"Please… please get me out of here… I'll do anything… I just don't want to die."

The whisper of a girl echoed from inside a locker, her voice broken and watery from so much screaming and begging. To say that Taylor hadn't had a good day would be the euphemism of the year.

The morning of the first day back to school after winter break had started well for Taylor. The trio had practically stopped harassing her since November, and she had even become friends with Jazmin, who regretted having helped the trio in the past…

I should have known better... I shouldn't have let my guard down..."Taylor reprimanded herself in the darkness.

As the saying goes, it was just the calm before the storm, Jasmin had convinced Taylor to stay in one of Winslow's empty classrooms after the last class to finish Mrs. Knott's homework on the school computers, Taylor didn't feel comfortable at school and preferred to do her homework at the library or at home, but she didn't want to reject her only friend and risk Jazmin regretting approaching her...

The worst part of betrayal… is that it never comes from an enemy.

----------------------------------------

"H-hey Jas, d-do you want to come to my house for dinner after we finish this?"

Even though Taylor had already spent almost her entire day with Jasmin, she still craved more time with her. She would never admit it out loud but the long period of isolation since Emma abandoned her affected her much more than she showed. Taylor had been gathering the courage for several days to invite jasmin to her house, where she hadn't invited anyone since… well, Emma.

"Mmmm? Oh, sorry, I already have plans for tonight."

The response came distractedly; Jasmin had been on her phone for quite some time, and in moments like this, Taylor regretted not having one herself... although, if her email inbox was any indication, she wouldn’t receive many good morning or sweet messages often.

"O-oh well, n-no worries, maybe another day…"

Suddenly, something changed when Jasmin looked up from her phone.

"Mmm, yessssss… No."

"What?"

"I'm sick of this shit, it should be time already."

As if on cue, the classroom door opened, and a horde of people and cameras burst in with loud laughter.

A knot quickly formed in Taylor's stomach as she saw the person leading the group.

"No, no, nononono, what is she doing here…" She murmured, only to find that Jazmin wasn't even looking in her direction but already walking towards the group and the exit.

"Tch damn it Emma you took too long, I hope you have the tickets you promised me."

With a characteristic smile she had learned to fear, Emma continued to keep her gaze fixed on her. Taylor was starting to feel dizzy, and she didn't know when swallowing had become difficult.

"Gooooodddd, Taylor, how can you be so pathetic? Did you really think it would all end just like that? That you'd wake up one day and everything would have changed?"

She sounded happy, the same sickly sweet tone she usually used to mock her or her dead mother, the words pierced her heart like icy daggers because that's how it had been, she had prayed and wished nonstop for that to be the case, that all her torment would have ended and her life would shine again. She felt her eyes water as the implications of everything hit her mind.

"Mmmm, yes. It's been worth the wait to finally crush this pathetic worm."

That tone could only come from the trio's official physical bully, who stood next to Emma with her typical air of superiority.

"Hey, Jaz, why don't you explain to us how it feels to put up with her pitiful whimpers day after day?"

Madison, the eternal parasite of Emma and Sophia, usually her words sounded empty, very different from Emma's insults or Sophia's shoves that always carried rage and sadistic satisfaction. But even a broken clock is right twice a day, and this time the target was too close to miss.

"Pfffff, I regretted accepting the deal on the second damn day. If I had to listen to this bitch's pathetic whimpers one more day, I would have killed myself."

Now the tears were freely falling down Taylor's face. Once again, her trust had ended in betrayal. She felt her heart fracture in her chest from the world's injustice and her bad luck.

"Hahahahaha, how does it feel, Taylor? You should have seen yourself these past few months losing your fear, forgetting the place you belong, following Jasmine like a good dog. Why don't you do this world and your pathetic father a favor and end your life? That way, you could meet your mother so she could see what a loser you are… ? Never mind, it's time to remind you where you belong. Grab her!!!"

Hyperventilating, Taylor finally snapped out of her shock and saw several of the boys in the group advance, starting to surround the desks to block any escape routes.

"No, NO, stop!! Leave me alone!"

"Bitch, do you think we want to touch you?"

"Tch, we'll have to shower later for touching this whore."

Throwing desks and chairs in her retreat, Taylor tried to delay the inevitable as long as possible, but her skinny body didn't allow her to get far before the bullies grabbed her by her clothes and arms.

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"HELP.. chugh"

A punch in the mouth from Sophia silenced any attempt to call for outside help, even knowing that at this hour, there shouldn't be almost anyone left, and even if there were, she doubted anyone would do anything.

"Shut the fuck up. Emma, let's hurry up you know I have work later and don't want to be questioned for being late."

"Too bad we're on a tight schedule… well, at least Taylor will enjoy it long enough, right, Taylor?"

"Mgmhgm!!"

Her words only made the knot in her stomach grow, so she squirmed and moved as much as possible to try to free herself from her captors.

It was useless; at least two of them were part of the basketball club, and the others were not far behind. They quickly started dragging her out of the room while she kicked and tried to scream.

It didn't take long before they reached their destination Taylor had smelled it from afar, and it only got worse as they approached, to the point that several of Emma's henchmen stopped following the group.

"Well, looks like we've arrived, Taylor. I hope you enjoy your new home like the insect you are."

With the sound of her locker opening and a hand grabbing her hair, Taylor redoubled her efforts futilely, only to be thrown into her school locker turned into a hellhole. Used wipes and tampons covered the interior, along with feces and all kinds of insects. They hadn't even closed the door before Taylor started vomiting on herself from the surrounding stench.

"Hahahaha, did you hear that? Looks like we have a double prize."

"God, it seems that place wasn't bad enough for her despite all our efforts."

The comments and laughter reached Taylor, who was already trying to push and get out of that place.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE, PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!!!"

Only to be answered by more laughter and some final words from Emma.

"Good night, Taylor. I hope tomorrow you remember the place you belong."

With that, the group quickly left, laughing and talking about sharing the videos.

----------------------------------------

The insects crawled and bit Taylor's body constantly. Her fingers, destroyed from trying to escape the locker, were driving her crazy. Her stomach complained from hunger after vomiting all its contents, and her voice was broken from begging for help, but she kept going, asking for help, pleading for the arrival of any of her heroes: Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Velocity, Alexandria, her father. But deep down, she knew no one would come, just like no one had come before, just like always…she was alone.

[Connection]

[Calculating]

[Error] [ERROR]

[RESTART]

Taylor was floating; she had no idea what was happening, one moment she was suffering, and the next she was floating in front of her body, panicked and not knowing what to do. She tried to return to her body, but to her despair, without any apparent reason, she began to move away faster and faster, accelerating every second towards the sky without being able to stop.

[Connection]

[Host Success/Failure]

Taylor's speed was reaching incredible levels, to the point of seeing universal phenomena and structures like stars, galaxies, and novas fly by in seconds. A strange sensation came over her, as if she were passing through a veil or curtain, and suddenly she found herself in another place, suspended in the air above a crystalline world.

[Search]

[Host found]

[Error][Error][Error]

Things made less and less sense for Taylor, who was recovering from the whole journey only for her mind to reset again when she saw the air break in front of her and saw another Taylor coming through the hole.

[2 hosts found]

[Error][Error]

[1 host found]

[Uncertainty]

[Unknown data]

[Solution]

[Division]

She would have liked to ask many questions like "how?", "where?", "why?", "who?" but all her questions died in her throat as she noticed the slight movement and acceleration that had brought her to this place. To her horror, it seemed she was going to collide with the unknown Taylor, who looked as surprised to see her as she was. She tried to grasp the air and move her arms to change direction, but it was useless, she could only close her eyes, bracing for impact. But unlike the blows and hits her bullies had given her, when they finally touched, everything started to become confusing.

[Agreement]

What the hell??!

I need to return to Kon...

Mom...

Taylor was hearing thoughts different from her own as if there were another voice in her head and everything became increasingly strange it lasted an instant that felt like an eternity, but when she completely passed through the other Taylor, the confusion and dizziness remained in her mind. She barely realized, with fear, that instead of returning the way she had come, she was heading in the direction the unknown Taylor had come from.

----------------------------------------

Taylor head was killing her.

In her entire life, she had never felt so much pain; it felt like her head was splitting open like an egg. She didn't even know how long she had been rolling on the ground, screaming and tearing at her hair.

Damn it, DAMN IT, MY HEAD! Her thoughts repeated in a loop, overwhelmed by the pain.

Her throat hurt from all the screaming and her body from all the rolling, but even that did nothing to distract her from the headache. Hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of sources of information bombarded her mind without stopping.

Insects. She could feel each one of them individually at the same time—their abilities, their state, above, below, in front, behind, and to the sides. She could feel them everywhere.

Memories and visions that weren't hers flashed in her mind—places she had never seen, concepts she had never heard of, like a hammer and a drum dancing in her head.

It was too much, she couldn't bear it, her teeth were grinding when she finally passed out from the pain.