A sixteen year old student ran across the hallway, his boots crashing against the tiled floor, making loud thudding sounds that bounced off the walls.
His feet moved fast, too fast for his eyes to keep up, causing him to bumped into someone, his boots stepped aggressively against theirs.
"Hey, watch it, loser!" the other student barked at him, but that didn't make him stop. He kept running with purpose.
He managed to reach the end of the long hallway.
Then, he readied himself to make a hard turn to the right, slowing down wasn't an option for him right now, because a few meters behind him, another student chased after him and his own face hard with determination.
His thick red hair swayed on the wind as he ran after his prey.
"You better stop running, Axel! You'll eventually tire out, but me? I've got all the stamina of twenty men!"
The sixteen year old, whose name was Axel, however, did not stop running.
Eventually he made the turn, but then, he came to a screeching halt, almost tripping over himself, but he managed to recover at the last second.
Waiting for him at the corner were two other students. He turned around, ready to make a run for it, but it was too late, the red haired student chasing him had already caught up. He was cornered.
Literally.
"Where are you running to, Axel?" one of the student with brown hair asked, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"I told you you'd eventually tire out," the one with the red hair mocked as he grabbed Axel by the collar.
Axel squeezed his face as he semi-shrugged his shoulders. "Well, technically, I didn't tire out.
Your friends are in my way. Maybe if you could let me go, we can continue our little race, sound good?"
"You don't know when to shut up, do you?" the student growled as he lifted Axel up with sheer strength, like he weighed nothing, and threw him across the hallway.
Axel's back came into loud, bone-cracking contact with the wall.
His body went limp as he plummeted to the ground, pain tore through his spine causing him to grit his teeth.
"There's no place for a weakling like yourself in this world. Better to just die and get it over with, don't you think, boys?" the one who threw him suggested, exchanging a few laughs with his two friends.
"I mean, really. Why are you so bothered by my useless existence anyway?" Axel groaned.
"I'm weak, yes. I don't have an ability, yes, hell, I don't even have money like you do… Why are you so bothered by me?"
"What are you getting at?" the red haired one asked, approaching Axel, who was still on the floor, slowly.
"Are you sure you don't have a crush on me? 'Cause your obsession with me is getting out of—"
GRUNT!
A sharp pain tore through his ribs as the student's fist connected with his chest before he could complete his sentence.
One of his ribs snapped on impact due to the sheer force of the hit.
A small ripple of green aftereffects from the punch lingered in the air for a moment before dissipating.
Axel coughed up a large amount of blood. His mouth was now bloody, still, it twitched like he wanted to keep running his mouth, but the pain was too much, he couldn't speak.
"That's enough, Kaze. You've drawn blood," one of the other students watching said.
"Yeah," the other agreed. "Let's go."
The student known as Kaze stood up from his position. He turned to his friends, then back to Axel.
"Your kind is the problem the world needs to fix," Kaze muttered, his voice laced with so much disgust it took effort not to spit on Axel. He and his friends eventually walked away.
Axel just lay there. He was in a lot of pain, not just the physical pain surging through his body, but the emotional pain of being normal, the pain of not having an ability.
One out of a hundred people was born without an ability, 'useless,' and unfortunately, Axel was one of them.
His mind spun at the reality of his life, and the lives of so many others like him.
He grew up being told abilities were meant to protect and defend those who couldn't defend themselves. Now? They were nothing more than tools of hierarchy and social status.
They were being used to prey on the weak, and no one hated being weak more than Axel.
But there was nothing he could do about it, except endure being constantly bullied.
Eventually, Axel decided he couldn't stay on the floor, beaten down forever.
He had to find a way to get home, but that wouldn't be possible.
He couldn't walk home with a broken rib and a concussed head.
'I won't be able to make it home. Guess I'll just have to spend the night in the locker room. Again'
*sigh*
The locker room was his makeshift home for whenever he found himself stuck in a situation like this. This wasn't his first rodeo.
Pushing himself up from the ground, Axel managed to walk all the way to the locker room, taking each step one at a time.
"Goddamn," he grunted as he sat down on a bench, wiping the blood off his mouth with his sleeve.
Axel spent a few minutes alone in silence, until...
"I knew you'd come in here eventually."
A voice came from behind one of the lockers. Axel, startled at first, immediately frowned, he knew who it was.
"What do you want, Kaze? You've done enough for one day, thought you went home." Axel muttered.
Kaze emerged from the shadow of the dimly lit locker room.
He wasn't smiling. He glared at Axel, walking slowly toward him like Axel had just taken something that belonged to him.
"Oh, I'm not done with you yet. School has closed, everyone has gone home, it's just you and me."
Shivers surged through Axel's spine. He didn't like where this was going.
"Hey, look, man… whatever you're thinking of doing, don't do it, I can only take so much." Axel said, his voice almost pleading.
Kaze clenched his fists, and instantly, green light energy began to swirl around them, wrapping around his hands like hardened carbon.
As soon as it covered most of his arm, he swung it at Axel, hitting him square across the already broken rib.
*CRACK!*
Two more of his ribs snapped on impact. Axel screamed in pain, but his screams couldn't be heard by anyone.
The school had been closed for the year and there was no one to hear him scream.
Kaze wasn't done yet. Grabbing Axel by the collar and slamming him against the wall, he punched Axel in the stomach. Once, twice, again, and again, and again, until Axel could barely breathe.
Axel's body slumped to the ground, blood spewing from his mouth and nose.
At this point, most of his ribs were already broken. He could barely breathe, his shattered ribs and collapsed lungs made every gasp feel like fire.
He gargled and jerked as more blood erupted from his mouth, and to top it all, he was choking on it.
But Kaze...Kaze didn't even look horrified. He looked like a predator.
"Your kind is the problem this world needs to fix, I think I've said that before." Kaze repeated the exact same words from earlier in the hallway.
"Why don't I start fixing it, starting with you?" he muttered.
The green energy wrapped around his entire forearm began to glow even brighter. Radiation pulsed from it, making the air around them thick and hot.
As severe as his injuries were, Axel's mind was still active. He had spent his entire life trying to survive in a cruel world, but at least now, he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. It would end here for him. No more pain. No more cruelty.
Axel saw his life flash before his eyes. He knew this was the end, he couldn't understand why kaze would want him dead. This had gotten way too far from the normal bullying.
'So this is how I go. Bad way to go. Oh no, Kris… Who's going to look after Kris? How will she take the news of my death? Okay, she's going to be fine. She doesn't need me. She never did. She's strong,' Axel thought amidst the unbearable pain.
He closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow from Kaze, but then he heard a sound inside his head.
*Ding!*
He opened his eyes and couldn't believe what he was seeing. A holographic screen hovered in front of him, displaying scrolls of text.
> [Congratulations! You've successfully unlocked your Infernal System.]
[Warning! Warning!]
[System has detected severe internal injuries and organ failure.]
[Warning! System has detected an incoming attack!]
[Calculating chances of survival in current state…]
[Chances of survival: 0%]
[Commencing backup protocol…]
[Backup successful.] <
Is this what people see before they die? Axel wondered.
As soon as Kaze's ability hit maximum, he slammed his fist down on Axel's chest. The force of the impact shattered the rest of Axel's bones, delivering a fatal blow straight to his heart, killing him instantly...
*****