Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Eight: Sunshine

 “The world is is illuminated by the
sun, heading towards a shining tomorrow, nah nah nah nah nah nah nah
nah nah!” Belle and Charlie sang as they entered the hospital
waiting room where the others were waiting. Webster followed behind
them, amused.

“We just saw the news! Oh Charlie you
did it!” Tammy rushed up and hugged Charlie tightly, followed
closely by Sunny, Sammy and TJ. A loud snore came from Petunia in the
corner.

“Wow, out like a light. Is she
overworking herself?” Belle walked over to Petunia and made sure
she was covered well by TJs jacket.

“Since the fight with Dan, she's been
working longer.” TJ replied bitterly. “I swear if he weren't my
best friend I'd kill him.”

“He IS under a lot of pressure
though. His girlfriend and his baby are in danger.” Webster pointed
out.

“I don't see how that's our fault!”
TJ pointed out. “At least ONE of us is always here in case anything
goes wrong, we even take shifts overnight, because we want to protect
Judith, and that's just not enough for him! He wants Petunia to work
for free too!”

“Fear makes people unreasonable. I've
been plenty unreasonable myself.” Webster said calmly. “I'm
always scared of losing Maddy and Tate just like I lost my best
friend. That fear has made me do stupid things.”

“Plus putting up with a bunch of kids
in superhero costumes tried your patience.” Belle pointed out.
Tammy bopped her on the head. “Owch!”

“Anyway, I'm gonna head back home to
Brisvegas. Being here in Pleasantville makes me edgy.” Webster
shuddered. “Please look after each other. We're now closer than
ever towards cleaning up not just this city, but the whole country.”

“Uh, yikes much?” Charlie asked as
Webster left.

—

The changes soon came rapidly. One of
the first things Charlie did was make sure that Sammy and Tammys
parents could finally own the shop they had been managing for years.

“You want to let THEM own a shop?”
Haiter looked at the paper work dismissively. He was still livid that
he had lost his power.

“And what, pray tell, is wrong with
THEM?” Charlie snatched back the paper work. They were standing in
the new Chamber of Commerce office, that was in Pleasantville
Shopping Mall.

“You've seen them. Bloody monkeys.”
Haiter scoffed.

“I'd watch it Haiter.” Eugenia said
drily as she took the paper work from Charlie and put it away. “My
father was a 'monkey' as you put it, and he was one of the reasons
this very building is standing.”

Haiter bristled, before leaving in a
huff. Eugenia scowled after him.

“He's a jerk.” Charlie shook his
head.

“A powerful jerk. I don't know how
you got him to budge, but you've made an enemy who could very well be
the end of you.” Eugenia warned the young man as he gathered up his
work and prepared to head back to the metalworks. “Be careful.”

“I'm always careful.” Charlie
grinned, before heading back to his own business, which was now
thriving again.

Later that day, he handed Sammy, Tammy
and their family the news of their new business. Tammy ran laps
around the her parents house in glee, while Sammy stood looking at
Charlie with tears of happiness in his eyes.

—

“Do we risk going back to the hotel
to get our paperwork?” Harold asked as he and Lady sat in their
car, which was hidden in a back alley.

“We need our birth certificates at
least, and our passports.” Lady told him. “I don't know why we
brought them with us.”

“Because we couldn't leave them in
the house, they'd have been swiped within an hour after we'd left!”
Harold snapped at her. “Damn that brat and her friends! She's
pretty much killed us.”

“Don't say that!” Lady cried. “Oh
glob, I don't know anymore, we're doomed, we're so utterly doomed, I
doubt we'll even get out of the city alive…”

“We just have to do the best we can
until we can get out of the city and out of the country.” Harold
tried to control his breathing. “We'll go to the Great Nations.
They're so war-torn right now that we'll be able to slip under the
radar very easily. Start a new life.”

“And to do that we need to go back to
the hotel and get our paperwork!” Lady shrieked.

“Will you calm down?!” Harold
hissed.

Suddenly something heavy landed on the
car…and something wearing blue slid down the bonnet and landed on
the ground.

“YOU DROPPED ME AGAIN!”

“IF YOU HAD JUST STAYED STILL WE
WOULD HAVE LANDED FINE!”

“Chuckles and Giggles! What do you
two want?!” Harold got out of the car.

“Belle contacted us. Here's your
stuff from the hotel.” Giggles handed him a small suitcase.

“That worthless piece of trash!
What's she playing at?!” Harold snatched the suitcase and went
through it. Sure enough, everything they owned was safe, including
passports.

“You're still her grand-parents.”
Giggles said quietly. “Even if you are criminal scum.”

“Get out of Pleasantville and stay
out. You will never be welcome here again.” Chuckles added.

“Can we even get out of Pleasantville
safely?” Lady asked.

“You'll have to escape up north
through Pleasant Gorge. Then you can double-back along the coast to
Brisvegas. From there, you can do what you like.” Chuckles told
them. “The Noble Knights of the Last Order have secured the gorge.
We'll get you to there.”

Harold glared at the pair while Lady
started sobbing. “She was supposed to be ours. She was supposed to
make us the top clan in the Haunted Maze Troupe.”

“Well, you should have tried to be in
her life when she was younger.” Giggles snapped.

“We couldn't! Her father stopped us!”
Lady sobbed.

“You could have.” Giggles glared at
her grand-parents. Their blood flowed through her veins too, more's
the pity.

Harold and Lady we subdued as they
drove out of the city, Chuckles and Giggles keeping a close eye on
them. Along the way, they saw their old friends from the Haunted Maze
Troupe glaring at them from the shadows, but not daring to step in
against the two vigilantes.

Harold and Lady weren't worth the
annoyance.

Finally, they made it past Pleasant
Gorge and on the road out of Pleasantville. If they headed west, they
would have gone to Fallsville, which Giggles advised them was a bad
idea.

“Head east. Don't stop in Oaksville.
Just keep driving until you hit the coast, then go straight down to
Brisvegas. You might need to stop for fuel, wait until you're out of
the council area first.” She told them.

“Thank you.” Harold said shortly.

“Please…tell Belle we're sorry.”
Lady almost whispered.

“I'll tell her nothing.” Giggles
snapped. “Now sod off.”

Harold and Lady drove off. Giggles
watched until they disappeared over the horizon, and then she took
Chuckles back to Pleasantville.

To finish off the tale of Harold and
Lady, they made it out of Ostraya safely and went to live in a little
village in the snowy north of the Great Nations. Harold became a
great fisherman and Lady made a living as a tour guide. They never
spoke of or to their grand-daughter again.