I do not own biker mice!
'Nuff said !
However charter's other than original chars. Belong to StarSquirrelInc. So if you have an idea, ask!
Friend, Lover D.V.M.
(Or: My Friend! My lover! My Bad Luck!)
Chapter 1
An eight year old girl in worn blue jeans and a green shirt with her light brown hair back into a ponytail walked up to the brown farmhouse that was just up the dirt road from where she lived. It was summertime and school was finally over. She noticed a huge white van and several people in uniforms unloading the truck. As she got closer, she spotted a young girl about her age wearing a pair of ripped up jeans and a blue shirt carrying down small boxes. Unlike the girl watching her, the one carrying the boxes had darker hair in pig-tails, and bronzed-brown skin. The girl, eager for a new companion walked up to the girl, who was now tugging on a much larger box, and smiled. "Hi! My name's Charley. What's your's? Wanna go an play?"
The bronze girl gave a start and was about to answer when a voice called, "Amaris?"
"Yes sir?" The girl had a very soft voice. Charley looked at the older man, her grandpa maybe? The old man noticed Charley and nodded in her direction. "Who's your new friend? A neighbor?"
Amaris nodded, "Yes and she asked if I could go and play. Can I sir? Please?"
The old man smiled, that gave Charley the heebie-jeebes, but made her new companion smile. "Thank you! Charley, let go check out my yard!" And with that Amaris grabbed Charley's hand and they ran to explore Amaris's new home...
Charley woke up very peacefully; that is to say without any disturbance from three well known Martian mice. Which actually made her wonder if they had decided to actually do something else for a change.
No such luck. She thought as she heard the familiar sound of three martian engineered motorcycles. As she dressed quickly, her eyes caught sight of a letter on her dresser. It was sent three days ago from New York from an old childhood friend, whom she hadn't seen in years. Charley picked up the letter as she had done for the twentieth time in three days.
"I can't wait to see you again Charley! I couldn't believe it when your mom told me you lived here! I know I have a lot of things that I need to do once in town; but I plan on stopping by as soon as I get a breather!.."
The letter continued on, Charlene would have finished rereading it if she didn't hear a crash from the kitchen followed by a hustle down stairs and the tiny trail of smoke wafting up to her room. She hurried downstairs all the while wondering, How am I going to explain this.. To any of them!
Throttle had just finished using the fire extinguisher on the smolder toaster when Charley ran down the stairs. "Mornin' Charley."
"The toaster! It's totally burnt!" Charley gaped at the smoke and foamed covered remnants of a new toaster oven.
"Wasn't our fault this time Charley ma'am." Modo said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"All we did was-" Vinnie was going to explain, as he pulled out what was, Charley's guess, a high stack of hot dogs in a charred biscuit style, When the sound of a car rolled up and stopped at the Garage.
"Oh no, she's here." Charley went to the door looking at a car that looked squarish and small. Not SUV style but too short to be considered a van. She quickly turned to the guys. "You got two choices right now.."
"Only two, sweetheart?" Vinnie quipped. Charley girl looked nervous and Vinnie wasn't sure why. Charley ignored the comment.
"You can either leave out the backdoor, or help me explain you three to a veterinarian." Charlene looked out the door as the driver's side door began to open. "I haven't seen her in five years and I don't know how she's going to take all this. I'll leave it up to you."
Kane Amaris Oneal looked at the sign posted above the garage and then the neighborhood. A lot of things have changed, but the old Last Chance Garage stood firm among the tired and now obviously worn down area. She noticed the movement of shadows inside the garage and took it as a sign that her friend was awake. She tugged a errant strand of her short dark hair away from her face and behind her ear. She hadn't seen Charlene since she'd left Junior College, but they had kept in touch through the years. Slowly she opened her door and stepped out, locking her Scion up tight. As she was straightening her light green shirt over her khaki pants and walking towards the door when she heard voices, three male and one woman. She assumed it was Charley having a talk with one of her customers and paid it no mind, having spotted the three bikes. She looked them over and smiled as a memory surfaced. At first her smile was whimsy, but it slowly slid down and faded as the memory moved on. Absentmindedly, her fingers slid along the streamlines of the bike closest to her, what looked like a lovingly redone Harley Davidson model, and simply murmured to them, "Sweet rides you three are. Your riders must care for you a lot."
As she continued on walking she didn't notice that the black cycle's light blinked appreciatively at the comment and continued it's monitoring mode.
"Charlene? Charley?" Charley heard Amaris call out to from the workroom area and she walked out as the guys were about to say something to her. Charley left the mice as they were and couldn't help but smile at her friend. "Amaris! My god, you haven't aged a bit!" And to Charley it as true. Her friend looked almost the same, the oval face with a defined jaw line, and that quirky mischievous smile. It was her eyes though that showed the years. Charley gave her friend a hug and smiled, leading her outside.
"And you got taller!" Amaris grinned trying to sound peeved and failing miserably, "I hate you!"
As the women talked, three eyes peeked out of the crack from the door trying to get a look at this 'veterinarian'. Throttle first noticed the height difference between the two. Amaris looked to be about five or four inches shorter than Charley, had darker hair in waves and short in style, but she seemed friendly enough. Modo noticed the height difference as well, but also how she moved- that and she had curves that meshed and moved, as if she had a softness to her. He could understand why Charley-girl was so nervous about introducing them to her childhood friend, but he knew his height would be enough to scare the poor lady.
Vinnie just watched, annoyed that he should have to hide any where for anyone, and what exactly was a veterawhosit's anyway?
Throttle was about to signal to leave. If the woman was staying in town, then they would eventually run into her sometime, and then introduce themselves. He had an inkling of what a veterinarian was, and was a little uneasy about meeting a doctor of any kind. He was just about to summon his bike when he realized that Charley was leading the woman through the front door.
"Do you have someone here, Charley?" Amaris was led by her friend outside, refusing to be led any further to her car she pretended to get a better glance at the cycles.
"Ah, who me? Well I-" Charley tried to scramble for a reason.
"I heard you talking to some people inside." Amaris placed her hand gently on the chrome handlebars of the purple fat boy. "The owners of these bikes perhaps?"
Charley sighed. It would be useless to think up a lie anyhow. "Amaris you always seem to just look right through me."
Her short friend only grinned, "It's a talent. Are you going to introduce me to them?"
"But I will warn you, they're not .." Charlene led her back, trying to best put it figuratively, "from around here."
Amaris gripped the doorjamb as Charley walked past her and towards three mice. Big mice. Correction, very huge, tall, well-muscled mice! With antenna!
"Amaris," Charley said softly and evenly, noticing the tight grip her friend had on the doorway, "These are my friends from Mars." The mice stood, watching Amaris with curiosity. Vinnie was about to say something along the lines of "She's stunned speechless by me", when he got a look from Charley.
Amaris studied the trio from the doorway, breathing deeply to control the sensation of panic, but also of something else she caught in the room as a thought came to her. She saw the white mouse's face covered in a mask alá "Phantom of the Opera" style, she looked into his eyes and saw a lot there, a huge ego and male pride, yes but it seemed to her to be hiding something. It was small and well hidden, but she sensed it would bring the most pain and embarrassment from him. The white mouse was cocky, but didn't seem dangerous.
Watch that line of thought girl, he maybe humanoid, but he looks like a mouse. Never disregard the fact that instincts may come naturally. Amaris admonished herself.
Her eyes then wandered up higher to the grey mouse, and noticed the eye patch. She killed the squeamish feeling that was rising up from her leg at the thigh when she saw the glint of the mechanical arm. In his gaze she saw a quiet calm, and although his posture told of a relaxed quality, she sensed a lot of depth in him. Her eyes moved hesitantly towards the tan mouse. His posture told of confidence and a cool demeanor, his head tilted slightly as if studying her as well. The only odd thing about him was the fact that he was wearing sunglasses in the shade and shadow of a room. He quirked a smile at her and nodded, shifting his weight to the other foot.
He must have some sort of sensitivity or blindness. And a flash of empathy made her ache. My god, they've been tortured.
"Aww for sands sake this isn't going anywhere!" Vinnie shouted, crossing his arms and looking peeved. He felt uneasy at the woman's gaze as if she wasn't looking at him, but rather looking into him. He didn't mind an admiring gaze from any cute gal, but the way she looked at him was making him unnerved.
Amaris realized she hadn't said anything since she saw them. Slowly she released the grip on the doorjamb, "You're right, my apologies for staring." She slowly walked up towards the white mouse and gave a small smile as she offered her hand, "The name's Amaris. Amaris Oneal."
"S'okay, It happens to all the pretty ladies, rendered speechless by my looks." Vinny smiled and shook her hand.
"Oh, there rendered something all right.." Charley muttered, rolling her eyes and making Amaris grin.
The tall grey mouse shuffled beside Vinny and Amaris was determined not to be intimidated by his height. "Name's Modo ma'am." Modo said softly and offered his bionic hand. He realized that the bionic arm might make her a bit uneasy. Heck, the way she looked at him a moment ago made his antenna tingle as she studied him. He gave an encouraging smile to her. She hesitated for a second, but finally grasped the cool steel and nodded. "Nice to meet you. And kindly don't call me ma'am, makes me feel older than I am. Just call me Amaris."
"And our silent bro there is Throttle, mister leader himself." Vinny grinned, all of his uneasiness forgotten, indicated towards the tan mouse in glasses.
"I can introduce myself Vincent, thanks." Throttle said evenly, causing Vinnie to back up a bit making him wonder what got under his bro's fur.
Throttle wondered the same thing as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and the answer was this petite person in front of him. It had been strange when she looked at his bros. Not as if they were failed experiments or freaks, but rather as; Well, themselves. And then her gazed turned to him and he couldn't help studying her eyes. He couldn't tell if they were green or gold or brown, now as he got a closer look at them, they were a mesh of the colors in hazel. And then that strange feeling right to the very core of himself, as if he started to go either numb or vibrate, right up to the tips of his antenna when her gaze went to him. He wanted to tell her everything, show her all of his past, his hopes, his pain; it was an urge gently tugged from him. He saw her eyes flicker then, before Vinnie's outburst, it was an ache, an understanding of pain. And her smile was turned towards him and he felt almost lost, and glad that his shades hid his eyes. Her smile was open and almost childlike; as if she had never lost innocence before, and then she offered her hand.
"Hi, as the wild child here said, the name's Throttle. It's good to meet another of Charley-girl's friends." Throttle took her hand, giving it a slight squeeze against her firm grip even as he heard her say, "It's good to meet you." And he swore her eyes meet his evenly through the shades.
And that's when she saw stars in the back of her eyes as if someone was taking a frying pan to the side of her head, the smell of smoke and the sounds of pain and explosions and the sight of red sand filled her senses so quickly and so fast that she let go of Throttles hand to grip the side of her head wincing. The movement did not go unnoticed even as Throttle flinched and quickly shook his head.
"Amaris?" Charley asked almost touching her friend on the shoulder. What had happened? Throttle's antenna weren't even touching her to cause a memory share. Amaris groaned softly, lightly sucking air through her teeth.
"Oh, migraine. Just a bit too much stress you know?" Amaris grinned even as her eyes watered. "Could ya spare a cup of coffee and some aspirins, Charl?
Charley gripped her friend's arm as the woman started to sway off balance. "Yeah in the kitchen. Lets sit down and talk."
"Bro?" Throttle heard someone ask, but the voice was warbled to his ears. "Bro, you okay?" This time he understood that it was Modo.
"Yeah." Throttle lied, "yeah I'm alright big guy. Let's see how Amaris is doing."
He blinked a few times as he tried to sort out what had happened. The sounds of a child screaming and the growl of an animal came to him along with a sharp pain up his arm at the moment Amaris shook his hand. The vision confused him; mostly because it wasn't his own memory, but also because it was so fragmented.
The guys saw Charley handing her friend a cup of coffee and a pair of tablets beside it as Amaris tugged a lock of hair behind her ear with an unsteady hand. In a swift movement the tablets were gone and dark haired woman was backing the coffee like a shot. Amaris heaved a sigh, "That should handle that problem in a few minutes. Another cup Charley? I could use a slower infusion this time."
Charley smiled and left the carafe on the table as she went about making lunch. Modo sat down at the table on the chair next to Amaris. Vinnie went to grab a root beer from the fridge before settling himself down an another chair on the opposite side of the table, where he watched Charley move around the kitchen. Throttle simply stood at the door, leaning against the entryway.
"So," Modo said observing the woman as she sipped her coffee, "How long have you and Charley been friend, miss Amaris?"
She smiled at the grey mouse's mannerisms. "Ohhh, how old were we Charley, girl? Five? Seven?"
Charley stopped what she was doing, thinking for a moment with a smile on her face, "We were going into the fou-.. No, the third grade. It was summertime."
"Eight years old then. I had just moved into town with my guardian."
"He was really creepy sometimes. Spooked me the days he'd answer the door. Is he still around?"
"Yup, alive and kicking, and still living in the house. He remodeled it though. It's really beautiful." Amaris and Charley talked, and the bro's observed the two women in silence. Vinnie noticed the obvious differences, but they were from two different worlds, with what seemed to him absolutely nothing in common.
As soon as the hotdogs were done plated up, even the bro's got to talking. Throttle eventually sat down to eat and let his bro's talk up a storm about Mars and what they were doing here. Then Vinnie started up with stories of his heroics while in Chicago, which Throttle got into toning down the ego mouse's stories. Amaris laughed at how they had brought down Limburger's tower in several satisfying ways and was glad they avoided telling the horrors of war.
"So, what is a veterablewhatsit anyways?" Vinnie asked around a mouthful of food. Amaris was spreading ketchup on her hotdog bun before placing the hotdog on it and thought about it for a moment. "Well, you know how physicians, doctors, take care of people right?"
"Yeah." Vinnie replied, "And some doctors are just out for the sheer pleasure of hurting other's."
"Well, veterinarians take care of animals, Vinnie." Amaris looked as he made a face. "They take care of the creatures who can't tell you where it hurts, or how it happened. A vet has to understand that which can't be spoken in words. They have to have a sensitivity of hands and emotions not only to their patients, but to their families." She leaned back with a weary smile. "And although I started out as a vet student, I now just do technician work, which is just assisting the vet, like a nurse in a humanoid hospital would."
She used the word 'humanoid' in hopes of showing them that she didn't see them as animals, and hopefully it would eventually be true. Right now it was too fresh, too unsettling for her to think of them as otherwise. She suddenly felt a vibration and the beeping that followed the sensation on her beeper. She lifted it and noticed it was one of the doctor's who was on call at the Vet hospital. She gave them a wry smile as she stood up to go, "And right now, duty calls. Sorry for cutting the visit short, Charley."
"That's alright Amaris. Actually, I'm surprised nothing happened during your visit. But in a way I'm glad, come visit anytime." Charley gave her friend a hug at the door, and heard her friends snicker behind her. Amaris merely grinned.
"Go ahead, laugh at my lil' toaster."
The guys couldn't help it, it was so small and boxy looking that it should have had an old gear key sticking out from somewhere, and Amaris said as much, getting a few more quips about the car.
From a building nearby, Greasepit was watching the entryway of the Garage. Noticing a car, he radioed his boss Limburger. "Hey boss dere's som' sort o car here at da garage. Is sort of funny lookin'."
"What Kind if car is it?" The disenchanted voice of Lawrence Limburger asked. He was getting irritated at Karbunkle's lack of new ideas to get those mice and finish them off.
"A sceeon I tink..Oh here de come out now! I seems like dem's mice got a new friend. Hm, cute too She owns da car boss." One of Greasepit's goons started snapping pictures.
"A new friend..? Hmm indeed. Interesting."
Charley looked at the car, the word Scion shined off the grill and it just looked so small.
"It looks kind of cramped in there." Charley said..
"Yeah, how many clowns can you fit in that li'l thing?" Vinnie grinned.
Amaris nudged her head towards the car, "Care to take look inside, Charl?" And with that the car unlocked and it's lights flashed as she pressed her key-ring attachment. Charley walked to the passenger side and was surprised to find the interior much more spacious than what the outside looked like. "Wow, you know," She told her friend, who was getting in, "It somehow suits you."
"Interesting isn't it? I'll see ya around Charley." Amaris grinned and then looked at her mirrors, her smile slowly fading. "You're being watched up on the roof."
The three mice scrambled onto their bikes just as Greasepit was scrambling off the roof. The Scion backed away quickly to give the bikes room and then drove off in the opposite direction.
What's with the flashbacks? Is Amaris a Karbunkle creation? Can the guys handle the idea of a Vet tech arround the place? And what makes these two girls best of friends?
Tell me what you think and I'll put up CH2!