Riverdale: The Ghoulies Return

1~The Suprise Invasion-Jughead

Penny. Penny Peabody.

I had always thought we had finally gotten her to leave Riverdale, yet here she was again.  "Jug," Betty called my name. 
My eyes lifted up from my computer to look at her. It was late in the afternoon, yet it was still humid. Betty and I were sitting in a booth at Pops on Saturday as we were waiting for Veronica and Archie to meet us here.
"What is it, Betts?" I asked. 
"Well, I thought since Penny has come back, the Blue & Gold could do an article on her to make everyone aware. I was wondering if you would write the article and I could do the investigating," she asked. 

I was kind of worried about her traipsing around on the Southside with Penny around, or even worse, the Ghoulies. 
"Of course," I stated, "But are you sure that it won't be too dangerous? I mean, the Ghoulies could have..." I trailed off.  

I really didn't want her to get hurt. I don't what I would do.  "Juggie, I know you care about me and want me to be safe, but I know I will be okay. It's not like I'm straight up interviewing her, and I promise not to scare anyone by handing myself right on over to them like you did," she reassured me.  
She will probably be just fine. I'm over-reacting. I should just trust her.

While we finished up our conversation and I finally gave in, Veronica and Archie entered the diner. We waved them over to sit down and then Veronica shared some news with us. It was worse than I expected.  "Guys, I know you probably already know that Penny came back, right?" she asked. We just nodded our heads. "Well, word on the street is that a gang is committing crimes all over town. They even tried to get into the prison, but I don't think that it's the Serpents or my dad or anything like that like everyone is saying. I think that... I think the Ghoulies are back," she finished speaking and sipped her coffee.  They better not be back. 

I stood up. I really didn't want the Ghoulies back in town, but I also hoped that it wasn't the Serpents. I don't want to believe that the Poisons or especially the Serpents would ever do something like that. I stood up and started to pack up my things.  "Where are you going Jug?" Betty questioned.  "If the Ghoulies are back then we definitely need to find out where they are and how to stop them. We also need to see if anyone has seen anything. Let's start with the Serpents, then the Poisons, then anyone else here at the diner or Riverdale High. You said you wanted something for the Blue & Gold, so here it is," I finished. 
"Ronnie and I could check out the diner and the school while you two could talk to the Serpents and the Poisons," Archie suggested.  "Okay," Betty and I said.  "Bye guys," Betty said, waving to them. 

We walked out the door and hopped on my motorcycle. We sped off towards where we knew we would find most of the Serpents. As we arrived, Betty took my helmet off and she looked at me. 

"Jughead, don't be worried. I'm sure none of them had anything to do with the crimes or anything like that. It's likely that the Ghoulies are back since Penny is too. We will find out why," she said carefully caressing my cheek. I nodded at her and she kissed me.

We walked up to the Serpents and called a meeting. Once everyone was there, I began.  "You may or may not have heard or suspected this, but Penny and the Ghoulies are back. They have done a lot of things in the past, most of which we didn't appreciate, so we need to keep a lookout. If anyone has seen anything or heard any valuable information come straight to me," I said. 

After a few minutes, they all started to leave except for Sweet Pea and my dad. As they came up to me, I stopped. They looked dead serious about what they were about to say next.  "Do you guys know something?" I asked.  Sweet Pea looked at me and told me in a low voice that they had already started looking out for them.  "When we were scouting near Fox Forest, we heard a lot of noise. There was glass shattering and someone yelling. I couldn't exactly make out what they were saying but I did hear one part about Pop's Diner. There were a lot of people there Jughead, so we decided just to keep going. Other Serpents said that they heard things in other places, but for the ones who were there, we think this may have been the Ghoulies main hideout," he let out. 

I looked at him.  "Thanks, Sweet Pea. If you hear about anything else then come straight to me," I instructed.  He walked away and my dad came up to me.  "Boy, I thought you got rid of her and her Ghoulies, she almost killed you last time," he said.  I could feel his worry radiating like heat from the sun.  "I know dad, but apparently they left just so they could recruit more and come back to invade and take over Riverdale. I wasn't expecting this either, but I'm doing my best to handle anything that comes my way. I've got this under control," I said.  But I wasn't really sure just how long that so-called control would last.

He decided not to fight with me and told me that he believed me, but I need to be careful. He then got in his sheriffs' car and drove away. Just then, Betty walked up to me.  "Are you okay?" she asked, and I nodded.  She decided that I would be fine after questioning me with her eyes.  "V just texted me and told us to meet her and Archie at La Bonne Nuit in half an hour," she said.  She pecked me on the cheek, and we walked back to our ride.