Things did not blow over as easily as Ben hoped.

It wasn't even the next day when Ben got a call from the principal that he was having a parent-coach conference instead of hero practice. Stanley Chevis's parents wanted to have a word with him.

He went through the day preparing for the meeting, almost missing a vote on public park seat installation. While Humanity First were not a large group, a lot of people sympathized with them about how difficult it is to live like normal humans in a world with meta-humans. Some powers involved literal guns for hands, which didn't help when those people became villains.

On the drive to the school, Ben glanced over at his glove compartment, wondering if this might devolve into violence. He considered they wouldn't harm him on school grounds, but couldn't be certain.

When he arrived, he noticed that the other kids were waiting by the entrance with serious expressions.

"What are you guys doing?" Ben asked, pulling up to the entrance. "Practice was cancelled today."

"We're here for backup," Michael declared, balling his fists and knocking his knuckles.

"Backup for what?" Ben asked as if he hadn't expected this.

"We know what Stanley's mother is like," Katherine stated. "She's confronted each of us, and she was arrested when she tried to hit Garrett."

"The bitch is crazy," the snake boy corroborated.

"If she goes sicko mode, you're gonna need one of us there to support you," Katherine declared while cracking her knuckles.

Ben was almost proud. To see these kids ban together like a real team under his tutelage was wonderfully heartwarming, and for them to even prepare to defend him brought a tear to his eye. Especially since he hadn't brainwashed them or altered their memories.

"I appreciate the offer," Ben said, "but if the parents see you here, they're going to assume that I'm making you do this."

"But we can't just leave you like this!" Gary shouted a bit too loudly. "She's a real Karen! Even the principal can't do anything about her!"

"Guys, listen to me," Ben began, turning his engine off so he could be heard. "The best way to convince people that you're not a threat is be being the least threatening people out there. It won't be pretty, and it won't be easy, but if you hold out for longer than they can go after you, then you've won the war. The truest victory is to keep your enemy from getting what they want. If they want you to go crazy, do everything in your power to stay sane. If they want you to retaliate, forgive them. If they want you to throw the first punch, make sure you only throw the second.

"And especially remember this: The best revenge is to not be like your enemy. Now go home!"

The kids glanced at each other as Ben drove to park. When he got to the school doors, they were already gone.

Ben entered the halls of education and felt like maybe he should have taken those kids up on their offer, because the halls of education were packed with men and women emitting such hatred and murderous aura that he could almost see his own death. Stanley's mom must have called in some backup of her own.

"I'm telling you all for medical and legal reasons," Ben announced with a twisted grin, "but my power radiates five feet around me at all times."

He started towards the designated conference room with the entire Humanity First thuggery giving him a wide berth.

When he got to the door, he met three of the largest men who refused to move. They were standing in the short hallway before the door, and nothing was going to move them.

Ben asked very politely, "Pardon me, but I've got a meeting in this room."

The men didn't move, nor did they answer. Ben simply pulled out his phone, causing one of the men to scoff. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a real officer's badge from Littleton, the next town over. Ben scoffed as well, opening his phone and dialing a number.

"Yes, I'm right outside," Ben said loud enough to be heard. "No I'm just having a conversation with the gentlemen out here."

Ben let out a cheeky smile the moment before the door opened and the men had to step aside to let the principal through. The school official seemed to recognize what was happening and shuffled Ben into the classroom.

The principal was an elderly, balding man with a beer gut and a chin strap. His name was William Avery, but most of the kids just called him 'Prince', the same way the biggest guy in school is called 'Tiny'. He wore a classic business suit as any professional should, but with a silly tie that was probably amusing for the kids.

Also in the classroom were Stanley's brick wall of a dad, his tiny, huffy mother in a mumu, and Stanley himself, looking no physically worse for wear. Even under his clothes he had no bruises or injuries, but Ben saw deeper. There were toxins in his stomach, something that was burning the mucus wall away and giving him indigestion. It looked like hand soap, but could just as easily be laundry detergent.

Ben did his best not to react, but even he could see his face muscles twitch slightly trying to contain himself.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Mrs. and Mr. Chevis, this is Mr. Hersh, your son's coach," the principal introduced.

Ben was about to begin the explanation of his power in an attempt to make these people more amicable towards him, but Mrs. Chevis stood up and yelled at the top of her voice, "HOW DARE YOU CORRUPT MY SON, DEVIL!"

"BARB!" her husband shouted before his wife could cross the room and throttle Ben. "I will handle this.... Sit. DOWN."

The wife crumpled under her husband's strict gaze, falling back into her seat without dropping her malicious gaze that threatened to kill her local councilman.

"Before we begin, it's only right that I explain how my power works, for legal and medical reasons-"

"We know your sinful ways!" Mr. Chevis hissed. "James told us all about how you reveal people's secrets!"

"I can see through anything within five feet of me," Ben corrected, trying to keep his voice steady. "I am personally sworn to secrecy."

"Lies!" the wife accused, jolting her chair forward while remaining seated. "You spread rumors just the way the devil tells you! Privacy means nothing to you."

"That's rather insulting," Ben offered weakly. "I had a friend with colon cancer, but he thought my power was creepy and made me promise never to tell him if I saw anything.... Call me ugly, call me crazy, call me stupid..., but never call me a liar or a busybody. If I'm allowed a right to privacy, I should allow others the right to theirs."

"I don't like the way you talk," the husband accused.

"As a politician, I get that a lot," Ben joked, and felt a warm spark on his flinty heart when Stanley's dad cracked a smile for the briefest moment.

Perhaps one of the parents was capable of being saved.

"Mr. and Mrs. Chevis," the principal quickly interrupted, "could you please reiterate the grievance you filed against Mr. Hersh?"

"He's corrupting our son-!"

The father put a hand out to stop his wife before she went any further, "We specifically requested that any usage of our son's power be brought to our attention, and that he be kept from using it outside of an emergency! Yet I'm hearing that you're making him use his power anyway!"

"I am not," Ben denied. "No one is, at least at practice. Stanley, are there-"

"Don't proposition my son," the mother cried.

Ben paused for a long time, holding back the thousands of witty retorts that came to his filthy, dirty mind. He seemed to be the only one who recognized how the phrasing may be misconstrued, although Stanley's dad was straining his neck mightily to hold back laughter.

"Okay," Ben slowly returned to sanity, "did your son mention that any of the hero team members were making him use his power?"

Everyone turned to Stanley for his answer, but he just shook his head.

"Well, it certainly wasn't me."

"DO YOU HAVE ANY PROOF?!" shouted the mother, and Ben had to suppress a smile.

And now for the masterclass of what Ben had been preparing since he accepted the role as coach of children. The library, the open field next to the school, the football field where the hero team had been practicing all had security cameras pointed directly at where Ben had been staging their practices. He had been compiling the footage all day thanks to a school board member who had access to the footage and a hate boner for Mrs. Chevis. He had even cropped certain vantages so that Stanley was more visible and a few of the more dangerous moments were missed. He even had timestamped tapes of him leaving, because he always made sure to park in the lot where a camera could see him.

"With pleasure," Ben stated, pulling out his phone and airdropping the fast forward version to everyone in the room, and a few people in the halls. It was black and white with a red circle around Stanley as he sat down and did homework for an hour, then just relaxed the rest of practice. Everyone pulled out their phones and watched the sixty second video of Stanley doing nothing every practice. Even the guys outside seemed confused by the video, but the principal had a creepy smile as he watched the video proof against the dispute.

"We should review the footage more clearly later," he quickly hid his smile. "But, from what I've seen, your son has kept to his promise and never used his power."

"I know my son!" his mother cracked. "He used his power! I can feel it on him!"

"Honey," the father said cautiously, "they've got it on video. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do. Remember what we talked about."

Mrs. Chevis looked at her husband, then at her son, then started crying enraged tears at Ben.

"You're corrupting my son!" she shrieked as the man in the family put an arm as thick as a tree around his wife to comfort her.

"We'll be going now," Mr. Chevis said, eyeing Ben with an almost apathetic stare.

Stanley followed closely behind, smiling at Ben as he passed. It was the usual reaction when someone watches the most aggressive person in their life be put in their place. Ben watched them go, then saw from a distance as the entire Humanity First congregation followed them away.

"FEW!" the principal screeched, loosening his tie as his nerves started to unravel. "That was rough! I'm so sorry Mr. Hersh, but thank god you had the foresight to bring security footage. I don't even care where you got it, I'm just glad that it resolved things peacefully."

"I hope they won't pull Stanley out of the hero team," Ben stressed as he stood to go. "He may not be using his power, but we still need him as the fifth spot for a full team."

"I did my best to stress how important making friends is to Stanley's parents and how much he's opened up since joining," Mr. Avery assured Ben. "Hopefully they believed me."

"Was Stanley a quiet kid?"

"Oh, I don't know," the principal admitted, "there are eight hundred kids in this school, I don't have time to get to know them all."

Ben chuckled at the suspiciously candid response. He eyed the principal and decided to risk asking a question.

"Is it just me," Ben carefully worded, "or did Stanley's mom seem more avid about her beliefs than his father?"

"I'm very familiar with Mrs. Chevis's disdain towards any sort of supernatural occurrence. Mr. Chevis... I don't quite get the feeling he's as extreme, but I'm certain he's a true believer."

Ben wasn't so sure about that. He had seen men do crazier things for love than join a cult.

==============================================================================================

Stanley was back to practice the next day, but his father had come along and was watching from a distance. Stanley had to embarrassingly explain that his mom made him come watch to make sure that they weren't covorting with satan.

Ben felt a little anxious that he was now actively being watched, until a scheme started to form in the back of his mind. By the end of practice he had pulled it into the forefront of thought and was tackling it from every angle until he had a concievable plan.

After practice, Ben approached Stanley's father with the son behind him, and said ever-so delicately, "You know, you'd get a better view if you came closer."

"I don't want to be anywhere near that Voodoo hocus pocus," the burly man spat.

"And I don't want to be accused of selling children's souls to the devil," Ben retorted, "but here we are.... I'm just saying, I want you to know what's going on here, and I could use some help if there's ever an emergency."

The dad gave a steely-eyed look to Ben, but the councilman knew that it was an expression of deep thought, not rejection.

"Feel free to think about it," Ben offered, then to Stanley, "I'll see you at club tomorrow."