Biker Mice from Mars

Hard Luck Trilogy

Part 3

What's His Frequency Karbunkle?

Chapter 8

"Man, this is really the pits!" Vinnie joked dryly. "Vinnie, SHUT UP!" Throttle, Modo, and Charley groaned all in unison. "Sorry." Vinnie apologized with a guilty grin. "Just trying to lighten the mood." He added. "Just try keeping your big yap shut!" Throttle Growled.

"Oh, but you really should listen to the dear boy." Limburger chuckled cruelly. "You all should try to enjoy these last few moments of levity before they are gone…FOREVER!" The putrid Plutarkian said then turned and walked away from them still laughing at their shared misery.

Vinnie was right though. This day was really ending down in a Bad Place! All 3 Biker Mice and their best friend and ally on Earth, were all manacled securely, hands, paws, and tails to 4 metal posts attached to a large metal platform at the bottom of a literal deep dark pit.

Mere minutes ago, the guys and Charley had stumbled their way into, yet another fiendish trap set by the Foul Fish. They had come looking for their missing bikes, and missing friends. All they had found was heartbreak, betrayal, and failure. A failure that it looked like the City of Chicago, and most likely the Entire World would pay the price for.

The Failure part was looking like they weren't going to be able to stop Limburger from activating a device called the Big Zapper Mk2. A machine that when turned on would destroy every machine and bit of wiring it was attached to in the entire city!

Unlike the last Big Zapper, this one looked to be a Wireless Version. It wasn't like Limburger to do repeats of his plans to destroy the city, but after 60 odd times or so, it looks like even He ran out of new ideas.

The Betrayal came in the form of the Silent Blue Furred Martian, Hard Luck. Presumed missing until he reappeared out of the shadows and cruelly attacked them, and nearly killing them before Limburger, of all persons stopped him. Hard Luck now stood guard over them. Not 10 feet away from them. His face hidden behind the Red Visor of his Battered Helmet.

The heartbreak of the betrayal was felt by all of them, in different ways. Modo was of course hit hardest by it. Hard Luck was his Little Foster Brother, but He loved him like he was a real one. Sadly, it just made an old saying all too true. The bigger they are, the Harder They Fall and Modo had about the Biggest Heart of them all, and it had Broken. Big Time!

The 4 of them were wearing metal manacles around their wrists which were painfully pulled behind their backs and being held against 4 metal poles that were extremely strong magnets. They may as well been welded to them.

They had been guarded by Greasepit and a platoon of Goons until Karbunkle had walked over to a section of the platform and caused a floating control panel to pop up from the floor, and he had then activated the poles to pop up in the same way, except they stayed attached to the floor, very firmly!

Vinnie still struggled furiously against them though. Throttle did his best to take in everything going on around them, looking for any chance to escape, and he wasn't seeing any. Charley on the far side of the thrashing Vinnie kept looking at her fuzzy friends with open Fear and Concern all over her face. Especially for Modo.

Poor Modo was slumped over at the waist. His big head hanging heavily down against his big chest. Hard Luck's turning against them had hit him like an Atomic Bomb. He was totally devastated by it. She could hear him quietly muttering to himself over and over. "Why, how could he do this, why?"

She could tell similar thoughts were crossing both Throttle and Vinnie's minds, but they were handling them in quite different ways. Vinnie was masking his confusion behind Anger and Bravado. Throttle, she could tell was a mix of hurt and guilt, but she could tell he was pushing it down, doing his best to be the Leader, desperately trying to figure a way out of this mess. She didn't envy him.

They all kept looking at Hard Luck. He was just a few feet away. His big blaster pistols pointed right at them and had been still as Stone ever since. He hadn't moved a millimeter since they had been attached to their posts. She could have almost convinced herself he was a robot or something by how still he was if she couldn't see his thin chest rising slowly as he breathed, but even that didn't happen too frequently.

That plus she could see that he had gotten wounded in his fight with the guys, about just as much, if not more than Throttle and Vinnie had. They both had cuts and bruises on their arms and chests. Vinnie had more cuts made obvious by the now drying and slowly stopping blood from the cuts standing out garishly against his white fur.

Throttle had his fair share of cuts and bruises too. The Tan Mouse had really been having more than his fair share of Misfortune since Hard Luck had landed in their laps in what felt like months but was just a few weeks ago now.

Just like now, he had cuts, bruises, and burns in places he would probably prefer not to be talked about out loud. Especially in front of Vinnie. Being the leader of such a small and tightly-knit group had its pros and cons. Being more like an Actual Family than a Military Unit could be seen as one. Especially with a smart-mouth little brother type like Vinnie in it.

They all stole glances at Hard Luck between their own struggling and inner thoughts. Well, everyone except Modo. He was still blind and one-armed. His cybernetics still somehow deactivated by Karbunkle. Sadly. His cyborg eye not working didn't stop tears from falling from it. Charley's own heart wanted to break too, seeing the hurt he was suffering, but she fought to keep it under control. Just like Throttle and Vinnie were attempting to do. How could Hard Luck do this they all wondered?

She didn't know how to feel about Hard Luck herself right now. Ever since the wild misadventure she had first met him during, she had had her own share of the bad luck. Hunted by Slaughtarkians, and Stalkers. Nearly Eaten by Slime Monsters. Her poor garage wrecked on multiple occasions, including both her Masked Ryder Motorcycle and her truck. Not a lot of fun there.

She looked at Hard Luck again. She didn't know how to feel about him now. Yeah, since she had first met him, he had kind of been a bundle of contradictions and mysteries. Sure, she really didn't know much about any of the Martian's pasts, they didn't really like to talk about themselves, well, the personal parts anyway. Vinnie never really shut up about himself, to be honest, but even he never really shared his past with her.

Hard Luck though. He seemed friendly but distant. She could tell he loves his big brother, but at times seemed like he couldn't get away from him fast enough, but she got the impression he didn't want to leave but acted like he had no choice. Heck, he had saved her life on several occasions, so how could he be doing what he was doing now!?

She was reminded of something She had heard Throttle say once. "Life, it aint never a straight road". She couldn't agree more. Thankfully, she was spared from having to run these thoughts thru her head because Limburger chose this moment to waddle back over to them. Karbunkle and Greasepit following right behind him.

"Oh dear, such unhappy faces I see before me." Limburger purred with a sickening tone of mock sadness in his voice, but an even more sickening smile on his ugly face. Karbunkle and Greasepit laughing along like the good little toadies they are. Limburger sharply waved his gloved fin in the air to silence them. They stopped giggling and all but stood to attention.

Throttle grimaced and made a sour face. "Just say what you want to Say Head Cheese and make it quick!" He said with a scowl. "The airflow down here is lousy and it aint doing too good of a job of carrying your STENCH Away!" He added a gagging sound for effect.

Limburger leaned in with an annoyingly amused look. "Droll, very droll." He replied while making sure to let out a long breath in all their faces. The thick noxious fumes clung about their heads like a yellow fog. This time they didn't fake any of the repulsed noises.

"Ahh!" Charley gasped her eyes filled with stinging tears. "Oh, Gods!" Throttle groaned, fighting to keep his empty stomach from trying to send its few contents upwards. "Whoa Mama!" Modo exhaled, snapped out of his morose state as he had just inhaled smelling salts! "Oh, somebody strike a match!" Vinnie shot out with a very exaggerated look of nausea on his green-tinted face!

"Ah, the joy of being Plutarkian." Limburger sighed, being sure to let more of his foul breath out as well, just to ensure Charley and the Guys continued their choking fits. "Greasepit!" Limburger yelled out to the Oily Henchman cowering behind him. Both Greasepit and Karbunkle had learned to always try and keep a sensible distance from their employer.

"Yeah Boss?!" Greasepit asked while trying to not breathe in. "Round up the Goons and get back out there, and continued to tear down the City, we have a promise to keep!" The Fish Chuckled. "Duh, are you sure Boss, I mean you don't want me to stay here and make sure the mousies don't pull no tricks?" He asked, acting as a good minion, but really, he just didn't want to miss the show!

"Oh no need for that dear boy, that is well in hand, isn't that right my dear Blue Furred Associate?" Limburger cackled while patting Hard Luck on the shoulder, who hadn't even so much as twitched the tip of his tail during all this.

"Aw, geez Boss, but I…" Greasepit started to infantilely whine before Limburger put a stop to it. "GET BACK TO WORK YOU DEGENERATE DIPSTICK!" He bellowed! Greasepit just let out a disappointed sigh and walked off. "I never get to have any fun, Come On you Goons, we got work to do!" He grumbled as the Goons followed him into the darkness of the pit.

"What's the Matter Lard-burger, got no faith in Dr. Dork's Latest Scientific Screwup?" Vinnie shouted out to insult their captors. "Why you miserable moronic…" Karbunkle snarled while waving his wimpy fist at the now sneering Vinnie.

"Tut-tut my dear Uptight Technologist, our dear guest is quite correct." Limburger purred as if to defuse the situation. "Why not activate the Big Zapper Mk2, for I see no reason to delay its destructive deployment, so Commence Immediately!" Karbunkle let out a pleasing sounding nasty wheeze and hobbled over to his sinister contraption!

'No, stop, you can't, don't do it!" Yelled All 3 Mice and Charley, as they futilely fought against their constraints! Limburger and Karbunkle watched their horror on display and relished in it! "No Time Like the Present, Throw the switch Doctor!" Limburger Cheered! "As You Command My Munster of Majestic Malevolence!" Karbunkle wheezed and reached up and pulled the Master Switch of the Big Zapper Mk2!

The machine's hideous hum started to grow louder and louder, it shook more and more, and the entire metal platform reacted like it was in a Category 9 Earthquake! The Mice fought like crazy to break free, to sacrifice themselves to save their adopted hometown! They had no chance at all!

The Big Zapper reached a near deafening pitch! Suddenly a Massive Discharge of Energy Broke out from the Top of it….and with a pathetic puff of smoke, it went completely silent, with a few parts falling off it.

Modo raised his head, blindly looked around. "Did it work, did it blow up, did we get blow-ed up?" He asked in a very confused voice. "Yeah, what gives?!" Vinnie added. Charley just looked on in stunned silence. Throttle's head fell to his chest. "Oh NO!" He let out with a depressed sigh as if he just realized they'd gotten played for fools. Again!

"What?" Gasped Limburger. "Were you expecting something more…Spectacular?" He asked with pseudo ignorance. "Huh?" Vinnie questioned. "It was all a TRAP Vincent." Throttle growled, feeling disgusted with himself for not spotting it before this. He looked up at the prone Hard Luck. Granted they had been rather distracted lately.

"Of Course, It Was a Trap!" Limburger yelled gleefully at them! He was really enjoying this! "What with your being Diseased Vermin, I would have thought You'd have caught on before this!" Throttle glared at him from behind his glasses. "It wouldn't be a trap without Bait" He sighed. "Man, now I really wish I had blasted that dumb thing!" Vinnie snarled.

"Actually, I was rather wishing you had done just that to be perfectly honest." Limburger chimed in. "And why is that?" Vinnie snapped back at him. He hated when his bad guys made fun of him. "Because I was hoping to see the looks on your faces when you realized the Results of your Irresponsible Actions!" He purred and nodded at Karbunkle, who returned his ugly smile and then kicked the Big Zapper!

It shook for a few seconds and then it literally fell to pieces! Throttle, Vinnie, and Charley's eyes almost popped out of their heads. "What, what is it?" Questioned Modo!? "Our Bikes!" Vinnie cried out!

Sitting on a pedestal in the center of the remains of the Big Zapper, still held helpless by their magnetic disabler, sat all 3 of the Biker Mice's beloved Motorcycles. "Our Bikes, I almost blew up our bikes, I almost blew Up MY BIKE!" Vinnie all but choked. "Oh, I think I am gonna barf?"

"My bike is here; Lil Hoss is here!" Modo cried out! "I'm here girl, I'm here!" He shouted and started to strain his big muscular arm against his bonds, which started to moan with the massive strain he pulled against it with!

Hard Luck all but jumped across from where he was and placed one of his big blasters right against the side of Modo's Head! Modo froze at the pressure of the round metal object against the side of his head.

"Is that what I think it is?" Modo questioned. "Yeah, it is." Throttle answered him sadly. Modo let out a low rumbling growl. His anger and sadness waging a titanic battle inside him. Vinnie lost that battle.

"You back-stabbing Blue Furred Piece of…" He shouted out, until like a whip, Hard Luck pointed his other blaster square in the center of Charley's Wide Open and Fear Filled Eyes!' Vinnie looked at this and He got that He is going to puke face again.

"Call him off Limburger, just call him off!" Shouted Throttle all but pleading for his friend's lives! "Oh, very well if you insist." Limburger sighed with a sinister sneer. He flicked his fingers casually. Hard Luck stepped back to his original spot and continued to aim his blasters at them again.

Modo suddenly jolted upright and swung around and pointed himself in Limburger and Hard Luck's direction. He bumped into Throttle with enough force to knock him off his feet which caused a domino effect that led to both Vinnie and Charley going the same way! "Oof, hey watch it, get off me!" All 3 of them cried out.

"WHY LITTLE BROTHER!?" Modo all but roared with anger! Throttle, Vinnie, and Charley physically flinched at the anger in their big friend's voice! "Why are you helping HIM, HOW COULD YOU HELP HIM!?" Modo yelled while raging against his chains! "HOW Could You do this to Me, To US, Tell Me Damn You, TELL ME!" He shouted with tears streaming down from his blind eye!

Hard Luck didn't answer him, he just slightly moved one blaster to point it directly at the unseeing Modo. Limburger watched all this with a growing smile on his masked face! "Brother?" He queried? "As in your Actual Brother?!" He gasped! "Why that is a Titillating bit of Trivia to know!" He laughed cruelly.

Limburger slid over to stand next to the Silent Martian and put a hand on his shoulder. "My Dear Boy, you really shouldn't keep such tantalizing tidbits like that to yourself, why if I had known, well let's just say I would have taken some EXTRA Steps to make your little Family Reunion even more…MEMORABLE!" Limburger chuckled cruelly as he slowly turned to glare at his captives.

Limburger steeple tapped his fat fin fingers together as he looked up like he was daydreaming at what horrible things he could have done with that information earlier. "Oh, Fate and her Fickle Fancies, if only we could turn back the clock to experience the wonder and horrors of what could have been." He let out a melodramatic sigh before turning back to his captive audience.

"He's been helping you the ENTIRE Time He has been on earth." Throttle moaned as he shook his head feeling very disgusted with himself. "All the little incidents and accidents, it all makes sense now."

"Correct My Dear Mus musculus Menace!" The Putrid Plutarkian purred. "Although to say he as been in my Employment would not be a completely Accurate Assessment." He added with a mocking tilt of his obese head.

"Just what is that supposed to mean?" Modo snarled at him. "Yeah, just how could you get any Martian Mouse to work for a Bottom Feeding Bastard like YOU!" Vinnie aggressively added. Throttle didn't say anything but the look on his angry face shared the same sentiment as his two brothers and the silent Charley.

Limburger took a few seconds to bask in the warmth of the hate cascading from them. He relished the thought that he knew it was only going to get stronger! He gestured for Karbunkle who eagerly slithered his way over to his evil employer. He once more took the odd device from his pocket that he had in the warehouse.

Karbunkle, with a sinister smile on his twisted face, held a spider-like finger over the controls on the device and waited for his cue. Limburger was acting like some Cheesy Presenter on one of those lame Saturday Afternoon Talk Shows.

"I think the best thing will be for the Mouse of the Moment to tell you himself, he should be much better at feeling in you in for his action, at least better than I!" He then reached over and placed one fin on each side of the helmet and started to lift it off Hard Luck's head. Karbunkle pushing buttons on his device from behind them.

Throttle, Vinnie, and Charley looked up at Hard Luck as He stared back at them. Charley let out a gasp that she failed to hold in. Hard Luck was staring back at all of them. She had seen the look on his face before, more than once, and it was a look that now made things make a horrible kind of sense.

His face has bruises and cuts on it, showing thru the blue fur. His lower jaw was hanging open slightly and drooling. His metal antenna had a steady flow of electricity arcing between them, but it was his eyes that were the worst part. They were bloodshot, staring at them all with a stone intensity, with a horrible sense of emptiness behind them.

"What did you do to him Limburger?!" Throttle snapped at the Pompous Plutarkian. "Me?" He said with ersatz bewilderment. "Technically, I have not done a thing to our cobalt companion." He informed them. "Although I can profess to proclaim the same for our resident Professional Psychopathic Practitioner." He added and then gestured at Dr. Karbunkle who stepped into view.

Karbunkle looked at Hard Luck then fiddled with the odd device in his claw-like hands. Electricity crackled around his Antenna and Spine and he jerked painfully to stand upright.

"Not one of my prettier pieces of handiwork but a most proficient one." He said with a sadistic sneer. He pushed a few buttons on the device and once again energy jolted up and down Hard Luck who let out a pain-filled whimper, but his blank expression didn't crack.

"What are you talking about, what did you do to my Little Brother!" Modo growled while trying to blindly look in their direction. The Diabolical Duo looked at each other and snickered.

"I am sure you remember our last encounter on Mars, during the Planet Tug Fiasco, how Lord Stilton had a little Pet Project to turn you miserable mice into his own personal Cyborg Army?" He said.

"Oh, I remember all right." Modo snarled as he uncomfortably shifted the shoulder his now useless metal arm was attached to. "Also, you remember My experiments with your Freedom Fighter Commander Stoker and my Mindbender beam?" Karbunkle asked.

"I recall it being a Fabulously Frustrating Failure." Limburger mumbled just loud enough that Dr. Karbunkle could hear him which got him a glare from the goggled eyes of Karbunkle. "Grrr, yes it wasn't quite the success I had hoped for, but you know the old saying, if you can't fix the software, Fix the Hardware!" Karbunkle snarled sinisterly.

Looks of Shocked Horror flashed on the faces of all 3 mice and Charley! "What, you mean, no, oh mama!" came their stunned replies! "Exactly, I ripped out His antenna, and parts of his brain and spine and replaced them with more…controllable components!' Karbunkle said and then gestured at Hard Luck like he was showing off a new model of an old machine!

"Yes, allow me to introduce you to Project Double R, My Very Own Remote- Controlled RODENT!" Limburger announced loudly then both he and Karbunkle started laughing evilly which echoed off the walls of the pit!

Charley and the Mice trying to come to terms with what they just heard and looked up at Hard Luck, who stared back at them, with just hints of smokey oily tears at the corner of his empty green eyes.

Limburger stood there and watched the looks crossing the faces of his most hated of enemies, the looks of shock, sadness, and horror on them, oh they were delicious! He acted as if he were inhaling the most wonderful of aromas! While this was going on, Karbunkle moved back over to the hovering control panel and began manipulating its controls.

A loud menacing hum began to permeate the area, and the platform under them began to take on a slowly growing glow. The recognizable sounds of a Plutarkian Transport Machine warming up kept growing louder and louder.

On the street above the pit, Greasepit, and the Goons were standing around, for once kind of enjoying the peace and quiet of not having to worry about them getting blown or beaten up for once. They were all putting in their choices on where to get lunch delivered from!

"Ok You Goons, let me see if I got all this straight!" Greasepit shouted out. If you want hoagies and grinders go stand over here, and if you want pizza stand there, and if you want Chinese go stand over there!" He said while sloppily pointing at each spot.

The Goons started making to their Lunch Spots, and Greasepit tried to wipe some of the excess grease off the note pad he was sloppily writing it all down and misspelling horribly on, they were all distracted enough that none of them heard a motor start-up across the street in a dark alley.

A roar thundered out and a two-wheeled object shot out and shot across the wide street! Its loud engine suddenly cut off as it hit a curb and went flying up into the dark night sky above the heads of the hungry henchmen!

"I wonder if I could get a pastrami pizza?" Greasepit wondered to himself when something above his head knocked his little red hat off his head and sailed down into the Tower pit.

"Huh, what was that?" He wondered while scratching his big head. He looked around and then shrugged then completely forgetting the incident. "Oh, maybe I should order Italian Kung pow chicken?

To Be Continued…