Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Two: Back at City Hall

“I TOLD you dumping my Dad would drive him up the wall!” Sunny laughed as she sat at the tip on a chilly Saturday morning. At her feet, Melody was smacking a tennis ball with a plastic cricket bat. “You are so cute!” Sunny couldn't help but coo over her daughter.

“He went bright red, then pale, then said “Fine” and signed the bill.” Belle grinned, sitting on an old sofa. “Still felt sick afterwards, just being close to him makes me feel ick.”

“While that's nice and all, can we please get on with it?” Daniel said, holding his replica Dragon Scale Scythe. Since Marcus had been born, Daniel had become his old bossy self.

“Yeah, it's go time!” Sammy swung his nun-chucks around. Charlie, who was sitting on a fridge, noticed that Sammy tended to agree with Daniel a lot recently.

“We're having a CONVERSATION, training can wait.” Sunny said.

“We're the DEFENDERS OF THE CITY, training CAN'T wait. This isn't your fast bowling.” Daniel frowned at her.

“WHAT was that?!” Sunny was suddenly up on her feet.

“Your over rate makes the International Cricket Authority's wallets wish you were an actual cricketer.” Daniel fired.

“I'm so glad we're all friends again!” Belle smiled as Sunny punched Daniel with all the force she could muster.

“I know, now I can go back to ratting on your economy.” Charlie smiled back.

“THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY ECONOMY!”

--

“Stupid Charlie and his stupid batting average and there's nothing wrong with my economy!” Belle continued to sulk the next day at work.

“Hey Belle. Oooooh, that shiner looks like it hurt!” Harriet from Community Services said as they stood at the water cooler.

“Not as much as what I did.” Belle grinned.

“Which was?”

“Quoted back his past four cricket scores at him.”

“Oh Belle you are NAUGHTY!” Harriet giggled. “By the way, have you seen Judith around?”

“Not today, she probably has to take Marcus to the doctor or something.” Belle replied, sipping her water.

“How is Marcus doing? I hope she brings him in one day.” Harriet asked. “Counsellor Barry bought his little girl in yesterday, she was telling me all about her gymnastics medal.”

“Kids are so adorable, aren't they?” Belle smiled. “Marcus is doing fine for a premmie. According to his father his lungs definitely aren't premature!”

The two chuckled. Then Harriets phone rang.

“Let me just get this.” Harriet answered the call. “Hello? Yes! Absolutely!”

Belle checked her own phone and continued to sip water.

“Will do! Thank you!” Harriet finished the call. She turned to Belle. “The only reason I'm telling you this is because I like you – GO HOME NOW.”

“Why?” Asked Belle, but Harriet was already heading back to her desk. Belle shrugged. She went back to her desk, sent an email to Judith saying she was heading off for the day, and headed for Bills restaurant.

“Hey Belle. Aren't you supposed to be at work?” Bill asked as Belle walked in.

“Hey Belle! I was picking up lunch for the guys at work, you want something?” Charlie asked.

“No thanks Charlie. Harriet from Community Services got a call while we were talking at the water cooler. She then advised I should get out of there.” Belle shrugged as she sat down.

“Harriet?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah, really nice. Would be a friend if she hadn't been an ex-Mobster.” Belle poured herself some water from the jug that sat on the table.

Charlie froze. Belles eye started twitching.

“Mobster Marion has been pretty spry since Marcus was born...do you think she's going to try something?” Charlie asked.

“My stuff is at home. I'll meet you at the tip.” Belle downed her glass of water and got up. “See if you can't get onto a few of the Knights.”

“Will do.” Charlie agreed. “I'll have to drop this all off at work first. Never get on the wrong side of hungry blacksmiths.”

“I'll keep that in mind.” Bill smiled as the pair bolted.

--

Harriet had been wise to tell Belle to escape. Sure enough, the Mobsters of Misneach still had plenty of loyalists in the Council ranks. So when Harriet got the call from her former lieutenant, they were all ready to storm City Hall from the inside.

“Of course they would!” Demon barricaded himself in his office. He ran to his phone, and put the call in to Haiter. “Get your cops here NOW, and get your Troupe here as well!” He barked into the phone. He then slammed it down into its cradle. Damn! How had Marion kept her spies in the Council?! They all should have changed allegiance to the Haunted Maze Troupe! Especially as Marion had gone crazy.

He peeked out of the peephole in his door. Several of the Haunted Maze Troupe plants in the office had started fighting back. Two of them had stationed themselves in front of his door. Demon gritted his teeth. He knew full well that those Troupers weren't protecting him.

--

Meanwhile, the Masked Crusader had made his way to Pleasantville. It hadn't been too hard to find out that Judith Jofrey was out of hospital, especially as his mother had told him all about how his father had spent a full hour in Judiths office when she got back – was he sleeping with her again?

Daryl really didn't give a toss either way if the baby was his sibling or not. He just knew that if he went in as an unidentifiable Crusader and killed Judith, then Marion wouldn't give two hoots about getting the right Crusader – she would do him a huge favour and get rid of Crusader Roger.

So Daryl had made his way into the city to make his kill – the only thing he hadn't counted on was Marion and Sidewinder coming in to take the Council back for the Mob.

So instead of going in, he watched, knowing that Chuckles and Giggles would be arriving soon.

Sure enough, they arrived, bringing Sir Lionheart, Sir Hyper and Lady Silent with them.

“Gets me out of marking. Man I hate school holidays.” Sir Hyper had pointed out when the others had asked how he could be attending a fight in the middle of the work day.

“Now, this is going to be a very tense situation. It's basically Mob vs Troupe. We have to be CHUCKLES GET BACK HERE NOW!” Giggles cried as Chuckles merely walked into the building.

“Please tell me this is a JOKE. IT'S A CHANDELIER!” Chuckles cried as he surveyed the scene in front of him. A new chandelier to replace the one that Giggles had so callously destroyed was being installed just as the Mob had attacked. Now the Troupe had the chandelier surrounded and were threatening to destroy it.

“This isn't going to end well is it?” Lady Silent asked her brother as Chuckles and Giggles rushed in between the warring factions, Sir Lionheart on their heels.

“There'll be tears.” Sir Hyper agreed.

“Okay, okay, break it up you lot.” Chuckles pulled out the Lions Claw Blade. “There's no need for this, you all have citizens to serve.”

“Stay out of this you...sword-thief.” Mobster Marion stepped forward.

“Razor-sharp wit there.” Giggles said, hand on the Lucky Seven Gun, ready to draw if anything went wrong.

“We're here to take back what ours.” Sidewinder said. “Especially as the Haunted Maze Troupe rightly and royally stuffed up letting a Chamber of Commerce be formed.”

A drug-laded dagger came flying out of no where towards Sidewinder, who used the Emerald Suit to block it.

“Rude.” Giggles frowned at the Trouper who threw it, who she suspected was Terry from Public Relations.

“Look, can't you all just get back to work?” Chuckles groaned.

“This IS work!” Lisa from Amenities yelled.

“Noooo, you should be serving the public and making life better for the citizens you serve!” Giggles yelled.

Everyone laughed.

“I hate you all.” Giggles grumbled.

“Look, Sidewinder, give this up or I'll tell everyone.” Sir Lionheart warned.

“Tell us what?” Giggles asked.

“You wouldn't dare!” Sidewinder went white.

“Come on, the Troupe have our chandelier, we need to get it back!” Luke from Accounting cried.

“We'll handle the chandelier. Sir Lionheart will handle the Mob.” Chuckles said. Giggles followed him to where the Troupers had surrounded the chandelier.

“You know there's a quick way to sort this out, right?” Giggles said.

“You wouldn't.” One of the Troupers said, sounding suspiciously like Tessa from Gardens and Parks.

“I've done it before.” Giggles aimed the Lucky Seven Gun at the chandelier. The Troupers looked at each other, panicked.

“Okay you win we'll leave it alone!” Another Trouper who sounded like Bailey from HR cried.

“This workplace is pathetic.” Chuckles groaned as the Troupers scattered.

“I'm warning you two, I will let everyone know the truth.” Sir Lionheart was still debating with Marion and Sidewinder.

“Again, you're bluffing.” Sidewinder glared at him. When he got home that evening she was going to have some very stern words with the father of her son!

“No. I'm not.” Sir Lionheart took a deep breath. “I know for a fact that you two, and your father, and all your ancestors...you're not natural blondes.”

Marion screeched with fury and swung her sword at Sir Lionheart while Sidewinder groaned and wondered why her life turned out like this.

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty One: Sick of this yet?

“And THAT will stop businesses from being able to bully people into taking down bad reviews or complaints.” Charlie grinned as he signed off on another policy. It was a few weeks after Judith and Marcus had returned safely home from hospital, and Charlie was well into making sure the Chamber of Commerce did what it needed to do.

“Only if Arnold agrees to it.” Eugenia Wallow pointed out drily. “This particular policy dips over into Pleasantville law, and you KNOW he's got the Haunted Maze Troupe in his pocket.”

“For now.” Charlie replied. “I'm pretty sure we'll get this one through though.”

“I hope you're right.” Eugenia sighed. “Certain businesses have been using connections with the criminal underworld to threaten and extort customers long enough.”

“Anyway, I need to go to City Hall anyway to pick up Belle, I'll take the paperwork with me and drop if off. Anything else we need to take?” Charlie asked, putting all their hard work into an envelope and sealing it tightly.

“That should be all for today. Nothing that can't wait until next week.” Eugenia yawned.

“You sound ready for bed.” Charlie laughed.

“I wish, but alas my oldest needs to be picked up from Ozzie Rules training, the youngest needs picking up from dance class, and the middle child is probably fighting with his father as we speak. Then there's dinner with the in-laws...bllaaaahhhh!” Eugenia groaned.

“Middle child and husband still not getting along huh?” Charlie asked sympathetically.

“It's a tweenage rebellion type thing.” Eugenia shrugged. “What's going on with you and Masters anyway?”

“We've been best friends since we were kids.” Charlie shrugged.

Eugenia raised an eyebrow.

--

“Seriously Belle, I can't thank you enough for all your hard...that should have gone in THAT pile...I can't thank you enough for all your hard work while I was...that should have been done by now...while I was pregnant.” Judith couldn't help inserting some criticism into her thanks to Belle as she looked around her office on her first day back to work. “You really should have dusted the windowsill, and did you remember to water the plants?”

“Yes, I did.” Belle gritted her teeth.

“Yes, well, it WAS a relief to know my work was taken care of, although you probably should have used blue ink on this letter...it made coming back to work SO much easier...these should have been in plastic folders, it would have protected them better...”

“I did my best.” Belle replied, with a slight edge to her voice. Judith might be the mother of Daniels child, but she was still the worst boss ever!

“Yes, I'm sure you did. Anyway, you can go now. Thank you again!” Judith shoved Belle out of the office, making the young Masters feel very much annoyed. How rude!

Just then, the beloved Mayor of Pleasantville walked past. Belle sneered at the door before she walked back to her desk, brushing past Demon.

“You look a little harassed today Miss Masters.” Demon said smoothly.

“Nunya.” Belle snapped back.

“Now now Miss Masters, that's no way to speak to your boss.” Demon smiled at her.

“Technically Judith is my boss, you're her boss.” Belle muttered under her breath, sitting down in front of her computer.

“You need to relax more. Tell you what, how about we do lunch tomorrow?” Demon leaned over Belles desk, making her feel EXTREMELY uncomfortable.

“Charlie is picking me up, I need to go.” Belle quickly packed her things into her bag and rushed to meet Charlie, who had thankfully just walked in.

“Give me a second Belle, I gotta give this to Mr. Jones.” Charlie told her. Belle groaned.

It took Charlie fifteen minutes to talk Mr. Jones around to at least considering the proposal, but eventually he came out. “Fingers crossed he actually signs it.”

“I hope he does.” Belle said as the pair walked out to Charlies ute.

“You right mate?” Charlie asked as they approached the ute.

“No. Demon keeps hitting on me.” Belle shivered as Charlie unlocked the ute and they got in.

“Ewwwww!” Was Charlies reply. “That is SO icky!”

“I KNOW!” Belle replied.

They spent the rest of the trip back home complaining about how disgusting Demon Jones is.

--

“Yeah, Mum and Dad are having extreme marriage issues. Mum's been sleeping with everything she can pay to get into bed with her, and Dad is furious.” Sunny told them that night as they ate dinner together around the Begly table. “Of course, Dad can't talk, he's been sleeping around since before I was born.”

“Might be a way to get in and make some changes.” Judith pointed out.

Nearly half the table spat out their dinners.

“You want Belle to stoop to seducing Demon for power?!” Lara cried.

“Why not? I did.” Judith took another spoonful of beans. “Slept with Jones to get ahead on a few business deals.”

Daniel looked at her, horrified.

“Dad's idea. It was just after he murdered Uncle Hector, so before I inherited the businesses, I got in with Jones to make sure he didn't come after them.” Judith explained.

“The same father we named our son after?!” Daniel squeaked, hugging Marcus a little closer.

“I dunno, I think if you could get in with my Dad and then dump him, that would mess him up.” Sunny said with an evil gleam in her eye.

“You definitely got your fathers genetic material.” Belle said drily, earning a dirty look from Sunny.

“We've all had to make sacrifices and do things that go against our beliefs for the greater good.” TJ pointed out. Charlie couldn't help but notice Daniel flinch slightly.

“Good point.” Peter sipped his beer.

“PETER!” Lara looked at her husband in horror.

“I can't believe we're talking about this at the dinnertable!” Betty groaned.

“We could be talking about the cricket.” Thomas pointed out.

Suddenly every Knight at the table shot each other a filthy look.

“Back to Belle seducing Demon.” Betty quickly changed her mind!

--

The next day, Belle spent the whole day feeling extremely ill. Especially when she overheard Demon scoffing at Charlies proposal for more consumer protection from being threatened.

“Why would I sign this? How does that idiot think I've stayed in business for so long?” Demon laughed with a few of his lackeys at the water cooler.

She didn't want to. The thought of Demon Jones made her skin crawl and her stomach turn. She wouldn't, she couldn't, she...

She had to. Not just for Charlie, but for every person in Pleasantville who had been bullied into silence by the Death Valley Gang, the Mob and the Haunted Maze Troupe. She had to stop businesses from threatening people who just wanted to go home without being ripped off. She could stop people losing money and sleep. All she had to do...

So when Demon invited her into his office, she took in a deep breath and accepted. She felt like she was walking to her own execution.

--

Charlie had been having a good day that day. At work, he and his team had managed to have a huge breakthrough with one of their new designs for streamlining metal parts construction, and now it was a matter of getting things built in order to maximise production. It meant that repairs to farm machinery could be expedited, meaning damaged machinery wouldn't impact harvests nearly as much. Everyone was going to win out of this!

He decided to walk home that afternoon, taking in the sights and sounds of the city that was now much safer than it had ever been when Charlie was a child. Maybe soon he'd be able to retire Chuckles, putting his swords away and never having to worry about protecting the city again.

He continued along the street towards home, the air getting chilly as winter started to settle in.

“Hey Belle...Belle, are you okay?” Charlie asked as he walked past Belle sitting under the old tree. “You look like you're ready to spew.”

“I got your proposal through.” Belle told him, looking pale. “And now I want to throw up.”

Charlie looked horrified. “You DIDN'T!”

“No, I didn't.” Belle looked equally horrified. “I threatened him with a sexual harassment suit.”

“Ohhhhh...that's cool.” Charlie breathed a sigh of relief.