❝UGH, COME ON──!" groaning out of annoyance, [y/n] sighed and made a mental note to herself to keep better track of her laundry as she stood up and placed her hands on her hips, her brows furrowed in deep thought.

"where is it?" she muttered.

the gem-hybrid then proceeded to click her tongue and shake her head, acting as if she were disappointed in herself as she said, "you're a mess, [y/n] . . ."

"hey, [y/n]?"

perking up, the said girl turned around with a curious hum to see pearl looking over the counter; a bubble that contained a small group of shards floating above one of her hands.

[y/n] rose a brow and crossed her arms over her chest. "you looking for something, pearl?" she asked, walking over to the pale gem in question.

"yes, actually," pearl confirmed with a nod. "have you seen a gem shard anywhere around here?" she asked. "it's very important."

[y/n] hummed, holding her chin in thought for but a mere second before giving a simple shake of her head. "nope, can't say that i have." she looked around and crossed her arms once again. "have you seen my hoodie? it's also very important," she told.

pearl looked as if she were holding back a sigh. "i'm serious, [y/n]," she said. "these shards have a powerful partial conciousness that has been harnessed by gems throughout history in order to create . . ."

damn, i haven't hung out with peedee in awhile, now that i think about it, [y/n] began to think to herself, easily blocking out pearl's words. maybe i can go pay him a visit after i find my hoodie? or maybe he actually knows where it is and i just forgot because i'm stupid like that.

". . . waned as the shards . . ."

oh, shit. [y/n] facepalmed despite the mask covering her features. fuck, i forgot pearl was here. damn it, what's been with me today? i'm usually so focused, and now . . .

[y/n] sighed. maybe peedee was right about how i can't rely on coffee for the rest of my life. damn. this kind of sucks.

". . . could be a monster!" pearl exclaimed, instantly making the girl before her return to reality. "that's why it's very, very important that it's kept away from any kind of garment."

( in the background, [y/n]'s hoodie ran from one side of the room to the other, via its sleeves. )

"uh . . ." nervously, [y/n] grinned and offered pearl a slow nod with a thumbs up. "o-of course, pearl! you're the boss!" she laughed.

pearl's expression morphed into an unimpressed one, and for a moment, [y/n] thought that her lies had been caught red handed until the pale gem started speaking up again.

"if you see it," she began, "bring it to me right away."

turning on her heels, pearl walked off towards the front of the beach house and opened the front door, saying, "i'm going to check in town!" before closing it and finally heading off.

". . . welp," [y/n] rubbed the back of her head, "that happened."

THUMP!

jumping at the sudden noise, [y/n] whirled around and released a joyous gasp at the very garment she had been looking for since the day had begun.

"there you are, my beloved!" the gem-hybrid cried out, walking over to pick up her fallen hoodie.

"man, i can't believe i didn't see you ealier─"

her words were brought to an abrupt halt when the hoodie in mention suddenly arose from where it had fallen, using its sleeves as if they were legs.

". . . huh." slowly, [y/n] straightened her posture and prepared herself to give chase. "i found pearl's shard, i guess."

and with that, the hoodie ran off, with [y/n] not hesitating to follow.

"come on, buddy! aren't we friends!"

comically, the hoodie began to sweat bullets at the teasing, yet also menacing, tone that laced [y/n]'s words.

"we go everywhere together, too, don't we?"

stopping for but a short second, [y/n] crouched down in a kneeling position before throwing herself forward and grabbing ahold of the [favorite color] garment that had attempted to escape. it flailed and flopped around beneath her weight, but it was no use, for what could but a mere hoodie do to remove a feral gremlin of fourteen years old?

"yeah, sorry, pal." picking the panicking hoodie up, [y/n] easily slipped it on over her head and over her arms before pulling out the very shard that had tried to hide away in her pockets. "the only one wearing this hoodie is me."

throwing the shard up into the air once and then catching it back into her grasp again, [y/n] hummed to herself and looked around until her masked eyes landed on a sock that sat on the couch. she smirked.

"ah, there we go!" [y/n] picked the sock up and quickly dropped the shard into it before tying up a knot at the top to prevent it from escaping. "that's much better," she chuckled.

"now, come on." walking over to her hotdog-shaped duffel bag, [y/n] placed the sock into it carefully before slinging it over her shoulder and slipping her rain boots on.

"i think it's about time that i got you to pearl."

•

•

•

"ayo, pearl! peeeeeaaarrl!" [y/n] sighed and threw her head back in frustration. "ugh, who am i kidding? she could literally be anywhere right now─"

the girl's words were brought to a quick halt when a certain boy─dressed up in a terrifyingly familiar costume─suddenly crashed into her, screaming:

"AHH, PLEASE HELP ME! AHH!!"

at the sound of none other than peedee's familiar voice, [y/n] gasped and looked up to see that the poor boy was struggling in scaring off the crowd of seagulls that had begun to surround him. or, more specifically, his costume.

"oh, shit!" [y/n] scrambled back up onto her feet and quickly went to join her bestfriend's side. "peeds!"

after managing to get close enough to the screaming blond, [y/n] grabbed ahold of the head of his costume and pulled it off before throwing it to the side, hoping that the seagulls would follow after it and leave her friend alone.

thankfully, they did.

"phew . . ." despite his heavy panting, peedee sighed with relief and moved his arm across his forehead to wipe away the sweat that had started to form.

"thanks, [y/n] . . ." the boy eventually muttered, sending his [hair color]-haired friend a look of gratitude.

[y/n] laughed, almost breathlessly, and gently patted peedee on his back. "no problem, big man. any time." the two shared a chuckle.

CREAK!

at the sound of a nearby door being opened, the duo's chuckling immediately came to an eventual stop as they both looked over to see peedee's father, mr. fryman, staring at his son from afar with a disappointed expression on his face.

"where's your face, frybo?" mr. fryman asked, his tone of voice sounding as upset as he looked. "being part of the fryman family means you gotta sell fries!" he told, acting as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.

peedee rolled his eyes in exasperation, and [y/n] gawked at mr. fryman as if he had just grown two heads.

did . . . did he not notice that his son was LITERALLY just getting assaulted by birds?! the girl wondered, clearly shocked.

taking notice of the two childrens reaction to his words, mr. fryman then proceeded to chuckle awkwardly before quickly adding:

"and . . . be my son. which you are!"

peedee merely sighed and looked away, his eyes holding a disheartened look to them; the look seemingly only noticed by no one other than [y/n], which stunned the girl even more.

"so, you're already halfway there," mr. fryman continued, taking a step back into his establishment. "keep at it, frybo!"

"i'm peedee!" peedee finally snapped. "pee─" his shoulders slumped when he saw that his father had already closed the door "─dee . . ."

a moment of silence passed, then; with seagulls passing by overhead and singing out their daily cry, and ocean waves washing up upon beach city's shore, [y/n] finally decided to speak up at last by simply stating in a voice that she could have only picked up from garnet:

"your dad's kind of a prick."

peedee sighed. "when i told him that i wanted to be part of the fryman family buisness, i didn't think it meant being stuck in a sweaty old costume," he muttered.

"tell your dad to put ronaldo in it, then," [y/n] chuckled in an attempt to lighten up the mood. "it'd actually be pretty funny to see him running around and screaming his head off about seagulls," she said.

peedee chuckled lightly at the thought, but that was all. [y/n] could only frown as she watched him slip the hat to his costume back on.

"remember when we were younger, [y/n]?" the blond boy wistfully asked with a hint of sorrow to add to his tone. "things used to be so much easier, back then. nothing to worry about except making myself dizzy on the old seahorse ride at funland . . ."

[y/n] opened her mouth to add something into their seemingly one-sided conversation, but peedee didn't even allow her to pop out a word when he sighed once again.

"honestly, i just wish that there was some way that this dumb costume could do its job without me in it . . ." he confessed.

[y/n] snapped her mouth shut almost immediately after those words left her friend's mouth, and she suddenly found herself gripping at the strap of her bag and slowly glancing down at it; her mind beginning to place the pieces of a plan together one by one.

. . . i . . . can always give it back to pearl later, right? besides . . .

glancing back up at her friend, [y/n] winced at the sight of his dejected form standing silently by itself; not even flinching once when the seagulls from before had returned to pick apart his suit once more.

he needs a break.

"hey, uh, peeds?"

the blond didn't even bother looking up when he responded to his bestfriend's voice. "huh?"

grinning as all of her concerns over her newest plan melted away, [y/n] pulled a sock holding a certain shard in it out of her bag and held it out for all to see.

"i think i may know how to make that dream of yours come true."

•

•

•

"uh, [y/n]?" peedee's voice sounded unsure.

"yeah?" the girl asked, untying the knot at the top of the sock before pulling the shard she had locked away inside of it out.

"are you, uh, sure this is safe? i mean, if pearl said─"

"oh, relax peeds!" [y/n] laughed and casually shooed the seagulls surrounding the frybo away. "everything will be fine. besides, you deserve a break, you know? i'm sure this old thing," she gestured to the costume at her feet, "can last for a couple of minutes without us here," she chuckled.

"i . . . guess you're right . . ." peedee hesitantly agreed, his nervous gaze never leaving the dirtied suit that currently sat on the floor. "but, still, i just think that maybe you should─"

"too late!" [y/n] dropped the small shard into the costume and stepped back to stand next to her bestfriend. "it's already been done!"

"ah!" out of fear for his life, peedee quickly jumped behind [y/n] in hopes of keeping himself from getting hurt, which in turn earned an amused laugh from the [skin tone]-skinned girl.

the suit began to rumble; its body shaking as the duo watching on stared at it in anticipation, waiting to see what it'd do with the gem shard it had recently acquired.

but then, it stopped. silence filled the air, with both [y/n] and peedee going tense at the costumes lack of . . . anything, really.

"is it . . . broken or something?" peedee asked, slowly peeking his head out from behind his companion.

[y/n] seemed to grow even more tense than before. "god, i hope not!" she cried out, rushing over to the costumes side and then sliding over to kneel down in front of it. "pearl'll kill me!"

carefully lifting her hands out over the frybo suit, [y/n] went to go pull the head off of it to check on the shard when the costume suddenly pulled itself together and began rolling away, much to both [y/n] and peedee's surprise.

"whoa . . ." peedee muttered, sounding amazed.

"heh . . . heh-HA!" [y/n] hopped up from the pavement of the boardwalk and lifted her pointer finger up into the air triumphantly. "it worked! just as i knew it would!" she told.

"what?" peedee sent his friend a cheeky smirk. "weren't just panicking over whether it was broken or not a couple of seconds ago?" he asked.

"eh . . ." [y/n] yawned and waved the boy's words off. "details, details . . ." she said.

rolling around the duo in the circle, the frybo costume stopped for a moment to turn in a different direction, before rolling out in front of the two children, who quickly noticed that it was in fact heading out towards the ocean.

"ah!" [y/n] cried out in panic, "stop!" she yelled.

and to her's and peedee's surprise, the costume did exactly that.

"huh," [y/n] blinked in surprise before grinning widely. "cool!"

"unbelievable . . ." giggling to himself, peedee cupped his hands around his mouth and then called out to the costume, "get up!"

like before, the costume listened to exactly what the children told it to do, and it rose up from the ground with the help of its hands.

"haha!" [y/n] and peedee shared a knowing look with one another before turning back over to the costume and yelling at the same time:

"do a little dance!"

of course, it was funny to the two friends until the costume somehow managed to sprout two legs from the bottom of it, the two limbs appearing to be made of . . .

"fries?" [y/n] questioned aloud, sounding perplexed.

CREAK!

as if on cue, the frybo costume began to spontaneously dance about in a silly manner as who else other than mr. fryman looked outside, the grin already painted upon his face brightening at his 'son's dancing.

"whoa! alright!"

cursing under her breath in a panic as peedee released a panicked cry as well, the gem-hybrid quickly stepped to the side to stand in front of her friend, who was quick to catch on and crouch down behind her to hide.

"well, it's about ti─i mean, good job, buddy!" mr. fryman complimented.

when his 'son' didn't respond and only continued to dance, mr. fryman chuckled.

"that's what i'm talking about, frybo," he stepped backwards and went to close the door, offering his 'son' a thumbs up before saying, "keep it up!" and leaving once more.

a pause.

but then, a squeal was heard, and suddenly peedee had his arms wrapped around [y/n]'s shoulders.

"i'm free!" the boy said, his eyes sparkling with joy as him and [y/n] began to laugh together.

"well, frybo, it looks like you've got the job!" [y/n] enthusiastically told, still chuckling after her's and peedee's laughter had died down.

"heck yeah they do!" peedee added in, jumping out from behind [y/n] to stand next to the animated costume and hold his hand out to it. "let's shake on it!" he said.

the costume, having taken the boy's words literally, proceeded to pick him up and shake him up and down, much to [y/n]'s amusement, for the girl had released a tea kettle-like wheeze at the sight.

"haha!" [y/n] laughed, "they've got jokes!"

"urgh!" peedee placed his hand against frybo's forehead and tried not to gag once the animated suit had finally stopped. "okay, no more shaking, please!" he chuckled nervously, "put me down!"

the costume did as told, as always, and peedee fell to the floor with a thump!

"ugh . . ." shaking his head, peedee placed a hand against his forehead and slowly stood back up onto his feet. "just . . ." he sent a wary glance frybo's way, "go make people eat fries."

with a nod, the costume merely turned around and ran off to go do just that.

"hah . . . hahaha!" peedee turned around and took [y/n]'s hand into his own, already leading the laughing girl down the boardwalk with excitement practically radiating off of him.

"let's go be kids!"

•

•

•

"you wanna ride this old thing? seriously?" [y/n] snickered.

"hey, it's a classic! don't you wanna ride the jellyfish again?" peedee asked, slipping a coin into the slot of his respective ride before mounting it.

"hm . . ." [y/n] pretended to think before shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head. "nah, i'm good."

peedee gave but a simple shrug of his shoulders as well. "your loss, i guess."

with the familiar music of funland's theme beginning to play, peedee lit up with excitement as his chosen ride─the seahorse─began to move about in a circular motion. in the beginning, peedee's expression upon the whole thing held nothing but pure joy, but eventually, the light in his eyes died out, and he sighed with disappointment once his ride finally came to a stop.

"this seahorse used to make me so happy," his saddened gaze averted to the ground, "now it's just giving me whiplash," he stated.

[y/n], at noticing her friend's upset state, felt her shoulders go tense as she began to search her mind for something to say that would─hopefully─cheer him up.

"uh . . . we can go check out some other rides, if you want?" she suggested, gesturing out towards all of the other rides outside.

peedee sighed─

( what is this, the hundredth time since this chapter began? )

─and shook his head. "no, thanks, [y/n]. i just . . . feel like there's no point to it anymore. you know what i mean?"

no response. peedee looked over to his friend since childhood, and all that he saw in return was that mask staring back at him; the small dots that [y/n] had painted on for eyes burning holes into his skin.

the blond boy shuttered and quickly looked away, still feeling unnerved by the sight of the mask despite the fact that [y/n] had been wearing it since the day they met.

"you'll understand when you have a job," he sighed.

"um─?" [y/n], from beneath her mask, gave her friend a perplexed look. "did you happen to somehow forget that i protect humanity from magical beings like monsters and stuff?" she questioned.

peedee groaned and ran his hands down his face, sounding both aggravated and tired at the same time.

"no, [y/n], i mean a real job─something that you get paid to do," he stated.

"well, excuse me, sir," [y/n] began, "i'll have you know that the grateful smiles that i gain from the cheerful people of this golly town is all of the payment i need," she said, mocking an innocent voice.

peedee chuckled, but it wasn't anything loud and lacked the happiness [y/n] was looking for. "i don't see anyone smiling," the boy responded, his tone of voice teasing.

"pfft!" [y/n] playfully shoved peedee's shoulder, "that's because we're the only ones out here!" she hollered, her voice echoing about the sky as to prove her point.

"hehe . . ." peedee shook his head and leaned back against the tail of the seahorse ride, staring out into the sky with a sort of want in his eye that [y/n] couldn't help but take notice of.

". . . the thing is, [y/n] . . . most people pick a job to buy a house or raise kids or to . . ." he paused, hesitating, ". . . impress your dad."

"well, don't pick a job for those reasons, then," [y/n] said, as if it were that simple. "just do something that makes you happy, or else you'll just end up getting burnt out in the end."

peedee scoffed and looked away. "it's not that easy, [y/n]," he muttered.

"yeah, it is," the girl stubbornly shot back. "you're just making it hard on yourself because you don't know how you're supposed to make it easy," she said.

"i─" peedee huffed, frustration suddenly piling up on his thin form like a stack of papers. "that─that's not true─"

"it's not?" [y/n]'s brows rose from under her mask. "then, please, go ahead and explain to me how it isn't, peeds."

for once, ever since this day had begun, peedee was speechless. he opened his mouth, he tried to come up with something, but . . . but─

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

immediately, the duo's argument came to a close, and they both instantly snapped their head over to the source of the noise─their, specifically peedee's, eyes widening in horror once they realized just what that source was.

"that came from the fry shop!" peedee yelled.

"then we better get going!" [y/n] said, earning a quick nod from peedee as the two companions began to rush down the boardwalk.

getting back to the fry shop didn't take long, but the moment the two had arrived, they immediately stopped to look on in confusion as the patrons of the establishment began to run out, screaming as if their lives were on the line.

"uh . . ." [y/n] and peedee shared a look, "did something happen?"

it was then, that something seemed to finally click between the duo, and they both gasped in horror.

"frybo!"

just as soon as the dreaded name had left their lips, a table was suddenly thrown through the front window. the companions gasped in surprise, but the two of them were luckily fast enough to crouch down to the floor and cover their heads before either of them could get hit.

"holy shit." [y/n] stood back up to her full height and began to turn around to look inside of the fry shop, "what the hell is that costume doing . . . in . . . there . . ."

hearing the way that his friend's words had trailed off, peedee slowly arose back up to his full height as well to see just what had caused such a reaction from her.

needless to say, peedee was going to be having some trouble sleeping tonight.

standing in the fry shop, frybo had used the fries that decorated the top of their hat in order to restrain the few patrons that had failed to escape. fries upon fries sat in both of their hands, all of them covered in some sort of condiment.

"please!" mr. smiley cried, tears streaming down his cheeks as he struggled to break free from the animated suit's grasp. "no more fries!"

frybo, as if to retaliate, merely proceeded to stuff more fries into the man's mouth; successfully silencing him and his pleads.

"frybo," [y/n] started, pointing towards the terrifying mascot, "stop!" she ordered.

the horrifying being paused and, ever so slowly, turned around to face the girl that had caught their attention, their smile as unmoving as ever.

a moment of silence passed, the tension that had been created having already grown thick enough to be cut with a knife.

"[y/n] . . ." peedee grabbed his friend's arm and began to slowly back away. both of their shoulders tensed when they saw frybo reel one of their fry-like tentacles back, preparing to throw the person they had entrapped within it at the young children. "[Y/N]─"

wordlessly, frybo threw the person─who peedee and [y/n] quickly discovered was in fact lars─at the duo, and they both screamed and ducked to the floor as lars cried out overhead and crashed into the table that had been thrown out ealier.

stunned into silence, neither [y/n] nor peedee said anything as lars coughed out the fries that had been forced into his mouth and ran off, crying, "i don't even like fries!"

"shit─" peedee grasped both sides of his head and met [y/n]'s hidden eyes with a fearful expression clouding his face. "what do we do, [y/n]?!" he questioned.

"uh─i─" [y/n] cursed at her tendency to laugh in terrible situations such as this. "shit, peeds, i─fuck, you were right, why didn't i─"

"peedee!" the duo froze at the sound of mr. fryman's voice. "where's all this comin' from?" they heard the man ask.

the two flinched violently when they heard mr. fryman cry out suddenly, having obviously had the misfortune of becoming one of the monster's captured victims as well.

"aw, i get it." [y/n] and peedee hesitantly peeked in through the window to see that frybo was beginning to drag mr. fryman closer to them as the man spoke. "i pushed you too hard. i thought you wanted to be as good a fryman as you could be!"

mr. fryman gasped, struggling for breath all of a sudden. [y/n] and peedee felt their breath get caught in their throat at the scene.

but still, mr. fryman carried on.

"you're a tough kid for putting up with it as long as you did," he admitted. "the truth is, you're a values member of fryman brothers incorporated, and all its affiliates!"

peedee gasped, his eyes shining with tears as he watched frybo begin to stuff his dad's face as well. the young boy─so small, so frail compared to the rest of his family─cried out and went to reach for his father for the first time in years.

"DAD!"

"peeds!"

grabbing ahold of her friend's legs, [y/n] quickly pulled him down to the floor just as he was about to jump in, earning an enraged cry from the blond as he struggled under his childhood friend's weight.

"no! please, [y/n]!" the girl felt herself go tense when she heard a small sob leave her friend's throat. "let me help him!"

"i─" the girl hesitated, "i can't do that, peeds. i'm sorry, but─"

"i don't care if i don't have some magical powers or some shit like you do!" the blond snapped, to [y/n]'s surprise. "that's my dad in there, and i'm going to help him no matter what you say─"

unfortunately, the dramatic mood that had been created by peedee's speech was inevitably ruined when the man he had just been talking about was suddenly thrown out of the shop's window.

gasping, [y/n] and peedee weren't even given the opportunity to move out of the way before mr. fryman fell on top of the two of them; trapping the children in place, and also causing them to release a pained moan.

"ow . . ."

noticing a shadow beginning to tower over top of them, [y/n] gasped and quickly turned their head to see the menace that was frybo stalking towards the fallen forms of her, mr. fryman, and peedee. the gem-hybrid grunted, placing her hands against the concrete of the boardwalk as she tried to push herself up and escape from mr. fryman's weight, when the familiar voice of pearl suddenly spoke up from above.

"[y/n]!"

flinching violently at the familiar voice of one of her caretakers, [y/n] could only manage a nervous chuckle as she flopped back down onto the floor and looked up to see pearl staring down at her, peedee, and fryman with wide eyes, clearly shocked by their current predicament.

"pearl!" [y/n] laughed awkwardly and attempted to put on a more nonchalant persona. "funny seeing you here, buddy!"

pearl chose to ignore [y/n]'s words and instead decided to go straight to the point.

"did you put one of my missing shards inside of that fry costume?!" the pale gem questioned.

"uh . . ." [y/n] looked to peedee for help and physically deflated when she saw her friend merely look away and cough awkwardly into his fist. ". . . yeah."

"didn't you hear what i said about the living armor and infantries and many, many deaths?!"

". . . no . . ."

and thus, pearl's face of worry and fear melted into that of a deadpanned expression, and she sighed.

"oh, [y/n] . . ."

summoning her spear into her grasp, pearl proceeded to stab the blade of it into the ground before using it to maneuver herself over to the fallen table and standing atop of it, her other hand still balancing the bubble of shards in it.

drawing her weapon back, pearl then threw it over to frybo, who was luckily not fast enough to dodge it─resulting in the spear stabbing the animated costume directly in the eye, which of course made it release a shriek of pain in return.

"woohoo!" [y/n] cheered, still trapped under mr. fryman's unconscious body. "go, pearl!"

unfortunately, though, the small victory was short-lived. before pearl could do anything else, a geyser of ketchup and mustard suddenly shot out of frybo's injured eye. this made pearl cry out in surprise, and amidst the gem's shock, she was hit by the geyser of condiments and sent flying back to the floor; her bubble of shards popping in the process.

[y/n] and peedee gasped in horror. "pearl!"

with a newfound surge of strength befalling the emerald gem-hybrid, [y/n] pushed against fryman's body and finally managed to get back up again at last; leaving peedee behind with his father as she slid over to the fallen pearl's side.

"pearl!" [y/n] placed a careful hand on the pale gem's shoulder and helped her rest her back against the table behind her. "are you okay? oh, god, your gem didn't get cracked or anything, did it?" the girl panicked.

"no, [y/n], my gem's fine. but . . ." pearl groaned in disgust and began to wipe at the ketchup smoldering her face. "ugh! the ketchup! it's everywhere! i can't see . . .!"

drowning out pearl's complaints for only a temporary moment, [y/n] began to look around for some way to help until her hidden eyes finally casted themselves upon the gem shards before her on the floor.

"shards . . ." she looked up and quickly caught sight of but a small couple of tree saplings growing not too far away. "trees!"

"huh?" pearl began to move her hands around in the air, attempting to find [y/n] with her lack of sight. "[y/n]? what do you mean?"

the girl was already gone, and so were the shards.

"dad!" peedee cried, taking his dad's larger hand into his own.

hearing the sound of tentacles whipping around, peedee sniffled and looked up to see frybo peeking their head out; their head of fries squirming and wiggling about in a threatening manner.

watching the animated suit take a step out onto the boardwalk, away from the confines of the fry shop, peedee suddenly felt an enraged fire ignite in his very being, and he growled before running in front of his father and holding his arms out to his sides, acting as if he were a protective shield that would keep his father out of harm's way.

"go away!" peedee cried out, tears still rolling down his cheeks.

from behind him, mr. fryman groaned and arose from his place on the floor; grumbling and looking around in confusion until his eyes finally landed upon his son.

"peedee . . .?" mr. fryman gasped, his eyes wide with shock.

"you are awful!"

( peedee remembered his mother screaming that in the middle of the night, when his parents thought that he was still asleep and tucked safely away in the comforts of his bed. )

"i hate you!"

( peedee was five years old when he heard her say that for the first and only time. )

"i've always hated you!"

( the next day, peedee came downstairs with those words still plaguing his mind, and he sat down at the table for breakfast to learn that his mother had left them all behind. )

"wait." mr. fryman blinked, snapping out of his shocked stupor to give his son a confused look. "you've always hated frybo?" he asked.

"ugh!" peedee had never felt so mad in his life. "is that seriously all you have to say about this, dad?!"

( "what else do you want me to say?" mr. fryman didn't bother looking back at his youngest son's broken expression; not even once. "she's gone. that's all there is to it."

there was a moment of stunned silence after that. and then, at long last, mr. fryman turned the stove off, and he threw his spatula into the sink before walking out of the room.

"eat your breakfast, peedee." )

before mr. fryman could come up with a response, frybo stomped closer to the duo and then wrapped one of their tentacles around peedee; easily trapping the boy despite his squirming.

"NO!" mr. fryman stood to his feet and picked up a piece of fallen wood from beside me, preparing himself to rush at the menacing beast before him. "RELEASE MY SON AT ONCE, YOU MONSTER!!"

with a battle cry, mr. fryman ran forward and began to repeatedly swing at frybo, who merely took but a simple step back in order to dodge the man's attacks.

"dad, no!" peedee began to squirm even more in frybo's tight grasp. "[Y/N]!"

"don't worry, peeds!"

suddenly, a small tree sapling jumped up from out of nowhere and used its thick roots to kick frybo across the face, which in turn made the animated being drop peedee to the floor instantly as it stumbled backwards.

"i've never been one to leaf any of my friends behind, you know?"

stepping forward, [y/n] was revealed to now be standing in the middle of a small army of tree saplings; each of them being different shapes, sizes, and species.

"well, frybo?" the girl grinned with something that peedee could only describe as excitement as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked the animated beast in the eyes. "your move."

the costume in mention didn't even hesitate. with a screech, the beast ran forward, eyes locked on [y/n]'s shorter form as his tentacles whipped around and prepared to entrap the girl with the many others the animated suit had managed to capture as well.

[y/n], however, merely smirked at the sight.

"okay, then." she turned to look down at all of the saplings standing at her side and stuffed her hands into her pockets casually before saying:

"sick 'em."

that was all the small trees needed to hear.

rushing over to frybo with a speed that the two fryman's watching the scene had never expected from a mere team of tree saplings, the small plants immediately began to do their part; one of them hitting frybo in their other eye, permanently blinding them. another one latched itself onto their foot and tripped the animated costume, of course knocking it to the floor as the rest of the saplings jumped into the air and landed on the costume's back, the mere weight of them somehow managing to hold the monster down.

"alrighty, frybo!" [y/n] grinned and jumped onto the costume's back as well, cracking her knuckles. "i sure hope ya like takeout."

with that, [y/n] plunged her hand past the walls of frybo's 'skin', earning a loud shriek from the monster as it began to struggle harder under the child and her saplings' weight.

"just . . . a little . . . further . . ."

feeling her fingers graze against the smooth edges of a gem shard at last, [y/n] laughed out loud in triumph and quickly took hold of the shard and─after one sharp tug─pulled it out from the body she had gifted to it only but a few hours ago; holding the gem piece up into the air as if she had just won the world.

"ha-HA!" [y/n], although shakily, stood back up to her feet in order to raise the gem shard higher up into the air. "who's the head chef here now, frybo?" she cackled.

"[y/n]!" pearl cried from the background, still blinded by the ketchup. "are you alright?" she asked, reaching over to whom she thought was the said girl.

mr. fryman reared away from the pale gem's grasp quickly, not wanting her ketchup-covered fingers to even graze his face. peedee chuckled, finding the sight to be quite amusing.

"don't worry, miss pearl." the boy looked over to his celebrating bestfriend and felt a warm smile decorate his lips. "she's okay."

•

•

•

"i am not okay." peedee laughed at the emotionless voice his friend had said this in, nearly spitting out his drink in the process.

"oh? and why is that?" the blond asked, eyes full of mirth.

"because i may need to get a new mask soon," came [y/n]'s grumbled reply as the girl went to scratch her temple.

"really?" peedee offered his friend a confused look. "why?"

"probably cuz it's gonna break soon." [y/n] sighed. "which is kind of a bummer, because i literally just got this thing a couple months ago," she muttered.

"heh," peedee shook his head. "you'll live."

"oi!" playfully, [y/n] smacked her bestfriend across his arm as he began to cackle into the skies of the night. "where's the sympathy when i need it, peeds? didn't i literally just save yours and your dad's sorry asses just now?" she asked, mocking offense.

"actually," peedee began, pretending to think, "i'm pretty sure your little saplings were the ones carrying the team," he stated.

"wha─wow. okay. i see how it is." [y/n] looked away from peedee and turned her attention to the sea. "eight years of friendship means nothing to you, i guess."

"pfft!"

shoving her over playfully, peedee threw his now empty cup of soda into the closest trashcan as him and his companion laughed, the sound so full of joy and childish life.

"don't say that! tell me, how many times have i risked my hide for yours everytime you messed with something the gems specifically told you not to touch?"

"uh . . ." [y/n] began to whistle an innocent tune as she averted her gaze anywhere else that wasn't peedee. "you say something?"

"HEY!"

with a laugh, [y/n] quickly dodged another shove being sent her way, and then stood up before running off down the boardwalk, with peedee immediately deciding to give chase.

"oh [y/nnnnnnnn]~" the boy laughed.

"hey!" the [hair color]ette snapped. "that's copyrighted material right there, buddy!" she yelled.

another laugh, and the rest of the night was history.

* * * * *

NEXT EPISODE:
" BIRD ARMS "