Read On!
At the end of the day, the school because quieter as the students retired to their respective rooms. The rooms were sound proof from the other rooms around, under, and above them, so being bombarded with the sound of his neighbor playing video games all night wasn't much of a worry for TJ.
Right now, he was sitting on his bed, cross legged, with an open textbook in front of him. Normally, he would be asleep, but there was a math test tomorrow, and he didn't want his grade, a B, to get lower. Yawning, he turned another page. The dull aching pain in his back helped in keeping him awake. With bandages being wrapped around him, he didn't want to wear a shirt if he didn't have to.
"I wanna go to sleep," he complained. For a moment, he fell back on the large pile of pillows. "Twenty more minutes…" Hoisting himself up, he picked up the book again. He must've been studying for five minutes before he heard the door being opened.
"…Hey, dad," He greeted halfheartedly. He closed the book and set it aside. He had hoped his dad was done talking to him earlier, but it wasn't the case.
"Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is? That you can't even handle a small case like this?" The man started. If anyone else looked it, they would see a man with a medium build, with dark brown bordering black hair combed back, a serious face with an expression to match, and a clean black suit. His horns were more traditional, grown to resemble the ones rams have. "It's an easy task! Beginners can handle this but you can't? You have no clue how disappointing you are. The mediocre fighting was bad enough but you can't fight off those monsters? And then you have to nerve to bring those filthy Humans down here! How did you manage to let them find your secret? Were you that careless that you let it slip? How do you know they're not to tell more people?"
"…because they're my friends."
His father scoffed.
"Friends? That's insane. Friends with humans! Friends with those filth, disgusting wastes of space! I thought I taught you better than that! There are plenty of other children for you to be friends with here!"
"Don't talk about them like that! They're the best friends I could ever have!" Standing up to father wasn't something TJ did often. Not only did they guy tower over him, but he was strong, and have a voice that could put fear in anybody. It just BOOMED when he wanted it to. He immediately regretted saying anything, but standing up for his friends was like a reflex.
"Don't you DARE talk back to me, boy! I don't know what those people you're staying with have taught you, but I'll be damned if you disrespect me! Keep pushing me and what happens to you!" His father yelled. He took a moment before he spoke again. "It's those 'friends' making you lose focus! If it wasn't for them you would half decent at your job! Get your priorities straight!" Leaving, he slammed the door shut.
The motivation to study for his test was gone now. TJ didn't like spending the night down there, and he was the reason why. The man was way too strict in his option, and always criticized him for something. Kind of gets a kid down after a while. He liked his family at Third Street better.
Speaking of which, he wanted to go back. Tossing the book aside, he grabbed his hat and a piece of chalk he kept on his desk. He drew the standard circle and triangles on his closet door before stepping through to, ironically, his other bedroom. Looking out the window, he saw that the sun was just beginning to set.
"Great," He said to himself. Smelling something cooking, he decided to go to the kitchen. "Hey, mom. What's for dinner?"
"TJ! Where have you been?" His mother said at the sound of his voice. She abandoned what she was cooking to check on him, and was shocked to see bandages wrapped around him. "What in the world happened to you?"
"I've been in Hell 'cause my wings were ripped out. I had to get them taken out, but I'm okay now, I promise!" He explained. "My other 'dad' doesn't think I can do the job anymore so I don't have to."
"Thanks goodness! Seeing you come home with all these injuries worries me half to death!"
"I'm fine, really! I'll get another pair in a few years, and I'm not gonna get hurt again anytime soon."
"Good," his mother said. "As for dinner, I'd thought I try something new. It's just about read. Just wash your hands."
~*~ODAW~*~
Recently, TJ found himself growing a liking towards spicier foods. He blamed that on the whole being a demon thing. Which is why he was happy when he saw his mother made stuffed bell peppers for dinner. Peppers were great. It was only on his second pepper that he slowed down to enjoy anything more than the spiciness of it. He probably wouldn't have done that if his parents, the ones he liked, urged him to slow down before he choked.
One bite into it and he knew that something was off. Before he could react, he sneezed, and when he opened his eyes, was met with a growing wall of fire. Grabbing his glass, he put the fire out before it could spread and set off the fire alarm.
"What in the world…?" His mother asked.
"Hey, cool! I can breathe fire! I didn't know I could. There's a 50/50 chance, but I can do it! This is awesome," He said. He leaned back in his seat and started to eat again. "I'll, uh, try not to set the house on fire."
Before heading out the door the next morning, TJ looked through the fridge for a spare pepper. As far as he knew, he could only do the whole fire thing after eating something spicy. He had tried again later last night without it, but nothing happened. With a bell pepper in one hand, he headed out the door and over to Spinelli's house.
"I'm back!" He said, greeting her as she stepped out of her house.
"It's about time," She said. "What's with the pepper?"
"I've got something to show you guys. C'mon, I wanna show you before school starts." By the time they reached the school, he had already taken a few bites out of the pepper. After meeting up with the others, they walked to the side of the school. "Okay, stand back! I don't wanna hurt you guys."
"What are you gonna show us?" Gus asked.
"You'll see," He said. He took another bite and chewed it slowly. He felt a heat rise up in his throat. He exhaled, and a steady stream of fire came out. "See? How awesome is that?"
"You didn't say anything about breathing fire!" said Vince.
"That's 'cause I didn't think I could. My dad can't so I figured I couldn't either. I guess I really can't, since I have to eat something spicy first, but it's better than nothing, right?"
"That doesn't burn you or anything?" Spinelli asked.
"A little bit. My lungs and stomach feel kinda hot but that's it," He said. A few puffs of smoke came out his mouth as he talked. "And the smoke. There's that. That'll go away in a second, though."
The warning bell rang, and they went inside. The day went by as usual, which a surprise history test that threw everyone off guard. Recess for the fifth graders was more than welcome after making it through that thick stapled packet of papers called a 'test'. Stepping outside, everyone found that it wasn't much better. The heat wave, according to the weatherman, reached its peak. The good news was that it was only going to get better from here. The bad news is, right now, it's hot. Rather than spend their free time playing, most kids seeked out shade to make it through the recess. Figuring that the shade the trees around the abandoned playground would keep out the oppressive heat of the sun, they hid out there. Luckily, no one else had thought of going back there, so they didn't have to worry about a large crowd. As soon as they arrived, TJ removed his hat and scratched around his horns.
"So did Spinelli tell you guys the good news?" He asked.
"That you don't have to go after those wolves anymore?" Gus asked.
"Yeah, that's right. And right when I asked you guys for help," he said. "My dads sending the brigade. They should find them all in about a day. My dad's md at me though. He thinks I should've been able to handle this."
"Your dad's a real jerk," said Spinelli. "Doesn't he know you've been trying?"
"Yeah, but still."
"Wait, you have a dad in hell, too?" Gus asked.
"Yeah. It's kind of complicated," He said. "I could tell you, if you want. It doesn't look like we'll be able to do anything else with how hot it is."
~*~ODAW~*~
"Where do I start," TJ said. The group sat around in the circle in what they decided was the coolest part of the abandoned playground. "From what my mom and dad told me, the one's up here, my real dad, the one back home, show up one night when I was still a little baby. They were already trying to have another baby, that's why he picked them. He explained to them that I wasn't a Human baby and that when I got older, he would come back to teach me stuff, but until hit puberty I would pass for human. My mom say's as soon as she held me for the first time, she wanted to keep me. She said I was clutching onto my hat while I was sleeping, too."
"So you're adopted?" asked Mikey.
"Basically. Yep. I like these parents better. My real dad can be a jerk, like Spinelli said. He's always pushing me to try harder when I'm already trying as hard as I can. And he yells a lot," said TJ. "These parent's aren't like that at all. Even when I mess up real bad, I'm not afraid to come home."
"You talked about your real dad, but what about your real mom?" asked Gretchen.
"…I don't know. I try to ask my dad but he won't tell me anything," He said. "I haven't seen her at all, not even a picture. I tried looking through documents and everything, but I've found nothing. It's like she disappeared or something. But…I've been thinking about something…"
"About what?" asked Spinelli.
"I got my hands on a health book. It says that demons are usually slim, and I'm not. I've still got a lot of baby fat. It wouldn't be so bad if I was like 8 or 9, 'cause that's normal but it should be gone by now. Dad's been trying to burn it off me for a while now," He laughed. "it's not working…but it's normal for angels to keep baby fat for longer. And demons are supposed to be rough and ruthless and cause trouble for the sake of causing trouble. I'm not like that. At least I don't think I am. I like pranks and everything but it's just for fun and doesn't hurt people like the ones they do. I care too much. So I started wondering if my mom was an angel. It's uncommon, but not unheard of. But I would have a halo or angel wings or something! I dunno. I don't want to ask my dad and get him angry again. He either walks away and ignores me or yells at me or wants to train me again, and training hurts. I'd explain a lot, though. I get a little made fun of down there for acting so different. I'm not as strong as most of them. I have to use strategy instead of power to win a fight. But it doesn't matter that they don't like me much. I have you guys as friends. Whenever the girls from their school come over they make me hang out with them to retaliate against whatever pranks the boys play pranks on them. They bring me stuff. That's nice of them."
"Do you know any other demons up here?" asked Vince.
"Yeah, from of cities around us. I don't know them personally up here," He said. "And Gretchen looks like she has a million and one questions for me." The group looked towards the brains of the group. She wore an expression she always had when something new, usually scientific, caught her interest.
"It's just…all of this is just so fascinating," She said. "I know you're not supposed to tell us too much, but I do have questions of my own."
"Okay, shoot. I'll tell you if I can't answer them," he said.
"O-oh. Okay. What's the hardest thing you can bite through?" She asked.
"I can answer that, no problem! I know I can bite through wood no problem," He started. "Metal, too. I bit through bone once, so I'm sure I can bite through it again. But I'm sure I couldn't even chip diamond. I'd show you, but my fangs are loose and they'll fall out soon. Don't worry though, they're supposed to fall out on a regular basis, like shark teeth."
"How strong are you?"
"I know I'm strong enough to do this," He said. He stood up and put himself into a handstand on one hand. "But Vince can do this, can't you Vince?"
"Yep," said Vince. TJ put himself back on his feet before looking around.
"I can do this," He said. He leaned down and picked up Spinelli without much effort, bridal style. "I carried on her on my back when I brought her down to Hell for the first time, right Spin?"
"Right," She said.
"You're not that heavy to me," He said gently tossing her up and down. "I could do this for a while, if that's any clue to how strong I am."
"That's great, Teej, but can you let me down?" Spinelli asked. "If you keep tossing me up like this, I'll be able to see the school."
"Oh. Sorry," He said. After catching her, he put her back on her feet. "But to really answer that question, I think you would have to watch me train when I go back tonight. You can come and watch if you want."
"How much damage can you take?"
"A lot. We're pretty durable, all things considered. It helps that we heal really fast," He said. "I've never thought to test my limits though, if that's what you're asking. I dunno how much of a beating I can take….But my horns are a weak point. If one of those crack and I bleed out, then I'm as good as gone. Not many tail though. You could put one of my tails off and I wouldn't even notice until someone told me, weird."
"Really?" Spinelli asked. She reached out and tugged at one of his tails. He looked at her, but didn't seemed to be bothered.
"Yep. Doesn't hurt a bit," He said. "And hey, I can finally control it now. See?" He wiggled his tail out of her grip and wrapped it around his hat. "You don't have to worry about it wrapping around you anymore. That probably got annoying."
"Is there anything that's poisonous to you?"
"Not much. I drank a bottle of cyanide on a dare once and it didn't do anything. But garlic gives me one heck of a stomach ache."
"I thought garlic was for vampires," said Gus.
"Nah. Vampires are weak to onions," said TJ. "I dunno where humans got the idea it was garlic. They love garlic."
"Wait, so vampires are real?""
"Yep. Vampires are real, werewolves are real, mermaids are real, though I haven't met one myself, angels are real, ghosts aren't real, but for the most part, they all leave humans alone, except for a few strays," He said. "But back to your question. Ouija Boards are bad. Don't mess with that stuff. Don't try to summon spirits and junk. Bad things happen if you don't know what you're doing. So no playing Midnight Man, no Three Kings, no Hide and Seek alone, and no Bath Game. Bloody Mary's fine though. She actually gives you cherry flavored candy. She's harmless."
Before any more questions could be asked, the school bell rang. They dusted the grass off their clothes and TJ put his hat back on before heading back to the school.
Not much to this chapter, but there will be more the next chapter, I promise.
I may or may not write a Pokemon fic for this show. This comes after watching the episode with the Ajimbo game and watching everyone freak the fuck out. It's just planning everything out that's making this a huge thing; planning everyone's Starters and teams and gyms and favorite types for a large number of kids and all. I need a guide book before I write. If anyone has any thoughts on this, feel free to message me.
scorpiogrl1576: thank you for inspiring this chapter. I probably would've been stuck on this story without you're suggestion! To answer your question, yes they do know, if I didn't make it clear in this chapter. Knowing that their son has to go out every night to fight those things worries them so much, but they support him, (plus they don't really have a say in the matter).