Yeah. another Caboose fic. Deal with it.
Caboose was not an easily angered person.
Wash knew this. Only under the influence of Church had he seen Caboose mad, so he didn't think much about it. Maybe he should've, but with them crashing on a civil war planet, he hadn't had much time to worry about the mental state of the seemingly harmless soldier.
So, when they decided to have a training exercise to see who was strongest, not a single alarm went up in his brain.
The whole army of chorus wanted to see who was strongest for some stupid reason, and it was also a good way for the two armies to bond a bit, especially with the tension between them.
The way it worked was this. A head shaped dummy with a helmet on was placed in front of the person, and you punched it. The dummy had the exact strength of a human skull, along with fake blood packets in the middle, if anyone was to get there. It was a simple, satisfying exercise that everyone enjoyed.
For some reason, Caboose was last.
Throughout the entire day no one had been able to break the helmet, not even Carolina, who could only dent it. Then, Smith had gone on paraded on how strong Captain Caboose was, and demanded everyone watch him. Since they had nothing else better to do at the moment, they obliged.
Caboose walked up innocently, armor off, showing how big his muscles were. He smiled at the crowd, waving, and all the people who were once impressed a moment ago scoffed at his stupidity. Wash walked up to him.
"Caboose, do you know what you are supposed to do?" He asked. Caboose looked at him and smiled.
"Yes!" He exclaimed. Then, his expression went to a confused frown. "No." Wash sighed.
"You see the helmet over there?" Caboose nodded. "Pretend that it's Felix." Caboose looked confused again.
"Who is that?" he stage-whispered. Wash sighed yet again.
"The guy in gray and orange armor," He said. Caboose's face showed an understanding now.
"You mean the guy who lied and hurt Tucker?" He asked. Wash nodded. He gasped along with the crowd as Caboose's face contorted into a terrifying glare. Caboose stared at the helmet with intensity unlike him and walked up to it, a growl emitting from him, reminding Wash of Maine. Everyone watched with bated breath as Caboose's arm reared back.
And it threw a punch harder than anyone else could dare to do.
It went through not only the helmet, but the head and out the other side, causing the red liquid stored inside to spurt out all over Caboose, but he didn't seem to notice or care. He was breathing heavy, and his glare had not disappeared in the slightest. Carolina walked up with a towel, and Church's projection flickered on.
"Hey, Caboose?" He asked tentatively, as though afraid of setting the man off. "Why don't you and me get you cleaned off."
With that, the spell over Caboose seemed to dissipate, and he ran excitedly toward Church, right after getting his arm out of the dummy's head.
"Sure Church!" He exclaimed, allowing himself to be led away. The others walked away, whispers being shared between them, and scared glances back to the dummy. Smith had to be dragged off by Bitters and Palomo, because he was shocked by the whole ordeal. Wash just stood there, mind whirring with questions and thoughts that all went back to two statements, one old and one new.
Caboose was not and easily angered person.
But GOD, he was terrifying when he got mad.