Author: Crofton77

Charlie sat by the gravestone, hugging
his knees. Woof sat sadly beside his master, head bowed low.

He was devastated. If only he hadn't
had the idea to go running around fighting crime in the first place,
none of this would have happened. Of course, it didn't help that one
of Grandpa Tims last suggestions had been to go out and save the day.
Why did he listen to his Grandpa Tim? Why did he listen to the
Begly blood in his veins, telling him that he was invincible and that
nothing could stop him?

But you couldn't blame Grandpa Tim for
this. Grandpa Charles had always followed Grandpa Tim, had always
wanted to be like Grandpa Tim. Always wanted to be BETTER than
Grandpa Tim. It had gotten him killed. A senseless, pointless death
that proved nothing.

Grandpa Charles had been at war. He
had so badly wanted the Howzat blood in Charles to win out against
the Begly blood. To rebel against the Code and the Clause. As much
as Grandpa Charles loved Grandpa Tim, he envied and hated him.

Charlie heard a noise and looked up.
Joe Masters stood next to him, looking old and sad.

“I couldn't save him. Not this
time.” He sighed sadly, tears falling from his eyes. “They were
my brothers, and I was supposed to look out for them.”

Charlie could see even clearer now. It
wasn't Tims approval that Charles was after – it was Joes. The big
brother. The other vital ingredient in the Improbability Clause. The
smart, strong one who always kept them out of trouble.

Charles had been jealous of the
centuries old friendship between the two families.

“It wasn't your fault.” Charlie
whispered.

“I know. But it will live with me
forever.” Joe looked up to the cloudy sky above. The sudden crack
of thunder barely registered in his psyche, but he knew it meant it
was time to go home.

“Come on Charlie. We need to go.”
He held out his hand to help the boy up.

“Oh Charles.” The old man thought
as he looked back on his best friends grave one last time. “You
meant just as much to me as Tim did.

“You were my brother too.”

–

That night, while the Masters and Begly
families, along with their friends, celebrated the life of Charles
Howzat, Master Revolver was stalking the streets of Pleasantville.

The empty alleyway was dark and
foreboding. Master Revolver smirked as he walked down it. Pulling
his pistol from his belt, he fired into a dark corner. A loud “TINK”
reverberated throughout the air, and the gunman grinned.

“So you ARE here. Glad you could
make it.” He sneered.

“Of course I'm here, I've been on
pins and needles just salivating for your arrival.” A sarcastic
female voice replied.

“Oh I bet you have.” Master
Revolver leered. Mobster Marion might have been the leader of his
most hated rivals, but she certainly was attractive!

Within a split second he found a sword
at his throat. It was no where near as long nor as intimidating as
the Lions Claw Blade, but it was at least sharp enough to tear out
his throat.

“Don't you dare mock me gunslinger.”
Mobster Marion warned. “Or I will kill you.”

“What, after you sent one of your
helicopters to rescue me? I was very touched by the way.” Master
Revolver shrugged the blade off. “Not as fine as what you're used
to wielding is it?”

“Neither is that little pistol you're
waving around.” Mobster Marion glared at the pathetic little gun in
the Gangsters hand. “However, it will make cutting you down all
the easier.”

“Heh heh heh…you're on.” Master
Revolver fired his gun, barely missing the Mobster who dodged
quickly. She retaliated with a quick jab of the sword, nicking
Master Revolvers coat but leaving him relatively unscathed.

Master Revolver fired again, twice.
The first bullet missed, but the second one nicked Mobster Marions
hand. Enraged, Mobster Marion slashed upwards, leaving a nasty cut
on Master Revolvers chest.

Both of them glared at each other. It
was on.

Mobster Marion retreated again to the
shadows. Master Revolver fumed. Even if he DID retreat to the
shadows as well, the gun going off would alert her to his presence.
Instead, he dropped to one knee.

“Giving up already? I'll make this
quick then.” Mobster Marion thought. She jumped down from the
dumpster she'd been standing on, and landed right on Master Revolvers
fist!

The wind flew out of her as his fist
sunk deeper into her stomach. He pointed the gun at her head, and
was about to pull the trigger when the butt of her sword smacked him
hard in the side of the head. They separated, both regaining their
composure.

“Not bad gunslinger.” Mobster
Marion spat, trying to catch her breath.

“You're pretty sharp yourself swords
woman.” Master Revolver replied, clutching his sore head. Mobster
Marion traced his hulking frame with her eyes, watching his powerful
muscles tense and relax.

Both of them look up a fighting stance
again. Their eyes locked, the tension rising.

Master Revolver started firing again,
each bullet being dodged with ease. Mobster Marion easy got up close
and swung her sword, narrowly missing Master Revolver.

Their faces were close. They could
taste each others breath. Master Revolver caught her lips with his
as she pushed up against him.

–

“So.” Mobster Marion traced the
hairs on Master Revolvers chest two hours later in her bedroom.

“I think we have a deal.” Master
Revolver cupped his hand around her face. “Together we'll fix
those Knights.”

“And we'll get back the Lucky Seven
Gun and the Lions Claw Blade.”

“No wonder I've always liked you.”

“Everyone likes me.”

“So arrogant.”

“I have a right to be.”

Another kiss sealed the deal. The Death
Valley Gang and the Mobsters of Misneach were no more. A far worse
threat had been born of the union of the two most despised groups in
the city.

Pleasantville now had to deal with the
Death Valley Mobsters.

 Charlie sat in the tree, looking out
over Pleasant Creek.

“It's not your fault Charlie.”
Belle tried to reason with him. “You tried to do the right thing,
it's not your fault that he got sick.”

“How do you know?” Charlie replied,
still staring at the creek.

“Because he was under stress despite
you, not because of you. Even if he was out fighting, the stress of
the battle would have triggered that heart attack. You heard him
wheezing the last time he fought Demon. The next battle would have
been his last.” Belle pointed out.

Charlie sighed. “Yeah, I guess
you're right. You always seem to be able to think things through.”

“Family gift.” Belle chuckled. She
hugged Charlie tightly.

“Thanks.” He murmured.

“You're welcome.” Belle replied.

“OI! ODD-COUPLE! DOWN HERE!” They
heard TJ yelling down below.

“WHAT?” Belle shouted down.

“WE'RE GOING FISHING! WANNA COME?!”
Sammy yelled.

“SURE!” Charlie replied.

The pair quickly got their fishing gear
and headed out with TJ and Sammy to the fishing hole near Pleasant
Dam. The others were already there waiting for them.

Daniel, being the tactful leader that
he is, had made sure that Sapphire nor Charles were going to be
mentioned that afternoon.

“Guys, before you two go and get
Belle and Charlie, I'd like to talk to you guys about Charles.”
He'd said.

“About?” Sammy enquired.

“Try and keep the talk of Charles and
Sapphire to a minimum. Charlie already feels guilty about what
happened, this fishing trip is so we can all relax and recover from
our various injuries and injustices.” Daniel started moralising.

Sammy raised his hand.

“Very funny Sam.” Daniel glared at
him.

“If Charlie brings it up-,”

“GO.” Daniel fumed while everyone
else laughed.

“I do feel for poor Charlie though,
it must be really tough.” Petunia sighed after the two boys had
left.

“Tell me about it. Part of me is
glad none of my grand-parents give a damn about me.” Sunny cast her
line and settled down, having absolutely no intention of catching any
fish, and every intention of spending the day relaxing.

Tammy looked sadly at Sunny. The
bruises were becoming less frequent, but from the looks of things the
connections that Sunny had with her family weren't improving.

“You have Joe. He looks out for
you.” Petunia tried to lighten the mood.

“And you have us.” Daniel put a
hand on her shoulder.

“Thanks guys.” Sunny smiled at her
friends.

“My grand-parents are very much the
doting type. If they knew I was out crime-fighting, they'd report my
parents to child services.” Petunia told them.

“My grand-parents keep giving me
history books about all the old wars. They think I might find
something useful in them.” Daniel chuckled. “I guess they're
right.”

“HEY! Caught anything yet?!” They
heard TJ yelling.

“That was quick!” Daniel marvelled.

“Uncle Bill gave us a ride. He's off
to the restaurant at the moment.” Belle told them as she settled
down on the picnic rug. “He just lost an argument with Dad.”

“I wonder about your family
sometimes.” Sunny shook her head.

“So do a lot of people.” Charlie
laughed. “Dad was telling me back when HE was a kid that he used
to hear them fighting all the time.”

“It works for us.” Belle shrugged.
“They all love each other.”

“And that's what counts.” Petunia
smiled.

“This is getting too sappy, can we
move on to the fish now?” TJ complained.

“Awww, doesn't TJ wanna admit he wuvs
his Mummy and Daddy?” Sunny teased.

“Oh rack off.” TJ snapped.

“Touchy.” Daniel laughed.

The two boys started wrestling, soon
joined by Charlie and Sammy while the girls laughed. The sun was
shining, the birds were singing, the fish were biting, and soon the
friends were starting to pull in a good haul.

“Uncle Bill WILL be pleased!” Belle
grinned as the ice box steadily filled up.

“Is he going to be able to use it
all?” Sammy asked, throwing back a small fish that would have been
illegal to eat.

“Yup, business is booming at the
moment, especially now with the crime rate dropping. People are more
likely to leave their homes to go out to dinner nowadays.” Belle
replied.

“It's great to know we've helped make
this city better.” Daniel stretched himself out.

“You're not going to get all sappy
again are you?” TJ groaned, lifting a rather large fish into the
ice box. “I don't think we're going to fit much more in guys.”

“I'll call Uncle Bill and we'll get
the load to the restaurant. Nothing like fresh fish to go with your
chips!” Belles stomach began rumbling.

“You think Bill will let us have
some?” Sammy looked hopefully at the catch.

“He'll have to, won't he?” Petunia
was also starting to water at the mouth.

Soon Bill arrived to pick up the load,
and not long after that the friends were digging in to freshly cooked
fish.

“This is delicious.” Sunny wolfed
down another mouthful of her fish stir-fry.

“Unbelieveable.” Petunia helped
herself to another fish ball.

Sammy and Tammy were content with their
fish and chips (battered and crumbed respectively) while Daniel,
Charlie and TJ enjoyed their fish in a spaghetti marinara. Belle was
making her way through a fish salad.

“It wouldn't be right to sell all
these fish and not let you guys have some.” Bill looked out of the
kitchen and smiled at the feasting heroes. Already people were
starting to forward in, tempted by the delicious smells and the sight
of the food. The sun was setting over Lake Pleasant, and the whole
atmosphere was brilliant.

Charlie looked around the table. He
wished his grand-father was there with them. Every time he'd been to
visit the old man in the past week, the conversation had been frosty
at best.

Charles Howzat didn't have much time
left.

The children had just finished their
meal and were about to start thinking about dessert when the sirens
started.

“On a Saturday?!” Sunny groaned.
She'd been looking forward to some cheesecake to wash down the fish
with.

“Let's go – discreetely!” Daniel
advised. They all thanked Bill for the meal, and shot out of the
back door to get changed into their gear.

–

Like Master Revolver, Mobster Marion
thought it was a good idea to have a celebration when she got
released from gaol.

Her celebration however had been a bit
more lawful. A nice party in her gated mansion hurt no one.

Until the Death Valley Gang arrived and
all-out war had started, endangering the nearby populace.

“Just concentrate on getting people
out of here!” Giggles said to Chuckles.

“Right!” Chuckles nodded. He
ducked underneath a barrage of bullets, heading into a nearby home
while Giggles helped a family out of the top-storey window of their
home. They took them to the end of a nearby cul-de-sac where they
would be safe, and where Lady Luck could look them over for any
injuries.

The heroes were going okay until
Mobster Marion sent out her bayonet squadron. It was a lot more
difficult for the heroes to go unnoticed, especially when both
Mobster Marion and Master Revolver declared them targets too.

“WHY did we get involved in this?!”
Sir Dark yelped as he dodged another bullet.

“Because innocent lives and nobility
and because we're freaking insane!” Sir Lionheart replied, nearly
getting skewered with a bayonet.

“How many people left?”

“Too many!”

Sir Hyper ran screaming from one of the
bayonets, while Lady Courage tried fighting fire with fire and was
taking on two of the Gangsters.

“This is insane! I've seen skirmishes
between the DVG and Mob before, but this is beyond that!” Giggles
hid with Chuckles behind a house.

“Do you think this has anything to do
with that Mobster helicopter saving Revolver last week?” Chuckles
asked.

“It could very well do. Maybe
Revolver took it as an insult.” Giggles replied, sticking her head
out to check what was going on. She fired the Lucky Seven Gun at the
feet of a few goons, trying to get them away from Lady Courage and
Sir Hyper.

“This is way out of our league!”
Sir Hyper yelped as he hid with the others.

“Where are Sir Lionheart and Sir
Dark?” Lady Courage asked frantically.

“They're stuck over there with those
people. They can't get them out of to the cul-de-sac without getting
them killed!” Giggles groaned.

“We could provide a distraction.”
Chuckles piped up.

“NO.” Giggles flattened his
suggestion. “We'd get killed instantly, and then those poor
innocents would get polished off. There simply wouldn't be enough
time.”

“If they get distracted, then we've
got to try.” Chuckles pointed out.

“Well isn't this a mess?” Said a
booming voice that caused a temporary lull in the battle.

“Come on!” Chuckles grabbed
Giggles, who was furious. Damn the Improbability Clause!

“So, you're Demon.” Master Revolver
stepped forward from the group of Death Valley Gangsters, approaching
the newcomer who had walked calmly into the fray. “You're the one
who's been keeping the pests busy for us.”

“I don't approve of their meddling in
things that children should stay out of.” Demon replied. “You'll
understand I'm sure.”

“What do you want?!” Yelled Mobster
Marion from one of the mansion windows.

“I want back up. I want to know I
can count on the two most powerful fighting forces in Pleasantville
to back me when I take on the Pleasantville Council.” Demon stated.

“Whatever.” Master Revolver rolled
his eyes. “Get lost freak.”

“Do NOT mess with me Revolver. I
will kill you if I must.” Demon warned.

“I'd like to see you try.” Master
Revolver smirked, snapping his fingers. Four of the Death Valley
Gangsters surrounded him, protecting their master.

“Hmm.” Demon smiled his sick
smile.

Meanwhile, the heroes had almost gotten
the last of the unintended hostages out of the danger area and back
to Lady Luck.

“Almost there! Keep moving!” Sir
Lionheart hissed, trying to keep the small crowd inconspicuous.

“Don't you “hmm” me. Show some
respect for the most feared criminal in the city!” Master Revolver
growled.

Loud laughter was heard from the
mansion. Mobster Marion couldn't help herself after hearing that
last declaration!

“Shut up Marion!” Master Revolver
barked.

Meanwhile, the plan had worked. The
hostages were free and the heroes were safe.

“I am NEVER doing anything like that
again!” Sir Dark flopped onto the ground, head pounding.

“That was far too close for comfort.”
Sir Lionheart agreed. “If it wasn't for the Improbability Clause
we'd be in huge trouble.”

Giggles pouted.

“Yeah.” Chuckles wiped his brow.
He looked back towards where the battle had been. “Oh NO!”

Sapphire had arrived and was standing
close to where the battle had been.

“Grandpa no, you've just recovered
from your heart attack!” Chuckles groaned.

He ran towards the old man, who was
heading towards the battle armed with two knives.

Giggles ran after them, trying to get
the Backpack to work. She pulled out the Lucky Seven Gun, hoping she
wouldn't have to use it.

“Well look who else has arrived.
Hello Sapphire.” Demon sneered as the old hero walked slowly
towards them.

“GRANDPA NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
Chuckles screamed.

“So that's why the rat has your arm
thingies.” Demon looked down his nose at Chuckles.

Master Revolver backed off. He didn't
want any part of this battle. He'd done what he wanted to do, and
that was to put the Mobsters of Misneach on notice.

“I'll settle with you later Marion!”
He roared.

“Up yours too sunshine!” Was the
polite reply.

“Have fun with the old man.”
Master Revolver sneered at Demon, before taking his small army and
leaving.

Sapphire attacked first, but the heart
attack plus his bad hips had slowed him down significantly. Demon
dodged far too easily, and shoved Sapphire to the ground.

“GRANDPA!” Screamed Chuckles, but
it was far too late. Demon stomped on one of Sapphires frail wrists,
breaking it easily. With the knife that had come loose from the old
mans hand, he stabbed his prey squarely in the chest.

Finally the Backpack was going to
behave! Giggles flew furiously towards Demon, ready to belt the
living daylights out of the man. Demon ducked her first swoop,
before throwing his boomerang after her. It clipped her arm, but she
couldn't feel the pain over her fury. One boot to the chest had him
sprawled on the ground

Realising that fighting Chuckles and
Giggles alone was a bad idea, Demon quickly set off one of his smoke
bombs and escaped.

“GRANDPA!” Chuckles was still
screaming. He fell to his knees next to his beloved grand-father.
“WHAT WAS THE POINT?! WHAT WAS THE FREAKING POINT?!”

Sapphire looked up at his grand-son.
“At least…we were willing to try.”

The howls of pain from his devastated
grand-son echoed hauntingly through the night.

Charles lay in his bed, looking at the
ceiling. He'd been allowed to return to his apartment, provided he
stayed in bed and alerted the caretakers immediately if something
went wrong.

He felt lonely and angry. Charlie
hadn't needed training, it was only a ruse to keep his grand-father
out of the way. The insult stung.

Charles could have turned on the TV.
He could have read the twenty or so books that the twins had brought
him. But he couldn't bring himself to even lift his head.

He WAS getting old. He'd just had a
heart-attack, for pete's sake. His hips were constantly locking up
and his reaction time was much slower than he had once been.

His thoughts turned to the past. Joe,
Tim and him. They were unstoppable in their day.

–

“You're certain this is going to
work?” Joe looked doubtfully at the go-cart, which Tim was 100%
certain was going to work.

“Yup.” Tim grinned back.

“And you're going to beat those punks
on the other side of town?”

“Yup.”

“With no injuries?”

“Yup.”

“And the cart left in one piece?”

“Yup.”

“Even though Pleasant Gorge is full
of dangerous turns and covered with rocks?”

“Yup.”

“How?”

“The Improbability-,”

“Finish that sentence and I'll deck
you.”

Charles laughed. “You're just
jealous Joey.”

“No, I'm not. I just disapprove of
using the Improbability Clause for every little thing that comes up
out of the woodwork!” Joe fired back.

“Yup, jealous.” Charles continued
to laugh.

The three boys had been challenged by
another group of boys on the other side of the city to a go-cart
race. It was the school holidays and the perfect time for young boys
just in their teens to start causing mischief.

“This beauty will have no trouble
getting down that hill.” Tim bragged. “And she'll have no
problem beating Davis, Bull and Pitt.”

“This beauty” was made of old
plywood and tape, with some old baby carriage wheels to finish it
off.

“We're doomed.” Joe buried his face
in his hands, his long hair falling around his face. As the oldest,
Joe was usually the most level-headed and often kept the other two
out of trouble. Tim was next, and was always IN trouble. Charlie
was the littlest, and tagged along with whatever Tim wanted to do.

“You're such a spoilsport Joey.”
Tim poked his best friend in the ribs. “We'll be fine!”

“Besides, the girls will be there
watching!” Charles piped up, earning him laughs from the older two.

“Charles got a girlfriend has he?”
Joe ruffled his friends hair.

“No!” Charles shoved him back.

“Well, I will by the end of the week.
I reckon Denise likes me.” Tim smirked, proud of himself.

“Denise Fairweather? No way.”
Charles frowned. “You're too fat!”

“Yeah, Tubby!” Joe gave Tim a good
push. “You need to stop eating for a month, then you might have a
chance!”

“Yeah, and you need to eat for a
month and you might have a chance with Delilah.” Tim said slyly.

“You know that's an arranged
marriage! I have no choice!” Joe groaned.

“You like her.”

“Do not!”

“The only thing stronger than your
love for Delilah is your jealousy of the Improbability Clause.”

“GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE RUNT!”

Charles roared with laughter as Joe
tore after Tim, who ran off laughing.

–

The kids from the other side of the
city had a beautiful new store-bought cart that looked stunning.
It's metal exterior gleamed and the paintwork was exquisite.

Joe looked doubtfully at Tims cart.
The thing looked perilously close to breaking apart, the tape looked
ready to rip at a moments notice.

“Look at THAT! No way is that even
going to make it to the finish line!” Bull laughed.

“She will too!” Tim fought back.

“Oh please, it's barely holding
together as it is!” Pitt jeered.

“One weeks pocket money says
otherwise!”

“You're on!”

“Hang on-,” Joe tried to intervene.
He really didn't want to give up a weeks pocket money, especially
when he was so close to finishing his model plane collection!

“Too late! Unless you're a wussy.”
Bull teased. The others started chanting “Wussy!” until Joe gave
up.

Four of the boys piled into the two
carts, with Joe and Davis ready to push the carts down the steep
slope that had been the bank of Lake Pleasant until it had been
drained.

“On your mark…get set…” The
weaselly, pimply Mitch from their class got ready to start the race.
No one particularly liked him, but he was good for little things like
this. “GO!”

Both boys pushed as hard as they could
before jumping into the back of the carts. The two small vehicles
tore down the slope.

“WATCH OUT!” Yelped Joe as the
poorly-constructed cart rattled over a large rock. The other cart
had dodged it, costing the driver a bit of time.

“Faster Bull!” Davis protested.

“I'm trying!” Bull roared back,
dodging another bush that the other three boys had simply gone
through.

Joe had never been so terrified in his
life. The sides of the cart were starting to fall off, and he
grabbed them tightly to keep them from flying away. Charles was
whooping with joy and Tim was fully focused on steering the
contraption…or at least pretending to, he hadn't thought about the
actual steering side of things.

The end was in sight, and the newer,
shinier cart was barely in front.

“LOOK OUT FOR THOSE LOGS!” Screamed
Joe. Precision steering was needed to get between those two
logs…and there was none.

“LEAN RIGHT!” Tim yelled back. The
three boys leaned right. It was too late, Joe only just being able
to grab Charles and pull him back before the cart smacked into the
side of one of the logs and went spinning towards the finish line,
the other cart barely avoiding getting hit.

Joe grimaced. Charles had nearly had
his face scraped off by the sharp sticks that pointed out of the
logs. The cart finally landed at the finish line, to the cheers of
the other children who had come to watch.

“YOU DID IT TIM!” Denise yelled
with joy. “YOU WON!”

“How in the-?!” Bull, Pitt and
Davis pulled up behind the three winners as the cart completely fell
apart.

“You were too scared to get your cart
damaged.” Tim pointed out.

“I CALL IMPROPER USE OF THE
IMPROBABILITY CLAUSE!” Joe roared furiously. Suddenly he felt a
sharp pain in face. He grabbed his eye, and was rewarded with the
sight of his own blood.

A nice big cut had opened up over his
eye. Thankfully the eye itself hadn't been damaged, but stitches
were going to be needed.

“Are you okay Joey?!” Delilah ran
over to help her friend. “Come on, we need to get you home!”

“Cripes, sorry Joey. Didn't mean for
you to get hurt.” Tim looked at Joe, scared. “You haven't lost
your eye have you?”

“NO. My dignity yes, but the rest of
me is fine thank you!” Joe walked off with Delilah. Tim and
Charles followed, feeling a bit sheepish.

“Maybe helmets next time?” Charles
suggested.

“NO NEXT TIME!” Joe yelped.

–

Two tears fell from the eyes of the old
man lying helpless in his bed. No longer racing go-carts down
Pleasant Gorge, no longer fighting wars.

He felt useless. Impotent. Alone.

Bored.

Charles reached over and grabbed the
remote. He flicked aimlessly through the channels.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in!” He croaked. In walked
Joe Masters, the old scar from the cart-race joined by two others.
It made Joe look far older than he really was.

“Hard to believe you're older than
me.” Charles smiled wryly.

“What does that matter?” Joe asked.

“One of those scars should be mine.”
Charles said.

“Again, that doesn't matter. You have
nothing to prove Charles.” Joe said sternly. “You're my friend.”

“If it wasn't you protecting me, it
was Timmy.” Charles coughed.

“You did your fair share too. How
many times did you stop Tim and I from killing each other?” Joe
helped the other man sit up so he could have some water.

“When did we get old Joey? When did
we stop mattering?” Charles sipped his water slowly.

“We still matter mate. We're still
relevant. We're still loved.” Joe took the cup as Charles lay back
down. “You shouldn't have been so upset with Charlie. He got a
great deal out of your training.”

“It was a ruse.” Charles said.

“Because he loves you. He wants to
protect you. He also wants to learn from you. He can't do that if
you get yourself killed.” Joe tried to reason with his old friend.

Charles lay back. “I can't stop
Joey. I need to be out there. I need to be doing SOMETHING!”

Joe sighed. Charles was never going to
stop, that was true. He had always been ready to sign up to whatever
stupid plan Tim had going. He was always the first to volunteer for
a dangerous mission when they'd been at war. He'd scoffed at anyone
who hung back. He was prepared to do anything. Any dare, any
favour, anything to make himself noticed.

“You were always the oldest. You
were the one who always protected us. Tim always had the ideas. And
I was the lackey who followed along, because you two were the most
awe-inspiring kids in the neighbourhood. Everyone wanted to be you
guys. And you didn't mind that I tagged along. You made me your
friend.” Charles coughed loudly again, prompting Joe to refill the
water glass.

Joe watched helplessly as the younger
mans coughing fit got worse. He reached up to push the red button
that would call for help, but Charles stopped him.

“No, it's alright, I'm fine.”
Charles coughed out, clearly NOT fine. Joe continued to pushing the
button. “NO! Don't push that! I'm fine! I'm fine!” Charles
coughing fit soon stopped him from talking. Joe pushed the button,
and within five minutes a nurse had arrived to take care of the
situation.

The glare that followed Joe out of the
room would haunt him for the rest of his days.

It had been a few weeks since Sapphire
had joined the fight against crime. Unfortunately due to his
obstinacy and old age, his involvement in any battle usually ended up
with one or more of our heroes getting hurt.

“This is insane. Surely he can see
that he's just getting us in trouble.” Belle grumbled one day as
she sat with Charlie in the tree.

“He says it wouldn't be an issue if
we'd just him sort out the criminals his way.” Charlie sighed. “I
can't let him become a criminal himself.”

Belle reached out and grabbed her best
friends hand. “I'm sorry you're caught in the middle of this.
It's not fair on you. You shouldn't have to choose between your
family.”

“Grandpa is the one who's making me
choose though.” Charlie looked away. “He's never been like this
before. He's always been so encouraging and supportive of the Code
and the Clause.”

“Maybe it's because he feels now that
he's retired that he's not useful any more.” Belle had a sudden
thought. “Maybe if you involve him more in your non-crime-fighting
life, he might feel more valued and useful and lay off trying to get
himself killed.”

Charlie perked up. “Did you REALLY
just have a good idea before I had it?!” He looked stunned.

“What's that screaming noise?”
Thomas asked Peter, who was helping him paint the front fence.

“I think that's my daughter killing
your son.” Peter replied.

“Ah.”

–

“Hey Grandpa.” Charlie walked into
the retirement home later that day.

“Hey Charlie. You're walking a bit
gingerly aren't you?” Charles noticed Charlie wincing slightly as
he walked.

“Fell out of the tree.” Charlie
brushed him off. “I was wondering if you could help me.”

“Of course! Nothing's too good for
my grand-son!” Charles closed the door behind them and went to get
some tea while Charlie sat down.

“Now, what can I do for you?”
Charles asked after they'd settled down and were enjoying the tea and
shortbread.

“I was wondering…I really like the
Arm Scythes. It's just…I wanted to know if you'd train me in how
to use them?” Charlie asked. Both he and Belle agreed that it was
important for Charles to feel like he was still involved with
protecting the city, even if it was via proxy.

“Well, I…sure!” Charles agreed,
pleased that his grand-son was taking an interest. “Want to start
now?”

“Of course!” Charlie couldn't
believe it had worked! The pair went out into the secluded back yard,
where due to the over abundance of shrubbery, it was impossible for
anyone to see in. Outside was a small outdoor gym which Charles used
every day.

Charlie groaned inwardly. This was
going to be PAINFUL.

–

And it only got worse.

“Move it!” Master Revolver ushered
his men through the big bank doors and into the large black van that
served as a getaway.

The first night of Dingbat's shift as
Warden of the prison, Master Revolver had walked out of the door.
Literally. Dingbat had foolishly walked past his cell with the keys
hanging out of his back pocket and Master Revolver had simply walked out of
there and straight back to the Death Valley Gang.

“Hmph. Too easy.” Master Revolver
got into the back of the van as it drove away. He was relishing his
freedom, and the robbery was merely in celebration of his escape.

Suddenly, the van lurched, throwing
everyone in the back of the van into the wall.

“Let me guess. Giggles has shot out
the tyres with MY gun.” Master Revolver groaned, pulling himself
off the wall.

“YUP! Only it's MY gun.” Giggles
poked her head in one of the broken back windows. “Hi hi! You've
not finished your gaol term!”

“No. I haven't.” Master Revolver
grimaced. “Where's the truck?!”

“Truck?” Giggles asked.

“BEHIND YOU!” Sir Hyper screamed.
Giggles flew up just in time to avoid getting crushed as a large
truck rear-ended the crashed van. Master Revolver and his crew
quickly exited the side doors of the van and rushed towards the
truck. The Knights and Giggles soon surrounded them, but they were
outnumbered by the Death Valley Gang members. Most of them made it
easily to the truck.

“GO!” Master Revolver commanded.
“Leave the others!”

Giggles groaned. The tyres on the
truck had huge metal plates covering them – no way could she shoot
the tyres out.

She instead landed on top of the truck
and held on for dear life as it sped through the streets of
Pleasantville.

“Where's Chuckles when you need
him?!” Giggles tried to keep grip, but it was hard, and the
Backpack could only help so much. She'd pressed the button on her
watch, hoping someone would be able to follow, but the Knights were
too busy taking care of the remaining DVG goons to be of any help.

“She'll fall off eventually. DAMN
them! At least that Chuckles kid isn't around as…” Master
Revolver exhaled sharply. Chuckles was standing on the pavement, the
truck speeding towards him. But this Chuckles was different.

The truck was almost on top of him –
suddenly he ran towards it, the Lions Claw Blade aimed below the tyre
shields. The truck skidded and smashed into Lake Pleasant, leaving
Master Revolver fuming.

Giggles landed beside her best friend.
“Took your time.” She grumbled.

“Training with Grandpa again. Like
my new decorations?” Chuckles grinned, showing off the Arm Scythes.

“You…filthy…little…BEAST!”
Master Revolver rushed at Chuckles with a metal pipe. Instinct lead
Chuckles to put up his arm to defend himself, where the pipe met its
match in one of the Scythes.

“Seriously?” Master Revolver
looked at the metal pipe, disappointed.

Chuckles grinned. Giggles laughed.
Master Revolver fumed, until he saw a helicopter in the distance.

A helicopter belonging to the Mobsters
of Misneach.

Chuckles and Giggles tensed up. What
were the Mobsters up to now? A chain ladder was dropped behind
Master Revolver.

“HURRY UP!” One of the Mobsters
yelled at him.

Master Revolver glanced back at the two
heroes before grabbing the ladder, which took off.

“Come back here!” Giggles yelled.
She tried to take off, but the Backpack was out of charge.
“Botheration.”

“I wonder why the Mob is suddenly
helping Revolver?” Chuckles mused.

“Can't be anything good.” Giggles
replied. “Still, it looks like Sapphire is out of the way now.”

“Yeah, this past few weeks he's been
really good. He's been more than happy to train me up.” Chuckles
said as the pair headed back to the tip. “It helps too that most
of the crime has been petty stuff. Demon must have gone
underground.”

“I hope he never comes back.”
Giggles commented. “He scared me.”

–

Sitting in his lounge room, Charles was
furious. He was watching the report which clearly showed Chuckles
and Giggles letting Master Revolver AND the Mobsters of Misneach get
away AGAIN.

Ooooh, wasn't he going to have a word
with his grand-son when he next came over! Using the little
“training” excuse to keep his grand-father out of the action!

“I bet that little Masters weasel had
something to do with it too, the interfering little beast! Why can't
they do these things properly?!” He stormed into the kitchen,
grabbing the counter while catching his breath. He went to the
fridge and grabbed a drink of water.

He sat down, his chest feeling tight.
Why was he feeling so light-headed for?

He jumped as the glass fell from his
hand to the floor, clattering loudly and spilling water everywhere.
He went to reach for it, but his shoulders were burning and his neck
felt tight too. The urge to vomit gripped him as breathing became
harder.

He slumped to the floor. Not now. Not
now.

Not a heart attack.

–

“You're very lucky to be alive Mr.
Howzat.” The nurse said, taking the old mans pulse.

“Tell me about it. Why didn't you
call for help straight away?!” Betty was beside herself. She'd
already lost her mother, she wasn't ready to lose her father yet too.

Charles wasn't listening. He was too
busy glaring at Charlie.

“How could you?” He growled at the
young man.

“I did what I had to. To keep YOU
safe, and to keep the Knights safe.” Charlie said.

“What happened?!” Betty asked.

“Your son lied to me.” Charles
answered.

“I did not! I asked you to train me
and I attended training faithfully.” Charlie felt insulted.

“You used your “training” excuse
to keep me busy while YOU let the DVG and the Mob escape!” Charles
yelled.

“Mr. Howzat calm down right now!”
The nurse barked angrily.

“You and your little friend conspired
against me.” Charles ignored her. “Your own grand-father.”

“It was for your own good. Look
where you are now!” Charlie replied.

“Charlie, let's go.” Thomas reached
out to take his son home.

“And YOU are going to sleep!” The
nurse jabbed Charles with a needle.

The last thing Charles remembered
before drifting off to sleep was being angry.

“I'm sorry Mum, Dad.” Charlie
apologised as the family headed out to the car.

“It's okay son.” Thomas sighed.
Betty glared at him.

“OKAY? He manipulated his
grand-father and you think it's OKAY?!” She yelped as they got into
the car.

“Dearest, please. He had good
intentions.” Thomas started the car and they drove off.

“Yeah, look where the good intentions
got him.” Izzy snapped.

“Didn't stop Grandpa from getting
sick.” Lizzy added.

“Would you prefer to have him
murdered?” Thomas snapped at his two daughters, who silenced. They
knew not to mess with their father when he was REALLY angry. “At
least if he has a heart attack at home he has a chance of being
saved. If he's killed in the streets, he has no hope.”

“He's too old to be fighting. You
guys should realise that.” Charlie added.

“You shouldn't be fighting either
young man.” Betty scowled.

“Someone has to.” Charlie replied.

“Don't get smart with me young man.
You're a hypocrite, just like your father and your little friends the
Masters.” Betty folded her arms. “This discussion is over.”

“Mum-,”

“ENOUGH.” Thomas warned.

The car trip home was deathly silent.

“YIKES!”

Giggles ducked out of the way as the
car behind her exploded. “Demon this is enough! You're going to
get innocent people killed!”

Demon stood atop a large truck, his ten
foot-men throwing petrol-bombs at the seven heroes.

“Innocent people are being killed
every day due to the negligence of our governments and law
enforcement. Any victims today are a small sacrifice to pay for the
greater good.” Demon said, watching as the carnage unfolded.

“EEK!” Sir Hyper cried as he
grabbed an elderly senator out of the way of a petrol-bomb. “Watch
out sir!”

Sir Lionheart looked at his watch. A
text message from Lady Silent had appeared.

“Police are still twenty minutes
away.”

“TWENTY MINUTES?!” Sir Lionheart
cried. “How are we supposed to even SURVIVE twenty minutes, let
alone keep the damage to a YIKES!” He rolled out of the way of
another explosion.

The news didn't help Sir Dark either,
who was trying to keep Lady Luck safe while she bandaged up another
female senator who'd been injured.

“Lady Luck, we don't have time for
this, we have to move!” Sir Dark growled at her, trying to keep one
of the henchmen at bay. The man laughed at him.

“Just a little boy trying to do a
mans work!” He taunted. Irate, Sir Dark smacked him across the
cheekbone with his metal pole.

“Okay, I'm done. She can't walk
though!” Lady Luck told Sir Dark as one of the other henchmen came
to the aid of his comrade.

“I can't keep fighting them off!”
Sir Dark protested.

Meanwhile, Lady Courage was in a bit of
hurt herself. Now sporting a pair of purple daggers painted onto her
armour, she had just sustained a nasty burn to her hand.

“We have to go to her!” Sir Dark
pointed out.

“But if we leave Senator Lucy out
here on her own, she's done for!” Lady Luck protested. Lady
Courage was still holding her own against the henchman who had gotten
her, but her hand was making it hard.

“There's too many of them!” Groaned
Chuckles, swinging wildly with the Lions Claw Blade.

“And I'm running out of ammo too!”
Giggles shot another petrol-bomb in the sky, exploding it
harmlessly.

“We need to get to Demon. We get
him, this ends. I'm going to try and get him.” Chuckles said as
Giggles landed behind him.

“Like hell you are. You even look
like you're thinking of taking him down and suddenly you've got
henchmen to deal with.” Giggles pointed out.

“SOMEONE has to take him out.”
Chuckles protested.

“Who?”

Demon chuckled at this little exchange
between the heroes. They were stuffed.

Suddenly there was a loud clattering
behind him. He spun around just in time to dodge a blue ninja
wearing a blade along each arm.

“Oh no…Grandpa!” Chuckles groaned
while Giggles proceeded to chuck a temper tantrum. “Stupid, stupid,
STUPID!”

“Who are you? You're not a Knight.”
Demon glared at the blue ninja.

“My name is Sapphire.” The ninja
lifted his arm, pointing one of the blades at Demons throat. “And
now you die.”

Demon gulped as Sapphire struck.
Fortunately for him a Giggles bullet landed at the feet of the ninja,
sending him jumping back.

“What is your problem Giggles?!”
Sapphire roared furiously.

“WE. DO. NOT. KILL.” Giggles
growled. Three of the henchmen had come to Demons aid, allowing
Chuckles and the Knights to get the upper hand against those who were
left.

Sapphire knocked two of the henchmen
away, going for Demon. Giggles took on the last one, finally
subduing him with some rope.

Demon, who had composed himself, fought
against Sapphire. He was barely holding his own.

“Chuckles, who is that?!” Sir Hyper
asked quietly after the rest of the henchmen had been taken care of.

“My grand-father. Those are his Arm
Scythes.” Chuckles sighed in frustration. He ran over and climbed
up the side of the truck to help Sapphire.

“This is too easy, you're pathetic
Demon.” Sapphire gloated. “The only reason you're still alive is
because the others are too weak to end your pathetic life.”

He stood over Demon, who had fallen and
was now at the mercy of Sapphire again. Sapphire again aimed one of
the Scythes at Demon. Suddenly pain ripped through his hips and
lower back.

“Argh! Not now!” Sapphire groaned
as his legs locked up. Damn his hip complaints!

Demon saw his chance. He grabbed his
boomerang and was about to attack, when the Lions Claw Blade appeared
in front of him. One look at Chuckles and Demon slipped off the roof
of the truck, knowing he stood no chance against the combined might
of Chuckles and Giggles.

His henchmen had slowly made their way
back to the truck, and now the group made their escape. Chuckles
quickly leapt off the moving truck, while Giggles saved Sapphire from
a certain fall.

“See you guys back at HQ!” Giggles
placed Sapphire down on the ground, before heading off.

“Ugh.” Sir Dark groaned, pulling
his sore body off the ground where he'd been resting.

The group scattered and made their way
back to the tip.

Just then, the police arrived. Timing.

–

Sapphire groaned. His hips were still
sore, but at least he could move. He'd finally gotten to the tip,
now it was just a matter of finding the headquarters of the Knights
of the Last Order.

Meanwhile, the others had hurried back
and heard the story of what had happened at the barbecue earlier that
week.

“So your grand-father thinks he can
help us?” Sunny asked.

“Yeah, but as you saw, he doesn't
really conform to our ethos.” Belle pointed out.

“Plus his age. If you hadn't stepped
in when you did Charlie, Demon would have killed him.” Daniel
pointed out.

“The whole situation stinks.” TJ
folded his arms. “I don't envy you one bit Charlie.”

“I don't envy me either.” Charlie
sighed. Tammy put an arm around his shoulders.

“I wish there was some way we could
convince him to stand down, but I doubt he'd listen to us.” Petunia
finished tending to Sammys burnt cheek.

Charlie perked up.

“Hey, maybe we could-,”

“ONE use of the Improbability Clause
per day is enough for me thanks.” Belle said dryly. Charlie
laughed.

“So, what are we going to do?”
Sammy piped up.

“What are we going to do about what?”
Another voice popped up.

“ARGH!” The eight friends squealed
in fright.

“Oh, Grandpa, it's just you.”
Charlie was the first to recover. Sapphire removed his headgear to
reveal Charles Howzat.

“What on earth were you thinking?!”
Belle fumed.

“I was just going to finish what YOU
started.” Charles scowled at the young lady. “And I suggest you
be more respectful towards your elders.”

“Grandpa…” Charlie trailed off.
“You could have been killed.”

“Not the first time.” Charles
grinned at his grand-son. Daniel frowned.

“If you're going to work with us,
then you need to subscribe to our ethics. You were going to murder
Demon.” He said.

“Yes. I was going to end his little
reign of terror and make sure no one else got hurt.” Charles eyed
off the younger man.

“We can't have that.” Daniel
replied.

“You're the leader of the Knights
aren't you? Sir Lionheart?” Charles asked.

“Yes.” Daniel looked warily at the
old man.

“And you call yourself a leader?”
Charles frowned. “I have half a mind to take the leadership of the
Knights myself.”

“We'd never follow you!” Sunny leapt
to Daniels defence.

“Not ever! Dan is our hero!” Sammy
jumped up angrily.

“Dan is the best leader we've got.
He's always looked out for us!” TJ was angry too.

“You'd throw your weight behind an
inexperienced leader instead of being smart and following me?”
Charles looked disappointed. “I was hoping you guys were
intelligent.”

“You are SERIOUSLY deluded!” Belle
yelped. “We've been doing fine without you! You're old, slow, and
breaking down, you're ideas are so out of touch it's not funny!”

“How DARE you!” Charles rounded on
Belle, who was fuming. “Insolent little brat! I'll teach you to
speak to your elders that way!”

Charles lunged at Belle, who easily
side-stepped. He attacked again, and Belle side-stepped again. This
happened four or five times until Belle finally took to the sky.

“You pathetic little coward.”
Charles shook his head. “You children have no idea. You're
letting these people get away with horrendous crimes, and they'll
keep getting away with it.”

“Last time I checked, both Marion and
Revolver were arrested. Both are currently in gaol. If they break
the law again, they'll get arrested again. They'll learn.” Belle
said, arms folded.

Charlie sat silently.

“Grandpa, you nearly got yourself
killed. If I hadn't stepped in when I did, Demon would have killed
you.” He said quietly.

“Only because your 'best friend'
stopped me from killing him in the first place!” Charles rounded
on his grand-son.

“There is a process for punishing
wrongdoers, and that process needs to be followed! We're simply here
to stop them from hurting others!” Belle yelled furiously.

“THE PROCESS IS FLAWED!” Charles
yelled back.

“THEN THERE IS A PROCESS TO HAVE THAT
FIXED!” Belle retorted.

Tammy looked at the pair, before
noticing two men walking towards them. She waved.

“Oh dear.” Thomas looked at the
scene he'd just walked into.

“Charles, Belle, what's going on?”
Joe asked.

“None of your business Joey.”
Charles scowled.

“I'll tell you on the way home.”
Belle landed beside her grand-father.

“Okay then little one.” Joe put a
hand on her head. “Get changed then let's get home, it's going to
rain soon.”

“Yes Pa.” Belle skipped off to the
hideout to get into her civilian attire. Charles glared after her.

“Back off Charles.” Joe warned.
“Leave my grand-daughter alone.”

“If she gets in my way, she'll get
what's coming to her.” Charles replied, before walking off angrily.

“Grandpa!” Charlie tried to run
after him, but was stopped by his fathers hand on his shoulder.

“Leave him be son.” Thomas said
softly. “You can't help him now.”

Charlie was tired, and glad to be
heading home after a long day at school. The biology exam had been
nothing short of the purest torture. He felt like he could never
fully enjoy anything ever again, the exam had been so painful, so
dull, so unfair, so-,

“GRANDPA CHARLES IS COMING! GRANDPA
CHARLES IS COMING!” Lizzy and Izzy grabbed his hands and spun him
around the lounge room almost the second he walked in the door.

“Grandpa?” Charlie looked at the
pair, dumbfounded.

“YUP!” The pair grinned back.

“OH MY GOD! GRANDPA CHARLES IS
COMING! GRANDPA CHARLES IS COMING!” The three danced around the
room. Charles Howzat had been working in Central Ostraya as a
teacher. He had been pretty close to retirement the last time
Charlie had spoken to him, and was looking forward to coming back
home to Pleasantville.

“Will you lot can it!” Thomas
walked in.

“Why is Grandpa coming home? Is he
retiring?” Charlie asked.

“Yup. He's been told that he's too
old to continue working. So he's off to the Happy Old Farts home.”
Thomas sat down on the couch.

“Joe will be pretty thrilled too –
he, Grandpa Charles and Grandpa Timmy were best friends.” Izzy
said, unable to contain her excitement.

“Those two will be able to chat about
the old times. I bet they have a lot of stories from the war they
can share!” Lizzy added, bouncing around the room.

“He can show me his old sword fighting
moves.” Charlie grinned. Thomas and Betty were a match made in
heaven, as the Beglys by trade were blacksmiths and metalworkers,
while the Howzats had a history of sword fighting.

“He can babysit you three while your
mother and I get some quality time together.” Thomas thought out
loud.

“No. No more siblings!” The three
children cried out.

–

It was late Saturday morning when
Charles arrived at the Begly house. Betty had gone to pick her
father up from the airport in Brisvegas, while Thomas and the
children got his new accommodation sorted.

They were just putting the television
in position when the car pulled up at the apartment.

“GRANDPA CHARLES! GRANDPA CHARLES!”
The three Begly siblings ran out of the apartment towards their
grand-father.

“Hey kiddos. Look at how big you all
are!” Charles climbed gingerly out of the car. He hadn't aged
well, and his joints were stiff and sore.

“Grandpa! Let me take your bag!”
Charlie grabbed the old mans luggage.

“Come on Grandpa, we cleaned
everything up for you!” Izzy grabbed his hand while Lizzy got the
door.

Charles smiled at the three, and sighed
as he walked in the door. “It's true then. I am old and retired.”
He looked around the room.

“Did we set everything up right
Grandpa?” Lizzy looked up anxiously.

“You guys did amazing, thank you.”
Charlies sighed.

“You're coming to our place for
dinner tonight, aren't you Dad?” Betty asked, looking at some of
the art on the mantelpiece.

“Of course dearie. Just let me get
freshened up.” Charles smiled at his oldest daughter.

–

It was early evening when they finished
dinner, the Beglys and Masters sitting in the shared backyard eating
barbecued ribs.

“This is GORGEOUS!” Belle grinned,
stretching out her arms, belly full of pork.

“Isn't it just?” Joe agreed with
her. “And my best mate is back too.”

Charles laughed.

“Everyone knows you and Tim Begly
were the best of friends Joey, I just tagged along.” He took
another mouthful of beer. “Those were the days.

“Yeah, you and Timmy going at each
other hammer and tongs, and I always had to break you two up.” Joe
smiled at the memory.

“He was such an arrogant tosser
though.” Charles smiled fondly. “Don't know why, he was such an
ugly mug.”

“Still managed to woo Denise!” Joe
laughed. Charles scowled. “Oh don't look like that Charlie, you
didn't say anything!” Joe patted his old friend on the back.

“What happened?” Izzy asked
innocently.

“Your Grandma Denise Fairweather was
the most beautiful woman you ever saw. I was madly in love with her
until your Grandpa Tim got a hold of her.” Charles sighed
melodramatically. Inside, the wound still burnt hot.

“Tim had a way with women. Thomas
seems to have gotten his mojo from him.” Peter laughed.

“I call incorrect use of the
Improbability Clause!” Bill chortled, making the table erupt in
hysterics.

“Do you lot STILL believe in that
stupid dumb luck?” Charles asked. “I suppose you still follow
that Code religiously too!”

“The Masters Code and the
Improbability Clause are over 500 years old.” Joe pointed out.

“And besides, without the Code and
the Clause, we wouldn't be able to be Chuckles and Giggles.” Belle
piped up.

“Ah, yes, I've been wanting to talk
to you two about that.” Charles straightened up. “I want to join
you on your crusade.”

The table went dead silent.

“Um, aren't you a bit old to be
running around Pleasantville in a dodgy costume?” Charlie asked.

“Nonense. A bit of experience would
help you.” Charles brushed him off. “I don't understand why Joey
hasn't put his hand up to help you.”

“Because I know I'm too old and I'd
be a liability.” Joe said quietly. “I coach from the sidelines
if I have to be involved.”

“Ah, I see. Being the “strategist”
as it were.” Charles frowned.

“It was my job.” Joe narrowed his
eyes at Charles.

“Was hiding behind the Code your job
too?” Charles shot.

“You know I'd never willingly take
the life of another, no one should ever be expected to!” Joe
snapped.

“We had no choice, it was WAR!”
Charles fired angrily. “You're still a coward I see.”

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK!” Peter and
Bill roared furiously. NO ONE called their father a coward!

“You and Tim, always hiding behind
those old family traditions which should have died out a long time
ago!” Charles muttered bitterly. “At least one of us has
gumption.”

“Charles, listen to me, you know you
can't go out and fight anymore. Even these two shouldn't be out
there.” Joe tried to reason with his old friend, but Charles was
having none of it.

“At least your daughter seems to have
her priorities straight.” He looked at Belle, who recoiled and hid
behind her father.

“I still follow the Code. So does
Charlie.” She said quietly. Charles narrowed his eyes at his
grand-son.

“No. You two need to listen to me
and stop relying on these outdated methods that this old man
preaches. He nearly got us all killed 40 years ago with his stupid
moralising.” Charles frowned. “If you're going to do a job, do
it right. If you're too scared to get blood on your hands then leave
it to those who will.”

“It's not about being scared Charles,
it's about doing the right thing and following the rules!” Joe
began to seethe. Peter and Bill stood behind him.

“What are rules if they allow people
to get hurt?!” Charles fought back.

“It's not the rules that are getting
people hurt, it's the people who can't be bothered following the
rules that are doing the damage! Listen to yourself!” Joe stood
up, an imposing figure in front of his two sons.

“Boys, sit down. Why ruin a lovely
dinner-,” Betty tried, but was cut off by her father.

“YOU listen to yourself! You're a
coward, you always have been, and you're now trying to stop the one
member of your family who actually has any guts from fulfilling a
very noble destiny!” Charles stood up too, just as furious.

“Grandpa, please sit down. We're
just trying to do the best we can, and Joe is right, you'd only get
in the way and cause issues.” Charlie tried.

“You still don't need to follow that
stupid Code! If you had disposed of Revolver and Marion properly,
then you wouldn't be here sitting on pins and needles waiting for
them to get back out and cause harm again!” Charles bellowed.

“Yes, but that would make the
children as bad as the ones they're fighting!” Joe tried to reason
with the now irate man.

“At least the city would be safe.”
Charles growled.

“At the expense of the childrens
innocence?” Joe glared.

“How can any child be innocent in
this day and age?” Charles sat back down. “You're a fool Joey.
An old fool.”

“We'll just see about that won't we?”
Joe continued to glare. “I can't believe you'd sacrifice your own
flesh and blood-,”

“Some sacrifices need to be made Joe,
don't you DARE judge me for mine!” Charles was back up again,
knocking over his chair.

“Maybe we'd better get out of
here…” Belle whispered to Charlie.

“Don't you DARE leave this table!”
Charles rounded on her.

That did it. Peter stood between the
two and glared threateningly at Charles.

“Beauty. Please leave the table.”
He said coolly. Belle skipped away as quickly as she could, this was
one fight she didn't want a bar of!

“Don't you move young man.” Charles
stopped Charlie from walking away. “You're not a coward like her.”

Peter growled. Charles eyeballed him.

“Go on. Hit me. Or are you just as
cowardly as your father?” He taunted the oldest Masters son.

“I don't hit unless I'm struck
first.” Peter replied. He felt his fathers hand on his shoulder.

“You're a good boy Peter. You and
Bill head inside with Belle.” He said. Peter nodded and headed
back inside, his brother putting his arm over his shoulders.

Joe looked at Charles, and shook his
head sadly.

“I'm sorry about dinner Betty, I know
you went to a lot of trouble to put this together. I thank you for
inviting us, and hopefully we can get together sometime without the
arguments.” He walked back inside where Peter and Bill were
comforting a shaken Belle.

“Well. That was a bit of a downer.”
Thomas sighed as the Beglys cleared the table.

“I have half a mind to never invite
those Masters over again!” Betty seethed. Thomas was taken aback.

“What do you mean?! Both of them
were equally to blame dearest, besides you can't just cut off our
closest friends over a stupid little incident like that!” He tried
to comfort her. She rounded on him.

“I knew you'd take their side, you
always do! My father happens to be your FAMILY Thomas, or have you
forgotten that?!” Betty snapped angrily, slamming down the cutlery
on the bench.

“The Masters are as good as family,
and the Improbability Clause-,”

“IT'S STUPID, that's what it is!
Nothing more than make-believe rubbish!” Betty stormed on.

Listening in were the three siblings.
Charlie was indignant.

“The Improbability Clause isn't
rubbish, I've used it plenty of times!” He said.

“It's dumb luck Charlie. You need to
grow up.” Izzy pointed out.

“What the-? You're Beglys just as I
am!” Charlie was shocked. How could his sisters deny their own
birthright like that?!

“We're also Howzats Charlie, and
unlike Beglys, we stick to our familys side and defend each other.”
Lizzy narrowed her eyes at her brother.

Charlie couldn't believe his ears. His
own sisters, who had looked up to him for years, were defying him.

“I love Grandpa Charles as much as
you do, but even I know he's wrong on this one. Just because you
love someone doesn't mean you have to agree with everything they
say.” Charlie tried to reason with them, but the girls were just as
stubborn as their grand-father.

“He's not wrong Charlie, I can't
believe that you'd say that!” Lizzy cried in anguish.

“You're pretty much asking me to
choose Grandpa Charles over Grandpa Tim!” Charlie tried to defend
himself.

“No we're not!” Izzy looked
insulted. “Grandpa Tim died a long time ago!”

“Come on Iz, let's go to our room.”
Lizzy pulled her sister away, leaving Charlie feeling lost and
alone.

–

Back at the retirement home, Charles
lifted an old wooden box out from underneath the bed. He opened it
carefully and laid the contents out on the bed.

Two long blades. Both had a solid
leather strap near the end so they could be worn along the users
arms.

Charles strapped them on, and started
shadow-boxing. The Arm Scythes had served him well over the years,
and they would serve him well again.

Bill was rapt. His restaurant was
FINALLY open! The beach-themed burger restaurant was situated right
where the creek fed into the lake, lending itself to some fine views.

“This is the best Uncle Bill.”
Belle said one day as she tore into her steak burger. The restaurant
was empty except for the seven friends and Bill.

“I'm surprised it's not more
expensive.” Daniel added.

“I like to keep things affordable,
that way more people can enjoy my work.” Bill replied, wiping a
glass. “So what do you youngins have planned for today?”

“Study.” Charlie groaned.

“More study.” Belle added.

“So much studying.” Daniel sighed.

“Even more studying.” TJ piped up.

“Studying too.” Petunia caught on.

“No studying for me, we had our exams
yesterday.” Sammy grinned, earning him a few dirty looks. Tammy
simply smirked.

The bell on the door rang, and in
walked Sunny. She smiled shyly at the group of friends.

“Hi Sunny! How are things?” Belle
pulled up a chair next to her.

“Getting there I guess.” Sunny
shrugged. She sat down, looking uncomfortable. Petunia cleared her
throat.

“We were just talking about the exams
we have next week.” She told Sunny. “Apparently the twins have
already had theirs.”

“Seriously? I'm not looking forward
to the maths one. That's going to get ugly.” Sunny said.

“I'm not looking forward to the
biology exam. That one is going to be painful.” TJ groaned.

The sound of sirens in the distance
made them all stop.

“That's odd. Marion and Revolver are
still in prison, and most of the DVG and the Mob have gone
underground.” Daniel looked out the window.

“Do you think we ought to check it
out?” Charlie asked.

“I think so. Sorry Bill, can you
keep this warm for us until we get back?” Daniel started to grab
his things and head out of the door.

“I suppose.” Bill sighed as the
group minus Sunny stormed out, nearly knocking over poor Joe as he
walked in.

“Young hooligans.” He chuckled
fondly. He saw Sunny sitting by herself at the now abandoned table.

“How have you been recently Sunny?”
Joe sat down next to her where his grand-daughter had been sitting.

“In some ways it's been easier.
Daryl doesn't give me nearly as much grief as he used to.” Sunny
replied. She sighed.

“But in other ways…my parents still
don't talk to me as much as they used to, especially my Dad. He's
gotten a fair bit angrier nowadays.”

“I understand.” Joe said, putting a
hand on her shoulder. “You love them and you want them to love
you.”

“You make it sound so simple.”
Sunny replied.

“It probably is.” Joe smiled
kindly.

Sunny looked out of the window.

“I want to get back at them too.”
She said suddenly. “I want to prove to them that I'm just as good,
if not better than Daryl.”

“Also understandable.” Joe nodded.

“I wish I could go and help the
others. I could repay them and get back at my parents at the same
time.” Sunny got up. Joe got up too.

“No. It's too dangerous.” He said
sternly.

“You let Belle out.” Sunny pointed
out.

“That's not my decision.” Joe
replied. “Her father thinks she can handle it.”

“Then why not me?!” Sunny
protested. Joe looked at her.

“Come with me. There's some old gas
masks out the back that the contractors left behind, good strong
ones.” He said.

–

For the first time in a long time
Giggles was scared. The man in front of her in the weird dragon mask
had rigged the tall Council building near the middle of the city to
explode, which would take out many of the buildings around it.

Lady Silent was quickly trying to
diffuse the explosives with the help of a bomb expert, while the rest
of the Knights of the Last Order and Chuckles were fighting off the
dragon-mans minions.

“Who ARE you?” Giggles asked. They
were both on top of the building, the sun still high in the sky above
them.

“I am Demon.” The man said. His
dragon mask was black with gold trim, and only covered the top half
of his face. His mouth was painted red and his face painted white.
He was dressed in a white karate uniform with a black belt, and black
combat boots. He held a large boomerang, wooden with beautiful
native decoration.

“Demon, huh?” Giggles drew out the
Lucky Seven Gun.

“That doesn't belong to you.” Demon
pointed out.

“So? Would you prefer it in the hands
of Master Revolver?” Giggles shot back.

Demon didn't reply. Instead, he aimed
the boomerang straight at Giggles and threw it. Giggles shot up into
the air.

“HA, you miss-OW!” She cried as the
boomerang came back, slicing into her leg and returning to Demon.
Blood poured from the wound.

Giggles knew she was in trouble if she
had to get to ground. She had about nine minutes of air-time left.

Demon threw the boomerang again, this
time Giggles was able to shoot it out of the air. It went flying
back towards Demon who caught it easily.

“Damn him!” Giggles thought. Just
then, the Backpack cut out.

“Of all the times for it to
malfunction…” She growled, landing on her bad leg.

“This city, it's Council, it's cops,
everything in this city is corrupt. The system has failed when
children think they have the right to stamp their authority on the
city. Pleasantville needs to start again.” Demon stood over her.

“You're kidding. You're having a go
at US for being vigilantes? What about you?!” Giggles pointed out
the hypocrisy.

Demon laughed.

“YOU serve the corrupt system. I
wish to destroy it and start again.” He told her.

“With a name like Demon?”

“You're exceedingly nit-picky you
know that?”

Giggles groaned and tried to stand up
again. Demon kicked her over.

“Now. It's time for me to take the
first – OW! WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE GETTING SMACKED OVER THE HEAD
IN THIS CITY?!” Demon screamed in pain as he was hit over the head
with a metal baseball bat.

Giggles almost laughed. The person who
had hit Demon was wearing a gas mask, a pair of blue swimming
goggles, a bicycle helmet and various pieces of cricket padding.

“Leave Giggles alone.” The figure
said.

Demon growled.

“Who are you?”

“None of your beeswax. Leave Giggles
alone.” The figure repeated.

“Very well, I seem to have
miscalculated. Never matter. My men and I shall return.” Demon
said. Two smoke bombs went off.

“Damn!” Giggles cried. The smoke
cleared and Demon was gone.

“Are you okay?” The figure asked,
helping Giggles up.

“Yeah. Nah.” Giggles tried to put
some weight on her injured leg. Thankfully it was only a cut, but it
was still a deep one that would need stitches.

“We'd better get back to the tip.
Your grand-father will meet us there.” The figure said. Giggles
gasped

“Sunny?” She asked.

The figure nodded. Giggles smiled
underneath her helmet.

“Good on you Sunny!” She laughed.

She quickly fiddled with the Backpack
(which had simply had a momentary glitch, how's that for timing?)
before flying herself and Sunny back to the tip, where Chuckles and
the Knights of the Last Order were slowly making their way in.

“They all escaped. Smoke bombs.”
Chuckles flung himself down on one of the old mattresses.

“What happened to your leg?!” Lady
Luck cried, throwing herself at Giggles wounded leg and starting to
clean it.

So Giggles told them about Demon, and
how he wanted to rule over Pleasantville.

“Is he insane? The Ostrayan
Government would send in the Army and squash him flat.” Sir
Lionheart scoffed. “But you haven't gotten to who this is, or why
they're here!” He pointed to Sunny.

“It's me!” Sunny pulled off her
mask. The others gasped.

“You saved Belle?!” Chuckles asked
incredulously.

“Well, yeah.” Sunny shrugged.

“You're really brave!” Sir Hyper
looked up at her.

“A little bit.” Sunny blushed. Sir
Lionheart walked over to her, suddenly having an idea.

“Put your mask back on.” He said
solemnly. Sunny did so, and Sir Lionheart led her into the middle of
the group. Silence fell.

“You have shown great courage, not
only to save Giggles, but to see your old ways of bullying us were
wrong, and that you can have friends.” Sir Lionheart said. “Please
kneel.”

Sunny got down on one knee, shaking.

“Lady Silent, go and get one of the
other watches.” Sir Lionheart commanded. Lady Silent quickly
retrieved the purple watch and handed it to him. He faced the
kneeling Sunny.

“You have shown yourself worthy of
being our friend, and you have shown yourself worthy of being a
Knight. I dub thee Lady Courage!” Sir Lionheart touched her
shoulders with his slingshot.

Lady Courage! Sunny felt tears welling
up behind her eyes. Someone valued her. Someone cared about her.

She finally had friends who wanted her.

“Arise Lady Knight!” Sir Lionheart
helped up the newly coronated Lady Courage.

“I hate to break up the impromptu
party, but Belle needs medical assistance yesterday!” Lady Luck
piped up.

Within the hour Belle was stitched up
and heading back home with her grand-father and uncle. Looking out
of the window, she smiled.

“You were right Pa. All Sunny needed
was time and friendship. Now she's come good.” She said.

“Aren't I always right?” Joe
replied gruffly as Bill turned into their street.

“Your tipping would suggest
otherwise.” Bill shot back.

“Was I talking to you?”

“Chill out you old git.”

“Watch your mouth you little-,”

“I love this family.” Belle hugged
herself.

–

“And how was your day Daryl?” Mrs.
Jones sat at the dinner table eating roast beef and mashed potatoes
and roast pumpkin.

“Pretty busy, I had to do my speech
about the School Camp today. Being the School Captain is hard
sometimes.” Daryl grinned, shovelling his dinner into his greedy
mouth. “Plus we had revision for our Maths exams.”

“And your day?” Mrs. Jones looked
down at Sunny, who was eating slowly.

“Fine.” Sunny replied, pushing her
beef around the plate.

“So do you think you're going to pass
the Maths exam?” Mr. Jones quizzed his son. Sunny tried to pay
attention to the conversation, but soon it just became a drone in the
background.

It wasn't her fault that her mother had
gotten pregnant again after they'd had Daryl. It wasn't her fault
she was a girl. As much as she was happy with her new friends, the
pain of rejection from her parents hurt.

She did the dishes, cleaned up the
kitchen and the lounge room, put a load of washing through the drier
and then headed upstairs to her bedroom. Her homework was already
done and she was tired.

She looked out of her window towards
the creek. Her parents small boat was sitting tied to the back
fence. They were rich, but money would never help Sunny.

She was about to cry herself to sleep
again like she had so many nights before, when she noticed the gas
mask out of the corner of her eye.

“No. I won't cry anymore.” Sunny
thought to herself. “I'm Lady Courage, and I am important.”

The rest of the camp flew by in a blur
of fun. Although enjoying themselves as much as possible, the seven friends made sure to keep an eye out for Sunny, who seemed to be in a
constant state of fury. Even Daryl was wary of his sister!

Soon, it was time to go home, much to
the sadness of everyone. The seven friends were lucky enough to
snaffle the back of one of the buses, where they could talk easily.

“My last time at school camp.”
Daniel sighed.

“And we only have one more left.”
Belle turned to Charlie, who sighed too.

“We have loads more left!” Sammy
grinned cheekily.

“Yeah, but you have more years left
of being bossed around.” TJ poked the younger boys forehead.

“Oww!” Sammy rubbed his head.

“So, have you two decided what you're
going to do about Marion and Revolver? Dingbat is on warden duty in
a month.” TJ mentioned, turning to Belle and Charlie.

“Put him back in gaol?” Charlie
grinned.

“Easier said than done. We're just
going to end up having to put him back every single time he escapes.”
Belle groaned.

“It'll be fun!”

“It'll be dangerous.”

“Shush you lot! I'm TRYING to catch
a nap here!” Petunia frowned at them. Tammy shot them all a dirty
look. She had been about to doze off too.

Belle looked out of the window. Her
thoughts turned to Sunny. After everything that had happened between
them, why did she suddenly feel the urge to protect her long-time nemesis?

–

That night the friends had dinner at
Belles place. Everyone loved Bills cooking, and Joes stories made
the night all the more interesting.

“Big game on tonight too between the
Leos and the Mynahs.” Daniel grinned at Charlie as they cleaned up
their steaks. The Collymoddle Mynahs were one of the most despised
teams in the competition, and unfortunately also one of the best.

“It'll be fine. With Jackson Blue,
Louis Tiger and Joe Patrick in red-hot form, we'll whomp them.”
Peter piped up.

“Don't forget Tony Rockcrusher.”
Sammy added.

Belle was excited. It was the first
time she had ever had so many friends over. The house was filled
with laughter and fun, and she was so happy that she finally had so
many people she could hang out with.

Finishing up her dinner, Belle took her
plate to the sink to rinse it off for her uncle. She looked out the
window.

In the opposite window, Sunny was busy
scrubbing dishes. She looked lonely and sad, and Belle almost felt
bad for her. She WAS lucky compared to Sunny – while she had to do
chores as well, her father, uncle and grandfather helped her and each
other where ever they could.

Sunny looked up and scowled, drawing
the curtain across the window. Belle frowned and shook off whatever
pity she had for the bully before heading back to hang out with the
rest of the crew. They had gotten out the board games, and were
having a blast.

Charlie was about to roll the dice for
his next turn, when a bump and some laughter was heard from next
door. It was pretty much ignored, they were used to it, but Belle
couldn't let it go. What was happening in that household? Was Sunny
okay?

“You're distressed Beauty. Are you
holding something back?” Peter asked as he took his turn.

“No…yes…kinda.” Belle looked
towards the kitchen.

“Are you worried about Sunny?”
Sammy asked.

“She was mean to us Belle, don't
worry about her.” TJ said bluntly, annoyed that Peter had just
taken the lead off him.

Charlie looked at Belle. “It's
against the Code for a Masters to just let things go. They don't
ever hold back.”

“What about Sunny?” Joe asked. The
children told him about what had happened at camp between them. Joe
sat back and looked thoughtful.

“You're right to be concerned little
one.” He finally said to Belle. “No one should have to live like
that. It probably explains why she was so mean to you.”

“Because she hates me.” Belle
sighed.

“She probably likes you very much.”
Joe corrected kindly. “But she's jealous – very, very jealous.
You have everything that she's craved all her life.”

“That's no excuse for being mean to
us!” Charlie yelped.

“No, but it's part of the reason.
It's very complicated.” Joe leaned forward. “It explains a lot
of why the pair of them are the way they are. Daryl has always been
spoilt, and Sunny has always been second fiddle to him. I'd love to
throttle Jones if I wasn't a civilised man.”

“So what can we do?” Belle asked.

“You can't. No one can do anything.
He's not exactly abusing her is he?” Petunia said slowly.

Tammy looked deep in thought. Then she
jumped up and tapped her watch.

“The Knights of the Last Order? What
could they do?” Daniel asked.

“Count me out.” TJ said.

“Me too.” Sammy agreed. “She was
too mean to us.”

“Chuckles and Giggles will go.”
Charlie stood up.

“Are you sure the situation even
calls for that sort of force?” Belle rolled her eyes.

Sure enough, a cry of pain came from
next door. Sunny's voice.

“Seriously?!” Belle got up and
followed Charlie upstairs, where they got into their Chuckles and
Giggles attire. The pair then snuck next door and peered in a
window.

“Daryl!” Sunny cried, trying to get
her doll back.

“Go and clean the toilet first!”
Daryl laughed, holding up the doll above her head. It was a
beautiful male doll, wearing a neat tuxedo and with a porcelain face.

“I DID clean it!” Sunny tried. To
Giggles, Sunny looked sad and tired, nothing like the fiery bully she
knew.

“Not good enough! Do it again!”
Daryl commanded.

Sunny spared a glance through an
archway to her parents, who were in the other room watching
television. “Daryl please, don't hurt Ramjet.” She begged.

“Wonder what would happen if I
smashed its face on the tiles.” Daryl mocked.

He threw the doll to the ground. Just
before it hit the hard tiles, it was caught be a speeding Giggles!

“What the hell?!” Daryl cried. He
moved to attack Giggles, but was stopped by the appearance of the
Lions Claw Blade in his path.

“DAD!” He yelled, terrified of the
combined might of Chuckles and Giggles.

Mr. Jones ran in. He prided himself on
being a law-abiding, straight-edge man of the highest
standard, and to see that two of the towns vigilantes were in his
house greatly disturbed him.

“What is going on here?” He
growled.

“Why is Daryl picking on Sunny?”
Giggles asked.

“And why aren't you doing anything
about it?” Chuckles added.

“I don't see how it's any business of
yours how I raise my children. I request that you leave my house at
once. You are trespassing on private property.” Mr. Jones glared
at the pair of them.

Giggles handed Sunny her doll back.
“You deserve better than this. Everyone does.”

She turned to Mr. Jones and Daryl.
“You two should be ashamed of yourselves. Sunny's a human being
too, no matter the circumstances of her birth.”

“You have no right sticking your
noses into business that doesn't concern you.” Mr. Jones warned.
“I'm surprised you two haven't been arrested yet.” He stepped
towards them.

“Get out and stay out. And learn to
mind your own business, no one asked you to come in and martyr
yourselves.”

The pair left, both shaken by what had
happened.

They got back home and changed back to
their civilian clothes, then headed downstairs as the football game
was starting.

“How did it go?” Bill asked as the
pair sat down.

“We didn't change a thing.” Belle
hugged her knees. “We couldn't save Sunny.”

“Don't be so sure. These things take
time little one.” Joe put a reassuring hand on her head.

For interests sake, the Leos won 25.2
(152) to 1.19 (25) that night.

–

The next day, the friends headed to the
tip to hang out and train a little bit.

“Hi-YAH!” Sir Hyper swung his
nun chucks haphazardly at Sir Dark, who rolled out of the way and
counterattacked. Both were laughing.

“This is training?” Giggles asked
Sir Lionheart.

“Yup! So what if it isn't the
super-training you and Chuckles have had, at least we're having fun.”
Sir Lionheart said defensively.

“You really need to be more careful.”
Lady Luck was bandaging up Chuckles, who had fallen from a pile of
old TV sets laughing at the “training”.

“My bad.” Chuckles was still
chortling.

Lady Silent had one eye on the monitors
and another on her brother being silly with his best friends. She
looked towards the monitors again, not expecting to see much (crime
in Pleasantville usually took Saturdays off). She gasped.

Sunny Jones was headed right towards
them!

Lady Silent bolted out of the den and
raced towards Sir Lionheart. She grabbed his arm, jumping up and
down like mad.

“What is it Tammy?” He asked.

“So, this is where you lot hide out.
I'd heard rumours.”

It was too late. Sunny Jones had made
it to the den where the heroes were hiding out!

“Sunny.” Giggles said.

“Cut the rubbish.” Sunny snapped.
“I know it's you Masters.”

Everyone froze.

“And I know your little friends are
the Knights of the Last Order too.” Sunny continued. “So take
off the masks and let me fight you face-to-face!”

“Why do you want to fight us for when
all we did was try to help you?!” Lady Luck roared furiously.

“Do you know how much trouble I'm
in!? My parents aren't talking to me at the moment because YOU
couldn't keep your stupid nose out of it!” Sunny fired back. “Your
disgusting holier-than-thou attitude is beyond a joke!”

“Hold your tongue!” Sir Lionheart
stepped forward. “We have been trying to do the right thing!”

“And that gives you the right to
interfere in things that never concerned you?” Sunny fumed.

“You're being abused you stupid brat,
can't you see that?!” Sir Dark yelped.

“Everything was fine before you
stepped in!” Sunny was furious. Inside her felt like molten lava,
she was hurt, jealous, angry, upset and alone.

“Get out and leave us alone.”
Chuckles stepped forward. Sunny scoffed.

“I know all of your identities. If I
went to the police right now, you'd all be screwed.” She smirked.

She flinched as the Lions Claw Blade
was pointed at her, inches from her chin.

Giggles stepped forward, putting an arm
across Chuckles chest.

“No Chuckles. Let me handle this.”
She said calmly. She thought of what her grandfather said about
things taking time. The wounds Sunny had endured wouldn't heal
instantly. Until they did, she needed help. Fighting with her
wasn't going to help anything.

“Sunny, we're sorry we caused you so
much trouble.” She said.

Sunny stepped back. An apology?!

“We never intended to make things
worse for you, we just wanted to help.”

“You condescending bitch!” Sunny
screamed in fury. She flew at Giggles, who shot up into the sky and
over Sunny, landing behind her.

Sunny spun around quickly and grabbed
Giggles, trying to hit her. Giggles grabbed Sunny back and flew them
both into the air. She let Sunny go and kicked her into a nearby
pile of mouldy old mattresses.

Sunny finally landed on the ground with
a soft “thud” and lay on the ground crying. Lady Luck bolted to
her side to try and fix her up. Sunny submitted weakly, too tired to
carry on.

“You'll be okay Sunny.” Giggles
landed in front of them. She took off her helmet. “We'll be your
friends and look out for you.”

Sunny looked up at Belle, before
nodding weakly.

She had nothing else left.

“Sammy, get in the canoe.”

“No.”

“C'mon Sammy, it'll be fun!:”

“No.”

“Sammy please, you got to at least
try.”

“No.”

“Sammy-,”

“NO.”

Sammy stood well away from the lake
where Daniel and TJ were trying to coax him into the water and into
the canoe. Ever since the car accident that had taken Tammys voice,
Sammy had been terrified of water, especially big bodies of water
such as pools, lakes and the ocean. The car (driven by their erratic
uncle) had gone speeding into Lake Pleasantville. Thankfully, the
car had landed in shallow water, but it was still enough to cover the
car. Tammy had slept through the whole thing, but Sammy remembered
everything, from the water flooding into the car to the people who
had rescued them.

“Sam, come on, you have to face your
fear sometime.” Daniel tried.

“No.” Sammy sat down firmly on the
dry grass. “You can't make me!”

“Come on, we'll get a canoe with
Petunia.” TJ sighed.

Tammy grabbed Belles hand.

“Of course you can come with Charlie
and I!” Belle grinned at her.

They picked out a pair of canoes and
headed down to the lake. It was a beautiful day at Camp Tall
Parakeet on the Silver Coast, great for some fun out on the water.
The school had arrived at the camp the day before, and the scholars
were looking forward to a week of fun and sun!

“It's ON!” Daniel cried, splashing
water at Tammy, Belle and Charlie. Tammy steadied her paddle, then
swept it through the water, sending a considerable amount over
Daniel, Petunia and TJ.

“Who knew the littlest of us was the
strongest!” Belle laughed.

“You gotta watch that one, she's a
fierce little tiger!” Petunia splashed at her.

The friends were having a good time,
even Sammy cheered from the safety of the shore. Of course, it
wasn't to last.

Sunny and Daryl had also come to camp.
Since the day at the tip, the Jones siblings had found it harder to
pick on Belle and Charlie, owing to the fact that they now had the
numbers behind them to defend themselves. However, the Jones
siblings still took advantage of every chance they could get to make
the lives of the seven friends miserable.

The two Jones siblings had a canoe to
themselves, and were watching the frivolity from afar. They saw
Belle and Charlies canoe swing away from the other canoe, trying to
put some distance between them so they could launch another attack.

“Start paddling.” Daryl grinned at
Sunny. Sunny simply grimaced, nodded, and began to paddle. She had
grown into a tall, determined, beautiful teenager, although she still
had a tiny scar under her eye.

The pair made a beeline towards Tammy,
Belle and Charlie. The two canoes crashed and the three friends were
sent flying into the water.

“TAMMY!” Petunia cried, reaching
over to grab her best friend. Tammy held on to the side of the canoe
and glared at the Jones siblings, who were laughing hysterically.
Suddenly, the pair were launched into the water – Belle and Charlie
had swum underneath the siblings canoe and overturned it!

The friends all roared with laughter.
Belle swam over to their overturned canoe, planning to right it and
get back in, when she felt something grab her foot. Without warning
she was back under the water, struggling to get back to the surface
and fill her lungs with air. Whatever had her was dragging her down
as far as it could. She saw a shadow move up past her, pushing her
back down into the depths of the water before surfacing.

She struggled as fast as she could to
get back to the surface, her lungs burning. The light of day seemed
so far away!

Something grabbed her hand, and pulled
her up into the air. She spluttered and gasped for air, holding on
to Charlie who had pulled her out. Daryl was wearing a smirk, and
Sunny was trying to get back into her canoe.

She looked up at Daniel, TJ and
Petunia. Together, the seven friends headed back to the shore. Sammy
hugged his sister the moment they were on dry ground, then suddenly
he hugged Belle too.

“That was mean what they did.” He
said. “I saw Daryl duck you.”

“I know. It wasn't very nice.”
Belle hugged him back. They all made their way back to the camp to
dry off and lick their wounds.

Soon, they were hard at the table
tennis. Belle and Charlie lost every game they played, including the
one they played against each other.

“That…that…” Daniel looked
stunned.

“That is REALLY bad.” Sammy filled
in.

“At least we're trying, right?”
Charlie asked. Everyone groaned.

They heard some noise outside. Belle
poked her head out of the door. “Everyone's heading back now,
we'll have to go to assembly soon.”

“Ah well.” TJ yawned.

The group headed out and followed the
crowd back to the cabins. Along the way, they saw something that
would change things forever.

“Daryl, cut it out!” Sunny cried as
Daryl flicked her with a towel behind some bushes. His moronic
friends laughed.

“Don't be mean Daryl, stop picking on
me Daryl.” Daryl mimed his sister cruelly. “You wouldn't even
duck that unwanted bastard!”

“We'd already gotten her and her
stupid boyfriend, why make things worse?” Sunny argued.

“I'm not your boyfriend.” Charlie
looked at Belle indignantly. Belle looked back, just as peeved.

“You've always been soft. I remember
that stupid kitten you got upset at me about.” Daryl sneered.

“Meow…” Belle whispered, turning
back to the argument.

“Anyway at least I'm not like you.
YOU actually hate her!” Daryl laughed.

Sunny growled. Belle looked at her
from behind the bushes in horror. Sunny looked towards her feet. It
wasn't hate. It was a million times worse.

“You can't even deny it.” Daryl
shoved her to the ground. “You're just as unwanted as her – you
weren't even meant to be born. Mum and Dad wanted another boy too.”

“Daryl is REALLY mean!” Petunia
whispered.

Belle wanted to be happy. She wanted
to revel in Sunnys pain. She wanted to walk away and leave the
scene. But something stopped her.

A Masters never holds back.

It was wrong what
Daryl was doing to his sister. Belle couldn't stand back and watch
it happen.

She bolted out of
the bushes and slapped Daryl hard.

“Your
sister may be a cow, but she didn't do anything to you!” Belle
roared.

“BELLE!”
Charlie ran out beside her. Petunia and Tammy ran to help up Sunny
(who shook them off) and Daniel, TJ and Sammy stood with Charlie.

“How
pathetic.” Daryl sneered. “Two unwanted children.”

“Belle
IS wanted thank you!” TJ fumed.

“You
should see how much her father loves her!” Daniel added.

“And
she's our friend!” Charlie finished.

“Whatever.”
Daryl walked off, his friends in tow.

“Are
you okay?” Belle asked, turning to Sunny.

Sunny was blind
with rage. This girl, this stupid little girl who had been dumped on
her fathers doorstep as a baby with pneumonia and on the brink of
death, this stupid little girl whose father would do ANYTHING for
her, this stupid little girl who had best friends and an uncle and a
grandfather and now she'd really ticked off her older brother and she
had no right to do that and she had no right to care and…

“DON'T
you DARE speak to me!” Sunny thundered. She knew she was crying,
but she was beyond caring. “You don't know ANYTHING!”

She shoved Tammy
and Petunia to the ground in anger.

“Sunny,
what's going on?” Petunia asked.

“Just…Just
shut up!” Sunny roared. She glared at Belle.

“You
have everything. A father who loves you, an uncle and a grandfather
who would die for you, a friend who you've had for life, MORE friends
who think the world of you! Why did YOU get that?! You weren't
meant to be born either! I bet you never have to be silent around
the house because you're a disturbance, or have to do all the chores
because you're one mouth too many!” Sunny was beyond anything at
that point. She ran off, crying.

“I
HATE ALL OF YOU!”

The friends stood
there in shock, all of them troubled by what had just happened.

“What
on earth does she mean, 'not meant to be born'?” Belle looked
confused.

“Beats
me.” Daniel said. “But I think we've figured out why she's so
mean to you.”

“Explains
Daryl too.” Charlie said bitterly. Belle thought of something.

“Have
you ever noticed that Sunny always has a cut or a bruise somewhere on
her?” She asked.

The others looked
at each other.

“You
know, I think you're right.” Petunia said slowly.

“I
really wonder what goes on in that Jones household.” Charlie said.

The old bell on top
of the camp hall rang out, and the seven friends made their way over
for the assembly.

With the leaders of the Death Valley
Gang and the Mobsters of Misneach out of commission (at least until
bail was posted), the crime rate in Pleasantville dropped
significantly. However, there was still enough action to keep
Chuckles and Giggles busy.

“I don't like it.” Thomas said to
Peter as the two youngsters made their way inside their respective
homes after one such escapade a few weeks later.

“I don't either. But it keeps them
amused.” Peter replied, sipping his beer.

Joe had taken to training Belle in
strategy on her spare afternoons, plus Charlie had constant phone
calls from his grandfather talking about sword fighting, so the pair
were never bored. Life was becoming full for the pair of them,
especially with the school camp coming up.

“What a month.” Belle lay on a mess
of branches in the tree. Charlie hung off a lower branch, watching
the creek that ran behind the houses.

“It's nice to finally have a day
off.” He said.

“Did you hear about Marion?” Belle
asked.

“What about her?” Charlie sighed,
not really interested.

“One year total, six months suspended
sentence. She'll be out in five months.” She replied. “Daddy
tried, but she's too well-connected.”

“You're kidding me!” Charlie
groaned.

“Nope.” Belle sighed. Belle was of
the opinion that her father was the best prosecutor in the world, but
even he couldn't compete with the corruption of the Pleasantville
council.

“And it's only a matter of time
before Master Revolver escapes…again.” Charlie rolled his eyes.
“First night Dingbat is on duty at the gaol and there'll be a
breakout.”

The pair sighed. Suddenly there was a
small but audible “Bang!” coming from the tip.

“Again?” Belle perked up.

“Police haven't found anything
suspicious Belle, so don't worry about it.” Charlie yawned. Belle
glared at him. He blinked.

“Oh…right…” He mumbled
sheepishly. “Does this mean no more day off?”

–

It did.

“There's no one HERE Giggles, can we
please go home and go play some Lethal Fight now?” Chuckles groaned
as the pair searched the area where the noise had come from.

“Footprints, Chuckles. Lots and lots
of footprints.” Giggles snapped the visor of her helmet back down.
“In a tip that is apparently deserted most of the time.”

“And we're going to follow said
footprints?” Chuckles followed Giggles as she headed towards some
old cars.

She held up one finger to silence him,
and walked towards the cars slowly. She pulled out the Lucky Seven
Gun, and suddenly banged it on the bonnet of one of the cars.

“OW!!!” Cried a voice inside the
car.

“Sir Hyper?” Giggles asked. Within
seconds, Chuckles and Giggles were surrounded by the Knights of the
Last Order!

Chuckles drew out the Lions Claw Blade
and stood with his back to Giggles.

“So. You're the ones who have been
making that noise.” Giggles said.

“And what if we are?” Sir Lionheart
stepped forward. “You have no business here.”

“Please don't fight, we're on the
same side here.” Lady Luck pleaded.

“Or are we?” Sir Dark glowered
beneath his hockey mask. The Knights were all covered in various
bits of metal and padding, probably trying to simulate armour. Sir
Lionheart had an orange Lion on his chest, Sir Dark had a white unlit
candle on his, Lady Luck had a green four-leaf clover and Sir Hyper
and Lady Silent had yellow lightening bolts.

“Stand down Sir Dark!” Sir
Lionheart warned.

“We've helped each other out before.”
Sir Hyper piped up. “And you guys are good.”

“Thanks.” Giggles couldn't help but
grin.

“How about we trust each other. On
the count of three, we all take off our masks.” Lady Luck
suggested.

“What do you say Giggles?” Chuckles
asked.

“I don't see that there's anything to
lose by working with these guys.” Giggles agreed.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

“HAVEN'T WE SEEN YOU GUYS AT
SCHOOL?!” Everyone cried.

“You're Belle and Charlie, right?”
Daniel asked.

“Yeah, and you're Daniel and TJ.”
Belle replied.

“And you're Petunia, Tammy and
Sammy.” Charlie added.

“Wait, aren't you the guys who saved
us a few years ago when the DVG attacked the old private school?”
Asked Belle.

“We sure helped!” Sammy grinned.

“Thanks for that.” Belle smiled
back.

“And you two are the ones who Daryl
Jones really has it in for.” Daniel said.

“Yeah.” Charlie sighed. “Although
I don't know what I ever did to him.”

“You could hang out with us, his
group don't have the strength to deal with us as well as you.”
Petunia pointed out.

“Tunia!” TJ groaned.

“Well why shouldn't they hang out
with us? The only reason Daryl targets them is because he has his
posse. If these two started hanging out with us, he wouldn't be able
to hurt any of us. You DO remember what he did to Sammy in school
yesterday right?” Petunia frowned at her friend.

“I guess so.” TJ sighed.

“We don't want to cause any trouble.”
Belle offered.

“It's no trouble, TJ is just
stubborn.” Sammy giggled. “I like you guys!”

Belle and Charlie grinned sheepishly.

“Although if you're going to hang out
with us, you should probably have watches.” Daniel pointed out.

“Watches?” Charlie asked..

Tammy produced two snap wristbands, one
blue and one red. Both were rather thick and bulky, with a black
face on both of them.

“Tammy made them, she's great with
electronics.” Daniel smiled. “She's managed to hack into just
about every security system in the city – it's how we keep track of
everything.”

“Those watches we use to communicate.
If someone is in trouble, they just push the face in-,” Petunia
demonstrated. Suddenly, every ones watches started vibrating and a
green arrow showed on the screens, pointing at Petunia.

“Awesome.” Belle grinned. Her
father would certainly appreciate something like this!

“We each have a different colour –
Dan is orange, TJ is white, Tunia is green, and I'm yellow. If all
the colours show up at once, it means Tammy and home base are in
trouble.” Sammy explained. Tammy smiled and led the group into a
large pipe that had long since been buried in earth and rubbish.
Inside was a desk with several keyboards attached to what looked like
old computers, and the back wall and the sides were littered with old
monitors, each showing what was going on in Pleasantville.

Tammy pushed a red button, and all of
the watches lit up with the colours orange, white, green, yellow,
red, blue, purple and grey.

“Who are the purple and grey colours
for?” Charlie asked.

“No one yet, Tammy just thought it'd
be a good idea to have extras in case we have new people come in.”
Sammy beamed at his twin sister, who grinned back.

“Amazing!” Belle looked at the set
up.

“By the way, what on earth have you
guys been doing to cause all the banging that's been happening?”
Charlie asked.

“Sparring. Sometimes things get too
rough and things get knocked around. Today we managed to knock a
gutted car off it's pile into another pile…which knocked the whole
lot down.” Daniel rubbed his neck sheepishly.

“How…?” Belle looked dumbfounded.

“We were pretending the piles of cars
were buildings and jumping all over them. Luckily no one was hurt.”
Petunia frowned at the boys.

“Buildings are no problem for me –
I can fly!” Belle laughed

“I have to ask though – how on
earth CAN you fly?!” TJ asked Belle, getting over his stubbornness.

“My Dad made this for me. It took him
years.” Belle showed them the Backpack. She then jumped up and
suspended herself about a foot off the ground. “It's fun.” She
couldn't help but brag.

And then the Backpack malfunctioned
slightly and she landed on her backside.

“That happens sometimes.” She had
to admit. Everyone laughed.

–

After that, the seven heroes became
good friends. They were always seen together at school, they often
hung out at the tip having mock battles and lots of laughs and their
parents soon became friends too. Best of all was the School Camp,
because finally Belle and Charlie could go without fearing what would
happen to them.

Well, almost.