The Shepherd and the Salesman

The Punishment Of Christ

Ili stood up from his seat quickly and grabbed the object from the ceiling and took it out, it was attached to the wall by a small cord, which broke when Ili pulled it. The light turned off. Ili rotated it in his hands, trying to understand what it was.

"WHAT [[is it]]??" Spamton asked with curiosity, pulling his glasses down a bit to look, his blurry vision doing him no favors. "... Camera.... how the fuck did this get here!?" Ili asked, horrified. "Is this how that man on the phone knew where we were?? Are there... more of these!?" Ili thought to himself. Ili looked at Spamton, his eyes wide with terror.

"...Darling." he said calmly, Spamton gulped nervously. "....Y-YES...?" He responded. "...Our little spy has returned." Ili said with a blank expression. Spamton just sat there, a little nervous. "...Do you know who the hell this might be?" Ili asked, a little worried.

Spamton looked off, he did know but... he didn't know if he was strong enough to say. "... I... I MAY...." He said awkwardly, adjusting his multicolored glasses as they glitched. "I... DON"T KNOW IF I CAN [[say]]..." He said awkwardly, looking down at the floor quietly. "...Who." Ili demanded.

"...... M... MIKE..." As Spamton said the name, he held his hands over his head. "HE"S A CRIMINAL, ILI, DON"T BELIEVE A WORD OF WHAT YOU HEAR ON [[color television]]!!" Spamton said with an impulsive cackle.

"...I won't, but... why is he so obsessed with us? Was he the man on the phone? What does he want with us?" Ili asked, clearly very startled and confused. Spamton punched the table, his glasses blank.

"[[no more questions!!]]" He yelled with anger, the table slightly dented and his knuckles scuffed and a little bloody. "[[put the fucking cameras away!! I DON'T WANT THIS ANYMORE!!!]]

"..." Ili just stared in disbelief at Spamton, who was breathing heavily, hand still on the table, sweat dripping down his face, his glasses still black. "... Y-Your hands... are you okay?" Ili asked with worry. "...no..." Spamton said, sinking to his knees and sobbing.

Ili came over and sat next to him on the ground, quiet and calm. "... Let me see your hand." Ili ordered, holding his own hand out for Spamton. Spamton placed his miniature, trembling hand into Ili's paw. The size difference was almost staggering, but Ili ignored it.

Ili scanned over his hand for injuries, immediately noticing his scuffed and bruised knuckles. It was quite clear his habit of punching hard objects was frequent. Ili also noticed the strange ring on his finger, it looked... thorny...

His ring finger was slightly bloody from the thorns digging into his pale white skin, the red blood sharply contrasting and noticable.

Ili winced, "... What's with that ring?" Ili asked with worry, Spamton didn't respond.  "Spamton, dear, what's wrong with this ring?" Ili repeated a little louder. Spamton looked up, his gaze a little blanker than normal.
"...[[christ was punished....]]" He said in a monotone, almost dead sounding voice.

"...What...?" Ili asked with concern. "THE [[ring] of thorns]." Spamton repeated in his normal voice, giggling maniacally. Ili looked at him with concern. "...Do you want me to take it off of you? It looks painful..." Ili offered with worry.

Spamton's smile dropped.

"...[[please]]..."