Hey all! Shameless plugging this chapter goes to Sewer Slider's series, 'Vagabonds' parts 1 through 3. Go read, you'll love it! And if you would love to die laughing, go check out 'Infidelity', by Intrepidwarriors. Oh, I laughed so hard...
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. Everyone else are my toys, if you wish to borrow, please ask politely.
Chapter 7
Throttle narrowed his eyes as he shot out the legs of another rock soldier. It shattered on the ground behind him as his bike roared through the street. A statue of Ceasar with a stone broadsword charged him, swiping the deadly blade down to chop off his head. The mouse dodged, twisting in the seat and shooting out the stone knees to send it crashing down with the others. Another statue came to life and went towards him, leading the mouse to growl out, "How many statues does this city have?!"
"Too many!" Rimfire shouted as he shot down a rock soldier from where he hovered thrity feet in the air. Dozens of piles of rubble lined the street, proof of the mice's hard work. But they just kept coming: for every pile of stone they took out, two more showed up a moment later. The young leader threw down a few grenades, courtesy of Addie's troops, and blew another statue away. "And we're right next to the casinos! All of them have statues!!"
"Wonderful," Thrash snapped as he and Vinnie's driving confused a stone dragon so badly it smashed its own tail. The statue looked incredibly shocked before it crumbled to dust. "And the casinos are all over the city!"
"Well, look on the bright side!" Link called cheerfully.
"What bright side?!" Rimfire shouted.
"I was kinda hoping you could tell me that, bro!" The black mouse called, shouting a war-whoop as his larger cannons took out two rock soldiers at once. "At least we're blowing them up now that we know where to shoot!"
"It'd be better if we could take out whoever's controlling them in the first place," Throttle growled. A sudden grinding, crashing noise sounded as more stones tore themselves from the buildings, the asphalt of the road shearing off and forming new cannon fodder--
Wait. Cannon fodder? "That's it!"
"What's it?!" Vinnie asked.
"Targets!!" Throttle shouted over the sounds of rock shattering and explosions. "That's all these guys are! They're here to wear us down so that when the real villain shows up, we'll be out of ammo!!"
"Kuta!" Link swore in Martian as he saw the tan mouse's point. "Our pistols can't hold a charge much longer! Even my bike's cannons are running low!!"
"He's right!" Thrash called. "Mine's already dead!"
"Look out!!" Vinne shouted, shooting out a grappling line and yanking the smaller bike out of the way of a blow from a giant Statue of Liberty. He tossed the red mouse one of his spare pistols. "Might not do much, but it'll get them off you," he said. "Herd 'em to me, I'll take them out!"
Thrash nodded, riding out in a large circle to force the monsters inside the street. He kept it up, shouting and calling to get them angry enough to ignore the white mouse getting out his deadly flares behind them. Vinnie shot a glancing blow off the shoulder of a rock soldier. "Hey, big and ugly!" The rock monster turned with a glare at the mouse, its eyes widening as it saw the white hot flame. "Hope you like it hot," the mouse said gleefully as he set off five of his flares, tossing them into the middle of the furious rocks.
They roared in confusion and anger as the rocks began to melt, trying to get away from each other but Vinnie and Thrash wouldn't let them apart. The rocks fused together, glowing and smoking as they turned into a hideous version of modern art.
Vinnie laughed, "Some people just can't handle my sizzling hot looks."
The red mouse rolled his eyes at the older mouse and smiled as he regarded their work. "Well if you can't take the heat, stay out of the street. I give it an 8. It's no Buick, but it'll do."
"Buick?" Vinnie scoffed. "Please, Mercedes was much better at impressionist art."
Thrash stared at the white mouse in stunned shock.
Vinnie just shook his head at the younger mouse. "Philistine," he muttered in disgust, racing off for their next shoot out. He gave a happy shout as he jumped his bike off a car's hood, leaping into the air and using his bike's momentum to shove a rock soldier into a line of statues, taking them out like a huge set of dominoes. "Now that's how a Biker Mouse has fun!!"
Thrash shook his head in denial. "Nope, couldnt' have heard that," he said to himself. "Couldn't have." He raced off to join Vinnie in the fight.
&
Julian Karbunkle was eerily silent as he walked through the halls of Monterrey's Tower. His steps barely made noise, his coat not even rustling as he moved. It was often thought that he would have made a perfect assassin, but the doctor had always been quick to deny that theory. That line of work required a quick, clean kill, something the scientist found no fun at all.
He reached out a black gloved hand and ran it along the side of the barred cell that housed his pretty little pets. The knockout gas was still in effect on the tan and grey one, but the white mouse was currently huddled against the far side of the wall. "Hello, pretty," the old man said in a low, chilling voice. "Sleep well?"
She raised angry pink eyes to his black goggles, a furious scowl on her face.
"Nothing to say, my pretty? You're not still mad about the auction, are you?"
She had to visibly stop herself from charging at him. She would have, but she knew the cell bars were charged with electricity. That didn't mean she didn't want to.
"I would have sold you to the Plutarkian general, but you're my prototype. Not quite good quality product. A few more copies of your genetics should smooth out any flaws like aggressive behavior and independent will." He smiled to himself at the idea of it. "Perfect little white-furred dolls, blank slates for any male to teach his more...interesting desires. I can't wait to test out the results."
The girl turned green under her fur. "You're sick," she spat.
"Jealous that I'll test them out but not you, pretty pet?"
"I am not your pet!!" she screamed.
"Temper, temper," he scolded. "Remember what happens to bad girls?"
She unconsciously shivered at the memory. That had been pain like nothing she had imagined existed.
"Good pet. Now keep quiet. We have a guest." He motioned the thug behind him to go to the empty cell across the hall from the girl. "Put her in there. Strip her of all her tools and her main clothing. I don't want any surprises from this girl." The guard did as he was ordered, placing the unconscious human into the cell and taking her clothing. The girl only had her underwear left when he was done. The door locked with a heavy click and a hum as the charge activated. "That should hold her. To think, Limburger has so much trouble subduing one measly human.
"Be sure that no one goes in this cell," the scientist ordered the guard. "I don't want anyone taking any chances." He glanced over at the female clones, the other two just starting to stir. "Four little pretties, now. Its a good day."
&
"So is this an everyday thing, or more of a Special Ops deal?" Addie asked his old friend.
"What, this?" Andy asked. "You mean the shooting everything in sight? Or the giant rock people?"
"The latter," the black man said as he aimed the turret cannon on the Mothership's roof. The two humans were currently working crowd control, mostly keeping curious people from getting to close to the action and vice versa.
"Oh, that's more an everyday thing," the chef said in a blaize tone. "Come to Chicago sometime, Ad, you'll think Vegas is boring compared to all that."
"My town? Boring?! Andy, my man, them's fightin' words!" He blasted three statues into dust.
"I'm serious!" Andy said. "With that damn Plutarkian around, Chicago's seen mutants, monsters, catastrophes, and--what's the multiple of Apocalypse?"
Addie raised his eyebrows at the last part. "Whoa. That bad, huh?"
"End of the world as we know it, every freakin' day," the chef said grimly. "This right here is all old hat."
"How does the city handle it?" the sergeant asked. "Haven't they tried gettin' rid of Limburger?"
"Certainly, but legally, their hands are tied. The most they can get him on is tax evasion," Andy groused.
"Al Capone got put away for life on tax evasion," Addie pointed out.
"Al Capone didn't have a Plutarkian lawyer," the chef snapped. "Damn that Provalone."
Addie sighed. "What about the civilians? They trying anything? Or are they playing with their heads in the sand?"
"Actually, they've been really good about all of it," Andy said with a wondering voice. "Everyone knows about them, Ad, from the mayor to the youngest kid on the street. they know Limburger's behind all the crap that goes down, and most of them have been boycotting him. Those that can't afford to do that try to jack up their prices so bad that they bleed him dry. He can't get anything done in Chi-town anymore and you can tell its driving him crazy. But with the Mice pinning him down, he can't get reinforcements and he can't get out."
"Hmm. So anyone been trying to give the Mice grief about it all yet?"
"They tried at the beginning of this whole deal, but they finally wised up," Andy replied. "Now, they've all been trying to find a way to help them. If it weren't for the weapon technology being so far outta the human range, I think we'd already be seeing a huge resistance movement. Human beings amazed me, Ad, and I'm one of them!"
(&
Modo and Rev moved quickly down the corridors of the building. The large group of guards that had been protecting the turret guns had been taken out in less than five minutes as the determined mice made their way into the Tower. Occasionally another squad of laser-toting goons would try to stop them, some would have even given them a half-way decent run for their money. If the mice had been on foot.
Lil' Hoss's engine roared as it peeled down the carpeted halls, blasting open the doors to the elevators. They rode the walls down the shaft, shooting out the elevator car as the guards tried to send it down to crush them. With a proud smile as he observed Rev's fighting style, Modo commented, "Nicely done, with an economical touch for preserving the weaponry. Sure you weren't in the Freedom Fighters?"
"The who?"
"Oh Momma, kid, we have got to teach you some Martian history," the grey mouse said in disapproval. "Floor 57. This the lab?"
"And right below Monterrey's office," Rev nodded. He glanced around as the doors opened. "I've only been here once, don't know much about the defences Karbunkle would have put in."
"If he's anything like his brother, it can't be that bad," Modo said as they walked in. The elevator suddenly crumpled as huge weight, the elevator's pull engine, was sent down on top of it, effectively jamming the shaft and sealing off the floor. "I guess we stay on this floor for a bit then," Modo said with a shrug.
A screaming alarm sounded the second their boots hit the floor, a few flashing lights popping out of the walls. A hissing voice that sounded far too much like Limburger's Karbunkle sounded over the PA system. "Attention: Intruder in the compound. Initiating protocol number 64. Alarm number 64 activated. You have been warned." The screaming sound stopped, but the flashing lights remained.
Modo glance at Rev. "What's protocol #64?"
"I don't know what protocol #64 is, but I know what alarm #64 is," the white mouse said nervously. "He's opening the higher cages."
"That's good! It'll be easier to find Charley if she's already out."
"No, that's bad! Some of the stuff in those cells is caged for a reason!! Most of what's in there is Karbunkle's genetic experiments and alien hybrids."
"Hybrids?"
"Solarian dragon plant with Mettalugri spider-birds. I totally don't know what those are, but I know they aren't good. And that's just the first level of cages. They get worse as you go down."
"Just means I get to train you up on bike maneuvering in combat situations," Modo said with good humor. "You gotta learn to look on the bright side, kiddo."
Rev stared after the grey mouse as they moved to mount up on Lil' Hoss again. "The bright side? I'm strolling through deep enemy territory in a collapsible building with Rambo and heavy artillery." He slowly shook his head in bemusement. "Maybe there is a bright side."