Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters from Biker Mice from Mars! Any characters and situations herein are purely ficticious, and any similarity between those and persons living or dead is coincedental :)

I do own my own characters - these are all characters that come from my own work, although I have altered names and occupations slightly so they fit into the real world! I also own The Legacy - unfortunately only on paper but I can dream! :D

Okay, first chapter of the first fanfiction I'll publish - yeah, I'm nervous! Hope everyone enjoys! :D

And a huge thank you to MayaPatch for some really helpful hints ;)

Chapter 1 – New Neighbour

"Whoa! Charley girl! Smells like you got a chef living next door!" Throttle sniffed appreciatively at the smells wafting in through the garage's open windows from the house that'd been built adjacent to the garage.

"Yeah, they arrived last week." Charley looked up from the truck she was working on. "Haven't seen them yet; but they must have money or influence or both to have bought that place from right under Limburger's nose!"

"So – you've not seen them yet then?" Throttle looked curiously at Charley; Modo and Vinnie pricked their ears forward in interest. They'd both seen the builders working on the house, but had paid little attention.

"Nope." Charley shook her head and laughed. "Why? You're not worried? You know it's normal for people to keep to themselves when they move in. They'll have a thousand things to do and they may be a bit shy still."

"Hmmmmm, provided it is just that they're shy Charley ma'am." Modo murmured thoughtfully.

"What else would they be?" Charley asked sticking her head back under the hood.

"Plutarkian?" Vinnie suggested. Charley bumped her head on the hood as she swiftly turned on the white fur ball.

"What? You don't seriously believe my new neighbours have anything to do with Limburger do you?!" Charley growled. "Honestly guys I can't see Plutarkians or their allies being able to cook like these people obviously can. It's like living next door to a gourmet restaurant! Besides why would they be living next door?!"

"I don't know!" Vinnie waved his hands in a placating fashion. "It's just strange is all – ok?"

"Sure – I get a nice new neighbour who cooks real well, and has nice furniture, nice plants – nice pets even! And all you guys can think of is that they might be Plutarkian! The removal men were regular humans!" Charley shrugged and then frowned. "Although they did have a bunch of really weird stuff as well."

"Plenty of Limburger's associates are human – and what do you mean weird stuff? Like what Charley girl?" Throttle asked in irritation as he rubbed his temples.

"Nice pets?" Vinnie echoed.

"Oh – I mean armour and weapons and stuff Throttle – nothing that'd interest you. And yeah, Vinnie – they have dogs." Charley smiled. "They have cats too I think."

"Cats!" The three mice exclaimed in unison.

"Well they had cat baskets." Charley trailed off. "Sorry – I didn't think, Vinnie's allergic to them right?"

"Well yeah." Modo rubbed his forehead thoughtfully.

"Is this all cats? Or just certain breeds?" Charley asked.

"Dunno - can you be allergic to some and not others?" Vinnie frowned uncertainly.

"Yeah, I had a friend who was allergic to Persians and Persian crosses but was ok with other breeds." Charley nodded.

"And what's this about weaponry?" Throttle's voice held a note of seriousness that made Charley snap to attention. The tan furred leader had been stressing badly recently, the last thing he needed was more worries.

"Old earth stuff Throttle, you know swords and spears – nothing for you guys to worry about. It definitely wasn't Martian or Plutarkian weaponry, just regular earth stuff, so don't freak out." Charley smiled reassuringly.

"Okay, okay – so we don't need to worry about who they are, but there's a bigger problem." Throttle sighed. "What about us? I'm pretty certain they, whoever they are, have never seen giant Martian mice before!"

"Guys." Charley gritted her teeth as she spotted the tell tale signs of Throttle flipping out with stress. "You'll just have to be more careful is all – okay? I mean there are a few people who've seen you and not freaked out! Or just wear your helmets?"

"Yeah, and then there's gonna be the one person who does freak out! Like whoever moved next door!" Throttle reminded her in exasperation. "It's a bad situation all round. And how can we come over here helmets or no, if they could just pop round anytime they please?"

"Oh for heaven's sake! If you're that worried – get out! Go back to the scoreboard!" Charley threw a wrench at the wall. The mice winced at the loud clang as the tool hit the wall and then bounced of a tool box before hitting the floor. It'd been a long week of Throttle getting on everyone's nerves with his stressed out attitude; Charley had been overrun with jobs and was looking forward to closing her diary for a couple of weeks. She didn't need Throttle's bad mood taking over her time off.

"Ok Charley girl, we're going." Throttle strode over to his bike with slightly dragging footsteps.

"Bye Charley." Vinnie added miserably.

"We didn't mean to upset you Charley ma'am." Modo spoke quietly.

"Get out." Charley intoned coldly. "I can't do anything about having a new neighbour, but you guys can do something about coming here."

"What? Charley?" Vinnie's ears drooped. "You don't want us over anymore?"

"Not if you're so freaked out about being discovered!" Charley snapped, her temper flaring. Vinnie's ears drooped still further. It wasn't him and Modo who were the problem; but Charley would ban all of them rather than singling Throttle out.

"Okay Charley girl, we'll see you around I guess." Throttle hung his head; he knew he'd way overstepped the mark, but didn't want to apologise. Charley didn't look as the three bikes roared out of the garage. Her shoulders slumped as the engines' noise died into the distance; she slowly stomped over and closed the garage doors. Sighing she made her way up to her bedroom and stared out of the window at the city. Silently she began to weep at what had just passed between her and her friends.

Please review and/or give constructive criticism :)