"How long until he wakes up? I wanna get this over with."
"Patience, Ace. He'll wake up any second now."
"Good. The sooner we get this done the better."
Blurred and distorted voices flittered through Kent's hearing. He started to come to his senses, the process slow and painful as his head pounded. The voices, rough and almost animal-like, were far from reassuring. The first was harsh, impatient, and cold. The second was calmer than the first, but nonetheless uninterested in Kent himself. He realized he was sitting in a chair, his hands and ankles bound tightly.
Then the name spoken by the second voice registered.
Ace.
A-Ace!? The Silent Slasher!? Oh no! Not him! Anyone but him!
Unlike the Renegade, who had more than a few rumors surrounding her, the things whispered about the rouge male were pure fact. The thing what scared Kent the most, of all the terrible traits, was Ace's torture methods.
Tongues cut out, legs hacked apart, mouths sewn shut after arsenic was poured down the throat, ribs broken, hands cut off, men shot between the legs, eyes gouged out, severe beatings, and even worse things. Afterwards, Ace would tie his victims to a tree in the middle of the woods and leave them there to die.
As scared as he was the Renegade, Kent would much rather deal with her than Ace.
A low, whimpering groan escaped him when his forehead throbbed. He had no doubt there'd be a nasty bruise. He whimpered again and squirmed in the seat. The bonds were almost unbearable.
"Well, you were right. Looks like he's waking up. Welcome back to the land of the living, Bloody Back."
Kent opened his eyes hesitantly. He found himself in a dimly lit room in what he thought to be a cabin. It was warm as opposed to the chilly autumn air out side. Despite this warmth, Kent shivered madly as he took in the massive figure of Ace standing in front of him.
He was a 7'4" muscular male with a black sleeveless cloak and a huge axe strapped to his back. Ginger hair covered the space above his lip and shorter stubble lined his jaw. A horrible scar ran across his face.
Kent opened his mouth to scream in fright. He barely inhaled before Ace's massive paw clamped down over his mouth. It pressed tight, nearly covering Kent's nose as well. Kent stared up at Ace as he froze midscream and went silent apart from his rapid, unsteady breathing.
Ace's eyes were cold and void of pity or compassion. "I wouldn't advise screaming. It could be detrimental to your health, boy." He brought out a gun for effect, resting the barrel so it lightly touched Kent's chest.
Eyes wide, Kent cowered in the seat he was tied to and shook his head. Ace was even scarier than the rumors said. It was mainly his bonechilling growl of a voice and the piercing eyes. Kent whined in terror and dropped his eyes away from Ace's
"Ace, I think he got the message not to scream. You can let go of him now," the Renegade said, laying a hand on Ace's arm.
Ace glanced at her, then turned his electric blue glare back on Kent. "Did you?"
Kent nodded vigorously, keeping his eyes down to avoid the predator-like glare. He was terrified beyond all words.
"Look me in the eyes, lobster."
Kent initially didn't, but the hand pressed harder against his mouth. With a gulp, Kent lifted his eyes to meet Ace's as he shook hard with fear. He nodded as he cowered down.
Ace grunted and let go of Kent's mouth. He backed away and stood by the Renegade.
Kent's eyes darted between the two Rebels as he drew a shaky breath. He was so afraid they were going to kill him after they were done, he almost couldn't breathe.
Ace's sharp gaze raked over Kent. He narrowed his eyes, turned to the female. "I'll be back." With a glare in Kent's direction, he left the room.
Kent turned his gaze on the rebel still in the room with him. She looked down at the soldier with her arms crossed. Letting his eyes meet the female's, Kent whimpered. His eyes pleaded for her to let him go.
The Renegade simply raised an eyebrow then snorted. "Don't look at me like that," she said, pointing a finger at Kent.
"W-What are you g-g-going to do with me?" Kent asked. He trembled in his seat. "Y-You're not going to torture me… are you?"
"That depends on you. Now, I advise you strongly to do as my mate says, and do not lie. Trust me when I say he can easily tell in someone is lying," she warned the soldier, whose eyes grew wider.
"I'm back," Ace said as he reentered the room, carrying a small hunting knife.
At the sight of the savage looking weapon, Kent whimpered loudly. No… please don't use that on me!
"Let's get started," Ace growled, coming to stand beside his fellow rebel.
The Renegade nodded. "Right." She turned her gaze down towards Kent. His wide eyes were locked onto the hunting knife in Ace's hand. Renegade rolled her eyes. "Oi! Eyes on me." Kent jerked his head up at the bark. "We'll start simple, alright? What's your name?"
"K-Kent," Kent stuttered, wondering why she needed to know that.
"Take a deep breath and let it out slow. I can't understand you when your voice quivers like that. Now, how old are you?"
"N-Nineteen."
"That's young. Do you know why you're here?" It was Ace who asked this time.
"Um… you n-need inform-mation?" Kent guessed.
Ace smirked at him. "Exactly…" His voice resembled a cat's purr and scared the living daylights out of Kent.
The Renegade stepped forward, taking the soaked and torn letters. "I took the liberty of removing these from your person. Thanks to your dip in the stream, they're ruined. So, seems we have to get the information directly from you now. Hopefully, you'll be cooperative and let us know what was on these letters," she said, shaking them for emphasis. Some drops of water splattered on her face. With a frown, she shook them off. "Damn water."
The letters suddenly ripped and fell to pieces. The Renegade started down at them for a long time. She finally muttered, "Dadgum it, Gravity." She looked back up at Kent. "As I said, ruined. Now spill it."
I can't tell them! I can't! I'll be court martialed! "I-I-I don't know w-what was on them, I s-swear!" Kent stuttered, shaking his head.
"You ain't lying to us, are you?" Ace growled. His eyes shone with warning
"N-No," Kent said, but he made the mistake of looking down to the left. It wasn't entirely because he was lying; he was terrified to meet Ace's gaze. He'd wet himself if he tried.
Ace and the Renegade exchanged a glance. They knew he was lying. He knew what the letters said. Ace turned his gaze back onto Kent, blue eyes slightly angry. "Is that your final answer, Kent?"
Kent winced as his name was said. He whined, "Y-Yes."
Now, Ace was angry. He stalked forward until he was right in front of the British soldier. He kneeled down in front Kent and grabbed his jaw, forcing the terrified Brit to meet his eyes.
Kent yelped in fear as his jaw was grabbed. He froze as he met Ace's stare, his eyes wide and afraid.
"I'll ask again. Do. You. Know. What. Was. On. Those. Letters?"
Kent closed his eyes tightly. A whimper spilled from him, but he shook his head again
Ace let go of his jaw and raised to his full height, glaring down at Kent with fury in his eyes. "So, you wanna do things the hard way?" He turned to the Renegade. "Get the vial."
Well I hope I did a better job of describing Ace this time around.
*shrugs* Oh well. Qué cera cera and eso sí qué es. Pretty sure those mean "What will be will be" and "It is what it is".
