Chapter One Hundred and Five: The Pleasantville Riots

 What had happened was
this:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lady Silent smirked.

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

“I think they are.”
Judith grinned.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dingbat swore loudly.
His career was gone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sir Lionheart gasped.
He had killed.

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Giggles froze.

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

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

Chuckles felt angry,
and was starting to see red.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“ARGH!!!!!!!!”

With the customary
drenching in Lake Pleasant along the way.