Spencer was fuming. Beyond mad. Beyond pissed off. Beyond livid. At this point, he was just done with everything.

His day had started off with an argument with Billy. He couldn't even remember what it was about anymore but the diva pop-star had thrown a tantrum again and refused to accompany Spencer to school. Not that Spencer cared at the time but his day had gone downhill from there.

Without Billy's supernatural help his bullies tormented him relentlessly all day. Apparently figuring out his 'special effects' were on the fritz they decided today was the day to make his life hell. Ponzi got in on the action too, irritating him and giving him detention for no reason. When Spencer got home things didn't get much better. Jessica, being a typical annoying little sister, blamed him for something he didn't do and it got him grounded. Come to think of it, it may have been something Billy did that Spencer had neglected to make the primadonna fix. But it didn't even matter because the ghost wasn't there. When Spencer went up to his room to either vent to his friend or ream him a new one he found the room empty. Billy wasn't in the studio either and wasn't answering his phone.

Spencer was so tired of everything. So very, very tired. Of Lolo and Kleet. Of Ponzi. Of getting blamed for stuff that wasn't his fault. It wasn't fair. Why him? What had he ever done wrong? Sure he liked horror movies and scary stuff but did that alone warrant the abuse he endured? No. At least not in his mind. And he was tired of just rolling over and taking it.

Ding!

Spencer took out his phone. A text from Rajeev. An invitation to sneak out and join him at some kind of underground edgy concert tonight. Spencer blinked. Breaking the rules and sneaking out wasn't something he typically did. He was a good kid who tried to follow the rules most of the time despite everything. He smirked. But tonight...

Spencer crept up to the attic where a few boxes of Billy's old clothes sat, waiting to be taken to a donation center. There was one box in particular that he was interested in. Stuff that Billy wouldn't miss. When he was dressed and ready, he snuck out through his bedroom window, leaving one of his zombie toys in the window to prop it open so he could sneak back in later.

He had to bike all the way into town to the Wi-Fri where he secured his bike to a bike rack. Then he walked the rest of the way to meet up with Rajeev in a section of the city he didn't normally go to. It didn't look as nice or clean as the areas he was accustomed to. Spencer began to second guess his decision to come out here. If his parents ever found out he was in this part of town he'd be grounded until he was thirty. But seeing Rajeev leaning against a building waiting for him gave him a little more confidence. At least if he was caught he wouldn't be the only one in trouble. Rajeev was dressed in ripped jeans, a v-neck shirt, lots of jewelry, a sharp blazer, sunglasses that weren't needed as it was nighttime, and sparkly boots.

"Brooooo! Lookin' goood!" Rajeev said as Spencer jogged up to him.

Spencer had borrowed a few things from Billy's 'punk' box. One of Spencers' own horror graphic tees paired with a studded black canvas jacket, a studded belt with a skull buckle, matching bracelet, ripped jeans, and combat boots. He shrugged, "Trying something new."

"Surprised you even showed! You're normally the wet blanket when it comes to this kinda stuff."

"...gee, thanks…"

"Just keeping it real, dude. Where's Billy?"

Spencer rolled his eyes, "Don't know, don't care. I need something to get my mind off today. Let's get going wherever we're going."

Rajeev chuckled, "I'm liking this new rebellious Spence. Alright, let's go! Woot-whoo!" Rajeev cheered and jogged off down the street and Spencer followed.

Rajeev led him down an alley to a cramped backstreet lined with attached buildings. They stopped outside the entrance of one small building where a neon sign hung above reading 'The Chameleon Club'. A handwritten chalk sign sat on the sidewalk listing the bands playing that evening. None of which Spencer had ever heard of. He assumed they were all local bands, the kind who were unsigned and went from one small club to another playing any gig they could get. A burly man stood in front of the door where a small line of people waited to enter. One by one each person handed the bouncer a ticket and their ID. He'd scrutinize both before handing them back to the person and stamping their hand with either a green or red mark before they could enter.

"You have the tickets?" Spencer asked.

"Don't worry, bro, the Raj has got you covered," Rajeev said as he flashed a pair of tickets in his face, "You bring your ID like I said?"

Spencer nodded and followed Rajeev to the line. It didn't take long for them to reach the bouncer who examined their things before stamping their hands with a red mark and ushering them in.

They walked through a narrow, dark hallway and through another door into a huge room. Immediately next to the door was a merch stand that was selling band gear. On the other side was a bar where some people were sitting and drinking. Then at the far side of the room was a small stage where the current band was performing some kind of punk rock music. The club was alight with dancing multicolored lights. A crowd of people bounced and surged along to the music in front of the stage.

"Wow! This is awesome!" Spencer gaped.

The pair went straight to the mosh pit and began to weave their way toward the front of the stage. It was so loud but he was enjoying the music. The band members wore similar punk-ish clothing but they also had various masks. The singer obviously didn't have a mask covering his whole face like the others. He only wore a mask over his eyes under messy black hair.

Spencer cocked his head to the side. There was something familiar about the lead singer. About the entire band really, but he focused on the singer. He even sounded familiar. But Spencer was almost positive this was the first time he'd heard this band.

"Does the singer seem familiar to you?" Spencer asked Rajeev.

"What?!" Rajeev shouted over the noise.

"DOES THE SINGER SEEM FAMILIAR TO YOU?!" Spencer shouted.

"WHAT'S PECULIAR?!"

Spencer shook his head, his friend obviously couldn't hear him. It wasn't until the singer leaned into the crowd right in front of him did something click. They made eye contact. The man stopped singing and his face flashed with recognition. Spencer recognized him back.

Billy.

His friend stared at him with a dumbfounded expression before the bassist nudged him to remind him that he was supposed to be singing. A rowdy fan even tossed a water bottle at him. Billy quickly recovered by continuing to sing, picking up the bottle, opening it, taking a swig, then spitting it back out in the direction of the fan and chucking the bottle into the crowd. The crowd oddly seemed to enjoy it. Spencer grimaced, happy it wasn't in his direction. Billy then disappeared briefly behind the curtain but quickly reemerged with flare. After that Billy continued performing as if nothing happened.

Spencer blinked and continued watching him. He scrutinized the other band members more. They were Billy clones, each styled differently so that the average person in this dimly lit setting couldn't tell they were all the same person. The ghost must have been using his powers to appear visible as well as multiply himself. So many questions flooded Spencers' mind. The most prominent one being 'what the heck was Billy doing here'?

He felt someone grab his arm and pull him away. Spencer tried to pull away and swatting at this person but nothing worked. The man pulling him through the crowd had also snagged Rajeev who struggled alongside him. When they were out of the crowd the man flung the boys forward. Rajeev fell flat on his face. Spencer stumbled but caught himself and whirled around on their captor. Only to freeze.

Viper, Billy in one of his disguises, stood there, arms on hips and glaring like a mom who caught their kid doing something bad. "What the hell are you two doing here?!" He demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Spencer shot back.

Billy's mouth opened and closed several times, thinking of what to say. But right as he was about to say something Rajeev cut in.

"Really jam, though! I totally dig this, it's awesome!" Rajeev cheered after bouncing back to his feet.

Spencer blinked. He and Billy stared at each other for a moment, their tempers seeming to die down. Spencer looked back to the band of Billys who were still performing. "Yeah," he sighed, "yeah it is."

Billy frowned slightly before ushering the boys to a less crowded corner in the back where they could hear each other better. "Still doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"Don't be such a wet blanket," Rajeev said, "You're not usually this lame."

"This place isn't exactly kid-friendly.

Rajeev held up his hand to show the red mark. "We're not kids and It's not like we came here to drink, just for the music."

Billy eyed Spencer who let out a huff. "I had a really bad day, ok? I needed to just...get away."

Billy's expression softened to something more sympathetic and he bashfully rubbed the back of his head. "Aw...crap. I guess I can't be mad. I did worse shit when I was your age and I had a rough day."

"You still do. On a good day." Spencer teased.

Billy playfully glared at him before throwing an arm around Spencers' shoulders, putting him in a headlock, and giving him a noogie. Rajeev rolled his eyes at them before rejoining the crowd.

Spencer squirmed and shoved Billy off. "Quit it, tool-shed!"

Billy just laughed, keeping on arm still around the kids' shoulders but leaving him alone otherwise. "Still buds?" The ghost asked.

"Of course we are, don't be dumb."

"Brat," Billy smirked.

"Moron," Spencer teased back.

The pair chuckled a moment before Spencer looked back at the performance. "Seriously, though. This is really cool. It's so different from your usual stuff though. What made you wanna do something like this?"

"Used to do it all the time before I got ghosted."

"Seriously?! You never told me. How come this is the first I'm hearing of it?"

"I wanted to experiment with all kinds of music, not just pop. But it's not something my managers approved of. The Cobra image was already branded as an upbeat, gorgeous, talented, pop-star and that's all they wanted, so all my other ideas were shot down."

Spencer frowned, "That blows dude…"

"But I found a way around it," he grinned, "I created a whole bunch of aliases and disguises. When I was feeling kinda low I'd sneak away and play at these ratty little clubs."

"How come you never told me?" Spencer pouted.

Billy's face contorted for a moment as if he was considering what to say. He shrugged, "Never thought much about it till today. I also didn't wanna tarnish the Cobra's dazzling image."

Spencer snorted, "You wouldn't have 'tarnished' anything. I already know there's more to you than just being a self-center, idiotic prick. Right, Baruch?"

Billy gaped at him, half insulted but more surprised that Spencer pronounced his name right. He ruffled Spencer's hair again. "Better watch it, you're cruisin' for a bruisin'."

Spencer laughed and lightly shoved him. They watched the performance in silence for a beat.

"You know I can't even remember what we argued about," Billy said.

"Me either."

"Sorry I wasn't there to help you today."

Spencer shrugged halfheartedly, "I can't expect to rely on you for everything."

"Aww, my little Tater-tot is all growed up," the singer cooed.

Spencer elbowed him in the ribs, "You suck. You just gotta ruin the moment, don't you?"

Billy laughed, "Ok, ok. Seriously though...Kleet?"

"And Lolo and Ponzi."

"Hmm...looks like we'll just have to get back at them."

Spencer smirked, "What'd you have in mind?"

The boys spent the last hour of the performance scheming as the band of Billy's played. They snuck back into the house with some ghostly assistance in the wee hours of the morning. Throughout the next school day if Spencer caught some extra Z's while the usual bullies were preoccupied with some supernatural inconveniences then no one noticed. And anytime some mysterious, unknown punk rock band happened to pop up in a dingy club Spencer, Rajeev, and even Shanilla made sure to get tickets.


AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Hemmed and hawed about posting this one but screw it...¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In which no one is in character and I don't give a flippin pancake.

Also headcanon that Spencer loves rock, punk, metal types of music.

Partially inspired off of a scene in LIS:BTS when Chloe sneaks off to go to the Firewalk concert. But mostly based off of when I was in high school and a friend took me to this tiny hole-in-the-wall club/bar to see Kill Hannah in the city. It was my first ever 'concert' and it was such a fun experience, cementing my taste in music. The name of this club is the same I went to back then.

Don't ask me how Spencer climbed down the side of the house when he snuck out. It's my fanfic I can do what I want. Also, him leaving it propped open is a not-so-subtle nod from P/R/P when he learned to do it from Billy. Picking up his bad habits isn't a good thing, Spence…

Also we're pretending BIlly has better control over his powers of visibility.