Out Of A Painful Past-chapter 1
Her family was dead. Tragic casualties of a war already lost the day their government sold their planet to Plutork. The mice watched in horror as Plutorkian airships blew up their cities killing thousands. The Martian Resistance fought back against the Plutorkian butchers who stole the very life from Mars not just with their weapons of death but with strip mining operations reducing it to a dry and desolate desert. Many of the Martian mouse population perished. Martian Mouse families went underground to keep the Plutorkians from finding them. Some weren't so lucky. Once they were discovered, they were automatically sent to Plutork's slave labor camps. Lola heard many horror stories about these camps: the beatings, tortures, hard labor, starvation, and disease made her sick. She never in her wildest dreams ever thought she would be sent to one.
Flashback
Her home life before all this had been happy and carefree. She lived with her parents and her older sister Eva. Both girls attended high school. Their father was a prominent businessman that owned an office building in downtown Freedom City. During the early part of the war, he helped manufacture weapons for the Martian army. But the situation looked grim as more soldiers died. He began fearing for his life and the lives of his family. He then made the decision to go into hiding. He came home and discussed it with them.
"Why in Mars are you bringing that up again?" Lola asked.
"Yes, Lola dear. You know the Plutorkians have invaded all of our major cities." He explained.
"Maybe they won't come here to Freedom City." She replied, hopefully.
"Besides we have the Martian Military to protect us." Eva added.
"The military is no guarantee. Many of them have already been wiped out by the Plutorkians and the ones that haven't been were taken to Plutork. They've either been experimented on or killed in the labor camps."
Eva and Lola's faces became pale in the ruddy glow of the fireplace's light.
"That's why your father and I think going into hiding is our only way to survive." Their mother said.
"We don't want ourselves falling into their clutches. You know, for a whole year we've been moving our belongings into this secret place. We arranged it so when the time comes, and you can bet it will, we can run to this place without delay."
"But when will that be, Daddy?" Lola asked,fearfully.
"Don't you worry, dear. Your mother and I have everything taken care of. We'll let you both know when the time comes. So make the most of your carefree life."He told her and her sister.
Lola remembered the day Freedom City was invaded. It was a hot, summer day. She was laying on the carpet near an open window reading a book when Eva came bursting in.
"The Plutorkians! They've taken the city of Brimstone. They're on their way here to Freedom City!"she cried.
They heard a glass break. Their mother had been in the kitchen doing the dishes while their father had been in the basement working on his latest weapon.
He jumped up and pulled a panel behind the bookcase. Inside was a deep underground tunnel.
"Quickly! Everyone, move!" He shouted, pushing them towards the tunnel. The family ran through the tunnel while their father closed it behind them. No sooner had they left when a group of Plutorkian soldiers came charging into their living room.
The family could hear them smashing up the place. It was bad enough they were being forced out of their home but to witness this scum violate it was more than Lola could take. Tears trickled down her cheeks. Eva rubbed her sister's back. They couldn't say a word. Everyone had to keep moving in silence. They couldn't let themselves be caught by the Plutorkians who were above them.
The tunnel led them to a trap door. The father pried it open and climbed up. He then helped his wife through. The parents then helped Lola through then her sister. They were in her father's office. He then led them through a small door hidden behind a large staircase. They then walked up a winding staircase which opened up into an assortment of rooms. It was an apartment. There was a pantry stocked with food, a kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms. Lola's clouded face brightened up.
"It's lovely!" She breathed.
"I had it built before the war in case our city ever got bombed. Only a few Martian mice know about it. I always thought I'd never have to use it..." His voice trailed off. His wife placed her hand on his arm.
"It'll be alright. We have each other and we can always start over." She told him casting a loving glance at him and their two daughters.
He smiled back warmly.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's make this place a home." Lola exclaimed.
And they did. Plutork continued to wreak havoc on Mars while Lola and her family quietly hid for two years.
Then one morning they were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast.
"I made the omelette." Lola said, brightly.
"It's good." The family replied while Lola smiled.
Suddenly there was a crash followed by a shower of powdered sheetrock. The wall had just fallen down. A platoon of Plutorkian soldiers continued to tear it down and stepped in.
"Just as we were told. There is a family of Martian Mice hiding here after all." The commanding officer said to another soldier. Someone had sold them out. They would never find out who. All of the color in Lola's face drained out. Her father's face became stern and his jaw was set. Lola's mother burst out crying while Eva held her mother and quietly cried.
"Knock it off!" The officer said, waving his fist at Eva and her mother who continued to cry, "Enough of the hysterics!"
"There is no need of that." Lola's father told the guard.
"Mind your own beeswax, you old rat!" He retorted, socking him in the jaw.
"DADDY!"Lola cried out. Her father's mouth was bleeding and he spat out some teeth.
Her mother, with a tear-stained face, reached down to pick up her husband. Lola and Eva watched with frightened looks.
"You'd better know your place, rat, 'cause you belong to Plutork now!"He then chuckled fiendishly. The family was then shackled to other captured Martian mice and put on board a slave ship. The Plutorkian labor camp was more horrible than they could've ever imagined. The place was filthy and unkept. Putrid smells of dried blood and feces permeated the air. The Martian Mice families were lined up. The women and children were soon separated from the males.
"Daddy!" Lola cried, and then running towards the elderly mouse whose jaw still bled and ached as the guards ushered him along with the males to another part of the labor camp.
"I-I'm alright, honey. Please don't worry." He called back.
One of the guards tripped her and she fell into a nearby mud hole.
"Oops! 'Clumsy me!" He taunted.
Lola slowly got up. She was covered from head to toe with mud. Fierce anger and hatred coursed through her veins. Those fish faces had pushed her far enough.
"Plutorkian filth!" She screamed. It was out of her mouth before she knew it.
The Plutorkian who tripped her turned red hot.
"You gotta a lotta mouth, girl! And I hate mouthy mice!"
He was just about to strike her when another guard stopped him.
"Let it go. She ain't worth killing. Besides, Lord Stilton's going to need all the able-bodied slaves he can get."
The mice were then allowed to shower but the water was freezing cold. They showered quickly then they were immediately herded into a field. For two weeks, they worked like bees twenty-four hours a day helping to build Stilton's new palace. The women gathered sticks while the men made them into bricks. Lola had never been so tired in her life. The work was constant. Their diets poor. With very little food, many died of starvation and disease like typhus.
At night, they were locked up in cells. Eva was awakened to sobs coming from her sister.
"Lola, try to get some sleep."She told her.
" I can't. Mama and Daddy... I hope they're alright."
"I know. I miss them, too. I miss Mars."
"'Think we'll ever see Mars again?"
"I don't know. But we have to be brave. No matter what."she replied,then coughed.
"You okay, Eva?"
"'Think I caught a little cold while working in the field this morning."
They looked up quickly to see guards approach their cell and open it. Lola saw a creepy man with a head shaped like a turnip dressed in a lab coat and green field googles with them.
"Bring me that one." He told the guards pointing at Lola.
"Yes, Dr. Karbunkle."
At once he picked Lola up who squirmed and kicked.
"Put me down, you big ox!" she screamed. Eva ran after them.
"No, please don't take her away! Take me instead!" Eva cried, trying to pull on Lola's arm to get the guard to release her. With one hand, he roughly thrusted her aside.
"EVA!" Lola screeched, with an outstretched hand.
That was the last time she saw her sister. Lola remembered how Karbunkle had experimented on her. The many hours she spent strapped down to a gurney. When the last experiment proved a failure, she was frozen in a cryogenic freezing chamber. She remembered how the white mist filling the chamber made her fall asleep never to wake up for many years. She couldn't see but she could hear everything outside the chamber. One year passed. Then two. During that time she often wondered what happened to her family. Finally, after seven years, she had her answer.
Two Plutorkians were walking by the lab.
"So that's the doc's lab, huh?"one said.
"Yeah, he's got another one of them meeces to work on."
"'Crying shame what happened to her family. The old mice died of starvation and the sister of typhus."
"You mean good riddance. 'Those mice are not worth the food you feed 'em."
Lola's heart sank as she realized she was all alone now. The pain and the despair she felt was unbearable. The tears ran down her face.
"No! Mama! Daddy! Eva! No!" Her mind screamed, refusing to accept their deaths.
End Flashback
Lola awoke with a start. She was sitting up in bed. Her body had broken out in a cold sweat. Another dream? No, the same recurring nightmare she's had since that day. Would she never stop seeing it?
"You okay, darlin'?"
Modo was lying next to her. She couldn't see his face in the darkened bedroom but she could hear the concern in his voice. They had been married for the past three years. After what happened to her family, she didn't think she would ever open her heart to love anyone again. She loved her family and then they were gone. Then Dr. Karbunkle revived her for his boss Lawrence Limburger to go after the Biker Mice. Instead of a hideous monster standing before them it was her. She remembered how one of Limburger's goons shot her in the arm triggering her transformation into a multi-tentacled, multi-eyed monster. That was the first time she met Modo. The attraction was instant. His gentleness was one of the things that made her fall in love with him. She had never known a sweeter guy than him. This tall, gentle giant melted the ice that surrounded her heart. She chuckled as she recalled the day they met:
She transformed from monster to girl in front of the mice. Their faces were redder than beets. She stood before them in nothing but her birthday suit. Throttle took off his leather jacket for her to put on. Lola remembered her first date with Modo. Their first kiss. They dated for a whole year before he proposed and she said yes.
"I just had a bad dream, that's all." She tried to reply as nonchalantly as she could.
"What happened to your family wasn't your fault."He said. Modo knew what happened to her family. He knew she didn't want him to worry."
"I couldn't save them." She murmured, as tears formed and he took her in his arms.
"What went on in those camps was beyond anyone's control. So don't go blaming yourself."He told her.
"And what about what Karbunkle did to me?"
"Lola, I love you for who you are." He said, staring at her intently.
"Modo, I'm a freak! What if..." Lola looked troubled, "What if our baby turns out to be one.?"
"I thought I told you to never call yourself that. You're the woman I love and...Wait! What did you just say?" Modo asked, incredulous.
"Our baby.."She replied, smiling at his shocked look, "As in yours and mine."