Chapter 2 - The Video Goes Viral
Mason released Jace’s wrist and took a step back, adjusting his black apron as if nothing had happened.
Jace scrambled to his feet, his face red with embarrassment and fury. He clutched his wrist, his teeth bared in a snarl. "You're dead, old man! You hear me? You're a dead man!"
"Jace, stop!" Colin Drake grabbed his fighter’s shoulder, pulling him back. Colin was staring at his phone screen in absolute shock. The camera had caught the entire exchange: the champion demanding the server get on his knees, and the server effortlessly forcing the undefeated fighter onto his knee with a single wrist lock.
"We're leaving," Colin muttered nervously, recognizing the cold, terrifying authority in Mason's eyes. He dragged Jace toward the exit, with Reid Walker and the rest of their entourage following close behind, leaving behind a restaurant filled with stunned silence.
Elise Garner stood in the middle of the dining room, looking from the shattered wine glass on the floor to Mason.
"Mason," she breathed, her voice shaking. "What was that? Where did you learn to do that?"
"I used to work in security," Mason said quietly, picking up the fallen napkin and wiping the red wine off his shoe. "I'm sorry about the disturbance, Elise. I'll finish my shift."
"No," Elise shook her head, looking at him with a mix of awe and concern. "Go home, Mason. Take the night off."
Mason walked back to the employee station, grabbed his phone, and saw the text from Sophie: Dad, text me when you’re headed home.
He typed back immediately: On my way, kiddo.
By midnight, Mason was sitting at his kitchen table in his small brick house, drinking a cold beer while the ceiling fan hummed overhead. Across the street, the neighborhood was dark and quiet. He thought the incident was over.
He was wrong.
At 2:00 AM, Sophie came running down the hallway holding her glowing smartphone, her eyes wide with shock.
"Dad! Wake up!" she yelled, slamming the phone down on the table in front of him. "Look at this!"
Mason put on his reading glasses and looked at the screen.
It was a TikTok video posted by a local sports news account. The caption read: UNDEFEATED CHAMP JACE ROURKE HUMILIATED BY MYSTERY SAVANNAH WAITER.
The video had already been viewed over three million times in three hours. The comment section was exploding with tens of thousands of messages:
“Who is this guy? He moved like a ninja!” “Jace Rourke got folded by a middle-aged waiter with gray hair!” “Find this waiter! He needs to fight in the UFC!”
Mason’s heart sank into his stomach. The anonymity he had carefully constructed over the past three years was crumbling in real-time.
Then, his phone rang. The screen displayed a restricted number from Washington D.C.
May you like
Mason answered it on the third ring.
"Hale," a rough, familiar voice spoke through the speaker. "You're supposed to be dead, Mason. Why is my best former operative trending on social media throwing joint locks in a restaurant?"
