With permission from The Third Biker Scholar, who's 'First time' stories keep giving me ideas. This follows on from 'The First Storm' :-)
I don't own the biker mice *sob*
The First Rainbow
Sometimes it was really difficult to grasp how different this planet was from their own. Being closer to the sun by 49 million miles had profound effects on the environment and climate of Earth, some of which the three Martian mice could never have imagined. Average temperatures on this planet were warmer, and the ecosystems more varied between the equator and polar regions. The abundance of water and oxygen meant that there was a far greater variety of plant and animal life than there had ever been on Mars, even before it was destroyed by the Plutarkians. More species were being discovered all the time, not forgetting all the extinct species, and the current number stood at 1.7 million. That was more living species than there were Martian mice left surviving on the desolate red world.
But despite what Charley had told them about the other non-human species on this planet, it mostly meant very little to them. They only ever encountered city dwelling animals, a few domestic pets, and a few other plants and wild animals when they did venture out of the urban areas. What couldn't escape their notice, however, was the sheer and totally insane range of weather conditions this planet held.
They had arrived in the Earth city of Chicago on a dry, warm day. It was a little warmer than they were used to back on Mars, but not drastically different. The first time it had rained, a few weeks later, they were over-awed by it – it had not rained on Mars for a number of years now. One kind of weather they were familiar with was high winds – sand and dust storms in the red deserts on Mars were commonplace, and dangerous. There were no dust storms in this particular city, to their relief, but after watching the national news one evening they learned of the dangers of some other Earth weather, namely tornados and hurricanes.
Charley then had the arduous job explaining how those worked to the clueless mice.
"You mean they spin round really fast and take out whole towns?" said Vinnie, his mouth agape. "Can they be controlled?" He looked hopefully at the human woman.
Throttle and Modo, who seconds before had been staring into space, their eyes glazed at the information overload, suddenly snapped out of it and gave Charley and their excited bro their full attention.
"Err no, I don't think so. We're still learning how they work and how to predict them, it'll be a long time before the human race comes up with any means to actually control them". Charley shuddered at the thought. She sincerely hoped that Limburger hadn't had the same idea. The mice seemed positively disappointed.
"Aww, what's the point of all that destruction if you can't even have a little fun with it!"
Charley glared at Vinnie. Hadn't she just told him that tornados kill people?
The concept of a hurricane wasn't any easier to grasp. Being as there were no tropics on Mars, the mice couldn't even imagine rain falling that much and winds that high at the same time, nor the scary thing watching them from right in the middle of it (Charley had giggled at the look on their faces when she told them about the 'eye of the storm').
"Don't get me wrong, guys, not all weather on this planet is that bad. In winter we get snow (three puzzled faces prompted the explanation of frozen rain falling in fluffy, white flakes, each unique in structure), which can be tricky but the kids love playing in it; and sunny days are nice when it's not too hot... umm... oh yeah – and rainbows!"
Three furry faces were now registering looks of pure horror. How could this crazy woman think such things?
"Guys... are you ok?" Charley was a little worried now, had she said something wrong?
Throttle gulped and nodded. Who was he to argue with the Earth woman, after all she knew what she was talking about... shucks she knew a lot of things they didn't.
Vinnie and Modo followed suit, exchanging glances. They would make sure they were elsewhere next time those were in the Chicago sky.
The following days were wet and miserable, with grey clouds blanketing the sky and casting a gloom over the city, bringing with it a slight chill to the air. The mice were bored and irritable at the lack of action (the Limburger tower's latest reconstruction project was delayed by the heavy rain), and despite their initial marvel at there being so much water around, they were reaching a point where perhaps there really could be too much of a good thing.
Charley's voice at the door of their scoreboard hangout made their ears perk up. At last, some relief from the stifling silence that had fallen between them. It was better to not say anything when you were in a bad mood, which quite frankly they all were after a whole week being stuck indoors with nothing to do.
"Hey guys – come out here quick! I want to show you something – " rang her eager voice from outside, the door itself barely open.
The three bored mice had scrambled to their feet, and were hurling themselves fervently in the direction of the door,
"- look it's a-"
only to come to a sudden halt, toppling over each other and landing in a heap on the concrete floor.
When the thunderous patter of feet had been replaced with a soft thud and strangled squeals, Charley had gone back inside to see what was holding them up.
It was quite a sight to see the three bravest men she knew, all muscles and bravado, cowering under a table in a huddle and clinging to each other for dear life. She wanted to laugh, but held it back. A memory stirred somewhere inside her, something that reminded her of instinct. Of fear. She pushed the thought away.
"It's OK" she began gently, "I can assure you, this is something you really want to see".
Realising the mice were not going to budge, their primal natures seeming to overwhelm them, Charley sighed and walked back to the door and opened it wide. She stepped outside and breathed deeply – there was always something so fresh about the air just after a rainstorm.
Under the small table three faces had buried themselves in three pairs of shoulders, tails interlocked, hands gripping together as if a tornado itself were about to suck them from the room.
"TA-DA!" shouted Charley from outside.
The three faces unburied themselves. There was another instinct stirring now: the protective kind. They looked at Charley, priming themselves to leap forward and pull her in, away from the dreaded thing lurking outside the safety of the scoreboard. But she was grinning, and pointing.
Three pairs of eyes followed her finger, adjusting to the change of light. The sun was shining again, casting long, delicate rays through the purple clouds that had been smothering the city, slicing through like brilliant, golden blades. And then they saw it.
An arc of colour bent across the stormy sky, the moisture in the air separating the prism of the light spectrum into its seven, component colours. Three pairs of eyes had never seen anything so beautiful in the sky before. Nothing like this had ever been seen before on Mars. The only things they ever saw there, aside from stars, were Plutarkian warships. Nothing good had ever come of those.
"But... but... how come you're not dead, Charley-ma'am?" came the quavering voice of Modo, still clinging to his anxious friends.
"Dead?" Charley was baffled. The mice looked so earnest, staring at her as if she were some sort of living miracle; still alive whilst out there with such a thing hovering threateningly overhead.
"Yeah..." Throttle was starting to feel a little foolish now, "...don't you remember those things on that TV show last month, that those hunters were using..?" his voice trailed off.
Vinnie was nodding vigorously, a grim look across his furry muzzle, whilst Modo had his now glowing-red eye trained on the outside. His right arm was twitching. "You really should come inside, Charley-ma'am..."
It finally dawned on her. "Oh guys! Those were long bows, not rainbows!"
"Yeah, but.. but... those things looked pretty dangerous sweetheart – and after you told us about those torpedos and, and those horror-cranes that kill so many people on this planet..." Vinnie was wild eyed, trying in vain not to garble. It wasn't so bad hearing about killer weather on the television, but it was an entirely different ball-game when it was in your own back yard.
"Oh my, so you thought that rainbows were going to shoot down from the sky... jeez guys i'm so sorry, I didn't realise." The guilt she felt now was awful. "Rainbows can't hurt you, they're just... coloured light". Charley decided she would reserve the physics lesson for another day. "Come and have a better look – it'll be gone soon."
The mice were still slightly sceptical, after all how could a giant laser-like beam in the sky not be dangerous? Nonetheless they felt reassured by the (still-living) form of their human friend leaning on the railings outside, and so the mice inched closer, their eyes never leaving the awesome beauty curving away over the cityscape. Relieved that they were finally relaxing enough to enjoy the spectacle, Charley allowed herself a small smile. It's a good thing I didn't tell them about the leprechauns too.