Episode 1 - The First Night (1)

In a sense, this whole thing I was doing really made me feel like Batman. Arming myself with weapons and armour and going out to fight crime. The biggest difference between the two of us would probably be, aside from the fact that I'm not rich, that he has some sense of justice, I just want revenge.

I think a lot of people fantasize of going out into the streets at night, helping the common man and keeping the streets safe. Those fantasies would usually see you taking on the mantle of the hero without fear who steps in when no one else will. It wasn't much like that for me.

I left my car in a parking garage that offered free parking this time of night and had no video surveillance just to make sure no one got the idea to track me or anything similar. It took me a good while to fully realise what exactly it was that I was doing and take that first step out of my car.

Once outside, I quickly made my way towards Sentiment Park, one of the places where homeless folk frequently stay at night. A lot of the assaults were reported to have happened there and it made sense why. The homeless population in that area was relatively large when compared to other parts of the city and it was far enough away from any residential buildings to not garner much attention.

I thought that I had the perfect plan for the night. I'd find a good place to scout the whole park and keep an eye out for any suspicious activities that might arise. I wouldn't involve myself with anything serious, just the ones that I was out for.

After a good while of going through the park as stealthily as I could, I finally realised that finding a good scouting location would be far more difficult than I had originally anticipated. The park was filled with too many open areas that couldn't be viewed easily from just one location.

I concluded that I would do the next best thing and just start patrolling the park while relatively staying out of sight so as to not scare away the one I was hunting for.

As I was patrolling the park, my mind slowly started to wander. This was not a good thing as it was important that I stay focused and alert, but it couldn't be helped, the thoughts just started filling up my mind.

I began thinking about what I would do once I found the person responsible for Mr Sasaki's murder, how I would block their sword with my bat and make sure to strike only the weak points instead of wasting my energy with unnecessary attacks. Then I started thinking of what I would say to them, make them feel the way I did when I heard the news about Mr Sasaki's murder, give a grand speech about justice and the value of human life.

All of these thoughts were going through my head when I suddenly bumped into somebody.

-I'm sorry sir. Do you maybe have some change?-

A tall, slender man wearing what could only be considered rags was standing in front of me.

-Ah yes, here, take these.-

I had taken some change with me in case this happened. Hopefully, he'll be able to buy himself something to eat with that at least.

-Thank you very much, sir, you're very kind. Now come on boy.-

He whistled as he began walking and the small dog that was standing behind him soon followed. It was a small Shiba inu, but instead of having almost gold coloured fur like you would expect, this one was closer to being brown.

The dog gave me a glance with his tongue stretched out and continued walking after the man with it's curled up tail swinging from side to side. It was a cute sight and I couldn't help but smile back at him.

***

Almost two hours had passed with nothing eventful happening in the park. During those two hours, I continued to patrol throughout the park, trying to make sure I didn't miss anything, but for the most part, it was a quiet night.

During my patrol, I began to wonder how the man I had met earlier was doing. It was March, but the nights were still quite cold and he didn't seem to have anything with him to warm him. Maybe I should have given him more money so he could buy something better to wear.

After thinking about him a bit longer I realised that there wasn't anything more that could be done for him now and continued my patrol.

The quiet of the night was making it quite difficult not to overthink things. The moments in which I could think about regular everyday things were good, but sometimes my mind would just wander into other places, places I didn't want to be.

The hardest part of it was second-guessing what I was doing altogether. What if I was in over my head? What if I just froze when something happened? What if all of this was a mistake and I should just go back to preparing for my class?

-Hey! Get a load of this guy!-

The noise of my thoughts was finally drowned out by the words of what seemed to be a teenager.

-Hahahahahaha, dude and a dog just chilling in the park is what it looks like to me.-

Another one chimed in.

-Guys, cut it out. This isn't a joke.-

I was relieved when I heard the third one join the conversation.

-This is clearly a case of animal abuse. We should do the poor animal a favour and take care of its abusive owner.-

My heart sank at the words and my legs began moving with more force than ever before.

-No, please, I beg you. He's my only friend and I take good care of him.-

The voice of the man I had met earlier could be heard.

*wooof wooof*

His dog soon joined in and began barking and growling at the boys.

-I'd ask how you live with yourself, but it's obvious you don't really live much.-

The boys soon came into my view and I readied my bat.

-Please, don't take him from me... UGH!-

The man grunted heavily and began wheezing. From afar I could see one of the boys punching him in the stomach.

-No...no.-

As he was falling to the ground, he quickly clutched his dog and curled up around him.

-Let the poor animal go. Don't you know that dogs have much more sensitive noses than humans?-

The boys, now surrounding the man, began kicking him furiously.

-P..p..please stop.-

The man was now crying and pleading with the young boys to stop. They wouldn't listen and just continued laughing as they kicked him over and over again.

"My mind went completely blank and my body began moving on its own. I used my bat to quickly dispatch one of the boys. The other two were in shock as they saw their friend getting taken out in one hit.

I used this opportunity to hit the other one as his friend began running away. As I was doing so, the first one got up and swung at me, but I skillfully dodged his punch and knocked him unconscious. The man and his dog were saved."

I would love to say that this is what happened. But it didn't.

The boys turned towards me the moment they saw me and gave me confused looks.

-What's this guy's deal?-

One of them stopped kicking the man and began approaching me.

-Oh, I get it. You're Casey Jones. From Ninja Turtles, right?-

The boy was now standing in front of me.

-Come on Tyler, let's just get out of here before this freak calls the cops or something.-

Both of his friends stopped kicking the man and became visibly panicked.

-Ha, call the police? Not if I break both of his hands, he won't.-

Tyler swung his fist straight at me and, unlike in my fantasies, my body didn't react. His punch connected and hit me straight in the face. If I hadn't worn the hockey mask that would probably have been it.

-See, what did I tell you guys, he's just some random dude with too much free time on his hands.-

The hit in the face made me realise two things.

1. This is real

2. If I don't do something about them now, they would only come back to cause more trouble

After regaining my balance I gripped my bat and swung it at Tyler. He was quick to notice and positioned his arms to block the hit.

-Urgh!-

I tried not to lose any time and raised my boot to kick him while he was staggered from my first strike. As I was raising up my leg I realised that I underestimated the weight of the steel toe boot and everything went slower than I expected.

Tyler used this opportunity to quickly charge to my left and deliver another punch which I attempted to avoid. While he didn't hit me straight in the jaw, it was still enough to throw me off balance and give him an opportunity to punch me again.

-Take this you piece of shit!-

His second punch landed cleanly but caused him to lose balance as well. Seeing this, one of his friends quickly came to help him while the other held out the man they had been kicking up until now.

-Hey Tyler, you need some help?-

The boy yelled as he was running towards his friend.

-NO! I can take care of an idiot like that myself.-

He was obviously furious and this led me to remember something Mr Sasaki told me.

"If you lose your focus during a fight your opponent will be quick to exploit it. You must keep your mind calm and collected while letting your passion burn hot in your heart. That is equilibrium my boy."

Yeah, he was right, I needed to get a grip and do this properly. After all, if he's watching me from above he'd probably be disappointed that his only student was getting beat up by a kid.

CHAPTER END