Sorry this took so long, real life is being a byotch.

Disclaimer: Own nothing, not even my own feet.

Chapter 10

Modo slapped another batch of premade C4 onto a wall as they rode past. The bombs were a gift from Addie, asking that since it was his town, they take the Tower out his way. The mice had agreed as they had never taken out a Plutarkian Tower this way before. They could check another method off the "1001 Ways to Take Out a Tower" list. (Yes, they keep a list. Have to keep track somehow.)

Rev scanned the hallway, tensing at the sound of metal being dragged across metal. "We got company, Modo!"

Lil' Hoss braked to a stop as a huge black snake--thing slithered down the hall, the metallic looking horns dragging along the sides of the hall. Several rows of wicked looking teeth filled its main mouth. And then the other mouths opened, along its sides, its belly, even from where its eyes should be--

Both mice's eyes went huge in shock. "I think a tactical retreat is in order," Rev said softly. Hoss seemed to agree as the bike began rolling backwards, Modo nodding in agreement. The grey mouse paused a moment. "Snakes like noise, right?"

"Huh? How should I know, they never let me watch National Geographic!?"

"Here goes nothing then," Modo muttered as he pulled out his small cd player. He clicked it on, put the speakers on high and tossed it into an open doorway. The giant thing's head followed after the sound, squeezing into the room with some effort. Modo jumped off Lil' Hoss and slammed the door after it, but not before tossing in one of Rev's grenades. The resulting blast took out the door, a rain of chunky purple spewing out after it. Modo glanced in the room and grimaced. "No chance of getting that player back."

Rev frowned in curiousity. "What did you play on it? I mean, why did it follow after it?"

Modo found a smile as he got back on his beloved bike. "I guess everyone like James Bomb theme music." The sound of several more things coming down the hall made his smiled drop. Dozens of heads, mouths, claws, paws, beaks, and spines came around the corner. All of them attatched to one creature. "Uh-oh."

"No kidding," Rev said blankly. He suddenly reached into his shirt, yanking out a dozen of his homemade smoke bombs. "Modo, get ready to blast us a way down and out, I'll get us some cover."

"Dive and Dash number 6? 7 would work better."

"That'd be great if I knew what you were talking about! Now get moving!" He tossed the bombs out, grey and black smoke filling the hall. Lil' Hoss's lasers fired, making a hole in the floor and using its thrusters to lower them down the next several floors. They passed several more creatures and hybrids on the way down, teeth snapping and claws swiping at them. Rev threw a few more smoke bombs at them, switching back to his frag grenades when he ran out.

Modo kept tossing more C4 bombs at the walls as they went down. As Rev handed him another one, the young mouse paused. "Modo, these bombs are on a timer, right?"

"Yeah."

"That you have to activate, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you still have the remote for them, right?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm"--the grey mouse suddenly frowned as Lil' Hoss blasted out more flooring beneath them. He patted down his pockets, a sheepish look coming on his face. "Um, must have tossed it when I threw my cd player. Why?"

Rev fought the urge to strangle him. "Because all the bombs' timers are going!! We've only got seven minutes before this whole place goes up!"

"Better hurry then," the grey mouse said practically.

&

The sound of several explosions echoed through the building. The white girl clone glanced around nervously as she helped her still dizzy sisters down the hallway. "What was that?"

"That would be our ride," Charley said proudly as she held the arm of one of the Jewels. She glanced around at the girls. "I can't believe we could only find the one guard. Where is everyone?"

"Alarm #64," the tan mouse girl said groggily. "It means to evacuate the building. I'm-(yawn)-surprised we even found the one." This clone was Charley's height, with slightly darker hair than her fur tht brushed at her shoulders. Large brown eyes made her seem younger than she was, but the large peice of metal bar she held made a person think twice. The guard they had ambushed had generously donated his clothes while unconscious, and she had his brown button up shirt on. It just barely made it past the indecent parts.

The other clone was as tall as Modo with his grey fur, but long black hair cascaded down her back. Red eyes blinked to try and clear the sleep away from her mind. And while this clone was tall, she was not bulky, but willowy, her limbs long and graceful. The guard's pants covered her lower half and his khaki vest barely stretched out to fit her top.

The white furred clone had snagged his white undershirt and was thankful for her shorter torso as it went down to mid thigh. Charley insisted they keep the clothing, as she still had her bra and underwear.

A loud hissing filled the air as they turned the corner. A green plant-like monster blocked their path, tentacles waving as several beaks snapped in their direction. "Uh-oh."

"No kidding," the tan mouse said as they slowly backed up. Just as the thing lunged to attack, the ceiling caved in with a huge crash, crushing the creatured beneath it. The most beautiful site in the world greeted Charley's eyes.

"Hey, Charley-girl, nice to finally see you aga--Oh, Momma, you're naked!!"

&

The black bike's engine nearly screamed, it was revved so tightly. Its headlights flashed red, the only way it had to express its anger with the stone villain. For as much as her rider loved the human mechanic, so too did the Martian bikes love her. To lose her was not allowed, especially when the Terran was her rider's chosen.

The last reserves of energy drained from the bike's power cells as it blasted deep holes in the villain's chest and tearing off an arm with its cannons. The bike beeped tiredly as smoke came from its lasers. Throttle patted his bike's crankcase, "You did your best. Now its my turn."

The tan mouse dismounted from his ride and primed his Nuk Knuks. He began to walk towards the stone creature even as its arm reformed and the holes filled in on its chest. "Now tha' wasn't very nice," Stonewall said angrily.

"You think that's bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet!" Link shouted, opening fire on the monster. His giant side-cannons went into a full barrage, tearing chunks and limbs off Stonewall. The green bike's cannons began to smoke as well, the power cells dying away as the last shots were fired. The stone screeched in pain as he lost both legs and the same arm Throttle had just taken off. His face twisted into a deranged smile as the stone began to pull back together, rolling back and reforming around the body. It happened all in seconds, barely enough time to watch at all.

But Throttle had seen it. A single glowing purple stone which all the others formed around. "I need a distraction! Blind drive number 8!" he ordered.

"Coming up!" Rimfire shouted as he flew by. He pulled out a round brass-colored ball, "Got a present for you, blockhead! Tell those stinking fish that Stoker sends his regards!" He threw it hard at the general, shouting out the voice command to activate the powerful weapon. "One, two, five!!"

"Three!" Thrash automatically corrected, before he realized what Rimfire had just said. His eyes widened in panic, "Holy Kysha, not that!!"

"Fire in the hole!!" The young buck sergeant screamed.

The explosion rocked the streets, shattering windows and setting off car alarms for blocks. It took several minutes for the dust to settle, and a few more for the dazed mice to recover. Vinnie shook his head hard to clear the ringing out of his ears. It took some effort, but he found Rimfire, who had been blown completely off his bike by the blast. The young mouse had been blown through a display window into some kind of costume shop, tangled in piles of clothing. The white mouse stared at the younger mouse for a full minute. "Not gonna do that again, are ya?"

"Hell no," the dazed mouse replied. "Is that why Stoker called it the Holy Hand Grenade?"

"He called it that because he loves Monty Python," Vincent spat.

"'And that person, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it,'" Thrash quoted as he limped over to them. He blinked to get the dust out of his eyes. "Link?! You alive?!"

A black turned very-dirty-brown mouse (from the sheer amount of dirt and debris clouding the air) slowly staggered into the street to join them. "Did I pass the spelling test, Teacher Coil?"

"Goddess of Mars, the HHG knocked him all the way back to third grade," Rimfire said in wonder.

"If that's all it did, he should count himself lucky," Thrash said. He glanced around. "Has anyone seen Throttle?"

"Wouldn't surprise me ifn' he was blown ta kingdom come with that blast. Yeah, that little do-dad was a certain piece o'work," Stonewall said conversationally. He motioned to his unmoving leg and frowned when it didn't automatically come back to him. He sighed a bit as he pulled his right leg back onto his body. "Now, how about we get down to business"—He suddenly reached up, grabbing his chest. "Wha' tha hell—Where's my—That dirty little rat!!" He screamed. "He stole my heart!!"

Vinnie could not stop himself. "That's no way to talk about your sweetheart," he heckled.

&

"Now that was a sweet little number," Sergt. Williams said admiringly as a small mushroom cloud rose over the street.

"Good sound, excellent radius, most stellar blast concussion," Sergt. Steinhaur agreed. "I give it an eight."

"Speaking of numbers," Addie frowned. "Isn't that the bomb timer for that Modo fella and the new kid?"

Andy checked it over. Only six and a half minutes left. He immediately turned to the radar, looking for Modo's current location. "He's still inside. That's plenty of time for a vet like him."

"But he's got a rookie with him," the other soldier reminded him. "And a hostage with an unknown condition. Girl might need medical help."

"Good point," the chef agreed. "Lets move out. The crowd decided this was too hot a party anyway."

They poured on the speed as the timer ticked down to four minutes and the tracker on Lil'Hoss didn't move from the building. If anything, it was going lower, down into the basement levels. They reached the edge of the Monterrey Tower Plaza, pausing for a moment. "So what do you think?" Addie asked. "Blast the tower off the basement, or go the direct route?"

"You know me," Andy said with a grin. He reached for the turret cannon's controls, a modified Super Nintendo controller. He aimed and fired the huge laser, burning a hole in the concrete and stone below until it formed a tunnel big enough for the Mothership to fit down. "I've always preferred the direct route."

&

Modo was blushing bright red. Good gods, he was seeing his bro's girl practically naked!! "Oh Momma, Throttle's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill me—"

"Its great to see you too, Modo," Charley smiled at the bashful mouse. "And if you don't tell, I won't."

"Okay, he almost squeaked out.

Rev was a bit more occupied. "Jewels?" He said in disbelieving wonder. "Is that—how—I searched everywhere. Everywhere, every cell, every holding field but I couldn't find you. I couldn't find you anywhere."

The tan mouse-girl stepped forward, reaching out with a shaking hand. "White?" she asked softly. She gasped when her hand cupped his cheek. "I can finally touch you. I can"—she flung her arms around him, holding him tight as his arms wrapped around her as well.

"What are we, chopped liver?" The white mouse-girl asked in mock hurt, her grey sister leaning on her shoulder. Rev reached out to the other two, his voice echoing past hurt and sorrow. "I thought all of you were gone, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, girls, oh god"—They hugged him tightly.

"Much as I love happy reunions, we got stuff to do," Charley said firmly. "Like busting out of here."

A huge roar shook the ground they stood on, and rumbling explosions sounded. "You just had to say something," The white she-mouse said.