#blue agate!edith

[pirate-autobot]

The Experiment: Ch. 20

Sorry for the long wait. Had to deal with a creative slump.

But the slump is over! Unlike the troubles George and Harold have to face...

The Captain Underpants gem au is by @angerydj

Everything was going great. They had control over their principal. Every infant gems dream! It became a nightmare for George in Harold in ways they could not have foreseen. Even with clarity.

The children began to leave their homerooms for their first classes of the day. One might have spotted a dash of red with black spots be pulled into the abandoned music room. But he shrugged it off and went on his way.

Meanwhile, George and Harold, making sure the door was closed, were stressed out by the gem standing in front of them. Captain Underpants glanced around the room in awe. It was a treasure trove of human instruments.

And he wanted to play them all!

He picked up a cello, then turned it upside down, strumming it and humming a song. It wasn’t working for him. So he found a flute and blew it sharply. Even he was surprised by the sound that came out. He tossed it to the side and found a small metal instrument.

“A triangle?” He asked, holding it up by the string. With the tiny metal rod, he tapped it, letting out a ‘ding’. Captain Underpants smiled and excitedly kept playing with the triangle.

He looked over at the boys, but they were still unhappy. They looked around the classroom and noticed a crude sketch of an angry egg with hair and pants hanging on the wall. Then they looked at their friend.

“Is something the matter?” Captain Underpants asked

“Yeah uh...” George started. He looked to Harold who shrugged. With a sigh, he stepped forward.

“Do you think you... can you even... what I want to ask is...” the young gem continued, unsure of how to say what he wants to say. Harold rolled his eye.

“Can you shapeshift?” He asked for his friend

“Oh!” Captain Underpants started, surprised at the question.

“I was getting to that.” George whispered

“Well, It has been a long time.” Came the older gems response as he put the triangle down.

He stretched his arms over his head, rolled his shoulders and his neck, then shook his hands.

“Hoo.” Captain Underpants said to himself, “Think of it, then twist, and...” he twisted himself and turned around, turning into a double of George standing proudly. He still managed to wear his cape.

“Does my hair really look like that from the back?” George asked, walking around his doppelgänger. “Meh. Better than the afro.”

“That’s awesome!” Harold commented

“I’ve still got it.” Captain Underpants said before changing back to his regular form. George and Harold looked pleased.

“Okay. Now do you think you can turn into this guy?” George asked, turning into Mr. Krupp.

And once more that day, something happened that neither of them could have predicted.

Captain Underpants’ smile slowly fell seeing the gem in front of him. He looked surprised, and worried. He remained like that for a full minute.

He... felt things he had not felt before. Perhaps he did, but didn’t remember. He thought of a gem like him, but not him. The other agate was tougher, but still was loving and soft when he wanted to be. He would reach out and hold his face and,

“Captain Underpants?” George said, pulling his face put of the agates hands.

“Are you okay?” Harold asked. Captain Underpants looked away, shaking his head.

What was he doing? He was a superhero! Act like it!

“Y-yes boys.” He replied

“Why are you crying?” The sapphire asked, feeling a chill in the room.

The red agate was confused by the question. Then he realized his cheeks were wet. He rubbed them away with his fist and put his best smile on. There was no need to make either gem worry over him.

“Nothing to fear. All is well.” He said confidently. He closed his eyes and turned into Mr. Krupp. “Is this right?” His hair was a little messier, but everything was right on.

“Perfect! We just need you to act like our principal, Mr. Krupp.” George explained

“He’s your alter-ego.” Harold added

“Yeah, you pretend to be him while you’re not protecting the colony.” George added

“Krupp? My name is... Krupp?” Captain Underpants asked with a chuckle

“Yeah yeah, and we need to get you to your office.” George said

“Wait. We need you to take your cape off first.” Harold said

Captain Underpants gasped and held on to the fabric wrapped around his neck.

“Come on! You can keep it, but Mr. Krupp doesn’t wear a cape.”  Harold said

The agate gulped then slowly unwrapped the cape. He held it in front of him and carefully folded it up as small as he could, slipping it into his back pocket when he was done.

“Let’s see if the coast is clear.” Harold said to his friend. While the two stood by the door, opening it a crack, Captain Underpants looked down at his hands with a frown.

“Something’s missing.” He whispered

This felt so wrong. He rubbed his arms and closed his eyes. His gem started aching. His hands felt hot. He pulled them up to his face. His palms were glowing. He shook them, trying to make the heat go away. Thankfully it worked.

“Right, principal Krupp?” Harold asked

“Principal who?” Captain Underpants asked, not paying attention to a single thing the boys were saying.

“Captain Underpants, get out here.” George said

The agate looked out to the hall. There were a few infant gems loitering. He felt a tug on his hand that came from George leading him down the hall. He smiled at the infants that passed by. But they all looked away, as if they were scared.

“Are you two certain I need this form?” He asked

“Yes. Absolutely. Now act like a principal.” Harold said sternly

“Right!” Captain Underpants said, before leaning down to his sidekicks, “Um, how does a principal act?”

“MEAN.” They answered in unison

“Okey-dokey.” Captain Underpants responded. He spotted to young girls walking in their direction.

And he promptly roared at them. He roared at a gem walking up the staircase. He roared at a gem who was drinking water, who spat it back out.

“I’M A PRINCIPAL RAAAAGH!” Captain Underpants bellowed

“That’s great!” Harold snickered

“Perfect!” George giggled

They both dragged the red agate to his office, but all three were surprised by the gem waiting in front of the door.

“Oh hi guys, it’s me. Edith.” She said, “Did you like my tuna casserole?”

She was radiant. Luminous! The prettiest blue agate he had ever seen. He wanted to help her, he wanted to dance with her, he wanted to be with her!

... that seemed familiar...

But he didn’t know what casserole she was referring to. He wasn’t even sure if he was the kind of gem that actually ate food.

“Hm. I can not lie. I don’t recall having your tuna casserole.” He answered. She looked downtrodden by the fact. “But if your casserole was as beautiful as your one blue eye.” This surprised her. Her spots seemed to glow in response.

“Oh. You noticed.” She said, pushing the hair that covered her other eye away.

“Oh my. Two blue eyes!” Captain Underpants said. She was even prettier with two eyes.

“Uh, Edith, we kind of...” Harold said, pointing at the door to their principals office.

“Oh. Sorry to block you out. I’ll go to the cafeteria, prepare the food.” Edith said, gushing and walking backwards.

“And I am certain everything will be delicious!” Captain Underpants called back. Both of the boys looked at each other with grossed out expressions. It was because of the flirting, and of the horrible food Edith prepared. It wasn’t her fault though. The food was just awful.

Captain Underpants stood in front of the door. Noticing the keypad he leaned down and studied the numbers.

“Now do either of you know-“ he started

“8197.” They answered in unison.

“Ah yes!” Said the gem before keying in the code. He opened the door and took a step inside of his office, then stepped back out, closing the door behind him. The boys started leaving, but quickly turned around at the sound.

“Uh guys, there’s a gem in there.” He said, looking very nervous suddenly.

“What?” George asked. He opened the door to a watermelon tourmaline standing by the window. The spike like gem on his face shined in the light.

“Hi there!” He said. George closed the door.

“So? Go in there and talk to him!” He said

“You’re the principal!” Harold added

“I didn’t think I’d see him, though.” Captain Underpants said

Which was strange to all three of them. While both the infants didn’t recall every meeting the tourmaline before, Captain Underpants felt a strange nagging in the back of his head. It yelled curses at the small gem and told Captain to punt him into the sun. It was concerning.

“You still have to go see him!” George said

“Yeah! We’ll go with you!” Harold added. George gave him a look, to which the sapphire just shrugged. May as well.

“Okay,” Captain Underpants said, clenching and unclenching his warm hands, “I got this.”

[pirate-autobot]

The Experiment: Ch. 14

A chance encounter with Blue Agate, an additional name, and an obedient drone.

The Captain Underpants gem au is by @angerydj

“We’ll be fine here.”

A red light shined on the cave wall.

“Are you sure?”

A pink light shined next to him.

“Nobody leaves the colony. We’ll be safe here.”

“What if we’re caught?” 

“If they try separating us, I’ll shatter any gem that gets in the way. Nobody will tear us apart.” They held each other hands...

Monday. 

The day he would break up George and Harold, no, they were Red Zircon and Yellow Sapphire. Red Agate felt ecstatic about the fact. But a part of him, that annoying, stupid part, it was sad. Remorseful.

He would not let that get in the way of his victory. He will have order in his school. Starting with the separation of those two.

He could have filed and filled out the forms at any time between Saturday and the moment he walked into his office on Monday. He had to do it in front of them. He wanted to see all of their hopes and dreams die in their eyes. He wanted them to suffer as much as he could make them. He wanted...

The drone bumped into him. Red Agate rolled his eyes, stopping at the door to his office. Melvin explained that it would stay with him at all time until it was imprinted by another’s gem. 

It was so clingy. It was... it was nice.

It made Red Agate... happy?... to have something to look after other than his reef. Granted it’s only been a couple days. At least the drone obeyed his commands. Unlike SOME GEMS.

“Ugh, that reminds me.” He groaned

Red Agate pulled out his data pad. He almost forgot he still needed to send out a message to the colony and council looking for a new science teacher.

“And sent.” He said to himself

When he looked up from the pad, he had the shock of his life. A certain gem had snuck up on him and waited in silence for him to finish his task. Thankfully that gem was the prettiest gem in the whole school. So Red Agate tried to calm himself down after the fright.

“Blue Agate.” He said

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you. I hope you can forgive me.” She said, feeling guilty and holding something in her hands, “I should go.” She took a couple steps away.

“Uh, no! Blue! It’s okay, I was just um, so, hi.” Red Agate said. He slid his pad back into his pocket and picked up the drone, tucking it under his left arm.

“What brings you around here?” He asked

“It’s just that... I was preparing a recipe for the infants, and I wondered if other gems liked eating food. Then I accidentally made this tuna casserole, with your name on it, in jalapeño peppers.” Blue Agate explained

Instead of ‘Red Agate’, the peppers spelt ‘Krupp’. But Red Agate leaned forward and smelled the dish. He was suddenly at a loss for what flavors food had. He wasn’t a gem to eat food, but he has tried a few small bits here and there.

“Smells, uh... Spicy.” He said, hoping that was the right word. Blue Agate nodded her head, a smile tugging on the corner of her lips.

“That’s because it’s it’s been dry aged for a week.” She explained

“I don’t know what that means but it sounds time consuming.” Red Agate responded with a nervous smile.

“It took a week.” Blue Agate responded. Red Agate kept smiling while his mind raced for something else to say. 

Anything! Don’t stand there looking like a fool! This isn’t working. Get out! Get out with some dignity left in tact!

“Well, I guess... I should get back to work. School’s not going to run itself!” Red Agate said, retreating to his office. He sighed in relief. He looked down at the drone he still held. Wait, where’d that food Blue make go? He made the drone hand on to his leg beneath his pants and opened the door, but she was gone.

“Wait! Blue! You never gave me that tuna casserole!” He called out, running in the direction of the cafeteria. He managed to catch up to her just outside of it.

“Oh. Are you sure? You don’t have to if you don’t eat.” Blue Agate said

“I uh, I’m willing to try it.” Red started

Especially if I took was made by you! Say it!!

“Especially if you made by... it.” He blurted out.

“What?” Blue asked

“Nothing!” Red Agate quickly said before gently taking the casserole dish from Blue, “I’m just going to... put this in the teacher lounge... than bring it home. Thank you Blue Agate.”

“It’s Edith, actually. That’s the name Harold and George gave me.” Blue Agate explained

Edith. Her name is Edith.

“And I’ve been meaning to ask you,” She started again, pulling Red Agate from his thoughts.

“Ask me? Uh, what?” He asked, nervously.

“Most humans have two names. I mean, I know we gems have one name, but if a human is called ‘mister’ or ‘missus’, than they have a first and last name. I know your last name is Krupp, but what is your first?” Edith asked

Two names? Why do humans need two names? What’s the point? And why can’t Krupp be my first name? Come on think! What humans do you actually like? Let’s see... Guggenheim, Banneker, Butler, no wait Franklin! That’s it!

“It’s Benjamin.” Red Agate responded

“Hm. Benjamin Krupp. Has a nice ring.” Edith said before walking into the cafeteria, closing the door behind her.

He was alone. He put a hand on his gem.

“Edith.” He whispered. He sighed with a smile on his face. 

He felt himself heat up slightly. It was nice not to burn anything in his path. Thankfully, the infants were all in their classes. They would not see him redder than usual, walking down the hall to his office.

The high of talking to Edith suddenly wore off when he saw his door slightly open. Two little whispering voices soon reached his ears as he carefully walked closer. But Red Agate still felt the drone hanging on to his leg. 

He walked in without them noticing. They were looking over the cabinet drawer where he kept all of their confiscated goods. Red Agate silently closed the door then clicked his heels together. The two jumped and turned around, clinging to their comics.

“Well, if it isn’t George the red zircon and Harold yellow sapphire.” He said confidently, he pulled a chair up, “To what do I owe the pleasure?” He put his foot on it. “Is it, perhaps, this?” He lifted up his pant leg to show the drone still hanging on.

“Oh no.” The zircon sighed

“Nice try.” Red Agate said with a smirk, “Melvin had the bright idea to make it smart enough to be imprinted on by gems. He never leaves my side.” He picked up the drone and put it on his desk.

“That poor turtle.” The sapphire whispered

“Everyone, sit.” Red Agate said

On a shelf were various datapads for various duties. Red Agate picked out the one he needed and slapped it down on his desk. The infants were sitting in their chairs, while the drone and stack of comics were sitting on his desk. All was as it should be. 

But it wasn’t perfect yet. It will be soon!

“Do you know what this is for?” Red Agate asked, holding up the pad. The boys were too scared to answer. “Why this is the form that seperates you. I can actually see the end of your friendship.” The infants gasped “And it ends right here,” he picked up a stylus from its holder, “on this dotted line.”

“George! Do something!” Said the yellow sapphire

The gem “Yellow Sapphire” will be transferred to another classroom to be determined by “Benjamin Kru-” Red Agate scribbled out his human name and wrote Red Agate.

“Put that stylus down Mr. Krupp!” Red Agate looked up to a swirling red and white patterned ring on the finger of George, “Or we’ll hypnotise you!”

[pirate-autobot]

The Experiment: Ch. 4

Sometimes when you clean up, you find some things you have forgotten, and suffer the consequences of forgetting.

The Captain Underpants gem au is by @angerydj

Nine months came, and nine months left. The infant gems were finally “born”. The experiment can properly begin.

And a new chaos began in its wake.

Despite Citrine and all of the other scientist gems providing everyone with the necessary information for caring for the infants, nobody was prepared. Especially when they were crying.

With all the noise in the colony, Red Agate was thankful he had a place just outside.

Another unfortunate side effect of the experiment was that Citrine was constantly bragging about her raising of her orange peridot. That was something Red Agate especially hated about the experiment. At least now he wasn’t the only one.

But with the birth of the infant gems, it meant Red Agate actually had to start getting to work on the school.

Him and the other teachers at long last entered the building. And set out to clean everything up. The day started out simple enough.

The building used to be a hospital of sorts where gems could tend to whatever cracks in their gems and damages to their forms that were too much to handle. The outdated equipment was salvaged, upgraded, and relocated. Walls had to be knocked down to make a few classrooms bigger.

Lining the walls were lockers made for the gems to store extra supplies they may need. A lone peridot was programming all of them each with a unique code for the gem that it would belong to.

Red Agate stopped at one door. It had a hand scanner above a small console. Either put in the access code, or put your hand up. He put his left hand on the scanner. Nothing happened. He took it off and wiped the old pad clean and repeated the process. Nothing happened. He growled and kicked the door a few times before someone cleared their throat behind him. A bismuth. Red Agate watched the gem walk towards him, put her hand on the pad, and the door unlocked and slid open. Red Agate grumbled as he entered the room.

It was an office of sorts. Everything needed to be dusted, but everything he would need was already there. 

There was something familiar about the room. Red Agate was certain he had never been to Earth before. But after the time he had spent there already, he was not sure anymore. He walked to the large window taking up the far wall. It gave him a view of the courtyard in the center of the school. He imagined watching the young gems running around.

He imagined gem soldiers in their spots.

“Look at them down there.” Said Onyx, “Pathetic. I know you can sort them out.”

“Yes sir.” Red Agate said. He noticed an agate like him. His gem was in a similar shape in the the same spot as his. But he was different. He smiled and greeted every gem he passed by.

He was different...

“Do we need to make it bigger?”

“Huh?” Red Agate asked

“The room. Do we need to make it bigger?” The bismuth asked

“Don’t touch this room.” Red Agate snapped “It’ll be my office.”

“Sure thing.” The bismuth said, realizing she wasn’t needed.

Onyx. Red Agate remembered Onyx. The gem was his superior. One of the toughest gems ever made.

He told him to keep gems in line. And he did. But then, there was another Red Agate. He was like him, but different. He wore a cape...

Another...

Red Agate shook his head, hoping to clear his mind. It worked for the time being. He joined the other gems walking through the hall. A couple peridots were handling the wires and tech around the school, two bismuths were knocking down walls and building new ones. Red Agate made his way downstairs and found a large space with tables and in the far corner was Blue Agate. 

He felt his spots glow as his face heated up.

She was hauling giant canisters into a space in the far corner of the room. When she started struggling Red Agate ran to her rescue. 

“Uh hey! Hi!” He said as she dropped the canister in its rightful spot.

“Oh! Hi there. You’re the red agate from the ship, right?” Blue Agate asked

“Ye-yeah, eh ah. Um, I was wondering do, uh, do you need any help?” He asked

“I think I’ve got a handle on this.” Blue Agate walked in the back. “But... if you want... I know I could use help with-oh.” When she came back with a drum under each arm. Red Agate was gone.

He was panting just outside of the room. Stars, she was beautiful. How was he going to talk to her? How? HOW?!

He groaned as he walked away from the school and out of the colony. The entire way. He stopped before the spot of fusion.

They were breaking the law, whoever fused here. He growled and stomped over to the dusty ground. No gems needed to get any big ideas. He made to kick away the and, but found himself stopping.

No... please....

“You are not real!” He yelled to the ceiling. “Whoever you are, or were, or whatever, I am the agate in charge!” 

Whatever voice he heard didn’t talk back. Good! He showed it! Whatever the voice was, it was giving him a headache. His hands heated up and he ground his teeth together. He continue doing his walk and groan out to the beach. His groaning stopped when he finally made it to the coral reef. Perhaps this would brighten up his day.

He had read a few of the human books on ichthyology. He looked at all the fish.

“Damselfish,” he said noticing one, “Yellow tang. Oh, a seahorse.” He knelt down and noticed an ugly fish on the ocean floor. He struggled with the name, but remembered it eventually.

“Toadfish.” He said, giving the bottomdweller a poke. It opened its mouth and let out a sound. It was like a cross between a hum and a whistle, but it was LOUD. 

Red Agate stood up and covered his ears, ready to stomp the fish. A high pitched squeal made him look up. Dolphins. A pod of them. They swam gracefully above him. Occasionally they dipped down to get a fish snack.

Interesting creatures.

Having calmed down, he returned to the land. He looked back at the water. At his reflection. He cracked a smile.

What?

He chased the retreating water to get a better look. He opened his mouth. He ran over them with his tongue. He knew he had sharp teeth, but they weren’t that sharp before!

He retreated back to the colony, to the gem hospital. It wasn’t ready yet. So he went to the science district. Hopefully a gem(not Citrine) would have a reason for why this happened to him.

“Fascinating,” the tanzanite said, for the seventh time. Red Agate sighed with his mouth open, taping his fingers on the table he sat on. “Really. It’s just... fascinating.”

“I get it! I’m fascinating! But why!” Red Agate yelled, jumping off the table.

“... I don’t know.” Tanzanite said bluntly

“Have you tried changing forms to make them change back?” Another voice cut in.

Across the lab, a hunk of machinery was being carried by a short watermelon tourmaline. His gem looked like a magenta green spike in place of his right eye. A monocle in a similar shape and shade covered his left eye.

“You think I would not have tried that first?” Red Agate asked, running a hand through his hair.

“Ha! You’re an agate! Sometimes I’m not sure how smart you guys are!” Said the tourmaline, dropping his tech to approach the two gems.

“Hey! Hey,” Tanzanite held her hands up, standing in between. “Calm down, the both of you. P, don’t you have something better to do? Anywhere else?” The tourmaline crossed his arms. He scoffed and finally left.

“P?” Red Agate asked, taking a seat on the table again.

“An unfortunate designation caused him to reduce it to P.” Tanzanite explained with a sigh. “Now. If your form is not giving you any trouble, other than your teeth, then we need to go to the core of the problem.” Tanzanite pulled up a chair and stared at the unshapely gem. “I have never seen a gem like that before. A very strange shape.” She looked up at Red Agate, expecting some kind of explanation. Begrudgingly, she finally got it.

“It was an accident. I can’t remember anything before it.” He said, looking away.

“Are you sure about that?” Tanzanite questioned, tapping the gem.

“I get flashes of... something. Memories, hallucinations, something, but nothing makes sense.” Red Agate added quickly, waving his left hand to swat hers away.

“Do you remember... any gems?” Tanzanite asked

“I’m not doing this.” Red Agate said, sliding off the table.

“So, I would take that as a no? Or do you remember, but it was bad memories?” Tanzanite called after him. Red Agate froze at the door.  His shoulders slumped with a sigh. This was going to be painful. As if the day couldn’t get any worse.

“Don’t tell anyone about this. Or I’ll shatter you with my bare hands.” Red Agate growled.

“Got it.” Came Tanzanites fearful response

“An onyx.” He said. “Not just any onyx. He was my leader. Taught me everything I know for teaching gems everything they know. There were training gems, and one stood out. I also remember a peridot when I woke up. I remember Citrine when she...” he paused

He was on the ground. Mechanics were sparking. She knelt by him.

Everything hurt. His gem hurt. Something was missing. Everything felt hot. Too hot.

“They appear stable.” She said

What was missing? It was important.

I’m here! I’m here!

I... I can’t...

I’m right here!!!

“Sneedly. That clumping clod!” Red Agate yelled

“Eat everything up.” Citrine said, holding a spoon in front of her peridots mouth. He opened up to eat it all. “I know how much you like your supplements, but I have had to hold back. Just to make sure the other infant gems catch up.”

“CITRIIIIINE!” Came a bellow that shook her home.

Citrine sighed and stood. 

“Pearl? Please be ready in case I need you.” She said

Citrine stood in front of her door. She adjusted her visor and waited. Stomping footsteps slowly made their way here. The door was pulled out of its jamb. A hot fist was wrapped around Citrines neck. She felt her feet lift off the ground.

“You have some explaining to do, bub.” Red Agate growled

“It seems I do. Before that,” Citrine started, pushing something into Red Agates gut. He looked down at the inactive destabilizer in her hands. “You might want to cool down first.” Citrine was put down on the floor, but his hand was still wrapped around her neck.

“What am I to you? Am I just another experiment?!” Red Agate asked. “Answer me!” Citrine stared up at him. Unafraid and unyielding.

“Yes.” She said, her voice steady. “It was an experiment and a punishment for you. I was part of it, but not the leader.”

“What did you do to me?!” Red Agate asked, his voice laced with desperation. His eyes burned, his fists burned, everything burned. And he wanted Citrine to do the same. Everything felt hotter than fire and he wanted the gem in front of him to melt in it. But her firm expression slowly morphed into one of confusion.

“You... don’t know. You don’t remember.” She said, “Fascinating.”

“Say fascinating one more time!” Red Agate yelled

“Let go of Citrine.” Came anothers voice. Red Agate looked to his right. An orange tinted pearl pushed another inactive destabilizer into his side.

“A Pearl? You don’t deserve him.” Red Agate said, finally letting go.

“He is brilliant and helpful. More than I can say about you.” Citrine commented. Pearl moved to her side, taking her hand.

“Pearl, listen to me. Do as I say.” Citrine said, despite not looking away from Red Agate. She stepped closer and activated the destabilizer.

“I would advise against this.” Pearl commented

“Pearl.” She said, “I need you to take my gem and bubble it. Do not release me until Red Agate returns to apologize for his actions. That should give you more than enough time to figure things out for yourself.” 

She turned the destabilizer around and jammed it into her own chest. The yellow grid lines climbed up and around her body. She didn’t scream, but instead looked into Red Agates eyes.

In a puff of smoke, her gem fell to the ground. Pearl scooped it up into a bubble. It was then the volcano, full of pent up fire and anger, finally exploded.