Hey y'all. This is a pretty long chapter because what was supposed to be chapter 3 was too short and I ended up combining it with chapter 4 so the pacing is a little weird. Enjoy.

City Hall is definitely a portal to hell. That's just a fact. The janky AT&T store is purgatory and the rest of the Southside is like, the river of Styx or whatever. Thankfully, Mrs. Fogarty's food can fix anything, supernatural or not. That doesn't really make sense, but whatever. I'm eyeball deep in carne asada fries and five seasons of Breaking Bad. I don't care about anything. The apocalypse could be happening at this very moment and I would not budge from this cozy ass couch. And as a special bonus, Mrs. Fogarty has that mom look that can make anyone do anything, including convincing Fangs and Sweet Pea to set up my propane for me while I eat dessert. She is the coolest.

The boys got back while I was helping myself to second dinner and we all smushed together onto the couch to continue binge watching.

"Is that Danny Trejo?" Sweet Pea asks, throwing his legs over mine. Fangs shifts into the corner on my other side and puts his legs over Sweet Pea's so I'm a Serpent Sandwich and I balance my plate on their legs.

"Well," I take a big bite of food, "it's Danny Trejo's head." Sweet Pea snorts. Mrs. Fogarty gives me a mom look.

"Don't talk with your mouthful, Carrie."

"Sorry, Mrs. Fogarty." She smiles at me before turning back to the TV, even more interested than we were. We all flinched when the bomb went off on the show.

"Nice one." Fangs and I laugh at Sweet Pea's comment. Mrs. Fogarty tries to give him a mom look but the corners of her mouth are turned up.

"No bombs." She scolds. The three of us nod.

"Yes, Mrs. Fogarty." She shakes her head at us and turns back to the show. I'm fully engrossed when my phone starts vibrating.

"Shut that off!"

"Shut up, Sweet Pea." I shove Sweet Pea and Fang's legs off of my lap and grab my phone. Walking into the kitchen before I answer it.

"Who is this?"

"Jesus kid, didn't anyone teach you how to answer a phone."

"Oh, hi TB. How'd you get this number?"

"First off, stop calling me TB. Second, I got it from Penny."

"How did Penny get this number? I've had this phone for like 3 hours."

"She got it from Hog Eye."

"How did Hog Eye get it?"

"From Toni. It doesn't matter. Where are you? We've got shit to do." I squeeze my eyes shut to stop myself from audibly groaning or slamming my head repeatedly into the kitchen cabinet.

"I'm at my trailer."

"No you aren't. I'm at your trailer."

"Creep."

"For god sakes, Crash. I'm not in the mood."

"Whatever, I'll be there in five."

"Be here in two." I snap the phone shut. Yeah, I bought a flip phone. Make fun of me all you want but it is so worth the satisfaction of slamming the phone shut on people. Plus it was only twenty bucks. I shove the phone in my pocket and go back into the living room. Everyone's focus is on the show until I start pulling my boots on and Sweet Pea turns to me.

"Where are you going?'

"Out." He glares at me. "Serpent business." Mrs. Fogarty grunts in disapproval but doesn't say anything.

"I'll go with." Sweet Pea starts to stand but I cut him off.

"You weren't invited." I put on my jacket. Fangs is the closest to the front door so I smooch his forehead and he swats me away. "See you at school." Sweet Pea glares but I slip out the door and book it down the road to my trailer.

The thing no one ever tells you about drug trafficking is that it takes forever. Or maybe they do tell you and I just missed that episode of the after school special. Either way, they could put a picture of my under eye circles on a pamphlet for anti-gang propaganda. 'Don't waste your life- or your concealer'. Kids everywhere would be enlightened and start doing trigonometry or something. Whatever rich kids do in their free time.

I jump when Tall Boy opens the truck door. He pauses for a second, looking between me and the rearview mirror I had adjusted.

"If you're done with your makeup, princess, we have a job to do."

"My job is mostly being bored and listening to ABBA, so… mission accomplished." Tall Boy glares at me.

"Grab the crate." I jump out of the truck and follow Tall Boy to the bed. He drags the crate to the edge and looks me up and down. "You'd think Penny would have found someone who could lift more than a tube of lipstick."

"Don't be sexist, TB." I try to grab the crate to prove my point but it barely budges and Tall Boy snorts. He grabs one end and lifts it almost entirely out of the truck and I grab the other side. He's still doing most of the work and he makes sure I know it.

"Don't break a nail, Collins." I glare at him. We get the crate into the warehouse without dropping it, or breaking anything. Tall Boy walks into Penny's makeshift office and I try to follow but he blocks me.

"Wait in the truck." He slams the door closed before I can protest. What an asshole. I'm definitely telling everyone about his secret ABBA CD. I go back to the truck, not because he told me to but because I wanted to. Whatever. Tall Boy had better have Fernando on this thing.

I walk into the cafeteria the next morning, fully expecting to be able to nap until second period. What I'm not expecting, is Sweet Pea surrounded by a bunch of teen serpents watching something on his laptop. It's probably another cat video. Wait, no. Sweet Pea doesn't know that I know how many cat videos he actually watches. Which is a lot, by the way. Like a weird amount. The video they're watching though, is totally cat-less.

"Please tell me this is gay porn and not a Fight Club remake." Sweet Pea looks up from the computer and Toni scoots down the bench so I can sit down between them.

"Neither. Some North Sider went psycho and made a video threatening the Black Hood." He turns the laptop towards me and restarts it.

"Oh my god. That's hilarious." I crack up and Sweet Pea and Toni laugh with me. Fangs grins. Sweet Pea restarts it.

"Maybe we should take him down a peg." Fangs offers with a smirk. Jughead saunters up to the table.

"I'm guessing we're not watching funny cat videos." Oh god, he knows about Sweet Pea secret youtube account. Sweet Pea pauses the video and turns the laptop towards Jughead.

"Check this out. Some sick in the head north sider posted a crazy ass video. And uh, we were just talking."

"About what?"

"Fogarty wants to earn his Serpent stripes." He slaps Fangs on the back proudly. "I say, bring us the head of that Northsider and you're in." I grin at Fangs and he smiles back.

"I'm down with that." Everyone laughs and Sweet Pea slams his fist on the table, encouraging Fangs. Jughead blanches.

"Guys, no."

"What, Jughead?" Sweet Pea raises his eyebrow and gives Jughead a menacing look.

"I know this guy. He's milquetoast. A football player. He's just kind of a lame target is all I'm saying. You wanna prove something? Why don't you go after the Black Hood?" I can't help but scoff.

"Why would we do that?" I ask him.

"The Black Hood's targeting Northsiders, who do nothing but blame the Southside for everything that's wrong with this town. And we're sick of it. The Black Hood's doing our work for us. He's a hero." I nod in agreement with Sweet Pea. Jughead fumbles for words. He looks like he wants to say more but instead he just walks away. Sweet Pea turns the laptop back towards the group and restarts the video.

"Check it out." Fangs points to another video. "Remix."

Since being home I had quickly fallen into my old routine. Mostly because my old routine was hanging out with Sweets, Toni, and Fangs and wreaking havoc on the Southside. It was pretty easy to pick back up.

"Okay, okay. Get out the chart, Fangs." Fangs diligently pulls the crinkled piece of paper out of his pocket and smooths it out on the sidewalk. I pull the pen out of my hair and make a tally next to Sweet Pea's name. "The official rankings for Loudest Shoe are as follows: Sweet Pea as number one, Fangs as number two, Crash Collins as number three, and Toni Topaz as number negative three."

"Why is Toni even on the chart if she isn't here?" Fangs asks.

"Because Crash keeps losing and she refuses to accept it." I glare at Sweet Pea and he shrugs.

"No! Because even though Topaz is too busy playing FBI with Jones, she's still officially last on the Crash Collins Olympics leader board."

"We are not calling it the Crash Collins Olympics." Sweet Pea protests for the sixth time.

"Yes we are. It's on the chart." Sweet Pea makes a grab for the pen but I pull it out of his reach. "I have the pen, I have the power."

"It's my pen!"

"You gave it to me." Fangs snatches the pen from my hands and crosses out 'Crash Collins Olympics' from the top of the page.

"We should take a break." Sweet Pea sits on the curb and stretches his legs into the street.

"You only want to take a break because you're winning." Fangs points out, though he flops down on the sidewalk next to Sweet Pea. "I'm thirsty." I grab the paper from the ground and shove it in my pocket.

"You guys are so boring." Sweet Pea grabs my ankle tugs it, nearly knocking me off balance. I shake it out of his grasp and kick him in the arm but he grabs it again and yanks it harder. Fangs catches on and grabs my arm, pulling it down too until I fall. Luckily, I fall on the two of them instead of the concrete. Lucky for me at least. Sweets got a knee to the chest. I roll off of them and onto the edge of the street.

"You're gonna get hit by a car."

"You're the one who pulled me down." Sweet Pea rolls his eyes, grabbing my arms and dragging me closer to the sidewalk. I lean my back against his knees. The boys are quiet, enjoying the last bit of sunset and the little bit of heat that it brings. I get bored quickly though, and fidget with my shoelaces. "I'm bored." Fangs huffs and pokes me hard in the shoulder.

"You're like a toddler." Fangs pokes me again and I swipe at his hand.

"And you're like a less cool version of Ponyboy." I retie my laces. "Can we go now? I'm thirsty." Sweet Pea groans. I stand and grab his arm, trying to pull him up to no avail. I knew he was muscular but I never really noticed how solid he is. It's kind of hot, except it's Sweet Pea who is most definitely not hot. Just super annoying and hard to move. "Get up!" I tell him, pulling on his arm again. He grunts. Fangs watches the sun disappear behind the horizon and when it's finally gone he stands and brushes the dirt from his jeans.

"Okay. I'm ready." Sweet Pea grunts again and I pull on his arm again using my entire body weight. Fangs watches us and laughs.

"Dude, do you only weigh ten pounds?" I glare at him. I'll admit that physically I am not super intimidating. I'm pretty average, height wise, and instead of looking tough and majestic like my ancestors my cheekbones just make my face look round and cherubic. I have a well deserved reputation but honestly, if you didn't know who I was and I pulled a knife on you, you'd probably laugh.

"I'll have you know, Fangs, that what I lack in mass I make up for in anger."

"Like a chihuahua." Sweet Pea chimes in. I kick him in the shin and he laughs. Assholes.

"Whatever. You guys suck." I drop Sweet Pea's arm, unable to make him budge and switch to Plan B. "Whoever gets to the bodega last has to pay." And with that I start sprinting down the street as quickly as I can. The bodega is only two blocks away, but Sweet Pea's grotesquely long legs will let him catch up quickly if I don't keep my head start. I hear boots slamming pavement behind me. Fangs, judging by the slapping sound. Sweet Pea shouts and his clomping boots start following ours. Maybe I should get combat boots. I bet I'd look badass in combat boots.

I'm only a few feet away from the door when Fangs cuts in front of me on the sidewalk. He tries to skid to a stop but slams his hands into the bodega window, making the boy behind the counter jump. I slip around Fangs, getting inside first, right as Sweet Pea arrives.

"Sweet Pea lost. He's paying." I greet the boy at the counter, Nico. He's not a Serpent yet, but his parents both are. "Nico, what's the most expensive drink you have?"

"There's some of that hipster coconut water shit in the back." He barely glances up at us from his book. Just enough to make sure we aren't Ghoulies or robbing him. Fangs leans against the counter and starts talking to Nico about his book. I go to the back by the coconut water and Sweet Pea follows.

"That stuff is gross. Tastes like sweat." Sweet Pea points out before I buy one and regret it.

"You're gross and taste like sweat." He swats the back of my head lightly.

"How do you know what I taste like?" I will not blush. Crash Collins does not blush.

"Tall Boy told me." Sweet Pea snorts and grabs a gatorade. I decide to not get the coconut water and get some iced tea instead. Pea grabs it and pays, interrupting Fangs and Nico.

"When do you get off work?" Fangs asks Nico, leaning on his elbows across the counter. Sweet Pea raises an eyebrow at me and I give him a confused look. He rolls his eyes and gestures at Fangs and Nico. What is his problem? Sweet Pea rolls his eyes again and leans in so he can whisper in my ear.

"They're flirting." OH.

"How can you tell?" He gives me an 'are you serious look' and I shrug. I can never tell when people are flirting. Someone would have to be like, 'Crash I think you're hot and we should make out' and I'd still be like 'You mean as friends or something?' and they'd be like, 'Not as friends. You're the love of my life and we should get married and move to Manitoba'. Not that I think about that a lot or anything. Anyway, Sweet Pea twists open my tea and hands it to me and we stand back while Fangs and Nico flirt it up.

"Do we approve of Nico?" Sweet Pea asks quietly. I think for a moment.

"He's not a Serpent, but his parents are. He reads a lot, which seems like something Fangs would be into. He's cute."

"He's cute?" I nod and Sweet Pea stares hard at Nico.

"He's either into men or completely oblivious." I add.

"Definitely into Fangs, at least." Sweets nods.

"I would approve more if he were initiated, but he's better than the last boy Fangs was into. And way better than the Ghoulie girl."

"He didn't know she was a Ghoulie at the time." I grunt and Sweet Pea shakes his head. Another girl walks in and Nico nods at her. Fangs saunters over to us.

"He's coming with." He says proudly. "Just has to cash out so Leah can take over." Nico takes his tray out of the register and walks to the back office, leaving the three of us alone in the shop. "Heard you, by the way. And if we're going to bring up ghoulish mistakes then Crash is definitely the worst offender." Nico walks back over to us. I didn't even see him coming out of the office, I'm definitely losing my touch.

"Ghoulish mistakes?" He asks. Fangs smirks but before he can continue Sweet Pea cuts him off.

"Leave it alone, Fangs." He scolds. He leads us all out of the bodega.

"Jealous, Pea?" Sweet Pea grabs Fangs in a choke hold and Fangs starts laughing. Pea starts laughing too and Nico and I share an amused look. Boys are so weird. Before they can escalate the play fight we hear a noise down the alley. Sweet Pea drops his hold on Fangs, almost making Fangs fall to the ground. Nico helps him up. Sweet Pea starts down the alley suspiciously. Some kid is tagging the wall and Sweet Pea shouts at him.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?"

"Back off. I'm not here for you." Stupid kid. You shouldn't go wandering around the Southside alone unless you want to get your head smashed in.

"Oh yeah? Then who's this message for, huh?" He asks, grabbing the kid and shoving him. It's that boy from the video. The one Jughead told us not to go after. If he came after us that makes him fair game! "Aw, hell. Don't tell me it's for the Black Hood." Sweet Pea laughs. "You believe this guy? And people say we're the troublemakers." The kid shrugs his backpack on and tries to walk off but Fangs, Nico, and I block his path.

"Southside Serpent country. Not safe for Northsiders" I tell the kid.

"You can't come here and tag our turf. So, why don't you get your ass back to the Northside before somebody gets hurt."

"Get out of my way, or someone will get hurt." The Northsider says. It would almost be intimidating if he weren't a head shorter than SP. Sweet Pea smirks and pulls out his blade.

"You just made a big mistake." He says. He flicks the blade and grins. The kids eyes flicker from the knife to Sweet Pea before he pulls a gun out of his backpack. Fangs and Nico take a step back. Sweet Pea steps in front of me and I can't see what's happening anymore.

"Who made a mistake?" We all take a step away. Nico takes off down the street. I can't blame him, the kid has a seriously crazy look in his eyes. "Who made a mistake?" He shouts again. Sweet Pea puts his hands up in surrender. Fangs starts running and pulls me behind him and once Sweet Pea realizes that the kid isn't gonna shoot us in the back he runs after us. We don't stop running until we turn the corner and don't hear the Northsider running after us.

"What the fuck was that?" Nico asks, out of breath. We didn't run that far but the poor kids hands are shaking. None of us answer. We just lean against the brick wall and try to get our nerves back. Give us a break, okay. You can be tough as nails and having a gun in your face is still pretty fucking nerve wracking. Plus that kid has definitely lost his marbles.

"Let's go to the Wyrm. I need something stronger than an iced tea." Everyone agrees, whether it's to actually go to the Wyrm or just get the hell off the streets. I don't really care.

AN: Okay I'm trying to do like little authors notes at the end of the chapter so y'all can know what's happening on my end but like, I don't really ahve anything to say so... like this story if ya like this story, follow if ya wanna follow, review if ya wanna review. Love you. Bye.