Tommy Spinelli grunted as he was shoved onto some kind of metal platform. He could feel his arms and legs being tied to the table. The cold steel of the platform might have been almost soothing if he didn't know he was probably about to be killed. His blindfold was torn off and his eyes were met with the bright lights of a small room. As his eyelids were squeezed shut until he could get used to the brightness, he tried to remember what was going on. His eyes opened slowly.

The sight of 5 familiar faces standing in a semi circle in front of him was certainly not a welcome one. In the middle of the group stood a heavy set man dressed in a surprisingly ragtag outfit. He wore a pair of faded blue jeans, held on his body by a pair of grey suspenders. His face was heavily wrinkled and his prematurely graying temples belied his actual age. Frankie Cissero was 43 years old, day-to-day stress made him age faster than he should. Cissero was a chief enforcer of the Nico crime family, the under boss of Pete Nico himself.

Spinelli gazed at the semi circle of people before him. The four people to the left and right of Cissero were all dressed in identical black suits and ties. Their hair was slicked back against their scalps with pomade. Tommy recognized all of sharply dressed men. Sonny Forelli, Mike 'Lips' Forelli, Paul Garvini, and Thomas Vercetti stood to each side of Cissero. They stood expressionless, and Spinelli knew full well they had done this type of thing numerous times before. This was another day at the office; the most important thing on any of their minds was probably what they were going to have for dinner that night. Seeing them stand there knowing whatever gruesome scene they were about to witness wouldn't affect them at all was almost enough to make Spinelli reconsider his current career. That is, if he survived the night.

The pain kicked in suddenly, almost startling Spinelli. His body throbbed horribly, and his head felt far too small for his brain. His eyes felt as if they were going to pop out at any second, like the blood was trying it's very best to spew out of any opening it could find. A dark, red crust had formed over a decent sized gash above Spinelli's right eye and his heart beat increased faster and faster as Spinelli grew more and more aware that more pain was about to come.

Spinelli could spot the top of an object that appeared metal, in Cissero's hand. The rest of the object was hidden by the edge of the table but it's metallic glint was undeniable. Spinelli's best guess was that it was a knife, or a screw driver or something. He looked back up at Cissero's gruff face, which was smiling, the sadistic bastard.

Spinelli managed to mumble a few words, hoping they were audible enough so that he didn't have to repeat them, "You gonna kill me? Do it fast if you are. I just…" His voice trailed off a little and for a second he thought he was losing consciousness. A shake of his head prevented this, "I was just doing what he told me too.."

"I don't think that's necessary. I could think of a thousand better ways to make an example out of you without putting you in the ground. I'm not going to kill you, I just want you to take something back to whoever you're working for." Frankie replied smugly while looking around and looking for laughs or nods of agreement. He got none and stopped smiling, turning his attention back to the squirming man on the table.

Cissero raised the hand that held the metal object. Spinelli's eyes widened as he realized that he was holding a pair of pliers. Such a simple tool had never seemed that menacing before; it somehow seemed even worse than if Frankie had been holding a knife or some other tool. Frankie's face contorted into some kind of sick snarl that revealed a few of his terrible, cigar stained teeth that stood out even more than they should because of his bright red lips. A malicious look dwelled in his eyes Cissero took a few steps towards Spinelli, stopping so that he was only inches away.

"No!" Spinelli pleaded, not able to form any further words. Shaking took over his body as a kind of useless adrenaline flooded through him. All it did was make him feel like he was going to have a heart attack and die before Cissero even touched him.

Cissero ignored his plea and lowered the pliers. He stopped inches away from Spinelli's mouth. Mike Forelli walked up beside Cissero and reached his hand down to hold Spinelli's mouth open.

A tingling sensation went through Spinelli's head as the cold stainless steel gripped his highly sensitive front tooth. Spinelli tried to beg, but he couldn't talk with his jaws held apart by 'Lips'. Cissero jerked the pliers forcefully and the tooth snapped free of Spinelli's gums with a sickening 'crack'. A trail of blood followed the tooth and speckled Lips' white undershirt. Spinelli screamed as his mouth filled with more blood and a white hot pain exploded in his skull. The pain spread from his gums into his eyes and nose quickly. It felt as if his nose had been broken and someone had pushed his eyeballs deeper into their sockets than they were supposed to go.

Sonny Forelli, Paul Garvini, and Thomas Vercetti all stood watching, still not showing any acknowledgement. Cissero let out a slight chuckle as he held the tooth and examined it closely. It was in pristine condition, Frankie noted, as the white roots were perfectly intact. He opened the pliers and let the piece of bone fall to the table with a loud clang.

Spinelli kept screaming, jerking his head from side to side violently as if to ward off the hurt.

"Hold him still, I'm not through yet." Cissero lowered the pliers towards Spinelli's shaking body.

Lips gripped his mouth with one hand, and pressed down on his forehead with the other. Cissero clasped the ends of the pliers around Spinelli's other front tooth. There was a short pause as he watched for Spinelli's facial expression. When he felt satisfied, he jerked the tooth out forcefully. His own face was splattered with red droplets. Lips let go of his head and watched Spinelli writhe in agony. Cissero scooped up the two teeth and dropped them on Spinelli's chest. They were both different looking. The first was white and perfect, the second red and horrible.

"Now you take these," Cissero began, "and take them back to whomever you work for. You tell him that the next time he makes a move against us, his entire organization will come down. The whole thing, you got it?"

Spinelli groaned loudly as he convulsed in pain. His ropes dug deep into his wrists as a result of his struggling, which was only making things worse.

"Lips, you and the boys take this rat and throw him in a dumpster somewhere." Cissero sat the now sticky pliers on the table and turned to walk out of the room.

The men clad in suits turned and watched Cissero walk out the door. Lips picked the pliers up and cracked Spinelli over the head hard enough to knock him out, his body stopped struggling and looker as peaceful as one could in the state he was in. Sonny Forelli began undoing the ropes as Vercetti just kept surveying the scene.

The Forelli brothers, Garvini and Vercetti got paid a lot of money to do what they did. They were Pete Nico's most trusted men. If a hit, robbery, drug shipment, meeting or anything else was needed, it was these guys who carried it out. It was a high profile job and those who knew what was good for them would fear and respect these men.

Spinelli's ropes were untied. Lips grabbed one of his arms, and Sonny grabbed the other. Vercetti and Garvini both grabbed a leg. The four men lifted his heavy body up with a loud grunt. Vercetti and Garvini backed up and carried him out the door.

Spinelli would wake up hours later, lying on his back in a sea of garbage. When a passing pedestrian noticed him, he had called the cops. The cops questioned him, and Spinelli dared not mention anything close to what really happened. The claim was made that he had gotten drunk, passed out somewhere, and woken up in the state he was found in. In Liberty City, it didn't take much to make this alibi fly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wiseguys