The Guardian

ago that you had to sift through the bullshit in order to find out what they really wanted you to know. It was a very sad thing about the news media. They never gave you any information that was worth while. They gave you the damn weather every three minutes, making sure everyone knew how much profit the pocket gouging casinos made. When ever there was a story that was worth while reporting about, they beat it literally to death. It was like the only news there was, for days and days on end.
    He was glad that he hadn’t been very busy. The media frenzy that was swirling around him had died down to a low murmur. He would see ads in the RJ asking him for his help. As much as he hated to he shied away from the ads. It was too easy to set a trap for him that way. It would truly defeat his purpose if he should find himself locked up.
    Operating the way he did was safer. The results were positive and more solid. If he could save them all he would. But, he knew that was just not realistic. So he concentrated on the worst ones and did the best he could.
    The free time had given him more opportunity to work on his katas and sharpen his defenses and senses. His workout room wasn’t all that great but it had what he needed. Keeping up on his Martial Arts was something that he’d made a point of never forgetting. His gym had all the free weights and benches he needed. He had speed bags, heavy bags, and a variety of workout dummies. Working alone as he did made it more difficult. He didn’t have anyone else. He wished often that he had someone to spar with. He wished for someone to help hone his defenses. Unfortunately he had no partner. He had no “crew” that he could rely on for back up. He was a loner. Even though he preferred it that way, it made for some tricky, risky situations. Often times he had thought it would be nice if he had someone as a backup. He could have saved some valuable time on more than one occasion. However, he chose to work alone. He would deal with the drawbacks and continue to operate as he always did.
    Something wasn’t right though. He could sense that things had been too quiet. Living in a toilet like Vegas there had to be something going on, somewhere, somehow. The gang bangers never took a day off. Everyday there were reports of a hit and run or a shooting. A body was found or a high-speed chase. There was no shortage of some stupid macho stunts. They felt they needed to pull this crap because somebody looked at them wrong or spoke to their girlfriend. They always had some insignificant thing for a reason. They looked for reasons to be stupid. And they really didn’t have to try very hard at all. They were already there.
    He had just finished reading the story of the 11 year old girl who had been raped and sexually abused by 20 other boys. Another girl, 16 had supposedly coached the girl telling her what to do. The booby prize was that the 11 year old was HIV positive.
    There was only a 1% chance of getting infected. They had made major break through in medication and treatments. But hey, would you want to take the chance of being in that 1%?
    It simply just broke his heart every time he would read stories like that. How could people be so foul and vicious to another human being? It was true. He had inflicted pain on others. But he wasn’t doing it for his own enjoyment or self satisfaction. It was a simple matter of justice being served and penance being paid.
    He would like to think that it was because of the examples that he had left for them. Perhaps people were taking notice. He knew he couldn’t change the predators from behaving as they did. At best he could only hope that the awareness would make people more careful. Maybe they’d be more watchful over their children and others.
    Often times he would come home feeling so tired. It was exhausting because he felt that it was a battle that would never be won. But he refused to give up. He could never do that. The Guardian was put there for a reason. Now that they knew he was there more and more children were looking to him for help. It would be devastating for him to bail on them now. No, that simply was just not acceptable.
    He would enjoy this lull, this false break in activities. That had him very curious. He wasn't able to relax. It just wasn't like him. Something wasn’t right and he knew that. In the not too distant future there would be a shit storm coming. He was just hoping that he would be up to the task.
    Chapter