HOOLIGANS [SWEET PEA] [✔️]

FIFTEEN || NEVER MIND, THINGS ARE COMPLETELY GOING TO SHIT

"Well, he's very fetching for someone who was living on Skid Row." Veronica said as Betty showed them a picture of Chic, her recently found brother.

"Yeah, he's a hottie who looks incredibly familiar to me, by the way." Kevin said, and Fallon gave him a look. "Your adventures in the woods?" She asked, and he rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, but maybe if we were allowed to meet this hottie in person..." He wiggles his eyebrows at Betty, and she shook her head.

"Chic's still acclimating. And I'm trying to get him to trust me, but my mom is treating him like he's a ten-year-old and my dad's acting like he's the devil's spawn." She sounded exasperated to say the least, and Veronica gave her a sly smile.

"Well, I have an amazing idea. Bring The Omen to Pickens Day and we can all meet him. Everyone's coming, right?"

Fallon and Jughead exchanged a look, and Fallon looked at Veronica stony faced. "No, because the Serpents weren't invited."

"The Serpents were specifically asked to come." Veronica replied, seemingly surprised at Fallon's response.

"Yeah, to provide security. It's like we're all on the Snowpiercer train, but the Serpents happen to be the ones eating the cockroaches." Jughead snapped, and Veronica looked slightly offended.

"You don't have to work if you don't want to." She said, and Fallon looked ready to punch the girl in the face. Betty shot her a warning look, so Fallon resorted to crossing her arms and glaring. "The damage, as they say, has already been done."

"Talk to you guys later." Jughead said, standing, and Fallon looked over at him. "Plans with Toni?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm interviewing her grandfather for my oral history report. The oldest living Serpent."

"Well, have fun. You want a ride home, Blondie?" She asked Betty, and the girl nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

Veronica and Kevin looked confused as Betty packed up her stuff, following the Serpent out of the lounge.

"Was it something I said?" Veronica wondered.

_______

Fallon had agreed to help Betty with homework at Betty's house, and the two were sprawled across her bed working on Trigonometry when Betty's cell phone rang.

Betty answered, putting the phone on speaker so Fallon could hear.

"Hey, Kev, what's up?"

"Are you somewhere secure where you can talk?" Kevin sounded frantic, and Betty shot Fallon a concerned look.

"Yeah, why, what is it?"

"Betty, I just remembered where I know Chic from. He's a video gigolo, a webcam boy, a cyber-trick."

Fallon's eyes went wide as Betty's did too, whispering "Holy shit." under her breath.

"Jesus, really?" Betty gasped, and Kevin sighed through the phone. "Yeah. Well, I gotta go, I'd keep Fallon or Sweet Pea around for the next few days until you know Chic is okay to be within fifty feet of."

"Already on it, Kevin." Fallon said, and Kevin coughed. "Oh, hi, Fallon. Glad you're there."

"Considering what you just told us, me too."

_______

"Hey, am I interrupting?" Jughead asked as he and Fallon walked in on Kevin and Betty at school, both of them looking like they'd just seen a ghost.

"Yeah, kinda." Kevin snapped, and as Fallon flared at him, Betty sighed.

"No."

"I just wanted to run some stuff by you, but I can come back." Jughead said as he turned to leave, but Betty stopped him.

"No, no, no, it's fine."

"By the way, I'm really digging Kevin's new gossip column." Fallon said, trying to calm the atmosphere and making Kevin grin.

"Readers love it. And I needed to fill the extra space when you..." Betty smiled, and trailed off with a statement aimed at her ex boyfriend.

"I'm actually working on a story right now. Here. When I interviewed Toni's grandfather for history class, he had some pretty intense things to say about General Pickens. But then I did some follow-up research. General Pickens was hired by Barnabas B. Blossom to remove the Uktena tribe by force. Betty, he killed 400 innocent men, women and children." Jughead said, Fallon sighing with disgust.

"Oh, my God! That's horrible." Betty exclaimed.

"And adding salt to the wound, the last remnants of the tribe, the Serpents, are being squeezed out of existence. Toni's grandfather lives in a trailer the size of a broom closet. And Hiram Lodge is honoring this murderer instead of trying to make amends. I think it's a story you need to tell." Fallon said, her blonde best friend nodding with agreement.

_______

"Today's the day." Sweet Pea said as Fallon cut duct tape into strips for all of the Serpents protesting with a pair of scissors.

"Thanks for agreeing to do this, Pea." She said, and he grinned, leaning over to peck her on the lips.

"Anything for my best girl."

Fallon kissed his cheek and placed the duct tape over his mouth, laughing as his eyes sparkled. She placed a strip over her mouth too, watching as the others except for Toni taped their mouths shut, grabbing signs and boards they'd painted for the protest.

She gave Toni a nod, and they began to walk, headed towards Pickens Park.

"Happy Pickens Day! On behalf of Lodge Industries and Andrews Construction, we are thrilled to kick things off with a new twist on an old favorite. So, Veronica and the Pussycats." Hiram announced, everyone in attendance watching the stage.

Veronica and her friends were barely a quarter of the way through their song when the Serpents arrived, the band stopping as Toni marched up the steps, a bullhorn in her hand.

"Toni? Jughead? Fallon? What the hell is going on?" Archie asked frantically as they passed him, but none of them answered, two because they couldn't and one because she wouldn't.

"We're here representing the dead and the silenced. Pickens Day is a lie. General Pickens slaughtered the Uktena tribe, my grandfather's family. And this land, the land that we're standing on, the land that will soon give way to a new Southside, was stolen from them. And we can't bring them back, but we can and we must honor them." Toni called into the bullhorn, and people began to murmur in confusion and horror.

"What?"

"Is that true?"

"What's going on?"

Hiram stepped back up to the microphone as the air grew tense, an extremely nervous smile on his face.

"Hey, folks, hi. Uh I think we can all be proud to live in a Riverdale where young people stand up for justice. Where a young woman can defend the honor and legacy of her grandfather. And where we can celebrate the living legacy of the Uktena, who contribute to the rich tapestry that is Riverdale, that is the Southside and that will be SoDale. So let's hear a round of applause for that, am I right?"

People began to applaud, and Fallon had to grab Jughead's arm in a vice grip as he tried to rush the stage, ripping the tape off his mouth.

Fallon took her tape off, shooting a harsh whisper into his ear. "Jughead, don't you dare."

"That's right. What do you say, people?" Hiram smiled as everyone clapped and cheered, Sweet Pea and Fangs sending Toni and Fallon defeated looks.

Hiram had beat them again.