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Till next time, my dear friends!
Later!

Chapter 12

'Give me the strength of the rising sun...
Give me the truth of the words unsung...'

Throttle stared at the sun rising from the deep horizon, his head making overtime after their first full day on this planet called Earth.
It was beyond crazy how much could happen in only a few days, it was almost too much to take in.
The tan-furred mouse looked to the sky and he couldn't help himself but wonder how things were going on Mars right now.
Was it possible that there were survivors?
Or was the entire population of Martian Cave Mice wiped out?
Apart from them, that is.
He heaved a sigh.
He would probably never know for they were stuck here.
Here.
On planet Earth, where things were even more complicated than they had been on Mars.
And only because of a woman.
Never had he thought that a woman was able to rock his foundation the way Charley did.
Modo had asked him to figure it out, but he wasn't entirely sure how.
Of course, he tried.
He tried very hard.
So hard, that he hadn't been able to sleep which was weird given the fact how tired he was.
But here he was, sitting outside their tent, looking at the sunrise with a spinning head after a restless and sleepless night.

They had worked on the bikes until deep in the night and thanks to the fully equipped garage, their beloved rides were now ready to rock again.
After that, it had cost Throttle his tremendous powers of persuasion to stop Vinnie from going for a little test drive, even though he too had yearned for a ride on his dear bike.
But waking up the entire camp in the middle of the night was not something he wanted to have on his conscience.
Not only because their bikes weren't as silent as the electrical vehicles on this planet, but because Throttle knew all too well what Vinnie meant with a 'test drive.'
That would come with weapons, explosions and a lot of battle cries.
After all, 'silent' didn't exist in Vinnie's vocabulary.
Come to think of it, that boy had a rather limited vocabulary.
Eventually, it had been Ben who had interrupted their discussion with the message that he was picking them up to show them to their own tent so that they had a private place to sleep.
Charley hadn't shown her pretty face the whole night, a given that had somehow worried Throttle.
After all, she had been so excited at the prospect to work on their bikes, eager to take a closer look at the for her alien technology.
But when they followed Ben to their tent, they had spotted a big plume of smoke in the distance and after Modo had asked the human doctor for the reason, Throttle's worries had been assuaged.
"They're burning the bodies of the Samaki outside the camp", Ben had answered. "After all, alien or not, dead bodies don't clean themselves up."
"Is Charley with them?", the tan-furred mouse had asked in return and after giving him a curious and investigative look, the doctor had nodded to confirm his thoughts.

Throttle took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
They had begun to sting to never stop ever since they set foot on this planet and first, he had chalked it up to tiredness.
But now he wasn't so sure anymore.
Maybe he needed to ask Ben to take a look at it, but then again, what did a human doctor know about bionic eyes which were made by their biggest and common enemy?
When he put his glasses back on, he was already thinking back at the relief he had felt when Ben had confirmed that Charley was with her people, doing things a leader should do.
It made him realize that he felt this strong and great need to protect her.
To keep her safe.
Why though?
She didn't need him to keep herself safe, this whole camp was the proof of that.
But what about Max?
Right.
Max.
Throttle shifted his weight and pulled his legs up.
As he wrapped his arms around them, he rested his chin on his knees, looking at how the sun slowly climbed higher and higher.
It was such a different view than he was used to and for a moment, he was mesmerized by the sight.
Who wouldn't?
The deep blue sky alone was breath taken to see given the fact that his eyes were used to look at a pink one.
The tan-furred Martian Mouse let out his breath.
Modo had asked him to figure this thing out and he did.
Well, sort of.
But he couldn't lie to himself, not anymore.
And even though he still had no idea why and how this was gonna work out, he did know one thing.
He was, without a doubt, attracted to this amazing creature who carried the name Charley.
Only admitting this to himself instead of fighting it, what he had done until this moment he now realized, gave him some sort of strange feeling of peace.
It made him able to see things a lot more clear and he finally felt a bit more like himself again, even though he still had that restless feeling that came with having no control.
But as Modo said, sometimes the heart beats the head.
And there was nothing he could do about it.
Except for letting go and stay on the path that the universe had chosen for him.

It was Vinnie who broke him out of his trance and Throttle looked at his right to see the young mouse taking place next to him.
Although he was yawning like he just woke up, the tan-furred mouse could easily tell that he wasn't the only one who had a sleepless night.
Thanks to the white fur, the dark circles under his ruby-red eyes were clearly visible and they usually weren't there.
"Modo's still asleep?"
"Out like a light", the white-furred youngster managed to get out between his yawns.
"Rough night?"
Vinnie shrugged as another big yawn escaped his mouth, therefore not able to answer the question, although Throttle had the feeling he didn't want to either.
Still, he was curious about what had kept the young mouse out of his sleep.
On the other hand, he didn't need a looking glass to know that he himself didn't look that well either and if he was gonna ask Vinnie for an explanation, the white-furred mouse would certainly play the ball back to him.
And he was not in the mood to talk about Charley with his young bro.
Not until he knew where Vinnie stood with the human female.
Despite the fact that he needed glasses to have good vision, Throttle wasn't blind.
He knew damn well that the white-furred mouse was interested in Charley too.
He just didn't know how interested.
But this morning, after a sleepless night, after everything that went down the last couple of days…
This morning wasn't the time nor the place to start that conversation.

"That blue sky is so weird. It's gotta take me some time to get used to it, I guess", Vinnie broke him out of his thoughts again.
"Yeah, it is weird, alright", Throttle agreed.
A long silence followed as the two mice and brother's in arms just sat there, taking in the view that Earth had to offer them.
"You think we ever go back? Ya know... to Mars?", the white-furred mouse eventually broke the silence a bit hesitant, rubbing his wounded leg absent-mindedly as his gaze was still focussed on the for them unfamiliar sky.
Throttle glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and he suddenly realized again how young Vinnie actually was.
It was a fact, but so often forgotten.
War made a mouse forget a lot of things that seemed less important at first glance, but that didn't mean they weren't.
"I don't know", the leader of the trio answered the question honestly.
Vinnie heaved a sigh as he picked up a small stone from the ground.
"So, guess we better make the best of it then, huh?", and after studying it for a little while, he threw the little rock away.
Throttle's bionic eyes followed the small object till it landed in the grass and he nodded.
"Yeah, it's our only option for now."
"Then you know we need to tackle Max."
"And we will."
"Promise?"
Throttle looked his young bro straight in the eye as he held up two fingers and laid the other hand on his chest at the level of his beating heart.
"Bikers honor."
He wasn't entirely sure why Vinnie was this hell-bent on getting rid of Max.
Sure, the guy was disgusting, a very nasty personality and Throttle wanted him gone too.
Still…
"But it's gonna take some time. Bigger picture, remember?"

Vinnie initially didn't respond and Throttle assumed that the easily distracted mouse was already with his mind elsewhere, but little did he know.
"She's gonna deny it, you know that right?"
Throttle turned his head and looked at Vinnie with surprise written on his face.
The white-furred mouse already seemed to regret saying that out loud, shifting his weight uncomfortably and avoiding his leader's gaze, but it was too late.
Because now it was Throttle's curiosity that was piqued.
"What makes you say that?"
Vinnie shrugged in an attempt to look nonchalant, even though the signs were there that he was more than just uncomfortable.
"That's just how these things work, right? Everybody knows that."
"Hm, guess I'm not everybody then, because I have no idea what you're talking about."
Of course, the tan-furred mouse had a slight idea where Vinnie was getting at, but he wasn't planning on putting words in his big mouth.
Vinnie rubbed his face, mumbling something about him being unable to keep his mouth shut and Throttle smiled, he just couldn't stop himself.
So it seemed that not only he and Modo were so-called victims of the fact that Vinnie was suffering from the foot-in-mouth syndrome.
Mister loudmouth himself wasn't always pleased with himself either.
What a wonderful news on this early morning.

The young mouse let out his breath and looked to the sky again.
"Well, it's just like I said it; she's gonna deny it."
"Why?"
"Because she's ashamed. Scared too. Because deep down, she probably still loves him, despite everything. It's all a mind game, man. A sick and disturbing mind game. It's some crazy shit, that's what it is."
Throttle stared at him, for this all came from a very unexpected source.
Sure, he knew that his young bro wasn't dumb, because he wasn't.
But he was young, wild and not taking life all too serious, most of the time that is.
So to hear him say his, to hear him talk about this very complicated and delicate matter was… astonishing to say at least.
"How you do you know?", Throttle asked, trying to hide the surprise in his voice, but of course, that failed.
Vinnie shrugged, it seemed that he either hadn't heard the shock in his bro's voice or he had decided to ignore it and picked up another pebble.
"I've seen it up close and personal, but trust me, we don't wanna go there."
Throttle suddenly remembered Stoker telling him that Vinnie didn't come from a loving family. He had left out the details though, and Throttle hadn't asked either because he had known that Stoker would never tell.
The brown-furred mouse always had been very careful with sharing confidential information and Throttle could only respect that.
After all, it wouldn't be fair if a mouse would tell another mouse's stories.
Throttle laid a hand on Vinnie's shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, well, it's history now."
So was Mars.

"You really think she loves him?", the tan-furred mouse asked after another silence, still getting used to the fact that he was having this conversation with his young and rebellious brother.
"I dunno, man... Like I said, it's some crazy ass shit, bro."
Hearing the slightly desperate tone in Vinnie's voice made Throttle more than just restless, but he remained calm on the outside.
Panicking wasn't going to help Charley.
"Still, there must be a way to help her."
Vinnie was still playing with the small rock.
"Maybe we need to speed up the process. Provoke him a little. Maybe then he's gonna show his true nature…"
The white-furred mouse threw away the stone with all his strength, but this time it landed on one of the other tents with a loud thump, an action that wasn't appreciated by its owner.
"Hey! Some people are trying to sleep here, you know!", a muted voice came out of the green tent.
"Whoops... sorry! Hehe..."
But Throttle hardly noticed all this. Vinnie's words now dawned upon him and he ran a slightly trembling hand through the bangs between his big ears.
"But if we provoke him, he might take it out on Charley. For all we know, he might even kill her."
But Vinnie shook his head.
"Nah, he won't."
"We don't know that. We don't know him, we can't predict what he will do if we back him in a corner", the tan-furred mouse stuck to his point, far from comforted.

Finally, Vinnie looked at him and Throttle saw the determination in his crimson eyes.
"Trust me, he won't."
Then, a slightly challenging smile appeared on his face as he punched his leader on the arm.
"Come on, fearless leader, where are your guts, huh? You can't always play safe and you of all mice should know that. Sometimes, you just gotta have the balls to push the button and let the whole thing blow."
"Not if someone's life is at risk, I'm not."
"There's only one life at risk here and it definitely ain't Charley's."
The threat in his voice was clearly hearable and Throttle now understood Vinnie's urgent need to take down Max.
It was all based on old pain.
To have an opportunity to do the right thing this time.
Throttle may not know much about Vinnie's past, but the fact that the white-furred mouse had joined the Freedom Fighters at such a young age could only mean that things went south with his family.
Therefore, the tan-furred leader knew he was walking on thin ice now.
Vinnie could be right, as someone who's been there.
But at the same time, he had to be careful not to follow the young mouse on his road to revenge.
There was too much at stake, once again.
Charley.
"I'll think about it."
"Whatever, man. Just don't think too long. Don't make the same mistake as I did", Vinnie answered as he climbed back on his feet. Before Throttle could ask what he meant with that, the young mouse was already back in the tent.
For a moment, he could only stare at the ground in confusion.
Did he really just have that conversation with the rebel of their small but successful group or was he hallucinating?
No, it was real.
And it made things even more complicated.

…

"Good morning. I hope your new accommodation is to your satisfaction?", Charley greeted them with a warm smile when the three mice sat down at the table for breakfast.
"It's quite comfortable, Charley ma'am", Modo answered polity.
"Yeah, thanks, babe, we really appreciate all the things you've done for us so far", Throttle added as he quickly switched place with Vinnie, because believe it or not, that loudmouth had picked the chair across Max.
Again.
Throttle didn't care anymore if it might look weird or would raise questions, the young mouse shouldn't be sitting across Max and that's that.
End of story.
Vinnie looked a bit annoyed when his leader dragged him off his seat, but even he probably knew he couldn't argue with this theory because he said nothing.
In fact, nobody did.
There wasn't really that much left to say, not after the fight from yesterday.
That was proof enough that these two needed to stay out of each other's fairway as much as possible.

Max, who sat next to Charley, looked at them with a face like thunder, his nose swollen.
Given the fact that humans had hairless faces, the bruises weren't that hard to miss either and Vinnie couldn't stop himself but to smile, proud of his work.
He almost asked if it still hurt, but he stopped himself right on time.
After all, he'd promised Throttle to leave Max alone, bigger picture and all.
For now, that is.
But his smile faded when his gaze landed on his plate.
"Hey! What's this? No hotdogs?"
His high-pitched voice managed to break the rising tension and Ben, who on his turn sat next to Max, answered Vinnie's question.
"That's what we call a salad, my dear boy."
"But… it's green. That means it is a plant. Isn't that reason enough to not eat it?", the white-furred mouse asked as he carefully took one salad leaf off his plate, using only two fingers and with a suspicious look on his face.
As if the food would sneeze vitamins into his face or whatever it was that was going through his head.
"It's healthy. If we would eat hotdogs every day, we'll grow out of our clothes. And in a world like this, being fat is dangerous", Ben explained with a little smile, jovial as he was.
In spite of all the misery he was surrounded by, it seemed that the human doctor was blessed with a good spirit and Throttle noticed that he really liked the man.
He was honest and sincere, qualities that were rare these days.
On Mars, that is, but the tan-furred mouse figured this was also the case on Earth.
For in times of need, most people dropped the act and took off their mask to reveal their true nature, which wasn't pretty most of the time.

Vinnie sniffed at the leaf and his whole face twisted in disgust as he dropped it back on his plate.
"Ugh, no way I'm gonna eat that."
That yielded him a glare from Modo.
"As my old grey-furred momma used to say; you'll eat what's on the table and you'll be grateful for it as well. The people here share their food with us, Vin, it's plain rude to pass up."
"Besides, since when do you skip a meal, huh? On Mars you used to eat everything that came on your path, including healthy stuff. I remember they used to call you Vinnie the Dumpster...", Throttle added.
"They did not! Well, they did, but...", but the tan-furred mouse didn't let him finish that sentence.
They wanted him to be here, right?
As in, right here.
It was only yesterday that Modo had asked him to do what he was good at, namely; being a leader where people could rely on.
And so he did, because Modo was right.
Refusing a meal could be an insult to the human's hospitality.
"You're gonna eat that and that's final."
The tone of his voice said it all and Vinnie grumbled something unintelligible before he reluctantly started his meal.
Throttle did the same, but when he took the first bite, he almost shivered of disgust and he needed to stop himself from gagging.
This... salad thing was inedible to say the least.
When he glanced at Modo from the corner of his eye, he saw the grey-furred mouse chewing on the strange food a bit difficult with a doubtful look on his face, telling the leader that he wasn't the only one having trouble with this meal.
But they both had no other choice but to suck it up and eat the entire portion, simply because they had lectured Vinnie just now.
The white-furred mouse saw their faces and immediately smelled an opportunity to get back at them.
His lips curled into a smug smile and he leaned forward towards Ben.
"I think my two bro's would love to have a refill after they've finished this one."
Both Throttle and Modo jerked upright, but Ben gave Vinnie a confused look.
"But no one ever asked for a second helping of this salad…"
"Geez, I wonder why?", the white-furred mouse reacted so-called shocked, but Throttle heard the sarcastic subtext and he quickly intervened.
No way that he was able to eat another round of this terrible dish and knowing Vinnie, he would pull it off, too.
It was for the best to stop this before the young mouse got the chance.
"It's okay, Ben, he's just messing around. We're good, right, big fella?"
Modo nodded firmly, without a doubt being on the same page.
"Oh yeah, yeah, we most definitely are."
Ben shrugged and continued his meal.
"Whatever you want, laddies."

Now that threat had passed, Throttle peeked at Charley as he took another bite.
She was eating her salad with a blank face and the frown was back in full glory.
Her eyes weren't twinkling either.
He realized that she was back to her closed self again and it somehow made his heart ache.
It also set things in motion.
Perhaps things weren't that complicated.
Maybe he just made them complicated.
But seeing that she had raised her walls back up was enough for him to make a decision and he cleared his throat.
"We've talked about your proposal."
Up until this moment, he had planned to tell her the outcome of their conversation in private, or at least, not in Max's presence.
But with Vinnie's words in the back of his mind, he now immediately went for the attack.
Full force.
Because he couldn't stand to look into these dead and empty eyes anymore, not for a second longer.
She didn't deserve this, even though he still wasn't sure what was going on.
But the time had arrived to find out.
One way or another.

From the moment the words left his mouth, Charley froze.
So did Max.
But Charley was the first to recover and she looked up at him, her beautiful green eyes now filled with hope and Throttle felt a tingle in his belly.
The look on her face confirmed his feeling that he made the right decision.
And now it was time to have the balls to push the button and let it all blow, as Vinnie so wonderfully described.
"We've decided we wanna stay. Not just that, we wanna help you in your fight with the Plutarkians as well."
Throttle kept a close eye on both Charley and Max while Ben clapped in his hands.
"That's marvelous news!", he exclaimed, perhaps as an attempt to lift the mood since it just dropped below freezing point.
Charley's eyes lit up and for a moment, she was back to that happy, carefree and lighthearted girl she had been yesterday, even if it was for a few moments.
Max, however, looked like he was gonna explode any second now, with his teeth clenched and that throbbing vein in his forehead.
So, Throttle decided to drop the last bomb.
"On one condition. We want our weapons back."

And there it was.
Max jumped at his feet and his chair clattered on the floor with a lot of noise.
"Over my dead body!", he spat out as he pointed a finger in Throttle's direction, who wasn't impressed at all.
It took a lot more to impress him than a hot-headed human who couldn't keep his hands to himself.
"That can be arranged", Vinnie replied sharply, immediately triggered by the aggressive reaction of the human male and he too got up on his feet, the food and his promise forgotten.
Throttle grabbed his arm and dragged him down, back on his chair.
"Patience, Vincent. Patience", he whispered, so soft that it could only be heard by Martian ears.
The white-furred mouse grinded his teeth but gave a small nod in return, to let his leader know that he got the message, although it took a lot of his self-control to remain on his seat.
After one more glare at Vinnie, Max turned his head and looked at Charley with fuming eyes, his fists clenched.
"I need to talk to you. In private."
Charley looked at her plate, which wasn't empty yet.
"I'm having breakfast, we can talk about this la…"
"Now, Charley."

The compelling tone in the human male's voice didn't escape Throttle and he narrowed his eyes behind his glasses when he heard Charley's heartbeat rise.
Even worse, he could almost smell her cold sweat and for a moment, he felt a pang of regret, maybe even fear.
Perhaps he'd unleashed pure evil by following Vinnie's advice, but then he realized that was exactly what needed to happen to stop this.
The young mouse was right, she was never going to tell him if Max was hurting her.
Because if he was, there was only one way to find out and that was catching him red-handed.
So, he said nothing and let things run its course, even though it ran counter with who he was.
But as someone very wise once told him; 'A good tactic is to never use the same tactic. Only then a mouse can be unpredictable. Only then a mouse can be a dangerous opponent.'
Charley looked one more time at her plate and heaved a sigh.
She then looked at the mice and Ben, her green eyes already empty again.
"If you'll excuse us for now…"

Throttle followed her with his eyes, seeing how she followed Max like a Martian Sheepy Sheep, her shoulders slumped and her head low.
It was at odds with the strong woman who had build a camp in this broken world, who had given people back a home.
More to the point; she had created a community that gave people back their hope.
How on Mars was it possible that Max was able to pull her strings like this?
Maybe Vinnie was right.
Maybe it was all a sick mind game.
That was actually the only thing that made sense right now.
"Shouldn't we go after her?", Modo asked worriedly when the door closed with a bang.
"My thoughts exactly, big fella", Throttle answered.
"Oh yeah, it's hero time", Vinnie smirked and they all three got up, but Ben leaned over the table and grabbed Throttle's arm.
"No, you can't go after her!"

The tan-furred mouse froze and he looked at the hand on his arm before his gaze landed on Ben's face.
There was no anger, only despair and maybe even fear readable in his brown eyes.
"Why not? What do you know?", he asked, his husky voice lower than usual.
Ben picked up the threatening tone and quickly let go of the Martian Mouse as if he just caught fire, probably remembering their first meeting now.
"Nothing. I only know that you need to leave them alone."
His voice had something pleading, and Throttle narrowed his eyes in confusion.
He too remembered their first meeting, the conversation they had on their first night here, how loyal he had been to Charley when the tan-furred leader had asked him for answers.
He cared about her.
So why was he stopping them?
Because one thing was for sure, Ben knew a lot more than he pretended to know.
Good people were bad liars, that was nothing more but a fact.
"Why? What is going on between these two?"
The human doctor opened his mouth, but then closed it again as he ran a hand through his almost grey hair, clearly conflicted.
"You care about her, right?", Throttle now asked when it was clear that Ben wasn't gonna answer the previous question.
"Of course I do. She's like the daughter I never had. And that's why you can't follow them. I'm saying that to protect her."
"Protect her from what?", Modo now interfered.
Ben gave him a helpless look.
"I can't tell. He's gonna kill me if I do, or worse, kill Charley."
Vinnie placed his hands on the table and leaned forward, looking straight into Ben's eyes.
"With he you mean Max, I suppose?"
Ben hesitated, but then nodded in answer and the white-furred mouse got back upright.
"Not if we kill him first."
"You don't know what you're saying, he's dangerous, no man ever dared to stand up to him…"
"Well, then it's a good thing we ain't men", Vinnie replied casually, having no shred of fear whatsoever.
No, hearing all this made him even more determined, as far as that goes.

Modo was staring at Ben with his one eye already glowing red.
"You knew. You knew and you did nothing?", he asked in disbelief, and his cannon popped out of his bionic arm as an automatic response to his anger.
He probably wasn't even aware of it.
But Ben was and his eyes grew big as he raised his hands in front of his body.
"No, please, listen to me, it's far more complicated than you think…"
But the grey-furred giant didn't budge.
"You're standing here, claiming that you care about her and yet, you let all of this happen. That ain't complicated. That smells more like a coward to me…"
But before things went completely out of control, Throttle intervened.
"Easy, big fella, we don't wanna make things worse by acting out of emotion. I know how this affects you, it does to all of us, but we don't kill innocent people."
Because Throttle truly believed that Ben was innocent.
He probably was just a piece on someone's board.
But looking into the doctor's eyes, he just knew that Ben was a good man, he felt in every cell of his body.
And he always trusted on his instinct.
Modo still stared at Ben, but his cannon went back in his arm with a buzzing sound.
"I really hate to break up this little tea party, but we're wasting time here", Vinnie broke the loaded silence and for once, he was right.
Throttle looked at Ben, who was still holding his hands in front of his body and from the sound of it, his heart almost exploded out of his chest.
"I'm sure you know where we can find them?", the leader of the Biker Mice asked calmly, not having the intention to scare the poor man even more.
Ben still seemed to be conflicted about what to do, but just when the tan-furred mouse was about to repeat his question a bit more compellingly, the human doctor looked up with determination in his eyes.
"I'll come with you. This has gone on long enough. Follow me."

…

Ben pulled on the door that led inside the factory, but apparently, it was locked.
His skin paled even more, as far as that goes, and he quickly grabbed a bunch of keys out of his pocket.
Throttle saw that he was having a bit trouble with putting the key in the lock because of his shaking hands and he fought the sudden urge to just blow the door out of his hinges.
One; that would be very Vinnie like and two; they needed the element of surprise.
Still, seeing the doctor this nervous made him more than jittery too, but he managed to keep his calm.
For now.
The door opened with a soft click, but before he pulled it open, Ben looked over his shoulder and held a finger against his lips.
The three mice nodded in return, to let him know that they got the message.
They needed to be quiet.
Quiet as mice.
When they entered the building, Throttle saw that the lights were on in the big hall.
His eyes immediately flew to the room with the big window and his heart skipped a beat.
There they were.
Max was pacing behind the window, waving his arms wildly as he was yelling at Charley, who sat on the couch like a withered Martian CuCu Cucumber.
Apparently, the room was soundproof, because the tan-furred mouse couldn't hear a word they were saying, not even with his sensitive hearing.

A fit of rage made Throttle's fur bristle when he saw the look on Charley's face, but he took a deep breath to suppress it.
As he said to Modo, they couldn't act out of emotion, although that seemed to be a bit harder than he thought.
But he needed to keep it together and approach this like one of their missions.
Professional and targeted.
He quickly dove behind one of the machines that was closest to him and his bro's did the same.
Ben, however, stayed behind a bit lost, not knowing what to do, but then a white-furred tail wrapped around his right wrist and he got pulled down.
"What are ya doing, man, standing there like that? You might as well give them a call that we're here", Vinnie hissed as he dragged the human doctor next to him.
Ben's cheeks colored red.
"I'm sorry, but I'm a doctor, not a soldier! I have no idea how these things work", he whispered back, adjusting his clothes.
Modo rolled his one eye and shook his head, probably still angry at the man for not standing up for Charley.
After all, one should never let down a damsel in distress.
"Then it may be for the best if you stay here, safely hidden before you blow up the mission."
"No, I want to help. You said it yourself, I knew and I did nothing. I want to make up for that mistake and this is my chance!"
Of course, not even Modo could argue with logic like that.
He even admired the fact that the human male had the guts to admit that he was wrong.
That took a lot of courage, perhaps even more than a soldier would ever possess.

Throttle quickly glanced at the room on the first floor, seeing that things hadn't changed before he looked at Ben.
"And what is it that you know?"
The doctor gave him a confused look, probably thinking that the mice were all up to speed already.
The tan-furred mouse couldn't blame him for thinking that, after all, he couldn't have known that they were acting out of suspicions and not facts.
"Too much…", he eventually answered with a sigh.
Throttle clenched his fists in frustration.
It appeared that this camp wasn't only giving hope.
It came with a lot of secrets too.
Dark and dirty secrets.
The tan-furred leader looked up again and his heart dropped when he saw Max grabbing Charley by the shirt to pull her closer to him, still yelling at her.
The blank look on Charley's face cut through his soul and his whole body convulsed when another fit of rage rushed through his veins, setting his whole body on fire.
And suddenly, he wasn't sure how long he was able to contain this unfamiliar feeling.
This… pure rage.
Hatred.
"Bro's… I think it's time for us to have a little chat with Max."
His voice matched his state of mind.
Low.
Raw.
He then looked at Ben, who looked back a bit worried, probably because of this sudden change in behavior.
"You stay here."
"But…"
"No. I'm saying this to protect you and the people in this camp. I'm not entirely sure what's gonna happen when we walk into that room and this camp needs its doctor."
When Ben opened his mouth to protest again, it was Vinnie who cut him off before he got the chance to say another word.
"What he means is that you're too valuable to die, doc."
Vinnie always had been more of a direct approach kind of mouse, which had its pros and cons.
This time, it was definitely a pro, because his words made impact and Ben slumped back against the machine, his eyes wide open as he processed these harsh, but true words.
But the mice didn't wait for an answer.
"Let's rock…", Throttle whispered as he gestured his two bro's to follow him.
"...and sneak", they all three finished in unison, Vinnie with disgust written all over his face.

Slowly but steady, they made their way towards the stairs, using the machines as their cover.
They still needed the element of surprise, after all.
"Ugh, how much I hate sneaking…", Vinnie muttered under his breath as he pressed his back against the wall and opened the door that led to the stairs with his tail.
Throttle glanced up one more time, but he couldn't see the two humans from this angle.
Modo, who was behind him and noticed his leader's hesitation, pushed him through the door.
Even though they weren't able to see the humans, they didn't know if Max was able to see them, so a hesitation like that could give them away.
When his two bro's were inside, Vinnie quickly followed them and let go of the door.
Modo saw it right on time and his tail stopped the door from closing with a loud bang.
"Vinnie!", he hissed with an annoyed look on his face. "We're sneaking!"
"Sorry, sorry, but you guys know I do my best work when we make a cool entrance", the white-furred mouse whispered back, also a bit twitchy.

Throttle hardly noticed all this, because now they were close, he could feel how this unfamiliar anger bubbled closer to the surface and suddenly, there was no time to waste.
It was his instinct that told him to get his tail into that room pronto, and so he marched up the stairs with a feeling that was the definition of determination.
Vinnie and Modo were still softly bickering when their leader just marched past them with a face like thunder and they both fell silent as they followed the tan-furred mouse with their eyes.
They shared a confused look, but it then seemed to dawn upon them that their leader was going in without them and they quickly followed him.
"I don't know what has gotten into him, but I like his new style", Vinnie snickered as he tiptoed up the stairs.
After all, it was him who usually pleaded for 'less talk, more booms.'
Modo, on the other hand, was a bit less enthusiastic.
The look on Throttle's face was new for him and truth to be told, it filled his heart with deep apprehension.
This whole thing with Charley made the tan-furred mouse more than just unstable and Modo suddenly wasn't sure what was going to happen when Throttle would walk into that room.
This insecurity was new to him because before this, the grey-furred giant used to trust his bro and leader blindly.
He followed up orders without blinking, simply because he knew that Throttle always tried to do the right thing.
Modo stared at the tensed back of his tan-furred bro as he followed him up the stairs and he realized he now wasn't so sure about all that, not anymore.
But there was nothing he could do, right now he had no other choice but to follow his bro and have his back.
He would always have his back.
They were bro's.
Family.
And brothers didn't turn their back on each other.
Never.

Throttle was completely oblivious to his older bro his worries because right now, all he could think of was that he needed to get into that room.
The anger was about to take over, he could feel it, and he did everything within his power to fight it.
To keep it on a leash.
But how does one control such strong and unknown force?
Suddenly, deep down, he realized something.
He had been worried about his bro's reaction when they would find out that Max was hurting Charley.
About Vinnie, the hot-head of the group, who already attacked Max for a lot less.
About Modo, the gentle one of the group, whose rage raised to unprecedented levels when one mistreated a lady in his presence.
But he couldn't have been more wrong.
He now knew as he walked up that stairs, driven by pure hatred...
It was him they needed to worry about.

'Every step that I take is one step closer to the edge and I'm about to break.'