"This is amazing!' He grinned as he let himself be swallowed by the huge beanie in his temporary room. "How did you guys even do this?"

"Bought stuff and all that," Ryder shrugged. "Nothing much."

"That's sweet," he smiled, touched that they had done this for him. "Thanks."

"No worries! They said that you could be a new member if we do it right, so we wanted to do our best," Rubble said. "We want Ryder to have a fellow human friend."

"That's totally sweet of you," he laughed. "How old are you, anyway, Ryder?"

"Oh, it's 2021 now, so I'm around 17," the male answered.

Upon noticing the shocked look Steven's face morphed into, he laughed, "I know it sounds crazy, considering how young I look. But it's just how things are I suppose."

"I'm just surprised we're the same age," he admitted.

That was true. He would have expected Ryder to be ten, what with his height and appearance.

"I understand," Ryder waved it off. "I didn't grow up much."

"Did something happen?" Steven frowned. "I expect a growth spurt at our age."

Almost immediately, he saw his eyes darken as he looked away. Was it a sensitive topic?

"We'll explain it later," Chase quickly cut in. "For now, shouldn't you go upgrade the PAW Patroller?"

"R-Right," he agreed, getting up as he flashed him a small smile. "Well then, see you when there's a mission I suppose?"

"I suppose," he agreed.

Ryder then left, leaving the pups and him in the room.

Steven sat down again, feeling a bit guilty. He recognized those eyes. It was the kind that spoke of trauma.

"Hey, don't worry about Ryder. He'll be fine," Chase said to him. "He's gone through worse than this."

"Wait really?"

"He's been kidnapped by his own cousin, so this is nothing," Skye shrugged.

"Should I be concerned by that statement? Cause that is not healthy-" he stopped. "But then again, I was nearly killed by my mother's old friend, and my own family is crazy, so I can't judge."

"We should be saying that to you," Marshall frowned. "Your backstory sounds crazy."

"Then we can have crazy backstories together," he laughed.

Chase facepalmed, while Rubble laughed. He seemed amused by this, proven when he said, "You seem like a real jokester. I like you a lot."

"Thanks," he laughed. "I'm glad this is the case. Hope to work well with you guys."

"Likewise dude!" Zuma chirped.

Suddenly, their tags began to glow as Ryder's voice echoed, "Pups! To the Mighty HQ!"

"Ryder needs us!" They immediately rushed out, leaving him to follow them, confused. Was this usually how it went?

When they left the basement he was staying in, they entered the elevator. Steven was about to follow them when Chase shook his head as he pointed to a small lift nearby (he hadn't noticed it at all!), "That's for you and Ryder."

"Okay then," he nodded, heading there. When he got close enough, the doors opened and he stepped in.

Once the doors closed, he was taken up to the roof, which had somehow transformed.

"Wow..." he gaped. This reminded him of Little Homeworld, in its own way. But it was also unique, and he respected that.

"Steven, nice to see you could join us!" Ryder waved him over. Steven had to take a minute to process it, but he stared as he asked, "Woah, your costume is neat!"

"Thanks," he smiled. "Would you like one?"

"Nah, I think I'm good," he waved it off. "Plus, I have my own powers. Though I'm sure you know about that."

"I heard bits from the news," Ryder admitted. "But if you want one, I'll make them for you."

"That would be awesome, but I'll pass. We should probably get to the mission."

"We still have to wait for some friends."

"Friends?"

"Ryder!" A new voice called out, and they turned as two more pups joined the group.

"Tuck! Ella! Good to see you could join us!" Ryder smiled.

"Hey Ryder!" They chorused, before their eyes landed on Steven.

"Who's this?" The girl asked.

"He seems new," the male added.

"I'm Steven Universe," he quickly introduced himself. "Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Ella," the girl smiled.

"And I'm Tuck!" The guy grinned.

"We're the Mighty Twins!" They chorused.

"Nice to meet you as well!" He greeted.

"Enough about that, though. What's going on Ryder?" Chase looked at the teen.

"Alright then," he sighed, opening the monitor to show a cartoon version of the problem, with the badges of the pups on the screen. "We have a problem in the Dino Wilds."

"The where now?" Steven tilted his head, ever the confused person.

"I don't think I've heard of that before," Ella remarked.

"It's where a fellow member of the team, Rex, is stationed. We help out there from time to time," Ryder explained. "Anyway, it looks like the Ladybird caught wind of its existence, and she's now there, causing chaos while kidnapping the baby Pachycepalosaura."

They all gasped.

"Why would she go after them?" Steven asked, still quite confused. Who was this Ladybird, and why did she remind him of Bluebird?

"She likes shiny stuff," Marshall explained.

"And from what I remember when chatting with Rex, Pachycephalosaura have shiny heads," Chase added. "So it sorta makes sense?"

"I swear bad guys sometimes don't have braincells," Steven exhaled. "But okay then. How do we get to these Dino Wilds, Ryder?"

"We use the Mighty Jet to head there, and then we deal with Ladybird while rescuing those poor dinosaurs," he said.

"Sounds good to me," he grinned. "Let's go then."

"Hold up there, Steven. I have to take a team to deal with it," Ryder clicked on his watch. "For this mission, I'll need Steven to help out with caring for any potential injuries."

"If we gotta do this, we gotta do it," he shrugged.

"Cool catchphrase there!" Skye praised.

"Was it?" He blinked.

"Yep yep," she smiled.

"Aww thanks," he ruffled her head slightly.

Ryder chuckled, but said, "Moving on, I'll also need Chase! I need you to use your speed to catch the baby dinosaurs since they'll be up in the air."

"Mighty Chase is on the mighty case!" The police dog cheered.

"Alright, Mighty Pups are on a roll!" Ryder called out.

"Yeah!" The pups chorused.

"Come on, dude! We need to get to the Mighty Jet!" Zuma began dragging him with his teeth.

"Alright, alright!" He chuckled as he headed for the elevator, heading down only to be greeted with the sight of a jet rising up from who knows where. His eyes widened, and his mouth hung as he stammered, "H-Huh?!"

"Come on, Steven!" Ryder waved him over from the entrance of the jet. "We need to hurry!"

"A-Alright then," he jogged over, still a bit stunned by this. "Did you make this yourself?"

"Well, yeah," he rubbed his head slightly. "I'm good with machines."

"That's really awesome! I happen to know someone who's like that too! She likes using the word clod a lot, though," he couldn't help but chuckle as Peridot came into mind.

"Does that person bring back good memories?"

"Sorta. She's very very tsundere."

"Tsundere?"

"It's an anime term, meaning someone who acts tough, but is actually a softie deep down."

"Sounds a bit like Chase at times," Rubble joked.

"Rubble!" The aforementioned pup flushed.

"He's a total tsundere," Skye giggled.

"I totally feel you," Steven grinned. "When I first found out about the term while moving around, my friend immediately popped into my mind."

"Same!" Rocky grinned.

"No doubt about that, dude!" Zuma joked.

"GUYS!" Chase's face went red.

Ryder chuckled, but said, "Let's go, pups. We have some baby Dinos to save!"

"You got it! We should charge up!" Rubble grinned.

The others nodded, and they placed their paws on the screens in front of them. They lit up, and Steven had to brace himself as the jet lifted off, "WOW!"

"Having fun?" Ryder teased.

"Fun? This is awesome!" It sure felt like he was a kid again, before he had found out about his mom's wicked deeds. He was grinning from ear to ear, and it was genuine.

"Thanks! Wait till you get to the Dino Wilds! It's awesome there!"

"Once we beat Ladybird, you have got to show me around!"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

"That would be pawsome!" Tuck agreed.

"So tour afterwards?" Chase grinned.

"Totally!" Ella cheered.

"Well then, let's go RoboDog!" Ryder commanded.

The robot barked in agreement before the jet sped up, leading them to the Dino Wilds.