Villains in Training

Chapter Twenty-One: A Promise And A Plan

Bella practically forced the girl washing her hands and the worker cleaning the bathroom to leave. She then checked every stall and locked the door when she was sure no one was inside.

"You need to get a hold of yourself and look at this more objectively," Bella stated. "If your headmaster is telling you to do the same things my headmaster told me to do, there's probably a problem."

"Killing doesn't mean he's not a hero," Jade shot back.

"What if I told you that there was someone who planned on stealing from a bank maybe someday. A police officer went up to that person and tasered him simply so that he could bring in this person and lock him away. No trial, of course, because this person hasn't committed any crimes yet. But, because this person has a heart condition and the police officer has never actually used a taser on a real person before, there's a high chance that the person might die, but the police officer's captain doesn't care about that. The captain wants this person tasered, brought in, and locked up."

"Well obviously that's wrong, but-"

"Your headmaster is the captain. You're the police officer. I'm the possible would-be thief. The taser is your power, which you've never used in that way before, and the heart condition is simply the fact that I'm still human, which means I'll likely die when my body drops below a certain temperature." Bella walked closer to Jade and put her hands on Jade's shoulders. "Your headmaster is villainous, but that doesn't mean you are. It just means that you have to find someone else to look up to."

"You make it sound easy, but it's not. It's all so complicated and if my headmaster is a villain... what if I subconsciously knew and that's why I came here? I mean, I can't become a villain, Bella. It'd break my parents' hearts."

"You're being ridiculous again. You're parents are crazy loving and they'd definitely accept you either way. But here, how about I make you a promise. If you start to do something villainous because of that jerk, I'll make sure to stop you. No matter what. And if he does anything, he'll have me to answer to. No one messes with my best friend."

Jade took a few deep breaths then sighed. "Ok. Fine, I guess. But we still need an actual plan. I don't want to accidentally kill my best friend."

"That's what we all gathered for. No one thinks you're evil just because your headmaster's a snake in sheep's clothing or whatever."

"It's a wolf in-"

"But I like snake better. He's poison, so he's a snake. But he's also pretending to be harmless like a sheep."

"Yeah, but the phrase is a wolf in sheep's clothing because wolves hunt sheep-"

"Mmmmm... I'm gonna stick with snake," Bella said as she went to unlock and open the door. "Coming?"

Jade smiled. "You villains, always making your own rules."

"You heroes, sticking to the rules like its life support," Bella shot back.

When they returned to the table, Quinn gave them both a concerned look while Hades dipped a French fry in his milkshake seemingly unbothered.

"All good?" Hades asked.

"Yeah, crisis averted," Bella sighed as she fell into her seat. "Now, we need a plan."

"You could both quit school and move to another country," Quinn suggested.

"I hope that's a joke," Bella responded dryly.

"Just offering the easiest course of action."

"We aren't running from the law. Heroes and villains have reach beyond country borders. And especially if the headmaster is a villain, running rarely ever helps and when it does it requires a lot of planning and new identities and covering your tracks. So it's a clear and obvious no to your idea. Anyone have an idea that might actually work?"