Chuckie eventually returned with the ball and the game continued, this time the redhead being a lot more careful to avoid another accident.
"Throw the ball, Phil!" Tommy said to his friend, who was the one currently holding the ball and trying to avoid the others.
"Here goes the ball!" Phil was about to throw the ball when feeling someone grabbing it. Everyone turned to see the McNulty brothers, minus Timmy, all of them in soldier outfits.
"What are you doing with this ball, babies?" The tallest soldier said.
"Uh… we're playing." Tommy replied.
"Yes, that's what you do with balls." Lil shrugged before whispering at Kimi. "That helmet must be very tight."
"I know what balls are for!" The soldier groaned. "But according to law, all your toys are for us Philistines; you only can play with the things we allow you."
"Here. Play with this rock." Another soldier gave Tommy a little rock. The bald baby dropped it, him and his friends staring at the rock for a few moments before Phil talked again.
"It looks nice but it doesn't bounce."
"We want our ball!" Tommy frowned at the soldiers.
"Bally!" Dil frowned as well while extending his little hands trying to get the ball.
"Oh, yeah? And who is going to make us do that?" The largest soldier smirked at the babies while the other ones fold their arms.
"My big brother!" Kimi points at Chuckie, who gulped and whispered at her.
"I don't think that's such a good idea." The redhead realized he had no options left and faced the soldiers. "Uh… can we have our ball back? We are playing with it… or you can play with us if you want."
The soldiers chuckled and took out their swords (wooden ones, of course), approaching Chuckie with menacing expressions.
"Or… we can let you play with it… you can borrow it, no problem. Just return it when finishing." Chuckie replied nervously as he and his friends start walking back. The Philistines were ready to attack when freezing on the spot and gulping.
"Whoa. You scared them, brother." Kimi said to Chuckie, who got a surprised face.
"But I didn't do a thing." The redhead whispered at his friends and sister.
"Maybe they got scared by Dil's diaper." Phil waved his hand in front of his nose.
"You smell worse, Phil." Lil commented. Phil was about to reply when everyone noticed Dil pointing behind them and giggling.
"Kitty! Kitty!"
The group turned, realizing what Dil and the Philistines had seen; a large lion, with a hungry expression, approaching them. And since all of them were little kids, the lion looked as big as a T-Rex.
"Uh… how about… RUN!" A soldier yelled in fear.
"Finally, an order I like!" Phil added a split second everyone started running away from the lion, Tommy stopping when remembering who couldn't run.
"Dil!"
"Kitty!" Dil kept giggling and smiling at the lion that was now just a few feet away from him.
"The lion is going to eat my brother!" Tommy yelled in alarm. The soldiers, who were already hiding behind some rocks, popped their heads out.
"Your brother is a Philistine?" A soldier asked.
"No."
"Oh. Good bye." The soldiers went back to hiding while Tommy ran back to where Dil was.
"Poor Tommy and Dil!" Lil exclaimed while covering her eyes, she and the other babies looking at Tommy trying to rescue his brother.
Tommy grabbed Dil and started walking back, the lion getting closer and closer.
"Nice lion… you don't eat babies… with your very big mouth… that has a lot of big teeth…" Tommy said nervously, trying to calm down the beast that was now raising a paw, ready to strike the kids.
This was all Chuckie could stand. The redhead dashed in front of the bald babies and frowned at the lion.
"You shouldn't do this! You're being a bad lion. Now, go to your house and sit at the corner. Don't make me tell your mommy." Chuckie lectured the lion, who gave him a puzzled stare. The lion then shrugged and roared at Chuckie and the Pickles boys.
"Now that's why my mommy and my daddy wash their teeth." Tommy said, half-closing his eyes while Dil got a disgusted face and Chuckie rubbed his glasses to clean them. The lion raised his paw again and attacked the redhead.
Chuckie stopped cleaning his glasses just in time to grab the paw with both hands and, after struggling with the feline for a few seconds, tossed the predator over his shoulder. The lion landed with a hard thud before standing up, visibly dizzy. The lion shook his head and turned back to face Chuckie, who now was getting a more-or-less well done boxing position while Tommy ran away carrying Dil. The lion attacked again, trying to bite the kid, but Chuckie who, at this point, had closed his eyes and was throwing punches at the air, stopped him with a powerful left hook, stunning the beast.
"Whoa! He's winning!" Phil, at the distance, exclaimed in admiration.
"Get him, Chuckie!" Kimi exclaimed, excited, while Lil got an idea.
"Throw him away as you did with the ball!"
Chuckie heard Lil's voice and opened his eyes. He realized the stunned animal was now looking the other way, showing his back and tail to him; Chuckie frowned and grabbed the lion's tail, yanking it and making the beast sit down before started spinning the lion around, in an Olympic throw-like move; Chuckie spun the lion several times, creating a strong wind that lifted dust and sand around and raising the animal over his head, the lion now not roaring but meowing in fear until the kid released him.
"Bye-bye, Kitty," Dil waved bye to the lion that now was just a little point at the distance.
"That was the much most bravest thing I've ever seen!" Tommy said as he and his friends approached Chuckie, who was just realizing what he just had done.
"I… I did that?"
"Yes. You're the strongest, most bravest big brother anyone can have!" Kimi gave him a tight hug, Lil joining her immediately; the geeky kid blushed and smiled after a few seconds. At that moment, Phil turned back, realizing the soldiers, still half-hidden, had seen the whole thing and now had amazed and scared faces; the DeVille boy got a sly grin.
"Hey, you still don't want to give us the ball?" Phil shouted at the soldiers.
"N-no… I mean… AH, YOU KEEP THE BALL, WE'RE GOING!" A soldier said as dropping the ball before running away in fear, his companions joining him immediately.
"Yes, that's what I thought." Phil chuckled and picked up the ball. "Hey, you guys want to play a little more?"
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Many miles away, Stu, Drew and Howard, using Arabian-style clothing, walked through the desert looking up in the sky.
"Seriously, why are we looking for the star? It's too early." Howard commented.
"Not really; the star is supposed to appear way before the other ones." Stu pointed.
"No, I mean it's too early… like, more than one thousand years too early. The Messiah isn't going to get born yet."
"Why waiting until last moment?" Drew shrugged while his brother pointed at the distance.
"I see it! It's the star!"
WHAM!
The men looked at the bruised lion that had landed just a few feet ahead of them.
"No. Flying lion," Howard shrugged and started walking away, Drew and Stu looking at each other.
"Maybe we should ask for directions." Drew suggested.
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Soon, all the Israelites knew about Samson's amazing strength. And, of course, the Philistines knew as well.
At an ancient-style palace, Timmy McNulty, dressed in royal clothing, received his soldiers and heard about their encounter with the geeky kid.
"Are you telling me a freckled baby did that to a lion?" Timmy asked the soldiers.
"Yes, oh Great King, Master of Everything, and The One Who Can Get the Cookies Jar from The Top Shelf." One of the soldiers replied. "He defeated that lion as if it was a mouse."
"The lion was big like Simba, or small like Baby Simba?"
"Uh… big like Big Simba." The soldier replied. Timmy frowned and paced back and forth in front of them.
"We can't let one of our slaves to be that strong. He can give us troubles." Timmy said when stopping. "Quick, find out what's his name and bring him here to the palace."
"And what if he doesn't want to come?" Another soldier gulped.
"Well… tell him we are inviting him to have cookies and milk." Timmy ordered.
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"I still don't know why they invited me." Chuckie asked Kimi, the both of them heading to the palace.
"Well, you kicked that lion very, very far away. Maybe they want to play ball with you." Kimi shrugged.
"I don't know. The Philistines are very mean with us; why they now invite me to their house?" Chuckie got a nervous (more than usual) tone.
"Um… maybe they saw you're very strong and they don't want to fight someone like you and they prefer to be your friends."
"That has sense." Chuckie said, calming a little bit. "Hey, maybe I can ask them to stop being so bad with us; we can sit, and have our cookies, and our milk, and talk, and then take our nap together and have fun with coloring books…"
"Yes. That's the spitir." Kimi giggled and then looked ahead, realizing they were now just in front of the palace. "Now, go and have fun; and bring me some cookies, please."
Chuckie nodded at his sister, gave her a quick hug and moved to the large, imposing door. The redhead knocked it a couple of times and waited for the answer.
"Who's there?" A random soldier looked down at Chuckie from the watchtower.
"Uh… I'm Samson. I got your invitation." Chuckie took out a piece of paper that had some finger-painted drawings and showed it to the tower guard.
"Okay. Wait a moment." The soldier then talked to his companions, and a few moments later the massive door opened. Chuckie turned a last time to see his smiling sister nodding at him, and entered the palace, the door closing immediately after he passed.
"Hi. I just want to say… thanks… for… inviting…" Chuckie paled when realizing a bunch of soldiers were surrounding him, and several others were closing the door with thick chains and locks.
"Uh… you did it so we don't get cold?" Chuckie asked nervously while Timmy walked in front of the soldiers.
"You don't look that strong. Oh, well, we have to punish you anyway."
"If this is because of the tower… well, it was an accident! I can clean if you want; just give me a broom." Chuckie pleaded, noticing the soldiers getting closer. "G-guess this means we're getting no cookies?"
"Well, I'm getting them." Timmy said, taking out a cookie and munching it. "You are going to the dungeon for a much-llion years."
"WAAAH!" Chuckie screamed in fear and ran to the door.
"You fool, you can't escape; the door is…"
CRAASH!
All the Philistines gasped in awe as Chuckie ripped the door from its place and carried it while running away from the palace. A few moments later, Kimi who was now walking back home saw her brother running towards she.
"The party is over?" Kimi asked him.
"No, there's no party!"
"Then why they gave you a present?" Kimi asked, pointing at the door.
"Oh, great, now I'll have to pay for this one too!" Chuckie groaned. "I'll better return it."
At the palace, Timmy stared at the now empty door frame.
"Well… he really is strong. But I still want him to give me my door back!" The Philistine king threw a tantrum.
"Watch out!"
Everyone turned when hearing Chuckie shouting. A few moments later, the Philistines ran for coverage.
SMASH!
The Philistines looked at the large door that now was half-destroyed in the middle of the hole it made when crashing against the palace's wall.
"Uh… thanks." Timmy turned, impressed, to shout back at Chuckie.
"You're welcome." The reply came a few seconds later. Timmy looked at the door, then at the hole, and got an angry face.
"Clean up this mess, get a new door, build another wall, and catch that dumb baby… and bring me a hot chocolate!"
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The Philistines, furious with Samson, and worried he would use his great strength to lead the Israelites against them, marched to the town to arrest him.
A large battalion of Philistines, all of them kids from 3 to 5 fives old, entered the town, all the villagers looking from their homes, hidden in fear. A soldier stood on the center of the street and raised his voice.
"Attention, everyone; the kid known as Samson, or Chuckie… well, the freckled kid with glasses and lots of strength, has been ordered by the Philistine King to get arrested. If you don't give him to us, we'll destroy the town, steal the aminals, and paint on the walls until we ruin the original color."
"No, I just painted my kitchen!" A random Israelite cried.
"Here; take him." The Philistines turned at an Israelite that looked like a random baby around Kimi's age that emerged from his house holding something.
"That's no Samson. That's a chicken." The soldier pointed.
"Samson isn't that brave; you'll not notice the difference." The baby shrugged while the chicken struggled and ran back inside the house. The soldiers frowned and were about to start destroying the place when Chuckie emerged with his hands up.
"Okay, I give up, but don't hurt anyone."
The soldiers lost no time and secured the boy with chains; then, they started dragging and pushing him through the streets, heading to the palace, while the Israelites looked sadly at him from the windows. Eventually, the group passed next to Tommy's house, the kid carrying Dil; the youngest Pickles, holding a baby rattle, felt bad for Chuckie and extended his hands, offering him the rattle as a gift.
Despite being hand-cuffed, and with many heavy chains restraining his body, Chuckie smiled at Dil's gesture and extended his hands to accept the rattle but a Philistine took it first.
"This toy is too nice for you. I'm keeping it; serves to hit you." The soldier chuckled and started hitting Chuckie in the head with the rattle while the group kept advancing, Tommy and Dil getting even sadder.
The soldiers took Samson out of town, mocking, pushing and dragging him all the time, until he realized they were quite far from the village.
"So, now you're not going to destroy the town or hurt anyone?" Chuckie asked the soldiers, the annoying one still hitting him with the rattle.
"No, we're not." A soldier replied, and everyone kept silence for a few seconds before all the Philistines burst laughing.
"I said something funny?" Chuckie asked them.
"You're very dumb. Of course we're going to keep doing bad things! We arrested you just because this way nobody is going to stop us." Another soldier said between laughs.
"You mean… you lied?" Chuckie asked, scared yet also a little upset.
"Yes, and we would do that again." Another random soldier answered. Now Chuckie was visibly angry.
"Well, if you are not going to be nice, then I'm going to do what all of you doesn't want me to do." The redhead baby frowned.
"What; pee in your pants?" The annoying Philistine asked, not pausing his hitting, while the others laughed.
"No; I went to the baff-room before coming here." Chuckie replied. "And I'm going to stop you."
"And how are you going to do that if you're chained?" The leading soldier asked mockingly.
Chuckie didn't say a thing but stopped walking. The soldiers dragging him tried to keep the geek moving but he stood on his place. Even when the soldier with the rattle stopped hitting him and joined the other ones to try pushing or pulling their prisoner, the redhead remained immobile. Then, in a sudden, Chuckie cried in anger and extended his arms, pushing the Philistines away and breaking the chains and cuffs.
"He's escaping!" A soldier yelled in fear.
"W-we have swords and armors! We can catch him!" Another soldier got his spine back and raised his sword, his companions doing the same after a few seconds. Chuckie then looked down at his feet, realizing the hitting soldier had dropped the rattle, and grabbed it, holding the rattle as a weapon.
"Get him!" The leading soldier ordered the others, and soon all of them were attacking Chuckie, but he replied connecting very well-placed hits with his rattle, breaking the swords with it and then hitting the Philistines' heads and bodies; due his strength, the soldiers felt the hits even if they were wearing armor.
"Waah! He plays too rough!" A large Philistine soldier ran away, rubbing his head and crying in fear and pain. The leader gulped and started sweating cold until having an idea; he immediately grabbed another Philistine who was running away as well.
"Quick, go get the special soldiers!"
The soldier obeyed and ran away while the very one-sided battle continued. A few minutes later, the Philistine returned with several teenagers, on similar armor, following him.
"There he is, cousin. He's the mean baby that doesn't let us destroy his people." The little Philistine told a very large teenager, who cracked his knuckles and glared at Chuckie.
"Come on, guys, let's get this baby!" The large teen said to his partners, all of them charging against Chuckie, who gulped at the sight.
"Hey, wait… they're large boys; I can hit them harder!" Chuckie realized, and waited for the teenagers on his place, still holding the rattle.
WHACK! POW! THUD! ZAS! OOF!...
The soldiers' leader and the one who went for the teens stared at the scene, cringing and half-closing their eyes at the fight in front of them, until the leader turned at his subordinate.
"Go get more soldiers. And tell your aunt that your cousin isn't going home for dinner."