Biker Mice from Mars
Hard Luck Trilogy
Pt 3
What's His Frequency Karbunkle?
Chapter 11.
Zap! Kaboom! "Yeah!" Ker-Zap BOOM! "Take That!" Zap, Zap, Zap! Blast, Bang Kap-Pow! "Yes, I am the Martian Master of the Blaster!" Vinnie shouted out in a near ecstatic fervor!
"VINNIE!" Both Modo and Charley shouted out! "What?!" He hollered back. "You're enjoying this a bit too much Bro!" Modo sighed. Vinnie was perched up on the Big Gray Mouse's mountain-like shoulders. He's still numb legs wrapped around Modo's tree trunk-like neck.
Vinnie was leaning back so much; he was literally upside down! Using Hard Luck's borrowed big blaster, he was blasting the ceiling, wall, and floor mounted Laser Cannons in the Tower, and Storages Bin's Corridors they were navigating while trying to get down to where their bikes were being held.
"Oh, come on Big Guy, this is the most fun I've had all day!" Another set of explosions rocked the hallway as Vinnie expertly shot out a couple more hidden cannons! "In fact, this is getting almost too easy, maybe I should try it blindfolded." He wondered while considering using his bandana to do just that.
"Maybe Modo should just drop you on your head a few times?" Charley sighed. She was doing her best to maneuver (mouse-euver?) the still blinded Modo around with his left paw in her hands.
"I dunno Charley-Ma'am were in space, we don't' wanna bust a hole in an outer wall or nothing." Modo joked while giving his burden a playful bump. "Oh Har De Har Har!" Vinnie sarcastically laughed back.
Charley just had to admire how the Mice could be so relaxed at times like this. She really kind of envied them for it, but she did have to remind herself that they have been thru these dangerous situations a lot over their troubled lives. She didn't envy them the hard times they have lived thru, not at all.
She did know that humor was a good coping mechanism for the real thoughts and feelings going thru their hearts and minds. Especially with Modo. The mask he was wearing was less than paper-thin, but then with a heart as big as his, it was hard to hide how much he really cared.
"Ok, we can take a break, there aint no hidden blasters in this corridor, so you can wind down Vin-man." Modo said while nudging the hanging Martian Gunslinger. Charley stopped and looked up and down the area. "How do you know it's safe here?"
Modo's ears and antenna twitched. "The hidden blasters make little click noises before they pop out, and there aint no motion sensor field here either." He told her matter of fact. "Yeah, even the little panels are really easy to spot before they open up." Vinnie added.
OK, now Charley was just jealous. She could barely see 10 feet in front of her in this gloomy place. To be born with those heightened Martian Senses, well it would be handy right now.
Vinnie pulled himself up to a proper sitting position on Modo's shoulders. "Yeah, all the blood rushing to my antenna was starting to make me dizzy, maybe a Fiver isn't such a bad idea right now." He said will massaging his said cranial appendages.
"I would think having all that liquid sloshing around in such an empty place would do that." Charley said with a smirk. Modo lowered Vinnie down onto the floor and slid down the wall to sit next to him. Charley Joined them, although all 3 of them didn't lower their guard any for hidden dangers.
Vinnie stretched out his numb legs and slowly tried to rub some feeling back into them. "I am lucky my Emotional State is as hard as Plutarkian Steel or all these jabs at me might affect my heroic ability to cope with such personal attacks on my Ultra Heroic Mindset."
Charley and Modo managed to not laugh at that for almost 5 whole seconds. Vinnie started to blush at how much they did though. "OK, maybe it aint That Tough." Vinnie added demurely.
Modo chuckled and leaned over and gave Vinnie a light Big Brotherly Shoulder Bump, which still knocked Vinnie completely over. "Aw, you know we're just funning you Little Bro." Modo wished he could see, so he could tell where Vinnie was, just so he could give him a noogie, cause he knew Vinnie hated when he did that.
The smile on Modo's face slowly faded and was replaced by a sad frown, and he looked blindly up at the ceiling. "Throttle will save him Modo, try not to worry." Charley told him while giving his burly arm a reassuring squeeze.
"I sure hope so Charley, it's just that I just have to wonder how much of my Littlest Bro there is left to save." Modo exhaled heavily. "Those Monsters have done so much to him, and I just don't know if I can handle it."
Now Charley was glad for the darkness, that and guiltily for Modo's current blindness, cause she didn't want him to see the tears in her eyes. "Hey, don't talk like that Big Bro, Hard Luck was raised by both You and Your Mama, no way He didn't get turned into some stern stuff!" Vinnie chimed in with.
Modo's big frame rumbled as a low chuckle rolled thru him. "I appreciate that Vinnie, I really do, but I have to wonder how much of that Mouse is left, they took way more from him than they did from ME!" He sighed and reached over and gripped his deactivated cyborg arm.
"Hard Luck has saved us all a few times since He has got here, so there must be something of him left in there," Vinnie said in as best a reassuring way he could. Charley was proud of the White Furred Martian. "He's right Modo." Charley added.
"Is he?" Modo asked back. "Has he really helped us, or has it all just been Limburger pulling the strings on a puppet?" Charley tried to give him an answer, but she just bit her lip and thought about that. "You're right that he has been lying to us since he got here. "He's Been Lying To US!?" Vinnie yelled out!
Modo winced. This kind of thing wasn't something he liked talking about. "Yeah, he has, it just took me a while to remember about it." Vinnie glared at them. He hated being left out of things, especially the gossip. "How can you tell he's lying!?"
"He lies when he stutters." Modo grumbled. "Hard Luck Stutters all the Time Modo." Vinnie replied matter of fact. "It's How He stutters; He has a Tell!" Modo said feeling guilty even thinking about reveling this.
"All Mice have Tails Modo." Vinnie smirked. He just managed to dodge Modo's backhanded swing at his head. "Not TAIL, You dummy, TELL, T-E-L-L!" Modo snapped! Vinnie smiled and winked at Charley. He just couldn't resist a joke to lighten the mood. Charley just rolled her eyes and marveled at how Vinnie just couldn't resist the urge to be, well VINNIE!
"As I was saying, it's How He stutters." Modo continued. "Hard Luck only Stutters for 2 reasons, One being He is scared, the other is that He is Lying!" Vinnie just nodded, then remembered that this was a kind of pointless gesture. "Go On!" He prompted.
"When He is scared, he stutters on his first and every other word, when he Lies it's the second word and every other word." Vinnie thought about that and nodded. He hadn't noticed that. Charley didn't notice the difference either until Modo pointed it out to her.
The Big Grey Martian chuckled to himself as memories arose. "Mama figured it out first, then told me, of course, it took Hard Luck a while before he realized she had, it took him getting his backside whooped a good-few-times before he did." A frown took hold of his face as he remembered something else about his little foster brother.
"What is it Modo?" Charley asked, noticing the change. "What, oh, uh nothing Charley Ma'am." He muttered. "No, there is something behind that look, what is it?" She demanded. He didn't get the chance to answer her.
They all looked up at the ceiling again as the sounds of explosions, blaster fire, and something heavy falling thru the platform shaft, making the Tower shake! "Oh, Mama!" Modo snarled! "Party going on upstairs, and we're missing it!" Vinnie snapped, before angrily punching his useless legs!
"We need to get to our bikes, now!" Modo said and started pushing himself back off the floor. "Throttle is up there alone against who knows what, and, we are messing around down here, this aint right!" Vinnie yelled while once again hitting his legs!
"Throttle is the best Vinnie; he can handle whatever Limburger can throw at him!" Charley said to him, hoping to calm the volatile White Martian down, as she knelt by him and put her hand on his shoulder.
"I just feel so useless, I hate this!" Vinnie groaned "I know exactly how you feel Lil' Bro." Modo sighed as he lifted Vinnie back up onto his shoulders. "You can't give up hope Vinnie, We have gotten thru spots tougher than this!" Charley added trying to raise his hopes.
Vinnie gave her a look of incredulity. "When?" He point-blank asked her. Now it was Charley's turn to have an uncertain expression cross her face. She stammered as she tried to give him an answer.
"Ha, I got ya there Charley-Girl!" Vinnie smiled down at her once more perched on Modo. "This has gotta be just about the worst situation we have ever been in, at least since the War on Mars!"
"And for that reason, I should be STOKED to be in this situation!" He said with a hyper look on his furry face! "Look at us, 2 of Mar's Greatest Warriors, half disabled by Our Greatest Enemies!" An almost fever-like excitement taking him over! "Only one Half Charged Blaster between the 3 of us, stuck in a Floating Orbital Fortress full of Killer Robots!" He had to take a breath, as his crazed smile grew even more! "This should be the most AWESOME Time in My Life!"
Modo's head wobbled a little. "Uh, Charley-Ma'am, if we pass a trash can or open elevator shaft, would you please point it out to me, Vinnie's rapid mood swings are making me dizzy enough I might have to up-chuck!" He then puffed up his cheeks and rose his paw and mocked holding something back.
"Tell you what, Modo, if we do find an open shaft, we should just toss Vinnie's Adrenaline-Fueled Delusional Ego down it." She said with a smirk. "It's big enough we should be able to jump down and land on it safely."
Vinnie rolled his eyes. "I repeat myself, Har-De-Har-Har!" Suddenly both Vinnie, and Modo's ears twitched, and they both looked down the dark hallway. Vinnie got the blaster ready, and Modo reached out and pulled Charley closer to him. "Heads back in the game Children, we got company!" He growled.
A loud rumbling noise hit her ears, and the hallway started to shake again, but this time in a steady rhythm! 4 of the large Tank-like Robots trundled into view! All the robots spotted them at the same time! *ENEMY SITED, ATTACK, ATTACK, DESTROY, DESTROY!* An Electronic Burst from all 4!
Vinnie opened fire at the bots! Lucky for them, these were the models that only had edged and melee weapon attachments, not energy or projectile ones! The energy blasts from the blaster hit the bots and exploded! The smoke cleared and the heavily armored monsters rolled on completely unaffected!
"Uh Oh!" Vinnie gulped! "Destroy, Destroy!" The still advancing Robots chanted, with weapons spinning! "Uh Oh, what Uh Oh?!" Modo asked, twisting his big head and ears around! "His gun can't stop the robots!" Charley yelled out over the chaos!
Vinnie stopped aiming center-mass and took aim at what He assumed to be weak points on the robots, such as their tank treads, and weapon, and limb joints, but the Big Bots were too well constructed, Vinnie's blast continued to have no effect on the approaching Menacing Mouse Mauling Machines!
"These Tin Cans aint going down!" Vinnie yelled down to Modo and Charley while continuing to blast away! Modo once again moved to shield Charley as best he could, he put out his right paw and felt along the concrete wall. He stopped and moved his paw up and down, then kicked at the floor. "Vinnie, Pancake #2!" He shouted out!
Vinnie didn't reply, just got a manic smile on his face, and raised his blaster up, and started blasting the ceiling above the Robots! The Concrete Ceiling! The ceiling shattered and enormous chunks rained down onto the bots, all but burying them! Vinnie then shot out the floor underneath them! The Robots and ceiling collapsed thru the ground to the floor below!
"One order of Robo-Flat-Jacks, my favorite!" Vinnie chuckled as enjoyed the sight of all the damage he had caused. "I like mine with syrup." Charley added as she waved her hand in front of her face, trying to clear the dust from the air.
Modo's ears twitched. "Hope you didn't fill up on those cause we got another order coming up behind us! Charley leaned out from around him and saw 2 more of the Tank Bots turning around the corner at the other end of the hallway. These 2 bots had Missile and Laser Cannons!
"Move it Modo!" Charley yelled out as she pushed the Grey Giant away from the wall just as the two bots opened fire at them! "WHOA!" Chorused both Modo, and Vinnie as they unexpectedly all but were thrown across the hallway both by Charley and the Explosions!
Vinnie once more fell into his hanging upside-down position and fired back at the other bots! Charley turned and looked at her back, to make sure she still had one after that fireball! "Whew!" She gasped as she realized she was all still there.
Vinnie used the same play as before and buried both bots under an avalanche of the ceiling! "Man, this is getting almost too easy!" He sighed, blowing on the blaster to cool it, in a true movie hero fashion.
"Careful what you wish for Blaster Master, cause those Clank-Heads are digging their way out and now we aint got nowhere to run!" Modo called out! The Piles of rubble shaking as the Bots underneath were digging out!
"Aww man!" Vinnie whined. He hated it when his baddies don't blow up like they outta! Charley looked at the now both blocked ends of the hallway. "What are we going to do now!" She asked, her worry plain on her face! "I dunno, but I am thinking, and am Very Open to Suggestions!" Modo gulped. He much preferred Throttle to do the thinking, cause Thinking Sure Aint His Strong Point!
Vinnie had pulled himself up to his sitting upright position on Modo's shoulders. He looked around the hallway, and then at the big hole in the opposite wall. A crazy smile popped up on his face!
"Charley-Doll, lead my Modo-Mule over to the hole quick!" He called down. "What did you call me!?" Modo growled, Charley bit back a giggle, and took the big paw in her small hand, and pulled both to the other wall, a wall with a massive hole in it now!
On the other side of the whole was the colossally deep tunnel that they rode the platform from the bottom of the Holding Tank to the top of Limburger's Tower! The wind whistled from the depths giving it an eerie feel looking down it. "I found you an empty shaft Modo!" Charley said.
"I don't think it's big enough for even Vinnie's ego to fit down." He chuckled. 'Not even close!" Vinnie added in. "But I found us a quick way down to our bikes!" Charley looked down the shaft, then stepped back, vertigo almost getting her. "I was kidding about jumping down Vinnie." She gulped.
The piles of rubble at both ends of the hallway shifted, the robots on the verge of breaking free to attack them again! "We may not have much choice!" Charley cried out! The piles of rubble exploded as the armed bots tried to blast their way out!
From his vantage atop Modo's shoulders, Vinnie looked down the shaft. A crazy expression grew on his face again. "You're right Sweetheart, and that is EXACTLY What we're gonna do!" He said and wrapped his tail around her and pulled her in front of Modo. "I would ask if you're Crazy, but I already know the Answer to that!" She yelled up at him. His crazy smile grew!
Vinnie was enjoying the confused expressions on his two friends' faces as they tried to figure out what crazy scheme he had dreamed up.
"Come on Big Guy, You Trust Me don't ya!?" Vinnie yelled down at the Giant he was sitting on. Silence for a few seconds. "MODO?!" He cried out. "I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" Modo uneasily grumbled.
"You said you wanted to Chuck Me down an Elevator Shaft!" Vinnie said temptingly. "YOU, Not US!" Joked Modo! More Explosions, and the sounds of concrete being shoved aside. "It's now or never!" Vinnie pointed out.
"Grrrr, Hang On Tight Charley!" Modo shouted and wrapped both his arm and tail around her! She in turn wrapped her arms around his big chest, then buried her face into his it. "I can't watch this!" Came her muffled reply!
Vinnie laughed like a Mad Mouse and made sure his blaster was ready for action! "Yah Mule Yah!" He yelled out! "Oh, you little…" Modo grumbled, then took a step back and jumped forward with all his might!
Right behind them the Electronic Voices of the Robots screamed out "DESTROY, DESTROY!" as they broke free from the rubble! Where they had been standing a mere second ago Exploded under the missile's and lasers hitting the floor!
"WHOA, MAMA!" Modo cried out! "EEEEK!" Screamed Charley! "YIPPEE KAY YAY YOU MOTHER FUUuuuuu….!" Bellowed Vinnie as his voice faded out as they plummeted into the depths of the Storage Bin!
To Be Continued…
