PLANET EARTH, LIMBURGER TOWER
Vinnie woke groggily, his eyes resisting the effort to open them.
"Charlie?" he called out weakly, his throat croaky from lack of water.
"She'll be here shortly" a female voice replied.
Vinnie's eyes finally opened and he turned his head to the side, trying to identify where he was, and who the voice belonged to. The room was familiar to him somehow, as was the voice.
The short, bulky shape of a Plutarkian moved closer, grinning greedily down at him.
"I see my new investment has finally awoken" the female stink-fish said.
"Romana Parmagana!" Vinnie croaked in horror.
The Plutarkian was pleased that the Martian remembered her.
"Vincent Van Wham. Welcome to Parmagana Inc., formerly Limburger Enterprises" Romana replied. "You certainly do have an interesting reaction to the human drug 'Appramendosa' don't you!"
Vinnie's eyes widened and he groaned.
"Please tell me you haven't given me any!" he pleaded, frantically looking round in case a highly aroused Charlie decided to put in an appearance.
The Plutarkian started laughing, which was the last reaction he expected..
"Don't worry rodent. All the necessary testing was done while you were kept under sedation. Carbuncle has secreted enough from your body for experimentation, modification and replication" Romana assured him.
"Sedation? Just how long have I been here? " Vinnie demanded, outrage at being used as a guinea pig overcoming his initial fear.
"Twenty four hours, give or take. Plenty of time to do all that was needed."
"Hey, what happened to the stink-fish?" he asked curiously, finally noting Greasepit and the several armed goons standing attentively round the room. They were dressed practically for once, armour of Plutarkian design clothing their bodies. There was even the suggestion of intelligence in their eyes as they watched him like hawks.
"By stink-fish I presume you mean Limburger. He's bringing your precious mechanic" Romana sneered, showing her distaste of the male Plutarkian.
Sure enough, as soon as she had finished speaking, the door to the lab opened and in walked a smiling Carbuncle, followed by a seething Limburger, who was dragging Charlie along by her wrists. Two goons followed, their lasers pointed as much in Limburger's direction as they were in Charlie's.
Seeing her husband alive and awake, Charlie cried his name with relief, trying to escape from Limburger's grasp. Limburger yanked her back cruelly and tightened his grip. Vinnie growled at him and struggled against his restraints, trying to get to his mate.
Carbuncle handed a spray bottle and a small tube of gel serum to Romana and bobbed in deference when she praised his efforts in producing what she wanted.
"This particular strain of the spray ensures that the target will only react to your voice and no other person" Carbuncle explained as she examined the bottle.
"Shall we give it a little test run?" she asked him, spraying it Limburger's face.
"Limburger, give the female to Greasepit and sit on the floor!" she ordered and watched as the Plutarkian male's eyes glazed over. Without hesitation, he shoved Charlie at Greasepit and sat eagerly at Romana's feet, waiting for the next order.
"Bark like a dog" Romana said.
Limburger began barking madly.
"How long does the effect last?" Romana asked, impressed with the results of the spray.
"Between twenty to thirty minutes, depending on the resistant strength of the recipient" Carbuncle replied. "The primal scent spray has been diluted enough to allow for responsive function of the recipient, without the overwhelming aphrodisiac effect of the original secretion, which I have also produced into a gel serum for any more involved jobs you may require!"
"Well done doctor. I commend your attention to detail" Roman said, clapping the blushing scientist on the back.
"Your contributions to my private research have been most generous your aromaticness! I can not do enough to show my gratitude!" Carbuncle replied, bobbing up and down like a buoy.
"Yes, I heard of your abominable treatment at Limburger's hands. It's a surprise you didn't mutate him into a giant rabbit or some such creature" Roman commented, wrinkling her nose at the pathetically eager to please male Plutarkian awaiting her merest wish.
Carbuncle's eyes narrowed and he stepped forward toward Limburger. "I never thought of that before your creamy centeredness. But I could always make up for lost time!" he growled in a high-pitched voice.
"Later my clever doctor, later" Romana said reassuringly, before grinning maliciously at Limburger and pointing to a glass window. "Jump out of that window!" she ordered Limburger
Vinnie gasped and Charlie screamed at Romana to stop but the female Plutarkian only laughed as Limburger rushed toward the window. Carbuncle looked pale and Greasepit started sucking his thumb, genuinely upset at his new employer's display of cruelty.
Limburger took a large leap and threw himself at the window, smashing into it. Charlie closed her eyes, too upset to look but opened them when the room erupted into laughter. She saw Limburger lying dazed on the floor, several goons prodding him to get up.
"You missed the show troller!" Roman said to her and ordered Limburger to get up and throw himself at the window again.
He complied, leaping at the window and hitting it with all his fat. The window resisted and bounced him backwards onto the floor. More laughter greeted the second incidence and even Charlie had to grin at the normally elegant Plutarkian being pounded by a window.
"Mouse-proof shielding" Romana commented idly. "Something my idiot rival never thought to install. Really Limburger, your tower is trashed more times than I care to remember and you go and build the same lousy design over and over. I wonder your mother didn't eat you in sheer disgust when you were just a glob of caviar!"
Limburger only watched her in adoration, lapping up every word she tossed his way as if it was the greatest gift he would ever receive.
Before Romana could order Limburger to do anything else to harm himself, a chime sounded and the downstairs secretary's voice could be heard over the com.
"Excuse me Ms Parmagana, but there's a delivery here for Lawrence Limburger. Should I have it sent back?"
"Yes, send it back. No…wait….find out what it is first" Romana replied over the com.
A moment or two passed while the secretary checked with the delivery guys what was in the crate.
"The company is called Organic Earth, it's paid for and all, they deliver it each month" the secretary said.
"What is the delivery for, Limburger?" Romana asked the male Plutarkian.
"My worms!" he cried eagerly, "My beautiful worms!"
Limburger licked his lips in anticipation and watched his mistress, hoping she would share them with him.
Romana's eyes lit up with greed at this news.
"Celia, have it brought up here to the office" she told the secretary, rubbing her hands at the prospect of a treat she would not have to pay for.
"Yes Ms Parmagana….you can go up now, tenth floor" the secretary could be heard saying before she cut the com.
"Boss, what about the prisoners?" asked one of the goons, eyeing Charlie with keen interest. "Can we try out some of that aphro-juice the doc was talking about? Me and the boys been wanting to teach a lesson to this fine piece of ass for a long time!" he said, smirking at Charlie. "
"An interesting idea minion. What do you think, Carbuncle?" Romana asked the skinny scientist.
Carbuncle scratched his over-sized forehead and looked thoughtful. "I don't see why not your cheddary cheesiness. I have not tested the serum in a human/human situation and would be interested in the results myself."
Before the serum could be administered to a struggling Charlie, the elevator doors opened and out stepped a heavy-set fellow with long sideburns, beer-gut and tattoos running the length of his arms. Charlie's eyes widened but she kept her mouth shut, especially when the delivery man gave her a long, hard look.
"Where ya want da package ma'am?" the delivery man asked nonchalantly, toothpick working its way round his mouth.
"Oh, anywhere" Romana said, waving abstractly at the room in general.
The delivery man turned round and pulled at the mini-trailer holding the large carton. Another hefty looking fellow and a man in his late teens pushed from behind and between the three of them they got the carton off the trailer and smack-bang in the middle of the floor.
"Ya want I should open it for ya ma'am?" asked the lead delivery man, pulling a jimmy bar out from the trailer.
"Yes do" Romana agreed, circling the carton like a buzzard at a kill.
While the lead man worked at getting the top of the carton off, the other members of the group moved into various positions round the room, idly making comments to their supervisor on how best to get the stubborn carton open.
"Shaddup youse lot!" he barked at them. "I knows how ta get da lid off!"
"Aw come off it Ned, ya couldn't get ya missus' bra off in da daytime!" one of them quipped, to general laughter from the goons.
"Ya better watch yaself Hamish, or your head is gonna be da next thing I open with dis!" he said, waving the bar threateningly at the cheeky offsider.
"I don't think his missus' bra has come off for some time now, he's grumpier than a damn cat in heat!" the youngest of the trio said loudly enough for all to hear.
"Awright, dat does it, I've put up with youse and your smartass comments all day!" Ned bellowed, hefting the bar and moving menacingly toward the one called Hamish.
The youngest delivery man wasn't going to be left out and leapt into the fray.
Laughing, the goons egged them on, yelling "fight, fight, fight!" while Romana demanded they stop their immature behaviour at once and finish opening the crate so she could sample the contents. Greasepit's grip on Charlie slackened slightly as he too got caught up in the brawl between the delivery guys and he started chuckling, glad he wasn't the one getting beaten to a pulp for a change.
Carbuncle analysed the three men's behaviour, impressed by the sheer lack of brain over brawn. "They would make excellent goons, your nefariousness" he pointed out to Romana as she stood fuming at the chaos before her.
"I don't care, I want my worms!" she shouted.
"Want worms too!" Limburger howled right alongside her. "Want now!"
The three delivery men had a choker-hold round each other's throats and the goons and Greasepit surrounded them, Charlie and Vinnie mostly forgotten.
The scene looked set to escalate except for the crate suddenly bursting apart. Four large mice landed on their feet, lasers drawn. They quickly scanned the room and went into action without a moment's hesitation.
The gray one shot through the restraints holding Vinnie down and helped him off the table. The only female mouse leapt in tandem with a tan-furred mouse as they launched themselves at Greaspit. One, two, three, four punches later and the hulking oil stain slipped unconscious to the floor, releasing Charlie into the custody of her rescuers. The remaining male mouse howled with glee and started into the goons, indiscriminately punching and kicking whatever came to hand.
The delivery men, seeing the signal they had been waiting for, broke apart and helped the older mouse dispatch the goons. Big Ned roared with gusto as he knocked two of the goons together and threw a third one into the air for Hamish to deal with.
Within minutes the only people standing were the biker mice from mars, Charlie, Big Ned and his friends and a very worried looking Romana Parmagana and Carbuncle.
Oh, and Limburger, who was still bemoaning the lack of worms available at the current time.
Modo kept his arm cannon trained on the Plutarkians and Carbuncle, while the rest of the group hog-tied Greasepit and the goons so they couldn't get free.
"Thanks for your help" Throttle said, clapping Big Ned on the shoulder and nodding to the other men.
"I'm hardly going too let someone hurt friends of mine!" Big Ned rumbled, glaring at the female Plutarkian. "Are you guys ok?" he asked Charlie and Vinnie, who were embracing each other as if their life depended on it.
They separated long enough to thank their rescuers, hugging Big Ned in a double bear-hug that left him almost breathless.
They shook hands with Hamish and his young friend, a biker by the name of Josh McCyber.
"Josh McCyber? You're Jack's nephew!" Charlie said.
The youngster grinned and wiped the brown locks out of his face. "You know Uncle Jack? Then you must be Charlene!" he said excitedly, moving forward to embrace her.
"Sure am" Charlie replied softly, returning the embrace. She had a feeling she was going to like this young man, quite a lot.
Vinnie snickered. "Does your uncle know his old flame is in town?"
Josh looked embarrassed. "We don't talk much."
"Why's that Josh, if you don't mind me asking?" Charlie asked, wondering what could have possibly caused a rift between the two men.
Josh's face hardened. "Cos he can be the biggest ass in town! He said I was too young to be in a motorcycle group!" he replied, teenage angst oozing out of his tone.
Vinnie slipped his arm round the teenager's shoulders. "Josh, you're never too young to be a biker at heart!" he said warmly, giving the younger man's shoulders a squeeze.
"Hear, hear!" the group agreed, causing Josh's face to go pink with delight.
"You even blush like a biker" Charlie teased, grinning at his discomfort.
"I reckon this boy's got Van Wham blood in his veins!" Vinnie said approvingly. "He's got the freedom fighter spirit, he knows how to rumble like the baddest mammajammer in the galaxy and most of all, he knows his uncle is an ass."
"Vinnie!" Charlie yelled at him, scolding him for being a bad example to Josh.
Both Josh and Vinnie looked at her coolly, as if the matter of Jack being an ass was a foregone conclusion and wasn't open to debate by intelligent people.
"She always like that?" Josh asked him, surprised by the mechanic's attack on his new friend.
"Yep, wouldn't have her any other way!" Vinnie said, smiling proudly as his wife fired up, and then wound down toward the end of the spiel. He had learnt to mentally tune out when she was like this. Listening to Charlie's expectations of him would try a saint, which he had never claimed to be.
"What do we do with the stink-fishes and the chrome dome?" Modo interrupted Charlie, his arm growing tired from holding it up so long.
"The cops should be here shortly to arrest them for kidnapping Charlie and Vinnie. I had some one of the boys call them as soon as we got clearance to go upstairs" Big Ned said, pulling his borrowed laser out so Modo could have a break.
"Someone has to destroy Carbuncle's lab. He's being doing experiments on us and we can't let any of it to fall into the authorities hands" Vinnie said to Throttle.
"We'll take care of it" Carbine volunteered, handing a laser to Charlie. The two women headed to Carbuncle's lab and spent a merry few minutes blasting the place to smithereens, before rejoining the men upstairs.
"Secure them big fella" Throttle said to Modo but before he could do more than tie Carbuncle, he felt a hand on his shoulder, restraining him from going any further.
"Just a sec bro, got a farewell gift for the stink-fish here" Vinnie said, pulling a tube out of his back pocket. He held it up and grinned when Romana turned a pale shade of green. Limburger was still too dopey to realise what was in the tube and just looked dully at the white mouse.
"Have fun, stink-fish!" he said, taking the lid off the tube and squirting a good proportion of gel on Limburger.
"I'll get you for this rodent!" Romana squealed in outrage but she didn't have a chance to attack Vinnie as the serum started working. While Modo tied her, she suddenly found herself decidedly interested in the handsome Plutarkian male sitting next to her. She felt a hot desire flood her body and she growled hungrily, licking her lips in appreciation at the scent coming off Limburger.
"We'd better get moving, this is gonna get really ugly soon!" Vinnie said, herding his friends toward the lift.
"What was in the tube?" Stoker asked.
"Something I thought Romana might like to try out for herself!" Vinnie said, winking at his wife.
Squished into the elevator, the five mice and four humans had a rather uncomfortable ride as the elevator descended to the ground floor and they squeezed out into the foyer. Several police officers were standing at the ready, weapons drawn.
"Hands up!" one of them shouted at the group and several pairs of arms were put in the air.
There was a pause and then, "Mrs Van Wham, is that you?" the same voice asked.
"Officer Murphy?" Charlie asked incredously. "What are you doing here? And where's Officer Cassidan?"
"Cassidan's off duty at the moment. But as to what I'm doing here, I could ask you the same question young lady. You certainly seem to enjoy being in the centre of a lot of mischief!" the kind officer said in amusement, sheathing his weapon.
"Not really but when you're married to a Van Wham, you get dragged kicking and screaming into the middle of it" Charlie replied dryly, glad to see the policeman.
"You got married!" Big Ned asked in surprise.
"Sure did, it was a bit of a surprise to both of us" Charlie said, grinning at the big biker.
Congratulations were offered by Hamish and Josh as well and several officers, hearing the news, offered their own hearty salutations.
"Uh, I hate to break up the party, but shouldn't we be arresting the kidnappers Sir?" a female officer asked, reluctantly tearing her gaze away from Modo's muscular outline.
"Good point Jensen. Take the boys with you and make sure they cover all the exits" Murphy replied, motioning seven more officers forward.
"I wouldn't go up there for a few hours" Vinnie suggested.
"Nonsense Vinnie, they're all tied up, no threat to the officers" Throttle reminded him.
"Don't say I didn't warn you" Vinnie replied, and spying Sweetheart waiting out the front, secured his wife to his side and walked jauntily out of the building.
The other mice excused themselves and followed, Big Ned and his boys bringing up the rear. Their bikes were also waiting out the front and all the bikers, mice and men, left in a roar of engines, heading for the Last Chance.
Murphy watched them go, wishing he could do the same thing and head home to his wife and a hot meal. Sighing, he ordered the remaining troopers to search the rest of the building and secure the premises.
His radio crackled and a female voice called out his name.
"Go Jensen" he said, confirming he was ready for her report.
"Sir…the white mouse was right, we should have waited for a few hours!" Jensen said, sounding sick to her stomach. Several other people could be heard retching in the background as their stomachs rebelled at what they were seeing.
"What is it, Jensen?" Murphy asked.
"You'll have to see for yourself sir, ain't no way I'm going to describe it to you" Jensen replied, before giving in to the heaves herself.
Swearing under his breath, Murphy unclipped his gun and bolted to the elevator, frantically pushing the button to the tenth floor. He bobbed back and forth on his toes, impatiently pushing the button in the vain hope it would make the elevator go any faster. The elevator finally arrived at its destination and the doors chimed as they opened.
A young police officer stumbled towards him, his hand clutched over his mouth as he approached Murphy.
"Sir, it's horrible!" the junior officer said, before bursting into tears.
Murphy patted the youngster on the shoulder awkwardly.
"Come on lad, get yourself together" Murphy encouraged, sighing inwardly at what was turning out to be a very long day.
Several more officers emerged. Many of them looked close to tears themselves, including Jensen.
"Sir, they're in there" she said, pointing to further back in the room.
Murphy kept his gun unholstered and moved toward the sounds coming from the back of the room.
As he approached, he could make out two voices, one male and one female.
"Madam, I insist you stop this at once!" the male said indignantly.
A loud growl of disagreement met this statement and there was the sound of a chair breaking.
"For the love of all that is sane, PUT ME DOWN!"
"HELLLLPPPPP!" the male screamed and Murphy bolted forward, gun held ready to defend the poor man from whatever cruel torment was being imposed upon him.
And for the rest of his life he wished he hadn't. During all the sessions with his psychologist, he often expressed his disappointment at not having listened to Vinnie. For the image of two fat, green and smelly Plutarkians in the throes of induced lust was never, ever, going to leave his mind!