"Dammit Stoker, I should have forced you into retirement when I had the chance!" a voice bellowed from the rear of the ship. "Who ever gave you a ship's licence should have been sold to the sand raiders!"
"Love you too, Carbs!" Stoker called back to the irate general, grinning unrepentantly at the male Martian landing.
He unsealed the ship's lock and activated the ramp. Two lots of footsteps, pounding in tandem, came from the ramp. A blur of tan brown and dusky grey came bursting onto the bridge, separating into one blur of grey and one of tan.
"Charlie!" the blurs shouted in unison.
Before she could unbuckle herself, a set of grey hands were already attacking the restraint's buckle, followed by a pair of brown hands pulling her smoothly out of the seat and against a hard muscled chest.
She was able to enjoy the sensation of being held by the sexy mouse leader for a brief moment, before she was seized again, spun round and crushed tenderly against a taller chest, albeit just as breathtakingly sexy.
"You alright Charlie-ma'am? When we couldn't get into stink-fish's tower, we thought the worst had happened!" the big-hearted grey hulk said in concern.
"I'm fine Modo, it's good to see you again!" she breathed happily against his chest, putting her arms round him and squeezing him tightly. "Wait a sec, did you say you couldn't get into Limburger's tower? That's never happened before."
"It's defended by more lasers, cannons and goons than we've ever seen. And there's a new exterior material we couldn't penetrate, as if the whole building is coated with some kind of laser-proof shielding."
"That's not good news Modo. I'll have to have a closer look, maybe I can find a way round it!" Charlie said, her eyes gleaming with anticipation of a mystery unsolved.
Meanwhile, Carbine had come out of the cabin to see what all the noise was about. Seeing his beloved, Throttle gave Charlie a quick kiss of greeting and went to greet his fiancé with a much deeper version of the one he had given Charlie. He led her back to the group and then greeted his old mentor, thumping him on the back and congratulating him on a hard-core landing.
Modo hugged Charlie again before taking a step back and looking round in confusion. "Where's Vinnie?" he asked.
"Over there" Charlie replied, pointing to the front of the ship.
Modo looked at her questioningly but she only shrugged, as confused as he was. Modo walked over to his bro and bent down by his side.
"Hey bro. Why weren't you strapped in? You know it's not safe to fly like that." Modo said.
Vinnie opened his mouth to answer and then shut it as he saw Stoker approach Modo.
Modo turned as he felt Stoker's hand on his shoulder.
"You'll have to carry him out big fella, he won't be able to walk for a while" Stoker said lightly, a devilish gleam in his eyes. He patted Modo on the shoulder and turned to follow the other passengers down the ramp.
"Why were you lying there?" Modo asked as he put Vinnie over his shoulders in a fireman's hold.
"Cos Coach has lousy aim!" Vinnie declared angrily.
"What do you mean he has lousy aim? He's a little off from what he used to be but he's not that bad!"
"Bro, he shot me in the balls! He gave me numb-nuts and now I can't move!"
"I'm sure he was aiming for your legs Vinnie" Modo said gruffly, not prepared to hear another word against Stoker.
Modo carried Vinnie out of the bridge and into their living quarters. They found the rest of the mice sitting around the living room, being regaled by Charlie regarding her trip with Vinnie.
Modo placed his brother on the couch next to Charlie and went to see if he could find a heating pack for Vinnie. Stoker followed Modo into the kitchen and handed him a small self-heating cushion Modo recognised as coming from a typical Martian medical kit.
"The punk jumped me while we were in the air" Stoker said, defending his actions toward the white Martian. "Oh, and Modo…I wasn't aiming for his legs!" Stoker chortled, before returning to the lounge to claim the only available spot next to Charlie.
Modo activated the heating pack and tossed it to Vinnie, who used his arms to cross his legs and placed the pack on top of them.
"I have to pick Sweetheart up from Chef Andy" Vinnie said anxiously to his grey furred brother.
"Later bro, you're in no condition to ride at the moment" Modo reassured him.
Before Charlie could ask about their trip to Mars, Throttle remembered that a James Bomb movie was on, asking if the others would mind watching it. The unanimous decision was to watch the movie and Stoker put his arm round Charlie and hugged her while Carbine quite happily ensconced herself in Throttle's lap on the only armchair in the room. Modo turned off the lights, settling in front of Charlie and leaning back against her legs, smiling with contentment when she ran her fingers through his thick fur.
Vinnie released a sigh as he felt warmth seep into his groin and surrounding leg area. Charlie, not absorbed in the movie as much as the others were, looked sideways at Vinnie's look of pure bliss as he cradled the heat pack. She frowned, determined to drag some answers out of the mouse despite his reluctance to talk.
Leaning over, she whispered in his ear. "We need to talk. Come by the Last Chance at midnight."
"Why!" he demanded to know loudly.
"Sssshhhh!" several voices chorused from the other occupants of the room.
Charlie reached out her left hand and seized Vinnie's chin, pulling his head forward until they were eye to eye. "Because I said so, that's why!" she said sweetly, her voice holding an underlying current of steel. "Carbine is staying in the spare room, buzz me when you get here so you don't wake her" she finished, releasing his face and turning back to sculpting Modo's fur into a mohawk while he was absorbed in the movie. Stoker saw the new hair-do on the freedom fighter and smothered a grin. Charlie winked and nestled against him.
Vinnie eventually felt completely thawed and decided to try moving. He eased his legs out of their crossed position and stood up. Seeing he had full mobility again, he did something he was dying to do for the past hour. He made a mad dash to use the facilities.
A loud flush signalled the grand finale of his personal emergency and he dropped down into the sofa with such a thump that the reverberations bounced Charlie away from Stoker and toward Vinnie. Surprised, Charlie tried to straighten but Vinnie's arm reached round her shoulders and tugged her firmly back against his side. Charlie started to resist, but the sensation of being cuddled by Vinnie was much too delicious to resist and she caved in, burrowing closer and snuggling against his warm body. Vinnie rubbed his cheek against her forehead and wrapped his arm tighter round her.
Stoker had been about to berate the punk for his carelessness, but softened when he saw how the two youngsters reacted to each other. An indulgent smile sat on his lips, and stayed there throughout the movie. He was still grinning like a weed addict stumbling across a souvlaki outlet when the movie finished and Modo got up to turn the lights on. It soon dissolved into hysterics when he got a better look at Modo's new hair-do.
Modo cocked his good eye at his mentor's unexplainable behaviour and shook his head in confusion. He turned to say something to Throttle about it but was even more bewildered to find Carbine covering his bro's mouth with both her hands. She was scolding him about something, but was trying to suppress her own amusement at the same time. Another male voice joined in the merriment as Vinnie got a closer look at Modo's appearance.
The only one not laughing was Charlie, but she did have a suspiciously guilty look on her face.
"They're all crazy" Modo declared to her in his deep, gravely voice. He muttered something else as he left the room to use the bathroom.
Several seconds passed before a loud bellow came from Modo's direction .
"CHARLIE!"
Charlie didn't stop to explain. She bolted out of Vinnie's embrace and made a hasty retreat out of the living room and toward the ship. Before she could get up the ramp, two arms seized her from behind and she let out a squeal.
"Vinnie, let me go before Modo catches me!" she demanded, struggling to get loose.
"Too late!" Modo's baritone voice rumbled in her ear.
He carried her back thru the living room and into the bathroom.
Vinnie stood up half-heartedly, torn between rescuing his wife and tackling a mission focused Modo, or allowing Charlie to get her comeuppance and preserving his own hide.
"Uh Modo, what are you doing?" he asked as his bro walked past.
"I'm going to be a hairdresser" Modo declared, holding a squirming Charlie in one arm and digging through the cabinet drawers. He found what he was looking for and pulled the lid off one of Vinnie's bottles of hair gel. Dipping his fingers in, he scooped up a large chunk of gel and proceeded to rearrange Charlie's hair to his satisfaction. Charlie bellowed in frustration one moment, laughing the next as she demanded Modo release her.
Several minutes passed before a satisfied looking Modo emerged, several bits of gel dripping onto the floor where it had splattered onto his breastplate from Charlie's resistance.
Soon after, Charlie appeared, sporting a new look. Three irregular spikes took up residence on the top of her head, several dreadlocks surrounded the sides. Vinnie barked with laughter but soon shut up when Charlie glared at him. This didn't stop Throttle or Stoker from losing it all over again though. Carbine gave a sympathetic smile but ducked her head before Charlie could see it turn into an amused smirk.
Modo looked at his handiwork and grunted in approval, before slipping back into the bathroom to clean the gel off his breast plate and the floor.
"Charlie-girl, I've got to get Sweetheart. She'll be worried about me!" Vinnie said earnestly, the desire to be with his beloved motorbike overwhelming his urge to tease Charlie over her current Rastafarian look.
Sighing, Charlie agreed. "And I need a shower!"
"Modo and I'll take you" Throttle volunteered as he gently removed Carbine from his lap.
"I'll take Charlie. I wouldn't mind getting settled in myself" Carbine said, pushing him back into the chair as he was about to stand up. She gave him a kiss on his upturned nose and collected Charlie, heading with her to the ship to get their baggage.
"Better give them a hand or Charlie will tear my ears off!" Vinnie said sheepishly and hurried after the women.
"I'll escort the girls to Charlie's place. I'm not happy them being by themselves even if Limburger is off planet at the moment" Stoker volunteered and went to collect his bike from the ship.
Modo came out of the bathroom wiping his breastplate with a hand towel and his brow crinkled at the diminished population of the room. "Where is everyone?" he asked.
"Vincent wants to pick Sweetheart up, Charlie wants to have a shower after your failed attempt at changing careers, Carbine is going to take her over to the Last Chance and the Coach is going to make sure the girls are ok" Throttle said. "Did you want to come for a ride to take Vinnie over to Chef Andy's?" he asked.
Modo nodded and the two mice went to warm their motorbikes up. They turned when they heard unfamiliar bike engines and saw two motorcycles with traditional freedom fighter camouflaging emerge from the ship, followed by Carbine, Charlie, Vinnie and Stoker. The two bikes were laden with Charlie and Carbine's baggage, while Vinnie had opted to carry his own gear.
"What are you cooking for dinner?" Vinnie asked Charlie as they walked side by side down the ramp, his tummy reminding him it was close to dinner time.
She stopped abruptly, causing Stoker to walk into the back of them. He righted himself and made to apologise but stopped when he realised a possible domestic was brewing.
"What makes you think I'm doing the cooking!" she demanded, incredulous.
Vinnie's ears drooped when he realised he'd set off the mechanic's feminist side and he started to back away, but was brought up short by Stoker's chest and could go no further. Charlie glared at him a moment longer, breathing heavily as she contemplated whether it was worth berating him further, or to save it for later and go for that shower she so desperately wanted. Hygiene won out and she turned and marched angrily down the ramp to join Carbine, mumbling under her breath about men and their cavemen notions. She climbed on behind Carbine and slipped her arms round the Martian's trim waist, her anger giving her a death grip that left the mouse feeling almost winded.
"Easy sweety, no point in taking it out on the innocent," Carbine gently chided her, easing the human's arms slightly looser.
Vinnie let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding.
"Have you got a death wish or something punk?" an amused male voice asked from behind him.
"No, just permanent mouth-in-foot disease" Vinnie replied dryly, running his fingers through the fur on his head.
Stoker chuckled as he propelled the youngster down the ramp toward the waiting motorcycles. "Doesn't look like you'll be in her good books any time soon" the older mouse commented, eyeing the fuming female perched behind his favourite general.
"No problem, I'll just take a few of these!" Vinnie replied cheerfully, swinging his backpack round to the front so he could pull out the bottle of pain killers. He shook them enthusiastically in front of the Coach's nose and waggled his eyebrows.
Stoker looked at him thoughtfully and then grinned from ear to ear. "So do I write Universe's Greatest Nymphomaniac on your tombstone when you finally tell her what those little babies really do?"
Vinnie stopped shaking the pill bottle abruptly and a panicked look flitted across his face. "Maybe I shouldn't tell her" he said quietly, glancing across at the still fired-up human.
"I'll change it to Universe's Greatest Dumbass then" Stoker said, walking toward his bike and straddling the seat. He moved the bike closer to Vinnie and stared at him long and hard. "If you've got any brain inside that thick skull of yours, I'd tell her immediately if I were you!" he said, before gunning the engine and motioning to Carbine to move out.
"MIDNIGHT, VAN WHAM!" Charlie bellowed over the noise of the engines as they flew past Vinnie.
Stoker brought up the rear, giving a cheerful wave to the three brothers. Modo and Throttle returned it, but Vinnie only made a half-hearted effort at best, gulping anxiously when he thought about the coming meeting with his wife.
"You ready Vin-man?" Throttle asked from the seat of his motorcycle.
"Let me just put my pack away and I'll be right with you" Vinnie replied, jogging toward his bedroom. He threw the pack toward the bed and watched it land on the mattress with a thwump, before turning round and jogging back the way he came.
"Who am I riding with?" he asked when he saw Modo all geared up next to Throttle.
"Take your pick" Throttle said, shrugging to indicate his lack of preference.
Vinnie sized up the options available to him; Option A consisted of riding behind his muscular tan-furred leader, and Option B consisted of riding behind his taller and even more muscular grey brother. Though both options would achieve the same purpose, they had a rather severe handicap attached. One which could possibly leave people thinking Vinnie was a good friend of the pink pony from the Circus Circus hotel. (n.b. readers who don't know what I'm talking about, refer to Viva Las Vegas and you'll get the drift).
"Option C, sidecar" Vinnie decided out loud.
"What are you talking about?" Throttle asked, unaware of his white bro's thoughts.
"I'll ride in the sidecar" Vinnie replied, pointing at Throttle's ride.
The mouse leader and his taller companion glanced at each other and rolled their eyes.
"What's wrong Vincent, am I too macho for you?" Modo asked, blowing kisses at the white mouse.
Throttle snickered but complied with Vinnie's request, pushing the button to unfold the sidecar.
"Nah, too ugly!" Vinnie retorted as he climbed in and placed Throttle's spare helmet on his head.
Throttle didn't wait to see if Vinnie was secured fully, but shot off, causing the white mouse to fall forward and hit his helmeted head on the front of the sidecar.
"Owwwww!" he hollered in protest.
"Better belt in bro, wouldn't want you to hurt that pretty face of yours!" Throttle said over the helmet com, completely unrepentant.
Vinnie's reply was drowned out by a roar of the bikes' engines as the mice took advantage of the reduced traffic on the road to burn some rubber. On the way, they passed a car full of bikini-clad female college students, who waved and wolf-whistled in appreciation at the trio of masculine flesh.
Throttle waved to acknowledge their approval, which brought squeals of excitement and the request for mobile numbers, while Modo merely blushed, smiling shyly and ducking his head slightly.
"Awwww, how sweet! The big one is blushing!" said a blonde student.
"Hey Kathy, see if you can get him to blush even more!" her brunette companion could be heard yelling to her.
"Ok!" the one called Kathy yelled back, and moved her hands toward the back of her bikini top.
Modo's eyes grew wide and he nearly swerved into Throttle, who yelled at him to watch it over the helmet com.
This caused the young females to burst into hysterics and several more of them leaned out of the car windows, attempting to repeat their friend's actions.
"Drop back or go forward Throttle, before the big guy blushes himself, and us off the entire highway!" Vinnie suggested, watching the girl's antics with a smile on his face.
Throttle agreed and ordered Modo to take the lead, putting some distance between themselves and the excitable women. Cries of disappointment followed their departure as the women saw their quarry zoom away faster than their little sedan could follow.
"Are you feeling alright Vincent? You didn't leap out of the sidecar drooling" Throttle commented over the com.
"Yeah bro, what gives?" Modo added. "Normally you'd be making some tacky comment by now and trying to score numbers galore."
Vinnie looked at the two brothers and blinked. "I thought I'd be generous and let you lesser mortals have a taste of the feminine attention that dogs my every step!" he replied, giving them a cocky grin.
"I don't think they were your type Vin-man" Throttle said.
"What makes you say that?" Vinnie asked, confused by his leader's comment.
"I didn't see any valves on them!" replied Throttle and grinned when he heard Modo roar with laughter over the com.
Vinnie shook his head and chuckled despite himself. It was rare to see Throttle so quick off the mark with his sense of humour that the white mouse had to join in.
"What do you do when they get a puncture?" Modo asked in mock seriousness, falling in next to the sidecar.
"I use the repair kit of course" Vinnie replied.
Modo raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What repair kit?"
"Charlie's first aid kit, there's enough bandaids in there to last for a while" Vinnie said with a straight face.
All three mice launched into another round of laughter, which lasted them for the remainder of the journey to Chef Andy's. They pulled into the car park of the Chicago diner and walked inside, their helmets still on.