FicWad

Biker Mice From Mars
in:
It's War!
Part 9
By: Whipblade


Mace wandered downstairs. Looking around he noted Throttle's bike had vanished along with Modo's, Rimfire's and Stoker's.

"Hello?" He spotted the red racing bike. "Vinnie?" No one replied. Strolling to the kitchen, he got himself a glass of juice, picking up the newspaper on his way by the table he headed into the living room where Vinnie sat watching the TV channels flick.
"Hey." Mace greeted setting down his paper. Taking a drink he sank into the easy chair. "Vincent right?"

"It's Vinnie." The white mouse snapped, turning to see the groomed red mouse. "What'd Charley do? Run a lawn mower over you?"

Mace's ears fell. "It looks that bad?"

Vinnie paused. 'The traitor was asking him a question?' . "No." He finally admitted. "Just different than that scruffy look you've sported."

Mace frowned trying go figure out what Vinnie meant by that. "Better or worse?"

"Better. Army doesn't suit you, but better." Vinnie shrugged not sure why he was telling the rat he looked okay.


Mace sat down in a chair not too far from Vinnie. The white mouse scooted over away from him. Mace sighed as once again Vinnie chose to ignored him. Ears flicked back, he knew not all the mice accepted his innocence. Yet the hostility and hate in the white mouse, brought only silence and worry to the red furred mouse. In an attempt to warm the ice, Mace tried a little light conversation.
"I don't remember a lot about you... mind telling me about yourself.., Vinnie?"

"No." Vinnie snorted.

With a frown Mace pondered a topic he could get the white mouse talking about. Something in his memory flashed. A white mid-teen mouse awkwardly trying to strum up a conversation with the mechanic Stoker was bedding with. A sly smile spread over his face.

"That female, Charley, she's something else." Mace stated, his grey eyes watching for Vinnie's reaction.

Vinnie stiffened. "Yeah, she is."

Mace smiled. He found the topic that would get less hostile words out of Vinnie. "Can you tell me about her?"

Red eyes narrowed, they'd have glowed red if they weren't real. "Why?" Vinnie snapped sharply.

"She's a human." Mace said his voice light and cheery. "How did she end up in our war?"

Vinnie looked at Mace. He expected the traitor to want more information than a story. "We saved her."

Leaning forward Mace smiled broadly. "How? Why?"

Taken aback at the sudden enthusiasm the red mouse/rat was displaying, Vinnie carefully gauged Mace for anything that would send up a red flag of traitor behavior.
"She was being bugged by one of Limburger's goons. We happened to ride in, in the nick of time." Vinnie said waving his hand casually.

"Who's Limburger?" Mace asked.

Vinnie froze. "Your not serious, are you?" he gawked at the red rat.

"I don't know who Limburger is. I take it he's human?" Mace asked, innocence plastered on his face, in his eyes.

Vinnie fumbled for words. "He's a Plutarkian... one from Mars."

Mace paled he whimpered "From Mars? They're attacking this planet too?"

"Yeah, they are." Vinnie looked away.

Mace looked to his feet. "That's why Charley is fighting with us? To save her own planet?"

Vinnie gave a nod. "She's not that selfish. She's been to Mars a couple of times, helping us help ourselves."

"Really?" Mace perked. "She helped us? I mean our planet?"

"Oh yeah!" Vinnie smiled noting Mace was soaking up everything he said. But not in the sly way Mace used to, in a new eager way, as if enjoying knowing and putting together puzzle pieces. Instead of the calculating cold way Mace used to. "Limburger tried to use this big magnet-like-machine to drag asteroids towards Mars. Charley fixed our bikes six ways from Sunday. We saved the day! And temporarily brought water to Mars."

"Rain..." Mace gasped. "I remember Rain! We couldn't get at it, but we......." Mace looked away suddenly ashamed as what he was about to say.

Vinnie frowned. 'Maybe this isn't the rat.' "You what?"

Mace looked at his well-groomed toes again. "We...stuck our fingers out the crack for a window, just to touch it." Mace's voice was low.

Vinnie blinked. "To touch it?"

"We tried to get it to drip into our cell, but it didn't accumulate enough to." Mace admitted he still couldn't look at Vinnie. "It was the first time Flea and many of the others ever saw water fall from the stars."

Vinnie became quiet, staring disbelievingly at the red furred mouse ashamed of getting excited over something most would find trivial. "Rimfire never saw rain before that either."

Grey eyes peeked up. "Really?"



Charley peered around the corner. She smiled as Mace and Vinnie both talked, somewhat miffed at each other's stories and reactions. She let them be, sneaking quietly back upstairs hoping to find someplace for Mace and Flea to sleep.



******

Is Vinnie really buying Mace being a mouse?