Lamp Entertainment presents…
Chapter 4: This Means (Snowball) War! Part 1
Meanwhile, on Earth…
December 4th.
Blissfully unaware of the drama going on in space, Steven woke up to the ugly cry of the alarm clock and stumbled to his feet.
"…cold," he mumbled to himself while still yawning. He stumbled over the windows and pulled aside the curtains, letting inside the pale white light of the winter sun reflected on the snow outside.
His lips widened into a smile at the sight. He knew exactly what he would be doing today.
xxXXxx
Approximately one hour and six minutes later, Steven had gathered the core Crystal Gems alongside Connie and the B-Team outside on a large snow-covered field. He had divided the normally united group into two factions standing lined up and facing each other. On one side the core team, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. On the other, Connie, Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis. Steven was walking back and forth between the two lines, looking very serious.
A sudden cold front had hit Beach City, and Both Connie and Steven were wearing thick winter clothes to shield them from the unforgiving freezing wind. While the cold didn't really bother the gems, the core team had decided to shapeshift up some winter clothes, just for solidarity's sake. The B-Team had decided not to bother, though Peridot had thrown on a Camp Pining Heart scarf for aesthetic purposes.
"As you can all see…" Steven said dramatically, his breath forming a white cloud the second it left his mouth. "…snow has fallen. I trust you all understand what this means?"
"It's a natural phenomenon that occurs on Earth sometimes when it gets cold?" Peridot said hesitantly.
"No!" Steven exclaimed. "Or, well, yeah, that's also right. But I was thinking of… snowball fights!"
"A…snowball fight?" Bismuth asked, confused. She'd been in plenty of fights, but never against snowballs.
"Indeed!" Steven said. "It's a game where you throw balls of snow at each other," he explained.
"But why though?" Peridot asked.
Steven shrugged.
"Cause it's fun?"
Peridot raised her eyebrow. She experimentally took some snow from the ground and shaped it into a crude ball. She chucked it at Garnet's leg.
…
"Ha! You're right, this is fun!" she exclaimed.
"Pelting people with ice does sound pretty funny…" Lapis said thoughtfully.
"I think I can get behind this idea," Bismuth said with a smile. She had an idea of where this was going.
"Great!" Steven said. "Because we're gonna have a fight." Suddenly, a far more sinister smirk crept across his face. He fell in line with the core Crystal Gems. "Us versus you. We'll play a round of capture the flag." Pearl summoned two orange flags on long sticks from her gem and threw one to Connie who caught it easily.
"The rules are simple," Steven continued. "Each team will construct a snow fortress at each end of the field, about twenty-four meters apart. We get twenty minutes to do so. We'll place our flags inside the fortress. The objective is to capture the other team's flag and bring it back to your own fortress. The first person to touch their own fortress while holding the opposite team's flag wins. It's as simple as that. If anyone from the opposite team hits you with a snowball, you have to walk over to that tree by the side of the field at normal walking pace. You place your hand on the tree and count to twelve. Slowly. After that, you can rejoin the fight."
He looked everyone in the B-Team in the eye, one by one.
"You are allowed to block incoming snowballs with your hands, but if they hit you anywhere else, it counts. Only one person may stay in the fortress at once. If someone carrying the flag gets hit, they have to drop the flag to the ground where they're standing."
He made a dramatic pause.
"Do you understand and accept these rules?" he asked.
"Yessir!" the B-Team said in perfect unison.
"Good!" Steven said and clapped his gloved hands together. "Then let the Crystal Gems' first annual snowball fight… begin!"
Thusly began the twenty minutes of preparation. The B-Team quickly hurried off to their end of the field, Connie rapidly going through tactics. The Core Team stayed and started the construction of their fortress. It was a rather simple construction, just some walls of packed together snow. Steven summoned and placed some shields on the walls, just for that extra bit of flair.
Once the fortress was finished, they huddled up inside it to discuss tactics. They decided Pearl would stay in the fortress as a guardian, while the others made up the advance team.
"Hey Steven, are you sure this is fair?" Pearl asked while rolling a perfect snowball. She placed it in a neat pile. Ammo for later. "I mean, we've played with you before, and so has Connie. But Lapis, Bismuth, and Peridot have never played this game before."
"Oh, I'm sure they'll do just fine," Steven said. "I mean, they're Crystal Gems too. And they've got Connie!"
A small egg timer rang. The twenty minutes were up. Now it was time for battle.
"Alright!" Steven yelled. The Core Team stood up in unison and turned to face their former allies. "Ready or not, let's… begin…" He lost some of his gusto towards the end of the sentence when he saw the B-Team's fortress.
On the other side of the field stood a gigantic fortress. Not just a glorified wall of snow, but an actual fortress made from snow and ice. It had steep walls and a mighty watchtower hat must've been at least fifteen meters tall. It even had a freaking moat! Filled with sharp icicles!
Bismuth and Connie stood up in the tower, the latter smirking smugly. Lapis and Peridot were hovering over the fortress, Lapis with her wings and Peridot on what looked like a large cannon.
"Hey Steven…" Amethyst said nervously while tugging at his arm. "Remind me again. Was there a rule against using our gem powers, or-"
Steven didn't answer. Lapis did. With a small, almost lazy gesture of her hand, she levitated about three dozen snowballs into the air.
"Aw shoot."
To be continued…
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Oh boy, this'll be so much fun! I'm sure no one is gonna take this game WAY too seriously.