Inspired by Jug absolutely crunching Kurtz and Brett with one-punch knockouts.
The hostility between the Bulldogs and Serpents settled down after banning together to confront Weatherbee. That is to say, some Bulldogs and even some Serpents had a tough time seeing past their differences. There were always going to be little disputes between the two groups. Jughead and Archie tried their best to quell the more serious ones without divulging straight into fisticuffs.
It didn't help when their default number 2s: Reggie and Sweet Pea are two of the most hot-headed people.
"Come on, it's nothing but a friendly little wager." Reggie touted one morning.
Jughead snorted, "Nice try Reggie. You're just pissed because Hoss stole the girl you failed to get with at the Blossom party last night."
All of the usual suspects were in the student lounge that morning.
"Tha—that's beside the point, Jones." Reggie sputtered.
"They won't do it because they know that can't afford the wager anyway." A Bulldog snickered.
Sweet Pea stood up from the armchair he was leaning on next to Betty. "Hey, we can pay any wager you like."
The same jock stood as well. "With what money trailer trash?"
Archie calmly got between them, "Cool it guys I mean it."
"What dumb wager did you have in mind Mantle?" Dutch spoke up.
"100 and bragging rights on which group can punch the hardest on the punch machine." He pointed to the new machine that got shoved next to their only pinball game.
The jocks were pretty pleased when Weatherbee announced they got extra funding for the student lounge, however, it was because of the Bulldogs going to the district championship did they get the money so they got to choose what new game they wanted and they decided on the punch machine. It was mostly them who used it to try to impress girls.
"We're in."
"We're out."
The conflicting answers made Jughead narrow his eyes at Sweet Pea. He huffed, standing up and jaw clenched hard enough that his toothpick was on the verge of splintering.
"What was that Sweet Pea?" His cold tone had the bigger man hunching his shoulders.
This wasn't Jughead Jones talking but the Serpent King.
"Nothing Jones, Whatever you wanna do."
"That's what I thought." Jughead continued the stare-down until Sweet Pea couldn't maintain eye contact anymore.
"Jug." Betty's voice soothes his tense body.
She watched him as she set down her pencil from copying history notes. "Take a vote boys but Sweet Pea if you lose the bet I don't want to hear you complain about being unable to afford drinks at the Wyrm."
Jughead stayed quiet and she raised a challenging eyebrow. They were conversing with their eyes but Jughead relented with a nod.
Fang crossed his arms over his chest, "We're in but it's four of you against us three."
"What? Is your oh-so-fearless leader not gonna play?" Reggie goaded.
"Let's just get it over with Jug," Archie added.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Alright, let's just get this over with."
Reggie fist-pumped and dug in his wallet for 25.
The Bulldogs pulled crisp dollar bills and laid them out on the table. The Serpents dug into their own pockets pulling whatever loose change they got.
"Jesus Dutch really?" Fangs complained at the coins clacked loudly on the table.
Dutch shrugged, "Gotta keep coins for the jukebox man."
Jughead rolled his eyes at the nasty rubberband holding his crumpled bills together and Betty sighed, "That's it I'm getting you a wallet for Christmas."
Dutch tipped his imaginary hat at her. "Much obliged Ms. Betty."
"Okay, how are we judging this thing?" Jughead asked walking up to the machine.
"Ronnie should do it," Archie suggested.
He raised an eyebrow, "Partial much Arch? She's dating you."
Veronica waved off his concern. "I might be dating Archiekins but I couldn't care less about this sad attempt of who has the most testosterone."
"Listen up, you'll play each other in pairs. A point will be awarded to the winning side and whoever has the strongest punch will get an additional bonus point." Cheryl decided the rules.
Sweet Pea tilted his head, "Sounds good to me."
The pairings facing off ended up being Sweet Pea vs Al, Fangs vs Reggie, Dutchie vs Mad Dog, and Jughead vs Archie.
Toni grabbed a quarter from the money pile. "Call it Mantle." Flicking the coin into the air with her thumb.
"Heads."
It lands flat against her palm. "Heads it is." Al high-fived Reggie. "Do you want to go first?"
Reggie nodded, "Yep Dogs go first, Al you're up bro."
The blonde swaggered up to the machine. He made a show of stretching out his back and arm. He pressed the button to swing down the small punching bag. Stepping on his back foot, he swung as hard as he could. The bag hit the back of the machine with a thwack and the points started tallying up at a rapid pace. The Bulldogs were cheering on the machine as it passed the 600 mark and eventually slowed down. The digital display rapidly blinked 648 in red.
Reggie clapped him on the back. "Solid dude!"
The highest the machine allowed was 800.
Sweet Pea was up next. He smirked, cracking his knuckles to ready himself. His hook was fast, not wasting any time on thinking. The numbers flick by rapidly and end at exactly 733.
The veins on Al's forehead bulged.
Sweet Pea lifted his shoulders and looked at him innocently. "Oops, so sorry about that buddy."
"Serpents win the first round and they get one point." Veronica declared.
Reggie was up next, Al was right behind him massaging his shoulders. He took one step toward the bag before landing a hook. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet when the number went past 700. It ended just short of Sweet Pea's at 715.
Dutch slapped Fangs on the back as he walked up. He took his time, practicing a loose swing with his arm. He jabbed the bag with a grunt. The machine shot up fast and started losing momentum at 686.
Sweet Pea groaned in annoyance. Jughead clapped Fangs on the back of his neck shaking him lightly so he wouldn't be so discouraged.
Veronica marked a tally under the Bulldogs column. "It's tied up but Sweet Pea still has the highest score for a possible bonus point."
Mad Dog didn't waste any time going after the bag. It retracted so fast that the machine arm rocked a tiny bit. The final number was 779.
Toni whistled in disbelief. Al jumped up and down, shaking Mad Dog's shoulders. The Serpent side was quiet. Dutch was already shaking his head. "Well fuck, I'm pretty sure I ain't built like that."
He tried anyway reaching a score of only 669.
"The only way Serpents win is if Jughead wins against Archiekins and gets the highest score," Veronica remarked.
Al blew a raspberry, "As if, we already won this. Bring us home Arch."
Archie stepped up, stretching his arm behind his back for a second. "You don't mind do ya Jug?"
"What you don't think I can beat you?" He quipped.
Archie didn't say anything and hit the bag as hard as he could. The machine rattled loudly as the number soared. It flashed 788.
"Oh shit!" Reggie exclaimed.
"Pack up it Jones! I wouldn't even bother if I was you." Al crowed.
Archie thumped both of their chests with the back of his hands. "Chill guys, let him go."
Jughead walked up sighing. The rest of the Serpents thumped his back and rubbed his shoulders. He cast a glance back at Betty who was watching him and gave him a small nod encouragingly. He picked his wooden toothpick out of the corner of his mouth, flicking it into the trash can close by with practiced ease.
He rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath. In his mind-eye, he replayed every bad thing that has happened to him recently. From his dad passed out on the couch surrounded by beer bottles to his mom abandoning him. He remembered word for word the threats Penny made to the Serpents and Malachai trying to get a rise out of him by saying disgusting things about Betty.
His punch powered through the bag with a growl and wobbled the arm dramatically. The score skyrocketed quickly past 500 and then 600. Everyone held their collective breaths as it reached 700. It wasn't slowing down after passing Sweet Pea's and Mad Dog's. It started to slow down as he was about to reach Archie's score. The numbers continued to tick by however and to everyone's surprise, flashed a top score of 800.
It was silent for a couple of seconds. The Bulldogs were in shock. Al's mouth was gaped open and Reggie had his hands on top of his head. It was Cheryl that started a slow clap that broke everyone out of their reverie.
Archie actually started laughing, "Wow, you are insane Jug." He didn't feel bad at all from the loss.
Sweet Pea raised his hands in victory as Fangs started to pound on his shoulder. He turned to him shadow boxing excitedly delivering gut punches and then a uppercut to Fangs who then collided with the taller man in a hug.
Dutch was jumping up and down he almost toppled Jughead. He pushed off the over-excited youngster to reach in his front pocket. Slipping off the cylindrical tube top, he popped a fresh toothpick in his mouth.
Veronica put her pen down. "And with the highest score possible, J wins against Archie and the Bulldogs."
Reggie was still shaking his head in disbelief. He grabbed Jughead's right arm and held it out, examining it like it held the answer to man.
"This isn't bio Vesalius, quit it!" Jughead pushed him away.
"I just don't get it. You're small."
He held his own bicep, "You're talking to a kid with both mommy and daddy issues who's in a gang."
Reggie cocked his head, "Fair point."
Toni glanced at Betty who appeared nonplussed. "You don't seem surprised Betty."
"Not really, I've seen him do stuff like this before."
Toni and Cheryl shared a look, coming to the same conclusion. "Sex."
Red-cheeked, Betty was left spluttering for an excuse.