Chapter Seventy-One: I'm your SISTER!

“What are you talking about?” Mobster Marion raised her eyebrow at her sister.

“It's Chuckles and Giggles!” Judith Jofrey cried. “They're Charlie Begly and Belle Masters!”

Mobster Marion blinked. Master Revolver cleared his throat.

“And how did you find this out?” Mobster Marion asked, sipping on her champagne.

Judith gulped. She couldn't tell them that without revealing that she'd been caught as Sidewinder.

“I just know, okay?” She snapped.

Master Revolver gave a small cough. He got up and walked to the rumpus room. Mobster Marion motioned for Judith to sit down. Judith sat on the sofa across from Marion, who poured a drink for her sister.

“I'm telling the truth.” Judith tried to convince her sister.

“Could you be mistaken?” Marion asked gently. “Belle Masters especially is the LAST person you'd expect to by flying around Pleasantville. She's too bookish.”

“I know, okay?” Judith groaned. “But I swear it's true!”

Marion sighed. She loved her sister, and knew that her judgement was usually sound. However, recently she'd been...troublesome.

“Judith...” She sighed again. She wanted to believe her sister, but there was simply no way that Belle Masters, junior lawyer, could be the agile gunslinger Giggles. There was no way a blacksmith like Charlie Begly could be the deadly swordsman Chuckles.

“We'll talk about it tomorrow, okay?” Marion smiled. Judith pouted. “C'mon, I have some gold chocolate truffle you'll absolutely LOVE.”

Judith sighed, and sipped at her drink. Maybe sleeping on it would be a good idea.

--

Belle Masters had her nose firmly in a book as she walked back to her desk in the Pleasantville Council building. Mobster Marion watched her.

“See Judes? No way could Belle be Giggles, she hasn't crashed!” Marion chuckled.

Belle pricked up her ears. Oh no...

Marion patted Judiths arm, before walking back into Mayor Jones' office, while Judith Jofrey followed behind dejectedly.

Of course, right after they walked into the office, Belle completely missed her chair and ended up on the ground.

“That's not really a reason why Belle can't be Giggles.” Judith frowned as Marion helped herself to Jones' whisky stash.

“Judith...” Marion was starting to get irritated.

“Besides, everyone knows Belle is a regular at the shooting range.” Judith tried, almost pleading.

“So is half the bloody city!” Marion snapped. “I've tried to be nice about this Judes, but you're really pissing me off.”

“You're pissing ME off! I'm your SISTER, remember?!” Judith fired back.

“Keep it down idiot!” Marion hissed. “Do you want anyone to find out who you are?!”

Judith went slightly pale. “I'm sorry.” She swallowed. “But-,”

“Enough.” Marion snapped. “Do you want me to take you to the metalworks? You can see how Charlie Begly lumbers around carrying metal, without any of the finesse required to wield the Lions Claw Blade?”

Judith grimaced and stalked out of the office. Marion raised her eyebrow at her retreating form. For whatever reason, she'd gotten this idea in her head. If she would just tell Marion where the idea came from then she might be inclined to believe her. For some reason though, Judith was keeping mum on the subject.

Not for the first time, Marion wondered if Judith was plotting to take over the Mobsters of Misneach, breaking up the Death Valley Mobsters. It would spell disaster though, surely Judith wouldn't be that stupid? Maybe Judith was thinking of taking the Mobster assets for herself?

Marion knew that her Uncle had been killed because he'd wanted more power than he was owed. He wanted to keep the assets for himself, and not hand them over to his niece. She didn't want to have to get Master Revolver to kill Judith, least of all because she didn't have an heir yet.

There was also another issue brewing.

“Demon.” Marion narrowed her eyes at Mayor Jones as he walked into his office.

“Marion.” The Mayor of Pleasantville, Demon, glared back. “Do what do I owe the honour?”

“I want to know why Mark and Roger were in here.” Marion got straight to the point. “What business to you have with the March Hill Crusaders?”

“Nothing that concerns you.” Demon sat at his desk. “Now get out of my sight.”

“I warn you, if you betray us, you lose half of Pleasantville.” Marion warned him as she walked out.

Demon watched as the door slammed behind her.

--

“I have good news and bad news.” Belle ran to her friends after work that day as they sat at the tip. “Judith's figured out who we are, but Marion won't believe her.”

“WHAT?!” The others cried.

“She must have recognised my voice!” Daniel cried.

“And then she put two and two together, which helped her recognise my voice.” Belle groaned.

“But you said Marion didn't believe her?” Charlie raised an eyebrow.

Belle couldn't help it. She started laughing.

“She was after me all day, trying to prove it without giving it away to me that she knew.” She grinned. “But she didn't realise I'd overheard Marion flapping her gums!”

Everyone else saw the funny side of it too.

“Is Marion REALLY that idiotic?!” Sammy laughed.

“The power must really have gotten to her head if she's being so arrogant as to ignore her sister!” Petunia added.

“I wish I'd been there!” Charlie slapped Belle on the back.

“You should have seen Judith's face when she realised no one believed her!” Belle roared with laughter.

“She's probably going to try following us around with cameras now.” TJ grinned. “And if she does, we just remind her what's at stake!”

“She's gotta be furious.” Tammy grinned.

Sammy was about to join in, but then he noticed Daniel looking a little distracted. “Dan? What's up?”

“Nothing.” Daniel said, not paying attention.

“You seem very interested in that old car.” Sammy pressed. “Going to try and put us a vehicle together again?”

“After last time? We don't need another Chuckles and Giggles annoying us.” Daniel quipped.

“Don't be a dork!” Charlie shoved him off the bonnet he was sitting on.

The group laughed.

“I'm thinking if I can patch things up with Judy, if I can somehow influence her, and in turn, Marion.” Daniel told them. “They own half the city and if we can get them to turn on Demon, he's in big trouble at the next election.”

“It'll be difficult though. It's really hard to go against your family.” Sunny said, as Melody slept against her chest. “Especially when it's what you've been raised to believe.”

“And yet you did it.” Belle put an arm around her friend.

Sunny shook her head.

“I was...I was being abused. It's easy to turn on someone when they're mistreating you.” She sighed. “Judith and Marion are close. It's going to be really hard to get between them. I mean, if it were easy, I could have talked Dad around before he took over the city...”

“It's not your fault Demon is a jerk.” Charlie said. “Just like it's not your fault he killed my grandfather.”

Sunny looked at Charlie. That wound might have healed, but it had left a very painful scar. Sunny had to marvel that he'd even considered dating her at one stage after what her father had done.

“Push comes to shove, Danny'll just have to knock Judith up.” TJ grinned.

That suggestion was greeted with loud boos and jeers. Stay classy TJ.

Chapter Seventy: Busted!

Judith Jofrey narrowed her eyes at the pair who stood on the train. Chuckles and Giggles both glared back, pointing the Lions Claw Blade and the Lucky Seven Gun respectively at her.

“We have proof. Your family and their little scheme of keeping one member of the family separate to hold a legitimate front.” Lady Courage walked towards Judith.

“Buying businesses after they've been crippled by the criminal families, when the owners have no choice but to sell to survive.” Sir Hyper added.

“Tightening your control over the city piece by piece.” Sir Lionheart growled.

“Then passing on the control to your niece or nephew.” Lady Luck joined her fellow Knights.

Judith raised an eyebrow. “Fantasy.”

“You sure about that?” Giggles asked. “Do you want to see our notes?”

“Anyone with half a brain will see the connection. All the information is in the Council building, where anyone can see it.” Sir Dark pointed out.

“And it's also kept in a vault in Brisvegas, so there's no destroying the evidence.” Chuckles grinned.

Judith let out a low growl. The gig was up. If Marion knew, she'd make sure to get rid of her sister.

She backed towards her car, where she opened the door and reached in, grabbing her Mystic Eight Gun and the Dragons Scale Scythe.

The Noble Knights of the Last Order closed in as Judith removed her wig, revealing her long blonde hair. She stood before them, and there was no doubt that Judith Jofrey was the sister of Mobster Marion, the Emerald Mobster dubbed Sidewinder.

“Well done. Now die!” She attacked, firing rounds at Chuckles and Giggles while swinging the Dragon Scale Scythe at the Knights.

Alas for Sidewinder, she didn't have her Emerald Suit, so she was at an extreme disadvantage. Without Emerald Power to fortify her weapons and attacks, she was easily overwhelmed by numbers. Chuckles and Giggles didn't even need to get involved as the Noble Nights of the Last Order overpowered Sidewinder, disarming her and forcing her back against one of the trains.

“You won't kill me.” Sidewinder hissed as the group surrounded her. She didn't sound so certain though, and looked especially wary when Chuckles and Giggles landed in front of her.

“Nah, we won't kill you.” Giggles said. “As long as you behave yourself.”

“And what is THAT supposed to mean?!” Sidewinder snapped.

“Lay off Peter and Belle Masters. Stop trying to scare the city into submission.” Sir Lionheart told her sternly.

“Like hell. You won't get me to turn on my family.” Sidewinder shot. She looked carefully at Sir Lionheart, something familiar about him.

“If you don't, you'll be exposed, and your family will lose everything.” Giggles snapped. “I happen to know your balance of power is in big trouble as it is.”

“You know nothing!” Sidewinder scoffed.

“Try me.” Giggles glared back.

“Face it Judith, you either behave or you lose it all.” Chuckles said.

“And we have eyes everywhere. We'll be watching you.” Sir Hyper warned.

“Count on it.” Lady Courage added.

Sidewinder growled in uncontrollable fury. How DARE they?! How had they found out?! How had they gotten proof?!

She took one last look at Sir Lionheart before snatching her weapons off Sir Dark and Lady Silent and storming back to her car. The tyres screeched as she sped off.

“I think she took it well.” Chuckles grinned.

Judith could barely breathe she was so furious and upset. How DARE they?!

She could hear their mocking voices. She could see them looking down on her, so certain they'd won, because they had. Hundreds of years of the Mobsters of Misneach, and it was all going to end with her.

She HATED them! She hated each and every one of them!

Realizing she probably wasn't the safest driver in the world at that time, Judith pulled over near Pleasantville Dam. She stepped out of the car and onto the walkway to watch the water and calm down.

I'm sorry Marion. I'm so sorry.

Judith felt hot, angry, guilty tears run down her face. She had failed.

“How COULD they? How could they have known? How could they have found out? How could...”

Suddenly she remembered their voices. She remembered Sir Lionheart. Hadn't she heard his voice so many times before? On dates with Daniel?

Her blood started to run cold. He couldn't be. He wouldn't.

Then she remembered Giggles. Her voice. Her voice that sounded EXACTLY like that meddling Belle Masters.

That would make sense. Belle was smart enough to figure it out, and if Daniel was Sir Lionheart, he'd already seen her at the timber mill getting changed.

Judith gasped. She'd figured it out. She knew who her adversaries were.

She had to tell her sister!

--

“You're joking. I can't believe he'd do that!” Mobster Marion narrowed her eyes at Master Revolver.

“Well, he's done it. I saw them come out of his office.” Master Revolver replied, looking serious.

They were sitting in the Misneach living room, which was quite ornately decorated in white, black and gold. Suddenly, Judith Jofrey burst in, looking harried.

“What's the matter with you? Did something go wrong with the insurance assessment?” Mobster Marion raised her eyebrow. “You look like you need a bath and a champers.”

“You're not going to believe it.” Judith panted. “Just wait until I tell you what I found out!”

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Patience

“I don't get it.” Giggles frowned as she hid behind a train.

“I don't either, but apparently Judith is going to be here soon.” Chuckles shrugged. “Something about insurance inspection.”

“And Lionheart thought we'd catch her here?” Giggles shook her head. “I don't like the idea of some insurance assessor getting involved. They might blab if they hear anything.”

“Hey, it's better than nothing.” Chuckles pointed out.

The pair looked over to where they knew Lady Silent and Lady Courage were crouched low out of sight. Lady Silent, using her ability to blend into the background and hear things that she shouldn't, had overheard Mobster Marion talking about the train yard being insured and needing inspecting. She had relayed that information to Sir Lionheart, who had casually asked about the destroyed train yard on a date one morning. Through that, he had found out that Judith Jofrey, the sister of Mobster Marion and the Emerald Mobster known as Sidewinder, was going to go through the property with an insurance assessor that afternoon.

Sir Lionheart was lying beneath a train carriage with Sir Hyper, who, as usual, wouldn't be quiet.

“I don't know what you see in her anyway.” Sir Hyper babbled on, as Sir Lionheart (who usually didn't mind Sir Hyper constantly talking) groaned. “I mean, okay she's not a murderous psychopath like her sister, but she's still a Marion-enabler. She's still a Mobster.”

“She's not though. She's starting to get thoroughly sick of her sister.” Sir Lionheart pointed out.

“I mean, we lucked out with Lady Courage, but I don't think lightening will strike twice. Could you imagine Sidewinder being a Knight of the Last Order?” Sir Hyper continued.

Sir Lionheart didn't even want to think about it.

“I don't know how Sir Dark and Lady Luck do it. They must worry about each other a lot.” Sir Hyper mused.

Sir Dark and Lady Luck weren't worried about each other at all, as they were both hidden quite comfortably in the guards shack, where they'd be able to coordinate their friends once Judith and the insurance assessor arrived.

“Hmmm...” Lady Luck scrolled through her phone. “Pasta or rice?”

“Well, we had risotto last week, so pasta this week.” Sir Dark replied. He smiled at her. “You're the best food-prepper I know. How you can make the same meal taste awesome for an entire week...”

“It's an acquired skill.” Lady Luck smiled back at him. “Especially when you're trying to stay healthy.”

“You make it easy.” Sir Dark told her.

“Are you SURE there's going to be an inspection? We've been here half an hour already and there's no sign of Judith or any insurance guys!” Lady Courage complained, bored with the stakeout already.

“I just found out this place was insured. It was Sir Lionheart who found out the inspection was today. Go and talk to him.” Lady Silent grumbled back, starting to get sick of Lady Courage complaining.

“I could have gone to my hair appointment.” Lady Courage groaned. “Melody and I were supposed to do a Mummy/Daughter day!”

“Isn't Melody a bit young for that?” Lady Silent asked.

“She's three!” Lady Courage protested.

Lady Silent raised an eyebrow.

“And it was only a few years after THAT, that Lone Revolver defeated Crusader Roger and finished off the March Hill Crusaders for good...at least, until Rogers great-grandson revived them with the help of ex-Mobster Mark.” Giggles was lecturing Chuckles, who looked ready to take the Lions Claw Blade to his ears.

“WHY do I need to know this rubbish?” Chuckles asked.

“Because it's our city history!” Giggles protested.

“C'mon, c'mon, c'mon...!” Sir Lionheart and Sir Hyper were watching the BrisVegas Leos play the Silver Coast Sharks on Sir Hypers phone. The siren sounded to end the quarter, and the two men grinned at each other.

“I can't believe we actually kicked straight for a quarter.” Sir Lionheart said.

“Good thing too, we only got one scoring shot!” Sir Hyper agreed.

“Judith is a Leos fan. I wonder if Marion is?”

“I highly doubt it mate.”

“And if we pay the phone this week, we should have enough for the mortgage and the water bill next month.” Sir Dark was going through his phone, looking at bills.

“I'm SO glad we went with solar power. That cuts at least one bill.” Lady Luck breathed a sigh of relief. “Even if it did cut into the wedding budget.”

“We still had a lovely wedding though.” Sir Dark pointed out. “You looked stunning, I swear I forgot how to breathe when I first saw you in that dress.”

Lady Luck blushed slightly. “You're always handsome.” She replied softly.

“So BORED!!!!!!!!!” Lady Courage groaned. She looked at the control panel in front of her. “If it weren't for the fact that I know this train is half-blown up, I'd be temped to give it a whirl.”

“Yeah...I don't think there's any working trains left here.” Lady Silent sighed. “Even if there were, can you imagine the hell that Lionheart and the others would put us through?”

“Yeah, I know.” Lady Courage looked out the window in front of them. The drivers cabin of the train had been interesting for about fifteen minutes, but now an hour and a half had passed and it was really getting monotonous. “How is your course going?”

“Pretty good. Soon I'll be ready for work placement. I can't wait to see how I go.” Lady Silent beamed.

“Good to hear.” Lady Courage smiled. “I've actually been thinking about getting into work, I've only done bits and pieces since Melody was born.”

“Seriously? That would be awesome.” Lady Silent approved.

“And we won't even begin to get into what the Mob and the DVG did to Laker Barrett and the rest of the Silent Lake Gang.” Giggles continued on, oblivious to the fact that Chuckles was pretending to be asleep. “Sir Lionheart told me his parents were killed in the crossfire, so I went and had a look. 32 innocent people were killed that day, 5 of them children.”

Chuckles yawned loudly, desperate to make his point. Then he saw two cars approaching the train yard.

“We're on!” He hit the face of his watch to alert the others. Lady Silent and Lady Courage dropped down so they couldn't be seen through the window of the train. Lady Luck and Sir Dark hid in an old cupboard, waiting for someone to walk in.

The cars parked in the middle of the train yard. Out of the nicer car stepped Judith Jofrey, and out of the old station wagon stumbled a portly man with a prominent bald spot who was sweating profusely. He pulled out a briefcase full of paperwork and struggled to catch up with Judith, who was looking sadly at one of her trains, now ruined.

“We'll need to check the serial numbers of all of these trains and do a count.” The assessor said.

“Fine.” Judith reached out to the train, where Lady Silent and Lady Courage were hiding. Her fingers touched the cold, charred steel, her fingers trailing sadly down the remains of one of her beloved trains.

She walked to the nose of the train, and called out the number that she read there. The assessor ticked off his pad, and they walked over to the train that Chuckles and Giggles were hidden behind. Judith read out the number again, and again it was ticked off. Then she walked over to another train that didn't look too badly damaged, but would never move again.

“We're going to wait until they're finished, aren't we?” Sir Hyper groaned as Sir Lionheart buried his face in his hands.

“I don't see that we have any choice.” Giggles sighed in reply to Chuckles whining.

“You've gotta be kidding. Every single train?!” Sir Dark couldn't believe it.

“I'm going to die of boredom before they're done!” Lady Silent let her head fall on Lady Courages shoulder.

Judith called out another train serial number. This time the assessor shook his head. “From our report, that train was just coming out of BrisVegas when the attack happened.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Judith rounded on the assessor. The hiding Knights and Chuckles and Giggles groaned. “Check your bloody paper again dingle-brain, your figures are out!”

“She reminds me of Marion when she gets angry.” Lady Courage sighed as Judith verbally beat the poor assessor into submission.

“I don't know what Lionheart sees in her.” Lady Silent agreed.

“Are they going to spend forever arguing over every little mistake?!” Giggles groaned.

“It's not so much an argument as it is a complete and total destruction.” Chuckles replied dryly. “She rants longer than you!”

“What was that noise?” The assessor heard what sounded like a yelp of pain.

“It was a stupid animal, will you focus on these trains?!” Judith thundered. She then stormed up to another train and read out the serial number.

“Make it end. Please.” Sir Dark groaned. Lady Luck just sighed.

“RIGHT, now that we've finished getting the serial numbers, let's assess the damage.” Judith finally finished checking the trains. The assessor was near tears. “I think most of these are write-offs, although the ones over here could possibly be repaired.”

“You'd need a technician to look at them, but from here they look salvageable. Just let me just double-check their serial numbers.” The assessor quickly composed himself. They walked towards the trains that looked like they could be repaired. Seeing the coast was clear, the Knights of the Last Order quickly converged with Chuckles and Giggles.

“This is STUPID, we've been here forever and there's no telling if we'll even get a chance at her!” Lady Courage complained.

“It doesn't look likely.” Giggles added.

“Look, we have to confront her eventually, it might as well be sooner rather than later.” Sir Lionheart grumbled.

“Look, I know she's your girlfriend and you don't want her to be a bad guy, but you can't drag us all into your emotional problems.” Lady Luck put her arm around her friend.

“Actually he's moody because the Leos are losing again.” Sir Hyper looked dejected.

There was a collective sigh of defeat around the group.

“Look, if I'm wrong, I'll shout everyone dinner. With dessert.” Sir Lionheart promised.

“You'd better.” Chuckles grumbled.

“I will!” Sir Lionheart protested.

“Scatter!” Lady Silent saw that Judith and the insurance assessor were coming back. The group scatted as the pair returned, deep in conversation.

“So you'll put in a request for a tech? Completely covered?” Judith asked.

“Provided at least one train gets back on the tracks, everything will be covered.” The assessor made some notes on his pad. “We'll also cover any product that you produced that was destroyed.”

“Thank you.” Judith looked prim.

“We just need a few signatures from you.” The assessor was about to set his pad on Judiths car, until she shot him a filthy look. He moved over to his car and put the pad there instead. He pulled a shiny silver pen out of his pocket, and handed it to Judith. He pointed for her to sign a page, and she did, with a careful signature.

“This is getting a bit beyond a joke, even for me.” Chuckles hissed to Sir Hyper, whom he was now hiding with. “How long does a few signatures take?!”

“A while, apparently.” Sir Hyper said dryly.

Meanwhile, Giggles was with Sir Lionheart.

“I just want you to know that even though I've found this afternoon as boring as anything, I still believe in you.” Giggles said as they watched Judith sign even MORE forms.

“Thanks. That means a lot.” Sir Lionheart replied.

Finally, Judith finished signing the forms. The assessor took back his pen, put the forms away neatly in his briefcase, placed the briefcase carefully on the back seat of his car, turned and shook hands with Judith, got into his car, adjusted the air conditioner and the radio, and slowly backed out of the ruined train yard.

“He's almost gone!” Lady Silent and Lady Luck pressed their noses to the window of the small hut they were hidden in.

Judith turned and sighed. She placed her hand against another train and bowed her head. “If only she hadn't gone mad, maybe then there wouldn't be any Crusaders and my beloved trains would still be here.”

“And he's gone!” Lady Courage grinned at Sir Dark.

“If only I had been stronger...If only they didn't always bow to her demands, getting her that dumb tank. If only...”

Suddenly, Judith found herself surrounded by the Noble Knights of the Last Order. She spun around, suspicious and confused.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” She asked cautiously.

“You know what we want, Sidewinder.”

Judith looked up to see Chuckles and Giggles on the train above her.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: And now, a plan.

“I already know.” Daniel deadpanned after Tammy told him what she'd found out about Judith Jofrey being Sidewinder.

Silence reigned over the tip. Charlie opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it and closed his mouth. Soon after, Sammy had a thought, but decided not to share it. Belle raised her finger ready to say something too, but even she couldn't bring herself to make a noise.

Awkward factor times a million.

“This is okay. We can work with this.” TJ finally said.

“Totally. Especially as Danny is dating Judith.” Petunia agreed.

Everyone nodded.

“You guys ARE allowed to be mad at me for keeping it from you.” Daniel rolled his eyes.

That's when it started.

“How COULD you Dan?!” TJ cried. “Sammy and I are you brothers!”

“I know you think she's hot, but she's MARIONS SISTER!” Sunny fumed.

“She's TRIED TO KILL US MULTIPLE TIMES!” Sammy yelped.

“Hang on guys.” Belle looked thoughtful. “Let's roll back a bit and think.”

“What's there to think about?!” Petunia wailed. “Danny KNEW that Judith is Mobster Marions sister, he KNEW that she is Sidewinder, a woman who has tried to kill us, and he didn't tell us?!”

“How would you feel if someone you were starting to grow feelings for was suddenly revealed to be one of the bad guys?” Belle asked them. “Remember Webster and Tate?”

“Wasn't THAT a complete and total trainwreck and three quarters.” Tammy muttered to Petunia.

“At the very least Dan hasn't started brutally murdering people en masse.” Belle pointed out.

“Like I would!” Daniel looked insulted.

“See?” Belle said triumphantly.

“Besides, getting mad isn't going to get us anywhere.” Charlie pointed out. “We need to figure out what to do with this information.”

“We should probably talk to my Dad.” Belle suggested. “He'll know what to do.”

--

Evil gleamed in the eyes of Peter Masters.

“Dad, we're the good guys remember?” Belle tugged at his sleeve as he sat at the Masters table. “No blackmailing your boss with what we've just told you.”

“You ruin everything Beauty.” Peter sighed as Meow jumped up and licked his face.

“Still, it's partially a good idea.” Bill pointed out as he wiped a glass and put it away. “If Sidewinder gets wind of the fact that the Noble Knights plus Chuckles and Giggles know that she's Judith Jofrey, then it might be enough to keep the DVM under control.”

“It might be.” Peter mused. “Then we have Jones under our thumb too. It could be our chance to re-educate the people of this city without the fear of retribution undoing all of the good work.”

“We finally have our break!” Charlie grinned.

“If she doesn't try to kill us first.” Belle deadpanned.

“It'll be fine.” Charlie patted her head.

Naturally, she bit his elbow in retaliation. Being short isn't funny. Please don't pick on your short friends.

“Belle, spit that out, you don't know where it's been.” Sunny chided her. “You're as bad as Melody.”

“One thing though, how are we going to convince Sidewinder we have proof?” Peter rubbed his chin as Belle spat out Charlies elbow. “We don't want to implicate Dan.”

“Otherwise they'll just retaliate by telling everyone who we are, then we're dead.” TJ frowned, sitting in front of the couch where Sammy lay, reading a comic.

All of them pondered the question for a minute. Belle got up and grabbed a book.

“Belle, honestly, can't you stay focused on current issues for a minute?!” Charlie groaned as Belle started investigating the book.

“Hush, pleb.” Belle fired, shutting Charlie up. “I think I might have an idea.”

“Going to share it?” Petunia asked.

“What, and spoil the surprise?” Belle flicked a page over.

Everyone groaned.

--

While we wait for Belle to finish reading, let's have a look at the latest spat from Mobster Marion.

“No flowers, no appreciation, no support, no love, no NOTHING!” She broke another sword against the tree, which was looking much worse for wear.

“You still haven't done anything about getting payback for my trains!” Judith Jofrey growled angrily.

“Why should I? No one gives ME what I want!” Mobster Marion threw the broken sword away. “Demon's been cagey recently and it's making it hard for us to rule this city!”

“If you weren't such a greedy guts with the fuse of a toddler then there wouldn't be an issue!” Judith snapped. “But noooo, because YOU can't control your constant gluttony, you're constantly at the mercy of Chuckles and Giggles. No wonder Demon wants us out.”

“Excuse me?!” Mobster Marion rounded on her sister.

“The only reason he has anything to do with us at all is because of what I own. The moment I lose our legitimate assets the Mobsters of Misneach and the Death Valley Gang will be going the way of the crime groups of old!” Judith advised her sister snidely. “And you know what the March Hill Crusaders are capable of.”

“They haven't proven a thing.” Mobster Marion shot back. “They can't even get rid of those punks and the Noble Knights of the Last Order.”

“Lucky for you they can't.” Judith muttered.

--

“So, what you're saying is we can follow all these links through history back to the Mobsters of Misneach?” Petunia looked over Belles shoulder.

They were sitting around a table at Bills restaurant, eating nachos and listening to Belle.

“It was almost their signature move back when they first established, if anyone had bothered to connect the dots.” Belle pointed to the page she was on.

“Raid a business, lower it's value, then have someone who looks completely unconnected to the Mob come in and buy them out.” Charlie looked disgusted. “No wonder crime managed to get such a foothold in this city.”

“They own most of the businesses here, although the last few generations haven't been so wise. Mobster Marion seems to get her issues from her father.” Belle mused.

Daniel looked at one of the pages Belle had scribbled on. “And it looks like we have further proof. Judith said that she inherited everything from her Uncle. Officially though, it says he was her father. So there's a lie we can catch her on.”

“From what I've read, the second child of the family was raised seperately from the oldest one, with the oldest getting the Mob and the youngest getting the assets. Then when the next heir to the Mob was born, their younger sibling would inherit the assets.” Belle showed everyone her notes. “Of course, there were a few false starts with siblings getting resentful, but they were often murdered by the Death Valley Gang as part of the agreement with the Mob to take out the March Hill Crusaders.”

“Wow. Just...wow.” Peter looked through the notes. “So what's the plan?”

Everyone looked at Daniel.

“Why do I have come up with the plan?!” Daniel cried.

“Because she's YOUR girlfriend.” TJ said.

“Because YOU know her best.” Tammy added.

“Because YOU'RE the one with the most contact with her.” Sunny pointed out.

“Because YOU'RE the oldest.” Sammy grinned.

“And because YOU'RE our fearless leader.” Petunia finished.

“Technically he's not our leader.” Charlie pointed to himself and Belle, who nodded.

“Guys, please. You'll go along with whatever Dan decides, because Dan's got this, right?” Sammy looked up at his hero.

“Yeah!” The Noble Knights of the Last Order crowded around Daniel, who looked pale.

“Uhhh...”