It was another day in Beach city and Y/n was walking on the board walk as he headed into Fish stew pizza. He had tired their pizza when Steven had brought some back to the temple with the gems a while ago. Today however he felt like trying it out for himself in the restaurant, As he entered however a small group noticed him.

"Hey, I've seen you around. You're new to Beach City right?" A girl asks Y/n.

"That's right. I moved here a few weeks ago with my dad." Y/n tells her.

"Well I'm Jenny. This is Buck and Sour Cream." Jenny says introducing herself.

"Sup." Buck says.

"Hey man." Sour Cream lazily waves

"Nice to meet you, I'm Y/n." Y/n returns their greeting.

"So what brings you guys to Beach City? It's kind of like in the middle of nowhere." Jenny asks curious.

"It's...a long story." Y/n says.

"Why don't you join us then and tell us your story." Buck says.

"Yeah man." Sour Cream agrees.

Y/n thinks for moment before he gives a shrug and joins them at their table. While he enjoyed hanging out with Steven he also figured it would be good to have friends of his own age to hang around with sometimes.

Meanwhile the Gems are standing at the top of a cliff, overlooking a moss-covered swamp. Steven is seen hopping on the rocks in the swamp.

"This doesn't look good at all." Pearl comments.

Steven was on a rock, reaching to touch the moss. "Whoa! Cool!"

"No, Steven! Don't go near that stuff!" Pearl and Amethyst call out to him.

The moss starts crawling towards Steven. Garnet throws a nearby boulder at the rock Steven is standing on, catapulting him into the air.

"WHOA!!!" Steven cries in suprise as he then lands on Pearl. "Steven's here!"

Pearl puts Steven down. "You have to be careful, Steven!"

"Why?" He asks as a duck is seen attempting to sit on a floating log in the swamp, when the moss engulfs the log. "What is that stuff?"

"It's the moss that Rose Quartz raised on the hill." Garnet tells.

"My mom planted this stuff?" Steven asks surprised.

"Rose Quartz used to climb that hill every spring and tend to the moss at the top." Pearl explains and she projects a hologram of Rose at the top of a hill. "But now that Rose is gone, The moss is on the move!"

"It's lost." Steven says looking at it sadly.

"It's not lost. It's gross." Amethyst comments.

"Yes, but Rose loved it anyway. She saw the beauty in everything, no matter how gross." Pearl says as she flicks her hair. "Fortunately, I know just what to do in this situation."

The Crystal Gems gets off the cliff and onto ground level. Garnet, Amethyst and Steven sit down on the ground, as they watch what Pearl is going to do. She then strikes a pose. "Twooooh!" She cries as she begins doing a dance. "Haaaaaah!" Pearl's gem starts to glow.

"This is why I get up in the morning!" Steven whispers to a bored Amethyst.

A small glowing object appears out of Pearl's gem and into Steven's hands, revealing a roll of yellow tape reading "POLICE LINE".

"Is this... police tape?" Steven asks.

"Isn't this great? This way, we don't even have to use magic. Humans will just see this and walk away." Pearl says.

Garnet, perched on a rock, slams her fist into her palm like a baseball mitt. "Don't hold back."

"I never... do!" Amethyst says as she throws the roll of tape to Garnet like a baseball.

The Crystal Gems start wrapping the entrance to the swamp in police tape.

♪La la-la la-la~ Pearl sings as she ties the police tape into a bow shape. Perfect!♪ The Crystal Gems gather to inspect the handiwork. "Now we can come up with a plan to move the moss back to its hill!"

"Who wants to get some lunch?" Steven asks but the Gems turn and stare at him silently. "Just me, then? ...Nice."

Steven was now walking along the boardwalk and singing to himself. ♪ Gettin' me a pi, gettin' me a -zza. Gettin' me a p-p-p-p-pizza! Gettin' me a pi, gettin' me a -zza. Hmm, mmm, mm, mm. ♪

But up ahead Steven spots a familiar face.

"Hey, is that Lars?" He asks himself and picks up his pace. "Lars!" He calls out.

Lars hears Steven and groans to himself. "Why now?"

"Got a high five for you from way downtown!" Steven says and he starts to run towards Lars with his arm raised high. "Ohhhhhh!"

"No, Steven! No high fives!" Lars whisper yells.

"Mmmmm, okay." Steven says and he high-fives his chest, and Lars smacks it away.

"Steven!" Lars says annoyed.

Steven laughs. "So... how come you're not at the Big Donut?"

"I don't spend my whole life at work." Lars says as he flips a jacket over his shoulder. "I do... other things."

"Like standing against this wall?" Steven asks.

"What does it look like?!" Lars retorts.

"Looks like you're doing a lot of nothing." Steven says.

"That's the plan, Ste-van." Lars tries to say cool as he flips his jacket again and puts a hand in his pocket. "Just playing it cool today, you know?"

"We are so much alike." Steven says to Lars now.

"Excuse me?" Lars says.

"You want to get a fresh pizza right out of the oven, but you don't want to seem too desperate, right? Well, there's no need to be ashamed. Just walk right in and ask. That's what I always do." Steven says as he begins to move now.

Lars begins to panic. "Ah, uh Steven, don't go in there right now!"

Steven looks through the windows. "Oh, hey it's Y/n!"

Three cool kids are seen hanging around inside talking to Y/n, while Kiki stands behind them.

"Isn't that Kiki's sister and her friends?" Steven asks Lars.

"Jenny, Sour Cream, and Buck Dewey." Lars whispers.

"Oh, you know those guys?" Steven asks.

"N-not quite, but I'm sure we'll hang at some point." Lars is quick to say.

"You should go in and talk to them. Y/n is really nice, you met him at the big donut remember?" Steven suggests now.

Lars starts to fluster. "T-T-That's not how these things work, Steven! The plan is to keep it cool and let them come to me." Lars leans on the wall again.

Y/n, Jenny, Sour Cream, and Buck exit Fish Stew Pizza now but because they were in grossed in a conversation Y/n doesn't notice Steven at first.

"Here they come." Steven says to Lars.

"Aah...! Steven, turn around! Act natural!" Lars says sounding stressed as he looks away quickly, sweating profusely.

"Tell Dad I'll be back later." The girl of the group calls to her sister as she walks off.

"I don't think they saw you." Steven comments.

"Steven, you were blocking me with your... big hair! Aah!" Lars groans.

"Sorry, I'll go tell them to look over here." Steven says now and he walks towards the cool kids.

"Steven, no, don't go over there! I hate you!" Lars whispers shouts.

"Muffins that are like, this big." Buck says as he gestures with his hands.

"Those things are too sweet for me." Jenny comments.

"I like muffins as long as they don't have raisins in them." Y/n says.

"I hear that." Sour Cream says in agreement.

"Y/n!" A voice calls out and Y/n looks to the side when he notices a friendly face.

"Oh hey Steven. Got a day off from saving the world?" Y/n jokes a little.

Steven giggles. "Nope I'm just on lunch." He turns to the cool kids now. "Hi! My name's Steven." He raises his hand up for high-fives.

The kid in sunglasses high-fives Steven. "Buck Dewey."

The other guy high-fives Steven as well. "They call me Sour Cream."

The girl now also high-fives Steven. "I'm Jenny." She introduces herself.

Lars had his hand over his mouth, talking to himself. "Aah, he's gonna wreck everything! What are they saying? I can't hear them!" Steven waves at Lars in the background. "Ugh! Why is he dancing?!" Lar starts sobbing. "No-ho-ho! My life is horrible!"

"Hey, Lars!" Steven calls out as he slowly made their way back over to him.

Lars snaps into a "cool" pose. "Yo."

"They invited us along for a ride." Steven says.

"Huh?" Lars says confused. "W-Wait a minute, they— you—? ...Steven, you got lucky! So don't ruin this with any of your lame schtick."

Steven pretends to shoot his fingers. "Pew pew! You got it!" He laughs.

Lars face-palms as he and Steven join the whole group walking towards Jenny's Car.

"Hop on in, guys." Jenny says.

"Sorry Steven but you'll have to sit on my lap were out of seats otherwise." Y/n says.

"Aw yeah, we get the middle seat then Y/n!" Steven cheers.

The group files into the car. Buck and Lars are seated in the back, With Y/n sat in the middle with Steven sat on his legs. Sour Cream was in the front passenger, and Jenny is the driver.

"Where'd you get that rad shirt, Steven?" Buck asks Steven.

Steven tugs his shirt. "I have no idea where any of my clothes come from."

"Yeah, man, living free. I like it." Buck comments.

"Hey, check out my shirt." Lars points at his own shirt with a snake design.

"Oh, that snake is nasty." Buck comments.

"Oh." Lars fakes an laugh. "Yeah, I hate snakes!"

"Oh, what? That's too bad, some snakes are pretty cool." Buck says now.

Jenny starts up the car.

"Sounds like it's time to buckle up!" Steven comments.

"Quit being lame, Steven." Lars tells him.

"Hey, man, there's nothing "lame" about seatbelt safety." Sour Cream comments.

"Car does not move 'til we're all buckled up." Jenny says strictly.

Y/n hand Steven the seat belt and the two are strapped in. Lars is the last to put on their seat belts.

"Yeah, now let's get some spaced-out beats up in here." Sour Cream says. "Any requests?"

"Do you guys get Nightride FM?" Y/n asks.

"Nightride?" Sour Cream asks. "Never heard of it, do you know the frequency?" He asks Y/n who tells him. Sour Cream tunes the car radio to the station as the song Home by Resonance comes on. "Oh Yeah, I could rave to this." Sour Cream slowly sways his arms in front of him.

"Hey, this car is really cool Jenny." Lars says to her.

"It's just the delivery car for my Dad's lame shop. Makes me smell like pizza." She says unimpressed by the car. "Where to, y'all?" She asks as she starts driving off.

"I don't even know." Buck says losing himself in the moment.

"Oh, can we stop by the Big Donut?" steven asks.

Jenny drives up next to the Big Donut. "That old place?" She asks.

"Man that place is a drag." Buck comments as he looks at it.

"But that's where Lars wor..."

Lars starts coughing loudly. "Quiet, Steven!" He coughs.

"Do you need some water? For that...cough you have." Y/n asks Lars.

The group were driving through the heart of town now as Steven notices the Funland Arcade. "Funland Arcade is the best! Let's do that!"

"Man, I beat all the "G's" in there like 3 million times." Sour Cream says.

Steven gasps. "No way!"

"Yeah, me too." Lars says now.

"No way!" Steven says impressed.

"Honestly though, I'm just exaggerating to sound cool." Sour Cream admits and Lars looks away sheepishly.

Steven pats Sour Cream on the shoulder. "I appreciate your honesty."

The group drives up next to the city park, where Mayor Dewey is holding a rally.

"Hey, Buck, isn't that your dad?" Jenny asks as the group look to see.

"Another reason you should re-elect me... I love babies! Will you look at that, a baby!" Mayor Dewey's aid holds a baby towards him. "Gonna kiss it." He gives the baby a long kiss on the forehead, and the crowd applauds.

"Hmm, I like his policies on babies." Steven says.

"I kind of find it odd." Y/n admits.

"Man, he never kisses me like that." Buck comments.

"That's rough, bro." Lars says to him.

"It's not rough. The lack of daddy kisses in my life made me who I am." Buck brushes it off.

Lars looks away sheepishly again.

"Oh my gosh, guys." Jenny calls out getting the groups attention. "We should check out Dead Man's Mouth." She suggests as the car approaches a road out of town.

"What's Dead Man's Mouth?" Y/n asks.

"Oh, it's this lake where some dude died, or it looks like a mouth? I forget the specifics." Buck answers.

"Sounds good to me!" Steven cheers.

"Dead Man's Mouth, here we come!" Jenny says and she shifts up a car gear, and the car speeds off.

The car had brought the group to a small swamp like quarry area and they all step out of the car.

"We're here." Jenny says.

Steven looks around and notices the police tape the Crystal Gems put up earlier and realizes where they are. "Y-You know what? I know this place may seem cool, but it's actually a lot less cool than you think. W-Why don't we just go have some more fun at the boardwalk?"

Lars glares at Steven. "Steven, stop being lame!" He says to the boy before he turns to the others. "Let's check this place out."

Lars walks towards the entrance of the swamp. The others murmur in agreement and accompany him.

Steven begin to worry but he quickly relaxes when he remembers what Pearl had said. "Oh, pfft, the police tape!" He laughs it off.

The group stares at the police tape surrounding the entrance.

"Huh... Police tape." Sour Cream says and he rips down the tape bow, Steven gasps, Sour Cream walks through. "Awesome."

"I'm above the law." Buck comments as he tears down more tape.

The cool kids come to stop at the nearby swamp like quarry filled with water.

"Who wants to go for a swim?" Jenny asks.

Steven stares in worry at the moss, visibly agitated. The others begin to take off their coats, while Sour Cream converts his pants into shorts. "Pants become shorts."

Steven begins to worry and Y/n notices it. "Is something wrong Steven?"

"The gems and I were just here, they said it's not safe." Steven quickly tells Y/n.

"If that's the case then we'd better stop them." Y/n says knowing the Gems must know something the rest of them don't.

Lars quickly takes off his shirt and begins to walk toward the swamp now.

Steven gasps and hurries to stop Lar. "Lars, don't go in there, it's dangerous!"

"Steven, you trying to scare us?" Jenny asks amused.

"Build an atmosphere, I appreciate that." Buck says.

Sour Cream begins swaying his fingers. "Oooooh!"

"Wait a sec!" Y/n calls out to them

"I'm not that slow." Buck says however as he Jenny and Sour Cream jump into the swamp. Lars tries to follow suit but Steven holds him in place.

"Hey, what are you doing man?!" Lars shouts.

Steven begins tearing up. "Don't!" He cries.

Lars pushes Steven along towards the swamp. "Steven, what... is... your- deal?" He asks but then gasps.

Lars tries to push Steven off but stops when he notices the others are suddenly engulfed and dragged underwater by the growing moss around them. Lars falls back in fear. "Aah!

"Oh, no!" Steven says and a small patch of moss attacks his foot, clinging to it." Aaah!"

"What's going on?!" Lars asks.

"It's some kind of magic moss my Mom planted!" Steen tells him and Y/n.

"Wait, your mom?" Lars asks.

Suddenly, Jenny, Sour Cream and Buck reemerge on the water surface, covered in moss. They crawl towards the edge of the swamp and collapse, as the moss covers their whole bodies entirely.

"We gotta help them!" Y/n says urgently

"Guys, hang on!" Lars cries.

Y/n, Lars and Steven starts ripping away the moss off of Jenny, Sour Cream and Buck, but the moss rapidly grows back. Steven thinks for a moment and sees the hill in the background.

"Y/n, Lars, I know what we have to do..." Steven begins to say.

"This is all your fault!" Lars accuses as he tears up and yells at Steven. "I knew if something went wrong today it would be because of you! Now I'm never going to be friends with these guys. All because of your- weird mom!"

Steven's eyes narrow in a rare feeling of shock and rage. "What do you know about my mom?! I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO KNOW MY MOM! But I do know, she saw beauty in everything! Even in stuff like this!" He points at the moss. "And even in jerks like you!"

Y/n looks at Lars with a frown of his own. "The reason you don't have friends is because the only person you care about..is yourself! Steven was kind enough to try help you out, he does nothing but try to be kind but all you do is throw it back in his face!" Y/n says pointing to Lars annoyed and Lars looks away ashamed now.

Steven sighs. "You guys, help me get them to the car." Steven says knowing that they need to hurry.

Y/n, Steven and Lars drag the moss-covered bodies into the car and buckle them in.

"Okay what now Steven?" Y/n asks him.

"We need to hurry! This moss belongs at the top of that hill." Steven says and he points at the hill in the distance and Y/n nods. "Come on Lars, what are you waiting for?" Steven asks as Lars looks at the cars wheel.

"Uh, Steven... I don't know how to drive a stick shift." Lars admits.

"Move over." Y/n says as he and Lars switch seats.

"You know how to drive?" Lars asks.

"I've taken a few lessons, not got my licence yet however." Y/n says as he turns the keys in the ignition.

The car jolts backwards and reverses all the way back onto the road. Y/n starts steadily driving towards the hill as the moss engulfs the back of the car.

"What's gonna happen when we get to the top of that hill?" Lars asks.

"I don't know!" Steven admits.

"You don't know?!" Lars cries.

"That's just where the moss wants to be!" Steven shouts but the moss begins to engulf the front of the car too, including Y/n, Steven and Lars. "Aah!"

"Huh? Aaaah! It's getting everywhere! Woah!"

Y/n momentarily loses control of the car, until they bump into a large truck, leaving a dent in it, but straighten them back on their path.

"Jenny's gonna kill us!" Lars panics about the car.

Y/n continues to drive as he comes to the hill now and eventually parks the car near the top of the hill but more of the moss had covered the three.

"We made it!" Steven cries.

"What do we do now?" Y/n asks.

"We gotta get up there." Steven says pointing to the top of the hill. "Hurry!"

Y/n, Steven and Lars start to dragging the bodies up the hill, but the moss progressively engulfs them as well, slowing them down.

"I'm... getting stuck!" Lars complains.

"No, don't... give up." Steven tries to encourage.

"Just....keep...moving...." Y/n strains as he refuses to slow down but the moss makes it incredibly tough and soon it completely engulfs Steven and Lars' bodies, leaving their faces, and immobilizes them.

"Ah! Y/n!" Steven cries out as he sees Lars has stopped but he looks up too see Y/n had already been engulfed in the moss still stood up.

"Steven...?" Lars calls out.

"What?" Steven replies.

"This sucks!" Lars says before he is completely engulfed by the moss.

"Laaaaar...." Steven cries but he gets engulfed too now.