Is this guy for real? Isn’t it obvious that I’m not the bad guy here? And is he holding a baseball bat?

“Dude,” said John as pointed at himself up and down.

“You got guts kid, having the balls to mess up with my city,” said Night Batter as he definitely didn’t get the message sent by John’s hand signal.

“What?” John was confused as it was shown on his face. From visual alone, one could see who was the bad guy and who wasn’t.

“Don’t play a fool you criminal! Answer my question or else my lovely bat will turn you like those two poor victims of yours,” said Night Batter as he pointed the bat at John. To be fair, Night Batter arrived the moment John was kicking the kidnapper on the ground.

This dude is crazy. Is he really a hero? But that attire didn’t really fit like one. A black mask that covers his entire head, is he bald under that? To top it off, those purple angular eye lenses aren’t really a good color for a hero. He looks more like a villain rather than a hero.

John was having his own thought to the visual of this Night Batter. Along with the mask, Night Batter wore a black spandex bodysuit with a little tint of purplish lines. The torso armor kevlar completed the overall outfit, it was black and a bit bulky compared to the thin spandex bodysuit. A bit of a mismatch based on John’s opinion.

John raised both of his hands up in the air.

“You misunderstood, they’re the bad guys and I’m just a high school student,” said John.

Then there was a good silence as John stared at the fixed position of Night Batter as the latter stared at him.

It took a whole minute before Night Batter spoke up as if he had realized he made a mistake.

“Where’s the woman?” Night Batter asked as he totally ignored the part where he himself claimed John as a criminal and changed to another subject.

“Woman?” John responded.

“I heard a woman’s shout from a couple of blocks,” said Night Batter as his voice turned a bit softer than before. “I came as fast as I could and now she’s gone.”

Night Batter approached John with the end of the bat still pointed at him.

“Where is she?” asked Night Batter as he put the end of the bat at John’s neck.

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John frowned seeing the action of Night Batter. Couldn’t this so-called hero ask in a polite manner? Acting edgy and rude was annoying John to the fullest.

“She was kidnapped,” said John as he pushed the bat away from him.

Night Batter took a good stare at John. For some reason, both stood at the same height of 5’7, and Night Batter didn’t like it.

“You sure you ain’t lying to me? Punk?” said Night Batter.

John narrowed his eyes. The poor choice of word from Night Batter was disappointing. John judged from the muffled voice that the sound might be from a kid but he might be wrong since some adult had thin voices.

Rather than bickering, he ought to think about the bigger picture. A woman had been kidnapped and this self-proclaimed hero might be able to help her and the rest of them.

“I heard from one of them that they’re meeting somewhere,” said John as he ignored the taunting from Night Batter.

“You might be able to find their location through their phones,” said John.

Night Batter didn’t say a thing as he kept on staring at John for a good couple of seconds.

“Don’t move,” said Night Batter as he approached the unconscious kidnappers. He found a phone and after going through it, he found a message stating the location of the meeting spot.

“Cleopolis Port,” said Night Batter. “So, they’re going to the dock.”

Night Batter secured his bat on a holder on his back. He pressed a switch on his watch and came back to John. Both looked at each other. Night Batter looked at John from top to bottom.

“Why are you here exactly?” Night Batter asked.

“I heard a woman asking for help and I came to help,” said John as he didn’t hide anything.

“Hmm,” Night Batter was deep in thought. “How did you do it?”

“Do what?” Jason asked.

“How did you knocked them out?” Night Batter asked. He had been curious for a while. Curious about how a teenager could defeat these two armed men unarmed.

“I learned boxing,” said John but he didn’t tell Night Batter that he learned only for four days.

“You don’t look like you do boxing,” said Night Batter as he could definitely say that John was on the thin size.

John was getting impatient seeing how the talking was getting prolonged. A bunch of women’s lives was at stake here and this Night Batter was only wasting precious time.

“I do and shouldn’t you be chasing them right now? Those women’s lives are at stake here,” said John.

“I’m doing it, I’m just waiting for a while,” said Night Batter.

“Waiting for what?” John asked.

Speaking of the devil, a roaring sound of an engine echoed in the alleyway making both of their heads turned toward the sound.

“My ride,” said Night Batter as a motorbike stopped right in front of him. A sleek looking black color racing motorbike and the additional glowing purple led light made the bike looked similar to a Tron’s vehicle.

John on the other hand was left with his jaw hanging open. He couldn’t believe that a bike could drive itself without a rider. Right now, he definitely believed that this Night Batter was a genuine hero. No mere somebody could own such a high tech vehicle.

Night Batter rode on his bike as he turned to John.

“What are you waiting for? Hop on,” said Night Batter.

“What? Me? No, this is not for me, this is way over my league,” said John.

Although he wanted to save the woman, he knew the reality of it. These people were wielding guns like it was normal and he, who was still new to this could never come out without a scratch. To be fair, he might wound up dead considering that he was basically unarmed and defenseless. So although he accepted the quest, he knew he couldn’t get into this.

Side Quest

A Help in Need: Ride Along

Follow the masked man, Night Batter, and survive the ordeal as a partner to the hero.

Difficulty: Amateur

Objective: Survive the rescue mission

Reward: EXP, Gain a good reputation with Night Batter, ???

A quest came but John didn’t want to accept it.

“Suit yourself,” said Night Batter as he pulled the throttle down, revving up the engine of his bike.

John turned around and walked away but then he stopped as he heard Night Batter’s words.

“Didn’t think you’re a coward.”

John’s fists were shaking as he of all people knew he wasn’t ready for this. The win he just earned was just a fluke but being called a coward was indeed rattling his emotion. He was definitely afraid but he was no coward. Back when he was still thirty years old, he had gone through a lot of things and the word coward didn’t exist in that life of his. Even when there was fear, he pulled it together and pushed forward.

Then John turned back.

“Wait up,” said John.

Night Batter glanced at John.

“I’m coming along,” said John.

I accept the side quest.