Once again I was falling, like I was at my beginning. Then, again, at my new beginning. I seem to always end up off my feet one way or another, but I shouldn't complain. At least this time, I'm not alone.

"Well, I hope you're happy with yoursssself!"

I broke from my thoughts and looked at the demonic snake. He was flailing in the air in front of me as we hurtled faster and faster towards the bottom of this endless shaft.

He continued to chastise me, "Do you know how many years I've put up with that wretched ego? I had everything I needed to finally put him in his place, and then you show up, whoever you are. Now look what's happened!"

My brow furrowed in frustration, and I rolled my eyes, "Firstly, the name is Joker. It should not be hard to remember Pernicious, or whatever the hell you called yourself. Besides, like I was going to let you kill him anyways. I already told you that's my job. If you had just left like I told you to, then maybe it would just be me falling down this hole. Instead I have to listen to you whining!"

"My name is SIR Pentious, and I am not whining!" Pentious exclaimed, throwing his arms down, which caused him to spin around once in the air. Steadying himself again, he pointed a finger at me and said, "I am merely pointing out the fact I had a foolproof plan to kill him! And then you show up, a nobody from who-knows-where, and you stop me from enacting said plan! Now I don't have my box, I can't call my ship, and we're probably falling straight to Vox's torture room right now."

I looked down into the darkness below us. There were still no signs we were approaching the bottom. If it weren't for the whistling of wind in my ears, I'd almost think we weren't falling at all.

Looking back at Pentious, I retorted, "Well I hope so, because I've got quite a few things in store for him."

"Oh what? Your gun? Do you even know what Vox is?!" Pentious said agitated.

"Yeah, he's a walking corpse that doesn't realize he's dead yet," I said tauntingly.

"Oh for… you know what, this is beneath me-"

"Pretty sure it's a hole that's beneath you, well, beneath both of us," I interjected with a giggle.

Not addressing what I said, Pentious continued, "We're still falling, and Vox is waiting for us at the bottom. My energy right now would be better spent figuring out a new plan instead of arguing with you!"

I bobbed my head side to side, "Plans, plans, plans. My plans. My plaaaaaans!" I threw my arms out to my sides, mocking Pentious with a sad voice. Feeling myself spin in the air, I began to laugh.

Once I was steady again, I looked at Pentious and said, "Are you known for being this dull? Planning everything? What fun is there in a plan? If it all goes well, you know what will happen, and that's no fun! Better to take life by the seat of its pants and give it a wedgie!"

I made a fist with my hand and pulled up demonstratively. Pentious responded with a look of confusion.

"Look, how about this instead," I started, reaching into my coat. After a few seconds of rummaging I pulled out a deck of cards. "We're falling pretty fast now and there's still no end in sight. Who knows if we'll even survive this?! So I say we should play a game! It helps to pass the time. Now then, are you a blackjack player? Or more of a go-fish kind of guy?"

Rather than answer my question, Pentious recoiled slightly and incredulously shouted, "Lunatic! You're an actual lunatic!"

My smile widened, "What was your first clue?" I split the deck in half and attempted to shuffle the cards. Unfortunately, due to the laws of physics, as the cards flicked out from my fingers they caught the wind and flew above us, until the cards all disappeared. I watched them go for a moment, then I turned my attention back to the demon snake.

"Well, cards are out. How good are you at charades?"

Pentious stared at me and shook his head slowly in response. "If I'm still alive by the end of this, I'm killing you."

"Is that a part of your new plan?" I asked rhetorically.

Before Pentious could give any kind of response, however, I saw a brief flash of light. In that flash, we had entered a new space. A large open room, the details of which I couldn't make out in the speed at which we were going. Then, the next thing I knew, I felt the cold hard impact of the floor and everything went dark again.

Groggily, I began to wake up, my eyes blinking open to try and get my bearings. The room I was in spun around in a mesmerizing split image. After a couple of seconds my eyes began to focus and the rooms came together into one clear picture. It was large and circular, almost like the control room I fell out of who knows how long ago. Except instead of windows lining the walls, there were nothing but wires. They crossed over each other, went up and down, left and right; even though they weaved along the entire wall they didn't seem to go anywhere or connect to anything. Along the edges of the ceiling there were bright blue neon lights, which served as the only illumination down here.

As I scanned the room to get acquainted with my new surroundings, I spotted a familiar figure in front of me. Although he had his back to me, his rectangular head could not be easily mistaken this time. He stood still in the center of the room, tossing a small black cube up and down in his hand; the same one Pentious had on him in our first encounter. It didn't seem like he noticed I was awake. All the better for me. I tried to move forward to get closer to my unaware victim, but I was held back by something tied tight around my chest. I looked down to see what the issue was, and my face turned to a scowl. The wires I noticed that lined the entire room were wrapped around me, pinning my arms to my sides and enclosing me tightly against the wall. As I noticed this, a groan emanated from my right and I turned to see Pentious was similarly tied up. The wires pinned down his chest and his lengthy tail. Knowing the noise drew his attention, I looked back to Vox to see he had stopped tossing the cube and was turning to face us.

"Oh good, you're both awake. Now we can get started." The way he talked was almost professional, as if we had just showed up outside his office for a job interview.

He snapped his fingers, and I could feel myself getting pushed away from the wall. The wires around me constricted tighter. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Pentious was also being pushed out alongside me. Further we advanced closer to Vox, until we were only a foot away from him, then the wires stopped and held us there. Now closer to him, I could see it wasn't just the box he had with him. To his side was a small metal table on wheels, and it carried an assortment of objects. Judging by the blood staining them, they had not been washed between uses. Smaller objects consisted of scalpels and surgical scissors, and the largest were hammers and drills; I'll leave it up to your imagination what other fun toys he had on that table.

Vox turned his attention away from us and eyed them one by one, his finger gliding over them as if he was having trouble deciding what to pick. His hand flicked up for a moment, then settled on a small scalpel, which he picked up and began to prod his other finger with the blade.

"You two," he said, looking at the scalpel and softly shaking his head, "have been a real pain in my ass tonight. Especially you, Pent." He pointed the scalpel directly at the snake, which he regarded with apprehension. "Now, you can't say I didn't warn you," Vox continued with a shrug, "I mean I told you exactly what I'd do if you ever fucked with me. Now all you can do is accept the consequences of your retarded actions. And as for you," he said, addressing me, "I have no fucking idea who you are, but I'm going to have a lot of fun with you too."

I smiled cockily at him, "The name is Joker my good man, and if you think a scalpel is fun you must be a drag at parties. I've been through this torture schtick for years, so lemme give you a word of advice." Leaning forward as far as I could with the restraints, I whispered, "Go with the larger tools first. Break enough bones and you'll have people begging for you to carve them with a spoon if it means dulling the pain."

Vox laughed audibly at that, although I doubt it was sincere; shaking the scalpel at me, he responded, "Well you certainly live up to your name. And you're a talker too, oh I'm so glad for that. Talkers always scream the loudest, maybe it's because they can't keep their damn mouths shut."

"Really? I'll have to confirm that for myself, when you're done of course."

"Oh of course," Vox replied, putting on a mockingly friendly tone and stepping closer to me, "yeah, don't worry. I wanted to start with Pent over here anyways, he's been causing trouble far longer than you have."

I opened my mouth to make another witty retort, and Vox responded by slicing the scalpel across my cheek. Immediately the entire side of my face began to burn up, and my mouth clamped shut as I fought back the urge to scream in pain. I've been cut up before plenty of times. Hell, I've even had my entire face removed. But this was a new kind of pain. A pain that went deeper than skin, right down to my very being. It felt like I was getting ripped open from the inside, and it reminded me instantly of the bullets the robots outside tried to kill me with.

"Stings, doesn't it?" Vox asked derisively. I looked back down at Vox, my more pleasant demeanor now completely absent as I glared at him. The face on his screen countered with an arrogant smile. "See, down here it ain't about the size of the tool used, but rather the material." He held up the scalpel, glistening red with my blood. "Exterminator steel. This shit is the only thing that can kill a sinner. And if it doesn't kill, oh boy does it leave a mark. Not just on your body, but on your soul. That's the reason why we can't die here by normal means after all, the soul preserves the body. But this steel rips out the soul, and without the soul well, there's no reason for the body to keep going now is there?"

Neither me nor Pentious responded. I could feel blood trickle down my cheek as I continued gazing angrily at him. Not receiving a response from either of us, Vox shrugged and said, "Sorry, I tend to go through this explanation a lot. I figure it's only fair. I've operated on so many demons. They believe themselves to be invincible. After all they've come back from worse, surely a tiny little knife won't do them in. Then they're bleeding out all over the floor, as their soul slowly disintegrates, and they're crying wondering why it feels like they're dying again. So, in their last moments, I tell them; and as soon as that realization hits, they're gone."

Vox looked up from his long monologue with his hands outstretched, expecting a response, but still neither of us said a word. Usually I would laugh in his face for saying such corny drivel, but I was too busy thinking of a hundred ways for him to make up for that cut he gave me. Disappointed, Vox let out a huff and dropped his arms.

"Alright fine, guess neither of you want to be cocky anymore. It's funny, cause both of you were laughing earlier. Now, Pent, you look like you're gonna piss yourself, and Jokester, you look like you want to kill me. Understandable. I'll let you stew in that anger for a moment. Like I said, I want to start with my buddy Pentious."

Vox leisurely walked over to where Pentious was held, then walked back while looking directly into his eyes, without breaking contact. "See, you may have blown up a few studio lots Poker, but those are a dime a dozen and easily replaceable. This motherfucker on the other hand broke into my place not once, but twice. He sabotaged my systems and nearly shut me down for good. And he did it with this," he said holding up the cube in his other hand.

Looking away from Pentious, he eyed the box he was holding. "I'm almost impressed. You created a hack-box specifically designed to spoof my ID and connect with my data currents. It made it seem like you were me. Well, almost. Unfortunately for you, my system is ever-evolving. Meaning, over time, it knows exactly who I am, down to the last line of my code. You couldn't possibly replicate that, so every time you signed in to an area, you were only a 'new user'. But hey, A for effort," he quipped, then crushed the box in his hand. The metal grinded and tore, and sparks flew as it cut through the wiring inside. Vox dropped what was left onto the floor, and it hit the metal with a solid thunk and sparked a couple times before dying completely.

I looked over at Pentious, and he seemed utterly distraught. Then we both looked over to see Vox flipping the scalpel in his hand. "So, since you did all that work for little old me, I'm going to be nice and give you a choice," Vox said, then he snapped his fingers again. When he did, the wires around Pentious's tail retracted, until he was being restrained only by his waist.

Vox shook his head with a sigh, "So many eyes Pent, what the hell do you need all of them for? I mean, they're on your tail for fucks sake, do you even see anything out of them? And how do you walk, or slither, without constantly being in pain?" He put his hand up when he saw Pentious was about to answer him, "I don't want to actually know, I'm trying to make a point. You're a fucking freak Pent, but don't worry, I'm going to help you. And to do that, you need to make a choice."

He caught the scalpel he had been flipping by the tip of the blade, and he held it up by his face. "Right or left?"

I realized what Vox was planning to do, and if I wasn't pissed off I would've laughed at the cruelty of the question. So since I wasn't in the mood to laugh, I decided this was the moment to make my escape. The cables didn't seem anything more than ordinary, and I wouldn't have Vox's attention for a while. With the cables wrapped around my chest, however, I couldn't get to any of the toys I'd be able to think up. Unless I figure out a way to make them form somewhere else.

So I closed my eyes and began to think, imagining my knife appearing outside of the center of my coat. As I thought I could feel an object form in my sleeve. I opened my eyes with a wry smile, and I shook my arm to force the object down into my hand. After a couple seconds, I could feel the tip of a knife poke my middle finger.

"Come on Pent, don't make me choose for you. Right or left?" I heard Vox ask again. Pentious was reluctant to answer him, which is understandable. If they were my eyes I wouldn't want them removed either. Returning my attention to the knife, I carefully retracted my finger to allow the knife to slip into my palm. Once I felt the handle I grabbed a hold of it, then flipped the blade upwards underneath the cables and began to maneuver it up and down. I could hear the serrated edge catch and start cutting through. With any luck, I'll be out of here before he's finished with the snake.

"Fine," Vox said frustratingly, snapping his fingers a third time. I looked over at Pentious for a moment, continuing to cut as I did so, and I saw the wires wrap around his tail again. But this time they stopped short to leave a couple eyes exposed. Vox walked forward until he was back at the table again, then he picked up a second scalpel. Gripping both of the deadly blades in his hands, he walked back to his previous position then looked back at Pentious and said, "I'll take them two at a time."

Pentious panicked, sputtering as he tried to protest too late, "W-wait!"

But as the word left his lips, Vox threw both surgical tools swiftly and with precision. I tracked them as best as I could through the air, and the next thing I knew I saw they had embedded themselves dead-center in each of the extra pair of eyes. My eyes widened, somewhat impressed with how accurate Vox's throw was. Pentious, on the other hand, wasn't as delighted. His body began to thrash as he yelled out in agonizing pain. His fingers clenched and flexed and his eyes nearly bugged out of their skull. Blood squirted and spurted out between the instruments implanted in his tail-eyes. The cables around him managed to hold fast as he lashed around painfully.

His screaming continued for quite a while, and looking over at Vox I could see the smile projected on his screen widen with each passing second. I almost smiled myself, but for another reason, as the first wire around me loosened up.

"I'll have to remind myself to thank Velvet later for those lessons," Vox commented out loud. "So Pentious, how are we doing right now?" He asked, leaning forward and placing a cupped hand next to his screen.

Pentious responded with more screams, which eventually choked itself into quiet sobs. He hung his head low and clenched his hands tightly, as he tried to stifle any more of his outburst. At that moment, I saw Vox walk up to Pentious slowly.

"That's good to hear buddy. Sounds to me like you're ready for the next pair!" Then he reached out and grabbed the scalpels sticking out of Pentious's body. Feeling this, Pentious looked up fearfully, only to see Vox rip them out and cause two large flows of blood to emanate from the eyes they punctured. Pentious's head shot up and his neck tightened, and I could hear his screams muffled from his closed mouth. Then I felt another two wires loosen around me, at this rate I'll be able to slip out after another few more cuts.

Vox walked back to his previous throwing distance, and another wire unraveled itself from Pentious to expose the next set of eyes on his body. Vox whistled to himself as he turned around to face the snake. "Hey, clown. Wanna make a bet?"

I looked at Vox, realizing he was addressing me. Giving a glance at Pentious, I continued to cut my wires and responded, "Sure. I've got nothing else better to do."

"Terrific," Vox poised the scalpels up again, ready to throw them. "My throwing game isn't nearly as good as some of my friends'. When I do my simultaneous throws I have a tendency to fling one faster than the other. So which one do you think is going to hit Pentious's eye first? Right or left?" He posed the same question to me, holding up the scalpel in his right hand, then his left.

I looked at him for a moment, honestly taking him up on his bet. When I saw them flying through the air before, it seemed like the one on the right hit its target a little bit faster than the one on the left. Then again, throws aren't always consistent, and he could easily throw one slower to make me wrong. But then it occurred to me, what is the point of this question? Maybe it was just to entertain himself, but it could also mean something bad for me. As much as I like getting tortured, those Exterminator blades weren't fun at all. If I lose this bet it could mean losing one of my own eyes permanently.

Vox dropped his arms and groaned audibly, driving me out of my thoughts. "Oh for fucks sake. It's a simple question! Don't tell me you're as stupid as Pent over here. Just say right, or left! That's all there is to it!" He clenched his fists towards me exasperatedly, looking at me to answer.

Seeing what happened to Pentious when he didn't respond, I opened my mouth to give an answer. Then I felt another wire break free and I slipped down a little from my bonds. This slight movement caught Vox's attention, and he looked at me curiously. His expression of annoyed confusion turned to anger when he noticed several cut wires hanging off my body.

"Oh you son of a bitch," he breathed angrily.

With a quick flourish, he flipped the scalpel in his right hand and caught it by the blade tip, then threw it straight towards my head. I let out a small yelp and tried to force myself down. I slipped a little more and the knife I was holding caught another wire on the way down, cutting it in one motion, then I broke free and fell onto the ground. The scalpel sailed quickly overhead and embedded itself in the wall behind me.

I looked at it, breathing out a sigh of relief. Remembering Vox was still armed, I turned my focus back on him and hopped off the floor, gripping my knife tightly. Similarly, he gripped the scalpel in his hand and glared at me with intense fury.

"So Vox, you still want to know my answer? Right or left, was it?" I asked cockily, pointing my knife side to side. Vox gritted his teeth, and I answered my question with a smile, "How about… down the middle. Right between your eyes."