Chapter Two
"There…I think that's far enough…" whined Mario. "We'll be fine here. We can even talk."
The gang had reached a moonlit clearing in the forest, out of view from the Academy, but still a short walk away from Kyoto.
"You're already tired, Mario?" asked Naushi. "Wow, you need more energy. C'mon, let's go explore late night Kyoto!"
'First, let's find out who SHE is.' said Link, pointing at the girl. "Somehow…I just don't seem to trust her…"
"relax," smiled the girl, "I don't bite, you know. Besides, I haven't been to Kyoto in a long time. It'd be nice to go back."
"I don't mind if she tags along at all. I want her to come" Naushi stated trancelike. He was smitten.
"I don't either." answered Norman. "But just to be safe, I think we should return to the school by midnight. Just to be safe, you know."
"Fine." replied Link, "But first…who are you, girl? What's your name?"
"It's Lola." she replied with a smile. "Lola Richards."
What a stupid alias. thought Yoshi. Yoshi knew everybody, and this was not Lola Richards.
Lights flashed. Cars zoomed by. All the clubs were open. Naushi, Mario, Link, Yoshi, Kirby, Norman and Lola were casually strolling down urban Kyoto. It was almost eleven.
"Let's go to the old Imperial Palace." suggested Mario. 'I've always wanted to go there."
"I think they're closed now," said Link, "we should go down to Moe-Joe's. They got awesome Mexican food, Italian food, Chinese food, an arcade, and lots of pool. Want to go, new-guy?"
"It sounds okay.'" answered Naushi. "I've never been to Kyoto, so I don't know any places."
"Moe-Joe's sounds great." commented Lola. "I've been there before."
"WEE!" shouted Kirby. "(After we go to Moe-Joes, let's go pick up some girls!)"
"We already did." snickered Naushi.
"Before we go anywhere, a question needs answered: who brought money?"
The gang was silenced. They had been so excited at sneaking out they didn't bring any money. They would have to go back. The escape had been pointless.
"Don't worry, boys. I have money. Lots of it." Lola reached into her pockets and handed Link, the leader, some bluish white bills.
"Wow, money from the Galactic Federation. Where'd you get money like that?" asked Link, in awe at the money in his hands. "Each bill is worth about 200,000 yen. In U.S. dollars, that's about 2000 dollars. We could live off of this!"
"You're the heroine as usual, Lola." said Naushi.
"(Pffft.)"
After a brief minute of conversation, the night's schedule would be decided. To start things off, they would go get a bite to eat at Moe-Joe's. They would then stroll through Kyoto and visit any shops they found interesting. At about midnight, they would sneak back into the Academy, cover up anything that might get them into trouble, and go to bed.
"I'll have a Mega-Sampler, a large Coke, and a side of exquisite Japanese ramen." said Naushi to his waitress at Moe-Joe's.
Moe-Joe's was located in the busy part of southern Kyoto, the more urban-style area. Tucked neatly in between a karate-dojo and a small shop filled with trinkets, Moe-Joe's was the most popular place in the neighborhood. Moe-Joe's interior was dark and cozy, and the seven had chosen two tables in the back of the restaurant. One table hosted Mario, Yoshi, Kirby and Norman, and the other hosted Naushi, Link, and Lola.
"Alright, looks like that's all you guys. Your orders should be done in twenty minutes! Until then, feel free to ask me for assist…"
Now that he had ordered, Naushi paid no attention to his waitress. He wanted to learn more about this strange new acquaintance the gang had made.
"I've never seen you at school," started Naushi, "you new?"
"No, I've actually been here since Freshman Year." answered Lola. "But you've obviously never met me before. I tend to keep to the shadows."
Keep to the shadows. That's so cool. thought Naushi.
"Hey Lola, how did you get money from the Galactic Federation? Does your father work there or something?" asked Link. He wanted some money.
"That," answered Lola with a wink, "is a secret for now."
"Hey, Naushi! Link!" shouted Mario from his table, "Is it legal to use Tornado, Black Hole, and Dynamite in Rock-paper-Scissors? And which beats which?"
"Believe it or not, I'm a master of ROCKPAPERSCISSORS!!" shouted Naushi.
WTH?!
"Anyway," he answered, "Black Hole destroys all, Dynamite is the weakest of the three. Oh, and…"
The conversation got more crazy from that. Rock-paper-scissors became the end of the world, the end of the world became the existence of aliens, and the existence of aliens became some students at the Academy.
"…so there are some students at the Academy I would NEVER trust. They're monsters, horrendous people!" exclaimed Link in a story-telling voice. 'Some say these people…are aliens."
"Like who?" giggled Lola. She was having a good time with these strange people.
"Oh nobody." said Link. "Just Bowser Koopa. Naomi Jimm, Mewtwo, Pit, Jack X, and…Samus Aran."
Lola was suddenly quieted. "Who did you just…"
"Food's here!" exclaimed the always-hungry Mario. "Time to eat!"
Hideki Zin (Japanese) and Jon Forman (American) were a teacher tag team. Mr. Zin and Mr. Forman were generally nice to kids in class, but that was just a cover-up. They were both actually ruthless killers. They hated kids, and wanted revenge. Revenge for what? Nobody knew. They had a story, but nobody yet knew it.
Mr. Forman was once a professor at Harvard University, the most prestigious school in the United States. He had later come to Academy Nintendo. He had aging brown hair, a hawk-nose, and a friendly smile. The smile was fake though, when nobody was looking, he always scowled. He was smart academically-speaking, but in reality, he was very stupid.
Mr. Zin was born in Okinawa. Mr. Zin was old with white hair (but not bald). Other than that, he looked like your typical Japanese elder. Mr. Zin was clever as a fox, and considered the leader of the two. Like his partner, Mr. Zin had an appetite for blood.
Mr. Forman and Mr. Zin hated nothing more than troublemakers, ones they were willing to kill. And tonight, Naushi and his friends were the troublemakers. They were also the bosses of something called the N-Squad.
"Ah! That was a great meal." yawned Naushi as he stepped outside of Moe-Joe's. "I feel great. Can't wait to go explore."
From the bushes, two shadowy figure had caught up with and were spying on our heroes. Mr. Zin and Mr. Forman were going to attack the next time nobody else was around…
"Hey boys," suggested Lola, "there's this really great place called the Imperial Theater. They have great short movies. Let's go, I know the way."
So they walked through the quieted down streets of Kyoto, headed South. Where was Lola leading them?
"Hey. This isn't working." grumbled Mr. Forman from the darkness he was tailing them from. "Why don't we get them to go another way, huh, Hideki?"
"Don't worry, Mr. Forman." stated Mr. Zin, who was hiding right next to him. "I've got a plan. As soon as that lady leaves…hey! They're alone now! GET THEM!"
Mr. Zin and Mr. Forman quickly and quietly rushed towards the group, each with a knife in hand. Mario was at the back. He was to be the first.
"Hey!"
Lola had heard the teachers sneaking up, and reacted quickly. Just as Mr. Forman was about to stab Mario, she jumped at Mr. Forman, grabbed his arm, and flipped him on to his back! But then Mr. Zin attempted to get Mario himself. Lola was about to do the same thing to Mr. Zin, when Mr. Forman tripped her.
By now, Mario and the others were up to date. Mario realized he had almost just been murdered, Link realized that this girl was a fighter, and Naushi realized the fighter was in trouble.
On her back, Mr. Zin grabbed Lola and reached his knife hand high into the air. He was about to do her in when-
BAM!
Naushi delivered a punch to Mr. Zin in the face, knocking out a tooth and giving him a bloody nose instantly.
Mr. Forman got up, and tried to stab Lola who was on the ground. She quickly got up and kicked Mr. Forman in the crotch before this could happed. Mr. Forman fell to the ground in pain.
It turned out, Naushi's punch was pure luck. Once Mr. Zin came to, he grabbed Naushi's leg, tripped him and stabbed his leg.
Naushi let out a painful shout. Mr. Zin pulled out the knife, this time willing to kill. WHAM! The others had come to, and Yoshi had just delivered a kick to Mr. Zin, breaking his jaw and knocking him out.
Kirby started punching Mr. Forman. Then he kicked him, knocking him out cold.
Our heroes had just been through a battle. Three of them had almost just died.
"Bloody hell…" gasped Link. "If it weren't for this girl, Mario would be… dude, M-Man! Speak to me!"
"I'm okay…" moaned Mario. "Actually, I'm worried about the new guy…didn't that crazy old man stab ya, Naushi?"
"Owwwwww…" moaned Naushi. "I can't believe I just got stabbed in the leg…" Naushi grabbed his hurt leg. Walking was going to be hell.
"Naushi! Are you alright?!" Lola rushed to Naushi's side and kneeled down next to him. "That was crazy! And I almost…"
"Yeah, well, no big deal. We're alive, right?" said Naushi, looking at the glass half full.
"No…big deal?" asked Lola. "We were almost killed! But you…you saved me…" Lola reached down and gave Naushi a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."
"Holy-" exclaimed Norman, looking down upon the murderers "Hey guys! These…these are our teachers!"
"What?! You've gone to far, Reck-em-wads!" shouted Naushi.
"No, it wasn't Mr. Garcia. (shocker, huh?)" answered Norman. "It's… Mr. Forman, the professor in physics, and Mr. Zin, the sophomore math teacher I had last year!"
"That's impossible." said the shocked Mario. "Those guys are so nice…oh my god! You're right; it IS them!"
"So, what should we do with them?" asked Naushi. "Turn them in? Kill them? Let them go?"
"we can leave them here." gasped Lola. "These guys don't look like they will wake up soon, but I can put a Criminal Tracker on them. At their speed, the Galactic Federation can pick them up before they wake…"
"Okay, spill it!" demanded Link. "Tell us how you're connected to the Galactic Federation!"
"I told you; it's a secret."
Now, it was time for Naushi's true pain to begin: he would have to walk back to the Academy. Worse, it might make it harder for him to get in unnoticed. Lola used her skills to wrap the wound, and they were off.
"There. It's tight." Mario finished sliding the living room window of Dorm 22 into it's place. It was 12:04.
"Man," whined Naushi, "How am I gonna explain to the Arena coach that I got stabbed in the leg?"
"Don't worry; it'll heal." said Link. "Anyway, I'm freakin' tired. Let's just…sleep…"
"It's hard to sleep knowing you came inches away from death recently." argued Mario. "I'm going to bed, but I can't sleep. I'm just gonna… think."
"G'night then."
"Good night."
"Night."
"Sayonara."
"Wee."
"Yoshi."
Meanwhile, outside of Dorm 22, Lola Richards stood. In front of her was a shadowy figure.
"And that's all I know about the Galactic Federation. If you want more, sorry, I'm still in training. I don't know everything."
"No, no." replied the figure. "You've been a huge help. With the knowledge I got out of you, by threatening to kill you and every student in Dorm 22, you have given me exactly what I need."
"You're scum…" growled Lola in anger. "…Kianto."
"Now, now…no need to be so rude…Samus Aran."
And the shadowy figure known as Kianto spread wings, flew into the dark clouds of infinite…and towards a path that could destroy the Academy.