Abby was brushing her hair to get ready for the first day of sophomore year while Tessie was spinning on the rolling chair. She was excited to be in the first grade. "Mommy, what's this? It wasn't here last night." She put a small box in her lap. "Can I open it?"
"No." She pictures Penny's angry face. She got up to take the box from her. Gargoyle Goddess was written across from it. There was a detailed drawing of a female gargoyle that had a large gold spike crown. She was beautiful and intimidating at the same time.
"Open it, open it." Tessie chanted.
"Okay, but back up. Go by the door." She waited for the child to do as she was told before she opened the box. She saw a boy scout sash, glasses, a Bijou uniform shirt, and music sheets. "What the hell?" She picked up a piece of paper that was laying underneath the items. "All is done in your name, Gargoyle Goddess." She felt something deeply wrong in her gut as her breathing became irregular. Her legs grew weak forcing her into the chair.
"Papa, something is wrong with mommy." Tessie ran out to get Sweet Pea.
He told Fangs to take Tessie to school before going to the bedroom. He squatted in front of her and grabbed her face. "Breathe with me, babe. Come on. In and out. In and out." He took breaths with her until she calmed down.
"Sweet Pea, I think I need to call the police." She showed him the package she got.
"What the hell? When did you get this?" He didn't see her come downstairs.
"It was there when we got up." She told him.
"What?" He looks at the open window. "Did you leave that open?"
"Yeah, it's been hot." She didn't think someone would climb into her window to leave a gift.
"I'll call Jughead first." He put his phone on speaker.
"Hey Sweet Pea, I'm busy right now." He picked up the phone.
"We'll get unbusy because Abby got a creepy note along with weird gifts." He told him.
"What kind of gifts?" Jughead asks.
"It's Dilton's glasses and boy scout sash. I don't know who the Bijou shirt and music sheets belong to." Abby spoke into the phone.
"I'm at the police station because I found Dilton dead and Ben is barely hanging on." He informs them.
The police were in her bedroom dusting for prints. She was sitting across from the Sheriff in her kitchen. "Gargoyle Goddess, is that you?" He asked.
"I don't know. I have never been called that before. I notice people have been acting extra nice to me but I thought it was because of my brother being arrested." She downplayed it because she didn't want to go down for this.
"I'm going to need names." He pushed the notepad over to her. She wrote down every person that she recognized for being oddly nice. "This is a lot." He looked at the long list. She shrugged, not knowing how to explain it. "So, were Dilton and Ben nice to you?"
"Dilton and Ben stopped me in the hallway the other day. They were bowing and Dilton was apologizing and calling me the perfect person." Sweet Pea and Jughead were hearing this for the first time and they were alarmed.
"Why was he apologizing?" Minetta, not knowing their history, asked.
"He wasn't always nice to me. He saw me as a rival because my IQ was higher." She told him.
"Did you hold any anger about it?" He asks.
"No, it was annoying but I avoided him. We had different friends and were in different grades and clubs. It was easy." She never seeks him out. He always found her.
"Do you have a history with Ben?" He asks.
"No, I've only talked with him that one time. I honestly thought it was a weird joke. I didn't think they were worshiping me as some Gargoyle Goddess." She felt guilty. She knew people were acting weird. She should have spoken up sooner.
"We'll keep you posted on the investigation. We ask that you guys keep things quiet for the family's sake." He told everyone in the room before talking directly to Abby. "Keep yourself available, I may have more questions."
"Yes sir," She nods.
Jughead called Betty and they were meeting her in the Blue and Gold to go over what they knew. "Oh, my God, Dilton is dead?" She couldn't believe the news.
"Yeah. And Ben from the drive-in, he's barely hanging on. Doctors don't know when or if he's even gonna wake up. Sheriff Minetta asked me to keep the whole thing hush-hush for the family's sake." He sighs. "But, what I saw was…" He trailed off as the horrible images flashed in his mind.
"What, Jug?" Sweet Pea had been asking, but he said he wanted to wait for Betty to tell everything once.
"It was like a ritual site. Their lips were blue. There were these chalices that were filled with poison or something. Animal bones were in a circle. The tree had markings on it. There was a winged totem with a skull and branches." He waves his hands around to show them the placement of everything.
"Then I got the note this morning. All is done in your name, Gargoyle Goddess with Ben and Dilton's things." Abby couldn't believe that a ritual was done in her honor.
"So, was it a murder or a suicide pact gone wrong?" Betty wondered if there was another player in the game.
"I have no idea. I saw Ben and Dilton. They were playing this weird game at Pops. Dilton was raving about someone called the Gargoyle King." He took off his beanie. "I was also thinking that maybe you and I could investigate this together, for old times' sake." He looks at Betty.
"Excuse you, we're involved too." Sweet Pea pointed at him and Abby.
"I'm involved, I'm not sure about you." She corrected him.
"If you're involved, I'm involved." He scoffs at her for thinking otherwise.
"You can't leave me with them… join us at least until we catch a new lead with Archie's case." He got offended looks from the other couple in the room.
"I like that idea." Betty walks over to kiss Jughead. "I'll try to see if Dr. Curdle can get us into the coroner's office."
"Have more romantic words ever been spoken?" He chuckles.
"No." She kissed him again.
"Ew." Sweet Pea pulled Abby towards the door. "So disgusting."
"So you guys don't want to come to the coroner's office?" Jughead teasing asked.
"We'll be there, we just don't need the weird kinky pre-investigating sex." He shuts the door on Jughead laughing and Betty's freak-out face that her boyfriend told him.
The teens walk into the coroner's office. "Dr. Curdle? Oh, you're not…" Betty stopped the group after seeing a different man.
"I'm his son. We spoke over the phone earlier. I took over after my father passed away." He informed them.
"Oh, I'm sorry." She apologizes.
"Do you have the money?" He didn't seem fazed at all by his dad's passing. But when your business is dead people, you probably have a better handle on grief than most. Betty gave the cash to him. He counted it before giving his report. "The toxicology report revealed lethal levels of cyanide in Mr. Doiley's blood. I surmise the surviving boy didn't drink enough to finish the job."
"Dr. Curdle, if you had to guess, murder or suicide?" Betty asked.
"Well, the body did show signs of stress. Three symbols are carved out on his back. Runic, I'd say." He pulled the sheet down enough to show the carving on his back. Abby put her hand over her mouth to hold back the vomit that was crawling up her throat. To think of how much pain Dilton went through. That they took turns carving each other before drinking the poison.
"Would you mind if I got a shot of those?" Jughead held his camera up. He nods that it was okay before he took a picture.
"What caused the blue lips?" Sweet Pea asked.
"The cyanide was mixed into a sugary drink called Fresh-Aid. Blueberry flavored. There's something dimly familiar about this. But you asked me before if I thought this was murder or suicide. I'm not sure what it is, but whatever it is, it's darker than what happened to Jason Blossom. Or what the Black Hood did. No, what we're looking at here, I believe, is the true face of evil." He stared down at the body like he was scared of it. Like, he knew there was more to come.
Abby, Jughead, and Betty went to visit Ben Button. Sweet Pea was watching Tessie because Fangs was visiting his mother. "Hi, Mrs. Button?" They walk into the room.
"Abby, Ben would be so happy you visited." She stood up from her chair.
"He spoke of me?" She asks.
"Oh, all the time. The way his eyes light up when he speaks about you. He wasn't willing to talk to me much lately but he was willing to talk about you. Like how you always get a mountain dew from the vending machine or you constantly have Bob's Burgers marathons." She was trying to be nice but every word made Abby feel sicker.
"I just wanted to see how Ben was doing." She didn't know what to say to that, so she asked what she came to find out.
"He's stabilized, but he hasn't woken up yet." She told her.
"Do you know what happened in the woods, Mrs. Button?" Betty asks.
"No. Ben's always been a bit of an odd duck, you could say. Kept to himself. Especially after his piano teacher was murdered. But this summer, he became friends with…" She trailed off, not wanting to blame the dead teen but she felt like he was a bad influence.
"Dilton Doiley." Betty named.
"That's right. It's like he became a different person. Secretive, sneaking out at all hours, having these horrible nightmares." She had seen the signs and didn't know what to do, so she did nothing. She was filled with guilt for it.
"Mrs. Button. Do you know what this is or how it got here?" Jughead took a stick doll off of the door handle.
"Maybe that nice girl left it." She shrugs.
"Someone else came to visit Ben?" Abby thought that person could be a lead if they left that weird thing behind.
"Another friend from school. I don't remember her name. She wore a bow in her hair." She told them. The teens shared a look, knowing it had to be Ethel.
The Sheriff opened the door and was unhappy to see them there. "Jughead. Betty. Look, I don't care how Keller ran things when he was sheriff, but I won't let a couple of teenagers compromise an active murder investigation."
"If this is an active murder investigation, you might wanna start by letting the rest of the town know." Jughead wasn't intimidated by the corrupt Sheriff.
"Sheriff Minetta?" A deputy came up from behind him.
"What, Henderson?" He didn't like being interrupted.
"An Adventure Scout's parents called. They haven't seen him in two days." She told him of the call she just got.
"What?" He couldn't believe how much trouble this small town had.
"We've got a missing kid, Sheriff, and he was a part of Dilton Doiley's troop." She let him know that this was very urgent. He left the room but not before throwing the teens a warning glare.
They found Ehtel in the student lounge. "Hi, Ethel. Hey, does this look familiar to you?" Jughead put the doll in her face.
"Where did you get that?" She was shocked that he had it.
"Ben's hospital room." Jughead sat down next to her. "What were you doing there?"
"I don't have to tell you anything, okay, you're not the police." She gathers her things.
Abby slams her hand down on Ethel's books. "Everything is done in my honor, right? So if I want to know what those things are, I have a right to know."
"It's not time for that yet? He won't allow it." She shook her head.
"Who, the Gargoyle King? Is this supposed to be him?" Jughead held up the doll.
"How do you know about that?" Ethel asks.
"Dilton started to tell me, but he only got so far. So, is it?" He swings it around.
"No. No, it's the opposite. I made that talisman to... To protect Ben." She watches him be so careless with it.
"How do you even know Ben?" Betty was getting impatient.
"He's my boyfriend." She looks down at her shoes bashfully.
"I've never seen you two together." Abby had taken notice of Ben after the run-in in the hallway. He seems to always be with Dilton.
"We started dating this summer. And we spent all our time in the bunker, so…" She stopped talking when she realized she said too much.
"What bunker?" Jughead asks.
"Never mind." She chuckles nervously.
"Ethel, just... What bunker?" Betty asked through gritted teeth.
"Dilton's. In the woods." She told them.
"Dilton Doiley has a secret bunker in the woods?" Abby crossed her arms over her chest. What kind of serial killer shit was that?
"It was our secret spot. And Dilton's too." She had the time of her life in that bunker.
"Can you at least tell us where it is?" Betty thought it had to have clues in it.
" I mean, I can't. It's too hard to describe." What was she supposed to say, look for the tree with the moss on the left side of it?
"Then can you show us where it is?" Jughead asked. When she didn't answer, he blackmailed her. "Ethel, it's either us or Sheriff Minetta."
"Okay, fine, but you have to keep it a secret." She couldn't be the one to force the game to end. They agree to her terms. "And we have to go at night, so nobody can see us. Do you guys know where Fox Footbridge is?"
Abby was walking ahead of the couple since they seemed to be having a serious talk. Fangs and Sweet Pea wanted to come along. But, Abby refused to let them. Ethel might call it off since they weren't supposed to tell anyone. "Ethel?" She called out when she saw a figure by the bridge. She froze in place when she got closer because the shadow was too big to be Ethel. It turns around to hover over her. It had a long dirt cloak, branch-like wings, and a goat wooden mask. The snout and chest seem to be covered in blood. He reaches out his wooden hand to caress her face. "Gargoyle King?" She whimpered. He let out a satisfied grunt at being acknowledged by her.
She took a step back when it let out a low growl. "Run!" Betty grabs her hand to pull her away. The teens ran until they got to Pops. They sat in a booth as Jughead drew a picture of what they saw.
"Behold the Gargoyle King." He showed them the drawing. "Luckily for us, it doesn't run very fast."
"No, but really, it was too tall to be Ethel, I think. Unless she was on stilts, which is a possibility because she's not answering her phone. Is there anything on Dilton's map?" She wonders.
"You mean, what we should've checked in the first place?" He grabs the map he got by Dilton's dead body from his bag. "Uh, yeah. Right here. This is where I found Ben and Dilton. And this is the footbridge where Ethel wanted us to meet, but this…" He points to a circle with a line in the middle. "What does that look like to you?"
"I mean, I was researching runic symbols earlier. That one didn't show up." She didn't have a clue.
"What if it's not a symbol? What if that's the drawing for the hatch?" Abby asked.
Jughead pointed to her saying that was his thought. "I mean, if this map is halfway accurate, I'd say that that's right around the deadfall in Fox Forest. We can find this."
"Do you think the kid will be there?" She wanted to find this kid alive. She didn't know if her heart could take it if she found out another person gave their life in her honor.
"Maybe." Betty was hoping the same thing.
Sweet Pea and Fang came along this time to find the bunk. Abby was thankful they did because they had to move a heavy lid to get to the ladder that led down to a bunk. "I'll go first." Jug went down. Everyone went down after him. With flashlights in their hands, they looked around the bunker. They were those dolls hanging from the ceiling. "Oh, God. It's like the inside of a Philip K. Dick novel." Jug was amazed by the oddness of it all.
"I think this is that game they were playing." Betty looked at the table.
"Kind of looks like Dungeon and Dragons." Sweet Pea took a look.
"How do you know that?" Jughead asked.
"Stranger things." He flashes his light over to Abby.
"It's the same drawing from the package." She was looking at the Gargoyle Goddess drawing that was hanging on the wall.
"It seems like the game is called Gryphons and Gargoyles." Fangs found a poster.
"It looks like Ben and Dilton were in pretty deep." Jughead picked up a player's piece.
"I wonder if Ethel was playing with them." Sweets couldn't see any signs of a female being here.
"Jugs. Doesn't that look like the thing that came at us last night?" Betty looked at a bunch of Gargoyles drawing on the wall.
"Yeah, the Gargoyle King. He's also featured prominently on this copper coin." He held the coin up in the light.
"How did they find this game?" Fangs wonders.
"I don't know, maybe it was in this bunker." Abby knew that Dilton couldn't have built this. "Guys?" Jughead called for their attention. They cursed when they looked over.
"Drink from the correct cup and ascend to the kingdom in her name." Abby read.
"Blue lips, cyanide. It was a challenge. It's all part of that stupid game they were playing." Jughead looked at the poison they had by the sink.
"Pick the chalice that's not poisoned and win, I guess?" Betty questions.
"I don't know, to ascend normally means death in this kind of thing." Sweet Pea pointed out.
"So it was suicide?" Fangs asked.
"Maybe. Or something even more insidious." Jughead took a picture.
They continue to look around the bunker. Betty looked under the bed to let out a scream when someone crawled at her. The guys pulled him out and shove him into the chair. "You're the missing boy scout." Abby looked at his dirty uniform.
"You know how worried your folks are?" Jughead glares.
"Doesn't matter. I'm supposed to stay hidden in the bunker until Master Doiley comes back." He ate beans from a can.
"Well, if you do that this bunker will be your tomb because he's dead." Sweets scoff.
"Don't you have any tact?" Abby scolds him. Fangs slap him upside the head. "I'm sorry." She apologizes to the boy.
"No need to apologize, Goddess." He bows his head.
"So, you are playing Gryphons and Gargoyles." Jughead got the answer to the question he was about to ask.
"I was his apprentice. He was teaching me how to play, so I could eventually join the game." He told them.
"Did Ben Button play? And Ben's girlfriend Ethel Muggs?" Betty asks.
"Yes, but Princess Etheline isn't dating Ben in real life. Only in the game. And she warned me that two enemies might invade the bunker." He glares at Betty and Jughead.
"As the goddess, I say game over. Let's get you to your parents." She couldn't believe that Ethel was going to have this kid wait for someone she knew wasn't coming back.
"If you say so." He puts the can of beans down.
"We need to pay another visit to Princess Etheline," Betty mutters.
"You fucking delusional bitch, how long were you going to have that kid waiting in that bunker?" Abby exploded when they tracked down Ethel in the student lounge.
"Also, you and Ben aren't dating." Betty didn't believe it from the beginning.
"Yes, we are, okay, we're in love." She couldn't get mad at Abby, so she forced on Betty. If she hurt Abby she would be punished. Dilton thought he was forgiven and looked at what happened to him.
"No, your characters are in love. Your relationship didn't translate into the real world." Sweet Pea clarified.
"That's what you don't get. It was more real than you philistines will ever understand." She shook her head at their ignorance.
"Philistines? We have a key figure with us." Fangs gestured to Abby.
"Ethel, we're trying to help you, but you have to stop lying." Betty tried a different approach.
"I'm not lying." She sounded desperate for them to leave her alone.
"Okay. Why don't we take a little trip down to the sheriff's station and you can put that truth on record to Sheriff Minetta." Abby was done with her.
"Look, if any of us talk to any grown-ups, he's gonna get very, very angry. You may be untouchable but the rest of us are not." She whispers.
"Who, Ethel?" Jughead asked.
"Look at what happened to Dilton, okay. He tried to talk to you, and then he…" She started to shake.
"Ethel? Ethel?" Betty was getting concerned. Abby moved out of the way from Ethel's arms shoot up.
"Oh, my God. Betty, she's having a seizure." Jughead realized. "Guys, call an ambulance." Sweet Pea called while Fangs ran to get the principal.
"Mrs. Muggs said that Ethel's resting. It just doesn't make sense, Jug. It can't be a coincidence, seizures aren't contagious." Betty let out a nervous laugh. Abby learned on the way there that Betty had a seizure that she was trying to hide.
"It sounds like another mystery for us to solve. If you're up for it." Jughead was tired. He could barely keep himself awake.
"I am. And maybe it's the same one. Maybe there's a connection between the seizures and whatever happened to Dilton and... Do you want to check on Ben while we're here?" Betty asked when she remembered him.
"Yeah, let's go." Abby led them there. She opened the door and was surprised to see he was awake. "Ben? You're up. What are you doing?" She approached him cautiously. He was sitting on the window seal.
"Come away from the window." Jughead waved for him to be closer.
"Everything will be okay," Betty told him.
He didn't take his eyes off Abby. "It's perfect that you're here. Dilton was scared to ascend, but I'm not. I'm not scared to give up my physical body to be one with you."
"Ben, I don't want you to die for me. I want to live for me." She took a step closer.
"What about your Princess Etheline, huh?" Betty asked.
"We'll be reunited. In the Kingdom. One day all of us will. It's all part of his plan. To bring the Goddess strength. You'll fly with me one day." He let himself fall from the window. They ran to try and grab him. Sweet Pea was able to grab his hospital gown but it ripped in his hand. They stared down in horror as Ben landed on a car. It left his body mangled and bloody. Sweet Pea and Jughead hug their girlfriend close to their chest.
Fangs hugged Abby from behind. "It's not your fault." He whispers to her.
"But, isn't it? People are killing themselves because they want to be one with me." She sobs.
"No." Betty grabs her. "It's this game. It's not you. I don't know why this person behind this picked you, but it's on them, not you."
Abby wanted to believe those words but she couldn't help but feel guilty about how she was benefiting from it. She was getting a lot of money and free things. People were now sending groceries including cases of bottled water.