"Now I know it's early for you to be thinking of your future, but the admissions office at Liberty University was nice enough to set up this visit so I expect everyone to be on your best behavior." Mr. Laurisden glares at Hailey for a second, "ALL of you. So no sneaking off in the middle of the field trip, especially if a robbery occurs a block away again."

Hailey glances around in mock innocence, "Mr. Laurisden, I'd never do something like that!" Then her face breaks out into a grin. "Well, I'd never do that again."

Continuing to glare at her, Mr. Laurisden continues, "Our itinerary for the trip will be a tour of various campus buildings. We will be starting with the science labs, first physics and chemistry, then on to biology and horticultural studies. After that, we will be stopping by the historical building and then the humanities. Next is..." Mr. Laurisden drones on, but for one particular student the next half of his lecture pales in comparison to what he has already said.

Bella Atropa sits clutching her backpack staring out the window of the bus thinking. Today she has an excellent opportunity to secure one more ingredient for the spell of revenge, deadly nightshade! However, Bella is still uncertain about the decision to use the spell. Although she has written and destroyed a hundred pro and con lists, she still cannot find a clear answer. In matters of emotion such as this, her intellect is no help.

Lost in thought she does not notice as the person sitting next to her pokes her side. She remains oblivious until the pokes increase in frequency and penetration, enough that they hurt just a bit! With a jump, she turns to the girl next to her and smiles, "Hey Missy, what's up?"

Missy leans in conspiratorially as Mr. Laurisden continues, "So what are you excited for? I bet you've got this whole place mapped out already and I know you've read through the itinerary already so spill."

Bella smiles, "Um, I'm, well I'm excited for the biology and history departments."

"Why's that?" Hailey chimes in from the seat across the aisle. From next to her, Theo leans over and says, "You want to be a biologist or a historian Bella? Cool."

Nervously Bella shakes her head in denial then quickly moves to change the subject, "So um what about you guys?"

From the seat behind the four, Jake leans over and proclaims in a loud voice, "I'm gonna be majorin in the football team!"

Missy face palms. "Jake that isn't an actual major. You'd have to pick something to actually study while you're here."

Jake looks at her confused, "But Miss, that ain't fair. I wanna go fer football, not anythin' else."

Theo gives him a pitying look and leans over to put his hand on Jake's shoulder. "I know buddy, I know. It's a cruel and unfair world out there for athletes."

Jake brightens, "Ain't it though? But Miss, you'll come an' be here fer me right?"

Missy shakes her head and pats Jake on his other shoulder. "You know I want to go to the police academy right Jake? I'm going to be a detective like my dad, but I'm going to specialize in supervillain crime. I want to end our society's reliance on superheroes.”

“End our reliance?” Theo wonders aloud.

Missy waves her hands apologetically as if to defuse imaginary tension, “Don't get me wrong! It's great that we have people willing to step up and help. But that isn’t a substitute for our ability to protect ourselves or things will only get worse. All it takes is for a villain to get lucky once and we're all at their mercy." She adds the last bit in an ominous tone.

Hailey shifts uncomfortably and replies, "Yeah but it’s important not to just muscle out the heroes too. They've sacrificed a lot for this country and the world. It would be a little heartless to just discard them like old milk soon as society develops a better option."

With a shake of her head, Missy replies, "Oh gosh no! I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that it doesn't really make much sense to gamble like that. Besides, what do we do when a super wants to retire? We can't just force them to keep protecting us all because we never bothered to think about the future."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Bella weighs in, "Well look at Jennifer, she's been retired for years but she still comes out for the big time threats. It's possible to strike a balance."

Theo jumps in, "Yeah but she might not have to come back if we had better ways of defending ourselves. It's got to be dangerous to be out of practice and then come back for someone like Becca, you know like she did last year."

"True” Missy pauses to think for a second and then continues, "and she's never said either way if she actually wants to come back. But if she doesn't, well then... well it is Becca. If she doesn't a lot of people will die."

Hailey nods then answers, "That's true, but that's the exception not the rule. Yes, heroes get old and retire, but new heroes appear just the same as new villains. Look at Eldritch Maiden and Ginger Snap, they're new."

Jake chimes in, "Ya but it ain't fair ta rely on em. They're new an' all. An' ya can't expect new supes ta jus' appear all ta time."

Everyone blinks at Jake. Then Missy smiles and replies, "Exactly!"

Jake grins, "Well ya talk about it enough I had ta listen in sometime!"

Everyone laughs for a bit, the revelry broken as Mr. Laurisden speaks up. "Okay, we're here everybody. Now try to stick near one of the teachers so we can keep track of you and again, do not wander off." He finishes the last bit with a glare at Hailey who looks away nonchalantly.

Chattering the group descends from the bus and enters the campus. After a few minutes getting sorted and wandering about, the group heads off towards the first of the science buildings. Everyone resumes gossiping and chattering about future plans, but Bella remains aloof in the haze of her decision. As the group nears biology classrooms, Bella's nerves mount and she finds herself ducking into a bathroom to try to calm down.

"Hey look, it’s the freak." Bella turns with a whirl. The sight that greets her confirms her worst fears. Her tormentors have cornered her out of sight and safety!

"Hey freak” Ally says with a smirk, “Shouldn't you be in the basement with the other test subjects?"

Maggie giggles and steps forward then in a sarcastic tone she continues from where Ally left off. "I heard its parent's work here. Think they designed it in a test tube or just grabbed a monkey and started doing experiments on it?"

Trishia saunters over and shoves Bella back into the sink. "Hmmmmmm, it’s too ugly to be a human. So I'm going with a monkey."

"Hey monkey,” Ally says, "would you like a banana?" The girl reaches into her bag and grabs her sack lunch. She pulls out a banana and offers it with a vicious smile.

"N... no..." Bella stammers.

Ally's face contorts. "Are you refusing my generosity? All I was going to do was give you a banana."

Trishia moves towards the door and peeks outside. "Coast is clear Ally; want me to keep an eye out the door?"

Ally nods and Trishia stands next to the door holding the handle. Maggie moves in towards Bella and grabs her by the arms. Ally starts peeling the banana. With a look at Maggie she commands, "Hold her steady."

Bella starts squirming but stops immediately after Maggie grabs her by the hair and twists. Terrified, she shakes as Ally walks forward with the peel in one hand and the banana in the other. "Pl... please" she whispers wide eyes in terror.

"Oh come on,” Ally laughs, "I haven't even done anything to you yet! Relax Bella; we're just going to give you a treat. We know how much you monkeys love your bananas." Maggie's free hand then reaches up and flicks Bella on the forehead.

Maggie then pulls back on Bella's hair and pushes down forcing Bella to stare up at Ally who pries open her mouth and shoves the peel inside. Maggie then drags Bella back upright. She tries to spit out the peel but Ally forces her hand on her mouth and shoves it deeper. "Finish the peel and you can eat the rest of the banana Bella!" She says with a wicked flourish.

Bella gags, unable to chew the tough material. But they continue to torment her, forcing it back down every time she tries to choke it out. Ally gasps, "The little freak bit me!" She exclaims as she waves her bleeding hand in the air.

Enraged she then turns back to Bella and slaps her, moving in to redouble her efforts to force the peel down Bella's throat. A half minute of this struggle goes by until Bella starts chewing in resignation, the vile peel leaving her eyes watering.

Ally begins eating the rest of the banana with a roll of her eyes. "Well freak, this is what you get for biting me. No more reward for you!"

Then Trishia hisses, "Someone's coming!"

Maggie releases Bella and Ally forces her to spit out the peel, which she promptly drops in Bella's backpack along with the rest of her banana. Maggie then quickly zips Bella's bag closed. No sign of the previous torment, aside from Bella's tear stricken face and expression, remains.

The door opens to reveal a pair of girls chattering glibly, "So then I got a selfie with Ginger Snap! Can you believe that? And she totally promised to get me a poster of Eldritch with her autograph! It was the coolest thing ever." The pair stops on seeing the four girls inside.

Ally casually walks out of the stall and begins washing up, covering her bleeding hand and using the sink to clean away what little blood Bella's frantic bite managed to shed. As she does, Maggie puts her hand on Bella's back and says in faux sympathy, "Oh don't worry Bella, I know it makes you want to cry right now but you'll get over him someday. He's just a freak that you're better off without."

The pair looks on in pity. One of them pipes up, "Yeah men are the worst! That The Chauvinist guy made me carry him around for the afternoon and you wouldn't believe some of the stuff he said. The experience totally convinced me to swear off boys. A whole lot of the other girls from that day did the same thing. We're forming a feminist alliance on campus. You should totally join!"

Trishia pipes up from by the door, "Oh that does seem like a good idea, joining a group for people like you would probably really make you feel better Bella."

Ally calmly intercedes, "Absolutely, we'll need to check out that group. But we're going to be late for class if we don't start moving now, come along Bella." With this, the three duck past the newcomers and leave the bathroom while flanking Bella and forcing her to walk between them.

Soon as they reach the hallway Ally, Trishia, and Maggie turn and leave Bella giving her mean looks as they walk away. As they turn down the hallway, Bella bursts into motion moving into a nearby office, glancing around to confirm its vacancy. She then grabs a wad of tissue paper and spits. The blood and saliva stare back at her as she uses another set of tissues to wipe away her tears.

Then she reaches into her pack and pulls out a pencil container. Upending the pouch she dumps her pencils back into the backpack and carefully deposits the tissues, one covered in Ally's blood, the other in her tears, into the pouch. Then she reaches into the backpack and pulls out the mush of the banana. Suppressing tears she shoves it into her case and seals it before moving it back to the backpack.

Bella sniffles a little, the aftereffects of her crying still moving through her body. Then she straightens with a smile and walks over to a nearby fire map. After a few moments spent tracing the diagram, her finger settles on a room labeled "botanical gardens, dangerous plants lab."

Nodding slightly, Bella sets off down the hallway towards the lab with a determined pace. A hint of a smile graces her face, but in her eyes, a dangerous desperation lingers.

Her actions, though hardly malicious, still push her ever closer to the edge! An edge we will see next week in as the visitation day continues in... "A Lab and a Lecture!"