Star Fox: Epsilon

Chapter 10: Crimson Streams

I was captive, just as my wife, we had our hands behind our lower backs and our wrists and ankles were being held with magnetic cuffs, the cell we were in was dark as its only light was a hanging lightbulb on the ceiling, it was a small room, we were just laying on the floor as we couldn't get up. I was glancing at her face, her gaze was lost on a corner of the cell. "Krystal." I said, she didn't say a thing. "Love, I know you are worried but we'll get through this, I promise you that."

Krystal delayed a bit to respond. "Just stop." She sighed and closed her eyes to let a tear to break and fall to the dirty floor. "Don't lie to me, Fox." She sobbed. "We are doomed."

I did the best I could to drag myself towards her. "I'd never do that." I managed to get my face in front of hers. "Hey." I tried to make her look at me. "Krystal."

Krystal growled. "What?!" She finally looked at my eyes.

"Falco and Slippy, they'll rescue us like they always do, we just need to wait." I said, trying to reassure her, with no success.

"They'll recover our dead bodies." Krystal said. "That's all you can hope for."

I sighed at her lack of faith. "Love, don't say that." I got my snout closer to hers. "Of all the people I know you are the most optimistic one."

Krystal sighed. "Fox, just leave me alone." She frowned and closed her eyes again.

"We are locked up in the same cell if you didn't notice." I sounded rude but she was starting to get right into my nerves. "So, I'm afraid that won't be possible."

Krystal growled and her voice began to sound broken. "This is your fault, this is all on you, Fox."

"How is this my fault?" I inquired, already upset by her accusation.

"Don't play the fool." Krystal sobbed. "I told you so many times that this would happen, but you never listened."

"Of course I listened but do you think it's just that easy for me to retire and forget everything? To get away from doing what I love?" I thought that was a smart answer but she twisted it right away.

"You love this more than me?!" Krystal started to cry softly. "I'm your wife, Fox!" Her cry got deeper. "I'm your freaking wife and you don't care!"

My emotions were mixed, I felt guilty for what she was saying and angry at the same time as she didn't seem to understand what the merc life meant for me. "I do care! Krystal! I love you more that anything but I guess that's not enough for you! You need all the attention even if that stops me from living the life I want!" The words I said next were something I deeply regretted. "You are just being selfish!"

Krystal snarled. "Selfish! You're the one…" She stopped talking as her cry didn't let her express the words correctly, she just kept crying and didn't add anything else.

I dragged myself back to my previous spot, giving her some space, but wounds had been made and that wasn't going to help much anyway. The rusty door of the cell was opened by no one else but Epsilon's leader, Remus Lafayette, he was a cougar and was wearing the official uniform, armored and with dark blue details, with Epsilon's logo on the zone of the chest. "The McClouds." He got inside and closed the door. "What a grateful surprise." He approached Krystal and knelt before her, then he took her neck with one hand.

"Don't you dare touch her!" I yelled. Remus laughed with mockery and lifted her up, then smashed her against the wall at his side. "No! Stop you imbecile! You are choking her!" I could hear her gasps and coughs.

Remus laughed cynically. "As you wish." He smashed her violently onto the floor, making her to scream by the pain, and then he began to kick her belly repeatedly, her constant screams took me into a great suffering.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" I begged with desperation, but he kept kicking her until he got tired.

Remus stood there for a moment, watching my wife still suffering by her aching stomach. He turned and approached me then kneeled down in front of me. "Now it's your turn." He made me look at him by lifting my chin with his hand then he slapped me. He lifted me by the neck just as he did with Krystal and began to punch my face, I could only gasp and groan by the hardness of his fists hitting my snout and my eyes over and over again, I swore I could hear Krystal calling my name but the noise was so ambiguous and my sight blurred that I couldn't be totally sure. He suddenly dropped me back on the floor, my snout was bleeding, rivers of blood were slowly coming out of my nostrils, I hadn't tasted my own blood in a while. "Wha…" I was struggling to speak. "What do you…" I gasped. "…want…" The dizziness I was feeling was the worst I had ever felt. "Intel?"

Remus laughed. "No, Mr. McCloud." He just walked away from us. "You got nothing we don't already know." He said a last phrase before closing the door. "We are just letting you die here, that's all."