Hey you guys...

Thanks for the reviews, follows and likes.
And welcome back, Margarite987re.
Glad to see you're still with me.
Hope everything is okay with you.

A special thanks to SpaceFlora and Youkai55 for their endless support.
Really, guys, words cannot express how grateful I am for you being there for me.

So, next chapter.
Hope you guys like it.
Please let me know your thoughts if you got some time to spare.
I would really appreciate it.

I wish you all the best for 2021, let's hope it will be a year that will bring some happiness, at least more than this fucked up year.
Stay safe and stay strong out there, people.
Spread love instead of hate and don't forget to ride free.

Later!

Chapter 4

Meanwhile at the scoreboard, Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois...

Strange…
It was strange, how she was able to put a spell on him the way she had done.
How she was able to take her place in his chaotic and hectic brain, waiting to pop up the moment he was thinking about something else.
A thing that happened all the time.
After all, it was never quiet up there.
Still, it was strange…
"Yo, Vin, heads up!"
Vincent 'Vinnie' van Wham, a 24-year-old full-blooded Martian Cave Mouse with fur as snow as white, blinked a few times and looked into the direction of the sound, but before he could process the words, something hit him in the face.
Hard.

So hard, that he stumbled backward while a mean pain made his peculiar ruby-red eyes tear up, but if that wasn't bad enough already, he also tripped over something that could only be his own mess since he wasn't really the cleaning type of guy.
Or mouse.
His long tail lashed through the air in a feeble attempt to keep his balance, but it was no use and with a loud thump, he landed on his back.
"Modo!", he yelled agitated as soon as he realized what was happening here and he looked at his 5 years older grey-furred bro -who stood a few meters away from him- with fuming eyes.

"What, how was I supposed to know that you were checked out, huh? Again", Modo added the last part just as annoyed as he folded his arms, one made of Plutarkian Steel and one made of flesh and bones.
"The big fella is right, baby bro. You're even more distracted than you usually are."
A soft and husky voice joined the conversation and Vinnie glanced at his 4 years older tan-furred friend and leader who picked up the football he just got in his face.
"Usually you're focused on one thing when we play football and that's winning."

Vinnie rolled his eyes as inconspicuous as possible while he rubbed his sore nose.
No matter how much he hated to admit it, his bro's were right.
He was distracted.
And not just a little.
But how could he be not?
After seeing… her.

"What's on your mind, Vin?", Throttle asked him as he walked over to his youngest bro.
"And before you say you don't wanna talk about it, I'm afraid you have no choice. Being distracted is dangerous in our line of work. This time it's a football…-", and the tan-furred leader held up the ball to strengthen his words.
"-... but the next time it's a grenade."

Without really realizing it, Vinnie raised his right hand and his fingers gently touched the cold plate of Martian Liquid Steel that covered the right side of his face like a second skin.
The scars that were hidden underneath it confirmed Throttle's theory.
But he couldn't really tell them what was going on in his brilliant yet chaotic mind, now could he?
After all, he wasn't supposed to be there, that night.
He was supposed to be in bed, sleeping like a baby.
But he wasn't.
Obviously, he wasn't.
Ah man, Throttle was going to kill him.

As his eyes darted from Throttle to Modo, he could see that they both were looking at him with a certain expectation and he knew, he just knew there was no getting out of this.
Shit.
This was going to be bad.
As in, 'not cool' bad.
But he couldn't lie to his bro's.
Their bond was entirely built on trust, trust he couldn't betray.
So, he heaved a sigh in defeat and moved from the cold floor to the worn-out couch close to him to sit a bit more comfortably.
Take it away, Vincenzo!
Yeah…
...whoopdidoo...

"Well, let's start with the part where there might be a teeny-weeny tiny chance that I wasn't where I was supposed to be two nights ago…", he started a bit cautious, keeping a close eye on his two beloved friends that were more like family to him.
A bond forged by war, pain and bloodshed.
After all, living in a war created a bond tighter than blood, no matter what planet you're on.
Sad, but true.
Or just plain and simple reality.

"That's nothing new", Modo huffed as he leaned to one of the pillars of the scoreboard, shaking his head.
He was right, though.
It wasn't the first time that Vinnie snuck out in the middle of the night to take a drive through the city, restless as he was.
Perhaps it was naive to think that his two beloved bro's wouldn't have noticed that he did.
Naive.
Naive was such an ugly word.
Ugh.
Let's just say that he simply hadn't thought about it.

"It isn't. So where were you, two nights ago?", Throttle asked while spinning the football on his index finger like a pro, for now still relaxed.
Yeah well.
The worst part was yet to come.
Better buckle up, macho mouse.
This might get dangerous.
Dangerous?
As in… life-threatening?
Maybe…?
Cool.
"I uh… I was out for a… drive. Yeah. A drive", the white-furred mouse chuckled a bit nervously, knowing hell was about to break loose and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Not so cool after all, huh?
Hehe… nope.

At first, Throttle just nodded in answer, to encourage him to keep going, but then he suddenly froze and the ball fell on the ground with a soft yet ominous thump.
Uh oh...
Vinnie's ruby-red eyes followed the bouncing ball until it came to a halt close by Modo's feet before he looked at Throttle again, his hands already turning sweaty.
It became even worse when he saw the look on his leader's face.
Oh boy.
This was bad.
And so quickly, he might add.
He hadn't even told him the worst part and look at him now.

But things got even more alarming when the tan-furred mouse, without saying a word, walked over to one of the small cabinets in the room they called home as long as they were fighting both intergalactic and local crime on planet Earth, which was almost a year now.
An Earthly year, to be exact.
Living in a scoreboard had its pros and cons, but that wasn't the point right now.
The point was that Throttle was acting more than just weird.
He was searching the drawers with wild movements, the tip of his tail dancing like a feather in the wind.

Vinnie followed him every movement, his heart pounding in his chest.
What on Mars was he doing?
What set him off?
It wasn't the sneaking part, that he knew.
It was something else.
Something worse.
Oh gosh.
Those about to die, we salute you.

It soon became clear, though.
And it made things even more complicated than they already were.
Vinnie didn't like complicated.
It was just too… complicated.
Oh, snap.
Such a smooth talker he was.
Anywayz.
Back to Throttle.
After searching for a while, the tan-furred mouse turned around and threw a newspaper on the empty seat next to Vinnie.
"This happened two nights ago. I thought it was bullshit at first, but now… You happen to know something about that?"
Vinnie swallowed with difficulty as his gaze landed on the newspaper.

'Woman saved by mysterious vigilante!'

Holy shit.
Talk about your major screaming headline.
And how in the world did they know what happened that night?
As far as he knew, nobody saw him.
Nobody beside her, that is.
But she didn't strike him as the kind of person that would talk to the press.
Not that he knew her, for he didn't.
But he had seen it in her eyes.
She was lonely.
And lonely people had walls around them, walls so high that no one could climb them.
He could tell.
So no, it couldn't have been her.

But despite that it was alarming, it was kind of flattering at the same time, actually.
After all, he did save her.
Her.
That mysterious woman with her green eyes.
Was he a hero, or what?
He was.
He totally was.
Throttle clearly thought differently.
Everyone's a critic.
"Well?"

Too restless to read the whole article, Vinnie pulled the red bandana that was tight around his neck as he cleared his throat in unease, doing everything within his power to avoid Throttle's gaze.
His burning gaze.
Despite the fact that his friend wore customized glasses to give him vision after the Plutarkians -their number one intergalactic enemy- took out his real eyes and replaced them with bionic ones, he could still feel it.
Not just that, it almost burned a hole in his skull.
This was most uncomfortable.
Time for a little distraction.

"Look, I'm not sure why you're making such a big deal out of this. I mean, they write about us all the time! They even made flyers, for fuck sake..."
"Just answer the damn question, bro. Did you or did you not save that lady?", Throttle cut him off and Vinnie heaved another sigh.
Well, that didn't work.
Obviously.
You better come clean, cowboy.
"I uh… I might have saved a certain damsel in distress, yes…"

Three.
Two.
One.
BOOM.
"Goddammit, Vincent! I can't believe this! How many times do I need to tell you to keep a low profile?"
Gosh, he was just so predictable, it was almost a crime.
Consistent as always.
And not done yet either.
Clearly not.
"Do you even know what that means, keeping a low profile?"

Vinnie frowned in confusion.
Did he really just ask him that?
And they say Throttle is smart.
On Mars, that is.
But clearly, his leader must have had the same thought at the same time because he held up his hand before the white-furred mouse could say something.
"Don't answer that. Of course you don't know what it means. Otherwise, we wouldn't have this conversation right now. Again."

Hm.
Even though his tan-furred buddy was right, it still bruised his beloved ego a bit.
Then again, keeping a low profile was boring and so it just didn't stick, which was quite logical because his brain was reserved for cool things only.
Such as saving damsels in distress.
Not just that.
Saving damsels in distress with style.
Which was a challenge… for anyone who wasn't him, hehe.
Right on.

But he had to admit, this one had been different.
It had been anger that ruled, that night.
He didn't get angry that easily.
Annoyed, yes.
Impatient, oh yes, definitely.
But really angry?
Nah.
But when he saw the panic in her green eyes, he just snapped.
So did the man's neck…
Ahum.
Better not saying that last part out loud, partner.
Hehe.
Nope.

But, as usual, Throttle was on to him.
Really, it was as if the guy had a sixth sense when it came to guessing his thoughts.
Or maybe he was just as predictable as his friend…
N to the O to the PE.
Nope.
Not him.
He was too good to be predictable.
"I really don't like the look on your face, Vincent. What happened that night?", Throttle asked shortly, his tail swaying from left to right with every word he said.

To be honest, Vinnie didn't like the look on Throttle's face either, but again, this was something he definitely needed to keep to himself.
He liked to taunt death, but there were limits, hehe.
And yes.
Even he had his limits.
Believe it or not.
"Like I said, man, I saved the damsel in distress, no biggie", he shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant, but sweat was already forming on his forehead.
Was it just him or was it getting warmer in here?
"I mean, isn't that kind of what we do? Help people in need?"
And be awesome while we're at it?
Duh.
That goes without saying.

Throttle took a deep breath through the nose, clearly trying very hard not to lose his patience.
"One night a week. That's all I'm asking. One night a week we stay home to take some rest because we need to stay focussed…"
He then pointed a slightly trembling finger into Vinnie's direction.
"Even you, adrenaline mouse. And yet, you sneak out. But you know what? I get that. I get that you sometimes need some time alone. To ease your troubled mind. It's the part that you sneak out to do stupid things that makes me angry. Stupid things that endanger our secret identity. By the Gods, how many times do I need to tell you this? They can't know about us, Vincent, Earth is…"
"...lost if they do, yeah, yeah, I know", Vinnie sighed tiredly as he raised his eyes to heaven, knowing this speech by heart.

After all, every time he did something stupid, which happened a lot, by the way, Throttle threw this very same speech at his head.
Over and over again.
Boooooring…
Just like sleeping.
Sleeping was boring.
Actually, everything that didn't involve adrenaline was boring.
Except looking into the mirror, of course.
Of course.
"I just couldn't sleep, okay? So I went out for a drive to clear my head and then I accidentally ran into trouble. You know me, man. I'm like a magnet for trouble. You said it yourself."

Wow.
It was truly a gift how he was able to make it sound like it wasn't his fault, while in reality, it was.
Of course, it was.
Vinnie knew damn well that he broke the rules that night.
More than just one.
All because of her.
The mysterious woman with her green eyes.
She had done something to him, that night.
More than something.

But he still had no idea how to explain all this without sounding mushy.
He hated mushy.
It was so not his style.
Way too serious.
Way too complicated.
Way too… mushy.
Ugh.

He had to give them something, though.
But what?
Oh, gosh.
His brain was abandoning him.
It always did when he needed it.
It was so not fair.
Why, oh, why?

"One does not simply walk into trouble, Vincent. Not even you", Throttle broke him out of his thoughts again and Vinnie blinked a few times, somehow confused by this statement.
I mean, wasn't that what happened like, all the time?
He didn't even have to go look for it.
It was just… there.
Like some bad magic trick.
Not that you heard him complain about it.
He loved trouble, after all.
Without it, life would be empty.
Pointless.

But just when he was about to explain this to his beloved friend and leader, it was Modo who interrupted him before he could.
"You're stonewalling, Vin."
Vinnie almost fell off the couch, startled by this sudden voice so close to his head.
He had clearly missed the part where Modo had taken place next to him to read the newspaper he now held in his bionic hand.
Yeah, well, who could blame him?
He was kind of busy here.
"Holy-fuck-a-moly, never do that again, man! I'm too cool to die of a stroke, jesus", he breathed, holding his chest with his right hand in a theatrically kind of way to strengthen his words.

But Modo ignored him.
No surprise there.
"Like I said; you're stonewalling. That makes me wonder…-", and the grey-furred giant held up the newspaper with his head tilt and ears twitching in curiosity.
"-... what really happened that night? Or maybe more to the point; what did you do to that man?"
Ugh, here we go again...
Modo 'James Bond' Maverick was -again- sticking his nose where it didn't belong.
Honestly, the guy really watched too many movies.

Which was highly inconvenient because if his friend wouldn't be addicted to this awful film series the way he was, he might have gotten off the hook here.
But not now.
Not anymore.
Thanks a lot, mister James 'Look at me, I'm a super cool secret agent with my shaken not stirred martinis and ladies standing in line for me' Bond.
Ugh.
Sickening.

But he couldn't lie, now could he?
These were his friends.
His family.
So, okay.
Here goes nothing.
"I killed him."

Subtle as ever.
Subtle?
Never heard of.
"You killed him", Throttle repeated tonelessly with a blank face and he dropped on the other couch in defeat, probably with his eyes closed but it was hard to tell with the glasses.
"I did. And then I dumped his body in the dumpster."

"Why?", Modo asked while studying his young bro with a certain intensity that made the latter even more nervous than he already was.
Which was quite the miracle, actually and Vinnie shifted a bit further away from him, as far as the couch let him, that is.
It was a good question, though.
A fair one.
Yeah...
Why did he kill him?

He could've just as easily knock him out and deliver him to the police station, like they always did.
Or well, like they always tried.
Sometimes, things went south.
That just tended to happen sometimes.
People die, once in a while.
Unfortunate, but true.
But this was different.
This was murder, plain and simple.
He knew it was.
Dammit.

His beloved tail lashed through the air in unease, but, clumsy as he was, he almost slapped himself in the face with it and he quickly grabbed it to avoid any further nasty accidents.
Honestly.
Sometimes, it was just so tiring to be him.
You don't mean that.
No, he didn't.
And his bro's were still waiting for an answer.
Right.
Focus, macho mouse.

"I ah… well, to be completely honest, I don't know why I killed him."
When he saw Modo roll his one eye, for the other was hidden behind an eyepatch, Vinnie jumped at his feet, feeling a bit offended by this lack of trust.
After all, he hadn't told one lie so far.
Bravo.
"I'm not shitting you here, man. I really don't know. One look at her and I just snapped. It was crazy. I just wasn't myself for a moment. All I wanted was to make him pay for hurting her…"

The young mouse slowly trailed off when he realized what he was saying here.
All this bordered dangerously close to mushy.
A bit too close, for his taste.
And both his bro's staring at him as if he just fell out of the sky didn't make it exactly easier.

Suddenly overwhelmed by a certain restlessness, Vinnie turned around and made his way to the only window they had to escape their burning gaze.
His ruby-red eyes lowered and wandered over the tribunes to the green field below.
A green field that only reminded him of her eyes.
He had never seen such green eyes.
It simply didn't exist on Mars.

But it weren't just her eyes.
It was her… everything.
Mostly her scent.
Gosh, that scent.
If he took a deep breath, he could still smell it.
There were no words to describe it.
It was just… devine.

It had awoken his body.
Not just that.
It had opened his heart as well.
Which was dangerous.
Love was dangerous in times like these.
He of all mice knew it was.
Still...
He wasn't exactly in control over his hormones, now was he?
Ha, no way.
He could hardly control the rest of his magnificent body and soul, let alone his hormones.
What a joke.

"Is she okay?"
Modo's heavy voice broke the charged silence and a smile curled Vinnie's lips, he just couldn't help it.
It was such a 'Modo like' question.
His older bro had a terribly soft spot for women and children.
It was cute, actually.
In a macho kind of way, of course.
But his smile vanished as quickly as it came when his thoughts already wandered back to that night.

Blood.
There had been a lot of blood.
It had turned her beautiful auburn-colored hair black as the night and her soft pinkish skin red as hell.
That's the thing about head wounds.
It always looked worse than it was in reality.
Or perhaps that was, again, naive to think.
Ugh.

"I hope she is. I brought her to the hospital."
Okay, that came out wrong.
Mainly because he forgot to tell the most important part.
And that was that she was unconscious when he brought her there.
Just some minor detail… NOT.
Dammit.
He really was distracted.

He quickly turned around to make up for his mistake, but Throttle was already back on his feet, his hands clenched into fists.
"You did what?!", he hissed through clenched teeth and Vinnie raised his hands in defense.
"Whoa, breathe, Throttle, it's not what you th..."
"Did she see you?"
"Dude, slow your roll, before you give yourself a heart attack. She didn't see me. Or well, not when I brought her to the hospital, that is…"
The young mouse closed his mouth with a clap.
Oops.
That last part wasn't supposed to come out.
Goddammit, that mouth of his, honestly.

Throttle stared at him for a moment, disbelief written upon his face.
Along with disappointment.
There was still anger, too.
"So she did see you?", he eventually asked, speaking the words slowly and so-called patiently.
As if he was talking to a child.
Vinnie wrinkled his nose, insulted by this treatment, but he answered the question anyway.
Someone needed to be the adult here.
It might as well be him.
HA!
In your dreams, pal.

"I think she did."
Ah.
And there it was.
The first lie.
Because he knew she did.
He also knew that she fainted shortly thereafter and he still hadn't figured out whether to feel flattered or insulted.
Probably the first.
Definitely the first.

By the way, wasn't he supposed to be honest?
No lies, remember?
Right.
"Scratch that. I know she did."
Hm.
That being said, he might as well drop the bomb now.
It was inevitable anyway.
"And I wasn't wearing my helmet when she did."

That was the final straw.
Although Throttle was known to be very patient, even he could only take so much.
Not even his patience was endless.
Unfortunately.
"By the Gods, every time I think it can't get any worse… You've really outdone yourself this time, Vincent. You had one job. ONE JOB! Keep a low profile! Stay out of sight! How hard can it be?!", the tan-furred leader exploded, his fur bristled in anger.
"Those are two jobs, actually…", Vinnie muttered under his breath, knowing he really shouldn't say this.
But he said it anyway.
Story of his life.
Some story.

Again, Throttle fell silent for a moment, staring at Vinnie with his mouth half open, clearly not following the young mouse.
Maybe he needed to explain himself.
Bad idea.
"Keeping a low profile and staying out of sight are two jobs, not one. You said it was one…"
Again, he closed his mouth when he saw Throttle's lips tremble in agitation.
Talk about fanning the flames.
Another one of those gifts.
He really needed to learn how to control that mouth of his.
Great idea!
But how?
Uh… oh hey, look! A squirrel!

Throttle finally came back to his senses and before Vinnie could even blink, his leader was already standing in front of him, grabbing him by the shirt.
"Enough. You are going to find her and erase her memory…-"
Wait, what?
Vinnie's eyes grew big as his heart skipped a few beats.
"What?! But Throttle…"
"-...tonight! And you're not coming back until it's done. Even if it takes you a week, I don't care. You are going to fix this. And that's final!"
And just like that, Throttle went from predictable to unpredictable.
Because this was one he never saw coming.

After giving him one last push, Throttle let his young bro go and marched to his bike.
"I'm gonna take a ride to blow off some steam, bro. You keep an eye on him. We can't afford any more mistakes", he grumbled to Modo and the grey-furred giant nodded as he followed his leader and friend with his eye.
"Will do."
Good talk, bro!
Man...
If he wasn't so surprised, Vinnie would have waved him goodbye.
But he didn't.

All he did was standing there, still close by the window, completely in shock about this sudden plot twist.
Usually, he could really appreciate a sudden plot twist.
It made things less predictable and thus less boring.
But not now.
Not today.
Erasing her memory.
That was like the worst sentence one could give to one another.

Or well, it wasn't when it was done right.
And Vinnie knew how to do it.
With Martian Mice, that is.
But she wasn't a mouse.
She wasn't even Martian.
No shit, Sherlock.

She was a human.
A beautiful one, too.
Intriguing.
Even beyond all that.
What if he messed up?
What if he turned her into a vegetable?
He might as well kill her instead.
Fuck.
He slowly started to understand why he wasn't allowed to let people close to him, here on Earth.
Clearly, being in his company was deadly.
It's all about the looks.

"You like her, don't you?"
Modo's heavy voice filled his ears and after a few seconds, Vinnie's vision became clear again and his gaze landed on his friend, who sat on the couch peeling an orange.
As if nothing ever happened.
Ugh.
How typical.

"Sorry, what?", he asked to check if he heard it right, for he was still a bit dazed by this sudden turn of events.
"You like her."
Vinnie folded his arms as he still looked at Modo with narrowed eyes, contemplating if he should be honest or not.
I mean, look what that brought him.
Nothing but misery.
Clearly, a little white lie didn't hurt anyone.
Honesty did, apparently.
Obviously.

But this was Modo, not Throttle.
His caring and understanding grey-furred bro, who wasn't carrying the responsibility of this mission on his shoulders.
Who was always willing to look at both sides of the story.
Throttle would be too, if he wasn't so busy with being responsible and all, but hey, someone had to do it.
Deep down, Vinnie understood why their leader was so upset about this.
They did important work here.
They did the job nobody else could.
Without them, Earth would soon turn into the same carcass as Mars, all because of those damned fish heads.

And then there were the 'Plutarkian free' hours they spend taking care of human crimes.
Which was just as important.
So yeah, it was beyond stupid that he had been so careless that night.
But it was her who had crawled into his mind and heart.
Who distracted him more than he could afford.
Then they all could afford.
Which could only mean one thing.
"I think I do…"

Honesty is the best policy.
It always is.
No, it isn…
YES, IT IS.
Okay, okay.
Chill.

Chill?
Chill?!
How the fuck was he able to chill?
Erasing her memory, holy shit.
This was bad.
Beyond bad.
Even beyond 'not cool' bad.
This went beyond everything.
This was crazy.
Insane.
Disturbing.

"What do I do now, Modo? I can't just erase her memory, what if something goes wrong?", he asked a bit pleading, feeling more desperate than he liked to admit.
Being desperate wasn't cool, after all.
But even he couldn't deny that he felt desperate at the moment.
What a mess.
What a goddamn mess.

Modo looked up from his orange, calm as ever.
"You just need to follow your heart."
Vinnie blinked a few times, not expecting to get this as an answer.
Honestly...
"You sound like some cheesy magazine quote, bro."

The grey-furred giant only shrugged before he put a piece of the orange in his mouth, clearly not caring about what he sounded like.
Vinnie rolled his eyes and turned around to look out the window again.
Follow your heart.
Hm.
Maybe it was, indeed, that simple…

No.
It wasn't.
There was no choice about what path to follow, Throttle had made that very clear.
Either way, he had to find her.
Before this whole thing would backfire on them.
His beloved leader was right, there was too much at stake here.
Like the fate of the planet, for instance.

Besides, he was the one who made this mess.
It was nothing but logical that he would clean it up, even though he wasn't really the cleaning kind of mouse.
Tonight.
Tonight, he would go out to find her.
He could only hope that she was out there, somewhere.
Please…
Let her be there.