Nox moved fast through the wrecked hallways, his boots crunching on fallen plaster and broken glass. Ava's voice was a buzzing insect in his head, annoying but not important.

'Fucking jerk...'

He almost laughed. 'Yeah, I am. And?' Being an asshole was getting him power, and power was keeping him alive. It was simple math.

'These people are going to die, and you just don't give a damn because what, some kids were mean to you?'

He gritted his teeth. The pure stupidity of that statement made him angry. She had no idea what it was like, years of it, every single day. He saw Mark's face in his mind, then Ms. Joy's fake smile as she let it all happen. He remembered the smell of the orange juice soaking his shirt and the sound of everyone laughing.

'No one gave a damn then.'

So why should he care now? He shouldn't. They were all part of the same system that had tried to crush him, and now that system was broken.

He rounded a corner and saw a piece of the ceiling hanging by a single wire. He walked right under it without a second thought; he was too fast for it to be a threat.

'You think you're so much better than everyone else now that you have powers, but you're not. You're still the same pathetic loser you always were, just stronger.'

'Pathetic loser.' That was the word they used for the weak. He wasn't weak anymore, so the word didn't apply. He killed monsters with his bare hands now.

'At least before you were harmless. Now you're just dangerous and useless.'

'Useless?' He was the only one here with a clear mission, the only one clearing this dungeon. That was the most useful thing anyone could be doing. 'Dangerous?' He hoped so. Dangerous meant people stayed out of his way.

He kept moving, his pace fast and steady. He wasn't running from her words; he was moving toward his goal.

'I think you're scared,' she'd yelled.

'Scared?' He felt nothing but cold focus. He faced monsters that tore normal people apart. He jumped out a two-story window and didn't even flinch. Fear was a luxury for people with something to lose. He had nothing.

'What happens when you run into something you can't handle by yourself? What happens when you need help and there's nobody left who gives a shit about you?'

He stopped for a second. That idea was just dumb. 'Help' was the problem. 'Help' meant being weak; it meant depending on people who would let you down. The entire point of getting stronger was so he would never need help from anyone ever again. Trusting other people was a trap, and he was done with traps.

He kicked a chunk of concrete out of his path with so much force it shattered against a locker.

Why should he care about them? They were all just faces in the crowd, the same crowd that had watched him get bullied and did nothing. Ava said being strong was about helping people. That was bullshit. Being strong was about not being a victim anymore. It was about survival.

She called him selfish. So what if he was? He had earned the right to be selfish. No one had ever looked out for him, so now he was looking out for himself. End of story. His choice was the only one that made sense.

He stood in the middle of the debris-strewn corridor. Her stupid speech wasn't messing with his head; it was just pissing him off. It reminded him of how clueless everyone was, how they only started caring about teamwork and helping each other when their own asses were on the line. He hated it.

He looked down the hallway toward the main entrance, then turned around.

He changed direction completely.

He started walking back, but took a sharp turn and went up the stairs. He was heading for the upper floors, toward his old classroom.

He wasn't going back for them. He didn't care what happened to those idiots in the gym. He was going to the place where he had been weakest, the room where Ms. Joy had let them all laugh at him. He wanted to stand in that spot, not as a victim, but as a predator. He needed to feel the difference, to burn away the old memories with his new power.

This wasn't about them. This was about him.

Just as he reached the top of the stairs, he heard a sound. A girl's voice, sharp with panic.

"Get back! Get away from us!"

He stopped, his head tilting. 'Sounds familiar.'

He moved down the new hallway, his steps quiet on the broken floor tiles. He peered around the corner and saw them. It was the girls from his class. Kendra, the loud-mouthed one who was surprisingly tough. Emilia, the smart one who always looked worried. Vasa, the quiet, observant one. And Yeda, the one who was practically invisible.

They were backed into a corner by three of those dog creatures, and they did not look like they were having a good time.

"Kendra, do something!" Emilia yelled, trying to hide behind her.

"I'm trying!" Kendra shot back, holding a broken piece of metal pipe like a baseball bat. "But there's three of them!"

One of the dogs lunged. Kendra swung the pipe with a grunt, connecting with the creature's head. It stumbled back, shaking its head, but it wasn't down. Not even close.

'Well, shit,' Nox thought, a bored look on his face. 'Guess I can't just leave them to get eaten. That's just a waste of potential assets.'

He walked out from behind the corner.

"You guys having some trouble?"

The four girls whipped their heads around, their eyes wide with a mix of shock and pure, unadulterated relief.

"Nox!" Yeda breathed, looking like she was about to cry.

The three dog creatures turned to face the new threat. They growled, their lips curling back to show off their nasty-looking teeth.

Nox just ignored them and looked at the girls. "You guys are a mess."

Kendra, who was still holding the bent pipe, just glared at him. "Yeah, well, we were doing fine until these things showed up."

"Looks to me like you were about to be lunch," he said. He took a step forward, and the dogs all tensed up, their growls getting louder. "Stay behind me. And try not to scream too much. It's annoying."

Before any of them could say anything, he charged.

He reached the first dog in two quick strides. It lunged, its jaws snapping, but he just sidestepped and drove his fist into its ribs. There was a wet, cracking sound, and the creature went down with a yelp, not getting back up.

The second one tried to jump on him from the side. He caught it by the throat with one hand, lifted it off the ground, and slammed it into the wall so hard its head just caved in.

The last one, seeing what happened to its friends, actually hesitated for a second. That was its mistake.

Nox was on it in an instant. He didn't punch it or throw it. He just grabbed it by its front legs and, with a grunt of effort, pulled.

The creature tore in half.

The hallway went dead silent, except for the sound of monster guts hitting the floor.

He stood there for a second, breathing a little heavily, then wiped his hands on his pants. He turned to look at the four girls, who were all just staring at him, their faces a perfect picture of shock and horror.

"See?" he said, a small, humorless smirk on his face. "Problem solved."