Disclaimer: Dudes, two stories later and I still don't own the mice. Damn my luck...

Throttle, Modo, Vincent, Charlene Davidson, Rimfire, Chef Andy Steinhaur, One-Eyed Jack Monterrey are all characters from the original show. Silva (Modo's Momma) and Auri (Modo's lost wife/mate) are my characters, along with any others that pop up. Thanks!

Chapter 4

Rimfire, Link, and Thrash exchanged terrified looks. "Um, One-Eyed Jack Monterrey owns the Tower?"

Silva stopped in mid-rant. "The Plutarkian Commander?"

"Yes, ma'am," Link confirmed meekly.

"So you blew up four stories of an office building because it belonged to a Plutarkian?"

"Yes, ma'am," Link said again.

"Oh. Of course, that's an entirely different situation," she agreed. The elder went back onto the couch.

"What are the local stink-fish up to around here?" Throttle asked.

"The usual destruction and double-crossing," Rimfire groused as he helped Link back to his feet. The black mouse promptly fell back to the ground, both his legs asleep from the sleeper hold Modo had had him in. Rimfire sounded uneasy as he continued, "And they've been doing some experiments. They brought a Karbunkle with them."

"Karbunkle?!" Modo stared at his nephew in surprise. "He should still be in Chicago with Limburger."

"Not Benjamin Karbunkle," Thrash corrected. "This is Julius Karbunkle, your Karbunkle's brother."

"Aw man, there's more of him?! What was his mother thinking?!" Vinnie said in disgust.

"Something not good, no doubt," Thrash muttered. He gave a nervous glance to his bro before he spoke again. "When we were in the Tower rescuing the girls"-

"They were kidnapped by Monterrey's goons," Link explained.

"Rotten fish tried to ransom them for us," Rimfire growled. "We went in, busted the goon squad up and got the girls out"-

--"but not without a small souvenir of our stay," Thrash finished. "This Karbunkle was experimenting with cloning."

"Not more clones," Throttle growled.

"Funny youshould say that," Rimfire said. "The one we found, he's just a kid. If he didn't tell us that they made him a couple weeks ago, I would swear he's about 10 years old. And he looks just like you," the younger mouse said to the tan leader.

"Me?!" Throttle voice rang in shock.

"Yeah, tan fur, same ears, but I don't know if the eyes match or not," Rimfire said.

Throttle frowned, "Brown eyes?"

"Yeah," Chloe agreed. "He's a cutie too. And if I ever see that Monterrey again, I'll scratch his eyes out for what he did to that poor kid."

"What happened?" Modo asked, his eye beginning to glow in anger.

The younger mice exchanged looks. "We found him hiding in the offices on the top floor. Poor kid looked starved, and"--Rimfire's voice went quiet. "He was crying, just saying over and over that the jewels were dead."

"The jewels?" Vinnie cocked his head in confusion.

"Near as we can figure, they were at least his friends," Link answered. "He said they didn't have names, just numbers, and they were the jewels because they were so beautiful."

"Poor child," Silva said compassionately. "Where is he now?"

"Upstairs sleeping," Chloe answered. "I should probably go get him."

"I'll go with you," the grey-furred lady said. They left the room.

"Those rotten slime," Vinnie spat. He faced his tan furred bro. "So what are you gonna do with him?"

Throttle frowned. "What?"

"He's your brother, right?"

"Huh? How are they brothers? He's a clone," Modo asked.

Vinnie looked at both his bros oddly. "When I asked Charley, she said that gettin' cloned is like having an identical twin. They just got born late. A twin's your brother, so this kid is your brother. Ain't he?"

Before Throttle could answer, there was the sound of glass breaking, and a small steel tube went flying across the room spewing out thick smoke. "Smoke bomb! Auri, Andy, get down!" Throttle shouted. The two dove behind the couch as they heard something big crash through the window.

There was a huge flurry of action as the mice went to attack the intruder. The sounds of punches and grunts of pain were the only noise above the hissing of the smoke bomb. Suddenly water began to shoot out from the ceiling, the fire sprinklers turning on as the mansion's fire system activated. Most of the smoke was dispersed by this, and the air began to clear as Chloe and Silva opened the door to the room.

Throttle and Link were going at it full out, while Rimfire and Modo were struggling to keep Thrash down. Vinnie was the only mouse to be fighting the intruder-

It was another white mouse, almost the spitting image of Vincent when he was seventeen, but slimmer with less muscle. The way he was before the mask, the right side of his face unmarred. The mouse was his clone.

"Holy Kusha, we were only gone for five minutes!" The mother said in perfect exasperation as she took in the scene. Everyone froze at her voice, even the new mouse going still in surprise. Vinnie took the opportunity and pinned the mouse down hard, but he began to buck wildly, even trying to bite to get free.

"Big Brother!"

The new white mouse went still. "Wha...what?"

Modo and Rimfire exchanged confused looks. "Big brother?"

From beside Chloe and Silva came the voice of a young boy. "Big Brother! You came!!" A tan mouse child darted forward to stand in front of the two mice. Chloe had gotten him a red t-shirt and a pair of loose-fitting jeans, not really having the right size clothes for a ten year old. Shoes had the same problem, so she gave him a pair of thick socks until they could get him something better. Brown eyes looked right at Vinnie. "What are you doing with my brother?"

"Uh, just saying hi," Vinnie got out. He pulled back from the other mouse, letting the other sit up. Everyone could get a good look at him now. The new mouse had on a loose black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black cargo pants on. Five belts with multiple pouches were wrapped around his waist and chest. The stranger's mouth dropped open in shock as he saw the small child. "Li...Little Brother? You're alive?"

The small mouse smiled bright. "I knew you'd find me."

"Oh god, Little Brother!!" The white mouse pulled him into a tight embrace. Chloe aww-ed at the display. "I thought they'd killed you! These crazy bikers went through and blew half the building to kingdom come and I couldn't find you anywhere!"

"Hey, we resemble that remark," Link said indignantly.

He ignored the black mouse and pulled back to look at the young mouse, his voice scolding. "I told you to stay put until I came for you! What in the world were you thinking? You went off with people you didn't even know!"

"But--I couldn't stay there! All the humans saw me!" The boy said.

"So you just assumed that all mice are good people?"

"Well--um...they are nice people! They got me out of there and this nice lady," he pointed at Chloe, "gave me these clothes. And they have food! Lots of it!"

The white mouse gave the little mouse a look. "You were lucky, pure and simple. I thought you were smarter than to go off with strangers. That sort of luck doesn't happen twice." The young mouse hung his head at his brother's scolding.

It was so incredibly weird to hear such a tone of responsibility in a voice that was exactly like Vinnie's. Modo stepped forward and laid a hand on the small mouse's shoulder consolingly. "You don't have to be so hard on him. He's had a rough couple of days."

"No kidding," the white mouse said with a sigh as he stood up, not letting go of the smaller mouse's hand. He looked around at the various humans and Martians around the room. And at the shattered glass and busted furniture. "Sorry about the mess."

"Not all your fault," Chloe said. She sighed. "But the maids are going to have a fit."

"Uh-huh," Rimfire agreed as he surveyed the room. "Bros?" Thrash and Link groaned but got to work picking up the worst of furniture as Rimfire set the ones that were still in one piece back in the right spots.

"And just why did you attack us?" Modo asked the mouse.

"You took my brother," he said simply. "Nobody takes my brother away from me."

Silva smiled at the two brothers. "I suppose some introductions are in order, then. I'm Silva, and this is my son Modo and my nephew Rimfire." She gestured to each mouse. "This is Throttle, Vincent, Link, and Thrash. This is my daughter-in-law Auri, my son's wife," she explained at their look of confusion at the term. "This is Andrew Stienhaur"-

"My friends call me Andy," the man said kindly.

--"and this young lady is Miss Chloe, she's been a very gracious host for all of us," the grey mouse finished.

"Nice to meet you," the young boy said politely. "My bar code"-he pulled out his left wrist, tattooed with a small bar code with a series of numbers-"says I'm G3-8721. He calls me Little Brother, and his bar code says he's X4-6382. I call him Big Brother."

Vinnie frowned. "Those aren't your names."

The two mice exchanged looks. "We don't have any other names," the white mouse said.

"Then we'll give you one," he answered firmly. "You are my brother and clan, kin to my kin; you can't walk around without a name."

The other mice gasped in shock. According to Martian custom, Vincent had just claimed the white mouse as his clan. As true family, part of the bond that only clan members shared. Members of a clan knew all of the clan's histories, knew their secrets and sins, of the ancient grudges that had been the reasons for the great Clan Wars of Martian history. No one claimed a person as clan lightly.

The white mouse gaped at him. "Your--brother?"

"A clone is a twin, a twin is a brother. You're my clone, so you're my twin brother," Vincent said. "You just got born late."

The mouse blinked at him. "Um--I don't think I can argue with that sort of logic."

"Don't try," Modo laughed.

"You got a name in mind?" Vinnie asked.

The clone looked a little lost. "I-I never thought about it. I never thought I'd get free to use one."

Vincent was shocked at that. The other mouse had only thought of his brother, to the point that he was willing to let himself get killed if it meant his little brother would survive. Yep, Dad would have liked him. And Mom would have definitely liked him. "How about Rev?" Vinnie suggested.

"Rev?"

"It was my--our father's name," he said in quiet pride.

The white mouse thought a long moment. "Rev sounds good," he answered in a small voice. "I like it."

The little mouse looked up at his brother and smiled in approval before he looked at Vinnie. "Do I get a name too?"

Vinnie blinked in surprise before he glanced over at his tan bro. "Sorry, little guy, it ain't my place to say."

Rev nodded down at his little brother. "Biologic thing, I guess," he said. "The one you're the clone of gives you a name."

"Brother of," Vinnie corrected.

"Whatever," Rev rolled his eyes.

The boy shyly walked over to where Throttle stood. "So what's my name?"

Throttle looked like he would rather be anywhere but there. "Honestly, kid, I wouldn't name you for someone from my clan. None of them I liked enough to wish the name on someone else."

The boy looked down in disappointment, his ears drooping.

The tan mouse scrambled to come up with something. "Uh--is there any that you like?"

He thought a second. "Pretzel."

"Pretzel?!"

"God bless it, kid," Rev said in exasperation. "You cannot get named after your favorite food!"

"Not the food! For twisting," the boy said.

Andy cocked his head in confusion. "Twisting?"

"Like this," the boy flipped onto his hands and slowly curled his legs back and down so that the tips of his toes touched the ground beside his hands.

"Merciful goddess," Silva breathed. Auri's jaw dropped in shock.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Link asked, his eyes wide as saucers.

"Nope," the boy said cheerfully.

Throttle's specks dropped down to the end of his nose. "How about we call you Bend?"

The boy flipped back onto his feet. "Bend? I like it!"

&

Charley sat back on her knees with a satisfied smile. "Mission accomplished."

"Sugoi," Tsu said wearily. "I've never seen tech like this before. Its advanced, but its so simple once you get the main principles down."

"Yeah, got to love Martian designers," the girl said. "Now let's turn these ladies back on."

The three bikes were a little haphazard in appearance, like some of the parts didn't quite match up, but some sanding and modifications had taken care of that. The first bike, (that looked like a large version of a Harley Davidson Classic Indian), was cherry red with yellow accents. Of the three, it was the only one with real flight capability, the wings longer and the thrusters still intact. The second was a deep hunter green, the design similar to a road cruiser, and it was heavily armed with multiple laser cannons from the sides where the tailpipes normally were. The third was black and slim, built smaller than the other three. She suspected it was originally a civilian bike. The guns were almost pistol grade they were so light. But the engine was one of the fastest she had ever seen, definitely custom. It was easily up there with Vinnie's bike, maybe even passed it.

The engines turned over with a happy purr, the bikes revving as they took in their surroundings. The sound of a child laughing made the bikes turn their front wheels toward the playpen, the green bike popping out its lasers. Tsu slowly moved to get between the bike and his son, to not spook it.

"Oh stop that," Charley scolded the bike, tapping its front light with a wrench. "Now you're just showing off." The bike beeped meekly and put its guns away.

The man let out a slow breath as he picked up the child. "When you said they were sentient, I honestly thought you meant like radio control of some kind. But that's incredible. They understand speech?"

"And a lot of other things," she said proudly. She stroked the red and yellow cruiser that she suspected was Rimfire's. "They can learn and store data for decades, even drive themselves and adapt to battle situations. Modo's ride, the purple Fat-boy style bike, it's over a hundred years old. Lil' Hoss can problem solve at the third grade level."

"You're joking. My god, that's incredible," he said again, shifting the toddler on his hip. "Human tech is so far behind that; I'm surprised that our parts work on them."

"It's the programming and parts of the motherboards that are advanced," she replied. "All the rest is still pretty basic. A few modifications and you're up to speed." She wiped a cloth over the green bike's crank case, cleaning a streak of oil away. "I want one of these so bad."

"So do I," Tsu sighed in envy. "Lucky mice. Maybe I'll build one and pass it down to you," he gave a quick kiss to his son's cheek. Bic giggled, squirming. "Tickles, 'Tou!"

Charley smiled at the cute picture the father and son made. The image suddenly shifted to Throttle with a little mouse child with his fur and her hair in his arms. She blushed at the image, shaking her head. Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren't you? You haven't even moved in together. Kind of can't with the garage blown up, and Auri moved in at the Scoreboard.

The two girls had gotten to know each other on the trip, learning sign language together and laughing at their mistakes. Auri had confirmed that she would not leave her mate no matter what the situation on Earth, and that she knew he would never abandon his bros. The hybrid already had plans for some remodeling she wanted to do at the Scoreboard. Charley mentally smirked at the mental image of Modo and Vinnie being dragged all over Chicago with bags filled with girly curtains.

Tsu headed up stairs to but his son to bed, "Say goodnight to Charley, Bic."

"Night-night, Cha-ley," the boy said sleepily.

"Night, Bic," she called. She walked over to the kitchen, intent on a cup of coffee while she waited for the guys to contact her. A sound from the garage bay made her turn around.

&

It took some time, but everyone got settled down and some dinner was brought out. Vinnie shamelessly flirted with the maids that had brought in the trays, making quite a few girls blush. Rev looked surprised at all the attention his brother seemed to thrive in, but whenever one of the girls ran an appreciative eye over him, he blushed hotly. The contrast was startling between the two.

Bend was listening intently to Silva, sitting by her side as she told him stories of Mars before the war. Throttle kept an eye on him, every now and then handing him a new plate when he emptied the other. The kid was still too thin, the proof of his mistreatment clear to see. To Throttle, it was too much of a reminder of the days before Stoker had taken him in. But Bend was still cheerful, still innocent. For that, the tan mouse was grateful.

"Rev, how did you get out of the Tower?" Link asked. "We didn't see you anywhere."

The white mouse looked away. "I'd been planning to get everyone out of the Tower for months, and I finally got the access codes for the cells. Knocked out a few guards, two homemade smoke bombs in the surveillance room, and I slipped Bend out and hid him in the offices. I was in the lower levels looking for..."

Bend paused from munching on a pizza crust, his tail beginning to coil in distress. "The jewels?"

Rev's jaw clenched as he looked down. "I looked everywhere. I searched the entire lab and all the cages. I'm sorry, little brother."

Bend's brown eyes filled with tears, spilling down tan furred cheeks. Silva pulled him up into her lap, embracing him. The boy tucked his face into her shoulder, curling up into a ball. Auri laid a soft hand on his shoulder as they heard him start to cry.

"Who were the jewels?" Andy asked Rev quietly.

"They were our sisters," Rev said quietly. "One white, one tan, one grey."

"Sisters?" Rimfire tensed in shock.

"The jewels were clones, girl clones," Rev said very quietly. "Monterrey ordered clones of you for his own use. That's what we were being trained for. Bend's the only other clone besides the jewels that I found. If he made a clone of you," he looked at Modo, "I never met him. But the jewels were made for Karbunkle."

"For Karbunkle?" Link cocked his head in confusion. "What did he want girl clones for?"

Rev sent him a bitter glance. "Take a wild guess."