[Deleted]

''W-why did i come alone?''  was what Lucas kept asking himself as he traveled the ruins of what had once been the Mushroom kingdom, shaking in fear at every shadow.

Lucas had assured Ness that finding Claus was something he needed to do himself, no matter how dangerous it would be. Back in the safety of Life sphere central this had been an easy thing to claim but now that Lucas was in these dangerous lands he regretted every thought connected to that foolishness. What had he been thinking?
The Mushroom ruins were supposed to be the ''easy'' ground for rookie travelers beginning their journey across Li, ''Its a breeze kiddo, yeah its safe to wonder alone if you amount to something''  Either Lucas didn't amount to anything or the ''nice'' people Lucas had been getting his information from had been anything but trustworthy because he had not felt safe for even a single moment in this realm. Monstrous fungus's, mutated Koopa's and all sorts of beasts had emerged from their den in the hopes of getting a little snack out of their little visitor, To Lucas his credit he had make short work of most of these but that did not make it all any less terrifying. And then there was the realm's appearance, dark clouds, endless wastelands and mutated plants as far as the eye's could see. The only positive experience Lucas had was the realization that Starvia wasn't something he needed to worry about much in these parts which was the only thing that granted him the courage to eat anything he found in these parts, if only barely.

Lucas just wanted to go home to Ness, He was cold, scared, hungry and lonely but he could not give up just yet, not without at least finding one friendly soul and asking him about Claus. It made sense for his brother to be here for the exact same reasons Lucas had went. Claus might have been impulsive but he was no fool, he would seek out the danger, purposely looking for monsters to train against but he would be smart about it and start with the weaker monsters before gradually climbing his way up to the most powerful of foes.

At the very least the ruins of Toad Town provided for some shelter. Lucas entered what had once been a shop and curled up in his blanket, shaking from cold and fear. Tomorrow had to be better...it had to be.

[Coolshaymin]

Charmy was flying alongside Vector through the Mushroom Plains. They received a job from a weird jester that just came into their office not too long ago. Of course right before that Charmy was being a general annoyance as he usually is. The Jester has asked them to kidnap a blonde haired boy that was currently in the ruins. The reason he gave was the boy had strong psychic powers that could be a threat to the Life Sphere unless contained. Charmy did not question this given he was pretty niave but it sounds like he has good intentions. Besides, he offered a substantial amount of coins so how could Chaotix say no. They kidnapped a Chao for money once, this couldn't be any different. They never did find out what Eggman did with that Chao though...

Anyway, Charmy was just following Vector happily humming various things that were probably being ignored anyway. The boy once found was to be taken to a cave on the map Charmy was holding. He was holding it upside down, but at least he was trying to help.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

During the mercenary group’s wondrous romp through the deserted and rather disgusting jungle of mushrooms, Vector was pondering over their client and his motives. Given that he was rather lost in thought that left Charmy with pointing them in the right direction, which was already a bad idea. Dimentio was an odd fellow that was for sure. Anyone who wandered about in a jester outfit should usually be questioned on their mental stability, but he would let that slide because he wasn’t even certain that the being could switch outfits. Their target was a young boy who apparently had uncontrollable psychic abilities, which was a decent enough reason to find him and bring him back for safe keeping. If he was anything like Charmy then he would fear the worst. He couldn’t be left to roam the Life Sphere because he could potentially wreak havoc unintentionally and he couldn’t be left for the infected to deal with since him being infected would only cause more problems. Whether he should be left in the hands of the jester though, he was still debating. He was their employer so until Vector could come up with a reason to not trust him then the boy would be under his custody.

Finally as the lime crocodile focused back onto reality once more, his music still blaring to the point that even deaf people could hear it. His eyes immediately searched their surroundings then back to Charmy as he noticed something off with the path that lied ahead. He peered at the map in his employee’s hands. He quickly ripped the guide out of his partner’s incapable hands glaring at the young ward. “Charmy! Don’t tell me you had this thing upside down the entire time! This is why I ca-” right before Vector could continue to berate his partner’s abilities, his eyes darted away to some sort of trophy of a mutated turtle being. A quick analysis of the turf around said statue suggested some sort of battle had been going on. Perhaps it was their target who had engaged this infected creature? He handed the map back to the bee before he began to approach the body. “Huh, good work, Charmy” he never thought he would ever have to say those words.

The lime lizard inspected the body and then his eyes gazed off into the distance, what looked to be a small abandoned village or some sort of empty station was not too far ahead. The saurian gave a bit of space from the trophy for a moment to better analyze the footprints and other markings in the dirt. “Looks like we’re not too far off the trail, seems to be only a couple minutes to an hour ahead of us, probably check the village up there for ‘im”

[Deleted]

''Ah...o-okay Lucas...y-you got to eat something'' A blush appeared on the boy's cheek as a loud rumbling noise came from his belly. It was time to open his bag and see what was left.

Two chocolate bars, a Mushroom and a frozen half of a steak. That was all Lucas had left, one last meal before he was forced to eat what this twisted realm provided him. He couldn't say he was looking forward to try the mutated plants, nor to kill a monster and worry about  whether or not the meat would infect him.

''Pk Thunder!'' After collecting some random twigs Lucas gathered them on a small pile and shot a round bolt of lightning at it to make the pile catch fire so he could cook what remained of his steak.

And so Lucas prepared his meal, hoping the warm steak would do something about the cold and misery he was feeling.

People or monsters entering Toad town could now see a light coming from the window of the building Lucas used to house himself in.

[Coolshaymin]

Charmy held his head down after the map was taken from him. He was taken off guard when he heard Vector say he did a good work. When has that ever happened? "Yay! I did a good job!" Charmy exclaimed before a single bee from his swarm came to him and started buzzing. Of course, Charmy also being a bee, he could understand perfectly, "Really? Thank you Steve," Charmy thanked as if he was familiar with the bee's name. "Steve said there was a light in the town, that could be him," Charmy said after Vector's deductive reasoning while Charmy need only listen to a bee. "Let's do this!" Charmy said way too excitedly as he flew the way the bee told him, turning around to Vector every so often until they reached a house where the light the bee spoke of was. Charmy stayed a safe distance and waited for Vector to decide what to do. Looking at the map in different angles to keep from getting bored.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

Vector grew a bit of a blank stare as Charmy communicated with the swarm of bees that have been following him around lately. While the crocodile was well aware of why they were following him, it just seemed a bit odd to him that he of all people had minions. Thankfully he usually kept the little bee occupied with tasks and whatnot throughout the regular day otherwise who knows what kind of havoc Charmy could pull with his army of insects. Really, he could even be a contender for the Gang Wars going on. Even then, Vector would still be rooting for Bowser.

Vector scratched the back of his head as he watched his young companion zoom forward toward the ruined village. He sighed and supposed just following Charmy would be the best tactic. Not because he trusted that he knew what he was doing, but because he might lose the bee if he didn’t stick close and really the Chaotix needed as many employees as they could get. He went into a full on sprint tailing the bee.

From the top of the fungus’ umbrellas spied a thinly stealthy being, Game & Watch. He had been following the colourful duo for quite a while now, though keeping out of plain sight. With his two dimensional structure this was an easy task to accomplish. Even then he doubted either of them could see him above the treeline. Why was he here? Well, the Life Sphere doesn’t see too much crime during the day and the day time was the most boring. The duo seemed to be doing something of importance, especially if they were assigned to it by some sort of jester. Whatever it was, the pixelated hero was going to beat them to the punch. It had to be some sort of treasure or something, a valuable that would make the leaders of the Life Sphere very happy. Depending on its value and reward it was in his best interest to either keep it for himself or exchange it for another glorious moment of fame. By the sound of it, the two of them had stumbled across something. The action was finally about to begin.

As Vector finally paced his way to Charmy, he clung his back against the wall to better hid himself from their target and shifted his vision over to the bee. “Alright, you think he’s in there? As long as we keep the element of surprise this shouldn’t be too difficult” he whispered as he turned his volume down from extremely high to normal high. He then reached into his boot and tossed a rope at his partner. “All you have to do is tie ‘im up and we’ll be good to go. The salesman said that this stuff negates the summoning of mana in the body, but I’m pretty sure he was lying, so be careful with ‘im.”

[Deleted]

''bzzzzzz''

''bbbbzzzzzz''

''bbzzzzzz!''


A bee was flying around Lucas as he was cooking his steak, buzzing into his ears. Lucas didn't particular like bee's, grumpy little creatures with sharp pointy angles, ready to sting him at any wrong move on his part, it made Lucas nervous.


''Ah! c-could you...eeh! p-please can you go now? I-i'm really busy'' Lucas peeped nervously as the bee kept floating around him. What did the thing even want? Was it after his chocolate? Was it teasing him? Or did it know he was allergic to bee stings? Lucas wasn't but the worrywart boy became convinced of being allergic whatever one of those winged demons came to close for his comfort.

The bee did leave briefly only to return as soon as the steak was done.
''L-listen...I-i'm eating now! P-please leave me alone, I-i don't want you flying in my mouth'' Lucas all but begged the creature. He didn't realize the sound of his voice could be easily heard by anything standing outside these broken walls.
 

[Coolshaymin]

Charmy was surprised Vector would interest him with such an important job. Then Charmy saw one of his bee friends, Steve, go into the house. He then heard the dismay of Lucas seeing the bee but thought little of it due to his child innocence. Charmy decided to have his friend, Steve, distract Lucas while he used the element of surprise.

Steve the bee got the message as it kept Lucas's attention on it. Not flying away but not flying closer. Just staring at Lucas, not flying closer but not flying away either. Charmy used the smaller bee's distraction to sneak around Lucas, tiptoeing rather cartoonishly as he attempted to get the jump on Lucas as he jumped at him in an attempt to tie him down. Charmy may of been watching too many cartoons.

Meanwhile, outside was the jester himself. He was using invisibility to spy on Charmy and Vector to make sure they do not screw up. Hiring mercenaries was weird given Dimentio used to be a mercenary himself, but he rather watch and observe at the moment. As Mr. Game & Watch was probably not aware of the Jester's presence, Dimentio was not aware of Mr. Game & Watch's probably cause he was paying more attention to Team Chaotix. The Jester's invisibility only worked when outside of battle, so Dimentio was not going to show his presence until necessary.

[Deleted]

''W-would it help if i said plea-eeek! w-what is this!'' Lucas felt something...not heavy, lighter then himself even but at least something far bigger then the average bee jump him. He could hear the flapping of insect like wings.

''Aaaah! w-what are y-you! l-let me! urgh go!'' Lucas peeped, struggling around as he felt ropes being wrapped around him. The Psi boy fought with all he got before the ropes immobilized him completely but he found his psi energy much harder to access for some reason. He did however managed to force himself on his back so he could see face to face with his attacker.

''A....a monster bee!...a...baby monster bee?'' Lucas asked dumbfounded as he saw the little bee boy that was Charmy. This thing was attacking him? B-but it looked so...harmless. 

[Mr. Game & Watch]

Entrusting Charmy with the most important part of the entire operation might have been a misstep and Vector second guessed himself as the strange rope left his hands. There was a reason he left this task to the bee boy though, comparatively between the two of them Charmy was better for stealth, his size and quickness was much better equipped for this than that of Vector. Besides, what was more terrifying being attack by a slightly large bee or a giant crocodile? Their target was still a kid, so Vector was at least mindful of that.

Even with the titanic margin for error, Vector’s insect employee actually pulled through. Given how dangerous their client made the kid out to be this was fairly suspicious, but then again even the strongest of foes were basically helpless when caught off guard. A tiny smirk grew on the lime lizard’s lips. “Heh heh, good work Charmy. Almost too easy” the saurian spouted as he entered the mushroom hut, rubbing the of his chin. His eyes loomed over the little boy as he laid helpless. “This is for your own good” he reassured the blonde. He twisted back around to face the door preparing to abandon the hut almost immediately after he enter. “C’mon Charmy, let’s grab ‘im and go.”

Even from the tops of the tree-like mushrooms, Mr. Game & Watch could hear the ruckus clearly. Well, not clearly, but he could tell it was clearly a ruckus with the battle cries and yelling. Well, it was about time the action began, he thought he would have to wait another couple of hours before something actually happened. The two dimensional figure wasn’t sure what was going on, but he believed it was finally time to intervene. G&W leapt off the wild fungus without the precautions of his parachute and let himself drop like dead weight. The figure landed in the light of the door, casting his shadow into the room and a dirt cloud puffing below his feet from his landing. G&W roared his phone ringing battle cry and had his bug spray canister gripped in one of his hands.

[Deleted]

Lucas shivered in fear, especially when he saw the giant crocodile looming over him and even a Bee boy could be very scary if it violently attack you.

''P-please l-let me go mister...I-I didn't do anything! I-I'm a good boy!'' Lucas pleaded and he was right on that one. As long as no one was attacking Lucas he wouldn't hurt a fly ''H-honestly! I-i didn't do anything s-so please don't do this! I'm just looking for my brother'' Lucas did realize that  negotiating with ''villains'' rarely worked so he tried his hardest to access his psi energy in order to defend himself.

But that horrible sound he was hearing really didn't help! What was that? Some kind of....bell? Whatever it was even the unfailing polite Lucas couldn't help but think it was annoying! Most certainly if it was coming from something hostile.

''I-its hurting my ears'' Lucas winched.

[Coolshaymin]

Charmy was about to pick Lucas up until he started pleading. "... I don't know, Vector, how dangerous can this boy be if he's begging?" Charmy asked, actually doubting this for a bit. Then he heard the battlecry that can only be identifited as the vigilante Mr. Game & Watch. "Vector! Its Mr. Ego & Watch! What do we do?!" Charmy asked his reptilian boss for guidance. Steve decided to fly out the window at this point so he can alert the swarm if Charmy requested their aid. Charmy seemed to have the strongest connection with the bee he called Steve.

Dimentio decided to stay invisible at the moment. He did not want to get involved with the egoistic Flat Man if he did not have to. He decided to observe and only jump in if he thinks the time is right. For the moment he'll stay in the invisible mode he often uses to spy with.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

The little boy’s pleads were making the job at hand all the more difficult for Vector. He always had a soft spot for children, and Charmy still being under his employment was enough testament to that. The crocodile tried to mute the boy’s words by focusing more on his music than outside sound. Yes, even in the most critical moment of their job Vector was blaring music like he was a DJ. Even if a villain was telling him their plot to blow up a moon, Vector wouldn’t dare lower the volume. “Charmy, he can’t control himself. He’s not dangerous because he has bad intentions, he’s dangerous because he doesn’t” the reptilian tried to explain to the youth. Although, considering that the blond boy’s powers weren’t acting up yet that either meant that rope he bought was real or Dimentio was twisting the truth. Either one was quite likely, but there wasn’t enough evidence toward either just yet.

In the midst of their discussion about the prisoner, the Life Sphere’s hero himself appeared in the door way. Curiosity filled the beautiful mind of the cold-blooded detective. While most residents were not aware of it, Mr. G&W was a creature of self-indulgence and glory so whatever reason he was here was strictly for self-gain. Whether or not that would be the case he might not know since interrogation didn’t really work on a man who only spoke in a dead language. While he made no violent actions just yet, he was probably intent on it. It wasn’t like he was here to chat.

Vector’s eyes darted back toward his employee as he uselessly pointed out the black figure’s presence. “He must be an adversary of our client! Get the kid to cover, and counter whatever Game and Watch is packing!” the crocodilian commanded as he fled from the line of fire and blew an explosive bubble at their enemy.

Oh these primitives were still calling him Mr. Game and Watch, he wasn’t sure where this name coined from, but it only further showed their ignorance to him and his culture. Might as well let them call him that, they were too ignorant to learn otherwise. With the bee still caught flatfooted, Mr. G&W flung a barrage of bacon Charmy’s way. As the frying pan disappeared into the void once more, the black figure was blindsided by a balloon of bubble-gum. As it made contact it erupted like some sort of bomb, which blew the lightweight fighter out the door. He landed in the dirt outside in a rough manner.