Hey you guys...

Of course, I wanna start with -again- a big thanks for the reviews, the follows and the favs.
It warmed my heart.

And I'm sorry, it's been a while, mostly because I was on a two-week vacation in the most awesome country in the world; the USA.
But I'm back now and I even managed to finish another chapter.
Gotta admit, I'm feeling a bit insecure to upload after all these amazing updates here on fanfiction, I mean, I can't reach that, but after long deliberation, I've decided not to let my insecurity stop me from doing what I love; to write and share it with you guys.

Pfew, I needed that to get off my chest.
Anyway, that being said, on with the story.
Enjoy and feel free to leave a review, always very much appreciated.

Till next time, dudes!

Later!

Chapter 8

"Woaaaoow, what's this?"
Vinnie's high pitched voice sounded next to muted because he was already outside a bit shocked too.
That was something that didn't happen that often, so Throttle and Modo shared a worried look before quickly rushing towards the exit of the tent.
The tan-furred popped his head out first, squeezing his eyes against the bright light of the sun.
"What's wrong, bro?"
"Did your swelled head get stuck?", Modo asked as he too popped his head outside.
The white-furred mouse was standing right outside the tent and pointed down, clearly, he hadn't heard Modo's teasing remark given the fact he didn't protest.
"What is up with this green stuff, man?"
Throttle followed the direction Vinnie was pointing at with his eyes and he narrowed them behind his glasses.
The ground was covered with a green layer.
It wasn't smooth, more like pointy, but the soft wind made it dance like it was hair.
Still confused, he looked up and his bionic eyes scanned the surrounding area.
The green stuff covered the ground as far as he could look and in the distance, he saw the fence that surrounded the camp.
His gaze wandered over the buildings at his right and the tents on his left, now knowing that their tent wasn't the only one.
Roads made of sand, a substance he knew all too well, were visible between the green areas, but no road led to their tent.
He then gazed up to the sky, which was blue instead of pink as it was on Mars.

A weird planet it was... Earth.

After a small hesitation, the tan-furred leader stepped outside and laid a hand on Vinnie's shoulder as he still looked around him.
"Oh, momma… Have you ever seen anything like this?", Modo asked as he now joined them too, his heavy voice filled with awe.
"It's kinda beautiful…"
"Yeah…"
Throttle slowly went down on his knees and stretched his arm.
His hand floated right above the ground for a moment, but after taking a deep breath, he lowered it and his fingers slid through the weird green hairs.
It did feel soft, but still rougher than hair.
"It seems to be harmless too", he concluded.
"Ya think we can just walk over it?", Vinnie asked a little sheepishly. "I mean, what if they use this as camouflage for landmines? Or worse, as decoration?"
His bro's gave him a confused look before both shaking their head.
"You really need to sort out your priorities, man…", Modo mumbled.
"Besides, why would they boobytrap their own land?", Throttle asked. "I mean, if that's the case I think Charley would've told us."
"Ha, right, because she's so generous with sharing information", Vinnie snorted.
His young bro did have a point there, but the tan-furred mouse felt some sort of reluctance to say that out loud, and not only because of his bro's ego.
Shaking off the weird feeling, he did a few steps forward.
"We already walked over it when we arrived here, we just didn't see it because it was pitch black, so I don't think we have to worry about demolishing their decoration. No… I think we're good."
After taking another few steps without being blown to the seventh galaxy, his body relaxed a little. The gunfire sounded closer now and the leader signed his bro's to follow him.
"Come on, boys. Time to get us some answers."

As they got closer to the fence, Modo suddenly spotted something that made this weird day way better already.
"Hey, bro's, look! Our bikes!"
The bikes were at the same spot as where they'd left them behind, namely; in the back of the truck.
By the looks of things, the people from the camp hadn't touched them, not really surprising given the violent encounter two of the men had with Vinnie's bike the other day.
So, humans do have self-preservation Throttle mentally noted to himself, a thing he was fine with.
He didn't like it if someone else touched his bike, much less ride it and he knew his bro's were on the same page on this one.
Definitely on the same page.
They all three walked over to the bikes, well, in Vinnie's case; limped.
Still, even with one leg, he managed to arrive at the truck before his bro's did and he opened the boot lid.
With a little effort, he climbed in on all fours, sat down and rested his head against the unharmed side of his bike.
"Man, sweetheart, it's so good to see you", he mumbled while gently rubbing the cherry red paint.
The bike beeped back happily and the white-furred mouse now looked at his two bro's.
"So, what are we waiting for? Let's whip some tail!"
"I hate to bring you down, bro, but it appears my bike is in much worse shape than I remember...", Throttle answered as he rubbed his chin, looking at his bike.
The front tire was flat, the handlebars were standing in a wrong angle and a few loose wires popped out of the bottom.
Apparently, whatever he hit right before his tires touched the ground during that rough landing had managed to do some serious damage.
"Same goes for Lil' Hoss", Modo sighed as he laid his hand on the leather saddle. Both the tires were flat and the frame was bent.
"My poor baby…"
"So once again, it appears that my bike is the strongest of all three, next to being the fastest, of course", Vinnie started with an arrogant smirk as he mounted his red racer. But before his bro's could retort, he now saw the other side of his bike and his smile vanished like smoke in the wind.
"You were saying, Vincent?", Throttle asked dryly when he too saw the damage after walking around the truck.
It appeared that the bike had landed on its right side after falling from the great height.
The covers on the right were caved in, at some places even torn, the rear tire was crooked next to flat and the right handlebar had broken off.
"Ah, man…"
Modo smiled by seeing the sour look on his younger bro his face.
"We all know that my bike is the best, bro, and certainly not that tin can of yours."
Vinnie's head jerked up.
"Tin can? Tin can? Excuuuuuse me?!"
All three mice were more than just attached to their bikes, the impressive machines were like an extension from themselves.
The always endless discussion about which bike was the best was a common thing among the three bro's.
Most of the time, it was just big talk, but there had been times when things escalated into playing hardball.
One did not want to interfere with Martian Cave Mice who played hardball unless one had a certain deathwish.
"Guys, guys…", Throttle started his attempt to tell his two bro's they needed to stay focused instead of bickering like two kids, but then another explosion made the ground tremble again.
There was nothing, absolutely nothing in this entire universe that worked better than an explosion to get the attention of a Martian Mouse and therefore, both Vinnie and Modo stopped with what they were doing and looked at their leader.
The tan-furred mouse gave his bike one last regretful glance before he straightened his back.
"The bikes can wait. Let's find out what the hell is going on on this planet."

They continued to follow the sound and soon, they stood near the fence.
It was made of some iron material and as tall as a building.
Throttle looked up and saw the sharp points on top, just like he had seen earlier. He then looked at his right.
Every few meters stood a ladder that led to a plateau high enough to make it able for the person standing on it to aim the gun over the fence without getting completely caught in the crossfire, the body protected by the iron material of the fence.
The tan-furred mouse now looked at his left and saw the same plateau's, each manned by three humans who were shooting back at whatever was out there.
Further on the left, he saw the entrance of the camp, recognizable by the big sign wrapped in barbwire that hung above it.
Next to the gate stood a scaffold with a small cabin on top from which Throttle assumed was a lookout tower.
He saw a glimpse of auburn hair and that made him conclude that Charley, and possibly Max too, were inside the small cabin.
Looking up again, he decided to stay here to explore.
In a way, he had the feeling that Charley wouldn't like it that they were snooping around without her specific permission, but then again, she never literally told them that they weren't allowed to leave the tent.
Ben even told them they weren't prisoners and free to do as they pleased.
And so they did.
If Charley wasn't giving him answers, he was gonna find them by himself.

Again, that somehow familiar smell filled his nostrils, the same he'd smelled right after their not so smooth landing.
Fish.
Plutarkian gunfire.
"You guys smell that?", he asked his bro's, hoping that his nose was telling lies, that his brain was playing some sick game.
Both took a few deep breaths before Vinnie's face twisted in disgust.
"Ugh, man… It sure stinks. Hey, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear that stink is…"
"Plutarkian", Modo filled in for him. He gave his bro's a confused look.
"But that's not possible, right?"
"Hey! I already told ya that I heard Plutarkian weapons. There's nothing wrong with my hearing!", Vinnie protested, punching his older bro on the arm, who still didn't believe him.
"Yeah, right. How can there be nothing wrong with your hearing as being the self-proclaimed master of disaster, huh? All these explosions of yours must have damaged something in there, bro. There's no way that there are Plutarkians at the other side of that wall!"
Modo's heavy voice gave away a hint of anger, his eye even flickered red a couple of times and Throttle wasn't sure why the big guy was in such denial.
Of course, the tan-furred mouse still hoped that his young bro was wrong, but there were too many signs…
Signs he couldn't ignore.
Vinnie snorted, being annoyed that his older bro didn't believe him, even declared him crazy.
"Well, only one way to find out", and he limped to the ladder. He then looked up and rubbed his chin before looking back at his leg.
After repeating that movement a couple of times, he turned around and gave Modo one of his trademark smiles.
"How about a leg up, big fella?"
Modo rolled his one eye but did what his young bro asked him.
The sooner that white-furred loudmouth was gonna see with his own eyes that he was wrong on so many levels, the better.
After all, what were the odds that they were crashed on a planet that was being invaded by Plutarkians after fleeing from one?
Zero.
Nada.
Niente.

The big Martian Mouse positioned himself next to the ladder with his back towards the fence.
He then cupped his hands while slightly bending the knees.
Vinnie did a few clumsy steps back, his leg still way too painful to put some weight on it.
It was time to be creative to get up there and make his point without overloading his still injured leg.
"Ready when you are, little bro."
"Born ready, remember?", Vinnie smirked as he bend over.
After carefully placing his hands on the weird green stuff, he made a handstand.
Just like he'd practiced when that siren went off, back on Mars.
It felt like ages ago.
Biting his lower lip, he bend his elbows and with all the strength he had, which was a lot, he pushed himself off the ground.
Once in the air, he turned his body and landed with his left foot in Modo's hands.
The grey-furred giant bend further through the knees before stretching them to push his young bro up with all the strength he had him, which was even more than Vinnie, making him fly into the air.
Luckily for the white-furred youngster, he didn't fly high enough to look over the fence or more to the point; to get shot.
Vinnie made himself small and after a few perfectly smooth somersaults, he landed on his left foot on the plateau.
"Top of the morning, fella's!", he greeted the three human males who were already up there and now froze.
Well, two of them did, the third one made a weird little jump as a high scream left his mouth.
They all three looked over their shoulder with eyes big as saucers, startled by this unexpected company.
"What in the name of God?", the right one managed to bring out.
"How in the world did he get up here without us noticing?", the middle asked incredulously.
"Holy shit, that's one of these mice Charley told us about!", the left one exclaimed.
"I can see that my reputation is already preceding me", Vinnie snickered arrogant as he pushed two of the three men aside for a good view.
"Excuse me, gents, but this is a matter of life or death."

Exaggerating was one of the many talents the white-furred youngster had, although in his world, being right was indeed a matter of life or death.
He would do everything to get his right.
His ruby red eyes peeked over the fence and his smile got even bigger as he made a little victory dance on one foot.
"See?! I told ya! I told ya, I told ya, I told ya! There is nothing wrong with my hearing!", he babbled excitedly, but then he suddenly froze.
Because he was indeed looking at a group Plutarkians who were attacking Camp Hope.
Camp Hope.
Chicago.
Earth.
"Shit…"
He had been so focused on getting even, he hadn't thought for a second what it meant if he was indeed being right and it hit him like a wave.
Plutarkians.
On Earth.
"Ah, man… Can you believe this shit?"
They'd fled from their home planet after fighting for freedom for years, after fighting this cruel race originate from the planet Plutark who destroyed everything he once had.
A race who felt superior to every other species in the entire galaxy.
Oh, how much he hated them for it.
And if being forced to flee wasn't bad enough already, they had managed to crash on another planet that was being destroyed, that was being stolen from its people.
Bit by bit... little by little…
By the same cruel race called Plutarkian.
This was so ridiculous, it was almost funny.
Well, maybe not funny, but ironic to say at least.

Throttle, who was now standing behind him, looked between the big ears of his younger bro over the fence and his heart dropped.
Vincent was right.
That fact alone was bad enough since the young mouse would now make it his day job to constantly remind them that he was right and they were wrong.
But that paled in comparison to what he was looking at right now.
Plutarkians.
He would do anything to have Vinnie's bragging as main concern.
It felt like the ground was about to crumble out from under him and an invisible strap around his torso made it difficult to breathe.
He'd made a promise.
He'd promised that he would lead his bro's, his family to a better place after that devastating day on Mars.
He'd made that promise right before they launched into space, leaving their home planet behind.
After losing everything.
Two days.
It took him just two days to break that promise.

Modo, who already had a very bad feeling giving his bro's reactions, still needed to see it by himself to believe it. He knew it wasn't exactly mature, but he kept having this feeling of almost childish denial.
If one just looked the other way, it wasn't there.
It just didn't exist.
But the grey-furred giant knew it was now time to face reality.
Doubting his young bro was one thing, but to look the other way to ignore the unadulterated truth was another matter entirely.
So, he laid his hands, one metal, one flesh, on the metal edge of the fence in the small spaces between the sharp points and after taking a deep breath, he looked down.
It felt as if he was looking at a mirage. He'd seen mirages on Mars.
Something one could see that wasn't there or something that was there, but one couldn't see.
Mirages were deceiving.
This, however, was real.
And it broke his heart.
Another planet that was being destroyed, another planet that was taken away from its inhabitants.
Bit by bit… little by little…
"Oh, momma…"

Vinnie was the first to recover from the shock and he now saw that the Plutarkians were gaining ground, using brute force to get closer and closer to the fence.
The white-furred mouse then looked at his left.
On every plateau, the humans returned fire as an attempt to keep the fishes at a distance, but his exquisitely trained eye could see they weren't all familiarised with a weapon.
In fact, most of them gave the impression they were even uncomfortable with firing the gun, although the young mouse admired the fact that they at least tried.
The same was true at his right he saw after turning his head.
His hands were itching to take over, but he'd promised Throttle to keep a low profile.
But the thing was, keeping a low profile wasn't exactly one of his best qualities.
While he was having his inner battle, another explosion made him look at his left, so did his bro's.
"They're about to breach through the fence!", a male voice yelled in sheer panic.
"We need to stop them before they make it inside the camp!", another voice screamed.
Perhaps the humans were used to keep the fish at a distance, but now the Plutarkians were about to invade the camp it was panic that took over and everybody was firing their gun at random, creating even more chaos.
The three men standing next to Vinnie had already opened fire again, the weird creatures behind them completely forgotten.
After watching them for a short moment, the white-furred mouse rolled his eyes in annoyance because of the stupidity of these human beings and his instinct took over.
"Ugh, gimme that", and he yanked the gun out of the hands from the guy at his right, who gave a soft yell of indignation in return, one Vinnie ignored.
The young mouse took a quick look at the gun, for it was different than the ones he owned. Still, the concept was the same.
Steady, aim, fire and boom… the target ain't no threat anymore.
"Come on, bro's, we're not just gonna stand here and do nothing, right?", and after spinning the gun around his finger, he aimed and opened fire.
Of course, he didn't miss and his shots were each carefully targeted.
One by one, the fish closest to the fence went down.
"Aaaaoooww, eat that, stinkfaces! No one is endangering planets when the baddest mamma jammer from Mars is around!", the white-furred mouse cheered happily.
"Come on, big fella, before he's basking the glory all by himself", Throttle said to his older bro as he turned around and gently but firmly took the gun from the guy who stood next to him.
"Sorry, but I need to borrow this for a moment, thank you very much."
The guy didn't respond, he was staring at Vinnie who was now balancing on one foot on the edge of the fence, still shooting at the Plutarkians at his left and still not missing one single shot.
"Show-off", Throttle murmured as he shook his head, but he couldn't stop himself from smiling a bit.
He then looked at his other bro.
"You take the right side, Modo, I'll handle the ones in the front."
The grey-furred giant nodded and his laser popped out of his bionic arm.
"No problem", and he too opened fire.
Throttle loaded the gun he took from the human male, feeling a pang of annoyance when he noticed how sluggish the mechanism was.
The gun was of an older type he didn't know and looking at Vinnie, humans apparently used bullets instead of laser.
Bullet guns were rare on Mars because they were known to be slow, next to the fact that you could run out of ammo in the middle of a fight.
The odds of that happening with a laser gun were extremely small, so it was no surprise that the mice preferred laser.
It was the Martian Government Army who used bullet guns and look what that brought them.
Defeat after defeat before being completely wiped out.
With a sigh, Throttle rested the barrel of the gun on the metal edge of the fence and opened fire.
Perhaps he wasn't that obsessed with weapons like his younger bro, he did have some preferences and this wasn't one of them.
But right now, he had to make the best of it because it was obvious the humans needed help.
And so he and his bro's gave it to them.
It was the least they could do after what the people in this camp had done for them and there simply wasn't enough time to go look for their own weapons.

Vinnie was, of course, having the time of his life, even though the weapon in his hands was ancient and slow, but it didn't bother him that much.
Sadly, fighting a war was all he'd ever known, but it was something he was good at and so he didn't complain.
Soon, his gun was empty but instead of giving it back to its original owner, he dropped it on the head of a Plutarkian right under him and the unfortunate fellow went down like a brick.
"Ha! Who said that bullet guns are boring?", and he made a backflip.
After landing on his left foot back on the platform, he quickly snatched the small handgun out of his ankle holster and continued the firefight.
Throttle was a bit neater than his impulsive little bro because when his gun was empty, he gave it back to the guy from who he had taken it in the first place.
"Thanks, mate."
He then took the gun from the third guy with an apologetic look on his face.
"Sorry, but this is an emergency."
"Sure, take it, it's yours, all yours", the human babbled a bit dazed, deeply impressed by the shooting skills of all three mice.

Soon, and with the help of a few humans who did know how to use a weapon, the mice managed to take down most of the Plutarkians.
The few who survived quickly fled the scene, accompanied by loud cheering of the human crowd.
"That's right! You run!"
"Run back to your mother, you Samaki pussy!"
"And stay away this time!"
"Aaaaooww, hell yeah, no doubt, the Biker Mice are back in the game!", Vinnie howled happily, clearly enjoying the attention of the people around him who were now cheering at all three of them, but of course, the young mouse had no problem with taking credit.
"Please, please, autographs later… Forget the thank you notes, the expensive gifts, this is just what heroes do!"
Throttle and Modo shared a look and heaved a sigh at the same time.
"Oh momma, they shouldn't boost his ego like that…"
"Nope… But hey, at least we know what the main topic of our conversations is gonna be for the next six months…"
"As if he took care of it all by himself..."
"Yeah, well, what's new?"
"It doesn't make it less annoying, though."
"I feel ya, big guy, I feel ya…"
It was a female voice who interrupted their little male grumble session.
"Making friends already, huh?"
Throttle looked at his right and saw Charley taking the last steps on the ladder.
"I thought I told you guys to take some rest but apparently, these words have a different meaning on Mars than they do here on Earth…"
The tan-furred mouse looked into her green eyes, searching for a hint to find out if she was mad or not.
Again, he noticed how hard she was to read, how she was able to lock away her emotions.
The only thing that stood out was the small frown between her brows being absent.
That was good news.
Was it?
"We uh… we were just…", he started, but to his utter shock, he noticed he was actual stuttering.
He never stuttered.
Modo gave him a look before taking over.
"We just wanted to help, Charley ma'am, we meant no disrespect", he said polity.

Throttle opened his mouth as an attempt to save what was left to be saved but he clammed up and so he quickly closed it again, mainly to avoid he was gonna embarrass himself even more.
He had no idea what had gotten into him.
Perhaps it had something to do with what happened on their last day on Mars, for it was a deep and dark day, but he somehow found that very hard to believe.
Charley's gaze wandered from Modo back to him and for a moment, she just stared at him with that intense look in those beautiful green eyes of her.
Then, without any warning, a big smile appeared on her face as her eyes started to twinkle and Throttle felt how his mouth became dry.
"Are you kidding? Disrespect? What you guys just did was… awesome!", she exclaimed.
The happy look on her face was more than just cute and Throttle wondered if this was a glimpse of the person she once was, instead of that serious and sad woman she was nowadays.
It was then when Vinnie decided to interfere, now the threat of a scolding was gone.
Of course.
"You think this was awesome? Oh, man, you should see us when we're really getting wild, sweetheart. This was just a warm-up", he said when he popped up next to her, smiling his most charming smile.
Charley looked at her side, straight into the twinkling red eyes of the youngest of the trio.
"Oh really?", she asked, still with that smile on her face but Throttle heard a slight sarcastic subtext.
Vinnie, however, was completely oblivious, seeing her attention pointed at him as an open door and so, he started to babble about him and his bike being undefeatable, how good he was when he used weapons of his own, even something about a fan club back on Mars…
Blablabla...
Throttle rolled his eyes behind his glasses, a childish gesture, that he knew.
Luckily, nobody was able to see it because of his specs and he turned his gaze away, taken back a bit by this unexpected feeling of annoyance.
Because that's what he was.
Annoyed that his younger bro was flirting with Charley this openly and insolent.
Like he always did when a female was around.
So why did he care so much?
Usually, he didn't.
As the tan-furred mouse was still wrapped up in this inner conflict, the wind suddenly turned and a breeze went through Charley's hair.
At first, Throttle didn't even notice, for it seemed to be innocent.
But suddenly, a delicious smell tickled his nostrils and without thinking, he took a deep breath.
Looking back, he just wished he didn't.
Because the way his body reacted made him even more confused than he already was.
If he thought that feeling relief because she didn't succumb to Vinnie's charms earlier that day was weird and shocking, how was he supposed to describe what happened right now?
He had no idea.

From the moment he smelled her scent, a shock went through his whole body and he suddenly felt every nerve, small and big, tingle like never before.
It was like his body woke up after being asleep for a very long time and it was the weirdest experience he ever had.
His muscles vibrated under his skin and fur as his gaze landed back on Charley.
It was the first time he saw her in day light and this weird thing that was happening to his body made his vision somehow even sharper, his sense of smell keener and his hearing more accurate, although he couldn't figure out the words Vinnie, Charley and Modo were saying.
All he could see was how beautiful her skin was in the light.
How white her teeth were when she smiled.
How deep green her eyes were, twinkling in the sunlight.
Her scent was something he'd never smelled before and so there were no words to describe how good it was.
He also saw how Vinnie was standing a bit too close to her and without any warning, he suddenly got overwhelmed with pure rage.
His fists clenched with so much strength that he felt his nails cut right through his leather fingerless gloves and skin.
His tan fur bristled and his long tail lashed through the air.
Gritting his teeth, he scraped every piece of self-control he owned together to stop himself from doing something he knew he was gonna regret later on, but it was hard.
All he wanted right now was to grab his younger bro by the scruff and drag him away from her, to wipe that stupid and arrogant smile off his face, to teach him a lesson about how to treat a lady with respect, especially someone special like Charley, and…

"Throttle?"
Modo's heavy voice made the tan-furred mouse snap back to reality and with that, the anger vanished like smoke in the wind, leaving confusion and shame behind.
What the hell?
"You okay, bro? You look a little… off…", Modo asked, obviously feeling his bro's distress, but clueless about the reason.
Throttle took a few deep but shaky breaths as an attempt to calm himself down, but this physical reaction shook him to the core.
What shocked him even more, as far as that goes, was that he almost lost control just now.
He never lost control.
Well, perhaps he did, sometimes, but not like this.
Certainly not like this.
Knowing he needed to keep this to himself, he forced himself to give Modo a reassuring smile, but it felt fake.
Unreal.
"I ah… I… Yeah, yeah, no harm, no foul."
His husky voice sounded a few octaves higher than usual, a thing that alerted his older bro even more.
Throttle couldn't blame him, he was acting weird and he knew it, but he just couldn't stop it.
That's what frightened him the most.
That he had little to no control over whatever was happening to him whatsoever.
He needed to have control.
Running a shaking hand through his hair, Throttle glanced at Modo, to find his eye fixed upon him in a most searching gaze.
He then looked at Vinnie, who had even stopped talking to look at his bro and leader.
Even he felt the waves of distress the tan-furred mouse radiated and just like Modo, he had no idea why their leader was being this upset all of a sudden.
At this very moment, Throttle had no intention to tell them what just happened, for he had no idea either.
The burning gazes of both his bro's made the usually unflappable leader even more uneased and so he cleared his throat as he looked at Charley.
For the first time since ever, he was happy with the specs that were resting on his nose because now he could avoid looking Charley in the eye without her noticing.
Without anybody noticing for that matter.
Focussing his attention on her nose, he kept his breathing as shallow as possible.
"We need to…"
"...talk. I know", Charley finished his sentence and she already started her climb down, clearly, she hadn't picked up Throttle's distress, or perhaps she pretended not to.
Either way, he was grateful for it.
"Follow me."
When Throttle gestured to his bro's to go first, his mind was already elsewhere again and therefore, he didn't see the confused and worried look that Modo and Vinnie shared.
There was only one question that kept repeating in his head, for a moment everything else including the Plutarkians forgotten.
What on Mars and Earth was wrong with him?

'Separate...
Sifting through the wreckage I can't concentrate...
Searching for a message in the fear and pain...
Broken down and waiting for the chance to feel alive...'