Russ knew this had been a stupid idea. He always knew that listening to Dean and Tyler was stupid, really. He shouldn't have listened when they told him to ask Kerri Wilson if she was a lesbian. He shouldn't have listened when they told him to use his room as the headquarters for their rat breeding business. He shouldn't have listened when they told him snort lime salt to impress Leanna, the freshman class president. So it was no surprise to him that listening to Dean and Tyler and summoning a Jurago demon to make their costumes look more realistic had been a stupid idea.

Russ was just glad that his mom hadn't bought him the decapitated head costume he'd wanted and that he'd just gone as a ghost. It had made his night a lot less stressful when Tyler pulled the butcher's knife out of his head and tried to cleave Russ' head off and when Dean's cyborg arm transformed into a machine gun to blow him away that he was suddenly intangible. It even made the fact that the Jurago was stalking him a little bit less stressful. He was pretty sure that Dean and Tyler were okay even after the Jurago had attacked them, since their costumes were both already dead anyways, but still it made him nervous everytime he saw the seven-foot-tall demon approaching him. After all, it made sense that if the demon could alter reality, that the demon could kill a ghost despite its posthumous state.

Russ really didn't like Halloween.

The boy scratched his head, wracking his mind for an idea of where to hide. For the past hour he had hidden inside a brick wall, complimenting himself on his clever thinking. But the Jurago didn't have a problem pummeling through the wall, and now Russ was out of clever ideas for places to hide. He contemplated flying up high enough that the demon couldn't reach him, but he was pretty scared of heights and he worried that the demon's effect on the world could wear off just as he got high enough in the air that the fall would be fatal. He groaned and wondered for the millionth time that night why real ghosts didn't seem to have plasma rays and stuff like Danny Phantom.

hisssssssssssssssssssssssssss...

Russ snapped out of his fantasies quickly at the sound of the demon approaching. The creature's heavy footfalls seemed to shake the ground, but Russ was shaking too much to tell if it was the world or just him.

The giant demon rounded the corned, and Russ was once again reminded just how much the picture in the summoning book had failed to capture the demon's appearance. While the book had made it look like little more than some kind of pokemon, in person Russ had never seen anything more frightening - and he'd seen things: watching all of the rats in his room end up eating each other, Kerri's face twisted with rage as she punched him in the face - the Jurago topped them all. The demon stood at least seven feet tall, like some blood-red dinosaur creature, gnashing teeth and steaming spikes jutting out from various parts of its hulking body.

Why couldn't we have just summoned a Pikachu?

Just as Russ braced himself to die, or at least to experience the undoubtedly painful sensation of the demon's burning claw swiping through him, a brightly-colored bird dove out of the sky, ripping out one of the Jurago's eyes. The demon roared in pain, clutching its eye as it swiped at the airborne creature.

"There it is!"

Russ looked behind the bulky demon to see an odd group of people rushing at the demon. A pirate with a glowing yellow eye lunged at the demon, slashing wildly at it with his sword while a caveman knocked out the Jurago's legs with a sickening crunch. A small sexy nurse slowly set another girl down, leaning her against a wall while the other two pummeled the demon. The nurse rummage through her pockets before pulling out a silvery dagger and a small leathery pouch of some sort.

"Be careful!" called out Russ anxiously, as the Jurago punched at the caveman. The caveman rolled out of the way, and the demon punched the asphalt, leaving a smoldering crater of tar. The pirate jammed his sword into the creature's back, and the crimson demon roared in pain. The caveman once again slammed his club into the Jurago's legs, and the demon came crashing down.

"No, don't!" screamed Russ as he watched the nurse rush towards the demon, unfolding a piece of paper as she ran. "He'll kill you!"

The nurse just smiled at Russ and plunged the dagger into the demon's chest. She opened the pouch and threw the powder inside all over the demon. She fumbled with the paper, struggling to read the words written on it.

"Ti et in caelo, DESPARE!"

Russ' eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the ground, just like everyone else in the town.

***

"Can you believe it?" asked Carlos, throwing the newspaper against the desk. "They just blamed it on teenagers!"

Rhett nodded, mumbling a reply.

"Well it was teenagers' fault," pointed out Ashley, not looking up from the homework at her desk.

"Freshmen," retorted Carlos hotly. "They really don't count. And besides, teenagers stopped it, too. Do they bother to mention that?"

"And they didn't bother reporting how hot my outfit was, either," said Gwen. "Life is full of little disappointments. I don't know why you're crying anyways, Blackbeard. You're lucky they don't just pin it all on you."

Carlos rolled his eyes. "Whatever. At least I wasn't the one moaning all night about 'Doctor Lovebody.'"

Ashley raised an eyebrow, but she knew better than to say anything.

"You're just mad that you didn't get to plunder this booty," taunted Gwen, sticking out her tongue as she ran her hands over her body.

"I wouldn't touch it!" replied Carlos. "Not after... what was his name? Chiselabs?"

"At least I've gotten touch!"

"That wasn't even real! Doctor Lovebody never existed!"

"That's not the point!"

"Students, please," sighed Ashley, standing up, rubbing her temples.

Carlos and Gwen both turned to her, smiling devilishly.

"Yes, Chicken Little?"

"We're just messing around," smiled Carlos. "Don't have an egg about it."

Ashley took in a breath, but was cut off before she could say anything.

"Oh, here she goes, clucking her tongue at us again."

"I think she's pretty fried from everything that's been going on," laughed Carlos.

"Just scrambled her brain," agreed Gwen.

Ashley sat down, defeated.

"Hey, Kurtz!" said Carlos, his voice gaining momentum with every second. "Why did the Watcher cross the road?"

Gwen and Carlos erupted with laughter. Ashley rolled her eyes at them and continued grading. The laughter slowly died down, and Gwen turned her attention to studying the book in front of her.

Carlos looked over at Rhett, who had been sitting quietly since class had started. "Hey, bro, you okay?" he asked.

Rhett looked up, looking startled from being torn from his thoughts. His eyes brightened and he forced a smile. "Yeah, completely okay," he said. "I'm just, um, you know. My mind's adjusting back to Algebraic equations and pop culture and stuff. Just trying to keep myself from picking bugs out of your hair or trying to invent fire. "

Carlos smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I keep wanting to go find some rum. Or wenches. Or both."

Rhett nodded and smiled until Carlos turned his attention back to the spell book before him. His smile fell, leaving his face blank, and he slouched down in his chair and pretended to read whatever Ashley had given him to read.

It was all different now.