Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Really!?" Stephanie's ears flapped up in an over excited perk, tail flapping about happily. "Oh thank you, thank you!" She said with a wide grin, clasping her hands together and hopping up and down childishly.

For some reason, anything and everything sounded better than having to butt heads with real life. But not just life, the kind that she hadn't even begun to dabble in her previous life.

"Well then, we should get going!" Suddenly something hit her. "Um.....Soul? You've been an animal longer than I have.....does that...uh....wet fur smell come out every time you take a shower?" It wasn't her intent to stink up her friends again, especially when about to go on another adventure.

"Everybodies a little big racist!" Margy suddenly sang out for seemingly no reason at all, before giving bit of a grin a second later.
"Heheheh! Margy loves that song--it's so funny and weird--weird and funny." the strange hamster said with another grin as she clapped her hands together for a moment.
"Adventure!!" she suddenly cheered out. "At the Mystic Ruins--climbing and swinging and and..." she flailed her arms for a moment. Getting Margy up the cliff that they were on before wasn't going to be a very hard feat. Though she wasn't sure about everyone else.
If they need help--Margy help them get up high spots and stuff! she thought to herself. Sometimes it was wonder what went on in that mind of hers, but at the same time--it was probably better left unknown...

Soul looked awkwardly at Stephenie before shaking his head. "Margy got it. It's from a Broadway performance. I doubt anyone would go off on someone else about being a racist when they've just arrived on a new planet." He stopped a moment and added, "Even though that scenario seems ridiculously rare. I'm not sure how it ended up happening here." He said, thinking the notion was incredulous.

Soul busted out into a baritone, finishing up where MArgy left off. "Look around and you will find, no one's really color-blind! Maybe it's a fact we all should faa-aa-ace." He coughed a moment and finished, "Maybe it would help us - get along." He took a short, mock bow and smiled. "Unfortunately, neither of you came with an iPod with that song on it, or else I'd have you charge it right now to listen to it. I miss hearing it. Anyway, Margy, you can help me remember the whole thing later. We might be able to get it produced and make some quick cash." He said, shrugging.

Turning toward Stephenie, he addressed Margy's question. "But I suppose on my day off, Adventure sounds good. Seeing as we've all eaten, and probably have gone to the bathroom, I suppose we should go then?" He asked, wondering if the girls had taken care of everything they needed to.

Soul turned with Margy and followed her out the door, fully expecting the hyperactive hamster to take off the moment he suggested it. "I suppose grabbing a sack of food is out of the question. Why do the best ideas come after the fact someone's already run off?" He asked on his way out. The question wasn't at all directed toward the only person in earshot, Stephanie, but rather an out loud remark Soul was prone to making. As he hopped up the stairs and into the foyer, he took notice Margy had left the building and was probably enjoying the outside air after the storm. Soul took a moment to sigh wistfully. He enjoyed storms. A lot. In fact, he could swear that the only time he could every actually think clearly is during a gigantic, life-threatening storm. The pitter-patter of rain, the smell in the air, the crack of the thundercloud, the flashes everywhere made it a treat for every sense in the body. He couldn't get enough of it.

But now, the storm was over, and upon exiting the building, he took in a deep breath of the cool, city air after a storm. 'One of the cleanest, purist, most human smell you can think of.' James has said to him two months ago. 'Truly a testament to man and God.' In which Soul, even now, uttered a soft "Amen." Turning to Margy, he looked at her a moment before speaking clearly. "I think we should think about the whole jobs and money making thing soon. You're clothes won't last more then a couple days after all this adventuring we are going to be doing." He explained. "Hope we find those rui-" He stopped a moment. The floor trembled underfoot. The city became silent for a moment. "Aw..." Shadows began to dip across the city. Screams could be heard everywhere. "I forgot to mention that Eggman isn't nearly as tame as he is in the games, didn't I?" he muttered, as the visage of the giant Egg-Carrier could be seen from far off, demolishing a sky scraper without a dent to it's exoskeleton. Soul cringed at the spectacle. Hopefully the building had been cleared out when the ship had been seen on the horizon.

"Damn Eggman." He cursed, kicking a nearby chunk of gravel. The screams were louder as the sound of milatary grade aircraft streaked across the skies. "That should at least chase Eggman out of the city and prevent more loss of life." He explained the hyperactive hamster. "Even at the cost of the pilots themselves. Eggman doesn't care much for life." He muttered. "Just uses it as a thing - leverage for what he wants. His tech is so advanced the military hasn't even gotten a sample of what kind of metal alloy he uses - the most they can do is melt the exoskeleton that drops molten hot iron unto the streets below." He explained. "And even if they did get the alloy, Eggman would just escalate things. The only reason things stay civilized is because of Sonic." He said. Stephanie had joined them outside during the commotion, and he turned to her. "I'm all for Sonic, but his belief in not taking life has gotten in the way so much. Eggman once was brought into custody, but his robots soon brought him back out by destroying an entire base. Hundreds were killed and Eggman just waltzed out. Had the audacity to program one of his robots to bring his own change of clothes and walked right past one of the only working security cameras." He explained. "It was all over the news in a couple days, seeing as it was a bunch of locales and opportunists who got to the base first." He sighed and watched the explosions from afar, watching jet after jet make a run, many of them being taken down in the process. "The other thing stopping Eggman from making a full-scale assault is the fact that once he decimates something, it leaves the military the freedom to do their own assault. It's a never-ending stalemate of destruction."

((A little backstory of what the world is really like.))

"Margy! Come back!" Soul shouted, yelling after her. The two didn't think Stephanie would stick behind a moment to speak with a stranger. The stranger had caught her interest though.

Something about the orange haired girl appealed to Stephanie. As they were talking, she finally noticed Soul and Margy had taken off, and were rapidly losing getting smaller as the boy gave chase to the hyperactive hamster. As she moved to give pursuit, the orange haired girl grabbed her shoulder and shook her head. As she did so, her features became more clear. Tikal. "I'm sorry, but you've already set them on their path and offered your protection." The key was in Tikal's hand, disappeared from Stephanie's neck. She looked hurt that Tikal was doing this. "But you've kept them up, and delayed their help. I can see much trials ahead, and you are too fragile, too innocent to withstand." She shook her head. Stephanie couldn't speak. She didn't want to go, but Tikal... she was offering her way home. She had already seen it wasn't all fun and was really more depressing then the world she came from. "Don't worry child. If they ever need you again, I will call on you." And in a bright light, Stephanie was gone.

Soul coughed as he looked around. He did not do his original name very proud, but as he looked around, he did reason the fact he never did it proud in the first place. Running his hand through a little tuff of fur on his head, He stared off into one street, and then another. "Well, this isn't exactly good, is it Steph-" He looked behind him. The brown dog was not behind. "Aw for crying out... at least she should still be at the house. I just have to find Margy and get back." He muttered. He would put money on the dog of the team was a bit to scared to go chasing after him in a city like this. Soul eyed the Egg-Carrier in the distance. Margy did enjoy shiny things... Taking off toward it's direction, he found himself almost the only one heading that way - everyone else was currently running the other way.

Soul came to a halt near the end of the mob. The crowds had thinned considerably, and only a few people who were closest to Eggman's carrier were now running by. Soul had successfully dodged a policeman on a scooter who was making sure evacuations were going smoothly. Under normal terms, Soul wouldn't of thought twice about this - surely Margy would of been caught in the crowds, or been turned around by a cop. However, with her two implements of speed, he knew that the hyperactive hamster could of and probably did go straight on by without a chance of being stopped. At this point, he realized he had no shot of catching up unless he stopped. He eyed the Egg Carrier in the distance. "Oh great, I always wanted to die at the hands of Eggman while trying to find a overactive girl who is IN FACT, older then me. Always wanted to do it." He muttered darkly as he jogged toward the shiny instrument of death.