System Override

"Stop it right there!" Jimmy jumped in to save the day. However, this was an unconscious action on his part. He realized that he screwed up pretty hard on that once he saw the look on his delinquent "buddies" faces. He forgot his original reason to hide in the corner and jumped out like an idiot. He regretted that action of his. However, he didn't like how they used his name to pick on Piers. So, although it seemed stupid, he was kinda proud about standing against them.

The crazy smile guy scoffed. "Okay, who's this freak, huh? Your friend? And why are you in a Santa costume, dude? Also, why the hell would you stand up against us like this when we have the numerical advantage?" He asked.

"Wait a minute!" He just realized it then. None of them recognized him because of the Santa costume he was wearing. His choice of wearing the ragged beard for some reason saved the day. Now that he learned of it, he regained a bit of confidence… Just a bit so that he could stand up against them and escape with Piers at an opportune moment. "Ho, ho, ho! You don't know me? Let me introduce myself. I'm Santa freaking Claus, b*tches!" He screamed.

Suddenly, everyone got silent after Jimmy's scream. They couldn't believe how corny it seemed when Jimmy screamed that he was Santa. Soon enough, the delinquent gang broke into laughter. "Oh, cool! Santa Claus, eh? Here to save the nice kid over here? You wanna give him a gift or something. But before that, why don't I give YOU a present? A nice knuckle sandwich!" One of the delinquent punched Jimmy right in the mouth. It stung like crazy. And it seemed like the guy added a bit of awakened power as well. Jimmy felt his consciousness fading away. However, he tried his best standing firm, so that Piers could escape the right moment.

"Ha! It doesn't even hurt!" Jimmy replied. He tried to sound as normal as possible. He could taste blood in his mouth. However, he couldn't give up just yet. Piers was still standing there frozen for some reason. He did try to signal him to escape with his eyes, however it seemed like it didn't work out. So, he raised his hand and taunted the delinquents to come at him.

"Very well… Guys, you know what to do!" The delinquents took out their weapons upon this.

However, as they advanced towards Jimmy, one guy had his concerns. "Hey, what's his awakened power though? Trying to beat him up without knowing that would be our disadvantage!" He spoke.

The smile guy sighed. "Maybe he has the power of pissing people off. Anyway, why do you even care about his power? We have the numerical advantage. Let's just destroy this dude so that he can't play hero ever again!" He took the baseball bat and struck Jimmy's abdomen clean. This hit hurt him more than the other one. The difficult part was that he wasn't able to take a breath in properly. Even then, he didn't hit ground. He could sense that Piers was still around. Although this "sacrifice" wouldn't account to all the times he harassed Piers, he believed that this action would help him ease the guilt of it a bit. So, he continued taunting the delinquents with one hand while signalling Piers to escape with the other.

"Oh, still vigorous, aren't you? Well, we'll happily accept your invite." The crazy guy swung his bat to Jimmy's abdomen for the second time in a row. This time, Jimmy could no longer stand straight. His body fell straight forward, however he wasn't ready to go down yet. He looked towards Piers with his tear filled eyes, but he was nowhere to be seen. He sighed in relief. It seemed like Piers escaped. However, the battle was not yet over. He had to put in a strong front until Piers gained considerable distance away from them.

"Not… Yet!" He coughed out the words as he stopped himself from completely flopping into the ground with his hands.

"Persistent bastard!" The delinquent swung his bat to Jimmy's back this time, while two others kicked his arms . And with that, Jimmy's hand gave out and he was on the ground. He kinda felt ashamed that he couldn't last longer. But he did feel satisfied since Piers escaped.

The delinquents didn't put a stop on their beating. They kept on kicking the grounded Jimmy to a point that they themselves felt exhausted. At this point, Jimmy could've just acted like he was unconscious, but being the idiot that he was, he slightly moved his arm at times, signalling that he was not out yet, which made the delinquents even more furious.

"Why won't you just give up!! Stop resisting, you bastard!" One of the delinquents cried before he got hit by a crowbar and groaned. He looked back to see who the attacked was. It was Piers. His hands were shaking, but his will wasn't wavering. He wanted to protect Jimmy, who just stood for him.

"Don't beat him down!" Piers cried, as he swung the crowbar in a random direction. He failed to hit anyone with that swing. Instead, the crazy smile guy snatched the crowbar from him.

"What the hell are you doing? Your friend right here gave you a lifeline and you're just out here spoiling it? Are you an idiot? But, since you dared to raise your hand against us, you deserve to get beaten as well." He was about to give out a high kick, but he felt something by his leg.

It was Jimmy, using his entire body to stop him from kicking Piers. "Idiot… Run!" He mouthed as soon as his eyes met with Piers'.

However, Piers couldn't bear to see it. Instead of running away like a smart man, he ran towards the crazy guy and tried tackling him unsuccessfully, like an idiot. And what followed was the delinquents mercilessly stomped over Piers' body, neglecting Jimmy for that moment.

Jimmy instead dragged his body towards Piers and covered him, trying desperately to take all the hits that they gave out. However, at this point, he was just a living corpse. So, he was tossed away and they continued to focus on stomping Piers.

Tears flowed from Jimmy's eyes as he saw this scene. All these years, he tormented Piers. And that night, he ended up reconciling with him. He knew that his sins weren't gonna wash away any time soon. But, he really wanted to mend his relationship with Piers. He really wanted to help Piers when he got into some shite. However, he forgot that he was weak. No matter how much he tried he still was infuriatingly weaker than the guys who stood against him.

Jimmy tried moving his body. But, his body no longer listened to what he ordered and stayed still. At this point, he couldn't do a thing, but bite his lip in disappointment in himself as his consciousness faded away slowly.

[System:

Mission- Save Piers

Status- Failed

System Overrides left- 5

Would you like the system to help you with this mission?

Yes/No]

"Huh?" Jimmy was baffled by the message flashing before him. Although he had no idea as to what was going on, he knew there was just one possible answer that he could give. "Yes." He mumbled in the faintest voice before he turned unconscious.

[System:

Affirmative.

Player Condition- Unconscious

System Override- Activated

System Overrides Left- 4]

Suddenly, Jimmy stood up as if he received no damage from the beating he received and started bouncing around. The most peculiar thing about this was the fact that his eyes were glowing red for some reason. The delinquents and Piers were all baffled by this sudden development.

"How the!" One screamed.

"Is this somehow related to his awakened powers?" Another one asked.

"Does it matter? We still got the numerical advantage." The crazy one screamed as he ran towards Jimmy.

"Threats perceived- five. Imminent threat- one." Jimmy spoke as the crazy one swung a fist towards him. It seemed like a sure shot when he threw it. However, Jimmy twisted his body in an impossible angle and then threw a lariat on him. And then he proceeded to punt kick him, rendering him useless. "Imminent threat- immobilized."

"What the hell?" The delinquents couldn't perceive the events unfolding before them. Since, their leader seemed to go down, the order among them was lost. So, they ran towards him in a frenzy without a proper attack plan… Not like they had one before. But, before the system, even a proper plan would've been for naught.

"Imminent threats- four." Jimmy dodged the punches flung towards him with seamless ease. And then proceeded to super kick, roundhouse kick, superman punch and tackle the four of them respectively. "Imminent threats- immobilized. Mission status- successful. System Override- Deactivated." As Jimmy uttered those words, the red glow in his eyes fainted into nothing and his eyes regained the original color. Not long after that, Jimmy went straight to the ground, just like the delinquents.

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