My eyes open and I find myself staring at a ceiling. A familiar wooden ceiling to be exact as the memories of when I slept on this very couch for the majority of the time I was living with the Crystal Gems. I slowly sit up and stare at the edge of a wooden wall before tilting my head slightly to the right and seeing the temple door and warp pad.
'This better not be a regular thing with Homeworld.' I think as the memories of my forced regeneration and all the events that led up to it flow through my mind again.
The sound of a plate shattering on the ground slightly surprises me. "Marcus!"
"Oof!" Someone cries out my name and barrels right into me.
"Oh we were so worried about you! We thought you had died! You had no pulse, you weren't breathing or moving or anything." Pearl hysterically lists off everything that was wrong with me when I out cold while very slightly chocking me.
"Yeah yeah I know I—"
"Garnet! Amethyst! Get out here!" She almost screams in my ear for the others to come by. No sooner does she yell that the temple door opens and both Garnet and Amethyst come running out.
"Oh hey your awake!" Amethyst points out and hugs me too with Garnet casually strolling up from behind as she stares at the clock on the wall.
"One day exactly. You were right." She comments with a smile and pats my shoulder. "Good to see you up."
"Yeah yeah sure please get off." I quickly say to the two Gems that are currently hugging me.
"Oh! Uhh, sorry." Pearl sheepishly says and lets me go finally. Amethyst smiles and let's go as well but also pats my opposite shoulder.
"Good… thanks. Uhh." I groan as my body is really sore from the abuse that transpired in barely a day or so. Well two considering I went through my regeneration process.
"You okay?" Amethyst asks me, referencing my groan and how I grab my side.
"Yep I am. Just… tired… and sore." I manage to say. After realizing my parched throat, I stand up a little wearily but I push on to the fridge. After lazily opening the door, I reach in and pull out the carton of orange juice. After tearing open the top, I immediately start drinking straight from it.
"Here let me get you a…" Pearls proposition for a glass most likely trails off as she and the others notice just how much gulping they hear from me. After half a dozen seconds of continuous drinking, the carton runs dry and I drop it in the trashcan.
"Baaaaaa. Holy crap is that heaven." I breathe out in relief and open the fridge again before taking out an apple. Immediately I take a few bites of it and eat half the apple before swallowing the solid piece of food with a satisfied groan. "Oh yeah, still good."
"Looks like you were hungry." Garnet smirks at my actions. I return the smile and lean against the counter.
"Oh you have no idea. Still am though. After I… heal… I guess, I get so hungry afterwards."
"So that's what you did on the beach?" Amethyst asks.
"Some sort of regeneration ability?" Pearl proposes as an idea and I nod.
"Yeah. From what I can tell it heals me from nearly any injury I've sustained but the offset is that I'm sent into some sort of comatose state that renders me completely unconscious and unresponsive." I give my best explanation to them on the issue.
"I'll say. You had no pulse anywhere, no heartbeat, you weren't breathing, and your eyes didn't respond to light in the least bit." Pearl lists off about me with her fingers when I was out.
"We… honestly thought you… died." Amethyst says sadly as she looks away. Pearl looks away as well while grabbing her arm.
"But then we remembered you said 'a day.' Now, we didn't know what that meant to us at the time but considering you had just healed, we gave you the benefit of the doubt and waited the day." Garnet explains. Fortunately it means my quick warning before I passed out was able to alleviate their worries about the situation and not think I was fully dead.
"Thank you then." I nod in appreciation for their patience.
"So what was that exactly? That was freaky how your skin just stitched together like that." Amethyst says in awe at the memory.
"Yeah, it was. Wasn't pleasant but it was necessary. You should have seen my arm the first time I used it."
"You were injured so bad you had to use that power before?" Pearl asks in surprise. The others have similar looks about them as well from this info.
'Guess it's time I mentioned that.' I think and cross my arms. "Yeah, well… remember when I was gone for awhile because of the Iron Kings?" They nod. "Well, when they were transporting me I was able to escape by crashing the van I was in. When I came to I found my arm was trapped under the wreckage of the van with flames getting close to roasting me."
"Woah." Amethyst says.
"How did you get your arm out?" Pearl asks.
I give her a long look before staring at the arm I remember was crushed. I flex my fingers as I remember what I was forced to do. "I didn't."
After I said that, they were confused about what I meant but their confusion turned to worry and horror as I told them what I was forced to do. They asked if why I didn't mention that part to them the first time.
The answer was simple.
'I didn't want you to worry. We already had The Iron Kings to deal with along with our usual Gem responsibilities. I didn't need you guys worrying about me anymore than what was necessary.' I recall the words. Needless to say, they were a bit cross with me on holding back that tidbit of information from them but as long as I was alright that everything was good.
Still, with us alright and everything, there was another problem that was presented to us that we needed rectify:
The ship.
As soon as I stepped outside, I saw the immediate problem in the form of several pieces of the ship we were on littered about the entire part of the beach and against the wall of the cliff. They already gathered a large chunk of the destroyed ship and placed it directly in front of the beach house for later disposal. Without time to lose, I immediately got started in proper disposal of the tech and material. While the Gems and I worked on salvaging computer terminals, weapons, or whatever else I can find a use for, I activated every single one of my droids and sent them out to start breaking down the ship's hull, first to get the ones that are most easily seeable from the city. Thankfully with everyone that went far out of town still returning, we were able to get a lot of the stuff put away so no one would be none the wiser. After spending a few days breaking and salvaging the stuff, moving my vehicles around to my house so they aren't in any danger of getting damaged by some fallen debris as we salvage everything, and as well as grabbing my Kevlar vest, rifle and pistols from where I lost them on the beach, people came back to town and no one was too hung up thankfully on the situation, especially since we took out most of the evidence and was currently being repurposed.
The Gems and I took most of the salvaged equipment down to where my base is going to be and started stockpiling it on top of all the other stuff I have laying around. With that said, I also spent the next few days programming my droids to start lining the walls of my eventual base with the material from the ship. If the hull of the ship was able to barely withstand a direct shot with a Javelin missile launcher as well as the other artillery strikes, plus go into and out of the atmosphere without much damage, it would be perfect for me to use as the walls and supports for my place. Eventually I might add another material to them to increase the strength of it but that's beside the point.
As the days progressed and I picked up all my weapons I left around town I… My mood had sort of plummeted in light of some information that resurfaced now that I'm not longer unconscious or dealing with any enemies. With the info I got about… mom, how easily we were beaten, and with Lapis's sacrifice, while the others are just happy that we won, especially Amethyst, I'm not. Not in the least bit.
Everything was sloppy and we were so close to losing people. We were so close to losing everything!
*Crash*
Before I realize it, my fist has gone through one of my walls. Looking at where my fist is embedded in it, I roughly pull it out; the white powder of drywall momentarily flies into the air and lingers before dissipating. One of my droids crawls up and repairs the wall as easily as they do the rest of the time. However my attention is focused as I stare at my hand.
Ever since my… transformation, my powers have… unlocked so to say. My shadow speed ability, kinetic strikes, and my area-of-effect moves have all progressed to the point that I can now do them at will. No longer concentrating or hoping the ability will activate when I need it most but now I just think and it works. The downside though, is my temper or my emotions specifically. They tend to flare in extreme points, anger mostly, and that's understandable considering everything that's dropped on me. I've spent years alone and a recluse from other people so I know how to reign my emotions in so I don't do something stupid in my blind rage. Still, I'm gonna have to be even more cautious with my emotions from now on.
"Oh, geez." I groan and slowly walk outside to clear my head from my thoughts. Night has already started to creep around Beach City so the calm night sky is already doing wonders in calming my nerves. The Gems are milling about looking for more pieces o the ship while Steven left last I saw him with Jenny and the cool kids. They didn't see me so I didn't bother going with them. Not with the issues I got to deal with. Hopefully nothing big will come by.
I was wrong.
How I'm wrong comes in the form of some freaky light show going off in the distance. "What?" I question at its odd form and how it looks. I turn back to my home as the Warp activates.
"Marcus!" Garnet yells out my name as she and the others Gems run up to me. "Did you see that?"
"Yeah I did. What was—"
"It was Peridot. That was the flare from her escape pod." Pearl informs me.
My eyes widen at the implication that she's so close. "What?!"
"But the question is why would she activate a flare when there are no other Homeworld Gems on Earth?" Pearl asks in confusion.
"Maybe she wanted to get Jasper's attention?" Amethyst offers but by then I'm gone.
"But she's trapped at the bottom of the ocean with Lapis. Then again she didn't see that happen so I wouldn't be surprised about her ignorance of their—"
*Beep*Beep*
The Gems are brought out of their contemplation as the loud car horn going off nearby. They look to finally realize I went inside my Falcon muscle car and am waiting for them. "Eh-hem! A little less talk and a little more going after her!" I yell at them. They stare at me for barely a second before nodding and getting in. Pearl and Amethyst get in but Garnet gets on the roof of my car and grips the edges.
"Go." She orders me.
"Garnet I don't think you need—" Pearl begins to protest but I don't want to waste anymore time.
Kicking my car into high gear, I drive straight down the hill and head straight for the road in the direction of the flare. The Gems grip tightly at anything they can grab because of the increased speed I'm going. I'm driving well over the speed limit and right now I don't care about being subtle, I want that Gem.
It doesn't take us long before we come upon a field where the source of the flare came from. Almost immediately, I spot a familiar looking car and its drivers and passengers running about while Peridot's spherical escape pod attacks everything around it. I press the brakes and skid to stop on the road. "I knew it! That flare led us right to the escape pod!" Pearl points out as she and Amethyst get out into the right of my car and Garnet gets off the left.
"What's going on here?!" Amethyst questions loudly to Sour Cream, Buck and Jenny running about.
"Help! Over here!" They call out to us for help.
"We'll save you, humans!" Pearl reassures them and throws her spear towards the pod. The projectile connects and we are able to see someone still inside. "I can't believe it. Peridot's still inside."
"That son of a…" I growl as I remember her part in our capture.
"She's probably weak from the landing. Don't hold back!" Garnet orders us. The others nod and ready themselves.
"Gladly." I growl in slight anger and change gears in my car. The others step back as my tires start peeling out on the pavement. Twisting the steering wheel, my car does a complete 360 before I stop it till I'm staring straight at the pod. I rev my engines a couple times before looking at Garnet. "Get on."
"What?" She asks in confusion.
"Trust me. On the roof. Spike it." She's confused at first about my words but when I say the last word, she nods, getting what I mean. She gets back on top and grips the front of the roof. "Jump when I say so." I inform her of what to do. She gives me a thumbs up through the window and grabs the window again.
With my plan firmly set in place, I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and press the gas pedal a few times, revving the engine multiple times in preparation for my attack. After the fourth rev, I change gears.
My car's tires screech loudly on the pavement as they peel out before finally getting traction and going forward. My car drives off the pavement and barely takes air as I land on the dirt ground but that doesn't stop me in the least bit to ram that bitch to hell. The others watch as I press the gas all the way down as my car heads straight towards the pod. I go pass my human friends and I faintly hear them yelling at me for something but I ignore them and head straight for a small hill that can launch me to my target. As we get closer and closer, I give her the signal. "Jump now!" I yell.
"Ha!" With a grunt, she jumps upwards high into the air. The force of her jump depresses the roof of my car a little but that doesn't deter me. The loud roar of my engine cuts through the air without the added weight as I get closer and closer until…
*CRASH*
The sound of metal and metal impacting against each other tears through the air as I hit the pod in mid-air. The front part of my car dents pretty badly from the hit and I go spinning sideways but I continue moving. As I hit the ground, I twist my car to the side, making me drift for a second before stopping all together and I look up. The escape pod is sent flying high into the air, right towards Garnet. She brings both her fists up together and slams them downwards, spiking the pod straight towards the ground similar to how we attacked that puffer fish monster back at the beach with the Pizza's.
Like at that time, the ground caves in from the force of the pod crashing into the ground. A small plume of dust and dirt kicks up where it falls but we don't let it settle. I immediately turn off my car and reach back before grabbing my AK12 in the backseat. After stepping out in a silent brood, I slam the door closed and take aim at the sphere. Without a moment's hesitation, I open fire.
*Bang*Bang*Bang*
With each press of the trigger, my rounds fly through the air and impact the glass surface of the pod. The machine gets up and tries to move but the rounds impacting against it force it to stumble back. None of my shots do any damage to it but that doesn't stop me. 'May be bullet proof. But that is never perfect in of itself.' With that thought in mind, I drop the current magazine and reload a fresh mag.
"Wait! Stop!"
"Get off!"
Jenny for some reason grabs me and tries to stop me for some reason but I can't stop. I gently but forcefully push her away and behind me so she doesn't interfere with me. After switching to single fire, I find the flattest part of the glass I can see and take aim again before firing. I faintly hear the others calling my name but I focus my attention on my action. This time as the rounds hit the glass, I focus my fire directly on that single part of the glass. At first the rounds bounce off but the repeated impacts in the same spot over and over again quickly starts depressing the glass from the abuse. The others get into position around the pod as my assault continues against it. Once half the magazine is empty, the glass caves in horribly and threatens to break. "Almost there… almost there." I mutter as I steady myself one more time before firing once again.
*Chink*
I smile as the glass finally gives and my round goes right through the glass. A green liquid starts pouring from the hole for some reason but I don't care about that.
*Click*
"Damn." I mutter as the trigger clicks empty. I check myself for some more ammo but I only had the one extra mag. "I'm out!" I call out to the others and toss my weapon away.
"Amethyst!"
"Got it!" Amethyst replies from Garnets order and whips the pod. Her whip wraps around the pod, keeping it in place.
"You got a lotta nerve taking refuge here. Of all places!" Garnet menacingly says as she grabs Amethyst's whip and starts pulling the pod closer to her. "But I don't know where you get off attacking defenseless humans in your dead-beat escape pod." She continues to pull the pod closer to her while the occupant inside starts freaking out. 'She better. She's got a lot of hell to deal with.' I think grimly as I move closer to back Garnet up in case of anything. "And if you think you're safe here, well I got news for you. You lost! Now!" Her voice gets higher as the pod is now within touching distance and she readies her gauntlet.
I grin as she's about to attack. "Oof!" I grunt as someone pushes me from behind. Quickly looking up, I see that its Jenny that pushed me down and I running straight for Garnet and the pod. 'What the hell is she doing?' I think in confusion as she runs.
"Stay off my planet!" She shouts and punches forward.
"GARNET STOP!"
"Stop!" Garnet's punch stops within an inch of obliterating Jenny's head. My heart is beating a million miles a minute as the stupid girl came so close to dying. 'What the fuck is wrong with her?!' I think angrily in my head as I stalk up to them, prepared to give her hell. "Steven's in there." She breathes out.
"… What?" I ask in confusion. As Garnet and I look through the glass, the silhouetted person becomes clear. "God damn… Rah!"
*CHINK*
In a fuel of anger and worried, I punch the hole I made earlier from my gun. The glass cuts my hand and arm but its insignificant as I fold my arm and pull. The glass tears off the pod and the rest of the liquid substance flows out in a sticky mess. "Steven!" Both Amethyst and Pearl call out the kids name in worry as they finally see who it is.
"What were you doing?"
"You found Peridot's escape pod and you didn't come get us immediately?!"
"Dude we almost wrecked you."
"Steven, this is unacceptable. I'm very disappointed in you."
Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet ask him about his actions as they help him out of the pod. My mind on the situation however is far from the others as I can or the situation in general as I spot something on the back wall of the pod.
While Sour Cream, Buck and Jenny come over to Steven, the rest of the world falls silent to me as I let the glass window on my arm fall to the ground in a quiet thud. I walk past the others silently as I see something that makes a rock drop to the pit of my stomach.
The bullet.
The bullet I worked so hard trying to get to pierce through the glass and when I did, I missed.
I have never been so happy to have missed a shot than I am right now. In a sigh of massive guilt, I lean my hands on the edge of the pod where the glass once was, placing all my weight on it as a massive weight falls on my shoulders.
"Marcus?"
"Marcus?" The person in question doesn't react to his name being called by his brother. While everyone was getting ready for a selfie, they noticed that someone was missing from their little group. It didn't take long for them to see him looking intently at the escape pod that Steven was in a while ago that was unintentionally destroying nearly everything around them all. Even when Jenny and Sour Cream asked for him to come by, he didn't respond at all. Now Steven is standing next to him away from the others and looking at him with a worried look. "Are you… okay?"
"…" There is a long moment of silence after Steven asks the question that makes him even more worried for what he's thinking. Just when he's about to leave, "Why… did you get in Steven?" He asks the kid.
"I… I don't… really know. Peridot wasn't around anywhere and the others thought I needed to relax so I just… got in." He hesitates in answering. Giving a full description for his reasons for getting in the pod doesn't sound very good when spoken out loud. What makes him confused is the low chuckle Marcus gives off at the bad excuse that Steven admits wasn't perfect.
"That… was stupid. You getting inside this was probably one of the most stupidest decisions you could have possibly made." He tells the kid in a low grim tone. Steven's mood visibly deflates as each word makes him feel even worse than when the Gems were berating him for getting in it. "You wanna know why?" He asks. Steven looks up as Marcus leans into the pod and grabs something. With barely a grunt of effort, Marcus simply pulls out the bullet embedded in the back part of the pod and examines it closely. The bullet is grossly deformed from the impact on the glass and hitting the wall but it no doubt had a veritable amount of force behind it despite the first obstacle. Enough to hurt, severely maim, or possibly kill a child like Steven.
This very thought is what's been circling through his head over and over again when he saw Steven inside the target he was trying to destroy. "That's…?" Steven begins to question but his words fall short.
Marcus nods his head. "It is. It so very is and do you have any idea how close this was to hitting you?" He asks him, his voice just barely getting higher in pitch.
"Uhhh—"
"Steven." He says the hesitant kids name firmly while looking directly at him. He brings the bullet right up to his face so he can see it. "Look at this. This was almost for you!" He almost yells at him in slight anger.
"But I—"
"Steven!" He shouts the kids name and throws the infernal round far away. "Do you not understand what I'm saying?! I almost killed you!" He shouts.
The others that were standing away from the two of them flinch but as they hear Marcus say that, their moods shift.
"Getting in that thing was the most idiotic move you could have possibly done especially since everything we've been through in the past week alone!" He yells at the kid, who is starting to get fearful of the massive outburst and anger flowing off his brother, especially since this is the most he's seen him angry at him.
"What is he doing? Everything is fine so why—" Jenny begins to say but before she can go over and defend Steven since this was actually her and the cool kids fault, Garnet places a hand on her shoulder to stop her from going. She looks up at the Gems emotionless face as she continues to stare at the scene before them.
"We came so close to everything! Losing everyone we cared about and because of this we almost-…! I… almost…" Marcus's anger starts to diminish at the reminder of what he almost did overrides his anger into that of fear… and sadness. "I was… so close to…" His words start to sway and he seems unbalanced. He turns away from both Steven and the pod, before placing his back against the pod and sliding down. As soon as he hits the ground, he stares off into space for a few moments before curling up with his knees to his chest.
Steven stares at his brother until he moves closer and places a hand on his arm in comfort. "Marcus I'm… I'm so sorry. I had no idea that…"
"I can't lose you." He hears Marcus muffled reply. "I have no one else Steven. This last week is a perfect example of how easy it can be for us to lose… and how I can be just as dangerous to you and the others like Homeworld if I'm not careful." He slowly brings his head up, allowing the person of his protection to see the tears flowing down his face. "We already lost Lapis. I can't lose anyone else." Slowly he uncurls himself and brings his arms up to his head, pressing his hands to his head. "It's one thing that she gave up herself to protect us like that when I was hurt so bad and I couldn't do anything to help it was also another that it was Jasper that nearly destroyed Garnet but my mind is trying to process the idea if I hurt you and what would happen and I can't I can't I can't I can—"
Steven places a hand on his shoulder, stopping his ranting in its place and preventing him from freaking out and having a nervous breakdown. Marcus looks up from the ground to his brother to see him giving a smile of comfort. "She's not gone. She's just holding Jasper for us." The words do a little to alleviate Marcus's mood but he isn't done there. His comforting smile turns to one of guilt. "I'm sorry I got in this thing. I promise I won't do anything like that again." His look turns back to the comfort. "The Gems have already thought of ideas on how we can go look for Lapis in the ocean. If you're this sad and beat up over seeing her gone like this, I'm sure you can come up with gadgets or some cool robots to help look for her in the ocean." He proposes to him with an upbeat attitude.
"… You… you really think so?" Marcus hesitantly asks.
Steven nods with his smile still on his face. "I'm sure. I've seen you come up with way crazier stuff and I'm positive you can come up with something that could help."
For awhile, Marcus just stares at the kid and it doesn't look like his words have an affect but he smiles and lets out a low chuckle. "I… guess I could do that… instead of beating myself up."
"There you go. Oof!" Steven begins to agree with the idea but Marcus surprises him with a hug, which he promptly returns.
"I always thought I and the Gems were ones that were supposed to protect. Turns out you're the one protecting me." He mutter loud enough only for them two to hear.
"We protect each other." Steven tells him, letting him know that he shouldn't be the one to shoulder everything that's bad. He's got friends to help.
As I hold Steven close, his hands patting me in the hug to comfort me, I can't help but chuckle in my head. 'He he… guess I… wasn't as careful as I thought.'
Alright, nothing too big or crazy here folks and it seems like I kind of needed a break from this considering the previous set of chapters I've been working on. This was kind of dragged out in terms of writing it but I want you guys to understand that this may be the norm for just a little while. I got a couple exams and a essay due in a couple weeks so that's at the forefront of my mind. There is one other thing I've want to bring up with you all and it's that I'm also thinking of starting another story already. I don't know if it's because I'm getting a little tired of constantly working on Steven Universe, I'm anxious and worried about my classes for college, or it's the binge watch episodes I've been watching for the last few weeks, but that's what I'm thinking.
I've been watching episodes of Transformers Prime for the last few week or so and I've already come up with ideas for the OC in that story. Honestly I have no idea if this is an in the moment type thing or what but tell me it's something that you all are alright with eventually or not. You know when I first saw the show I thought it was going to be something like the rest of the transformers series but I was dead wrong. The show has a surprisingly dark element to it and I love it.
There is also one other thing I've realized I love playing: For Honor. I got access and have been playing the closed Beta all the way through it was able to be played. Holy crap people I absolutely loved playing the beta and I will most likely buy the game when it comes out. The way how the combat moves, it flows, the way you can counteract your enemies attack and surprise them in so many ways is absolutely wonderful. Shooters are all well and good but man does the actual melee combat make things so much more badass and awesome in a way I could never have imagined. It does take some skill, patience, and precision in order to take on the more badass or even then probably the average type of players because you'd be surprised at the type of moves people come up with or take advantage of to really wreck in the most colossal of ways. For those of you that probably played the beta, I will say that my favorite class is the Orochi with the Nobushi being the second. Can't wait to play the full thing and to see what other classes they give us. The Lawbringer looks nice too.
With that said, I'll end it here. Remember I'm always still contemplating ideas for a new story so whatever show, movie, anime whatever you think would be best just pitch it.
RWBY is also an option too. I've already got ideas for weapons and story background and everything for the OC but that remains to see when I put it into words.
Oh and I just want you all to know that the new Steven bomb is awesome. Already the new episodes have given me ideas on what to do, how to proceed and how everything should go forth you know. I'm curious about what other stuff they'll give. Also, from February 10, 2017, new weekly episodes are gonna return. Every Friday a new episode is gonna air for our enjoyment so that's something to look forward to.
As always, have a good day and have fun reading.
