Facing The Truth-chapter 9
"You bros find anything?" Vinnie asked on seeing Throttle and Modo ride up to him. The two mice saw him holding Harley.
"Oh, I feel a little dizzy." Harley said, as she saw Throttle and Modo eying her suspiciously.
"C'mon, sweetheart." Vinnie said, helping her up.
Unbeknownst to Vinnie, Harley smiled to herself. This was working out better than she planned.
"Excuse me? What is she doing here?" Charley asked, on seeing Harley walked into the Last Chance Garage. The auburn-haired mechanic was holding a welding torch and turned it off. She flipped up her protective mask to see the beige furred mouse.
"Cool it, sweetheart. She's one of us." Vinnie explained.
"You sure about that? I'm not." Throttle said, walking up to Harley.
"Care to explain this?" He asked, holding up a scrap of a slightly burnt piece of paper and a burned out match.
"Someone's trying to set me up! It's a frame up!" She replied, looking pale and glancing over at Vinnie.
"Or you're trying to set us up." Modo replied.
"It's not true! I'm a Martian Mouse. Why would I betray my own people?" She asked.
"You were with those dog faced aliens that had weapons aimed at us." Throttle said.
"Plus, you helped Elena, an accused killer, escape. That makes you an accomplice." Carbine said, walking up to the Biker Mice and standing next to Throttle.
"First of all, those dog-faced aliens are called Muttonians. They're not our enemies. The Fish Faces destroyed their planet. They're survivors just like us. Second, Elena didn't kill anyone and if anyone is cold-blooded it was Armada. He was a monster and a traitor to us all. Why you choose to protect him is beyond me." Harley replied.
"Yeah, well, I have my orders to bring his killer to justice. But, I'm not so sure if I should keep doing it." Carbine said, more to herself.
"What's wrong, babe?" Throttle asked her.
"Armada was a saboteur and a spy for Plutark. But not only that...the Fish Faces took him out." Carbine replied.
"By "took him out" you mean for a drink, right?" Vinnie asked.
"No. I mean they tortured him, cut his tongue out, and shot him in the back of the head." She replied.
Everyone gasped. They knew the Fish Faces were brutal and cruel. As scummy and vile as Armada was, even he didn't deserve what happened to him.
"Armada had been working for both sides without either one knowing it. He would supply info to Martian Command about the Fish Faces' top operations and vice versa. He was making a nice profit till he got found out." Carbine said, "They don't like stool pidgeons and snitches anymore than we do."
"So now you see Elena is innocent. So you'll drop the charges against her?" Harley asked.
"No, she won't."
Everyone looked up to see an older Martian Mouse approach them. The mouse now held a blaster in his hand aimed at Carbine.
"Ambassador LeDuff? What are you doing here?" Carbine asked.
"I want the scumbag who murdered my son to pay for it!" He growled, "They say it was a woman. I normally don't become violent with a woman, but in her case, I'll make an exception!"
"Freeze, Ambassador. You're way out of line. Nobody is hurting anybody." Throttle said.
"Don't move! Anybody!" He threatened, brandishing his blaster. The mice moved back but inched a little forward.
"Ambassador, please. Put up your weapon." Carbine pleaded.
"I won't let you or anyone else say bad things about Armada. He was a good boy." The old man said.
"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that, pal." Harley said, sarcastically, "He raped my cousin and sold out half the planet of Mars and he's good? Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"My son did not do these things you say! You're all lying on him!" He screamed.
While this discourse went on, a large white tail wrapped around his thumb releasing his hold on the blaster. It dropped and Vinnie caught it with one hand and tossed it to Harley who tossed it to Throttle.
"No!" Ambassador LeDuff cried out.
"Ambassador, I understand your anger, but Elena didn't kill your son. The Plutarkians did." Carbine said, showing him the unecrypted holodisc files of his son accepting bribes of Plutarkian gold fins. The ambassador looked away embarassed. He still couldn't believe his son was a traitor. But it was all there in black and white.
"How did he die?" He asked, solemnly.
"It doesn't matter." She replied, hesistantly.
"Yes, it does! What did they do to my son?" He demanded.
"It ain't a pretty sight." Throttle told him.
"I have to know."
Carbine sighed as she showed him the autopsy pictures of Armada. The mice looked away disgusted. You couldn't tell it was a Martian Mouse. The body was so badly burned and decomposed. The old man collapsed. Modo and Vinnie caught him before he hit the floor.
"He fainted." Modo said.
"Put him on the couch in the other room." Charley said.
"Poor old man. Losing a family member." Modo sympathized, as he and Vinnie carried the old mouse into the other room.
The gray furred mouse understood all too well. He lost his own mother shortly after the war. Besides his sister, his nephew, and niece, he had no other family. Armada wasn't exactly his favorite person, but no one deserved losing someone in their family especially in such a horrific way.
"You know, I kinda feel sorry for him. I know I was rough before, but I know what it's like to lose someone you love. That person may have done bad things, but they're still your family." Harley said, watching the old man.
"Like Elena?" Charley asked.
"I told you, my cousin didnt-" Harley began, stiffening up.
"Yeah, I know, she didn't kill Armada. But she did try to kill Vinnie because he couldn't protect her from Armada."
"She knows now she made a mistake. He was an innocent kid. A victim of circumstance." Harley said, "We don't need to fight each other anymore. We need to come together to defeat our enemy, the Plutarkians."
