A/N: I meant to have this up DAYS AGO. Anyway, here's the first part to a story series I've always wanted to do ever since I made my Gem OCs. I hope to keep this up for a while, but we'll see. :) (Also, I wasn't sure if it's enough to be considered a warning, but uhhh slight slight warning for dysphoria.)

Original word count: 1457

All Gems had a purpose.

Lapis Lazulis spent their time terraforming host planets into something the Homeworld could use. Agates curated important buildings and locations and were downright terrifying when keeping their subordinates in line. Pearls were servants, simple as that. Rubies guarded, Sapphires foresaw, and Diamonds ruled.

And Hematites? They were warriors. Mercenaries that were always available in high supply and just as easy to call upon when a battle needed to be fought. When there were no wars, they performed glorious fights in front of hundreds of upper class Gems as gladiators. They were perfect, ready-made, free-to-use soldiers.

He hated everything about that, so much so that the very thought made him grind his teeth.

There were games today that his troop was scheduled to fight in, but he was already riled up as it was. Everything was always the same for Hematites. Wait for the call, fight for the entertainment of other, more elite Gems, and then do nothing while they waited again. He'd talked about this the other day with the only other Gem he considered a friend, a talkative Fluorite pilot (all Fluorites were pilots, but they weren't supposed to be talkative), and even then he was just as upset as he was now. Wait, fight, nothing. A cycle that repeated itself over and over again, and for what? Nobody ever comforted them if they lost a battle, nor did they ever get congratulated if they won, unless it was from a fellow Hematite. But those upper class Gems? They would never care what happened to them unless they didn't fight.

And that was exactly what he was planning. He wasn't going to fight today.

"So, what?" a fellow Hematite, 2XJ, confronted him when he wasn't moving with the rest of them. He didn't like 2XJ all that much. She always thought she was the boss. "You're just going to sit here all day?"

"That ain't a problem, XJ," 5XR interjected, grinning widely as she grappled the closest Hematite in a playful headlock. "All the more glory for the rest of us!"

"Yeah, see?" he answered, waving a hand in 5XR's direction. "I'm not stopping you from having your fun. Nobody will care if I'm not there."

"Nobody except the top Gem. C'mon, XF, you're gonna get us in trouble."

"But think about it, XJ! Those noble Gems–they don't care if we win or lose, they're just here to get excited! Doesn't that bother–"

"Now, what is going on in here?"

Hematite 3XF was interrupted by a familiar, dreaded voice. Every Gem in the room snapped to attention. 5XR quickly let go of the Hematite she was holding and fixed her hair. Even 3XF himself stood up from where he was lounging, but he didn't bother to hold up the salute his fellow Hematites gave as the new Gem stormed in.

She was an Agate, a Zebra Agate, the keeper of the Battlefield on this side of the planet. Like all Agates, she was uptight and near tyrannical towards the Hematites under her command, but although they dreaded her presence it didn't stop them from making fun of her when she wasn't aware. In fact, the way that her hair was done made them coin the nickname "top Gem," but they wouldn't be caught shattered calling her that to her face.

Regardless of all this, of all the very few Gems he knew, 3XF hated her the most.

"Well?" the Agate demanded, her eyes darting from one Hematite to the next. "Is one of you going to tell me why you lot neither have your weapons ready or are on your way to the field?"

As if on cue, every Hematite in the room summoned their weapon, as though that could keep her wrath from growing. 3XF reached a hand to his Gem, on the left side of his head where his undercut was, and pulled his double-bladed battle axe. He stuck the end in the ground and let it lean against him.

The summoning of weapons, however, was undoubtedly not enough to answer Zebra Agate's question. To no one's surprise, it was 2XJ who stepped forward to her and blurted out the problem.

"3XF is refusing to enter the arena today. She says she's tired of it."

"Is that so?" Zebra Agate turned to face him, and it took all he had not to flinch under her stern gaze. "Care to explain yourself, 3XF?"

He clenched his teeth, seething momentarily before he answered. He really did not like 2XJ. "It's just as 2XJ said. I don't want to go out today. I'm tired of fighting for no reason."

"It is not for no reason," the Agate countered. A flare of annoyance within Hematite 3XF threatened to boil over into anger. "We have the glorious honor of performing for Her Clarities..."

She rattled on, but Hematite 3XF was no longer listening. He was too mad, his grip tightening around his battle axe further and further as his gaze bounced between Zebra Agate and 2XJ. One was a fellow fighter who did not share the same views as he did and felt it necessary to reprimand him for thinking differently. The other was a superior, exercising her authority over others by punishing them. Diamonds, it disgusted him.

"–and I do not run this arena just to have my Hematites refuse to fight when they are supposed to!"

Ah. He missed the rest of Zebra Agate's rant. Judging by the expressions on the other Hematites, they didn't care to hear it either. Except for 2XJ, maybe. She was grinning smugly at him.

"With all due respect, ma'am," Hematite 3XF replied, choosing his words carefully, "I don't fight for the entertainment of other Gems just to get told off by an Agate with an ugly luster."

There was a moment of stunned silence. The Agate looked aghast, 2XJ was surprised, and then the other Hematites present started oohing. Zebra Agate's face twisted into absolute rage, positively fuming at the insult.

"How dare you!" she shouted. "You are a Hematite, and I expect you to act like one and fight in the arena when you are told to fight in the–"

And then it happened too fast for him to register. One moment 3XF was fuming, holding his axe in a death grip, and the next his anger burst and he lunged forward, catching Zebra Agate and 2XJ in the swing of his axe–the latter accidentally. Oops.

It wasn't until their Gems clattered onto the ground that he fully realized what he had done.

All the other Hematites were staring at him. He stared back, the reality settling in. He just committed an act of treason. Fear prickled up the back of his neck as he watched the gazes of the others carefully, but he didn't make a move back or forwards. Instead he stood where he was, axe still held out, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"Oh my Diamonds…!"

"3XF!"

"Did she…She really did! She did that!"

3XF finally took a step forward, axe still in front of him. The other Hematites flinched and stepped away, all too nervous to do anything against him. Every single eye was on him. And then he took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves as an improvised plan formed in his head. It was patchy, uncertain, but it would have to do for now.

"You all," he started, voice surprisingly still despite his own emotions, "go out on the field. Nothing happened. You hear me?"

He was answered with fearfully wide eyes and several nods. When they were hesitant to move, 3XF gestured for the entrance to the field with the end of his axe, and they nervously complied, all marching along just as they normally would.

"What about you, XF?"

5XR was still there. He turned to her, relaxing slightly and standing upright, but she continued anyway, "What are you going to do? You just–when they find out, the Diamonds, they'll–you'll–"

"Hey," 3XF said, snapping her out of her worried stammering. "You don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm gonna get off this damned planet."

"You…you have a plan?"

"Something like that. You'll probably never see me again, one way or another." He shrugged nonchalantly, already turning to make his way out of the arena. The battle axe fizzled into light and faded away and he stepped away, but then 5XR spoke up yet again.

"Good luck, XF."

"Thanks, XR. You too."

And then he started to run, thinking on his feet. He would have to be fast, and he would have to find a communicator as soon as possible. There was a pilot he had to get in touch with.