Sitting against the wall with the gun in her hand, Pearl couldn’t help but wonder how she had gotten into this situation. Steven hadn’t meant for this to happen, she was sure of that. He had had no clue this was what was going to happen. No one really could have seen this being the outcome. Well, besides maybe Garnet, but she didn’t get to count. She could see practically any outcome, and she had probably seen this one. Had probably been expecting it, to be honest, but hadn’t told them because she wanted it to go naturally.
The ballerina took a deep breath, steadying her hands. It had been so long since she had done anything like this, using a weapon besides her own. It had happened on the battlefield, using weapons summoned by other gems when her own was broken or lost in the heat of things. It had never felt right, and it still didn’t now. The gun wasn’t her warm spear, wasn’t something she could use to her advantage so well. If things got up close and personal, well… There was no way she’d be able to use the gun as well as her spear. Or, heck, a sword would have been nice at that point.
She forced herself slowly up the wall, nerves pushed down. Her hands didn’t shake, no, they hadn’t in such a long time. Crushing her first gem underfoot, watching it turn to powder and knowing she’d never see that face again, was probably the last time her hands had shook. Besides, of course, when she was dealing with Steven, but that wasn’t fair to count into things. After her first crushed gem, she was a cold machine in deadly situations. Calculating, precise, and ready to strike in the heat of battle. When things were said and done, she took the time to mourn and regret before she moved on, but never during.
Easing herself around the corner, she caught a brief glance of movement. Light purple, almost white hair, darting between the obstructions. Amethyst. She swallowed dryly, taking aim with the gun and waiting. The youngest full gem couldn’t stay still too long unless she was faking sleep, and she had backed herself into a corner. Three. Two. One. There she was. Without any hesitation or emotion, Pearl pulled the trigger and hit her target dead on.
“Ahaha! Got you Steven! Wait… Why isn’t my gun firing? Aw, come ON! Who got me this time?” A grin tugged at the corner of her lips and she stepped back behind the wall. She hadn’t seen Garnet since the beginning, and there was no telling where she was going to be now. She was probably waiting for them all to come out, or for the younger two to start moving again. She was such a cheat.
“It wasn’t me! Maybe it was Garnet.” She stuck her head back around the corner, watching Steven slowly sidestep the purple gem as she shook her gun. The perfect target, since he didn’t know she was there, but… No. She refused to shoot him, refused to imagine bringing pain to him again. She waited, poised and ready to attack, until Amethyst’s vest switched back to the right color. Aim, and fire. Luckily, the little gem hadn’t noticed she had changed colors yet.
“Probably. G is pretty compettive when it comes to these stupid games. P is probably crying in a corner somewhere or something.” Why, that little-! No regret could be found for shooting her twice then, and she readied her gun to shoot the other when her vest changed again.
“I haven’t seen her actually. I’ve been trying to avoid you.” The purple gem grinned and leveled her gun, aiming at the little boy before her. Luckily, her vest was still flashing white to show she was dead.
“That’s a sound strategy little man! Too bad you failed!” She paused, pressing the trigger rapidly. “Ugh! I think my gun is broken!”
“You shot me earlier, so I dunno. Did you like, hit it on the ground or something?” The vest changed from white to red, but before the trigger could be pulled on Amethyst’s gun, Pearl’s shot her again and disabled it. Steven didn’t let this slide by, his eyes brightening as he realised Amethyst was being shot repeatedly.
“No. I don’t think so anyway.” The other grumbled something too low for Pearl to hear, and Steven’s vest went out. She hadn’t shot him, and Amethyst couldn’t have… That meant Garnet was around somewhere. She glanced around quickly before turning her attention back to Steven and Amethyst, watching the purple gem cackle.
“Hey! At least I’m not getting shot more than once! That’s why your gun isn’t working.” Darn, the kid gave her away. Just as she was about to slip away before Amethyst could come looking for her, a steady hand grabbed her arm and kept her still.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Ready to scream, she jerked around, only to notice it was Garnet. She relaxed slightly, at least knowing that the other wasn’t a stranger.
“Garnet! You scared me,” she sighed, gazing up at the other. She couldn’t see her eyes, but she did feel the gun press into her stomach, against the device on the vest that displayed the color of whether she was dead or alive.
“I know I did.” The other leaned closer, pressing the gun a bit harder into her stomach before their lips met for a brief second. When the fusion pulled away, Pearl dimly noted her vest was flashing white and her breath was gone. Just as she went to say something, she noticed that the fusion had disappeared. Steven’s and Amethyst’s disappointed cries filled the air, and she was sure the other had struck again.
At the end of the battle, Garnet’s scores were twice that of anyone else’s. Not that it was unexpected, she had future vision after all. There was a smug smirk playing across her lips that Pearl just wanted to wipe off, but she did have the second highest score so she wasn’t too frustrated. Amethyst had third, with Steven trailing at last, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he ran off moments later, spouting something off about getting his other friends to play, and leaving the three gems alone. Again.
“Garnet wins. Again,” Amethyst groaned, and Pearl sighed as she nodded.
“It’s really impossible to beat her at anything, isn’t it?”
“Aw, come on, there’s got to be somthing we can beat her at.” Simutaneously, an idea struck through the shorter gems and they turned to each other. A smirk played across their lips before they turned to their leader, stared them down. Without a doubt, the rest of their evening without Steven was going to be very interesting indeed.