Chapter 17: Turning Point

Drew and Mr. Wellington were watching the news in the living room. "I'm very sorry about what happened Drew, but I can't do much to help in terms of that," Mr. Wellington explained, "If what you say is true, Acme WILL hire some of the best lawyers they can. They never have and never will take responsibility. I've seen it happen with many of my clients who'd try to sue Acme for a faulty product." "I just wanna see my brother and his family free, and come back to Tazmania," sighed Drew. "Well, you can stay here for now," said Mr. Wellington, "I'll see what I can do, but I don't know if it'll help much."

Suddenly, the news they were watching showed the festival at Hotel Tazmania and a reporter. "Mark Stevens here, we are here tonight at the Hotel Tazmania!" the reporter said, "Acme here has provided for the festival and we were approached by their new chairman of the Tazmania Branch and he asked if we could show him doing a speech he made tonight. He was given the go-ahead to do so. So he'll be doing his speech in the next 5 minutes." Drew and Mr. Wellington had confused looks on their faces. "Speech?" they asked.

At Axl's place (which was an apartment complex), Axl and Jean were watching TV. "Thanks for letting me stay here till further notice," said Jean. "No problem," Axl replied, "Anything you'd like to eat or drink?" "No, I'm fine," said Jean as she flipped through TV stations. She then saw the news station. She stopped immediately upon what she saw. It showed Dingo in his suit, walking on stage of where the band played previously.

Axl spit out his glass of milk. "Huh?!" he exclaimed. "What's he doing on the news?" Jean wondered, "And where is he?"

Everyone who was at the festival to listen, clapped when they saw Dingo going to the microphone. "Thank you! Thank you!" he said, "Great time we're having?" Everyone cheered in response. "That's what I like to hear!" Dingo continued, "Anyway, I'm glad you all came here tonight because I got plenty of plans to reveal to everyone! Tazmania is gonna be seeing some improvements when we start to become more widespread on the island than we already are. We plan to make this place a tourist destination! Casinos, hotels, penthouses, museums, and plenty more! Comes at a cost though." Many within the crowd started to get confused. "What does this domesticated dog think he is? The governor?" one man asked to himself. Unfortunately, the speech wasn't going to get any better. "You see, I made a list of places that can and can't stay," said Dingo, "Hotel Tazmania and Tribe of the Mudpeople are some of the very few places that are gonna be lucky enough to stay. As for the rest, they got to go! So you have about 5 days to make a plan to move out because your homes will be demolished by that time!"

As expected, this caused a massive outrage within the crowd. "What is this about?! You don't run the island!" said Mr. Thickly. One of the bushrats yelled which translated to, "Your a madman!" Just then, the governor stepped on stage. The crowd kind of calmed down. "Hey folks," he announced, "I regret to inform you that Mr. Dingeri Dingo here now runs Tazmania. I can't explain much on why I let him run Tazmania, but I can at least say that he is indeed right about what he says." The expression on the governor's face was full of defeat as he knew he couldn't do anything. Many government officials were bribed out of their jobs and replaced by the spies. By the time he himself found out, it was already too late. The governor was forced to sign many papers to let Dingo run Tazmania. It was a hostile takeover no doubt.

When the governor stepped off stage, the crowd roared with rage. "How can you expect me and my daughter to live peacefully by doing this?!" exclaimed Heather's mom with Heather herself beside her. "I knew not to trust you!" yelled Bob. "You can't do this! This is our home!" said Wendal T Wolf. Dingo could tell the crowd was likely to attack him at any moment, so got his radio out and said, "Okay everyone, you all can reveal yourselves." Many spies and special units came up on stage. Townly also showed up on stage. Some had tried to go after Dingo but both spies and special units had riot shields to prevent them from attacking him. Also, some tried to call the Tazmania government, but they were greeted with an Acme spy on the other line. "Need I remind you that I run this island now!" Dingo snapped, "You can either stay in our expensive hotels or you can relocate! Anyway, have a good night."

As Dingo left the stage and many unsuccessfully trying to attack Dingo, the news station went back to the reporters at the station. There was a 10 to 15 second long silence as they both were in a loss for words. "Uhh, can we cut to a commercial break?" one of them asked. The screen cut to a Please Stand By screen for about 6 seconds, before commercials showed. At Mr. Wellington's place, he and Drew's jaws were dropped. "Umm, this is worse than I thought," Mr. Wellington said awkwardly, "I'll start packing I guess?" Once he walked away, Drew tried to keep a straight face but he couldn't, so he put his hands over his face to hide the fact that he was breaking down. At Axl's place, he and Jean had the same expressions of shock. "Gee, this certainly is a pickle," Axl sighed, "But don't worry Taz' mom, we'll find a way to work around this, I hope." "I sure hope we can too," Jean replied sadly.

The next day, Taz, Molly, and Jake were chilling in their room when they ended up getting knocking on their door. Taz checked to see who it was and was rather surprised to see who it was. It was one of the hotel employees. "I hope this isn't a bad time sir but you need pay for the two nights you spent here and more if you plan to stay here any longer." Taz took out his wallet and was about to hand out the money he needed to pay, but then he realized he didn't have enough. "Uhh...Taz don't have enough money," he said.

Taz, Molly, and Jake were thrown out of the hotel with all their belongings. Outside was grey and gloomy. It looked like it would rain at any moment. "How much did we spend?" asked Molly. Taz shrugged in response before speaking in his usual gibberish. "Okay, now I think you need to get a job more than ever now," said Molly, "It's the only way we can live with a roof over our heads." Taz thought for a moment and then said, "Eh, no." This not only shocked Molly, but it infuriated her. "Why not Taz?" asked Jake. "Because Taz don't want to," replied Taz, as he walked down the street with his siblings following from behind..

"You cannot be serious right now Taz!" Molly shouted, "Don't you want us to live peacefully?" "Jobs are important Taz," said Jake. Taz didn't respond, he just simply rolled his eyes. They were going by a TV store, when Molly noticed something on the TVs. "Wait, what's this?" she asked. Jake and Taz also stopped to see what it was about.

What was playing showed Dingo walking along a beach. "Do you need somewhere to stay for vacation next year but can't seem to find the right place?" Dingo asked, "Well, I have the place just for you! Come to Tazmania!" The island of Tazmania was shown. Dingo then came into view again. "Me and Acme are planning to make this boring and outdated island into a tourist destination! Many things ranging from theme parks to Casinos! But don't take my word for it, here are some who wanna share their personal thoughts on the matter." "This idea of improving will benefit me greatly as it will have an amazing impact on our community!" said Bull, "With the possibility of a zoo coming around here, all you zoo-going children of the world will be able to experience more things than ever!" "I approve this idea greatly!" said Francis, "This means the Mudpeople will get some more recognition...and respect I sure hope. Anyway, Acme has been a great help to me and my people in offering us to...ahem...keep our cultural prosperity." "Giving Tazmania some TLC is certainly the way to go," said Townly, "With Dingo being the governor...president...or ruler of the island, he and Acme will give Tazmania the treatment it needed for years!" It then showed Dingo, Townly, Bull, Francis, and the spies dressed as tourists waving to the camera within a plain. "What are you waiting for? Book a trip to Tazmania next year, as it will be bigger and better!" said the announcer in the background, "Tazmania, a proud helper of the Acme Corporation!"

"What does that mean?" asked Jake. "I don't know but I don't like it either," said Molly, "Something tells me that Tazmania is in trouble. With how stuff is and with Taz here not wanting to get a job, I think we should consider going back." Taz spoke in his gibberish, not giving a single damn about what is or what could be going on over there. "Taz! We're going back home!" Molly yelled, "Our friends are likely in trouble and mom and dad are likely still there! Don't you want to see our parents? YOUR parents?" Jake was becoming very uncomfortable with the situation, so he stayed quiet on the matter. "Taz stay here!" Taz said. "Whether you like it or not, we're going back!" Molly growled. Taz took the fake passport and looked at it for a few seconds. He then ate it with no hesitation. Molly and Jake looked the most shocked they had ever been. Both their hearts sank at the realization of what Taz had done. "What...have...you...done?" Molly asked, with devastation in her voice. Taz continued to vocalize in protest, quickly getting angrier and angrier. "THIS WAS OUR ONLY CHANCE TO GET HOME FAST!" Molly bellowed, "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU TAZ?! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU CARING ABOUT YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND OTHERS?! ARE YOU REALLY THAT HELLBENT ON STAYING HERE IN CALIFORNIA?!" "Taz stay here! TAZ STAY HERE!!!" Taz bellowed back. He tornadoed around, damaging many objects and throwing stuff. It was incredibly destructive to the point where Taz got looks from everyone who was nearby.

Taz finally stopped and took a look at his siblings. Jake was about to cry judging by the look on his face. "So...is that really how you feel?" Molly asked, trying to keep it together. Taz turned his back, making it clear that was what he wanted to do. "Well then," Molly continued, with her eyes watering and her lip becoming shaky, "If that's what you want, then do it! Me and Jake will find our own way home!" She and Jake then walked off with all the snacks and stuff they had, leaving their big brother behind. Taz didn't care whatsoever, he just brushed it off, believing they'd come back to him at some point. Taz mumbled to himself about the situation. However, they wouldn't be, and Taz would find this out the hard way.

To be continued in the next chapter...

(Chapter 17 published 10/2/22)