Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe
(A/N: Let's get right to the reviews!
Storywriter2003: Thank you very much!
Junior VB: Thank you!
Yoshi1029: Yes both the dream and the fight happened in real life. The dream was a memory of Sour meeting Jenny for the first time, and the memory of the fight was spurred by looking into Jenny's eyes and also showed the extent that the two would go for each other. I would've used line breaks to separate them from the rest of the chapter, but that would've made you feel like we were going back in time rather than them being remembered in real time.)
Chapter 24: Come Into Light
The morning after chapter 21
"Where could she have possibly gone?!" Priyanka yelled at her husband as he dialed 911 on his cell phone at almost seven in the morning. She had woken up that morning to get ready for her shift at the hospital, but had to call it off when she noticed that her daughter was missing.
"I don't know, maybe she had to go with the gems on an emergency mission," Doug replied, but with an only slightly calmer voice.
"Emergency or otherwise, she would have woken us up, or at the very least left a note-!" The overbearing mother was cut off by the sound of her front door opening and closing. The two parents froze in place as they watched their daughter walk into the center of their living room. She stared off into space, unblinking, unfeeling, and covered in dirt and sweat.
"Do you have any idea what time it is!?" Priyanka practically shouted as she stormed over to her daughter. Connie shifted her focus to her mother, but did not look her in the eye, nor did she reply. After a moment of silence and a worried glance between Doug and Priyanka, Connie started off up the stairs. The pair of parents followed her asking her questions all the way.
"Where were you?" Doug asked softer than his wife had before; now just trying to get an answer out of Connie rather than trying to display his disapproval.
"What happened?" Priyanka asked, following Doug's lead.
"Why are you so roughed up?" The questions were all unanswered by the nearly catatonic Connie as she entered her room, leaned Rose's sword against the wall in its usual place, threw back her covers, climbed onto her bed, and closed her eyes, falling asleep in an instant. Priyanka looked to her husband with more worry than before.
"You don't think?" She trailed off, letting her husband figure it out for himself; which he did and replied with.
"God I hope not," The aging security guard replied with a heavy groan. Priyanka reached for the door handle as closed the door so that it was just cracked before both he and her husband walked back to their bedroom to get ready for work. Both Doug and Priyanka had seen this before, but neither of them had ever expected for it to be so close to them.
Present Day
Joshua walked along the edge of a cliff face, taking all too much joy in knowing that he wouldn't be hurt if he fell. He lit up the menthol cigarette in his mouth as he lifted a black walkie talkie to his face.
"This is snake charmer L calling in, everything alright out there?"
"This is Cobra we have encountered a level four corruption, possibly an incarnate! We can't see it, it's in the trees, and Cottonmouth is down!" At the panicked soldier's words Joshua leaped from the cliff and kept a steady stance as he slid down the dirt.
"I'm on my way soldier just stay out of sight, run, do something! Do not engage!" He shouted into the walkie talkie as he sprung into the trees at the bottom of the cliff.
"This snake charmer A calling in what's your location?" A new voice asks over the radio.
"Damnit rookies use your caine!" Victor's voice could be heard screaming as Joshua continued to sprint towards the monster that awaited them.
"R-right I knew that,"
"He's going to die and he going to take at least one of us with him," The gunslinger mumbled as he came up on a group of soldiers firing into the trees above them. One by one the black blur came and a soldier went.
"Shit!" Joshua cursed as he took out his dessert eagles and fired at the black blur, but to no avail. Only one soldier remained.
"This is it man! They're gone they're all gone! I don't want to die here!" The lone soldier screamed as he fired at a rustle he spotted in the trees.
"Calm down soldier! What's your name?
"Uh Adam," answered the soldier as the monster attempted to drop on him. A powerful shot from one of Josh's pistols sent it writhing to the ground. The sidewinder agents' barley caught a glimpse of its lithe form before it disappeared into the leaves once more.
"No, soldier your code name; what's your codename?" Joshua asked again as he focused a large amount of caine into his eyes in an attempt to spot the creature in the pitch blackness.
"Locust," The soldier said just above a whisper as all noise I the woods seemed to cease. "My codename is…" Locust started as the eerie silence only thickened. "Locust!" The last soldier screamed as he was dragged into the leaves at the speed of light.
"Motherfucker!" Joshua shouted as the monster disappeared once more. At that moment Ryker and Victor who had been assigned to further off posts came up on Joshua dodging the monster's repeated attempts to grab him.
"Victor, a little help would be nice!" Joshua shouted out to his partner.
"I'm on it!" Victor answered as he focused his caine into his core. Three bright white figures became clear to him. Two on the ground moving in sync with one another to combat with the third which looked somewhat like a skeleton as it leaped silently from branch to branch. "I've got a visual! Ryker above you!" Ryker dodged to the side as the grossly lithe creature dropped to the ground. Winding his arm back, Ryker landed a haymaker that would've felt like taking a block of steel to the face. The corrupted gem lay stunned against the tree it was thrown against finally letting the sidewinder agents to get a good look at it. A skeleton draped in a deep purple skin looked up at its opponents with glowing yellow eyes and a grin made up of bear trap like jaws. A pair of blood stained jeans, its only clothing. Without warning or any prior motions the creature leaped forward at a speed no human could hope to achieve. Victor was its first target. With claws raged it rushed the blind man who grabbed it by the wrist, using the momentum to fall backwards and throw the creature in the process. The purple creature was barely able to regain its Barings before two balls of fire pierced it through the knees. A screech filled the air as the creature pushed itself off the ground to Ryker, but was stopped short by a weight that landed forcefully on its back.
"Heya, sorry I'm late," The voice belonging to the rookie from before greeted cheerfully as he slammed his steel bat down on the creatures head destroying its form.
"Damnit Lucas, what took you so long?!" Victor asked the rookie as he picked up the purple gem in a black bubble. A slim Hispanic man wearing a blue hoodie and black windbreaker pants scratched at his beard as he slid his bat into the holster on his back.
"It took me a while to zero in on you guys. Sensing caine just isn't my strong suit," Lucas replied.
"Fellas, I think that may be the least of our worries," Ryker interjected as the group turned to look at the pair of jeans left behind by the corrupted gem, and was rapidly expelling black smoke.
"It wasn't part of its form?" Joshua asked curiously.
"Oh come on, what are you so worried about?" Lucas asked as he casually picked up the article of clothing. As he did so four scrolls fell out of the legs each one with its own hole punched through from Joshua's fire balls. The black smoke became thicker as it started to take form. "Ah, yeah that'll do it,"
(A/N: Dose anyone else want an explanation for the smoke monster in Together Breakfast? The next chapter will come out within the next few days as an apology for leaving you guys hanging since 5/31.)