...
At the cafeteria
The crowd gathered around, men and women laughing and watching the bullying unfold at the central table.
"Eat the rest of your meal, come on!" Eugene Thompson (Flash) taunted loudly. "It's not good to waste food, especially free mashed potatoes and pork knuckles!"
Lucas Mason squeezed into the circle, arms folded, and witnessed the scene: the tall Flash had this thin boy upside down, his face hovering over the dinner plate.
Suddenly, Lucas heard the mechanical system sound:
[Villain value +1, +1, +1…]
Lucas's expression changed. He sensed Gordon's fear and suppressed anger. It seemed that villain points could be collected from negative emotions, even if Lucas wasn't directly involved.
"NO, Flash, put him down!" a voice suddenly shouted from the crowd.
It was a boy in a gray jacket and jeans, with a camera hanging around his neck. Peter Parker. Soon enough, he would become Spider-Man.
Lucas glanced at Peter. They were in the same graduating class and had crossed paths earlier. The system had hinted that key figures could unlock new powers, and Peter's role as a Marvel protagonist made Lucas hopeful for a new talisman.
But the system remained silent. Peter wasn't Spider-Man yet—just a student.
Lucas wasn't impatient. He had time.
"Hey Parker!" Flash jeered. "Come take a picture of me and my friend here!"
"No, I won't take that kind of photo. Put him down!" Peter replied sternly. "And you, don't eat that!"
"Take the picture!" Flash demanded.
"Put him down! Eugene!" Peter shouted.
Flash's face darkened. (His full name was Eugene "Flash" Thompson.)
Flash threw the boy in his hands onto the dining table. Hitting the concrete floor with a cry of pain.
"Hey!" Peter moved forward but was blocked and punched hard in the stomach by Flash.
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Peter fell, his face pale, the camera scattering. Flash's strength as a basketball player overpowered him easily.
The crowd roared with excitement, laughing and joking as Peter writhed in pain.
"Stand up, Peter!" Flash yelled. "Stand up like a man!"
Peter struggled to his feet, but Flash kicked him down again.
"Stand up, Peter! Are you a sheep?" Flash taunted. "Where's all that bravery from a minute ago?"
[Villain value +1, +1, +1…]
Negative emotions from Peter were collected, but the system remained indifferent. Peter wasn't yet the superhero.
Lucas shook his head slightly. Without the mutant spider bite, Peter was too weak. After one more kick, Flash was ready to move on.
"Stop," a voice called from the crowd, dripping with amusement.
Flash froze, disbelief on his face. Someone was interfering again? In one day?
"Yes, I'm talking to you," Lucas said, mockingly resting a hand on his forehead. "I must be seeing things—a hippo is bullying a kid on campus, 'Flash.' Honestly, you're worse than you look."
Someone in the crowd laughed. "Did he just call Flash a hippo?"
"Lucas!" Kallenback, who had followed, tried to intervene. "Don't get involved!"
[Villain value +10, +10, +10…]
Flash's face twisted with rage. Lucas didn't need the system to see it.
"You've got guts, but you're also an idiot!" Flash charged at Lucas like a linebacker.
Lucas didn't flinch. If anyone had been watching closely, they might've seen a faint bull outline in his eyes.
With a casual kick, Lucas sent the 80-kilogram Flash flying into a dining table, like a kite with a broken string.
The crowd gasped, jaws dropping.
Flash lay curled up on the ground, groaning in pain.
[Villain value +10, +10, +10…]
The villain points surged, Lucas noted. It was Flash's intense negative emotions fueling the increase.
"Are you okay, Mr. Hippo?" Lucas walked over slowly. "Did you fall by accident? Let me help you up."
He grabbed Flash's collar with one hand and lifted him effortlessly.
The cafeteria fell silent. Lucas had just picked up the towering Flash as if he were weightless.
"Well, everyone saw it," Lucas said with a smile. "He fell on his own, and I'm just helping him up! Right, Flash?"
Flash couldn't speak, his neck clenched painfully. He struggled, terrified of the smiling face before him.
Lucas finally set him down, but that wasn't the end.
"Now, eat this food, Flash, and set a good example for this thin boy."
Lucas shoved Flash's face into the dinner plate. Flash thrashed violently, but it was no use against the power of the Ox Talisman.
[Villain value +50, +50, +50…]
The cafeteria was dead silent. No one dared make a sound. The school bully had just been humiliated.
"Hey, that's enough, man," Peter called out. He had managed to get back on his feet. "Thanks for helping me, but can't you let him go? He's in bad shape already..."
Lucas's smile didn't fade. Peter had a future as a superhero, but right now, his sense of justice was all he had.
"No, no, Peter, I think you've misunderstood," Lucas said while holding Flash's head down. "I'm not here to help you or seek justice. I'm just here for fun. Tomorrow, maybe it'll be this boy turn to have his head in the mashed potatoes... or maybe it'll be yours."
Lucas's smile grew wider as he addressed the crowd. "Or maybe it'll be every one of you."
Slowly, the laughter stopped. The crowd wasn't amused anymore. Peter was silent, too.
They were afraid from this smiling madman
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