After a rogue gem meddled with the latest injector batch, all kindergardens have been placed under extreme scrutiny. Every soldier that pops their way out, gets scanned and tested for flaws, strengths, and durability.
However, Orange Diamond prides herself on having the BEST soilders of the empire. Even if she has to bend the rules to do it. Grey does not approve o this but she doesn’t particularly care.
If a gem is strong enough to pass her extensive testing, they will be added to her ranks. Thus a large amount of off colors are kept when they should have been Recycled because while they weren’t exactly how they were supposed to, they were improved.
The last set of gems to emerge from the kindergarden (about a decade later than the others), however, are an entirely different ball park.
"You love Kodiak. That is the hidden miracle of all of this: you might be loving each other deeper than any humans have ever loved, have ever needed to love, have ever had the occasion to love. Well, maybe Adam and Eve did, but you and I both know we don't think they ever existed. "
Amko and Dendydot’s first mission on their own wasn’t exactly fun.
Aftermath of This.
-//-
It was a simple mission. Get in, ensure the communication towers were online and functional, get out. Easy as pie.
At least on paper.
Smashing his head against the forced fusion’s skull, his helmet cracked further down the middle. Great- not like Sterling hadn’t just gotten him this one or anything. A snarl escaped the both of them as Amko dodged a slashing claw, diving for one of its hind limbs. Wrapping his arms around the limb, he wrenched back, sending it toppling to its stomach.
“I liked this helmet ya piece of expired leftovers.” He grunted, leaning back as he swung. A blur of violet and he sent the science experiment gone wrong flying off the cliff. Its whimpering cries sounded their way back up the mountain as they tumbled down, ending in a quiet puff at the foot of the mountain. Chest heaving, Amko straightened, wincing.
Rubbing his gem, he thumbed the line where ruby met amethyst, stomach tight.
“Fucking Orange Diamond.” Muttering to himself, he slumped to his knees with a groan.
FUUUUUCK he hurt. He needed a nap. Maybe one of those stupid UV lamps that Enide kept recommending. And food. Lots of food. Hell, just something to chew on really. Raising his head, he sucked air through his teeth at the movement. Clothes torn and scuffed; his eyes lingered on a spot. Right along his thigh, the red of his markings could just be seen peeking out of it.
A little hole. Shifting his arm despite its protest, he picked at it a bit, until he could fit his littlest finger through.
Now it was a slightly bigger hole.
Sparing a smirk, he turned his attention back to the shattered visor before his eyes. After a few minutes of squinting and fussing with the error buttons, he gave up. Wrenching the busted helmet off his skull, he tossed it off the side with a growl of frustration.
It made contact with the earth and stilled before gleaming white. An annoyingly cheerful chirp sounded off and his gem had reclaimed the armor piece. Raking his fingers through his now free hair, a sigh escaped his nose.
Dammit he liked that one. Now he’d have to go through making it from scratch again because life couldn’t be easy for him and give him nice things. No, he’d just break them. And technically he was still banned from Beardo’s shop, so no help there.
Groaning, he reached between his shoulder blades, running his finger pads along the smooth surface of his gem. At least he wasn’t cracked. Laying back down, he threw his arm across his eyes. He didn’t have any RQW drinks on hand or stored away, and he was definitively not going to borrow one from her.
“Are you alright?”
Jolting upwards, his hands slapped the ground at his sides, as he whipped around to the small green figure beside him.
Speak of the devil.
“What? Think I can’t handle myself?” He growled, lowering his arm away to his chest to glare daggers at her., sneering. “Or were just hoping for some interesting data?”
Crouched over his head, Dendydot stared back at him. Brows furrowed, her eyes flicked across his form his loose hair and torn clothes. Always assessing and analyzing. It was annoying.
“You were facing against a Forced Fusion.” She shrugged, movements jerky and sharp. He raised a brow up at her as she stood. “I cannot imagine that would be easy for you as Kaio, much less on your own. Besides you…”
Mouth flattening into that pointed little frown of hers, she seemed unable to find the words as she shook her head.
“You look haggard.” she finished lamely, proffering her hand. Staring at it with disdain, he pointedly backhanded it away as he sat up on his own. Brushing the gravel off his pants, his scowl deepened as he was washed in light. Clothes replaced, hair tied back in his usual pony tail behind his back up helmet, he glared down at her challengingly.
“I’m fine.”
“I do not believe that.” She said simply, unphased by the sparks spiking off his gloves. A moment of silence passed before he uncrossed his arms.
“Whatever.” Muttering, he threw up his hands in the air, hoping the movement would loosen the tightness in his chest. “It’s not like you would know any ways.”
“Amko-“
“We both know you don’t care so don’t bother to pretend.” Cutting her off, he shoved passed her and stormed back towards the edge. “You’re only here to examine the Comm Tower and I’m only here to make sure you don’t do anything stupid and get yourself killed.”
Sitting at the cliff’s face, he glared outwards, ignoring how his body felt like he’d come straight from the tumbler.
Amko - Ruko= A Fidgety Gem with self-destructive habits, and Gar isn’t having it.
Prequel (sort of?) to Gar assigning Amko on a mission with Dendydot. [1] [2]
-//-
It was hard enough to get Gar to grant him a mission. His hours of asking, whining, demanding, and begging to be doing SOMETHING beyond clean up shop would have driven weaker Agate’s to their weapons to reprimand the hyperactive Amythest.
But Gar wasn’t just any Holly Blue Agate.
“For Pete’s sake Amko, pay attention!” Catching him by the coller, Amko found himself wrenched away from the Lava he’d been about to clean the swords in/ The handles bubbled beneath the surface as Gar pulled him aside, still reprimending him. “You know you can only handle Lava as Kaio!”
“R-right.” Swallowing thickly, he squeezed his fingers, blinking at the ash dusting them. “I kinda forgot that.
A weary sigh sounded off behind him as his hands were examined for damage.
“Amko.”
Man, did the floor always have this many patterns in it? He could follow the lines for hours without looking up. Particularly into reflective shades that seemed to peer at the core of your gem.
“I know your worried.” The voice was unusually soft, and his chest twinged at the blank space on his chest.
Yep. VERY fascinating floor plans. Strange how they got all fuzzy all of a sudden. Especially when he felt the far larger hands release his own and grab his shoulder.
“I’m fine.“ He muttered, voice cracking into a growl partway through. Shifting his weight, he forced himself to look up into the worried shades with an indifferent shrug. “I just forgot I couldn’t touch lava, okay. I’m fine.”
Amko didn’t apreciate the disbelief in his gaze. Setting his jaw, he waited for his lecture.
Instead, Gar simply nodded.
“Alright, I have a mission for you than.”
Head snapping up, his mouth opened, tongue loaded with questions as Gar raised a hand.
“But- it’s not a solo mission. You need be a team player on this.”
Shutting his mouth, he pressed down a scowl before nodding. Team player. Fair enough. Amko didn’t have the best history with solo missions after all. Enide was busy on a separate mission with Red Zircon and Sterling, leaving Radiquoise open. Probably busy sulking a bit about RZ hanging out with Enide for some reason.
Gar walked down the aisle ways, leaving Amko to half jog behind him.
“One of our Techies need help accessing the old communications tower to ensure that it’s functioning properly. While we don’t want the Diamond’s eavesdropping on us-“ Gar took a moment to compose himself- adjusting his tie irritably at the thought of his former superiors. “we still need to be able to communicate amongst ourselves. You’ve got to make sure the area’s safe enough to do their thing uninterrupted. Got it?”
“Yep- nerd protection duty.” He nodded solemnly, cracking a small grin at his exasperated frown. “So, who am I babysitting? Radiquoise?”
Reaching into his pocket, the agate pulled out the gem in question.
“Got poofed about 15 minutes ago.”
“What?”
“The pepple’s lucky he’s not shattered.” Tone a dry mix of stirred unimpressed frustration, Gar gently placed the turquoise in his cubby and tucking it in a blanket. “According to Calcium, Petrified Wood bet he couldn’t juggle 5 laser swords at one time.”
“But he can’t juggle- nevermind.” He changed subjects at the warning look. “So, Sparko than?”
“Still undercover as Brass.”
“Oh.” Furrowing his brow, he scraped the recesses of his minds for names and faces. That had always been more Ruko’s thing. He was the social butterfly, where Amko was the sarcastic moth. though to be fair, the amount of people Kaio knew wasn’t exactly easy to keep track of.
“Jethro, than?” Amko asked, palms to the ceiling as he gestured for a clue. “Is he back in town?”
“No.” Face schooled into careful neutrality, Gar ;ed him to the parking lot. “You’ll be working with Dendydot.”
Amko’s feet came to a record stop, spine straight as a ruler as he stiffened.
“What?”
“I said, ‘You’ll be workin-”
“I HEARD what you said!” Amko snapped, shrinking back as he remembered he was talking to. Twisting his vanbraces by the spikes, he continued awkwardly. “Er, sir. But, you do understand our... history.”
“Yes, but both of you have changed since then.”
“Somehow i doubt that.” Glaring at the now obvious vehicle, his eyes twitched before turning his gaze back to the shades above him. Scrunched in sympathy, Gar squeezed his shoulder, the pressure stabilizing against the hot fury seeping from his gem.
“I wouldn’t ask this of you if I thought she hadn’t,” Gar’s look turned pointed. “or that you were unable to handle it.”
“I’m not fresh out of the kindergarten.” he muttered, refusing to look at him as shot a nasty look over his shoulder, shrugging off the blue hand encompassing it.
“Face it, Clown,” the faulty Amythest prisoner had the audacity to look smug. They leaned closer to the barrier, a warning buzz going off as they neared him, mocking him. “You’re nothing more than a shabby knock off of Kaio. You can’t even get your head screwed on right without Daddy helping you.”
“SHUT IT!” Boxman Jr. snarled as he slammed his fist into the wall beside him, the yellow light flickering with a small crunch. “I’m better than you in every way.”
"Name one!” he scoffed.
“I was designed and procured by the best of the best.” SMACK!
“I have crushed hundreds and have yet to be defeated by a true Gem.” SMACK!
“I’m not dependent on some stupid little runt.” SMACK! SMACK! CRUNCH! His fist made contact with the wall with the last three words for emphasis, cracking the stone. The barrier flickered again, now only a faint yellow as he growled.
“I am the top warrior of Boxman’s Brigade. I am you’re better in every way.”
“I am not dependent on the shattered for my strength.” they said simply, fangs flashing as they grinned.
Why wouldn’t they stop smiling?
“You’re the freak that shames the empire.”
“Have you looked in the mirror lately?”
With a roar, Jr. crushed the control panel, sending the barrier into a fritz. A sad power down chirp and there was nothing.
The Prisoner was a blur as he raced out, using the gem nosed giant as a springboard to launch themself down the hall, slamming him into the open cell behind him.
Jr. caught the tail ends of the ex-prisoner’s laughter as he saw red.
-//-
Part 2
Boxman Jr. every body- the a**hole of the show! A sort of gem equivalnt of a frankenstein, BJ was created by Boxman in an attempt to finally get rid of the Bodega Gems.
Supplied with the latest in Gem technology, BJ lay waste to the Bodega Gems, capturing all of them with the help of his assigned Peridot. Now all there’s to do is to was deliver them to the Diamonds.
Right?
BJ hates Kaio and everything he stands for- the feeling is mutual. Though Kaio (thanks to Amko) tends to a handle it in a “well aren’t you desperate for” manner, as it pisses off BJ the most.
BJ may or may not get infatuated with the fusion and his counter parts and refuses to admit it but that’s another post.
This is where Amko finds and breaks out the others- Ruko is with Dendydot, whose running tests.
“My Diamond will have you shattered for this!” the Peridot shouted, her weird boots(?) kicking out as the fake tubes- were they supposed to fingers or not? why didn’t she just use her own?- scrabbled at his hand.
“Your oh so precious Diamond would have had me shattered anyways.” He growled, giving her scruff a solid shake. The metal extension coating her other arm creaked and groaned under his grip. “Tell me where Ruko is!”
“Ugh- if you were in my Kindergarten you would have been recycled on sight.” She sniffed, though her eyes flicked nervously between her increasingly uncomfortable extensions and the gem holding them.
“Trust me- they tried.” His teeth flashed in a cruel smile, before his mouth returned to a snarl. “Now unless you want to be ground into a green powder, you’re going to show me where he is.”
Chilled, her fear burned away into outrage.
“You mean that sorry excuse of a Ruby Guard? Ugh, why do you even care so much?” Glowering, she rolled her eyes as she resumed her struggling. “You act like you can’t function with out him, which- based on the stated of the brig- is hardly the case.”
“Are you seriously going to make me-” His head snapped up as he heard the screech of bare feet sliding to a stop. Whipping over, he saw him.
In tact. Unharmed. And mirroring the shocked expression on his own face.
“RUKO!” Tossing the Peridot to the side, he bounded through the doors to his other half.
“Amko?” Confusion. And then, delighted. “AMKO!”
Who made it to who first it was impossible to tell. The brothers collided, Amko sent rolling back as he hugged him tight. Burrying his face in his chest, Ruko was rambling incomprehensibly.
Only years of exposure to Ruko would allow one to decipher the jumble mess of words, which Amko had in spades.
“It’s okay- I’m here.” He murmured, enveloping the smaller gem in a hug as he stroked his hair. “I’ve got you.”
It was as easy as breathing, fusing was. A moment the Amko and Ruko were an the floor, the next, Kaio was landing on his feet, hugging himself with a wide grin.
Tears drying, he straightened, rolling his shoulders.
“Alright.” Cracking his neck, his hair shifted into a pony tail as his war helmet formed. “Let’s find the others.”
