Chapter 8: Angry Doritos and Pizza
Even though all four huntresses were in peak physical condition, they were all out of breath by the time they reached the hill's plateau. This was probably because Steven had been so excited for them to meet Lapis and Peridot that he'd bound up the hill so fast the huntresses struggled to keep up. Even Ruby, who was always so full of energy and quite fast, joined her comrades in collapsing when they'd finally conquered the summit. "Alright, we're here!" Steven exclaimed joyously as he walked towards the barn. He noticed that Ruby and co. wasn't behind him. Turning, Steven was surprised to see the others on their backs panting like Lion. "Hey, are you guys alright?" he called to them. "We will be once the world stops spinning!" Yang called back. "Sounds good! Meet us in the barn when that happens!" Steven replied cheerfully. He walked up to the barn. Steven couldn't hear any yelling, which was a good sign that Lapis and Peridot weren't arguing. Pulling open the door, Steven walked into the barn.
"Oh, Steven. What're you doing here?" Lapis Lazuli asked, looking surprised. "Hey Lapis, I just came over to say hey and to introduce you to my new friends," Steven informed her. "Oh, um, that sounds...nice," Lapis said, forcing a smile. Steven looked around in confusion. "Where's Peridot?" he asked. Lapis smiled a genuine smile. "Oh, I took care of her. She won't be back for a while." Steven looked worried. "Umm, Lapis? What did you do with Peridot?" he asked nervously. "I told her she needed to start earning her keep around here, so I got her a job in Jersey!" Steven stared in utter disbelief as the blue gem smiled as the thought of her plan. "Anyway, you said you had some friends outside?" Lapis asked, uncharacteristically cheerfully. "...oh yeah!" Steven said, "they're right outside."
Steven and Lapis walked side by side out into the field, where they found that all but Blake had found the energy to stand up. "Hey guys! This is Lapis," Steven informed them. Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss all waved and said hello. Now normally, meeting new people would be something Lapis would despise quite severely. However since Peridot had been gone for the last 5 hours, she'd been unnaturally happy. "It's nice to meet you all," she said, offering them a smile. Right before Steven could introduce the Team one by one, he was interrupted by a large something crashing into field a couple of meters away from them. Once the dust died down, it was revealed that a large sphere was responsible for the interruption
Out of the sphere climbed another, very angry, geometric shape: a triangle. "Oh, hey Peridot!" Steven waved to her. Seeing her furiously grumbling to herself, Steven added, "what's the matter?" "They think that they know how to get things done. They have a degree from a magical electric land, so of course they know better than the multi thousand year old technician!" Peridot had started pacing, occasionally tripping on her own feet and getting even angrier. "What are you doing back here so soon?" Lapis asked, her good mood disappearing instantly. "I was fired!" Peridot barked at her before resuming her pacing. "What for?" Lapis persisted, frustrated that the small green gem would be around just as much as before. "Well, apparently it's undesirable for an individual to point out every flaw in a work environment, then call their boss a fat headed clod when he doesn't listen." Steven groaned, "you didn't." Suddenly, Peridot smiled maniacally. "So, right after I was fired, I found a pile of scrap metal just lying around, and I got an idea." "What did you do?" Steven asked worried. "Let's just say that they should probably rename Jersey something along the lines of Giant Fire-Burnt Hole In The Ground City!" Steven looked shocked, Lapis looked defeated, and Team RWBY looked completely lost.
Ruby, once she recovered from her initial shock, ran over to Peridot and gave her a big hug. "What in the world?" Peridot cried, outraged. "You are sooooo cute!" Ruby said, squeezing the gem tighter. "So this is how I die: suffocated by an unknown being who thinks I'm cute," Peridot gasped as she started to pass out. "Oh, sorry," Ruby said as she released Peridot. Gasping for breath, Peridot sat up. "Who do you think you are, coming to someone else's home, strangling them, and calling them CUTE? I should vaporize you right now!" With that the green/yellow gem sprang on top of Ruby and began lightly slapping her, which to Ruby tickled more than anything. "So yeah, that's Peridot," Steven said as Ruby laughed uncontrollably at Peridot's slaps and threats, all of which sounded quite gruesome.
Lapis sighed and flew up to the water tower. "What's with her?" Blake asked Steven, gesturing to the blue gem sitting legs and arms crossed atop the water tower. "Oh, she's just like that. She just needs her space," Steven told her as he went to go haul Peridot off of Ruby before she laughed herself to death. Blake looked thoughtfully at Lapis, who had now sprawled onto her back in an attempt to relax. Blake smiled, and turned back to the rest of the group. Steven had calmed Peridot down, Ruby was gasping for breath, Yang was still laughing at Ruby's predicament, and Weiss seemed to be thinking of a plan that involved Ruby and lots of tickling. "So, what should we all do?" Steven asked. They thought for a few minutes, but nothing funny, creative or worth reading about came into any of their minds. Steven began looking a bit nervous. "Oh, I didn't want you guys meeting to be so awkward," he said. "It's okay Steven," Peridot said. "These beings appear to be primitive to the point of barely being able to comprehend the delicate balance required in order to achieve camaraderie and develop bonds with different beings, unlike the master of friendship: me!" Weiss and Blake looked insulted, Ruby and Yang looked utterly lost, but copied what Blake and Weiss were doing so as to look like they knew what had just been said. "Excuse me, could a "primitive being" like myself DO THIS?" Weiss snapped. She pulled out her rapier and shot a blast of ice dust at a smug looking Peridot.
When the smoke lifted, it was revealed that Peridot's head was completely surrounded by a block of ice, causing her to become unable to lift her head off of the ground. Her mouth was moving furiously, but no sound came our. Steven was quite sure that most of the words were simply "clod." The rest of Team RWBY fell apart laughing at the struggling gem. Steven, feeling bad for his friend, walked over to her. She'd given up trying to stand and was simply flailing on the ground like she was trying to use the Splash attack. Of course, nothing happened. Steven pulled out his shield, and slammed the edge against the ice. It cracked, and Peridot lay gasping for breath on the ground. "You okay?" Steven asked, knowing full well that Peridot was just was just pretending to suffocate to scare the others. She couldn't suffocate if she tried. "Steven, who are these people and why have you brought them here to destroy me?" Peridot asked in an almost exhausted tone. "Peridot, you were being rude to them. They're my friends, and I want them to feel welcome in Beach City. And seeing as you're apart of it-" Peridot cut Steven off on his end-of-episode moral speech and she walked over to the huntresses. "I...apologize for my remarks," Peridot said quietly. "Aww, that's alight," Yang replied, "I'd think we were primitive too if I saw Weiss for the first time too!" Ruby and Weiss both shot daggers at Yang, however Blake coughed to conceal a smile.
"Look, maybe you guys just need a more casual setting to hang out in," Steven said. Suddenly, he had an idea so amazing, yet so cliched, that his pupils turned to stars. RWBY had been too polite to ask if that was some kind of a birth defect when they first saw it, but now they were seriously considering asking Peridot about it. "You and Lapis should come over tonight for a SLUMBER PARTY!" Steven exclaimed, his eyes shining with excitement. "Slumber party?" Peridot asked, "what's that?" "Oh, it's where a bunch of people stay up super late and play games and eat snacks and bond with each other! If you need help, I know first hand that Garnet is a master of slumber parties!" Steven said, recalling how she'd been able to fall flat on her face and fall asleep instantly. "Ooooh, this is going to be so much fun!" Ruby said. "It does sound fun," Weiss admitted, to which everyone looked shocked. "I'm in!" Yang said boisterously. Blake nodded and gave the thumbs up.
They agreed that Peridot would use the warp pad near the barn to arrive at 7:00. "There's just one more thing we need," Steven said, looking up at the water tower. He climbed up and sat beside a very peaceful Lapis Lazuli. "Hey Lapis, we're having a slumber party tonight. You should come." Lapis shook her head. "Steven, I really just need some time to myself right now. It's bad enough with Peridot still here," Lapis said sadly. Steven thought for a moment, then got an idea. "How about this. You stay for fifteen minutes, and if you aren't enjoying yourself you can leave and I promise we'll keep Peridot there until at least noon tomorrow." Lapis snapped her eyes wide open at this. "Really?" She asked. Steven nodded, "but you have to try to have fun." Lapis nodded. "Alright, we'll see you at 7:00." Steven called as he climbed back down the water tower.
The group opted not to warp back to the temple after saying their good byes, but instead decided to walk back though town to pick up some dinner along the way. Everyone appreciated that it was much better going down the hill than up it. Eventually, they came to a store called Fish Stew Pizza. "You guys like pizza?" Steven asked. Everyone nodded, their mouths drooling at the intoxicating smell of pizza. They walked in. "Oh, hey Steven," they were greeted by Jenny, "did you replace us with a new group of friends? Man, Buck and SC's hearts will be broken." "Nah, you guys are still my best peeps," Steven said, putting on air of fake over the top coolness. Jenny laughed. "Anyway, this is Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss. They're...uhhh," Steven had never quite figured out how to explain Team RWBY's presence to others. "Foreign exchange students!" Weiss offered. "Uh, yeah! Foreign exchange student!" Steven said. "Oh cool! Where are you all from?" Weiss seemed to lose her confidence with the charade. "Well, uhh... you see..." "They're from a crazy place where big black monsters roam free filling the world with dread," Steven said ominously. Jenny laughed. "Oh Steven, you are so funny." She turned back to Team RWBY. "Well, hopefully your schools are good where you're from, cause here their so bad I don't even bother showing half the time. Just then, Kofi entered the dining area. "Jenny! You skip school?" he asked furiously. "What, Dad no, I just meant-" Jenny's scrambling was interrupted by another voice from behind the counter. "She's lying! She only shows up to school on the days she has that cute boy in one of her classes!" Kiki chirped. "You're not helping! And that's what YOU do, even if I'M supposed to be the evil twin! How hard is that?" Jenny retorted. The three began arguing with each other while Steven and RWBY stood their awkwardly and just watched.
Just then, a small figure holding three large, flat boxes walked through the commotion to Steven. "Here are your pizzas Steven," Nanefua said with a smile. "Oh, thanks," Steven said, grateful that they could leave. Outside, the group tore into the various pizzas as they walked back towards the temple. "Do you think this slumber party is a good idea?" Blake asked Steven. "Of course," Steven said nonchalantly. "Nothing could possibly go wrong!"
Author's note:
So, writer's block unexpectedly plagued me for the last week, so this is coming out later than it should have. Oh well, no RWBY fanfic is complete without a slumber party chapter. Hopefully, the next chapter should come out much quicker than this one. On a side note, how are you all enjoying the Summer of Steven Steven Bomb? Personally, I think Mr. Greg is one of the show's best. On the RWBY side of things, 92 days until Volume 4 premiers. I can feel the hype train starting to get revved up. Anyway, thank you to not only just my followers but to everyone who took the time to read this far. As always, stay fabulous!