Holy smokes, the amount of reviews regarding the last chapter, blew my mind.

Seriously you guys, you're all making me so happy with your comments and feedback.

I'm so happy the story is making you happy. So happy.

Happy tears right here. Can't stop saying happy as well it seems...

Enjoy this next chapter!

The Scoreboard

There he was, sitting all alone in the middle of the scoreboard on the couch. His legs propped up on the coffee table, the television on and a root beer in his hand. But his eyes weren't focused on the brightly coloured screen at all.

The object which had managed to hold his attention was a garbage bag lying right next to him on the floor. The black sack Stoker had brought back with him and its contents were still unknown.

Those who knew Vinnie, knew he was never really an expert when it came to having patience and it was safe to say that he couldn't contain his curiosity any longer. He simply had to know what was inside and besides, he was certain there was nothing disgusting in there.

For one, the bag didn't smell and second, Stoker had said there was nothing creepy in there such as a dead body.

The white mouse set his root beer down on the coffee table and lowered himself to the ground. With one quick yank, he tore open the top and took a peek inside. His brow furrowed as he finally discovered what was inside and it was something he had not been expecting.

Putting his arm into the bag, he pulled out a dark grey rectangular shape. A videotape. He turned the object to see what was written on the side, but it didn't make sense to him.

Autumn #3

There were about twenty videotapes inside the garbage bag and each of them had the word Autumn and a number written on them. Vinnie couldn't wrap his head around it. Why had Stoker taken all of these with him? Were they surveillance tapes? Did the word Autumn mean one of the four seasons Earth had?

"What are you doing here?" The voice of Throttle suddenly sounded behind him and Vinnie threw a quick glance over his shoulder.

His bro had a towel draped across his shoulders and his fur was still a little damp looking. At least now he knew where Throttle had been.

"I live here?" Vinnie retorted a bit short and his face fell, for he was once again reminded of the reason why he was really there in the first place.

"Sorry." Throttle quickly said. "It's just, I wasn't expecting you here. I figured you would be staying at Charley's side?"

That comment only made things even worse and Vinnie averted his gaze like a wounded creature. "Modo will take care of her. I'm sure I'll only be in the way of them."

The tanned mouse couldn't help but frown. It wasn't like Vinnie to say things like that and from the way he was acting, it was clear something had happened. Something that had managed to knock the high and playful energy, the white mouse was known for, out of him.

Throttle decided not to dwell on it for the moment as it was clearly a sore spot for Vinnie. It was best to wait a bit before addressing it again. In the meantime there was something else he noticed. An object his bro was holding in his hand.

"What have you got there?" Throttle asked with interest.

"Tapes." Vinnie replied showing him the one he was holding.

"I can see that." He looked at the bag on the floor and saw more of the same objects in there. "Where did you get them?"

Vinnie shrugged. "I didn't. Stoker did. Took them from that club, I think."

Stoker was here? Immediately Throttle turned his head towards the direction of the spacecraft, where he knew Izzy had wandered off to earlier. She wanted a moment for herself and the ship was a good and secluded place to escape to.

At that same time, he had taken the opportunity to retreat back towards the bathroom and take a cold shower. A really, really cold shower.

It was obvious where his former coach was, even if everything seemed quiet, Throttle could simply sense it in his guts. The timing couldn't have been better, at least Izzy's scent was no longer lingering on him. But unfortunately the same could not be said for her.

He was beginning to feel warm again, but not because he was feeling aroused by what had happened earlier. No, he felt afraid of what might happen if Stoker planned on flipping out on him like he had done so before.

"I guess there is only one thing left to do now." Vinnie suddenly exclaimed as he stood up and headed towards the VCR.

"Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" The other mouse quickly redirected his attention back to his bro.

"What does it look like, Throttle?" He pushed the cassette into the recorder and pressed play on the remote. "I want to know what's on this. No harm can come from that."

The screen turned from black to a dark and hazy red. Soft music played in the background as a stage came into view, with three silver coloured poles at the front.

Vinnie let out an excited chuckle. "Hey, look, it's like one of those James Bomb movies we saw a while ago."

It did look like a scene from a action movie, there was no doubt about that. Only there was one tiny difference and that was that Throttle knew that place. He'd been there not too long ago. In fact, he was above that very same stage only a few hours back. It was Dreamland. Morden's club.

The song suddenly changed to something more intense and the curtains were pulled aside, revealing a woman dressed in an extremely short and shimmering black dress. She moved slowly along the beat of the music, reached for one of the three poles and began to slide her body down towards the ground.

The tanned mouse gulped and reached for the couch behind him, before his legs would give away. He recognized her the moment she appeared in the frame. She was beautiful and the way she danced and worked that silvery object, made Throttle wish he was back in that cold shower.

He stared at the screen, mesmerized by it all. He had seen it before, in movies and such. But this wasn't the same. This was someone he knew personally. Someone who he had linked his mind with. That feverish feeling bubbled back to the surface, causing his fur to tingle all over the place.

If that wasn't enough, she began to slowly lower the straps from her dress down her shoulders as she swayed her hips from left to right.

"Wait a minute,-" Vinnie moved closer to the television and cocked his head. "Is that Izzy?"

"Turn it off." Throttle breathed heavily.

The white mouse turned around to look at him. "What?"

"Turn it off, Vincent!" He raised his voice and Vinnie swiftly pressed the button on the remote.

Realization quickly hit the two of them after that. They'd just watched Charley's sister-in-law engaged in a striptease. Vinnie uncomfortable rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not sure how to feel about that."

That made two of them. Although Throttle most definitely knew how the last minute had made him feel. What had he done that cause the universe to decide he needed to be punished in such a manner? He was already having trouble keeping a focused mind around her and now after seeing this, how was he suppose to look at her?

"Do you think all of those tapes are like that one?" The white mouse asked. That was another thing Throttle did not want to think about.

::::::...::::::

The lines weren't deep, but they were fresh and sharp. Already the possible culprit popped up in his mind, but he had to be certain instead of jumping to conclusions. He had to hear it from her.

"Who did this?" He asked again.

The warmth that had been in his eyes a second ago seemed to have completely vanished. Izzy stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. It was only a scratch. To see him react with such an intense emotion, as if it was something far worse, frightened her slightly.

She licked her bottom lip. "This? It happened when I tried to wake up Throttle. He was having a nightma,-"

But her words faded as Stoker let go of her wrist and took a step backwards. "He hurt you?"

His voice almost sounded like a growl. Primal and deep. The last thing she wanted was for him to be upset or angry. He'd always shown hints of being vigilant, up to the point it could be considered overprotective.

That behaviour had become more clear from the moment he had kissed her for the first time. Only now it seemed to go beyond that.

"It looks worse than it is. It doesn't hurt at all." She quickly told him as she pushed herself off the control panel.

The atmosphere had changed significantly. The tension almost tangible. To make it worse, her words didn't seem to reach him. The hazel mouse raised his hand and he kept moving away from her. Already he had reached the end of the spacecraft and forcefully swept the sheet aside, leaving the ship.

"Stoker, wait." Izzy hurried after him, but as she stepped out a loud crash sounded from the centre of the room.

For a split second time had frozen. Vinnie was standing next to the television, his eyes wide with shock. Throttle was in the kitchen on the floor, the dining table lying in large pieces underneath him.

Even though Izzy hadn't seen it happen, the noise she'd heard was indication enough that the tanned mouse had been thrown onto the table with a force strong enough to cause the wooden object to fall apart.

The mouse groaned and pushed himself up from the ground as Stoker made his way over to him with heavy strides. His metal tail flicked left and right aggressively, clanging each time it hit the ground. His chest puffed and his lips curled back.

As fast as she could, Izzy ran towards the two of them, ready to prevent any further damage from happening. But she was stopped by Vinnie, who reached for her by wrapping his own tail around her waist and pulled her towards him.

"Best to let them deal with this in their way, sweetheart." He advised her.

"Vinnie?" She was surprised to see him, wasn't he suppose to be at Charley's?

"What do you mean deal with this?"

It was a complicated thing to explain and he wasn't even a hundred percent sure he knew what was going on exactly. The only thing he did know, was that it had to do with Isabel. Besides, the way Throttle and Stoker were acting was something an Earthling couldn't possibly understand.

You couldn't compare it to those situations you'd see in movies. When two men had their eyes set on the same woman? In the end there was only one victor. Sure, there was fighting or name calling. But the reasoning behind it was a bit different with their species.

"It's a Martian thing." He eventually replied, hoping that would be enough to stop her from trying to get out of his hold. He had to make sure she stayed right there with him.

If Izzy managed to get between the other two mice, the damage that might be done to her would be immense. Blinded by rage and adrenaline meant they only had eyes for each other and they might hit her in the process. Their strength strong enough to accidentally kill her.

"A Martian thing?" She repeated. "Why are they even fighting in the first place?"

Her confused look wasn't really helping, nor were the noises coming from Throttle and Stoker. Then he noticed something about the woman standing against him.

Of course he'd noticed both scents of his bros on her. But there was one small difference. Hidden, yet conspicuous once you noticed it. And here he was, thinking they were initially fighting for Izzy's affection.

Now that he saw it, he finally understood the true reasoning behind Stoker's aggression. He had marked the woman as his.

How could his former coach be this irresponsible? Not even Modo or Vinnie had gone that far with Charley, though there were times he had thought about doing so. But he would never do so unless she'd given him her consent.

Even so, Stoker marking Izzy was the other side of the story. What the white mouse really wondered about, was why his other bro had decided to meddle with them.

The way Throttle's scent clung to her skin was considered way over the line. How could he have acted so reckless? He must have known about the mark, how could he not? And still it seemed he had gone through with pursuing the female. Had he completely forgotten about Carbine?

In that sense, Stoker's reaction was more than valid and understandable. He had been challenged. Vinnie shook his head. "That stupid son of a,-"

He didn't finish his sentence as he quickly had to move Izzy and himself aside from two incoming mice rolling across the floor.

They were oblivious to their surroundings. Everything was red. Like a bull being tempted by a wavering piece of cloth. Of course, the colour was only metaphorical. Both of the mice's vision was perfectly clear, but they only had eyes for each other.

The moment Stoker had stepped out of the spaceship, Throttle was already prepared for whatever the older mouse was about to do to him. He'd dropped the towel draped around his neck on the couch and raised both of his hands in front of his chest in a surrendering manner.

A part of him didn't want to fight his former coach, but he another part also didn't want to try and reason with the guy. It was pointless. The only way to resolve this was through a fists and tails. Words would come later.

Despite knowing what was coming, he had not been ready for Stoker's sudden increase in speed and force. Before he managed to respond, Stoker was already in front of him. His nails digging into his arms and with great ferocity succeeded into throwing him over the couch towards the kitchen.

From the moment he felt the wood crack beneath him, his own need to commit fully to this fight woke within him. And the only thing that mattered, was one of them defeating the other.

Even though there was a tiny voice in the back of his head, telling him that this wasn't his fight, Throttle decided to ignore it.

He charged forward before his coach got a second chance to catch him off guard. Throttle knew he was stronger. His youth was an advantage as well as the fact that he knew most of Stoker's classic moves.

But he also knew that the older mouse wasn't going to give up just like that. Eventually one of them was going to get tired and Throttle wasn't planning on being the one to give in.

Thus the two mice stood in front of one another. Each of them having a firm grasp on the other's upper arms, whilst their foreheads touched.

"I don't want to hurt you, old man." Throttle said in a mocking manner.

Stoker's mouth twitched. "Funny, because I feel the exact opposite."

It was him who first let go and he used his right foot to sweep Throttle's legs from underneath him. The tanned mouse jumped back just in time and swung his left arm over Stoker's head, who ducked, but at the same time used his right fist to connect with older mouse's chin in an uppercut motion.

Stoker stumbled back and shook his head as he tasted a metallic substance with his tongue. Blood. He spat on the floor and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Good hit, boy." He retorted, ready to strike again.

But Throttle was quicker than he expected and the younger one crashed into him, causing both of them to fall over and continue their brawl on the floor.

It was difficult to tell which one of the two was winning, but it was clear to Vinnie that neither of his bros were willing to give up.

Another advantage the hazel mouse had, was his tail. Cold, heavy and perfect as an extra weapon. A dirty trick in itself, but an asset compared to having a tail made out of flesh and bone.

The moment he got close enough, he coiled it around Throttle's neck to slow down the punches the mouse was ready to throw at him. It worked as the tanned mouse stopped his initial attack in order to reach for his throat.

"Vinnie, stop them!" Izzy shouted with a high-pitched voice.

There was blood on the floor and tufts of two different shades of brown fur. The mice were entangled on the floor in such a way it was difficult to tell where either of their bodies began and ended.

"It isn't my place to interfere, Izzy." The white mouse told her again. "They have to settle this."

"Settle what? Why are they fighting? They were fine this morning."

Vinnie still hadn't answered her question earlier, at first it seemed that he was unaware of the reason behind the sudden hostility between Stoker and Throttle. But the way he was looking at them and what he was telling her, meant he did know something about it.

With one swift motion she lifted her leg and stepped down on his foot. Immediately Vinnie let out a loud yelp, but he couldn't let his grasp on her waver. If she got hurt, he would never hear the end of it from anyone.

"Easy,- geez!" He hissed through his teeth. That had actually hurt. He let out a sigh. "I'm afraid that it won't matter what I tell you, but if you really want to know, they are fighting because of you."

It sounded harsher than he meant, even if it was the truth. Technically it was also Stoker's fault, if he hadn't gone and place a mark on her, none of this would be happening.

"Me?" Izzy widened her eyes with shock.

Darn it, he had to tell her a bit more than that. But he didn't want to be the one doing all of the explaining. Mostly because he wasn't even really sure about it all.

This hadn't happened to him ever. Not even when he was pursuing Harley. Stoker had backed off. They had never fought about it. Not even once. Of course, neither of them had marked Harley. She probably wouldn't have let either of them do so. She wasn't that kind of mouse.

"It's called 'Mate Guarding'." Vinnie said.

Izzy frowned. "Mate guarding?"

Suddenly she jumped closer towards him as a loud snarl followed by a weird squeak came from one of the two fighting mice. There really was no time to explain anything else, for Vinnie could tell the brawl was coming to an end.

Throttle had managed to uncoil the tail from around his neck and immediately took this moment to move his head forward and sink his teeth in that soft tissue between Stoker's neck and collarbone.

It was a nasty place to bite, especially as he wasn't planning on letting go. He managed to get his former coach beneath him, using his legs and weight to pin him to the ground. He was forcing Stoker into submission.

The other mouse wasn't ready yet to give up. He couldn't lose like this. Not to Throttle. The pressure remained on his body, but suddenly left the area of his neck. Warm breath hit his face as Throttle started to speak.

"Give up?"

"Never." He replied straight away.

"You can't beat me, Stoker." The tanned mouse countered.

"You just wait,-Ah!"

For the second time Throttle pressed his nails and teeth in the mouse's skin. He seemed to be the clear victor in this battle, no matter how many times Stoker would deny it.

It was decided. The fight was over. There was no more need for Vinnie to keep Izzy away from them and he finally let go.

But as Izzy rushed forward, Stoker began to stir underneath Throttle. He wasn't going to give up. He wasn't going to let this boy beat him, not now that he'd finally found someone who matched his mind and soul.

He wasn't even sure how he managed or why Throttle decided to look away all of a sudden, but that split second was all he needed.

Stoker hooked his foot behind Throttle's and bucked his hips up into the air, causing the other mouse to lose footing. That little trick was all it took in order to change their position and now the younger mouse was on his back on the floor.

"You were saying?" He smirked. Though his victory was short lived as Throttle applied the same trick back to his coach.

However, neither of them got a chance to continue the fight as Izzy stopped a couple of feet away from them. Her cheeks flushed and her eyes red. The damage and wounds inflicted on both mice was massive.

"Please, stop." She begged.

He voice was like a bell, waking both mice from their violent and primal state. She placed her hands against Throttle, who was once again sitting on top of Stoker.

"Get off of him." She punched his shoulder.

Throttle was confused for a second. Why was she yelling at him for? He had won, hadn't he? Surely, she understood that. But then he realized she was an Earthling. She probably had no idea of what just happened.

The fact that he had defeated the mouse who had placed the original mark, meant that he could now claim her for himself.

Vinnie appeared next to Izzy and looked down at his bros. His expression cold and distant. "You heard her, Throttle."

Reluctantly the tanned mouse rolled off Stoker, who immediately sat upright. "We're not done!" He exclaimed angrily.

"Yes, you are. You both are done." Vinnie decided for the two of them.

And...there you have it!

I hope you all enjoyed that, please let me know what you think!