Steven woke up early the next morning and ran down the stairs. He saw the couch. The blankets and pillows were folded neatly. Aaron was gone. "I'll go check up on him later." He sighed walking in to the kitchen to make himself breakfast.
Aaron wasn't in his ship asleep or even working on his gear. He was washing the windows for Funland Arcade under the supervision of Mr. Smiley. "No streaks on those windows boy." He smiled watching Aaron clean. His demeanor was cold and unamused as he finished the task at hand.
"Now what?"
"Now, you take this." Mr. Smiley handed him a belt with a coin holder on it. "Your job is very simple and very important. You make sure the machines work, you make sure no paper money is in those kids pockets, only quarters, and most importantly, you give out no refunds whatsoever. You got it?"
"Yes sir."
"Sir, I like that. Good luck kid." Mr. Smiley handed him a keychain and walked off twirling his other keys whistling a happy tune.
As he opened the doors, kids started to wander in to the arcade coming to him for quarters. One of the kids approached him. "Hey mister, the machine's stopped working." Aaron followed the boy to the older machine. Pixelated dots kept blurring the screen. Aaron opened up the bottom of the machine and peered inside to see two exposed wires crossed. He untangled them and closed the machine. It started working once more. The boy looked at him. "Can I get my quarter back?"
"No." Aaron walked off leaving the boy defeated.
Later in the day, a boy wearing a sailor suit walked past the counter carrying a crowbar. Aaron watched him trying to open one of the machines. The boy looked up when a spear landed within inches of his nose. "Run." The boy didn't move as Aaron picked him up by the back of his shirt with the spear tip. He walked outside and hurled the spear like a javelin.
Steven was walking along the boardwalk when he saw a familiar face fly by and hit a wall before the spear disappeared. "Onion, are you okay?" Steven ran over to help him up. Onion ran off. "Aaron." Steven mumbled walking off towards the arcade.
Aaron was sitting at his counter watching the kids feed the machines. Steven walked up and rang the bell. "Why did you do that to Onion?"
"I tolerate a lot of things. Theft in broad daylight is not one of them. If you steal, you don't let people know that it's you. It's obnoxious and risky."
"So you're okay with stealing at night?"
"Yeah, I am. Now do you need quarters or are you leaving?"
"I'm leaving." Steven grumbled leaving the arcade.
Later that night…
"If he doesn't mind stealing at night." Steven chuckled pulling a ski mask over his face as Amethyst did the same. The two walked on to the ship and up to the vault. Amethyst began banging on it. "Shhh! Aaron's probably asleep." A spear whizzed past them.
"Was asleep." He grumbled. "Is what's in there that important to you? Because it's not opening without the combination."
"Kind of." Steven said looking at Aaron.
"Just stop coming on to my ship." He looked at them and walked over to the safe which scanned his hand before sliding open. "It's just my armor."
Steven looked at it and then looked behind it where he saw a faint glow. "What about this?" Steven asked pulling out a blue bubble.
"Don't worry about it." Aaron reached for it only for Steven to hold it back.
"Tell me who it is." Steven looked at the trapped gem inside the bubble.
"Fine, let's go and talk about it." Aaron closed the vault and walked off the ship. He lit a fire in the stone pit and sat in one of the camping chairs. Steven and Amethyst soon joined him in the other chairs followed by Garnet and Pearl who looked rather unhappy with Steven. Garnet crumpled up a note and tossed it in to the fire. "Give me the bubble." Aaron said holding his hand out to Steven. He refused until Garnet gave him a look. He clutched the bubble tightly as he began his story.
Aaron was tending his small garden when a pod crashed in a nearby field. A pink-haired gem emerged from the ship holding a battle axe in her hand. He approached. "Are you the rogue gem?"
"You're going to wish that I wasn't." He readied his spear and swung knocking her back.
"You're a mistake that needs to be erased." She charged knocking him back followed by her leaping at him nearly decapitating him with her axe.
"That's what I think about the Diamonds."
She punched his eye. "Disrespectful, filthy-mouthed, hybrid slime." Aaron managed to shove her off and ran in to his ship. "Hiding is such a pathetic, cowardice tactic."
The gem was hit by a spear. "Not hiding, just stalling. Now, get ready for the real fight." He now wore his armor as he charged her kicking her high in to the sky followed by a swift punch that sent her flying in to the ground. Aaron held his spear to her gem. "Last words before I shatter you like I will the Diamonds?"
"If you were the first, I can't wait to see how the others turn out." She laughed looking him in the eye.
"What do you mean by others?" Aaron scowled at her.
"The Diamonds are looking for more humans to merge with gems. Stronger than you. They will shatter you. You can ask the Diamonds yourself. I have a line in my pod." Aaron delivered a swift blow to her face causing her to poof as he bubbled the gem.
"Your intel has earned you the right of hostage." He held the bubble closely as he walked over to the pod. He ripped out the line and activated it. A pearl appeared on the screen. "Yellow Diamond, now." The pearl looked at him and immediately transferred him.
"Hello there, Aaron." Yellow Diamond looked at him calmly from her throne.
"I heard that you have others, like me."
"Not yet, but rest assured, soon. And their first mission will be to shatter you."
"Your soldier is still alive." He held up the bubble.
Yellow Diamond glared at him. "What's your plan?"
"Shatter her, you, and all of the other Diamonds."
"Rest assured, I'll have you shattered first." She smirked ending the transmission and activating the detonator. Aaron hurled the crystal in to the lake and ducked in to the pod watching it explode.
"Why haven't you shattered her yet?" Steven asked nervously.
"I'm thinking about how I want to do it." Aaron's fist tightened as he held the bubble in his hand. Steven shivered at the thoughts of what Aaron would do to the gem. "That's all I have to say. Goodnight." Aaron doused the fire and locked himself in his ship.
"I want to save that gem." Steven mumbled standing up.
"As do I, but he is the one who poofed it, and he's not going to give it up that easily." Garnet walked off looking angry. The others soon followed her.
Aaron sat on the homemade bed in what used to be his cargo hold. He picked up an old book that he found at the library. It was a catalog of gem locations on Earth made by Buddy Budwick. He picked up his flashlight and began flipping through the pages. "I need something torment that stupid gem. Let's see what there is. Strawberries and giant axes, no. The desert, no. Old gem factory, no. Volcanic furnace, interesting."