The Brotherhood: Riverdale Tales, chapter 10
8 hours ago, in the Brotherhood lair
“Where are they?!?â€, a loud voice exclaimed. Luke and Dave were abruptly interrupted in their discussion by the sudden shout. Turning their heads, they saw Elder Peter closely followed by Elder John, walking in their direction at a brisk pace, the sounds of their heavy boots echoing against the walls. Both displayed a stern face, but John also seemed particularly angry on top of that.
“ Dave â€, he said, “ Where are my sons? They don’t answer my calls. â€
“ I don’t know, Elder †Dave replied, slightly bowing. « I warned them to stay close, as I know you would like to talk to them after my report, but I didn’t actively watch on them. I had to deal with Luke and his friend ».
Peter drew a walkie-talkie from one of the pockets of his cloak. “ Gate? This is Elder Peter. Come in! â€
A worried voice answered after a few seconds. “ Yes, Elder? â€
“ Jeff, is that you? I need to know if the Winchester brothers have left the Temple today? â€
« Huh… yes, I saw them pass the gates three hours ago in their car… »
“ WHAT? †John exclaimed.
“ Where did they go? â€, Peter asked.
“ I don’t know, Elder. They barely talk to us anyway, or only to despise us, and I had no reason to stop them either. I… â€
Turning a button, Peter switched off the device, cutting short the conversation. « John, this is unacceptable ».
“ Can’t agree more â€, John mumbled angrily.
“ Any idea where they can be? †Peter asked, looking again at Dave and Luke.
“ No, elder. But we can use the tracking device of their car, or the bug in their cell phones. â€
“ Let’s do that â€.
Five minutes later, they were all standing in a room full of massive screens and computers. Despite the medieval look of the whole estate, the Brotherhood was fully equipped with modern tech. All four were standing behind a fifth brother, who was frantically hitting his keyboard.
“ Soooo, Sam and Dean….. wheeere are you? Hmm-hmm…. â€, he hummed.
“ Topher, hurry up! †John said.
“ He! Elder, this is delicate tech, I have to hijack the satellite signal to align with our bugs, and to check our internal database since you didn’t remember their IDs, and then… “
“ Topher… â€
“ Ha. Here they are! †he exclaimed, showing them a map who just popped on his main screen. A red dot was slowly moving, following a green line figuring a road.
“And where is this?â€
“The data of the car are consistent with those of their phones. They are… †- he zoomed out the map a little bit - « approaching a town called… Riverdaleâ€.
“What the heck are they doing there?†John exclaimed.
Topher chuckled a little. A new pop up window appeared on his screen. “According to Wikipedia, it’s a dynamic small town near a river and a forest. How bucolic… oh, and they have a diner locally famous for their milkshakes too. Maybe they wanted some vacation?â€
“ I mostly see it’s dangerously close to Greendale, which is forbidden ground for usâ€. Peter said. “ Do you think they could have betrayed us to the witches?“
“Unlikely†John replied. “ I know my sons, they’re brats on the loose, but they’re no traitors to humanityâ€
“In either case, we need to bring them back asap. They at least need to be pulled back in line!â€
“If I may, Elders…†Dave spoke. “I’d like to volunteer for this mission. I feel responsible for their misbehavior, as I was supposed to oversee their missionâ€.
“I’d like too!†Luke intervened. “I have some unfinished business with them!â€
“Obviously, after what they’ve done to you. That’s part of why we want them anyway…†Peter commented. “Okay, go gear up. Your task is to bring them back here!â€
“Hey Daveâ€, Topher added, still looking at his screen. “I’ve just activated the microphone of Dean’s phone. You’ll be able to hear their conversation during the tripâ€.
“Thanks, Brotherâ€. Dave turned to Luke, smiling. “I guess you’ll drive the van, then!â€
*
One hour later, they passed the gate of the Brotherhood. Dave and Luke were carrying two bags of quite heavy gear; Luke had asked what it was, but Dave had remained quite vague, just saying it was “usual stuff for such disciplinary missionsâ€.
Now Luke was indeed driving toward Riverdale while Dave was in the back of the van, a set of headphones on his ears, spying on the Winchester’s conversation.
Approximately midway, he came back to the cab.
“What’s the news?†Luke asked.
“Apparentlyâ€, Dave began, “they really just wanted to get some vacation time out of the Temple. And they actually drove off to Riverdale at random. And they indeed went to that diner Topher mentioned â€.
“So… nothing too bad? They’re just having a good time… instead of having retribution in the brotherhood…†Luke’s hands contracted on the wheel. “They’re just being dickheads, as usual†he mumbled.
“That’s not itâ€. Dave added. “If I listened well, they apparently think that they’ve just found the red paladin and the hellcasterâ€.
“What? From the prophecy which was just cast today by our prophet? But… that’s impossible!â€
“I’d rather say unlikely… Stepping on them by pure chance is a huge coincidence, and I didn’t picture them as teenagers but… prophecies could be tricky, and there might be other forces at work there. But that’s not even the question. Even if they’ve found them, they can’t just act alone without referring to the elder. Let’s hope they’ll stop where they are…â€
Two hours later, Luke saw a sign indicating the entrance of Riverdale county.
“Hey, we’re almost there! Are you okay?â€he called Dave, who was still in the rear compartment. One minute later, he came back again to the cab, grunting.
“This is worse than I thought. Where to begin… First, they decided to capture the boy they’ve identified as the red paladin. They went to his house and interrogated him, but so far he seems to be an absolutely average teenager. But they nonetheless decided to bring him back to the lair.â€
“What? But… did they call the Elders or…?â€
“Precisely not. This violates all the protocols. This kind of operation needs to be carefully planned. For instance, we need to give a plausible explanation for the disappearance of the kid…â€
“So they’re back to the Temple? Do we turn back?â€
“Nope… a friend of this boy came into play and surprised them. Apparently, he managed to turn the tables. Now the Winchesters are the captives and they are being interrogated right nowâ€.
“What the fuck? Are you saying two teens have captured the Winchester brothers?â€
“Yeah. So long for the tale of the legendary hunters, I guess… but anyway, I called the Elders and told them about the situation. We have clearance to use full disciplinary powersâ€.
“Which means ?â€
“Right, you’re still a novice, you’ll see… For now, I need you to drive to this address…â€
20 minutes later, Luke parked the van in front of Archie’s house, just in front of the Impala.
“They’re still there apparently. And there’s light on the garageâ€, he commented, as he rejoined Dave in the back of the van.
“Yes they are. We need to hurry!†Dave replied, as he was handling a long tube he was positioning over his shoulder. Luke took a moment to realize it was a weapon.
“Woah, Dave, isn’t launching a rocket on the house a little bit too much?â€
“Relax†he said as he stepped out of the van. “It’s a mere grenade launcher. And we don’t kill any human, remember? Look at the ammos!â€
Luke did. He saw a small crate containing several canisters labeled CHCl3.
“Reassured? Now, go find something to block the garage’s door, if you please!â€
***
A thick smoke started to escape from the canister. It had a strong, sweet smell…
“It’s chloroform! Archie, quick, we need to get out of there!â€
Almost stepping on the Winchesters, Jughead rushed to the garage’s door. As he grabbed the handle, the anesthetic gas had already spread in the whole room, as it was concentrated in the grenade. Jughead could feel it going aggressively through his nose and irritating his eyes. He had had a sniff before chloroforming Dean, but this was something completely different; despite not having to breathe it from a compress under his nose, he felt the drug far more concentrated, thus far more potent.
Jughead tugged on the handle. One time. Two times. The door trembled but didn’t move.
“Archie! *cough* “It’s jammed shut! *cough* Come and help me!â€
“Jug, I *cough* I can’t… breathe… *cough*â€
In horror, Jughead watched his friend take a step forward, then stumble, as if his legs couldn’t carry him anymore. Archie tried to stand up again, but only managed to crouch. His eyes were drying out, his ears buzzing, his lungs burning, and all the strength seemed to vanish out of his muscles. This time, the effect of the chloroform was even faster.
“Jug, everything… spinning… I can’t…†he mumbled, before falling on his back.
“Hold steady, Archie!â€. Jughead tried to breathe in his elbow, but this was no use, he now could feel the chloroform going in his lungs too. “It’s faster for Archie because he’s already been ragged twice tonightâ€, he thought.
“You’re doomed, boysâ€, Dean spoke, slightly smiling. The charm of the muzzle was broken. “Our friends are going to save us *cough*, and you’ll pay for what you did to us.†His voice was becoming fuzzy, but he continued his taunts. “I’ll give you a small tip: it’ll be faster if you breathe deep, like thatâ€.
He indeed took a deep inspiration. His eyes shut down, but he managed to mumble “Nighty-night boys!†as he was drifting off.
Not paying attention to his taunts, Jughead tried again to knock the door down, using his shoulder to bang against it, but the drug was taking hold and he lacked force. On his second try, he stumbled too, falling on his knees.
He desperately tried to reach the door knob again, but realized that it was futile. His ears were buzzing too and his muscles were getting weaker and weaker. He couldn’t reach it, let alone the idea of standing up. He realized his mind was clouding too.
“This… I can’t… must be… a way outâ€. These were his last thoughts as the chloroform finally dragged him into unconsciousness too.
***
Outside, Luke could hear some banging against the door, and some outbursts, both getting weaker and weaker each second. Within a minute, everything had gone quiet again.
“These grenades contain a very concentrated dose of chloroform. It’s designed to knock out everyone in a 10 meter radius within a minute if they’re indoors. Seems like it did its job†Dave explained.
“Yes. What do we do now?â€
“Now, we collect the Winchester and we make sure these boys don’t follow usâ€.
“We don’t take them too?â€
“Like I say, we must collect more intell about them, if they really are the ones from the prophecy… the Elders agree, the risk of ruining everything with a hasty kidnapping is too high. Think of Nick!â€
Luke clenched his fists at the evocation of his friend’s fate.
“Anyway, the way Sam and Dean did, I doubt everyone will believe in the existence of the brotherhood, even if they talk. Everyone will think of a burglary that went wrong. But we’ll deal with the damage control later. Here, take this!†Dave said, as he was handing a tight gas mask to Luke.
The two men took a moment to adjust the devices on their faces and check they were airtight.
“I’ll deal with Sam and Dean†Dave said, his voice slightly distorted through the mask. “Go take something in the van to tie the boys up. Rope and tape only, we can’t let any gear backâ€
“Understood†Luke said. He went to the van and opened one of the large bags they had been carrying. Miles of rope and several rolls of tape, as well as other gags, handcuffs and binding gear. He even spotted two muzzles. He chose four coils of ropes to begin with, as well as a roll of gray strong duct tape.
Dave was dragging Sam out of the garage as he went in, ready to carry out his task.