To Ty’s surprise, Gecko slowly started crying like a baby. At first his face got distorted then the sound came out. Everybody was watching the scene but no one cared to interrupt. 

“That was just Gecko and Jon, and they always had fights,” Tyson heard his peers say in the crowd. He saw that it was nothing to meddle with and people liked Jon because he was funnier and more popular than Gecko, on top of that he had a reputation which meant that no one was to mess with him if they wanted to stay alive. The other students formed a circle and they were rooting for Jon since Gecko’s crying sounded very funny. Even Ty stepped back reflexively when Jon got closer to kick Gecko’s stomach a couple of times.

This is not going well, thought Ty, surprised by how he just stepped away instead of helping Gecko out. He never had to intervene in others’ fights before. Why would he do that now? He felt ashamed of himself. Why couldn’t he just step in and stop the bully like all those heroes in the movies and books he had heard about? Why wouldn’t his body just do it? What was there to stop him? He had the training to protect himself. However, he always had to protect himself, not others. Would he be able to protect others without hurting them instead? He would be able to protect Gecko now but Jon would just come back to Gecko to bother him when Ty would not be around. He thought everyone should be able to protect themselves otherwise they would always remain victims no matter how weak they were. 

“Now you see what you did? I just asked to have a look but you were so uncooperative. Am I not right?” Jon involved the others and gestured widely with his large hands. They all agreed and continued cheering for him. Jon decided to have some more fun.

“How long are you going to watch this?” Elinor whispered to Ty. She always spoke quietly when she was in a ghost form, although she must have known that nobody was able to hear her except Ty. 

Instead of a reply, something caught Ty’s attention. 

“Look at that!” Ty said and pointed behind Jon towards the school cabinets. Elinor followed his gaze. A tall and buff muscular transparent man in his twenties or thirties, wearing black and white-striped clothing similar to a cartoon prisoner or a sailor, was hunching on top of the cabinets watching the events as if he was being entertained by a funny movie. He had equally transparent popcorn in his hands to chew on.

Despite being in the middle of a fight, Jon saw Ty pointing at something behind him. He did not look at what Ty was pointing at but stepped closer to him. Unfortunately, Tyson Shawn was the same height as him, so Jon had to balance on his toes to look taller. People started to gather even more, restless, as of now it was Great Big Jon and Ricchy Boy Tyson who were getting in a brawl. 

People have heard about what Ty could do due to the school and Ty’s friends boasting about his successes. It was natural that they were all eager to see him fight in real life not just on social media through videos. Jon obtained black belt in karate when he was younger and since then he never attended lessons. He was also rumoured to have been thrown out of the association due to bad behaviour, on top of that he was believed to have been part of a questionable society. 

Ty reluctantly looked back at Jon as it meant losing the sight of the transparent man in prisoner clothing who was still munching transparent popcorn on the school cabinet. 

Why would there be a transparent prisoner guy sitting on a school cabinet munching on equally transparent popcorn? Something about that man seemed off to him. He almost made his realisation when Jon swiftly pushed him away, making him almost stumble on his own feet. 

“What do you want, eh, Ricchy Boy?” Jon huffed and made himself look taller, still walking on his toes and puffing like a gorilla. Ty almost smiled at the ridiculous sight and the thought of someone trying to intimidate him. Not many did that after he started doing sports seriously.  

“I just don’t get you,” Ty said slowly. He noticed he would not be able to avoid the fight. He kept his eyes on Jon’s every move. Of course he also heard the rumours about him. Jon had black belt. Tyson was good at Muay Thai but he didn’t brag about his skills like Jon did. He thought it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious. He somehow felt he would win as he was sure of his skills and won medals at several competitions. Although competitions were fair and square and in a real fight everything was allowed. Back in the days he had to fight nasty against his own bullies. He wasn’t looking for this brawl. Hurting Jon would mean having to go to the principal’s office when he got caught or reported and no lunch break for him after that. In addition, he would have to deal with his parents afterwards. “I haven’t done anything to you.” 

“You’re getting scared, pretty boy?”

“Leave him alone!” Gecko jumped on Jon's leg and bit it. Jon hissed and kicked him in the stomach again. That startled Ty. Gecko was actually trying to help him out, yet he did not do anything for him when he was in trouble just seconds ago. An overwhelming shame run through him when Elinor snapped him out of it by demanding: 

“Help him.”