106(a/n: Here we go next chapter! Again, big thanks to Lucius Walker for editing and for all his help. This chapter combines the episodes "The Message" and "Political Power" Enjoy!)
Part 15: Late Night Serenade
[Gary]
It was a peaceful and relaxing evening in Beach City.
The moon was high, shining bright and clear, surrounded by a sea of glittering stars. A cool breeze rolled in from the sea, washing over the bright and busy Beach City Funland. It was the weekend, which meant it was packed and busier than usual.
Gary strolled through the busy amusement park, drinking in the sights and sounds. Wherever he went, the blond teen was greeted by a new sensation. Bright flashing lights, laughter, the smell of cotton candy and corndogs. It was a carnival of wonder for the new human.
Although he felt happiness and wonder, a growing bitter feeling in his gut diluted the overall experience for him. Gary was well aware of the root cause. As he watched people disembark the carousel, the teen's thought's wandered toward the source of his soured mood.
It had been five days since their encounter with Peridot in the Kindergarten.
After disabling the control room, everything seemed peaceful. There were no new robinoids or other objects falling out of the sky or warp pad activations. Despite this sense of peace and calm, Gary could feel a growing unease, and apparently he wasn't the only one. Rick revealed that he felt the same, and explained that it was what he called, "the big wind up."
Even though he was still new to being human, Gary sort of understood what he meant. In the back of his mind, the teen could feel this eerie, sinking sensation. He felt as if the world was taking a deep breath, and holding it in anticipation of something big and terrible.
Which is why they were here, at Beach City Funland.
The two had spent the last few days sneaking off to the lab and packing up everything up for their big move. It was rather stressful, with Rick being very sporadic and disorganized, and with Gary being called away to help with stuff around Steven's house.
Although it was slow going and a pain in the ass, the two managed to get the lab cleaned up for the most part, with a few odds and ends still needing to be taken care of.
Feeling like they earned a break, Gary suggested that they check out Beach City Funland. Rick complained, but the blond teen pointed out that they weren't going to be there for much longer, so they might as well give it a try. The scientist eventually agreed after Gary suggested that they also get some pizza on the way back.
"Gee, that was fun." A bored voice said from behind Gary.
The teenager blinked and looked over his shoulder to Rick, who looked absolutely bored and ready to bail.
"Staring at people on a carousel - how riveting! Seriously, are we going to do something, or a-are you going to get us arrested for stalking?"
Gary looked about and he spied Funland Arcade. "How about the arcade?" Gary asked.
Rick shrugged. "Sure, whatever."
As they made their way toward the arcade, the blond teen studied his elderly companion's expression. The mad scientist's expression screamed that he was bored, but there was something else that stood out, something that hinted to something else going on in Rick's head.
"You see something you like?" Rick asked, not looking at Gary.
"Sorry." The teen apologized, looking away quickly. "It's just-just, you seem…troubled."
"Try 'sick and tired.' I've had the runs all day yesterday, and just as I recover, I-I get a splitting headache first thing this morning."
Gary grimaced. "Sorry."
"Don't be." Rick smiled. "Pretty soon we'll be hitting the road, and we'll be hittin' it big with our little operation."
A small smile formed on Gary's face, but there was no joy behind it. Before reaching the arcade, the blond teenager looked at Rick and asked, "You sure you're alright?"
"Never better!" The scientist declared, sounding a little irritated. "Though…I don't exactly trust that Smiley guy."
Gary followed the scientist's gaze and spied the owner, and seemingly the only employee of Beach City Funland, manning a nearby snack cart. The dark skinned man was smiling his trademark toothy smile, and was handing a kid a cone of cotton candy. The jolly amusement park owner looked their way and noticed, as did Gary, that the blond teen and Rick had paused and were staring at him. Mr. Smiley waved, his smile never wavering. Gary returned the smile and waved back.
Rick's eyes narrowed to suspicious slits. "I'm watching you." The scientist murmured under his breath, and the two proceeded toward the arcade.
The arcade was less crowded than outside, but no less busy. Children darted about the various games and trying their luck, shouting and talking amidst the cacophony of assorted video game cabinets and ambient music pouring in through speakers on the ceiling.
Meanwhile, the parents and older siblings of the arcade patrons were checking out the café and grill called the Shell Shack, which was connected to the arcade off to the side. Rick and Gary got some tokens and strolled through the noisy arcade.
Gary's eyes darted about the plentiful selection of video games and other amusements, unsure of what he wanted to try first. As he tried to logically narrow down his choices and avoid getting bowled over by energetic children racing about the arcade, the blond teenager turned a corner and bumped into someone. There was a high-pitched yelp.
"Watch where you're going, chump!" A harsh voice yelled over the sounds of the arcade, a pair of hands shoved Gary, sending him stumbling back into Rick. The scientist caught him.
As Gary was sputtering apologies, he looked up and saw that the harsh voice and the hands belonged to Ed and that the one he bumped into, the one who yelped, was none other than his sister Liz.
Ed was helping Liz up off the ground and making sure that she was ok, though she was waving him off. Gary blinked and felt his face warm up a bit, feeling embarrassed.
It felt like an eternity since he last saw the two redheads, during the whole Vorniri affair, in which Ed was nearly executed for desecrating the tree people's sacred site. The two were dressed in similar clothing to what they wore that day, Ed in a green tank top, baggy cargo pants and a silver scorpion medallion hanging around his throat. Liz, meanwhile, was wearing a light green hoodie and jeans.
"Gary?" Liz said, noticing the blond who had run into her.
Ed, who had a scowl etched on his face, looked at whom he shoved, blinked and immediately grinned. "Yo, G-Man!" Ed said. "Sorry about that, thought you were one of these little punk ass nerds running around here."
"No, I'm the one who should apologize," Gary said, smiling weakly. "I should've watched where I was going."
"It's fine." Liz said, brushing strands of her hair out of her face.
A few kids raced past the group, bumping past Rick and Ed. Gary recognized one of them as Onion, Sour Cream's younger brother and "resident weirdo and serial killer in the making," according to Rick.
Although the scientist's assessment was rather harsh, Gary couldn't help but agree. The boy was very unsettling.
Ed scowled at the kids and made a threatening gesture at them, which earned him an elbow courtesy of Liz.
"They're just kids, let it go." Liz hissed, but Ed shook his head.
"I know, but those are the same little shits who have been bumping into us all night. I think one of them stole my hot dog. I swear those little bastards are messing with me, especially that creepy little shit!"
"Seriously?" Rick looked at him with disbelief. "Y-You were about to kill somebody over a hot dog?"
Gary gave the scientist a look. He knew full well that the scientist had killed, or at least horrifically maimed, people for far less than that.
"Yeah, seriously. They're expensive as shit, but everyone says it's the best hot dog in the state. Would've tried it if it weren't for that creepy little shit stain."
"Really?"
Ed nodded and pointed toward a nearby sign advertising the Shell Shack and its allegedly famous hot dog. Rick took a closer look, and saw the original price listed in small print beneath the now reduced "Summertime Special" price.
The scientist's eyes widened.
"Holy shit!" Rick breathed, "That can't be legal!"
"I know right?"
"Best hot dog in the state, my ass! There's no way it's worth that much."
"That's what I said!"
"This is straight up extortion! I-I-I bet it's one of those cheap ass hot dogs they keep in the back frozen for like a decade and thaw them out when they used up the rest of their stock."
"After dunking it in the toilet." Ed chimed in.
"Y-Yeah and smothered it in a watered down 'special' sauce to hide the staleness like they do at Weiner World."
"Or Franks a Lot,"
Rick and Ed shared a look.
"Oh my God," Liz said, looking at the two almost in disbelief.
"You sure know your hot dogs." Rick said solemnly, sizing up the ginger in the tank top.
"Well I know a thing or two about quality cooking." Ed said, standing a little taller. "Like my pops always says: 'If I'm paying for sumthin it sure as shit better be worth it.'"
Rick's brow rose and he looked to Liz, who nodded slowly in confirmation.
"You better believe it." She sighed. "You're looking at the winner of Sausage Supremes' coveted 'Golden Sausage' at their annual 'Meat Games' three years running. So if anyone knows anything about food, it's him."
"Really?" Gary said, sounding surprised and impressed. "You don't seem like the foodie type."
"He may not look like it," Liz said, a sly smile appearing on her face, "But my brother really loves wieners; the bigger the better."
"First of all, shut up." Ed said, pointing a finger at Liz, then directing it at Gary. "Secondly, I'm more than just a sexy gangsta and straight thug. I am a high roller and a connoisseur of all things fine: food, drink, cars, bitches, you name it. You could say that there's more to me than meats the eye."
"Ha! Nice." Rick laughed.
The scientist glanced back at the poster, and then a pensive look crossed his features.
"If you're having doubts about it," Liz spoke up, "the Shell Shack has a policy that anyone who eats their hot dog and honestly hates it, they get their money back plus a 'super special deal' of some sort. It's supposed to be so good that they're driving Weiner in Hand to the brink of bankruptcy."
The scientist and Ed shared a look then stepped aside and talked in low tones, their conversation completely shielded by the overwhelming sea of sound in the arcade. After a minute of hushed talking, Rick began marching towards the café grill.
"Where're you going?" Gary called after him.
"I gotta try this super hot dog for myself, see if it's worth the hype!" The scientist said "You only live once, bitch!"
Ed moved to go, but he stopped and cast a questioning look to Liz.
The younger sibling waved a hand. "Go on, I'll be fine."
Ed grinned. "Yo, wait up!" He called out as he hurried after the old man.
Before Gary could process what was going on and call out for them, Rick and Ed were gone.
Liz shoved a hand into her pocket and fished out her smartphone.
"Well that didn't take long." She sighed, switching it on.
"Huh?"
"Ed, he's got the attention span of a mayfly. If he gets bored, he just wanders off and is gone for hours. Didn't expect him to bond with your-uh…"
"Grandpa?" Gary said slowly, sounding unconvincing.
Liz nodded, and began typing away on her smartphone.
After a few moments of standing silently together, Liz pocketed her phone and spoke. "Hey…sorry about Ed." She said, tugging on the sleeve of her hoodie. "He means well but he's, well, uh…"
"Violent?" Gary offered.
Liz smiled. "Yeah. He's kind of a doofus, but he means well. He's recently gotten overprotective, sort of."
"I understand," the blond said, smiling, "I mean, we were almost killed by a group of alien trees, that'll make anybody nervous."
"Yeah, and thanks for stepping up during that. I-I just don't know what I would've done if anything happened to Ed."
"It's no big deal."
"No, seriously." Liz's voice became serious. He looked at her and saw that she was staring right at him, directly into his eyes.
"Thank you. You really saved my brother's life, and probably mine."
Gary felt his throat turn dry and his heart skipped a beat. The blond could only manage a nod.
A good-humored smile adorned the red haired girl's lightly freckled face.
The two stood there for a few moments. The blond tried to say something to break the awkward silence between them, but nothing came.
Gary couldn't help but notice how lovely she looked in the dim ambient light of the arcade and the flashing rainbow glow emanating from the various console screens around them. Her auburn hair tumbled past her shoulders, bangs framing her pale features. Her green eyes seemed to sparkle like stars in the dimness.
The blond blinked, feeling his face grow hot. He looked away, clearing his throat.
"S-so, y-you wanna go to try some games?" He asked.
Liz smiled, and gave a shrug. "Sure! I-I mean, that's why I'm here."
The two turned and went in the opposite direction of Rick and Ed, heading deeper into the arcade.
Time seemed to blur for the two as they went from one video game to the other. At first, Gary struggled with the controls and the concept, but after a few rounds he eventually grasped the basics. The two went from console to cabinet, trying out all sorts of games from beat 'em ups to bullet hell shooters, slowly unloading tokens and earning tickets. Eventually, they began to run out of games that piqued their interests.
Walking through the arcade, Gary suggested trying Meat Beat Mania, but Liz flat out refused, saying that she sucked at rhythm games, joking about how she would look like she's having a seizure. Liz suggested skee ball, but those were crowded.
The two teens eventually settled on a zombie rail shooter called Bloodstorm.
As Gary fed the last of his tokens into the machine and the two took aim at the screen with their plastic guns, Liz asked him, "So…what've you been up to? Any more alien trees or something?"
"Nope, just chores and…stuff." Gary answered slowly as the game began. Although Liz and Ed were exposed to aliens, the blond thought it best to not burden them with the knowledge of the Gems and about the whole business with Peridot.
"Hmm," Liz nodded slowly, firing a few shots and taking out a couple of digital zombies. "Same, kind of. Been stuck cleaning dishes and taking care of my grandma's cat."
"Your grandma?"
Liz grimaced. "Yeah, we're staying with our Grandma Nina for the summer. She's cool but she can be a nightmare if you break her rules or mess up her escalade."
Gary shot down three zombies and glanced sideways to Liz. "Her escalade?"
"Yeah, her pride and joy. It's-It's a long story, just don't ask."
The two gunned down a wave of zombies that rushed them, narrowly escaping death and was allowed to move on to the next level. As they proceeded to take out the next wave of zombies and ascend through the levels, Liz asked, "How did you know so much about those alien trees?"
A dry smile appeared on Gary's face.
"Long story." He stated. He glanced at the redhead next to him and saw that she was staring at him. "I read." Gary added quickly. "A-a lot."
Liz nodded, though she didn't appear convinced.
"Bloodstorm!" A deep demonic voice cried out from the video game's speakers. The two turned their attention back to the screen, just in time to see a seemingly endless horde of virtual zombies swarming their way. Wave after wave, the zombies swarmed the screen, snarling and swiping with bloodied hands.
The screen flickered red from the zombie strikes. Liz's health bar began to plummet rapidly. She cursed and redoubled her efforts in killing the zombies but it seemed like that no matter how many she killed, more popped up.
Gary noticed this and when he glanced at his health bar, the blond scowled. Feeling a growing sense of frustration at his diminishing health bar, the blond returned his focus to the digital horde. The world around him grew quiet and everything seemed to slow down. Through the wall of scrambling snarling zombies, Gary noticed a rotating, glowing crate hovering in the air behind the horde. He fired a quick shot at the crate, destroying it and the word "Upgrade!" flashed on the screen.
A small icon flashed, indicating that his weapon was upgraded from a pistol to a machine gun.
Feeling a slight thrill, Gary smiled and squeezed the trigger, unleashing a rapid series of shots. His eyes darted about the screen, marking everything that moved, a second after his eye landed on them, they became a digital cloud of pixelated gore. With inhuman precision, each shot found its mark in a zombie's skull.
As the zombies were torn apart the hail of bullets, Gary felt his smile grow bigger. Even as the speed and number of the zombies increased, the blond boy's frustration slowly became satisfaction, even pleasure. Amidst the diminishing swarm of zombies, a hulking mass of rotten flesh and limbs lumbered into view. A lengthy life bar appeared above it, declaring its status as the level boss and its name: The Corpse Maker.
Gary snorted at the absurdity of the name, and looked it over for weaknesses.
Got you. He thought gleefully.
The Corpse Maker roared, slamming the ground with its massive fists and hurled a chunk of concrete at the screen. Gary blasted it to smithereens and quickly fired off a series of shots at the joints and at the large pulsating sores dotting the monster's body. The beast roared angrily, and attempted to charge but the teen poured on the shots. The sores burst in the hail of bullets, leaking out grey and green liquid. A few more shots tore apart some of the larger and more obvious stitching, causing the monster's limbs to fly off or dangle helplessly.
The Corpse Maker's health bar was reduced to a mere sliver. Gary paused for a moment, watching the creature moan and attempting to piece itself back together. For a brief moment, he imagined that it was moaning for mercy and that it's twisted face held fear. Gary's heart fluttered at the thought.
Before it could reattach one of its arms, thus restoring a measure of health, the blond teenager took aim and put the thing out of its misery. The lumbering zombie's head exploded, causing a fountain of pixelated blood and pus to gush forth and cover the screen completely.
"Level Cleared!" The screen and the voice declared.
"Wow, that was awesome!" Said a familiar voice.
Everything seemed to snap back into focus, and Gary found that he was back in the arcade.
Gary looked and saw Liz staring at the screen in disbelief and that a small crowd had gathered around the two, amongst them being Onion.
"Golly." A soft voice breathed in amazement. "That was some impressive shooting."
The blond turned, and saw that the voice belonged to a kind faced man with bright blue eyes. The man was average height, had soft and cheerful features, and was wearing a dark blue parka, a pair of jeans, and a red and white ski cap with earflaps and a tassel on the top. Gary gazed at the man for a moment, and a feeling of familiarity and déjà vu overcame him.
His train of thought was interrupted when the assembled crowd erupted in excited chatter, nodding and giving Gary compliments for his skill.
"Oh, it-it was nothing." Gary stammered.
"Nothing?" Said one of the kids in the crowd. "You took out the Corpse Maker! No one's ever gone that far in a long time."
"I had help." The blond tried, but Liz shook her head.
"I died part way through," she said, setting aside her gun "That was all you."
Before Gary could protest, the video game cabinet spat out a stream of tickets. The crowd of teens and children gazed in amazement and envy at the amount of tickets spilling forth from the machine. Liz quickly snatched them up, gathering them into a decent sized bundle and jerked her head toward the prize counter.
"Come on!" She said loudly as the chatter of the crowd grew louder and more excited. "Lets see what we won!"
Gary nodded, and the two pushed their way through the crowd as each person tried to take their turn with the game.
As they worked their way through the crowd, Gary felt someone grab his arm. He stopped and looked. It was the man in the parka and ski cap. He wore a warm and genuine smile on his face.
"Congratulations!" He said, his soft voice barely reaching Gary through the chaotic din. "Please, enjoy your winnings and your evening!"
"Thanks." Gary said slowly, feeling a little weirded-out by the exchange, and unsure how to react. "I will."
"Come on, G-man!" Liz called from behind him.
"Please," The man told Gary, his voice suddenly growing firm and serious. "Please just…be careful and have fun."
The blond nodded and the man slowly released Gary from his grip. The teenager hurried after Liz, leaving the strange man behind.
Had he looked back, Gary would've seen that the man was watching the two leave with a growing sense of melancholy and regret in his expression.
"Good luck, buddy." The man murmured under his breath. "You're gonna need it."
He strolled away from the crowded rail shooter, completely unnoticed and immediately forgotten by those who even noticed him.
"Well that was underwhelming," Liz grumbled, holding up their hard earned prize and staring at it with disappointment.
"Yeah, I thought we'd get something more…well more." Gary agreed.
Despite the copious amount of tickets they earned from Bloodstorm and the other games they played, the combined efforts of Gary and Liz earned them a necklace.
The two sat on a bench outside Funland Arcade, staring at their prize and sharing a bag of popcorn they got with the remaining money they had in their pockets, waiting for Ed and Rick to emerge.
"I mean, it's not too bad." Liz said slowly, placing the necklace in her palm and studied it closely. "But I just really wanted that GameStation."
"Did you see the required amount of tickets for that?" Gary muffled through a mouthful of buttery popcorn. "We'd be there all week!"
"I know. I'm starting to think that this place is a little…" The word "cheap" hung in the air as Liz trailed off and looked about her, not wanting to say anything and have Mr. Smiley or some other employee overhear her.
The blond nodded in agreement.
"Well, I suppose it could be worse," Liz continued. "The Brisby pocket watch looked a little suspicious and the Crying Breakfast Friends lunch box would've been appealing…if I was five."
The two sat there in silence, eating popcorn and watching as people went to and fro around Beach City Funland. Families, couples and friends went about to different rides, buying snacks and enjoying the bright display of the amusement park. A cool wind blew in from the sea, carrying the scent of cotton candy and melted chocolate past Gary and Liz. The blond teen glanced at the necklace in the ginger's palm.
Connected by a silver chain was a simple star made of silvery metal. At its center was a sky blue stone that gleamed in the light. It wasn't a bad prize, but it wasn't something that Gary wanted. He even said as much. Liz, after jokingly insisted that he'd look better with it, agreed with his assessment, before pocketing the necklace.
Another minute went by, with the two teens just staring at the harsh lights and the bustling crowd. Letting out a grunt, Liz pulled out her smartphone, and glanced at the time.
"What's taking them so long?" She wondered aloud.
"Maybe they finally found a wiener that satisfied them both?" Gary suggested. The redhead snorted and covered her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter. He frowned at her, but he suddenly realized what he just said, and let out a chuckle.
"Yeah, probably." Liz snorted after catching her breath. She stood and returned her phone to her pocket. "I better go check on him," she said, "see if he's okay and remind him that we got to be in before it gets late. Our grandma has us on a curfew, and if we're late and interrupt her reruns of the Cold Files, well…" The redhead shuddered in revulsion, murmuring something about wrinkles.
A frown worked its way onto Gary's face. He had a great time hanging out with Liz, and he considered asking if they could hang out again sometime in the future, but he remembered that he won't be here for much longer.
Rick had everything planned out for their next adventure, and it was bound to happen soon, if not today. The blond finally mustered up the courage to ask Liz if she wanted to hang out sometime in the near future, when the amusement park had suddenly plunged into total darkness.
Silence.
Then someone let out a scream.
[Rick]
Rick's foot felt like it was about to cramp from all the tapping it was doing. Rick and Ed were in the seemingly endless line for the Shell Shack Café & Grill, and he was seriously thinking about creating a mass panic to speed things up.
The scientist was surprised at how packed the little restaurant was. A lengthy line of customers zigzagged from the entrance toward the counter. Grumbling, the two got in line and waited. Rick spent a majority of the time studying the beach themed decorations of the restaurant while suppressing a growing headache from the annoying cacophony of loud idle chatter and the deafening pop and alternative acoustic guitar music that pervaded the interior of the restaurant.
Time seemed to drag on and the line slowly diminished, allowing the two self-proclaimed hot dog connoisseurs to slowly inch their way to the counter. The two were growing impatient, and Ed looked like he was about to go ballistic.
Rick only managed to calm him down by sharing some of his booze from his flask.
"Damn!" The redhead coughed as he handed the flask back to the scientist. "That's some strong shit. Where'd you get it?"
"I have my sources." Rick answered cryptically.
"You gotta hook me up with some of that, cuz the stuff here tastes like dog piss."
The scientist frowned and gave Ed an odd look, but took him at his word.
Rick sighed as he thought about what he was doing. If anyone knew Rick long enough, they would realize that it was pretty odd that he was being so friendly and sociable, hanging out with some gangster wannabe, sharing cheap beer and getting hot dogs.
However, Rick was in a good mood for once, and felt like diverting from the usual just for the hell of it. His time in Beach City was coming to an end, so he might as well just relax a bit and go out on a high note for once, which was rare for the genius scientist to do. On the rare occasions that he does, Rick feels a sense of joy and elation that he hasn't felt in years.
The two eventually reached the counter, placed their order, and found a seat at a small table by a window that gave them a pleasant view of the amusement park outside.
As the two resumed waiting, Rick drummed his fingers on the table, and was thinking of how much money he was going to make off his little Gem experiment, while Ed was busy on his phone. The scientist's gaze drifted toward the window, and he watched the night outside unfold.
People were going about their day, having fun and enjoying the summer evening, blissfully unaware of what's coming. Although he didn't know or care about Gem history and politics, Rick knew for a fact that they're coming. He's been in enough battles to know when he's experiencing the calm before the storm.
They had just thwarted several attempts by the Gem Homeworld at reactivating their Kindergarten, with the last incident being particularly insulting towards the Gem people. One would think that they would leave Earth alone, especially since the orbs had stopped coming, but the scientist knew that wasn't likely. They were probably undoing his virus by now, and are probably planning on coming to Earth themselves, armed and very pissed. Pretty soon, they're going to crush whatever stood in their way, and glass the planet or whatever it is rock people do.
Rick didn't care. This wasn't his Earth or his fight. He had his fun and he lent a hand wherever he could and whenever he felt like it (occasionally when he was forced to), and now it was time for him to bow out before the curtain fell on this shitshow.
It wasn't the first time the scientist had done something like this, so why was he now having doubts? He couldn't shake this nagging feeling that he should stay and help them.
No matter how much he drank or tried to expedite their move, Rick felt drawn back to the idea of staying in Beach City. He shook his head, and forced those thoughts out of his mind.
This was not his world, merely one of an infinite number in an endless sea of universes and dimensions. He's ditched more than a handful of Earths and people in need before...but again, why is he feeling like this?
Rick glanced out the window one more time and paused. He saw Gary, his partner in crime, and Ed's sister, sitting on a bench eating popcorn and talking. They looked happy, cute even. Maybe they could-
The mad scientist shook his head again, and turned away from the window. What in the ever-loving hell is wrong with him?! Was this universe cursed or something?
Maybe Steven's sentimentality and morality were beginning to rub off on him.
"No," He murmured under his breath, reaching for his flask, 'that can't be it.'
Fortunately, before his thoughts returned to his current situation, Rick noticed one of the green shirted employees approaching.
"Here you go!" Said the man cheerfully as he placed the tray holding their food on the table. "Sorry for the wait, we're super busy but don't worry! Here are your two Summertime Dogs with our special Golden Eden Sauce."
"Sweet!" Ed said, rubbing his hands together.
Rick gruffly thanked the man, before he paused, staring at him. The café and grill employee was a friendly looking man with long, shoulder length chestnut hair, bright sparkly eyes, and a bushy beard. The scientist couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity with the man. He looked and saw the man's plastic name tag, which read, Hello, my name is: Jacob.
"Is there anything else you'll be needing?" The man named Jacob asked politely.
"Nah." Ed shook his head, his eyes never leaving the steaming hotdog sitting in front of him.
"Okay, well, if you need anything, please let me know. I'm always here to help!" Jacob smiled and turned to leave. He paused and he looked at Rick and said in a softer voice that, oddly, only the scientist seemed to have heard, "If there really is anything you need help with, don't be ashamed to ask."
The scientist scowled at the man, who merely smiled back and walked away, vanishing into the press of bodies that surrounded the front counter.
"W-what was that about?" Rick wondered out loud. He looked at Ed. "A-and is it just me, or did he look a lot like Jared Leto, except sober and not insane?"
"What?" Ed blinked, looking up at Rick.
"Never mind."
The two grabbed their hot dogs and were about to eat, but then everything went dark.
The darkened restaurant went silent for a second, before being filled with concerned and frantic chatter.
Rick frowned and looked out the window. The rest of Funland was completely dark, with shadows and shapes of people moving about slowly, trying to find their way and not bump into one another. A shill scream pierced the dark, which caused a wave of panic to spread through the reached for his gun but paused, assuring himself that everything was fine. As the chatter became more frantic, a calm and assuring voice spoke up.
"Don't worry everyone, it's just a blackout, please remain calm. Please don't worry about the scream, our cook accidentally injured himself."
"I'm fine" came a second voice, further away the darkness "Sorry about that folks." He didn't sound sorry, angry would be the better term.
In the midst of the darkness, a warm flickering flame burst to life and grew into a stronger flame.
Jacob, the bearded restaurant employee from before, was holding an old-fashioned lantern and a smoking, blackened match. He set the lantern aside and struck another match to light a candle. Apparently this has happened before, since the other employees were doing the same thing, and within minutes, the growing chaos had died down as the place had light again. Slowly, calm and order took hold, and business began to continue as normal.
"Yo, what the hell?!" Ed exclaimed.
Rick looked and saw that both of their hot dogs had vanished. The scientist frowned, puzzled by how their food could be taken from their grasp without either of them noticing. The two looked about until Rick noticed a familiar face standing in the entrance leading to the arcade.
Standing there with a blank expression and two hot dogs in his hands was the chubby faced boy named Onion. His dark, doll like eyes stared at them both emotionlessly.
Ed glared and leveled a finger at the boy. "Don't you-" The ginger began, but stopped dead when the boy stuffed the hot dogs into his mouth and stepped backward, vanishing into the dark and silent arcade.
Ed gritted his teeth and looked at Rick. "You see what I'm saying? That lil punk is messing with me! He was after my wiener the whole time!"
"Oh I believe you." Rick said, shivering a little. "Mark my words, he's got some severed heads in his basement."
"E-Excuse me." A soft voice said from behind them. The two looked, and saw a blonde girl standing next to their table.
"Oh, heyyy~" Ed said slowly and flirtatiously, immediately forgetting his anger towards Onion and his stolen food. "How you doin'?"
"Fine, but I was wondering if either of you are getting a signal?" She asked, holding up her smartphone. "I'm not picking up anything, and I'm trying to call my mom."
The scientist and the ginger shared a look. Ed fished out his own phone and looked. He shook his head. "Nah, I'm not getting anything."
Rick could've sworn he heard the young man murmur under his breath, "Story of my life."
The scientist, just for the heck of it, checked his watch and his handheld and saw that he wasn't picking up any cell phone or wifi. There even seemed to be an absence of local radio signals, which caused Rick to grow concerned.
Either this blackout was more far reaching than he thought, or that the storm he was worried about had finally come upon them.
Rick shook his head, quickly discounting that.
From what little he knows of Gems, he knew that they wouldn't be doing something like this. They'd be a lot more obvious, considering how arrogant they are and the little they regard they have for humans and organic life in general. Besides, the scientist had measures in place that would've alerted him to any off world activities.
Rick thought carefully as to who or what could've caused this blackout. A memory popped into his head, a memory involving a certain white Gem mentioning testing an experimental device that evening, sounding a little too sure of herself, which signaled the possibility for it to backfire spectacularly. The scientist pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Pearl." He grumbled.
[Gary]
Gary trailed after Rick, who was stomping his way along the shore, heading towards Steven's house. The half moon hung high above them, partially illuminating the dark and quiet beach. The blond was disappointed that they had to cut their night out short but if Rick was right, it might be for the best.
After the Beach City Funland went dark, Rick and Ed emerged from the Shell Shack, and the scientist declared that they had to head back home to prevent a disaster. Gary wanted to protest, but seeing how serious Rick was, the blond said nothing.
Liz agreed with the scientist, saying that they had to get going as well. After that, they said their goodbyes and they went their ways, slowly trying to find their way home through the dark.
Gary was surprised to see that the blackout wasn't limited to just Beach City Funland, but had encompassed the entirety of Beach City.
Saying nothing, Rick led the way out using a flashlight he always kept on hand for emergencies.
The duo rounded the cliffs, and, illuminated by the pale light of the moon, was Steven, Greg, and the Crystal Gems, who were all standing near Greg's van, which was parked on the beach near the house. They seemed to be talking about something, but was too far to hear them, so they got closer.
Pearl was standing by an odd console looking device with an antenna, looking down in puzzlement at the machine in the sand. Steven was sitting on a blanket that was laid out on the sand, talking with his dad who was sitting in the back of his van, a guitar in hand.
Amethyst was playing around with a robinoid, which was skittering about aimlessly and Garnet was silently watching Amethyst and the robinoid.
"Normally," Rick said out loud, drawing everyone's attention to him and Gary, "I don't do a sarcastic, slow clap because only smarmy douchebags do that. However I think this is one of the few appropriate times that warrant it." The scientist began slow clapping.
"What are you doing?" Pearl asked with a frown.
"Just congratulating you on single handedly knocking out power to all of Beach City and maybe the entire area. Hell, by my readings you might've knocked out the power for half the county! That'll definitely get us on some watch lists for sure."
Pearl blinked in surprise "I-I was only trying to build a disrupter to neutralize Peridot's robinoids."
"Neat idea, but lacking in execution and any real thought." Rick said, crossing his arms. "For instance, I don't think she'll be coming with only robinoids. Those-Those things are like NASA probes or service drones. If and when she comes, she'll be packing some serious heat, which will more than likely be shielded from EMPs and energy disruptors."
Pearl scowled at the human. "What do you know about Gem technology?"
"More than you do, apparently." He gestured to the still active robinoid.
The white gem's cheeks gained some color, and before the two could begin arguing again, a loud, droning humming sound filled the night. The sound echoed through the tranquil night air like a church bell at midnight.
"What's that?" Amethyst wondered aloud.
Everyone looked toward Greg, who was checking his soundboard and other audio equipment. The musician shook his head.
"It's coming from the house!" Steven realized.
The boy and the Gems raced toward the house.
Gary noticed that Greg was putting away his sound equipment and decided to help him. He walked over and scooped up a microphone that was forgotten on the sand, and placed it carefully in the back of the van.
"Oh, thanks Gary." Greg said with a smile. "Haven't seen you guys in a while."
"Yeah we've…we've been pretty busy."
"That's nice to hear" The former musician said.
Rick joined them and took a slice of pizza from the half empty box. The scientist leaned against the side of the van and looked out at the crashing waves, silently eating his slice. After watching Greg and Gary put away the music equipment, Rick finally spoke.
"Greg," The scientist said, his voice was low and serious, "You need to go."
"What?" He looked at Rick.
"You need to take Steven and go." The scientist told him. "Get him as far away from here as possible. No matter what, you both need to get out of Beach City."
"I-I don't…" The musician stammered, confused.
Rick turned to Greg and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me." He said firmly. "Something terrible is coming, something obviously Gem related"
"Well…" Gary began, but Rick waved him off.
"It's going to be Independence Day up in here, meaning it's going to get messy."
"How do you know this?" Greg asked nervously.
"I just do. I know everything." Rick simply replied.
"Not everything." Gary mumbled, rolling his eyes.
"I-I-We can't just leave. What about the Gems?"
"What about them? This is their business, let them handle it."
"But Steven-"
"It doesn't matter!" Rick snapped.
Greg flinched.
Rick sighed, and continued, this time in a calmer tone. "Listen, I just want you to know that…no matter what happens, you have to take Steven and get as far away from Beach City as you can. Move to a new city, new state, wherever. Just…take care of each other and don't look back. Things are going to get ugly very soon, and hopefully, not for very long."
Gary gave Rick a frown. He's never seen the scientist act like this. He's acting like he…cares. Is this a trick or some ploy? No, that doesn't make sense. It's almost as if he's trying to warn Greg. But why would he?
Before the blond could puzzle out the motives for the old man's behavior, the loud, droning humming sound suddenly grew louder. Gary, Greg, and Rick covered their ears as the sound reached them.
Steven and the Gems returned, carrying a cylindrical brown stone inlaid with elegant gold lines and a hole near the top.
"What the hell is that?" Rick yelled over the deafening sound emanating from the stone.
"It's a wailing stone!" Pearl yelled back. "A communication device. We haven't used it since the Rebellion."
"And we can't shut it off!" Amethyst added loudly.
"You think someone's trying to send a message?" Gary suggested.
"I've never heard it make this sound before." Pearl said.
Rick, gritting his teeth, reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a TV remote-like device. He aimed it at the stone and he pressed a button. A burst of energy struck the stone. Immediately, the stone went silent. Everyone uncovered their ears and sighed with relief.
"That mute function's got a time limit, so we-we're gonna have to answer this thing in order for it to shut up." Rick said.
"How?" Amethyst asked.
"The signal we're receiving might be too advanced for the wailing stone." Pearl mused "Which would explain the distorted audio."
"Audio?" Steven repeated slowly. A look of realization dawned on the boy.
"Dad!" He turned to Greg. "You know a lot about audio stuff."
"I do." The musician admitted, a smile growing on his face. "I think I got what you need!" He began rummaging through the back of his van.
Gary stepped away and stood beside Rick, Steven, and the Gems.
"Aha!" Greg exclaimed as he pulled out a large microphone. "The Lubitz Cardioid Condenser 680! It's got the warm tones without too much top end."
"Plus it's got that big honking sponge thing." Amethyst observed.
"I know, isn't it awesome!" Greg said.
Rick unmuted the wailing stone as Greg stuffed the microphone through the hole. As the former musician began setting up his soundboard, Pearl watched with a mix of hesitation and disbelief.
"I don't think this is going to work." She whispered to Garnet. "I'm not sure if the signal is compatible with his analog technology."
"Says the alien who built an EMP bomb out of a hairdryer and a bunch of household utensils." Rick pointed out. "Which, by the way, knocked out literally everything but the one thing you were trying to disable."
Pearl scowled at the scientist, but Garnet placed a hand on the white gem's shoulder.
"Let him try." Garnet urged. "He might surprise us."
The white gem nodded reluctantly. "Fine."
After Greg had procured the necessary equipment and got them set up, the musician got to work. "Now I'm going to add some reverb and some low octave effects." He said as he twisted knobs and slid dials into place. "I'm going to add some fuzz, 'cause who couldn't use some more fuzz? Now, if I directly input the wailing stone and run it through a flanger, we might get what you're looking for."
Pearl tilted her head and pondered his words, trying to understand how that will work.
"Here goes nothing!" Greg declared as he pressed a button on his device. Immediately, the earsplitting hum of the wailing stone came blasting out of the speakers, ten times louder than before. Everyone covered their ears.
"It's even worse now!" Amethyst moaned.
"Sorry!" Greg cried.
"Dad, you can do it!" Steven cheered. "You're the Audio Daddio!" Greg nodded and got back to work, turning knobs and pushing buttons.
The sound began to soften to a more tolerable volume, and slowly transformed into something different.
"It almost sounds like…music." Steven noted.
"Yeah, you're right" Greg said, nodding along to the new sound.
"But it's not supposed to sound like music." Pearl informed the musician. "It's supposed to be a message."
"Right. Hold on." Greg frowned, making some adjustments. The sound began to change from a melodic tone to a garbled new sound.
"It almost sounds like a voice." Gary noted.
"Almost got it..." Greg muttered, making further adjustments. Suddenly, some sparks shot out from the open hood of Greg's van, followed by a stream of black smoke. The audio from the speakers sputtered and died, leaving the muffled drone of the wailing stone to sound off endlessly into the dead microphone.
Greg rushed around to the front of his van and he checked under the hood. "Aw man." The musician groaned.
"What happened? Where's the signal?" Pearl demanded.
"Seems like the battery couldn't take it." Greg observed, waving away the smoke.
"I had a feeling that this wouldn't work." The white Gem grumbled. "There's no way that Greg's equipment could interface with our ancient Gem technology."
"That's not what it looked like to me." Rick noted, folding his arms. "If anything, it looked like he got close to deciphering your message"
Pearl scoffed. "Oh, don't be ridiculous. He was nowhere close to deciphering it."
"Closer than you ever were." The scientist shot back. "I do*urp*n't see you coming up with a reasonable method of decoding the message."
The white gem's cheeks flushed again.
"Okay guys." Gary said, stepping in between the two. "Lets just cool down and try again."
"The battery doesn't look too bad," Greg said, returning to the back of the van "So we can give it another go, maybe try a new approach."
Pearl sniffed. "I don't think so. We tried it your way and it didn't work. It was a waste of time."
"What is your problem?!" Rick snapped. "Do all Gems give up so easily, or do you just hate humans, you racist? If so, then why'd you even bother with this planet?"
Pearl sputtered to respond, but Gary cut in.
"Guys!"
They looked at the blond.
He scowled at them. "Enough bickering. If we put our heads together, we can figure this out. If not, then feel free to continue your 'husband and wife bickering' routine while I help Greg figure it out." The two stared at Gary for a few moments, and eventually grumbled in the affirmative.
As they let the van's battery, as well as Pearl and Rick's tempers, cool down, Greg, Steven, Gary, and the others racked their brains for a solution.
Greg continued to suggest more audio and music related methods that they could try, and Rick, being the smartest one of the group (as well as being a musician himself, much to everyone's surprise), was the only one that was able to keep up. After exchanging some ideas and after some theorizing and calculating, the two eventually came to an agreement that none of their new methods wouldn't work. As boredom began to set in, Greg grabbed his guitar, and strummed some notes. After a few random tunes, Rick suggested he play "Starman", to which Greg agreed to play.
Gary hummed along and sang a few bars. "...Hey, that's far out so you heard him too. Switch on the TV we may pick him up on channel two…"
Realization struck Gary like a ton of bricks. He looked to Pearl and asked for specifics on Gem communication technology, namely if they utilized audio and visual components.
Steven caught on to what he was getting at, and jumped to his feet, suggesting that they try to run it through the TV.
The group scrambled to action.
Garnet and Rick grabbed some jumper cables and attached them to the van's battery. Rick nodded to Garnet, who grabbed the cables and sent a current of energy into the battery.
The scientist nodded to Amethyst, who was behind the wheel, and the purple gem started up the van.
"Battery's ready!" Rick declared, slamming the hood shut.
"Ready with the video, Steven?" Greg asked as he made some final adjustments with his audio equipment.
"Ready!" Steven declared, plugging in the video jack into the TV's socket.
Warbling audio poured from the speakers, and static filled the TV screen.
"Is that it?" Pearl asked.
"Just a second." Greg said, making some changes. The static flickered and the audio oscillated. The screen began to take on shapeless shades of blue, and the audio began to clear up. "Almost there..." The musician murmured. "Come on…" A few moments passed, and the static cleared up, a familiar face appearing on the screen.
"Steven!" Said the blue gem on the screen.
"Lapis?" The half gem breathed.
"I did it!" Greg cried triumphantly.
"I can't believe my flipping eyes!" Pearl murmured incredulously.
"Everyone listen!" Garnet ordered, and everyone went silent.
Lapis's expression was filled with worry and her eyes darted about, as if she was worried about being discovered.
"I hope you're able to hear this." She proceeded. "There's a gem who's looking for you and some other human, she even knew your name. I don't know how, I-I didn't tell her I swear! She-She's on her way to Earth, and she's NOT alone."
Rick and Gary frowned and shared a look, which seemed to have gone unnoticed by the others.
"Steven." Lapis said, her voice growing sad. "Homeworld…it's not the way it used to be. Everything here is different and so advanced, I can't even understand it! There's no way anything on Earth can stand up to it!"
Gary looked, and noticed looks of horror and fear on each of the Gems and on Steven.
"Please don't put up a fight." The blue gem pleaded, her eyes filled with fear. "It will only lead to devastation!" Lapis's image faded, and became static once more.
The wailing stone went silent, and the group was left on the beach to consider the blue gem's message.
After a long moment of tense silence, Pearl spoke.
"It's Peridot." She said softly. "She must be talking about Peridot."
"She's coming for us!" Amethyst cried out in fear, grabbing her head.
"Lapis." Steven breathed. "She sounds so unhappy"
"This is seriously bad news! What are we going to do?" Amethyst panicked. "What are we going to do?"
"Whew." Garnet said aloud.
"Huh?" Pearl said.
"We got the message." The leader of the Gems said, adjusting her shades.
"Wha-" Amethyst began but Garnet interrupted her.
"It's got." The tall gem said sternly. Garnet walked over and offered her hand to Greg.
"Thank you, Greg." she said sincerely. "You helped us receive the message. We couldn't have done it without you."
The musician looked at her hand with awe, almost as he was witnessing something impossible. "You-You're welcome." He said, shaking her hand, tears welling up in his eyes.
As Greg, Steven, and the Gems continued to talk, Gary noticed that Rick was still staring at the static filled TV screen. The scientist's expression was devoid of any emotion, which greatly unsettled Gary, for even he didn't know what it meant. While Greg and Steven laughed and joked about something behind them, Rick looked to Gary - and smiled.
"You up for some tacos?" He asked.
[Rikki]
In another part of the country, Director Rikki Sanchez stood in a room full of monitors next to the Oracle, surrounded by a handful of data analysts and information personnel. The assembled group was staring up at the main monitor, which currently displayed a looped video message of a blue woman talking to a person named "Steven" about some "Gem" and an advanced Homeworld or something. The aged woman's eyes never left the screen, taking note of every move, every detail - anything that could give her more information about this woman and her backstory.
"…Please don't put up a fight," Implored the alien. "It will only lead to devastation!" The video flickered, and started over again.
"Was this everything you got from that stone?" Rikki asked aloud.
One of the many items locked in their vaults, a grey conical stone with a perfect hole near the top, suddenly activated, and was emitting a loud and irritating noise. Fortunately for them, the organization had this stone for years, and had analyzed it extensively in the past. They had hypothesized that it was a communication device of sorts but had no way of knowing…until earlier that morning, when someone decided to send a message. It didn't take long for the science team to jury-rig a device to translate the message.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the kind of message that most people would ever hope to receive. Luckily, for Earth, Rikki wasn't like most people.
One of the analysts standing beside her nodded. "Yes ma'am, that's everything that the stone was receiving until it shut off."
"Not quite the summer bombshell I was hoping for." The Oracle mused.
"Right." Rikki sighed. "So, anything from our pals on Pluto?"
"As a matter of fact…" The Oracle said, punching in a command into his keyboard. "We just got this an hour ago." The video changed to a new video, this time of a blond haired man dressed in a suit. He stood in a room surrounded by orange and yellow Plutonians. The diminutive aliens scurried about, chattering in their natural language and moving pieces of equipment.
"Valhalla Base, this is Farsight Outpost reporting in." The man monotoned. "Our long range sensors have just pinged a moving object heading towards our system well above light speed."
The image changed to a map of their solar system, which zoomed out until it was roughly the size of a walnut. A blinking red dot was on the opposite side of the map, which was slowly moving toward them. The image changed back to the ODIN agent, who was now joined by a pudgy Plutonian in a green military uniform. The orange and yellow alien stood proud, his big green eyes were wide and alert with anticipation and, though he wouldn't admit it, fear.
Rikki admired the Plutonians. Though they were small and weren't natural born warriors, they were proud and willing to do anything to protect their home planet.
"After some initial observations, the object's trajectory would have it heading toward Earth. I have consulted with General Loopf and King Blippy and both have put Pluto's military on high alert. We can move to intercept. We await your response."
The Plutonian nodded and stood a little taller at the mention of his name. The video message ended.
Rikki nodded slowly, her eyes still fixed to the screen. "When was this?"
"An hour ago." The Oracle answered evenly.
"And how long until that 'object' reaches Earth?"
"Five days? Maybe a week tops."
Rikki's face was a mask, not betraying anything that could give anyone a hint about what's going on in her head. After a few silent moments, Rikki looked to the Oracle.
"Send a reply." She ordered "Tell Agent Walker and General Loopf to stand down."
The Oracle and the data analysts shared confused and concerned looks.
"Stand down?" The mousy brown haired man asked, sounding surprised.
The director nodded. "Yes. Tell them to stay alert and stay hidden, and to let the object come toward Earth."
"Why, if I may ask?"
Rikki a sinister smile appeared on her face, which caused a chill to race down the Oracle's spine.
"Because, we're going to follow the little blue lady's suggestion." The director said in a sickly sweet tone. "We're not going to fight, no siree. We're going to roll out the welcome wagon."
(a/n: Well, what do you think? Next up is "the Return"/"Jailbreak", only it'll be a little different. Lyrics are from Starman by David Bowie. Thanks again to Lucius Walker for everything. Until next time, see ya.)
