Quick note: this takes place long before On the Run. I'd slate it somewhere between Rose's Room and Monster Buddies. Also, Hurray for thirty chapters and almost fifty reviews! I'm glad you guys like this story so much! Anyways, enjoy!
"Woah…" Steven breathed as he gazed at the rock walls reaching up all around him, "What is this place?" He hadn't seen anyplace like it before. The canyon was filled with humanoid shaped holes. Everything seemed so bleak. Metal contraptions that looked like viruses clung precariously to the rock face.
"It's called the Kindergarten," Piccolo explained, "Thousands of years ago, gems used to be made here. However, the process caused irreparable damage to the earth, so your mother put a stop to it via a great war."
"Really? That's what the war she fought in was for?" Steven asked as they walked along, "How were gems made?"
"Well," Piccolo started, but was cut off by Goku who was way ahead of them.
"Come on guys! We have to hurry if we're going to catch this thing!" he called, "The sooner we do, the sooner we can get out of here."
Piccolo frowned. Goku was the reason the three of them were in this mess in the first place. Goku had accidentally chased the corrupted gem across the wasteland and off a cliff at the edge of the Kindergarten. Piccolo might have called him out on it, had he not known why Goku was so eager to leave. Out of the three of them, Goku was for whatever reason the most uncomfortable with this place. No one knew quite why, though Piccolo had a few ideas. One was because the kindergarten was one of the few things that Shenron couldn't fix. They had tried, but he had stated it was beyond his power. They really shouldn't have been surprised. Gem magic and Shenron's magic didn't tend to mix well, so much so that, as a gem, Rose couldn't even summon the dragon if she wanted to. Still, the realisation managed to mess with their heads, particularly Goku's.
They walked for a few moments until Steven spoke up again. "Piccolo..." Steven asked, a little uneasy, "...Did the gems not know they were hurting the Earth?"
"They knew," Piccolo explained, "They just didn't care."
"But the Earth is a beautiful place full of people and plants and animals! Sure there are some bad ones, but Mom saw how great the Earth was. Why couldn't they?" he asked.
"Because they weren't like your mother, Steven," he explained, "Just like people, not all gems, or aliens in general for that matter, are nice. A lot of them look down on other races or only care about themselves. My dad was a good example of that. He tried to take over the world."
Steven looked at Piccolo in surprise. "Really?" he asked.
"Yes, he hurt a lot of innocent people and saw humans as insects. On top of that, he was uncompromising. No one could reason with him, not even your mother. She had to put a stop to him for good in the end," he explained.
"Oh…" Steven muttered, looking down. There was a long pause before Steven spoke up again. "Piccolo?" Steven asked, "Were there bad Saiyans like that too? Like...super villain bad? I know Vegeta said the Saiyans were a warrior race but…"
Piccolo could practically feel Goku tense slightly and hesitate in his search as he listened in a few yards away. Piccolo sighed. He knew Vegeta and Goku had been avoiding telling him about the Saiyan involvement in Frieza's army. To be honest, he wasn't to eager about breaking the news to him either. The most he knew was that Goku had been left on earth as a baby, Vegeta had crash landed, and because of that Rose had made him a kinder person. He knew about Lord Frieza and that Planet Vegeta had been destroyed by him too, but many of the details were still left out.
They had told the other humans pretty early on about what exactly Saiyans were and how the pair had come to Earth, but things were different with Steven. Maybe it was because he was a child. Maybe it was because they liked that he looked up to them and were worried that might change. Whatever the case may be, they left him in the dark about a lot of things. Sure he knew what the Oozaru form was, but he certainly didn't know why Vegeta was so well practiced with it...or why Goku was much less keen on using it. "Like I said, Steven. There are good and bad people of all races," Piccolo finally explained, "There were Saiyans who liked to fight for fun, and then there were Saiyans that liked to hurt people for fun, and plenty in between. It depends on the person." Piccolo glanced over to see Goku had relaxed.
"Ok," Steve replied, seemingly satisfied with that explanation. Suddenly, a hissing, rattling noise could be heard.
"Look out!" Goku called. They turned just in time to see a creature with a snapping maw and a flower like mane jump out at them. It tried to bite Piccolo but he held its mouth open with his hands. The creature continued to slobber and snarl at him until he kneed it in the abdomen. The creature screeched before grabbing the Namekian with its lobster like claws.
Piccolo bellowed in pain while Steven looked on in fear. The fear quickly switched to determination."Get off of him!" Steven cried before leaping at the gem beast and kicking it in the side. The force sent the creature flying into a boulder and causing a small crack in its surface.
"I got him!" Goku shouted as held his hands in position as he ran forward, "Ka-me-ha-me-HA!" A beam of energy erupted from his hands as he thrust them forward. The gem beast screamed and exploded as the energy hit it. The boulder behind it erupted into rubble as it was hit with the remainder of the blast. Pebbles showered down upon them for a few moments.
"I think you overdid it a bit," Piccolo commented as he went to pick up the gem from the rubble that had rained down upon them.
Goku shrugged. "Sorry. Well, at least it got the job done," he said, "Let's head home. I think there's a warp pad this way."
Piccolo nodded as he put the gem away in a ring box. He then turned to Steven. "Nice work, kid," he said as they walked along.
"Yeah!" Goku agreed, "How about we get some donuts when we get back. It's almost lunch anyways." The boy nodded excitedly.
"I don't think donuts constitute as a meal," Piccolo stated as he followed them.
"They do for breakfast, why not lunch too?" Goku retorted as the continued away from the pile of rubble.
Meanwhile, at said pile of rubble, the debris began to sink as a purple gem floated out of it. none of them noticed as a stocky shape reformed and collapsed to the ground. Amethyst looked up from the ground as the figures disappeared in the distance before picking herself up and looking herself over. She was free! Finally free! After all those years of being stuck under that boulder, someone had finally rescued her!...albeit by accident, but still. She looked up again to call out to the people who had rescued her, but they were gone. She stared at where they had been for a moment before shrugging and smiling. Oh well, at least she could do whatever she wanted to now. With that, she ran off into the bleak canyon.