Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe

(A/N: I'm back and raring to go. My other story has more or less died after the month that I took off to start writing this story, so I figured that I might as well return to my success and continue. Last time on Young and Fearless our heroes infiltrated the Obsidian temple with a mission to uncover the nature of Jersey Devil's diabolical plot. Instead what they found was a corrupted gem in the shape of an anthropomorphic wolf and perhaps a new friend.

Storywritter2003: thank you kindly.

Dante Watterson: Are you sure? OF COURSE YOU ARE!)

Chapter 12: Hungry like the Wolf

The six humans looked down at the creature before them. He rested on his hands and knees as he breathed heavily as if he was too exhausted to do anything more. Ronaldo bent down and helped the creature to his feet.

"Thank you," He said again. His voice had not recovered at all since the last time he had thanked them.

"No problem," Ron responded. "Um…What were you doing in that cage?" He asked, wondering if he had made the right decision.

"I'll explain later; for now we just need to get out of here," He suggested as he walked through the door with a certain shakiness in his legs. He had about half a head on Sadie and spoke with a young smooth voice. When he saw the discarded gems on the floor an expression of pure unadulterated fear broke on his face. "Run!" He shouted to those behind him before running to the best of his ability. The team had been on high alert and ready to run anyway, so when the signal was given the booked it.

"Why are we running?!" Sour asked while running alongside the wolf like creature who seemed to be struggling to keep pace with himself.

"You destroyed two of his underlings! When his underlings are destroyed he senses it and knows where to find them! He knows that the guards he put outside my chamber are useless, so-!" Just then the all too familiar form of the king of corruption busted through the wall, sending rubble flying like bullets into the other side of the corridor. His empty gaze met with the group of running humans and one particularly crucial corrupted gem before he broke into a juggernaut like sprint. With the threat in sight and gaining on them they put every ounce of their determination into their sprinting and ran ahead. The wolf creature didn't speed up at all. Sadie slowed down and ran alongside him.

"Come on you have to run faster!" She yelled in panic.

"I can't; this is all I've got!" He said as he tripped over his own feet and recovered just in time to avoid a slash from Jersey's claws. Sadie looked behind her and saw the monster that had almost killed her friends and suck to destroy everything she loved. She looked ahead and took in a deep breath as her skin turned red and started steaming. She picked up the gem beside her and threw him over her shoulder before taking off ahead of her teammates. At the top of a stair case there was a path leading right and left. "Which way?" She asked in a strained voice. He looked up.

"Left!" He shouted just in time for her to turn. "Right, left, right, right, right, left," He guided his saviors through the temple. Many of the areas had gem beasts that the team had to dodge and weave around Just barley escaping the constant attacks from the creatures of various shapes, sizes, and strengths. Anything that was in Jersey's way was barreled through and often destroyed though not broken. Finally there was on giant staircase with the end just barley in sight. They ran up those steps two ledges at a time; by this point the humans were hyper ventilating and starting to slow down just the slightest amount. This was enough for Jersey to make a move; he reached out and grabbed the closest thing in front of his, which happened to be Lars. He caught Lars' fore arm on the back swing and used his superior strength to ensure his prey did not escape. Digging his claws deep into the flesh of the worthless whelp in his grip Jersey smiled internally in hopes that he may have the offenders in check mate. Once they realized that he had one of their own they would stop and gladly hand that little pup back over to him. The claws dug deeper until Lars could feel them scraping against the bones. He cried out like he never had before as this was the worst pain he had ever felt in his life; if he hadn't come in here on an empty stomach he would've thrown up. Even in the midst of the panic and pain he knew what had to do. As if on instinct he stiffened his index and middle finger and jammed them into Jersey's eye sockets. Whether there was anything inside them or not he honestly couldn't tell, nor did he care as he activated his aura. The electric current flowed through the monster as he cried out in pain for the first time in thousands of years. He retracted his fingers as Jersey fell to his knees and held his face; Lars swung himself up and launched himself off the monster's shoulder. The claws sliced all the way down his arm until they hit his wrist and he slipped out. With a metric ton of adrenaline flowing through his veins Lars kept running, temporarily numb to the pain. At the top of the stairs was the door that they had entered through. Ron pulled Abaddon's gem out of his ruck sack and held it up to the door. Everyone ran through and Jersey was at the top of the stairs still sprinting for all he was worth. Sadie pushed Ron away and dropped the corrupted gem she had brought with her, and just when the door closed she hit it with everything she had left. The distinct sound of two giant boulders smashing into each other at a couple hundred miles per hour echoed through the forest as spider web cracks spread across the door at the speed of light. Finally Sadie relaxed, letting the red tint fade from her skin. Everyone stood there for a moment to catch their breath and process what just happened. And then the adrenaline wore off, and Lars looked at his arm.

"Oh fuck!" He said before passing out. (Just try to tell me any of you would react differently.) Sadie looked at him and immediately saw his injury.

"Shit!" she yelled, dropping to her knees beside him. She examined his arm and saw that the vein in his wrist weren't cut thank god. He had a much better chance of living. Sour looked down and instantly whipped off his black shirt. Pulling as hard as he could he ripped the torso off and tied the sleeves tightly around the five deep straight cuts. Ron swung Lars up and put his on his back as he started to jog off to the van.

The black vehicle sped on the streets to Steven's place…again. What were they supposed to do; if they took him to an ER they would start asking questions, they would call his parents. Everything needed to stay under reps. Ron sat in the driver's seat, staring at the road with laser focus. Buck say in the passenger's seat, struggling to keep his eyes open as he shook his head periodically. Sour and Jenny sat in the back of the van leaning against driver's seat. Jenny curled up next to Sour as he adjusted himself to give his girlfriend a more comfy position. Lars laid flat on his back with sweat pouring down his unconscious face and blood slowly seeping out from under the make shift bandage. Sadie sat beside him holding his hand tightly. The corrupted gem sat against the wall opposite to Lars and Sadie, starring at the corner next to the back door. Sadie looked up from the damaged boy and at the creature that she and her team risked their lives to save.

"Are you alright?" She asked with genuine concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Is he going to be okay? "He asked in return. Sadie started to say yes before a scary thought popped into her head. It was a thought that she had had before, but never in this type of situation. She hung her head and let a tear flow down her cheek.

"I don't know," She answered honestly. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder followed by two words that didn't belong.

"I'm sorry,"

(A/N: I feel like this chapter sucks, but I'm not sure. Sorry if it does, but I'm trying to get back on my feet after a long break. This chapter was dedicated to storywriter2003. Have fun!)