Taming the Beast

[DoS Archive]

From: gideonmars@aol.com (GideonMars)
Date: 15 Oct 1999 01:53:48 EDT

Gideon Mars "Tsk'd" as he slowly shook his head and made a few chickenscratches on his notepad. The paper he was marking off had the heading Rehabilitation subject: William Ray and so far the scores he was getting were well below what was normally expected AND accepted from his employer.

"That..<gasp>,, bad, eh Gids?" William said as he stood hunched over with his large hands on his knees, sucking for air. The ten foot log he'd just run five miles with lay forgotten at his feet. William was wearing a torn white T-shirt with the obnoxious phrase "I love you MAN!" Stenciled on the front. By the condition he was in, William certainly did not hold much love for Gideon or his tests right now.

"Subpar in all tests so far sir," The Mul droned out with clinical preciseness " You appear to be not only slower but weaker and lacking endurance as well. You were off your personal best by three minutes in the 5 mile log run." Gideon did his best to hide his disappointment but they both knew that Billy could see beyond his friends wooden exterior.

"Ok, ok!" Billy said in exasperation, a large vein in his bull neck throbbing in time with his racing heart. "What are we lookin' at baldly? And don't pad the whippin' stick if ya' get my drift."

Gideon's lips thinned at the baldness jibe but let it slide, figuring he's make Billy work extra hard as the brought him back up to his former dueling shape. "Well sir, you've slipped three seconds in your hundred yard dash, up from your former 8.24 seconds. You're still far above Olympic and world class standards but those three seconds could mean a lot when facing a sword in the ring."

Billy Ray simply nodded and berated himself silently. He was one of the fastest people in any world outside of those using magic or possessing super human abilities like himself, but "One of the best" to Billy may as well mean "One of the worst".

"Your strength has dropped by %12.67 give or take a few decimal points. Your bench press, as you call it, has dropped from 1575 pounds to a horrendous 1433. You dropped almost two hundred pounds from you maximum squat of just over one ton and I won't even mention the grisly results of that dead lift." It would be much later before Gideon realized how insane it was to actually be chastising a man for being "only" this strong, but if this is the
way William wanted it, it was the way he was going to get it.

Gideon looked up from his clipboard and suddenly felt an enormous sense of pity for his boss. The man stood a good 6'2", only four inches shorter than the mul, and due to his dense bone and muscle physiology, he weighed in at a deceptive 325 pounds. Although Gideon outweighed the man and stood a full head above him, he would never mistake the fact that the one known as Karnafexx could have tossed him around like a rag doll if he chose. He
pitied him for the fact that he always had to be the best, second best was never an option. The man put himself through hells to make a demon cringe and still kept that lopsided grin of determination on his face.

He would never admit it to save his life, but he was held almost as much fear of Karnafexx as he did reverence.

"Is that it?" William asked impatiently. "I gotta train, work out more....I...I can't believe how much I let myself slip." That familiar look of determination was slowly creeping its way like a prowling hunting cat, onto Billy's face.

"Only test we have left is the recovery test. We have to see if your regenerative powers have slid along with your physical ones." Gideons voice had a slight hitch of distrust in it as he saw the resolve solidify in William's demeanor. "A small cut should do to test the clotting powers of your blood as well as the healing and sealing of the wound itself." Gideon added quickly, hoping to sway Billy into a simple and undramatic end to the day.

"Yea, small cut should work all right Gids." He said absently as he bent down and pulled the logging ax they had used to cut the tree down for the endurance test. Billy held the ax in his left hand and ran the blade over his wrist a few time, as if to get a feel for the weapon. Gideon gave an invisible sigh of relief as it appeared that he'd gotten through to him.

Before he knew what had happened, however, Billy Ray slid his hand down the haft of the ax with lightening speed and lifted it up above his head. The meat thud was nothing compared to the horrid scene as Billy brought the ax down and severed his hand at the wrist. Gideon let out a mewling sound as Billy staggered and let go of the ax, it's razor sharp point buried a good three inches in the stump. The spay of blood from the stump was lessening
from a geyser to a slow trickle as Gideon quickly dropped the forgotten clip board and took Billy by the wrist with one hand and grabbed the severed appendage with the other.

"This will hurt." He said shakily, hoping William could not see the tortured look in his eyes. Billy swayed unsteadily as he fought the pain but managed a tight nod. Gideon pushed the hand against the wrists stump and applied his weight to keep it there while Billy groaned in barely suppresses agony. After a few minutes Gideon felt safe enough to let the arm go and sit William on the ground, propping his back against the bloody stump of the
tree. The hand had reattached itself and the ghastly gash from the severing looked like a mere flesh wound right now. William would be more inconvenienced until he regained the blood he'd lost as apposed to the pain.

"A little cut." Billy managed weakly. "I guess I owe ya' and apology, it seems we have slightly different ideas on the subject of Small <wince> Cuts." There was that strange triumphant look in those bright green eyes as Billy did his best effort at an apology, but Gideon was still livid with anger.

"Don't apologize sir, it seems that your recuperative powers have suffered just a pathetically as the rest of you." It was cruel, but in this instance, Gideon felt that he deserved to see that shamed look on Williams face.

"You'd better get some rest tonight sir, we have a lot of training to do this week." As he stood up and retrieved the clip board. Without so much as a backwards glance, Gideon Mars walked away.