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Series One Side Story Behind Every Mask He sat, curled up on a bridge. His blue eye and his green eye both looked tired. It was the ever mysterious, dark, and blank Kint. It was odd to see such eyes from under the shadow cast by his dark navy blue hoodie. He wore blue jeans, his legs bent so he could lasso his arms around them. As far as anyone could tell, he was barefoot. Earlier that month "Come on Kint! I'll let you be Sailor Flotsam!" the young bronze-haired girl begged him, tugging on his shirt. She was seven or eight years old, most likely eight. "Aww, aren't you too old to be playing dress-up? And who are you supposed to be? Sailor Korbat?" he asked the girl, looking over her multcolored pink-hued Sailor Neopet costume. "No, yuck! I'm the elegant Sailor Meepit," she told him, beaming. Kint laughed. "There aren't any Sailor Petpets. That's be too much, y'know? I have enough trouble keeping up with what Neopets happen to have Sailors for them. There are a lot of Neopets, y'know, and even more petpets." He ruffled her hair, moving to a plastic container in a corner of the room. "Where'd you put the Sailor Flotsam costume?" His hands moved to his jeans pocket, pulling out a lighter; he flipped it around his fingers. He lit it every once in a while, noticing that it still worked. It was, as they call them, a 'lucky lighter' - not much luck to it, though. He just kept in in case of danger. It began to rain . . . "You don't have the mask any more?" Kint asked the girl. He was wearing a handmade costume and searching through the bin. The girl shook her head no. "Well, loyal sidekick, that's just too bad; we'll just have to fight crime without it," he announced, standing in a heroic yet comical pose. "Sidekick? What's this nonsense? I'm good enough to be your boss," she informed him, sticking out her tongue. "Let's settle this . . ." Kint said, rummaging through his pockets. He grinned mischievously, pulling out his hands - they were exactly the same as before - and shouting, "Flotsam Tickle!" He moved towards the girl, tickling her; she shrieked with laughter, trying tp fight back. An older girl, about 12, walked into the room, rolling her eyes at her sister and the babysitter. She had gold hair and green eyes. "I think it's bedtime for little Stacy," she said, talking about 'Sailor Meepit'. Kint stood up, putting his arms over the fence that kept people from straying off the side of the bridge. He swung a leg over the side of the fence; it was followed by the other one. He was standing on a narrow ledge, maybe a foot long. It rained harder. "Sloth!" cried Sailor Meepit, looking at her sister. Her eyes narrowed. "Flotsam, it looks like it's time for you to flip," she demanded. Kint shook his haid. "Maybe a cartwheel, but no flip." He looked down at Stacy, who gave him big begging eyes. "Flotsam Round-off!" he shouted, giving into the plea. He cartwheeled and landed in a half flip, less than an inch in front of the intruder. Sailor Meepit cheered as the other girl exited the room. She gave Kint a high-five before saying anything. "I wish I knew Sailor Flotsam," she remarked sadly, looking at the floor. "Why?" asked Kint, curious. He took off his hoodie, revealing a red T-shirt that said Got Kau? with a picture of a Kau in the middle. He looked down at the river, as the words he hadn't taken seriously came back to him: The boys at my school pick on me. Stacy, whom he had babysat for most of her life, had told him that. He'd told her to stand up to them. A week ago After school on Wednesday, Stacy had begged him to beat up the bullies (how could you resist that cute little girl?!); he came not to beat them up, but to see what was really happening here. He came too late. There was a crowd of schoolpets and children, some he recognized and some he didn't, standing around a body, some of them fleeing to look for an adult. Kint pushed through the crowd to see Stacy the last time he ever would. He saw her as a little girl, defenseless and struggling. She was gone. Kint heard a scream for help and turned around. On the path next to the water, a woman was getting mugged. Kint wasn't about to let the mugger get away. For every time I think of Stacy . . . he thought as he climbed back over the fence. . . . I'll save another innocent Neopian from a wrong that nobody else will right, he vowed, running toward the woman and her attacker, transforming into the hero that he should have been for Stacy. "Behind every mask
is a cry from the past." |