In a back alley of New York City, a dark cloud suddenly appears as if from nowhere. When it parts, a set of black doors stand there, and after a few seconds, they slowly open outward. From the doorway steps Mario as he enters this world, and as he takes a moment to put his Shadow Blade away, the dark doors close behind him and disappear in another dark cloud.

Mario steps out into the streets, finding himself in the middle of Manhattan. "Huh...not much has changed..." he quietly mutters as he begins to make his way down the sidewalk, heading south. "I wonder how Jake's doing...maybe I should see if he's at school."

Suddenly, though, three Wyverns and two Wizards appear. The wyverns immediatly attack Mario, but the Wizards wait.

Mario lets out a small yelp as the Wyverns attack, jumping back as they swoop in. "What in the world? What is this?" he asks, wondering where these Heartless came from. Not wanting to wait to find out, Mario immediately summons his Shadow Blade, immediately guarding against one attack and then jumping to avoid the second. As he sails over the Wyverns, he throws a swipe of his Shadow Blade at two of them.

The two are struck, and disapear instantly, and the wizards attack. What was up with the Wyverns disapearing after one hit?

Mario notices how relatively easy it was to destroy the Wyverns, and his blows weren't even that hard. Landing from the jump, he immediately casts a Shadow Reflect spell to deflect the spells. Afterwards, he leaps toward the Wizards, throwing a set of slashes in succession.

There is now only one Wyvern left. It attacks with all it's might, but suddenly it's destroyed by fire. When the fire disapears, a red and yellow dragon can be seen...and it has black and green...hair?

Mario lets out another yelp when he sees the dragon, quickly getting into an offensive position. However, a second later, he suddenly stops, blinking as he looks over the dragon. "...Jake? Is that you?"

Jake looks a little surprised at first, but a second later, his surprise turns into recognition. "Hey, Mario! Long time no see!" he says as he throws his arms out as a sign of welcome.

"Good to see you too," Mario says as the Shadow Blade disappears, but he definitely seems a bit unsettled. "Um...to be honest, is there somewhere we can talk? I think you have a bit of explaining to do."

"Huh?" Jake asks before he looks himself over. "Oh...right..." He then rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, we can talk at Grandpa's shop. Do you remember where it is?"

"Of course," Mario states, putting his arms behind his head.

Jake gives a small wave before he flies off, disappearing behind some buildings.

Mario stands there for a moment before he sighs, seeming a little troubled. The last time he had been here, there was not a Heartless in sight. Now it seemed that they were showing up in small groupings. After a second, he begins to walk down the street, heading for Canal Street and the electronics store which Jake's grandfather owned.

From somewhere near by a young woman in a uniform is watching. "Strange." She murmurs. She then disapears into the shadows.

Mario soon arrives at Canal Street Electronics, and after a moment, he approaches the door and enters the building.

Inside, Mario sees an interesting group of people, although he is already familiar with one of them. The first two are a boy and a girl, but it is easy to assume that they are probably Jake's friends. At the time, they seem to be waiting for someone, most likely Jake, but their attention is drawn to Mario when he enters.

The other person, Jake's grandfather Lao Shi, greets Mario as he steps out of the back, obviously having heard the bell rang from opening the door. "Ah, welcome to Canal Street Electronics. May I help you?"

"Yeah, is Jake here?" Mario asks, closing the door behind him as he keeps an eye outside for Heartless. "I need to talk to him about something."

"Jake?" Spud asks as he stands. "He was on his way here when we last saw him at school."

"Eh, I guess the Heartless derailed him then," Mario states.

"The who?" Trixie asks as she now stands.

"Are you saying my grandson is in trouble?" Lao Shi asks, approaching Mario swiftly.

"Nah, he's fine," Mario asks as he puts up a hand to calm down the miniature man. "In fact, he was supposed to meet me here."

"And you are?" Trixie asks.

"Oh, sorry," Mario states with a small nod of his head. "I'm Mario. I met Jake a year ago when I was passing through."

"Trixie."

"Spud."

"Ah, yes, I remember now," Lao Shi states as he turns and returns to the counter. "You needed a place to stay, and my grandson kindly offered you a place at his home. I am surprised that I almost forgot about that." A second passes. "I believe my grandson is here now."

At that moment, Jake runs out of the backroom. "Sorry I'm late, guys," he says as he looks at his friends. He then looks at Mario. "Oh, I see you already met Mario."

"Yes, we have," Mario states as he looks around the small shop. It really wasn't too different than it was a year ago. It didn't even look like Lao Shi sold a single thing since then either. "So, Jake, why don't you tell me about your little skin problem back there in the streets?"

"Hiyah!" Lao Shi cries out in alarm. "Jake, you didn't change in the middle of New York, did you?"

"No, no, gramps," Jake states in his defense. "Mario just recognized me in dragon form, that's all."

"Well, the hair was a characteristic feature," Mario admits.

Jake sighs before he turns to Mario. "Well, you see, my family is a family of dragons. Gramps is a dragon, my mother is a dragon, even Haley is a dragon."

"And your father?"

"He is human, but my mother has been trying to tell him since spring...of '86..."

"I see," Mario states as he looks out the window.

"So, now that I've answered your question, answer mine. What were those things that were attacking you?" Jake asks.

Mario looks back at Jake. "They are called the Heartless. They are created from the darkness in peoples' hearts and stop at nothing to steal the hearts of others so as to create more of their kind."

"Oh man..." Jake mutters. "So how many of these things are there?"

"Not sure. Could be hundreds, could be millions. Not really sure how many there are here in New York, though," Mario states as he looks out the window again.

"Care to tell us why you are so interested in what's outside?" Trixie inquires.

"Well, I kinda have an ability to sense the Heartless, so I can normally tell when they are nearby and where they might be. However, something is wrong. I had no forewarning that the Heartless that attacked me were coming. Furthermore, it only took a single strike to destroy most of them. Usually, Heartless of their strength are not so easily destroyed, so the conditions of everything are making me a bit uneasy..." Mario then looks back toward Jake. "Do you mind if I take a quick look around?"

Jake gives a small shrug. "Sure, feel free to do so."

Mario nods before he opens the door and leaves the shop, walking down the street toward the docks while also trying to sense any Heartless nearby.

Meanwhile, somewhere in New York, the girl bows before a man. "Huntsmaster, the heartless you summoned were easily destroyed by the American Dragon, and a boy weilding a strange weapon."

---

There is no sign of the heartless, was it possible that that was all there was here?

Mario soon arrives at the docks, noting the absence of Heartless. He knows that there has to be more, however. Never has he ever encountered such a small group of Heartless on any world. After a quick look around the harbor, Mario heads north toward Central Park.

Still no sign of heartless, however, there is a girl, by her lonesome sitting on a bench, reading. She had long blonde hair and it looked like she had some strange birthmark on her arm.

As Mario walks along, he notes the girl on the bench, the birthmark especially. After a moment, he approaches her. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to have seen any strange creatures, would you?" he asks as he removes the device he was given, soon pulling up a few images of a Shadow and Wyvern. "They look kinda like these."

"No I haven't, sorry." Rose says lying. She recognises Mario from before, but says nothing. "I'll keep an eye out though."

Mario nods. "Alright, thank you," he says as he continues onward, still looking around for the Heartless.

When Mario is gone, Rose presses something in her ear. "I found him Huntsmaster."

She then diapears and once in her uniform, she silently follows Mario.

Mario soon reaches Central Park. Once there, he looks around for a moment, trying to sense any Heartless that could be in the near vicinity.

No heartless can be seen, but something in the bushes rustle.

Mario pauses when he sees the rustling bush. Glancing over at the bush, he is silent before summoning his Shadow Blade. Quietly, he sneaks over to the bush, swiftly pulling the greenery aside to confront what could be a hidden enemy.

Suddenly Mario is surrounded by the Hunts clan, They all point strange weapons twords him. A man wearing what seems to be a dragon skull steps forward, he's very muscular. "Surrender boy, your surrounded." He says.

Mario jumps back in surprise when he finds himself surrounded. "Woah, wait a minute! What is this about?" he asks, glancing from one Huntsclan member to the next.

"That's none of your concern." Rose answers. "Drop your weapon if you wish to live."

Mario is silent before he exits his offensive position. Holding out his arm, he drops the Shadow Blade onto the ground. A second later, however, he smiles. Suddenly, the Shadow Blade disappears in a cloud of shadows, reappearing in Mario's hand. "Shadow Aero!" he yells, a small orb of wind forming around him as he spins around and expanding outward to blow back anything or anyone too close.

The huntsclan is blown back, few still standing.

"That power." Huntmaster mumbles.

Suddenly five Wyverns appear and go to attack Mario.

When Mario stops spinning, he sees the Wyverns. "Heartless?" he asks as he now frowns. "Well, that explains why the Heartless are here." With a quick jump, Mario avoids the attacks. Furthermore, he lands on the back of one of the Wyverns, doing a quick spinning slash to damage any nearby Wyverns, and then stabbing into the Wyvern he is standing on before jumping off.

The wyverns are quickly distroyed, only one left. While that one attacks, Rose stands and attacks from behind, swinging her weapon.

Mario is quick to charge the Wyvern, swinging his Shadow Blade into the Wyvern, but upon realizing that he is being attacked from behind, Mario quickly swings his blade around, the Wyvern hooked on its end, and uses it to take the majority of the attack.

Rose knocks off the Wyvern, distroying it. She attacks Mario again, as does some of the Huntsclan.

Mario sees the coming attacks, and while he manages to block a few of them, two still get through. He grunts from the pain, but simply leaps out of the circle so that he is outside the group. "Strike!" he yells, bringing his Shadow Blade back before tossing it like a boomerang. After the Shadow Blade makes its way through any enemies unfortunate enough to be in its path, it suddenly disappears and reappears in Mario's hand. "Raid!" he yells, throwing the Shadow Blade again much like before, and it once again reappears in his hand. However, it remains there this time as he prepares for the next attack.

Rose managed to get out of the way and attacks Mario again, as does the Huntsmaster.

Mario quickly dodges the Huntsmaster's attack, but he is hit with the other attack. He lets out a small yelp now as he backs away, making sure that the Huntsclan is only on one side of him. "Crap, this isn't going too well..." he mutters. "Of course, I am showing restraint."

"Surrender." The Huntsman says, giving a final warning.

The Huntsclan stands there guard, but they don't attack.

"Surrender?" Mario asks, giving a small chuckle. "As if!" He then takes a moment to examine his opponents. "Of course, I could use some help."

"You call?"

Suddenly, a red dragon flies over Mario, breathing fire at the Huntsclan.

The huntsclan attack the dragon, and Mario with full force. "Your funeral." The Huntsman says.

Mario quickly blocks the attacks thrown at him while Jake simply hops backwards. The two are soon back-to-back, staring down the Huntsclan. After a moment, Mario looks over his shoulder at Jake. "Hey, I have an idea."

"Well, let's hear it," Jake states as he keeps his eyes on the Huntsclan.

A few seconds later, after Mario explains the plan, Jake nods. "Alright, let's do it!"

Immediately, Mario and Jake leap in to action. "Let's go!" Mario yells as he thrusts his Shadow Blade into the ground to create a ring of flames around them. Simutaneously, Jake breathes out his own fire to add to the mix. The fiery ring swirls around the two and spreads out to take out anyone too close to the two. Immediately after the Fiery Torus, they go into some close-proximity attacks, Mario using a fire-surrounded Shadow Blade in a FIre Dash attack and Jake darting around rapidly during a Dragon Rush attack. After their individual attacks, they meet together in the middle of the group for their finale Inferno Blast. Grasping each other's hands, Jake takes off, lifting Mario into the air after Mario implants a Shadow Blade with a strange orb of fiery energy circulating around the hilt into the ground. At a safe height, they both release a fireball at the orb, creating a huge explosion down below. As they descend back to the ground, Mario grabs his Shadow Blade as it is blasted up at him, and they land where the blast went off.

The huntsclan are hit, and thay all retreat. But was it getting darker out?

Mario and Jake pant heavily for a bit before Mario sighs. "Thanks for your help, Jake..."

Jake gives him a pat on the back. "No problem. Need a lift back to Gramps' shop?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Mario states, noting the position of the sun. "I'll walk back."

"Alright then," Jake says before he takes off, flying south toward the electronics shop.

Mario is silent before he glances at the sun. Taking a deep breath, he starts to run through Central Park, trying to find a place to hide before he transformed. He lucks out and finds a bridge in the park, quickly retreating into the dark recesses underneath it. In the dark, Mario soon changes into his Heartless form. A few seconds later, he returns to his human form, except this is the illusion form this time. Stepping out from underneath the bridge, he looks around. Seeing no one, he sighs and begins to make his way back to Canal Street Electronics.

Everything is quiet on the New York streets, strangely peaceful. Some people here and there.

Then the girl can be seen again, walking alone.

As Mario walks along, he notices the girl, but after a second, he suddenly realizes that she was also at the park earlier with those guys who jumped him. Her heart was the exact same as the one of that one disguised girl. He is silent as he keeps an eye on her, wondering if he should follow her. After a while, he decides to hold off. After all, it was late, and he could always tail her another day. He instead decides to take a different route to reach the electronics store.

Nothing out of the ordianry happens on the way back, no heartless, no nobodies...well not yet at least.

Mario is silent as he reaches the electronics store, stepping inside after another glance around.

"Yo, you're back!" Jake says, greeting Mario as he returned. Inside the store, only Jake, Lao Shi, and a sleeping grey dog remain; Jake's friend must have gone home.

"Yeah, safe and sound...for now," Mario states as he looks back outside. "Seriously, who were those guys?"

"Those were the Huntsclan," Lao Shi says as he approaches Mario. "They hunt magical creatures to extinction, including us dragons."

"I see," Mario states as he rubs his chin. "So why were they after me?"

"Maybe they saw you with me when we were fighting those Heartless earlier," Jake suggests. "They might believe that you know my identity."

"Which I do," Mario states matter-of-factly. He then yawns after a moment. "Eh...if you don't mind, I'm probably going to sleep soon. Do you mind if I stay at your home tonight, Jake?"

"No problem," Jake says. "I called my folks a while ago to tell them. I thought you would need a place to stay again. Do you need the window open like last time?"

Mario nods. "Yes, it gets incredibly stuffy in that room."

Jake nods before looking at his grandfather. "See ya, Gramps."

"Take care, young dragon," Lao Shi states as Jake and Mario leave the electronics store to head for Jake's house.

All is peaceful and again, theres no sign of Heartless. During the night however, it sounds like something is on the roof.

Hearing the noise, Mario gets out of bed, in his Heartless form. Silently, he transforms back into his human form before climbing out the window. Once outside, he carefully scales the wall until he can see what is on the roof.

But no one is there, weird. The moon is full and it looks like it's a hour til midnight.

Mario is silent, looking around as he climbs onto the roof. Nothing here, but yet, what could have made those noises? Mario stays there for a moment, looking in all directions.

Nothing is in sight, not even a shadow or a person.

Mario is silent for a moment before he sighs, going back to the edge of teh roof and climbing back down into his room. Once inside, he curls up in the bed and falls asleep.

Morning comes, and all is at peace, many birds chirping.

Once Mario has returned to his human form as his norm, he goes downstairs to wait for Jake.

"Yo!" Jake says as he rushes down the stairs, grabbing his skateboard. "Sorry, dude, but I got to get to school!"

"Alright then," Mario states. "Here, I'll come with you." As Jake rushes out and begins to skateboard toward the school, Mario runs after him.

During lunch, some Wizards appear and some people panic at the strange creatures.

Rose is hiding behind a dumpster, watching Mario and Jake closely.

Mario, who decided to hang around just in case, turns to face the Wizards. "Oh come on!" he yells as he looks at Jake. "Jake, get out of here! I can handle them!"

"Right," Jake states as he runs back into the school.

Mario now turns to face the Wizards, summoning his Shadow Blade. "Alright, so why don't we see how far I can whack you guys? Who here bets on the moon?"

The Wizards attack Mario, coming at him all at once.

Rose, however, follows Jake into the school.

Mario quickly does a quick spin, slashing at the Wizards to knock them away. He tries to keep at least one alive, however.

Jake, meanwhile, runs to a window to watch the battle from a safe place. As tempting as it was to simply 'Dragon Up' and help Mario, he was obviously capable of taking on so few enemies by himself. In addition, out here in the open was no place to 'Dragon Up'.

"Jake!" Rose shouts, seeing him. "What are those things?"

Two are left after the swing, and the two attack Mario again.

Jake turns to Rose. "Rose!" he states, looking a bit surprised yet relieved. He then looks back outside. "My friend says that those things are called Heartless. I don't know why they are here, though, but Mario seems like he can take them on."

Mario quickly dodges one attack but is struck by the other. Grimacing, he quickly slashes at the Wizard whose attack connected and then whips his Shadow Blade around to disarm the second Wizard of its staff. "Alright, I know you can understand me, Wizard, and I can understand you," he states, "so explain to me why it is that the Heartless here are so weak."

"We..summoned her by...unorthodox means." It says. "Those who summoned us are, not educated."

Rose seems to think, watching Mario. Is he talking to it? She thought.

"Unorthodox? What do you mean by that?" Mario asks. "What other way is there to summon a Heartless?"

Jake can hear what Mario is saying from here, and he is obviously confused. "Unorthodox? Summon? Wait, is he talking with it?"

"They claim it to be magic." The Wizard says.

Jakes words convinced Rose. So Mario could hear the heartless talking.

"Magic?" Mario asks, slapping his forehead with his free hand. "Well, that explains it then. Don't see why they have to use such an unusual method. Really, they all seem to have enough darkness in their hearts to do it the old-fashion way...eh, but I digress. This way is better, I suppose." With that, Mario now slashes at the Wizard.

Rose hears what Mario says, and fights a smile. "Your friend is really strange." She says to Jake.

"Tell me about it," Jake states as he watches Mario walking toward the school. "I'm now starting to wonder just who he really is. Come to think of it, I'm still not entirely sure what that strange key of his is."

Rose nods, agreeing. "Should we meet him half-way/" She asks.

Jake gives a nod. "I suppose we should," he says as he now turns to walk down the hall.

Halfway down the hall, Trixie and Spud suddenly run up to Jake. "Jakie! There you are!" Trixie states. "Did you see what happened outside?"

Jake nods. "Yeah, Mario dispatched those Heartless. Come on, we're going to meet him."

"A little late, Jake."

Surprisingly, Mario is already behind Jake. Apparently, he went a different way and ended up behind Rose and Jake.

Jake nearly jumps a foot in the air as he spins around. "Woah! Don't do that!"

Mario chuckles. "Sorry, couldn't help myself."

Rose stays silent, unsure of what to say.

Mario is silent as he eyes Rose, and after a moment, he looks at Jake. "Jake, do you mind if I talk with your friend here for a moment in privacy?"

Jake blinks, exchanging glances with Trixie and Spud before shrugging. "I guess so..." Jake and the others then walk down the hall and disappear around the corner.

Mario is silent for a moment before looking at Rose. "I'm sure you know what this is about."

"I have no idea of what you mean." Rose says, looking confused.

"You don't, do you?" Mario asks as he slowly walks past her. "Well then, let me refresh your memory. You were sitting on a bench before I entered Central Park, and within that park I was ambushed. Among the people who ambushed me, there was one person that stood out a bit. She was about your height, your age, had the same heart signature..." Mario now glances at Rose. "Don't deny it, Rose. I can read people's hearts, and yours is the exact same as the girl who attacked me in Central Park."

Rose sighed, dropping her books and pulls out a staff. "Then you realize your gonna have to come with me." She then attacks Mario head-on.

Mario, however, is quick to draw his Shadow Blade to block the attack. "Really, you'd risk blowing your cover in a public place?" Mario asks. "And what does the Huntsclan want with me?"

"You have valuable information." Rose says. But she disapears into a room and a second later she;s in her huntsclan uniform. She attacks Mario again, this time faster.

"Oh? Such as...?" Mario asks as he jumps backwards toward the wall.

"You know how we can summon the heartless." Rose says, atacking again.

"Perhaps I do," Mario states as he blocks this attack. "However, I'm not going to tell you. Don't think it's just because I'm the hero and all. It's also because I know that you guys wouldn't be able to do it."

"We'll see." Rose says as she jumps past Mario. "See ya around."

Rose then jumps out the window and lands safely on the ground before runnning off.

Mario turns and runs after Rose, stopping at the window to watch her escape. He is silent before sighing. They were fools if they thought that they could control the real deal, and when the time came that they realized their error, it would be he who would clean up the mess. Silently, he walks down the hall towards the exit.

"Mario, there you are!"

Mario pauses and looks back, seeing Jake and his friends approaching from behind.

"Dude, what happened? We came to check on you and you and Rose were gone!" Spud states.

"Eh, she had to leave," Mario states. "And I thought I saw a Heartless in the school. Seems I was mistaken, though." He then returns to exiting. "I'm going to go ahead and take another look around the city, Jake. Catch up once school's over."

Jake only watches Mario walk off before he looks at Trixie and Spud. "Does he seem to be hiding something?"

"Jakie, anyone who wears jeans with a red jacket at this time of the year has something to hide," Trixie adds. After a second to look at Jake, she continues. "I rest my case."

All is peacefull outside of the school, but theres no sign of Rose.

Mario, however, is not looking for Rose. He is instead combing the city for Heartless. If he stumbles upon any Heartless that are weak like earlier, than he knows that the Huntsclan has not yet attempted or has been failing to summon Heartless via the normal way. However, he silently dreads for the moment when the Heartless become stronger, as strong as they normally are.

Rose suddenly appears in the Huntsclan lair and bows to the Huntsman. "I have valueable information, master."

"I'm listening."

Mario soon finds himself in Times Square. He is silent as he looks around, and after a moment, he moves on.

Still nothing, not a sign of heartless. Did Rose not tell the Huntsmaster?

Mario is silent as he stratches his head. Perhaps she took his warning seriously. Without a word, he begins to head back toward Canal Street and the electronics store.

On the way a girl with short red hair with two black strips in the front is looking at a map, sitting on a bench. The map covers everything but her face. She groans and throws the map in the trash, revealing her wearing a red strapless belly shirt and pants. She streches before retuning her legs on the bench and leans her head on her knees. "Peachy, just peachy."

Mario notices the strange girl as he passes her, but what really startles him is that instead of sensing a normal heart from her, he senses what seems like half of a heart. Never has he sensed a heart like this. Seeing that she is in a predicament, he asks, "Is something wrong?"

Xamira looks up at Mario and startling blue eyes can be seen, familiar eyes. "I'm lost." She says simply.

Mario raises an eyebrow, noticing that she seemed familiar, yet not managing to put a finger on why. "Lost? Where are you going?"

"I'm not sure...." Xamira says, embarrased. "I'm trying to find someone...but I'm not sure who they are. Can you help me?"

"Well, it depends on if I know who you're looking for," Mario states, "but I can try."

"I told you I don't know." Xamira says, looking bummed. Maybe she really didn't know who she was looking for. She gets up off the bench though and looks around.

Just then heartless appear and Xamira screams as they go to attack her. She put her arms infront of her, as a defence and two identical keyblades appear. One black, one white. The heatless are destroyed the minute they hit the keyblades. Xamira blinks, unsure of what happened.

Mario blinks, not quite sure what he just saw. "What...just happened?" he asks, looking surprised.

"No clue." Xamira says, looking at her hands. She sighs and outs then to her side, keeping one out as if to shake hands. "I'm Xamira."

Mario raises an eyebrow before he shakes her hand. "Mario," he says.

"Pleased to meet you." Xamira says, smiling. "So...uh, what ared these?" She asks, referring to the keyblades.

Mario now returns his focus to the Keyblades. "Well, those are called Keyblades," Mario states. "They're, essentially, the most efficient weapons against those things that attacked you a moment ago, called the Heartless."

Xamira nods, just as the keyblades disapear. "Okay..." She mumbles. "So uh....can I come with you? Maybe I'll find who I'm looknig for on the way..."

"um...well, sure," Mario states as he looks around, seeming a bit unsure. "To be honest, though, I've never really had a traveling companion before. I suppose you can come back to Hollow Bastion later. Sora might be able to help you afterwards."

Xamira blinks at the mention of Sora's name. She seems to think for a moment. "Okay." She agrees.

Mario now turns to walk along. "Well, if you don't mind, I need to finish my search through this city. I need to make sure that there aren't any more Heartless."

Xamira nods, but looks around, unsure where to go.

After a moment, Mario gives a small signal to Xamira. "This way," he says as he then begins to walk toward Central Park.

Xamira follows Mario, looking around as if to memorize the landscape.

Mario is soon back in Central Park, and after a moment to look around, he turns to head back toward Canal Street. "Come on, I need to check with some friends," he says.

Xamira nods and follows Mario after looking around Central Park a little.

Mario soon makes his way back toward Canal Street Electronics, and inside, he finds Lao Shi and the same dog from earlier. "Hey, Gramps, could you tell Jake that I'm going to be gone for a day at the most? I have something I need to take care of."

Lao Shi gives a nod to Mario. "I shall give him your message."

Mario smiles before he leaves the shop, looking at Xamira. "Alright, I'm going to take you to Radiant Garden, if that is alright. No use in hanging around here."

"But what if those Heartless show up again?" Xamira asks, procrastinating. She really didn't know anyone in Radiant Garden, and she would feel very awkward and uncomfortable in a place full of strangers. "Can't I just stay here at this shop? You seem to know the owners...and I really like dogs..." She trails off.

Mario is silent before he sighs. "Alright, but be ready for anything," Mario states. "After all, you might not be too used to some of the things that happen here." With that, he reenters the shop.

"Back so soon?" Lao Shi asks when he sees Mario enter the shop after only a minute.

"Change of plans," Mario states. "I can stay a while longer, but my friend is going to have to stay here for a while, if that is alright."

Lao Shi looks past Mario at Xamira, and after a moment, he nods. "Very well, we will make room for her here in the shop."

Xamira smiles. "Thank you." She says before going over and sitting next to the dog. "Aww he's cute." Xamira says, going to pet him.

"Ain't I?" the dog suddenly says. "Ah goo goo!"

Silence. Then...

"WHATTHEFLIPITTALKS!" Mario yells, recoiling from shock.

"Of course," Lao Shi states. "Fu Dog is, after all, a magical guardian animal. He helps us protect this city and is resourceful when his potionmaking skills is needed...most of the time."

"One time, Gramps," Fu Dog states, sitting up. "All I did was accidentally give you an Instant Sunshine instead of an Invisibility potion!"

"And not only did it temporarily blind us, but it revealed our hiding spot to the Huntsclan!"

"Awsome." Xamira says, before scratching Fu dog's ear. "You like thay boy?"

"Ohhh yeah..." Fu Dog moans as he lies down. "Down a little, if you could."

Mario, after watching for a moment, looks at Lao Shi. "Gramps, can you tell me anything more about the Huntsclan? Maybe where they are based?"

Lao Shi approaches Mario curiously. "Why would you want to know where to find them?"

"Well, I have a feeling that they might have found a way to summon Heartless at their strongest."

"At their strongest?" Lao Shi now questions. "They are not normally as strong as they are now?"

"No," Mario states. "I found out that the Huntsclan is using magic to summon the Heartless, an unorthodox method. However, I also have reason to believe that they now know how to summon Heartless in a more orthodox method."

Lao Shi is silent before he turns away. He walks into the backroom and returns with a map of New York. "Here," Lao Shi states as he hands Mario the map. "The Huntsclan lair is marked with a red circle."

Mario nods as he opens the map. After looking it over, he looks at Lao Shi. "Thanks. I'll be back soon. Tell Jake to wait here for me. I'll be back tonight." Mario then exits the shop, heading for the Huntsclan lair.

Xamira scratchs lower, smiling.

Mario, after a while, soon approaches the Huntsclan lair. He quickly hides behind a tree and changes into his Heartless form, after which he then sneaks closer to the facility to try and sneak inside.

"It's not working Huntsgirl, are you sure that's what he said?" The huntman says.

"Yes, he said thta heartless come from the darkness in a persons heart." Rose's voice says.

Mario, having successfully infiltrated the lair, hides up in the rafters where he can not be seen, watching in silence as he tries to see what they are up to.

A few men are on the floor, moaning. "Maybe you misheard." The huntsman says.

"I'm positive that's what he said, maybe we're doing it wrong." Rose says.

Mario smiles after a moment. It was obvious that they were nowhere close to summoning the Heartless by the orthodox method. Why was he so worried? Without a word, he begins to make his way out of the facility in secret.

Suddenly an alarm goes off, and every entrance is sealed, and something shimmers over the entrances. Rose looks up and see's a strange shadow. "Intruder!"

Mario freezes when he hears the alarm go off. After a moment, he glances down and sees that he has been discovered. After a moment to think over what to do, he sighs in dejected resolve and suddenly drops from the ceiling, landing after a flip and facing the Huntsclan. "...So, who's the lucky person who summoned me?" he asks, his voice deeper than normal so as to disguise himself for the most part.

"I did." The huntsman says. "We need help making more heartless, all of our attemps failed..."

Mario takes a moment to look them all over, each member one at a time, before he throws his head back and laughs loudly. Returning his glance to the Hunstmaster afterwards, he says, "Well, your methods are completely mediocre, for starters. For one thing, only a Heartless can create other Heartless. However, what is it that you plan to do once you've made a Heartless? What will stop it from turning you into Heartless?"

The Huntman looks at Rose. She shruggs. "Well we're going to destroy magical creatures."

"Tell us how to control them, or pay the price." Rose says, pulling out a wierd-looking staff.

Mario is silent before he chuckles sinisterly once more. "Really? Is that all?" Mario asks as he now rubs his forehead. "And here I thought you all would have broader scopes than that." He now glances up at them. "Very well. You want to know how to control them? There are two ways you can control the Heartless. One, you have a strong enough heart with which to beckon the Heartless. I'll go ahead and tell you now that none of you qualify. I can take one look at you all and tell you that your darkness is not strong enough to handle the Heartless, which leads me to the second way. You must be given the darkness, the power to control the Heartless."

Rose keeps her stance. "Give it up!" She shouts.'Give it to the huntsmaster."

Mario chuckles once more as he now turns his back to the Huntsclan, glancing over his shoulder at them. "And what makes you think that I would do such a thing? You pathetic weaklings are not worthy of such a power, not even your so-called leader. Such power would overcome you, turn you into a Heartless before you could control it to the extent of controlling Heartless. Besides, it's obvious that none of you would be of any worth to the Heartless army, so why waste my energy on you?"

Rose attacks Mario then, swinging the staff. "You can never leave now."

Mario, however, catches the staff in mid-swing, holding it there. "Yes, which leads me to the most interesting thing here: you," he says, staring into her eyes. "You are...unique. Your heart is not weighed down with as much darkness as the others. In fact, you are practically pure of heart. It makes me wonder why you choose to side with such a dark group."

"How dare you question my alliance!" Rose shouts, attacking again.

Mario only jumps back, avoiding the attack. "I am only stating facts, my dear," he states as he now leans against the wall. "But if you wish to deny what I say, then fine, do so. In fact, I'm not going to stick around any longer. This place is boring. However, should you ever see me again, you'd better pray. That will be the day that you lose your hearts to the Heartless." With that, Mario suddenly collapses into the ground, now nothing more than an invunerable shadow as he crawls rapidly along the ground and through a crack in a sealed exit.

The alarm shuts off, and the defences disapear. Rose sighs.

---

Meanwhile, back at the Canal Street Electronics, Xamira is lying asleep near Fu Dog, shaking. But either its from her being cold, or her having a nightmare is unsure.

A few minutes later, Mario returns to the shop, having returned to his human form on the way. "I'm back," he states as he then glances at Xamira. "Is she alright? he asks out of concern.

Suddenly Xamira shoots up, letting out a little scream. She held her knee's to her chest, and starts crying. So she had been having a nightmare. But hwat could have left her so shaken?

Mario is startled when Xamira suddenly awakens with a jolt. "Xamira, are you alright?" he asks, rushing over and kneeling next to her.

Xamira shakes it off. "Just a nightmare....just a nightmare." She mumbles.

"...I see..." Mario mutters, wondering about what it was that she had dreamed about.

"So what did you find out?" Lao Shi asks.

"Well, they're trying, but they're not succeeding in summoning the Heartless the right way," Mario states. "So I think we're safe for a while."

"Yo, Gramps!" Jake suddenly comes into the shop, Trixie and Spud behind him. "Hey, Mario. How are things?"

"Pretty good," Mario states. "Been quiet recently, though. Wondering if this is one of those times where it's 'always quiet before the storm'."

Xamira makes no comment on that, just yawns, but she doesn't o back to sleep, like she's afraid to have the nightmare again.

Mario is silent before he sits down on the couch, looking a little tired.

"Hey, are you alright?" Jake asks.

"Eh, just exhausted, that's all," Mario states. "With what I usually have to deal with day after day, it's a surprise that I don't collapse from exhaustion."

Xamira dispite her efforts, falls asleep on the floor again. She sleeps calmly for a few minutes before shaking again.

Mario is silent as he watches Xamira, and noticing that she is shaking, he quickly rises to his feet and rushes over. "Xamira, wake up!" he yells, shaking her fiercely to try to stir her.

Xamira wakes, and some tears go down her cheek, she whipes them away. "Just a nightmare." She assures Mario, trying to get calm.

"Can't just be a nightmare that causes you to whimper out every single time you sleep. There has to be something causing it, perhaps some past event," Mario states.

"It's nothing!" Xamira shouted, pushing Mario away from her and running out of the shop, disapearing.

Mario is startled by the sudden push and runs after Xamira, but it isn't long before he loses her trail. With the sun setting, Mario glances around, trying to find Xamira. With a sigh, he begins to look for higher ground to look from.

Xamira crashes in an alley somewhere, and pants. She starts crying. She figured if Mario figured out that she was a Nobody, he would try to destroy her like everyone else. Sure, she could see in visions when it was going to happen, to avoid it like the other times.

Her visions were often the 'nightmares' she always saw when she sleeped. The last one was kind of blury, but she was sure she was witnessing someone's demise.

Mario, after a short while, soon enters an alley. Looking around, he can't sense any hearts or see anyone around. With the sun setting, he sighs as he transforms into his Heartless form. Once the sun has finished setting, Mario returns to his human form and continues through the street, trying to find that higher ground he needed. After a moment, he looks toward the Empire State Building and, without hesitation, begins to make his way toward it.

Xamira keeps still, unmoving. She looks out the alley and sees the Empire State Building. She needed to get far away from somewher Mario could perfetly see her. She got up and ran twords Central Park, hoping that she wouldn't cross Mario's path.

Mario soon arrives at the Empire State Building, and ten minutes later, he is on the 86th floor Observatory deck, looking out over the city as he looks for Xamira. Seeing no sign of her, he sighs and turns to reenter the building and do a search by foot.

"Two entities born from darkness."

Mario suddenly freezes, startled by the sudden voice. Turning, he now sees that there is someone standing where he was only seconds ago. "Huh?"

"One lives in darkness but wishes to live in the light. The other does not exist but yearns to," the strange figure says, hidden under a strange black cloak and looking over over the city much like Mario was earlier. He now glances over his shoulder at Mario, his face hidden as well. "Of course, we all can't have what we want, can we?"

Mario blinks for a moment before he asks, "Who are you?"

"That is of no importance to you," the strange cloaked figure states as he turns to face Mario. "However, you are of importance to me."

"What?" Mario asks as he raises an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

The figure is silent before chuckling. "It does not matter. You won't live long enough for it to be significant to you anyway."

Mario, shocked and angered by the threat, immediately takes a defensive position as he summons his Shadow Blade. "Alright, start talking. Tell me who you are and why I am important to you."

The figure chuckles again before he sweeps his arm to the side, and with a sudden flash of a strange light, a weapon appears in his hand.

Mario recognizes what kind of weapon it is, however. "A Keyblade?!?" Mario asks out of shock.

"Very good," the hooded figure says as he now holds it up. The Keyblade looks much like an Oathkeeper, but the crown that is usually the tip of the blade is instead replaced by a Nobody symbol. In addition, the colorations of the blade are different, taking on hues of white and gray with some blue streaks down the sides of the guard. "It is good that you know what the instrument of your destruction will be. It will be the last thing you will ever know." With sudden speed, the hooded figure suddenly charges Mario, lashing at him with the Keyblade.

Mario is caught off-guard by the sudden rush, but he manages to block the assault in time before another set of swings come at him. Quickly, he hops back and throws his own swings, the two Keyblades clashing over and over with loud resound. A duel to the death had begun.

Xamira stops, hearing something strange, and runs back to the Empire state building. "A nobody." She mumbles, before walking in the building. Once at the 86th floor, Xamira goes out to the observation deck, and gasps. Some cloaked figure and Mario were fighting....was her vision coming to pass?

The fighting has now reached its peak, and with one loud clash of the blades, Mario and the strange figure are knocked in opposite directions. They both skid to a halt and then stand there, staring at each other.

Mario is panting heavily, looking entirely exhausted. Glancing at his opponent who doesn't seem to even seem be breaking a sweat, he grimaces. 'I've been giving my all here, but this guy is just so powerful!' Mario silently contemplates as he tries to catch his breath. 'Just how am I supposed to beat this guy?'

The figure is silent before chuckling slightly. "As I thought. You are weak. No match for me at all. This is perhaps a waste of my time."

Mario angrily moans, gripping his Shadow Blade tighter. "I still don't understand why you're attacking me," he yells.

"Why should I give you a reason? Your life ends here," the strange figure states as he raises his Keyblade toward Mario.

Mario, however, does not give him a chance to pull off another fast attack. He quickly rushes in himself, a shadowy aura surrounding him as he charges. "Shadow Frenzy!" he yells.

"Zantetsuken!" the figure yells as he suddenly sidesteps the first swing of the frenzy and lands a heavy slash on Mario.

Mario gasps as the Keyblade strikes him, feeling the breath leaving him as a great pain suddenly washes over him. When he finally regains his ability to breathe, he yells out in agony. He collapses to his knees, dropping his Shadow Blade as he clutches his chest where he had been hit. No blood falls, however, but his wound is still visibly deep. Grimacing as he tries to cope with the pain, Mario mutters, "What...the...why...why does it hurt so much?"

The figure now turns to look back at Mario. "Why shouldn't it? You should have known from the moment that you started fighting this battle that a single hit from this blade could prove to be fatal. After all, you are a Heartless."

Mario grimaces as he now glares up at the figure, his hand still clutching his wound. "How...do you know that I'm a half-Heartless?"

"Half-Heartless?" the figure asks before he laughs loudly. When he regains his composure, he returns his glance to Mario. "To answer your question, I have always known, ever since you were born. However, you are no half-Heartless. There is no such thing as an inbetween state between human and Heartless. If you are not a human, then you must be a Heartless."

"No...that can't be right!" Mario yells as he releases his clutch on his wound, grabbing his Shadow Blade and standing slowly. However, at this point, even that is becoming difficult to do. "I'm human! I'm a human right now!"

"Heartless made from strong hearts, much like their Nobody counterparts, can keep a human form," the figure states. "What you are now is nothing more than an illusion that you have made, pretending to be human to keep from falling into darkness."

Mario breathes heavily as he now slowly stumbles toward the cloaked figure, angered by these accusations. "That's...not true...that's not true!" Using the last of his energy, Mario attempts one last charge toward the figure.

The figure is unfazed, simply bringing his arm back and smashing his fist into Mario's jaw.

Mario lets out another gasp as he stumbles backwards into the fence surrounding the edge of the observatory deck. He rubs his jaw as he vision blurs a bit, fatigue beginning to catch up with him. "You're...you're wrong..." he mutters as he fights to remain conscious.

"I tire of this," the figure says as he now walks toward Mario, Keyblade in hand and ready to strike.

Xamira suddenly infront of Mario, remebering the image from her vision. "NO!" She shouts," I will not let you destroy my friend!"

Mario is startled when he sees Xamira defending him. "Xamira...how long..."

The figure stops and glares at the girl. "This is none of your concern, girl. Besides, why defend him? He is nothing more than a Heartless whose heart must be freed."

"And I'm a Nobody with half a heart." Xamira snaps. "And yet people defended me, so why not? Mario has proven that despite being whatever his is, he can still be a good person. So why don't you open your dark portal and get lost!"

Xamira looks angry, and her keyblades appearing. Ironicy, it begins to rain, starting at a drizzle and forming into a downpour.

The figure is silent before sighing. " As much as I would hate to take out one of my own, I seem to have no choice." The figure then raises his Keyblade. " Prepare to disappear into darkness." With that, he charges toward Xamira with a swing of his Keyblade.

The swing never reaches Xamira.

Mario jumps in the way of the attack, struck hard by the attack. He lets out a final gasp as the blow knocks him into the air and over the fence. As he falls toward the street below, he loses consciousness, the last thing he sees being the full moon.

The figure lets out an utter of surprise as he now rushes over toward the fence. "The fool!" he yells as he glances over the side. Not seeing any sign of Mario, he groans. "Sixteen years of searching, and it all ends with an eighty-six floor drop." After a moment, he sighs as he now turns away, heading for the interior of the building. "Well, you got your way," he says to Xamira as he passes her, a dark portal appearing a distance in front of him. "I'm leaving, and if anything can be said, your friend was a good person." On that final note, he steps into the dark portal and disappears as the portal closes.

Xamira, during the nobodies monolouge, crashes to the floor of the deck and cries. She isn't sure of what to do, except lie there and cry, getting drenched in the downpour. "A friend lost.....because of me..." She murmurs.

A few seconds later, the sudden sound of wings flapping suddenly alerts one attention to something flying up the side of the building. Seconds later, Jake appears in dragon form, an unconscious Mario in his arms. He lands on the observatory deck and reverts to human form. "What happened?" he asks. "I was looking for you when I suddenly saw Mario falling from the top of this building! What happened?"

"Nobody." Xamira mumbles, looking horrible. She turns away from Mario and Jake, slowly standing up. "Maybe I should just fade into darkness...it's where I belong."

"Don't...say that..."

Surprisingly, it is Mario who says it, but it seems it is nothing more than a subconscious reply. However, seconds later, he is enveloped in a cloud of shadows. When they part, Mario is in his Heartless form.

"WOAH!" Jake yells as he jumps to his feet and steps back, startled by the sudden transformation. "What just happened? Did Mario just become a Heartless?"

"He always has been..." Xamira mumbles. "But he had control of his actions. It's my fault this happened, I should have stopped him while I had the chance...I understand if you want me to leave..."

Jake is silent as he tries to take this all in. Finally, he offers a hand to Xamira. "Don't. Stay," he says. "Mario obviously trusts you a lot, so no doubt that he wants you to stick around."

Xamira thinks about this, and sighs. "Okay." SHe says, concentrating and a dark portal opens up. Xamira's footing slips a bit. "This should lead to your Grandpa's shop, after you."

Jake nods and turns back into a dragon, picking Mario up and stepping through the dark portal.

Back in the shop, Gramps suddenly starts ranting rapidly in Chinese. "Ai-yah! What sort of sorcery is this?" he yells as he shifts into his magical form, staring at the strange dark portal.

When Jake steps into the shop, he says, "Gramps, chill. It's just me."

"Jake?" Gramps asks as he shifts his focus to the unconscious Mario. "What are you doing with-"

"Gramps, this is Mario," Jake says. "Long story. I'll explain later." He then goes to lay Mario down in the back room.

Xamira goes threw the portal, and it shuts as soon as she safely lands in the shops. She looks at Mario, and just goes to quietly sit down on the couch. Was there anything more she could do?

Lao Shi is silent before he walks over to Xamira, returning to his human form. "Don't worry, young one," he says calmly. "Your friend will be fine. He just needs time to rest, that is all."

"I hope you right." Xamira mumbles. She then sighs. "Do you think he might have something on him to contact anyone?"

"Well, he has this," Jake says as he steps back into the front of the shop, Mario's phone in his hand.

Xamira examines the phone, and finds a number in it. She hands it back to Jake. "You call....I'm not sure who will pick up.."

Jake is silent as he nods before he takes the phone, waiting for someone to pick up.

"Mario?" Sora answers, sounding a bit distressed. "Is there a problem?"

"Um, not Mario," Jake says, sounding unsure yet worried. "This is Jake, a friend of his. Mario's been hurt pretty badly, and while it seems he'll make a full recovery, he might not be available for a while."

Sora is silent for a long moment. "Just perfect." He muttters. "Well when he gets better, can you tell him to call King Sora immediatly?"

"Sure thing," Jake says before he hangs up. "Well, they know that he's out of commission for the time." He now looks at Lao Shi, who had gone to inspect Mario. "Gramps, how is Mario?"

"His injuries are not terribly severe," Gramps says as he examines the gashes and Fu Dog makes some herbal remedies.

Xamira bites her lip at Lao Shi's comment, looking more terrible now, like she was gonna be sick. She lies on the couch, and curls herself up, putting her arms around her legs. "My fault." She whispers to herself.

Jake is silent as he now looks at Xamira. "Alright, tell us what happened up there, Xamira."

Xamira turns away. "You'll just try and distroy me like the others." She mutters angrilly. "So just get it over with."

Jake is silent before he now places his hand on Xamira. "I wouldn't destroy you unless I had a good reason to. Right now, I know nothing of what happened, so if unless you tell me a story in which I am given a reason to consider destroying you, then it's not going to happen."

Xamira fumes for a bit before sitting up. "I'm not your average Nobody okay? I have visions, but there usually only of people I know. Very few times I see people I don't know, like last week I saw some guy on his death bed. But....I had a vision of Mario being attacked, but I couldn't make it out where it was...but by the time I relized, it was to late..."

"So in a limited sense, you are able to perceive the future," Lao Shi states as he reenters the room. "However, visions of the future do not always come to pass and sometimes mean nothing at all. That is no excuse, however, that you should feel sorry for Mario's injuries. Judging from what I've heard, it seems that there was nothing you could have done to begin with."

"My visions always come to pass unless I do something to prevent them, you have no idea how many tmes I saw myself fading into darkness. I could have stopped him.....I was right there...." Xamira trails off.

"Xamira..." Jake interrupts, pausing for a moment to show how off-track they were getting and to emphasis that point. "What happened?"

"I told you!" Xamira shouts, angry. "Mario was attacked by some coaked figure and I was stupid and didn't stop him! AKA MY FAULT!"

Xamira starts to cry now, and returns to her curling position. "All my fault."

Jake is a bit surprised by the outburst. "This is the first time you mentioned a cloaked figure," he says.

"And it sounds to me that Mario was going to be attacked no matter what you did," Lao Shi states. "So why beat yourself up over something such as that?"

"Because I feel that I could have done something. Death, theres little I can do about, but someone gettin attacked....I can prevent it, and I always feel so horrible when I don't. It's natural." Xamira explains.

"Xamira," Lao Shi says, "Why don't you tell us what happened from beginning to end. Every detail. Everything that you saw and heard."

Xamira sighs, then tells Lao Shi everything from the nightmare vision to the attack. "I just planned on lying there, I knew even if I opened a portal to the bottom, I still might be to late in catching him." She says, concluding.

Lao Shi nods in silence before he speaks. "What I fail to understand is why you are still beating yourself up over this. From what I understand, this cloaked assailant was ready to kill Mario and would have had you not interfered. In other words, you saved Mario instead of hurting him."

"Gramps is right!" Jake states solidly.

Xamira turns away, unsure of how to answer this, whiping the tears from her eyes.

"...I will leave you to ponder this, young one," Lao Shi says as he turns to return to Mario's bedside. "Also, you should go home, Jake. Your parents are probably waiting for you."

"Oh man, you're right!" Jake says before he rushes out of the shop. "See ya, Gramps! See ya, Xamira!" He then disappears into the streets.

Xamira sighs and pulls a pillow under her head before trying to sleep. After a few minutes, her breathing evens and slows.

Lao Shi attends to Mario, whose wounds have now mostly healed. However, he was still out cold. It was unlikely that he would awaken any time before the sun rose. After he and Fu Dog make sure that things are in order, they both fall asleep nearby.

Xamira is not in the shop come morning, but on it's roof, staring at the blue sky. She seems to be singing a cheerier song though, so maybe she wasn't as miserable as last night.

After a few moments, Lao Shi appears on the roof, approaching Xamira from behind. "Mario seems to have made a full recovery, but he will still need time to rest."

Xamira nods. "I guessed so...I had a vision of him sleeping, and looking okay." She says. "Also your gonna win the lottery."

Lao Shi is silent before he chuckles a little. "Well, I'm not entirely sure that I would ever need such money. I get along fine as is."

After a minute, Jake bursts onto the roof. "Gramps, Mario's up!"

"Well you can put it to retirement or a charity, looked like alot of money..." Xaimra says before she hears Jake. She runs down and immediatly goes to where Mario is and looks relieved.

Mario is not in his bed, however. Instead, he is standing in a corner of the room, in his human form, and stretching. "Oy...I feel awful..." Mario mutters to himself. "Eh, but I've been through worse."

"I'm glad your okay Mario." Xamira says, looking relieved. She sits on the couch and takes a deep breath. "You aure about the lottery Lao Shi? It should be on soon..."

Lao Shi chuckles a little. "Very well, if you insist," he says as he goes to check a TV in the next room.

Jake, meanwhile, walks past Xamira, holding Mario's phone. "Mario, I was told to tell you to call King Sora when you woke up."

"Sora?" Mario asks, turning toward Jake as he takes the phone. "Well, thanks, Jake." He then walks past Jake to head outside to make the call. However, he stops next to Xamira. "Oh, and Xamira...thanks..." He then steps outside, dialing in the number.

Xamira smiles a little.

Sora picks up. "Mario? Or is this Jake again?" He asks, seeeming to have calmed down a bit.

"Mario," Mario quickly states. "Sorry about lying down on the job, but when you hear the story behind it, I think you'll understand why I needed some rest."

"It's alright Mario, how's New York?" Sora asks.

"Sora..." Kairi says in the background. "Your procrasitinating."

"Pretty good," Mario says. "There a few Heartless here, but they're being summoned in an unorthodox method, so they are much weaker than normal. However, there's a chance that it won't stay that way for long."

"Then never mind, take care of the heartless problem. Call me when everything is peaceful." Sora says.

"Oh giv-" Kairi says before the line goes dead.

---

Xamira fiddles with a loose string from her shirt and hums the same song as before.

Mario pockets his phone after Sora hung up, a bit curious about what was going on between him and Kairi. After a moment, he shrugs to himself before stepping back inside. "I'm going to go take a look around the city real quickly to make sure that there are not any more Heartless."

Lao Shi is quick to look at Mario. "You must not, young one. You have just now recovered from your injury, and it is unwise to continue fighting the Heartless so soon."

"Listen, Gramps, I've been through worse and recovered from worse in the middle of battle," Mario states. "Besides, you don't have to worry about me. However, I would like Jake to come with me."

Lao Shi is silent before he nods. "Very well then."

"Don't worry, Gramps," Jake says as he walks past Lao Shi to stand next to Mario, "We'll be fine." With that, the two of them leave the shop.

Mario quickly peeks back in for a moment, however. "Oh, and Xamira, could you stay here for a while? This shouldn't take too long, and afterwards, I can take us to the castle." With that, he leaves.

Xamira nods and scrathces Fu Dog's ear again. "So how was the lottery?" She asks Lao Shi.

"Hasn't come on yet," Lao Shi says, but he seems a bit distracted.

---

"So what is this about, Mario?" Jake asks.

"Just going to finish this problem off for now," Mario states. "You know, weaken the Heartless here so that they won't be a major problem for a while."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Jake asks.

"Simple," Mario answers. "We attack their source."

"You mean the Huntsclan?" Mario asks. "On theif turf?"

"No, no," Mario states. "I'm not stupid. We'll fight where the terrian will be in our favor."

Jake is silent before continuing. "So...how long have you been...you know..."

Mario is silent before he finally responds. "A while...a while..."

Xamira shuts her eyes, and for a long moment becomes stiff. "I don't see anything happening yet." She says when her eyes open. "Just some guy again."

Mario and Jake are soon in Central Park, and after a moment to discuss the plan to Jake, he asks, "Are you ready?"

Jake nods. "Ready. Dragon up!" Jake transforms into the American Dragon, and then takes off to fly in the skies overhead in order to hopefully draw the Huntsclan's attention.

Mario, meanwhile, hides nearby in the shadows of a tree.

Just then Rose, in her huntclan uniform attacks Jake out of nowhere. "Prepare to be skinned Dragon."

Jake quickly dodges the attack and descends down to the forest. "Alright, Huntsgirl, where is teh rest of the Huntsclan at?" Jake asks as he lands.

"Who says I need to be with them? Your hide is mine!" Rose shouts, attacking again

---

"It's begun..." Xamira mumbles, her eyes closing again.

Jake barely dodges the hit, sweeping out with his tail to attack her. "But why are you with them to begin with?" Jake asks.

"You wouldn't understand." Rose says, dodging the attack and attacking again.

Jake catches the attack, staring at the Huntsgirl. "Maybe, maybe not...but I think if you at least try to tell me, I'll understand. After all, every thorn has its rose."

Rose stops, freezing. "What did you say?" She asks, looking suspisious.

"I'm just saying that I think there's another side to you," Jake says as he now releases the weapon and jumps backwards.

Rose attacks Jake again. "How would you know?"

Jake quickly dodges. "Because Mario told me," he states. "He looked into your heart and those of the Huntsclan, and from what he told me, you are nothing like them. You're not one of them, Rose. You're not one of them."

Rose sighs, and pulls off a glove, revealing a birthmark in the shape of a dragon. "This mark makes me one of the huntsclan, so I am one of them!" She shouts, before attacking him again.

"No, you're not!" Jake says as he blocks the attack. "Maybe you have the birthmark of one of them, but you don't have the heart. Just because outward appearances say that you're supposed to be someone you're not doesn't mean that you are. Take Mario for example."

'What do you mean?" Rose asks.

"Well, he's part-Heartless, but just because he's part-Heartless doesn't mean he is part-heartless or even fully heartless," Jake states.

"I see." Rose says before thinking.

"And Rose, the same applies with me too," Jake says. "I may seem like your enemy on the outside, but inside, I'm your friend."

Rose laughs. "I'm sure."

Suddenly them, several footsteps can be heard. The Huntsman and alot of other huntsclan appear. Rose silently sighs and swings her staff at him. "Surrender dragon!"

Jake quickly hops backwards. "Sorry, but surrender isn't an option!"

"Then prepare to be skinned." Rose says, and she attacks again.

The huntman joins her, attacking with a staff as well.

Jake quickly evades the attacks as he backs up more and more.

Suddenly, a fireball flies past the Huntsman and Rose and hits Jake, blasting him back into a tree.

Behind the Huntsman and Rose is Mario in his Heartless form, his hand smoking a little. "Well, I suppose you are surprised to see me again," he says.

"You." The huntman says.

"Surrender at once." Rose says.

Meanwhile, the other huntsclan fire a strange-looking net at Jake.

Jake is caught in the net, and he stuggles to free himself but fails.

"Aw, come on," Mario says sarcastically. "Is that how you treat your old friend?" He then chuckles a little before continuing. "I'll just cut to the chase. I've decided that I'll give you a chance to prove yourself worthy of controlling the Heartless."

"We're listening." The huntman says.

The other huntsclan secure jake in the net, quickly wrapping it around him and carrying him to a suped-up armoured car. Once he's inside they shut and lock the doors. One runs up to him. "We have the dragon apprehended Huntsmaster. Whenever your ready." He says.

"Well, first off, you will have to release that dragon," Mario states. "His heart is special, and I want to extract his heart myself. As for getting those powers, there is a special job that I want you to do for me that will require your full attention. You see, in this city is a heart. A large heart. The heart of this world. I want you to find it."

"Very well." The huntsman says, before going to the van. He opens the door, and throws Jake out, still in the net. "One dragon. As for the heart of this world, do you have an idea of where it may be?"

Mario is silent as he silently senses for the heart, but he shakes his head. "While I can sense and read the hearts of others, the heart of this world is hidden too well. I can't sense it as easily as other worlds, but I can give you an idea of what it looks like. If there is a place where the light touches this world more strongly than anywhere else or a keyhole in the most unusual of places, then the heart of the world is not too far from there."

"Very well." The Huntsman says, before leaving. "Huntsgirl, come."

Rose nods, and follows the Huntsman.

Mario is silent before he goes over to Jake, picking him up and slinging him over his shoulder. However, it is not before he secretly loosens the net a little. He then follows the Huntsman and Rose.

Xamira's eyes open and she loosens up. Without a word, she runs out of the shop.

---

The Huntsclan keeps moving, continueing the search.

As Mario follows them from a distance, he quietly whispers to Jake. "Do you remember the plan?"

Jake gives a small nod.

"Good. Once the Keyhole is taken care of, this will all be over."

After about a half hour, the Huntsclan finds the keyhole, in an abandoned subway tunnel. "Now, time for you to keep up your part of the bargain."

"First, to make sure that this is the real deal," Mario states as he now approaches the Keyhole to examine it. After a few moments, he steps back and looks toward the Hunstclan as he sets Jake down. "This is indeed the Keyhole. You did well. However, I'm afraid that this deal is over now. I've got what I want."

The huntsman laughs. "I thought it be as much." The huntman says.

Suddenly some strange beam shoots quickly at Jake, but before it gets near, Xamira can be heard. "No!" She shouts, taking the shot, and falling to the floor, unconcious.

Mario is stunned before he grimaces. "...Huntsman, you just made your last mistake!" he yells before a large cloud of shadows suddenly swarm around him, and when they part, Mario appears with two Shadow Blades. "Jake, get Xamira out of here!" he yells before he charges toward the Huntsman.

Jake nods and quickly bursts out of the net, grabbing Xamira and flying out of the tunnels.

The huntsclan attacks, and several Wyverns appear, and attack Mario.

Mario, however, is suddenly enveloped in a shadowy aura. "Shadow Frenzy!" he yells before he suddenly and rapidly slashes at the Wyverns, circling and slashing at the Huntsclan, and then bringing his Shadow Blade down into the ground to finish with a shockwave/Shadow Thunder combo.

At the end of this, amazingly, only Rose and the Huntsman are left standing.

Mario now stands there, staring them down. "So, now it's just you two and me," Mario states. "Fitting, I suppose. However, I still don't understand why you're trying so hard to summon the Heartless. How did you even find out about the Heartless to begin with?"

The huntsman throw something on the floor. It's a black choker with the heartless symbol on it. "Lets just say I did research."

"I see," Mario says as he looks at the choker. "And where did you obtain this?"

"Our informant." The huntsman says. "They couldn't handle the power they received."

"I see," Mario states. "Well, to be honest, you guys really aren't that good yourselves. I mean, come on! You lead me straight to the Keyhole! What if I was an actual Heartless? I would have stole the heart of this world, and shortly afterwards, you and this world would have ceased to exist! Nothing good ever comes out of a deal with the Heartless, so why think that you were even close to getting their assistance?"

"Well, we certainly harmed your friend to a great extent. And for an enchange, which you will fulfil, I'll give you the antidote." The huntman says.

"...Antidote...well, I'll admit that I've never heard that one before," Mario states. "But go on, I could use a laugh."

Xamira cringes, holding where she wa hit. "Where's Mario?" She asks Jake.

---

The huntsman takes something from his pocket. It looks to be the same color as the beam that hit Xamira. "This is a rare, but heavy poison. We made sure we could fire it if nessasary. It's rather a pity it didn't hit the dragon."

"I see," Mario states. "A poison. Really, do you honestly think that will work? I can use Cure magic, you know. I can remove that poison from her within seconds."

"You'll regret that decistion when she dies." The huntsman says. "Huntsgirl, attack."

Rose nods, and attacks Mario

Mario quickly blocks and then counters with a few slashes. "Really, I still don't get why you're with him."

Rose makes no comment, but continues to attack.

Mario continues to counter, returning a slash for every attack but notably not being aggressive. "Really, Rose, what do you see in him? Sure, you have that birthmark, but that's what's on the outside, not the inside. Inside, you are a good friend to everyone, so why pretend to be something you're not?"

"Quiet!" Rose shouts, attacking again.

Mario blocks again. "Rose, just admit that there is a light inside of you that you are trying to hide. How do you think Jake would feel about you if he knew who you were pretending to be?"

"He'd understand if I had no choice." Rose whispers, before attacking again.

"I heard that," Mario states as he blocks this attack. "So, what if I had told him about waht you were up to?"

"Just be quiet." Rose snaps, and attacks again

Mario blocks the attack again. "Sorry to say, I won't shut up that easily," Mario states. "And right now, if you won't accept who you are, then I guess I have no choice but to-"

Suddenly, Mario cuts off, and after a second of hesitation, he suddenly breaks away from the block and slashes at something behind Rose.

A Dusk.

The Dusk is knocked away but quickly recuperates, but as it returns to a fighting stance, more Dusks appear, surrounding Mario, Rose, and the Huntsman.

"Great, just what I needed," Mario states as he now gets into a battle stance to face the Nobodies.

"What are these?" The Huntsman says, taking a fighting stance aside Rose.

"Nobodies," Mario states as he knocks away a Dusk charging toward him. "When a Heartless is made from someone with a strong heart, a Nobody is made as well. The Nobodies are even more deadly than the Heartless because unlike Heartless, Nobodies actually have minds. They can plan. They can adapt." Mario then knocks another Dusk away.

Rose and the Huntsman attack the dusks as well. "This is only a temperary alliance boy."

"Yeah, I know," Mario states as he now attacks another Dusk. With a quick Reversal, he then knocks away one Dusk, destroys a second, and disorientates the others.

Once the dusks are gone, the Huntsman and Rose retreats into the subway, disapearing.

Mario is silent as he watches them go. He is silent before sighing and turning toward the Keyhole. With a quick swing, he points one Shadow Blade at the Keyhole. A beam of dark light shoots out of the Shadow Blade and hits the Keyhole, sealing it up and the heart of the world away. Mario sighs and puts his Keyblade away. "I don't understand...where did the Nobodies come from?" After a moment, he then realizes something. "Xamira! Jake!" Mario quickly turns and runs up the stairs toward the exit of the tunnels where he hopes to find Jake and Xamira.

Wherever Xamira and Jake are, a group of Dusks and Dragoons are surrounding them, but they do not attack. Instead, they only wait, as if they are waiting for someone to arrive.

Xamira is still, behind Jake, clining to his wings. "Do something." She whispers.

Rose and the huntsman are surronded as well, and the Nobodies try to put them in the same circle, slowly succeding.

Mario quickly puts one Keyblade away, running through the tunnels. At this point, he was a little lost, but he had to hurry and find the others.



"I wish I could, but these things are too unpredictable," Jake says. "Plus, I can't leave you here."

The Nobodies suddenly part in one area of the wall to admit the Huntsman and Rose to enter the ring, and soon another part of the wall opens through which Lao Shi and Fu Dog come through.

"Hi yah!" Lao Shi declares. "These creatures suddenly appeared outside the shop, and they just keep coming!"

The Nobodies then part in one small part of the wall, through which steps a black cloaked figure. "Hello, everyone," he says coldly. "I hope you are comfortable."

"You." Xamira says, sounding angry. "What do you want?"

The figure chuckles and turns his back to them. "Well, the loss of my target was a dreadful loss for me, so in a small plight of insanity, I decided to assemble a small army of Nobodies to attack this insignificant world. Once preparations were made, a marvelous discovery was made. My target survived! As you can imagine, I was delighted, but I had already made the plans to attack this world, and it was a bit too late to call it off. So now I'm just going through with it. One way or another, I will get my target, but right now, I'm going to enjoy a little fun." He now looks over at the group. "So, how many Nobodies do you think you can hold off before you cease to exist like the Nobodies around you?"

Xamira tenses, and bites her lip. "I can hold off about a hundred before starting to get tired." She whispers to Jake. "But there seems more then that here."

The Huntsman and Rose stand close to one another, preparing to defend one another.

The figure chuckles a little. "You're looking at about a thousand Nobodies strong, dear. Are you familar with an attack against Hollow Bastion many years ago in which over a thousand Heartless attacked the town? Well, let us just say that what we have here is an attack very much like that one."

He now pauses. "So, how will you all fare? And how will you fare, Mario?"

Outside the ring stands Mario, his Shadow Blade in hand. "I'll fare much better than you will."

The figure laughs a little. "Is that so?" The figure asks, stepping out of the circle of Nobodies which closes up behind him. "Well then, I suppose you won't mind if we let your friends handle the smallfry. I want you all to myself."

Mario grimaces as he now swipes his Shadow Blade from left to right. "Who are you? Why are you doing this? Why me?"

The figure chuckles again as another ring of Nobodies now move around him and Mario. "So many questions, but not all answers can be so simply told," the figure says. "If you want your answers, though, you will have to fight me." With that, the figure charges toward Mario. Simutaneously, the Nobodies close in around the rest of the group.

Xamira summons her keyblades and attacks the Nobodies, focusing on the Dragoons.

Suddenly Mario's phone rings, going berserk inside his pocket.

Mario is quick to defend himself from the figure's attack, but as he quickly knocks him back, several Nobodies attack. Mario quickly defeats three of them before answering the phone. "Hello?" Mario asks, quickly blocking another attack with a loud clang that could be heard through the phone.

"Mario?" Kairi asks, disreguarding the noise, and sounding paniked. "Is Mariya with you?"

Xamira keeps fighting, not seeming to get tired at all.

Mario blocks another attack and then slashes at three more Nobodies, quickly switching hands and using the Shadow Blade with his left hand while talking on the phone with his right. "Um, no," Mario states, quickly leaping over the figure. "Why?"

"She's gone missing." Kairi says. "And Merlin can't track her down."

"Crap," Mario states as he quickly slashes another five Nobodies, holding his ground somehow. "I'd love to come help out, but I'm in a bit of a bind myself. Tell me, was there some sort of attack on Hollow Bastion involving more than a thousand Heartless some time ago?"

"Yes, when Sora was yonger and Organization XIII was collecting hearts to make a false Kindom Hearts." Kairi answers. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, let's just say that we have the Nobody equivalent," Mario states as he now slashes away at four more Nobodies. "We have our backs to one another and the Nobodies keep coming!"

"We'll send someone right away Mario." Kairi says. "Keep an eye out for Mariya, please."

The line goes dead then. Xamira keeps fighting, with the Huntsman and Rose beside her.

Mario quickly hangs up and pockets the phone, spinning around to block yet another attack from the figure.

"You seem to be doing much better this time," the figure states.

"Well, I've kinda had time to learn your fighting style now," Mario states as he blocks another attack and then spins around to slash three more Nobodies.

"Is that so?" the figure says before chuckling. "Well then, this fight might actually be fun." The figure snaps his fingers, and the Nobodies attacking Mario stop and go over to join the Nobodies attacking the rest of the group.

Jake and Lao Shi continue to fight as well while Fu Dog flings potions around to both disorientate the Nobodies and to heal the group members.

Xamira pants, and swings her keyblades at another nobody. She looks like she could pass out at any moment.

Mario blocks more attacks from the figure before he notices Xamira. "Crap," he mutters, remembering the poison. Without hesitation, Mario quickly twirls his Shadow Blade around, a green aura surrounding it. "Xamira!" he yells, tossing his Shadow Blade toward her just beyond the Nobodies. However, as the Shadow Blade strikes her during the Strike Raid, she is not damaged. Instead, she is healed. This Strike Raid is actually a Cure Raid. The Shadow Blade disappears after the hit and reappears in Mario's hand just in time to block another attack.

Xamira perks up, and continues fighting. Suddenly Erik appears and a huge blast emits from his keyblade, destroying several Nobodies.

The battle was slowly turning for the better as the Nobodies were now diminished to approximately 75% of their original numbers.

Mario, meanwhile, continues to battle and keep the figure occupied, throwing a few occasional slashes toward the Nobodies when possible.

Erik fights along side Xamira, and they keep up their pace.

Soon, the group manages to get the Nobodies down to 50% their initial numbers, then 25%! It wouldn't be long before they would all be defeated.

Xamira begins to get exausted, but keeps up her fighting. Erik, however, looks like he could fight for eternity.

In no time at all, the last of the Nobodies are defeated. All is calm now...

...until another clash alerts everyone to the battle still ensuing between Mario and the figure.

Mario drops to one knee, block a downward swipe with his Shadow Blade as he breathes a little heavily.

"Your resistance is impressive," the figure says as he pushes on his attack. "You are definitely lasting longer than before. However, this battle will be over soon as will your existence."

"You're half right," Mario responds before he knocks away the attack, quickly leaping back to avoid the backswing. Then, with a quick rush, he charges toward the figure.

The figure looks up at him as he brings his Keyblade back. "Zantetsu-"

"Not this time!" Mario yells as he tosses a Strike Raid toward the Keyblade, breaking the figure's stance. With the figure stunned, Mario quickly rushes in and, recalling his Shadow Blade, does a quick slash as he runs by the figure.

The figure puts up his free arm to quickly block the blow, being knocked back slightly as Mario rushes past him. However, as he comes to a halt and Mario also stops, his hood slips off his head, knocked off by the blow as well.

Mario now glances back at the figure then freezes, seeing something that simply shocked him. This figure looked very identical to himself. The face was the same, but his hair was white and laid down more while still retaining its spiky style. More striking, however, were the eyes, the pupils as white as nothingness.

"...Who...who are you?" Mario asks, too stunned to even rush in to attack again.

The figure looks back over his shoulder at Mario, glancing at him in silence before smiling. Without a word, the figure then disappears into a dark portal.

With the Nobodies gone, Jake, Lao Shi, and Fu Dog all sigh in relief. "So who were those guys?" Jake asks. "And who was that guy in the cloak?"

"Nobodies." Erik says with a sigh. "There even worse then heartless, they can plan and adapt. As for the man in the cloak, I have no idea. He didn't look like any Organization member, thats for sure."

Xamira is silent, apparently she was the only one who saw the siliarities between Mario and the Nobody who he fought. She planned to ask him later.

Mario is silent for a moment before he sighs and looks at the others. "Well...it's over," he says, though his facial expression betrays the confusion he is feeling on the inside.

The Huntsman and Rose leave then, disapearing into the subway tunnels. "Comon, we should get back to the shop and rest up just incase." Xamira says.

Mario nods, watching the Huntsman and Rose leave before smiling. Soon, he begins walking back toward the shop with Jake, Lao Shi, and Fu Dog close behind.

Erik follows Mario, Xamira following behind. She keeps close to Mario, not feeling comfprtable around him.

They soon arrive at the electronics store, and inside, Jake and Lao Shi return to their human forms.

Mario now sighs as he retreats into the back, sitting down on the couch.

"Mario, are you alright?" Jake asks.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Mario responds. "I just need time to rest from that battle, that's all."

"Alright," Jake responds, walking back to the front with a bit of doubt in his voice.

Xamira comes to the back and smiles a bit. "If you need to talk....I'm here." She says, smiling.

Mario is silent as he looks at Xamira before looking away. "...You saw his face, didn't you?" Mario asks.

Xamira sits down. "I think I'm the only one who noticed." She says, before sighing. "Do you think...it's your nobody?"

"Do I have a Nobody?" Mario asks, throwing his hands up. "I mean, sure, I'm a half-Heartless, but I never thought that would be enough to create a Nobody. If I'm a half-Heartless, though, then does that mean he's a half-Nobody? Is there even such a thing?"

'There is no such thing as an inbetween state between human and Heartless.'

Mario suddenly remembers the words that the figure had said, and his expression goes from one of confusion to one of sorrow. "...Or is what he said true? ...Am I...a true Heartless?"

"Mario, if you were a true Heartless, you would have taken the Huntsman's heart by now. I don't think your a Heartless. One things for sure, that guy needs to be stopped." Xamira says, smiling, trying to make him feel better.

Mario is silent before he smiles. "Thanks..." He now stands. "So the Keyhole's been located, but whether the Huntsman is a major priority or not is hard to tell. He's obviously unable to summon powerful Heartless, and he's nowhere close to summoning the real deal. In all reality, he isn't too big a threat to us. However, he must be stopped." Mario now looks out toward the front. "And this time, we're fighting them on their own turf."

Xamira sighs, laying on the couch. "Well some of us need a break." Xamira says, closing her eyes.

"That's fine," Mario states. "I think I can take them on by myself, especially after that Nobody attack left them weak."

Xamira sighs. She gets up and pokes her head out into the other room. "All in favor of keeping Mario here, and preventing him from doing something crazy, say I." She says.

"Zuh?" Mario asks before he suddenly finds himself being charged at by two dragons, a dog, and anyone else who wanted to join in. Within moments, he is dogpiled on, holding him down onto the ground. "Hey! Let me go!"

"Sorry Mario, your not going anywhere unles we go with you." Xamira says, before returning to the couch. "I get first sleep." She says and lies down, closing her eyes.

"Look, I'm going to finish this whether you hold me back or not," Mario says, and within an instant, he transforms into his Heartless form. He fades into the ground, causing everyone on top of him to crash onto the floor. He then slides along the ground, an untouchable 2D image, but before he can reach the doorway and slide underneath it, something hits him, a potion of some sort. Instantly, he reverts to a 3D form, crashing into the door. "Ow...what was that?"

"That," Fu Dog quickly explains, "was a potion I was working on to do specifically that to those Heartless."

"...Effective," Mario says as he rubs his head, stunned for now.

"Mario were only looking out for you." Xamira says, yawning. "Can you at least wait til we rest so you can have back-up?"

Mario is silent before reverting to his human form. "Fine."

"Give me ten, twenty minutes." Xamira mumbles before falling asleep.

Mario sighs and sits in the corner, but however, as the time goes by, Jake and Fu Dog fall asleep, a bit tired from the battle. Only Lao Shi remains awake and vigilant, making sure that Mario doesn't run off.

After a half hour, Xamira wakes and looks like she is raring to go. "Alright Lao Shi, you can sleep." She says, sitting on the floor near the door.

Lao Shi nods, and he soon goes into the back.

Mario now stands. "Alright, ready to go!" he says, looking fully rested himself.

Xamira nods and stands up. She then quietly opens the shop door.

"And where are you going?" Lao Shi asks as he steps into the front of the shop.

"Oh, nowhere," Mario says. "Say, isn't there a Boomgarden commerical coming on soon?"

"Boomgarden..." Lao Shi spitefully mutters before he goes back into the back to turn a TV on.

"Quick, while he's busy," Mario tells Xamira.

Xamira nods and runs out of the shop.

Mario follows her, soon taking the lead an d rushing toward the Huntsclan hideout.

Soon, Mario is outside the Huntsclan hideout, Shadow Blade in hand. After a moment to prepare himself, he begins to make his way into the base.

Xamira follows him. "So what's with Boomgarden?" She asks in a whisper.

"Oh, that," Mario replies. "Well, Boomgarden is a competitor of Gramps in the electronics business. They're right across the street from Gramps' store, and the rivalry between them is more like a war. Boomgarden keeps trying to slander Gramps' name and Gramps keeps trying to outdo Boomgarden's services. As you can imagine, it's getting nowhere fast."

Xamira laughs. She keeps behind and summons her keyblades.

Mario soon pushes into the heart of the Huntsclan base, a bit surprised that they hadn't drawn attention. Either the Huntsclan were still recovering from earlier...or they were walking into a trap.

"I don't like this MArio." Xamira whispers. Just thensomething 'clicks' and a huge cage flies down, threatening to trap them in it.

Seeing the dropping cage, Mario quickly leaps up, his Shadow Blade clashing with the cage and hitting it hard. After a few successive strikes, the cage is knocked aside where it crashes into the floor nearby. Mario lands and sighs. "Looks like they're expecting us. Let's keep going."

Xamira nods and follows Mario. She keeps up her guard now, and suddenly jumps infront of Mario to knock away some strange arrows with her keyblades.

"Yep, they're expecting us," Mario says once more as he keeps going. "Really, though, booby traps? Who do they think we are? Indiana Jones and his female accompilace?"

Xamira laughs before whistling the Indiana Jones theme song. "Lets go find the Arc Indy!" She says before laughing.

Mario only rolls his eyes before he continues onward, further into the heart of the base.

Xamira sighs, and continues to follow.

Some noises can now be heard. Clashes of weapons, shouts and grunts, and some typing.

"Your slipping Huntsgirl." The hunstman says from somewhere nearby.

"Sorry master." Rose says.

Mario quickly backs against the wall, peeking onward to see what is going on.

Rose suddenly attacks the Huntsmaster, and he quickly blocks, and looks disapointed. So this was only a training session. Behind them, other Huntsclan members are training or working on computers.

"When ever your ready Mario." Xamira says.

Mario nods as he puts his back against the wall. "Wait for my cue," he says before he snaps his fingers.

A second later, a sudden thunderclap rings out as a Shadow Thunder suddenly goes off in the training room in hopes of startling the Huntsclan.

Xamira waits, biting her lip.

The Huntsman and Rose attack Mario, while everyone else, being surprised, gets stunned from the lightning.

Mario smiles before he stabs his Shadow Blade into the ground, creating a Shadow Aero that threatens to blow away anyone in the nearby area. "Xamira, now!" he yells.

Xamira jumps out and attacks, knocking the Huntsman to the ground and Rose blows away and into a wall.

Mario quickly gets to work, pulling his Shadow Blade out and spinning it around. Suddenly, ice crystals form around Mario, Xamira, and the Huntsman, leaving them to battle on their own.

Xamira continues her assault on the Huntsman. The Huntsman is loosing his footing, and is barely blocking Xamira's attacks.

Mario rushes in at this time, landing some strikes of his own. "Sorry, Huntsman, but this is to keep you from causing any more trouble!"

Soon the Huntsman falls, and strikes Xamira at the same time, sending her flying back. She hits the wall of ice. At this same moment the Huntsman throws a net at Mario.

Mario quickly slashes at the net, the Shadow Blade enveloped in dark flames. "Not going to happen!" Mario yells as he casts a quick Shadow Cure spell on Xamira and then goes back in to attack some more.

Xamira doesn't move except to rub her head.

The Huntsman jumps up and attacks Mario will all his force.

Mario quickly blocks this attack, and after a quick parry, he yells, "Shadow Zantetsuken!" With one swing, he lashes out at the Huntsman.

The Huntsman is hit...and KO'd!

With the Huntsman out cold, Mario smiles and snaps his fingers. Immediately, the icy wall disappears.

Xamira stands, still rubbing her head. "Ow...bet this never happened to Winny..." She mutters.

Rose comes over to the Huntsman, and looks him over. She sighs with relief when she relizes he's just un-concious.

Mario is silent as he looks at Rose. "...You still haven't answered my question."

"I'm with the Huntsclan because they're the only people who know where my parents are..." Rose says in a low voice.

Mario is silent before he smiles. "Rose, tell me, is there a computer here with direct access to the main database of the Huntsclan?"

Rose motions to one of the computers. "Why do you ask?" She asks.

Xamira smiles, knowing where Mario was going with this.

Mario walks over to the computer, looking at it for a moment before booting it up. With any luck, he would be able to access the mainframe...provided that there isn't a password.

The mainframe comes up, so either there was no use for a password, or it had been previously entered.

Mario smiles before he types away, trying to pull up any information that could be related to Rose or her family.

After a moment or two a file pops up, it's a vidio and after a vidio it plays. The clip is of the Huntsclan taking Rose from her parents.

"He lied to me..." Rose mumbles.

Mario is silent before he makes a few more keystrokes. The video pauses on the image of Rose's parents, and after a moment, Mario finishes analyzing the frame. "Alright, let's go," Mario states before looking to Rose. "As for you...want to see your parents again?"

Rose nods. "More then anything." She says.

Xamira stands, having sat down.

Mario nods before he turns the computer off. "Alright then, but first, we're going to have to get a little bit of help." He then begins to make his way out of the base, heading for the electronics shop.

Xamira follows, Rose behind her. Xamira looks into an Alley, thinking she saw something move.

Mario does not see the movement, so he continues onward before arriving at the electronic store. "Rose, stay out here, will you?" Mario asks. "I need to see if I can get some help."

Rose nods, and leans against the shops window, and Xamira goes inside.

"Hey, Mario," Jake says as he sees Mario enter the shop. Apparently, he had rested some. "So I guess you two decided not to take on the Huntsclan."

"Oh, we did," Mario responds.

"What?!?" Lao Shi yells. "By yourselves?"

"Well, we're not exactly defenseless, are we?" Mario asks sarcastically. "But that's not important. Jake, I need you to change into your dragon form and come outside."

Jake raises an eyebrow. "Okay..." he mutters before he changes into his dragon form. He then follows Mario outside. Upon seeing Rose, he blinks. "Huntsgirl? What are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for Mario." She says.

Xamira goes into the other room and says. "Quoa shi diao!"

Lao Shi blinks. "...What bridge?"

Mario then nods. "Well, let me explain. First off, Rose, you don't know the American Dragon's true identity, do you?"

Xamira sighs. "Well in certain cultures they burn briges in celebration...." She explains.

Rose shakes her head.

"..." Lao Shi sighs.

"Well, let me help," Mario states. Suddenly, he steps on Jake's tail.

"YEOUCH!" Jake yells as he suddenly reverts to his human form, clutching where his tail was. "Dude, that was totally uncool!"

Rose gasps. "Jake?" She asks, taking off her mask.

"In other words Operation Mario in the shop was an epic fail. But Operation Raid the Huntslair was a complete success!" Xamira says before laughing.

Jake blinks. "Rose? So Mario was right..."

"Of course," Mario says before he turns to Jake. "Jake, I ne ed you to get Spud. I need his genius to locate some people."

Jake nods before he runs off.

Mario now looks at Rose. "You can wait inside."

Rose nods and goes inside.

Xamira turns and goes into the other room. She smiles and sits next to Rose.

Mario is silent as he waits for a moment. Soon, Jake returns with Spud.

"You need me, Mario?" Spud asks as Trixie soon follows as well. Seems the whole crew was here.

"Tell me, are you able to locate a person with nothing more than some faces to go with?" Mario asks.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Spud says as he steps inside and boots up a laptop he has. "Can you give them to me?"

"Sure," Mario states before he describes the faces to Spud. "Should be married for about thirteen years."

Spud nods and gets to work.

Xamira sits quietly, staring at the wall.

Finally, Spud smiles. "Got them."

Mario raises an eyebrow. "Really?"

Spud nods and writes down an address. "This is where they live."

Mario nods and takes the note, turning to note and offering it to her. "Take this and go to this address. I think you'll find the happiness that you are due there."

Rose takes the note and leaves without a word.

"Well that was rather rude." Xamira mutters.

"Well, she's just going to go see her parents. I can understand," Mario stays, his voice secretly hiding some hidden meaning. "But now, I believe the problem here is over."

"Well, that's good," Jake says as he picks up his skateboard. Suddenly, the skateboard begins to glow with an intense light. "Huh?"

Mario sees this and smiles. "Jake, can I see that?"

Jake is silent before nodding.

Mario takes the skateboard, and after a moment, the skateboard begins to float up into the air. Mario then summons his Shadow Blade, pointing it away from him and at the ground as dark light forms around the tip. Suddenly, a symbol appears on the ground beneath Mario that seems to be half a symbol of light and half a symbol of Heartless. Dark light starts to rise out of the symbol, blocking out everything and suddenly disappearing to reveal a strange twilight area. Behind Mario, a pair of doors appear in a burst of shadows. Mario smiles as he now turns toward the doors and raises his Shadow Blade up, toward the floating skateboard. With a flash of light, a beam of light shoots from the skateboard and hits the dark light on the tip of Mario's Shadow Blade. The two lights swirl together to create a strange light of both bright and dark characteristics. The shadow doors open, and deep within the dark void beyond, a small light can be seen, a keyhole. Mario smiles once again before jumping back a little, spinning his Shadow Blade around before pointing his Shadow Blade toward the keyhole. The light around the tip condenses into a single point, and a beam shoots out into the keyhole. The light spreads as an unlocking sound is heard, and soon everything is blocked out once more. Suddenly, the light disappears as the doors suddenly slam closed, the light sealed within. The doors disappear, and everything is as it was before.

Jake blinks as his skateboard lands in his arms. "...What...just happened?"

"Well Mario locked the keyhole, which means everything is at peace for awhile and we can get moving." Xamira says, trying not to sound rude. "Oh by the way Lao Shi, in the future, Boomgarden goes out of buisness."

"Erm, half-right, Xamira," Mario states. "I didn't lock a door. I opened a new one. You see, that was my own personal door, my own gateway from one world to another, and what I just unlocked is a new world for me to visit via my doors. However, you are right. Things should be peaceful here for a while, so it's time to head to Radiant Garden."

With a swing of his Shadow Blade, Mario summons the shadow doors and opens them. He then turns to Jake. "Sorry I can't stay, but other worlds need me."

Jake gives a nod. "Alright then, and when you come back, we can hang out some more."

Mario nods. "That's a promise." With that, he steps through the doors which close once everyone leaving this world is through the doors.

Xamira waves good-bye, and follows Mario.

{Xamira to Radiant Garden}