The Portal, Part 5

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Disclaimer: I don't own the BMFM or anyone from that show. I do, however own, Mari, Mandy, Ice, Snowfall, Rock, The Rockers, Phoenix, Blaze, Turbo and Fire. I make no money from this and do so only for my and others enjoyment.

There is, of course, the danger of violence and foul language so please, read at your own risk.

Read and enjoy.

The Portal, Part 5 - Death of a Mechanic

By Goldenmane

****************

Mari sighed. Night had fallen with no further appearance of Junior nor the Keepers. Ice had returned to full service with the combined efforts of all, and there was little to do now but wait until Junior made his next move. Even the bug Mari had planted long ago in Brie's Palace yielded little results. It seemed as if Brie too waited, though for what, Mari did not want to know.

When they tried to rest, it came in small spurts and restless dreams. When first light broke, the weary group felt little rested. Though when they heard rescue calls over the CB, they went on alert once more.

Mari stretched, bending her spine backwards with several audible cracks. She grimaced as she listened to the reports.

"That's why Junior went all quiet like on us," Stoker said, tying his hair back into a ponytail. "He went to Chicago."

"Mandy, Charlie, stay here and hold the fort, we'll transport to Chicago," Mari said, heading for Ice.

Charlie defiantly walked to Vinnie's bike. "Ain't no way I'm going to let Junior trash Chi-town or my garage. Besides, who's gonna patch your bikes up?"

Mari relented and waited for the mice and Charlie to ready themselves. "I'll transport us using Ice's shields. That I know will work, I can't link still."

They nodded and waited for her signal. She nodded to each of them before punching several buttons on Ice. She watched as the shield sprang to life and engulfed the bikes and their riders.

"Let's rock 'em," Mari cried, activating Ice's transporters.

Once they emerged from the transport, Mari lowered the shields and they broke. Vinnie headed directly to the Last Chance and dropped Charlie off before returning to the battle.

"Junior has too many warriors," Stoker said, cursing as his shot missed the warrior's vehicle.

"We can't hold out much longer," Rimfire called.

"I don't think the Keeper's'll be helping any time too soon," Throttle said, blasting one of Junior's warriors, watching as three more took its place.

Grimly they fought on, though a loud rumble drew their full attention away from the battle and onto the heavy cruiser overhead.

"Ummm," Vinnie began. "I think they just brought in the reinforcements."

"We can't fight someone who can transport in troops and equipment from the future," Mari said, sliding Ice to a halt.

Before anyone could move the cruiser opened fire, not on the mice, but on the Last Chance Garage. To their horror, the Last Chance exploded with a great force, shattering the windows of the nearby buildings.

"Charlie!" Vinnie yelled, screeching his bike around.

Mari grabbed for the end of his tail and cursed when she missed. Only the blocking bikes of Carbine and Modo prevented him from entering the blazing inferno once called the Last Chance.

Then, just as soon as it arrived, the cruiser transported out.

When they looked around, Junior and his warriors had transported out as well, leaving them weary, confused and concerned.

"Douse that fire," Stoker shouted as they could faintly hear sirens pulling nearer.

"Junior destroys the city, but the fire and rescue are still out and about," Rimfire said.

"Bail time," Throttle called.

"But . . ." Vinnie stammered.

Carbine shook her head. "I don't want to worry you, but . . . "

"Ain't no way Charlie-mam could have survived that," Modo said, head lowered.

"And the cop's'll think we did it," Carbine finished.

Vinnie held back his tears, turning his sorrow into anger. "No. You may run, but I'm gonna teach Junior a lesson."

"I know you're hurtin'," Modo began then stopped as Vinnie reared his bike, turning.

"Don't try and stop me," Vinnie growled.

"Wouldn't think of it," Mari said solemnly, arms crossed. She unfolded them and kicked Ice into gear, sliding in beside Throttle. "Where can we go now?"

"The scoreboard," Throttle said.

"Junior knows about it," Mari said.

Stoker shook his head as he watched Vinnie ride away at top speed, the wail of sirens louder now. "Anywhere'd be better than here."

They rode off to the scoreboard hideout, hoping Junior had not made that his first target.

They pulled into the parking lot of Quigley field and stopped. Junior had indeed destroyed the hideout of the Biker Mice. Mari sighed deep, groaning when several of Junior's warriors emerged from the ball park.

"Here we go again," Rimfire said.

They broke, taking on Junior's warriors as best they could.

Mari could not help but worry for Vinnie. She knew he had a hot streak in him, but didn't realize he would storm off or do something rash when Charlie died. She chastised herself as she narrowly avoided a laser blast from Junior's warriors. She should have realized he would have pulled a stunt like he did. When Monument fell, Turbo had wanted to go back, despite Stoker's orders, despite the ban Army placed on the ruins. She herself had wanted to return, to comb every inch of the city.

His heart cried out for his loss, much as hers had when she had first crashed on Earth. When she found she could not get back to Mars. When she learned of the cruel fate of the rest of the Rockers, her heart too, had broken.

"Retreat," she heard Throttle yell over her musings.

She sped after them, taking note as she covered their departure, the mice were all accounted for and none the worse for wear. They had survived that battle, now to win the war.

After what seemed an eternity of riding, they pulled into an abandoned building and dismounted to wearily sink to the ground or stand in shock and confusion. Someone had finally dealt the guys . . . all of them for that matter . . . a severe blow, one the likes they hadn't seen since the war.

"Junior finally found a way to break us," Modo said softly.

Mari shook her head. "Only if we let him. What we need to do now is focus on the present. We need to get rid of Junior before he destroys the whole of Chicago. Only then can we worry."

She turned as a green glow formed to their right, a hooded figure emerged and stopped near them.

"Nice time for you to show up," Carbine said forcefully.

The Keeper held her hands before her, amulet swinging from one hand. "We had our own matters to attend to. Junior has decided to divide his time between destroying your time and ours. Most of his heavy artillery is still in our time, and we are not faring for the best."

"So basically it's up to us to fight this one out," Mari said. "Would it hurt your time to upgrade our bikes? At least that way we'd have a fighting chance against Junior."

The Keeper shook her head. "I would, except the Elders have forbid it. And no one would even think of going against the Elders."

Mari sighed. "So I see."

"I can give advice only, I can not alter history," the Keeper said at last.

"Then tell us where Junior and Vinnie are," Throttle said, an edge to his voice.

The Keeper lowered her head. "Junior, when he is not in your time, is in ours. He has no base here. He transports in what he needs when he needs it," she paused. "As for Vinnie . . . I can not say. The Elders forbid me to say."

"Even if it means life or death?" Stoker asked.

"I understand," Mari said to everyone, even the Keeper's amazement. "In order to preserve your history, we have to go through Hell. So I suggest that the astral-travelling mouse remain in her time and you in yours, and not interfere with ours. That is, unless you can tell us what we need to know."

The Keeper raised her head and looked to each of them. "I swore an oath, one I would never break. What you want me to do now is break that oath."

"Why a mouse?" Throttle asked suddenly. "Why a Martian?"

The Keeper turned toward Throttle.

"I saw the male get hit. He sure didn't bleed red. He bled like a mouse," Throttle continued.

The Keeper sighed visibly and grasped the amulet tighter. Her body shook, though in rage or sadness, they could not tell. At long last the shaking subsided and she slowly removed her hood. She looked to each of them as they saw her true appearance.

"Yep, definitely a mouse," Stoker said dryly.

She had the palest of white fur, though her long, side-braided hair was of platinum blonde. Her almond-shaped eyes were the deepest of green and she bore a single, stud in her right ear, a symbol the entire group recognized. That of the Biker Mice.

"My name is Suzuki. My father is Arisaka and my mother is . . . was Muridae," she said. "I inherited the roll of Keeper from my father and him from his father," she looked toward Throttle. "Who you saw get shot."

"Who is the other Keeper that was with you and the mouse in the astral?" Mari pressed.

"Her name is Felicity, my father's sister. And as for the other, you already know the answer," Suzuki said.

Mari nodded. "And why did she seem so sad?"

Suzuki sighed. "I can't say any more or the Elders will really have my tail in a sling. And no, if I have someone come in and upgrade your bikes now, it will change history. What effects, the Elders don't really know and they don't want to take chances."

"Could you at least tell us who the Elders are?" Stoker asked.

"The Elders, and only this I can tell you, are the leaders of the Clans," Suzuki said. "The units are no more, only Clans remain, though the Elders dream of reuniting the lost units."

Mari nodded. "Ok, we'll stop the 'interrogation'. But you do have to admit one thing, from our vantage point, you have all the answers to our problems and are giving us nothing in return. That amulet of yours weakened Junior. Maybe we can use more like them to defeat him once and for all."

Suzuki shook her head. "Been there, tried that. It only works in the past, to transport him back to his own time. It causes some discomfort to him, but little else. Then he attacks us even harder."

"So what yer sayin' is that we can't defeat Junior," Stoker said.

"We've used brute force, stealth, everything and we still can't beat him. Not to mention everything else that's been going on . . . " Suzuki let her voice trail.

"Well," Mari said. "Dunno about the rest of you, but we gotta stop Junior somehow. He's mucking about in our time as well as his. If we can spread him thin enough, we may be able to get an edge. He can't easily protect both times. Can he?"

Suzuki shrugged. "If I get your point, no. Not if we all mass ourselves on his fortress when he's back here. But there's no telling where or when he is? If he has records on this time, he'll know what we tried and can counteract us."

"Right back where we started," Throttle sighed.

Suzuki reached into her robe and removed a piece of parchment. "Well, we can try this. Dad gave it to me some time ago. It's a human spell that's supposed to attack a person's malice. I have no idea if it works or not, but all I have to do is say the words then how much hate and darkness you have in you will deal you that much damage. Or so dad said."

"Worth a try," Mari said. "Let's split and try to find Junior. . . and Vinnie."

They went for their bikes, Suzuki riding with Mari. They sped off, hoping they could find Junior before Vinnie did.

Vinnie sped down the streets of Chicago, his eyes scanned his surroundings. He vowed to find Junior and make him pay. Pay for what he had done to them. Pay for Charlie's death.

At faint blips, Vinnie screeched his bike to a halt and checked the radar. Activity seemed to be starting some distance north of his present location. He flipped a switch on his bike. He watched as the blips disappeared then reappeared, though fewer in number.

"I've got you now," Vinnie growled and kicked his bike into gear.

He sped down the street then up the side of a building. He continued along, jumping roof to roof until the blips were nearly on top of him.

He screeched to a halt and dismounted. He knelt on the edge of the roof and looked down. He drew his laser and aimed it at a small control panel. He watched as a Plutarkian went to the control panel and did something he couldn't quite see. A Stingray winked out of view then returned, then winked back out again.

Vinnie smiled cruelly as Junior walked over to the control panel. He aimed and fired, striking the panel.

Junior and the warrior leapt back with startled cries, searching for the intruder.

Vinnie stood, laser trained on Junior.

"So," Junior half crowed. "The mouse comes to me."

"I want you to see the face of the mouse that kills you," Vinnie said, a definite edge to his voice.

"Really?" Junior said, an air of mockery about him. "I don't think so. Warriors. Kill the rodent."

Vinnie leapt to his bike as a hail of laser fire emanated from down below. He blasted off the roof, firing at the Plutarkians below. He let out a wild cry as he landed on the opposite roof and swerved around, jetting once more off the roof and down to the street below. He did not care what happened, only that Junior would die.

He felt a white-hot heat at his back, momentarily clearing his mind of his hate for Junior. He tried to counteract the force of the explosion that threw him off his bike, landing with a painful thud.

Vinnie rolled to his feet, pushing the ache in his arm and side out of his arm, though when he lost grip on his laser he cursed the pain.

"Now, you die. Better now than later," Junior said.

"Not if we can help it," a voice shouted from above.

Vinnie looked around, grateful the others had come to his rescue, though angry victory would not be his.

Junior did not move as several bikes descended the buildings around him, encircling Vinnie and him. Any Plutarkians who got in their way were easily dealt with.

Mari dismounted after Suzuki had, laser trained on Junior.

Junior hesitated a moment before tossing his laser away. "Now what do you think you'll do, now that you have me. You can not kill me, you of all mice should know, Keeper."

Suzuki said nothing as she unfolded the paper with the spell on it. "The only drawback to this is, I have to tell all of you how to counteract it, or so the humans who wrote this said. Though it is said only the true of heart will beat it. If you keep your mind and heart free of negativity - hate, cruelty - black emotions, then you will be fine. Anything else will kill you. Slowly."

"And you think that will work?" Junior said arrogantly. "That a few human words will kill a mighty Plutarkian Dictator?"

"Look deep within your soul and you shall find, a place so dark, unforgiven, unkind; the hate you hold shall be given back to thee, with these words spoken, one, two, three," Suzuki softly said. She folded the paper and waited.

Suzuki glanced to each around. She knew the power of the old human spell. She knew the powers she had just unleashed would touch them all.

She sought to keep her mind off of any ill thoughts. Junior had destroyed much in her time. Caused much sorrow. Yet she could not let those feelings encroach upon her.

A faint wave of nausea passed over her. She smiled to herself as she felt the energy of the spell end. Though from the looks of the others, they held much hate in their hearts.

Mari grimaced. Though Suzuki had told them the possible consequences of the spell and what they could do to protect themselves, she tried to implant an image in her mind, a good one. She thought of what life had been like before the war, before the Battle of Monument.

When she felt a tingling begin in her body she quickly thought of the near past and the joy she had with Snowfall. The tingling soon ended and she smiled back at Suzuki.

Now for the others.

Stoker sighed. He had seen a lot of good mice die during the war. He knew himself what it had been like to lose someone personally. He may have lost friends and relatives, but he had considered each and every one of the mice under his command as a sort of family. To lose them to the Plutarkians had been hard on him. To see his world die before him made him sad. Angry yes, but more so sad.

He felt a slight tingling in his tail and a light head, though little else. He looked to Mari who smiled at him. He then looked to the others and knew he would have to wait.

Carbine copied Stoker's sigh. So much had happened to her. The war, her relationship with Throttle no matter how rocky it may get, yet though Mars had lost, in her opinion, the mice still lived on and she did have Throttle.

She could feel the energy of the spell dissipated around her and looked to Suzuki. When the white mouse smiled at her, Carbine relaxed some, though she looked to each of them, lastly setting her gaze on Throttle.

Rimfire waited, arms crossed. He kept his mind focussed, not on the fact his childhood had been destroyed by the Plutarkian invaders and his Uncle had been hurt during the war, but on what they had now. A world they could rebuild and the fact they had survived all the madness was comfort enough.

When he felt a slight tingling pass he looked at each of them.

"I guess some things are harder than others," he mumbled to himself.

Throttle noted Carbine smile at him and smiled back. His heard did ache for problems the war has caused in their relationship and what it had done to him personally, yet he would not let that get in the way for his love of Carbine.

When nothing happened, he quirked a brow and glanced over his shades at Carbine, a genuine tender smile on his face. He grinned wider as she walked to his side.

Modo looked anxiously at everyone. He knew what Suzuki had said about the spell and that worried him. He had no regrets about the war. Once, he had been bitter about the loss of his arm and eye, but not now. He worried more about Rimfire fighting on Mars and their constant struggle against the Plutarkians on Earth.

His body began to tingle when he looked at Vinnie and thought about Charlie's death. Yes, he was mad, but more so saddened at the loss they had finally been dealt.

Once the tingling abated, he stood there and waited.

Vinnie could have cared less for what Suzuki had said. He didn't believe the old spell would work. Humans had written it for humans, no doubt, not mice. Humans . . . like Charlie.

At the thought of her name a dark, cold hatred began to spread from the deepest, darkest recesses of his soul. He felt a tingling in his body and pushed it aside. All he wanted to do was concentrate on the death of Junior to repay his loss. Charlie had meant more to him that he would have admitted, though he had told her once . . . Though now she was gone.

The tingly increased until he noticed a distinct pain. The pain increased until he was forced to his knees.

'NO!' his mind shouted. 'I won't let you win.'

'Vinnie?' a female voice broke through the haze of pain.

'Charlie?' he asked, his voice strained.

He did not move from the ball he had made of his body to shut out the pain. Not even when a hand rested on his shoulder.

'What's wrong?' the voice most definitely belonged to Charlie.

Through the tears he looked up, brow furrowed in pain.

'Let it go,' Charlie said. 'Let the pain go.'

'But . . . '

'If you don't, it'll kill you,' a second female voice said.

Vinnie shook his head. 'Junior has to pay.'

'This spell will do it,' the second female said. When Vinnie looked up, he noticed Mari standing there.

'But now it's killing you,' Charlie said.

Vinnie shook his head. Tears began to flow unchecked. Charlie knealt by his side as Mari's form faded from view.

'I'll always be with you. Here,' Charlie said, touching his chest.

With a blinding flash he found himself on a cold stone ground with several worried voices and hands around him, though not Mari or Charlie. He did not move or speak, only cry.

The sadness he had held close to his heart finally found its freedom.

Junior spat. No pantry spell could defeat him. He had indeed seen this patch of time, as he had the others, and he knew her spell would fail on him. Though when a sharp pain lanced his gut, he doubled over.

Maybe he was wrong.

As the pain increased, he dropped to the ground and fumbled for his personal transporter. He activated it and breathed a sigh of relief when the pain began to subside. Now, in his rightful time, the human spell couldn't touch him.

He rose, brushed himself off and glared at the captive he held in his cage.

"Finally got you, didn't they?" she said with a slight gleeful chuckle.

"Nevertheless, Miss Davidson, I have you here. You are in no position to bargain," Junior said coldly. "And from what I saw of that white mouse of your's, he shouldn't be in the world much longer."

Charlie's brown eyes went wide with fear, then narrowed as Junior left, though undeniably a single tear fell from the corner of her eye as she leaned her head against the bars.

"You'll always have me in your heart," she whispered before breaking down into soft sobs.

Mari sighed as she propped herself on her elbows. She looked around and smiled to herself, though that smile turned bittersweet when she saw Vinnie. "Sometimes victories come at a high cost,"

Rimfire nodded from his vigil over her. "What now?"

"I have to get back," Suzuki said. "Now that Junior's back in our time, he'll attack us for retrebution of what I did to him."

"You're not going alone," Mari said, rising with Rimfire's help.

Suzuki shook her head. "That would be a serious breach of ethics," she said.

"We need to stop Junior," Stoker said.

Suzuki lowered her head. "No. I'm sorry."

Mari sighed again, her head lowered. "I understand. Just at least transport us to Detroit so we can patch ourselves up."

Suzuki nodded and withdrew her amulet. "Hold on," she said.

The world seemed to be bathed in a golden glow, themselves included then turned black before going back to gold and finally to Detroit. Though, as Mari noted to herself. Not her Detroit.

"Something's wrong," Suzuki said. "We're still in Chicago!"

"This ain't our Chi-town," Throttle said.

Suzuki shook her head with an exasperated sigh. "No, it's mine." She pointed to a landmark in the distance, one oddly familar to them all. "Junior's Tower."

"Then let's go. Suzuki, watch over the others," Mari said as she righted Ice. "Anyone willing for a last fling tonight, follow me." She turned Ice and fired her bike's engines. She smiled when everyone mounted their bikes. Everyone including Vinnie though he continued to sob softly.

Mari nodded as Suzuki slid in behind her. "No matter what time we're in, let's rock 'em."

"Let's rock," Throttle began.

"And ride," the others chorused, including Mari and Suzuki.

They sped off towards Junior's Tower, finding no resistance much to their and Suzuki's suprise.

"Junior must have attacked Home Base," Suzuki said softly. "He might not be in his tower."

"Only one way to find out, and if not, we can at least trash the joint," Mari said with a grin.

They collectively blasted their way into Junior's Tower and through several walls until Mari signalled for a stop. "Life signs behind that wall. Several of them."

The other's nodded and revved their engines.

"Let's do it," Mari said softly, though with a force that made Suzuki smile.

They blasted through the wall and into a hail of laserfire from Junior's warriors. Behind them sat some form of cage with a sole occupant within.

Mari gasped.

"Good God of Mars," Mari breathed. "Charlie."

"Keep 'em busy," Stoker yelled. "Throttle, Modo, spring Charlie. Vinnie, cover fire."

Mari sighed inwardly as Stoker assumed command, though she was glad he did.

Suzuki aimed her amulet towards the cage and mumbled softly, too softly for Mari to hear. The bars around Charlie shimmered then winked out of existance.

Mari laid a hail of her own coverfire as Throttle raced past a shaken Charlie and grabbed her with his tail. Mari half turned to Suzuki who had slumped agains her. She quickly grabbed the young mouse with her tail and signalled a retreat.

"I'm transporting us back home just as soon as y'all get in range of Ice," Mari yelled as they sped out of Junior's Tower and into the darkness of night outside.

She watched her radar as the blips of the other bikes drew near, she knew the range her shield had and knew they would have to get into some close quarters before she could safely transport them.

Once they had grouped around her, with some jostling of positions to fit the best around her at such a fast rate of speed, she activated the shield then the transporter. She watched as the world winked out of existance then back in. She lowered the shields and they broke formation with little scraping of bikes.

They skidded to a halt, Mari easing Suzuki, who had started to come around, off of Ice and onto the ground. She looked up as Vinnie ran to Charlie who still sat on Throttle's bike, though the leader of the Biker Mice had moved aside to give them some room.

"Well," Mari said. "So much for that."

"Junior has to be stopped," Suzuki said softly as she heaved herself to her feet. "But not by you. You belong in your own time, not in mine. Be glad you have what you have here."

"In other words," another female voice said, though a body to go with the voice could not be found. "Don't go borrowing trouble. Especially from the future."

Mari laid a hand on Suzuki's arm when the young mouse tried to pale. "I don't think thing's'll be as bad as you think."

Suzuki looked to Mari with a weak smile as a white mouse appeared from no where.

"You - " Vinnie began.

"Are the one who visited you," the new mouse finished. "I forgot you hadn't learned of the astral plain. I didn't mean to startle you like that."

Mari smiled warmly at the new mouse. "If you get used to something, you can forget."

The other mouse smiled and nodded, motioning for Suzuki to join her. Suzuki smiled at Mari and the others before joining the other female mouse.

"Take care," the new mouse said. "All of you. And remember, the future's not etched in stone."

With that, she and Suzuki faded from view.

Mari turned to the others with a weak sigh. "Let's get to the Changing Times and regroup. We have alot of things to do."

"Like rest for one," Rimfire said.

"Charlie," Mari said. "It's good to have you back."

Charlie smiled at Mari. "I never doubted you guys would rescue me."

Mari only nodded as they walked back to the Changing Times, just to their left, bikes following.

Mari sincerely hoped next Halloween would go more smoothly than this one. Alot smoother.