Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Yeah!" Max replied, his smile beaming. "I'm going a be a arctitect someday!"

"I like your manners, young lady." Barnes said, nodding his head once and taking off his cap as a gesture of manners. "Make yourself at home. Please be careful walking around, not everything here is stable yet."

"Come on, since Irene's at school I'll show ya around. She should be here any minute."

Max looked up at Mr.Barnes with a big smile. "I like her!"

Barnes chuckled and put a hard hat on Max's head. "Let's get back to work."

"Okay," Max replied with a toothy grin before going to get his own little toolkit Mr. Barnes set up for him.

Meanwhile, Clayton led Lizz to the bottom of the stairs and shouted up, "Incomin' two more on board!"

"Get your a** up here, Clay! Check this out!" Another voice called.

"Come on," Clayton said to Lizz, looking back at her with an eager smile before running up the wooden stairs. "Holy s**t, you guys! This looks awesome!"

The upstairs looked perfectly done. Walls were put up, floor was solid, and a group of people were sitting around on the carpet. "Check out the new floor! Isn't it awesome?" Said a young man with slicked back blond hair. The kid had a plastic leg and was dreadfully thin.

"You guys put the carpeting down? Man, its a lot more comfortable, that's for sure," Clayton replied.

The only one not around on the carpet was a man with long, silver hair in a ponytail. He leaned back on a wall and looked behind Lizz with piercing, silver eyes. "Who's that behind you, Clayton?" He asked.

"I was just about to get to that," Clayton replied before looking around. "I guess Conner and Bill went to get Irene?"

"Girl can't walk two steps without them hounding her," said a dark-skinned boy chewing on gum. "Its annoying."

"Conner's just protective," replied a soft-sounding young man with black hair and glasses, "And for what goes on here I can't blame him. If Irene got hurt, just imagine-"

"Aaaaalrightalrightalright." Clayton raised his hands and started the introduction. "Lizz, the guy with the silver hair is Jacob, and the bunch in a circle are Tycho, Tucker, Bruce, Renee, and Loki. Hey, Bruce, where's my idiot cousin?"

"He's grounded, man. Got caught when we fished Gerald's locker."

"Hah, of course he did. James still sick?"

"We would have never got caught if James wasn't," Bruce replied, "Renee, you've been quiet this whole time."

Renee hadn't said a word. She was looking at Lizz with a strange, quizzical look. Finally, she pointed to the woman and said, "Alien."

Everyone face-palmed.

"Everyone is an alien according to you," Tucker muttered, blowing a bubble from his gum.

"I'm serious this time! She used her mind power to control Clayton's feeble mind-"

"Hey!"

"And now she came to take over our bodies! First us, then... The world."

"I worry about you sometimes," Tucker told her.

"The cautious seldom err," Tycho replied, having quoted a proverb. "Renee, you should be more careful with who you judge."

Renee stood up suddenly with a triumphant smile. "I KNEW IT!"

"Sit DOWN," Bruce pushed her back to sit. "Your brother is the one brainwashing you."

"I'm only joking, you know," Renee said with a smile, "Aliens don't have brown hair, they're either blond or black. This was just a test to see if the girl would fit in with us."

"If she fits in than she's in a lot of trouble," Tucker muttered.

"It takes a special person to be part of the underdog gang." Renee looked at Lizz and then pat beside her.

"We're special, alright," Loki sighed, "We're all outcasts." Loki looked at Lizz with a soft smile. "Which makes me wonder, why did Clayton bring you here?"

"Once you got to Torusa?" Loki mused.

"Oh my Almighty you're from a different continent! I wondered why you had an accent. Are you from Curtesia too?" Renee asked.

"She's from farther North from where I was," Clayton replied, "But yea, she's fresh from the boat."

"If you came for Irene she should be here soon," Loki curled his legs closer to himself. "Its strange that Irene has a friend from Curtesia. I wonder what they gave you. However, I won't pry."

"That's new," Bruce smirked, chuckling jokingly at the glare he got from Loki. "I'm just kidding, man. You should lighten up a little."

Though there was the sound of construction downstairs, there was a ringing sound that made itself known. "Bet that's them now! Conner and Irene'll love their new place. Let's give 'em a heartwarmin' welcome."

"More like a heartwarming goodbye," Jacob muttered.

"Come on Lizz, lets go on down." Clayton started leading her back downstairs.

As Clayton bounded downstairs, he was facing the back of a blond-haired kid. "Haha, gotcha, Conner!" Clayton shouted, jumping down the rest of the way just for Conner to step aside to have Clayton land on the bottom. Not expecting it, it took a second to get his balance back.

"Next time you should not shout before jumping," Conner gave him a raised eyebrow before wrapping his arm around Clayton's neck and rubbing his fist on Clayton's head.

"Conner OW let me go man!"

Conner did, then put his hands in his pockets, taking a couple steps back.

"Why do you boys ALWAYS have to rough-house. Mr. Barnes is fixing this place up, the least you could do is not break s**t." A feminine voice called out to them from beside the door, and she stood beside a man with bulging muscles, a few unsightly scars and green hair. The man wasn't only huge, but tall. He had to bend a lot to get through the door, and there was no way two people could get out that door at once with him being one of them. He was somber, quiet, and looked like he would crack a neck in seconds.

Bill didn't notice the girl until his eyes trailed up. When he saw the smile, he assumed it was for Irene. Bill nudged Irene and she side-stepped from his strength. She looked at where he was looking and Irene caught the sight of Lizz. Irene smiled and waved, though she was confused as to who it could be.