Biker Mice from Mars

Hard luck & Dently

It's always Sunni in Kansas

Pt 5.

"…But Uncle Scrummy!" Scorcher whined childishly but was savagely cut off by his angry uncle "Don't You Uncle Scrummy me, you idiotic bunglers!" Mr. Scrums snapped! "I send you and these two morons out on one simple job, and you Royally Screw it UP!"

"It aint our fault, the Daigh's had some kind of freak working on the farm, it aint our fault!" Scorcher quickly added in his own defense. Smasher and Sneaky nodded their heads in support. "A Fruit ball in a Furry Costume!" Scrums yelled, his big bald head turning a couple of shades redder. "You lost to a FURRY, and just LOOK at what you did to my Car and SUIT!"

The 3 bruised, battered, and burned brutes guiltily avoided looking at the big car which now sported a big dent in the driver's side doors that had been caused when the thugs on the 4-wheeler blindly crashed into the side of it.

Scrums angrily glared at them while he tried to clean some of the mud off his suit. He had been sitting on the top of the rear seats, watching thru some binoculars, He'd been so engrossed waiting to see the Daigh Farm get destroyed, he'd failed to notice the out-of-control 4-wheeler crash into him, sending him flying out of the limo to smack into the mud-filled ditch!

Needless to say, the Grime Encrusted Entrepreneur was not having a good night. "I shouldn't have to remind you, nitwits, how important this deal is!" Scrums took a deep breath attempting to calm himself down to a low boil. "I've got every cent I own tied up in this, and the Daigh Farm is the lynchpin to the whole thing, if I don't get ahold of it, I and by association You Three, are Royally Screwed!" He all but bellowed, his temper getting the better of him again!

"Yeah, well, if Scrapper and Scavenger hadn't gotten arrested holding up that truck stop, we could have taken that freak easy!" Scorcher cut in feebly, once again backed up by Sneaky and Smasher. "Oh, please!" Scrums snapped back! "I doubt adding two more Boobs to the Brigade would have done any good at all!" He rubbed his muddy bald head wearily. "Oh, if I wasn't desperate enough to let my sister talk me into hiring you, idiots!"

"Excuse us for interrupting sir, but we couldn't help overhearing your discussion, and we fill we may be capable of rendering some assistance." Scrum and His Henchmen's heads all snapped around to look at the unexpected appearance of the voice from behind them.

Appearing as if out of thin air, stood two nasty and vicious-looking Goons next to a large armored brown truck with an odd LP Logo embolized next to a picture of a fish. Scrums quickly held up a muddy hand to keep his trio of twits from saying anything. "Who, and were in the Heck did you come from, and why should I put any interest in your offer?"

The Two Goons exchanged an evil look before the one spoke again. "As to the question of who we are, that isn't as important as our offer to help, because let's just say that we share a certain interest in the Removal of the mentioned Furred Freak." A look of distrust crossed Scrum's face before it was replaced by a sinister smile. "Let's talk." He chuckled.

The Noon Day Sun was quickly approaching its zenith and the Kansas Sky was almost a pure clear blue with just a few whispery white clouds painted across it, but on the far horizon, a line of dark clouds hinted at the promise of storms later that night.

Back on the Daigh Farm, an old pickup truck pulled into the driveway and rolled up to the front porch of the rustic farmhouse. "Grandma, Grandpa, I'm back!" Sunni called out as she opened the pickup driver's door and slide out and reached back to grab some paper sacks containing specifically requested items. As she stepped away from the pickup, she noticed the Sheriff's patrol car next to the porch.

"Let me help you with that Sunbeam!" Her grandfather called from the barn door and came trotting over to her. Right behind him came the County Sheriff, who was looking around and writing down what he saw in his legal notepad. "Well, Bert thanks for reporting all this to me. I just wish we could have gotten here sooner last night, and caught those bandits, put a stop to all the trouble they've been causing." The Sheriff sighed dejectedly.

Oh Yeah, I sure wish We could have called you right away but had a few fires to deal with and some broken fences, and a couple of animals to round up that had gotten loose, real busy with all that Sheriff, yes indeed!" Mr. Daigh replied quickly while making gestures at Sunni to keep quiet. She looked back at her grandfather with a confused look.

The Sheriff nodded while jotting down a few more notes. "Lucky that you're here too Miss, Daigh, I have a few questions for you too. About the INCIDENT at Mom & Pops. Seeing as you're an eyewitness, that and about that Biker I saw you riding off with, I got some QUESTIONS for Him too; Joker nearly took the bumper off my vehicle."

"Oh, you mean Har…" Sunni started to reply when her grandfather quickly interrupted. "HARDLY Saw Him, Sheriff! He dropped my Beloved Granddaughter off here at the Farm and Took Right Off! Said something about heading south, going to Houston or Maimi; I seem to recall him saying." Bert rattled off, wrapping an arm around Sunni's shoulders in a big hug!

"Uh, huh." The Sheriff said slowly nodding his head while glancing from Mr. Daigh, who had a big tooth-filled grin on his old face, and to Sunni, with big wide open eyes and her mouth hanging open, almost brushing the tops of the sacks in her arms.

"Well, I gotta get started on my report for all this, and I'll instruct my deputies to ramp up their patrols of the area, but sadly it's a big county and I only have a couple of officers, so if you See Anything Else, be sure to call Us right away!" The Sheriff said with empathy and with a nod of his head got in his patrol car and drove off, with the Daigh's waving goodbye.

"GRANDPA, YOU FIBBED!" Sunni gasped. Somehow, she managed to keep that bottled up until the Sheriff was out of sight! "Now, now, it was more of a necessary White Lie!" Mr. Daigh quickly pointed out. "I should hope you'd agree seeing that our New Hired Hand might not appreciate us pointing him out to the Government, He is a whole new level of Undocumented Worker."

"I take it is safe to come out now?" Mrs. Daigh said as she stepped thru the front door on the porch. Once again dressed in her sensible work clothes, she'd added a beloved old apron, with a lifetime of stains and patches. In its pockets were some bandage wraps and Mr. Daigh's electric razor, and she had some bright yellow rubber dish-washing gloves on her hands. She also had Hard Luck's rough black ripped up, and battered pants draped over one arm.

"Yeah, The Law got all the info they needed, and they'll do what they can." Mr. Daigh harumphed not sounding too impressed by their efforts, but silently admitted they were doing the best they could. Kansas is a bit of a big place for just a few to keep track of. Sadly, His farm wasn't the only one that had had such occurrences as the Daigh Farm, but dang it, he's a taxpayer after all!

"Grandma, I managed to find all the stuff on the list!" Sunni said as she ran up onto the porch next to her grandmother, rooting in the sacks, making sure she really did have all the requested items. "Yup, that looks like everything He said we'd need, now that I just finished getting Hard Luck patched up, I can get to work on these, just hope I remember all my chemistry from school." Mrs. Daigh said as she held up the pants on her arm.

"Hard Luck Honey, would you mind coming out here just to make sure I got everything right?" Mrs. Daigh called in thru the front door. Stepping out onto the porch with a very noticeable limp, and now clad in Mr. Daigh's old, worn, but very comfy red-flannel bathrobe tied securely at the waist. Blushing almost as red as the robe, he inspected the contents of Sunni's supply run.

"Yeah, yeah that's everything, I can handle it from here, Mrs. Daigh, I've done this plenty of times, believe me." She shook her head. " I won't hear anything about it, I can handle this, besides you've done so much for us, we won't ever be able to repay you, but this is a small start." Mrs. Daigh told him in that caring and sincere way that only a mother can. Sunni and Mr. Daigh joined in and backed up her statement.

"She's right son, you don't owe us nothing." Mr. Daigh added. "Yeah, if not for you the whole farm and all of us might not be here, you're the best!" Sunni chirped excitedly. Hard Luck just weakly smiled and blushed a bit more, mostly for the guilty feeling about wanting to ditch out on this nice family as soon as he could. "I, uh, I don't know what to say." He sighed so he stuck with the smartest option of keeping his yap shut.

Dently came rumbling out of the barn, with his mechanical appendages out, with tools in their clamps, and a broom and dustpan in a couple. "Why, even your er, contraption here has been a big help! It's helped me clean up those wrecked quads, repair the fences, and heck, even helped get my tractor up and running again!" Mr. Daigh smiled while patting Dently on his camera eye.

"Yeah, he can be pretty useful when he puts his little metal mind to it." Hard Luck snorted teasingly at his best friend. Dently took a proud posture and rattled and clanked off a series of rude-sounding noises. "What did it, er I mean what did He say?" Mr. Daigh asked. "Nothing worth repeating in Polite Company." Hard Luck sighed while everyone chuckled.

"I'll get to work on your trousers, you're more than welcome to sit down, um that is lay down here in the house and rest up till I'm done." She told him, while quickly swapping words in the hopes of avoiding a tender topic, especially when she noticed Hard Luck wince and tried to nonchalantly massage his Tender Tail Section at the word Sit!

"Oh, uh tha, that's OK Ma'am but the barn is good enough for me, honest really." Hard Luck stuttered with a shaky smile. "Besides, it's better if I move around a bit, it'll keep me from getting all stiff later." Sunni almost started hopping, a bright expression on her always smiling face. "Oh, don't worry Grandma & Grandpa, I'll make sure he's looked after, besides I've got all kinds of questions I want to ask him!" She was visibly trembling with anticipation.

Hearing this, Mr. & Mrs. Daigh exchanged that kind of concern-filled look that only parents can make as Mr. Daigh stepped up onto the porch next to his wife. Hard Luck got a quick shade of apprehension across his face as he quickly rechecked that the borrowed robe was still tightly secured around his waist.

"See you later Grandma & Grandpa, come on Hard Luck!" Sunni exclaimed and grabbing his left elbow and all most pulling him off his feet and moving towards the barn. Dently quickly retracted his appendages back into his storage tank and rolled after them. "Now Bertram, don't you let any of this get to you, our Granddaughter knows how to behave around, erm company." She chided him as he let out an exasperated gasp.

"I know, I know, it's just that I aint quite come to grips with finding out our newly hired hand is a 6-foot talking mouse from outer space and he has a mouthy motorcycle." She had to admit, that was a big bite to try and swallow all at once. She couldn't blame him for that. "I'm just gonna put my faith in Sunni, she is the best judge of character I've ever met so if she can vouch for him, that's good enough for me." She sighed. 'Besides, after getting a closer look at him, that body of his is the roughest road map I may have ever seen, especially after I pulled all that rock salt out of his, um him." She said while once again shooting Mr. Daigh a bemocking glance.

"Ah, I've already apologized for that, more than once I might add, and besides. Be grateful it was rock salt. and not buckshot!" He grumbled. "That poor boy's backside looks like it's already gotten more than its fair share of buckshot put into it." She sighed sympathetically. "Now come on. You can help me cook up these ingredients so I can patch up these trousers." Mr. Daigh nodded his head and followed. "Yes Dear, Whatever you say dear, right away dear." He joked. She let out an "Mmm Hmm." as she held the door open for him.

"Slow down Sunni, it's not like the world is coming to an end, at least I hope it aint." Hard Luck gasped as he attempted to keep from tripping while being pulled along by the enthusiastic Sunni. "Oh, sorry, I'm sorry, it's just that, I mean it oh gosh!" She stammered as she slowed her pace down to a more controlled pace, allowing the staggering Martian to regain his balance.

"Ok, now why don't you try asking me some of those questions that you've been bottling up since we got interrupted last night." He sighed, giving in to the obvious and inevitable long list of questions she was dying to ask him. She smiled up at him, quite aware of how transparent her curiosity was getting to her.

"I'll start simple, what was with all the stuff I had to get to patch up your pants?" He sighed, thankful she asked something easy like that, plus he quickly made sure the robe was still firmly secure. "You need that stuff to patch them up 'cause they're part of a Vac-Suit, and that's a lightweight Space Suit." He said cutting her off before she could ask the question already forming on her face. "Wow, that's cool!"

Bracing himself, he could tell the Fun was about to start. "So, What's Mars-like?" Yup. He called that one. "Oh, you know, it's big, round, mostly red and orange." She scrunched up her face and shot him a look, "Yeah, Ha ha, funny, eh, it's a place, just like any other planet really, it's got its city folk, its country folk, and all the usual pros and cons that go with it. It's aint all that much different from Earth really, at least it used to be." He sighed shaking his head.

"Do you have friends and family there?" She asked quickly, she spotted that temptation to get pulled into his memories threatening to snatch him away again, so she did her best to keep it from happening. "What? Oh, yeah, I got some family there, yeah, I got that."

"Do you miss them?"

"Oh, muh, more than you could puh, possibly imagine."

"Is that where you were going before you got stuck here on Earth?"

"OH, Fromage No, I aint Never go…uh, thu, that is I mean, No, No I wasn't going back to Mars"!" He blustered trying to get himself back under control. "I uh, I got other places to go and people to see, that is." She quickly changed the subject, again.

"So, do they all ride motorcycles like Dently on Mars!?" She asked putting a big smile on her face and looking at the up till now quiet machine rolling along on the other side of the Blue Martian. "Oh No, I'm the Only one LUCKY enough to have a ride like him!" Hard Luck smirked looking down at the faithful machine. Dently just rattled his muffler and took on a more pompous pose.

"How about this one, why hasn't Mars ever contacted the Earth, or have they and our governments been keeping it a secret?" He had to think about that one. "Oh, cheese I dunno. I think they told us once in school, but I might have skipped, uh I mean been sick that day, or I wasn't paying attention." That got another chuckle and a shake of the head from her.

"Trust me though, I've been all over this galaxy and a couple of others and you guys are better off on your own for as long as you can do it before you get mixed up with all the problems out there." That took the smile off her face as she looked from him and then up at the big blue sky above her. She just wondered more about what was beyond that thin blue blanket and in the stars beyond it.

They'd reached the barn doors by now and Hard Luck limped over to one side of the big opening, making sure it was the side opposite to the part Molly the Mule inhabited. "Got any other questions before I fall over?" He chuckled as he pretended to stifle a big yawn.

"I guess not, at least not right now, there will be plenty of time for them later, so I should let you get some rest and try and recuperate from all those wounds." She replied with a sympathetic look which caused a bit of a guilty look to cross Hard Luck's face. Dently parked next to him and gave a low disapproving rumble of his engine, quietly letting his partner know to watch it. Hard Luck resisted the urge to give him a swift kick.

Hard Luck's antenna sparked as he looked gruffly at Dently, whose own antenna sparked too as the pair had a rapid-fire and private talk/argument between themselves. "Is everything ok?" Sunni asked concerned with seeing all the sparks flying. "What, Oh, uh nothing really, just checking to make sure his systems didn't need to REBOOT or anything!" He smiled at her feebly.

"If you don't need anything, I'll go check in with Grandma & Grandpa. See how your pants are coming along, your sure you'll be comfortable out here in the barn, we've got plenty of room in the house!?" She said to him, putting her best effort of midwestern hospitality forward.

"That hay pile is very comfy, honest, besides it's more like what we sleep in back on Mars than those beds you guys here on Earth sleep on!" He said trying to assure her of this with his best smile. "Oh, OK, if you're sure then I guess I'll see you later, have a nice nap." She returned his smile and started to turn away but paused by Dently letting out rattling off a suspicion-laced rumble.

"Why don't you go with her, get back with the Old Man, help him out some more, maybe learn more about that thing called Being Useful?" Hard Luck sniped back at him teasingly. Not making a sound, Dently calmy swerved around pointing himself towards the farmhouse, and rolled backward a few feet. BWOOSH! Dently jetted a big burst of air from his exhaust ports!

"HEY!" Hard Luck cried out as the lower half of his robe fluttered up around his shoulders. "Oh, My!" Sunni gasped with her hands going to her mouth to keep herself from laughing at the funny sight! She did blush watching Hard Luck struggling to get the robe back in its proper place.

"Ha, Ha, aint he Funny!?" Hard Luck growled chucklingly while holding the robe down and glaring at the retreating Dently. "Hee, hee um bye Hard Luck, see you later!" Sunni choked and quickly followed Dently. "Ugh, really glad I had my shorts on." Hard Luck embarrassedly moaned.

Stumbling into the barn, and staying on his side of it, He made his way into the hay-filled stall. Making his way to the center of the pile, he turned and tenderly lowered his pain-racked body down on into it. Snagging the underside of the stall door with his tail, pulling it closed.

"Uh, I really should get some sleep." He moaned. Shaking his head, he reached into the hay and pulled out a half-empty bottle of grape soda, and took a long drink from it. Rolling over onto his side, he reached up to the back of his neck and detached the little detachable segment of his cybernetic spine. Pulling the fiber connection, he plugged into an almost hidden power socket on the wall.

Metal Antenna and Spine sparking and glowing as energy coursed into him. Pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "Oh, I should get some sleep, but this just feels way too good!" He sighed guiltily. Full well knowing doing this was bad for him, all he could hope was that Dently didn't catch him doing it. "Just recharge and I'll be ready for tonight, I don't need any sleep, not any at all…" His head fell to the hay and drifted off to a reluctant slumber.

Dusk was quickly approaching bringing with it a deeply reddening horizon which was rapidly being consumed by a large dark wall of storm clouds rolling across the sky. Along a familiar stretch of deserted back road, Scrums was pacing agitatedly up and down the dusty road next to his convertible and the large ugly armored truck.

He was sweating profusely on his bald head, despite the cool breeze starting to blow across the surrounding wheat fields. He kept looking from the dark clouds to his wristwatch to the dark truck and back again while puffing away on a smelly cigar clamped in between his teeth.

Distracting himself by wondering if he should put the top up on his car. Anything to keep himself from looking at the Truck, and wondering how much longer and what exactly was going on inside it. Unable to stop himself he marched over behind it and stood impatiently looking at the large double doors.

Tapping his foot on the gravel, he chewed on the cigar almost at the point of yanking the doors open. He saw the whitish-blue lightning flash in the clouds but was still too far off to hear the thunder yet. He watched the flashes for a few seconds until he noticed they were now a yellow color. A cracking energy sound accompanied the flashes emitting from the small thick windows.

The noises and lights inside increased along with the big truck now starting to shake and bounce! Scrums pulled his hands back from the door handles and then took a few steps backward. It started to rattle and shake more violently! It increased more and more until the truck was bouncing off all 4 of its wheels!

It sounded like the vehicle was going to smash itself apart until with a final bone-crunching lurch it slammed to the ground and became extremely still. Everything became almost deathly silent. It was somehow worse. The rear doors of the truck creaked open, smoke and sparks pouring out. Crazy Laughter broke out from inside!

"Well, Mr. Scrums. Does this look like it might be a satisfactory improvement adequate for your desired requirements?" The Bigger and Uglier of the two Goons nastily joked, as he stepped down from the rear of the truck and off to one side. The Menacing Glow reappeared with the laughing and shouting accompanying it.

Scrums took a few more steps back. His sweaty red face went ashen, his eyes opening wide and his forgotten cigar dangling from his lower lip before dropping to the ground. The color slowly came back into his chubby cheeks as did a malevolent sneer.

"Why, yes, I do believe this could be Most Satisfactory to my needs, very much indeed!" Scrums slowly started chuckling, it grows into a full on almost maniacal cackle. The Goon joined as did the 3 Glowing Forms in the joining in.

The Laughter echoed across the prairie, and the approaching storm added the looming sounds of Thunder and Lightening crackling and rumbling across the now much darker sky. It was looking like it was going to be a Long Night!

KRAK-A-BOOM!

"Aaaaahhh, No! I Won't Do, Make It Stop, Help! Ouch!" Hard Luck was jerked awake by the sound of thunder, wrapped in claustrophobic darkness, banging his head against something that clattered against the floor! The Storm rumbled again, it helped to bring out of his nightmare enough to realize that he had wrapped himself up in a blanket someone had placed on him.

Struggling for a few moments, he managed to free his head. Things were still pitch black until he got his left paw freed and pushed his leather aviator cap off his eyes. "Ugh, oh my head, it's dark, why's it dark?" He groaned while working his shoulders free.

Blinking his eyes attempting to adjust them to the darkness, he reached behind his neck and groped for the filament extended from its spinal port to the electrical socket on the wall. "Why was I asleep, I was plugged in, I shouldn't have fallen asleep." He groaned shaking his head, trying to shake the memory of the nightmares from it, while tracing the filament to the plug.

"Aw, cheese, the power is out, how did that happen?" He got the answer to that as more thunder broke out and flashes of lightning barely a second later illuminated the interior of the darkened barn. "Lousy rural craftsmanship, ouch." He griped as he unplugged, and the filament snapped back into place with a painful snap.

Another brief flash from outside gave him enough light to spot something and give him the inspiration to make some of his own light. Concentrating, His metal antenna tips started to spark, casting just enough light that he could see at least a couple of feet in front of him. Yup. There draped over the stall door were his repaired and cleaned trousers. Along with his brown should harness and his under-the-shoulder holsters with two also clean-looking big blasters.

He'd obviously had a visitor at some time during his undesired nap, which would explain where the blanket had come from. Reacquiring and reapplying said accouterments and making sure everything was securely in place, he gathered up the blanket and borrowed robe, he carefully made his way out of the barn and past the stall holding the loudly snoring Molly the Mule.

Stepping out thru the big doors, it was a little brighter outside than in, but not by much. The wind had picked up and it had a chill to it, a sure sign of hail dropping somewhere. The night sky above was hidden behind pitch-black clouds frequently illuminated by lightning flashes. At least it wasn't raining yet. Water and his electrically charged metal bits didn't mix well. "I wonder if Modo has that problem too?" He wondered.

"Hi Hard Luck, did you sleep OK?!" Sunni called out appearing from around the corner of the barn, now attired in a bright pink raincoat, and bright yellow rubber boats. She was obviously prepared for the nigh oncoming storm. Her bright smile all most lighted up the area better than any rainbow. Dently came tumbling along right behind her. The way he was clanking and clunking implied that her Positivity had rubbed off on the mechanoid.

"Did I slee, uh, er, I mean yeah, I, I uh slept juh, just fine!" He fibbed while smiling weakly at her. No need to burden her with his problems. Sometimes ignorance is bliss can be a very true thing. "How are the pants fitting, are they OK, what with the bandages on your, well, after Grandma shaved your…" She started to ask before Hard Luck quickly cut her off.

"Aaahh, Thu, they fit, and feel juh, just fine!" He spat out, hoping she couldn't tell he was blushing in the dark, but her repressing a giggle told him that wasn't the case. Dently's little similar rattle didn't help any either. "Here, I'll trade you these for that blanket and robe." She smiled and held out an old-fashioned yellow raincoat and a big round hat.

He swapped with her and carefully pulled on the coat, noticing it was an old coat so hopefully it getting torn up by his metal spine wouldn't be an issue. Retracting his antenna in as far as they would go, he put on the big hat. It didn't quite fit on his with his big ears, but he pulled them down as best he could.

Luck seemed to be on his side for once, no sooner than he got the rain gear on, big heavy raindrops started slowly falling sporadically from the dark sky. "Guess it's gonna be some storm if it's already knocked out the power." He sighed scratching the back of his neck while looking despondently back into the dark barn.

Sunni gave him a baffled look. "What do you mean, the power is still on, the storm isn't really here yet, see the yard light is on." She said while pointing at a mildly obscured Big Yard Light behind a silo on the other side of the yard. "Well, that don't make sense, how can it be on everywhere except in one…" He started to say until he jerked his head down to glare down at Dently.

The Motorcycle, which was being uncharacteristically quiet, was humming to himself (in a very guilty-sounding tone) and doing his best to not look up at the Martian looking at him. "What, what is it?" Sunni asked, confused by the little conflict. "Oh, nothing worth talking about…. Right Now!" Hard Luck said finishing the sentence with a growl. Pretty much saying this Would be Discussed later and in private.

"Are you hungry, we've already had supper, but there is some leftover if you want some?" Hard Luck's paw went to his empty stomach. He hadn't aint anything since those doughnuts the previous day. "Well, since you mention it and if your offering…" He started to say until she cut him off. "We had Hot Dogs, there are plenty of them left!"

"… uh, I don't, that is I aint hungry at all, I feel just…fine." He grimaced, he would never understand how Modo and the Bros could stand those things!? "If you change your mind just let us know." He thanked her for the offer again, hoping she wouldn't notice how insincere the fake smile on his face was.

"So, what are you going to do tonight, now that you've chased off the bad guys?" She inquired politely, and he was grateful for the change of topic. "Seeing as how I Slept All Afternoon (he shot Dently a grumpy look, to which the reply was a just as surly backfire from his tailpipes) I may as well. It is my job after all, and I'm used to be up all night anyway."

Thunder & lightning cracked across the sky, the rain and wind increasing slightly. "At least you'll have a show to watch while you do it." She giggled looking up. "Eh, I prefer shows where my tail don't get all soggy." He replied while wringing said tail before pulling it up under his raincoat. This got another chuckle from her.

"Thanks so much for all you've done for us, Hard Luck, I guess I'll see you in the morning then, but thanks again so much!" She said and before he could respond she reached over and gave him a big hug! Freezing up with his arms sticking out at odd angles, totally not knowing how he should react to this emotional display at all! "Gulp, yuh, yer, your wuh, welcome!?" He stuttered.

She released him and turned and leaned down and cupped Dently's camera eye in her hands. "And thanks to you too Mr. Dently. It's really nice to finally get to meet the real you!" Dently rumbled and clanked like an attention-starved puppy finally getting noticed. His tail fender wagging so hard it threatened to come loose and fall off.

"G-night, see you in the morning, stay dry!" She waved and jogged towards the farmhouse thru the growing puddles. Hard Luck & Dently returned the wave as they watched her fade into the darkness. Dently looks up at Him rattling and clanking at him. "Yes, I'm Mad at you!" He snapped. "You know I hate to sleep after getting all beat up like that!

They made their way to the shelter of the barn as the rain started coming down harder. Dently continued to scold the Martian. "Yes, I know charging is Bad for me, Grape Soda & Chocolate Doughnuts is bad for me, and everything I like is bad for me, as you always point out!" Reaching the barn door, they turned and looked at the storm.

Dently continued his lecture. "Yes, I know you do it cause you care, I, I care about you too, but dang it, you gotta let me have something!" He whined petulantly as he leaned wearily against the doorframe. Dently responded but in a softer tone. "Ugh, yeah, yeah, I know, you know I can't stay mad at you, we gotta get off this planet, how's my helmet coming along, I'll need it when we leave here, whenever that will be." He conceded while craftily trying to change the subject.

Still working on it was the response to that question. They watched the storm in silence for a few moments. Dently rolled closer rattling. "No, I don't wanna set down." Another rattle. "It's still tender." Hard Luck was glad the lights in the barn were still out. Rattle, Clank, Clatter. "No, a pillow on the seat won't help."

They stood listening to the rain pattering on the barn roof. It was kind of relaxing. This is such a simple little planet. It was mostly just water. A rarity on some planets, not on others. Holding out his ungloved left paw, he felt the rain on it. Slowly soaking into the fur.

"I should put my brace back on." He sighed as he looked at the slightly bent and crooked fingers. The bones and knuckles cracked and popped as he slowly pulled them into a fist. Much like the rest of his beaten, bruised, and broken body, what was left of it anyway. Noticing his friend falling into a distracted melancholy, Dently rubbed against his left leg like a concerned cat. He even managed to pull off a decent engine purr.

"Huh, what?" Hard Luck mumbled as he was brought back to reality. "Oh, yeah right, come on buddy. Let's go do a walk around, do the job we're here for. "Shaking his paw dry and putting it in one of the pockets of the raincoat. Rumbling like a puppy, Dently happily rolled along beside him. His tank compartment opened and a mechanical arm popped out and unfurled an umbrella above himself. "Cute." Hard Luck replied.

Moving across the soggy yard, dodging the slowly growing mud puddles. Everything looked OK around the Barn and Farmhouse, they started making their way towards the edge of the wheat field. Moving away from the big yard lights, Dently snapped on his headlight to illuminate their way, with his broken taillight sparking a bit in the rain.

Shaking his sparking tail-fender, Dently crankily clattered and clunked looking back at it. Hard Luck tried to hold back a chuckle as he smiled. "Yeah, I feel your pain, Pal, we'll add that to the needs fixing list." Dently annoyingly clunking cut power to the light, stopping the sparking. "Oh, calm down, so your rear sensor net aint working, it's not a big deal." Hard Luck said attempting to soothe his friend's ruffled feelings.

"We shouldn't have anything to worry about, we beat those jerks pretty good last night, they wouldn't dare show their ugly mugs around here again." His camera eye rotating from the Martian to his broken tail-light and back, Dently decided to hope for the best for once. He would be positive too. Statistically Hard Luck had to be right at least once, eventually.

Hiking along the edge of the Tall Wheat Field, Dently rolling along beside Hard Luck walking next to the field. The stalks rippled next to him. "Ugh, hey what the…!?" He cried out as he stumbled as his left foot acted like it caught on something, nearly causing him to fall on his face, only saved by Dently quickly leaning over, Hard Luck grabbing his handlebars.

"Vroom, vroom, rumble." Hard Luck pushed himself back onto his feet. "I am watching where I'm walking, I don't see what I tripped on, put your high beams on why don't chya!" Complying the Bright Light snapped on, illuminating the area in front of them, but making the surrounding area get just that much darker.

"Well, that's a little better, I guess." He sighed while reaching over and adjusting the headlight to point more toward the soggy ground. "Stop screwing around, we got work to do.' Doing an Admirable Job of not firing off an extremely sarcastic remark, Dently rolled along beside him in relative silence.

The rain was tapering off to a mild drizzle. The thunder and lightning had also quietened down too much calmer rumble and far-off flashes. Ahead a large mud puddle was coming up. Dently came to a stop a couple of feet away, camera eye scanning around. "Ugh, hey what the…?" Hard Luck grunted as he suddenly jerked to a stop. His tail having slipped out from under the raincoat had gotten snagged on Dently's exhaust pipe. The Really HOT Part of the exhaust pipe!

Tsss! The tail sizzled and smoked, being a part that wasn't wrapped in bandages. "Oh, Cheese, Hot, hot it's hot, ouch, ow, ouch!" Hard Luck yelped, trying to free himself! "Beep, Beep, Honk!" Dently clatter and clanked anxiously! "Stop Wriggling!" They fumbled back and forth until the singed tail finally came free!

"Puff, puff, oh, it hurts, why did have to stop raining now, oh ouch, puff, puff!" Hopping around and blowing on the toasted tail, he fumbled over to the mud puddle and bent down to dunk the appendage in the murky water. "Why don't you be more careful!" He snapped at Dently over his shoulder. Dently responding exactly as expected! "Beep, Honk, Vroom, Rattle!"

"Yeah, well just be more careful, ugh it's all crispy now!" Hard Luck whined, continuing to soak his pride. Dently just rattled annoyed and just shook his camera eye. Splish, splash, swoosh, Thwack! "OWCH!" Splash! 'Guggle, glug, gah!" Hard Luck yelled out as he suddenly lurched forward to splash face-first into the big mud puddle!

He thrashed about in the puddle, succeeding in completely soaking and coating himself in the thick, sticky mud! Managing to roll over into a sitting position, he spits out a mouth full of mud. "Spit, sputter, yuck, huh, Hey, what did you do that for!?" Dently didn't respond, he stood there all but shaking himself apart as he scanned in a 360-degree spin with his camera eye!

Hard Luck spit out another glob of mud and managed to wipe some from his eyes. "Wait a minute, why would you kick me? How did you kick me? You didn't kick me did you!?" Dently didn't have time to answer. CRASH! A giant circular haybale came falling out of the dark sky! Slamming down on top of the motorcycle, onto his side, and pinned in the wet ground!

"DENTLY!" Hard Luck cried out as he futilely splashed around in the mud puddle, unable to get onto his feet! The wheat stalks suddenly parted and two sinister shapes stepped out of the shadows. "Well, well, well, I was expecting to find a Freaky Fuzzball, but we found a Mud Monster instead!" Scorcher chuckled nastily.

"Most assuredly a perfidious predicament our pathetic pest is currently insured himself in." Smasher joined in with, them while effortlessly caring another large round hay bale on his shoulder. A bale weighing 1200 pounds at least! "Heh, heh, uh yeah what you said." Came a voice from out of thin air.

A Pale Blue Haze outlining a vaguely human shape appeared. A second later, Sneaky stood there, joining in with his cohorts. Gawking at the 3 thugs, Hard Luck noticed that they each now had a glowing crystal attached to their chests. "Bet you weren't expecting to see us again, huh Fuzzball?" Scorcher sneered down at him.

"Oh, you noticed our bling. Do you like it? Yeah, they're really cool, and they come with the coolest extras, you've seen Sneaky's, let's show you Smasher's and mine!" Giggling fiendishly, he nodded to the large thug. The crystal on his chest took on a deep purple shine, and he effortlessly one-handed tossed the 1000-pound plus haybale high into the air!

The Circular Bale went up and came crashing down on top of the bale on top of Dently! "Honk!" The Motorcycle blurted as he was all but flattened even more! Hard Luck helplessly struggled in the mud as the 3 thugs chuckled at their cruelty. "My Turn!' Scorcher called out!

The Crystal on his chest emitted a deep red glow and an aura around his body! Hard Luck could feel the heat emanating from it! Even the rain falling evaporated before it could touch the Lead Thug! ZAP! A crimson laser shoots out hitting the top haybale, instantly igniting the wet hay! "Oh, this is so freaking awesome!" Scorcher laughed!

The Burning Bale illuminates the area in flickering crimson! Scorcher stared at it all most as if hypnotized by it. It matched the sinister aura emitted by his crystal. Smasher and Sneaky took places next to him but stood back enough to not get burned by his own heat. He reluctantly pulled his eyes off it and turned to look at the Muddy Martian.

"So, Boys, what say we break in our new skill by getting a little practice, by so, oh I don't know, engaging in a little Freak Hunt?!" Scorcher chuckled malevolently. "That would bring me copious volumes of hedonistic gratification." Smasher growled thru a broken tooth smile, cracking his large knuckles, making sounds like snapping steel! 'Groovy." Sneaky smirked.

"Oh, Fondue Me!" Hard Luck moaned as he helplessly tried to escape the mud puddle, but only succeeded in slipping and sliding around on the slick mud and getting more of it all over himself. Dently in the same predicament trapped under burning bales, his tires spinning uselessly trying to free himself too!

"Ooh, Good Suggestion, but I think will save that little joy for last." The Thug Leader replied. "Right after we've thoroughly paid you back for the pain and embarrassment you gave us, and we've round up the Nice Family that owns this dump, but then the only question will be: do we kill them in front of you, or you in front of them, but I guess we'll burn that bridge when we come to it."

Hard Luck just stared at them in silent dread, totally unable to think up some kind of tough-sounding insult or threat, so he just kept his mouth shut. All 3 crystals on their chests started radiating light. Sneaky shimmered and vanished. Smasher took on a deep green, and his muscles seemed to grow disturbingly larger, and Scorcher all but burst into a fiery orange-red! "Let's get this party started, shall we?!"

To Be Continued…