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"Behind you! He's behind you!" Vinnie yelled at the TV, practically bouncing off the couch as he clutched a pillow in a death grip.
Naturally, the character in the movie didn't hear him, despite the rather impressive volume Vinnie managed to produce.
"Come on! It's so obvious he's behind the door! Turn arou—no, wait! Don't check the closet! Look behind you! BEHIND YOU!"
Beside him on the couch, Modo flinched, his ears twitching as he looked up from his James Bomb book with a furrowed brow.
"Could you please keep it down, bro? You're making my ears bleed."
Vinnie either didn't hear or simply chose to ignore his gray-furred bro, his red eyes fixed on the screen, wide open in disbelief at the sheer stupidity of the character on screen.
"Stop asking if anyone's there and just TURN THE FUCK AROUND! Shit, how hard can it be?!"
Modo exchanged a weary look with Throttle, who was lounging in the big, comfy chair in the corner of Charley's small yet cozy living room, flipping through a biker magazine.
The tan-furred mouse just shrugged and tapped his finger against his forehead.
"He's lost it", he mouthed.
"Obviously," Modo mouthed back, glancing over at Vinnie, who looked ready to rip the pillow to shreds in sheer frustration.
The thought briefly crossed the big Martian's mind that letting Vinnie watch a horror movie was the textbook definition of a bad idea, but he quickly shrugged it off.
At least the guy was occupied for a change.
Better this than hearing him whine about being bored or, worse, challenging them to something ridiculous like a burping contest like he did yesterday and the day before that.
Satisfied, Modo turned his focus back to his book.
Meanwhile, Vinnie remained blissfully unaware of their silent exchange as he now leaped off the couch, dropping into a flawless knee-slide across the carpet before grabbing both sides of the TV.
"Your foolishness is going to get you killed! Is that what you want? Huh? Is that what you want?!" he demanded, pressing his nose against the screen.
*DING DONG*
Vinnie, easily distracted as ever, tore his gaze from the TV, his red eyes darting to the wall clock.
Past six.
Which meant that the garage was closed.
Then why was someone ringing the bell?
He squinted, attempting to make sense of this new mystery, but then he got hit by this so-called 'lightbulb moment', telling him he actually didn't care.
With a shrug, he returned to the movie, just in time to see the killer emerge from the shadows.
The doorbell already forgotten, Vinnie squeaked, practically bouncing on his knees as he pointed at the screen.
"Aaarrghh! There he is! Run, bitch, run!"
*DING DONG*
"Ugh, come on… CHARLEY! There's someone at the door!", Vinnie yelled without taking his gaze away from the television, irritated by this constant disturbance and that while the cheesy movie finally reached its summit of suspense.
But instead of Charley's somewhat melodic voice, it was Modo's heavy one that answered.
"She ain't here."
While keeping half an eye on the television, Vinnie partially turned his head in his gray-furred bro's direction.
"Then where is she?"
"Something about buying candy."
That made Vinnie look over, puzzled.
"Candy? But she doesn't even eat—"
*DING DONG*
"OKAY, OKAY! Calm your tits, geez", and Vinnie scrambled to his feet.
"Don't forget your helmet, bro", Throttle pointed out without looking up from his magazine.
Still softly cursing under his breath, Vinnie snatched his helmet off the table and stomped down the stairs to the garage.
After shoving it on, he yanked the door open, fully prepared to give whoever was out there hell for interrupting his first horror movie experience.
"Trick or treat!"
Vinnie's eyes widened, and without a word, he slammed the door shut.
In almost one smooth movement, he turned on his heels and sprinted back up the stairs, nearly tripping over his own feet.
Using his shoulder, he burst into the living room with such force that the doorknob left a dent in the wall.
"Squad, ten-hut!" he shouted, diving behind the couch.
Immediately alarmed by Vinnie's behavior, Throttle just threw his weight forward and after a somewhat clumsy head roll, he landed next to Vinnie behind the couch whilst Modo tossed his book over his shoulder before he practically catapulted himself over the backrest.
"Sitrep, now!", Throttle barked, gun already in hand.
Vinnie took a steadying breath, clutching his gun as well.
"Three unidentified creatures, probably originated from Karbunkle's lab."
"Ordnance?", Throttle asked, eyes narrowed behind his glasses.
"Unknown artillery. Quite frankly, I've never seen weapons like that before…"
Vinnie peeked over the couch, then ducked back down.
"They're small, though. Like half our size."
"Now what's that cheese face up to this time?", Modo grumbled, eye glowing red as he activated the laser weapon in his bionic arm.
Vinnie shrugged while loading his weapon with a loud click.
"No prizes for guessing, man. It's always the same. Eternal destruction of the Biker Mice From Mars."
"Yeah, that sounds like blubberbutt alright. Though one thing's bugging me…", Throttle mused out loud, scratching his chin with the barrel of his gun.
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Why on Mars did they use the doorbell?"
*DING DONG*
Being on edge as they were, all three mice nearly hit the ceiling, but things got even worse when they suddenly heard someone coming in through the backdoor with the worst timing ever.
Someone very dear to them.
"I'll get it!", Charley yelled from the bottom of the stairs, and thanks to their very well-developed hearing, they could hear that she was already making her way over to the front door.
The mice shared a quick yet horrified look before they came into action, Vinnie being the first.
"No, Charley, wait!"
He jumped over the couch, soon followed by Modo and Throttle, but in his hurry to get downstairs, the white-furred mouse tripped over his tail and fell face forward on the floor.
Since his two beloved brothers were only two steps behind him, they, in turn, tripped over Vinnie, causing Modo almost to fly out of the window whilst Throttle did his very best to stop himself from rolling down the stairs.
But Vinnie was already back to his feet again and leaped over Throttle, who laid on his stomach on the first steps of the stairs catching his breath.
Smoothly, the white Martian slid down the banister, tail wrapped around for balance.
As Charley reached for the door handle, Vinnie launched himself into a full dive.
"Charley, no!"
He collided with her, sending them both rolling across the garage floor.
Severely startled by being suddenly knocked over by a very heavy though fluffy Martian Mouse, Charley let out a loud shriek, and the bag she was holding flew from her hand, slamming against the wall.
Candy spilled out, clattering across the cement with a sound that, to Martian ears, was as loud as gunfire.
Alarmed once more, Modo and Throttle came rushing down the stairs at the speed of light.
"Incoming! Modo, Take Cover maneuver number eight!", Throttle barked.
"I'm on it!", Modo shouted back.
Just as Charley finally came to a stop, Vinnie sprawled on top of her, Throttle sprang into action, diving onto both of them to shield them from any explosions or enemy fire.
Modo was right behind, determined to do the same—until he stepped on a giant gumball.
His expression changed into surprise, giving him a goofy look, just before he slipped backward.
With a dull thump, he landed squarely on his rear, and the momentum of his run sent him skidding across the floor with a comically loud squeak until he crashed into the tangled pile of one bewildered human and two very tensed Martian Mice.
Modo's weight pushed the whole pile up against the wall, causing it to shudder, which knocked a toolbox off a nearby shelf.
A shower of tools rained down around them with loud, chaotic clattering, prompting Throttle to cover his head with his arms, instinctively shielding Vinnie and Charley as best he could.
Finally, with one last resounding clonk as a wrench landed squarely on Vinnie's helmeted head, a sudden, blissful silence settled over them all.
Throttle, breathing heavily and still tense, lifted his head and scanned the garage, eyes darting to every corner for any sign of danger.
Finding nothing, he exhaled and looked down at Charley.
"You okay?" he asked, concern edging his voice.
Charley blinked, her green eyes still wide, a bit dazed after the unexpected pileup.
"Define okay... What the hell just happened?"
"SSSH! We're under attack!" Vinnie whispered urgently, his voice an overdone hush as he remained sprawled across her.
Charley nodded slowly, her expression flat.
"I see."
Her gaze drifted around the room, finally landing on the candy scattered across the floor.
It was then that the figurative light bulb went on, and she cleared her throat.
"So, uh… these attackers. What exactly did they look like?" she asked, choosing her words carefully as her brain pieced the scene together.
Vinnie shifted a bit uncomfortably, his mind flashing back to the moment he had opened the door.
He adjusted his weight slightly, making sure not to crush Charley beneath him.
"Well, for starters, they were small—like half our size. One had fangs and this long, black cape, another one was completely wrapped up in old rags. And the third had a green face, with screws sticking out of his head, I'm not even kidding. Seriously Charley, I've seen some weird stuff in my time, but this… this takes the cake."
"Karbunkle's creations, for sure," Throttle nodded, his voice completely serious.
"And they were each holding these orange, evil-looking buckets with faces on them," Vinnie added thoughtfully, his brow furrowing as he gazed up at the ceiling.
"It's gotta be some kind of new weapon… I just haven't figured out how it works yet."
"Maybe it's a portable transporter," Modo suggested, still leaning awkwardly against his bros and Charley, keeping one eye on the door.
"You know, to ship us to Plutark for a trial or something?"
Vinnie nodded, his normally carefree expression replaced with one of rare seriousness.
"Could be, ya know, could be… I mean, they did try to shove it in my face the second I opened the door…"
"Or it could be a bomb," Throttle chimed in.
"If that's the case, we need to lure them away from the garage first. We can't risk blowing up the whole place."
He fell silent, frowning at his own words before shaking his head, frustrated.
"But here's what I don't get: why the doorbell? I mean, if they're trying to attack, why announce themselves? The element of surprise was right there, and they just… rang the doorbell. It makes zero sense…"
Charley, finally piecing together the whole ridiculous situation, let her head rest on the cold garage floor, closing her eyes in sudden exhaustion.
"Before you guys roll out and blow up half the city, you might wanna hear me out."
Vinnie's gaze flicked over to the candy scattered across the floor, then back to Charley, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
"Do tell. I'm on the edge of my sweet over here."
Charley cracked one eye open and shot him a look from under her lashes.
"Did you just make a candy pun?"
Vinnie shrugged casually, though his smile only grew more playful.
"Nah. Candy puns are so M&Mbarrassing."
Charley's lips curled into a smirk as she returned his gaze with a glitter in her eye.
"Don't give me that. You just couldn't Reese-ist!"
Vinnie rolled his eyes, pretending to sigh in defeat.
"Alright, alright. I'll admit, I just wanted to see you Snicker… sweetTart."
Charley wiggled her eyebrows.
"Well, I like the way you Rolo."
Modo and Throttle shared a thoroughly bewildered look.
"Okay, what is happening here?" Modo muttered, looking like he'd missed an entire conversation.
"More to the point, what did you wanna tell us, Charley?" Throttle asked, his tone edging toward tired.
Charley smirked, clearly enjoying herself as she looked at them all.
"I was just trying to tell you that you all kind of jumped the gum…"
She trailed off as Throttle gave her a hard, unamused glare, and with a sigh, she let the pun go.
"You guys are no fun," she mumbled under her breath before pushing Vinnie off and sitting up against the wall of her beloved garage.
"Alright, so here it is. These so-called attackers of yours aren't a result of one of Karbunkle's mad scientists projects. They're just kids. Dressed up. You see, we have this tradition here on Earth. It's called Halloween…"
After that night, it was officially decided: Vinnie was never allowed to open the door again.