Chapter 4

Despite Etho zoning out pretty hard after getting stabbed in the leg, he was able to at least gather that help was on the way, and he wasn't going to be alone while the rest went looking for him. Admittedly, he wasn't sure if he wanted the company while he waited for rescue to show up, particularly if he was going to have to deal with the same level of violence he had been since he had awoken here. Honestly, he was surprised EvilXisuma hadn't capitalized on the distraction and chaos he could hear through the speakers that EvilXisuma had installed somewhere in the room to pick up the feedback from the otherside of the camera. But now that it sounded like there was a significant decrease in activity from the opposite end of the stream, Evil Xisuma seemed to want to get the show on the road. 'Ah well, the break was nice while it lasted I guess,' he thought.

"Well, now that you seem to have divided yourselves accordingly, and I have had sufficient time to devise a suitable punishment for Etho, let us begin." EvilXisuma pulled out another knife.

"Oh, bet I can guess which limb that's going in," joked Etho, too far gone to really care at the moment if what he was doing was antagonizing EvilXisuma or not. Plus, it's not like he would hold back if Etho was on good behavior. Might as well get his jollies off where he could.

"Really?" asked EvilXisuma, his tone indicating a large amount of derision. However, before Etho could reply, EvilXisuma gripped Etho's hair and slammed the back of his head against the back of the chair. Then he took the knife, aimed it at Etho's eye, and slammed it into place.

Etho stopped smiling when his hair was grabbed, and screamed the loudest he thinks he's ever screamed as the knife cut into the scar already on his eye, and then even further in. 'At least,' thought Etho distantly, 'he went for the eye that had already been damaged.' He could also vaguely hear the distressed cries of some of his friends, but all he could focus on was the feeling of mind-boggling pain and wrongness of having something sharp embedded in his eye. Honestly, he was surprised he wasn't dead yet.

"You're such a durable guy, aren't you Ethoslab? The fact you haven't died yet speaks of your strength." Oh hey, EvilXisuma agreed with him! ….EvilXisuma agreed with him. Fuck.

"However, I would appreciate a demonstration of the new respawn mechanics I have devised, so goodbye Ethoslab. See you in a moment," stated EvilXisuma. With surprisingly little fanfare, he pulled a final knife out of his inventory and stabbed Etho in the chest. Etho gargled in pain, and with the usual flash of red, poofed out of existence, the knives that had been embedded in him dropping to the seat of the chair and the floor. With a quick flick of the wrist, EvilXisuma swept the knives on the chair off onto the floor, and just in time removed his hand as Etho poofed back into existence back onto the chair. While he was no longer bleeding from a chest wound and his eye seemed to be partially healed, the rest of his wounds were still as they had been when he had died. Etho could hear the ding of EvilXisuma's communicator go off, and he could only assume the message was, "Ethoslab was slain by EvilXisuma". "Good to see you again Etho. And the remaining audience can attest, we are going to be in for a very long night." EvilXisuma chuckled, Etho betting it because he was imagining the looks on the Hermits' faces. Etho also wondered where EvilXisuma could even go from here, though he bet wherever it was, he was going to end in a world of pain. Which admittedly he already was. He was still somewhat breathless from the respawn, and the subconscious belief that he would be safe upon respawn being completely destroyed hurt more that he was willing to admit.

"So what shall we do with you? Hmmmm…" EvilXisuma stood before Etho twirling one of the knives he had picked up from the floor.

"You could try to see how far I can make it after letting me go from this chair."

Etho could feel the quiet frustration from EvilXisuma. He knew it was a terrible idea to antagonize him, but at this point, since he knew there was help on the way, he might as well make life as difficult as possible for EvilXisuma. Plus,if he played his cards right, he *might* be able to escape his binds using the respawn mechanics. He had noticed an extra pain and immobility of his right wrist, which briefly glancing down showed that it had partially clipped into the cuff. All he could hope was that EvilXisuma wouldn't notice until it was too late.

"Well Ethoslab, I think I know what we'll be doing with you. I hope you have enjoyed your talking privileges thus far, but it is time for them to be revoked."

Etho chuckled nervously, knowing he was about to be in for a bad time. "What are you going to do, put me in time out?"

Instead of saying anything, EvilXisuma slammed Etho's head against the back of the chair.

"You know, if you keep doing this, there's more chance of paralyzing me from the shoulders down, and where's the fun in that?"

EvilXisuma finally growled in frustration. "I am going to make this as painful as inhumanly possible just for you Ethoslab. And you will not be allowed to die or pass out. While I wish I could hear you beg, this will be just as sweet." With that, and somehow still making sure that everything he was doing was visible to the camera, he forced Etho's head back at an angle. Now the spikes were puncturing the front of Etho's throat, just missing all the important parts so he was not at risk of bleeding to death. With his other hand, he forced Etho's mouth open and pulled out his tongue as far as it would go. Etho sputtered around the hand and tongue, unintelligible gibberish flooding out as panic consumed him. No, nononononononono, this couldn't be happening. He knew it was going to be bad, but this? He struggled in futility, his hands grabbing at the armrests as he struggled against the stakes still embedded in his arms, how had he not noticed those still there after he respawned? He wanted to kick out, but both legs were solidly connected to the chair legs with matching spiked manacles, but if he could just wiggle one of his legs right, he could live without a foot…

Keeping Etho's head immobile once he had Etho's tongue was easy. So, freeing his hand that had been gripping Etho's hair, EvilXisuma pulled a knife out of his inventory and sawed off Etho's tongue. Etho couldn't stop screaming, even as he began to choke on blood. His world blacked out for but a moment, and then was he back with startling clarity as something with flame aspect set his mouth ablaze as it cauterized what was left of his tongue.

Blearily, Etho stared up at his captor, finally at the end of his rope. Even if he still would have been able to say something, he no longer had words to say. Instead, he spit some of the excessive amounts of blood in the back of his throat at Evil Xisuma's face. Etho could vaguely hear the other hermits cheering him on in the background, and while he knew he should feel something positive, he only felt empty with a flavor of vaguely horrified.

Evil Xisuma stilled when Etho's blood splattered across his faceplate. After a moment, he slowly wiped the blood off with his thumb. Then, without any warning, he punched Etho in his injured eye. However, Etho barely reacted, his body jolting and remaining blood pooling out of his mouth. In fact, he was so past pain at this point, he was able to rip one of his wrists apart, along with pulling his forearm around the spike embedded in it and managed to get a sideways middle finger out of the deal. Plus, his sight quickly faded out, and he knew he managed to kill himself before EvilXisuma was able to kill him himself.

With another message heard across the server, EvilXisuma was tempted to throw his communicator across the room as the message popped up. "Ethoslab was slain by Ethoslab whilst trying to escape EvilXisuma". Instead he turned off the speakers he was using to listen to the Hermits. He didn't want them distracting him as he continued to do his work.