Chapter 1: Missile Sighting

"Mr. Cunningham!"

The seventeen year old boy with violet hair wakes up, showing dark blue eyes, and looks at an irritated Mrs. Driscoll. "Unless you want to fail health class, I suggest you don't take a nap in my class."

"Yes, Mrs. Driscoll," he assures. When the old teacher turns back to the board, and twisting the skeleton of Mr. Driscoll with her, Randy Cunningham, also known as the Ninja of Norrisville, leans on his arm, holding a bored expression again. He watches as the aged woman draws the picture of the human brain on the whiteboard, using different colors to represent the different parts. But as he stares at the image, his mind wavers off again as usual. His eyes flutter and soon close. Suddenly, he sees fire everywhere. Lava runs around and most buildings are burned, ashen, and destroyed. Screams of pain and terror can be heard all around. As the fire spread, a body appears and shrieks, making the teen gasp back awake.

Next to him, his orange-haired, round teen named Howard Weinerman notices the change in his friend's appearance, who is breathing heavier than usual and his skin is slightly pale. He nudges to alert him and asks, "Hey, you okay buddy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just saw something really scary."

"And that would be?"

The secret ninja debates whether to tell him or not, a little nervous on what he would think, and compromises on, "I'll tell you later." He looks back at the board of a brain and instantly becomes confused. "Uh, Howard, what are we learning?"

Turning to him with a slightly bemused face but answers, "We're learning about the importance of the brain and the many different problems that can happen to it."

"What does that have to do with science?"

"Uh, we're in health."

Again, Randy is confused but then remembers it again. "Oh, right."

"Having a brain fart, Cunningham?"

"Ah-I don't know. Lately, I've been forgetting things. Don't know why, though. Good thing they're small things."

The bell rings and everyone rushes out of their classrooms. Howard and Randy stop by their lockers and the orange-head asks, "So what was the reason for your frightened look earlier?"

Alright. Well, when Mrs. Driscoll was talking I started to doze again-"

"Yeah, saw you do that."

"-then I started dreaming. I thought it would be me kicking the Sorcerer's but again, but I instead saw something…unimaginable."

"If it's unimaginable, then how come you saw it?" Howard jokes.

"I'm serious! Everything was on fire. There was lave running everywhere, and everything was just…destroyed! Like it's the end of the world!"

Randy's friend stares at him then gulps, finally wrapping his mind on why it's unimaginable.

"And that's the not it. Before I woke up, somebody, or something, appeared in front of me and it roared at me with his arms flailing around. The freakiest part is that his eyes were glowing blue."

"Okay, that is pretty scary," he admits. "Did you happen to see any scary movies recently?"

After thinking for a moment, he answers, "You know, there was that zombie movie I saw a few days ago. Maybe that's why. The world was an apocalypse."

Howard sighs and says, "Oh, great. I thought the dream meant something."

"What? Did you think I had a vision?"

"I don't know."

Through a gap in Randy's backpack zipper, a red glow starts emitting. Curious, Randy excuses himself to the restroom and takes out a square black and red book with weird symbols everywhere. When he opens it, his body goes slack as his spirit is whisked into the flipping pages. After floating through some Japanese art and passing through some doors, he comes to a small village with a few cherry blossom trees and the mountains far off. "Okay, Nomicon. What is it that's bugging you?"

To answer, a dragon stomps into the village and attacks a wall to shreds. When it's done, the dragon flies away and the secret ninja reads what the winged lizard left. "Trust your heart, despite what others say, and they will trust you."

"What does that mean? You know that I work alone. Besides, everyone already trusts me to save them."

Suddenly, the ground starts shaking vigorously and lots of fissures extend all over the village. Randy falls down and watches in horror as the village breaks apart and fires spread everywhere. He shouts, "Are you trying to scare me by recreating my nightmare? Just get me out of here now!"

A hand sprouts out of the ground when his spirit gets pushed back into the rightful body and Randy suppresses a shudder. He puts the book back in his pack and walks out of the bathroom to find Howard waiting for him. "So, what did the book wanted to talk about?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." He heads to his history class, followed by a confused Weinerman. They arrive just before the bell rings and take a seat in the back of the class so the teacher doesn't catch them resting. The history teacher walks in with a brief case and announces, "Good morning. I hope you all studied for the test today."

A few students groan, including Howard who says, "That's wonk," but the purplette actually smiles. Well, it looks like my mom forcing me to study is actually going to pay off, he thinks.

After the teacher passes out the papers, he says, "You have until the end of the class to finish. Begin," then sits at his desk with a book in hand. Everyone soon starts rubbing their heads in frustration at the equally frustrating questions. The only ones not troubled are the A+ nerds and, to some extent, Randy. A few questions he passes with ease and some he has to stop and think. Halfway through the class time, he glances over at his friend and finds him struggling on the second page. He pounds on his head for a while then grins. He writes his answer on the paper.

When history class is almost over, the ninja looks over at his paper again to see if he answered everything. He smiles but then spots something at the bottom of the last page. An EX is next to the question. "Hmm. I could always use some extra credits," he whispers. But when he reads the problem, he is greatly puzzled.

"What is group 935?"

What the juice? What does that have anything to do with World War II? Randy asks himself. He shrugs and decides to answer it. When its five minutes before the bell rings, the teacher walks around and picks up the test, finished or not. Everyone starts talking and the carrot-head asks his friend, "So, what'd you think of the test?"

"I found it pretty easy."

"Mom made you study?"

"Of course. How 'bout you?"

"I barely passed page four," Howard answers.

His friend reassures, "Hey, at least you got to the last page."

Once the bell rings, everyone leaves for their next class but the teacher stays at his desk to grade the tests. He whisks through them easily, having memorized the answers over the years. He gets to Cunningham's test and corrects it, slightly astonished Randy got a decent grade. When he reaches the extra credit question and reads his answer, he flinches forward in shock and reads again just to be sure. "Oh my…" The teacher looks around to make sure he's alone then rips the small section and shreds it in the shredder.

Later, at lunch, Randy walks to the table where Howard is already scarfing down his food. He sits next to his friend and starts eating when the carrot-head asks, "Cunningham, you mind telling me what the Nomicon wanted now?"

"Fine. The book told me to trust in myself, despite what others say, and they will trust me. After that, the village I was in broke to pieces."

"What do you suppose that means?" he asks.

Randy is about to answer when a kid trips nearby and spills food all over him. The one who tripped him starts laughing along with everyone watching and the boy runs out of the lunchroom, humiliated. The friends watch him silently then the ninja says, "I don't know what the juice that means. I mean, is it too much to ask for a clear answer?"

"You mean like my McFist Pad?" Howard says, smiling.

"No. The McFist Pad works for you, but the Nomicon works for me. Somewhat."

Unexpectedly, a large, bull-like beast with twisted horns rips the lunchroom doors off their hinges and roars. The whole room takes action and screams out of the school with the faculty. The ninja of Norrisville says, "Looks like its Ninja o' Clock," and jumps behind the food aisle, black and red ninja mask in hand.

The Stanked teenager chases after the bully that tripped him, much to the bully's dismay. He screams for someone to help him when a red cloud erupts on a table with a shout of "Smoke Bomb!" When the cloud disperses, the Norrisville Ninja appears and jumps in front of the monster. "Alright then, let's get this over with," he says while taking out his expandable nunchucks. The beast roars and charges, but Randy effortlessly jumps over the bull and throws his nunchucks around the horns. He pulls himself back in front and whacks the stanked teen through a wall. It crashes into a tree, uprooting it. While befuddled, the ninja runs out and spots a glowing green sketchbook in his belt. "Sketchbook. You must be an artist. Ninja grab!" He uses his scarf to swipe the book out of the belt and slices it with his Ninja Sword he took out from the suit. The Stank flies out of it along with the Stank from the teen and heads back into the school. When the green mist disappears, the hero turns back to the teen and finds him waving his head around, obviously still dizzy. "Hey, you gonna be alright?"

To answer, the boy just faints. The ninja groans and mutters, "Great. Now I have to carry him to the nurse's office." After taking off his mask, he looks around to see if there's anyone to take her when he spots Howard sprinting toward them. Ah, good. No I won't have to carry him alone. But when the orange-head comes closer, he notices that he looks frightened. "Hey Howard, what's with the face?"

The friend stops and says between gasps, "Cunningham, we need to get back to school. Now."

"Why in such a hurry?" he asks while scratching his head in confusion.

"Don't you hear the sirens?"

"Huh?" The purplette listens and hears a loud noise echoing in the air. "Okay, but what does it mean?"

"I don't know, but we need to get back inside! C'mon!" Despite his heavy breathing, the round boy runs back to the double doors of the school. Randy quickly picks up the unconscious boy and chases after his friend. When they get to the door, Howard tries to push the doors open but they won't budge. "Oh man, we're too late!" He starts banging hard on the window while screaming, "Someone! Anyone, open the doors! Help!" When he's exhausted, he slides down the door and collapses on the ground. He groans, "Maybe we can find another way in."

The ninja was about to agree when he hears a new noise amongst the siren. He looks up and widens his eyes in dread. He stutters, "H-H-Howard, I think we're too late."

"What do you mean by that?" he looks up and screams, plastering himself on the door. "We're all dead!"

Above the whole world, the two teens see a missile flying across the sky, slowly pointing down to earth. Randy looks around and barely sees two more rockets aiming at different parts of the world. He looks back at the locked doors then sets the boy he's carrying down. "Alright, I'm going to go ninja and break through the door. After that, we rush to the missile-safe room."

"What are you waiting for?! Do it!" shouts the carrot-head.

"Hey, you boys!"

The friends look toward the voice and spot the school janitor, Sundown, standing next to a cellar on the side of the school. "Quick, get in here!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Howard shouts while jumping over the railing. The secret ninja picks the artist up again and quickly follows. Once the three are inside, the janitor hastily closes the metal doors and locks it tight. "Alright. We should be safe now."

After setting the comatose boy down, Randy looks around the cellar and spots a TV on a desk next to a radio and an Xbox underneath the TV, a bookcase full of books and games, more games than books, a cot with some blankets, and a door on the far wall; not the usual knick-knacks you would normally find in a cellar. "Thanks for the save Sundown, but uh, what's all this?"

"Well, at first it was a tornado cellar back then but when the school added the safe room inside, they forgot about this. So, with my paycheck, I fixed it up and use it as my personal home," the janitor says. "It's got everything. Entertainment, a place to sleep," he walks to the door and elbows it, making it open to reveal lots of canned food and a small kitchen. "And food to last us about seven months. Also, the doors are made of stainless steel, gratitude of the school."

"But, don't you have a home of your own?"

"Yeah, but I come here to get away from my mom. Which I do often, now that I think about it. Anyway, you three are safe until the government give the all-clear."

"And how long will that take?" Howard asks.

"Oh, one day, a few months tops."

"But, what about our parents?"

Randy answers, "I'm sure they know we're safe. After all, the school has its own safe room." Suddenly, the entire room starts shaking, knocking everyone off their feet and waking the artist. When it stops, he shouts, "Who, when, how? What's going on?"

The other three look at each other when Randy adds, "But just in case, I'm gonna call them." He takes out his phone and speed dials his mother. After a while of constant ringing, the ninja finds that his phone is on voicemail. He hangs up and says, "That's strange. The cell tower must be down."

"No surprise there," Sundown says, lying on his bed.

"Hey, what's going on?" the teen asks again.

After explaining what happened, the artist runs around the room screaming in a panic for hours. The others just watched him with annoying expression. When he had enough, Howard sticks a foot out and trips the boy. "Would you just calm down? We're going to be fine. I mean, we're only stuck in here for a day, or a month or two," he mumbles the last part.

"Okay. Okay. I'm good."

The purplette sighs and says, "Looks like we're going to stay here for a while, with a wacky artist, my best friend with a black hole stomach, and a janitor. Oh boy."

It's been three days since Randy, Howard, the artist, and Sundown has been locked in the improved cellar. Right now, the janitor is sleeping on his cot, the teen artist is drawing on some papers and improvised supplies, and Randy plays some cards with his Howard. On the desk, the TV has been nothing but static as well as the radio. After looking at his cards, Howard asks, "You have any aces?"

"Go fish," Randy answers.

He picks up a card and the purplette asks, "You have any ones?"

His friend growls and hands him a red and white card with one heart on it. Randy smiles and positions his last set, showing his success. The carrot-head groans and throws his deck down. "I don't get it. How are you winning so much?"

"What can I say? I'm just lucky."

"But for three days straight? Not likely!"

"Oh well." He gets up and grabs a blueberry muffin from the kitchen for the tenth time. Geez, I'm sick of these, the ninja thinks while peeling off the wrapper. He walks back out long enough to see the teen artist put down the pencil and says, "Hey Cunningham, wanna see another masterpiece?"

"No thanks. I've seen nothing but masterpieces for three days. What I want to see is outside."

"Whoa, hold on kid," the janitor wakes up and stops him. "We never got the okay from the Man."

"And how are we gonna get the all clear?" the ninja asks, motioning to the TV and radio. "These things are useless and I don't think they're going to get fixed anytime soon."

"Either way, we have to wait."

Howard gets up and stretches his back then says, "If we're going to wait longer, then I am going to get a snack."

"Oh-hoh, no you don't." Sundown scampers off his bed and blocks the entrance to the kitchen. "You already ate three months worth of food in three days. Now, you're sticking to breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Oh, come on! It's not my fault I'm a growing man."

"Yes, that's it!" the artist exclaims. "That will be my next masterpiece!"

"Oh, for the love of…" the purplette mutters, "You know what, I don't care. I am going outside and checking what happened." He starts walking to the doors but the janitor tries to stop him, "Whoa man, I suggest you don't."

Randy ignores him and unlocks the door. "Alright then, let's see what the world looks like." He vanishes from view. All the others see is a gloomy red glow coming from the door. They don't hear anything for a while until Randy's voice calls, and it sounds frightened, "Uh, guys? You should come see this."

Confused, the carrot-head asks while climbing up, "Cunningham, you okay? You sound like you just saw a ghost."

"I wish I saw a ghost."

"What do you mean by…that?" he mutters at the end. He now sees the world for the first time in three days, or what's left of it.

Reddish dust coats the world, so thick it diminishes everyone's vision and the sky so no one can tell if it's day or night. For the small parts not glazing the earth, cracks riddle the ground, some large enough to let lava flow out and cast an eerie reddish-orange glow. Trees are burnt and bent in horrific shapes and the grass is scorched beyond dead. Randy turns around and finds that most of the school has collapsed into a rubble pile but the clock tower still stands. But that is slightly bent and has large cracks, the clock missing two thirds of its face. The teenagers hear fire crackling somewhere and they hear far-off screams. Howard's breathing shudders at the sight of the new world. "Did Hell rise up and take over?"

"I don't know, but all this looks familiar, I just don't know why. We should get back to the cellar. I'm getting a very bad feeling." Randy starts walking back when something tackles him down with a screech, terrorizing the teen to his soul.