Red groaned as his equipment went off, telling him that he had a message. It had gone off occasionally during the week, but Red had ignored it studiously. Green reached over to pluck the device from out of Red's bag, ignoring Pikachu's attempts to copy his new hairstyle.

"Huh. That's a lot of messages. Jeeze Red, you should check it more often. Who's this Lucas fellow anyways?"

Red lunged for it, making Green fumble the device in surprise. Red smoothly caught it with all of the assurance of Kirby going after food, and quickly scanned the contents. A few notes from Wes about how he was going to kill Red the second he got his hands around Red's throat; a note from Lance noting that Dragonite was ready to be completely purified in the Relic Forest; a note from Wes about how something bad was going down in Orre, but most of the Shadow Pokémon were cleared out from Hoenn anyways according to the data disks that he had picked up; a note from Rui about how she hoped Red was taking care of his injuries, and please reply to Lance who was going to reopen his wound if he continued trying to train himself to prove that he didn't need to be protected; and finally there were a few notes from Lucas about how the sun was bright, how Ralts had learned a new move, how he had picked up a new friend named Stephen, and-

"Ruby and Sapphire? Aren't those Hoenn's champions? I thought that they disappeared around the same time you decided to up and leave."

Green poked the small fire, as Charizard rumbled softly from where he had curled around the two. Bugs buzzed and hummed as they danced through the night sky. Red counted the familiar constellations, contemplating Lucas's and Green's question.

"I've met them. I promised to fight Sapphire later." Would it be like facing Green, or would it be like facing Gold? Win or loose? He took pride in being the strongest Pokémon Trainer around, but that didn't mean much in Smash Manor. Of course, in Smash Manor he wasn't allowed to be in the middle of battle with his Pokémon, darting in and out of fire and claws to sign and write commands.

Being separated from his Pokémon made them both happy and uneasy. Uneasy in the sense that they couldn't reach him, happy that nothing else could reach him as well. It was a delicate balancing act. He had poured hours into making Poffins and Pokeblocks, even some juices, to help take care of them and assure them that they were still well-loved even if he couldn't care for their wounds in the midst of a battle like he did other times.

"You met Ruby and Sapphire, and you're already lined up for a battle? Red, sometimes I wonder what's going on in your brain. I like battles as much as the next person, but you couldn't have known them long."

"I met them for about ten minutes." They had never agreed on a place to meet outloud, but Red had a very, very good idea of where to go.

"Ten minutes. Ten minutes. That's a new record. Normally people meet you and challenge you to a battle within the first three."

Well… that was pretty much true. Red rubbed Charizard's head, regarding the piled up messages thoughtfully. "Honestly you. If you don't want to reply, then I can go ahead and reply for you."

Red shook his head slowly. He was supposed to be more sociable. He was more sociable. He actually ate dinner with other humans (and non-humans) instead of alone. That was pretty big progress from when he had first arrived at the Manor and ended up eating his food with his Pokémon outside in a secluded corner. Lucas had been the one to drag him inside, even if the two ended up wedged against the wall with Squirtle keeping him from panicking by wedging in his lap.

"No, I can handle it."

An eyebrow rose slowly. "Is that so?"

Red swallowed, surprised at how dry his throat was. "Yeah."

It wasn't so much pressure when it was Lucas, even if he had forgotten the promise to Nurse Joy about giving Lucas plenty of encouragement. Judging by the messages, Lucas was plenty happy, and actually wasn't worried about the fact that Red hadn't replied during the past week.

Still- messages. A one-line message to Wes about how he was tracking down the organization behind the Shadow Pokémon. A message to Rui reassuring her that he would indeed contact Lance.

He wondered what to say to Lance for a long, long time. Lance, the not-quite Champion that had been beaten three times and still held the seat. Lance who had never been beaten before, until Green had broken the pattern, and Red had destroyed it completely. Lance- the one who had changed the most, and most impressively in under two years from aloof, uncaring man to someone who actively pursued criminal organizations to help others.

Lance. You're really good. Thanks for helping out. Go ahead and rest. I'll take care of Championship duties until you're healed.

He pressed the send button before he could regret his decision to take over if only for a bit. That just left Lucas. He really was a bad friend wasn't he? To forget a person existed while he was off running from memories.

Red sighed silently, staring at the small reminders Lucas had sent him. He wrote the beginnings of five different messages, before they were discarded after a few seconds of narrow-eyed staring. He flinched slightly when a hand reached out.

"Okay, that does it. Obviously you need a secretary. Tell me what you want written down, and I'll do it."

Red hesitated for a moment longer- Green snatched the gear from him. "Hey!"

"Now then, what do you want me to write to this Lucas guy. Who is he anyways? These are the most inane texts I've ever seen. It's like someone texting you about their ratatata!"

"He's a friend I met after Gold."

"After him huh." A long moment of silence. "He claimed to have finally beaten you- is that right?"

Red nodded silently, staring off into the distance. It was so terrifying, being beaten for the first time. He had lived so long with the idea that defeat= death, that the defeat had nearly made him panic. But with Smash Manor had come many, many more losses. But other, different kinds of victories as well. It all evened out eventually. "I lost to him." The sentence was hard to sign.

Green shrugged, "Welcome to life of a normal person."

Yeah, that was true.

"Can I have my gear back?"

"Are you actually going to be writing something this time around?"

"Yes."

Green tossed back the gear, and Red caught it smoothly. Then, he entered in a single sentence- "I've met them."

The reply came back in three minutes. You did? Do you know where they are right now? Stephen has been looking for them.

They're investigating a shadowy organization that steals Pokémon. After that I'll beat them and tell them to go home.

Oh. Do you have any idea on how long that would take? Bless Lucas and his absolute faith in Red winning every Pokémon battle.

Give us three weeks. Will you and Stephen survive that long?

This time it took about ten minutes for Lucas to reply. Three weeks sound good. Also, is there some point where we can talk?

Urk. Crap. Red groaned as he flopped over slightly, staring at the message. How to reply? He was pretty busy with the organization himself, and even with Green helping out, along with Sapphire and Ruby taking care of the other half, this still was going to be rather tricky.

Where are you guy's now?

We're in Lavaridge Town, we'll be going back to challenge Wattson soon.

Ahhh, it was a little slower then what Red went at, but he was considered abnormal… Generally a journey to gain all the badges of a region could consume one's entire life. Most dropped out and did other jobs. Even those who won all eight badges rarely won against the Elite Four.

I'll meet you at the gym there. I'll have to leave pretty quickly to finish up some business with Green, but you should be fine with Stephen. Don't get separated from him.

I won't.

Red dropped the gear next to him, looking up to Green. Why did humans have to be so complicated?

"I'm guessing we'll be splitting up then?"

A very, very slow, hesitant nod, and Green frowned, arms crossing. "See, this is why you have troubles. I suggest we split up, and you refuse. Then you turn around and make plans to split up anyways. Make up your mind Red."

Red shrugged slightly. "Fine, where do you want to split up and where should we meet?"

"We split up at Mauville, and meet up in Mauville."

"No. That isn't splitting up. That is called refusing two pieces of your life meet. Do you not want me too meet this Lucas guy?"

Well, not exactly. "I think you'll scare him."

"Red, if he isn't scared off by you, then there is no way he'll be scared of me."

Lucas sighed softly. Beside him, Toon Link fidgeted. "We're gonna be in soooo much trouble. Red doesn't know that we're here."

"It'll be fine. I mean, he's technically the same age as us, right?" That was an eye-opener for everyone involved.

"Yeah, but he's all super serious like the adults."

"But whenever you pull out a Jigglypuff or another cute Pokémon or even Kirby, he tends to go all melty. And he'll play our games with us." Nana sang out, she and Popo jumping in small circles around each other.

"Is he really?" Stephen looked absolutely pumped to meet one of his idols. "I always heard after he lost his voice he became really cold and aloof."

Lucas blinked. "Lost his voice?"

"Oh." Stephen shut up like he would whenever he was trying to be consciences of someone's personal problems. But now that Lucas had mentioned it, Toon Link, Nana and Popo were all curious, looking at Stephen.

"What do you mean by that? Or is it a translation error?"

"Welllllllllllllll~ If he hasn't told you, then I guess it isn't my place to say anything…" Stephen looked anywhere but them, taking a very sudden and deeply personal interest in Aaron's steel coating.

"Was it in the newspaper?" Ness demanded, "If it's in the newspaper it can't be that personal."

"Uhhh, well, there was a kinda-documentary on it. But it wasn't a very good one. Everyone they interviewed blew them off, and they collapsed on Mount Silver when they tried to climb it, and most of it was some pretty bad information. So it might've been wrong."

"Red never did mention anything about it during the time we knew him." Popo mused, leaning back slightly trusting Nana to break his fall.

"But Red never said anything personal." Toon Link objected. "We didn't know he was actually twelve and not eighteen or sixteen, we don't know if he has any family members, or friends. Kinda like Lucas."

"I-I told you a bit!" Lucas mumbled, burying his red face into Ionia's back. Doria chirruped from where he was perched on his head.

"Yeah, a bit. I mean, I know you have a dad, you had a mom and a brother, but that's about it." Ness jumped into the conversation.

Lucas shrank back from the piercing stare until Stephen diplomatically stepped in. "Well, you'll tell us if you think you want too, right Lucas?"

"But Nurse Joy-"

"That's therapy." Stephen didn't allow any arguments to take place. "You trust the people in therapy."

Toon Link mouthed, What's therapy? to Lucas, who simply shrugged. Therapy was games, talking, crying, and a non-judging ear. A place to truly let all of his feelings loose in a torrent of words, and have them all understood. Was that all therapy did? He didn't know- he just… kinda liked it.

"Anyways Stephen, you're not gonna faint when you see your idol, are you?" Nana and Popo leaned in close, grinning. "You seem like the type!"

"N-No, of course not!" Stephen's ears flared red as he looked at Lucas, who smiled back silently. "Anyways, when is he coming? It's pretty easy to get into Wattson's gym, but-"

Lucas stood a little straighter as there was a flash of red in the crowd. He frowned slightly as there was a flash of green, but it was erased as Red silently sailed out of the crowd. His hat was tipped further back then it normally was, as bright red eyes flicked back and forth between path and the human beside him.

Arms swung lightly at his side, a few scratches marked on them, but Lucas didn't really care about that.

There was about 5 meters of distance when Lucas finally convinced his feet to move. The taller boy grunted in surprise as a body hurtled at him, tackling him around the waist in a gigantic hug. "RED!"

He could hear an impressed whistle from behind, and see Red's companion's wide eyes. But that was wiped out when Red smiled slightly, giving him a low-five. "It's good to see you again! How have you been doing?"

Red made a circle in the air, eyes flickering up to the five kids that were waiting behind Lucas. His eyebrows went up a little, and the kid next to him leaned over to say, "Oh, so they aren't supposed to be here huh?"

Red shook his head automatically. "A bunch of runaways? No, they came here for this little guy you're saying? But you at least know them- Yeah, you do."

Lucas would openly admit to staring at the green-haired boy next to Red that picked up on Red's emotions right away. "Anyways, they all seem rather weak at Pokémon fights. Why exactly are you friends with them?"

At least none of them exactly stood out among the crowds, other then the fact that Nana and Popo refused to take off their heavy fur parkas. Lucas shuffled a step back from the green-haired boy, looking nervously up at Red.

Red didn't say anything, but the green-haired guy must've heard something, because he pulled a sour face. "Fine, fine, I get it. No insults. Anyways, I'm Green, Red's number one rival and Gym Leader of Viridian."

Crimson eyes glowered. "Don't give me that look, you might not want it proclaimed to the world, but they all know who you are anyways. See, look at that guy over there. He's about to pass out from excitement."

Lucas glanced back to where Stephen was practically shaking in joy. Ness looked rather unimpressed with what all was going on, but Toon Link and the Climbers at least seemed as in awe of Green as Lucas was. "I-It's a pleasure to meet you sir! I never thought I'd get to meet the toughest and youngest gym leader of Kanto here in Hoenn! Can I have your autograph please? You too Mister Red if you don't mind?"

Large pleading eyes turned to Red, who flinched a little at being called 'mister'. Green ran a hand through his spiked hair. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Just don't call us sir and mister. We're only twelve ourselves. Wait until we're at least twenty."

Stephen nodded quickly, jumping from foot-to-foot. Green eyed the rest, before gesturing grandly, "Okay, so I'm guessing the blonde is the Lucas guy you've been mentioning, but who are the rest of these guys?"

Silence.

It was like the strike of silent protagonists.

Green waited patiently for about five seconds, before stabbing a finger at Toon Link. "You, dopey lookin' kid with the funny-looking Honedge. Actually, is that a shiny Pokémon? Or is it one of those that changes shape depending on where you take it? Where route did you get it from?"

"Uhh-" Toon Link could almost pass for a completely silent protagonist in those video games Sonic liked to play, if it weren't for all of those funny facial expressions he was making. At last he settled with a quiet, "I'm Link. And this is the Master Sword, not a… Honegdggge?"

"Oh. What route did you get him- her- from? Gramps will cry if I come back with some more new Pokémon. His little dream of a Pokedex completely blew up in his face." He chuckled dryly, a rather nasty smirk playing at the edges of his mouth.

Lucas shot a questioning glance up at Red. Was Red really friends with Green? Green seemed like a bit of a jerk…

"It's not a Pokémon. It's an actual sword."

"Oh. Okay." Green's eyes fell on the next two people standing next to each other. "Then the matching couple next."

"I think we're brother and sister not a couple, but I'm Nana!"

"And I'm Popo!"

They spoke in unison, "We're the Ice Climbers!"

"Ice Climbers? Are you guys from Sinnoh or something?"

"Nope, we climb mountains!"

"Ahh, so you two are hikers huh? Bet you have lame geodudes or something."

The two whirled, pulling their hammers out from who-knows-where. They lifted them, crossing the handles of their hammers. "We don't use Pokémon!"

They grinned, a feral, bright grin as cold as the mountains they climbed. "We climb alone, only the two of us!"

Green's eyes narrowed, "Just don't get too cocky and become food for the mountain Pokémon." He didn't dismiss their claims, but he didn't say anything that indicated he really believed them either.

"Then, if it's Link, Nana and Popo, who're you?"

Ness smirked, arms crossing, "I'm Ness from Onett."

"Onett? Never heard of that."

"Didn't expect you too."

The two eyed each other, like two venomous snakes ready to strike. Then, Green hmphed. He didn't drop the moment of hostility, but he didn't pursue it either. "You all have weird names."

This was coming from a guy named after a color?

The kid's traded glances, before looking at their taller companions across from them. "Don't give me that look Red. I know we were named after a popular television drama, but at least our names come from somewhere."

Toon Link bristled- his name was always a sore point with him. "My name has a lot of special meanings behind it. Don't make fun of it." Brown and blue eyes clashed, before Green shrugged waving a lazy hand as if brushing off the entire deal.

"Fine, whatever. So then Red, I believe you and this Lucas guy over here had something to discuss?"

Stephen looked at the others, "We should go into the gym! This'll be your first time seeing a gym right? You can have fun with all of the cool puzzles! Hey Lucas, I'll see you out here again, okay?"

Lucas nodded, waving goodbye to the group as they trooped in. Stephen forcibly pulled the rest in, despite Ness's protests of wanting to stay outside. "Okay then, so do you want me to go to the game center or something then Red?"

Red hesitated, a hesitation that Lucas would take as a yes. But Green seemed to hear the unspoken words, and remained where he was. "Make up your mind sometime soon. You don't have much time before that kid fails at the Gym and has to come out to heal and train."

Lucas spoke up for the first time since Red had gotten there, "I-I don't mind if he stays."

It was a little bit easier to understand Red other then his sign-language and writing when Green stood next to him, able to translate so much as a twitch of a body. Green stared at Lucas with sharp eyes, before shrugging, "Never mind. I think you two have stuff to discuss that I probably won't understand. I'll be at the game center or something if you need me."

Green moseyed off, blending in the swirling mass of people surprisingly easily. Lucas watched him go, waiting until he was out of ear shot, before babbling, "I'm sorry Red, I didn't mean to bring everyone here, they just noticed I was missing, and they came after me-"

Red lightly tapped a finger against Lucas's forehead. Lucas froze, staring up with wide eyes. Red's face, normally slightly expressive at the very least, had gone back to the completely impassive and unmoving state of when he had first arrived at Smash Manor.

"It's okay. Neither of us really expected them, but they seem to be having fun at the very least. Are you going to be headed back with them?"

He couldn't tell from Red's face whether or not this would be a good or bad idea. Lucas's eyes dropped down to the ground. "I-I not right now. I want to keep seeing your world a bit more. But- I don't think I'm going to become a Pokémon Master either."

'That's fine.' The written words made him slowly reach out for the lined paper. 'Most people don't. There's nothing wrong with deciding to do something different in life. That's why people go out on their journey to become a master- to find what they really want to do.'

Lucas's mouth twitched slightly as he handed back the paper. "I will be going back in another three months though Red. I- I met Mewtwo while you were gone last week."

Red's back went stiff as his eyes darkened at the mention of the powerful Pokémon. His eyes scanned Lucas, as if searching for injuries. "He- He told me that if I stayed in this world for longer then five months, I'd loose all of my powers. So, I'll go back. A-And then I think I'll go back to my home world. So I don't know when I'll see you again."

The idea of going back to his home world was a little surprising to Lucas. It had just popped out, put there after the gentle suggestions of Nurse Joy of going back to at least try talking to his father. "But- I'll try writing you, both on the gear, and when I go back home. And we should meet again in Smash Mansion."

Once upon a time, he'd think of this as abandoning someone. Once upon a time, it would've been Lucas being told to wait, that he'd be contacted, and he spent time waiting for letters or a call that never came. But- But- But- This was fine. This was good. Lucas needed to go back home, even if it meant leaving behind his three newest friends. "I-I hope you don't mind."

Red silently shook his head. 'I'm afraid I was going to have to tell you that I can't be your guide to Hoenn for too much longer. Lance, the original champion of Kanto, was injured, and I agreed to take over his duties for a bit.'

Oh good, so Red was going to be too busy to miss him. A hand descended on blond hair, messing up Lucas's careful hair-do. "Hey!"

"We'll still be friends, right?"

"Of course!"

Lucas grinned at him, bright and dizzy with joy. Red smiled slightly at him, the same sort of smile Lucas had always thought Red had reserved for his Pokémon. "I like that smile Red. It's a very nice smile." Lucas grinned up at him.

Red's smile grew a bit larger, before he looked after where everyone else was. "I'll get you guys tickets from Slateport too Vermilion City. Then a flying Pokémon from there to Mount Silver. Nana and Popo can get you guys up the mountain no sweat."

Lucas nodded, looking down at the ground. "Can Doria and Ionia really go with me?"

The two Pokémon clucked and shuffled, feathers and white hands on Lucas's skin, silently begging him not to leave them alone. But Lucas couldn't bring them to his world only to watch their powers slowly wane and disappear either. "I-I know they can't, but I don't know what to do with them either. Doria won't go in a pokéball, and Ionia will be evolving soon-"

Red frowned slightly, craning his head to look at the wingull. The bird-like Pokémon chirruped, as Red dug out a pokéball from his backpack. He held it out to Wingull, who docilely clicked on it. There was a flash of orange light-

Red's expression took on the look of a landed carp. Lucas blinked at him, a curious frown growing. "Red? What's the matter?"

'That light… this Wingull was already caught.'

Huh? Wh-what? C-Caught? Then didn't that mean- "This Pokémon is… I just stole a Pokémon?"

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no- A calming had was placed on his shoulder, as serious red eyes stared into his. 'You didn't steal it. Wingull has been following you willingly. But you do need to find the original owner and tell them about this, as well as return Wingull.'

Ah. "H-How?"

'A Pokémon Center has a list of missing Pokémon and people. Ask Stephen, he should be able to guide you to the list. Wingull will remember his real owner.'

Lucas nodded, eyes huge. Red regarded him for a very long second, before gently smiling. "You'll be fine. You have all of your friends to help afterall."

It never occurred to Lucas as he dashed into the gym with Doia and Ionia that maybe, just maybe, Red wished that he had friends like Lucas did.

Green eyed the slumped back of Red, frowning. Red leaned against one of the game slot machines, ignoring the fact that he had just hit jackpot. Green gave up his own coins as a lost cause- while he could and did exploit the weaknesses of the machine enough to buy just about anything his heart desired, it just didn't compare. Red had just sat down and the machine had spat out the number one prize.

Green placed his bag of coins down next to Red's scattered coins. "So then, what's bothering you now? Did your talk with Lucas not go very well?"

Red's shoulder minutely dipped, as his head tilted at the slight angle it always did when the question wasn't quite worded right. Green knew that most people found Red hard to read, but if you had the eye for tiny details, you could see the expressions that bypassed most. The slump wasn't a definitive no, but it wasn't a yes either. It was Red's kinda slump. And his head tended to tilt at a one-degree angle to show that he wasn't willing to talk about it.

Green sighed. This was all conjecture as his 'Gramps' would put it. Red had changed during his two years up on Mount Silver. There were new tics to Red, like how he didn't step down anymore, more of glided his feet a mere half-inch off the ground. There was also other little tics- Red had always charged into a situation head first, but now he was hesitating, taking things a little slower and a bit more thought out approach. And his Pokémon had always been half-feral, since Red let them do whatever they wanted as long as they didn't hurt anyone. Now he kept them close.

Of course, that could be because of the situation. Red had already been embroiled in this situation for a few weeks. "Then what? We don't really have that many leads beyond the datafile, and they probably know by now that we have it."

They should be scrambling to cover up their tracks. There hadn't yet been a reply from Wes, nor from Lance. Green didn't even know what Red had told either of the two, but judging by the silence, either Red had killed them with his reply, or they had bigger fish to fry then the fact that Red was trying to readjust to modern society.

Green blinked as Red suddenly straightened. Red eyes suddenly met his- "Why was the kid attacking that wingull?"

…What? Green's eyebrows creased. Red was off babbling about something he didn't understand. Since when did a Wingull come into the picture?

Red didn't seem ready to explain, as he rapidly climbed to his feet, abandoning his coins as easily as he did people. Green was forced to struggle to keep up, abandoning his own coins with a hint of regret. He should've bought a scarf for his Pokémon.

Red pulled out his gear, checking the texts and e-mails on it. "Red, seriously, where are we going-"

A blinking spot on a map was shoved at him. "Rustboro? Seriously? What's there other then the first gym?"

"Wingull can't be caught. It has a orange flash instead of a red. The kid was trying to catch it. If he's trying to catch it, that means he has a snag machine. Where did he get that snag machine?"

Okay, hold up here. Green wasn't in the loop, and he hated not knowing what was going on. "Okay, so we're going to Rustboro, to interview a kid, who tried stealing a wingull that was already caught. Just one problem there Red- we're from Kanto. We have no authority in Hoenn. Maybe if we were part of the Elite Four or a Champion-"

Red's gear went off.

When Red smirked, this cold-blooded, teeth-bared little smirk full of hostility and anger, Green felt a cold chill down his back. Red had never smiled like that before. What was making this so personal to him?

Red tossed back the gear to Green- the twelve-year-old expertly caught it as they booked it out of town. His eyes quickly scanned the screen- Wes was in a bit of a panic because his home region was under attack, and Lance was coordinating with Wallace, the current champion, but unable to do much and-

"You're now the official Champion huh Red?" The paperwork had been in for a long, long time, all that was needed was the agreement from Red to bear the responsibilities. And if Red had agreed…

Red was still smirking, the silent baring of teeth when he nodded. There was a sharp light in his eyes, not there when he had first climbed Mount Silver. Green shrugged casually, covering up his unease.

He had already failed being a friend once- he didn't want it to be twice.

Sonic screeched to a halt in front of the room where Master Hand and Crazy Hand tended to rest. Lucario shook like a leaf in his arms, and quite willingly fell to the ground. Sonic betted that if he wasn't there, Lucario would've kissed the ground. As it was, Lucario simply patted the ground thankfully while waiting for a few moments until he was certain he could stand without falling over.

Neither were expecting the dark form to crawl out of some vents that even Sonic was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to fit into. A gloved hand brushed hair back from a dark headband, as one eye stared at them for a few moments. "If you're looking for the Hands, they aren't in right now."

"No? But Mario said that he'd tell the Hands that the kids had disappeared-"

"He did, and Master Hand ended up reopening Tabuu's old wounds." Snake patted a side pouch, fishing out a pack of cigarettes. Sonic's spines sharpened at the sight, rattling slightly. Sonic couldn't stand the smell of smoke- where there was smoke, there was Eggman, and Eggman meant huge trouble.

Lucario held up a paw, "Please, not in here. The smell will upset my stomach more."

Snake pulled one out anyways, chewing on it unlit. It at least wasn't as bad as the smoke itself, but… "So then Snake, where are they? We need a portal opened asap!"

"Crazy Hand insisted that his brother go to Doctor Mario. There isn't much the Doc can do. But it's Crazy that can open the portals, not Master. If you guys need a portal, then Crazy is the one to talk too."

Snake leaned against the wall, blending in with it like he was part of the wallpaper. Sonic had taken it upon himself to constantly talk with the man before he turned into an inanimate object. Snake might not say he appreciated it, but Sonic knew that somewhere in the warm, bright place Snake swore didn't exist, Snake was grateful for the company.

"Okay then, I'll go fetch Crazy~"

Sonic zoomed off, navigating the familiar hallways with ease. He had to go a lot slower then what he could at home, due to the sharp turns at the end of each hallway. The hallways weren't really long enough to build up much speed anyways.

Sonic ran along the side of the wall, already bored out of his mind. Doctor Mario was one story down, and Olimar almost always had his window open to allow a cool breeze to blow in. This window here should be it.

The blue hedgehog peered downwards, eyeing the window below. It was open, so with a casual shrug, Sonic dropped down through the window and rolled into Olimar's room.

He didn't expect to find the Villager (already dubbed as one of the scariest smashers around) and Olimar cooing over a potted pikmin and comparing watering buckets. Nor did he expect Captain Falcon to be barging in, a few pikmin running away tearfully to hid behind Villager.

There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to process what was going on in the room, before Sonic smirked slightly, "Sorry, I'm just on my way through."

Before anyone could say anything, Sonic was gone. Sonic mentally patted himself on the back for avoiding that awkward situation, when there was a green blurr next to him. Yoshi raced alongside him, and Sonic thoughtfully slowed down. "Need something?"

Yoshi shook his head. "No, it's fine. Samus just wanted to go over a whole bunch of readings that would determine if there were rogue portals, and I offered to give her a ride back to Zelda's room. I move faster then she does."

A flick of a tail as they sped past a frowning Ike and Marth as they quietly chatted in the hallway. It didn't take much to imagine they were talking about the missing kids, and judging by the flashlights and stuff that they had swiped-

"Looks like a group of people are about to head out for a late-night search despite what Link said."

Yoshi nodded, and jumped over Kirby. His head barely brushed the ceiling, but he fell behind. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting Master Hand- we think we might've found the portal that the kids fell through when the ledge crumbled." Sonic whipped around the corner, swirling past Falco and Fox, both equipped with night-gear and night-vision goggles. "Crazy Hand should be able to open the portal."

"Oh cool!" Yoshi squirmed past Link as he fumbled with a flashlight. "We should probably tell everyone before they try to leave and we can't get in contact with them."

"Eh, Snake will stop them." Snake had a tendency to pop up in unexpected situations, give you an update on any important information, and then disappear. He was the walking bulletin board of the Manor. Snake had probably already headed off everyone attempting to step foot outside of the mansion.

"I'll go tell Samus the news then!"

Yoshi turned in the opposite direction of Sonic, sneakers picking their way efficiently through the slowly gathering smashers and their night-gear. Sonic skidded to a halt before the Doctor's Office. "Yo, Doc! Is Crazy Hand in here?"

One hand twitched ontop of a large bed, ugly red blood still pouring from Tabuu's old wounds. The other hand floated serenely beside him, for once calm. "You wanted me?"

"Yeah, we think the kids might've fallen through a portal. Since you're the only one who can open portals…"

Crazy Hand hesitated for a moment. Doctor Mario glanced at the wounded Master Hand, before speaking up, "It's fine. You go on ahead and I'll keep an eye on Master Hand."

The Hand and Hedgehog exited from the room. "Lucario should still be upstairs."

It was time to begin Operation Save the Kids, though Sonic would totally think of a new name that would be ten times cooler then the dry-bones essentials. He might even ask Falcon for some ideas- the guy really knew how to name his attacks.

a/n: soooo, I'm gonna be busy for a bit. So next update will be Saturday or Sunday. Sorry!