Author: Crofton77

“DARN IT Ruby!” Sir Lionheart
groaned as he dodged another Ruby Blast. Since discovering the Ruby
Suit, Daryl had managed to improve the skill set to include minor
explosive Ruby Blasts and Ruby Whips, which could be used to grab
victims while numbing them.

“Are you lot DONE yet?” Ruby turned
to face Mobster Marion and three of her goons, who were busy
destroying an old city memorial. Peter had warned the Knights of the
Last Order that the memorial would be a target, as Mayor Jones wanted
land for a shopping complex.

“We're taking our time to do things
properly!” Mobster Marion snapped as another statue fell.

“It's DESTRUCTION, how “properly”
can you do it?!” Ruby cried, throwing another Ruby Blast at Sir
Hyper, who had gotten close enough to try and strike. Sir Hyper
screamed as the Ruby Power charged up to his shoulder, numbing his
entire arm.

“Sir Hyper!” Sir Lionheart tried to
get to his fallen comrade, but it was too late. With a sickening
pop, Ruby easily twisted around Sir Hypers elbow.

“Not another one!” Sir Lionheart
groaned. That meant Sir Hyper, Sir Dark AND Lady Courage were out of
commission!

“You're next Chickenheart!” Ruby
grinned beneath the mask. Sir Lionheart quickly grabbed Sir Hyper
and the pair bolted from the memorial, unable to save it.

“Damn, damn, DAMN!” Sir Lionheart
groaned. He did his best to drag Sir Hyper away from the area as
quickly as he could – when Sir Dark had his ankle broken, Master
Revolver and twenty of the Death Valley Mobsters had chased them
around the city. Lady Luck was still fuming over the fact that her
beloved had been injured.

“I'm sorry Sammy.” Sir Lionheart
climbed down one of the broken storm drains which led to the tip.
Sir Hyper was following slowly, hissing with the pain in his elbow.

“I'll live.” Sir Hyper replied.
Now nineteen, the small boy had become an imposing man. He was still
pretty hyperactive and fun though, especially with children. He was
going through University himself now, hoping to become a teacher.
His theory was that while Belle could try and change minds that were
already set, he could help mould the minds that were still flexible.

“If only we had Chuckles and Giggles
again.” He sighed as the pair emerged from a large pipe that
emptied near the tip. Sir Lionheart shook his head.

“I know Charlie's still keen, but I
don't see Belle getting involved again.” The older man sighed.
“Let's get your arm fixed. Petunia's gonna kill us.”

“I think the jerk just dislocated my
elbow.” Sir Hyper looked at his arm. With a little wiggle and a
“pop”, the arm looked normal again, if not a little swollen.

“Oh thank goodness for that.”
Daniel pulled off his helmet. “A bit of ice on that and you'll be
good in a week. We're running out of combatants.”

“Surely TJ should be fine soon.”
Sam got back into his civilian attire.

“I'd still like for him to rest for
another week or so until he's 100% fit. He could get killed
otherwise.” Daniel replied.

“SAM! DAN!” A raspy female voice
called out. Lady Silent (or Not-So-Silent-Any-More as Sir Dark calls
her) ran towards them, jumping up and hugging her brother tightly.
“You guys were on the news, I saw your arm, what happened Sam?”

“It was dislocated, but I popped it
back in. Chill out Tammy, I'm fine.” Sam patted her head, wincing
at the pain that was still in his arm.

“It looks like it's sore.” Tammy
pointed out.

“Are you going to be annoying all the
way home?” Sam frowned at her as the trio headed towards Sams car.

“I'm your big sister.”

“By fifteen minutes!”

“Still your big sister.”

Daniel couldn't help but sit in the
back seat chuckling all the way home.

–

Belle walked out of the court room,
fuming. It seemed that the Death Valley Mobsters weren't the only
crooks in town, and she was beginning to regret all the times she
saved the Pleasantville First Bank as Giggles. The way they treated
people and they were allowed to get away with it?!

“Does this city THRIVE on corruption
or something?!” She wondered out aloud.

“It's an alternate way to do business
one might say.”

Belles head shot up to see Mr. Jones
smiling triumphantly at her.

“You're just like your father.” He
chuckled. “Neither you, nor him, nor the Knights of the Last Order
can change this city. It's the place where so called “trustworthy”
businesses come to make a dirty profit. That's what keeps us going.”

“Leave me alone.” Belle growled at
the Mayor, stalking off.

“You're fighting a losing battle, why
not join the winning team?” Mr. Jones called after her. Belle
ignored him and quickened her pace. What a SLIMEBALL!

She got into the slowly dying old
Elantra and headed home. One day she'd have to buy herself a new
car.

“Now I understand why you got so mad
Dad.” She said later, sitting at the table at home nursing a hot
chocolate. “It's infuriating, the way that people get away with
murder in this city.”

“You're fighting a long ingrained
state of mind Beauty.” Peter replied, standing at the sink and
peeling potatoes. “This was SO much easier when Bill lived here.”
He grumbled.

“It wasn't a total waste of a day
though.” Belle mentioned.

“Oh?” Peter looked up at her.

“You see, I stopped at the petrol
station to get more fuel and-,”

Belle was cut off by Lara returning
home with Madeleine and Oscar. Oscar burst into the house waving
around a red ribbon.

“I won the race! I won the race!”
He cried, running laps between Peter and Belle. “We had the sports
carnival today and I won the race!”

“Well done!” Peter lifted his
step-son up in a big bear hug.

“Have you finished those potatoes
yet?” Lara narrowed her eyes at Peter, who started peeling as if
his life depended on it (which it did).

“Hey little man!” Belle high-fived
Oscar before pulling him into her lap.

“I ran really, really, REALLY fast
Belle! Zoom!” Oscar started giving a detailed description of how he
completely obliterated his competition (to be honest, he only JUST
barely won, but we won't take his victory away from him).

“Did you see the Pleasantville
Memorial got flattened?” Lara said quietly to Peter.

Peter grimaced. Joe Masters had a
plaque there due to his actions against Johannas.

“I can't take much more of this.”
He threw down the last potato and the peeler, frustrated.

Belle looked at her father, and then
back at Oscar, who was still jumping around with excitement. She
tried not to think of the future the poor boy faced.

–

Crickets chirped loudly at the tip that
night, where again Charlie was having a late-night training session.
Although tonight wasn't so much training as it was stargazing. And
not so much stargazing as it was being lost in his own thoughts.

He'd seen the news that day. He'd seen
Sir Hyper get injured. He knew Sunny still had a cast on her arm and
that TJ had just gotten out of his moon-boot. Daniel was the only
combatant of the Knights of the Last Order left who could still
fight.

The bad guys were winning.

He sat up. It wasn't fair. He had to
do something! But without Belle and the Improbability Clause he was
little more than cannon fodder.

You managed to do okay before
Giggles came on the scene. Remember how you won the Lions Claw
Blade?

He shook the
thought off. That had been with the help of Sir Lionheart and Sir
Dark.

You should go and get your sword
back. It's not like you need Giggles
to help you.

He sighed. He
didn't even know where Mobster Marion was. Probably antagonising
some innocent civilian.

He got up and
stretched. Probably should go for a walk, lying down with the Arm
Scythes on usually ended in stiffness. He pulled on his masks and
headed back towards the city on the back of the midnight bus.

He savoured the bus
ride every night, because that's when he was Chuckles again, even if
he wasn't fighting crime. He jumped off the bus near the
Pleasantville Central Park and headed into the scented garden. It
was peaceful here, the lingering smell of the flowers hanging in the
air.

WAS peaceful.

“I
can't believe the NERVE of that man! Yelling at me as if I were one
of the grunts!” Chuckles heard the distinguishable voice of Mobster
Marion ranting. “I don't care what he lost, he has no right to
speak to his fiancé like that!”

“Had
a domestic with Revolver did you?” Chuckles jumped out from behind
a bush.

“Humph.
What do you care?” Mobster Marion growled.

“Hey,
we've all had relationship problems before. Maybe it will help to
talk about it?” Chuckles threw up his hands in defence. “You're
not breaking any laws right now so I'm not going to beat you up.”

“I
can change that!” Mobster Marion grinned, pulling out the Lions
Claw Blade and slicing down one of the bushes.

“HEY!
Not cool!” Chuckles cried.

“I'll
just take my frustrations out on you shall I?” Mobster Marion
laughed, swinging the Lions Claw Blade at Chuckles, who jumped back.

“I
was only trying to help!” Chuckles yelped indignantly. “No
wonder Revolver yells at you, you're a COW!”

“And
proud of it brat!” Mobster Marion moved to advance again, when a
gunshot rang out and a bullet landed just in front of her.

“The
HECK?!” Chuckles spun around, looking for the source of the bullet.
Nothing but silence and empty darkness surrounded him.

“Ooooh,
you're going to get it -ARGH!” Mobster Marion moved to attack
again, but was stopped by another bullet. In her fright, the Lions
Claw Blade fell to the ground.

Chuckles saw his
chance. He swung at Mobster Marion with one of the Arm Scythes,
forcing her back. She kicked at her sword, sending it towards one of
the bushes.

It would be a foot
race to see who would get there first, and Chuckles had a sharp
advantage. He swung at Mobster Marion again, forcing her backwards
before taking off towards the fallen Blade himself.

“Get
back here!” Unfortunately Mobster Marion still had speed on her
side. She went to make a grab at Chuckles when the third bullet
nicked her finger. She screamed in pain and fright as Chuckles
rolled into the bushes and took back his sword.

He bolted as fast
as he could back to the tip, making sure that Mobster Marion nor none
of her henchmen were following him.

“I
GOT MY SWORD BACK!”  

The first thing she noticed was the
tree. Another year or so and it'd be back to its former glory, ready
for the next generation to play in. The second thing she noticed was
Sunny out the front of her house with a two-year-old, a broken arm
and a man Belle had never met before. So it looked like she wasn't
back with Charlie after all.

“Things have changed a little bit
Beauty.” Peter helped Belle get her trunk out of the car as a young
man of six ran out to hug her.

“Hey Ozzie!” Belle lifted up her
younger step-brother. “You're getting big now mate, you're almost
as tall as me!”

“I missed you Belle!” Oscar hugged
her tightly. Hand-in-hand, the siblings headed inside where Lara was
feeding baby Madeleine Masters. Peter set down the bags and kissed
his wife.

“Who's the guy with Sunny? Is that
her baby?” Belle asked, setting down her bag and sitting down.
Oscar scrambled into her lap.

“That's her boyfriend Patrick and
their daughter Melody.” Peter replied.

“What happened to her arm?” Belle
asked. Peter looked uncomfortable.

“Ruby Daryl.” He replied.

“Ruby Daryl? What the -?” Belle
looked confused.

“Maybe it's best if you ask Sunny.
She's currently trying to break down the door.” Lara pointed to
the front door. Out of the window, Belle could see Sunny waving and
knocking furiously.

“SUNNY!” Belle ripped open the
door. The two friends hugged each other tightly. “You're a Mum
now?”

“Yup. Myself and Patrick have a
little girl now.” Sunny grinned.

“So, you finally found yourself
someone of your own?” Belle smiled.

“Sure did! Patrick, get in here and
say hi to Belle!” Sunny called to her beloved Patrick. “Bring
Melody too!”

“How on earth did your parents react
to you having a baby?!” Belle asked as the group sat down at the
Masters table.

Sunny looked downcast. “Things got
pretty bad once Chuckles and Giggles left. Demon is now the Mayor –
it turns out he was my own father!”

“Demon is your father?!” Belle
yelped.

“Yeah. Dad got really pissed off
after you and Charlie came into my place that time to stop Daryl from
picking on me. So he decided to become Demon and do whatever he
could to get rid of you. Now he's Mayor…and he's become far too
power-mad. Especially once he found out that it was Daryl who found
your Ruby Suit. Daryl is now Dad's private enforcer, which is how I
got my arm broken.” Sunny sighed. “He was also pretty ticked
off when I got pregnant, but Mum talked him into signing the old
house over to me when they moved into their new mansion.”

“Wow. What about the DVM?” Belle
asked.

“They're unstoppable. Last time we
managed to get Revolver arrested he only got community service.”
Peter said bitterly. “Three whole weeks of it, and he hasn't done
one second.”

“Wow. This place really has gone to
the dogs.” Belle looked down.

“Plus Jones has had a huge crackdown
on vigilantism. Thankfully he has no idea Sunny's with the Knights
or we'd be in huge trouble.” Patrick added.

“How did you two meet anyway?”
Belle asked.

Sunny smiled.

“I was doing some online courses and
ended up at the Library a fair bit. Patrick was also studying and
well, here we are.” Sunny rested her head on Patrick, who kissed
her nose. “Have you been to see Charlie yet? He misses you.”

“So I've heard.” Belle sighed.

“Just go over there and say hi
Belle-Belle, it's not that hard.” Sunny poked her friend in the
arm, hard.

“Easy for you to say.” Belle
rubbed her arm with a quick dirty look at Sunny, who poked her tongue
out.

–

“Hi Betty, hi Thomas!” Belle
hugged Charlies parents as she walked into the familiar lounge room.

“Well I don't believe it! Is this
the same little girl who once helped me make biscuits?” Betty
squeezed Belle tightly.

“Little is correct.” Thomas laughed
as Belle scowled at him. She was STILL impossibly tiny for her age.

“Don't be mean!” Betty chided.
Belle smiled at the pair of them.

“How have you guys been?” She made
herself comfortable on the couch.

“Getting by. It helps that Charlie
came home and took over the family business.” Thomas sat on one of
the chairs opposite her.

Belle felt a twinge of guilt. She
remembered how she'd planned with Charlie to do a business degree
together.

“He learnt a lot about metal working
while he was in Awesomica. They do things differently over there,
and Charlie brought back a lot of new ideas.” Thomas continued.

“It's so good to have the two of you
home again.” Betty smiled.

“Speaking of, where is Charlie?”
Belle asked, figuring it was better to get this over and done with.

“He's at work at the-,” Betty
started, when the front door opened and a loud, clear, familiar voice
called out.

“MUM! DAD! I'm home!”

Belle jumped a little. Charlie
barrelled into the lounge room and stopped dead in his tracks.

He wasn't too much taller, but enough
so that he towered over Belle. His shoulders had filled out even
more and he had the beginnings of a beard. He was now a complete
tank, and Belle, who was still shorter than most thirteen year olds,
felt pathetically tiny.

“Hi.” Charlie mumbled, completely
unsure of where to look. Belle looked almost exactly as she had four
years ago, perhaps looking a little bit more like her father. He
noted that she was still incredibly short, he'd have to pick on her
later…if they were still friends.

“Hi.” Belle tried to smile back.

Silence.

“I'm going to get dinner ready, Pete
and Lara will be over soon.” Betty suddenly got up.

“I need to prune the roses.” Thomas
also exited.

More silence. The atmosphere was heavy
enough to sink a ship, and it couldn't get any more awkward if they
tried.

“So…how was Brisvegas?” Charlie
asked.

“Good. How was Awesomica?” Belle
asked.

“Good.”

Crickets.

“How's the business?”

“Good. How was University?”

“Good.”

Another long, awkward pause.

–

Belle lay on her bed, looking out of
her window at the leaves gently swaying outside. Dinner hadn't been
that bad, but she still hadn't been able to really talk to Charlie.
Every time either one of them tried (and everyone was giving them
every opportunity to have a private heart-to-heart!) it just ended in
awkward silence.

Her old bed felt great. The
familiarity of her old room felt safe and inviting. She didn't know
how she'd managed to stay away for so long, Charlie or no Charlie.
The only thing that made her uncomfortable was the helmet.

Belle had shoved the thing into her
wardrobe and closed the door, but she could still sense it. It was
like Giggles was staring at her, trying to get to her.

“I'm not Giggles any more. I need to
be a lawyer now, the fight on the streets isn't my problem, I'm
fighting higher up.” She tried to tell herself.

Meanwhile, Charlie had slipped out and
was training himself with the Arm Scythes at the tip. He wasn't
ready to go back out and rejoin the Knights of the Last Order with
their fight against the corrupt system, but the urge to put his
blades back on and swing away was overwhelming.

“Looks like you're having fun.”

Charlie spun around. Sunny stood
behind him, nursing her sore arm.

“What are you doing here?” Charlie
asked.

“Watching you. How long have you
been coming down here?” She sat down, looking up at him.

“Ever since I got back.” He
admitted.

Sunny sighed.

“I've been trying to think of what to
say to you, after everything that happened. I missed you awfully
after you left.” She said.

“There's no need to say anything. We
were both young and stupid.” Charlie sat down next to her. “I
missed you too, and to be honest I'm a little jealous of Patrick.”

Sunny smiled. “I figured you would
be. You will always be my first love though, so you have that.”

Charlie smiled too.

“It's a shame you can't say that I'm
your first love.” Sunny hinted cheekily.

“You are!” Charlie was confused.

“Oh please. Belle has always been
and always will be your one and only.” Sunny laughed.

“Belle and I were best friends.
Nothing more.” Charlie defended himself.

“Of course. My apologies, I must
have misread the situation.” Sunny apologised, not sounding the
least bit sincere.

“You did. Now, I'm training if you
don't mind.” Charlie got up. Sunny got up too. She touched his
face and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. There was a hint of
sadness and regret in the action, and both of them felt it. However,
the smile on Sunnys face when she left was genuine, and Charlie knew
she was happy with Patrick and Melody.

“I am SO proud of you!” Peter
hugged Belle tightly.

“Pa would have been proud.” Bill
ruffled her hair.

Belle looked up to the sky with tears
in her eyes. After four years of hard study, she'd finally gotten
her Law degree.

“You'll be coming home with us?”
Bill asked as they walked away from the ceremony together.

“I'm thinking I might stay in
Brisvegas. Webster and Maddy are happy for me to stay as long as I
need to.” Belle replied, not looking at her uncle.

“You should come back to
Pleasantville.” Bill insisted. “Charlie came back a few months
ago, he misses you.”

“That's nice.” Belle stiffened.
She didn't want to think about him. Not after what had happened.

Peter smiled secretively.

“Beauty should only come home when
she's ready.” He said with an air of superiority.

“Stop talking like you know some
great secret and we don't.” Bill said dryly.

“Jealous, brat?”

“Get over yourself pipsqueak.”

“I love you two.” Belle grabbed
them both in a big hug.

“We love you too.” Peter looked at
Bill, and the pair grinned at each other.

–

“Webster! Tate needs a bath!”
Maddy called upstairs to her husband as the little toddler sat with
an empty bowl of cake mix, trying to lick the last morsels out and
instead getting them all over herself.

“You are SO adorable!” Belle
picked the gurgling little girl up as Webster made his way
downstairs.

“Come one Mess-Monster, time you got
cleaned up!” Webster took his daughter who squealed with delight
as her father lifted her up and took her to the bath.

“You guys are so awesome. I hope I
have a family like yours one day.” Belle sat at the table and
peeled potatoes while Maddy worked around the kitchen.

“Webster's so wonderful.” Maddy
gushed. “And when Tate was born, it just completed us.”

Belle continued peeling vegetables.
“Are you guys planning on having any more?”

“Nah. One will do us, and she wasn't
really planned.” Maddy replied. “We're actually thinking of
heading back to Pleasantville.”

“Oh…” Belle said after a pause.

“We want to help your Dad. Plus you
need to go back and try to make up with Charlie.” Maddy continued.

Belle squirmed uncomfortably.
Fortunately there was a loud banging and a splash from upstairs
followed by laughter.

“You two!” Maddy ran upstairs,
leaving Belle alone with her thoughts.

–

Belle was getting ready for bed that
night. It had been a week since her graduation, and she was enjoying
her little holiday.

She brushed her teeth and pulled on
her nightclothes. It was a warm, beautiful night that nothing except
the nagging thoughts of Charlie and Pleasantville could ruin.

Belle groaned, and threw herself onto
the bed. She couldn't escape the fact that he was back in the
country or that she had no reason to stay in Brisvegas. Wasn't the
whole point of her education to save Pleasantville anyway? How could
she do that if she avoided the city?

The problem was Charlie. He wouldn't
be the same boy she left behind. He'd been overseas for nearly four
years. He was older, more experienced. Would he hook back up with
Sunny again? Would they be able to repair their friendship? Or were
the wounds too deep?

Tossing and turning wasn't getting her
anywhere, so Belle got up, grabbed a dressing gown and headed out to
the back deck, where she found Webster gazing out over the city.

“Can't sleep?” He asked as Belle
sat on the chair on the other side of the deck.

“Nope. Still thinking about Charlie
and Pleasantville.” Belle sighed. “You?”

“Thinking of Tate.” Webster
shuffled in his seat. “It's been years but I miss her so much.”

“She tried to kill us and completely
destroyed a University.” Belle narrowed her eyes at him.

“You don't understand Belle. Tater
was a good person, I swear.” Webster protested as Belle snorted.
“She WAS! Did you see her Will? That business empire that she
created is now funding cancer research and supporting our Defence
force.”

“Wow.” Belle deadpanned.

“You didn't know her.” Webster
continued. “She meant the world to me. We met at school when we
had to do a science project together. It was our last year and
neither of us had any idea what we were going to do. We started
hanging out, I found out that her birthday was the day after mine.
She was always telling me that I was special, that I would do
something great in life.” Tears were beginning to form in his
eyes, but he blinked them back. “I lost my twin sister when we
were four, and since that day I'd felt like part of me was missing.
Tater filled that void, she was my sister in every sense of the word.
Everyone told me to stay away from Tater because she was crazy, but
no one told me of the big heart she had.”

“Yeah, a big heart doesn't negate the
fact that she was completely psycho.” Belle shook her head.

“She was getting help. I helped her
get to a psychologist. She was getting better. Then I moved and
everything went wrong.” Webster looked away.

“I knew she was in love with me, but
I could never love her that way. That's why I left Brisvegas. I
couldn't bear to break her heart so I ran.”

“Doesn't change what she did.”
Belle rolled her eyes. “Let her go Webster, she was psycho who
needed to be put in an institution and left to rot.”

“She WASN'T Belle! When she got help
she was fine! Haven't you seen the business empire she put together,
all the people she helped out, all the good that she's done? If I
hadn't run away things might have been different…”

“You can't blame yourself.” Belle
said.

“You're blaming yourself for what
happened with Charlie. You're thinking right now what could have
happened if you hadn't left for Brisvegas.” Webster pointed out.
“You're going over and over again in your head why you couldn't
have just sucked it up and accepted his relationship with Sunny
instead of hiding in your studies.”

“I had to study!” Belle retorted.

“You say that, but you don't believe
it.” Webster smiled. “You need to go home Belle, if you don't
you'll lose Charlie. Not saying he'll off himself like Tater did,
but you'll still lose him.”

Belle sat silently. She COULD have
taken the relationship better. She could have tried instead of
making excuses.

Maybe she did need to go home.

“I might have loved her, you know, if
she'd stayed in Brisvegas and continued her business.” Webster said
quietly. “I love Maddy, and I'll stay with her forever, but if
Tater were still around…”

“She'd make a great aunt to baby
Tate.” Belle tried to smile. Webster smiled back.

“Do you think she knows?” Webster
looked up at the stars. “Do you think she's watching over us?”

“I wouldn't be surprised if she was.”
Belle grinned.

–

“So you're going home?” Maddy
asked with a smile over breakfast the next morning.

“Yeah, it's about time I got back to
Pleasantville. I can't hide forever.” Belle shovelled down her
bacon and eggs (as good as Maddy is, she couldn't quite compare to
Bill).

“We'll probably be a few months
behind you. Both of us are looking for work, and Betty Begly has
offered to babysit Tate for us.” Webster tried to scoop food into
his daughters mouth, and was rewarded with it all over his face and
shirt. “Thanks brat.”

“I'm heading out this afternoon, I
should be at Dads place before dinnertime.” Belle said. “I've
packed most of my things already.”

“We'll drive you to the Bus
Interchange if you like.” Webster offered.

“Thanks.” Belle smiled.

She headed upstairs to finish packing.
All she needed to do was get the last few clothes in her suitcase and
try to stuff the last of her books into another suitcase.

Afterwards, she carefully started
packing her last few photos, laptop and other trinkets into her bag.
She was putting photos into a box when she saw an old newspaper
clipping.

Belle smiled. If you really looked
hard (or at least Belle thought) you could almost see the outline of
the Lucky Seven Gun in her shorts as she walked out of that doomed
Assembly Hall on the fateful day that changed everything.

The pair of them together, with the
friends they wouldn't meet until years later, that had been their
first mission. Their first win. Belles smile faded however, when in
the background of the picture she noticed Sunny, glaring at Belle and
Charlie, face full of jealousy.

Hopefully she could fix things up with
Sunny too. She couldn't help the pang of hurt and regret mixed with
jealousy she felt when she thought of Charlie and Sunny together
again, but she vowed to be more mature about it. If Charlie wanted
to go to the movies with her every day, then she'd do it.

She finished packing and had one last
look at the room that had been hers for the last four years. It was
a little bit sad to say good-bye, but it was time to move on.

Belle Masters was going home.

The big city of New Metropolis never
failed to impress Charlie. After Belle had left for Brisvegas
without saying good bye, Charlie had decided to head overseas.
Awesomica had always been the one place he wanted to visit, so after
his messy break up with Sunny, he packed his bags and left.

New Metropolis was wonderful. Very
little to no crime, beautiful clean streets, no crumbling dam to
worry about. Public transport ran like clockwork, schools were all
well-funded, there were several Universities to pick from and did I
mention the lack of crime? The capital of Awesomica was definitely a
standard to live up to.

He walked along one of the many long,
bright, happy streets, looking in all of the windows at all of the
beautiful displays. He was about to head back to his apartment, when
he bumped into someone.

“Oh! Sorry mate, didn't see you
there!” Charlie readied himself to get punched out as one would in
Pleasantville, but all he heard was a chuckle.

“That's all right friend. You're
foreign?” The stranger asked. He was dark, tall and grinning.
Charlie grinned back.

“I'm from Pleasantville, Ostraya.
Name's Charlie.” He offered his hand in greeting.

“Damien.” The stranger shook his
hand. “Welcome to Awesomica.”

“Thanks.” Charlie felt great. The
people here were awesome!

“Let me show you around.” Damien
motioned for Charlie to follow him. Damien showed him a far bit of
the city, all of the best places to grab a coffee or a meal or see a
show or some sports. Charlies mind was blown.

“Thanks for the tour!” Charlie
smiled at his new friend.

“No problem. You're free to hang out
with my friends and I any time.” Damien replied.

Charlie watched as his new friend
walked away. He was about to head back to his apartment, when
something he saw changed his mind on Pleasantville forever.

A young lady had been walking past,
minding her own business. She was clearly wealthy and proud of it,
with expensive looking clothes and jewellery. From her shoulder
swung a beautiful red velvet handbag.

Charlie squirmed uncomfortably when he
saw her – anyone who dressed like that in Pleasantville was just
begging for an attack, and it seemed no different here. A young thug
grabbed the woman while another went for her handbag.

She screamed loudly as the two men ran
off. A loud wailing sounded throughout the street as a police car
appeared and took off after the crooks. Charlie blinked. How on
earth did the police respond THAT quickly?

Within the hour the handbag had been
returned and the thugs apprehended. Within the week, Charlie read in
the paper that the crooks had been placed in gaol for a year, where
they would be making bricks to be used in construction. It was a
shock to Charlies system – the law enforcement here actually
WORKED!

Over the next three years, Charlie saw
more and more that made him realise that Belle might have been right.

“Charlie! We need you to help us
with a new campaign!” Damiens boyfriend Jake barged in the door one
day.

“Campaign?” Charlie looked
confused.

“They're going to knock down the old
Cat Manor to build apartments!” Jake cried in anguish. “We have
to stop them!”

“If the Council says that the
building is going, what can we do?” Charlie resumed his breakfast.

“If we stage a peaceful protest
they'll have to back down!” Jake pointed out.

“You'll just get arrested.”
Charlie pointed out.

“No we won't! If we keep within the
letter of the law, then they can't do a thing!” Jake grinned.
“Haven't you ever protested before?!”

“Uhhh…” Charlie hesitated. In
Pleasantville, protesting was unheard of. No one dared upset the
status-quo, everyone was too afraid of the criminal element.

“Come on!” Jake dragged him out of
the house.

“My cornflakes!”

–

Charlie was quite surprised. It was
nothing like what he thought a protest would be like. The very large
group were standing on a large patch of grass just outside the
Council office, singing old songs about history and the Awesomica way
of life.

“And the Council will listen to
this?” Charlie was stunned.

“Of course! They know that we won't
vote for them if they upset us.” Damien pointed out. “There's a
fair whack of the voter base here today.”

“Voting?” Charlie was intrigued.
Voting meant nothing in Pleasantville, everyone knew the Mayor was
just a figurehead who bowed to the will of the Death Valley Mobsters.

“What planet did you come from?”
Jake laughed.

Charlie went bright red. Not from his
ignorance – but from how shamefully he treated Belle. This had
been what she'd been talking about. The people of Pleasantville
standing up and saying “No more!”

And they could do it too. The
civilians and the police easily outnumbered the hundred or so
Mobsters. However, as proven by the peoples wilful ignorance when it
came to the flood, the people of Pleasantville had no intention of
rousing themselves.

While the people around him started
singing of their founding fathers, he thought back to his last few
months in Ostraya.

–

“Where WERE you?!” Sunny cried.
“Ruby completely kicked our backsides out there! We needed you!”

“Forget it. I'm not doing the whole
Chuckles thing any more. Not without Giggles.” Charlie lay down
on his bed, looking across to the bedroom that held his ex-best
friend.

“Why not? What's wrong with you?!”
Sunny sighed. “Belle can't be Giggles any more, she's leaving for
Brisvegas remember? Plus she's still sick from being flooded with
Ruby power.”

She sat down next to him. “Talk to
me Charlie.”

“I just can't. She won't do anything
with me any more. I keep trying to include her but she just won't
have it.” Charlie sighed.

“She just needs some space Charlie.
You know she's been working hard. Plus this has been a bit of a
shock to her, and now on top of losing her aunt she's lost her
grand-father.” Sunny pointed out. “You needed a lot of space
when your grand-father died.”

“She's been pushing me away ever
since we got together! She's nothing but a jealous brat!” Charlie
snapped, slamming his window closed.

“You've been pushing this all on her
since we got together! You were so insistent that we all got along
that you didn't give her time!” Sunny hugged him.

“I just wanted things to be the way
they were. Her and me.” Charlie looked sadly at Sunny, who
frowned.

“They couldn't be Charlie. It's you
and me now, not you and her.” She smoothed his hair. “You'll
always be best friends, but you can't be joined at the hip any more.”

“I didn't realise dating YOU meant
choosing.” Charlie scowled at her, pulling away.

“It was always going to be that way!”
Sunny cried. “Do you REALLY think that we could carry on together
with HER always hanging off you like the leech she is?!”

“Don't you DARE call Belle a leech!”
Charlie got up. “You're still jealous aren't you?”

“Jealous? I'll ALWAYS be jealous.
Every night I walk into that house and everyone is cold and awkward
around me. They don't know how to treat me well after years of
ignoring my existence, while Belle walks home into hugs and toys and
pampering!” Sunny shot back. “And then I finally get you, but
nooooo, she's still got her little claws stuck into the one person I
thought I could have to myself.”

“You sound like you're only with me
to get back at her!” Charlie spat. Sunny was shocked.

“That's not true!” She defended
herself. But a shadow of guilt haunted her face, and Charlie knew
that while it wasn't the whole reason, it was part of it.

“It isn't, huh?” He stared coldly
at her.

Sunny couldn't bear the cold. She felt
it all the time, and to have it directed at her from Charlie was too
much.

“It WASN'T.” She corrected him,
just as coldly. “It's over Charlie, go back to your stupid
unwanted bastard.”

She ran out of the room, slamming the
door behind her.

–

Thinking over it more, Sunny had been
right. Belle had needed more time. She also really DID have a need
to study.

A few months after the rally, the Mayor
was voted out in favour of someone who would protect historical land.
Charlie was beginning to understand what Belle had been trying to
tell him – that when people took responsibility for their community
and held their chosen leaders to account, the community benefited.
It wasn't the task of eight kids to stop the Death Valley Mobsters
and their hold on Pleasantville – it was up to the people to hold
the Council to account, and then the Council needed to stand up and
fix the problem.

Belle was studying so she could make a
difference. So she could set an example to others. So she could
even get into the Council and change it from inside, to continue the
work her father was starting.

She had talent, brains and had a
brilliant work ethic. Not like him, who simply relied on sheer dumb
luck.

“Oi! Wake up Chuckles!” Damien
laughed

“Wha-?” Charlie jumped a mile. Did
Damien just call him Chuckles?!

“Your name is Charlie, which is
shortened to Chuck, and your eyes were glazed over. It was a joke.”
Damien reassured him.

They were sitting on the balcony of
Charlies apartment, sipping beer and looking out over the beautiful
coast.

“Aren't you glad the right guy won
the election?” Damien grinned.

“Yeah, it's pretty different from
Pleasantville.” Charlie admitted. “You only get to run for
Mayors Office if you're under the control of the Death Valley Mob
there, otherwise you don't get a look-in.”

Damien looked disgusted.

“If any of our elected
representatives were corrupt there'd be HELL to pay! People would be
marching down the streets demanding a resignation! How do you LIVE
like that?!” He asked, taking another mouthful of beer. “Doesn't
anyone stand up for themselves?”

“We did. My friends and I.”
Charlie said. “Chuckles and Giggles, with the Knights of the Last
Order. We were the local vigilantes.”

Damiens eyes grew wide. “That's why
you were startled when I…you FOUGHT the bad guys?!” He yelped.

“Keep it down, I don't want it going
around.” Charlie chuckled. “Yeah, I did. Managed to get my
hands on the Lions Claw Blade for a short while too before I lost
it.”

“Why aren't you fighting any more?”
Damien asked as Charlie took another swig of beer.

“Belle and I had a fight. I broke up
with my girlfriend too, who was a Knight. Plus I lost my magic. The
family magic, the Improbability Clause.” Charlie explained.

“Magic?” Damien looked quizzically
at Charlie.

“Yeah, it was pretty much sheer dumb
luck. Made even better when Belle was around – her family and my
family have been friends for centuries.” Charlie said. “My Dad
and her father are brilliant at using the Clause – apparently
there's some secret about it that they know that we don't.”

“Secret? How did it work anyway?”
Damien asked.

“I'd come up with a brilliant plan,
Belle would pooh-pooh it and then everything would work.” Charlie
explained.

Damien thought for a second. “When
you say she pooh-pooh'd it, what do you mean by that?”

“She basically would tell
me…every…thing…that…” Charlie stopped.

Belle would tell him everything that
could have gone wrong with the plan. THAT was why the Improbability
Clause worked. Because when Belle told him off, she was really going
over the finer points of his plan that he missed. His quick brain
would then take her information in and, with a bit of dumb luck,
formulate something that worked every time.

“I am such a moron.” Charlie
sighed. Damien looked at him quizzically.

“Ah…okay.” Damien sat back. “You
said you got a hold of the Lions Claw Blade?”

“Yup. Belle had the Lucky Seven Gun
for a bit there too, a modified Colt .45 with an extra chamber and an
interesting pattern on the handle..” Charlie smiled with the
memory. It had been a few years now since those days.

“I wonder…I have a gun, and Jake
has a whip. It's an average Colt .45 though, but the handle has a
weird design.” He got up and pulled his gun from his holster.
Charlie jumped up.

“That's the EXACT same design as on
the Lucky Seven Gun!” He pointed to it. “Jakes whip, does it
have a small chain with a talisman at the end of it?”

“Yeah, it does. It's called the
Stingrays Tail Whip, and this is the Palatable Six Gun.” Damien
said. “We got them at a sale, the guy was insistent that they be
sold together.”

“I wonder if there are other weapons
like this?” Charlie wondered.

“I bet there is.” Damien smiled.

Charlie sat back down.

“I was horrible to Belle.” He
sighed. He told Damien what had happened between himself, Belle and
Sunny.

“You should go back and apologise.
You've been here for years, surely it's time you went home?” Damien
looked at his friend.

“I know.” Charlie sighed, finishing
off his beer. “Another drink?”

“Of course!”

Belle lay in bed, still unconscious but
stable now that the Ruby Suit had been removed. It had taken a while
for Charlie and Peter to get it off, but at least Belle was safe now.

“She'll be sick for a while. I've
contacted the school and the University so it should all be okay.”
Peter sighed.

“She needed to take a break anyway I
guess.” Bill rubbed his brothers back. “She's going to be
devastated when she wakes up.”

Peter simply buried his head in his
hands. He didn't want to think about it, but then he felt horrible
for not wanting to think about it.

His father was dead. Killed saving
Belles life. It should have been him. Belle was his daughter.

“I'd kill Johannas if he weren't
already dead. That's two he took from us.” Bill continued, angry.

“He can't hurt anyone ever again.”
Peter said quietly. Bill sighed.

“I know.” He looked up at the
roof. “Thanks Dad.”

–

Daryl Jones was having a rotten day.

Those idiots at work had torn shreds
off him for doing what they considered a “sub-standard job”.
Given that if it wasn't for his father they wouldn't even HAVE a job,
Daryl thought that was a bit rich.

The really annoying bit was that he no
longer had his former victims to take his frustrations out on.
Belle, Charlie and Sunny were now backed up by their stupid group of
friends, and sheer weight of numbers meant that going after them was
pointless.

Daryl flopped down onto his bed and
sighed. Looking out of the window, he could see Sunny comforting
that dumb boyfriend of hers. He smirked. He thought Sunny was
brilliant for stealing Charlie out from under Belles nose. It was
the sort of thing she used to do back when she was cool.

From what Daryl had heard, Belle had
gotten very ill at the news of her grand-fathers death at the hands
of Johannas. Daryl wasn't completely heartless, and did feel bad for
the loss of Joe Masters.

He sighed, and continued to watch the
young couple.

Charlie felt insanely guilty. He knew
he could have saved Joe if he hadn't been so stubborn. He could have
helped stop Johannas, and perhaps even saved him.

“Stop beating yourself up Charlie, it
wasn't your fault.” Sunny tried to talk him out of it.

“If I had headed out with Belle in
the first place then I could have grabbed the detonator. Johannas
wouldn't have dared go near me with the Arm Scythes.” Charlie
sobbed. “Joe would still be alive.”

“Johannas could have just as easily
have seen you and blown himself and everyone else up anyway.” Sunny
pointed out.

“The detonator had been knocked out
of his hands.” Charlie tried to argue.

“Charlie!” Sunny groaned. She
hugged him tightly. “It's not your fault.”

Charlie said nothing, but looked grey,
drawn and sad. He slumped a little further down in the old sofa,
fresh tears rolling down his cheeks. Sunny kissed him, smothering
him with kisses, trying to stop the flow of guilt.

Upstairs, Belle was starting to stir.
Peter quickly grabbed her hand while Bill called Charlie.

“Pa?” Belle slowly woke up.

Peter swallowed hard. She'd have to
know eventually.

“Hey Beauty.” He stroked her hair
as she turned to face him.

“Hey Daddy.” Belle smiled weakly.
“Where's Pa?”

Peters lip began to quiver and the
tears welled in his eyes.

“Pa is gone.” He sobbed. The pair
clutched each other and cried over their loss.

–

“Belle?”

“Go away.”

“Belle, I'm really sorry about what
happened.”

“That's nice.”

“I can understand if you're mad at
me-,”

“You accused me of not having your
back, and then you left me to die.”

“I came eventually and I got you out
of there! Johannas would have killed you if it wasn't for me!”

“If you'd been there from the
beginning, Johannas would never have had the chance.”

“You're blaming me for your
grand-fathers death?”

“No, I'm pissed off at you for coming
in here trying to be all apologetic after your hypocrisy.”

“Belle-,”

“Go away Charlie.”

“Belle!”

“GO.”

Charlie looked shell shocked. His
shoulders slumped and he turned and left the room.

–

He had NO idea why his sister decided
hanging around the tip was a good idea. The place stank and it was
messy.

Daryl Jones was looking for Sunny. His
laundry needed doing and his parents were out on a business trip.
His coworkers had again been stern with him about his work ethic, and
he was getting quite annoyed about it.

“SUNNY!” He yelled. If she wasn't
here he was going to hit the roof (figuratively of course). What a
mess.

He came across what looked like a
cubbyhouse made out of garbage. He'd seen several of these around
the place, he guessed they were made by those stupid friends of hers.
He had a quick look around it, but found nothing.

He sighed, and was about to move on
when something caught his eye. It was bright red and small.

The Ruby Suit.

“Ruby Giggles must've left it here!”
Daryl grabbed it. It had been badly stretched by Peter and Charlie
when they'd forced it off Belle, but it was still in one piece.
Making sure he was alone, Daryl pulled off his own clothes and
struggled to get the Ruby Suit on.

It tore a little, but the Ruby Ooze
soon moved out over the tears and healed them up so the Suit fit
perfectly.

Daryl grinned. The mask hid his face
just as well as it hid Belles, and it still functioned beautifully.
Daryl soon got a hang of flying and forming the Ruby Weapons.

“This is most excellent.” He
laughed. “Those morons at work don't stand a chance against Ruby!”

He flew off in the direction of the
offices, ready to take out whomever he found there.

–

“Where's the Ruby Suit? I want to
wash it before Belle packs it.” Bill asked Peter and Belle, who
were sitting in front of the TV eating popcorn and looking bored.

“Dumped it.” Peter deadpanned.

“Dumped it where?” Bill asked.

“Dump.” Belle deadpanned.

“So you're not taking it to
Brisvegas?” Bill asked.

“Nope.” Deadpan.

Bill sighed, and continued to do the
washing. Then a thought struck him.

“You dumped it? At the dump?” He
asked the other two.

“Yup.”

“Where at the dump?”

“Just dumped it.”

“Where anyone could get it?”

“Doubtful.”

Suddenly the TV changed to a news
bulletin.

“NEWS JUST IN! Someone has stolen
Giggles Ruby Suit and is now holding up the Pleasantville Investment
Centre!”

“You ever get the feeling things
happen way to conveniently sometimes?” Peter turned to Belle.

“It's not my problem anymore. I'm
moving to Brisvegas soon.” Was the sullen reply.

“Beauty-,”

“I lost the Suit, I lost the Lucky
Seven Gun, and my friends hate me. I'm not fighting anymore.”
Belle got up and tried to storm up the stairs, but she was still too
weak. Bill grabbed her to stop her from collapsing.

“I just want to go away.” She
whispered as her uncle hugged her.

“I know. In two weeks you'll be
outta here.” He kissed her forehead.

–

“I hope you didn't get hurt by that
Ruby creature.” Mrs. Jones scooped another healthy serving of
pasta bake onto Daryls plate three weeks later.

“Nah, I was fine. I hid.” Daryl
tucked into the delicious meal.

“Sunny, you look a little sick.
Maybe you should head off to bed after dinner?” Mrs. Jones then
turned to her daughter.

“I'm fine.” Sunny mumbled.
Thankfully her mother hadn't noticed the bruises all over her body
from where Ruby had belted her black and blue, much like the other
Knights of the Last Order. Neither Chuckles nor Giggles had shown
up.

Belle she could understand, still being
weakened from the whole Suit incident, but she was furious with
Charlie. The pair had broken up very angrily afterwards, which left
Sunny feeling completely miserable.

Who was Ruby? Where did they come
from? How did they find the Ruby Suit, which had been pretty well
hidden?

Sunny didn't like the situation at all.

And she knew it would get a whole lot
worse before it would get better.

Daniel looked at Tammy. She was out
for blood. It was up to him to make sure she didn't-

“OW, OW, OW, OW!” Daniel limped
away as Sunny lifted her finger to the sky. “THAT WAS NOT LBW!”

“It would have hit the wicket if your
fat knee hadn't been in the way.” Sunny pointed out.

“I think you guys are cheating.”
Sammy pouted.

The game of cricket at the tip had
taken a turn for the nastier. Charlie was certain that bats were
going to start flying shortly.

“What,” Petunia narrowed her eyes.
“Did you just accuse us of?”

“You heard him!” TJ fired.

Tammy shot the filthiest glare she
could at him.

“Guys, let's just take it easy. It's
just a game of cricket.” Charlie tried to calm everyone down.

“If you guys think for a SECOND that
we're going to let you get away with SLANDER, you have another thing
coming.” Sunny and Petunia stood on either side of Tammy.

“HI GUYS!”

Everyone jumped a mile. Belle ran
over, waving wildly.

“What did I miss?” She asked
breathlessly as she hugged Sunny, Tammy and Petunia.

“Dodgy umpiring.” Daniel muttered
earning him three dirty looks.

“Hi Belle! Nice of you to drag
yourself away from your studies and grace us with your presence.”
Charlie scowled at her.

“I have to keep my grades up
otherwise I'll get kicked out of my course!” Belle protested.

“Why is it so important that you stay
in that course for? Aren't we your friends?” Petunia asked.

“I'm doing it so that I can start
making changes around here! The Council is so corrupt that any time
the DVM mess up they only get a slap-on-the-wrist sentence and no one
does anything about it!” Belle explained. “There's no point in
us saving everyone if the same threats just keep coming back again
and again!”

“That's what my grand-father said,
and you disagreed with him.” Charlie said coldly.

“No, your grand-father wanted to kill
them outright. That wouldn't have changed anything, because the same
threats still would have kept coming. You saw that Demon came along
when we managed to put Marion and Revolver away for a little while.
The only thing that will fix the crime problem in Pleasantville is
the constant application of tough penalties for those who disobey the
law!” Belle moralised.

“Or you just can't tolerate the fact
that I have a girlfriend now and you're jealous.” Charlie bit.

Belle was furious. On one hand she
couldn't exactly deny the accusation. On the other hand, she HAD
been studying to some effect, having gotten very high marks in all
her courses and almost completely securing her path to the very best
scholarship, thus Charlies words rankled her right to the core.

So she insulted him back.

“If anyone is jealous Begly, it's
YOU. You're jealous that my high intelligence and hard work has
finally paid off and you're going to be left in the dust. The only
reason you've kept up with me all these years is the stupid
Improbability Clause, and even that seems to be failing recently.”

This infuriated Charlie no end. The
Improbability Clause was a sore point with him at the moment, so
naturally he fought back too.

“How's being smart working for you,
all alone and forgotten?” He snapped.

“Forgotten? YOU'RE the forgotten
one, when's the last time Chuckles saved anyone?”

“You think you're SO much better than
me because of that stupid suit?!”

“Plus the fact that I'm smarter than
you.”

The Knights of the Last Order slowly
backed away. This was nothing like their little spat over the
cricket. This was a real fight between the two best friends.

“Charlie, maybe we'd better head
off?” Sunny tried to take her boyfriends arm, but he brushed her
off. He was livid.

“I can't believe you. You've
changed.” Charlie said coldly.

“You've changed too.” Belle shot
back icily.

Everyone was thankful when Daniels
phone rang.

“Johannas? Demon's lost control of
him? How?” Daniel spoke to the person on the other end of the
phone. “Right, we'll be there.”

He hung up. “That was my Grandad,
Johannas has gone berserk again. This time he's strapped himself up
with explosives and is threatening to blow up Pleasant Gardens
Shopping Centre.”

“I'll handle this.” Belle rushed
to get changed.

“No, WE will handle this. We're a
team, remember?” Sunny tried to pull her up.

“Let her do what she wants, it's the
only way people will notice her. Especially with her head constantly
in a book.” Charlie snapped. He stormed off angrily

“Charlie no!” Sunny tried to pull
him back. “Sorry guys, I'll have to sit this one out too.”

“No problem.” Daniel sighed,
watching the pair head off.

“Charlie, we really should head back
and help. They're our friends.” Sunny tried to persuade Charlie to
turn around.

“What's the point Sunny, we'll just
be playing second fiddle to Miss Perfect over there.” Charlie
snapped.

“You're just upset because you've had
a fight, you'll get over it.” Sunny tried. “If she got hurt
because you weren't there you'd never forgive yourself.”

“It'd serve her right.” Charlie
muttered.

“Charlie, don't be like that! She's
your best friend!” Sunny stood in front of him.

“WAS my best friend. I don't know
her anymore.” Charlie tried to step around her. Sunny grabbed him
around the waist and held him.

“I don't think she's changed at all.
She was always pretty studious even before she started uni.” Sunny
kissed him. “Try to understand where she is right now.”

“I've tried but she's not helping!”
Charlie protested. Sunny sighed.

“You two can be so stubborn.” She
rested her head against Charlies chest.

Charlie looked back towards the
impromptu cricket pitch, where Ruby Giggles had just taken off with
the other Knights of the Last Order in hot pursuit. He scowled and
continue to walk in the opposite direction.

He wasn't going to concern himself with
her.

–

“Chuckles and Giggles should be here
soon…I hope.” Peter Masters ducked behind a clothes rack with
Lara close beside him.

“This one is your brother-in-law?”
Lara asked quietly as Johannas stalked around angrily, waving a
shorn-off shotgun around.

“Yeah. Bastard killed my sister.”
Peter grimaced. He looked towards another clothes rack and saw his
father and brother looking pretty ticked off.

“What are YOU doing here?!” Peter
mouthed silently.

“Dancing the can-can, what do you
THINK we're doing?!” Bill mouthed back angrily.

“No need to be a smart-arse!”

“No need to be a dumb-arse!”

“Do you guys always argue?” Lara
whispered, looking amused at the silent exchange.

“It's our thing.” Peter shrugged.

“I'LL KILL YOU ALL! I HATE YOU ALL!
TELL ME WHERE JESSIE IS!” Johannas screamed, firing off the
shotgun.

“In the ground where you put her.”
Joe growled under his breath.

“In the ground where YOU put her!”
A loud yell was heard.

“YOU.” Johannas spun around. Ruby
Giggles was floating just above the ground.

“Me.”
Ruby Giggles replied. “And I'm going to stop you.”

“You
can't stop me from finding Jessie.” Johannas grinned his sick grin.

“Jessie?
You MURDERED her, remember?” Ruby Giggles groaned, readying a
Ruby Shard in her hand.

Johannas looked
troubled.

“Murdered.
Murdered her. YOU MURDERED HER!” He screamed. He flew at Ruby
Giggles, who threw the Ruby Shard at him. It hit his arm, making him
drop his detonator.

Joe suddenly
bolted out of his hiding place and grabbed the detonator. With his
good hand, Johannas fired off the shotgun wildly, making some of the
innocent shoppers scream.

“Oh
man…!” Ruby Giggles tried to fly at Johannas, but he fired at
her and she had to dodge. She looked out of one of the windows and
saw Sir Lionheart and Sir Hyper outside.

“We
need to get everyone out of here!” She called to them. “Pa has
the detonator, I don't think Johannas can hurt anyone at the moment!”

“Right!”
Sir Lionheart nodded. Ruby Giggles formed a Ruby Shield and took on
Johannas while the Knights of the Last Order cleared the civilians
out.

A swift kick
from Johannas winded Ruby Giggles, giving him enough time to attack
Joe and try to get the detonator back.

“Forget
it!” Joe shoved the younger man down easily – although old, Joe
was still large and dangerous.

“Dad,
c'mon, give the detonator to Ruby Giggles and let's get outta here!”
Peter begged.

“GO!”
Joe barked in a dangerous tone. Bill and Peter always obeyed that
tone. Peter grabbed Lara and the three quickly got out of there.

Joe glared at
Johannas. The man who had brutally murdered his only daughter. In a
way, he felt some pity for Johannas. He obviously had mental issues
that had never been tended to. Another blow against the
Pleasantville City Council – there had never been a mental health
facility here. If you wanted a psychologist or psychiatrist (or even
simple counselling) you had to travel south to Brisvegas.

But that would
never make Joe forgive the man for what he had done. He shoved the
younger man away again, allowing Ruby Giggles to grab him.

“Now
to quiet you down.” Ruby Giggles formed another Ruby Shard and
prepared to stab Johannas with it. Crazed and furious, Johannas
grabbed her hand and forced it back onto her.

Ruby Giggles
hadn't been expecting that. The Ruby Shard pierced the Ruby Suit,
causing a the Suit to malfunction. Ruby Giggles screamed in pain as
her body was flooded with the Ruby power.

“NO!”
Screamed Joe. Johannas grinned, and was about to fire his shotgun
on the wounded Ruby Giggles when the gun was struck out of his hands!

“CHUCKLES!”
Joe cried.

Chuckles swung
one of the Arm Scythes at Johannas, who dodged and kicked him in the
shin. While Chuckles was stunned, Johannas turned his attentions
back to Joe.

The two men
began to struggle over the detonator, Joes age finally catching up
with him.

“Get
Belle out of here!” Joe roared at Chuckles.

“Sir-,”

“NOW.”
Joe bellowed. Chuckles grabbed the now unconscious Ruby Giggles and
ran out of the building as fast as he could.

Now it was Joe
vs. Johannas. Johannas finally managed to ease the detonator out of
Joes hand. Grinning, he grabbed the older man around the waist.

“DAD!”
Screamed Peter in agony. There was a loud explosion inside the
building, and both Peter and Bill knew they'd never see their father
again.

–

White. Bright
white. Breathlessness.

The end.

Two sets of
footsteps. Coming for him. Coming to get him and take him away.

“I
tried my best. Am I forgiven?”

The two sets of
footsteps came closer.

“Forgiven?
Joey, you have nothing to be forgiven for. If anything, we should
be begging your forgiveness.”

“We're
sorry Joey. For all the rubbish we put you through.”

A smile.

“You
two are idiots.”

“C'mon
Joey, they're all waiting for us.”

“Yeah,
let's go!”

And the three
friends were reunited, and everything was okay.

“Are you serious? I didn't realise
Pete knew what women were!” Bill looked mock-shocked at the news.
“And LARA? They hated each others guts in school!”

“Quiet you.” Joe frowned at his
youngest son. “We should be happy for Peter, he's been alone for
so long now.”

“Why didn't he tell us?” Belle
asked, sitting at the table. The moment she'd figured out what was
going on with her father, she'd flown back to the tip, gotten changed
and then bolted home.

“Could be that things aren't quite
serious yet.” Bill shrugged. He turned to the pot of spaghetti
sauce he was making. “Don't sweat it kiddo, he'll tell us when
he's good and ready.”

“Yes Uncle Bill.” Belle sighed.
She was about to reach for her textbook when a warning look from her
grand-father stopped her.

“I'm going to go and play with Meow.
At least SHE doesn't judge me!” Belle huffed off. Joe chuckled
and leaned back in his armchair.

He absentmindedly rubbed his face. A
scar across his eye, from that stupid go-cart race. A scar on his
cheek, from the war. A scar on his lips, hidden by his beard, from a
fight with Tim after the war. He thought over his life, all the
twists and turns. He thought of when Peter first came home with
Belle, begging to be allowed to move back in. He thought of the
awful court case against her maternal grand-parents after the news of
her mothers death reached them. He thought of her now.

She had her heart in the right place at
least, he thought. At least she was trying. Unlike him. Even in
the war he'd been a coward, hiding behind the Code, trying not to get
involved in anything. It wasn't his business, he'd tried to
rationalise with himself, he was only there to look out for the two
men he called brothers. He'd been just as bad when he'd gotten home,
pretending that the crime problem in Pleasantville didn't effect him
or his family.

It was a lie, it HAD affected them.
Peter, Bill and Jessie had all grown up scared. None of them had
been allowed to spend time with friends after school, none of them
had been allowed on sleepovers or to have friends over. It had
killed Jessie, scarred Bill and steeled Peter.

'You're a coward.' Joe thought to
himself. He closed his eyes and leaned back into the chair. 'But
I'm cool with that.'

–

Belle stomped upstairs and into her
room. She opened the window and was about to jump out when she
remembered the tree no longer existed. There was just a rotten stump
where it used to be.

She rested her head on the window sill
and sighed. Charlie was out on a date with Sunny, so playing with
him was out. Meow was fast asleep on her bed, so that plan was a
bust too.

She thought back to a time when the
tree was still standing. She and Charlie had used it as a refuge
against the Jones siblings. She wondered what Daryl was up to, she
hadn't seen him since he left school.

Suddenly her watch began to flash blue.
Charlie and Sunny were in trouble!

–

“Put the money down and get out of
it.” Chuckles glowered at Mobster Marion. “And while you're at it
I'll have my sword back.”

“Naw, is the little loser feeling a
bit lost without having someone elses weapon to hide behind?”
Mobster Marion sneered back.

The Death Valley Mobsters had struck
again, this time at the biggest bank in the city. Master Revolver
was directing Mobsters who had looted huge amounts of money and
valuables towards the big trucks that were parked outside.

“We're almost done here.” Master
Revolver grinned. He swung the Lucky Seven Gun around his finger,
looking very pleased with himself.

Sir Lionheart, Sir Hyper and Sir Dark
were trying to impede the loading of the trucks, but it wasn't
working very well. Sir Hyper had nearly had his head removed twice
already and Sir Dark was sporting a new cut on his arm.

“You'll need to see Lady Luck about
that, get out of here, we'll handle this.” Sir Lionheart threw
another rock at the head of a Mobster, missing.

“You guys can't do this alone.” Sir
Dark protested.

“Give this up you two!” Lady
Courage cried from behind Chuckles.

“Aww, does Chuck-Up have a new
girlfriend? Where's that floaty little friend of yours?” Master
Revolver laughed. A flash of red hit him in the arm. He screamed in
pain as his arm was rendered immobile.

“I'm up here doofus.”

Chuckles and Lady Courage spun around.
Ruby Giggles was floating behind them, looking pleased with herself.
Master Revolver ripped the Ruby Shard out of his arm and flung it to
the ground where it shattered and disappeared. His arm still stung
with numbness and he glared at Ruby Giggles.

“You. What the hell have you done to
me?!” He roared angrily.

“Only what you deserve.” Ruby
Giggles replied. In her hand five more Ruby Shards appeared, and she
flung them with deadly accuracy at the other Mobsters, making all of
them drop in pain as arms and legs were struck.

She prepared to have another go at
Master Revolver, but the Ruby Shard was blocked by Mobster Marion and
the Lions Claw Blade.

“Let's get out of here.” Mobster
Marion called off the attack.

“I don't think so. You're staying
here until the police come to arrest you.” Ruby Giggles glared.
She flew at Mobster Marion with the tips of her fingers alight with
the Ruby Power and swiped at her foe. Marion jumped back but was too
slow to avoid a nasty cut on her cheek. Immediately the side of her
face started to sag.

“You little weasel!” Master
Revolver ran to Mobster Marions aid. Ruby Giggles grinned beneath
the mask.

Chuckles looked up at his best friend.
Now would have been the perfect time for her to swoop in and steal
back the Lions Claw Blade and the Lucky Seven Gun, but she wasn't
moving.

“Uh, Giggles? Wanna go and get our
weapons back?” Chuckles asked.

“You can go get the Lions Claw back
if you want, I don't need the Lucky Seven anymore.” Ruby Giggles
smirked. Chuckles shrugged and ran back to get his beloved sword
back.

“HEY!” He jumped back as Mobster
Marion swung at him. “A little help here Giggles?”

“The police are here now, we'd better
check out. See you losers later!” Ruby Giggles flew off, leaving
Chuckles fuming.

–

“Why didn't you help me get my sword
back?!” Charlie yelled.

“Will you chill out? It's not like
you need it. I've just proved that I can beat the lot of them
without your help.” Belle brushed him off.

They were sitting at the tip waiting
for Thomas to come and pick them up. Charlie was still furious over
the lack of support coming from Belle.

“That's not the point! You know how
much that sword means to me!” Charlie cried. “I thought we had
each others backs!”

“We DO. Didn't I just save your
bacon?” Belle rolled her eyes.

“Charlie, it's okay, we can always
get it back later.” Sunny tried to comfort her boyfriend. He
shoved her off.

“You're supposed to be my best
friend.” Charlie said coldly.

“What's that supposed to mean?”
Belle frowned.

The honking of a horn broke up the
argument. The eight friends filed dejectedly into the two cars
driven by Thomas and Petunias father.

Things were changing.

“We lost the Lions Claw Blade.”

“Yup.”

“Then we lost the tree.”

“Yup.”

“And now the Lucky Seven Gun.”

“Yup, yup and yup.”

“Can this get any worse?”

“Yup.”

“You're optimistic, aren't you?”
Charlie scowled at Belle, who was sitting on the old tree stump.

“I think given the rubbish we've been
through this past year, we deserve a bit of pessimism. LIFE SUCKS.”
Belle replied.

“Most of it we kinda brought on
ourselves.” Charlie tried to reason.

“I don't see how your grand-fathers
death was our fault, I don't see how we could have stopped the flood,
I don't see how we could have stopped Johannas from murdering my aunt
and I don't see how the University was in any way our fault.”
Belle pouted.

“Technically it WAS our fault that
Grandpa died – if it wasn't for us, there wouldn't have been a
Demon in the first place.” Charlie tried.

“Oh come off it.” Belle got up and
walked away. She already felt like a coward for giving up the Lucky
Seven Gun so easily, she didn't need Charlies guilt-trip on top of
that.

Charlie watched her retreating back.
Ever since she'd started University things had been different. She
started studying more and talking strangely, about apathy and
group-think and protesting and making their voices heard. Weren't
they already doing that? Weren't they already fighting? Why blame
the citizens of Pleasantville for what was going on, why not blame
the real bad guys?

“Hey Charlie.”

Charlie jumped a little as Sunny and
Tammy walked over.

“Hey guys. Where's Petunia?” He
smiled and gave both of them a hug.

“She's signing up for some program
that will help her fast-track into a nursing career.” Sunny
replied, while Tammy grinned. “And tomorrow Tammy is going to
start trying remedial speech again.”

“You're going to try to talk again?”
Charlie asked. Tammy made a funny squeaking sound with her throat,
trying to make a sound. “Well, things are changing around here.”
He said with a hint of bitterness.

“Things always were going to change
Charlie. Look at Belle and I. THAT certainly changed.” Sunny
pointed out. “We used to hate each other so much.”

“I just wish we didn't have to grow
up. That we didn't have to change and move away from each other.”
Charlie looked towards Belles window.

“Sometimes we need to move away from
each other to become closer.” Sunny said.

Charlie still looked doubtful.

–

“Belle, no more. Go out and play
with your friends PLEASE!” Joe begged his only grand-child. “Your
studying is going to be the end of you.”

“I'm fine Pa, really.” Belle tried
to read her textbook, but the lines were starting to blur a little.

“Your eyes are glazing over, you need
to put down that book and do something else. Watch some cricket with
your Dad or go to Brisvegas and watch the Leos play or even go and
beat up the Death Valley Mobsters for all I care, just get your nose
out of those books!” Joe pulled the textbook away.

“I can't really go beat up the
Mobsters without my gun can I?” Belle snatched the book back.

“What's wrong with the Desert
Eagle?!” Joe looked affronted.

“It's not the Lucky Seven Gun Dad,
you know that. It wouldn't be right would it Beauty?” Peter walked
in with a stack of paperwork and a large box.

“Don't tell me you're going to kill
yourself with work as well!” Joe fumed.

“I don't see that it's any of your
business old man!” Peter snapped.

“Watch how you speak to me sonny, or
I'll deck you where you stand!”

“Like to see you try without breaking
your hips!”

Belle rolled her eyes. She looked out
of the window and saw Charlie, Sunny and Tammy beckoning. She turned
back to her book and was about to start studying again when Peter
removed the book from her this time.

“I have a present for you.” He
said.

“Oh?” Belle piped up.

“You can only have it if you let your
friends in.” Peter nodded to the window.

Belle sighed, and opened the front
door.

“Hi guys.” She deadpanned.

“Geezus, don't sound so happy!”
Sunny laughed, giving her friend a hug. Belle hugged her back.

“Anyway, do you want to see what I
made you?” Peter smirked.

“Oooh, is Belle getting a present?”
Charlie and Tammy rushed to the box to try and catch a glimpse of the
present. Peter merely pulled the box away from them with a maddening
smile.

“We have to go to the tip first.
Coming Dad?” Peter grabbed the keys to the ageing Elantra.

“I'll pass, thank you.” Joe turned
to the kitchen and prepared himself a coffee.

“Eh. Come on you lot.” Peter led
them out to the car.

–

The ruby-coloured one-piece suit was
skin-tight with two powered boots attached for flying. There were
pink pads on the fingertips and palms of the attached gloves, and the
top lifted up to cover Belles face, with two little nodes that sat on
her temples and connected with a band over her head which could
unclasp from the left side to make it easier to get it on/off. The
back locked up with a plastic zip, making the whole thing feel very
uncomfortable. Two small pink power boxes sat on the shoulders, and
around the middle was what looked like a pink belt.

“Dad, seriously? You want me to
fight crime in THIS?!” Belle groaned.

“You look like a video game
character!” Peter defended. “You have your usual flight
capability, plus you have the ability to form these carbon weapons
using your mind.”

“Wha-?” Everyone looked dumbfounded
at Peter.

“Just say this old dart board here is
a bad guy. Form a dagger and throw it at him.” Peter instructed.

Belle looked at her right hand. Slowly
the pink pads glowed, oozing a ruby-coloured substance which hardened
to look like a ruby weapon.

“Wow.” Belle threw the Ruby Shard
at the dart board. It hit easily, lingering for about ten seconds
before disintegrating and disappearing.

“The best thing is, this stuff will
leave your opponents limbs numb, incapacitating them for a few
minutes without killing them.” Peter grinned.

“How did you find that out?” Sunny
asked.

“Plus you can fly now without the
issues that the Backpack has!” Peter ignored Sunnys question.
“Just jump up and away you go!”

“Whoa-OAAA!!!!!!” Belle cried. As
soon as she'd gotten airborne, her top half had fallen and she was
nearly hanging upside-down. She struggled to get back up.

Charlie roared with laughter, Sunny and
Tammy tried to hide their giggles and Peter groaned.

“You're too used to the lift coming
from your back, leaving your legs free.” He sighed. “Still,
this is an improvement, at least it's harder to shoot both your
feet.”

“Thanks Dad.” Belle groaned. She
eventually righted herself and landed heavily.

“Anyway, I have another meeting to
get to, and I'm almost late! You guys can get yourselves home
right?” Peter asked.

“Sure.” Was the general reply.
Peter quickly sped off. Belle frowned.

“I wonder why Daddy has so many more
meetings recently.” She floated up wobbily and watched her father
leave.

“Probably getting hammered at work
after the whole flood thing and the University getting destroyed.”
Sunny pointed out. “I know my Dad is copping it.”

“But this many meetings? And on
weekends too?” Belle hovered in the direction her father had taken.

“You should surprise him, Ruby
Giggles!” Charlie piped up.

“Ruby Giggles?” Was the reply from
above.

“Well, you're not exactly regular
Giggles anymore are you?” Charlie pointed out.

Ruby Giggles slumped slightly, but it
was enough to make her lose her balance again.

“Whoaaaaaaaaa!”

–

“I'm glad you could get here. I had
this place booked for weeks!” Peter smiled at Lara as they both
enjoyed their pasta dinner.

“It was close, but I managed to get
away in time.” Lara Vargas replied, smiling into his eyes. She
had beautiful long chestnut brown hair and deep hazel eyes. She was
a little on the bigger side, but had a huge smile that was kind and
warm. “I would have left tennis anyway, I love spending time with
you.”

“Managed to win a few games?”

“All of them sweetheart.”

“Oh, you're good.”

The pair laughed. Peter was on cloud
nine. Not since Belles mother had broken his heart had he thought he
would be able to love again. Now he was sitting in a restaurant with
the woman of his dreams.

“What about Oscar? Isn't it your
weekend with him?” Peter asked about Laras toddler son.

“No, Irwin is taking him on a camping
trip.” Lara replied. “He might not have been a decent husband
but I will admit he's a damned good father.”

“And that's all that counts.”
Peter smiled.

“How about Belle? How's she doing?”
Lara asked. She was always curious about the Masters clan, she loved
the idea of the family code and the Improbability Clause.

“Still over-studying. She's a good
kid and wants to save Pleasantville but she doesn't realise that if
she over-does things she's just going to make herself sick.” Peter
sighed.

“Reminds me a bit of her father.”
Lara grinned cheekily.

“Hey, I was never that bad!” Peter
argued.

“Are you kidding me? I remember in
school while we were all out at the sports carnival you were holed up
studying. Your brother had to drag you away for your events!” Lara
laughed at the memory as Peter turned pink.

“I was such a little snot then. But
you were a complete cow so it all evens out.” He laughed as she
poked her tongue out at him.

Outside meanwhile, Ruby Giggles was
sitting on a rooftop across the street and could see her father and
Lara sitting in the restaurant.

Her father had a girlfriend?!