Daniel was sure that their mother's condition was only a temporary matter, and she will return to her old self in a few days. But, he was wrong. After the incident, she tried to become the best mother she could. She cooked the food and, surprisingly, it was really good. She made sure that their home is always clean. She read books to Lisa when a girl was unable to fall asleep. She helped both her children with homework. And, when a new school year started, she even found a job at a retail shop.

His home problems seemingly solved, it was the time for Daniel to change his school. To reverse the hierarchy.

There were five bullies in his class, and all of them used Ted as their primary target. Of course, sometimes they made fun of other kids, but nothing too serious. In contrast, Ted's life was complete hell. Short and scrawny, most people would mistake him for a twelve years old boy, even if he was already fourteen. Every one of his harassers was bigger and stronger, so he never even thought about resisting. His parents were drug addicts who didn't give a damn about their son's life, let alone his experience at school. But Ted's life changed completely after Daniel started to turn his plan into reality.

For the first week, he spied on the boys and learned where they live and which path they chose when returning from the school. After that, things were easy.

He just needed to single out each of them on their road to home and have a "small talk".

"Hey, come here. There is something I need to tell you."

He called the boy who was the one who was beaten by him.

"W-what do you want, Danny? Another fight?"

The feeling of getting his face punched, again and again, was still clear in a boy's mind. He definitely didn't want to experience it again.

So, after Daniel didn't answer his question, the boy tried to run. Just to be dragged in the deserted alley behind the closest building. Before he could fight back or scream for help, one sharp kidney punch was enough to make him lose any ability to resist.

Daniel's plan was simple but effective. He singled out the bullies one by one, beat them without leaving too many bruises, then stripped them of their clothes and made a photo with his smartphone. Beaten and blackmailed into submission, the boys were unable to retaliate in any way. But, it was only the start of their nightmare.

Suddenly, Ted Nelson realized that no one bullied him anymore. Instead, his bullies received the same treatment he did. The man behind this change - Daniel Taylor. He slapped bullies' necks, made them trip and fall, took away their items, bossed them around, and gave them humiliating nicknames.

Ted was really happy inside and even grateful. But when one day, while returning from the school, he was stopped by his supposed savior, Ted was terrified. Being free from the bullying and gloating at his tormentor's suffering is one thing. Being able to face the terrifying existence that could make predators into victims is something else altogether.

What if he will ask him money for the protection? What if he will make Ted's life even worse than before? The boy trembled in fear and was completely paralyzed.

"Hey, Ted," Daniel smiled and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, "don't be so tense. I just want to show you something. Come with me."

How can Ted disobey? He followed Daniel without asking anything, he was too afraid to even open his mouth.

Soon after, they arrived at the dead-end of the alley. There, Ted's tormentors waited. He became weak at the knees. He prayed to God to survive that is coming. But of course, God didn't answer. He never did. Alas, this time it was unnecessarily in the first place.

"Why the fuck you just look at us, girls? Did you all forgot my orders?!"

After Daniel barked at them, the former bullies immediately fell on their knees.

"Ted, we are so sorry! Please forgive us!"

They sounded sincere. Two of them even started to cry. Of course, it wasn't because they really felt sorry for Ted. But because they suffered too much from Daniel's daily care.

Ted was shocked and didn't know what to do.

"Hey, Ted. Don't be afraid of them and answer me honestly. Can you forgive them? Is it enough for you?"

The confused boy almost blurted "Yes", but he stopped himself. How could this be enough? He was tormented by them for years. His life was a living hell, and he considered killing himself almost every fucking day. But, he was too afraid to end his life. He was a coward by nature.

"Just say it. No one here will hurt you, Ted. Not on my watch."

Encouraged by Daniel, Ted released all the hate he had in himself.

"Are you sorry? Don't make me laugh, you fucking assholes! You are just afraid of Daniel, right? If not for him, you would never stop abusing me. I hate you all, I will never forgive you guys, I want you all to die!"

He yelled with all the power he could muster, but his voice was way too high-pitched to be intimidating. The bullies would laugh at him if there were no Devil staring at them.

"Good work, Ted!" Daniel said while clapping his hands, " You want them dead? It isn't a bad idea. Do you want to kill them? Alright. Do you need a weapon? Sorry, we only have some steel bars here."

Even if Daniel said it in a joking tone, to bullies, it didn't sound like this. They already experienced how terrifying he could be. Each one of them started to sweat profusely.

"N-no... H-how can I kill anyone... I..."

Ted didn't know what to do. He wasn't bold enough to even kill himself when he really wanted, let alone the others.

"Hah? Guys, why are you suddenly so stiff? It is just a joke, why so serious? Ted, relax. You don't need to kill anyone. For now. Just give them a little lesson, that is all. Do what they did to you. They wouldn't resist, not with me here."

And so, predators and the prey exchanged their roles. At first, Ted hesitated, but after he didn't get any retaliation, he became bolder and bolder. In the end, Daniel was the one to stop him from overdoing things and leaving too much evidence on their bodies.

After everything was over, only Ted and Daniel remained. The boy who was abused for years, started to cry, thanking his savior over and over again.

"Thank you! Thank you! I will never forget your kindness, Daniel! I will repay you with all I can! You... you made me feel like a human being again..."

From that day onward, Ted became his follower and willingly did everything he asked of him. Together, they tyrannized the former bullies when they were at school. Later, Ted asked Daniel to help him become stronger, and so they trained together. It was the beginning of their friendship. The very first friend Daniel ever had.

At the same time, his plan was far from over. His main objective wasn't an act of revenge itself. He wanted to make the school a safe place for his sister, so she would never be in danger of becoming a victim or a witness of teenage cruelty.

So, after that, Daniel started to target bullies from other classes, but only from the same grade or below. In total, there were as many as twenty of them. Not all classes did have bullies. In fact, it seems Daniel was indeed unlucky to have as many as five of them on his own.

It took him just two months to pressure every one of them into quitting their bad habits. He also allowed the victims to get some revenge. Not everything was smooth sailing, though. One time, Daniel was approached by the older brother of one of the bullies, a boy a few years senior. And so, without even trying, he "reeducated" a bully few grades above his.

Another time, he was confronted by four rascals who apparently thought that they can win with numbers and then anti-blackmail him, forcing to delete their naked photos. Indeed, he wasn't confident enough to take all of them at once, but why should he? After running away from them without any difficulty, he just sent their shameful photos to their classmates. Then, a little bit after, singled out each of them to have a more serious conversation.

Of course, he didn't continue to tyrannize the former bullies for too long. He was different from them and didn't enjoy making other people hurt when they were unable to resist. From the start, he intended to stop bullying altogether and not just reverse the roles.

When Daniel was done with his plan, rumors about him and his deeds were circulated throughout the whole school. Most people considered him either a hero or a villain, but the one they needed. But so-called "cool kids" and bullies from grades above his own weren't pleased with him.

While they thought about how to deal with him, he thought about how to deal with them. But the situation was solved in an unexpected way. Those older teenagers who before were neutral to the bullying suddenly became inspired by Daniel's actions and started to help victims fight back, both physically and with adult's help. Soon enough, there was no bullying in this school anymore. The phrase "There is no bullying at our school!" the principal said some time ago now reflected reality.

Finally, Daniel was free from worry. His mother changed, even if still mentally unstable. There were no longer any abuse in his life, be it at home or at school. He got along well with Ted and some other kids who admired him for helping them when no one else did. He became even more popular among girls than he was in the past. With cooking and chores out of the way, he was able to take studying more seriously, and so his school grades improved as well. Seeing his changes, Lisa was jovial as well.

"Big bro, I'm so glad to see you smile more than ever before! I'm happy when you are happy."

They always were close, but now Lisa became even more eager to cuddle with him and hugged him at every opportunity.

Daniel was very content with his new life, but a big event happened on Christmas Eve. It was the first time in years since they celebrated it properly as a family should. Before, their mother usually disappeared with one of her boyfriends. But now, all the family was gathered. Except, with one unexpected, unwanted by the siblings, guest.