Sorry it has taken so long. I got behind in my math homework and needed to get caught up before writing this next chapter. School comes before recreation. I have not had any luck with my poll. Only one person has voted as of today. Please vote.
Chapter 3
Saturday, 9:45
"Are you out of your mind?" Amanda shouted.
"You can't close the dojo!" I cried.
"We want to protect the sword."
"I want to learn to fly like Evil Gramps."
"I want to learn that Qi blast."
"Why would you do such a thing?"
"For starters, I am concerned for your safety. Kagema is after the floating sword. He has Mike's mon, the access to this dojo. You are not ready to fight him yet. I have decided to shut down the dojo," Hologramps restated.
"Please don't close the dojo! We can't let go of the one thing that connects us to Mike!" Amanda protested. I don't disagree with her. After all, letting go of this dojo would be letting go of Mike's memory. In a sense, it would be forgetting him.
"We'll do anything you want. Just please don't close the dojo," I pleaded.
"Whatever I say, you will fight it. If you are truly serious about staying in this dojo, you must do two things. Firstly, you must promise to protect the floating sword from evil. It can do terrible things in the wrong hand. And secondly, you must recruit a new ninja. If you do this, I will keep the dojo open. You have until Tuesday after school to bring this Ninja to practice. And if you do this, prepare to train harder than ever." With that, Hologramps shut down. The two of us were left staring at each other. We knew we were going to recruit a new ninja. The question was who to recruit, and how to tell them.
"So much for our study session," Amanda joked. That phrase reminded me of how suspicious my parents were. I warned Amanda about my parent's suspicion and Amanda agreed that our parents could soon discover our secret.
"Where are we going? We can't go home just yet. We need somewhere to discuss who we're bringing in to the dojo," I reasoned.
"Let's go out to Lombardi's Pizza place," Amanda suggested. Even though I wasn't hungry, I agreed. On our way to Lombardi's, I called my parents about the change in plans. I also apologized for lying and hoped they understood. My parents understood and wished me luck. I hung up and continued walking until we reached Lombardi's.
"Table for two? Right this way," the waitress directed. We sat down outside at a table for two.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" she asked. Amanda and I ordered two Cokes.
"Could I get some paper and a pen as well," I asked. She nodded and said she would be back shortly.
"Once we get a list, we can start writing down recruits. For the moment, let's put down everybody we can think of. We can make edits to the list later." I began. The waitress came shortly later and gave me pen and paper. She placed the two cokes down on the table and asked if we already knew what we wanted. Amanda ordered a 14' White Pizza, while I told her I'd share. Once the woman left, we began discussing possible recruits.
"Well how about Flint?" Amanda asked.
"I'm okay with it. I mean, Mike never liked Flint, but he would be a big help. What about Connor?" I questioned.
"I never really liked him, but if were doing this for Mike, I can make sacrifices. It would be the perfect excuse to hang out around him more. What about your friend, James?"
"Died when the place collapsed." In truth, I had no idea whether or not he was alive. "How about Kickbutt?"
"Much too clumsy. It would destroy my social reputation."
"You already hang out with Kid Q."
"Noted." We went through several other possible recruits before making a list (Please vote on my profile for who you want to join the Supah Ninjas. It won't be up much longer).
After I packed up the pizza, Amanda suggested we see Martin, having promised to help him search Mike's things. Rather than walking all the way to Marty's, I called my parents. I told them I needed to be picked up at Lombardi's, adding I would be going to Marty's afterwards. My parents promised they would be there.
While we waited, I talked to Amanda about her feelings for Mike. I finally got her to admit she was falling head over heels for him. I learned about the kiss they shared before we fought Katara. Coincidentally, that's when she started crushing on him.
Mom and Dad picked me up and we drove to Marty's house.
"Hope you find something that gives you a clue to Mike's disappearance. It's really affected you, I've seen it. Good luck," my dad spoke up. We had already arrived at Marty's house and were waiting outside.
I thanked my Dad and waited around until Amanda came. While I was waiting, I reminisced on the great memories I had with Mike; from the fights, to discovering the dojo, to our first mission.
Amanda's voice shook me out of my thoughts. I turned around, saw her say goodbye to her parents, and walk up the driveway.
"Let's search," Amanda ordered, opening the door. I followed her inside and was surprised to meet Marty.
"I'll leave the search up to you two. In the meantime, I will look for the tracking device associated with Mike's location," Marty detailed. Afterwards he left, leaving us to search the place. Apart from his secret stash of action figures and undies, I found nothing. Judging by Amanda's frustration, I would say she found nothing of use.
"Any luck guys?" Marty asked after about an hour of failure.
"Nope. Didn't think we'd find anything anyway. What does you device say about Mike's location?" I questioned.
"When I press this button, we will learn will Mike is." Marty relayed. Marty pressed the button.
"No, no, no. This can't be happening! I'm getting no signal! There's no way to track down Mike's location!"
Again, I'm sorry it took so long. I encourage you to vote for which person should join the Supah Ninjas. If I get at least seven more by the first Friday in April, I will put the next Chapter in Mike's POV. He obviously isn't dead. That is not a spoiler!
