Hey there.

Thanks for the reviews, also a big thanks for those who have reviewed my short story "Can I Stay With You?"
A special thanks for Morning, if you're reading this; your sincere and kind words hit me straight in the heart, in a good way, of course.
Thank you for that.
It means the world.

Anyway, on with the story.
A chapter that is written from Vinnie's POV for a change. I figured it was time to shine a light on his thoughts and feelings in a way I can't achieve if I'm writing from Throttle's POV.
I hope you like it.

Enjoy, and feel free to leave a review when you're done.
Till next time, my loyal readers.

Ciao!

Chapter 20

Vinnie stared at the ceiling of their tent, the tip of his tail dancing under the blanket that was supposed to give him warmth and security but felt like a prison instead.
He couldn't sleep, no matter how hard he tried.
Despite the great fight with Dante and his people today, the restlessness was already back in full force, which was highly uncommon, even for him.
Usually, it took a few days to get back to this level of unrest, but not here.
Here.
Earth.
Being here did something to him, just as it did to his bro's.
They probably weren't aware of the fact that even he was able to see it, but little did they know.
It wasn't really that hard to miss, though.
Things were messy ever since they set foot on this planet.
If you asked him, that had largely to do with Charley.
Not that she was aware of it.
If only she knew what she was causing.
Perhaps it was better that she didn't.

Determined to get some sleep, the white-furred mouse closed his eyes again, but his heart still pounded in his chest.
And much to his annoyance, it didn't take long before his mind brought him back to that store, to that moment the missile made impact.
That moment that seemed quite meaningless but wasn't, at all.
Because at that very moment, Charley had succeeded to get inside his head.
Again, without her knowing.
But ever since that moment, she was all he could think of.
The burning desire that had been close to overwhelming was still there, dormant, waiting to be awoken.
He wasn't sure what it meant.
What he did know was that it drove him crazy.

His eyes flew open again and with a growl, the white-furred mouse rolled on his side.
His gaze landed on Throttle, who was lying with his back towards him.
His bro and leader.
His best friend.
His only family at this point.
Vinnie felt a pang of guilt staring at Throttle's back, deep down knowing perfectly well that he went too far today by provoking the tan-furred mouse until he snapped.
He knew it was wrong, and yet, he did it anyway.
It all had something to do with that burning desire, that was pulling his strings like a puppet master.
And to be honest, his competitive side didn't help either.
It wasn't a lie when he told Modo that this was far from over.
He wasn't going to back down, not as long as that nagging craving was ruling his body.
He couldn't just ignore it.
Besides, he stuck to his point.
Throttle was not as innocent as he claimed to be, for he hadn't told Charley about his -in Vinnie's eyes- weird and incomprehensible relationship with Carbine.
And she had every right to know, especially if Throttle was planning on making a move on her and Vinnie knew for sure that he was.
His anger today had proven that.
The guy was obviously head over heels, completely lost.

But was that really why he told Charley that Carbine was Throttle's girlfriend?
No.
That was simply to decrease Throttle's chances with her.
So vicious, even for him.
He knew it was.
And yet, he did it anyway.
Hardly surprising, given this was about to become the story of his life.
It already was, actually.
Think before you speak.
His mom, may she rest in peace, had tried really, really hard to get that phrase into his head, but it somehow just didn't stick.
Most of the time, when he realized he was saying something that might hurt someone's feelings, it was already too late.
Of course, when that happened, he could always apologize to that certain person, but he never did.
Because telling someone you're sorry meant you had to be vulnerable.
And he didn't do vulnerable.

But that didn't mean he didn't feel it.
Guilt.
At first, he didn't.
Even though it wasn't really something to be proud of, he truly loved to provoke people.
He just loved to see that he was pushing the right buttons, to crawl under someone's skin.
It gave him a strange feeling of power.
But soon after he and Modo came back from their ride to clear the head he'd realized that this time, he'd crossed a line.
Provoking people was one thing, but pushing someone you cared for, someone who was like the only family you had left straight over the edge, that was just downright low.
He knew Throttle was having a really hard time after what happened that last day on Mars, not really surprising given the fact that the guy always felt so responsible that Vinnie sometimes wondered how in the world he was able to live his life -and enjoy it too from time to time- without collapsing under the heavy weight that this responsibility brought with it.
He also knew that Charley had rocked the tan-furred leader's foundation, but instead of taking account of his feelings, there he was, playing a competition in the foulest way he could come up with.

So yeah, he did feel guilty.
That had gotten even worse when Throttle stormed inside their tent after his talk with Carbine which, given the look on his face, hadn't been pleasant.
As expected, of course.
Not that the tan-furred mouse had told them anything about it, no...
He'd only barked at them -a la Carbine style- that Stoker and Carbine were in California, that they were in trouble and that is was up to them to ride out first thing in the morning for the rescue mission.
And then he just went to bed.
Well, he went to bed after ordering Modo to tell Charley she needed to be ready at dawn.
And, as befits a soldier, the grey-furred giant did.
But Vinnie wondered why their beloved leader hadn't told her himself after his talk with Carbine.
Something must have happened.
But what?

Of course, Vinnie had been very relieved to hear that Stoker was still alive as well, but reading between the lines, the brown-furred leader of the resistance was in a bad shape.
But it all seemed to come together now, with their friends being in stuck in California, the very same place they had been planning to go anyway to take out the big fish.
And, obviously, Vinnie had no trouble to come to the rescue, beating up some bad guys in the process and be the hero.
Those were the moments he lived for, after all.
Even if the damsel in distress who needed to be saved was none other than Carbine.

Still, this short moment of contact with his leader had left a bad taste in the white-furred mouse his mouth.
Throttle hadn't said a word to him about their fight.
He hadn't even looked at him.
He was upset about something, as in really upset and Vinnie couldn't help himself but feeling a bit worried about his friend.
To be honest, he'd never seen his leader being this...out of control.
Being so desperate about whatever it was that was eating his tail.
Apparently, even the always calm and fearless leader had his limits.
It must have something to do with Charley and Carbine and therefore, Vinnie felt even more guilty for giving his friend such a hard time by provoking him the way he had done.
But even though he felt guilty about it, he still didn't regret it.
He was right, after all.
Like he always was.
Well, most of the time.
Meh.
Always.

Modo didn't agree, though.
His older bro had told him during their ride that he needed to stop being such a hypocrite.
It had made him even angrier in the first place, especially when the grey-furred giant had explained why he was saying these harsh words.
"You're accusing Throttle of not telling Charley about Carbine, but you didn't tell her about Harley either. So stop using this as an excuse to cover up your real intentions, whatever they may be."
Hearing Modo's words echoing through his head now only made him feel a bit nauseous and he knew deep down that his big bro might be right about the 'using it as an excuse' part.
Still, in his humble opinion, this was far from the same.
How could it be?
Carbine was very much alive, after all.
Harley, however…
Harley was as dead as someone could be.
Stone-dead.
And as far as he knew, dead people weren't a threat.
Alive ex-girlfriends were.

Gosh, Harley…
Only hearing her name coming out of Modo's mouth today made him feel miserable in a way that didn't really fit with him.
But the painful truth was that her death kept following him everywhere he went.
Seeing someone you don't know die right in front of you was horrific.
But seeing someone you love taking their final breath...
There were simply no words that could describe what that did to a person.
How could she leave him on his own?

Vinnie squeezed his eyes shut and gave himself a firm mental shake.
No.
Not this again.
She was dead and that's that.
There was no need to dwell on the past.
To revel in sadness and pain.
Look what that did to Carbine.
It had turned her into a monster.
He didn't want to be a monster.
He was way too pretty to be a monster, besides, it didn't match with his optimistic character.
It was hard, though.
Being optimistic in times of war.
After losing so much.
But he forced himself to be.
To stop himself from going crazy.

Speaking of which, why was he still lying here, listening to these thoughts that were far from uplifting?
Good question.
With only one answer.
Vinnie got upright and threw the blanket off of him as he rubbed his burning eyes.
His two-colored eyes.
He still was completely clueless about what to think of it, how to feel about it.
But he didn't want to add that to the things that were already keeping him awake.
And even though his body gave enough signs that it needed sleep after this very busy day, his mind was far from done with brooding, that he knew.

So, after quickly putting on his usual attire, he tiptoed outside, for once as quiet as a mouse.
Not really his style, but the last thing he wanted was to wake his bro's.
They would ask him what was wrong and he just didn't want to talk about it.
He never did.
He just wanted to work on his bike to distract his wide-awake brain from trying to depress him before he might give in, for this fight -that went on twenty-four-seven- was more than exhausting.
Sometimes, he caught himself wondering what would happen if he gave in, which was ridiculous because he already knew the answer.
So, no...
He would never give in.
He would keep fighting it till his final breath.
He simply refused to go down that path, the path he knew without walking it himself.
His mom had given him the answer to the question of what happened to those who did.
It had driven her crazy and eventually, it had killed her.
No way he was going to follow her in her footsteps.
Never.

…

Once inside the garage, Vinnie sat down on his bike, strangely enough exhausted and a bit out of breath after the short walk. His head still hurt after his uncool fall today and Throttle's flawless right hook didn't exactly help either.
The silence pressed against his eardrums, making the thoughts in his head even louder.
Silence.
He hated silence.
It gave too much room to the voices in his head.
Those voices, that were there every minute, every hour, always.
Whispering.
Letting his breath whooshing out, he turned on the radio from his bike, expecting to hear only static.
Instead, heavy metal immediately blared out of the speakers with the volume still on level 'tail whipping' and it almost blew him off his bike.
"Holy shit, talk about another extreme", he breathed as he quickly muted the radio, hoping it hadn't woken up the whole camp.
Usually, he wouldn't care that much, but he had the unexplainable need to be alone right now.

After turning the volume down, he put the music back on, which was now loud enough to chase away the voices in his head but soft enough to at least keep the windows from shattering.
A thing Charley probably wouldn't appreciate and he was so not in the mood to be at the receiving end of a woman's wrath.
When will he ever be?
As he listened to the music, two things happened at the same time.
One; a calm slowly came over him and even though it wasn't enough to stop him from feeling the always present restlessness, it was at least enough to shut up his over productive brain.
Two; he knew the music, which was weird, since he was on Earth, a planet he'd only known by name before all this.
And since he hadn't changed the frequency since they got here, it could only mean one thing.
The signal he had picked up on Mars turned out to be an Earthly radio station.
Ha.
It's a small world after all.

He closed his eyes and with the characteristic sound of guitars caressing his eardrums, he allowed himself to let down his guard, even if it was only for a few seconds.
But it felt good.
To lower his walls.
To just… being there.
Without constantly being on high alert, worrying if there perhaps might be someone who would try to force him to show his 'true self', to talk about his feelings, to tell him he needed to let the pain in instead of pushing it away, to take off his mask…
Blablabla.
As if.
He only let his guard down when he was alone.
To breathe.
Sometimes, a mouse just needed to breathe.
And so he did.
As a result, his body slowly started to relax, limb by limb, muscle by muscle…
"Couldn't sleep?"

His heart almost gave out by the sudden sound of Charley's voice and Vinnie's eyes flew open as he almost fell off his bike.
Luckily, his tail reflexively wrapped around the footrest on the right side of his bike to save him from that embarrassment.
"Holy moly, you scared the shit out of me", he breathed without thinking as he looked straight into a pair of tired green eyes, his heart still racing in his chest.
"I did, huh? What happened to 'I'm not scared of anything'?", Charley smiled as she walked inside, closing the door behind her.
Vinnie felt his cheeks turn red, now remembering again why he never let his guard down.
It made him so uncool.
"I am not scared of anything. You just caught me by surprise with your stunning appearance, that's all", he quickly tried to save his imago as he build back his walls with the speed of light, but as Charley had shown him before, she wasn't that easily impressed.
"Right. Except for spiders, you mean."
Vinnie raised his eyes to heaven as he draped himself over the windshield of his bike, sighing excessively loud.
"Ugh. Am I ever gonna hear the end of this?"
"Nope."
"Fuck my life", the white-furred mouse muttered under his breath, knowing that she was right.
That small moment of thoughtlessness was going to follow him for the rest of his life.
Great.
Just great.
Charley only chuckled as she opened one of the drawers under the counter and Vinnie now suddenly realized she was really here.
Here, in the garage, with him.
Without anyone else.
Alone.
With her.
Oh boy.

Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, he quickly jumped off his bike and grabbed a wrench without even looking at which size it was.
He didn't care either, as long as he had something to do instead of just sitting there.
But, when he kneeled next to his bike, he noticed that in his hurry to be the cool and in control guy he'd taken the one wrench that didn't fit on any screw or bolt on his beloved red racer and he closed his eyes for a moment as he grinded his teeth, cursing himself for being this careless.
Of course, he could just stand up again to get one that was the right size, but that would make him look stupid.
As if he had no idea what he was doing, which was ridiculous considering he was the so-called mechanic of their small group.
The fear of loss of face was one of the many reasons he never let his guard down.
Loss of face…
Oh, the irony.
Anyway, it was time to be creative.

Peeking over his bike, he saw that Charley was still occupied with searching whatever it was that she needed and he quickly snatched another wrench of the counter with his tail.
"So... You couldn't sleep either?", he asked so-called nonchalant, glancing at the tool that was now in his hand and a huge relief washed over him when he saw this was something he could work with.
"Obviously", Charley answered absent-mindedly.
"Why not? Something on your mind? Like me, for instance?"
She now looked into his direction and Vinnie shot her one of his most charming and innocent smiles.
"No worries, sweetheart. You're not the first girl I give a sleepless night."
He suddenly realized that comment conveyed a dual message, but of course, the words had already left his mouth.
But he stopped himself from trying to make it at least sound a bit decent.
After all, he was only telling the truth and since when was that wrong?

"I can imagine that the headache you gave them was enough to keep them wide awake", Charley responded as she broke eye contact to continue her search.
"What I gave them helps for headaches, doll", Vinnie pointed out as he too continued his work with a little smile on his face.
Because even though she pretended his comment didn't do anything to her, her now increasing heartbeat told him otherwise.
So, his charms didn't leave her unmoved.
Quite the opposite actually.
That was good.
And as expected, of course.
There weren't many women who didn't succumb to his charms.
Why would a human be different?
Okay, okay, it took a little while before she did, but it appeared that he wasn't the only one affected by that short but intense moment in the store.
Hush.
Now was not the time to think about that.
Who knew what he would do if he let his mind go back to that moment?

When it remained silent, the white-furred mouse glanced at the human woman out of the corner of his eye, but only to find her leaning against the counter with folded arms while her green eyes gave him this intense look that could only mean trouble.
The words that followed confirmed that theory.
"Are you okay?"
A bit taken back by this question, Vinnie blinked a few times, his brain already making overtime to find out how it was possible that the conversation went from flirty to serious in like, ten seconds.
But he was completely clueless.
As mentioned before, women were the most complicated creatures ever made and most of the time, he had no idea what was going on inside their sophisticated head.
So, he decided to answer the question with a question to unravel this mysterious thing called a woman's mind.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because between all the bravado and smart-talk, you seem awfully sad."
Oh.
This was bad.
As in, code red bad.
Apparently, she was gifted with eyes that were able to see right through him, a bit like Throttle, maybe.
Abort.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm fine", Vinnie told her, but even he couldn't ignore the fact that it sounded anything but convincing.
Even worse, he suddenly got overwhelmed with the urge to just open his mouth and tell her everything that had happened in his short and miserable life, to tell her about all the bad shit that had made him who he was nowadays, that defined him.
It was a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time and it shook him to the core.
Apparently, she wasn't only able to see right through him.
Apparently, there was something about her that made him want to open up.
To lower his walls in her presence, a thing he hadn't done in years now.
Dammit.

She was still looking at him, he could feel her gaze almost burn a hole in his skull and he quickly leaned over his bike to supposedly focus his attention on screwing a bolt that was in reality still as tight as it could be, but right now, he was willing to do anything to stop this madness before it even began.
Unfortunately, because of this position, the necklace that was like a millstone around his neck fell out of his hoodie.
And since luck wasn't on his side right now, Charley's keen eye didn't miss it.
"What's that?"
Vinnie closed his eyes for a short moment, but he then got back upright as his right hand enclosed the medallion to put it back where it belonged.
And to his utter shock, he noticed that his hand was shaking.
Shaking.
He was starting to understand why Throttle was thrown off his game by this woman.
She was nothing like the others.
She cared.
A dangerous thing in times like these.
But at the same time, it was the exact thing that made her special.

With the necklace now thoroughly hidden again, Vinnie looked at her as he bit his lower lip, contemplating his next move.
His two-colored eyes took in the compassion in her green eyes, her cute little nose, her beautiful soft-looking lips…
"It belongs to someone I deeply care for."
The words were already out before he even realized it and he wasn't sure why that still surprised him.
But one thing he did know for sure now.
This woman was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
She was able to make him talk about things he didn't want to talk about by only looking at him.
And instead of feeling the expected urge to run away as far as he could, the insatiable craving for her became even worse.
He felt attracted to her like a Martian Motty Moth to the light and his left ear twitched when the burning desire washed over him again.
"She died, though. I took it from her body. It's all I have left of her. To remind me that she really existed. That I didn't make her up."
For crying out loud, stop talking.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It's cruel, to lose someone you love", Charley said softly as she now stared at her feet.
"He doesn't deserve you grieving for him", Vinnie blurted out when he saw her pain.
Not really subtle, but no one ever said he was.
Charley's face darkened and Vinnie braced himself, but much to his surprise, she nodded before running a hand through her auburn-colored hair while heaving a sigh.
"I know. And yet, I do. And I hate myself for it."
Oh.
This had now gotten from just complicated to extremely complicated and the white-furred mouse put his hands in his pockets, shuffling his feet in unease.
As usual, his big mouth had brought him into trouble and he had no idea how to talk himself out of this one.
Luckily for him, he didn't have to, because the radio on Charley's belt suddenly came to life.
"Sam for Charley, over."
Also looking a bit relieved, the human female took the black device and brought it to her mouth.
"Charley to Sam, go ahead, over."
But the expected response didn't come and Charley narrowed her eyes in confusion.
"Charley to Sam, go ahead, over", she repeated a bit louder, but static remained the only reply.

The human female looked at Vinnie with a frown on her face.
"That's weird…"
"Who is Sam?", the young mouse asked as he tilted his head, now on high alert too.
Something obviously wasn't right here.
"One of the guards that's stationed at the gate."
"How many guards are there?"
"At night? Two."
Vinnie stared at her, for a moment too stunned by this answer.
"What?", Charley asked when she saw his look.
Her ignorance was cute, as well as astonishing and the white-furred mouse stopped himself from rolling his eyes just in time.
"Look, sweetheart, I don't wanna sound insensitive, but you don't honestly think that two guards are enough to cover the whole area, right?"
She looked back at him with fuming eyes, clearly, she felt insulted by these words.
"Don't take me as a fool. They're able to see everything that happens within a five-mile radius from the watchtower and if there's only so much as a small sign that indicates trouble, they wake up the camp. Max has thought it all through, this way I'm able to protect as many of my people as I can and it works."
"Until now."
"Until now", Charley confirmed with a mopey face and focussed her attention back on the radio.
"Sam, are you there?"
Another silence.
"Why isn't he answering?", she mumbled before pushing the small button again.
"Sam, come in."

Suddenly, there was an instant response.
It just wasn't the one they expected.
"Sam is a bit occupied, I'm afraid. Being held at gunpoint is an all-consuming task, after all."
Charley's face paled and her green eyes flashed to Vinnie and back to the radio.
"Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. So, why don't you just call me… John?"
"Fine, John. What do you want?"
"I'm here to collect a bounty, one that you know about, I imagine. So, here's what we're gonna do. You are going to hand over the three alien mice all nice and quietly and good old Sam here will be fine."
Charley tightened her grip around the radio, almost breathing fire and Vinnie made a mental note to himself that this was no woman one wanted to piss off.
"And what if I refuse?"
"My people have your camp surrounded. I think you can guess what happens if you don't do as I say and looking around me, at what you've established here, I've come to the conclusion that the safety of your people is very important to you. So don't try to do anything stupid. Just bring me the mice and no one gets hurt. You have my word."
Seeing her taking a deep breath, preparing herself to explode, Vinnie quickly laid a hand on the radio and gently but firmly pushed it down.
"Easy now, little miss Hothead. Yelling at him won't work. Just tell him that you'll cooperate."
The human female now pointed her fuming eyes at him and the young mouse couldn't stop himself from being impressed by seeing her fire.
It was kind of a turn on, actually.
So misplaced.

"Are you crazy? I'm not just gonna hand you over to some bozo's who are driven by greed, that's…"
"Exactly what you're gonna do, sweetheart", Vinnie finished that sentence before she could do it herself as he mounted his bike, a lot less worried than Charley.
To be honest, he was kind of happy with this distraction, which seemed callous because Charley's people were in danger, including the lady herself.
But this was something he knew how to handle, instead of talking about feelings and stuff. He was back on known ground and there were no words that could describe his relief.
"Don't worry, we can take care of ourselves. It's cute, though. That you care", he added with a wink and a crooked smile before he put on his helmet.
"I care about everyone's safety, that's my job, remember?", Charley snapped back with red cheeks.
"Whatever helps ya sleep at night. Now, tell our new friend John that you'll do as he says and go wake up my bro's. I'll distract them to buy us some more time."
"I'll go with you. I'll show them what happens when you mess with this camp…", but Vinnie already shook his head.
"Ah ah, no dice. This is muno mucho macho stuff, so chill. I've got this. Besides, if you really wanna help, go wake up my bro's. They will skin me alive if I go party without them and bloody just ain't my style."
When he saw that she, again, opened her mouth, he simply started his bike and the roaring engine overruled her protest.
"Sorry, can't hear ya", he yelled over the noise, pointing at his with a helmet covered ears with a so-called apologetic look on his face, but his lips curled into an amused smile when he saw her cute little ears turn red in anger.
She really was a feisty one.
Great, ain't it?
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some asses to kick, some people to safe, ya know, the usual. Just another day at the Hero Office. Later!"
And after popping a wheelie, he blew her hand kiss and sped out of the garage, leaving a very grumpy Charley behind.

As he made his way to the gate, his blood pressure already started to rise and it was so tempting to just jump over the fence and open fire at anyone who happened to be in his way.
But even Vinnie knew he couldn't.
Not with this many innocent lives at stake.
Bigger picture.
Perhaps he was finally starting to learn.
Ugh.
When he was close to the watchtower, he pushed a few buttons on his bike.
Not only to make the weapons come out, but also to silence her roaring engine to make sure he could approach without someone noticing.
He still had the element of surprise and for now, he intended to keep it that way.
Even though nobody who knew him would agree, he did have brains and he sure as hell knew how to use them.
Most of the time, he was just too lazy to do it.
Besides, thinking things through was boring.
And he didn't do boring.
Most of the time, that is.
This was one of those rare exceptions.
For now.
Just until he knew what he was dealing with here.

His bike came to a halt next to the watchtower and the young mouse dismounted.
"Stay here, sweetheart, but be ready to rumble."
The cherry-red racer gave a soft beep in return and Vinnie looked up.
The tower was indeed high enough to look over the fence from all four sides. After cracking his knuckles, the young mouse started his climb up.
And while he was using his hands, feet and tail to get higher, his sensitive hearing caught the sound of voices, the one louder than the other.
The loudest one wasn't that hard to recognize after hearing it over the radio.
That had to be John.
"She better don't fuck with us, pal. If she does, you can say bye-bye to that tiny little brain inside your head."
"You heard her yourself, she's gonna cooperate. She won't put her people's lives at risk for three aliens. But she ain't no miracle worker, ya know. Just give her a few minutes to take care of it", another voice answered from which Vinnie assumed it was Sam.
For a guy who was held at gunpoint, he sounded pretty calm and to Vinnie's joy, he played the game perfectly well.
Cool.
That would make his arrival even more unexpected and therefore, more fun too.
"She better do as I say."
"She will."

Vinnie stopped climbing when he was right under the open window in the back of the watchtower and used the night-vision mode in his helmet to take in the surrounding.
He counted about fifteen men, five at the gate and five at each side of the camp and by the looks of things, they were all armed to the teeth.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to see what was happening behind the fence at the back of the camp from this position, but it was probably safe to guess it were five as well.
Knowing that there were two guards in the tower, he could assume John was there with at least one buddy to hold the other guard.
How they got up there without Sam and the other guard noticing was kind of a mystery to him, but he knew when it came to money, people suddenly got creative.
Come to think of it, who needed money when the world you once knew was gone?
On the other hand, money never lost its value, no matter how broken the world was.
That he had learned on Mars.

Anyway, as far as he could tell, Dante's guys were nowhere to be seen, but if he had to believe Throttle, the man would keep his word.
So, that meant they were probably on their way.
All these findings added together made him come to the conclusion that for now, he was clearly and by far outnumbered.
Any other person would be worried about that fact, but not him.
Of course, he could wait until the cavalry in the form of his bro's and Dante's men arrived.
It would be the sanest thing to do.
But where was the fun in that?

After securing himself with his tail, Vinnie leaned against the stainless steel base of the watchtower to do a quick check on the weapons he always carried with him, no matter where he went.
Two leg holsters, each carrying one of the best ray guns ever made.
Three grenades attached to his belt.
A handful of explosive flairs in his lower pocket.
An ankle holster with his small handgun.
And last but not least, his knives, thoroughly hidden in his sleeves in case he got caught.
It should be enough, certainly if he counted his bike in.
His bike that was like a bomb on wheels, as Carbine so friendly pointed out right before their last fight on Mars.
He still didn't understand her problem.
In his humble opinion, this fact made the fight even more exciting.
Well… duh.

While he was checking the surroundings one last time, a plan started to form in his head.
It was without a doubt a dangerous and probably suicidal plan, but he wouldn't trade for less.
And it was quite simple, actually.
Just lure them out and bring the fight to someplace less risky.
"And how do you lure them out, punk?", the young mouse imitated Stoker's heavy voice, soft enough for no one to hear him.
"Well, that's easy. Provoke them until all they wanna do is hunt down your tail and kill you", he answered with his own voice before switching back to Stoker's.
"Very good. You're the best pupil I ever had. In fact, you're even better than me!"
"Oh, Stoker, stop it yous… What can I say? It's a gift, being me", Vinnie chuckled softly, highly amused by this uplifting conversation with himself as he continued to climb.
An almost devilish grin appeared on his face by the prospect of executing his awesome and hazardous plan.
Fuck sanity.
Let's do this, van Wham style.
Oorah.
They won't know what hit them.