Meh. Alright, I know that I said last time that I would be alternating between writing this and writing Passion of the Hedgehog, but I'm sort of stuck on the second chapter.

Anyhow, enjoy this chapter.

And, by the way, Monica singing "Wild At Heart" by Gloriana a bit at the beginning was something I randomly threw in because I love the song and I've had it stuck in my head for a day or to now.

Once more, I own mostly nothing.

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Chapter 8: Getting Started

Monica sighed and strode down the hall, singing and humming a little to herself as she did.

I just wanna free-fall for a while!

That rebel moon is shining

Those stars, they're like diamonds

Hell-bent on chasing down that crazy slide!

I'll follow you when you're leadin'

Right to the first taste of freedom

You've got me runnin', baby

Wild at heart!

She gently pushed up the cloth hanging over the entry way, only to be suddenly shoved back out.

"Ah, ah, aaah! Password!" Monica sighed and rolled her eyes at the eccentric dark red-brown chipmunk before her.

"Arthur, it's me! Let me in." But, apparently, he wasn't going to take that answer.

"Password!" Arthur insisted. Monica pinched the top of her nose.

"Geez, swordfish! Now, let me in." Arthur shook his head.

"Lemon drop?" Monica was seriously stressing the sarcasm. Comic-geeky Arthur was never satisfied with the current password, but never bothered to tell anyone when it was changed.

Arthur growl. "How'd you guess this time?" Monica gave him a good-natured shove and slipped into the room.

"Y'know, I got to hand it to you two." Monica nodded at Josephine and Willow. "This place is pretty neat. Now, what was it you wanted to show us that was so important?"

Again, stressing the sarcasm.

'The group', who Arthur and Monica insisted needed a team name, had, per Diamond's suggestion, set up a meeting place. Or, as Arthur insisted they call it, a 'base of operation'. Monica had said that he read to many comics.

Anyhow, the place was in the Castle Mobius basement. Monica was quite impressed; that place was full of tunnels! If you searched enough, it was pretty accurate that you could probably find an entrance just about anywhere in the castle. Some of the tunnels even lead away from the castle and would open up elsewhere.

Among the tangle of underground paths, Josephine had stumbled upon a cave, of sorts. Diamond had said that it was probably an old, unused storage space. Either way, Josie and Willow, with some help from Aleena, had set it up to be a bit more comfortable, and had drag a couch, two chairs, a bean-bag chair, some crates, a desk, two lamps, and some other stuff down. It had taken a long time, but it was way past cool.

"Well, we'll be leaving, like, today, so I asked my self, 'Self, how are we going to get, wherever?'…" Willow drew her long ears into a ponytail as she explained. "And, then, your mom mentioned this, yes…" – she nodded to Monica – "… and me and 'Leena dragged it up here. Well, down here, yes. It took forever, but I'd say it was worth it, yes!" Willow leaned proudly against that massive shaped covered with a large blanket.

"Um, what is it?" Diamond asked somewhat impatiently. Willow held up her hand.

"I'm getting to that, yes!" she insisted. "We checked it out, yes, had to do a little worked on it and…" – she yanked the blanket off – "Ta-da!!"

It was a van, mostly cream-colored with a large, bubble like window on the front.

"It's your parents old van, yes. Neat, eh? Eh?"

"Sweet." Monica was a girl of few words. She strode over to get a better look at it. "A bit old, though."

"Hey, nothing's perfect." Josephine put in. Clarity nodded.

"Well, it seems you're prepared for your journey…" Eight pairs of eyes all jumped to the sound of a new voice. Well, nine, technically, because Fish the Chao, Monica's pet who was sitting on a crate in the back also looked up.

Looked up at the Oracle of Delphius.

"Orc! 'Bout time. Yknow, I can't--" the Oracle silence Clarity with a raised of his hand.

"A great many challenges lie ahead, and you must be ready…" he stated. Monica rolled her eyes.

"Well, there's a nice bit of optimism…" she muttered.

"However, there will be many allies along your path as well." He smiled warmly. "I'm afraid I can not assisted you, but I can send you in the right direction."

His hand shimmered and a old, frayed-edged scroll, kept in it's shape with a old, mystic-looking ring, glistened into sight before Clarity. It started to fall, and she snatched in out of the air.

"Keep an open mind, and persevere forward. All will be resolved…"

As he finished the last sentence, he rapidly began to vanish, and was soon completely gone.

"Well, that's nice." Basil mused sarcastically.

"Geez, would it seriously kill him to say what he means?" Diamond was apparently bitter. Clarity gave him a cheeky smile.

"Standard oracle behavior. Say something clearly and you might…" Clarity smiled again and tossed the longest of her randomly assorted beading braids over her shoulder.

"And you might…?" Arthur pestered.

"What do you think?"

Aleena tried not to laugh. Josephine sighed and smiled a little.

"That's Clarity for ya." She said.

"Ahem!" Diamond snapped. The others glanced at him. "Perhaps we should be leaving, now!" Yeesh, so impatient... Monica though.

Then, in a more genuinely excited tone he added: "So, who's with me?"

He held out his hand, and Aleena laid hers on top of it. Then, Willow. Then, Monica, Basil, Arthur, and Josephine. Josie turned to Clarity who clutched at her scroll unsurely, and then came to add her hand in as well.

"Woo-hoo!" Monica cheered. "Underground Miracle is ready to move out!"

Josephine blinked. "What?"

"Well, the team needs a name right?" she grinned. Diamond blinked.

"Can't it be something better?" he shook his head disappointedly. Monica sniffed.

"Well, maybe you've got an idea?" she quipped waving her hand, in a random gesture.

"Nuevo Brigade?" Diamond suggested. Aleena turned to Willow and mouthed 'Nuevo?'. Willow just shrugged.

"Let's decide on that later, okay?" Josie asked indifferntly.

"Fine..." Monica and Diamond sighed in unison.

The group broke their 'huddle' and quickly piled into the van. Josephine took the driver's place.

"Alright, then, guys, let's do it to!"

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Some place, quite a ways away, a lone figure slowly weaved his way through a heavily technology-based city that was seemingly deserted. Not one other person could be seen anywhere.

This lone lupine stranger had pure white fur and short, unruly silver hair. His sharp violet eyes darted this way or that, as if fearing detection. A hefty katana was strapped to his back and he would raised his hand to its handle at the slightest sound.

The wind blew loudly and the stranger held up one hand to keep his hair from his face. He let his head fall back and he stared up at the sky.

"So it's finally come to this." He drew his katana form its hold. "Way not cool.

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This might be my new favorite chapter.

Also, it occurred to me while writing this that I had never said anything about Arthur's species and appearance thus far, so I decided to establish those during this chapter. Admittedly, it's a pretty brief mention, but still…

Oh, and I couldn't help but include a couple Mythology Gags. Can you stop them all?

And, I'm not saying anything about the end segment. I'm pretty sure anyone who bothers to care is perfectly capable of using their imagination.

Oh, and, yes, I just had to bring back the van.

-Flames-the-Rabbit344, a.k.a Delaney, a.k.a Laney, a.k.a Heidi, a.k.a Spazz-girl