Don't Forget

#52 Prison Break

A/N
What is this!? A wild update? I've just fished the last chapter of this book, so updates will be every day now. Enjoy!

Warning!
Gore
Violence
Disturbing scenes
(Geez, Red always gets one of these.....)

     Red is not having a fun time. Not only did he wake up in a strange place, but the service is terrible. The bed is as hard as a rock, and there's not even a little window in his cell.
The Assassin King blacked out on the wall, and woke up in a prison cell. He doesn't even know where he's at. Less then a day's ride from the city is a good guess. It's only been a few hours, but Red is already fed up with it.
He's been counting the squid guards that go by, and has decided that they pass every 45 minutes. It's a lot more secure then Red would have expected. Still, 45 minutes is plenty is time to cause some mischief.
     When the third guard walks by, Red is ready for them. He puts his back against the wall so that they can't see him. He's a little jittery with excitement. He hasn't gotten to play prison in a while. When the Piscus passes the bars, Red reaches out and grabs him by the shirt collar. The guard doesn't react fast enough when the Deader slams him against the bars.
     Red is dismayed to find no keys, but he does pull a knife out of the back of the guard's belt. He hides it behind his back as the Piscus finally wrenches himself away from the bars. 
     "Have you come to leave a little mint on my pillow!? Go tell your torturer that I'm awake!", Red cackles, eyes wide and shaking with the force of it. This scares the guard so much that he turns and runs back down the hall. Red laughs even harder at that. He sticks the knife down his boot for safekeeping. All his other weapons are gone, but it feels good to have something hidden.
     "Hello? Is there anybody there?", the hesitant voice makes Red pause for a moment. It sounds like someone's in the cell to his right.
     "Present! And who might you be, friend? I thought that I had nobody to play with", Red tries to look into the other cell, but he can't squeeze his head between the bars. The angle's too bad to see into the other cell.
     "Oh, I'm.... Cory", the disembodied voice replies, "You just got here, right? Are you part of the GoldenEye rebels?".
     "Name's Red. I know them. I know the GoldenWings, too. Lord Dan is a bitch, but Adam needs them. So I help", Red starts talking more to himself then to Cory.
     "Prince Adam? The rumors are true? He's really alive?", the sudden hope in Cory's voice makes Red want to throw up. He thinks people should depend on themselves before worrying about other people; always look out for number one.
     "Yep. Never was dead, but he came pretty close a few times", Red walks back over to the bed and sits down to wait. Him and Cory are nearly shouting to be heard. Some squid guard will eventually come and get Red. He's alive for a reason, after all.
     Cory is quiet for a few minutes, probably taking in the news. Red has no idea how to tell how long he's been locked up. Cory doesn't sound too miserable, but Red never acted that way when he was in captivity.
     "So how did you get caught? Do you know if anyone else was with you?", Cory asks more questions.
     "I'm not sure, but I think it's just me", Red doesn't really care about the outcome of the last battle. What does annoy him is that the squids ruined his fun. He'll just have to start a brand new game here. "You know, Cory, I'm going to escape. Do you want to come with me?".
      "Huh?", Cory is a little surprised at how confident Red sounds, "I mean, I guess you could try. I'd give almost anything to get out of here". He doesn't have much faith that Red can escape, but it's a nice thought.
     "I've been in worse hell holes. These Piscus should be the ones who are afraid", Red giggles. The solid steel against his ankle is calling for blood.
     Cory is starting to sense that there's something a little off with Red. He's too.... excited for being locked up in a cell. They way he talks makes him seem very narcissistic, not to mention his laugh. Maybe it's not such a good idea to keep talking.
     Both of them sit up when footsteps start coming down the hall. Red hears Cory whimper and back up farther in his cell. He might be a little younger then Red initially guessed. The Deader stands up and walks to the bars to look out. He smiles at what he sees.
     Four Piscus guards are coming down the hall, all armed. The one walking at the front has a ring of keys on their belt.
     "Get ready, pipsqueak. These squids are gonna regret playing with me", Red laughs. Cory doesn't respond, but Red doesn't particularly care.
       When the guards stop at his cell, Red is silent. The smile is wiped off his face, playing the part of the prisoner. It'll be no fun if the game ends too soon.
     "Make sure to lock up his hands", the lead guard looks his followers in the eye before grabbing his keys. The three of them run into Red's cell as soon as the door is open. The assassin doesn't put up a fight. This will make things very interesting. His hands are cuffed behind his back, eliminating two thirds of his possible escape plans. Red likes a challenge.
     To his disappointment, the guards don't take Red past Cory's cell. He still wants to know who he's been talking to for the last twenty minutes.
     The four Piscus march Red down a few hallways before stopping at a door. There's a red flag. The squids brought him straight to the destination instead of taking extra turns to confuse him. That will cost them.
     Red still doesn't fight when he's brought into the room. His shackled hands are tied around the back of the chair, but they don't tie his feet. Another mistake. Three of the guards leave while the leader moves to sit in a chair opposite of Red. Are they trying to make this easy? Three mistakes all in one game, and the squids still think they have control. Red would laugh if he wasn't trying to be sneaky.
     "Shall we skip all the pleasantries? Who are you?", the Piscus is gruff and grouchy.
      "Me? Why I'm Red, a Deader and the Assassin King", Red cracks a smile. He's just being honest.
     "A liar, huh? You do realize your predicament, right?. There's more then one way to get you to talk", the guard doesn't believe it, "Is your entire attacking force now stationed at the city you took?".
     "It's not my anything. I already told you; I'm not a soldier. There's no point in questioning me, unless you have a job for me?", Red yawns, but he's serious about the last part. He hasn't taken any contracts in a while.
     "You were captured right in our base during the attack!", the squid slams his fist on the table. He's trying to intimidate Red, but it has no effect. "You were taking out our archers! Try and explain that away!".
     "Was I? I don't have any idea as to why I would ever betray the almighty Piscus", Red smirks, "Oh wait, now I remember. It's because they're all slimy squids. Crawl back into your smelly ocean. It'll save the rest of us a good deal of trouble".
     That does it. The guard snarls, pulling his knife from his belt. He doesn't hesitate in leaning over the table and slicing Red's cheek. The Piscus fell right into the trap.
     Red doesn't flinch when he feels the bite of the steal, but he slams the top of his head as hard as he can against the squid's face. He breaks their nose with the force. The squid falls back, and Red wrestled with his chair to stand. He wraps one of his feet around a back leg and snaps it off. The entire chair crashes to the ground with the assassin in it, crushing the chair to pieces. The rope around him is loose without the chair.
     The squid has recovered, and he's running around the table to get at Red. He's still on the floor with his hands shackled behind his back. The assassin kicks out at the table and sends it crashing into the squid. It pins him against the wall and knocks the air from his lungs. 
     Red dislocates the thumb on his left hand to slip out of the shackles as the ropes fall off. He surges up to his feet, swinging the shackle from his right wrist. It hits the squid square in the face and finally knocks them unconscious. He pulls out the stolen knife from his boot.
     The Deader looks down at the fallen Piscus. His adrenaline is up, but that fight wasn't fulfilling at all. A line of scarlet blood is running down the side of his face. Red wipes at the liquid before licking his fingers. Red bends over the squid, knife in one hand, and pulls the keys of their belt. And then he stabs them in the neck. The assassin takes the rest of the squids weapons before turning to the door. The guards probably think that Red is the one being beaten.
When Red kicks open the door, he immediately cuts down a Piscus with his new stolen sword. The other two jump away in shock and fear. Red lets them recover and make the next move.
One of them swings at him, and he blocks with the sword while bringing up the dagger and stabbing their arm. His thumb throbs where he snapped it back into place. The scent of blood, his own and from the Piscus, is a siren's call to keep moving. Red laughs as he shoulders the first guard aside to get at the one who's still frozen. Their knees give out, and Red's sword only grazes them as he rushes by.
Red runs down the hall, cackling all the way. All the ruckus attracts more squids, which he happily deals with. It doesn't take long to retrace his steps back to where the prison cells are. The area is strangely abandoned. Red likes the thought of all the squids running from him; it makes for a better hunt.
"Cory! Are you ready to come out and play!?", Red skids on the smooth floor when he gets to the right cell, leaning against the bars and jangling the keys.
The person has their back to the bars, but they slowly turn around after Red falls against the bars. Cory is in his late teens, maybe 18 or nineteen, and definitely younger than Red thought.
The problem is his face. The entire left side of Cory's face is horribly scarred from cuts and burns. Red can clearly tell that he can't see out of the eye. Cory looks scared now that Red has seen his face. Will he run away now?
"You didn't answer my question! You want out, right?", Red busies himself with unlocking the cell. He couldn't care less about Cory's scars. Everyone has scars, but Red's are just on the inside.
"You're not...... You don't think....", Cory is at a loss for words. Sure, he wants to get out of this place, but what will the world think of him? He stands up and moves over the door as Red finally gets it open.
"I think the exit is in the opposite way of where my 'interrogation' was. These Piscus bore me. We should get out of here while they're still deciding if they want to play", Red walls off down the hall. He doesn't care if Cory follows or not, but he does.
The two unlikely companions meet no opposition for a few minutes. Cory's not sure what to think of all the blood that covers Red, but he's thankful for the rescue.
The assassin stops dead in his tracks when another squid appears. He recognizes them, and remembers the whip that they carry. A whip means authority and immunity to Red. It's something that he doesn't have the nerve to fight against. He freezes in place.
Cory is freaked out when Red stops completely. The guard smiles in satisfaction and advances towards them. The scarred teen panics, pulling Red's sword right out of his stiff hand. Cory has no combat experience whatsoever. He ties to make a halfhearted swing, but the heavy weapon flies right out of his hand. The Piscus isn't fast enough to avoid a shallow cut to the side of his leg. It doesn't hinder him at all, but blood bubbles to the surface and runs down their leg.
Red's never seen the whip get injured. It's like seeing a god bleed. The whip is suppose to be all powerful, but Cory just shattered that allusion. The whip can bleed. The whip can die. Red launches himself forwards and slams the squid to the ground. He buries the knife in their eye socket up to the hilt.
Cory turns away and gags. Despite when his scarred face might say, he's not a violent person by nature.
Red leaves the knife and pulls the kid out of the Piscus base. No one else comes to stop them. Red has killed 17 of their soldiers all by himself. It's easier to let them go then send more to die.
What does make Red tense is the silhouette of two horses and a rider coming straight for the base. The sun is just starting to rise. He relaxes a little when they come closer, and Red recognizes them.
"Come on! One of Dan's GolenWings found out yous were here", Lord Barney is right one time, "Whoever the kid is, get thems on the horse before the squids come outs here!".
"The kid is Cory. Where to? I don't even know where we're at", Red laughs a little, throwing Cory up onto the horse's back.
"Cory? Lord Harold's son?", Barney looks at the kid in astonishment. Cory hides his face against Red's back when he gets on the horse. "We're going to the port island. A GoldenEye ally is holding it right now".
     It's true; just like Adam, Jordan, and Ty, Cory is a lost child of the court. He's been a prisoner for four and a half months since the squids found him hiding in one of the cities. He got the scars during the first month.
     The three of them urge their horses forward, wanting to get as far from the base as possible. Red's not sure what game comes next........... but things are starting to get a little more complicated.