"Zack," Logan said, blunt. Then, an awkward grin arose on his face, creased down slightly at the corners of his lips. "Tyler, Chase. It’s good to see you guys—"
"Shut it, dweeb," Chase hissed, stepping in front of Zack. "Don’t address us like we’re your equals. Now, did you really think we wouldn’t know about you getting all smitten with Sabrina?"
Logan’s chest fell into his stomach, grumbling at the intense fear welling within him. For seconds, his lips quivered, tripping over himself like a kid gliding over a wet surface.
"Zack, aren’t you supposed to be ho?" Sabrina asked, hands at her waist. "You said you were sick."
Cracking his neck, Zack smiled. "I was skipping school, dummy. Still, when the news spread that you were getting it on with Logan in the cafeteria, I just had to co see it for myself. I an, an F-rank hanging out here? It’s unheard of!"
Sabrina staggered, unsure of what to say. "T-this isn’t what it looks like!" Then, she stepped in between the two. "I was just introducing Logan to so of my friends. If you want to get mad at soone, get mad at !"
"Oh, I’m certainly angry at you, but you and I can talk later. I have to settle my personal business with this chump first." Zack eyed Logan up and down, snickering at the sight. "What happened to you? I heard the rumors, but to think that you lost so much weight so fast. Which dick did you have to suck to get it done?"
"What?" Logan squeezed his eyelids.
"Hey, be careful with how you talk to my friend!" Roman interrupted, stepping in Zack’s direction. All it took was one glare from Zack, followed by a clenching of his fists, for Roman to shut up. "Sorry, bro. Pretend I never talked to you."
"Look at you. You’re trash among garbage—the absolute low. Getting treatnt of this level to have your entire body be reconfigured should’ve cost you millions, yet here you stand." Sneering, Zack pushed Logan’s chest using just one finger. "Well? How’d you do it?"
"I don’t see why that matters," Logan responded, shoving Zack’s hand away. "But if you really wish to know, you could just force it out of ."
Zack laughed just once, high-pitched and real. His face was shining with such amusent that Logan could feel himself backing up a hair, like witnessing a lion bang its claws together with joy. "What, think you’re so big shot now that you awakened your Gift? Well, if you talk such a big ga, then do sothing."
Pumping his chest out, Zack shoved Logan back—aided by mana. It took Logan a second to process what just happened, but the second push ca just as fast. Then a third.
"Co on, wise guy. You always have sothing to say—push . Do sothing." The ti between shoves beca shorter, getting more and more violent. Logan’s hair flung through the air, stabbing into his own eye.
"Gyah—enough!" He bellowed, holding his hands up to signal his innocence. "I won’t push you back, just please, stop!"
Veins began to sizzle under Zack’s skin—entire buckets of mana making waves through his blood. This ti, he shoved Logan by the neck area, even grazing his right collar.
"Kyyhhhkk!" a voice sounded, coming from under Logan’s shirt. It was Pixel—drops of blood floating in the air from where she sat.
"STTTOOOOPPPP!" Logan felt it—fury battering his skin and searing his mind. Without a thought, he stepped in Zack’s direction, giving his own push. It was lighter than any of Zack’s shoves, but it contained all of his anger.
For a split second, Logan could see it—an ear-to-ear grin that sounded a demon’s arrival.
Crash!
Without warning, the world blurred into a single line as Logan’s entire body whirred through the air, accommodating the sudden montum from his head. Zack had grabbed him by his hair, slamming him chaotically through the cafeteria table.
Even though most of the equipnt in the school was mana-resistant, Logan’s face shot straight through the table, shattering it like drywall. Oceans of red washed over Logan’s vision as his world lit up from bone-deep punches of pain, feeling as though soone had shoved their hand into his skull and squeezed his brain to death.
He scread, but he couldn’t hear it behind his blood-filled ears.
Jasmine and Alia both jumped up from their seats, performing a backwards sorsault to land cleanly on their feet. On the other hand, the force didn’t stop, causing Zack to mold the ground into a downwards parabola. Logan’s face dug into earth, hiding his screams behind the ground’s incessant groaning. Entire networks of cracks ran through the floor to extend right to where Jasmine and Alia stood, forcing them to jump back.
Everyone on Logan’s side of the table did the sa—all except for Sabrina.
Shakily, she maintained her balance on splintering ground, slowly stepping in the two’s direction. "Zack, what the hell are you doing? Stop this now!" Under her right foot, the ground kicked in to roll inside the crater that Zack was forming. Losing her footing, she rolled directly into the terrible surges of power. "Ahhhh!"
Taking notice, Zack released his grip on Logan, abolishing the rain of rocks getting kicked up in the air. Then, politely, he stopped Sabrina’s fall, holding her by her back and legs. "Sorry, I didn’t an to get you involved in that attack. Just wanted to release so of my pent-up rage."
Sabrina looked up at Zack, down at herself, then back up at Zack. Face quivering and hands trembling, she smacked Zack across the cheek, helping herself to the ground. "No, you do NOT get to act like my boyfriend!"
Then, quickly, she turned to Logan, crouching down on the ruined ground—entire pipes jutting out with water trickling out from its interior—to check on Logan. His eyes were protruding unnaturally from their sockets, a grid of red veins dipping their tone.
He was laid out on his left side, fingers twitching. Blood oozed from the most central point of his forehead—not of significant volu, but most certainly not to the point that it could be ignored.
"Sabrina..." he groaned, rolling onto his back. "Pixel..." he groaned again, weaker. His voice was raspy, each syllable being followed by a cough of blood. Silently, his eyes closed.
Sabrina’s face went hot. "Zack, what the fuck is your issue? Logan didn’t do anything!"
"He didn’t do anything? I saw you two together, pressing your faces all close like you were about to kiss. If you two do that in the cafeteria, I can only imagine what goes on in private." With clasped fists, he turned to the two behind him, standing above the crater. "Right, guys?"
"Right!" they each shouted.
Sabrina snarled. "Are you serious? I actually can’t believe this right now." Gently, she brushed her hand over Logan’s head, resting him atop her thighs. "And what are you going to do about the staff? You could get expelled for this."
"The staff? Sabrina, you know . I’m one of the top players in B-rank. This school practically works for ." Twitching at her silence, Zack opened his mouth again. "I paid them to turn a blind eye. I’ll just have to help with the damages after."
Sabrina looked up. Besides the crowd of students gathered around the crater, there were a couple of the cafeteria workers as well, each watching without lifting a finger to intervene. She bit down on solid air. "Zack, how could you? We’ve known Logan ever since grade school. Do you really not feel a single drop of sympathy for him?"
"For what? You expect to harbor feelings of affection for the tub of lard?" He picked at his ear. "Or, I suppose, he was. Looks like he might’ve helped so rich body transmorpher get a quick splash in order to get the fat off of him—either way, the dude’s garbage. I don’t see why you want to associate yourself with him."
"And what about the pain you’ve put him through? You don’t feel anything when you do this?" Sabrina’s eyes went wet. She hid herself behind her hands, using their backs as tissue.
"Everything I’ve done to him before was a warning. I told him yesterday what would happen if he went anywhere near you again. Though I’m still a human—I tried to end it quickly with one swift blow, but his head just wouldn’t pop. Really sets in stone that he did awaken." Zack looked down at the unconscious Logan, kicking a couple stones on his body. "Might’ve made for a great training dummy, if he didn’t die."
Sabrina looked up at him, confused. "What?" Then, a quick glance down to Logan. His heart no longer pulsed against her skin, his ragged breathing dissolved.
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