Chapter 1
Chapter Text
Biker Mice from Mars
Hard Luck, Dently, & Sunni
The Prologue
"Your planet's got the Weirdest Weather!" Hard Luck shouted back over his shoulder at Sunni setting behind him. "Wow, gosh really you think so?" Sunni replied, her voice being electronically amplified by The battered green helmet that she was wearing. "Yeah, you could say that!" He yelled out to be heard over the Heavy Snow being blown all around them by the strong winds as Dently rumbled thru the Blizzard they were driving in.
They were somewhere in the high Colorado Rocky Mountains on a small highway, and just a few short hours ago, it had been what would by most be called a Nice Day. The Sky had been clear, and the temperature has been comfortably somewhere in between Warm and Hot! A typical late summer day according to what passed for common knowledge. At least on Earth anyway.
Right now, Hard Luck was grateful that Dently's Radar and other Directional Systems were working for once because without those, & if He was driving, he was convinced they'd have driven right off the side of the mountain by now! The Snow was so thick he could barely see past the tip of his nose under the green bandana wrapped around his lower face.
Not that he could feel his nose. It was good and numb due to the blowing wind, the snow, Dently moving at a good speed despite the near 0 visibility conditions, and the added issue that in a rare-ish display of good manners, Hard Luck had swapped his heated and insulated helmet & jacket to Sunni. "Thanks for the Warm Gear, but You're sure you're not Cold?" Sunni asked not for the first time—her natural tendencies towards being Concerned and Compassionate on full display.
"Whu what, cuh cold, nuh, nuh nah, I. I'm tuh, totally Fuh FINE!" He replied thru chattering teeth. When the Oncoming Blizzard appeared. He gave Sunni his more protective gear, while he'd donned her helmet and raincoat she'd brought along for their trip, both items were her traditional bright pink, and both were far too small for him! They'd decided against swapping pants!
The Helmet, which was open-faced, while a well-designed and protective item for a human head, was in No Way a Good Fit for a Martian Head! Not even considering how different the Martian Skull is from a Human Skull, His ears, being somewhat larger than human, were to say uncomfortably smooshed against the sides of his skull would be an outright understatement!
Not for the first time in his life, he wished he still had the flexible antenna of the regular Martian over his Stiff Metallic ones! Retracted in as far as they would go, he could still feel them scraping against the inside of her helmet. He also hoped their electrical sparks weren't damaging the helmet's interior lining and padding. Although if it caught fire right now it wouldn't be an entirely uncomfortable occurrence.
Her classical aviator goggles were comfortable and protective against both the wind and the cold, but they kept getting caked over by the snow and slush just reinforced his appreciation of Dently driving and not him. Worst of all had to be the raincoat! It may work wonderfully against regular rain, but against snow, not so much! It barely covered even 3 quarters of his long arms and not even coming close to him being able to zip up the front was a major issue at not keeping the cold out! It did keep the snow off his metallic spine at least.
"We really should stop and find some shelter!" Sunni shouted! "Guh, great Idea, if yuh you spot something luh let me know!" He chattered back. They hadn't seen any sign of human habitation in close to 2 hours now, not even another vehicle along this lonely strip of back mountain road! He was starting to think they may have made a navigational miscalculation somewhere or in other words. LOST AGAIN.
A few more bone-numbing minutes went by as the blizzard raged around them and the darkness and snow got thicker and deeper and the temperature dropped even further. "Look, there's something!" Sunni shouted as her arm encased in the large black coat's sleeve shot up next to Hard Luck's head to gesture wildly at something alongside the road.
"STOP!" The Snow Encrusted Hard Luck shouted out! Dently's large and mismatched tires skidded and scraped along the slick snowy and icy road as his brakes fought to carry out the order! "What, what is it?" He asked while trying to wipe the slush from his goggles. "There!" Sunni said once again pointing at something!
Rendered almost invisible and covered in snow and shadows all around it due to the growing snowdrifts and snowy trees set a few feet off the road was a sign. Rolling over to it Hard Luck gave it a kick with his frosty cyborg leg! THWACK! The Snow fell off in a cloud and when it cleared the sign was now visible thanks to Dently's powerful headlight. "What-A-View Motel" & Entrance. A driveway hidden under a deep blanket of snow curved away up the mountain.
Turning up the driveway they cut their way to the hoped-for shelter from the storm! It took them another 20 minutes to make their way up the winding driveway. They started to think they'd made another wrong turn until exiting the trees they saw their destination at last!
"It looks like they named this place right." Hard Luck said taking in the sight before them. "Yeah, wow What a View!" Sunni gasped. "Beep!" Dently chimed in. Despite the Dark Stormy Night, the deep valley and the mountains were an eerily iridescent field of stars and diamonds as the snow and ice! Even the light from Dently's little headlight added to the chilly kaleidoscope.
Pushing the flurry and frosted-up goggles up onto his borrowed helmet, Hard Luck blinked to clear his eyes and get a better look at the landscape. FLASH! "Aah! What the Cheese!?" Paws went to his eyes as the shadowy terrain disappeared in a blinding burst of white!
"Oops, sorry." Sunni giggled guiltily while lowering her fancy camera with the big flashbulb attached. "It was all so pretty I just had to get a picture of it." He rapidly blinked trying to clear the sparkles from his vision. "Warn Me before you do that, Cheese!" He griped as everything slowly came back into focus. "This place is Beautiful; I wonder why there isn't anybody here?" She asked as she looked around.
They were almost dead center of the Motel's big parking lot, and there wasn't another vehicle of any kind anywhere. The Lot was under a thick layer of snow with no marks on it, barring the rapidly filling-in ditch that Dently had plowed thru it on the way in. The Motel itself was almost invisible hidden in a deep shadow cast on it by the Mountain side it sat on.
"Maybe they were chased off by the storm…" Hard Luck pointed out when the Storm Clouds parted for a brief few seconds, letting the Full Moon cast a few bright Moonbeams, illuminating the snow-covered Motel, and letting them see it for the first time. "…or maybe not." He added.
The Motel did everything possible not to distract any of its patronages from the Spectacular View of the Mountain and Valley. It was a 4 Story building and it looked like a big wooden brick. Along the front, it had large windows, and each room had a small balcony for its lodgers to take in said view, with a large patio set up on its flat roof. There wasn't a light on anywhere outside or inside the building from what they could see, but they could see the multitude of signs. They read CLOSED, NO TRESPASSING, and more straight to the point STAY OUT!
"I don't think they're open." Sunni said matter of fact. "Gee, really what gave you that idea? Hard Luck replied with a smart Alex smirk. "Oh, all the signs." She replied helpfully, seeming to have missed his sarcasm. Doing his best to not give her a funny look he turned back to the motel.
"Looks like no one's been here for a while. "She pointed out. "Yeah, well that's Too Bad, 'cause we're going in!" Hard Luck puffed with a shiver. "My tail already feels like it could snap off, so Mush Boy, Mush!" He playfully side-kicked Dently while pointing at the Front Entrance! Making some Eager Vrooming Engine Noises, the Motorcycle carried his wind-chilled cargo towards the doors! As they made their way up the Entrance Walkway, none of them noticed one of the curtains on a top-floor room moving slightly as if someone was watching them from inside.
End of the Prologue
Or…
Up Next...
The Dim-Wit-Inning!
Part 1