Chapter 2

Lex was driving to Charlie's favorite hardware store where she had a tab open. She had been helping Charlie for a couple months now and she had been a huge savior to the garage.

Even though Charlie was trying to do something in the garage, Lex was the one who was keeping the money coming. Charlie just wasn't in that condition that she could be working at that speed she usually did.

Lex parked in front of the Raul's Hardware and turned off Charlie's pickup's motor and leaned her head to the steering wheel while the rain drummed to the windscreen.

What the hell is happening to me? Charlie is not feeling well and all I can think is him. What kind of a friend am I?

I do hope that Charlie will get better. I don't know how long I can be here until... No. Don't think that. Maybe I can stay this time.

She opened the pickup's door and closed it with a bang. She ran inside to the shop and walked to the counter to get her order from Raul.

"Hey gorgeous! How's Charlie?" The kind native American asked. His black eyes were as laughing and warm as always.

"Hey honey! Can't know. You know her. She's trying to fight it herself." Lex rolled her eyes while she leaned to the counter.

"Well that ain't healthy. I hope Throttle won't let her!" He laughed out loud. He had known the guys almost the whole time they were on earth. How wouldn't he? Charlie wasn't always able to fetch her orders.

"Haha. Well he's trying!" Lex grinned.

"How about you? I see you have worries?" The old wise man asked and Lex felt like his eyes were digging to her soul.

"Nah. What worries could I have?" She laughed tightly avoiding his sight.

"If you say so. But for to you to know, you don't fool me." He said and handed her order to her. "Do you need help with this? It is pretty heavy."

"I'll handle it. But it in the tab. See ya!" Lex shouted over her shoulder and left to the car.

When Stoker, Rimfire and Vinnie came to the bathroom they saw that the whole place was destroyed. And at the center of all that, they saw Charlie convulsing violently on the shattered mirror, it's pieces piercing her skin making her bleed.

"Oh Charlie-girl, are ya okay?" Vinnie watched when their loved friend was in deep agony.

"Please, please, please! Make it stop! Arrgh!" She cried.

She felt a burning pain come through her spine. Her facial bones were re-molding. Her body ached everywhere and there came snaps and cracks from her bones and joints.

She screamed from pure horror when she tried to scratch the tingling pain from her skin.

The guys were looking at the scene with a brutal horror. Their faces were white as a sheet and the poor Rimfire was almost fainting.

Few seconds later all they could hear was their own rapid heartbeats and Charlie's quiet wailing.

"Oh mother of Mars!" Came from Rimfire's mouth.

"I'll say!" Stoker agreed.

Lex drove to the dock which was near by the garage, she wasn't ready to go back there. She sighed and leaned her head back when the flashbacks of her past attacked.

A man bending over her when she was tied down. The pain when a woman pressed a white-hot iron to her sole. And the loneliness when she was left for days to starve in pain to the basement. The blood all over her when she managed to escape by...

No! Don't even think about it!

When Throttle came to his senses he saw that he was laying in Charlie's bedroom. And he was alone.

Oh shit! what just happened?

He stood up way too fast when he remembered. And the dizzy feeling made him to sit back down.

"Charlie? Stoker?" Throttle shouted while he rubbed his head. " Bros?"

When he got no answer, he stood up once again, slowly at this time, and started to carefully move to the bathroom where this all started and almost crashed against Rimfire who came to look if he had already woke up.

"Finally! We've been worried about you!"

"How's Charlie? Is she okay? What happened to her? Where is she?" Throttle gunned at the poor youngster.

"At ease! Come look for yourself. She's... Fine. But she's unconscious. She's at Stoker's ship."

"So? How this happened?" Modo asked. "Can you fix it?"

Everyone's eyes were on Stoker who had been studying samples from Charlie for an hour now.

"Can't say much." Stoker sighed and looked at Charlie, who was laying on a bed in his ships small infirmary and rubbed his eyes. "Though I can guess something. Her DNA is now totally different from the last time I took samples from her."

"What does that mean?" Vinnie asked.

"That means that Karbuncle messed with Charlie's DNA for a big time. That's why she could change her form."

"Is it permanent?" Modo was worried.

"What is?" Throttle demanded when he arrived to there, Rimfire on his heels.

"Rimfire! You were supposed to tell him before you bring him here!" Modo snapped to his nephew.

"I thought that he wouldn't believe me if I would have told him! It's better if he sees it with his own eyes!" Rimfire snapped back at him.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Knock it off!" Throttle was shocked to see them argue that way. Normally neither of them would rise their voices to anyone like that."What hap-"

And then he saw her. It can't be! How? Why?

"Is that...?" Throttle mumbled.

"Yeah. She is." Stoker said firmly.

Throttle hesitated a little to go closer, but still his feet made him go. His heart raced to run when he was next to her. She's... A mice. And she's beautiful.

He watched at her in amazed how she had changed. Her hair were a lot longer and thicker than before. And it was bright blood red. Her before bare skin was now covered on silky and creamy golden fur from her head to the tip of her tail. And she had now two round ears on top of her head. And between them was two red antennaes. But that nose! That cute petite little nose!

"How...?" Throttle started to ask, but his voice betrayed him from a start. "She looks just like a.. "

"Like a martian mice." Stoker ended. "I don't know but it seems that it is part of Charlie now. And there is something more, but I can't figure what it is."

"Meaning..." Vinnie was confused.

"Her DNA is only a part martian now and the rest of her is something else and I don't know what." Stoker said. "Although I have a feeling that this ain't going to end here."

Everybody's eyes turned to the beautiful petite wrench jockey of them.

"If Limburger and Karbuncle managed to survive from the explosion, I will kill them! Modo growled deep down from his chest.

"No you don't if I get them first!" Throttle muttered.

"Not fair! You had your fun with Grease-Pitt! It's our turn now!" Vinnie exclaimed.

"I didn't enjoy that, you sick asshole!" Throttle argued.

"You liar! We both saw that! Though I can't blame for you about that..." Vinnie snapped at him.

"Well, although I don't approve what you did to him, at least we don't have to worry about him..." Modo said matter of factly.

"What did you do to him?" Rimfire asked curiously.

"I don't want to talk about it." Throttle muttered.

"What did he do?" Stoker sighed darkly.

"Umm... He sort of ripped him in half.. With his bare hands but..." Vinnie said carefully and rushed to defend his bro. " ... But I would have done the same, if he wouldn't have, for what he was doing to Charlie!"

A threatening silence landed upon them until Stoker stomed next to Throttle.

"That doesn't matter! We have our code for a reason!" Stoker yelled after he tossed Throttle out of ship by grabbing from his vest. " I don't ask for much but slaughtering people just like that is not acceptable! Throttle you know better than that!"

Throttle watched to his toes and listened Stoker's lecture being ashamed. But Vinnie was right. Throttle didn't regret what he had done. Grease-Pitt had deserved it.

"What did he do to her?" Rimfire wanted to know when they followed them outside.

"We don't want to talk about it!" The trio said grimly like it came from one mouth.

Stoker and Rimfire looked at them like they were turned pink or something.

"Whoa. I guess the oily freak of nature deserved it." Rimfire diagnosed.

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