1:30 p.m.
August 5
Beach City
The next couple of weeks flew by for Ronnie Anne. Despite her initial apprehension, she had come to appreciate the time she and Steven had together. Every other day or so, the two of them would meet on the Beach City boardwalk, and Steven would show her around, introducing her to everything the city had to offer. She learned, for instance, that Beach Citywalk Fries, the local french fry stand, would give you a bag of "fry bits" - the little pieces of french fry left over in the fryer - if you asked for them. Or, more accurately, if you banged your fists on the counter and chanted, "The-bits! The-bits! The-bits! The-bits!", which brought Ronnie Anne no shortage of amusement.
As she ambled down the boardwalk to meet Steven for lunch, a chilly breeze flitted by her - a sobering reminder that August had just started and summer was gradually giving way to fall. Ronnie Anne frowned, regretting the fact that she hadn't made any real effort to make friends until Steven approached her. Regardless, she figured she could at least make the most of the few remaining weeks of summer she had. Today, she and Steven would be meeting at Fish Stew Pizza for lunch, and then they'd take a walk over to the arcade for a few rounds of Meat Beat Mania.
Or, at least, that was the plan.
Once she made it to Fish Stew Pizza, she took a seat at a bench just outside the restaurant and waited. A few minutes later, she heard Steven call her name, and looked up to see him greeting her with his usual smile and wave. Up until that point, the day was shaping up to be a pretty typical outing. That changed, however, when Ronnie Anne spied a figure that, unbeknownst to him, was following closely behind.
Her heart lodged itself in her throat.
Steven was being stalked by a lion.
And not an ordinary looking lion, either. A lion with a hot pink fur coat, and a long flowing mane of the same color, that appeared to have the consistency of cotton candy. Unless the lion had taken a dive through a paint factory, there was only one explanation for the lion's bizarre appearance; this was one of the monsters the Crystal Gems had told her about.
"S-S-Steven!" she stammered, nearly choking on her own tongue. "Look...look behind you!"
Steven lost his smile and twisted his head around, looking over his shoulder. Ronnie Anne steeled herself, expecting that at any moment she'd have to rush in to help Steven defeat the beast. To her surprise, however, she wouldn't have to do anything of the sort, as Steven regained his smile, walked up to the lion and gave him a big hug around the neck.
"Aww, Lion! Did you follow me all the way here?"
Ronnie Anne rubbed her eyes in disbelief. "You... I... that... that thing's your pet?!"
"Sure is!" said Steven, in a tone that suggested there was nothing odd about the situation. "I found him on a mission in the desert a few days ago. He really seemed to like me, so I convinced the Gems to let me keep him!"
He walked over to the still-flabbergasted Ronnie Anne, with the lion following behind. "Ronnie Anne, I'd like you to meet my new friend, Lion," he said. "Lion, this is Ronnie Anne."
Ronnie Anne's heart quivered as the king of beasts approached her. Despite Steven's insistence that he was friendly, she couldn't help but feel apprehensive; after all, she'd never been this close to a lion before, and she'd never even seen one with such a peculiar color.
Her fear deflated, however, once she saw Lion gingerly hold his paw out to her. And once he got closer, there was another thing she noticed that helped ease her nerves; while he may have had the body of a lion, he had the face of an oversized house cat. He had a pair of wide, youthful, ever-curious eyes, sitting just atop a cute little button nose that was just begging to be booped. Who on Earth could be afraid of a face like that?
"N...nice to meet you, Mr. Lion," she said, taking him by the paw and giving him a shake.
"It's just Lion," said Steven.
"Right. Lion."
After the shake, Lion lifted his paw and started stroking her raven hair, causing her to give off a nervous giggle.
"Aw, I think he likes you!" squealed Steven. "You and Lion are gonna get along famously. I just know it."
Steven's swooning was interrupted, however, when his stomach suddenly emitted a low grumble. "...but for now, let's get some lunch."
Ronnie Anne nodded, and the two of them approached the entrance to Fish Stew Pizza. Right before they reached the door, Steven turned around to face Lion and gave him a stern, authoritative look.
"Now, Lion, I don't want you running off again. You're going to stay right here until we're done eating. And if you do, I'll give you a treat. Understand?"
Lion grunted in response, which Steven took as a yes. The two of them walked into the pizzeria, and were promptly greeted by a tall black teenage girl behind the counter, with a poofy bob haircut and large, golden earrings.
"How's it going, Steven?" the teenage girl asked, before her attention was drawn to the girl by his side. "And hey, um... you."
It occured to Ronnie Anne that she and the girl had interacted before, albeit briefly. She had seen her the few times she ate at Fish Stew Pizza, but she hadn't bothered to get her name, and her conversation with her was mostly limited to her making her order.
"Oh, hi, Jenny! This is Ronnie Anne. She's new in town. Ronnie Anne, this is Jenny."
It also occured to Ronnie Anne that she had a chance to make a good first impression with one of the Beach City regulars. At this point, She had grown pretty tired of being shy around strangers. For the first time in weeks, she found herself being introduced to a completely normal girl - not an alien, or a half-alien, or an animal - so she found the perfect opportunity to be her regular, brash self.
"'Sup, Jenny," she said with a smirk, kicking her head back to make her ponytail flip. "Steven's been showing me around Beach City the past couple weeks. It's not as cool as my hometown, but it's got its charm, I guess."
Jenny chuckled. "All right, Ronnie Anne. You can go ahead and throw all the shade you want, but once you see the best Beach City has to offer, you're gonna be changing your tune. So what'll it be, Steven?"
"The usual!" said Steven. "Sausage, onion and hot pepper flakes. That okay with you, Ronnie?"
Ronnie Anne shrugged. "Eh."
"I'll take that as a yes," said Jenny. "Coming right up!"
As they enjoyed their food, Steven provided a few details about some of the adventures he'd gone on in her absence - while also asking Ronnie Anne what she'd been up to, out of politeness. Ronnie Anne, not wanting to dwell on the fact that Steven's life was so much more interesting than hers, tersely answered his questions and polished off her pizza in little time. The two of them gave Jenny a smile and a wave goodbye as they exited.
"So we're going to the arcade, right?" Ronnie Anne asked as they walked out the door. As instructed, Lion was waiting for them in the exact same spot that Steven had left him in. Ronnie Anne was tickled when her eyes made contact with his; while Lion's body language was rigid and stoic, his eyes betrayed a puppy-like affection for his human companions.
"Well, that was the plan," said Steven. "But now that this little guy's along for the ride," he added, giving Lion a pat on the nose, "I thought maybe we could do something with him."
He grabbed a fistful of Lion's cotton candy-like mane and used it to pull himself up onto Lion's back. "How'd you like to go for a ride?" he asked, maintaining his grip on the mane. "We can go anywhere you want."
Ronnie Anne felt a pang of apprehension, which she tried her best to suppress. "Eh, sure, why not? I never rode a lion before. Could be fun."
She reached up, planted her hands on Lion's lower back, and hoisted herself atop. As she adjusted herself and got comfortable, the fur from Lion's coat brushed up against her bare legs, tickling her.
"Hang on tight!" said Steven.
Ronnie Anne nodded and gripped Lion by his fur coat; however, this triggered a growl of pain from the beast, and she hastily let go.
"Not onto Lion, silly," Steven said with a chuckle. "Onto me!"
Ronnie Anne's heart skipped a beat. Over the past couple weeks, she'd been growing more and more comfortable around Steven, but their physical contact was limited to the occasional high-five. But now she was in a situation where she'd have to have her arms wrapped snugly around his waist - practically spooning him. Worse, she knew full well that her only other choice was bearing the risk of falling off Lion mid-stride and breaking a bone. She gulped, did her best to ignore her mounting discomfort, scooted up closer to Steven and wrapped her arms around him tight.
"So, where do you wanna go?" asked Steven.
"I... um... ah..."
Ronnie Anne was tempted to say, "I don't care," but she knew that Steven was the kind of boy who'd insist on letting her choose. And the more time they spent making up their minds, the more time she'd be left stuck in the middle of the boardwalk, clinging onto Steven like a teddy bear in plain sight of countless passersby.
"...why don't we let Lion pick?" she suggested.
"Oh, hey, great idea!" cried Steven. "Good thinking, Ronnie Anne."
Yeah, you got that right, she thought to herself.
"All right, Lion, you heard her! Take us anywhere you want to go!"
And just like that, Lion reared back, let out a mighty roar, and took off in a dead sprint down the boardwalk. The sudden, startling change in velocity caused Ronnie Anne to yelp and squeeze Steven even tighter. After a few seconds, her body adjusted itself to the new speed, and she allowed herself to loosen her grip just a tad - not too much. She wouldn't be letting go anytime soon, with the world around her zooming past her eyes and the winds buffeting her face.
To alleviate the sting of the latter, Ronnie Anne nestled her face into Steven's meaty shoulder. She had to admit, it felt comfortable, holding onto Steven like that. His shoulder so soft and pillowesque, his belly so supple and plush... the boy may have been half human and half gem, but he felt like a living teddy bear. That, and it was rather exhilirating to feel the breeze coursing through her hair, making her ponytail flutter about like a flag atop a mountain. Honestly, it was enough to make her hope that Lion never chose a destination; she was content to just let him take her around the-
"Wait, Lion! Don't go in the water!"
Ronnie Anne gasped and snapped her head up. As it turned out, she had gotten so comfortable during the ride that she had failed to pay attention to her surroundings. As it turned out, Lion had long since cleared the boardwalk, and was now bounding down the beach and headed straight towards the ocean. At this point, Ronnie Anne had two choices: bail, and risk a nasty fall, or hold on tight and try not to drown. Out of an eagerness to impress Steven with her courage and trust that he wouldn't let anything happen to her, she chose the latter. She clenched her eyes shut, held her breath, and waited to be submerged into the briny deep.
...and waited...
...and waited...
...until another exclamation from Steven forced her to open her eyes.
"You can walk on water?!" he cried. "Why don't you tell me you can do these things you do?!"
When she looked to the side, she found that - sure enough - Lion's feet were now resting atop the surface of the ocean, as if it were solid ground. Baffled, amazed and relieved all at once, Ronnie Anne collapsed into a fit of laughter as Lion bounded across the water. Occasionally, she'd look to the side and give a cheeky wave hello to awestruck swimmers and sailors.
This beats the arcade by a longshot, Ronnie Anne thought. You're just full of surprises, aren't you, Steven?
But her excitement was tempered by a dash of worry. A momentary glance over her shoulder revealed that the shore was getting farther and farther away, making her wonder just where Lion planned on taking them and how long it would take to get there. And since they obviously didn't have the option of dismounting now, all they could do was hang on tight until Lion took them to dry land.
Fortunately, that wouldn't be too much longer. Out of nowhere, an unearthly sound erupted from Lion's maw, somewhere between a roar and a belch. A pink, blindingly bright halo of light shot out of his mouth, and rocketed across the surface of the water before stopping about fifty feet ahead. Once it stopped, it swirled about in place and swelled into a large, opaque circle. Before Ronnie Anne even had a chance to ask what was going on, Lion sprinted towards the light and dove headfirst into it. The next thing she knew, Lion had taken them out of the world they recognized and into a vast, abstract space, where they were surrounded by patterns and swirls of pastel-colored light.
What on Earth has Steven gotten me into- WHOA!
Ronnie Anne's thought process was interrupted when Lion's speed ramped up from "brisk" to "breakneck", as he flew through the space with his paws outstretched. The sudden shift caused Steven to lose his seating on Lion's back, forcing him to cling tighter to his mane for dear life - and, subsequently, forcing Ronnie Anne to cling tighter to him.
Before long, their journey through the portal was complete. A portal identical to the one Lion belched out appeared dead ahead, which he dove into without hesitation. Once he did, the abstract world gave way to a physical one, and Lion dug his paws into the newly formed floor, skidding to a stop. Ronnie Anne took a moment to let her eyes readjust themselves before taking a tentative glance around the room. They now found themselves in a dank, moist cavern, with a floor flooded by an inch or two of water. In the center of the room was an enormous, marble-like elevated platform, with a flight of stairs carved into the side - like the warp pad Ronnie Anne saw at the temple, but much, much larger.
Just then, Lion plopped his butt down, sending Steven and Ronnie Anne sliding off his back and plummeting onto the waterlogged floor. While picking herself up, Ronnie Anne cringed at the sensation of the water soaking her jeans and seeping into her shoes.
"Where are we?" she had to ask.
"I don't know!" cried Steven. "He's never done this before. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Let's just figure this out."
She looked around for Lion, and noticed that he was trotting up the stairs to the top of the platform. Once there, he gazed down and the two children and growled.
"I think he wants us to follow him," said Steven.
Seeing no other logical course of action, the two of them walked up the stairs to meet the beast. By the time they reached the top, Lion was seated in the middle of the platform, with his eyes focused on some peculiar hole in the center.
"Has he ever done this kind of thing before?" asked Ronnie Anne. As she spoke, her voice echoed throughout the massive, spacious cavern.
"No, this is new," said Steven. "You know, it's times like these that I really wish Lion could ta-"
The young boy's sentence was suddenly interrupted by a deep humming sound coming from the platform. Looking down, Ronnie Anne saw that the floor below them was now glowing hot pink - similar to the shade of Lion's fur. The rose-tinted glow lingered for barely more than a second before retreating into the hole in the center, as if it were being sucked down a drain. A moment later, a pillar of light burst forth from the hole, emitting a staticky crackle as it did.
Ronnie Anne had no idea what to make of that; for all she knew, she and Steven had just triggered a security alarm. What's more, she knew that Steven wasn't any more familiar with this place than she was, so she didn't have the option of asking him for help. On the other hand, there was someone with them who seemed to know where they were - and at the moment, he was sitting expectantly by the light pillar, staring at her. Ronnie Anne guessed that he wanted her to come closer, and she wasn't one to argue with a lion. Thus, she swallowed her fears and shuffled closer to the center, making sure to stay close to Steven (but not too close).
As they approached, the light dissipated and shrunk back into the hole. In its place, a glowing stone column with a base shaped like a human hand rose up from the center. After rising to a height of about three feet, it stopped and locked itself in place.
"I... I'm guessing you have to put your hand there?" Ronnie Anne said, with an upward inflection suggesting that she had no confidence in her guess.
"Sounds reasonable," Steven said with a shrug. "Why don't you try it first?"
Ronnie Anne shook her head. "You're the magical gem kid, Steven. It probably won't do anything if I-"
"You're not scared, are you?"
Ronnie Anne gasped, appalled by such an insinuation. From Steven's tone, she couldn't quite tell if he was trying to tease her. "What do you mean, scared?! Why would I be scared to put my hand on a stupid panel?!"
Steven gave off a nervous chuckle. "Okay, calm down, Ronnie Anne. I was just-"
Steven was interrupted when Ronnie Anne marched up to the platform and slapped her hand on it several times. The thwap of her hand smacking the stone echoed throughout the chamber.
"There, see? Nothing. Now you do it!"
"All right, all right!" cried Steven. "Geez, you don't have to shout at me!"
Steven lifted his hand and placed it down onto the column. A moment later, the low humming noise came back, and the column started glowing pink. The glow spread out across the floor until it engulfed the entire platform, illuminating the room. The glow of the platform illuminated the surrounding cave, and Ronnie Anne could see that it was even vaster than she thought before; the watery floor below the platform expanded out at least fifty feet in each direction, and she spied holes in the cave wall that lead to other rooms and stalactite-lined corridors.
"Wha... what did I do?" Steven wondered out loud.
"I don't know, but you did something," said Ronnie Anne. She looked over at Lion, hoping that his facial expression or body language would give them some clue as to what to do next. Alas, no such luck: the beast just sat on his haunches, staring blankly at them.
"Try using your other hand," she said, spouting off the first idea that came to her head.
Steven, figuring that it was worth a shot, tried to withdraw his hand from the tablet... only to find that it wouldn't budge. He tugged harder, but the hand remained bound in place.
"Wha- I'm stuck!"
Steven grabbed his left arm with his free hand and pulled on it with all his might, grunting from the strain, but his efforts produced no success.
"Stuck?!" cried Ronnie Anne. "What do you mean, you're stuck?!"
The tomboy wrapped both her hands around Steven's thick forearm and tried to pry it off herself, but it was no use. The only thing she managed to pull back to any degree was Steven's skin, causing him more than a little pain. After a yelp of pain clued her into that fact, she let go of his arm and backed away.
"Sorry, sorry," she muttered. "Let's just take a moment and try to figure something out."
The two children proceeded to do just that, standing in silence as they mulled over the situation. Ronnie Anne had no idea how the tablet could have locked Steven's hand in place, but that wasn't important. The important point was that, for whatever reason, the mechanism only responded to Steven's touch - so, she reasoned, only he could activate the command to release him. But how? It'd have to be an action he could perform...
...locked in place.
With only one free hand.
Completely helpless.
A mischievous grin spread across Ronnie Anne's face, as a devilish thought came to her and superseded everything else in her mind.
"Hey, Steven!" she said, scarcely able to hide her merriment.
"What? You've got an idea?"
"...yeah, something like that. Face forward."
Steven complied, turning his head until his face was perpendicular to hers. Before he could even begin to suspect what she was plotting, she put her pointer finger in her mouth, gave it a thorough lathering with her tongue and lips, and jammed it into Steven's ear.
"Wet willy!"
Steven yelped in shock and tried to pull away from her, only to find himself restrained by his immobilized hand. Ronnie Anne pulled out her finger and collapsed into a fit of cackling, doubling over in laughter and slapping herself on the knee.
"What was that for?!" cried Steven. "You think it's funny to... to..."
Both Steven and Ronnie Anne clammed up when their ears picked up a rumbling sound coming from underneath the platform - gears shifting, bolts unlocking and metal clashing with metal. A portion of the floor in front of them opened up, and from the opening rose a silver, medieval-style suit of armor, resting upon a miniature panel. A suit of black samurai armor rose up to claim the spot beside the first, which was then followed by another, and then another, until the two of them were surrounded by suits of varying size, color, shape and design.
"Good gravy..." Ronnie Anne said in a breathy whisper. "Steven, how on earth did you do that?"
"I-I don't think it was me," said Steven. "I think it was you."
Ronnie Anne's eyebrows jumped, as she was a little taken aback by the idea that she of all people triggered something. On further reflection, though, she recalled that nothing happened until she gave Steven that wet willy. Originally, she was sure that the tablet was some kind of control panel, but... maybe he was the control panel.
Apparently, he had the same idea, because her thought process was interrupted by a cry of, "Try something else! Try something else!"
Ronnie Anne smirked, grateful for the opportunity to mess with Steven's body again - with his consent, no less. She walked up to him, grabbed a handful of his cheek and pinched it (which she'd always wanted to do ever since the first time she saw him). As soon as she did, the suits of armor sank back into the floor, and the gaps they left behind sealed shut.
Then, a larger gap closer to the center opened up, and from it rose a large cylinder, glowing the same shade of pink as the platform they were standing on. Unlike the armor, however, the cylinder didn't seem to be supported by any panel; instead, it floated out of the gap on its own, stopping about two feet above the platform and levitating in place. The cylinder opened up with a click and unraveled itself, revealing its contents. A variety of axes, halberds and lances floated out of the cylinder and arranged themselves into a single-file line, putting themselves on display.
"Cool!" Ronnie Anne blurted out, taken off guard by the reveal of such an ornate and powerful-looking arsenal. She took off towards the axes, eager to pick one to call her own.
"Ronnie Anne, wait!" cried Steven. "I don't think you're supposed to touch those!"
Shortly after he said that, the axes filed themselves back into the cylinder, which locked itself shut and sank back into the floor. Upon seeing the weaponry slip away from her grasp, Ronnie Anne swerved around to face Steven, bearing an annoyed-looking scowl.
"What gives?! I was just gonna look at 'em!"
"I'm sorry! I don't even know how I did that!"
Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes and trudged back to Steven's side. "Whatever. Let's just try something else."
Ronnie Anne proceeded to experiment with different ways to pinch, poke and prod Steven, with each motion revealing something new - a row of cannons, a statue with spiked flails attached to its arms, and most bafflingly, a giant penny. Though she was mesmerized by the armory at first, eventually Ronnie Anne started go grow restless. Before long, they ran out of different items to summon, and they started cycling through the same objects over and over again. It didn't help that Steven told her not to touch anything they found, out of fear that they might get in trouble if she did. Once they saw the giant penny for the third or fourth time, Ronnie Anne had had enough.
"Okay, this is getting boring. What does Lion even expect us to do? Pick up the penny and go buy it lunch?"
Steven chuckled at the remark. "I hear you, Ronnie Anne, but I don't think we can leave until I get my hand unstuck."
Ronnie Anne groaned. "Well, we have to figure something out. I wanna do something. Don't you?"
"To be honest, yeah," said Steven, scratching the back of his head. "Like, this stuff is kinda cool, but I'm getting pretty antsy. I wanna see some action."
As soon as he finished that sentence, the glow of the platform went out, and the hand-shaped column released Steven and retracted itself back into the floor. Before Ronnie Anne even had a chance to feel relieved that Steven was free, a large, circular gap in the platform opened up, exposing a blinding light from beneath. From the gap rose a massive. cylindrical... thing.
At eight feet tall (not including the four feet above the ground it hovered) it towered over the two children. It was shaped like a cup, with a wide brim that slightly tapered off toward the base. A bed of tan, jewel-like spikes jutted out from the top, and below the brim were two hollow thick-lined circles with oval-shaped dots inside, looking like a pair of frog's eyes. The bottom half of it was lined with four large, gaping holes, equidistant from each other. One of them was positioned right below the object's "eyes", making it look like a mouth that was locked open in a grim howl.
"Um... S-Steven?" uttered Ronnie Anne, unable to hide her nervousness. "P-please tell me you know what that is."
"I'm afraid not," Steven said with a hint of worry in his own voice. "But who knows? Maybe it's friendly!"
Steven's words did little to ease her fears - especially in light of what happened next. The two of them were surrounded by the rough, piercing sound of marble scraping against marble as several huge, spike-shaped protrusions jutted out from the floor. Ronnie Anne's eyes darted around the room in search of Lion, in the hopes that he would be primed to protect them from whatever was coming. To her chagrin, he was sprawled out near the edge of the platform, taking a nap.
Seriously?
She was somewhat inclined to go over and wake him up, but she reasoned that he'd be waking up soon enough if they were in any real danger. Besides, she wasn't quite enthralled by the prospect of facing the wrath of a cranky lion.
"Well, hey, Lion doesn't seem to be worried!" quipped Steven. "So maybe-"
He was interrupted when the object started to generate a low, eerie hum and emitted a blinding white light that shone through its head, eyes and mouth. The bottom half of the object whirled itself around like a carousel before locking itself in place. Once it did, the object's glow changed from white to yellow, and bolts of lightning started streaking out of its mouth-hole, buzzing and crackling.
"RUN!" yelled Steven, taking off in a mad dash away from the object.
You don't have to tell me twice! thought Ronnie Anne as she bolted away in a different direction. The object spewed out a ball of orange-yellow plasma that struck the floor with a bang, just barely missing the two children.
Ronnie Anne took cover behind one of the protrusions, and gave herself a moment to lean against it and catch her breath. At this point, sweat was pouring out of Ronnie Anne's copper skin, and her heart was battering her ribcage. What has Steven gotten me into?!
A peek from behind the spike revealed that the object's glow had changed color once again, from yellow to blue. It hovered towards Steven, stalking the boy and waiting for just the right moment to fire.
"Steven, watch out!"
Steven, heeding her warning, dove out of the robot's path just before it launched another projectile. A sky blue ball of plasma collided with the floor beside Steven, coating the point of impact with a thin layer of ice.
First lightning, now ice? There was no telling what else that machine was packing in its arsenal. She huddled behind the barrier, priming herself to make a run for it as soon as the robot discovered her location. As she listened for any sign of the robot approaching, it dawned on her just how powerless she really was. She got so defensive and testy when Pearl said she wouldn't be able to handle Steven's missions, and now she was proving that Pearl's fears were well-founded. Her face scrunched up into a bitter scowl as she imagined Pearl sighing and tut-tutting her for deluding herself into thinking that she was capable.
"I told you these missions were too dangerous for you. Humans are so arrogant and short-sighted."
No. Screw that. Ronnie Anne wasn't going to take that kind of condescension. No way, no how.
With a fire, ignited in her heart, Ronnie Anne gripped the top of the barrier and peered over it, waiting for the robot to draw closer.
I'll show you just what a human can do.
