The R-L3 Kindergarten.
Holly had heard the recent rumors...she had eavesdropped on the stories.
It was a newer Kindergarten-specifically, a RUBY Kindergarten.
As the Diamond's ship zoomed through the cosmos, Holly Blue looked out the window...reminding herself of the issues she had overheard.
Apparently, the drilling site had an unannounced abundance of some unknown extra substance, which the Ruby's gemstones liked...quite a lot!
...so much so, in fact- the resulting Gems injected in the area had evolved with an excess amount of energy!
The Agate groaned. What the stars had she gotten herself into?
As the ship landed, Blue Diamond and Holly stood in preparation for exit. As the door opened, there was only one Gem to greet the duo- a very flustered looking Peridot.
Strangely enough, she did not salute...the green Gem was too busy looking behind her shoulder, as if fearful of being followed by something.
Upon closer inspection, Holly Blue took note of the Peridot's form.
One of her limb enhancer arms was missing.
She had char and burn marks all over her body.
Several tufts of her hair had disappeared -as if yanked from her head.
The Peridot was also shaking violently. As the green Gem looked up at Blue Diamond, she spoke- a slight quiver in her voice: "Thank the Stars. You found an available Agate willing to take the job?"
"She is one of my best." The Blue Diamond smiled.
"Good. Good. Yes. May I please resume my tasks at the next Kindergarten now?!"
"Of course! That is what I promised you."
The Peridot nodded in relief before handing one of her own limb enhancer's fingers to Holly Blue.
The Agate took the thing- confused and slightly disgusted. It was obviously well loved, and absolutely filthy.
"Trust me. You're going to need it. I can get a replacement later." The Peridot nodded. It was not exactly common for a Kindergarten Technician to give away her own tech so willingly.
As Holly Blue stepped off of the ship, the Diamond simply stated: "We will be in contact! Best of luck to you Agate!"
...and with that, the door closed and the ship zoomed off.
Everything was happening so fast.
Holly Blue was grateful that she was far away from the blackmail of the Zoo.
...Still, she did wish her Diamond had given her more intel on this assignment, before simply dumping her off here...
As the Agate wandered into the eerily silent canyon of the Kindergarten, she couldn't help having the notion that she was being watched...
In a sudden burst of excitement, something incredibly heavy and scolding landed on top of the Agate!
Holly Blue yelped in surprise, as the unknown weapon yanked violently at her hair.
"WHERE'S GREENIE?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!"
Holly Blue ran frantically in a circle- desperately attempting to yank the painful thing off of her head, before becoming desperate- and head-butting the side of the canyon.
With a mighty "OOMPH!" A startled Ruby fell to the ground.
Holly stared at her, looking quite frazzled and surprised herself. "My word!" The Agate was appalled. "What is WRONG with you! Show some respect to your upper crusts!"
The Ruby stared at Holly- growling slightly, before lunging for her hair yet again!
The Agate was ready this time, and slapped the red Gem's face with such a force, that the small soldier's projectory was knocked back into the nearby cliff side.
Holly Blue knew how this type of discipline worked. This Ruby would now respect her- the soldier would FEAR her! This Gem would be shown an example of!
The Ruby spat sourly on the ground upon re-emerging from the canyon's cliff.
...and then, the red Gem smiled!
Why was she SMILING?!
"Heh. So it's a fight you want! Nice! I've been wanting a good brawl!" The Ruby seemed more amused than frightened.
In a sudden state of panic, Holly Blue withdrew her whip from her gemstone. "I don't wish to fight you Ruby- you must abide by what I say! Stop acting like a complete pebble and behave yourself!"
The red Gem, instead of obeying, lunged at the Agate once more.
Holly cracked her whip, and quickly wrapped the thing around the soldier- dissipating her form.
The Ruby's gemstone fell to the ground.
Holly Blue nodded in agreement. She could see why her Diamond needed her here. This soldier was borderline feral! The Agate bent over to pick up the fallen stone-
Something slammed into her right leg! Another Ruby! She attempted to shake the little Gem off, before feeling a heavy weight on her other leg!
Her feet felt like they were on fire! The Agate yelped in pain, before another molten weight jumped onto her back, and another onto her left arm- biting the thing with her sharpened canines.
The other soldiers followed suit, as both of her legs were bitten!
More and more appeared!
The last thing Holly Blue remembered before her form dissipated was being entirely covered in a pile of pain, red, sharp teeth, and molten fire...