*SPOILER ALERT* Please make sure you finished watching Season 2 of Riverdale. I don't want to be the one to spoil stuffs for you. Also, as I stated in my first story, I'm not really a writer. Not even good at writing but I just enjoy doing it and sharing my imagination with you guys. Hope you guys enjoy this story as we wait for the next season of Riverdale.

Chapter 1: The New Riverdale

"I knew you'll come back," Hal said as he looked at his daughter in front of him. It's been 3 months since he was jailed for being the Blackhood. In that span of time, Betty has only visited him once.

"How are you, dad?" Betty asked, her face not giving a hint of concern.

"Well, I can't say I'm great. It's different staying here than being a free man," he replied.

"Are you sorry for what you did?" she asked once again.

"I may not live the life here, but I never regretted anything," he said as he took a step closer to her, "Not especially since it was done out of justice and peace."

Betty took a deep breath then started to prepare herself to leave. She told him, "I came here to see if you at least regretted anything….at least a sign of hope that I can still call you my dad."

She turned away from her father and started walking towards the door. Hal shouted back at her, "You have the darkness in you, Betty! You need to acknowledge and open it!" However, Betty had enough. She didn't even turn around to look at her dad once more. She was about to open the door knob when her father shouted, "You and your mom could be in danger!"

Betty turned around to look at her father, a show of concern as she started walking back towards him. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You need to fight darkness with darkness, that's why I'm telling you to reveal the darkness in you" he explained as he took a deep breath before saying, "The darkness… the blood…. It's not only you."

...

It was a busy day for Hermione Lodge. There were many papers to review as the new mayor of Riverdale. She was busy reading the papers when she heard Veronica's footsteps. "How's school, honey?" she asked.

Veronica stopped to look at her and mother and said, "Well, nothing much actually. Archie is busy being the student council president so we decided to date another time instead."

"Uh—huh. I see," Hermione replied as she continued reading the papers in front of her. "Well, I see someone busy as well," Veronica remarked.

Hermione realized she was not giving that much attention to her daughter while they were having a conversation. She stopped reading the papers as she looked at her daughter. "I'm sorry," she said, "There's just so much work to do."

"I understand," Veronica told her, "You can continue what you're doing. I'll be in my room."

Veronica took a few steps when Hermione called her. She turned around while Hermione removed her glasses before tellinh her, "You know your dad is a changed man, right?"

"Yeah… and the fact it needed to take a great toll on him before realizing his mistakes," Veronica replied.

Hermione slightly nodded as she continued, "After we almost left him for what he did, he realized he may control the entire Riverdale but can never have us at that state. Ever since then, he decided to balance business and family. He decided that doing business good and legally is a big step towards reuniting our family again. He has sworn that he will never be that Hiram again—a man greedy for power. He has proven us that change for the past few months and we believe in him. However, the town of Riverdale still thinks otherwise of him. He wants to change that. He wants his reputation to change, so he decided to do some actions. John Alceno will be coming here to Riverdale as he plans to expand his businesses here…"

"Wait!" Veronica interrupted, "You mean the John Alceno from Lakeview City?"

"Yes that's him," Hermione confirmed as she continued, "Your dad would like to have a partnership deal with John when he comes here in Riverdale. John is well-loved and respected by people that doing business with him can help change people's perspective about your dad. I hope you can support him by being there tomorrow night when he meets the Alcenos."

"That's good," Veronica said, "I'll be there."

...

Cheryl Blossom walked the hallway of the school wearing her Serpent jacket, besides her were Tony and Sweet Pea. It's been a while but some students will still look at her in disbelief. They could never believe that someone as Cheryl Blossom, who was the leader of the cheering team and lived life with a high class, would someday become a Serpent. Despite being the talk of the town for being a Serpent, Cheryl still held her pride high wearing the Serpent jacket.

"I'm going to the White Wyrm," Sweet Pea told the girls, "See you!"

Sweet Pea left the two girls. The two just stood there where Sweet Pea left them for minutes before Cheryl decided to ask Toni, "Wanna go to my house?"

"Yeah sure," Toni replied as they started to walk towards Cheryl's house.

"It's been months since your mom decided to live away from you. How are you and Nana Rose doing?" Toni asked.

"We're doing fine. I hired a nurse for her. It's more peaceful now actually. I think mom's doing well living at our vacation house with her new lover," Cheryl explained.

"She has a new lover?!" Toni asked in disbelief.

"Yes and she's enjoying the fact that I'm not there to tell her that I don't like her man," Cheryl said as they both laughed.

"Might be more peaceful," Cheryl said as her expression turned sad, "But it's a lot more lonely now. We used to live as a family with my parents, Jason and Nana Rose. Now, it's just me and Nana Rose."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Toni commented.

Cheryl stopped walking and looked at Toni with a smile, "The more I'm thankful for finding you and being a part of the Serpents. I may have lost my family, but the Serpents made me feel like I have a new family out there. Toni, with everything that happened to me and my family, I should be insane right now. I should have succumbed to my depressions a long time ago, but you were there to keep my sanity. Thank you!" Cheryl hugged Toni in which Toni hugged her back. Toni told her, "You're always welcome!"

Cheryl smiled once more to Toni, a bright idea came to her mind. "So I thought that since the house is too big for Nana Rose and me, I decided that the warehouse at the back of our house could be a new and second hideout for the Serpents!"

"Are you serious?" Toni asked her as she showed excitement.

"Yes!" Cheryl replied, "And because of that, I decided why not invite the Serpents out there for a get together."

"That's awesome!" Toni said, "I'll tell Jughead about that."

...

"I could never get tired of the burgers here," Jughead said as he took another bite of his burger. Archie laughed at his friend for his enthusiasm for Pop's foods. "You need to be thankful that Pops still open after almost closing," Archie said.

"Well it's your father-in-law's fault," Jughead jokingly said.

"My father-in-law?" Archie said as he laughed as well.

"Kidding aside," Jughead said as he swallowed the burger in his mouth, "How are you and Mr. Lodge doing?"

"Honestly, after everything that happened, it's kind of awkward for the both of us. But we're trying to reconcile and taking small steps one at a time. I should be angry at Mr. Lodge, but at the same time I want to give him a chance for Veronica's sake. He's trying to change, Jug, and I appreciate that," Archie explained.

"That's good to hear," Jughead said as he took another bite of burger. "How about you and Mr. Cooper?" Archie asked. Jughead almost choked at his food because of Archie's question.

"God! You're killing me!" Jughead said, "I want to believe you said that as a joke. But with the seriousness in your face, makes me think otherwise." The two laughed once again before Jughead said, "Me and Mr. Cooper don't talk much ever since. We don't really have that relationship you and Mr. Lodge has. What I'm worried about now is Betty's relationship with her father. She's taking it hard ever since she found out that he was the Blackhood."

"Yeah, it must be hard for Betty especially since she's blaming herself as well for the deaths the Blackhood caused," Archie said.

The two of them continued chatting for a few minutes before they heard the voice of a Veronica Lodge, "Hi boys! Sorry for being late but me and Betty are finally here." The boys looked at their girls and moved along the couch to give them space. Betty sat besides Jughead, while Veronica sat besides Archie.

"So what are you guys talking?" Veronica asked.

The two stiffened up as they both looked at each other. "Nothing," Archie said, "Just talking about..uhm…"

"Burgers!" Jughead said, "These goddamn burgers are so good!"

Veronica smiled and said, "As the new owner of this diner, I'm glad to hear Pop's still doing the classic burgers that we love." Jughead looked back at Archie with a triumphant smile on his face as Archie smiled back at the his bestfriend for saving him.

"Which reminds me, Jughead," Veronica said, "Your dad is doing great handling the speakeasy."

"Well, I never doubted him for a second. I always knew he could handle it. Not a surprise to me," Jughead said.

"How about you Jug?" Archie asked, "What are you busy doing lately?"

"Well, the town's pretty quiet lately. I'm happy about that, but it seems I'm running out of ideas for my next articles. I'm running around town hoping to get ideas. Besides that, I'm busy as well for the Serpents."

"Which reminds me," Veronica said, "I heard that John Alceno will be coming to Riverdale as he will expand his businesses here. My parents want to have a partnership with him to help daddy's reputation."

"John Alceno?" Jughead asked in surprise, "Well, that's news. Maybe I should interview him and make an article on his plans in Riverdale."

"That's good, Jug," Betty said, "People will be excited and curious for him. Your article will be the answer to people's question."

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Archie said, "but who is this John Alceno?"

"Well, Archiekins, he is a rich guy living in Lakeview, the nearest city in Riverdale. Besides building hotels and owning the J&C Bank, his other projects include foundations that have helped many people. His foundations have been recognized by many organizations as well. He is known for being kind-hearted and generous despite being rich. Lakeview City wasn't that rich in the first place, but when John started opening his businesses and foundations there, money boomed in the city. Many looked up at him and kept telling him to run as a candidate, but he said he never wants to get his hands dirty in politics. Many people love him to the point a certain group was made just to worship him," Veronica explained.

"Wow!" Archie said, "So what's his purpose here in Riverdale?"

"We don't know yet," Veronica said, "Tomorrow night I'll be joining them for dinner. We'll find out."

The four of them continued their talk when suddenly a phone rang. Lollipop-Lollipop! the phone continued ringing. The three looked at Betty as they were wondering why Betty won't answer her phone. She stood there, frozen as well while staring at her phone in shock.

"Is there any problem, Betty?" Jughead asked.

"I—It's the ringtone, Jug," Betty explained, "I haven't heard it in a long time now. It's the ringtone I assigned for the number my dad used to call me when he was contacting me as Blackhood."

"But isn't your dad in jail now?" Archie asked.

"I know he should be. I just visited him a week ago. Besides, phones are not allowed inside."

"Then who is calling you?" Veronica asked.

"I don't know," Betty said as they looked at each other puzzled. Betty took her phone and finally pressed Answer.

"Hello?" Betty asked.

"Hello, Betty! You think it's over?" the voice from the other line said, "I'm here to start off what your father left."