It doesn't take a lot for me to figure out the item pressed against my head is none other than a gun. I've dealt with enough of them in my life to know what's what.

"I said… get… up."

I sigh at the demanding voice beyond me and proceed to lower my can to the ground. The dog growls at the gunman but I steadily pat him down to calm him. He lets out a low whine before laying his head back down on his front paws. The others freak out a little at the sight of seeing a gun and are intensely uneasy but I remain the picture of calm. Slowly I turn around in my seat and slowly stand up so I'm staring right at my potential assailant.

It's the stupid guys from before. And big man's got himself a 1911. "Not so tough now are you?" He sneers at me with a smile as he holds the weapon at my face. My face continues to keep its calm neutral façade while the idiot in front of me has a grin and his hand is lightly shaking. "That's right. I have a gun now and its pointed right at your head. You fucked up before real hard like and now theirs nothing you can do."

"…" I stare at him for a few seconds while his friends smile at their leaders' action and sudden advantage they apparently have over me. As soon as I saw the gun in my face, all it took me was only a second to see all that I needed to see. "…You really are… the biggest dumbass in the entire world." I blatantly harshly insult him right to his face with the gun pointed between my eyes. His grin turns to a frown of anger.

"Are you god damn stupid?!" He yells and pushes the gun right to my temple. "I have a gun! You're the dumbass! YOU must be the stupidest person the world because I HAVE a gu—"

*Fwip*

And just like that, I take the gun from his hand and turn it around on him. His anger now turns to fear as he steps back a few. His friends also begin moving away but as I glance around lazily to them while keeping my gun sight on the leader, they stop. "I have the gun." I reply in a neutral tone. At this point my annoyance is way up there in the upper limits and soon, its goings to turn right into anger. I have to be careful though. Too much and something bad… will happen.

He begins walking away but I close the distance and place the barrel right to his own forehead, making him crouch and begin to crouch, getting ready to beg. "Whoa… whoa whoa man! I-I-I-I didn't mean anything by it. It was just a joke I swear! I just wanted to intimidate you you know? P-Please don't hurt me." He's begging at this point and looks almost close to tears. I continue to stare at him for a bit until I slowly pull the weapon away from him. He relaxes a little at no longer having a gun at his head but I hold it up for him to see.

"You wanna know why you're the biggest dumbass in the world?" I ask him. He looks at me confused before he gives a meek little head shake. I turn the gun sideways and move my thumb over the side of it. "Because, you forgot to take the safety off." I bluntly tell him. He stares at me in stunned silence for a few seconds as he takes in the info.

*Click*

"Now it's dangerous." Now I'm angry.

His eyes widen. "Grck!" He chokes out as I grab his throat and force the barrel right into his mouth. Anger graces my face as I force right to the back of his throat, making sure he feels the fact that he has a GOD DAMN GUN IN HIS MOUTH!

"Did you think it was going to be that easy?" I whisper right up against his face in a deathly quiet voice, making it so he can hear and almost feel the threat I have laced in my tone. "Did you think you were going to win that easily? Did you think you were going to automatically win because you had a GUN?!" My voice begins to gain volume, garnering the attention of everyone else in the alleyway but my focus is entirely on the sniveling asshole I have crying and snotting in front of me on his knees. "What?! Did you think it was going to be easy to kill someone?! IT NEVER GETS EASY!" I straight up yell right into his face. He's full on crying and moaning right now but I don't care. I really really don't care anymore. "But you know what…" I begin to say and my angered frown morphs into a sadistic grin as I lean in close. "It's starting to get easy for me." His eyes widen at the insinuation I make. "If I were to kill you right now, it wouldn't matter. Your life would end but mine would keep on living… and I wouldn't lose any sleep at all. Your nothing to me, you hear me! YOUR NOTHING!"

"That's enough!"

"WHY?!" I whirl around in anger at the grizzled old man behind me. My gun stays focused on the guy below me but its not pressed against his throat, only between his teeth but the threat is still there. I stare at Bill angrily as he demands I stop. His face is hardened and firm but reserved anger, not the calmness I've seen him before. "You told me before these guys continue to harass you all the time! Why should you care if he dies or not? I'M the one fighting! I'M the one with the blood on my hands! Why should you care?!" I demand and stare back at the asshole next to me.

"BECAUSE THEIRS ALREADY BEEN ENOUGH BLOOD IN THIS WORLD!"

"…" Now that… that gets me to pause. Slowly, I turn to look at him out of the corner of my eye.

"For as long as I can remember, we as humans have always found ways to hurt each other. Through wars, desperation, greed… anger." I look away as he says the last part but he keeps going. "For too long we have always found some reason, some way to kill each other. Sometimes because it's the easiest choice, or they won't bother looking for alternative choices." His face isn't in its angered state anymore but now he looks almost… sad as he looks down. "I… was a soldier before. For a long time, I was soldier and I was a good one. I've killed and taken so many lives over the course of my life, that I can barely call what I have now a life. I still see their faces when I sleep." After a few seconds of quiet, he looks up and slowly walks over to me. My eyes continue to stay on him as he walks up to me but I don't remove the gun. He moves right next to me and stares right at me. "You say you've killed before… please, don't take anymore. You think it gets easier… but really… it doesn't."

"…" I continue to stare at him for what feels like a long time before I slowly glance around me. The first I see is the friends of the leader I have at gunpoint, who all stare at me worried, scared and shaking. Next, is the residents who live in this area. Each one of them continues to wear the tattered dirty clothes of a person without a home but each of them also look on without uncertainty as to just what might happen next, mostly in fear. As I look, I spot the dog, Carlos, Katherine and her son nearby together. The dog and Carlos are standing in front of the mother and son and ready to act if things go south. The mother however… holds her son closely, protectively hugging him. Kyle… just stares at me without any indication as to what he wants. When I'm done staring, I turn to the person in my grip, his tears have already run out but I can see the dry marks on his face. He still has the same feared and absolutely scared beyond belief look on his face. He can't speak but the look in his eyes are all that's needed to convey what he wants.

He wants to live.

The gun shakes in my hand as the trigger begins to depress. I feel everyone around me tense up and get ready to act. The temptation to pull the trigger is very very close.

"Aof!"

But not fully. He grunts as I push him roughly to the ground. He stays there dazed for a second until he looks up at me. I stare at him with any angry annoyed look before I pull the gun up and take out the magazine. A quick pull the slide and the chambered round comes out but I catch in mid-air. With the weapon now ammoless, I toss the gun into his lap. He flinches as he clumsily tries to catch it before settling it on his lap. He stares at the weapon before looking at me. Ever so slowly, I crouch down next to him, reigniting his fear before I hold the magazine up to his eyes. "Come back here again… mess with these people again… I will kill you with this magazine."

"… B-B-B-But h-h-h-how are you g-g-going to k-k-kill me with t-t-that?" He stutters hardcore as his own curiosity gets the better of him in this moment.

He lightly screams as I suddenly grab the front of his shirt and proceed to effortlessly lift him off the ground one-handed. "You wanna find out?"

"No! Nononono, man! I don't! Please! Let me go." He begs.

I let him sweat as I hold him there for a bit before I drop him. He falls to the ground in a heap and looks back at me. "Then… run." I tell him. But he doesn't move, and neither does his friends. All of them are too stunned and scared to move. "RUUUNNN!" I give them a loud incentive. That gets them moving as they all run straight out the alleyway and into the street, one of them grabbing their leader friend and pulling him to his feet. I stand there staring at them as they run until they eventually turn to the side and out of sight. I look to the ground and see he didn't bother taking the gun. "Pathetic." I scoff and scoop the gun up. It's effortless for me at this point when I reload it and slip it into one of the holsters inside my jacket. Once I do, try to make my way back to my little sleep area but I have a massive headache. Actually, the pain on me has flared up and making me feel uneasy about it. Even so, I don't bother looking at anyone as I sit down and stead myself. The headache is pounding my head and makes it hard for me to form coherent thoughts. 'Ow… crap.' That's about the only thing I can think of but my anger from before leaves me in a brooding mood and I simply sit there. I can still feel everyone staring at as I stare into the core of the fire in front of me. Footsteps I can hear for a bit until out of the peripheral of my eyes I see the original members I met before trying to see my front. Katherine and Carlos are to my left before she turns around and I barely hear her, the dog pads up to me, but its Bill that walks straight up and stands in front of me, past the fire. "You shouldn't have helped me. Shouldn't have tried to help just now. You don't know who I am, and you don't know what I am. I'm not a normal person. I'm nothing like all of you." I straight up say.

"That's not true. Your just someone who's been dealt a bad hand in life." Bill tries to ease all this on me.

"…" But it doesn't work. I bring my hand up and stare at it for a good long while. "… No. It's never that simple." I let out a sigh and resume staring into the fire. "I'm… a monster." I declare. That's pretty much it isn't it? As long as I can remember, it's always been constantly fighting over and over and over again with barely any times rest for me. In fact… I can't really recall a time I spent relaxing. It's always… fighting… and working. Fighting to help others and protecting my new family. Working on just about anything. My home, my weapons, discovering new technology, new adaptations. I've always found something, someway to keep myself occupied but never, never a time for me to stop and… think. Well, I'm thinking now. What I just did only confirms what I am. I don't need to be that creature inside me to prove it. I am a monster, through and through.

The world… the world begins to deafen around me. I hear voices but they become muffled around me. I can't discern what their saying but it starts off small, quiet voices, then louder, then frantic, and now…

"KYYYLLLLE!"

I move.


Minutes earlier…

Everyone stares as the kid a little while ago, who they all thought had simply gotten into a scrap that left him hurt, was just about to blow the head off someone else barely a minute ago. He disabled him of his gun with barely any effort and then proceeded to threaten and shove said gun down the boisterous kid earlier. Neither of them were even in their late 20's and yet one was about to lose his life, and the other was about to take it. For now they just watch as Marcus returns to his seat and simply stares at the fire. Katherine, Carlos, the dog and Bill walk up to the kid and warily look at him but he barely pays any attention to them as he continues to stare into the red hot fire.

It's only when Bill walks further up that Carlos and Katherine ease up. However when she turns to look at her son, she finds he's missing. "Kyle?" She calls his name in an attempt to find him. "Kyle?" She calls again and quickly looks around.

"What's wrong?" Carlos asks concerned at her frantic movements.

"I can't find Kyle. He's gone." She quickly explains and points to his little spot where all his toys and collection is at. Indeed, he has wandered off.

"Oh shit. C'mon, let's look around. He can't have gotten far." Carlos quickly fast walks elsewhere to try to find the child.

"Kyle! Kyle!" She yells out his name with her hands cupped around her mouth. Soon, others of their little community group begin searching around for him as well. Katherine begins to breathe a bit more rapidly as she begins turning in ever which direction to see where he went. "Kyyyyllle!"

"Hey! Over here!" All heads turn around, minus one, to the entrance of the alleyway into the street. One of their own, a burly man waves over Katherine and points down to the street. Her eyes widen as she sees her son walking into the street, a small ball having rolled from his collection and stopped on the curb on the other side.

"Kyle!" she calls him in joy at seeing him before she runs after him. She and a few others, including Carlos, run too and stop on the sidewalk. Kyle has grabbed the ball and slowly makes his way back to the others.

*Screech*

To the right, they hear tires peeling out and Katherine watches in horror as a car begins speeding and swerving along the road. Not caring at all about staying to one lane. Kyle for his part, stops and stares like a deer in the headlights at the automobile heading straight for him. "Kyle!" Katherine calls out to her son in alarm. When he doesn't move, she tries to go forward but the burly man stops her from going out into the danger. "No! No no nooo! Let me go! Let me go! My son!" She desperately tries to go but its too late.

The cars distance is only a few yards and not stopping.

"KYYYLLLLE!"


My eyes shoot open. My breath hitches. The pain is unbearable.

But I move.


A large gust of wind hits everyone around. A black blur speeds past the group on the sidewalk as they can only watch the car head for the kid in the middle of the street without any intention of stopping.

Only… now theirs two.

In the moment, for a second, everyone stares as almost out of nowhere, the new kid they just met hours ago, suddenly appears right in front of Kyle. A firm concentrated but pained look is on his face as he stares down the car heading right for them. Before anyone can react, tell him to run, get out of the way or anything like that, they can only watch as he pulls his right arm back. When he pulls it as far back as he can, his muscles visibly tighten as he curves his arm upwards. He lets out a loud groan as he brings his arm in an overhead punch just as the car closes the distance on him. As the car rolls right up to him, the kid right behind him, his fist comes down right onto the hood of the car. To any normal person, punching the hood of a speeding car would barely leave a dent and leave the person a bloody heap in the pavement or on the hood of the car.

*CRRRIIIIINNNNKK*

He… is not most people. The metal and framework of the car crumples without any resistance from his punch and instead of the car crashing into him, the front half of the car is torn downwards from the attack and stops almost on a dime. The rest of the car though, keeps going. The car is lifted off its back wheels and goes tumbling through the air over the two in the street. Marcus remains in his stance but Kyle watches with fascination as the vehicle that was heading for him is now flipping through the air above him.

*CRASH*

It stops moving when it lands on the ground and slams into a nearby light pole. The cars alarms goes off from the sheer damage done it but besides that and the hiss coming from the damaged engine of the car, no one says or does anything for a few seconds in utter awe and disbelief at what they just saw.

"Kyle!" The kids mother runs up to her son and embraces him, kissing him and almost crying at how close she almost lost her son. One of the others also heads over to the car to check on the occupant and manages to open the door.

*Clink*

A bottle of vodka falls out the door and lands on the ground before rolling on the ground, confirming the suspicion that the driver was drunk. In fact he's not dead. Just bruised and passed out.

"Kat! Is Kyle okay?" Carlos runs up and quickly checks to see if the mother and son are alright.

"Yes, yes he's fine. He… he wouldn't be if… if…" She chokes out before looking up to see Marcus still staying in his downward punching stance. They stare at him for a bit in confusion before he slowly stands back to his full height. His hand is full on red and the pain flares up around his entire body. Ever so slowly and sluggishly, he begins walking but he shows to have much difficulty in doing so. His steps are mismatched, his feet almost drag on and he's swaying from left to right. Even so, he still heads for the alleyway entrance where everyone else is clustered around. As he gets closer to them though, they all begin parting like the red sea as he trudges past them all. Their continues to stay on him as he walks, a million questions going through their minds but there is one that is on everyone's mind:

How did he do that?

No one asks though as he looks to be in pain. Quite obvious considering what he just did but for the wrong reason that everyone's thinking. Before he makes it to his little bed spot, he collapses just before making it. He lands on his hands and knees, letting out a hiss of pain as he's slowly starting to lose consciousness from the pain. He manages to crawl forward and slowly pull himself on it before pulling the covers over him. His body shivers as he curls towards the fires direction and his eyes drift close. Just before he falls asleep, he faintly hears footsteps come up to him and steps in his view and crouches. He hears a voice one last time before he's out.

"You say you're a monster… but what monster saves a kid like that?"


Hours later…

How long? That's the question I ask myself as I slowly return to the world of the living. Very slowly my eyes drift open and I am no longer greeted by the darkness of the area but everything is lit up more. My body feels like it was thrown through the ringer but the pain has subsided… somewhat. 'Damn. I can't stay here too long. I have to get back.' I think and slowly begin to sit up. While I'm trying to push myself up, I notice the dog from before seems to have chosen next to me as its place to sleep. When I fully sit up does he rouse from his sleep and look at me. When I fully sit up, I'm hunched forward as I am drowsy like crazy. I even almost sway sitting down. Still, I reach into my pocket and pull out Lapis. 'I have to get back… for her.' With my goal in mind, I take a second to collect myself.

"Ahhh, your awake." I look to my side to see Bill walking up to me. "Good morning."

"Morning?" I question in a slight scraggly voice, my throat a bit dry. I take a look around to see that while the area has been lit up more, it is most likely from the sun having moved into the sky. It's different though because everywhere around is sort of in grey color hue. A fog has rolled into the city. I also notice back down the alleyway into the street, some police cars and a tow truck are there.

"Yep. You've been out for quite awhile. After your little… stunt last night, the police arrived and went about the area as normal."

My breath hitches as the idea of the police being so close to me when I'm still weak is something I don't want to deal with right now.

"Relax. They don't know about you." Bill says as he notices my distress. He elaborates more. "The guy was drunk so they assumed the damage done to the car was him slamming into the light pole. They don't suspect anyone else."

"Okay… good." I let out a breath of air. After having to deal with the assassins from before and practically having to kill them all over the city, I don't want to take the chance of them tying me into the whole mess. At least not now.

"That… brings up another question I have." Bill asks. From the way he asks it and the sudden shift in mood, I can tell I'm not going to like it. "Now… to be frank, what you did last night was not normal." I look down, not bothering to look at him. "Never can anyone ever do what you just did… and yet you did." He leans forward to look at me more directly. "What you did was impossible… and yet you did it almost effortlessly." He lays his elbows on his knees and interlocks his fingers in front of his face. "Care to explain, if you'd be willing?"

"…" I just sit there quietly for a bit as he asks. After a bit, I slowly look up at him. "There are things you don't know. Lots of things lots of people don't know about." I turn back to looking at the ground. "It's one of the reasons why you shouldn't get close to me. Less you get in way over your head." I warn him. I was kind of hoping to not do any of my powers or special abilities in the time I've been here. Wasn't sure I could do anything what with me being so… broken. I didn't really have a choice so forcing it was extremely painful. Almost as bad as other of the most severe injuries I've incurred in the past. Still, that is only a minor thing compared to the possibility of most humans finding out Gem life exists, and the technology they have, significance in history and so on. It's one thing with the Iron Kings, their criminals so its not like their going to go to the police or the government with this information, but its another with regular civilians.

Loose lips sink ships.

"Hmmm." Bill hums in thought at my words but doesn't comment further on it. Soon though, we aren't left in awkward silence for much longer as a small group of people walk up to us with Carlos leading. "How'd the search go?" Bill asks them when he notices them close enough.

"Could have been better." He replies half heartedly and drops a tattered bag filled with a bunch of stuff while the others drop carrying worn old tarps and old blankets.

Bill looks to me. "Sometimes we decide to send people out to look for stuff that no one else wants but we can use. Old can's and newspapers to take to the recycling center for a few extra dollars, blankets people don't use anymore to keep us warm, tarps, poles and old wood pieces for makeshift shelters. Stuff like that." He finishes explaining. I give a small nod in understanding.

"Although we weren't able to go too far out. The police practically have the city on lockdown after the chase that was going on yesterday." I tense up at what Carlos says. "Even with the fog rolling in, we only got so far." The others of his group nod in confirmation. "Weird thing is we found an abandoned car too."

'Car?' Now that gets my attention, making me perk up and stare directly at Carlos but he continues to address Bill.

"A car? You know we can't take that." Bill says.

"I know I know. Just wanted to let you know. Seeing as it wasn't there before. The police haven't picked it up yet even though I'm pretty sure it was part of all the shooting that was going on. Covered in bullet holes and nearly all the windows were broken."

Before he can react, I am suddenly on my feet and next to him. He looks at me uncomfortably at my close proximity. "Where?"

"What?" He asks for me to clarify.

I relax a bit more and calmly ask him. "Where… is this car?" Relief begins to flood me at the idea of finding my car. 'It's about time I get home. And this fog is the best thing for me.'


"Over here." Carlos says and leads us. He, a couple members of his group, Bill, the dog and I walk down a couple streets to look for what he found. I still have some problems moving fully but I manage well enough. Since its only a few streets over we didn't take too long in walking, and because of the fog covering the city we didn't draw too much attention by anyone. "Around this corner." We continue to walk and as soon as we pass the corner of the building he was talking about, we see it. I freeze as I spot my car nestled deep in the alleyway. During the night, after the explosion, I was just in so much pain and shock from everything that happened in such a short time that I couldn't really recall what happened. I didn't remember where I stopped or even where I was walking. I was just walking and moving to just get away as fast as I can. Collapsing in another alleyway was not what I wanted but didn't really have a choice.

Now as I lay my eyes on my ride, a veritable relief floods me. "Man. That thing is wrecked." One of the others comments at the state of my ride. He's not wrong though. It is almost completely trashed from the amount of abuse it suffered. Nearly the entire body has dents where bullets weren't able to penetrate the upgraded frame but some holes here and there indicate some did. The windows are almost completely smashed and broken through all over and the paint with bits of metal looks to be melted. Slowly I begin walking over to it as everyone casually mills around it. The dog sniffs me a few time before he walks over to the car and begins inspecting it too. "Theirs no way this thing is running."

"Yeah. It was probably part of that chase that happened yesterday before it was ditched." Carlos comments and places his hand on the hood of the car. "Ahh!" He hisses and pulls his hand back. "What the hell? Man this thing is hot. Almost like it was on fire."

"Hehe." I chuckle briefly at the correct answer but he was being sarcastic. They don't hear me though as I walk over to driver side door.

"How are you planning to get in?" One of the randoms that joined us asks. I reach in through the broken window and open the door without possibly burning myself on the frame. "Oh."

I slowly sit inside before taking a long hard look at the interior. The memories of before come back to me but I don't linger long as I reach to the floor and grabs the keys that were dropped. "So, you wanna tell us why your so interested in this car?" Bill asks as he walks to just outside the door.

"I'm interested…" I begin to say and plug in the ignition key. "Because its my car."

*Vrrrroooooommm*

Almost everyone jumps back as the engine turns on and they hear the roar of it. "Holy crap! It still runs?" Someone asks but I don't know and I don't care. My ride is back in my possession. The fog is nice and thick over the town. This is my only chance to head home without the police finding me.

"So, that was the fight you were in?" Bill asks, referring to the chase mentioned before.

I give him a tired hard look. "I've made a lot of enemies." After a quick look around the inside, as well a making sure my car is well enough to drive, I find my Beretta on the floor of the passenger side. After grabbing it and tucking it in my jacket, I grab the steering wheel. "This is where we part ways. Thank you for your help, but its time I get going." I go to shift it into gear to reverse but some grabs my arm to stop me for a second. A quick look shows Bill giving me a concerned look.

"Remember what I said before. Theirs enough suffering in this world. Don't add to it." We stare at each other for a few more seconds until he lets go and steps back. Everyone else steps back too so I don't accidentally hit them.

*Bark*Bark*

Almost. The dog from earlier jumps a little so I can see him out the passenger window. "Looks like someone's taking a liking to you." Bill comments with a smile.

"What? Seriosuly?" I ask incredulously. True to what he says, the dog seems to like me since it wants in through the door.

He nods and I look back to see the dog peering at me over the window. "You know, if you have enemies, it'd be a good idea to have a guard dog around. Your good, but I don't think you can beat an animals' instincts." Bill makes a very good point. If I'm going to be dealing with enemies possibly attacking my home, it would do well to have him as protection.

I begin to think about it but as I look behind me, I spot the slightly bullet riddled holed toy I and Lapis won for Steven. My mind is made up as I let out a long sigh before looking at the dog. "Fuck it." I finally say and reach over and unlock the door. He gets off the door and bounds in when its open enough. After closing the door, he sits down in place and I back up into the street.

"Oh hey!" Carlos runs up and gets my attention. "Kat never got to thank you. You know, for saving her son."

"I figured she would. Tell her, 'take care'… All of you." I offer to him with a small smile. He nods and pats the dog before stepping back Before I take off though, I turn to the others that had all came by. Some of them wave me off, Carlos offers a small smile and a single wave, while Bill gives me a slow nod. I nod back to him, and I go. The fog is still present but its slowly lifting out of the city. I need to get out of here sooner rather than later. As I drive down the winding streets, I pull Lapis out of my pocket and lay her on the passenger seat next to the dog. He looks at it curiously before looking at me. "Listen, I'm not sure exactly what we're going to be. But if anything happens to me, you get her to someone I care very deeply about. You're going to be my ace in the hole should things get troublesome against my enemies, understand?" I'm talking to a dog about this, but you know what I'm hoping he'll at least understand somewhat what I'm requesting. He barks nonetheless with what I hope is understanding. We delve into silence as I wind down the various streets until I get a vague idea of where the exit and road is to home. I am on the road cresting the hill overlooking Beach City and since I'm not longer under the threat of getting pulled over, as much, I relax a little. Or as best I can considering the pain is flaring up in me again. However that doesn't detract from the idea that suddenly pops up. "Ace?" I look over at the dog next to me. "Your name is now Ace. That good?"

*Bark!*

"I'll take that as a yes." Now that my new dog has been named, I focus back on the road heading home. My thoughts drift to everyone else, especially those who were in the city with me. 'Pearl… Steven… Greg…' My fists tighten on the steering wheel, regardless of the pain. 'I hope your alright.'

The trip back is long, painful, and I am riddled with thoughts of doubt the whole way.


Later, back in Beach City, or more specifically on the outskirts or so of Beach City, everyone gathers around in front of the barn that Lapis and Peridot have taken to using as their home. Currently, everyone of the Crystal Gems and family members are there, waiting as an air of worry looms over everyone as to the whereabouts of their missing members.

Greg and Amethyst sit at the picnic table while Steven paces nearby back and forth in the same lane spot. Garnet remains stoic and still as she watches in the far-off distance where he is supposed to return. Peridot is sitting on another table nearby, laying out an assortment of weapons she knows Marcus and left in secret spots as a precaution. Their mostly pistols and single-handed weapons but each and every one is ready and able to be used Marcus's second Beretta remains on the corner right next to her own Colt revolver. After the group from Empire City came back, Pearl immediately explained to what happened and the possible enemies they may be dealing with. That's why Peridot has as many weapons available for them to use and Pearl is standing on top of the barn, her Dragunov sniper rifle in hand and carefully scanning the horizon. Whether to see if the cars belonging to their enemies followed them, or the remaining two members are on their way.

"Anything?!" Steven calls out to Pearl on top of the barn.

She does one last scan before lowering the weapon and sighing. "No." She sadly states.

Steven looks down at the news and resumes pacing before looking at Garnet. "Garnet? Do you see anything with your future vision?"

"Hmmm." She hums for a second and begins to think on what she sees. "I see some. Paths that are good, that are bad, and some I can't really tell."

"What do you mean?"

"Some of these ones I know they're there but I don't have all the pieces, so I can't make an accurate guess as to what's going to happen." She carefully explains to him what she can. This doesn't reassure him a lot though as he looks down again. She places her hand on his shoulder, making him look at her and offer a reassuring smile. "But he always comes back. For better for worse. We just have to be patient, okay?"

"… Okay." He feels a little better. She goes back to meditating while he goes back to pacing.

Meanwhile Greg has his chin laying the table while he has his arms covering his head. "Yo, Gregory." Amethyst playfully says to the distressed human. "You okay man?" She asks once she notices his down demeanor.

He doesn't immediately answer her. He just continues to stare downwards before slowly looking at her. "We were shot at, Amethyst. All this time, its always been just… Gem business. Just stuff you guys do with Gem stuff. I'm not as worried about it because theirs three of you who know all about it, and all of you are always there ready to help Steven." He finishes saying with a small smile before it turns into a frown. "But this… this is humans we are dealing with. This time, I know exactly how… cruel and dangerous they can be. How dangerous guns can be." His hands curl onto his head and he presses his fingers onto his bald head. "And they fired at us Amethyst! They shot at my son." He quickly lowers his voice, so as not to gain the attention of his son on this topic. Steven is still in his own little world as he continues to pace. "I can't help against both gun-toting humans and Gem stuff at all. And what's worse, we only have one person that deals with the human side… but he's still a kid!" He frustratingly says to Amethyst. She continues to sit there and listen to the distraught human as he continues to voice his worries to his friend. "And he's missing. How can he protect us, but most of all Steven, when he can't even protect himself?" Greg asks out loud. He's not really asking the question to Amethyst but more so just speaking out loud.

The purple gem remains silent for a few seconds before she reaches over on the table and grabs a snack that's going to be quickly devoured. "True… but he protected you guys, didn't he? That's what we do when we bring Steven on missions or we know their danger. We make sure the little guy is safe no matter what. From what you told us, sounds like he just that." She finishes explaining and tears open a bag of chips and begins scarfing them down.

Greg stares at her for a few more seconds before staring back at the table. "Yeah, he did." He quietly mutters to himself. He's not back to fully being better… but it's a step closer.

"Anything?!" They both look at Steven as he calls out to Pearl again, impatient but with good reason.

"Nothing. Wait…" She says first but as she slowly scans the horizon again, she spots movement. "Hold on I see something." She informs them. This gets their attention as everyone gets up.

"What is it?!" Steven calls out while Greg comes up to his son and gets ready to grab him if its trouble.

"Is it our enemies?!" Peridot asks loudly as she jumps onto the table, scattering a few guns out of the neat lineup she had placed them in in favor of being high up and holding her revolver in one hand and Marcus's Beretta in the other.

"No no. It's too small." She replies, alleviating some of them of the idea of enemies but she continues to try to get a good glimpse of the moving target. "It's really small… and… I think…" Her look of concentration turns to disappointment as she lowers the weapon. "False alarm. It's just a dog."

Some of them let out groans of disappointment and go back to doing their own thing. Peridot sits back down before letting out a loud groan at her action, having messed up her careful placement earlier. Thing is though, while everyone doesn't pay the contact any attention, Steven's pacing comes to a slow halt as he notices the four legged animal getting bigger and bigger. Soon he stands there staring as a german shepard dog runs directly up to him. "Oh. Hey boy. What are you doing here?" He asks the animal. Even though he won't get a verbal answer, he can't help it. The dog though nudges Steven with his head into his chest. "What's wrong?" He asks at the slightly distressed dog before noticing something about him. "What's that in your mouth?" He asks and as he motions to the animals mouth, the jaws open and releases the slightly wet object into his hands.

To say Steven is surprised would be an understatement. Right there in his hand is the cracked blue Gem belonging to none other than one of their two missing friends: Lapis Lazuli.

He stands there, staring with his mouth agape and eyes wide at seeing what's in his hand. A variety of emotions run through his head as he tries to figure this out. Not to mention, that the Gem that this belongs to has been forced back into her gem… and its cracked.

It's only when the dog nudges him that he snaps out of it.

"GUUUUYYYSSS!" He yells out as loudly as he can. Like a flip switched, everyone was one second calm and patiently waiting, next everyone springs into action, jumping to their feet and speeding over to Steven.

"Steven! What's wrong?" Pearl asks, landing softly next to Steven after jumping off the barns roof.

"What is it?" Garnet makes it next, her gauntlets appearing and ready just in case.

"Did the dog attack you?" Amethyst asks next as she, Greg and Peridot join the others. With his back to them, he remains standing there still before he slowly turns around and reveals to everyone what he has in his possession. The effect is immediate as everyone lays their eyes on the cracked blue gem. "Whoa." Amethyst mutters, stunned.

"L… Lapis?" Peridot meekly says the gems name in disbelief, drops her guns and walks towards Steven. She takes the gem and stares at it, unsure of what to actually do but just hold her. While she remains silent, the others start asking questions.

"That's… that's Lapis's Gem… and its cracked!" Pearl exclaims loudly, her rifle going slack in her arms. "But where's… where's Marcus?! Where is he?" She asks desperately as she looks all around but finds nothing.

"This dog." They look at the dog next to Steven, who is still sitting there waiting. He cocks his head to the side in curiosity as he sees all the attention focused on him. "He's the one that brought her."

"This… dog?" Pearl asks confused on how this random animal had Lapis Lazuli's gem and brought it straight to Steven. She's still confused about the whole thing but if this animal has come close to their missing friend in anyway, then that's a lead she needs to follow post haste. Quickly looking around, she slings her rifle on her back and quickly grabs Marcus's pistol laying on the ground. "Here. Can you take us to who this belongs to?" She asks the dog as she holds the gun up to him, held flat against both her open palms. Something she has learned about when she did some research after Steven brought home Lion is that most animals on earth have a much better sense of smell than both Gems and humans. As it stands, the canine species is one of the very best in that regard. With hope welling in her, she lets the animal sniff all over the gun for a second before it lets out a few barks and bounds off in the direction it came from. "I think that animal knows where Marcus!" Pearl quickly tells everyone.

"You four, stay here and watch her. Pearl! Let's move." Garnet goes into full leader mode and orders everyone to do. Without any forms of confirmation besides some head nods, she and Pearl speed off after the dog.

Once Pearl and Garnet are gone, the others look down at the blue gem held by Peridot and stare at it. "Oh boy." Greg mutters.

"That's not pretty." Amethyst hisses as she sees the large crack going through it. "And I would know, it happened to me before." She recalls the time her gem cracked from falling off the cliff.

"Oh Lapis." Steven worriedly moans as he takes Lapis back into his own hands. "What happened to the two of you?" He quietly asks her. Because she still hasn't reformed, they don't get an answer back.

"Why hasn't she generated her physical form by now?" Peridot asks.

"Could it be because of that crack she's got?" Greg surmises, pointing at the clear as day crack she has.

"Maybe." Amethyst mumbles. "We should probably take her to Roses fountain right now."

While the others talk about that being the option, Steven continues to stare at Gem in his hands, his thoughts on… other means to heal. 'I could. I could heal her. I could heal them both. I have the power to… only…' His eyes slowly glide over to his dad, seeing him talking to Peridot and Amethyst. "Well," He begins to say and licks his hand, "It has been awhile."


Meanwhile, the other two gems waste no time in chasing after the canine that's leading them. While a normal human would have some difficulty in keeping up with the dog and its four-legged strides, the gems are not as deterred and easily keep pace with the beast. What's worrying to them is just how far they are going. Already they have cleared the grassy plains that surrounded the barn and are traveling along the road going out of the city. It's the same road Steven, Greg and Pearl took when they came back to the city and made a beeline for the beach house. When morning came and Marcus nor Lapis returned, they stayed at the barn to be ready in case their friends returned… or their enemies followed them.

Even so, now they are focused entirely on where this animal is taking them, as far-fetched it may be he can lead them to him.

Their efforts and gamble bare fruit as they stop in place. While they stand there in the middle of the road, the dog continues running up before it heads to the driver side door, barking and scratching at the door to get at its new unresponsive owner. The car itself has either finally given up, or the driver did because the vehicle has crashed into the ditch on the side of the road, the front bent and metal gnarled after it crashed into a telephone pole. Even the engine lets out a small bit of white smoke from the impact while the driver is slumped over.

"Oh no." Pearl whispers in worry, snapping the both of them out of it. They head over to the driver side door and find Marcus unconscious. "Marcus!" She cries out in worry.

"Stand back." Garnet warns her, making Pearl and the dog back before she tears the door off the frame of the car, not caring that the vehicle belongs to him but more so wanting to get at their friend now. It looked about ready to fall off anyway. They stare in silent stunned surprise as they see him. But he looks far worse than they would have thought would happen to him. His clothes are dirty, torn in some places, ripped and burned nearly all over. Even his own skin has scabbed over small cuts here and there but it's the small raw red spots on his body that they can that makes them worry, indicative of burns. From the state his vehicle is in, it was not a battle in his favor. Pearl carefully grabs Marcus and drags him out of the vehicle. She pulls him away far enough from the vehicle and lays him down gently on the grass. "How is he?" Garnet asks her.

Pearl quickly begins assessing his wounds but to her confusion she doesn't find any bullet or stab wounds on his body. "He looks alright but his breathing is shallow." She presses her fingers to his throat. "I have a pulse but its weak. I don't see some bruises but nothing on his chest that indicates internal bleeding." She quickly lists off what she sees and finds. "I hope its not something to do with his mind again. I would hate to have to deal with that monster again. Hmmm… what do you think Garnet?" Pearls asks her fellow Crystal Gem.

"… Pearl…" At her name being called, she looks at Garnet, seeing the fusion stare stunned as she looks at the side of Marcus. More specifically, his Gem.

Pearl lets out barely a cry as tears almost begin to form on her eyes as she sees what has him hurt.

His cracked Gem. "Oh Marcus." She sadly says to the unconscious hybrid. For a gem to have their life force cracked, it isn't a pleasant experience but the most it would do is disrupt their physical forms and prevent them from doing certain tasks or use some of their abilities.

Marcus however, is not all Gem but human as well. The Gems still have questions every now and again on how it means for Steven and Marcus to be what they are. A cracked gem on a hybrid… that's something they have no idea what it means. His injuries haven't healed… so he can't.

"We need to move. Now." After staring at the unconscious person for a time, Garnet speaks in a soft worried tone filled with determination. He was gone overnight, but in that time a lot happened to him.

Pearl sniffs as she nods, ready to get moving instead of having increasing levels of worry force her down. "Yes. We have to get him back to the others." She reaches forward and pulls him into her arms before jumping away back towards the barn.

Garnet watches her go for a second before turning to the one that led them straight to him in the first place. The dog stands there, staring at her curiously. "C'mon boy, let's go." She waves him to follow and tails her fellow Gem.

Ace happily pants and barks before following after her.


Darkness. That's all I've been seeing for a while now. Not the darkness I saw when I was dealing with the monster inside of me. I can't see myself but the whole thing is just… numb. I can't feel, see, or touch anything but just my mind tells me in a way. It's really weird but for some reason I'm not panicking. Somehow I just have this feeling I'm alright.

In fact, I feel incredible and the pains I was feeling lately are completely gone.

Out of the darkness, a bright light begins to appear. 'Wait, am I dead? Did I die? Was this purgatory?' My thoughts and theories are cut as I start to see the sky. Feeling comes back to me and I feel the soft grass under me. 'Okay good. Not dead. Just… waking up.' As my eyes slowly open, my vision is blurred a lot and I can barely hear anything. I can hear some voices but its hard to make out anything. My body is a little stiff but thankfully, the constant feeling of pain is completely gone, making let out a sigh of relief. A figure enters my vision and she looks frantic… and blue. Squinting my eyes bit, the figure comes into focus.

The amount of relief I feel is like nothing I've felt before because I soon recognize the figure as Lapis. "Lapis." I can barely hear myself utter the words but she can, if her changed expression from worry to relief is anything to go by, as well as the smile she sports that mirrors my own. As soon as I can see more clearly, I begin to see that her form has changed, only a little bit but still.

Lapis's new look consists of her same blue dress the straps over the shoulders of her dress are a bit thicker now and she now has sleeves running the length of her arms. There are also holes where her elbows are and the sleeves end at fingerless gloves where the fabric would curl between her fingers and that's it. Each digit is free but besides all that though, there's nothing else new to her appearance. She also doesn't look wrong, or messed up. She's beautiful.

She hugs me on the ground tightly and I somewhat expect the pain to flare up but nothing. I'm alright. More faces join in an I see that all the other Crystal Gems are here and are happy as well.

'I'm home. I'm back.' I return Lapis's hug and close my eyes as I hold her tightly. 'We're back… we're safe.'


Whelp, it's about time I came back.

Just wanna say I'm sorry everyone for the long wait. For those of you who haven't seen the AU notes on my other stories, for awhile I wasn't really feeling like writing for a time and just barely put any effort into it. So that's why things took longer than what I originally intended. Good news is I'm starting to get my flow back so hopefully I can crank out a ton more work soon. As for this chapter, I kind of wanted to touch up on just how Marcus was pissed and angry about everything.

I'm pretty sure I captured the feeling quite well with the way how he threatened that jerk, who had threatened him first. With the way how Marcus has been various humans punching bag for awhile now, I feel it natural that his psyche is starting to… deteriorate. Fortunately, some nice people who have also been hurt by life saved him from taking an innocent person's life. An idiot's life but one that surely doesn't deserve to die.

As for Lapis's new look, I didn't want to do too much to change her since as the show has done, she and Peridot most likely will get new designs when they reform. It's simple but I hope its enough to make it interesting. And as you may have noticed, I may have given Steven his healing powers earlier than what the show did… buuuuuuuut I don't think anyone will be too angry about it. This just means a certain corrupted Gem will appear sooner. Not sure if I'll have anything planned for the episode itself or I'll simply have it mentioned in a short explanation. Even so, in a few chapters things are going to come to a particularly powerful set of events I have planned.

As for his new pet, I figured he might need an animal companion to help him out when needed, after all look at Steven. Marcus has been around the kid so much its no surprise Ace was able to find him.

You know, speaking of new designs, the episodes… I was not disappointed by what they showed us. Finally, we got to see White Diamond and damn was she… wow. Just the air around her appearance was intimidating and just how she talked spoke volumes of pain from what I can tell. I've got some ideas on how to make this work but holy crap I'm excited for what the show has for us next. Steven was just dropped on Pink Diamonds throne away from everyone else. How they're going to go on from this is just… crazy. The ideas keep coming everyone so as long as I don't have anymore spontaneous delays in writing, things are going to get interesting.

Here are the reviews:

ChimaTigon: An interesting idea. Not sure if I'll use it for anything but I'll keep it in mind.

BakaBakaChagama: Glad you liked it. I do what I can and I'm sorry for the long wait. I'll do what I can to keep things interesting as they progress.

Grimlock987: Because he pissed off some people before and even though he has some blackmail on them, it looks like some just don't care and want him dead faster before he can use said dirt.

Cf96: Well, if that weren't the case then the story wouldn't be as interesting as it has been now would it? Even so, he's not going to take anything lying down that's for sure.

Light Seeker 001 – 007: I'll check it out. I haven't really found a song that would be best for Marcus to sing at any point but I'll see how it feel about it. And yeah, it's definitely interesting having my brother how he is but everything's managing good so far.

NJred2000: That would be something. I have dabbled in ideas for Marcus to gain a human rival or possible other humans to help him deal with his King problem, but with what I have planned things may not exactly go how you think. As for him singing, haven't found a song that really speaks or seems like something that is him.

Berserk117: Interesting setups. Here's what I think:
Marcus vs Deadpool: Deadpool
Marcus vs Deathstroke: Marcus
Marcus vs Guts (Berserk): Guts
Marcus vs Master Chief (Halo): Master Chief
Marcus vs Meta (RVB): Marcus
Marcus vs Samurai Jack: Marcus

Exactly how who wins who and how, I'll leave that up to some of you guys to decide. Marcus is good, but he can't beat everyone. Plus I'm a little biased to some of these characters so that can't be helped.

Ifsomethingchanged: It's such a relief to hear that. It's always nice to hear anyone compliment my work like that and I truly appreciate it. Hopefully I continue to make things as amazing and beautiful.

TonyShadowmist: They both have been through the wringer huh? Don't worry, the answer will be for sure given soon.

MuchoDinero: That is a definite possibility. I was thinking of something else for an Amethyst/Marcus fusion weapon but I think it wouldn't be too hard to include a variation of the Blades of Chaos into the mix. Something to think about in the future that's for sure. Thank you for your opinion.

WeirdLiesMatter (Ch.11): Ha.

EeveeTheImmortal: Then I have succeeded.

Alphaprince0 (Ch.10): Huh, never thought of something like that. I'll think about it.

Anti (Ch.1): I was wondering when someone would notice. I have for tooooo long. (Ch.11): Yep. (Ch.16): That is always a possibility… Hmmmm…

Joseph Fenech: Eventually. I'm not stopping at all but it always depends on my mood at times. Sucks but that's how it goes.

(All "Guests"): Sorry everyone for the long wait. I couldn't very well personally message all of you when the next chapter was going to come out and I think it would have been kind of a frustrating move to simply put out an announcement chapter just to let you all know. I feel like that would be more hurtful than helpful. I've felt the same way when I'm waiting on other stories when I see the notification but it's simply an update chapter, so don't really expect small chapters like those to pop up.

Just to let you all know, I'm thinking of making a new story official. Not gonna say what it is, just gonna leave it as a surprise so keep an eye out on my stories list for those of you not following me personally but still curious.

Also since theirs been different stuff happening to the internet in the past months and as of late, not to mention their have been occasional problems here on this site as well, I've decided to go ahead and make some new accounts on other fanfiction type websites just in case something happens out of my control.

I have made accounts on Archive of Our Own, QuoteV, and FictionPad all under the same name Vendicor. So far nothing has been posted on them, eventually I may post what I have here on these sites as well but for now things will be barren there. In fact, FictionPad is supposed to have a function where you can upload your work here on this site to there with a few clicks of some buttons and name typings. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be working for me and from past postings I've noticed, this isn't the first time. I'm going to assume that since this site has been doing some update things I believe to counter some review bots I think it was, the function isn't working. I'm not too hung up on it so maybe after a couple months I'll try again before resorting to contacting someone.

In any case, thank you all for your continued support and want for me to update. I wish I could give dates as to when I will update but unfortunately, I cannot. Go ahead everyone do what you wish, fave, follow, review, or not, it's your choice. Have fun reading everyone but most of all, have a great day.