Author: Crofton77

Dark storm clouds
rolled over Pleasantville, grumbling with the weight of the rain that
was about to spill over the city. In the Begly household, the Masters
were over for a roast dinner and to watch the latest reality
television drama. In Sunnys house, Sunny was plotting revenge on
Sammy while Patrick and Melody wondered if they should be worried. At
Tammys apartment, Sammy was plotting revenge on Sunny, while Tammy
and Rose wondered if he needed professional help. TJ and Petunia were
home with a pumpkin soup (and an irate phone call from TJ's father).
The Death Valley Mobsters were having a group therapy session at the
Misneach Manor, the Jones family were out at the movies, the
Crusaders were fixing up their hideout to keep out the rain (even
though the rain wasn't forecast to hit Fallsville), and the Haunted
Maze Troupe were in the process of developing more new and addictive
substances.

It seemed like everyone
had a place to be and people to be with. All except Daniel, the
ex-Sir Lionheart, who felt cold and alone as he stood on Pleasant
Dam. The wind blew hard at his back as he looked over the city. How
had one little split-second decision turned everything upside down?
One act of rage, frustration and exhaustion. How different things
would have been if he had just kept his scythe down instead of
killing the Inspector of the Pleasantville Police!

“You're STILL
sulking. You're a mess, kid.”

Daniel groaned and
turned around as the wind began to pick up. “Hey Judy.” He
greeted Judith Jofrey weakly. “Why aren't you inside where it's
warm?”

“Are you kidding?
Revolvers got the entire Mob talking about their feelings and hugging
it out. It's disgusting.” Judith stood beside her boyfriend,
looking out over the city.

“How's Marion taking
it?” Daniel asked.

“She's just sitting
there sipping her wine.” Judith sighed. “She used to be so
focused, so strong and determined. I kinda hate your buddy Charlie
for taking her sword from her, twice, and just destroying everything
she was.”

“You sure it was just
Chuckles?” Daniel asked. “I mean, Revolver and yourself have to
take some of the blame.”

“Well geez, thanks.”
Judith snapped. Daniel flinched. “Don't stand there looking like a
scolded puppy either, you had no right to accuse me of being
responsible for my sisters mental breakdown.”

“It's true though!
You and Marion have been fighting since the Crusaders came back to
Pleasantville.” Daniel sulked.

Judith bit her lip.
“We've been fighting a lot longer than that.” She pulled out the
necklace that her sister had given her from under her shirt. “Ever
since we were told that we were being separated. I hated my father
for that. He took my best friend away.”

She clutched the
necklace tighter. “He took her best friend away. He started all of
this!”

“But then, he
probably had his best friend taken away too.” Daniel pointed out.

Judith gave him a wry
smile. “A vicious circle, just so we could build and keep power.”

“It worked, didn't
it?” Daniel asked.

“And where did all
that power get us? Absolutely no where. It's driven my sister crazy
and left me exhausted, and for what? Just to get turfed out after a
few years in power.” Judith grumbled. “This whole “share our
feelings” afternoon is a last-ditch effort to keep the Death Valley
Gangsters and the Mobsters of Misneach together, because if the
Gangsters leave the alliance, they're taking all our people. No one
can stand Marion anymore.”

Judith straightened up.
“Anyway, nice deflection. We're here to talk about you.”

Daniel groaned.

“Don't you groan at
me. You need to talk to someone. You haven't been right since the
Riots.” Judith snapped. “I get it, you're on a mission and the
mission keeps on failing again and again and again, mostly because of
things out of your control. Like Wallace dying.”

“Will people just
shut up about that already?!” Daniel snapped.

“And there it is, you
feel responsible for his death even though it wasn't your fault.”
Judith tried to comfort him, but he pulled away.

“Just stop trying to
psycho-analyse me, because you're getting it way off the mark.”
Daniel snapped, livid. “Why can't you all just let me do things my
way?!”

“Well, because in
eight months you won't be able to do it your way!” Judith fired as
the thunder started.

“Huh?” Daniel
asked.

“I'm pregnant you
ass. I only got the doctors call this afternoon to confirm it.”
Judith grinned.

“You're…we're…I'm…?”
Daniel couldn't believe it. Judith was pregnant? With HIS baby?!

“Looks like the
Knights of the Last Order and the Mobsters of Misneach are going to
be linked forever. That has to be a bonus, doesn't it?” Judith
asked.

Daniel was about to say
yes, when he remembered.

“I'm not a Knight
anymore. They kicked me out.” He said miserably.

“That lot? Kick YOU
out?” Judith raised an eye-brow. “They wouldn't. They love you
too much. They're probably trying to give you some space to sort
yourself out and you're sulking.”

“I'M NOT SULKING!”
Another thunder-clap and a flash of lightening punctuated Daniels
yell. The rain began to fall on the two, a few drops suddenly turning
into a heavy downpour.

Both of them stood
silent for a moment, letting the rain drench them.

“You shouldn't be out
in the rain, it's bad for the baby.” Daniel finally said.

Judith felt her lips
tug upwards. She then let out a loud laugh, unable to stop herself.
That set Daniel off, and the pair of them roared with laughter while
the rest of Pleasantville remained dry in their houses.

—

Marion rolled her wine
glass between her fingers, watching the pale yellow liquid inside. A
fine white wine from a vineyard in the Great Nations, apparently,
although Marion had started caring less and less about that.

She had overheard her
sister talking to someone on the phone before running off into the
rainy night. It seems Judith had succeeded where Marion was failing –
she had managed to get pregnant and was on the way to producing an
heir.

Just another way
I've failed. Marion sighed to
herself. She uncrossed her long legs and got up off the couch where
she had been luxuriating. She walked over to a nearby mirror and
looked at herself.

Beautiful.
Not a hair out of place, her blue silk dress draped perfectly over
her body. Make-up was perfect, blue eye-shadow against bright red
lips. Sparkly blue high-heeled shoes, and a white fur shrug around
her shoulders. Everything looked perfect.

Except
her eyes. The ice-blue eyes were windows to a soul that was breaking
apart, falling to pieces, unable to deal with the pressure of having
to keep up the pretence of everything being fine. Nothing was fine.
After ruling Pleasantville for years with Demon, the Mob was cast
aside in favour of the Haunted Maze Troupe after failure after
failure after failure against those two monsters and their petty
little Knight friends.

Everything
would have been fine if Chuckles and Giggles hadn't shown up. If
Chuckles hadn't stolen her sword. If she hadn't been forced into a
flimsy alliance with Revolver, a man who had never had any intentions
of helping her provide her people with the heir she was supposed to
produce.

It
was her own fault really. She should never have been so ambitious as
to think that he could just pop out a kid and have that kid rule
Pleasantville as the true ruler of the Death Valley Mob. Ambition had
killed her father after all, as it had killed his father before him.

“Am
I going to die of ambition?” Marion asked the reflection in the
mirror. “Probably, but I guess it's not my problem after that.”
She answered her own question.

“Are
you okay Madame?” One of the butlers asked her.

“Why,
should I be?” Marion asked lazily. The butler stammered for a
second, before walking away, wondering if Madame had completely lost
her mind.

—

“I
can never really enjoy the rain. Not after the flood.” Belle looked
out of Charlies bedroom window. The rain was pelting down quite
heavily now, and the thunder and lightening had driven most of
Pleasantville to unplug most of their electronics, fearing a power
outage.

“The
flood was nearly seven years ago Belle.” Charlie pointed out, lying
on his bed.

“What,
you don't flinch slightly when you see clouds in the distance?”
Belle asked.

Charlie
sighed. “Yeah, I guess I do a little. That was such a messed up
summer.”

“It
just goes to show how easily people forget about things. Everything
was cleaned up by the time school was back in, and no one has really
mentioned it since.” Belle sighed. “People have even started to
forget about the DVM, since they only really showed up during the
riots, and haven't been heard from since.”

“I
think we've established that people aren't particularly smart.”
Charlie said.

“I
think it's more they don't want to know. Out of sight, out of mind,
it can't hurt me anymore.” Belle pointed out.

“Which
doesn't bode well if the DVM decide to make a comeback like the
Crusaders and the Troupe did.” Charlie sat up.

“I
wish we had Dan around still. We could talk to him about having
Judith keep an eye on them for us.” Belle sighed again. “I just
wish Dan was okay.”

“I
know. But I also know he'll come back to us one day.” Charlie said.
Why did it feel like a lie to say it? Daniel WASN'T a killer. There
was no way.

“You
sure? He seemed pretty upset.” Belle asked.

“I'm
certain.” Charlie told her.

And
that was definitely a lie.

Sammy was still down in
the dumps a few days later when he and Sunny sat on the dam wall
talking about how they were going to lead the Knights in the face of
current developments.

“You're really bummed
out about Dan huh?” Sunny asked as the sun set behind them.

“It's dumb, I know,
but I've looked up to him for as long as I can remember. I have three
older brothers and yet they're nothing compared to Dan.” Sammy told
her.

“Well, your brothers
ARE fifteen years older than you.” Sunny pointed out. “Anyway,
Dan'll be back before you know it.”

Sammy wasn't so sure.

“Anyway, we're now
the temporary leaders of the Noble Knights of the Last Order. We need
a game plan.” Sunny continued.

“What's wrong with
going on as we have been?” Sammy asked. “There was nothing wrong
with Dans leadership!”

“No, there wasn't,
but we're not Dan. We need to go our own way and forge our own path.”

“Didn't you say Dan
would be back before we knew it? We don't want to be changing too
much if he's going to return.”

“We have to leave the
Knights in a good state, and we can't do that if we're too busy
trying to be something we're not!”

Both of them glared at
each other.

—

“Darn it Daryl!”
Chuckles unsheathed the Lions Claw Blade and rushed to stop his
long-time enemy from selling any more drugs.

“Back off Chuckles.”
Crusader Daryl drew his shotgun out and aimed it at Chuckles. Almost
immediately he felt the Lucky Seven Gun at his back.

Today in Pleasantville,
Daryl had decided to try and beat the Haunted Maze Troupe at their
own game. Still smarting from his fathers dismissal, he had found an
overseas supplier who made cheap drugs. Daryl had refined them into
gummy lollies, which he was now selling in bags outside of the high
school.

“You guys are really
trying to kill my entrepreneur spirit today, aren't you?” Daryl
threw a baggie of powder at Giggles, fogging up her helmet. Chuckles
only just got there in time to stop him from shooting Giggles in the
chest.

“Leave him to me!”

Chuckles jumped out of
the way just in time to dodge a baseball bat blow that was aiming for
Crusader Daryl. Lady Courage was ready to attack and put her brother
away.

“Courage, back up,
he's got a gun!” Chuckles tried to stop her.

“COURAGE GET DOWN!”
The group heard Sir Hyper cry. Thankfully Lady Courage listened and
ducked, as Daryl fired off his shotgun, removing a few of her hairs.

Sir Hyper ran up to the
situation as Giggles picked Daryl up and flew him into a nearby tree,
making him drop his shotgun in the process. “PUT ME DOWN YOU
WENCH!” Daryl screamed as Giggles tossed him into the branches. His
shirt got hooked on a rather large branch, and the Crusader was
stuck.

“Well THAT was
annoying.” Giggles landed next to Chuckles. “Lady Courage, I get
that you don't like y…Crusader Daryl…but what was THAT all
about?!”

Lady Courage gritted
her teeth and said nothing.

“She's just trying to
stamp herself all over Sir Lionhearts Knights.” Sir Hyper grumbled.

“That has nothing to
do with it!” Lady Courage screeched.

Chuckles and Giggles
flinched.

“It has EVERYTHING to
do with it! You don't have my back at all!” Sir Hyper yelled back.

“This is more awkward
than the time great-Aunt Helga came over and told us all where she
was going that night.” Giggles whispered to Chuckles, who wasn't so
sure about that assessment (it was VERY awkward, great-Aunt Helga has
ZERO filter).

“Well YOU didn't get
here in time, and SOMEONE had to help Chuckles and Giggles!” Lady
Courage fired back.

“Chuckles and Giggles
were fine!” Sir Hyper dismissed her.

“Please don't drag us
into this. In fact, I think I'd rather fall into the Lake.”
Chuckles nudged Giggles.

“Right, we're GONE!”
Giggles quickly picked up Chuckles and flew off, for once not landing
in the Lake.

“You're just jealous
that I was Sir Lionhearts best friend and YOU were just some
forgotten bimbo!” Sir Hyper went for the jugular.

“Oh REAL mature, go
straight for petty insults instead of trying to sort out the issue at
hand!” Lady Courage fired back.

—

“Do you ever wonder
if we made the right call putting both of them in charge?” TJ asked
as he sat with Tammy and Petunia at the tip. Sunny and Sammy were
both still screaming at each other a few feet away.

“I mean, on paper
it's a good idea, and Dan does need a break…” Petunia sighed
loudly.

“Does it HAVE to be
both of them though?” Tammy muttered, getting very annoyed with the
state of things.

TJ blinked, and then
got up.

“You're right Tammy!
Sunny and Sammy don't have to be leaders at all!” He grinned.

“I didn't QUITE say
that…” Tammy started.

“Sunny, Sammy, you've
tried being the leaders of the Noble Knights of the Last Order, and,
quite frankly, you both suck.” TJ steamrolled on, ignoring the dark
looks he was getting from Sunny and Sammy. “I think it's time I had
a go.”

“Wait up buttercup.”
Petunia stood up. “Why shouldn't it be ME that gets a go first?”

“Because I'm a cop-,”
TJ started.

“I'M A NURSE.”
Petunia interrupted.

“Who says you're
replacing us anyway?!” Sunny snapped.

“Yeah!” Sammy piped
up. “Who says I wouldn't be a good enough leader by myself?!”

“You'd be woeful,
that's what!” Sunny rounded on him.

As the squabbling
continued, Belle and Charlie showed up. They were already wary after
the argument before, but the screeching and screaming they heard
coming from the tip made them seriously consider turning around and
leaving.

“Someone has to go in
there and say something. The Knights can't go on like this.” Belle
pointed out.

“Does that someone
HAVE to be us though? Can't we just get Dan back?” Charlie groaned.

“Honestly, I wouldn't
trust Dan not to make things worse.” Belle said. “So get your big
boy pants on, we're going in.”

“Oh boy…” Charlie
groaned as the pair headed into the fray.

“Hi guys! You know we
could hear you several light years away, right?” Belle walked up to
the bickering Knights. “You're still having a leadership issue?”

“Well if THESE idiots
would focus on the real issues instead of trying to stamp their
authority we'd be quite fine.” Tammy grumbled.

“Look, all of you
have your issues that would make you lousy leaders.” Belle said.

“But so did Dan, and
he did a great job until…” Charlie trailed off. The idea of
Daniel being a murderer crossed his mind again, but he pushed it back
down.

“So if you were
willing to accept faults in Dan, you need to accept faults in each
other.” Belle finished.

The Knights all looked
at each other.

And the bickering
continued.

“Anyone would think
they were talking cricket!” Charlie groaned.

“With your economy? I
wouldn't be talking.” Belle muttered.

“Says you with the
longest ducking streak on the planet!” Charlie fired back.

They would have
continued, except the Knights were starting to drown them out.

“Look, we'll discuss
batting averages later. OI!” Belle picked up an old pipe and banged
it hard on a nearby washing machine, scaring everyone into silence.

“Well, at least
you're all quiet.” Charlie commented.

“Now, surely you can
sort this out like adults. I mean, you were all happy for Sammy and
Sunny to take over at the beginning.” Belle said.

“Until THEY started
fighting.” Petunia sulked.

“Only because SHE
wanted to change everything on Dan!” Sammy fired, pointing at
Sunny.

“Everyone needs
innovation!” Sunny fired back.

“ENOUGH!” Belle and
Charlie yelled.

“Sammy, SOME
innovation is needed. ESPECIALLY because of what happened to Dan.”
Charlie said. “That being said, you can innovate and still keep
true to how Dan ran things. It doesn't have to be either or.”

“You two could work
great together.” Belle added. “You just have to meet halfway.”

There was silence as
everyone pondered what had been said.

Then the yelling
started again.

“Wanna go get ice
cream? Uncle Bill is experimenting with new flavours before starting
up his ice cream bar.” Belle asked, defeated.

“Yeah, sure.”
Charlie sighed.

They left the Knights
to argue until well into the night.

Everyone froze as
Daniel sat down with the group. “You guys have another one of your
Improbable Plans did you?” He asked with a grin.

“Actually Dan…we
were talking about you and how worried about you we are.” TJ rubbed
the back of his neck.

“You…were…?”
Daniel raised his eyebrow.

“We think you should
take a break for a while.” Petunia said. “Sunny and Sammy can
take over the leadership of the Knights.”

If they thought Dan
would be grateful, they were wrong.

“You're kicking me
out of the Knights of the Last Order?!” He roared in fury. “What,
you don't like my past or something?!”

“No one has EVER said
anything about your past!” Sunny fired back.

Charlie looked at
Belle, who was watching with interest.

“You've all been on
my back since Dingbat died!” Daniel continued to rant. “What,
have I become a scapegoat for all of your problems now?!”

“Dan, you've been
upset and volatile since the Riots!” TJ said. “We just think some
time out would be good for you!”

“We're worried about
you!” Tammy added.

Sammy remained silent,
looking at the ground.

“I don't need this
right now. The KNIGHTS don't need this right now.” Daniel went on
the attack. “The Haunted Maze Troupe is running Pleasantville at
the moment. The Death Valley Mobsters are falling apart, and who
knows when they'll go nuclear and start taking out everything they
can. The Crusaders are causing trouble. Please tell me how you're
supposed to handle all of that without ME!”

“Dan, it's only
temporary!” Sunny pleaded.

“I'm out of here. You
do whatever you want.” Daniel got up, turned around and stormed
off, seething with anger and guilt. "Just don't come to me when everything fails!"

“Well…well.”
Charlie was speechless. Everyone was.

"I guess this means we're in charge now Sammy." Sunny looked at Sammy, who still had his head down.

Sammy didn't say a word. 

—

Daniel was lying in his
little studio apartment, trying to ignore the nagging thoughts that
his friends somehow knew about what he'd done.

He hated his room. It
was made of unpainted wood with one brick wall that had a tiny window
in it. The bathroom had a shower curtain around it, and the door
needed to be yanked hard before it would open.

Why had his life turned
out so poorly. If he'd just kept to his family destiny and started up
the Silent Lake Gang again he could have been living the high life.

“NO. We don't think
like that!” Daniel shook himself. “The Silent Lake Gang were
CRIMINALS who got off on hurting people. The Knights of the Last
Order are different! I'M different!”

He looked out his
pathetically tiny window into the little yard that he had. Was he
different though, or had he been lying to himself for twenty-four
years?

He got up and went to
his little kitchen sink. Above the sink was a cupboard, Daniel
reached up and took a cup out of it. He filled the cup with water and
chugged it down.

There was a knock at
the door. Daniel groaned, before going over and yanking the door
open.

“You're a world-class
sulker, you know that?” Judith Jofrey walked into his apartment.

“I'm not sulking.”
Daniel put his cup into the sink.

“Then why aren't you
with your friends? You lot are always together.” Judith looked
around the apartment, not looking impressed.

“We're not joined at
the hip.” Daniel sat back down on his bed.

“I'm not saying you
are. I'm saying that you've spent 90% of your time recently away from
your closest friends when usually it's the other way around. That
usually points to something major changing, and usually for the
worse.” Judith sat down next to him. “You've been very agitated
as of late.”

“Why is everyone on
my case?!” Daniel shot up, angry.

“I'm not on your
case, I'm WORRIED about you!” Judith also shot up, starting to get
annoyed. “Why are you so insistent on pushing away everyone who
cares about you?!”

“I'm NOT!” Daniel
snapped.

Judith sighed. She
walked over to her boyfriend and hugged him.

Daniel wrapped his arms
around her and sighed.

—

“Dan really had a fit
today huh?” Charlie commented as he and Belle walked along the
Creek home after another victorious battle against Crusader Daryl (long story short, don't attack a chocolate store. Ever).

“Did you notice he
got really agitated about his connections to the Silent Lake Gang and
the Dingbat murder?” Belle pointed out.

The Improbability
Clause activated, but Charlie didn't say a word. Because there was no
way that it could be the case. Daniel wasn't a killer.

“I think he just
feels guilty because the Knights of the Last Order were the ones who
left Dingbat vulnerable to attack.” Charlie surmised instead.

“That makes sense.”
Belle agreed. “Anyway, more importantly, what are we going to do
about Haiter?”

“Who knows. Honestly,
I kinda feel like Dan. Every time we seem to get a step ahead,
someone shoves us ten steps back. It's tiring.” Charlie said,
kicking a stone.

“I know. Wanna go on
a holiday?” Belle suggested. “We could invite the Knights and let
them sort themselves out.”

“No one has time for
a holiday Belle. We're not all lawyers at City Hall.” Charlie
chuckled, putting his arm around her.

“You try living in
the belly of the beast. It's not fun, especially as they still
haven't fixed our chandelier.” Belle sighed sadly.

“It's a bloody
chandelier!” Charlie groaned as they took the footpath that would
take them home.

“It's the PRINCIPLE
of the thing Charlie!” Belle shoved him. He shoved her back.

“Sometimes I really
have to wonder if those two are dating or not.” One of the
neighbours watched the pair as they fought all the way home.

“Mind your business
Maud.” Her husband snapped.

The pair made it home
alive, only to find Harold and Lady waiting for them.

“Belle, you're coming
with us!” Harold thundered, walking towards her.

“No, I'm not.”
Belle shoved her grand-father away and walked inside, Charlie
giggling behind her.

“BELLE! YOU'LL PAY
FOR THIS!” Lady roared as the door slammed shut.

“Belle, close the
door behind you properly please.” Peter said as his daughter
flopped on the couch.

“You're not gonna
lecture me are you?” Belle asked.

Peter narrowed his eyes
at her.

“Yes Dad.” Belle
couldn't help but smile.

“Anyway, how was
things with the Knights? All good?” Lara asked, putting the
finishing touches on a steak Diane.

Belle looked at
Charlie. Charlie looked back.

“Oh dear.” Lara
sighed.

Today it was Charlies
turn to stand at the Pleasant Dam and look out over Pleasantville,
his mind ticking over like an engine ready to blow.

So many things didn't
make sense to him. Like why, even though Dingbat had been murdered,
were people ignoring his many faults and jumping directly to
replacing him? Weren't they even going to investigate WHO killed him?
Or was that just going to be another one of Pleasantvilles dirty
little secrets.

Then there was Belle
and Lara. How had their relationship mended so quickly? Belle had
said that between a mother and a daughter sometimes things just
didn't need to be said. Masters, they were so EMOTIONAL…

And speaking of the
Masters Clan, why all of a sudden were Harold and Lady poking about?
Surely they would have known they would have zero chance of winning
Belle over to the Haunted Maze Troupe, not after how much effort she
had put in to trying to bring Demon Jones down. If anything, they'd
want Belle dead. That wasn't even touching the fact that Belles
alter-ego was none other than Giggles the Great Defender, and if
they'd known THAT little titbit it'd be on for young and old.

But the one thing that
was troubling Charlie the most was – you guessed it – Daniel and
his behaviour over the past week or so. He was the only one who
hadn't stood by TJ at the big police funeral for Wallace Dingbat, he
was acting out, he was avoiding everyone…Belle believed that he was
just exhausted after yet another setback, and while Charlie could
definitely relate – they all could – it just didn't seem like
Daniels character to just give up. He was the leader of the Noble
Knights of the Last Order, and he had nearly always been the one to
provide order and poor batting.

Charlie sighed. Maybe
it was just that being a leader had finally worn him down, just like
it had when the flood had hit. Charlie wasn't certain though. He
rubbed his face, his beard scratching at his hand. He just didn't
have all the pieces of the puzzle, he needed Belle for that. Belle
had already given him every scrap of information that she'd been able
to source.

Still, it would be nice
to have her here to bounce ideas off. She was out with her mother and
sister, doing shopping for a family picnic that they were holding
that weekend. Charlie sighed, and was just about to leave when Daniel
appeared.

“Hey Charlie. You
come here to think too huh?” Daniel walked over, looking a little
pale, a little tired.

“Yeah, but it doesn't
really work without the other half of the Improbability Clause here.”
Charlie grinned as Daniel leaned on the guard rail. “You look
absolutely wrecked mate. Anything I can help with?”

“Just tired and fed
up of everything.” Daniel sighed. “It just feels like I can't do
anything right.”

“Oh, I hear you
100%.” Charlie chuckled. “Just ask Belle.”

Daniel grinned, but the
grin didn't make it up to his eyes.

“I was pretty
impressed when you told us you're the heir to the Silent Lake Gang.”
Charlie continued. Daniel looked surprised. “I mean, your whole
childhood would have been based around being groomed to take over,
even after your parents died. To turn your back on that and lead the
Knights of the Last Order…mate, that takes GUTS!”

Daniel smiled, this
time looking a bit more genuine. “It was them, really.”

“Them? Oh, you mean
the others?”

“Yup. Before the
private school shut down, the public school was tiny. There was
barely anyone to make friends with. TJ and Petunia started school not
long after my parents died, and I think their saviour complexes got
the best of them. TJ has always wanted to be a cop and protect the
innocent, and Petunia is just the most mothering and beautiful soul.
That's why Sammy and Tammy latched onto us.”

“Sammy said Tammy
latched on to Petunia because she was so kind, and he looked up to
you especially. You've always kinda been his hero.” Charlie said,
looking out over Pleasantville. “He'd do anything for you.”

Daniel nearly told him.
He nearly told him that the great Sir Lionheart who everyone loved
and admired was nothing more than your everyday killer. He nearly
admitted that he was the criminal that he had been raised to be.

He didn't, but boy did
he want to.

“You and Belle are
two sides of the same coin.” Daniel chose to brush it all off
instead. “Thanks for the chat.”

“No problem.”
Charlie stretched. “And good timing, Giggles is here to give me a
lift!”

“Hiya boys!”
Giggles landed between the two. “Coming Chuckles?”

“Sure am!” Charlie
pulled on his beanie and tied a scarf around his face. “Later Dan!”

“See yas.” Daniel
watched as they headed towards the city. He couldn't help himself
though. “Three…two…one…”

Do I really need to
tell you what happened next?

—

It was still on
Chuckles mind as he watched the new Inspector Andrew Haiter was sworn
in at a rather overdone ceremony a few days later. Next to him, Sunny
had once again stepped up as Giggles.

Belle was standing with
the rest of the Council employees, and in front of them were the
Counsellors, with Peter Masters standing behind Judith Jofrey. TJ was
standing perfectly still in the police ranks, and Petunia was
standing in the crowd.

Chuckles wished like
crazy he had his best friends ability to see all the little parts of
the situation that he couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, he never
seemed to notice the tiny little details that made the difference.
Even from where they were standing on a nearby building, the real
Giggles would have been able to pick out interesting little details
that when put together would perhaps reveal a clue to what their next
move should be.

But hey, Chuckles
grinned to himself, if he could do that, it wouldn't be the
Improbability Clause anymore, would it?

Later, he caught up
with the real Giggles as she finished putting her costume on.

“So, what did you see
at the ceremony?” He asked her as she pulled on the Backpack.

“The police weren't
in a great formation, half of them were bunched together a little
closer, although it wasn't too obvious. TJ is pissed, he was in
charge of the formation. Demon looks like a pig in mud, hope he falls
down the stairs one day, and I swear Haiter has the perfect poker
face.” Giggles finished fastening up the Backpack.

“There's a divide now
in the police department. We just have to find the battle-lines.”
Chuckles deducted.

“Also Dad didn't look
to healthy.” Giggles added.

“He drank
waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much beforehand.” Chuckles finished his
deduction.

“Sounds fair. Come
on, let's go.” Giggles picked him up and the pair flew over the
city.

“I spoke to Daniel at
the dam recently.” Chuckles said as they soared through the air.

“So did I. Did you
get the feeling there was something he wanted to tell you but
didn't?” Giggles maneuvered over a power pole, nearly smashing
Chuckles foot into it.

“WATCH WHERE YOU'RE
FLYING!” Chuckles roared.

“I AM!” Giggles
shot back. “Did you even hear what I asked?”

“I DID!” Chuckles
snapped. He thought back to his talk with Daniel. “Yeah, I think I
did. Do you think he's gonna quit the Last Order?”

“I don't know. It
really seems like he needs a break from it.” Giggles landed on the
Pleasantville First Bank. “But…”

“There's something
else going on.” Chuckles finished her sentence as a plane flew
overhead with a “BELLE MASTERS SHOULD JOIN THE TROUPE” banner on
it. “I just don't have enough pieces of the puzzle to figure it
out.”

The pair sank deep into
thought for a minute.

“Maybe we should
suggest he takes a break.” Chuckles mused.

“That would be a good
idea. Why don't we run it past the Knights first? It's technically
their area after all.” Giggles suggested.

“Even better!”
Chuckles grinned.

The pair hugged, before
taking off and flying right into the “BELLE MASTERS SHOULD JOIN THE
TROUPE” banner.

And then falling into
the lake.

—

“That's actually a
good idea.” Sunny smiled as Belle emptied her Giggles helmet out
onto the ground of the tip.

“Who's gonna be the
leader of the Knights in his absence though?” TJ asked.

“Sammy or Sunny.”
Tammy said.

“In that case, I vote
Sunny. She's older and more experienced than I am.” Sammy said.

“Except one thing –
I'm a parent, and I'm not always going to be able to get out.”
Sunny pointed out.

“Unless it's the
Crusaders and Daryl is around.” Charlie teased.

“That's a special
case.” Sunny shrugged with a grin.

“Maybe two leaders
then.” TJ suggested.

“That would work!”
Sammy said.

“I think that would
be great!” Petunia added. “Two heads are better than one!”

“Two heads are better
than one for what?”

Everyone looked as
Daniel walked over, still looking tired.

 “Hey Dan.”

Daniel was standing on
Pleasant Dam, looking out over the city, when Belle appeared, wearing
the Backpack.

“You flew without
your Giggles disguise? Risky business.” Daniel frowned at her as
she came to stand next to him.

“I have my helmet
with me.” Belle replied, pointing back where she'd hung the helmet
off the Backpack. “Dad put a hook on for me. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Did he stop the
random cut-outs that leave you in the middle of the lake?” Daniel
asked as Belle leaned on the railing.

“Nah, I don't think
there's anything he can really do about that.” Belle chuckled. “I
don't know if you heard about my grand-parents.”

“Vaguely.” Daniel
returned to looking out over the city.

“Did you hear about
how they're actually members of the Haunted Maze Troupe?”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, so I'm a
criminal just like you!” Belle grinned. Daniel tried to grin along,
but he felt sick to his stomach. Belle didn't know just how much of a
criminal he was. “You look awful mate. Are you okay? The rest of
the Knights are worried about you, especially Sammy. You know how
much he looks up to you.”

“I'm just tired. I
think I'm getting too old to play Sir Lionheart.” Daniel tried to
force some humour into his voice, but it made him sound exhausted.

“We're all tired Dan,
and I can understand how you'd feel. Leadership is hard as it is, but
then throw the weight of expectation from your family to reignite the
Silent Lake Gang and the thought that you're not living up to that.
Whew. It'd be a lot for anyone to take.” Belle patted his back.
“Feel free to share the burden with the rest of us.”

Daniel nearly told her.
He nearly told her that he was the reason they'd had such a huge
set-back, he almost told her that he was the one who killed Wallace
Dingbat. He wanted to tell her how much he enjoyed it, and how right
it felt.

He didn't, but boy, did
he want to.

“Thanks.” Was all
he said.

Belle smiled, and
reached for her helmet. Of course, the helmet was right in the middle
of her back, making it rather difficult to get a hand on. After
struggling for a few seconds, Daniel walked over and grabbed it for
her. She grinned at him, put the helmet on, and flew off the side of
the dam, flying away from a glorious sunset.

Then the Backpack cut
out and she fell into the creek.

—

Dripping wet, Belle
made her way back home, stopping at the letterbox to see if there was
any mail.

“Junk…junk…bills…another
suspension…junk…bills…oh hey a letter for me! Oh, wait, another
groveling attempt from my grand-parents, never mind…” Belle
sorted through the mail as she walked inside.

“Hi Belle. Did you
fall in the lake again?” Lara asked as Belle put the mail on the
kitchen counter.

“Fell into the creek
after talking to Dan.” Belle grabbed a towel and began to rub her
hair.

“How's Dan going?”
Lara asked as she poured tomato paste into a bowl.

“He's hanging in
there.” Belle replied.

Awkward silence. Belle
held the letter from her grand-parents in her hand. Grand-parents who
had only really shown up when Belle could have been of use for the
Haunted Maze Troupe. Compared to Lara, who hadn't even really needed
to be there for Belle, it was a stark contrast.

Maybe it was time to
grow up. Especially as Giggles watch was flashing.

“I'm gonna go save
the day again. See ya Mum!” Belle grabbed her helmet again and
bolted out of the door.

Lara smiled. “Go get
'em Giggles!”

—

Chuckles ducked under a
blow from Crusader Daryl, and kicked the spoiled brat away. “I know
y'all are upset that the Haunted Maze Troupe beat you to the punch,
but c'mon, kidnapping children? Marion and Revolver tried that
rubbish and look what happened to them!”

“The Death Valley
Mobsters are done in Pleasantville, but that doesn't mean they didn't
have SOME good ideas!” Daryl retorted.

The March Hill
Crusaders had decided to attack the local primary school, reminding
Chuckles and Giggles of their first brush with crime back when they
were in their early teens. This time however, there were vigilantes
to save the day. Daryl couldn't even get near the front gate!

“Where's Roger? I
thought your little boyfriend would be right here with you.”
Giggles sat in a nearby tree, her Desert Eagle pointed at Daryl (he's
not worth wasting the Lucky Seven Gun on).

“Roger has left the
day-to-day operations of the March Hill Crusaders to me.” Daryl
replied smugly. “He's heading up projects.”

“Are you guys a crime
syndicate or a multi-national? Geez!” Giggles rolled her eyes. “You
know Roger only put you in charge of ops to try and get you arrested
and out of his hair, right?”

Daryl fumed.

“You've got ten men
with you, and yet you haven't even managed to get onto the school
grounds because of me. Honestly, I don't know why Roger puts up with
you.” Chuckles grinned.

“It's because of his
Daddy!” Giggles yelled. Both vigilantes laughed.

“You two jerks!”
Daryl pouted.

Just then, the police
arrived.

“About time.”
Giggles groused.

A tall, lean man with
sandy hair and a thick moustache stepped out of one of the cars
wearing the Inspectors uniform. Giggles sat up straight. She hadn't
known that the new Inspector had been announced already!

“Make sure you get
the vigilantes too.” The new Inspector said to one of his officers.
The officer nodded with a smirk.

“Not gonna happen.
Chuckles, we're getting out of here!” Giggles jumped out of the
tree and flew over to where Chuckles was. The pair ran away from the
cops, who grabbed a car to chase after them.

“A car is no match
for me!” Giggles picked up Chuckles and flew him up on top of the
nearest building. Sure enough, the police car rolled up to the
building and the police got out. Giggles used that time to fly away,
much to the anger of the police.

“A new Inspector. He
hasn't even had his swearing-in yet!” Giggles said as the pair flew
back to the tip.

“We'll have to ask TJ
about him.” Chuckles added. He felt a shudder from Giggles. “We're
about to get another drenching, aren't we?”

“Yup.” Giggles
groaned as the Backpack gave out and the pair plummeted into Pleasant
Creek.

“This is
embarrassing.” Chuckles helped Giggles out of the muddy creek, both
of them dripping wet.

“Well, well, well, we
knew we'd find you here!”

Chuckles and Giggles
looked up to see Harold and Lady Billard, both in their Haunted Maze
Troupe uniforms.

And Lady had a firm
grip on young Madeleine Masters!

“REALLY?!” Giggles
groaned.

“We happen to know
that you're good friends with the Masters family.” Harold smirked.
“So you're going to go and get Belle Masters for us, and this brat
won't get hurt.”

“Hewwo Chuckles and
Giggles!” Madeleine waved.

“Awww! Her
pronunciation is improving!” Giggles clapped happily.

“It won't if you
don't get Belle!” Lady tapped her foot impatiently.

Giggles looked at
Chuckles, and sighed.

“Those are old
uniforms, and the knives they have a different from the usual ones.
Plus they're not wearing masks.” She told Chuckles.

“All I needed to
know.” Chuckles grinned before unsheathing the Lions Claw Blade and
swinging it, making both of the Troupers jump back.

“HEY!” Harold
cried.

“HEY!” Lady cried
as Madeleine was swiped from her by Giggles.

“Too easy. Later!”
Chuckles and Giggles ran off with Madeleine, who was laughing.

—

“You're too calm for
your own good kiddo!” Belle chided her sister as they sat at the
tip, waiting for a lift home.

“I am not!”
Madeleine protested. Belle tickled her, and the pair laughed.

“You two are so
cute.” Charlie smiled at the pair. Belle smiled back. Madeleine
looked at them both expectantly.

“HEY! You two!”
They heard Petunia yell. “Hey, what's Maddles doing here?”
Petunia walked up and sat down with the friends.

“My 'grand-parents'
tried to kidnap her to get Giggles to hand me over.” Belle laughed.
Soon, TJ, Sammy and Tammy had joined them.

“Sunny is out at a
job interview.” Tammy sounded excited. “And who knows where Dan
is.”

“I think he's just
under pressure.” Belle said, settling Madeleine on her lap.

Suddenly Sunny burst
into the group, tears streaming down her face.

“He actually
blackballed me. My own father blackballed me…” She fell to the
ground and sobbed.

“Oh Sunny!” Belle
and Madeleine rushed to hug Sunny.

“I don't know what to
do anymore. I mean, I don't need a job but…” Sunny trailed off.

“You DO need a job
Sunny. If you feel you need one, then you do. I'm sure we can find
something for you.” Petunia tried to settle her friend down.

“You could be a cop,
no experience needed.” TJ said bitterly.

“Oh, right! Speaking
of cops, have you seen a new Inspector recently?” Charlie asked as
the girls gathered around Sunny.

“He's as good as the
Inspector, although nothing's official yet.” TJ grumbled. “Andrew
Haiter is his name, and he's worse than Dingbat.”

“How so?” Belle
asked.

“He's not only
racist, but homophobic, transphobic and extremely sexist.” TJ told
them. “He's the one who got you suspended that time because you
corrected his terminology in court.”

“Oh, THAT guy.”
Belle groaned. “What's the chances?”

“High.” TJ said.

The group sat in
silence, all of them worried about this new development. Soon, Daniel
arrived and they told him the news.

“You're KIDDING!
They've hired someone WORSE?!” He groaned after TJ finished
explaining.

“Unfortunately
because Dingbat was killed instead of being fired -,” TJ started.

“Will you STOP
harping on about how terrible it is that Dingbat was killed! It's not
like better people haven't died too!” Daniel snapped suddenly.
Everyone was taken aback.

“Mate, the whole
point is that if he'd been fired instead of killed, there would have
been a mandatory investigation by the Higher Government! Demon
couldn't hide from that!” TJ exclaimed.

“Well why aren't our
lawyer-types trying to lobby for a better inspector?!” Daniel
rounded on Belle, trying to funnel some of the pressure onto her.

“I'm just a
prosecutor, and Dad is only one Counsellor. He might have Judy on his
side, but they're up against it. Not to mention that Judy has to be
careful.” Belle pointed out.

“Why are you so
touchy for?!” Sunny exclaimed.

“Guys, Dan's probably
tired. He's the leader of the Noble Knights of the Last Order
remember? It's a big job.” Belle tried to pour oil on the troubled
waters.

“Forget it Belle. I'm
out.” Daniel stormed off.

“DAN!” Petunia and
Tammy tried to run after him. Daniel shot them a Look, and they
backed off.

“He's really not in a
good place is he?” Belle asked as the two girls returned, dejected.

“No, and I wish he'd
talk to us! If we don't know what's wrong, how can we help him?”
Tammy kicked a rock.

“He was like this
during the flood, remember? Only that time he actually talked to us
instead of biting our heads off.” Sammy said quietly. Ever since he
was little, Daniel had been there. From the earliest days of school,
through to becoming a Knight and everything that came with that,
Daniel had been his hero. Even though Sammy was a man now, almost
through his teaching degree, he still felt the sting of Daniel slowly
turning his back on them.

“I think the
leadership is getting to him. Especially as we keep getting kicked in
the guts again and again and again.” Belle said. “Maybe lay off
him for a bit.”

“We'll try
Belle-Belle, but I think this time it might be harder than ever to
get things back to normal.” Sunny booped her friend on the nose.

Just then, Lara arrived
to pick up her daughters. “Hey everyone. You all look glum. Has Dan
been upset again?”

“How'd you guess?”
TJ said drily.

“I thought you'd be a
bit more panicked. After all, your toddler daughter got kidnapped.”
Petunia raised an eyebrow as Lara picked Madeleine up.

“Oh, I knew her
sister would protect her, no problem.” Lara smiled. “I have two
very, VERY competent daughters, I don't need to worry.”

Belle grinned and got
up to hug Lara. “Love you too Mum.”

Everyone had to laugh
as the tension was broken. At least ONE relationship was repaired!

 “And MARION is simply
furious at Revolver, because he didn't go out and address the riots
personally. SHE thought it would have been a great way to establish
that they were THE power couple in Pleasantville.” Judith Jofrey
gossiped away. “Only I think Revolver is getting extremely cold
feet because he's started referencing the Death Valley Gang and the
Mobsters of Misneach again instead of the Death…Valley…Mob…Dan
are you listening to me?”

Judith and Daniel were
hanging out on Pleasant Dam, looking out over the city as the sun
set. Daniel was still feeling touchy about the fact that not only had
he committed murder, but the fact that he'd kind of enjoyed it. It
had felt empowering to finally strike back, no matter WHAT Chuckles
and Giggles said.

But what Sammy and
Tammy said…

“Dan?” Judith poked
his big bear arm.

“Sorry Judes, I'm
just…tired.” Daniel rubbed his face, nearly knocking his
spectacles down into the creek below.

“Tired huh?” Judith
took his glasses from him to keep them safe. “You look a thousand
years old at the moment.”

“I feel it.” Daniel
admitted. “It's like I have this big heaviness on my shoulders that
I can never put down.”

“Marion used to talk
like that sometimes, when we were younger. Like there was this big,
heavy shroud around her that she could never escape.” Judith said
quietly.

“Yeah, it's a shroud
alright.” Daniel sighed. “A shroud named Sir Lionheart.”

—

Alas for Harold and
Lady Billard, Belle had been kidnapped very recently and thus was
being more careful than usual about people trying to grab her. So
they went for the next best thing and accosted her while she was
having lunch at her uncles restaurant.

“I still feel so bad
that you got beat up.” Belle said as she ate her steak sandwich.

“Relax. It's not the
worst beating I've ever had. Besides, no new scars!” Bill pointed
to the scar on his eye, the one that looked very similar to the one
his brother and father had.

“You know, I know Dad
got his in a fight with Harold and his other one in a fight with
Johannes, but I've never known how you got yours.” Belle mentioned,
dipping one of her beer battered chips into the delicious garlic
aioli her uncle made.

“Rush hour is going
to start soon, gotta go!” Bill made himself scarce, not really
wanting to go into the finer details of being chased out a window and
falling two storeys into a rosebush. Pro tip: Make sure they're not
married.

Belle blinked, before
shrugging and returning to her steak sandwich (thick, freshly baked
slices of wholemeal bread, slightly melted cheese, thick slabs of
tomato, lashings of lettuce and aioli, a good chunk of beetroot and a
good, thick, medium-rare slab of steak, served with beer-battered
chips) and opening a book of law history (it's Belle, you knew a book
was going to appear at some point). She started reading happily about
the final arrest of Crewmate Liam of the Hidden Fear Crew and how
that broke the Crew up permanently when her maternal grandparents
chose that moment to walk in. At first, she didn't notice them
(again, it's BELLE), even when they sat at the table with her. After
a minute of awkward silence, Belle went to take another bite of her
steak sandwich, which is when she noticed the pair.

“HEY!” She shot up,
equal parts miffed and scared. “Go away, I'm trying to enjoy my
lunch!”

“And we're trying to
get to know our grand-daughter.” Lady replied.

“I don't WANT to get
to know you! Now go away!” Belle snapped, sitting back down.

“Belle, you have no
choice. You have a bloodline in you that you need to listen to.”
Harold said.

“Yes actually, I DO
have a choice. Now GO AWAY!” Belle snapped again.

“Belle, you DON'T.
The fact is, if you don't listen to us, our lives are at risk!”
Harold pleaded.

“You can't have my
kidneys.” Belle said flatly.

“It's not your organs
Belle, it's your life we need. We need you to join the Haunted Maze
Troupe for the Billard Clan.” Lady told her.

Belle froze for two
seconds. Her grand-parents were Troupers?!

“Absolutely NOT.”
She snapped. “NOW GO AWAY. Also, I'm calling Chuckles and Giggles.”

“Belle, if you don't
join the Troupe they'll kill us for not sending tribute. All the
Clans have to give one family member per year, and since your mother
was our only child, and you're HER only child, it has to be you.”
Lady protested. “They relaxed the rules while we were in hiding,
but now it's time for you to claim your birthright!”

“MY birthright is
tearing down the Troupe, the Mob, the Crusaders, the Gang, and anyone
else who wants to ruin Pleasantville.” Belle snapped. “I'm not
joining the Troupe because I'm going to destroy the Troupe!”

“Belle NO!” Harold
pleaded. “We put so much WORK into the Troupe! We've made riches
you could never imagine, and you wouldn't have to give up your work
as a lawyer, not since Demon took over the Council!”

“I will destroy the
Troupe, and I'll see you two arrested. NOW. GO. AWAY.” Belle
stomped her feet this time, her temper well and truly roused at this
point.

“If you won't come
willingly, then we'll take you by force!” Harold screamed.

“What's going on out
here?!” Bill rushed out as Lady and Harold grabbed Belle, who
wasn't having a bar of it. She ripped at her grand-mothers hair and
kicked out at her grand-father, who were forced to back off.

“Who taught YOU to
fight dirty!?” Lady scolded.

“Belle was taught to
defend herself, and I certainly have no problem dishing out pain to
those who put their hands on her.” Bill stepped between Belle and
the two Troupers.

Harold and Lady backed
off. Bill had his fathers size, and looked very imposing to the
elderly pair.

“You will pay for
this. Both of you! This petty cafe will be destroyed!” Lady
screeched as she and Harold walked out.

“I'm not particularly
worried.” Bill shrugged.

Just as Harold and Lady
left, Charlie walked in.

“Saw your maternal
grannies outside swearing up a storm. I'm guessing you told them
where to stick it?” He asked as he made a beeline for Belles steak
sandwich.

“They're Haunted Maze
Troupers, so yeah.” Belle tripped him up before he could reach the
sandwich, and immediately began to shovel it and her chips down as
fast as possible.

“Steak sandwich?”
Bill asked as Charlie eyed the sandwich off hungrily.

—

“This is so trippy.
Dan is a descendant of the Silent Lake Gang, and now Belle has
Haunted Maze Troupe blood in her.” Sunny said as the Noble Knights
of the Last Order had a meeting at the tip – minus their leader.

“I know. Speaking of
Dan, is anyone else worried about him?” Sammy asked.

“A little. He's been
off since the riots.” TJ mused. “I think the whole Dingbat thing
is getting to him.”

“I don't know why,
unless he feels guilty that we pretty much left Dingbat to die.”
Tammy sighed. “It's all so confusing.”

“I have to go to the
stupid funeral. It's going to be disgusting, all about how wonderful
he was when in fact he SHOULD be in gaol rotting away. It's not
FAIR!” TJ snapped. “Now Chuckles and Giggles look even worse
because they're the ones who released the audio of Dingbat being a
dick, and people are talking about how someone could have heard it
and decided to deal with Dingbat themselves.”

“Dingbat dying has
had a LOT of bad consequences. I mean, I can kinda understand why
someone did it, but still I'd love to get my hands on them and show
them just how much damage they've done.” Tammy kicked a small rock
that went skipping along the ground.

“Well, what's done is
done.” Petunia stood up. “We need to think about what's going to
happen next.”

“We can't really do
that without Dan here.” Sunny pointed out. “Also, shouldn't Belle
and Charlie be here?”

“Chuckles and Giggles
are busy at the moment, and I have no idea where Dan is.” Petunia
said.

“Chuckles and Giggles
are busy?” Sunny asked.

At that particular
moment, Chuckles and Giggles were busy chasing Harold and Lady out of
town.

“You stay away from
the Masters family you, you…YOUS!” Giggles flew after her
grand-parents, shouting loudly.

“Leave us alone!”
Lady sobbed as she ran towards her car.

“Wait for me!!!!!!”
Chuckles could be heard in the distance, having been left behind.

“JUMP IN LADY!”
Harold tried to reach over and open the passenger side door without
crashing the car. Giggles swooped again as Lady made it into the car
and the pair drove off.

“YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE
LAST OF THIS!” Harold roared.

“Hopefully Chuckles
and Giggles will attend our next meeting.” Tammy said after Petunia
had finished explaining what the heroes were up to.

“And hopefully we'll
be able to get Dan back.” Sammy said.

“Let us never have a
night like last night again. Ever.” Charlie nursed his sore muscles
as the group sat under the tree in the Masters/Begly yard.

“I'm just glad we got
Dingbat under control. Wonder how he's enjoying our old cell?”
Sammy grinned at TJ. Both of them had received “pardons” that
morning from Judith Jofrey, and were both relishing their freedom.

Daniel said nothing. He
was lying in the grass looking at the leaves of the tree.

“Anyway, I think
that's cleared the air a bit. Both the PRO and the PCC will be going
quiet for a bit until at least the election.” Belle rested against
Charlie with her book unopened on her lap. “With Dingbat going on
trial soon it will mean there'll have to be an investigation into the
police force and THAT should lead to some good solid change.”

“And THAT will
hopefully weaken the Jones administrations stranglehold on the city.”
Charlie leaned back against the tree with a sigh. Tammy and Sammy
shot each other a Look, Sunny rolled her eyes, TJ quickly started
pulling up blades of grass and Petunia hid a smile. Would Chuckles
and Giggles EVER admit their feeling for each other? They looked so
cute cuddled up together!

“Sweet, sweet
victory.” Belle mumbled as she started to doze off.

Peters car pulled up to
the drive, and a few of the faces on the lawn looked hopefully at it,
thinking their might be some cold drinks within. Instead, a very
upset Peter got out and walked straight to the group.

“Guys…real bad
news…” He looked shaken. “Dingbat was murdered last night.”

“Isn't that a good
thing?” Daniel asked as the others looked at Peter in horror.

“NO it's not!”
Tammy cried. “Especially if he was killed after we tied him up!”

“Did they at least
get his body-cam?” Belle asked. Daniel went slightly pale.

“No, which makes it
even worse. It was destroyed in the murder.” Peter told them.

“This gets worse and
worse.” Charlie groaned.

“Now he's going to
get a heroes funeral, and WE are going to look like the bad guys for
leaving him defenceless.” Tammy started to cry.

“There goes our trial
and the resulting investigation into the police force.” Sammy had
to hold back tears himself. “Nothing is going to change.”

“They're going to
need a new Investigator though won't they? Surely we can put TJ into
the position.” Daniel suggested.

“I don't have enough
experience nor the qualifications yet.” TJ looked ropeable. “I
can't believe Dingbat has avoided justice! I wouldn't be surprised if
he found a way to kill himself to avoid all of the crap that was
going to flow his way.”

“Or if Demon killed
him to keep him from getting in the way.” Charlie suggested. “It
wouldn't surprise me how our Mayor likes to play chess with peoples
lives.”

“Don't you guys think
you're over-reacting?” Daniel tried.

“Dan, you're our
LEADER! You should know better than anyone how much this is going to
set us back!” Sunny cried.

“Geez, it's almost
like you guys are LOOKING for problems now!” Daniel shot back. “Why
can't you just take the positives when you see them?!”

He stormed off, angry.

“Do you think the
pressure is getting to him?” Petunia asked after they'd watched
Daniel walk away, all of them shocked.

“Something is.”
Belle frowned.

—

Later on Belle was
cleaning up after lunch and thinking fondly of her bed, a good book
and her air-conditioned room. Conversation had been a bit stilted
again during the meal, as Belle was still sore at Lara. It was made
worse by the fact that Lara tried to see the positive of Dingbats
death. As far as Belle was concerned, a huge opportunity to
destabilise Demon had been lost, and she was pretty upset about it.

She had just finished
washing up the last pan when there was a rapping at the door. Belle
sighed and answered it.

She screamed.

“Beauty what
the…WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” Peter poked his head out of the
downstairs bedroom.

At the door were the
parents of Belle's long-dead mother.

—

“They have NO right
to be here.”

“I mean, after
everything they did to you, they think they can just show up?!”

“I know! I just feel
sick.”

Charlie was sitting on
Belles window sill. Neither of them were impressed with Belles
grandparents.

“I mean, neither of
them even bothered to show up until my mother died, and they tried to
kidnap me!” Belle ranted. “I'm glad Dad told them to bug off.”

“I want to know why
they're only showing up NOW after sixteen, nearly seventeen years.”
Charlie wondered. “There has to be something.”

“Probably the
restraining order finally broke or something. I don't know, Dad
handled all of that. I was just an innocent six year old who got
caught up in a bunch of stuff that messed me up.” Belle slumped
against the wall.

“And then you met
me.” Charlie pointed out.

“And my fate was
sealed. Doom for all eternity!” Belle poked her tongue out at him.
“You know, I don't even remember having friends before I met you.
All the kids of Brisvegas just seemed to be fleeting.

“Well, your Dad did
say that you didn't spend much time in school there, because Joe took
care of you.” Charlie said. “No wonder you didn't make any
lasting friendships.”

“Wish I had though,
we could use some outside interference that isn't the Presidents
Entrusted National Intelligence Service. I'm still miffed they pulled
a fast one on us to get the Ruby Suit back.” Belle sulked.

“Anyway, don't change
the subject. What are we going to do about them? I don't think
they're just going to give up, even if your Dad did scream every
obscenity known to man at them.” Charlie asked.

“I don't know. Why
me?” Belle whimpered.

—

Harold Billard, the
father of Jill Billard and grandfather of Belle Masters, was nursing
a beer as his wife Lady wiped her nose of powder.

“How was it?” He
asked.

“I've had better.”
She admitted. “What are we going to do about Belle? She HAS to fill
her place, otherwise we're in big trouble.”

“I'm sure if we talk
to her she'll understand. The Haunted Maze Troupe has its ways.”
Harold sipped the beer.

“Her father keeps
getting in the way. Never liked the jerk.” Lady leaned back in her
chair.

“There ARE ways of
getting her to listen to us.” Harold smiled.

 What had happened was
this:

After the fight at the
big debate, things had been quiet as everyone went their own way.
People got into their little groups to complain and commiserate over
the events of the evening. Unfortunately, two of these groups ended
up at Bills restaurant – two OPPOSING groups.

Bill took as much of
the sniping and threats as he could before he threatened to kick them
out. That got them even MORE riled up, as most of them knew he was a
Masters. The only thing that stopped Bills beating from being worse
was the arrival of Sir Lionheart, who chased the offenders out onto the
street and summoned Lady Luck to patch Bill up.

The PRO half of that
group had then called up reinforcements before heading to
Pleasantville First National Bank and throwing eggs at it. Harmless,
except for the few PCC citizens that saw the display. THEY went and
called THEIR friends and another brawl broke out. Chuckles and
Giggles broke THAT up, only to have their watches flashing again as
another group, this time both PRO AND PCC were in trouble with the
Death Valley Mobsters.

“I KNEW they'd show
their faces the moment a chance of trouble broke out!” Giggles
groaned as she flew Chuckles to the new hotspot. “I can't believe I
got Uncle Bill dragged into this.”

“Don't worry about
that now. Bill will survive. He's tough and Lady Luck is brilliant.”
Chuckles said as they approached the next battle.

Mobster Marion and
Master Revolver were no where to be found. There were a couple of
Emerald Mobsters though, as well as two or three regular Mobsters.

At the same time,
ANOTHER fight had broken out near the Mall. Sir Lionheart, Lady
Courage and Lady Silent had rushed to deal with that one.

“Where are the police
when you need them?” Lady Courage groaned as they finally got the
warring parties to separate.

“YOU MEAN THE COPS
YOU'RE TRYING TO DISCREDIT YOU WITCH?!” Someone yelled as a parting
shot.

“Easy Courage, don't
rise to the bait.” Sir Lionheart put a hand on Lady Courages arm to
stop her from killing someone. Suddenly, his phone went off.

“Hello…Judes? You
okay…ANOTHER fight?!” He groaned. Lady Courage and Lady Silent
shot each other a Look. “Well, we can't handle it all
ourselves…oh, you'll deal with it? Okay, if you say so, but…okay,
fine. Love you.” He hung up. “There's another fight outside City
Hall now. Let's go.”

The three made their
way to City Hall to deal with the new fight.

—

“DINGBAT! I suggest
you get out there NOW!” Judith Jofrey stormed into the police
station.

“I don't see why.”
Wallace Dingbat smirked at her. He returned to watching the
television, which was showing the deteriorating situation in
Pleasantville.

“Dingbat, your career
is on the line here. If you don't get out there NOW I will personally
put you up for neglect of duty. Coupled with the other recordings
that are out in the public at the moment, and you're looking at a
good number of years behind bars.” Judith warned him.

Dingbat glared at her.
He got up and cracked his knuckles.

“I'd like to see you
try.” He leered at her.

“I'd like to see you
try that with witnesses.” Popped up a voice.

“WHERE DID YOU COME
FROM?!” Dingbat roared, jumping near out of his skin.

Lady Silent smirked.

“It's my superpower.”
She informed him. “So Judith, are they ready to help us?”

“I think they are.”
Judith grinned.

Dingbat growled in
fury. “FINE.” He snapped. “All of you, out and at 'em!”

The police took their
time, but they finally made it out of the station.

“Could never stand
him.” Judith said. “Hopefully he loses his job after all this.”

“Well, as long as we
have you onside he should do.” Lady Silent grinned.

“Anyway, go get your
brother and your friend. We're gonna need them.” Judith said. “I'm
gonna go get my Emerald Suit.”

“Right.” Lady
Silent nodded. “But they're both my brothers.”

Lady Silent grabbed the
keys that were sitting on Dingbats desk and rushed to rescue TJ and
Sammy.

—

“So things are
getting completely out of control!” Lady Silent finished updating
Sir Hyper and Sir Dark as they rushed to save the city.

“This is insane.
Surely people are too hot and muggy to start riots?!” Sir Hyper
followed his sister down a side-street to yet another spotfire.

“You would think…oh
come on!” Lady Silent nearly ran face-first into Crusader Daryl!

“Well look who we
found!” Daryl smirked at the small Knight.

“We're busy, gotta
go!” The three Knights bolted, heading towards the fray.

“Are…you…kidding…me…?”
Daryl looked highly offended.

It was a good thing
that Lady Silent ignored Daryl, because Wallace Dingbat was at his
worst just a few streets away.

“I haven't been
rioting! I just ran away from it! I don't want to be a part of it!”
A young lady with dark skin was trying to get away from him.

“You were in a riot
area, you're under arrest.” Dingbat yanked her by the hair. She
stumbled forward, and would have fallen if Sir Dark hadn't gotten
involved. He slammed his fist into Dingbats face, relishing the
revenge, which made Dingbat release his prey.

“Are you okay?” Sir
Hyper helped the woman regain her feet.

“I didn't do
anything!” The poor woman was in tears.

“We know. Lady Silent
will help you home.” Sir Hyper squeezed her hand. “It's gonna be
okay, we're gonna try and clean this up.”

“Th-thank you.” The
woman was losing composure. Lady Silent took the woman by the arm and
they walked off together. Suddenly, Sir Lionheart came running over
with Sidewinder.

“What is going on
here?!” He exclaimed as he saw Sir Dark restraining his boss.

“Tried to arrest
someone purely on the colour of their skin.” Sir Dark replied.

“Oh for crying out
LOUD!” Sir Lionheart looked frustrated beyond relief.

“Not surprised.”
Sidewinder reached down and checked something on Dingbats chest. “HA!
He left the body cam on! We've got him!”

Dingbat swore loudly.
His career was gone.

“Nice work!” Sir
Dark grinned. “Come on, we have a city to save!”

Sidewinder headed to
City Hall, while Sir Dark and Sir Hyper bolted to see what was
happening.

“It doesn't matter.
They won't fire me.” Dingbat chuckled as Sir Lionheart made to
leave too.

“You're so cocky.”
Sir Lionheart snapped. “Honestly, it's about time someone punched
you out.”

“You'll get yours.
Once I tell Jones how you attacked me, we'll have the Federal Police
here in a heartbeat. You're little band of misfits won't be able to
stop us.” Dingbat chuckled.

“You seem so sure
Demon will save you instead of throwing you under the bus.” Sir
Lionheart knew he shouldn't be giving this loser the time of day, but
he was tired and hot and angry at everything.

“How do you think
Jones got in in the first place?” Dingbat outright laughed. “I
was his head man when he first set foot onto Pleasantville as Demon.
I too was sick and tired of you brats messing up my city, and I was
able to get him weapons and men. Managed to fix up the election too.”

Sir Lionheart felt the
blood drain from his face. THIS man was responsible for the hell they
found themselves in. Suddenly the blood rushed back to his face. He
gripped the replica Scythe and lifted it above his head. Dingbat had
only a moment to register fear before the Scythe went through his
chest, destroying the body cam as well.

Dingbat spluttered for
a few seconds, before his life was snuffed out.

Sir Lionheart gasped.
He had killed.

—

Chuckles and Giggles
had barely sorted out the problem with the Mobsters when six Haunted
Maze Troupers appeared. Giggles was exhausted and feeling sick after
absorbing so much Emerald Power, and Chuckles wasn't much better off.
It had been an exhausting night.

“Maybe if we just
stay still they'll leave us alone.” Chuckles panted.

“Not likely.”
Giggles groaned as the Troupers surrounded them.

“They won't do
anything without my command. Not anymore.”

Giggles froze as
Chuckles turned around. Demon walked towards them, wearing his dragon
mask.

“So you're working
with the Haunted Maze Troupe now.” Giggles staggered to her feet.
“Explains how they got into the sports centre.”

“Well, I couldn't let
THAT run without a hitch. Unfortunately the people of Pleasantville
are getting ideas, I couldn't let you further poison my well.”
Demon grinned. “And it worked.”

“You sent Daryl to
try and work with them a few months ago when the p…the government
was here.” Giggles swallowed back an immature giggle.

“Yes, well, the boy
was useless in that regard.” Demon looked momentarily annoyed.
“Thankfully I had another trick up my sleeve.”

“I'm sure you're
going to elaborate.” Giggles tried to goad him on, trying to buy
some time for them to collect themselves.

“Of course I am.”
Demon gloated. “I'm sure you remember the man who murdered one of
your beloved Masters.”

Giggles froze.

“The Haunted Maze
Troupe had been inactive for a long time, but Johannes was trying to
get the band back together so to speak. Poor bastard, he was so coked
out of his mind he had no way to get his birthright back on track.”
Demon chuckled. “Thankfully, after he blew himself up, I had all of
his stuff. Once I put the pieces together, it was easy to assume
control of the Troupe.”

Giggles felt sick, but
this time it wasn't the Emerald Power.

Chuckles felt angry,
and was starting to see red.

“Awww, Chuckles,
what's the matter? Are you upset with me?” Demon smirked.

“You're disgusting.
You use people and discard them like garbage when you're done. Even
your own children.” Chuckles snapped.

“I GAVE MY CHILDREN
EVERYTHING AND THEY TURNED ON ME.” Demon roared. “My useless son
and the unwanted bastard.”

Chuckles smirked to
himself. Demon was sensitive too it seemed.

“At least they're
both still alive and I never let my family get killed.” Demon
returned fire.

Chuckles seethed and
rushed forward with the Lions Claw Blade. He lifted the Blade and was
about to finish Demon forever when a bullet grazed his hand.

The Lions Claw Blade
clanged to the ground. Chuckles stepped back, unsteady on his feet.
That allowed Giggles to soar past and give Demon a good punch in the
face.

“I'm sorry I shot you
buddy, but I couldn't let you. You couldn't hear me.” Giggles
checked her friends hand. There was a bit of blood, but nothing
serious.

“I want to kill him.”
Chuckles growled. “I want to kill him and just STOP everything!”

“You know that won't
work.” Giggles reminded him. “That being said, I do recommend
pettiness.”

Demon had gotten back
to his feet and was now glaring at Giggles.

“Like so.” Giggles
approached Demon and slammed her foot down on his, grinding it and
causing Demon to yelp in pain. “It's not much but it definitely
helps.”

“Really.” Chuckles
snapped. He walked over and slammed his foot into Demons other foot.
“Hey, you're right!” He had to admit as Demon howled again.

“What are we going to
do about them?” Giggles asked, reminding Chuckles that they were
surrounded.

“Honestly, I'm
exhausted. I don't think there's much more happening tonight, so I
suggest going home for a shower and a sleep.” Chuckles replied,
suddenly feeling the tiredness very acutely.

“Agreed. I think
everything has calmed down.” Giggles sighed. “We'll see you next
time you commit a crime!”

“WAIT! GET THEM!”
Demon roared as Giggles carried Chuckles up into the sky. The two
heroes dodged the storm of knives that was aimed at them before
heading straight back to the tip to regroup with the rest of the
team.

“ARGH!!!!!!!!”

With the customary
drenching in Lake Pleasant along the way.

 It took a week to get
the centre ready for the big night.

Belle and Charlie had
spent the whole day before the meeting making sure everything was
planned to near perfection. The air-conditioning was heavily
advertised, as was the rather large open bar with plenty of food and
non-alcoholic drink available, in the hopes of securing as many
people as possible while keeping the urge to fight down.

“Ahem. AHEM!”
Giggles tapped the microphone in front of her. “Testing! One, two,
one, two!”

“IT'S ON ALREADY!
JUST GET ON WITH IT!” Someone from the PCC side of the room yelled.

“Oh boy.” Giggles
sighed to herself.

“We've got this
buddy. Chill.” Chuckles grinned at her. He took the microphone and
began to speak.

“We thank you all for
attending this evening. I know it's been a hot, muggy month and you'd
all rather be at home trying to cool down.” He began.

“I'M JUST HERE FOR
THE AIR-CONDITIONING!” Someone from the PRO side yelled, getting a
few laughs from both sides of the room. Chuckles grinned. Giggles
breathed a sigh of relief. She might be the one with the knowledge,
but Chuckles had charisma to burn.

“We're here tonight
because we honestly believe that our city should be united, and that
all voices should be heard. I understand that there are some out
there who are unhappy with how things are, and then there are people
who want things left as they are. Both of these are understandable,
and hopefully with a bit of teamwork we can all come together and
make this city a better place.”

There was a murmur
throughout the room. Chuckles felt a drop of sweat run down his face,
even with the air-conditioning.

“First up, we will
have nominated leaders from both the Pleasantville Revolution
Organisation and the Pleasantville Community Committee up on stage to
talk about their views and discuss viable options that encompass the
needs of all both parties. Afterwards, we will open the floor to
discussion.” Giggles quickly stepped in.

Chuckles breathed a
sigh of relief. Of course Giggles knew the programme like the back of
her hand.

Meanwhile, the two
nominated representatives from both factions walked up to the stage.
Neither of them looked particularly friendly, but both of them looked
determined.

“The Pleasantville
Revolution Organisation only wants the best for our city, and what is
currently happening is NOT what is best for our city.” The PRO
representative said.

“This is also the
will of the Pleasantville Community Committee, however, we believe
that it's in the best interests of the city for things to remain as
they are. We could very well be opening our doors to much worse if we
fight it.” The PCC representative pointed out.

“ONLY COS YOU LIKE
STEALING FROM OTHERS AND YOU DON'T WANT IT TO BE ILLEGAL!” Someone
yelled, gaining jeers and cheers. Giggles frowned.

“I pay my protection
money, same as you all, and to this day my business, that I try to
operate in the most ethical way I can, has not been hurt!” The PCC
rep protested. “If we stand up and fight, the retaliation will be
severe!”

“COWARD!” Another
yell. Giggles began to tense up. Chuckles squeezed her hand. This was
NOT going well.

“I understand where
you're coming from mate, but wouldn't you prefer not to have to pay
protection money at all? You earned that money, you shouldn't have to
part with it. What if we could have something better?” The PRO
representative said.

“WHAT, WE JUST START
PAYING YOU INSTEAD?” Another yell. Chuckles winced, nearly crushing
Giggles hand.

“We can do better, we
just have to work together on this!” The PRO rep tried. The crowd
was getting restless.

That's when Giggles saw
it.

“Chuckles! Someone at
the bar is selling alcohol!” She groaned as she watched the
barkeeper pour beer into a cup.

“Crap. I guess you
can't get good help around here.” Chuckles sighed.

Giggles looked closer.
Her breath stopped.

“It's…the Haunted
Maze Troupe…” She choked. “HOW did they get in here past
security?!”

“They could have come
in with their masks in their pockets.” Chuckles suggested. Giggles
shook her head.

“Everyone was checked
at the door. We would have busted them.” She groaned. “And
there's Demon looking all smug like he knows what's going on.”

It was Chuckles turn to
choke.

“He DOES know what's
going on. He wasn't checked, his security guards wouldn't allow it!”
Chuckles spluttered. “He's working with the Haunted Maze Troupe!”

“We have to try and
mitigate the damage, but I don't see how.” Giggles felt her stomach
sinking through the floor. “Anything we say or do is under the
microscope, we HAVE to be impartial!”

More people were
calling out as the debate started getting heated. Suddenly, Chuckles
had an idea. He pushed in the face of his watch and waited until Lady
Luck appeared.

“Get Lady Silent to
set off the fire sprinklers. We need to cool off.” He whispered.

“MY CAPE IS DRY CLEAN
ONLY!” Giggles hissed.

“Wouldn't know it
from how many times you fall into the lake.”

“I'll get Lady Silent
onto it!” Lady Luck bolted as Giggles growled angrily at Chuckles,
who smirked.

“Why Lady Silent
anyway?” Giggles grumbled.

“Because of her power
to not be noticed.” Chuckles replied.

Suddenly the whole room
erupted in wails and water streamed onto everyone in attendance.

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

“OUTTA MY ROAD!”

“MOVE IT!”

“GET OUT OF THE
FREAKING ROAD!”

“This wasn't such a
good idea.” Chuckles groaned as Giggles wept for her cape.

Suddenly there was a
loud “CRACK!” as someone slammed their fist into another persons
jaw!

“THAT HURT!” The
victim jumped up in fury, putting their attacker in a headlock.

“Darn it!” Giggles
immediately flew to break up the fight before it got bad.

“Stay out of it you
witch!” Someone grabbed her foot and threw her against a wall.

“OOF!” Giggles
landed on top of the bar, which collapsed under her weight. “This
is YOUR fault.” She snapped at the Trouper manning the bar, who
shrugged and offered her a drink.

The brawl spilled
outside, where a few other citizens who weren't intoxicated managed
to break it up. Shouts and threats were heard throughout the night as
the crowd dispersed.

“You've only delayed
the inevitable, you know that right?” Someone walked up behind
Chuckles.

“Demon.” Chuckles
growled. “You did this. You're the one who got the Troupe to poison
the well. People would have seen the light if you hadn't interfered!”

“Oh please. I just
made them be honest with themselves.” Demon smiled. “Your
grandfather was honest with himself, wasn't he?”

Chuckles swallowed back
his anger, before jumping off the stage to help Giggles up. Demon
chuckled to himself, before heading back to City Hall.

—

“Things look a little
rough in Pleasantville right now.” Crusader Roger poured a glass of
wine for himself. “I don't know if you're still talking to Daddy or
not, but I'd like to get an accurate picture of the situation before
we act.”

“I speak to my
Mother, and she gives me enough information to go on.” Crusader
Daryl snapped. “Besides, no matter the situation there's no way we
can get into Pleasantville right now.”

“We'd have PCC
support.” Roger pointed out.

“You don't think the
Mob knows that? Besides, Demon is in charge of the Haunted Maze
Troupe now, and they'll stop us or the Mob if we try to interfere.”
Daryl eyed off the glass of wine in disgust. “Face it, we're done
in the Pleasantville.”

“I wouldn't say that
just yet.” Roger sipped the wine. “Pop the telly on mate, see how
the Leos are doing.”

“You KNOW I'm a
Mynahs fan.” Daryl snapped.

“FINE, I'll turn the
telly on.” Roger sighed. Daryl was the worst partner in the world.
He been raised to believe he was the centre of the universe and that
the world owed him. Roger knew he had a sister that he had enjoyed
abusing as a child, and he sent a small prayer out for her as he
walked over to the television set. He guessed he shouldn't be too
hard on the boy, it wasn't his fault that he wasn't Mark, but
still…

He reached over and
turned the television on. After enjoying the first quarter of the
game (Leos 4.1.25 to the Caryard Kitties 1.2.8) he was about the mute
the ads when the news bulletin started.

“News just in!
Pleasantville is descending into chaos! Reporters on site report that
the first brawl started at a meeting between the Pleasantville
Revolution Organisation and the Pleasantville Community Committee
that was organised by local vigilantes Chuckles and Giggles. Police
struggling to contain the violence that is breaking out in spots
around the city. Further updates at 10.”

“DARYL! Get up! We
have to get to Pleasantville NOW!” Roger grabbed his shotgun and
hauled Daryl to his feet. “Rally the troops!”

“What the -?” Daryl
grumbled.

“We have to get there
ASAP, before the Mob or the Troupe take over!” Roger yelled at him
as he ran out into the hall. “OI! YOU LOT! Get mobilised, we're
going to war!”

Daryl groaned again.
Then he thought of getting some much-desired revenge on Lady Courage
and grinned.

—

“What's that noise?”
Sammy stirred from his rest on the rickety old cot in the cell.

“Sounds like the boys
are moving out.” TJ didn't stir from his mattress on the floor.
“Probably to go and pretend to arrest the DVM or something.”

Then they heard a loud
bang. Both of them shot up, ready to strike if needed.

Someone then came
running through the gaol, jangling keys loudly.

“LADY SILENT!” The
pair cried as Lady Silent began the process of figuring out which key
unlocked them.

“It's a long story,
I'll explain it once we get out of here.” Lady Silent shushed them
as she finally unlocked the cell door. “Basically, Pleasantville is
at war, and everyone is blaming Chuckles and Giggles for it. There's
no one in the cop shop at the moment, so I took the liberty of
releasing you two.”

“Is it really that
bad?” Sammy hugged his sister before they made their way out of the
building.

“It's worse. It's so
much worse.” Lady Silent told them.

Hot, stinging tears
fell down the face of Belle Masters.

Everything was going
wrong. Fights were breaking out all over the city between people who
supported the PRO and people who supported the PCC. Demon was loving
it. Now TJ had been arrested too, although Belle was pretty certain
those charges of him attacking his superiors was an out and out lie.

“All we need now is
for the DVM, the Crusaders and the Troupe to come in and take
advantage.” Belle sulked. She was sitting in the tree, and the hot,
humid weather was just making her feel even MORE miserable. “This
is all our fault.”

“Hey Belle. You
okay?” Charlie carefully crawled into the tree from his bedroom
window. “You look like you're about ready to give up.”

“I'm just frustrated.
We're working so hard to make this city a better place and the
citizens we're trying to protect are the ones who have turned on us!”
Belle groaned.

Charlie sighed.

“Charlie?” Belle
asked.

“I know you're
frustrated with the situation Belle, and believe me, I don't blame
you one bit for that. But you have to understand where the PCC are
coming from.” Charlie told her.

“What are you talking
about?” Belle raised an eyebrow.

“Change Belle.
Change.” Charlie said. “I think I know where the PCC has spawned
from.”

Belle looked confused.
Charlie sighed again.

“Belle, even I can
admit that I am terrible when it comes to change. Like when you
started uni and I started dating Sunny. I couldn't handle how it
changed everything, and how everything was going to continue to
change.” He said.

“But you went to
Awesomica. That was a huge change.” Belle pointed out.

“Running away from
change you mean.” Charlie chuckled. “It was me trying to escape
the consequences of us potentially moving on from each other.”

He sighed again and
looked up at a flock of birds that was flying into the sunset.

“People are afraid of
change. They're much easier with the devil they know, and that's
Demon. Demon is the epitome of everything that Pleasantville has been
since it's inception, ruled by crime, and if that changes who knows
what comes next.” He explained. “Plus, while the PRO from the
outside looks like it legitimately wants to change Pleasantville, you
can't deny that what it's striving for, and what we are striving for,
will leave a bit of a power vacuum in Pleasantville, at least until
it sorts itself out. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if some more
nefarious types are backing the PRO in order to remove Demon, the Mob
and the Crusaders from power in Pleasantville just so they can take
it themselves. I mean, I think there are people in the PCC who want
crime gone too, but all they can see is that power vacuum being
created and someone even worse coming along.”

“I knew it. We should
never have started meddling in things.” Belle began to cry again.

“But if we hadn't,
things wouldn't be happening!” Charlie protested. “You have been
SO weepy recently!”

“Shut up!” Belle
snapped.

The pair looked at each
other, before backing down.

“Demon is doing just
fine. He's getting between us no problem.” Belle slumped.

“We can't let him.
Pleasantville is on a knife-point. Things could explode at any
second.” Charlie sat down next to her and put his arm around her.

Belle sighed a heaving
sigh as she tried to calm herself.

“I think the first
thing is to get us back on the same page. I tried to keep you from
Demon because I thought he would get to you and you would do
something we'd regret, but that was wrong of me and now he's using
that to try and get to me.” She hung her head. “I'm sorry.”

“Hey, I had the same
idea as you. Only I was scared of Demon, and of my own guilt when it
comes to what happened to Grandpa.” Charlie admitted. “I was a
coward.”

“You're not though.
You're wiser than anyone I've met.” Belle told him.

“WE'RE wiser.”
Charlie reminded her. “You're the one who finds all the pieces of
the puzzle that I can't see. I just put them together.”

The pair smiled at each
other. Then they both groaned as another hot blast of wind scalded
them.

“This heat isn't
helping the situation at all. Everyone is irritable because they're
too hot and sticky, and they're more likely to take things the wrong
way and start a fight instead of a conversation.” Belle groaned.

Charlie pricked up his
ears.

“Improbability time?”
Belle asked.

“Improbability time!”
Charlie grinned back.

—

“Will you LEARN TO
KNOCK before entering?! Oh, and there's two of you. Brilliant.”
Demon looked up from his paperwork to see both Chuckles and Giggles
staring down at him. “Don't you have some capitalism to fell?”

“It's actually quite
scary how close thievery and capitalism are, but no, your little
friends have been very good recently. Except the Haunted Maze Troupe
and we still don't know what their issue is or what they're even
doing.” Giggles said.

“They're drug dealers
and trouble-starters. Of course they love to mess with everyone.”
Demon pointed out.

“Know that from your
former drug dealing?” Chuckles bit.

“ANYWAY!” Giggles
quickly interjected. “We want to use the Pleasantville Sports and
Community Centre for a city meeting between the PRO and the PCC.”

“With
air-conditioning.” Chuckles quickly added.

Demon grinned.

“With absolute
pleasure.” He smirked.

“The Noble Knights of
the Last Order will be guarding it, so don't think you can cause
trouble with the Mob or the Crusaders.” Giggles warned.

“The Mob are laying
low until they get their opening, and you know I have no control over
the Crusaders, no matter who is in their ranks.” Demon said with a
note of bitterness, which was satisfying to hear.

“Make sure that
air-conditioning is working and it's a nice, pleasant temperature in
that centre or else.” Giggles warned. “Come on Chuckles, we're
leaving.”

“I do hope you've
paid your respects to your grandfather recently. It's coming up to
that time of year, isn't it?” Demon said smugly.

Chuckles flinched,
before following Giggles out of the building. Giggles sighed sadly –
the chandelier still hadn't been repaired – before walking out into
the street.

“It's no where NEAR
that time of year.” Chuckles snapped as Giggles lifted him up into
the air.

“Don't worry about
him. He's a butt.” Giggles replied.

“A powerful butt who
happens to run the joint.” Chuckles groaned. “I hope we know what
we're doing with getting the PRO and the PCC in the same building.”

“We have to do
something. The whole city is a powder-keg right now, and it's getting
hotter and hotter.” Giggles replied. “I must admit, it's nice up
here.”

“I love flying.”
Chuckles grinned.

“I hope you like
falling too.” Giggles joked.

They lasted two more
minutes before falling into the creek.

—

“I spy with my little
eye-,”

“Sam, if you keep
this up I swear I'm going to arrest you again.”

TJ and Sam were bored
out of their skulls. Since the mass release of everyone who didn't
deserve to be in prison, things had gotten very quiet. In fact, TJ
and Sam were the only ones left in their whole cell block, which
meant they were the only two people they'd seen apart from the odd
guard.

“I know Belle and
Charlie are working on getting us out.” Sammy tried. “They have
to be.”

“There's a LOT on
their plates right now. The whole city is just waiting to turn into a
war-zone.” TJ told him. “Honestly, I think they'll have to calm
that down first, otherwise there's going to be trouble if we get
out.”

“It sucks. I hate
this.” Sammy pouted. TJ put his arm around his friend and put a
small kiss on his forehead.

“It'll be okay.
Petunia and Lizzy are out there waiting for us.” TJ tried to
brighten the mood up.

Sammy smiled as he
thought of Lizzy. Then his face crumbled.

“Lizzy finished
school and I didn't get to go to the graduation!” He began to cry.
TJ blinked, and began to cry too.

Gaol sucks.