The Onyx Recruit

Cheeseburger Backpack.

Steven sat on a rock, running a hand through Onyx's hair.

"Hey, Mr. Postman, bring me a post! Bring me the post that I love the most!" The boy sang, giggling as Onyx hummed along. The mail man, who Onyx only recently learned was named Jamie, turned the corner, his mailbag hooked over a shoulder. Steven gasped, surprised that his song 'worked'.

"Hey, your song came true." Onyx smiled, getting to his feet.

"Do you have a package for me today?!" Steven asked eagerly, jumping from the rock.

"Hold on, let me see what I've got here." Jamie instructed beginning to look through his bag.

"Did you order a loaf of bread with a stamp on it?" He asked, showing them a loaf of bread, indeed stamped.

"Nah, not us." Onyx shook his head.

"Did you order a jury summon for R.J. Finkle?" He asked, replacing the stamped bread with a small envelope.

"That's not me, I'm Steven!" Steven corrects, gesturing to himself.

"Oh! Right, right, right. Steven!" Jamie went through his bag one last time and pulled out a box from Wacky Sack Supply Company.

"Here it is, Steven Universe!" He held out the box to him.

"Ha!! This thing's gonna help me save the world!!"

"Really?" Jamie asked.

"It says it's from 'Wacky Sack Supply Company'.."

"Well, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl think I shouldn't go on magic adventures because I don't know how to use my gem powers. Not Onyx though, he knows I can." Steven smiled and patted Onyx on the arm.

"That sounds... Reasonable." Jamie replied, not exactly sure what Steven was talking about.

"But, there are other ways he could help." Onyx grinned, giving Steven a tight side hug.

"With a wacky sack?"

"Precisely." Onyx replied proudly.

"Well, do you know how you can save my world?" Jamie asks the two.

"Just sign here, please." He held out a signature pad.

"Oh, alright." Steven signed his name and handed it off to Onyx who wrote his name above Steven's.

"Barb yells at me if I don't get signatures.." Jamie informs.

"That's awful!" Shouted Steven, ever-so-slightly concerned. A shining blue light, just a few shades darker than the sky flooded out of the nearby house.

"Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are back!!" Steven yelled excitedly once the light had begun to die down. Onyx held the box under an arm and followed Steven as he began to sprint up the steps to the screen door.

"Wait, Steven! What is a wacky sack?!" Shouted the very confused Jamie down on the sand. Onyx pushed open the door with the box under an arm, and stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the state of the room. Feathers, rather large ones at that, were strewn across the floor, some were even stuck in the gems' hair.

"What in the world is going on here? Let's rewind..." Onyx mumbled confused.

"Hello, Steven. Onyx." Garnet greeted, feathers stuck in every corner of her outfit and afro.

"Amethyst, we do not need that! It's not going to fit in the fridge!" Pearl yelled at the small gem who was currently attempting to place a large, off-white egg with pale blue stars patterned across the surface, into the fridge.

"What..?" Croaked Amethyst, clearly not paying any mind to Pearl, and neither waiting for an answer.

"I've got this." She waved Pearl off and grabbed onto a rack in the appliance, carefully sliding it out before throwing it to the floor, spilling the milk across the wood. She set the egg in with a proud smile at her accomplishment.

"Look!! It fits!!" She exclaimed and slammed the fridge door shut, completely missing the crack inside the fridge. Onyx grimaced at the sound, and at the egg beginning to pour from the fridge. He curled his lips up in a scowl, narrowing his eyes in the direction of the kitchen.

"Oh, man! We could make a big omelet, or a quiche, or big sunny-side ups!" Amethyst listed, eager for something to eat. Onyx, Pearl, and Steven looked at her with varying astonished expressions. Pearl looked like she was going to start cussing Amethyst out, Onyx just looked like he'd heard the grossest thing that ever walked the Earth, and Steven just looked plain confused. He turned to Pearl, his eyes still wide.

"We fought a giant bird." Pearl explained.

"We're only back for a second, though. We've got to go back out with Onyx."

"Why? What's going on?"Onyx asked, slightly tilting his head.

"We have to place this moon goddess statue on the top of the Lunar Sea Spire before midnight. Without it, the whole place will fall apart!"

"Steven, you shoulda seen the spire back when it wasn't so.. Well. Messed up." Onyx chuckled and patted Steven's shoulder.

"Onyx, how do you know what the Spire looked like?" Pearl raised a brow. Onyx opened his mouth to reply, only to stand there with his eyes flickering around as he tried to remember how he knew that. Then he snapped his jaw shut and just shrugged.

"Mnm."

'How did I know what the spire looked like... What is a spire?'

Onyx narrowed his eyes in confusion before simply shaking his head, ridding himself of the confusing thoughts.

"Anyway, it was an oasis for gems on Earth. It's abandoned now." She said the last part rather glumly, before quickly continuing.

"But! We can still save it with this statue!" She finished happily, extending out her open palms which held the statue as the other gems came up to them.

"That's perfect!" Steven shouted.

"What, why?" Pearl raised a brow, looking down at him in bewilderment.

"He got something in the mail." Onyx said curtly, stepping away from the gems, unknowing of how their expressions soured.

"Yeah! I can help carry it for you, in this!" Onyx opened the box for Steven and held it out to him. Onyx made sound effects as Steven reached into the box, and slowly pulled his hands out, holding a bag shaped like a cheeseburger out to the gems.

"A.. Hamburger..?" Pearl asked.

"It's a novelty backpack shaped like a cheeseburger!!" Steven explained.

"Aw.. I blew it..." His charming grin turned into a deep frown.

"I was just gonna wear it one day, and you guys would be like.." He paused, trying to find the words to describe his next sentence. Amethyst and Pearl looked at eachother.

"Dang, Steven, that's so cool!" He narrated.

"I think it's pretty cool, Steven." Onyx smiled.

"Thanks, Onyx! Still, this is obviously important gem business."

"Yes, so you should let us take care of it" Pearl brung a hand to her chest.

"What, why? Steven's a gem, though." Onyx glared.

"Yeeesss, but he's still got a lot to learn." Pearl shivered

"So, let him come!" Amethyst butted in.

"It'll be educational!!!" She teased, waving her hands around.

"Hmph. Alright, you can carry it in your hamburger." Pearl gave in and handed him the statue. Steven knelt down quickly, opening the backpack and showing everyone the pockets.

"Check it out!!"

"Everything's a pocket! Even the cheese is a pocket!!"

"If you had a tail, it'd be wagging so hard right now." Onyx snickered light-heartedly at the boy's enthusiasm.

"Oh wow. You could fit a lot more stuff in there." Onyx realized, standing up straight.

"Oh! Give me a minute, I'll pack extra supplies!" Steven replied, racing off to go find extra stuff.

Onyx chucked and shook his head, his mane flowing gracefully as he followed after him, the claws of his foot-paws clicking against the wood floor.

Time for a trim....