"My ex-wife is cleaning me out!" Limburger screamed at the top of his lungs, which caused his foul breath to spread throughout the room. When the smell reached Karbunkle, he nearly passed out.
"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing your cream of the crop cheesiness," Karbunkle said while fanning his hand vigorously in front of his nose. He was trying desperately to keep from swooning.
Limburger walked swiftly over to Karbunkle. "What do you mean wouldn't be such a bad thing?!" An enraged Limburger screamed in Karbunkle's face, unleashing the full brunt of his halitosis. The odor of Limburger's breath overpowered Karbunkle, causing him to collapse on the floor.
Limburger looked down at Karbunkle, who lay sprawled out on the floor of his office. "Good help is so very hard to find these days," he sighed sadly as he stepped on Karbunkle and walked back to his desk. Limburger plopped down at his desk and buried his face in his hands. "What am I going to do?" Limburger asked in a worried voice. A Plutarkian court had granted Limburger's ex-wife, Alexa Colby, a significant increase in the amount of alimony that she received from him.
Alexa Colby, Limburger's ex-wife, was, like all other Plutarkians, ruthless, cold-hearted, power hungry, greedy, and deceitful. She was presently the Plutarkian planetary conquistador for Denver, Colorado. She had met and married Limburger when both of them were college students on Plutark. The newlyweds soon found that they were too much alike to get along. Their marriage ended with the both of them at each other's throats. Their divorce was bitter, made even bitterer by the fact that Alexa hired the Plutarkian lawyer Perry Provoloni to represent her in court. Provoloni and Limburger had long been rivals and the fact that he decided to represent Alexa made relations between Provoloni and Limburger even more hostile.
Provoloni secretly made a deal with the judge on behalf of Alexa. He informed the judge that Alexa would be more than willing to share a significant portion of her divorce settlement with the judge if he would rule in her favor. The offer was too tempting for the judge to refuse. He awarded Alexa all of Limburger's financial assets on Plutark. In addition, the judge ruled that Limburger had to pay 50 of his future monthly earnings to Alexa as alimony. Recently, Limburger had learned that the judge increased the amount to 75.
"What am I going to do?" Limburger moaned. "How am I going to live off of 25? I'm already in debt up to my forehead with those marauding mice constantly destroying my building and disrupting my harvest of earth's natural resources. It cannot be done, it simply cannot be done!"
Limburger's bellyaching was interrupted when he heard Lord Camembert bellow "Limburger!" Limburger looked up at his vidcom, which had been in sleep mode only a few minutes earlier to find Lord Camembert clad in his pajamas. He appeared to have been disturbed from his slumber. From the look on his face, he was not too happy about it.
Limburger leapt out of his chair. "Greetings Lord Camembert," he said cheerfully. "To what do I owe this displeasure?" Lord Camembert looked at Limburger with contempt. "Silence you sycophant!" Lord Camembert exclaimed. "Well, let's get on with it," Camembert said as he proceeded to initiate the traditional Plutarkian greeting. A look of disgust crossed Limburger's face as he joined Lord Camembert in the greeting.
"It has come to my attention, unfortunately in the middle of the night; two Martian prisoners have escaped from Plutopia." Lord Camembert informed Limburger after the greeting was over. Limburger could not contain his amusement. "You mean to tell me that the high chairman of Plutark was aroused from his slumber because two rodents escaped from that desolate wasteland?" Limburger said as he laughed aloud.
"Oh, I'm afraid that this is no laughing matter," Lord Camembert said calmly. "For you see, these are not ordinary rodents." He then held up two pictures, one in each hand. The one in his left hand was of Torque; the one in his right was of Harley.
"These two were originally believed to have perished in a fiery dune buggy wreck on Plutopia. Mace sent a team of Plutopian soldiers to inspect the wreckage. However, they failed to do so. Due to their incompetence, hours that could have been spent apprehending the mice were lost."
Surveillance video recovered from the soldiers' dune buggies after they went off duty revealed the fact that the soldiers refused to comply with Mace's command to search the wreckage for Torque and Harley's remains. Unbeknownst to the soldiers, Mace had every dune buggy equipped with a tiny video camera. When each soldier's shift ended, Mace's assistants removed the camera from their dune buggy and downloaded all of the information from the camera onto Mace's computer.
Mace didn't trust any of the soldiers and knew that they despised him because, as a rat, he had taken a coveted job away from the Plutarkian soldiers. Enraged over the soldiers' insubordination, Mace had the soldiers who had defied him locked away in a dungeon with no food or water.
"The one in my left hand is the sibling of one of the Biker Mice and the wife of another one," Lord Camembert explained to Limburger. "The one in my right, according to Mace, was at one time romantically involved with the remaining Biker Mouse. Once they're found, they will prove to be instrumental in removing the biggest thorn in the side of the Plutarkian empire, the Biker Mice from Mars. The Plutarkian government is offering a very large cash sum for the recovery of these two mice.
An evil smile crept across Limburger's face. "Do tell," he replied.