Initially, she looked very different, having been looking like a regular dog with extra steps, taking inspiration from a german shepherd.
This was the design that best fit her, obviously inspired by the creature Cerberus.
The different gem placements were suggested by @dimonds456, to indicate whose controlling which set of hands (ruby controls the front paws, sapphire controls the middle set)
She essentially acts as a sentry dog, usually very calm and quiet. Her character in this AU is one of the most fascinating and we're excited to be able to explore her character as the story progresses!
This design was of course based on the canon show's corrupted quartzes, as amethyst is a quartz herself.
She's the most aggressive out of the monster CGs. Very territorial and will chase down even the smallest of critters, driving them out of her home (the Prime Kindergarten).
Her whiptail is hidden under her fluffy tail, becuz its easier to draw her with a fluffy tail. The whips can extend however long she wants. The tail can also make a rattling sound, warning others to get off her property.
She can also still spin dash with great speed, making her very dangerous.
Amethyst who was once a laid-back friend, now has become an aggressive monster. How will Steven deal with this? Great question! Amethyst will certainly be a fun one to write in this AU.
Corrupted Ruby and Sapphire designs by @artsycooky13
These two have completely different vibes if you couldn't tell. Ruby is based off a bull and Sapphire... well she's just your sleep paralysis demon (the eye just suited her for some reason).
Ruby's furnace face thing can change depending on her mood, so it's a good tell tale sign whether to approach her or not.
Ruby is the more aggressive in terms of territorial behavior, usually around Sapphire of course. Sapphire herself is very defensive, using her ice powers to protect herself.
One angry bull and one demon, put them together and you get... a dog somehow... This will be interesting to see.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Doomed Corruption: Prologue
Peridot growled, slamming her limb enhancers on the table in rage. She could only watch as they destroyed both her extended touch stump bases, smashing them to bits. These “Crystal Gems,” whoever they were, were a menace. She could only sit there in anger as she watched the defective amethyst slam the extended touch stump base into the main power crystal in the center of the far wall.
“I’M REPORTING THIS,” she shouted. “YOU HEAR ME!? You all have-”
Then her feed cut out, meaning they only heard part of her rant.
Grumbling, Peridot minimized the live feed, which had since turned to static. She read her log over again, correcting a few errors in the text. That voice reader technology was still a work in progress, and whatever that “Steven” was, the reader didn’t recognize its voice as well as it could with gems.
Well. At least he’d given her something to work with. She looked at the list of humans he’d given her, wondering what “Sadie”s looked like, or “Lars”s or “Onion I Think”s. That one, in particular, sounded odd, but the Steven should know better than she would.
Why had those Crystal Gems defended that Steven? Was it important in some way?
Ug. Whatever. She had better things to do than wonder about some random organic species on a doomed planet, anyway.
She growled. Those Crystal Gems were going to be a problem. If only one of her plug robonoids made it to the Kindergarten, that could only mean they destroyed the rest. Just like her Red Eye. Or the Homeworld warp. Or the robonoids sent to repair the Homeworld warp.
Who were they? The way the pearl spoke, they seemed to think themselves as important. The pearl shouting “WE ARE STILL ALIVE” rang in Peridot’s ears. It sounded like it meant something.
She had to know. Setting aside her log, she stood up and stormed over to the nearest warp pad. One quick flash of light later and a short journey, she was standing in front of the Homeworld hall of records.
The building was large, holding data logs and reports that dated up to nearly 20,000 years ago, when the technology and gem glyph were first fabricated. Some logs had been written on physical material, like old stones, and were starting to fall apart with age. Gems were working to translate what they could into more modern technology, but for some of those ancient logs, it was too late.
Not what she was looking for, anyway. The logs were sorted by year. Pink Diamond owned Earth, and she was shattered just over 5,000 years ago. Peridot started there first.
There were a few other gems mingling about, but none questioned her present. Even though she had no business being there, they left her alone, assuming she was doing research assigned to her rather than coming here on her own curiosity. She should be okay as long as no one asked her anything.
The Cluster, which she did extended research on, was implanted in the Earth shortly after Pink had been shattered, with a few hundred years difference. It had been commissioned by Yellow Diamond, and took several hundred years to assemble. Once it was done, it had to incubate for a thousand times longer than a normal, average gem, meaning it incubated for 5,000 years. This was all old information to Peridot.
What she didn’t ever think to question was why the Cluster was planted in the first place.
A rebellion. Rose Quartz- she’d heard of her, but never knew she had an ARMY- and her renegade pearl. A thousand years of fighting. A second Kindergarten (where apparently the perfect Jasper was made from, amazingly). Fusions running rampant. It was a nightmare.
So that’s who they were. Traitors to their Homeworld, and allies of those who shattered Pink Diamond.
Shoving the tablet in her hands away from her, Peridot ran out of the records hall. She rushed to the nearest communicator, typing in her command as fast as possible. She earned a couple of looks from nearby gems, but once she hurriedly explained the Crystal Gems and their status on Earth, they became just as horrified.
Yellow Diamond had to know.
-
Yellow read and reread the report. The Crystal Gems were still alive. There was no way. It had to be a mistake. And she knew that the incompetent Peridot who wrote the report would not be let off easily for this mistake. She would see to that.
“My Diamond,” her pearl called out, “the Peridot you requested has arrived.”
Without looking at her, Yellow simply nodded. “Step forward.”
There was a beat of silence. During it, Yellow reread the report again. There was no way.
“...My Diamond?” the peridot asked nervously.
Yellow sighed, then finally looked her way. She moved only her eyes, and watched as the peridot stiffened under her gaze. “What.”
“Um...” the peridot was shaking badly. “Y-you asked... to see me?”
“Yes. I did.” Turning fully to her now, Yellow gave her a long glare. “Tell me, what makes you think the Crystal Gems are still alive on Earth?”
The peridot straightened. “I am the peridot assigned to check up on the Cluster, My Diamond, but all of my equipment kept getting destroyed. Most recently, one of my plug robonoids successfully made it to the Kindergarten, which was immediately destroyed by three gems and a ‘Steven.’ I tried to fight them, but they destroyed the facility’s base touch stumps and cut the power.”
Yellow hummed. “What makes you so sure they were Crystal Gems?”
“Th-they told me!” Peridot pulled up her log, flipping through them as if to re-verify this information for herself. “The pearl announced ‘because we are the Crystal Gems. We are still alive and we are still the guardians of this planet.’ I, um,” she looked around nervously, as if she were about to get in trouble, “I’d never heard of the Crystal Gems before she told me herself.”
Yellow’s glare became a frown. “What gems did you see?”
“A defective amethyst, a pearl, and a cross fusion.”
Yellow stiffened. Those definitely sounded like defective gems that would have become a part of Rose’s army. But.... She squinted. “Did you see a rose quartz?”
Peridot looked around for a second, before squeaking out a weak “...No?”
Great. “That means she either got destroyed in our attack, or she split off from the group you encountered, meaning there could be more.”
“My Diamond?”
“Great. Perfect! All these years, and they’re still out there!” Yellow stood up abruptly, slamming her hand on the arm of her chair. The peridot jumped and scuttled backward a few steps, but forced herself to remain still afterward.
Yellow ignored her. She stomped forward a few paces, hand clenched at her side, the other waving around animatedly. “I don’t understand. Our attack should have destroyed all gems on Earth. How did- WHY did her army survive?”
Before the peridot could answer, Yellow had stormed back over to her chair. She snatched up the Diamond Line communicator, rotating it so the two blue triangles aligned. After a moment of wait, Blue Diamond appeared on-screen.
She was wiping her eyes (because of course she was), trying her best to look presentable. “Oh, Yellow,” she greeted less-than-animatedly. “It’s good to speak with you again. Tell me, is something going on?”
“Yes, I’m afraid there is.” Yellow looked around, then noted the peridot still standing there. She shot her a look of fire as if she were the source of all of Yellow’s problems. “You there! You’re dismissed. Leave my chambers at once!”
The peridot jumped again, quickly slapped together some form of a solute, then shot out the door before Yellow could do much else.
Now that they were alone once again, Yellow sighed. She pressed two fingers together on the bridge of her nose, trying not to lose her cool. “Blue. I have received terrible news.”
Blue cringed. “...Yes, Yellow? What is it?”
She steeled herself before saying; “...the Crystal Gems are still alive.”
“WHAT?!” Blue shot up, standing now. Her icy look could have shot Yellow through the gem had it been aimed at her. “Yellow, there’s no way! We destroyed them!”
“I KNOW!” Yellow shouted back. “But I have a transcript of the report. I read it. Multiple times.”
Blue started to tear up again. “Oh, no, Pink...” she sobbed. “All of these years, we thought we’d avenged you...”
“Apparently not,” Yellow growled. “And I want to see to it that we finish the job.”
“But of course!” Blue glared at Yellow. “What else are we to do, sit here and continue on while knowing they’re still out there?!”
“Yes, exactly.” Yellow stood up straighter, trying to regain her cool. “I’ll send a message to White. Now I just need to convince her to join us. She’ll likely tell us to just wait for the Cluster to emerge.”
“Well, that should do it,” Blue mused, “but I’d feel much better in doing the damage myself.”
“Agreed.” Yellow closed her eyes, definitely keeping her anger in check enough to think rationally. “I will get on that immediately.”
“You better.” Blue looked away. “We leave as soon as we can.”
Yellow gave Blue a single nod. Then, the communicator went dark, and Blue’s image disappeared.
