Strife was leaning against the wall of his cell pondering his fate, when his teammate's voice came through the bricks. "Strife, can you hear me?" Lockheart whispered.
"Yeah. This sure is some pickle we've gotten ourselves in, huh Lockheart?"
"I still can't believe they were able to ambush us like that. And what was the deal with that Hydra?"
"You mean that Ren guy? I don't know. It just doesn't make sense. I mean, the nations have been at war for centuries, yet he acted like those soldiers were his bodyguards or something..."
"Well, trying to figure out what the hell is going on won't help us get out of here. Now how do we get out of these cells? Uh, let's see...Hey Strife?"
"Hm?"
"Couldn't you use that weird power that you have to get us out?"
"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure it only works when I'm in serious danger."
"Well what do you call what we're in right now?! Strife, you've got to at least try!"
"All right," he said after a pause, "I'll try."
Strife calmed down, closed his eyes, and tried to find the energy that had gripped him and gave him that power before.
After a few minutes, Strife gave up on his attempt to summon the energy and said to Lockheart in defeat, "It's no use; nothing's coming."
Before Lockheart could reply, Ren and the soldiers came by their cells.
"Now you two, it's time for your," the hydra paused as if searching for the correct word. "Questioning."
The soldiers opened the cell doors, grabbed the two by the arms, and carried them into the interrogation room. By the look of it, The place seemed more like a torture chamber than anything. All around, there were devices that's only purpose appeared to be to cause pain. The walls gave one the feeling that they once may have been white, but were turned grey from containing all the grusome things that must have gone on there. The entire room had the cold feel of death and despair.
Ren stepped in the room and told the guards to tie them up. Strife and Lockheart were hung by their arms which were handcuffed to hooks attached to the ceiling, and their legs, tails, and wings had been bound.
"Now we can do this easily, or you can make it difficult for yourselves. Tell me, where is Avalanche located?" Neither of them said a word in response. "Fine then, let's start with the girl. Odds are she'll tell give in sooner," Ren told the guard who had pulled a whip off of a shelf.
"Just try, you'll never get a word out of me!!" Lockheart spat defiantly.
"We'll just see about that," Ren said as the guard with the whip struck her across the back. "Willing to talk now?" he asked. She simply clenched her teeth and glared at him. Meanwhile, Strife could do nothing but watch. After getting no answer from her, Ren signaled the guard to continue, and after several lashes with the whip, Lockheart had tears of pain running down her face."Hmm, she's stronger than I expected. Very well, turn on the voltage."
The guard pressed a button on the base of the whip, and it started to emit a faint white glow. When it hit Lockheart, an electric surge went through her that cause her to emit a scream of pure agony.
"No!!" Strife yelled in response to his friend's cry. Mustering up newfound strength, he broke the binds around his wings, legs, and tail. He then planted his feet onto the ceiling and tore his hands, hook and all, from the roof of the room. Once on the ground, he ripped the handcuffs in half and rushed toward the guard holding the whip. Strife picked the surprised dragon up in the air, and slammed him into the ground. Using the momentum from the slam, he launched himself at the second guard, knocking him straight through the wall. Now all that was left was Ren. Strife gave him an ice cold glare and, channeling the energy of his rage, shot a beam from his claws in Ren's direction.
Ren had been finished, but so had the building. Apparently, the beam had destroyed enough walls to cause the prison to collapse. Strife quickly untied and lowered Lockheart, but the entrance had already crumbled, leaving them trapped. "Got enough juice left to blast the ceiling?" Lockheart asked.
"I think so," Strife said as he focused and launched just enough energy to blast a hole in the roof.
"Now that's more like it! Let's blow this joint."
"Agreed," he responded as they flew through the newly created skylight.
* * *
"So, how were you able to use your powers? You weren't in any danger," Lockheart asked him as they walked back to the base.
"But you were, and I couldn't just hang there watching you get hurt."
"Aww, Strife. That's so sweet!" she replied as hugged him tightly. Blushing, Strife pulled her off of him.
"Umm, we're here," he said, brushing himself off. They walked inside, and told everyone what happened
"So, my wife and kids weren't there?" Kinneas asked.
"I don't think so, or we would have seen them on the way to our cells. I'm pretty sure that it was all a trap," Strife answered.
"Well, I've got no job, so I'm going to fight with all o' you until I get my family back."
"Well Kinneas, we could use all the help we can get, so welcome to the team," Wallace told him.
* * *
Meanwhile, among the rubble of the destroyed jail, something was waking. The shredded lump of a body was swelling near it's collarbone, as if something was trying to break through it. Suddenly, the flesh split, and out grew a neck and a head.
"Ha! They thought they could get rid of me so easily, did they? Well no one tries to kill the great Ren and gets away with it!" He yelled, laughing maniacly "I'll chase you down to the ends of the earth and destroy you if it's the last thing I do!!"
End Part One