It was a nice day at the beach house as Connie read aloud a story to her little friend, Onion, who bounced on the couch. Though she was still very suspious of the strange boy, and quite fearful of him as well, she at least knew that she was on Onion's good side, him hanging out with her all the time.
"And so, Lisa finally was able to trust her familiar, and she wondered if all she felt was friendship, or something more…." Connie whispered in content, hugging the book to her chest once finished. "No matter how many times I read it, it's always so good! What did you think, Onion?"
Onion of course said nothing, like always, not even sparing her a glance.
"Okay, you've got to take a break from jumping, mister." Connie laughed, walking over to the kitchen to get some food. "Since I'm your babysitter for today, I have to make sure you have fun, but stay healthy and hydrated!"
Onion got off the couch and toddled over to the fridge. He made a sound, pulling on Connie's dress. When she glanced down, he pointed up to a plastic baggie.
"Okay, you can have one of my snack packs of veggies." Connie relented, giving him one. The boy hopped up onto the window seat and thoughtfully chewed on celery and carrots for a moment or two. The silence was interrupted by the loud horn of a boat, and Connie smiled. "There's your dad! It was fun having you over, Onion!"
Onion didn't acknowledge her, walking out the door at once to go find his father.
Connie gave a small laugh, picking up the baggie and putting it back in the fridge.
"It's funny that he likes hanging out with me when he doesn't exactly agree with me on what's fun. I like twisting in a fun dance, and he likes twisting my arm for a supposedly 'fun' toy, for example. Wish he had some friends a bit more like him so he could feel like he belongs."
A sharp knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. She quickly ran to it, hoping it to be Steven for a surprise visit, or maybe Amethyst over to challenge her to a video game brawl. However, it was Onion, back to see her for some reason.
"Onion! Did you forget something?" Connie asked, bending down. He suddenly grabbed her wrist, and pulled her out of her home.
Onion ran through Beach City, dragging Connie along behind him. She stumbled a bit trying to keep up.
They ran near Onion's home and Connie saw Vidalia painting a picture of Yellowtail who posed strangely only in his underwear. Connie blushed in surprise. "Urh, nice painting, Videllia!"
Onion didn't stop and Connie looked at him in surprise. "Onion, please, tell me where we're going!"
He suddenly ran her into the woods, down a hill, through many trees, and finally through some bushes. Connie gave a cry, falling to the ground when Onion suddenly released his tight grip.
"O-Onion, why are we in the woods? All alone?" Where no one can hear me scream, Connie asked, finishing the last sentence in her head with a shiver. Onion wouldn't hurt her, well, he had once, but he wouldn't do anything extreme like she was thinking.
Onion smiled creepily suddenly as the shadows seemed to darken around him. Connie took it back, maybe this was the end! He suddenly gave a sharp, long whistle.
"You… You…" Connie whispered, breathless, trying to comprehend it all. Though, the most shocking thing was, "You can whistle?!"
She suddenly heard footsteps from the bushes and quickly stepped in front of Onion. "Who's there?"
Her question was answered when a large person around Steven's height emerged from the bushes, wearing a scary white mask with green slanted eyes and a sharp, pointy smile, crying out, "Garbanzo!" The boy got out and started to lurch towards them.
Connie gave a gasp in shock, quickly grabbing a branch from the ground. She thrust it like a sword out while backing up, shielding Onion. "Halt! Don't come any closer to us! What do you want?" Something suddenly ran from behind her, grabbing her hair and twisting her around to face Onion. The boy seemed unfazed, looking at the masked person with no fear or worry. The girl turned around to see the person who had snuck up on her was also a small person wearing a white smiling pink mask, were these… children?
"Who are you?" Connie demanded, swiveling to see the green one had gone to her left side and the pink approaching her left. "We don't mean trouble!"
Then, another masked child leaped down from a hiding place in the branches and swiped the stick away, cracking it in half. They wore the same mask except the expression was sad and blue.
"I'll ask you one more time! Who are you and what do you want from us?" Connie narrowed her eyes in suspicion as they all took off their masks. The pink was a young african-american boy with a yellow hat and overalls, clearly meant for playing in the woods with.
The first person she saw was a rather pudgy boy with a striped shirt. Connie was surprised to see a little baby girl pop out of the backpack with a pink bow and a tiny blue pacifier.
The last one took off their mask. Connie actually couldn't determine if this kid was a she or a he, giving that the kid had a short bob and it could be either. But, they wore a blue shirt with a soup pot on their head.
They suddenly ran to Onion, who smiled and lovingly wrapped his arms around them as they hugged.
"Aw! You're all are your friends!" Connie gasped in surprise. She then smiled with a blush. "I should've known, I suppose! It's nice to meet you all, I'm Connie! What are your names?"
She looked at the yellow capped boy and he lifted his hat, revealing a ripe yellow squash. "Let me guess, is it Squash? Is that your actual name?"
The boy nodded, looking serene.
"Garbanzo!" Suddenly said the stripe-shirt as if to say, 'Don't forget about us!'
"Oh! I suppose you're Garbanzo, since everyone else seems to be some kind of veggie, and that's the only thing you say. Am I right?"
The boy answered with a nod. "Garbanzo."
"Since you're named after a bean, that little cutie on your back must be Pinto!"
The little baby blushed in surprise and smiled.
"That's pretty cool." She turned to the child with a pot on their head. "And how about you?"
The kid suddenly banged the pot on their head with a toy slingshot, just like the others, not wishing to say their name out loud.
"Hm… pot… hat?" Connie whispered in confusion.
The child looked angry at this and hit the pot once more, more furious.
"Kettle?" Connie tried.
The child's eyes grew large in fury and they rapidly banged the pot, making quite the racket.
"Okay! Um… urgh…." Connie's mind raced. Onion, Squash, Garbanzo, Pinto, and… "S-Soup?"
The child stopped and smiled, blowing Connie a kiss in thanks.
"Well, it's lovely to meet you all." Connie said with a smile, though she was still kinda nervous since they were Onion's friends, and her mind always made sure to remind her to be on guard since she had first seen him when he was in a state of power.
The kids minus Onion all gathered around her, feeling her arms, dress, hair. Connie gave a nervous laugh when she felt a hand grab something from her pocket. "Um… Did you just take my wallet?"
Connie blushed in confusion when Soup gave her it back while Onion watched happily, glad that his friend could meet his little gang.
A few minutes later and the children were having fun in the forest, Soup shooting cans while Squash watched, Garbanzo and Pinto grabbing something from the bushes, and Connie talking with Onion.
"Onion, you have so many interesting friends that share your strange hobbies! I'm so proud!" Connie exclaimed. "Why haven't I ever met them?"
Onion smile seemed to falter suddenly, but it then returned when Garbanzo wheeled out an old wooden derby cart with Pinto inside. "Garbanzo!"
"Oh, what a cute little cart!" Connie cried, running up to them as the children gathered around it. "But, it does seem a bit-"
The kids got straight to work, Soup rumagging through the back, Squash hammering in a steering wheel, and little Pinto wearing a mask with a blowtorch at the wheels.
"Oh my gosh!" Connie exclaimed, scooping Pinto up to safety. "Pinto, that's so dangerous! You need proper supervision when handling tools like that!"
Garbonzo quickly took his sister back and gave Connie a simple "Garbonzo!" Most likely it meant "Oh, we know!"
All the kids, including Onion, had climbed aboard their new little vehicle and gave a ta-da pose to show Connie they were finished.
"I'll admit it, you guys did do a great job, even if you were in danger." Connie smiled sheepishly.
Onion then motioned for her to get on with a smile.
"Me? Oh, no, no, that's alright, you guys have fun!" Connie laughed, knowing she may be too big and old to be riding on such a tiny car. Onion suddenly got out and practically forced her onto the back of the car, insisting she come along too.
Connie had to admit it was kinda fun riding along as they drove at top speed on the little cart. She wanted to bring up the fact that they were actually on the wrong side of the road, but knew the kids wouldn't listen to that. Luckily, the people of Beach City knew that many children lived in town, so everyone always kept a quick and sharp eye out. Suddenly, Garbanzo who was driving the vehicle took a sharp swerve to the left, making them all gasp when he hit a small wooden bench. The boy then rolled out of the car, eyes clenched shut in agony, giving a scream in pain. "Garbanzo!"
The kids all piled out, Connie shocked, not noticing a crushed ketchup packet beside the boy's head, only seeing red pouring down his face.
"Oh my gosh!" Connie gasped, kneeling to the boy's side. She rummaged in her purse for her small first aid kit, handing it to Soup who looked sorrowful at their fallen friend. "Soup, I need you to wrap some gauze around his head, alright? Apply as much pressure as you can, it's a bad hit. I'll call the-"
Onion took her hand that held her phone and merely shook his head, nodding to Squash.
Garbanzo had fallen silent during Connie's panic, and Squash gently shut the boy's wide, glassy eyes.
Connie dropped her phone on the ground in shock. "W-Wait, no! H-He couldn't have bled out so quickly, I don't- I don't understand, that's not how it works, he's not..!"
Suddenly, Pinto crawled onto her brother's chest. She looked upon the boy with no emotion, when she then rubbed her hands together like she was about to jump start him alive, and then touched his face.
The boy's eyes slowly opened, and he wiped the ketchup off. "G-Garbanzo…?" He then lifted the baby in triumph. "Garbanzo!"
The others besides Connie all put their hands up in joy while the girl felt a tear roll down her cheek. "I thought he was…I-!"
Onion suddenly elbowed her in the ribs and gave her a wink.
"It was all some kind of joke to you guys?" Connie whispered in shock. She narrowed her eyes and cried out in anger. "T-That's not funny! Not funny at all! Why would that be funny?!"
Onion looked surprised for a second and then all the kids seemed to look almost regretful that they had actually caused her fear. But, they soon got over that when their leader, Onion, pulled out a large trench coat.
"What are you-?" Connie didn't even get the chance to finish when the kids suddenly stood on top of each other and wrapped their coat around them, hiding their secrets with Onion acting as the head. "You're pretending to be an adult?"
Onion smiled and nodded.
Connie gave a sigh but let them walk with her down into town, knowing that she wouldn't be able to convince them to do otherwise. They were kids, the girl had to remember, kids did weird things all the time, even sometimes wrong things, but it was necessary to learn to be a grown-up. The trench coat of kids suddenly knocked into a distinguished-looking gentleman with a eyepatch. It was the suitcase store owner, Suitcase Sam.
"Oh! Terribly sorry, he doesn't know where he's going!" Connie apologized quickly.
Suitcase Sam suddenly fell back in shock when the coat opened and a large flash blinded him. He ran off from them in fear.
"What on Earth...?" Connie mumbled, looking back to see Squash had taken a picture of the man. It developed quickly and he passed it up to Garbonzo who stated his name in satisfaction, giving it to Soup, who snickered, and then handed to Onion, who smiled, giving the silent but sacred sign of approval.
"This is….really weird." Connie whispered as she racked up the picture onto a tree with others of Beach City residents. Pictures were scattered around the trees that Connie hadn't noticed before. She saw one was very blurry. On closer inspection, the orange blob could be no one but Jasper with her teeth bared in shock and scaring them away. Seemed about right, Jasper hated surprises. The girl turned to the boy with a nervous smile. "Well… I'm glad you have friends that share your… gifts, Onion."
Onion smiled happily and beckoned Connie to come to him.
She trotted over to see the boy had drawn six lines in the dirt. "Just drawing in the dirt? That's fun, I suppose." She gave a laugh in a joke. "I hope you're not planning some evil scheme!"
Onion didn't answer, leaving Connie very uncomfortable.
Soup walked up to her then and took off their pot hat, revealing insects wriggling in their hair with a calm smile. Connie covered her mouth to hide a gag in disgust and horror while the child held out the pot to her.
Connie saw Squash and Garbanzo take out bugs and grimaced. She didn't want to play with them, but was scared of what they would do if she didn't. And so, she reached her hand in.
The girl felt creepy crawly legs ingulf her hand and she quickly snatched up something small and long. She opened her hand to see a tiny little catipiller and gave a smile. It was kinda cute. "Hi there, little guy…"
She then noticed all the kids had gathered around the lines that Onion drew in the dirt and realized it was a race track.
She gently set her new little friend next to the other bugs and Onion put a ruler in front of the creatures to keep them in place.
"On your marks, get set, go!" Onion cried in his own language.
The kids all cheered for their respective bugs, Connie laughing slightly, admitting it was fun.
To the girl's amazement, her caterpillar got first place!
"I won!" Connie gasped in joy.
The kids all cheered while Squash and Garbanzo carried her on their shoulders to a stump in a victory, ready to give her the reward.
Garbanzo handed Connie a wooden hammer, making her blush. "Oh! Thank you! It's cool that you have a prize!"
Then, to her surprise, the champion of the bug race was placed before her on the stump. She glanced up and saw Soup pointing to the bug. They then made a fist, slamming it on their palm.
Connie felt her stomach churn. "Wait… you want me to..? That isn't right at all! She won, and even the losers deserve mercy from-!"
All the children then started doing the same motion as Soup, smiling, as if this was their way of having her join the group, kill a creature. Onion was the only one who didn't, looking surprised that Connie couldn't do it.
"I won't crush it." Connie said firmly, not a moment's hesitation, remembering back to Onion's room and how he had also wanted her to sacrifice a creature to his merciless snake. She dropped the hammer, leading the kids to look surprised and saddened. "I'm done. I'm done playing with you! We can't agree on anything, I'll never understand you guys! How can we be friends?!"
Onion gave a cry, trying to tell Connie to wait, but she wouldn't listen, running out of the woods.
Connie walked up to the Beach House, dialing her phone. "Steven understands me, he'll want to hang out!" She waited for him to pick up and grinned. "Steven, hi!"
"Hey Connie! What's up?" Steven asked happily.
"Want to come hang out? Some weird stuff happened earlier and I just need a break from it all!"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I really wish I could but I gotta get school supplies today, we already left town to get some." Steven replied, clearly upset.
Connie held back a sigh and nodded. "Right, school, I kinda forgot about that… Um, well, tell me if you see any good books I might like, bye!" The girl ended the call before her friend even got the chance to reply.
The girl flopped herself onto the window seat sadly and sighed. "Ugh, I feel terrible. Maybe I was too harsh on them…"
She was startled suddenly by a loud knock. She glanced over to see Onion and frowned. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I should hang out with you all. I'll just ruin your fun with being uncomfortable."
Onion lowered his head in disappointment, and then sadly slump away.
Connie turned away from the door with a frown.
Suddenly, Onion somersaulted through the door, ripping a small section of screen off. Connie gave a yelp in surprise and turned to him. "Onion, why did you do that?!"
He suddenly grabbed her ankle, and pulled her to the ground with amazing strength and determination.
"Let go!" Connie cried, wrestling her leg away. She then stood up. "Onion, we just are into different things, what do we even have to do together? All my ideas are boring to you guys and all of yours… I'm just not happy doing. It's for the best that I stay out of your group."
Onion shook his head, looking shocked that Connie could have even said that.
"I'll be fine. Just go and play with your friends." The girl whispered.
Onion sadly left through the hole he had made, dropping something on the floor.
Connie leaned down and picked it up, surprised to see the little worm from before. Her eyes widened in realization. "We may be different views ... but in the end, we'll still care about each other…" She then gasped and released the worm, running out to catch the boy.
Connie sprinted into the woods just in time to see a sad scene.
Onion was watching sadly as his dear friends packed out their things.
Squash had many other squashes he must've collected that he tenderly put in a small suitcase while Soup gathered up their things too, various bugs and cans being tied up in a napsack. Even little Pinto was put into Garbonzo's snug backpack along with all their masks.
"No, please don't go! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel unwanted!" Connie cried, convinced it was her fault they were going. Onion must've wanted her to see.
But Onion merely shook his head, and gave her a fallen dry leaf of a tree.
Connie realized and frowned. "You… only stay for Summer, and since it's now the beginning of Fall, you have to go?"
Garbanzo suddenly howled out and started to cry. All the kids did as they hugged Connie goodbye.
Connie kneeled down and hugged them back, fighting her own tears. "Oh, I'm sorry for being unreasonable earlier, I'm happy that we're friends, make no mistake about that!"
The kids soon piled into their derby cart and waved goodbye to Onion and Connie.
Connie called out goodbye and waved until they vanished into the trees. Her smile fell when she turned to see Onion leaning his back to a log.
Connie sat down beside him and gave a sad smile. "That's why you wanted me here, it was your last chance to have all your friends in the same place."
Onion covered his eyes in sorrow, clearly thinking about how much he would miss them all.
Connie placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know it's hard when friends leave… but, you shouldn't feel sad for too long!"
Onion glanced up in confusion, looking surprised as he uncovered his eyes.
"Think of all the fun things you did with them, don't let those memories make you sad!" Connie whispered, smiling. "They'll be back next Summer! And, even though we're really different, I'm always going to be there to hang out if you need it."
Onion smiled with tears in his eyes and suddenly started to weep in gratitude, giving Connie a tight hug.
"Man, you are really cute when you aren't creepy!" Connie giggled. Onion nodded in total agreement.