Author: Crofton77

 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.

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.