"Hey Palchuk, who bought you that shirt, your mom? Oh wait, you don't have a mom!"

It took every fiber in Laura's body for her not to launch herself across the lunch tables at Marcus Lang, their school's bully, and strangle him with the straps of her book bag. Ever since they could remember, Marcus seemed to really like picking on Steven for whatever reason. Laura had always been the one to get physical with him every time he got physical with her friend, and more than once she had been sent to the principal to explain what happened.

Isaac and Flip, who were sitting at the lunch table with her and Steven gave Laura a look, warning her to not even try getting into a fist fight this time. Steven wasn't even listening to his today, being busy looking down at the latest book he had found on people claiming to have been abducted by aliens to debunk when he was done. This seemed to irk Marcus, and he immediately snatched the book out of Steven's hands, earning a loud "hey!" from him.

"Listen to your higher ups Palchuk!" The bully sneered before tossing the book behind him.

"You're a real butt snack, you know?" Flip muttered as she got up from her seat to retrieve the book.

"He has a mom, she just doesn't live here." Isaac added. "You're the one with a poor choice of fashion, who wears leather jackets in super warm weather?"

"Stay out of this Dumbzalski!" Marcus snapped and Laura immediately stood up.

"Hey, if you have a problem with us, take it up with me." She snapped back, her eyes narrowed. "Steven has a mom, she just doesn't live here."

"Oh so she walked out on his dad and him because they're total losers?"

"My dad is not a loser." Steven mumbled, looking down at the table and clutching the book that Flip returned to him to his chest. "Just go away, please, before Laura decks you."

"Lake ain't gonna do squat because if she does, she'll get suspended." Marcus laughed.

"It'd be worth it." Laura mutters. "But I promised not to fight any dumb humans."

"Your mom probably left because you and your dad are losers, no wait, that's definitely the reason why she's not around."

Now Steven looked ready to cry, clutching the book to his chest. "Don't talk about my mom like that." He mumbled.

"What did you say?"

Steven raises his head, his eyes brimming with tears but there's an angry expression on his face. "I said, don't talk about my mom like that. She may not even live with me and my dad, but she always visits or calls us. And at least she cares about me, unlike your parents who don't even live in the same house as you."

Those last words seemed to make the boy snap, causing him to lunge at Steven. And he would have probably knocked him down to the floor and got him in a chokehold if Laura hadn't intervened and knocked Marcus right to the floor before yanking his arms behind his back.

"You lay one hand on him again and I swear Lang, I can and will easily snap these arms like they're toothpicks!" Laura snarled as the boy screamed in pain. "You seem to forget that as someone with troll blood, I have the strength to beat the stuffing out of you, so don't you ever touch or bother my friend again!"

"Lake! My office, now!" They heard their principal yell from across the courtyard. Laura released Marcus and got off the floor before sending one last glare at the frightened boy.

"Next time you try to hurt my friend, I'm not holding back, flesh bag." She hissed.

⚔️⚔️⚔️

"Suspended for a week, and I have to write a stupid apology letter to Marcus and his family or I can't return to school." Laura announced, slapping the amulet onto the kitchen table and shoved it towards her mother. "Worth it because I defended Steven from that ass-"

"Language." Strickler snapped from his seat at the kitchen table. "Laura, you know better than to get into fights with stupid boys."

"He was going to hurt Steven, what else was I supposed to do?" Laura asked in annoyance. "Stand by and let Marcus hit him in the face? Watch as he got his arm broken? Steven can't really stand up for himself, and isn't it my duty to protect the weak?"

"This is different Laura, you could have snapped his arms off if you didn't hold back." Claire pointed out as she took the amulet and slipped it into her coat pocket. "Mija, I understand that you want to keep your friends safe, and I'm very proud that you did something to stand up for Steven when it got bad. But you have to understand that now you are the Trollhunter, you can't go around hurting people like that."

"And on top of that, you have to keep your strength in check." Strickler added. "You have troll blood running through your veins, you're not like the other humans."

"At least I have a strong jaw and good strength." Laura said tapping her arm. "Jimmy's stuck looking like a troll."

"You being mean!" She heard her brother yell from the living room. "You got stuck looking like an ugly flesh bag!"

"Jim Lake the third you watch your mouth!" Claire scolded and gave her daughter a look. "And you, stop fighting with your baby brother."

"That's why kids are picking on him at school! And he's being a big baby about it too!"

"Because unlike you he knows fighting will get him in trouble, and at least he gets an adult to solve it."

"You're being mean! You didn't act like this when papi was here!" Jim yelled as he stormed into the kitchen, his dark brown eyes narrowed in anger and pointed an accusing finger at his sister. "You're no worse than a bully!"

"I at least am not afraid to fight back and defend myself!" Laura snaps, storming over to her brother. "You've always acted like a baby, grow a damn backbone already because one of these days our mom is not going to be here to defend you!"

Jim gave a loud frustrated scream and flung himself at his sister, knocking her right onto the floor and grabbing at her hair while she tried to throw him off. Claire and Strickler immediately jumped in and yanked them apart, Strickler holding a screaming Jim while Claire yanked Laura to her feet.

"Go to your room, now!" Claire ordered.

Laura didn't even need to be told twice. She stormed right up to her room, slamming her door for good measure before shoving her desk chair under the knob to keep it close. With a frustrated groan the teen flung herself onto her bed and buried her face into her pillow as she attempted to ignore the muffled conversation from downstairs between her mother and brother.

Why am I getting so mad lately? Laura wonders as she lifts her head from her pillow.

Ever since Agate snuck over to tell her what he found out, she hadn't been feeling like herself lately. She was picking fights with anyone who ticked her off and snapping at everyone, including her mom and brother. Jimmy had even became kind of cranky too lately, which Laura found very odd, since he was normally such a quiet child and not prone to raging outbursts like that. But then again, she was right in a way- he had to stop clinging to their mother's skirt and learn to stand up for himself. Her eyes wandered to her dresser to an old photograph she had always kept. Her father stood there smiling with one arm around her mother's shoulder while in the other he had her lifted up on his arm while Jimmy was held in their mother's arms. They looked so happy in that old photo, her father smiling and laughing as he tried to hold Laura while she held onto his horns, her mother smiling while Jimmy laid asleep in her arms, neither of them even bothering to look at the camera.

Those creatures came out of the Darklands, thanks to something or someone, what if more than one is still out there? Laura wonders as she reaches towards the photo to place a finger on her father's picture. Who else died after this creature was released?

Not many people she knew had been in the Darklands for a long time, aside from her father, Notenrique, Nomura and Dictatious and came out of there alive. She had considered telling the last three about Agate's findings, but what were the chances of them actually knowing about these creatures? If she wanted to get some answers, she'll have to ask the questions for them eventually. And she had a week to do that.