"That's the first time I've had a good laugh in as long as I can remember," Torque said as she held both of her sides laughing.
Everyone in the garage except Throttle had laughed until tears rolled down their faces. They were watching video footage of Vinnie's audition for the popular T.V. show U.S. Pop Icon.
Despite the fact that he had been banned from every karaoke bar in the greater Chicago area, Vinnie refused to be deterred from auditioning for the televison show. He had convinced himself that since he was the "baddest motorcycle mammajamma in the universe" that he could also be the "baddest singing motorcycle mammajamma in the universe."
"That was by far the worst vocal performance that I have ever heard," Simeon Kyle, one of the three judges of the show said in a disgusted voice after Vinnie had finished singing "I Will Always Love You." A song that Vinnie had dedicated to himself.
"You make me embarrassed to have vocal cords," Simeon continued.
"My mom thought that I had a lovely singing voice," Vinnie said defensively.
"Yes, well, you have the voice that only a mother could love," Simeon replied with a snippy British accent. "I seriously doubt that even she loved your voice because you have the type of voice that no one could love. If there was the extremely slim chance that someone out there actually did love your voice, I would take it as a sign that they need to be committed to an insane asylum."
"Humph!" Vinnie responded as he stormed out of the room.
"Don't quit your day job!" Simeon called out to Vinnie.
"I don't have one!" Vinnie yelled back angrily.
"We later found out that Fred the Mutant is a big fan of Vinnie's," Modo said, barely stifling a laugh. "He listens to Vinnie's singing anytime that he wants to torture himself."
"He obviously has good taste," Vinnie declared.
"If that's good taste, I'd hate to know what bad taste is," Modo laughed.
"Your mom's cooking had a bad taste," Vinnie answered.
Modo's eye started to glow red. "Why you!" Modo exclaimed as he lunged for Vinnie.
Vinnie barely avoided being punched by Modo's mechanical arm while trying to escape his wrath. Throttle jumped up from his chair and wedged himself between Modo and Vinnie.
"Would you two act sensibly!" Throttle yelled. "The last thing I need is to be aggravated right now."
Throttle then walked out of the garage's back door. Carbine rose out of her chair to follow him but was motioned to sit back down by Torque.
"I think that me and my brother need to have a sibling heart-to-heart," Torque said as she ran to follow Throttle out of the back door.
"Throttle?" Torque said as she walked slowly toward her brother, whose back was turned to her. "Throttle, come on, you haven't said a single thing to me since I got here."
Throttle did not answer his sister.
"Throttle, don't give me the silent treatment like you used to when we were kids," Torque said as she walked over to her brother.
"It's funny," Throttle said quietly. "I've saved countless lives from danger and I couldn't even save my own sister." Throttle turned to face Torque. "I don't think that I'll ever be able to forgive myself. After mom died, I promised myself that I would never let anything happen to you and I failed. I failed her and I failed you."
Torque grabbed her brother's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Throttle you can't blame yourself for what happened to me," Torque said in an unwavering voice. "There's nothing you could have done to stop it."
"If only I had volunteered for that mission, it would have been me instead of you," Throttle said sadly. "You would have been spared having to suffer on that putrid moon."
"I'll never be able to forget that."