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Later!

Chapter 13

Five more steps to go.
Four.
The sound of voices finally reached his ears.
Three.
One raw of anger, screaming.
Two.
The other one pleading, almost soothing.
One.

A high beep in Throttle's ears prevented him from hearing the words the voices were saying and if he needed to be honest to himself, he didn't care either.
Deep down, he knew he needed to stop, to take a moment to listen in order to gather as much information as possible.
But that would be the sensible way, a path he usually chose to follow.
But the unadulterated truth was that he was anything but sensible right now.
He was driven by an unknown but strong force called pure fury which forced him to walk a path he had never walked before.
It was a path walked by those who had lost control, who had nothing to lose and it scared him to death, because despite everything that was already taken away from him by the Plutarkians, he still had plenty much left to lose.
He didn't belong on this path and yet, here he was, but there wasn't a thing he could do about it.
Not anymore.

"Throttle, bro, you need to stop and take a deep breath", Modo tried to reason with his leader and friend, but the tan-furred mouse didn't seem to hear him.
This, in its turn, made the grey-furred giant a bit annoyed, knowing that things were about to spin out of control right under his nose, but there was nothing that he could do to stop it and his tail lashed through the air to vent some of the frustration without being loud.
Vinnie, who was close behind him, quickly ducked when he saw that the grey-furred tail was about to slap him in the face.
"Hey, watch it, man, this pretty face has already suffered enough", he hissed at Modo, ticking a fingernail against the metal mask on the right side of his face, but both his bro's ignored him for many obvious reasons.
The white-furred mouse pulled a face, but then quickly followed his bro's before he would miss something.
Because Throttle had now reached the door and without even bothering to try if it was locked, he just lifted his right foot and with an almost ear-deafening creaking, he kicked in the door.

Both Max and Charley looked over their shoulder to see who was responsible for this sudden and violent entrance, Max still holding Charley by her blouse.
When he saw who came in, he narrowed his eyes, his whole face twisted in anger.
It made him even more ugly.
"What part of 'talking in private' is so hard for you to understand? Get the fuck outta here, this ain't your business, mouse!", he roared, but Throttle wasn't even close to being impressed.
His gaze was fixed on Charley's face as he just silently continued his way towards them, and his eyes locked with hers.
It would be nice to tell that one look into her extraordinary gorgeous eyes made it possible for him to calm down, to handle this situation with a bit more subtlety, but this wasn't a fairy tale.
There was no happily ever after for those who were already trouble minded by war.
Everyone reached its breaking point, that horrific point of no return.
No exception and no matter the reason.

Throttle wasn't exactly aware of the fact that he was very close to that point now, all he could think of was that Max needed to get his filthy hands off of Charley. When he was within reach, Max lashed out with his free hand, probably as an attempt to punch the tan-furred mouse in the face.
But even though he might be army, Throttle was a well-trained Freedom Fighter and therefore, he saw Max his move coming from miles away already.
With that knowledge, it was now time to act and he grabbed the human male's wrist in an iron grip right before impact.
The surprised look on Max his face told Throttle that he, in turn, didn't see this one coming and he almost rolled his eyes behind his customized specs.
Army.
They were the same on every planet.

"This is as far as you can go. You let the lady go, now", the tan-furred mouse growled, hardly recognizing his own voice.
Perhaps it was because he still had this annoying high beep in his ears.
Perhaps it was because his anger grew even bigger when he now saw the cut in Charley's lip.
"You better do as he says. Or we make you…", Vinnie added with a low voice, now standing right behind Throttle to literally have his back, his fur bristled and being deadly serious.
"And not very polity", Modo finished the threat, popping up behind Vinnie with his eye glowing red, his worries about Throttle already forgotten from the moment he saw what was going on here.

Max his face darkened even more, his skin was now almost purple and the throbbing vein in his forehead looked like it was gonna explode any minute now.
Throttle saw how he opened his mouth, but he didn't give him the time to say whatever it was he wanted to say for he was still holding Charley.
And even if it were only five seconds that had passed since they demanded to let Charley go, it were five seconds too long.
So he tightened his grip around Max his wrist and with a loud knack, he broke the bone like it was nothing more but a dried twig of a dying Martian Piny Pinetree.
The sound was sickening, the feeling probably even beyond that and Max let out a blood-curdling scream.
The pain made him slacken his grip around Charley's blouse and she quickly did a few steps backward, her green eyes wide open in shock.

Max fell on his knees as he stared at his right hand, which was now bowed in an unnatural way, wailing in pain.
"Jesus! Look what you did, you stupid mouse! You broke my arm!", he moaned as he rocked back and forth, for a moment his bravado nowhere to be found.
It was both cruel and interesting what pain could do to the most hardened people, it was able to take away the shields they so carefully hid behind.
Throttle grabbed Max by his shirt and lifted him, his hand trembling in anger.
"You should've listened when you had the chance."
"You didn't even give me a chance!"
"Yeah, well, you snooze, you lose", the tan-furred mouse spat out and he quickly threw the human male towards Modo before he would really lose his mind and kill him right here, right now.

Modo easily caught him and Throttle now looked at Charley, who was standing at the other side of the room, her eyes still wide open.
It was the look on her face that made him able to fight this consuming anger, simply because he didn't want her to be scared of him like she was for Max.
It was very important that she knew he was different, even though it may look like he wasn't at this point.
"Are you okay?", he asked, his voice a bit calmer now, but from the inside, the anger was still whirling like a meteor storm.
"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine…", she eventually managed to bring out, shock still written on her face.
She looked at Max, who was almost dangling in Modo's grip, hardly able to stand on his feet as he still moaned in pain.
"What are you gonna do with him?"
Throttle didn't miss the fearful and worried undertone, but he shrugged as he ran a trembling hand through his hair, still fighting to control himself.
"I guess that's up to you."
Despite everything, he knew it was.
Seeing her, knowing that she was safe now made him able to build a little bridge back to the path of wisdom, even though it was a small and unstable one.
But it was there and after a small hesitation, he took the first wobbly steps.
For her.

In the meantime, Max now slowly seemed to realize what was happening and he lifted his head to look at Charley with fuming eyes.
"Charley, this is insane! Look what he did to me! Tell them to let me go!"
Charley stared at him as she lifted her hand and touched the cut in her lip.
She then looked down and after watching the blood on her finger for a while, she slowly shook her head.
"No…"
Max his eyes grew big when he heard that whisper in the wind and he finally found the strength to get back on his feet.
"What?"
She now moved her gaze from the blood back to him.
"I said no", she repeated, her voice now louder and more steady.
The anger on Max's face vanished like smoke in the wind, making him look like he was about ten years younger all of a sudden.
It got replaced by sadness mixed with a hint of panic.
"I'm sorry, baby, you know I am… Please, tell them to let me go. I never meant to hurt you, I never do, you know that... I promise you it won't happen again, but please… give me another chance to prove it."
His plea filled the whole room with pain and agony, but Vinnie snorted loudly in response as he folded his arms, not touched by it at all.
"Yeah, right", he muttered under his breath, but Throttle gave him a warning look.
Not because he didn't agree with his younger bro, on the contrary, but because he knew this decision had to made by Charley and by Charley alone.

For a moment, it looked like Charley was gonna give in, but when she heard Vinnie's disbelief and disgust, something suddenly changed in her eyes and she shook her head.
"No. Your promises mean nothing to me, not anymore…"
Max stopped struggling and even his eyes now filled with tears.
He looked so much different now, Throttle realized.
Maybe this was the real Max, the one who wasn't marked by his experiences.
On the other hand, it could still be an attempt to wriggle out of his plight, but either way, it was one hell of a performance.
One that he hoped Charley wouldn't fall for.
He sure as hell didn't.
"I know I fucked up, trust me I know, and you already gave me more chances than I've ever deserved, but please… just one more. One last chance is all I ask…"
Charley didn't respond, it looked like she was deep in thought and Throttle shifted his weight to his other foot, his hands still itching to stop Max from talking.
Hearing him say all this confirmed that awful nagging hunch, though.
They loved each other once.
That made him more than just sick to the stomach, but he quickly stopped himself from making further assumptions.
Maybe they loved each other once.
But did they still do?
Did she still do?
Only one way to find out and that was to continue his way on the unstable bridge without looking back.
Anger wasn't gonna give him the answers he needed.
Wisdom and patience did.

"Please, baby… I love you…", Max whispered as a tear left his right eye.
Throttle's stomach made a few backflips, but the words seemed to have the same impact on Charley, because her head jerked up and now it were her eyes that were fuming in anger.
She did a few steps forward as she lifted her hand, showing Max the blood on her fingers,
"This isn't love, Max. This is possession."
Without giving the human male time to react, she looked at Modo.
"Take him to the bomb shelter in the garage. He can stay there until I figure out what I wanna do with him."
The firm tone in her voice was back and Throttle was finally able to relax a little.
He'd made the right decision by following up Vinnie's advice.
Not just that, he'd managed to stop himself from killing Max right after walking into this room.
He was already midway across the bridge back to the right path without doing something from which he knew he would really regret later on.
And finally, for the first time ever since they set foot on this ridiculous planet, he felt back in control.
Unfortunately, fate seemed to have other plans.
And no one could hide from destiny.
Not even him.

Max was still hanging in Modo's firm grip, looking more defeated than ever.
But Charley's words now made its way to his brain and the transforming was shocking to say at least.
His head jerked up, his face warped into a bizarre grimace of anger and hate and before Modo could do as he was told by Charley, Max jumped back on his feet.
"You're making a big mistake here, if you think you can lead me to my own death like a lamb to slaughter. If I'm going, I'm taking you with me!"
As being well-trained Freedom Fighters, the mice knew how to react fast on a quickly turning and escalating situation, but even their great reflexes were no match for this sudden turn of events.
A knife slid out of Max his sleeve, right into his not wounded hand and before Modo could process it, the knife was already in his arm.
Since he was holding the human male with his flesh and now wounded arm, he had no other choice but to let go as a groan escaped his lips.
As mentioned before, pain could even slow down the most toughened warriors and tough he was without question.
But the pain forced him to slacken both his grip and his attention and even if it was only for a split second, it was all that Max needed.
The human male had already pulled the knife out of Modo's arm again and now made its way towards Charley, still with that gruesome mask of insanity.
"You belong to me and no one else, you filthy slut!", he roared as he jumped over one of the couches.

Time seemed to slow down, or maybe it even stopped ticking, Throttle had no idea.
He was about to take the last few steps on the bridge that led to the path he was so familiar with, but the already fragile construction collapsed under his feet when he saw how Max ran towards Charley with a knife in his hand that was covered in his bro's blood.
And instead of getting back on the path of wisdom or pure fury, he just fell into a deep dark hole.
The speed at which he fell down gave this weird pressure on his head which in turn caused a vicious headache and just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, something clicked and his head just became empty.
Gone was the fear of the unknown.
Gone was the anxiety of having no control.
There was only darkness at the point of no return.
"Vincent, share the glory maneuver number eight, now!", he ordered with an ice-cold voice as he jumped between Max and Charley.
Vinnie immediately obeyed, even without making a snappy line and he used his tail to snatch the gun out of his ankle holster.
In one smooth movement, he threw it towards his leader, who caught it with the greatest of ease.
Looking straight into the brown eyes of Max, who was still on a warpath to destruction, he aimed the gun, still feeling nothing but this cold darkness inside of him.
And with a steady hand and with no slightest doubt or remorse, Throttle pulled the trigger.

The laser beam went straight through Max his head, making the back of his skull explode with a rain of blood and pieces of tissue and brain.
Vinnie, who was standing right behind Max, was just in time to avoid the laser beam from going through his head too, but unfortunately, that didn't apply for the gruesome shower that followed.
He tried to contain the damage by covering his head with his arms, but it was no use and within seconds, his usual snow-white fur was now covered with blood, so were his clothes.
"Oh, man!", he called out as he looked at his clothes and fur with disgust written all over his face.
"Yuck! I probably have to burn this now! Can't walk around with Max following me everywhere I go, now can I? Ugh… And it's my best outfit too."
"Not to mention your only outfit…", Modo groaned.
The sound of his voice brought Vinnie back to reality and he quickly ran towards Modo, his clothes already forgotten for now.
The latter was sitting on his knees now, holding the wound in his arm with his teeth clenched and a glowing eye.
"Modo, Modo, bro, you okay?", the young mouse asked worriedly as he skidded to a halt next to his older bro, almost slipping because of all the blood that was on the floor.
Luckily, he managed to stay on his feet, otherwise he would've fallen right in Modo's lap and something was telling him that the grey-furred giant wasn't going to appreciate that.
But it was just a thought.
When he saw the blood that now leaked between the bionic fingers, he felt another pang of worry, but before he, or Modo for that matter, could react, another scream made him almost jump out of his fur.

With his ears still ringing, he quickly looked over his shoulder, only to see how Charley threw herself on Max, who was now lying on his back in the middle of the room, being deader than dead.
"No, no, oh god, Max, no… I'm so sorry...", she cried as she laid her head on his chest, holding his sweater with so much strength that the usual pink skin around her knuckles was now as white as Vinnie's fur.
Well, on a good day, that is.
The white-furred mouse, or maybe better said, the white with red spots-furred mouse glanced at his bro and leader, expecting him to say or do something, but the tan-furred mouse was still standing at the exact same spot, with the still smoking clamped in his with leather fingerless gloves covered hands.
The look on Throttle's face was one Vinnie hadn't seen before and he wasn't sure if he either needed to be worried or impressed.
He had always believed that Throttle should loosen up from time to time, but this was the other extreme.
It was that he was no mouse to frighten easily, otherwise the cold and calculated look on his bro's face might have done the trick.
Now it was still the spider who had that privilege.
Either way, it was a nice shot and that piece of shit had it coming, big time.
Vinnie just wasn't sure if Throttle would agree with him once he decided to come back here, on Earth, for it was obvious that the tan-furred mouse was completely elsewhere with his mind.

His gaze wandered back to Charley, who was still sobbing on Max his chest, her eyes closed as tears dripped on the black sweater, mixing with the blood that was already there.
And even though he hated Max his guts, he still felt very sorry for her when he saw how sad she was.
Maybe he should try to comfort her?
Like… he could sing her a song...
Or pull her in a warm and soothing hug...
Or tell her there were still more than plenty enough guys out there who -unlike Max- did deserve her, like him, for example…
Or maybe he should just skip the talking part and blow her away with his amazing kissing skills.
Nevertheless, this could be a great opening for him.
But something stopped him.
Max his not so tragic death was on them, after all.
Even though it was Throttle who pulled the trigger, they were a team and therefore, the responsibility rested on all three of their muscular shoulders.
And truth to be told, Vinnie had no idea if this action was valued by Charley.
From the looks of things, it wasn't, but then again, it wouldn't be the first time that he misinterpreted the signs given by womankind.
Not that he would ever say it out loud, but in his humble opinion, women were the most complicated creatures ever made by whoever was responsible for creating this crazy world.
Still, complicated or not, this world would be empty and frigging boring without them.
Besides, he may be a mouse who was willing to go far to get into a lady's pants, he wasn't one who took advantage of an emotionally unstable one.
Even he knew that was a line that wasn't meant to be crossed.
And then there was Throttle…
That complicated things even more.

So, because of these facts and -maybe even more important- in order to avoid a nasty and embarrassing rejection that might bruise his beloved ego, he focussed his attention back on Modo as he reached into the pocket of his now blood-stained pants.
After a brief search, he pulled out a grey bandana.
"Here. Matches the fur", he partially joked as he handed over the piece of fabric, knowing that the grey-furred giant wanted to wrap it around his arm himself.
It was not so much that Modo had an ego standing in the way of accepting his young bro's help, but like all male mice, he owned a healthy portion of manly pride.
A thing Vinnie knew all too well.
Some would say a little bit too well.
"Thanks", Modo grumbled as he took the bandana and with a little help of his buck teeth, he managed to tie it around his arm by himself, his eye still glowing red.
He was clearly not amused, but who was?
This whole situation was a mess, literally and figuratively, even Vinnie knew that, being the one who was covered with little pieces of Max.
Still, he felt nothing more but satisfaction while looking at Max -who looked way better now he was dead, by the way- but it came with the nagging feeling he was the only one.
Something with a bigger picture and all.

Meanwhile, Throttle was still sort of caught up in this darkness that made him do all this.
He vaguely heard Vinnie's high-pitched voice, but it was as if he was in another room.
It sounded dull and only small parts were translated by his brain, but the words didn't make any sense.
The sound of someone crying now joined in, but it still wasn't enough to bring him back to reality.
It was the comforting sound of Ben's voice who did the trick.
"Is everything okay here, I heard a shot and… oh…"
Throttle blinked a few times, surprised that it was the voice of this man, one he hardly knew, that gave him just the strength he needed to slowly climb out of this deep and black hole.
But there was something strangely familiar about this particular sound and it suddenly hit him like a meteor.
It reminded him of his father's voice.
Suddenly and without any warning, he was back in the room, his vision sharper than ever, his hearing better than ever and his brain more aware of his body than ever.
His gaze landed on the gun in his hands and he quickly let it go like it was on fire.
The thump with which the object landed on the floor sounded like a gunshot so loud, but he was able to stop himself from flinching as he took in the scene in front of him.

Closeby the door sat Modo, his knees resting on the blood-smeared floor, with a bandana wrapped around his flesh arm.
By the looks of things, the piece of fabric used to be grey, but it was now colored dark-red by blood.
The look on his face spoke volumes, telling Throttle that the grey-furred giant was plagued by both anger and guilt for letting this happen and for the sake of simplicity, the fact that Max has used a big knife to get away already forgotten.
The big lug always had been a bit too harsh on himself, a quality that came with being responsible.
It was all too familiar.
Vinnie was standing next to him, his fur and clothes stained with blood, pulling off his bandoliers and black hoodie with disgust written all over his face as he softly cursed under his breath.
The poor guy had obviously been standing in the wrong place at the wrong time and if the situation wasn't as fucked up as it was, it might have been funny.
Ben already kneeled next to Modo to take a look at the wound with a very serious look on his face, but the grey-furred giant stopped him and pointed at Charley.
As Ben looked into the direction Modo pointed at, Throttle did the same.

The human female was sitting on her knees next to Max his now dead body as tears streamed down her beautiful face.
She was smoothing out his hair, that was wet from blood, as if she was trying to make him look less dead.
Because he was dead, alright.
There was a perfect and small hole right between his brown eyes which were now glassy and empty as they stared at the ceiling.
A hole created by the laser coming from the gun he had fired.
Throttle knew enough about laser to know that even though the entry wound was small and neat, the exit wound was a whole other story and the gruesome scene in front of him only confirmed that theory.
But it wasn't the bloody sight that made him feel nauseous, no, it was the pain he now saw in Charley's eyes.
It was hearing her whispering the word 'sorry' over and over again and he now knew that Vinnie was right.
Despite everything, she still loved him.
And he had killed him.

Throttle expected to feel guilt or remorse, but strangely enough, he didn't.
The gleam he had seen in Max his eyes right before pulling the trigger had told him that the guy had been too far gone.
Maybe deep down, thoroughly hidden, there might have been something good inside of him, the part from which he assumed Charley had fallen in love with.
But that part was eclipsed by pure darkness and Throttle knew, he felt it in every fiber of his body, that one day, that part would've killed Charley.
Maybe she wasn't able to see that, but he was.
Crystal clear.
And therefore, he knew he'd made the right decision.
Still, the manner in which he had acted was more than terrifying to say at least.
But right now, he pushed it all aside and he forced himself to get into movement.

Careful that he wouldn't slip on the bloody floor, he made his way towards his bro's and he kneeled next to Modo.
"You okay, bro?", he asked, his voice finally back to its normal tone and volume.
Modo looked at him with a guilt-ridden look on his face.
"I'm sorry, bro, he beat me to the punch…"
Throttle laid his hand on his shoulder.
"Nah. This isn't your fault, Modo. He beat us all to the punch. Not even our velocity atrocity saw it coming."
"Hey, I only missed it because I was looking the other way", Vinnie protested as if on que and Throttle gave Modo a meaningful, but reassuring smile.
"See? It happens to the best. How's your arm?"
"Like someone stuck a knife in it."
"Figured."

Silence dawned on them as Throttle now looked at Ben, who was by the looks of things conflicted if he needed to go over to Charley and comfort her or to leave her alone with her grief for now.
The tan-furred mouse glanced at the heartbreaking scene too, but he still felt no regret.
Only a gnawing fear that she would blame him for this, that she was going to push him away.
She might even hate him for this.
Still, the fact that he knew she was relatively safe now, that he freed her from Max his possessive and restraining claws was good enough for him.
Because one thing became very clear by this crazy and terrifying event.
There wasn't anything in this world that he wouldn't do for her.
And if she thought that was shocking, he would totally agree with her.
Because there was no one, absolutely no one, who was able to trigger particular parts of him -parts from which he didn't even know he had them in him- the way she did.
He could only hope that she would give him the chance to explain himself, just as he hoped that she would give him some answers as well.

Throttle looked back at Ben and made the decision for the still conflicted doctor.
"Can you please take a look at Modo's wound?", he asked as he rose back on his feet. Ben followed him with his eyes and Throttle was relieved when he didn't see any form of fear or anger looking back at him.
He somehow wanted the human male to like him, a thing he usually didn't care for.
But this man reminded him of his father and it felt like a second chance.
To have something back from which he thought he'd lost it forever.
Ben nodded in answer and Throttle took a deep breath before slowly approaching Charley.
She didn't look up when he kneeled across her, the body of Max now lying between them and the tan-furred mouse couldn't ignore the irony here.
Even in death, Max was still standing between them.
If there was such a thing as Earthly Heaven, the guy was probably looking down on them while laughing his head off.
Time.
Time was all they needed.
If she was able to forgive him, that is.

"Charley…"
She still didn't look up, her swollen eyes were still fixed on Max his face and Throttle suddenly wasn't so sure anymore if he'd made the right choice.
He'd never seen anyone looking this lost and that was saying something for he lived in a war zone for many years already.
The insecurity gnawed on his insides, making him more than just restless and he hated it.
Hated it that he was this unstable.
It made him feel homesick like never before.
Things on Mars hadn't been easy, but at least he knew who he was, back then.
Here… not so much.
But just when his mind was about to convince him that he had lost her forever, Charley slowly looked up, straight into his behind glasses hidden bionic eyes.
The look on her face made him even more confused, but the words that came over her lips, however, were very clear.
"Thank you…"