Chapter 7.
Two pairs of motorbike boots silently made their way around to the back door of the Last Chance Garage. Throttle opened the door, creaking slightly, and closed it after Modo entered in after him.
They stealthily made their way across the garage, and saw a few sports bikes sitting there, waiting to be fixed. It was too dark to see any purple ones that Vinnie had described earlier.
The lights suddenly flashed and came to life, and Throttle saw a skinny, furry figure with pointy ears, with a blaster aimed directly at the bridge of his field specs.
Modo saw him as well, and popped his arm cannon out at the unknown being. In reply, he reached behind him and pulled a second Martian laser from behind his back, sighting the exact same spot as his bro.
Vinnie dived through an explosion of glass and wood splinters that used to be a window, rolled to his feet and directed his pistol straight down Spectre's left ear canal.
"Surprise!" he called.
Spectre cast a sideways glance and snuffed a laugh as he saw the dinted face mask and dried blood on the whiskers of his racing opponent.
Vinnie got annoyed. "Prepare to get yo ass kicked," he drawled in a 'gangsta' accent..
Spectre whistled, and instantly, Oblivion's engine roared to life in the corner. She turned to face Vinnie, and two flaps on her sides opened, and the two miniguns moved into position, barrels extended, and began to spin. Vinnie squeaked, and went even whiter than his fur.
"Ready when you are," Spectre said, with little concern in his voice.
Someone came bounding down the stairs, and Charley emerged, grasping a baseball bat and only wearing a black singlet top and undies.
"What's going on here?" she yelled.
"Whoo! Sweetheart!" Vinnie said, temporarily forgetting about the bike's sights trained on him. His body stood to attention (in the non-dirty way, just needed to clarify :P), as Charley went back upstairs to put some more clothes on, blushing and cursing under her breath.
"Guns down! All of you," she yelled from her room at the top of the stairs.
Reluctantly, at one point or another, all the mice lowered their weapons, but still held them in their hands.
"Oblivion, I'm talking to you as well!"
The purple bike beeped, sounding somewhat uncomfortable at being told off, and her miniguns disappeared into her body.
*
After everyone had finally explained their stories of the night, and Vinnie had stopped ogling Charley after she put on a pair of trackies and a dressing gown, there was an uncomfortable silence around the dinner table of the Last Chance.
Throttle rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to make sense of who they had just come across. Modo sat with his head leaning on his arm, glancing at people around the room. Vinnie tapped the table impatiently. Charley sighed at being woken up – again – and sat with her hands behind her head. And Spectre stood in the corner, his arms folded, looking at the floor.
"So," Throttle finally spoke, his voice deeper than usual. "How long have you been here, Spectre?"
"Two days," the shadowy figured replied.
"Where are you from?" Modo asked.
Spectre gave him a sarcastic look.
"He means where were you being held hostage by the Plutarkians," Throttle clarified.
"On Plutark itself," Spectre said, turning to look out th window. He really wasn't wanting to talk about this again.
Throttle turned to Charley. "Why didn't you tell us when you found him?"
"I-I, uh...um," she stammered.
"It's because I didn't want to meet you just yet," Spectre said, covering for the lady who had given him so much.
"She still should have told us. It's not safe for you to riding around on your own," Throttle stated.
"I can look after myself."
"Earth is very different from Plutark," Throttle muttered, getting quite annoyed.
"Yeah? Well, I can keep a lower profile than Captain Courageous here," the equally annoyed Spectre said, indicating Vinnie. "And I can..."
"Easy, easy, bros," Modo stood up, trying to calm everyone down. "It's late and we've all had a big night. How about we sleep now and get back to this in the morning?
"Sounds good to me," Vinnie yawned, even though the question wasn't exactly directed to him.
Spectre and Throttle stared at each other, before nodding in agreement. Modo was right. If they kept going like this it could turn ugly.
"Um, Charley-ma'am. I don't think there's enough room in the lounge for all of us," Modo piped up.
"Well, if that's the case, one of us could always sleep in your room, doll," Vinnie said, waggling his eyebrows and running his tongue along his lips. Modo punched him in the arm.
"Ow!" he yelped, and was just about to lay into the grey mouse when he heard something that was sweeter than music to his ears.
"Ok, Vinnie."
Vinnie almost fell in mid-stride and turned to see Charley standing with her hands on her hips and a devilish smirk on her face. Throttle and Modo looked at Charley in horror. Even Spectre glanced in her direction.
"Yeow! See ya!" Vinnie whooped, before scooping the pyjama-clad mechanic into his arms and jogged up the stairs, the door slamming behind them.
"What the hell is Charley thinking?" asked Modo, incredulous.
"I really don't know, big-fella. Maybe she's even more tired than us," said Throttle, still trying to comprehend why she would even consider sharing a bed with Vinnie. The only thing that was more abundant in his body than adrenaline was testosterone.
"Well, time for beddie-byes. You coming?" Modo asked Spectre.
He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'll be there soon."
Spectre remained in the kitchen for a few minutes, staring out the window. It was a full moon tonight, and its white color seemed pure against dark sky. Plutark usually had around five of six moons at any one time, but they were always being rotated every few months as the last of their natural resources were siphoned away.
The sky was littered with thousands of little bright speckles of light, some in straight lines while others were randomly allocated their own space. He had been told what they were called once, on Mars. Steers? No. Sties? He couldn't remember. He hadn't seen them in years.
He heard some muffled voices and groans from the room above him, most of them seeming to come from Vinnie. Something thumped on the floor a few times. He could hear some disgruntled comments from Throttle and Modo. Then, silence.
As Spectre went into the lounge to find a couch to sleep on, he remembered back when Biff would sometimes pay to have a "lady fish" come over and he would hear similar noises to what had just occurred. Thankfully though, they lasted about the same amount of time.