Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen: The Bash

 “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.