The Last Ship (18+)

Chapter Twenty-Five: A Little Sting.

Zio walked about in the large gym. The tall male let out a rather loud snarl as he looked towards the twins. Sam was removing his glasses, while Ian chirped about how excited he was, but as everyone was preparing, the doors suddnely flew open, and Captain Strong walked out with a group of soldiers behind him. Jewel and Reed were by his side.

Zio was rather quick to move in front of Luna. The male lowered his head before letting out a low growl. He curled his fists as Strong walked towards the group. Sam and Ian seemed rather upset that their plans had been interrupted. The large male cocked his head, slowly moving forward as the soldiers came closer. But as Luna was yanked back out from behind Zio, sudden chaos broke loose.

"Captain Strong, stop this at once!" As Luna was grabbed, Professor Reed called out rather loudly; attempting to stop them from grabbing Luna.

In the midst, Zio lunged for Luna; letting out a vicious snarl as he yanked her back towards him. Though quickly, he realized that was a mistake. The collar zapped the large Irinaut as Strong hit the button. The beast fell forward with the small hybrid in his arms; clinging to her even as his neck began to sear with smoke. Jewel was screaming, and the group was clearly unhappy. Zio breathed heavily as he looked at the Captain. His eyes glowed a vibrant green as his mouth expanded. The beast let out a rather pained roar, 'Don't you fucking touch her like that again.' Zio crouched over Luna now. Clearly, not wanting anyone to lay a hand on her in that manner, 'Luna, ask them what's going on, love.'

Luna held on to the large male. Her body quivered, and her scream of terror was clear to all of them. The blonde held on tightly to Zio. She had started sobbing as she saw the wound that had been caused by the collar, "W-What's going on Jewel? W-why did you hurt him? He isn't some monster like the rest of them! You wanted to hurt him, Captain Strong." Luna buried her face in the Irinaut's side. The girl hadn't expected this by any means. Everything had been going so well. She had hoped this would all be over soon.

Professor Jewel approached them, looking over Zio and speaking calmly to the two of them, "We are nearing Zio's home planet, Luna, and if we are to stop this infection, we need to know if you can make other Irinaut's speak to you, look for peace. If of course they aren't infected. It seems that Captain Strong has not been completely honest with us. The entire bottom bay has been taken by a few Irinaut's. From what we could tell, no infection has spread to them. If you two could bring them to, perhaps they could help be leads to the Queen. We could stop this, darling. All of it. The spores would no longer have a intelligent mind to control it's hive. They would starve on their home planet." Professor Jewel sighed softly, "Captain Strong had no right to do that in such a manner, but he insisted that he could see how well his device works before putting it on another Irinaut."

Luna looked at Jewel with a blank stare. Her gold eyes pulsed as she gave a stubborn shake of her head, "That wasn't fair by any means! Zio has done nothing but corporate with the Captain and the first thing he wants to do is zap him? How is that fair to Zio?" The blonde held his hand before she took a deep breath, "The only way I'll let him help is if you take this thing off him. He's showed he can control himself, but stop picking on him like he's a wild animal." Luna clung to Zio's hand. Clearly, she had no intentions on leaving his side.

Captain Strong rolled his eyes. The male crossed his arms before looking over the two of them, "I only wish to make it clear that he knows which on of us has the remote in their hand." Captain Strong shoved the remote in his pocket, "Professor Jewel and Reed have been discussing the matter, and believe that you can get these things on our side. If you do that for me, at least the last ones that are on my ship that don't have the infection, I'll do you one better. I will set you and Zio free on his home planet with the rest of your crew where you belong." Captain Strong looked up at Zio, "Don't take it to heart, Zi-0. That is, if you have one." The large male looked at the soldiers, "Get them in some decent armor before setting them loose down there. I do hope the two of you are prepared to impress."