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Beginnings of a Legend The guy snatched the young girl's laptop. "What's this?" the guy said. "Is this one of them portable computer things?" The guy was large and muscular. His hair was a mysterious shade of light brown, and his face, not quite Asian, but not quite anything else. He stood, holding the laptop carelessly, with a group of other people behind him. These people, like him, could not be defined into any racial group. They were a mix of Asian and white. "Umm… that's my laptop," replied the little girl. She was a short little Chinese girl. Over her dark eyes, she wore a small, delicate pair of glasses. She had on a light pink jacket with a pink skirt to match. She stood up from the black-painted bench she stood to address the large guy. "Could you please give it back now?" she quietly asked. "I was working on my essay." "Oh, this little girl's using her computer for homework," said the large guy holding the computer. "She's gonna grow up to be a computer geek. Shall we show her what happens to computer geeks?" The large guy threw the computer to a tall guy in the back of the crowd. "Hey, be careful with that," the girl shouted. "Computers," the tall guy said disapprovingly. "So dorky. In the garbage you go." With that, he threw the computer. It hit the wall and fell into a trashcan. "Hey!" the girl shouted. "Score!" the tall guy cried. "Two points for the Trioustan Elves." "Lose the glasses, kid," the large guy said as he pulled off the girl's glasses. "Hey!" she yelled. "In the trash you go," he said. The large guy threw the glasses into the trash. "Stop it!" the girl yelled. "Give me back my stuff." "Oh, you want to be with your nerdy glasses and computer?" said the guy sarcastically. After that, he picked up the girl, walked her over to the trashcan, and dropped her in. She screamed the whole trip. The large guy then went over to her backpack, also pink, opened it, and began pulling things out. "Leave my stuff alone," the girl yelled as she fruitlessly tried to climb out of the trashcan. The large guy ignored her and continued looking through her stuff. "Algebra book. English book. Of Mice and Men. I remember that book. It sucked. Oh, what are you having for lunch?" By now, the girl had fetched her glasses, stained with something formerly edible, and put them on. "Applesauce?" the large guy asked disbelievingly. "You actually eat this crap?" He threw the open container at the girl. She covered her face. However, before it hit her, someone caught the applesauce and put it away safely to the side. "Leave her alone," he said. He was a Chinese guy, a pureblooded one. He was of great stature and medium build. His black hair was neatly cut and left to blow in the wind. His skin was somewhat dark, but not out of the ordinary. As he spoke, he pulled the girl out of the trashcan. "You know, Steve," he began, "you and your 'Hybrid Alliance' really should stop bullying people, especially little 9th-grade girls. With all those half-Asian people in your group, it seems almost racist." "Shut up, Vince," said Steve. He was the large guy who had first taken the girl's laptop and later raided her backpack. "Me and my Hybrid Alliance can do whatever we want." "Put down that backpack," Vince yelled authoritatively. "Now!" Steve threw the empty backpack maliciously at Vince, who caught it. In the meantime, a loud tone sounded in the background. "And the stuff," Vince added. "Gently." "Well, I'm keeping this," Steve said just before he took a bite out of the girl's ham sandwich. "Hey, that's mine," the girl shouted and started crying. "Look, you made Tina cry," Vince said. "Apologize to her!" "Make me," Steve countered. "Oh, I will," Vince said threateningly as he approached Steve. "Hey, hey, what is going on here?" an older figured yelled as he opened the door of a classroom. "Oh, nothing, Mr. Zamilkhov," Steve said innocently. "Me and Vince was just having a little discussion." "Well, it better just be a 'discussion,'" said Mr. Zamilkhov. "I'll be keeping my eye on you kids. You better not do anything, hurt any one. Now, get back to class!" After Mr. Zamilkhov went back into his room, Steve said, "Hmph, you got lucky this time, Vince." The "Hybrid Alliance" left. Vince started packing the books back into Tina's backpack. "Thank you, Vince," said Tina. "No prob, Tina," Vince replied. "I always like to help out the little kids, especially if the little kid is my girlfriend's sister and my sister's best friend." He handed the pink backpack back to Tina. "Oh, my laptop," Tina cried out. Vince reached into the garbage and pulled out the laptop. "I hope they didn't damage it," he said. "Oh! My skirt's stained!" Tina said. "It sucks being so small. I wish I were big so I could defend myself." "Tina, there's nothing wrong with being four foot eleven," Vince tried to comfort her. "Easy for you to say," Tina replied. "You're a foot taller than me." "Well, in any case, if Steve and his Hybrid Alliance ever bother you again, just tell me," Vince said. "I'll handle them for you." "Thank you," Tina said, and she ran off. "I have to get to class now. Bye!" "I'm going to be late," Vince muttered to himself. "Good afternoon, Mr. Kurczek," Vince said as he entered a room. "Good morning, Vince," came the reply. It was later in day. Vince walked over to a girl wearing a long blue skirt and a white tank top. She had tied her long, elegant brown-black hair into a ponytail with a blue ribbon. On her face was a pair of impeccably placed glasses. "Hi, Steph," said Vince. "Ready for 6th period AP Physics?" "Always," Stephanie replied. "Oh, at lunch I heard that you rescued my sister from being harassed by the Hybrids during morning break." "Yeah," said Vince. "Thank you," Stephanie replied as she hugged Vince. "Just doing all I can to help," Vince said. "Stephanie Chen," Mr. Kurczek yelled out. "Here!" Stephanie shouted back. Then, she collapsed into her chair. "Are you okay?" Vince asked. "I'm just a little tired," Stephanie replied. "I stayed up late last night doing homework. I only had 4 hours of sleep." "Steph, I don't mean to offend you, but you take way too many extracurricular activities," Vince said. "You're in all the honors classes. You take AP Calculus BC, AP Physics, AP US History. You're captain of the Math Team, Principle 2nd Violin of the Trioustan Youth Orchestra, Debate Team, editor of the Trioustan Scout, and you're on the school tennis and badminton team." "Yeah, I know," Steph replied. "Next, you're going to tell me that I'm still a junior and that I have plenty of time and that you're already a senior and you still have more free time than me." "Oh, I'm sorry," Vince said. "Do I sound like a broken record player?" "No, it's okay," Steph replied. "Every time you make that little speech, you remind me how much you care for me." She stood up and hugged him again. As she sat down, Mr. Kurczek called out, "Vincent Zeng." "Here!" Vince replied. Then, to Stephanie, "You know, Steph, I've been thinking. It's kind of funny that even though our school is the school that's after our city, our school isn't the best in Trioustan. I mean, half the teachers don't even teach. Like Mr. Kurczek. All he does is give homework and tests." Stephanie replied, "I don't think he's a bad teacher." "Well, you're just good at learning from a book," Vince said. "I need someone to teach me before I get stuff." "Well, that's why you have me," Steph replied. "I teach you pretty much everything." "Yeah, I know," Vince replied. "I really appreciate it." He passionately patted her on the head. "Okay, class," Mr. Kurczek called out. "Time to get to work. Today, we're watching a video on electric circuits." After school, a young girl was sitting on some cement steps with Tina. She was a little taller than Tina was. Her hair was pitch black and cut short, stopping just above her shoulders. While her friend Tina preferred skirts and blouses, she preferred to wear shorts and a t-shirt. "I can't believe Mrs. Kann assigned us so much homework," the girl said. "It's only history class, for god's sake!" "I know," Tina replied. "And with my laptop broken, I don't think I'll be able to finish it." "Alice!" Vince yelled out as he walked by. "My brother's here," Alice, the girl who was talking to Tina, said. "Bye, Tina. See you tomorrow." Vince and Alice began walking down the street from school. After a while, Alice said, "I heard that the Hybrids were picking on Tina and you came and rescued her." "Yeah, that's right," Vince replied. "Would you do the same for me?" Alice asked. "Of course I would," Vince replied. "You're my sister." "Okay, just making sure," Alice replied. "You know, those Hybrids are such jerks, always picking on people for no good reason." "Talking about us," said Steve as he came around the corner. "You wanna mess with us," Alice yelled as she put down her backpack and assumed an over-dramatized fighting stance. "This is between me and Vince, little girl," Steve replied. "Get out of our way." "My name's Alice, not 'little girl,'" Alice said. "And I bet I could take you all--" Steve knocked her down with one kick, saying, "Stupid 9th-grader." As Alice fell, she gave a cry of pain. Vince put down his backpack, picked Alice up, and handed to her her own backpack. "Alice, these guys are way too tough. Run home." "But, Vince," Alice complained. "No questions asked, just run, get out of here," Vince replied forcefully. With that, Vince knocked aside a few Hybrids and yelled, "Run! Go home! I'll be all right." "I'll get help," Alice cried as she ran away. As soon as Alice was gone, Vince assumed his own fighting stance. The Hybrids formed a ring around Vince. "You're actually going to fight us?" Steve asked. "Well, unlike my sister, I actually know how to fight," Vince replied. "You ain't all that smart," Steve taunted. "Half of us are football players. That means we got a better build than a pathetic little Cross Country and Track runner like you." "Yeah, even if you're the 'star runner' of Trioustan High, my boyfriend can still beat you up," said a young Hybrid girl. "You brought you're girlfriend along?" Vince asked. "Julia wanted to watch us beat the shit out of you," Steve replied. "You just going to stand there and talk, or are you going to actually try?" Vince said. "Then, let's begin," Steve said as he lunged forward for an attack. Vince crouched and sweep-kicked to trip Steve. Steve fell flat on his face. "You can try," Vince said. "But you're gonna fail miserably." "Get him!" Steve shouted. At once, Hybrids from all around Vince started closing in on him. Vince tried to fend them off with all his punches and kicks, but the sheer number of Hybrids attacking him simply overwhelmed him. For every blow he landed on one of his enemies, he would be knocked around by three more. After but a moments of beating, the brawl opened up and the Hybrids stood on the outside in a ring again. Vince groaned as he tried to get up. "Is that all you can do, Steve?" Vince asked. "Hide behind your followers? You coward." "I wouldn't have any followers if I weren't so damn good," Steve replied. With that, he gave Vince a quick kick in the face, knocking him down. "Let me have a shot at him," Julia said. "No problem," Steve replied as he picked up Vince and held him up. "No one messes with the Hybrids," Julia said to Vince. She smacked him, with the palm, with the back of the hand, and with the palm again. Vince let out a groan. "Now, I'm gonna really make you feel some pain," Julia said. She kicked upward. However, Vince quickly jumped up, broke Steve's hold, and hopped out of the way. The kick meant for Vince instead nailed Steve between the legs. Steve fell down, yelling in pain. "Oh, shit," Julia screamed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I meant to get Vince, but he got out of the way." Immediately, the entire gang was on Vince, beating him down, pounding him. "Beat him!" Steve yelled. "Pound him! Don't relent until the bastard's dead!" The pain was unbearable. The combined blows of all the gang-members felt to Vince as if he were being crushed under a heavy, jagged boulder. He coughed, and for a brief moment, he saw blood. Suddenly, just before he lost consciousness, a burst of flame pulsed from his body. The entire gang was thrown and knocked down. Some of the Hybrids even flew as far as 10 feet. Before anyone knew what was going on, Vince's body was immersed in flame. Vince's skin and clothes melded together to form a thick, black hide, covering his body from head to toe. His hair turned red and grew into a long and tangled mass. The fire seemed to come from within his body. Even though it should have been scorching hot, all Vince felt was a soothing warmness spreading throughout his body. In fact, the fire seemed to strengthen him. He felt all his energy return as he stood up. The fires subsided. A few of the Hybrids had climbed to their feet during the fiery process. All of the Hybrids stared with a combination of shock and disbelief. Julia screamed. "Wh-wh-wh-what?!?" Steve yelled. "What are you?" Vince looked down at himself and thought, "He's right. What the hell just happened? What am I?" |