Peter lay on the ground, completely broken, in a terrible state, with cuts all over his body and, carved into his stomach, a large scar that read: 'Friend of a mutant.'
All kinds of injuries spread across his body, and his legs were twisted at dangerously unnatural angles.
"P-Peter?"
Alex called out to his friend, but there was no response—only heavy, labored breathing. For a moment, Alex froze at the sight… but then he snapped back to reality and, moving quickly yet carefully, lifted Peter into his arms, using all of them to make sure he wouldn't worsen his condition.
"Who did this to you, Peter?"
In complete panic, not thinking straight, Alex asked in desperation while analyzing his friend's wounds. It was obvious—Peter was in critical condition.
Without wasting another second, Alex took off running at full speed toward the school's emergency exit. He didn't even bother slowing down—he kicked the door with all his strength, sending it flying as he rushed through.
"Doctor, doctor, doctor… FUCK, PETER!"
A storm of emotions surged through him as he sprinted toward the nearest hospital. Every second Peter stayed in his arms, every glance at his injuries made Alex's chest tighten—fear, confusion, rage, pain, guilt. He didn't even know what to feel anymore.
He knew it was his fault. If he hadn't let Peter convince him so easily…
The more he looked, the heavier the guilt became.
Faster than anyone would expect, Alex reached the hospital. He didn't stop to explain anything—he burst through the emergency entrance, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"SOMEONE HELP HIM, PLEASE!!"
Everyone turned to look. Seeing Peter's condition, panic spread instantly—some even thought it was a mutant attack. Only one doctor kept his composure and reacted immediately.
"HEY! I NEED A STRETCHER HERE, NOW!"
The doctor rushed over, examining Peter while calling out to nurses who hesitated, frightened by Alex—who didn't even realize he was leaking cursed energy.
Within moments, Peter was placed on a stretcher and rushed into surgery, signs of internal bleeding making the situation urgent.
Alex stayed in the waiting room, his face almost empty, numb from everything. The cruelty of it all still hadn't fully sunk in.
Why would anyone do this to Peter? He never hurt anyone… he always helped everyone he met… why him?
He couldn't understand how people could be so cruel.
Not long after, Uncle Ben and Aunt May arrived in a rush. Peter's legal guardians—two kind, gentle people… but now their faces held only fear and desperation.
"A-Alex… w-what happened to Peter?"
Aunt May's voice trembled, barely holding together.
"T-Tia May… Peter… he… he was attacked by a group of bullies and I…"
Alex couldn't finish. He didn't have the strength to tell them their last remaining family member was hanging by a thread—he didn't even know if Peter would survive.
"I-It's okay, Alex… you don't need to worry. P-Peter is a strong boy… he's been through worse… he'll make it, I believe in him."
Uncle Ben spoke with forced conviction, his voice wavering at times. Even with their nephew on the brink of death, they tried to comfort Alex, seeing how shaken he was.
But Alex couldn't stop blaming himself—he should've stayed with Peter, should've insisted, should've noticed something was wrong when Peter didn't come back to class.
Hours passed…
Then the doctor returned, exhaustion clear on his face.
"The surgery was successful… but unfortunately, the boy suffered severe internal injuries. He's in a coma… and even if he wakes up, it will be difficult for him to walk again."
Those words hit like a bomb.
Peter… in a coma.
His best friend. The kindest, most genuine person he knew.
Gone like that.
I-Is this a joke…?
Something inside Alex cracked.
Then suddenly—
THE LAW!
"I need to report this. The principal—the police—I have to expose Felix and his friends!"
Like a sudden revelation, Alex bolted, running toward the principal's house—a place he had visited before due to school-related issues at night.
From Uncle Ben and Aunt May's perspective, Alex just stood up and ran out of the hospital without another word.
To everyone watching, it looked like he couldn't face the reality of his friend in a coma… so they chose to look away.
Alex was running at full speed, not even bothering to hide his appearance.
He wanted justice, not revenge.
He wanted those bastards who did that to Peter to pay dearly for what they had done.
As Alex kept moving, the weather began to turn rainy.
It didn't take him long to reach the principal's house.
When he arrived, Alex started banging on the door nonstop.
"I'M COMING, I'M COMING! DAMN IT!"
The door opened, revealing the principal in casual clothes, and when he saw Alex, he looked surprised.
"Ah, Alex. What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
Still somewhat euphoric and mentally unstable, Alex began to speak.
"Principal, Peter is in a coma because of Felix! He's been bullying Peter for a long time, and I need you to help me file a statement with the police!"
Without realizing it, Alex said everything in one breath, so fast that the principal barely understood anything.
"Alex, slow down. I didn't understand a thing."
Alex took a deep breath to calm himself and repeated what he had said, but when the principal understood, his face turned pale.
"Alex… are you talking about Felix Northwood? The mayor's son, who also happens to be the school's main sponsor?"
Hearing that, Alex froze and looked at the principal in shock, only for the man to slam the door in his face without caring about Peter's situation.
"Wait… the mayor's son?"
Realizing what had been happening all this time, Alex began to feel more and more hopeless, but he still had one last option.
"The police… yeah, the police! If I make an anonymous report, they'll do something!"
Without thinking twice, Alex started running again, heading toward the police station where Mr. George worked.
With his absurd speed, it didn't take long for him to get there.
Not being stupid, Alex slowed down as he approached the station so he wouldn't alert the officers.
Of course, the fact that he had been running at full speed without a mask was already enough to make him extremely suspicious.
As he entered the station, the civilians inside became frightened, but the officers didn't react much when they saw who it was.
They knew Alex.
He had been there a few times with George before.
A good kid—that was what they all thought.
"Ah, Alex! Good to see you, kid. Looking for George? He just left to investigate a robbery gone wrong. If you want to wait, there's a place in the break room."
"No, John. I want to report a case of severe assault."
Hearing that, John—an old friend of George—was surprised.
He straightened himself in his chair, his expression turning serious as he stood up and began walking.
"Come with me, Alex. Let's go to my desk so you can give me the details properly."
Alex's eyes shined brightly.
As John walked with a serious expression, the entire station seemed to calm down when they realized the mutant was actually there to report a crime.
"Alright, Alex. Tell me everything that happened, and I'll write it down and start pushing the case forward."
Seeing how seriously John was taking everything, Alex began from the very beginning—how Peter had been suffering at Felix's hands, all the way to Peter's current condition.
The more Alex spoke, the heavier and more irritated John's expression became.
When Alex finally finished, John spoke with a serious face, though there was a hint of weight in his voice.
"Alright, Alex. I have everything I need. I'll start analyzing this, and if anything comes up, I'll let you know. You can go home."
Hearing that, Alex's face lit up with an unusual intensity of happiness.
'At least justice still stands firm… now there's nothing to worry about besides Peter getting better.'
With a visibly relieved expression, Alex left the station.
His steps were fast—not quite a run, but more like a brisk walk to clear his thoughts.
'Finally… if Peter can't endure the coma, I… No, let's not think about that. At least I managed to make the world a better place by putting that bastard Felix away.'
Alex kept walking until he reached his home, which took a while.
Standing in front of his building, he thought about Gwen and couldn't even imagine how he would tell her about this.
He had already sent her a message saying Peter was in the hospital in critical condition, but that no one was allowed to see him.
Gwen had sent a flood of questions.
Alex tried to answer all of them, calming her as best as he could.
Even so, he himself wasn't calm at all.
His posture might have looked relaxed, but inside, he was drowning in agony.
Only one thought kept repeating in his mind.
'Am I really cursed to destroy everyone I love?'
Unable to think straight, Alex started climbing the stairs to his apartment.
With each step, the weight in his chest grew heavier at the thought of telling Gwen about Peter.
Then the inevitable happened.
Alex found himself standing in front of his door.
Taking a deep breath, he gathered his courage and went inside.
As soon as he entered, he saw the three women he saw every day, all sitting at the dining table with serious expressions.
Gwen's eyes were red, as if she had been crying for a long time.
In the time Alex, Gwen, and Peter had been friends—even if it was only for a few months—it felt like years to them.
They knew things about each other that even they themselves didn't fully understand.
Something impossible to explain had become something deep.
"Alex… h-how is P-Peter?"
Still panicking, Gwen asked with teary eyes while holding a half-full glass of water.
"He's… alive, but Peter… he…"
Alex couldn't gather enough strength to continue.
To say that his friend was practically gone, that the chances of him waking up were low—he didn't need a doctor to tell him that.
"He's in a deep coma after hours of surgery…"
Hearing that, Gwen covered her mouth as tears began to fall.
Alex looked away, guilt eating him from the inside.
Nora, who had met Peter several times recently, hugged Gwen, trying to comfort her.
"It's okay, Gwen. He's still alive. He can still wake up."
"H-He c-can, Mrs. O'Neil… b-but there's no way to know if he'll really come back."
Hearing that made Alex's chest tighten.
It wasn't something he was ready to hear—or even think about.
His mind was in complete chaos.
"I-I'm going to my room… I need to be alone."
Alex said as he quickly walked toward his room.
Nora even tried to say something, but stopped when she realized he had already locked himself inside.
Inside his room, Alex broke down, crying heavily.
He couldn't stop thinking that all of this was his fault.
That if he hadn't been a damn mutant, none of this would have happened.
Guilt kept piling up inside him as he cried silently.
After a long time, exhausted from crying, Alex eventually fell asleep without realizing it.
But this time, there was no Meruem or Sukuna.
Instead, there was a strange sphere with three different colors—colors Alex didn't recognize.
Yet, the more he looked at them, the more familiar they felt.
Alex stood in a complete trance, staring at the sphere, which was bigger than him—massive.
More than anything, whenever he looked at it, all his problems seemed to disappear.
Peter, the letter, school—every thought vanished.
There was only him and the sphere.
The colors inside it began to rotate slowly in one direction, being pulled toward the center, forming a completely dark vortex that contrasted with the other colors.
It didn't take long for all the colors to disappear, leaving only the vortex in the center of the now completely white sphere.
Everything Alex had seen so far was bizarre and incomprehensible.
He felt thousands of things at once, unable to distinguish a single one.
In the end, the vortex began to expand, crashing against the sphere's edges, which started to crack all over.
Even so, the vortex didn't seem strong enough to break it completely.
Before Alex could even think, his body reacted on its own.
He jumped out of bed instinctively and woke up in shock.
"What the hell?"
Confused, Alex looked around, searching for the sphere—
Only to find his room.
"What kind of dream was that?"
___________________________________
I'm here once again to bring some bad news—the chapter is over.
But as always, the next one will be out the day after tomorrow.
So… what did you think of this chapter?
I wrote it to dive deeper into Alex's pain, which was already intense, and in the next chapter, something really exciting is going to happen.
As always, I'm trying to develop my characters more, which is something very important to me.
You know… I'm also holding onto something interesting for you guys.
I'm just not sure when it'll be ready, because doing all of this at once has been really exhausting—especially since I write late at night.
But you know how it is… let's keep going, it'll work out.
As always, if you enjoyed it, feel free to send power stones or rate the story, it really helps a lot.
And if you have any constructive criticism or anything that could help me improve, don't hesitate to say it, I always read everything.
Also, just so you know, I really enjoy reading your messages, it genuinely makes me happy to see people enjoying the story.
Good night.