The rickety van strode across the empty beach at a respectable pace. Ronnie Anne gazed out the window, entranced by the sheer expanse of nothingness that now existed in the ocean's place. In the distance, she could see Steven riding Lion across the sand, keeping pace with the van. (Steven had offered to let her ride with him, which she refused. Spooning him in public once was embarrassing enough, and she definitely didn't want to do it in front of his father.)

The massive swaths of space, of outright emptiness that characterized the landscape chilled her to the bone. Where she would once hear the crash of waves and the chatter of beachgoers, she now heard naught but the whirring of the van's engine and the faint sound of sand crunching against Lion's paws.

Well, that and the thrash metal music that Greg tried to put on about halfway through the journey. (Garnet, judging by her decision to throw herself out of the van and roll away, was presumably not a fan.)

All the while, the reality of the situation was weighing on her. By the end of the trip, they'd have to get out of the van and confront someone who was not merely powerful, but was practically a physical goddess. At one point, she was tempted to turn to Pearl and ask her to reassure her that everything would be okay. She glanced to her side and saw Pearl sitting silently with her head bowed forward and her hands folded in her lap. She scooted closer to the dour looking gem, drifted her hand towards hers...

...and then jerked it back.

None of that, she thought. She was a big girl. She didn't need someone to hold her hand whenever things got tough.

Eventually, the sheer monotony of the journey began to overtake her, and she drifted off to sleep. She wavered for a few seconds before falling over sideways, her head landing in Pearl's lap. The last thing she heard before falling unconscious was a lilting, "Oh, my" from her makeshift pillow.

Some indeterminate amount of time later, Ronnie was stirred from slumber from a bright blue light shining through the van's window. She yawned, stretched, picked herself up and looked out the window, curious to see where the light was coming from - and was met with a sight that snapped her out of her groggy state in an instant.

They found the ocean.

Before them stood a monolithic, gravity-defying pillar of ocean water, spanning at least 50 feet in width and stretching miles and miles into the sky. Upon closer inspection, she could see aquatic life swimming around the cylinder, making it look like the world's largest and most awe-inspiring aquarium.

"Guys, I just got the best idea for an album cover," Greg said in an awed whisper.

The Gems all hopped out of the van and walked towards the pillar, with Ronnie following close behind.

"This is it," said Garnet. "Lapis Lazuli is here."

"I don't understand!" cried Pearl. "What does she want with the ocean?!"

Ronnie, however, just tuned them out, as she was mesmerized by the sight of the pillar up-close. Its size, its towering height, the physics-defying nature of its sheer existence, left her at a loss for words. She reached her hand out towards the ocean wall, tempted to touch it. What would happen? Would her finger make a splash as it breached the surface? Would it enter seamlessly? Would she feel the current pushing against her fingertip? Would-

"YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE!"

A booming voice, loud enough to shake the ground, echoed through the landscape. The shock knocked Ronnie Anne backward onto her butt and sent her heart rate skyrocketing.

"Lapis, it's me, Steven!" Steven yelled.

Just then, the surface of the pillar in front of them began to shift. The Crystal Gems watched in horror as the ocean water molded itself into the shape of a gigantic face - the face of the sullen-looking girl Pearl had shown them before they left.

"Go away!" Lapis bellowed. "Before I make you!"

At this point, Ronnie Anne's superego was screaming at her to run away and let the Gems handle this threat. Her ego, however, had other intentions.

"We didn't drive all this way out here for nothing, you know!" she cried, her hands balling into fists. "You think you can just take away our ocean and expect us to stand back and do nothing?! What is wrong with you?!"

Lapis shifted her attention towards her. Ronnie nearly flinched at this, but planted her feet and forced herself to stand rigid. Lapis, scowling, stretched out her neck until her nose was just an inch from Ronnie's.

"I don't remember asking you anything, human," she said.

The mocking, disdainful tone with which she spoke the last word whipped Ronnie into a frenzy. In a fit of rage, she threw a punch at the face in front of her, causing it to explode and shower her with water. She sputtered, taking a moment to spit out the salt water that had seeped into her mouth. Once she did that, she glanced to the side to see everyone else - Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Steven, Greg and even Lion - staring at her with their jaws dropped.

"What?!" she snapped. "You heard what she said! She insulted me!"

She never got a response from them, because before they could speak, they were interrupted by the sound of the ocean water shifting again. They turned back to the pillar, and saw the water molding itself into a small humanoid shape, which then broke off from the surface and started walking towards Ronnie Anne. This one, however, looked nothing like the image of Lapis that Pearl had shown her before; it was a plucky, round-headed, hoodie-clad girl with a ponytail.

It was her. A watery mirror image of her.

"I said, the clone snarled in Lapis's voice, "leave me ALONE!"

The Ronnie clone sent a geyser of water rocketing out from its fist, smacking the original in the face and knocking her down. Once again, she was rendered a coughing, sputtering mess, as the sharpness of the salt water stung her eyes and throat. Once she got her bearings, she rose to her feet, only to see that Lapis had created four more water clones - of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven, respectively. Mr. Universe retreated into the van, while each of the Crystal Gems started duking it out with their doppelgängers, leaving Ronnie Anne to deal with her own.

Remember what Garnet taught you, she thought while the clone approached her. Firm, but flexible. It's all about balance.

She kept herself limber and loose as the clone readied an attack. It threw a punch at her face, which she managed to duck quite easily. Mid-squat, she steeled herself and countered with a hard uppercut. On impact, the clone's head exploded in a shower of ocean water.

"Ha-ha!" she cheered. "How do you like that?!"

But her moment of triumph was short-lived. A moment later, she saw the stray droplets gravitate back towards the clone's neck, merge into one mass and reform its head, good as new.

"Oh, come on!" she cried. "I got you fair and-"

The clone cut her off by blasting her with a stream of water from its chest, knocking her into a nearby rock formation. The crack of her spine against the unyielding stone sent shockwaves of pain throughout her body. In desperation, she tried to force herself to her feet, gritting her teeth and powering through the pain. Right as she turned to face her opponent, though, she saw it preparing another attack. She assumed a fighting stance, expecting another punch... but that's not what she got.

Instead, the clone inflated its fist into a large bubble of water, which it used to engulf her head. Before she could even try to dislodge herself, she felt her feet leave the ground as the clone floated the bubble upwards, hoisting her body five feet into the air. She clamped her eyes and mouth shut and held her breath, flailing about for something to grab onto.

Up until this point, she was sure that she would one day be a Crystal Gem, an asset to the team despite her lack of any superpowers. And now, here she was: blinded, defenseless, unable to even cry for help. As pain and pressure mounted in her lungs, she silently begged for someone to bail her out before she drowned.

Steven! she thought. Garnet! Lion! HELP!

But just as she was about to give in, she heard a distant splash and felt the water bubble collapse into a harmless puddle. She plummeted, kicking up dust as she collided with the ground. When the dust cleared, she looked up to see Mr. Universe's van a few feet in front of her, a puddle of water under its front wheels.

"You okay there, Ronnie Anne?" asked Mr. Universe, peeking his head out the window.

"I-I am now," she said, in between gasps of breath. "Thank you."

All except for my pride, she thought as she got back on her feet.

But she barely had time to recover before finding that - to her horror - a second Ronnie Anne clone had materialized in front of the van. She swallowed hard, knowing full well that she was unprepared for another fight. Fortunately, the clone didn't seem intent on fighting her.

Unfortunately, it chose Mr. Universe as its target instead.

The clone shot a massive, high-pressure stream of water out from its arm, which struck the van with such force that it sent the vehicle flying into the air. It hit the ground, front-first, with a deafening crash about twenty feet away. Fearing the worst, Ronnie Anne shook off her dazedness and sprinted over to where the van landed.

"Mr. Universe!" she hollered. "Mr. Universe! Are you all right?!"

"Dad!" cried Steven, who stopped what he was doing and ran towards the van.

The two of them watched as the side door opened and a weary-looking Mr. Universe crawled out from the driver's seat. He hissed in pain, clutching his right leg, which was bent at an awkward angle.

"Oof, I think my leg's broken," he moaned. "This is why we wear seat belts, kids."

A pang of guilt pierced Ronnie Anne's fault as it occurred to her that - at least from her point of view - this was her fault. Steven's father wouldn't have been anywhere near the fray if she hadn't forced him to bail her out. And she wouldn't have needed bailing out if she had just been a better fighter. Or if she just stayed in the van instead of picking a fight with a demigoddess. Or if she never came on this godforsaken journey in the first place.

But she didn't even have time to ruminate on her own failings. A short distance away from them, the Ronnie Anne clone was prepping another attack.

"Lapis, I don't want to fight anymore!" Steven yelled, glaring at the clone. It paid him no heed, instead opting to chuck a ball of water at him.

"I said, I don't want to fight!"

The boy held his chubby arm out in front of him, and just before the water ball made impact, a blinding burst of pink light flashed in front of him. When the light dimmed down, Ronnie saw that a large, rose-colored shield had materialized in front of him, blocking the water ball with a clang. For a decent while, he held that pose, looking sterner and more defiant than Ronnie Anne had ever seen him.

The Ronnie clone trembled in response to the clanging sound, and then collapsed into a puddle. A quick glance around the area revealed that the Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl clones had also collapsed.

With the enemy (seemingly) disarmed, Steven marched up to the pillar, with his fists clenched and his face hardened.

"Lapis, I'm coming up to see you!" he said. "So please don't drown me."

He took a deep breath, held it and stepped into the pillar of water. A giant hand materialized inside the pillar and lifted him to the top, far out of sight. After that, all the Crystal Gems could do was wait and hope that he would be able to talk things out with her.

Ronnie Anne turned back to the prone Mr. Universe, cringing at the sight of his mangled leg.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Universe," she said, her bottom lip trembling. "This is all my fault."

"Hey, take it easy, kiddo," he replied, ruffling her hair. "You did your best. That's all we can expect from you."

Great, she thought. Maybe the Gems can give me a shiny participation trophy when we get back.

"Don't sweat it, R.A.," said Amethyst, as she and the other Gems approached her. "I got my butt kicked too."

Yeah, but you didn't need someone to stop you from drowning, did you?

"You've taken to your training very well," said Garnet. "I saw you using a lot of what I taught you."

And a fat lot of good it did me, right?

"You're still learning, Ronnie Anne," said Pearl. "In time, I can see you becoming quite an admirable fighter."

Maybe in 50 years.

She snorted. As poorly as she regarded her own combat skills, she had to give herself credit for effortlessly deflecting four compliments in a row.

Before she could denigrate herself any further, though, she heard a rumbling sound behind her. She turned around to see the massive pillar trembling and wavering, sending giant globules of water crashing to the ground below.

"The whole tower's coming down!" said Garnet.

"What about Steven?!" cried Mr. Universe.

Ronnie Anne looked at the Gems, expecting them to at least have some sort of answer to his question. Alas, it seemed that all they could do was stare up at the tower like deers in the headlights.

Suddenly, the sharp growl of Lion cut through the commotion, and she turned her head to see the beast staring down at her.

"Can I help you?!" she shouted over the din.

Lion grunted and flicked his head to the side.

"Wha-what is that?! What does that mean?!" she cried, mocking the movement.

Lion snarled, furrowed his brow and repeated the motion a few more times. After the third or fourth repetition, Ronnie Anne realized that he was motioning towards his back.

"...ohhhhhhh."

Feeling a bit silly, she grabbed ahold of Lion's hide and hoisted herself onto his back. As lousy as this whole day was, she smiled at the prospect of ending it on a strong note - riding a magical lion high into the air to save her friend. If this didn't prove her worth to the Crystal Gems, nothing would. She took a deep breath, grasped Lion's mane, and...

[SMACK]

A glob of water smacked her in the face, knocking her off of her steed and onto the ground below. She had one final thought before she banged her head on a rock and blacked out:

Nice going.