I still remembered getting home after that day.

My father was the CEO of a multimillion dollar corporation, I had nothing to fear if I were to tell my father about what they were doing to me. And yet, I didn't.

The reason why was simple: I didn't want to add to his burden.

When I came home that day, I remember him sitting at the kitchen table. Not doing anything, just sitting.

His eyes were hollow and unseeing as he stared blankly at his hands. More specifically, what he held in them. It was my mother's gold wedding ring on a thin gold chain, something he would go on to keep on his person at all times.

Seeing him so broken left me frozen. My face beaten and swollen, I simply stood in the doorway directly behind him. If he'd merely turned around to face me, things would've been completely different.

Turn around!

I cried out, but of course I couldn't change anything.

JUST TURN AROUND!

Nothing.

TURN AROUND TURN AROUND TURN AROUND

My father simply... got up and walked away.

Once again, all that this memory brought me was hatred.

"You really were stupid, weren't you?"

Shut up

"And that wasn't the end of your mistakes, was it?"

I said shut up, why are you doing this?

On some level, I knew why the figure was showing me this. It wasn't done, but I knew. It was showing me the truth that I already knew: that humanity was full of scum that didn't care about anybody else. That the heroes in comic books didn't exist, that there was nobody to protect the weak.

"Very well, I suppose it would be more effective to just visit there anyway."

---

"Whoa! Are you hurt?"

I was laying on the ground when he approached me, fresh out of a round of beating. He quickly rushed over to me before trying to help me up carefully. Of course, back then I was confused and thankful.

Who would go out of their way to help me? That was the kind of thought that constantly occupied my mind back then. Of course, it was only now that I realized how dumb and hopeful I'd been. He'd even asked something like "are you hurt?" when I was spitting blood in front of him.

"We should get you to the infirmary!"

I felt grateful to him for caring, but rapidly shook my head to the contrary. This kind of thing had been going on for two years already, and I didn't want anybody else getting involved or hurt.

My mind now, from the future, was filled not with gratitude but rather the overwhelming desire to punch that kind smile in the face. After all, despite all his sweet words he hadn't made a single actual effort to do anything helpful. Despite being adamant about taking me to the infirmary, he hadn't taken so much as a step forward.

"S-stop! Get away from me!"

I pushed him away with what little strength I had, which of course caused him to stumble back dramatically. He then looked up at me with big eyes.

"Why?! You're hurt!"

As though you cared.

"Just leave me alone, jerk!"

"As if I could do that! Who did this to you?"

"If you don't leave here before somebody sees you, you'll end up like me!"

Against my better judgement, I was shouting. However, something about this guy was already making me trust him. He had a certain... charisma, of sorts. Coupled with his good looks and kind eyes, Eliot Sampson was like a magnet for broken people like me.

"I don't care!"

I spent the next half hour trying to convince him to leave me alone, but to no avail. He stuck with me, forced me to go to the infirmary. After that, he treated me like a real friend, the first I'd had in a long while. Even before I'd gotten into this mess with Alexander, not many people wanted to associate with the loner fat guy.

He'd greet me in the hallway, nothing but blue eyes, spiky black hair, and smiles. Whenever he was around me, the bullying would stop. He was like a savior to me. If I'd been paying better attention, I'd have known that he was the most popular guy in my grade. Of course, I'd learn that later on and always wonder why he'd bothered associating with me.

If only I'd known then, I could've avoided the pain I felt when he stabbed me in the back.

Even when we got to college, he was still my only real friend. All smiles, whenever he walked into a room he was immediately in full control. That's part of the reason why I was so confused when he brought Cassidy to me.

She was honestly one of the most beautiful girls I'd ever seen. Her red hair and jade eyes seemed bright and alive, her face like something straight out of a fashion magazine. When he went to introduce us, I'd immediately thought she was his girlfriend. I was downright shocked when he said she was interested in me.

It took more than a year for me to find out what had happened. After so much time spent believing not only in him, but falling for her, the wound to my heart was only made deeper.

We went on dates, held hands, kissed, everything. I told her about all of my insecurities, showed her the scars I lived with every day. I'd even introduced her to my family. However, one fateful day that all came to an end.

It was about a week and a half before her birthday. She'd always been smart in more ways than one, so I'd never been able to surprise her. Since I figured she'd realize if I planned a surprise party for her on the day, I decided to mix things up and do things early. I waited until she said she was out of the house to go set things up.

However, in the middle of stepping joyfully towards the door to her apartment, I stopped in place.

The reason why? The voices coming from within. I could hear Cassidy's familiar laughter coming from within.

I was surprised, and curiosity overpowered me. As if by instinct, I pressed my ear against the cold wooden door.

"How much longer do I need to keep playing with that idiot?"

"Relax, isn't the current situation enough? I mean, all the free vacations because his family is rich, plus he buys you whatever you want."

Huh? Who could they be talking about?

Of course, I couldn't imagine at that point that they might be talking about me. After all, it wasn't like Annie was talking to some random guy. She was talking to my best friend, Eliot.

"Sure, all the money Jack's family gives me is great, Plus, you get your cut. But imagine having to be that guy's girlfriend. Like have you seen that ugly guy? That face, that fat body, those gross scars. Ugh, gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it..."

"Oh c'mon. If you really want to get out, at least wait until after your birthday. All those gifts... it would be such a waste not to at least do that."

Eliot laughed mockingly. It was impossible for me not to acknowledge the truth now.

My brain shut off as I placed my hand on the doorknob and slowly placed the key in it before turning it.

As the door swung open, it felt like all my emotions were paralyzed.

I took the party supplies and placed them on the table. I could barely even see Cassidy and Eliot as they looked at me, flustered. My ears didn't even register their shouts.

I vaguely felt a hand on my shoulder, though I wasn't sure who it belonged to.

In a daze, I found myself in a park before I knew it. I sat on a bench, my phone in my hand as people milled about.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah? You don't sound great, is everything ok?"

"I was wondering, could I by any chance join you and Alice on that trip?"

---

Darkness once again swallowed me as the memory drifted away.

"Wow, betrayed by the few people you trusted! That's certainly an interesting twist! And as for what comes next, well I'm pretty sure we all know! Still, must be hard for you. I mean, after all that, you had to watch your sister not only get all but beaten up by adults as you helplessy watched, but then eaten by a dragon! And your dad, who even knows what happened to him?! You've got to tell me what's going through your head right now."

...Suck

"Hm? What was that?"

People, they suck. Sure, there are some exceptions, but as a rule they're selfish, evil creatures.

"Wow wow, so what would you like to do about it?"

Do... about it?

"Well, yes. You see, I've got something special I cooked up that I never thought I'd get the chance to use. However, if I'm going to give it to you I'll have to make sure you're the one. Only makes sense, right?"

Something special?

"Yes, a gift of sorts. Now tell me, what would you like to do with this world? Rule it? Change it? Save it?"

...

"What, cat got your tongue?"

...I would overthrow it. Rid this world of the people who hurt others, the people that don't deserve what they have.

"Hmmmmm... I like it! How do you propose to get rid of these people? Killing them?"

Perhaps once upon a time, I would've flinched at those words. However, having been reminded of what I'd been put through as others simply watched, I was filled with a profound realization. More than that, I was filled with a profound hatred.

I'd been ignoring much of my past because of the pain it caused me just to think about, but I couldn't run anymore. Not from my past, and not from the truth.

People were not inherently good. They were inherently good. The number of good people I'd met could be counted on one hand, not even filling it up. It was probably only my gentle mother, broken father, and innocent sister. Now, at least two of them were gone.

...If necessary

"Even more impressive than I thought at first! Such resolve despite an inherently gentle nature! Very well, I'll give it to you!"

Clap clap

The sound of two claps rang out, and suddenly I was back in that space surrounded by stars. The figure stood before me, rooting around in a fish bowl of sorts. Inside the bowl were marbles.

The most common were green, then bronze, then silver, then gold.After that, only two rainbow marbles were in the jar. I didn't know how I knew the numbers, but it was like they were displayed in my mind.

However, it didn't seem like the figure was going after any of those. Rather, it rooted around for a few seconds, causing some of the marbles to spill out on the ground.

"Come on... ah, there!"

The figure spoke cheerfully as it pulled out a marble different from the rest. It was pure black, like a black hole trapped in glass. It swirled inside of the marble, a small black cloud of mist emanating from it. It seemed to beat like it was alive.

"What is that?" I said.

Or rather, I tried to say. As I tried to speak, I found that I couldn't. I couldn't even move my body an inch.

"Oh, if you're wondering, I paralyzed you temporarily. Wouldn't want you squirming around, after all. I suppose that's part of why having the recipient asleep during the process is better..."

The figure stepped towards me, growing closer. Then, quite suddenly, it stretched out the hand gripping the marble towards my stomach.

Then, as if by some grotesque magic its hand seemed to dig directly into me.

The pain was overwhelming as it did so, as if it were tearing apart my very soul. However, not even a cry escaped my lips due to the paralysis.

"Ah, does it go here? Or over here?"

I wanted to scream at it to hurry up as I felt its squirm inside of me.

"There we go!"

As it pulled its hand back, the haze around its face seemed to grow less distinct. As darkness encompassed my vision again (seriously, it felt like I was blacking out far too normal to be healthy), I was certain that I saw it smile faintly.

"Be sure to make good use of it! As long as you don't die too soon, you should definitely be the strongest there is!"

"..."

"Oh, and if I were you I wouldn't tell anybody that you met me. I doubt the others would be happy with that!"

Others?

As I questioned in my mind, my consciousness drifted off once more.