Chapter Forty-Six: The Improbability Clause

“YAY!” Lizzy clapped her hands with Madeliene, who had just finished a shape matching game on the computer. “You're such a smart little girl!”

Madeliene laughed. Lizzy beamed. Sure, for a seventeen-year -old babysitting wasn't the coolest thing to be doing, but there was just something about the young Masters that drew Lizzy to her. She agreed with Sam that childcare and teaching were the best things in the world, and was already preparing her University application to get into early childcare.

We won't go into the crush that she has on Sam though.

Madeliene was moving on to the next level of the very simple puzzle game and Lizzy helped her. Already Madeliene was showing signs of her family heirloom, the Masters high IQ that got the Beglys out of so much trouble.

If you believe in that stupid Improbability Clause. Lizzy smirked to herself.

Izzy soon walked in with Hugo, both carrying copious amounts of shopping.

“We got you some nice things too!” Izzy waved a bag at Lizzy, who laughed.

“Thanks guys. Who's the smartest little girl in the world?” Lizzy soon returned to doting on Madeliene. Hugo chuckled and Izzy rolled her eyes.

She flopped down on the couch and flicked on the news.

“WE ARE REPORTING LIVE FROM PLEASANTVILLE CENTRAL WHERE CHUCKLES AND GIGGLES HAVE ENGAGED THE DEATH VALLEY MOB AFTER THE MOBSTERS TOOK OVER PLEASANTVILLE MEMORIAL SHOPPING CENTRE.” The newsreader cried. Video of Chuckles, Giggles and the Knights of the Last Order fighting off the Death Valley Mobsters showed.

“We should get going! Come Liz.” Izzy quickly got up. “I've got your stuff in my room.”

“I can't just leave Madels!” Lizzy retorted. “Lady Sunlight and Sir Moonlight can handle this without me.”

“She'll be fine, Mum's home!” Izzy pointed out, pulling her twin sister up.

“Well…sorry kiddo, I've gotta go save Pleasantville.” Lizzy reluctantly got up.

Madeliene looked devastated. Tears began to form and fall from from her eyes.

“I've gotta save the city.” Lizzy pleaded.

“Iggles!” Madeliene cried. “Uggles 'n Iggles!”

“Chuckles and Giggles won't save Pleasantville…” Lizzy tried to tell the little girl.

“Uggles 'n Iggles!” Madeliene pleaded, crying loudly.

Lizzy looked sadly at the little girl.

"Come ON." Izzy urged.

The last thing Lizzy saw as she walked out the door was Madeleine in tears.

–

The interaction was still playing on Lady Starlights mind when she, Lady Sunlight and Sir Moonlight rushed to the shopping centre. The plan was to rush in and finish off Master Revolver and Mobster Marion.

“Hurry up Starlight, you're slowing us down!” Lady Sunlight urged her twin sister on as they ran.

“I'm just…I'm just thinking we should go the other way.” Lady Starlight said suddenly, for some reason wanting to delay the inevitable clash between themselves and their brother Chuckles.

“Why?” Sir Moonlight looked at her quizzically.

Lady Starlight was about to say “Never mind”, when she heard little Madelienes voice again.

“Uggles 'n Iggles!”

“Because I do.” She shot. Without waiting for a reply, she ran down another street, leaving Sir Moonlight and Lady Sunlight bemused.

“Well, let's go.” Lady Sunlight ran after her sister, followed by Sir Moonlight.

Their path lead them close to the Council building, and sure enough they found Ruby Daryl three blocks down heading to the battle between the Death Valley Mobsters and the Noble Knights of the Last Order/Chuckles and Giggles.

“Oh, it's YOU three. I thought you'd be at the mall already, looking for your fill of blood.” Ruby Daryl saw them first, and smirked beneath the Ruby Mask.

“Well, you're definitely not getting there!” Lady Sunlight threw her yo-yo at him. He dodged and threw a Ruby Blast at the three, who scattered.

“You honestly think you three stand a chance against me, all nine of the Last Order took me on and they LOST!” Ruby Daryl laughed as an arrow from Sir Moonlight was expertly blocked by a Ruby Shield.

CRACK.

“You're kidding me!” Ruby Daryl cried as one of Lady Starlights throwing stars landed in one of the shoulder boxes. “Do you know how hard it is to repair this thing?!”

“I have some idea.” Lady Starlight thought of Ruby Giggles.

Lady Sunlight tried another shot with her yo-yo, managing to embed it in Ruby Daryls arm. He roared in pain and yanked his arm into his chest, pulling Lady Sunlight in for a direct hit. She went sprawling to the ground, the yo-yo landing beside her.

Sir Moonlight tried another arrow, which was blocked by the Ruby Shield, as was another throwing star from Lady Starlight. He threw two Ruby Shards at the pair, missing Lady Starlight but hitting Sir Moonlight.

“Oh no.” Lady Starlight groaned. It was just her and Ruby now. She didn't think she was strong enough nor fast enough to take him alone.

She leaped out of the way as another Ruby Blast was thrown at her. She threw one of her throwing stars in retaliation, which was stopped by a Ruby Shard. She only had five left. She couldn't waste them, unless she could somehow gather up the ones she'd already lost.

She decided the best method of survival was to try and either wear him down (nearly impossible) or antagonise him into a rash close-range attack. She ran circles around him, barely dodging Ruby Shards and Ruby Blasts.

"Stay still you little witch!" Ruby Daryl roared in fury. He was getting agitated, playing into Lady Starlights plans. What she HADN'T planned for was his new trick – a Ruby Sword.

Thankfully, she didn't have to. A bullet that was obviously from the Lucky Seven Gun narrowly missed Ruby Daryls other shoulder box, causing him to swear loudly.

“YOU TWO?!” He roared in fury.

“Leave. Now.” Chuckles stood below Giggles, his arm still in a sling.

“Fine.” Ruby Daryl hissed through gritted teeth. He wonkily flew away in a huff.

“It's a good thing you guys DID get him though, if he'd arrived at the mall any earlier and we would have all been in deep diabolical doo-doo.” Giggles waved to the three Outer Knights, who were slowly pulling themselves together.

“Oh go blow it out your ear Giggles.” Sir Moonlight scowled, before making off with his two companions.

“Rude!” Chuckles and Giggles were appropriately affronted.

“They do have a point, it WAS lucky we went that way instead of heading directly to the mall.” Lady Sunlight smiled approvingly at her sister as they headed back to their base of operations, a small deserted café near the edge of the city.

“Amazing what a bit of dumb luck can do.” Sir Moonlight agreed.

Lady Starlight said nothing. She had an uncomfortable, sneaking suspicion that what had just happened hadn't been dumb luck at all, and if her sister ever found out, well, she'd never forgive her. For Lady Starlight was coming to the dreaded realisation that with the help of the baby Madeline Masters, she'd just done what she'd sworn she'd never, EVER do.

Lizzy Begly had just taken advantage of the Improbability Clause.

–

Thomas Begly sighed as he walked into the kitchen after a long day at work, followed by his usual philosophical beer with Peter Masters. As he walked to the fridge, he noticed his wife digging into a very large chocolate mudcake.

“Is that really necessary dear?” He foolishly asked.

“I look at it this way, if you or the kids piss me off I still have to deal with you, I can't just get rid of you. If this cake gives me the shits I just have to go to the toilet and the problem is solved.” Was Bettys reply.

Thomas opened his mouth and raised his finger ready for a rebuttal, but wisely thought the better of it. “Can't argue with that logic love.” He said, walking out of the kitchen.

He walked into the lounge room and had just sat down when his two daughters walked in, one looking pleased but bruised, and the other looking harassed but fine.

“Do I even WANT to know what you two got up to?” Thomas raised an eyebrow.

“Horse riding. Lizzy wouldn't get on, but I did and I might have had a tumble or two.” Izzy lied, looking cheekily at her father.

“Yeah.” Lizzy agreed quietly.

“You okay Liz?” Thomas looked at his youngest daughter (by ten minutes), concerned.

“Just tired out. I think I'm going to go to bed early.” Lizzy sighed and slowly trudged up the stairs, her mind weighed down by the conflict between what she thought she knew and what had happened.

She remembered the fight that her grand-father Charles Howzat had had with his long-time best friend and the grand-father of Belle and Madeliene, Joe Masters, who had also been the best friend of her other grand-father, Tim Begly. She flopped down onto her bed. She couldn't deny that she had Begly blood flowing through her veins, but there was also the strong Howzat influence as well. She couldn't unhear the arguments, the assertion that the 500-year-old Masters Code was old and redundant, an excuse to be a coward, the assertion that the 500-year-old Begly Improbability Clause was nothing more than dumb luck and a complete myth. Yet she couldn't deny what she had not only seen with her own eyes, but caused by the fact that she had listened to a Masters.

It was doing her head in. How Charlie had managed to reconcile the two sides together was beyond her, but it seemed that he had done it. How else could he justify using his grand-fathers weapons as his own? The Arm-Scythes had been Charles Howzats signature weapon for most of his life.

She rolled over onto her back and sighed. It was just a coincidence. That's all it was. There was no Improbability Clause and the Masters Code was still archaic.

This is what Lizzy Begly believed.

That's what she thought, anyway.