Sonic Gem EP6: Swimming Buddy

Swimming Buddy is the sixth episode of season one of Sonic Gem.
==Plot==
The day looked absolutely beautiful.
The Crystal-clear waters of the sea gently brushing against the soft white sands of the tropical seaside. A warm, yet comforting gentle breeze gracing through the leaves of the palm trees, flickering through the shade for just that perfect amount of heat and cool. A woman, tan in skin and dressed in the cutest bikini for the summer, was enjoying the best time of the day, a cooling lemonade in her glass with sunglasses to make this trip all the more perfect to lounge about in. It was, indeed, the perfect summer moment.
... At least on Amy's postcard.
"Ohh," she sighed, holding the postcard up to her chest "Why can't we go visit such a nice beach?"
She didn't get any answer, though then again she was mainly talking to herself. If they were going to be stuck in this world for a while, at least they could have something fun to go and visit. Amy went over to the Beach House window, pondering this thought as she looked to the beach. Not that there was anything WRONG with Beach City's beach but ... well, as Amy held the postcard up to compare, it was lacking to say the least.
"Not even a single palm tree. You'd think that being at the beach there'd be at least one somewhere," Amy noted. She saw the sand and surf, but being so close to town just broke the effect for her. A tropical paradise just didn't feel right with a town sitting right next to it, especially one with a dock just a mile or two away. The pink Hedgehog just rested her elbows on the window sill, staring off to the outside world. Her thoughts kept her occupied for a little bit longer, her eyes either looking outside or back at the picture, until her ears picked up the sounds of the Warp Pad behind her.
With her latest gemstone catch in hand, Garnet stepped off of the Warp Pad and into the room. Whatever she got this from this time, it seemed like a pretty rough fight: her body cut and battered with water all over her. Even with that, she got the gleaning gemstone in hand, and got it bubbled up in no time at all.
"Hello, Amy."
"Oh. Hey, Garnet. How's the monster hunting going?" Amy asked, not sounding as thrilled about it though. Garnet took a moment to give a quick flex, all of the water immediately getting off of her as she did so.
"Good more or less. Retrieved a gemstone from the nearby coast," Garnet replied. With a tap of her finger, the bubble disappeared to who knows where. Amy looked back outside.
"Well, at least YOU got somewhere to go. Everyone else is so busy, and I'm just ... well, got nothing to do right now!" Amy said in annoyance. Garnet sat down by the saddened Mobian, though she did catch sight of the postcard she had with her.
"Sounds like you're trying to make plans," Garnet noted. Amy looked back to the postcard, but all she did was tossed it aside, it landing on the table.
"TRYING being the main word," Amy explained, only then giving attention to the actual postcard. "I saw this place in the mail this morning, and it looks SO beautiful over there! ... N-Not that there's anything wrong with your own beach, but still."
"No offense taken," Garnet replied.
"But nobody's even here: My sweetheart Sonic's off on another run, Tails is busy tinkering with that screen of his, Steven went to town with his dad for the day, and I don't even KNOW where Amethyst and Pearl are! I know you guys said we should just stay in town but can't we just go see this one spot?"
Garnet was given the postcard by that point, and she gave it some looking over. It didn't say anything on it, but she was checking it out as if reading a letter.
"Can't you just imagine it?" Amy continued, laying her back on Garnet's side as her imagination began to wander, "Spending a nice sunny day in the tropics, feeling that warm sun and cool water as you enjoy the day with the one you love? Oh, it's so romantic! I wish we could go there. ..."
Amy took a moment to dream up that fantasy with you-know-who, as Garnet was working out some of her thinking herself. The leading Crystal Gem eventually stood back up, Amy laying back again once her back support was gone, still daydreaming of her beach fantasy. Garnet spent another quiet minute thinking. Contemplating.
... First thing Garnet did was give back the postcard to Amy.
"Sorry. Another time," Garnet simply answered. That didn't make Amy feel any better as Garnet began making her way back to the warp pad. She may have gotten one gemstone, but her work wasn't done just yet. Suddenly, Amy got up.
"Now wait a minute: I don't know how much you do, but I do know I haven't seen any of you take at least ONE break. Aren't you even a little tired?"
"Gems don't get tired like you do," Garnet said, "This is nothing new for any of us. Or your friends apparently ... besides, that beach's closed. See you later."
With that stated, Garnet teleported away, leaving Amy by herself again with her postcard. That last part got Amy to better check the actual postcard of hers, comparing it to the actual beach they got here. She looked the postcard up and down for something, but nothing confirmed or denied Garnet's claim anyway. Was there anything wrong with going to a tropical seaside shore ...?
.......
Well, there was only one way to find out.
A few more hours went by since then, and it was only around sunset that the others began coming back to the beach house. Even if they all had their own thing to do, they still got back to the house pretty close to the same time. The first one to get his work done and start his way back was Tails, holding his personal handheld computer with a smile on his face. His tinkering with the portable screen made him feel pretty good all and all, the two-tailed fox whistling a good tune. Before going inside, Tails held up the portable computer as if taking a picture, and simply gave a smile to it and pressed a single button.
*bzzzzzz* "Welcome: Miles Prower"
"Sweet! Looks like the face recognition scanner's working well," Tails said to himself, his computer seemingly agreeing by turning on for him, showing a smiling face on said screen before showing the homescreen. Tails' hand reached for the door, but before he could open it, he suddenly felt a gust of wind behind him, strong enough to blow back his fur. Turning around, and there was Sonic, chilling out right behind him with a water bottle in hand, and a athlete towel tossed over his shoulder.
"Hey, Tails, what's up?" Sonic asked before taking a gulp of water.
"Oh, nothing, just finished my own face scanner prototype."
"Can't you just keep a password on that thing?" Sonic said. Tails scoffed a bit on it.
"No, it's not for passwords, it's just a little extra feature," Tails remarked, "Though that may not be a bad idea ..."
"Well, you do you buddy. Just got back from a run across the state myself. By the way, gotcha something," Sonic replied, tossing a little souvenir he fetched on his way back to the beach house. It wasn't anything too fancy: just a rubber band ball with a Dakota pin on it, but it was something worth while regardless.
"Couldn't resist checking out some of the sights?"
"Hey, we're in a whole new world, we might as well check the place out. Besides, it's not like we got a way to get back right now anyway," Sonic explained. Fair call there. Sonic finished off the water bottle and tossed it behind his shoulder to where he thought a garbage bin would be waiting to catch it. Instead though, he heard someone catch it from mid air ... and gobbling it up.
"Amethyst, can't you refrain from eating ONE thing?"
"A snack's a snack, P, deal with it," Amethyst shrugged, burping afterwards. The fox and hedgehog saw the two Gems coming in from town, Pearl holding another type of Gem with her, within a bubble as well while Amethyst had a bunch of donuts she got on the way home. Steven, as it turned out, wasn't that far behind them, though he went ahead of them to see Sonic and Tails.
"Hi guys!" Steven called, waving to them as he got up the front stairs.
"I thought you went to your dad for the day, Steven. Change your mind or something?" Sonic asked.
"No: Amethyst and Pearl just fought the monster at the car wash," Steven answered.
"Which we shouldn't HAVE to do. We'll apologize to Greg later, but for now we need to get this put away," added Pearl, though not thrilled about the fight as much. At least it didn't seem like anybody got hurt in the scuffle beyond just the two, so they didn't push into it much further.
Sonic took a second to see what gemstone they got in their bubble.
"... Ok, it's not her." Sonic thought.
Now they were all there, only then did they start their way inside, Steven being the first to open the door.
It took them less than five seconds to see that things were ... well, they looked WAY different than when they left the house. Amy Rose was sitting on Steven's couch, but instead of looking boredly at postcards, she had an entire set in front of her: a couple of beach towels, sunscreen, some drinks in a cooler, a beach umbrella, some swimsuits, and other things for the beach. As for Amy herself, she was already trying out some sunglasses, trying to figure out which one complimented her the most. The others stood there for a second, taking in what they were seeing.
"Uhh ... Amy?" Amethyst asked. Only then did Amy notice they were there, an ear perking up as she took off the sunglasses.
"Oh! Hey guys! Okay, be honest with me, do I go with the bright pink flower or the sky blue ring?" Amy asked, showing them two pairs of sunglasses.
"I'd say the pink flowers, but what's going on?" Steven wondered, looking at everything else. Amy figured someone would ask, because that very moment, she showed them all the postcard at the start.
"Isn't it obvious?" Amy said, "I'm gonna give you guys a little treat. Tomorrow ... we're going on a beach day trip!"
"... Why?" Pearl asked, confused. Amy's joy immediately dropped when she heard that question.
"What do you mean "why"? You're all working like crazy - why not go out and relax a bit? Steven, you can vouch for me, right?" Amy insisted. Steven was still caught by surprise about this whole trip at all, but as he checked out some of the fancy towels she brought, and the cool umbrella too, he began to smile excitedly.
"Yeah. Yeah, why don't we do that?" Steven asked. Just the thing Amy hoped to hear as Steven continued with saying "You both fought super hard, so why don't we deserve a reward?"
"Ehh, doesn't matter where - we got a beach right out the door," Amethyst said, thumb pointed behind her to the world outside. It also helped that the sunset along the coastline gave the beach a nice view too.
"That's not the same thing!" Amy protested, "THIS is a real tropical paradise, we can have so much fun there! Just think about it: basking in the warm sunshine -"
"- Swimming in the sea," added Steven.
"- Long, romantic walks on the beach -"
"- A few rounds of Volleyball!"
That last part did perk Amethyst up.
"Hold up: Volleyball you say?" Amethyst asked.
"Sure: just a big net and a few beach balls, and we can go for a few rounds in no time," Steven explained. While the idea seemed to win Amethyst over, the others weren't exactly as thrilled about it. With the exception of Tails, the rest of them started to walk off to do their own thing.
"No thanks. Good idea, but we don't need any vacations, Steven," Pearl insisted, walking right past them. NOW Amy was feeling insulted.
"Seriously?! I went out and got ALL this together just for you guys to say "no"?"
"... Yes?" Pearl replied.
"Hey, by the way, how'd you even get all this stuff?" Tails questioned. He'd been thinking about that for a good minute now, and he needed some answer for this. As for Amy, the question made her freeze up for a second.
"S-Sonic, what do you think? You're coming too, aren't ya?" Amy said, swiftly changing the subject. Unfortunately, Sonic didn't feel as thrilled with it either.
"If you are gonna go, then go ahead, but I'm just gonna stick around here."
"You too, Sonic?!" Amy groaned.
"Water's not my thing. Besides, I still got an entire country to look around in, and I'm only stopping by to get a drink before running out again," Sonic explained, just as he was fetching himself another water bottle for the road. Amy especially was disappointed with this news, going over to the couch and throwing herself onto it in a flop.
"Well, so much for that," Amy groaned. However, before Amy could sulk, Steven spoke up.
"Hold on, Amy, I will not let this go unfinished," Steven said confidently, "You're right: we all worked hard and we deserve a reward."
Steven only needed a short second, glancing at all the stuff that Amy got for this supposed trip, before speaking again.
"And I know just how to do it! ... Tomorrow!"
~~~~~~
Next morning couldn't have come quick enough for them, though even with their own plan in motion that didn't mean the whole would was stopping either. It'd been about an hour or two since the sun came up, and only now did Garnet re-emerge from the back door. The doors opened up with a hue of magical energy, as it always done for her, but rather than being greeted by Steven or, well, anybody, Garnet found the Beach House to be pretty empty. No Steven, no Sonic, nothing. Strangely enough, Garnet felt a bit uneasy when she saw this, looking around some more as she walked towards the front door only to find no one. The only thing new she found was a small note left on the table, folded up and waiting for someone to see it. The message was short yet to the point:
-I know you said you don't want to, but if you guys still wanna join us, we'll be outside of town. Just follow the south coast, and you'll run into us. Hope to see you guys!-
Followed by a drawn picture of Steven at the beach.
"Steven ..." Garnet felt mixed on seeing this message: on one half, she already told Amy NOT to go, which didn't make her feel all that good about it. ... On the other hand, she still tried not to crack a smile. Steven's drawing was adorable ...
"I-I got to get to them," Garnet told herself, putting the card up on the fridge before going off outside.
Garnet's speed made it fairly easy to rocket off out of town. Not Sonic speed by any means, but she was still quick enough to that people out on the boardwalk as she ran only saw a blur of her, with a gust of wind kicked up behind in her race along the shoreline. Sand kicked up off of her heels the moment she got off of the boardwalk.
At such a high, constant speed, Garnet only needed a few more minutes of racing along the beach before she began seeing some familiar faces further down the coast. They were hanging out just by the shoreline, Steven and Amethyst were playing out in the water in their own swimwear, while Amy Rose and Tails just hanged out over by the shoreline, Tails tinkering with his gadget still while Amy relaxed in her new bathing suit. Only Tails, with a twitch of his fox ear, realized she was coming just before Garnet stopped on a dime about two feet away.
"Oh hey, Garnet," Tails said with a small wave.
"Wait, Garnet's here?" Amy added, sitting up just to find the Gem standing there too. "Oh HI! Changed your mind, huh?"
"No. I came to get Steven and Amethyst. I saw the note," Garnet made clear, adjusting her visors. Amy couldn't believe it. With a huff, she was about to answer, but then they heard the splashing off nearby from Steven and Amethyst's playing. At the moment, Steven was just trying to keep up with Amethyst, the Gem a surprisingly strong swimmer and kicking up splashes like it's nobody's business.
"C'mon Ste-man, keep up with me!" Amethyst shouted with a snarky grin, legs kicking so quick she might as well be a speedboat.
"I would if you didn't splash so much!" Steven shouted, keeping his hands up in a feeble attempt to see. All this splashing about only stopped once the two reached the shoreline, Amethyst hitting hard on the sand, splashing the unflinching Garnet right in the face. Amethyst pulled her head out of the sand, just for Steven to jump onto her.
"Gotcha, Amethyst!" Steven said.
"Yeah you got me dude," Amethyst sighed.
"And I got you two," Garnet interrupted, picking them up from the sand. Tails and Amy simply watched them from there, making sure they didn't get splashed as Garnet shook them off of water and sand with a few swift rattles of her hands. A bit dizzy, but Steven and Amethyst were dried off pretty well anyway as they were set down.
"Alright, let's go," Garnet stated, turning to go.
"Go where?" Amethyst mumbled, her head still spinning a little bit, trying to shake off the dizziness.
"With me. We have a mission to do, and I need both of you with me," Garnet explained. Amy and Tails were taken quickly aback by this sudden news, though Steven did perk up more when hearing this idea. His last mission didn't really go so well, so a chance to regain himself would be VERY much appreciated. Not to mention that Garnet herself needed him, which made it even bigger.
"My own mission? ..." Steven eyes sparkled, but that spark quickly diminished when he realized what this meant. "Wait, but what about our beach holiday?"
"Yeah, we've been on, like, ten this week," Amethyst added.
"This is the eleventh, and that'll have to wait for another time. Let's go," Garnet stated, starting to walk back. Steven felt bummed out, giving a slight sigh before he started following Garnet back to the Beach House. They only got a few steps in before -
"Hold it, WAIT A MINUTE!" Amy Rose got right up and right over to the gem leader, not pleased in the slightest with this party crasher.
"Amy, I told you to not come out here," Garnet said.
"NO, you said for another time, you didn't say I couldn't come out here at all!" Amy snapped, hands on her hips, "That, and they wanted to come with me! You're just gonna tell them they can't be here?"
"Missions don't wait for anyone, Amy. You and Tails better go back to the beach house," Garnet stated firmly. Amy had to think of something, but then a question quickly popped up in her head. With her arms crossed, she looked right up to Garnet.
"Why do WE have to go back now? Steven and Amethyst, maybe, but Tails and I aren't going on any missions with you," Amy retorted.
Garnet paused. It was very short, but just long enough for Amy to catch her first.
"You didn't answer right away, you had to think about that first, didn't you?" she pointed out. Garnet was starting to get more and more impatient with her, but she was strangely quiet. As if she was backed into a corner thanks to this pink Hedgehog. Still, the Gem leader kept quiet, thinking hard on this ...
"Hello? Can you read me?" Amy questioned impatiently.
Garnet grunted.
"Don't worry about it. You'll finish your vacation at the house," Garnet said, almost robotically as if she was just reading a script or something. No that didn't make anything better, Amy ready with yet another rebuttal before Steven got in the way.
"Guys, please, don't fight anymore!" Steven said, hands up so no fists can be swung out.
"We're not fighting, Steven. But I need you all to come back with me," Garnet stated again. Steven felt a bit torn: a mission, or a vacation. Which sounded better? ...
"Wellllllll ... can we hang out here for another few minutes?" Steven meekly asked, shrugging and smiling best he could. Garnet was ready to just lay down the law, but then Steven began working some of his own tricks. It was a simple tactic, but one that proved very effective even against someone as mature and seemingly stoic as Garnet. ...
Steven's puppy dog eyes. Those cute, innocent, yet so sad eyes! Accompanied by a o so cute *hmmm?* ...
It was a battle of will now.
"....... grrrr ....... fine."
"YES! Now ... where was I ...?" As Garnet wiped off some nervous sweat from her brow, Steven wasted no more time and went right back to his game with Amethyst with a good ol tackle. It didn't take a second for her to shove Steven off, but Steven bolted right back into the water, laughing as he did.
"Ha! Wanna play that way huh?!" Amethyst said before racing off after him. Garnet still didn't feel very thrilled with the idea, but all she could do now was just sit down next to Tails, arms crossed and in a slight huff. Tails glanced over to the tall Gem, as if trying to read what expression he could see, but eventually he just got back to his homescreen. He didn't need to trigger Garnet much further than the others already did. That was, until ...
"It's just gonna get worse the longer we stay here."
"What'll get worse?" Tails asked, perking up. Garnet actually flinched a little bit hearing the fox's voice.
"Uhh, nothing. I didn't say anything," Garnet quickly stated. The Mobian wasn't all too convinced though, giving Garnet one of those "are ya sure?" looks.
"Ganet, Mobian or not I got some pretty good fox ears - I heard ya. What's wrong? You can say it," Tails encouraged, setting his mobile homescreen aside as he looked up to her. Garnet glanced over to Tails, and then back to Amethyst and Steven in the water, then over to Amy getting some more sun rays. Well, nothing she could do about it now.
Making sure the others were at least far enough away, Garnet signaled Tails with a wave of a finger to come a little closer to her. Curious, Tails scooted next to her, and then Garnet took the chance to whisper the trouble to him.
... Which made Tails feel a bit tense.
"Y-You sure?" Tails asked with a shiver. Garnet just nodded.
"Then why don't you just tell them THAT?" Tails asked, hand raised out and showing the others nearby. Garnet just shook her head.
"If I did, they'd only want to stay ... at least, one of them would."
"Amy?"
"Amy."
"Well, Amy's pretty strong-headed," Tails shrugged. All those times Amy would chase after Sonic before were more than proof enough of that. Garnet still didn't feel much better about it either way, even if she let it out to someone. Tails thought more about what she said, but as Garnet had little idea of how to handle this now, the Mobian Fox did begin to work the gears in his high IQ brain.
"... Would it be better if Sonic were here?" Tails pondered, looking back to his homscreen by his side. Garnet followed Tails' eyes to the device.
"I know for a fact Sonic doesn't have any devices for you to contact him with," Garnet said, although Tails began working the device anyway.
"Just give me a second, I'll get him over here," Tails explained.
Garnet just shrugged. They might as well try it. With the green light, Tails began working the screen of his with a few swipes of the fingers, and a few taps of the icons and buttons. Looking over, Garnet saw Tails starting up a screen that looked like a Sonic icon: silhouette of the Hedgehog's head on top of what looked like a speaker or a megaphone. All Tails then had to do was click on the screen for it to begin ringing out. Sure enough, after a few rings ...
"Sup, Tails?" said Sonic.
Garnet just ... blankly stared for a minute.
"I gave Sonic a portable call before he ran off this morning," Tails answered. "Hey, Sonic. How's your run?"
"Ehh, going fine over here buddy. Just checking out this desert: lots of wide open space, plenty of rocks, nearly barreled through a few cactuses, you know. How's the beach trip?"
"Actually, that's what I wanna call you about. We're doing fine here, but maybe you should stop by for a bit."
"Tails, I told you water's not for me remember?" Sonic reminded. Over the screen, Sonic then saw Garnet sitting there. "Oh, looks like Garnet's joining you guys too."
Garnet just stayed silent, looking back to the ocean without a single word. Tails meanwhile just chuckled nervously.
"Ehh, again, partly why I called you Sonic. So, uhh, you want me to tell him, Garnet, or do you -"
before Tails could finish, suddenly his homescreen was in Garnet's hands. Even if she had no clue how to work the thing, the Gem leader suddenly got to swiping the screen and typing away lightning fast: one second to change apps, three seconds to type her message, and half that second to give it back to Tails with a shove. Not even looking away once.
"... Ok then," Tails remarked, "Did you get it, Sonic?"
It took Sonic a second or two before a *bing* signaled them both that answer. "Hmm ... ah! Ok, now I'm interested. Hang tight, I'm on my way back!"
With that, the call was disconnected, and that was that. Sonic was on his way, and all they had to do was wait. Garnet looked over to Tails again, both her and the fox sharing glances again. Garnet just nodded her head on that confirmation, but this information did leave Tails' mind wandering again as they just sat there along the beach. Not even dabbling with his screen again got him to shake off that kind of feeling.
"So ... I'm not gonna ask HOW you know something's coming," Tails said, playing with his fingers as his tails swished behind him, "But ... can you tell me WHEN that something's coming?"
Garnet paused for a bit, and looked off towards the horizon again, though this time she took a second to adjust her shades. That would be a good detail to know, especially now. Tails waited with a bit of worry in his eyes, though he did check around here and there to see if anything was coming their way - some sort of clue beforehand. Nothing looked like it was dangerous though ...
At least, he thought so.
Garnet on the other hand did not share this thought: seconds after pausing, she suddenly sprung to her feet, with one of her hands clenching into a fist, with the added gem weapon summoning to form a signature gem glove gauntlet for good measure. The sight of that made Tails jump to his feet, and Amy catching sight of it too.
"Amethyst! Steven! Get out of the water!" Garnet shouted. Steven and Amethyst stopped for a moment, Steven on Amethyst's back as she spat out some seawater.
"What? Done already? It hasn't even been a minute!" Steven shouted from the surf.
"GET OUT, NOW!" Garnet bellowed, more frantic in her voice.
*KER-SPLASH!*
In a scream, Amethyst and Steven suddenly found themselves being launched right into the air by the very sea itself! The shallow waters exploded in a typhoon of waves, as if the two just set off a bomb under their feet. Garnet immediately went into action and charged into the raging waters, just narrowly catching the two before they could crash into the water again. Good save, but she needed the next second to turn and race back to the beach as the waters almost attacked them! The current under Garnet's feet pulled back HARD, almost making her trip over before she could get them all back to dry land.
"W-We're out." Steven muttered.
"Ok, who's the party crasher?!" Amethyst shouted to the water.
They didn't have to wait long to find out. Looking back out to the volatile waters, as the waves began to calm down, something began to walk in from the surf towards the sand. The exact figure wasn't visible at first, as if its own body was merged with the water itself as it made the transition. Once it made it to the actual beach though, they all got a good look at their attacker standing before them.
The entire body of this strange being, head to toe, was completely made up of not skin, but water! An entirely aquatic being with frog-like hands and feet. Its face lacked any details apart from a pair of emerald green eyes. At first this appeared like a completely Gem-based creature like the other gem monsters, but there was a detail that threw this out of the window. For one there wasn't any actual gemstone anywhere they could see, but also they noticed its visible, functioning brain within its transparent head, floating like it was in a jar.
Both gauntlet gloves were brought out this time as everyone else got on their feet, taken off guard by this creature. As for the being, it simply moved forward towards them, soaking the sand underneath its feet, as the water within it swirled and flowed.
"What is that thing?!" Amy and Steven asked. "Wait, you don't know?!"
Although nobody asked, that answered what world it came from (or lack thereof). The being moved in closer to them, a few echoing moans emitting from its presence. Although they all were startled by it, the being's sights were limited to only the two-tailed Fox, and the Crystal Gem leader. It almost didn't seem to care about the other three nearby at first, almost like it only now got a full picture of the opponents before it.
Tails took a step back, shivering a bit, "T-That ... that monster again."
"Again?" Steven asked. Tails gulped.
"I-It attacked me. It attacked me not long after I got here, b-but that was weeks ago. How'd it find us here?!" Tails questioned nervously. The beast in question locked its gaze at Tails in particular, bringing a watery arm upward as if pointing a gun towards the fox. Suddenly, without a warning, the water arm blasted out right at the fox, Tails only able to cover his head in fear. Lucky for him though, Garnet took a sidestep, and her gauntlets blocked off the blast with relative ease.
"Back off. It's me you're after," Garnet stated.
The beast's response: its water arm began to coil around Garnet's gauntlet hands in a mess of watery tendrils, quickly trapping Garnet in its clutches!
"Garnet!" the others screamed. The other arm quickly got a hold of Tails next, grabbing his entire body in a single flex of the wrist. Before anybody could get close, the creature recoiled its arms and yanked them close, Garnet and Tails eye-to-eye with it. Tails couldn't move an inch, and while Garnet's strength mad eit more difficult to escape, she wasn't handling it that much better than Tails was. The beast stared at the two, its gaze reading every fabric of their being ...
It shook its head ... and then it just tossed em aside like it was nothing.
Garnet landed on her feet, though Tails ended up stumbling on the sand before Garnet caught him by his own foot. As for the beast, only now did it turn its attention to the trio, who by now were armed and ready for who knows what. Anything that can just toss Garnet aside like that is a force to be taken seriously.
"Ok, so, Amy you have no context for this thing?" Amethyst asked, gripping her whip.
"Not a clue," Amy gulped. "AND, I'm assuming you guys don't?"
"Nope, never seen it before in my life," Amethyst answered, Steven shrugging too. The water beast kept moving closer, each step leaving behind a small pool of saltwater. Amethyst decided to go for broke and began cracking her whip at it, but all that did was go right through it in a single slice of the whip. It wasn't even phased, it just continued walking closer to them even after several more hits of the whip seemed to slice it into ribbons. Amethyst tried one more hit, but this time the beast grabbed her hand before she could make the full hit, leaving her stuck in place as Amy and Steven backed away, shivering. This creature took a moment to look over all three of them, not a sound being uttered beyond the sloshing of the water in its own body.
All the beast did, again, is shake its head.
*ZAP* just before Garnet snuck up on it and gave it a power-filled gauntlet shock to the back! That trick might've worked for Metal Sonic, but the beast, in spite of its spazzing out from the electricity remained standing. In fact, that damaged Amethyst more than the beast, Amethyst looking a bit singed from the shock.
"I got you, Amethyst," Tails said, pulling out the smoking Gem from the creature's now weakened grip.
"Sorry," Garnet said.
"Yeah, don't worry about it," Amethyst choked out, coughing a smoke cloud or two.
The beast groaned again, almost sounding impatient, and began looking around the beach once more. It didn't stop until its gaze slowly moved over along the shoreline. Straight towards the town. The first to catch this gaze was Amy.
"He's eyeing the house. He's gonna go for the house!" Amy gasped. Even with the early warning however, not even Garnet's lunge at it could grab it, the creature bolting along the water at blazing speed, making a beeline towards it.
"Stay here," Garnet stated, before rushing off herself.
For all her speed, Garnet couldn't just race across water, so she was stuck racing along the shoreline as her adversary remained out of her direct reach. She did try to make the chase slower with some gauntlet glove missiles being shot its way, but this creature didn't really care. The first two shots just barely missed it, leaving explosions of water and smoke on each side of it as it went. With full and intent concentration, her third blast rocketed through the air and only NOW did it finally make the direct hit she was hoping for.
All Garnet could see was the main blast of the gauntlet bomb, actually getting her to slow down to a more standard jog, keeping her gaze towards the waters. The monster was nowhere in sight ...
Typically, someone would end it there, but Garnet's brief moment quickly changed just moments after the blast.
Within the moving waves, Garnet could barely make out the shape of that same creature rocketing through the water. It didn't even look like it was swimming, but just moving apart of the water itself. Seeing this, Garnet began picking up the pace again, but even when racing at such high speed it wouldn't be enough to catch up to the creature as it broke ground right next to the house! The beast didn't break stride as it went for the house, not even a second as its' liquified body shot through the mesh of the front door.
Garnet gritted her teeth. She knew exactly what it was after.
She didn't break stride either, crashing right through the front door just to try and reach the creature, just in time to find this beast standing at the back door, trying to break into it.
"You! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" Garnet demanded, pointing directly at it.
The beast turned to face the Gem, but only for a brief moment. Its senses were telling it where the target was, and the only way to get to it was behind that door. It wasn't having any of Garnet's demands, not now. It went right back towards the door, trying to find a way to slip into it.
Time to bring the weaponry out: Garnet rushed forward, and actually managed to grab hold of the beast, throwing what she could away from the back door and towards the beach. Of course, the beast wasn't taken down so quickly, and it regained footing just before it could get out the door ... just in time to see Garnet's gauntlet fire at it.
"Get out."
Those two words was all it heard before it got blasted right out of the beach house and back onto the shore. The creature tumbled along the sand, parts of its watery body splashing off of it as it went until it basically landed as nothing more than a puddle. A strong hit to be sure, but as Garnet got back outside, it was already reforming itself from its own remains. It wasn't going to leave without its prize.
Garnet jumped down to the beach, gauntlets up and at the ready. The beast was also ready, its fists growing into the same gauntlet shape.
"It's still reformed, even AFTER I got its gemstone," Garnet thought, "but ... but I bubbled it, it shouldn't be able to come back on its own. ... Could it -"
Then came the punching. Garnet's fists were strong and durable, but the creature's fists extended like elastic with just as much power behind them. It was tough, but Garnet stood her ground firmly, each fist swinging with lightning speed without a single strike getting pass her. The first four punches were actually strong enough to make Garnet skid back, but when the creature readied for the fifth punch, Garnet made sure it didn't pass with an electric-charged hit. One strike, and the aquatic arm shattered into mist!
Not that it even bothered the being. It was just water, after all.
It only took it a short second to reform its own arm from said water, and both fists were up and ready to sweep Garnet off her -
*WHAM!*
Scratch that: the creature found itself side-swiped right in the head, sending it into the rock walls by the Beach house cliffside. Guess who decided to show up?
"Hey, you big drip," said a more-than-ready Sonic the Hedgehog, arms crossed, "Remember me?"
"Sonic!" Garnet gasped.
"Yeah, hey Garnet. Sorry for being a little late, but just in time for the finale," Sonic said, cracking his fist to pummel this thing. The creature got itself together, only to find both the Hedgehog and Gem ready for it.
"It's not a pushover, Sonic," Garnet warned, "It already survived my gauntlet explosions."
"Thanks for the update," Sonic remarked, though Garnet could tell he probably wasn't listening anyway.
The fight resumed, but this time it was Sonic who made the first strike at the creature, it narrowly dodging Sonic's spin attack into the rock wall. It tried to make its way back to the house, but Garnet wasn't having any of it and joined in the fray, forcing it back with some swift kicks dangerously close to its skull. Garnet's martial arts combined with Sonic's rapid fire strikes forced the creature back further and further, each landing some good hits and knocking water more and more before it could rebuilt itself.
It tried to catch them both, but these speedsters were moving just too quick for it to land any special punches or grabs, the closest it actually getting was a foot away from Garnet's head. The fight only halted for a bit after Sonic managed to give the beast a kick to the brain, stunning it in place for a bit.
"Okay, water boy, give up yet or do ya wanna keep going? I can go forever!" Sonic remarked smugly.
"And I literally can keep going forever," agreed Garnet.
The creature didn't respond so well this time. For all its tenacity, it wasn't stupid: fighting against the leader of the crystal Gems and the fastest Hedgehog in history at once just wasn't working.
"GUYS!"
"EVERYTHING OKAY?!"
That decided it.
"I said, stay there!" Garnet reminded.
"Come on, ya big drip! Where ya goin'?" Sonic remarked.
With a growing migraine from the hitting, and the others finally catching up with them all, this creature had to get away. Garnet tried to finish it off with a few good punches, but it kept agile enough to avoid a final blow to its sensitive brain. A few cowardly slithers later, and the creature disappeared into the ocean, out of sight. Sonic didn't go beyond the actual waterline, having to pull himself back almost from rushing into said water.
"Well that takes care of that," Sonic said, feeling pretty good about things. Garnet got her own gauntlet gloves put away as the others caught up with them, far too late to contribute to the fight but more than glad they didn't look that beat up.
"You guys okay?" Tails asked.
"Oh yeah, we're fine. Thanks for the call buddy, it made this day a lot less boring," Sonic replied. Then Garnet turned to them. Silent.
The silence gave them some shivers.
"Ok, ok, I KNOW you said to stay away, but -" Amy was silenced with a raise of Garnet's hand.
"You're all alright. That's all that's important. NOW, go inside," Garnet instructed, pointing back to the beach house. This time there wasn't any arguing - who wanted to stay out with a water monster sulking about? Too bad they didn't have a door anymore, what remained of it only now falling off the wall and onto the floor.
"So much for a beach day," sighed Amy.
"It's okay, Amy. Maybe tomorrow we can finish it up without any monsters fighting us?" Steven assured.
As everyone was going in though, there was only one Mobian who paused for a moment, and checked the ground around them. Along the sand, JUST far enough so it wouldn't touch the sea, remained a small bit of the creature's mass. Even with Garnet's instruction, Tails' science side just couldn't help itself, and he went right over to it, kneeling down for a closer look.
"Interesting. ..."
"Tails," Garnet stated.
"Coming, coming, just give me a second," Tails said. Even so, Garnet returned to the fox, and saw the remains left behind by their foe. The substance was only the size of Tails' finger tips, a bright hue of blue. Tails gave the mass a slight poke, the mass jiggling slight like a bit of jello and just as transluscent. Lucky for him it wasn't alive, but it still left him pondering about it.
"Your ... monster?" Tails asked. Garnet nodded and looked out to the sea.
"I'll keep looking for it. And ..."
"And ...?"
Garnet smiled. "... Good idea calling Sonic back."
With that, Garnet leaped high into the air, and landed far off into the sea. If she was gonna have any luck finding the creature again, she couldn't afford to wait. All that remained was Tails standing alone on the beach.
~~~~~~
"There we go, safe and secure." Tails concluded, the remaining substance now within a small capsule. nothing fancy or anything, it was just made up of some glasses and a metallic ring Tails got together that night to keep it airtight, but it was better than nothing.
"You sure it's a good idea keeping that around here, Tails?" Steven asked.
"It doesn't seem to be active at all. As long as we keep it in there, we should be fine. Besides, I've been meaning to study this being for some time now. This is the first time I actually got something," Tails explained. He then brought his device near the capsule, and then took a picture with it for some visual study. Amethyst shrugged.
"Well if it makes it easier to pummel it next time it shows up, be my guest," she remarked.
"Same here: I'm not in the mood to end up with ANOTHER unneeded bath," Sonic agreed, poking the capsule a bit. Tails made sure to keep the capsule with him soon after that.
"So what now?" Amethyst asked.
"You guys can do what you want, I'm gonna go study this some more," Tails decided.
As the others relaxed inside the house, Tails took the moment to step outside for a bit. The night was clear and pretty peaceful considering they were dealing with that water beast earlier, so Tails took the chance and found a nice seat just by the front porch. With the capsule in one hand, and the touchscreen with the other, he began making his studies on the strange substance. This opportunity won't pass by him. While sitting there though, as Tails was readying his touchscreen for some more direct details, something about the substance caught his attention.
The small substance within it was actually beginning to move. It wasn't by much, just a slight squirm towards the sea, but movement all the same. It didn't go too far though before it went dormant again, yet Tails, now much more excited, quickly got it typed down in his personal notes.
...
He wasn't the only one.
*click* *click*
Just on top of the roof, only the size of a fly, a robotic eye kept a close examination of everything going on. These images were precise, peculiar, and made sure each detail was not missed. As for the receiver on the other end of this miniature camera, the results were just to his liking. They only meant one thing.
"You have NO IDEA what you're playing with, Fox boy. NONE of you do. We'll just see how well ol' Chaos can be persuaded. OHOHOHOHOHOOOO!"
Category:Sonic Gem