Chapter One - The Adventure Begins
It was a dark and stormy day in the town of Waxhaw, North Carolina. Gusts of wind blew through the many trees, sending brightly colored leaves swirling to the ground. Dark clouds of rain swirled high above the ground. Thunder clapped far in the distance and occasionally a flash of lighting would tear through the sky in a pale blue light which illuminated the trees in the dark forest surrounding the town. The neon sign for Burger King was the only light along the desolate road. Food Lion was closed and the sign on the door swayed in the summer air.
Wil Harris drove alone in his Kia speeding down the desolate streets. He kept one eye on the road and the other on his palm pilot as he looked at newly released photos of supposedly real aliens.
He sighed to himself. "These are stupid! Fake!" he mumbled to himself as he tossed the palm pilot into the adjacent seat. He sped into the Camberly housing development, just narrowly missing a trash can and a stray cat that was desperately trying to find something to eat. Wil sped past the front rows of houses and turned onto Chestwick Drive. Joey's house sat high on a hill, overlooking the entire street. Wil turned into the driveway with a flick of the steering wheel and parked behind Dustin's black sports car. "Looks like Dustin is already here," Wil said to himself as he grabbed up a folder and a few papers and dashed across the front sidewalk and onto the porch to avoid the chance of getting rained on. The front lawn was littered with children's bicycles. Blue ones; green ones; red ones… Even ones with pink and purple tassels. A few of the spots in the yard contained nothing but rock and dirt while the rest of the lawn was covered with well-taken-care-of grass.
Wil knocked on the door three times and then stood back patiently for someone to answer. A few seconds later he herd a loud crash, the sound of a cat screeching, and a loud yell. Then the door was opened by Joey, who kindly greeted Wil. "Hey Wil! I didn't know you were coming over. Come on in. Dustin and I were just finishing filling out some old case files. Remember the old Grayson case with that old lady and the oxygen tank? They just found some new evidence and the old lady was found guilty! Dustin won the case, but that wasn't surprising considering he has never lost one."
Wil nodded in agreement and followed Joey into the house. A strange scent met his nose. It wasn't a bad smell, but he it would get annoying eventually. It was a bit cluttered inside and there were toys lying around on the carpet, which wasn't particularly clean either. He continued around the corner to the right and entered the dining room, where Dustin sat at the table looking through a briefcase that was filled with papers. Wil and Joey sat down across from him.
"Do you ever stop working?" Wil asked Dustin with a look of disbelief in his eyes. "It seems that whenever I see you you're looking through a case file or reading one of those huge leather-bound law books that fill your office. But hey! I'm not complaining! You've yet to lose a case!"
Dustin looked up at him with a smile. "That's my motto: If you don't know if the defendant's innocent or guilty, just go the easy route and assume they're guilty. It never fails!" Dustin and Wil laughed as Joey bought them a tray of freshly baked cookies, which they quickly and happily consumed. When they were finished, Joey decided to take them upstairs to show them his new picture of Maryland Monroe that he had on his wall. They ambled up the surprisingly steep stairs and turned left into his bedroom.
"Wow Joey! I never realized how big your room was," Wil said as he made his way toward the far corner. There was a large bookcase filled with books and an old-timey TV that Joey's grandma given him that had a bowl of butterscotch candies and candy canes on top. There was also a large framed black-and-white picture of Maryland Monroe on the wall and a flowery antique sofa in the middle of the room beside a bed with light blue and pink blankets on it.
"Welcome to my humble abode!" said Joey. They sat down and relaxed for a while, watching a show called Miracle Surgery. Then Wil decided to bring up what had been on his mind recently.
"You know, I've been thinking. Last week I saw an article in the newspaper about an extraterrestrial convention that's going to be held in Tokyo in two weeks. I think it would be really fun if all of us got together and went! It would be so cool! There are going to be experts from around the world that talk about the evidence of the existence of aliens. Not to mention there Will be half a dozen people there would claim to have been abducted by aliens! They Will also be releasing hundreds of new photos of UFOs and crop circles that have surfaced over the past year. We have to go!"
Dustin looked at Wil. "That reminds me! There is also going to be a Phoenix Wright convention in Tokyo in two weeks. I think it's a day before the alien convention." He paused for a second and then said excitedly, "OK! We're definitely going! All right, Joey?" Joey nodded happily and it was agreed. They were going to Japan.
"Wait. Hold on a second!" yelled Joey from the inside of his closet as he began to dig out his suitcase. "Who all are we inviting!? And how are we going to get there!?" He was left with no answer. Wil had left to rush home to pack his things and Dustin was on the phone in the corner arguing with his travel agent. Within a few moments Dustin clicked his phone shut and turned to face him.
"I called Sue. She is packing her bags right this minute and Will be here shortly. Also, we Will be taking Wil's Kia. Due to these short circumstances and my fear of flying thousands of feet above the ground, relying on engines and air currents for my very survival, we Will be driving to California to board a plane. That Will at least keep my freaking-out to a minimal! Hopefully "he" won't find out that we're going. Anyway, could you get some of the clothes that I keep here and put them in a suitcase for me?"
Shortly after this Wil arrived back at the house and the three went down to the living room to await Sue's arrival. After about ten minutes of sitting around, a horn sounded in the driveway announcing Sue's arrival. She burst through the front door with a large and slightly creepy smile playing on her face.
"Hey Boys!" she yelled as she tromped into the living room in a flowery Hawaiian shirt and long jeans that covered her shoes and that could be best described as "Ellen DeGenerous" shoes. She hugged the three, encasing them in flowery perfume and cheap dollar-general clothing. However, the joyous reunion was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of Wil's cell phone with the Close Encounters theme.
"Hello. Is this Wil Harris?""Yes.""Yes. Well. This is Federico Cortez from the Monroe Penitentiary.""What!? Is there something wrong?""In a way, yes. This regards a certain Mr. Fred Rogers.""Oh God!""Somehow he got wind of your leaving the country. If you leave the country, he has to go along with you."
Dustin had been listening to the entire conversation and solemnly nodded his head. "Yes. I believe it is true." The last thing Wil heard over the line was, "We are going to have lots of fun Wil! We are going to make puppets, and sing songs, and make belie--!" Wil hung up the phone. The room sat in silence.