Biker Mice From Mars

Hard Luck Trilogy

Pt 3

What's His Frequency Karbunkle?

Chapter 6

Dropping out of the sky, Dently's wheels bounced off the street before he retracted his wings and took off heading into the city. "Oof, not a very smooth landing!" Griped Vinnie riding behind Charley. Not a position he was used to.

"Like you're one to talk!" Charley shot back at him. "Compared to some of your landings, that was as smooth as butter! She wished she could turn around to be able to see the look on his face at that comment.

Vinnie squirmed around behind her before he begrudgingly replied to her remark. "Mm Ok, I will give you that one, but I'm riding on Metal back here, and being a guy, it's kinda…uncomfortable!" He whined while he squirmed around again.

Charley chuckled. She had noticed that Dently hadn't put the part of his chair seat down for Vinnie to sit on as he did for her when she had ridden rear passenger on him. "Your personal comfort isn't exactly all that high on the list of priorities right now hotshot, any luck contacting the guys? She asked trying to get Vinnie's mind back in the game.

Vinnie raised his paw up to his helmet and frustratedly jabbed at its buttons on the side. "Still nothing but static, man where are they?" He snarled grumpily. "Uh, I mean they are off having all the fun without me!" He added hastily attempting to cover up his concern for Throttle and Modo almost being allowed to show thru.

"Uh-huh." Charley said with a sad smile. She would never let him know it, but she did love his so see-thru Tough Guy Persona. "I don't get it, my helmet radio never had any trouble like this before, what about this rattletrap, don't it have a radio?" Vinnie snapped, his irritation showing thru.
"Steady!" Charley hurriedly said as she felt Dently tightened the seatbelt around her waist and started angrily revving his engine.

Charley could tell she just saved Vinnie from getting catapulted right off the back of the bike he just insulted. She did not need this right now. Having to be the Mature Adult all the time could be a real pain!

"Ok Children, time to calm down, and play nice!" She said scolding them both. Silence. 'Don't make me pull this bike over!" She snapped. This evoked a couple of nearly silent and grumbled replies from both behind and beneath her.

Sighing heavily at the immaturity of both mice and machines, Charley looked down around Dently's handlebars. She didn't see anything that looked like any kind of comm system that she recognized, not that there was much about the odd motorcycle that she did.

"Do you have a radio Dently?" She asked it. A few seconds of silence and Dently replied with a few rumbled noises, and up by his camera eye a device on the side let out a few sparks and some smoke. "I take it that means yes, but it doesn't work?!"

The rumble she got in reply was a clear affirmative on that. "What did he say? Vinnie asked her. "Take a guess." She said to him. Vinnie looked like he was about to shoot out a nasty remark but the growl that rolled thru Dently convinced him to keep it to himself.

"So, what do we do now?" She asked him. Vinnie's eyes opened wide for a second then narrowed into a determined expression on his furry face. "We head to the last place we know the guys were going to, Limburger's Rented Warehouse, and we start from there."

Charley couldn't hide her smile. Vinnie could be almost impressive when he managed to turn his ego down enough to let his brains start working. Not that she would let him know that. She patted Dently on his Cam Eye. "You heard him." She said. Dently rumbled and tore off in the direction of the warehouse district.

Throttle's Helmeted Head popped out from around the corner of a building as he quickly took in the surrounding area. He nearly fell flat as Modo clumsily bumped into him from behind. Modo instinctively reached out and blindly grabbed His smaller bro by the neck of his black leather vest before that could happen.

"Oops, sorry." Modo mumbled apologetically. Throttle just sighed. He was starting to get used to this. "Forget it big guy, just pipe down!" He said and once more tried to scope out the terrain in front of them.

The streets around them were mostly deserted. It also looked like they had finally managed to lose the police finally. The only things on the road were a couple of broke down and deserted cars and a few of Chicago's many homeless and other kinds of street people. "Looks clear." He said calmly.

Modo tilted his head back and then nodded. "Cops are at least a good half-mile away." He said. Throttle looked up at him. "How can you tell?" He asked with a very audible confusion in his voice. "I can hear them." Modo said and pointed off to their left.

He had taken his useless helmet off and was slowly turning his head from side to side like radar. Throttle looked up at him again and then turned his own head in the direction Modo had pointed out. He stopped and listened, and if he paid attention, he could just hear them too.

Modo turned his head and his nose twitched. "Oh, and there are a few street vendors a couple of blocks that way!" He said excitedly. "I can smell churros, and tacos, and…. Hot Dogs!" He said with his stomach letting out a loud low rumble. "I could do with a dozen or so of em."

Throttle chuckled sadly. "I totally agree, but I barely got enough pants left to actually have pockets and with our helmets not working, us walking up to a food cart probably aint a Good Idea." Their being Aliens kind of made it hard to go on the occasional snack run.

Modo growled angrily at being denied a hot dog. "So where are we headed to anyway, the Last Chance or the Hideout?" He asked trying to forget his current woes. One-Armed, No Eyed, and Empty Bellied. Not a good way to go about your day in his opinion.

"I don't think either location is a good idea right now." Throttle sighed irritated. "Limburger setting the Cops after us makes it a safe bet that he filled them in on us hanging out at Charley's, and while we were riding the L-Train I saw a line of the Boys and Girls in Blue heading towards Quigley's so its probably another sure bet that the Hideout aint as Hidden as it used to be."

"The Hideout?!" Modo gasped! "Charley and Vinnie are there; do you think they are ok?" He asked with his concern for his fellow freedom fighter and favorite earthing coming to the surface instantly.

"Charley probably aint too happy at being chased around by the PD, but I am sure Vinnie will think differently." Throttle had to laughingly sigh at picturing their young cohort's excitement at the imagined risk and danger.

"Vinnie aint got his bike and neither does Charley." Modo pointing out that He brought Charley to the hideout on his bike, Lil Hoss. The Tan Mouse just laughed again. "Then I am sure Vinnie will Really enjoy himself.

Modo sighed. Yeah. Vinnie was probably going to enjoy both the Chase and teasing Charley about it. That is one Mad Martian Mouse. He almost envied the nut at times. His carefree attitude was something of legendary status back on Mars. Vinnie's ego was a testament to that.

"So, what is the plan?" Modo requested of his Leader. "We find Limburger." Throttle rumbled letting his anger come to the surface. "We find our bikes, and we find Karbunkle and that device he used to shut your arm, and eye off, and then we pound them HARD!"

Modo nodded. Sounded like His kind of plan, especially that last part. "Then we find My Little Brother." His concern for Hard Luck never that far from his Big Heart. "I am so sorry Modo, I didn't mean to chase him off as I did, you know that right?" Throttle whispered, still feeling the guilt on that one.

"Yeah, I know, but I aint the one you need to apologize to." Modo pointed out in that Big Brother way of his which did not help in any way to soothe Throttle's guilt. "That is what I figured you would say." Throttle sighed. He screwed up and Modo wasn't about to let it slide either.

"I ask again, where we headed?" Modo inquired again. "That is what I am trying to decide." Throttle said with a good heap of undecided in his raspy voice. "The Helicopter carried our bikes away from the warehouse and I tried to keep track of it as best I could, and I don't think it circled back, it seemed to me it went off into the south side of the city."

"The only thing of Limburger's in that part of town is where his tower normally stands, but he aint rebuilt it." Modo pointed out. "It aint nothing now but a big pit now." Throttle handed his tail, back into Modo's big paw. "A big pit that he could be hiding anything in, like our bikes, or a Big Zapper ready to fry Chi-Town!"
"Oh, Mama." Modo groaned. He had almost managed to forget the Fiendish Fish's Promise to Fix the Cities Power Problems. Fix them Forever by putting them Out Forever! He really hated that Guy.

Tan Tail once more firmly gripped by Big Gray Paw, and useless helmets back on for what little disguise and protection they offered, they set off across the street and towards the Limburger Pit.

Activity around the warehouse was at a fever pitch. It looked like someone had kicked an insect hive. A hive filled with large mechanical insects. All kinds of Plutarkian Machines were moving around and getting ready to head out into the city.

Charley and Vinnie popped up from behind a small hill on the far side of the open grassy lot next to the fenced-in warehouse. They kept as low and quiet as they could so as not to draw attention to themselves. Charley had no idea what kind of titanic struggle must have been going on inside Vinnie right now. This kind of thing was not a normal part of his natural behavior.

The Main Contender for Galaxies Biggest Attention Seeker was angrily glaring at their arch enemy moving around freely in front of them. Limburger was marching around and yelling and pointing at his army of machines and goons. Karbunkle was right behind him, with an evil sneer on his misshapen head and an odd device in his gloved hands.

"Man, this aint right at all!" Vinnie growled as he watched the villains moving around freely in front of him. "I should be blasting my way in there, trashing and bashing and freeing my Bros!" He looked like he was willing to do this on foot.

"I dunno Vinnie, I am starting to wonder if the guys are being held in the warehouse at all." Charley said quickly, hoping to stop a suicidally reckless attack. Vinnie looked at her, then at the warehouse, and then back at her, with a puzzled look on his furry face.

"What are you talking about Sweetheart?" He asked her, wanting clarification on why he Shouldn't attack the Bad Guys, cause he Really wanted to attack the Bad Guys. "It looks to me like Limburger is getting ready to send all his goons off to keep tearing down the city, and he looks like he is leaving too!" She pointed out to him.

Vinnie could visibly be seen to run these thoughts thru his head. "Oh, I get you, if the guys were in there, Limburger wouldn't dare leave them unguarded, yeah, he has learned his lesson on doing that the hard way!" Vinnie said with memories getting him to smile.

Charley reached over and pushes his helmet-covered head down into the tall grass. "Hey, what did you do…" Vinnie snapped at her, but she cut him off by making an angry shushing noise and pointing to the other side of his head. Vinnie turned while keeping a low profile.

Limburger's Large Purple Limousine driving down the nearby wide dirt driveway leading up to the Warehouse. It was escorted by 4 Goon Driven Battle Buggies. Limburger and Karbunkle were seated in the rear.

"Ha, ha, uh thanks, Babe!" Vinnie smiled weakly at her. "Pay attention Lunkhead." Charley said with a scowl. She was starting to understand why he got left behind by the guys on their recon missions. "Uh, we should probably follow the Stink Cheese." Vinnie said quickly while gesturing towards the departing limo. "Ya think?" Charley said sarcastically. Vinnie just blushed.

Once Limburger's Limo cleared the driveway and pulled out on the street and started to pull away, Charley whistled loudly. Dently came roaring up from a patch of deep shadows behind them. Charley jumped onto the seat and took hold of the handlebars. Vinnie walked over but didn't just climb on.

"Get on Vinnie, we gotta go!" Charley said impatiently. The Martian didn't reply but just stood there and childishly scuffed his feet on the ground. "What is wrong now?" She asked. "I don't wanna ride …. back there again, come one let me drive this time!" He whined at her.

"We really don't have time for this!" Charley sighed, but Vinnie was persistent in his immature stance this time. "I am the one with the battle experience, I should drive this time, and you know it, Sweetheart!"

"I am not the one you need to ask." She said to him and nodded down at Dently, whose camera eye swiveled to stare up at him. Vinnie looked back and almost looked like he was going to throw up. "You can't be serious!?" He replied with a disgusted tone.

Charley returned the look at him. "That is no way to act, and I am kind of insulted by it myself!" Dently rumbled agreeing with her in a very apparent way. "Now Apologize for being a Rude Jerk!" She snapped at him.

Vinnie cringed and made a major effort to swallow his pride. Oh, this was going to be painful for him, and she didn't have any problem with that. Vinnie fidgeted around a little and squeezed his eyes shut. "I, I am…SORRY!" He finally managed to choke out.

"I am sorry….?!" Charley added in a stern voice while gesturing at Dently. Vinnie let out a miffed sigh. "I am Sorry Dently." He growled and for a second held out a paw as if to shake hands, but he quickly pulled it back when he realized how ridiculous that looked.

Dently looked back and forth between Charley and Vinnie a few times, and then let out an acknowledging purr from his engine. Vinnie relaxed visibly and made to climb up behind Charley, but right before he did, Dently shot out a gush of dark oil all over Vinnie's perfectly shined boots.

"AAHHH MY BOOTS!?" Vinnie shouted and skipped around trying to kick the messy substance off his precious footgear! Charley couldn't hold it in let out a long loud laugh! Vinnie glared back with naked hate in his eyes, but Charley did notice that while Dently wagged his tail fender at this attack on Vinnie's dignity, He did lower his seat down for him to sit on.

Vinnie gave a few half-hearted chuckles himself but the anger in his eyes made it noticeably clear he was Not Amused by the little joke. Charley wiped a few tears from her eyes and handed him a shop-rag to clean his boots up with before begrudgingly taking his set behind Charley.

"Yes, Mister Mayor, the demolition projects are all proceeding exactly according to schedule." Limburger said smarmily into his cellphone while sitting comfortably in the rear of his limo as it sped down a Chicago street.

Karbunkle sat on the other side of the Limo continuing to manipulate the controls on the device he was carrying. He wheezed out a quiet cackle as he watched the Pungent Plutarkian played the City Leaders for the Fools they are.

"No Mister Mayor, I am afraid there will have to be much, much more demolition than originally anticipated, because it appears that the contamination was far more widespread than we at first surveyed." He said putting a good mock sense of dismay in his voice. Limburger should really have been an actor, or at least a Cartoon Voice Actor instead of a World Destroyer.

"No Mister Mayor, I Can Assure You that the City will not have to pay anything for the additional work that will need to be done, Limburger Industries is Well Prepare to Shoulder the Cost of the Entire Operation!" He cooed in his most sympathetic tone as he could while not bursting out in malevolent laugher as he did it.

Limburger reassured the Mayor a few more times about not having to be accountable for any of the costs and then hung up the phone. "Goodbye, You misanthropic moron. "He added just as the connection was cut.

He turned and with repressed repulsion, He looked at Karbunkle. "Is everything still going according to plan, for a change?" He asked him. The Doctor let out a diseased-sounding wheeze and returned his evil stare and nodded back.

"So, all of the Technical Issues with Project Double R have finally been rectified I take it?" Limburger asked. "Yes, My Repugnant Regulator, all interference problems have been dealt with and the program is being followed most proficiently!" He said oozingly.

"And what of that Cro-Magnon Misfit Greasepit?" He asked, not sure if he cared to hear the answer to it or not. "Has he managed to Not Screw anything up yet?" This also got a smile to cross Karbunkle's sinister face.

"As has been previously noticed, that with the Mice most distracted even that nigh useless ungulate can perform his tasks with acceptable performance levels. "Will wonders never cease?!" Limburger gasped.

"Every piece is where it supposed to be on the board and being maneuvered to the place it needs to be, how pleasant." He turned and looked in the large rearview mirror on the windshield up by the Goon Limo Drivers' head. An evil sneer crossed his face as he looked at the small single headlight in the distance.

"Every piece is right where it needs to be and headed in the direction it needs to be." The Flickering lights of the city glinting off his dark eyes. Unable to hold in his malevolent mirth anymore and not seeing any reason to he chuckled cruelly at his own perceived genius. Karbunkle every ready to be a twisted toady joined in. The Limo sped on its way into the city with its two-wheeled shadow not that far behind.

Limburger Plaza, normally the site of the large and Imposing Limburger Tower. Now it was an empty lot that was nothing but a rubble-strewn pit with a simple chain link fence surrounding its perimeter.

It was an eerie empty place now filled only with the sound of the Chicago Wind whistling thru the fence and dusty debris, there were not even any security lights in the entire lot. The whole place was drenched in deep shadows and darkness.

It was across this darkness that two figures dashed and ran up to the surrounding fence! The two figures made their way to a small person-sized gate entrance.
Throttle gently reached out and tapped one finger against the fence and quickly jerked it back, then slowly touched the metal wire again. "At least this one aint electrified." He said with a smile while looking back at Modo, who was nervously gripping Throttle's tail in his big left paw.

Modo twisted about nervously. His big gray ears twitching trying to catch every sound around him. "I don't like this bro." He grumbled. "No bikes, no weapons, short two bro's, and neither of us are running at top performance, and we are on Limburger's Home Turf and can't even call for help, I will repeat, I don't like this bro."

"I hear you, Big Guy." Throttle whispered as he kept inspecting the fence around the outside of the pit. The area appeared to be quiet. Too quiet for his liking. He slowly and stiffly made his way to the gate. That riding around on the train was nice but he was starting to feel the effects of not moving around. Damn, he was sore, and not in the fun macho way it fun to brag about.

He looked down at the padlock on the gate. It was just a plain old-fashioned earth-style padlock. Looks their luck was changing. "Modo, let go my tail, I need it." Throttle whispered back at Modo. "Huh, what, oh sure." The Big Gray Mouse mumbled distractedly as he let go of said tail. Modo had taken his useless helmet off again and was slowly moving his head around in a slow half-circle.

The tip of Throttle's tail slipped into the keyhole of the padlock and slowly twisted around inside it. Throttle looked over at Modo while he worked on it. "What is it Big Guy, something is bothering you?" He asked his Large Sized Companion.

"I thought I smelled…something." Modo said slowly, while still slowly rotating his head. Throttle could hear his nose sniffing as he did it. "Well, this is Limburger's place, it is bound to have an unpleasant odor." He joked just as the padlock clicked open.

"No, not that smell, this is different, I thought I smelled, Nah, it's nothing, just my imagination." Modo sighed. Throttle pushed open the gate and looked down into the rubble-strewn and shadow-filled pit. He stood up and looked at Modo. "Looks pretty rough going in there Big Guy, maybe you should stay here and keep watch…er I mean stand guard!" Throttle said then clumsily tried to cover it up.

"Oh, you almost pulled that off, but not quite." Modo chucked. "No way I am staying here, I am going with you, sides I don't think leaving me standing here is all that great of an idea right now." He pointed down the street. Throttle looked up and saw a line of Chicago Police Cars turning onto the street in front of the Plaza Lot.

"On second thought why don't you come with me instead of standing around out here, make yourself useful instead of hanging around like some Big Noticeable Lug Nut." Throttle said with a chuckle. "Gee thanks, I live to be helpful" Modo replied. With that tail once more in paw, they made their way into the pit.

The Pit was just that. A Pit! It was filled with large crumbling chunks of concrete and twisted metal. The remnants of the last time they had trashed the Tower. That had been a bit of a first, they had never destroyed it by hitting it with another tower. Vinnie loved that part. Twice the Destruction for Twice the Fun! Modo and Throttle were simply happy they lived thru it.

Throttle hoped they could get thru this without either him or Modo breaking their necks! They were making slow progress hoping down and around on the big chunks and climbing thru the cracks. What with Modo being totally blind and having the use of only one arm, and Throttle's eyes not being the best regardless, without his special glasses, his vision was extremely short-ranged and tinted with spots.

Doing acrobatics in the near dark with his tail constantly being pulled on was not his idea of a fun time. Modo was in full agreement. "Two more steps then small jump Big Guy!' Throttle called out. Modo swallowed nervously, then took a literal blind jump of faith! "Whoa, Mama!" He cried out as his big boots landed on a slanted concrete slab and he started slipping forward!

"Easy Big Guy, I got ya!" Throttle called out and jumped up and caught Modo before he could fall off onto a pile of jagged metal. That almost wasn't true as Modo's Massive Mass nearly pushed them both off. "Woof, thanks, bro." Modo gasped. "Why exactly are we making this trip for again?" He asked irritably. He hated this feeling of being so helpless.

"Like I said earlier Big Guy, Limburger's copter carrying our bikes headed in this direction, and I can't think of any place else the Head Cheese would try to hide them, and even if they aren't here, I am hoping we can find some kind of clue as to where he does have them." He said. Modo nodded. Made sense to him.

"Quiet!" Modo suddenly whispered excitedly! "What is it?" Throttle asked in the same whispered excitement! They both dropped into haunches and looked around, as best either could in the near darkness. "I can hear somebody moving around in front of us!" Modo said, his big ears twitching.

Throttle twitched his own ears and listened too. Sure enough, he could hear footsteps trying to move stealthily around somewhere in front of them and headed towards them. He turned and started to make Freedom Fighter Hand Signals to Modo but stopped after a few seconds when he realized how stupid that was. "Get ready!" He whispered. Modo nodded and got ready!

The sounds slowly got closer, and after a few seconds a Chorus of "GET EM!" They all jumped at once and collided with the others and crashed into a tangled heap! Punches and Kicks flew out in the dark! Followed by Ouches and Grunts! Modo jumped up and threw out his big arm and came down and talked to everyone underneath him!

Throttle threw a punch! His fist hit metal! "Ouch! Both He and whoever he hit cried out! "Wait-a-minute, I know that ouch!" Throttle yelled; he then activated his nuke knucks glove. The glow from it partially lit up the area~ "Vinnie!" He yelled out!

Vinnie looked up at him. "Cheese, Throttle, if I knew you would be this happy to see me, I would visit more often!" He said while he checked His metal mask to see if it had a dent in it. "Ugh, as happy as I am to see you guys too, you're crushing me, get off!" Moaned Charley from beneath the Mouse pile.

"Charley Ma'am!" Gasped the ever-gallant Modo, who hopped to his feet and quickly reached down to pull her out from under the tangled-up Throttle, and Vinnie. "Hey, watch where your grabbing!" She cried out! Modo jumped back. He was blushing so hard, it nearly acted as a second light! "Oh, sorry, I am so sorry Charley!" He gushed.
The 3 mice got up and then helped her to her own unsteady feet. "I'm glad I left my helmet on." She sighed as she tried to straighten her spine out. "What are you two doing here?" Throttle all but demanded. "What do you mean what are we doing here, you guys are the ones that yelled for me to come to rescue you, two doofuses!" Vinnie shot back.

"You're sure you're Ok, Charley?" Modo continued to all but plead Charley to assure him she was. The thought of him even accidentally hurting her, he couldn't handle that. "I am fine Modo, I am getting used to being made into a pancake by now, Modo will you watch that hand, are you blind or something?" She asked as she pushed his big hand away from her face. Modo just stepped away from her, his head almost dropping to his big chest.

"Modo what's wrong I…" She started to say but then she was able to get a look at him in the low light. She saw his cyborg arm in its sling. "Are you hurt!?" She gasped full of concern. Modo shuffled his feet and turned in what he hoped was a direction away from her. "Nah, I am alright, just a little…banged up is all." He said in a low growl.
Charley stepped towards him before Throttle held out his arm and stopped her. "No Charley, He isn't fine." He said and quickly filled them in on all that they had been thru since they last saw them at the Hideout. Once he was done, both Charley and Vinnie rushed to Modo's sides.

The next couple of minutes were just Modo fending off the questions and the embarrassing yet heartwarming sympathy from both Vinnie and Charley which just led to the predictable outburst from Vinnie about getting Karbunkle for whatever he did to Modo. This was interrupted when Charley asked an obvious question. "Where's Hard Luck?"

Throttle was lucky Modo's Cyborg Components weren't working because if either his arm or eye were functional, a laser might have shot out of either of them just then. Throttle made an uncomfortable grimace and told her with a very guilty tone to his voice.

"Why did you do that?" She nearly yelled out but remembered to keep her voice under control at the last second and it came out as an angry shush. "He, he uh, he got me burnt on a fence and tore my pants again, and I kind of just lost my temper for a second." He ashamedly replied.

Charley glared at him disapprovingly while Vinnie sneaked a pic at said trousers and bit back a snicker. He just filed this away for teasing purposes later. Throttle noticed it and his furry cheeks blushed slightly. He knew Vinnie was not one to ever waste such an opportunity.

He thought quickly looking for anything that could be used for a much-needed change of conversation. "Hey, wait-a-second, what do you mean, we called you for backup, our radios haven't been working for hours now?!"

Vinnie and Charley exchanged confused looks. "Sure, you did, you told us the Cops, and the Feds were on the way to the hideout, and it was Modo who told us you two were down here!" He exclaimed excitedly. "What?" went both Throttle and Modo.

A look of apprehension took hold on Charley's face. Vinnie not noticing this just explained what happened. *Flashback to 30 Minutes Ago* Across the street from the Limburger Plaza next to the sadly closed for the night Hamburger and Hot Dog Drive-Thru, Vinnie and Charley, riding on Dently scoped out the empty area in front of them.

"Man, I Hate all this Sneaking around, it's way more Fun to Pound Heads to Get Answers than doing it like this!" Vinnie growled angrily. Charley just smiled as once again she was reminded of WHY Vinnie was not the type you take on Recon Missions.

They had followed Limburger's Limo here from the warehouse, but it had practically vanished on them as it turned a corner somewhere near the empty plaza. "Where did he go?" She asked as she looked around for any sign of their missing adversary. Vinnie looked over her shoulder at the empty sky the missing Tower normally occupied. "Hey?!" He gasped as it looked like he got an idea. Charley got ready to cringe. "Maybe the Tower is INVISIBLE!?" He wondered and he started looking around for something to throw to test his hypothesis.

Charley did want to say something to suggest that it was a dumb idea, but the more she thought about it, she couldn't put the possibility of it past the Plutarkian. He made no secret of how he was willing to go to extreme lengths to stop its destruction, and as a property owner, she could kind of see his point.

Before Vinnie could start chucking things across the street, Dently's radio suddenly started sparking and making static-filled screeching noises! Dently himself started shaking and squirming with his Camera Eye spinning around agitatedly! He almost tossed his riders off his back!

Thru the distortion, a voice just managed to break thru! It was Modo's voice! "Yo, Hot Shot, Davidson Girl!" His voice rasped badly distorted by static. "Modo is that you?" Charley called out, while trying to figure out how the odd alien radio worked. Plus, Dently not holding still was not helping, it was almost as if he was trying to prevent her from responding to Modo.

"That's Modo, why don't you answer him, Modo, Modo!" Vinnie yelled while leaning over her and jabbing his finger at the buttons. "Get off me!" She cried as she tried not to get snapped in half by Dently rocking underneath her and Vinnie pressing down on her from behind!

Modo's voice once more jumped from the small hidden speaker. "Guys I can see you, Me and Throttle are over here in the pit, we need your help, get over here quick…" Modo's voice said before it cut off. Dently's radio sparked a few times then appeared to stop working again. Dently also stopped shaking too. He seemed to slump altogether.

His engine suddenly seized up and his frame shook like an earthquake! Grinding noises and more sparks flew all around! Vinnie and Charley called out as this happened literally under their backsides! Dently started to fall over and was only stopped by Vinnie catching it by bracing him up with his muscular legs!

His Camera Eye falling limp as well. For all appearances, Dently just stopped working. "Dently, Dently are you ok, answer me!" Charley called out as she tried all she could think of to restart the motorcycle. They both climbed off and looked down at the silent machine. Charley knelt by the engine and started trying to figure out what just happened.

Vinnie unholstered his blaster and checked his weapons bandolier, making sure he was prepared. "Come on Charley, we gotta go help the guys!" He cried, already ready to race across the street to the Tower Pit. "But what about Dently?" She asked while still poking at the mechanical innards.

"We aint got time to deal with the junk heap, we gotta go help the guys NOW!" He declared and reached down and took her hand in his paw and pulled up onto her feet and then all but dragged her towards the empty plaza.

Unseen by either of them, as they raced away, Dently's Camera Eye silently, and somehow Sadly rose up and watched them go. He then backed into the deeper shadows between the tall buildings. *End of Flashback*

To be continued...