Diamond (character)

Diamond was born on New-Gen, and was only a few years old when Deadalus went rogue and released an enormous quantity of nanobots on the population. He was one of the children upon whom the nanobots had a drastic, mutating effect. After his skin hardened into the crystalline substance of which it is currently made, Gabriel adopted the young Diamond in order to train him in the proper use of his powers.[2]

During his years of schooling, presided over by Gabriel and his wife, Thea, Diamond became an exceptionally hard and disciplined worker. He took his martial arts training especially seriously. Diamond became a bit of a perfectionist in the eyes of his teammates as he matured. He regularly took place in combat and tactical training exercises, as well as standard schooling in various academic fields of study.[3]

When Sly burrowed his way through the crust of the underworld onto Zadaar IV with his army of MetalMites and microbots, Diamond was part of the team sent to dispatch him, after Sly's forces proved too powerful for Mini to handle by himself. Diamond, although relatively new to legitimate battle, destroyed a large number of MetalMites on his own. He also allowed himself to be used as a tactical projectile, due to his nigh-indestructible skin. Both Gazelle, her super speed, and Flyer, using his ability to gain tremendous altitude, throw Diamond into very large MetalMites, punching large holes through them and rendering them useless.[4] Sly then uses a specialized energy blast and deactivates the nanobots inside the A.P.N.G. This causes Diamond to revert to his original human form, leaving him powerless and in pain. When Gabriel arrives, he gives each member of the A.P.N.G. a nano-glove, containing nanobots which restore their powers and strength. As Gabriel fights Sly, Diamond's confidence is renewed, and he destroys several more MetalMites with his teammates, eventually emerging victorious and returning home to New-Gen.[5]