Author's note: I am going to tell you all about three pairings that will happen at some point. Connie X Peedee, Peridot X Peedee, and Peridot X Connie...it's gonna be a weird love triangle.
Bubble Buddies
"How much longer?" Connie groaned impatiently
"I've already told you sis, I don't know." Steven replied, sitting next to her on the beach.
"But you said that Peedee said he was only going to be a few minutes."
"It's only been two." Steven grinned. "And if you keep talking so loud, he'll figure out your little secret." Steven said playfully, singing the last two words.
At the comment, Connie gave a small blush, quickly shaking it off as their friend approached in the distance.
Peedee Fryman was the son of Mr. Fryman, the owner of Beach Citywalk Fries. Even before Greg's death, Peedee had been best friends with the twins and Connie's "secret" crush. After Greg's death, Peedee had done what he could to comfort them, eventually bringing them back to their former selves. Since then, the young boy was almost never seen without Steven or Connie when he wasn't helping his dad at the restaurant.
"Hey Steven, hey Connie!" A young boy called, running across the beach to the twins. He wore a white t-shirt and a pair of blue jean shorts. His long locks of blonde hair strangely resembled large fries.
Steven turned around. "Hey Peedee!" He called.
"Hey Peedee!" Connie called after her brother.
Steven crossed his arms as Peedee approached. "So my man, you got the goods?" He
"Oh do I have them." Peedee reached into the bag he wore on his shoulder. "Behold!" He took out a book, holding it in the air dramatically.
"Wow!" Connie exclaimed.
"Welcome to the Wizard Wilds, with the author's signature." Peedee told her. "Just like I promised."
Connie snatched it out of his hands, staring at it in awe. "How did you-"
"Connie please, I have to be mysterious."
Steven chuckled. "You sound like Ronaldo."
"No I…now that I think about it, that was a Ronaldo thing to say."
"Well come on, let's read it!" Steven cheered.
"Um, I only brought one copy of the story. Mine's at home."
"Well then you could read it to us." Steven suggested.
"Steven…he doesn't have to…"
Peedee shrugged. "Why not? It's not like the three of us had anything else planned."
Sapphire watched from the porch as Peedee read the book to the twins. In her hands was a cup of water with a tea bag resting in it. Sapphire couldn't help but grin as Peedee took a glance at Connie, quickly shifting his gaze back to the book in his hands as she looked towards him.
Sapphire sighed. "Ah, young love."
Ruby walked over to Sapphire, sitting next to her. "Whatcha doin?" She asked the blue gem.
"See for yourself." Sapphire told her, indicating forward.
Ruby looked over, confused. "What am I-" She noticed the exchange between the two. "Aw, that's cute. I can't believe that those two haven't realized they like each other by now. You'd they would've realized it by now… Oh well, humans are dense." A grin stretched across Ruby's face. "Hey, should we play matchmaker, like the good old days?" Ruby asked.
"No…let's just let nature take its course. They'll figure it out eventually."
Ruby's grin dropped. "But nature's boring, I want 'em to know now." Ruby waited for Sapphire to give a response, none coming. She gave a light growl. "Fine, whatever. Tell me when something good happens." Ruby began to walk away, angry that she hadn't been allowed to intervene. As she was about to make it to the temple door, the earth shook beneath them. The shaking stopped and Ruby sighed. "Man, that was a big one. Maybe Opal was right when she said-"
"Look out!" Ruby heard Connie cry out, a loud cracking sounding soon after.
"Oh no…" Ruby jumped up and ran to the door. Her spirits began to drop as Sapphire wasn't there, her cup of tea in her place. As she made it to the railing, Ruby prepared to hop down, only to be confused by what she saw. Steven, with a look of shock and fear, and Sapphire, with a one of contemplation, were gathered around a translucent pink sphere. Within it, Connie was noiselessly helping Peedee stand up. Ruby looked around the sphere to find large chunks of rock scattered about.
Ruby hopped down, landing next to Sapphire. She quickly ran up and pressed her face against the barrier. "Hey, you two okay?" Ruby asked.
Connie looked at Ruby with a smile and began to talk, no sound coming.
"What?" Ruby asked, holding her ear close to it.
Connie began again, still no sound.
"One more time."
Connie, an expression of frustration coming over her, cupped her hands and began to yell, no sound coming again, but Peedee giving a pained expression before covering his ears.
"Well, that wasn't helpful." Ruby said.
"Hm, I didn't think she would make her bubble so soon." Sapphire said to herself.
"Aw, no fair." Steven whined. "Connie got a shield and a giant bubble before me?"
"Interesting." Sapphire knocked on the sphere, a metallic clank coming from it. "Completely soundproof."
"At least for us." Ruby said, indicating to Peedee, who was holding his ears in pain from Connie's previous shouting.
Connie looked at him with a sympathetic expression, giving him a pat on the back. Peedee replied with a smile, Connie saying something that no one on the outside could hear, though they could assume it was an apology.
"Aw, that's so sweet." Steven gushed.
Connie jumped up, glaring at her brother, a burning blush across her face. She quickly began to shout at him, Steven only guessing by Peedee's increasingly horrified expression that it was pretty bad.
Ruby watched with a humored expression. "Alright, as fun as this is to watch, how's about you take that thing down?"
Connie nodded, spreading her arms out and shutting her eyes, nothing happening. She opened them, looking surprised, before trying again, only to be met with the same result.
"What's wrong?" Steven asked, walking up as Ruby summoned her gauntlet.
"It looks like," Ruby jumped up pounded the bubble as hard as she could, only managing to make the children cover their ears. She landed, dismissing her weapon. "it won't go away."
"What?!" Steven exclaimed. "You mean they're stuck in there?!"
"Don't worry Steven," Sapphire assured. "everything will be fine."
"But what if they can't get out?! What if my sister and best friend are stuck in a bubble forever and have to grow old and die in it?!" He asked.
Steven turned as he noticed movement coming from the bubble, Connie giving him a smile to assure him she was fine.
"See, Connie's not worried." Sapphire said.
"Yea." Ruby added. "Besides, they'll starve way before get old."
Steven's expression became one of horror.
"What, was it something I said?" Ruby looked over to see Peedee and Connie staring at her with eyes the size of dinner plates. "Oh..."
"So, why are we watching this?" Steven asked, sitting next to Sapphire. They watched a ways back, watching Ruby on top of the bubble pounding it as hard as she could with her gauntlets.
"Because it's funny." Sapphire said in a monotone, taking a sip of her tea.
Ruby growled in frustration. "Hold on a second." Ruby said running off.
Connie and Peedee uncovered their ears, each seeming grateful that the stubborn red gem had stopped for the time being. As they did so, they yelped as the bubble was picked up effortlessly by Sapphire.
"Alright, let's go before Ruby tries something stupid." She said, beginning to walk off.
Steven stood there for a moment. "Wait, what do you call everything else she's done?"
"Well this isn't how I thought I'd be spending my day." Connie said, watching Sapphire carefully carrying them away from the beach. She looked at Peedee, the young boy just sitting awkwardly with his back against the bubble. "Sorry you got caught up in this, I'm not really sure what's going on anymore."
Peedee grinned. "It's no problem. Like I said earlier, we didn't really have anything planned anyway, and this sure is a fun way to spend some time with you." His face reddened as he realized what he just implied. "Guys!" He quickly said. "You guys! Not just you; I mean that would be weird seeing as how I'm friends with both of you!"
Connie didn't know why, but she smiled at this, letting out a small laugh.
Peedee did the same, the awkward feeling still lingering. He looked behind him to find that the bubble had stopped moving. "Hey, we've stopped."
Connie took notice of this to, surprised that they hadn't noticed when Sapphire had placed them down. She took a look around the area, finding them to be at the Beach City Pier. Also, she found that her brother and Sapphire were not present. "Did they just leave us?!" Connie asked angrily.
Peedee remained calm, lying against the barrier casually. "I bet they went to get something." He said. "At least we're not going to have to figure out what "stupid" thing she thinks Ruby's was going to do."
Connie nodded, not even trying to imagine what it could be if it was worse that what Ruby had tried before.
As Connie did so, Peedee saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking to it, he found a young boy, half Steven's size and age, staring at them. "Onion?" His eyes widened, the boy jumping to his feet. "Hey Onion!" He called, running to the side closest to the boy.
Connie turned to see what had given her friend such the burst of energy, only for her expression to fall into a scowl. Over the years, Connie had found herself increasingly frustrated with the younger of Vidalia's sons. The child simply gave off a vibe that sent shivers down her spine.
Onion continued to stare at them with a small smile, though Peedee was excited to see him for some reason.
"What's all the fuss about? It's just Onion." Connie said, standing next to Peedee and crossing her arms. Despite her obvious contempt for the boy, Onion's smile never faltered.
"He can help us get out of here!" Peedee said excitedly, looking over to her. He quickly turned back to Onion. "Onion, we need you to get your dad's harpoon gun!" He said.
"What?!" Connie cried.
"Come on, what do you normally do to pop things?" Peedee asked. Before Connie could answer, he said, "You poke it with something sharp." He declared.
Connie was about to object, but decided not to. As much as she thought this idea was half-baked, it wasn't like she had any better ones.
"Come on Onion!" He pleaded. His gave a serious expression, remembering what Sapphire had said about the bubble. "Alright, let's try this then." He breathed on the pink bubble, creating fog. With his finger, he carefully wrote out the word. With a hopeful smile, he watched Onion give him a thumbs up before running off.
"Nice." Connie complemented.
Peedee beamed with pride, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of Onion readying the harpoon gun. "To the sides!" He cried.
The two leaned ran to opposite sides of the barrier, closing their eyes as Onion fired a harpoon at the bubble. Hearing a metallic clank, they opened their eyes in time to see the harpoon deflect off of the bubble before flying into the side of a boat, sinking it.
"Uuuuuh." Peedee began.
"Hey guys!" Peedee and Connie turned to find Sapphire running up to them with a smile. "I got the..." Her smile dropped at the sight of a boat sinking in the behind them.
"So, you're sure this will work?" Steven asked Sapphire.
Sapphire gave him a reassuring smile. "It'll work." She assured them.
Steven watched as Sapphire began to hover around the sphere, her hands making contact with it. As she continued, a thin layer of frost began to form over it.
Steven, taking notice, began chanting. "Freeze the bubble. Freeze the bubble. Freeze the bubble."
Connie and Peedee watched from the inside, joining in on Steven's chant as ice began to form.
"Alright, just a few more minutes, and this thing should be brittle enough that we can just knock on it." She said to herself. Just as a layer of ice began to form on the barrier, someone yelled from behind her.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late!" Ruby said, the entire group, save Sapphire, turning to her. "It took me awhile to find the light cannon in Opal's room. It was almost like she was trying to hide it or something."
The three children's eyes widened at the sight of the massive light cannon.
Ruby set down the cannon, looking at Sapphire in confusion. "What the heck are you doing?" She asked.
"I'm trying to freeze the bubble to the point that it will grow brittle and break easily." Sapphire explained, not turning to her comrade.
Ruby stared at Sapphire for a moment before she began to laugh hysterically. "That has got to be the stupidest idea I've ever heard! Step aside and let me show you how a real gem gets it done." Ruby turned to Steven. "Come on bud, let's light this candle." She encouraged.
Steven looked to the ground. "...Maybe we should try Sapphire's idea first?" He offered. "She's almost done with it. Plus, I think you idea is kind of a-"
"But Sapphire's idea is boring." Ruby whined. "Besides, my idea is better."
"Well, your plan won't work without one of them activating it." Sapphire said to Ruby, almost reaching the point that the bubble woiuld be able to break.
Ruby's cheeks puffed out in frustration before a sly smile slowly took over her face. "Oh, won't I?" Ruby asked, pulling out a tape recorder.
Sapphire stopped at the sight. "Ruby...you didn't."
"Oh, I did. Did you think I was going to live with a cannon in the house and not have a way to use it?" Ruby asked.
"Ruby." Sapphire said, slowly floating towards Ruby with hands raised defensively. "Come on, don't do something stupi-"
"Less talky, more splody!" Ruby pressed down on the button.
"If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs!" Steven and Connie's cheerful voices, albeit that of when they were seven, played from the recorder.
Sapphire barely flew out of the way quick enough, grabbing Steven before jumping away from the blast. The moment that the beam connected, the pinks sphere was sent flying back, thrown into and sinking in the sea.
Ruby watched with a blank expression. "Maybe I should've let you try your idea."
Sapphire face palmed. "Alright, let's go find them."
"So that's what Sapphire meant by something stupid." Peedee said, arms crossed as he laid against the bubble.
After Ruby had hit the bubble into the ocean, they two waited calmly at the ocean's bottom for someone to retrieve them. Thankfully, gems didn't have to breath, otherwise this situation could have been much worse. Sure it may take a little while for Sapphire to find them, but at least they knew that they would be found...eventually.
Connie sighed, laying across from Peedee. "Dang it Ruby." She said.
"Hey it could be always be worse." Peedee admitted, hoping to lighten the mood.
Connie looked at him for a moment, a smile creeping its way across her face, the girl unable to contain the laughter that came out. "I guess you're right." She said. "But I can't really see how."
A roar sounded around them, the ground beginning to shake.
"Me and my big mouth." She said.
The ground began to settle, Peedee getting to his feet. "What was that?"
Connie, about to answer, froze. "G- G- G- G- Giant w- w- w-" She stuttered, pointing behind Peedee.
Peedee turned around, finding himself frozen in fear. He was staring at a giant worm. The creature was close to them, seemingly scanning the surrounding area.
"S-Stay completely still." Peedee told Connie, hoping the creatures gaze would pass over them.
"Th- That's for T-rexes." She responded.
"Well, what do you suggest we do?"
Connie thought for a moment, only for the monstrous worm to swim away.
Connie and Peedee let out sighs of relief.
"That was a close one." Peedee said.
Connie watched as the worm began to feed on bright red seaweed. "Good news, it looks like it only eats that glowing seaweed, so we should okay…" After a few seconds, Connie groaned. "Why did Ruby go and make this worse?!" She cried angrily.
After a few moments of silence between them, Peedee nervously asked, "Is it really so bad that we're stuck here right now?"
Connie gave him a confused frown.
"I mean, I can understand how you would be upset if it were permanent, but we know we're gonna get out of here. So, is it really so bad that we're stuck like this, together in a bubble under the ocean, just for the time being? We're not in any danger..."
Connie thought for awhile before smiling. "Hey, I guess you're right. This really isn't the worst thing that could've happened to us."
They began to laugh, halting as something rammed into the bubble.
"What the-" Peedee began, letting out a horrified shreak as the worm began to try to eat the bubble.
"Why is it attacking us?" Connie asked. She looked to the ground, noticing how the bubble around them was giving a faint glow. "Just our luck, it thinks the bubble is the seaweed!"
The bubble slipped out of the worm's mouth, bouncing back. The worm faced towards it and shrieked, quickly swimming at them with its mouth open. Peedee stared at it, frozen with fear. Connie, thinking quickly, rammed into the side of the bubble as hard as she could, thankfully making it roll out of the worm's path.
The creature turned to them and roared once more.
"Run!" Connie cried, immediately moving to the walls to move the bubble.
Peedee, mustering whatever strength he could find, joined her. The two moved as fast as they could towards the shore, ramming the bubble's side together when the worm came close before resuming their trek to the shore. They continued for awhile, repeating their movements. Just as they were about to make it to the shore, the worm grabbed the back of the bubble.
Connie and Peedee yelped as the creature pulled them back, both falling. They watched fearfully as it took them deeper and deeper.
"No, no, no, no, no, no." Connie began.
"Hey ugly!" A scratchy voice called.
Ruby swam up to the worm quickly, pounding it in its stomach. The monster screeched, releasing the bubble before Ruby struck it again, uppercutting it out of the water.
"Ruby!" The two trapped children called.
Ruby smiled back at them. "Aw, you missed me…I think. Still can't hear a word you're saying."
As she said that, the worm dove back into the water, the monster swimming at Ruby and trying to eat the red gem. Ruby grabbed the edges of its mouth, the beast roaring in her face.
"Aw geeze! You're worse than the centipeetle." She whined.
Ruby pushed the worm monster back, the creature simply batting Ruby away. The red gem flew into the Connie's bubble, groaning. Ruby looked forward to see the beast coming straight at them, mouth wide open. As it was about to reach them, a swift object flew into the monster's, throwing it away.
The object slowly floated in front of them, revealing to be Sapphire. "Like before, you decided to go in without a plan, not even considering the consequences."
"Hey, only that last part's true!"
The monster's roar took the group's undivided attention, all four watching as it recovered.
Sapphire and Ruby leaped into action, each trying to keep the monster from reaching the bubble.
Connie watched as the large creature slowly began to gain the upper hand. "It's drawn to the bubble, we have to get rid of it!"
Peedee gave a thoughtful expression. "Wait…what if we used that to help?" He found Connie giving him a confused stare. "Hear me out. What if we used the bubble to lure the worm away?"
"Alright, I'm following you." Connie said with a nod. "So if we get it on land...then it will probably limit its mobility severely. It won't be able to avoid them as easily."
"Bingo." Peedee said. He looked up to the fight, seeing Ruby narrowly escape another of the worm monster's attempts to eat her. "But we better hurry, that thing's quick down here and I don't think Ruby's going to hold up much longer."
Connie nodded, the children taking to the bubble's sides and pushing.
The worm monster, taking notice, began to swim towards them.
Ruby grabbed onto its tail, planting her feet firmly on the ground. "Not so fast!"
The beast stopped only for a second, jerking its tail, and with it Ruby, up before swimming in pursuit.
Connie and Peedee, hearing Ruby crying out, turned to see the monster hot on their tales.
"Faster!" Connie called.
The two pushed as hard as they could, the bubble moving faster and faster. As they moved on, they felt the barrier halt suddenly. Below them, they found Sapphire, the blue gem lifting the bubble above her.
"A very clever plan, but I think I can make this a little bit easier." Sapphire threw the bubble out of the water, jumping after it.
Connie and Peedee yelped as the bubble landed, Sapphire gently landing next to them.
Steven stared at them, eyes wide. Eventually, his initial shock faded and he gave a smile. "You're back! You guys didn't have too much fun without me, did you?"
Before anyone could answer, Ruby flew out of the ocean, crashing next to them. "It's here." Ruby groaned.
With that, the worm burst from the water, landing on the beach. It gave a growl before slowly slithering towards Connie and Peedee.
Steven stared for second. "I guess you did."
"Steven, get behind me." Sapphire faced the beast, summoning her brass knuckles.
Ruby slowly stood up, wobbling to her feet. "As soon as I figure out which one of you is real, you're in big trouble." She threatened, quickly regaining her balance.
The creature roared in response, moving as quickly as it could towards the bubble.
"Ruby, when I tell you to, throw me at it." Sapphire commanded.
Ruby gave her a confused look, but, after everything that had happened, she wasn't about to question her leader.
The monster came closer and closer, its speed severely reduced on land. As it was about two feet away from them, it opened its mouth to roar.
"Now!" Sapphire told Ruby.
Ruby grabbed onto Sapphire's legs, swinging her around once before throwing her straight into the worm monster's open maw.
The creature's roar halted midway, the worm frozen in place for a second before exploding into a cloud of dust. From the cloud of dust, a peach colored gemstone dropped, Sapphire gently landing in front of it. She picked up the gemstone, a blue bubble forming around it before it was teleported to the temple.
"Alright Sapphire!" Steven cheered, Connie and Peedee following suit.
"Hey, I helped too!" Ruby pointed out.
Connie and Peedee gave the red gem tired glared, Ruby understanding.
"Well, if Sapphire's so smart, then how is she going to get them out of the bubble?" Ruby asked.
Steven looked side to side. "Freeze the bubble. Freeze the bubble. Freeze the bubble!" Steven began to chant with growing enthusiasm, Connie and Peedee appearing to do the same.
Sapphire smiled at this before walking over, Ruby groaning as the group decided to do the "boring" option.
Author's note: Not the best chapter, but nevertheless one I had to get out of the way. I think next chapter will be better...and hopefully have more Steven. Constructive criticism please (because this thing could use it...I just hope