In The Middle

Chapter 18 Finding Nick

The Serpents were working with Archie and his friends day and night, trying to get an approximate location of where Nick was. Even with the help of Kevin's father.

After hours and hours of trying to locate Nick, they finally found him. There had been surveillance footage of him entering the five seasons.

"How do you want to handle this, Archie?" Sweetpea asked.

"Well, I don't him to know that we're there. That's for sure" Archie said.

"Ok, we use some sort of element of surprise then" Jughead said.

"But which side do we do it? From the front or the back of the building?" Fangs asked.

"Whichever has the least amount of view" Kevin's father said.

"The back of the building. That has the least amount of windows. And besides, even if there were enough windows, there's still poor visibility back there" Veronica said.

"Ok, let's get to work" Archie then said.

Everyone began drawing out plans and dividing into a few groups. Archie was the leader on this and told everyone what they need to do. With the help of the Serpents, Archie was able to have everyone with black jackets and masks. So that their identities were not discovered unless they chose to reveal them. After a last minute briefing, Archie led everyone to the five seasons.

One by one, each group made their way into the back of the building. It seemed quite easy for everyone, including Archie.

"Any idea which room he's in?" Veronica asked as she whispered.

"His phone says that he's in room 4A" Betty whispered back.

Everyone then made their way to that room with Archie leading the way.

Once they arrived at the door, Sweetpea handed a crowbar to Archie.

"On three. One, two, three!" Sweetpea said as he then kicked the door in for Archie. Archie then walked in.

"Archie, this is a surprise" Nick said with a clear smug expression on his face.

"You're gonna pay for what you did to me and to my family" Archie said in an angry tone.

"And how are you going to get me to do that?" Nick asked.

"With some friends" Archie said, crossing his arms. Everyone began walking in one by one. Nick sat up on his bed and a look of "Oh crap!" appeared on his face.

"This is what you get for everything you've done to me" Archie said as he and everyone else began beating up Nick.

After the beating was over, everyone left in a rush so that they wouldn't be caught. However Archie stayed behind to give Nick some advice.

With an almost concussion and bruised eyes, he weakly looked up at Archie.

"You come near me, my family or my friends again and I won't show you any mercy. And if you tell anyone what happened here tonight, I will come after you" Archie told him angrily as he then left. Nick soon passed out from his injuries.

As Archie joined everyone outside, his back started to hurt. And it was clear to everyone when they saw Archie contorting his face in pain.

"Everything ok, Arch?" Betty asked.

"Yeah. Must've done something to my back while we were dealing with Nick" Archie replied.

"Ok well, the work is done. What do we do now?" Fangs asked.

"We all go home and stay low. We don't talk about this. Ever. That is the only way that we won't get caught" Archie said. Everyone agreed. Before going home however, they got rid of the bloody clothes they had on and then they went home.

When Archie arrived home, he found his parents sitting in the living room, looking a bit nervous.

"Mom? Dad? What are you still doing up?" Archie asked them as they both stood and walked towards him.

"We've been worried about you. We thought something happened to you" Mary said.

"Well, I'm fine. I just went out with some friends" Archie said as he then walked upstairs to his room. Mary and Fred looked at each other. Feeling worried for Archie.