Things have gotten a little... tense after the incident with Bismuth.
Steven became quieter, sometimes refusing to look at Spinel, but she knew why.
And with Amethyst, she's gotten more frustrated in trying to beat Jasper ever since that time where the orange Gem nearly shattered her. She was happy to hear that Stevonnie was able to save her and that they saved Biggs, but became worried when she heard that their worst enemy got away.
But, she just wanted everyone to remain as positive as possible for the time being. So, by Steven's suggestion, Spinel took him and Amethyst down to Peridot and Lapis's barn, where the duo made a few changes.
Interestingly, the barnmates showed them their art, or as Lapis calls them 'meep-morps'. Peridot joked that she's wearing her meep-morp, aka her limb-enhancers. She even brought out her favorite 'Fighters' book, 'The Glimpse', and how she's thankful that Spinel introduced her to the blind cat-doctor "Jay-Sight".
For Lapis, she had the tape-recorder Peridot gave her and a leaf Steven gave her, along with a scene from 'Camp Pining Hearts'.
When Peridot and Lapis played some music, Amethyst showed some more frustration about Jasper. Lapis felt a little disturbed talking about Jasper, and Amethyst leaves to "do something useful."
Outside, Peridot asks why Amethyst is acting like that. When Spinel told her, Peridot tells Amethyst that she doesn't need to compare herself to Jasper, how she's actually better than her, as how their Kindergartens are different.
Amethyst asked if they could go there, and Peridot agreed. This puzzled Spinel, as she had only heard of the Beta Kindergarten, but hasn't seen it in person.
Shouldn't hurt to look, she thought.
At the Beta Kindergarten
Peridot, Spinel, Amethyst, and Steven all warped into the desert-like area.
"Here we are!" Peridot announced, "Jasper's origin; The Beta Kindergarten." Looking around, it was very different from the Prime Kindergarten; Smaller walls made out of red sandstone, narrow pathways, and the uneven and misshapen exit holes.
Steven held his hand over his eyes from the brightness, "Am I underwhelmed? It's pretty bright out here."
"It's... red," Amethyst murmured.
"No kidding," Peridot shrugged, walking down the steps with the others trailing behind, "Heh, red sandstone! Hah, this is what I'm talking about! We're lucky this place hasn't blown away. Beta, am I right?"
Steven laughed a bit, then whispered, "That's a math joke, right?"
"Yes," Spinel nodded, "And... I know this place."
"You do?" Amethyst stared at her.
Peridot was sort-of ignoring their conversation, "I mean, this place has got the right growing conditions in a pinch... I guess." She licked a stone and tossed it away, "But it's too small! It was obviously a total rush job."
"Uh, 'rush job'?" Steven asked.
"Hey Peridot?" Spinel glanced at the green Gem, "Do you mind if I tell them why the Beta Kindergarten was made?"
Peridot grinned a bit, "Go right ahead."
As they walked through the Kindergarten, Spinel told them, "During the Rebellion, Homeworld realized they needed more soldiers. But they couldn't find any part near the war, they were forced and rushed the process by coming here and threw some injectors, as you can see. However, it turned out to be… quite a failure."
"You're telling me!" Peridot laughed, leaning her shoulder on the pink Gem and gestured to a wall with the holes, "Look at that, those holes don't even line up!" She saw another hole and ran up to it, "And this one! This Carnelian came out sideways! How could she not? The walls are curved! Ha ha! What a joke!"
"Yeah… Some of the Gems that emerged here were either shattered or shamed if they stayed alive," Spinel continued to look around her.
"Man, I-I had no idea," Amethyst commented, Steven and her following the Gems ahead of them.
Peridot nodded, "I'd tell you, it makes you appreciate the Prime Kindergarten, Amethyst. Your Kindergarten was so thought through! Sure, you might have spent extra time in the ground, but everything else is stacked in your favor! Great location, great holes, even spacing, consistent depth, a real Kindergartener gets it right."
As Steven stopped to stare at two broken injectors, Peridot continued to explain, "What you want to see is a vertical alignment; no angle in the exit, a clean, strong silhouette. None of these holes come close!"
"What about that one?" Amethyst pointed to the largest hole they'd ever seen, the arms in an upward pose.
"Jasper..." Peridot whispered.
"That's Jasper's hole?" asked Steven.
"It's huge," said Amethyst.
Spinel swallowed, "Geez, I've never seen anything like that before."
"Oh please," Peridot deadpanned, "We already know she's tall. Let's take a closer look. A Kindergartner can tell a lot about a Gem's makeup and flaws by their exit marks."
She was able to hover herself into the hold, and when she stood inside, her floating fingers pulled up a screen, scanning the walls of the exit hole.
"You see, the problem is…" She paused, her face warping into shocked bewilderment. She fumbled with her words, walking towards the back of the hole before coming out seconds later. Peridot hopped down from the hole and approached them.
"W-What's wrong?" Steven asked.
"... Nothing. Nothing about it is... wrong," She said quietly.
Spinel and Amethyst grimaced, the latter asking, "What do you mean?"
"She's got frictional rock melt, it's glass all the way to the back..." Peridot became very uneasy, "Actually I uh... I've never seen an exit hole this perfect."
Spinel blinked as Amethyst and Steven conversed. Coming to think about it, Jasper was from a bad Kindergarten, but Spinel never really thought about it until now. Was this why Jasper was so power-hungry? Was she pressured by the Diamonds because of this? That would explain most of what she's done... Perhaps she could-
"And I wanna be the Gem that beats Jasper into the dirt!"
She heard Amethyst proclaim, but had just been broken out of her thoughts as Steven was taken aback and Peridot shouting, "Wait, no! Don't fight her! Are you not seeing this? She's the ultimate Quartz!"
"I'm doing it!" Amethyst grinned with determination, "Yeah, and not just for me, for all the weird holes out there! Like this guy! And Skinny up there! And, and, and this mess!" She pointed to a strangely large hole.
Spinel frowned, "Wait Ame-"
The purple Gem laughed, "Yeah ha! I bet she was great."
Peridot walked closer to the hole, bringing out another screen showing stats and scanners, "No, something's really wrong here. This hole... these markings... it's been dug out. Recently. Very recently."
"But who's done this?" Steven asked, worried.
Spinel heard something and walked down the wall, her grimace shown as more sounds were heard. No... growling! She gasped, seeing the holes barred with metal poles.
"What is this?" She heard Steven ask behind her.
"Not exit holes," Peridot told him, "Not anymore."
"Then what-"
The group jumped back when a Corrupted Gem, a Ammolite growled at them. Around them, the caged holes had glowing eyes staring at them.
Spinel nearly whimpered in horror as Steven said aloud, "Corrupted Gems? In cages?!"
"Why?" Peridot backed away, "Who would do this?!"
Amethyst noticed someone and glowered, "That's who."
Ahead of them, through a cloud of dust, there stood the orange Quartz solider. Spinel squeaked, hugging Peridot and Steven to her chest and hid behind a rock, Amethyst bringing her whip out, ready to fight.
Yes, Peridot is a big fan of Jayfeather.
