Chapter 2: Crazy, noisy Beach Town, Act 1

Beach City. A small vacation town full of colorful and unique personalities. Located on a beautiful beach that gave it its name, it was quite the nice spot for spending a week or so of your summer holiday. Indeed, many critics had praised the town for its beautiful scenery. The turquoise sky meeting the dark blue sea, the golden beach, green hilltops and a lush forest nearby; could there be any other city as beautiful as this one?

There was only one problem. The monster attacks.

What a tragedy! Such a wonderful city, assaulted and ravaged by unholy, unnatural monstrosities. Such a shame.

Thankfully, the town was not without protection. Beach City had its own guardians; the group known as the Crystal Gems! They always save the day, if you think they can't… they always find a way.

Today was no different. After all, what is an enormous beast covered in spikes and wild hair to the guardians of the Earth? A minor inconvenience, that's what. It was such a trivial challenge, that they took the time for some field training for their newest recruit and only full human, Connie Maheswaran.

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"Go Connie!" yelled Amethyst.

"Yeah, you can do it!" Steven joined in cheering on his best friend.

The young girl was currently facing off against a corrupted gem. It had emerged from the waters just a few minutes ago and begun flailing wildly at anyone coming to close. It was another corrupted quartz, like the ones Jasper had caught so many of. She had most likely dropped one of them underwater. Once it reformed, it would have been confused and angry.

"On the defensive until you find an opening…" Pearl added some actual advice to the young girl. She and Garnet hovered around the corrupted gem, ready to intervene at a split-second's notice. "…and then…"

"…attack swiftly and without hesitation!" Connie finished her mentor's sentence. Any other twelve-soon-to-be-thirteen-year-old girl might have found themselves overwhelmed in this situation. Not many people wouldn't. Fighting alien monsters alongside other aliens with a sword taller than herself?

That's what she called 'Training Tuesday.'

The huge monster lunged at Connie, who simply jumped out of the way. The monster may be bigger and stronger than her, but its movements were simple. Simple and predictable, sluggish almost. No match for the smaller and faster human.

The monster came to a stop in the sand, momentarily confused. As it turned around to face her again, Connie saw her opening. With a mighty roar, she sprang forward, sword aimed for the corrupted gem's chest.

Its eyes were obscured by its mane of hair, but one could imagine the dumbfounded look in the gem monster's eyes as it found a large pink sword lodged in its chest.

A loud boom sounded through the beach as the corrupted gem poofed into a cloud of smoke, leaving only a gemstone, which Connie caught in the air.

"Well done, Connie!" Pearl said. "That was beautifully handled. You exceed my expectations yet again"

"Wo-hoo!" Steven shouted, he and Amethyst doing a small dance in celebration. Connie beamed with pride and tossed the gemstone to Garnet. In one swift motion, the fusion caught it, bubbled and sent it away. The motion ended with her giving Connie a thumbs up.

So Pearl, what are we going to do now?" Steven asked. Normally he and Connie would spend Training Tuesday battling Holo-Pearls, either as a duo or as Stevonnie. The corrupted gem had emerged suddenly, and they had taken the opportunity for some 'training.'

Pearl looked thoughtful for a moment, considering all factors. She glanced at the sun in the sky, making an estimate of the time. Around two-thirty.

"I think that's enough for today," she said after a while. "You get the rest of the day to do whatever you want. But you better be sure we'll extend the session on Friday," she said with what was supposed to be a stern look. She didn't do it very convincingly.

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Said and done; the group split up from there. Amethyst and Garnet headed back to the temple. Amethyst said she had some cans of cooking oil lying around she had planned on getting to and Garnet… was off to do whatever Garnet did by herself.

Meanwhile, Steven and Connie were going to Funland to celebrate Connie's victory against the corrupted gem. Mr. Smiley and Mr. Frowney had a new setup for the House of Mirrors that they both looked forward to seeing.

The two of them walked happily down the boardwalk talking about everything between heaven and earth, nothing and everything. It wasn't until they actually reached the entrance to Funland that Steven realized something.

"Hey Connie, why did you bring the sword?"

Connie's eyes widened. Indeed, now that Steven mentioned it, she did have the weight of Rose's sword on her back. By now it was so familiar that she didn't even realize it was there. Like how she sometimes forgot she was carrying a backpack to school; she had gotten so used to it being there, that it just… disappeared from her thoughts.

"Aw, shoot! I totally forgot about it." She facepalmed at her own absentmindedness. "Should I go back and leave it at the temple?" Steven shrugged.

"Nah, I think it's okay if you bring it."

"Steven! You can't just bring swords to amusement parks!"

"Weeeeell…" Steven grinned, mischief in his voice. "…there's technically no rules against it. I know, I've read them all. Plus, I don't think Mr. Smiley or Mr. Frowney will mind all that much. Mr. Smiley knows you're the responsible one."

Connie hesitated for a moment. Sure, there were technically no rules saying she couldn't bring the sword… but that was still walking on thin ice. On the other hand, Beach City was not like other towns. Here, some of the rules went out of the window. And then they blew away in the breeze, never to be seen again. That, or a seagull, corrupted gem monster or Amethyst ate it.

In the big picture of things, a girl carrying a sword to the amusement park was no biggie.

"Besides, doesn't Pearl always tell you to be ready at all times? Constant vigilance, and all that?" Steven added.

Connie gave a little laugh.

"Heh, you're right. Typical me, getting worried about small things."

"Hello kids," came said a glum voice. Mr. Frowney, seemingly from out of nowhere, approached the two youngsters. "Hi, Steven. Is that a sword the young lady is carrying?"

"Yes, it is," Steven said cheerfully. "She just got done defeating a giant monster and forgot to leave it in the temple. Is it okay if she brings it?"

Undecipherable was Mr. Frowney's thoughts.

"Sure," he said and shrugged."Are you here to check out the new setup for the mirror house? Harold has been very excited about it."

"You know it," Steven said, his intense happy-go-lucky attitude clashing against Mr. Frowney's.

"Then don't let me stop you. Go have fun." As if the thought of "fun" triggered some old emotional baggage, Mr. Frowney let out a heavy sigh before withdrawing back into the shadows from which he briefly emerged.

'What a strange man,' Connie thought to herself. Though she supposed she wasn't all that 'normal' either. After, who of the two was carrying the giant sword on their back? Yeah, Connie didn't get to call anyone else weird. Seriously, she had seen surrealist paintings that made more sense than her universe.

This thought was soon drowned out of her mind, as the two youngsters finally got to the House of Mirrors.

Say, have you ever placed two mirrors face-to-face and looked in between them? At the right angles, the reflection is caught in such a way, that you essentially see an infinite number of yourself in the mirrors. Now imagine that for an entire room of that.

The renovation of the mirror house was fairly extensive, in comparison to the size of the business. The house had previously been essentially a large room with simple walls creating a maze-like structure. The walls had been decorated with convex and concave mirrors that distorted a person's reflection.

The house had now been divided into two larger sections or rooms. The first room had every wall clad in mirrors. At all angels, aside from the tow door at each side of the room, you would see your own reflection, and your reflection's reflection, and that reflection's reflection…

It was mind-boggling, to say the least. At all sides, Connie saw herself and Steven. And they were just three people in there, Connie, Steven and some bored-looking teenager leaning against one of the mirror walls. Imagine what it would be like if they were a few more, four or six perhaps.

Now that would have been even more disorienting.

Steven laughed and did a silly pose, gleefully observing the effect from every angle he could. Connie soon joined in on the fun. They both tried on several poses, competing in who could do the silliest one.

They had so much fun, that they barely even noticed the teenaged boy walking up behind them. What they did notice was his mirror image, and his bright blue eyes staring directly at them.

And then everything went black as the world faded away.

xxXXxx

[Connie Maheswaran]

Friend and ally to the Crystal Gems. Shares a strong bond with Steven.

Weapon(s): Rose's Sword-a pink straight-bladed saber. Extremely sharp, capable of slicing through a gems body with ease. Can not cut through gemstones.

Notable Powers and Abilities

•Swordsmanship-Connie is an expert sword fighter.

•Hand-to-hand-Has some basic training in martial arts.

•Intelligence-Considerable intellect for her age, a quick learner and knowledgeable in a wide range of subjects. Mastered sword fighting in a few weeks.

Stats:

Destructive Power: C (with Rose's sword)

Speed: C

Stamina: C

Durability: D

Skill: B
Development Potential: A

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Dun-dun-duun

Let's play a game shall we? I call it 'what's that stand?' The rulse are simple; all you have to do is guess what the stand introduced in the chapter is called and write it down in the reviews section. Ht ewinner gets... a point I guess?

This is not a scheme to make people leave more reviews on my story to soothe my self-doubt. That would be tacky. Also, check out all my other stories, both here on and on Archive of Our Own!

The next act will probably drop either on Wednseday or FRiday, depending on the workload from school. I already have it written, but I'd like to stay ahead with something for once in my life. We have a leave next week during Easter, so I'll hopefully have more time to write then.

Until next time, take care of the planet Earth, and remember that anything can happen in space!