A Gem and a Half
Next chapter! How did we end last time? Oh yeah, Steven and Ruby were going back to the house. Let's see how that works out!
Chapter 2 – Burning Down the Town
Steven couldn't help but shudder as Ruby stomped along behind him. He knew Ruby could be nice and pleasant, but he had a feeling this wasn't going to be one of those times. The wooden stairs shook as Steven tried to walk up them, but with Ruby slamming her foot down every time she took a step, it was very hard for him to keep his balance. Especially since his arms were full with two gems.
When they got to the top of the stairs, Steven gently put the two Gems down and dug into his pocket, trying to find the front door key. He was painfully aware of Ruby rapidly growing impatient behind him. Finally, he found it, right before, he was sure, Ruby was going to break the door down. He picked up Pearl and Amethyst's gems and lead Ruby inside.
"Here we are!" Steven exclaimed, spreading his arms wide to show the room, "My humble abode!"
Ruby, till clutching Sapphire's gem, looked completely unimpressed. "I've been in here before, you know," she told Steven calmly, "As Garnet?"
Steven blushed slightly. "Oh yeah, I forgot," he muttered. He walked over to the table and placed Amethyst and Pearl on some pillows so they could be safe and cozy. Sighing, Ruby walked over and set Sapphire's gem next to them. Steven looked at her.
"So, how long do you think it'll take them to reform?" he wondered.
Ruby shrugged. "I don't know," she replied, "Amethyst never usually takes that long, but who knows with Pearl and Sapphire? They're both gems who put a lot of time and thought into their regeneration." She sighed again. "I once had to wait for an entire month for Sapphire to reform."
Steven's eyes widened. "A month!?" he exclaimed, "We don't have that kind of time! What if the monsters come back?"
"Calm down." Ruby hissed, "I said 'once.' She doesn't always take a month. And Pearl doesn't always take two weeks. Besides, they all know this is an emergency so I bet they'll be back in no time."
"Ok," Steven said, calming himself, "So what should we do in the mean time?"
"Sit and wait for them to get back, of course," Ruby replied in a voice as if it should've been obvious. She sat down on the couch, folded her arms and stared at the gems.
Steven stared at her. She was joking, right? Was she really going to just sit there and watch until someone reformed? She didn't want to do something fun? "Um, Ruby?"
"What?" Ruby snapped a little at him.
Steven flinched a little. "Er, I was going to go down to the boardwalk and get a donut," he explained, "Do you want to come with me?"
Ruby looked at him, then back at Sapphire's gem. Then she sighed heavily. "Fine," she muttered at last. Steven exclaimed with joy and grabbed Ruby's arm, dragging her out of the house. Steven happily skipped down the beach holding Ruby's hand as she stumbled along behind him.
When they got to the Big Donut, Steven went in without hesitating. Ruby stood outside until Steven came back out and dragged her inside. Lars and Sadie were quietly talking to each other and looked up when Steven came in.
"Oh hey, Steven!" Sadie greeted him, "Who's your friend?"
"This is Ruby," Steven told Sadie, putting an arm around Ruby, "She's one half of Garnet."
"Oh," Sadie said, a little confused, "I don't know what that means, but would you like a donut?"
"Yeah!" Steven exclaimed. He pressed his face to the glass where the donuts were displayed. Sighing, Ruby walked over to the display cases and leaned against them, bored. It was a good two or three minutes before Steven decided what he wanted, and Lars was becoming impatient.
"Just pick something already, Steven!" Lars snapped.
"Ok, ok," Steven replied hastily. "I'll take a frosted donut with sprinkles." He turned to Ruby, who had her eyes closed and arms folded. "Hey Ruby, do you want a donut?"
She opened one eye and looked at him. "No," she replied simply.
Steven blinked at her, then turned back to Sadie. "Make that two!" he told her.
After paying and receiving the goods, Steven led Ruby out of the store. She started to turn to the temple, but Steven stopped her.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
Ruby gave him a confused look. "Back to the temple," she answered.
"Don't you want to explore the town with me for a little while?" Steven pleaded.
"Not really."
Steven put on his best sad face and lowered his head. "Oh, ok," he muttered, "I thought it would be fun to hang out with each other for a little while, considering I never really get to see you. But I get it." He slowly started to shuffle off.
Ruby let out a very long and annoyed sighed. "Steven, wait!" she called. Steven stopped. "I guess I can 'hang out' for a little while."
The words were barely out of her mouth before Steven grabbed her hand. "Great!" he exclaimed, racing off and dragging her with him, "Last one to Fun Land is a corrupted gem!"
"Where?!" Ruby asked, desperately looking around.
When they got to the Fun Land sign, Steven came to a sudden stop and Ruby collided with him, nearly knocking him to the ground. He spread his arms wide.
"Ah! Fun Land!" he sighed, "A land full of fun, excitement, and law suits waiting to happen! Isn't this place great, Ruby?"
"If you say so," Ruby muttered. She sighed, kicking at a small rock. "Every other time I've been fused with Sapphire as Garnet. It's always better when she's around. She's the more fun loving of the two of us."
Steven stared at her. "Are you sure about that?" he asked.
Ruby glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" she growled.
"Nothing!" he replied quickly, holding up his hands. He held up the bag of donuts. "How about we eat these donuts before going on some rides?"
He walked over to a bench and sat down with Ruby following him. As Steven munched on a donut, he held the bag out to Ruby. "Want one?" he asked.
"I told you I don't want a donut, Steven," she replied.
Steven shrugged and finished off the first donut, then devoured the second. All the while Ruby sat next to him, constantly glancing back at the beach, as if keeping watch for monsters, or expecting one of the others to come running down the beach. When Steven was done, he stood up and brushed the crumbs off his clothes.
"Okay!" he announced, "Let's get on some rides!"
Ruby sighed, but didn't say anything as Steven led the way into Fun Land. He led Ruby first to the House of Mirrors. Steven stopped in front of every mirror, making funny poses, and silly faces while Ruby followed along at a leisurely pace, not even glancing at any of the mirrors. Then Steven brought her over to one of the roller coasters (one that didn't have a height limit) and brought her on that. Steven had his arms in the air the whole time, while Ruby just looked bored. Eventually, they made their way to the "Scare House."
"Wow!" Steven exclaimed with stars in his eyes, "This must be new! I've never seen this before!"
"You got that right, Steven," Mr. Smiley, who had rushed over from somewhere else, explained, "We just set this baby up a week ago! I gotta warn ya though, it's pretty scary!"
Steven heard Ruby scoff behind him, but he ignored her. "Mind if we go in?" he asked.
"Go right ahead," Mr. Smiley replied.
Steven smiled and grabbed Ruby's arm, leading her inside. Immediately they were crammed into a dark hallway, and could see nothing but darkness. Steven carefully felt his way down this hall until they emerged into a darkly lit room. There was a stationary scene depicting a mad scientist working on his monster. Steven was about to make a comment to Ruby when a hideous clown puppet suddenly popped up in his face.
Screaming in fear, Steven jumped behind Ruby, as the clown made stock laughter sounds. "Hyuck hyuck hyuck!" it laughed.
Growling in annoyance, with the puppet getting right in her face, Ruby summoned her gauntlet and punched the clown's head clean off. Still laughing, the robotic puppet fell to the ground, sparking a little. Steven gripped Ruby's arm nervously.
"Um, why did you do that?" he asked her. She looked back at him.
"Didn't you see it?" she wondered, "It was clearly attacking us!"
"It's supposed to do that!" Steven pointed out, "That's the point! It's supposed to be scary! That's why it's fun!"
Ruby looked down at where the clown's head had landed, then back at Steven. "If you say so," she muttered.
Steven took the lead again. They made their way through many different rooms, including a cemetery with animatronic zombies, a spooky castle scene with vampires, and even one of those disorienting vortex tunnels. By the time they got out, Ruby had broken at least three different props, and Steven was so scared that Ruby had to carry him out in her arms.
Once they were a few paces away, Ruby set Steven on the ground. He shook for a few seconds before breaking out into a grin.
"That was so much fun!" he shouted at Ruby, "Let's go again!"
Ruby opened her mouth to say something, when suddenly the ground started shaking. People started panicking and running around, freaking out. Steven and Ruby turned towards the beach and were horrified by what they saw.
One of the huge fusion monsters was slowly crawling its way back onto the beach. It opened its mouth and let out a terrifying roar.
Okay, I'm ending this chapter here. Next time, we see how the two deal with this new threat!
How did you like this chapter? Please let me know in a comment! I know I made Ruby kind of brooding this chapter, but that's because she's missing Sapphire. She'll lighten up in later chapters. Steven's trying to get through to her!