Clod on the Run

Chapter 5: Fooled Around and Became Stronger than You

Last time, we saw the Guardians of the Galaxy experience fusion for the first time & got their ship rebuilt with help from Steven and the Crystal Gems. Now they return to Beach City where they confront old enemies of both groups.

"I have something to explain." Holly Blue Agate said as she and Titus face both heroes. "I have recently decided that working for Blue Diamond was getting quite boring so I thought it was time to move to Earth and join you rebels!" she stated with a smile on her face. "What are you saying?" Titus whispered to her. "Quiet you, I have a plan." she replied.

"You, join us?" Pearl inquired. "We've seen how badly you treat others." Rocket then shushed her. "Zip it Pearl, I wanna see if she's lying." he said. "Maybe she's not lying." Steven replied. "Maybe she really does want to join us."

"Steven, are you crazy? She makes life a living nightmare for all the Quartzes back at the Zoo." Amethyst scolded the hybrid. "Oh water under the bridge Amethyst!" Holly Blue exclaimed. "It's not my fault they're so bad at their jobs, they're just naturally incompetent!"

Everyone was still unsure. "C'mon guys, everyone deserves a second chance." Steven claimed as he began walking to the two.

"Try tellin' that to Bismuth kid." Yondu quipped, which caused everyone to stare at him in confusion. "What, Garnet told me on the way here!"

As Steven stepped forward and extended his hand to Holly Blue as a sign of friendship, he was suddenly grabbed by Titus. "Ha, did you really think I would join you?" she laughed arrogantly. "Yes, we came here to capture all of your friends." Titus added. "If you don't comply with our demands, then they will have to pay the price." He whipped out a tuning fork-like weapon with a yellow oval object held at the tips and pointed it at the Gems. "Now which one shall it be?"

Everybody quivered as they all feared the worst. If they weren't smart enough, they would all die right then and there. Steven had to make a choice between protecting his friends or watching them all be eliminated, but in the end he decided to do it for them.

"Alright, you got me." he said in defeat. "Very good choice young man." Titus replied setting him down. "Now what shall we do? Maybe help me restore my honor by turning in those filthy criminals, grant me a Gem soldier of my very own." He tried to continue on about his deal before being interrupted by Holly Blue. "Don't forget I'm part of this as well." she proclaimed.

"Well, we do keep corrupted Gems in the Burning Room." Steven responded much to everyone's shock, especially the Gems. "Are you crazy Steven?!" Amethyst exclaimed. "Who knows what kind of havoc he'd wreak with one of them by his side!" Pearl added.

"I'd rather be shattered than have those running around." Garnet bluntly said. "I'm sorry guys, I'm doing it for you!" Steven exclaimed with tears in his eyes as he led Titus and Holly Blue away before turning to the others with a solemn "I'm sorry."

He pulled up his shirt to reveal his Gem and the pink circle on the temple door glowed as it opened. "Steven, wait!" Star-Lord cried out as he held Peridot in a choke hold. "This is partially my fault as well so I'm coming with." he said.

"Let go of me Quill!" Peridot exclaimed.

As everybody walked through the door, they found themselves in a dimension that was nothing but pink clouds all around. "This is my mom's room, where you say anything and it can create it." Steven explained. "Anything?!" Peter exclaimed in awe. "Hey room, think you can be a pal and make something to kick these two out?" But nothing happened.

"I've had enough of your insolence Star-Lord." Titus coldly stated before turning to Steven. "Boy, take us to this burning room immediately!" he ordered. The son of Rose complied as he asked the room to lead them to the Burning Room. They all faded from Rose's room and suddenly re-materialized in another room that was filled with bubbled gems littering the ceiling.

"So you harvest Gems? You're even worse than I thought!" Holly Blue exclaimed in disgust looking at the various bubbles. "Wait, you do what?" Peter wondered, but Steven still didn't listen. "Just pick whatever one you want." he said to Titus.

"Very well then child." the former Supernova thanked as he examined the ceiling until one caught his eye. "I think I'll take the orange one with those hints of green." he finally stated pointing to that specific gemstone, which Peridot recognized all too well.

"Oh no, are you serious Steven?!" the traitorous Homeworld Gem cried as her Earth friend handed the bubble to Titus. "I'm sorry Peridot." Titus popped the bubble with his claws and the gem began to take form, growing into a giant monster with a flowing white mane, various spikes across its body and it's gem on its face where a human nose would be.

"I-it's JASPER!" Peridot screamed as the beast roared at the top of her lungs, popping a few more bubbles in the process and releasing more corrupted Gems. Everybody just stood there in shock except for Titus, who was utterly gleeful at this sight.

"What is even going on in there?" Gamora wondered as the others waited in the beach house.

"I don't know Gamora, but we should be on our guard in case something happens." Garnet ordered as the Guardians and Gems prepared for battle. Just then, an orange beast burst from the door and roared at the top of its lungs before curling up into a ball and charging towards the front door.

"I-is that..." Lapis stuttered before Rocket jumped at her and they all got out of the monster's way.

When they all got up, they found Steven, Star-Lord, Peridot, Titus and Holly Blue walking out of the remains of the Burning Room as Connie ran up and hugged her friend. "Ohmigosh Steven, you're all right!" she weeped as she let go. "We were all so worried for you." Pearl added with a few tears welling up.

"What happened in there?" Drax wondered examining the destruction left behind by the orange creature. "That must've been Jasper, I'd know that roll from anywhere." Amethyst replied.

"Thank you for your time everyone," the Agate declared before she began to walk outside. "that boy you have there was a great help for us." It wasn't long before Titus followed behind her. "Yes, that Jasper and all those corrupted Gems that were released can prove to be a worthy army." he added. "And now we shall bid you goodbye."

As the duo walked away, the heroes were left staring out into the open shocked at what happened. "Steven, did they say you gave them Jasper?" Garnet demanded.

"I'm sorry guys, I just wanted to keep you safe!" the boy cried. "Keep us safe?" Rocket said with a hint of venom in the tone of his voice. "KEEP US SAFE?! What you just did there was release what was once an incredibly powerful high-ranking Gem Homeworld soldier and hand them to two maniacs that want both of us dead!"

"Rocket, calm down!" Yondu exclaimed. "No, let me finish blue man!" Rocket snarled. "I've met dozens of people like you back in my days as a mercenary that seemed all friendly and welcoming only to stab me in the back! And don't give me that 'it's Steven, he's such a nice guy!' excuse either girls, sometimes being nice can bite you hard in the ass."

"Rocky..." Steven said. "Don't call me Rocky squirt." the raccoon snapped one last time. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm taking the Milano outta here." As he began walking out of the beach house, he noticed the ship turned upside down on the sand. "OH COME ON!"

"What do we do now guys?" Peridot asked. "Now, we fight." Star-Lord declared. "Listen, I know we may have started out trying to kill each other and we spent not that much time together, but two jerks and a couple of giant monsters are tearing this place up and we're the only ones that can stop them. Now who's with me?"

He stuck his hand to the others. "See, it's kind of like in the old Ocean's Eleven with Frank Sinatra where the crew put their hands together."

"We all might die here, but we will die as comrades. Count me in." Garnet said stacking her hand on Quill's.

"And me too." Drax added as he did the same.

"Don't forget about me!" Peridot exclaimed struggling to enter the stack until the three of them lowered themselves to her height. "Thanks guys."

Then Yondu joined in. "Say Garnet, you still up for a candlelight dinner?" the Ravager asked the fusion. "No." she bluntly replied before Amethyst stuck her hand in and Gamora as well. "Anything to kick that judgmental Agate's ass!" the little quartz exclaimed.

"We are Groot." Groot said putting his hand in as well.

"I'm in too." Connie stated standing next to the giant tree. "Well Rocket?" Peter said to the gun-toting animal, who was moping on the front porch. "Oh fine, I ain't got that long a lifespan anyway." Rocket groaned as he got up and put his paw in. Lion soon followed, along with Steven and Lapis.

"We're in as well!" Steven boldly stated, which Lapis replied by nodding with a confidant grin.

"Alright everyone, let's kick this up a notch and save the world!" Peter shouted as they all charged into battle.

"Isn't it beautiful to see so much wretched organic weaklings run away in fear as these corrupted Gems are about to kill them?" Holly Blue asked Titus as they overlooked the chaos in Beach City. "Indeed my friend, so many lower beings at death's doorstep and those accursed Guardians will be to blame." he replied.

"That's what you think Titus!" a voice cried out. When the two turned around, they found the two groups standing behind them and not one was very happy.

"Leave this planet alone immediately!" Pearl ordered pointing her spear at Holly Blue. "Yeah, get outta town jackass!" Rocket added firing his ion cannon at Holly Blue, who deflected the blast with her whip.

"How did you even learn about the corrupted Gems anyway?" Star-Lord questioned as he came face to face with the disposed Nova Corpsman. "Why it's simple fool," Titus replied smugly. "during our journey to this planet, we came across an ancient Moon base formerly owned by Pink Diamond that contained important information on her colonization of Earth, such as kindergartens, the Cluster, various Gem structures and of course, corruption."

"Wait, there was information about corruption in there?" Garnet wondered before turning to Peridot, in which all the little green Gem could say was "What are you looking at me for?"

As the fight continued, the wild corrupted Gems were brought forth by Holly Blue to give them an advantage. "Alright, I have a plan. Pearl and I will try to get all the townspeople outta here, Lapis, Groot, Peridot, Drax and Amethyst will handle these monsters and finally Quill, Steven, Connie, Gamora, Yondu, Lion and Garnet will finish off these maniacs." Rocket explained his new strategy. "

Very good plan Rocket, but I have one question." Peridot asked. "May I take one of your weapons for a spin?"

"Don't mind if I do!" the raccoon complied as he handed the Gem one of his bazookas. "Sweet, this is just like my old limb enhancers!" she cheered as she raced off with her group, laughing like a madman as she fired into the air. Rocket and Pearl ran to town to help the citizens while Star-Lord, Steven, Connie, Gamora, Garnet, Yondu and Lion stood their ground against the villainous duo.

"Now we settle this." Peter declared loading his laser pistols. "Bring it criminal." Titus replied preparing to fire his cannon arm while Holly Blue summoned her whip and the two groups charged at each other.

On the beach, Lapis, Groot, Peridot, Drax and Amethyst were taking down corrupted Gems left and right. "So how many are we counting here?" Drax asked. "I don't know, probably six or seven." Peridot replied tossing a trash can lid at one. "Yo guys, help me out with this slinker!" Amethyst exclaimed wrestling a plant-like Gem monster. "Seriously, how come we can never keep it down?!"

"I am Groot!" Groot said pushing the small Quartz off of the slinker and picking up before tossing it around like a ragdoll until it poofed. "I am Groot." he proudly declared standing over the monster's gemstone. "Good one Groot!" Peridot thanked him before bubbling the Gem and sending it away. Suddenly, they all turned to see that same Jasper that broke out of the burning room roaring loudly.

"Isn't that the Jasper I've heard about from Rocket?" Drax wondered as Lapis and Amethyst stared at it in horror. "Y-you bet it is." Amethyst stuttered.

"Stand aside everyone, let me handle this!" the destroyer announced charging at Jasper. "You may be a mighty Quartz, but I AM THE DESTROYER!" he howled preparing to strike, only to land in its mouth, being shaken like a dog toy and spat out. "Not my boldest achievement, but at least I tried." Drax said weakly.

"Rocket was right, you are a little bit of both." Amethyst huffed before turning to Lapis. "Since Drax is out for a bit, what do you say about us taking on Jasper together?" she offered to the terraformer. "A-alright then." Lapis replied before they both turned to Jasper. "Alright Lap, here's the plan. I hold her down with my whips while you soak her and then Peridot delivers the final blow!" Amethyst explained her plan.

"Wait, since when was I involved in this?" Peridot cried. "You might as well bring in Groot too!"

"I am Groot." Groot added stretching his arm around Jasper's leg while Amethyst pulled a pair of whips from her gem and held down the rest of her body. "NOW!" she cried before Lapis raised her arm to summon a tidal wave which soaked both Jasper and Drax.

"What just happened?" he wondered looking around before noticing the rest of his group tangling with the corrupted Gem. "Now is my chance for revenge!" He charged at Jasper again clinging onto her face. "I can't believe it, I'm actually winning!"

"Now P-Dot!" Amethyst called. "But I don't have any metal to throw!" Peridot answered. Just then, Groot lost his grip as one of his arms was torn off by Jasper and tossed near the former Kindergartener. "Well, what a coincidence." she said. Lifting it up as much as her small body can take it, she threw it at the Quartz gem greatly weakening it. "It didn't do anything!" Lapis exclaimed.

"Then allow me." Drax declared whipping out one of his knives. "SCREW YOU ORANGE WOMAN!" He repeatedly stabbed at the orange gemstone at rapid fire speeds with all his might until it finally poofed. "Wow, we finally did it!" Peridot cheered before she noticed Groot holding his severed arm. "Are you going to be alright?" she asked the plant alien. "I am Groot." he answered reattaching his wooden limb.

"That felt good, doesn't it?" Amethyst said reveling in their victory as she bubbled Jasper. "Yeah, it actually did." Lapis replied nervously. "We make a pretty good team don't we?" she asked the shorter Gem. "Yeah we do!"

"Yes, three cheers for the mighty Drax and his companions!" Drax exclaimed raising his fists in joy. "Anyone?" Just then they all turned to notice Rocket in the sky with Pearl on his back. "Wonder how they're doing?" Amethyst wondered.

"We sure are high up Rocket." Pearl said as she and Rocket hovered over Beach City, watching the citizens try to find ways to hide from the monsters. "Thank you Captain Obvious for your wise words." Rocket snarkily replied. "Listen, I have a plan to get their attention." He gently touched down on top of a building and fired another one of his weapons.

"ATTENTION PEOPLE!" he exclaimed, which caught their attention. "Is that a talking raccoon?" a short old woman in the crowd wondered. "Okay first off, I am not whatever you just said." Rocket said. "Second, my friend and I are here to help you evacuate!"

"We just need you to leave in an orderly fashion without attracting any attention." Pearl followed up. "That's right!" a man boldly interrupted, and from the looks of it, he appeared to be an important figure. "Oh, hello Mayor Dewey." she groaned. "Hey Pearl, long time no see, how's it going?" Dewey asked trying to make his move on her. "Friend of yours?" Rocket asked with a cheeky grin, which earned him an angry glare from his taller partner.

"So anyway, as mayor of Beach City I shall accept ideas on where we should hide." the mayor announced. Just then, all the townspeople started clamoring, with ideas like migrating to another town or another planet entirely. "Why don't we all just hide at the U-Stor place?" a voice spoke out, which turned out to be Greg. "Hey, aren't you Steven's old man?" Rocket asked pointing at him. "Quill told me he's a big fan of yours."

"You bet I am!" Greg replied. "Now like I said, why don't we all hide at the U-Stor place?" All of the other people quickly agreed with him.

"Well what you waitin' for everyone, get outta here!" Rocket ordered as they all began to move away. "Thank you for the help small furry visitor, we really appreciate it." Mayor Dewey thanked Rocket as he joined the crowd. "Who you callin' furry visitor, bub?!" the mercenary exclaimed.

"Well that was pretty easy." Pearl said before a large shadow appeared over her. "Now we just need to help out Peter and the others with...uh Rocket, is something wrong?" Rocket replied by pointing at the source of the shadow, which was actually a green and pink pufferfish-like creature.

"WHAT EVEN IS THAT?!" he screamed pulling out another blaster. "It's another corrupted Gem, and it looks like it's aiming for us!" Pearl exclaimed before she summoned her spear. "Hopefully my spear can keep it down!"

She tossed it at the pufferfish as hard as she could but it failed as the creature knocked it back at her. "Well that did nothing, allow me!" Rocket said preparing to open fire, but he then realized that he was out of ammo. "Dammit, must've ran out when we tried to get the people's attention." he added turning to Pearl.

"Well beaky, been a fun ride." As he hugged her leg accepting their fate, suddenly the creature's attack was deflected by a large pink shield. "Steven?!"

"Oh thank you for saving us!" Pearl cried as she ran up and hugged the child. "But wait, why are you here? We didn't see you coming!" she wondered. "The others were getting their butts kicked and Yondu told me to come find you guys." Steven said. "Aw great, as if Quill couldn't screw up enough." Rocket facepalmed. "But how are we gonna beat this beast?"

"Last time we faced that pufferfish creature, it was poofed by something very sharp." Pearl explained. "Hm, something sharp." Rocket said to himself looking around the area. "Something sharp." When he laid eyes upon the Gem's discarded weapon, he got an idea. "I think I have a plan, one of your hoist me into the air so that I can stab that thing and end this once and for all!" he explained.

"That sounds so crazy it just might work!" Steven cheerfully replied. "Don't get your hopes up kid, it might fail and I'm still testy over what started all of this. Now someone toss me!"

Steven was the one to let the raccoon stand on his hands as he bravely held the spear. "HEY UGLY!" he shouted to the monster. "TRY SOME OF THIS FOR SIZE!" Steven threw his hands up as Rocket soared through the air before turning his jetpack on. Screaming as loudly as he can, he stabbed the creature, going right through it before the monster poofed from behind. Touching down on the ground and triumphantly holding the weapon aloft, it was as if a holy light shined down on him.

"Woo, great job there!" Steven applauded picking up the gem and bubbling it. Rocket just sighed. "Thanks kid. Y'know I'm kinda sorry about getting all fired up about you setting all those monsters free. It's just that like I've said, I've met dozens of people over the years who seemed all hunky-dory before backstabbing me but you, you aren't anything like them. You may have made some bad choices in the past, but that doesn't stop you from being one of the nicest guys I've met."

Steven was brought to tears by Rocket's speech and hugged him as tight as he could. "I'm sorry too Rocket." he said. "Okay, you can stop hugging me now." Rocket replied before grumbling and half-heartedly accepting the hug only for Pearl to join them.

"Hey Bert Raccoon, come in!" Peter exclaimed out of nowhere, interrupting the heartfelt moment. "Hold on a sec guys, come in Quill." Rocket said speaking into an earpiece. "Yeah, we're getting wrecked by those guys out here. Listen, I need you, Pearl and Steven to find Drax's group and help us out!" the former Ravager stated. "Hurry, I don't know how long we're gonna last!" Then the connection finally fizzled out.

"Well what do you say Steven, wanna go save the planet?" Rocket offered his half-human companion. "You bet I do!" he replied giving a thumbs up. "Great, now where are they?" Pearl asked. "I think I can see them up there near that lighthouse." Steven said pointing to the others' location. They could barely make out Star-Lord being grabbed in the neck by Titus and a strange puff of smoke. "That smoke must be Garnet, we gotta hurry!"

"Don't you see Ravager, your accomplices have lost and soon you will all be under arrest!" Titus arrogantly declared while grabbing Peter by the neck. Connie was helping Gamora get up, Yondu was up & knocked out, Holly Blue Agate defused Garnet back into Ruby & Sapphire and Lion was just sitting around.

"Don't think you're so lucky now kitty cat, cause I've got backup!" Peter replied before Titus was hit in the back by Amethyst's whip. Turning around, the former Nova Corpsman saw the other heroes behind him. "Put Peter down or I swear you'll pay!" Peridot exclaimed aiming the firearm that Rocket gave her. "Oh good, all of you again." Holly Blue groaned. "Well don't think you can win now because we still have those corrupted-"

"Actually, we took care of those." Amethyst interrupted smugly holding Jasper's bubbled gem. "Well that's just peachy." the manager groaned again. "Do not worry my partner. If it's a fight they want, then a fight they'll get." the snow leopard alien assured as he pushed a few buttons on his cybernetic arm. Just then, a large portal appeared over the ocean with dozens of grey-skinned aliens on flying vehicles followed by whale-like beasts behind them.

"What are those?" Steven cried hiding behind Pearl. "Those are the Chitauri, a race of cybernetically enhanced invaders with only one goal in mind: destruction." Gamora explained. "There might be too many of them for us to take on." Sapphire stated. "I guess that means we might need Alexandrite." Ruby added.

"Finally!" Amethyst cheered as she and Pearl took their places while Ruby & Sapphire did a quick dance to fuse back into Garnet. Then they all danced at once and created Alexandrite. "All of you can take care of them, the Chitauri are mine!" she said jumping into the air with Sardonyx's war hammer in hand. "Well you heard the giant, let us rumble!" Drax shouted charging at Titus only to get blasted back. "It ends here Holly Blue!" Star-Lord declared as they all prepared for the final showdown.

"Director Fury, sir!" a man in a suit called to another man wearing all black and an eyepatch. "We received intel from one of our agents stationed in Beach City that there's an alien invasion taking place!" he explained to his superior.

"Another alien invasion?" the agent's superior said. "That's right, Agent Lee went undercover as a tourist only to be discovered by a strange tree-like creature at that town's donut shop. Later on, he was escorted by a talking raccoon and a tall white-skinned female along with the rest of the townsfolk to a storage facility during said alien invasion. Our spy drones have also picked up a pink giant swatting at Chitauri forces before the drone was destroyed."

As Fury examined the gathered footage, he noticed a pair of stars on the giant's knees which he immediately recognized. "The Homeworld rebels are still alive?!" he gasped. "Wait, what was that about rebels Director?" the agent wondered. "Never mind that Agent Kirby, I just need you to call in a strike force to take care of it." Fury ordered. "And what happens if all else fails?" Kirby asked.

"Assemble the Avengers."

"Are we rolling?" a news reporter asked his cameraman outside of town. "Yep, go time." the cameraman replied. "Good. This is Lawrence Abrams reporting live from Beach City where an alien invasion is currently taking place that its local defenders the Crystal Gems, and some other weirdos, are trying to repel." the reporter announced. As he spoke, Alexandrite swat at Chitauri left & right knocking them into the ocean as the rest of the heroes duked it out with Titus and Holly Blue.

"Give it up, we are far more skilled than you will ever be!" Holly Blue shouted as she electrocuted Groot with her whip. "Yeah, well we have some raccoon thing that'll roast your butt!" Amethyst responded whipping back.

"Putting an end to your plans will be like eating a piece of cake." Drax added. "Wait, what did he just say?" Titus asked raising an eyebrow. "He meant to say that beating you will be a piece of cake." Peter explained. "Since when was cake involved?" the cyborg answered back. "Can we get back to kicking butt already, this cake talk is making me hungry." Steven said.

They immediately started tussling again when suddenly a large aircraft hovered over Beach City with a fighter jet descending from it. When the jet landed, out came numerous armored soldiers bearing highly advanced weapons. "Strike Team Beta, move out!" the soldiers' leader ordered as they fired at the Chitauri. "What are these people doing here?" Pearl wondered. "Do not be alarmed m'am, we are here to help." one of the armored men announced before he was shot down by a Chitauri soldier. "Man down, man down!"

"Don't worry sir, I got this!" Steven exclaimed rushing to the man's side and spitting on his wound, healing it. "Thanks kid, you saved my life." the soldier thanked. "Wait, did you just spit on me?" he asked. "Healing spit." Steven replied. "Healing wounds through saliva. Director Fury might like this." the soldier said getting up and continuing to attack.

"Helping that guy was great and all, but can you get back to helping us out?" Yondu said before Titus punched him in the face knocking him back while a strange object fell out of his coat. "Wait a minute, what is this?" Lapis wondered picking it up. Examining it, she saw what looked like a tracking beacon with a sun-like symbol on it. "Hey Yondu, is this yours?" she asked the Centaurian, who laid eyes upon it in shock. "Oh no, they're coming for me!" he shouted. "Who's coming for you?"

Suddenly another ship that looked more regal in design appeared out of nowhere, shooting at Alexandrite and causing them to defuse before hovering above the beach. A small disc dropped down from the craft, upon it standing a man that looked very much like Star-Lord except he looked like royalty. "Hello there Peter." the man greeted the space cowboy. "Ugh. Hello dad." Peter replied, much to the shock of pretty much everyone.

"Wait, you're his dad?" Steven exclaimed in confusion. "You actually do seem pretty similar." he added. "One is an evil monarch that wants us dead!" Rocket replied.

"Yes Rocket, thank you for your analogy." Peter's father replied. "I am J'son, ruler of the Spartoi Empire and I come here for the Ravager with you." he declared pointing at Yondu. "Look pal, I may have stolen something important to your people but that doesn't mean you have the right to try and kill me!" Yondu said. "Silence fool, or else you and your Guardian friends will be executed when I take you back to Spartax!" J'son threatened.

"Yo, what just happened?" Amethyst wondered getting up from being defused. "And why is there two Star-Lords?" Pearl added. "Oh yeah, he's my dad." Peter answered. "Whoa, what a twist." Garnet stoically remarked.

"Excuse me Your Grace, but we called dibs on them first!" Holly Blue said. "Yes, we have come to Earth to complete what these criminals failed to do: capture a traitorous Peridot." Titus added. J'son didn't pay any attention to them as he shoved both of them to the side to confront his son.

"Been quite a while since we last saw each other 'kiddo'?" he said to Peter. "Don't call me stuff that a real father would say to their son!" Star-Lord snapped back. "Oh, am I not the family you dreamed of?" the king of Spartax responded before Yondu shot him in the back with his arrow. "You may be his father, but you sure as hell ain't his daddy you jackass!"

The fight restarted, now with J'son involved. Star-Lord, Steven, Connie, Gamora & Yondu took on the king, Rocket, Groot, Lapis, Peridot & Amethyst fought Holly Blue and finally Garnet, Pearl, Lion & Drax battled Titus. "He has the same weapon as you Peter!" Connie exclaimed blocking a shot from J'son's energy gun. "And it seems it's themed around the four elements." she added. "Indeed little one, this weapon can only be wielded by those of the royal bloodline." J'son explained. "Like so." He pointed his element gun and fired a blast of lightning at his son, shocking him. "It can also produce lightning."

"Good one there!" Titus exclaimed while blocking a punch from Garnet. "You know, we could really use something helpful here!" Star-Lord said getting up. "Yeah, I just want to beat these two right now!" Peridot added. "I have an idea, why don't Connie and I bring back Stevonnie?" Steven suggested. "Wait, who is this Stevonnie?" Holly Blue asked. "You'll see." Connie said before she and Steven broke into a dance and formed the half-Gem half-human swordfighter.

"A human and a Gem?! Impossible!" the disposed Supernova stared in disbelief of the being before him. "Let's dance." they declared unsheathing their sword and dashing at him, creating a large cut in his armor with Rose's sword.

"But you're just two children standing on top of each other! HOW?!" Titus was still shocked over how strong Stevonnie was compared to him. "Because we're made of love that's stronger than you." they responded striking some more, this time chipping away at his mechanical arm. "I need more power!" he shouted. "Well maybe you should've picked a better cybernetic limb!" Holly Blue responded, which made Titus turn to her with a devilish grin on his face. "Or maybe I need to make some modifications." he boomed grabbing the Agate's whip.

"What are you doing?!" she screamed in horror over what her partner was doing. "I'm just upgrading." he replied tying the electric whip around her neck and strangling her with it as everyone else, even J'son, watched in horror. "I thought we were comrades!" she gagged as she tried to reach out for Steven to save her. "Please...help...me!" Those were the final words she could muster before being poofed entirely.

"Excellent." Titus beamed examining the finely cut teardrop-shaped gem before inserting it into his mechanical appendage, glowing with Gem power. "Oh my stars, she just up and killed her!" Amethyst exclaimed. "She may have been a jerk, but Titus is an even bigger jerk!"

"That I agree with small purple creature!" J'son responded boldly. "Now I may be a tyrant, but harming those you have called your friends is where I cross the line!" he declared about to fire his element gun. "Which is why I won't need you anymore either." Titus said firing a bolt of electricity at the Spartaxian royal's weapon, making it explode and scarring him with all four elements.

"That should lighten the load." the mad space cop said to himself before turning to his Chitauri army. "My Chitauri fleet, heed my words!" he announced. "I command you to search this Earth settlement for its inhabitants and rip them apart like the dogs you are!" The cyborg aliens obeyed as they crashed their vehicles onto the sand and charged toward Beach City. "Oh no, they're going to hurt all our friends!" Stevonnie cried. "And I have another plan to stop them!" Star-Lord added. "Garnet, Yondu, Lapis, Drax, Amethyst and Gamora will go and stop those Chitauri while the rest of us beat Titus."

"That sounds crazy enough to work." Yondu said. "All right everybody, move out!" His group moved out after the Chitauri squadron while Stevonnie mounted on Lion, preparing to fight. "And now, for real, we settle this!" they exclaimed while Lion charged at the other cat creature. The Supernova fired another shock blast at them, but it was deflected by Steven's shield. They threw the shield at Titus' face, making him lose focus on his aim and fired at a bit of the temple statue.

Meanwhile downtown, Garnet, Yondu, Lapis, Drax, Amethyst and Gamora were in hot pursuit of the small group of Chitauri that were headed for the U-Stor. "If we don't hurry up, those people are surely screwed!" Yondu shouted as he fired his arrow at one of them. "Yeah, let's pick up the pace!" Amethyst responded spin-dashing into another few. "They might bring in reinforcements, so I suggest we up our game here." Garnet suggested. "Amethyst, we need Sugillite."

"Sweet!" the purple Gem exclaimed before they danced and formed the brutish fusion. "Hey uglies, you want a piece of me?!" she howled as she swung her flail to the ground knocking them off their feet. Two of them started snarling at each other, presumably giving orders, and they sent in one of the giant whales carrying more. "Damned Leviathans!" Yondu shouted as they started dropping down in front of them. "Hey Lazuli, wanna kick these boys' asses with me?" he offered the ocean Gem.

"You bet I want to!" she complied before launching geysers at the Chitauri while Yondu patiently stood in front of a platoon waiting to attack him.

The aliens roared aiming their guns at him but he still didn't budge. That is until he started whistling, summoning his Yaka arrow to his side. He continued whistling, making it zoom around and stab them all. Then he directed his attention to the Leviathan.

"Think you could lift me up there?" he asked Lapis. "You got it!" she replied grabbing him by the shoulders and chucking him to the carrier's head. He whistled some more which made his arrow zoom around some more, creating various holes in the Leviathan and causing it to malfunction.

He jumped back down to Earth before it began to explode. Thankfully Lapis was able to contain it by trapping it in a water bubble before tossing it into the air and exploding. The two fist-bumped while the others watched in awe. "They're just like the explosions I saw in my childhood, only there was less remains of our enemies." Drax said. "Please don't talk about your childhood right now Drax." Gamora groaned.

Just then, a Chitauri soldier weakly rose from the pavement and charged at the U-Stor door, attempting to break it down. "That one is going for the door, we have to stop it!" Yondu exclaimed. "Step aside everyone, let me handle it." Sugillite boasted stretching her arms. She looked down on the lone invader and prepared to attack, only for the alien to blast her in the face with its rifle.

"These alien weapons are seriously beyond our comprehension." Garnet stated as Sugillite disappeared leaving only her and Amethyst. The Chitauri continued bashing at the garage door with its firearm before it was shot at by an unknown assailant. They all turned around to find an old man in sunglasses pointing an average handgun at the creature. "You leave these townsfolk alone you alien menace!"

He fired at the Chitauri some more and actually managed to injure it, but it fought back by blasting its gun at him, also injuring him. "Do you need any help mister?!" Garnet cried rushing to his side. "No thank you, I'm fine m'am." the old man said getting up and walking back inside the garage before firing one last shot at the Chitauri, ultimately killing it. "Remember, you always save the day! If you think you can't, you'll always find a way! The people of the world believe in you, so fight on Crystal Gems! Excelsior!"

"Well that was a bit anticlimatic." Lapis stated when the man closed the door. "Yeah I mean, what does 'Excelsior' mean?" Gamora replied. "That isn't important right now, we have to go back and help the others." Garnet ordered before they all raced back to the beach.

Speaking of the others, Stevonnie, Star-Lord, Groot, Rocket, Lion, Pearl and Peridot continued squaring off against Titus. Rocket & Peridot had repurposed J'son's destroyed element gun and hit him with a large amount of fire while Star-Lord, Groot, Pearl and Stevonnie fought with all of their might.

"Give it up fools, I am far more experienced than you will ever be!" he boasted blasting some more volts at the heroes. "Yeah well, you fight like a cow!" Stevonnie shouted back continuing to damage his cannon limb. "But he's not a cow, he's some tiger thing." Pearl remarked, clearly confused over what they just said. "It's supposed to like, insult the opponent Pearl. Haven't you tried something like that before?" Rocket replied. "Why certainly not!"

"Yo, you guys need a lift here?" Yondu called as the rest of his group appeared behind him. "What, I thought those Chitauri I sent after the humans would've killed you!" Titus exclaimed in sheer disbelief at the sight before him. "Well you thought wrong." Lapis confidently responded high-fiving Yondu. This made Titus very angry as he roared and charged at them like a predator about to slaughter his prey before Garnet punched him in the face, heavily damaging his cybernetic eye.

"That is it!" he finally exploded in rage. "I have had enough of all of you! Forget putting you under arrest, PREPARE TO DIE!" He pounced at his opponents again about to fire his arm cannon, actually knocking a few of them down this time. "Now I will show you the full wrath of a Nova Corpsman!" He signaled the remaining Chitauri to his side and ordered them to attack the heroes. "My minions, slaughter them all!"

The Crystal Gems and the Guardians tried their hardest to fight them off and defeat Titus once and for all, but all started to seem lost. "There's too many of them!" Peridot screamed firing the gun that Rocket gave her at them, only to run out of ammo. "Did you bring any ammo Rocket?" she asked the raccoon-esque creature. "I did, but I think they were lost when we first crashed here." Rocket replied before a Chitauri grabbed him by the arms. "Hey, let me go!"

"I am Groot!" Groot cried for his friend before dozens more began dog-piling him. "Don't worry Groot, I'm coming!" Garnet exclaimed charging at the aliens to rescue the Flora colossus, only to fall herself.

"My friends, it has been an honor protecting Earth with you." Amethyst declared with a surprisingly solemn look on her face as she turned into a violin and jumped into Pearl's arms. "Well what're you waitin' for P, pick up the bow and play something!" she shouted. "Are you serious right now Amethyst?" Pearl frowned tossing the purple violin back on the ground before she got shot at by another Chitauri. "Quit it you!" she exclaimed stabbing the extraterrestrial with her spear.

"We're surrounded!" Lapis cried as she, Gamora, Drax and Yondu were, of course, surrounded by Chitauri. "Can't you just wash them away with your water powers?" Drax responded. "That is a good idea, but more will keep coming!" Gamora answered. "Might as well keep fighting til we stop breathing!" Yondu shouted running into battle with one of the Chitauri. "Yondu no!" Lapis shouted as he was knocked out cold.

"You see my friends, your time has come to die!" Titus announced towering over the fallen heroes. "You can call yourselves heroes all you want, but in my eyes you are all filthy rats! Especially you so called Guardians!" Out of all of them, Star-Lord, Stevonnie and Lion were the last ones facing him.

"You won't win Titus, we will beat you!" the fusion exclaimed stabbing the former space cop right in his chest, but he didn't feel much pain. "Are you done yet?" he asked without any sort of emotion in his voice while ripping the sword out of his body. "Now then, any last words before I obliterate you?"

"Yes, yes I do." Peter chimed before breaking into a dance routine while singing a song. "If you're evil and you're on the rise, you can count on the twelve of us taking you down!" he sang. "Cause we're a little bit of both and evil is too stupid to beat us, we'll win the fight and go out for pizza!"

Titus was utterly flabbergasted by what he was seeing before him. "What are you doing?!" he shouted. "Dance off bro, me and you!" the half-human answered. "We're the Crystal Gems and the Guardians, we'll always save the day! C'mon, someone dance with me!" Nobody felt like joining him in his dance except Stevonnie. "You Stevonnie? Okay!" They continued singing. "And if you think we can't, we'll always find a way!"

"That's why the people of this world, believe in!" they harmonized together. "The Guardians of the Galaxy, the Crystal Gems...AND STEVEN!" Suddenly they started glowing and merged together into a new being, which was a mix of Stevonnie's body & clothes with Star-Lord's hair color, jacket, boots and helmet. "Whoa, what just happened?" they said before realizing what just happened. "Wait, did we fuse?!"

"Wow, two half-humans and a full human fusing? That's awesome!" Amethyst exclaimed. "Fusion or not, you are still nothing!" Titus shouted prepared to fire from his cannon, but the new fusion retaliated by firing a laser blast from the blade. "Awesome, a laser sword!" they beamed in pure excitement before turning to their friends and annihilating all the Chitauri. When they all got up, they were utterly astonished at the sight before them.

"Is that you in there Petey?" Yondu asked them. "Of course it's me Yondu, I'm like thirty percent Star-Lord!" they replied. "Maybe we should come up with a new name for this like Stevoter or Pevonnie." Garnet suggested with a wide grin on her face. "I think Stevoter sounds pretty cool." the Gem-human-Spartaxian fusion, now named Stevoter, said. "But right now, we got bigger fish to fry."

They all glared at Titus, who was now growing more insane as the battle went on and was at his breaking point. "JOKE ALL YOU WANT SCUM, BUT I WILL PUT AN END TO YOU AND REGAIN MY HONOR!" he screamed at the top of his lungs before launching a giant volt of electricity at the group. Stevoter quickly deflected it by summoning a shield that looked very much like a Walkman and the attack was returned in the form of "The Chain."

"Aagh, stop it already!" the villain shouted covering his ears. "Oh we'll stop if you leave this planet alone!" Stevoter declared. "Alright a-holes, let's end this!" they rallied both the Gems and the Guardians together to finish Titus once and for all.

Garnet and Gamora dealt the first blow, punching him in the face and stabbing him in his cybernetic eye again. Then came Amethyst and Drax, who tied him up and kicked him around a bit. Groot and Pearl gave him a really big beatdown that he tried to fight back from, but to no avail. Lapis and Rocket beat him next with a righteous combination of firepower and geysers.

"Seriously, stop this!" Titus cried feeling more pain. "Just try and make us big guy!" Rocket arrogantly responded shaking his tail at him. Peridot than tossed the upturned Milano in his face with her metal powers. Yondu came next making his arrow destroy his cybernetic eye. Finally there was Stevoter who mounted on Lion and charged toward him with laser sword and Walkman shield in hand.

Swinging the blade, they sliced off Titus' robot arm and he fell down into the ocean. "So how do you like it now?" they asked lifting up their mask, revealing a cocky grin on their face. "You may have beaten me now, but there's still the Chitauri to take care of." Titus stated. They all looked up at the vortex still spewing out aliens over the ocean. "Oh right, we still gotta take care of that." Amethyst said.

Stevoter suddenly defused back into Star-Lord, Steven and Connie, still reeling from what had just happened. When they all looked at each other, they turned into a big group hug laughing. "That was so cool!" Steven exclaimed. "Yeah, when we blocked that blast with the shield that was fused with your player and then there was the laser sword!" Connie responded. "I thought fusion was pretty cool, but I'd never thought I'd get involved in one!" Peter said. "Yes, it's good that we beat him but we still need to take care of those Chitauri." Garnet added.

"We're gonna need a cooking pot." Rocket declared. "That's right, I'm bringin' back the black hole bomb!" Nobody really liked the sound of that idea, especially Peter. "I'm not sure about that. The last time you built one, you nearly killed us all!" he shouted. "Listen guys, I kind of started this by taking all those Quartz gems and I'm gonna end it."

"I'll go look for that pot!" Amethyst said racing inside the beach house and came back out with the pot and some more bits and bobs. "Thanks Amethyst." the raccoon thanked her and began work on the black hole bomb. When he finished, he grimly turned to his friends. "Well gang, guess I must be off." he said.

"Groot, you're the best pal a guy like me could have. Quill, you may be annoying but you're still my bro. Lapis & Peridot, thanks for sympathizing with me. Steven, I'm still sorry for being such a jerk earlier. And to everyone else, stay gold."

"I am Groot?" Groot wondered starting to tear up. "I'm sorry buddy, but it's the only way." Rocket sighed hugging his big tree friend. Getting on a leftover Chitauri chariot, he flew away toward the vortex. "Good luck buddy." Star-Lord said with a few tears in his eyes as well.

Finding his way inside the vortex, Rocket saw the Chitauri command center hovering above it. Soaring towards it while shooting down more troops along the way, he stuck the black hole bomb on the top of the vessel and turned it on.

"Well, here goes." he said to himself getting back on the chariot and zooming away from it. He circled the command center shooting down any Chitauri that tried to attack him until the timer finally reached zero. The ship was already getting sucked in the black hole created by the bomb, and Rocket calmly accepted his demise until he was knocked off his chariot by a random Chitauri and sent flying into the ocean

Meanwhile back with the others, they had just heard the black hole go off and mourned the loss of the their friend, with Groot taking it the hardest as he sobbed in Garnet's arms. "He died like a true hero." Star-Lord said. "I'm really sorry about your loss." Steven replied. They all took a moment of silence to remember their fallen friend, but suddenly they heard a sound. Everybody looked around to learn where it was coming from until they turned their heads skyward to find a familiar furry figure falling towards them, screaming along the way. "Is that...Rocket?!"

Rocket continued screaming incredibly loudly until he fell headfirst into the sand. "Whoa, what just happened? Last thing I remember was..." he wondered before getting interrupted by Groot bawling his eyes out while giving him a big hug.

"I AM GROOT!" he sobbed in joy. "Yeah yeah, I'm still alive. Did you really think the most lovable member was going to be offed?" Rocket snarked before everyone else joined in on the hug. "Okay now you're all choking me!" he wheezed. "How did you manage to survive?!" Star-Lord cried as they all let go and let him breathe. "I don't know. I was just flying around shootin' down Chitauri after accepting the fact I was gonna die and then boom, here I am. Speaking of which..."

The command center continued falling apart with its remains getting sucked into the black hole created by Rocket's bomb, which caused all the Chitauri to suddenly fall down dead. Then the portal finally sealed itself shut and all was quiet. "Wow, we actually won!" Steven cheered. "Indeed you did." a soldier from earlier added. "Thank you all for your help today, we'll have Damage Control over here to clean up."

After a while, a construction crew headed by an old woman arrived at Beach City to help the citizens rebuild their home. "So you all fused to beat that tiger guy?" Greg asked while rebuilding the beach house with Star-Lord, Steven, Connie and Gamora. "Yeah, we even had got a cool name like Stevoter too!" Steven replied. "And Rocket nearly died saving us all!" Connie added.

Yondu walked over to Titus' unconscious body, still with his metal appendage de-attached from the rest of his body. Picking up the gemstone of Holly Blue Agate from the arm, he handed it to Amethyst to bubble it.

"I think she should be taken back to Homeworld so that Titus can get into some real trouble!" she suggested. "Quit reading my mind squirt!" the Ravager replied before kicking the space cop in the head. "Yo furball, wake up!" he shouted as Titus began to awaken. "W-what just...happened?" he wondered looking around. "We kicked your ass, and now you're comin' with me." Yondu answered with a cheeky grin.

"Okay, a little bit to the left, no your other left. A little bit more and there!" a construction worker gave orders to Lapis while she lifted a Leviathan out of the water. "Thank you for your help Miss. What was your name again?" he asked. "My name is Lapis Lazuli Mr. Ballinger." she introduced herself. "Thanks Lapis, but just call me Lenny."

"I've been searching for J'son for a long time, but thanks to you I can finally bring him in." a man in a blue suit and golden helmet said as Pearl and Drax brought the king before him. "You're very welcome Nova. Or should I call you Mr. Rider?" the white Gem asked. "Please, Nova will do just fine." Nova replied. "So what are you going to do to him?" Drax inquired. "Just going to take him back to Xandar so that he can be tried for his crimes."

Groot meanwhile was helping Peridot, Garnet and Rocket get the Milano back into shape. "For a moment there when I thought I was gonna die, my life flashed before my eyes and it wasn't pretty." Rocket explained as he re-calibrated the controls. "That must sound pretty terrible." Peridot snarked. "I am Groot." Groot added patting his head. "I get it already, you're glad that I'm still alive yadda yadda yadda." he groaned.

"Whether you died or not, that was very heroic of you." Garnet commended him. "Aw, thanks Garnet."

"Well, seems like we gotta go now guys." Star-Lord said turning to Steven when they all took a break. "It's been awesome being back on Earth and meeting you all, but we can't just guard one part of the galaxy." He got up to go back to the Milano when Steven and Greg stopped him.

"Wait, we still have one more thing for you." Greg said pulling out a few presents from behind him and handing each one to the heroes for hire. "Go on, open 'em!"

Rocket was the first to unwrap his, which was an attack drone like Peridot's. "Sweet, my own drone!" he exclaimed tossing it into the air.

"Is this one of your old swords?" Gamora said to Pearl after unwrapping hers, which was a cutlass. "Yes, since you're so well-versed in swordfighting I figured you might like this one." Pearl replied before she got hugged by the green woman. "Wait, are we seriously doing this right now?" she wondered. "Don't worry, I'm starting to feel uncomfortable here too." the swordswoman answered as Pearl returned the hug.

"What is this sweet-looking object?" Drax gasped at his present. "It's a cupcake, since you've mentioned cake a lot." Connie said. "FINALLY, CAKE!" the destroyer shouted gobbling it down to the last crumb. "I must have more! MORE!"

"I am Groot!" Groot said examining his. "It's a mini version of your meep-morp. Amethyst helped me out with this one." Lapis explained. "Yeah, it's basically from both of us." Amethyst added.

Finally there was Peter, who was gazing at his present. "Can I unwrap it now?" he asked Steven. "Sure, go for it!" the half-boy replied. Peter finally unwrapped it, revealing it to be a cassette tape labeled "Awesome Mix: Universe Edition". "I knew you would love this Peter." Steven said smiling. Star-Lord briefly glanced between the child and his new tape before hugging him. "Thanks kid, hope we can see each other again." he thanked him smiling.

"Yo, where's my present?!" Yondu demanded looking quite impatient. "Oh what the heck, bringing these two in is enough of a present." he said.

"Mr. Universe, I'd like to speak with you." an elderly woman flanked by the same old man from before said approaching Greg. "I am Anne Marie Hoag of Damage Control. Mayor Bill Dewey has told me that your son might have had something to do with these recent events." she explained. "Yeah, that son is me!" Steven gleefully said shaking Hoag's hand. "My name's Steven Universe madame, and these are the people who helped save Beach City!"

Hoag then looked at both the Crystal Gems and the Guardians, walking towards Garnet. "You must be the leader of this crystalline camaraderie." she said. "You can say that miss, but Steven's mother Rose Quartz was once our leader and soon Steven will be too." Garnet said.

"Good to know. I thank you for helping with reconstruction. My superior might want to get to know you better soon." the elder said before turning her attention to Star-Lord. "So are you like some kind of bandit?" she asked the space cowboy. "Well I was a thief before I met these crazy people that I call my friends." Peter replied showing her his fellow space-farers. Groot just waved politely at her.

"So you claim be a Crystal Gem like the others yet you don't have a star. What's up with that?" Yondu asked Peridot. "Us Peridots are quite hard to poof." she replied pointing to her triangular gemstone. "But what about Lapis, what's her deal?" he added up looking at the ocean Gem. "I'm not really a member, I'm just friends with Steven." Lapis responded. "Well good to know. Oh would you look at the time, I gotta go!" he said looking at his wrist where a watch would be. "Think you could give me a lift back to my ship at the barn?"

"Yondu's right, we should get going." Peter said about to board the Milano. "Goodbye everyone!" The rest of the Guardians followed suit following him onboard. The ship then lifted itself off the ground and took off as everyone said their goodbyes.

"I'm gonna miss him too." Steven said smiling.

The Milano was gliding through the sky as Rocket piloted it. "Okay gang, we should go into hyperspeed in a few minutes." he announced. "Better buckle up!" Everybody did as he told them to, except for Star-Lord who continued looking at the cassette tape he was given. "C'mon Quill, get into position!" Rocket ordered.

"In a bit, just gonna need to see if this works." Peter said popping the tape into his Walkman before sitting down and buckling up. It then started to play a new song.

"If I could begin to be
Half of what you think of me
I could do about anything
I could even learn how to love"

Meanwhile back on Beach City, the Gems continued watching as their new friends left the Earth. "Hope we can see them again soon, Drax was an utter riot." Amethyst said. "You got that right Amethyst, now if you'll excuse us we gotta go back to the barn so that Yondu can leave." Peridot replied as she, Lapis, Yondu and Titus teleported away on the warp pad.

"When I see the way you act
Wondering when I'm coming back
I could do about anything
I could even learn how to love like you

Love like you"

"Threat has been neutralized Director Fury, no need to call the Avengers. I repeat, no need to call the Avengers." Agent Lee spoke to Nick Fury on an earpiece. "Good to know Agent Lee, we'll be sending over a Quinjet to bring you back to New York." Fury replied ending the call. Agent Lee sighed, happy that he accomplished a job well done before he noticed a little boy standing behind him with a creepy stare. "You didn't see nothing true believer."

"I always thought I might be bad
Now I'm sure that it's true
'cause I think you're so good
And I'm nothing like you"

"Thanks for the lift girls, farewell." Yondu thanked Lapis and Peridot as he shoved Titus onboard his ship. The two Gems waved goodbye as he took off. In his ship, Yondu tried to contact the Gem Homeworld looking back at Titus with a sneer.

"Welcome to the Diamond Line, what do you want?" Yellow Pearl said when she came into view. "My name is Yondu Udonta, and I have a little something for you." Yondu introduced himself pulling Titus next to him. "This guy kidnapped one of Blue Diamond's Gems and attempted to shatter the Gems you assigned some friends of mine to capture." he explained.

"Pearl, who is calling us right now?" a voice belonging to Yellow Diamond asked as she pulled up the communicator to her face. "Oh no..." Titus weeped, thinking about what fate would befell him.

"Look at you go
I just adore you
I wish that I knew
What makes you think I'm so special"

"Finally, back in space." Rocket sighed, feeling utterly relaxed while they entered hyperspeed. "So how's your present Pete?" he asked his captain. "Beautiful." Peter replied. "So where do we go now?" he said to his teammates. "Who knows? You lead the way Star-Lord." Gamora answered. And thus brings an end to the tale of a meeting and friendship between two worlds.

"If I could begin to do
Something that does right by you
I would do about anything
I would even learn how to love

When I see the way you look
Shaken by how long it took
I could do about anything
I could even learn how to love like you

Love like you
Love me like you"

Finally everyone, it's over. This chapter took 9,000 plus words and it may have dragged out a bit, but it's over. Thank you everyone so much for joining me on this journey and I hope we can do it all over again someday. But for now, here's some hints of what's to come.

"Lord Thanos, I wish to speak with you." Corvus Glaive said to his master.

"What is it that you want to confer with me about?" the Mad Titan wondered. "It's about Earth, we have received intel that your daughter was on that planet." the alien explained bringing up a hologram of recent events. Thanos carefully examined the happenings until he laid eyes upon a group of people with his daughter. "The Homeworld rebels are still alive?!" he exclaimed recognizing their star symbol.

"Very good, perhaps they could be the key to helping me find the Infinity Stones." Getting up from his throne, he brought forth a golden gauntlet to his hand with six empty spots. "My minions, we are headed for Earth."

Did you like what you saw? Yeah, I liked doing this too but the next one will blow you away.

We see a laboratory decorated with various suits with armor as a man with a welding mask over his face tinkered with some metal. "Mr. Stark, I have received a call from Nick Fury." a voice announced. "Excellent J.A.R.V.I.S., bring it up on screen." the man replied pulling up his mask to reveal a face with a beard as a screen showing Nick Fury appeared before him.

"Tony, I've tried to call you for the past few hours." he explained. "What for? And make it quick, I'm kinda busy here." Tony wondered. "An alien invasion took place in the Delmarva town of Beach City, which was put a stop to by the Guardians of the Galaxy."

"Wait, those guys?" Tony was perplexed at what he just said. "Shouldn't they be like guarding some other part of the galaxy or something?" he asked.

"True, but who was with them is what I wanted to speak with you about." Nick brought up another screen of the aforementioned group, consisting of a woman with a square afro, a short purple figure, a thin white lady with a pointy nose and a little boy with puffy hair. "They call themselves the Crystal Gems and I believe they might be useful to the Avengers at some point." Fury continued.

"Interesting." Tony said with a certain look on his face stroking his beard. "Jarvis, book a flight to Delmarva." he ordered the voice. "On the double Mr. Stark, what for?" Jarvis said.

"It's time I had a little talk with them."

The Crystal Gems will return

in

"Steven Universe: Secret Wars"

To Joan Lee, the wife of a legend

February 5, 1922 - July 6, 2017