Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters from Biker Mice from Mars! Any characters and situations herein are purely fictitious, and any similarity between those and persons living or dead is coincidental :)
I do own my own characters - these are all characters that come from my own work, although I have altered names and occupations slightly so they fit into the real world! I also own The Legacy - unfortunately only on paper but I can dream! :D
Chapter 26 – Return to Chicago
Stoker rolled out of bed. Standing, he shuffled across to the window stared and stared out at the road for the umpteenth time since Freda, Kai, Charley and Throttle had disappeared off to the UK. At first he'd been angry at their abrupt disappearance; but now he was just plain curious as to what had kept them a full week. With a yawn he padded downstairs to find Carbine brewing coffee.
"Morning." He grinned.
"Morning yourself." Carbine's huffy reply said her anger hadn't cooled in the slightest. Both mice twitched their ears as they heard the front door opening followed by someone singing; badly.
"I'm getting married in the morning!" An unfamiliar male voice carolled.
"Alec! Shhhhhhh!" Freda's voice cut through the noise.
"DING! DONG! The bells are gonna chime! Chime! Chime!" The voice known as Alec carried on regardless.
"Alec! You'll wake the entire neighbourhood!" Charley's low growl was easy to identify amidst the din. Stoker grinned at the general noise; Carbine frowned.
"Pull out the stopper! Let's have a... mmmmph!" Alec was suddenly cut off.
"Will. You. Be. Quiet? You debacle of a drunken Scotsman!" Another unfamiliar male voice growled in annoyance. Carbine's frown deepened; footsteps came toward the kitchen.
"Stoker!" Hugh poked his head round the door, grinning as he caught sight of the Martian General.
"Hey Hugh... I take it Freda, Charley and Throttle are all with you?" Stoker enquired lightly; desperately hoping Carbine would hold her tongue.
"Well hello!" Alec rolled drunkenly into the kitchen. "Oi! Freda! You have two more giant mice in your kitchen!"
"I know Alec." Freda snarled as she entered the kitchen. "And how is it that my whisky survives all the way back to Gloucestershire, and onto the plane, and through customs – only to be broken into by you!"
"Coz I'm Scottish." Alec grinned. "Me n' whisky is best buddies!"
"No Alec, you and whisky are worst enemies!" Hugh groaned as he shoved Alec out of the kitchen and toward the hall. "Free room upstairs?"
"Yeah second floor though Hugh!" Freda called; they caught a few more drunken lines of Get Me To The Church On Time, followed by a loud exclamation from Alec about more giant mice. Freda groaned; she had a stinking headache and she knew it was about to get worse.
It took only a short while to drag all their things in and release the animals from their travel crates. Most of them made a beeline upstairs to sleep; apart from Kizzy who sauntered into the kitchen looking hopeful. Throttle sat down heavily, regarding his bro's and the two Martian General's with a due sense of wariness.
"So..." Carbine's dangerous purr preceded an enraged yell. "Care to explain what the hell you think you were doing?!"
"Come off it, Carbine! You didn't need me! All of you made that painfully obvious!" Throttle growled. Vinnie shuddered, he knew that tone; Throttle was angry. Really angry.
"You arrogant bastard!" Carbine snarled. "You can't do everything!"
"No, but I handle things better than you do most of the time!" Throttle snapped.
"Oh Momma..." Modo groaned; the lady in question looked to her son with a worried expression.
"Shut up!" Throttle and Carbine turned angrily on Modo.
"Hey now you two – there's no need to go for Modo!" Stoker growled.
"Oh! Stay out of this Stoker!" Carbine waspish retort made Vinnie wriggle with discomfort.
"Like how you both stayed out of what didn't concern you?" Throttle grated angrily.
"I am your Commanding Officer! It did concern me!" Carbine retorted.
"I'm not army!" Throttle bit the words off savagely.
"You had no orders! I could have you court marshalled! You'd be out on your ear! Do you have any idea how serious your actions are?! Why you!" Carbine ranted in growing frustration. Stoker clapped a hand on his niece's shoulder.
"Actually most of that doesn't apply; the Freedom Fighters' aren't the army Carbine." Stoker's quiet reminder seemed to defuse the female General. "Although I would like know why Throttle failed to tell anyone he was going."
"Er... Actually, he did General Stoker." Modo gulped. "He told me, remember?"
"Apologies." Stoker sighed. "My question still stands though."
"There wasn't time Stoker." Charley interceded before Carbine could start shouting again. "Freda was leaving within twohours – she only arranged the trip that morning."
"And that makes this ok? Throttle still effectively went off without orders." Stoker's firm retort silenced the room.
"Yeah, well he's good at that!" Carbine snapped. "After all that's how he ended up here in the first place!"
"Damn you Carbine!" Throttle roared, too frustrated to find a more suitable retort.
"Hells teeth! Will you lot quit yelling!" Freda barked her eyes flashing.
"I'll second that!" Vinnie muttered.
"Butt out!" Carbine spat.
"My house sister – my rules!" Freda's icy reminder did little to cool Carbine's temper.
"Like hot-footing it off first thing in the morning? You could have caught a later plane!" Stoker interjected.
"There wasn't time – I needed to get to the UK to deal with The Legacy." Freda snapped.
"The Legacy?" Modo looked puzzled.
"It's a tall ship." Throttle clarified. Modo frowned; his bro's explanation left him none the wiser.
"Freda owns The Legacy – it's her responsibility." Charley added in frustration. She'd been expecting a scene but nothing so petty and uncontrolled.
"So this is her fault?" Carbine growled turning her glare to Freda.
"No! No this is not her fault! Your problem is with me! I'm the one that went off – remember? Don't you dare drag Freda into this!" Throttle snarled shouted angrily as he moved to stand in front of Freda.
"Huh?! So she's been making up to you as well huh? Little bitch!" Carbine spat. "It's not enough that you move here right where the bro's are? Now you have to steal Throttle as well? Is that how you get your kicks? I'd have thought he was a bit on the exotic side for your refined tastes!"
"Wrong, on all counts but one." Freda snarled in return as she pushed Throttle aside. "I don't want Throttle, I haven't 'made up to him' and I certainly don't get kicks out of situations like this! And if he was too exotic – why would I let you ungrateful ingrates stay in MY house?! But yes, I will allow you one point Carbine – just one – moving here is more than enough for me."
"Like hell!" Carbine snapped her eyes flashing. The others shifted uneasily; it was obvious to all the Martians that Carbine was really getting to Freda. Only Stoker and Throttle got the full meaning of the furious human woman's words, but the others gathered enough from her tone to know it wasn't anything complimentary. Vinnie shifted uncomfortably in his seat again; Modo's one eye flicked coldly between the two women; Rimfire had flattened his ears and even Primer was looking horrified by the situation. Stoker and Momma exchanged looks; however this ended, it would be bad. Freda stood her ground against the angry Martian.
"And what would you know about anything? You only just met me! And yet you pass judgement like you're some kind of all seeing goddess!" Freda intoned coldly. "You're no goddess Carbine - you're a she-devil with an evil temper attached!"
"And you're no better than a whore!" Carbine spat. Freda closed the small distance between her and Carbine, delivering a resounding punch to the General's jaw. Carbine hit the floor hard. She sat there stunned for several seconds before struggling to her feet; blood dribbled from her mouth and her eyes were wide with shock.
"I may be many things, but I am no whore!" Freda's voice had hit a dangerously bitter note. "You ever insinuate that again, and you'll wish you'd never been born."
Carbine gulped convulsively and rushed out of the back door. Stoker threw his hands up in despair.
"Wonderful, and here was me thinking we could avoid a situation like this." He shook his head. Throttle strode past them all, ignoring any attempts to stop him.
"Brilliant..." Primer heaved a heavy sigh. "Like we didn't have enough drama with what's happening on Mars."
"Stoker. I need to talk to you. Right now." Freda snapped. She stalked out of the kitchen. Stoker hesitated slightly before following. He certainly didn't like the human female in her current mood.
Read and review folks! :)
