The Legend of Superman

Chapter 3

Monsters

At the end of a long pale hallway, beyond the multiple classroom doors in Senlin Schools ground floor, lies an open room for the administration. Separated from the hallway by a mid-level wall divider and hip sized double door, the room was painted a pale green color, filing cabinets on the farthest wall, and in the middle of the room, in front of the cabinets, was a work desk. The desk had a typewriter, a small pile of papers, and an administrator, silently typing. However, to Kenji, (who was sitting on a wooden chair along the opposite wall to the cabinets, in front of the desk) it was the loudest typing he'd ever heard.

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

As soon as the intense and destructive fight from earlier ended, Kenji was pulled from the outdoor lunch area and forced to sit in the administrator/ headmasters office, to await his parents. Meanwhile, Kong was immediately carried off to the nurses room for urgent healing.

'I hope Kong's okay…' Kenji thought to himself as he looked beyond the green room, out into the hall.

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

He was worried for Kong. All those cuts and brushes, the way his body hit the table, how he couldn't even move after. All Kenji wanted was to be left alone. Playing the fight over and over again in his mind, he lowered his head in sadness.

'Kong hits Ping, then throws the rocks at me, I go fast, he gets madder, tries to hit me, I catch him, then push him away..'

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

Kenji looked up at the desk, slightly distracted, then looked down again, this time grabbing his head in confusion.

'I've never been able to avoid a rock from Kong before. Then the rock at the table, it didn't hurt!? Has it always hurt me?'

Kenji sighed in frustration,

'I just wanted him to stop.'

The image of Kong in the aftermath weighed on him. He didn't want to hurt him, or anyone for that matter. So how did he?

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

Kenji began to think about the other issues of his life recently. The constantly breaking door to his bedroom, the weird 'fire-eye-thing' he did to the chalkboard.

'How did I do that stuff? Is this what bending is like?'

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

His thinking once again interrupted by the clacking typewriter, looked up toward the administrator working.

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

The sound was beginning to grind down what little composure he had left. Every tap felt like an explosive going off in his ears. He lowered his head once more, and began to hold his ears, trying to block the sound. But it wasn't working.

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

He quietly groaned in frustration, wanting desperately for the noise to stop. But it just kept going.

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

Reactively, Kenji began to rock back and forth, still holding his ears, and groaning. But the sound just kept coming.

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

His face began to feel warm again.

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

Silently, he began to panic,

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

'No, no, no, no!' Kenji yelled internally,

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

He tried to stop it, closing his eyes, moving his hands in front of them.

*TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP*

Just when he couldn't take it anymore, right before he felt he would explode…

*ding*

Surprised at the normal sounding bell of the typewriter, Kenji quickly looked up, seeing the administrator take a page out of the machine, and place it on the pile. She then took a look at Kenji, some worry in her face as she asked,

"You okay?"

It took a moment of thinking on his part, but Kenji noticed he was. His face wasn't hot anymore, and nothing seemed loud. Just as soon as the strange episode started, it went away.

"Uh.. I think so?" He said confused

The administrator simply shrugged, then silently went back to work, getting up to grab something from the files behind her.

'What is wrong with me!?' Kenji thought to himself.

It was then both of his parents walked up.

"KENJI!" Misumi exclaimed in worry as she hurried to his side.

"Mom! Dad!" Kenji replied in relief as he stood from his chair.

Misumi crouched to Kenji's level to embrace her son in a tight yet quick hug before she surveyed any possible damage.

"Did that bully hit you again!? Where does it hurt? Do you need to see a healer?"

Chang quickly walked up behind Misumi and took a quick look at the boy,

"Other than the dirt, you don't look like you've been in a fight" Chang replied simply, very little worry in his tone.

"Well.. it-"

Kenji stuttered as he tried to get a word in, but was quickly interrupted by his mother,

"I swear that Kong should be expelled!" She complained, turning to her husband.

Misumi then took a cloth out of her bag, licked it, and tried to wipe the dirt off Kenji's cheek.

"Uh- ugh" He replied slightly annoyed

"Seriously, what happened kiddo?" Chang asked his son again, with more concern

Before Kenji could speak, a door behind him opened and a strong low toned masculine voice spoke firmly,

"I think I can answer that." The voice said

The entire time Kenji was in the administrator office there was one thing he was mentally avoiding, the one thing that strikes fear in the hearts of all children in the school… The door to the headmasters office.

"Ah, Mr. Morita, it's good to see you again," Chang replied, stepping past his son to shake the headmaster's hand.

The headmaster stood around 6 feet tall, has broad shoulders, clean cut hair, dark red eyes, and a brown suit. To most of the children in school (including Kenji) he was the intimidating person in town. However, to the parents of Senlin, he was one of the most respected community servants.

"Mr. And Mrs. Kenta, likewise. Though, I wish it was under better circumstances."

Misumi stood abruptly and asked Mr. Morita,

"What exactly happened today? And where are the parents of the boy who did this to our son?"

"I'm afraid they're in the infirmary down the hall, with their son. They won't be joining us right this moment, as his ribs are being reset"

Mr. Morita replied bluntly.

A feeling of shock and awe over took Chang and Misumi,

"What?" They replied at the same time.

Mr Morita sighed,

"Come into my office and I'll explain."

As the family of three followed Mr. Morita into the headmasters office, Misumi couldn't help but look at her son. He gazed at the floor as he slowly shuffled behind into the headmasters office, she couldn't help but worry, not just for her child, but for his bully as well. As the door closed behind them, the Kenta family settled into the smaller, pale colored, brightly lit room. Chang and Misumi sat in two wooden chairs situated in front of a large metal work desk, whilst Kenji stood in between them. As Mr. Morita sat at his desk, he opened a file that was already sitting on it, and began to speak.

"Now, According to the student eyewitnesses, your son and one Kong Vua were seen fighting in the outdoor lunch area. The end result being one severely damaged lunch table, and Mr. Vua received multiple injuries. All the while Kenji came out of this with only a large dirt stain on his person."

Misumi was speechless, staring at the headmaster like he just told her he ran over her cat. Chang on the other hand was confused,

"I don't understand, are you saying Kenji beat-up Kong?!" Chang asked with some surprised

"That's one way to put it, however, the students that were interviewed have conflicting stories. Some say that Kenji grabbed Kong by the wrist and threw him into the table, And others claim Kong tripped. However, most say it all happened so fast, that it was like a blur.-"

"Well, why didn't you ask Kong or Kenji what happened? Is the boy okay?" Misumi asked, coming out of her stupor.

"Like I mentioned, Kong is in the infirmary. During the scuffle he received several cracked ribs, a broken wrist, and was knocked unconscious. Thankfully the nurse is a well trained healer, so after a week or two he should be fine. Meanwhile Kenji here has been near catatonic. Why, seeing him get up to greet you two has been the most we've gotten out of your son since this all started. Which is one of the reasons why I called you up here. We felt he might be more comfortable telling you what happened."

Chang and Misumi turned to Kenji, who the whole time had been looking down at the floor, trying to avoid reality.

"Well Kenji? What happened?" Chang asked

Kenji tried to speak but was riddled with fear

"I.. I… don't know.. I-"

"How can you not know? You were a part of that fight!" Chang said in frustration and confusion

Kenji spoke again

"It happened so fast.. I just.."

Kenji began to trail off, then Misumi got up from her chair and crouched to Kenji's level again.

"Kenji, honey, what happened?"

Misumi asked her son gently.

"It's okay, just take a breath"

Kenji sighed very loudly, and took a moment to compose himself. Then he explained what happened.

"I was eating lunch with Ping.. then Kong bent dirt on me. He wanted to beat me up for looking at Lana in class… Then Lana came and stopped him and they broke up because he was being a bully. After that, he got even more angry and bent a rock at Ping, then tried to hit me with some rocks… Then.. I don't.. but.. he.. I got out of the way... Then he covered his fists in rock gloves and ran to pound me.. but.. I.."

Chang and Misumi looked at each other mid-story and realized this wasn't a normal fight. He had been scared to tell on bullies before, but Kenji was completely shell shocked. Recently, the only time he ever got this clammed up was when something weird happened. Which meant only one thing to them.

'It's just like the door'

They thought in unison.

Quickly, not wanting Kenji to say anything that could be seen as strange, Misumi began to take the lead in his retelling.

"That's when you tripped him?"

Misumi continued for him.

Kenji stopped and looked at his mother in confusion. Chang then chimed in,

"He must've been running at you fast huh?"

Kenji tried to speak again but was distracted by his mother nodding her head. Feeling the pressure from her, he followed along, nodding his head.

"Oh, it's okay Kenji, you were just defending yourself."

Misumi hugged Kenji, then looked to Chang.

Chang then looked back to Mr. Morita,

"Well, there you have it. Sounds like the kid was just lucky today, and used the brutes' own power against him."

Mr. Morita, thinking he was seeing exactly what the parents were doing, simply sighed.

"Look, it really doesn't matter who threw a punch or didn't. Either way, this school has a no tolerance policy for fighting-"

Misumi then rose from her crouched position on the floor with Kenji, and got right in Mr. Morita's face to interject.

"But it has no problem with bullying right? This is the fourth time this year we've had to hear about someone trying to hurt our son, and now that he's trying to protect himself, you're gonna expel him!?

Mr. Morita was visibly terrified for a second, before Chang got up and pulled back his wife.

"Woah Honey, no need to bite the guy's head off? I'm sure we can come to an understanding?"

Chang asked as he held his wife's hand, keeping her back with all his strength.

Mr. Morita composed himself as he continued.

"Mr and Mrs Kenta, we only punish when something has been reported to or seen by a teacher. I'm sorry your son has had a negative experience this year. That being said, seeing as this is the first time this kind of thing has happened with Kenji here, he'll only be suspended for a few days. Just think of it as some time to heal and… let this monstrous event go."

"That… seems reasonable. Thank you Mr. Morita. I'm sorry about this." Chang replied as he and Misumi gathered Kenji to leave.

Mr. Morita stood as the family was leaving and looked to Kenji,

"Alright, no more fighting, right Kenji?"

Kenji looked at the Headmaster, strategically avoiding eye contact as he simply looked up, nodded his head and looked back to the floor.

"Good, let's go home" Misumi said as she and Kenji left the office, behind her Chang shaking Mr. Morita's hand once more, then following his family.

As the three left the school and rode their cart home, there was nothing but silence between them. Kenji wondered why his parents lied for him. He really wanted to ask but couldn't muster up the courage. Many thoughts ran through his head, but nothing made sense. Misumi herself was worried to no end. While she put up a good front for the Headmaster, Chang, and Kenji, deep down she was terrified. 'How can her son do these things? Did his birth parents have these abilities? Is life just gonna get worse for him?' She prayed desperately for answers, but received none so far.

Chang was the only one who seemed to have any mental composure right now. The moment he and Misumi picked Kenji from that craft he had a feeling something like this would happen. He had hoped that it wouldn't, but life had other plans. He still loved his son with as much love a father could give their child, and he wanted to protect him, but now he had to protect others as well. So while Kenji was filled with confusion, and Misumi marred with fear, Chang was developing a plan. He just hoped his wife would agree.

As the sun began to set in the orange colored sky, the ostrich-horse drawn cart carrying the family of three made its way into the main yard of the Kenta farm. As the car pulled in front of the farmhouse, the family disembarked. Chang let go off the reins attached to Tongo, jumped off the seat and began to untie the ostrich-horse. Misumi slid off the "shotgun" side of the cart seat and offered her hand to her son in the back.

"Do you need help?" Misumi asked her son.

"It's okay." Kenji proclaimed quietly as he shooed his mother's hand away and jumped out of the cart on his own.

Chang by now had completely untied Tongo and shooed him into the barn. Not really feeling up to putting the cart away, he decided to leave it in the yard where it currently sat in front of the house. As Chang, Misumi, and Kenji entered their home, Chang asked Kenji to go to his room for a while.

"You should head to your room for a bit Kenji. Try and cool off okay?"

"What about my door?" Kenji asked, remembering the incident this morning.

Chang smiled briefly, then sighed,

"I already fixed it, just please head upstairs? Your mother and I have to talk."

"Okay" Kenji said briefly, staring at the floor again, knowing exactly what they were going to talk about. After taking off his shoes, he silently walked up the stairs to his room.

As a soft shuddering sound was heard from above them, Chang and Misumi both sighed in a combined feeling of relief and frustration, then walked over to their living room and sat on the couch, sitting beside each other.

The room itself had a warm feeling to it. The couch, made from a comfortable red fabric, sat under a large window. The light from the window illuminated a red and yellow accented rectangular carpet on the hardwood floor. To the right of them was a red brick fireplace, on the mantle were pictures of both Chang and Misumi's individual families, along with their own personal family portrait in the middle. On the other side of the room was a small table that held the family radio, and phonograph, with several records underneath. On the left of the radio table was a brown leather chair (Chang's personal chair), that was in front of a smaller window, but facing the couch. Above the radio table and Chang's chair, attached to the wall, is a framed large charcoal drawing Misumi made of the farmhouse. On the other side of the radio table was the door leading to the den, which was also Misumis' personal workspace for art.

Chang and Misumi leaned on each other for comfort, as most couples do. They held hands, Misumi rested her head on Changs shoulder, both quietly relaxing. They sat together for a while, silently enjoying each other's company, trying to forget about the big questions in front of them. As the day turned to night, Misumi was the first to break the silence surrounding them.

"What are we going to do about this?" Misimi asked out loud, bringing them both back to reality

Chang was quiet, and did not respond.

"I mean, breaking doors is one thing… but he actually hurt someone today Chang…" Misumi continued, lifting her head to look Chang in the eye.

Still, Chang did not respond. He simply sighed, shook his head, and looked down to the floor.

Misumi then stood, facing away from her husband,

"He's always been kind, loving, intelligent… Sure, he's been bullied a bit, but he's never fought before, it's just not like him."

"Chang, how are we supposed to handle this?" Misumi asked again, turning to face her husband

Finally, he looked up to his wife, who was on the verge of tears, and said,

"I think I know." He said simply, then continued,

"He's always been our special boy, but I think it's time he knew how special."

"What do you mean?" Misumi asked Chang,

"I mean, I think it's time we told him about the truth of where he comes from."

Misumis feelings of confusion and sadness quickly morphed into terror. Her eyes grew wide in shock,

"You can't be serious!" She shouted.

Chang stood and quickly cupped his wife's mouth,

"Shush!" He responded in an equally harsh, yet hushed tone.

Misumi shooed away her husband's hand for her mouth and took a step back,

"Did you switch brains with Tongo? Or have you always been this crazy?" She asked in a sarcastic tone.

"We've never even told him he's adopted, let alone that he dropped out of the sky in a big burning flying machine! How do you think he's going to react?! That kind of unexpected shock can do a lot of trauma to a little boy"

Changs hand firmly clamped his forehead for a moment, in an futile attempt to relieve the headache he had developed. He then answered his wife,

"Right now, we can't just be focused on his well-being… you said it yourself, he hurt a kid today, and whether on purpose or by accident, it happened. And it could happen again…"

Misumi quickly responded,

"And suddenly breaking the news of his true parentage is supposed to help?"

"It would hurt more if we didn't. At least with the knowledge that he actually is different from everybody else, he could start learning about himself, know what his limits should be and start setting his own boundaries. We could even help him do that!" Chang said, emphasizing the importance of boundaries.

"But what if somebody else finds out? The community shuns him, or some lab out there tries to take him?"

"We've run that risk from the moment we found him. We can teach him to keep his own secret. Besides, it's not like we have any other options Misumi! We can't keep lying to him, especially after today!"

Misumis face turned red, and her eyes began to well up again as she responded,

"But, he's just a child… He's gentle and caring… How does someone even react to this? What will he even think of us? He… We… Why..." She said as she began to softly cry.

Chang took a step closer to his wife and embraced her in a big hug.

"I know… and he's probably more scared than we are right now. But he's not going to be a child forever... He has a right to know…"

(Earlier)

Upstairs in Kenjis' bedroom, the young boy had just carefully closed his recently repaired door. Softly sighing to himself, he took off his school jacket and shoes, and proceeded to flop onto his bed.

*THUD*

His face buried in his pillow, Kenji groaned in frustration.

"Uuuuugggghhhh"

He laid there, face down awhile, slowly contemplating all the mistakes he made today, counting them in his head, like so many sheep. Things were quiet and comfortable, and soon enough, everything went dark.

Back at the Senlin School, in Kenji's class, Mrs. Fang-Yin spoke to the students of her class,

"Okay class, please write down the following dates, as these will be your guide for your research project on the founders of the Senlin. Remember, you must choose someone who-"

As the teacher continued talking to the class on their instructions, Kenji was doodling in his notebook. Random crude renderings of the teacher, his bullies, and multiple life events almost filled one full page. As Kenji finished a drawing of the farmhouse completely filling the page, he turned to the next one to start anew. However, to his amazement, it was already filled. Several drawings of a serpent/dragon symbol filled the next page of his notebook. Confused, he turned to the next page, this time though, it was filled with a drawing of a map.

"What?"

A further confused Kenji said quietly to himself, not recognizing any continents or labels.

Suddenly, the map began to change. Penceled cracks began to draw themselves on the strange landmasses, and thousands of voices screaming in terror began eminating from notebook.

The voices became louder and louder, and Kenji cupped his ears in a futile attempt to deafen the sound. He looked around the classroom but no one other than him seemed to notice, the teacher and students still talking and note taking respectively. Soon enough, the screaming became unbearable, and just as he though the terror would never end, a large crack showed up in the middle of the map, and the whole drawing began to fall apart on the page, permanently stopping the screaming. Kenji breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that was the end of it and turned the page, only to see a doodle of a cylindrical finned object. Kenji stared at the drawing in fear, knowing it would do something weird , but slowly began to feel as though he'd seen it before. Trying his best to place the foggy evocation, he slowly moved his face closer and closer to the page, until, out of nowhere, the object rocketed off the page! Kenji fell back in his seat as the paper object flew all over the classroom, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake.

Again, nobody seemed to notice the strange flying paper doodle as it flew under desks, rocketed past posters, and blew books off shelves and out of its way. That is, until it hit Mrs Fang-Yin, right in the face. Kenji winced as the doodle became a wad of paper in the face of his teacher. Mrs. Fang-Yin stood stunned as every student (but Kenji) laughed. Red faced, she picked up the paper wad and yelled with intense anger,

"WHO THREW THIS!?"

Immediately, every kid pointed at Kenjis' desk. Surprised at the reaction, Kenji looked around at his fellow classmates, their eyes all on him.

"I…Ah, I.."

Kenji tried to speak in his defense, but couldn't muster up anything. Then, suddenly at Kenji's side was Mrs. Fang-Yin, now several feet taller and with sharp fangs for teeth, began to berate him.

"WHY WOULD TRY TO HURT A DEFENSELESS WOMAN LIKE ME?! WHAT KIND OF LITTLE MONSTER ARE YOU?!"

She spoke with a loud booming voice, scaring Kenji to his core.

"But, I… I Didn't-"

Kenji again tried to speak in his defense, but was interrupted by his classmates.

"MONSTER, MONSTER, MONSTER, MONSTER, MONSTER!"

Their bodies and faces had all morphed into huge characachures of themselves, all chanting that same word, over and over again.

"MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER!"

Kenji again tried to defend himself,

"I'm not a monster…" He said quietly, but the surrounding voices of his peers still proclaimed otherwise.

"MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER!"

"I'm not a monster!" He said again, this time with more feeling, but still, they persisted.

"MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER!"

Suddenly his eyes began to redden, as he said even louder,

"I'm not a monster!"

"MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER!"

The pressure had finally gotten to him, and Kenji just stood up and let go,

"AAAAHHHHHHH!"

*FFFFSSSHHOOOMM*

He screamed and let loose a massive red beam of light out of his eyes, as everything and everyone around him turned into ash!

*Huff* *Inhale* *Huff* *Inhale*

Kenji inhaled and exhaled in exhaustion, as he clamped his eyes shut. He was happy to feel a moment of relief now that the voices were gone. That is until a new one came out of nowhere

"Open your eyes Kenji" The voice said softly.

Immediately, he recognised it as his mother.

"Mom?" He cried out as he opened his eyes, only to see nothing but a world of ash. The school in ruins overlooking a town on fire under a dark red sky.

"Over here Kenji" His mother beckoned

Kenji turned to see his mother, unhurt and clean, sitting in the rubble waiting for him. Kenji's eyes began to well up as he ran to his Mom. In What seemed like a blink of an eye he was hugging her as tightly as he could.

"I'M SO SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TOO, I JUST GOT SO ANGRY AND-"

*CRACK*

Kenji was silenced by a large snapping sound.

"Wha-"

Kenji, confused, let go of his mother. Only to see her pale body slump and fall into the ashy dirt.

"No…"

Kenji stood and stepped back as the corpse of his mother began to decay rapidly in front of him, leaving nothing but bones that appeared broken from intense trauma. Kenji grabbed his head in terror,

"NoNoNONONONONO!" He began to scream.

"Kenji"

He heard another voice,

"Kenji!" It said again with force.

Kenji turned around to meet the voice, only to be met with the severely burned visage of his father yelling at him.

"KENJI!"

In a moment of shock, Kenji gasped, twisted around in his bed and sat up, only to see his father in the lit doorway to his darkened bedroom.

"Kenji, come downstairs, we need to talk." Chang softly commanded his son.

Kenji, feeling a little groggy and still slightly terrified, looked to his non-burned father and said,

"Okay, in a sec."

Chang nodded and walked away from Kenjis' bedroom downstairs.

It took him a moment to get his bearings, but Kenji soon realized it was only a dream. Everyone was okay… That is, until he remembered what had happened earlier today and groaned slightly…

"Ough…"

"Kenji, now please" He heard his mother now.

Not wanting to make things worse, Kenji complied and got up, wearing only a red t-shirt and his blue school pants, he left his room and went downstairs to see what his punishment would be.

AN: Okay, you can put down you torches and pitchforks, this ogre has left the swamp! Sorry it's taken me this long to get this done, I hope you understand, this was WAY down on my list of priorities. That, mixed with writers block (especially with that nightmare scene, which I hope you don't lose sleep over btw, my editor said it scared the crap out of her). Anyway, I hope you enjoy what I've written thus far. If you have any questions or comments I'd love to hear them. I will do my best to get chapter four out by the end of this year or earlier.

-LL&P