"N-no... p-please, don't, just let me go -"
"Quiet!" The man who had slapped him earlier barked. He walked toward him with a sharp pair of scissors in his hand.
'Shit! What's next after I'm undressed? Cut me open alive?' Ren gritted his teeth and tried to struggle against their hold.
"Let me, Lieutenant Rhys," the soldier who had led Ren through the gate offered, taking the scissors from Rhys.
Ren gulped down his chapped throat, feeling his bile rising. He's never been in such a situation in his entire life where he is humiliated, punished, and near death. Oh, how he hated Axton.
The captain stood a few feet from Ren, staring with those cold, unreadable silver eyes. He didn't even look entertained, just bored and dangerous.
"Please..." Ren croaked at the same time his dirty shirt was pulled from under and cut through, exposing his bare chest to everyone.
As if that wasn't enough, his pants were also cut through within a matter of seconds.
"Kneel before the Captain, you dirtbag," The soldier once again pushed Ren down on his knees.
Naked as his creator made him, Ren felt tears of humiliation roll down his face as he faced the floor. He couldn't look up. He didn't want to look into the eyes of the man responsible for his total disgrace.
This was dehumanising, wicked, and unforgiving, but what could Ren do? What could a human do against a powerful captain and his squad?
The footsteps started approaching Ren again, and this time, he knew that Axton was about to hurt him for real.
"The scissors, Cypher." Axton's cold voice rang out as he stopped before Ren's kneeling figure.
"Yes, Captain," Cypher replied and handed Axton the scissors.
Ren was stumped, 'So, he was Cypher?' He slowly raised his head to the side to take a proper look at the man whom he had travelled through the dangerous lands to meet, yet, the same man was the one preparing him for his death.
Cypher was the man his commander at Base7 had asked him to meet; he was the weak link that was supposed to provide the serums to him.
"Renault," Ren tensed as he heard Axton's sharp voice call him. His name had never sounded so deathly, like it was coming out from death's mouth directly.
The next thing he felt were strong, long fingers, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look up at his captor.
The moment Axton's hand touched Ren, a dismissible low vibration hummed in his head, and he frowned.
"Who sent you?" Axton asked, his eyes swirling with an evil glint that promised swift death.
Never in his years of leadership has he seen someone so bravely foolish; he didn't care the kind of motivation Ren was given to make him think for a split second that he could waltz through his gates disguised as a lost female just to spy on him. Whatever the reason was, he was about to show Ren why he was the most feared and strongest leader among all Factions.
Axton stared at Ren's dirty and bruised face, watching as he nervously licked his cracked lips. Overall, the spy looked inexperienced, weak, and stupid; yet he drove himself to his death.
'I can't tell him, what if he went to war against my base? Killed my sister? I can't tell him,' Ren's resolve was strong.
"No one, Captain. I... I was just looking for shelter - Argh!" Ren slouched and screamed, his vision turning pitch black for a very long time.
Axton had jabbed the scissors into Ren's shoulder, blood immediately trickling down his back and chest. The excruciating pain was like nothing Ren had felt before; in fact, he would choose his horrible desert journey experience a thousand times compared to what he was feeling at the moment. Death would be a welcome friend just about then.
He cried, his tears dropping right next to his blood on the dark tiles. His lips trembled as the pain seeped right into his bones, crumbling him, his groans were deep and hurting.
"Deception is a weak front, Renault. You are a threat to the system: Unaffected, that's your status. An imbalance to our world," Axton said, pulling a gun out from his holster and pointing it at Ren.
Ren shook his head, forcing his head up to look at Axton's formidable figure, "Captain..." he coughed, his body falling to the floor as his limbs finally gave out.
Axton moved and stood right beside Ren's bleeding shoulder, the scissors still deeply stuck into his shoulder.
Everyone stood still, no one dared to move or speak. They knew their captain, his word was law, and questioning his order was a death wish.
The sound of the gun cocking sounded around the quiet room, spreading dreadful chills down Ren's spine.
This was it; he died right here, and no one could convince him otherwise.
However, in the next second, a voice stopped Axton from pulling the trigger.
"Captain," A smooth, controlled voice called from the entrance.
Ren didn't look, not because he didn't want to, but because he could no longer move a single bone in his dying body.
"Your presence is not needed, Dr. Corvin," Axton's voice had a warning to it.
Ren could faintly hear the footsteps getting closer, and more fear gripped him as he realized it was Dr. Corvin's.
What were they going to do with him?
"I know, Captain. But, I was thinking, instead of killing him, we could experiment on him to find out why he is unaffected. There might be something potent in him which might be vital to our survival," Corvin's convincing voice said.
"I decide what is vital for the people's survival, Dr. Corvin, not you," Axton's cold voice replied.
Ren heard Corvin clear his throat, "I -"
Axton shot Ren. The loud crack of the gun silenced Corvin's voice, and more blood oozed out onto the floor."
Ren had no time to even scream or cry. The bullet went right through him, taking his breath with it, leaving just his bleeding body and crushed dreams.
One thing Ren confirmed before breathing his last was the unadulterated hatred he had for Axton; he wished the man a lifetime of suffering and the most painful death one could ever face.