Being laid out again still sucks.

You know, after the whole stabbing, I probably could have forced the regeneration ability to activate but from what I remember, it knocked me into some sort of comatose state that I had no control over to fix me or replenish what energy I wasted in the regeneration process. So for now I just went ahead and spent the next couple of weeks or so lying in bed, healing and inputting data on my computer.

After we dealt with the fusion issue as well, I also couldn't have helped at thinking that when the gems all fused, they required to do some sort of dance routine in order fuse and it sort of reminded me of in Dragon Ball Z when some of the fighters would do a little dance move to fuse as well, albeit sometimes it didn't work well but still.

Go figure.

In any case, I've also missed a few things but nothing I'm really angry at missing you know.

The first I missed was of Steven taking a test for the gems to prove how capable he was. Apparently before I came here to meet the gems, the gems took Steven with them to some spire building that was close to breaking and it was Steven's job to carry the artifact used in keeping the building from collapsing. He accidentally left the artifact here so the building was destroyed and that task was meant as a test for Steven. Now that he found out that it was a test, he demanded a new one for him to take so he can properly prove himself that he can go on missions. They all convened in the temple after they made their test rooms so I didn't see anything for what transpired but they were all happy… for the most part. The gems didn't seem overly happy for his success on the tests, or at the very least they seemed a little… forced with the happiness and Steven… when the others weren't around, he confided in me about what happened. They 'let' him win the test.


"And I'm so annoyed at this point that they won't take me seriously." He grumbles to me with a saddened expression. He overheard them talking about how he needed a win in order to help gain his confidence back up considering the things he lost, especially his healing powers, who he's still sad and slightly angry about losing since I'm still laid out in bed and if he had his powers, I could be up and about right after the fight.

"Steven," I say softly and place my hand on his shoulder. "I can understand how angry you might be at the rigged test they gave you… but can you imagine how angry and sad at themselves they would be if you got hurt 'because' of their tests? Think about it, did you fail any part of the test that would have resulted in you getting hurt?" I ask him.

He takes a second to think before he sighs, "I almost got crushed and couple times… and burned." He says sadly.

"And how would they feel if their own work hurt you?" I ask him. He takes a second to think before I continue, "They shouldn't have lied to you, I'll back you up on that… but also understand how much they care about you. I can guarantee you man that if something I made got you physically or emotionally hurt, I would be very very angry with myself." I tell him matter-of-factly.

"You would?" He asks as he looks at me.

"Completely. Like… so much man. No joke. Kind of like when Pearl was teaching us sword fighting and she got…" I trail off as I look away, feeling a little down as I remember the whole thing.

"But, that wasn't your fault." He tells me. "It… was mine. I was the one that distracted her." He says sadly with a downcast look.

"Maybe so… but I saw the attack and I tried to move in and save her… and I failed." I tell him. I still remember the whole thing vividly in my head and I'm still angry at myself for being so slow. I need to reign in my shadow movement powers to make sure nothing like that happens again. "Steven," I tell the kid firmly, making him look at me. "The test may have been a sham… and it was wrong of them to lie… but learn from this." He looks at me weirdly. "The gems are willing to let you go on the mission because they still think you're able to do it. You have a lot of potential my friend." I tell him with a smile and lightly shake his shoulder. "You just don't know it yet. Oof!"

"Thanks Marcus." He thanks me as he hugs me, making me smile even more as I return the hug.

"No problem man. You still have a lot going for yourself so you have plenty more chances to really prove to both yourself and the others, alright?" He pushes himself away from me and gives me a determined nod. "That's it."

"Marcus! Are you here?" Connie opens the door and calls out my name.

"Up here with Steven." I call back.

"Connie! Hey!" Steven calls out her name in happiness and jumps down the stares to greet her. "It's great to see you! But what are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming over?" He asks confused.

"Oh I'm here to help out Marcus. He said he needed help with inputting data so I thought I'd come by and help out." She explains and looks up to me. "I'm ready."

I smile at the help I'm getting. "Perfect. I've already got you set up on that laptop over there." I point to the lone computer sitting on the island kitchen counter. "There should be a note on the keypad that explains what items I need data on. Just get what you can and start plugging it in." I explain to her on what to do.

"Hm." She agrees and goes over to the computer and turns it on.

"Marcus. Are you here?" A new voice calls out, one that I recognize almost instantly.

"Jenny?" I call out the name in confusion. She appears from behind the wall, carrying a small paper bag and smiles. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought you something to eat." She answers.


After my injuries, and my insistence to not go to the hospital, she decided to come by every few days to check and see if I was alright. I told her it was completely alright and that my friends were taking care of me; I even made the excuse that Pearl was Red Cross Certified so she knows about stitching wounds, setting bones and whatever else is need in healing the body, but Jenny would have none of it. She'd come by and give me some over the counter painkillers to stave off the pain and she even would bring me some take-out food and some donuts as well. At first I thought it was just because she was being a good friend but after the first few visits, she started staying longer and longer and made sure I was alright. From the way she sometimes stammers, the flustered look she has on at times kind of leads me to believe that she's maybe… well, the way how she acted during the rave kind of implied what it is that she thinks of me.

But as much as I'm flattered about the idea, I'm kind of on the fence considering what happened to any previous relationships I could have had. Lapis decided to fly off planet and travel the Milky Way to get home, and Pearl…

Yeah I don't want to open that can of worms again or the very least anytime soon.

Jenny is pretty cool, laid back, nice and understanding of a lot of things. While it is a nice idea, I can't really see myself being with anyone right now. The very least for now, I have too much on my plate to consider it.

For instance, apparently Garnet can see the future. It also explained how freaked out Steven was for a time and he was overly cautious of everything after Garnet told him something… vague. He even asked me to be absolutely careful with any guns I had lying around and to make sure they weren't loaded to avoid a misfire.

To say I was insulted was an understatement.

However after Garnet reassured the kid of the whole thing, things returned to normal and he was cool again. I wasn't really too caught up about the whole thing and didn't dwell on it. In fact, it also kind of explained a few things about her and how cryptic she was at times. Connie also came over every now and then to help me with the data, which I thanked her profusely because of it and was very grateful for the help.

Now, I have everything I need to start building my house so I went ahead and left Steven in the beach house reading some sort of comic while I left to go to my home site. Now I'm standing where I'm going to place it and visualizing the whole thing.

"Alright, the door will go here… living room, two bedrooms, restrooms, kitchen… yeah, yeah this is good." I mutter to myself as I gesture to everything in front of me. My wounds have healed fairly well so while I'm still a little tender, I'm well enough to walk now. "Alright, things are starting to come together. Now I just need to get the supplies together for them to get to work soon." I mutter to myself with a smile. As per the usual, I've kind of been laying on Steven's bed again because of my injuries so I still feel bad for taking up that spot of his. Now that I'm so close to getting my own house, this is gonna be so awesome to have. It'll be just like I'm living inside my truck again.

Except now I won't be placed in a cramped enclosure… and cold… and waking up to see hobos peering into my vehicle.

… After the construction and I fix anything else, I should upgrade the little guys with some lethal combat capabilities. Maybe add some stun non-lethal capabilities as well. Maybe take the internal electrical voltages of a stun gun and add them to the little guys.

"Hmmmm," I think as I place my hand on my chin in thought, now shifting from house construction and repair functions to actually upgrading the robonoids instead, which soon I might change to call them drones if I can get those upgrades set, maybe some flight as well. "Hm?" My thinking turns to confusion as I spot two figures running from under the cliff of where I'm standing on. Upon closer inspection, I take note that the two figures are none other than Amethyst and Steven. "Now where are you two going?" I say to myself and start walking after them.


After I followed them for a bit, and when Jenny, Buck and Sour Cream picked them which forced me to do some major parkouring to keep up with them until they dropped them off at the outskirts of the town. I followed them for a bit, and had to keep myself from laughing loudly when Steven was attacked by a raccoon he thought he befriended. It wasn't long after that they boarded a freight train to who knows where and left. I wasn't able to get on the train in time so I went back to the temple to grab one of my rides to chase them. I couldn't use my truck or my car because I needed something inconspicuous and fast too keep up with them and alright off-road so I can keep up with the train.

So now I'm following them using my motorcycle and before long, I've caught up with the train. It's been awhile since I've driven my bike but it feels good riding it again. I don't know where they're going but they didn't bother telling me or the others so maybe it's a secret. In any case, I'm doing an alright job at keeping up with the train, even if it's going far off any roads and I'm forced to go off-road. My bike isn't a full on dirt bike so the terrain is a little bumpy but I manage. Since my target is a train I don't necessarily keep right up next to the thing considering I just have to follow the tracks and I'll eventually come to the locomotive.

That however worked well to my advantage because I wasn't spotted by them when they apparently hopped off the train and I saw them walking off the tracks and roads, far away from any civilization nearby. I had shut off the engine and walked a fair distance behind them so that way I can tail them without being heard or spotted. As I was following them, the most interesting thing I took note of was the fact that they started to walk into some sort of gray canyon like area. Instead of following them directly behind them, I park my bike and walk along the top of the canyon to keep a better eye on them and so they can't see me as easily. As I was following them, the place was starting to get more and more creepier as we all made our way through it and I was getting some major gem vibes from it. As I walked along the top, I noticed the entire places walls had small body-like holes in them along columns and rows. To add to the freakiness of the whole thing, I also see these giant metal and glass machines littering the whole place. I can't tell how large they are considering the odd places they are placed in. They stand on three legs and seem to have some sort of drill like device under them so they seem to be some type of driller or excavator type machine and considering they are actually placed along the walls of the canyon and on the ground, that idea doesn't seem far off.

Despite the eeriness of the place and my description of the place, I still keep an eye on my friends as they make their way through the place. To my dismay, I don't have any of my rifles with me because I don't have anything that would be able to hide the weapon on my back since I was riding my bike. It's not like I can explain to the police why I was carrying this weapon in the open and while I can lie my way through some situations, I don't think I can lie my way through something like that.

For awhile, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary and from what I can tell it seems that Amethyst is showing Steven around the place. It's hard for me to catch what it is that their talking about but I catch a few words here and there.

I watch as Amethyst goes into one of the body holes in the walls and Steven starts talking to her inside it. From what I can tell, Amethyst actually looks sort of excited about being here if her wide smile demeanor is anything to go by. I can't help but take another look around the place and the eeriness it brings to me. 'Just what is this place Amethyst?…. And what about it makes you so happy to be here?' I think as I take another look at the menacing machines littering the whole place.

Suddenly the sound of a warp pad activating makes me move back behind a rock. I quickly look around for the long tube projection they make when they are used and I find it close to where the others are. Seeing who it was that activated the warp pad, I see it's Pearl. For a moment I'm relieved to see her but then this means that she knew of this place as well. 'What's going on?' I think to myself as I decide enough is enough and start making my way down the mountain. I don't do an airdrop like I usually do but instead I slowly slide down the walls and use the holes in the walls as footholds to make my descent much easier. I do this so I don't freak them out or interrupt whatever it is that their talking about. I come upon the second floor before I finally start to catch what it is that their talking about.

"How much did you tell him?" Pearl asks Amethyst.

"What? You mean about the bad thing? How this bad place is where bad Gems came to grow more bad Gems? Is that what you're talking about?"

"What?" I ask myself as I hear that last statement from Amethyst.

"They grew other Gems here?!" Steve asks what it is that I'm thinking about. As I look around at the walls around the entire place, seeing the shapes that they're in, I can see it now. 'Of course Homeworld didn't 'bring' their entire army here. They 'made' it here.' I think as I fully take into account just how many body's there are.

"Amethyst, he's not ready!" I hear Pearl tell Amethyst. I move back to the edge so I can see the conversation.

"Oh, but don't worry, Steven. Everything's just fine now." I can tell Amethyst is being sarcastic with her statement.

"Amethyst." Pearl sternly says the gems name but she ignores it.

"It all worked out. We won!" Amethyst almost yells the last part to Steven as she moves closer to him and while I see that she's smiling, I can tell she's angry about something.

"Stop." Pearl tries to stop Amethyst again but the purple gem continues to advance, ignoring her friend.

"And we shut this place down so the Earth would be safe from parasites like me!" Amethyst yells to the kid right up against him. 'Wait… parasite? This place?... She was born here.' I manage to come to the conclusion in my head as Pearl looks ready to blow up.

"Amethyst! That's enough!" Pearl finally stops the purple gems actions as she pushes herself between the two of them.

"Pearl?" Steven asks worriedly to the tall gem in front of him.

"Steven, I'm sorry." Pearl says sadly as she kneels in front of the kid and places her hands on his shoulders to comfort him at the sheer amount of information he just received, as well as me but they don't know I'm here. "I never wanted you to see this horrible place."

"Then why don't you just leave!?" Before I can intervene or warn her, Amethyst summons her whip and whips it around Pearl, entangling her and whipping her back against one of the machines.

"Shit Pearl!" I whisper under my breath and slide down the rocks to hopefully intervene.

"Admit it." Amethyst says as she whips Pearl but thankfully she dodges it. "I'm just an embarrassment to you!" She yells in anger to the fallen gem.

"Amethyst!" Steven runs over to the gem and tries to stop her but she simply picks him up and tosses him away behind her.

"Steven!" I call out the kids name as I jump forward, catching the kid mid-air before he hits the ground. I slide a bit as I hit the ground and look at the kid in my arms. "You alright?"

"Marcus!" He cries out my name in elations and hugs me. "I'm so glad you're here!" He lets me go. "You have to help me stop them." He says while pointing to the fight.

"But why are they fighting?" I ask him as I place him down on the ground.

"I don't know why! But we have to stop them!" He tells me with tears in his eyes and rushes to them without a care.

"Steven!" I call out the kids name again and take off after him. 'Damn, watching his family fight like that must be killing him.'

"You guys, stop it!" Steven cries out in hopes to stop their fighting.

"Stay out of this!" Amethyst replies as she tosses her cut whip to the kid, where it wraps around his legs and makes him fall.

"Oh crap." I grunt at his predicament and slide next to him, where I pull out one of my swords and use it to slice the whip off him, which disappears right after. "You good?" I ask him to make sure he's alright. He nods yes much to my relief.

"Amethyst, stop this!" We look up to see the fight, "You can't beat me." Pearl says to kneeling purple gem as she grips her spear.

"I... don't... CARE!" Amethyst yells angrily and defiantly as she summons two whips from her gem and whips them at Pearl, which the both of them wrap around her spear. "I'm not gonna let you stand there and remind me of everything I hate about myself!" She yells and jerks the whips, sending some sort of violet beams of energy along the whips to their ends.

"Pearl!" I yell and dash forward.

"Marcus!" I hear Steven call my name but I ignore it as my power kicks in.

Just before the energy hits the spear, I move in front of Pearl and bring my sword down on the whips, severing them just before they make contact with the spear but unfortunately, it does make contact with my sword.

*BOOM*

It's a blur of motion and vertigo but I feel the weightless feeling of flying through the air and the unmistakable feel of metal that halts my motion. I grunt as I bounce off the metal machine I've seen and land on the ground in a heap. "Uhhhh." I groan as I slightly writhe on the ground.

"Marcus!" I hear Pearls voice through the haze before I'm rolled onto my back. "Are you okay?"

"Grr!" I grunt at the soreness of my back before my vision clears and I look at Pearl. "Yeah… peachy." I grunt out as I push myself into sitting up.

"What are you doing here!?" I hear Amethyst yell, looking angry at me for interfering.

"Stopping my friends from fighting… That's what I'm doing here." I tell her firmly but sternly. I don't know what hang up she's got going on about her but when it comes to attacking your own allies, that's where I draw the line. I continue to stare at her with a pissed off look on my face at her brash actions and she repeats the action… for a little bit. At least until her angry face starts to quiver and I see tears starting to form.

"I never asked for it to be this way." She chokes out, much to my surprise as we all see tears fall down her face. "I never asked to be made!" She cries out.

"Amethyst…" I hear Pearl say next to me in sadness. I look at Pearl to see the sorry look she has on her face.

"Amethyst, please, no more!" Steven moves in front of us while holding his arms out in a protective manner with tears in his eyes as well. "I know you're upset, but, I can't bear to watch you guys hurt each other." Steven basically begs Amethyst to stop her fighting. She looks saddened by the news and I see her shoulders slump a little.

*Creak*

We turn our attention away from each other as the sound of something creaking and rattling emanates near us. Looking up, my eyes widen as I spot the broken leg of the machine and because of that, plus my impact against the machine, it's starting to collapse right on us. Steven takes the initiative and summons up a protective bubble for us. 'Good, good job man.'

"Amethyst!" I'm confused at Steven's voice at first but when I look to the side, I see the reason for his concern. I see Amethyst not in the bubble with us but outside, right in the way where the machine is falling. "Amethyst, Amethyst, Amethyst!" Steven calls out her name multiple times as for some reason she runs away from us.

"Amethyst!" I reach out in a futile attempt to grab her but I fail.

*CRASH*

Dust and dirt kicks up around us as the machine finally falls on us. After a few seconds of the creaking of metal as it settles, I push myself off from the ground and Pearl as Steven drops the bubble and runs to where he saw her run. "Amethyst! Where are you?!" Steven calls out in concern as we look around.

"Amethyst! C'mon! Tell us you're alright!" I call out as well as I look all over. I can't even see the ground for footprints because the machine kicked up so much it covered everything.

I watch as Steven runs over to a large piece of the machine that was broken off and lying against the side of the wall and looks all over it. 'What is he—' I begin to question but I get it as he grabs the bottom of the piece of metal and tries to move it. He grunts a bit and barely budges the thing before he gives up and turns to me with tears in his eyes. "I got you man." I quickly move up against him and grab one side of the piece and get ready. "Alright, on three. One… two… three!" I almost yell out the last part as the two of us lift the heavy machinery. The thing ways a ton but surprisingly, the two of us make some progress as we begin to tip it over. "C'mon c'mon c'mon!" I grunt out as we exert as much strength as we can to pull the piece up. Once it's over our heads, we give one last push that sends it teetering away from us but to Steven's surprise and my annoyance, it starts to move back to its original spot. "I don't… THINK SO!" I yell out angrily and deliver a strong tight fisted punch to the top most part I can reach of the machine, completely warping the metal where I strike before twisting myself around and deliver and roundhouse kick to it as well. The combined attacks put enough force on the piece of metal that finally sends it falling over its other side and away from where Steven didn't want it to be.

I look back to him to see him looking inside one of the holes that adorns the wall like so many others but this one seems a bit smaller than the rest. I peek in as well and to my relief, Amethyst is safe and sound. "Amethyst!" Steven says her name, a bit happy that he's found our friend.

"Go away. I'm bad, and you shouldn't be around me." She tells us in sad tone, not even bothering to look at us as she curles up at the back of the hole.

"What? What are you talking about?" I ask in confusion.

"Yeah Amethyst. That's ridiculous. Look, I don't know what any of this really means, but I—"

"Yeah, you don't." She interrupts him. "'Cause if you did, you wouldn't be talking to me." She says in her same sad tone.

"Well we'd know if you just— Hey!" I begin to ask her but I'm suddenly pushed back by Steven.

"Pearl, get in here." He says to gem standing next to me. "You got to help me."

"But—"

"You have to talk to her." He tells her firmly and steps out of the hole.

Pearl looks hesitant for some reason as the idea of talking to Amethyst about whatever is going on here doesn't sound too good. She turns to me, not saying anything but the look on her face speaks volumes; and its asking me what to do. "Hey, I'm in the dark here. Whatever you got going, its best to get it out now before this escalates again." I give her my advice. I know in the past the two of them haven't exactly been the super bestest of friends and tend to annoy each other but I've never seen it get so bad that they come to blows like that.

She looks down and thinks for a second before breathing in deeply and crawling in the hole with the depressed gem inside. Steven tugs on my shirt to get my attention. "C'mon." He gestures for us to move away from the hole, most likely to give the two some privacy.

"Right behind you." I say and we walk over to a boulder that's a small distance away from the others. I lean back against the rock with my arms crossed as Steven sits down and lays his back against it. "What exactly is going on?" I ask him. Right now I've got an uneasy feeling about being her but I also want some clarification. I got some idea of what's going on here but Steven was the one traveling with Amethyst and was next to her when she was explaining everything.

"Amethyst… was born here." He answers a little hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." He confirms it and looks around the place. "This place is called the 'Kindergarten' and from what she said, she was born here. She never saw Homeworld like Garnet or Pearl did. This place was… all she knew of when she was born… at least until my mom and the others found her." He tells me somberly.

"Wow, that's crazy." I comment, and that's the truth. I always thought the others were from Homeworld legitimately but I guess I was wrong. If Amethyst was born here, then I wouldn't be surprised if Homeworld went ahead of schedule and tried to make more of their own. As I look up at the amount of bodies in the walls, and I remember that gem battlefield we went to before with that pyramid maze crap, they succeeded. Some shuffling makes me turn my attention to from my examination to the others. Steven and I see both Pearl and Amethyst emerge from the hole. Pearl keeps a smile on her face and Amethyst looks conflicted about something. She seems hesitant about something but before I can deduce what for, she grabs Pearl in a crushing hug. Pearl is taken aback by the gesture from the short gem but returns the gem nonetheless. I smile at the scene and tap Steven's shoulder. "See that? You did that my friend. Keep up the good work man." I compliment the kid.

"Hm, thanks Marcus." He smirks and stands up before walking over to the others. I push myself off the rock and follow him. "So, everyone happy?" He asks the two of them, who disengage the hug and look at us with a bit of embarrassment about them.

"Yes, I'd say we are." Pearl says as she looks to her fellow Crystal Gem, who nods with closed eyes.

"Yaaay! Crystal Gems forever! Now let's go home, so Steven can sleep in a bed." He announces happily and starts walking to the warp pad Pearl came in.

I chuckle at the kids enthusiasm before walking after him with the others next to me. As they all go to stand on the pad, I stop. "What's wrong?" Steven asks me.

"I almost forgot, I followed you guys here on my bike. I need to go ride it back. I'll catch you all later back at the house." I inform them and start walking away.

"Actually," Pearl begins to say, halting me, "The dimensions of your motorcycle were smaller than the width of the warp pads. I think you can bring it back here and warp to the temple with it easy, that way you won't have to waste time and resources getting back." She proposes.

"Hm, now that you mention it, I think I can make it work."

"You want us to wait for you?" Amethyst asks.

"Nah, I got this handled. Besides," I add as I look around at the machines around us, "I may want to take a look at those things too while I'm at it. Maybe I can salvage some stuff from them as well." I explain to them. These machines are still prime tech I can use so even though their deactivated, maybe I can get some ideas for something.

"What can you get from that?" Amethyst asks me in disbelief as she points to one of them attached to a wall some ways away from us.

"Well, for one, I'm partial to the drills on them. I'm thinking of an 'underground complex' for my home you know?" I tell them. The drills seem a little too big for me to use on the cliff I'm stationed on but I think on a much smaller scale I could maybe get it to work, possibly for the Robonoids too. That would be awesome.

They look at me curiously for a second before nodding, "Alright then. Don't stay out too long." Pearl tells me with a smile.

"No worries. I'll be back before you know it."

"See ya later Marcus!" Steven says to me with a hand wave.

"See ya buddy." I return it with a smile and a wave.

"Sorry again about beating you."Amethyst tells me before they leave.

"It's fine. Yeah sure. Beating me. That'll be the day." I say the last part sarcastically to myself as I look away.

"What was that!?" Amethyst asks annoyed and frustrated, apparently hearing my after comment.

"Pearl?" I quickly call her name.

"Bye!"

"Hey!" Amethyst exclaims in surprise as Pearl activates the pad, teleporting them away.

"Hahaha… haaaa… that was fun." I chuckle to myself with a smile. Now that my friends are gone I look around and find the reason for the eerie feeling I've been getting. "You can come out now!" I yell out loud as I materialize one of my swords.

At first, there's nothing but the echo of my statement but the sound of footsteps breaks through. Turning around, I see a guy walk out from behind a rock nearby and walks up to me at the base of the stairs. "Huh, so you're not stupid." He says with a smile.

"What do you want?" I ask him bluntly.

"Oh c'mon. Can't we have a civil chat and— Alright alright alright."

"I don't have time for your bull, so just tell your men to come out of hiding before I slit your throat." I interrupt him as I slide my sword against his throat, making sure it doesn't cut him but that he feels the blade and that I'm not screwing around.

"*Sigh* Fine." He begrudgingly says and raises his hand before giving a signal with it. I hear rustling around me and I glance around to see a dozen guys pop out from the top of the canyon and train their crosshairs on me while a few others come out from the rubble nearby and surround me. I don't pay them much attention or change the cross look on my face. "You know you can't win right? Not with all these guns on you." The guy tells me but I smirk.

"Maybe…" I say and pull the sword from his throat. "But I guess we'll see how things go huh?"

"Yeah, well, since you seem so fond of getting to the point, I guess you know who we are and what we're here for." He says with a slick smile but that only irks me even more.

"The Iron Kings… me." I answer.

"You got it. Now why don't you be a good boy and just come with us before things get too hairy huh?" He proposes and I chuckle.

"Now why on earth why would I do that?" I ask him with a smile. He must know how much crap he sounds like right now so he better have a damn good excuse to get me to come with him and its going to take a lot more than a few guns to get me to lay down and go with them.

"Well, for one, I don't think you can survive a firing squad," He waves to the guys around us. "And second… I don't think you want anything to happen to your friends." My eyes widen at what he's referring to, my smile turning to an open mouth surprise. 'You son of a…' "Ah yes. I hit something. After your little stunt at one of our warehouses, the boss decided to get some leverage on you. I mean, we know you've been hanging out with some people around that little town of yours. We saw that little girl you usually hang out with,"

'Connie! You better not—'

"Then theirs those teenagers you hang out with, that pale guy with the weird haircut, sunglasses and that cute number as well," He tells me with an unwavering smile.

My eyes widen more and I take a step back, my breath being a bit more labored at the people he's talking about. 'Sour Cream and Buck… Jenny.' I tighten the grip on my sword, my knuckles turning white.

"And wasn't there this pale chick to—!"

He doesn't have the chance to finish as I shove my sword into his stomach. He looks shocked at my bold move but I'm utterly pissed right now. "You feel that?" I ask quietly as I stare into his eyes. I shove the sword further in and pull it up slightly, making him gag as I see some blood start to drip from his mouth. "This is the feel… of you fucking up… So. God. Damn. Much!" I punctuate each word with more sword tugs up along him. The guy groans even more from as I tear through his body even more. I lean into his ear. "You crossed the line… when you brought my friends into this." I finish the statement by slicing the sword out the side, ending his life. I breathe heavily after killing this guy right in front of his men. They all look at me with looks of horror on their faces. The weapons they have in their hands are shaking at my display.

I stare at the men around me, the men who have been shadowing my movements and threatened my friends… my family. I look around at the place we're in and notice a couple guys are staring at the machines on the walls and the holes. 'I can't let them report back… I can't let them find out about this place… not them… not anyone.'

"Hey!" The guys flinch at my voice. I bring out my other sword before their very eyes, making them freak out even more. "You died the second you stepped foot in this place." I declare their lives forfeit with a neutral look on my face… before it turns to anger.

"RAAAAHHH!" I yell out loud and jump towards the next guy in front of me as I bring my swords up. The look of horror is forever plastered on his face as he doesn't have the chance to fire before I bring my swords down.

Well, that was an ending, right?

Still, I would like to apologize to everyone for this chapter. I don't know what it was but for some reason I didn't put as much work into this one as I did the ones before. In any case, as you may have guessed, the next one will be my own work so I won't have to worry about sticking to any episodes and I can go crazy with it.

Also the whole Dragon ball comment at the beginning, I was debating whether to put that in 'Fusion Cuisine' or not but when I was writing it, I had completely forgotten about it and it was bugging the crap out of me. So I went ahead and placed it here for the hell of it. Hope you guys were alright with it. I'm not a major Dragon ball fan but the fusion comparison between the two was something you guys mentioned so, there you go.

I should also tell you all that I've got a couple tests, a book review, and finals coming up in the next couple weeks so expect a slight delay in that time frame. However, rest assured, once classes end, I will be completely free from then till the end of January so hopefully we can expect a serious dump of chapters and progress to be made. Thank you all for your continued support and as always,

Have fun reading.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving because I thought I wouldn't get this out in time for before the holiday so yeah. Have a nice day everyone.