Mutt zoomed by Whiptail's left flank, lasers following close behind. It was a risky move considering the road barely had enough room for one car. Dutch sighed internally thinking about how Mike always did stupid stunts to divert Kane-bots away from him and Texas. Sometimes he took his responsibilities as a leader way too seriously. Dutch swore it would be the death of the wild brown-haired boy. What bothered Dutch the most was the very real possibility that Mike would kill himself in order to protect one of them. Mike would do it proudly without a thought, while the rest of them would have to live with the guilt.
"Yo Mike! I had that one! You're gonna get yourself blasted off this highway!" The cubed version of Dutch's face blared at Mike from his com screen.
In that instance Chuck looked out of Mutt's passenger window. Going at nearly 200 miles per hour he couldn't make out a single object clearly. He only saw whirls of dark blue, black, and highlighter orange. Suddenly Mike slammed one of Mutt's wheels on the road to keep from skidding and Chuck saw a piece of the highway break off and fall many feet below. His stomach churned and he cupped his mouth briefly.
"Mikey…Dutch is right. You gotta take it easy or we'll plummet to our deaths and lay buried with the jumbo rats!"
"Whoa, whoa easy Chuckles. I know what I'm doing. Just trust me." He said simply while smiling.
A Kane-bot blew up near Chuck's side of the car.
"Aaaah!" he yelled helplessly cringing in his seat. Mike snickered quietly to himself.
Dutch's icon lit up again, "That seemed to be the last of them. Looks like we're done here."
"Didya have to blow it up right next to my side?!"
"Looks like you're right. Time to head back to HQ. Hey, where's Tex?" Mike peered over to his mirrors.
"It has been pretty quiet, coulda sworn he was nearby a second ago." Dutch said switching on his com to call Texas. "Hey knuckle head where you at?"
For a few seconds there was no response.
"Texas?"
"Hey Ladies! Come feast your eyes on this! Texas's brilliant detective skills found an awesome present!"
"Wha-" Mike almost started.
"Follow Texas!"
Both Dutch and Mike shrugged and turned their cars around to follow Stronghorn's signal.
Texas had taken a small side road for some reason while they were mid-chase. They ended up in an old car junkyard. When they both saw Stronghorn parked in the road ahead they pulled up and stepped out.
"Awesome! You're here, come check this out."
"Tex, we aren't supposed to be here. This has Duke territory written all over it." Mike said warily.
"Exactly my point Tiny. If this junkyard "belongs" to the Dork of Detroit then why is that Kane-thingy over there gathering scraps?"
Chuck, Mike and Dutch's eyes bugged out for a few seconds and the three of them hustled over to see what Texas was talking about.
Sure enough a Kane-bot hovered in the distance collecting spare car parts.
"Yeah, that's not weird." Dutch muttered in disbelief.
"Uh Chuck… haven't you tried to hack into these things like a million times?" Mike said his mouth still hanging slightly open while he scratched his head.
Chuck nodded, not hiding his shock by gawking stupidly at the rectangular death machine.
"Ha! I knew it! Texas is the best. Always leading the Burners in the right direction, but that's just what Texas does. Now Chuck can do his weird nerd thing and take down that pony-tail wearing Kane for good…(cough) (cough) thanks Texas."
"Hold on Tex, you did great but even if we do do—
"Ha, you said doodoo."
"Texas."
"Right."
"Even if we catch this bot. I have a feeling it won't lead us directly to Kane. We are in the Duke's turf. There's a chance he might be in on this…"
"You think the Duke was able to hack into the bots?" Chuck said insecurely still thinking about how someone else could be better at his profession.
"Not without help. This doesn't seem right to me, but all I know is that Kane sure as hell wants nothing to do with cars. The Duke on the other hand lives for his cars." Dutch interjected.
"Do you think Kane and the Duke are working together?" Mike asked.
"Nah, I think the Duke probably got himself an insider. A Kane Co. defector. Do I need to remind you how many gangs offered me a job when I came down here?"
"True. Well, if that's the case we better find out who. If they can get the bots to do the Duke's busy work there's no telling what they can do to help us fight Kane." Mike said rubbing his chin.
"You don't actually think the Duke would want to help us, right Mike?"
"Not at all, but it doesn't take much to entice the guy..."
"Texas is bored; can I rope the thing now or what?"
"Do your thing Tex."
Texas whooped and scurried to his car, chasing after the Kane-bot. Mike looked over pensively.
"What are you thinkin Mike?" Dutch asked seeing an idea building in his head.
"You're not gonna like it."
Hey Motorcity fans, thanks for reading. I'll be continuing this as a short chapter fic. Let me know what you think.
