Nox stood over the headless corpse and watched the golden light fade from the guy's body. The whole scene had been pretty entertaining to watch from the doorway. Big strong jock gets powers, beats up monsters, powers run out, almost dies. Classic.
"That was my kill," Ava said from behind him, sounding annoyed. "I was about to fry that thing."
He glanced back at her. "Too slow."
"I wasn't too slow. You just rushed in there like some kind of maniac."
"And now it's dead." He looked down at the corpse. "Problem solved."
A blue screen popped up in front of him.
[Alpha Dog Defeated!]
[EXP Gained: 500]
[Level Up!]
[You are now Level 4!]
[All stats increased by 1!]
[You have 5 unallocated stat points!]
Five hundred experience from one monster. Not bad. He put three points into Strength and two into Agility, then dismissed the screen.
"Are you even listening to me?" Ava asked.
"Not really, no." He walked over to examine the other dead dogs scattered around the gym. Most of them had been killed by the jock before his power ran out. "Looks like someone had fun in here."
The jock was still on the floor, breathing hard and looking like he had been hit by a truck. There was a girl unconscious near the wall who looked like she had also been in a fight. A few other students were hiding behind the bleachers, probably too scared to come out.
"Hey," he called out to the jock. "You alive over there?"
The guy struggled to sit up, wincing with every movement. "Yeah. Barely."
"What was that golden light thing? Some kind of power?"
"I don't know." He looked at his hands like he was expecting them to start glowing again. "Someone offered me a deal and I took it."
"Someone?"
"A voice in my head. Said he would give me power if I served his interests."
Nox raised an eyebrow. "And you just said yes?"
"My friends were dying." His voice got harder. "I would have done anything to save them."
"How did that work out for you?"
The guy looked around the gym at all the bodies and didn't answer.
"That's what I thought." He started walking toward the exit. "Come on, Ava. Let's find more things to kill."
"Wait," Jax said. "Are you just going to leave us here?"
"Pretty much."
"There might be more of those things coming. We need help."
He stopped and turned around. "And what exactly do you bring to the table? Your golden power is gone and you can barely stand up."
"I'm still strong. Stronger than normal people."
"So is she." He pointed at the unconscious girl. "I saw her throwing stuff around with her mind before you powered up. At least that's useful."
"Diana," Jax said, looking at the girl. "Is she okay?"
"How the fuck should I know? I'm not a doctor."
Ava walked over to check on the girl. "She's breathing. Probably just knocked out."
"See? She's fine." He started walking toward the exit again. "Good luck with whatever happens next."
"You're really just going to abandon us?"
The desperation in the Jax's voice almost made him smile. This was the same kind of guy who had ignored him for years, and now he was begging for help.
"Did you help me when Mark and his crew were beating the shit out of me every day?" he asked.
Jax looked confused. "I don't even know who you are."
"Exactly. You never bothered to learn my name, so why should I care what happens to you now?"
"Because people are dying."
"People die every day. I'm just trying to make sure I'm not one of them."
He reached the gym doors and looked back one more time. Jax was trying to wake up Diana, and the other students were starting to come out from behind the bleachers.
"Wait," one of them called out. It was a girl with short blonde hair who looked like she had been crying. "Please don't leave us here."
"Why not?"
"Because we'll die without help."
He shrugged. "Probably."
Ava grabbed his arm. "Nox, we can't just leave them here."
"Watch me."
"Come on. That guy with the golden powers could be useful. And the girl with telekinesis too."
"They're weak. His power ran out after five minutes and the girl is unconscious. What good are they going to do?"
"Maybe they'll get stronger. Maybe their powers will come back."
He thought about that. The system had said this was a dungeon with over a hundred monsters still alive. Having more people to fight might speed things up. And if they died along the way, at least they would be useful distractions.
"Yeah, pass." He continued walking and Ava stayed behind.
She watched him take another step toward the exit and felt something snap inside her chest. All the anger she had been holding back since this whole thing started came rushing out at once.
"You know what, you're a fucking jerk," she said, her voice getting louder with each word. "A complete and total asshole who only cares about himself."
Nox kept walking like he hadn't heard her, which just made her angrier.
"I'm talking to you, you piece of shit," she continued, her hands starting to glow red again. "These people are going to die and you just don't give a damn because what, some kids were mean to you?"
He still didn't turn around or say anything. Just kept walking at that same steady pace like she was background noise.
"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. At least before you were harmless. Now you're just dangerous and useless."
That got his attention. He stopped walking but didn't turn around.
"You want to know what I think?" she went on. "I think you're scared. I think all this tough guy bullshit is just you trying to convince yourself that you're not still that weak kid getting beat up every day. But here's the thing, being strong doesn't mean anything if you don't use it to help people."
Jax was watching this whole thing from the floor where he was still trying to get Diana to wake up. The other students were looking back and forth between Ava and Nox like they were watching a tennis match.
"And another thing," she said, really getting into it now. "You're not even that smart. You think leaving these people behind makes you some kind of survivor, but all it makes you is alone. 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?"
She was breathing hard now, all that fire energy making her feel hot and buzzy.
"But fine, you want to be a selfish asshole? Go ahead. I'm staying here with these people because they actually need help and I'm not a complete psychopath."
She crossed her arms and glared at his back, waiting for him to turn around and argue with her or at least say something. She was expecting him to get mad or defensive or maybe even change his mind about leaving.
Instead he just said, "Suit yourself," without even looking back.
Then he walked out of the gym like nothing had happened.