Diaz: From Basketball to a Heroic Flight
After school, Diaz walked down the corridor, then sat by the basketball court, watching students play. He took out his smartphone and started his game.
"Is he still online?" Diaz wondered, seeing 'Corpse' glowing on his friend list.
"Hey, you're home already?" 'Corpse' asked.
"Just finished. Oh, by the way, are you planning to go to college in Jakarta later?" Diaz asked.
"Yeah... that's the plan," 'Corpse' replied.
"Why do you sound so unsure?" Diaz responded.
"Because I'm confused, a lot of problems," 'Corpse' replied.
"Hmm, if you want to talk about it, just contact me. You have my number, right?" Diaz asked.
"Yeah, I'll tell you later," 'Corpse' replied.
Suddenly, a basketball flew towards Diaz. "Hey, look out!" a student shouted. Diaz saw the ball, which, to him, moved very slowly. He raised his hand and caught the ball. Then he put his smartphone in his bag and stood up.
"Can I join?" Diaz asked.
"Wow, perfect, we're one short. Come on, big bro," the student replied.
"Alright, thanks."
Diaz stepped onto the middle of the court. His tall stature became the center of attention, especially for the passing female students who saw him.
"Wow, Oppa is playing!" a second-year female student exclaimed.
"Yeah, he's so cool, Oppa," replied the student next to her.
Both immediately sat on the chairs next to the court to watch Diaz play basketball. With agile movements, Diaz dribbled the basketball towards the opponent's hoop, then jumped with a dazzling move, and "Slam!" the basketball was dunked into the hoop. Diaz hung for a moment, then came down. Immediately, his teammates high-fived him, and the female students shouted "Oppa!" Diaz just smirked at all of it.
"Huh, you guys don't know yet. If this bracelet comes off, you'd all run away. Besides, I'm not Oppa; I'm from a neighboring country," Diaz muttered to himself.
He continued his basketball game with a happy heart because he truly enjoyed the sport. But his enjoyment was disrupted as he turned to the corridor and saw a nerdy boy with thick glasses and slicked-back hair, a second-year student, being herded by students his age but from different classes. He knew that the students doing the herding were bullies who picked on weaker students. However, even if their actions were reported, they were never punished because one of them was the child of a city official.
Initially, he didn't pay much attention to it, but the game stopped because everyone was watching the student being led away by the group of students his age.
"Are we continuing?" Diaz asked.
"Later, big bro," a student replied.
Diaz put down his ball and walked towards his bag. He picked up his bag and exited the school building. Outside, he saw the group herding the unfortunate student to an empty plot of land behind the school. Usually, those taken there would either be robbed of their belongings and extorted, or they would be beaten. Diaz rubbed his hair. He turned and followed the group from behind. Diaz's suspicion was correct; the group immediately stripped the unfortunate student of his smartphone, wallet, and even his new shoes. The student didn't dare to fight back at all.
"Again and again... I'm surprised, they never learn, even though there have been so many cases... pathetic."
He looked to his right and left, then ran into the alley between houses and arrived at a banana tree garden. He put down his bag and opened his shirt, leaving him in only a singlet. Immediately, Diaz removed his bracelet, and his body transformed. "Whoosh!" Diaz flew into the sky, creating a loud sound. He immediately landed behind the unfortunate student who was sitting in the middle. The group of students was shocked to see Diaz suddenly descend in front of them. Slowly, they backed away one by one and put down their loot, even though Diaz had only raised his palm and formed a 'V' with his fingers.
"R-run... a... ghost!" a student shrieked.
Immediately, everyone ran head over heels, tripping and falling. The unfortunate student, still sitting, was stunned. Slowly, he turned. When he saw Diaz standing behind him, he immediately fainted, foaming at the mouth.
"See? I help him, and he just passes out," Diaz thought to himself.
With one hand, Diaz lifted the student by his waist and carried him out of the empty lot, leaning him against a resident's house wall. "Whoosh!" Diaz flew upwards again, leaving the unfortunate student with his belongings on his lap. Diaz, who was flying in the air and about to descend into the banana garden, heard the sound of a fire truck siren in the distance.
"A fire?" he wondered to himself.
Diaz immediately sped towards the sound of the siren. From a distance, he could see thick black smoke billowing upwards. When he arrived at the fire scene, he saw that a four-story shop house was on fire. The flames had grown large and were starting to spread to the adjacent shop house. Then he looked down; a mother was being restrained by firefighters and police because she wanted to go inside. "My child is still inside!" the mother screamed. Without further delay,
"Whoosh!" a loud sound was heard. Diaz immediately burst through the fourth-floor window and entered.
The fire felt no heat at all when it touched Diaz's skin. The fourth floor where he entered was apparently used as living quarters by the shop house owner. All the furniture had been burned, and the floor was starting to collapse. Diaz walked forward, looking for the mother's child, who was supposedly left inside. He opened room after room to search until he finally found a baby, about six months old, still lying in a crib in a room not yet touched by the fire. He immediately grabbed a cloth and covered the entire crib, including the sleeping baby inside.
With his strength, he lifted the crib, then ran out. Once outside, he looked down and saw a large crowd watching the firefighting process, holding up their smartphones. Diaz immediately disappeared amidst the smoke, carrying the crib he had saved. After that, he quietly descended behind the crowd, who were looking at the fire and not paying attention to him, and placed the baby there. "Whoosh!" Diaz immediately shot up into the sky again. Everyone who heard the loud sound behind them turned to see a crib behind them. But they wondered what sound they had just heard.
"What was that sound just now?" a man asked.
"I don't know... strange..." replied the man next to him.
"My child!" the mother screamed, immediately finding her baby.
She hugged her child, apologizing and sobbing. Diaz, who watched from the roof of the shop house directly across, smiled. Then he flew back to the banana garden to retrieve his bag and shirt uniform.