So, this was a fanfiction not even I was expecting.
Well, as of now, I have binged through the first 3 seasons of Riverdale and am taking a break before I start watching Season 4.
While this is an unpopular opinion, I really like Riverdale, including their not well liked Heathers episode, but there are some… aspects that I think need improvement, like the Season 3 finale for example. This fanfiction is meant to be a rewrite of Riverdale Season 3's final episode, "Survive the Night".
Enjoy.
Toni was at the Blossom house talking to Penelope.
"Now that you've settled for a calming cup of tea, why don't you explain this to me one more time?" said Penelope.
"Mrs. Blossom," Toni explained. "Cheryl is in danger. She's at the farm with Betty, Kevin, and Edgar Evernever. He's harvesting organs from his followers."
"That's what he's doing," Penelope reacted. "It's fortunate I was here when you arrived. Did you say Betty was there?"
"Yeah, and we need to save them before…" Toni was about to say before she passed out from exhaustion.
"Thank you for the information, my dear," said Penelope. "Very timely indeed."
Meanwhile, Jughead was talking to FP in his office.
"I refuse to believe what Ethel said," Jughead ranted. "That 'Jason Blossom is the Gargoyle King'. I don't care if the coffin was empty. It defies logic."
"Let's say Ethel is off her rock," said FP. "That doesn't explain what happened to Jason's body, and someone is wearing the Gargoyle King's antlers, so it's up to us to figure out who, Blossom or no Blossom."
"I keep thinking about that matchbook we found in Baby Teeth's throat," said Jughead. "Kurtz must've got it at the Maple Club."
"Where are you getting at?" asked FP.
"Do you have a copy of Kurtz's mugshot I can borrow?" asked Jughead.
Meanwhile, Edgar was about to start his surgery on Betty when his wife/daughter came into the room.
"Dad, you have a visitor," said Evelyn. "She says it can't wait."
Later, Edgar was in his office with Penelope.
"Mrs. Blossom, what can I do for you?" asked Edgar.
"Let's not mince words, Evernever," Penelope replied. "I'm aware of the foul activities you conduct here. The Topaz girl told me everything. Don't worry, I have no interest in exposing you."
"Then why did you come here?" asked Edgar.
"Simple, you have something I want," Penelope replied. "You sell Organs, don't you? I'm looking to buy in bulk."
Meanwhile, Jughead was at Penelope's Maple Club.
"Do you have a client named Kurtz here?" Jughead asked an employee, showing a picture of Kurtz. "Looks like this?"
"Yes," the employee replied. "I never worked for him directly. All his interactions were with…"
"The Red Dahlia, Penelope?" Jughead interrupted.
The employee nodded.
"You never saw Penelope with a redhead young man?" asked Jughead. "Just asking out of curiosity."
"You mean her son, Jason?" asked the employee. "Yeah, he came around."
Meanwhile, back at the farm, Edgar was talking with Evelyn.
"We've been compromised," said Edgar. "We've had too many breaches. It's time."
That's when Alice came in and asked Edgar, "What's happening? Why is everyone acting skittish?"
"The outside world is encroaching on us," Edgar explained. "We've had defectors and unwelcome visitors. The ascension is upon us, tonight."
"I need to find Betty," said Alice. "Have you seen her?"
"She, Kevin, and Cheryl escaped, just like Toni," Evelyn replied.
"They were never believers like you, Alice," said Edgar. "So we will ascend without them."
Meanwhile, in the Pembrooke, an agent was talking with Veronica and her mom, Hermione.
"In the wake of Hiram Lodge's arrest," the agent explained. "You two have full ownership over everything of his, including the Pembrooke and all of his other investment properties. You are also both the co-owners of Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe and the Speakeasy beneath it."
"There's one more property I'm curious about," said Veronica.
Meanwhile, at the Andrews house, Archie was talking with his mom.
"Veronica called me," said Archie. "She said she's giving me the El Royale, that I legit own the gym now, free of charge."
"That's generous," said Mary. "But I'm curious as to where you stand romantically."
That's when the two hear a knock on the door.
Archie answered to see a black box with a red bow. There was a tag on it with his full name. Archibald Andrews.
Later, Archie met up with Veronica and Jughead at Pop's.
"Someone left mine at the door," Archie explained.
"Same here," said Jughead. "Dad or Jellybean could've found it."
"Mine was waiting for me downstairs," said Veronica. "At the speakeasy."
"Are we sure these aren't fake?" asked Archie.
"I doubt it," Jughead replied. "I've been trying to call Betty, but she never answered."
"The invitations say not to tell anyone and not to bring our phones," said Archie.
"It's a trap, it has to be," said Veronica.
"Was there ever a doubt?" said Jughead. "We don't have a choice."
Meanwhile, Betty, Cheryl, and Kevin woke up in an unfamiliar room. They were all confused as to what's going on. That's when they saw some nice outfits. A white dress, a red dress, and a black suit.
There were notes on the outfits addressing one of the teens. The white dress addressed Betty, the red dress addressed Cheryl, and the black suit addressed Kevin. The notes simply told them to put on the outfits and head downstairs to dinner.
The three teens did as they were told, putting on their respective outfits and heading downstairs. They saw Penelope, Archie, Veronica, and Jughead sitting at a table.
"Good evening," Penelope greeted. "Why don't you three join us?"
"Mommy, what is this place?" asked Cheryl.
"This is the secret Blossom hunting ground of Thornhill," Penelope replied.
"How did we get here?" asked Betty.
"I bought you three from Mr. Evernever," Penelope replied. "Just as he was about to cut Betty into butcher's parts. Now, Agatha will show you to your places."
That's when Agatha, one of the former nuns of the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, pointed a gun at Betty, Cheryl, and Kevin.
"You naughty, naughty kids," she scolded.
"Agatha was my mentor at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy," said Penelope. "She cared for me while I was an orphan there. Taught me everything I know about poisons."
Betty, Cheryl, and Kevin took their seats as Betty realized, "The murdered nuns, that was you."
"Loose ends," Penelope remarked. "Such a bother aren't they?"
"'Loose ends'?" asked Veronica. "Is that what we are?"
"Not you," Penelope replied. "You're featured players. The sons and daughters of the Midnight Club."
"Jug, what's happening?" asked Betty.
"I don't know," Jughead replied. "But I think I almost figured it out."
"Have you?" asked Penelope. "Because if anyone could, it'd be you. But first, two more guests. I believe you know them already."
Penelope rang a bell and two people came into the room. The Black Hood and the Gargoyle King, masks and all.
"What did I tell you?" asked Penelope. "No masks at the dinner table."
The Black Hood took his mask off to reveal, to no one's surprise, especially not Betty's, Hal Cooper.
As the Gargoyle King was about to take off his mask, Penelope stopped him.
"Wait," she said. "Jughead, care to take a stab?"
"Sure," Jughead replied. "Whoever is under that mask has to have a connection to both of you. It's not Jason 'cause he's dead. The last corpse unaccounted for, last seen by the Black Hood, is Chic."
The Gargoyle King took his mask off to reveal none other than Chic, Betty's "brother". Oddly, Chic had red hair instead of his usual brown.
"Since when did Chic have red hair?" asked Veronica.
"Since he started working with Penelope, I assume," Jughead replied. "But this was after he got the Gargoyle symbols tattooed on his back. It's why Ethel believed the Gargoyle King was Jason. Because you called him Jason, dressed him up like Jason."
"You didn't kill Chic?" Betty asked her dad. "After you chased him through the woods…"
"I recognized a kinship in him and I spared him," Hal replied. "He begged mercy and pledged allegiance in support of my mission."
"But it wasn't just your mission, wasn't it?" asked Jughead. "Not at first, but eventually you started working with someone else who also held a grudge against Riverdale."
"In the middle of all that Black Hood stuff, my dad had an affair with Penelope," said Betty.
"Yes," Penelope confirmed. "I cultivated your father's murderous impulses, to take revenge on a town that allowed me to be sold as a child bride to the Blossoms. Your parents knew. I told them, and all they did was mock me. Years later, my son was killed in cold blood, do you think they reached out to me? No. They were too busy ignoring the rotten truth that Riverdale is a cruel place, twisted and cursed, and Hal and I were doing quite well, exterminating its sin."
"Until my dad got arrested," said Betty.
"But his disciple came to me," Penelope continued. "Lost, and I gave him purpose."
"So you made him dress like a boogeyman," said Jughead. "Jason. The Gargoyle King. You introduced GnG to our parents all those years ago, and reintroduced it this year to Chic, who gave it to Ben, who started playing with Dilton and Ethel, then the game spread like a poison, and you are the true Gargoyle King, more like Gargoyle Queen."
"Well done, Jughead," Penelope congratulated. "But now it's time for one last game to reveal your true nature. To prove you are as dark-hearted as this town."
"So if we win, we escape?" asked Archie.
Penelope nodded.
"So what happens if we lose?" asked Veronica.
"Well," Penelope replied. "Your parents will feel the pain I felt. The death of a child."
"So you're gonna risk killing me?" asked Cheryl. "The one kid you have left?"
"I have no children left!" Penelope snapped.
Cheryl would've been shocked by that statement years ago, but now, she expected nothing less from her bitch of a mom.
"You're nuts," was all Cheryl said.
The bell tolled.
"It's time," said Penelope. "Come to the lawn for the gathering."
Later, the six teens were gathered at the lawn.
"The task is simple," Penelope told them. "Make it through the woods, survive the night, get through the trials. Refuse the test, and my gargoyle minions will kill you. May the last quest begin. I'd start running if I were you."
With that, the kids made a run for it.
Riverdale
Chapter 57
Survive the Night
As the kids ran, Jughead spoke. "Good news is, if Penelope wanted us dead, we would be dead right now. She wants us alive."
"Long enough to complete her big bizarre social experiment," Cheryl corrected.
"Or die trying," Archie added.
"We don't even know where to go," said Veronica.
"Actually, enchantress, we might," said Kevin, as he noticed a sign pointing in the right direction.
The group carried on and found a card. It was a Red Paladin card. This was Archie's test. The rule was simple. Beat the beast.
Nearby, a feral man dressed up as and acting like a bear was roaming the area. There was fire all around him. Archie remembered when he was attacked by and almost died to a real bear.
"Oh shit," he said. "Not again."
"Archie, you don't have to do this," Veronica assured.
"Technically I do," Archie reminded his ex. "Don't worry. It's just a fight. I fought all year. Besides, I survived a real bear. If I don't make it, I love you all. Tell that to Mom and Dad, too."
Archie charged towards the bear man and was about to punch him, when the bear man punched Archie to the ground. The bear didn't give Archie any time to get up. The bear man kept punching and kicking Archie, and almost throwing him into a fire pit. Archie kicked the bear man in the crotch, and got back up. He punched the bear man to the ground. That's when the bear man bit Archie's fist, causing it to bleed a lot. The bear man got the upper hand again, and started punching Archie, causing his face to bleed a lot. That's when Archie found a nearby bone and hit the bear man in the face with it. As he was about to get up again, Archie grabbed another bone and repeatedly hit the bear man in the head with it. By the time the bone broke, the bear man was knocked cold.
Archie returned to his friends, and Veronica hugged him. Veronica noticed how hurt Archie was.
"Are you okay?" asked Veronica.
"Apart from every inch of my body," Archie replied.
"Let's go," said Jughead. "We gotta keep moving."
The group carried on and found an Enchantress card on a stump with six chalices. This was Veronica's test. Spin the bottle. She and her best friend will take turns spinning. The person must drink the chalice the bottle lands on. But be careful. One of the chalices is poisoned, so, good luck.
"Vee, the scroll says you must choose your closest companion," said Betty. "I volunteer. It's okay. I have faith, and the alternative is to get shot by snipers, so."
With that, each girl took their turn spinning the bottle and drinking the chalice. Each time, they felt fine. They eventually reached the last chalice, and it was Betty's turn. She was about to drink the chalice until…
Veronica, not wanting her bestie to die, took the chalice and drank it herself.
That's when Penelope came and said, "Remarkable, Enchantress. You completed the challenge and proved your loyalty."
"Of course, it was a character challenge," said Jughead. "It was proving her honor and loyalty. None of the chalices were poisoned."
"Actually, they all are," Penelope corrected. "It's a slow effect. If you pass all the trials, you'll get the antidote. You better hurry."
The kids started running again.
The teens continued until they found another card. A Nisse card. This was Kevin's test. The instructions on the scroll made it clear. Save the helpless family.
A dad, a mom, and a child stood there, surrounded by two figures in gargoyle masks. They were pointing sharp objects at the family, as if threatening to kill.
Kevin, without second thought, charged towards the gargoyles. They saw Kevin and pointed their spears at him. One threw his spear, but Kevin dodged easily. The spear landed on a tree. Kevin grabbed it and beat the first gargoyle down with no problem. He then clashed spears against the second gargoyle, and eventually overpowered him.
Now saved, the family made a run for the nearest way out of the forest. However, the teens went deeper into the forest, for they had more trials to overcome.
The group carried on, until they saw a card nailed to a tree. It was labeled as "Deadeye", meaning this was Cheryl's test.
Before Cheryl was a bow and a single arrow. There was a scroll that made the instructions clear. Shoot the center of the target with the arrow to pass. Cheryl can only try once. If she fails, then she can't try again.
"Good thing I never miss," Cheryl remarked as she grabbed the bow.
She attached the arrow to the bow and pulled with all her might. She aimed for the center of the target and released the arrow. The arrow hit the center. Cheryl passed the test.
"That was easy," Cheryl remarked.
"Yeah, too easy," said Jughead, suspiciously.
"No point in overanalyzing," said Cheryl. "Come chums, the next trial awaits."
As the group continued, Archie and Veronica stopped.
"I need to say something," Archie told Veronica. "I don't know what's going on with you and Reggie, but I love you. I never stopped loving you."
"Archie, we had a fight," said Veronica. "Nothing happened with Reggie after you showed up at the Pembrooke. I ached for you cause I felt the same way. I love you too, Archiekins, no matter what happens."
"None of us will die tonight," Archie assured. "I promise."
The two were about to lean in for a kiss when Kevin approached them.
"Now's not the time, lovebirds," he said. "Need I remind you we need to hurry or Veronica and Betty will die?"
With that, Archie and Veronica continued running.
The group carried on until they found a Hellcaster card. This was Jughead's trial. The group saw Chic approaching them.
Chic grabbed an ax and attacked Jughead.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Jughead.
"Who doesn't want to be king?" asked Chic.
"Okay," Jughead reacted.
Chic kept attacking with his ax. Jughead eventually managed to disarm Chic and shoved him against a Gargoyle King shrine. Chic wasn't going down though. He grabbed Jughead by the neck and pinned him to the ground. Jughead, however, grabbed Chic by his neck. This forced Chic to let go. Chic grabbed a gargoyle skull on the ground and almost hit Jughead in the head with it. Jughead dodged and slapped the skull out of Chic's hand. Jughead then punched Chic hard on the face over and over until he was down.
The group carried on. Archie expressed his confusion as to why Penelope was having Chic pretend to be Jason.
"Can we discuss the convoluted lore that is Riverdale later?" asked Cheryl. "We need to finish the trials, cure Bee and Vee, and get out of these damn woods as soon as possible."
"Actually, we should discuss everything," said Jughead. "The fact that Hal, Penelope, and Chic formed this unholy trinity with ties related to everything that's been going on for the past three years. It's like Jason's death begat the Black Hood, which begat the Gargoyle King."
"But the Gargoyle King existed before Jason was killed," said Veronica.
"Then it's a case of the serpent eating its own tail," said Jughead. "An endless cycle of never-ending madness that repeats itself over and over until someone breaks the chain."
"And how long do you think that will take?" asked Betty.
"About four more seasons," Jughead replied.
Meanwhile, Toni rounded up the Pretty Poisons to break Cheryl and the others out of the farm. By the time they got there, they saw that no one else was around. That's when Toni smelled a familiar smell. The smell of Penelope Blossom's lipstick. Toni knew where Cheryl and the others were.
Back in the woods, the gang have reached the final trial. The Gryphon Queen's trial. Betty's trial.
Jughead gave Betty a kiss for good luck.
Betty opened a small box and found a pistol.
Hal came in and said, "You know how this has to end. You have to kill me. It's your destiny. Either kill me and get the antidote, or you and everyone else dies. You have til the count of three. One. Two."
Betty shot Hal's fingers off, disarming him, but not killing him.
"I will never be like you," she said.
"Enough!" a voice shouted.
Penelope revealed herself and shouted, "Good God, Hal. You can't do anything right. You are and always will be a terrible serial killer."
Penelope shot Hal in the head, killing him.
Betty was traumatized and everyone was equally shocked, that is, everyone except Cheryl. After all the abuse she went through, Cheryl was completely desensitized.
Archie quickly grabbed the antidote.
"And what do you think you're doing?" asked Penelope.
"Getting what we earned," Archie replied. "We did the tests and passed. Now we're getting what we deserve."
"Yeah, I don't think so," said Penelope, as she attempted to shoot Archie.
That's when an arrow flew right through Penelope's hand, forcing her to drop the gun.
As it turns out, Cheryl kept the bow and arrow from her test, waiting for the right moment to shoot her bitch mom with it.
With Penelope down, the kids made a run for it, but the gargoyles were following them.
That's when Toni and the Pretty Poisons showed up, firing arrows at every gargoyle, knocking them down. Betty and Veronica took the antidote, and the kids got into the vehicles. Cheryl and Toni shared a kiss, happily reunited.
That's when Betty remembered, "Edgar is planning to ascend tonight! We gotta hurry!"
With that, the teens and the Pretty Poisons ran to the farm building. They searched everywhere for any sign of Edgar and his followers, but they found no one. Edgar, Evelyn, Alice, Polly, Fangs, everyone. They were nowhere to be found. In one room, they found a bunch of white dresses in boots, signifying they were all too late. The ascension already happened.
The Gargoyle King, the Red Dahlia, the Black Hood. Chic was in jail. Hal was dead. Only Penelope slipped away into the night. Riverdale was free again. The future was everyone's to write, but what would their stories be?
Cheryl went into a room in the farm building and approached Jason's corpse.
"Welcome home, Jay-Jay," she greeted.
In the Pembrooke, Hermione was talking to her attorney on the phone until Veronica came into the room. Hermione hung up.
"Who was that?" asked Veronica.
"That was our attorney," Hermione replied. "Hiram's hiding something again."
"What?" asked Veronica.
Before Hermione could answer, FBI Agents stormed into the room and captured Hermione, holding her under arrest for the attempted murder of Hiram Lodge.
"Veronica, it's going to be fine," Hermione assured her daughter. "Call Sowerberry. He'll know what to do. I love you, Mija."
"I love you too, Mom," Veronica replied.
In El Royale, Archie and his boxing buddy, Mad Dog, were practicing, until they decided to take a break.
"I've been thinking about making changes to this place," said Archie. "Make it more than a gym. Maybe a community center. A place where kids could come to stay off the streets. This could help turn the town around, make people hope again."
Meanwhile, at Jughead's house, an FBI Agent came by.
"I'm Agent Smith," the agent explained. "Is Betty Cooper here?"
"Yeah, she is," Jughead replied.
Betty sat down to talk with Agent Smith.
"Is this about the Lodges?" asked Betty.
"No, it's about the farm," Smith replied. "My team's been investigating Edgar Evernever and his farm for some time. We almost had him two towns ago."
"Well, what took you so long?" asked Betty. "Edgar took over the Sisters of Quiet Mercy months ago."
"It took us a while to track him here," Smith explained. "We don't have any moles or informants to spy on them. Thankfully, we found him in the nick of time to see him and the farm leave Riverdale. Your mom and sister are out there, Betty. We can find them. My team and I will set up shop here until we can find any clues about their new location."
"How can I help?" asked Betty.
"I was hoping you'd ask that," Smith replied. "I know you and your friends are quite the detectives around here."
Later, Betty was hanging with Jughead, Archie, Veronica, and Kevin at Pop's.
"So, I'm now working with this FBI Agent to find Edgar and bring him to justice," Betty told her friends. "What about you, Vee? How are things with your mom?"
"She's trying to cut a deal with the DA," Veronica replied. "In the meantime, Smithers is my legal guardian."
"Let's make a vow," said Archie. "We've got Senior Year ahead of us. Let's enjoy it. Let's vow to be done with murder mysteries and farm cults. Senior Year might be our last year together. I want to make the most of it."
"Agreed," said Veronica. "I'm in."
"Me too," said Betty.
"Sounds a little dull, but sure," said Jughead. "Let's toast."
"To the future," said Kevin.
The 5 teens clicked their milkshakes together before taking a drink.
Riverdale
A.N.
This was definitely a fun write.
To me, it felt weird that Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead were the only ones to take part in the final game. Other parents were in the Midnight Club, Penelope included, so I thought it would be nice to have Cheryl and Kevin along for the ride. It would also provide a better explanation as to why Kevin didn't "ascend" with the rest of the farm other than "ThEy tOlD Me tO StAy So I cAn ExPlAiN" because that's just not good enough for me, especially since Kevin didn't really explain.
As for the original tests, Cheryl's was easy to write because she was a deadeye, and a skilled archer. Kevin's was a bit tougher since we never know what role he had. Apparently, his dad was a nisse according to the wiki, so I did some research and learned that nisses in folklore are meant to protect families.
Also, while I don't mind Veronica and Archie as a couple, it felt unnecessary to include that kiss in the middle of the trial while VERONICA WAS DYING! Because of that, I had Kevin interrupt their moment.
While I am semi-interested as to how the FBI and Betty teamup plot will play out in Season 4, I think the execution could've been better, so I completely scrapped the whole "Alice is a spy for the FBI and Charles is alive" bullshit.
Anyway, I'll see you next time, as I continue my Amphibia OC Insert with the Scavenger Hunt episode.