You guys…

Thank you so much for your kind words on my latest chapter of Breaking The Habit.
No words can describe how much it means to me.
How much it means that I even inspired someone to write its own story.
Can't wait to read it, Butterfly Souls!
And to read that most of ya are gonna join me in this new adventure, this new ride, well…
A massive thanks for all of you guys.

So, here's the first chapter of Lost In The Echo.
Yes, it's short. It's more like a prologue, actually.
The next chapters will be longer, about the same length you guys are used to.

I do not own the Biker Mice From Mars.
However, I do own Kiwi, Flash, Jax and Neo. And all the other characters that will pop up in this story that aren't part of the original serie.
Please, don't use them without asking me. I'm kinda attached to them.

Enjoy! ^^

Chapter 1

And so it begins…

Vinnie was hanging in a chair in the Main Hall, playing with his food.
Ever since that day, his normally insatiable appetite was vanished into thin air.
Of course he ate. Sometimes. But it always tasted the same.
Like blood.
"You've gotta eat, Vincent."
Throttle, who was sitting at his right, pointed at the still full plate in front of the white furred mouse.
But Vinnie only shrugged.
Modo, who was sitting at his left, sighed and took Vinnie's plate.
"Like my old gray furred momma used to say; never throw any food away, certainly not when you're blessed enough to have food on your table every day", and he took a bite of Vinnie's portion.
Vinnie rolled his eyes, but still said nothing. He simply didn't have the energy for it.
Throttle was thinking hard about what to say to motivate his younger bro to eat, to talk, to do… anything else than being this depressed, when Stoker suddenly popped up next to him.
"Meeting time, rookies. Carbine's room. Now."
Modo and Throttle got on their feet, but Vinnie still didn't move.
"Didn't ya hear me, punk? Meeting time. Now."
Vinnie finally turned his gaze on Stoker, his face completely blank.
"I heard ya. But I'm not really in the mood for a meeting right now. Not ever."
Stoker sighed, trying to keep his patience.
He could hardly blame the young mouse for being like this, but it was sometimes difficult to deal with.
"You act like it was a question. It wasn't. So get off your lazy ass and that's an order."
Vinnie sighed heavily, but slowly rose on his feet and followed them.

Normally, he would've been curious, all hyped up because most of the time, a meeting meant the beginning of a new mission.
But honestly? He couldn't care less. He didn't care about anything anymore, actually. Nothing could make him happy anymore.
Not the prospect to a mission.
Not food.
Not even a ride on his beloved red racer.
His bike was still standing in the garage, at the same spot where he had left her that day.
The beautiful red paint still covered with Mireya's blood.
He hadn't even touched her. Didn't even look at her.
Kiwi was the only one who was able to trigger some of his feelings. But it was all shallow.
Nothing more but a small spark.
He was still hurt because she'd lied to him.
But it was nothing compared to the pain that came with the loss of his sister.
It all seemed so small all of a sudden.
He simply didn't have enough room to feel anything else than the pain that was caused by her loss.
Besides… He needed Kiwi. Now more than ever.

His hand reached to his ear and he felt the soothing feeling of her black diamond earring.
A few days after saying his final goodbye to Mireya, Amira had pushed the earring in his hand when she walked by.
"I think this belongs to you", she'd whispered in his ear and before he could blink, she was already gone.
He had immediately put back the earring in his ear, promising to himself to never take it out ever again.
He sighed. But what was the point? He was probably gonna lose her too, one day. It was as if he didn't deserve to be happy.

Once in Carbine's room, he dropped on a seat. He noticed that Kiwi was already sitting at the table, so was Carbine.
After giving Kiwi a small smile, he lowered his gaze again.
Kiwi bit her lower lip to stop the sigh that was about to escape her mouth. But she said nothing and waited till Stoker was gonna tell them why they were here.
When everybody was settled, Stoker looked around the table.
"I know that everybody is devastated because of what happened now weeks ago. And I wish I could give ya all the time you deserve to mourn, to process everything. But I can't. We're still caught up in this war, the Plutarkians are still out there, along with the rats and the Sand Raiders. And so are many of our people."
Throttle, Modo and Kiwi looked up surprised.
"The fact that Limburger was able to find a mouse who was missing for ten years, who was presumed dead, made one thing very clear to me. She can't be the only one. There must be more out there. And we're gonna find them. By all means."
Throttle rubbed his chin.
"What's on your mind, Stoke?"
"We're gonna search every corner, every cave, every inch from this planet for those who deserve to ride free. And while we're at it, we'll take down the ones who are in our way."
"What do ya mean, take down?", Modo asked.
"From this day, we're gonna do everything that's necessary to get back what's ours. And with everything, I mean… everything. From now on, you guys have my permission to shoot to kill."
That took Vinnie's attention.
"Shoot to kill? So, you're saying that if I run into Limburger, I'm free to plant a fucking bullet between his eyes?", he asked, his voice still toneless.
"Only when he's giving ya trouble. Let me be clear; you guys only use this as last resource, ya hear me? I don't wanna turn ya into cold blooded killing machines. But the time to play soft is over. We're not gonna win this war by playing the good guy, not anymore. This war has costed us too much. We've lost too many loved ones. Our whole planet is destroyed."
Vinnie slumped back in his seat again.

The rest took some time to process all this.
"I'm with ya, coach. I mean, taking away Rimfire was the final straw, alright. It's time for some payback."
Modo usually wasn't one who needed payback to deal with his emotions.
But this time, it was different. This time, it was personal.
Real personal.
Throttle let out his breath.
"I dunno, coach… I mean, some of us are already uhm… suffering from side effects of this war. I'm not sure if killing people adding to their list is gonna help them…", and he glanced at Vinnie. But the white furred mouse didn't respond.
"I understand what you're trying to say. I'll leave it up to you guys. Only pull that trigger as last resource and only when you're okay with it. We don't wanna turn ourselves into the same monsters that our enemies already are. But you can't ignore the fact that if we weren't always so desperate to play the good guy, some things might have gone differently…"
Throttle squeezed the bridge of his nose, knowing that Stoker was right.
He didn't agree, but this wasn't about him. This was about the faith of Mars and her people.
Their people.
"Okay. But only as last resource."
"Of course", Stoker agreed.
Kiwi sighed.
"Well, I'm with ya. I've always admired how you guys handle things, trying to spare as many lives as possible. But the enemy is leaving you without options right now. So, I agree it's time to hit them back. Hard."
"They kinda force us to it…", Carbine murmured.
"I know, right."

Everybody looked at Vinnie, who was still hanging on his seat, staring into space.
Throttle sighed.
"Vincent?"
The white furred mouse woke outta his trance.
"Huh, what? Oh. Yeah. Whatever."
There was a silence for a moment, everybody shared worried looks.
Even Carbine had to admit; she kinda missed the big mouth of that adrenaline mouse.
This just wasn't like him. At all.
Stoker decided to continue. Fixing Vinnie needed more than just one meeting.
"Ahum, anyway… This mission is just for the three of ya, rookies. I only trust you with this, nobody else. Know that you guys are gonna be away a lot, sometimes even for months. Mars is big. The rest of the Fighters stays behind to hold the fort. Kiwi here is gonna be your eyes and ears, leading this mission from Braavos with help from Neo, Jax and Flash."
Kiwi's head jerked up.
"Leading? But I thought you told me that Neo was the one in charge!"
"Not with this mission. The guys trust ya with their lives. They need someone they can rely on, no matter what."
Kiwi's eyes flashed to Vinnie for a second.
How ironic.
But her macho mouse wasn't listening, he was just staring outta the window.
"Eh, okay…"
"You're ready, beautiful. Trust me."
Kiw nodded, still having second thoughts, but decided to keep them for herself for now.

Stoker looked at Throttle, the serious look on his face gave away the importance of this mission.
"Before I'll give further instructions… Throttle, do you accept this mission?"
Throttle looked at Carbine, who gave him a sad smile.
"Don't look at me, stranger. This is your decision and yours alone. You know that I'll be here, waiting. I ain't going anywhere."
Throttle gave her a smile back and looked back to Stoker.
"Yeah, I accept."
Stoker turned his gaze on Modo.
"Modo my mouse, do you accept this mission?"
"Sir, yes, sir", Modo nodded and saluted.
Then, Stoker looked at Vinnie.
"What about you, punk? Do you accept this mission?"
Vinnie shrugged.
"Yeah, sure, whatever. It's not like I have anything better to do…"

Stoker was about to give the young mouse a huge scolding, suddenly losing his patience because of this introvert attitude, but Throttle stopped him by laying a hand on his shoulder.
"Just let it go for now, Stoke. I've got me a feeling deep down that this mission is exactly what he needs right now", he whispered.
The brown furred mouse let out his breath, realizing Throttle could be right.
But dammit, he just wanted to grab the young mouse by the shoulders and shake him roughly until he would find his spirit again.
It broke his heart to see the usually cheerful, happy note of the group being this down.
But this was something he couldn't fix. Only Vinnie himself.
And maybe, just maybe, this mission was gonna help him to clear the head a little.

"So ehm… Does this mission have a name?", Kiwi wondered out loud, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
Stoker slowly rose on his feet, looking around the group with a solemn look on his face.
"Oh yeah, it sure does. I call it; Lost In The Echo."

And so it begins…

Please, feel free to leave a review, always very much appreciated.
Later dudes!