The Past Week…

Things have been kind of tense with Jason and the gems. While his first impression was a good one, something base would have loved to hear had he contacted them, the next wasn't. Without revealing the whole truth, he had owned up to shattering gems.

He had lost count on just how many, but he showed them the bag of the last dozen he had done the deed too. The horrified looks they gave him only compounded the guilt he was feeling now. He honestly felt stupid for never realizing such a truth before.

This truth was a big reason he hadn't reported to base since he wasn't sure if they knew. The scientists had studied these monsters. He even managed to corral them at points, so Jason leaned towards them not telling him. Regardless, he handed the bag to Garnet.

When she saw what was inside, the maroon gem dropped it in shock, letting the contents spill out. It was more than enough to freak out Pearl and Amethyst. Steven seemed alright, but Jason wasn't sure if he grasped the situation. Maybe he didn't know the truth like the gems seemed to.

Honestly, Jason wouldn't blame them for not telling the kid. It was a potent reminder that he should try not to do anything extreme around Steven. This led to the gems huddling outside once more, and the soldier couldn't help but read their lips.

"We can't let a killer live with us!" Pearl exclaimed loudly.

"We already agreed to let him stay, Pearl." Garnet reasoned. "It would be rude to take it back now and kick him out."

"Rude!? You saw his…collection." Pearl spat. "He said he doesn't even remember how many he's shattered before those."

"But I don't think it's his fault, Pearl." Steven stated.

"What do you mean Steven?" Pearl asked.

"He doesn't know how to bubble gems, right?" Steven questioned. "You guys can, which is how we stop our gem monsters. Sure, maybe he hasn't kept count, but he clearly feels bad about it."

"Well, yes but…"

"Besides, he seemed pretty cool after learning what we were." Amethyst was sitting on the railing, kicking her legs back and forth. "If he's as angry at gems as you think, he wouldn't have agreed to sleep under the same roof as us."

"Maybe he's biding his time." Pearl frantically grabbed her head with both hands. "Waiting to learn our weaknesses before he strikes, or maybe he wants to pick us off one by one."

"Pearl, you're being paranoid." Garnet stated. "We can handle ourselves."

"I know we can but what about…"

"…Steven? I know." Garnet assured. "He's had plenty of opportunities to hurt him up to this point."

Steven smirked with crossed arms in a macho-bravado sort of way.

"Yes but-"

"He only destroyed those gems because he had no other way to stop them." Garnet stated.

Jason admitted to himself that wasn't entirely true since base could effectively contained them. Even then, they usually had him come in to perform the cleanup. The soldier wasn't sure if they weren't confident in their ability to contain them, they couldn't be bothered to, or simply wanted to desensitize him to killing what amounted to half of what he was.

"I had Steven look up anything he could about him or any other rogue gems we may have missed." Garnet continued. "All he found were reports pertaining to mysteriously destroyed locations, with no clear answers on what caused the destruction.

He not only is able to take on any monster he finds, but he did it while containing them without the humans being any wiser. If we turned him away, he still wouldn't have any other way to contain these gems. Plus, we still need a teacher for Steven."

Garnet punctuated that last point by placing her hand on Steven's head, who smiled in return. Pearl looked at the tall gem in question while trying to come up with a reason to not let this violent person stay with them. Ultimately, she failed.

"Gah, fine!" Pearl gave in while Steven let out a whoop of joy, and Garnet smiled. "Though, I'll be keeping an eye on him."

"Fair enough." Garnet agreed.

Present

Jason entered the beach house and immediately found himself with a question as he spotted his fellow hybrid. "Steven, where are your pants?"

"I don't know." Steven dug around in a pile of clothes. "One minute they're here, the next gone."

"Did they just disappear on their own or walk away?" Jason asked incredulously before the sound of soft footsteps caught his attention. "What's that?"

Steven didn't hear it, so Jason shrugged it off as himself being on edge over how tense things are around here.

"I know I had eight…" Pearl entered the room with seven light blue shards suspended in a bubble in her right hand. "Hey, Steven. Jason…" The sneer in her voice at his name didn't escape the soldier's attention. "Have you two seen a gem shard anywhere? It's very important."

"I've seen nothing out of the ordinary." Jason replied.

"Same here, but have you seen my pants?" Pearl finally took notice of Steven's lack of pants. "They're also very important."

"I'm serious, Steven." Pearl stated firmly. "These shards have a powerful, partial consciousness that has been harnessed by gems throughout history to create semi-sentient drone soldiers with the capacity to follow basic orders.

Gems once created an army of these drones but found their obedience waned as the shards overdeveloped inside their uniforms. You see, any shard imprinted by any sort of container could become a monster. That's why it's important they're kept away from any kind of garment."

"That does sound serious." Jason nodded in understanding. "Sentient, quick, and inexpensive shock troopers. Any idea where they could be?"

"If you must know, I only need one more shard." Pearl took off out the door before looking back. "Jason, make yourself useful and help me find it. Steven, if you see it, bring it to me. I'm going to check around town."

Without waiting for a response, she left.

"Better go help her." Jason moved to the door before looking back at Steven, "You heard her, right?"

Steven smiled. "Yep!"

Jason nodded, opting to believe he did. "Alright." He then jumped off the porch. "Hey Pearl!"

Pearl grimaced back at him. "What do you want now?"

"Is there anything I should know about the clothes that get possessed by the shards?" Jason asked. "Durability, strength, powers, speed, or so on?"

"It depends on what garment is possessed for all those factors to take place." Pearl replied. "The bigger the garment that is possessed, the higher the possibility for a very powerful combatant."

"So, there's a possibility of it being a powerful combatant." Jason nodded. "Alright, I'm going to grab something from my SUV and start looking in town."

"Hurry." Pearl stated. "The longer we wait, the higher the chances of the shard possessing something."

Jason nodded in understanding before running back to his vehicle. He opened the back before opening the compartment to reveal his assortment of weapons.

"Hey Jason." Steven greeted.

"Hey Steven." The soldier greeted as he grabbed an assault shotgun.

Jason then locked his vehicle. "Time to get to work."

One Hour Later…

Jason had scoured the area but ended up having no luck. He checked along the beach, under docks, and the back alleys. When those turned up nothing, he started roof hopping and climbing trees. Other than weird looks from the citizens, he turned up nothing.

As he now walked up the boardwalk, Pearl approached him. "Any luck finding the shard?"

"Sorry, I got nothing." Jason replied. "Since you asked, I'm guessing you could say the same?"

"Unfortunately, you're correct." Pearl sighed. "Where could it have gone?"

As if on cue, a yell rang out. "Aaaaagh!"

The pair looked at each other and knew what the scream meant.

"I think we found it." Jason stated.

Without another word, Pearl jumped high into the air towards where the scream came from.

"That's useful." Jason started tearing down the boardwalk after her. "Wonder if I can do that eventually?"

Jason came upon the scene of the scream. It had come from a broken fry shack with the windows cracked. There was an unconscious man on top of a kid with curly blonde hair and Steven. Pearl was standing next to a broken, upturned table.

"Out of everything I've faced, this takes the cake as the freakiest." Jason commented upon seeing what they were up against.

A sadistically smiling fry creature with flailing fries on its head and very prominent veins was standing in the middle of the shack.

"Steven, did you put my missing shard in that fry costume!?" Pearl asked.

"Yes!" He replied frantically.

"Didn't you hear what I said about living armor and many deaths!?" Pearl hysterically asked.

"No!" Steven yelled.

"Note to self." Jason thought. "No matter what, if I think Steven hasn't comprehended something, don't ignore it."

"Oh Steven." Pearl responded in a disappointed manner.

Materializing her spear in one hand, she twirled it. Jason tried to read her movements as he moved to engage the fry monster. Pearl threw her spear and nailed it right in its eye. While it was distracted, Jason summoned one of his blades.

The monster then retaliated by spewing a highly concentrated hose of ketchup where Pearl stabbed it. By targeting her first, it gave Jason the opportunity to lunge out of range from the stream as it tried to hose him next.

"Pearl!" Steven yelled.

"Steven, get to the nearest table!" Jason commanded before he ran to Pearl. The stream came for them, so the soldier grabbed the gem before lunging back. He managed a skid, on his back, to the table where Steven was hiding, and the stream hit it instead of them.

"Pearl, are you alright?" Jason asked.

"Ugh, the ketchup!" Pearl exclaimed. "It's everywhere! I can't see!"

Jason looked for something to wipe her face with while Steven took off. "Shards…Need!"

"Steven!" The soldier yelled as the boy grabbed the other shards and ran out. "Where are you…"

Something slammed into the table. Jason lunged out of the way, but Pearl was knocked to the floor before a yellow tentacle snaked over the table towards her.

"Leave her alone!" Jason yelled.

He grabbed the sword he summoned earlier and used it to slice the tentacle. The monster squealed and writhed while the tentacle that had been cut stopped moving. The monster then focused its attention on Jason, which was exactly what he wanted.

"That's right, focus on me!" Jason yelled.

The monster moved towards him and away from its position near to the blond kid who was trying to wake his father. Once it was clear, the soldier charged the monster. He summoned two swords and had them fire into the monster, distracting it.

Jason then kicked the monster down before a tentacle caught his leg and flung him into a wall. Just as the monster rose, and Jason got back to his feet, a pair of pants came in kicking the monster.

"Frybo!" Jason heard Steven before turning to see him standing in the doorway.

His fellow hybrid had a fry in his mouth, and he was surrounded by all his clothes, which were standing. Fortunately, Steven had enough sense to keep his underwear on. He also had a fry in his mouth.

"He must have used the shards to make his own army." Jason gave a smile at that.

"Your move." Steven ate the fry before Frybo sent its tentacles at the boy. "Attack!"

Steven's clothes charged the monster. His jacket and pants got caught while his shirt, shoes and socks engulfed the monster. Frybo was distracted trying to remove its attackers, so Jason took advantage of the situation to tackle the monster into the ground.

He then fired his shotgun multiple times, blowing Frybo to pieces before rummaging around in what remains and removing the shard. He wasn't sure how far the shard could go in animating garments, but it was better safe than sorry.

"Jason!" Suddenly, Steven ran over to the soldier with a huge grin and stars in his eyes. "That was so cool! You were awesome with the way you took Frybo on like that!"

"When people are in trouble, I don't sit idly by." Jason patted the boy on the head before moving past him. "Now, put your clothes back on." He moved to Pearl who managed to get the ketchup off her face. "Hey, I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"For what?" Pearl asked confused.

"For what I've done." Jason sighed. "I know you don't like me, and I understand why. After realizing what I have about them, I wouldn't want to be friends with me either, but the fact remains there are clearly things I need to know.

Things my father hasn't told me. You four seems to be the only other source of information I got. You guys also need help when it comes to fighting these monsters, and Steven needs someone who understands what he is."

He sighed. "I still don't know what it is we can become, but I know I'm a lot closer to it than he is. You don't have to like me…" He held out the shard to the white gem. "…but I hope we can at least understand each other."

Pearl looked at it a few times before making her decision.

She took the shard and bubbled it before walking past him. "I suppose I have been a bit too… critical of you. You honestly don't know how to bubble gems, right? You didn't know of any other way to contain them?"

"I'm not sure." Jason answered truthfully. "The group I was working with before seemed to have a way to contain them, but they still insisted on dealing with them in the way I did. So, as far as I know, we had no other way to contain them."

"Then, I suppose you had no choice. To prevent a gem from regenerating, to keep them dormant and locked up, you must bubble them. Garnet was right. You were forced to stop them the only way you knew how."

Jason looked away from her as his guilt cropped up once more over the countless lives which could have been spared. "I'll forgive you if you promise me one thing." He looked at her. "Promise me you will never shatter another gem as long as you are with us."

"I can't make that promise." Jason stopped her before she could retort. "Life isn't black and white. There is a chance an enemy will come around and force us to do things we may not want to do. In the end, realizing what I've done makes me feel guilty.

These other gems were lives I could have spared; however, I also realize the necessity that came with their shattering. Without me, innocent lives could have been taken. It's just as you've all told me; the Crystal Gems protect this planet because it is innocent in your eyes.

In the end, I will do whatever I can to make sure you, Garnet, Amethyst, Steven, and any other innocent lives live." Jason stepped up to her. "No matter what guilt I now feel or may feel in the future, I will take it on to protect what matters."

"Hey guys!" They turned their attention to Steven, who was still in his underwear. "We're going to give Frybo a Viking funeral!" He waved them over. "C'mon!"

"We're coming!" Pearl replied.

Steven nodded and walked with his clothes as they carried Frybo. Pearl looked at Jason, who would not break eye contact.

She then closed her eyes and turned away from him. "I can live with what you've decided." She didn't look back at him. "Just promise me you will not needlessly take lives."

"That is a promise I can make." Jason replied.

Pearl nodded before walking on. "Thank you."

Jason felt a bit of weight lift off his shoulders as he moved to follow until the man approached him. "Excuse me?"

"Yes?" Jason asked.

"My name is Fryman." The man shook his hand. "I just wanted to thank you for your help with Frybo."

"You're welcome, sir." They released their hands before Jason nodded. "Anyways, let's go give that costume a Viking send off, shall we?"

Beach, Evening…

"You were great, Frybo." Mr. Fryman gave his small sermon. "The kids today just didn't understand. Now, they never will."

"Weren't people scared of it before he attacked them?" Pearl commented.

Steven shushed her.

"It's time to send him off." Mr. Fryman declared.

He used a lighter to set the boat Frybo was on aflame before Pearl used the end of her spear to send it off.

"Dad?" The kid, Jason now knew as Peedee, spoke up. "I'll…are you going to get another costume?"

"I don't need another Frybo." Fryman placed his arm around his son's shoulder with a faint smile. "I got the fry man."

"Guys, I think our work here is done." Steven declared as he posed in a heroic fashion.

"Put your clothes on, Steven." Pearl declared with a frown.

"Agreed." Jason sighed. "This is just getting uncomfortable."

Steven pouted as he gathered up his clothes and handed off the shards. "Oh, alright."

"By the way Steven, where did you find the shard in the first place?" Jason asked.

"It was in my pants." The boy replied.

"Wait, you mean the pants you were looking for earlier?" Jason asked and received a nod in return. "I was off my game. After Pearl told us what the shards did, I should have connected…"

His thought process was stopped when he felt someone kick him in the shin, followed by Steven expressing pain. "Ow!"

"Steven, did you just kick my shin?" Jason asked confused.

"It wasn't me." Steven reached into his pocket and took out a shard. "I actually forgot one of the shards."

"You'd be better off if your pants tried to kick Pearl." Jason chuckled before walking off. "Anyways, later."

"Thanks again for your help!" Fryman yelled after him. "Your next meal at the Fry Shack is on me!"

Jason waved back to him. "Thanks!"

SUV: Night…

"Even if you only fire one shot, always clean and check your weapon when out of combat." Jason recited to himself as he was finishing up with his assault shotgun.

"Seems like a hassle for an overly complicated weapon." Pearl commented, getting Jason's attention.

"Well, I was taught to be more thorough than most." Jason admitted. "I quickly learned why when faced with the corrupted."

"Can't fault you for that." Pearl admitted.

Jason put his gun back where it belonged before looking at her. "Any reason you're here, or did you just happen to see me while heading back to the temple?"

Pearl took a seat next to him. "As it stands, I've always been fond of different types of weapons, especially swords."

"You got a collection like me?" Jason asked.

"I do actually." Pearl replied. "I have collections of various swords in my room within the temple, but Amethyst has a fondness for taking them every so often. Be careful when being friends with her; otherwise, she might take some of your collection."

"Understood." Jason nodded. "Though, I imagine you're not here to give me a warning about our ally?"

"Correct." Pearl nodded. "While humanity may still be…primitive, I find some points of human technology interesting. I never did find out what made human weapons tick and considering you seem proficient in them…"

"I see what you're getting at." Jason smiled. "How about you and I make a deal?"

"Yes?" Pearl questioned.

"In return for me teaching you everything I know about earth weaponry; you teach me what you know on sword and spear fighting." Jason offered. "Despite the training I've gone through, you've had centuries of experience." He extended his hand. "Deal?"

Pearl shook the offered hand. "Deal."

"Then, let's get started." Jason stated as he reached back for a pistol.

"Right now?" Pearl questioned surprised.

"Just the basics." Jason nodded. "No time like the present, right?"

Pearl sat cross legged in the back. "Alright, show me what you know."


3bodyjaa: Thank you.

Marbled Gold: It's great to be back, random review...Altered Megamind quote aside, I am glad to be back, and it's good to read from you Marbled.