Well before we begin, I should mention we will not be heading to Peach Creek...yet. I really wanted to bring in the gems so I went for it based on a few clips on the Internet. What happened is the cluster's destroyed, Malachite was separated, Jasper was bubbled and Lapis is...somewhere. You'll see. Without further ado, I present Chapter 5 of A Sword Reforged.

It had been a long 18 hours. Bloo often complained, only stopping to eat, sleep or play on his phone. Mac told Jack about Steven, that he was a part of a team of magical beings that fought monsters known as The Crystal Gems. At the mention of that name, Jack put his fingers to his chin, pondering something. When asked what he was doing, the samurai assured the boy he was fine.

When night came, Mac and Bloo rested on each other as they slept. They might've ground each other's gears from time to time, but anyone passing by could see they were close. Jack kept his eyes closed in contemplation, meditating on the creatures he had slain back at Foster's. Out of nowhere, he heard a familiar whisper in his ear. "Saamuraaaiii." Jack's eyes shot open and darted around. When he was sure there was nothing, he pulled the tooth out of his robe. He glared at the artifact and clutched it, "Aku is vanquished." He exhaled heavily before putting it back, "Why do I still feel uneasy?"

Tssss! The bus pulled into the station at 11 AM. "Beach City!" The driver announced. Mac was awake while Bloo snored on his shoulder. The boy nudged his friend with his elbow, "Uh, five more minutes..." the blob mumbled. Mac moved over, causing Bloo's head to hit the seat. "Ah! I'm up, I'm up." Mac chucked and Jack smiled at the rude awakening. The three took out their luggage and headed out. At the front entrance of the station, Mac called out to a boy in the distance. "Heeyy! Steven!" When they got near, the trio saw it was a boy slightly older than Mac with a round figure. His hair was brown and unruly wearing jeans, sandals, a pink shirt with a golden star plastered on it and a welcoming grin. "Mac!" He ran up to greet them. "It's great to see you! Welcome to Beach City!"

"Thanks! Been awhile since last summer."

"Yeah. Wait, where's Eduardo, Wilt and Coco?"

"Uh, they couldn't come. They had to do something at the house."

"Oh, OK." He looked at the samurai. "So is he...?"

"Yup, this is Jack."

"Cool!" Steven was starry eyed. "Mac's texted me about you! I can't believe I'm meeting a real samurai!" Jack chuckled before bowing, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh! Uh..." Steven went serious faced before bowing as well.

"Hajimemashite yorushiku." Jack raised an eyebrow, "Nihongo o hanasemasuka?" Steven got up chuckling sheepishly and put his hand on the back of his head. "Uh, not a lot. My friend Connie taught me a few words, but I don't know nearly as much as her." Jack smiled and raised his hand. "It is quite alright. You need not prove anything to me."

"Thanks."

"Uh, not to be 'that guy'," Bloo interrupted, arm raised, "But can we get something to eat?"

"Sure! Follow me!" The trio followed their new acquaintance to buildings near a boardwalk. Suddenly a young man with curly yellow hair, glasses, a fire bowling shirt and shorts came up to them. "Steven!"

"Oh, hey Renaldo."

"Steven, I need more material for my blog, do you know any monsters that-" His eyes drifted to the man behind Steven. "Who's this?"

"Oh, that's Jack. He's a samurai."

"Hmmm." Renaldo came up to Jack and scanned him with squinted eyes. Jack held his arms up with an awkward look on his face. "Uh, hello? Do you need something?"

"Hmmmmm. Nope."

"Excuse me?"

"This isn't a samurai."

"Uh, I'm definitely sure he is." Mac interjected. "Nope. I've seen my share of samurai, and this is not one. I mean look at him! Where's his armor? Where's his facial hair?"

"Uhh..."

"Forget it. Nice seeing you, Steven. Keep me posted if you see something to help keep Beach, City, Weird." The blogger walked away, leaving only confusion in his wake. "Sorry about that," Steven apologized, "Renaldo's a good guy, trust me."

The trio made their way to a shop with a giant donut on top, appropriately named Big Donut. The bell above the door jingled as Steven opened the door. At the counter was a young, stocky woman in a shirt and pants with long blonde hair. Next to her was a young man who had a t-shirt and pants, strangely styled orange hair and elongated holes in his earlobes. While the lady waved and smiled, the man was focused on his phone, eyes half open. "Steven!"

"Sadie, Lars!" Lars shifted his eyes for a second before giving a meh and returning to his business. "How goes it?"

"I'm good. You remember Mac and Bloo?"

"How could I forget the guy who tried to make off with half our inventory and his creator?" Her eyes drifted to the samurai. "And who's this?"

"That's Jack."

"Greetings."

"Well nice to meetcha. What'll you have?" In no time at all, Bloo zipped up to the counter and began pointing at the pastries. "I'll have one of these, four of these. Ooo, five of these..."

Steven chuckled, "Well I can't buy all that. How about two?"

"Ugh, fine. One glazed and one chocolate."

"Coming right up!"

"I'll have the usual. Mac'll have vanilla. Jack, which do you want?" Jack went to the counter and examined each donut with squinted eyes. "That one." He pointed to a vanilla frosted one. Sadie rounded up the treats and put them in a paper bag. Bloo yanked it from Sadie's hand and fished for his food. After pulling them out he handed the rest to Mac, "Here." The blob scarfed down his treats while Mac calmly took his and handed the rest to Steven who had just paid Sadie. He took out both his and Jack's, handing the latter to the samurai. The boy took a bite while Jack examined the foreign confection. "Come on," Steven nudged. "It's really good." The man held it close and hesitantly took a bite. As he chewed, his eyes lit up. Steven grinned, "Ehhh?"

"It is delicious."

The group finished their donuts. "Well, we should get going," Steven stated. "Thanks Sadie!"

"Anytime, Steven." The group walked out with Jack in the rear. Suddenly, a voice rang out. "Sneak attack!" Jack turned to the side to see something coming at his head. In one sweeping motion, he pulled out his sword and sliced the object in midair, the sound of metal piercing metal ringing. The projectile fell to the warrior's sides. It turns out it was a now asunder grease trap. "Aw man!" The voice called out. Turns out, it was a slightly breathless Renaldo. "My dad's going to kill me!"

"Strange one!" Jack called, sword brandished. "Why did you attack me?"

"To test you." Renaldo dramatically approached the samurai. "And you have met my expectations." He bowed with a fist across his chest. "You are indeed a samurai." Jack sheathed his blade. "Thank you."

"Now if you'll excuse me." He ran over to pick up the halves of the grease trap. As Renaldo left, he mumbled, "How in the world am I gonna fix this!? Maybe hot glue..." When the theorist was gone, Bloo cried, "What a weirdo."

The group descended to the beach and followed the coast to a stone cliff carved in the shape of a multi-armed woman. The top of the cliff itself was covered in grass and at the highest peak was a striped lighthouse. Near the beach was a house built low in the cliffs with a deck and stairs for easy access. "Come on!" Steven led the gang to the screen door and opened it. Inside was a large room with a living room, kitchen and bedroom that were divided into said sections by looking at the decor and appliances. At the end were a large crystal platform and a stone door, a star with different colored gemstones at each tip. "Garnet! Amethyst! You guys here!?"

"What about Pearl?" Mac pointed out. "Oh, she's with Connie doing sword stuff. She's getting really good."

All of a sudden, the pad glowed as a stream of light erupted straight upwards. From it came a tan girl about Steven's age in black pants and a black shirt, her black hair braided into a tail. The odd part, however, was that she brandished a magenta sword that was maybe as tall, if not taller than her. Next to her was a pale-skinned svelte woman in an aqua-blue, sleeveless tunic top with a yellow star on the chest, a teal sash, yellow short pants and yellow slippers. Her hair was short and a kind of pink that bordered on white. The most eye-catching detail was the fist-sized pearl imbedded in her forehead. "Good job today, Connie," the woman said to the child on her right. "But you know-"

"Steven!" Connie jumped from the warp pad to greet her friend. "Hey Connie, how'd today's training go?"

"It went well," Pearl stepped behind Connie. "She managed to do a backflip-parry."

"That's great!"

"Heh, yeah." Connie looked behind Steven. "Who do we have here?"

"It's me, Mac. Remember, we came down last year?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! I guess it has been a while."

"It's alright. We brought somebody new too; his name's-" Before Mac finished, Jack went up to Pearl. "Have we met before?"

"Oh, hah! I, I don't think we have." She looked closer. "Come to think of it..."

"What's up people!?" From the door came a young, stocky woman only slightly taller than Steven with long white hair, light purple skin, black top and sweat pants and white boots. Below her neck and above her chest was a large Amethyst. "How's everyone doin'!? Steven, who're your pals?"

"Hey Amethyst. You remember Mac and Bloo, right?"

"Oh yeah," she went over and roughed up Mac's hair. "Been a while, huh kiddo? Where's that bird, airplane, plant thing? She was good for a talk or two."

"Uh, Mac says they couldn't come."

"Bummer. Who's the tall guy?"

"That's Jack-" The ringing of two gemstones on the stone door cut off the introductions. Emerging out was another woman with dark skin, a jumpsuit that was three shades of pink on the top and dark red and dark navy legs, large lips, a reflective visor and an Afro. She was at least seven feet tall and entered behind Pearl. Out of nowhere, she smirked and stated in a vaguely stylish voice, "Looks like I made it in time."

"Time for what, Garnet?" Pearl asked. "I remember!" Jack spoke up. "Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Rose Quartz. We've met before!"

Amethyst was the first to speak up. "What? When?"

"It was when I was a child, my father had thrown you a banquet to celebrate your victory over the Yamato no Orochi."

"Yama-what?"

"It was a monster with eight snake heads. It terrorized our country for months!"

"Oh yes!" Pearl smiled. "I remember! The celebration we had was excellent; the decorations, the manners... You're that lord's son, the one who always played with the wooden sword. What was his name?"

"Don't ask me," Amethyst answered, "I just remember the fish and barrel of sake I drank." The two turned to Garnet. She looked at each. "I can see the future, not the past."

"In any case," Pearl preceded, "Welcome to our home..."

"Jack."

"Yes, welcome Jack."

"But I do not understand. How are you alive and youthful after so long?"

"Well," Pearl explained, "We're not actually human. There are a lot of specifics with that, but the answer is we don't age nor do we need to sleep or eat."

"Yeah," Amethyst chimed in. "I just do it 'cause it feels good."

"That makes sense," Jack continued. "But where is Rose Quartz? Was she not your leader?"

"You knew my mom?" Steven blurted. "She, she is your mother?"

"Well, yeah. When I was born, she had to give up her physical form, that's why I have this." The boy lifted his shirt to reveal that in place of a navel, it was a small chunk of rose quartz no bigger than a retina. "Oh," Jack placed a hand on Steven's shoulder. "I am sorry to hear that." Steven smiled a little, "Thanks, but I'm okay. I know she must've liked you." Jack smiled back, "That is comforting to know, thank you."

All this time, Bloo was on Steven's bed flipping channels on the little TV in front of him. "Maaaac! The channels are all wrong!"

"Bloo, now is not the time. Oh, right. Steven, you wrote me that you guys had some sort of time traveling thing, right? Jack needs it to get back home." Steven chuckled sheepishly. "Well, you see, it's kinda gone."

"What?"

"Well Garnet tried explaining it to me. Something about the time stream and paradoxes, but the bottom line is my future self destroyed it before I could use it." Jack sighed. "Thank you for telling me this. It seems my quest continues."

"Wait," Steven spoke up. "You came all this way. At least stick around for a little bit."

"Yeah," Connie chimed, "If you're a samurai, I can get some sword and Japanese tips!"

"Well it could be a good experience," Pearl conceded. Garnet gave a thumbs-up. "Go for it." The samurai turned to Mac. "What do you and Bloo think?"

"Sure. I told my mom we'd be gone for a bit. What's another day?" Steven jumped. "Gasp, we could have a slumber party!"

"Yeah! Party hard!" Amethyst announced. "And when we're done," her form shifted into a ball of light before reforming into a purple lion, the act slightly startling Jack. "We can spend our time," She walked over to an unsuspecting Bloo and collapsed on him. "Lion around." Her mane muffled Bloo's screams as she snickered. She decided he'd had enough and changed to her previous self. The imaginary friend gasped, "Why did you do that!?"

"Come on, lighten up, dude. I was pretty chill when you pelted me with water balloons last year." Bloo humphed before Connie spoke up. "Well if we're having a sleep-over, I need to call my parents."

After a minute on the phone, she confirmed they gave an okay. "So, what do we do first?"

"Pearl!" Mac called to the Gem. "Why don't you and Jack spar a little."

"Oh I don't know. I don't want him to get hurt."

"Trust me, Jack can handle himself."

"All right," Pearl conceded. "Follow me."

"Wait, where's Peridot?" Steven asked. "Don't you think she'd want to watch?"

"She's still in your mother's room," Garnet answered, "She's still trying to analyze the effects the cluster might have had on the Earth's crust."

"The cluster?"

"It's a long story, Jack. Lead the way Pearl." The group bunched together to fit on the crystal platform. All but Bloo who stayed on the bed watching television. "Bloo!"

"Come oooooon, Mac!"

"Bloo!"

"Uggghh, fine." Bloo jumped on and grumbled to himself. "Hold on, everyone." After Pearl's announcement, another pillar of light like that from before engulfed the party. They were then projected upwards at blinding speed. Bloo was screaming while Mac and Jack tried to keep their balance. The others were quite comfortable, looking neither worried or scared. When it stopped, they were in the ruins of a stone arena... floating in the sky. Mac, somehow ascended, fell on his stomach. Bloo followed and crashed onto his creator. Jack was ruffled by the experience, but was on his feet, trying to put back strands of his hair that had gotten out of place. "Sorry," Steven apologized, "The first few times are usually rough." Amethyst snickered before Steven and Connie helped the two up. "Come on." Everyone other than Jack and Pearl sat down on the stone seats behind the warp pad; Bloo kept jostling, trying to get comfortable. "Hey!" Amethyst called out to the friend before transforming into a purple recliner. "Want a seat?"

"Do I?" Bloo made his way to the shapeshifter and prepared to jump in. When he was off the ground, Amethyst quickly morphed into her human form. Bloo landed with a thud on the stone bleacher. "Ahahaha, you're too easy dude!" Bloo got up and dusted himself before harrumphing.

Pearl clapped. "Thank you for coming everyone. Now Jack," she turned to the samurai. "I'll try to take it easy if you want."

"Thank you, but there is no need."

"Alright." Her gem shimmered as she pulled from it a light blue sabre. The two combatants bowed, hands to their sides. When they straightened, Jack pulled his sword out and prepared while Pearl took a stance. It was quiet for seven seconds before each dashed to their target; Pearl's sword pointed behind while Jack's was upward. The gem swiped from the side but Jack blocked and pushed it. Before he could get a strike, his opponent deflected it by spinning around using the previous momentum. The samurai tried to pin her blade down but she slipped it through, aiming to place it by his head and thus win. However Jack leaned back and slapped it with his own sword. He twisted and managed to kick Pearl in the stomach, sending her reeling to the ground. The small crowd clapped and cheered for Jack who went to Pearl and offered a hand. She frowned for a second before smiling. "Thanks but I got it." The Gem picked herself up and gripped her sword. "You're tougher than I thought." She smirked and repeated her stance. "But this time, I'll get serious." Jack responded in kind. "Very well."

The clanging of steel rang through the arena. Pearl mainly fought by using flashy acrobatics and by mixing up her routine, keeping Jack on his toes. Rather than setting a new pace, Jack acted and reacted; dodging, blocking and striking at a pace which matched her own. Meanwhile, the crowd was engrossed in the skirmish, no one taking their eyes off the two. "Come on, P! You got this!"

"Let's go Jack! You beat those monsters, you can beat her!"

"Pfft, I could do...that." Bloo tried to brag had he not been so distracted. Garnet only yelled once saying, "You got this, Pearl!" As the battle raged, each began displaying their emotions more lucidly. Jack kept a steely face with occasionally grit teeth while Pearl steadily became more aggressive and began to grunt. Eventually, the two clashed so hard, they were pushed a good six feet from the other. Their feet skidded before stopping, each breathing shakily. "You really are good." Pearl conceded. "And you are deserving of the stories my father's men told each other." Pearl opened her eyes in surprise and blushed slightly before returning to a serious face. She then rushed her opponent at break-neck speed. Rather than answer in kind like before, Jack leapt high up, sword pointed to the sun. He yelled a battle cry and brought his blade downwards. Pearl instinctively brought her sabre up to block it. Sparks flew and a deafening ching erupted when they collided; everyone but Garnet covered their ears. Pearl's mouth gaped as she saw her sword had been sliced through, the end clattering on the stone floor.

After a few seconds of silence, the stands exploded with cheering. Mac, Bloo, Connie, Amethyst and Steven surrounded their champion. "That was incredible!"

"How did you do that?"

"Damn, I've never seen anybody take Pearl like that."

"You gotta show me how to do that!"

"No no no, me first." Amidst the celebration, Pearl looked at her broken sword with depressed eyes. She dropped it and allowed it to fade into light. She then approached Jack. Jack looked up as he noticed the gem, "Good, good job. You fought well." Jack smiled, "You as well." Pearl walked past him towards the portal where Garnet was waiting for her. She put a hand on her comrade's shoulder. "You did well, Pearl. Be proud of that." Pearl smiled. "Thanks Garnet." The two stepped on the pad. "Alright everyone, time to head back!" The group assembled and was teleported back to the beach house.

Mac and Bloo were discombobulated, but Jack seemed less shaken than he was the first time. In the center of the room was someone new. She was slightly taller than Amethyst with a triangular head, a dark green and black jumpsuit, a clear visor, white boots, wheat-colored hair and green skin. Like the other gems, she too had a stone; a green gem in the center of her forehead. On the table in front of her, a clear prism was projecting images which most of them couldn't make heads or tails of. Steven waved, "Hi, Peridot!"

"Ah, there you are." Her manner of speech was professional, but slightly offset by her nasally voice. She approached with both hands behind her back. "I'm pleased to inform you that what is left of the cluster is no longer volatile. The Earth will assimilate the particles naturally-" Bloo started snickering. "Uh, who are these...people?"

"Oh, that's Jack, Mac and Bloo, they're friends."

"Oh, fine. As I was saying, I have used the room of Rose Quartz in order to- What is so funny!?" Bloo burst out laughing and fell to the floor. "You, you're voice! Ahahaha! It's like you stuck a jelly bean up there! Ahahaha!" At this point, Peridot's calm quickly vanished. "Be quiet, you clod!" But Bloo just kept laughing uproariously. He was stopped when a light purple mane engulfed him. It was Amethyst in her lion form again, smirking. Peridot regained her calm, "Thank you Amethyst." Bloo let out another muffled shriek and Amethyst shifted back. "In short, we're safe. Now," Bloo raised his hand, "What?"

"Yeah, I don't care." He walked past her and plopped in front of the TV. "Is your friend always so self-centered?" Mac sighed. "More or less."

"I got an idea!" Steven exclaimed. "Let's go on the beach! The waves are pretty good today, it'll be fun!"

"No thanks," Peridot raised her palm in disagreement. "I still have work to do."

"On what?" Amethyst questioned. "The cluster's toast! Take a breather!"

"Maybe later." She took her prism and went through the door which opened to a pink landscape.

After managing to drag Bloo from the tv and changing into bathing suits (save for Jack) the group went down to the sandy beaches. After the kids were done in the water, they played a game of volleyball with Amethyst as the ball. While Bloo sat on the sidelines playing with his phone, a black shape hovered above him. Before he could react, it fell on his face. He dug his way out of the furry prison to see a magenta lion resting where he was. "Amethyst!"

"What?" Turns out Amethyst was behind him, sipping a soda. "What-?" He turned to see the other lion opening its gaping maw of razor sharp teeth. "Aaauuughh!" Bloo his behind Amethyst's back before peeking out. "What the heck is that!?" Steven turned his head. "Oh, that's Lion. He's real nice, try touching him." Lion was lying on the sand, face buried in his paws with eyes closed. "No way!" Mac decided to get close to the beast. He outstretched his hand and patted the top of his head. Lion lazily looked up before resting. Mac then became more daring as he lied on the lion's chest. He laughed when it elicited only a huff.

When the sun set and the moon rose, a white van with a colorful mural and the word "Universe" pulled behind them. From the driver's seat came a balding long haired man with a beard, farmer's tan white tank top and jeans. He smiled as Steven waved at him. "Dad!" The boy ran to his father. "Hey, I got your text!" He popped into the back and came out with a grill a pack of hot dogs and hot dog buns. "Now who's hungry!?" As he set up the grill, Jack approached the stranger. "Uh, hello?"

"Hm, oh, you must be Jack! Steven told me about you." He extended his hand for Jack to shake it, which he slowly did. "I'm Greg Universe. Just call me Greg; I'm not too big on formalities."

"Yes. It is a pleasure to meet you...Greg."

"Likewise pal."

It wasn't long before Greg had the weenies roasted and placed in buns. Jack was a little offset by the blandness due to lack of condiments but soldiered on nonetheless. When he saw that Pearl was not eating he asked, "Are you not hungry?"

"Oh, ha," she lightly chuckled, "It's alright. I, I don't eat."

Meanwhile, right before Bloo was about to bite into his meal, he felt warm breath next to him. He turned to see Lion staring at him. "Aaauugh!" The imaginary friend dashed, leaving his hot dog behind. The beast looked down and sniffed the treat before taking it in his mouth and eating it. Behind Garnet, Bloo peaked at the scene from behind her Afro. "Here." She handed him her hot dog which he scarfed down. The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful. Mac and Steven caught up while Jack and Connie were trying to carry a conversation in Japanese. Around the flames of the grill, Jack told his tales like before and Steven occasionally sang a song with his ukulele.

When it was about ten, the group headed back into the house and prepared for bed while Greg drove off somewhere, giving his son a hug goodbye. Steven took the bed while Bloo had the couch, the rest lying in sleeping bags except for Amethyst who was content on the floor. About two hours after everyone went to bed, Jack heard the teleporter activate. His eyes shot open to see the rest of the gang fast asleep, save for a figure standing near the Gem device. Jack slowly reached for his sword before he found that the shadow belonged to Garnet. She pressed a finger to her lips as a call for silence before waving him to join her. He apprehensively took his sword and stood next to the Gem. The device flared to life as they were taken to the floating arena, the pale moonlight blanketing the structure. They were soon met with loud grunts of exertion that Jack immediately recognized. "Pearl?" Garnet nodded. In the distance, Pearl was battling several holo-clones of herself, each flailing their steel while back-dropped by the starry sky. "Why did you bring us here?" Garnet smiled, "You'll see." As Jack stepped off the platform, Garnet quickly teleported away before Jack could protest. Instead of calling for her return, he focused on Pearl's valiant struggle. Rather than help, Jack stood in silence, observing her speed and determination; violent yet precise. Eventually, she managed to do a sweep that caught each of them off guard before finishing them off in a second rotation. She lowered her sword and panted. "Not, fast enough." Her eyes widened and she turned when the sound of clapping pierced the air. It was Jack with a smile on his face. "You!" The Gem was flabbergasted, "How, how are you here!?" Jack raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh, Garnet brought me here." Pearl turned back and looked up at the moon. Jack approached her, "What are you doing out here so late?"

"How did you do that?"

"What?"

"How did you beat me?" Jack sighed. "I see."

"What?"

"When we fought I noticed something. You fight like a warrior who has something to prove. One who trains to show others your skill and ability in order to be recognized." The Gem chuckled, "You really figured all that out?" The samurai nodded, to which Pearl sighed. "There's a lot you don't know about our kind, like what this means." She pointed to the stone in her forehead. "When I was created, I was meant to be like all of the other Pearls: simple, decorative, a pretty face." Jack frowned in sorrow. "When I met Rose, that all changed. She made me feel like something more than an ornament; that I could be anything. That's when I studied as much as I could; about combat, technology, life. Sigh. I wanted to show everyone that Rose was right." Jack put a hand on her shoulder. "It is alright. At least you became something more."

"What do you mean?" Jack looked up. "Ever since Aku returned, I had been trained for one purpose: to defeat Aku and save the world. I never really had a choice; moving from place to place when my time was finished. Over time, I embraced it and continued the way of the warrior. My mother, my father, I've had so few moments with them. I've had my share of regrets." Pearl chuckled. "So you're not perfect."

"No one is," Jack said with a smile. "I suppose not." She put her own hand on her companion's shoulder as they stared into the night sky. "Hey, that technique you used to break my sword, can you show me that again?"

"Of course." The two spent the night training, sparring and occasionally stargazing; one of which gave a faint green glow...