Playing The Hero

When Yi Tan walked out of the building, he looked up at the blue flickering sky overhead that was barely visible between the cloud of flying cars. This sky was not real. It was created to serve as a way for people to be tricked into thinking they were seeing the sky. But with so little money going into the slums, the things that were there to help keep people from feeling closed off became less important as what little money that the slums had was put into the ventilation system to keep the magic molecules out of the air.

Yi Tan took in a deep breath and proceeded to walk down the street. The magic powered cars flew by silently as they moved through the air. Technology had become so advanced that things in the past that were only seen on TV were quickly realized once a new source of energy was found. There were all earthbound technologies since resources for things were still slim and only could be gathered by ability users.

Walking down the street, the stench of the slums would fill one's nose. Those who were not used to it would instantly scrunch their nose up. Yi Tan's current destination was the lift to the business district. There were three ways to get there. One was by car which you took a tunnel that led to the second level. The second was by train. These two were the most expensive since they could stop at many locations making things much more convenient. Then there was the final option which was the lift. There was only one, and it brought you to a location far away from the main section of the business district. The cost between train and lift was like night and day. One only needed to spend 1 credit for the lift while the train cost 10 credits.

"Leave me alone!" A girl's voice could be heard screaming from a side alley. This caused Yi Tan to pause his steps. He turned to look to see two older boys surrounding a girl. They were not touching her from what he could see, but they seemed to be trying to pressure her into following them. Yi Tan saw the girl and sighed. He knew this girl. She was someone he was classmates with. She was not the best looking girl in class, but she was friendly and bright. To top it off, she did have a cute smile. This made a lot of the boys in his class like her. He also found her to be quite cute himself. He was mainly attracted to her smile and dimples. Her black hair and silver eyes were also very attractive to him. He secretly had a crush on her, but with his family circumstances, he would never go and ask her out. Letting out a sigh, Yi Tan mumbled: "I can't just let this go after seeing this, now can I?"

Yi Tan stepped into the back alley and heard one of the boys speaking. "Ellie, just come with us for a bit. Why must you be so stubborn?"

"Come with you!? The last few girls that went with you guys ended up..." Ellie's eyes began to water up. She only wished someone would come help her right now! She closed her eyes and prayed that someone, anyone, would realize what was going on and come to her rescue.

"Can you two leave her alone?" A calm voice entered her ears. She looked up to see a familiar figure standing there with a duffle bag at his shoulder. He did not look like a knight in shining armor. He had dirt smudged on his cheek, and his clothes were all patched up. His overgrown short brown hair laid messily on top of his head. But those blue eyes that were like a deep ocean were something that any girl could get lost in. When she saw this young boy, she couldn't keep her tears from falling. At this moment, this boy, whether he looked the part or not, had become her knight in shiny armor. "Tan!"

"Tch! Tan, stay out of this!" One of the boys with blonde hair said as he spat on the ground. He had a white T-shirt on and a pair of jeans with worn holes in them. With his hands in his pockets, he walked over to Yi Tan glaring at him. But he still kept a few meter distance between them.

"Jay, how many times has this been?" Tan asked, cocking his head to the side. He was very familiar with these two people. They were local thugs who liked partying and taking girls to bed. "You are both getting older, and you are still going for the young girls. Don't you find your actions sick?"

Ellie's eyes widened when she heard Yi Tan. To her, he was a boy who stayed quiet and never spoke much more than needed. He kept to himself and never associated with others during class. So seeing him standing up to people like these two thugs so calmly was quite a shock for her, but also, at the same time, it made her feel warmth rise in her chest. Out of everyone who walked by, only he stopped to help her.

"You! Tan, just stay out of this!" Jay yelled, grinding his teeth. He did not dare to try to fight this maniac. He may be young, but he was vicious. A few of his friends were sent to the hospital with broken teeth after having their faces smashed off a railing. This was on top of the broken bones they received after being kicked and stomped on.

"And if I don't? Jay, just let her go and go find your next target." Tan spoke calmly. He could care less if he did not see it, but he couldn't just walk by once he had seen what was going on and did not want to let anything happen to his first crush.

"Fuck! Fine! Tan, we will leave it at this for today but don't keep butting into our business!" Jay yelled, kicking the trash can next to him in anger and walking off. "Let's go. Nothing good comes with getting involved with this freak."

Tan watched as the two guys walked off before relaxing his body. He may not have looked it, but he was already ready to fight, so his muscles were slightly tense. He turned his gaze to Ellie, who was staring back at him. He frowned when he saw the collar of her shirt was ripped. He took the duffle bag off his shoulder and pulled out his newest cleanest shirt, and tossed it to her. "Take this and head home. Stay away from this section of the slums from now on. Jay and his crew run this area, so girls your age are not safe."

"Wait, Tan!" Ellie yelled out after catching the shirt. But Yi Tan look at her again. He turned around and slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and gave her a wave. Ellie bit her lip as she watched the young man walking away. "Damn fool, why is he acting all cool! Wait until I see you next! I will make sure to thank you properly!" Ellie gripped the shirt in her hand and brought it to her chest as she watched Yi Tan walk around the corner and out of sight. Only when he was gone did she put the shirt on and leave the alley with a small smile on her face.

Yi Tan never expected that the next person who would need saving would be him. When he turned the corner to continue towards the lift, upon passing by an alley near the lift, he felt someone grab him from behind and cover his mouth and nose with something before everything went dark. "This is the last one. 5 girls and 5 boys. Let's go before the police come!"