Chapter 18

RING RING RING

Awakening to my phone ringing, I quickly shuffled out of bed to answer it, my voice groggy—which was odd, considering the system always ensured I woke up refreshed.

"What's up, Jessica? Any news?" I greeted the caller as I headed to brush my teeth. But before I could, a scream from the other end jolted me, causing the phone speaker to briefly distort into static.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'ANY NEWS'? LOOK OUTSIDE!" Her panic made my heart race as I rushed toward the nearest window. Glancing at the digital clock next to my bed, I saw it read 6:45 PM, much to my confusion. I paused to check my phone, which also read 6:45.

"Did you look outside yet?!" Jessica's frantic voice reminded me to head to the window. I noticed the anomaly before trudging over to the blinds, where I saw what appeared to be morning sunlight shining through them.

"I don't know what's going on, Jessica, but you need to—WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Opening my blinds, I was met with the sight of a massive eyeball-like device, seemingly crashing slowly into the earth. The sclera was mostly orange, with a cream-colored section acting as a sort of eyelid. At the center was a hexagonal iris with a black pupil.

[Red Eye: Lv???]

"Holy shit, when did that get there?" I muttered aloud. I then heard rapid knocks at my door as Richie's voice called out, his panic almost matching Jessica's. She was speaking so quickly it was almost impossible to understand, but I still caught enough to get the gist as I opened the door for Richie.

"It showed up about two hours ago, and at the rate it's going, it should impact by tonight, 10 PM at the latest," Jessica's words made me nod as memories of how the Red Eye was dealt with floated to the forefront of my mind. Deciding to address that later, I first faced Richie, who was out of breath and pointing towards the sky, his nervousness palpable.

"Relax, I have a plan," I said, pushing him aside to open my character panel. It hadn't changed since we returned six days ago, not allowing me to take on any missions. I didn't mind, though, as I immediately focused on the skill [Long Distance Teleportation: Lv1].

"I was saving these to upgrade Weakness Detection, but that can wait." With that thought, I took out six of the ten petty exp gems I had been saving and pumped them into [Long Distance Teleportation: Lv1], causing its level to jump from 1 to 3. This upgrade increased my teleportation distance from 5 kilometers to a whopping 50 kilometers, first jumping to 25 and then to 50 at level 3.

"The cost might have lowered, but just in case…" Forming a plan in my mind, I quickly told Jessica I was hanging up and immediately called Alejandro. He arrived a few minutes later, mounted atop the corrupted Ocean Jasper.

"Get on," was all he said as I climbed up, taking a position on the makeshift saddle Ms. Cary had crafted with the help of the old man. It was admittedly quite comfortable, but knowing there was no time to appreciate it, I immediately told Alejandro to have the gem start running toward Beach City.

"Duke, what's the point? She's fast, but at best, she can only cut the journey time in half," Alejandro spoke with concern, having been briefed by me over the phone.

"Don't worry about her, just keep her moving," I replied. Alejandro sighed but ordered the corrupted Jasper to move. It became almost a blur as it followed Alejandro's directions toward Beach City. While he was focused on that, I immediately used my skill, causing a flash of light as we teleported 50 kilometers ahead.

"Ugh," Alejandro groaned, clearly unsettled by the jump, but we had no choice if we wanted to arrive in time. I prepped the magic again, and a few seconds later, we jumped once more, appearing 50 kilometers closer to Beach City. Unfortunately, I couldn't cover the final stretch with my skill, as I noticed the cost had increased due to the addition of Alejandro and the corrupted gem. I was forced to ride with Alejandro the rest of the way, which took about 15 minutes.

'Chaos.' That was my only thought as I instructed Alejandro to stay with the gem in the forest while I ran into the town, which was filled with people panicking at the slow approach of the Red Eye, now closer than before.

RING

Suddenly receiving a call from Jessica, I wasted no time answering as I wandered through the town, heading towards the carwash. Memories of this episode came flooding back to me, with the most important part involving Greg Universe.

"Duke, I followed the Steven boy and overheard a conversation about some kind of light cannon that can destroy the Red Eye. But other than that, I don't know much else. I'm currently following the boy, as he seems to have a clue about it," Jessica reported. I simply acknowledged, telling her to text me when the boy arrived wherever he was going. However, I already knew he was headed to the carwash, so with light steps, I navigated the city, soon arriving at the carwash, where I spotted a van with the word "Universe" streaked across its side.

"DAD!" Not only did I notice the van, but I also caught sight of what appeared to be Steven, yelling loudly for his father as he knocked on the van, growing more annoyed the longer the man took to wake.

"Hey, Guildmaster," a voice suddenly said, startling me. I instinctively reached for my axe but relaxed when I realized it was Jessica. I was annoyed, though, that she hadn't revealed her presence more obviously. Luckily, I was far enough away that Steven didn't seem to notice as he climbed atop the van and began jumping, shaking it intensely.

"Please don't do that again," I said, watching as Jessica shrugged and re-entered stealth, leaving me to continue observing events from afar.

At some point, Steven's dad emerged, and he was now talking to the boy, who then pointed towards the sky, causing the balding man in a stained tank top to jump in surprise.

Soon enough, Steven convinced his dad to help, and they got into the van and drove off—not too fast, though, as I followed close behind. My speed and endurance were proving their worth. Thankfully, due to the town's small size, the van soon reached its destination, stopping outside what appeared to be a storage unit.

'Oh yeah, it was stored at the back, right?' My memories finally aligned as I watched the duo quickly get to work searching for it. Thanks to their yelling, I caught most of their conversation and with nothing better to do I listened in.

The conversation went like mostly how I remembered, but I couldn't be too sure as I barely remembered the earlier episodes of Steven universe but I didn't bother thinking too hard as I soon enough watched as Steven came crawling out having more than likely found the cannon as he quickly emerged telling is father go get the van as he tied the rope that was previously around him onto the cannon.

Quickly getting in the van I watched as Steven dad pumped the gas trying to pull the cannon out and after a couple seconds it seemed to work as the cannon along with all the other junk loaded into the Storeage got pulled out soon plopping to the ground in a heap of trash while the prestine white barrel of the cannon pointed towards the sky.

"This thing could save the city! We gotta get it to the beach!" Steven said having come to stand next to the cannon followed by his father who hopped out of the van.

"How it wont fit in the van?" Greg though noted a small problem as he looked at the large weapon though he soon got his answer as from nowhere rolled a small wagon.

Minutes later I watched as the father and son worked together to load the cannon on the wagon which groaned at the weight that was put up on it, but the two seemed to ignore that as after tying the agony to the van they attempted to pull it using the van which seemed to work but they were traveling incredibly slow in the process, though I didn't mind as It made following them easier.

I know I'm not that tallI know I'm not that smartBut let me drive my van into your heartLet me drive my van into your heart

Suddenly I began to hear music coming from the van a song I remembered quite well from the show and it caused me to hum abit as I jogged after the van which passed many people I were familiar with as it went though the town.

I know I'm not that richI'm trying to get my startSo let me drive my van into your heartLet me drive my van into your heart

"WERE ALMOST THERE" I heard Steven shout when the beach came into sight and I felt my mind relax as the story was going how it was supposed to but that soon changed as suddenly a shockwave was suddenly sent out from the Red Eye which seemed to cross a threshold.

And if we look out of placeWell, baby, that's okayI'll drive us into outer spaceWhere we can't hear what people say

'DAMN IT THE VAN' The shockwave was so strong it would have sent me flying if not for me grabbing on to a nearby lamppost, but I wasn't focused on that as My thoughts were only focused on the van which due to the shock wave got sent toppling over.

"Oh no what are we going to do!" Seeing Steven scream in worry as he and his dad crawl out the van alright I sighed as I dusted myself off unsure of what to do next but seeing Steven and his dad attempt to pick the cannon up and carry it the rest of the way I sighed Seeing how the plot went off the rails and so I ran over to help them catching the attention of Greg and Steven who seemed to become exhausted as they dropped to heavy cannon upon the ground.

I know I don't have a planI'm working on that partAt least I've got a vanSo let me drive my van into your heart

"Who are you?" I didn't bother to answer Gregs question as I immeaditly attempted to lift the cannon After getting good leverage upon it.

'Heavy' Thats all I could think as I lifted the cannon that was ATLEAST 400 pounds but thanks to my level my strength was quite a bit higher making the cannon feel much lighter than it actually was.

"I don't know who you are but we need to get that cannon over to that beach!" Seeing how I had lifted the cannon Steven seem to grow hopeful as he pointed in the direction they were going previously a direction I immeaditly followed my steps slow at first but I began to move faster and faster as I grew used to the weight of the cannon that my muscles screamed at me to put down but I couldn't as I marched forward the only thing I could hear being the cheers from Steven and his dad as the song continued to play.

Let me drive my van into your heart

I could see the gems who seemed to turn to me shocked at what I was carrying amethyst having been the first to notice after being washed up after Garnet had thrown her again and speaking of Garnet, she seeing me struggle with the weight of the cannon ran over and with a easy like she was taking a paper weight took the cannon from my hands as she went to go position it to face the eye which was so close that it began to pull things in its direction, stone wood and roof shingles flying every where as the sand became far to unstable for my tired body to stand stably

Let me drive my van into your heart

Let me drive my van into your heart

Let me drive my van into your heart

(Song end)

"We have to use it now," Garnet said, turning to Steven. Pearl, meanwhile, was frantically rubbing the cannon, seemingly trying to find a way to activate it, but failing. Steven turned to his father, asking if he knew how to use it, only to receive the expected answer: no. Steven then looked back at Pearl, who stared at him seriously as she spoke.

"Steven, this is serious." Hearing Pearl's words, the poor boy suddenly found himself being picked up by Amethyst, who tried rubbing him against the cannon in an attempt to activate it. Unfortunately, it didn't work, and the group quickly told her to stop. Seemingly out of options, Amethyst suggested that Garnet throw her at the cannon, but Pearl, understanding that it wouldn't work, shot down the idea.

"Please work, unlock, activate, go—PLEASE. Everyone's counting on you; you can't just be useless. I know you can help!" Steven's voice trembled with sadness, nervousness, and fear all rolled into one. His dad patted him on the shoulder to calm him down.

"It's okay, Steven. We'll figure out something else, something even better," Greg's words offered little comfort as Steven turned back to the cannon.

"Right, if every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs." These words seemed to spark something in the cannon, which began to glow a beautiful pink as its barrel slowly unfurled into what looked like a magnificent pink rose. Several clicks signaled its slow preparation to fire.

"POINT IT TOWARD THE EYE!" I shouted at the stunned group. Hearing my words, they quickly grabbed the cannon and aimed it at the eye.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The cannon fired, unleashing a beam that split as it shot forward. The largest fragment took on the vague shape of a woman as it smashed into the eye, immediately creating a massive crater from which cracks spread rapidly. The eye glowed briefly before exploding, scattering debris everywhere and destroying many buildings in Beach City.

'It's finally over,' I thought with palpable relief as I dodged some of the smaller fragments that fell nearby. My attention was soon drawn to Jessica, who appeared beside me.

"What's next?" she asked, prompting me to think as I surveyed the fallen debris.

"Grab as many fragments as possible. Maybe Ms. Cary can study them," I replied. With that, Jessica and I set off around town to collect some of the fragments.

- - - - - - 

Honestly I might skip over Cheeseburger Backpack and Together Breakfast which is the next connaical episodes and skip to tiger millionaire any qualms or suggestions for those two episodes?

I feel like I can do a Jessica chapter if I do those two episodes but not sure what the group consensus? 

Also Is my story hard to read? Will make fixes and adjust the style if need be

(Duke): FIsh sandwhich

I could do it like that, but its not good for people who like audiobooks