Chapter One

Just as Kokoro was about to get hit by the strange man's gun, she sat up, gasping for air. She got a closer look at her surroundings. She was in her room. There was the same Story of the Year poster on the wall, the same teddy bear given to her by Fayt, the same everything.

"Another dream about them. This makes the eighth time this month! What the hell's going on?" Kokoro wondered.

She got up and checked the calendar sitting alone on the wall. It was July 8th, just as she thought. She then took a shower, got dressed, and went to the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. She must have put at least twenty sugars in before she realized what she was doing.

"Damn, I must be having an off day today," she said to herself. "I know! I'll run over to Kelsey's Bar and Grill! There's nothing else better to do anyway," she said.

Kokoro went outside and looked around. It was a beautiful day in Pot Junction, Massachusetts. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. The air from the ocean, which was only five minutes away could be smelled from a distance. The trees were a bright shade of green and flowers bloomed everywhere you looked.

Kokoro saw her car parked in the driveway, right where she left it the night before. It was a beat-up '86 Chevy that only started when it wanted to, but it was better than nothing. It took at least five minutes to start the car, but you could eventually see it cruisin' along Autumn Avenue. A few minutes later, Kokoro pulled into the Kelsey's Bar and Grill drive-thru. A girl's voice spoke through the intercom.

"Hey, welcome to Kelsey's Bar and Grill, where the drugs are cheap and the food is fresh off the street! How may I help you?"

"Uhh, yeah. Can I get a raccoon burger with the sidewalk fries and a half-eaten ketchup please?" Kokoro asked.

"Sure! And if you pay an extra dollar, the raccoon burger won't be from a raccoon that has rabies!" the girl said.

"Yeah, I'll take it!" Kokoro said happily.

"Okay, that'll be $4.95. First window please!" the girl said.

"Alright!" Kokoro said as she drove up.

"Sorry, you went too far," said the girl.

"My bad," said Kokoro as she drove back a little bit.

"What the hell? Man, you're in the McDonald's parking lot! Get your ass over here!" the girl shouted.

"Okay, my bad," Kokoro said as she drove up more.

As Kokoro drove up to the window, she saw a young girl with dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes standing at the window with a bag of food.

"Alright, you're here. Here's your food!" the girl said as she gave the bag to Kokoro.

"Thank you, and here's your $4.95!" Kokoro said.

"Kokoro, wait up! You still owe me that sandpaper from last time!" the girl jokingly said.

"You're right Cierra! Let me check the trunk real quick," Kokoro said.

"Oh God, this is going to take a while!" Cierra said. "Hey Cliff, can you give me a hand with these umbrellas?"

"Uhh...sure! What am I supposed to do with them?" asked the muscular, blonde-haired man coming from behind the counter.

"You just put them in these glasses over here. This is our new special! It's called the Tequila Señor on a Stiick. Just make sure you don't put pink ones in them, or we might lose a lot of business," Cierra explained.

"Oh I get it. You're saying I'll look like a fairy if I put pink ones in, aren't you? Geez you could show some respect once in a while!" Cliff said.

"Cliff, stop. It's not like that! It's just that everyone in this town despises pink, and they might go all beast mode on us if we put the pink ones in. Besides, you're too cool to be a fairy!" Cierra stammered.

"Hey chill out girl, I'm just teasing you! Relax! It was a J-O-K-E! Cliff said coolly.

"Yeah right," Cierra thought. She then decided to see how Kokoro was dealing with the trunk.

"How's it goin' over there man?"

"Just fuckin' great. I can't get the trunk open!" Kokoro shouted.

"No sweat. Just leave it to me!" Cliff said. He then went outside to Kokoro's car. "You're gonna love this one Cierra! PUNCHING SHIT!!!" he shouted as he proceeded to punch the trunk open.

"Damn, Cliff, that was amazing!" Cierra said in astonishment. "Didn't that hurt though?"

"Nope! I'm a Klausian! We're stronger than anyone on Earth! We can take the pain!" Cliff gloated.

"Awesome! Hey Kokoro, the trunk's open!" Cierra exclaimed.

"Yeah, but look at the rest of the car!" Kokoro said as she pointed to her car. The trunk was open, but the windows were smashed, the tires were flat, the roof and sides were bashed in, and the fuzzy dice just floated away in the warm, gentle July breeze.

"Heh, sorry about that," Cliff said.

"Sorry? SORRY?!? You just trashed my car you...oh hold on a sec. I'm getting another call," Kokoro said.

"Saved by the bell!" Cierra chimed in as Cliff nodded in agreement.

"Oh it's Fayt!" Kokoro exclaimed. "Hello?...Oh hi!...What?...Oh my god this can't be happening!...Alright, I'll be right over...Okay...Love you too...Bye."

"Well, what does he want?" Cierra asked.

"I gotta run up to Fayt's house real quick," Kokoro said.

"But you don't have a car, and he lives on the other side of town! How are you gonna get there?" Cierra asked.

"Ehh, it's okay. I'll walk," Kokoro said.

"Wait a sec. What are you talking about? I'll give you a ride in my car! Cierra, you're coming with us," Cliff said.

"Wait. If we both go, who's gonna take orders at the store?" Cierra asked.

"Mirage can do it!" Cliff said.

"But she's the only one who works here besides you and me. How can she do everything by herself?" Cierra asked.

"Cierra, you're forgetting she's a Klausian too. Don't worry about her! I've seen her do a lot more than this before. Remember back in the War of the Pie against Aldian?" Cliff pointed out.

"Why is Aldian always at war with someone?" Cierra asked.

"No Cierra, do you?" Cliff asked again.

"Yeah..." Cierra said.

"She was the weapons manager. She had to hand out the weapons, give orders, and clean all at once. If it wasn't for her, we'd all be dead by now,"Cliff said.

"Now Cliff, aren't you exaggerating just a little bit here? I didn't do everything myself. Maria and Steeg helped out an awful lot too!" Mirage chimed in.

"Guys, remember? We gotta get to Fayt's house pronto! This might actually be important this time!" Kokoro shouted.

"Oh yeah! We should go now. Laters!" Cierra said. Looking back at Mirage waving good-bye, she asked Cliff, "Say, where is your car?"

"It's right here!" Cliff said. It appeared as if he was pointing to thin air.

"Cliff, that's nothing but thin air," Cierra said.

"No it's not! Check this out! Cliff exclaimed. He reached for his car keys. It had a small remote control attached to the ring. He pushed the red button in the center. Suddenly, a tough-looking SUV came into view.

"Cliff, did you steal the Invisible Boat-Mobile from the retirement home again?" Cierra asked jokingly.

"No, I got it upgraded at the shop the other day! Now, no one can jack it again!" Cliff explained.

"I like! Okay, let's go!" Cierra said.

Cliff, Cierra, and Kokoro all climbed into Cliff's car and hit the road. It didn't usually take this long to drive to Fayt's house from Kelsey's Bar and Grill, but they eventually found themselves stuck in bumper to bumper traffic.

"Damn! What's the hold up?" Cliff asked.

"I honestly have no clue," Kokoro said. She smelled something rather strange. "You guys smell that?" she asked.

"No, but it seriously looks like someone should kick their tobacco habit," Cliff said.

"Cliff, that ain't no cigarette smoke. Look over there!" Cierra said.

Cierra was right. That wasn't cigarette smoke, but it was a car accident. The car was in flames, and there were police, fire trucks, ambulances, and cameramen all over.

"Owww, crash and burn!" Cliff said. All of a sudden, a figure came out of the car, but he was barely noticeable through all the smoke. Hey, someone's getting out! Who's our lucky winner tonight Johnny?"

Cliff, Cierra, and Kokoro would soon realize this is no laughing matter. The smoke finally cleared, and all that could be seen was a boy about 5'9" with blue hair and green eyes being taken away by a stretcher.