Faithless Vengeance
Author's Note : Okay, I know it is usually not a good idea to have two stories going at once, but I couldn't resist. This has been rattling around in my brain and I needed to put it out there. WARNING : This is a mature story. It will involve sexual situations, adult language, violence and all those fun things. The characters will be significantly OOC due to the nature of the plot. I will try to keep their responses as close to character as I can, but like I said, the very nature of this story is OOC. I want to state, if actual life, I am very against infidelity of any kind. I do however love the idea of two people being so drawn to one another that they don't seem to have any choice but to seek each other out. This is evident I think in my other story, Any Way But Down. That said, there will be cheating in this story. Know that going in. It is for entertainment purposes and I ask that you don't judge my morality based on fiction. Anyway, here is goes…
Chapter One Song Choice : "About to Get Crazy" by Oh The Larceny
Disclaimer : Don't own em. Just love em.
Chapter One :
If there was one thing that the residents of Riverdale's Southside hated, it was the sense of smug entitlement that seemed to come off of the Northside residents in droves. A group of just such self-important pricks chose one chilly fall night to saunter into the Southside's best watering hole, The Whyte Wyrm.
Sweet Pea clocked them as soon as they came swaggering across the threshold. There were six of them; jocks, the total package complete with letterman jackets and all. They were boisterous and loud, slapping each others' shoulders and laughing their way to the pool tables in the far corner of the bar nearest the stage. The Wyrm was notorious for not carding so it tended to draw in the slightly underage crowd. Mainly it was a hangout for the Southside Serpents who attended Southside High to drink and carouse with the older members of their gang. The bar was owned by FP Jones, the leader of the serpents, their King so to speak. Because of their lax policies, every once in a while, some 'daring' Northsiders from Riverdale High would venture to the bar in groups to drink and party and pretend that they were big and bad.
For the most part, the Serpents let them be. The money that they dropped in the bar was welcome and the obnoxious teenagers themselves were merely a mild but tolerable annoyance.
Then, there were groups like these assholes. Football players, if Sweet Pea had to hazard a guess. The Bulldogs of Riverdale were a special brand of jackass. He thunked his beer down on the bartop, arched an eyebrow at Toni Topaz, who was on shift behind the bar and headed back to the backroom, tapping three times before entering.
The backroom was off-limits to the patrons of the bar with the exception of the Serpents. It had two leather sofas, a big-screen tv and private bathroom. Currently, the only occupants on the room were FP's son, the heir apparent of the gang, the Serpent Prince, Jughead Jones. Perched on his lap was Evelyn Evernever, one of the Serpents' hangers on. She was leaned forward, nibbling on Jughead's neck.
Jughead glanced up at Sweet Pea, only appearing mildly annoyed at the interruption, "What's up?"
"Thought you'd wanna know a group of Northside Bulldogs just swarmed the bar."
Jug eased Evelyn off of his lap and stood, "Are they causing problems?"
"Not yet," Sweet Pea said, "but you know how those assholes are."
"I do." Jughead pulled his jacket on and started for the door.
"Seriously, Jug?" Evelyn huffed.
Jughead didn't even glance back, "Seriously."
Sweet Pea wanted to laugh but held it in. Why did they always expect something different from the Prince? It was almost sad. Almost.
Sweet Pea followed Jughead back into the main room and over to the bar. The Prince leaned onto a stool and lit a cigarette as Toni slid a beer in front of him. "What are they drinking, Toni?" Jughead asked her.
"What do you think?" Toni replied, "Pitchers of the cheapest beer all around. Their goal is to get blitzed."
"They looking for anything other than a buzz?"
"Couple of catcalls when Lilah was onstage, but so far they've more or less behaved."
Even as they spoke, one of the six jackasses swayed over and slapped a twenty-dollar bill down on the bar, "Hey, sexy!"
Toni rolled her eyes but turned to him. He was dark haired and probably considered attractive, though he was wasting his breath on Toni. She liked to dabble with boys every once in a blue moon, but she stuck with Serpents, usually Jughead or Sweet Pea. They were the devils she knew.
"What can I get for you, Cheeks?" she asked.
"Name's Reggie, baby," he said with a smirk.
"Didn't ask your name," Toni smiled, "Asked for your order."
"Feisty!" Reggie said, "I like it."
"Still waiting on that order," Toni said.
Jughead laughed into his beer bottle as he took a swig.
"Two pitchers of Budweiser gorgeous and uh…how about you come over and join us?"
"Apparently your astute powers of observation missed that fact that I'm working," Toni replied as she slid a pitcher beneath a tap to pull the beer.
"Well, why don't you come work a little closer to me and my boys?" Reggie said, his dark eyes traveling the length of Toni's petite, compact little body, "I'm sure we can make it worth your while."
Toni's efficient movements stilled and Jughead recognized the danger in the narrowed slits of her eyes. Another problem that all of the Northside assholes seemed to share; they thought that any girl from the Southside was for sale.
Toni spun in the heel of her stiletto boot, pink locks slinging over her shoulder, and cocked a hip to the side, "You care to explain that comment, asshole?"
To his credit, the overblown steroid pumped meathead recognized his mistake almost immediately and began backpedaling. "No insult intended, gorgeous. Just meant that we'd see to it that you had fun."
Toni thunked his two pitchers down on the bar top and snatched up his twenty and then glared at him until he ran off without collecting the change he was owed. When she turned to Jug, he didn't even try to disguise his smile. "What are you laughing at, Jonesy?"
"That's one way to get tips," Jughead set his beer down, "Always a joy to watch you put some poor unsuspecting schmuck in his place. Warms my heart."
"Warms something of mine, too!" Sweet Pea grinned.
"Yeah, yeah," Toni groaned, but she was smiling back at him, "Shut it, Pea."
Archie Andrews took a long pull from his beer glass and watched as Moose Mason lined up a shot on the five-ball at the corner pocket. At the stage to his side, a half naked blonde slid down a metal pole and teased a few bills from Chuck Clayton and Reggie Mantle. At the same time, Archie passed a weary eye over to the bar where a couple of leather clad serpent members were watching them. This was the third or fourth time that he and his buddies had come to the Whyte Wyrm and every time, Archie felt like they were watched like…prey.
They had never been hassled or bothered or anything like that, but there was always just a feeling of tension that he noticed passing between his crew and the gang that called the bar their headquarters. Maybe it was all in his head. Reggie never said anything about. Neither did Moose or Chuck.
Reggie let out a loud "Whoop" and poured another round of drinks for everyone. Archie shook away the feeling of being watched and chugged the beer that Reggie had thrust into his hand.
Jughead sat silent at the bar, nursing a single beer and watching the band of Northside douchebags as they laughed, catcalled and drank. The more alcohol they poured down their throats, the louder and more obnoxious they became. Jughead could sense Toni and Sweet Pea off to his side, watching him as he watched them. It was no secret that he didn't care for the Northsiders who came "slumming" on the Southside to drink and show what big men they were. He hated it, but he couldn't do a damn thing about it as long as they paid their tab at the end of the night…which they always did.
Maybe he decided he couldn't take it anymore. Maybe there was something in the air. Maybe he was just bored. Whatever the reason, Jughead decided that he wanted to stir up a little trouble. He took the final pull of his beer and slapped the empty bottle down on the bar before standing from his perch.
"Jonesy," he heard the warning in Toni's voice, "I know that look…"
Jughead chose to pretend he hadn't heard her and headed over toward the billiards tables. He wouldn't engage directly. At least not unless they did so first. But he knew just the place to strike the most effective if indirect blow.
Their overblown Northside egos.
He slipped past where they were racking the balls for a fresh game and leaned a hip against the stage where Daphne was performing. The thing about being the Serpent Prince was that most of the females who gravitated around the gang wanted his attention. It didn't hurt that he was six foot tall, dark and easy on the eyes. He had no delusions about his looks. He knew he had a pretty face. It was something that he'd never hesitated to use to his advantage when necessary.
Sure enough, as soon as he leaned a hip against the stage, Daphne abandoned the Northsiders she'd been dancing for and was in front of him, on her knees, sliding long, slim fingers up the nape of his neck.
The Northsider didn't take too kindly to that…naturally.
"Hey, asshole," the same dark haired meathead that had been harassing Toni called, "quit hogging the action."
Jughead didn't even try to suppress his grin. Instead, he leaned a little bit more into Daphne's attentions.
Like clockwork, the Northsider came swaggering over toward him. Sweet Pea had trailed just behind Jughead when he had crossed the bar, like a shark scenting the potential for blood in the water. At the Northsider's bluster, he and several other serpents straightened and took notice.
"Hey, asshole," the muscle bound oaf bellowed, "why don't you back the hell off and make a little room for the paying customers?"
"Ah, you're right, I'm sorry," Jughead said on a smirk, "I should have a little more consideration for poor assholes that have to pay for pussy."
FP Jones, the Serpent King himself, emerged from his office just in time to watch the Northsider throw a punch at his son's head. Jughead snapped back with a solid left hook. And just like that, the Northsiders dropped their beers, serpents all around the bar kicked away from their stools and it became a full out brawl. Emptying the air from his lungs in exasperation, FP muttered two simple words, "Dammit, Jug."
Jughead was damn near giddy. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in a good, honest-to-God fight. He had just slammed the dark haired Northsider's face into his knee when something unexpected happened.
A sharp crack sounded through the chaos and he lost vision for an instant. When his sight returned, he was on the ground. How the hell had that happened? Everything came back into focus; it was as though someone had hit a pause button on the fight and the red-headed Northsider who had more or less been quiet was standing over him, holding the broken end of a pool cue.
The son of a bitch had brained him with a poolstick!
"Whoa, Andrews," one of his friends said at the same time another said, "Holy shit, Archie."
Archie Andrews.
Jughead locked the name away in the steel trap of his mind as he staggered to his feet and touched a hand to the back of his head just under the material of his gray beanie. It came away with a smear of bright red blood. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits and landed on the redhead.
He had just moved to launch himself at the dumbass kid when he felt two arms band around his torso to hold him back, pinning his arms to his sides in the process.
"That's it, dammit!" his father's familiar voice roared, "Party's over kids. Find someone sober to drive your asses home. You can come back when you've all slept it off. For now, beat it!"
"This ain't over, Red!" Jughead hissed.
"Shut up, Jug," his dad growled, still holding him.
The gang of Bulldogs flooded from the building, still full of piss and vinegar.
"I swear, those Serpent dicks are asking for it!" Reggie spat the words at the same time he spat a mouthful of blood and possibly a back molar, courtesy of the Serpent Prince's knee.
Reggie unlocked his car and the friends started to pile in when the door to the Whyte Wyrm opened and the Serpent Prince flanked by two other gang members emerged to watch them leave the premises.
Archie made eyes contact with the tall serpent royal and felt a swirling of anger in the pit of his stomach. He thought about every time he had sat in that bar and felt like a target. His hands curled into fists and before he could stop himself, he stalked over to a row of motorcycles. He spotted one that had a helmet balanced on the seat with a chalk outline of a crown. Everyone knew that that was Jughead's symbol. Not once breaking eye contact with the Southside Prince, Archie place a sneaker covered foot on the bike and pushed with all his might.
The bike toppled over into the row, taking out at least seven more motorcycles with it. They crashed to the ground, metal scraping against concrete, headlights and taillights shattering into dust.
The other two serpents caught hold of Jughead by the arms to hold him back as Archie climbed into the car with his cheering buddies before they sped off into the night.
Once their taillights had disappeared, Sweet Pea and Fangs released their hold on Jughead. He stared into the distance.
Archie Andrews, Jughead thought, you have no idea what you've just done.
Author's Note : And there it is. The beginning of my new story. This one is gonna be a little different than the other, obviously. But I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think of Archie and Jug so far!