Description of torture. Please use your own judgement.
Thanks to those who have favorited and followed. Especially to those who have reviewed, ok, to Briaka.
Lets see what those Jacks can do and why Artie is so scared of them.
Artie gasped. "Not the jacks…"
Ivan's lip curled. His boots clicked as he descended on the old man.
"No… no. Ivan… still time, there's still time." Artie muttered to himself. He lacked the energy to make his voice go much further. It wasn't until Ivan got closer that he could hear the agent muttering about time.
A burning desire to see the old man crushed welled up in Ivan. He could see the suffering in Artie and it was satisfying Ivan's long held desire for justice for his father and his family. "No time for you. You cannot save yourself." He hissed at Artie as he drew near.
Artie's brown eyes fearfully watched the jack in Ivan's hand. His gaze flicked to the youth, "Not me Ivan. There's still time for you. Don't… don't do this."
Seeing Artie beg made Ivan's lips part with a hint of a smile. "For me? Yes, there is time. But not for you." Ivan's intense black eyes found and held Artie's gaze. He showed him the jack in his hand. "Do you know what this is?"
Artie stared at Ivan. "I've heard that the jacks can break someone's soul."
"A soul smasher, yes." Ivan said.
"Not just me Ivan, but you too." Artie tried again to appeal to Ivan. "Put it down. It's not too late for you. Artifacts like that- they only hurt. I dedicated my life to capturing artifacts and keeping them safe; away from people. That's why I had to stop what I was doing with your father."
"YOU betrayed my father!" Ivan yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Artie. The agent could see a sheen in Ivan's eyes of an unnatural green color and he knew that the jacks were affecting Ivan, even through his gloved hand.
"You left him to die; took him away from his family to rot in jail while you stayed free." Artie tried to deny the accusations yet again, but Ivan cut him off. He held out the jack by Artie's cuffed hand. "Take it."
Artie pulled his hand away as much as he could with the chains.
In a flash, Ivan back handed the agent across his cheek, forcing his head sharply sideways. Artie coughed to deal with the stinging pain. A red mark started to swell on his cheek below the dried blood that fell from his head wound that he got when Ivan captured him.
Artie glared up at Ivan who offered the artifact again. The jack reflected a strange green when the light caught it, betraying the power that the artifact waited to unleash. Artie straightened up to face his captor.
"Take it." Ivan growled threateningly.
Artie backed up as much as he could as his answer. Ivan's eyes grew hard. The effects of Torquemada's Chain made it easy for Ivan to drive his fist into Artie's side without remorse. The agent groaned and bent over. With the jack in his right fist, Ivan's left lashed out, beating the defenseless agent. The Russian let himself satisfy his desire to punish his father's betrayer with his own hands. His intense sense of loss was somewhat lessened by physically hitting Artie. Ivan took from Artie, which made them somehow more equal; Ivan not as less. He punched Artie again, savoring the pained noises that were produced. That was Ivan's payment for all that he was owed, but it was just the start. The old man groaned and coughed, unable to stop Ivan or escape his wrath. Ivan hit him more than was needed to make Artie stop resisting, enjoying his position of power, cashing in on the agent's pain, and furious that the he was still resisting after all that he was guilty of.
Ivan caught his breath for a moment and regarded the man before him with disdain. Artie coughed and struggled. Perhaps it was the jack affecting him, but Ivan's sense of sadness and loss wasn't satisfied, it grew.
"You will take it!" Ivan cried. He ripped Artie's shirt open at the neck, exposing his upper chest and slapped the jack onto his skin. Ivan threw Artie's shirt and jacket over the jack then made a fist and hammered it in. Artie cringed, then cried out when the jack pierced the skin by his collarbone. The young man held it there, watching the effect that it might have on his prisoner. Artie groaned, breathing heavy from the abuse. A second passed before he blinked and swallowed hard.
"Ivan…" Artie croaked, but the youth only snarled and pushed the jack in harder. The agent bit off a yell; then, Artie's eyes reflected a green sheen. His face seemed to change. Darkness started spreading from the corners of his eyes. Sadness and pain grew in Artie as the artifact jack took hold of him and started fracturing his soul. His face reflected the change, especially his eyes which showed the sadness and emptiness, reflecting an unnatural green color where the black of his eyes used to be.
Ivan saw the change. All of the fight seemed to leave Artie for the moment. The agent stood there, dazed and hollow. His eyes flashed a metallic green right before he cringed and tensed up from the pain caused by the jack chipping off a piece of his soul. Ivan kept pressing the jack into his struggling prisoner, his hand on Artie's shoulder, keeping the artifact in contact. A clenched jaw was the only sign of emotion from the intense youth, his eyes flashing at seeing Artie suffering, but still calm. Long seconds later, Artie was released. He whimpered, letting his head hang down, huffing and drained.
The artifact lived up to the reputation that Ivan had heard, but he was still unsatisfied. His heart was a smoldering rock of hate. Hurting Artie only doused it for a moment before the hate fired up, needing to be smothered again. The Russian left Artie and walked back to his table of artifacts. He had five more jacks.