Planet: Earth

Location: Last Chance Garage, Chicago, Illinois

Time: 2nd August 1992

It had been a rough couple of weeks. Throttle was sure he would have had another break-down, if not for Vinnie and Modo. He hadn't had a full night's sleep in weeks. The presence and support of his bros was the only things keeping his sanity in check. They had started taking turns sitting with him, when the nightmares got so bad he couldn't sleep. They were always about the same thing. Charley dying, and him not being able to do anything to stop it. He wished he knew how he could put a stop to them, but nothing helped.

In his sleep deprived state, he had accidentally knocked over a bottle of transmission fluid all over the garage floor. Charlene, having not seen him knock it over and stressed out over a recent repair job, had nearly lost her cool at them. Throttle had flinched, not sure if he could ever recall a time when Charley had lost her cool at them in the past. Vinnie had quickly covered for him, stating that he had knocked it over and that they would clean it up. Charlene had groaned and went to her radio, sitting down to start repairing it. He had shared a grateful smile with his bro, and after Modo had collected a few buckets of water and several brushes, they got to work.

"You know, if this had been a consequence for insubordination in the Freedom Fighters, Stoker would have had a lot less to worry about." Modo commented as they worked. Throttle couldn't help the weak chuckle.

"Yeah, he could have made a deal with the monks. Would have had the monastery sparkling. Especially with Vinnie around." Said mouse rolled his eyes but had a good-natured smirk on his face.

"Hardy-har-har." He added, before a sudden static from Charlene's radio caught their attention.

"Emergency, emergency! Fires and explosions at 15th and J street!"

The bros all shared a look, tossing the brushes into the buckets.

"They're playing our song. C'mon bros, let's ride." Throttle called out as they raced to grab their helmets.

"Oh no, you don't." he paused, turning wide-eyed towards Charlene as she walked up to him, pointing an accusing finger at them. "This time, I'm getting in on the action." Throttle's vision tunnelled. The last place Charlene should be was with them. Anywhere but them.

"Absolutely not. We can handle this ourselves." He heard himself saying as he grabbed his helmet. He was sure he heard her growl, but he couldn't bring himself to look at her.

As they drove away, Vinnie pulled up alongside him. "Bro, maybe we should give her a chance? Remember how well we worked together on Mars?"

"I can't…I won't risk Charlene like that, Vinnie. It's bad enough she's involved in all this already." He shook his head, resolutely. He would make sure she stayed safe, if it was the last thing he did.

To their dismay the distress call had been, yet another, lame Limburger trap and the bros suddenly found themselves in a rather sticky situation, literally. But just when things were starting to get a little hot around the collar, events took an unexpected turn. The sudden arrival of a mysterious Masked Motorcyclist. Besides making short work of setting them free, the sight of the right black and purple leather had all of their eyes popping out of their heads. Even Throttle and Modo had to take a moment to chuckle at the white mouse when they overheard him muttering "I'm a married mouse! I am a happily married mouse!" to himself, after he picked his mouth up off the floor.

Throttle had to admit he was impressed. He hadn't even considered that there could be humans who used battle tactics similar to them. Modo and Vinnie had been super excited about the prospect. But the motorcyclist had disappeared before they had a chance to talk to her.

They arrived back to the garage, finding Charlene mopping the floor. Throttle winced; they must not have cleaned up properly before they left. As Modo rolled in ahead of him, he noticed the tire tracks Lil'Hoss was leaving behind, no doubt from the tar Greasepit had trapped them in. He held out a hand to stop Vinnie from entering the garage. He could already see Charlene's annoyed face at spotting Modo's tire-tracks as she leaned her arm on the mop.

"So, did you save the city again?" Throttle kept his head down at her peeved tone.

"Well, we did save the city, but not alone." Modo answered. Vinnie nodded, taking the mop from Charlene's hands and cleaning up Modo's tire-tracks, much to her apparent shock.

"Yeah, we got help from the single most awesome biker babe on Earth. And the only reason I am not sayin' universe is cause that spot is reserved for my one and only." He added with a wistful smile. Throttle removed his helmet.

"She bailed before we could thank her, but I would like to know why she thought it was a good idea to get involved." Charlene looked like she wanted to say something, but instead just scoffed and shook her head as she walked away. Throttle stepped forward, hand outstretched to stop her, but ultimately thought better of it and let her walk away. He shared a glance with the bros, who shrugged.

That night, as he and the bros were working on their bikes in the garage, with Charlene still working on her radio, they heard yet another call.

"Hey Buddies! This is Sweet Georgie Bro-own! Now here's Metali-Crash with— HEEEEEEEEELLLLP!"

"What?" Modo asked, ears twitching in surprise. "I didn't know they did a Beatles tune."

"That's no song, that's a distress call." Charlene corrected, leaning over the radio to catch the frequency (where had she learned to do that?), "The indicators say it's coming from the refinery. Let's go!" Modo immediately put a stop to that, catching her before she could make her way to the bikes with a shake of his head.

"Uh, sorry, Charley-girl, no dice. Besides this is… macho, muscle, he-man work." Vinnie added quickly. Charlene glared at him.

"I noticed you left the part out about brains?" she pointed out, while poking Vinnie's forehead pointedly.

"It's for your own good, Charlene. You might get hurt." Throttle stated as Modo rolled up to him.

"You bros think that Masked Motorcyclist lady will be there?" he asked.

"It's possible." Vinnie shrugged.

Charlene was affronted. "Hey! If she can do it, why can't I?" Throttle hid a wince as Modo and Vinnie shared a glance.

"Look, Charley-girl. We think you're the best motorcycle mechanic this side of Mars. But we can't risk you getting hurt in battle." Vinnie explained patiently. "Whoever this Motorcyclist is, she's taking some mondo risks that, while we respect her for them, we're still not entirely comfortable with." Vinnie explained. "The war on Mars taught us how dangerous the battlefield can be. We can lookout for ourselves, we were trained as a unit. Adding an unknown factor can cause problems." Charlene stared wide-eyed at the explanation. Throttle shook his head, activating his visor.

"We're losing time, bros. Let's ride!" He ordered, and away they went, leaving Charlene to her thoughts.

The fight with Corroder Cody and Greasepit had gone off pretty well. They had gotten away, sure, but at least they hadn't been able to steal any oil, as they had intended. The Masked Motorcyclist had shown up again. But this time, something had been different. It was as if she was aware of his and the bro's dynamic. She had only helped each of them out when it was clear they wouldn't be able to do so themselves, and when it was time to try and catch the two villains, she had waited for them to decide on a plan and work with it. It was as if she was trying to be part of their team.

And it had almost worked, to his great shock. The other thing that bothered him was that this was the second time she had arrived to help them. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about that fact, as they rolled back into the Last Chance, Charlene sitting at the table with food waiting for them.

"About time. I have other things to do, ya know." The bros all winced as they removed their helmets.

"Sorry, Charley-ma'am. We didn't mean to keep you waiting." Modo apologized, before the excitement of the night's events returned. "But, oh momma, did you bros see that bike? What I wouldn't give to take a look at that Hoss sometime."

"Oh, I suppose Miss Wonderful was there again tonight?" Charlene said sarcastically as the bros took their seats.

"She was. And she was majorly impressive." Vinnie replied, opening his bottle of root-beer. Throttle grabbed his hotdog with a frown.

"One thing makes me curious. How does the Masked Motorcyclist always know where the trouble is happening?" He took a bite after posing the question, before his face twisted in disgust and swallowing. "Hey, why are these cold?"

"Well excuse me!" Charlene slammed her hands on the table, glaring at him. "Maybe you should ask your hot bimbette buddy to warm them up!" she snarled as she stomped away, leaving the bros utterly confused.

"Was it…something we said?" Vinnie asked. Throttle could only shake his head.

Throttle leaned against Lady, keeping a hand on his bike. There was a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that just wouldn't go away, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was. The Masked Motorcyclist was an enigma, one he wasn't sure he wanted to figure out. Something about her was oddly familiar though…

A crash pulled him from his thoughts as he spun towards his bros, who had up until then been playing Chinese checkers relatively peacefully. Now, however, both his bros were on the floor, table and chairs collapsed, piece all over the floor and board swaying on Modo's head. Vinnie let out a sheepish chuckle.

"Whoever said Chinese checkers is a quiet game?" he asked.

"I've noticed that none of the games we play are quiet." Modo responded, taking the board off his head, glancing up to the loft above them. "I hope we didn't wake up Charley." Throttle snuck up the ladder and peeked inside, spotting her laying on the bed peacefully.

"Nope, she's still asleep." A sudden beeping from the bikes caught their attention, and they moved closer. "What's that?"

"I think it's Morse code." Modo replied.

"What's it say, bro?"

"I'll be danged if I knew! I only know it works with long and short beeps."

Throttle face-palmed, before the rumble of an engine made him look up. There was the Masked Motorcyclist, waving at them to follow her. Clearly, she knew what the message was about. Vinnie seemed rearing to go but glanced up at the loft.

"Should we tell Charley we're going?" he whispered. Throttle shook his head.

"No, let her sleep. We'll handle this quickly." They pushed their motorcyclist out of the garage before zooming after the Motorcyclist, ready for whatever happened next.

It had all happened so fast. One minute, the fight was going in their favor and the next, Greasepit and Karbunkle had them cornered near a tank filled with flammable materials. They had gotten separated from the Motorcyclist. And of course, the greasy idiot had crashed straight into the container causing an explosion that took out the warehouse it stood next to. While it had conveniently taken care of Corroder Cody, the bros had been horrified to discover the Masked Motorcyclist in the wreckage, unresponsive. They raced back to the garage, hoping to get Charlene's help in the situation. Throttle was left holding her as Vinnie raced upstairs to wake her. He tried to avoid looking at her, flashes of Charley's limp body in Stoker's arms threatening to overtake him.

"Charley! Charley, wake up! It's the Masked Motorcyclist! She's hurt, and her helmet's melted!" He could hear his bro walking upstairs. "C'mon, we're trying to get it off, we need your help. Charley— WOAH!" His bro's startled yelp followed by a thump nearly gave him a heart attack. But the mannequin head in the red wig that came tumbling down the ladder sent his heart down to his stomach.

Fear rising, he slowly lowered the Motorcyclist to the ground, gently easing the helmet off, revealing the auburn hair and pale skin beneath.

"Charley?" Modo and Vinnie asked in unison as she stirred. Throttle was too overwhelmed to speak as she raised a hand to rub her head.

"Hi guys…Surprise." She said sheepishly.

"Charley? But-but…but she was…you are…" Vinnie stuttered. Charlene got up with a smirk.

"What? Are you shocked that I was able to keep up with you guys?" she bubbled. Throttle's hands twitched. "I tried telling you, but you guys never listened. It was my new prototype bike for Washington. I thought I could test it out, and prove something to you lummoxes at the same time."

"Prove what?"

Charlene eyes were wide as she turned to him. He could see Modo and Vinnie flinch out of the corner of his eye. Throttle didn't give a shit right now.

"Prove…what…Charlene? That we can't trust you?" he continued. Charley flinched and went to say something, but Throttle waved his hand. "No, you don't get to say anything right now. We told you why we didn't want you in the field with us. But you went behind our backs. You lied to our faces. And look where it got you! If we hadn't been there, who knows what could have happened!"

Charley glared at him. "Throttle, I didn't get hurt because I'm some damsel in distress. I got hurt because I did something dangerous."

"Which is something you shouldn't have been doing! We can't focus on a battle while we are constantly worried about your safety!"

"You don't have to be worried about me! I can take care of myself!"

"No you can't! This has just proven it! You need someone around to keep you safe, because clearly you can't do it yourself, Charley!"

Silence.

"Get…out…"

Throttle flinched back eyes wide. Charley was glaring at him with tears in her eyes. "Get out. I am sick and tired of people telling me what to do, treating me like a God-damn child! I have had enough! Get out of my face, out of my garage, out of my life!" She screamed as she shoved him back hard, before turning to the bikes. "All of you, get out!" The bikes raced to obey her order, and Modo and Vinnie hustled out the door. Charley spun back to Throttle. "Don't you dare come back! I am not some poor defenseless girl that needs rescuing!" With that she spun on her heel and slammed the door.

I really didn't like the bros behavior in the series in this episode. I have no idea if they were just being that way cause they genuinely underestimated Charley, but my gosh, if I had been Charley, I would have punched all of them at least once.

Obviously, the bros are far more mature this time around, so instead of writing Charley off completely, it is mainly their (read Throttle's) fear of losing Charley that is driving the dismissal...
As we can see...it did not pan out.

Please review!