Back at the barn, things had been pretty busy for the Crystal Gems. The cluster time-bomb was ticking, and the group had been wasting no time in building their drill. So far though, the drill making was a little slow: Twilight and Peridot weren't available to aid Pearl and Fulgurite in their technology for the drill, Jasper wasn't there to help in the heavy lifting with Bismuth and Garnet, Lapis wasn't there to help them either, and that was just naming a few. That didn't mean that progress was stopped altogether, as they already got a basics of the drill already modeled. For the moment, it was Fulgurite, Flint, Pearl, Bismuth, and Garnet working on the drill, and the only one who actually wasn't working with anybody was Peridot, still stuck on her harness and leash, and watching from afar, unable to assist them in building the drill in anyway. She may not be in any bubble, but this was just as effective in terms of keeping her in place. Poor Peridot hadn't felt this useless since the early days after losing her limb enhancers. She may have worked through that thanks to some aid of her fellow Gems, but nobody was going to help her here. All Peridot could do was just sit there and wait for whatever would come at her ...
She hated it.
"Hey, hey, can I -"
"No," Flint immediately said.
"But maybe if I -"
"NO," Flint repeated. Peridot clammed up after that, and they continued their work. It had gone up and down with that since they started making this drill: Peridot was forced to sit there and act useless as everyone else was making progress. Not only was Peridot feeling useless, she was BORED! She didn't care what she would do, she needed to do SOMETHING!
"Come on! I said I was sorry!" Peridot insisted. Garnet stopped for a moment to address her.
"And for the last three hundred and forty two times you said that, what did I say?" Garnet quizzed, arms crossed. Peridot slumped, and sat down on the ground like a child.
"I have to learn there's consequences to my actions," Peridot pouted.
"And what action did you do?"
"I forgot to tell you about the cluster ... that could destroy the Earth," Peridot grumbled, guilt in her tone.
"That's right. This is too big to just be ignored, Peridot, and you have to deal with the consequences."
"... so ... can I help?"
Garnet didn't answer. She just stood there for a few seconds, and then she just turned back and lifted up the drill so Pearl and Fulgurite could work under it. Peridot groaned, and all she could do was just sit there and let them work on their way. As Garnet kept the drill up, Pearl and Fulgurite opened up the hatch to the drill to work the electrical connections. The wires were a starter up, and they had a lot to work with. Still, both Gems had to get the connections on correctly for this drill to work. As Pearl and Fulgurite were looking within the connections, Fulgurite glanced over to Peridot, and saw just how glum she was. Pearl paid her no mind, but Fulgurite got an idea in her head. Garnet looked down to Fulgurite, shaking her head, but Fulgurite did it anyway.
"Yo, Peri!" Fulgurite called. Peridot jumped to her feet, a big and eager smile lit up on her face.
"Yes?" Peridot asked excitedly. Using one of her hair locks, Fulgurite grabbed a nearby toolbox, and moved it over to the green Gem. Peridot immediately went to grab a tool just for Fulgurite to tossed the whole box over to her. Peridot felt empowered and motivated, holding the box above her head in victory.
"Hold onto this box, will ya? Thanks," Fulgurite said.
AND the hype was gone. Peridot's smile disappeared from her face, and she just sat down again, the toolbox on her lap this time. Poor Peridot. Garnet nodded in approval this time, and continued their work for a while more. Peridot didn't feel any better doing this. She opened up the toolbox, and fiddled around with a wrench, making it float around in the air with a wiggle of her finger. Why did she had to forget about the Cluster? ...
"HI!"
Enter Pinkie Pie. The introduction got some reactions from the others: Peridot jumping behind the fence, Pearl banging her head on the drill in a startle, and even Flint getting a little jump outta it. With the pink mare here, was Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. For Twilight, she had a bag hung around her back, something inside she wanted to show. Garnet kept her cool, but didn't want anypony worried anymore about this than she wanted Steven to worry.
"Oh, hey. What're you girls doing?" Peridot asked.
"Just stopping by. You seem welcoming, Peridot," Rarity noted.
"I've never been so bored," Peridot sighed. It didn't take long for them to see the drill, and Pinkie and Rainbow were quick to check it out.
"Wow, neat. What's with the drill, you guys?" Rainbow asked. Garnet, Flint, and Pearl didn't had time to figure out what to say, but quick-witted Fulgurite got her idea right away.
"A Gem monster mission: we found this Gem mole, or gopher, or something like that a while back, and we're making this baby to go down after it. None of us can dig after it, you know?"
"Oh. Need a helping hoof?" Twilight offered.
"Nah, we got this. We deal with monsters all the time, we'll get this done in no time at all once we get this drill built up right."
"Why is Peridot on a collar and leash?" Pinkie squeaked from the top of the drill. Fulgurite had to adapt to this one.
"She and Emerald did a bet over a video game match. She kinda lost, and is now stuck that way," Fulgurite informed. When thinking it over, that would be something that Emerald would really agree to do.
"How long?"
"I dunno, til Emerald decides to, I guess. He hooked her up to the fence just this morning."
"K then. Sorry bout that, Peridot," Rainbow said. Peridot knew that only half of it was true, so she just slump in her spot.
"Don't mention it. To anypony," Peridot made clear. After that was figured out, Twilight was next to speak, looking to Garnet.
"Right. Well, anyway, Garnet, I think I found something that I think you should see. Here," Twilight informed, walking over to her. Twilight Sparkle got her magic started, and opened up her bag to show the monster book she got from the library. She made sure to keep the book in safe hooves since getting it, and she wanted to get the others on the level with what monsters the book had in store. It can't be a coincidence that she would find a Remorhaz BEFORE getting the book. Garnet placed the drill down gently, and took the book from a Twilight to see. The fusion found it interesting, and even more so when she looked through the pages just to find, to her surprise, the Thunderbird that they found during the storm.
"Where's you get this?" Garnet asked, as she looked amongst the information on that page, and a few others monsters as well.
"I found it at the library. The librarian said I could just keep it, since it wasn't apart of the library to begin with," Twilight explained. As Garnet kept her views on the other monsters within the book, which were intriguing all the same, the others looked around the barn for a bit, but seeing that some weren't there. Pinkie, hopping off of the drill, was the one to address the fact.
"Where's Steven? He and me got a VERY important play date!" Pinkie Pie said, slightly more serious in tone about it like it was actually important.
"He and Amethyst are off on a monster hunt - busy as bees those two. Dunno when they'll be done with it," Fulgurite informed, shrugging.
"Monster hunt, you say?" Inquired Rarity.
"They went off on that without telling me? Hay, no fair! Where're they?" Rainbow asked, ready to fight a monster at any time.
"Beats me. Somewhere outta Beach City, probably," Fulgurite shrugged.
"Say no more. Come on girls, let's catch up!" Rainbow said.
"Rainbow, hold on -"
Soon, Rainbow was in the air, and flying off to find the others to join in on the monster hunting. Well, that was one gone, but the others were still there.
"Thank you for showing me this, Twilight. Though, you better go after her," Garnet suggested.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Rarity, Pinkie, let's go," Twilight advised, already trotting off to go get Rainbow. They better go grab her before the Pegasus could end up into trouble. Well, that was handled fairly well.
"Good going, Fulgurite," Flint simply said. Leave it to the quick wit of Fulgurite to weasel around the issue quick.
~~~~~~
Amethyst and Steven were feeling pretty good about things. With their first monster in the bag, the two were quickly off to the next location on their list for what other beast they had to find. Their previous monster encounter was a bit out of nowhere, but thanks to Onion and his pals, not only was it an easy fix, but they also got themselves a good snack of ice cream as well. It may had been days since, but Amethyst and Steven were still hyped as ever. And given that their next location was a ways away, Steven and Amethyst made tracks. Normally, Amethyst would shapeshift into something for them both, but Steven felt like evening out the work, so he and Amethyst got themselves some bikes, and were zooming down the seaside road, wind at their back, and in high spirits. Cars were lacking on the road, so, they had the right a way.
"Aw yeah, I see the finish line! See ya in the dust, Steven!" Amethyst said, pulling ahead. They decided to do this a while back, to make things interesting, and now, their finish line was up ahead for Bayburgh, namely the welcome sign. Steven put the peddle to the metal, and tried to catch up with Amethyst. It wasn't entirely easy, but they were at pretty close quarters, as they rounded the bend, right past the sign. Just as the two zoomed past, it was actually Steven who just managed to beat Amethyst in peddling, just by a foot, and the hardest he could do.
"WOO!" Steven beamed. Amethyst went on with it, and allowed the winner to keep the lead, as they rode right on into town. Steven had came by Bayburgh once before with Peridot, Sapphire, and Ruby, when they wanted to check what Emerald was up to. Bayburgh hadn't changed too much since then, and this can give Amethyst a bit of time to check the place out.
"So, this is where you gone off to before?" Amethyst asked, as they rode down the sidewalk.
"Yep, that's right. Now let's see," Steven said. He and Amethyst went to a stop eventually, parking their bikes on a rack, over by the seaside Boardwalk, and went on to check the list. They had already checked off the Scorpion Gem they've done, along with two others they had gotten over from yesterday and onward. They still had a ton more in their sights. They looked for a bit, and seeing all sorts of monsters and Gem beasts. The monsters varied in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and it was hard to pick out which one to go to next.
"You know, it's crazy how many types of Gem monsters there is," Steven commented.
"I know, I love it. Which one next, dude? That skull bird looks cool, but I'm leaning towards that lion look-alike right there," Amethyst said, pointing to the beast in question. Steven looked more on the location than the beast itself.
"Maybe we can try the Gem tortoise next. If we're lucky, we can get that, and this ..."two-leg runner", in one shot. They're close to the same place anyway, and we can jump there by Warp Pad," Steven pointed out.
"True dat," agreed Amethyst. They will get to them all at some point, though it really depends on which ones were where first. The two were a bit preoccupied with what to do, so much so they didn't hear that someone was heading over their way, seeing the list in their grasp. He snuck up in between them, and quietly looked over the list until he then pointed out one.
"Eh, I'm more for the "bear", myself."
Amethyst and Steven jumped back on their sudden visitor. Standing casually just behind them was Emerald.
"Sup?"
"Oh, Emerald, it's you. How's it going?" Amethyst asked.
"Eh, it's going. So, heard you two are on a monster hunt?" Emerald inquired. Amethyst and Steven looked to eachother before answering him.
"That's right: a big monster hunt! Check it," Amethyst said, showing Emerald the whole list in better detail. Emerald looked up and down the list for about a minute, seeing the pictures all over, and getting more interested in this idea they got going for them.
"Dang, what an order. How long do you two think you'll get this done? Two months? Three?"
"Eh ... Didn't think of that," Steven realized, rubbing the back of his head, as Emerald chuckled and hopped over the bike rack. Emerald had nothing better to do, despite the bigger issue with the CG and the Cluster, so Emerald decided to give them a small hand with this. Emerald thought it over for a little more, but then he got an idea in his own head.
"Hey, think I got somethin for you two."
"You do?" Steven asked. Emerald nodded.
"You two wanna look around for some other Gems, right? I think I might know a group of them you can handle nearby, Just outta town a ways," Emerald offered.
"Which ones are they?" Steven asked, looking over at the list himself. Emerald though tossed the list over to the two, Amethyst catching it.
"I'll show ya when we get there. Bet you'll figure it out when we see em. Come on, night's just starting up," Emerald promised, already starting to head off on his way, gesturing the two to follow him. Exactly what the green Gem had in mind was anyone's guess, but Amethyst and Steven figured if he knew where some of these things were, then they can give it a shot. Even if these weren't on the list, it could be good to handle them, whatever they are.
.......
Emerald wasn't exactly lying when he said the place was outside of Bayburgh. With Emerald hovering on his hexagon platforms, and with Amethyst and Steven on their bikes, time travel was fairly fast all things considered. In fact, with some extra power from Amethyst on the harder hills - she pulled Steven up them, using her whip as a rope - they only took about twenty minutes to get from Bayburgh over to the spot Emerald was talking about. Looking ahead on the road, they could see a sort of old building. Seeing the boarded-up windows mainly meant that this place had been closed up for a while. It looked like an 50's diner, which included a worn out mascot sign, the mascot looking like a polar bear with a blue cloth round its neck, and it was holding what looked like a ice cream parfait on a plate next to it with one paw, like a waiter. Wear and tear, but, it was standing still anyway, as the trio went over, and peered inside through one of the windows. with the dim light, however, vision was hardly any.
"So this is the spot?" Amethyst asked. Emerald only nodded.
"OH yeah, they're in there alright. Urban explorers had been all the rage in this place!" Emerald said, peering inside the place himself. Steven looked up to the welcome sign just outside, stepping back a bit to read it. He couldn't seem to make out the sign exactly, it being kinda worn away.
"I don't know about this," Steven said.
"Where's your sense of adventure, Steven? Besides, don't you wanna get your Gemies?" Emerald asked, nudging Steven. Steven took another look at the monster list, and looking at it, one of them did look like a bear in a way. Amethyst went over to Steven, as Emerald tried to find a way in properly.
"I'm sure Emerald just wants us to do an urban explorer act," Amethyst whispered to Steven.
"Let's just go in and check, anyway. Maybe we'll find an extra monster in here," Steven insisted.
"I'm not complaining, just saying," Amethyst stated. Emerald kept looking around a little more, until he finally got an opening by a loose board by one of the Windows. A simple yoink, and the board popped off from the hinges, making a gap just big enough for them to slip in. Emerald couldn't wait to get rolling.
"Alright, sweeeet! Come on, let's go," Emerald said, getting himself inside quick. Amethyst and Steven nodded, and got themselves in as well. Whatever was going to happen, well, the duo were right in it now.
~~~~~~
Night came to Beach City. With the Crystal Gems working on the drill, the ponies looking for Steven, and the humans sleeping at this point, this just left the gates wide open for two sly serpents to go right in. They already put some blood in the water when it came to the Frymens and the Pizzas, so with them handled, Cyanide and Acid were moving on to the other residents of Beach City. The night was lovely too: warmer, clearer night, and the moon bright in the sky. The perfect night for these two to move on. Over into town, Cyanide and Acid slithered over alongside a wooden fence, til they reached over to the back door.
"So, which one of us should handle this one?" Asked Cyanide.
"I'll take care of this plump lady. A lift, if you please," Acid offered. Cyanide simply answered with a nod of the head. Cyanide curled her body in a spiral, and Acid hopped up onto her, getting launched over the fence like a spring.
Acid was in.
Acid slithered fast through the yard, and went straight up the house's drainpipe until she got right up to the house's upper window. Inside the house, Acid saw a decent bedroom, and with her target fast asleep on her bed. The target this time? Sadie! Sadie was fast asleep, not suspecting a thing, and Acid gently got her tail under the window sill, opening it up just enough for the sly serpent to slide her way in. The snake made little to no sound as she went along the floor, and slowly over to Sadie's bed. Each slither from the snake was completely silent, and she kept to the shadows for the longest time. However, the snake didn't go straight for her that fast. Acid coiled up on one of the bed legs, slowly crawling up bit by bit. A devilish grin stretched across Acid's face, her fangs gleaming in the moonlight, Sadie none-the-wiser. It would be a perfect opportunity for a quick bite to the girl, and go on her way, but Acid wasn't going to jump the gun like that. Words can easily be as powerful as any venom, if you know how ...
"Hello, Sadie," Acid slowly hissed. A groan came out of Sadie, as the girl was trying to sleep. Acid slithered over to Sadie's ear, and hissed loudly, her forked tongue tickling Sadie's face.
"H-huh? Wha? Who?" Sadie mumbled, very groggy. Acid coiled up comfortably on Sadie's bed, as Sadie slowly began to wake up, realizing what was going on. Sadie, of course, was a bit freaked out to see a venomous viper just chilling in her room, but before she could scream, Acid brought her tail up to her lips.
"W-what are you?" Sadie shivered.
"Don't be afraid, sweetheart. I am a Equestrian Snake," Acid hissed. Sadie was only a bit familiar with the Equestrian world, so it didn't help too much ...
"W-What're you doing here?"
"Just want to talk as all. The better question is: how are you feeling?"
"I'm. Fine," Sadie said, slightly confused. Acid slithered closer to her.
"Oh, let's not try and lie to eachother, sweet, sweet Sadie. I can tell when I'm lied to," Acid joked, the snake coiling up right beside Sadie, enough for the girl to jump outta bed. Acid ended up under the covers for a bit before poking her head out.
"I'm fine, really," Sadie insisted. Acid still wasn't convinced.
"Oh? Fine with what? Your ambitions? Your friends? Your family?"
"What're you talking about?" Sadie finally asked, still not getting where this snake was coming from. Acid could tell that sly talk was just not gonna work here, so she slithered outta the covers, and gave it to her straight.
"I'm talking about your mother, my dear. Quite a obsessive parent, isn't she? Don't pretend you don't know. A simple interest from you, blown too far out of proportion. Is that right?" Acid hissed. Sadie realized now what Acid meant, and the girl felt withdrawn about the subject. However, the obvious concept still needed answers.
"Wait, how'd you know that?" Sadie asked, almost bluntly.
"Word gets around, you know. Especially with a mother like yours, wouldn't you say?"
Sadie sighed, and sat down on the bed, next to Acid, slumped over.
"Ok, so you know," Sadie groaned. Acid gently slithered over Sadie's lap, coiling around her shoulders like a scarf.
"There, there, don't fret. The answer is very simple: your mother just LOVES your little hobbies. Why not be interested in something she can't enjoy? You'll be at your own pace, and she will be off your back." It was a rather odd suggestion to give for Sadie, but the distraught girl felt more defiant to the snake than confused.
"She loves anything I find interested in, what can I do that she won't force me into?"
"I'm sure there's someone in this little town of yours that can help you with that, eh? Someone you've known for a long time. ... The local bad boy, perhaps?" Acid suggested through a forked tongue. Sadie wasn't sure how to respond to that, but Sadie did know who Acid was referring to. Or probably referring to, anyway. Acid slithered off towards the window after that, Sadie left to think more on what Acid had just said. The snake snuck out the window, but not before leaving one more word to Sadie to seal the deal.
"I'm sure anyone would love to be free."
~~~~~~
*click*
"Yo, everybody and everypony. Emerald here, coming to you live from Brittle Bear Bakery: a little corner for us urban explorers. We got some pals joining with me tonight. say hello to the little people out there."
"Sup?"
"Hey there."
With some levitation work on his portable, fully charged phone, Emerald introduced Amethyst and Steven in a camera video. Light wasn't very much, but his IPhone had a light to use, so light inside wasn't an issue for the filming process. The trio were walking through one of the halls to the back, as they checked the place out and filmed what they were doing.
"So this is what you do on your free time?" Steven asked. Emerald looked back to him, catching his IPhone mid air before it could fall down to the floor.
"Sorta. I've been checking out TubeTube and urban exploration vids been going all out. I was gonna go out solo tonight in this place, but you two are checking things out around here anyway, so why miss the chance?" Emerald explained. They continued going along, heading to one of the old doors which was labeled "Parts and Service".
"But what's actually here? I'm up for exploring freaky places as much as the next girl, but -"
"OH! ohohohohohoh, would you look at that? LOOK at THIS!" Emerald beamed, cutting off Amethyst.
Suddenly, Emerald was going off ahead, and straight into the Parts and Service room, especially excited. Steven and Amethyst peeked into the room, just to see Emerald checking out the stuff inside. In this room, while a number of props were around that would fit into this sort of place, the main thing that Emerald was going over was a trio of large robotic figures. These looked rotted away, broken, and simply laying there. One of these looked like a large white robotic bear, a mic in hand and blue metal cloth around his neck that reached down over the chest, like the advertisement outside. The cloth had a blue button on the center of the chest region on the cloth. Another of these animatronics, which was sitting down over by the door, looked like a pink penguin in a tuxedo (go figure). This little guy, about as big as Amethyst, had a larger round button over the bellybutton, as apart of the suit. The third one, laying down on the floor, looked like a white arctic fox, with what looked like a violin in one hand. It was odd to see, but Emerald seemed psyched about it anyway.
"It's just some robots, dude, chill out," Amethyst said, not getting the idea as Emerald was taking some pictures with the animatronics.
"DUDE, these are the mascots for the bakery right here! Peppermint Penguin, Frosty Fox, and Mr. Brittle Bear himself right here," Emerald introduced, in a similar manor to how Pinkie Pie might've introduced them. Steven was checking out Peppermint Penguin for a little bit, but Amethyst didn't seem to get it.
"So?" Amethyst questioned.
"Let me fill you both in," Emerald said, quickly fiddling with his phone to show up a picture amongst his photo gallery. The picture on the phone looked like some sort of news article. Amethyst read through the article as Emerald explained.
"Brittle Bear Bakery: the sweetest place for every good girl and boy in the world to enjoy a yummy treat with your favorite frozen pals, Brittle Bear and friends!"
Emerald took a moment to pick up Peppermint Penguin, playing around with the robotic arms as if PP was performing.
"They had good business for years, but just as it was getting hyped up ... BOOM! The robots go completely on the fritz! glitching up, spazzing out, didn't take long before the kids freaked out."
To show what he meant, Emerald had Peppermint Penguin moving erratically, as if glitching out on stage (head spinning, fins flapping around, etc.) this happened for a few more minutes before PP finally stopped, and Emerald placed it down.
"Days this went on, each performance, until it was too much: closing it down for good ..."
Emerald starts to smile devilishly, much like how it looked while his gemstone was cracked before.
"Rumors went around from there. Some say they could hear music play within the abandoned halls. lights a blazing in here ... even the souls of these animatronics. Coming alive ... stalking whoever dares wander into their world ... BOO!" Suddenly, Emerald finished his story by sneaking behind Steven, and grabbing him by his shoulders fast, making Steven yelp and jump back. Emerald chuckled, but the idea that a ghost was probably haunting the place was a bit spooky. Amethyst though wasn't so easily freaked out.
"... And, you're telling us this, because ..."
"Because WE are gonna get some legit footage tonight!" Emerald announced, big smile on his face, and even starry eyed. So THAT was Emerald's big plan, and he decided to include Steven and Amethyst in it.
"Wait a minute here. So you dragged me and Steven away from our monster hunt so YOU can have company to join you in a Ronaldo-inspired fiasco to get some fancy vids of haunted robots in a kid's bakery," Amethyst summed up.
"Yeah, pretty much," Emerald bluntly stated.
"... I'm down with that."
"Sweeeeet! come on, let's get to the camera room. Oh, we're gonna make this happen!" Emerald beamed, going off outta the parts and service room. Amethyst casually followed behind, though Steven took a moment to look back at the other animatronics. To anyone else, it would just be a bunch of old scrape metal, but as Steven looked to them, he began to feel ... well, a little indifferent. Frosty Fox's eyes were actually looking right at him in her position, and both Steven and frosty fox just stared at eachother for a bit ...
"YO, Steven, come on," Emerald called. Steven took one more glance to the fox before he went off to join the others.
~~~~~~
Night continued on, and Amethyst, Steven, and Emerald were still checking things out around the place of Brittle Bear Bakery. While Amethyst and Emerald were alright as they casually strolled along, Steven suddenly felt a more unsteady feeling wash over him ever since he saw those animatronics. Not exactly the same unsteady feeling one would have in a haunted house, per say, but an unsteady feeling that something just felt wrong here. Something that just seemed ... sad, almost. It was ironic since this place was a kid's place, and Emerald brought it on to be a happy place to be in. As they ventured around, they got a good layout of what the place was about. The whole place itself interior wise was about as similar of design as outside in terms of age: many 50's sorts of furniture around the place. The main room for example had plenty of booths and tables around, about twenty full, with an empty stage where Brittle Bear and friends supposedly performed on. While it looked nice, where Emerald did want to get to was down a double set of hallways.
"HA, here we are, gang!" Emerald announced. Where Emerald had gotten them to was the main office (or camera room as Emerlad kept calling it). It was rather simple, and all the stuff seemed there already: a number of camera screens to the front, an old fan on the desk with a little plushie of Peppermint Penguin, a desk wheelie chair, and a old poster of Brittle Bear up on the wall. Emerald, not wasting any time, hopped right onto the chair, which spun around about four times before aiming right at the camera screens.
"So this is the office?" Steven asked.
"Yep, that's right. Let's see if I can get some power into these screens here," Emerald said, trying to see what he could do. However, as one could imagine, power in this sort of place was little to none, so Emerald just could get this sort of connection to work right. As Emerald was busy, Amethyst turned around and saw Steven standing over by the plushie, though Steven didn't look too happy.
"Hey, Steven, something eating ya?" Amethyst asked. Steven got himself back to reality, a hand reaching and holding the plushie.
"Something doesn't feel right about this place," Steven simply stated. Amethyst just shrugged though.
"Eh, figured you'd say that. This place is haunted apparently."
"No, no. Well, ok yeah, but ... why though?"
"Why? Why how?" Amethyst asked, not sure where Steven was going with this.
"Why are there ghosts haunting this place? What's keeping them here? Ghosts stay around somewhere if they have something unfinished," Steven wondered, as emerald still tried to fiddle around with what he can work with. Amethyst wasn't too impressed with it.
"Did you get that stuff from Ronaldo?" she asked bluntly.
As Emerald kept trying nearby, he finally realized that it just wasn't getting anywhere fast. Angry, he went on to kick the desk, just to have the screens just turn on themselves! It was a bit odd, but either way, Emerald was happy about it.
"AHA! Finally we're in business!" Emerald beamed. Many of the screens that did show up showed different places and angles of the bakery. Amongst these included the performance stage, the main dining room, the parts and service room where the animatronics were laying in, four areas of both hallways leading to the office, one near the bathrooms, and even one over where the kitchen would be. However, not all of them were working correctly; screens were slightly static, moved slowly in their swaying, and some of the cameras didn't show anything at all. All the same, Emerald was psyched about this, and quickly got out his IPhone camera.
"Yo, look at this! few fancy tricks, and we got the cameras working," Emerald summed up for the camera, showing it to the audience. Well, the cameras were on, but Amethyst and Steven weren't paying too much attention to that. Or at least, Steven wasn't much, anyway. Looking to the screens, his eyes kept to the Parts and Service screen, where the animatronics were. Amethyst, for the heck of it, stepped out into the hallway, and soon she was seen on one of the hallway cameras, waving her arms, and making a silly face up to it.
"Hey, Amethyst!"
"YO, check me out!" Amethyst said. It seemed okay and innocent at first.
Then the cameras started to glitch ...
"What the? Hey!" Emerald griped, trying to fix it. The glitch was only for about a few long seconds, but in that time, the cameras fixed themselves, and it looked as good as it would get. Each camera looked okay, but there was one tiny little detail when looking in the Parts and Service camera. They saw Frosty Fox and Brittle Bear, but as for Peppermint Penguin, they looked mad through the cameras, and found that the penguin had suddenly ended up over near the stage, standing upright, and according to the camera, looking away from them.
"D-Did you move that, Emerald?" Steven asked.
"No, not really. My powers are good, but not that good," Emerald replied. Suddenly the screens glitched out again, and when they came back on this time, Peppermint Penguin was gone from the stage. Before either one could figure out where it went to ...
"YOUCH!"
*CRACK!*
"Amethyst!" Steven gasped, quickly racing outside of the office. Steven almost stumbled in his step, but he did catch up to where Amethyst was standing. Rather than finding a purple gemstone on the ground like he thought, he found Amethyst with her whip out, and a decapitated Peppermint Penguin down on the ground, flippers still flailing around, a few sparks shooting out from the metal circuits.
"Amethyst, you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm cool, but this pink penguin jumped me," Amethyst said, thumb aimed to the body on the floor. Peppermint Penguin flickered a little more, actually getting on its feet, until the body finally took a moment to stop moving. Amethyst walked casually over to the penguin, picking it up, and looking it over for a bit, checking inside. Amethyst saw metal, wiring, and an endoskeleton too. To her, it was dead basically.
"Eeyup, dead. Teach you to jump me," Amethyst commented, setting the body down. Amethyst started to walk back to Emerald, leaving Steven with what was left of Peppermint Penguin. That strange feeling of sadness overwhelmed Steven again, but this time he tried to keep himself and his mind straight. It was just a animatronic - a robot. He'd seen robots break down before, so, why was this one so troubling? ...
"Sorry about that," Steven simply said, before going off to join Amethyst ...
~~~~~~
Time ticked on through the night, and so far nothing too crazy had happened just yet aside from the Peppermint Penguin attack. Brittle Bear and Frosty Fox hadn't budged from where they were yet, and since Emerald was the one who actually messed around with Peppermint Penguin by his presentation earlier, Amethyst and Steven just considered that as Emerald messing with the wiring, intentional or not. Steven and Amethyst wondered if this is actually worth it or not. Emerald checked on the cameras over and over, and for a while, the animatronics hadn't moved much, if at all. Steven for one was getting very tired at this point, not really used to staying up THIS long.
"Any of those robots moved yet, Emerald?" Amethyst asked.
"I dunno, I can't find them anywhere here. They all disappeared since you KO'd Peppermint," Emerald said, and sure enough it was the case. Amethyst and emerald looked around every single working camera, and they didn't see any animatronic, including Peppermint Penguin.
"Where'd they go?" Amethyst wondered. Before either Amethyst or Emerald could come up with anything, the two heard a rather notable yawn coming from Steven. Steven wasn't as sad as before, but that was just because he was just too tired to really think about it.
"Getting tired, buddy?" Amethyst asked.
"So soon?" Emerald added in.
""Sleep is a curse, and yet a curse I need to live." -Steven Universe," Steven quoted, very tired and not thinking straight as a yawn escaped his lips again.
"Eh, ok kid, you get yourself some sleep, we'll keep an eye -"
*thud*
Amethyst stopped her sentence when she heard Steven falling onto his back, out like a light. Poor kid couldn't stay up a minute longer by the looks of things. Still, it didn't look rather comfortable for Steven laying on the floor, so amethyst gave Steven some convenience by shapeshifting into a pillow for his head. At least his head will be comfy for the night.
"Eh, goodnight you two," emerald simply said, going back to the cameras ...
.......
Steven's mind had begun to wander not too long after he fell asleep, going right on to dreamland in just a few short minutes. Steven began to stir a little bit, eventually opening his eyes. The half Gem in question wasn't sure where he was, being left in the dark for a moment, staring up into the dark sky for a bit. Steven sat up slowly, and once he did, the entire area began to change and shift into something entirely different. Steven found himself in a party room. He was sitting at a small chair along the table, and looking around, he found himself in the Brittle Bear bakery again. The main room though didn't look as wrecked as before, but instead it all looked up to date: the tables clean, the lights shining bright, the stage all set up, and the trio of animatronics all performing on stage. Strange though, that while they looked to be singing, Steven couldn't hear any lyrics coming from them. Brittle Bear, Frosty Fox, and Peppermint Penguin all looked clean, up-to-date, and in working order. Once more, a number of other kids were also there, though they looked a bit blurred, and hard to make out.
"What's going on? Is this ... Brittle Bear bakery?" Steven wondered.
Steven couldn't exactly move correctly (dream logic and all), so Steven stayed in his seat and looked at what was going on. Steven could see four kids over by the animatronics, happily watching the animatronics perform on the stage. At first Steven thought it was an ok sort of situation, but during this, the kids stopped and turned to their right. Steven did the same, and he soon saw someone else nearby, looking like some other animatronic, this one looking like a sort of robotic seal. The kids, which seconds ago were by the stage, suddenly were walking into another room with the seal guy holding the door open. Steven didn't know why, but he began to feel more and more scared. It didn't help that the seal's face looked a little more freaky and scary when Steven saw it. One by one, the kids disappeared into the dark room, Steven feeling his heart pounding, and his mind racing. All of a sudden, he got an overwhelming urge to go in, and soon he found himself running into the room after the kids! Steven was left in the dark again, unable to see or hear anything. And then ...
"AAHHH!!"
*Slice* *Slice*
"AAHHH -"
Silence ...
"... I'm so sorry ..."
Next thing Steven knew, he was suddenly sitting in a chair. He felt rather stiff as he was sitting, and unable to get up off the chair. He was in the spotlight of some unknown light, and the chair he was sitting on was a wooden stool. He couldn't move, or budge off of it, and he couldn't see very far from it either. So, Steven heard screaming, slashing, and now ...
Steven saw his own hand. It didn't look like his normal, flesh human hand at all, but instead a robotic, whitish one. Steven was sure he didn't remember this happening to him seconds earlier, and when he looked up again, the seal was missing. In its place, a mirror showed Steven what happened to him.
He really WAS Frosty Fox!
"Help."
.......
Steven woke up quickly after that, eyes shooting open, and back to reality. Steven hoped to be back in his bedroom, but he was just in the Brittle Bear Bakery office. The first thing he saw aside from the ceiling were Amethyst and Emerald, who were looking down at him. Steven eventually sat up.
"Whoa, dude, you ok?" Amethyst asked. Steven took a moment or two, feeling that his throat was a little bit dry, but fine. Though, the dryness was more from that feeling after crying, only more evident by the slightly moist streams on his face. Steven wasn't sleepy anymore. The kid got up to his feet, but just before he could answer, he noticed something else: something was outside in the hallway, looking at the camera. Emerald and Amethyst followed Steven's eyes back to the cameras, seeing a figure indeed standing there, but not moving any further from there.
"Who's that?" Steven asked.
"Hmm ... Frosty Fox I think. Don't worry, she won't da -"
Steven, before Emerald could finish his sentence, suddenly took off running out the door, not taking long at all before Steven saw the fox. Soon as Frosty saw him, it turned and moved away.
"Steven, where're you going?"
"Hold on, I'll be right back," Steven promised, before going after Frosty. At a moment alone, Steven was at the mercy of whatever was within the dark corners of Brittle Bear Bakery. That dream he had could NOT be any coincidence in a place like this. The human followed Frosty Fox for a good five minutes, going all over the bakery. Eventually though, Steven found himself looped around over to another room, where he saw Frosty fox slip into. As he stood there, Steven began to hear some sort of noise going on from within the room. What it exactly was, mainly was unclear overall, but Steven began to creep over to investigate anyway. As he crept closer to the door, the sound of footsteps, screws, and robotic noises could be heard. It was a bit troubling, but Steven felt that something deeper was going on that he needed to help with. The door was creaked ever so slightly, and Steven peered in, trying to see what was going on.
What he saw inside left him quiet: Frosty Fox and Brittle Bear, trying to repair Peppermint Penguin. That would explain not only where they were, but what happened to Peppermint Penguin's body. Frosty seemed to be the assistant to Brittle Bear, as they tried to get Peppermint Penguin working again. They seemed to get the head on, but they didn't get the penguin working right though. Peppermint Penguin was laid down on a metal table, with Brittle Bear and Frosty Fox standing around it. Steven continued watching for a little bit more, the swell of guilt returning to him on seeing this. The other two seemed trying their hardest to get their friend back ...
Then Brittle Bear itself saw him!
Steven would normally run, but his view on these animatronics was a bit questionable throughout this whole thing, and when they noticed him, he didn't move. Eventually, Steven plucked up courage, and opened the door completely, exposing himself to Brittle Bear and Frosty Fox.
"Uh. Hi. Eh, sorry my friend did that to your friend," Steven said, with a nervous smile on his face. Neither animatronic could talk, so no exact response was made. But, they didn't attack him, so that was good. Steven looked over to Peppermint Penguin on the table, the little guy not even making a twitch. Steven remembered the dream he had just minutes ago, and with that in mind and looking here, he had to get on with it.
"... I uh ... I know what happened to you. A-And that seal ... I'm so sorry ..."
The two animatronics didn't react much to that, not in anger nor remorse. Either they didn't knew that Steven was talking about, or they needed a moment to take it in.
"Here, let me see it," Steven said, looking to Peppermint Penguin. He wasn't sure if this will work on Peppermint Penguin, but he didn't know much on electronics aside from how to work a TV or VG remote. With that said, he still felt that he might as well try to work it out. Steven got up onto the table in question, up to Peppermint Penguin's level. The bird did indeed look dead, even for a robotic penguin. Steven, again, wasn't sure if this was going to work, but he needed to at least try. He saw where Amethyst had whacked the penguin hard, so Steven got some good spit down onto his hand, and placed it down onto Peppermint's neck ...
Precious seconds ticked by, but nothing seemed to happen to the penguin. Steven tried again, and waited some more, but nothing seemed to happen again. Steven had to try something to help them out here ...
Then a twitch.
Then the eyes turned to see Steven.
Steven gave a sigh of relief, but the same penguin didn't get up. Steven helped Peppermint Penguin up to its feet, but something just seemed off with him.
"Hey, you ok buddy?" Steven asked, trying to see if Peppermint Penguin was alright. Soon, Peppermint Penguin began to work out its moving parts but by bit, and it turned out ok. As ok as ok could get anyway. Peppermint grabbed its head, adjusting it just right before it turned to Steven, and hugged him for what he did. The gesture was cute, and Steven was happy to return the hug to the penguin. Well, it was the least he could do, yet ...
"You're welcome ..."
Steven began to feel a little less guilt within himself after this was done. However, after a while, something else started to happen. Brittle Bear gently picked up Peppermint Penguin, and began to leave the room. Frosty Fox and Steven Universe were alone for a moment, Steven hopping down from the table and soon at her eye level. Frosty stood there, but her robotic face turned into a smile (the best a robot grin could do), before she walked off to join Brittle Bear. Steven peaked out from the room, seeing the trio of animatronics return to the Parts and Service room ...
Then light came in from the Windows.
.......
"Well, that was a night, eh Amethyst?" Emerald said, next morning.
"Eh, it was so-so. Didn't expect an attack from Peppermint," Amethyst admitted.
"Well, that's that. Gotta get going, I'll see you two later," Emerald said, and he went off on his way. Amethyst and Steven were soon alone in front of Brittle Bear Bakery. As Amethyst and Steven went to their bikes, Steven took a look at the bakery. Amethyst didn't take long until she noticed him.
"Hey Amethyst? You think there's something we can do for them?" Steven asked. Amethyst shrugged.
"I dunno, but stranger things had happened. Maybe you'll figure something out later, but for now -"
"Uh, actually, maybe we can wait on the other monsters a little bit. I'm very tired," Steven said, still feeling tired from last night.
"I was gonna say: let's go chill at the beach."
"Oh. Sure," Steven said. Amethyst began to ride away, and Steven looked back to the bakery itself. Those three animatronics were still in there, and Steven didn't had a clue what to do for them. Just like his thoughts back to the human zoo ...
"I promise I'll help you," Steven said.
And with that, he left to join Amethyst.