"So, why am I here again?" I asked, from where I sat in the Serpent HQ.
"We need your brain," Jughead said.
"Great answer, very helpful," I said sarcastically, handing back the leather bound book I'd been flipping through.
The Gospel of the Gargoyle King. Jughead had found it hidden in a seat cushion earlier while checking out an old Southside High bus at Junkyard Steve's with FP. Meanwhile, Betty was standing in front of the murder board she'd arranged in the corner. Or was it an un-murder board, considering she thought the Black Hood was still alive and working with the Gargoyle King?
"There's a lot of mythical stuff in this Gospel," Jughead said, opening the book in his lap. "The Gargoyles were thought to be evil spirits that lived in the clouds, preying on people," he explained as Betty walked over to sit in the armchair, listening.
"So the Gryphon Queen turned them to stone. They fell from the Kingdom and shattered when they hit the earth," I continued. Someone had put a lot of thought into the book, with the detailed narrative and drawings that filled it. I hadn't seen an author noted anywhere, and it seemed too sacrilegious to have been written and published by the Sisters, even as twisted as they were.
Betty shook her head. "Jug, Abigail, all this lore builds up the Gargoyle King to be some kind of supernatural creature, but this guy is just a serial killer. Just like my dad," Betty said, a somewhat lost look in her eyes. "The Black Hood was flesh and blood, and so is the Gargoyle King. Which means," she said, walking back to her board to pull off her father's picture, "that he can die."
Jughead watched her with a worried look on his face.
"Betty, if you need a couple of days, you can take a break," I offered. "We can look into all this for you."
"No, I need to keep moving," she replied, returning to her seat. "I just want this to end."
Jughead and I exchanged looks, for once thinking the same thing. He leaned forward, picking up his phone from the table as it dinged. "It's Dr Curdle Jr. He's got the results from Kurtz's autopsy for us."
I followed Jughead and Betty into the morgue. Betty handed an envelope over to Curdle, who quickly made it disappear before getting right down to it.
Leading us to a nearby table, he pulled back the sheet revealing three tattoos on Kurtz's back. "Judging by the healing, I'd say Mr Kurtz got these tattoos last month," Curdle said.
"Yet again, the same symbols that were carved into Ben, Dilton, and Baby Teeth," Betty said.
"Well, the Gospel says that you need these markings in order to be sent to the Kingdom," Jughead said, stepping closer to take a picture of them.
Kurtz had tried to Ascend once before, when Jughead and the Serpents raided the apartment building, and he'd been ready to run away the night he'd been killed. "Maybe these tattoos are Kurtz's way of trying to slip his way in," I said, looking towards Betty.
She nodded in response. "Whoever gave him these tattoos could be a new lead."
After following Betty and Jughead around town to various tattoo shops, I took charge and forced the pair to stop at a place that nearly blended in with the surrounding shops. "Kurtz wouldn't risk going somewhere he might be recognized, he'd go somewhere more out of the way."
"We've struck out everywhere else," Jughead said. "Might as well try somewhere random."
The walls were covered with pictures of past work, some more impressive than others. "Got IDs?" A man asked. "Gotta be 18 or over to get inked." It also helped if you knew the right people or flashed enough cash, but that wasn't what we were here about today.
"Actually, we were wondering if you, um, recognized this?" Betty asked, holding up the picture of Kurtz's tattoos.
The man nodded, taking the picture and offered money. "Matter of fact, yeah. Kid came in asking for those symbols a few weeks back."
"Did he mention why?" Jughead asked.
"Nah, just showed me the design and paid cash. Just like the first guy."
"Wait," Jughead said, stepping forward. "There was a first guy?"
"Yeah, about a year ago," the man replied, handing the photo back to Betty. "I gave the same tattoo to a different dude. Same symbols, also on his back."
"Do you have a name? Maybe a photo by chance?" Betty asked.
"Never ask for names," he said. "Normally, I like to take photos of my finished work, but this guy would not let a camera anywhere near him."
Betty looked back over her shoulder at Jughead and I. "No photos, huh? Sounds like someone that I know."
"There's more than one possibility," I said. "What did he look like? Tall, like 6'3", 6'4"?"
"No, not quite that tall, closer to 6', I think," the man said. I nodded, thinking. "He had, uh, sandy hair, blue eyes..."
"Weirdly magnetic?" Betty prompted.
"That's the guy," he said. Betty nodded, a satisfied smile on her face as she turned to walk out.
"Thanks," Jughead said, following Betty and I.
We stopped in the parking lot, where I leaned my back against the truck, thinking.
"Okay, so we obviously weren't thinking of the same person," Betty said, facing me. "Who were you referring to?"
I arched an eyebrow at her. "Seriously? The height question didn't give it away?"
"Tall Boy," Jughead guessed.
"It could have been him," I said. "He said he was hiding out in Athens for a while before sneaking back to Riverdale. We don't know when exactly he started working for the Gargoyles, and considering he was masquerading as the Gargoyle King himself, I'd assume he'd have the tattoos."
"We would have heard about them though," Jughead protested.
"Maybe Curdle saw them but didn't connect the dots," I pushed back. "Tall Boy did have a shitload of tattoos, he could have just looked past them."
Betty sighed in frustration, waving her hands before her. "No. No, it doesn't matter whether Tall Boy had the tattoos or not, he's not the one we're after. Abigail, Jug, the tattoo artist said that a guy with blonde hair and blue eyes got a Gargoyle King tattoo about a year ago, right around the time the Farm moved to town, and right before any of this game stuff started to happen. Add the fact that my mom just got a tattoo, per Mr Evernever's request."
"Okay," Jughead said calmly when Betty was done. "But if the Gargoyle King is Edgar, then how does that explain your mom seeing him during Ascension Night nearly decades before Edgar got to town?"
"Who says that the new Gargoyle King is the same person as the old one?" I asked. "We've already unmasked Tall Boy, Moose Mason, and Claudius Blossom."
Betty nodded eagerly. "Yeah. My mom gave testimony to the Farm about the Midnight Club. Edgar could have taken on that persona."
Jughead sighed, looking between Betty and I. "I know that Edgar has been messing with your family–"
"Think about it," Betty cut in, beginning to pace the parking lot. "Edgar bought the Sisters of Quiet Mercy, where the game originated. Both he and the Gargoyle King preached Ascension. Both of them have followers that they manipulate, and they're both really, really creepy." I let out a quick laugh at the last comment. Betty stopped in front of Jughead and I, an idea forming in her mind. "There's only one way to settle this. And fast."
"Yes, of course," I said. "Just march right in there and demand that your mother's fiance take off his shirt for your viewing pleasure."
Jughead made a disgusted face but Betty just stared at me. "That's exactly what I'm gonna do," she said seriously.
"Well, you two have fun with that," I said, pulling the truck door open. "Let me know how that goes. I'm heading home."
"Wait, you're not coming with us?" Jughead asked, putting out a hand to stop me from shutting the door.
"Nope, this is all on you and her now, Jones," I replied. He stepped back with a sigh, allowing me to drive off. After checking in on the Gargoyles still loyal to me, I made my way home, lost in my own thoughts.
Letting myself in the front door, I could see Sweet Pea and Archie discussing something with Mrs Andrews in the kitchen. Leaving them to it, I slipped upstairs, going over everything we knew about the Gargoyle King and the game.
"What are you thinking about?" Sweet Pea asked, joining me in our room.
I quickly filled him in on everything we'd learned from the Gospel and the tattoos, as well as our suspicions about who was behind it all this time. "The tattoo artist said he wasn't tall enough to be Tall Boy. Betty's still convinced Edgar and the Farm are behind all this, but what if Chic is somehow mixed up in all this?"
"Chic, as in the con-artist Betty thought was her brother?" Sweet Pea asked. I nodded as best I could with my head on his lap. "Didn't the Black Hood kill him?"
"Maybe, maybe not," I replied. "Betty said she watched the Black Hood take off running after him, and no body was ever found. Besides, this is Riverdale, where the dead don't stay dead."
"Okay, but what would Chic get out of all this?"
"I don't know," I sighed. "But I still think Penelope Blossom has a hand in it all too." Sweet Pea smiled down at me, running his hands through my hair as my thoughts drifted again. "What were you all talking about earlier in the kitchen? It seemed pretty serious," I asked, breaking the silence a few minutes later.
Sweet Pea's smile faded and I sat up, mind racing through the reasons why. "Mrs Andrews invited some friend of hers from the Naval Academy to come over tomorrow. They have a great boxing program and she thinks it would be good for Archie and I to talk to her."
"The Naval Academy?" I echoed. Glancing down at his dog tags, I understood his reservations. He'd never told me about his family, and I didn't push. "It wouldn't do any harm to at least listen to what they have to say."
"Will you come too?" he asked softly, looking down at his lap.
"Of course, Sweet Pea," I replied quickly.
The next day, the three of us sat on the couch in the front room, waiting as Mrs Andrews opened the door.
"After this I've gotta get to the gym and meet the representative from the Regional Classic," Archie said quietly. "The match is this Saturday, before Prom."
Sweet Pea and I nodded, looking over to the woman Mrs Andrews was leading in. "...drink later, we'll call it done," the woman said.
"Done and done," Mrs Andrews laughed in reply. "Brooke, this is my son Archie, his friend Abigail, and her boyfriend, Sweet Pea. He's also interested in hearing what you have to offer." We all shook hands in turn.
Brooke looked at me curiously as she settled into her seat. "Do you already have plans for after high school?"
"Let's go with that," I answered. "I'm just here to offer Sweet Pea moral support, and Archie too, by extension."
"So," Archie began, noticing the look his mother was giving me. "You guys go way back, huh?"
"We do," Brooke said.
"We met at Sarah Florence. We were roommates freshman year," Mrs Andrews added.
"So your mom tells me you're interested in boxing for the Naval Academy," Brooke prompted, looking at the two boys.
"Uh, possibly," Archie said.
"Maybe," Sweet Pea shrugged.
"Well, Brooke began, "the Academy's physical education program requires all midshipmen to participate in boxing, so you'll have plenty of competition. And as a member of the boxing club, you train with the best. But the Academy also prepares you for life outside the gym. Over four years, you get a great education, a college degree, and a job."
Sweet Pea looked up. "In the military?"
Brooke nodded. "Upon graduation, you serve five years active duty."
"By the time I'm finished, my prime boxing years might be behind me," Archie protested.
"Yeah, but that's why you need to find something real to fall back on," Mrs Andrews said quickly. I raised an eyebrow at her reference to 'something real.' It seemed she wasn't quite as supportive as she was trying to make it look.
"And many of our boxers go on to have professional careers," Brooke added. "Our program is extremely competitive. I'd want to see you both in the ring first."
Mrs Andrews leaned forward with a smile. "Well, Archie, I'm sure that you can set up an exhibition match so that Brooke can see what you can do."
Archie nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I can ask Fangs."
"Great," Brooke said, opening the folder in her lap.
"Sweet Pea?" I asked softly.
"Uh, can I get back to you on it?" he asked, not looking up from our hands in his lap.
"That's fine," Brooke replied before looking back to Archie and Mrs Andrews. "Let's do this Friday evening?"
"We'll be there," Mrs Andrews grinned. She and Brooke stood, talking as they walked to the door.
"Guys, I've gotta go," Archie said, standing as well. He slipped out the back door just before Mrs Andrews returned.
"Where'd Archie go?" she asked, looking around. "I was hoping to talk to him a little more about all this."
"He went to try and catch Fangs, give him a heads up about Friday," I lied quickly.
Sweet Pea stood quickly, not meeting my eye. "Sorry, I–I have somewhere I need to be." I watched him go, the sound of his motorcycle taking off down the street quickly.
Mrs Andrews sat back down on the couch. "Sweet Pea seemed more interested in talking to Brooke yesterday. Did something happen?"
Yes, something did happen. I just wasn't sure what or when. All I knew was that it wasn't last night. "No, it's nothing to worry about," I said instead. "He's probably just feeling weird about being the one in the relationship with not only a high school diploma but a college degree too."
"You were always a smart kid, when you weren't getting into trouble," Mrs Andrews said. "What's stopping you from graduating?"
"Principal Weatherbee and the Board of Education." She looked at me, uncomprehending. I sighed. "I'm a dropout. Have you not noticed that I haven't been to school once since you got to town?"
"I guess I never really thought about it. Is that why you're working for Fred?"
I nodded. "Weatherbee had mentioned pulling some strings to get me my GED a while back without having to take any more classes but since he joined the Farm, that's kind of fallen off."
"So you're the one who gave Archie the idea of dropping out of school," Mrs Andrews sighed. "I thought that was just residual effects of his time alone in Canada."
"Nope, that was me," I said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find Sweet Pea."
Author's Note: I'm trying to decide if I should have Sweet Pea tell what happened to his parents or not. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.