“You’re all monsters,” Kvebj cried. “Deceit told us about all of you, you filthy halflings.”

“Cry me a river, bitch,” Mary Jane said.

A cute baby chicken appeared on her phone, and the word Level Complete popped up as she finally found the word craven. Cheery music played as Kvebj cried, stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Mary Jane's heart raced, and she truly started to believe that she would win her fight. She won her crossword puzzle, and her frantic mind was taking it as a sign.

"No wonder your God has abandoned the 7th Realm," Kvebj cried. "You all get your powers from forces no one should have."

Mary Jane rolled her eyes, used to hearing the tales.

"You believe that shit," she snickered. "That the astrals are descendants of gods?"

“How can you not,” he screamed. “The dead walk among you and you question a higher power!?!”

“It’s just Regalian propaganda. They told us that when they colonized us.”

“It’s the truth,” Kvebj whispered.

"Don't believe the lies of imperialist colonizers," Mary Jane screamed. "They make us think we're weak when they're the weakest of us all!”

Kvebj stepped to the side and Mary Jane stepped along with him, expecting him to try and escape.

“If you run I’ll just chase you,” she lied.

She planned on leaving if he got too far away.

“You’re all monsters,” the demon shouted. “No wonder Deceit wants your bodies!”

“I feel sorry for you,” Mary Jane whispered. “You’re going to die believing the words of slavers and subjugators.”

“I don’t need your pity,” he screamed. “I speak the truth!”

“You don’t know anything.”

"I know it to be true," Kvebj whispered. "How else could you be so cruel? You're just like them."

Kvebj exploded as his ability had worn out, after only four minutes.

Mary Jane screamed as she felt the ribs from his body scrape her arms. Pieces of him flew outwards and coated the lockers. She shrieked over and over again, shaking her hands and crying, no longer invincible.

Mary Jane tried not to cry as she shivered, covered in his black blood.

I miss Levi.

Mary Jane was now soaked in tar from head to toe, and her eyes glowed even brighter, nervous from her victory. She felt like something inside of her had changed after she killed Kvebj.

I'm not a monster. He's just a loser.

“As if I would lose to some bitch called Kevin,” she whispered.

She spat out whatever tar got into her mouth and tried to push it out from her nostrils. She tried to wipe it off on the walls, but instead, she ended up just slipping the more she tried to move around.

This weave cost too much money. I can’t believe I wasted it on that fool.

After getting most of the tar off her feet, she could finally walk and found other people. They were scared when they saw her, covered in tar, the only thing visible being her glowing eyes.

They were hiding inside the auxiliary gym, with the weight equipment and the terrible smell of sweat lingering in the air. They all froze when they saw her and she simply walked inside, not asking for permission.

Using the last of her phone battery, she made her way to the locker room and turned on the shower. The sludge dripped down her body, and Mary Jane realized she hadn’t had a shower in almost two days.

The adrenaline wore off and she started to cry.

“I hate it here,” she cried. “I’m tired of pretending to be strong.”

She only cried in the shower or the dark, because it didn't feel like she was crying. They both covered her weakness and shame.

I was so sure I was going to die back there. I can’t be wandering alone anymore. I got lucky.

After her shower, she tried to squeeze as much water and tar out of her hair as possible. Her phone she left on the bathroom countertop, decided, at that moment to run out of battery, and she was left in darkness.

"Shit."

She stumbled around until she found the bench and sat down, exhausted, head pounding, scared, and alone.

This is the part where I tell myself I’m a “Strong Independent Black Woman™, And I Don’t Need Anyone. What a fucking joke.

She was tired of pretending she was invincible. She was tired of being alone.

“I miss Levi,” she cried.

After crying alone in the dark, sobbing so much her throat hurt, she finally finished. Mary Jane got up from the bench, and after a lot of awkward bumps into lockers, she finally found her phone.

When she entered the gym, everyone looked at her in amazement. That there was a young woman underneath all the grime. Mary Jane composed herself and hoped that no one could see her bloodshot eyes from crying, since it was dimly lit in the room.

They were all surprised to see Mary Jane, the daughter of Mary Sue, the strongest woman alive. Mary Jane felt many pairs of eyes on her and knew that they recognized her.

She was the spitting image of her mother, albeit slightly lighter in skin tone and a foot shorter. Mary Jane took the chance now that she had a captive crowd to have someone with her.

Anyone.

“Does someone want to go with me,” she asked.

No one said anything.

“Anyone,” she pleaded. “If we stay here we’re going to die!”

Fenton was on the ground, his head swirling, and looked up at her. "Stay here," he whispered. "It's dangerous out there."

"It's dangerous everywhere," Mary Jane screamed. "You would rather hide and die than try to at least leave and die?"

“Not everyone is like you,” Sandra Sesay shouted. “Not everyone was born strong!”

Do they really think that? That I'm invincible?

Mary Jane decided to believe the lie again that she told herself.

I don't need anyone.

She wanted more than anything for her brother, Dexter to be with her. For Levi to chastise her about her improper speech, and hanging out with the wrong crowd. She put on her bravest face, closed her eyes, and tried not to cry.

She opened them again, wide, straining them as if someone else was forcing them shut. She quickly walked out the door, and back into the desolate halls.

Alone.