Going Head to Head: The Ghost Network IV

EXTREME VIOLENCE. Reader discretion advised.  This story is not for everyone. Please do not ignore this warning and then complain in the comments section.

A maniacal showman nicknamed The Ghost devises clever ways to brutally castrate helpless studs live on the web to the delight of his ever-growing list of fans.  His previous victim's plight was detailed in a previous story: Click Here to catch up!

It had been nearly three years since The Ghost had broadcast his last show, an especially gory de-balling of a handsome red-headed jock using a blender. At exactly 11:30 PM, Eastern Standard Time, three years to the day after that ginger's nuts were pulped live on the web an encrypted email linking to a web video feed was dispatched around the globe.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please click on the attached encrypted link at 00:00 hours Eastern Time for my NASTIEST show yet!  

-Eternally Yours, The Ghost

--

Josh slowly opened his emerald green eyes, his head was throbbing, he was woozy and he felt a shiver down his spine from the cold.  Why was it cold? Upon opening his eyes Josh's grogginess was slowly replaced with terror as he realized he was seated in a large open area, like a large storage locker with bright lights hanging overhead. He instinctively tried to stand but quickly realized he was held to the chair by a metal bar affixed to the and crossed over his muscular chest.  His hands and arms were free but his legs felt like were strapped to the chair legs at the ankles and his legs were stretched almost painfully far apart by the wide-legged chair.

Josh tossed his head in horror, taking in as much of the scene as he could.  Directly across from him was another young man, a muscular Latino, who was strapped to an identical chair.  Josh screamed for the stranger to wake up but he - like Josh had been moments ago - was out cold.  Other than himself and the other man, Josh surmised that the warehouse was empty despite an odd whirring sound coming from the distance and despite the fact that he could see all four walls, Josh could see no obvious doors or windows.  How then did he and the other man get into the room in the first place? The last thing Josh recalled he was engaged in a drinking contest at his fraternity house, but he suddenly felt sick, headed upstairs, and then... he was here.  

"Hey! Hey, buddy, are you okay?"  

Josh reached out and shook the other man's leg but there was still no response.  Josh noticed the man's face was swollen as if he'd been hit, and feared that the guy was actually dead but he could make out the Latin's pecs rising and falling slowly as he breathed. 

"Buddy, buddy, wake up! Please wake up!"

Nothing.

The strange whirring was getting loader and the room was starting to become cold and smell funny.  Josh couldn't place the odor but it seemed familiar.   Suddenly there were the sounds of rapidly approaching, heavy footsteps, and Josh turned to see a tall man in a black dress shirt and stylishly loose-fitting khakis approaching him.  The man had short black hair and a strong chin, but most of his face was obscured by a Venetian masquerade mask but despite the disguise, Josh was sure he recognized the man from somewhere...

"Ah, ah, ah.  You weren't supposed to wake up yet, Josh,"

The man's voice was stern and deep and Josh was sure he detected a note of frustration.  

"Where did you..."    

Josh was perplexed.  The room had no doors.  There were no windows but suddenly here was this man walking toward him. Josh struggled to break free as the man approachable and pulled something from his pocket.  The man knelt in front of Josh, piercing Josh with his gaze.  Josh shrieked at the blood-red iris' staring back at him, obviously some sort of cosmetic contact lenses... he hoped.  After staring each other down for what seemed like several minutes the man suddenly lunged at Josh covering his face with a pungent-smelling handkerchief.  Josh grabbed the man's throat and squeezed desperately, his biceps flexing in the effort but the man only chuckled and winked at Josh as his arms started to feel heavy, his eyes drooped and he passed back out.  

-

"Hey! Wake up! Please wake up!"

An obviously terrified voice whispered into the darkness.  Josh's head rolled and he groaned, he felt like he had taken one vodka shot too many and for a brief instant thought he was waking up from a drunken nightmare.  He quickly realized this was no dream though his head was still too foggy to think straight.  He could tell he was still in the chair only this time only one of his arms was free. The other was behind his back tied with a length of rope to the floor.  As Josh's head rolled and his eyes slowly opened he realized all of the bright lights were gone and even with his eyes totally open he couldn't see anything.  He reached out and could feel the other man was still in front of him and judging by his frantic leg twitching this time he was awake.

"Are you awake?" 

Came the hushed voice again.

"Yeah, I'm awake," Josh replied.

The two captives introduced themselves and tried to determine how they had gotten here and where exactly here was.  The stranger was named Juan Carlos, a college student from Brazil who, like Josh, had no memory after taking an early leave from a party.  However, that didn't make obvious sense to Josh.  Brazil was thousands of miles away; he doubted the man's story.

"What is this?"  Josh demanded.

"Please! Keep your voice down! He might come back,"

"Fuck you!" 

"Please!"

Suddenly the lights turned to full brightness and both Juan Carlos and Josh winced and looked away.  It took Josh's eyes a few moments to adjust to the brightness and this time there were several things changed in the warehouse.  There were cameras on tripods circling he and Juan Carlos, at least twelve of them and all of them with their recording lights on.  The lights were much brighter now and the temperature was warmer, almost hot. To Juan Carlos' right was a small table with what appeared to be three computers attached to a single monitor.  There were also various shiny objects Josh couldn't make out and, strangest of all, a pumpkin. 

"What the Hell is going on?"  Josh, still not convinced that Juan Carlos was an innocent victim, barked.

Juan Carlos burst into sobs, his rippled chest heaving and his knees quaking as much as his bonds would allow. Suddenly Josh became less confident in his theory that Juan Carlos was responsible for this...

"Rise and shine, friends!"  

The same coldly unemotional voice from before came from behind Josh.  He turned and saw the man approaching carrying something.  There was something unsettling about the man's casual swagger given the situation as he approached the terrified Juan Carlos.

"No! Please!"  Juan Carlos screamed as the man punched him across the face.

The man laughed gleefully as he pounded into Juan Carlos causing his handsome face to swell and bleed.  Josh screamed for him to stop and became especially panicked when he noticed the man was wearing brass knuckles.

"Stop it! You're killing him! Please!"  Josh screamed, trying his best to break free of his restraints but it was no use. 

The brutal beating went on for about a minute before the man removed the brass knuckles, wiped the sweat from his brow casually, and winked at the sobbing Brazilian jock.  He turned toward Josh who braced himself for a similar beating but stopped short of hitting him.

"Oh, don't worry just yet.  That was just a little special request one of my biggest fans had,"

Fans?  Josh was even more confused than before.

The man made his way over to the computer, typed in some commands and came back to his captives only this time he ignored them completely and turned toward one of the cameras, addressing it directly as if he were on live television.

"Good evening, friends! And welcome to a very special viewers' choice addition of the program,"

Josh started screaming for help but was quickly silenced as the man rose his fist, showing off his impressive biceps.  The man continued his monologue as Josh and Juan Carlos looked on.

"Hello boys and girls from all over! I, The Ghost, have an extra special show for you tonight.  A loyal viewer from the United States helped deliver up Josh, a grade-A example of the All American Boy,"

Ghost walked up to Josh and ran a hand over Josh's sculpted pecks, down his six-pack abs and resting on Josh's balls.  He gently cupped them in his hands, feeling the heavy large organs in his hands. Josh, remembering the brutal beating he had just witnessed, quaked in fear at having his balls in those same hands.  Thankfully he dropped Josh's nuts and moved over to Juan Carlos.

"... And this beautiful male comes from us all the way from Brasilia, Brazil.  Unluckily for him, his father pissed off the wrong man who happens to be one of my most loyal viewers."

Ghost walked up to Juan Carlos who couldn't help but cry out in fear.  Juan Carlos, like Josh, was a muscular jock and Ghost was rubbing his hands over him to show off his body but Juan Carlos' nuts were easily twice as large as Josh's, truly huge oblong testicles in a bronze-skinned shaved sack.

The Ghost made his way over to the table and returned holding the pumpkin and a large metal ball, about the size of a bowling ball.  He placed the ball on the ground so that he could hold the pumpkin up with both hands, holding it first up to Juan Carlos' head and then next to Josh's.  Ghost's showmanship conveyed a bizarre sense of normalcy to the preceding.   

"As you can see this pumpkin is about the same size as these two very pretty faces..."

He set the pumpkin at his feet and fetched the metal ball, holding it aloft.

"..And like the pumpkin, one of these pretty boys is about to have their skull crushed in!"

Josh's eyes widened in horror as Ghost slammed the metal ball into the gourd, causing it to burst into pieces.  Josh felt himself getting nauseous from the implied visual.

"Please! Let us go!"

Ignoring Josh, Ghost continued.

"Above our two contestants heads is suspended these same metal balls that are just one button press from falling."

"No! God no, please!"  

Juan Carlos and Josh pleaded and begged as Ghost simply rose his voice to speak over them.

"Which ball falls, you ask?  Well that depends on which on of these balls breaks first,"

Ghost abruptly grabbed Josh's balls in his hands and squeezed... hard.  Josh's pleas were silenced as he gasped in unbearable agony.  The handsome jock was screaming at the top of his lungs as Ghost's incredibly strong fists crushed his spuds, his thick thumbs pressing into them causing two craters to form in his sack.  Josh's eyes crossed and he started drooling as Ghost squeezed harder and harder. He couldn't believe a guy was doing this just using his hands, his balls felt like they were going to pop.

Finally after what felt like years for Josh, the man let go and turned back toward the cameras.  Josh nursed his battered sack with his free hand, clutching them and rolling them in his hand to feel for damage.  They still felt whole but had instantly been turned a painful shade of red and  there were purplish streaks where blood vessels had ruptured.  Josh was too distracted by the tremendous pain coming from his nuts to notice that the man had fetched two other items from the table. 

Juan Carlos was screaming and pleading as the man roughly applied what looked to be a metal boxing glove to Juan Carlos' free hand. Josh looked up just in time to see the man approaching.  Ghost roughly grabbed Josh's hand away from his crotch and applied the strange glove to his hand.  Josh held up his hand to examine it; it wasn't a glove, per se, it was a metal ball that covered Josh's fist and was strapped shut at the wrist.  Suddenly, Josh and Juan Carlos's hands had been transformed into heavy metal balls, their hands trapped into a permanent fist.

"So, the name of the game is ball pain. Or, more exactly, ball bursting, nut cracking, testicle rupturing.  We're gonna' see some really brutal bursts tonight I think,"

Josh and Juan Carlos looked on in confused horror as Ghost made his way back to the table, this time returning with a spool of athletic tape.  He made quick work of trussing up Juan Carlos's hefty nuts, tying them at the base until they were stretched half a foot from his taught body.  Josh's eyes grew wide as the sheer size of Juan Carlos' nuts was magnified by having them isolated and stretched; they were easily the largest testicles he had ever seen, even counting porn, and were now so stretched in the sack that it looked like they were about to burst out.  Juan Carlos' despite his powerful physique, whimpered and begged Ghost to let him go but Ghost ignored him.  Instead he turned to Josh and applied the same treatment to his large balls taking advantage of the extra slack to pull them nearly a foot from this body, separated by the layers of thick tape that were tied in rings at the base.  Ghost went back to the table and returned with to pieces of wood, about a foot square and an inch thick with red concentric rings that led to a small circle drilled into the board and around the drill out were a series of tiny metal bumps.  It was a bulls eye!

Josh's eyes grew wide as Ghost approached him and proceeded to roughly ram his balls through the too-small hole. Josh screamed as his balls were violently compressed and rose to strike Ghost with his metal-clad hand but Ghost exhibited reflexes that seemed beyond human and grabbed Josh's arm with his hand.  Josh screamed again as Ghost started to slowly push back on Josh's arm until it was bent nearly backward behind his head. 

"Stop!" Josh screamed, sure that his shoulder was about to be dislocated and Ghost laughed before letting him go.

As Josh sat stunned into obedience, Ghost walked over to Juan Carlos.  The hole was barely large enough for his balls so Josh knew Juan Carlos was about to have a very unpleasant experience...

"Dios mios!"  

The husky stud screamed and writhed as Ghost attempted to squeeze his nuts through the hole.  Even when it was obvious they wouldn't fit, Ghost smiled as he continued trying to force them in, squashing the enormous baby makers into the wood.  Juan Carlos cried out as Ghost grasped his juicy left nut, squeezing it through the hole by itself, followed by the right.  Josh looked on as Juan Carlos' bruised nuts rested on the bulls eye target. 

"Oops, we almost lost one before the game even started." Ghost chuckled to the camera.

Ghost went on to tell his invisible audience that Josh and Juan Carlos were going to use the metal weights attached to their hand to pound the other man's nuts into the target.  The first one to succeed in cracking the other's nuts would be declared the winner.  The loser...

"Let's just say the loser won't be going home to momma',"  

Ghost motioned to the smashed pumpkin, then pointed to the weights suspended over both of his captive's heads.  Both Josh and Juan Carlos were in hysterics, pleading and thrashing in a vain attempt to get free.  Per usual, Ghost ignored them and made his way over to the computer, rotating the monitor so that Josh and Juan Carlos could see a slowly increasing number that was in bold large font across the screen.

"That is how many people are watching right now. You two are celebrities!"

Ghost walked over to Josh and took his face in his hands.

"And who could blame them? You really are a hottie,"  Ghost winked and stood up.

"I won't do it."  Josh blurted matter-of-factly.

"I refuse to play your sick game, you mother fucking sack of..." 

Josh's self righteous plea was cut short by a powerful throat chop from Ghost.  His eyes watered and he struggled for breath, afraid his trachea had been crushed. 

"See, I thought you might say something like that."

Ghost made his way over to the computer seemingly indifferent to Josh's gasps and coughs, and returned with a tablet.  He showed it to Josh, being sure to stay out of range of his free arm and Josh's blood turned cold with a terror he had never experienced.

On the screen was a picture of his younger brother that looked to have been taken from a surveillance camera.  Josh's eyes were transfixed on the image.

"If you don't play, he doesn't live."  

Josh's heart felt like it stopped.  His head was spinning and he thought he was going to vomit.  This was a nightmare, actually it was beyond a nightmare because it was actually happening.  He didn't know whether or not there was any heft to Ghost's threats but given what he had already accomplished -- cross border kidnapping, the elaborate arena and the acts of casual violence -- Josh wasn't willing to take any chances.  Ghost feeling like no more convincing was needed, walked over to Juan Carlos and showed him a covertly snapped photo of his fiancee.  Just with two swipes of a tablet, Ghost had subdued both of the hulking young men into complete submission.  

The Ghost turned toward the camera and laughed.  

"Oh I almost forgot to show off the best part..."

Ghost fumbled around in his pocket and produced a small remote control.  He pressed a button, Juan Carlos winced expecting something awful to happen, but ostensibly nothing did.   Ghost walked over to Josh and placed his hand under his nuts, pressing into one of the metal bumps attached to the board.  Josh grimaced as a comical crunching sound effect came from a speaker behind him.  Ghost pressed another of the bumps and a sick, wet 'splotch' type of effect could be heard.  Turning toward the camera, Ghost explained:

"We wanted to add to the fully immersive experience; you'll be able to gauge the damage by the sound effect buttons each player pushes on the others board.  Of course the only way to push the button..."

Without warning, Ghost plowed his powerful fist into Josh's sack and multiple crunching sound effects played.  Josh squealed and thrashed but his restraints kept him firmly in place.

"Now, without further adieu.  Three... two... one... fight!"

Suddenly flashing stage lights behind the camera started to go off and playful fast paced music like something out of a game show started to play. As an added indignity -- and for added atmospherics to the watching audience -- the sound effects of a cheering crowd could also be heard and the bright lights had dimmed turning into two spot lights over the forced contestants.  The ridiculously incongruent scene, as if this was nothing more than a cheap game show contest, was so bizarre Josh actually found it humorous despite his predicament...

"Oooh!"

Josh's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a throbbing, sharp pain to his ball sack.  Juan Carlos had pounded the metal ball a the end of his fist directly into Josh's defenseless nuts, crushing them nearly flat against the unyielding board.   There was a loud crunch from the speakers though Josh was sure some of the sound was actually coming from his own crumbling nuts.  
The powerfully-built Brazilian wasn't wasting any time and Josh had barely registered the first blow before Juan Carlos had pounded him three more times with deadly accuracy, each blow flattening Josh's big balls to a fraction of their girth.

Mixed into the canned audience cheering Josh was sure he heard someone yell "Way to go, Juan!".  Then it dawned on him, these were not just sound effects, these were the cheers and jeers of actual people who were watching the fight live!

Josh tried to close his legs but they were held permanently open at the ankles.  Without giving much thought to strategy, he punched Juan Carlos squarely in the face.  Juan Carlos screamed and blood erupted from his nose as Josh's iron-clad fist destroyed his handsome face.  Suddenly the music stopped and Ghost stepped forward.

"Stop, stop, stop!"  he roared.

"Balls only!  Juan gets a penalty shot."  

Josh thrashed as Ghost violently yanked his free hand behind his back and held it there, motioning for Juan Carlos to take his hit.  The bloodied stud rose his metallic fist over Josh's nuts as if living up a hammer striking a nail and sent it crashing down.  Juan Carlos was grossed out by the sensation of Josh's nuts being compressed into patties but he only had to glance above his head to see the heavy weight dangling to realize what was at stake.   Juan pounded Josh's nuts over and over turning them into bright red, swollen orbs trying desperately to ignore his helpless opponent's shrill screams.  It was the worst sound he had ever heard in his life.

Juan Carlos already looked to be quite strong, and the heavy metal ball attached to his fist combined with the unyielding board behind Josh's nuts were doing real damage.  His balls were starting to turn purple before Ghost motioned for him to stop and released Josh's hand.  Josh was sobbing and instinctively went to put a hand on his nuts, inadvertently flattening them anew with his own weapon.   He screamed like a banshee, begging Ghost to let him go.

"Let's try that again!  Three, two, one... go!"

The music resumed and Ghost stepped out of the arena to let the two studs go at it.  This time, Josh was prepared.  He and Juan Carlos traded viscous blow after viscous blow and their screams were mixed with the comical crunching and cracking sound effects coming from the sensors.  Several audience members laughed after Josh pounded Juan Carlos' swollen right nut so flat it actually cracked the board under it, accompanied of course by a wet splat.

The handsome Latino's eyes crossed and his mouth opened into a silent 'O', his fighting fist frozen in mid-punch as if Josh had just taken the life out of him. Seeing his chance, Josh started pistoning his metal fist into Juan Carlos' huge nuts, alternating between the left and the right.  Lost among the audience cheering and the artificial nut cracking sound effects were the sounds of Juan Carlos' actual nuts starting to crack.  Josh pounded over and over, sobbing with guilt and disgust as he lay waste to the biggest nuts he had ever seen.  It was obvious that he was starting to inflict permanent damage to his foe, this totally innocent random person, but he didn't have a choice.  He thought about the picture of his brother Ghost had shown him on the tablet and closed his eyes, not even wanting to see the damage he was doing.

"That's it, Josh! Crack his eggs open!"  a voice roared from the audience.

Juan Carlos's  nuts bounced and jiggled, desperately trying to escape the crushing blows but there was no place to go, they were trapped against the board.

CRACK. CRUNCH. SPLAT.

Ghost stood behind Juan Carlos and crouched, getting a near first-person view of the viscous assault.  His left nut was swollen slightly more than his right and both looked nearly black and noticeably flatter.  

"You'd better wake up or else your balls are history... Oww! That had to hurt!"

Josh was now pounding mercilessly into Juan Carlos's beefy right nut, determined to end this as soon as possible.  The membrane's of that nut started breaking down, literally pulverized, but Juan Carlos was still too out of it to fight back, his head only rolled slightly and weakly rose his fist, deflecting a few of Josh's blows before Josh was successful in knocking it out of the way, making a clear path to his shattering nuts.

CRUNCH. CRACK.

Josh was sure Juan Carlos' nut was about to explode like a water balloon when suddenly Juan Carlo's eyes shot open and he plowed his fist directly into Josh's sack.  It landed right in the middle, flattening half of each nut and knocking the wind out of Josh's nuts.  Josh had barely registered that the seemingly defeated opponent was back in the game before he felt a terrible rain of blows smashing his right nut like a hammer.  Ghost sprang to his feet, satisfied that this had become a more fair - and ultimately more profitable - fight and the two studs resumed their relentless pounding.  Their howls and screams were so inhuman even Ghost seemed to be grimacing behind his mask, though it could have just as well been an evil smile.

As the battle raged, the pain exploding in each of the young men's sacks was so extreme that they really couldn't focus on the battle.  Their punches became weaker as their screams grew louder.  Occasionally one of them would get a wave of energy and land a wicked hit to the other man's swollen scrotum eliciting a yodel and a roar from the crowd.  The sound effects had shifted to being comical to more realistic as if chunks of actual meat was being pounded and splattered.  By far Juan Carlos was at the biggest disadvantage as his enormous balls made an unmissable target now that they were hideously swollen.  They had started to bleed and the visual must have been a boon to the ratings as the viewer count on the monitor continued to tick up.  The screams and cheers of the audience were deafening; it was clear Josh was the favorite and everyone was egging him to finish the job.

"Oooh..."  Juan Carlos landed a final blow to Josh's deflating right nut before blacking out.

The audience roared in approval and Ghost pushed a button on his remote, changing the music to a more sinister, faster version of the game show music.  If this had been a television show, that might have been the music that played during the 'lightning round'.

"Finish him! Finish him! Finish him!"  

Ghost joined the chant of the crowd as nearly one hundred people in scattered locations coalesced into the blood thirsty chant.  Josh, woozy and barely able to hold up his fist, placed his weapon on top of Juan Carlos' right nut and began to press inward.  The beefy Brazilian moaned but was still out, totally defenseless to whatever Josh was going to do.  Josh leaned in as far as his restraints would allow, unable to muster the strength to land a proper blow. But what he was doing was getting the job done.

Juan's huge gonad bulged around Josh's fist as the space between the weapon and the board shrank. The nut became flatter and flatter, Josh could feel and hear the nut bursting as membrane after membrane started to collapse.  Josh felt like he was going to vomit after he felt the wooden board in his fist, the testicle that had been there had simply melted out of existence.   He slowly removed his hand and the visual confirmed the sensation.  Juan Carlos' right nut was nothing more than a flattened disaster, a shapeless mass that looked especially jarring juxtaposed against his still whole, though bruised-to-black, left nut.  

"Please! Please I did what you wanted. Let him go,"

Ghost nodded his head 'no' and reminded Josh about the photo on the tablet.  Crying, Josh rose his fist over Juan Carlos' last nut and pounded as hard as he could.  His nut was compressed to less than a quarter inch yet incredibly didn't explode outright, though it did look slightly flatter.  Josh pounded again and again the damaged organ stayed slightly flattened.  Josh rose his fist as high as he could, aimed, his powerful bicep glistening in the studio lights, and sent his weapon crashing into Juan Carlos' nut.

BLOOSH!

Josh's weapon collided with the top of Juan's ball, then the bottom, then the board, then his pelvis in one swift motion.  Chunks of Latin testicles splattered everywhere and even the board itself finally broke under the stress.  Juan Carlos' face grimaced but it was obvious he was still too blacked out to even acknowledge what had just happened.  Josh was stunned and thoroughly grossed out by the explosion as if some prankster had put a firework inside of a meatball.  Juan Carlos's sack was shredded and gloopy chunks of what used to be two grade-A man eggs started to drip out landing with wet splats on the ground.

"Look at the size of that mess!" 

Ghost said commenting on the truly enormous, gooey mess Juan Carlos' shattered eggs had made. Many in the audience laughed. Josh was still stunned, unable to believe what he had just done to another man's junk.  Especially a guy who couldn't even defend himself...

"... Seven... six... five..."

Josh was so lost in his thoughts and pain that he hadn't noticed Ghost was starting a count down.  Suddenly he realized he was holding the remote control and looking at the weight suspended over Juan Carlos's bruised, handsome and ironically peaceful looking blacked-out face. 

Josh started struggling violently, more desperate to break free than ever.

"No! No! Please!"

"...four..."

"Stop! Don't! Kill me! Kill me instead!"

"...three..."

"For God's sake! Please!"  

Josh was sobbing, begging for The Ghost to spare Juan Carlos' life.

"...two..."

"Don't! Kill me! Kill me instead! Please!"

"...one..."

"Noooooo!"

Josh tried to turn away by he was too slow.  He watched, as if in horrifying slow motion, as the ball descended from the ceiling and crashed onto Juan Carlos' head.  No artificial sound effects were needed.  The ball made quick work of Juan Carlos' skull, causing his adorable face to literally explode.  Like the pieces of the pumpkin, skull fragments went flying in all direction and Josh was covered in brain matter and Juan Carlos' teeth.  The ball came to rest on Juan Carlos' neck, his entire head totally destroyed, where it teetered for a moment before rolling backward onto the ground, leaving a bloody trail behind it as it rolled.  

Josh had seen his share of slasher flicks but absolutely nothing could prepare him for what he had just seen.  Juan Carlos' head had just... it had just exploded. This innocent, handsome guy's head was now nothing more than unidentified goo.  Josh vomited all over himself from the truly disgusting show; to his horror, several in the audience were laughing.

"Well folks, this is the first show I've been able to finish without any uninvited guests trying to shut us down, so I will leave you with a happy note."  

Ghost turned to Josh and hovered his finger over a button.  Josh instantly knew what was about to happen and totally broke down.  He was hyperventilating from sobs, not even trying to beg as Ghost began another count down.

"...five..."

Josh's chest heaved.

"...four..."

Josh screamed at the top of his lungs, angry at no one in particular that he had ended up in this situation.

"...three.."

Wracked with guilt that he had inflicted so much pain on Juan Carlos for nothing, they were going to die anyway.

"...two..."

Josh closed his eyes, tears streaming down his handsome face, desperately wishing that he would pass out before his gory end. Would dying hurt?   Josh was so scared he was shaking. He didn't even know it was possible for anyone to experience that level of raw fear...

"...one...!"

Josh let out a howl as he felt a strange, tremendous sensation in his head... then blackness.

...STATUS 300 Multiple Choices

The story continues... here