Chapter XXI

It's all in the Peddle

Digging through the piles of unused, mostly broken and assorted items, Steven relished his time in the junkyard kingdom that was Amethyst's room. On the rare occasion the five year old was allowed in her spacious abode, he would find much joy in toying with all the interesting items hidden in the looming towers of waste.

"Look at this, Amethyst!" He held up an old bike helmet and planted it onto his black locks. "What's this thing for?"

Hopping down from her mound of old car parts, she walked over to Steven who was trying to work the buckle.

"It's a bike helmet; helps keep your noggin from smashing to pieces." She help do up the helmet for him and adjusted the chin strap to his size. "Looking pretty snazzy in that Ste-man!" Looking around, the purple gem used her index finger and thumb to create a box to hone in on an item she wanted.

"What're you doing?" Asked Steven.

"Trying to find a bike to match...Aha!" She began to sprint to the other side of her room, hopping over the heaps of obstacles in her way.

Steven ran to catch up with her, but his little legs made it much harder to keep up. A minute later he caught up to her, catching his breath.

"A-Amethyst wait up." He panted, flopping to the ground dramatically as they reach their destination.

Preoccupied, the gem was busy pulling out something from the pile. Steven perked up immediately when he saw the small red bike in her grasp.

"Wow!" His eyes sparkled as he marvelled at it, not minding the rusted brakes or seat with a large chunk taken out of it. "Can I ride it?"

"Of course! It's your dude, although we might want to get your Dad's help with this one. Gems aren't that good with these human contraptions."

"Can I get on yet?" Steven asked for the fifth time, bouncing up and down excitedly in hi new helmet.

"Just a sec bud, hold one." Greg had managed to make the bicycle reach appropriate safety standards by tightening the breaks and replacing the back tyre. Finishing up, the seat had now been successfully lowered to accommodate his son's stature. "Okay, try it out."

Scrambling on, Steven was poised to peddle before gravity overtook him. "Ouch." He whimpered, this was much harder than he had thought.

"Don't worry; you just have to keep your feet on the ground when you're stationary." Said Greg, helping him back up. "Try again, you'll get the hang of it with practice."

Steven was about to give it another go until he was interrupted by a familiar outcry of his name.

"Steven! What are you doing?" Pearl, followed by Garnet had joined them.

"Ugh, here comes snooze-ville." Groaned Amethyst.

"Riding my new bike Amethyst gave me!" He grinned at the not-so-pleased gem.

"That thing looks very dangerous; shouldn't you be wearing knee and elbow pads? What if you fell over and scraped your knee, you're only wearing shorts!" She began flapping her hands around him, ensuring that his helmet was adjusted properly and that he wasn't hurt from the previous fall.

"Relax P, Steven's got this." Amethyst sighed, "Right Garnet?"

"Right. Steven can do anything he puts his mind to." The stoic gem replied, arms crossed. "Leave him be Pearl."

Reluctantly, Pearl stood back a few steps to allow Greg to take over.

Greg held his sons back and one of the front handlebars, making sure that they were straight and steady.

"Okay Shnu-ball, all you've gotta do is pedal and keep your balance. Don't look back, only forward. Got it?"

"Got it." Steven said importantly, narrowing his eyes in concentration. He began to pedal, with Greg pushing him slightly from behind.

"You're doing it! Keep going!"

At the encouragement, Steven pedalled harder and hardly noticed his Father had let go – until a loud shriek could be heard behind him.

"Greg, how could you let go? He's going to fall!"

"W-what! Let go?" Steven looked behind him to find Greg a few metres behind, with Pearl running up to him. "Ah!" The handlebars swerved and he crashed, luckily into a nearby sandbank along the beach sidewalk.

"You okay Steven?" Called Greg, jogging over. Pearl was tailing him.

"I was pedalling really hard and I did it!" The two individuals were surprised by the five-year old's exuberance despite having fallen. "Can I try again?"

Sighing, Greg let out a breath. "Sure, kiddo."
Pearl huffed and crossed her arms, "This is an unsafe sport, how can he do this on his own when he just crashed his bike?"

"Pearl, parents are supposed to let their kid do things by themselves. A little push is all they need; now Steven knows he can ride a bike by himself."

Although not entirely satisfied with the answer, the gem decided to stay quiet and instead observe the situation.

Reaching Amethyst and Garnet, the latter volunteered to push Steven this time.

"Just a little push, I can do the rest myself." Said Steven proudly.

"Of course, my little biker doesn't need much help anymore now that he's grown so much." Garnet pecked him on the cheek. "Ready?"

Blushing happily, Steven felt much more confident. "Ready!"

"Go!" Using her powerful arm, Steven was sent very far away within a few seconds.

"Think that was enough?" Garnet stood with hands on her hips.

Everyone's jaw had dropped to the floor before Greg and Pearl began running after the dust trail Steven's bike had left.

"You'd better get that." Amethyst leaned back on Greg's van, popping some gum she chewed.

"Noted."

It didn't take long to retrieve Steven, and when he returned with his face red from exhilaration, he could officially say that he was the "Bicycle Master."