Read Episode ONE and TWO of The Hybrids.

I looked around the campus and remembered the good times I had when I was here. I walked over to the main building; it was brick red and had a large clock tower to the right of the main entrance. I entered and looked for anyone who could help me with my search; I saw someone putting different posters of events and activities happening in the University on the Board of Announcements. I walked to her and noticed that she was wearing a worn Tokyo U shirt, and started conversing about activities at the school and in the city. After a minute, I told her I used to go here. I decided to ask if she knew where my friend was. He had caused a sensation when he started at the University; “do you know where I might find a Toshio, he’s the science prodigy that transferred in three years ago?” She didn’t answer, just tilted her head to the side. “Toshio…really smart…usually dresses like an anime character…do you know where I might find him?” She did the same thing again. “Thank you for your time” I said. Weird. I turned and walked out of the building.

A window suddenly broke above me; I heard screams as glass trickled down. I rushed to open the door, but no matter how hard I pushed or pulled it wouldn’t open. “Crap” I said. I looked around for another way in, but there was none. I then noticed an electrical wire that led to the floor where the window broke. I walked up to it and cautiously hovered my hand over the wire, remembering what happened back at the power plant. I felt the electrical current from the wire. My hands grew hotter and I saw a small spark go from my palm to the wire. I saw my hand start to waver like it was in desert vision. I felt something like a ripple go up my arm and into my torso.

“Crazy” I said to myself. Another scream could be heard from the second floor of the building. I concentrated on the wire and thought about making it into a mode of transportation, I placed my hand millimeters away from the wire. I could feel the continuous flow of electricity as if I was water flowing through a hose. My eyes then grew hot and my whole body started pulsing like it was pumping twice my body’s blood. Everything turned black except a double column of hot blue streaks in the middle of the black, then everything turned bright white. I winced at the sudden brightness and covered my closed eyes; I finally blinked a few times. After a minute, my vision faded from white and I looked around. I was inside the building. “Holy crap…it worked!” I said excitedly. I looked at my hands, and felt all over my body to see if I could feel any injuries. Nothing. I walked into the hallway and found the shattered window at the end of the hall. I walked over to the window and saw the students down below were talking among themselves, they looked up and could see their fear, eyes a little too wide, nostrils, too. I turned back and walked down the hallway making sure to check if there were any traces of clues. What was I doing? What had I just done? Could I help?

I stopped when I heard yelling in the men’s bathroom. I walked over but didn’t enter. From what I could hear, there were three guys. I peeked in and saw two guys pushing around my friend, Toshio. One of the guys was an American; he was wearing a t-shirt with designs of fire on them, and the other guy was Japanese and he was wearing a checkered dress shirt. “You told me it would work; I looked like a complete moron thanks to you” the guy in the fiery shirt said. The other guy then proceeded to shove a machine into Toshio’s chest. From the looks of it, that is what the guys were angry about. The contraption had running tracks on the bottom and small axles on the side. The machine had a small tin body with two claws that came out of it from each sides, and a head with a laser pointer to complete it. Toshio examined the machine carefully and twisted a few knobs. “It just needs a few calibrations to the track control module and it should worked.” He twisted the knobs some more until a soft thunk was heard. The fiery shirt guy took the machine back and walked away. “Make sure this doesn’t happen again” he said as they both left the bathroom. I turned and looked at a poster hanging on the wall as they walked out of the section of the building. “What was that about” I asked Toshio as I swung open the bathroom door.

“Riku, you’re back…and it was nothing, just some guy who wanted me to do his robotics project.” He said as he pushed his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. “What are you doing here? It has been too long.”
I conjured up a miniature blue bolt and made it dance around on my palm. “This” I said. “Wicked!” Toshio continued to stare at the bolt, then attempted to touch it. “Don’t do that” I said alarmed. I quickly made the bolt vanish. He continued to stare at me and then proceeded to circle around me. “What happened to you? What do you need from me?” It was my turn to run my hands through my hair and take a deep breath.

I told him about how I fell into a chemical vat which should have melted my skin off my bones, then melted my bones. But somehow nothing was harmed, not even my clothes on my back. I told him that I started noticing that I could interact with electricity and not be hurt. He patted me on the shoulder and took me to the science lab in Hemingway Hall. As we left the building on our way to Hemingway, he turned and hummed. “Yeah, put that hood up, Riku.” I couldn’t tell if it was the bathroom lights, but it is your skin. It is kind of glowing.” That must be why that girl just stared at me, I thought. He brought me over to a DNA Diagnostic Operating System and proceeded to take a blood sample. He placed the blood vial into the Operating System and the screen turned on and showed a double helix with different colored sections. “Riku, do you know what this means?” He started to point at different segments of the double helix. “No…not really” I guess I should have paid attention more in college. “ Look here.” He put up a diagram of a normal person’s DNA sequence. “This is what your DNA looks like and this is what a normal person’s looks like…you have thirteen extra segments that are biologically altering the whole sequence and that’s why you have powers.” He continued to point at the diagram and talk. He seemed excited at the possibilities. I couldn’t hear him because a loud humming sound was getting louder from the bottom of the building. Then a huge blast was heard from from below us. Toshio and I quickly rushed to the door and peered out. There was smoke coming out from below.

“Toshio I need you to hold onto me tightly” I said. I grabbed him and rushed to a power outlet. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” screamed Toshio. I dove towards the outlet with my arms wrapped around Toshio. My eyes started to heat up and both my body and Toshio’s started to glow. I felt the flow like water. We entered the outlet and tumbled out next to a lamp post outside. He was on the ground mumbling and holding his head in both hands. I walked towards a nearby crowd and asked what had happened.

“There was a crazed robot that started to tear up the recreational room and then it sliced a heater in half causing it to flame up.” someone said next to me and then turned. His eyes squinted, then did a double take. I remembered the hood and mumbled a thank you under my breath as I walked away.

I knew that if I didn’t do something the building would burn down. There were people inside, too. I rushed back inside and made sure to avoid the flames. At this time, almost all of the first floor and the staircase leading to the second floor were completely engulfed in flames. I ran to the center of the building and concentrated on my powers. I kind of felt like I needed to make my hands into the shape of a ball. I had to act fast; I imagined the ball becoming bigger and bigger until it spread out from my hands and bigger and bigger, and away from my body. The ball seemed to be stopping the flow of oxygen to the fire; it wasn’t spreading up the stairs anymore. It was still burning inside the dome. I made it bigger and bigger. It was a thin blue bubble spreading and spreading. I felt it get thin. Too thin. I knew I had to act now. Hopefully all of the fire was inside the dome.

I pulled the field towards me, and it brought the flames with it. It got hotter and hotter. The flames streaked around the dome. It was like they were racing each other. I continued to pull the field towards me. It continued to get hotter and hotter. I felt like my skin was bubbling and crackling. I got the dome down to the palm of my hand. It was silver with its heat. I couldn’t get it any smaller and didn’t know what to do.  The building was now free from the flames, but what remained was a combination of charred furnishings and gnarled, dappled walls. I compresses the orb one last time. With a loud pop, I was thrown back against a burned chair that broke apart under my weight and the fire’s damage.

I walked out the back of the building as firemen arrived on the scene. Toshio’s answers would have to wait. I shouldn’t have come here. I just felt better that there was some explanation for all of this. This was what I was meant to do. I wasn’t meant to be a guy playing a hero, but to become an actual hero. A hero with the power of electricity and the will to help the citizens of the city: a hero named Hybrid.