Chapter 13

The grey skies that circled above Schadenville finally bore fruit as light rain poured down onto the small town's cemetery. Standing in the midst of the gathering of headstones, Zircon looked down at one of the grave markings while Labra and Steven were standing at the gate of the cemetery alongside the bartender, Mr. Hewing. His eyes bearing their gaze into the grave stone's etches, Zircon slowly lowered himself onto one knee before running his hand over the words:

Here Lies Loving and Devoted Wife: Bloodstone Evans

"Mark fought tooth and nail against us to give her a proper grave here in the town." Mr. Hewing commented towards Labra and Steven, "So much so that he personally beat down any person who dared try to desecrate his late wife's cradle."

"Sounds like Zircon's dad." Labra quipped as all three of them never took their eyes off of Zircon in his moment of mourning.

After having his moment in reminiscing what he could about his mother, his eyes slowly veered over to the left neighboring tombstone, bearing the markings of:

Here Lies Loyal Schadenvillian and Friend: Marcus Evans

None of his memories of his father bore any sense of warmth or care, but Zircon still felt the heavy anvil dangling from his heart over the realization that his father was gone, never having the chance to reconcile with the man who helped give him life. Letting out a soft sigh, Zircon stood back up on both of his feet, giving a few more seconds of time in front of his parents' graves, before turning on his heel to return back to the party. "Zircon…are you ok?" Steven asked as both him and Labra softly approached their friend.

"Honestly…I don't know, man." Zircon admitted. "I never knew exactly what I would've done, even if he was alive. I don't know if I would've yelled at him or decked him straight in the face or even tried to get a damn hug for once from that alcoholic jerk." Zircon cursed through his teeth, trying to keep himself from tearing up. "But now…knowing he's gone for good, forever cementing how I knew him in my mind? I don't know if I'll ever be okay with this."

"Maybe I can help with that."

Zircon and company looked over in the direction of the new, nasally voice. Hewing already knew those irritating pipes from anywhere as he raised his tone a bit, "What do you want, Mendel? Can't you see the boy is in mourning?"

"No time better than the present, as they say." The voice belonged to a rather thin and stubby looking gentleman wearing a two-piece, dark-maroon suit along with a matching bowler hat and dress pants, completed with shiney, black laced shoes and a black bow tie. In Mendel's hand was an ever-present, black leather briefcase that he opened up to pull out some papers. Zircon didn't seem to be in quite the mood either as he glared over at the small man, "What's the meaning of this?"

"Now now, don't get your veins in a tizzy fit, less you want to pop a blood vessel." Mendel nonchalantly warned before holding out the paper he just took out to Zircon, "This, I believe, belongs to you." Taking a hold of the sheet of paper, Zircon realistically asked, "What is it?"

"That there is the last will and testament of Marcus Evans, your father." Mendel answered without missing a beat. "Detailed in the will is everything belonging to the man in his name, now being handed off to you."

"M-Me?" Zircon's eyes widened at this sudden drop of news. "Why-? I don't-." However, Zircon didn't even have the time process any of this before Mendel dropped another bombshell on him, "Now then, that'll be $500,000 including late fees."

"HUH?!" Not only Zircon, but also Steven, Labra, and Mr. Hewing lunged out in shock, Mr. Hewing in particular grabbing Mendel by the collar of his suit and lifting his small body into the air, "You better give me two reasons as to why I shouldn't pummel your smarmy-ass into the dirt!" Hewing spewed out as Mendel calmly responded, "Because 1. Mr. Nathaniel Evans here is the sole proprietor of Marcus Evan's lake house and must pay for two years-worth of late mortgage payments, and 2. My lawyer and I will become filthy rich if you dare throw even one punch at me." Hewing growled in defeat as he harshly dropped Mendel back to his feet. "Now then, because of the fact that you've inherited the lake house 2 years now since Marcus Evans' untimely passing, you have officially been way past the mourning period designated by my company and have been required to pay off the mortgage payments."

"Wha- that's not fair!" Steven shouted out from the side as Labra walked over to Mendel, "He just found out today his father has passed!"

"Buuuuut on paper, that time of mourning has already passed." Mendel restated, "Too bad, so sad. Now then, you now have a choice, Mr. Evans. You either pay off the mortgage debt in order to keep your father's lake house, or, you'll reinstate the house back to my company and you'll vacate any personal possessions you'll have in said lake house."

"Listen here, Mendel, you can't just drop this on him now and expect him to-" Hewing was starting to lecture Mendel just up until Zircon quickly answered, "I'll see it back to you."

"WHAT?!" Everyone, outside of Zircon and Mendel, expressed deep shock over Zircon's quick decision.

"Zircon, that's your father's home. D-Doesn't it have any kind of sentimentality to you?" Steven tried to make Zircon reconsider, but… "Steven…I have not spoken to my father in 10 years. Even when I still lived here before then, I and he never saw eye-to-eye. If I'm being perfectly honest, I don't hold anything of importance to that house. And I'll only take what I need from within before we leave." Zircon stated this rather coldly and expressionless. "Remember, Steven…we're here for any leads on fragment, which in turn allows us one step forward to a much bigger solution to our problems. I'm not willing to fight for some lake house that's been empty of life for over 2 years now…Even if this whole ordeal smells of corporate swindling." Zircon turned his gaze and attention back to Mendel before responding, "Mr. Mendel, give us a couple hours to vacate any personal possessions and the house will be all yours."

"You've made an excellent decision, Mr. Evans." Mendel gave a slight, slimy smile as Hewing just looked peeved about the whole thing, crossing his arms. "And thank you for the opportunity." Zircon nodded his head to Mendel before turning once more to Labra and Steven, "Come on. We got a house to search."

Minutes later, Evans Lake House;

"This…this is my father's lake house that accumulated over $500,000 of mortgage debt?" Zircon raised an eyebrow of discern as the lake house itself wasn't even anything grandeur or passé at least, looking more like a shack then a house. It looked a bit run-down with old wood foundation and a tiled roof, the aging actually making the shack slant a bit towards the swamp it overlooked along with a pier that extended from the shack. There didn't seem to be any environmental damage, like holes or flooding, among first glance at least. "Happy I didn't go with paying the man." Zircon admitted.

"I'll admit, Mark's place wasn't exactly the cleanest, but-" Hewing started only for Zircon to groan and roll his eyes, "I swear, if I hear that word "sentimentality" one more time, I'm gonna scream. Let's just get this over with." Upon opening the slightly slanted door, a rather musky smell already permeated the party's nostrils, prompting Labra to hold her nose, "Yep…that smells like a 2 year-long, unkempt swamp shack." Holding his sleeve over his nose, Zircon stepped in, followed by Steven, Labra, and Mr. Hewing. "Alright guys split up and search any crevice that could hold my gem fragment." Zircon tried to plan out.

"No need." Mr. Hewing stopped the three Gems as he stepped forward across the living room and its empty fireplace. Off in the back was a singular door that when opened led into a small office corner. "When you first mentioned this "gem fragment" I had a feeling I knew what you lot were looking for." Hewing called back as he rummaged through the work desk that was kept in the office while Zircon leaned up against the office's doorframe. "How would you know that?" Zircon questioned.

"After your father sold his home in the town and retreated to this shack, we rarely ever saw him. But when we did, he would always be tending to your mother's grave, wearing a rather intricate looking necklace embedded with a green-looking gem. Zircon's nerves stood up as his hopes began to rise from Hewing's words. "I was at his death bed, you know…" Hewing added on as he partly looked back at Zircon who just merely looked away, trying to look like he didn't care about his father's last moments. Far from the truth of how he actually felt...

"And he happened to give me that same exact necklace I saw him wear every chance he had." Hewing continued. "He told me "Keep it safe…I trust you'll know the right time to give it up."" And while Hewing was looking through the desk drawers, the contents that were on top of the desk seemed to catch Zircon's eyes. Slowly walking over, Hewing stopped for a moment to watch what Zircon was scanning. In a little booklet, opened up on the desk, were newspaper clippings. Looking at the different dates of these clippings, Zircon noticed that they spanned over years of time. But what got him the most was what the newspaper titles were saying.

|Green-Skinned Hero Saves Dog from Building Fire|

|Strange Swamp Creatures Defeated by Cloak Covered Savior|

|Trench-Coated Motorcyclist Pulls Kid Away From Oncoming Car|

|Missing Teens Found by Meddling Motor Traveler|

"These…these are about me." Zircon connected the dots, only to look over and see Hewing holding something out to Zircon in his hand. It was a silver laced necklace that wrapped into a brooch casing, holding onto a green gem fragment with a singular, red blotch in the center of it. "Zircon!" Steven called out as Zircon ran out from the room to where Steven was standing in another room. Looking at the inside of the room entered about 10 feet away, Zircon couldn't believe what he was looking at. He took a step forward…another…and another, until he himself was standing in a 20x20 framed room with a well-made, king-size bed, a red-oak, four-tiered dresser, a small work-bench complete with a plastic-wrapped took-kit, and a window that looked out into the swamp. The bed itself had sheets that had a green background with red polka dots on it. Zircon felt as if his heart was starting to rip, stumbling back against the doorframe with tears already streaming down his face and dripping off from his chin.

"…How…h-how long…?" Was all Zircon could ask Hewing, who was standing out in the living room, "Within the year you ran away. About weeks after you were gone, he ran into the town, raving about where you were…when we all told him what happened with you and young Brooner, it almost looked like he was feeling the loss of his wife again." Zircon was just silent from Hewing's explanation, a large shadow hanging over his face from his long bang dangling due to his head being lowered. "Zircon…he never hated you. He just missed your mother so much. Unfortunately his…his mourning and alcohol pushed you away from how he really felt…and he regretted every moment he ignored you. Every day, he hoped one day you would return so you both could be a family again and start over. But the toll of his regret and anguish caught up with him, and even on his death bed, he was still thinking about no one else but you, Natty. He loved you." Reaching up to finally wipe his eyes, Zircon inhaled through his nose to clear whatever blockage he had from crying before giving the shack a good look around one last time. The fireplace, he remembered where his father helped nurse his mother back to health. The kitchen, he recalled a memory of his mother's where she accidentally burned their breakfast. The small, 6x6 framed bathroom…the place where Bloodstone first realized she was having a child…

"…Steven?" Zircon called out.

"Y-Yeah?" Steven slowly walked over, placing his hand on Zircon's arm.

"I um…I need to make a quick phone call." Zircon looked down to smile at his friend.

Mendel's Financing and Real-Estate;

"Heh, I must say I am rather surprised to see you again before your requested hours were up. To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Evans?" Mendel held his fingers together as he looked over at Zircon from across his work desk, sitting back in a rotating chair, while Zircon sat across, "I just wanted to ask you something, Mr. Mendel."

"By all means, ask away." Mendel motioned over to Zircon for him to continue.

"What will you do with my father's lake house once I officially sign the land over to you?" Zircon asked as he leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, crossing one leg over the other.

"We're going to bulldoze it." Mendel chuckled without skipping a beat. Zircon surprisingly kept his composure as he continued the conversation with Mendel, "Mind if I inquire further as to the reason?"

"Your father," Mendel then looked up at the ceiling as he had his hands together in a praying notion before looking back at Zircon, "Was well loved by a lot of people here in town until he became the town drunk."

"Heh…obviously." Zircon smirked.

"And when he lost himself to booze, he really allowed his housings to fall. He had to sell the original home he and his," Mendel seemed to take a moment as if he was choosing the next best word to say, "Eclectic wife lived in before she passed. His fishing business wasn't doing so well due to his distracted nature in his later years, and he was letting that shack of his fall to ruins because he was becoming an unkempt human being who allowed everything he held dear to crumble and slip away. We're going to renovate that whole area and make it much nicer of a place to look at once we get rid of that horrid looking housing." And once Mendel finished his little explanation, Zircon couldn't help but let out a little snicker. "Something funny, Mr. Evans?"

"You're right." Zircon started. "He did lose himself…but distracted from his business, worrying about a son he regretted in shutting out? Selling the home that reminded him too much about the future he couldn't have with his wife anymore? And as for this shack that you say is "falling to ruins"?" Zircon now leaned forward as Mendel sweated a bit, even gulping slightly at the intensity of Zircon's now glaring eyes, "I got a chance to look inside that place and out of everything that you say he allowed to crumble, that shack is the only place he never allowed to fall apart. Because, that place holds his most precious memories…it's that place that he knew a future could be had in. I'll be damned if I let you destroy such an important place to my father. I'm not signing the place over to you."

"WHAT?!" Mendel now threw himself over his desk, glaring back over at Zircon, "Well then, Mr. Morality, if you're planning on keeping that house, then you better have that $500,000 TODAY or else I WILL get a court order that will FORCE you to do nothing else but sign that horrible wreckage outhouse of a home to me!"

"No problem." Zircon smiled as he didn't bat an eye.

"Eh- what now?" That perky response of Zircon's caught Mendel off guard as at that moment, Steven walked into the room, check in hand. "I have a check here for $1,000,000 from a Mr. Gregory Universe, whom I also have the phone number for if you wish to confirm this transaction with him."

"O-O-O-One…O-O-O-One…" Mendel looked like he was salivating out of the mouth from that amount.

"Oh, don't even think about it." Zircon cut off from the thoughts he was rightfully assuming Mendel was having, "That extra $500,000 will be placed into an account under my name here that I trust to Mr. Hewing for renovations and add-ons to the lake-house. As for the mortgage payments, I want to do my father proud, and personally earn and pay the money for the lake-house." Zircon's eyes then turned a crimson red as he continued to glare at Mendel, "And if I find a single cent misplaced by you or your people…Mr. Universe's lawyer and I will become filthy rich. Do I make myself perfectly clear…Mr. Mendel?"

"C-…C-C-Crystal." Mendel slunk back into his office chair as Steven then placed the check on the desk with him and Zircon taking their leave.

Later at the Evans Lake House;

"Ready Zircon?" Steven ask for Zircon's reassurance. Zircon was laying on the knitted fabric in the lake house's living on his stomach while Labra held onto Zircon's gem and Steven was holding onto Zircon's gem fragment, spit hand ready. "Y-Yep."

"Okay, on the count of 3." Labra announced while Zircon readied himself. "…1!" As soon as Labra said 1, she started to pull up on Zircon's gem with Zircon reacting accordingly, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Labra continued to pull up on Zircon's gem until Steven could see the fragmented spot. "There! Stop!" Steven quickly redacted to Labra as he frantically tried to position the gem fragment correctly. With the fragment realigned, Steven slapped his spit-covered hand right onto the fragment as it was mended back. Without Labra even doing anything, Zircon's gem lunged itself right back into Zircon's body as he was pulled up into the air by some otherworldly force, still screaming out in pain from an unknown cause. "Zircon, what's going on?!" Steven cried out in anxiety-filled worry. Very soon, red gleams shot out from Zircon's eyes and mouth before the entirety of the room was filled with that crimson light, blinding Steven and Labra temporarily. Everything then went silent…and when the light faded, Steven and Labra could see Zircon lying on the floor. Afraid for what just happened to their friend, Steven and Labra quickly rushed over to him, calling out his name and trying to shake him awake. Almost as quickly as he was knocked out, Zircon jolted awake, making Steven and Labra shout out in sudden surprise before they just…stared at Zircon. "Uuuh…guys? What's with the looks? Do I got something on my face?" At that moment, Steven and Labra dragged Zircon by his hands over to the bathroom, "Huh?! G-Guys, seriously, what's up?! You're starting to freak me-…out?" They finally positioned Zircon in front of the mirror in the bathroom as now Zircon was looking at himself just like how Steven and Labra were. The green veins that he was known for…the sickly-pale-green skin…they were gone. Instead, Zircon's skin was a healthy shade for a Caucasian, actually slightly tanned from his time Beach City. His eyes were still that jaded green, but had more shine and life in them. As for his hair, it wasn't a concentrated green anymore. Like his father, his hair was a chocolate-brown color. Still not wanting to believe what was before him, Zircon slowly ran his hand over the entirety of his face. "How…how do you feel?" Labra asked as Zircon softly responded, "D-…Different." And when he said that, he tightly closed his eyes and seemed like he was concentrating on something. After a couple of seconds…his chocolate brown hair returned to the old, concentrated green as Steven and Labra gasped a bit. Looking at the mirror once more, a bright, toothy smile spread across Zircon's lips before he looked right at Steven and Labra, "Much better!" And soon leaped at the two, hugging them both as the three celebrated this accomplishment.

Moments later, just outside of Schadenville;

"Are you sure you can't stay a bit longer? Take in the hometown a bit after so long?" Hewing asked as he and a handful of the townsfolk were there to see off the new and improved Zircon and his friends. "Wish I could, Mr. Hewing, but we're needed back home. There's something we gotta do." Zircon answered honestly as Hewing placed both of his hands on Zircon's shoulders, "You…are welcome back anytime, Natty." Hewing announced only prompting a smirk from Zircon, "I hope so. I got property here now." The two shared a little laugh with each other before Hewing continued, "You know what I mean, Natty. You're a Schadenvillian." Hewing gently patted Zircon's cheek while Zircon patted Hewing's shoulder, "And we'll make sure we fix up YOUR lake house good. It's the least we could do for what we did all those years ago."

"You better." Zircon teasingly pointed at Hewing before he started to make his way over to the Hummer. Steven and Labra were already inside as they watched the townsfolk waving and shouting their goodbyes. As soon as Zircon hopped in the Hummer and the townsfolk began to head back to their own lives, Steven started to coo out, "Weeeeeell~."

"I swear to everything holy if you say "I told you so" I'm gonna slug ya." Zircon stated, making both Labra and Steven laugh out longingly while he started the car. As Zircon started to turn the Hummer around, Steven looked outside and saw there was still one townsperson at the gate. It was a middle-aged, blonde woman who was starting to wrinkle up…and she was giving a death-inducing glare at the car before Zircon drove the Hummer off, cutting Steven's view of the woman off, "H-Huh?"

"What is it, Steven?" Zircon called back while he kept his eyes on the road.

"O-Oh, nothing. I just…I just got this strange feeling we're gonna be back one day is all." Was all Steven could say as he pushed the image of that woman out of his mind.

"Soooo…Nathaniel Evans?" Labra smirked with crossed arms as she cocked her head at Zircon while slightly leaning away from him. Zircon groaned, "Not this thing again…"

"Oh come ooooon! I'm just curious as to how you changed your name to Zircon from a cool name like," Labra then snickered before she finished, "Nathaniel, hahahaha!"

"Ha ha ha, laugh it up." Zircon mockingly mimicked Labra's laugh, "Believe it or not, I had a good reason for changing it to Zircon. I wanted to feel more in-tune with my gem heritage, believe it or not, and Zircon sounded cool to an 8 year-old on the road."

"Honestly, you being named Zircon is kind of fitting when you laid the lawful smackdown on weasely Mendel. It would've made your Zircon brethren proud." Labra started to explain.

"Oh really? What are they? Police officers? Detectives?" Zircon seemed interested now as he shot off guesses.

"No, they're lawyers." Labra's answer made Zircon let out a loud laugh as that went on for a couple seconds. Not hearing Labra laughing, Zircon looked right over at her, seeing she had a serious look on her face. "Wait…you're serious?" Zircon asserted as Labra nodded firmly. Zircon's irises shrank a bit when he looked back onto the road before exclaiming, "I named myself after Homeworld Attorneys?!" Which gave a good-while laugh from both Steven and Labra together.