Chapter 36: Monster...

'No, wait, I can't faint right now!' thought Mark, forcibly awakening himself.

Seeing the hooded man in the bushes had definitely given him a big scare, but Mark knew that if he fainted here, he would be completely at his mercy and who knows what state he would wake up in.

He then stood up and distanced himself from the hooded man, even getting into the darkness of the park.

Although he was still afraid of the park, it was quite obvious what was most dangerous right now.

"Y-you're the one...the one who attacked Taylor and Colt, right?!" He asked, raising the volume of his voice, the question itself made no sense since the hooded man's appearance was the same as Colt described, making it obvious that he indeed was.

But what Mark wanted to achieve with that question was not to get a confirmation, but to give himself even a little courage to calm his nerves.

As expected, the hooded man did not answer his question and simply stood there watching him from the bush he was in, seemingly wary of Mark.

'Ahhh, shit, shit, shit, of all the guards in the South Zone, this guy had to come after me...and just when that asshole is not around...damn it!'

Mark was in a panic, after all, he wasn't half as strong as Colt, yet the man in front of him had been able to defeat him, so there was no need to mention what would happen if Mark confronted him.

However...

'...I-I have to do something.'

He couldn't just sit still waiting for the hooded man to beat him up, so he began to think of a way out of this situation.

Because Mark was sure that the hooded man was stronger than he was, he quickly dismissed the idea of trying to confront him directly, thus thinking how to escape.

'If I start running...I'll be exposed to any attack, even if I use my ability to cover my body, I won't be able to cover everything...'

He couldn't escape and he couldn't beat the hooded man, this was bad...but fortunately, there was still hope for Mark.

'Then...I just have to hold on until Chuck gets back...!' He thought, filled with determination,

However, his determination didn't last long before it was replaced by insecurity.

'But...would I be able to hold on until then...?'

Watching the hooded man, Mark could not help but feel intimidated. He was completely wrapped in black clothing and had a metal bat in his right hand, while his hands were wrapped in a white bandage.

As for his face, he could see almost nothing because of the hood he was wearing, but for some reason, Mark thought this was better...maybe what was hidden by the hood was more frightening than the darkness he was seeing right now.

*Tap*

"Hiik!"

At that moment, the hooded man took a step forward, interrupting Mark's thoughts and causing him to jump backwards due to the fright, accompanied by a small strange sound coming from his mouth.

'Argh, f*ck, no, d-don't let the fear stop you!' he shouted in his head, feeling embarrassed by the scream he had let out, the next moment, he realized something, 'Oh...now that he has come closer...he...isn't that scary...I think.'

Because the hooded man had gotten closer, Mark could now see him more clearly, diminishing his shadowy appearance and giving Mark a little more courage.

'Right...I shouldn't be so afraid of him, even though he's strong, he's not a monster, no matter how intimidating he is...I can do this!'

*Woosh*

After thinking this, he assumed a combat position and blew strongly on his right arm, until the dust formed a little shield.

One could notice by the change in his attitude that his fear had diminished considerably.

However, the hooded man did not make any movement and just kept watching Mark, although now he seemed more interested in his shield rather than in Mark himself, and for some reason...this scared him a little.

'...M-maybe I need...a little more confidence...just a little...oh, maybe I can try what Chuck said...?' Mark thought, remembering what his partner had told him on one of the nights they were patrolling the 30th District.

'Come on, come on, remember what he said...!'

Slowly, the face of Chuck appeared in his head, surrounded by clouds as if he were preaching words of wisdom.

"In a battle, being afraid is normal, either because the opponent is too strong, is accompanied, or simply because he looks intimidating, but don't worry, in those cases, I have a trick which has not failed me so far..."

'This is it!''

Those were the words he remembered that Chuck had said, which, fortunately, were perfect for this situation, although Mark still was angry with him, this had undoubtedly caused his anger to diminish.

Although...for some reason this memory seemed to be a little repressed for him.

'Well, it doesn't matter, this is just what I need, at least you're good for something, you bastard!' exclaimed Mark, grateful to his partner.

"The most important thing in a battle is to feel that the opponent, no matter who he or she is, is still vulnerable! Therefore, what I always do is imagine the enemy naked, in the most vulnerable state possible, huahuahua!"

'...'

That was why the memory was repressed, just like most of all the conversations he had with Chuck...he always came up with some nonsense like that.

*Tap*

"!"

But before he could even begin to insult his partner, the hooded man got closer to him.

'D-damn it, he's getting closer, I'll just use it!'

"You leave me no choice!" shouted Mark to the hooded man.

The shouting alarmed the hooded man a little, who quickly stopped and took a defensive stance, wary of what Mark had said.

Next, Mark began to intensely observe the body of the hooded man, trying to see even the smallest detail that could help him form an image in his head.

'I'ts...it's working!' thought Mark, excited because little by little the hooded man's clothes were disappearing, giving rise to more and more exposed skin, which in turn made Mark feel that the hooded man could also be vulnerable.

'Just a little more, almost...'

He had made good progress, the hooded man now only had the lower part of his body covered, revealing a toned physique for some reason, and now even the lower part was slowly disappearing!

'I did it, now he's naked!' He said in his mind, feeling a lot more confident, however, now that he was seeing the naked body of the hooded man, he noticed something, 'Wait...what...W-W-WHAT IS THAT...?!'

Looking at the naked body of the hooded man, specifically the part of his crotch, there was something totally unexpected to Mark...

"I-I-IT'S A MONSTER!" he shouted as he took several steps backwards, scared of what he was seeing and quickly closing his eyes.

Unexpectedly, and for some very strange reason, a certain part of the hooded man was totally out of line with Mark's expectations, causing him to feel even more intimidated and destroying the little confidence that he had gathered until now.

'ARGH, I CAN'T GET THE IMAGE OUT OF MY HEAD' Shouted Mark in his thoughts, panicking and grabbing his head.

On the other hand, the masked man, completely oblivious to Mark's concerns, seeing that it was just a bluff, decided to take another step.

*Tap*

"W-W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He shouted, in fear.

This time Mark's reaction was much more aggressive than before, backing up several meters in one jump, even going deeper into the darkness of the park, the fear he had of the hooded man's "monster" totally outweighed his fear of the dark.

However, the masked man did not stop his march, instead continuing to walk towards Mark, approaching him slowly.

*Tap tap*

"AHHH, GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!"

*Tap tap tap*

"P-P-PLEASE DON'T COME CLOSER!"

Ignoring his prayers, the hooded man continued to approach him.

Mark had been steadily backing up, but just at this point, his back hit a tree, indicating that he couldn't go back any further...he had been cornered.

"NO, NOOOOOO...!" shouted Mark, desperate, with tears in his eyes.

Fortunately, in the face of such a frightening situation, Mark's body had an answer.

*Pam*

With a thud, Mark fell to the ground, unconscious and foaming at the mouth... it seems that this situation had been too much for him and his poor mentality.

***

'...What the hell just happened...' Jay thought as he watched the now unconscious Mark, quite confused.

After leaving the neighborhood where he had retrieved his little ones, he quickly headed to the location Noah had sent him, thus arriving at the park.

However, since the location only marked the park in general and did not specifically said where they were supposed to meet, Jay advanced to the center of the park, which is where he found this man.

Jay had noticed that apparently he was quite afraid of him for some reason, so taking advantage of that, he wanted to approach him and force him to flee as he didn't want to confront him directly without preparation.

But from one moment to the next, this man had become incredibly more alarmed, almost in a state of panic, as if he had seen a ghost or something like that.

Then, thinking he was about to reach his limit and run away, Jay kept getting closer to him, but just then he hit a tree and lost consciousness.

'...Am I that scary...?' He thought, touching his bandaged face.

*BOOOM*

"!"

Before he could think of anything else, the sound of a great explosion resounded in the surroundings, accompanied by a brief but clear flash that momentarily illuminated the sky of the South Zone.

'An explosion...?!'

However, the surprises didn't end there. A few seconds later, Jay could hear the shouting of a person who seemed to be approaching quickly.

"MAAARK, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" It was a bulky man with a military cut and an overall intimidating appearance. Although he was a little far away, Jay could tell he was carrying something on his shoulder, "OH, AND I CATCHED THE GUY THAT...huh?"

But after advancing far enough to be only a few meters from the center of the park, the man realized that the person he was talking to was not his partner...but another hooded man.

'Noah...?!' After he got a little closer, Jay could clearly see what the man was carrying, plus the man himself had said so...he had caught Noah, 'So that's why he couldn't answer...'

"I see, so there were two of you, eh..." said the intimidating looking man, without taking his eyes off Jay.

"..."

A brief silence reigned since none of them said anything after that...

Then, suddenly, they both moved quickly, the man pulled Noah off his shoulder and put him in a headlock with his arms, Jay on the other hand picked up Mark and formed a small wind blade before putting it close to his neck.

"Heh, it seems we both thought the same thing..." Said the bulky man with an apparently confident smile.

"..."

Although they both had a confident attitude, in reality they were not sure how to resolve this quickly, nor were they going to do anything risky, after all the other party had a hostage ,thus creating a situation where neither side could move.

They stayed that way for a few seconds, until...

*BOOM*

Again, the sound of an explosion could be heard, although this time it was considerably louder than the first one.

"Urgh, damn it!" Shouted the bulky man as a few drops of sweat appeared on his face, apparently, the explosion had made him really nervous, "...Haa, I don't have time for this, here's your partner, now give me mine, come on."

After saying that, he threw Noah towards Jay, however, Jay didn't catch him because he was still wary and let Noah fall to the ground with a thud.

'...Wow, I wasn't expecting that...it seems like whatever is happening right now is more important than catching me...well, better for me.' Jay thought, a little surprised and happy at the same time.

Seeing that the man didn't seem like he wanted to fight against him, Jay got up and threw Mark towards him.

Surprisingly, the man, instead of catching him with his body, simply raised his hand and activated his special skill, "Telekinesis", making Mark float in the air until he arrived at the man's shoulder.

"Thanks, oh, by the way, as a thank you for giving Taylor a lesson, I'll tell you something, get out of here as soon as possible...things are about to get ugly."

With those words as his last, the man began to run down the same path he had come, leaving behind a very confused Jay.