Disclaimer: I do not own the Biker Mice From Mars, or any of the following Characters: Throttle, Modo, Vinnie, Harley, Carbine, Stoker, or any others from the series. On the other hand, I do own Catrina, Chris, Lisa, Stacey, Arrhiyah, Diesel and Kast. I do not write for any profit, only for my own pleasure, and hopefully, that of others. All that remains to be said now, I guess, isEnjoy!

Tears from the past.

By Zandra

March 5, 2000

Chris was doubled over with laughter, almost to the point of hysteria, at his friend's face. He looked at his girlfriend, Carbine, who looked at Vinnie. Vinnie just remained stricken; eyes practically out on stalks at the news that his two closest friends were now, officially an item. He just stood, mouth agape at the thought of Carbine and Chris, as in, best friends for all time, and now they weretogether? Vinnie had always thought himself to be Gods' gift to Women, but now his friend was upstaging him. He couldn't believe it, not at all. Carbine was hard to tie down, and didn't like to throw herself around too much. Vinnie was still completely stricken as Chris started choking and Carbine whacked him a couple of times on the back, hard.
Suddenly Vinnie started making wild accusations. "You're quitting the squad, aren't you, Carbine? Chris, you dirty oldthing! She makes a great cheerleader! Now you're taking that from her as well? Soon you'll be getting her to join the army!"
This time, it was Carbine who fell into fits of giggles. "Me? In the army? Oh my gods! Never, I'd hate it! And yes, I am dropping the squad. I'm sick of waving pom-poms and yelling out for you guys to win games that everyone knows you are fated to lose! It's so demeaning!"
Vinnie stopped laughing right away. "We are not fated to lose! We're just unlucky, that's all! It's the other teams they're"
But Chris cut him off. "Better than us, yeah we know." He stifled a laugh at the enraged expression on his friend's face. "Come on Vinnie, we're never gonna win. It's a stupid custom, and I'll probably drop out sooner or later. I got more important things to think about." He looked adoringly at Carbine. Vinnie pulled a disgusted face to show his utter disapproval. "But Chris," he moaned, "you're our only hope against them! They'll thrash us! Anyway, you be careful with her," he motioned to Carbine who scowled at him. Vinnie looked injured. "Look, Carbine, sweetheart! No offence, but you're only twelve! You don't know what you're getting yourself into!"
Carbine was touched at her friend's sweet thought, but still angry. "Look, you're not much better, I mean, you're only a couple of years older than I am!"
Chris nodded. "She's right. If a man chases a blind rabbit" he began his usual lecture on hypocrisy.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, don't be a hypocrite. But Carbine's different, not like you're average female. She needs more looking after." Vinnie actually thought that Carbine was going to beat the hell out of him when he said this, but she didn't. Just looked murderously at him, which was much more serious.
Chris suddenly caught a glimpse of Vinnie's watch, and grabbed his arm, twisting the wrist in order to see it better, despite Vinnie's injured remarks. Chris looked at Carbine, "We're late, better get out of here fast." Then, turning to Vinnie, "Sorry, buddy, maybe my girlfriend can beat you up some other time. No, seriously man, we'll see you later, yeah?"
"Where're you taking her?" Vinnie wanted to know.
"Some place she's not allowed to go until she's eight years older than she is now." Was Chris's answer, but noticing that both faces looking at him looked both shocked and confused, he confessed, "Only joking. You know I'd never do anything bad like that." Which brought wild laughter from Vinnie and a sideways glance from Carbine. "I'm just taking her out. Nothing serious, just a walk, but we want to get going before she's called home. I swear that family of hers has spies everywhere watching out for their precious daughter." He looked evilly at Carbine who looked evilly back at him.
"So if you try anything naughty on, then I can turn you in to my Daddy!"
Chris's face showed a look of mock horror. "Good grief!" he cried, pretending to faint in terror, "Not your `Daddy'!"
They left, laughing, leaving Vinnie to go find his other friend, Modo, who had said earlier that there was a new guy about their age just moved in, with a really bizarre name. He wandered off, wondering whether Carbine and Chris would last long, and if they'd lose touch with him as they got closer. He sighed. He still had Modo and the new guy. Then he pulled himself together. Carbine and him would always be friends, and the same with Chris.
***
Carbine and Chris wandered off down the street together, hand in hand, chatting, feeling happy, when Chris suddenly lead Carbine down an alleyway and stood in front of her. Carbine was a little worried, since she didn't know quite where she was and what Chris was doing. He put his arms around her and just whispered in her ear, "I love you so much. Just wanted to tell you. I don't think I'll ever love anyone like this ever again."
Carbine whispered back, with tears in her eyes, "I love you too sweetie. You know that, right?"
Chris nodded silently and held her to him. Then he took her arm and led her back out onto the main street. Neither of them was aware that they were being watched. They had already broken the first rule of their code that they'd made with Vinnie when they were little. Always check to see you're not being followed. Then, they went down toward the park. It was pretty much abandoned now, and they sat on a bench and chatted about different things. What they wanted to do when they grew up, why Stoker had lasted so long, how Vinnie's ego had swelled to the size of Jupiter overnight since Stacey, the little blonde idiot who was the Cheer squad leader had told him he was cute. Vinnie hadn't been the same since. Again, they were being watched, but this time, they sensed it. This was bad. Chris leaped up and drew out his Blaster that he carried everywhere, including school. Carbine took out her hunting knife. Despite her name, she was much better with knives than anything with a trigger, and could now throw knives at any target and not miss. They heard rustling in a nearby bush, and stood back. Then it fell silent, but they knew better than to look. It would most probably be a trap. Chris leaned over to Carbine and whispered sharply in her ear, "On my mark, ok?" Carbine nodded. Chris counted out the seconds, the rule for all fighters. If in doubt, wait thirty seconds, and if you see any action, run for it. If you don't, run for it anyway and get someone more experienced to see to it. Thirty was up, and they turned and ran out of the gates, down the road, to Stoker's house right next to the Freedom Fighter base. They rang on the doorbell, and a woman opened the door. That was Lisa, Harley's older sister. She knew Carbine well, and saw instantly that something was wrong. She ushered them both inside, and yelled for Stoker, who was in his study, looking over some Plutarkian code or other. When Lisa called for the third time, and he still didn't come, she led the two worried teenagers up to his room and opened the door. Stoker looked up, with tired eyes. Carbine walked over to the code and looked over his shoulder. She turned to him and said, "If I can crack that for you, will you help us?" Stoker looked at her, dumbfounded as she skimmed the strange code.
"'Course I'll help. You don't need to worry yourself with that, it's impossible. Been working in it since Gods only know when."
Chris shook his head. "Give her a minute. I'll explain what happened." While Chris explained, Carbine read the message. It was simple, a plutarkian language that she had learned when she was held captive about four years ago. There was writing on the walls, and she had picked it up from there, using the guards to tell her indirectly what it meant. She would look interestedly at the writing, and the guards would translate it in their thick, but still slightly useful heads and she would take the information. She could do that, enter into someone's head to see what they were thinking without them knowing. It annoyed people, but she never did it to people unless she was really worried about them or she hated them enough not to care about their feelings. Either way, she read it effortlessly, and turned to Stoker, just as Chris was explaining that they waited thirty seconds and then came back. Stoker commended them ,and then Carbine asked him for a piece of paper. He looked at her with a weird smile creeping across his face as he handed her a sheet of paper and a pen. She translated the code as though she was translating runes, another thing she was fluent in. She handed the piece of paper saying "Operation mousetrap is well underway, and should be in action by 35r: 42x". Stoker looked at her in wonder, and took the piece of paper, made a couple of phone calls, and then turned to them, still eyeing Carbine with a mixture of wonder and confusion. "Let's go see what we can do about finding who was following you, ok?"
***
Later that evening, when Stoker took them home, he told them that they should steer clear of areas like that, and try and stay close to a main road with people on. They agreed, and went out together to these `safer' places, which weren't so bad. Stoker spent a long time talking to Carbine's parents about her talent for these languages, and her mother, Arrhiyah, sighed inwardly. Her little girl was growing up and saving mars. Diesel, Carbine's father was a picture of pride. He totally adored his little Carbine, and even though he loved all his other children dearly, those two always had a special bond. Stoker asked where she had learned all these languages, and Diesel explained that she had been captured along with her big brother, Kast a couple of years back, and she had learned most of the codes there. No one had any idea how she had learned to read Saturnite runes, however. They were some of the most difficult symbols to remember, since they were completely bizarre and probably the earliest language in the galaxy, since it has been proven that all known languages contain at least some of its grammatical rules, and some run almost entirely on it. Carbine just sort of knew it. It was a very odd set-up, but since Carbine had about a million close friends on Saturn, including the heir thereof, it was hardly surprising that she knew so much of the old language and culture. Stoker offered to employ her, but Arrhiyah wasn't having her working that much until she was fifteen, and so Carbine was only called upon when she was really needed. She enjoyed helping Stoker and he made her laugh. She remembered when Stoker used to take her and her little sister Zandra to the park when they were younger, but since the occupation, he hadn't had time, and she knew how much Zandra missed him. He was like a second but much younger father to her. So she often arranged for everyone to be out so she had to bring Zandra with her while she worked, and seeing them smiling again was worth it. Zandra was five years old back then.
***
A couple of months later, Vinnie surprised everyone by helping the school to win the traditional eight-a-side game of Carva, a game that involved using the bike to help catch a flying disc, much like a Frisbee, and then get it into the goal. It seemed harmless except that the disc had sharp enough edges to cut through just about anything, so special protective clothing was worn. Vinnie had often thought that the sadists who invented the game must have thought violence was aerobic or something, because nothing short of removing parts of the body, vital organs or life from your opponent was prohibited. Despite all odds, Vinnie brought the school to their first victory in eight years.
Vinnie's head swelled further, and on his victory celebration night, he took all his friends out for his favourite meal in an earth-style restaurant. Can you guess what they ate? So, anyway, having been stuffed with hotdogs and root beer, the friends, who now included Throttle, walked off in their own directions. Throttle, Modo and Vinnie went towards Vinnie's place to watch the video of Vinnie's triumph for the eighteenth time, while Carbine and Chris went towards Carbine's house. On their way, they chatted about various things, how Vinnie's ego was now so massive that if it expanded much further, he'd have to get it its own bike, and stuff like that, when they both stopped dead. They were being watched, again, and they realised, just too late that they were all alone. Drawing their weapons, they heard soft steps in the shadows, and felt the adrenaline rise. Suddenly, out of the darkness came a huge mouse. Dull black eyes, dull black fur, black clothes, all painted up with silver. He bared his teeth in a savage smile and looked at the teenagers, both standing their ground at least two feet below him. In a second he had aimed his Blaster at Carbine, and she felt a sharp pain in her chest, as she aimed with her knife, and for the first time since she was seven, went off target as she fell. The knife caught the mouse straight through the shoulder, and he yelped with pain as a furious Chris went in for the kill. Carbine opened her eyes slightly, and saw the fight. Chris was strong, but the other mouse was stronger. He drew a dagger and aimed at Chris. Carbine took another knife and lashed out at him, cutting right across his face, damaging one eye. He still managed to get Chris, though, who fell to his knees with a gasp, staring at the dagger that seemed to have grown from his middle. Carbine was livid, lashing out at the dark creature with everything she had. He suddenly pushed her back, and she fell into a wall, semi-conscious. He was about to make the final shot, when Chris jumped out of no where and took the blow. He fell to the ground, and before Carbine could even scream, the nightmare had gone. She tried bridging someone, but couldn't. She realised that she'd damaged the part of her antennae that did the transmitting, and so fell to taking care of Chris. He lay with his head in her lap, breathing softly with short, ragged breaths. "Baby, please" he begged. "Please lie down, you won't survive with those injuries if you don't lie down and wait for help". He shuddered violently. Carbine stroked the hair out of his eyes, applying pressure to all his wounds and yelling out for help at the same time. She looked at Chris, and he was smiling. She put her head on his chest. "NoChrisplease, don't go, please" her voice broke with tears, and Chris smiled up at her.
"Shhh now, pretty one. It'll be ok. I'll always be with you, ok?"
"Nopleaseplease, someone'll come, and it'll all be fine. Don't even think about leaving me here." Her voice was full of mock severity, and Chris laughed, and coughed a little. Carbine looked down at him again. "I'm so sorry, Chris. I'm just so sorry." But Chris didn't answer. She stroked his hair once more, and just whispered "I love you" in his ear, when he took his last, long, shuddering breath, and released his grip on her hand.
"No" Carbine's voice was barely above a whisper. "No, Chris, please wake up, someone's going to come and help us." She prayed and prayed for an answer, but knew it was no good. She looked at his face, full of youth, smiling, even in death, up at her. The only girl he ever loved.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Biker Mice From Mars or any characters thereof. I do, on the other hand, own Chris, Exo, Raphael, Diesel, Arrhiyah, Musket, Zandra, Mask, Raid, Stacey and the mouse with no name. I am not, nor do I wish to, make any profit from my writings, just to create enjoyment for myself and others. Thanks, and enjoy the fic!!!

Carbine woke up in a dark hospital ward a while later. For a short time, she had no recollection of the events that had caused her to be in hospital in the first place, but all too soon, visions of what had passed came flooding back. The look of utter enjoyment on the dark mouse's face as he murdered Chris, her best friend and boyfriend. She curled into a tight ball, and cried bitterly until sleep claimed her once again. She awoke to distant voices the next morning, and opened one bleary eye to see her family- all four brothers, her sister, her mother and her father.
Exo, the second oldest sibling, was talking to his slightly younger twin brother, Raphael, in hushed tones. Something about how lucky she was to be alive, and how he would have made mince meat out of whoever did this to her. Then Exo realised she was awake, he smiled at her, and stroked her hair gently. "We were so worried. I don't know what would have happened if" his voice trailed off, and he looked sadly down at his feet. Carbine made a weak attempt of sitting up, but her father, Diesel, lay her back down gently. "You, my love, are in no state to be up yet. Rest now, darling. Daddy's here." He took her hand and held it tight, tears of anger and distress for his daughter and her friend.
Arrhiyah, Carbine's mother said nothing as she fought back tears, with one arm around her eldest son, Kast, who was clearly in great distress over the recent occurrence. Musket stood cuddling his little sister, Zandra. He was Carbine's twin brother, and found the whole situation almost unbearably painful. He watched his sister like a hawk in silence, showing no emotion whatsoever on the outside, but almost hysterical on the inside. For a while he stood, before leaning over the side of the bed and kissing the now sleeping Carbine on the forehead, and breaking down completely. Carbine awoke, and tried again to sit up, pushing her father's guiding hand away so she could grab Musket's quaking shoulder and pull herself up. Once sitting close to Musket's chest, she embraced him, and rocked him gently back and forth as he cried, speaking with unintelligible words to everyone but her. "I'm just so sorry. If I'd been there, you might not he might notoh Gods." Then Exo led him away, silently to sit with him and talk it out away from a very tired looking Carbine.
Raph begged her to sleep, but she couldn't. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw those awful dull black eyes staring out at her through the darkness, waiting, watching. Who was he, and why did he want to hurt her so much? Eventually, however, she fell asleep with this thought, and her mother singing softly to her with her angelic voice. Later that day, Carbine awoke to more voices, but she knew who they were before she even opened her eyes.
A deep, concerned voice cut through the gloom, with a tone of restraint. "Hey man, don't you think we should let her sleep?" Then another voice, quiet and contemplative, agreeing with the first. "Yeah, bro. He's right. She needs rest." And then the most familiar voice of all... "But she's gotta see me! A day without me, especially in a dump like this" he was cut off by the first voice, "Vinnie, it's a hospital." Vinnie's voice came back on the defence. "I know it's a hospital! Jeez! You'd think you guys thought I was unobservant or something, well, bros., I gotta tell ya, these senses are all in peak condition! There ain't nothin' that can escape the Vin man's eagle eye!" then a deep sigh from Modo.
The other voice, the quieter one, cut through this time. "Hey hey hey. Look, bros., she's waking up. Hiya Carbine." Carbine opened her eyes to see Throttle and Modo smiling down at her, and a decidedly disgusted looking Vinnie sulking between them. He perked up, however, when he saw Carbine awake for the first time in ages. "Oh, Carbine, sweetheart! You're ok! You're ok!" he held her close, shaking with silent grief at the loss of one of his closest friends and the near loss of another. Modo placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and looked at Throttle, as if to say, `you take over for a second', before walking off with his arm around his friend. Carbine watched them go, and then turned to Throttle. "We haven't really met, I don't think. Hi." She extended her undamaged hand (the other one in a cast from where she fell) and he took it. "No, we haven't really, have we? Nice to meet you."
Throttle had never really spoken to such a forthright female before, apart from his cousin, Harley. Carbine smiled at him, but then felt suddenly dizzy, and had to lie back down. Soon, she was asleep again, and Throttle, Vinnie and Modo left her to rest. When she awoke next, it was dark, and she was all alone, and very scared. She curled up into a little ball, and tried to stay calm, unsuccessfully, and she began to cry.
Unknown to her, Catrina, a childhood friend of hers, was working in that hospital, and it was she who came in to comfort her. Looking at Carbine's name, she gasped, and lifted Carbine gently onto her lap. "Hiya, sweetie. Remember me?" Carbine looked at her for a moment, undecided, but soon her mind cleared, and she remembered her old friend, and cuddled up closer.
Catrina, who was five years older than Carbine at seventeen, very tall, with long grey curly hair and same tone fur, stroked her young friend's hair, rocking her back and forth. "It's all alright now, sweetie. No one's gonna hurt you now. I've got you." Once Carbine had recovered herself, she looked over Catrina. "Aren't you too young to be working nights?" she asked. Catrina smiled at her. "No, I got a place in med.-school because I understood everything and knew I wanted a career in medicine, so here I am, working with victims of attacks and stuff like that. They told me you were a special case, and that I should see to you because you weren't sleeping too well. I can't believe it's you. Why would anyone want to hurt you?" she continued to take care of Carbine until she was fast asleep again, and then she left again.
Carbine awoke the next day feeling much better, and discovered one familiar face looking over at her, plus two new ones. Catrina, the familiar face, smiled at her, "Morning, little one." She motioned to the two similar looking males sitting with her. "These are my brothers, Mask and Raid. They remember you from when you were a baby, and thought they'd just come and see you." Carbine smiled at the two. "I remember you. Mask, Raid kept breaking your arm, didn't he?" Mask grinned ruefully at his brother. "You got a good memory. I'm really sorry about" Carbine just smiled at him, and he stopped. She didn't want to hear it.
Mask and raid were twins, almost identical, in colour and build, apart from a few differences. Mask had a thin band of black across his eyes, standing out against his pale brown fur, and Raid had a half band so that it only covered one eye, stopping exactly half way over the bridge of his nose. Both had long black hair streaked with coloured dyes. They had been awful as kids, always in trouble, always beating one another up, or ganging up on girls. Now, however, those days were over, and they were a little more responsible, and much friendlier to females. Suddenly, Mask's pager bleeped loudly, and he groaned. "Raid, we gotta be somewhere ten minutes ago. Marco's getting impatient. Raid rolled his eyes and grinned at Carbine and Catrina. "That's our boss." He looked at Carbine and smiled again, slyly. "Carbine, honey, you wouldn't object to becoming an old friend for the afternoon, would you, just Marco is much more forgiving when a lady's involved." He winked, Carbine nodded at him, and Catrina glared. "You two are awful! Go, get out of my ward! Out! Get out!" she brandished a reflex hammer, and her brothers fled, and soon Carbine and Catrina were alone again. Catrina smiled at her. "I'm sorry about those two. There's nothing I can do about them, I love `em really, but when they start getting ideaswell, that's just painful to watch." She smiled. "A bit like your brothers, those two, aren't they?". Carbine nodded. Catrina continued, "Mine are a little oldera lot olderaren't they? Well, you gotta love `em, and I" she said, looking at her watch, "Am due to give a sponge bath to Mrs. Agasin." She groaned and shuddered. "All part of a days work. Maybe when I'm older, I'll still be working here. I'd love to be a doctor, but that'll come. This is just the training. Well, like I said, I gotta move, but before I do, I have some good news, the doctors say you're doing much better, and you'll be able to go home in a couple of days." She smiled at Carbine, who was beginning to fall asleep again. "That's it, baby. You get some rest. You're gonna need it if you're gonna survive that family of yours." She winked, and stroked Carbine's hair, before disappearing to Mrs. Agasin's part of the ward.
Two days later, Carbine was discharged, with strict instructions to sleep lots, and drink and eat as often as possible. The whole family was overjoyed, it was hard to say who was happiest, but in the end, it was a close one between Diesel and Musket, both of whom were shedding tears of joy as their precious Carbine returned home. Catrina was to visit every second evening to check on her and see the family, and all Carbine's friends were to come whenever they could. It was on one of these evenings that Catrina met Modo. In truth, it was all Harley's idea, to set the two up, since they seemed so perfect for one another. Harley was about Carbine's age, and also good friends with both Catrina and Modo, with a massive crush on Vinnie to match. Carbine found all this hilarious, and laughed so much when Harley went weak at the knees at the thought of Vinnie, that she thought her sides would split.
Modo was standing on one side of the couch that was serving as a daybed for Carbine, when Catrina appeared on the others. Carbine took the opportunity and coughed, loudly, so both sets of eyes focused on her for a moment, and then, when she calmed down, raised and met. Catrina smiled and blushed a little as Modo, also smiling and blushing furiously, extended a hand, saying in his most gentlemously of voices, "Evening, ma'am. You must be Catrina." Catrina almost lost sense of everything, until what had been said actually sunk in, and she shook his hand, "Yeah, that's me. And you" she looked at him, "From what I've been told, could be no one but Modo. Nice to meet you." Modo was away again. "The pleasure is all mine, Catrina ma'am." He smiled so sweetly that Catrina almost lost her balance and Vinnie, Throttle, Harley and Carbine almost lost the contents of their stomachs, Carbine especially, since all this was happening directly over her head. It took every ounce of self-control she had not to burst out laughing, but Vinnie was not so lucky, and the moment was gone. `Just as well,' thought Carbine, `I was losing it'.

***

Some time later, Carbine was due to return to school. She had lost track of the length of time she had spent away, but was told it was, all in all, about two months, give or take a week. She was touched at how protective Vinnie had got, escorting her to all her classes, and if he wasn't available, it was Throttle or Modo who took her along. There was one thing she had not missed about school at all. Stacey. A horrible little blonde cheerleader, who had been a thorn in Carbine's side since the first day of school, when Carbine was four and she was six.
Carbine remembered it as if it were yesterday. She would never admit it as she got older, but when she was little, Carbine had a little pink cardigan that she took everywhere, including to the first day of school. Stacey had come up behind Carbine on the first day and drawn a big ugly red squiggle on the back of the cardigan that had never come out, and as if this wasn't enough, as they grew up, Stacey was constantly bullying her, surrounded by all her dumb cheerleading friends.
Carbine had once been a cheerleader, but had quit not long ago after it all got too much, and she felt it was utterly demeaning. Stacey, of course, was furious, since Carbine had actually been a great cheerleader, better than most since she was smaller than the others and could do all the jumps easily, but she would never admit it. Stacey was, however, all looks and no brains. Her hourglass figure never earned her a decent mark in all her school days, as she had hoped it would, and this was a constant joke between Harley, Carbine and Catrina. Catrina no longer attended normal school, since on Mars, in a few exceptional cases, a student was allowed a head start in life, to go to med. School for example when they were fifteen. She did, however remember Stacey from two years below her, as the youngest cheer-squad leader in the school's history, which was sickening.
No one had thought, however, that Stacey could be as mean as she was a few weeks later, after she had finally agreed to go out with Vinnie. She had obviously been working towards this day for ages, since all her little friends were buzzing with a kind of malicious electricity that anyone outside their group found extremely unsettling.
It wasn't until Vinnie walked into the lunch room with Modo, Harley, Throttle and Carbine, that everyone went quiet, and they knew something awful was about to happen. Then, Stacey appeared, dressed in her usual knee high socks, bright white trainers and cheerleading outfit, pom-poms in one hand, baton in the other. She had just come back from practise. She walked up to Vinnie and said loudly, "I'm sick of you always hanging round me, using me to make yourself look `cool' with all your little friends" she said these words with utter disdain, as though they were a disease. "So, I've decided, Vincent Van Wham, to dump you. Goodbye." And with that she skipped off.
Vinnie was utterly devastated, but managed to smile around at those still watching him, before turning and walking out, followed by the others. When they found him, he was sitting at a desk with his head in his hands, sobbing quietly to himself. Everyone grouped around him, protecting him from anyone who passed by, looking for the `guy Stacey dumped in the lunch room'. Modo and Throttle laid comforting hands on his shoulders as he wept, and Carbine and Harley watched him, sadly. Suddenly, a scream was heard from outside. Everyone, including a red-eyed Vinnie rushed outside to see what was happening, and at that point, Carbine went white as a sheet, and took a step back. There, with a gun held to the side of Stacey's head, was the great black mouse who had murdered Chris. He saw Carbine, winked at her. "Well if it ain't Miss Crosslazer, fancy seein' you here!" he almost smiled, but his dull black eyes showed no emotion, as usual. Teachers tore towards him, only to fall to the ground, stunned by the mouse's laser. Carbine used all her telepathic skill to bridge (connect telepathically) to all her friends, showing them the quick sketch of a plan she had thrown together. If it worked, it would save Stacey and put her forever in debt to those she had just defiled, especially Vinnie. If it didn't, there would be a lot of sad parents to inform that afternoon.
Without making a sound, Carbine took a step forwards when the mouse wasn't looking. The others all took gradual steps back until they were positioned in a semicircle behind her. The big mouse was either so caught up in the moment that he didn't notice, or wasn't interested. On a swift nod from Carbine, Throttle and Vinnie disappeared back into the shadows and made their silent way to the race track, where four big, black senior school racing bikes sat all alone. Taking the two bikes best suited (with maximum fuel and minimum damage), they wheeled them back into the shadows that they had just gone from to wait their moment. Harley moved back some more, before taking the tear gas her parents always mad her carry with her and shaking it quietly. Modo just stood near Carbine, before sneezing loudly. It wasn't a bad impression, and the noise made the mouse spin round in confusion, leaving his back unguarded for Harley to leap onto and spray him with tear gas. Despite all this, he kept a hold on Stacey, which meant that plan A hadn't worked, so plan B had to go straight into action. The mouse recovered almost instantly from the tear gas, which amazed all others present, except Carbine, who was counting on it. She remembered how she'd sliced across one of his eyes and had appeared oblivious to the pain a moment later. The scar was still there, she noticed, and his eyes were as dull, black and foreboding as ever. Carbine plucked up all her remaining courage and walked out directly in front of the mouse, and locking her eyes with his, before saying in her quietest, hardest voice, "Catch me." And beginning to scramble effortlessly up the side of the rock climbing training wall. The mouse, however, took Stacey with him, and scrambled up as well. Half way up, the mouse looked set to drop Stacey and just go after Carbine when a roaring sound appeared from the shadows. There was Vinnie, on the racing bike, flying towards him, mid jump. A look that could almost be described as fear decorated his face, and he dropped Stacey and scrambled out of Vinnie's reach, just in time. Vinnie aimed a kick at him, striking where his head had been a moment ago with massive force. He then dived down on the bike, pushing it to its limits as he grabbed Stacey as she was about to hit the ground with his tail and lifting her onto the back of the bike. She clung onto him, quaking as they made a perfect landing, amidst cheers from everyone, but then they realised, the mouse was back on the ground again, looking up at Carbine who was still on the wall, looking down at him. He almost smiled as he whispered "Goodbye, Miss Crosslazer." And shooting right across the wall with his laser, and vanishing into the shadows once again.
Carbine didn't scream. She took a deep breath and prepared for the impact as she fell along with rubble and wood framework towards the ground. Having shut her eyes, she waited for the end, but it didn't come. There was a roar, and a whoosh, and then cheering. She opened her eyes and realised she was on the back of Throttle's racer. She gasped and laid her head on his shoulder, whispering "Thank you." When they screeched to a halt, Throttle got off the bike and helped her off, holding her to him as they watched to see what would happen next. Just as expected, Vinnie got off the bike and started to walk off, whereupon Stacey called after him, "Vinnie, wait!" Vinnie looked at her, with a look of utter disdain on his face. "Since when am I taking orders from you, Stacey." Stacey looked ruffled but continued. "Vinnie, you saved my life, you and all your idiI meanfriends. Thank you." Vinnie nodded at her, but walked off towards Harley and Modo, followed by Carbine who was still holding hands with Throttle. Carbine turned quickly to see Stacey, who looked at her. "CarbineI'mI'mI'm sorry for what I did, and I'm sorry I embarrassed you, Vinnie, and I'm sorry I was mean, Harley and Modo, and I'm sorry for calling you a geek, Throttle." Everyone turned in shock at what had just passed. Stacey had admitted she had been mean. No one could believe it, all apart from Carbine, Throttle, Modo, Vinnie, Harley and later on, when she was told, Catrina.
Although she was happy that tragedy had been averted, Carbine lay awake in bed that night wondering. If he had found her at school, did he know where she lived? And if he did, who would be next and what if she couldn't save them?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Biker Mice From Mars, or any characters thereof. On the other hand, I do own Kast, Catrina, Mask, Raid, Exo, Raphael (Raph) and Stacey. I am not, nor do I wish to, make any profit from my writings, just to create enjoyment for myself and others.
Enjoy!!!

Overnight, Brimstone Comprehensive was put on the map. The story of the brave rescue of Stacey, the cheerleader who had made a mockery of the five who in the end put their own lives on the line to save hers, was splashed across every newspaper in the Eastern quarter. These five students were, of course, Vincent Van Wham, Carbine Elizabeth Crosslazer, Modo Tharsis Maverick, and Harley and Throttle Shield. No one could remember a time when so much had happened in so short a time, but what bothered parents most was that all of these strange happenings seemed to gravitate around one individual, Carbine. Soon, Carbine became aware that certain people were avoiding her in the halls, along corridors, anywhere. She began to feel invisible to everyone but her closest friends, and finally admitted this to her friends after Vinnie found her crying alone in the lab after science class. He had just wandered in when he saw her.
"Carbine, sweetheart, what's wrong?" his face showed concern, as did his voice. He walked around to her and held her close. She continued to cry, but said nothing. Vinnie let go and knelt down in front of her. "Isn't there anything I can do?" Carbine shook her head decisively. Vinnie cocked his head slightly to one side. "You sure, sweetheart? Vincent Van Wham can fix just about anything that life throws at him and hispartners in crime." Carbine couldn't help laughing. Partners in crime, a phrase reminiscent of their younger days together, when they would run round playing treasure hunt with people's wallets and other valuables. She remembered it clearly, running out of the house, Kast's Earth Rolex held carefully in her hands, before presenting it to Vinnie, who promptly dropped it into a hole in the ground they had spent half the morning digging. They found it two months later. Kast tried to be angry, but couldn't quite manage it, much to his father's amusement. Kast was a general amusement to the family, looking like no one in particular, apart from Exo, who was also bizarrely coloured. Both of them were had pure, shiny black fur, but Exo had shoulder length same tone hair, and Kast had long platinum blonde locks. No one knew why.
Carbine was so absorbed in these thoughts, that she didn't notice Vinnie leading her out of the lab, down the hall to the classroom, which was empty, apart from three familiar faces. Carbine shook herself out of her daze and jumped when she realised she wasn't in the lab anymore. She smiled at Vinnie, and all her other friends in school, who were seated in front of her in the dingy, badly lit room. "What is it?" was all she could come up with. Modo smiled back. "Carbine, darlin', you're not yourself. Vinnie says you've been depressed, confused, generally tuned outdo you have any idea why?" Carbine's eyes filled with tears again, and Modo looked worried. "I'm sorry, Carbine, did I upset you? I sure as hell didn't mean to." Carbine sort of smiled at him as Vinnie sat her down. "It's a whole lot of things, really. Have you noticed how I seem to have become invisible to half the school? Or how even some of the teachers won't acknowledge my presence?" the others nodded, silently, waiting for her to continue. "And all this stuff about that guy, I haven't been sleeping too well lately," she admitted. "I sort of keep seeing his face in my dreams and stuff. Ex said I was screaming last night." She laid her head on her arms and sighed deeply. Vinnie stroked her hair gently. "Hey, sweetheart. It'll be ok. We're all here for you, we'll never let anything happen to you, at least not without a fight." The others all agreed, somewhat loudly, and in this, Carbine found some comfort, cuddling close to Vinnie most of the time as he guarded her.
Through the bleakness of all this, there was one happy thought. Modo had become decidedly dreamier than usual, smiling almost all the time at almost everyone, spending longer on his appearance. The cause of all this was perfectly obvious to everyone, including Vinnie, somewhat surprisingly, since Catrina blushed deeply at even a mention of Modo's name, as he did at hers. Although they had never been seen together, it was strongly suspected that some `extra-curricular activities' were taking place, and so after one particularly fruitless day of asking Modo questions, the others took it upon themselves to find out what was happening, and set the record straight once and for all. As Modo left the school in the afternoon, four guilty looking individuals split up, moving in a double pincer movement around him, keeping watch from all sides as he made his dreamy way back home. He was so lost in thought, that he didn't even notice Vinnie sneezing twelve feet behind him. Soon, he reached the front door of his house, and unlocked it oblivious to the four pairs of eyes watching with interest. Once he was safely in doors, the others huddled together to hold a whispered conversation. Harley was grinning from ear to ear. "All we gotta do now is wait. Shouldn't be long. He dolled himself up right nice before he left." Carbine raised an eyebrow at this one, "And how, Miss Harley Shield, do you know that?" Harley tapped the side of her nose and winked. "Less said about that the better, at which Carbine and she laughed, and Vinnie and Throttle exchanged nervous glances. All tragedy, for those precious few minutes was forgotten, and soon, Modo was coming out of the house again, all dressed up nicely, looking all grown up, with a bunch of Martian peace lilies in one hand. Still oblivious to those watching him, he strolled on, grinning at some unspoken thought, towards Catrina's house. The others followed at a safe distance, stifling giggles and holding whispered conversations, until they reached the comfortable looking home of Catrina. Modo rang the bell, and stood outside. Mask answered the door and smiled at him. "She'll be ready in a moment. Please, come in. I just have to take out some trash, and then I'll be back." Mask stepped out and carefully closed the door, smiling and shaking his head; he made his way across the garden until he was within three feet of the group's hiding place. He knelt down, and heard someone twitch in the bushes. "Alright, kids, you can come out now. I don't think they need to be disturbed any more now, all right?" the others got out, grinning guiltily, and he grinned back. "Call in tomorrow. They're going out at six. Come after that and I'll tell you what happened." He winked. "Or some of it, anyway." He turned to go in, but then pivoted back round to face Carbine. "Carbine, can I talk to you for a sec?" she nodded, confused, as he led her away to the side of the house. Once there, he looked her over. "A little mousie tells me that you're not very happy in school right now. You wanna talk?" Carbine looked at him. "Who told you that?" Mask sighed and sat on his haunches. "I know a lot of people, sweetheart. There's nothing I can't find out. A lot of people are very worried about you, not least Raphael." Raphael was Exo's slightly younger twin brother, who was identical to his brother in build and profile, but had his father's colouring. Deep mocha brown fur, and black hair. Carbine looked down at him. "Really?" Mask nodded. "Anything you wanna tell me now?" Carbine shook her head. "Alright, but if you need to talk, me, Raid and Cat are always here for you." He gave her a quick hug and sent her on her way. When she reappeared, Vinnie looked at her. "What was all that about?" Carbine smiled and sighed. "He was just checking to see I was ok." Before anyone could ask any more questions, she had turned on her heel, and was walking away. The others looked at each other, but said nothing more on the subject.
The next day, at half six, the four arrived at the same house once again, where Mask was waiting for them. He welcomed them all inside and sat them down. He explained that he had never seen anyone as happy as Catrina and Modo, and that they were just enjoying each other's company, at which Throttle and Vinnie exchanged knowing glances, and Carbine and Harley giggled. Mask rolled his eyes. "And they say youth is innocent." He laughed along with them, and then his twin, Raid appeared. He winked his left eye, covered by a half band of black at the five naughty looking faces gazing up at him, and muttered something about maturity had a funny way of showing itself, before he disappeared up to his room. Mask opened his eyes very wide and sighed. "There's one in every family." But he smiled as he said this, since there was nothing that they hadn't been through together. The four friends got up to leave, and he walked them to the door, and smiled warmly "Now, can you leave my sister and Modo in peace for a little while?" they nodded earnestly, and wandered off to their own homes. Later that night, Catrina returned home with Modo, laughing, and noticed a piece of red fabric on a Martian rose bush near by. She winked at Modo, who grinned at her. They said together "Vinnie." And Modo departed, laughing softly to himself.
Modo appeared at school the next day, and laughed as soon as he saw four guilty faces trying to look innocent. "It's alright. We expected visitors sooner or later. Glad you find us so interesting." He laughed again, and dashed off to science class. Carbine sighed and smiled and went off to her class, leaving the other three in the hallway, alone. They all looked at one another, all with a free period, they decided to go out to the racetrack for a while, since the sun was up and Phobos was looking beautiful. As they wandered down past the restricted area where the climbing wall had been shot to bits not long ago, and Throttle had saved Carbine's life, Harley thought she saw a shadow flickering across it, but dismissed it as a trick of the light. They continued down to the track, where the seniors were taking a well earned break on the battered school bikes, rolling around having fun. Throttle took a long, deep breath as a light breeze ruffled his hair, but then something caught his eye. A shadow skirting round the wall of the school. He mentioned this to the others, and Harley said what she had seen. Suddenly, awful realisation dawned on them. As they raced back up to the main building, Vinnie yelled "Why the school? What's he gonna be able to do?" then he stopped dead in his tracks. The others turned to look at him, seeing horror twist his young features. He looked at them, almost paralysed with fear. "Ground floorthe science labs!" they put on a burst of speed, but it was too late. As they neared the building, there was a massive explosion, and the whole bottom half of the school buckled outwards. Vinnie was beyond all reason now, he hurtled on towards the burning building, calling out distractedly for Modo. The first thing that struck the friends was the awful silence that seemed to echo throughout the grounds. Vinnie ran about, searching through the rubble, until he heard something under a large piece of bench, and he called for Throttle and Harley, who dashed over to him. With one almighty heave, they carried the piece of wood off, and there underneath, were four people, all being shielded by Modo's massive back. Vinnie rushed to his assistance as he tried to get up, but failed. The four who had lain beneath him all gasped as the massive grey mouse was lifted carefully off, and they found that they were hardly injured at all. Modo, on the other hand, was in agony. People poured out of the building, thankfully mostly unscathed, though some injuries had been sustained during the main collapse. Carbine was among them, carried out of the rubble by her brother, Exo. She was terrified, as Exo carefully set her down and held her tight as she shuddered with the shock of the impact. Eventually, all were recovered, miraculously, no one had been killed, although many of the pupils and a few of the teachers spent a fair amount of time in hospital.
Two weeks later, the six friends met to discuss what had happened. Carbine lay with Vinnie's arms wrapped tightly around her as she thought of what had happened, Catrina sat massaging Modo's massive shoulders carefully, since his left arm was still in a cast since it had been discovered that during the impact, it had been broken in four places. Harley sat with her cousin, Throttle, and held Carbine's hand. Eventually, Catrina broke the silence. "So it's official. This guy isn't gonna stop until he's dead. Either that, or until" she paused and looked at Carbine who nodded. "What exactly is it he wants with you? I mean, if he was some deranged stalker, I might be able to understand it, but the fact that he's trying to hurt your friends as well, it's just not the way it works." The others nodded. This had gone on way too long. Carbine shook her head. "I knew this would happen, but what scares me, is that so far he's killed one, he's put me and Modo in hospital, I don't know what he's gonna try next." The others nodded understandingly. Harley rested her chin on her hand. "Well, at least the authorities are taking serious notice now, I mean, it must have been him, that guy. If only we knew who he was, or why he was doing this" no one could add to that, it was true, it was a total mystery.
That night, Throttle lay awake in bed, trying to block the thoughts that had gone round and round his mind since he first saw Carbine, he knew it wasn't a good time, but instincts were instincts, and he knew he loved her. He wanted to help her so much, to make all the pain go away, just to make her smile, only once, at him, to have her feel the same wayhe fell asleep with that thought. Little did he know that Carbine was trying not to think the same things about him. She sat up and looked at a picture of her and all of them, taken on the night of Vinnie's victory celebrations after he had helped the school win the last Carva match of the season. That was the night that Chris had died. She reached out and touched Chris's face, smiling out at her from behind the glass of the frame, and fought back tears, whispering "I'm so sorry." With that, she fell asleep, and far away on the dark side, the resting place for all Martians, Chris watched her and sighed. It was time for her to move on.