The Damaged -RIVERDALE-DISCONTINUED

THIRTY SEVEN

Madelyn Jones was sitting with the Serpents teens when Toni Topaz and Jughead Jones entered the cafeteria.
The redhead was sitting next to Sweet Pea, the two of them looking at something on her phone, when another serpent nudged her.
Manic scowled at them before catching sight of her twin.
She watched as Toni seemed to scold Jughead before letting him go off and sit by himself. The pink haired girl rolled her eyes before joining the rest of the Serpents, not missing her friends questioning glance.
"He's refusing to sit with us, even after I warmed him about the Ghoulies," she explained, not wanting to be on the receiving end of Manic's anger.
Madelyn's nose flared in annoyance as she stopped Sweet Pea from getting up and forcing her brother over.
"He'll realize soon enough that sticking together is the only thing that will save him. It's only a matter of time before one of them tries something, and when they do, he'll come running."

Later that night, long after everyone else had left, Madelyn and the rest of the serpent teens made their way into the high school. Toni had told them that they'd find her there, helping Jughead with something.
They found them in the old Red and Gold office, and Madelyn quirked her eyebrow at the sight.
"Topaz, let's bounce," Madelyn said, glancing at her brother, "you coming too, Jug? We're going down to the quarry."
Jughead looked over to her, and then the rest of the Serpents.
"I think I'll just stay back," he said, trying not to flair his sister's anger, "I don't quite have my beach bod yet."
His attempt, however, did nothing.
"What, you'll ask us for favors but won't hang with us?" She asked, smirking sarcastically at him.
When he didn't answer Manic rolled her eyes, turning her back and pushing past the other Serpents.

Early the next morning, Manic's phone rang loudly, waking her up.
She groggily answered it, muttering, "What the hell do you want?"
"It's Jughead," Toni's voice rang out, clear as day, "he got jumped last night, after we left."
"I'll be there in ten," Manic sighed, hanging up the phone and getting out of bed.
She changed into a pair of ripped jeans, a emerald green lace up body suit, threw her serpent jack on, and slipped on a pair of high heeled boots.
Leaving a note for Parker, she left the apartment complex and made her way to Sunnyside Trailers.
She didn't bother knocking and stormed right in, her eyes narrowing in on her brother being inspected by a worried Betty Cooper.
Their gazes all turned to the confused redhead at the door, a pleading look on Jughead's face.
"The hell happened here?" Manic asked, shooting Jughead a smug grin when Betty looked away from her.
"Nothing. Just, uh, crashed my bike. Got banged up a little," Jughead said, not wanting his girlfriend to find out that he had actually been jumped by Ghoulies.
Madelyn made a sarcastic sound and nodded, "those damn potholes really get you, don't they?"
"Yeah."
Betty than stood up and grabbed her bag, kissing Jughead goodbye before brushing past Manic and leaving for school.
Manic waited til the blonde was gone before turning back to her brother, a smug look on her face.
"Damn, they got you good, didn't they?" Manic dropped her fake grin, staring at her brother with a 'no bullshit' face, "you're lucky, they went easy on you. Next time it won't be a few bruises and scratches. Next time, it'll be a few fractures and a trip to the hospital. I told you, Jug, you're just like a lost puppy. And you know what happens to lost puppies? They become the stray dogs people run over."

Jughead has finally given into the social hierarchy of the south side, and had publicly sided with the Serpents. Which meant that Manic had publicly accepted the dark haired boy as her family again.
The two had walked from their third hour to the cafeteria, seeing Sweet Pea and the rest of the Serpents huddled around Sweet Pea's busted up laptop.
And, judging by the treats heard, it wasn't a funny cat video.
"I'm guessing we're not watching funny cat videos," Jughead said, putting his sisters thoughts into words perfectly.
Sweet Pea turned the laptop with a smirk, showing it to his friend and her brother.
"Check this out," he said, playing the video once again, "some sick-in-the-head Northsider posted this video, and we were just talking-"
"About what?"
Sweet Pea clapped his hand down on Fangs' shoulder, "Fogarty wants to earn his Serpents stripes. I say, bring us the head of that Northsider, and you're in."
"I'm down with that," said boy grinned. Manic shrugged her shoulders and agreed, knowing that the pair were joking.
"No, guys, don't."
"What, Jones?" Sweet Pea asked, a glint in his eyes.
"I know this guy," Jughead said, hoping to save his friend Archie Andrews from a false threat, "he's a milquetoast. He's a football player. It's kind of a lame target, is all I'm saying."
Manic nudged her twin, knowing that his smartass mouth and limited Southside knowledge would get him in trouble real quick.
Jughead, however, ignores her warning and continued speaking.
"You wanna prove something? Why don't you go after the Black Hood?"
Manic had to physically stop herself from laughing at this point, knowing that her brother was being dead serious.
"And why the hell would we do that?" Manic muttered with a role of her eyes.
She might not agree with what the black hood was doing morally, but so far he had only gone after Northsiders. The ones who ridiculed them just because they were from the bad part of town.
"Why would we do that?" Sweet Pea repeated Manic's question, louder, "the Black Hood's targeting Northsiders, who do nothing but blame us Southsiders for everything that's wrong in this town. And we're sick of it. The Black Hood's doing our work for us."
Sweet Pea waited a moment before finishing his rant.
"He's a hero."
"And you're a fucking drama queen, Sweets."

Madelyn and Sweet Pea shoved open the doors of the liquor store, running out into the warm night air, with Fangs and a couple of other Serpents trailing behind them.
The group were all laughing loudly, throwing different candies at each other as they turned the corner.
But their loud, almost obnoxious laugher was cut short as they spotted a hooded teen spray painting the side of the building.
They rushed up the unknown teen, all various levels of enraged.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Sweet Pea asked, a mixture between calm and angry.
Manic stood right next to him, with Fangs beside her and the others behind them.
"Back off. I'm not here for you," the teen said, turning to face them.
"Oh yeah? Then who's this message for? Huh?"
"Aw, Hell. Don't tell me it's for the Black Hood," Manic swore, annoyance clear as she crossed her arms.
She still hadn't gotten a good look at the guys face, and was still unknowing to who it was.
"You believe this guy?" Sweet Pea asked the other Serpents, "and people say we're the trouble makers."
The teen tried to move past them but was stopped.
"Woah, this is Southside serpent's country. You can't come here and tag our turf."
"So, why don't you get your entitled ass back to the Northside, okay sweetie? Before someone gets hurt," Manic said, an underlying threat in her words.
"Get our of my way or someone will get hurt."
Sweet Pea, taking notice to the threat in the unknown teens voice, whipped out his switch blade.
"You just made a big mistake," he said, getting into the teen's face. But when that same teen pulled out a gun and cocked it at the group, the tall serpent almost immediately back up.
"Who made a mistake?" The hooded male yelled, "who made a mistake!"
"What the hell!" Manic yelled, stumbling back as Sweet Pea dragged her away from the crazed boy.
It was then that the redheaded girl caught sight of the face hidden by the large hood.
"Archie? What the fuck do you think you're doing?"