Bughead Oneshots // Compilation

"You know how I feel about marriage."

It is a truth universally acknowledged
that a zombie in possession of
brains must be in want of more brains.

Never was this truth more plain
than in the recent attacks at Thistlehouse, in which an entire household was slaughtered by a hoard of the living dead during a whist party.

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Two days earlier...

"Is there anyone else present whom he would've had the opportunity to infect?"Another newly-infected zombie lay dead and headless on the ground, courtesy of Colonel Jones, who stood above the said corpse with his knife in hand, wiping it with a handkerchief. "A family member, perhaps?"

Mrs. Blossom shook her head, still stunned by the event that had taken place right before her very eyes. "No, Colonel Jones."

The raven-haired young man stared itno her eyes, as if searching for any indication of a lie, before he decided that he was satisfied with her answer. "Good evening, then."

Once the young gentleman had left the room, Cheryl, Mrs. Blossom's daughter, rushed to her mother. "But mother, Mr. Mantle's niece is here!"

"There is no need for Mr. Jones to inspect that young girl any further—"

But Cheryl had already run up the stairs and into the guest bedroom where Mr. Mantle and his niece had been staying in.

There's no need to continue narrating such tragedy, for what happened to Cheryl Blossom as well as the remaining people in Thistlehouse was in the hands of the undead.

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It wasn't always like this, my dear Elizabeth.

As the century began, Riverdale was rich with the fruits of world wide trade. From the colonies there came
not just silks and spices
but a virulent and abominable plague. Naturally, many suspected the French were to blame. Are you surprised?

Once bitten, the newly infected were filled with an insatiable hunger
for the brains of the living.
Millions perished, only to rise again—as legions of undead.

So certain it would seem
the end of days had come, that even the four horsemen of the apocalypse
are said to have ascended from hell.

To protect the living, the Grand Barrier was built—a hundred foot wall encircling London. The excavation began on the royal canal, a vast moat thirty fathoms deep surrounding both the city and its walls. The land between the two fortifications
became known as The In-Between.

At this time it became fashionable
to study the deadly arts of the orient; Japan for the wealthy, China for the wise.

In the second battle of Kent, one of the bridges that cross the royal canal was breached. Ravenous zombie hoards massacred every villager of The In-Between. It was said the sight of this slaughter drove young King George mad.

When the battle was finally won, he ordered the destruction of all the bridges, save one: Hingham Bridge, which to this day remains the only means by which to cross the royal canal.

Many believed the enemy was finally vanquished. The gentry began to leave the safe confines of London's defenses for their newly fortified country estates. But vigilance is still every essence.

Remember this: keep your swords as sharp as your wit, for the ultimate battle between the living
and the undead has yet to be staged.

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April 2nd, 1762

"Mr. Cooper!"

The unmistakable voice of Mrs. Alice Cooper rang through the halls and into the study of Mr. Hal Cooper, where their daughter sat across his desk, polishing a gun in her hands.

"Mr. Cooper!"Mrs. Cooper screamed, finally bursting through the doors of the study, disturbing the comfortable silence that has settled upon it.

"You won't believe what I just overheard at the market today!"She said, heading on over to her husband's side. "Apparently, the Riverdale Estate is occupied again—by a handsome young man named Mr. Andrews."

"He will be at the village dance tonight, and let me tell you, he is a man of exceedingly great fortune! He makes over five thousand pounds a year, and—"

"Mrs. Cooper, I do not see how this concerns our lovely warrior daughter."Mr. Cooper replied, and Elizabeth lifted her head, opposed to the topic of marriage. She knows that she is at the age in which most women get married, twenty-five, but with her non-conforming and bold personality, she finds it stupid to have to be inferior and tied down to a man and his will for the rest of her life.

Besides, she will never want to give up her sword for a man. Most of the men who have courted her and asked for her hand in marriage have asked her to relinquish her skills in combat, and of course she have turned them all down.

The right man wouldn't ask her to give up the thing she is most passionate about—the right man might even share the same passion with her.

"Our daughter is in need of a husband, Mr. Cooper. You know very well that she will inherit nothing once you pass."Mrs. Cooper sighed.

"Mother, you speak as if I am not in the same room as you are."The young blonde spoke up, placing the gun she had been polishing on the desk. "You know how I feel about marriage."

"I don't understand why you keep turning those men down, Elizabeth."Her mother said. "They're all worthy and impeccable young men! Your chances at lifelong happiness are all the same with each of them."

Elizabeth decided to say nothing more and kept her lips sealed. "Run along, Elizabeth. Tidy yourself up—we will be attending the village dance tonight."

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If there was one thing Elizabeth Cooper likes least, it was dancing.

There had already been five men who she had politely declined in their offers to dance with her, and she caught some trying to gather the courage to approach her, but ultimately decided not to in fear of rejection.

None of those men had been Mr. Jones, who was seated at the corner of the room, a glass of wine in one hand, his gaze fixated on a certain blonde haired woman at the other end of the room.

He could see the way her green eyes twinkled under the dim light of the room all the way from where he sat, and without a doubt in his mind, it mesmerized him.

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Reposted this because I need it to be hyped again. I'm publishing the next chapter in a bit...and by 'a bit', I mean in a few hours lol.