Day 15, Week 4

Dear Diary,

What a day! The guys were in the Scoreboard playing Pogs. You know that game where you flip the bottle caps? Instead of bottle caps, they were tossing around a hubcap they got from Limburger's limo after blowing it up.

Modo fired his bionic arm at one. It flew threw the air. I had just finished wiping off the handlebars on my bike when I looked up and saw it coming at me. I dived for the floor as it knocked my toolbox off a table scattering tools everywhere. Throttle had caught it and threw it to Vinnie.

"Guess you guys can't play Pogs without using deadly force." I said, picking up the tools.

"You can do that?" Vinnie asked.

"Heads up, bros!" Throttle said, looking out the window and activating the radar in his helmet,"We've got company."

Vinnie, Modo, and I went to look out with Throttle.

A large alien ship was fast approaching the Scoreboard. It was on fire and headed right for us!

"That's a Plutorkian battle ship. Don't think they're here to invite us to dinner." Vinnie said.

A laser blast from the ship knocked us back and down. Modo's eye was flashing red.

"Well, let's send 'em a reply!" Modo replied, angrily getting up, and firing at the ship. Throttle and Vinnie followed suit with blasters. The ship kept coming.

"Rock and Hide, Sweetheart!" Vinnie said, wrapping his tail around my waist and pulling me to safety. Throttle and Modo took cover as well. The ship crashed and stuck in the Scoreboard.

We got up and walked over to the ship.

"Not again! Where on the Scoreboard does it say alien parking?" Vinnie asked.

"Yeah,we might as well hang a target on that thing." Modo remarked.

Suddenly the door of the ship fell open. Smoke came out. A shadowy figure emerged. We braced ourselves.

"Sorry, Stinkfish, but you've just entered a blow away zone." Vinnie said, swinging at the figure. Modo caught his fist in time with his metal hand.

"Modo!" Vinnie said, frowning.

"Hold it. It's Rimfire." He explained. Vinnie dropped his fist as Modo's teenaged nephew came more into view.

"Hi, Uncle Modo." He said, coughing.

"Still fighting for freedom, eh, bros?" Said a voice as another figure came into view. It was an older Martian Mouse I'd never seen before.

The guys seemed very happy to see him as Modo picked him up in a bear hug. The older mouse grinned then slapped his ears as Modo released him. Then the guy tackled Vinnie. I steered clear of this guy as he and Vinnie wrestled on the floor. Then Vinnie threw him off. He then leg tripped Throttle and Modo laughing the whole time. All three mice were on the floor socking each other. Vinnie and Rimfire joined in. Then Modo was thrown back on his rear lopsided grin on his face. I just shook my head. There they were on the floor beating each other up like idiots!

"Before you macho mice beat each other black and blue, anyone care to introduce me?" I asked.

Modo did the honors. I found out his name was Stoker. He was the leader of the guys' unit back on Mars. He told me how Stoker taught them everything they knew about fighting, hunting, and fishing. The guy certainly liked fighting a lot. And I thought Vinnie was the ultimate adrenaline junkie. Stoker was a legend among the Freedom Fighters. His guidance and leadership made them into the heroes they were today.

When they finally broke it up, Rimfire told us that Stoker was a prisoner of the Plutorkians. They had him chained to a post and were making him break rocks with a sledge hammer when Rimfire singlehandedly freed him. They then stole one of their ships and headed to Mars. But Mars was surrounded by Plutorkian forces. They had to change course. So they headed to Earth to find Modo. They were about to contact us but Stoker accidentally fired at the Scoreboard causing the mice to fire back at them. Now they were stuck and couldn't get back. I offered to fix their ship to which they agreed.

Modo had put the tv on to watch his favorite show, Law and Order. Instead what he saw made him cringe. Stinkfish aka Lawrence Limburger was in a commercial selling a new shampoo called Clampoo. He was offering people the chance to try it free. He even slipped a twenty-dollar bill in each bottle.

"Why is he being so generous?" I thought.

"Now what's wrong with this picture? A Plutorkian peddling soap suds?" Throttle asked.

"Don't even have to think about it to know it's crooked." Modo murmured.

"Let's go fry his fins!" Stoker said.

"Yeah!" Vinnie cheered.

"My kinda music!"Modo crowed.

The guys were ecstatic but I noticed Rimfire looked worried.

"Stoke, maybe this isn't a hot idea." He told him.

He couldn't have been more right. Stoker lost his freedom fighting edge due to old age. He kept making mistakes which caused the Plutorkians who were after him to capture Rimfire. It was a tough blow to him. Getting old is never easy for anyone. Even someone who others look up to. The guys were disappointed that he was no longer the fighter they remembered. Stover felt he had let everyone down. Vinnie didn't make things easy for him either. I think he was a little jealous, too. I was working on the spaceship and needed parts.

"You almost done?" He asked me.

"I'm gonna have to go back to the garage and get some extra parts before you guys can risk flying this crate." I said.

"Hey, pretty lady, how about I ride you over?" Stoker asked.

"She's already got her ride." Vinnie replied, rudely then softly to me,"Hop on, Sweetheart."

Vinnie felt Stoker was a washout. Modo still believed in him but Throttle had his doubts. Stoker was really down in the dumps. He had loaned me his jacket to put on so I wouldn't catch a cold. The guys went off to rescue Rimfire while I stayed with him.

"You keep it." He told me as I was giving it back, "My biker days are over."

"You may move a step slower now, but I know you have just as much to contribute." I said. He felt so much better after I encouraged him. He went to help the guys. I found out when they came back that Stoker yelled out maneuvers that helped them defeat the Plutorkians and rescue Rimfire. I finally repaired the ship and the two mice got ready to leave.

"Ride free, nephew." Modo said, hugging Rimfire.

"Command Center's waitin', Stoke." Rimfire said.

"So, punk" Stoker began with Vinnie.

"Punk?" Vinnie questioned.

"You're one bad motor jammer." He said.

"Thanks, old timer." Vinnie replied.

"Stoker."

"You know, you should be proud to have donated the clay from which I molded this warrior work of art!" Vinnie declared, posing and showing off his physique.

"The privilege is overwhelming!" Stoker replied, sarcastically,"But don't forget."

"What's that?"

He grabbed Vinnie by the arm throwing him to the floor.

"The badder you are, the harder you fall!"

"Foul play! I love it!" Vinnie laughed, leg tripping Stoker. Then they started socking each other all over again! The other mice of course joined in. Some things never change! Till tomorrow, Charley!