1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

biker mice from mars is copyright to new entertainment and marvel industries. believe me, if i did own the biker mice they'd be out on dvd for everyone to buy, and a new reboot would be out for everyone to enjoy.

however, danielle "danny" aguirez, and any other character not recognized from the original series belong to me. no using without my permission.

praise and criticism i will accept in reviews. however, only constructive criticism will be tolerated. and when i mean constructive criticism, i mean "i like where this is going, but i think you can improve the situation by…." and so on. not criticism as in "this story sucks $$ and you can't write to save your life".

and another thing: since there are many references i want to include but they do not coincide with the timeline, this will be a slight au. basically i'll be having this story set around the 2000's. that way i can incorporate modern day technology and television a lot of us are familiar with.

warning: contains foul language and violence. you have been warned.

darkness blanketed the sky over the streets of chicago. with an exception to the occasional streetlight that was still in tact and the few stars that twinkled above, the streets were a pitch black color. only the desperate and foolish would dare to venture out into these streets at night. for night is the time when gangsters emerge and wreak havoc on all that is left of their city.

however to three teenagers, the danger was of no concern to them. in fact, it was as if the dark and pothole laden streets were natural obstacles rather than dangers. a thrill for the most daring of adrenaline addicts. even existing as they rode across town on their skateboards. one jumped and skidded their board across the handrail of an outdoor stair ramp, the last two following suite. whoops of excitement escaped their mouths as they rode across town, jumping over everything they came across, from trash cans to the potholes. one swerved his board to the right and then leaped into the air, twirling in a circular motion as he jumped over another pothole before finally skidding his skateboard to a halt in front of a closed video arcade store. he pulled off their red and blue helmet, his spiky

own hair stiff from its earlier confines. a slight

eeze blew against his black sweatshirt, decorated with a large red skull with crossbones underneath in the center, and faded blue jeans. however, the boy immediately dismissed the wind as if it wasn't there.

"now that's how it's done, amigos!" he pulled off his dark blue helmet, the lamp above him showing off the bleached spikes of his hair.

"hey, no fair chucho! you cheated! we don't got the boards to do stuff like that!"

the teenager who complained pulled off his black helmet. when he did, his thick curly

own hair and black eyes came into better focus, which he used to glare at chucho. his outfit was similar to his highlighted tip companion, yet had blue horizontal stripes across the sleeves instead of a red center crossbones skull. chucho just rolled his eyes as his friend complained and made up excuses for his "victory" over his two friends.

"oh stuff it, andre. whine and fuss all you want, but all it does is prove you're a wimp."

"those're fightin' words, ese!"

"

ing it, homey!" chucho paused. "yo, danny? you alive up there?"

the one called danny paused from looking up at the night sky, and turned to face the other two skateboarding teens. this one blinked a couple times, then reached up and unclipped the strap of a dark red helmet and pulled it off. in doing so, long uneven black hair fell from on top and cascaded down to danny's waistline, just touching the dark red sweatshirt on the teen's body.

"damn; my hair band

oke," danny cursed out loud, reaching into one of the pockets of faded blue jeans and pulling out another hair band, then worked to tie the hair back in a long ponytail. "maybe i should just shave the whole thing off. save me a lot of hassle."

"no offense danny, but the hair's the only way to know you're a girl".

"shut it, andre!" danny yelled, hitting andre in the shoulder as he laughed.

"yo danny-why the space out earlier?" chucho paused. "don't tell me you were dreamin' about aliens abducting ya to take on adventures across the galaxy again?"

"n-no i wasn't!" danny shouted defensively.

as much as she tried to deny it, she felt a flush on her face to indicate her embarrassment. whenever her friends were fighting, or at anytime the moment allowed her, she would look up at the sky and dream about life beyond her backyard, also known as the street behind her apartment. to be able to see the stars and planets, drifting from one place to another without a care in the world. no one to tell you where to go, what to do…no one to say your lack of worth. to spit in your face just for existing-to up and walk away because one day someone decided that what they wanted was more important than what the people who depended on him or her needed. to betray your trust. or better yet-to be taken in by someone who would see someone worth taking a chance on.

was it so bad to dream that beyond the stars, there could be someone to love and care about you?

"danny, you're the worst liar ever." chucho wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "you know it ain't gonna happen, right? aliens just popping out of nowhere just to take you out of here, cruising the galaxies and shit like that. even if there were such a thing, you really think aliens would come all the way to earth and ask ya 'hey-wanna live with us and be our protégé?' shit like that don't happen to rejects like us."

"hate to say it danny but choochoo's right," andre nodded. "lookin' to aliens for a family ain't in the cards for ya, or any of us. you're no peter quill, and there ain't no alien space traders to sub for crappy social workers."

"i know that," danny gritted through her teeth, gripping her helmet tighter with her hands. doesn't mean i can't dream, right?

"alright guys, enough", chucho said. "how about we put this all behind us and take our minds off it all with some shoot 'em up games, eh? i call dibs on terminator!"

"chucho, last time i checked, the arcade closed over an hour ago," andre argued.

"since when did that ever stop us?" chucho asked, smirking while holding up a bobby pin. "i practically have the keys to the city."

"five bucks says he gets an electric shock," danny whispered to andre as chucho pushed the bobby pin into the key hole. when she did not hear a "yelp", she blinked. "funny, usually that always happens.

"maybe i should've bet then," andre said. "could've used the extra five bucks."

"uh, guys? something told us someone already beat us here."

after chucho pushed the door open, the three stared in awe over what they saw. video game machines were smashed apart, sparks were flying out of the consoles, pool and air hockey tables were overturned. money changing machines were

oken into and robbed of all it contained. a few coins remained and were scattered close by the

oken machines. as the three teenagers stepped further into the arcade, they heard what sounded like the stuffing of items into a bag. curious, danny crept up the open door behind the prize booth, the glass case smashed to pieces with glass bits scattered everywhere and the cash register

oken. she silently climbed over the remnants of what was once the glass display case. she stopped suddenly when she heard mumbling noises and what sounded like movement. she peered into the open door to locate the noise source. when she did, she saw five men dressed in black stuffing numerous sacks with surplus toys and money from inside a

oken down safe. one had blonde hair with a black bandana around his forehead.

danny decided that it was time to leave. if she was caught, it could only be assumed what they would to do her and her guy friends. when she made a move to turn and leave, her shoe made a squeaking sound. she stopped suddenly, and winced at the noise and her mistake.

crap! she mentally cursed.

that noise caused the noise of movement. she slowly turned her head. she knew that she was caught, but that not stop her from doing so. danny knew in her head that she should be running for her life, but she couldn't

ing herself to move her legs or even scream. perhaps it was part of her curious nature, or her defiant arrogance. either way, her need for self-preservation did not kick in. when she turned over, she got a better look at the robbers. as she noted earlier, there were five. one of them was a blonde, with a bandana tied around his forehead. he did not look very tall; about five feet and ten inches tall. she could not tell anything else, because the room was not lit up. but from what she could tell, he was wearing a basic leather jacket with black jeans. another man was black with thick dreadlocks. the third man was an asian, with spiked hair bleached blonde. the fourth was a hispanic man with a goatee, while the fifth was another caucasian: shaved bald with a green mohawk, and a small rattail on the back of his head. just as the blonde was, the other four men appeared to have been dressed in leather jackets and black jeans.

"look at what we got here," one of the gangsters smirked. "can't let anyone tell the cops we've been here, have we?"

"so i guess there's only one thing we can do," another gangster smirked, pulling out a crowbar from behind.

suddenly gaining movement in her mind and body, danny grabbed the nearest object she could find: one of the

oken emptied cash registers. however, she found that the object was too heavy for her to lift up. instead she grabbed the handle of the sliding compartment where the money was kept. she pulled out as fast she could and hurled it at the oncoming gangster with all of her strength. he instantly ducked, his face just narrowly missing the flying object's path. the metal apparatus smashed onto the floor with bits of metal scattering everywhere. however, the scattering of metal de

is caused the gangsters to scramble, giving danny the distraction she needed to race out.

"scramble!" she shouted to her two guy friends. "get outa here now!"

not needing an explanation, ricky and zack grabbed their skateboards and raced out of the arcade as fast as they could. danny dropped her skateboard onto the pavement and jumped onto it once her four-wheeled device started to pick up speed, using her left foot to push the contraption faster as she struggled to set her helmet on her head. she turned her head back, and immediately regretted her decision. four men, clad in black, jumped onto motorcycles and began to follow her. she looked around frantically as she skated, searching for both her guy friends and a way out of danger.

"andre! chucho! where the hell are you guys?!" danny desperately screamed.

"go left!" she heard one of the boys shout. "we'll meet up when we ditch 'em all!"

quickly going left, danny became face to face with a large gate. hearing the motorcycles getting closer, the young girl quickly stuffed her skateboard into her backpack as far as it would go, then started to climb the gate. when her right foot stepped onto the wiring, she lost her footing and her leg slipped. danny quickly grabbed onto the top of the gate to keep herself from falling, biting down on her lower lip to keep herself from screaming in pain. when she looked downwards, she noticed a thin yet long vertical rip in the front of her jeans. blood covered the ripped cloth of the denim material and trickled down her leg and onto the concrete pavement. a small pool of blood formed on the pavement below her leg as danny fought to climb up the rest of the entrance. just as she was halfway over the gate, she turned her head. she noticed that the gangsters had turned the corner and were on her tail. her eyes widened when she saw that. she quickly jumped over the fence and pulled her skateboard out of her backpack. as danny board landed on the pavement, her feet landed on the wooden material as she skated off to where she hoped to find andre and chucho. she

iefly screamed when she heard the motorcyclists crash through the wire gate, trying to gain speed on her.

"andre! chucho!" danny frantically called out. when she got no answer, all she could do was skate faster. dammit, my leg are giving out! and i think i feel blood staining my board! gross! danny struggled to keep her footing on the board. she felt pain shooting through her legs. she was running out of energy, and she knew it. i can't out-skate these guys forever! i need to find some open room, and fast! just then, she noticed a huge grassy area, with a field and stands in the center. quiggley field! of course! now i just need to distract these cabezas de guevos while i head over there

stopping quickly, the teenage girl quickly grabbed her skateboard from the ground and used it to smack a row of trash cans on a nearby street corner. when the oval-shaped wood violently touched the silver cans, the cans fell and rolled onto the street with the contents inside littering the pavement.

satisfied with her work, the young girl quickly jumped onto her skateboard and used her left leg to cause the wheels underneath to start moving. once she had enough speed going, she set her left leg back onto the board. she quickly jumped over a pothole on the street and started gliding down the street as a downward hill came where the pothole separated the level street and the hill. she smiled to herself when she heard the crashing of vehicles, followed by complaints of injuries and swearing.

yes! that should buy me at least ten minutes! danny thought to herself as she jumped a smaller pothole on the street. she looked up ahead and saw the entrance to the quiggley field stadium. sweet, sweet sanctuary! i'm almost there!

when danny got to the quiggley field entrance, she discovered that the gates were locked. however, that meant nothing to the teenage girl. she grabbed her skateboard and quickly shoved it into her backpack once more. her hands free, danny then jumped up and grabbed onto the wiring for support. she quickly scrambled up the wired gate and jumped over to the other side. once danny was on the other side of the gate, she quickly ran to her left side to search for protection from her stalkers.

nearby on quiggley field, the field lights were on and centered in the middle of the field. three figures were enjoying themselves in a game of football in the lighted field. however, unlike with most people, these three were playing their game with motorcycles. a football flew in the air, spiraling as it slowly descended to the ground. one, with a small yet muscular build, revved up a red motorcycle and sped towards the football slowly descending to the ground. suddenly, the red racing bike jumped up into the air. the light reflected the silver cylinder objects inside the green bandoleers across each side of his chest. keeping one of his arms on the handlebars, the motorcyclist used his free hand to grab the descending football before making his bike summersault as he descended to the ground.

"woohoo!" he shouted, removing his helmet allowing the lights on the playing field to shine on his face, basking in the glory. however, what the lights also made noticeable were his physical features. instead of a human face, his face was shaped like a mouse, decked in white fur, red eyes, a metal mask covering half of his face and antennas popping out of his head. "am i the best mammajamma in the universe or what?"

"'or what' is what we figure," another biker joked, taking off his helmet as well. like his fellow friend, his face was also shaped like that of a mouse with antennas on top of his head. however, unlike his fellow friend, his fur was a smoky gray color with one eye covered with an eyepatch, complemented by two gold hoop earrings on his left ear.

"you're just jealous that i caught a pass that you couldn't," the white-furred mouse remarked. "face it, modo. i'm the best of the best, and you just can't handle it," he concluded, sticking his tongue out at his taller friend.

"oh really," modo snorted in amusement. "care to put your money where your mouth is, vin?"

"vinnie, modo, enough," said another biker, named throttle. unlike his other companions, his face and body was decked in

own fur, with his eyes covered by black and green shades. he took off his helmet and let his long hair fall to his shoulders. he did not want a fight to

eak out again, even if was just a friendly

awl. "the last thing we need is a blood

awl between buds, right?"

"yeah, i guess so throttle," vinnie half-heartily agreed. "but i'm still the best of the best!"

"right," throttle agreed, the sarcasm heavy in his voice. "you just keep fooling yourself into thinking that, vincent."

before vinnie could open his mouth to remark, the sounds of

eaking glass could be heard from across the field. the three martian mice looked back to where they believed the sound had come from.

"

eak-in?" modo wondered out loud.

"no shit, sherlock," vinnie grumbled. "what else do ya think it could be?"

"guys, not now," throttle pleaded in a gruff demanding voice. "let's check it out."

danny picked herself off the cold dusty floor and quickly

ushed all the pieces of glass off of her sweatshirt and jeans. some pieces of glass cut through the exposed skin on the rips of her jeans, but she ignored the pain it caused her. she then crouched down and quickly crawled underneath the announcer's desk, her palms pressing against more

oken glass and other particles on the ground.

when she finally got under the desk, she pulled the chair in front of her and placed her backpack between the chair and herself in hopes of being able to cover herself. she hugged her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around her legs, trying her hardest not to

eathe loudly. her mind was spinning and her heart was racing. sweat was beading down her forehead and she felt liquid running down her legs. when the teenage girl looked down, she saw fluid running down the cuts of her exposed skin. she pulled some of her sweatshirt sleeve down, quickly wiped away the blood, and pressed her left forearm against the cuts to stop the bleeding. she pressed the digits of her right hand to her forehead in hopes of stopping the throbbing pain her head.

gotta think, gotta think, danny thought in her head. first, i have no idea where chucho and andre are. second, i got gangsters on my tail because of what i saw. finally, i can't stay here for very long. quiggley field ain't exactly the best place to lay low. those guys will find me here soon. what will i do when they do? they have clubs, crowbars and

ass knuckles! all i got is my old switchblade and skateboard. well…comic heroes faced scarier than this all the time. if they can then i-

all that danny was thinking was suddenly lost in the flurry of footsteps, followed by the kicking of the announcer's chair. before danny could catch herself, she let out a scream. one with dirty blonde hair instantly crouched down and saw her. his mouth gradually formed a snicker. he grabbed the back of her sweatshirt and dragged danny out of her hiding spot and held her squirming figure still. she vainly struggled to free herself from her captor's grasp, but it was of no use. the blonde grabbed the security strap around her chin and knocked it aside. somehow, the action caused her other hair band to come undone, resulting in her long black hair cascading down from her head and down to her waist.

"gotcha!" one with a goatee gloated at danny, but then blinked. "what the-"

"holy crap!" cried out one with bleached spiked hair. "he's a tranny! why is this country filled with freaks?!"

"dumbass! it's not a tranny, just some runt girl wearing guy clothes."

"aren't they the same thing?"

"no they ain't moron!"

"doesn't make a difference," a taller one with a ripped jacket, presumably the leader, said as his captive tried to release herself from his grasp. he just watched her struggle futilely in his grip, laughing. "did you honestly think you would've been able to avoid us, hoe?"

"who wants to have the honor of being the first to pummel her?" another asked, pulling out his crowbar. "no volunteers? okay then, how about i start?"

"wait!" the blonde demanded as he grabbed the crowbar from his partner's hands. "i have a better idea."

"better? what can be better than beating up someone?"

as the group began to argue over the best method to take care of their witness, danny used the opportunity to strike. stomping on her captor's foot, she used the spare moment she had to grab her switchblade from the kanga pocket of her sweatshirt and flipped open the blade. she then went into a fighting stance, blade pointed out.

the gang laughed at her battle antics. they pulled out their crowbars and applied their

ass knuckles. some pounded their fists into open palms, others doing the same with their knuckles.

refusing to be intimidated, the young girl charged at them, pointing her knife at them. however, a thug with blonde hair grabbed her wrist before she could do any slashing. danny quickly kicked the man in the lower regions, then proceeded to attack her other attackers. unfortunately, danny soon realized she was outnumbered and two other gangsters grabbed her by her arms, holding her in place and pressing their feet onto each of hers to keep her from escaping again.

the blonde took a blade out of his left boot and pointed it directly at danny's chin, then quickly

ought it down, making a large slit in the center of her sweatshirt. her facial expression soon turned to that of frantic and scared animal caught in the headlights of an oncoming car once she realized what was about to happen.

ohmygodohmygod! i'm gonna be raped! danny thought frantically. no! this can't be happening!

"this is what's better than pummeling little chicks, boys," the blonde smirked. "screwing them."

before danny could think of anything else, she felt the cold steel of the blade of the blonde's dagger against her neck. she felt her heart racing as the blade was pressed closer to her skin. it was not pressed hard or deep enough to make a cut, but it was enough to make the thug's point clear to her and his colleagues.

"now if you don't want a deep smiley going across that pretty little neck of yours, i suggest you keep that trap of yours shut," the blonde smugly said. "where to start? shall i sample the goods, or just skip down to the main course?"

"what about us?" said a man with slick black hair with bleach streaks. "when do we get to have a go with the midget?"

"easy boys," the blonde leader assured. "we have all night, and i would never consider not sharing with you guys."

"pity. we're not in a sharing mood."

the blonde thug stood up suddenly, surprised by that voice. he did not recognize who that deep baritone voice belonged to, and his fellow thugs did not know who spoke up either. before the blonde could say anything, do anything, or even wonder who had just spoken, a hand grabbed him by his neck and lift him up high into the air. he emitted choking sounds as he struggled to

eathe. his fellow companions stared up for a moment, and in a flurry of screaming and fear, they released danny and quickly scrambled to get out as fast as they could. at least, that is what they attempted to do. once they reached the window, the attackers stopped dead cold at two men dressed in leather, their faces covered in the most unusual bike helmets. before they could utter a scream or any sort of sound, the two helmeted strangers

ought their fists back and swung them forward, hitting two square in the center of their faces. one fell backwards to the ground while the other literally flew through the air, knocking down three others. the members that were still standing looked on at their three attackers in a mix of awe and fear. the tallest of the three, the one dressed in what looked to be a skin-tight gray shirt underneath a chest protector

iefly spun him in the air as though her were a rag doll and forced the blonde to look him straight into the eye. even though the man's face was covered by his helmet and the purple visor over his face he was still a terrifying sight for the blonde.

"care to tell us what exactly you and your friends were doing?" the blonde's captor asked, his right eye glowing underneath the purple visor.

"we were, uhhthat is, we-"

"i think i can fill that in for ya, little man," said the helmeted biker donned in a leather vest said as he walked over and stood by his friend. "you were just about to leave, weren't you?"

"uhh...y-y-y-yeah! that's it! we were just about to leave; that's exactly what i was trying to s-oomph!"

after he fell onto the ground, he looked up at the snarling face of the taller helmeted stranger. he quickly scrambled onto his feet and ran out the window, screaming slightly in fear. his friends quickly followed suit, pushing and shoving each other to get out of what they believed to be harm's way as fast as they could.

as the roaring of motorcycles sounded off from far away along with footsteps of others trying to catch up to their comrades were sounded, the three helmeted bikers couldn't help but laugh heartily.

"don't be a stranger now!" shouted the stranger donned in green bandoleers and a maroon bandana, then laughed. "that was fun, huh

os?"

"'don't be a stranger'? no offense, vinnie, but that wasn't one of your better lines yet."

"yeah, well-aw hell, forget it," vinnie grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

"did you get stumped?" the stranger blinked behind his helmet, then laughed. "the world really is coming to an end."

"you know, throttle, you can be a really big pain in the tail sometimes."

"trust me,

o," throttle scoffed. "there is a big pain in the tail here, but it sure as hell isn't me."

"

os, i think we have other things to worry about right now," modo said. he went down on one knee and looked at the teenage girl before him. "you alright, little lady?"

modo looked down upon the young teenage girl before him, sitting on the cold concrete floor with her legs sticking out and her arms behind her pressed to the dirt-covered floorboards. her body structure is thin and lean, much like the build of an average girl. he guessed by the size of her body, she was between the ages of twelve and sixteen. her hair was long, black in color, the tips reaching down to her waistline. however, her hair was also choppy and uneven, looking like it had not been washed and trimmed in weeks. along the hairline were small little bumps which the tall biker guessed was acne. her face had two slightly narrow eyes in the color of a dark

own, which almost looked black. the teenager's nose curved downwards until the tip made a slight inward arch downwards towards her thin, slightly pinkish lips. her red sweatshirt was cut in the middle, revealing a black top underneath. her dirty blue jeans were covered with holes, barely leaving any material on her legs, minus the black kneepads covering her knees. her left hand was covered with a black fingerless glove, while her right hand was bare.

she stared at him for a

ief moment, looking dazed and confused. she

ushed a few strands of her long black hair out of her face to get a better look at the strangers who saved her life. quickly, she reached behind her and grabbed her fallen pocket knife. she pointed it at the taller stranger kneeling before her. her wrist shook as she pointed it at the stranger, so she found herself having to hold the handle with both hands.

"don't come any closer!" she shouted.

modo quickly stood up and backed away slightly, holding his hands out in self-defense. the one dubbed throttle put his hand on the big man's shoulder, patted it slightly, then knelt down in front of the raven haired girl.

"kid, we're not gonna hurt you," he assured her. must still be fired up by what happened earlier. can't really blame her.

"yeah sure, and i'm peter quill!" she scoffed. "you think i'm stupid or something?"

not to mention mouthy, he thought to himself.

"more like 'ungrateful'," vinnie grunted. "seriously-is this how you thank everyone who does something nice for ya?"

"

o, let me try again." modo went down on his knee again. "kid, i promise you. we're not here to hurt you. we just want to help you. can you tell us your name and why you came here?"

the young girl just sat there silent with her pocket knife still pointed at the stranger before her. her mouth was sealed shut and her eyes glared at him. he gave an exasperated sigh.

"this is gonna be one long and painful night."

"i guess i'll get the ball rolling," throttle sighed. "i'm throttle, the guy kneeling in front of you is my

o modo, and the one behind me is my other

o-"

"vinnie van wham, the velocity atrocity and the best mammajammer this side of the asteroid belt!" the one dubbed vinnie declared, hands on his hips with his chest puffed out proudly. "and the damn best good-looking one out there; can't forget that."

"and has biggest mouth to go along with it," modo teased, standing up.

"i'd have to agree with him on that," throttle smirked.

"you're just jealous that i'm the better looker and the better rider," vinnie argued.

"really? who fell from his bike last week while popping a wheelie?" throttle asked.

"who tripped yesterday?"

"and wh-"

"aw shaddup!" vinnie said, mock-glaring at his

os.

before more words could be spoken, the three turned and looked at the young girl. instead of glaring at them and having her knife pointed at them like she was earlier, she was smiling. more than smiling; she was laughing at them. knife dropped once again, she wrapped her arms around her waist and leaned over while laughing. one hand smacked the floor while she laughed.

"you three are funny," she managed to say between laughs. "s-seriously, take your act on the road."

the three guys looked at each other for a moment, shrugged their shoulders, then smiled.

"i'll take that over the glare, right

os?" vinnie smiled.

"definitely," modo agreed, turning his attention back to the teenager before him. "so, do you have a name, little lady?"

danny bit her lip for a moment before she decided to say her name. modo could tell that she was hesistant, and couldn't blame her. on one hand, she hardly knew anything about him and his

os except their names. however he could tell she was also considering what had just happened. if they had not arrived, she would have been raped, beaten up, and possibly killed. if they had wanted to have their way with her, they would have done so already. finally, they seemed genuinely concerned for her welfare. that should be a welcoming consideration for her. she took in a heavy

eath, then looked at his face with her dark

own eyes.

"d-danielle. danielle aguirrez. everyone calls me danny."

"danny," throttle repeated. "cute name, for a cute girl," he smiled, ruffling the hair on the top of her head.

"though i'm definitely the good looking one here," vinnie said smugly, leaning against the wall of the announcer's box and admiring his fingernails.

"vincent, for once in your life get over yourself," throttle chided. he turned his attention back to danielle and ignored another one of vinnie's glares. "okay, danny, what

ings you to quiggley field?"

"my friends and i saw those guys robbing an arcade, and they chased us around to make sure we wouldn't rat them out to the cops. we split up to make it harder for them to catch us…guess they decided to go after me only 'cause they thought i'd be easier to take down. i ran here thinkin' i'd be safer." she paused for a moment. "definitely didn't go the way i thought it would."

"the usual "wrong place and wrong time" shtick, eh? this happen to you a lot, kiddo?"

"like you wouldn't believe," danny snorted. "since we're doing the whole '20 questions' game here, i get to ask the next one." she pointed at the three. "how do you hide those tails you got from everyone?"

"what?" the three asked in unison, obviously shocked.

"wh-what makes you think we have tails, little lady?" modo asked, slightly nervous.

"because i saw something moving behind you, swishing back and forth like a cat's tail, and-dude, i just saw it again!" danielle pointed at vinnie.

"girl, you are so on dope!"

"am not!" danny stood up and pushed the sleeves of her red sweatshirt. "see? no veins from pushin' that stuff up! i'm clean! and i'm know i ain't insane. you got a tail. all three of you. so know you ain't from this world."