Chapter 9

"Welcome back everyone. We know you´ve been eagerly waiting for this moment..."announced Lola into the microphone.

"So without further ado... Miss Beauvillage – Round Two BEGINS!"added Angie and a large applause sprang.

Beauvillage´s Art Workshop builing was packed full with people. Chichi and his crew worked tirelessly for the past two days to make its numerous sections fit to accomodate the fans as well as the numerous TV equipment. As Trashbin pointed out, this round will be a tricky one for them, since there were 3 great rooms where the girls would soon start their works of art. And one main room, where Angie and Lola would be narrating everything. Both girls really had to hand it to the Genius-boy and his crew – they really outdone themselfs. Everything was looking very professional – in fact, Trashbin and his men stated, that they never even saw someone take to the task with so much enthusiasm and to such great effect. Right now the main room was packed full of people, all of them clapping and overjoyed. Both Lola and Angie were wearing matching overalls provided by Miles – Lola´s were deep red and Angie´s bright green – a witty idea of Lola´s in order to blend in more with the artistic atmosphere of the second round.

Smiling at the people as the applause died down, Lola brought the microphone to her smiling lips.

"Aaaalrighty... let´s give a warm welcome to our three judges – Rodney Philips..."

Rodney stepped into the view and waved to the cheering crowd. He also wanted to blend in with the atmosphere. He was wearing a pair of simple blue trousers, black and white sneakers, black t-shirt and a white professor coat. His hair was scruffy and he had a boyish grin on his face – something which made Angie swoon, her cheeks blood-red. Focused on the crowd, Rodney failed to notice this, even when Lola had to hold Angie to support her for she was about to faint. Quickly recomposing herself, Angie gripped the microphone as Rodney took his place next to them, determined not to look at him.

"Frederick Wiseman..."she announced as the crowd sprang into applause again.

Wiseman came into view looking slightly comical in a white coat, which contrasted with his grey trousers, the "detective" sunglasses still present on his face.

"And last but not least... Michael Miles."announced Lola just as Wiseman took his place besides Rodney.

As Miles came into view, the crowd´ s applause was mixed with various degrees of laughter and approoval, just as Lola and Angie turned to look at him. Angie had to surpress a giggle while Lola resisted the urge to smack her forehead in exaspiration. Miles indeed wanted to blend in. He was dressed in a costume, which resembled that of the french painter – with a long-sleeved beige dress that reached to his knees and shown his blue trousers and simple sneakers. On his head was a large blue hat, symbolic to the french painters and under his gleaming ever-present sunglasses he had sticked a fake black mustache. Rodney chuckled to himself as Wiseman gaped, his jaw nearly hitting the ground at what he saw. Miles made his way towards the crowd, waving and gesturing with his hands towards the cheering crowd.

"Yo, peoplezz... tiz´ I – ze famouz Milezzasso..."he said in a cheezy french accent.

The crowd instantly boomed with laughter and even Angie and Rodney couldn´t bear it anymore, joining in the laughter. Lola was trying her hardest not to express any emotion at all as Wiseman came up to him.

"Wait a minute... what´s that supposed to be?"he asked in complete confusion looking at Miles up and down.

"Wazz it luuk like, Wiseylangello?"asked Miles grinning at his fellow-judge as the crowd´s laughter doubled at Miles´ nickname for Wiseman.

Rodney almost went to the knees with pure laughter and Angie leant on to him for support for she was close to doing so herself. Lola swiftly stepped between the two men, before they could have a chance to start bickering like they always did – or rather Wiseman always did with Miles provoking him more and more. Swiftly taking control of the situation, she adressed the crowd.

"Now that we have the judges here... let´s take a small looksie at our contestants."she said signaling to one of the cameramen off set, who nodded and gave a signal trough his headset.

Suddenly the large projector by the wall came to life and started projecting the statistics of the first round, which were programmed by Phil just yesterday. Phil himself was sitting just besides the projector, which was linked to his laptop. On his head was a headset with a small mic placed near his mouth. Wiping a tear of laughter from his eye, he quickly pressed a side of the headset closer to his ear.

"Okay, Trashbin. You guys can link up to my laptop."he said quietly into the mic, already starting another program on his laptop.

"We read ´ya, Phil. Working on it. The cameras are in position and syncing as we speak."said Trashbin over the conncetion.

Clicking on his computer for a bit, he made three images appear on the wall, where the projector was pointing. The images were showing the going-ons in the other three rooms of the Art Workshop building – the rooms where most of the institution´s work was one – the three workrooms. Each was stocked full of people, contestants and fans alike.

"As everyone already know, the objective of this round is for our ladies to produce a work of art within the two hour limit. As not to limit their creativity, we´ve had our fair contestaints choose what they will be doing and have our very capable crew aqquire them all they would need for it."explained Rodney to the crowd, pointing to the wall and the three live images.

"For simplicity sake, we´ve divided our contestants into three teams, each working in their own working place. As such, we the judges will divide and each of us will be going over each room seperately. But not alone."he said smilingly gesturing to the space where the three judges came from.

From the backspace, accompanied by applause came Matthew and Natalie Conners, Stacy Workalot – the Art Workshop´s most gifted artists. Matthew waved happily at the people, while Natalie seemed to be shy a bit in the wake of all the attention. Stacy however, dressed in a large Home-fix-it T-shirt waved and showed off for all its worth. Phil flashed a happy grin at his parents, one his father happily returned, his mother however was too preoccupied to do so, instead she stepped closer to Lola and Angie, her face covered in a crimson blush.

"Ladies and gentlemen allow me to introduce, Beauvillage´s most gifted artists – Matthew and Natalie Conners and Stacy Workalot."announced Rodney proudly and even those from the crowd – like Mom, Pop or the Hubbubs, applauded the trio spiritedly.

"Our respective guests will accompany the judges and give their opinion on the girl´s projects and techniques."

"But that´s not all..."boomed Wiseman suddenly.

"To ensure that NO cheating will be done, I took the liberty of procuring the perfect precaution – ladies and gentlemen it is my immense pleasure to introduce my three brothers – the members of the Brotherhood of the Wise – Nick Meanfull, Archie Smartson and Tex Workalot."said Wiseman gesturing broadly to the place where Nick, Tex and Archie were already emerging.

Lola sighed to herself – she knew that the three "wonders" will be attending and she still didn´t think it would be a good idea. All three of them were wearing their detective coats and the brotherhood´s signature sunglasses. Applause rang, mostly from the younger population of the crowd like Oliver, Liam, Abbygail, Emily and surprisingly even Mia, who was shouting completly overjoyed and waving at Nick happily.

Each of the brotherhood acknowledged the applause in their own way. Nick put up a tough face and folded his muscular arms - assuming an authoritative stance. Tex on the other hand stood absolutely still as though dumbfounded about the large wave of attention going his way. Archie was however lively enough for the both of them – jumping up and down and waving to everyone happily, especially one place in particular – the place where one Emily Sweetlong was sitting next to April, Chloe and Mia. Emily smiled a radiant smile and blew him a kiss, something which made Archie blush deeply – his heart swelling with joy.

Wiseman stepped next to his three brothers as the applause died down.

"My three brothers will be assighned to each sector in order to ensure that no cheating will be done."said Wiseman proudly.

As a few seconds of silence hung in the room, Lola quickly once more took hold of the situation.

"Now for the sectors themselfs... Judge Miles...?"she said turning to Miles, who nodded smilingly.

"Yezz, mademoiselle Lola... ehm... ze zectors zhemzelfs are zhezze – ze paintzer zector..."he said still in the cheezy accent, gesturing to the first of the three sectors displayed by the projector.

Phil got the hint and displayed the sector, so that it alone would be visible on the wall. There, in the spacy room was seen a lot of working tables and make-shift canvas-holders behind each was a small chair. Many of the contestants were standing there – some looking nervous, some determined, some wearing cassual cloathing, some clothing suited to their work. Candy Liferich was there too, dressed in pure white head to toe overalls, which are commonly used by expert painters when painting a building and googles settled on the top of her head.

"Ze girlz zhere will show zheir immense paintzer skils each making zometzing ze-la-wooooah..."said Miles humorously gesturing up and down and drawing many laughs among the crowd.

"Zzzzzzecooond iz ze zzzculptzer zector..."he announced happily.

Once more Phil displayed the live picture of the sector. More work tables were there, though it was clear, that the scupltury and ceramics was done in that sector – especially with the prize works done by Stacy Workalot.

"Ze girlz will make wonzerous workz uzzing zheir very, very craftzy handzzz..."said Miles, moving his face towards the crowd and twirling the end of his proxy mustache between his fingers, grinning like a maniac.

"Aaaaand lazt, butz my perzzzonal favourite... ze alternative workshop..."he exclaimed wildly, as soon as the applause died down again.

Phil displayed the last sector, showing the largest room of the three, where each corner and work-place had some other material piled up next to the contesting girls. Some were sitting behind giant worktables, some standing next to a greater space with material besides them. Like Lis E Milo for instance. The girl was standing-out from the others not just in appearance, for it seemed that she too, decided to "dress-up" for the occasion – wearing a large buttoned-up yellow/green flanell shirt, its sleeves rolled up exposing her delicate hands right up to her elbows, the mask now matching the color of her flannel shirt and her hair made into several nicely spinned buns (courteousy of her best friend´s capable hands) and long dark-blue overall pants which slightly covered her black and white slipper-like shoes. Besides her was a giant pile of jet-black rubber tires and a live model of a skelleton, which was commonly found in Elementary schools. Also besides her was a dark brown bag, which was packed full of who knew what.

Cherie, who was seated at a work-table near her, dressed in cassual clothing of red and black, fixed her with a death-glare.

"Ze girlz will show zheir real cratfyness-ness and ness... zhey will make a work of art in unuzzual wayzz... ooooh I´m lookin´forward to zzeeein´ what zhey cook up..."finished Miles with a joyous exclamation, litterally jumping up and down – something which seemed to reflect upon the crowd too.

Angie and Rodney stepped-up as the crowd´s applause once more died down.

"As all of you undoubtably know, 30 contestaints out of the original 60 have passed from the first round. "said Angie gesturing to the wall and Phil instantly displayed the point score from round one.

"Right you are, Angie. I have to say, that we judges had a hard time last round. Each contestant of the dance round could be given a total of thirty points – ten from each of the judges. However only five girls have made full points."said Rodney and Phil immediately displayed the five onto the wall.

There was Cherie with number 33, Candy with number 7, Hazel with number 52, Anabell with number 40 and Lis with number 22 – all showing thirty points added to their collumns. Nodding to a gesture from Philips, Phil displayed the remainder of the contestants. Unlike the lucky five, the top of that group was still short by 8 points, the others variating between 15 to 20 points.

"The pass requirement was 15 points. In the spirit of fair play, we decided to give equal chance to everyone during this round – those girls of you who have gotten only the required 15 points don´t despair. This round will have a total of 15 points to earn from us – five from each judge – this way, the skills will decide your passage. The requirement to pass from this round will be 30 total points."

In the various work-rooms where the girls were assembled trepedation was present. Since some of them only passed with 15 points, this would mean that they would really have to score full points in order to get trough the round. But even girls who did better in the dance round were nerous. Some flashed a few menacing and jealous looks at the five girls who scored full marks – neighther of them had to earn a single point to pass on.

"This way we´ll be truly able to pick up those who are fit to pass to the next round."offered Rodney kindly.

"Zzzzo, prepaaair yourzzelfz zweeeet girlzzz... for round zzwoo beginzz zzooon enough..."finished Miles once more twirling his mustache and moving his face closer to the cameras.

...

In the alternative room, the girls were getting prepared for the round with Chichi and his crew bringing in the various supplies for the girls. During yesterday´s morning before school or work, all the girls assembled in the Workshop to prepare for today´s round. All of them were asked to list the material they would need for their work – the vast Beauvillage firms and shops pledged to aid the contest in any way they can – in this case, Chichi, Miles and mayor Haveitall were more than happy to take them up on the offer. So as it was, since everyone knew what they would be doing for the art round, that the girls simply listed the material needed and the crew would supply it for the round. The only girl not present for that was Lis, but her material list was supplied to Chichi by his big sis. The blonde-haired boy smirked to himself as he and Victor manoovered the small waggon filled with old rubber tires towards the contest´s mystery-girl.

"Well here they are, Lis."said Chichi in a happy voice, drawing her attention to them.

Smiling brightly at them, she nodded.

"Thank you boys."

Both boys returned the smiles.

"I´m keeping my fingers crossed, Ms Lis. I really hope you´ll win the contest."said Victor earnestly, his cheeks reddening.

Chichi smirked again. He noticed, that Vic had taken a liking to her since the end of the first round. Since then, Victor had asked him quite a few times, if he knows the mystery-girl´s identity. Chichi suspected, that he had developed a small crush on her. Lis beamed brightly and gently ruffled Victor´s black hair – the gesture making the young boy blush a brilliant shade of red.

"Thanks. I´m happy to know that someone is rooting for me. I´ll do my best."she said in a gentle voice.

Chichi allowed a small moment to pass, during which Victor´s blush couldn´t possibly get redder. Then he clapped his hands drawing attention to himself.

"Ok. Vic, could you go and help Joe? I´ll deal with this ok?"

Victor snapped his head to him as though just waking from a pleasant dream.

"Okay, Chichi..."he said quietly and made his way backward.

Chichi waited until Victor was out of earshot before turning to Lis.

"I´m happy that ol´ Workalot had given these from his recycling workshop. But let me tell you, the skelleton wasn´t easy to get a hold of. Miles had to call in one of his contacts to get it."he said gesturing to the life-size school model of a human skelleton placed after her.

Lis looked at it, then returned her sights on Chichi.

"Thank him for me. I was afraid, that you wouldn´t be able to get it."

Chichi grinned mischievously and moved closer to her.

"Come on... you know him better than that, Lily."he said quietly.

Lis gasped and gawked at him. Chichi snickered.

"Did you really think I wouldn´t notice?"

Her blush evident even with the mask, she shook her head.

"So Lola didn´t breath a word?"

Chichi´s grin widened.

"She didn´t need to. I have eyes and ears. And also enough memory to find out, that one of Balthazar´s books is missing from our Hidehole shelf. Plus Oscar´s gemstone necklace only confirmed my suspition – you´ve used Green Magic on your hair to make it more straight instead of your ussual bushy one. Plus I think I know WHY you´ve entered – or rather... for who..."

Blushing slightly, Lis sighed and chuckled lightly.

"You really have me all figured out don´t you, Chichi Tofu."

The pair exchanged a small laugh and Chichi busied himself with unloading the rubber tires.

"I think I know what you´re attempting to do with this, but I´ll let myself be surprised."

Chuckling happily, Lis ruffled his hair affectionately.

"I´m not sure I anything would surprise you, detective Chichi."

Chichi rolled his eyes a bit.

"Please don´t call me that... afterall... I´m not Wise enough to be a detective."

As the pair laughed once more, they were unaware that a pair of eyes were watching them – positively red with rage.

"I can´t believe this. She even befriended the little brat too?!"grumbled Cherie to herself, convinced that the accursed mystery-girl had scored herself a yet another advantage.

Hearing her name called she spun her head to see Steve, Nina and Zoe make their way to her.

"I hope you all know what to do."said Cherie venomously as they converged around her, still eyeing Lis and Chichi menacingly.

Nina and Zoe both nodded, but Steve was looking restless.

"Please Cherie... there´s no need to do that. We could get chaught and I´m not sure Detective Wiseman was fooling around when he said that cheating would be punished harshly."

"Oh nonsence, Stevie. We´re too smart to be chaught."she said in assuring voice.

Nina however eyed her skepticly.

"I´m not sure about that, Cherie. Even the Brotherhood of the Wise will be on guard..."

Cherie loosed a small humorous laugh.

"Come on, Nina. Those three little simpletons? They have NO chance of catching us. Trust me."

Nina seemed to be assured, but Steve was not so much – he was having real reservations about the entire thing. However he steeled himself, remembering the promise he gave to his precious Cherie.

"All right, Nina you make your way to the painter sector. You know what to do?"asked Cherie, grinning maliciously.

Nina nodded smilingly and made her way past the various people, who came to wish luck to the contesting girls and out of the sector door.

"Zoe... you have all that you need for the sculptur sector?"

Zoe nodded grinning as maliciously as Cherie.

"You bet. They won´t know what hit ´em."she affirmed and spun on her heel, making her way out of the room just like Nina did.

Cherie turned to Steve with the most satisfyed smile.

"And I´ll take this sector – in fact, I´ve already made my first round around the place already. I can´t thank you enough, Stevie."she said placing a hand on Steve´s shoulder.

Steve shuddered at the contact, his cheeks reddening.

"You´re welcome, Cherie. But I still think, that there was no need for this. Afterall, you´re the greatest girl in Beauvillage – you would win this fair and square."he said in an honest voice.

Now it was Cherie´s turn to blush slightly. For some reason hearing it from Steve made her heart warm over. Her smile turned more gentle, and eyes sparkled in appretiation.

"Thanks Stevie."she said in a soft voice.

Steve returned her smile and nodded.

"I´d better get to the crew – don´t want to raise suspition. In any case... I´m keeping my fingers crossed Cherie."

As he spun and made his way trough the room, Cherie´s eyes followed him, thinking about what he had been saying to her for the past few days.

"What a nice guy he is... it feels so good to have his help and support. Maybe he´s right about it... maybe I should just take my chances and simply depend on how good I do..."she mused as she saw him dissapearing behind the door – an affectionate smile playing on her lips.

However right after him, Chichi Tofu made his way but not without waving to someone. Turning her sights toward the place he was waving, she saw Lis waving back besides several rubber tires, a skelleton model and a crate filled with who knows what. Her eyes instantly flashed and a frown formed on her face.

"NOT A CHANCE! This girl is going DOWN! Along with everyone else, who dares to steal my first place!"she thought furiously.

Its back to the plan then and as Cherie saw the people slowly making their way to the make-shift seats, the cameramen running about and the forms of Michael Miles and Natalie Conners entering the room. Behind them someone was hurrying after them. However the tiny person tripped on one of the camera cables and fell right onto the floor, sliding on his belly towards the pair. Cherie surpressed a derisive snicker as she saw the tiniest of the Brotherhood get to his feet and dustying himself.

"Oh, this is gonna be easier than I thought."she smirked to herself as she kept her eyes on Archie.

...

The clocks in the four sectors, synchronized by Chichi were silently beeping and the crowd in all four rooms began to count down the final seconds before the start – the excitement in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Just a few seconds now. Five, four, three, two, one...

BEEEEEEEEEEP

A mighty beep rang trough the Art Worshop´s all four rooms – supplied by the alarm Titus Hubbub brought in and installed with his son and wired to the clocks Chichi and Phil installed. A two hour limit was now on and counting down. The girls wasting not a moment and instantly busied themselfs with work with the applause of the crowd, who were watching eagerly even as a calm music started to play in order to help them "access their creative spirits" as Mom Tofu nicely put it.

"Aaaaand here we go. Our contestants have now just two hours to show just how much talent they have in the fields of art. We´re looking forward to seeing their creations and wish all of them luck with their works. As you very well know, you – our guests can freely move between the sectors to support your favourite contestants and also see their work in progress."said Angie happily, already getting into the spirit herself.

"With our judges and their guests already in their respective sectors..."said Lola pointing to the large picture showing the three images which showed just what was going on in the other rooms of the building.

The painter sector shown the girls hard at their work with Detective Wiseman looking around curiously at each and every work – positively amazed at what was done in front of his very eyes...

Behind him walking was Nick, his eyes darting vigilantly from place to place as though determined to detect any small hint of cheating that could be done in the room. Behind them was Matthew Conners, smiling pleasantly and looking around in slight amazement.

The sculpture sector was pretty much the same, with Rodney Philips going around along with Tex and his mother – who were almost the same height. And of course the alternative sector with Miles, Natalie Conners and Archie.

"...we also felt that the two hour limit may be too much for you folks to bear."finished Angie smiling at the crowd.

"That is why, we decided to make a small interview with another one of our town´s talented artists. Ladies and gentlemen it gives me great pleasure to introduce Mrs Matilda Longline."

The elderly lady came in accompanied by a large cheer. Smiling pleasantly she gave out an air of lively energy many could envy her, dispite her very high age – in fact she was the oldest living person in Beauvillage. As most people knew however, she was also an artist – a painter, who was relatively well known across the country, but she retired over twenty years Lola and Angie talked with Trashbin and the people involved with this, it became very apparent, that Mrs Longline´s fame still endured. So it became upon Lola and Lily to ask Mrs Longline to come out of retirement for the duration of two hours – something the elderly lady did with great eagerness. She also turned out to be the perfect narrating help for the two girls, not only knowing so much about art and its history not just in Beauvillage but also the entire country at large, but also having a small personal charm of her own – fitting in with the two young girls quite nicely. During the first five minutes many of the crowd used their oppoturnity to move between sectors – younger ones more than the elder, who seemed to be very interested in what Mrs Longline had to say. Moving into the painter sector Chloe, Oliver, Liam, Mia, Emily, Alice and Maurice could barely contain their excitement as they came nearer to the action, though still being behind a low make-shift boundary made to separate the viewers from the contestants, though it followed the walls of the large room in order to provide a view from every angle. In each corner of the room was a large camera, with one of Trashbin´s men operating it, carefully taking in the contestants and their progressing work. Wiseman was slowly walking between the girls going "oooh" and "aaah" at each one, still mystified. Matthew Conners was also walking and seemed to be taking in the girls´ technique as though hoping to pick up something new. Nick however was standing at the side of the room, arms folded and a grumpy look on his face.

"How´s it going, Nick?"asked Oliver as soon as they reached him.

Nick scrowled and fixed them a look.

"Bad. Nothing that I can detect. Yet."he added returning his gaze to the contestants.

Mia, Chloe and Emily giggled.

"Determined one."said Chloe mischievously.

"You have no idea."nodded Mia, rolling her eyes.

Nick´s eyes flashed a bit and instantly snapped his head at her, fixing her with a small glare.

"I have a duty to do here, blondie. What d´you expect me to do?! Sit down?!"

Mia once more rolled her eyes and let out an exaspirated sigh.

"That was supposed to be a compliment you dumb ape. But actually you should sit down. Just gonna stand here for two hours?"

Nick steeled his face.

"That´s exactly what I´m going to do."

Mia slapped her palm on her forehead, the others watching the scene confusedly.

"Oh suit yourself... see if I caaaaa..."

Giving out a small yelp she ducked as a small ammount of paint flew right towards her face and splatted on the wall behind her – green color sliding down on the wall. The others quickly looked for the source, but Nick couldn´t help but giving out an amused laugh just as Mia raised her head back.

"What´s up blondie... afraid of some paint...HEY!"he yelped as another shot of paint hit the side of his head, yellow color splatting on his sunglasses and face.

This time it was Mia who was overcome with laughter, even as Nick grumbled and reached for a handkerchief in the breast pocket of his detective robes and proceeded to wipe the color off his sunglassed before he even thought about his face.

"Incoming!"warned Liam swiftly and the entire rest of the gang ducked as another blobs of paint flew towards them.

Nick however was too preoccupied cleaning his sunglasses and Mia too preoccupied laughing to duck in time and the pair was instantly bombarded by various shots of paint. Opening her eyes right after getting a facefull of blue, Mia looked for the source of the paint – attack. Sure enough she didn´t have to look far and her face instantly contorted in rage.

"Watch what you´re doing you stupid air-head!"she exclaimed, showing her balled fist for emphasis, her eyes flashing and Nick quickly followed her line of sight, his eyes flashing just as much.

"Yeah! Watch where you´re splatting that paint, Candy!"he exclaimed angerly, glaring the said girl in much the same way her little sister was.

Candy was just before them, her white overalls already coded in various paint, the hood of the overalls over her head and googles firmly on her eyes. Infront of her was a large canvas, which was coded with various shades of paint, besides her on a small worktable many cups filled with paint and many paintbrushes of various size. She had taken to the task of painting so spiritedly, that the paint was flying here and there as she painted with her both hands, switching paintbrushes and colors in a rapid manner. Turning her head towards them, she fixed them a happy smile still not removing her googles.

"Sorry guys. I just want to make it on time."she said in a happy voice.

Mia flared again letting out an angry howl of pure rage.

"You have a TWO HOUR LIMIT, you brain-damaged supercow!"

Nick nodded and pointed to the large clock which was counting down the time.

"You still have one hour and fiftytwo minutes left. You don´t need to splat paint around."he said angerly.

Candy however shook her head, the happy smile not leaving her face which was also coded in small dots of paint.

"I appretiate that you came here to cheer me on, guys. But can´t chat now... time is short and I gotta work, work, work..."she said happily before returning to her painting and paint once more started to fly all over the place.

Thistime however the entire group was ready and made their escape, moving quickly along.

"Ooooh! I HATE her! Why in the hell do I have to be related to such a stupid, crazy, brain-damaged, hyperactive and air-headed COW!"she ranted quickly, not bothering to restrain her anger and punching the wall in rage.

The others backed away a bit, not wanting to get chaught into her rage. Nick however didn´t.

"Dammit! Look at me! I got paint all over my face! Now what am I gonna...?"

She was suddenly interupted by Nick placing a hand on her shoulder. Looking at him, she saw that he reached again into his coat with his free hand and pulled out another handkerchief.

"Here... "he said simply passing her the handkerchief, deliberately looking the other way.

Mia blushed deeply and for a few seconds didn´t move a muscle. Slowly she reached and took the handkerchief from his hand.

"Thanks."she said in a voice so quiet, that Nick could barely hear it.

"No problem."he said, fixing his eyes on the other contestants, not wanting to show his blush.

Mia instantly busied herself in wiping her face and Nick swiftly looked around for any sighn of cheating. The rest of the gang exchanged surprised looks. Chloe and Emily however smirked at eachother.

"Dammit! Still no sighn of cheating! Better go mingle in to get a better look on things."said Nick looking at Mia and he made to leave.

"Wait Nick."she said suddenly, stopping him dead in his tracks.

Her deep blush getting more intense she moved the hand still holding the handkerchief towards his face.

"You´ve got some paint there."she said as she made to wipe the paint.

Nick was rooted on the spot as Mia wiped the paint, but closed his eyes a bit in response to the surprisingly gentle touch he felt on his face.

"Okay. All done. You´re paint-free."said Mia quietly withdrawing her hand.

Looking at her in amazement, he nodded.

"Thanks Mia."he said quietly, his cheeks blood red now.

Mia was blushing as hard as he was, but still fixed him a small smile.

"Can´t have a great detective like you looking like a slob, can we?"

The pair´s eyes remained glued on eachother, everything around them forgotten.

"Awwwwwwww."

Nick and Mia were swiftly brought back down to earth as they heared the collective exlamation of their classmates – blushes once more deepening.

"This is so cute."breathed Alice.

"I didn´t expect THIS."snickered Oliver.

"Yup. Its love allright."nodded Chloe happily.

The last comment did it. Both Nick and Mia instantly snapped their heads in their direction, almost identical scrowls and death-glares aimed at their classmates. They gave a collective gulp and all of them backed a step or two.

"Didn´t see nothing."stammered Liam his hands intfort of him in a gesture of surrender.

"Yeah... we... we´re just going to..."stuttered Maurice pointing behind him with his thumb.

"The... the sculpture sector..."said Chloe quickly, already moving backwards, the others following her gesture.

"Y...yeah... see ya´ later..."said Oliver sheepishly.

"Bye."said Emily.

Together as one, the group swiftly made their way towards the door backwards and dissapeared out the door. Their eyes following their retreating forms, neighter Nick or Mia´s expressions changed. Still glaring both of them – along with everyone else didn´t notice Nina behind them moving calmly towards the large table full of paint, where all the contestants making a painting were getting their color when needed. Quickly looking from side to side and confident no one saw her, she poured something into the paint from a tiny bottle in her hand.

...

Even those watching the show on television could barely contain their excitement. As the two hour limit was shortening, the cameras were switching from one sector to another showing the girls at their work and the works were turning out to be more and more impressive as they were progressing.

The girls in the painter sector were showing amazing painting skills, some drawing according to models they have brought in, others working from mere memory or idea with just as impressive results. The sector seemed to be alive in various colors. The judges switched their placed a couple of times in order to look around the other girls´ works and their guests went along happily as well. Lola and Angie took this oppoturnity to incorporate the guests into their narrating. Chichi and Phil took some time-off from their crew duties in order to mingle a bit. They were instantly joined by April, who came along with Oliver and Chloe. Flashing a smile at his sister, Chichi made his way after the others as they were going for the sculpter sector. Waving at him, Lola turned back and wanted to help Angie, who was looking at the various paintings with Mrs Longline and Matthew Conners, when an amazing cheer rang across the room. Looking at the place where the people were staring and pointing, the camera instantly turned and focused on a slender 20 year old girl who was wearing a loose short-sleeved yellow shirt and a pair of baggy bright green pants. On her head was a matching green baseball-cap, which was turned backwards, hiding most of her short light-brown hair, some of which were sticking from beneath the cap. Her name was Tammy Hoodwood and right now she had most of the attention of the sector as she proceeded to spray a yet another shade of paint on her plaster canvas – which was supplied by Home-fix-it. Even Rodney Philips who came in to have a look was completly stunned at the picture spray- painted by her talented hands – a picture of several people behind a few blocks and a small landscape in the distance.

"And it looks like our girls are very talented in street-art as well."said Lola with purpose and smiled at the two guests between the judge.

"Definitely. I must say, that I am unfamiliar with this line of art, but the way I see it done here, it certainly has its magic."nodded Mrs Longline, eying the work in awe.

"I agree. Not to mention that this type of art has been ostracized too many times in our country. Certainly many conservative people can´t see the artistic value of such a wonderous work."noted Matthew smilingly.

Some of the other competitors in the sector scrowled at the attention Tammy was getting and begrudgingly returned to their work as though determined to find some way to out-do her. As the foursome moved on they narrowly avoided being splattered by paint. Looking at the source they gasped at Candy´s attempt of a work of art. Candy noticed them staring and flashed them a brilliant smile. As they looked on her canvas Lola had to surpress a giggle while the remaining three were almost shocked at what they saw. On her canvas, blob after blob were various paints litterally splattered everywhere.

"I...I´m not sure what to make of this."noted Matthew, looking confusedly to see some sort of point or technique and failing miserably.

"Brilliant, isn´t it?"asked Candy, obviously taking their reactions completly the wrong way.

"That´s one way to put it."said Rodney mildly scratching his head.

Candy stood aside to allow them a better view of her work and gestured to it proudly.

"I call it – The Dream."

Rodney, Matthew and Mrs Longline flashed eachother confounded looks.

"No offence, sweetie... but it looks like a nightmare to me..."said Mrs Longline weakly.

Lola for a briefest second forgot about professionality and allowed herself a small giggle.

Outside the sector Chichi, Phil and April were just making their way towards the scupltor sector when they noticed a gang of girls going their way, obviously for the painter sector.

The threesome recodnized them as the girls from the class one year above them, but Phil suddenly tensed. As did the taller girl in the middle. She was nicely shaped, wearing a light-blue jeans, a nice pink t-shirt and a short sleeved black jacket over it. Her face was pleasant enough and her blonde hair was long and wavy and the ends of it had a small shade of pink to it. As soon as she spotted Phil, her cheeks took on a brilliant shade of red. Phil also blushed a crimson shade of red. Chichi and April shared a small mischievous look as Phil´s gaze locked on with the girl´s. The other girls who were with her shared a small giggle as they looked at the three of them. Suddenly the girl made a move forward, quickly running to the painter sector with her friends following her, giggles still present. Chichi was unable to suropess a small chuckle as they left. Phil stood there paralyzed on the spot.

"Her name is Nicolette."said April, breaking the silence.

Phil´s head spun to her.

"H...how do you know...?"he asked dumbfounded.

April giggled a bit.

"Many of the upper-class girls look up to Chichi and you – they follow up your little projects. A few of them asked me a bit about you two..."she explained, her face getting a slightly sly look.

"...aaaaand as some of them remarked, this girl Nicolette has a slight interest in you..."she finished slyly flashing him a mischievous look.

Chichi did a very miserable job of surpressing a snort of laughter.

Phil however turned, his face completly red.

"Whatever..."he whispered and made his way towards the sculpter sector without another word.

April giggled and turned to Chichi.

"Phil seems to be having a small crush."

Chichi grinned at her.

"As I noticed. And already took a small advantage of..."he said grinning shamelessly.

April giggled.

"You naughty little lion...teasing your best friend?"she said affectionately fixing him a mock-stern smile.

Chichi took on an innocent look but inwardly liking this petname – one that was commonly used by his elder sister during his childhood as a reference to his sighn – a Leo.

"Not at all... just evening the score, that´s all."he said evenly, happy to be able to get back at Phil for teasing him about April.

They shared a small laugh. Then Chichi held up his hand.

"Come on... wouldn´t want to miss the excitement, would we? Afterall I have to get back to work in twenty minutes, before the clocks hit zero."

Inwardly whooping in pure joy, April allowed a small tinge of red grace her cheeks as she took his hand – positively giddy about it. Chichi was grinning his infamous tenthousand watt grin as he turned happily and hand-in-hand with April made his way to check out the sculpter sector.

...

The clock on the sectors were counting down the final seconds – THREE, TWO, ONE...

BEEEEEEEEEEP!

The loud beep signalled the end of the two hour limit and every girl obedietly stopped their work.

"Aaaaand that´s it! Our girls´ limit has come to a close."announced Angie to the large cheer to the crowd, even the guests and the judges as well.

"We will now have a fifteen-minute pause to give our contestants a moment to rest. In fifteen minutes our judges will be going over each sector and each work and give their verdict – so you guys watching this at home, stay tuned to see how well our girls faired."said Lola into her microphone.

The man at the main camera gave a hand-sighn and in a second the red lights on the cameras went off.

Billy wasted no time in moving towards Lola and grabbing her in a happy hug, spinning her around in pure joy with Lola giggling happily. Angie giggled happily at the couple´s happiness and turned to the other side of the room. With longing eyes she looked at Rodney who was deep in animated conversation with Matthew Conners and Mrs Longline. Fighting down the small blush she slowly made her way towards them. Rolling her eyes in mild exaspiration at the topic they were discussing, Natalie decided to leave her husband to his fun and instead made her way to her son, who was just returning with his best friend and April. In fact, nearly everyone in the building converged there, eagerly exchanging their feelings and views on the girls´ work – the expectation of which art would be best was high in the air. Only four people didn´t share the excitement. As soon as the people started to converge, Wiseman called his three "brothers" to himself.

"All right boys. Right now the people are concetrating in here. You three will be stationed in each of the other sectors – one in each. Remain there until the end of the break and make sure, that no one dares to touch the works."Wiseman instructed, looking vigilantly around the room.

The trio saluted him at once, determination shining from beneath their sunglasses.

"I´ll take the painter sector."said Tex nodding.

"I´ll have the sculpure sector."said Nick crossing his arms.

"Then I´ll have the..."started Archie, but the foursome suddenly heared his name called.

As one they spun to the source of the call. Seeing who it was, Archie´s cheeks reddened, but a overjoyed smile appeared on his face as he saw his girlfriend waving at him, Abbygail and Mia besides her. Wiseman eyed the girls, before returning their smiles and looked down at Archie.

"Of course... you can take your sweetheart along."he said and the trio looked at him.

"I... I can, brother?"asked Archie almost not daring to believe it.

Wiseman showed him a happy smile.

"Of course you can, brother Archie. Afterall, the more eyes on the lookout, the better."

Archie gave an overjoyed whoop and instantly rushed from the circle the four of them had formed.

"Hey! Don´t forget, Archie...! No smoochin´ on duty! Got that?!"called Nick, a bit menacingly.

"Of course not, brother Nick."called Archie in an almost innocent voice as he rushed to his girlfriend and grabbed her hand, pulling her after him.

Emily gave a happy squeal and allowed herself to be dragged behind her beloved boy. Nodding at Wiseman and Tex, Nick left too, going the same way Archie just went. As he passed between Alice and Mia, Mia grabbed his arm.

"Need some help, detective?" asked Mia, giving him a very rare smile.

Nick´s cheeks took on color, nevertheless he rolled his eyes mockingly and shrugged with a small smile.

"Be my guest, blondie."

With that, he and Mia left the room towards the sector – determined to perform the mission.

Wiseman and Tex looked at eachother and shared a smile.

"Our brother seems to have picked himself up a girl."said Wiseman happily.

Tex smiled and nodded.

"Looks that way. No matter how much he tries to deny it."

Wiseman grinned, happy for his "little brother".

"She will be an amazing ally to our brotherhood. Well then brother Tex... you should probably also make your way to..."

"Tex?"

Both spunned to the figure who called Tex´s name and was right now standing next to them.

Tex instantly recodnized his classmate – Abbygail Aberforth. Wiseman looked curiously to he bispectalled shorter girl with brilliant brown eyes, shoulder-length brown hair, who´s pleasant face was now sporting a small blush. Tex looked at her dumbfounded, unsure what she may want.

"I was wondering if you need help with your duty."she said shyly yet with some measure of determination.

Wiseman grinned to himself even as Tex´s confusion only compounded. Clapping him on the back with so much strength that he almost fell forward, Wiseman gave a happy laugh.

"But of course he could use your help, Ms..."

"Aberforth. Abbygail Aberforth, detective Wiseman."she said pleasantly.

"...Mr Bawelfot. My little brother here would be delighted to accept your help. Right, brother Tex?"said Wiseman jovially.

Tex´s head was now moving from his "brother" to the blushing girl – a deep red blush forming on his cheeks.

"Wha...? I... I..."she stammered completly unsure what to say or do.

Wiseman clapped him on the back again.

"You can´t ignore this young lady´s plea to assist you. Just take her with you and show her, how an elite detective operates."

Tex´s face was almost completly red as he scratched his head, clearly uncomfortable. He really didn´t understand why Abbygail wanted to help him with something he could easily do himself. On the otherhand, he knew her to be a very nice, gentle and kind girl, who had a great talent in painting... Tex´s eyes opened in that revelation. THAT must be it... he´s in charge of the painter sector. And she loves that type of art. THAT must be why she wants to accompany him. Thinking about it, he considered saying "no" and moving on with his mission solo, like he intended from the start. However looking at her, he realized that he couldn´t say no to her. She has always been so nice to him since first grade and that thought brought a kind smile to his lips.

"Sure. Come along then, Abby."he said quietly nodding to Wiseman and making for the door with her.

Wiseman smiled at the two retreating forms.

"Looks like our brotherhood will have strong allies."he said to himself happily, before turning towards his fellow judge and his guests.

As Abbygail happily made her way with Tex, chatting with him about the help the brotherhood provied for the contest, they heared a loud giggle coming from the Sculpter sector´s door. Tensing, she stopped in her tracks. As did Tex, but his face didn´t exhibit a trace of the tense surprise Abbygail sported. Instead a determined look formed on his face. Gesturing her towards the wall, he whispered.

"Looks like we got here just in time. Stay close to the wall... we´ll surprise whoever is in there."he said, drawing his baton from his detective´s cloak.

Moving quietly the pair made for the door, even as they heared another set of muffled giggles and even a small moan.

"W...what´s going on there?"asked Abbygail in fright as another louder moan left the room, chilling her to her bones.

Tex´s eyes tensed in revelation.

"Oh no... its worse than I thought... someone is trying to stop the cheaters and... "he didn´t get to finish when another loud moan and a small shriek rang from the room, chilling them both.

"Murder?!"breathed Tex in a shocked voice.

Abbygail clasped a hand to her mouth, looking at him unsure what to do.

"Not on my watch!"exclaimed Tex and instantly sprinted the rest of the way into the room.

"Tex wait! Don´t go in there!"exclaimed Abbygail, running after him and scared what may befall him on the other side of the door.

"FREEZE, BEAUVILLAGE POLICE!"exclaimed Tex in the doorway, brandishing his baton ready to whack whoever was in there, just as Abbygail sprinted up to him.

However they suddenly saw something that made the freeze on the spot and a deep red blush appear on both of their faces. There at the small judge table, reserved for the judge and his guests was Mr Martin Skylark glued between two beautyfull young women, their hands all over eachother, portions of their clothing rolled to reveal bits of the flawless skin of the lovely ladies in their late twenties and now, all three heads turned towards the room´s newcomers. Tex´s jaw fell open and Abbygail swiftly clapped her hands to her eyes.

"M...Mr Skylark?! W...what´s going on in here?"asked a crimson-faced Tex, though their position on the table couldn´t suggest any clearer as to WHAT they were doing before the arrival.

The lipstick lip-prints all over Trashbin´s face were evidence enough. Trashbin chuckled a bit, showing no hint of embaressment whatsoever.

"Oh...Tex, was it? Well... I´m just showing these lovely ladies the sector and everything... We thought we might have a moment alone now that everyone is gone."he explained happily and the two young women giggled girlishly as they recodnized one of the Brotherhood of the Wise.

"Y...yeah but... on the table...?"asked Tex, reddening all the more and NOT wanting to imagine the details even as the trio laughed again.

"Weeeell... you see, the girls wanted to show me their art and...well... you know... I´m very interested in seeing that."said Trashbin sheepishly and the girls giggled again.

The woman on the left, an amazingly shaped 29 year old blonde ran a finger over his chin and cheek.

"Ooooh, Trashbin... you curious boy, you..."she said in a flirty voice.

The other, a brunette of same age also used her finger to stear his face towards her.

"You know... we positively adoooore boys, who love art..."she said before kissing him passionately.

Tex was rooted at the spot, his eyes almost bulging beneath the sunglasses at what he was seeing. Abbygail´s too dispite the fingers which covered her pair beneath her spectacles, which were purposely separated from eachother in order for her to see – and her cheeks were now blood-red at what she saw, as the blonde also gave Trashbin a long passionate kiss. Abbygail was barely breathing and she could feel her heart beating like a drum. Slowly she chanced a look at Tex as though hoping he would get an idea from the scene in front of them.

"M...Mr Skylark... we have a watch-duty to perform here."he said in a deadpanned voice, completly mortified by the scene infront of his eyes.

Separating himself from the blonde woman, Trashbin licked his lips before grinning at the teens.

"Oh... I see... looks like you guys had the same idea..."

Abbygail gasped at what the man was implying and she once more clapped her hands firmly to her face, determined not to look anywhere near Tex.

"NO! Its not like that! Brother Fred asked us to patrol here until the break-time is over... I... I had no such intentions... honest!"stammered Tex swiftly trying to explain himself.

With another intake of breath, Abbygail fixed him with a slightly hurt look, but on the other hand she had to agree with him. Trashbin gave a loud "aaaah" and got down from the table, yet doing nothing to relinquish his hold on the girls.

"Oh I see... well ladies... we can continue our art-showing in the office above."he said wiggling his eyebrows at the suggestively.

The two women giggled once again even as they made their way towards the teens and the door. As they passed Trashbin looked over his shoulder at the two.

"Just promise, that you won´t watch too hard, okay?"he said mischievously before they left, laughter prominent across the hall as they went.

Tex and Abbygail were left alone in the large room, rooted on the spot and resolved not to look anywhere near eachother – determined not to show the other the blood-red blush on their faces.

In the Alternative sector there was a different pair of people were lingering.

"I´m not sure this is such a good idea... someone might come at any moment, Cherie..."said Steve with some fear.

Once the sector had emptied, he managed to quickly clear a route for her, so that she could get back into the sector to begin her mission. Right now, she had already went trough some of the arts, which she was sure would be hot candidates for the win. Just now, Cherie only had one work left to sabotage – the work Lis had been working on. Troughout the course of the round, Cherie had wondered how to sabotage Lis and her work – a rubber-tire figurine, which could be moved and positioned into many poses – the skelleton holding the rubber "skin". Glaringly she wondered many times over the course of the two hour limit how the hell was she supposed to sabotage THAT. She pondered on it so much, that she barely could concetrate on her work – a small model of Michael Miles. She was also very pissed at the attention Lis´ work had drawn. More than once the cameras moved toward her work and the guests, judges and even the little Tofu brat along with his friends came to check-out the tallest work in the sector. Luckily, just before the end of the limit, Cherie figured out a way...

"I still have one more to take care of, Stevie. Just keep watch for me, okay?"she asked sweetly as she moved to Lis´ work which was now covered by a large white blanket.

Yanking it down, she growled at the sight of the figure, which was positioned in a thinking pose – the black figurine looking extremly impressive no matter how much she wanted to deny it. A nasty smile formed on her face as she began to work on the damn thing.

"Just a few simple moves and this thing will collapse."she said happily as she cut several small wooden poles underneath the rubber which apparently were the reason for the thing´s balancing of the position.

"Please Cherie... hurry..."urged Steve nervously, uncomfortable with the whole prospect of being chaught.

"Almost finished Stevie."she sing-songed as she made her final move and proceeded to cover the figure back, just as the figure slouched slightly.

Suddenly happy giggles rang from the room that led to the sector and both Steve and Cherie froze.

"Oh no! Someone´s coming! And this way! We gotta hide!"panicked Steve as Cherie quickly made her way to him.

Cherie quickly looked around, nervous herself as the giggles grew louder and closer. At once she saw a hiding place.

"Here!"she said, grabbing Steve by the arm and dragging him behind the crowd´s sector at the side of the room.

"Down!"she commanded, but suddenly two forms rushed to the room.

Realizing the time was up, Cherie acted on instinct and pushed Steve to the ground, lying on him, so that the boundary would shield them from view. Steve´s eyes bulged and he instantly turned beet-red at how close Cherie was to him and the position they were in. Drawing an almost shocked breath, he suddenly felt Cherie´s forefinger on his lips.

"Shhhh! Quiet, Stevie... don´t wanna get chaught..."she whispered as she tried with all her might to listen what was going on in the room.

Hearing nothing she fixed her gaze downside and almost yelped when she realized the position she was in. Lying on top of Steve, their faces very close to eachother and her finger on his lips. Her heartrate quickened incredibly, but she could barely breath – her eyes opening widely at the sight. Steve´s face so close, his eyes closed almost dreamingly, the feel of his trembling lips on her finger – it was a sight she never expected to see on him, but for some mysterious reason... she liked it... very much in fact. Suddenly a giant blast of emotions exploded in her. She started to breath fast, almost gasping for breath and in her tummy she felt a warm, fuzzy feeling that was making her close her eyes contently and move her face closer – desperate for closer contact even as a lock of her long black hair fell on Steve´s face. Steve reacted to it and with a soft, gentle hand he pushed the hair from his face and slowly brushed the stray lock behind Cherie´s ear. Cherie almost gave a shuddering breath at the feel of those gentle fingers in her hair, the touch so... comforting, caring that she didn´t want it to ever leave her. Locking eyes she saw something in there she never imagined to see, but somehow... though not knowing what it was, something was telling her, that it was something she had been waiting all life long for. Moving ever so slowly, she manoovred her lips over Steve´s, moving closer and closer... Suddenly a loud giggle and a smacking sound rang trough the room.

"Aaaaarchie! Stop! That... that tickles.!"

Suspition loomed in Cherie´s eyes and she chanced a look over the boundary. There, at the judge´s table sat Archie, his arms around the form of his girlfriend Emily, his lips pressed to her neck and the girl had her eyes closed in delight, giggling as he assaulted her neck with loving smooches.

"Oh... stop! You´re gonna give me hickies."Emily giggled, but in fact didn´t want for him to stop, giggling again as he chuckled on her neck before returning to his assault.

Blushing heavily at what was going on and remembering the position she was with Steve, Cherie retreated behind the boundary again, but thistime kept her distance from Steve.

"Come on... let´s sneak out... no way they´ll notice."she whispered red-cheeked, determined not to look at him.

Nodding dumbly and trying hard to regain his composure, Steve made his way after Cherie, slowly but surely sneaking out from the sector, Emily and Archie too preoccupied to notice anyone EVER being there.

...

Looking at his watch again, Wiseman paced the main sector looking for someone. Growling to himself a bit even as he passed the numerous guests and other people, looking for some sighn of his fellow judge. Where was he for crying out loud?! The fifteen-minute break is almost over. They have a duty to perform afterall. He only hopes that no strange things will happen this round although Wiseman reassured himself – his brotherhood is there afterall. A small smile formed on his lips as he recalled Nick, Tex and Archie accompanied by girls into their respective sectors. He was very happy for them, they seemed to be as happy as they could – even Nick was in a state of begrudging happiness with the blonde girl, a feeling that was mutual on both sides. Wiseman´s smile however faltered when he came to a sudden realization. His three brothers have seem to have found something, HE himself had missed out on right up until now. He never was very good with women, well to tell the truth he devoted much of his life to becoming a great detective. After his big success, it was finally happening. But right now, his eyes opened to something that was missing. Even as he pondered upon it, his eyes fell on the numerous young women and girls there. When his gaze fell on Lola Tofu and Billy Hubbub cuddling eachother, he felt a painfull pang in his heart. Thinking upon it more, he supposed that this contest had a very good side to it. Looking at the girls around, he came to fully realize that these beautyfull young girls respect him – what´s more, they view him as the hero of their town. Surely among those girls there are those who love and adore him. If that was the case, then he should finally find an ally of his own then. A small smile formed on his lips as he remembered the love letters he had been recieving. This secret admirer... he could almost laugh at himself for being so blind. Judging from the letters, this girl truly loved him... and she wanted for him to find her...?

"This is a job for the legendary detective Frederick Wiseman."he practicly whooped even as he punched his right arm into the air – positively giddy about the prospect.

Suddenly a loud laugh from the curtains made him to direct his gaze there and sure enough, he found the person he was looking for. There, still in his costume, stood Michael Miles trying to be out of view as much as possible as he was speaking to someone on his cell phone.

"I´m tellin´you Pierre... I got this in the bag. Just be sure to watch and prepare a list of the works you will like... how much...? Well I´m not sure yet... tell ya what... I´ll look it over when I get the stuff and fix the prices... Pierre, my art-obssesed friend, d´you really think Milesey don´t know art when he sees it...? Since I was a kid I could appretiate art. Hell I even recodnized my classmate Suzie´s amazing talent in first grade – FIRST GRADE, man... get it? And it was just a drawing in the sand-box then... wha...? You´re kidding... an artist like you doesn´t know sand-box art? You´re kidding... man, come on... its a cool art and for free too... I know the rain washes it down... but not if you pin an umbrella over it... see? We were resoursefull artists even as children... yeah... see...? Oh, I knew you´d see the brilliance of it... yea... well, anyways keep watchin´ and well I´ll make the prices for you... I said don´t worry... leave things to Milesazzo...kay... see ya."

Turning the phone off, Miles placed it under his robes and started to twirl his fake mustache, grinning like a maniac.

"Mwaaahaha... mucho-money... killa´ business... man, I should´ve gotten into this art-thing a long time ago... mwuahahahaha..."he held his hands infront of himself and laughed like an evil-villain in some cartoon.

"What are you doing here?"

Miles instantly turned to the source of the voice and was almost shocked to see Wiseman standing there. Swiftly recompozing himself, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oh... noooothin´ Wisey-guysey... nothing going on here... just getting into the atmosphere y´know..."

Wiseman raised an eyebrow and folded his arms.

"Oh really... and who was that you spoke on the cell phone?"

Miles almost gulped and sincirely hoped, that Wisey didn´t hear all that he said.

"Oh that was just... m´ friend, yeah... a super friend, knew him since we were kids. You don´t know him though... he doesn´t like cops, or cop-kids for that matter."

Wiseman rolled his eyes and sighed deeply.

"You haven´t called me that in ages."he said, begrudgingly liking the nostalgia the old nickname provided.

Miles grinned at him happily.

"Weeeeeell... we´re not kids anymore, Wisey. You´ve grown into a cop-man..."

Now Wiseman glared him.

"Detective, you tactless hooligan. Not cop-man!"

Miles let out a happy laugh and placed his arm around Wiseman´s shoulders.

"You got it, detective-man."he said happily as he rullfed Wiseman´s hair, much to Wiseman´s protest.

"Stop that! I´ll have you arrested for ruffling up a commanding police officer. And come on back to your place, the show´s about to start again."he said grudgingly.

Miles however took no notice of his tone. Fixing him a happy smile and nod, he directed him back towards the judge sector, still with his arm over his shoulders as though the two were best buddies.

"So tell me somethin´ Wisey... has any of the girls chaught your attention? Ya know... when one of them wins, you may end up taking her for a date – have any hot candidates?"he asked good-naturedly.

Wiseman´s face turned red. He gave a loud sniff and turned his face away from Miles´ penetrating look.

"Awwww... come on, Wisey. I´ll tell you mine... look there´s this girl Tammy in the painter sector... but to be really honest, this mystery girl Lis...WAAAAAHOOOO... she really chaught my eye... I mean she´s cute even with the mask, can dance like a goddess and... AAAAAH... well, everything about her seems to be so... perfect."said Miles with slightly red cheeks, even as Wiseman twitched in his grip when he gave out his wild exclamations.

Sniffing again he turned his gaze on him.

"I have noticed one or two..."he answered truthfully and slightly shyly.

Miles let out a happy laugh and tightened his grip on his fellow-judge.

"That´s the spirit, Wisey! About time too... I mean you finally get a girl..."

Wiseman gave him a death-glare.

"DON´T call me Wisey! And since when were you keeping track of my dating record?!"

Completly immune to the death-glare, Miles laughed in pure humor.

"Aww... come ooooon, Wisey! I know you since we were six years old. And never once have I seen you with a single girl. I think its about time, that your lady-luck changed. Everyone deserves to find the one they will love."

Wiseman blushed once more and heavily, thinking of the prospect.

"Well... YOU were always the popular one... I still wonder why I never saw YOU with a girlfriend. I mean... you´re about as experienced in this as I am."

Miles felt a small pang when he remembered, that he was in fact more experienced though Wisey didn´t know it. Fighting the familiar feeling of pain he felt everytime thoughts of his ex-girlfriend came back, he managed to smile at Wiseman´s inquiring gaze.

"Wisey m´friend... I believe that MY lady-luck is changing."saying happily, thinking of the beautyfull mystery girl of the contest.

Wiseman was extremly curious now, forgetting that they have reached the sector´s centre where Lola, Angie, Mayor Haveitall, Rodney and the guests were waiting for them. Miles however let him go swiftly and turned to the mayor Haveitall.

"Mayor-man... I need a word with you in private."he said to general confusion of all.

...

"Aaaaand welcome back, dear friends. The moment you have waited for is finally here."exclaimed Angie to general applause.

"Our dear judges will now judge the works our girls have made and dish out the points that with the exception of our top five will be needed to pass the round."said Lola into her microphone, gesturing to the thirty contestants, who like the crowd all gathered in the main sector.

Most of the girls looked very nervous indeed – afterall their only chances of passing to round three were depending on their work. As both Lola and Chichi saw, there were three girls who were completly at ease as though they didn´t have a care in the world – Candy, who was smiling her large and toothy smile before waving to her younger sister Mia in the crowd, even as Mia sniffed loudly and hid herself behind Nick, then Cherie, who was looking very smug as she nodded to Nina and Zoe, but once her eyes fell on Steve, who was standing near them her cheeks colored in deep red, and finally Lis who was looking very peacefull and shared a small wink and smile with Chichi who was flashing her an admiring look even as Phil and Victor were oggling at her red-cheeked.

"But before we can go to any of that, we have a special announcement from our dear mayor, Johnatan Haveitall."announced Angie, gesturing to her father as he stepped up towards her and took the microphone.

Angie stepped closer to Lola and shared a confused look. No one knew, what Miles told the mayor but apparently it had to be something very good, because the mayor was very joyfull about it.

"My dear friends... as many of you know, our original plan was to have the works our talented ladies have done exhibited in this very art-workshop. However our amazing judge Miles approached me with an even better idea. Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to announce that all of these works will be donated to a charity organization."

As the crowd sprang into applause, almost everyone from the crew, the two remaining judges, the narrators, the guests and even the contestants shared a highly confused look. Suddenly however, most have joined the applause of the crowd, but not everyone. Lis dissolved into giggles, Lola and Chichi shared a look before flashing a exaspirated glare on Miles, Phil and Billy were barely holding their laughs, Rodney and Angie shared a small smile and Wiseman fixed a highly suspitious look at Miles, who came to the mayor´s side and took the microphone into his hand.

"Yes, yes, yes my dear friends... this art will all be contributed to the Art for World organization – a noble charity organization which sells art to wealthy people and passes the money on to those less fortunate..."

Chichi slapped a palm on his forehead as Lola shot Miles a death-glare even as the applause was reaching its high point.

"Michael Miles, you have gone too far..."growled Lola to Miles as he came to her, his mobile phone in his hand.

"Later Lola... right now just hold the phone infront of your mike..."he instructed as he directed her hands while starting a song from his phone.

Suddenly a slow sad violin-played melody started to play – Lola too stunned to move, fully aware of the cameras on her. Miles quickly took a hankerchief from under his robe and started to adress the crowd as the sad melody played for the entire sector to hear.

"You see... the money will go to the poor kiddies of the orphanage. Not many are aware what a hard life orphaned kids have..."he said in a somber sad voice.

The crowd "awwed" sadly and most were really lookingas though Miles said something none of them knew.

"I grew up as an orphan... its a sad life... no one to love you... no one to ease your pain when you get hurt... NO solo kid´s room eighther..."

Mia actually gasped at this – the idea of sharing a room with her elder sister chilling her to the bones.

"... and you´re POOOOOR... no sweets, no snacks... NO comic-books or toys..."he said, bringing the handkerchief to his sunglassed eyes.

Many of the boys in the crowd gasped – horrified at the prospect.

"... NO video-games!..."

Now it was Phil who gasped most of all.

"...simply all these things that every kid should have... and especially THESE... to take away the pain of no family... the cruel predjudges of those kids in school who have a family and are well loved..."he continued in an almost tearfull voice, which was growing sadder by the moment and even gave out a series of sniffs.

"...oh, dear folks... you have no IDEA what it´s like to be growing-up like that... how desperate these poor kiddie-widdies are for love and attention... how they long to have something of their own... OOOOOH, YOU CRUEL WORLD...WHHHYYYYYY?!"finished Miles as he practicly dissolved into "tears", covering his face with his other arm, still holding the handkerchief.

He wasn´t the only one. More than half of the crowd fell victim to Miles´ lethal combination of sad story and music. Sniffing, sporting small tears, adults or kids alike had their heads bowed, some even embracing others – not even caring WHO. Even Pop and Titus Hubbub were holding on to eachother as they cried like little children.

"T...that´s soooo saaaad."exclaimed Archie, dissolving into tears and swiftly embracing Emily who hugged him back tightly, her cheek pressed to the top of his head and also crying.

Rodney had a sombre expression on his face but Angie suddenly launched at him, hugging him tightly and sobbing in his embrace.

"There, there... its all right, Angie."he whispered in a low soothing voice as he ran his hands across her back consolingly.

Tex´s lower lip twitched and a few tears were running down his cheeks. Besides him, Abbygail gave out a few sniffs and wiped a few tears from underneath her glassed. Nick and Mia were looking at everyone with stunned incredulous looks.

"This is NOT happening!"breathed Nick in shock, looking from one tearfull face to another.

"For once, monkey-face I agree with you... I mean... I can´t even imagine sharing a room with that supercow, but really... this is going overboard..."said Mia, shaking her head at the sudden outpour of emotions.

Spying Tex and Archie, Nick gave an exaspirated sigh and turned to them, even as Archie was still cuddled to Emily.

"Man the hell up! We are the Brotherhood of the Wise... not some crying sissies! Take example from our brother Fred, he´s completly immune to stories like..."

Suddenly however Wiseman let out a howl of misery and embraced Miles in a hug that surprised even Miles himself.

"...THAT?!"finished Nick, horrified at what he was seeing.

Wiseman was crying like a baby in the embrace and thanks to the paired up microphones in both his and Miles´ hands, everyone could easily hear his whimpering.

"...I had no idea, you had it so tough... now I know why you are such a hooligan... I almost feel sorry for all the times I tried to arrest you..."he sobbed into Miles´ shoulder.

This was too much for Chichi Tofu, Phil Conners and Billy Hubbub. All three fell to their knees, clutching at their stomaches and bowing their heads as not to give away any sighn of the fact, that they were overcome by uncontrollable laughter. The same was true for Lis and the laughter only increaced as they heared Miles´ reply.

"Awwwwww, Wisey... you´re all heart."he exclaimed before embracing Wiseman back and sobbing on his shoulder as well.

A large loud collective "awwwwwww" rang trough the entire sector and even those who were watching on TV had experienced similar feelings at the scene.

"Miles m´boy... it gives Beauvillage the greatest pleasure to help those poor unfortunate children."said mayor Haveitall as he came between the two men as they separated.

The crowd instantly sprang into an aprooving applause and cheers that raised the roof.

"And as mayor of Beauvillage I have to say, that its my highest honour to be affiliated with such a worthy cause."

As a yet another cheer rang the room, Lola turned her head to the place where the crew was standing and fixed Chichi a "Can you believe it?!" look. Chichi however shot her back a wink and a smile, that told her at once that her genius little baby brother had another one of his infamous plans. Grinning to herself, she looked at Miles who was waving to the applauding crowd.

"Ooooh, you just wait, Miles..."she thought while smiling slyly, already looking forward to hearing what Chichi has in store for their greedy friend.

...