Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Three: In Too Deep

 “Well, that finishes that.” Giggles said, putting the broom in the cupboard. “City Hall is ready to reopen on Monday!”

“I’ll admit, you two did do a lot to help. Thank you.” Demon spat at her and Chuckles, before stalking off back to his office.

“Wow. That had to be the most insulting thanks I’ve ever gotten.” Chuckles blinked. 

The pair looked around. City Hall now looked vastly different, having undergone a complete refurbishment since it had been shot up on the day of the March Hill Massacre. 

“No more chandeliers for the druggies to worship.” Chuckles noted, looking at the now very plain ceiling.

“A shame, they gave the place such character.” Giggles sighed.

“And the warring criminal empires don’t?” Chuckles asked drily.

The pair walked out of the building into the glowing sunset. Several Haunted Maze Troupers eyed them warily, not ready to attack the people who had helped get City Hall back together, but not at all trusting Chuckles and Giggles.

“They give me the creeps with those baby masks.” Giggles shuddered. “I was reading up on them, they’re supposed to represent “the innocence of destruction”, whatever that means.”

“They’re insane. I don’t know how they got so big or got people so loyal to their cause, but it’s scary.” Chuckles put his arm around her.

“They seem to be leaving us alone though.” Giggles rested her head on his shoulder as they headed to the tip.

“They HAVE to be an item! Look at them cuddling up!” A Trouper in a blue mask said to his red-masked companion.

“I swear they ain’t, the way they talk to each other.” The red mask replied.

Chuckles and Giggles walked to Lake Pleasant, before Giggles picked up Charlie and they flew off.

“So the Grand Reopening is on Monday.” Giggles said. “All the Counsellors will be there, so you KNOW Dan is going to try something.”

“With the entire police force there?” Chuckles asked. “Most of whom have given in to the Haunted Maze Troupe?”

“Dan has people with him, a lot of the old Mob are on his side now.” Giggles pointed out as the pair drifted towards the tip. 

“Well, we’ll just need to have the Noble Knights of the Last Order with us.” Chuckles pointed out.

“If they’re even willing.” Giggles replied.

–

“So, I’m going to be very late home on Monday, and you can blame the Mayor’s big fat ugly ego.” TJ grumbled as the rest of the Knights of the Last Order played a card game.

“You know Dan will be there if the Counsellors are going to be there.” Tammy said. “Two cards.”

“That just makes my Monday even better.” TJ continued to grumble. “Wonder if Belle and Charlie will be there as Chuckles and Giggles or if they’ll have to appear as the fine, moral, upstanding corporate citizens that they are.”

“You don’t trust Belle and Charlie anymore?” Rose asked. “Three cards.”

“When the first thing they go and do after Dan goes rogue is go to clean up our foe’s den?” Sammy said, not really paying attention to the game.

“It’s definitely not a good look, but you know why they did it.” Tammy said reasonably.

“They’re in too deep.” TJ sighed. “And I don’t think they realise it yet.”

Petunia watched her man draw another card. He looked pale and strung out. She hated everything at that moment. Why did they have to get involved with all this nonsense to begin with? It had all started because of that horrid day when the Death Valley Gang had shot up the private school - they hadn't even been private school students! Now her friends were a mess, her life was painful and stressful, and there was no end in sight.

More than once the thought of ending it all had crossed Petunia’s mind. The only reason she hadn’t was because of her beloved TJ. Someone had to look after him, especially with the strain he was under at work because of their foolish enterprise.

“Hey guys, what, no cricket?”

Everyone sitting around the cards froze as the voice of Charlie Begly hit them like a truck. Sure enough, right behind him was Belle Masters. Chuckles and Giggles had arrived!

“Hey. What are you two doing here?” Tammy asked as the pair sat down on an old couch.

“I figured we’d tell you about Monday.” Belle began.

“The City Hall reopening. We’re already planning for that.” Sammy interrupted, earning a frown from his sister.

“You guys know about that?” Belle blinked.

“I work for the cops, remember? We’re all going to be on parade for it.” TJ grumbled.

“That’s right. So, Sunny, are you able to fill in as Giggles again?” Belle asked.

“Sure.” Sunny said uneasily.

“We’ll ask Hugo to cover for me, so that Chuckles and Giggles will be there with us. They’re getting an award you know. Services to the Council for our cleanup work.” Charlie chuckled, as Belle giggled.

“Getting awards from the enemy? That’s a new one.” Petunia said bluntly.

“What? We think it’s a great joke.” Belle replied.

“Considering everything that’s happened, I thought you two would be spending as little time at work as possible.” Sammy suggested.

“Guys, drop it.” Tammy said.

“What’s THAT supposed to mean?” Charlie narrowed his eyes at the group.

“It means you’re in too deep. Soon you’ll be seeing things from their side.” TJ slammed down a card a little too hard.

“Guys, I said drop it!” Tammy tried again.

“We kinda have to, so we know how to beat them! Knowing how your enemy works is part of the game!” Belle cried, exasperated.

“The game?” Sammy stood up. “This is a GAME to you?”

“You know full well it was just a figure of speech.” Charlie stood up as well.

“GUYS!” Tammy cried.

“You guys heard Tammy, cut it out!” Rose tried.

“I think it was a fine choice of words and says everything we need to know about you.” TJ also stood up, Petunia right behind him. “You were raised privileged. You never had to worry about rent or food or getting an education. That was all handed to you. You have no reason to worry about the fate of Pleasantville except your own pleasure.”

“That’s not true!” Belle shot up. “We do this because we could have been killed eleven years ago! So many of our friends and family could have been killed! We wanted to be able to walk the streets safely!”

“You were always safe on your side of town!” Petunia snapped. “Safer than us, anyway!”

Belle and Charlie couldn’t believe what was happening. After all these years, why were the Noble Knights of the Last Order turning on them?

“GUYS!” Tammy stood between the two factions. “ENOUGH!”

The Knights had the decency to look abashed.

“We’re all tired and frustrated and hurting. We’ve been fighting this war for far too long and we’ve had so many losses it’s insane that we’re all still even here. Anyone else would have given up by now.” Tammy tried to tame them all. “It’s easy to be jumping at shadows and seeing enemies everywhere when we’ve had one of our closest friends turn on us.”

“Doesn’t help that they’ve been in the lion's den far too long.” TJ pouted.

“Says YOU! You’re a cop!” Belle fired suddenly. “How do we know you haven’t been corrupted by their drugs yet?”

“I still want to know how their drugs are so powerful and so precise.” Rose wondered out aloud.

“I was arrested by them!” TJ cried.

“You wouldn’t know what that’s like! You’ve been the big heroes of the story without any consequences at all!” Petunia added.

“I think the loss of Charlie’s grandfather and my aunt and grandfather are some pretty big consequences.” Belle shot back.

Silence settled uncomfortably over the group.

“Look…maybe it's better if we go our separate ways for a bit. We'll take care of the ground stuff, you two can do…well, the stuff you do with my Dad.” Sunny said slowly.

Everyone turned to look at her.

“I'm kinda stuck in the middle here. My family is one of the big causes of this whole mess. Belle is my family. You guys are my best friends.” Sunny admitted. “I have literally adopted Dan's only child. I'm getting pulled from all angles here.”

“At least you're open about it.” TJ said.

Silence hit again, this time simmering. 

“I think we'd better go.” Belle said finally. 

“Catch yas later.” Charlie added.

The pair walked away, defeated. 

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Two: Simmering Tension

 Sammy stood on Pleasant Dam, looking out over the city one cloudy, dreary morning. The city he was determined to protect, the city he was determined to save.

The city that had thrown him in gaol for his skin colour.

He knew that the whole reason they were still fighting was because they didn’t want anyone else thrown in gaol because of their skin colour, but Sammy still had nightmares. He still felt like people were watching him, waiting for him to mess up. He’d felt like that before the arrest, true, but it had been a lot easier to ignore it back then.

He kinda understood why Dan did what he did.

The temptation to just give up and go out west was strong. The only thing keeping him in Pleasantville was his twin. Lord knows his other brothers and sisters didn’t care.

“Hey Sammy.”

He turned around to see Lizzy walking up to him. “Tammy said you’d be here.” She told him.

Sammy gave a small smirk. He didn’t have to say anything, Lizzy knew - there was magic in being a twin.

“You feeling it, huh?” Lizzy continued. “You’ve been quiet for a while now.”

“Tammy doesn’t need me to be her voice anymore.” He chuckled, but the faintest trace of pain remained. 

“You’re more than her voice and you know it. You’re the one that kids look up to, the one who gives them so much more than most of your coworkers do.” Lizzy put her hand in his. “You’re also the best batsman I’ve ever seen.”

“Okay now I KNOW something's up.” Sammy started laughing. “Not even my sister compliments my cricket.”

“We won’t talk about what happened the last time you two discussed that.” Lizzy grinned. “You’ve still got the bruises I see.”

(How do you think they stopped Tammy from trying to kill Belle?)

“Do you want to talk about it?” Lizzy asked after they’d finished laughing.

Sammy sighed. “Would you be upset if I told you I can completely understand where Dan is coming from?”

“Nope. Remember how you talked me around?” Lizzy reminded him. Sammy smiled at her, before sighing yet again and looking out over the city.

“You don’t know what it’s like. I was made a scapegoat because of how I look. Something I can’t even change. It gets me thinking about what else I had to endure because of something I can’t change. What if Mum and Dad had been able to buy the garage when I was a baby instead of being turned away because they’re black? I wouldn’t have been in that crappy public school. Tammy and I wouldn’t have been in that car when Uncle Wallace…heck, Mum could have paid for Uncle Wallace’s rehab instead of him having to leave early.” Sammy began to feel angry. “I’ve had to fight all my life, even before your brother and Belle started their crusade, and they only did it because they felt like it. It makes me angry. They could walk away whenever they like and it wouldn’t make a difference to them. You can walk away. I can’t. I can never walk away from fighting unless I leave this city and go West. If I give up there’s consequences and that’s not fair!”

Lizzy watched as Sammy balled up his fists, his face contorted in anger. “Tammy’s done more than anyone, even though she’s suffered, and for what? Charlie is the president of the Chamber of Commerce, not her. She’s put in a million times the work that Chuckles and Giggles have! But they’ll get the glory, not us!”

“It’s not about glory really, is it?” Lizzy asked quietly. “You just want a break.”

“I don’t want to go West. I want to stay here with you, and Tammy and Rose, and Teej and ‘Tuney, and Sunny…but if I stay here I’m always on guard.” Sammy told her.

Lizzy hugged him. “I wish I could fix it.” She said.

“You’re fighting with me, and that’s enough.” Sammy replied. “I guess I should be mad at you too if I’m gonna be mad at Belle and Charlie, but I can’t.”

“I know.” Lizzy replied, not sure what to say.

Sammy put his arm around her. “I know in the end it will be okay, but right now…it’s so dark and the darkness is choking me.”

He kissed her forehead. “I’m just glad I have you and the others.”

“Love you too Sammy.” Lizzy kissed him back. “And you can always talk to me. I might not completely understand but I’ll listen.”

The pair stood on the dam holding each other as the clouds started to thin out. 

“Wait…isn’t that your brother and his girlfriend now?” Sammy noticed that Chuckles and Giggles were in the air heading towards the city.

“It looks like it. They’ve been heading out to City Hall to help clean up and keep an eye on the Joneses.” Lizzy told him.

“Don’t we have Sunny for that?” Sammy asked.

“We do, but unfortunately her parents aren’t really talking to each other, so she can’t glean much from her mother.” Lizzy signed.  “And there they go into the lake again.”

“I guess we all have our crosses.” Sammy grinned. The pair laughed.

–

“Why are you two here AGAIN?” Demon glared out of his office at the two vigilantes who were helping to replaster the walls.

“They be doing a fine job sir, they be being very helpful indeed sir.” The foreman beamed at Chuckles and Giggles, who blushed.

“Just as long as they keep being helpful.” Demon narrowed his eyes at them.

“I don’t think he likes you two.” The foreman noted as Demon slammed his door shut, disappearing into his office.

“Well, we ARE trying to get him out of his job and arrested for various crimes.” Giggles pointed out as she smoothed a layer of plaster over some bullet holes.

“Fair enough.” The foreman chuckled. “Make sure you fill them holes proper!”

“Yes sir!” The two saluted the foreman, who chuckled again before heading off to deal with the floor-layers.

“Well, no sign of Daryl or of any of the Counsellors.” Chuckles pointed out as he stuffed another hole full of plaster. “Which means we can’t protect them.”

“I know, but we can’t be following them all around. I’m sick of Dan beating us up as it is.” Giggles replied. 

“I guess we can only do so much.” Chuckles sighed. “You spoken to any of the Knights recently?”

“Not really, no,  you?” Giggles asked.

“Apart from my sisters, no.” Chuckles smoothed over his work. “I kinda feel disconnected from them.”

“I’m sure we’ll all get together soon and figure things out.” Giggles dismissed him. “We’re all just shellshocked.”

“We don’t have time to be.” Chuckles pointed out.

They continued working in silence.

–

Petunia wiped her brow as she poured the last of the freshly made jam into the glass bottle. Her kitchen was full of preserves that she’d been making for the past hours, her garden having had a good yield that month. She sighed. It helped her take her mind off the fact that the only big brother she had ever known was now out for blood.

She looked at her watch. TJ would be home soon. Petunia put a cap on the bottle and put it with the others to be sealed. 

“Lady Luck ain’t feeling so lucky right now.” She sighed. The bottles in front of her popped, signalling they were ready to be put away. She dated them as she put them in the back of the pantry.

She heard the front door open and slam. “Hey Theodore, I’m in here!” She called out.

“DON’T call me Theodore!” TJ yelled back, before stepping into the kitchen and grabbing Petunia in a big hug. “Wow, you’ve been busy.” He looked at all of the preserves now in the pantry.

“Yeah, well, I had to do something.” Petunia shrugged. “Keeps my mind off things.”

“I know how you feel.” TJ kissed her forehead.

“How was work?”

“Painful. There’s three of us holding out against Troupe membership.”

“Timston finally folded huh?”

“They threatened his Mum. You know she’s all he has left.” 

“That’s low.”

“Tell me about it.” TJ sighed, giving Petunia another squeeze. “I got a call from Webster though. Got him some records that he needed for another one of his reports.”

“Is he any closer to finishing the case against Jones?” Petunia asked.

“You’d have to ask Belle that, but I don’t think she nor Charlie are talking to us at the moment.” TJ let go of Petunia and went to the fridge to get a drink. “They’re too busy helping clean up City Hall.”

“I don’t know why they’re bothering.” Petunia said.

“It keeps them in the loop I guess. Also means they can protect the Counsellors from Dan.” TJ pulled some cordial out of the fridge and poured himself a glass. “Did you make this?”

“Grew the lemons and limes myself.” Petunia grinned. “Saves us some money in the short term.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not going to get any easier anytime soon.” TJ told her. “The Troupe are squeezing the force hard, I could lose my job.”

“They’re not making you take any of their drugs are they?” Petunia asked.

“I’m scared they might be sneaking some into people’s lunches and drinks. I don’t eat or drink anything at work anymore. I’m too scared of what I might ingest.” TJ told her. “I think they use their drugs to try and brainwash people into joining them.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me, especially seeing the way Johannes was.” Petunia replied. “We really need to hook up with Belle again, she would probably have all the history and be able to tell you how to protect yourself.”

“Honestly, with how much time they’re spending at City Hall, I don’t think I trust them too much anymore.” TJ sat at the kitchen counter. “I swear they’re in too deep.”

“Aren’t we all though?” Petunia sighed. “Although…maybe Webster might know something? Would you rather talk to him than to Belle?”

“He’s far enough away that he can’t be influenced by the big bads I guess.” TJ sighed and sipped his cordial. “I just wish…”

“I know.” Petunia walked over to him and kissed him. “Trust me, I know.”

–

Counsellor Troy didn’t know that he was being followed as he walked up the path to his lavish estate. He didn't even know his head had been removed by the Dragon Scale Scythe until it was too late.

“Well, there's another one down.” Dan wiped the blood from his weapon. “Only a few more to go.”

He put the Scythe in its holster on his back and pulled out his phone. “Please tell me why you couldn’t have done that yourself. I am sick of the excuses from you. You’d better be there when I get back to base or I’ll know why.” 

He hung up the call then headed off home.