Negan leaned against the wall, his eyes fixed on the prisoner bound in the center of the room. The dim light cast harsh shadows across his face, highlighting his ever-present smirk. He twirled Lucille, his barbed-wire-wrapped bat, idly in one hand, the metallic scrape of the wire against wood filling the silence.

"You look bored," Negan said, breaking the stillness with his rough, charismatic voice. His words hung in the air for a moment before he pushed himself off the wall and took a step closer, his gaze heavy.

"Well, I got somethin' to cure that," he continued, his smirk widening into a grin. He pointed Lucille, the bat's brutal history implied in every dent and scratch. "You think you're tough? Prove it."