The two Homeworld Gems managed to escape detection and pursuit by the Crystal Gems. They fled deep into the surrounding forest, only stopping once Amblygonite ran out of breath. Peridot landed next to her, watching as the now halfway enhanced Gem braced her right augmented arm against a tree while catching her breath.
Amblygonite's left arm was now without any sort of upgrades, that much was clear. It looked just a little bit too short for how 'tall' the gem herself was. It was obvious that she was an error gem, a product of Homeworld's inattention in regards to its consumption of materials. Peridot snorted derisively.
Amblygonite looked up at her, brushing her own hair out of her eyes with her normal hand, jumping slightly at the odd feeling of skin to skin contact for once.
"What's...Up...Peri?" she asked after a moment, managing to catch her breath. She was pretty sure she was never, ever meant to run this much. This was definitely more exercise than she signed up for when she probably volunteered for this mission. Her memories refused to surface still, much to her frustration.
"The sky," Peridot said flatly.
Amblygonite smiled, though it was clear Peridot hadn't intentionally made the joke.
"I...meant, what are you looking at me for?" Amblygonite clarified, straightening up to return the look the green gem was giving her.
"No reason beyond assuring that you're still functional," Peridot answered a little hastily. "How, uh, does your arm feel?"
Amblygonite glanced down at her bare arm, flexing it experimentally. It felt rather flimsy in comparison to the awesome mecha arms she had started with, truthfully. At least she still had an arm though, she'd really be up the creek if she had only one arm! But grievous injuries like that just didn't happen, obviously. Death? Yes. Permanent limb loss? Never.
"It feels strange," she answered after a moment. "I still don't remember anything from before I got here. I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing." She frowned, then smiled again as she crammed her feelings down inside again. "But that's okay, I'm sure the new ones I've made are just as good!"
"But my point was," she added, "That I guess it feels strange since I probably didn't wear these arm things all the time on Homeworld. Also it feels good that I can actually use my fingers without some bizarre tool jumping out of my pinkie or something. I can scratch my back now!" She excitedly stretched a hand behind herself and gave her back a good scratching.
"You're...really taking this in stride," Peridot said, not quite sure how to respond to her assistant's determination to remain in high spirits.
"I'm sure we'll get it back eventually. Or we'll get to Homeworld and they'll make me a new one!" Amblygonite said resolutely. "What should our plan be now, Peri? I thought the Galaxy Warp would have been our best shot..."
"I just need to think for a while," Peridot said, failing to keep an edge of panic out of her voice.
Amblygonite shrugged, sitting down on the ground and drawing her legs up to her chest. "That's cool, we've got time," Amblygonite said, marveling at the feeling of dirt between her regular fingers.
However, her efforts at reassurance seemed to have the opposite effect in Peridot. At the word "time" she twitched violently while her pupils contracted. "Time. Time. Yes, of course, time. We've definitely got time. All the time in this world! Ha ha!" she laughed, slightly madly.
Amblygonite pursed her lips, watching her leader descend into the level of madness that usually only Amblygonite herself occupied. And the constructor gem wasn't there by choice!
"You feelin' alright there leader?" she asked, quirking her head slightly.
"Me?!" Peridot asked, glancing down at the other gem. "I'm perfectly fine! Everything is fine! We've got all the time in this world!" She laughed again, clearly still teetering around the edge of absolute panic.
"You keep saying that like it's supposed to be a joke but I'm really not following," Amblygonite replied, now drawing doodles in the dirt with one finger. "Is this place like, due for something? Like removal for construction of a hyperspace bypass?"
Peridot half started to laugh, then looked down at Amblygonite, dumbstruck once more by the weird sentences crawling from her mouth. "A what?"
"I dunno. Just seems like a space thing."
"Well this planet isn't going to be destroyed for one of those!" snapped Peridot.
"So it's gonna be destroyed for something else?"
"I-!" Peridot started, freezing mid-sentence. Then she sighed, taking a few deep breaths to get her pulse back to normal levels. "We should find proper cover. Then I can try to think of a new plan."
Amblygonite watched the other gem curiously, noting the dodged question but not quite saying anything yet. "What's 'proper cover'?"
"Anywhere that isn't here and can't be seen from the air."
"So, like a cave?"
"I...Guess."
Amblygonite wordlessly pointed to one just behind Peridot. Said gem turned around and looked at the cave sheepishly.
"...Okay, good work then assistant," she said after a moment, stalking off towards the cave.
Amblygonite hastened to follow her, falling on her face when she tried to use her left arm for support instead of her enhanced one. She used her bad arm to wipe dirt from her visor as she lurched back onto her feet, chasing after her superior as Peridot ducked into the cave.
When Amblygonite caught up with her, Peridot was busy rapidly reading through something in her own logs, painfully reminding Amblygonite that her own were long since totally destroyed. Damn. She hadn't looked through her PDA for any games before it had gotten broken, which was her biggest regret so far.
"Whatcha readin'?" Amblygonite asked as she walked around the cave, examining the intricate rocks and the various disgusting bugs that crawled all over everything.
"Research data on this planet. Gems have been working on it for years," Peridot explained quickly. She seemed to be frantically searching through her files, and when Amblygonite glanced over her shoulder she could see that Peridot was mostly looking for any other possible Galaxy Warps off the planet.
"What exactly did we do here then?" Amblygonite pressed, shrugging and bending down to let a worm crawl onto her bare finger. She shivered slightly at the sensation of it crawling across her skin.
"We were using it to create more gems and colonize it! It would have been perfect!" Peridot answered testily.
"Were you there for it?"
"Unfortunately, no," Peridot said. "I've only read up on the data from back then."
"Oh. So what else have you done since then?"
"I've created many successful Kindergartens on different planets. I'm a fully certified Kindergartner!"
"What's a Kindergarten?"
"It's where we create more gems, like you. You were probably incorrectly created by some amateur doing a rush job," Peridot answered dismissively, making Amblygonite wince.
"Well I think I turned out pretty alright," she grumbled, brushing her hair out off her visor.
"If you were properly created, you would not have to use those limb enhancers," Peridot pointed out. "You're inherently flawed. It's just the facts."
"You don't need to be so mean about it though!" Amblygonite shot back.
"Don't talk to me like that!" retorted Peridot. "You're a lowly Amblygonite, you're forgetting your place!"
Amblygonite's lip curled and her metal hand curled into a fist for a second, until she took one or two deep breaths, counting slowly to ten. "Okay, okay, we've just had a bit of a setback, we're both a little steamed. Sorry for talking back," Amblygonite said, folding her arms and leaning against the wall of the cave.
"That's better," said Peridot simply.
Amblygonite waited a few minutes patiently, then rolled her eyes as the silence stretched between the two of them. How does someone with amnesia have better social skills than a regular member of society?
"...So what else do you do besides being a Kindergartner?" she broached.
"Huh?" Peridot asked, confused. "What else is there to do? I'm a Peridot, this is what I do."
"Yeah but surely you've got like...what's the word? There's things to do besides your job?" Amblygonite asked, sounding confused.
"There's only one thing to do, and that's to fulfill my purpose. Oh! And survive. I also try to survive," Peridot answered.
Amblygonite reached under her visor to rub at her eyes, suddenly feeling very tired.
"So what's my "purpose" then?" she asked.
"You assist primary technicians such as myself with whatever we tell you to do. You also perform basic construction, demolition, and repair under the charge of professional Bismuths."
"That sounds so boring though," the constructor complained, sliding onto the floor.
"You can complain all you want, but that doesn't change what your purpose is. You were made and enhanced to do your job, so you'll do it."
"Is that what Homeworld's like?"
"Yes," Peridot answered, closing her log and looking down at Amblygonite. There was curiosity in her eyes.
"Is that going to be a problem?" Peridot added.
Amblygonite looked back up at her, considering her answer. "Yeah," she answered honestly. "But I guess its better than getting stuck here and shattered or whatever by these Crystal Gems. Plus they sent me here, maybe they'll send me on another mission like this!"
"That's the spirit," Peridot said, pointing one finger up in the air and charging it up so that a greenish light filled the cave as the sun began to set.
Amblygonite looked around, the new light illuminating the rear of the cave to show a quickly retreating nest of various bugs. Gross. At least this place wasn't inhabited by anything that could actually threaten the pair of them.
"So do you have a plan yet?" Amblygonite asked, dismissing thoughts of creepy crawlies and trying to focus on leaving the planet with people trying to kill them.
"It's simple. We need to kidnap the Steven and use him to find whatever secret way the Crystal Clods have for escaping this planet. Or just as a bargaining chip."
"You want us to take one of the Crystal Gems and hope they have a way to get off this rock?" Amblygonite asked, very confused. "What if he doesn't know?"
"He'll know! He has to! We can't afford to wait forever and the Galaxy Warp is the only way I've been able to find that would let us leave!"
"And we can't just warp back to it because we'd be tracked again," Amblygonite finished for Peridot, closing her eyes in exhaustion.
"Correct. So we're going to walk to their headquarters and take a hostage!" Peridot exclaimed.
"How far is it?"
"...Pretty far."
Amblygonite stood up and stretched, faltering when her left arm didn't even come close to reaching her right hand while doing so. She sighed, missing her other arm greatly.
"Okay," she said. "Guess that means we should get going."
"In the middle of the night?" Peridot asked, slightly surprised.
"Yeah, I mean, we'll need to get there sooner rather than later. Then wait until night time so we can grab this Steven quietly."
"Good point, follow me," Peridot said, leading the way out of the cave and into the forest nearby. Amblygonite followed after her, lamenting that she could not speedily destroy roads like she used to.
They had marched in silence for some time, Peridot refusing to ever stop despite the night's darkness closing in on them. Spooky animal noises and creepy bugs flitting around her face made Amblygonite definitely want to stop for the night, but Peridot seemed more determined than ever to escape the planet once and for all.
"Hey, Peridot?" Amblygonite asked, the moon glaring down at them to provide scant illumination.
"Yes?" she answered icily, not missing a step.
"Why are you in such a rush to leave anyway? I mean, besides the fact that there are people here trying to kill us."
"You say that like we shouldn't be in a rush to get back to Homeworld," Peridot said, turning to glance at the other gem skeptically.
"I mean, we should be! But, I guess my point is that there's no need to wander around in the darkness! I think I've seen that same thingy at least five times now!" Amblygonite pointed out, indicating a tree with a gnarled mass of roots towards its bottom. On its trunk was scribbled a weird icon with two letters inside it, an addition symbol between them.
"How can you tell?"
"Because that weird...thing has a weird thing on its middle!" Amblygonite insisted. Peridot stared at the tree in turn, pursing her lips.
"You must have somehow been leading us in circles," Peridot immediately blamed, albeit talking to herself.
Amblygonite had the good grace to simply roll her eyes understandingly.
"I think it's the darkness," said the construction gem. "Unless we have better light than the...big...gray...thing in the sky, we're just gonna keep wandering like this."
"How would you know?"
"Because when I was trying to find you I did the same thing," she freely admitted. "That's why I couldn't find my pod after I crashed here."
Peridot considered this, finally stopping beside the tree mentioned earlier. Amblygonite gratefully took the chance to kick over some rocks by the side of the same tree. It was a good break from walking endlessly.
"Okay. You might have a point," Peridot finally admitted.
"I try. Should we stop here until there's light enou-"
"I wasn't done!" Peridot interrupted. "I think we should stop until there's light enough to see by."
Amblygonite waited a full five minutes before continuing on. "Great plan, Peri," she sighed, taking a seat and pressing her hand against the side of the tree, experimenting with how much force it took to strip the bark off.
"Yes, I did make it myself," Peridot said proudly. She circled the area, checking behind rocks for...something. Maybe she'd been ambushed before? Amblygonite didn't care to think much about that at the moment. An inch worm crawled onto one of Amblygonite's fingers, making her shiver at the slight feeling before she brought it closer to one of her eyes to inspect.
"Peridot, have you seen these weird little creatures before?" Amblygonite said, walking over to the other gem and presenting the tiny worm as it searched desperately for a way off this crazy thing.
"No. Why should I? Does it serve as some sort of weapon?" she asked, squinting at the tiny creature.
"I don't think so. But it looks adorable!" Amblygonite answered. "I think it likes you!" she added with a smirk when the inch worm crawled onto Peridot's visor and began to head for her hair.
"GAH! GET IT OFF! IT'S ATTACKING ME!" she yelled, rubbing it wildly off her visor in a panic, dancing around the area serving as their campsite.
Amblygonite laughed at the sight, but all too soon it was over and Peridot was hardly amused.
"I'll ask you politely to not do that again," she said, trying to maintain what little dignity she had left. The inch worm was now long gone, but it was doubtless going to require years before Peridot's dignity could be recovered completely.
"I'll be sure to not threaten you with tiny flobbery crawlers in the future," Amblygonite said, barely holding back a snort. "What should we do to kill time until daylight?" she added.
Peridot huffed. "I don't know."
"Well what do you usually do?"
"I fly above the trees at night so I can ensure I'm not walking in circles!" Peridot said, not hiding her irritation at being grounded. There was no way Amblygonite could follow her from the ground in this darkness.
"Fair enough," Amblygonite shrugged. "But we can't just stand here for hours until the sun rises."
"Why not?"
"Because that's really boring?"
"Well maybe we can figure out a way to keep from walking in circles instead!"
"You're the Peridot here, you're supposed to be the smart one!" Amblygonite said by way of slightly backhanded compliment.
"That is true, I am the smart one here," she replied, dodging (unintentionally) the implied insult flung her way. Amblygonite would get her one day.
"Okay," she said. Then she charged her cannon and blew up the tree they had been circling. Amblygonite fell over, spitting out blades of grass and vowing to one day keep her mouth shut when falling over.
The tree itself groaned heavily, falling over backwards as its charred roots gave way to the heavy weight on top of them. It hit the ground with an almighty crash, sending several birds into the sky.
Amblygonite was uncomfortably reminded of her own crash landing.
"What'd you do that for!?" she asked, standing up and brushing herself off and only missing with her regular arm once.
"To mark where we've been!" Peridot said smartly. "We won't circle this tree anymore!"
Amblygonite had to admit she had a point.
"Okay, but what if we end up circling another tree?"
"Simple, we need to keep going in a single direction. No more turning around! I definitely know where I'm going!"
"Are you sure?"
"I'm a Peridot, of course I'm sure."
Amblygonite shrugged. She followed behind Peridot as the latter steadfastly refused to ever turn around. For her part, Amblygonite tried to make sure they weren't somehow circling around any more trees.
Whenever they did happen to end up circling something, Amblygonite pointed it out and Peridot rocked the forest with another blast. If someone asked for Amblygonite's opinion, she'd say Peridot was definitely getting more unhinged as time passed. What was it that was scaring her so much? The thought of being shattered certainly frightened Amblygonite, but not as much as it did to Peridot it seemed.
When dawn came, the duo had managed to escape the forest at last, coming upon a road that Peridot assured Amblygonite led straight to the town next to their target. The road just reminded Amblygonite she couldn't roller blade anymore, but for old time's sake she whipped her remaining arm against it, laughing at the sparks jumping off the asphalt, even as Peridot reprimanded her for wasting time.
So on they marched. Peridot really wasn't much of a talker, it seemed. Amblygonite tried to ask what was scaring her so much, but she was very tight lipped about it. In fact, asking about it seemed to upset her even more. After a few more hours of walking the pair came upon a small town. A sign on the road approaching it said...Something. Amblygonite realized she couldn't read whatever this planet's primary language was.
"Hey Peridot?"
"What?"
"What's that sign say?" Amblygonite asked, pointing towards the sign. It had a picture of some happy humans waving on it next to some big looking words.
"Hmm..." Peridot responded, forming a square with her digits. The square expanded out, until they formed a perimeter around the sign. A green screen flickered between the digits, then a line buzzed down it. As the line crossed over the strange letters, they reformed into Gemscript.
The sign now very obviously read: "Welcome to Backwater Village! Pop: 501!"
The 1 appeared to be hastily painted over a 0.
"I wish my touch stumps could do that," Amblygonite said wistfully as Peridot's digits returned to her arm and the sign returned to normal.
"That's a shame then, because these enhancements are for Peridots only," Peridot answered smugly.
"Your limbs are enhanced too!? Not all Peridots are like that!?" gasped Amblygonite in amazement. Peridot realized the grave error she had made and hastily strode forward into the town before Amblygonite could barrage her with more questions.
The pair walked through the small town, almost immediately getting looks for their strange appearance. Small towns never really did appreciate outsiders, no matter what their happy welcome signs said.
"Peridooooot," hissed Amblygonite. "The humans are staring at us!"
"Just ignore the simple creatures. Even you could handle them easily if they tried to stop us," Peridot said calmly as they walked down main street. Amblygonite couldn't ignore them however.
The diversity among the creatures was simply amazing! Some of them were tall, some were short. Even more were really short, looking like miniature versions of the humans they stood beside. Some were small enough that they had to be carried. It was starting to feel like every eye in town was watching them after a few minutes. This couldn't possibly be true, instead it was merely 154 eyes watching them.
But neither gem was aware of that.
"Hey look!" Amblygonite shouted suddenly, pointing excitedly forwards. Next to a small brick building was another of those strange boxes that the humans rode in. It looked slightly different in that the back part of it was open to the air, with the front being the only enclosed space.
"What is it?" Peridot asked, glancing from the vehicle to Amblygonite.
"It's the same kind of thing that the humans use to get around! We could go really fast if we took it with us!"
"Hm. Let's see," Peridot 'agreed' and walked towards the truck. She grasped the door handle gently and tugged. It was locked. Peridot shrugged, turning to look at Amblygonite.
"Open it," she ordered.
Amblygonite walked up to the truck window and smashed it open with her metal fist. The truck immediately started blaring an annoying alarm while Amblygonite spent a minute figuring out how to unlock the door.
"HEY!" shouted a new voice. It sounded uncomfortably deep. The gems looked over at its source, a very large man wearing a muddy yellow overcoat. He was advancing towards them, very clearly irritated at their exploration. "JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOIN' TO MY TRUCK!?" he yelled, waving a dinner plate sized fist in the air.
"Uh, Peri? Maybe we should get going?" squeaked Amblygonite, hiding behind the green gem. Regardless of her ability to regenerate, she wasn't keen to try and fight someone who looked quite capable of simply eating her.
"G-good plan!" Peridot said, jumping into the truck and slamming the door closed. Amblygonite jumped into the bed of the truck and peered over the side. The large yelling man had now broken into a run at the sight of the gems entering his vehicle. Fortunately, he was also very slow at running.
"Peridot! Why aren't we going!?"
"I'm checking how this machine is supposed to start!" yelled Peridot. Amblygonite watched her fiddle with a weird wheel pointlessly and press a few of the pedals uselessly.
"Isn't there a turn on button in there?!"
"Er..." Peridot hummed. She looked around the front of the vehicle, spotting an odd slot in the side of the column supporting the wheel. There was no way her digits could fit in there, though!
"Any day now Peridot!" Amblygonite yelped. The man was getting close enough that she could see the anger in his eyes. And also the vein pulsing in his temple.
Peridot searched frantically around the truck, flipping over an odd visor on the roof of the car.
"A key?" she asked, as a black key tumbled into her hand. Did the human leave it in here after locking his car? But then how would he get back in?
"PERIDOT!"
Peridot abandoned that line of thinking and stuffed the key into the slot, twisting it. The engine growled as the truck came to life. Lights lit up across the dashboard.
"GET OUT OF MY TRUCK!" roared the man, who had managed to catch up to the truck now and was reaching through the window.
"Get away! Get away!" spat Amblygonite, swatting pointlessly at his head with her normal arm and forgetting her far more useful metal arm.
Peridot recoiled violently from the man's arm, knocking the gear shift backwards just as one of her feet scraped against a pedal.
The truck roared, rolling backwards quickly and knocking the man back and onto the ground. He just narrowly avoided getting his arm crushed under one of the tires.
"KEEP GOING!" Amblygonite insisted as she saw other town members coming out of their hiding spaces and advancing towards them. They all looked horribly irritated at having this loud ruckus in their village.
Peridot, not really understanding the finer nuances of driving, twisted the wheel around and rapidly drove the truck backwards out of the town. "Do humans really drive like this!?" she yelled.
Amblygonite shrugged, the wind whipping at her head.
"I think they're usually facing the other way! Maybe this box is different?" she answered after thinking for a bit.
"Just keep us on the road then assistant! I'll keep this machine moving!"
"You got it!" Amblygonite said, turning to look at the road. She called out directions, and after a few mishaps that involved going off road, Peridot figured out that turning left with her steering wheel moved the vehicle in the opposite direction.
"Uh, Peridot?" Amblygonite said when she heard a weird whining noise coming from 'behind' them.
"What is it?"
"I think the humans are mad at us!"
Peridot looked up and out the front windshield.
Another car with red/blue lights on top and a siren was chasing the truck down. Someone's voice started shouting from the car too.
"Pull your vehicle over immediately! This is the police!"
"The police!?" yelled Amblygonite. "Who are the police?"
"I don't know! But we don't have time for this! Hang on!"
Amblygonite made a crab claw motion with metal hand, forming a clamp that she hastily attached to the side of the truck. Just in time too: Peridot's foot slammed down on the gas pedal, making the engine whine as moved slightly faster.
"Why isn't it going faster!? Are all primitive Earth vehicles this slow!?" Peridot complained, repeatedly stomping the gas pedal.
"What about that knobbly thing in the middle of the car?" Amblygonite asked.
Peridot grabbed the stick and tried to shove it around. It refused to move.
"FIND THE UNLOCKING SWITCH!" Amblygonite yelled, looking back at the police car giving chase. It was quickly catching up.
Peridot flailed, trying every switch she could find in the truck. The headlights flipped onto their brightest setting (The police car swerved slightly) and the windshield wipers started up. Then the washer fluid sprayed out, giving the windshield a much needed bath. In desperation, she slammed her foot on the third peddle in the car, trying the stick again. This time, with a terrible grinding noise as she damaged the gear box, the truck slid into the next gear and sped up slightly.
"Haha! These simple earth machines don't take long to figure out!" she crowed in victory.
"Turn coming up!" Amblygonite yelped, pointing ahead at a small curve in the road. A sign by the road depicted a line swerving wildly, presumably a warning that the curves would get worse. Amblygonite didn't need a translator to understand that and swallowed.
"Gotcha!" Peridot said, twisting the wheel mightily and watching out of the mirror as the truck swerved violently around the road.
The car pursuing them easily handled the curves, since its driver actually understood that his car should face forward and not be running in reverse. Also, he had his license.
"I think we're gonna have to go off-road to lose him, P!" Amblygonite yelled as they swerved around another curve in the road, thanking her stars that the clamp she had could maintain a tight grip in these circumstances.
"Find an opening then!" replied Peridot, who could now actually see the human chasing them in the other car. He looked both confused and very angry that this chase had gone on longer than five seconds.
"Uh...Uh...Turn right...NOW!" Amblygonite shouted. Peridot followed her directions a second later, sending the truck flying onto the grass, churning up dirt and mud as it flew backwards into the forest. Peridot was nearly thrown out of her seat and the truck tipped dangerously on its axis in the face of such a maneuver.
Amblygonite threw herself against the opposite side of the truck, slamming it back down on the other two wheels as it backpedaled into the forest. The police car stopped on the road and the officer stepped out, yelling something into a thing on his shoulder.
"Slow down, slow down!" hissed Amblygonite. "I think we've lost the human! If we go out the other side maybe we can find another path to take!"
Peridot numbly nodded her head, remembering in time to tap the brakes before the truck slid lovingly into a tree and ruined everything.
"Okay, uh...Try heading right..." Amblygonite started to guide.
It took an hour or two of careful negotiation, but they managed to escape to the other side of the thin forest, finding another road and cruising along backwards on it. In the distance, Amblygonite could see a strange flying thing hovering over the forest they had just left. She dismissed it from her mind as they crossed the horizon.
They drove in silence for a while, sometimes passing motorists who looked at them with great confusion. Most of them just pulled off to the side of the road since Peridot was choosing to ignore the lines in the middle of the road too. She actually seemed to be enjoying her "mastery" of driving a truck backwards, and Amblygonite wasn't going to spoil her mood by pointing out they had no idea where they were going now.
Another hour passed, and Amblygonite spotted something in the distance. It was one of those human things standing by the side of the road, holding up a sign!
"Hey Peridot! Slow down! There's another sign I wanna read!" Amblygonite said. "It might tell us where we're going!"
Peridot grunted, tapping the brakes until the truck came to a lurching stop. The human took a few steps back as the two gems dismounted and started towards him, but to his credit he didn't flee immediately.
"Okay, translate it!" Amblygonite said to Peridot, who frowned at her.
"Are you giving me orders?"
"J-just suggestions!"
The human coughed. "Uh, it says-"
Peridot's digits flew over to the sign, interrupting the man as they converged on the sign and began to translate the letters.
"Beach City...Or...Bust?" read Peridot, glancing at the human oddly. "What does this mean?"
"It means I wanna go to Beach City!" squeaked the man.
"Peridot! He could take us to Beach City!" Amblygonite said excitedly. "Wait. What's a Beach City?"
"Human," Peridot spoke up. The human froze, looking particularly frightened now. "Is there a large temple with beings such as us present in this 'Beach City'?"
"U-uh...Yeah?" he said, hoping like mad there actually were freaks like these two in that place.
"Very well. You may sit in the back and direct us."
"W-why wouldn't I sit in the front? And w-why are you guys driving backwards?" he asked, slapping a hand over his mouth at the look Peridot gave him.
"Do you wish to drive, human?" she asked icily.
"I mean you can drive however you want haha I mean most people just drive forwards but hey it's cool if you do hahahahaha!" rattled the man, now terrified out of using commas completely.
"Peridot, you're scaring him. He probably thought you were threatening him."
"Threatening? I was merely asking whether he wished to directly navigate us to Beach City!" Peridot said defensively. "Do you really not want to drive?"
"I mean! Yes! I'll drive!" the man said, desperate to get the conversation over with.
He clambered into the front seat, turning off the windshield wipers and headlights with a glance at Peridot as she slid in next to him. Amblygonite took the man's advice and seated herself in the back of the front. Boy, that was a head spinner on paper. Two rows of seats for the front of one vehicle? Madness.
The human shifted the sticks in the front of the vehicle while both gems watched him with interest, and soon the truck was rumbling along facing the correct direction.
"So!" Amblygonite yelped, causing the man to shout and swerve the truck for a moment before straightening out.
"What's your title, human? I'm Amblygonite and this is Peridot!" She pointed to herself and Peridot despite the human desperately keeping his eyes straight forward.
"Er-Er...It's uh...K-Kenny. I'm Kenny. W-well my name is technically Kenneth but if I had f-friends they'd c-call me Kenny," he stuttered, laughing nervously as his eyes darted to Peridot, who was still watching him 'work' with interest. No doubt she was studying how to most effectively drive.
"Cool! That means we're friends then Kenny!" Amblygonite said cheerfully. "You know, for as long as it takes to get to Beach City. Then I guess you can have this thing since that's all we're using it for!"
"G-great," Kenny replied, hands sweating enough to make the wheel slip in his grip. He turned on the radio, making both gems jump out of shock as the news started playing
"...And we're back with a fresh report on the One Armed Bandits!" spoke the voice from the radio. Amblygonite and Peridot looked at each other.
"Yes, the police have confirmed they have lost site of the Bandits. They are driving a stolen truck, colored yellow, model-" Kenny switched the news over to a music station that was playing soothing classical music. His hands stopped trembling.
"How come they were talking about you and not me?" complained Peridot. Amblygonite grinned. Kenny tried to ignore both of them as they trundled along. They had a long road ahead of them, long enough that he'd have to actually stay at least a day or two with them.
Kenny felt a bead of sweat drip down his forehead as Peridot and Amblygonite argued over which direction was best for the vehicle to face in while being driven.