On the outskirts of Quaker City on the east coast of the Republic lies Saint Bernard Cathedral built in 1819; it was built as a cover to protect runaway slaves but transitioned to a true church after the nation abolished slavery. The night is foggy, and the world is silent, the calm before the storm. “Tyson Obi, age: 23, veteran. I’m surprised someone like you came here, of all places, after the war. Also, what’s this little crest here on your military badge? I don’t recognize it,” the other man starts to say something but is cut off, “but anyways, didn’t most soldiers head home or to the capital after the war in search of work? Quaker City has a little time left before we’re back to normal.” The man speaking was Father James Osiris, the head of the church. He became the new leader after the previous owner tragically passed away suddenly three years prior. “A church pianist? Are you sure this is a job you want to do? I can make some calls. I have a few connections with some people.” The other man began to speak, “Actually, no, my mother taught me how to play and when she was fresh out of college, she played at her local church for work. I want to follow in her footsteps while I get myself situated. Plus *laughs* I don’t have any other skills.”

Osiris's eyes light up at that sound, “Why don’t you show me how skillful you are on the piano.” Father Osiris stands up from his desk and walks to the chapel door, motioning Tyson to enter. The two men enter the room, and Tyson walks toward the piano admiring the craftsmanship. “Whenever you’re ready,” said Osiris.

Tyson began to play with a deep breath, losing himself to the music. He played and gave his heart and soul to this moment as if he had separated from reality. Osiris's smile grew bigger and bigger, being moved by the burning passion of the young man sitting before him. Tyson closed his eyes and let his heart do the playing for him. He was thinking of his past, about his life. The mistakes he made, the people he’s hurt, the people who’ve hurt him. *BANG* a final clash of keys, and the room is quiet once more. “My God, that was beautiful. There was so much energy and power behind the music! I’ve heard that same song performed by dozens of people, but nobody had that passion when they played” The Father approached the piano and placed a hand on Tyson’s shoulder. “Woah, you’re crying, man.” Tyson felt his face and the stream of tears running down his cheek. “Oh man, it must be my allergies *laughs*. Well? Do I have the job?” Father Osiris extends his hand to shake, “Absolutely,” The two shake hands when the watch on Osiris’ hand begins to chime. “Oh, it’s time for dinner; care to join me? I know a great Zhongese place downtown.” Tyson looks worried before saying, “I don’t know; I should probably head back home.” Osiris reassures him that nothing will happen and won’t take long. So Tyson nods his head and the duo ventures out the doors.

Tyson couldn’t help but chuckle after seeing Osiris’ car, a massive silver truck with darkened rims. It looked like the car that a redneck would drive around in, he thought to himself, but inside the car hanging off the rearview mirror, was a hello kitty doll. On the car's bumper were stickers that said “Sexiest Priest Ever” and “Honk if you love God” and a little sticker of Jesus rocking out on a guitar. “Ah, admiring my superb vehicle, I see? When I took over three years ago, the church folk scrambled their money together and bought it for me. I would have gone with something less intimidating, but I appreciate them doing this for me.” Osiris proceeds to rummage through his pocket, looking for something. Then he pulls out a Gold necklace with a crucifix on it. “This necklace has been passed down to every succeeding priest from one to the next. The old Priest gave it to me the day before he passed away.” He quickly puts it on and hops into the car, with Tyson following soon after. “This dude must have extra lives the way he’s driving” was the thought racing through Tyson’s head. The Father was putting his car through its paces, pushing it to go faster and faster. Weaving in and out of traffic as if he was sewing something together.

The duo pulled up to a store with a bright flashing sign: *DRAGONS’ DYNASTY*. “Let’s try to be quick. This isn’t the best area to be in for too long”. The two step out of Osiris’ car and venture into the store; the lady at the counter lights up upon seeing Osiris'. “Ah, Mr.Osiris, it’s a pleasure to see you again. I’m assuming you want the usual today?” the clerk-lady asked enthusiastically. She was a young girl no older than 18. James nods his head and beckons Tyson forward to give his order. Now was his time to shine, he thought. The entire car ride there, he rehearsed what he would say for his order. “Excuse me, I’d like–” Tyson is suddenly pushed to the side as a group of men rushes in, giggling and making a ton of noise. “Hey, I was just about to order,” Tyson said quickly. The group leader turns toward Tyson and shoots him a dirty look before turning back towards the clerk– “Let me get uuh.”. The clerk cuts the man off–“Sir, that customer over there was first; I will get to you as soon as I can.” The man slams his hands on the counter with intense fury. “MAN, HIS FATASS CAN WAIT, YOU SERVING THE BIG BOSS NOW,” the leader screeched while his goons hooted and hollered behind him. The lady turns toward Tyson, waiting for him to say something but all he does is sigh and gesture his hands, letting her know she can take the other man's order first.

Each group member took a long time ordering with drawn-out “uuhs and “Let me get….” while constantly laughing and glancing at Tyson. After each order was complete, the group would leave the store but not before turning to Tyson and making a cruel remark about him. “Learn to stay quiet when the big dogs are talking, little nigga!” one of the thugs said on his way out. Finally, it was time for Tyson to order, and the clerk informed him that she hadn’t registered any of the thugs' orders and was waiting for Tyson to order before she entered theirs. Fifteen minutes later, Osiris and Tyson have their food and are preparing to leave the store. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that in there. I promise not everyone here in Quaker is that rude,” Osiris reassured Tyson. “It’s fine, and I’m just glad they focused their hostility on me and not you or the Clerk.” Osiris and Tyson leave the store, but Tyson feels someone grip his shoulder hard; then he is spun around now, looking at the face of the angry leader. “All my boys ordered before you. How the fuck do you have your food before them?!”. Tyson looks at the man unfazed and shrugs his shoulders, infuriating him further. One of the goons in the back clears his throat before speaking, “I bet his fatass ran in the kitchen and ate our food before they could serve it!”. The thugs erupt in laughter and high-five all around. Tyson stares at the man before him blankly “Are we done here?” he asks. The thug leader flashes a gun at Tyson “You know what they call me? They call me the Grim Reaper around this bitch. I run shit around here pussy!”.

Osiris steps between the man and Tyson to mediate the situation. “Sir, let’s relax and not do anything irrational.” “Shut the fuck up, old man. Nobody asks you for shit,” he turns back to Tyson. “I don’t like the look in your eye. You think you're better than me? Over there with that goofy-ass smile.”. Tyson has always had the bad habit of smiling or laughing in bad situations. Osiris once again speaks up, trying to prevent something terrible from happening. “Look, we don't want any trouble. We just wanna leave”. The thug turns to Osiris and begins staring at his necklace. “That’s a nice chain right there, would be even nicer on a brother like me” he attempts to snatch it from Osiris’ neck, but his hand is quickly swatted away by Tyson. The thug was astonished. His cronies in the back escalated the situation by asking if he would be willing to let it slide, then insisting that they wouldn't have allowed it to happen to them. “Yeah, you fucked up!” the man swings his fist at Tyson with vital force. Tyson takes a step back while the punch breezes by him. The thug throws a volley of jabs Tyson’s way, but he slaps them away with a look of boredom on his face. “Please stop; this isn’t worth fighting about,” Osiris pleaded with them. Suddenly Tyson’s face changes, and he catches the man’s fist. He stiff-arms the man knocking him to the ground. “I’m not doing this dance with you.” Osiris looks shocked at the bravado of Tyson walking back to him.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The thug on the ground quickly scrambles and reaches for his gun to notice it’s not there. “Looking for this?” The group looked shocked at Tyson to see him holding the leader’s gun in his hand with a devilish grin. He unloads the gun and slides the empty pistol to the group. “We don’t want any more issues with y'all.” The leader draws a knife from his pocket, and his goons do so. One of them lets out a bloodcurdling screech before running to Osiris’ truck and slashing the back tires. “Ain’t nobody leaving,” he bellowed. “Don’t do this. It’s going to end badly for everyone.” Tyson tells Osiris to hide behind the truck while he deals with the threat because the attackers aren't going to stand down. With a deep breath followed by a sigh, Tyson pulls a hairband out of his pocket and ties up his locs with it.

Father James Osiris has seen some crazy things in his 43 years of living. Growing up in South Quaker, the Gaelic mafia ran drugs, prostitutes, and other illicit businesses. He’s seen people get whacked on his way to school and even had a few teachers skip town because someone called a hit out on them for failing them. To say he’s witnessed a lot of violence would be an understatement. But nothing he’s seen in his youth could prepare him for the act of disrespect he was bearing witness to in front of him. Even though he understood that Tyson was acting out of self-defense, some felt he was enjoying what he was doing just a little bit. Tyson controlled the fight, dodging and weaving their attacks like they were nothing. He was toying with his attackers. He never punched or kicked, just a firm slap to their faces like a parent disciplining a disobedient child. Things proceeded like this for a little while until one of the thugs made a fatal mistake. “*WEEZE* STOP FUCKING WITH US! FIGHT LIKE A REAL MAN!”. Tyson started to chuckle at this. “Aye, I told y’all to leave me alone, but yall didn’t listen.” “Fine, we just gonna fuck up the lady at the cash register,” the leader said.

When Osiris was younger, he was at a park with his friends when he saw what he now knows was a drug deal happening. He saw the two men arguing over something before he got an uneasy feeling in his stomach. The air felt heavy and thick; he couldn’t focus. Then, one of the men drew a gun and began firing away into the other man’s chest. Seeing Tyson standing there glaring at the leader after he said that gave him the same feeling before the bullets started flying at the park that day. He felt a change in the air at that moment.

Tyson was briefly brought back to his time overseas; the memories he tried to bury deep within rose to the surface with incredible force. To a house on fire with the roof minutes away from collapsing. “So that’s the type of man you are? You can’t handle the problem you started, so you take your frustration out on the innocent. My god, you are pathetic. A wannabe thug searching for the attention he was denied as a child.”. He steps forward toward the group causing them to back up in fear. “I don’t care what you say or do to me, but if you start messing with people who ain’t got nothing to do with it, I’ll put you down like a rabid dog.” As if the universe was against them, the clerk ran out of the store after hearing the commotion. The goons abruptly snatched her up. Now feeling as if he had the upper hand, the leader said, “This all could have been avoided if you had just minded your own business, but no, you had to play the hero!” He continues, “Did mommy and daddy not tell you to shut up when grown folk talk? Now I have to gut this bitch like a fish to teach you a lesson” He turns towards the woman and slices her right under her eye. Her scream brought back terrible memories of the war. Tyson tried so hard to let go of those memories. She began apologizing even though she hadn’t done anything. Hearing that made his blood boil. Once again, he’s returned to the burning house, and he can still feel the heat and taste the blood in his mouth. His captors' words echo in his head “This is war Obi, there are no heroes…we’re not here to follow our morals, we’re here to follow orders”. Brought back to reality, he mumbles “monster” under his breath. As quick as lightning reached into his pocket to grab one of the bullets he had taken from the gun earlier. With pinpoint precision, he flicked it at the leader’s eye. Osiris, who watched this scene in horror, only blinked. It was as if Tyson teleported from his original position to the leaders to hit him with a devastating haymaker. *CRACK* is the sound his skull made as Tyson drove his fist into it.

The chaos wasn’t over yet; before the leader’s body could even land on the ground, the thug behind him had his jaw broken and dangling, followed by a solid kick to the gut. Tyson didn’t even look at the now-freed clerk. “Call the police, and make sure they bring several ambulances with them,” he said. The remaining thugs then decided their best course of action next was to jump Tyson all at once. Osiris couldn’t help but gaze in shock, the world around him went mute, and all he could do was hear their bloodcurdling yelps. Sweat streamed from their faces in their attempt to stab Tyson.

Despite his size, Tyson was extraordinarily nimble and quickly dodged each of their strikes easily. “WE’LL KILL YOU,” one of the thugs screeched. Tyson catches the man’s hand. The putrid screams of agony from the thug awoke the once silent night. People peered from their windows. Some came outside to see the source of all the noise. The spectators looked in horror to see the conductor of this atrocious melody. Tyson had kicked the man's leg causing it to snap back to resemble a crane. And there he stood, lit up by the street lights. They couldn’t truly make out his shadowy form due to the glare of the lights, but one thing was clear, he was smiling sadistically. There was harmony born from this dissonance—a musical orchestra of groans and moans. Tyson had constructed a symphony from their screams. After stacking the barely conscious thugs on top of each other, Tyson makes his way to Osiris, devouring his food like an animal. “Sorry, man, violence makes me hungry.” Tyson chuckles.

“I’m going, to be honest with you, buddy. I haven’t seen a big man move that gracefully in my life. What type of training did they put you through?” Osiris asked perplexingly. “Wel–” The rush of ambulances and police vehicles arriving at the scene interrupted what Tyson was going to say. The police stepped from their cars and pointed their guns at Tyson. “Son put your hands behind your head and get down on the ground.” Tyson and Osiris's eyes met each other and gave each other a puzzling look. They turn around to see a horde of angry restaurant workers. A chef covered in flour and grease stains says, “This hooligan got into a brawl with those guys over there *He points to the unconscious thugs* and got my daughter mixed into it.” Tyson began to lower himself to the ground while Osiris explained how everything was a huge misunderstanding. “Xiu-Yan, please tell them that Tyson rescued you from these guys!” Osiris pleaded. But the woman was weeping heavily and couldn’t speak. The police then grabbed Tyson and hurled him into the squad car. “Don’t worry, sir, we’re gonna take good care of your friend there,” one of the officers said. The vehicle containing Tyson rolled out while new station vans began arriving on the scene. The cops started crowd control maneuvers and began taking witness statements. Time for Osiris seemed like it slowed down while the rush of news reporters began their push toward him. He blamed himself because he felt that if he hadn’t brought the necklace, Tyson wouldn’t have had to step in to protect him. “I’m going to get you out of this mess,” he thought before the reporters overtook him.