Author: Crofton77

 Charlie had his head
firmly in a book while Belle ate her seafood pasta.

“ARGH WHAT THE
HECK?!” TJ screamed as he walked into Bills restaurant and saw the
scene in front of him.

“I know, I freaked
out too.” Bill said as he heard the screaming.

“I am not okay with
this!” TJ carefully sat down with his friends.

“Charlie is looking
up what we need to do to get the Chamber of Commerce up and running.”
Belle explained. “And brushing up his Business Principles degree.”

“DEGREE?!” TJ
cried.

“Charlie's had his BP
forever!” Belle pointed out. “He was in my BP class at school for
pete's sake.”

“I can't deal right
now.” TJ sulked as Tammy and Sammy walked in and the screaming
started again.

“You know it's really
hard to study with all this noise going on.” Charlie frowned after
the freak-out had subsided, which led to another quieter freak-out.

“Anyway, we've
figured out that we need at least 100 signatures from business owners
in the Pleasantville Council Region, which includes Fallsville,
Greensville, Oakville and Treesville.” Charlie continued as Belle
started slurping up strands of spaghetti.

“Given that there's a
fair few business owners who are also pro-PRO I think we have that
covered.” Belle shoved a prawn into her mouth.

“The big thing after
that is the committee election, which is where things could fall
apart.” Charlie sighed. “We can't let Demon become the head of
the committee, otherwise it's just going to increase his control of
the city.”

He grimaced a little as
Belle kept talking with the others. Charlie had an especial hate for
Demon, who not only had killed Charles Howzat. Charlies beloved
grand-father, but had also fired Thomas Begly a few months after
Charlie had been born. It had left the Begly family struggling until
Thomas and Peter Masters made up and Thomas had been able to
Improbability Clause up the family business.

There was also the
matter of Daryl Jones. Charlie and Daryl had hated each other since
they were toddlers, and before meeting Belle and the Knights of the
Last Order Charlies life had been a living hell. Having your bully
live nearly right next door made life harder than it needed to be,
especially since Demon had never sought to pull Daryl into line.
Every time Betty Begly had stormed over to report on another of
Daryls actions in an attempt to defend her son, she had always been
brushed off. Once she'd tried legal action, but that got thrown out
the moment the judge (who had been paid off) looked at it.

Also on the list of
things Charlie hated about Demon was Demons own daughter, Sunny, who
had been abused by her brother for years. Again, Demon had turned a
blind eye to the actions of Daryl. This particularly rankled Charlie
who had once held strong feelings for Sunny.

Charlie knew he had to
win this and get the first real blow against the corrupt City
Council. The only problem was…well, that he wasn't Belle. Charlie
loved his best friend dearly, but he was also in total awe of her
drive and intelligence. Belle would have told anyone that Charlie was
just as intelligent, if not more intelligent than herself, but
Charlie would never believe it as long as he lived.

If I was Belle, all
this study would be easy. Charlie
sighed to himself.

“Hey,
you're looking a bit down.” Belle clued in immediately to how her
best friend was feeling. “Why don't you put that all down and come
play some cricket with us?”

“I
dunno…” Charlie looked over his paperwork as the others tried not
to freak out too loudly.

“You
guys go on ahead, we'll catch up.” Belle rolled her eyes her
friends, who were at least able to look sheepish as they headed out.

“You
got this mate. I know you do.” Belle touched Charlies cheek once
the others were outside.

“I'm
gonna need so much help though…” Charlie admitted.

“And
I'm going to be right here the whole way through.” Belle kissed his
cheek. “Come on, it's not like your batting average can get any
worse.”

“HEY!”
Charlie slammed his book shut and chased Belle.

“She
kissed his cheek! They HAVE to be together!” Sunny watched the pair
through the restaurant window.

“Honey,
I hate to inform you but that means nothing. We're the most
over-affectionate group of friends in the world, remember?” Petunia
grinned. “I mean, these guys kiss each other all the time!”

“Affection
between friends should be more encouraged!” Sammy gave TJ a kiss on
the cheek. TJ hugged him back.

“Come
on you lot, let's find Dan and have a cricket match!” Belle and
Charlie had already rushed well ahead of the pack.

—

Daryl
Jones wasn't very good at planning. He had grand aspirations, and no
idea how to get there. So his first plan to get revenge on Crusader
Roger didn't go well at all.

“I
made you some tea, sir.” Daryl carried a teapot and a cup to Rogers
office and knocked on the door.

“Bring
it in.” Roger waved Daryl in. “Have you seen this? Begly Metal
Services boss has decided to try and get a chamber of commerce going
in Pleasantville.”

Daryl
grimaced.

“Didn't
you used to live next door to him?” Roger poured some tea.

“I
lived next to the Masters. They live next door to the Beglys.”
Daryl bit back his anger.

“Ah.”
Roger said, stirring the tea. “He's doing really well for himself
isn't he? And here's you, making tea for a criminal mastermind.”

Daryl
seethed internally, doing his best to hold his poker face. “We took
different paths in life.”

“Indeed.
You can go now.” Roger leaned back in his chair.

Daryl
turned around and made to go.

“Oh,
and Daryl? Next time you try to poison me, make sure it's with
something I can't smell a mile away.” Roger threw the cup at
Daryl's head, cutting the back of his head open.

Daryl
hissed.

“You're
not a good actor at all, and you're not clever enough to think up a
way to get rid of me. Don't try again.” Roger continued.

Daryl
stalked out, furious. Not only had he failed to get rid of Roger, but
now Charlie Begly was doing better than him.

Daryl
swore that they would ALL pay. Dearly.

 The OTHER upshot of the
Insurance Siege was that Demon decided that if his insurance company
was going to be at risk, he should probably invest some more into his
metalworks as a bit of an insurance policy.

Of course, he did this
in the most underhanded way possible, including multiple attacks on
Charlies metalworks business. These attacks weren't only performed by
the Haunted Maze Troupe, but they were also some legal ones too.

“I hate him! I wish
he'd go shove his head in a toilet! REPEATEDLY!” Charlie threw the
latest contract as far as he could. It flew back and hit him in the
face. “I HATE him!”

“I don't understand
how he could legally do this to your suppliers. This is severe
conflict of interest and any legal fight would throw this out and
burn it.” Belle replied, taking the offending paper away. They were
sitting in Charlies room, after a rather underhanded move by Demon to
go for Charlies suppliers. “Throwing fines at these suppliers for
the most inane things…”

“Yeah, but he's the
fricking Mayor and has nearly every legal eagle in Pleasantville
under his thumb, present company excepted.” Charlie grumbled.

“Yeah, well,
unfortunately there's no chamber of commerce in Pleasantville.”
Belle said, reading the contract over. “Good LORD he's anal.”

Charlie froze. Belle
slowly lifted her head from the contract and looked at her best
friend.

“Charlie…this had
better be good…” She warned him.

“I think…it's
time…for a BUSINESS REVOLUTION!” Charlie cried.

Thomas Begly stuck his
head in the door. “Did I hear the Improbability Clause?”

“Oh boy…” Belle
sighed.

—

“And so,” Charlie
said as the hairdresser looked extremely bored. “This is why I
believe that the business owners of Pleasantville need to get
together to ensure fairness and equality for all of us.”

“Are you done sugar?”
The hairdresser asked, annoyed. “I have customers to get to.”

Charlie opened his
mouth.

“We're done here,
we'll just leave you an information pack and be on our way.” Belle
quickly jumped in. She left a small envelope full of leaflets on the
counter and pushed Charlie out of the salon as quickly as she could.

“WHAT?” Charlie
cried.

“You say I'M bad for
exposition! You just told your life story and then some!” Belle
walked with her best friend down the street.

“We have to get
people on our side!” Charlie pleaded as Belle headed towards the
ice-creamery.

“Yes, and boring them
out of their skulls won't work. You should know that.” Belle walked
into the ice-creamery and immediately felt her stomach rumbling.

“FINE.” Charlie
groaned as they approached the counter. “Hi, I'm Charles Begly,
owner of Begly Metal Services. We've noticed recently there's no real
path for communication between the business owners of Pleasantville
and the Council, and we would like to propose a Chamber of Commerce
to help facilitate this. We at the Business Revolution Organisation
propose that all business owners in Pleasantville should have a place
to go for advice about various laws and regulations, as well as a
place to settle disputes. Especially -,”

“Here's our
information pack, can I get one scoop chocolate, one scoop toffee,
one scoop mint, one scoop hazelnut…” Belle started, mouth
watering.

“You get up ME for
taking forever! How long did that ice-cream order take?!” Charlie
cried in fury as the pair walked out twenty minutes later, Belle with
her rather large ice-cream bowl.

“DON'T YOU JUDGE ME
BEGLY.” Belle growled, making her friend back off.

“They're a cute
couple aren't they?” An old lady mentioned to her partner as they
walked past.

“I don't think
they're dating?” Her partner looked confused.

“Anyway, I think
we're done canvassing this street, how about we tackle the Industrial
Zone?” Belle continued to scarf down her ice-cream.

“Sure. Hey, do you
think we should try and canvass Jones Metalworks?” Charlie giggled
as they got into the busted old Elantra that Belle refused to part
with.

“Are you serious?
He'd find a way to get rid of both of us!” Belle grinned back.

Then her eye began to
twitch.

—

“I am the textbook
definition of an enabler. Every single one of your lame ideas, and I
just follow along like the sheep I am.” Giggles groaned as she and
Chuckles walked up to Jones Metalworks.

“You're still alive and thriving aren't you?” Chuckles said with authority as they approached the
entrance.

“Alive, yes.
Thriving, debatable.” Giggles replied as they walked into the
building.

“IT'S CHUCKLES AND
GIGGLES!”

“ATTACK!”

“THIS IS YOUR FAULT!”
Giggles screamed as they both bolted out of the building with bullets at their backs.
Unfortunately, Haunted Maze Troupers blocked their path – and all
of them were armed to the teeth!

“UP!” Giggles cried
as she grabbed Chuckles and flew them onto the roof of the building.
Both of them gasped for air.

“Oh NO!” Chuckles
cried as they heard a door banging, and they looked up to see more
employees opening the roof door and rushing towards them.

“Time to go!”
Giggles grabbed her best friend and they flew away, dodging thrown
knives and a rain of bullets as they left.

—

“Like I said, you're
still alive!” Charlie tried to cheer Belle up as they walked home
from the tip.

“BARELY, Begly!”
Belle snapped. “My helmet is now more chips than actual helmet!”

“Well, your birthday
is soon, I can buy you a new one?” Charlie suggested as they passed
Bills restaurant.

“Just so you can get
out of buying me a proper present.” Belle smirked.

“At least I
remembered it!”

“Our birthdays are
exactly six months apart, of course you're going to remember!”
Belle chided him as they walked past the lake.

“Anyway, we've got a
lot of work done today, the Business Revolution Organisation is off
to a great start!” Charlie pumped himself up.

“Maybe we should talk
to some of the people from the PRO. They'd be interesting in getting
things off the ground.” Belle thought out aloud.

“Yeah! Then we'll be
a PRO BRO!” Charlie cheered.

“I walked right into
that one.” Belle sighed.

The upshot of the
Insurance Siege was that all the hostages were rescued long before
Haiter had his men together, and Crusader Daryl and his March Hill
Crusaders were forced out of the building. This infuriated Daryl no
end, especially when Crusader Alex then turned around and told
Crusader Roger that Judith Jofrey was the secret sister of Mobster
Marion.

“And when were you
thinking of sharing this information with us Daryl?” Roger asked
the night afterwards as the group sat in Rogers dingy office. Alex,
Aiden and Alice were sat on the small sofa, trying not to look like
they were enjoying watching Daryl get ripped to shreds. “You're
lucky that Alex pays attention and knows who's in charge.”

“I thought everyone
knew!” Daryl felt exasperated.

“No, we DON'T know
Daryl, that's the whole point. Not everyone has had the privileged
upbringing you had!” Roger snapped. “Thankfully.”

“What's that supposed
to mean?!” Daryl snapped, only to cop the butt of Rogers gun across
the jaw.

“It MEANS, you little
worm, that you've had so much handed to you on a silver platter that
you have absolutely no worth or ability outside of being a
hindrance!” Roger barked. “You are USELESS!”

Daryl had never been
struck like that before. Demon, while dismissive of Daryl of late,
had never sunk so low as to hit his son.

He felt angry.
Embarrassed. Sore. Vengeful. Roger would pay dearly for that.

—

“I don't get why
you're so against rejoining your friends. They miss you like crazy.
Couldn't you tell?” Judith asked as she folded up cloth nappies and
put them in the top drawer of the baby table Daniel had made.

“I just don't want
to, okay?” Daniel groaned as he held up two pieces of plastic.
“This cot is a nightmare to put together.”

“That's not going to
cut it with me Lightheart and you know it.” Judith put another
nappy away. Suddenly she clutched her mouth and bolted out of the
room and into the bathroom. Soon Daniel heard the sounds of retching
coming from down the hall. Five minutes later, after rinsing her
mouth, Judith returned. “You did this to me.”

“My apologies.”
Daniel got up to rub her back.

“Are you EVER going
to tell me why you won't be Sir Lionheart again?” Judith pleaded.

Daniel exhaled loudly.
He had to tell her something. He couldn't keep fobbing the mother of
his child off.

“I just…I've made a
lot of mistakes as the leader of the Knights. Huge mistakes…” He
trailed off.

Judith seemed satisfied
with this.

“You think Marion's
never made mistakes? I mean, look at Revolver. Heck, Chuckles and
Giggles have made some HUGE blues, but they still keep going. Give
yourself a break already!” Judith chuckled. “No matter how far
you get knocked back, you gotta keep going forward. How do you think
I got so rich?”

“You inherited most
of it!” Daniel teased. Judith swatted him.

“Go be with your
Knights. You need them as much as they need you.” Judith said.

“Even if we end up
beating Marion?” Daniel raised an eyebrow.

“I think she needs to
go away for a long time, and not just to gaol. Somewhere where she
can work through her issues without pressure and attacks.” Judith
sighed. “But that's you trying to change the subject again.”

Daniel groaned. He went
back to the cot and started trying to put it together again.

Judith sighed, and
continued putting things away. As Daniel was finally getting the cot
in some sort of shape, he noticed Judith putting a toy lion on a
shelf.

He rolled his eyes and
tried to read the instructions of the cot again.

—

“WHERE ARE CHUCKLES
AND GIGGLES?!” Lady Silent roared rather loudly as she ran from
three Haunted Maze Troupers.

“Chuckles and Giggles
and Giggles and Chuckles…” Sir Dark already had a heavy dose of
the dust that the Haunted Maze Troupe were using.

“DARN IT! Guys, get
BACK!” Lady Courage cried, trying to keep the Troupers away from
the others, given she was the only one with any defence against their
drugs due to her mask.

“How did they get
THIS much stuff to use against us?!” Lady Luck tried to drag her
husband to safety.

“Demon bought it for
them, then lured us out here to destroy us! WHERE are Chuckles and
Giggles?!” Lady Courage yelled furiously.

The situation? Two
Troupers trying to sell drugs to children again at Pleasant Park. So
when the Knights of the Last Order showed up, they expected an easy
time. They didn't expect an ambush.

“We're doomed if
Chuckles and Giggles don't get here with the Backpack.” Sir Hyper
coughed, trying not to breathe in any of the drug that had
incapacitated Sir Dark.

The head Trouper had a
small machine that was spewing out dust around them, making it
impossible to get close. The Knights were surrounded.

“I swear if I see
either of those two again…” Lady Courage growled as the noose
tightened.

That's when the head
Trouper dropped, and their machine smacked across the park against a
tree by a replica of the Dragon Scale Scythe!

“SIR LIONHEART!”
The Knights screamed in joy.

“Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiions…liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiions…”
Sir Dark hummed in his drug-induced stupor.

The other Haunted Maze
Troupers looked at each other. One walked over to where the head
Trouper lay, dizzy from the blow from the replica Scythe. He stabbed
the fallen Trouper, killing him, before they all disappeared.

“You're KIDDING. The
moment things don't go their way they start killing their own and
running away?!” Sir Lionheart shook his head. He didn't have much
time to wonder though, as he was mobbed by the rest of the Knights.

“YOU CAME BACK!”
Sir Hyper cried.

“I KNEW YOU WOULD!”
Lady Courage cried.

“WE MISSED YOU!”
Lady Luck cried.

Lady Silent hugged her
old friend tightly, while Sir Dark started singing randomly.

“We should probably
fix up Sir Dark.” Sir Lionheart pointed out.

The others at least had
the decency to look sheepish.

—

“So you're back for
good?” Sammy asked as they let TJ sleep on a pile of old
mattresses.

“I hope so.” Daniel
smiled. It wasn't a complete smile, but it was much more than they'd
seen for a long time.

“If you need to talk
to us, we're here, okay?” Petunia patted his arm.

“I'll try to remember
that.” Daniel sighed.

Then he heard the
snoring.

“Have homeless people
started sleeping HERE now?” Sunny asked.

“They avoid the place
like the plague for some reason.” Tammy pointed out.

“Then who is it?”
Sunny asked as Daniel went to look.

“You're KIDDING me!”
He cried.

Fast asleep in an old
car were none other than Chuckles and Giggles.

“YOU TWO JERKS!”
Sunny banged the hood of the car while Petunia reached in and beeped
the horn, waking the two heroes up.

“Wha-?” Chuckles
bumped his head on the roof of the car.

“You two losers left
us to face the Haunted Maze Troupe alone! An AMBUSH if you don't
mind!” Sunny cried. “I thought I was your SISTER!”

“We were on our way
to come and help you…” Giggles looked confused. “I don't know
what happened!”

“Maybe you two should
look at taking a break if you're randomly falling asleep.” Daniel
suggested as the two got out of the old car, which promptly fell
apart.

“I think we might.”
Chuckles scratched his head and the whole situation.

—

Daryl Jones was
furious.

He had gone for a long
walk on the road between Fallsville and Pleasantville, trying to calm
himself and figure out what to do. No one respected him. No one liked
him.

He was the son of the
Mayor! He had been School Captain, both at primary AND high school.
He had grown up well-off, which had turned into filthy rich once his
father had become Mayor. He wasn't a loser like the Masters or the
Beglys or his snotty little sister.

Daryl growled. Sunny.
She had ruined his life when she had been born – his parents had
never let him forget it. He had been nice enough to allow her living
space and to let her help him torment people, and what did she do?
She turned on him to go and cosy up to the Masters and Begly
families. It was a toss-up who he hated more – Sunny or Lady
Courage.

As he walked, simmering
in his hate, he stopped himself. Sunny was worthless. She could do
nothing to him. As for Lady Courage, he was certain she'd be taken
out by the Haunted Maze Troupe, who were far more efficient than the
Death Valley Mobsters. No. Daryl's main problem right now was
Crusader Roger.

After he'd lost the
Ruby Suit and been kicked out by his father, he'd had no where to go
but to retreat to Fallsville. In Fallsville, people were even worse
off than they were in Pleasantville. Nearly everyone there was in
debt to the March Hill Crusaders leader Roger. It's how he'd roped in
Daryl. Using Daryl for his connections to City Hall and the Mob.

Well, that had failed,
hadn't it? Daryl had no more connections to use or favours to call
in. He was skint. So Roger had started spying on him and trying to
turn the rest of the Crusaders against him.

If Daryl had any ounce
of self-reflection he would have realised that his sense of
entitlement and poor attitude were doing plenty to turn everyone
against him, and Roger didn't need to do much at all. Alas, Daryl was
spoiled, selfish, and just an overall crappy person. There was no
room for self-reflection in Daryl. What there WAS room for however,
was revenge.

Daryl continued walking
down the long highway, as Pleasant Gorge came into view. He would
find a way to have his revenge.

And when he did,
everyone would have to respect him.

 “Come ON Daniel,
it'll be fun!” Judith Jofrey begged her boyfriend, who wasn't
interested in the slightest in having a party.

“Judes, I'd rather
not.” Daniel tried to push her off him.

“Look, you can't stay
here, you'll have to move in with me eventually. Especially if you're
going to be a hands-on father.” Judith poked his arm. “This place
is a dump, and no child of mine will be seen here!”

Daniel looked at his
girlfriend. She was right, technically.

“Fine, let me grab a
few things.” He smiled weakly at her.

“Grab as much as you
want. We have plenty of time and plenty of room in my car.” Judith
touched his cheek. “We can come back later and finish it all off.”

Daniel patted her
shoulder, and began to pick up some of the odds and ends he'd
collected over the years, shoving them in a battered old suitcase
with all of his clothes. He hesitated as he found his Sir Lionheart
armour, wondering if he should pack it or leave that part of his life
behind.

“You're gonna need
that.” Judith noticed him looking at it.

He sighed and gave her
a Look.

“Just pack the damn
thing Knight.” Judith turned around and headed to the car “And
hurry up!”

“I'm NOT a Knight
anymore!” Daniel muttered under his breath. He packed the forsaken
armour and did up the suitcase. Three-quarters of his life was in
that suitcase already, he really didn't have much. What kind of
father would he be, not only was he a murderer but he was also a
no-hoper.

He hauled up the
suitcase and headed to Judiths car.

—

“SURPRISE!”

Daniel nearly jumped a
mile. Waiting in Judiths lounge room were the Noble Knights of the
Last Order and their good friends Belle and Charlie!

“What the…are you
doing here?!” Daniel cried,
not sure if he should feel happy or worried.

“We
wanted to help you celebrate becoming a father!” Sammy grinned at
him. “It was Sunnys idea.”

Sunny
went slightly pink, but looked pleased.

“We
bought you presents!” Petunia held up a wrapped present.

Daniel
half-grinned. “You guys…”

“Well,
are we going to party or not?” Belle said impatiently.

“I
brought my cricket set!” Charlie held up the cricket set.

“You
know, maybe cricket isn't such a good idea…” Judith looked
worried.

“Same
teams as always?” TJ agreed instantly.

“Sounds
good to me!” Daniel felt a smile spread on his face. A game of
cricket with his friends. Something he had missed greatly.

“Come
on, Judy's got a huge yard, let's go!” Tammy grinned.

The
group trooped out to the yard, leaving Judith with a deep, dark sense
of foreboding.

—

You
knew it was coming.

“THE
LINE IS THERE AND YOU STEPPED OVER IT!” Charlie screamed at TJ.

“GET
A PAIR OF GLASSES AND LEARN THE RULES DEADHEAD!” Petunia threw down
the ball and rolled up her sleeves.

Judith
groaned.

“HIS
FOOT WAS CLEARLY OVER THE LINE!” Sammy screamed.

“HIS
FOOT WAS ON THE LINE!” Daniel screamed back.

“YOUR
DEMENTIA IS CLEARY SHOWING!” Belle also screamed.

Suddenly
Charlie felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. “Hi Dad…front foot
fault, why? Wait…Daryl is holding one of his fathers businesses
hostage? Which one? Aw, I was hoping it was his metalworks…NO I'm
not being anti-competitive, I was being anti-Jones…FINE, Chuckles
and Giggles will be there shortly.” Charlie hung up. “Daryl has
decided to act on his Daddy issues and has taken over Demons
insurance agency.”

“Time
to suit up!” Sammy immediately went into business mode. “Sorry
Judy.”

“It's
fine.” Judith sighed in relief.

Daniel
looked crestfallen.

“We're
sorry Dan. Why don't you come with us?” Sunny asked.

“And
defend something that belongs to Demon? Pass.” Daniel said
bitterly.

The
Knights all looked at each other, before heading out. Charlie gave
Daniel a hard look before he too followed Belle out.

Daniel
growled, before storming back inside. Judith stood outside and felt
awkward.

What
a party.

—

“Tell
my father that the Crusaders are very interested in resuming
their negotiations with City Hall, and then maybe we can remove
ourselves from his little side-business here.” Crusader Daryl said
into the phone, before hanging up the phone in the office he now had
under his control.

“Are
you sure this was such a good idea? Maybe we should have gone for the
metalworks?” Crusader Alex, who had been assigned to assist (read:
try to control) Daryl by Crusader Roger asked.

“And
open up the path for that idiot Begly and his metalworks to get an
advantage? Please. Besides, this hurts Daddy dearest more.” Daryl
reached under the desk and pulled out a key, which he then used to
open his fathers liquor cabinet (Demon makes sure to keep a good
supply in every business he owns).

“Yes
sir.” Alex grumbled.

“Attitude
Crusader, or Roger will hear about it.” Daryl warned.

It
took everything Alex had not to scoff. He walked out of the office
and onto the main floor, not wanting to deal with Rogers partner any
longer.

“He
being a loser again?” Crusader Alice asked.

“Isn't
he always?” Alex grabbed a nearby gun and started checking it. “No
sign of resistance?”

“The
employees are too busy wetting themselves to do anything, and Haiter
is just outside yelling at us through a megaphone.” Alice replied.
That was when Crusader Aiden walked in.

“Ready
to start killing them off when you're ready.” He said.

“Wait…killing
who?” Alice asked as Alex put the gun down.

“Daryl
says if Haiter tries anything we're to start killing employees.”
Aiden kicked over a plastic garbage bin. “I don't like it either.”

“Well,
Roger has the bloodthirsty dog he wanted.” Alex growled.

“Yeah,
well, Roger is scum too.” Alice said bitterly.

Outside,
Lady Silent was listening in to the conversation using her power to
be completely unnoticeable.

“They're
gonna start killing hostages if Haiter tries anything guys.” She
said into her phone.

“Right.
We'll get the hostages out and then Dorkyl can deal with Haiter.”
Chuckles said.

Giggles
sighed and looked at the building. They were both on the roof of a
nearby building, where they could see everything that was going on.

“I
think the hostages are in the breakout room at the back, that's where
that guy who said they were ready came from.” Lady Silent let them
know.

“Okay
then, looks like there's a back door.” Giggles looked through her
binoculars that Chuckles had bought her to celebrate the Leos
snapping their losing streak.

“Let's
go.” Chuckles nodded. Giggles grabbed hold of him and they flew
down to save the day.

“I
mean, I wouldn't even BE here if it wasn't for that debt.” Alice
was grumbling. “The surgery didn't even work.”

“Yeah,
well, Roger has his finger in the medical pie out at Fallsville too,
I wouldn't be surprised if your Dad got sub-par care just because you
had that debt.” Alex scoffed. “I think half of us are only
Crusaders because Roger has a hold over us.”

“Like
us.” Aiden put his arm around Alex. The pair had been together for
years in secret, and if that secret got out…well, let's just say it
wouldn't end well.

“Do
you hear something?” Alice perked up, hearing a door open.

“I'm
not about to go check. It might be Chuckles and Giggles, and they're
the LAST people I want to fight.” Aiden brushed it off.

The
others nodded their agreement.

“I
wish I could read, some of these claims could be interesting.”
Alice rifled through some papers.

“It's
insurance, how interesting could it be?” Aiden laughed.

Just
then, Haiter stopped yelling.

“Looks
like it's on.” Alex sighed, rapping on the door of the office where
Daryl was waiting. “You might want to come out here!”

Grumbling,
Daryl came out of the office.

“Haiter
looks to be making a move. It could be a matter of minutes before he
strikes.” Alex said.

“Pfft.
If I know anything about that force, we have at least an hour.”
Daryl said. He looked at Alice. “Why are you reading insurance
claims?”

“I
can't read.” Alice pointed out.

“Lucky
you.” Daryl snatched away the papers. He laughed. “HA! No wonder
Judith didn't get much for her stupid trains, she's insured with my
Dad!”

“Judith?”
Aiden asked.

“Councillor
Judith Jofrey, sister of Mobster Marion.” Daryl threw the papers
down. “Let me know if Haiter starts anything. We'll pick a hostage
to execute then.”

He
went back into the office to continue drinking.

“Wait…Marion
has a sister?” Alice asked.

The
three looked at each other.

 “And the evidence
goes into the, evidence box, and the rejects go into the, waste
bin…” Belle sang as she sorted out her desk. It was that kind of
Friday afternoon, where nothing new really happened but you still had
to look busy.

“You seem cheerful.”
Helen walked over and looked over at Belles desk.

“I'm gunning for the
International Acting Award this year.” Belle replied. “This place
is so depressing since Giggles took out the main chandelier.”

“I know. I swear if I
ever get a hold of that brat…” Helen looked murderous. Belle
sighed and went back to her sorting, hoping like mad the guilt didn't
appear on her face.

“MASTERS! Can I see
you in my office please?” Judith Jofrey called out.

“Oh Belle, you're in
for it now!” Helen gasped as Belle got up.

“I'll be fine.”
Belle said shakily.

“Are you sure? I can
come in as a witness for you.” Helen offered.

“MASTERS!”

“I'd better go it
alone. Thanks Helen.” Belle tried to smile as she walked to the
office of Judith Jofrey.

“Good luck Belle!”

“Don't let her
intimidate you Belle!”

“Remember to take
notes in case it needs to go to HR!”

“You haven't done
anything wrong!”

It was heartening to
have her coworkers believe in her…until you remembered most of them
were Death Valley Mobsters.

Belle walked into
Judiths office and closed the door.

“Take a seat.”
Judith offered. She wasn't sitting at her desk, but rather at a
little coffee-table she had set up in the office for more causal
discussions.

Belle sat in one of the
comfortable chairs. Judith offered her a biscuit and some tea, and
she accepted. Once the tea was poured and everything was settled,
Judith began.

“I'm going to come
right out and say it. I'm pregnant with Daniels baby.” Judith said.

Belle had to keep
herself from squealing.

“You can relax,
unlike Jones office, there's no way to listen in to conversations
here. I made sure of that.” Judith smiled.

“THAT IS SO AMAZING
CONGRATULATIONS!” Belle squealed out in one breath. “When are you
due? Does Dan know? Is he excited? Are you moving in together? Is it
a boy or a girl?”

Judith laughed. It was
a natural, happy laugh that Belle had never thought Judith had been
capable of. “I'm a little over a month along, so we don't know the
sex just yet. Dan knows, in fact, I wanted to talk to you about
that.”

“Is he still in a
funk?” Belle asked. “We wanted to give him some time off from the
Knights to try and clear himself up, and instead he's acting like the
Knights kicked him out.”

“He's been happier
since he learned of the pregnancy though, which is where you come in.
I want all his friends to know about the pregnancy, and have a small
party to celebrate.” Judith said. “Help him reconnect to his true
self. I worry that his family connections could rear their heads and
take advantage while he's down and out. Much like you're family
connections are trying to take advantage of you working for the
Council.”

“What is UP with
that?! I think it's blatantly obvious that there's no way I'd be a
Haunted Maze Trouper. How'd they even get the name Haunted Maze
anyway?” Belle said, annoyed.

“They know that
you're ahem, friends with me, and that your father recently became a
Councillor. They want to make sure they can leverage the Council
through those connections, in case Mayor Jones gets out of hand.”
Judith told her. “That's how your father finally got into a
Councillor position. Of course, they have no idea that you're the
town vigilante.”

“How do you KNOW all
of this?” Belle asked incredulously.

“Because I'm still
very close to Demons office, enough so that I have enough information
to piece together what's happening.” Judith replied.

Belle grinned. “Answers
a lot of questions. Anyway, I'll talk to the Knights and we'll try to
set up a party for Dan. They really, REALLY miss him.”

“I bet they do.”
Judith smiled.

“I mean, they REALLY,
REALLY, REALLY miss him.” Belle said.

—

“YOU JUST RUSHED IN,
NO PLAN, AND NEARLY GOT US ALL KILLED!” Sunny screamed at Sammy,
who also had his hackles up.

“LIKE YOU HAVEN'T
RUSHED IN BEFORE WHEN YOUR STUPID BROTHER WAS INVOLVED!” Sammy
screamed back.

Context: Sir Hyper had
led the rushed defence of a pharmacy against a pack of Haunted Maze
Troupers. It hadn't gone well until Chuckles and Giggles had stepped
in.

Now, the screaming
match at the tip.

“The leadership of
this group is appalling.” TJ grumbled.

“Well I didn't see
YOU doing anything!” Tammy fired.

“It's not his job!”
Petunia shot back.

As the yelling got
louder, Chuckles and Giggles flew in.

“You wanna tell them
about Dan NOW?” Chuckles looked at the carnage, thinking a hot
chocolate and a good movie was a better option.

“WHAT ABOUT DAN?”
The whole Last Order yelped.

Chuckles and Giggles
took a second to compose themselves.

“I spoke to Judith
yesterday at work. She and Dan are having a baby.” Giggles pulled
off her helmet.

Four gobsmacked Knights
glared at her. Sunny just looked at Belle with wide eyes.

“Did I say something
wrong?” Belle asked.

“OUR Dan knocked up
the sister of Mobster Marion?!” Sammy cried.

“I mean, I'm happy if
he's happy…?” Sunny mumbled, looking confused.

“He's an idiot! What
did he go and do that for!?” Petunia groaned. “Way to give Marion
a path straight to us!”

“Hey, to be fair I
work under Demons nose all day and he still has no clue at all who I
am off the clock.” Belle pointed out.

“Working for someone
is different than being family!” TJ roared.

“Ahem.” Sunny
cleared her throat.

Suddenly things got
very, very, VERY awkward.

“Right…sorry
Sunny…” Petunia mumbled.

“But you don't
consider Demon your family, do you?” Tammy asked.

“I still speak to my
Mum sometimes. She likes to see Melody.” Sunny said quietly. “We're
not close at all, but she's still my Mum, to a point.”

Sunny looked close to
tears, and the old scar under her eye stood out. Belle rushed to hug
her and Charlie scowled at the rest of the Knights.

“If Dan is happy, I'm
going to be happy for him. We should be encouraging love, not
breaking up families. I just keep hoping one day what I say will get
through to Mum and we'll have another ally.” Sunny kept back the
tears, and buried her face in Belles shoulder.

“Way to go guys.”
Charlie folded his arms and glared at the Knights.

All of them looked
subdued.

“We should throw a
small party for Dan.” Sunny suggested. She looked at Sammy.

“Yeah, he'd like
that. He'd be part of us again.” Sammy gave her a timid smile.

“Belle, you could
talk to Judith about having it at her place right?” Sunny asked. “I
don't think Dan would come to a party if we hosted it.”

“Good idea.” Sammy
said. He and Sunny smiled at each other awkwardly.

“Okay then.” Belle
sighed. “Anyway, Dad should be here soon, let's go Charlie.”

Belle and Charlie
walked away, leaving the Knights feeling rather subdued.

“I guess we've been a
little stupid recently.” Sammy started.

“Yeah. Especially us
leaders.” Sunny replied. She sighed. “I guess I really can't
understand how you guys feel. I love Dan, and I the respect I have
for him…but I didn't grow up with him as my leader.”

“Yeah, you got the
short end of the stick there.” TJ patted her back.

“I think we're all
pretty upset about Dan leaving us in the lurch, and we took it out on
each other.” Tammy piped up.

“From now on, I think
we should take a minute to talk to each other first.” Sammy
suggested. “Not just us leaders either. From now on, we protect
Pleasantville with a plan – OUR plan.”

He grinned at Sunny,
who grinned back.

“Now, can we talk
about Dans party? I mean, he's going to be a Dad!” Petunia said
excitedly.

The Knights quickly
busied themselves with organising a baby bash – a bash to hopefully
get their beloved leader back.