Collateral Damage ▻ Riverdale [1]

3.17

THE SECOND TIME AROUND
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

   Queenie entered Pop's to find her brother at a booth with Archie, "I have to go,  Tall Boy wants to meet." Jughead told his friend as he got up his seat.

  He ended up bumping right into Queenie, who had an angry look on her face. Hitting him roughly on the chest, Queenie pushed him back into the booth across from Archie.

"Queenie? I thought you were—" Jughead began to ask her, but Queenie shut him up.

"I don't feel like the talking about that right now," She replied in a low tone, "You're not going to go see Tall Boy."

    "Why not?" Jughead asked his sister confused.

     "Because I don't want your ass getting into anymore trouble. As your older sister, I say you can't. I'm dealing with this all in my own, without you helping me, only to get yourself into more trouble. Now, give me that address." She demanded and Jughead sighed, handing her the phone.

  Queenie stared down at it with a shocked look. It was the House of the Dead's adress. She hadn't been there since...well, since one of the darkest parts of her life.

  "Queenie? You okay?" Archie asked, instantly noticing the fear in Queenie's eyes.

  Queenie looked up from staring at the phone and nodded her head, "Yeah, of course I am." She told him quietly as she handed Jughead back his phone, "I'll give you a call if I need you, okay? If you wanna help, try getting Sweet Pea and the others out before tomorrow."

  And with that, Queenie walked off in the direction of the House of the Dead.

______

    Queenie walked down the set of stairs into the downstairs of part of the House of the Dead. It didn't smell like cigarettes like the Whyte Wyrm did, this place smelled of weed and cheap liquor. The place was dimly lit and cluttered, just like she remembered it to be.

  Queenie adjusted the leather jacket on her back a bit before making her was further into the house. She sent a glare to a Ghoulie female who seemed to be staring at her, "What the hell are you looking at?" She asked her angrily, taking a step forward.

  "Sit down, Kid," Tall Boy spoke up, causing Queenie to turn her head. Tall Boy stood a couple feet away from her, staring directly at her, "I figured you'd be the one coming, not Jughead. We got business to discuss."

  Queenie frowned when Tall Boy casually took a seat on a chair near some Ghoulies, "Tall Boy, what the hell is this? Why did you tell Jughead to meet here?" She asked him, utterly confused.

  "You're in my house, Sweetheart. The House of the Dead. You and me both know you've been here many times before." A voice stated from behind her and Queenie shut her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before turning her head. It was him. It was Malachai.

  Malachai pressed his hand on her back, trying to push her forward, but Queenie grabbed his arm and pushed it away, "Don't touch me," She growled at him. He laughed, walking past her to take a seat.

  It seemed as if he had grown his hair a bit longer since she had seen him last. He was shirtless, wearing a black and white robe that had a bunch of skulls on it.

   "Oh, I'm sorry, and who the hell do you think you are?" She snapped at him with attitude, giving him one of her infamous glares.

  "Take it easy, Queenie," Tall Boy told her in a calm tone. It seemed almost too calm for a Southside Serpent who was sitting in a room filled with members of the rival gang, "Malachai speaks for the Ghoulies. But from the way he talked about you before her arrived, it seems like the two of you go way back and more ways than one."

  Queenie gave a disgusted look as she snapped her head around to stare at Malachai, who was smirking, "I think all the fumes in here are getting to your brain, Malachai. You might wanna go to the doctors." She remarked with an angry look.

  Tall Boy rolled his eyes, unamused by Queenie's angered tone toward the Ghoulie leader, "The heat on us and our ranks depleted, our tribes need to unite and that's going to be easier to do if you endorse this partnership," Tall Boy informed her and Queenie frowned in confusion. Before she could question him, Tall Boy spoke up once again, "You're FP Jones's daughter. You've been a Serpent through it all, it carries weight with both the older members and the younger—" Before Tall Boy could finish his sentence, Queenie began to laugh at him.

  "Don't even finish that sentence, Tall Boy. You lost me at 'Serpents and Ghoulies merging with each other'." She told him, "The Ghoulies are the reason that Southside High was even raised in the first place! Them and their damn Jingle Jangle."

  "Chaos is how we thrive, Queenie. You better get used to it." Malachai remarked and Queenie pointed a finger at him.

"Shut the fuck up, Malachai, you're glad I don't go over there and kick your ass!" She screamed at him and Tall Boy sighed, causing Queenie to looked at him, "Are you seriously going to do this to my dad, Tall Boy? You're supposed to be his right hand."

"The Northside declared war on us today, Queenie. Your old man ain't here to call the shots. And yeah, I'm his right hand, that makes me de facto leader." Tall Boy explained and Queenie shook her head in disagreement.

"Do you hear yourself, Tall Boy? You called yourself de facto leader, that means you didn't actually get voted into the position. But me, I did get the votes, the votes of every single Serpent except for one, Mustang. And that asshole is dead. You even voted. That makes me leader and you...well, nothing. As leader, I say no to this stupid idea." Queenie stated sternly before she walked off.

"You're making a big mistake, Queenie!" Tall Boy shouted and Queenie flipped him off.

   AN: I'm thinking about having Queenie drive the car in the race, but instead of the having the Ghoulies being caught and Archie stopping Jughead's car, I'll have the race go on like a normal one. Would that be good? Or would that change too much?