*Ba Bump!*

There it is again… that faint sound…

*Ba Bump!*

That little beat… that monotonous melody…

*Ba Bump!*

A moment not wasted… the happiest sound I've heard all night…

*Ba Bump!*

The sign of a pulse… the sign of life…

*Ba Bump!*

She's okay… he was going to live!

The chipette's eyes slowly fluttered open, her vision obscured from her incident as blurry images began to focus.

"…leanor?" She faintly heard, as she forced her eyes to focus at the source of the voice.

"Eleanor…" It whispered again. Finally, her eyes took focus on a familiar piece of silver clothing.

There was a shuffling noise after that, followed by the soft warm touch on her cheek.

Then, a whisper in her ear, the voice soft and fading.

"I'm glad… y-you're… ugh…"

The voice fell silent, and the chipette's body screamed awake. She felt a weight on her left side, wincing in pain as the rest of her battered body came to life. Her head tilted to the weight that leaned on her; her eyes widening in shock and horror as she saw what pressed on her.

"M-Max?" She called out to him, trying to reach his face with her paw, to no avail.

He was silent. His eyes were closed as his pale face smiled cheekily as his body froze still on top of her.

"N-no…" She squeaked, feeling tears trickle down her dirt and blood-stained cheeks.

He was gone.

"Are you sure that's all you remember, Miss Miller?" Asked Inspector Addams, who was taking down every little detail down in his notepad.

"Y-Yes, sir…" Eleanor replied, sighing sadly as she cupped her cheek, feeling the warmness resurface from her memory. "T-that was as much as I can remember after the crash."

The fox nodded slightly, scribbling a few more lines into his pad before getting up from his chair and opening the door for them.

"Alright, that'll be all for now, Eleanor." He said kindly, escorting her out of the interrogation room. "Thank you for your time. I'm sorry for your loss."

Eleanor sadly walked out of the police station, holding her left arm tightly as she slowly made her way down the steps where her sisters were waiting for her.

"So, how'd it go in there, Ellie?" Her eldest sister, Christie, asked, her long wavy blonde hair swishing with the early fall breeze.

"I-it was okay, I-I guess." She stammered, suddenly feeling uneasy.

Jeanette quietly wrapped her paw tightly around her sister's, their eyes meeting, mentally exchanging words. Eleanor smiled weakly, sighing at her sister's touch.

"Well, c'mon," Brittany interrupted, "The sooner we forget about this sob fest, the faster we can move on with our lives and get ready for the dance!"

Her sisters giggled loudly at her statement, the four sharing a sisterly group hug as they laughed with tears in their eyes.

"I agree." Jeanette continued, "I'm sure Max wouldn't want us to sulk over him all day here in the police station. I mean, what would he say if he saw us now?"

"How's about "I'm going to flip y'all backwards thrice until you turn your frowns upside down!" sound?" Came a sudden voice from behind them. The four chipettes quickly turned around, giggling gleefully.

"Ever cheeky, eh Alvie?" Brittany teased, walking up and kissing her boyfriend.

"Yea well, if there's anyone who wouldn't want to make the whole world smile, that's my brother for ya." Said Alvin as he wrapped his arm around Brittany's shoulder.

"Our brother, Alvin." Corrected Simon, rolling his eyes. "I still find it hard to believe that you've moved on so quickly. It's only been a week since… since…"

Simon's words died out. He was about to stammer something else, when Theodore stood beside him, patting his back as he smiled at him.

"At tat!" He playfully scolded, "You heard what Jeanette said, Simon. No sulking or Max might come back from the grave and make you back flip til your frown's turned upside down."

All seven munks laughed heartily as the breeze ran against them on their walk home. Their hearts may still be mending, but the love the all remember still lingers, and it burns furiously until now.

"But I suppose you wanna know the beginning first, right? I mean what kind of story would this be if it was just the beginning?"

A sudden apparition slowly walked out of the police station, bloodstains all over his tattered silver hoodie, and his pale face looking at you with a cocky smile.

"Well, I'm glad they're making up for lost time." Max giggled as he put his paws in his front pocket. "Oh yes, how silly of me; I was about to explain this, right? Well, before I can begin, let me just say this story is about how a forbidden love changed the behaviors of certain people, and how those changes turned those people into something more… hmm, how would I put it- Monstrous? Yes, perhaps that's the right term for it."

A loud breeze then overcame the both of you, and he walked on ahead, turning back to signal you to follow him. Slowly, your feet began to walk after the supposedly dead chipmunk, and a bright white light suddenly engulfed you, and whispers from different voices began running through your brain, causing you to collapse from the sheer number of screams and yells that ransacked your head.

You soon awake, realizing you were still on that same pavement block near the police station, though, you immediately notice that it had a totally different feeling to it than when you read about it a few minutes ago.

"Oh good, you're awake." Teased a familiar voice, who then helped you up to your feet and dusted the leaves from your clothes. There was a small smirk present on the silver clad chipmunk's face, his hazel brown eyes glimmering with mischief. His clothes were no longer stained with blood. Rather, they looked like they were newly bought, and his face was no longer pale, but a bright brown, looking healthy and very much alive.

"What happened?" You happened to ask, rubbing the back of your head with your hand as if your brain had a few memories missing.

"I dragged you back in time." He cheekily answered, sighing softly. "A week before the incident." He then laughed softly, smirking at you.

"I'm surprised you could actually talk." He continued, "Normally, I thought people like you don't like to talk, just read and watch."

You didn't reply. Max shrugged his shoulders and walked ahead. You obviously followed behind him, observing the surroundings. The environment hasn't really changed much since a week ago. But then again, you were caught right at the critical moment, so you couldn't really much tell the difference between here-and-now from a week ago anyway.

As you followed Max into a street corner, you notice the silver clad chipmunk had disappeared from sight. You looked around, occasionally calling his name, figuring if he was going to prank you or something of similar sort. But there was no reply, and you grew worried. Immediately, you continued walking down the sidewalk, your eyes darting in every direction to find him.

Suddenly, you hear several voices coming from the next corner, and you quickly head in that direction. You see several familiar faces, going at it with their usual conversations.

"Honestly, Alvin!" Groaned Simon as he slapped his palm on his forehead. "How could you have forgotten that you had Math homework to submit today!?"

"Well, I was so busy with basketball practice, I forgot, okay?!" Alvin retorted, pulling on the straps of his backpack as he and his brother got on the bus.

"Seriously guys, going at it this early in the morning?" Whined Eleanor, covering her ear with a finger. "I swear, you two are worse than an old married couple!"

"Hah! Maybe they are an old married couple!" Mocked Brittany, who came into the bus right after her youngest sister. She walked to the back of the bus, and took her seat next to one of her cheerleader friends, and immediately they began chattering away about make-up and magazines.

"Why I ought to…" Simon fumed angrily.

"Hey, she's mine!" Alvin yelled back, shoving his brother back and lunging forward.

Both Simon and Alvin were just about ready to pounce on her when a green chubby chipmunk stood in front of them and stopped them.

"Easy guys, you know she's just trying to get into your heads again." Theodore assured, gently pushing them back to their seat.

"He's got a point, you know." Said Jeanette, who was the last to enter the bus. Eleanor's face suddenly burned bright pink as her sister entered. After they hit puberty, all three chipettes grew significantly more beautiful; larger breasts, slender bodies (even Eleanor lost a few pounds, though she's still a little chubby), rounder buttocks, the works. Jeanette especially was blessed with extra glamour and beauty, to the point where she can easily compete with Brittany in a beauty pageant and win, if she didn't keep her conservative attitude.

"Brittany's always trying to mess with your heads, and you still fall into her traps like a pair of three year olds being tricked with candy." She teased, winking at them, causing both Simon and Eleanor to gulp the lumps that suddenly formed in their throats.

"Okay, enough yapping! My ears are ringing like crazy from all the bickering!" Groaned a silver chipmunk who thumped Alvin on the head, causing the red clad chipmunk to yelp in pain.

"Maxie, calm down, will you?" Said a chipette beside him, who silenced his lips with her finger.

"Always in the nick of time, huh Christie?" Jeanette giggled, taking her seat next to them.

"Always, sis." She replied, high-fiving her younger sister. "It's such a shame you and your brothers don't get along as well as my sisters and I do, Max."

The silver clad chipmunk grinned, rolling his eyes. "The only times we ever get along," He said, "Are when there's food on a table, video game night, and when Dave tells us to. Other than that, you can forget about it.

The four chipmunks laughed loudly at the statement just as the bus left its stop, driving toward their school.

Just as the bus passed another corner, everything suddenly turned a newspaper gray, with everything slowly down until they froze completely still. People that were crossing the street paused midway, like someone had pressed the pause button on his remote to the entire world.

Just then, the pale, dead form of a familiar silver clad chipmunk came forward, grinning his usual cocky smile.

"Getting used to it now, I take it?" He asked cheekily. He laughed at the awkward silence that permeated the once busy scene.

"That's okay. I know you aren't really used to listening to these kinds of stories. So, just for today, I'll tell you all about this new system of story-telling."

He then gestured to follow him, as he walked the same path the school bus took.

"This is a system you'd normally see when playing Visual Novels or Dating Sims on your computers." He said, pulling out his PSP and pressed a few buttons rapidly.

"You, my friend, reader, or whoever you are, are now going to be part of this lovely story. This story will now spin around how you will affect the destinies of us all. You might even bring me back to life if that becomes the path you choose. In the meantime, I'll be your guide through this story, offering you what paths you can make.

"First off, I want you to tell me a few things. Your name, gender, age, and where you're from. Because, honestly, talking to a complete stranger about my death is getting rather weird, for the both of us, judging by how uncomfortable you are around me."

Max then gives you a piece of paper ripped from a notebook and a pencil.

"Fill it up here and, when you're done, come find me at school. When you get there, I'll tell you this much. You're going to be late for your first class of the day…"

With a laugh he vanished, and everything resumed its normal pace.

You stare blankly at the sheet of paper and pencil. Okay, you're living his story, but at the same time, given the power to change it. So, what are you going to do?

You scribble your name on the paper, as well as your age, gender, and a few other details, like height, weight, eye and hair color, skin tone, and whatever random inputs you decide to scribble down to make that dead ‘munk happy. When you finished writing the paper suddenly catches fire, burns to ash, and falls to the ground. Just as you were about to pick it up, you find yourself no longer on the streets, but in a hallway; a school hallway, to be precise.

You're staring at your locker, which was on the lower row. You read your name engraved on it and, after curiously opening it, find a complete set of your books, and a bag was there waiting for you. Attached on the bad was a yellow sticky note saying:

"Class starts in ten minutes. Collect yourself and get your ass moving or you'll be late." – Max.

Go figure. This is going to take a lot of getting used to. With a heavy sigh, you take your bag, close your locker, fastening it with a lock, and leave for your first class of the day.