Ch 5: Roadtrip

Steven had been driving for a few hours now. Within those hours, some interesting stuff happened: A robbery went down at the gas station he was in, he witnessed a Blue Blur appear and stop said robbery, and he met the blur themselves, who was currently sitting next to him on the front seat of his car. Not only that, but he learned that the blur's name was Carlos Cloudian, and that he was a Hybrid just like Steven himself.

Now twenty minutes later, they are on their way to Manhattan. Neither one of them had said a word to each other since Steven had started driving, mostly because they were minding their own business. Carlos was wearing headphones, seemingly listening to music on his music player, while Steven simply continued to drive. The boy couldn't help but feel awkward from the silence. He was also starting to feel stupid. Why would he just invite this guy to join him for a car ride? Sure he didn't seem like a bad guy, but appearances can be deceiving. He could have also had alternative motives for saving the cashier lady and him.

Steven: 'Calm down, Steven. You're just being a little paranoid. While it was a bit dumb to just invite a stranger into your car, it's not like it's the worst decision you've made. And he seems like a good guy. You just need to have faith.'

Unbeknownst to Steven however, Carlos was having similar thoughts about what happened. He felt like an idiot for doing this. Mostly because he told himself about how he thought he could make a friend, yet he doesn't even know what to talk about.

Carlos: 'Well, I feel very stupid right now. I came here to make a friend, and yet I'm sitting here all quiet and stuff. But what should I even say? He hasn't said anything throughout this whole trip, so I'm not sure how to break the ice.'

As he kept thinking to himself, he thought he heard Steven trying to talk to him. He pulled out one of the earbuds from his ear so he could understand what he was trying to say.

Carlos: "Sorry, were you saying something?"

Steven: "I was... trying to ask where you're from."

The dark blue haired boy was stunned by the question. He feels like he should have expected a question like this, and yet he wasn't. He really didn't want to answer, but he didn't want to be rude about it, so there wasn't much of an option.

Carlos: "... nowhere."

Steven: "Nowhere?"

Carlos: "Well, not literally nowhere. I mean... it's complicated. I don't want to talk about it right now."

Steven: "Oh... okay..."

From there, it went back to silence. Steven had mainly asked that question to maybe get a conversation going and learn more about this heroic stranger, but now it was already over.

Steven: 'Well, so much for that.'

Carlos: "... How 'bout you?"

Steven: "Huh?"

Carlos: "Where are you from?"

Steven had not expected that question truth be told. He had assumed that the conversation was over since Carlos refused to talk about where he was from, but he was wrong. He's not complaining though.

Steven: "Oh... well, I come from a small town called Beach City."

Carlos: "Beach City, huh... I don't think I've heard of it."

Steven: "You probably wouldn't have. Unless you follow the KeepBeachCityWeird blog on Ramblr."

Carlos: "Ramblr? Like the website?"

Steven: "Yeah. It can also be an app on your phone."

Carlos: "Well, I certainly wouldn't know about it then because I don't have one."

Steven: "... You don't have a phone?"

Carlos: "Nope."

Steven was slightly surprised at this revelation. But when he thought about it, he realized there was probably a reason for that. It didn't matter that much at the moment though. He just wants to keep this conversation going until they can get to New York. Anything but the awkward silence. But then another thought occurred.

Steven: "... Wait, if you don't have a phone, then how do you know about Ramblr?"

Carlos: "Uh, Libraries? They have computers there, you know?"

Steven: "Well yeah, but you need a library card in order to use it. Do you actually have one?"

Carlos: "Lets... not get into that yet."

Steven gave Carlos a suspicious look. The other hybrid was clearly trying to hide something. What it was, he didn't know. However, he suddenly thought of what he might be trying to hide.

Steven: 'Wait, he didn't-'

Carlos: "Woah dude, look!"

Steven turned his head toward the direction that Carlos was pointing at. As it turns out, they were about to pass a sign that said "World's Largest Rubberband Ball". Steven couldn't help but feel curious about it.

Steven: "The World's largest Rubberband Ball? That sounds pretty cool."

Carlos: "I know, right? You think we should check it out?"

The boy thought about that, but he ultimately wasn't sure. On one hand, they could probably make a stop there and have a bit of fun there before arriving at Manhattan. On the other hand, it could end up being disappointing.

Carlos: "Actually, you know what, I'll go check it out myself."

Steven: "What-?"

Before he could finish that sentence, Carlos was gone in a blur. Steven jumped a bit when Carlos came back after a few seconds. When Steven took a look at the other hybrid, he saw that Carlos was wearing a hat that had "World's largest Rubberband Ball" written on it. He also seemed to be carrying a couple of small rubberband balls.

Carlos: "Nah, lets just keep going. It's pretty lame. The gift shop was cool though."

Carlos pulled out a paddle ball from behind him, and began hitting the ball at a fast pace.

Carlos: "Heh heh, check this out."

He looked at Steven, who was just staring at him with wide eyes. This got Carlos a bit confused. Was he surprised by how fast he got back here? Why? Steven had seen how fast Carlos was when he was saved by him.

Carlos: "Hey, is something up?"

Steven: "You... did pay for those, right?"

Carlos froze. So that's what why he was looking at him that way.

Carlos: "Oh... um... maybe?"

Steven: "You stoke them!?"

Carlos: "Oh come on, they had some nice stuff there, and I didn't have any money!"

Steven: "That doesn't give you the right to rob a gift shop!"

Carlos: "Hey, it's not like I took everything! Just a couple of things here and there! Besides, I didn't even steal any cash!"

Steven: "That doesn't make it better!"

The Diamond hybrid sighed to himself. So it turns out he was dealing with someone who seemed to be heroic, and was somewhat a thief. That definitely wasn't going to be stressful.

Steven: "Okay, look. If we're gonna be hanging out in Manhattan together, we need to set some ground rules. One of them being no stealing anything from stores or people."

Carlos: "Alright, fine. But if that's the case, then you'll need to pay for everything we get. You sure you can do that? Because I obviously can't."

Steven: "Don't worry about that."

With that, the silence returned. Neither one of them said anything. Steven actually preferred the awkward silence this time. He was pondering on whether or not he should go back and pay for the stuff Carlos stole. Moral wise, it was the right thing to do. But if he did that, he'd have to explain to them why he's paying them this money, and how their products were stolen. That'd probably be a big headache for everyone. In the end, against his better judgement, he decided to just leave it be this time. Carlos suddenly asked a question.

Carlos: "Hey, you got any tunes for this car?"

Steven: "Uh yeah, hold on. Let me just grab something."

Steven opened one of the shelves of the car, and grabbed a cassette tape. There was some writing on it, which read "Looking Forward". Carlos was somewhat intrigued by the tape. He didn't think anyone still used cassette players for music. The Diamond hybrid inserted the tape, and music began to play. It was rather relaxing. Carlos had never heard this song before, but it was pretty nice. The melody was very soothing, and the lyrics themselves were somewhat clever in his opinion. A song about moving forward pretty much. Or Looking forward in the song's case.

Carlos: "This is a pretty relaxing song."

Steven: "Mhmm."

Carlos: "The message is also pretty powerful too, don't you think? Despite everything that happens in our lives, despite whatever type of person we used to be; in the end, we keep looking forward."

Steven: "... Yeah... we do..."

But that was the problem for Steven. Even if everyone else is looking forward in their lives, Steven isn't. He thought he was at first, but after everything that happened back in Beach City, he realized he's the only one who hasn't been looking forward.

Steven: 'Why? Why can't I move forward like everyone else? Why am I stuck while everyone else is free?'

Carlos: "Hey, dude!"

Steven was snapped out of his inner thoughts by Carlos.

Steven: "Huh? What?"

Carlos: "You spaced out for a moment. You alright?"

Steven: "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

The other hybrid gave him a curious look before deciding to leave it be for now. Steven felt relieved, and continued to focus on the road. Now that he thinks about it, he realizes that what he was doing earlier was very dangerous. He could have crashed from doing that.

Steven: 'Okay, Steven. From now on, just focus on the road.'

But he wouldn't need to focus for too long as he saw a big city in the small distance.

Steven: "Looks like we're here."

Carlos: "Whoo yeah!"

And Steven was correct. After about thirty minutes of driving, they had finally arrived at their destination. Carlos could not wait to explore, while Steven simply hoped he would be able to enjoy his time here and find the answers he's looking for.

—————————————————

Meanwhile, back at the Sunoco Gas Station, the cashier lady was currently standing at the register, waiting for the next customer to arrive and purchase stuff. Someone then entered the station, and walked to the front of the stand. An old man around his late 50s to early 60s. The same old man that had been reviewing the footage of the robbery here.

Cashier: "Hello, sir. Can I help you with something?"

Old man: "You can indeed, young lady. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions concerning the robbery that occurred here."

Cashier: "... Are you a cop? Because the cops already questioned me when they got here."

Old man: "Oh, no no. I'm no cop... I do work for the government however, and I'm investigating someone who I believe may pose a threat to us all."

Cashier: "Really? Who?"

Old man: "I'm not at liberty to say. However, I do believe it would greatly benefit the both of us if you describe to me everything that happened."

Cashier: "... I'm not gonna get in trouble for this, am I?"

Old man: "So long as you cooperate, you won't."

Cashier: "... Okay then. What all do you wanna know?"

Old man: "Tell me everything."

—————————————————

Author: Okay, it's the summertime. That should give me plenty of time to come up with a few things for the new chapters.

2-3 months later

Author: DAMMIT!

—————————————————

A/N: You know, you'd think with it being summer and the whole pandemic going on, that I'd have more time to write at least 2-3 new chapters. But hey, it is what it is. I honestly didn't enjoy writing this chapter that much, but I think it turned out alright. Hopefully you guys liked it too. Again, if you have anything to say, let me know. I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Peace.