Chapter Twenty-Four: Tates Attack

Charlie was worried. Belle was
avoiding him as much as she could, and he didn't know why. It stung,
she'd never treated him like this before and it put a nasty damper on
his new relationship with Sunny.

“Maybe she's just busy, you know
she's had a lot of work to do for uni.” Sunny stroked his hair as
they sat down for lunch one day, a week or so after the first kiss.
Belle had scooted off to the Library almost the moment Double English
had been dismissed.

“It can't be, she'd ask for my help
if that was it.” Charlie groaned.

“I think criminal law is a little
bit out of your reach Charlie.” Sunny chuckled, tickling him.

“Hey,
I'm plenty smart enough to handle it thank you!” Charlie laughed,
tickling her back.

Belle caught a
brief glance of them out of the window as she put a book back on the
shelf, and it cut her like a knife. Then the mere fact that she felt
like she was cut started to stab at her. Charlie was HAPPY. How on
earth could she call herself his best friend if she couldn't be happy
for him?

The constant
struggle of her emotions followed her to uni the next day, where
Maddy noticed she was a bit quieter than usual.

“What's
up chickie?” Maddy asked, popping a piece of chicken in her mouth.

“There's
a reason cutlery was invented.” Webster frowned at her.

“Bite
me.” Maddy sassed back. Webster smirked.

“I'm
in love with someone who's already got a girlfriend.” Belle sighed.

Webster suddenly
looked mock-serious.

“Belle.
You know I'm far too old for you, and I'm too in love with Maddy.”
He took one of Belles hands in his, making both girls laugh.

“Webster,
sweetie, I'm sorry, but it's certainly not an old man like you I'm
interested in.” Belle replied with the same mocking seriousness.
Webster feigned heart-break while Maddy roared with laughter.

“Forget
him Belle, seriously. You deserve someone who will love you so
completely that he won't even see another woman even if he's about to
walk into her.” Webster continued.

“Thanks.”
Belle smiled.

“You're
still young, and I bet your friend is too. There's still plenty of
time for him to grow up and smell the roses. It's not like he's
married or anything right?” Maddy nudged her. Webster rolled his
eyes.

“Horrible.”
He kissed Maddy.

“Seriously?!
GROSS!” Belle pretended to spew up while the couple made out.

While this was
happening, someone was watching them from a distance.

Tate missed her
boy. She wanted to see him – badly. So she'd snuck onto the
campus and stalked her prey for the day.

But she hadn't
expected this. Not for him to have someone else. To be in LOVE with
someone else.

Pain spread out
from her chest. Jealousy. Grief.

Anger.

She was going to
make sure he had to come back to Brisvegas. To her.

She had built a small business empire
trying to lure him back. She had made so much money over the past
year that neither of them would have to work again if they so
desired. She thought of all the things she'd tried to make him love
her – growing out her hair, working out, encouraging him no matter
what, paying for him to take the entrance exams to the University in
Brisvegas…

Belle felt someone watching them and
turned around, but couldn't see anyone. She tried to shrug it off,
but the feeling lingered.

Tate could feel the tears stinging her
eyes, but she fought them back. He was hugging her, kissing her,
looking at her with such love that Tate wanted to vomit.

A sense of helplessness came over her.
She HATED Pleasantville! It was a dinky little town compared to the
majesty of Brisvegas! Brisvegas had decent public transport for a
start, and crime was almost non-existant there. There were spacious
parks and a beautiful river and the shops were open 24/7. Why did
Webster want to live HERE of all places?!

She turned away and headed back to the
hotel where she was staying. She grabbed her phone and called Master
Revolver.

“Miss Tate! Lovely to hear from you.
What can I do to help you today?” Master Revolver answered the
phone, sounding so sickly-sweet that Tate was disgusted. She knew he
was just buttering her up and would turn on her in an instant if it
would benefit him.

“I want the University gone. Wiped
out. Off the map. Completely destroyed.” Tate said bluntly.

“Oh now you are talking my language!”
Master Revolver laughed. “How shall I do it? Explosives?
Arson?”

“Whatever way you see fit. Make sure
it's in the middle of the day where people will KNOW what happened.”
Tate commanded. “I want them all to be afraid.”

“You DO realise that runs the risk of
provoking those pests Chuckles and Giggles?” Master Revolver
pointed out.

Tate grinned. She knew that if she
took out the heroes of Pleasantville, it wouldn't be long before the
rest of the city fell. Then Webster would come back to Brisvegas,
because there would be nothing left here for him.

“Perfect.”

–

“Maybe she's busy with her new uni
friends?” Petunia suggested.

“Belle wouldn't ditch us like that
though.” TJ replied.

“Charlie's distraught. She's his
best friend and now she isn't talking to him at all.” Sunny sighed.

“She could be jealous.” Daniel
piped up.

“Jealous?” Sammy asked.

The Knights of the Last Order were
sitting at the tip that Saturday morning. They were supposed to be
sparring, but instead were talking.

“I think Belle might have had
feelings for Charlie. They've been inseparable since the day they
met.” Daniel explained. “Now Charlie is with Sunny, who, if you
all remember correctly, coveted everything that Belle had and made
her life a living hell.”

Sunny looked down. She hadn't meant to
hurt Belle. It was just that she had so much in common with Charlie,
and got along with him so well.

“Don't feel too bad Sunny. Belle
will get over it.” Sammy said brightly, while Tammy took her hand.
Sunny tried to smile but it faltered.

“Belle is almost like a sister to me
now. I can't believe I didn't think of her before I acted. Oh lord,
we were even TALKING about Belle before I kissed him! How
insensitive am I?!” Sunny buried her face in her hands.

“Sunny, it will be okay. Belle loves
Charlie. She'll want him to be happy, even if it's with you. She
just needs some time.” Petunia tried to cheer her up.

Sunny still looked downcast.

“Let's spar.” Sammy jumped up.
“I'll pretend I'm Master Revolver and you guys can try and take me
out.”

“Master Revolver huh?” Daniel
looked at him, amused.

“Duh, I'm Master Revolver, I like
guns although I don't know how to use one.” Sammy put on an
exaggerated voice and crossed his eyes. Even Sunny had to howl with
laughter at that one.

“I'll be Mobster Marion.” Petunia
got into it. “Oh, I'm so beautiful, I'll just stand here and look
at my reflection all day long.”

“Oh Marion, your beauty is so
magnificent! But it's nothing compared to this shiny object I
stole!” Sammy continued.

The group roared with laughter.
Suddenly Sunny perked up.

“Hey Charlie!” She bounded over to
her boyfriend who had just walked over. He smiled as she hugged him,
and gave her a kiss on the nose.

“I heard laughing, what are you guys
up to?” He asked as he walked back to the group with Sunny on his
arm.

“Mocking Revolver and Marion.”
Daniel chuckled.

“We think we might have figured out
why Belle is MIA.” TJ said as Charlie sat next to him.

“Oh? She completely ignored me this
morning and rushed off to her stupid open day at the uni.” Charlie
looked upset.

“She's jealous of you and Sunny.”
TJ said.

“You what now?” Charlie looked
confused.

“Seriously Charlie, you're thicker
than you look. Did it never occur to you that Belle might have liked
you more than a friend?” Petunia shook her head at him.

“Ah…no?” Charlie looked
sheepish. “Whoops.”

“You moron.” Sunny poked him.

“She'll get over it though.”
Charlie said brightly. “She's bouncy like that. Once she gets
used to it then she'll be okay.”

“I hope so.” Sunny looked downcast
again. Charlie hugged her.

“I know so. She's pretty awesome
like that.” Charlie bragged. As much as he loved Sunny, he was
still very proud of his Belle.

“Do you think we should go see her at
the uni? Make her feel a little less excluded?” Daniel suggested.
“She probably feels left out.”

Tammy jumped up immediately. Sammy
grinned too.

“Let's go!” He ran off.

The others followed, all laughing.

–

It was a good thing they decided to
head to the University, because Giggles was in trouble.

Belle had just finished watching a
presentation done by the art department, and was walking back to the
Legal facility with Webster and Maddy when the Death Valley Mobsters
struck.

“Oh NO!” Belle ran into the toilet
block with her friends at her heels.

The Death Valley Mobsters had gotten a
hold of some bulldozers, and were chasing the attendees around. The
Science building was quickly destroyed, and several others were
badly damaged.

“Why are you hiding in here when
they're destroying the buildings?!” Webster cried as a loud bang
sounded outside.

“Can you keep a secret?” Belle got
into a cubicle and quickly pulled her Giggles gear out of her bag.
She got into her gear as quickly as she could.

“Of course we can keep a secret
Belle, we're your friends! What's up?” Maddy asked.

Belle holstered her guns and grabbed
the Backpack and her helmet. She then opened the cubicle door.

“Just call me Giggles.” She said,
pulling on her helmet and running out to fight off the bad guys.

Webster and Maddy ran

“We'd better find a better hiding
spot!” Webster dragged Maddy away.

“We've been friends with Giggles this
whole time?” Maddy was impressed.

Giggles ran up to one of the dozers and
jumped up to the cockpit.

“Hi there. Where's Revolver?” She
asked of the Mobster that was driving it.

“None of your business! He's left
Miss Tate in charge of this one!” The Mobster replied.

“Miss Tate?!” Giggles stepped
back. “Who on earth is Miss Tate?!”

“Some rich chick from Brisvegas.”
The goon replied. “Now rack off!”

Tate? Brisvegas? Rich?

Giggles didn't want to believe it. She
kicked the windshield of the dozer in, knocking out the Mobster. She
then turned off the dozer and took the key out of the ignition.

“Only about twenty more of those to
go…” She muttered. She saw another dozer heading for her, and
quickly flew upwards to dodge the collision.

Webster was running hand-in-hand with
Maddy, looking for an exit. He finally got to the front entrance,
when he stopped dead in his tracks in shock.