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Burning The Hybrids stared with shock and disbelief. Julia screamed. "What are you?" Steve yelled. Vince looked down at himself. His body was now covered in a thick, black hide, different from any hide of any animal he had ever seen. His hair had gone from short, black, and neat to long, fiery red, and tangled. He felt different from anything he had ever felt before. He felt within himself a warmness, full of adrenaline. Two Hybrids charged at Vince. Vince merely jumped over them, effortlessly performing a forward flip ten feet in the air. When he landed, he gave two quick backward kicks and knocked both of the attacking Hybrids down. A large group of Hybrids, seemingly the whole gang, attacked Vince from all directions. When some of the Hybrids were close, Vince raised his arms above his head, and emitting a shockwave of flame from his hands, knocking the Hybrids away. One Hybrid still clung to his back. Vince crouched, and all around him, flames shot upward. The Hybrid was blown off Vince's back. He ran around, screaming, on fire. Vincent created a fireball in his hand and threw it at a fire hydrant near the burning Hybrid. The jet stream of water hit the Hybrid and knocked him 20 feet through the air, but it also put out the burning flames. "Just be glad I decided to do that for you," Vince said to the Hybrid. "But you're not going to be as lucky," Vince heard Steve say. He turned around and saw Steve carrying a handgun, pointing it at Vince. "Julia, leave us," Steve ordered. "It's getting dangerous here." "O-okay," Julia stammered before she ran off. Vince and Steve stared each other down. Suddenly, Steve fired his gun. In response, Vince tossed a fireball, which intercepted and fried the bullet and then hit Steve, exploding on contact. Steve fell backwards, let out a grunt, and dropped the gun. "Get him," Steve groaned on the ground. All the Hybrids began running toward Vince, trying to get close enough to attack him. Vince threw fireballs at everyone, using the explosions to knock down and immobilize the Hybrids. Some of the Hybrids ran away. Finally, after the fireballs, every Hybrid was either on the ground, unconscious, or far away after running from battle. Vince was panting heavily. It began to rain. "Vince!" Alice cried out. She was running toward the battleground. With her was another guy, about Vince's age. He was also half-Asian, but unlike Steve, he seemed friendly with Alice and Vince. "Vince!" shouted the half-Asian. Alice and the half-Asian came within view of the humaniform beast the Vince had become. "What the hell?" the half-Asian asked. "It's--It's a monster!" Alice screamed. Alice ran away. "Alice, what the hell? Where are you going?" the half-Asian yelled back. The half-Asian turned around to face Vince. "What the hell are you?" the half-Asian said as he slowly stepped back. "Robert..." Vince quietly said to the half-Asian. Robert paused, then turned around, and ran. "Alice, wait up!" he yelled. Vince stood there for a moment, thinking. Then, he ran away, in the opposite direction. Vince was still running full speed. It had been five minutes. In order to avoid running into people, he had run over to park and into a hiking trail. Finally, Vince stopped and sat down in the rain against a tree. He remembered his little sister's voice, saying, "It's a monster!" He remembered Robert, his best friend and one of the few half-Asians at school who disagreed with the violent ways of the Hybrid Alliance. He remembered Robert saying, "What the hell are you?" "What the hell happened? What am I?" Vince asked himself. "Am I...am I a monster? When I became like this, I felt as I never felt before. I felt bloodthirsty. I felt vicious. I almost killed that one guy. What am I supposed to do?" Vince let out a sigh, closed his eyes, and lowered his head. To keep his mind off his troubles, he decided to think about Stephanie. He remembered her cute face, her pretty smile. He remembered the good times they had together. A strange feeling swept across his body. Suddenly, he felt cold. The raindrops on his skin tickled him. Vince opened his eyes and looked at his hands. His skin was no longer black hide, but normal, human skin. He felt his hair. It was short and neat again, and he was sure it was also black, like it should be. Vince smiled. "I think I'll go home now." Alice and Robert were waiting on the porch of the Zeng residence. "Vince! What happened? Where were you?" Alice asked. "I...got away," Vince replied. "Don't worry, I'm fine." "You look real tired," Robert said. "I...did a lot of running," Vince replied, which was only half true. Alice said to Vince, "When we showed up, there was this monster standing there, and all the Hybrids were on the ground." "That's interesting," Vince said apathetically. He looked at Robert. "Yeah, it was really freaky," Robert replied. "I hope I never see it again. Alice, between you and me, let's keep it a secret." "Sure," Alice said. "No problem." Robert began walking away. "I'm going home. Bye, Vince! Bye, Alice! See you two tomorrow!" "Bye!" Alice shouted back. "Bye, Robert," Vince said weakly. "Come on, let's go inside. Don't tell Mom and Dad about the fight." "Don't worry," Alice replied. "I won't." "Twenty three students from Trioustan High School found on Maple Street brutally beaten. Junior Kyle Nguyen was found with 2nd-degree burns over most of his body. Trioustan senior Julia Blackson, girlfriend of Trioustan senior Steve Lin, who was also a victim, claims to have been a witness." Julia said to the camera, "First, Steve and his buddies were beating on this one guy. Suddenly, there was this monster that came and attacked everyone. I was so scared." "According to medical experts, Julia is in shock and my not remember correctly or be thinking clearly. In the meantime, the 23 students have been hospitalized." Vince turned off the TV in his room. "I remember now! You're the monster that beat up my boyfriend," Julia yelled at Vince. It was the next day at lunch. Vince had been talking with Steph and Robert when Julia came and interrupted. "Monster!" she cried. "You're the monster that put my boyfriend into the hospital." "What are you talking about?" Steph asked. "Vince is a monster," Julia said, pointed with her shaking hand at Vince. "I saw it. First, he was there. Then, there was this flame. Then, Vince was gone, and there was a big, black monster in its place." Several people around them laughed. "Oh, yeah. Vince a monster? Then I'm a High Priest of Alliatus." "But, you're not a High Priest of Alliatus." "Oh, you're such an idiot. It's called SARCASM. I meant to say that Vince being a monster is just as ridiculous as me being a High Priest of Alliatus." "Oh, I get it now, I think." Julia yelled at them, "Why do you laugh at me? I saw it with my own eyes." "You must have been hallucinating," Robert replied stoically. "There couldn't have been a monster. There's no such thing as a monster." "Go away, Julia," Vince said. "You're just jealous that I got away safely and your boyfriend was hospitalized by Heaven knows what." Julia slapped Vince in the face angrily and stormed away. Vince rubbed his face. "I remember that slap," he said. "She slapped me yesterday." "Well, at least there's one good thing about this," Stephanie said. "We won't have to worry about the Hybrids for a few months." "Yeah," Robert replied. "For a few months, all Trioustan will see are some good half-Asians, like me." "Oh, wait, Stephanie," Vince interrupted. "I need to borrow your Calculus homework tonight." "Sure, no problem," Stephanie replied. She pulled a red notebook from her backpack and gave it to Vince. "Just give it back to me tomorrow morning." "Thanks, Steph," Vince said as he hugged her. "Hey, Vince! I'll be doing a project in the library with Tina," Alice yelled at Vince. "You go home without me." "Sure, no problem," Vince replied. It was after school. Vince was looking at Stephanie's Calculus notebook while slowly marching home. Just beyond the parking lot, he was stopped by a young lady. "Are you the one?" she asked Vince. "Yes, you're definitely him. I can feel your power." The woman looked just a bit older than Vince was, about the age of a college student. She had green eyes and long, light brown hair. She wore an all black outfit: black 3/4 length pants and a black short-sleeve shirt. "What?" Vince asked. "Come with me," the lady said. She began to walk away, but Vince didn't move. The lady turned back around. "What?" she said. "You don't want to come. Then I'll make you come." She suddenly ran over and snatched the red notebook from Vince's hands. "Hey!" Vince yelled, but the lady had already ran off. Vince chased after her. They ran about half a mile toward a more commercialized part of town. The lady seemed somewhat tired, but Vince, a cross-country runner, seemed unaffected by this strenuous run of a chase. Suddenly, the lady ran into an alleyway. Vince followed. The alleyway was empty, except for a few dumpsters and aluminum trashcans. About 50 ft deep into the alley, a brick wall blocked it off, forming a dead end. Sitting on the ground near the brick wall was Stephanie's red notebook. Vince walked up to it and stuffed it into his backpack. However, as he was about to leave, he saw a figure blocking his path. Its appearance shocked him. It was in the shape of a human girl, but, instead of skin, her body was covered with thick, black hide. Her hair was long and tangled, but it was purple. It looked just like what Vince had been the night before, except female and with purple hair. "Wh-what?" Vince asked. "You look like...what the hell are you?" "Put down your stuff," said the purple-haired lady beast. "We fight." "I'm not in the mood for fighting," Vince said. "Tell me, what is going on?" "Fight me," said the lady beast. Vince stood there, glaring at her. "Fine, if that's the way you want it," Vince said, and he put down the backpack. Vince charged, but the lady beast merely raised her hand, pointing her arm forward at Vince, and a gust of wind blew Vince backward, smashing him into the brick wall. It was no ordinary gust of wind. The very wind seemed to cut into his body. Vince found that, after the wind, he had scratches all over his body, along with a few cuts. "Surprised?" said the lady beast. "I control the air. My power over the winds is so great, I can even compress the air and use the air pressure to cut things." She raised her arm toward Vince again. The gust of wind shattered the brick wall and pushed Vince through it into a small, 20 ft long extension of the alleyway. It was empty except for the debris from the now-fallen brick wall. Vince stood up and charged. The lady beast merely raised her arm again and blew Vince back down. "Damn!" Vince thought to himself. "I can't get close to her." He looked around and saw the debris. "Hmm... maybe..." Vince stood up, grabbed a piece of debris of the floor, and threw it at the lady beast. She deflected it with a gust of wind. Vince threw another one. She deflected it again. Then, she pointed her arm at Vince again and blew him back again. At this point, Vince had cuts all over his body, over half of them with blood seeping out. "God damn it!" Vince cursed silently. "If I throw something at her, she blows it away. If I charge at her, she blows me away. If I had something to hold onto, maybe she wouldn't be able to blow me away." Vince took a quick look around, saw a fire escape with its ladder hanging close to the ground a few feet beyond the broken brick wall, and he smiled. Then, Vince suddenly made a dash for the fire escape. The lady beast saw his actions and fired the wind at him again. Vince dove and made a blind grab for the ladder, barely catching it with his left hand. "How long do you think you can hold on?" the lady beast taunted him. "Long enough," Vince said, as he grabbed the ladder with his other hand. "I don't think so," the lady beast said, and she pointed her other hand at Vince, firing an even more powerful gust of wind, slicing apart the ladder and driving Vince into and through another section of the brick wall. Vince groaned. "How the hell do I..." Vince thought to himself. Then, he looked at the debris again. "Hmm..." Vince scooped up several pieces of debris with his left arm. He threw one piece at the lady beast, while she was busy trying to knock it aside, Vince began running forward. Before the lady beast could focus her attention of Vince again, he threw another piece of debris, distracting her a second time. In the meantime, Vince continued running in a zigzag pattern, always moving toward the lady beast. Continuing this pattern, Vince managed to get very close to the lady beast. However, when he threw his next piece, the lady beast, realizing Vince's closeness, ignored the debris piece and fired the gust of wind at Vince instead. Vince purposely threw his body forward to counter the wind and dropped the rest of the debris. Thus, he only slid back roughly ten feet. The piece of debris that he threw, however, sailed straight towards the lady beast and hit her in the head, stunning her momentarily. This time was just enough for Vince to dash forward and nail the lady beast with a quick right-left-right punch combination. The lady beast fell on her back. "Not bad," said the lady beast as she climbed to her feet. Vince walked towards her, with a look of determination in his face. "But you'll have to do much better than that," said the lady beast as she pointed her arm again at Vince. This time, Vince felt winds blowing all around him, very close to his body. He felt himself not only being constrained by the winds, but also lifted up into the air. The lady beast flew up roughly 15 feet in the air to match his altitude. "It's another technique I learned," she said. "I use the air to wrap around you. This way, I can restrict your movement, as well as move you in any way I please. I can even use this technique to make myself fly. And now, I'm going to demonstrate another use of my wind-wrapping technique." The lady beast then used the winds to lift two dumpsters and hold them on either side of Vince. "I'm going to crush you like an insect," she said. |