Right well I just couldn't wait to get stuck in with the sequel, so here is chapter one just to start you off.

Firstly though, If you are about to read this and you haven't read any of my other stories, you will in the very least need to go and read chapters 2-5 (the pits) and 21 (once upon a time on Mars) of my Alternative Endings series, or else you won't have any of the background to this story. I did say this was a sequel after all!

Secondly, and very importantly, this story will be upgraded to an M rating. For now it stands as a T, but later chapters will contain scenes of violence, abuse and torture that some readers may find disturbing.

For now though, we continue where we left off...

Scars.

Chapter 1. Flight or fight.

He couldn't understand why they just stood there. They had fought against the odds many times before, and they still had their laser weapons to hand even if they didn't have their bikes. But he showed you why... he showed you what happened... They're afraid, too afraid to move... Oh god bros just move, you need to move... NOW!

They weren't moving though. They were stood stock-still, frozen to the spot as if dazzled by the oncoming glare of headlights, unable to tear themselves away from facing their greatest fear of all. Deep inside their minds they knew they should run... or fight... or something. But they couldn't. They were absolutely terrified, and the feeling was so overwhelming it wiped away all traces of sense and reason.

The white mouse stood there between his bros and the man who held their gaze. He had seen the history between them, and experienced the emotion and pain they had felt. But it wasn't his own memories inside his mind, and unlike his two friends they had not scarred him so deeply that it tore the very fabric of his soul. He was still free and clear thinking. And he still had his weapon.

"Don't come any closer... stay back, don't you dare move any closer." The words were accompanied by a low growl, and Vinnie bared his sharp teeth at the men in front of him and raised his gun, trying to make himself look as threatening as possible. He would defend his bros to the death if he had to.

It's up to me now... I have to protect them... They can't do it for themselves, but I can. Or at least I can try.

The man was laughing now. He was enjoying the effect his presence was having on the three mice. He could see that his ex-slaves were crumbling at the very sight of him, which pleased him greatly, but what he really found amusing was the reaction of the third mouse.

He's the one who broke them out... but now it's my turn... Oh yes, dear mouse, this time it will be me who breaks you.

The Pit Boss had only caught a glimpse of the white-furred Martian as he tore though the deep trenches of his kingdom, racing to the rescue of the captive mice, but he had no doubt that this was the same being, the one who was now trying to guard those same two furry bodies from him.

"Ooh, look here boys we got ourselves a fighter..." The thugs gathered behind him began fanning out around the tunnel, slowly repositioning themselves around the mice, blocking any possible route of escape.

"I said don't come any nearer... stay back or i'll... i'll..." Vinnie realised he was stepping further back himself, placing himself right in front of his bros in order to shield them from the object of their nightmares.

"Or you'll do what, mouse? Hmm..? What exactly do you think you can do... do you think you can save them? Do you think you can stop me from getting to them?" The Pit Boss was advancing, his yellowed, broken teeth displayed in his own bared grin, the long flex in his gripping hands swaying with the same menace the man himself possessed.

Vinnie backed up even further, spreading his arms wide, making his body into as large a barrier as possible. Come on bros... pleeease... snap out of it, we need to move now, before it's too late...

They were now almost completely surrounded. The white mouse hadn't noticed the goons that had stealthily manoeuvred around behind his two friends, and he only realised the game was up when both of them cried out as they were finally seized.

That adrenalin was still flooding his system, and his muscles and heart were practically drowning with the hormone, desperately urging him to flee or to fight. He was trapped...so he had to do the latter, he had no choice. Quick as lightning he spun round and threw himself onto the nearest thug, the one who was holding Modo, and sunk his large front teeth into the man's arm. For a moment the grey mouse was released as the man grappled with the ferocity of the furred body that was fighting him with... but it was short lived.

As the butt of the rifle connected with his skull, Vinnie screamed in fury... and horror. Even with the blood seeping down the back of his head and neck, and with the blurring across his watering eyes, he tried again and again to reach his two bros, trying to pull the jeering louts away from them. Trying... but failing.

He was overcome. There were too many of them, and soon he was pinned to the floor, with his arms wrenched behind his back so that they could bind him.

"Noooo, nooooo, leave them alone! Let them go! Take me but let them go!" His voice was fevered, frantic... but the pleas it issued were futile. Throttle and Modo were being led away unresisting, already cuffed tightly in strong restraints of their own, their heads drooped down low. "Noooo, bros!"

"See... now what did I say... did you really think you could stop me? You think I should let them go and just take you? No, no... I think not." The balding, staple-headed monster stood over the third of the three humanoid mice, gloating at how easily he had been vanquished.

"You see, mouse, they know who's in charge here... they know who they belong to now, just as they did back then. They belong to me, and there is nothing you can do to change that." He bent low, breathing his foul odour into the glaring white-furred face at his feet. "And ever since that day you stole my property from me I have been waiting for you... You took my slaves and destroyed my home, and now you will pay the price for your misdeeds. You owe me your life... and now it's mine."

What was that noise... where was it coming from..? In the pressing darkness there was a sound... but no... no, it was gone again.

What the hell happened...? Where the hell am I?

Moments before there had been a deep rumble as the walls caved in, a loud crashing as the ceiling fell, an ominous rushing as the passageway had filled with debris. For the briefest of seconds there had been a crushing numbness as the tunnels collapsed inwards, and then, suddenly, it had disappeared.

Am I dead...? Am I dead and buried or am I alive... and trapped?

She couldn't cry out. Something was in her mouth, but she couldn't discern the texture of what was stopping her for shouting for help.

Oh... heck... Guys... where are you? I need you!

She wondered for a moment if that other sound was them, but then if it was why had it stopped? They would never leave her... He would never leave me... not now, surely?

She couldn't think any more... her head was fuzzy, confused... she felt so tired. Nothing made any sense... she didn't know what was happening. She felt herself slipping away again, her mind numbed as was her body, drifting back down away from consciousness... and away from life.

The voice that spoke to them sliced through like a carving knife to their hearts. A voice that two of them had hoped to never have to hear again. A voice that sent dread through their bodies, fear coursing through their veins, and terror burning through their very fibres. The voice of the one who had once taken their freedom and their dignity. The one who now stood before them, declaring once more his authority over their lives. Their lives... those would never been the same again.

They had been led down the rough-walled tunnel, unable to bring themselves to fight against their captors, listening helplessly as the one who had tried in vain to defend them was being subdued. They knew they should have done the same for him, for themselves... but the paralysing panic that had prevented that had now also doomed their only hope of escape. Vinnie had been taken.

The smaller mouse was still struggling though. The entire way down the clear passageway he kicked out at those trying to hold him, gnashing at their hands with his teeth, swiping at their legs and faces with his tail.

They knew it would only be a matter of time before they put a stop to that as well.

We're so sorry bro... we're so sorry... Don't fight them, please don't give them an excuse to hurt you too...

If Vinnie had recognised the danger he might have been more co-operative, but he was still determined to get free and save his defenceless friends, and he didn't care what it cost him.

Lucky for him the Pit Boss was enjoying the spirit his new prisoner was showing. If he has this much energy now, just think of what I can make him do with it later...

"Boss, this rat's going to take someone's fingers off here..." One of the cronies trying to drag the white-furred mouse had just received a deep bite on one of his knuckles, and was swearing loudly as his face was then also whacked by the long, flexible tail.

"Well why don't you stop him then...?"

Their leader was giving the go-ahead for them to apply a little more force to their charge, and they were eager to oblige. Vinnie was back on the floor, a knee shoved between his shoulder blades, pressing him down so hard with the man's weight he could hardly breathe. And this became even more difficult when had they swiftly tied his snapping muzzle shut. They had used a thin cord, an old shoelace, and it cut into the bridge of his snout as they tightened it. He moaned when they finished the gag by tying it off around behind his ears, preventing any chance that he might dislodge it from his around his mouth.

"What about his tail fellas... sick of the thing getting in the way?" This particular thug seemed to be in charge of the rest, and they grinned at him as he indicated that they also do something with the thrashing, prehensile appendage. It might come in handy later... better just tie it down for now.

Soon another set of shoelaces had been produced, and the long, muscled 'limb' was strapped tightly to the mouse's leg.

"Good job boys... Pit Boss is gunna be wanting this one back in one piece... for now." The head goon guffawed at the now-defenceless mouse. He knew his employer had plans for this one, but he felt sure it wouldn't be too long before they got to have some fun with him. Let's see how long that rat keeps his tail... at this rate it won't be for much longer.

The tunnel system was more extensive than any of the three mice had realised. They stumbled onwards for well over an hour before they reached any further signs of life, but when they did what greeted them made their hearts sink in dismay. This wasn't the pits, but it may as well have been. The subterranean civilisation (if you could call it that) that had been all but destroyed by themselves and their other human ally, a man by the name of Four-by, appeared to have been recreated in this new, bigger underground base. A fresh empire for the Pit Boss to lord over, filled as before with all the low-lives, thieves and felons the city had ever produced... those, that is, that did not already work for the foul-smelling fish that was Limburger.

This place even had a brand new castle (still not quite complete), a veritable fortress looming over the smaller dwellings scattered around it in the dark depths. The three mice noted these also, alarmingly, included a substantial-looking prison... which was already well occupied by a large population of slaves. Even though the mice and their human comrade had effectively freed all the people interred within the original cratered trench, it seemed that the pit crew had since been busy recruiting the latest bunch of unpaid workers.

Holy crap... this place is huge...

They took it all in; the chiselled stone wall of the vast cavern, the radiating tunnels from its centre, and the giant slave-built castle. And the huge, oppressive mining pit, filled with those poor people who had shed blood and tears and sweat, working for the merciless monster who had claimed them for his own, stealing their lives, taking their freedom and replacing it with misery and dejection.

This is what was awaiting them now. This would be the rest of their lives, and they would know nothing else until the day they died. It was a desolate forecast... a terrible, terrible fate.

Oh bros why didn't you run... why didn't you fight back? It's too late now... it's too late, and I can't help you this time... no one can. No one.

The helpless heroes were led past the mine and the prison, past the people they would no doubt soon be joining, onwards towards the gloomy-looking abode where their captor now resided. They ascended the rough-cut steps and in through the heavy wooden doors, down the cool, dull corridor and into the belly of the beastly building. They were taken into the core of where the Pit Boss lived, right towards the pedestal on which he placed himself as ruler.

He lowered himself into the throne he had had installed for him, his sizeable gut protruding over his massive, well-muscled legs, and reclined himself comfortably onto the granite-block chair as if it were padded with thick, soft cushions.

His prisoners had been deposited at his feet, and after a moment's rest he leant forwards to examine them.

"Ah yes... just where I want you... and how very nice of you to remember me, rat boys..." His voice crooned, delicately savouring the moment. He had waited a long time for this, and he was going to make sure he made the most of every single second he had those wretched vermin back at his behest.

Two of the kneeling figures kept their eyes low. They knew better than to dare look the man above them in the face. Inside their minds was a shared knowledge, a memory... a warning. Don't look up, don't show him you're afraid... definitely, definitely do not disobey him.

However, the third figure had no such internal message, but he was nonetheless locked in a furious mental debate. He had seen what the foul fiend had done to his friends the last time they met. He knew the end result, no matter how well-behaved they had tried to be. Interred in a prison for the body and soul, stripped of all semblance of respect; branded with humiliation...desperation...separation. But the chance to save his bros from repeating their tortured history had passed, and now he was facing the same awful dilemma they had once had. Do I continue to fight back, or will my actions doom those closest to me? A terrible choice, yet he looked up at the grotesque gargoyle with his face full of defiance.

"And you... you may not know how things work around here, but you will learn soon enough i'm sure." The Pit Boss stroked his stubbled chin, as if trying to decide the best way to teach the bold young mouse his position in their brutal hierarchy.

"I heard somewhere the best way is to learn by example... and lucky for you we have two experts right here to show you what you have to do... and more importantly, what happens when you don't."

Vinnie gulped, and glanced at the silent figures of his two, trembling companions. He knew in that moment that his choice had been made for him. He couldn't bear the thought of being responsible for anything bad happening to his two bros. He would keep quiet, for now, and do as he was told. But when the time came, he thought, he wouldn't hesitate to rip the repellent creature limb from limb, and make him pay for everything he had ever done to harm his closest friends.