Hello! I'm back! Ish! I'm stupid busy a lot of the time, but I just watched Season 2 of 3Below and couldn't help but to write a little something.

First off, please forgive me! You know that scene where Aja wakes up in the Gym, strapped to a bed? Colonel Kubritz comes in and has Krel dumped and strapped to another bed, still unconscious. Well, Aja asks, "What did you do to him?" and Colonel Kubritz responds with something along the lines of "The same thing I'm going to do to you!"

Well, Krel is my favourite character, and I love writing whump for some cruel reason, and because they never really explained this, these two lines in this particular situation gave me an absolutely perfect prompting. I mean, seriously, was there a better potential whump moment left this creatively open anywhere else in the entire season? In the entire series?

Anyway, that same episode is the one in which this story takes place, and, obviously, this is just one very… creative idea for what might have happened to Krel. Sorry, Krel, you're really about to go through the ringer, friend!

Please tell me what you think of it! I would be thrilled! Every review is a cookie I'll make special for Krel to help him feel better!

(Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea and the writing. Also, thank you for taking a look at my story!)

-LizzyLucky

"Tell me where they are!" Colonel Kubritz bellowed, arms tucked behind her back.

"No!" Krel squirmed under the constraints keeping him on the uncomfortable bed, glaring defiantly at the rotund woman.

"I don't think you understand me," Kubritz continued, pulling something from behind her back. "I am not asking for your cooperation!"

"I don't care if you are asking or not," Krel seethed. "You will not get anything from me!"

"Let's try this again," Kubritz said smoothly, stepping toward Krel. He inched away and watched warily as she held up what looked like a… taser? "This," she said, "is not an ordinary gun."

"Clearly not," Krel stated, looking more closely. There were neon grippings and small inscriptions clearly written in an alien dialect on it. The side of the device also had a dial sticking out, with numbers ranging from 0 to 10 all around it.

"I must admit, this is a recently acquired piece of technology," Kubritz said, holding it up to the light for examination. Krel watched as she began to circle him.

"We have had very little time to discover its exact uses and levels of power." Kubritz glanced down at Krel, who seemed to be examining the item curiously. "By the looks of things, you don't know much about this little trinket, either. I can tell you it won't kill you. But…" Kuritz paused and took another step forward, leaning directly over Krel. Krel swallowed and leaned as far away as he could; even her breath felt invading.

"It's not exactly harmless." Without any other warning, Kubritz shoved the end of the device into Krel's stomach, turning it on for no more than a second. Krel let out a yelp as an electric shock traveled through his abdomen in an instant, leaving an unpleasantly warm and tingling sensation in its wake.

"I will not ask again!" Kubritz yelled. "Tell me where your ship is and where the rest of your alien allies are hiding, and maybe I'll let you live!"

Krel drew in a shaky breath and steeled himself against Kubritz' cold expression. "I will never tell you!" he declared.

Kubritz laughed loudly, surprising Krel, and held the device just above his chest. She leaned over his face, the very epitome of insanity in Krel's mind, and turned the device onto a low setting so as to create a menacing sound. Krel swallowed thickly, eyes flicking between the device and Colonel Kubritz' face. He could feel the heat radiating off the electric charge only inches from his chest.

"I have no empathy for you whatsoever," Kubritz said seriously, all expressions of laughter disappearing in an instant. Her voice radiated threat and Krel almost whimpered at the look on her face, leaning, if it were at all possible, farther away still. "I will not hesitate to use this."

To emphasize her point, Kubritz stuck the end of the weapon back to Krel's stomach and held it there, watching with delight as he squirmed and bit his lip to halt another cry. This seemed to turn her mood again and she smiled pleasantly, as though this were nothing more than an every-day, casual activity; it was a game to her.

Finally, she removed the device, chuckling when Krel let out a breathy whine.

"It's only a matter of time, Krel!" She said loudly. She held her head high and marched to Krel's other side. "If you don't tell me, your sister will be next!" Krel lurched.

"No!" He exclaimed in horror. Kubritz grinned delightedly at having struck a chord.

"You've a soft spot for your sister, haven't you?" Kubritz tantalized him. "I suppose you'll want to do all you can to keep her out of harm's way." Kubritz again begin to circle around Krel, who watched anxiously while she held the tazer high. "She's already been compromised, you realize. My men are standing by, waiting for to wake up to this very same fate!"

"Leave Aja alone!" Krel spat, glaring at his captor. "Leave us both alone!" He added. "We have done nothing to harm you or your planet!"

"That's not the point!" Kubritz growled and jumped at Krel with murder in her eyes. Krel's eyes widened as he watched her and he began to breathe heavily. "The second you entered our atmosphere, stole a place on a planet that does not belong to you, and tried to pass yourselves off as not just other people, but an entirely different species, you became our enemies! You invaded our home, no matter how minimally, and until you are off this planet or dead, I. will. not. rest!"

With another exclamation of rage, Kubritz stuck the device back into Krel's stomach, but this time did not remove it. Krel struggled against his restraints, gasping as the sensation intensified.

"You might wonder about my methods, here," Kubritz drawled. She removed the device momentarily so as to walk to Krel's other side, then replaced it nearer his waist. Krel let out another cry, flinching violently.

"I've learned a few things about you, you know," Kubritz continued. "I know, for one, that your core resides in your chest, just as a human's heart might. Too much damage to the chest and you essentially die. I would never get my information that way."

She removed the device again, leaving Krel panting heavily and groaning, and walked around him again, replacing the device once more.

"And if I went for your head, you would pass out! That would defeat the point of this entire operation!"

Krel tried to argue or make a quip and found that all he could do was drag air in and out of his lungs as the device sent spasms through his entire torso.

"Of course," Kubritz said, "your four arms and your two legs would make for wonderful physical sensory overload. But then watching you squirm wouldn't be nearly as fun." Kubritz laughed deeply, watching Krel's face as it contorted with discomfort and anger.

He eventually gasped and began opening his mouth, forming broken words. "You won't- ah- you won't- ah!" He grit his teeth frustratedly, finding that the spasms caused by the gun made it difficult to speak.

Interested in what he might say, Colonel Kubritz removed the taser and turned to Krel expectantly. She smirked at him, knowing that he was afraid.

"You won't get anything from me," Krel finally said, breathing unevenly. "You can hurt me all you want but-" He paused to grunt as a wave of pain coursed through his stomach. "...Aja and I will protect our people and our values, with our lives! You will never learn the location of Mother, or our parents, or our friends or our planet! I will give you nothing, and you will never have that information! Never!" Krel proclaimed this proudly, glaring determinedly at the ceiling and panting still.

Kubritz was enraged by this. This infuriating creature had more stupidity and guts than she had credited him for, and he was pushing her buttons! He had done nothing but cause her grief, and if he wasn't going to answer her questions, she was at least going to see him suffer!

"Then you will not leave this room whole," she said angrily. Krel glanced at her and whimpered as she held up the same weapon. It was now he noticed that it had been on setting 1 this entire time. Kubritz grabbed the small dial and turned it up to 4.

"No, no, no, please-" Krel began to struggle against his restraints again. Setting 1 on its own caused intense discomfort, he didn't know that he could-

"Too late!" Kubritz said, shoving the device back town.

This time a far more intense sensation attacked Krel's nervous system, with a strong, burning heat alongside it. He realized that the higher settings were paired with more extreme temperatures and that it was burning his skin as much as it was overstimulating his nerve endings.

"Stop!" He cried, eyes watering. "Please, stop!" Kubritz showed no sign that she'd even heard him until he let out a prolonged cry of pain.

"Tell me, then!" She demanded, pressing the device more firmly into Krel's stomach.

"N-no!" Krel's entire frame began to tremble as the device sent ripples of electricity down his body. His energy was draining and he couldn't concentrate anymore. He was afraid he might blurt out the very information he promised Kubritz she couldn't have in his unconscious desire for the pain to go away.

"Stop!" He cried again, this time as loudly as he could manage. Kubritz only laughed. It seemed to Krel that her motive now was just to hurt him and that getting information would only have been a plus.

"I will show you no mercy if you will show me no cooperation!" Kubritz yelled. She lifted the device once more, the burning and tingling after-effect suddenly seeming heavenly to Krel, and ran to his other side again, slamming the gun back to its place so harshly that Krel screamed at the intensity of it.

"No!" He cried, fighting the restraints increasingly more weakly. Kubritz leaned over and hovered by the side of his face.

"I only wish your sister were conscious to see you squirm."

At that, Krel began to sob, knowing full well that it was probably exactly what Kubritz wanted. He and Aja were so vulnerable and he was helpless to do anything about it!

Kubritz' grin began to widen and she pressed one thumb against the dial of the gun. She ever-so-slowly began to raise the setting up to 7, leaving it there when Krel began to cry so harshly that he seemed to be struggling to breathe. At this point, there were spots dancing in his vision and the pain and heat were becoming so intense that he could feel the top layer of his skin burning away. He was so exhausted and in so much pain that he couldn't even control his voice long enough to beg for mercy.

"Colonel!" A man entered the room and came to a halt, addressing Kubritz.

"What?" Kubritz demanded angrily, whipping around to face the man. Krel felt the worst of the pain fade and was so relieved and exhausted that he just kept crying. He felt tears soak into his hair and some puddle on the bed where his head lay. And maybe it was just his exhaustion speaking, but he could have sworn for a minute that the man at the doorway looked down at him piteously.

"The alien girl is beginning to wake up." The man said, glancing between Kubritz and Krel anxiously. He somehow felt bad for the extraterrestrial laying in the room with his ruthless boss. He was beginning to question whether Colonel Kubritz really was doing the right thing…

"Good." Kubritz hummed approvingly. "You will stay here and keep guard over this one," she paused, grinding out the words with utmost disgust and hatred, "until I return. I believe his sister would be interested to see him."

"Yes, ma'am." The man said hesitantly.

"Don't…" Krel began. Kubritz turned around slowly and watched Krel amusedly. "Don't… h-hurt Aja…" He said with some effort. "She won't tell you… e-either." With this, Kubritz glared one last time at Krel, utterly enraged. She walked briskly up to him, eliciting a whimper of fear from Krel, and glowered at the helpless being.

"I will get my information one way or another."

With that, Kubritz lifted the gun, spun the dial all the way to 10 and pointed it at Krel, whose eyes went wide.

"No! Don't! I'm begging you, please!" Krel cried out desperately, sobbing again in pure anticipation. Kubritz grinned wickedly and felt herself hoping that maybe Aja would hear her brother's torment through their supposedly sound-proof rooms. She began to slowly lower the gun and watched as Krel became frantic.

"Please, no! No, no, no! Stop! Aja!" Krel sobbed and squished as far away from Kubritz as was possible from his standpoint. He called out as loudly as his lungs would allow, "Aja, help! Don't do this! Mama! Papa! Somebody help! Please! Please don't, I can't take anymore-!"

"I'm counting on it." Kubritz said. Having delivered her final message, she shoved the gun's end into the center of Krel's stomach, and listened as he released an ear-splitting cry of agony that shattered even the soldier's heart. At long last, Krel passed out from the pain, and Kubritz left the room as the now peaceful-looking Akiridion slept to go confront the other as she woke.

I told you! I know I told you! I told you! I said I was mean! I said that Krel was gonna go through the ringer! I told you!

Really though, I'm kind of exasperated with myself, even, for this. I mean, I don't wanna become too egocentric or anything, but I think I did a fairly decent job of depicting this mess. I'm tugging at my own heart-strings in this one-shot, so gosh dang it.

Did I do alright? Did I make Kubritz evil? Did it seem like, if it were not for the need to be child-friendly, it could have been canon? Was Krel in character? Was there enough dialogue? Was it descriptive enough? Did I accurately depict physical pain? Was I absolutely terrible to Krel? Did I tell you so?

I'll answer that one; I told you so! I told you!

But really, I would genuinely be interested in what you guys thought of it, and I am always very eager to get some critique on my writing and my character portrayal. I require nothing, but don't forget that Krel totally gets a home-made cookie for every review… We gotta cheer him up!

Thanks so much for coming to read my story guys! I think this was a really good exercise for me, and I enjoyed coming up with something to fill one of the many, many, MANY mysteries this show has left us with. Many.

Thank you!

-LizzyLucky