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Later dudes!

Chapter 5

In a way, the tone in her voice immediately intrigued Throttle.
He couldn't fully explain why, but the fact remained it just did.
It was the mellow sound that tickled his instinct, which in turn told him that the female creature who spoke could be trusted.
Vinnie, however…
Vinnie wasn't impressed.
It all had to do with the fact that he was wounded.
Just one landing, one miserably failed landing, had turned him from being among the best to the weakest link in a blink of an eye.
He wasn't really used to be in such position, his ego even less.
The result was a mouse who acted like a cat in narrow, now playing on his bruised ego, using words to compensate his position of weakness.
"Explain? Explain?! How about you show yourself and YOU explain yourself instead of hiding in the shadows like a fucking coward, huh?", the young mouse snarled, already trying to get up again.
"Shut up, Vincent, we're not in the position to make demands", Throttle hissed through clenched teeth, but the damage was already done.
"Coward?! Who do you call a coward, huh?"
It was the aggressive voice which Throttle had heard right before the female had interfered.
Suddenly, there was movement in front of them.
It was nothing more but a silhouette because of the bright lights on the background, but good sight wasn't needed to feel the anger of the creature in front of them. The familiar loud click that followed only confirmed that whoever was standing close to them was not amused at all.
Another shot of adrenaline, perhaps the last his body could produce and endure for that matter, gave Vinnie the strength to get back on one foot, but before he could say or even worse, do something stupid, Modo blocked his way.
The grey-furred mouse placed his flesh hand on the white-furred mouse his chest to stop him and pointed his arm cannon at the silhouette.
"That's close enough, pal."
The bond between the three mice was unconditionally and unbreakable.
Messing with one was messing with all three of them.
And nobody was allowed to mess with his bro's, not even when it was one of them who was childish enough to start the whole thing in the first place.
That was crossing a line in his book.
"Who are you, his big brother or something?", the voice snorted, clearly not impressed or perhaps he pretended not to be.
"Something like that."
It started with a chuckle, but soon, the voice was laughing out loud.
"And you call me a coward? You, who needs his big bro to watch his back?", the silhouette eventually managed to bring out.
Vinnie gritted his teeth as he tried to get past Modo, who was having no trouble at all to keep his younger bro behind him.
Next to big, he was also strong, the strongest of the three of them.
Wounded or not, Vinnie didn't stand a chance, much to his annoyance.
So, he provoked a little more.
"I'm not the one who's under the command of a woman, so what does that say about you, huh?"
The laughing stopped abruptly, but then…
"Knock if off, Max", the female voice ordered.
"Yeah, Max, knock it off", Vinnie repeated childishly, but Throttle had reached his limit.
"Vincent, enough."
Instead of raising his voice, he almost whispered the words, his husky voice even lower than usual.
His way of letting his youngest bro know that he was about to cross a line that wasn't meant to be crossed.
Much needed to happen to get the tan-furred mouse where he was now, but today was one of those rare days that his usual endless patience started to run low.
Vinnie got the hint immediately, he'd learned the hard way that Throttle was no mouse one wanted to piss off. So, he bit his lower lip to keep his mouth shut.
Modo also lowered his arm cannon, but his body was still ready to jump into action any moment if necessary.
Throttle cleared his throat.
"You'll have to excuse my youngest bro, but we had a very stressful day and that's affecting his ability to think clearly, obviously. Trust me when I say we're not here to cause any trouble."
The tan-furred mouse noticed he was starting to get a little bit annoyed because he was talking into nothingness.
He preferred to see the person who he was talking to, not just so he was able to read the body language but even more important; he wanted to look into the eyes.
He cared most about the eyes.
One once told him that the eyes were windows to the soul.
There's a light in eyes that speaks louder than words.
Words could be meaningless, most of the time it were lies too.
But the eyes… the eyes never lie.
"Would you mind turning these things off?", he asked as he waved to the lights. "It's kinda hard to talk to someone I can't see."

For a moment, nothing happened.
But then, the bright lights were switched with softer lights.
Throttle let out his breath and lowered his hand, now able to see that the lights came from three big 4x4 pickup trucks, knowing this because he'd seen vehicles like this before, back on Mars.
He caught himself wondering how they had managed to sneak up on them with big cars such as these ones.
Knowing now wasn't the time to ask questions, his gaze wandered over the almost completely hairless creatures that were standing on the hoods of the vehicles.
A few were lined up behind the lamps, which were attached to the roof of the trucks in rows of four.
But no matter what their position was, they were all pointing their gun at him and his bro's, all with faces like thunder.
Each gun looked professional and very different from the ones they used on Mars.
But Throttle had enough knowledge about weapons to know that in the end, all weapons were designed for only one thing; to take down those who the one holding the gun wanted to take down.
His gaze eventually landed on the person in front of him.
That had to be Max, the guy with the aggressive voice.
Throttle looked into his brown eyes and his fur bristled.
The voice matched the personality, that he now knew.
Movement next to Max prevented him from taking a real good look at the guy and a, without a doubt, female came into his line of sight.
Big, and to his surprise, green eyes looked straight back at him and he immediately knew; this was the female with the intriguing voice.
This was their leader.
Her eyes were even more intriguing than her voice.
He had never seen eyes this bright green as hers, it was an eye color that didn't exist on Mars and if he would let himself, he possibly may even drown in them.
But he kept his head in the game because the tension in the air was still thick enough to cut with a knife.
They were still being held at gunpoint by at least twenty of them.
They were still crashed on an unknown planet and Vinnie was still badly injured.
So, he forced himself to nod at the female to show her his gratitude.
"Thanks."
She gave him a nod back, her green eyes were studying his face, a little narrowed as if she was trying to figure out what his intentions were.
Hard to tell with eyes hidden behind glasses, that he knew.
It was Max who broke the silence.
"So, what are you anyway, rats or something?"
Throttle closed his eyes for a moment, cursing the bad choice of words.
Of course, the guy couldn't have known, but still…
This day was getting more exhausting by the minute.
Modo's whole body convulsed as if he just got stung by a Martian Bee Bee and immediately raised his arm cannon again, his metal hand clenched.
His one eye suddenly glowed red, a thing that happened when he got angry.
It was even more intimidating in a dimly lit environment such as this one.
"Rat?! My momma didn't raise no stinkin' rat… Understand?!", he growled between clenched teeth.
Perhaps one forgot to mention that not only his soft spot for women and children made him one dangerous mouse.
His hatred for rats ran deep and usually, no one who called him a rat made it out alive.
In return, Max also raised his gun again and pointed it at the furious grey-furred mouse, so did the rest of the group, but a hint of panic now flickered across his face.
It was no strange reaction, given the intimidating sight of the enraged half-tonne pile of muscle and fur as tall as a giant.
But he stood his ground, which was admirable, one had to give him that.
Vinnie, who was leaning against Modo, quickly snatched his laser gun out of his leg holster and with a loud click, he too aimed at Max.
"Pull that trigger and you're dead meat", he threatened, his usually high pitched voice now low, clearly, the time for provoking was over.
This time, he was being serious.
Dead serious.

Throttle and the female were the only ones who were not pointing guns and the latter now threw her hands in the air, a gesture to give away her frustration.
"I'm close to choking in testosterone here, guys. Enough with the peacocking, honestly… Why don't we all relax a little so we can talk like normal human beings, huh?"
Deep in Throttle's by exhausting clouded brain rang a little bell, one of recognition, but that's all it was.
A little bell.
Because right now, there was just no room left in his brain for anything but protecting his bro's.
The female must have seen his confused look and therefore realized what she just said, because a little smile appeared on her face.
"Like adults, I mean."
"I don't trust them any further than I can throw them, Char", Max said softly, probably thinking it was soft enough.
He clearly had no knowledge about Martian Cave Mice whatsoever, because they could hear him as clear as a radio without static.
"The feeling is mutual", Vinnie muttered under his breath, but luckily, nobody except his bro's heard it.
The female gave Max a look and, although obviously against his will, he lowered his gun.
So did the others that were surrounding them.
Vinnie hesitated, but Throttle gave him a small nod to tell him it was okay.
The young mouse his face darkened, clearly he was disappointed, but he whirled his handgun around his finger and put it back into his holster.
It was Modo who was still contemplating if he was gonna shoot the weird looking creature or not.
Throttle made the decision for him by laying his hand on his arm to gently push it down.
"Easy, big fella. If you shoot him, we won't make it out alive. And we didn't come this far to let it end here."
Luckily, the grey-furred mouse was old and wise enough to know that his leader was right, so he took a deep breath to calm down.
He nodded at the tan-furred mouse as the red glow that lighted up his eye slowly faded.
"I think we're all a little on edge, hehe", Throttle chuckled apologetically. Not that he found this whole thing funny, well… perhaps under other circumstances, he would've.
But not today.

"Okay, so no rats. But what then?", the female asked while she laid a hand on Max his shoulder, probably to let him know that he needed to stay calm.
Max's hands tightened around the grip of his weapon, but he remained silent.
Apparently, the female leader was the only one capable of controlling this male hothead.
"We're mice, ma'am. Mice", Throttle answered patiently.
In a way, he expected her to be surprised, but she wasn't.
In fact, she was the opposite of being surprised.
And the tan-furred mouse couldn't help himself but wondering what that could mean.
It was clear she, or the rest for that matter, didn't know about them, otherwise the unfortunate fellow hadn't called them rats.
"Mice. And where do you… mice come from?"
"Mars."
"Mars?", Max asked, full of disbelief.
"Mars", Modo confirmed.
"Mars?", the female now asked, but lacking in disbelief.
It sounded more as if she didn't hear it correctly.
"Is there an echo in here?", Vinnie interfered, holding a hand behind his big ear, still leaning against Modo.
It was the tone in his voice that alarmed Throttle and the tan-furred mouse quickly turned around to look at his youngest bro.
Who was, by the looks of things, about to completely collapse.
His gaze lowered and landed on the bandana around his leg, which wasn't purple anymore, but deep red because of the blood that was still pouring out of the compound fracture.
Add that to the fact that the white-furred mouse was living on adrenaline for too long now.
It had nothing to do with being weak or strong but all with him breaking his leg after today's events.
His body was done, it simply had suffered too much.
Throttle looked back at the female.
"Look, it's clear that you have enough reason not to trust us, but my friend here needs medical help…"
"I do not!", Vinnie protested, wobbling on his left leg that was now forced to carry the whole weight of the young mouse now his right leg was out of order.
"He does", the tan-furred mouse said imperturbably, without breaking eye contact with the female.
"I know it's a lot to ask, but we have no place to go. Our ship is toasted, our bikes are damaged..."
"Bikes?", the female interrupted him.
"Uh… yeah… You know, vehicles on two tires…", he started to explain while pointing at his bike, but he trailed off when the woman threw her head in her neck and let out a laugh.
"I know what bikes are, I was just... curious, I guess. So these are yours?", she asked as her green eyes wandered over the three bikes before they landed on Throttle's face again, who nodded to confirm.
After taking another good look at him, her gaze so intense that it even made the usually unflappable leader a little uncomfortable, she cleared her throat.
"Max, you and Milo load the bikes in the truck. As for the rest; these three men… uh... mice are our guests now, so I expect you will treat them as one."
She then looked Throttle straight in the eye.
"Don't make me regret my decision."
The tan-furred mouse shook his head as relief rushed through his veins.
He wasn't sure what it was exactly that made her decide to help them, but right now, he couldn't care less.
"I won't. Thank you."

Suddenly, a lot of commotion made them look up.
It turned out to be Max and another person, from which Throttle assumed was Milo, who had tried to load Vinnie's bike in the back of the truck, but the cherry red racing bike was now back on her tires and aiming her full weaponry, which was a lot, at the two men who now stumbled backward.
"Oh… did I forget to mention that no one's allowed to touch my bike beside me? How careless of me", Vinnie chuckled, highly amused by the scared looks on the men their faces.
Usually, the white-furred mouse wasn't this difficult to get along with, but Max had pushed some buttons that weren't meant to be pushed and therefore, the human male blew up his chance to earn his way in Vinnie's good graces.
A mouse never forget.
And this mouse never forgave.
But his eyes were already half closed and he leaned against Modo with his whole weight now.
His big ears both hung down and his tail was lying on the ground like a lifeless snake.
Enough signs to tell that the youngest of the on Mars almost famous trio was getting worse by the minute.
The female looked back at Throttle and for the first time, he saw surprise in her eyes. But also curiosity, next to a soft glance of… admiration?
"Did that bike just get back on its tires by itself? And did it or did it not threaten two of my best men just now?"
"It's a she, sweetheart. A she", Vinnie corrected her with a weak voice.
"A… she?"
Throttle quickly understood that vehicles with artificial intelligence weren't that common on this planet as they were on Mars.
He also knew now wasn't the time to explain.
His bro needed help.
The tan-furred mouse walked over to Vinnie's bike and laid a hand on the windshield.
"It's okay, they are here to help."
The red bike beeped angrily, having the same temper as her rider, but she put the weapons away.
He then looked at the two men, who were still staring at the bike with eyes as big as saucers and he sighed tiredly.
"Let me help you guys getting them in the truck."

A few minutes later, the bikes were loaded and the female gestured to the back of another truck.
"You can sit here", and she opened the boot lid.
Then, she climbed in and sat down on the ground with her back resting against the cabin.
Throttle followed her example and turned around to help Modo with getting Vinnie in.
But the white-furred mouse was known to be stubborn and still not used to this weird position of weakness he was in now that he was injured.
He wouldn't allow himself to get used to it.
Well, perhaps it was his ego standing in the way.
"Ugh, I got this, man…", Vinnie mumbled and tried to climb in by himself.
For a moment, it seemed like he was gonna succeed, but then his wounded leg bumped against the truck.
Clenching his teeth to keep the scream inside, he slammed his fist against the side of the truck to vent some of his frustration, without any result except leaving a big dent behind.
Once the worst pain was gone, he was able to see the damage and he chuckled a little sheepishly.
"Whoops… hehe…"
Modo sighed, climbed in and grabbed the white-furred mouse by his hoodie.
After dragging him inside, he used his tail to close the boot lid and took place next to Vinnie.
Then, without any warning, he hit the side of the truck from the inside with his metal hand and with a loud ploink, the dent was gone.
"There ya go, ma'am, as good as new."
The female was watching all this with her face completely blank.
"Uh, thanks… I guess…"
When Throttle sat down too, she raised her hand to knock on the back of the cabin.
"Let's go!"
The trucks came into movement, formed a line with their vehicle in the middle and so their journey, to wherever their destination was, began.
Again, Throttle noticed the silence of the trucks, the sound of roaring engines being absent.
He made a note to himself to ask about this weird fact when the time was there to ask questions.
Gazing up to the dark sky again, he allowed himself to do a little prayer.
Not that he was religious, he'd never been, but it was the only thing he could do right now.
For his friends.
For Carbine and Stoker.
He could only hope, only pray that they were safe and sound.
Somewhere...

"Vinnie, you've gotta keep your eyes open."
"But… but Modo… I'm so… so tired…", the white-furred mouse yawned, his voice now close to sounding like one of a child.
"I know, buddy, I know. But don't give in, okay? I want you to stay awake. Ya think ya can do that?", Modo answered patiently.
"I'll try…"
"That's all I ask."
The female was looking at all this with a small frown between her brows.
Throttle knew because he was looking at her.
Well, more like staring at her, so he was grateful that her attention was focussed on his two bro's, giving him the chance to take a good look at this weird creature.
He had never seen anything like her.
In a way, she looked a lot like them.
Her slender built body moved the same way as theirs, using the hands to grab or hold things, the feet to stand on and the legs to walk with.
But at the same time, there were so many differences.
For starters, the only hair she had was on the top of her head. Auburn colored hair that was tied up in a ponytail.
That being the only tail he could find made him come to the conclusion that the fur wasn't the only thing missing.
Although her body moved the same as theirs, she was far smaller than the average Martian Cave Mouse.
So were her ears, which were attached at the side of her head, just like theirs, but they didn't stick out.
One could almost call them flat.
But it was the size that made Throttle wonder how she was even able to hear.
Another big difference was her face.
It was shaped differently, the nose placed below the center of her eyes but again, it didn't stick out as their muzzle, although it wasn't completely flat either.
Her teeth were completely covered by her soft looking lips, only visible when she smiled or curled her lips for any other reason.
The color of her skin seemed pinkish, but it was hard to tell in the still dark environment.
It… she was beyond weird, and yet so... interesting.
Her hand that grabbed a black device, which he recognized as a radio although it was a different model from the ones they used on Mars, broke him out of his trance and he blinked a few times to get his vision sharp again.
"Team Arrow, ETA in one. Get the doc ready", the female said calmly into the radio as her green eyes looked up at the sky for a moment.
As mentioned before, the eyes never lie and Throttle could see a glance which he placed as hopelessness.
As a result, more questions raised, but he was too tired to ask them.
All in good time.
Right now, it was priority number one that his youngest bro was gonna get the help he so badly needed, even if he himself was too stubborn to admit it.
'Copy that, the doc is standby.'
The female clicked the radio back at her belt.
"Thanks", Throttle said.
Again.
He started to sound like a Martian Parry Parrot, and he hadn't decided yet whether he found it hilarious or annoying.
Probably annoying, next to awkward.
But then again, he couldn't go around the fact that he was being grateful right now.
Grateful for her help.
So, Parry Parrot or not, he would say it another hundred times if that was necessary.
If that was what it took.
A mouse was willing to go far to protect his family.
A leader was willing to go even further.
Leaders didn't have ego's standing in the way of doing the right thing.
They knew exactly when subtlety was required without being completely submissive.
This was one of these moments.
He needed her and that was nothing more but the plain truth.

The female gave him a small nod back, and for the first time, he saw a hint of insecurity in her eyes.
After a small hesitation, she reached out her hand.
"We didn't get the chance to properly introduce ourselves… I'm Charley."
Throttle stared at the hand, he had no idea what she expected from him.
He looked back into her green eyes and now it was amusement that made them twinkle as bright as the stars above their heads.
"You're supposed to take my hand now and tell me your name", she smiled, the frown from which he assumed was usually always there now gone.
Throttle hesitated, but then reached out and placed his tan-furred, in a leather fingerless glove covered hand in hers.
She had a firm grip and feeling the warm and soft skin made him even more confused than he already was, but he managed to push it away for now.
"The name's Throttle. The big guy over there is called Modo…"
Modo nodded friendly at her.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am."
Given the surprised look on Charley's face, chivalry wasn't only rare on Mars.
"And the one with the swelled head is... ", Throttle continued, but Vinnie beat him to it.
Wounded or not, the young mouse was determined to introduce himself on his terms, not planning on letting any opportunity to impress this weird, yet beautiful creature slip away.
She was, after all, a lady.
"That's the invincible Vinnie van Wham to you. The velocity atrocity… An honor, I'm sure…", the white-furred mouse mumbled, his ruby red eyes only half open, but he still managed to wiggle his eyebrows a little and his lips curled into one of his trademark arrogant smiles, although a little less convincing as usual.
"Invincible, huh?", Charley asked as her green eyes landed on his wounded leg, clearly not impressed by the young mouse's words.
"Even a broken leg ain't gonna stop me, sweetheart. This mouse never runs out of fuel", Vinnie answered unflappably, his eyes already closed again but still with the shadow of a smile on his face.
Charley now looked at Throttle again with a questionable look on her face, clearly at loss about how to deal with the prideful, arrogant attitude of this white-furred creature.
"Is he messing with me? Or is he always like this?"
"You ain't seen nothing yet", the tan-furred mouse answered tiredly as he squeezed the bridge of his nose.
"This is him being restraint", Modo added.
"Why don't we talk about me as if I'm here, huh?", Vinnie suggested as he now leaned with his whole weight against Modo, not able to sit upright by himself anymore.
"No!", Modo and Throttle answered in unison, both knowing that once the white-furred mouse got on a roll, nothing could derail him, not even losing consciousness.
They were both convinced that even then, the young mouse would find a way.
He never let down an opportunity to brag and no one ever said he wasn't creative.
It was essential to stop him on time, a skill his two bro's got the hang of rather well after living with him for so long.

Suddenly, the truck slowed down and Charley climbed on her feet to look over the cabin.
"We're here", she pointed out as she adjusted the holster that was tied around her waist.
Throttle followed her gaze as he too rose on his feet, wondering where here was.
It was still very dark outside, and with the bright lights of the trucks still switched off, too dark.
The trucks stopped and two of the same creatures as Charley stepped into the light of the first car, both holding a big gun. Max, who was behind the wheel of the first car, opened the window and stuck his head out.
"Team Arrow back from recon, bringing three… guests... "
He said the last word sarcastically, probably using this tone to make clear that he still didn't agree with Charley's decision to take the mice with them.
It was then that Throttle decided to keep a close eye on this Max guy, already knowing that types like him usually only meant trouble.
"There was no enemy contact during this mission, so skip the entry check. One of our guests is in need of medical help", Charley interfered, and Throttle saw that the frown between her brows was already chiseled on her face again.
Both of the guards saluted and disappeared in the dark again.
A click was heard, followed by loud creaking.
The cars came into movement again, and although their lights were not enough to illuminate the entire environment, Throttle could see silhouettes from which he assumed were high fences with sharp looking points on top to prevent one could climb over them.
The loud creaking he'd heard just now, was made by the guards who had opened a plate-loaded fence.
When the trucks slowly drove through the now open gate, something caught Throttle's eye and he looked up.
It was a green sign that hung above the entrance, wrapped in barb wire and even Throttle could see that the weathered sign had seen better days.
He narrowed his eyes in an attempt to read the once white printed letters, and although he was able to read them, he had no idea what it meant.
"Chicago…"
His gaze lowered to the black letters that were written below the white ones.
"Camp Hope… Chicago, camp Hope", he whispered, as if saying the words out loud would give them meaning.
However, it did not.
It made him, as far as that goes, even more confused.
Camp Hope?
Words which Charley had used suddenly echoed in his head.

Enemy contact.

His tired brain, now triggered again, was already adding up his observations.
Team Arrow, all of them armed to the teeth, on a recon.
Talking to each other in words that, as far as he knew, were only used by soldiers.
Camp Hope, surrounded by fences and heavily guarded.

Samaki scum.

A shiver went down his spine.
What was going on on this strange planet?
He slowly turned his head and looked at Charley, still contemplating with himself if the war back on Mars might have made him a little bit too paranoid.
The female gave him a smile which probably was meant to reassure him but it didn't, simply because her eyes revealed the sadness she tried to hide with that smile and Throttle felt a pang of despair, now knowing he wasn't being paranoid.
Something was wrong here, on this planet.
Very wrong.

Human beings.

Charley cleared her throat.
"Mice from Mars…
She spread her arms, a theatrical gesture made to give weight to the words she was about to speak, the sadness still visible in her green eyes.
"Welcome to Earth."

...

Earth.
One once spoke about Earth.
How the human slowly destroyed their own planet.
Was their careless behavior the cause of their own demise?
Or was there a monster under the bed...?