"They say, the road's not big enough for the universe. Well I say: the universe ... is my road."
A rather calm, and typical day at Beach City's carwash, and with time on their hands, Steven, Amethyst and Connie were off and helping Greg out a little bit with some of the washing. With the other Gems a bit busy with their own thing, the trio had the day for themselves, so they started it off with taking a visit over to Greg's carwash (something they've not done in quite a while now that they thought of it). For the moment, Steven was playing about inside Greg's van, pretending to drive it around with a few car noises and turning the steering wheel as little bit. Greg just got done finishing up another car at this point, aided by Amethyst and Connie. When done with that, Amethyst played around and brought the hose over to the van, jumping in the way of the van and her.
"Stick em up! This is the fuzz!" Amethyst shouted, spraying the window with the hose. Steven jumped on out once the windows had been sprayed, just to get sprayed himself. laughing, Steven decided to turn the tables and summon his shield, spinning it around, and giving Amethyst a good ol blowback. Amethyst got soaked by her own spray, and both raced over to Greg and Connie. Greg couldn't help but smile at seeing the kids play around, and eventually Connie put her sponge down and started to join in on the fun.
"Sneak attack!" Connie said, a bucket of water being poured and splashed at Amethyst. Amethyst tried to aim her hose at Connie, just for Connie to dodge it. Amethyst slipped over the water, and the kids all just ended up laughing when it was all done.
"Thanks again for the hand, kids. surely helped me out," Greg then said, as he was winding up the hose.
"Compared to what we did already, this is a holiday," Amethyst said, getting up along with the others.
"Oh yeah, that big monster hunt. You got a lot of those monsters, didn't you?"
"You bet we did, and our big man saved the world too," Amethyst said, giving Steven a playful punch to the shoulder. Steven just chuckled, happy all and all for it himself. It was a rough road, but saving the world was always a good thing. Of course they shared it with Greg a while back, how could they not? Still, Greg was starting to feel only a little good. As they were chatting on that, Connie took a glance over by the sponge she placed down ... just to see a hand reach out and grab it.
"Eh, Steven, don't you think you might be -"
"Onion!" Connie said, rushing over to get the sponge back. The thief was right behind the next wall of Greg's carwash, but when Connie looked over to the otherside, the thief in question took Connie completely off guard. The others were quick to catch up to the wannabe thief, only to find ...
"Sadie?"
Sadie jumped on her name being called, quickly turning around and holding the sponge behind her back, trying to look innocent. However, with one person flat out catching her swiping the sponge away, it was honestly not even worth trying.
"What are you doing?" asked Steven, very confused.
"Uh, I uh ... What?"
"Sadie, this is something I expect from Onion, not you. I don't page you as a thief," Amethyst said. Sadie just groaned and handed the sponge back to Greg.
"I suck at this," Sadie sighed.
"Why are you even doing this? You're not a thief," Greg pointed out, Sadie leaning onto the wall, sinking a little bit in shame.
"I don't know anymore, this is stupid," Sadie groaned. Bad enough she was doing this in the first place, it was worse to the fact that she was not good at it at all. Sadie just walked out and sat down nearby.
"What brought this on? Applejack and Rainbow said you tried to steal one of their apple tarts too, so what gives?" Steven asked. That didn't seem to help Sadie out too much either. She'd been trying and failing, but nothing really worked.
"I don't know, some odd dream got me going and I've just been stuck doing this."
"A ... dream?"
Before this little conversation could go any further, something else started to show itself. A loud screeching halt met with the carwash, some dust being launched their way and making them cough a little bit. Looked like they had another customer after all. As for the car, this was no ordinary passerby: a yellow, high-tech Himitsu X-12. One would need quite an amount of bling for that kind of car. That was pretty impressive, but then the window went down ...
"Give me a wash, old man." said the owner of the car.
"Eh, right away young man," said Greg, giving Steven the sponge as he grabbed the hose again. Amethyst and Sadie were a little bit unsure of this guy, but Steven and Connie knew especially well who this character was.
"Is that ...?"
"Kevin," Steven growled, twisting the sponge in his hand as he stared daggers at Kevin. Sadie, Amethyst, and Connie had never seen Steven look so angry at someone before, and it gave them shivers seeing him like that. At the car, Greg was washing it up as Kevin was on the phone with someone else.
"I didn't say ironed socks, I said I wanted them pressed," said Kevin, just before glancing back at Greg and adding in "Whoa, hold up, easy on the tires gramps. I got a big race today, and this car's gotta look as beautiful as me."
Kevin finished his remark with a wink, though his ego-filled remarks weren't making things any easier. Greg simply ignored him and continued cleaning up his car, but Steven wasn't having any of it.
"Back off! He's not a grandpa, he's just a regular pa!" Steven demanded, again surprising the others. Kevin wasn't really impressed or enthused by Steven's outburst, hanging up the phone.
"... Have we met? I'd known a twerp like you if I did," Kevin remarked, only making Steven even angrier with him. This was getting a bit out of hand, and Connie quickly went in and intervened before things could get out of hand.
"Eh, you just look like someone else," Connie insisted. Kevin though didn't take much kind to it.
"Impossible. There's only one person that looks like me: Kevin."
And with that final ego-filled statement, Kevin drove off fast and out of sight. He basically left the group in the dust, and worst off - he didn't pay a dime for the wash either. The only thing he paid with was insults, and there was no way they would catch up with him in that car. Amethyst was left mouth agape, but she got herself back to senses.
"WHAAAA?! What was that?!" Amethyst snapped.
"UGH, I hate Kevin!" Steven suddenly shouted.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch that four letters. Hate's a strong word," Greg advised, though Steven didn't feel any better.
"It's a strong emotion too. ..."
"Eh ... you know that guy, Steven?" asked Sadie. Then came a little bit of an odd moment. Sure, plenty of people knew about their Stevonnie fusion, but not this crowd (Amethyst excluded of course). Still, Steven was a little distracted, so Connie just spoke.
"Well, in a way. Steven and I went off to a party -"
"He's a creep!" shouted Steven.
"Steven!" Greg said.
"That's five letters!"
"Eh, anyway, we tried to have fun, but he ... well, let's just say it was uncomfortable," Connie finished.
"He didn't care about how we felt," Steven added in out of anger. Details were a little bit low, but the point was indeed put across when it came to how Kevin treated them, especially with what they got just from that little talk there.
"Dang dude," Amethyst said, though personally she'd knock his teeth out if he was still here.
"I didn't know that. Sorry. But look, that guy? That's what he wants. Don't give him the satisfaction by thinking about him," Greg advised. For anyone with an ego the size of Canterlot's castle, that would be one way to at least slow him down.
"Thanks Mr. Universe."
.......
That didn't mean they did stop. That was ALL Steven and Connie really could think about after that, namely how much of a jerk Kevin was to Stevonnie. The ego, the remarks, all that pushing just to make Stevonnie dance with him, it just left them with a hate-filled headache more than anything. After that, Amethyst, Steven and Connie went off to the beach to try and get their minds off the situation, though it didn't work too well for two thirds of the party. Steven and Connie just laid in the sand, drying off on a towel, Steven just staring up off into the clouds with a more than annoyed look on his face, Connie feeling more withdrawn about it than Steven was. Amethyst was drying off herself, but was distracted with catching a fish with her bare hands (or bear hands in this case).
"Come here fishy, come to Amethyst," Amethyst said, trying to catch a fish in the water. Soon, she grabbed the scamp, but even with bear claws, the fish wriggled free and slapped her in the face before getting away from her. Amethyst took a look back to the other two.
"Come on, why don't you try it?!" Amethyst called.
"We're good," called back Connie. All Steven did was sigh roughly, not wanting to say anything. Amethyst had about enough of this, and went back to shore, shaking off the water from her hair.
"You still stuck about Kevin?" Amethyst asked.
"Yes." Steven stated. Amethyst just wasn't used to this darker side of Steven.
"We both are."
"You, Connie? You're not showing it though," Steven pointed out, deciding to talk and sit up too.
"That doesn't mean I'm not thinking mad, Steven. While he was there, I felt like I really wanted to say something to him. Something to get through his head, to make him think like we're thinking, you know?" Connie explained. Steven knew exactly what she meant. Too bad they didn't know what to do ...
"Geesh, what did this Kevin guy do to get you so mad anyway? Yeah, he's a punk, but still," Amethyst wondered. This time it was Steven's turn to talk.
"Because we were Stevonnie during that whole party, trying to have a good time, and he kept on asking us to dance, WAY after we said no. He only cared about what he looked like on the dancefloor, and not a thing about us. ... Two angels in a group of garbage people," Steven explained, blood boiling on even remembering that particular line at all, let alone everything else. Amethyst just got more upset about it herself.
"You're kidding."
"No we're not."
"Seriously?! No one makes a fool out of my friends and gets away with it!" Amethyst said, rolling up her sleeves as if ready for a fight. Connie, more subtle, jumped in the way.
"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, we're not taking it that far! You're just making things worse," Connie quickly insisted. A brawl will not fix what anger they had on him, and Amethyst quickly saw what she was talking about.
"Well, what do we do then? You're not gonna let him get away with this, are ya?"
*wooosh!*
Before they could decide what, a yellow blur suddenly zoomed by them for a quick moment, enough to kick up dust and sand, though not as much as Kevin's car. The thing then came back around and skidded to a stop by them, revealing to be Fulgurite.
"Hey, sport. Nice fall day, isn't it? Gets the blood pumping during a good jog," Fulgurite said, running in place like a particular blue hedgehog.
"That was a jog? You looked ready to break the sound barrier," Connie questioned.
"O, I wish."
"It was a nice day." groaned Steven.
"WHOA, what's up with you, dude? Sleep wrong?"
"No. This human punk Kevin messed around with those two earlier today, he called him a twerp out of the blue and just drove off!" Amethyst said, now as angry at him as they were.
"So he gave him a little insult, how's that enough for Steven's anger?" Fulgurite asked, not exactly getting it.
"He messed with Stevonnie, that's what! We said no, but he kept pushing and pushing, he didn't care at all," Amethyst revealed, working off what Steven had said. That info got Fulgurite up to point, looking surprised.
"Yikes. Well, don't tell Garnet that, she'll be all over this Kevin dude faster than me," Fulgurite said, shivering at the very idea (real or not, doesn't matter).
"We're not, but ... Oh, I wish we could win that race he's going in, and rub that first prize ribbon in his smug face," Steven said. Satisfying as that was, that seemed to spark a lightbulb in Fulgurite's head, a literally spark flying out of her hair.
"Race? OH, the Autumn Country Drive you mean?"
"The what-now?" Connie asked. Fulgurite's hair then pulled out a flier from her pocket, and presented it to Steven, Amethyst, and Connie. The flier was a bit simple, showing two race cars on a country road at full speed, advertising the Autumn Country Drive, and the trophy for first prize. Now THAT was better than any blue ribbon, for sure.
"The Autumn Country Drive: apparently it's one of the Human customs around here. It's gonna start tonight, starting from just out of town all the way to Bayburgh. All the teens in town are showing up there, and so am I. Why not give that a try?" Fulgurite suggested. At first, it did sounded like a good idea, but Connie still saw the facts in front of them.
"But we're just kids, we can't drive. It's against the law," sighed Connie.
"Why don't you rebel. Isn't that, like, our thing?" Fulgurite asked, scratching her head. She didn't see no problem with it, but then again, she was still a Gem herself, so, not all customs were prone to her.
"Even if we could, we don't even have a car," Connie pointed out again.
"Uh, Hello?! Mechanic right here, and we still got Peridot and Pearl on retainer! We whipped up a super-high-tech-spaceship in just two months when it takes regular humans, what, years? We can whip you up a car in half an hour tops," Fulgurite pointed out.
"Yeah, you two are all set. Come on, you can show up that Kevin," Amethyst said, confident in them that they could do so. Well, that was half of the problem handled, but there was still the main factor of age rules in driving. Neither of them were old enough to drive yet ...
"... We weren't kids when we met Kevin," Steven said, smirking a knowing smirk. Connie was quick to catch on to the idea.
"I smell what you're stepping in."
"Eww."
"What?" Fulgurite asked.
"Oh nevermind that, get that car ready. We got a race to compete!" Amethyst instructed.
"Aye-aye gang. See you at the race!" Fulgurite said, bolting off out of sight to get thing started. THEY WERE GONNA MAKE THIS HAPPEN!
.......
Not too long, and Fulgurite was starting work on the car. The place of work was just outside the temple, using whatever mechanical parts they had on hand to work this out. They'd work at the barn if Lapis wasn't still stuck there in her ice cocoon. Fulgurite got a 101 guide to car building with her, and she even got Peridot into lending a hand with the matter. They got an engine working with a few wheels attached to it after ten minutes when Garnet and Bismuth took a look to them from the Beach House.
"Want to ask?" Garnet asked.
"Well if you don't, I'll spend all day wondering what this is about," Bismuth replied. So, Garnet and Bisnmuth both took a walk outside.
"Hey Garnet, Bismuth. How goes the search?" Fulgurite asked, wiping some oil off her head.
"Good news: we found who stole Blue Diamond. The bad news: we don't know where he went. Good news no.2: we might have an idea where Jasper had went too as well," Bismuth explained.
"Well, two good and one bad. Decent," said Peridot, just when Fulgurite jump-started the motor, and Peridot getting a face full of car engine smoke. Peridot shook off the smoke, spitting a bit out.
"And what're you two doing?" Garnet questioned. Fulgurite got the advertisement out from her pocket, and tossed it over to Garnet and Bismuth.
"Stevonnie's gonna be competing in that race later on, and we gotta make a car for them. Think one of you can fetch us some metal plates?" Fulgurite said. However, Garnet stayed oddly quiet.
"Wait, who?" Bismuth asked.
"Steven's fusion with Connie."
"Oh yeah! Never got to see her yet. Sure, I think I got some spare metal at the Forge if you need it," Bismuth offered.
"Awesome, thanks," Fulgurite replied. Bismuth went off to fetch it, but Garnet was simply staring at the flier for a bit more, thinking more and more about the race altogether. ...
"... Oh my. ..."
~~~~~~
As time ticked by, it was close to sunset. And at the moment, close to the actual race to begin. As Fulgurite had said, the race started on the road going out of town, many of the racers already there with their respected cars and vehicles for the race in question. Call it a drag race, if you will, and with plenty of countryside for the racers to use and work with for their race to Bayburgh. For those involved itself, they were all up and ready to go for the drive. As for the exact identity of the racers: Jenny Pizza, Sour Cream, Buck Dewey, Fulgurite, and of course, Kevin. Not all of them were there naturally, but it was a pretty good chunk of racers for the event.
"So, you're all racing? This'll be good for my cooldown lap," Kevin mocked, much of the racers not feeling to well about it.
"Oh, HAHAHA, just wait until we cream ya," Jenny snapped.
"You think you can cream me, cheeseball?" Kevin stated. Not a good choice of words, though it could be the fact Jenny worked for a pizza shop. ... Maybe. ...
"WHAT?"
"You're up against this beautiful speed demon: tons of horses, streamline, with rocket boost engines. You really think you stand a chance with that pizza slice on wheels?" Kevin mocked. Jenny just scoffed, and got her car ready. Kevin felt confident about it more than everyone else taking part, and he just leaned against his car and waited for the race itself to begin.
"They don't stand a chance. No one does," Kevin told himself, looking over their cars and comparing it to his own.
Though, he didn't count for one car.
As they were getting ready, one more car drove up to the starting line, and this one was, for the lack of a better word, impressive. It wasn't an exact copy of Kevin's car, by any means, but it still stood out compared to the others and it came pretty close. A light blue, silver car, built in a manor similar to a race car in shape, almost like a hybrid between a race car and regular: rounded front with a streamline shape, the paint gleaning in the sunset light, and even a star symbol on the wheels (guess what that represented). If compared to any car, a Mclaren F1 would fit it the best. The car came to a halt nearby Kevin's car, and out stepped the driver: Stevonnie. And once more, Stevonnie with a brown autumn coat on, and accompanied by Fulgurite.
"Remember me?" Stevonnie asked. BOY did Kevin remember her. He got off of his car, the smug grin on his face like before, and he checked Stevonnie out. Fulgurite kept an eye on Kevin, and waited to see what'll happen next.
"Hey babe, long time no see. Where've you been out of my life?" Kevin cooed. Of course, Stevonnie wasn't having any of it.
"Keeping clear of you for starters," Stevonnie stated, already feeling a bit angry at him. Kevin took it in stride though, much to Stevonnie's annoyance.
"You try, but I know you couldn't resist."
"What're you talking about?"
"You got a taste of Kevin, and now you've grown obsessed. Don't worry, I have that effect on people." Stevonnie's blood started to boil up, but Kevin took it all in his stride again, keeping a smug grin and giving her a wink. Guess this wasn't the first time he'd been chased after by someone. Fulgurite basically had enough of this, and stood in the way of Kevin and Stevonnie.
"Ok, about time you shut that mouth of yours," Fulgurite said sternly.
"You want some Kevin too, don't you?" Kevin said, leaning in with his smug grin. But all that got was Fulgurite pushing him back.
"Keep that smug grin after I leave you in the dust in this race," Fulgurite remarked.
"You think your car stands a chance against mine?"
"I don't need a car to run you over, pal," Fulgurite snapped back. At first, Kevin paused, but then he started laughing at her.
"A foot race? Seriously? You're lucky to outrun a golf cart," Kevin mocked, though this was less smug and more disbelief in Fulgurite's abilities. That got Fulgurite fuming a little bit, but instead of making a comeback on him, she flicked his forehead to get him to stop, the flick of her finger making a static shock on his head. It was Fulgurite's turn to smile smugly at him then. Before their conversation could go any further, a whistle from Onion standing nearby signaled the start of the race.
"We'll see, chump. Come on, let's get ready," Fulgurite suggested, turning to Stevonnie and both walking to their car to get ready. Kevin rubbed his head where Fulgurite shocked him, but Kevin still didn't take any of em seriously. Far as he was concerned, he got this in his pocket, no trouble.
It took a minute or so, but all the racers here got their cars all ready to go. Tanks filled up, each car into gear, all determination ready to go. Though comparing the cars to Fulgurite standing there, whom was doing stretches, bets weren't put on her to say the least, yet Fulgurite felt pretty good about it. As for little Onion, he was up on one of those lifeguard seats, in view of the racers with a red and green sign post (one of which was a legit stop sign. Make that what you will). Onion put out his signs for the countdown, each one he spray-painted himself for the race in particular. Each racers was ready to start the second the signal would be made. For Stevonnie, she even had a particular advantage: a GPS system to keep her eye on the track. Can't hurt to find any shortcuts along the way if they so would come up.
"Good luck, Stevonnie," said Fulgurite, getting some goggles over her eyes.
"You too. Let's show him what's what," said Stevonnie. At least two people were working together (technically three) against Kevin in particular.
3
2
1
Onion then pulled out an air horn, and with one call, the racers then went off down the road. Well, all except for Fulgurite that is. With screeching wheels and the smell of engine, the cars rushed off ahead down the road, each one determined to do their best in this race. The only one to take a glance back through his rear-view mirror was Kevin, just to see Fulgurite standing there casually. Kevin smirked, as he moved in ahead of the pack, neck and neck with Stevonnie at this point. Back at the finish line, Fulgurite continued doing a few more stretches, confusing Onion up on his chair. Did she not hear the call? Onion gave a loud whistle to get her attention.
"Oh, time to go already? Eh, whatever, see ya."
And with that, she gave a little salute and then bolted off ahead with blinding speed, Onion not realizing she left until moments afterwards. The other racers were pretty far ahead at this point, Stevonnie and Kevin up in front of them, and keeping neck and neck. As they were side by side, Stevonnie and Kevin glanced to one another, one angry, the other smugly.
"You could let me win, babe. We can share the trophy together," Kevin offered, but Stevonnie wasn't going to give him the chance.
"As if I'd share with you!" Stevonnie shouted.
"Yeah, you're right. I'd win anyway," Kevin openly mocked, just to pull out ahead of her.
"Oh, I hate the way he talks," Stevonnie growled through gritted teeth, trying to catch up with him. Lucky for her, a more friendly sight started to run up alongside her, waving to her as she was running - Fulgurite. Stevonnie got her smile back, and actually allowed Fulgurite to go off ahead. As much as she wanted to get even, one little trick by Fulgurite would be enjoyable to watch.
Back with Kevin, the smug racer, seeing the other racers behind him, decided to enjoy his little joy ride with some good music, tuning the radio for a moment to get some good beats. As determined as the other racers were, he wasn't giving them too much time of day.
"Ah, there we go," Kevin decided, getting some good music for him to listen to. This little change of POV gave Fulgurite enough time to run right up to the passenger door. Kevin took a look around, only to find Fulgurite running alongside him.
"Wait. What the?"
"Hey, Kevin. What was it you were saying earlier?" Fulgurite asked, acting smugly herself. Kevin snapped back to focus.
"Okay, so you weren't joshing, you'll still be left in my dust," Kevin remarked.
"Oh yeah?" Suddenly Fulgurite decided to show off a little bit: speeding up, she actually started to do laps around Kevin's own car as her maximum speed! It wasn't as blinding, but seeing Fulgurite show off her speed to Kevin was a joy, especially when it made Kevin slow down. He's egotistical, but he wasn't gonna run someone over. Stevonnie couldn't help but laugh, and took the lead as Buck followed close behind her. Fulgurite went back to the race and zoomed off after the leader. A handicap, and Kevin got it.
"You think you can top me?" Kevin remarked, before flooring it and regaining speed.
And there was still a lot of the race to go.
~~~~~~
Speaking of the race, miles away over into Bayburgh, the town was preparing for the end of the race, with their own finish line just past the bordering welcome sign of the town. Some of the people were also sitting not too far away either, seats all set up for the finish of the race. Amongst those waiting for the racers to come back, Amethyst was one of those waiting. she was dropped off at the finish line by Fulgurite earlier, and since then she was basically chilling out and waiting for the racers to come along at the end. Amethyst was crossing her fingers for Stevonnie's victory, but even so she was still getting bored for the lack of ... well, anything to do. At least the others had food to eat, or a way to watch the race from some sort of iPhone or whatever. They all were pretty patient with the racers, and waiting to see who'd win in the end of it all. Even with all this, not everything was there just for the race.
Popping out from the nearby bleachers, one extra little visitor (who took all day to just get there by the by), examined the crowd, and it didn't take very much longer until she saw Amethyst sitting over by herself. A prime target for this slithery serpent.
"Ah, Amethyst. Long time no see."
Amethyst looked over back from her seat, and found Acid slithering up towards her. She hadn't seen her and cyanide since their monster search, and then they basically helped her gain confidence so seeing Acid didn't worry Amethyst all too much. Acid slithered right up to her, getting herself settled right next to the purple Gem.
"Oh, you again."
"See you're waiting for that Stevonnie to return, are you," hissed Acid.
"Of course, they're gonna cream the competition when they get here, and I'm gonna be right there holding the trophy with em," Amethyst said, though mostly she wanted to see Kevin's defeated face once it was all done. Acid though didn't look too happy about it, even looking sad at Amethyst.
"But why aren't you in that race? You should be with them instead of over here."
"I tried to join up ... but Connie said Smoky was too big for the car," amethyst said , slightly disappointed. Seemingly Acid was understanding the situation going on. Time to turn on the gears in her brain.
"So they'd rather have Stevonnie rather than Smoky? Dearie me, how calamitous."
"Well, yeah, Smoky's too big for the car."
"Oh, I'm not talking about the race, I'm talking about fusion. It sounds to me like Connie would rather have Steven fuse with her rather than you. Getting a bit clingy," Acid hissed, pretending to be concerned for amethyst. The purple Gem though wasn't exactly getting it.
"What're you talking about?"
"Amethyst, Steven and Connie had been a bit fusion-happy, haven't they? Smoky Quartz is a very strong, very talented fusion, and yet they'd much rather stay as Stevonnie rather than Smoky. how many more times did Stevonnie come in over Smoky, and save the day because of it? This is just me guessing, but it sounds like Connie doesn't like your fusion time with Steven."
NOW Amethyst was starting to understand what Acid was getting at, and all of a sudden she wasn't so excited about the race after all.
"You don't mean ..."
"It oughta be from what's been going on. Doesn't sound very fair either. I mean, you've been with Steven since birth, and here comes this other girl taking him away with little effort in this fusion game," Acid finished, planting the seed on Amethyst's head, and the problem. With that done, Acid then slithered away to leave Amethyst to her thoughts. Stevonnie had been showing up more than Smoky, and once more Steven seemed more willing to fuse with Connie ...
Could Acid be right?
~~~~~~
Back in the race, everything was still going all strong on their end: many of the racers still going through fairly fast through the countryside. At this point, the racers were actually pretty close to one another. The order was: Sour Cream, Jenny, Fulgurite, Kevin, Stevonnie, and Buck. It may have been nice to see Kevin get a handicap, but Kevin caught up to speed so they still have him to deal with. Stevonnie may not be up in front, but at least she was in front of Kevin, which was what mattered for now ... until he drove up beside her.
"I know you wanted to be close, but this is a little clingy," Kevin mocked, only making Stevonnie even more upset. All she did though was stick her tongue out at him in disgust, before Kevin shifted gears and zoomed ahead of her. Buck Dewey noticed him coming up, and managed to move off out of the way just before he could get driven off the road, Kevin happy to be up in the lead. She gritted her teeth on seeing Kevin almost cause a crash right in front of them!
"KEVIN," Stevonnie growled, just about ready to go off ahead to catch up with him. However, just before she could, something started to blink red on the dash. Next to the GPS system, the warning said that she was actually running out of gas after such a drive. Guess gas mileage wasn't the best thing for Stevonnie's car. Well, lucky for her (sort of), a street sign past showing a gas station, so Stevonnie needed a gas refill to continue this race. Seeing her exit, Stevonnie went out of the raceway, observed by Kevin naturally, and after a while she went right up the gas station for a refill. She got the car there and figured out the gas tank fill up, but Fulgurite was quick to find her.
"Stevonnie, what're you doing, the race is that way," Fulgurite said, pointing back to the raceway route.
"I can't keep racing without any gas, Fulgurite," Stevonnie noted, though she knew it'll take forever to catch up to the racers, who by the looks of it had plenty more gas mileage than her new car was and only made her even more annoyed. How was she gonna show up Kevin if she couldn't catch up?
"Sorry, still new when it comes to this human-mechanics," Fulgurite replied. Eventually, their tank was filled up, but when Fulgurite and Stevonnie looked to the price when they were finished, and Stevonnie ... kinda didn't have much money.
"... You didn't bring any cash, did you?" Stevonnie asked humbly.
"Why would I bring money for a race I'm in?" Fulgurite asked, almost immediately as well. Stevonnie felt on the spot now: rough enough driving at all, but now she didn't bring any cash for payment. If she just drove off, then that would basically be stealing, and they were lucky to not be pull over by any cops as is.
"Oh no, now what do I do? Drain my car of gas?" Stevonnie wondered. If she couldn't pay for it, then what was she supposed to do? ...
"Stevonnie!"
Stevonnie and Fulgurite paused for a moment on the voice, it pretty distant and a bit urgent by the tone, even from so far away. Eventually though, both of them looked off away from the gas station, and something was actually rushing right towards them. At first, they couldn't entirely figure out what, but eventually a familiar form finally made itself clearer once it caught up with them. She skidded to a stop when she finally caught up, not as easily as Fulgurite would, but still pretty good altogether.
"Garnet! Never told me you were a speedster," Fulgurite noted once she showed up.
"Stevonnie. Good I found you," Garnet said.
"Did your future vision sent you? ... preferably with some money?" Stevonnie asked, slightly embarrassed.
"Yes," Garnet said, giving Stevonnie the right amount of money. Seemed pretty mundane enough for a mad dash.
"Sweet!"
"You're welcome, but that's not the only thing," Garnet made clear, as Stevonnie made the payment.
"What's up, chief?" Fulgurite asked.
"We need to get ahead of the other racers for a start," Garnet began.
"Well duh, that's the whole point of a race!"
"No, not what I meant," Garnet said, going to the car and looking to the GPS system. So far it had been guiding them down the road to Bayburgh, but since Stevonnie had to pull off track, it rerouted her back onto the main road. Better still, it seemed to be a shortcut right to Bayburgh at the rate they were going. Stevonnie returned not too long after, Garnet getting out of the car.
"K, gotta catch up," Stevonnie said, getting into the driver's seat and checking the GPS for the finish line.
"Stevonnie, I'm coming with you," Garnet suddenly said.
"What, why?"
"I'll explain on the way, now go," Garnet instructed, getting inside the car in the passenger seat. With the tank filled up, Stevonnie did just that and started to zoom off on her way, tires screeching, Fulgurite quickly following in toe. Stevonnie wasn't too sure what Garnet was exactly seeing, but if Garnet insisted to head off this way, it was worth listening to.
~~~~~~
Farther ahead of them, or at least farther down the road, the other racers were making good speed down the road, Kevin of course up at front. The cool kids were trying their hardest to keep up with him, but it was a lot easier said than done, especially with comparing the average speeds of each car present. With Stevonnie and Fulgurite basically gone, it was down to four racers, and as far as Kevin was concerned, it was a guarantee he would win, no doubt. Looking back in his mirror, he felt a swell of joy seeing them desperately trying to catch up one way or another. The closest to him at this point was Buck Dewey, whom Kevin was keeping a close eye on.
"Feeling a little desperate about the race, eh Buck?" Kevin remarked.
"You do know karma will get you one of these days, Kevin," Buck warned, though he wasn't as angry at his remarks as the others were.
"Karma's as far behind me as the rest of you. Just watch," Kevin remarked back. He then started to work a few buttons in his car and shifted a few gears, and soon another little addition to his car was revealed: jet booster engines. Not in the same vain as the Galactic Ray or a spaceship, but it still launched him further ahead of the rest, Kevin laughing as the engines roared and left buck Dewey off in the dust. Buck was only mildly peeved, but that was less about Kevin's remarks, and more on his ignorance.
As they continued going though, Buck took a look around at the scenery. At this point in the race, the countryside turned into a more hilly area, some hills more like rocky outcrops than hills. This was nice for scenery appearance in this race, but Kevin's roaring engine echoed around the area ... and something was listening up above the road. From Buck's view, he couldn't see any exact details, but, he could make out where it was looking at, namely the racers. Even more namely, Kevin.
"Karma's catching up with him," Buck commented. Buck slowed his speed a bit, and whatever was up there took off itself, heading straight for Kevin! For Kevin, he was a bit too busy with his speed and ego to even bother with any safety precautions. All he did see though was the racer slowing down.
"Giving up? I'm just too good -"
*KRAAAAA* *KRAAAAA*
Then it hit: the creature suddenly grabbed his car by the top, and tried to pull him over. Kevin tried to keep himself in the race, but the power of this thing was stronger than he anticipated. Sour Cream and Jenny saw the creature, and were trying to skid to a stop. As for Kevin the interference ended up swinging him into a tail spin. Kevin tried to regain control of his own car, but the high speed and spinning forced him into the hillside, his car screeching to a stop. The whole race seemed to make a complete stop at this point, the racers bundled together in a jam (excluding Buck that is). Kevin immediately got out to check his car, just to find the top scratched and punctured.
"My car!"
Enter the opposition, and enter it did with a loud thud on top of Kevin's car. Now closer and into the moonlight, Kevin, Sour Cream, Jenny, and Buck all witnessed the creature now confronting them. It stood tall enough to look them all in the eye, a large set of leathery wings on the forelimbs much like a pterodactyl. In fact, most of it looked like said creature: four legs, stubby tail, a leathery skinned body, a large beak and a set of large, black eyes, looking especially alien. A horn-like projection jutted out between the eyes, aimed directly at Kevin in particular. However, its focus was spent on Kevin's car, pecking and slashing at it much to Kevin's dismay. After it was done, it hopped off of it and then confronted the humans. Kevin honestly didn't know what to say: Fulgurite's speed was nothing compared to this thing.
"What the heck is that?!" cried Jenny. It was then buck walked right up to Kevin, hand on his shoulder, just sighing and shaking his head. Honestly, he didn't need any extra words for this.
"It was just a coincidence, man," Kevin groaned. Course, he wouldn't admit it himself due to his own pride (obviously). It was then that the alien pterosaur started to walk towards them, less angry and more curious over them. The first one it checked out was Buck and Kevin, giving a few sniffs. It then reared back on its hind legs, and opened its wings, head aimed skyward as intimidation. Course, none of them even knew what it was actually doing. It then started to give a few calls to the heavens, the cawing sounding like a seagull or pelican.
"Kevin, back up slowly," Buck warned, but instead of listening, Kevin went for his car. Unfortunately, the creature wasn't going to give him the change, and its beak darted for him. Lucky for Buck, it only grabbed his scarf, but Kevin wasn't going to stick around, so he started the car again, and actually zoomed away with a screeching roar. The creature was startled by the noise and gave a loud caw of its own, the extension on its head actually lighting up a bit. The cool kids couldn't doo much of anything, and the creature actually blasted a laser from its head, exploding one of Kevin's tires!
"He never listens," sighed Buck.
The explosion of the tires, and sound of the beam was overheard by other racers: Stevonnie, Garnet, and Fulgurite. They were a bit ahead, no doubt, but they did manage to catch up to the scene after a good while, seeing the creature themselves.
"It found them already," Garnet groaned.
"No sweat, I got this," Fulgurite said, readying her cleats in her shoes, and then charging off at the animal. It didn't take long for it to see her, but before Fulgurite could grab hold, the creature took off flying with a strong launch from its forelimbs off the ground, and a secondary flap of its wings. Not entirely what she had in mind, but it did give the drives some leeway to pass.
"Come on, let's get moving," Fulgurite said. The kids didn't need too much encouragement to get back in their cars, and start to drive off. Kevin had no car to use though, so Fulgurite had to grab him and move before the creature could grab them both. The animal readied to follow, but another sound of screeching tires from Stevonnie's car caught its attention, and it went after them instead.
"That the thing you were talking about, Garnet," Stevonnie noted.
"Yes. Just keep it from getting the others until we leave the area," Garnet instructed. Stevonnie nodded her head, and then floored it.
It took little time for Stevonnie to get back in their little race, but only now the creature flying off after them. They all knew better than to stop for this thing, and it actually was keeping up with them after a while. Stevonnie could easily see the creature in her rear-view mirror, its wings in a glide and homing in on them. She also could see Fulgurite, carrying Kevin above her head as she went to Stevonnie's car, side by side. Garnet opened up the back seat as they were driving.
"Don't you even -" before Kevin could say, Fulgurite actually threw him into the car! And just in time, as another beam was blasted right as her, Fulgurite missing it by a foot. Kevin needed to recooperate a little bit from the throw, as Garnet closed the door.
"You people are crazy," Kevin noted.
"You're welcome. Stevonnie, keep it steady," Garnet instructed, just for Garnet to punch a sunroof for their car! That just freaked Kevin out more, Garnet standing up and facing backwards to the flying creature. Garnet then got out her glove weaponry, and aimed both fists at the creature flying at them. The other cars were keeping close to them to be sure, and Garnet gave the beast her own can of wallop: both gloves rocketed off her arms like missiles, and each one made a good hit on the creature! It was just enough to slow it down, and after dealing with those hits, the giant flier then turned back and flew away. Just like that. Garnet just sighed in relief, and sat back down in the car, though her hands were currently missing.
"... I'm not gonna ask," Kevin stated, which was probably a good thing, and her hands soon ended up reformed back on her, good as new.
"Glad that's over. ... And hey, look ahead!"
And there it was: the finish line for the race! Everyone there was eagerly waiting for them, and now with Kevin out of the way all and all, Stevonnie was more than eager to finish things up here. All the racers kicked it into gear and went right for the finish line.
So close
.......
A flash of a nearby camera got them all pass the finish line, the race a pretty close one too. All cars finally slowed down to a halt, all waiting to see what the end result was for their endeavor. Stevonnie wasted no time in jumping out of the car and head to the cameraman to see the results, and that went for the other racers too. The picture showed a rather close shot with many of them, but who won in the end of it all? ...
"WOO! I WON!" Fulgurite beamed, fist of victory in the air at the revelation. The cars were close, but a good stretch by Fulgurite gave her the win in the end of it, literally by a head. One of the staff for the race gave Fulgurite the trophy, which she was more than happy to receive.
"Congrats, Fulgurite. And thank you for the help, Stevonnie," Garnet said, smiling to Stevonnie.
"Well, I didn't do too much, but you're welcome. And we beat Kevin, so, personal win," Stevonnie said with a smile. Speaking of which, Kevin was out of their car and not looking very pleased with them. Stevonnie soon spotted him.
"You okay, Kevin?" Stevonnie asked.
"Get away from me. Go and hang out with your group of freaks, girl," Kevin spat.
"You could at least thank her for saving your life, man!" Fulgurite snapped, hearing his freak remark.
"And cost me my car, and my trophy!" Kevin retorted. Fulgurite was fuming.
"WHAT?! Why you -"
"Easy you two. I'm sure he'll have plenty to explain to his parents later, not to mention the bill it'll cost," Garnet brought up, Kevin seeing the realization of the situation. Not only did he lose the race, but a good amount of cash too to pay for damages. Boy did karma grab him in the butt after everything.
"Man," sighed Kevin. After that, they all looked over at the trophy Fulgurite one, it glistening in the moonlight. The Cool Kids were happy for their victory, and basically for saving them from the creature.
As they were celebrating though, Amethyst stood farther away and watched everything going on, seeing many of them seemingly happy for Stevonnie. How Garnet got there didn't seem to matter in her head, but when seeing this, the weight of the situation seemingly confirmed what Acid said before. ...
Connie had Steven away from her. ...
And they were enjoying it.