The premiere of Limburger's reality show debuted with Limburger weeping as cameras recorded him sitting in his jail cell.
"Woe is me! Woe is me!" Limburger moaned.
"It's nice to know that Limburger feels as lousy as I do," Vinnie muttered as he watched the reality show from his bed. He had spent the past several days recovering from the delirium that he suffered in the aftermath of the injuries that he sustained in his motorcycle accident.
"It's too bad he doesn't feel any worse," Charley said as she fluffed Vinnie's pillow.
"You're right about that sweetheart," Vinnie agreed.
"Shut up you big baby!" Mace said as he threw his plate of uneaten and unidentified breakfast food at Limburger. The food hit Limburger squarely in the face, resulting in his sorrow turning into anger.
"You repulsive rodent, how dare you throw food in my face!" Limburger yelled as he charged at Mace. The two were now cellmates. Mace had been moved into Limburger's cell after the Loogeys were moved into solitary confinement due to their unbearable stench.
Limburger and Mace initiated a vicious fight that left the both of them bruised and bloodied. It took several guards to separate them. The reality show cameras never stopped rolling.
Vinnie turned the TV off after the cameras showed Limburger and Mace being dragged out of their jail cell by their feet by prison guards.
"How dare you treat me this way!" Limburger snarled at the guards. "Do you know who I am?!"
"Yeah, a washed-up crook that got his hands caught in the cookie jar," a guard said as he helped drag Limburger out of his cell.
Vinnie started pretending to cough. "Charley-girl, I'm feeling a little parched," he said between coughs. "Do you mind getting me a glass of water?"
Charley raised her eyebrow at Vinnie. She had been forewarned by Modo and Throttle that Vinnie might try to create a diversion in order to escape from the infirmary. It would only take a few minutes for an unsupervised Vinnie to take his motorcycle and flee, putting his life in danger.
"Whatever you say your highness," Charley said sarcastically as she walked out of the room. She only walked a short way down the hall, where she spoke into a small, handheld vidcom that she had.
"Guys," Charley said in a loud whisper to Modo and Throttle, who were involved in a discussion with Carbine, Stoker, and other freedom fighter leaders about the fate of the exiled Martians who were enslaved on Plutopia.
"What is it Charley?" Throttle asked.
"I think Vinnie's trying to escape. He asked me to go get him some water. When have you ever known Vinnie to ask for water? He only drinks root beer."
"We'll be right up there," Throttle replied.
Charley watched, hidden by the darkness of the hallway, as Vinnie ran from the infirmary to the closest exit. When he opened the door, he found Modo and Throttle in the doorway.
"Uh, hi guys," Vinnie said nervously to Modo and Throttle. "I was just going out to get some fresh air."
"Sure you were," an unconvinced Modo said to Vinnie. Modo grabbed Vinnie by the bandoleers and dumped him back on his bed in the infirmary.
"Since you don't seem to want to stay put Vincent, we're going to put you under 24 hour armed guard," Throttle said to Vinnie as two armed freedom fighters entered the infirmary.
"Now if you will excuse us, we have other business to attend to," Throttle said as he and Modo left to return to the meeting.
Charley returned to the infirmary to find Vinnie sulking like a spoiled child who was denied a favorite dessert at dinner.
"They only did that because they care about you," Charley told Vinnie.
"Yeah, the both of them still have the women that they love," Vinnie said bitterly. "It's easy for them to stay under control."
Charley sat down in the chair next to Vinnie's bed and grabbed his hand. "You'll get through this Vinnie. I know you will. It won't be easy, but things will get better."
The two of them looked out of the large window in the room. The window had a view of the Garden of Hope. In the center, a simple stone covered Harley's grave. Inscribed on the stone were the words.
Harley
Freedom Fighter
Lost to us once
She will never leave us again.
