Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe

(A/N: There is not much to say so I am going to get right into the story! Enjoy! )

Dante Watterson: Thank you I look forward to your continued patronage.

Chapter 5: Neither Crutch nor Caine

The sun shined brightly in Ronaldo's eyes as he drove down the road to Steven's house at twice the speed limit. The others were still passed out in the seats of Jenny's car. No matter what, the pointless endeavor that he and his friends had just experienced replayed in his head over and over again; especially the horror that he felt when he saw Lars bleed rivers from his ears and eyes. At the time of the attack, Ronaldo thought that Lars was dead. He couldn't thank god enough when he found out that he was wrong. The tires slid on the white sand as Ronaldo slammed on the brakes in front of Steven's place.

"Steven, help!" Ron called out as he dragged Lars out of the car. With a sonic blast like the one he took, he might even have brain damage. Steven popped his head out of his screen door in the time to see that Ronaldo was limping his way up the steps.

"Lars, Ronaldo, what happened to you guys?!" Steven panicked once he saw the dried blood on the two teenage boys.

"Please, heal him. I don't know how much time he has left," Ron said as before finally collapsing onto the wood. His face was pale and his breathing was strained 'I think that bastard hit an artery,' he thought before passing out.

He woke with a start and immediately jumped up on his feet and newly healed leg. He looked around to see everyone awake and well. 'Steven pulled through'. Lars stood in front of Sadie with a worried look on his face.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked as if it were the third time asking the same question.

"Yes Lars, you watched Steven heal me up yourself, I'm as fine as I possibly could be," She said reassuringly.

"No one's fine so long as there's still an active gem beast out there," Garnet spoke coldly as she and her companions exited the temple. Peridot scampered over to Buck and pointed to the axe that he had propped up on the arm of his chair.

"Is that a weapon?" She asked. Buck looked down at her blankly for a second.

"Yes," He answered flatly. Peridot leaped away and ran into the sanctuary of the bathroom. He then looked back up to the three women approaching him and his team.

"Tell us what happened?" Garnet requested while still standing.

"We were doing our rounds when we came across a corrupted gem. We beat it without too much of a problem," Sadie explained.

"Here you go," Ronaldo tossed Abaddon's gem to Pearl who immediately bubbled it.

"After that though, another one showed up. This one could talk," Sadie continued. The gems stood dumbstruck.

"You don't think?" Pearl asked while looking to Garnet.

"No, it couldn't be. Go on Sadie," Garnet replied in a stoic nature similar to Buck's.

"He said that the corrupted gems that we've been capturing were his pawns," Again Sadie was interrupted by Pearl who shot Garnet the same look.

"It can't be him," Garnet repeated, although this time she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself.

"No matter what we did nothing could hurt him," Sadie continued

"Except for this," Ron interrupted as he tossed the sheathed knife onto the table. Garnet and Pearl exchanged one more look before Garnet reluctantly grabbed the knife. Slowly she pulled the sheath from the blade and gazed blankly upon the black material of the cutting edge. Pearl let out a frightened gasp.

"Crud," Garnet said blandly after a short period of silence.

"What is it? You guys keep on saying really vague things, it's like you're trying to leave me out!" Amethyst stated irritably. None of the others were going to address this yet, but they agreed.

"Obsidian's back," Pearl whimpered with fear in her voice. Amethyst was struck with equal fear at the mention of that name. She had never come face to face with this supposed monster of a gem, but she had heard stories from Rose.

"Who?" Steven asked curiously only because one of the other human's couldn't answer first. Garnet took a deep breath and let it out. It's a good thing that everyone was here, even Connie; that way she wouldn't have to explain this more than once.

"A long time ago at the very end of the war there was a soldier named Obsidian. He was one of the strongest that home world had to offer. Obsidian was always a wildcard he sought out power and riches, unlike the other gems who simply fought because they were told to. He destroyed all in his path and never left anything other than ash behind, and because of this he was often referred to as Obsidian the brimstone. He took everything we had; countless control points and even more soldier were lost in the twenty-four hours that he was on earth than in the first eight years of war. Through a miracle he became corrupted and weakened enough to become a more manageable threat. Though by a significant amount, his mastery of caine the source of his amazing power still allowed him to pull through his corruption and keep his intelligence. It was then that Rose, Pearl, a gem named Lolite, and I took him head on in an all or nothing battle, which we were just lucky enough to win. Once he was defeated, Rose went against the judgment of her advisors and decided to use it as the power source for her yet to be constructed shrine, rather than breaking him. He was nearly impossible to defeat the first time and now it seems that he's back," Garnet explained all in one breath which she was able to do through a lack of need for air. Connie cleared her throat before speaking.

"What's caine?" Connie asked confused. Pearl stepped forward.

"I'll take this one; I suppose that it's about time that I explained this. You see caine is a raw energy that all living beings possess, but very few have the ability to utilize. Through a specific set of training and disciplines one can unlock their caine and use it to preform feats that one would normally assume to be impossible," Pearl walked over to the couch and picked it up with one hand and three people still on it before putting it back down. "Gems have a natural affinity for caine and use it to summon their weapons and have superhuman strength. Once a high enough mastery of caine is achieved one can shake off attacks and avoid taking damage. On top of this the potency of caine magnifies the more the user's determination, resolve, or will power strengthens. Matter of fact, Connie I have been teaching you in caine the whole time," This evoked a completely justified wide eyed stare from the young swordfighter. "What you haven't wondered why you can weld effortlessly a sword that once used to take two people just to draw?" Pearl asked rhetorically. "Obsidian does have a few weaknesses; all corrupted gems have a weakness to the minerals that they represent, and caine can be fought with another person's caine. For instance if I struck Obsidian it would leave a wound, though probably wouldn't go deeper than three inches do to the fact that his caine is stronger than mine, on top of that he has a natural sensitivity to sunlight, if he is caught in it he will be in too much pain to move." Sadie rose from her seat and stood up straight.

"I want to learn," It could not be told whether she was requesting or demanding. A silence filled the room while Pearl contemplated the human's words. It was not long before Lars rose from his seat as well.

"Please, I would like to learn too," He requested softly. Ronaldo was the next to stand.

"Me too," He said excitedly. Buck peeled himself from his seat despite his fatigue.

"Me too," He said coldly, but with determination in his voice. Coincidently Sour and Jenny jumped up at the same time.

"Me too," They said. Pearl let out a sigh

"I suppose that the situation calls for it. Very well your training begins tomorrow. Come here after you've had your sleep, and will teach you what you need to protect yourselves from Obsidian."

(A/N: I know it was a slow chapter, but some exposition was required. Thanks you guys! See ya! )