Author: Crofton77

“It's so HOT!”
Daniel waved a junk mail catalogue in front of his face to fan it.

“One of the hottest
summers on record, and it's only beginning!” Petunia groaned,
spraying herself with a water-bottle.

“I just hope that
Demon gets his act together with those prisoners soon, because I know
for a fact that the gaol isn't air-conditioned.” TJ growled.

“Belle's working on
it! Give her some breathing room!” Charlie snapped.

They were sitting in
front of the Masters and Begly residences, trying to keep cool under
the tree. Unfortunately, it seemed both temper and temperature were
up at that particular junction in time.

“BREATHING ROOM? Most
of those prisoners don't even have enough room to blink let alone
breathe!” TJ jumped up, angry. “Meanwhile Belle gets to sleep in
her nice, comfortable room with plenty of air flow and an air
conditioner!”

“What more do you
want her to do!?” Charlie also got up and towered over TJ, who
flinched slightly.

“ENOUGH!” Daniel
got up. “We're all hot and bothered and things are tense. There's
no need to make it worse. Teej, enough with trying to shift your
guilt onto other people. Charlie, stop being so oversensitive about
your girlfriend.”

“BELLE IS NOT MY
GIRLFRIEND.” Charlie growled.

“Sensitive.”
Daniel booped Charlies nose.

Just
then, Belle pulled up in the Elantra, looking hot, sweaty and
dejected.

“The
air-con has gone in the car again.” She groaned. “And Demon is
being a complete and total arse.”

“What
happened?!” TJ had to be restrained by Petunia to stop him from
grabbing the overworked lawyer.

“He
says that it's a clerical error that got those people put in prison,
not out and out racism. He's not going to do a thing to Dingbat.”
Belle looked close to tears. “And he won't let Sammy out.”

“WHAT?!”
Everyone cried in anger.

“How
did you NOT get Sammy out of gaol?!” TJ nearly screamed at Belle.

“I
tried!” Belle sobbed, the tears starting to fall.

“Clearly
not hard enough!” TJ snapped.

“BACK.
OFF. NOW.” Charlie looked ready to kill.

“I've
got this.” Tammy suddenly appeared, making everyone jump.

“Where
did YOU spring from?!” Daniel had to grin a little at his friends
ability.

“TJ,
be sure to stop around my place before you go to work tomorrow
morning. I'll get all the dirt you need on Dingbat. Also, apologize
to Belle.” Tammy said, with a small smirk.

“But-,”
TJ started.

“Sammy
is my TWIN BROTHER Theodore.” Tammy shot him a filthy look. TJ
stepped back with a growl and muttered an apology.

And
the heat still sat on Pleasantville.

—

TJ
didn't know how Lady Silent did it, but she managed to spend the
whole day in plain sight in the police office, yet no one noticed her
recording everything they said about their work.

“Brilliant
Lady Silent!” Giggles took the recordings from her at the end of
the day when they met at the tip. “Once these are all over the
city, Demon will have no choice but to put the pressure on Dingbat.

“And
then they'll let Sammy go!” Lady Silent beamed.

“I'll
distribute these, you get Sammys place ready for him to go back to.”
Giggles said, preparing to take off.

“Just
be careful and don't land in Lake Pleasant again.” Lady Silent
grinned.

Giggles
took off, making sure that the recordings got onto every radio
station in the city.

Well,
at least the pro-PRO ones.

“Not
content with making this city unbearable to live in, now you're
spreading slander too?!” One particular DJ screamed at Giggles when
she tried to pass the recordings along.

“It's
not SLANDER, it's plain facts! Demon is working with a racist police
force!” Giggles snapped.

“You're
nothing but trouble! Get out of my sight!” The DJ slammed his
office door shut.

Giggles
grimaced, enjoying the last of the air-conditioning before heading to
City Hall.

—

Charlie
was feeling extremely left out. He loathed how Demon had one over on
him, especially as it was his dead grandfather.

Charlie
had never forgiven himself for letting Charles Howzat get killed. He
had never forgiven Demon either. He had tried, because he knew he was
leaving himself wide open to get baited, but he couldn't. He was
useless.

He
sat in the tree by his window, trying to ignore the sweltering heat.
He decided to put the radio on, and chill out to some music. That
would take his mind off things.

“I
can't believe our Mayor is actually allowing Wallace Dingbat to keep
his position. This is untenable.” He heard one talk show saying. He
groaned, and changed the channel.

“Chuckles
and Giggles seem to be on a crusade against common-sense and law and
order. Honestly, it doesn't surprise me that they sunk this low as to
fabricate controversy against our law enforcement.” Another station
blared out.

“Oh
go AWAY!” Charlie groaned. He switched off the radio and rested his
head on his favourite branch. Across the road however, trouble was
brewing.

“How
DARE you let that PRO rubbish litter MY lawn!” A young lady was
yelling at the older lady who lived next door to her.

“You're
not involved in that PCC stuff? Surely not! I thought you'd know
better!” The old lady replied.

Charlie
groaned again, and turned away. Then he heard a smash. He sat up,
smacking his head on a higher branch, but that was nothing to what
had happened to the young lady. The old lady had gotten her son
involved, and he had bottled the younger lady across her head!

“Oh
no, this is getting bad.” Charlie jumped out of the tree and bolted
across the street to stop the young lady's husband from getting into
a fistfight with the son.

“Easy
everyone, let's just go inside and not inflame the situation
further!” He tried to separate the two men.

“I'm
calling the police!” The old lady declared.

“After
you allowed them to be slandered?!” The young lady yelled back,
blood pouring down her face.

“That
woman attacked my mother first!” The son yelled.

“She
wouldn't ever do such thing!” The husband yelled back.

“Please
calm down!” Charlie tried to stop the two men from throwing fists.

This is bad, real
bad. Charlie thought as he
finally gave up and the two men attacked each other. I'm
starting to think my great idea wasn't so great after all…

—

“What
this evidence shows is that our Chief of Police, Wallace Dingbat, has
allowed his racism to take over his work and honestly, I don't think
I want that sort of person in charge of law and order in our city.”
The radio blared. Wallace Dingbat reached over and turned it off. He
turned to the room full of his officers, all of them tense.

“Well
then.” Dingbat started. “Looks like we have someone in the force
who isn't fond of my methods.”

All
of the officers in front of him gulped.

“And
instead of talking to me like an adult, they've gone crying to
Chuckles and Giggles, our resident vigilantes who have zero respect
for the law.” Dingbat continued. He began to pace in front of the
group, enjoying their discomfort.

“Tell
me, who is the one person in this room who is strongly suspected of
having a connection to the allies of Chuckles and Giggles, those
Knights of the Last Order?” Dingbat asked.

It
was like a wave. Everyone made haste to move their chairs away from
TJ, who sat in silent fury.

“Officer
Jacobs. Anything you'd like to share with us?” Dingbat walked over
to his prey.

“What
did you expect to happen when you threw my best friend into the
slammer? That we'd become bosom buddies and go out on double-dates?
Get stuffed you racist, useless piece of bureaucratic trash.” TJ
let the venom out. He was rewarded with a solid punch to the jaw. TJ
hit the ground hard. He barely had a second to register what had
happened when he was jerked back up again by two of his coworkers,
who held him up while Dingbat got in a few more cheap shots.

“Lock
him up.” Dingbat commanded once the torture was over. Bloodied and
dazed, TJ was dragged to the cells.

“Hmm?”
Sammy looked up as his cell door was unlocked. He had to quickly jump
out of the way as TJ was thrown in next to him, looking extremely
worse for wear.

“Teej!”
Sammy cried as the cell door was slammed shut and locked.

“I'm
fine.” TJ coughed and struggled to sit up. “At least they didn't
take my protein bars, right?”

“True.”
Sammy grinned.

The
cell door unlocked again. TJ was hauled up, shaken down, the protein
bars removed, and locked back in the cell again.

“Well
that was rude.” Sammy was NOT impressed.

 “The Pleasantville
Community Committee are a group that believes in Pleasantville.”
Peter Masters read from the pamphlet. “We stand behind our Council
and our Mayor, and we entrust them to protect us and make
Pleasantville the best city it can be.”

“That's a no from
me!” Belle gasped. “I bet this is Demons response to the PRO!”

“I don't think so.”
Charlie looked at the pamphlet. “I think this is purely on the
people of Pleasantville who are on the side of the Council.”

“I really don't get
what people think they're going to achieve by keeping the status quo.
Do they think Chuckles and Giggles are going to turn into monsters or
something?” Belle groaned.

“I don't know what
we're going to do.” Peter sighed, sitting down at the Masters
table. “The city is almost completely split in half. This is going
to get really messy, really fast.”

“We have to get Sammy
out of gaol first.” Belle said.

“If we can.” Lara
pointed out.

Belle scowled at her.
“We WILL get Sammy out of gaol. I swear it.”

—

Sammy wasn't having the
worst time of it, but it definitely wasn't a top ten moment of his
life either. He was at least in his own cell, whereas other cells had
three or four inmates.

There was a small
window that looked out to the prison grounds, and Sammy could see the
street beyond. Apart from that, there was nothing to do. He got let
out for an hour to walk around the yard no matter the weather, but
the other 23 hours of the day were in his cell.

“SAM! Hey SAMMY!”
Two days into his incarceration, he woke up to see TJ tapping on the
cell door.

“TJ!” Sammy jumped
up and met his friend at the cell bars.

“Are you okay? Have
you got plenty of food? Is the toilet and sink functioning?” TJ
asked, feeling relieved that his best friend was okay for now.

“I'm fine.” Sammy
grinned.

“Thank goodness.
Petunia and Tammy are having a fit. Belle is trying to look up your
case and get you out.” TJ told him.

A loud “Hmph!”
sounded from another cell, so TJ looked for it. That's when he
noticed it.

Every person in those
cells had the same dark skin as Sammy did.

“Um…Sammy…”
TJ's mouth felt like sawdust.

Sammy looked confused,
before he followed TJ's eye-line. He shrugged when he realised what
TJ was referring to. “Oh, that? I thought you knew.”

“That the police
force is racist? Of course, but I didn't think it was THIS racist.”
TJ felt sick.

“Yeah, you never
notice until it's your buddy do ya mate?!” Someone nearby yelled.
TJ flinched.

“Don't worry about
it.” Sammy tried to console his friend.

“Yeah, don't worry
about us! Just make sure you get your buddy out, he's the only one
who matters!” Yelled someone else.

“Look, just go back
and do your job. See if you can't figure things out with the others.”
Sammy pushed TJ away. “I'll be fine!”

TJ swallowed. “I'll
get you out mate. I swear it.” He said quietly before scampering
away through scoffs and sneers.

—

“Every one of them?”
Belle asked.

“Every. Last. One.”
TJ replied, pale.

They were sitting at
the tip in one of the Knights of the Last Order hidey-holes as the
humidity and temperature were on the rise in Pleasantville.

“I have to look this
up.” Belle pulled out her laptop and began to type frantically.
Daniel cleared his throat.

“It's not your fault
mate.” He began.

“I never even
NOTICED. Ignorance is just as bad as racism!” TJ cried.

“It gets worse. They
shouldn't even BE there. Everyone in that cell block committed the
most minor of offences.” Belle scrolled through the list.

Tammy sat quietly,
fiddling with her hair.

“We've got him. If
this gets out, Dingbat is THROUGH.” Belle grinned gleefully.

“I'm happy for you.”
Tammy said quietly.

“He's a big supporter
of Demon as well, so that will be a blow!” Charlie high-fived his
best friend.

“What about the
people in the gaol?” Tammy asked.

“And once the
supporters of Demon start to fall, it's only a matter of time until
we can get Dad in there!” Belle looked rapt.

Tammy sighed, and
walked away.

“Tammy?” TJ asked.

Tammy pretended she
hadn't heard and continued to walk.

“TAMMY!” Petunia
ran after her.

“I'm glad you're
going to get rid of Demon, but what about those people in the gaol?”
Tammy said, eyes shining with tears.

“Of course we're
going to get them out!” Belle looked horrified. “And we're gonna
make it so no one goes back into gaol based purely on the colour of
their skin!”

She flew (figuratively)
into the den and with a bit of huffing and puffing flew back out
again (literally) as Giggles.

“I'll be back, I'm
taking this straight to City Hall and get these people cleared!”
She flew towards the city. Charlie made to follow her, but then he
remembered how easy it was for Demon to manipulate him. He sighed,
and sat down, feeling utterly useless.

And yes, the Backpack
gave out along the way.

—

“THE PRO HAS TWISTED
THE NARRATIVE OF OUR GREAT CITY. IT HAS WORKED WELL FOR TWO HUNDRED
YEARS, AND WILL CONTINUE TO PROSPER FOR MANY HUNDRED YEARS MORE.
DON'T BE FOOLED BY FALSE PROMISES OF A “BETTER FUTURE”, INSTEAD
SUPPORT OUR MAYOR IN HIS QUEST AGAINST VIGILANTISM!” A man stood
out the front of City Hall with a megaphone. The crowd in front of
him cheered.

Another person took the
microphone and continued. “WE WILL NOT BE THREATENED INTO SILENCE.
WE WILL DEFEND OUR CITY TO THE BITTER END!”

The cheers grew louder
and louder, until Giggles flew overhead. Then the jeers and the boos
started.

“Well that's just
plain rude.” Giggles frowned as she landed on the steps of City
Hall. “Looks like the PCC wasted no time in getting their rally on – HEY, NO!”

If you guessed that the
Haunted Maze Troupe would make another random appearance,
congratulations. They were busy giving out “lollies” and “drinks”
to the rally, and Giggles knew exactly what was going down.

“Naughty! NO! Go on,
shoo!” Giggles flew over and started to shoo the Troupe away.
Almost immediately she was assaulted with:

“They're allowed to
ply their trade!”

“Stop harassing
them!”

“Hypocrite!”

“Leave hard-working
citizens alone!”

“THEY ARE TRYING TO
PLY YOU WITH DRUGS SO THEY CAN ROB YOU!” Giggles groaned very
loudly.

Suddenly a bottle flew
towards her head, followed by an apple core, a chip packet and
another bottle. Giggles sighed, before taking off again and heading
into City Hall to talk to Demon. If this was the Pleasantville Community Committee then they could shove their community spirit!

She walked in, thankful
that there was air conditioning in the office at least. It crossed
her mind that the hot, muggy weather wasn't going to do much to help
tensions within the city. She groaned, and walked towards Demons
office.

“Excuse me – oh,
it's you. What do you want NOW?” Demon Jones looked up from his
desk, annoyed.

“Why does the colour
of a persons skin decide their punishment in this city?” Giggles
snapped.

Demon groaned, with a
roll of his eyes.

“It's not just “this
city”, it's every city in Ostraya.” He returned to his paperwork.

“Release them. Now.
None of their crimes deserve a gaol sentence.” Giggles snapped.
“Especially when THEY HAVE ALREADY PAID THEIR PARKING TICKET.”

“Fine.” Demon
grumbled. “Just give me a list of names and they'll be released.”

“Also I want Wallace
Dingbat stood down.” Giggles pressed.

Demon looked back up at
her. “You want me to stand down my number one supporter? Giggles,
really.”

“Dingbat is the head
of the police force, and thus is the one answerable for these crimes
against people of colour.” Giggles snapped. “He needs to be
brought into line.”

“Giggles. Giggles,
Giggles, Giggles.” Demon shook his head. “I'll give him a
warning, but that's it. I'm not firing my best employee.”

“He's clearly NOT
your best employee if he's exceedingly racist! What about REAL
crime?!” Giggles snapped.

“Well, I thought you
had a good handle on that.” Demon replied with a smirk. “Now, out
of my office please. And don't try and pull one of your guns on me,
we both know you won't fire.”

Giggles seethed. So she
did the next best thing, and pulled out the Lucky Seven Gun. She
fired it at the light above Demons head, showering him in glass and
leaving the room too dark to work in.

Pettiness has its
place.

 “Hey Belle, you're not gonna…why are you reading?” Charlie
climbed out of his window and into the tree one Saturday afternoon.

“I'm relaxing! YOU
try putting up with Demon trying to turn you evil every day!” Belle
fired back, her nose firmly in her book.

“RELAXING?!”
Charlie looked at the large book incredulously. “That looks like a
full workout!”

“Ha. Ha. Ha.” Belle
snapped. “It's actually the story of how our families became
friends.”

“Why would you need
to read that? Everyone knows the story!” Charlie asked.

“Because when stories
get passed down verbally, things tend to get missed. I think I'm the
first person who's bothered reading this in three generations!”
Belle pointed out.

“And how does the
full story aid us now?” Charlie asked.

“I TOLD you, I'm
RELAXING!” Belle groaned. “Not everything I read is for research
purposes!”

“Hmph.” Charlie
settled down next to her. “Anything interesting in there?”

—

500 years ago

The Warring Nation, led
by the evil Masters Family, had taken over most of the Great Nations.
Only a few provinces remained, and the Peridot Isle, ruled by the
Begly Family was one of them.

“The Warring Army is
huge. We have no chance if we tackle them head-on.” Count Arnold
told the small war council assembled in the Begly Castle.

“They haven't shown
any signs that they're interested in us yet. Maybe we should ignore
them for the time being.” Captain Fern of the Peridot Army
suggested.

“No. I think we need
to strike before they have a chance to even think of us.” Steven
Begly, ruler of the Peridot Isle, pored over his maps. “Our
intelligence suggests that the Warring Army isn't very loyal to the
Masters Family anyway, and are ruled by fear. If we could somehow get
in there and remove the family, we could very well liberate the Great
Nations from the Warring Nation grasp.”

“Which would be
highly beneficial for us in the long term. Gratitude makes people
more likely to be agreeable.” Count Arnold mused.

“Can you NOT make
everything about profits?” Fern snapped.

“Enough.” Steven
barked. The two stopped bickering. “Fern, I'm going to task you
with getting rid of the entire Masters family. Cut the head of the
fish off, and the rest of the body will rot. Once the Masters are
gone, we can start to put things right.”

“Yes sir!” Fern
saluted.

“Take my son with
you. Especially as you're pregnant.” Steven continued.

“Wha-?!” Fern
gasped as Arnold choked.

“I'm not blind my
dear. I know you and John are very, VERY close, especially by how he
talks about you. Congratulations by the way, and I look forward to
meeting my grandchild.” Steven peered at his maps. “You're
dismissed.”

It took Fern five
seconds to process everything. “Y-yes Sir! Good day Sir!” She
bolted from the meeting room.

She headed straight to
her quarters, where she knew John would be waiting for her.

“We're busted. Your
Dad sends his blessings.” Fern said flatly as she walked in, seeing
her lover sitting by the door.

“How'd he find out?!”
John jumped up, horrified.

“I'm going to take a
guess and say you goofed. Again.” Fern raised an eyebrow at him.
“Talk to your father about me much?”

John opened his mouth,
then stopped. He blinked. “Whoops?”

Fern groaned.

—

The plan had been put
in motion, and the Masters family died in agony, the victims of a
mass poisoning. There was mass confusion, anger, terror and wonder at
who had dared to assassinate the rules of the Warring Nation.

Of course, in the
confusion, no one noticed that the baby Masters had gone missing.

“John. I love you. I
am going to have ONE child with you. Please tell me why you’re now
stealing a second baby, and the child of our enemies at that?!”
Fern cried when she found her lover in a covered wagon headed back
for the Peridot Isle nursing the unfortunate child.

“He’s cute, and
innocent, and sweet, and yes he might have just bitten me but he’s
just a baby!” John pleaded, shaking his now sore fingers.

“He's a MASTERS, he's
probably born evil!” Fern groaned.

“Well, it's too late
now. We're on our way home and now we have two sons.” John smiled.

“You don't know what
I'm having. I could have a neutral for all you know.” Fern snapped.

“I'm certain it will
be a son.” John grinned at her.

—

Fern was furious when
it was proven John was right, and a son was born. Together, they
named their son Montague, and they gave the Masters baby the name of
Maurice. They hoped the boys would become friends, thus ending the
violent history of the Masters and creating a new future for the
family.

They had thought only
problem would be trying to keep the Masters child under control. The
boy was far too smart for his own good, and could nearly always talk
himself out of trouble, but at least he wasn't nearly as bad as
Montague. Montague manged to get a bad idea into his head at least
thrice a week and was always in trouble, compared to his more
reserved best friend.

Somehow Maurice and
Montague were great friends, although completely different. Maurice
often sat in his room reading up everything he could, while Montague
got himself into trouble at every opportunity. Many of his plans came
close to working, but just lacked the polish needed to get away with
it. It was never malicious, and was often just childish pranks, but
it was indeed most unbecoming for a future ruler.

It was while Montague
was being scolded for another misdemenour that Maurice found out the
truth – that the Begly family had poisoned his parents to stop them
from causing war. Maurice was furious, and stormed in just as John
was about to give Montague a good walloping.

“WHAT IS THIS?!”
Maurice cried, holding the book in front of him that had the details
of the plot. “You're the reason I'm an orphan!”

“I thought I was your
brother?” Montague asked as John sighed.

“You don't understand
what your family was doing Maurice.” John told the boy who was
fuming. “They were destroying everything.”

“Says you.” Maurice
looked equal parts livid and devastated. “I should kill you where
you stand.”

“You need to see what
your family did before you decide that.” John said.

“I thought we were
your family.” Montague looked hurt.

“I'm sending you and
Montague to the former Warring Nation. See how bad things still are
because your family insisted on war.” John said. Suddenly he had a
knife at his throat.

“MO-MO NO!”
Montague cried, trying to pull Maurice away.

“Why should I let you
all live? Why?” Maurice was poised to strike, swatting Montague
away. He was about to slit Johns throat, when Montague grabbed his
arm.

“Mo-Mo! Please, let's
just go!” Montague had tears in his eyes. Maurice looked at his
best friend, before he dropped the knife.

“Fine.” He said
coldly.

The boys left the next
day. John hoped it would have the desired effect.

—

Maurice was shocked. He
rode alongside Montague as they went through town after town of the
old Warring Nation and saw the scars still there. People looked up at
the two boys on horseback with scorn as they desperately scavenged
for food, water and shelter.

“These people…they
live in poverty…because of my family…” Maurice felt the worst
he ever had.

“Yeah. I'm sorry that
Father made you see this.” Montague looked at his best friend.

“No. This is what my
family has done. This violence still lives in me…I can't be
trusted.” Maurice choked back a sob. “I would have killed your
Father if you hadn't stopped me.”

“Mo-Mo…” Montague
looked sad.

After a few days they
went back home to the Peridot Isle, where Maurice stayed locked in
his room for two weeks.

“Is he even eating
anything?” Fern was worried about the boy as another nearly full
tray was returned from his room.

“I'm going to try and
speak to him again.” Montague got up and went to bang on the door
of his best friend. “MAURICE! GET OUT HERE!”

Nothing.

Montague felt irked. So
he opened the door (surprised to find it was still unlocked) to find
Maurice surrounded by books and carefully writing on a piece of
parchment.

“What are you
writing?” Montague looked at the parchment. Maurice moved aside,
looking hollow.

“I, Maurice Masters,
swear the following: I will never kill another human being again. I
will always respect my elders, even if I don't agree with them. I
will endeavour to dress nicely and appropriately. I will never hold
back, and will fight forever for what is right.” Was written on the
parchment.

“Wow. I don't think
you've ever actually killed anyone though.” Montague pointed out.

“My family did.”
Maurice said hollowly.

“And the line about
dressing nicely?”

“I'm vain Monty,
don't judge me.”

“Well, you're gonna
have to add an extra clause in there. You have to believe in yourself
again Mo-Mo, because if you don't, you're never going to be able to
be better.” Montague told his friend.

Maurice smiled wryly,
and added an extra line. “Most of all, I will always believe.
Signed, Maurice Masters.”

“Happy now?” He
showed Montague, who nodded.

“That's great.
Anyway, I'm going to go and steal some apples, so I'll catch you
later.” Montague headed out of the room.

“Fine…fine…not
fine!” Maurice suddenly tweaked up. His best friend was going to
get himself in trouble…AGAIN! Quickly, Maurice scribbled another
line on his vow.

“I will always keep
that idiot Begly from letting his plans get out of hand, no matter
how improbable it is that I OR the plan will succeed!”

Then he bolted after
Montague, who was already hiding under the stairs as the apples were
being brought in from the apple cart.

“Montague! Will you
think this through?!” Maurice cried in a hushed whisper.

“I have!” Montague
replied. “I just wait until they head back to the cart for more
apples then sneak in and steal a few!”

“You forgot that the
guards are literally standing right there.” Maurice said drily.

Montague blinked. “No
trouble!” He cried, as the delivery boy headed out for another
barrel of apples.

“MONTAGUE!” Maurice
bolted after his best friend…and was caught by the guards! He
looked around frantically, but couldn't see Montague anywhere.

“And what are YOU
doing young Masters?” The guard eyed him off.

“I was
just…nothing.” Maurice sighed.

“That's right. These
apples are for winter, NOT for now. Now go on, off you go!” The
guard gave the boy a good shake before casting him aside.

Still smarting, Maurice
headed back to his room, where he passed Montague…with several
apples!

“My plan worked!”
Montague cried in glee. “Because you ran out, you got caught and I
could hide!”

Maurice felt his eye
twitching as he stormed back up to his room and did his best to
remove the last clause, forever known as the Improbability Clause,
from his stupid list of vows.

“Bloody stupid
Begly!”

—

“Oh wow!” Charlie
cried. “THAT'S where the Improbability Clause comes from!”

“Of course it would
be a Masters invention.” Belle grinned. “Wonder what Dad will say
when he finds out.”

“Oh right! Speaking
of finding out, I have news!” Charlie remembered. “Sammy got
arrested last night!”

“WHAT?!” Belle
screamed.

“Plus there's also-,”

“WHY DID NO ONE TELL
ME THAT ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS, WHO IS LIKE A BROTHER TO ME, HAS BEEN
ARRESTED?!” Belle screeched.

“I just found out!”
Charlie pouted. “Besides, that's only HALF the news!”

“And the other half
is?” Belle looked murderous.

“The PCC.” Charlie
groaned.

Belle blinked. “What's
the PCC?”

 “I loathe, detest,
despise, and ultimately HATE Mayor Demon Jones with the utmost
passion.” Belle seethed as she and Charlie pulled up to the Masters
home in the old Elantra.

“Trust me, he's not
anyones favourite person. Even his own daughter thinks he's a piece
of work.” Charlie commiserated with his best friend as he got out
of the car. “That being said, you shouldn't let it make you an
overly aggressive driver.”

(Driving tip: Driving
when angry makes you a dangerous and scary driver)

“I would really,
REALLY like to know how he got voted in as Mayor, because it doesn't
make the slightest lick of sense at all.” Belle mused as she
checked the mail after nearly taking out the garage door in her erratic parking attempt. “Even if previous Mayors were under the control
of the various crime syndicates in town, they still had the illusion
of being impartial.”

“I doubt we'll ever
have an answer to that.” Charlie said.

“Junk…bills…Dad's
magazine…the Pleasantville Revolution Organization?” Belle went
through the mail.

“Pleasantville what
now?” Charlie asked.

“The Pleasantville
Revolution Organization aims to change the culture of our city.”
Belle began to get excited as she read. “We want to improve the
lives of all citizens, without the constant fear that has plagued the
city since inception.”

“Oh…my…GLOB!”
Charlie began to get excited too. “The people are finally starting
to stand up! We're winning!”

“Oh this is a HUGE
blow to Demon!” Belle rushed inside. “DADDY! DADDY LOOK!”

“Belle! I'm not young
anymore!” Peter Masters groaned as Belle flung herself at him. “Now
what's going on?”

“The Pleasantville
Revolution Organization!” Belle grinned.

“We're finally
beating Demon!” Charlie added.

Peter took a look at
the leaflet, reading parts of it aloud. “Well done Beauty, it looks
like the people of Pleasantville are finally coming to their senses.
Hopefully this can keep gathering momentum heading into election
year.”

“That sounds
awesome.” Lara walked over from the kitchen. Belle composed herself
somewhat, her aura getting frosty.

“I guess this means
there's a chance for me this time.” Peter mused. “Maybe this time
I can beat Jones and whichever corrupt third party they throw up and
become Mayor myself.”

“This is a great
platform for you to work off love.” Lara hugged him.

Belle narrowed her
eyes. Charlie sighed. Things still weren't patched up between Lara
and Belle.

“I'm going upstairs.
Later.” Belle left the couple and trudged up to her room. Charlie
followed, worried.

“Belle, surely you
and Lara are good now.” Charlie asked as they sat down on Belles
bed. “You've forgiven your father, why not your mother?”

Belle bristled.

“She IS your mother
Belle. You might not be blood, but she would die for you just like
she would for Maddles and Ozzie.” Charlie continued.

Belle looked away.

“They both knew what
they were getting into Belle, you know that.” Charlie pressed.

“Just drop it.
Please.” Belle sighed.

Charlie knew it would
be useless to pursue it any further.

Belle lay down on the
bed and closed her eyes. “I'm tired.” She said.

“I know.” Charlie
rubbed her foot. “But unfortunately my watch is going off and I
think Lady Courage is in trouble.”

“Because of course
she is.” Belle grumbled.

—

The PRO was in full
voice against Crusader Roger and Crusader Daryl when Chuckles and
Giggles arrived at the scene. In fact, it looked like Chuckles and
Giggles wouldn't be needed at all.

“Sooooo…why are we
here again? Besides moral support?” Chuckles grinned, watching the
crowd chant loudly at the criminal organization that had tried to rob
the fledgling museum.

“Sir Dark mentioned
that Dingbat has completely withdrawn the police force. Something
about not protecting idiots that get themselves in danger.” Lady
Courage told them. “So I thought it would be a good idea in case we
need to protect these guys from harm.”

“You're all sheep!
Get out of our way!” Crusader Daryl roared furiously at the crowd,
who booed him loudly.

“Wow. A whole heap of
people putting themselves in danger for nothing and causing more of a
disturbance than the robbery would. Can't believe this is what
Pleasantville has come to nowadays.” Someone walked past, earning
themselves hisses and jeers.

“WE are here, and we
will protect those who stand up for their rights!” Giggles
announced.

“We're Chuckles and
Giggles, and we stand with the Knights of the Last Order to make sure
Pleasantville is a safe place for everyone!” Chuckles added.

The PRO cheered loudly.

Crusader Roger groaned.
“Daryl, we're leaving. This has been a bust.”

“We're giving up
against a bunch of goons who would probably run at the first
threat?!” Daryl cried angrily. He pulled out a shotgun, ready to
attack.

The crowd quickly
overwhelmed him before he could get out the first shot. The gun was
knocked out of his hands as the PRO began raining blows on him. He
tried to crawl away, but there were too many people.

“HELP ME!” He
cried.

Giggles looked at
Chuckles, who shrugged. Giggles groaned, and flew over to save Daryl.

“Take this as a
warning. Leave Pleasantville and don't come back.” She told him as
she flew him over to where Roger was waiting to drive off.

“Filthy scum. Don't
you DARE tell me what to do. You're just my fathers lapdog. Pah to
you!” Daryl lashed out as Roger took him away.

“I think that counts
as a victory today.” Lady Luck beamed.

“If you insist.”
Sir Dark still sounded doubtful.

“Come on, we finally
have the backing of the people, why do you still look so down in the
dumps? Is this because of work?” Petunia asked TJ later as they got
changed back at the tip.

“You don't know
Wallace Dingbat.” TJ warned. “I'm pretty sure he's firmly in the
pocket of Demon, and if Demon decides on payback, he's going to use
Dingbat to do it.”

—

Later on that night,
Sammy got a knock on the door. He eased himself out of his very
comfortable armchair and opened the door to immediate hostility.

“You're under arrest
for inciting violence and starting a brawl.” Wallace Dingbat
handcuffed him as two other officers forced him to the ground. “You
have the right to remain silent…”

Sammy grimaced as he
was led to the paddy wagon and rudely shoved in. So this was how
Demon was going to respond to the formation of the PRO.

The young Knight of the
Last Order had the sinking feeling he was about to become a
scapegoat.