The whole town was out searching the woods for Jughead. He had been gone for days. They were searching the forest that was by the party he was last seen at. Abby was walking with the young Serpents with flashlights in their hands. "I don't want to find his body." She whispers. No one should have heard it over all the yelling for Jughead echoing through the forest. Sweet Pea was hovering behind her like the protective serpent that he was.

"If you see anything that makes you want to take a closer look then I'll do it." He put his free hand on her lower back.

"We might find him alive." Fangs was hoping it was true.

"It's been days, if Jones was alive then he would have found his way out by now." Sweet Pea wasn't the hopeful type.

A scream cut through the forest. "No one gets close," FP shouted at everyone while he called an ambulance.

They waited on pins and needles while the professionals checked on him. "I was hoping that he had a broken leg or something and couldn't find his way out." Fangs watch them take Jughead out on a stretcher in a body bag. Sweets held his sobbing girlfriend.

Abby came out from the shower, having cried her eyes out. She couldn't believe it. Jughead was dead. He was murdered. Today at school Betty, Veronica, and Archie were arrested for it. They were at the station being questioned. Mary was down there to help Archie as his mother and his lawyer. She dried herself off and got ready for bed. She walks into her room to see Sweet Pea holding a crying Tessie. "What's wrong?" She got down on her knees to be at eye level with her child.

"I'm sorry, mom. I didn't want you to find out. I don't want you to cry anymore." She hated hearing the woman who saved her cry.

"What? Honey, there is nothing you can't tell me." She grabbed her hand. Tessie shook her head and put her face into Sweet Pea's stomach.

"Word got around fast and people are saying Archie's a serial killer." He informs her.

"What? That's not true. Archie would never hurt Jughead. They're best friends like Papa and Uncle Fangs." Sweet Pea made a face to say that it wasn't the same. Abby glares at him. Tessie didn't see the exchange, not having moved her face.

"What about the guy he went to jail for murdering?" She whispers. Abby and Sweet share a panicked look. They did everything they could to keep that hidden from Tessie. They told her that Archie was at boarding school when he was in jail.

"Someone made it look like he did but he didn't." She didn't want Tessie to be scared of Archie, that would break him.

"Why would someone do that?" She turned her head so one eye was looking at her.

"Because Archie knew too much about a bad person and they wanted him gone." She didn't think it was good for her to know that it was Veronica's dad. "It's like how the nuns would get rid of people who didn't follow the rules."

"Is the same guy blaming him for Jughead?" She held on tightly to the leather jacket.

"The police have Archie in custody because he was one of the last people to see him. They have to rule him out as a suspect, that's all." She grabbed her little hand.

"So, he'll be back tonight?" She turned to face her.

"At the latest tomorrow morning." She was confident they had nothing on him. Archie would never hurt Jughead.

The sound of the front door being opened made Tessie jump off Sweets' lap and run downstairs. "Uncle Archie. Uncle." She ran to see him.

"Relax, the door was locked, it can only be Mom or Archie." She reminds Sweets who jumped up to go after her.

The couple went to the living room to see Archie swinging a giggling Tessie around. When he put her down she clung to his legs. "I know those kids at school were lying, you're no killer."

"No, I'm not." He pats her head.

"Elementary kids are talking about this?" Mary grimaces.

"Everyone seems to be." Abby was looking at her brother sympathetically. This was the second time he had to prove he wasn't a murderer. People would treat him like one until he was proven completely innocent. "I'm sorry, Archie."

"It's fine. As long as everyone I love believes in me then the rest doesn't matter." Archie looks around the room.

"Ew, even when coming home after being accused of murder you have to be tooth-aching sweet." Sweet Pea turns up his nose like he smells something stinks.

"This coming from the guy who gives his girlfriend butterfly kisses while she makes breakfast." Archie laughs.

"Hey! No one wasn't supposed to see that." His defense only made the room laugh at him.

Everyone brought their picture containers to the Cooper's house to look through to help make the collage for the funeral that Betty was organizing. Abby picked up a picture she hadn't seen in a long time. It was one of the Serpent Halloween events that she went to as a kid. She was dressed as Patch from 101 Dalmatians and next to her was a little girl dressed as a vampire. That little girl was in many pictures with her at the trailer park. When she asked her parents who the girl was, they could never think of a name. This time she was able to recognize that little girl. "This is you." She shows it to Toni.

"It is a little Toni." Cheryl grabbed it to get a closer look. "So precious." She held it close to her heart.

"I'll make you a copy." Abby wanted the picture back.

"I want to see." Sweet Pea grabbed the picture of Cheryl. "It is precious. Toni, why didn't you introduce me to your cute friend?"

"I tried but you and Fangs said you didn't need any more girly friends." She rolled her eyes.

"How come you guys didn't remember each other?" Fangs wonders.

"This is the night we meet, so we never called each other by our names. To think you were Patches." Toni smiles at a friend she still thinks about from time to time.

"I honestly thought your name was Claudia for a long time." It wasn't until they stopped talking she realized it was from Interview with a Vampire. "I hadn't looked at this picture in years, so the face has been foggy in my memory."

"Oh, look at this one." She showed the group a picture from the same night of Jughead dressed like Sherlock Holmes.

"Oh, we're using this one." Betty took it to put in the make-a-copy pile.

She looked at Kevin holding the camera. Alice was sitting across from her. She was doing a documentary on his murder. "Jughead was like a brother to you. He was at your house more than his own growing up." It wasn't a question but it was meant to start a conversation.

"Yeah, I was the annoying little sister that always wanted to tag along. Archie didn't like that. More often than not, Jughead would get him to let me." She smiles.

"How did you feel when Jughead got into Stonewall prep?" She asked.

"I was happy for him. It was a writing program. He'd get an author on the New York Best Seller list to look at his work. It sounds like something from Jughead's dreams. I was hopeful that he would make friends with people who were just as passionate as him in writing." She teared up at how ignorant she was of the dark school. "We should've listened to him. He didn't want to go. He wanted to do his senior year with his friends. We thought we were selfless when we told him to take it, but were we?"

"Hey guys, it's time for group training. Where is everyone?" Archie came out of the office to see Toby, Eddie, and Malcolm. They weren't in their workout clothes.

"They're not… they're not coming," Malcolm told him.

"Why? What's going on?" He wonders. Group training was the biggest turnout for the community center.

"Everyone's saying that you're a murderer. That you killed that Jones guy." Toby spoke about the rumors that were going around.

"Toby, I swear to you. I would never hurt my best friend. I did not kill Jughead. I didn't kill anyone, okay? I'm one of the good guys." He promises.

"If you say so." Eddie looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes. "We'll see you later, Archie." "Archie, can you come in here?" Abby waves for him to come into the office. She closed the door behind him. "It's been days and no one has shown up. We need to talk about you taking a step back."

"Abby, it was my idea to open this community center. The building is in my name." He reminds her.

"I know, but no one is coming. Right now, you being here is stopping the purpose of this center. Parents don't want to send their kids to a suspect in a murder case. The orphan feels safer on the street than here." She couldn't add that Eddie wasn't sleeping here for the time being which was putting her on edge.

"It's bullshit." He slammed his hand down on the desk.

"I know it is, but it's only temporary. As soon as your name is clear then you come back into the fold." She hated the thought of the kids on the street. "We may have got rid of Dodger, and most of the Ghoulies and Gargoyles, but the streets are nowhere near safe."

"How are we going to do this?" He sighs.

"Alice Cooper said she would get it in the paper tomorrow. She would word it in a way that wouldn't make it look like we think you're guilty and we don't. I know you're innocent. We're going to frame it that you're focusing on school." She didn't want him to think this was her turning her back on him.

"I do need to write a lot of college essays for the applications." He admits to having a lot of work to do.

"Well, now you have more free time. Kraken agreed to take over the group session. Don't worry, he knows he is teaching them boxing and not street fighting." She pats his shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I keep leaving the center all on your shoulders." He pulls her into a hug.

"It's fine, Archie. I enjoy it. I told you I plan to make this place my career." She returns the hug.

"You're too good to me, you know that." He put his chin on top of her head. "It's good to know that when I go, you'll be here."

"Archie, stop talking like you're getting locked up again." She tried to push him off her.

"It's not that… it's that soon, I'm going to be graduating. The thought of leaving you here is…" He squeezed her tighter. She wheezes while calling out his name. "Stay safe."

"Archie, it's not like you'll leave forever. We'll see each other again." She patted him back, hoping for him to let go. "I need to breathe."

"Oh, sorry." He lets her go. "I can't afford for another person to die around me."

"Shut up." She hit him for the morbidity joke.

Betty was holding the funeral at her house. The door opens letting Brett, Joan, and Donna in. Sweet Pea quickly intercepted them. "You got a lot of nerve coming here."

"Get out of here." Abby hissed.

"I'd be happy to assist with that." Kraken came along with Dracula.

"Sweet Pea, Abby, guys, it's okay." Betty came over before they kicked them out. "Mr. Jones said that they could come in." The Serpents gave them a look of warning while letting them pass.

"Closed Casket? Call me doubting Thomas, but that seems like a suspect choice with such a handsome cadaver." Donna quickly took note of it.

"Classy as ever, Donna." Betty stared at her in disbelief. "The funeral home didn't even want us to have the casket here, but it's Serpent tradition." She took a step close to whisper to her. "And if you make a scene, I will throw your ass out." She points to the door.

"We'll do worse." Sweet Pea winks at them.

"Are you Brett?" Abby points at the male.

He cleared his throat before answering. "Yes."

"Jughead was right, you do look like a weasel." She walks past the open-mouth boy to take her seat.

"The ceremony is about to start if everyone can take their seats," Nancy instructed the crowd before sitting next to Abby.

FP took the stand behind the podium. "I want to thank you for coming today. I know you all, loved my son. Things weren't always easy for us. But my boy was always resilient and loyal and loving and uh…" FP couldn't finish his speech. He walks out of the room with tears coming down his face.

Betty stood up to go next. "As many of you know, Jughead was a fan of crime fiction and detective stories. So, to honor him, I'd like to read a passage from one of his favorite Sherlock Holmes short stories, The Final Problem. 'An examination by experts leaves little doubt that a personal contest between Holmes and Moriarty ended in their reeling over, locked in each other's arms. Any attempt to recover the bodies was hopeless. And there, deep down in that dreaded cauldron of swirling water and seething foam will lie. Will lie for all time the most dangerous criminal and the foremost champion. Of the law of their generation." Abby tears up knowing how much Jughead loved that book. She had seen him read it over and over again in the years of knowing him. She looks down and smiles softly at Tessie who was squeezing her hand in comfort.

Abby and Tessie were standing with Jellybean by the casket. "He would hate this many people in a room to see him." Abby forces a weak smile.

"Oh, yeah." Jellybean nods. A memory comes to her that brings a small smile to her face. "Remember when he won that contest for being the best reader in class? He had to read a book in front of the student body."

"Oh yeah, he ended up turning his back to the crowd. He swears so passionately that he will never be in front of a crowd again." Abby remembers his cute chubby face in red from shame and then rage when they were alone.

"You must miss your brother." Donna approaches them. "When was the last time you saw him?" She leaned in to whisper. "He isn't dead, is he?"

"Are you out of your mind?" Abby pushed her away from the young girl.

Betty came over, not believing what she was doing. "Yes, she is, this is Jughead's little sister and you're accosting her?"

"Oh come on, Betty! You and I both know that this is all an act!" She loudly shouted.

"Bitch, I'm done with you. Let's go." Betty grabs both her shoulders to turn her around. She marches her towards the door.

"Brett, do it, Brett do it," Donna yelled when she passed him.

He charged the casket. He would have knocked over Jellybean if Abby hadn't pulled her out of the way. He wiped the flowers off the casket. Sweet Pea grabs him by his collar to force him back. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He yelled in his face.

"She told me to. You heard her." He pointed back at her.

"What? You do whatever she says. Does she have you under mind control?" Abby scoffed.

"You preppies don't know when to quit." Archie went to the other side of Sweet Pea.

"Calm down guys. He's not worth it. He was leaving anyway." Betty came to stop a fight from escalating. Sweet Pea shoved him, making him stumble a few feet back. "Donna, control your little pet. He seems to have lost his cool." Sweet Pea followed them to make sure they left the house.

Abby was blinded by rage after the funeral when she dialed a number. She didn't want to calm down or be humored, she wanted to be encouraged. She wanted someone to relate to her and maybe act on violence with or for her. She went off the second she heard the click. "I hate her. She is a rich spoiled little brat. She thinks she can come to a funeral and disrespect a dead body. I want to rip her…"

"Ah, ah, honey, as much as I love when rage fills you, remember these calls are recorded. If something were to happen to whoever this is then they could use this in court." Chic's sweetened voice filled her ears. "Now, who made a fuss at Jughead's funeral?"

"How did you know it was Jughead?" She wonders if Betty is talking to him.

"The newspaper delivers here," They weren't completely cut off from the world.

"Donna Sweett. I know she killed Jughead in the woods. Now, she doesn't want to believe he's dead because she couldn't pin it on Betty." She hissed. "I want her gone. She is a sick monster."

"You haven't seen me since that one visit and you want to talk about someone I don't even know." He shakes his head.

She let out a sigh. "Think of it as an update on your sister."

"Not my sister." He reminds her.

"Well, how have you been?" She wanted to hang up. She calmed down and realized that this was never going to have a good outcome.

"Fine. I saw you in the paper for renaming that center after your dad." He cut out the picture to hang up in his cell.

"Yeah, Alice wrote a piece about it." She nods.

"Tell me more about your life, come on we only got so much time." He filled the silence. So she did, feeling obligated since she did try to use him for evil. A robotic voice told them they had one more minute. "Donna Sweett is a name I heard from Evelyn. I'll see what I can do about her."

"Betty's probably on it already." She was upset at herself for letting her emotions get the best of her.

"Yeah, but Betty won't do what you want done." He hangs up the phone, figuring since there was no hello, there wasn't a need for goodbyes.

"What do you make of these rumors of Archie and Betty being together?" Alice sat Abby and Sweet Pea down for another interview.

"Unsurprising. You hear about it all the time. The widow will get with the person that comforted them." Abby shrugged.

"Where do you hear about it a lot?" Sweet Pea squints at her.

"On the podcasts I listen to." She shrugged.

"Yeah, because they murder the spouse so they can be with that person." He points out to her how that was a horrible example.

"Oh… maybe we won't put that in the documentary." Abby looks at Alice.

"We'll cut out that part." Kevin nods although he isn't sure Alice would.

"Sweet Pea?" She asked for his opinion.

"It's fucked up. If something happens to me and Fangs scoops up Abby, I will come back from the grave to haunt him." It made his blood boil thinking about it.

"You wouldn't want me to be with a good man after you." She looks up at him.

"I'm not fighting with you on camera." He refuses to take the bait.

"Oh, what about Greg or Draken?" Her large mischievous smile resembles that of a Chersie cat.

"I'm done." He got up to walk away.

"Can I get with Kraken?" She ran after him to the street.

"You're not getting on the back of my bike." He yelled back to her.

"Oh come on, I just want to know what I'm supposed to do." She grabbed onto his arm.

"Die alone." He grabs her chin. "Who would you want me to be with if something happened to you?"

"Oh, that's easy, Nancy." She wraps her arms around his middle.

"She's a lesbian." He looks at her unimpressed.

"Exactly." She smiles up at him.

"You're lucky I like seeing that smile because I'd spank that ass red." He hadn't seen a large smile on her face since they searched the woods.

"Oh, don't threaten me with a good time." She shrieked when he gave her a hard smack.