Jeffery the Night Guard of Justice

In every small town, there is a hero. That person could be your next-door neighbor, the science teacher, that farmer down the street, or even your dog. This hero will jump into action and act on instinct within a seconds notice, without even as much as a thought. If you were to try to explain this to a resident in Rose Hill, they would laugh in your face at the absurdity of it and ask you how there could be this so called 'hero' in a virtually non-existent dot on the map of this middle state. Some would think to the firefighters as the hero you were speaking of, or maybe the policemen. But this time my dear friends, our unlikely hero is a dad…in disguise.

It was a calm evening in the town of Wichita, which was rare for the winter months. The sun was just beginning to slip beneath the horizon and shone a brilliant shade of orange. In the sky, the stars were starting to peek out as the blue skies receded, then faded into darkness.

A man got out of his car, grabbing his jacket as he admired the chilly, but calm night.

"Where is my flashlight…?" He muttered to himself, grabbing his empty belt loop.

He sighed and sat his stuff on the hood of the car as he looked around for the pesky little flashlight. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted it laying in the most obvious of all places, the seat.

He chuckled at his own scatter-brainedness, grabbed the flashlight, and locked his car. Grabbing his jacket, he crossed the small parking lot with leisurely steps and watched as the sun disappeared behind the horizon.

He watched the Cox Communications sign light up as it to, prepared for the long night ahead. Pulling the door open, he breathed in the smell of carpet, which was normal.

"Hey! Look who just walked in!" Recognizing the voice immediately, he turned around slowly and came face to face with Tony.

He was a short little man, but he had the fire of about twenty. His short, red hair stuck straight up on his head and his mouth was always curled in a sneer. Tony had the evening shift and was always there when Jeffery came in for the night shift. Ever since the first day of work, Tony had been his enemy for reasons that were still unknown to this day.

"What do you want this time Tony?" Jeffery sighed, almost spent with putting up with him day after day.

Tony snickered and faced him with that look in his eye that said one of his signature bad jokes was coming up.

"Oh, nothing…just wondering if I could order a McGoodwin, with a side of fries?" Tony howled his annoying laugh that reminded Jeffery of a hyena choking on its dinner.

Oh yes, that joke was so hilarious and not to mention wore out. Jeffery Goodwin…the name had its downsides to.

"Yeah, very funny Tony. Unlike you, I have a job to do, so if you will excuse me-" Jeffery began, but was interrupted by an annoying cell phone ringer.

Tony whipped out his phone and answered with a monotone hello.

"Yeah…oh…sure, I'll- yeah. I'll be there in ten." He snapped his phone closed and gave Jeffery a look of annoyance.

"Well…to your dismay Goodwin, I have to go. Besides, Jeffery the Night Guard of Justice needs to go rescue all the little Internet children who are being cyber bullied!" Tony laughed.

He turned quick on his heal and went out the door, taking his cackling with him and leaving the Cox building in utter silence.

Jeffery twirled his flashlight as he made the regular rounds around the building. Guarding was just an endless circle of walking and waiting. Waiting for some action of some type, in which the building hadn't seen in years.

He sighed and muttered to himself twenty reasons why Tony should go fall in a hole. That list turned out to be closer to infinity. But what was peculiar was why he had to leave so early…. and that phone call. Tony always stayed later, just to pester Jeffery of course. But he had something about him this time…something that just felt, off.

As usual, he was being annoying and calling him by his stupid nickname, Jeffery the Night Guard of Justice. But then again, that's what happens when Tony gets bored. He comes up with bad jokes that usually make you want to go curl up in a muffin when you hear them. Nothing unusual there…but something still bothered him about that phone call.

Jeffery was probably just being paranoid…after all; it was a quieter night than usual. Normally, he would hear the cars passing by on the road outside, but tonight it was silent as a crypt. His shoes squeaked on the floor as he glanced around, making the second round of the night.

He passed some dark offices of the day shift people and started to whistle since there was no one else to keep him company. He came to the back door and turned around, but stopped. What was that?

He quit whistling and crept through the halls. It had sounding like a scraping noise of some sort coming from the side door. It was almost too faint to hear, but there was a noise coming from the other side of that door. He padded forward and slowly pulled open the door, flashlight pointed outside.

A pesky tree branch was blowing back and forth across the door, creating the noise. He chuckled at himself for being so paranoid, and shut the door tightly. Jeffery continued on the walk, slowly. Tonight was just one of those nights…that something didn't feel right for some reason…

Then, right on cue, he heard a crash from the front door. Senses on high alert, he charged into the main hallway and had his pepper spray ready for attack. Three men, dressed in all black, had broken the door down somehow. Black masks covered their faces and nothing could be seen but their eyes.

When they saw him, the men advanced towards him with dangerous looks in their eyes. Jeffery clutched his pepper spray with shaking hands and looked around desperately for any type of weapon. He backed away from them slowly and almost tripped on the hall tree. Wait…the hall tree! It wouldn't be as good as a baton, but better than nothing.

He yanked the tree out of the pot easily and dirt flew everywhere.

"S-s-stay back…I'VE GOT A TREE!" He yelled at the men.

They stopped and looked at each other for a few seconds, then burst out laughing.

"Lets get this over with boys." The tallest one said to the other two in an accent of some sort.

Two of them pulled out what looked like a Bo staff and the other had a Samari sword, just wonderful. He better get paid extra for this.

The taller man nodded his head at the two with the Bo staffs and they started toward Jeffery again. He clutched his hall tree with shaking hands and tried to figure out what to do next.

The man swung his sword and cut the hall tree in half effortlessly…oops. Before Jeffery even had time to react, something smashed on his head and the world went dark.

Waking up tied to a broom in the supply closet with a headache the size of Texas hadn't exactly made Jeffery's night. Duck tape was over his mouth and his hands were tied behind his back…to a broom.

Somehow, those men were able to tie him to it in a fashion in which he wouldn't be able to get loose. Figures…this was just great. He thrashed about, trying to free himself, but it was simply an impossible task.

Jeffery slumped back against the hard broom and grumbled to himself through the duck tape. So far this hadn't been his night. Just as he was beginning to give up all hope, the doorknob turned and there stood his sixteen year old son Josh, looking shocked and confused.

"Dad…? What are you doing in here?" He bent down and removed the duck tape from Jeffery's mouth and helped him up.

"Josh! What are you doing here? Didn't you see the door broken down, there are intruders!" He hissed.

Josh untied him from the broom, "Yeah…I was going to show you this cool part I got for my car. But then I saw the door hanging by the hinges and didn't see you around…"

Jeffery nodded and grabbed his belt for his phone, but found that it wasn't there.

"Look, Josh I don't have time to explain right now. I want you to do something for me. Go call the cops and don't come looking for me. The intruders could be dangerous."

Josh opened his mouth to protest but Jeffery silenced him with a look of pure seriousness.

"All right…but be careful Dad," Josh replied, and ran out the door.

Jeffery looked around the supply closet for a weapon of some sort and found only the broom. Like the hall tree, it was the only thing available at the time. Not the most favorable of weapons, but it would have to do.

Jeffery put on his serious face and stormed out of the supply closet. These punks disgraced him on his own territory, and he was ready to fight back. He listened closely as he crept down the dark hall with the broom in his hand. Laughter echoed from the conference room up ahead. Jeffery padded forward and clutched the broom with bravery.

The three men that had pounded him earlier were lounging in the chairs, laughing at something. Jeffery popped out from behind them and smacked the taller one on the head with the broom. The broom made contact with his head and he was out like a light. Take that!

The other two looked quite surprised and leaped out of the chairs with their Bo staffs again. This time, Jeffery was ready when they started lunging at him. He dodged the staffs swiftly and nailed on of the guys in the back of the head. He slumped forward and fell onto the floor in a heap.

The other guy was fighting back twice as hard. His staff caught Jeffery in the leg and he clenched his teeth against the pain of the blow. It was now almost a Light Saber war, an endless dance of hitting and dodging.

Finally, the man slipped and stumbled over his own staff. That gave Jeffery just enough time to whack him over the head to. With all the guys down, Jeffery stood there breathing heavy and heart exploding in his chest.

He stepped over the bodies and continued down the hall with his broom. At the end of the hall was the 'control room' as he liked to call it. It was the room in which the source of the Internet was. The light was on and he could hear talking coming from the room.

Jeffery peeked around the door and saw two more men talking. One was pointing towards a computer screen and the other was waving a disk of some type in the air. They seemed to be arguing about the computer and the disk.

"Look! This is the only way that this will work! The disk will do what its meant to do. Once that is done, the Internet will be offline to all the public. Then we will collect our so called ransom from Cox if you know what I mean," the shorter one explained.

For some reason, that voice sounded familiar…to familiar. "So, that's your plan is it Tony? Ransom for the internet?" Jeffery said, stepping out from behind the door.

The man whipped around and looked straight at Jeffery with fury in his eyes. He ripped off his mask, and behold it was Tony.

His mouth curled into an evil smile, "Ah, Goodwin. So glad you could join us! They call you the night guard at this place? Then what was that with that hall tree?"

Jeffery gritted his teeth in anger, "This was your plan all along wasn't it you little weasel? From the very first day that you stepped foot here! I always knew there was something rotten about you."

Tony nodded, "Very good! You figured something out! Yes, we plan to take the Internet for ourselves and make millions on ransom for it back. Its actually a very good plan."

Jeffery shook his head in disgust. He came in and took his pride, his building and now his Internet. There was no way Tony was going to get what he wanted without a fight.

"Not on my watch!" Jeffery fired back, charging at the man opposite Tony with the broom.

He obviously wasn't expecting it and was knocked out swiftly. Now it was just Tony and he.

"Bravo Goodwin! I didn't think you would make it this far. But I'm sorry to say, you stop here."

Lighting fast, Tony whipped out his own Bo staff and clipped Jeffery's side. Jeffery swung his broom, but Tony just barely dodged. Jeffery ducked and nailed him in the back. Tony cursed and shook it off, firing back with a blow to Jeffery's side. Jeffery finally saw an opening and nailed him in the stomach.

He hit the floor like a sack of potatoes and Jeffery quickly pinned him.

Tony struggled, "Who do you think you are? Compromising my plan!"

Jeffery smiled down at him, "I am Jeffery the Night Guard of Justice, saving the Internet one bully at a time."

A/N: Ha ha XD Written for one of my bestest friends just because I was bored one day. Hope you enjoyed it, and please do me a huge favor. Click the review button and let me know what you think! :D You are all awesome!