The Onyx Recruit

Acquring The Cannon

"Dad! It's me! Dad? Are you in there?" Steven kept pounding at the doors.

"Wake up Greg! The world needs saving!!" Onyx shouted as he climbed up to the roof of the van, helping Steven up after.

"Greg!" Onyx groaned, starting to slam his tail into the van. He yelped as him and Steven slipped, setting of the alarm. They looked at each other smiling as the doors swung open and Greg stepped out, wielding a waffle iron.

"Who's there?! I have a waffle iron!" He threatens, looking around.

"Dad!" Steven grinned, picking himself up. The waffle iron falls with a clang. Greg looked up in confusion and blinked slowly. He fished the van keys out from his pocket and turned off the car alarm.

"Steven? Onyx?" He calls out groggily. The boys jump off the van and Steven rushes to give his dad a hug.

"I almost waffled your faces!" Greg said grinning.

"What are you two doing up so late?" He asked, looking at them kindly. Onyx quirked a brow, clearly confused.

"What do you mean, Greg? The sun just went down about an hour ago."

"Oh!" Greg chuckles embarrassed.

"It was a slow day at the car wash... Anyway, what's up!" He asked, placing his hads around on his hips.

"Just needed to see me again, pal around, learn some lessons about life?" Greg smiled, placing a large hand on Steven's shoulder.

"No! We need the light cannon that belonged to mom to blow up that eyeball!" Steven shouted, Onyx nodded.

"Eyeball?" Greg muttered.

"That thing!" Onyx pointed up at the sky, showing Greg the red eye that Amethyst was just thrown at.

"Wait, is that a magical thing? The gems told me not to get involved with magical stuff.." Greg asked nervously.

"I-It could be dangerous or interfere with what's left of my hair..."

"Your fur looks fine, Greg. But we really need Rose's cannon."

"You've got to know where it is!" Steven yelped.

"Maybe it's in a cave dungeon." Onyx suggested.

"Or, in a cloud fortress!" Steven added.

"Or, in a clam at the bottom of the ocean!" The two yell at the same time, grins present on their faces.

"Well, I don't know about all that, but I have an idea where it might be." The three slipped into the van, Greg in the driver's seat, Steven in the passenger's seat, and Onyx in the back, having to sit with his knees to his chest. They drove to a self-storage facility names "U-store" and exited the van, walking up to a shed.

"There's so many..." Onyx mumbled, looking from unit to unit.

"A magical storage unit!" Steven yelled, running up to their shed.

"Heh, not exactly, but you could say there's magic inside." Greg winked; Steven stared.

"It's just a shed I use to keep things that don't fit in the van. If it's anywhere, it'll be in here." Greg grunted as he lifted the door to the shed, backing up so the two boys could see. Onyx's eyes widened at the sight of all the boxes and loose junk filling the shed.

"Wow... Your cave is impressive!" Onyx complimented, his tail wagging.

"Oh. Uh, thanks?" Greg responded. Steven and Onyx walked over and studied the piles carefully. Steven tried moving a few boxes, only causing them to topple over.

"Hey, Steven." Onyx called.

"If you're planning on going in there, you need to be careful." Onyx told him, still looking at the junk in amazement.

"Yeah! If I'm going in there, I'm gonna need some gear!" Onyx laughed but helped him tie a flashlight to his head with a loose sock.

"Okay, Onyx! You're going to be my guide! Whenever mom comes up in a conversation or when we're looking for something of hers, your nose lights up!" Steven grinned.

"Oh, sure. I can totally guide you, man." Onyx's nose lit up pink, slightly startling him.

"Here I go!" Steven said as Greg finished tying an extension cord around Steven's waist.

"Stay safe, Steven!" Onyx smiled as the boy crawled through the boxes. As Steven moves, Onyx's nose glowed either brighter or dimmer every turn he takes.

"Woah..." Steven exclaims as he gets to his feet.

"Cool! It's like a dad museum! Onyx, you should see all this!" Steven yelled over his shoulder.

"Can't, little man! Too big!" The gem yelled back.

"You are getting close though!" Steven grunts and squeezes himself through two mattresses.

"There it is!"

"Those are golf clubs, Steven!" Onyx yells as Steven falls from trying to lift the clubs.

"Do you golf, dad?" Steven asks.

"Well, I like to think of myself as someone who would golf. E-Eventually." Greg says timidly. Steven looked around and darted over to the right of the mattress.

"Yes!"

"That's a drum, man." Onyx chuckled.

"A drum..." Steven walks away from it but ran back over to give it a quick slap. Steven jumped over more stuff and began to sift through another pile.

"No... No..." He tossed stuff over his shoulder. He gasped as his eyes fell on something in the pile.

"Oh, my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Is this...?"

"T-Shirt cannon!" Came Onyx's voice. Steven caught a falling T-shirt that was shot from the cannon.

"Buy T-Shirt cannons?" Steven read. He moved the shirt over and looked down at an open box.

"Hey, there's a bunch of copies of your old CD!"

"Huh. Oh man, I couldn't give those things away." Greg said sheepishly.

"Grab me a few!"

"You know, before I ran the car wash, I was a one-man band. I travelled the whole country!"

"I know, dad." Steven smiled, shoving a few CDs in his pockets.

"When I came to play a concert here in Beach City, no one showed up except..."

"Alligators!!"

"No, it was your mother! And a tall, black and white furred fella." Greg chimed. Onyx shivered, twiddling his thumbs as he looked away.

"I know!" Steven giggled.

"And we were always together after that, until she gave up her physical form to bring you into the world. The gem that was usually with her disappeared a few years later." Onyx's nose glowed brighter and he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut.

"I don't know what a magical lady like her ever saw in a plain, old dope like me..." Steven gasped as he felt something shatter beneath his knee. He raised his leg and looked down to see a smashed picture frame that held a picture of Rose and Greg.

"I don't know what you just did, but I think it was Rose related!"

"Uhm... Dad, I broke a photo.."

"It's okay, buddy. If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot-dogs." Greg shrugged. Onyx yelped as a large, fiery pink blast shot out from his horns. From inside the shed, something began to glow. Steven gasped as his eyes focused on a large, glowing, pink cannon.

"You found it, Steven!" Came Onyx's voice. His nose dimmed down to it's usual black and he rubbed at his horns, which were slightly sore.

"The light cannon!" Steven smiled.

"Oh, boy. That thing's giving me the willies." Greg muttered, scratching his chest as he looked at the eye which had gotten bigger.

"Guys, I found it!"