PATIENT ZERO

Back in Vietnam, we had this allied commander posted to our camp.

Men trusted him... Then the fever started.

Every squad he supplied came down with it. Son of a bitch told everyone he could save us, then I found out he'd been tamperin' with the medical stores — keepin' men sick enough to need him.

By morning, his orders had stopped.

Learned somethin' that day... A man can wear the marks of command and still be the enemy.

Sometimes the hand offerin' the cure is the one spreadin' the poison.

When I see you, Padre, I recognise the symptoms.

You call it Family. Give a man a place to belong, then make sure he can't stand without you.

Soon he's speakin' your words, fightin' your enemies, and carryin' your grudges. Thinks he's found a brotherhood when all he's found is a commander givin' him orders.

That's your gift, ain't it? Make men feel like kings, so long as they remember who owns the crown.

Promise them power, but never enough to stand on their own.

They carry your will, spreadin' the sickness without knowin' it. That's how one man's corruption becomes everybody else's way of life.

When one falls, another takes his place.

You keep them afraid of the world outside your walls, then expect gratitude for lettin' them stay inside — but here's what interests me...

How many would still stand beside you if they weren't afraid to walk away?

What would be left of your power if nobody needed your permission to breathe?

That OSW Championship's the highest seat in this jungle. You hold it, Padre, but holdin' the title ain't the same as earnin' the right to lead — not when your throne's held up by men you've taught to kneel.

That's where you and me part ways, son. I spent years learnin' what sickness does to a body and fear does to a mind. Seen both spread through good men until they barely recognised themselves.

I've carried the scars, but never let either one decide who I was.

I never went lookin' for a crown or needed one to tell me what I was worth, but I fought for it, earned it — and now it's brought me straight to you.

You might think that crown makes me another king you can flatter, frighten or turn.

I don't need your Family.

I don't want your protection.

And I won't trade my own mind for a place in your kingdom.

At Hail to the King, I'm not comin' to inherit your infection. I'm not wastin' a fight on the symptoms or the men you've turned into carriers.

To strip away the gold you've been hidin' behind — and then we'll see how long your Family keeps kneelin'.

You, Padre.

You can make every man answer to your name, but when that bell rings, you'll have to answer to mine.

And if you draw first blood...