Hey you guys...

Thanks again for the reviews!
As for the silent ones out there; thanks for reading my story.

Not much to tell, so let's get to it.
Feel free to leave a review and till next time!

Later dudes!

Chapter 22

'A mouse is never too old to try something new.'

...

A few minutes earlier…
After making a few -in his opinion smooth- backflips, Vinnie landed on one of the platforms behind the perimeter.
Without slowing down, he climbed on the fence, using the sharp points to hold himself with both hands and tail and when he looked down at the gate, a big grin appeared on his face.
Humans really were predictable.
And his plan was working better than he could've imagined.
After being humiliated the way he was, John was now hell-bent on revenge, but he seemed to realize that he needed some back up to do so.
So, he'd ordered his crew to regroup at the gate, knowing now that taking hostages wasn't the way to approach this mission.
Which was good.
Because now all the white-furred mouse had to do was lure them away from the camp, take them down in a less high-risk environment and voilà, he'd saved about a hundred lives, all by himself.
Was he good, or what?
The best.

For a moment, he just observed John, who was talking with his crew with a face like thunder as he made wild gestures with his arms.
He was clearly not amused, which in turn amused Vinnie, proud that he -and he alone- was responsible for the human's bad mood.
What amused him even more was that John and his crew turned out to be bikers too.
A detail that made this whole thing even more fun, because there was nothing better than a wild-goose chase on bikes.
Oh, man.
What a night.
It was already the best he had in years, and that was saying something.
But some things were even better than sex.
Crazy, but true.
Anyway, it was time to get this show on the road and Vinnie leaned forward as he whistled between his teeth.
"Looking for me, boys?"

John swirled around and, again, he almost lost his balance.
Man, talk about a deja vu.
Hehe.
This guy, honestly.
Obviously, no one ever convinced him to take a few ballet lessons, which was clearly a lost opportunity.
A classic case of bad parenting.
The rest looked up too and -as if on cue- all aimed their gun at Vinnie, who just waved back at them, still with that grin chiseled on his face.
John did a few steps forward with some sort of ecstatic look on his face, probably thinking that he was back in control again.
That theory got confirmed as soon as the not so big boss opened his mouth again.
"Who's in control now, huh, mouse? Now, as the reasonable man I am, I'll give you one chance to come down and surrender yourself. But really, one chance is all you get. I should take it, if I were you…", the human male advised as he gestured around him, probably referring to the people who all held Vinnie at gunpoint.
Oh, John…
Such a slow learner.
The young mouse wrinkled his nose by hearing the word 'surrender.'
Such a dirty word.
Ugh.
"Never. I rather die than to be sold to the fish by some knucklehead like you."

The fact that Vinnie still didn't treat him with the respect he probably thought he deserved, not even now he had a whole team holding a gun in his face made John almost explode out of his skin.
"You're crazy, that's what you are! Look around you, goddammit! You don't stand a chance! I've got about twenty-five men who all have itching hands to plant a bullet in your head, so…"
Blablablabla.
Vinnie shook his head in disbelief as he listened to the human's blabbering.
Again.
Honestly, was this guy even for real?
Did he not learn anything from what happened in that tower?
Did he not know that he needed to put his words into deeds?
Apparently not.
He really was a slow learner, alright.
Vinnie heaved a sigh as he grabbed his gun, aimed it at one of the guys in the front and pulled the trigger.
"Twenty-four, you mean."
Blood splattered all over John and the human stamped with his right foot on the ground in pure fury as he let out a scream in frustration.
"STOP KILLING MY PEOPLE!"
It was kind of cute though.
Like a kid who didn't get his way.
"Make me", Vinnie challenged him with a cheeky smile.
"And STOP with acting like you're in control! You're clearly outnumbered…"
He really didn't get it, now did he?
*BANG*
"Twenty-three…"

For a moment, John stared at him with bulging eyes, breathing heavily.
But then finally... finally, he snapped.
Damn, took him long enough.
"Get him! GET HIM!", he roared in anger and everyone including him opened fire at the white-furred mouse, who jumped down as he whistled for his bike.
The cherry-red racer flew over the fence with roaring engine and while still in the air, Vinnie landed on her seat and quickly put on his helmet in the process.
After what he liked to call a flawless landing, he hit the brakes and popped a wheelie as he looked over his shoulder with a challenging smirk on his face.
"Come on, John… Catch me if you can!"
As soon as the front tire made contact with the ground again, he hit the accelerator, soon followed by the whole crew including John and Vinnie howled in excitement, happy that the guy finally took action instead of boring him with his empty threats.
Oh man, nothing could spoil this night!
"Vinnie, come in."
Okay, except for that.

"Heeeeeey fearless leader! Finally awake to join the party?", he already blurted out before he could stop himself, but hey, what's new?
Well, he could've just ignored it.
A mouse is never too old to try something new.
Maybe, but he knew Throttle.
And he knew that when the tan-furred mouse was pissed, ignoring him would only make it worse.
As far as that goes.
It was crazy, but as much as Vinnie liked to rebel, he truly hated it when Throttle was angry with him.
As in; really angry.
He was more than aware of how highly contradictory that was, but that's just the way things were.
No one ever said that he wasn't complicated, because he was.
Either way, he always got a bit nervous when he was on Throttle's bad side.
And when he was nervous, he became even more hyper than he already was.
And when he was hyper, his brain just shut down.
And when his brain shut down, he said stupid things.
Okay, okay, even more stupid things than usual.
Ugh.
Everyone's a critic.

But, of course, Throttle knew him too.
Sometimes a bit too well, for his taste.
So, his response didn't really come as a surprise.
"Yes, so I want you to stand down until we're there, you hear me?"
No.
"Loud and clear."
It wasn't even a lie.
After all, there was nothing wrong with the reception.
Unfortunately.
But again, Throttle saw straight through him.
"I wasn't being literal, Vincent."
He wasn't?
Hm...
What to do, what to do?

The white-furred mouse looked into his mouse-shaped side mirror to see that John's crew was still hunting down his tail, just like he wanted and he suddenly felt a pang of anger.
He'd saved the people from Camp Hope and Throttle was still giving him a hard time.
Why though?
Why couldn't he just be proud, just for this one time?
This wasn't fair.
It never was, dammit.
So fuck this.
He was going to finish this on his own terms, and his terms alone.
To show Throttle what he was capable of on his own.
All he needed was time, so he did the first thing that popped up in his head to wriggle himself out of his plight.
"Sorr… can't... ear ya, I'm… iving into... tunnel, gottagobye!", and he quickly turned off his radio.
So mature.
Thanks.
And there wasn't even a tunnel.
So?
Who cared about the details?

Anyway, with that taken care of, Vinnie had bought himself the extra time he needed.
Time he intended to put to good use, and so after creating a bit more distance between him and the group, he hit the brakes and made a 180 with squealing tires.
After pushing some buttons, weapons popped out of his bike and he locked eyes with John, who was in the front line of the group, as befits a leader.
"Go ahead… Make my day…", Vinnie challenged the human with a low voice as he narrowed his eyes.
Gosh, what a great line.
It made him feel even more badass than usual, a thing he never thought possible.
But it just did and his finger slowly made its way to the button on his right handlebar as he aimed at John's front tire.

But just when he was about to take the shot, the sound of a heavy machine gun firing coming from behind him made him almost jump out of his fur.
"What the…", and the white-furred mouse looked over his shoulder, only to see two of Dante's trucks standing lined up behind him.
The sound he heard came from the semi-automatic machine gun on top, each manned by one guy, letting down a hail of fire on John's crew.
Right.
The cavalry.
With the worst timing ever.
"No, no, no, NO! This is MY party!", Vinnie yelled in an attempt to stop them as he looked back at the small group of humans who now started to drop like flies, being no match for heavy artillery such as this one.
Therefore, it wasn't really a surprise that as soon as the last word had left his mouth, silence already descended on the battlefield and the young mouse stared at the dead bodies that now lay scattered throughout the asphalt.

Perhaps it was a bit hypocrite to say that the humans didn't deserve this.
To be slaughtered like helpless sheep, not able to fight back.
Deep down, Vinnie knew that they would've died anyway.
A Freedom Fighter didn't take prisoners.
Not after being betrayed for so many times.
Do or die.
Kill or be killed.
War didn't exactly leave one a choice.
Still, this felt wrong.
His gaze landed on John, who lay on his back as blood poured out of the dozens of bullet holes in his skinny body, being deader than dead.
His now empty brown eyes stared up at the clear but dark sky and Vinnie clenched his fists in anger.
This didn't just feel wrong.
It was bigger than that.
They had stolen his fight.
And now here he was, his whole body as tight as a drum because of the adrenaline that was still rushing through his veins.
Adrenaline he now had no idea what to do with, because they had stolen his fight.
The nerve of these guys...
This was like stealing away his food.
No one ever got away with stealing his food.

With squealing tires and burning rubber, he turned his bike to face the unwanted cavalry with fuming eyes and a bristled fur.
"What the hell was that for, huh?! I got here first and it was my turn to blast hem!"
"Yeah, well, you snooze, you lose", one of the men responded and Vinnie gritted his teeth.
For a moment, the angry white-furred mouse and the stoic humans got caught up in an intense stare-down, but then the trucks started their engine and made a sharp turn to drive back to where they came from.
One of the drivers opened his window and gave Vinnie another dirty look.
"You're welcome, punk."
"And I do all the snappy lines around here, too!", the young mouse called after them, but the trucks were already gone as fast as they came.
The silence that now pressed on his eardrums made him almost explode out of his fur and without thinking, he rammed his fist on the dashboard of his bike in frustration.
About five missiles and ten laser beams came out of the front as a result and exploded right in front of him.
The shockwave almost blew him off his bike, but he managed to remain on the seat and he let out a sheepish chuckle.
Oops.

It was kind of a wakeup call though.
After all, Dante only did what he'd promised and blowing his men to the seventh galaxy wasn't really a good way to thank him, that he knew.
They needed to stay on his good side to protect the camp.
Charley's camp.
And even though it cost him all his self-control -which he actually barely possessed-, only thinking about her stopped him from going after the trucks.
Because truth be told, all he wanted right now was to make them pay for screwing up his masterplan.
But he couldn't.
He owed Charley that much.
Ah well.
At least the camp was safe again.
Whoopdidoo...

Softly cursing under his breath, he turned his bike to drive back to the camp when suddenly a soft plop in the distance followed by a zooming sound caught his attention and he frowned in confusion, for he didn't recognize both sounds.
But there was no time to figure it out because all of a sudden, he got hit by something heavy, so heavy that it knocked him off his bike.
When he landed on the ground on his back, there was a weight pressing on his muscular chest and he reflexively lifted his hands to push it off of him.
But his fingers got caught in a tangle of some kind of iron material and he soon realized what was happening.
A net.
Someone had caught him with a net.
Like he was some kind of wild animal.
How disgraceful.
Not to mention bad.

He stopped moving for a moment and perked his ears, but silence was all he heard.
Hm.
Something was telling him that it wasn't his physical attraction that had brought him in this, if he may say so, awkward situation, but that damned bounty.
So perhaps it was for the best if he wasn't lying helplessly on the ground when whoever had caught him would arrive.
Ya don't say.
Cursing his always overactive brain, Vinnie tried to lift the net.
But it didn't move, not even when he used all his strength, which was a lot.
Why it didn't move was a riddle to him, but now wasn't the time to rack his already overstimulated brain over this stupid but still important detail.
Although he was far from religious, he thanked the Mothers of Mars for his tail, which now snaked to his right pocket to grab a flair.

Convinced that he was about to break free, a smile curled his lips when he lit the flair by scraping it over the asphalt.
This mouse would never be someone's prisoner.
Nevermore.
Not ever since that awful day in that horrible lab.
He rather died.
Not today though.
And still smiling, he held the flair against the net, but to his utter shock, nothing happened.
"What the…"
After trying it again, his smile vanished like smoke in the wind and an ominous feeling washed over him.
So far for not being a prisoner.
As far as he could tell, the only reason why this didn't work was that the net was made of Plutarkian Steel.
Or maybe Earth had the same indestructible materials, but that he highly doubted.

Well, whatever the reason, it was time for plan B and the young mouse whistled between his teeth.
"Yo, bike! A little help here!"
Silence was all that came in response.
"Sweetheart?"
Still nothing and for the first time since forever, he felt worried.
Because even though he loved to stare death itself in the face, to taunt it, he didn't actually want to die.
Well, not like this.
Like some helpless Martian Sheepy Sheep.
This was not how heroes came to their end.
They died in a blaze of glory, no exception.

Still, the fact that his bike didn't respond worried him more than his possible upcoming death.
His bike, that was like his other half.
Without her, he wasn't complete.
And she usually was always there for him.
So why not now?
"I swear, if you've wrecked my bike, I'll hunt you down and kill you with my bare hands, even if it's the last thing I do!"
It was a nice threat.
If he wasn't pinned down to the ground, that is.
Gosh.
He really was in trouble now.
And with the radio still shut down, he couldn't contact his bro's for help.
Neither could his bike send them a stress signal.

So here it was.
The so-called 'snake in the grass'.
The consequences of his actions, the ones he never thought of until they practically exploded in his face.
Great.
Just… great.
So far for being invincible.
Throttle was never going to let him hear the end of this.
If he was still alive to be yelled at, that is.
He hoped he was, crazy enough.
The soft sound of shrieking brakes broke him out of his thoughts and he glanced at his right.
A silhouette sitting on a bike looked back at him.
Well, that was what he assumed, but it was kind of hard to tell since the net stopped him from turning his head.
This was highly uncomfortable, not to mention awkward.
"I suppose it's no use me telling you that bondage ain't really my thing, huh?"
The person didn't respond and Vinnie heaved a sigh.
"I figured as much."
Yep.
Trouble.
Major.

…

Throttle held up his hand and he and Modo came to a halt.
"What is it, bro?", the grey-furred giant asked as he looked around him, but he soon saw why the tan-furred mouse had stopped and he took a sharp breath.
"Oh, momma."
Throttle didn't respond as his gaze wandered over the battlefield, his heart heavy.
It wasn't like he hadn't seen this before because he did, but some things weren't meant to get entirely used to.
This was one of those things.
There was always a certain tension palpable in the deathly silence that came after battle.
As if the souls of the ones who died were still there, staring at you with accusing eyes.
Blaming you for being doomed to wander forever in the blackness between life and death.
Never able to be free, forever and ever.
If Throttle had to be honest, he preferred to be on the battlefield when the fight was still going.
Because even though it was chaotic, turbulent and almost surreal, it was nothing compared to the sinister place it became after the last screams of those who were dying had slowly faded.

"You think Vinnie did this?", Modo broke the almost unbearable silence, disbelief clearly hearable in his heavy voice.
Throttle got off his bike and kneeled next to one of the bodies.
"Nah. This is too much, even for Vinnie", he answered as he studied the wounds of the unfortunate fellow at his feet.
"Besides, these are bullet wounds. And based on the amount of it, I'd say these guys are killed by a machine gun. A heavy one."
He looked up at Modo, who immediately connected the same dots as he did.
"Dante", they said in unison.
"At least he kept his word", the tan-furred leader sighed.
"But where's Vinnie?", the grey-furred giant asked worriedly as he looked around him, his one eye searching for their youngest bro.
"He can't be far", Throttle responded as he got back on his feet.
"If he's still alive, you mean."
"He is."
"How do you know? He could well be dead for all we know, riddled with bullets like these guys."
"I just do."

It wasn't even a lie.
For some reason, Throttle just knew that their youngest bro was still in the land of the living.
Deep down, he was more than aware of the fact that he might be in denial, for Modo was right.
He could just as easily be dead.
But the pain that followed by the thought alone was too much for him to bear.
Especially now, now he was already plagued by this all-consuming guilt.
So, yeah.
Vinnie was still alive.
All they had to do was find him and give him hell for being this irresponsible.
End of story.

After switching his visor to night vision, his bionic eyes scanned the surrounding.
Not a single detail escaped his keen eye and suddenly, he saw movement on his right.
"There. At four o'clock."
Modo followed his gaze and he frowned in confusion.
"What am I looking at?"
Throttle mounted his bike again and the powerful machine immediately started its engine.
"To a guy who's about to get his ass kicked."
"Who, Vinnie or the other one?", Modo replied dryly.
"Both. Let's ride."

As they made their way over to whatever was going on, Throttle tightened his grip around his handlebars.
Even though he was beyond furious at Vinnie for many obvious reasons, it was still his bro.
His family.
And no matter their differences, he would always be his family.
And when someone messed with his family, all bets were off.
He knew the same applied for Modo, his now glowing eye being the biggest clue.
But even without that detail, Throttle knew.
No one messed with their bro, their little bro, without facing the consequences.

When they arrived at the scene, they both hit the brakes and stopped right in front of the person who had the nerve to catch their bro with a net.
As his feet made contact with the ground, Throttle opened his visor.
"Hey there. You have something that belongs to us..."
"... and that makes us mad", Modo continued.
"You wanna rumble?", Throttle asked sweetly, but with a face like thunder.
"We're ready", the grey-furred giant finished as he cracked his knuckles.
"Ha! The usual heroic entrance. I've taught you well", Vinnie snickered, mouthy as ever.
As if he wasn't lying there, helplessly, waiting to be rescued by his two big brothers who were always there to clean up his mess and Modo rolled his eye.
"You're not really in the position to take the credits here, Mister Smarty-Pants."
"Hey, I got it aaall under control. I was just taking a break."
"Oh really?"

As the two kept bickering as usual, Throttle studied the mysterious person who still sat motionless on his bike.
The tan-furred mouse had the feeling that he was staring back at him, but it was hard to tell, given the tinted visor of his black helmet.
As his bionic eyes wandered over the black motor suit, the black biker boots and the black bike, Throttle concluded not only that black was this person's favorite color, but also that he was about Charley's size.
Which in turn told him that they were dealing with another human here, given that humans were smaller than any other species he knew.
Well, most importantly, smaller than Plutarkians.
It wasn't that hard to figure out why this person had shown up though.
Money.

Just when Throttle thought that the mysterious biker wasn't going to react to their threat, he suddenly aimed a strange-looking gun at the tan-furred mouse, who thanked his quick reflexes as he ducked right when another net came out with a plopping sound.
The thing flew just inches over his head and almost hit Modo in the face, but the grey-furred giant quickly raised his bionic arm and knocked it away with a loud thump, his eye already glowing red again.
"Well well. Guess he wants to rumble, Throttle."
"Fine by me. I can use a little morning exercise."
And they both opened fire at the biker in black, who quickly turned his bike to get out of the fireline.
"Oh no, not so fast. We were just starting to get to know each other. It's just plain rude to walk away now", Modo grumbled as he started the pursuit, soon followed by his tan-furred bro.
"Sure! You guys have all the fun while I'm just lying here, no problem!", Vinnie called after them, far from being amused and Modo looked over his shoulder with a grin on his face.
"Enjoy your break!"
This made the white-furred mouse even more cranky and he doubled his efforts to break free, determined to join his bro's in the fight but it was hopeless.
And no matter how much Throttle and Modo would've loved to set him free, they suddenly had their hands full with escaping a deathly fate.

Because just when they were about to overtake the biker, he fired two missiles from the back of his bike, hereby forcing the two Martian male to change course.
"Modo, look out!", Throttle yelled as he used his weight to make a sharp turn to the right, somehow flabbergasted by of this sudden move.
Perhaps it was a bit naive, but until this moment he'd thought that they were the only ones on this weird planet who rode bikes equipped with an entire weapon system, for even on Mars with its advanced technology their bikes were quite rare.
Clearly, he was wrong.
Lesson learned; don't underestimate humans.
For a moment, it looked like Modo was going to get caught in the explosion, but luckily, Throttle wasn't the only one with quick reflexes and his grey-furred bro also made a sharp turn, but to the left.

But even though he managed to stop himself from being blown to the seventh galaxy, he did lose his balance and with a loud crack, his bike landed on its left side and slid over the asphalt before it came to a halt.
"Modo!", Throttle called out startled, his heart making a few backflips by seeing the nasty fall.
He quickly looked around him, expecting the biker in black to take advantage of this situation, but much to his surprise, he was nowhere to be seen.
Which was fine by Throttle, for now, and he sped over to Modo.
Before his bike skidded to a halt, he already jumped off and kneeled next to his bro.
"Modo, bro, are you okay?", he asked worriedly, but Modo already nodded as he pulled off his helmet, his eye still glowing red.
"I'm fine. Just a bruised ego, that's all."
"You and Vinnie both, so you can share the burden", Throttle smiled in relief and he offered his grey-furred bro a hand.

Modo took it and when he was back on his feet, he quickly put his bike back on its tires.
When he took in the damage, his ears drooped as he let out a soft moan.
"Oh little Darling, look at your paint…"
Throttle followed his gaze and looked at the deep scratches at the left side of Little Hoss, knowing how painful this was for his bro.
His bro, who took adoring his bike to the next level and he laid a hand on Modo's shoulder.
"I'm sure Charley can help you fix this. If you're okay with her touching your bike, that is."
"Yeah... ", Modo only sighed in return, still staring at his bike with a sad look on his face.
"Hey! If you guys are done with your little tea party, I could use a little help over here!", Vinnie yelled at them, still struggling to get free.
Modo and Throttle shared a look before heading over to their helpless bro.
"I thought you had it all under control?", Modo asked sweetly, but Vinnie clearly didn't miss the sarcastic subtext.
"Hardee har har! What are you, a fucking comedian? Get this thing off of me!"
"Yeah, yeah, don't get your tail in a knot. I was already on my way", the grey-furred giant responded a bit annoyed too as he kneeled next to Vinnie and he grabbed the net with both hands.

It soon became clear why the young mouse couldn't lift the net by himself, because it was attached to metal pins that had clawed themselves in the asphalt.
Lucky for Vinnie, Modo was strong enough to rip them loose and the young mouse jumped at his feet as soon as he was free again, almost exploding out of his fur.
"Where is he?"
"Gone", Throttle simply answered, but when he saw Vinnie's bewildered look, he heaved a sigh.
"And no, we're not going after him."
"We're not?"
"No. I get the feeling we will meet him again, probably sooner than later."
"But…"
"I said no."
"Ah man…", Vinnie sighed in defeat, but then glanced at his bro and leader with a bit nervous look on his face, as if he realized just now that Throttle was really here.
Good.
He should be nervous.

The young mouse cleared his throat.
"So uh… how did you know I was here?"
"The usual. Followed the trail of dead bodies."
"Hey, I didn't do this, if that's what you're trying to say. It was Dante's men, I even tried to stop them, but…"
Throttle held up his hand to stop his babbling.
"Hold up, adrenaline mouse. First things first. Are you okay?"
Vinnie slowly closed his mouth as he gave Throttle a suspicious look, but he then nodded.
"Yeah… I'm fine."
Throttle nodded as well.
"Good."

He then took a deep breath and his tail lashed through the air when he let in his anger, the one he'd kept on a distance until he was sure that they were all safe again.
"Honestly, Vincent, what were you thinking? You really outdid yourself this time and I don't mean that as a compliment."
Vinnie's eyes grew big in indignation, as if this came completely out of the blue.
He could be so ignorant sometimes.
Or it was just for the show, which was more likely to be the case.
Mister Innocence, who supposedly never did something wrong, but the tan-furred leader knew better than to buy this act.
"Hey, I already told ya, I didn't do this, it was…"
"Like I said; we followed your trail", Throttle interrupted him with a low voice, not wanting to hear his excuses.
"The guards told us what happened. Or are you gonna tell me that wasn't you either?"
The young mouse fell silent again as he swallowed with difficulty, pulling his bandana.
"Oh that... That uh… yeah, about that…", he stuttered a bit nervously and he stared at his feet.
"Maybe I got a bit carried away... "
Talk about an understatement.
"Maybe?"
"Well, I uh… hehe… I guess I did."
Throttle knew that admitting this was kind of Vinnie's way of saying he was sorry, so maybe he should leave it here, for he knew this was all he would get.
But he somehow couldn't stop.
Not after today.
"Do you ever stop to consider the consequences of your actions? Your little game tonight could've cost about a hundred innocent lives, Vincent."
"Yeah, well, but it didn't, did it?", the young mouse suddenly spat out and Throttle narrowed his eyes behind his glasses because of this sudden outburst.
"Excuse me?"

The tone in his voice should've been the only warning he needed to give, but of course, the white-furred mouse ignored the sign.
"You heard me. Look, maybe I got carried away, but that doesn't change the fact that these people are still sleeping peacefully in their tents instead of in a box in the ground. They're fine, Throttle! Thanks to me! Why are you always giving me hell for doing something good?!"
"Because I don't approve your M.O.! You take risks that not only endangers your life, but also those of others! You never think! When are you gonna learn that this isn't a game, but real life, huh?"
Yeah, he really needed to stop.
He'd made his point, he saw it in Vinnie's eyes.
Even though the young mouse would never say it out loud, he definitely got the message.

But truth be told, Throttle wasn't exactly in control of his emotions right now.
Everything just kept piling up and he was about to reach his limits.
He had never been this close to his breaking point and it scared him more than he liked to admit.
So, the words just kept coming, forcing their way out and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"Or does it take another tragedy to make you realize how fast things can spin out of control?"
"I think he gets the point, bro", Modo now interfered, probably knowing what was next.
If Throttle had to guess, the grey-furred giant wanted to protect not only Vinnie by stopping him, right here, right now.
With good reason.
He should stop.
He was going to hate himself if he wouldn't.
He knew, and yet, the words came out anyway.
"Or was Harley's death not enough?"

An almost deafening silence descended on them as Throttle looked at Vinnie, breathing heavily because of his outburst and his guilt grew even bigger -as far as that goes- when he saw his young bro's pain, caused by his words.
These harsh words.
Unfair words, too.
He was blaming Vinnie for something only the war was to blame for.
More to the point, the Plutarkians.
They were the ones who fired that missile on that day that had changed them forever, after all.
Not Vinnie.
He did suddenly understand how it was like to be Vinnie.
To just blurt things out without a filter.
Still, it was far from the same.
Unlike Vinnie, this wasn't who he was.
He simply didn't have that excuse.
Therefore, his words outweighed Vinnie's.
And he could see how they cut through the white-furred mouse's soul.

"Vinnie, I'm sorry, I…", but he trailed off when he saw how Vinnie wrinkled his nose, how his left ear twitched and he knew what was next.
But instead of stopping his white-furred bro, Throttle only braced himself, for he was truly convinced that he had it coming.
Big time.
And indeed, the young mouse clenched his fist, but when he lashed out, a metal hand wrapped around the white-furred fist right before impact.
"Don't."
"But Modo…"
"Shut up", the grey-furred giant snapped at him and after letting his young bro go, he lined himself up between his two best friends.
"This has gone far enough and it's gonna stop, right here, right now. Because this, and I can't believe I need to explain this to you, again, but this is exactly what's gonna get us all killed. We know we do our best work as we work as a team and like you said...-", he pointed at Throttle before he continued.
"-...this ain't no game. So you both need to put your differences aside and work together instead of fighting each other."

Throttle was somehow grateful that he left Charley out of this, because he now realized this was about her.
Again.
Him being this angry was just another weak attempt to protect Charley from being hurt by the white-furred mouse, to get a grip on this almost uncontrollable situation and Vinnie disobeying him was probably just because he hated it when someone tried to control him.
After all, history had shown that the young mouse didn't like people telling him what to do.
It had the opposite effect, it always had.
Throttle knew, and yet, he was still hell-bent on getting through to him.
That was all he wanted, after all.
To let him realize that life wasn't a game.
To tell him that he needed to grow up.
That he could actually hurt people by being this reckless.
People like Charley, for instance.

Why he was still being this devoted to protect the human female was a mystery to him and frankly, it started to annoy him.
After all, he'd made his choice.
Either way, Modo was right.
This had to stop.
It was crazy.
Beyond crazy.
They were family.
Fights were part of the deal, true, but fighting over a woman?
That was just lower than low.
What was that phrase again?
Bro's before ho's?
Tasteless, but true.

So, when Vinnie opened his mouth again -probably to protest-, Throttle beat him to it because he suddenly wanted to fix this, so badly.
He was done risking his relationship with Vinnie for a woman who would never be his in the first place.
And even if she would be, it wasn't worth it.
No woman was worth it.
Family first.
Always.
He knew that Vinnie would never take the first step to fix this mess, simply because the young mouse was too messed up to do so.
So, he did.
He was a leader, after all.
One where people could rely on.
Time to live it up, once again.
"He's right. This never should've come this far. I'm sorry for what I said and for what it's worth, I didn't mean it."

"Has it ever occurred to you that he's doing these things to make you proud?"

Modo's words echoed through his head and he suddenly realized that the big fella could be right about that too.
Hm.
There seemed to be only one way to fix this and it wasn't with an apology.
No, this needed a little bit more than just that.
Luckily, he did know how to be vulnerable.
Now even more than ever for he was almost desperate to repair the cracked bond with his youngest bro.
So, he took a deep breath and looked Vinnie straight in his two-colored eyes.
"You did a good job tonight, Vincent. I'm proud of you."

For a moment, Vinnie just stared at him, his mouth wide open in shock, thereby confirming Throttle's theory that he, indeed, hadn't said this enough.
Although he still didn't approve this risky manner of working, he meant every word.
After all, the people of the camp were, indeed, safe.
And it actually felt good to say it out loud.
It made him feel a bit less guilty.
As if he could breathe again, even if it were only small breathes.
It was enough for now.
And who knew?
Perhaps a positive approach was all that was needed to get through to the young mouse.
A mouse is never too old to try something new.

"Look who's all speechless", Modo chuckled to break the uncomfortable silence and despite everything, Throttle felt the corners of his mouth curl up into a smile too.
"Never thought I'd see the day, hehe."
The fact that the white-furred mouse couldn't find the words after this huge compliment was enough for Throttle to know that for now, things were okay again.
"I'm not speechless, I just forgot what I wanted to say. That's different, ya know", Vinnie eventually opened his mouth again in an attempt to save what was left of his already bruised ego and the two other male mice shared a meaningful but amused look.
"Sure thing, bro."
"If you say so."

Vinnie only shrugged and quickly changed the subject.
"So, time for breakfast?", he asked with a hopeful glance on his face.
"Yeah, about that…", Throttle started, hating to be the one again who had to disappoint the young mouse.
"We can't go back to the camp."
"What? But I'm starving!", the white-furred mouse protested, as usual only thinking about himself for a moment.
"I bet you are, but it's too dangerous. Tonight is the proof of that. I told Charley to pack her things and as soon as she's ready, we're off to California."
If she was still coming, that is…
She was.
She had to.
Why though?
Why did he care so much?
He'd made his choice, right?
Right?!

"No, no, no, we can't leave! I left my weapons at the garage, no way I'm leaving them behind!"
This boy and his weapons...
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, Vincent. We won't set a foot in Camp Hope as long as we have that bounty on our head. And before you start, this is non-negotiable."
For the second time this night, Vinnie just stared at him with his mouth wide open, disbelief written on his young face, as if Throttle just told him to go up in flames or whatever was going on in his complicated head.
But then, without any warning, he dropped cross-legged on the floor with folded arms and put his chin in the air.
Throttle ran a hand through his hair as he gave Modo a dubious look -who only shrugged in return- before his gaze landed back on his stubborn young bro.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm protesting."
"You're protesting", the tan-furred mouse repeated tonelessly before he raised his eyes to heaven.
"Great. Just what we needed. A mouse on strike."
Man.
This was going to be a very, very long day…