CCCCRRRRRAAAASSSHHH!!!
"Oh crap!" Gyokuran muttered to himself as he quickly scanned for escape routes. He thought he had found a 'safe' place to practice his powers, but he immediately realized that there was NO safe place within the moonbase. This seemingly empty storage room he was currently using seemed so ideal, but Gyokuran once again, underestimated the strength of his powers. Bits of metal sheeting from the walls were now strewn about the floor. Exposed wires dangled like cobwebs as they crackled and hissed. The outcome would be one dead archaeologist if Shion found out. But, how would he NOT find out?! The base's engineer (ahem, glorified repairman) had ears as sharp as a bat's, especially when it was computer bits frying. Shion was the only one out of all seven of them who actually knew how to fix them and it was work he despised.
Just as Gyo was about to slink
out of the room, a set of narrowed eyes met him just as the door
opened.
"Going somewhere?" Shion hissed coolly.
"I'm uh, well, uhm, I'm REALLY sorry Shion. I didn't mean to--"
"Stupidity?"
"You know me Shion." Gyo tried to joke while rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
Using his height over Gyokuran,
Shion gazed beyond Gyo's head and focused on the splayed wall
area.
Gyokuran wanted to leave and fast, but Shion's body blocked his
way.
"Tired of the earrings, hmm?"
"It's just not very masculine y'know."
"You'd still be a sissy, with or without them."
"Oh? Who helped YOU out of fights when we were kids?!"
"I never asked for your help. If anything, your interference ruined my strategy."
"I see. Being beaten to a pulp was something you had devised?"
"Don't change the subject!" Shion sternly warned as he returned his gaze back to the wall again. Using his own powers, he delicately rewrapped the wires, placed them back in the wall, lifted large pieces of panel, and placed them on the wall while using careful energy blasts to 'meld' the metal into place.
Gyokuran gaped in amazement. The control and degree of difficulty Shion could accomplish with all his various sarches powers was phenomenal!
"Hmph! Show off." Gyo muttered.
"No. I'm simply asking you to observe and learn. For an archaeologist, you're sure slow on human behavior."
"That's Enju's department. I deal with the 'has been.'"
"No different. You need to know live behavior in order to translate past behavior do you not?"
Shion had him. The moody engineer was always sharp of mind. Trouble was, he only bared it when it suited him to do so. With a subtle smirk of victory, Shion turned and departed.
Gyokuran groaned. He'd been trying to perfect his powers since he first learned about them. Then, he befriends this sarches who seems to have every power known and total mastery over all of them. It was frustrating! Jealous and determined, Gyokuran vowed to himself that he would master his powers without some stupid aids like earrings.
Finding another quiet area of
the base, Gyo set up a couple of targets amidst the grasses that
still covered the room. Since the grasses were still present,
it was a safe assumption that this room wasn't vital or used regularly.
But, no matter how hard he tried, his powers failed to listen
to his will. Then, a vision of Shion using his powers effortlessly
formed in his head. A raging anger surged up within him and suddenly
a crack of energy unleashed from him. He not only ripped the targets
to shreds, but he actually crisped all the grasses as well.
"Whups...I don't know my own strength. Too bad I couldn't
control this. I could've cut down our grass cutting duties by
99%!" Gyo muttered to himself as he sought to leave this
room before Mokuren arrived. She'd most certainly sense those
grasses pain. He opened the door only to find one really ticked
Kichess.
*Not again...this is very nearly de ja vu* he thought as he looked
at her angered face.
"GYOKURAN!"
"I-I'm really sorry Mokuren. I was just--"
"YOU HURT THOSE GRASSES! They did nothing to you!"
"B-but, I--" Gyokuran started until he noticed another figure arriving on the scene. Of course, where there's a skirmish, dark boy had to be there.
Shion didn't say anything. He
simply observed quietly with an expression of amusement and that
same subtle smirk of victory he'd displayed earlier. No doubt
he was enjoying all this.
Suddenly, Shion's expression changed and he seemed to perk into
alertness. Enju was contacting him telepathically. With a mild
curse, Shion excused himself and departed to fix whatever had
just broke.
Mokuren then noticed Gyokuran's
ears sans earrings.
"Gyokuran, I understand your frustration, but shouldn't you
wear the earrings if only for precautionary measures? I mean,
you're still not even sure yourself as to how powerful these powers
are."
"I suppose it would save myself from the wrath of the rest of you."
Mokuren looked both ways in the
hall before answering.
"Acutally, mainly from the wrath of Shion. His temper is
worse than a comet colliding with a planet." she giggled.
"A rampaging bull with his balls in a bind ."
"Perhaps. Anyway, you be careful okay?"
"I will."
"You'd better. Now, I need to return to my experiment before I lose hours of data." Mokuren said with a wink as she departed as well.
Gyokuran sighed deeply. Frustration was an understatement. It wasn't fair! If only Shion would reveal how he manages...no, Shion would only help if there was something he could gain from it and even then, he wouldn't do it if he didn't feel like it. With another sigh, Gyokuran dragged himself back to his quarters.
*Nobody can scold me if I practice in here.* Gyo thought while emptying a couple of storage crates. Then, he shut his eyes and concentrated, but again, nothing happened. With a growl, Gyokuran felt the anger surge once again as Shion's smirking image and sarcastic words danced in his head. Furious, Gyo lashed out and the energy surged out of him and shrieked towards the crates...or rather through them...and the wall behind them...and...
"YYYYEEEEEOOOOOWWW!!!! @#*%#!!!!"
*That was from the utility room on the other side of my room.* Gyo thought as heard several more yelping choice words from the other side. *Ohheavenshelpme! That's Shion!*
Shion had been working on some of the wiring in the utility room when the energy bolts arrived. He was bent over a floor panel with his rear facing the wall of the oncoming bolts. Like lightning, he felt a tinge of massive heat envelop his backside. He knew exactly what had just happened and who the culprit was. Unfortunately, he couldn't move to deal with him. His loud shriek alerted the rest of the moonbase team. Mokuren had sensed trouble an instant before it occurred so she was the first to arrive. She immediately called for the base's doc, Shukaido.
"Don't move dear. Those are second degree burns."
"#$%@@!*!!!!"
Shukaido arrived quickly. The others filtered in just as fast. Only Gyokuran didn't appear. He was fleeing for his life, whether Shion could move or not.
As a good doctor does, Shukaido assessed Shion's injuries and motioned for Hiragi and Shusuran to retrieve a gurney. Mokuren and Enju tried to calm the raging engineer, but were instead finding it hard to keep from laughing. Laughing? Yes. laughing.
Shukaido also tried to calm Shion. Shion's anger wasn't helping his condition any.
"IS GYOKURAN HERE?! I CAN'T SEE LAYING ON MY STOMACH LIKE THIS! HERE OR NOT--GYOKURAN, YOU ARE A WALKING DEAD MAN, DO YOU HEAR ME!!!!THEY'LL NEED ANOTHER ARCHAEOLOGIST TO DIG UP YOUR BONES!!!"
"Shion, please, try to calm down. You're causing yourself more pain!" Mokuren yelled while dodging one of Shion's flailing arms.
Shusuran and Hiragi returned with the gurney and Shukaido's medical bag.
"Shusse, could you hand me the contents in pouch three please?"
Shusuran pulled out its contents...a
tranquilizer. She grinned devillishly.
"Shukaido, please allow me to do it? Please? I really want
to do this." she begged.
"Shusse, now is not the time for that. This one's mine." Shukaido whispered while grasping the syringe.
"Wha--why's everybody so quiet all of a sudden? What's going on? I demand to know!" Shion responded. He sensed something bad was about to happen,but he couldn't see what. Mokuren caressed his head in a desperate attempt to relax him.
Unable to inject the syringe in the 'safest' place in this situation (the behind), Shukaido had to grab one of Shion's strong and dangerous arms. Trying to do anything with the angered, injured Shion was deadlier then wrestling a Terran crocodile.
Hirage took the cue and moved to assist Shukaido. The two pinned Shion's arm in an awkward postion allowing Shukaido to inject the needle. It did its work quickly and soon their engineer succumbed to its effects.
Now sedated, Shukaido and Hiragi lifted Shion belly down on the gurney and strolled him to the medical bay. Mokuren followed them. Shusuran and Enju were left to try to piece together what had happened. That was a rather simple task. Gyokuran hadn't shown himself throughout the whole ordeal and his room was the next one over. So, rather than chase him down (he was hiding anyway), they headed back towards the med room to check on Shion. En route, they couldn't help but discuss it.
"Those are some serious burns." Enju commented dryly.
"You can say that again. That is one RAW butt."
"Shusuran."
"Well, it is. One prime rump roast. Gyo scorched him good."
"But it'll be nothing compared to Shion's wrath. He won't let this slide."
"Then it may be up to Mokuren. Hopefully she's capable of talking him out of it."
After an agonizing hour, Shukaido
emerged from his medical room. An anxious Mokuren met him.
"Is he going to be okay?"
"Medically yes. The prognosis is first and second degree burns to his rear end. You know, had he been bent at a slightly different angle when the blast came his--"
Mokuren cut him off with a finger
to his lips.
"Let's not let that out shall we? If Shion got wind that
only luck spared THAT system, Gyokuran's fate would be sealed."
"I understand. Anyhow, he's not going to be able to sit for a couple of weeks and he'll need this cream rubbed on the affected areas every eight hours to protect from infection and cool the skin. He can't wear any pants or undergarments in that time either. Nothing that could latch onto the skin."
"Don't worry. He'll let me do that...I think. Unless he wants to try to take care of his own backside."
"I'm more worried about us. Shion's going to have one nasty attitude until he's healed."
"Not much he can do while dealing with a roasted rump though."
Both Shukaido and Mokuren laughed despite themselves.
"Still, to be on the safe side, we'd better keep Gyokuran away from him...both in sight and sound.
*********************************************************************************************************
And, for two stressful weeks, the entire moonbase was tense and alert. Shion regularly recited every curse word he knew. When not doing that, he bitched and moaned in the remaining time. Mokuren had her hands full with this overgrown baby.
Gyokuran put his earrings back on and kept apologizing to everyone, but no one would let him near the person he needed to apologize the most to. When Shion was able to move around a bit, Gyokuran was placed in confinement. It was the safest place to be until the Shion Tsunami washed over.
Once Shion was healed 100%, he amazingly displayed no anger towards Gyokuran. This could only mean one thing. He wasn't going to get mad. He was going to get even.
Sure enough, Shion found his opportunity. There was this little incident where he managed to tie Gyokuran up, place him in a spacesuit and threw him outside of the moonbase. He then changed all the codes to the doorways. Poor Gyokuran was hopping around on the moon, trying to find a way back inside the base, but to no avail. The others couldn't help either. Shion made sure they understood. Shion watched with amusement on the scanners. He left Gyokuran out there until he had just five minutes of air remaining before he opened up the nearest hatch for Gyo to scurry into.
From that day onward, Gyokuran never removed his earrings again, nor did he try to test his powers. He'd rather not know than take the risk of getting in the path of Shion's wrath ever again.
End.