Baseball

Monday, May 20, 2019

School is finally open again after the recent incident. They threw away the destroyed table, replaced it with a new one, and patched up the crack in the wall.

Ned walks across the field toward the school building as the sun rises, the heat of a new day settling in. His mind drifts back to the days when school was closed, to everything that happened with Brad.

But why did the school close in the first place? They could have just fixed everything while it remained open. Odd, considering that incidents like this happen often, and the school never seems to care. Did they finally decide to take action? Maybe they're trying to change—become a better school? Ned doesn't understand, but he doesn't care too much either.

Once inside the classroom, he thinks about what to do today—something to distract him from what happened yesterday. "Maybe I'll annoy some people? Cut off the electricity? Or maybe just blast some loud sounds in the cafeteria? Yeah, that'll get me noticed", he thinks with a grin.

Even though Ned has already faced the principal's wrath for his antics—and the principal never believes a word he says—Ned doesn't really care.

With that thought, he sneaks into the school storage room, steals a speaker, and heads straight for the cafeteria. Climbing onto a table, he cranks up the volume and starts talking—about crows, of all things, because why not?

"HELLO, HELLO, VILLAGE HIGH SCHOOL! It's me again! The one and only Ned! Today, I wanna talk about crows! Umm..."

Nobody pays attention.

"Uhh, never mind that! What are crows, you ask? ...THEY'RE BIRDS! Who could've guessed, huh? Ehem, crows have a bad reputation among humans. When we see one, people often say it's a bad omen, like someone's going to di—"

Before he can finish, a familiar voice cuts through the cafeteria noise.

"What are you doing?"

Ned freezes. Standing below him, eyebrows raised in confusion, is Brad.

"B-Brad! Oh, hey..."

"Get down. You're making a clown of yourself," Brad says, unimpressed.

Ned feels slightly offended but shrugs. "Well, yeah. That's kind of my thing. Haven't you heard? The school troublemaker?"

Brad's expression doesn't change. He just stares at Ned, unimpressed. Then he says, "No. Never heard of you."

Ned stares back, completely stunned.

"What do you mean?! I've been doing this for a year! How could you have never heard of me? Oh, maybe some of your classmates have—"

"Nah. I don't think they have," Brad interrupts.

That single response hits Ned harder than any punishment he's ever gotten. He feels like all his efforts were for nothing. His grip loosens, and the speaker falls from his hands.

Maybe it's time to change schools.

Brad notices the despair on Ned's face and sighs. "What's with the long face? Get down here—I wanna talk to you."

The other students watch in shock. Whispers spread through the cafeteria.

"Why is Brad talking to a nobody like Ned?"

One of the popular kids, Sarah—the same girl who was there when Brad and Jason fought—stands up and yells, "Oi, Brad! Why are you talking to that loser? That's not like you!"

Brad turns to her, unfazed. "And why do you get to tell me what to do?"

"You've changed! You're friends with a loser now? What a joke!" Sarah scoffs. "You used to step on people beneath you!"

Brad chuckles darkly and turns fully to face her. "I haven't changed. I never said I was on your side to begin with. So shut up." He smirks wickedly. "And piss off." Sarah's face twists with rage and betrayal. She storms out of the cafeteria, shoving the doors open.

Brad looks around at the silent students. "That goes for the rest of you too, losers. I haven't changed one bit!" He raises his bat and points it at the security camera. "I didn't betray anyone—you guys did."

Then, grabbing Ned by the shirt, Brad yanks him off the table. "This is Ned. If anyone lays a hand on him, I swear I'll smash your heads in."

Without another word, he drags Ned out of the cafeteria. The students are left in stunned silence.

From a distance, a student with white hair watches the scene unfold.

His name is Norvin.

Brad leads Ned behind the school, to an unfinished construction site—a new classroom building, three floors tall. The site is abandoned, littered with metal bars and tools. The sun streams through the skeletal framework, casting long shadows.

Still gripping Ned's shirt—almost choking him—Brad suddenly remembers. "Oh, shit. My bad." He lets go, and Ned stumbles, coughing.

Brad steps into the center of the construction site, standing in a beam of sunlight. Then, he takes a deep breath and bellows,

"GET OUT!"

His voice echoes through the building.

From the shadows, figures emerge—four on the second floor, three on the ground. Seven in total. The popular kids. Some of them carry firearms.

Jason perches on a high metal beam.

Brad pulls out his bat, muscles tensed. "Ned! Help me out!"

"What?! I can't fight!" Ned protests.

Brad gives him a pointed look. "Can't fight? Then what the hell was that night?"

Before Ned can respond, Jason leaps down from above, landing with a thunderous crash. Dust explodes around him, and the ground shakes from the impact.

Brad stares at him, jaw tightening. Shit.

As Jason slowly stood up, Brad prepared his guard stance. But before he could react, one of the men above threw something—a gas bomb. It exploded, filling the air with a thick, suffocating gas. Brad felt his strength drain, his body weakening, but he still held his guard up, bracing for Jason's attack.

However, when Brad looked up again, Jason was gone. Shocked and confused, he barely had time to react before Jason suddenly appeared behind him and Ned, tackling them with immense force. They were sent flying into a metal bar—Brad's head slammed against it, while Ned crashed into a pile of tools.

The group above burst into laughter, believing they had defeated Brad. But to their shock, his body slowly rose from the ground.

"Well," they thought, "a couple more hits should do the trick."

Brad stood up, adjusted his glasses, and grabbed his trusty bat. He let out a chuckle before turning to face them.

"DO YOU THINK JUST THIS MANY PEOPLE CAN DEFEAT ME?! MAYBE YOU DIDN'T LEARN! COME AT ME, ALL OF YOU! I'LL TAKE EVERYONE DOWN, LOSERS!"

His arrogance enraged them. Three men—two from above and one below—immediately pulled out rifles and unleashed a barrage of gunfire. But with sheer strength and precision, Brad managed to deflect every bullet with his bat.

As soon as the gunfire stopped, Jason appeared in front of Brad with incredible speed, throwing a devastating punch. Brad barely managed to dodge, jumping just in time. As he soared over Jason, he struck him mid-air with his bat. At the peak of his jump, Brad pulled out a baseball and hurled it at one of the men above, hitting him square in the face and knocking him out.

The ball bounced off, ricocheting wildly. As Brad landed, he swung his bat with a grin.

"STRIKE!"

The ball shot off at high speed, bouncing off the metal bars, echoing through the room. It struck two more enemies—one from below and another from above. Three down. Four to go.

Just then, another opponent leaped from above, wielding a massive metal bar. He came crashing down with full force, shattering the ground beneath him. Brad blocked the attack, gritting his teeth as he struggled under the crushing weight.

The attacker smirked, confident that he had Brad pinned. But before he could finish the job, the same baseball Brad had hit earlier rebounded off the walls, slamming into his left side. Staggering from the unexpected impact, he lost balance. Brad seized the moment, shoving him away. Another one down. Three left.

Before Brad could catch his breath, another enemy rushed in, dual-wielding hammers. He attacked relentlessly—swinging up, down, left, and right—leaving Brad with no room to counter.

Engrossed in dodging the hammer-wielding foe, Brad failed to notice Jason charging at him from the side.

BAM!

Jason's fist slammed into Brad's stomach, sending him flying backward, crashing through multiple levels of the building.

But as Brad tumbled, he grinned. Big mistake.

He pulled out three more baseballs, tossing them into the air and swinging at them simultaneously. The balls shot off in random directions, bouncing at high speed, creating chaos among the attackers.

As Brad grabbed onto a metal bar mid-fall, he descended back into the fray, his wicked grin intact. He came crashing down, gripping his bat, aiming for the hammer-wielding enemy. The man barely dodged—but two of the bouncing baseballs struck him in the face and arm, knocking him out.

Two left. Jason and Sarah.

Jason, unfazed, swiftly knocked the remaining baseballs out of the air, stopping their momentum. Meanwhile, Sarah watched silently from the second floor.

A tense moment of stillness passed between Jason and Brad before they sprinted at each other.

Jason threw a punch toward Brad's face. Oddly, Brad didn't dodge. The punch landed, but at the same time, Brad countered, slamming Jason's face with his own strike.

Brad let go of his bat, pried Jason's hand off his face, and launched into an uppercut, followed by a headbutt. Jason staggered but retaliated, grabbing Brad by the neck and hurling him into a metal pole, nearly bending it.

Up on the second floor, Sarah pulled something from her pocket—a gas bomb like the one used earlier. But before she could throw it, Ned appeared behind her, pressing a taser against her back.

"Stay still, don't try anything funny" he warned, his voice low and firm.

Back below, Jason charged at Brad, wielding a metal bar. The swing was too fast—Brad couldn't dodge in time. The bar struck his head, sending him crashing into a pile of rubble.

Both fighters were exhausted. But neither was willing to back down.

Brad pushed himself up, gritting his teeth. Jason did the same.

They rushed at each other, fists flying. Blow after blow, hit after hit, neither held back. Blood dripped from their wounds as they traded strikes, neither gaining the upper hand.

Jason managed to grab Brad's head and slammed him into the ground. But Brad, refusing to go down, sank his teeth into Jason's hand. Jason yelped and released him.

Summoning every ounce of strength he had left, Brad stood up and delivered a powerful uppercut to Jason, screaming at the top of his lungs. His eyes rolled back, veins bulging from the intensity.

The punch sent Jason flying, knocking him unconscious.

Brad stood victorious.

"I WIN!" he roared into the air.

Meanwhile, on the second floor, Sarah and Ned stood in tense silence.

Sarah suddenly raised her hands in surrender. "Just get it over with," she said flatly. Ned hesitated but kept his guard up. He didn't trust her. To be sure, he tased her anyway. She collapsed.

With the fight over, Ned rushed down to find Brad still panting from the battle.

"Shut up already," Ned muttered, irritated.

"Let me have my victory, dumbass!" Brad snapped back.

Ned rolled his eyes. "You're bleeding, man. Just shut up and let's go."

"Alright, alright," Brad said, catching his breath.

Ned helped him up, grabbed his bat, and supported him as they walked outside.

Unbeknownst to them, Norvin, who had been hiding the entire time, emerged. He climbed up to where Sarah lay on the ground—she was conscious but weak. Finding some rope in the rubble, he tied her up.

When she was finally able to talk, Norvin had questions.