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

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 as the smell of baking wafted in through the garage's open windows. A few months had passed since the plot of land next to The Last Chance Garage had been purchased; the house that now stood next door seemed oddly out of place in the barren wasteland of downtown Chicago.

"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 gave Charley a curious look; 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 are you? It's pretty normal for people to keep to themselves when they first move in – new neighbourhood and all, they're probably feeling a little shy."

"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 the 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 nice new neighbours, who cook real well, have nice furniture, nice plants – nice pets even! And all you guys can think of is whether or not they're Plutarkian?! The removal men were regular humans!" Charley shrugged and then frowned. "Although they did have some pretty weird stuff as well."

"Plenty of Limburger's associates are human...' Throttle rubbed his temples,irritation growing at the situation. "And what do you mean weird stuff, Charley girl?"

"Nice pets?" Vinnie echoed.

"Oh 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?" Vinnie pulled a face.

"Well they had cat baskets." Charley trailed off. "Sorry – I didn't think, guess you guys aren't too keen?"

"Earth cats are ok... They just don't tend to like giant mice." Modo shrugged.

"Figures." Charlie rolled her eyes and disappeared back under the truck's hood

"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 out over so much recently, the last thing he needed was more worries.

"Old earth stuff, 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 flashed Throttle a reassuring smile.

"Okay, okay – so, maybe – just maybe - we don't need to worry about who they are, but there's a bigger problem." Throttle sighed; Charlie groaned. All the signs indicated the Martian Leader was about to flip out... Modo looked between Throttle and Charlie, his discomfort obvious over the tension that was rising in the garage. Throttle's tail lashed in agitation as he began to stalk back and forth.

"What about us? I'm pretty certain they, whoever they are, have never seen giant Martian mice before!" Throttle threw his hands up in exasperation. Why did no one else get it? Why was it always him left to do the worrying?

"Guys..." Charley gritted her teeth as she straightened up and turned to face the bro's. "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! Who's gonna call the cops! Or the authorities or - whatever... If we don't know who moved next door – how do we trust them?! Even if you knew them, we couldn't trust them..." Throttle reminded her in exasperation; Charlie rolled her eyes, the tan furred leaser was really starting to flip out with the stress now. "It's a bad situation all round. And how can we come over here – even in helmets, if they could just pop round anytime they please?! They are going to freak out! You freaked out!"

"Oh, for heaven's sake! It's not like I freaked out for that long! I doubt they would either! And... And - 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 off 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 attitude 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 gonna be 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. 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.

Edited July 2020.

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