MIKE TANNER "SEASON TWO" Opening 4 episodes (12PM-4PM)

The reason for this is because while the first 3 stories were not clear about how much time passed in them, the events of this story take place over one day (like the show 24, hence the story being called Season 2.) And instead of a starline to show the change of perspective, a clock will signify the change.

Also, several new characters will be introduced over the course of the season, some from familiar games and animes. Some of the things they do, say or features may have been altered to suit their purpose in the story. You can complain about it, but it's not like I'll listen.

Now Please Enjoy The Second Season of Mike Tanner

Also Note: This Season is not finished Yet. I will post episode that are already finished in 12 day increments. When the entire Season is done, I may come back and edit and extend these first 3 episodes.

Thanks To All Of You Reading :)
Toucan Cam

Mike Tanner 4

August 29

The following takes place between 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm

Events occur in real-time
General David Koopa of the Koopa army was feeling apprehensive. He was about to make the most crucial report of his life to Bowser. A report that held the Koopa army’s key to victory. Too bad he wasn’t feeling mentally prepared for it.

Arriving at the door to Bowser’s chamber he took a deep breath before knocking. Bowser greeted him and turned to speak to a crystal ball in the middle of the room. The ball glowed purple and lit up the room.

“General Koopa is here to deliver his report, Lord Rive.” Bowser said in his raspy reptilian voice.

“Good,” hissed the crystal ball in a voice that seemed black like death, "You may begin General.”

“Thank you Lord Rive.” The general walked over to a chalkboard and began to quickly sketch a diagram of the island.

“As you can see the Yoshi army has taken the bait,” he said drawing a number of X’s, “...and pursued our army to this side of the Donut Plains.” He continued as he drew some O’s to represent the Koopa army.

“Good. Begin setting up the ambush with just your troops. We still need one more heart to revive Lord Rive’s troops before our armies can be combined.”

“My agents in Singleton have found one. They’re waiting for my permission.”

“Very good general, you are dismissed.” Said the crystal ball.

Once the general was out the door, Rive and Bowser began talking again.

“All the pieces are falling into place. Once my troops combine with yours we will wipe out the Yoshis completely”

”Yes and then my Great Great Great Great Grandfather’s revenge will be complete.”

“Yes and once more this island will belong to the Koopas.”

The two erupted into evil laughter as Rive disappeared from the crystal ball. Back under the island, he smirked under his hood. “More like once the Koopas are gone the damned will rise and this island will belong to us! Ha ha ha!”

12: 07: 04

Saturdays in the human town of Singleton were always slow-going. School was out and most people with day jobs didn’t work during the weekend.

That was probably why Dave McGuire’s daughter Namine` hadn’t gotten out of bed yet.

She wasn’t really McGuire’s daughter. She was legally but not biologically. She didn’t even have a last name before she legally became Namine` McGuire.

There was no record of her existence. She had just appeared in town one day. No memory of her past, herself or her family.

In conversation ,however, she was referred to as 'The McGuire Girl' usually between the boys she went to high school with. And she was talked about often.

She was short, had long blonde hair, and everyday she wore a short white dress which ended just above the middle of her thighs, which drew a lot of attention to her in school. Usually the attention from the principal.

Yawning, she got out of her bed and searched her drawer for the dress. Slipping it on she headed for the kitchen. There was nothing for breakfast, but there was a note on the table. A ten dollar note.

There was a Tim Horton’s downtown in Singleton’s business core. That was probably why Dave left her the note. She picked it up and closed the door on her way out.

It was a bright summer afternoon and Singleton was alive with activity. Everyone seemed to be outside tending their yards or shopping in the business core.

Singleton was only a 50 year old town with a population of less than 3000. It was founded by legendary explorer, Jason Singleton of Montgomery, Alabama. He was the first human to settle on Yoshi’s Island.

Passing the park, Namine` strolled into the business core known as Warren Square. Here was where everyone was bound to be. Most business owners liked to have 10% discount sales on the weekend.

She passed Johnson’s Pharmacy And Hardware, Lee King’s Lounge, and McGuire real estate. Dave had probably gone to catch up on paperwork.

Turning right she continued down a street past the antique shop. She had seen an old teddy bear in the window. It was cute, and it made her smile brightly just thinking of having it.

12: 33: 14

“Namine`!” called a familiar voice. She turned around to see 2 girls coming out of the antique shop. There were her two best friends, Jenna Skyler and Terri Deveraux.

Terri had short blonde hair, and wore a Simple Plan t-shirt and black bicycle shorts. Jenna, the other, the one who had called her had long black hair with a raven purple tint to it, wore a black and white striped shirt and a tight pair of dark blue jeans.

“Hey Terri, hey Jen!” she greeted them as they walked up to her.

“So, where were you? I called you at like 11:00 this morning.” Terri said, “We thought you might want to go with us to the Rose Garden.”

“Oh, sorry, I was sleeping. I was just going to get breakfast at Tim Horton’s right now.”

“So, Nami, are you coming with us to Jordan’s Party tonight?” Jenna asked changing the subject.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be a boy/girl party so you gotta come. We can hook you up with someone, what do you say? We promise he’ll be cute.” Terri said.

“Oh I don’t know …Maybe.”

“Yah, you’re coming, even if we have to drag you there. There’s gonna be a ton of guys there and you’ve never had a boyfriend.” Jenna said.

“That’s because all the guys here are jerks.” Namine` replied.

“Fine. If you want someone sweet and sensitive we’ll try to find someone sweet and sensitive.” Terri said “We’re just not making any promises.”

“Okay, can we go get breakfast now?” Namine` asked. The girls agreed and walked down the street as two koopas watched from the rooftop of the Rose Garden.

12:59:59

The Following Takes place between 1:00pm and 2:00pm

“Lord Bowser, the target’s position has been confirmed. Request permission to move in.”

Through the walkie-talkie Bowser’s voice crackled “Granted, move in slowly and do not attract attention. We can’t afford to make any mistakes.”

“Understood, my lord.”

The Koopa released the talk button to deliver instructions to his compodrates. “Alright we have our orders. Move in slowly and don’t jump the target until I give the signal. No mistakes. Let’s go.”

1: 06: 23

Elsewhere a strange group of people had just strolled into Warren Square. Three of them were well known throughout other parts of Yoshi’s Island. They were heroes where they came from. In Singleton they were like a band that only ever had one big hit before going out. Mario and Luigi,(a.k.a the Mario Bros) and Yoshi had gotten their only exposure in Singleton a few years ago.

Their exploits were only exposed once in a critically acclaimed film made in 1993. By now, nobody actually remembered much of anything about it. Few even knew it had been based on a true story.

It was based on their first of many adventures, and their first time of many having to rescue Princess Toadstool. A couple of sequels had been planned, both with the same identical plot, which was found to work better for video games.


The fourth one was completely unknown to this part of the island. Mike Tanner was only distinguished by the Hattori Hanzo sword he carried in a shoulder sheath. Other than that he appeared to be a run-of-the-mill teenage guy with long hair, a torn pair of jeans and white muscle shirt.

“This is a weird town,” he finally said, “It’s out on Yoshi’s island, but it feels more like where I used to live.”

“Speak for you’sa self, me’sa never even been to this corner of the Island before.” Yoshi said.

“Me neither,” Luigi joined, “I don’t why either, it’s beautiful.”

Suddenly Mike grew very tense. “OK just act natural.” The rest of the group exchanged puzzled expressions. To Mike’s dismay, an old man came running out of the shop they were passing.

The man was shaking so hard with excitement he could hardly speak. “I will pay you half a million dollars for that sword!”

“NO!” Mike shouted, "but you can have this end of it through you for free if you ask me again.”

The old man disappeared back into his shop. “Wow, Mike, that Hattori Hanzo sword sure is making you’sa popular.” Yoshi examined.

Hearing this people all around looked up and over at Mike. As the mob dashed toward him they reached for their wallets and chequebooks. Within seconds, Mike and company were completely surrounded.

“Dammit Yoshi! Now look what you’ve done.”

1: 15: 07

Dave McGuire sat in his chair staring at his reflection on the black screen of his desk computer. Lazily, he turned it on.

He should have been on his paperwork by now. He was way behind now and he had to be done with it by Sunday. What had distracted him was the rubix cube next to the computer. Namine` had given it to him for Christmas. He still couldn’t solve it.

Opening the start menu he accessed MY DOCUMENTS and pulled up the Koehler file. Jordan Koehler’s parents had just bought a large house on Faber Drive that sat atop the hill Singleton was built on, overlooking the port.

Suddenly he heard the bell tied to the door ring. He wasn’t expecting anyone, especially not his daughter. He expected her to just be getting up. “Hey honey, on your way to get breakfast?”

“No I just got it with Jen and Terri,” she said, “I wanted to know if I could go with them to Jordan’s tonight.”

“Why? What’s going on at Jordan’s?”

“Oh nothing, just a few people going over there to maybe watch a movie, I don’t know.”

“Okay, do you need money?”

“I might.”

“Okay, here’s a $10. I’m really behind so I won’t be home until late.”

“Okay. Thanks Daddy.”

Maybe she did lie to him. Jordan’s parents were gone, getting stuff from the old house to move to the new one. Jordan and his brother Jonathan had stolen a key and decided to throw a ‘house warming' party with Jonathan’s band 'Live Flesh' as entertainment.

Before she was going to go however, she would have to get a shower and maybe something different to wear. She was thinking so hard about it, she didn’t hear the Koopas in the bushes following her.

1: 29: 56

Back downtown, Mike and company stood with their backs to the wall behind the Rose Garden. Not daring to peek around the corner, they listened for the sound of the bargain hunting pawn shop owners.

“Well Yoshi, I think I just got us out of another fine mess you’ve gotten us into.”

“Fuck you’sa Mike. I was only commenting on how your Hattori Hanzo sword was getting you so much attention.” Yoshi fired back.

“Hey, here they are called one mobster."

“Yoshi, I swear to god…”

1: 34: 56

Following Namine` closely, the four koopas quietly crept through the alley, peering through cracks between the houses, making sure not to lose her. This was a covert operation which required patience. Unfortunately for David Koopa, he was working with young soldiers, who had very little patience.

Suddenly one of their cell phones rang. Koopa ducked and directed the others to do so. Namine` didn’t even look over in their direction, however. When the Koopa was off his phone, General Koopa snatched it from him. “That could have gotten us caught! Are you retarded?” he shouted.

1: 46: 59

Meanwhile, back downtown, Jenna and Terri just came out of the entrance to Lee King’s Lounge, where Jenna’s mom worked. “Ok, I’m set for tonight,” she said to Terri, “How about you?”

“Yah I got money, now we just need someone to buy for us.”

“Terri, that’s the easy part. You just get some horny old drunk guy outside the store to buy it for you. They think if they do then you owe them a 'favour'. Then you just tell them you have a boyfriend. It works every time.”

“Hey did we remember to tell Nami she’d need money tonight?”

“No, we better.” Jenna said as they took off towards the residential area of Singleton.

1: 52: 14

Back downtown, Mike and company appeared to have eluded the crowd. “Okay," Mike said, "now that those people are off our tail, let’s get looking for Dave McGuire’s office.”

“Well, when we were being chased, I saw a sign that had his home and work address.” Mario said.

“Okay, let’s go to his work address.” Luigi said, ready to go.

“We could if I remembered his work address. I only remembered that he lived at 154 Palmer Street.”

“Alright then, what are we waiting for?”

1: 59:59

The FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 2PM AND 3PM

The residential area of Singleton was a backwards network of streets and apparently randomly placed Cul-de-sacs and Crescents. It was a mess.

What made less sense were the street signs. Some were just numbers, others were named with a real name like Palmer Street or Moates Avenue. These were especially hard to find because there was no real way of telling which way to go to find the street you were looking for. This problem was non-existent for number streets.

It had only been a few minutes that they had been looking, but it felt as if hours had passed. “Are you sure Palmer Street is in this area?” Mike asked as they passed a street sign that read 'Amity Lane.'

“It should be, we only have maybe four blocks left. Palmer Street has to be one of them.” Mario said sounding lightly frustrated with himself.

“What’s this one?” Yoshi asked pointing to a sign on the corner.

Following the line traced by Yoshi’s finger the group felt a wave of relief splash over them as they discovered what they were looking for. Palmer Street.

2 : 08 : 13

Palmer Street was one of the more active streets in Singleton on Saturday. Namine` could hear the sounds of people tending their yards, children playing, and animals barking. A slice of the American Dream, as far as anyone could possibly be from America.

Still, the cluttered randomness of suburban Singleton made it more of an American nightmare. Humming a tune to herself she strolled past a sign reading Palmer Street/Fukai Avenue. Less than a block behind her the koopas followed, ducking behind shrubs whenever she would look back.

2: 15: 09

Just less than a block ahead, Mike and company tried vigilantly to find 154. Luckily for them the house numbers were normal, even on the left, odd on the right. Passing 164 Yoshi looked down the street. Getting the others attention, he pointed out the suspicious situation unfolding ahead of them.

2 : 18 : 03

Meanwhile, Jenna and Terri crossed from 21st over to Palmer street. Just as Namine` began to walk up the driveway to 154, four shelled creatures (Koopas) jumped out from the hedges and surrounded her. As they closed in around her, four odd characters came running up. Two red and green men, a dinosaur, and a guy about her age with a sword.


Yoshi’s tongue shot out and swallowed one Koopa and spat it out at another one. He came back out of his shell and Mike sliced him in half, diagonally. The two halves of him slid apart and the light faded from his dilating pupils.

The other one rushed at Mike, who stepped out of the way. The attacking Koopa slipped on his partners intestines and was kicked by a Mario bro., kicked back by another and bicycle kicked by Mike through the hedges.

As this went on, the general and the other survivors slipped away. Namine` stood dumbfounded, unable to believe what she had just witnessed.

2: 26: 58

Across the street, Jenna and Terri looked on, just as stupefied as Namine`. “Jenn, what just happened?” Who are those guys?”

“Terri, what the hell kind of question is that? If you don’t know, what makes you think I do?”

“Calm down Jenn, I didn’t think you did. I was just kinda, you know, thinking out loud!” Terri fired back. After taking a couple breaths to calm down, she spoke up again. “Well they just saved Nami’s life. There’s probably no danger in going over there and talking to them right?”

2 : 29 : 14

“You ok?”

Those words coming from Mike snapped Namine` out of her trance. Having snapped back to reality, she felt her mind filling with questions. Finding her voice she was able to stammer, “Who are you?”

Mike was about to answer when two more voices behind him demanded the same thing, “Yah, who?” It was Jenna and Terri.

“My name is Mike Tanner, and these are my friends, the Mario Bros. Mario and Luigi…”

“And me’sa name is Yoshi.” Yoshi introduced himself.

“Yes, his’sa name is Yoshi.” Mike said almost mocking Yoshi. He could see Terri was staring at him the way she would stare at some guy on the other side of the bar who was dressed nice, wore a Rolex watch, and had a bright smile. Girls all somehow seemed to think Yoshi was cute in a way. They probably didn’t realize it was wrong. He was a dinosaur.

“So what were those things?” Jenna asked, not giving Yoshi the same look Terri was giving him.

“Koopas from the next town over.”

“Well," Namine` said, “Again, thanks for stopping them. You were so brave.”

“Meh’sa, don’t mention it.” Yoshi said sarcastically, “Except to everyone you’sa know!”

Able to tell Yoshi was clearly enjoying being thought of as cute in a wrong way, Mike unhooked the sheath of his sword from across his chest.

“Hey Yoshi,” he said innocently, “check out that brunette across the street.” Yoshi didn’t see her, but looked anyway, unable to resist. Without warning the sheath came down on his head between his eyes, compressing it.

“Me’sa bit me’sa tongue!”

“So Mike, you don’t think that might fall under cruelty to animals?” Terri asked, obviously having crush-induced compassion for Yoshi.

“Cruelty ,no,” Mike said pointing to Yoshi, “I only hit him once. That’s love.”

2 ; 33 : 59

“Damn, John this is heavy.” Jordan Koehler said trying to move his brother’s guitar amp. Despite his best efforts to avoid sounding as though he was complaining, his brother recognized it as such.

“Jordan, will you just stop bitching and lift with your legs? We’ve only got ,like, two hours before the party and I want us to be ready before then.”

Struggling hard to move the amp into the family room Jordan was finally able to set it down and take a look out the big picture window in the living room overlooking the Singleton Port.

In less than two days his parents would be bringing the rest of their stuff from over from California. His father had just quit a large company headquartered in San Francisco.

He wasn’t even sure what his father did for that company, but it had made his family basically rich. He was brought back from his state of deep thought by Jonathan calling him to help move his friend’s drums.

2: 38: 19

Meanwhile the three terrified Koopas darted down the street. They became too tired to run once they had turned down Amity Lane, thinking Mike and company were chasing them. When they looked back for the first time, they realized that nobody was following them.

Panting, the Koopa soldiers looked to their general first for the answers their minds were desperately seeking. “Who was that?” They demanded of him.

“Well, I recognized three of them, the Marios Bros. and a Yoshi.”

“Well, who was the other one?”

“I don’t know, but did you see the symbol on his sword?”

“What about it?”

“It was the emblem of Hattori Hanzo.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“It means Lord Rive is not going to be happy.”

2 : 48 : 58

“Rikku, have you finished compiling that information on Volix yet?” Paine asked for the second time in 10 minutes.

“I told you it would take 20 minutes ten minutes ago Paine,” Rikku replied impatiently as her fingers ran feverishly over the keyboard of her computer in the Shelton Library, “Stop living up to your name.”

Since they had learned of the corporation’s existence from Axel, Paine and Rikku had found a new ambition to dig up anything they could regarding it’s hidden activities.


This was far simpler in conversation than it was in action. The only pages they had been able to find were the Company’s official site detailing its goals and customer dedication as a real estate company.

Rikku watched intently as lines of results blinked past, too quickly to be read. All garbage. After ten minutes the search program announced the completion of its task with a PING!

As the two girls turned to read the results the search program brought up the piece that best matched their keywords. A news story dated today. The two read the headline and gasped.


2 : 58: 38

Over in Singleton, Yoshi’s cell phone began to ring. He answered it, “Hello’sa? Hey Rikku, me’sa been wanting to thank you’sa for such great night last night. Me’sa just not get a chance.”

“I had a good time too, Yoshi.” Rikku replied, “Listen, are you near a computer right now?”

“No.”

“Well, I need you to get to one as soon as possible. There’s something you guys need to see."

2: 59: 59

The Following Takes Place Between 3PM and 4pm

Yoshi had no idea how he was supposed to get to a computer now. He would need to get to the library. Right now the likelihood of getting there soon was almost gone, as Mike and the others’ conversation had shifted to a party that the girls were planning to go to.

If that was the case it would be hours before he’d get to the only place he knew that would have a computer. But judging by how the topic of the conversation had shifted, he might have to disembark from the group for now. But not without letting the Marios know where he was going first.

“Mario, Luigi,” he whispered, “me’sa need to go to library, when are we’sa gonna be done here?”

“I don’t know. We’re ready to leave, we’re just gonna have to ask Mike.” Mario said.

Mario did, and in response, Mike signaled the group to huddle. “What’s this about Yoshi?” he said in a hushed voice. Yoshi explained that Rikku had called him and that they had to get to a computer.

“OKak, Yoshi can you do that alone? I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to leave Namine`.”

“Why not, we’sa scared away the Koopas.” Yoshi replied. He knew Mike had other reasons for wanting to stay with Namine`, and it showed in his voice.

“Yeah, and they will probably come back. They tried to take her for a reason and I’d like to know what it was. Until then I think it’s best we watch out for her.”

Yoshi digressed and proposed, “We’sa split up then. Me’sa and Luigi will go to the library and call Mario when we’sa get information.”

“Okay. That shouldn’t take more than an hour, after that we’ll decide on a place to meet.”

“Okay, BREAK!” Mario shouted and they all raised their fists into the air.

The three girls, who had been watching the huddle, trying to hear, shrugged.

“Boys.” Jenna sighed.

3 : 09 : 59

“Bowser, it’s Rive, what’s taking so long?” Rive’s voice hissed through the crystal ball.

“My lord, my general reported to me just now that the operation was interferred with.”

Rive’s face contorted slightly with rage, “Interferred with? How?” he demanded through gritted teeth.

“As my men advanced on the girl they were attacked by the Mario Bros, a Yoshi, and an unidentified teenage boy. One of my men was killed by him.”

Rive felt himself twitching with anger. Time was running out and this was a serious setback. “What did he look like, the boy?”

“He was described to me as being white, medium build, long hair, tattered clothing, and was carrying a sword with the emblem of Hattori Hanzo.”

The dam had just broken for Rive. It took every fibre of his decayed body to keep himself from screaming his instructions at Bowser.

“Tell your men to re-configure their plan to grab the girl. And if that boy tries to stop them again, kill him.” Rive ordered, his voice raising gradually as he spoke. Then the purple light flashed out of the ball.

Beneath the island, Rive was raving inside his mind.

Hattori Hanzo. As if damning me and my army to this god-forsaken place wasn’t enough, now he’s meddled in my affairs even in death!

Images from years ago flashed through Rive’s mind. Visions of Conquest and of epic battle. He had been so close to claiming Yoshi’s Island. There was no longer anyone willing to stand against him. They were all afraid.

But you weren’t, were you Hanzo?

Hattori Hanzo himself convinced the Yoshi’s to continue their fight. With him leading the army they stood a chance. And in the centre of it, Rive had Fought Hanzo man-to-man. When Hanzo’s blade pierced Rive, he did not awake at the gates of judgment. Where he awoke, was not hell either. This was somewhere in between. Rive and his army ended up here for reasons he could only blame on Hattori Hanzo.

Needless to say, Rive’s kingdom, was far less spectacular than he had hoped for. But it was his. Yet his thwartation ate away at him and his flesh. He became consumed by revenge, and felt there must be a way back. Last year he found it, and he could not afford to be thwarted again. He refused to be thwarted again.

3: 21: 23

“Well, your highness, how did Lord Rive take the news?” asked General Koopa.

“Not very well, we better get that girl this time or we may not be able to use his army to defeat the Yoshi’s, they’re getting closer.”

“Okay, we’ll reconfigure the plan to make sure that boy can’t interfere again.”

“I hope that’s not easier said than done.”

*****************************

“Mike, there’s still something you haven’t explained to me.” Namine` said as Jen and Terri talked with Mario about how he and Luigi were the brothers in the movie everyone had forgotten. “What did those Koopas want with me?”

“That’s the one thing I don’t know yet, Namine`.” he answered honestly, “But I think maybe it’s best if one of us stays with you until we figure it out.”

“Do you mean body guarding me ,Mike?” she said sweetly.

Mike could feel colour rushing to his cheeks , “If you like.”

3 : 24 : 52

Meanwhile downtown, Yoshi’s tenuous grasp of the English language, had caused an old man on the corner of Faber and Warren, to send them in the completely opposite direction of where they wanted to go. They were by both their estimates, completely lost. The best thing they could do now was look for a phone booth and find the library’s address.

"Me'sa certain he'sa said go south." Yoshi said, facing the ground trying to hide his embarrassment.

Luigi shrugged. They must now be on the south corner of Singleton. He could see the park overlooking the ocean, and the sign with an area map for tourists. He pointed it out to Yoshi and they dashed toward it.

"Okay, we're at the southeast corner of town. All we've gotta do is go down Christie road, turn left on Faber, and the library should be at the corner of Palmer and Warren."

"Okay. So that should take about 30 minutes," Yoshi estimated.

"Then let's go." Luigi said, already ahead of Yoshi.

Meanwhile, over on a bench in the park, a man with long grey hair peeked over the corner of his newspaper at the two green figures as they exited the park. He reached into his long black cloak and pulled out a walkie talkie. "Saiix, it's Xemnas. I've just sighted two of our boys."

On the other end, Saiix had pulled off his disguise, and was now hidden in an alley. "Where are the other two?"

"I don't know. Green and the dinosaur should be headed back your way."

"Okay, do you want me to take them when they get here?"

Xemnas considered for a moment. "Can you confirm that they have all three Keystones?"

"No, just the two."

"Then wait. Keep an eye on them until they have the stones. When they do, kill them."

"Understood." nodded Saiix.

3: 32: 42

"So Nami, I guess with everything that's happened, you won't be coming to Jordan's party tonight, huh?"

"What party?" Mike asked.

"Oh, there’s this party at Koehler's tonight that Jenn and Terri talked me into going to" Namine` explained, "I'm guessing that's not a good idea anymore is it?"

"No, actually, I think it's a great idea." Mike said, “There will be alot of people there, so I doubt any Koopas would dare come around there."

Mario pulled Mike aside, "Mike, what are you doing?" he whispered in Mike's ear, “What about the keystones?"

"And what about the Koopas? I want to figure out what they're up to. I want to be there if they come after Namine` again."

"What about finding the princess?"

"Mario, that's why I want to find out what the Koopas are up to, I think it's connected with the Princess, My sister, and Yuna's disappearances."

Mario let out a defeated sigh, "Alright, we'll go tonight. But if you're wrong..."

Jenna interrupted him, “What are you boys talking about?"

"We were thinking that if you three are going to that party tonight, it might be a good idea if we came with you." Mike answered, annoyed slightly that she seemed so suspicious.

"Well, we were going to take Nami downtown, buy her something new to wear for Jordan's." Teri interjected.

"Thats fine," Mike replied, "but either me, or Mario comes with."

Neither Jenn nor Terri were eager to agree to these terms, but realized they had no choice.

3: 41: 54

Elsewhere, General Koopa had his ear pressed to his communication unit. He was eagerly waiting on hold for one of his men on the battlefield to call him back. Gritting his teeth, he felt his patience wearing thin. Being a general in the Koopa army should have earned him some kind of priority over any other business his soldiers could be taking care of.

Finally, his man picked up the phone. "Sergeant, what’s the word on those 20 shy guys?"

"They're ready to be delivered to you immediately." The sergeant replied.

"Hold off on that for now. I don't want them delivered until after dark. Then they can be delivered via cloud cruiser to an area that I will designate."

"Understood, General."

3:48:56

Saiix looked across the street as Luigi and Yoshi crossed the street. "Xemnas, they're approaching the library now."

"Good. We don't have any idea if they have all three Keystones yet, so don't do anything. Remember, they're basically doing our job for us."

"Okay, so just tail them for now?"

"Precisely."

3: 52: 53

"Your friends don't seem to like me very much." Mike remarked, looking over at Namine` walking beside him.

"I know. They were going to try and hook me up with somebody. I think you showing up hurt their plan."

"Why would that be?

"Because they don't like you. You're a danger to them. Ever since I’ve known them they've been trying to tell me what to wear, how to act..."

"Who to date?" Mike finished for her.

She looked sad and shameful at the same time. "Yes." She replied.

"So, why are you still friends with them?"

"Because they're the only friends I have. I'm not sure I know how to make new friends anymore."

"That’s not true. I'm sure there’s plenty of people who would love to be your friend. Nobody loses the ability to make friends. Sometimes we just forget we have it.

Namine`'s eyes became misty, "Thanks, Mike."

3: 57: 53

"Okay Rikku, me'sa in me'sa inbox." Yoshi said excitedly pounding the keyboard of the computer he was working on while holding his phone to his ear.

"Okay Yoshi, I'm sending those pages on Volix now." Rikku replied.

The transfer bar filled green and the files popped open. Among them were web addresses including the Volix official site, a CIA profile, and a newspaper's website.

"What's that?" Luigi said pointing to the Shelton Times webpage. Instinctively Yoshi clicked the page. A new window popped open and loaded up the site. The front cover of the paper showed up revealing a headline that made Yoshi and Luigi gasp in unison.

ORGANIZATION XIII MEMBER FOUND DEAD

Yoshi and Luigi leaned closer to the screen to get a better look at the black and white photo of the aforementioned Organization member laying face up with a fatal cut across his throat.

It was Axel.

3:59:59