(Day)Breaking Josh Wheeler

Bertha

Josh reclined in his cage, comfortable for the most part. His prison had been decked out with...an old sack. It wasn't too scratchy and worked well enough as a pillow if you didn't focus on it too much.

He'd been in his cage in Hoyles' parents' factory for what must have been hours after being 'napped by Baron Triumph. Luckily his cage was quite high off the ground so he had a good view of the...the...umm...general squalor of the factory? The disheartened slaves with chains around their necks serving out food to the numerous teens in this makeshift prison? There was a reason Josh was lying down. This whole situation was harshing his vibe big time.

Wesley were also in here, but his cage was too far away to communicate anything clearly without rousing suspicion. Plus the self-proclaimed Samurai was fast asleep, somehow. Turbo was also somewhere around here but he was more likely to just break Josh's neck if they coordinated a plan good enough to escape.

So, with little other options left open to him, Josh just laid there on the floor of his cage, trying to block out the world.

Footsteps directly outside of his cage roused him from his attempted rest. Baron Triumph stood there in his black leather and his breathing mask, silent as always.

"Sup, dickwad." Josh said, though he was kinda nervous. Triumph was an intimidating figure up close. One of the slaves unlocked his cage, their head bowed subserviently, and Triumph grabbed Josh by the scruff of his neck before he could attempt anything even nearing escape. The slave handcuffed Josh's hands behind his back and he was dragged by Triumph down several flights of stairs and into a room that must have previously been the factory manager's office. Now it looked to be some kind of torture chamber. Josh gulped.

The slave, who must have been Truimph's right hand man, closed the door behind them and followed the Baron like an obedient puppy. "Wow. Torture, Triumph? You're a fucking coward."

He pushed Josh into a regular old chair in front of a desk, with his handcuffed arms going around the back of the chair. Then Baron Triumph spoke, his voice deep and crackly and sinister through his helmet. A voice changer. "A coward, Josh? No. I'm not a coward. I'm just smarter than you are."

At a small gesture the slave picked up Josh's legs and placed them into the open bottom of a large set of stocks that was clamped to the desk. How had he not noticed these when he sat down? The heavy wooden top was closed and locked down around his ankles, immobilising his legs up at a 45 degree angle. Triumph sat down in the bigger chair on the other side of the desk, facing Josh's shoes, like a principle talking to a student. The slave bowed and fled at the shooing gesture Triumph shot him.

"Bastinado?" Josh guessed. It was the only thing he could think of to do with his his feet that could possibly make him give over information. Luckily josh though he had a pretty good chance at not breaking if that was the case.

"No." Triumph's voice boomed. "Stop guessing. You're boring me."

"Wow. Rude."

"Silence!"

Josh rolled his eyes.

"Now, Wheeler. Tell me how to get into the mall. I know there's a secret passage, but I really can't be bothered to find it. Tell me where it is and this will be as easy as pie. If not...well...we'll have some fun together, me and you.

"You and I." Josh said belligerently.

"What?"

"It's you and I, not me and you. And I'm not telling you anything."

"Fine. The hard way it is." Triumph cupped the heels of Josh's high tops and pulled them both off with one smooth yank. Then he worked his gloved fingers underneath the elastic rims of Josh's socks and slowly worked them off, unveiling two soft, pale bare feet. Josh shifted uncomfortably in his chair, both at the idea of his feet being so exposed and the feeling of the smooth leather brushing against his skin, sending tingles rippling across them.