Small authors note at the end. Nothing too notable. Long chapter to make up for a long wait for updates.

Old Rusty. The shining beckon in the torture known as school to much of the student body. How many kids have climbed and swung and slid down their precious jungle gym? How many grown-ups in town held fond memories of playing on the structure? Who knows? But what the students of Third Street Elementary school did know on Friday was that Old Rusty was no more.

In its place was another jungle gym towering over them. Built with two slides instead of the usual one, more than enough colorful plastic coated bars for them to climb onto and through, and brand new swings.

All in all, it wasn't too bad of a replacement. Old Rusty will be missed, truly, but time moved forward. Besides, it was called Old Rusty for a reason.

"Finally! One more day in the lunch room and I was going to go crazy," said Vince. "How about a round of 4 on 1 basketball?"

"Sounds great Vince, but after waiting this long, I'm itchin' to get back on the jungle gym," Spinelli said.

"I feel the same way, but it's apparent that so does the rest of the student body," Gretchen pointed out. Like she said, students were clamoring to get on the new jungle gym after being stuck indoors for so long. They couldn't blame them, but it did make climbing on look more dangerous than climbing a jungle gym should be.

"We could get Mikey to bulldoze through the crowd," said Spinelli.

"Spinelli, you can't use me to harm my fellow students," said Mikey.

"You wouldn't be hurting them, big guy. It's just pushing them with enthusiasm," she said. "Besides, if you don't, Gus is gonna get crushed in there."

"I-I don't wanna get crushed," said Gus. "My glasses were broken twice already this month. One more time and I'm gonna get in trouble."

"C'mon, Spinelli, let's just wait until the excitement wears off," said Vince. "Even if you did get on there's no space to move!"

"Whatever. Let's just get a ball before more kids think of the same thing," she mumbled.

It was a good thing they did, as other kids got the same idea pretty soon. Playing on the new jungle gym was a lot less fun when there was no way to move if you got on it. With one of the best balls on the playground, they enjoyed a game of basketball.

Which lasted about ten minutes before they noticed that the jungle gym was free of any kids. Those who were on the jungle gym a moment ago was standing around it, looking upwards, some pointing their fingers as if nobody knew what they were staring at already. When the five of them looked to see what the big deal was.

Spinelli made a mental note to knock some sense into that boy.

"Hey look, it's your boyfriend, Spin," Vince joked.

"Shut up, Vince."

Standing on the very top of the new jungle gyms tower was TJ, dawned in his all black outfit, complete with the hood pulled up, obscuring any view of his face and anyone figuring out who he was. It was a little odd seeing him out during the day and not the night, Spinelli thought. When he spotted her, he waved, as if his sudden appearance was anywhere close to the norm. She reluctantly waved back.

He casually jumped down from the jungle gym, landing without any problems. The crowd parted as he walked through and over to the five of them.

"I've never seen you during the day, kid. Is something up?" Spinelli asked, doing her very best acting. He shook his head. "Oh. Well, these are my friends I told you about. There's one more but he's out sick. Guy's this the kid who keeps coming to my window after chasing those monsters every night."

"So this is the kid, huh? You must be pretty brave to do that," said Vince. "Nice to meet, ya."

He gave a quick salute in response. He quickly got the attention of other kids, who came over and watched, curious as to who this kid was. There was nothing distinctive about their clothing, except that it was all black. He was quickly bombarded with questions, "can I get an autograph?" "What's your name?" "Take off the hoodie!" and the like. Those went most ignored as he opted for jumping onto and sitting on top of the monkey bars, looking down at the crowd.

"If you don't like crowds, you shouldn't have come to school," said Spinelli. "Kind of a bad place to come to if you don't like being around a lot of people."

He reached down with one hand, grasping onto the back of her jacket and pulled her up to him without an issue, sitting her next to him.

"Wow, really, dude?"

"Hey, what makes her so special?" Someone from the crowd asked. He leaned over and whispered to her.

"Say it's because you're the coolest," TJ whispered.

"Are you serious?" She asked.

"100%."

"He says it's because I'm the coolest," Spinelli said with a roll of her eyes. TJ gave a thumbs up to confirm it. "Why are you even here? You never come out unless it's night."

"I'm bored, plus I need to look under the school," he whispered. "I just woke up like an hour ago. I might not make it to your room tonight, just a heads up."

With that, he stood on the monkey bars before jumping back down and walking away from the crowd. They all watched him stop in front of a manhole cover. He kneeled down and pulled off the lid without an issue. It hit the pavement with a loud metallic 'thud', making it clear how heavy it was. He climbed inside, and put the cover back on.

"Well, that was interesting," said Gretchen.

"Don't manhole covers weigh 50 pounds?" Gus asked.

"Actually they weight between 90 and 120 pounds, Gus." Gretchen said.

"How strong do you have to be to lift stuff that heavy?"

The crowd dispersed, going back to enjoying their recess. It took nearly half of recess for the excited crowd to start clearing off of the new jungle gym as the excitement of it wore off. The five of them were able to climb on and enjoy it during that recess. What had happened five minutes into it was almost forgotten by everyone on the playground. Spinelli included.

That was, until, a loud metallic bang echoed throughout the playground. Everyone looked toward the source; the same manhole that the mysterious kid so casually climbed down. The lid landed on the ground, and the same kid was climbing out in a rush. He looked back down into the hole, before turning and rushing towards the jungle gym.

"Is something the matter?" Spinelli asked as she hung upside down off the monkey bars.

"Everyone needs to get inside, now," he told her. "If you can do that for me, that'd be great."

"Did you find something down there?"

"Yeah. Can you tell everyone to get inside the school? I don't think there's a lot of time-"

An earsplitting roar was heard, causing everyone on the playground, and those who happened to be anywhere near the school to stop and cover their ears to save their ability to hear. The ground underneath them shook, knocking some of the younger kids off their feet. Once the rumbling stopped, just a few feet from where TJ was standing, a claw broke through the pavement. It was large, covered in dirty white fur, with claws that looked long and sharp enough to cut though anything. It sunk back into the ground, but not before taking a sizable chunk of the ground along with it.

No one had to be told to start heading for the school.

While everyone headed away from the playground, he headed towards the hole. The ground continued to tremble on and off, making running difficult. Spinelli looked back while heading inside, and saw him crouching in front of the hole, a little too casually.

But at this point, this was just everyday work for him, wasn't it? As worried as she was, there wasn't much she could do to help, except for staying out of the way for him to do his job.

"Alright, big fella, I know you're down there," TJ mumbled. He pulled out one of the four opal knives he kept strapped, and held it high, ready to throw it down once he had a good sighting on the beast. Or beasts. There was probably more than one. As always. "C'mon. There's like 200 tasty human kids up here for you to eat, most of them can't even run that fast, and I know you're hungry. You're not gonna get any of 'em down there."

His answer came in the form of one of them clawing their way out the hole, making it larger and exposing more of the sinkhole underneath. Getting a clear shot, he stabbed the beast right between the eyes, sending it falling back into the hole. Seconds later, bolts of electricity shot out, arching over and licking the pavement.

#

Though they were in a little bit of danger, at least, this was a chance to see some excitement, to watch the mystery kid do what he does every night was enough for them to watch at the window, excited to get a good view.

"You think he's gonna be okay out there?" Gus asked.

"Of course. He must've done this hundreds of times, right, Spinelli?" Vince asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. He'll be fine," she said, watching as three of those thing climbed out of the ground, easily out numbering him. But he dealt with that before. She was there when he dealt with two of them, so three couldn't be that much harder. She hoped.

The teachers shouted at them to get away from the windows. Before they were moved, Spinelli saw TJ back away from the monsters, reaching for the pole on his back.

#

That one knife barely did anything but stun the first one, TJ noted as he saw the knife was still embedded in the middle of its head, blood trickling out of it. So that's one weapon completely useless. Maybe if he aimed for their chest? But that meant ducking and diving to get under them, and he might not be able to hit upward with enough force to actual get the knife through. Unless he could get them to fall on their backs, but there weren't any hills around to try that with.

"I'm thinking about this too much," he said, grabbing the pole attached to his back.

One of them roared and lunged towards him, baring its claws and fangs, the others following right after. He swung, hitting the first one and sending it to the ground, a metallic echo resounding through the playground, but the second one was able to tackle him, sending him flying backwards. He landed on his back, the pavement having none of the cushion that dirty did, he found out immediately.

He scrambled to his feet just moments before another monster landed on top of him. A twist of the pole, and an axe-like blade popped from the top. In a swift ache, he landed a hit on the back of the monster that he barely dodge. It slumped, falling to the ground. He tugged at it to get it free, but didn't have enough time to try more than twice before he was swiped at, only stopping when he slammed into the window of the cafeteria. He didn't even hit the ground, he was held up when a werewolf pinned him to the glass with his paw.

"Dad's gonna be mad if I come home with another injury," was his first thought. "That's another five hours in the training room. 'No son of mine is weak enough to get injured like this', he says. I hate the training room. He always turns it up to the highest setting. 'Easy mode is for the weak'. I'm too old for this."

The pop and snapping as a crack formed and spread across the glass brought him out of his thoughts. He pushed back, but that only caused the glass to fracture more. He could hear the students on the other side ("why are they still here?!" He thought.), shouting, and the beginning few steps of them finally leaving the lunch room to get deeper inside the school.

He grabbed the monsters muzzle and pried it open. He took a deep breath and fire streamed from his lungs down the monsters throat, first a hot orange, then a blazing blue. The monster cried, letting go of his head and stumbling back, shaking and collapsing in pain. TJ coughed and wheezed, puffs of smoke coming out of his mouth. Orange and red fire he could do no problem, but blue fire was still new to him. Blue fire was hotter, and took a larger lung capacity to use efficiently. Best case scenario, he just gets a sore throat. Worst case, he loses his voice for a while.

He ran to the Werewolf he embedded his weapon into. He yanked it free, but the monster under him began to stir as soon as it was out.

"Never mind, you can have it," He said, lodging it in the spine again. He stomped on it for good measure. "It isn't even my favorite weapon."

He twisted the opposite half of the pole and detached it from the half sticking out. He snapped that in half and pulled it apart, a chain connecting the two parts. The ends shifted and changed shape until they were small spiked orbs, slightly bigger than a softball. A meteor hammer. He held it by the middle of the chain, swinging it at his side as the last monster snarled at him and stomped the ground.

It lunged at him, and he ducked and dived to the left, towards the jungle gym. It followed him as he ran to the cheese box and jumped on top of it. With enough height over it, he waited until it was close enough. Once it was, he threw it, the chain wrapping around the monsters neck, and the spikes embedding in its white fur. He landed on its back, stomping down hard, but not hard enough to keep it from moving.

But it was enough for him to get a grip on its fur to steady himself and reach for the last three knives he still had. One by one, he stabbed them into its back. Electricity shot through the monsters body, as well as arching over him and licking the pavement, leaving scorch marks behind. As it died down, he heard the sound of approaching police cars, alarms blaring.

"Seven blocks," he mumbled.

He dragged the beasts back over to the hole and pushed them in, one by one. He'll have to get rid of them later, when there isn't a crowd around. Right as he was about to jump into the hole, he felt the ground shook. He stumbled backwards, falling, and scrambling back as the ground collapsed beneath him into a massive sinkhole, leaving nothing but a black abyss. It grew, taking the newly constructed jungle gym and the section of the school near the kindergartener's area with it, leaving barely enough pavement to walk on around the edge of the school

"It's worse than I thought," he said. He kicked down the door to the cafeteria to find that it was thankfully empty. Running past the classroom, he glanced as saw they were all empty. Good, considering the school was teetering on the edge of a massive pothole. With the school empty, he walked out of the front entrance. Students were gathered on the sidewalk. Not the best place, but not the absolute worst.

He turned back and returned to where the playground used to be.

#

TJ didn't show up at her room that night. Spinelli tried not to make a big deal out of it. You know, despite the massive hole at the school.

"Geologists say that the school and much of the neighborhood was built on top of limestone, which overtime, became eroded because of rain. People living in homes within a three block radius have been urged to evacuate until the ground can be further assessed for structural safety. In the meantime, the schoolboard is looking for another location for students to continue school."

Yep. Nothing to be worried about.

He didn't show up the next night, and it was harder to not make a big deal out of it.

It was only on Sunday afternoon when he showed up at her front door, in his normal clothes, complete with a new hat almost like every other weekend, that she stopped worrying. Just a little bit. It was hard to ignore the multitude of stitches that ran down the side of his face.

"Hey, Spin. You busy?" He asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" She asked back. "Friday was wild. You okay?"

"Yeah, just some stitches and bruises, nothing any other kid doesn't get," said TJ. "Sorry I didn't show up the last two nights. Dad's been on my back for the last few days, and he just let me go. What'd I miss?"

"You mean besides that gigantic hole that we used to call the playground?" She scoffed as they went to her room. "Did you have anything to do with that?"

"No? I mean I saw that the ground was kind of shaky when I went under it but I didn't think it would collapse or anything," he said. "I didn't even get to try out the new jungle gym."

He laid flat on his back on her bed, and she joined him by sitting on the edge.

"It's a jungle gym, Teej. You been on one, you been on all," said Spinelli.

"Still would've been nice," said TJ. "Oh, man, I feel like I've been hit by a truck."

"How do you not feel like that everyday?"

"You get used to it, just like anything else. Dad went crazy with the training the last few days. I just want to lay here until the pain stops."

"What'd he make you do?"

"Some running, some weights. More running. More weights. Running with weights. Combat practice. Some stuff with a medicine ball in a pool. You'd think the water would make it easier, but it doesn't. He started having me learn another language, because of course the punishment has to be well-rounded," he listed off. "Sitting in with him during meetings that made my brain melt. Some official sounding stuff. And he tossed me into a river of lava for the first time, that was fun."

"I wouldn't call that fun!"

"Nah, after all the stuff before, it felt nice. Like a hot bath," he said. "But it's over now, and I want to hang out with my best friend."

"Sounds great, but my parents won't let me out of the house. They're debating if we should go and stay with my aunt across town until this whole thing blows over," said Spinelli.

"That's okay. We can go to my place if you want," he said.

"Anything to get out of this house," she said. "I miss going out. Nowadays it's only school and home. I'd kill for a milkshake at Kelso's right about now."

"Sorry I can't get you a milkshake at Kelso's. But I can get you one from my place," he said. He drew the strange symbol on her closet door, and moments later, they walked into his room. She noticed how messy his room was compared to the last time. Clothes all over the bed, books piled on and around the desk, weapons haphazardly placed anywhere.

"Sorry about mess, I barely had anytime to clean," said TJ.

Spinelli looked around while he made a walkable path. She peaked in one of the open books sitting on his desks. It was written in some language she didn't understand, and wasn't about to try. She opened another, much thinner and approachable looking book. She still didn't understand the language, but there were pictures.

Pictures of demon boys and girls, front and back, arrows pointing to their tails (the girls tails were thinner, apparently), diagrams showing different ways horns could grow in, fangs, nothing different than what TJ already showed her on himself. The next page focused on the tails. One picture showing a boy and girl holding their own tails. Another picture showing their tails being grabbed by someone else, and a surprised expression with a red 'X' and a heart.

"So are you gonna tell me what's up with your tail?" She asked.

"Hopefully no," he said from his closest. "I'd rather not."

She hummed and skipped a few pages until something caught her eye. This time a picture of one of them with wings. A checkmark was next to a picture where the wings were out and even, but 'X's' were next to ones where they weren't, some only halfway out of their backs and bleeding, some misshapen, and others completely different sizes.

"That's gonna be me one day," he said walking over. "I hope getting tossed around doesn't make them grow in wrong. My friends wings grew in completely wrong and she had to get them amputated. They'll grow back, but she was really looking forward to them."

"Was that the other kid you were out with?"

"Uh-huh. Sometimes I call her for backup. Her territory is right next to mine."

"Who is she?" Spinelli asked. "Do I know who she is, too?"

"You met her once before, so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't remember her," he said.

"So who is she? Or are you not allowed to tell me?"

". . . Technically, she's my wife."

Spinelli paused, making sure she heard correctly. He continued putting the books back on the shelf, waiting for the next string of questions, as if what he said was completely normal.

"You're wife?! What do you mean your wife?!" She nearly shouted. "Since when do you have a wife?"

"Or fiancé, I guess, since we're not married, yet," he said.

"Yet?!"

"It's not like I had a say in it! This was all set up before either of us were born!" He said. "And it's not set in stone! We can refuse to go through with it when the time comes around, and that's what we're planning to do anyways! We get along fine, but we don't want to get married."

"Good. Arranged marriages are weird," she said, laying back on his bed. "Your dad is dead set on controlling every part of your life, dude."

"Yep. Every single part."

"Anyway, I can go for the milkshake you promised me."

"Right. Okay, um, here. . ."

He grabbed a hoodie from his bed and tied it around her waist.

"You'll stick out like a sore thumb, because you smell like a human. That should mask it, so no one will notice anything, even with no horns or tail. They'll just think you're a late bloomer," he said. "Alright, let's go."

Their footsteps echoed as they walked through the hallway. The lack of light didn't help it look less creepy, and for a while, Spinelli wondered if TJ was leading her to a dungeon. But there was more than enough light when they reached the courtyard. Other kids were out walking, talking, and playing. None of them paid them any mind as they walked past, following the river of lava, away from most of the crowd.

Though TJ walked between her and the bubbling hot lava, it didn't do much to make her feel safer. There wasn't any railing to keep someone from falling in, then again, if it was as harmless as TJ made it sound, maybe putting one up would be pointless.

TJ pushed open the door to the next building. Inside was a large open area with tables of various sizes all around, with a few kids around. The boarder of the room was lines with different stands, each hosting something different. But what hit her the hardest was the smell. She didn't know how hungry she was until she sent of it hit her nose.

"Hungry, Spin?" He asked. "I know you only wanted a milkshake but—"

"You get to eat this all the time?" She asked.

"Not all the time, but yeah, I get what you're asking," he said. "What are you in the mood for? Something spicy, something sweet, something hearty?"

"Surprise me," said Spinelli, sitting at one of the empty tables. "Don't forget about the milkshake."

He walked off, going from stand to stand, accumulating plates as he went. A little ways off in the distance she could see a flight of stairs leading to a second floor of more tables and food stands. If only the school lunch at home smelled half as good as this food did.

"I couldn't get some of everything, but I think I got some stuff you'll like," TJ said when he came back holding too trays packed with food. Including a milkshake.

Getting through half of it each, both were full to bursting as they headed back to his room. Spinelli didn't know how she was supposed to go back to eating 'normal' food after a feast like that. Once back in her bedroom, the two separated, and she was left to lay in bed, but not before pulling out the book she found on his desk.

It took me long to get this chapter out because my mind was so focused on what's going to happen in the next chapter that I couldn't focus on this one. The next chapter will be fun.

Side note, I've been messing around with that Hunger Games Simulator thing, and I'm just having the greatest time. Cornchip girl is thug, stabbing people left and right. Spinelli won one game. TJ keeps dying in the dumbest of ways but two of the Ashley's and Ms. Finster ganged up on him in one game. The whole thing is wild and I am semi-tempted to write a crack fic about this.

But after the next chapter or the one after that, I might shift my focus back onto Youthful Rebellion. I still haven't decided yet, so it's still in the air.