VINCENT MILES: AND THE FIST OF FIRE

CHAPTER 2: CAFETERIA BATTLE

Other classes went by as the bell for lunch has finally rang. They all went down in groups so meaning Vincent would go down by himself when Champ approached him.

“Want company?” he asked

Vincent grinned.

“Yeah, I guess” he answered.

Then both went down to the cafeteria. As they go down, they talked a little. Vincent asked Champ about his wind element power if it’s for long range or close combat. Champ answered that it is only for long range since he has good eyes, and he is not that good at self-defense. The cafeteria is filled with noisy, laughing students which annoyed Vincent quickly. Both lined up on the food counter while still talking. The counter is filled with foods that Vincent hasn’t ate for ten years. He quickly grabbed five grilled cheese sandwiches and stacked it together, he then took some steak that has a mini flag that says “HOT” and that convinced Vincent to take two of those meat since spicy foods are his favorites, and he has reason on being obsessed in spicy foods. Vincent and Champ finished grabbing their lunch, they didn’t pay for it so they both thought that it was free. They then searched for a vacant table to sit on. It is so crowded and the place feels like it is in chaos so they find it hard to spot a vacant one. After a minute on looking for a table, they were unlucky since. The two considered on eating outside when a girl suddenly approached them

“Hey, Sophia “grunted Vincent, as he slowly turns around to go on the other direction but his sister grabbed his uniform and his food nearly spilled on him. Champ just stood there wondering if that girl is Vincent’s girlfriend, and he find them cute and sweet.

“What?” asked Vincent.

Sophia smiled at him menacingly like she has something wicked planned. Vincent didn’t miss that kind of smile and he just find it very annoying as he put up an annoyed face at her when he turned around and looked at her. Sophia is a year older than Vincent and for Vincent, being the youngest among the twelve siblings is just a drag.

“Can’t find a spot? Come with me.” bossed Sophia as she drags Vincent.

He then asked Champ to tag along, and Champ smiled while admiring the sweetness of the couple which they are not. They arrived at a table where five other people are seated and three of them are girls. Five of them are looking confused as they arrive, Vincent and Champ sat there.

“Whatttttt?!” yelped Champ as he found out that Sophia isn’t the girlfriend of Vincent.

“You really think that this girl is my girlfriend?” asked Vincent.

Champ was about to answer but then he realized that he got nothing to say and he is the one who misunderstood something here.

Sophia then began to introduce her brother to her friends and adding up some insults as she talks. Vincent sat next to Sophia, and he noticed that he kind of missed her, that long curly brown hair and her scent that smells like candy or chocolate, he then admitted in his mind that “Yeah, I guess I kind of missed them”.

But his sister Sophia, don’t show any kind of nostalgia or does she show that she misses Vincent.

“So, how’s grandad?” asked Sophia.

Vincent answered her that their grandfather is doing fine while his mouth is full of grilled cheese, Sophia then slapped his mouth slightly and made Vincent remember that his sister is strict on proper table manners and once you show disrespect, she will eventually either slap you or punch you hard that you will not be able to wake up for a week. Vincent then looked at Champ and saw him stacking balls of tomato and forming it into a snowman, he quickly tapped his shoulder and warned him then Champ immediately put the tomato down and eat it as normal as it could be. Sophia asked many more questions about their grandad but not about Vincent but it’s only natural since most of their siblings hates Vincent for some reason, and he considers himself lucky since Sophia is at a neutral state and does not team up with anyone because each side has a point.

While still asking questions, the whole cafeteria went silent and then they heard someone screaming.

“HELP ME! PLEASE! I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG! PLEASE BELIEVE ME!” howled a student who is crawling at the front of the food counter while asking for help.

Vincent stood up and looked around the cafeteria and saw some students balling theirs fists and gritting their teeth while staring at the ground and listening to the student who was begging for help. He then clutched his hilt and started to move forward to help but Sophia stopped him, he looked at her and saw her shook her head. Then suddenly the door of the cafeteria burst open as a dozen men went in with evil grin in their faces. That’s when Vincent noticed that the student who is asking for help is full of wounds and her face is swollen that is a sign of heavy beating, and that student was their classmate. Vincent tried to get out of the grasp of Sophia but her grip just gets stronger every time he struggles. He looked at Champ to seek some help and try to distract her so he can help their poor classmate, but he was disappointed to see that even Champ is shaking in fear

“This is the dark side of the Academy, Vincent. Try and stomach it for now. It’s your first day, don't be involved in fights, especially that.” warned Sophia as she strengthens her grip on his brother’s wrist.

“NO!” this word is ringing in Vincent’s head and just fueling up his anger. Stomach it? Don’t get involved? These words don’t make sense to Vincent. Isn’t this school for up-and-coming Heroes? What has happened to Vincent’s sister over the past ten years? Questions after questions keeps on going inside his brain but none of them are being answered.

“I’m sorry, Sophia. I won’t be able to stomach this.” snarled Vincent as he stared at her sister.

Sophia sighed and thought to herself “Grandad and the others asked me to put him on the leash. But I guess I just can’t stop a man with a strong sense of rightful justice”

She strengthened her grip one last time and pulled his wrist gently. He looked at her with those determined and fearless jet-black eyes. And this is when Sophia that he has no intention on backing down or cowering.

“Can you bear the consequences? I won’t help you in the future since you’re the one at fault here,” sighed Sophia as she stared at her brothers' eyes waiting for an answer.

“I would be glad to accept it. “ determined Vincent.

Sophia then grinned and let go of his brother’s wrist. And slowly walked to the front.

The men are now surrounding the poor girl while pouring every liquid thing they could find near them. Some of them are kicking her and spitting at her. While she just received everything since she can’t move a muscle because of her wounds and injuries.

“I want to go home. Please. I only wanted to become a hero. Why is this happening to me? “These are the words going on in her head right now questioning herself on what she did wrong. All she could remember is that she was going back to the cafeteria from the restroom when she accidentally bumped into a big bulky man and everything that she is experiencing right now is because of that accident. She said sorry countless of times but the men just keep on beating her up until she reached the cafeteria while crawling as fast as she can because her legs were stomped on by these men. She just cried and cried as the men just keeps on kicking, spitting at her and pouring everything on her.

“Someone. Please help......me” she hushed as her consciousness is fading because a man just kicked her head hard. That’s when she saw a man standing behind of the dark-skinned bulky man that is beating her. It was Vincent. The man nor his men doesn’t seem to notice it yet but all the people inside the cafeteria are now pointing their attention at Vincent.

“Is he crazy?”

“Does he not know that standing up to them means hell?”. Whispered each student that are looking at Vincent.

He can hear all of those but he doesn't pay attention since he knows that what he is doing is right. Sophia’s friends stood up but she told them to sit down again since it is not necessary to help him.

Sophia thought to herself “Now let us see the results of your special ten years of training, crybaby”.

The bulky man keeps on laughing and ordering his men to beat the girl. With no hesitation, Vincent tapped the shoulder of the man that is larger than him. The man didn’t pay attention on him at his first try, Vincent sighed as he tapped the man on his shoulder three more times and that is when the man looked down at Vincent who is staring at him seriously.

“What do you want, brat?” growled the man.

His voice is certainly scary because it gives the feeling of seeing a monster. The students gasped and all that is near them suddenly ran and went to the middle some at the back of the cafeteria.

“Can you please stop that? This is a School for Heroes not for villains or criminals. .’ says Vincent.

The bulky guy laughed at him then his men followed and laughed at Vincent too. Vincent ignored them and went straight for the crying girl who is slowly losing her consciousness. But the bulky guy noticed Vincent and approached him. The man tapped the shoulder of Vincent and when he turned around to ask what does he want, Vincent suddenly received a full force punch on the face and his face landed on the ground so hard that it created hole that is the size of his face. The man laughed again.

“Don’t mess with me! I’m one of the strongest students here! I’m Leonard Ames! Get lost, powerless disgrace!” yelled the man as he and his men laughed at the face-planted Vincent.

Vincent got up slowly while shaking his head to remove the rocks and dirt on his hair. But the man grabbed Vincent’s collar and raised him up into the air. The man then ordered his men to beat up the girl completely. He then spat at Vincent’s face twice and laughed. His men approached the girl slowly and even though she is losing her consciousness, she still struggles away from them. Then Vincent had enough.

“Ah. You pissed me off, man.” Vincent cursed as he lifted his right leg backward.

The man looked at Vincent’s leg suspiciously then he found out what he is trying to do. Vincent is about to kick him but it is useless and that’s what he thought. He put his left arm in front of it trying to block the kick. The kick landed on his palm he laughed but when he was about to insult Vincent’s kick, he is now flying away from him with a broken arm and then he slammed at the wall and the debris fell and covered him. Vincent was dropped but landed perfectly on both feet. He removed his slightly cracked glasses and wiped the spit from it and wear it again. Sophia was left amazed by that attack that she couldn’t help herself but stand up. She looked at his brother who is fixing up his hair into a manbun and then looked at the hole on the wall that was created by his attack and left her speechless. She then thought to herself “Is this the crybaby that needs to be fed with ice cream so he can quiet down? It looks like that I have a rival”.

Vincent is now done on fixing his hair up. The men of Leonard suddenly stopped on chasing the girl, instead they looked at Vincent not able to move from either shock or fear.

“W-What are you guys doing? Get him!” roared one of Leonard’s men. Then all of them has recovered from the shock and started coming at Vincent all at once, and Vincent didn’t just stand there. He then attacked them. They are using their powers which is annoying to Vincent since he has no powers. But the thing is, they have a lot of openings and he just keeps on dodging each one of their attacks so that he can knock them all out at once. Finally, he found all their weak spots. He slightly distanced himself from them to have a good start at attacking. Rocks, water bullets and other things came whistling through his ears but none of them are hitting him. Then Vincent got really annoyed since one of them is trying to sneak through and trying to get to the girl. Vincent then attacked them. Leonard’s men struggled to dodge his attacks but he was too fast for them to even to react. All of Leonard’s men are now on the floor groaning and clutching the parts where Vincent hit them. The man who is trying to get to his classmate stopped as he noticed his comrades are now down. Vincent sprinted and before the man could see him, he was now sent flying to the wall, then he crashed. The students cannot believe on what they are seeing right now. A powerless man who has no lick of powers is as fast as a super speed hero and as strong as a super strength hero. Now that all has been taken care of, Vincent then approached the girl with a slight smile on his face as he tries to calm down the girl who is breathing heavily. Vincent is now near the girl when she yelled

“Watch out!”

Vincent turned around and saw Leonard heading towards him with his fist at a ready. He then noticed that his fist is coated with something.

“This is my powerful attack! A fist that is coated by my wind element power and boosting it to be a lethal hit! Now, die you powerless brat!” raged Leonard as he continued on his attack.

With a last burst of strength, Leonard punched Vincent with all that he is left. And that punch produced a small but powerful shockwave that sent some students near them flying. Leonard is panting and suddenly he bellowed in pain while still standing. That’s when he saw Vincent standing in front of him holding his fist with his hand like nothing has happened. Vincent has blocked Leonard’s most powerful attack with just his bare hands.

“Is that all you got?” grinned Vincent as he let go off the arm of Leonard.

He stumbled and looked at his arms and saw that both are broken and bleeding.

“Impossible! How can a powerless guy like you do this kind of thing to me? “bellowed Leonard.

Vincent then picked a small pebble on the ground

“I trained, of course. Now. Go to sleep for me. Okay?” taunted Vincent as Leonard tried to stand up one last time but Vincent flicked the pebble that he picked and it hit the forehead of Leonard then he was knocked out cold.

Vincent grinned menacingly.

He then went to tend to the girl. He asked her if it is okay to give her a piggy back ride since she can’t walk and she agreed. Once she is on his back, he then walked outside the cafeteria like nothing happened and left Sophia and the others speechless as he carries his classmate to get her treated at the school’s clinic.

“This is the Vincent that we once ridiculed? Grandad. What kind of monster did you just raise?” whispered Sophia as she can’t believe that her little brother is as strong as a hero born with super strength. This question is going around her head right now, "How come Vincent is this strong even though he has no powers?".