This universe was darker...much colder than any traversed before. Jughead Jones had decided a month ago that although the offer from the Southside Serpents was a tempting one, Riverdale was his home. Dear sweet Betty was the only garage he wanted for his soul's shifting into park. So hearing from a friend that Betty was seen in a nearby alley, tons of mascara, wearing the Serpent jacket that HE had put away, it gave his heart the weight of a sinking stone and his feet the renewed ability to fly.
"Betty, I am so confused right now. What the heck are you doing here at...Whyte Wyrm?--a bar? And what's with this stupid jacket? You're not one of them--you're with ME now..." Jughead's voice trembled a little. No smile was there to greet him. Smokey eyes instead taunted him.
Betty's tone was dark and somewhat mocking. "What's the matter, Juggy? You don't approve of my wardobe choices? Afraid that a poor damsel in distress might get her 'wittle self' hurt out in the big 'scawy world?"
Betty's response and behavior only reinforced Jughead's underlying suspicions.
"You're not taking your pills...are you? Your mom was totally--"
"MY MOM? MY MOM, JUGGY?!" Dark Betty was triggered. Jughead's eyes immediately went to her clasped hands.
"Betty, baby...please! I want to talk you down--just like before...like you did for me."
"You're on HER SIDE now, aren't you?"
"No, of course not." Jughead had to choose his words carefully when approaching her darkness. "I am on OUR side."
"And just which side IS THAT, Jug? The goodie-goodie Riverdale side? The River Vixens and The Nancy Drew SIDE? No! I am SO done with that side, Juggy." The sweet girl he knew was now angry and weird.
"C'mon, Betty, I know you don't mean that." Jughead was scrambling to come up with a way to reach his sweet Betty.
"TRY ME."
"BETTY COME BACK!" Jughead reached out for his soulmate, but his fingers slipped over an ice cold leather sleeve instead as she pulled away to grab a billiards cue. "C'mon, Betts...are you serious right now?" His question to Betty was haunting. Years earlier Archie had asked him the very same thing and he had chosen to slam his locker door shut and changed their futures forever. Could it be happening again? "This isn't over...I LOVE YOU, BETTY COOPER! I always...will." Betty continued ignoring Jughead. She lined-up her next shot and took it forcefully. Pressing her body suggestively against the pool table only served to make him wipe at his nose and paw at his clinging hat as he walked outside and began to fight back tears.
The night air was cold on his skin, and the sounds of cheering Serpents welcoming their new hatchling female into their clutches made him sick to his stomach. He had to call someone that could help. Archie's cellphone rang twice and then he picked up. "It's Betty...well...it's complicated...basically, in a way, I have to create some sort of Dark Betty Antivenin or I will lose her forever..so we need to come up with a plan."
"How can I help?" Archie paused to listen.
"Meet me at Whyte Wyrm in half an hour...and bring Ronnie."