Back at the shop...

Brea and Dean (Someone that no one remembers) were talking by the counter. Not many people showed up at the jewelry shop today or the past few days. Dean got bored but still remained because he would get fired if he hadn't.

"You work with Mike, right? Have you seen him at all these past few months?" Brea asked, "I haven't seen him or heard from him for a while"

"Heck if I knew!" Dean said.

"He still works here, doesn't he?" Brea asked as she looked at her phone, "I want to hang with him again"

"He does!" Dean answered with energy, "I just don't know where he is, to be honest. He could be caving himself in his basement, playing video games and watching anime like he used to!"

"Not again, I thought the ge- his new friends stopped him from caving" Brea said as she bit her own lip, "He's probably hanging out with them"

"So he gets to skip work but I can't?" Dean said as he slammed the counter with one hand, "Fine, his pay's mine anyway!"

"With the lack of selling, your pay's being cut, right?" Brea said as she tilted her head left.

"Yeah!" Dean paused, thought about it, and finally sighed about it. "Yeah..."

They both sighed at the same time and leaned back. They looked around and saw all of the unsold jewelry, all not as good as Mike's.

"How good is Mike at selling anyway?" Brea asked as she sat on the counter.

"He's...One of a kind actually," Dean said as he placed his elbows on the counter and waited for a customer to by the counter, "It's like he can read their minds when they come up to the counter"

"He's a- like a psychic" Brea answered as she bit her lip again. "He can- he's good at metaphorically reading minds"

"Stop stuttering!" He shouted.

Brea continued to bite her lip to avoid saying anything...strange. They both simultaneously sighed again as they watched the shop. Brea grew bored, and Dean grew tired. Brea decided to leave.

"Whatever happened, I'm getting to the bottom of it" She said as she began to leave. "Later"

"Alright, see you 'round!" Dean said as he placed his forehead onto the counter of the shop in a defeated, exhausted manner.

Brea walked across the shop to the exit. She accidentally bumped into someone in a leather jacket. She fell back, and the same person helped her up.

"Sorry about that" The mysterious woman said, "You okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it" Brea answered, "Anyway, I need to go"

"Wait, before you go, do you know who Michael Kuudama is?" She asked. "I really need to speak to him"

"Sorry, he's not working at the jewelry shop at the moment" Brea said as she rolled her eyes. "He'll be back soon"

"Jewelry shop?" The mysterious woman asked.

"Yeah, right here. Gems get forged into wearable material, you know?" Brea said, "See you soon"

The mysterious woman rushed past Brea. She looked around at all of the accessories hung on the wall with a look of fear and anger. She looked down at the ground and clenched her fists. Dean noticed.

"Hey lady, step right up if you wanna buy!" He said as he was energetic, "We have tons of-"

Before he finished, he saw the lady take off the leather jacket. At first, he grabbed a napkin to wipe his nosebleed because she only had a bra on, but then she pulled out a gigantic hammer that seemed to be hard to hide from her shoulder...

So, I guess my life as a welder, or a blacksmith as I call it, is gonna change from now without an eye. I just hope the shop's gonna be okay. I pointed both of my pistols at the hill, waiting for the knight, whatever kind of gem he/she was. I was ready for revenge, even though one of my eyes were blinded, and the bullets would bounce off of that strong armor... and I barely knowing how to really fight... Dammit, what am I thinking? I'm screwed if I don't get out of here like Beryl said.

"Finally reconsidered, cap'n one-eye?" She said as she removed the bandage wraps from my eyes.

"Save the insults and 'I told you so's until after we leave" I said as we both walked to get off the hill. I placed my hand over my wounded eye. It didn't hurt anymore, but I couldn't see through that eye anymore.

Before we could reach the end of the circular hilltop, the gates had risen out of the ground again, trapping us both this time. I could hear myself swearing under my breath as the ground shook again, and I could see Beryl in shock like she was going to die, not that I could blame her. I pulled out my guns and looked straight to the center of the hilltop and waited for that knight to pop out. However, the same separate zombie and skeleton popped out of the ground. Beryl took her bow from behind her cape and placed two arrows on the quiver of her bow.

"Don't just stand there, fight before they get together again!" She shouted to me as she released both of the arrows.

One arrow flew towards the skeleton, and the other flew towards the zombie. The black zombie arched its back and chopped through one of the arrows, and the white skeleton blocked the arrow with the shield. Beryl snapped with her fingers once, and a powerful gust pushed both of the corrupted gems back. The zombie stood its ground, and the skeleton fell on its back. I took the chance and aimed at the skeleton while it was off guard.

I pulled the trigger several times towards the skeleton, but the skeleton blocked each shot with the shield. I used the bullets as a diversion to find where the skeleton's gem was, assuming that it could be a weak spot. The skeleton's white gem was located in its spine, so I'd have to get around it somehow. It quickly got up, spun around, and threw the shield at me like a Frisbee. I ducked under the shield and began to shoot the skeleton. The skeleton backed away as each bullet bounced off of the bones. It clearly did damage. I kept my head down as the shield went back to the skeleton's arm. I should have been able to predict that could happen.

"Beryl, I can't read its mind, or their minds, how am I supposed to sort of survive?" I shouted as I continued to the enemy.

"Fighting is not about reading minds, it's about analyzing the fight before you get hit or die" She said as she dodged several swings. She shot the zombie's stomach, making it bend forward, and then she made a large back flip jump backwards and kicked the zombie's face at the same time. "You watch closely to the enemy's attack pattern, and you adapt or find openings"

Beryl was shooting three arrows at once multiple times at the zombie quickly. The zombie leaned to different sides to dodge and cut through each arrow as it walked towards Beryl. It turned its body right and raised its sword to the sky, making it shine to the moon, as it swung the sword down. Beryl blocked it with her emerald bow and pushed the zombie back. She jumped over the zombie and shot it with an arrow, and the zombie was pushed forward. The zombie turned around to face Beryl, and Beryl whacked the zombies jaw with the bow.

The zombie took a sloppy but large jump backwards after recuperating itself, and it landed right behind the skeleton. The zombie and the skeleton pressed their backs together, and the light began to shine again. I immediately took action and reloaded my pistols, and then I began to shoot rapidly to prevent them from coming together. The shots couldn't do much because of the skeleton's shield blocking the both of them. I was going to circle around it so that I can do some damage, but then came that blinding light. When I could open my one eye again after being blinded from the light, I saw the same tall dark knight with the black-as-night sword and spiked white shield.

I backed up, and I saw Beryl step forward with her bow. They both moved to the right and faced each other like a duel. I made sure to back up so that I wouldn't be taking any collateral damage. Beryl jumped behind the knight and kept her arrow pointing at him. The knight swiftly turned around and kept her shield pointing at Beryl while keeping it's blade pointed at me.

The knight began to run towards Beryl. The Beryl shot an arrow at the knight, and the knight blocked it with her shield. The shield was slightly cracked by the impact. The knight threw the shield at Beryl, and Beryl ducked under it. While she duck under it, the knight kneed her forehead hard, causing Beryl to stand up and drop her tried to stay balanced after that attack, but then the shield struck Beryl's back as it flew back to the knight. Beryl fell forward, and her head landed on the knight's hand.

The knight lifted her head up like a doll and stared into her eyes. Beryl tried to stay conscious, but she was slowly slipping away. I could tell because her thoughts weren't as responsive. I slowly crept behind the knight to sneak attack her. When I had a clear shot at an opening between the back of her neck and the back of her helmet, I was about to pull the trigger, but then...

"W-We-W-Weak" The knight said.

Beryl and I looked at the knight with shock. It was like she was wide awake afterwards. I immediately read her mind to figure out why. She can talk? It can't be! AND she's a fusion between two corrupted gems. Corrupted! What the hell is going on!? Beryl began to think a lot more, but then she began to glitch, for lack of a better word.

Berly's image was being distorted like a faulty hologram would. It continued to happen again and again as she couldn't move. I lowered my guns and watched to see what was going on. The knight dropped Beryl on her back. When Beryl looked up at the knight, the knight stomped on her once with an earth-shaking stomp. Beryl disappeared, leaving her emerald behind like every other gem related thing I have seen thus far. I took slow and quiet steps forward. I kept the pistols pointed at the knight, and I waited for it to turn around.

The shield cracked. I'm no expert, but I do know that once anything cracks, it only gets weaker and more breakable like a phone. Maybe I can put it at a disadvantage by shooting the crack again and again...

-SNAP-

The night swiftly turned around with its shield raised and sword pointed at me while looking at me after I had stepped on a twig. I paused and looked down at the twig that ruined my chances of victory. I looked back at the knight with a fake smile and then looked away.

Or not…

I quickly ran around it and was about to shoot more bullets at it, but before I could raise my guns at it again, the knight pressed the end of its sword at my neck without effort and began to walk forward. I had no choice but to take slow steps back to avoid getting my neck pierced. All I could feel was the blade of the sword at my neck, and it was sharp and unpleasant. As I took steps backward, I slipped over the Beryl's emerald and fell on my backside. My neck was slightly cut by the knights blade, so I covered my neck. The knight raised its sword and swung it down to do the finishing strike, my game over. However, before the sword landed on me, the light from Beryl's emerald began to glow brightly.

-CLASH-

After hearing the strike and not feeling the pain, I looked at my chest first to see if I was hurt in any way, and I saw that my clothes weren't torn from the sword at all. I looked up and saw Beryl standing in front of me like she blocked a strike from above. She blocked the strike by holding her bow in her teeth as a shield, saving me. The knight tilted its head back after Beryl blocked the shield like that, and Beryl looked back at the knight with the most determined and protective glare I have ever seen. It looked like her arm disappeared and her cloak dirtied and torn, and one of her eyes glowed the same way it would when Black Diamond's gem wasn't repaired.

"Beryl, your arm..." I said as I stared at the shoulder without an arm.

"Mike..." Beryl said through her teeth while taking deep breaths, "Just... finish this!"

Beryl headbutted the knight's helmet; the collision made a sound so loud that it echoed through the forest. The knight was knocked off balance as its helmet shattered. The knight bounced back in pain, knelt down, and covered its face. Beryl fell on her knees and then fell onto her back. She vanished into her gem that I had finally noticed a piece of it had shattered off. As I looked at her gem, not knowing if she was still alive or anything, the knight slowly got up, and I saw the horrible looking face behind the helmet.

The face of the knight looked decayed for lack of a better word, probably because of how it was a fusion of a skeleton and zombie. The knight had 4 eyes, the skin was unhealthily darker for a pale color, and it looked like I could see the bones of her jaws because there wasn't any skin there at all.

"Ill" I said as I pulled out my guns again.

"D-Di-iE-DIE" The knight responded as it pulled out its sword and charged for me again.

It swung at me again with its sword vertically, but this time, I could actually read its mind and predict its movements before it could happen because its helmet was removed. I dodged to the left to avoid the sword and shot the knight's head once with the gun in my right hand. The knight leaned back and paused, but it quickly recuperated and tried to swing at me again but horizontally this time. I ducked under it, moved to the right, and shot its head again with the gun in my left hand. The knight leaned back again, trying to regain its balance, but it was slower trying to this time. While it was off guard, I used both of my guns to aim at its head and shoot the last few bullets I had with me. The knight finally fell backwards and dropped its sword, but it was still breathing, so I picked up the sword that was surprisingly lighter than I thought and pierced it through its armor.

The knight vanished, leaving a Star moonstone and black star sapphire. I picked up the gems and placed them in my pockets like I usually do and then picked up the emerald. Part of it was broken, but it was still glowing. I hope she's still alive, at least. The gates quickly dropped beneath the ground, so I walked outside of the gates before they trapped me again for any reason. I pulled out my phone and was about to call someone, but my phone didn't have any signal to call anyone. Before I could do anything else, I heard loud flapping sounds.

I turned around, and I saw a gigantic raven in the center of the top of the islet. I was about to think that my psychic powers had finally made me insane, but I knew that I wasn't that lucky yet. The raven's presence felt enthralling for a reason, so I walked towards it without a reason. The closer I walked to it, the more tired I felt, and when I was a foot away, I fell down on the bird's wing. The raven flapped the wing to get me onto the center of its back, and then it began to fly out towards the open sea. I felt like that the raven was too familiar from somewhere, but I couldn't remember... I blacked out.

In the busy streets of Lakeside Town where people walk on the sidewalks to their jobs or to hang out with friends, Brea was walking and playing a game on a mobile device that wasn't her phone. She was bored and didn't have anyone to hang out with, and to her, the arcade was never fun alone.

"Let's see, if I have this one sent out first, I could use inflict poison or paralysis on the enemy team, possible make them take damage for every time they switch out...or maybe I can use one with heavy defense and use the trick room effect-"

"You"

"EHH!?" She shouted loudly.

She pulled the mysterious stranger that spoke to her into the alley next to them so that no one would bump into them as they spoke. She didn't recognize the man that spoke to her because she didn't know anyone with scars, so she was passionately furious. The guy didn't care, and he stood there.

"Hey, who the hell are you, scaring me like that!" She shouted as she jumped down, had her fists clenched, bent forward, and kept her eyes shut, "I don't know you! You gave me a heart attack! I-I..." She stared at the guy confused. "Wait, you don't care at all that I'm shouting?"

"I rarely ever care, remember?" The guy said with a blank expression, "Want to head down to the arcade?"

"Wait a minute, rarely care? Arcade?" Brea jumped and squeaked. She looked at the guy with her eyes wide open as she took a step back, "M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M...M-M-M-M-M-"

"Um...what?" The guy responded, then getting hug-tackled by the girl and was still standing.

"MIKE!" Brea shouted through tears, "It's been 5 months, I...I thought you were dead!"

"Always over-passionate about everything, huh?" I hugged her back because it was the right thing to do without getting smacked by her, "And I was almost dead"

"Almost? You gotta tell me everything!" She demanded.

"But it's a long story" I answered, "And it was a pretty painful thing"

"Well can't you do some kind of telepathic kind of thing? It'll make life easier, I promise!" She suggested desperately. I was starting to think she was too happy that I returned.

"Fine, just this once" I answered as I left my hand out for her to grab. "Grab my hand and you'll see it"

She grabbed my hand before I even finished the sentence. She waited for a couple of seconds, and then both of our eyes glowed brightly. She looked up at the sky as my eyes looked down, and she saw the memories of the Dark Knight I was attacked by in only a couple of seconds. She let go of my hand the second the memory ended, and placed her hand over her head since seeing memories would hurt a lot when not used to it. I was used to it, so I waited for her to get over the pain.

"That hurt..." She said as she bent down, "It was still awesome though! It was like anime in first person!"

"Remind me that I don't want anime in real life anymore, that was hell to begin with" I said as we both started walking to the arcade. "Any new games at the arcade?"

"Oh yeah, Pokken Tournament! C'mon, we need to go!" She shouted as she grabbed my hand.

She dragged me and ran all the way to the arcade, even when I asked her to slow down because of how I'm still sore. She didn't listen, but at least things are almost the way it used to be...but something's coming up soon, isn't it?

-Purple Tanzanite, has the target returned?-

-Target "Michael Kuudama" confirmed to have returned, Chrysoprase. Scarred in one of his eyes, so he'll be in a disadvantage-

-Good, when will we strike?-

-We still need to wait for Yellow Diamond to give us the order-

-Dammit, keep an eye on him until then-

-Yes ma'am-