Some students cheered while others kept their phones raised high above the crowd, trying to record over each other's shoulders. A few backed against the lockers to avoid getting dragged into the fight while others laughed openly like this was the best part of their morning.
"Knock his ass out!"
"Yo, hurry up already!"
"Damn, he's actually trying to fight back."
Mark's smile finally disappeared. The amusement faded from his face little by little until irritation replaced it completely.
"Annoying little shit."
John stepped closer and placed a hand against Mark's shoulder.
"Take it easy," he muttered. "He does not even have powers."
Mark shoved the arm off immediately without looking at him.
"I said I got it."
Alan forced himself upright again, breathing unevenly through the pain hammering inside his ribs. Sweat rolled down the side of his face while his chest rose and fell harder with every second. His arms already felt heavy, but adrenaline kept dragging him forward anyway.
He rushed Mark before his body could second guess it.
Alan threw two quick punches directly toward Mark's face.
Both fists connected solidly against Mark's forehead.
The reaction instantly felt wrong.
Pain shot violently through Alan's knuckles and wrists like he had punched concrete. His entire arms jerked backward from the impact.
"…UGH my hand… what the fuck…"
Alan stumbled half a step away, shaking his hands in disbelief.
"Is this guy made of fucking steel?"
Mark's expression darkened.
Then his forehead smashed directly into Alan's.
The crack echoed through the hallway loud enough to make several students flinch.
Alan's vision exploded white for a second. His body reeled sideways into the lockers while the back of his shoulder slammed hard against metal doors.
Mark grabbed a fistful of Alan's uniform before he could fall and yanked him forward violently.
"You really think you can insult my dead father and walk away from it?" Mark snarled into his face.
His grip tightened harder around Alan's collar.
"You are a powerless little fuck. You never had a chance."
A punch buried itself deep into Alan's stomach.
His entire body folded instantly. Air ripped out of his lungs so hard he nearly collapsed on the spot.
The crowd reacted loudly.
"OOOOH!"
"Damn!"
Alan coughed hard and nearly choked trying to inhale again, but somehow a weak laugh still slipped out between breaths.
"You are proving my point…"
Blood coated the corner of his mouth.
"Even with powers… you are still weak enough to target people weaker than you just to feel important."
Mark's face twitched.
Alan forced himself to keep talking despite the pain tearing through his chest.
"You want attention so damn bad that you act like this every day." He laughed again weakly. "Honestly… I kinda pity you. You got nobody."
Mark immediately drove another punch into his ribs.
Alan's body slammed sideways into the lockers again. One of the locker doors burst open from the impact and clipped another student trying to record nearby.
"Watch it, I'm standing here!"
Another punch hit Alan across the jaw before he could recover. Then another into his side.
The hits stopped feeling separate after a while. Everything started blending together into dull bursts of pressure and heat.
Alan tried swinging back blindly during the struggle. Mark leaned aside at the last second and Alan's fist smashed directly into a locker instead.
Pain exploded across his knuckles.
"Fuck!"
The crowd laughed instantly.
"He cannot even hit him!"
"Dude punched the locker instead!"
John rubbed a hand down his face while glancing nervously toward the hallway intersections again.
"Mark, chill out already. You are gonna seriously hurt him."
Mark grabbed Alan by the front of his shirt again and shoved him hard against the lockers.
Metal rattled violently behind him.
"Then maybe he should've learned when to shut the fuck up."
John stepped closer and grabbed Mark's wrist this time.
"Seriously. Stop dude."
Mark ripped his arm free aggressively.
"Get off me." He pointed toward Alan without taking his eyes off him. "I am not gonna kill him. I am not stupid."
Alan tried lifting his arms defensively again, but his movements slowed badly now. His breathing came out ragged and uneven. His legs barely held his weight anymore.
Mark drove his knee straight into Alan's stomach.
Everything inside Alan folded violently.
His feet left the floor for half a second before he crashed down onto both knees.
A rough gasp tore out of his throat.
The hallway tilted sideways around him.
"Shit…" Alan thought weakly. "It feels like getting hit by a damn truck…"
His hands pressed shakily against the floor tiles while nausea twisted through his stomach.
"I feel tired…"
Voices around him started sounding farther away.
"Maybe if I just stay down for a minute… and rest a little!"
His arms finally gave out completely.
Alan collapsed onto the cold hallway floor while struggling to breathe properly.
Blood dripped slowly from the corner of his mouth onto the tiles beneath him. One side of his face already looked swollen. His ribs screamed every time he tried inhaling deeply.
The crowd watched silently for a moment.
Then some students started laughing again.
Alan forced one arm underneath himself and tried crawling away through the pain.
Mark looked down at him with disgust before suddenly stomping down onto Alan's forearm.
Alan screamed.
His entire body jerked violently against the floor while his fingers clawed uselessly against the tiles.
A few students visibly recoiled at that one.
"Yo…" [a random student chuckled.]
"Okay, that was messed up."
Mark crouched beside him and grabbed the back of Alan's shirt, forcing him partly upright.
"Are you acting tough now?"
John immediately shoved Mark backward this time harder than before.
"That is over, come with me. Now!"
Mark looked irritated but finally stepped back.
John exhaled heavily and looked down at Alan lying there.
"I tried stopping him," he muttered. "Next time think before talking shit."
Mark laughed quietly under his breath.
"Pathetic loser."
He reached into Alan's pocket and pulled out a few loose coins.
The metal jingled inside his hand.
"Damn," he mocked. "Lunch money secured."
Several people nearby laughed again.
Mark tossed one of the coins toward Alan's chest before turning away.
"Come on. Let's go."
John glanced down at Alan one last time before following him through the dispersing crowd.
"Show's over!" somebody yelled.
"He talked all that shit just to get folded."
"Man got wrecked."
"He should've stayed quiet and left Lucas to deal with his own problems."
Students slowly drifted away afterward, already replaying the recordings on their phones while talking over each other.
Within less than a minute, the hallway almost returned to normal.
Conversations started again.
Lockers opened.
People walked past without stopping.
Alan remained sprawled across the floor near the dented lockers, staring weakly up at the ceiling lights while his chest burned with every breath.
His ears still rang.
Nobody came back for him.
Not a single person.