considering what happened with Frybo. I can't help but shiver at the memory of that demonically possessed costume.

"Hey. What's uhhh, what's going on with you? You look… good." He says a little uneasily. I can't help but chuckle at him trying to be courteous about my form.

"Hehe, yeah. It's no big deal. I got into a fight with someone and I didn't get off scot free but, nothing like a few weeks rest can't fix." I say with a smile.

"That's good. Was the fight something like… you know?" he trails off and leans over the counter, looking to the side a bit where a very large but very dry residue and stain of cheese and mashed fry's were. Closing my eyes for a sec, I try to compare Sugilite and Frybo.

"Kind of." I say with a shrug.

"Well, I'm sorry to see you got beat up pretty bad because of it." He apologizes to me. I wave a hand dismissively.

"Eh, its not your fault. It just happened, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah I get you."

The conversation trails to silence after that for a few seconds.

"Hey! You never took my dad up on those free fries. Want me to fix you up some?" He proposes to me.

"Hm," I think about for a few seconds before I shrug in acceptance, "Sure, couldn't hurt."

"Great! Give me a second." He heads to the back and I immediately hear the deep fryer going off. Not a minute later, he comes back with fresh salted fries. "Here you go. Thanks again for your help that day."

"No problem man." I say and pop a fry into my mouth. It's hot because it just came out but damn does the taste overpower any debate of me spitting it out. "Mmmm, nice. You do good work my friend." I grab the plate and proceed to walk on. "Well, I'd love to compliment you some more and receive praise for my actions, I should get going. See you around." I bid him farewell and walk off.

"You too! Hope you feel better!" he calls out to me. I walk several feet away from the fry shack before turning down another way on the boardwalk and find a place to sit down and eat.

Now that that distraction is done with, I continue with my thoughts. 'So far, I've realized some new powers and done some things my mom did. For instance that falling thing I did. I don't know if I focused the kinetic power I had to my legs to negate the damage or what but so far it worked perfectly for my demonstration. That's something useful to have if I'm ever trapped on a building or cliff. My speed factor was also another thing to take into account. I remember my mom, speeding by those first enemies in her recording and cutting them down so easy. That's what I used when Pearl was about to get crushed. I just… ran. Ran forward fast enough to intercept the attack.' I finish off my fries and throw the plastic plate into a recycling bucket before heading down an alleyway. 'Maybe with practice, I can better use it. Maybe get the jump if I'm surrounded again and really freak out my enemies. On another note to make, I can feel myself getting stronger and faster when I work out but there's something else to me that I find interesting. I'm strong but I don't necessarily look it. I have some muscles but I feel like I'm in Pearls situation, I don't look it but I can kick some major ass. She may be graceful and powerful with her attacks but there are times when her strength really shows forth despite her… petite appearance. Exhibit A: the rock that was flying towards her when Sugilite went crazy on the communication hub. She kicked that thing into a dozen pieces without breaking a sweat or much strain on her part. I always didn't like those bodybuilder appearances and I'm glad I retained that subdued appearance I have. In any case, I always preferred the smart way of being strong than the pure brawn way. That's why I-'

"Hey!" I snap my head up at the loud voice at the end of the alleyway.

"Hey man! Come back here!"

"HAHA! Too bad! I got your-Gua!"

I come around the corner and clothesline the guy, forcing his bottom half to fly up as the top half stops dead in its tracks. Looking at the man's shady appearance, he tries to steady himself at the sudden impact I gave him.

"AAAGHH!" The purse snatcher yelps as I slam my foot on his wrist, forcing him to open his hand and release the purse. With a quick movement, I hook the strap of the purse in my foot and lunge it towards my open hand.

"Here you go- Jenny!?" I ask in surprise. Before me are Jenny and two other guys next to her running up to me. I haven't seen Jenny since we met at the beach party so it's nice to see her, even now.

"Marcus?! What are you doing here? And what happened to you?" she asks in confusion, no doubt surprised at my bandaged form.

"Some stuff happened the day before, now I've got a few months worth of bed rest waiting for me." I quickly explain to her.

"Rah!"

"Hold that thought." I say as the robber tries to punch me behind my head but I lean to the side and back, making him miss and stumble forward.

"Hold still you-!" he goes to punch me again but I dodge it and headbutt him easily, knocking him out.

"Now that the nuisance is dealt with, here's your purse." I walk over to the stunned teens and hand the purse to Jenny. "C'mon, let's leave this dumbass here. He's not worth our time." I shake my head away from this guy and propose for us to get going.

"Oh! Uhh, okay. Let's go guys." She agrees and all four of us get walking.

"So Jenny, how do you know this guy?" One of the guys walking with us asks her.

"Oh, right! Guys, this is Marcus! I met him when he crashed through my family's store."

I can almost feel their confusing stares on me.

"It was a… complicated situation." I try to reason but fall flat hard.

"Marcus, this is Buck and Sour Cream, my best friends." She introduces us.

"Hey." I shake both their hands.

"Hey."

"'Sup."

"So Marcus, I haven't talked to you in awhile. Anything new happen? Besides, this?" she gestures to my injuries.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. I have been working out when I could to make sure I get stronger so I don't get tossed around like I did that one time."

"Did it work?" Buck asks. He probably means by my beat up self.

"Oh yes. Yes it did. Trust me. This could have gone a lot worse." I say. The conversation takes a small pause after that as we just continue to walk wherever.

"Those were some slick moves back there, man." Sour cream compliments me.

"Yeah, where'd you learn those?" Jenny asks, intrigued as well. Buck looks no different but he leans a little close in.

"Self taught. I used to live in some pretty bad places so trust me when I say I know my way on how to fight, despite how I look." I calmly explain to them.

"That's cool." Sour cream says.

"Yeah, it sucked for awhile but it's still pretty cool having to know these moves. Especially for jackasses like that." I point to behind us.

"Yeah, extremely useful." Jenny agrees whole heartedly. I smile at the obviousness of her happiness. When a person just steps out of nowhere and clocks the guy that steals your purse, being grateful is probably going to be one of the emotions your feeling at the time.

"I'm hungry." Sour Creams says suddenly.

"Well what do you want?" Buck asks his friend.

"I don't know. I could for some fries, or a pizza, or-"

"How 'bout a donut?" I suggest. We all stop as they look at me.

"Where?" Sour cream asks. I point behind them. They turn to see that we are standing in front of the 'Big Donut.' "Perfect. I could go for a donut." Sour Cream agrees with the idea and jogs to the door.

"Yeah, I could go for one too." Jenny agrees as well and goes with friend. Buck just shrugs and follows while I bring up the rear.

*Ding-Ding*

I walk in and see Sour Cream already ordering something. As usual, Sadie and Lars are manning the counter but Lars looks really happy to see Jenny and her friends.

"Hey! Marcus! How are you?" Sadie calls out to me as she notices I'm here. "You look… good." She says uneasily.

"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot." I comment as I rub the back of my neck.

"At least you weren't hospitalized." She tries to find the light of my situation while Lars gets the others order.

"Yeah, good thing too. Probably would have gone crazy if I was hospitalized. I don't do well in staying in one place for days on end." And I don't mean location. I'm talking about lying in bed or sitting down for practically days on end.

"With who you fought, you're lucky." Sadie says and I nod in agreement. "Can I get you anything?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"You were there when he got hurt?" Jenny asks her.

"Ohhh yeah, me and Lars were and trust us when we say, things could have turned out differently if he wasn't as good as he was." Sadie compliments me.

"Thanks Sadie. I appreciate it." I say.

"But of course-" I tune out Lars's attempt to suck up to the cool kids and look at my phone. 'It's been awhile since I last got an update on any monsters. I don't know if they've gone to ground or are heading this way from the concentration of gems. As long as no more attacks take place in any public locations, then our identity may be kept secret… hopefully.'

*Ding-Ding*

"Hello sir! What can I get you- Sir! Put down the knife!" I put my phone in my pocket. "Marcus!" I twist around just as Sadie calls my name and bring my right hand up.

*SHICK!*

To everyone's horror and my annoyance, a knife goes through my hand as I hold onto the person's knife wielding fist. "You little shit!" The purse snatcher from before spats in my face as blood runs down his face from the broken nose I gave him. "You thought you could sucker punch me and get away with it?! Well I'm going to-… going to…" His rants dies off as he notices that I'm still holding onto his fist. He tries to pull it out but I tighten my grip harder onto him. "Ow! Ow! Owowowowow! Let go! Let go!" he begs me. I don't let go and instead tighten my grip even more, making a couple of his fingers pop and break under my strength. As I break more of his fingers, I decide enough is enough and flick my wrist forward.

*Crack*

"Arrrrghhhhh!" He screams as I snap his wrist and twist. He groans and feebly tries to pry my hand off him but to no success. To get my point across and end this, I lean back and thrust my head forward while also pulling his arm towards me, flinging him to me, making my head butt to his forehead that much more devastating. You usually aim for the bridge of the nose but now I want to knock some sense into him. With a loud 'smack,' the guy crumples unconscious, loosening his grip on his knife so I let him go. Seeing his unconscious form on the ground I look to my hand to see his knife still embedded into my flesh.

"Crap. Pearls going to kill me for getting hurt." I think out loud and grab the handle of the knife with my teeth before slowly pulling it out. Grabbing the knife in my injured hand, I find it's a butterfly knife the guy was using. "Tsk tsk tsk, seriously? A guy like you with a knife like this? No class." I comment and flip the knife around deftly before it sets into its handle form. The cool, and dangerous, things about butterfly knives are the way one opens and closes it. It requires a set of precise hand movements that one would need to be able to use it so not just everyone can use it. If you're not careful, you run the risk of cutting or stabbing yourself. "I'm keeping this." Fortunately, I'm that dexterous. I slide the knife into my pocket and turn back to the others to see everyone's surprised and scared looks. "What?"

"Um, doesn't that hurt?" Lars asks what's on everyone's mind, pointing at my hand. I bring it up and examine it further. Looking to my hand, the blade went straight through the palm of my hand and out the front. A small stream of blood runs down my hand.

"Yeah it does. But nothing I'm used to. Sadie," the girl perks up at my mention of her name. "You got any zip-ties back there?" She takes a second to process my request before reaching into a drawer and pulling out a dozen ties and placing them on the counter. I look to Buck and Sour Cream. "Tie him up." They nod, grab the ties and proceed to restrain my assailant. Next, Jenny, "Call the police." I look down to my hand. "I need to head home and bandage this thing up." I say and head to the door.

"Wait! You're not gonna go to the hospital?" Jenny asks me. As I hold the door open, I look back to them.

"I already came from the hospital. I don't want to go back. Besides nothing a few stitches and some gauze that can't fix it up. It's not my first cut like this. I'll see you guys later." I say and head out before they can say anything else. Right now I really don't want to deal with the police and have to go to the hospital again. I think I'm perfectly content with just chilling at home for now. Although for how long I'll chill will soon be determined considering the lashing I'll get from Pearl. Seriously, when I proposed my plan to Pearl after I helped her, she was not happy at all at the prospect of me being the bait but agreed to it nonetheless. 'I hope she doesn't begin to feel guilty at the idea that if she were faster, she could have saved me some pain. But I think it was inevitable regardless how fast she was.'

*Thunk*

I stop thinking and notice that I finally made it to the stairs of the temple. If there's one thing the gems are good at, is fixing things up. Slowly, I make my way up to the front door of the temple as my hand continues to ache from the knife wound. I knock on the door once and step in.

"Hey! Good to see you again." I hear Amethyst say to me.

"Hey." I wave to her.

"Marcus." I stop walking at Pearls voice and see her standing next to the stairs with her arms crossed, foot tapping and a scowl on her face. "Why are you bleeding?"

I bring my hand up to look at it. "I got into a fight." I calmly say with a shoulder shrug.

"I'll get the first-aid kit." Garnet leaves to grab said item.

"Come here." Pearl leads me to the couch over by the door and sits down with me.

"Here."

"Thank you Garnet." Pearl thanks the gem and grabs some needle and wire to stitch me up. "Can't you be careful for once?" she asks me.

While she continues to look for the necessary items, I take a long look at her. Seeing how she is, how everyone I know is, I can't afford to be careful for myself. Cautious yes, but not careful.

"No." she looks at me. "I can't."

A little short but in fact this was an on the spot rewrite for me to make. Originally this chapter was supposed to be the next part in the series but I decided to go off-screen for once. I realized that while I really want to get to the later parts of the series, I guess I should leave some moments for rest and recuperation to occur.

I hope this chapter may have also answered some questions you guys may have had or cleared some things up.

Tell me what you guys think about this. To be honest, I think it sucks. Filler stuff like this isn't something I'm necessarily good at so I hope this came out alright despite that. I wanted to get through this quickly so sorry for some errors because I did this in almost one sitting.

As always, have fun reading.