Survival is Crucial

Hang'em All

A cold stone prison surrounded Tyche as he woke up from his all too long dream. His arms are tied behind the chair, legs bound as well. Tyche hadn't noticed the gag in his mouth yet as a voice started whispering into his mind, "Get ready," A familiar voice, "Someone was waiting for you." I thought that was just...? Tyche thought to himself, thrashing helplessly in the chair, noticing that it was screwed into the ground. "They were waiting for you to sleep, you only interpreted the voice as something different in your dreams. Though still relevant, it left you vulnerable."

Another voice chimed in, "You feel the air from outside creeping in from under the door in front of you. You can feel a cavity outside in the shape of a woman. She's wearing a helmet but has the visor flipped up, taking long drags of multiple cigarettes, quickly throwing them to the floor each time." Tyche began coughing violently, muffled due to the gag in his mouth as smoke crept through the door, quickly dissipating shortly after. "She heard it, you can feel her whip her head about as your muffled hacking fazed through that damned metal door in front of you." The voice paused, "There is a rusted lock outside the door, you can hear it as she fumbles with the key."

The lock clicked, hearing it slam onto the ground as a woman entered, visor sitting in front of her face and entering the room, closing the door behind her.

One voice cleared their throat to catch Tyche's attention, "She's nervous, she doesn't know if she can actually do what she's about to do." What do you mean? Tyche thought to himself, "I don't know, but it's bad. She's putting on a front, definitely." She pulled the gag off from Tyche's face, throwing it to the ground while quickly distancing herself. "She's paranoid, she still believes you can fight back in your state. She would be right, but you missed your opportunity."

The woman leaned in, "My name is Shell, you're Tyche, yes?"

Tyche swallowed down a pool of spit, a manic look in Tyche's eyes.

"Please answer."

"Enforcado."

"Hanged..." She sighed, taking her helmet off and throwing it to the floor, "I know that's just your title boy. You're a capoeirista." She paused, grabbing a rusty chair in the corner of the room, sitting on it, "Say it..."

"Tyche..."

A voice came in with a raspy howl, "She took off her helmet!" It chuckled, "She's not letting you out alive!"

Tyche's heart sunk to his stomach, "What are you planning?"

She visibly paused, "I was originally planning on rubbing different things in your eyes... it would hurt more than some other torture techniques since they eventually become numb but... that's fine. I can't rub s**t in your eyes since I want you to see all of this for yourself."

"Ha!" The voice shouted, "She's a vengeful w***e isn't she!?"

"Why...?" The word left Tyche's lips.

"Why?" She went on, "There was a certain Russian man you killed, so I'll kill you."

Tyche glared at her, his bottom lip quivering as he hesitated to say a certain set of words.

"I know, it's petty," She stood up, grabbing a variety of tools from a small compartment in the wall, "I'm a petty b***h, but I loved him, so... you'd understand, right?"

Another voice came in, "You do... you want to make them all suffer, don't you?" The voice whispered, Tyche could almost hear its hypothetical tapping against a table.

She took out a chrome table that slid up to Tyche, taking the cap off from a box. "To be honest, it's so hard for me to decide," She paused, "What should I choose," She chuckled, "I know what to do. I'll first smash your fingers into smithereens, then I'll smash your knees in... maybe I should do something with your feet too." She snapped her fingers, "I got a better idea! First, I'll rip the nails out from your feet, then I'll break your toes -- do the same with your fingers as well." She paused again, glancing over to Tyche, "Maybe I should saw off your fuckin' ears too."

Another voice came in, "Think of a way to get out of this situation, NOW!"

Tyche's eyes attempted to scan the room for a way out, not managing to come up with anything. Shell noticed, "You're trying really hard right now, right?" She chuckled, "You can't escape unless you find a way to kill me, but... I doubt you could," She pointed to the seat's legs and Tyche's bound hands. "See?"

Another voice, "Look at her." They paused, watching as she hesitated visibly, scratching the back of her head with an uncomfortable expression on her face. "She's regretting this, she doesn't really want to do it. She knows why you did it and she knows you don't deserve it."

A voice screamed out through the darkness of Tyche's mind, "You do! You deserve it! You killed Nick, didn't you!? Why!? Why did you do that!?"

One of the last few voices chimed in again, "Ignore them, convince her to not kill you. She doesn't really want to, she's being led by rage, you can convince her, please."

Tyche swallowed through a dry throat, "Hey..."

Shell's head whipped around, "What...?"

It felt as if a stone was in Tyche's throat, "Don't..." Tyche blew air out his nose, closing his eyes, "Don't do this..." His shaky voice sent shivers down her spine. "I... didn't want this. I was forced... I needed to survive."

Shell took a deep breath before letting out a long sigh, attempting to go back to her previous cold exterior from before. "I know that, but..."

The voice from before made an uncomfortable groan, "She can't hold herself back... she wants you dead no matter what, even if she doesn't really want to. Her rage is overtaking her judgment... no." Tyche could almost imagine the voice shaking their head, "That's dumb. Her reasoning for this isn't just because of that rage... no it's also because of the bounty. She wants something other than revenge."

Another voice chimed in, "She found this to be the most effective way to take you out. Nothing else has worked and knew she would fail in a normal confrontation so she's decided to do this instead."

One last voice came in, "Torture was her only choice, she could both kill you and take your will to live, isn't that right?"

Tyche wheezed out one more word, "Please..."