Boomsbarrow was one of the worst places Larry “Definitely” Shore has been in, and he loved everything about that. In his eyes, that description meant this was a place he could change, a place where he could put some smiles on peoples’ faces.

  Larry wasn’t just sure he could do that. He was definitely sure.

  First things first, to bring back the light in the dim bar. If there was one thing that was sure to get everyone's hearts pumping it was this.

  “Who here is ready to get off their butt and join me in a rebellion!?” Larry’s voice was full of joy and confidence, and judging by the shocked faces in the room, no one seemed to like that.

  “Get down from my damn table, and quit it with that rebellion talk!?” Rocky demanded, whipping Larry’s leg with a small white blanket. A tall, burly man with a mustache straight from an 80’s movie–Rocky looked like a guy with a no nonsense attitude. “You've been here five days, and still don’t know how things work.”

  “Do you mind, man? I’m tryna drink here,” said Tyriek, moving two seats away from him. Dude has a nice, buff body. If only his hair could match the thickness of his muscles…

  The two men were the only people in the town to actually talk to Larry without writing him off as insane or insulting him. Once the world became a better place, he’d make sure to give them the credit they rightfully deserve.

  Larry laughed, and then grabbed two bottles from the counter, raising them up. “You guys are always so depressed. No wonder it’s called ‘Explosion City’. Everyone’s hopes and dreams seem to explode over here.” He began banging the bottles together. “C’mon, everybody! Say it with me! Down with the king! Down with the k-”

  The only one who went down at that moment was Larry, courtesy of Rocky. His back hit the wood, landing on the hard floor seconds after. That lingering pain was the least of the man’s troubles as a woman locked her arm around his neck and held a knife to his face.

  “Ooo, this looks nice,” Larry said in an admiring tone, poking the weapon. “Don’t tell you had this sharpened just for little ole me?”

  “Shut up!” she hissed, nearly cutting off his finger. “You’re gonna get us all killed with this ‘down with the king’ shit. I-I-I’ll fucking kill you if you don’t stop.”

  Larry smiled. “Well, call me a five year old ‘cause this mouth is gonna keep on running.”

  “Why you little-”

  The woman thrusted the knife. Larry was quicker, grabbing her wrist and twisting it. She screamed in pain, which confused the man considering he didn’t even twist that hard. Fortunately for her, Larry had the perfect solution for the problem, a solution that was sure to put a smile on her face. He pressed his fingers against the corners of the lady’s mouth and forced them upward, literally putting a smile on her face.

  “You see, doesn’t that feel b-”

  Suddenly, Larry was pulled off of her by Tyriek while Rocky dragged the woman to the corner of the bar. While the bartender attempted to calm her down, Tyriek did everything in his power to snuff the fire in Larry’s heart.

  “You’re walking on a thin line, Wright,” he said, pushing Larry back to his stool.

  Larry sat down and took a sip from a customer’s drink who had gone to the bathroom. “Look, if you guys keep whining about your problems instead of fixing them, then you might as well just go back to being slaves.”

  “Fuck you, Larry!”

  “Love you too, random guy at table number three!” Larry exclaimed, winking at him.

  “Some problems are just too much for a normal man to fix.” Tyriek flashed his hand at the man. “Larry, three of my fingers got cut off. If I want to keep the rest, then I got to abide by this place’s rules. You should too. You’re lucky you came in here with all your limbs still intact.”

  Larry’s blue eyes sparkled. “I really am lucky, aren’t I? I mean, they replaced my tattered clothes with this cool flannel jacket and these jeans. They smelled bad when I got them, but it was nothing a good wash couldn’t fix.”

  Just then, pain came in the form of a whip to Larry’s cheeks. And it wasn’t the cheeks on his face…

  “Geez, at least take me to dinner first,” Larry teased, rubbing his ass.

  “Pick up your pants, and maybe I won’t hit ya,” said Rocky, placing the bottles Larry dropped back into the shelves. “Did you even hear anything Tyriek just said?”

  Tyriek sighed, folding his arms. “No, because the guy doesn’t know how the real world works apparently.”

  Larry chuckled. “Look, if you’re gonna whip me anywhere, could you do it on my arms instead?” He rolled his sleeves to reveal an array of red marks across his skin. “I’m building up a nice collection. I got these through all the times I helped someone out back in my old turf, and fought through the pain in order to continue doing it. Pretty cool, right?”

  His two friends looked at his arms in shock.

  “Jesus Christ, those aren’t cool collectibles… Those are punishments,” said Tyriek.

  Larry raised an eyebrow, though he found their confusion amusing. “Yeah, but these are all proof that I was able to help someone, even if I got hurt in the process. If I can just make one person’s life easier in exchange for mine, then that makes me happy.”

  Tyriek drank from both of his cups, and then shook his head. “Larry, where I come from, we call that sentiment the words of a crazy person.”

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  Rocky gave Wright a long stare. “This bar only functions the way it does because the ‘king’ doesn’t know about it. It’s in the basement of a random store in a random part of town that I’m sure he doesn’t give two shits about. Everyone who comes down here is allowed to do, say, and drink what they want without the “king” threatening our safety. Trust me, just having this place makes us happy enough.”

  Larry rested his chin on his hand, glancing at his attacker. “Hmm, then I wonder why that woman was so angry with me.”

  Rocky poured a drink into a small cup. “Her son was just as gullible as you. King didn't like that, and made sure he never spoke that kinda talk ever again.” He then handed the cup to Larry and said, “I'm not tryna see you end up like that, man. Be like the rest of us and have a nice drink.”

  I bet if I apologized, it'd make her feel a little better.

  The man wouldn’t have the chance to do so, as the door to the bar swung wide open, sending an ominous aura throughout the room. Everyone became silent, though their eyes couldn’t look away from the two people in suits that walked in like they owned the place.

  Despite the visible fear on everyone else's faces, Larry was excited to see some new faces down here, and making a good first impression was his utmost priority.

  Larry tilted his head, mimicking one of them. “That spring around your head has gotta hurt! Is that the new fashion nowadays?”

  Spring Man ignored the question as the two sat down together next to Larry and Tyriek. The other individual was a woman with a shark tattoo, who spent her time eyeing anyone who looked at her with a casual smile on her face.

  Larry whistled. “Those clothes are doing wonders for your body, you know. This might sound weird, but I did go to my high school prom with a girl who wore a tux… Hmm, I’m starting to think she wasn’t into guys maybe.”

  She didn’t respond. The small knife Rocky was using in his hand to peel an orange caught her attention more.

  However, there was one thing he could say that would get both of their eyes on him. “You two must be Mr. Corleone’s new recruits. Sooo, how’s that life treating y’all?”

  Unexpectedly, Shark Tattoo smiled at Larry, and he smiled back.

  “Let me see that knife,” she said, pointing at Rocky.

  Oooo, I wonder what she wants with that. Maybe she wants the orange? Or does she wanna play Five Finger Fillet!?

  Unfortunately, it wasn’t any of those options. Instead, she pierced the knife through his hand, his smile vanishing instantly. A hot, searing pain coursed through his body while his armpits began to sweat, blood staining the table. Larry could practically hear the “I told you this would happen”s from townspeoples’ closed mouths.

  “Well, this might be the worst thing I’ve gone through,” Larry laughed weakly.

  The woman leaned in closer to his face, eyes wide with curiosity.

  Larry’s lips curled into a nervous smile. “What? You wanna kiss me now?”

  “How can someone be so cute, and so annoying?” she said flatly, as if observing an insect. She poked his cheek with the same finger she’d just used to stab his hand. “I could hear you from inside the hallway.”

  You won’t be the last to say that, thought Larry, the fingers of his stabbed hand twitching.

  Spring Face sighed. “Sharketa, can we hurry up with this? I’m getting really sleepy.”

  Shark Tattoo, who Larry learned was named Sharketa, nodded. “We’ve noticed that money was secretly going into this town, even though our boss explicitly told your king this place shouldn’t be producing any income.” She picked up Tyriek’s half empty glass, the wine swirling like a whirlpool just from her touch. “The king would never defy the boss, which meant whoever was making that dough wasn’t aware of what we could do to them. Isn’t that right, bartender?”

  She wasn’t wrong. Rocky intended for this place to be free of charge, so that it could be a sort of sanctuary for people too stressed to be out on the town. And yet, almost everyone that came regularly gave the man whatever they had every week. Cash that wasn’t confiscated, old souvenirs and trinkets—anything helped.

  How else was he gonna keep getting all these drinks for them?

  Rocky’s eyes narrowed as Sharketa flicked the wine off her finger, and onto his face. “Let me guess, I’m gonna be punished now?”

  “The original plan was to teach all of you a lesson, but that could be changed.” She spun around and faced the whole bar. “Choose three people in this bar to receive punishment, and I won’t tell your king about anyone else here. Oooor you can all just come with us. Single file line preferably, just like they taught you in those school fire drill tests!”

  This is bad…

  No matter how much the bar visitors were annoyed by him or hated his presence, what was truly undeniable was the sense of friendship and gratitude everyone had amongst each other. This picking and choosing game was gonna mess all that up, and that’s exactly what these dudes in suits wanted. The anxious whispering amongst the townspeople only proved that fact.

  Larry wasn’t having that.

  Just then, he pulled his hand from the knife’s clutches, blood splattering across the floor. “I volunteer!” Larry shouted, breathing heavily. “I’m a newbie here, so it’s only right that I take the fall. And Rocky, I see you trying to raise your hand. Do not do it!”

  Tyriek closed his eyes, raising his hand. “Fuck it. I volunteer too. If doing that lets my buddy keep this joint, then I’ll do it.”

  Rocky gritted his teeth. “This is complete bullshit. Don't do this for me.”

  The last one to raise their hand was the woman in the corner–Larry’s attacker. “I-I-I’d rather die than live in this place for any longer.”

  Larry’s mouth tightened hearing those words.

  “Who said anything about dying?” Sharketa asked, about to spill the drink on the floor.

  Without hesitation, Larry dropped to the ground, and caught the wine in his mouth before it could go to waste. After swallowing what he could, he sat back on his seat, ignoring Sharketa’s visible disgust.

  She proceeded to clench his head and squeeze. “Hey, what was that for? Are you trying to disrespect me?”

  “I’m not trying to disrespect you,” said Larry. “I was stopping you from disrespecting this fine establishment. Rocky spent a lot of time and risked his safety just to have this for all of us, so no drink here should be wasted. Alsoooo…” To everyone’s surprise, the man knocked off the grip on his skull, following it up with a punch to her neck.

  That act wouldn’t go unpunished as Larry felt an invisible weight press onto his chest, pinning him to the floor.

  “I changed my mind,” muttered Sharketa, holding her neck. “You’re gonna get a punishment fit for two people, how’s that sound?”

  Sounds like exactly what I wanted.

  “It’s about damn time,” groaned Spring Face, picking up Larry with one arm. “Let’s leave already.”

  Tyriek was already out of his seat with his hands up, and Sharketa wasted no time in retraining him.

  “I’m going to personally make sure your loud friend over here has the worst time back in the Slavelands. You won't live a day without feeling-”

  The door exploded open.

  Not slammed, not kicked — exploded. A gust of wind blasted through the bar like a shotgun, knocking over stools, tossing napkins into the air, and scattering everyone's focus. The wooden sign above the entrance clattered to the floor.

  At the entrance stood a man—at least he looked like one. What looked to be his skin was a gooey green, and his skeleton was visible underneath it. Even with the distance between them, Larry felt like the creature was towering over them.

  Something about its look reminded Larry of a zombie, and then a realization hit him.

  Obviously, this dude is a superhero! I mean, what else could explain that cool costume and those bulging muscles? Now that I think about it, he looks like a zombie. So that's what he's going for, huh? Dress up as something scary, but is actually a sweetheart under that? That's perfect for us! I wonder what the pants are hiding though…

  Then, the mysterious hero spoke. “Does anyone here know where the “king” is? I've been looking everywhere. And before any of you ask, yes, I'm gonna beat his ass!” He paused for a moment, surveying the situation. “Hold up… what’s going on here!?”