Well, here's chapter 7.

The necklaces resemble closely to MonstarzGirl's bracelets, but I decided to have them like combination of the necklaces from the Disney movie 'Atlantis' and chaos emeralds from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. I will make drastic changes with them later. I own only the Rodgers family. I don't own anything else.

After we disappeared in the bright flash, we couldn't see anything but black for a brief moment. Then our surroundings made themselves clear as our house came into view with only our mom's car parked in the driveway.

'Guess that means mom's already home... that's a relief.'

Hale opened his eyes and looked around him as well, breathing out a sigh of happiness that we're back home. "Kari! We're back! We're home!"

I nodded, feeling relief brush into my soul. But at the same time, I couldn't help but feel like we were being watched when we left.

Just then the front door of the house opened and there was our mom with her apron put on and holding a bowl of what looks like tomato paste. I assumed she was making lasagna since its the only dish she would mix sauce for.

"Kari? Hale? When did you two get home? Never mind, I'll have dinner ready in about an hour. Come inside and get yourselves cleaned up! I'm making lasagna!"

My brother and I looked at each other and grinned widely. We were finally back home and what's even better, just in time to eat and get ourselves prepared for tomorrow's meeting with the Tunes.

"Race ya!", Hale yelled as he ran towards the house. I ran after him as he sprinted into the house and bolted up the stairs. Before I even took a step onto the front porch, I heard a soft rustling sound coming from behind me and a slight breeze.

'It's not even windy...'

I immediately turned around just to see... Nothing. I saw nothing.

'What? But I swore I heard something... Maybe I've been spending too much time with cartoons..'

I scanned the entire area quickly, but didn't catch a thing. I shook my head and murmured, "I think I'm just really hungry and really, really tired."

I jumped onto the porch and walked into the house closing the door behind me, the smell of food wafting throughout the house and my mom's humming.

I heard my brother washing his hands and apparently done taking his trip to the bathroom. I washed my hands in my own bathroom and then walked into my room. I plopped onto my bed, staring up at my ceiling, recalling the events of today and all that just happened to both me and Hale.

I still couldn't believe it, and guarantee that neither could Hale. To think that we were asked by none other then the Looney Tunes for help. And those Monstars... Eh, they weren't that intimidating.

The red one seemed all too familiar, well, all of them do. But the red one caught my attention the most and I knew it. He didn't seem all that bad. I felt like I knew him from somewhere... wait, they were aliens, right?

'Could that guy be the same one? The same little alien from before that I rescued? But that can't be.. He's BIGGER now! If that's the case though, how did they get so big?'

I felt so many questions pop into my head all revolving about the Monstars, especially the red one, who I think was the same one I saved that very night Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing were taken to the hospital.

My train of thought was soon interrupted by a knock coming from doorway to my room. I sat up and looked o see Hale standing right there at the doorway. "Hey, dinner's almost ready. Mom told me to come get you, and dad's home too. He's parking in the driveway right now. Guess we won that bet, huh?" A smile was plastered on his face, but soon faded as he looked at mine more carefully.

"Hey, what's wrong Kari? Something bugging you?" He walked in and sat next to me.

I shook my head. "Hale, it doesn't make sense. Those Monstars, I mean. Don't they look familiar to you?"

He gave me a surprised look and took a moment to ponder, holding his chin with his right hand. Like a lightening bulb just turned on above his head, he said, "Now that you mention it, I think we have seem them from somewhere before... nah, it can't be. You're not thinking what I'm thinking.."

I nodded to confirm his thoughts. "That they could very well be the same aliens we saw from the basketball game Friday night. Hale, it does make sense there, but how did they get so big?"

He shrugged and got up. "Beats me, but I'm still not sure if it is them, Kari. That's a short period of time for them to grow that big that quickly. Right now though, I think it's best we leave that alone. We can't have mom and dad find out about all this, at least not right now."

I couldn't help but agree with him. Hale's right. It's too soon to tell if those aliens and the Monstars are one and the same people we're dealing with. Also, having mom and dad finding out about this isn't such a good idea. They would think we've lost our minds and lock us up in an asylum or something. So everything must still be kept a secret between us, along with the Tunes.

I got up and stretched. "Well, I suppose you're right. Guess we should go and eat now. I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"

It's true. We didn't even eat lunch!

"I concur, dear sister. Let's roll!" We hurried down the hall and down the stairs towards the dining area, our delicious meal waiting to fill our empty stomachs.

After dinner was over, we had a slice of angel food cake, which was extremely light and tasty. After the cake, we went upstairs and into our own bathrooms for a shower. I finished my shower first while my brother was still trying to find a clean pair of underwear. His room is somewhat messy, but when it comes to his boxers it's a lost cause.

I walked out of my bathroom, clad in a rose pink pajama top with a red rose printed in the top center and magenta shorts. I still had the necklace around my neck, surprised that the water didn't do any damage to it. I heard from across my room Hale turning on the water in his shower, indicating that he just started his cleaning process. I shook my head and smiled at how incredible my older brother truly was.

I closed my bedroom door, not wanting to see my brother once he gets out from marinating his body in soap and water then went to open my bedroom window. I slightly leaned my head out to feel the light breeze of the dark and starry sky above me, feeling tranquil and at peace.

Deeply taking in the scent of the cool air around me, I closed my eyes and smiled warmly at how nice the wind felt against my skin. It was so relaxing, so invigorating, so...

'Why do I feel warm breath near my face..?"

I opened my eyes and nearly screamed right then and there. A large red hand quickly covered my mouth before I could utter a single sound and the red figure the hand belonged to put a finger near his lips, telling me to stay quiet.

My eyes widened a bit and my heart was racing three times faster than it normally did, but not out of fear. He jumped of the tree branch from where he was sitting on that came from our old oak tree in the front yard and into my room.

With his free hand, he gently closed the window then closed the blinds. 'How in the world did he DO that? He's pretty strong too... wait, back up! What's he doing here in my room anyways?'

Before I could do anything at all, he soon took his other hand and grabbed my left arm, but not forcefully. I was shocked at the action and even more so when he spoke.

"Don't freak out! I'm not here to hurt you. Actually, I'm here to, well, uh... What I want to say is...", he soon looked defeated for some reason and sighed heavily. He dropped both of his arms, leaving me to stand there staring at him with a dumbfound look on my face more or less.

"I'm sorry. I also want to apologize on behalf of my teammates, despite they may not want to do so themselves. I especially want to tell you how sorry I am for dribbling your brother like that and trying to intimidate him. That would be no way for me to be thanking you, especially for saving my life like you just did a few nights ago."

'So it is him! I knew it! And to take a risk just to apologize for what happened earlier today? I'll give it to him, the guy has guts and seems to have moral values too.'

I snapped out of it and looked up at him. He was quite a tall guy, even though he's shorter than the others. He was looking down at me, a look in his eyes I partially couldn't grasp. It was a mix of sadness, happiness, shame, and something else I couldn't put my finger on. I could feel my heart strings being slightly tugged at his notion. He really did meant it.

"I forgive you. It took you a lot of risk just to get here without getting in trouble, so I gotta say, I admire that. Don't worry." I assured him, smiling at him.

His ears raised themselves up a bit, his face looking surprised and his eyes illuminating with glee. "You mean, you don't hate me?"

I gawked at him. "Hate you? No, I mean, you guys did put a mean act there, so I can't say I was flipping with joy and rainbows. But hating you? Not at all. It was very kind and sincere of you to come all the way here to say you're sorry. I really wasn't expecting that at all!"

He smiled a wide, toothy grin. This guy wasn't so bad at all.

"My name's Hikari, by the way. Hikari Rodgers, but you can call me Kari, though I think you already caught my name at the gym, huh?"

He shrugged, "It's still worth an introduction. Mine's Nawt."

I tilted my head. "Huh?"

He smiled and chuckled, "My name. Nawt. N-A-W-T."

"Oh! Heh, that's a unique name. I like it." You know, this guy is nice. I mean, REALLY. Who knew, but then again, he was that way too when he thanked me for saving him.

I heard my door open and suddenly felt my heart drop. I turned around and saw Hale standing there with his eyes bulging out of his sockets and his mouth wide open in a silent scream.

Without any second thoughts, I yanked him into my room and shut the door once more, this time locking it.

"Wha- How- When...?",my brother stuttered, obviously shocked at the fact there was an alien in my room and it just had to be one of the Monstars.

"Hale, it's okay. He's not here to hurt us. He just came here to apologize for earlier." Calming him down was the only way our parents wouldn't come storming up to see what's going on.

After taking a moment of trying to regain his composure, he let out a deep sigh. "Okay, what's going on here? Why is HE here in your room, Kari? Are his friends with him too?" He bombarded us with questions to no end. What's next? He's gonna ask me if we're gonna date then get married? Goodness...

"Are mom and dad still awake?", I quickly intervened. He stopped and just looked at me. "No. They went to bed a while ago. Why?"

"Just making sure they're not awake. Listen, he's only here to apologize. My room is closest to the front, so I guess it was easier for him to enter through here." I then turned to Nawt, who was now sitting on my bed looking at us. "How did you get here, by the by?"

"With this." He pulled out a necklace that was almost identical to mine and Hale's. We gawked at him in wonderment.

'Is he gonna pull a rabbit out of nowhere next? Never mind, best if I just leave it at that...'

"Okay. But how do we not know you're here to sabotage our methods of trying to save the Tunes?", he asked somewhat aggressively towards Nawt.

"Guess you're still mad for me dribbling you like a ball. Don't worry. I'm not here to foil anyone's methods or plans. But I will give you guys a warning and some advice."

We both looked at him completely stunned. "Warning?", Hale said. "Advice?", I then said.

Nawt nodded. "I don't want to be enemies with you two, especially you Kari. But when we do play against each of our teams, don't expect us to hold back. I may go easy on you, but I can't say the same for the rest of my team. However, it will be just on you two only. The Tunes have an account with us to settle and I will act however I want when I face them myself along with the other Monstars in the big game."

Hale and I exchanged glances then looked back at Nawt and slowly nodded our heads. "Okay, well at least we know where we stand.", Hale said.

"But why go out of your way to give us that? I mean, the apology was a surprise in and of itself, but additional advice and precautions? What's the catch, Nawt?", I asked, now confused like a blithering idiot.

Nawt glanced at me with a warm look in his eyes. "No catch. Just want to do what I can to help you Kari. Your safety is all that matters to me."

I was slightly taken aback by his words. My safety? It wasn't that I took it offensively, but it wasn't something that I was expecting from one of our opponents.

Though just hearing those words, I felt my heart swell with something; a feeling I never felt before in my life... and it felt nice.

Nawt made his way to the window and opened it. I quickly asked him, almost desperately, "Where are you going, Nawt?"

My brother Hale raised a brow. "Nawt? That's your name? Huh, well that's rare..."

He looked back at us. "I gotta head back before the rest of the guys wake up. We'll see each other again, maybe after each of us finish doing drills and practice we can shoot some hoops for fun?"

Hale was about to protest but I cut him off. "Sure! Most definitely!" I couldn't explain why I acted that way, but for some reason, I feel like wanting to have the chance to see him again and I don't think it's just cause he's someone I recently rescued and all that.

He smiled brightly at me. "Great! Well, see ya two real soon then!"

He jumped down and landed without a hitch. Nawt grabbed the blue crystal and in a flash, he disappeared.

Hale gave me a look of disapproval. "Kari, I don't think this is such a good idea. What if he's just using us?"

"He's not. Trust me, Hale. Nawt is trying to help us. He wouldn't have told us all of that if he wasn't."

He stared at me for a brief minute then shrugged, the look in his eyes softening. "Fine. I'll trust your gut on this. But if he tries something on you, then I'll make him wish he was never alive!"

I jumped at his words. "What are you talking about?"

'I think he ate too much cake... Let's just hope he isn't smoking something I don't know about!'

He just waved it off. "Never mind. It's getting late and we have to show up tomorrow to help the Tunes get in shape. I'm going to bed, so goodnight Kari."

He unlocked my door and walked into his room across the hall, closing his door shut. I went and closed mine after he left. 'Stupid brother. Just what is he thinking "if he does anything to me"?'

Closing my window and closing the blinds, I turned to my bed. As I approached my bed, I gasped as I saw a red rose lying where Nawt sat. I carefully picked the beautiful flower up and admired it.

Taking a deep whiff from it's bud, I smiled brightly. 'I knew he wasn't bad..'

I took a small glass vase from my vanity and filled it with some water from my sink and placed the rose inside it.

I placed the vase with the rose on my vanity once more and went to my bed, tucking myself in. Taking one last look at the rose while clutching the crystals around my neck, I turned of my light; sleep enveloping me with the most of pleasant dreams for the rest of the night.