Fires of Redemption

Chapter 2

Jughead had heard rumors that a new drug hit the street. As the new leader of the Serpents, it was his duty to get it under control, Riverdale was his home and he was going to do anything he could to protect it.

Jughead had decided he was going to call for a family meeting. He picked up his phone and sent a quick text to his number two, Sweet Pea. Jughead knew he could count on Sweet Pea to get the word out. He finished getting ready in his apartment above the Whyte Wyrm and headed down.

He walked into the bar and his ears were already ringing from the amount of noise, it was giving him a headache. He searched around for Sweet Pea, his eyes scanned the crowd, and landed on him. He walked over and slapped Sweet Pea on the back, "That was pretty quick Pea. How did you get them all here in such a short time?"

Sweet Pea laughed, "Jug you know most of them were down here drinking already." Sweet Pea looked around and put his fingers to his mouth, he made a loud whistle and everyone's attention turned to him. Sweet Pea jumped up on the table he was near and started shouting, "Alright, I need everyone to keep their mouths shut, Jughead has something he needs to say!" He jumped back down and put his hand on Jughead's shoulder, "All you, Boss."

Jughead shook his head and smiled, "Thanks, Pea." Jughead cleared his throat, "Everyone, as you may or may not know, there is a new drug hitting the streets. It's called ZIgZag and it's pretty deadly. We've had a couple of reports of ODs over the past two weeks." He started to pace around the room, "Everyone knows that the Serpents don't deal in hardcore drugs, especially ones that kill. We need to get to the bottom of this immediately, I've heard some intel that another gang has been cooking and distributing." He looked around the room, everyone was serious, this was a serious situation. "I need everyone to keep their ears to the ground, give me any information you have about the gang or the drug. I don't care if it's just something you heard, I'll take anything. Now are there any questions?"

"Yeah, do we know which gang it is? There aren't many in Riverdale." Someone shouted from the back of the room, "Is it the Phantoms?" Another person yelled, and everyone laughed.

Jughead shook his head, "You know that the Phantoms haven't been around in years, and you're right there's only one other gang in Riverdale, the Reapers, but their bread and butter is the chop shop." The room started to murmur, "Shh everyone, I know you have questions, but I don't have the answers yet. When I find out more I'll let everyone know. Dismissed." Jughead waved his hand signaling the meeting was over. He walked over to Sweet Pea and leaned in to whisper, "I need you to find anything and everything you can, this is a matter of life and death for the people of Riverdale. Not to mention the cops will start looking towards us if things get any worse." Sweet Pea nodded and left the bar to get some information.

Later in the day, Jughead heads over to Pops for some lunch, he rides his motorcycle and parks it in the back. As he hops off and walks to the front door a fleet of ambulances, cops, and firetrucks speed down the road. It stuns Jughead, Riverdale doesn't get a lot of action and even the ODs he mentioned earlier in the day get less coverage. He decided it was none of his business and walked inside Pop's.

"Hey Pop," Jughead greets one of the town's living legends, everyone knows and likes Pop, he's the only one who ever treated everyone equally. Maybe he's just a good business owner or maybe he doesn't see any difference between the North and South. Either way, Jughead was always grateful to him, "I'll take the usual." He said as he sat in his booth in the back.

"You got it, Jug," The older man smiled at him, "How are things?" Pops questioned as he rang in Jughead's order.

"You know, same old same old Pops," Jughead paused and thought for a second, then he got up and sat at the counter, "Actually, maybe you could help me out with something, there's a new drug getting around, it's called ZigZag, have you heard of it?" Jughead questioned, he looked at Pop's face, and he saw it falter.

"Now Jughead you know I don't condone any drugs or illegal activities around here," Pop said sternly while he wiped down the counter.

"I'm just seeing if you heard anything recently, it's getting pretty bad out there Pop. I'm trying to track this stuff down so I can stop it." Jughead's voice was dripping with sincerity, he hated the drugs just as much as Pop did.

Pop sets Jughead's chocolate shake and burger in front of him and lets out a deep sigh. He opens his mouth to say something but looks around first, when he's sure no one else is in the diner he leans in and whispers, "Alright Jug, I'll be honest with you. I've heard some things, and I'm pretty sure I've seen deals going down in the parking lot. I'm going to tell you what I know but this is the first, last, and only time I will talk about it." Pops said with a deadly serious stare.

Jughead nodded, waiting for him to continue, "There's been a young man hanging around town, his name is Chic, I've never seen him before but when he showed up that's when all those people died. He comes in here to eat, then goes and waits out in the parking lot for a couple of hours. He meets with a lot of people, I'm not sure what he does, but there's one person that I've seen him with the most." Jughead held his breath, "Betty Cooper"

Pop finishes what he needs to say and turns around to clean a different area, and he leaves Jughead shell-shocked.