For a moment, absolute silence filled the auditorium. Then, as if a spell had been broken, the audience came out of their shocked stupor.

"Oh my god, what a joke!"

"What a bunch of knobfolds!"

"Did you see how fast she melted? Holy shit that was amazing!"

Laughter rippled through the crowd, cruel and mocking. Phones once again came out.

"Guess the oh-so-great Emerald Stratos wasn't such hot shit after all!"

"Owned by a hobo in a trench-coat!"

"And those two Knights? Tripped on literally nothing at all!"

"Yeah, one dumb-ass got chopped with her own axe while the other electrocuted herself! How does that even happen?"

"Serves those losers right!"

"Total clusterfuck!"

I glanced at Cinder. Her wings had shifted to a deep, stormy gray, her feathers bristling with barely contained rage.

I bent down and picked up Emerald's bracelet, ignoring the taunts. The dark metal was ice-cold against my skin.

"Hey nullie!" Someone called out. "Gonna try to resurrect your girlfriend's boss?"

"Nah, he's probably gonna pawn it!"

More laughter.

Cinder's wings erupted with a sudden burst of color - deep crimson reds and violent purples that seemed to pulse with raw, unfiltered anger. She stepped forward, her voice cutting through the mockery like a blade.

"SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!"

The auditorium went dead silent.

Her wings spread wide. Her feathers rippled with more rage-filled reds. Her ocean-blue eyes blazed with absolute fury.

"YOU WEREN'T UP HERE!" She screamed. "YOU DIDN'T SEE WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!"

A Sasquatch in the third row shouted back, "We saw enough! Your whole troupe got destroyed in like, what, thirty seconds?"

Cinder's wings flared wider.

A chorus of jeers and laughter erupted from the audience. The Sasquatch who had spoken was joined by others, their mockery growing bolder.

"Your whole troupe's nothing but a bunch of wannabe delvers!" A Thunderbird called out. "Even a human could've done better!"

"Bet your daddy's gonna be real proud!" Another voice sneered.

The voices became a chorus of cruelty, each cutting deeper than the last. Cinder's ocean-blue eyes, once fierce and defiant, began to fill with tears she was desperately trying to hold back.

"Justice Nova's daughter, everyone!" A Kelpie called out, his voice dripping with cruel laughter. "More like INJUSTICE Nova! Can't even control a simple summoning!"

Cinder blinked.

"You didn't even try using your wings against it!" The Kelpie accused.

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The voices became a chorus of cruelty, each cutting deeper than the last. Cinder's ocean-blue eyes, once fierce and defiant, began to fill with tears she was desperately trying to hold back.

"Aww, did we hurt poor Cassie's feelings?"

"Can't handle the spotlight?"

"Go cry about it, you dum beerch!"

I snapped.

My hand dove into my bakpack, pulling out a show-grade thunderclap. With practiced precision, I yanked the pin and hurled it into the center of the auditorium, covering my ears.

BOOM!

The deafening blast erupted like a small sonic bomb. The sound was so intense it physically pushed people back in their seats. Phones clattered to the floor, drinks and food spilled, and for a moment, absolute silence reigned.

When the ringing in everyone's ears subsided, I was standing center stage, directly in front of Cinder. My stance was wide, shoulders squared, radiating a challenge that seemed to grow from some primal, protective instinct.

"ENOUGH!" I roared, whirling around and firing my DSLR's flash directly into the face of the bastard who'd yelled at Cinder.

The intense burst of the overpriced flash bulb set to maximum made him recoil backwards with a yelp.

I jumped off the stage and swept my camera across the audience, flashing again and again and again, blinding their Omnithean eyes.

"You think this is funny?" My voice was ice cold as I continued photographing faces. "Did you all come here just to berate someone?"

"What's that? A nullie loser defending a troupe of losers?" Someone yelled at me.

The crowd was beginning to turn against me instead of Cinder.

No. I will not break. I will not bow.

FLASH. Another photo.

"You dumb knobs!" I laughed at a group of jocks who started to fling insults at me. "I just got your faces, your voices, your names. Everything. It's 2025! Do any of you have any idea how easy it is to reverse search up a person using the school's yearbook registry?"

"What?!"

FLASH. "You think you're so tough, hiding in the crowd? Making fun of someone who had the guts to get up there and try?"

“Shut up nullie!”

"No, you shut up!” I pulled a smaller bang snap and pulled the string. The gunshot-like firework detonated, silencing the Omnitheans once again.

“Every single one of you who laughed," I barked into the silence. "Who mocked. Who jeered. I've got you all on video. Every cruel word. Every nasty comment."

"Wonder what the school would think about this behavior? Or your parents? Your coaches? Your future colleges?"

The crowd shifted uncomfortably.

"You can't-" someone started to protest.

"I can and I will," I cut them off. "You wanted to humiliate someone? Congratulations, I just recorded your face and it's already on the cloud, so threatening or trying to stop me will do fuck all!"

"Effin' nullie," one of the jocks commented.

"That's right!" I laughed. "I am a nullie. And you all know how effed-in-the-head nullies are, don't you… Tommy Rexof, varsity quarterback. Wonder what Coach Canard would think about you mocking a fellow student?"

I pointed my camera at the green Basilisk who'd been leading the jeers. "And you, Sandy Satoros - doesn't your mom sit on the PTA board? I'm sure she'd love to see this video of you calling someone the b-word?"

The crowd shifted uncomfortably, rapidly escaping as I continued, methodically identifying faces and matching them to names, to social connections, to vulnerabilities.

"Fuck you, nu...!" A gray demon growled.

"Peter Ruvor? Is that you?" I snarled, flashing him. "Didn't you just apply for that prestigious internship at Hozesh Omnicorp? Wonder how they'd feel about your behavior today if I were to email them your video?"

The gray demon's face went pale.

That's right. Speak a summoned demon's true name and they shall obey you, isn't that how it works?

"And you," I turned to the dark gray Omnithean girl who'd made that final, cruel comment about Cinder. "Tekra Nurg. Is your goal to get suspended? Cus I can absolutely arrange it when Graves wakes up!"

“I’d like to see you try, nullie loser,” she growled back.

"Hey," I spread my arms wide. "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're all super proud of how you acted today! Get the hell out, show's over. If any of you knobs want to apologize or try to take me down, you can find me at lunch playing chess tomorrow!"

The exodus began in earnest then.

I jumped off the stage and grabbed my tripod and camera, quickly folding the entire setup away.

As the crowd dispersed, I turned my attention back to the anti-delvers.

Iogann stood frozen, his skull-capped wings drooping in shock. The Mothman looked utterly defeated, his oversized hat slightly askew, antennae hanging limp. His usually chill demeanor had been completely shattered, replaced by a shell-shocked expression.

Vespera lay crumpled on the floor right off the edge of the stage, her black and white feathers splayed awkwardly. Blood trickled from her broken beak, electrical sparks dancing weakly across her damaged wings. Her smartwatch had shattered, designer accessories scattered around her prone form.

Solace was still pinned to the floor by her own battle-axe. Her reddish-brown skin had an ashen quality and a puddle of blood was spilling around her.

Cinder's wings had collapsed, the vibrant colors drained away to a dull, lifeless gray. Tears streamed down her face, cutting silver trails through her smudged, dark war paint.