2769/Cookie Cats in Manhattan

Cookie Cats in Manhattan
Date of Scene:	10 August 2015
Location:	Strait of the Americas
Synopsis:	Steven is tougher than he looks.
Cast of Characters:	Staren, Blurr, 749, 767, 836, 854

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Steven Universe (854) has posed:
Cookie Cat may have left his family behind, but Steven Universe didn't do that on purpose. He unfortunately finds himself in the custody of Peridot, who at the moment is escorting him down Time's Square in a random Earth. This Earth's only extraordinary property is that there's a random town in Indiana where strange paranormal things happen, but the rest of the planet is perfectly normal, including New York!

They get some stares, but most people don't care all that much, considering all of the conventions, and the fact that the Village exists. They stop at every random food place they can find, the latest being this hotdog cart.

He jumps up repeatedly, trying to talk to the hairy and rather unsanitary man serving said hotdogs. "Do." hop "You" hop "Have" hop "Cookie Cats?!"

"No, only hotdog and burger, with three dollar soda." the man answers, before Steven looks up at Peridot. "Can't you use your robot guys to find Cookie Cats faster?"

Steven Universe (854) has posed:
It's also day time, with a clear, hot, sunny sky. The weather is important too, you know!

Peridot (836) has posed:
    Peridot looked miserable. Her expression was deadpan and flat and she wiped her forehead. She spent a vast majority of her time in the climate controlled atmosphere of her warship. She squinted at the sun with a sour expression. "Why is your planet so unbearable close to your star?" She asked out loud before Steven shot back with a question about cookie cats. She rubbed her face idily, before interlocking her hands behind her back.
    
    "My plug robonoids are busy with the far more important task of ensuring the continued survival of gemkind. I've already wasted enough time scouring this boiling planet for the cat cookies." She went on in a lecturing tone. "Are you certain you need cookie cats to survive? Is this some unique property of a Steven?" She observed the hot dugs and hamburgers sizzling on the kiosk mans stand, her face contorting to one of mild disgust. "What... ARE those?" She ask, pointing the meats.

Staren has posed:
    "/Three dollars/ for a soda? That's /ridiculous/! Your hot dogs had better be /amazing/!" Staren chimes in. Sometimes, he goes to random worlds to see what's in the Multiverse. This city seems to be just another New York, though. He was passing by when those sensitive cat ears overheard. He might look out of place in his labcoat but, you know, conventions.

    Of course, now that he's /looking/ at the hot dog vendor, he can't help but notice the /customer/. He gasps. "Peridot!" Then he looks at her suspiciously. "What are you up to? ...Is that the kid you're keeping in jail?"

Vega (749) has posed:
     Power attracts power. Disparate forces call to each other, sending ripples throughout space and time. The powerful are drawn together by the nature of power itself, by the desire to use that power to accomplish their goals and change the world, and by the desire of power to be used and tested wherever possible.

     And it is also the case that those with power often desire more of it.

     The monster - 'man' is a term that no longer applies here, and has not for some time - known as Vega is no exception. Indeed, quite the opposite; Vega's lust for power is second only to his fighting spirit. The appearance of new power is something to be interested in, to examine, and - if necessary - to acquire through force.

     Often does the Dictator of Shadowlaw hope it is necessary.

     Vega appears in a burst of purple fire. The atmosphere of the area around him shifts immediately, as if in reaction to his presence. Where once there was bright light, sound, and cheer, now there is a palpable sense of discomfort, an aura of malice and menace that seems to stretch outwards from the Dictator. His aura seems an almost physical thing, filling space as well as perception, and making him seem much, much larger than his physical body should allow. People on the street, no matter their tolerance for the weird, will probably start running the hell away - which, in fairness, is a wise decision when a cloaked man in a red military uniform appears out of a burst of purple fire and hovers with maximum ominousness.

Steven Universe (854) has posed:
"Cookie Cats are the best food, so if I have Cookie Cats, that means I'll live a longer and happier life!" Steven explains with far more certainty than should be possible for such an incorrect statement.

"Wow, a catboy, just like in anime!" he shouts as he moves to climb up Peridot's back and get a better view of everything around them, which is a lot of weight to have climbing up one's back! "Oh, I'm not in jail anymore, now I'm just in custody until we find the other Crystal Gems! Why does a catboy know about me?! Is this the start of a magical anime adventure?!"

When Vega appears, Steven narrows his eyes at how huge the man is, and the strange, ominous feeling at the back of his mind. Where most might run away, he actually makes his way back down from peridot, and begins to walk over to him. "Um, hello, sir. Are you the Mayor of New York?"

Makoto Kato (767) has posed:
    New York's pretty neat. Tall skyscrapers, hot day, sunny weather, street food, floating dictators who look they just stepped out of the flight deck of a Boeing 767...

    Wait, what was that last part?

    Apparently, Shadowlaw is here (or Shadaloo, if you're Michael Bison, the American Champ, with a mouthpiece in, darn mouthpieces) to OPPRESS CHILDREN!

    Also, Makoto is here. Apparently someone strong was around? This whole gig with the multiverse... Well, honestly, it was pretty great, and she got to casually nip over to New York in her black karate gi and her really awkward long silver neckband. She's also got a hotdog, which she's carrying in a piece of greasy butcher paper, and munches on. She's nominally 'flanking' Vega, staring at Steven ask after 'Cookie Cats'

    Nomf nomf nomf. "What's a cookie cat?" Makoto asks Steven, sounding like a bored Japanese girl who is mildly interested in this phenomenon of a rogue ice cream sandwich feline.

    She does not even look at Vega as he OPPRESSES NONFLYING PEOPLE.

Peridot (836) has posed:
     She looked down once more at the hot dog and hamburger. "...Is that meat? Aren't you humans made of meat?" She presses, squinting one of her eyes. "Completely.. bizarre. I don't even know what to write about this in my log." At being pressed into questions about Steven, Peridot looks up and observes Staren with a certain amount of scorn. Shade throwing the likes of which very few other gems had the capacity to muster. She didn't make a habit of letting herself be randomly interrogated on the street, so she adjust her visor.

    "Who are you? And how do you know my name? Are you one of that.. smiling idiots allies? Sunstone?"

    As Vega makes a rather astonishing entrance, Peridot looks to him as well. Her visor blinking a few times and giving her various readouts. She doesn't seem to fond of what she reads, and as Steven waltzes over to him she holds up her hand and catches up to him. "Steven! Does your kind have no innate survival instincts? Be careful!"

Blurr has posed:
    Thanks to a little bit of a nasty surprise left behind on Peridot's ship not long ago, Blurr has been able to track the Gem down once again. His hoverspeeder vehicle mode is parked near the hot dog cart where Steven and Peridot are standing. It -sort of- blends in with the rest of NYC, 'sort of' because it kind of looks like it came out of a sci-fi movie. Peridot -might- recognize it.

    Hmm, cookie cats, huh? Who is that guy she's with anyway? What exactly is a Cookie Cat? To the internet!

Vega (749) has posed:
     There's just something plain /unsettling/ about Vega's grin. The grin spreads across his face like somebody's pulling the lips back to reveal more teeth, rather than someone actually smiling because of amusement or happiness. Like there are hooks where muscles should be, and the skin is just sort of moving on its own.

     Vega is here to oppress the powerful. The fact that the powerful happened to be a small child of dubious intellect is unrelated. Vega is the sort of man who could oppress literally anything if he put his mind to it. He could oppress the happiest dog in the world for the sheer joy of oppressing it.

     But it's Peridot's comment that draws his attention. His head tilts slowly upwards, leaving Steven to the "tender" "minstrations" of Makoto, alias Walking Murder Engine. His eyes fall upon her, and Peridot gets a far better look at his face.

     The windows to Vega's soul are empty, white, and thoroughly inhuman.

     "What an interesting question," Vega observes slowly, his voice dripping with liquid, quantifiable Evil.

     He floats slowly forward. "Survival instincts are such a fascinating idea. Human beings in particular so rarely understand them. They have convinced themselves - nay, /deluded/ themselves - into the idea that /sacrifice/, /bravery/, and /death/ are good and noble causes in the face of something dangerous."

     Vega's head tilts to the side with a certain inhuman jerkiness. "It is not unique to humans, of course. No matter where there is intelligence, there are people who will convince themselves and others of the *nobility* of death."

     "As if it is something to be *proud of*. Then again, perhaps they are right." Vega turns his head to look at the bystanders of New York. "Perhaps it is something to be proud of."

     That horrible grin widens.

     "For they will form the cobblestones upon my road to victory. And who would not be honored to know that they gave their lives for something greater?"

     Vega's head slowly turns back around, like an owl's head untwisting itself. His grin has not moved. "I am Vega." The word resonantes through the air, carrying with it a dark and horrible ring, as if his name is an utterance the world itself wishes would go away.

     "I have come to see the power that drew my attention. Is it you who bears it? Or is it the boy?"

Staren has posed:
    Staren stops to stare at Vega. The man certainly commands attention! But then, you know, Steven and Peridot are themselves. "I, um... really? I thought it was always cat/girls/ in anime... I mean... I read your gaming profile! and..." He glances at Peridot, then back to Steven, "You're travelling to different worlds with aliens and you have a pet lion. Aren't you /already/ on an anime adventure?"

    And then he gives an 'are you kidding me' look to Peridot. "/Yes/, that's why we need to /eat/ meat, it's made of the same chemicals as us and we need those chemicals! How do /gems/ get energy?" He realizes he actually doesn't know this.

    His ears splay at her question. "You were on the radio. And yeah, we have a file on you. I'm Staren of the Union. I'm in the WMAT. I was on TV yesterday?"

    And then Vega gives his Hannibal Lecture. Staren blinks. "Sacrifice, bravery, and death aren't noble causes, although, if necessary, they can be /actions/ used to /further/ noble causes. And Iiiii think the whole proud sacrifice thing only applies when you die for a cause you believe in. I'm pretty sure /nobody/ believes in a cause that would describe them as 'cobblestones.'"

    THEN Staren realizes he's shooting his mouth off at what is obviously a powerful bad guy. Should he deploy his armor? No, /probably/ better to seem relatively harmless, for now.

Makoto Kato (767) has posed:
    Makoto is left with Steven, who explains Cookie Cats to her. She eats her own hotdog as Peridot is confused at eating and stuff, so the bored-looking Japanese street fighter helpfully explains. "Humans need to eat fuel that gives them the energy to do stuff and maintain their bodies." She lifts the hotdog as a show. "This is basically like fuel for a car. But tasty. And bad for the car, too." She offers. Her metaphor gets mangled there at the end.

    As Staren goes on about Anime adventures, Makoto just shakes her head.

    "Nah. I'm from Japan. Home of Anime. It's not an anime adventure unless he's got an animal companion, magic powers, and an oversized sword. Maybe a female love interest. And gattai. You've got to have gattai."

    She goes back to eating her hotdog, as Vega goes FULL WUXIA VILLAIN, the sort of expression someone gives reruns of a show they tolerate when there's nothing else on the channel.

Steven Universe (854) has posed:
"Humans eat animal meat, because animal meat is delicious! Like hotdogs, hotdogs are a mystery meat, and hamburgers are made of cows!" Steven continues following Vega, though he looks over at Makoto when she asks her question. "Cookie Cat is a refugee of an interstellar war, -and- a frozen treat with an all new taste!" he says as if he's quoting from something, then crouches down at Vega's foot, reaching in to lightly poke at the man's leg as if it's a random dead thing on the side of a road.

"Sorry, Vega, I thought you were a little scary, so I figured I should come close and see that you're not a monster or anything!" he admits, then stands up straight and stares directly up at the man. "I'm Steven Universe, a Crystal Gem! That's Peridot, she's kinda bad but she's learning to be good, so she's cool! And, well, I have powers too!" He reaches down and lifts his t-shirt up, slapping the gem on his stomach, causing his fat to wobble around a bit like jello.

"Crystal Gems save the world from weird stuff, and we do noble things all the time!" He looks around, crossing his arms in deep thought. "I mean, I guess I'm kind of on an anime adventure, but that's just gem stuff. I mean, I've never gone to a magical karate high school! I'm not even old enough to go to high school!"

But his deep thought seems to be over as he points at the extra fancy McDonalds, which looks like it has a sign that lights up at night. "We should all go to McDonalds and talk!" He looks up at Vega again. "Have you ever had a Happy Meal? I don't know if they still have the Crying Breakfast Friends toys."

He does look at Makoto again, when she lists all of the requirements of an anime adventure, rubbing his chin. "I don't know what a gattai is, and my mother's sword is kind of heavy, so I don't wield it!"

Makoto Kato (767) has posed:
    "Gattai is combination. Like, two character's combining into one super-form, to defeat evil and save the world. It's a must. Especially for mecha." Makoto notes academically, before looking at MacDonalds in the distance. "But I've got a hotdog already..." She sighs.

    Vega will probably franchies the place into a SHADOW BURG(ER) where there's a playplace with boxing gloves and full contact cage matches or something. It may happen just because he walks in. Weirder things have.

Peridot (836) has posed:
    "Mushing up chemicals in your mouth, then it sits in you for while.. then you eject it." She cringes. "The whole ordeal sounds horrifying and weird."
    As Vega waxed villain Peridot looked to Steven uneasily before back up to him.    
    It was moments like this that Peridot wished Jasper was still around. Jasper would have relished meeting all these... weirdos. They could battle it out all they wanted. But, Peridot was pretty sure Jasper had died. And she carried the burden of being the more practical of the two. Her solution was typically 'nuke it from a distance' when diplomacy was unnecessary, or when it fell through.

    She knew very little about humans. But nothing about Vega set off her 'this is a human' alert. She was beginning to wonder if she had met any humans at all, since arriving on this miserable planet. She leaned back as he concluded his speech about death and the nobility, or lack there of inherent within it. There was a little too much going on to address all the warning flags going off in her head. If something bad happened to Steven, Lapis would never let her hear the end of it.
    
    "Right then.. I'm going to go with none of the above." She answered. Seeing no reason to boast. She had no beef with with this red-garbed person- the only approval she needed from anyone was Yellow Diamond and Peridot wasn't even sure if she was alive either. "Steven, we need to leave now. My security parameter robonoids are going nuts." She took him by the arm, her free-floating fingers forming her holopad and she starts typing on it with a single finger.

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Steven. "Gem stuff sounds like an anime adventure to me. Magical high schools sound terrible. Either you've got a dark wizard flinging death curses -- those /really hurt/, by the way -- or you've got some stupid system where everyone judges you by how many stars are on your uniform, or you're learning to be the grim reaper. I've never heard of a magical high school that sounds like someplace I'd want to go." Beat. "...I've never heard of any high school that sounds like a place I'd want to go, actually. High school sounds like it su---uh, stinks." Beat. "...And hot dogs are not actually mystery meat. They're usually made of chickens, pigs, turkeys, or cows."

Vega (749) has posed:
     Vega's eyes linger on Staren for a moment. Overwhelming arrogance wins out against confidence; those horrible white eyes pass over him, apparently unaware that he could be a threat. "They should be honored. Delighted. To die for Vega is to die for a greater purpose. How great is the mercy of Vega, that I grant them release from their mundane, meaningless lives, the vast and shuffling machinery of society, and the pitiful knowledge that their mere existence is naught but a pointless accident? In death or in life, they serve me."

     Vega throws out his arm from under the cloak, sending it rippling behind him. His arm is massive, the muscular arm of a practiced fighter. The uniform beneath his cloak is similarly filled by a massive body, swollen with muscle and bulging with barely-constrained physique. "Freed of responsibility! Of the pain of confusion! Of wondering what purpose their lives will serve! In Vega's service, they are *given meaning*, and all the worlds will tremble at-"

     Steven lifts up his shirt to display his fat belly to Vega. Vega stops, /mid-sentence/, a feat that has never in the history of the human race occured. The monologue literally dies instantly. Never before has there been a child so pointlessly, inhumanly insane as to walk up to Vega and bear his flabby stomach to the Dictator. Most people around Vega behave exactly like Peridot or Staren - either aware of their survival instincts going, in dark purple letters, GET AWAY FROM THAT GUY or making heroic speeches because they think Vega hasn't heard them all before.

     The sheer /good-naturedness/ of it throws Vega off. The sheer...perpetual, unthinking, unfeeling *honesty* is like a wrench in the gears of Vega's perpetual capital-E Super Evil. It just...it puts him off his groove. Off his S-Groove. Off his...off his *game*.

     Vega hangs there, mute, arm still wide, cloak still rippling through *no powe of his own*, trying to comprehend what exactly just happened. A mind powerful enough to live on after death stumbles over the idea that someone could be that...*trusting*.

     He just can't understand it.

Steven Universe (854) has posed:
"Oh, I can fuse! Well, so far I can only fuse with Connie, and we haven't really saved the world while fused... but we went to a dance party! But I've never gone to school, so I don't really know much about it except what Connie tells me!" Steven frowns as Peridot grabs his arm, but he frowns even more at what Vega is saying.

"But you shouldn't be happy when people die for you! They're your friends, and... and they care about you! I mean, I understand that maybe you're a bad guy, or, I don't know, maybe you made some bad choices in life! But you shouldn't take your friends for granted, if they care about you so much that you're their entire purpose in life!" He stares down at his feet for a long moment, seeming a little sad.

Then he looks back up at Vega, smiling. "I have a lot of friends who would risk their lives for me, and I'd risk my life for them! That's just what friendship is." While Peridot is holding one arm, he holds his hand out to Vega, eyes glistening with hope and an inviting offer of friendship. "We should be friends, I think you could use a friend! Maybe you just don't understand what it's like for regular people who aren't the mayor. We could play Monopoly, then you'd get it!"

Makoto Kato (767) has posed:
    Makoto, seeing as Vega has stoped Madlibs With Dictator, picks up the slack, crouching down to poke at the solid gemstone embedded in his belly. "You sure you didn't just lodge some museum piece in your bellybutton?" She asks, even going so far as to tug at the stone. But, it ostensibly doens't budge, and she shrugs. "Well, I'm satisfied. So you're a Crystal Gem because you've got a gemstone in your belly, and she's..." She points at Peridot. "A Homeworld Gem because... You know I really don't care, but I see the gem in your forehead, and your little finger-things, so, yep. Cool." She offers, the perfect picture of high school aged mild apathy. Standing back up, she looks at Vega.

    "I think you were on 'Will tremble at the mere presence of a will as something something'..." She offers in a sort of helpful deadpan, rolling at her wrist. "Or, oh, wait no, maybe 'the golorious purpose and unity something something? That one's a pretty versatile line."

Staren has posed:
    Staren /kind/ of wants to tell Steven not to bother with this, but... is the kid really a Magical Boy? Could it be at all possible that he really might have some kind of redemption or purification powers? It /might/ be worth a shot, right? Right?

Vega (749) has posed:
     This might be too much for Vega. No one has ever asked him to be his *friend*. No one has ever been so eager to befriend the Dictator, nor has anyone /cared/ about the Dictator. This small child...well, if this was a different series, and if Vega was actually a person instead of a congealed mass of psychic Evil, this might have had a different ending.

     The boy's outstretched hand is stared at for a long moment. Makoto's words - reminding him where he was in his speech (he'd actually lost track of it) snap him back to reality, or at least his own personal little psychotic version. His grin vanishes in an instant, the lips falling back together as though gravity was more important than musculature. The horrible aura that pervades the area seems to darken the lights and dim the sky as Vega's anger bubbles to the surface.

     "You dare mock me? You? A child so willing to trundle into the clasp of death itself on the fragile, fleeting hope that you may possibly gain something as meaningless and pitiful as a *friend*?"

     And then Vega throws back his head and laughs.

     It is not a nice laugh. It is not the laugh of a man who is having a good time. It is the laugh of a creature that no longer acknowledges joy, happiness, or life itself as anything other than something to be crushed, ground out, and broken. It is a wild, monstrous laugh, right out of a nightmare.

     "Very well, boy. I will be your *friend*." No one has ever made the word 'friend' sound quite as menacing as a six-foot-tall psychic conglomeration of pure evil.

     "We will play a game."

     Vega raises his hand.

     His aura congeals around that hand. Purple, roiling fire burns around his grasp, fully-visible even to those who are not psychically sensitive. Vega's hand closes into a fist as his terrible grin reappears, and purple fire suddenly lights about Steven like an aura.

     With almost casual contempt, Vega raises the boy into the air.

     "The rules are very simple, boy. I am going to hurt you. I am going to hurt you with my Psycho Power until I see your power manifest. And then, if it is of use to me, I will kill you and make it mine."

     "What do you think, child? Does that sound /fun/? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

     Vega's free hand waves at Makoto. "Hold them off if they try and interfere," he tells her, "I have no doubt that you will enjoy it." He's not really insulted by Makoto reminding him where he was in his speech. You don't get mad at somebody *useful*, after all, until they actually disrespect you.

Makoto Kato (767) has posed:
    "Woah woah woah woah now." Makoto sighs, raising her hands in a 'calm down' posture. "Woah. Don't you put that on me."

    She takes the most accurate Vega impression she can. "Makoto, I will now punch this child. Please stop the four to six people who all seem somewhat competent from murdering this mortal vessel of mine with your body'. Now, I mean, I'm all for a fight..." She rolls her neck to the left and to the right, then her shoulders. "But this seems to be an improper division of labor, here."

Vega (749) has posed:
     Vega seems slightly annoyed by this.

     "Very well. Then /handle what you can/, and I will handle the rest as I torture this child into revealing his true power."

Staren has posed:
    When Vega announces his /game/, Staren's expression darkens, and he mutters a word he /really/ shouldn't in front of Steven. He reaches down to his belt buckle and turns what looks like an abstract design, causing a glow to cover his body and then solidify into armor (which includes lots of crystals! Hmm...) as he tries to run in between Vega and Steven. "NO." he states. "Beating up on children, honestly? How does this improve your greatness? At least fight a /real/ defender of justice or something!"

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr watches Peridot and Steven, listening to the Union frequency at the same time. According to Sunstone, the kid, Steven, was a prisoner of war. From listening to his ramblings, it did appear that he would share Sunstone's philosophy. What Peridot wanted with the boy he wasn't all too sure, but it sounded as if he was in danger if Peridot did manage to take him back to the Homeworld.

    And then Vega starts doing -that-.

    Okay, never mind, he's in danger right -now-.

    The Autobot immediately springs into action, making use of his holomatter first to appear suddenly between Vega and Steven, hopefully disrupting Vega's concentration. "Put the boy down now, you glitchead, or I'm going to have to -hurt- you."

Steven Universe (854) has posed:
Steven starts to rise up, wildly flailing his limbs as he's held suspended in the air. He can feel that darkness, the /evil/, more than he's ever felt before in his life. "What... what are you doing?!" he asks as he finds his young brain very quickly becoming overwhelmed. His power does manifest, a solid pink bubble suddenly surrounds him, but it doesn't do much to stop Vega other than make him heavier. It also unfortunately creates a tough barrier that makes it rather difficult to actually -grab- Steven.

He starts to hold his stomach, curling up in pain. "My stomach..." He seems pained, tears starting to stream down his cheeks. "What is this..." He stares down at his hands now, covered in purple, power beyond his comprehension.

Then, out of the blue, there's a large pink portal a few feet to the left of Vega. And out comes a massive lion, at least twice the size of a normal lion. And it happens to be inexplicably pink.

It hops through the portal with all the fury that one would expect of a wild animal, and attempts to bite Vega directly on the arm.

"Lion!" Steven shouts, positive emotion suddenly bubbling up in him, pushing against the hate and evil he's being overwhelmed with, not in an emotional struggle of hope and goodness vs. evil and hate.

Peridot (836) has posed:
    Truthfully, Peridot did not care much for Steven. Steven was a job, a hassle and a distraction from her important work. But if there was one thing Peridot cared about; it was her job. She cared about rules and responsibilities; and Steven was her responsibility. His care was her job now. Or Lapis would kill her.

    She grits her teeth as her brows arch in a worried expression. She begins typing madly on her holopad. "Auugh! Steven." She says in a frustrated tone. "Of course you'd lead me right into a situation like this." odd, that she blamed Steven, over Vega. "I'm going to need my ship."

    As the command was put in, she raised her left hand, the holopad that was being created by her floating fingers disperse and create the shape of a blaster. As Blurr made his appearance, she gasped. "What are YOU doing here too?" That must have been the warning her robonoids had been sending her earlier. Well, no time to deal with him at the moment. She had to at least try and rescue the Steven. Her blaster began to charge with green energy and then...

    A lion appeared. Wait, did she recognize that lion? "Steven, get out of there!"

Makoto Kato (767) has posed:
    Well this was just great. There was like... At least two people here to stop Vega. Three? Four?

    Makoto stands there, scratching the back of her head slowly as people get ready for punching. "So this is what we're doing. Okay, uh... There's two robot guys? I guess I can take... Wait, Peridot, you're going to fight? I want to fight you, that seems fun." She offers, sounding actually eager for the first time today.

    And then a pink lion appears.

    Steven said something about his mom's sword. At his age, he's probably got a friend-who-is-female.

    "Oh wow, this kid's life really is an anime." She notes, starting to stretch out her legs. She seems really... Accepting that there is a child being tortured and people getting ready to fight.

Vega (749) has posed:
     Unfortunately for both Staren and Blurr, being 'in front of' Vega is really not very relevant to Vega's ability to hold Steven in the air. Vega is not a person, though no one here has any way to know that except Makoto, who has been around Vega long enough to see that much - although they might have gotten some small hint of it, since Vega doesn't /blink/ regularly. He blinks as if he's remembering to, rather than if it's something that's discomforting him.

     His lips do shift around into a sneer. "Do you imagine that power cares about age? That it is somehow more noble to protect a child with power than to treat him as one who is powerful? What a ludicrous notion. Might cares not for age, or sex, or /handicaps/. One who has power is one of the powerful, and I *will* learn the true nature of the power that so thoroughly captured my attention."

     "Though if you wish to battle I am *happy* to oblige."

     As Steven's bubble wraps around him, Vega starts laughing. "YES! YES! SHOW ME YOUR POWER! SHOW ME WHAT IT IS THAT CALLED TO VEGA! SHOW ME! HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

     And then a lion jumps out of *absolutely nowhere* and latches onto his arm.

     Vega's response to this is...a bit bizarre. Normally, someone being bitten by a lion might scream, or be surprised, or perhaps even say 'oh my goodness I'm being bitten by a lion'. Vega does none of those things. His body jerks, as if on automatic, as blood sprays outwards from the bite. It's normal, human blood, so that's...good? Probably? But there's no grimace of pain, no wince of displeasure. His body convulses slightly, as if the pain sensors in his nerves were transmitting to his brain, but there's no other response. Like nobody's home.

     Or like a puppet flailing on a string.

     "Is this it?" Vega demands, "Is this all that you have to offer me? Your defenders coddle you as if you were so weak I could break you with nothing but my mind. But you resist me, boy! You resist my Psycho Power! Portals and force fields, conjurer's tricks and petty allies!"

     Vega vanishes in a puff of purple fire, his image hanging there for a brief instant before it too vanishes. He reappears behind Steven, floating near the bubble, the lion still attached to his arm. Vega shakes the arm gently, as if he was trying to dislodge something, well, substantially less dangerous than a lion. "Are you truly so empty as they imagine, child? Are you as weak as your feeble 'friendship'?"

     Then he lowers his voice substantially, so that only Steven can hear him.

     He rises once again, that selfsame sneer once again on his lips as he watches Peridot begin to summon her ship. "Is this boy so important to you? Is he your 'friend'? Do you wish to protect him with all your heart?"

     "Or are you one who desires true power?"

     But then Makoto moves to handle her, so Vega refocuses his attention on Staren and Blurr.

Staren has posed:
    Staren whirls after Vega teleports. "Idiot. Do you know why humans /have/ the intelligence needed to understand power? Because /having other people on their side/ was the greatest power they could have before /science/! Friendship /is/ power! And I don't know that he's weak or strong, but I'm not taking that chance!"

    Staren reaches into his bag. "True power is useless without a cause to use it for! And I want it to /protect people/!" he draws an oversized chrome-plated revolver. The Annihilator, a weapon forged by a deity of mad science for slaying monsters. Staren doesn't know Vega's not human, but hopes maybe he's evil enough to count. Plus, you know, it's still a mad science gun.

    Which he fires at Vega. BANG! Two large-caliber bullets come down the barrel one after the other, empowered with the New Science of a god.

Steven Universe (854) has posed:
"NO!" Steven shouts as his bubble suddenly pops. "I won't let you hurt my friends, I don't care if you've made the wrong choices in life, or if you have tons of muscles, and purple powers! I'll protect my friends no matter what!"

He starts to strain, as if trying to fight against Vega's psycho power. Then the spot of his shirt right above his gem begins to glow a bright pink, and he holds his arm up, making a fist as an ornate pink energy shield forms over his arm.

BGM SHIFT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjgTMA0NhhI

"LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!!!" He suddenly tosses the shield with far more strength than a normal human child, the shield spinning directly toward Vega's stomach. Then, at the same time, Lion releases him to jump high into the air, then roar a series of shockwaves down at the Dictator.

"I'm Steven Universe, a Crystal Gem, and I won't lose to evil purple powers!!!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks aside at Steven. "Woah. Guess he /did/ have power after all!"

Blurr has posed:
    Oh, Peridot's summoning her ship. Great! Blurr had been hoping she would at some point, so that he could tag it hopefully without her noticing. This was the perfect situation, too. Plenty of distractions to keep her attention focused on Steven. He just has to wait for it to show up.

    "Calm your tailpipes lady." The avatar smirks at Peridot's reaction to him. "I'm on -your- side this time." As far as protecting Steven goes, at least.

    When Vega teleports, the avatar appears to also teleport, once again appearing between Vega and Steven. It attempts to shove both of them away from each other. "Why is this boy so important to -you-?" He asks, turning the question meant for Peridot around. "You just want to pick a fight or what?"

Peridot (836) has posed:
    "Just shut and give me back the Steven!" Peridot squinted nervously. She wasn't a fighter! She was.. a genius! And fighting someone who liked to fight didn't seem like a smart thing to do for someone who fancied herself intelligent. At least, fighting them directly was stupid. "Filthy human! Do you think you can take me on?" She barked and raised her blaster. But, she wasn't firing a shot. She was wiressly sending instructions to her Robonoids who had been monitoring her and Steven's excursion from the get go.

    The Robonoids above her leapt off- an avalanche of metal and gem hulls silently raining down and threatening to bury her if she didn't react in time.

Vega (749) has posed:
     Staren shoots him in the chest.

     Again, Vega jerks furiously like a puppet on a string, or a ragdoll in a video game. His legs thrash furiously. His free arm flings around, swinging violently. If it was in a video game, it would be almost funny.

     But seeing a grown, six-foot-some man suddenly jerk unnaturally in the air is not funny in real life. It is horrific. At the same time, the lion cuts him free, releasing his arm to thrash about with the rest of his body. The lion's roar batters down on him as Steven's shield crashes into Vega, meeting the point where the Annihilator's wounds gape in his uniform. Vega slams against a lamppost, crashing into it from the sheer force of the unified assault. The lamppost bends around him at a mighty angle, wrapping like a ribbon about his form.

     For a moment, Vega simply hangs there in the air, his arms and legs dangling limply in front of him, the lamppost twisted around him.

     Then his arm rights itself. Then his other arm. Then his legs. Then his back. He straightens, motion by motion, as though each piece of him was some independent force that needed to be realigned with the rest of his body.

     "How full of assumptions you are," Vega murmurs, "As if you are the only one with allies. As if you are the only one permitted to wield the might of science. As if you and you alone have a cause. How delightfully /self-righteous/."

     The lamppost suddenly rings itself in purple fire, uncoiling from around Vega. With a disparaging flick of his fingers, the lamppost goes flying at Staren - not merely the metal but the shattered glass, the torn-up wires sparking bits of electricity, the coil, *everything*. It propels itself at Staren like a storm of violence and destruction, ready to crash into him at a moment's notice.

     "Only a truly stupid man stands alone against the whole of the Multiverse."

     Laconically, Vega reaches outwards with his other hand. Glass shatters along the street, raining down upon the battlefield like flechettes. Pieces of store displays go flying from inside their buildings, hurtling towards Steven, the Lion, and Blurr with purple-ringed malice as the battlefield turns to a war zone with a motion of Vega's hands.

     One of the cars on the street rises.

     "I will see your power," Vega intones, answering Blurr as well as Steven, "I will see the true depth of your strength if I must push you to the brink of oblivion itself."

     The car fires past Peridot's ship, past Makoto, and past Staren, cleaving straight through the glass flechettes and chaotic whirlwind of debris.

     Yeah, Vega just threw a car at a kid.

Steven Universe (854) has posed:
Steven holds both hands out this time, his shield gone again. But as the comparatively massive car flies at him, his shield appears again, this time -much- larger, large enough to protect him and anyone who happens to be around him.

When the car hits, it wraps around the shield and splits in two, right before the shield quickly vanishes again.

He's breathing heavily now, arms hanging as he stares up at Vega. "Why are you trying to hurt my friends?! Why does it matter if you get stronger if it means you don't get to have anyone to protect? What's the point in being strong if you're all alone?!" he asks as Lion suddenly rubs by, grabbing Steven by the back of his shirt to toss the boy onto his back.

Now mounted onto the back of a massive pink lion, Steven holds onto his mane, and the two charge toward Vega. "We won't let you hurt anyone else! Just because you have this cold... dark... robot heart, it doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want!"

Lion suddenly fires a blast, which creates a portal behind Vega, and the beast leaps forward in an attempt to tackle him directly into it.

Blurr has posed:
    Well slag. This Vega guy is no joke, Blurr thinks to himself as he literally turns this street into a chaotic war zone, and some debris even flies into his true form still parked nearby, causing some scratches and dents. Okay, in that case, the gloves are off. The avatar suddenly disappears, and the blue hover speeder flips upward and outward, rapidly changing shape until it's not a car but a 30-foot robot standing before them.

    "Staren, look out!" Seeing the danger headed Staren's way, he moves to intervene, darting sideways at a pace that belies his size. The Autobot attempts to grab the twisted lamppost and send it hurling right back at Vega.

Staren has posed:
    Staren's starting to tweak to the fact that Vega's not normal. 'Construct' and 'Body posessed by powerful evil' come to mind as possibilities. "Hmph. I never said any of those things."

    The lamppost hits something -- for a brief moment, a multilayered, amber sphere of force is visible around Staren -- at the impact point, it turns white and cracks spiderweb out, partially shattering in a shower of amber sparkles which quickly fade like the sphere. Staren is knocked back as if struck all the same, at first sliding on his feet but then falling on his back and sliding across the street until he bumps into the curb. "Nnngh." He grunts as he gets back to his feet. "Hm. Stupid I might be, but I've never stood /alone/."

    And then Vega throws a car at a kid. Possibilities race through Staren's mind and are discarded -- he can't stop the car. He runs towards Steven, but he can't possibly make it there in time.

    Fortunately, the kid has shield powers.

    Staren runs up next to Steven, but then Lion runs off with the boy. "He doesn't /think/ like that." Staren calls out. "He wants to see your power and he's succeeding because he's forced you to use it. Unfortunately, the alternative would be a pointless death. So we give him the fight he wants, until--"

    An idea strikes Staren.

    But at the same time, he realizes that if he suggests the lion portal Steven out, if it can even understand commands, then Vega will probably throw some sort of tantrum and level city blocks in retaliation. He needs a better idea of this guy's abilities!

    Actually, what /is/ this guy, anyway?

    Staren runs over to Peridot, who clearly doesn't want Steven hurt. "Hey! I know it's a longshot, but do you have any devices that can tell..." Staren waves his revolver at Vega, ".../what/ is going on over there? Is he a construct or some kind of magic posessing force? If we can figure out what he is, maybe we can shut him down!"

    Speaking of which, he uses his armor's own sensors to check Vega for magic, ki, whether that body is actually alive, and dimensional distortions. Unfortunately, his supernatural sensors are limited roughly to 'is it there and how much', rather than identifying specific subtypes or what they're doing.

Peridot (836) has posed:
    As Staren yells the suggestion at her, she grimaces. Working with humans made her uncomfortable... much less humans who wanted to stop her. But, her ship would be here soon, so she needed to buy time to keep Steven alive until her reinforcments arrived. She taps the side of her lens and attempts to scan Vega to see what sort of reading she could get. Gem tech wasn't purely science oriented-- It's developed to be interfaced with beings composed of holo-matter utilizing a combination of magic and technology as a gems physical form was magic based.

    If Vega was composed, or being powered by anything relating to one or the other she would be able to detect and measure it.

Vega (749) has posed:
     The air around Vega is a cluster of activity. From one side comes the charging lion, rampaging forward with a small child upon its back who appears to have the power to conjure and teleport things, wield a force field, and most stunningly resist the Psycho Power through the force of goodness and light, whom despite all this everyone seems to feel is also a helpless child. From the other side comes the lamppost Vega had just hurled at (and hit) Staren, flung by a 30-fot-tall robot.

     That makes it sort of hard for Staren or Peridot's sensors to detect much of anything. There's so much power being flung around, so much of whatever it is that Vega is mainlining or wielding or...whatever...that trying to pin down whether it's magic, science, or something else is virtually impossible. Staren and Peridot can tell, at the least, that Vega is a living, breathing, functioning human being, with bodily functions, a pumping heart, and all that stuff. He is, in fact, more durable than a human being should be, and there's certainly SOME force pervasive throughout his body, but the exact origins are difficult to pin down. There's an immense amount of whatever that power is - what Vega keeps calling 'Psycho Power', presumably - all over the field, and scanning that directly is just as unclear. It's not fully ki, since it doesn't come entirely from inside him; it's not really magic, since he's clearly not casting spells. But Vega himself is certainly human, at least in body...

     Speaking of that body, a lion crashes into it, and then a lamppost mere seconds later. That lamppost is all that stops Vega from being sucked into the portal directly, flinging him just so to the side. He crashes through the opened window of one of the demolished stores, landing on one of those in-set tables you get at diners - the sort that aren't booths, because they're in the middle of the floor. Vega's back arches across it, as though broken.

     He rises into the air once more, his back still arched. In front of their eyes, and with a sickening *crack*, Vega rights himself, as though he was forcing his back into position from outside. There's a nasty bruise on his chest where the lamppost hit him, and most of his uniform is already torn away, revealing the mass of muscles, claw marks, and bullet wounds that accompany the purple-and-black discoloration.

     So he bleeds, and he bruises...

     Vega floats out of the building, arms stretched at his side, blazing with purple light. His cape roils behind him as he advances, slowly, on the group, his mad laughter echoing throughout the flechette nightmare.

     "At first you had my interest, boy," Vega observes, "Now you have my *respect*. In time you will *truly* be great enough to fight me on your own, and when that day comes, I will kill you with these hands for the mere joy of fighting a true warrior."

     Vega's hands pulse. "Your allies, your /friends/, your caretakers, your chains. You have the power to be greater than them all. Learn it. Wield it. Become mighty enough to be worthy of Vega's challenge, and face me in the future."

     "But first you must survive me and prove my respect well-given."

     "PSYCHO!"

     And suddenly, the flechette storm dies, the glass falling to the ground like rain, tinkling across the sidewalk. The whirling debris vanishes. The overwhelming presence of Vega's aura fades, or falls backwards, or...something...and Staren and Peridot's sensors go berserk as the purple fire wreathes Vega in menacing flame.

     "CRRRRUUUUUUSSHERRRRRR!"

     Arms outstretched, trailing purple light, Vega goes shooting towards the group like a bullet. Cars are blown backwards in the backdraft. Streetlights not already ruined by the violence come uprooted, hurtled away by the force of his passing. The street itself crumbles, the sidewalk torn apart as Vega rockets along, destruction in his wake, destruction in front of him, a missile of purple fire and evil power.

Steven Universe (854) has posed:
Normally Lion would immediately take Steven away from this, but he knows, from the way Steven moves his arms forward, that Steven does /not/ want to leave, regardless of the consequence.

"My allies, my friends, and my caretakers, they /are/ my chains! They hold me up, and they won't ever let me fall! I'm a chain too, and I'll hold /them/ up! Like... like... some kind of flying, spinning, chain monster of friendship!"

He only has the energy for one more shield, and when that Psycho Crusher comes crashing down, he forms yet another large shield in front of him, trying to defend anyone that he can. "Get behind me if you can't survive this!" he shouts as Lion tries to dig his claws into the ground, and Steven squints his eyes as he feels his shield beginning to crack.

Once it finally passes, the shield shatters and Steven falls forward, completely unconscious on Lion's back.

Will Peridot get Steven? Will Blurr?

Now is probably not the time anyone will figure it out, as Lion immediately roars, firing a portal blast and jumping right through it, with Steven on his back.

No one gets Steven, apparently!

Staren has posed:
    Staren doesn't think Steven's /weak/, though he did think it possible before that bubble appeared. But the boy is clearly naive, in a way Vega can manipulate, as has been so perfectly illustrated.

    So Vega's /alive/. Damn, there goes that theory. And yet as Staren watches, his /back breaks/ and then is shifted back into position. /What/ is going on? He has to turn the sensors off though, as...

    PSYCHO CRUSHER

    Staren raises his gun and shoots a couple of times, and then dives for cover -- translucent orange energy in the shape of stylized insect wings forms just behind his back, and then buzz to push him away faster. He dives out of the way of Vega...

    ...Only for chunks of road and sidewalk to knock him into the side of a building. "Ah!" Well, that's why he's wearing armor! With a groan, he starts pushing the pile of torn-up asphalt and concrete off of him to get to his feet again...

    Just in time to see Lion portal Steven away. Well, that's good, right? The question is, how will Vega react?

Makoto Kato (767) has posed:
    Makoto emerges from MacDonalds with two bags in each hand, as Vega flies off like a purple evil reverse meteor, watching him go. She seems to have - instead of fighting - disappeared into the chain store to acquire Dollar Menu things. She also has a happy meal because, yanno, Steven. She looks bored again.

    "Oh did he leave? Yeah, I don't like fighting robots. Feels like they're cheating." She shrugs, holding up her bags. "I've got double cheeseburgers, and fries, and drinks and stuff if anyone wants 'em. I'm not eating four bags of stuf-..."

    Steven goes through the portal on his anime lion. "And I got a happy meal too. Well. That still counds as a good deed. Whatever." She sighs, shaking her head. "Hey, Periwinkle, are you going to be ok, you seem a little stressed out. You should relax, you'll max out your bloo... gasket. You'll blow a gask... What kind of thing did you say you were?

Blurr has posed:
    Blurr watches with moderate satisfaction as Vega goes flying through a store window. Although he appears to be human, he also appears to have unnatural regeneration powers. Maybe he's some kind of strange mutant? Well who knows, but right now he's turned himself into a missile of destruction and needs to be stopped.

    The Autobot picks up a semi truck trailer filled with some stuff, hopefully something hard but he doesn't have much time to think about that, and throws it into Vega's path hoping he'll just go -squish- right into it.

    In the meantime, his avatar suddenly appears on the lion's back next to Steven. "Hey kid, I've got a question for you, why do you run around with Peridot? You know she doesn't actually care about you, she just wants your power and also that she's an evil prejudiced conqueror who goes around wiping out other less-advanced races right? Trust me, I've been in her head." Okay technically not her head, but in her systems. And okay maybe 'wipe out' is exaggerated. Exaggeration is sometimes effective, though.

    But then the lion jumps through a portal, immediately putting the emitter out of range and thus deactivating it. Oh, well it's good that he got away, at least he isn't Peridot's prisoner any more.

Peridot (836) has posed:
    "Bah!" Peridot grits her teeth as her sensors return her nothing particularly useful. Intel was valuable to her, more valuable than mere brute strength. Though, knowing that he was a human helped in some regard. Her understanding of biologicals was, if they bled you could kill them. Overall It did re-affirm her need for Lapis; previously all Peridot had to worry about was the Crystal gems. But, as she had suspected after a few early encounters. There were bigger threats to be had. Her position was in question as well... here she was being attacked by her own faction, whilst her enemy faction was actually defending her. That didn't bode well considering how fresh her alliance was. It was possible the ink hadn't even dried yet.
    In the distance she could hear the hum of her pod-ship. One thing she had learned through all this; she was not nearly armed enough. She leapt behind her charge (rather than in front of him). "Steven! I'm too important for the continuation of gemkind to die here! Do something! Preferably shield related!" She said, about the same as the shield sprang up. She looked up at it wide-eyed as it began to crack.
    
    As Steven vanished into the portal she reached out for him. "Steven, wait!" Too late however as he vanished. Without Steven giving her a reason to stick around and feeling neither the desire, ability or inclination to take revenge on Vega. She flicks her hand, dissolving the blaster and her fingers begin spinning like helicopter blades. She raises her arm, beginning to ascend towards her pod. "Grraaggh! You people are infuriating! Just for the record, I'm reporting this!"

Vega (749) has posed:
     Throwing a truck in the way of Vega seems to do very, very little. The Psycho Crusher tears right through the truck, sending fragments of metal and glass flying. The engine erupts as he passes through the front of it, still spiralling like a missile.

     He crashes into Steven's shield, and purple fire flares up brilliantly through the street. The shield cracks. Steven vanishes. Vega's light pulses for a moment as the burning purple fire extends outwards. As he turns around, the massive, gaping bullet wound where his right eye should be is painfully visible, presumably from Staren shooting him during the charge. With a severely delayed reaction, he thrashes, then hangs there again.

     It is also now immediately obvious that the truck placed in his way *did* leave a mark on him, as there are several cuts along his meaty hands that were not there *before* he collided with it.

     He looks at the spot where Steven was for a moment. That horrible grin spreads across his face once more, as if satisfied, and then, in a burst of purple fire, he vanishes, leaving the heroes alone.

     Whatever he wanted, whatever he got, whatever he spent his eye and much of his body to buy, it apparently pleased him.

Staren has posed:
    Staren turns to look at Vega. Man, the damage he's sustained looks /painful/, but he can't tell if Vega even feels it. He seems like the kind of guy who could tough it out even if he did.

    It seems Vega's seen enough to be satisfied. That makes things easier.

    Staren trudges out of the rubble. He waves to Blurr. "Hey, thanks for the help." He looks to Peridot and just nods a little. He is fine with her leaving.

    Then he surveys the damage to the street, the stores, the cars, and holds a hand to his forehead. He supposes he'll have to call the Union embassy or whatever they have here and report this...

    He doesn't feel like talking to cops or anything right now, though, so he activates his teleporter, starting to glow for a few seconds and then disappearing.

Blurr has posed:
    Finally, -finally- Vega leaves. Blurr is still at a loss on what exactly the guy wanted other than to pick a fight. Maybe that was just it. He just wanted a fight. But why with Steven specifically? Psh. Weirdo. He just shakes his head as the situation finally settles down. He's not too concerned about the kid any more, after witnessing what he was capable of, the Autobot is certain Steven can fend for himself.

    He hears Peridot's ship approaching as well though, and as she starts to fly up toward it, he turns and attempts to fire a small tracker in that direction, hoping to either tag the pod or Peridot herself. He nods absently toward Staren. "Yeah, of course."

Peridot (836) has posed:
Peridot's flight lands her into her ship, and she disappears inside the pod as the tracker hits the side of the ship. She begins to sail off over the horizon! But who knows how long the tracker can last before it's detected!