Chapter 7: Bubble Buddies
(Steven leaves the house with his bicycle, pushing it down the stairs. A roaring noise is heard, rumbling the place, which startled Steven as he lets go of his bike. The bicycle begins to tumble down the stairs.)
"Oh! Woooh-" Steven shouted (runs after his bike)
(The camera shifts towards Dedede, Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst, walking towards the direction of the beach house)
"I don't think they are earthquakes, they're too frequent!" Pearl said
"Yeah, this is freaking me out." Dedede said
(Steven's bike collapses in front of the Gems with Dedede jumping into Garnet's arms with fright. Steven catches up to it and picks it up.)
"Hey look! Steven's got a bike! Where ya goin', Steven?" Amethyst asked
"Just out for a ride." Steven said
"In the sand?" Pearl asked
"Yup!" Steven said
"How can you ride a bike in the sand? That's not right." (gets dropped to the ground by Garnet.) "Ow!" Dedede shouted
(Steven struggles to ride his bike in the sand. He looks up and sees a dark-skinned girl nearby, reading a book on the sand. He then paddles his bike past her and parks it.)
"Some smooth ride…" (turns to look at the girl, engrossed in her book) "Five speeds…" (repeatedly turns between her and his bike) "Hand brakes... Electric blue finish with a tiger bell!" (rings the bell to draw the girl's attention, without her luck) "I bet there are a lot of kids who'd love to ride this bi- Woooah!" Steven shouted
(Steven tries to climb onto his bike, but falls over. The girl finally turns her head towards Steven, who is sitting on top of his fallen bike. Embarrassed, Steven throws his helmet away and runs off screaming.)
"AHHH!" Steven yelled
(inside the Beach House, Steven returns back home and slams the door behind him, panting. He then notices Dedede and the Gems, who were watching through a window.)
(tries to be casual) "Whaddup?" Steven asked
"Who were you talking to?" Pearl asked
"Huh?" Steven asked
"That girl." Garnet said
"You saw?" (starts to blush) "She's just a girl I know, except she doesn't know me. We never talked." Steven said
(gasps) "You like her!" Amethyst said (smushes Steven's face)
"Uhh... I like everyone…" Steven said (pushes Amethyst's arms aside)
(off screen) "Let's set up a play-date!" (back on screen) "I'll write up an invitation and work out a schedule. Oh! We'll have to find out her favorite kind of tea…" Pearl didn't finish
"No. Just talk to her." Garnet said
"I agree, once you find a girl you like, you have to start off slow." (leans against a floor lamp, accidentally tipping it over and falling to the ground. Lifts an arm up pointing his finger up.) "be sure you don't lean on stuff like that though." Dedede said
"Okay. But you guys can't watch this time! It'll mess up my funky flow." Steven said
"Funky flow?" Pearl and Amethyst asked
"It's a type of groove." Dedede said (standing up while putting the floor lamp back in place.)
"We won't watch." Garnet said (adjusts her visor)
"Alright!" Steven said (runs to the fridge to take out a glowing bracelet)
"What's that?" Amethyst asked
(runs out of the house) "Nothing!" Steven shouted
"I'll keep watch." Dedede said (runs out of the house to watch Steven, accidentally knocking the floor lamp off balance only for Pearl to grab it in panic.)
(back outside, Steven was heading towards the girl casually as Dedede followed carefully from behind.)
(practices his speech as he walks towards the girl) "Hi! My name is Steven. Hi, my name is Ste-ven. Hi my name is... Stevan? Oh-whoah!" Steven shouted
(Another roar is heard. The earth begins to shake, startling Dedede, Steven and the girl. Steven looks up and sees a piece of the Crystal Temple breaking and starts to fall towards the girl.)
(gasps, runs and pounces onto the girl) "Hi, my name is Steven!" Steven shouted
(Steven's gem starts to glow and creates a bubble-like shield, surrounding both him and the girl. The rubble falls onto the bubble and shatters, leaving the two kids unharmed.)
"Whoa! How did I do that?" (turns towards the girl) "Hi, my name is Steven!" Steven said
(adjusts her glasses, startled) "Connie." (Steven helps her back on her feet.) "What... happened?" Connie asked (touches the bubble)
"I'm magic, well... half magic, on my mom's side." Steven said
"You did this?" Connie asked
"Apparently. I'm a member of the Crystal Gems, we fight monsters and protect humanity and stuff." Steven said
"Oh! That's kinda like my dad. He's a cop. Well... more like a private security guard." Connie said
(Steven and Connie exchange stares for a brief while.)
"So... how long does it usually last?" Connie asked
"Oh! Right." Steven said (start straining himself, and even hits his gem)
"What's wrong?" Connie asked
"It uh... doesn't seem to wanna go away." Steven said
(looks down) "Oh." Connie said
"Hang on kids!" (startles the two causing them to look his way as he ran over with his hammer out.) "I'll get you two out of there!" Dedede shouted (swings his hammer to the side of the bubble to smash it only to make himself shake from it, stuttering.)
"Who's that?" Connie asked
"That's Dedede, he's been living with us for a few weeks now." Steven said
"Maybe if I..." (swings his hammer downward onto the bubble only for it to bounce off and hit him on the head knocking him down to the ground as Steven and Connie flinch from seeing it happen.) "Ow!" Dedede shouted
"Ouch." Connie said (feeling sorry for what happened to Dedede.)
(starts pushing against the bubble) "So... I don't see you around that often." Steven said
(pushes along too) "My dad works for a bunch of different beaches, so we're never in the same place long." Connie said
(gets back up and walks next to the two inside the bubble.) "I'll say, I can only travel into town when I'm with Steven or one of the gems." Dedede said
"He and I go on adventures with the Gems sometimes. They usually say it's too dangerous for us though." Steven said (pushes the bubble further, as it inches a bit, and he falls over)
"Do you guys always go in a bubble?" Connie asked
"No, this is new. I don't know what this is. But it's okay! The Gems will know what to do." Steven said
"They know a lot of things about this gem stuff." Dedede said
(Steven and Connie try to roll the bubble to Steven's house, but can't get up the steep hill leading towards it, even with Dedede's help.)
"Awww what?" (pushes the bubble, but it does not move) "Hey guys! Garnet! Help!" Steven shouted
"I don't think they can hear you." Connie said
(facepalms) "Aaaww... That's right. I told them not to watch." Steven said
"What do we do now?" Dedede asked (out of breath.)
"We can just wait here until they come out." Connie said
"No, no, no, it's okay! We've got other friends that can help." Steven said
"Donut!" Dedede shouted (rolls the bubble excitedly away from the Beach House causing Steven and Connie to start running in panic from it.)
(At the Big Donut, the short female worker is attempting to break the bubble with an ordinary hammer while the tall teen worker is laughing aloud.)
"Way to go, Steven! Is this your magic love bubble or something? Did you make it because you're in looove?" the tall teen asked (presses his face against the bubble)
"That's Lars. We're basically BFFs." Steven said
"He makes weird faces." Connie said
(Lars proceeds to make kissy faces and licks the bubble until Dedede pops out of nowhere making a funny face blabbing his tongue from side to side scaring Lars away from the two.)
"Haha! I got him good! You're welcome kid." Dedede said
"Dedede does that a lot to Pearl." Steven said
"Lars, quit being a jerk and help!" the short female worker said
"What? I'm helping Steven on his date." Lars said
"You're embarrassing him!" the short female worker said
"No, I'm not!" Lars said
"Yes, you are!" the short female worker said
(Lars and the short female worker's argument becomes inaudible in the background.)
"He and Sadie run the Big Donut." Steven said
"Do... they get along?" Connie asked
(Sadie and Lars continue arguing, Sadie pushes Lars.)
"They're crazy about each other." Steven said
"Kinda weird that they argue a lot though." Dedede said
"I'm gonna go try something else!" Sadie said (goes inside the Big Donut)
"Anyway, this place has the best doughnuts! Me and Dedede come here, like, everyday!" Steven said
"I like the fruity ones!" Dedede said (presses his face against the bubble a bit startling Connie a bit.)
"My parents don't let me eat doughnuts. They have trans fats." Connie said
"WHHAAAAATTT?!" (Lars starts making kissy faces again behind Steven.) "Well it's still a cool place to hang out." Steven said
(pulls Lars away from the two by the collar of his shirt.) "Hey, you better cut that out before..." Dedede didn't finish
"Aaaahhh!" Sadie screamed (runs out of the Big Donut with a stool and smashes it against the bubble, destroying the stool on impact while scaring Dedede and Lars from the yell)
"Wow, that bubble is tough." Dedede said
(nervous chuckle) "I have a better idea." Steven said
(at the Beach City Pier, the three were going down the boards looking for a way to pop the bubble.)
(looking around the pier) "Whoa, a trawler! And a little skip-jack!" Connie said
"You know a lot about boats." Steven said
"That's what happens when you hang out at the beach and don't swim and don't have friends... Y-you look at boats…" Connie said
"Heh, uh…" (notices a boy holding a bag of popcorn) "Oh hey, Onion, Onion!" (Onion waves.) "We need a Harpoon Gun!" Steven said
"What?!" Connie asked in fright
"To pop the bubble." Steven said
"Can't we just go back to your house?" Connie asked
"Yeah! A harpoon is dangerous!" Dedede said
"It's okay, I'm a Gem. Onion, we need a harpoon gun!" (slowly) "HAR-POON-GUUUN!" Steven said
(Onion eats the popcorn obliviously. Steven signs and breathes on the bubble, creating fog where he attempts to illustrate a boat firing a harpoon gun at the bubble.)
(drawing) "Haar-pooon-guuun…" (Onion continues eating obliviously.) "UGH!" Steven shouted (facepalms)
"That kid has trouble understanding what others say, doesn't he?" Dedede asked
"Let me try." Connie said
(She breathes fog on the bubble too and spells out "harpoon gun". Onion gives a thumbs up and runs off. Steven looks at her, impressed.)
"It just made more sense." Connie said
"That's a smart move, I like her already." Dedede said
(A boat horn is heard, as Onion stands at the helm of a boat with the harpoon gun. Dedede, Steven and Connie scream as Steven and Connie lean out of the way in the bubble while Dedede ducked behind the counter of a fish shop. Onion shoots a harpoon at the bubble, which gets deflected by the bubble and hits a nearby boat. Onion gives a thumbs-up.)
"The trawler…" Connie said sadly (watches the boat sinks into the water)
(pops up from behind the fish shop counter with a squid on his head.) "What's with that kid!?" Dedede asked in fright
(at a carnival, the three entered the carnival and looked around.)
(rolling the bubble with Steven) "'Funland'?" Connie asked
"Yeah! Tons of horrible accidents happen here everyday! There's gotta be something to break this bubble." Steven said
"This is my first time in this place and it hasn't been shut down?" Dedede asked
"Umm…" Connie said nervously
"We just gotta find the right ride." (spots a roller coaster) "Yeah, the kiddie coaster!" (Steven and Connie step onto the platform as the roller coaster is taking off.) "Alright, we just roll down this ramp as the carts are coming at us, and the crash will break us free!" Steven said
"What happens after the bubble pops?" Connie asked
"We'll be free!" Steven said
(Awkward pause...)
"Steven, this is a bad idea-" Connie didn't finish (Another roar is heard, shaking the place.)
"Whaaa- This will work!" Steven said (pushes themselves onto the roller coaster tracks with Dedede bracing the bubble from behind)
(The bubble starts rolling them down the roller coaster tracks. The roller coaster collides with them, pushing them along with Dedede hanging on tight to the bubble. The owner of the carnival hits the emergency break and stops the ride. The inertia launches the bubble off the tracks, sending Dedede, Steven and Connie flying and screaming out to sea. The bubble hits the water and sinks all the way to the ocean floor.)
"Where are we?" Connie asked
"The bottom of the ocean." Steven said
(Connie gasps, horrified.)
"It's okay!" Steven said
"Are we even close to the shore?" Connie asked
"Seems like it." Dedede said (sitting up accidentally rolling Steven and Connie off his belly startling them.)
"Dedede, how did you get in the bubble?" Steven asked
"Hey, I'm as surprised as you are." Dedede said
"Anyway, let's start rolling." Connie said
"It's a good thing this bubble is airtight, otherwise we'd be drowning right now." (laughs nervously, while Connie is visibly agitated as Dedede was scared about it) "Don't worry guys, I have an idea that will definitely work, when we get back-" Steven didn't get to finish
(Just then, a huge worm-like monster swims above them, scaring Dedede and Connie.)
"A huge worm! It's okay, look! It only wants to eat that bright stuff." (The worm monster consumes some nearby glowing red seaweed.) "See? Not scary at all." Steven said
"Phew, that's a relief." Dedede said
(The Worm Monster begins to burrow into the ground, creating a crevice underneath Dedede, Steven and Connie, and the bubble sinks deeper into it.)
"Ughhh…" (realizes his foot is in Connie's face) "Oh, sorry! Are you alright?" (Connie stands up, speechless.) "It's not so bad." (looks up from inside the crevice) "Uhhh. I-It's okay, I uh…" Steven didn't get to say
"It's NOT OKAY!" Connie yelled
"Uh?!" Steven asked in fright
"Oh boy." Dedede said (plugs his ears for what's about to happen.)
"You keep saying that but you don't know what you're doing! Now we're going to suffocate or starve at the bottom of the ocean and only my parents will notice because no one else cares about me!" Connie shouted (starts tearing up)
"Huh?" Steven asked
"I'm gonna disappear without ever making a single friend…" Connie said
(Connie breaks down and starts crying. Steven then holds up the glowing bracelet he retrieved from the fridge to Connie.)
"We can be friends." (Connie starts blushing.) "I saw you at the Boardwalk Parade last year. You dropped your bracelet. I picked it up, but then I couldn't find you. I saved it in the freezer so it would last longer, in case I saw you again." Steven said
(Brief flashbacks of Boardwalk Parade)
"Oh! You were the kid on the car wash float." (chuckles) "You had soap bubbles in your hair." Connie said
(blushes and laughs) "I was supposed to be a scrub brush. I'm sorry Connie." (puts the bracelet on Connie's wrist) "If I had returned your bracelet back then, you wouldn't be stuck in this bubble with me and Dedede now." Steven said
(blushing) "No, it's okay. I'm having fun." Connie said
"Took a bit longer for her to get use to the things that happened to you then it did with me." Dedede said
(The bubble suddenly bursts, exposing Dedede, Steven and Connie to the water. Steven leads Connie as they swim upwards to the water surface, gasping for air with Dedede rising from the water on his back startling Steven and Connie from lifting them on his belly. They start laughing, when suddenly, the Worm Monster emerges and attacks them. The wave created from the attack splashes Dedede, Steven and Connie back on shore, under the pier of Funland. The Worm Monster continues to pursue them.)
"Come on, come on!" (runs away with Dedede and Steven) "Hide in the rocks, guys!" Connie said
(Connie tries to climb up a bunch of rocks while Dedede and Steven run under the pier. The Worm Monster aims for Connie.)
"Why is it chasing us?!" (notices Connie's bracelet) "The bracelet! It eats bright stuff. Connie!" Steven shouted
"Steven!" Connie shouted (runs away from the Worm Monster)
"Give me the bracelet!" Steven shouted (runs towards Connie and takes her bracelet)
"What?!" Connie asked in fright
"It's okay, now go, go! Run that way!" (pushes Connie in a different direction) "I'm sorry!" Steven shouted
(The Worm Monster pursues Steven, now in possession of the bracelet as Dedede pulls Connie out of the way and to safety. Steven zig zags around the pillars of the pier while yelling frantically, causing the monster to wrap and knot around itself. The immobilized monster struggles to break free as Connie and Steven hold hands in horror with Dedede ducking behind a rock. The pillars break from the struggle, causing the pier to collapse on the monster, crushing and poofing it. The Gems come rushing towards them.)
"STEVEN!" the Gems shouted
(sees the destruction) "Steven, what's going on?! What did you do?!" Pearl asked in panic
"He was incredible!" Connie said
"Really? You mean it?" (Connie nods. Garnet tries to locate the fallen Gem in the background but was struggling to find it.) "Here's your bracelet... again." Steven said
"Thanks." Connie said (chuckles)
"Hey guys, I think something is up with Garnet." Amethyst said
(The others looked towards Garnet, she had the tips of her fingers close to her visor and revealed she was struggling.)
"Are you okay, Garnet?" Pearl asked
(turns to the others with worry.) "I can't find the gem that was in that thing." Garnet said
(Sees something shine from behind Garnet and pulls her away before a big sword could slash her.) "Look out!" Dedede yelled
(the group stood back as the figure walked out of the shadows revealing to be a giant stag beetle wielding two large swords, with a gem as the left eye.)
"That thing has the gem I was trying to find." Garnet said
"That thing is Bugzzy! He's a sword wielding monster! I thought he was destroyed!" Dedede said
"I found a way to bring him back." (the group looked up to see the mysterious knight on top of a broken pier pole completely balanced.) "Now you know where I'm from." the mysterious knight said
"You're from my world!? Why didn't you tell me from when we first saw ya!?" Dedede asked in rage
"I wanted you to figure it out, but I guess it was time to tell you, but only where I'm from, I have been planning my revenge on the puffball known as Kirby." the mysterious knight said
"Kirby?" Steven and Connie asked in confusion
"He's a baby star warrior, he saved my world from the hands of N.M.E." Dedede said
"An unknown world?" Pearl asked
"One that we've never found before?" Amethyst asked
"That's why I couldn't see into their futures." Garnet said
"It was fun letting you figure out where I am and what my name is. I enjoyed every moment of it, but now, it's time I reveal myself." (leaps down in front of Bugzzy and extends his arms to the sides pushing his cape back revealing his full figure.) "I am Maldo, one that has survived the explosion of NightMare Enterprises and fixed myself up ready to get my revenge on Kirby, but I needed a way to bring back all the monsters he destroyed, and now I've figured it out, the gem of the monsters that you collect." Maldo said
(the gems pull out their weapons to fight as Steven and Connie stepped back to a safe distance.)
"We don't have to do this, Maldo, we can talk about this without fighting." Dedede said (slowly reaching his hand into his robe just in case.)
"I'm afraid it's the only way I can test out the monsters I bring back." Maldo said (snaps his fingers, signaling Bugzzy to charge at the group.)
(Bugzzy begins slashing his swords at the group as Pearl uses her spear to deflect the attacks while Dedede and Amethyst their weapons at Bugzzy, Garnet jumped towards Maldo slamming one of her fists at him only for Maldo to lean to the side a bit letting Garnet's punch hit the pier pole, knocking it down and smashing it to pieces.)
"You really thought you could land a hit on me?" (starts dodging Garnet's attack smoothly, while crossing his arms.) "you have to know by now that you can't predict what me or anyone from Dedede's world will do next, that power of yours can only work on those that are from this planet and the one you're from." Maldo said
"I'll find a way to land a hit on you sooner or later." Garnet said (and continued to try and strike Maldo as he kept dodging.)
(keeps deflecting Bugzzy's attacks as Dedede and Amethyst were starting to become tired.) "don't stop now, we have to keep this monster from hurting anyone." (swings her spear at Bugzzy's stomach, leaving a big scar on it, only for the scar to heal completely as Bugzzy looked at Pearl with a stern look.) "Uh oh." Pearl said
(was about to swing his swords at Pearl only to get pelted by some rocks and looked over to see Steven and Connie were throwing rocks at him to try and stop him, but it only made Bugzzy mad as he started walking towards the two with Pearl and Amethyst trying to stop him.)
"Oh man, how are we gonna stop Bugzzy if he has that healing thing to..." (stops before he could finish his sentence from seeing one of the rocks hit Bugzzy's left eye where the gem is, causing Bugzzy to wipe the dirt off, figuring out what the source of Bugzzy's healing is.) "that's it!" Dedede shouted in realization (running over and jumping onto Bugzzy's back and carefully climbing to Bugzzy's head while doing his best to keep his grip from Bugzzy trying to push him off as Pearl and Amethyst watched in horror.)
"Dedede, what are you doing!?" Pearl asked in fright
"Are you crazy!?" Amethyst asked in panic
"I know what I'm doing!" (reaches the top of Bugzzy's head and grabs Bugzzy's left eye with both hands causing Bugzzy to drop both swords, screaming in pain as Dedede begins to pull out the eye with Bugzzy trying to swing his arms at Dedede to knock him off.) "Come on!" Dedede shouted
"He's actually doing it, come on Amethyst!" Pearl said (heads over to help get the gem out of Bugzzy with Amethyst following behind.)
(Pearl and Amethyst jumped onto Bugzzy's shoulders and grabbed the eye the gem is in and began helping Dedede with pulling it out, with Garnet, she kept swinging her fists at Maldo who just kept dodging swiftly.)
"You may as well give up, I'm too..." (looks towards the ones fighting Bugzzy only to become panicked from what he's seeing.) "What are you idiots doing!?" Maldo asked in panic
(Dedede, Amethyst and Pearl continue to pull on Bugzzy's gem eye as Maldo started running forward only to be tripped by Garnet who moved her foot in front of Maldo's path making him fall onto the ground, face forward, just then, Dedede, Amethyst and Pearl fell backwards onto the ground after they managed to pull Bugzzy's gem eye out with Dedede catching it in his hands as Bugzzy held the left side of his face in pain who then turned around and began walking towards Dedede to take back his eye.)
"Oh boy." (looks to his left to see one of Bugzzy's swords laying there and kicks it behind towards Garnet.) "Garnet, catch!" Dedede shouted
(Garnet ran forward, grabbing the sword and plunged it into Bugzzy, straight through, Garnet was about to step back until Bugzzy placed a hand on Garnet's shoulder for her to see Bugzzy started to tear up in the right eye, seeing he now feels relief and closed his eyes as his whole body turned into multiple sparkles and flew into the night sky.)
"He was being controlled by Maldo." Garnet said (holding the sword over her shoulder as the orb around the gem Dedede held shattered into nothing as Dedede managed to catch the gem before it could land on the ground.)
"And this gem was how he did it." Dedede said (as he gives the gem to Garnet for her to bubble it away.)
(stands up and points a sword at the group with anger.) "Do you know how long it took for me to figure out how to bring him back in one shot!?" Maldo asked in rage
"We'd guess, but I don't think we'll be able to figure it out." Pearl said (as she and Amethyst stand up wielding their weapons.)
"Especially now that Garnet has an extra pair of weapons." Dedede said (looking over to Garnet who is now wielding both swords Bugzzy wielded.)
"Don't think this is over." (puts his sword back into its sheath and flies off, revealing his feet to have a propulsion feature.) "I will be back!" Maldo shouted (flying off into the distance above the city.)
"At least now we know what his name is and what he's planning." Pearl said
(grabs Steven) "So, are you going to introduce us?" Amethyst asked (Steven blushes.)
(to Connie) "Steven was so excited to meet you. Right, Steven?" Pearl asked (Steven nods and laughs nervously.)
(picks up Pearl and Amethyst) "Hey! Don't mess with his funky flow." Garnet said (walks off with them)
"Hey, how about a group hug? Come on, hug!" Dedede said (runs after Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl who started running from him trying not to get pulled into a group hug as Steven laughs from it.)
"Funky... flow?" Connie asked
"Uhh…" Steven muttered (starts groaning in embarrassment)
(The star iris zooms in on the nervous Steven, ending the episode.)