Yo yo yo!

Thanks again for the reviews!
I hope it didn't make you too sad, Butterfly Souls.
But I agree, it was a real sad chapter.
Depression is a fucked up disease, I can tell.
It sucks, big time.
And it leaves the people around you completely empty handed.

Anyway, on to the next one!
A little less sad :)

Enjoy! ^^

Chapter 3

Phase two; provoke..

"Man, the sound of that drone is more annoying than Vinnie talking about himself all day", Modo sighed, clearly annoyed by the high and buzzing sound of the small device that followed them. Even the engines of the bikes couldn't override the sound. And with the mice their sensitive hearing, well…
"I hear ya, bro. Although, I've gotta admit, it would be a relief to hear Vinnie talk about himself nowadays…", Throttle answered, glancing at his white furred bro.
But the latter didn't respond. He hadn't said a word since they had left the base, which was now a couple of hours ago.
They were driving east, Stoker had told them to start there.
And so they did.
"Yeah, I know…", the gray furred giant agreed.
Suddenly, his bike started to beep.
"Whoops, sensor warning. One boobytrap on eleven o'clock, bro's."
"Good. Just the thing we need", and Throttle drove towards it, followed by his two bro's.
The tan furred mouse stopped his bike and opened his visor.
"Well, boys... Hehehe. We're far enough from the base now, so guess it's time for us to invite some rats to come out and play."
"Yeah, I can use a little exercise after driving this long", Modo agreed, cracking his knuckles.
They waited for a moment, expecting Vinnie to agree, but still nothing.
"Ah man…", Throttle muttered under his breath.
He looked at Modo, who shrugged, clearly feeling the same helpless feeling as his bro and leader.
Suddenly, a missile left Vinnie's bike and made the trap explode with a loud bang.
His bro's looked up startled, but then, their gaze landed on Vinnie.
"What? Itchy trigger finger, remember?", he said flatly.
Throttle rolled his eyes, but a little smile curled his lips.
"Impatient as always…", Modo chuckled.
Vinnie shrugged and leaned forward on his windshield, his head resting in one of his hands.
Not the image you would expect to see when they were waiting for a fight.
Normally, he would've bounced off his bike.
But not now.
This was gonna be a long and tiresome mission.

After a few minutes, they saw a cloud of dust in the distance, announcing the arrival of the rats who were warned by the sensor in the trap.
Throttle closed his visor.
"Okay, bro's. Remember, we need them alive. We need them to spread the word, okay?"
Modo smiled while his arm cannon popped out.
"Copy that, bro. Only mess with them, like a cat plays with his food. No problem."
Vinnie was still hanging listless on his bike.
"Vincent?", Throttle asked patiently.
"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya."
Throttle gave Modo a warning glance, to tell him they needed to keep an eye on the white furred mouse, since he had no idea what to expect.
I mean, what if he didn't fight back?
That sounded more than ridiculous, since the white furred mouse always loved a good fight, but with the way he was behaving for the past few weeks, Throttle couldn't predict his moves.
Not anymore.
Modo nodded, a sign to let his leader know that he got the message.

Loud cackling broke the silence and a group with about ten rats, riding in buggies, drove towards them.
The one in the front raised his fist in the air when he saw the three mice and the group stopped right in front of them.
"Well, well, well… What do we have here?", the leader of the pack smiled mean. "Three meecies, all alone, far away from their friends…"
"The Sand Raiders will pay a good price for them, I mean, look at their bikes", another rat pointed out.
"Guess this is one of those rare days that luck is on our side", the leader nodded and grabbed his gun.
But the mice, of course, weren't impressed.
"Lucky days, huh?", Throttle chuckled, activating his knuck knocks.
"You still have to catch us first", Modo added casually, studying his metal hand.
The rats started to laugh.
"Tough words for someone who's outnumbered. Do yourself a favor and surrender yourself, before you might…", but before he could finish his sentence, a laser shot the gun outta his hand.
"Man, shut the fuck up, will ya?", Vinnie sighed tiredly, still leaning on his windshield, while putting his laser gun back in his leg holster.
The rat stared at him for a moment and his face slowly twisted with anger, making him even more ugly than he already was.
"You're gonna regret that, meece", he growled.
Vinnie yawned, clearly not impressed.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever…"
The rat studied the white furred mouse, clearly a little bit at loss if the mouse was just playing with him or that he really didn't care.
But then, he roared in anger.
"Attack!"

The rats sped forward, but the mice came into movement just as fast.
Throttle drove past three of them and used his knuck knocks to knock the rats outta their buggies.
"One… Two… Three…", he casually counted, a smile on his face.
Modo blew up three other buggies with his armcannon, one by one.
"Four… Five… Six down, four to go", he chuckled.
Throttle turned his bike and his eyes searched for Vinnie. He quickly spotted him and narrowed his eyes.
The white furred mouse was still standing still, while three buggies drove towards him.
Come on, Vincent… Come on…
Throttle flexed his muscles, ready to intervene…
But Vinnie pushed a button on his bike and a missile blew up the three buggies, right before they reached him.
Throttle let out his breath.
Maybe it wasn't his usual style, at least he did something.
"Guess that makes it nine, big fella", the tan furred mouse said into the radio. "Now for the main course…"
The leader rat was approaching him from behind and Throttle's tail lashed through the air. He snatched the big fat rat outta his buggie and grabbed him by the shirt. While stepping off his bike, he pulled off his helmet and looked at the rat.
Who wasn't that tough anymore.
"Listen up. I've got a message for you and your companions. Tell them that the Biker Mice are back on Mars and that we're gonna search every square feet of this planet for our people. Tell them that if they just let them go, nobody is gonna get hurt. But if they don't, we will hunt them down and kill them, even if it's the last thing we'll do. You've got that?"
The rat nodded shivering and Throttle let him go.
"And just to make sure you really understand the gravity of the situation…"
He hated this.
But Stoker was right. The time for chivalry was over.
So, he grabbed his gun and shot the rat in his upper leg, making him scream in pain.
"You better get back to get that wound treated… Before you'll bleed to death…"
The rat limped to his buggie, moaning in pain. But he managed to climb in and he made a hasty retreat, leaving his unconcious friends behind.
Throttle turned around to look at his bro's.
"Well, guess that went well enough… You placed the tracker, Vincent?"
The white furred mouse nodded.
"Good. Kiwi will map his movements."
He mounted his bike.
"Time for us to find the next one. Let's ride!"

Days past. And all they did, was provoking.
Stoker had come up with the idea.
First step; make your presence known. Let the enemy be scared.
Let them all talk about the three mice who were on a warpath.
Let them have sleepless nights.
Let them lie in bed, shivering with fear.
Let them jerk upright by every sound they hear.
Let them be scared twenty four seven that the Biker Mice would come to take them down.
Because scared people had the tendency to make mistakes.
Because scared people talk. They tell you their secrets to save their own ass.
Information was gold. But you only got information if people were scared.
Throttle wasn't entirely convinced. He himself prefered to have the element of surprise. But again, this wasn't about him.
Stoker was right. They needed to change their methods.
And so they did.
They lured out the enemy, kicked their asses and sent one of them back with a message and a tracker, so Kiwi could map all the hideouts.
That information would be useful later on. It was always good to know where your enemy was hiding.
It was also information which they needed for the next phase of the mission.
But first things first.
Collect and spread.

"How's everything going so far, Throttle?", Stoker asked.
It was late in the evening and the mice had found themselves a cave for the night.
Throttle was sitting outside, in front of the entrance, and had called Stoker through the radio on the 'secret' frequency.
Another one of Stoker's ideas. So they could talk with just the two of them.
Leader to leader.
The drone was hanging close to his head, the camera aimed at the outside world, so that whoever was behind the controls back on the base could keep watch for them.
"So far no trouble, Stoke. We've only found rats so far, no Plutarkians and no Sand Raiders. And no prisoners. But then again, we're out here for only a few days now."
"How's the big guy holding up?"
"Good. Better than I expected. He's focussed, maybe a little more quiet than usual, but I think Amira did one hell of a job with getting him back on his feet."
"And the punk?"
"Well… Let's just say he's doing his part without questioning."
"No change so far?"
"Nope… zero, nada, niente. How is Carbine?"
"She's fine. Working her ass off, just to keep herself distracted, ya know, just being Carbine."
Throttle chuckled. That did sound familiar, actually.
"And Kiwi? I mean, I speak with her through the radio, but most of the time it's about business. How's she holding up?"
"She's stronger than she looks like. She'll manage."
"I know."
"You care a lot about her, huh?"
"She's family."
"She's a good girl. Glad you've brought her with ya. Well, gotta go, rookie. Talk to you in a few days."
"Copy that. Throttle out."

The tan furred mouse pulled off his helmet and looked up at the stars. It was a beautiful sight, one he had missed while being on Earth.
But now he was sitting here, he suddenly wished he wasn't.
Things on Earth weren't always easy, but being back here, it all suddenly seemed so small, somehow.
Living in Mars was far more complicated, that's for sure.
Ah well. Life did have it's own way. And the only thing he could do was just go with it.
Go with the flow.
But it definitely wasn't a straight road.
He put on his helmet again and set the frequency back.
"Kiwi, you still there?"
"Yeah, Throttle. You okay?"
"Yeah. Just wanna check how you were doing.."
A silence. When she answered, her voice sounded a little different.
"I'm fine. But I miss you guys..."
"We miss ya too, babe. Tell Carbine I said hi, okay?"
"Will do."
"Good night, Kiwi."
"Night, Throttle."

The tan furred mouse walked back into the cave.
Modo had made a fire, and the warmth of the flames had transformed the cold cave into a now pleasant shelter.
The gray furred giant was now sitting on a big rock, cleaning his bike.
Vinnie was sitting with his back against the wall, staring into the flames.
Throttle sensed something was up. There was this tension sensible that wasn't there when he left the cave to call Stoker.
"Everything okay here?", he asked, looking from Modo to Vinnie and back.
"Sure, fine", Vinnie answered, but the tone in his voice was different.
Throttle felt his heart skip a beat and he studied the face of the white furred mouse.
That was different too. It wasn't completely blank. There were signs of agitation.
Hmmm… That was new. Well, before all this, it wasn't. But nowadays…
The big guy must have triggered something. Which maybe was a good thing.
Modo grumbled something, polishing his bike with so much force that it almost toppled over.
Throttle rubbed his chin and lay his helmet on on his bike. He grabbed one of the small bottles with the juice that Amira had made for them and while drinking, he kept looking at his bro's.
Yep. There was definitely something up.

After swallowing the last sip, he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"You guys are both such bad liars, ya know. Something is up and we're gonna talk about it, right here, right now. Because tomorrow, we'll drive out again, straight into enemy territory. We can't fight as a team if there's friction. So, come on. Spill it."
Modo threw the rag he was using on the floor and got on his feet.
"I was just having a little… disagreement with Vinnie."
"How? He barely speaks."
"Oh, I know. But I asked him about something. Something that I heard from Amira…"
"Can you guys stop talking as if I'm not here? I can hear every word you say, ya know?", Vinnie interrupted annoyed.
Modo looked down on him.
"Then why don't you explain to me, to us, why you never told us that you and Kiwi are engaged?"
Throttle's eyes grew big for a moment, but he quickly recovered.
"Engaged? As in… really engaged this time?"
Vinnie crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared angrily at the flames.
"Affirmative", he eventually said, a little sarcastic.
Normally, Throttle would say something about this attitude, but not now.
Not today.
Because by the looks of things, his younger bro was about to explode.
A thing he normally didn't like that much either. But it was just what they needed right now.
They needed him to come back.
And by the looks of things, that was about to happen.
Finally.
"Okay, well, uhm… Congrats, I guess?", Throttle chuckled a little sheepishly.
Vinnie snorted, but said nothing.
"But really, is this what this whole thing is about?", the tan furred mouse asked a little confused.
He had a hard time with believing this fact would upset Modo this much.
"No. This whole thing is about Vinnie blaming you for not telling him about his sister…", Modo finally came to the clue. "And I was just telling him that it ain't fair to hold you responsible for her death."

A deathly silence.

Throttle ran a shaking hand through his hair. He knew that this moment would come, one day. They had never talked about it, not since that awful night.
After, Vinnie had completely shut them out and never mentioned the whole thing again. He hadn't mentioned anything, for that matter.
But it wasn't exactly a surprise to hear it was still brooding inside of him.
I mean, he wasn't exactly a rather forgiving mouse.
"Look, Vincent…", Throttle started, but Vinnie jumped at his feet, his eyes fuming.
Ah. There it was. Took him long enough.
"You should never have lied to me. I trusted you… I trusted you with my life. And you violated that trust, without blinking. I can't stop thinking what if, what if, what if. These two words are constantly replaying in my head from the moment I realized she was really gone this time…"
Throttle felt a sting in his heart. Without blinking? Man…
"You're right. I should've told ya. You deserved to know the truth. But you're wrong about one thing, Vincent. It wasn't without blinking. It was one of the hardest things I ever did. But I did to protect you."
Vinnie opened his mouth again, but Modo beat him to it.
"Talking about what if…", the gray furred giant started while looking at Vinnie. "I keep thinking; what if you had managed to control yourself for once, huh? What then? What if you hadn't decide to just run out, completely unprepared, forcing us to follow ya to keep your sorry tail safe. You didn't gave us any time to prepare and because of that, we were outnumbered. Because of that, Rimfire is now dead."

Throttle let out his breath. This wasn't going very well.
Vinnie slowly turned around to face Modo.
"Oh really? If I remember it right, it was you who failed to protect him, not me!"
"Bro's…", Throttle started, but Modo's eye started to glow red.
"You sure got a lot of nerve, Vincent! Always blaming someone else for your mistakes, huh? Never taking any sort of responsibility for your stupid actions. When are ya finally gonna grow up?!", the gray furred giant yelled at Vinnie.
"My mistake? Are you kidding me? If our fearless leader here had told us the truth from the moment he found out, we wouldn't be standing here talking about this!"
"Bro's…"
"Right! Because if Throttle would've told ya immediately, what then? You would've stayed on the base, waiting for a plan? Come on, ya can't fool us, bro. We all know that it wouldn't have made a difference."
"Last warning…"
"That's not the point here, Modo! He had no right to keep this from me, no right at…"
"Enough! Both of ya! ", Throttle called out, his voice raw of anger. "We're all tired, we've been through a lot and therefore, we're all on edge. But accusing each other ain't gonna do us any good. We've all lost something that night…"
"Oh yeah? And what did you lose, other than a shot at good leadership?", Vinnie interrupted him, his tail lashing.

Throttle snapped.
It didn't happen that easily, but the last few months had been hard.
Too hard.
He was tired and hungry.
He missed Carbine.
And he blamed himself for everything that went wrong.
Words couldn't describe how happy he was that Vinnie was finally talking again.
Too bad the words that came out were like knives, pouring in his flesh.
Within two steps, he was standing in front of his younger bro and he grabbed him by his bandana, pulling him closer.
"Your trust, Vincent. I've lost your trust. You have no idea how much I regret that decision, how much I regret it that I lied to ya. I made a terrible mistake and you have every right to be mad at me, but jesus, you can't blame me more than I already do! Because I do blame myself. It's eating me. And seeing you all dead inside didn't really help either. You're not the only one who's in pain, Vincent. You're not alone. Don't you forget about that! I know I ain't perfect, but I do know that you're really important to me, so is Modo, and that I'll do everything within my power to protect you. And so I did, but I made the wrong call. And I'll have to live with it for the rest of my life. But I don't think I'm gonna be able to forgive myself. Ever..."
His voice broke and he let Vinnie go, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down.
Damn, it has been a long time he had been this upset.
But even for him, things were just too much sometimes.
He wasn't a robot.

There was a silence for a moment.
Vinnie stared angrily at the floor, cleary needing some time to process all this.
But then, his face softened. His ears drooped.
"Kiwi said the same thing, ya know. That I'm not alone… But I feel alone…", he eventually said softly. "Ever since that day, I just feel so goddamn alone. Completely empty. Even if there are people around me, I still feel alone. Isolated…"
Modo lay a hand on his shoulder, his eye already back to its normal colour.
"You ain't alone, little bro. We've got your back. Always have. Always do."
Vinnie bit his lower lip, tears filled his eyes. He wiped them away angrily.
"I just wanted to be her hero.. so badly… and I've failed her. Fuck, I keep seeing her body, everytime I close my eyes. I keep hearing her bones break, everytime there's a silence. And it hurts... It hurts, so badly. I can't deal with this. I…"
He tried everything within his power to suppress his emotions, but he simply couldn't. It was too much.
For two months, he'd felt completely drained. Completely empty.
But he was back now.
Something, and he wasn't sure what, had literally slapped him in the face and brought him back to reality.
And the pain was suffocating.

He shot Throttle a panicked look, not knowing what to do with all this.
And Throttle did the one thing he'd never done before.
He grabbed Vinnie's arm and just pulled him in his arms. Vinnie tensed for a moment, but then, he broke.
Finally, he broke.
His body shook with crying and Throttle just held him, feeling tears in his own eyes.
Maybe it wasn't macho and all. But he didn't care. It felt like the right thing to do right now.
When Vinnie calmed down a little, Throttle opened his mouth again.
"Listen, Vin… I know the pain. I know it feels like it's gonna wipe you away. But you need to let it in. Only then you can make peace with it. Stop running. Stop fighting. Just… let it in. It will get better, in time. And we'll be here, to support ya. Please, believe me when I say that you're not alone."
Vinnie slowly untangled himself and looked up at Throttle with watery eyes.
"I uhm… I'm sorry, bro... For everything I said. I was just so angry about you violating my trust, I never really thought about it how hard it must have been for you. I'm sorry… And all this… it ain't your fault."
"Thanks, Vin. That means a lot", Throttle smiled, his voice a little shaky.
Vinnie looked over his shoulder to Modo.
"Big fella, I…", but Modo stopped him.
"I'm the one who should say sorry. It ain't your fault Rimfire died… Throttle is right. We need to stop throwing accusations at each other. There's only one person who's responsible for all this and that's Limburger."
Vinnie wiped off his face, a determined look in his eyes.
"You're right. And trust me when I say that we're gonna find him and make him pay. For keep."
"For once I agree with ya, Vinnie", Throttle nodded.
"Me too. It's time the big cheese is gonna face the music. Pay for his crimes", Modo added.
Vinnie's cheeks suddenly turned red, as if he just now realized what just happened.
"Man, talk about your major reputation killers… Crying like a baby ain't really macho and manly…"
Throttle and Modo shared a look and smiled.
Yep. He was back.
"Don't worry, Vinnie my man. This stays between us", Throttle chuckled.
"Yeah, what happens within this cave, stays within this cave. Nobody will ever know", Modo rumbled.
"Right. I eh… I really need to talk to Kiwi. Just… Try not to listen, okay?", Vinnie mumbled while putting on his helmet and he walked outside.

Meanwhile, back on the base…
Kiwi was sitting curled up in her chair. She had heard every word that had been said.
Tears streamed down her face, but this time, it weren't only tears because of sadness. It were also tears of happiness.
Because she now knew for sure; Vinnie was gonna heal. In the end, he was gonna heal. And she was gonna have her macho mouse back.
A smile curled her lips. He was gonna be okay.
Jesus, it was a close one.
But even if he still had a long way to go, she now knew; he was gonna be okay.
"Sweetheart?"
His hesitant voice filled her ears and she let out her breath, still smiling.
"Hey there, macho mouse…"
"I eh… I just wanted to say… well…", he stuttered, clearly not at ease.
"You don't have to say anything, love. I've heard everything. It's okay."
"No. No, it's not. I was being selfish, I shut you out, even if I promised not to do that ever again… "
"I don't think you really had a choice, Vin…"
"There's always a choice. I just… I gave up. And I'm so, so sorry I did, because I promised you that I would be there for ya, for the rest of our lives…"
"Yeah well, I would normally agree with you, but losing your sister like that, well… that are mitigating circumstances, ya know."
A silence.
"I still can't believe she's really gone now…"
His voice was small. Almost childish.
"I know, Vin… I know. It's awful. Horrible. She didn't deserve this."
"I miss her."
"I know…"
Vinnie cleared his throat, clearly pulling himself together.
"Anyway... "
She could almost hear his lips curl into that smile she loved so much and it gave her goosebumps.
"The things I'm gonna do to ya when I'm back…"
His voice.
Low. Teasing.
Jesus, words couldn't describe what this did to her.
"Can't wait, macho mouse…"
"I know. I mean, who wouldn't when you once had a taste of this great body? You're addicted for life."
"Wauw, Vinnie, that's… so true, I guess", Kiwi giggled while rolling her eyes.
"Sweat dreams, babe. I love ya."
"I love you too. Stay safe."
"For you? Always…"

Three weeks later…
"Come out, come out, wherever you are… You fucking rats", Vinnie smiled, blowing up another trap.
He was finally able to enjoy the mission, and it was like his birthday every day.
Fighting, blowing up things, be macho and cool and all… yeah, his way of living.
It helped with the pain. He felt so much better now. He was still sad, he still missed Mireya, but he had switched a button that day he'd let it all out.
Keep asking himself what if was like poison for his brain. He needed to accept that things went the way they went, no matter how awful it was.
But there was also so much to live for.
And he promised himself to never give up like that again.
Never.

They didn't have to wait long. Apparently, the rats were already close by and within minutes, they were surrounded.
Vinnie looked at the rats and narrowed his eyes. They looked different than all the others they had found the past few weeks. More… primitive.
That's weird. And they weren't driving trikes, but bikes this time.
Ah well. Rats are rats. Scum. Traitors.
Throttle studied the rats in front of him, and he couldn't help it that a shiver went through his spine.
There was something about them that made him… concerned.
Not scared. But concerned.
"Well, aren't you guys gonna give us the whole 'surrender yourself and you won't be harmed' speech?", Vinnie asked impatiently, bouncing on his bike.
"Vincent, shut up", Throttle warned him through the radio.
He couldn't believe he was already telling his younger bro that he should keep his damn mouth shut, since he was so relieved the guy finally spoke again.
But there was something with this rats he just didn't trust.
Vinnie bit his lower lip and took a good look at the rat in front of him. It was obvious a female, and if Vinnie didn't hate rats like he did, perhaps she may have been attractive. She was wearing only some sort of bikini made of fur, showing her slender, but trained body.
Sitting on a bike, she aimed a small blowpipe at him and her eyes were fuming while looking back at him.
It was obvious she didn't like mice that much either.
The white furred mouse winked at her while his lips curled into his trademark smile.
"Enjoying the view, sweetheart?", and he wiggled his eyebrows.
Apparently, she wasn't and she blew into the pipe as an answer, clearly annoyed.
A small object flew outta the pipe. It glittered in the sun and Vinnie soon recognized it as one of his least favorite items.
A syringe.
Well, a tranquilizer dart, to be exact.
He quickly ducked and the dart flew over his head.
"Ha! Missed me…"
And with that, the time for talk was over.
The rats attacked, in total silence, and so did the mice.
A little less silent, though.

The female rat went after Vinnie and the white furred mouse laughed out loud while he hit the accelerator.
"AAAOOWW, sorry sweetheart, but this is one mouse you ain't gonna catch, no matter how much you would like to!"
A missile left the back of his bike, but the female rat avoided it.
"You talk too much!", she yelled back at him, her voice low and husky.
"Who? Moi? Haha! Just admit you like me, doll. You sure ain't the first."
The female let out a scream in frustration, trying to catch up with that annoying mouse, but he was too fast.
Her bike was a old model and, unlike Vinnie's bike, not made for speed.
When he created enough distance, Vinnie turned his bike to face the music.
"Just you and me, babe. I'll be careful with ya, no worries", he smirked arrogant.
"Oh really? Who says I need you to?", and she grabbed a weird looking gun and fired at him.
Another tranquilizer dart.
Vinnie pushed a button on his handlebar and laser shot the small object outta the air.
"Why shoot with darts when you have laser?"
"Because there are things way worse than laser, you annoying little boy."
Vinnie's eyes grew big and he gasped for breath.
"Say what? Little? Boy? Excuuuuuse me? I ain't little and I definitely ain't no boy… Annoying, on the other hand..." and he fired another missile, leaving the female rat no other option than to jump off her bike.
The shockwave of the explosion knocked her on the ground and Vinnie smiled, raised his hand in the shape of a gun and blew away so called smoke.
"But yeah, you were right about the laser part, dollface. Why shoot with laser when you have missiles, bwahahaha!"
He revved his bike and when he drove past her, he kicked her in the face, knocking her out immediately.
"Sorry, sweetheart. Guess we ain't no match after all. Your loss, though. Later!"

When he joined Throttle, he saw the fight was over, given the unconscious rats spread across the battlefield.
"So, guess that takes care of them, huh?", Vinnie smiled. "Hey, where's Modo?"
A loud scream came as answer and they both looked up startled.
"That didn't sound good", Vinnie murmured.
Throttle looked around him and he suddenly spotted the gray furred giant.
"Modo!"
He quickly drove towards the big guy, followed by Vinnie.
Modo was lying in the sand and let out another scream. His one eye was squeezed shut, his whole face was twisted in a grimas.
"What the…", Vinnie started, but Modo screamed again and the white furred mouse now felt a hint of panic.
What the hell was going on here?
What could possibly make the tough gray furred giant scream like this?
Throttle jumped off his bike and kneeled down next to Modo.
"Wow, wow, easy, big fella. What's going on?"
His hands flew over Modo's body, searching for wounds, but he couldn't find it.
No blood. Nothing.
But why...
Modo's muscles flexed under his fur, his fists were clenched, so were his teeth, and sweat was already soaking the gray fur, making it almost look black.
"Modo, talk to me, man."

Vinnie's eye suddenly caught something and he slid off his bike.
While kneeling down next to his older bro, he pulled a already familiar object out of Modo's neck.
"Here's the problem, Throttle."
The tan furred mouse looked at it, clearly at loss.
"What the hell is that?"
"I dunno, but the girl I was followed by used it too. She said, quote: 'There are things way worse than laser.' And then, she called me a annoying little boy! Can you believe that shit, I mean…"
"Vincent! Focus!"
"Right", Vinnie smiled sheepishly. "I have no clue what's she was talking about, she didn't seem real straight in the head, if ya know what I mean."
Suddenly, Modo grabbed Throttle's wrist in a iron grip.
"M-make it stop…", he squeezed out between clenched teeth.
"Make what stop, Modo? I'm kinda standing in the dark here!", Throttle answered urgent, wrinkling his nose because of the pain caused by Modo's firm grip.
"The pain... "
Throttle and Vinnie shared a worried, but also confused look.
"What pain, big fella? I don't see any wounds…"
Another scream was his answer.

Dammit.

While Throttle examined Modo's body again, Vinnie reached out to Kiwi.
"Sweetheart, you there? You seeing all this?", the white furred mouse asked into his radio.
"Yeah, I am. Can you show me what you've pulled outta his neck just now?", her beautiful voice filled his ears.
The drone came closer and Vinnie held the tranquilizer dart in front of the camera.
"Strange. They must have used some sort of poison... "
"You know anything about poison?"
"No…"
"Maybe Stoker does", Throttle interfered. "Go get him, now! In the meantime, we're gonna find us a safe place. And Kiwi? Don't tell Amira about this, not until we know what the hell is going on here!"

Oops… Cliffhanger… Hehehe.

Oh, poor Modo… what was inside that dart and what will happen next?
Are they gonna find out in time or...
At least our beloved charming white furred mouse is on speaking terms again.

Feel free to leave a review, I'm dying to hear what you guys think of it.
But no pressure ;)
Thanks for reading my story and till next time!

Later dudes!