XV

                                    

                                          
"What is the fourth law?!" Tall Boy screams to be heard over everyone else in the bar.
                          
"No Serpent is left for dead!" Jughead roars back to him, and Storm chuckles slightly.
                          
"What is the fifth law?!" Tall Boy screeched over the noises in the bar and Storm was watching Jughead carefully as she stood next to Sweet Pea and the other younger Serpents.
                          
"You're still one of our leaders, if he does actually make it through." Sweet Pea mutters to her and she looks over at him.
                          
"Let's be honest Pea, I never was the leader. You were. I was the second if it was needed, and only if it was." She insisted.
                          
"A Serpent never betrays his own!" A loud, sudden roar was came from the mouth of Jughead and Storm jumped.
                          
"Here we go." Storm mumbled to him as he looked at her and they both look to Jughead and Tall Boy.
                          
"What is the sixth?!" Tall Boy screamed to him and the rest of the bar prepared to fall in line with it.
                          
"In unity, there is strength!" Jughead screams back at him.
                          
"In unity, there is strength!" The entire bar shouted and as did Storm, who was silent among the crowd after it was said.
                          
"You know the laws." Tall Boy said to Jughead, as the music quiets and now everyone waited in a solemn silence.
                          
"Now it's time, for the next trial." He said and the teenagers moved quickly out of the way, and revealed the snake in the tank. "Retrieve the knife." Tall Boy says and Storm raised a eyebrow at Jughead, with a slight nod.
                          
"A rattlesnake, Toni. A rattlesnake bit me and drew blood." Jughead wraps a bandage around his hand as he did.
                          
"Well Jughead, there's only one person who's ever done it without getting bitten as far as we know." Toni said and he turned to see that she was nodding at Storm.
                          
"One that had its venom glands removed, okay? The important thing is that you showed no fear, grabbed the knife, and that you remembered all of the laws. Which means, you're almost a Serpent now Juggy." Toni says and Storm raised her eyebrows at the awkward looks they exchanged.
                          
"You all right?" Sweet Pea asked and Storm nods quickly, and cracked her shoulder quickly.
                          
"Yeah. I'm just thinking." She murmurs and her left hand tapped her right wrist, where there was yet another tattoo there, and he raised his eyebrows at her. "Music notes." She held up her wrist to explain and there it was. Four music notes.
                          
"Representatives of your family I'm guessing?" He asked and she lowered her wrist, and rolls down the sleeve of her jacket.
                          
"Yeah. Back when I still actually had a blood family. My dad probably plans a plot to disown me, my mom... she isn't even probably aware. My brother it is a lost cause, is what I'm saying." She said quietly and she walked out of the bar when she felt sick from seeing all of the people there.
                          
She was outside, in one of the many warehouses when Jughead he was the one to approach her, surprisingly. "I am sorry, for what I said earlier." He said and she shakes her head at him.
                          
"It wasn't your fault Jughead. I eventually took your words to heart and put a stop to the ridiculous plan, that I should've done from the start. I was stupid to let Fangs and Sweet Pea convince me otherwise. But, look at it this way, you will be a full on Serpent soon, if you survive the Gauntlet." She said, clapping him on the shoulder.
                          
"I'm crashing with the boys tonight, but I'll see you tomorrow. Be careful Jughead, the Gauntlet is no joke. I've got scars from it." She says and walks away from the bar, meeting up with a bunch of younger Serpents quickly.
                          
The next day, Storm came face to face with Archie for the first time since the Rumble and she stops, almost letting a Serpent plow into her from behind.
                          
"What the hell, do we have here now?" Sweet Pea asked and Archie locked eyes with Storm, who was in fact trying to avoid his gaze, with all of the effort she could muster.
                          
"Storm." He called her and she looked up at him, and her eyes blazed with at last, an insurmountable fury.
                          
"My name is Tempest." She shot back at him and the Serpents all smirked at Archie as they close around her as if a family would.
                          
"He was just leaving. All right?" Jug was trying to explain.
                          
"Wait, you're friends with these thugs?" Archie asked and Storm steps between Sweet Pea and Archie, as the fire flared up.
                          
"It's not what you think." Jughead says, as Storm continued to stand in the middle.
                          
"Get out of my way." Sweet Pea growled at her, and she shakes her head at him.
                          
"Not now. I'm sure, that you'll get another chance before this is over, okay?" She murmured and he nods and she moved to the side again.
                          
"Are you joining the Serpents?" Archie asked.
                          
"If he survives. Go ahead and call us thugs one more time." Sweet Pea says and Storm's panic level was rising at a alarming rate.
                          
"Jughead! These are the guys who attacked me. Who attacked Reggie, Veronica, Dilton, your friends." Archie insists and Storm looked at Sweet Pea, who backed up slightly at her look.
                          
Archie basically, he just spat the bad news of Betty wanting to break up the relationship in his face, in front of the entire group.
                          
"What? Did you guys... enjoy the show?" Jughead asked and Storm looks at Sweet Pea with a grim smile on her face.
                          
"Show hasn't even started yet." He crossed his arms as he spoke.
                          
A hour later, they were all lined up in a snake formation and after getting all the hits in except for one, it was Sweet Pea, using brass knuckles who hit him for the final one.
                          
Sweet Pea shook hands with Jughead as Toni handed him his Serpent jacket and Storm smiled at him, and pulling off of her own brass knuckles, clappin Jughead on the back.
                          
"Good job Jones, you're officially a Serpent now." She says and looked at Sweet Pea, who nodded slightly at the group at large.