Redemption

After some absence from the live stage, the red flashing indicator that the show was broadcasting was finally on, and the die-hard viewers had risen to fifty thousand from last time. An enormous number, considering they were nearly unknown, and in the span of three episodes of the show, this being the third, they grew so fast. Things however were going to rise up even more with the next episode, which was going to be the final one. That was at least their hope. With the amount of donations, the crew behind the show were going to be paid for their work, while the host did not want a share. Everything from the show, donations and whatnot was going to Hammer, Scythe, Boombox and Chains at the end of the whole thing. His contribution was the fact this show existed, and his understandings, knowledge, ideas, ideals and goals were different from theirs, and that was completely okay. Martin was different. He and his understanding of revenge. Nevertheless, that was what made that man special. The man standing in front of the camera, awaiting for the audience to see his scarlet suit, his scarlet mask and his dark heart.

The broadcast began, and the first frame the people saw, was Red posing in front of the neon blue sign with the name of the show.

-Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the third episode of "Nothing Personal!". Today's episode, just as the rest is going to be a tad special! - announced the host and the camera panned to a wooden elevated platform.

On it stood a person with a noose around his neck. His feet were all cut, bleeding and battered. His clothes were gone, only a small leather skirt hid his manly parts. His face was in agony, with his long black hair covered in sweat from the amounts of anxiety and suspense. His eyes however, blue and bold looked strong, capable of withstanding even more. That is what Red wanted, for him to keep up with the program.

-As I said, today's episode is going to be rather special. Not only the guest is probably the most important one for the show, but also today, the game is going to be based on another one! - said Red and nodded towards the broadcast room specifically to Chains, who previously built the set and now this platform.

-Before we begin though, as custom I would like to give some backstory for our guest here. This man is Yasen. He here is responsible for the murder of twenty women in the span of five years. Not only that, remember Matt? The person who was wrongly accused for the murder of a random girl? Well...what interesting coincidence! Yasen here is actually responsible for the murder of Yana Karaivanova, almost two years ago now. He is the person who actually killed that poor girl, but instead of going to prison, it was Matt who did! - He said and quenched his fists.

It was still hard for him to talk about that without getting agitated, but this very social experiment was going to help him get through this time and begin his healing.

-But do you guys know what the funny part is? - The police could not find this man for so long, but a bounty hunter did so in the span of a few months! - giggled Red and looked at the comments.

They were all saying he should be properly punished, and that he is scum and what not. The host could not agree more. There had to be some sort of judgment and proper sentence for the man. A court would only postpone his rightful execution giving him whatever amount of years before letting him go or something along those lines. Oh no. Red was not going to leave his business unfinished, not until everyone who scared his life had some sort of hell to pay.

-With that being said, time for the rules of the game! - He said and chuckled behind his mask.

Oh, he was going to enjoy this, he was going to enjoy this quite a lot. Red pointed at a screen with ten lines, as if there was something to be put in them. Letters. On the tenth letter stood an "N". It was a hangman game.

-As you all see, the screen with the missing letters, we are going to play hangman! However, as long as the player guesses wrong, the noose around his neck is going to be pulled up. The noose itself has small blades stuck to it, which makes it even scarier for the player, for he might lose his head, instead of being hanged. It is self-explanatory if you ask me...mainly because our games make their own rules...so to say - said Red and sat on the extended stool.

His smile behind the mask did not fade at all. Once he gave the signal to Scythe, the tape on Yasen's mouth was removed and the game had started. The victim remained stoic however, he did not scream, nor did he speak. He seemed rather...with peace of the fact he was bound to either die or suffer.

-Good evening Mr. Yasen! You are the third participant in the game show "Nothing Personal!" Are you ready to play?! - asked Red and looked at his eyes.

They seemed quiet. Yet he answered.

-Do as you plan...

His throat was sore, making his voice strange and wavy.

-Oooh, we have a tough guy! Remember the last tough guy we had last time?! - asked the host and laughed.

The chat was laughing as well, and still remained eager and awaited, commenting for Red to punish him quickly.

-Well Yasen, as I said, we are playing Hangman. So answer the questions correctly, according to my sense of what is right and what is wrong and you might advance the game! - said the masked man to a non-verbal response.

It seemed Yasen knew he was going to go through some sort of trial. Red continued.

-Well then, with our very none verbal guest, let us try our first question!

Are you a murderer?

Yasen looked at him and scoffed. He seemed bored, and that was about to change soon.

-Yes.

Red smirked.

-Why?

Yasen showed some sort of disturbance as he looked at the host with some look of confusion.

-What?

Red grinned even more.

-I said, "Why?" As in, why are you a murderer?

The noosed man continued to stare at the host and for a second Red though he was not going to answer.

-Because I had to - he answered shortly.

-Elaborate! - insisted the host.

Yasen rolled his eyes, but with that movement his neck touched the rope that has the blades attached to it and lacerated it. It was not deep, but it hurt.

-Because my father forces me! I work for the cartel and my targets are all women that can be used for trafficking! - He answered and showed emotion for the first time.

He entered the game Red wanted to play.

-That is understandable my good sir. Very well, next question...oh and do not forget the board, we add another letter.

_ E _ _ _ _ _ _ _ N.

-We have the letter "E" added now! Let us see if you manage to get it right. Now for the second question! - Red smirked at the chat who was mostly silent, yet the view count had reached sixty thousand.

-Why did you murder the girl Matt was blamed for killing?

The blue cores of the victim stared at the Mask of the Red Death and only managed to see...a blank canvass.

-Because she was a target, but managed to escape. I had to do something about it so I disposed of her on that alleyway... - he said and looked away from the masked host.

Red nodded more to himself actually, but the camera made it seem as if he was nodding to the chat.

-Why did you kill her if she escaped? She might have not said anything to the authorities? - Further questioned the host.

The noosed player continued looking away.

-Because she was kidnapped, and used for different...acts. If she managed to escape, she was definitely going to talk. I had no choice...i have no say in this.

Red stared at the man standing on the elevated platform and felt slight anger.

-Good. We add another letter and move on!

_ E _ _ _ P_ _ _ N.

-Very well, ladies and gentlemen, so far his answers have been all correct! Let us see the next one!

-Why did you not give yourself in to the authorities? - asked Red, throwing in the bait.

Yasen turned his gaze carefully at the host as surprised as he looked.

-I know you are mad, but are you serious!?

-Of course, the question is valid to me! - returned the host and smirked.

Yasen continued staring at him but answered.

-Of course not! If I had, I would have jeopardized my father's line of work!

-Yet you claim you do not have a choice being a serial killer in some ways? You claim you do not enjoy it! Why not give it up? - Further pushed the masked man.

Yasen scoffed again and laughed bitterly.

-You would not understand this line of work and the responsibilities it comes with! My father would not simply just let me rat him to the police! Nor can I just move on...it is not so easy! - exclaimed the man, tired of this twisted parody of a show.

-Yet that gives you the right to completely twist the life of a normal person trying to live his life as modestly as possible...knowing he would be severely punished for it, even though he was innocent! - responded Red and looked at the chat for a second.

People were going nuts speculating about the word of the game and saying he was a piece of shit.

-Life is a bitch... - said Yasen and looked away.

Red giggled and took one small bottle from the table beside him, with unknown yellow substance like cream in it and got closer to the elevated podium Yasen was standing on.

-With that, I can agree...Life is indeed a bitch, but I have something worse. Karma is a bigger one! - He exclaimed and poured some of the cream onto the open wounds of the noosed man.

The burning effect of the chemicals of the cream started working with the bleeding lacerations of the feet. Yasen immediately screamed and started twisting in place. His hands were tied behind his back, and with the movements, he made new cuts to his neck. The burning was awful however, which made it hard for him to stay put.

-Iodine. Applied to open wounds causes very unwanted side effects...like burning! - explained the host and laughed.

Yasen was still trying to suppress his agony, along with not moving. Tears had rolled down his cheeks from the chemical effect of the cream.

-You can guess that this answer was wrong, so you are punished for it. Next question!

If you were the man in question, the one who was locked in prison and abused in it, what would you do after you get out and know who the real killer is?

Yasen did not want to listen to this crazy man, but he did not have a choice. He had to play.

-Nothing!

That answer rather tilted the masked man. He was visually upset with it, so much he clicked with his tongue with disapprovement.

-Nothing you say!? Well that not only makes you a hypocrite, but also a coward for not having the balls to do anything about any situation you are given! You cannot leave the murderous life, yet you cannot also go and take revenge on the rightful person who imprisoned you! You are spineless! – Angrily, said Red and took another small bottle from his prop table.

It was clear, and once he poured it on the iodine-coated wounds that still very much inflicted pain, the open wounds began actually burning. Big bubbles formed from the burning flesh. Yasen went on another screaming fit, because this time, the chemical effect was even worse than before. The cuts on his neck were deep and moving around in the noose was not ideal but he did not have many ways to try to subside the pain.

-That is acid, so enjoy that. But still, your answer was wrong...You are probably the only person to pass this point without suffering other consequences, so be proud of yourself. Onto the next question! – Happily, exclaimed Red and looked at the chat who loved every part of the show.

The donations were enough to buy a house, a brand new one, with the viewership reaching eighty thousand.

-If you had a gun, and every problem on your mind was suffocating you intensely, would you shoot yourself, or would you shoot your problems?! - asked the host and looked at the man in pain.

Yasen was definitely crying from the burning effects the acid was causing. He did not want to answer some stupid questions that did not make sense. Even if they were hypothetical.

-Well!? - insisted Red, looking at the man with sadistic pleasure.

The victim cursed.

-Yes...yes I would! - He said and gasped from the unceasing shudders across his whole body.

The chat on the stream laughed and started blasting the man with insults, while the masked host only nodded silently.

-Well then, there's nothing I could add to that statement...You could have said that maybe you would use the gun to stop the problems, stand up for yourself and change your way...but you choose the easy way out. Coward - returned Red and stood up from his chair.

Yasen did not care what the host though nor did he care if he was right about his choice of answer. It was his true feeling, and he was going to go with it.

-Well usually, I would say something clever and end the episode with the guest suffering, but since I am a good man, and want to give you another chance, I will give you one additional letter, and give you the opportunity to guess the whole word. If you guess it, you are free. If you do not, we will see - said the masked man and grinned.

Yasen did not have any alternatives.

-What is the letter?

Red pointed at the board and on it appeared a new letter.

_ E _ _ _ P_ I _ N.

Now it was all up to Yasen to answer right and he was going to be free. Or so the masked man had promised. He squinted at the board ahead, but it was difficult to see from the sweat entering his eyes. Not to disregard the constant pain he was experiencing from the iodine mixed with acid on his open wounds. It was horrendous but Yasen had to try. The formation of the word reminded him of something the host might have picked in order to mock him, so the noosed man decided to try that.

-The word is Temptation! - He shouted, feeling sure that he was right.

If people could see the grin on Red's face, they would surely know if the prediction was correct.

-Ooh...I am sorry. You are wrong! - He said and pushed a button located on the small prop table beside him.

The mechanism on the platform he was standing on quickly functioned as intended and the hatch underneath his feet opened as well as the noose around his neck ascended, sending the man to his demise. As the body swiftly went flying downwards, the noose still amplified with blades severed his head. It was soo clean it happened on one fell swoop, without Yasen even understanding, since, well...he was dead.

The chat started sending donations, then wow-ed on the very extreme ending to hangman game. Everyone was pleased in the end, well, except the headless body covering the set with blood.

-Well folks that is it for today. Thank you for tuning in again and thank you for the donations! It means a lot. Remember to stay tuned and remember, "Nothing Personal!" only for Entertainment! - said Red as the show closed!

He bowed just as the broadcast ended, and then energetically rose up and looked at the broadcast room where everyone clapped. The microphone inside the room activated and Red was able to hear the voice of Boombox, who was very interested in something.

-Hey, boss…say, what was the word anyway? – asked the Mozart mask wearing operator.

The Red suited fellow smiled.

-Redemption – he answered, as the others looked at him with awe.