Chapter 9: Alliance and Partnership

September 8

"Woah", Kevin Keller said, apparently in shock from what Adam Chisholm had just revealed.

"It's true", Adam said.

"Does anybody else know?"

"So far, you're the only one from Riverdale High that knows", Adam said. "But you have to keep this a secret."

Kevin took a deep breath and looked at Adam.

"Adam, you can trust me. I'm glad you confided your secret in me. Forget about those morons from Centerville. You're an awesome person to hang out with and no should discredit you."

"Thanks, Kevin", Adam said. "I was so worried. I was hoping the people from Riverdale High would be understanding and inclusive."

"Well, I'm gay and no one seems to have an issue with that", Kevin said.

Kevin then put his hand on Adam's shoulder.

"Adam, I care about you. I don't want to see you get hurt. I want what is best for you. If you can trust anybody from Riverdale High, you can trust me."

Kevin then hugged Adam tightly. He wanted the younger boy to know that he could trust him, that he could depend on him.

Hours earlier, at Greenwich Prep…

Jughead Jones couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Mr. Colon smiled as he said, "Jughead, this is your roommate, Nicholas St. Clair. Nicholas, this is your new roommate, Forsythe Jones. Make yourself at home, Forsythe. Get to know each other."

"Actually, I prefer you to call me Jughead", Jughead said.

"Fair enough", Mr. Colon said. "Well, carry on."

After Mr. Colon left, Jughead looked at Nick St. Clair.

Jughead knew he had to be careful. Standing in front of him was the same boy that had offered his friends jingle-jangle. He had sexually harassed Veronica and later roofied and tried to rape Cheryl. He later kidnapped Archie and tried to hold him for ransom.

He knew he had to be cautious. But he also didn't want Nick to suspect anything. He had to seem amiable and cordial.

"Hello, Nick. My name's Jughead."

"I am aware", Nick responded in a cool manner.

Okay, this could be tricky, Jughead thought.

"Pleased to meet you", Nick said, suddenly sounding more pleasant. "Although I would rather call you Forsythe, if you don't have an issue with that."

"Nothing is stopping you", Jughead said.

Nick looked at Jughead for a few minutes, seemingly examining him. Jughead wasn't sure what to say or how to react. This certainly wasn't something he imagined he would have to deal with. Jughead wondered if Nick would recognize him and be able to remember his past.

"You're from Riverdale, right? And you went to Riverdale High?", Nick asked.

Oh no, Jughead thought. Don't worry, just play cool. Maybe he doesn't know.

"Um, yeah", Jughead said as casually as possible. "How did you know that?"

"Mr. Colon gave me some information about you", Nick said. "He told me that so I could be able to understand what I would be seeing when I met my roommate."

"Sounds thoughtful of him", Jughead said. But inside his mind he was feeling nervous and confused. He knew Archie and Veronica could not find out about this.

Jughead wished Fred Andrews was still alive and able to assist him. Fred was always able to offer advice and encouragement, while at the same time being as realistic and possible. When his own father was drunk and hurting his family, Fred was able to step in and help FP. If Fred was here right now, he would know what to do.

This seemed so unbelievable. How was he going to be able to get on Nick's good side without making him suspicious?

"So, what do you think about this school?", Jughead said, eager to steer the topic of the discussion away from his background.

"This place is enjoyable and tolerable", Nick said. "You might like it here."

He then lowered his voice.

"You might want to watch out for the others, though. They can get really competitive."

This is going to be a challenge, Jughead thought.

September 9

Betty Cooper was at home, texting Jughead and Veronica. Her mother was in the kitchen with FP. They were both probably eating something.

Betty then felt hungry.

She walked to the kitchen.

"Hello, Betty!", Alice said cheerfully.

"I'm just going to make myself a sandwich", Betty said hastily.

"You don't have to, let me help you."

"I'm fine, mother", Betty said in an icy tone. "I can take care of myself."

Forgiveness was not something simple for Betty to do. Even though Alice had been trying to play the role of a secret FBI agent successfully, she had done things last year that Betty had difficulty forgiving her for. She had joined Edgar's stupid farm cult, seemingly brainwashed by its members. She had sent Betty to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. She had given Betty's college money to the farm. She had seemingly sat by while Betty had almost been given a lobotomy. Betty was both relieved and angry when she found out that Alice was just pretending to be brainwashed, and she had secretly been working with Betty's half-brother Charles.

It may have been for a good cause. But at the end of the day, Alice's outlandish actions could not be denied or swept under the rug. Betty knew that Alice's heart may truly have been in the right place, but she was not so quick to forgive Alice for her choices and her controlling behavior.

"Is everything fine, Betty?", FP asked.

"Yes, Mr. Jones."

Betty ate her sandwich, not even looking once at her mother. She then left the kitchen and headed to the living room.

Polly then walked over to Betty.

"Are you okay, Betty?", Polly asked.

"I'm fine, Polly", Betty said.

"Are you sure? Because you didn't exactly seem happy or pleasant when you interacted with Mom, which hasn't been happening for very often lately. Is there a problem?"

"Look, Polly", Betty started. She didn't want to have to explain this situation to her. "For the last year, Mom has lied to me. She's lied to both of us. She seemed to act like the Farm was totally normal and acceptable. She gave me so much emotional stress when I was worrying about her. Maybe you're willing to forgive her so quickly, but that doesn't mean I want to so quickly, if it even happens."

"You know, if Jughead were here, I'm sure he wouldn't want you to hold on to a grudge", Polly said. "Besides, Mom had to play her role as a double agent successfully in order to make sure nobody got suspicious until it was too late."

"She gave away my college money", Betty said. "And even before Edgar and his cult arrived in Riverdale, Mom has always been snooping through my business and trying to control me. I swear, if she could mind control me, she would do so without even hesitating."

"Still, you have to admit she plays the role of an FBI agent pretty well", Polly said. "And Charles really came through when he arrested Edgar and Evelyn."

"Speaking of our half-brother, how can we even trust him?" Betty asked. "He may seem like a nice guy on the outside, but can we say with one hundred percent certainty that he doesn't pose as a threat, that he isn't another Chic? And why didn't Mom tell us he was alive? Why did I have to find out until after Edgar's cult ascended?"

"Betty, you know Mom has the best intentions for us. She loves us. And I'm sure FP would say the same."

"I guess, Polly", Betty said. "I just need some time."

Meanwhile…

Archie Andrews was with Munroe Moore at the gym that Archie had decided would be a community center, also known as the El Royale Fight Club. Archie and Munroe were currently showing two kids in the fifth grade at Riverdale Elementary School fundamental tips of self-defense.

"So, Mad Dog", Archie said, using Munroe's preferred nickname. "What do you think about Riverdale High School so far?"

"It seems all right, I guess", Mad Dog said. Munroe had recently transferred to Riverdale High so he could earn his credits and properly graduate.

"You know, Mad Dog", Archie said with an idea forming in his head, "The Riverdale High School football team could use some extra strength. During the tryouts we held last summer, we got some pretty decent players. But with you, our entire team could look like a powerhouse."

Mad Dog grinned. "I would love that."

"Trust me, you'll enjoy it", Archie said. Although it seemed like a resourceful strategy to help the team, Archie had never asked Reggie for his opinion on this matter. He was sure he wouldn't mind.

Just then, Munroe's younger brother, Malcolm, came running into the room, sobbing.

"Malcolm, what's the matter?", Munroe asked. "Why are you sobbing?"

"Some older guy and a few other men jumped me and started attacking me", Malcolm said, showing the two older teens a few bruises on his arm and knee. Archie could have sworn he recognized a knife cut on Malcolm's arm.

"I need to find the worthless scoundrel that did this", Mad Dog said. "No one messes with my younger brother and gets away with it."

"Look, Mad Dog, I'll handle it", Archie said. "Who was this guy, Malcolm?"

"The leader said his name was Dodger", Malcolm said.

Archie decided he would talk to Oscar about this.

"Can you tell me more about what he said to you?", Archie asked, hoping to gain useful information.

Later that day…

Archie was sitting in the living room, trying to process what he was planning.

Just then Oscar walked into the room.

"Hey, Archie", he said. "Do you have something on your mind? You look nervous."

"Uncle Oscar", Archie began. "There's something I was going to ask you, but I never had the time or courage."

"Shoot", Oscar said. "You can ask me anything."

Archie took a deep breath.

"Why did you return to Riverdale only now, after my father's death? Why didn't you come back before?"

Oscar knew that this question would have arisen sooner or later. He decided that honesty was the best policy in this scenario.

"Archie", Oscar said. "You know I loved your father. I didn't want him, you, or Mary to get hurt if I risked returning here. Plus, I was ashamed. I didn't want to know Fred's reaction if he found out that I was working with and associated with a man that he hated."

"Hiram Lodge", Archie said, though he already knew this when Oscar explained his story. "But Uncle Oscar, you know my dad's nature was to forgive. He was clearly more mature than many of the adults in Riverdale, like Hal Cooper or Clifford Blossom. My dad was clearly more mature than Hiram. He would have forgiven me for anything if I was remorseful. He most certainly would have forgiven you and not held a grudge."

"That's true", Oscar said. "I only wish I could apologize to him. For all of this. For everything."

"Uncle Oscar, this might be hard to grasp, but my dad loved you", Archie said. "He was crushed when he thought you were dead. He was proud of you in more ways than one. He talked about you often during my middle school years."

"Fred was the star player on the baseball team", Oscar said. "But baseball was never really something I was interested in. I stopped playing after I graduated from middle school. But Fred was a born leader in the game."

"I wish I could say I was a leader of some sort", Archie said. "But I never can say I was anywhere near as compassionate and good as my dad was. I was not as smart and clever as my dad."

"Archie, don't be so hard on yourself", Oscar said. "You've done well. Fred would be so proud of you."

"I know", Archie said. "I think about him every day. His death was just so sudden and unexpected."

"You want to take a look at some of the old pictures of your dad and I?", Oscar said. "You might like them. I have a number of pictures I had with me when I was hiding in Quebec from Hiram."

Archie nodded. Oscar walked out of the room, and came back with a photo album.

"Here's a photo of when Fred and I were playing T-Ball. Fred hit a home run. I had a single. But even back then, Fred was never boastful. He didn't say a word about any of his accomplishments. And he always encouraged me every time I messed up. He really was a true friend."

Oscar pulled out another photo and laughed.

"Here's a photo of Fred and I when we were playing a game of catch. At some point during our small catching session, I slipped. Fred snickered about it. We then started arm-wrestling, but within a few minutes we laughed and made up. Just that quickly. Fred's personality was unparalled and unique. Truly as inspiration."

Archie and Oscar looked through more photos. Archie laughed at a photo of Oscar getting hit by snowball when he was playing with Fred. Oscar laughed at a photo of Fred and Hermione on a play-date. Oscar and Archie both looked at a photo feeling elated. In this photo, Fred was holding two trophies. One of those trophies was the trophy the entire team had received after winning the championship. The other trophy was Fred holding the MVP award he had gotten. In the photo, Oscar was holding an arm around Fred, beaming with pride.

After they had looked through the photos, Archie then said, "Uncle Oscar, there's another issue on my mind."

"And what is that?", Oscar asked.

"One of the kids at that community center Mad Dog and I were running, his younger brother Malcolm, was beaten by a gang of thugs. The leader of that gang is someone named Dodger."

"That's terrible", Oscar said. "Fred would have never allowed anyone that even thought about beating me up to walk away unpunished. Now to be fair, that never happened, but Fred truly was a protective big brother."

"Malcolm gave me some information about Dodger and his gang of troublemakers", Archie said. "They often hang out in the neighborhood where the community center is at. I know Mom would never approve of this, but I was thinking about going there at night, and maybe scaring them away."

"You're going to do this, regardless of whether or not I'm willing to help", Oscar deduced.

"That's correct."

Oscar then sighed. "Mary would kill me if she even knew I was planning this, not to mention Hermione would be heartbroken if I got hurt, but I'm going to help you. Give these worthless pieces of scum a taste of justice. However, we can't be recognized. We should wear masks and dark clothing."

"Fair enough", Archie said.

Oscar and Archie then walked out of the house fifteen minutes later after putting on the proper clothing. They both had baseball bats. Oscar had a knife in his pocket. They ventured to the neighborhood near the El Royale Fight Club.

In that neighborhood, they found six men smoking cigarettes and drinking beers. Archie thought he recognized Dodger. He was standing there, laughing boisterously, acting like a complete moron.

"Hey, you worthless and vile scumbags!", Archie yelled. "You are your gang must leave Riverdale!"

Dodger scoffed.

"What makes you two think we'll do that?", he asked.

"Because if you don't", Oscar said, "We will beat your asses to the ground. We're warning you. Get lost and never come back."

"Who do you think you are, questioning me in front of my posse?", Dodger demanded, while yelling at the same time. "You two need to be a taught a lesson. Get him, boys."

The other five men charged at Archie and Oscar. Archie remembered his training when boxing and started hitting them with his bat. He had to be careful not to accidentally hit Oscar in the process. Oscar was also doing his part of the job, making sure to whack all the gang members with his bat. Even though uncle and nephew were outnumbered two against six, the pair clearly seemed to have the whole situation under control.

Afterwards Dodger and his gang seemed to be thinking clearly and bolted. Once they were out of earshot, Archie and Oscar slapped high fives.

"That was bloody awesome!", Archie exclaimed, feeling giddy.

"Yeah", Oscar said. "Those idiots deserved to get beaten up. But I don't Fred would have approved of our methods."

"He wouldn't have wanted innocent kids to get jumped either", Archie said. "Let's get back home. I have a feeling we'll have to do more strategizing."

Meanwhile…

While Jughead was sleeping after the first day of class, Nick was positioning a video camera in the corner of the room.

He has no idea, Nick thought.