Gem: Rubellite
Appearance:
This is pretty much her base, with similar facial features and wild hair. However, Rubellite's skin is mostly red, but flecked with brownish orange along her arms and shoulders. Her gem is mostly dark red but is unusually flecked with white. Unlike the gem pictured, Rubellite wears a gem soldier outfit similar to Jasper's. Rubellite is top-heavy, with arms that are just a tiny bit longer and more muscular than her legs. Although she's learned to hide it, Rubellite stands most comfortably with a pronounced hunch, making her a literal knuckle dragger.
Powers:
Strength: V
One of her defining traits and pretty much her saving grace, Rubellite's strength is immense even for a gem.
Endurance: III
While not as outlandish as her physical strength, Rubellite is a durable gem and can take a hit as well as and fight for as long as all but the most powerful Quartz.
Intelligence: -1
Her primary weakness. Rubellite's intelligence is decidedly below the baseline for a gem, putting her not much higher than an unintelligent human. Outwitting her won't prove a challenge for most.
Rubellite's unnamed ability: I
A special ability that won't be revealed until later. (evil laughter)
Items: A large mace, her gem item.
Backstory:
"Gem emerging from kindergarten #7830, sector 5, hole #383. ...What is that?"It says a rubellite was supposed to emerge here, but this is the puniest rubellite I've ever seen. Should we discard it?""Not yet, it might be suitable for the gem repurposing program. We should contact someone in it. Rose Rock is probably our best option, he's sure to know what do do with her."Rubellite was created on a near-Homeworld colony, and has always been something of an oddity. From the time she was born, it was clear that she was neither large nor strong enough to truly do the work of a rubellite gem, but unlike them, she had the intelligence and reflexes to be suitable as a soldier. Normally a gem like her would have been crushed and thrown out immediately, but thanks to the program that was being run when she was created, she was spared and repurposed as part of the gem military. It was apparent early on that she lacked the brains to be a decent strategist, but she more than made up for it with strength that surpassed that of nearly any Quartz. For many years, she slowly rose through the ranks, always handicapped by her lack of any real leadership ability, but always persevering. She doesn't often show it, or perhaps it simply isn't easy to notice because she seems to indiscriminately desire conflict, but centuries of mistreatment have made her bitter against gem kind, especially the Quartz gems who never saw her as one of them and often abused her. Today, Rubellite has finally attained a high enough rank that she is often a high commander of gem forces on any planet she is stationed on, normally not reporting to more than one or two higher ranking gems.
Writing Example:
Rubellite talking with Lodolite:
"Hey Lodo, you talkin' to somebody?"Lodolite grins their usual shit-eating grin and chuckles.
"If I constitute as somebody, then yes, yes I have been. You've been well I take?""I could only be better if there was someone on this planet who could give me a decent challenge, looks like that's not gonna happen though. Would'ja mind telling me again why we can't just destroy this place? I doubt there's anything on this planet worth more than the look on Jasper's face if I tell her I halved her time for exterminating an entire planet.""Well, there's the cluster for one, which will be more enough of a challenge for all of us if anything goes wrong, the fact we've got not one, not two, but ten of our young privates down there, including one of my own apprentices, the possibility of bragging to Jasper when you tell her how you completely destroyed The Crystal Gems when she couldn't, aaaaaaaaaaand..." they stop, counting on their fingers and pretending to be lost in thought.
"Oh, right! The fact that the Diamonds specifically told us not to and will probably have your gem shattered for your disobedience, and that I'll have mine shattered by you in my vain attempt to prevent your doing so! That! Almost forgot about that! Unless you have a death wish, of course. Personally, I could go either way right about now, so really it's up to you~"Rubellite listens with a blank stare, possibly following along but quite possibly not. She takes a second to process what Lodolite has said and replies
"Oh yeah, that. I can't say I'm too confident in the Crystal Gems being much in a fight, especially if all of them are newly broken-in. This cluster thing though, it's supposed to be tough?"Lodolite laughs, seeing as how she focused solely on what might be a challenge rather than those.
"Typical Rubellite, what am I to do with you? Yes, the Cluster is beyond tough. It's a living geoweapon that'll blow up the Earth before you, or I, or anyone else will get a shot at it simply by emerging. Made entirely of the shards of deceased gems, mostly those of the rebels. Pretty sure Old Rocky had a hand in its creation someway or another. Odd that he's still got some shards still lying around...""Huh. So it'll blow up the Earth, then I get to hit it? I wonder how many times I'll have to to shatter something that big. But wait... doesn't that also mean I have to wait before I can start smashin' stuff?""Oh Rubellite, Rubellite. You'll only get to hit it if something goes wrong and we aren't able to control it. And yes, you will have to wait until you smash it, if you get to smash it. But hey, you get to brag to Jasper at least for killing the Crystal Gems, so not all the smashing has to wait~""What?! Why bother telling me about it at all then? I'll have to round up any Rubies we have on hand and tell them to go help the Crystal Gems if I'm going to have any fun!""Because you asked me, silly child~! After all, if I hadn't answered, you'd simply become angry and disappointed rather than simply the latter, and such would be a shame~"Oh, so you did it as like a 'manners' thing. I never really understood that. So... do you have any idea when these Crystal Gems are supposed to show up?"Not exactly, but close enough. As for that question, it's likely we'll have to go down there ourselves at some point, after Jasper's failures."Oh, well why didn't you just say so! I'm the best at finding people, just hit everything that isn't them into tiny bits, then do the same thing with them!"They laugh.
"I don't doubt it Rubellite, but you can't smash everything there. Well, you can. Sure. But you really shouldn't. After all, the young privates are still down there, and we wouldn't want to harm our own, would we~? Besides, you'll need the Diamonds' permission.""Aw c'mon, you know that's not fair. The Diamonds hate fun almost as much as they hate me!"They put a hand on Rubellite and give it a short ruffle.
"Aw, c'mon, you act as if the Diamonds don't hate everyone~"~~~~~----------~~~~~
Gemswap: if Rubellite had been sent to Earth instead of Jasper
The giant hand lands, allowing the ball-capsule to roll to it's edge and open, revealing Rubellite, Peridot and Lapis.
"That's them alright, they're the ones who keep breaking my machines." The massive red gem points to Steven.
"So, that's the one you were telling me about?" "Y-yes. Listen Rubelite, whatever you need to do, he's just a human, he isn't a threat at all, he-" This elicits a deep, half-suppressed laugh from Rubellite.
"Lapis, do you think any of them are a threat to me? Like we agreed, I promise I won't hurt him, now hold up your end of the deal and tell me if we're in the right place." "Yeah, this is it." There is detectable shame in Lapis' voice, and she can't look directly at Steven or the gems.
"You all need to leave immediately!" "Yeah, step off!" "This is not a gem controlled planet!" Rubellite has a genuine smile on her face. "If you want me gone so badly, you're gonna have to get rid of me yourselves." She jumps down.
"I was kinda hoping there'd be more than three of you, but I guess it isn't too much too hope that you're tougher than you look. I mean, you guys are the same Crystal Gems who struck fear into the hearts of Homeworld way back when, right? Wiping you out like this just seems like it'd be... disappointing? No, that's not it. Hey, Peridot! Make yourself useful and tell me what I'm trying to say!" Peridot's expression doesn't belie how unhappy and confused she is by this request. "Um, anti-climactic?" "Yeah! It's be pretty anti-climactic if you guys weren't ready to put up a fight! I hope the stories are all true." Finally, Rubellite's mace appears in her hands. Her excitement mirrors that of a dog with its favorite toy.
"Let's see if the Crystal Gems know how to take a hit.""Steven, get out of here! "No!""I won't let you risk your life!""But this is my home, and you're all my family!"Rubellite leaps about a dozen feet into the air, ready to bring her mace down on the gems, only to bounce off of Steven's shield and end up half-buried in the sand.
"That... isn't a human" Rubellite quickly pulls herself up.
"Lapis, you lied to me.""I-it wasn't relevant to the mission!"Rubellite completely stops focusing on the Crystal Gems. She glares at Lapis, her demeanor now completely different from when she thought this was going to be casual fun.
"You made me look stupid, Lapis. I want you out of my sight.""What?!"She abruptly grabs Lapis, to the visible shock of everyone else there.
"I SAID, GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Almost instantly, Lapis is a dot on the horizon. Within seconds, she isn't visible at all.
"Steven, run!"Rubellite readies her mace as soon as she sees Garnet coming, and scores a direct blow on the unprepared Garnet. Garnet spends several seconds in the air.
"Come on, get back up! I came here for a challenge!" Garnet is getting desperate and makes another rush for Rubellite, but again, Rubelite is able to bring her mace down on Garnet, this time causing here to poof and separate.
"Waitwhat? ...Oh, I get it, she was a fusion!" An audible -smack- is heard coming from Peridot, brought out of her initial shock at Rubellite's actions because of how clueless she could be. Rubellite tosses Amethyst and Pearl out of the way and unceremoniously grabs Steven.
"Now, just what the hell are you?"---------A while later, after getting her ass kicked by Garnet and the gems have crash-landed the ship--------
A visibly worn down Rubellite throws aside some rubble and begins approaching the gems, to their dismay. She's laughing.
"I don't know how you managed that, but it's going to take a lot more than a stupid song and dance number to beat me. That's never going to work again!" She looks Garnet in the eye, at least as much as she can with Garnet's eyes covered. The gems all get ready to try to to fight her off once more.
"Hey, Garnet, was it? If you're really so much stronger than me, stop playing around and tell your friends you can handle this on your own. Come on, I know you want a round three. Any real warrior would. The gems look nervously at Garnet. She chuckles softly.
"Yeah, alright." "GREAT!"Rubellite and Garnet go at it, both a little wiser to each other's tactics now than they were. Garnet manages to dodge most of Rubellite's swings, but a few come dangerously close. Garnet manages to move in close and land a few hits on Rubellite here and there, but neither gem shows signs of being finished any time soon. The fight drags on for nearly half an hour, Rubellite finally starts looking like she's getting tired. She swings one more time as Garnet moves in for a punch, this time managing to graze her. Garnet staggers, injured but not out. It could be either gem's fight at this point.
"I've seen enough! Amethyst, fuse with me!" Amethyst nods, but before the get a chance to do anything, an enormous wave swallows Rubellite, but sends Garnet back to where the others are standing. A pillar of water emerges from the sea, containing Rubellite, with a scowling Lapis hovering near it.
"You're my prisoner now, Rubellite."