So…I know I left this for far too long, and if anyone is still reading this, it's a bloody miracle. But the last few months were a truly taxing time. Beyond the usual university work (which will officially be complete in about a two weeks), there was recently a family emergency that drew my attention.

No one died, at least, but the matter was great enough to cause a stir. Thankfully, things seemed to have calmed down.

In any case, Happy New Year all, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.


The next day, Charley got called into Cynthia's workshop. Cynthia, it turned out, was an avid techy. She had explained that she had created the blueprints for much of the Martian Military in her youth, and later after her retirement, the Freedom Fighters arsenal at Stoker's request. Charley entered the workshop to see a treasure trove of tools and gadgets.

"So, you're a mechanic, huh?" Cynthia asked as she approached her workbench, rummaging through her toolbox. Charley nodded as she approached what looked like a metallic whip of some sort of amongst the numerous tools.

"Yeah, my uncle owned a garage and taught me everything I know. But thanks to the Plutarkians, I've also dabbled in laser weaponry." She picked up the whip, poking it at when it suddenly gave her a shock. "Yeouch!" She yelped as she dropped it. "That's got quite a kick to it!" Cynthia giggled as she approached her.

"Sorry, should have warned you. That's my patented Electro-Whip. Just passed the testing phase." She picked up said whip and pressed a button on the handle, causing the whip to power down, then turned around and grabbed a laser pistol. "Here, I understand you don't have any weapons of your own yet." Charley's eyes widened.

"Are you serious?" Cynthia winked at her.

"You're a Freedom Fighter, Charley, and you're a part of the bros group to boot. At some point, you're gonna need a weapon handy." Charley smiled at her.

"Thanks Cynthia." Cynthia smiled.

"Why don't you go test them out? I'm sure the bros would be willing to give you a helping hand." She said with a smile, then headed back to her workbench. Charley smiled and left the workshop, planning on sneaking outside and working with the weapons. The bros would never let her mess with weapons in her time, she wasn't gonna let them ruin her fun so fast.

As she made it outside, she studied the whip in her hands. It was a tan color and seemed about six feet long, not counting the handle which was about ten inches in length. The handle itself had a steel ball at the end. Charley grabbed the handle and let the whip unfurl. She slowly tried to spin it around her, then quickly pull it down in front of her. She yelped as she felt a sting on her leg as the whip hit her. Hissing, she rearranged her stance and tried again. This time, she swung the whip around her head, faster and faster before bringing it down again. This time, it hit the back of her head. Hard. She rubbed the sore spot and sighed. This was gonna take a while.


Hours, and many new scratches and sore spots later, and Charley let out a frustrated growl.

"Come on, why is this so hard?" She tried to crack the whip once more, swinging it from the side and forwards. This time, it cracked….and smacked her square in the forehead. "Ouch!" she dropped the whip and her hands flew to her head as she stepped back. However, she miss-stepped and felt herself falling backwards. Suddenly, she felt furry arms catching her.

"Woah! You alright there, Charley?" She rubbed her forehead as she glanced up at Throttle, who had caught her and was currently helping her back onto her feet.

"Define 'alright'?" She groaned, dropping her hand as she turned to Throttle. He hissed as he spotted the no doubt red spot on her forehead.

"Ouch, that looks like it stings." Charley sighed and turned away, spotting Vinnie pick up and inspect the fallen whip.

"Ooh, nice whip Charley-girl." He crooned, Modo coming over to examine it as well.

"Yeah, where'd you get it?" he asked as Vinnie passed it to him. Charley winced, knowing they were likely about to berate her for messing with weapons when she would never be allowed in the thick of battle anyway.

"Cynthia gave it to me, along with my own laser pistol. She said I needed weapons of my own." She admitted, now just waiting for the bros to give their usual speech about how only macho mice were allowed on the battlefield.

"Oh, right, we should have thought of this before!" Vinnie shouted. Charley raised an eyebrow. Modo nodded.

"Yeah, can't have our girl going into battle without weapons." He seemingly agreed. Charley shook her head in disbelief.

"Wait…you guys…want me to go into battle with you?" she uttered. And the bros all gave her a strange look.

"Well, duh, where did you think you were gonna be Charley?" Vinnie mused, and Charley was stunned into momentary silence.

"Well, I… I thought you guys would want me to…stay on the sidelines, ya know? Away from the stuff you 'macho muscle mice' should handle?" The bros all seemed to pause.

"Charley, if we did something to make you think we didn't want you around…" Throttle started, and Charley backtracked.

"No, no, no, it's nothing like that! It's just…Well, I just thought you guys wouldn't…I wasn't sure if you guys saw me as…capable…I don't know…" The bros all looked at each other, startled.

"No way, Charley-girl!" Vinnie yelped. Modo moved over to her, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"We don't see you as incapable at all, Charley-ma'am. Obviously, we know you haven't really seen battle before, but we'd much rather have you at our side than away from it." Throttle moved over to take the whip from his gray furred bro.

"But before you can join us on the field, it looks like you could use some help." He moved back to Charley and handed her the whip. "Show us what you've been doing." Modo released her shoulder, and the bros moved a safer distance away from her. Charley took the whip and moved it above her head, but before she could even try and crack it, Throttle spoke up. "Hang on, you're holding it wrong." He moved forward again, taking the whip from her and holding it for her to see.

"See, you wanna use a reverse grip with this. That will allow you to still crack the whip, but you'll also be able to use the heel knot to strike close range."

As he spoke, he pointed out the steel ball at the end of the handle. He gripped the handle with the steel ball facing upward and the whip facing the ground before he gestured to Charley to step back. Charley did so, and watched in awe as Throttle preceded to expertly crack the whip numerous times. Charley could see how, in close quarters combat, no one would be able to get close to him without being struck. And even if they did, he would be able to knock them out easily with the heel knot, as he had called it. He stopped his demonstration and urged her forward again, handing her the whip and helping her to maintain the correct grip.

"Here, give it a shot. Try going for the basic flick. And don't worry if you can't crack it at first, just try and get the motion." He said, as he gently guided her arm in the motion she needed, before stepping back to allow her the space to try it for real. She tried it a few times, before giving it one hard swing. The whip gave an almighty crack, and she hadn't hit herself in the process. She grinned widely as the bros whooped.

"Nice one Charley-ma'am!" Modo cheered.

"Yeah, you're gonna be a dab hand at this, for sure." Throttle chimed in, as he swung his arm over her shoulders. Charley couldn't help but laugh at the praise.

"Hold on, bros! Let me go grab some empty cans. I think we can set up some target practice for Charley out here!" Vinnie exclaimed as he rushed back into the house. Charley watched him go with a smile before turning her attention back to Modo and Throttle, who began instructing her on the next technique.

Meanwhile, Cynthia watched on with a smirk. Amelia had been right. That girl really was a great asset to the team. She turned back and headed for the garage, where the bikes were waiting. Sweetheart beeped a hearty greeting to her.

"Hush girl, I need Charley's helmet." She said as she grabbed the human sized helmet from the stand it had been left on. "Something tells me this is gonna need some major modifications before any future use."


After three days spent at Cynthia, and some instruction from the bros, Charley was managing quite well with her new weapons. She was hitting the cans 3 out of 5 times with the whip and she was also starting to double up, equipping the laser pistol in her left hand whilst using the whip in her right. The bros had also started teaching her hand-to-hand combat. At the moment, she was sparring with Throttle, whilst Vinnie and Modo were watching from the sidelines, shouting advice and tactics she could use to take the tan mouse down.

"Use Elbow Dive 3, and dodge to your right!" she heard Modo yell as she sidestepped from Throttle's punch, ducking under his arm and shoving her elbow into his ribs, causing him to huff. He grabbed her shoulder, likely in an attempt to push her back, but she moves forward instead, ducking under his elbow and moving behind him. As she turns back, she quickly strikes out with her leg, catching him right in the center of his back. Throttle grunts as he falls, tucking and rolling and landing back on his feet, turning to face Charley.

"Alright! Now use Takedown 5 with a little Leg Sweep 2!" Vinnie roars just as Throttle growls and rushes at her. Charley ducks down to her left, kicking out her legs and catching Throttle's ankles, causing him to trip. As he falls, Charley makes her move and catches his shoulder with her hand, pushing off the floor and forcing him to land on his back rather than his front. Forcing her knee into his stomach hard, she forces her other arm into his neck. Throttle struggles for a bit, then seems to give up, only for Charley to feel a tail wrap around her waist and lift her in the air, tossing her to the side. She lands on her side and rolls over, panting hard. Throttle chuckles as he sits up, also breathing a bit harder than usual.

"Not bad, Charley-girl. You lasted about thirty seconds longer that time." He acknowledged as he gets up, dusting himself off before holding his hand out to her. She takes it and he pulls her up, with Modo and Vinnie joining them. Charley groaned.

"I've got bruises in places I didn't know I had." She whimpered as she rubbed her lower back. The bros all chuckle at her when a shout draws their attention.

"Alright you mama-jammers! Get your bikes! We've got places to be!" Cynthia shouts at them carrying a bag on her shoulder and motioning to the bikes to drive over to them. The bikes do so immediately. The mice all look between each other, confused.

"Uh, Nana? Where are we going?" Vinnie asked, even as he grabbed his helmet from Sweetheart's seat and puts in on. Cynthia smiles and puts her own helmet on.

"You'll find out once we get there." The bros all glance between each other looking to Charley with a shrug. She shrugs back and moves to grab her own helmet, only, it's not on Lady.

"Uh, did you guys see my helmet?" she asks as the bros get on their bikes. Throttle looks around, thinking it might have fallen onto the ground, but like Charley doesn't see the helmet anywhere.

"Well, we don't have time to find it now, so you'll have to use this one." Cynthia says as she walks over to Vinnie, passing Charley a helmet on the way. It's clearly meant for a Mouse, with the sides open for the oversized ears, and looks like the helmets most of the Freedom Fighters use. Charley puts the helmet on, and climbs on to Lady behind Throttle just as Cynthia gets on Sweetheart with Vinnie. "Alrighty then. Sweetheart, you take the lead. Lady, Lil' Hoss, you follow behind." Confused as to why Cynthia was addressing the bikes rather than the bros, Charley doesn't expect the bikes to suddenly rev up and start off, without the bros needing to do anything. Sweetheart takes the front, with Lil' Hoss taking her left side and Lady taking the left. The bros all seem just as confused, but instead of arguing, they simply let the bikes take them wherever Cynthia had seemingly instructed them.

After a while, Charley noticed Throttle checking out their surroundings, and sharing confused glances with Modo. She taps him on the shoulder to catch his attention. He turns back to look at her, fully confident that Lady is in control of the ride.

"Something wrong?" She asks over the dim of the bikes. Throttle shakes his head.

"Not really, but I don't understand why Cynthia is taking us this way." He turns back to the road, but keeps talking. "This way leads directly to…Mom?" Charley's head snaps up, and sure enough, ahead of them are six figures standing around an object covered with a sheet. She recognizes Amelia, Nora, Rimfire and Primer but they are joined by two new mice. The bikes pull to a stop in front of the group, and they all quickly remove their helmets.

"Mom, what's going on?" Throttle asks as he gets off his bike, helping Charley to do so as well. Amelia smiles widely.

"I think you boys know what's going on." She then turns to Charley. "You ready for a battle, Charley?"


So, for those who think the bros are slightly out of character for wanting Charley on the battlefield…

The way I see it, they have no reason to doubt her skills in the series. She's already proven to them she is capable of fighting in The Masked Motorcyclist episode, yet they continue to tell her to stay on the sidelines. So, clearly, something is causing them to worry for her.

At first I thought it might be because she is human, but again, Masked Motorcyclist. Then I thought it's because she is a woman, but then Carbine and Harley exist. Sure, Harley is mainly a mechanic and medic, but she is seen fighting so clearly that isn't the issue.

That's when it hit me.

Harley.

The bros are trying to keep Charley away from danger because of what happened to Harley. She already reminds them so much of Harley, heck, Vinnie accidentally refers to her AS Harley in the last episode! They are terrified that if Charley follows them into battle, they might lose her just like they lost Harley.

Then again, I might be reading to much into this and this was all just a result of the writing, but this is the headcanon I decided to roll with.

However, in my story, that hasn't happened yet. So right now, the bros have no reason to keep her from fighting alongside them. The only problem is that she needs training, which they are more than happy to provide.

Quick side note, Charley's first experiences with the whip are based on my first experience with a whip. A good friend of mine brought one to my house once (since he lives in an apartment complex and I have a backyard), and tried to teach me how to use it. All of Charley's injuries?

Yeah…trying to use a whip when you have no idea what you're doing? Not fun.

Throttle's demonstration is based off of a Youtube tutorial I found.

Please Review!