Ezra In Beach City (Book 1)

Joking Victim

At Funland Arcade, Steven was washing sand off of his feet at a faucet with Ezra waiting on him and Amethyst walked over to them.

"Hey, Steven. You wanna try some special new french fries?" Amethyst asked as she offered Steven a cup of red french fries.

"Do I!" Steven replied before he happily grabbed and ate a handful of fries.

Amethyst chuckled loudly and Steven, unwittingly, joined in, until his face began to turn red.

"HOT!" Steven screamed.

"They're special because they're seasoned with Fire Salt!" Amethyst said before she pulled out a vial of Fire Salt to show him and Ezra.

"What's Fire Salt?" Ezra asked.

"It's a magical seasoning with unknown ingredients." Amethyst replied.

Steven, face burning red, quickly attempted to turn the faucet back on but it broke off, that forced him to sprint toward the Big Donut, all while Amethyst laughs at him.

"I better go follow him." Ezra said before he went to find Steven.

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Inside the Big Donut, Ezra walked in and saw Steven at the soda fountain spraying two types of soda in his mouth. Excess soda was spilled onto the floor that formed a large puddle. Ezra facepalmed before Lars stepped out to confront Steven.

"Steven! What are you-?!" Lars shouted before he slipped and fell on the puddle of soda. "Wha-aaahhh!"

"Sorry, Lars." Steven apologized, exhausted.

"Ugh, Steven! Who do you think has to clean up this mess?" Lars asked sarcastically before he turned to Sadie. "Sadie, clean up this mess."

"No way, it's your turn." Sadie complained. "I cleaned the last five 'Stevens'."

"Aww, come on. That fall messed up my back." Lars said as he rubbed his back. "It hurts, really bad."

Sadie rolled eyes and brought out a mop and a bucket.

"Fine. Move aside, I'll take care of this." Sadie said. "Could you grab the soap?"

Lars got an idea and faked an anguished groan.

"Oh! It hurts! Sooo much!" Lars exaggerated with his 'back pain'.

"Maybe you should take the day off." Sadie said.

"Okay!" Lars said with a snap upright. "You gonna be fine on your own?"

"Well, I guess so, but—" Sadie replied.

"You're the best, Player Two!" Lars interrupted before he left the store.

"Aww..." Sadie said before she paused and realized something. "Wait, I can't run this place by myself!"

Steven walked over with a large pile of napkins and dropped them directly on the puddle.

"I can help!" Steven volunteered. "This place has given me so many delicious donuts. It's time I gave back."

Sadie dressed Steven in a Big Donut uniform. He wore a purple shirt with a donut on the front and jeans.

"I hereby deputise you as Lars-for-the-day." Sadie said. "Now, it's time I showed you the Employee Room."

"Congrats on the job, Bud." Ezra said.

Sadie and Steven walked in the room, which was populated by several large supply boxes on the right, over a dozen Donut boxes lining the back left, and a CRT TV, two folding chairs and a small circular table furnishing the front left.