After Levi and Alice finished eating, the 2 got into Alice’s car and made their way

  over to one of the town’s electronic stores to check out some TV’s. The day was a bit

  sunnier and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, it was actually somewhat warm. When they

  pulled into the parking lot, Alice and Levi looked at the big concrete building that read

  ‘Heart Electronics’

  Alice parked the car, “Alright, let’s go find you a TV and do me a favor.”

  “What?” Levi asked as he got out and began to stretch, he was still groggy from

  being in such a deep sleep for the first time in forever.

  “No fighting anyone today.” Alice said as Levi followed her into the store.

  “It’s not like I’m the one who starts them. But fine, there’s any easy way to

  prevent that.” Levi reached into jacket and pulled out his black half mask. He put it on

  and pulled his hat lower. Doing his best to cover his hair.

  Alice laughed at him “There’s no way that actually works.”

  “You’d be surprised.” Levi remarked.

  They browsed through the Television section for a while and just like when they

  were looking at phones, Alice took the lead. After close to an hour, Alice asked Levi for

  his thoughts and Levi very unenthusiastically answered her “Honestly, it seems like a

  huge waste of money to spend on something that my phone already does.”

  “You cannot compare watching Netflix on your phone to a 64-inch flat screen TV

  and what if you have people over, it’s not like you can have everyone gather around your

  phone to watch a movie.”

  Levi’s tone was slightly embarrassed “I’m not exactly having guests over; incase

  you haven’t noticed most people and I don’t really get along.”

  “I guess that’s fair, but what if I ever want to come over?” Alice asked, hoping

  Levi was open to the possibility.

  “I guarantee you’re not missing much at my place. It’s just a hammock in my

  bedroom, a recliner in the living room, and a liquor store in the kitchen.” Levi saw no

  reason for them to ever spend time at his place when Alice’s was that much better than

  his.

  Alice laughed “You don’t even have a bed?"

  “Nah, it seemed like a pain to move.” Levi remembered when he looked at beds

  in the past.

  “That’s why they give you people to move and set it up for you.”

  “They do?” Levi never even thought to ask for help because he didn’t think

  anyone would agree and he had no one to ask.

  “Yes!” Alice exclaimed.

  “Neat.” Levi continued browsing the TV’s.

  This time it was Alice who was following behind him. “You really are one weird

  guy, Levi.”

  Levi chuckled “Oh you have no idea. Well, this was a bust, how about we go get

  something to eat and head back to your place?”

  Alice smiled “Yeah, I’d like that.”

  They left the store and made it to the car, this time uninterrupted by rednecks with

  a grudge against Levi. Alice drove to a nearby burger restaurant, they went inside, it was

  empty besides for 2 men sat at a table on the other side of the restaurant. Levi and Alice

  got a table for 2. As they looked through the menu Levi spoke “Get whatever, this is on

  me as a thank you for breakfast this morning.”

  “That’s good with me, I’ll never say no to a free meal.”

  Their server, Tyrese, came by, he was a mildly overweight and at the same time

  buff African American man that stood at a solid 6 feet 6 inches. His face was kind

  though, like a gentle giant., Levi ordered the All-American burger with a side of onion

  rings and Alice ordered a bacon burger with a side of fries. As they ate, they talked about

  how work was going to get a bit easier now that they’ve hired a few new people. After

  they finished eating, Levi ordered a slice of cheesecake and Alice got a chocolate

  milkshake.

  “Did you see the weather is supposed to get pretty crazy soon?” Levi asked her.

  “Yeah, that blizzard is supposed to hit us the day after tomorrow. I need to put

  chains on my tires.” When Alice finished speaking their waitress arrived with dessert.

  Before Levi could take a bite, a man came and slammed his hand on their table.

  Alice jumped and Levi looked up. The man was a police officer in full uniform with his

  partner behind him. “Can we help you?” Levi asked.

  The man laughed “Well, Levi, I think you can. I’m officer Tony and my partner

  here is officer Nickles.” Tony and Nickles both stood at around 6 feet tall in their boots

  and both clearly had more athletic builds. Tony even more so, who looked like a full-blooded Italian.

  He was tan with dark features and could easily pass for a professional

  bodybuilder with the size of his biceps being bigger than his head. “Do you know one of

  my fellow officers by the name of Ralph?”

  Levi let out a deep sigh “Yup.”

  Tony put his hand on Levi’s shoulder “Well I heard you messed him and his

  friends up pretty bad the other day. We’re here to even the score, so why don’t you step

  outside with me and my partner here.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Not again.” Alice said under her breath.

  “What did you just say?” the officers' partner, Nickels, said with annoyance as he

  walked over to Alice.

  Levi went to stand up and Tony pushed him back down. “Stay down boy, we

  wouldn’t want this to get ugly.” He put his other hand over his gun.

  “Just leave him alone.” Alice pleaded.

  “Shut up.” Nickels spat out.

  “Calm down, brother. We’re here for the freak, not her. Although she is quite a

  pretty young thing.” Tony winked and Alice felt revolted, her face didn’t hide it.

  “Now why don’t you thank Tony here for the nice compliment.” Nickels said in a

  demanding tone.

  “Leave her out of this or you’ll regret it.” Levi’s tone had grown colder.

  The officers laughed and mocked him “Or you’ll regret it! That’s funny. Right,

  Nickels?”

  Nickels laughed “Yeah, that’s real funny. Now shut your mouth and come with

  us, freak.”

  Tyrese approached the group “Is there a problem here folks?”

  “No problem.” Tony answered for Alice and Levi.

  Tyrese glared at the man “I wasn’t talking to you.”

  “They want to take Levi outside and beat him.” Alice spoke up, refusing to be

  intimidated by yet another situation involving a corrupt police officer.

  Tyrese let out a booming laugh “Now that’s not very nice. 2 on 1 isn’t fair, so

  how about a good old fashion 2 on 2 bare knuckle braw!”

  Everyone was surprised, besides Levi who laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” Nickels asked with visible annoyance that was growing by

  the second.

  Levi just kept laughing. “Let’s get this over with.” Levi stood up, knocking

  Tony’s hand off his shoulder.

  “Levi!” Alice wanted to tell him to stay but knew that this conflict was

  unavoidable now.

  “I’ll have your boyfriend back safe in a minute, sweet pea. Don’t you worry.”

  Tyrese said as the group of men made their way to the door.

  “He’s… not my boyfriend.” Alice muttered as she watched the door close behind

  them.

  The group walked to the back of the building, away from prying eyes. The

  officers disarmed themselves and set their guns down on top of a nearby dumpster. While

  keeping their batons in hand.

  “Nickles, you take big man over there and I’ll take the freak.” Tony ordered.

  “With pleasure.” Nickles replied. But when he turned back towards Tyrese, he

  was less than a foot away from him. Tyrese closed the distance and grabbed Nickles arm,

  he then ripped the baton out of his hand and threw it a great distance away.

  “You put yours down too or I’ll break his arm.” Tyrese commanded Tony as he

  gripped Nickles arm, Nickles let out a groan in pain as he tried unsuccessfully to free

  himself from Tyrese’s grasp.

  Tony begrudgingly threw down this baton and looked up at Levi who was

  smirking at him. Tyrese let out his booming laugh again and released Nickles.

  “Now let’s get this over, I have somewhere to be.” Levi said.

  “You goddamn punks.” Tony began to charge at Levi and Levi charged right

  back. Tony quickly overtook Levi by flipping him over his shoulder. Levi did his best to

  brace his fall by tucking his chin down to his chest to his chest as he landed on his back.

  The wind was knocked out of him and before he could regain his breath Tony was onto

  of him and began to let out a barrage of punches. A few landed-on Levi’s head before he

  was able to put his guard up.

  “This is a bit of a letdown after all I’ve heard about you!” Tony shouted as he

  continued to pummel Levi. Levi finally caught his breath and countered Tony by bucking

  him off. Levi got to his feet and prepared for Tony to charge again at him. Levi went to

  throw a punch at Tony as he charged, but Tony caught ahold of his arm and pinned him

  to the ground.

  “This is going to hurt.” Tony taunted him, then applied more pressure to Levi’s

  arm that had become pinned behind his back. “You ready?” Tony was growing more

  unhinged as he beat down Levi.

  “Go to hell.” Levi spit the words out and prepared himself for the pain.

  “Wrong answer!” Tony shouted and applied even more pressure to Levi’s pinned

  arm.

  Levi cried out as Tony pushed Levi’s shoulder out of its socket.

  “Alright, that’s enough of that.” Tyrese there pulled Tony off of Levi and threw

  him a few feet away. He then pulled Levi up off of the ground and dusted his shoulder

  off.

  Levi looked over and saw Nickels beaten to a bloody pulp on the ground and the

  grin across Tyrese’s face. “Um… Thanks.”

  Tyrese hunched down and got face to face with Levi. “Remember, there’s no

  harm in fighting dirty. Hit him where it hurts.”

  Levi shot him a confused look, then it clicked “Ohhh… got it.”

  Tyrese then grabbed Levi’s arm and without hesitation, slammed it back into its

  socket. Levi clenched his teeth and let put a pained groan. “There you go, boss. Now take

  him out.”

  “You done now?” Tony began to slowly work his way over to Levi while being

  hesitant of the giant who had just decimated his partner. Once he was sure that Tyrese

  wasn’t going to interfere, he resumed his fight with Levi. The 2 men exchanged a series

  of punches in quick succession. When Tony was confident, he went to subdue Levi once

  more. But as he went for the takedown, Levi threw a kick full force into Tony’s crotch.

  Now Tony had the wind knocked out of him and hunched over in agony Levi then

  followed it up with another kick straight into Tony’s face effectively rendering him

  unconscious on the ground like his partner.

  Tyrese let out a laugh “Now that’s one way to end a fight.”

  Levi looked over at Tyrese “Thanks.”

  “Let’s get you back inside to that girl of yours. First be sure to wipe that blood off

  your nose, she won't be too happy If I bring you back in worse condition. Other than that,

  you look alright for a guy who got tossed around by a dude that was easily 50 pounds

  above his weight class.”

  The men went back inside. Tyrese retreated in the back to the kitchen, Levi went

  over to the table with Alice and left the cash on the table for the meal, along with a 200$

  tip.

  Alice looked at the cash “Jesus, Levi, isn’t that a bit much.”

  Levi chuckled “I’m actually worried it’s not enough.”

  Alice and Levi left the restaurant in a hurry. “What happened out there?” She

  asked.

  “I’ll tell you in the car, after we’re on our way to your place where I don’t have to

  worry about more strangers coming to attack me.”

  “Yeah, that seems like a good idea.”

  As they drive back to Alice’s place, Levi told Alice about the whole encounter

  and spared no detail. Alice was surprised at how highly he was speaking of their server;

  he must’ve been a really strong guy. She had seen Levi take out Kevin in an instant and

  come back from a 3 on 1 fight in a somewhat decent condition considering he won and

  could still walk. So, for that man to take down Levi was no easy feat and Tony had made

  it seem trivial.

  Alice shook her head “I still can’t believe you hit him in the- “

  “What? It was Tyrese’s idea and it worked.” Levi was a little defensive

  considering he got his ego bruised from getting tossed around.

  “As long as you’re okay and it’s over.” Alice giggled a little “Although from how

  you’re telling me what happened, it wasn’t your greatest moment.”

  Levi had a slightly embarrassed look on his face “Whatever, it won’t happen

  again. I was just feeling a little off today and the whole thing caught me off-guard.”

  “Sure, buddy. Keep telling yourself that.” Alice laughed.

  It was the truth; Levi had begun to feel comfortable and relaxed when he’s with

  Alice. He didn’t know if this was a good or a bad. He decided to brush it off and not think

  too hard about it.

  They pulled into Alice’s house, as they walked inside Alice continued to make

  fun of Levi for getting tossed around like a ragdoll and Levi kept laughing it off. The 2

  then plopped down on the couch and spent the remainder of the night watching movies,

  this time they both ended up falling asleep on the couch together.