Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical

The sounds of people cheering and yelling could be heard throughout the night. Riley's junkyard was lit up like the noontime sun and a large crowd of people gathered, screaming in excitement. However, four Wildcats stood silently at the edge of the gathering as they watched the scene unfolding before them with awe and fear. Ryan was ghastly pale, his eyes wide as he tried to see where the two fighters were. Zeke was carefully watching the battle zone when a roar erupted and the dust began to rise. Jason couldn't see a thing from where he was sitting.

"I don't believe what I'm seeing," Chad whispered, as he watched someone being thrown against a car.

"I know Chad, this is unreal," Zeke replied, watching the thrown figure get up and run towards another figure. Ryan swallowed around a large lump in his throat as he watched the figures move around each other.

"I sort of wish we didn't push him into doing this," he said, regret and fear in his voice.

A couple hours before at East High's Dance

Troy and Gabriella danced almost every song before exhaustion finally overcame them. They slowly walked off the dance floor toward a table where all their friends sat talking. Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella's waist, smiling as he rested his chin against her shoulder.

"You two look great together," Sharpay said approvingly, smiling at them. Gabriella blush a bright red. "Thanks Shar," she said, placing her hands on Troy's arms.

The only one missing from the table was Jason, who was still dancing with Mary and doing extremely well for himself.

"Who would have thought that Jason could dance like that," Ryan said impressed, as he held onto Kelsi. Everyone nodded in agreement with Ryan's statement; Jason could have been a dancer in the movie Step Up. He moved with Mary perfectly, doing some steps that were amazing in themselves. Chad stood up from where he sat and looked at everyone.

"Does anyone what something to drink?" he asked, looking around the table. All the girls nodded, showing a small amount of sweat on their foreheads and a bit on their chests as well. All of the guys stood up and headed to the concession stand to get drinks for their respective girlfriends.

"Troy, are you ready?" Chad asked, once they were far enough from the table that the girls couldn't hear what they were talking about. Chad's tone was serious, and Troy knew Chad wanted to know if he was ready to fight. He grabbed two bottles of water before turning back to respond to his friend.

"I told you Chad, I'm not fighting tonight," Troy replied in a serious voice; he had no intention of fighting that evening. Troy walked away from the others and back to Gabriella. He smiled at her and kissed her cheek lightly as he handed her a water bottle. Gabriella smiled at him in thanks.

The night went on without further incident as each couple was mostly doing there own thing during the dance. Troy and Gabriella had been dancing closely for most of the night when she pulled on Troy's arm and lead him out into an empty hallway. Troy followed her willingly, a soft smile on his face as he thought about how beautiful she looked tonight. Gabriella leaned against a wall of lockers and looked at him, smiling as she thought of how well he cleaned up.

"It really nice to see you in some formal clothes; even Sharpay was impressed by how you dressed tonight," she said softly, fingering the black piping of his jacket. Troy leaned against the brick wall alongside the lockers, his head tilted slightly towards her.

"I guess you can call me a wolf in sheep's clothing," he said with a smile. No matter how fine his clothes were or how good people thought he looked, Troy still felt like an animal underneath it all. Gabriella smiled slightly at his response, pushing herself off the lockers and closing the distance between them with a couple steps. She stood directly before him and placed a hand on his cheek.

"Troy, you're not an animal, you're just a boy. Remember that," she whispered, stepping onto her toes and kissing him softly on the lips. Troy kissed her back just as softly, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to his body. Gabriella loved how he made her feel; it was like nothing she'd ever felt before. She lifted her arms around his neck, making the kiss go deeper. Troy had never felt his chest tightening the way it was at that moment, but he knew that it had to be something with his heart because it kept beating harder and harder. After a few minutes they broke apart from the lack of air between them. Troy couldn't help but notice that Gabriella's lips were still perfect, even after the long make out session.

He sighed slowly, his mood coming back down as he though about what he needed to tell her.

"I'm going out with the guys tonight for something, is that ok?" he whispered, kissing her neck slightly without even thinking about it. Gabriella blushed at the feel of his lips against her neck.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm having a sleeper over with all the girls tonight anyway," she replied, moving slightly so that no one would see what Troy was doing as he continued his ministrations on her neck.

"Thanks," he whispered, finally pulling away. Troy smiled at the sight of the little marks he'd left on her neck. No one would doubt she was his.

The dance was almost over by the time Gabriella and Troy made their way back to the cafeteria. Troy heard most of the guys talking about the Junkyard War tonight; even the non-jock guys knew about it and planned on attending. There was an unspoken rule that guys should never talk about the Junkyard War with any of the girls because it was too dangerous. However, the event was always shown on the internet by The Funk, the event emcee, to showcase the fighting talent of the different schools.

"Kelsi," Ryan whispered in his girlfriend's ear as they danced the last song together.

"Yes?" she replied softly, touching his face as her other hand played with the hair on the back of his neck. He discreetly took a small piece of paper with a website address scribbled on it from his pocket and slipped it into her hand.

"Go to this site when you go home after the dance," he whispered as the song ended. Soon after, the lights came on and everyone started to leave.

After the girls left for Gabriella's house to begin their sleepover, the five men chosen to fight went to the locker room, each having a change of clothes stashed there. Chad, Zeke and Jason matched, each wearing a red and white Wildcats T-shirt with dark jeans. Ryan had on loose fitting red pants and a thin white muscle shirt that showed off his extremely toned body from doing Compo most of his life. A red show hat completed his look. Troy, on the other hand, wore no school colors; instead he wore a plain black shirt, black jeans, and two studded belts around his waist. Over this he wore a light black hoodie, with fingerless biker gloves and black converse to top it off. The five men surveyed one another, nodding in respect and approval.

"Alright guys, lets go destroy some school leaders," Chad commanded, leading the group out of the locker room. Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Troy were taking Chad's beat-up old truck to Riley's junkyard. Ryan followed behind them, riding the motorcycle his parents had given him earlier that evening. Troy sat in the bed of the truck with his eyes closed, relishing the feeling of the wind in his hair. Behind Ryan's motorcycle was a long line of cars; it seemed like every male at East High was coming to see the fight.

It didn't take long before they made it to the junk yard; several dozen cars were already parked haphazardly around the entrance. Those present from East High came together like a large army, opening the gate and walking into the junkyard as one. The large lot was filled with cars pilled on top of one other, breaking the large lot into a maze of sorts. In the middle of the maze was a large clearing with a DJ table set up on a raised platform.

Troy looked across the clearing and saw the three schools from North, West, and South looking at East high with burning rage. At the head of the West High Knights was Drake, smirking at them as he stood beside a large African American boy who was bigger then Zeke. On the North High Warriors side was a teen with Highlander face paint yelling 'Warriors, Warriors, Warriors,' with everyone else from North High joining him in the spirited school cheer. On the South side was a young Asian man back flipping and raising his fist to show his strength. Troy jumped onto the hood of a nearby truck, watching everything and thinking about how dangerous this could be very soon.

"Alright everyone," a thin African American man yelled from the DJ table, "welcome to the Junkyard War." A malevolent smile fell across his mouth as he continued, "This year we have a new way of fighting…East High versus everyone else." West, North, and South highs yelled enthusiastically at the announcement. The man stepped out from behind the DJ stand and raised his arms.

"I am The Funk, and I will be your host this evening. Now let's have our fighters come out for the rules of the game!" he yelled. Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Ryan walked out from the East High side while Drake, the large African American behind him, the man with the face paint, and the back flip guy came forward as well. Troy remained where he was for he had no intention of disobeying Gabriella's wishes. The Funk looked at the four Wildcats with dismay.

"Where's your fifth team member?" he asked pointedly. Chad motioned towards Troy, who was now sitting on the hood of the truck.

"Waiting, just in case we need him," Chad replied with a smirk. The Funk nodded.

"Alright, so you all know the rule…the one rule in Junkyard War is that there are no rules!" An enthusiastic roar of the crowd followed this statement. The Funk smiled as he went on. "Hidden cameras are everywhere, so everyone missing out tonight can watch this epic battle online. First up are Jason and Conall," he said, nodding at Jason and the Warrior before jumping back up on the DJ table. "Let the battle begin!" The Funk yelled, cranking the music back up. The Wildcats walked back over to their side of the make-shift arena.

"Jason, you can do this man. Conall isn't that good," Ryan said patting his teammate on the back. Jason sighed.

"He's the captain of the wrestling team. They even nicknamed him 'The Highlander'," Jason said, removing his shirt and showing off his six-pack abs. Conall stood across the clearing, face still covered with war paint, leading his school in a Warriors cheer. His eyes were wild and his red hair unruly as he stared across the yard at Jason. Troy saw this and shot Jason a supportive grin.

"Don't worry, Jason, just have fun," Troy said with a smirk. Jason nodded and walked out toward the center of the enclosure. Conall walked out to join him, wearing only shorts and with his green eyes burning for blood. They stopped a few inches from each other and everyone looking at them carefully.

Montez's household

The girls hit the couches almost immediately after Gabriella opened the door to her house, all of them tired from the dance. Gabriella was a little worried about Troy, not knowing where he was or what he was doing with the guys. She yawned, surveying her exhausted friends as they stretched out around her living room. The question of Troy's whereabouts was still nagging her, and she sighed. Knowing Taylor and Chad tell each other everything, Gabriella figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Did Chad say where they were going tonight?" Gabriella asked, standing up and slowly starting to stretch. Taylor looked at Gabriella and shook her head.

"No, he didn't tell me anything. He did say that they were going out for the night and weren't going to be home for a while," she said with a shrug. Kelsi remembered her whispered conversation with Ryan at the end of the dance and pulled out the piece of paper he'd given her.

"Hey Gabriella?" she asked, reading the website address. Gabriella looked over at her petite friend.

"What's up Kels?" she replied, finishing her stretch and walking over to join Kelsi across the room.

"Your TV is able to go on the internet or you're able to hook your computer up to the TV, right?" she asked showing everyone the piece of paper. Gabriella shook her head.

"No, I don't know how to do that," she said in a small voice, somewhat embarrassed at her lack of technical knowledge. Taylor let out a short huff and went upstairs to grab Gabriella's laptop from her room. A few minutes later she'd easily hooked it up to the TV. A couple moments later the internet was up on the TV and Taylor was typing in the website address from the slip of paper Kelsi handed her. A dark looking site with pictures of beaten and bloody bodies appeared on the large TV screen. The girls were shocked at what they saw, and even more disturbed to see a blinking button saying "live feed."

"So this is going on right now?" Sharpay asked, looking at pictures of past East High Seniors fighting. Taylor nodded.

"Yeah, and I guess Jason and Conall from North High are fighting first," she said, reading the scrolling text. She clicked on the link to the live feed and several camera angles of an empty arena surrounded by cheering people appeared on the screen. "It looks like the fight's about to start."

Junk Yard War

Jason was the first one to make a move, using his wrestling team experience. Conall just smiled at Jason's attempt, slamming both of his fists against Jason's back with force. Jason hit the ground hard, caught off-guard by Conall's attack. A second later the Warrior put Jason into a sleeper hold, trying to make it a quick fight. However, Jason used his strength to grab a hold of Conall's red hair and flipped his opponent onto the ground, reversing their positions. Taking the small advantage he gained, Jason forced Conall to his feet before doing a front German Suplex, slamming him back down to the ground. Then Jason put all his weight on his elbow and sent it right into Conall's stomach.

Conall jolted in pain, coughing badly. Seeing that Jason was walking away to get some space, Conall channeled his anger into energy and began rushing toward Jason's back. Conall jumped on Jason, wrapping his arm around his neck as the two men were propelled across the ground. Jason felt his face hit a piece of scrap metal and the taste of blood quickly filled his mouth. Suddenly Jason felt sharp kicks to his gut, knowing the Warrior wasn't going to back down so he could breathe. Conall kept sending fierce kicks to Jason's stomach, mixing it up with punches to his face as Jason huddled on the ground coughing.

"Come on, you girlie," Conall yelled, kicking Jason hard into the face again and again. "Your Mom could take this better then you!" he said, spitting on Jason's bleeding face.

Without warning Conall suddenly fell to the ground, yelling in pain. Jason had Conall's leg in an ankle lock, but changed up the regular move by moving his body forward and hooking his leg with Conall's, causing more pain. Jason wrapped his arms around the Warrior's neck in a sleeper hold. The East High crowd went wild upon seeing Jason turn the situation around with his signature submission. Conall wasn't giving up though, and kept digging his chin into Jason's arms to try and get out of his grip. However, before Conall could do anything he felt his body being lifted into the air and thrown back down, still in a sleeper hold.

"OH MY GOD, THE WILDCAT SLAM!" The Funk screamed into the microphone, seeing Jason's signature finisher. Jason had unlocked his leg from Conall's and poured all his remaining strength into the Wildcat Slam. Conall's face connected with a mixture of ground and scrap metal.

Blood was running down Jason's face and chest from the beating delivered to him by the Irishman. Thinking he'd won the match, Jason slowly raised his fist in victory and started to walk back toward his teammates. The black-haired teen was tired and wasn't paying attention to what his friends were saying or pointing to behind him. By the time he thought to look behind him, it was too late. His back exploded with pain as something hard brushed across him, throwing Jason across the junkyard like a rag doll. Conall had gotten up from the metal, bleeding heavily, and had just enough strength in him to strike Jason with a club-like pipe that had been lying nearby. Jason lay on the ground, breathing heavily but not getting up, as The Funk walked out from behind the DJ's table and surveyed the scene, shaking his head at Jason.

"So close, man, but the winner of this round is Conall O'Malley of the North High Warriors," he yelled into the microphone, raising Conall's arm. North, South, and West high all went crazy for the first win of the Junkyard War and several young men raised Conall onto their shoulders for all to see. Chad and Zeke helped Jason walk back to their side where a few of the other East High guys were waiting to clean him up. A quick review of Jason's condition by the student trainer showed that he had, miraculously, not broken any bones, but he had severely bruised his ribs and would probably need a few stitches on his arm and face from the run-in with the scrap metal.

"Don't worry Jason, I'll win the next around," Ryan said encouragingly, pulling off his shirt but leaving the hat on. He walked to the center of the arena and looked around, languidly stretching and shaking out his muscles. The Funk looked at Ryan to make sure he was ready to begin. Ryan nodded. The Funk got back behind the microphone and lowered the music while he made the next announcement.

"Alright everyone, next up is Ryan and Rikuto," he announced, pumping the music back up as the crowd cheered.

Rikuto bowed to Ryan in a showing of respect before lying towards him in a lightning-fast high kick. Ryan did a quick one-hand spring to avoid the maneuver. Rikuto looked in Ryan's direction, impressed that the Wildcat had dodged his kick, when he felt a foot fly across his cheek. Rikuto stumbled backward trying to regain his footing as Ryan continued his offensive. He began sending his elbows into Rikuto's face and ribs in rapid-fire succession.

It was easy to see that Ryan was a better fighter than his opponent, for the actor flawlessly moved from his armed assault into a back flip kick that landed square on the top of Rikuto's head. Rikuto hit the ground hard, the fight over before he'd ever landed a blow to Ryan. His red hat still firmly situated on his head, Ryan walked back toward the Funk without saying another word. Chad and Zeke congratulated Ryan by slapping hands, the look in Ryan's eyes telling them not to taking mercy on any of their opponents.

"That was one of the fastest fights in Junkyard history! Next up are Zeke and DeMario," The Funk said, nodding his head up and down in time with the music.

DeMario was the large African American man that had been standing beside Drake when they entered the junkyard. As he and Zeke walked towards one another DeMario cracked his neck and rolled his massive shoulders, a blatant display of his strength. Zeke had never beat DeMario before, and had a feeling that this encounter would be no less painful than those of prior years. The music changed and a strong, fast beat resounded through the arena. Zeke and DeMario flew at one another, fists flying. But the fight was over only a few minutes after it had begun, and Zeke lay on the ground panting, bleeding, and most likely with a concussion.

Chad and Ryan ran to Zeke's side to help him up, wiping the blood off his face with a dirty rag. Troy remained where he stood, watching as his classmates helped their fallen teammate. Troy could see Chad balling his fists, barely containing his disappointment in Zeke's performance during the fight. Once Zeke was safely off to the side Chad didn't wait for The Funk's announcement before he rushed toward Drake, pummeling him from all sides. Fierce punches were thrown at Drake without mercy, most aiming for his head. Drake quickly recovered from the unexpected attack and kicked Chad away from him. Then the real fight began.

"Isn't Zeke the boxing champion of East High?" Troy asked Ryan, turning toward him as Chad threw a right hook in Drake's face. Ryan looked up from tending to a gash on Zeke's head that had yet to stop bleeding.

"No, Zeke is just a beginning. Chad is the true master at boxing; he's actually the New Mexico state champ in his division," Ryan replied, turning back to Zeke as the student trainer wrapped a bandage around his head.

Chad and Drake were both bloody and breathing hard as the stood facing one another, a mere few inches between them. Blood was dripping from their fists and mouths from how hard they were fighting. Almost in synch, Drake threw his powerful left fist out at Chad's face while Chad sent an equally powerful upper cut to Drake's jaw. Both punches connected – hard – and for a second time stood still as the two fighters remained upright but not moving. Troy jumped off the hood and began walking towards them, already predicting what was going to happen from the blood that appeared to be dribbling from both Chad and Drake's mouths. By the time he reached them, both boys had fallen to the ground, knocked out. Troy slapped Chad lightly on the cheek to wake him up before helping the dazed boy back over to the East High side. Some of the West High students were helping Drake back over to their side too. The Funk declared Chad the winner of the round, as Drake had hit the ground first.

The crowd began cheering loudly. In the history of the Junkyard War there had never been a fight this close. It was a draw, both sides having two wins and two losses. The Funk was smiling – he'd never called a tie breaker fight before – and his smile only got wider when a man from the opponent side came over and whispered something in his ear.

"Alright, everyone we have one more fight," The Funk announced, dragging out the last three words and further inciting the crowd below him.

The East High team looked across the arena at the other schools, trying to figure out who they were going to send forward, when an inhuman roar rose above the cheering of the crowd. Troy's blood ran cold with recognition, and the beast within him sent his muscles humming in anticipation. Troy's blue eyes blazed, watching as his competitor was led through the entrance. "Animal" had chains around his arms, legs and neck, and visible beneath the chains were torn shorts, huge muscles and many scars. The teenage boy had short black hair and was roaring like a wild beast, straining against the chains that bound him. Troy locked eyes with the creature – he knew him from before. Troy had fought Animal back in New York. He'd barely won that fight, but he knew this time would be different. This was his hour of redemption, and he would most certainly win.

The guys from East High didn't seem to know what to say as they watched Animal being led into the ring. Did the other schools expect someone to be able to fight this monster? However, Troy just removed his jacked, tossed it onto the hood of a nearby wreck and began walking toward the center of the ring wearing only his thin black shirt and fingerless gloves. The Chains were thrown off Animal and he locked eyes with Troy again, this time recognition mixing with his murderous gaze. A jagged smirk fell upon his lips as he stared down his opponent. Troy looked smaller, calmer that when they'd last met. Animal breathed heavily. 'This will definitely be fun…'

"Now folks its time for the nex-" The Funk didn't even get to finish when two different roars resounded through the yard and the two young men raced toward one another, their blood pumping with excitement for the fight. Troy made the first hit, slamming his right fist into the side of Animal's head. Animal quickly responded by shoving Troy against a nearby pile of cars. The four teammates from East High looked on in horror, seeing the true Troy for the first time.

Troy lay against the hood of one of the cars he fell into, an animalistic grin on his face. He quickly jumped up, shaking the rust and paint chips from his clothes. Animal slowly walked forward, pounding his chest like an ape. Without warning Troy lunged toward him, slamming his foot into Animal's protruding chest. Animal stumbled, caught off guard. Troy took advantage of the moment and grabbed Animals arm, shoving him roughly into the tower of cars. A cry of pain and rage rang out and Animal began throwing fierce punches in the direction of Troy's face, backing him into the wreckage pile.

Troy managed to break away from Animal's assault by sending his knee painfully into his opponent's side. From there he ran his foot underneath Animal's, tripping the massive boy and sending him to the ground. Troy felt blood running down his face and it made the beast within him roar even more. He walked over to the fallen teen, a wolfish grin on his face, and motioned to swipe his elbow across Animal's face but his face met with a head-butt instead. Troy backed off to regain his balance and Animal kicked himself back into a standing position and started to beat Troy with his large and powerfully fists. Blood was dripping down both their faces as the wild teen starting to rip at Troy's shirt and chest without mercy.

"Gabriella is going to kill us," Chad said, looking on in horror. Ryan nodded slowly in agreement. Both boys shivered a bit, hearing the beast within Troy cry out as the battle raged on.

"I gave Kelsi the website address…they're probably watching this right now," Ryan said, gulping audibly. Chad ran his hand across his eyes at the thought of the girls seeing everything that had happened that evening. The four teammates continued watching the fight in near silence until a tall teen who preferred to be called Rocketman came running over, distracting them from the fight.

"I know who this guy is! He's 'The Beast'," Rocketman told them.

"What do you mean, man?" Zeke asked, looking at the junior basket ball player. Rocketman pulled a laptop out of the backpack over his shoulder and typed in , which sent them to a dark looking website. After a few moments of load time a video of a scarred teenage boy fighting an older man appeared on the screen.

"That's Troy," Chad said in a shocked tone, his eyes going back and forth between the fight on the screen and the fight before his eyes.

"Yeah…I thought I saw those scars somewhere before," Rocketman nodded, turning back to the fight.

Troy hit the ground in pain as Animal hit his sides and arms with a pipe. Seeing an opening, Troy tried to dart out around him, but it was a trap. Animal pinned both Troy's arms behind his back and ran him forward into a pile of cars, making a dent in the side of the ground vehicle. Every in the area went crazy, having never seen a fight this intense before except in the movies. The Animal roar in victory, blood running down his face and chest, as Troy lay bent over the car, gasping for breath. In the corner of his eye he saw movement coming from the top of the pile, and the vehicles around him began to vibrate. Thinking quickly Troy ducked down, ignoring the searing pain in his stomach and lungs, as a shower of wreckage rained down upon him and thrust him into darkness.

Gabriella's home

Gabriella watched everything happening in the Junkyard play across her TV, tears streaming down her face. She moaned in pain every time Troy was on the receiving end of the assault, as though her body was also being beaten. When she saw the pile of cars and parts begin to tremble she screamed at the TV for Troy to move, and her quiet tears grew into a wail of pain as the tower crashed down upon him. She ran up to the screen, trying to see if anything from the video could tell her Troy was alive, but there was no movement from the jumbled heap. Hard, sharp sobs racked Gabriella's small frame as her legs collapsed beneath her. Sharpay wrapped her arms around her friend, attempting to provide her with some comfort in the painful moment.

"Its ok Gabriella, he'll be fine. I mean, nothing can hurt him," Sharpay whispered, not fully believing the words coming out of her mouth. Gabriella just shook her head, her sobs increasing. From her spot on the couch behind them, Taylor shot out of her seat and began pointing at the screen.

"Gabriella, look!" she yelled, pointing to the TV screen again. Gabriella turned her head from Sharpay's shoulder and let her eyes fall upon the wretched wreckage encasing Troy…it appeared to be moving.

Junk Yard War

Darkness surrounded Troy as he raised his hand to his face, wiping off some of the blood that had gathered on his chin. Though he couldn't really move he saw a fraction of light coming through the dirty glass of one of the cars engulfing him. The thought that he should just stay where he was flashed through his mind and he laughed at himself, feeling weak and pathetic. Then another thought positioned itself firmly in his mind – Gabriella. Suddenly, Troy felt something tingling in his heart and the beast within him started to rage against the pain that permeated his body. Troy felt his internal chains loosening as the beast began to reign over his consciousness. A wolfish smile fell across his lips and his eyes went completely wild…something that hadn't happened in a long time.

A primal roar ripped across the cheering crowd, sending shivers down everyone's spines and silencing the celebration. The pile that had covered Troy began to tremble and pieces began falling away from an area to the left. A few moment later Troy appeared, blood running down his body as he ripped at the scrap metal and debris like it was nothing. His eyes were cold and feral and his now blood-stained teeth glinted in the moonlight. His gaze met with Animal's, and his opponent felt fear for the first time that night. Animal's roar sounded like a kitten's in comparison to the sound that had just escaped Troy's lips, and the wild teen moved towards Troy more slowly and cautiously than before, pipe still in hand.

Troy smirked as he jumped down from the junk heap and ran at Animal, feeling better with every stride. He easily dodged the pipe this time and reversed the tables by slammed his fist into Animal's throat, cutting off the other boy's air supply. Troy wrenched the pipe from his hand and swung it across Animal's back, sending him to the ground. Troy discarded the pipe and let out another roar as he kicked Animal hard in the side before crouching over him, his hand like a claw ready to go for the kill and rip out his opponent's throat. The yard went eerily silent as the onlookers held their breath, waiting to see if they would witness death that night.

Troy held his pose over the weakened Animal for several long moments, breathing heavily. Suddenly a picture of Gabriella appeared at the front of his mind. What would she say about this? What would she think of him after this? His eyes slowly reverted to their natural blue and he shook his head, clearing away the primal urges that had been driving his thoughts up to this point. Wordlessly, Troy lowered his hand from Animal's neck and stood up. He began to walk back toward the East High crowd and noticed people backing away to give him space, as though he was a wild animal that couldn't be trusted.

The only people who didn't shy away from him were Chad, Ryan, Zeke and Jason. Chad opened his mouth to say something but Troy raised a hand to silence him.

"I am going to see Gabriella," he stated, throwing his coat on over his torn shirt. As he walked away from them the crowd parted like the red sea, giving him a wide berth.

Troy spent the long walk back to Gabriella's house lost in his thoughts; he was disgusted with himself for disobeying her direction. His thoughts drifted back to Animal and how he had nearly killed him, and Troy felt like he might be physically sick from the indecision that raked his conscience. Did he enjoy killing? Did he enjoy being a monster? Troy gripped his chest, the physical and emotional pain of everything that had happened that evening weighing heavily on his soul.

Would Gabriella ever be able to look at him the same way again?

…Would anyone?

Author Note: Sorry it took so long but I had a lot of problems with this chapter. I would like to Thank Kathryn Mason-Sykes for being my Beta reading and I think this is the best chapter so far. Thank you for the all the reviews too!