the town with darkness | bughead

ch. 4 | the fighter

Both Jughead and Betty whipped their eyes up to see Stinger and his Scorpion friend looking down on them. Stinger looked much the worse for wear - his nose was definitely broken and a torn shirt had been tied tightly around his knee. He'd wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulders but now moved to lean against the pickup Betty and Jughead had just been sitting in.

"It's gonna be a while before I can ride a bike again with this knee," Stinger growled angrily at the two of them. "My friend over here thinks we should teach you a lesson for that."

"You two need to back off right now," Betty said, her voice shaking. "Call it a night and leave us alone."

"Unfortunately Sweetcheeks the world doesn't work like that," Stinger's Scorpion friend said, leering at her.

"Help me up," Jughead whispered to Betty. Without a word she grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. He wavered slightly but stood his ground. "Both of you, get the hell out of here right now. There's a whole goddamn dive bar full of Serpents just waiting to shoot your kneecaps off if you so much as touch FP Jones's son. You realise that don't you?" Jughead was surprised at how strong his voice sounded despite the pain and exhaustion he felt. He blamed it on the adrenaline currently coursing through his body.

"Maybe we just don't care," the Scorpion said. He took a step forward, cracked his knuckles menacingly. "Think I'll go for the girl first, what do you reckon Stinger?"

"I like that course of action," Stinger grunted from the side of the pickup.

"Don't you dare touch her," Jughead hissed, pushing Betty behind him.

"Wait, don't tell me," Stinger said mockingly, "we have to go through you first?"

"Took the words right outta my mouth," Jughead said with a grin, his split lip reopening and sending a trickle of blood down his chin.

"You wanna do the honors?" Stinger asked the other Scorpion while he shoved his hand into his pocket again and pulled out the brass knuckles. Jughead's face dropped and he swallowed nervously as Stinger handed them to his biker friend.

"Seriously? You gotta be joking," Jughead said despondently.

"You don't mind if we up the ante do you?" Stinger said with a chuckle.

"Do what you gotta do," Jughead said, his eyes flickering warily over to the Whyte Wyrm to see if any Serpents were outside. The parking lot was full of bikes but devoid of people. "If you don't think you can beat me without brass knuckles then I guess that's something you gotta deal with when you can't sleep at night," Jughead said with a shrug.

"Alright, kid, I think I've had just about enough of you," the Scorpion said, stepping forward.

Jughead pushed Betty away and raised his arms in a defensive position. The Scorpion swung at him and Jughead ducked, wincing as the move pulled on his ribs. He was much slower now and the Scorpion took advantage of it in a big way. Jughead didn't dodge his second punch which landed right in his chest sending Jughead sprawling to the cold, hard ground. One hand on his chest, Jughead groaned in pain, pushing himself up to his knees. But the Scorpion simply walked up to him and kicked him right in the gut. Jughead cried out in pain as he was kicked a second and third time.

"P-please," Jughead all but whimpered holding a hand up, breathing hard. It was no use. Neither was Betty screaming at the Scorpion to stop as he kept kicking Jughead.

"Stop! Stop, you'll kill him! Stop!" Betty shouted. She ran up to Jughead's attacker and grabbed his arm but he shook her off easily. She'd been ineffectual against the Scorpion but her screams had gotten the attention of some Serpents in the Whyte Wyrm at last. Within minutes of her screaming at the top of her lungs, a bunch of leather-jacketed thugs exploded from the dive bar and ran down to where the impromptu fight was taking place near pickup.

"What the hell is goin' on here?"

Jughead, who'd been curled up on the ground, covered in dirt, with his arms wrapped around his middle, let out a breath when he heard the rough, male voice. It was the first time in a while he'd been relieved to hear his father.

"He jumped us, FP," the Scorpion said, "and it's not like Stinger can fight back with his knee all screwed up."

"That's so not...how it happened," Jughead retorted in between gasps for breath. Betty crouched down next to him, her hand on his shoulder, helping him sit up.

"At this point, I really don't care how it happened," FP said and Jughead saw Betty's jaw drop in shock. He grabbed her arm lightly in warning. "The fights happen in the basement. Got it?"

Both Scorpions were silent, looking everywhere except at FP.

"I said, got it?" FP repeated, his tone murderous.

"Sure FP, we were leavin' anyway," Stinger said, sounding like a petulant child. "Let's get out of here," he added to his friend.

The two of them - with Stinger hobbling on his bad knee - made a quick getaway and most of the Serpents peeled off to go back to the Whyte Wyrm until only Betty, Jughead and FP remained in lot.

"You alright?" FP asked, a trace of concern present in his voice.

"I will be," Jughead said, forcing himself back up to his feet with a groan. He wavered slightly and Betty grabbed him with lightning-fast reflexes.

"Who's your friend?"

"This is...uh Betty," Jughead answered, his gaze firmly fixed on the ground, "Betty Cooper."

"Betty Cooper, as in Alice Cooper?" FP questioned, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"That's my Mom," Betty replied tersely.

"Huh. How 'bout that? Tell your Mom I say hi," FP said with a grin. He didn't elaborate on how he knew Betty's mom and neither Jughead nor Betty stepped in to ask. "You goin' home?"

"Yep," Jughead said with a small nod. "See you there?"

"Not tonight, probably not this whole weekend," FP said matter-of-factly. "Got some stuff to take care of, one town over."

"Alright, well... be careful," Jughead replied weakly.

"Think I should be the one tellin' you that," FP said with a chuckle. "When you're pickin' fights with Scorpions in the parking lot."

"Jughead didn't pick that fight," Betty retorted.

"Betty," Jughead warned under his breath. He knew his father would never hurt Betty. No, what FP would do would involve Jughead being slammed up against the walls of the doublewide later on in retaliation. FP was always up for slapping Jughead around because of something someone else did.

"I like this girl Jughead," FP said, nodding at Betty. "She's got spunk. See ya later."

With that FP spun on his biker boot and strolled back to the dive bar.

"So that's your father huh?" Betty murmured as the two of them started walking towards her car, Jughead's arm over her shoulders as he staggered slightly.

"That's my father," Jughead said resignedly. "He's an acquired taste."

"You can say that again," Betty replied as they reached her car. She unlocked it and opened the passenger side door for Jughead but when she went to help him in, he waved her off.

"I'm fine, really," Jughead sighed, even while wincing at the movement. Betty gave him a pointed look but closed the passenger door without a word and hopped in the driver's seat.

"Let me at least patch you up," she offered.

"No, really I can do it."

"Look Juggie," Betty said, turning in her seat to face him properly. "You might recognise this as my 'no-nonsense voice'. Basically I'm not taking 'no' for an answer this time around okay? I just saw you get the crap beaten out of you not once but twice, not to mention the fact that you told me all of...that about your father as well. You need someone to take care of you. Even if it's just for a few minutes tonight, alright?"

"Jeez, well, when you put it like that Betts, I suppose I have no choice do I?" Jughead said, leaning back and smiling at her.