The scoreboard. The girls have just arrived and have just been briefed on the CB message the mice received from Mars. "WHAT?" "Charlie-girl, it's our home, if theirs a war going on between us and the sandraiders, it's our duty to go." Charlie turns her back on the guys and starts to sob. Tiko hugs her and stares hard at the mice. "Can't your army sacrifice the three of you?" Throttle sighs, "even if they could, we never back down from a fight. You should know what were feeling." Tiko glares at Throttle, "just because I kill those who threaten my life, doesn't mean I abandon those I love to do it." Vinnie looks at Charlie and finds he wants to run to her. "Why don't you take Charlie with you?" "WHAT?" The mice looked shocked at Tiko, and Charlie lifts her tear-streaked head to look into her eyes. "No way, this isn't her battle, and I refuse to put her in danger." Tiko sits Charlie on the couch and faces the mice, "we're making it our battle, because I am going too." Throttle steps forward, "No way." Tiko glares at him, "I didn't just come from Japan to see Charlie. I came to investigate the Plutarkian here and his connection to the one I killed in Japan. This proves that they are all over the world. Plus, do you think Charlie will be safe here, she was just kidnapped a couple of hours ago." The mice grimace as they realize the danger Charlie will be in without them here to protect her. "Let's make a deal. Charlie and I go to Mars and help you fight your war. When we succeed, you come back to earth with some of your army and help us fight the Plutarkians on our planet. Deal?" Vinnie laughs, "Tiko, it doesn't seem like a fair deal. Only two humans help us, while we bring over a whole army. No way." Tiko chuckles at Vinnie, "with my technology on your side, you guys will be able to defeat any army within a couple of days." Modo looks at Tiko in curiosity, "what kind of technology?" Tiko goes to her bike and throws a little device at Modo. "Put this on your forehead." Modo does as she asks, but nothing happens. "Nice trick Tiko." Tiko smirks at Vinnie, "push the round button in the center." Modo pushes it and disappears. "Whoa, where did he go?" They all jump but Tiko when they hear Modo's voice, "I'm right here." They all look to Tiko, "it's a device that makes the wearer invisible. The enemy won't even see you coming." "But how do we see him?" Tiko pulls out a needle, "come here Throttle." Throttle goes to her and she pokes him with the needle, it takes a few seconds but suddenly he can see Modo. "Hey, I can see him." Tiko laughs, "the serum puts little devices in your blood stream that travel to your eyes. They manipulate your iris and they co-work with the device on the invisible target. It makes whatever is invisible, visible to your eyes only." Modo takes off the device and reappears. "Man, that was weird." Throttle turns to Tiko, "how do you get rid of it?" Tiko pulls out another needle and pokes Throttle with it, "this disables the little devices and flushes them out of your system whenever you go to the bathroom next." Vinnie steps forward, "I hid from no one. I don't care how strong they are." Tiko gives Vinnie a dirty look, "it's not just to make people invisible, you can make camps, supplies, bombs, pretty much anything you want. Plus, if these guys are attacking people's homes, you can evacuate them and make them invisible, so that the enemy cannot find them. If you can not see something, you can not attack it." Throttle turns to Vinnie and Modo, "she has a point." Vinnie grumbles under his breath, "if Charlie so much as gets a scratch, I'll blame you." Tiko takes the invisible device from Modo and puts it back into her bike. "Vinnie, Charlie isn't going to get hurt, I won't let that happen." Vinnie shrinks a little under Tiko's glare. "Well, I'll radio Stoker and tell him that we have two more passenger and more cargo. Are you bringing anything else besides those disappearing devices?" Tiko smiles, "I was thinking of bringing some guns that my company has just produced for the military. You program them to work for certain DNA sequences." The guys and Charlie look confused. "If I put mouse DNA into the guns memory, only Martian mice will be able to use them, if anything that isn't a mouse or human tries to use them, it shocks them, stopping their heart within minutes. That way the enemy cannot use your own weapons against you." The mice stare in amazement. "I also have these devices that when you trigger them, they release a blinding light that renders any life form that looks at it blind for about 5 minutes." The mice nod their approval and agree that bringing her might just be a good idea. *Charlie, I think you should talk to Vinnie about your feelings for him. We are going into battle, and if, and I only mean if something happens to him, you are going to want him to know that he was loved.* Charlie looks to Vinnie, come on girl, you can do it. "Uh, Vinnie, can I talk to you outside please." Vinnie looks to Charlie in surprise, "uh... sure sweetheart." Vinnie follows Charlie outside. Throttle goes to the CB, but Tiko stops him by putting her hand on his shoulder. "Uh, Throttle, can I talk to you alone, please?" Throttle nods at Tiko, and turns to Modo, "hey big fella, can you tell Stoker that were bringing the girls, and more cargo?" Modo gets up from his bunk and walks to the CB. "When are we leaving exactly?" Throttle turns to Tiko, "tomorrow night. We have to smash Limburger tower at least one more time." Tiko sighs in relief, "good, then that gives me plenty of time to ship the cargo in from Japan." Throttle starts to head outside but Tiko interrupts, "Charlie and Vinnie are out there, let's go somewhere else." Throttle looks around, "but where?" Tiko walks to the bathroom door, "in here." Throttle just shrugs and follows Tiko in.

Outside the scoreboard. "So Charlie, what did you want to talk about?" Charlie hugs herself and shivers despite the warm weather. "Vinnie, I... I've never been in battle before. I mean, I've been in fights, but never war." Vinnie turns Charlie to face him and cups her face. "Don't worry sweetheart, I'll be there to protect you." Tears start to fall from Charlie's eyes, they trickle onto Vinnie's fingers. "Vinnie, it's not that, I, I'm just worried that something might happen. All my friends are going to be fighting a strong enemy, I don't know what I would do if any of you were hurt, or even killed." Vinnie hugs Charlie close to him as she sobs into his fur. "Shhhhh, it's going to be O.K., we mice are tough, and so is your friend." Charlie pushes off of Vinnie's chest and looks into his eyes. "Vinnie, I need to tell you something before we leave for Mars, something I should of told you a long time ago." Vinnie looks into Charlie's eyes and can tell that she wants to say the same words he wishes to say to her. "Vinnie, since I can remember, I've... I...Why can't I say it? Oh screw this, just spit it out. Vinnie I love you." Vinnie's face is blank, and for a moment Charlie thought he was going to reject her, but he slowly smiles and leans down to whisper into her ear, "I love you too sweetheart, I always have, and I always will." Charlie laughs into Vinnie's chest as she starts to cry again. Vinnie lifts her chin and looks into her eyes. "Now we can't have you crying." He leans closer and kisses her tears away, he then kisses her lips. Charlie wraps her arms around his neck as he deepens the kiss. Vinnie holds onto her waist and pulls her close to his body, feeling the warmth coming from her body. Just then Vinnie's stomach growls. Charlie breaks the kiss and laughs, while Vinnie looks embarrassed. Charlie takes Vinnie's hand, "we had better feed you. We can't have a hungry mouse go into battle now can we?" The two then head inside, happy now that they have finally confessed their feelings to each other.

In the bathroom. "So babe, what did you want to talk about?" Tiko is sitting in the bathtub while Throttle sits on the toilet. "Throttle, I know that we have not know each other long, but I find myself having strong feelings for you." Throttle looks a little surprised but has a smile on his face, he is feeling the exact same thing. "I have only had one man in my life that I truly loved, but he was taken away from me in battle. I thought I could never want to or even feel love for another man. But when I met you that all changed. I care deeply for you, and I wanted to share those feelings before we go into battle." Tiko slowly looks up into Throttle eyes and smiles when she sees his smile as well. Throttle gets up from the toilet and kneels infront of Tiko, he holds her face and kisses her cheeks and her forehead. Tiko sighs as she feels peace for the first time in years. Throttle nibbles her ear and whispers, "I care for you too." Tiko pulls Throttle into a deep kiss, caressing his hair with her fingers. They are interrupted when Modo knocks on the door. "Throttle, we had better start packing, when we destroy the tower tomorrow, we are going to want to leave right after." Throttle groans and stands up, he then pulls Tiko up and kisses her again. While kissing, Tiko mouths the words, *ashite masu* (I love you in Japanese). They walk out together holding hands. When they go into the living room, they see Charlie sitting on the floor between Vinnie's legs, who is sitting on the couch. Tiko smiles at Charlie, *so you told him, huh?* Charlie giggles a little and nods her head. *Did you tell Throttle?* Tiko just winks and squeezes Throttles hand, who squeezes back in response. Tiko goes to her bike and radios in a message to her employees in Japan. *Shohey, please have one crate of our new guns, a case of our blinding devices and... hold on a minute.* "Throttle, how many mice will need to be given shots?" Throttle counts in his head, about 200." Tiko nods, *please have 300 of our enable and unable cloaking needles ready, oh and a crate of the cloaking devices themselves. Get the shipment ready right away, have my personal jet fly them to Chicago's Airport and hold them under the name of Tammaron Frank. I need them by tomorrow night so hurry. Thank you Shohey, goodnight.* Tiko turns off the radio transmission and kneels infront of Little Butterfly, she starts to rub the front with her fingertips, *Butterfly, tomorrow we go into battle. When I am not riding you or giving you orders, I want you to protect Charlie. O.K.?* The bike protests at first, but eventually complies. *You know that I can take care of myself, and you know how much Charlie means to me. I promise you that after the battle, we will do some riding threw Mars, just like how we used to.* Butterfly beeps enthusiastically in response. "What's it doing?" Tiko smiles at Vinnie, "she's agreeing with my suggestion." Vinnie looks at Tiko funny and then her bike, he just shrugs.

That morning. It's around 6 a.m. and the guys and Charlie are sound asleep, Tiko however, is dressed to kill, literally. She puts on her battle gear and loads up her weapons. Time to pay Limburger a visit. Tiko jumps on Butterfly and rides out of the scoreboard. We can see a note by the CB. It says: Going for a morning ride, see you at 8:00. -T. Tiko turns the corner and can now see Limburger tower, she revs up her engine and heads for the front door, but before she can reach it, General Barracuda's men block the entrance. A huge Plutarkian with a equally huge gun appears from behind the men. Tiko brings Butterfly to a stop, and smiles. "So, I take it you are the doormen who are going to escort me inside." The General laughs, "we are going to escort you inside all right, but you won't be alive when we do it." The General fires his gun, the blast heading for Tiko's chest.