Lament of the Moon S&H - Ch.08: Dancing no Bara - Ep01
#1 of LoM 08
Inside a secret underground lab center, Khan was on his way to check up with his lab experiments, with Josette accompanying him. He entered the main laboratory, filled with many medical personals doing all kinds of chemical experiments, and he was greeted by the chief doctor.
"Nice of you to visit, Mr. Khan," an aged weasel in a white lab coat welcomed the tiger and his assistant, though he was quite distressed by the surprise inspection visit.
"Chief Dr. Oakland," Khan merely responded, walking through the labs and checking the work around him dauntingly, making the doctor nervous as he timidly followed him.
"Err, as you can see, Mr. Khan, everything is coming along smoothly. The AB-005 medicine is doing wonders," Dr. Oakland said, rubbing his hands demurely as he walked behind the large tiger.
"And the liquid formula progress?" Khan enquired as he continued in his inspection, his hands held behind his back composedly.
"O-Oh, yes, about that. We're facing some hurdles regarding the taste, and..."
"I don't pay you to get blocked by simple hurdles, Chief Doctor. I pay you to get results," Khan cut him off, making the weasel more nervous.
"Y-Ye-Yes, Mr. Khan! We're getting close, don't worry! We just need more of the AB-005 formula," Dr. Oakland responded.
"Josette," Khan called out for his assistant and the elf stood next to him and opened the brief case she was carrying. The tiger pulled out a syringe tube from it, with the label 'AB-005' stamped on it, and gave it to the Chief Doctor. "This will do, don't you think?"
"Po-Positively! We'll get your result very soon!" the doctor stammered.
"See that you do," Khan said in his cold tone and left the lab soon after with Josette.
"Good grieve... I don't get paid enough for all this stress..." Dr. Oakland sighed in distress after the president of ToraPharma left.
As Khan was on his way to his office, he saw Megalo standing in one the hallways, his back leaned on the wall with his arms crossed, apparently waiting for him.
"What is it, Megalo?" Khan asked the panther when he got close enough.
"Master Khan, I want to speak with you. In private," Megalo answered, eyeing Josette. Khan got the message and gestured for his assistance to move on ahead of him, as she nodded obediently and did as she was told.
"Speak," Khan said.
"I wanted to ask you, why haven't you given the order to kill the Slasher?" Megalo asked straightforwardly.
"That doesn't concern you, Megalo," Khan bluntly answered.
"But, Master Khan! He's our enemy! His existence threatens our own! Why won't you let me finish him off?! I regret going against your order the first time and he only bested me because I underestimated him, but if you just give me the permission to..." Megalo protest was then silenced by Khan's hand clutching Megalo's throat and slamming him up against the wall.
"Are you questioning me, Megalo?" Khan rumbled, squeezing on the panther's neck.
"Urk! N-No! I would, ugh, never do that!" Megalo choked, gripping on the tiger's strong clutch around his throat.
"Fine, if you want to know why, I'll tell you. The reason I haven't given you or anyone else the order to kill the Slasher is because none of you can. At your current state, you can never, ever, beat Hazard. He'll always best you no matter how desperately hard you try. And even if you could, by some miracle, I still won't let you kill him. Hazard is important to me. I need him more than anything in this world. So, don't pull one of your psychotic shenanigans ever again, or else..." Khan threatened Megalo, unsheathing his claws around the panther's throat too close for comfort.
"Ack! Ye-Yes! I understand, Master Khan! Please, I won' do it again!" Megalo whimpered and Khan eased his grip, releasing him from his choke as Megalo landed on his feet, coughing and panting for air.
"Good. Don't get jealous, Megalo. You know that I still care for you, like I care for everyone. You'll always be my favorite assassin," Khan then gently whispered, petting Megalo's red head fur in an oddly caring way, especially when he almost choked him to death just a second ago.
"I... I know... Master Khan... I'm sorry, my Master..." Megalo smiled warily, purring softly as Khan's petting and looking up at the tiger with eyes full of admiration. "Do you... want some company tonight?" the panther cooed, his hands slowly feeling up Khan's abs under his business suit.
"If I need you, I'll let you know. Now, go back to your chamber until a further notice." Khan's demeanor switched back to his ice cold tone and callously continued on his way without another word. As for Megalo, his fists were shaking furiously, as he slammed one of them into the wall with an angry grunt.
"I won't accept that... I fucking won't accept it! I'll show you, Slasher..."
To be continued...