Mac Antfee was a famous and wealthy man.

More specifically, a butt-whoopsman.

Not to mention fitness model, and more recently, a motivational speaker.

But there were times when he felt like something was… missing in his life, increasingly so ever since he visited Norrisville High, helping its students ''splode to a better them'.

Or, so he recalled.

"Man-gong," he spoke to his friend standing behind him as Mac sat in a chair on the balcony, overlooking the view. "Have I ever told you…" he hesitated before continuing.

Yes! thought Man-gong. He's finally remembering his true past! Yes! He clasped his hands in anticipation, eyes wide, eagerly awaiting the answer.

When Mr. Antfee first forgot, Man-gong's first instinct was to tell him the truth- that he used to be the ninja and that that current ninja- what was his name… was it Rudy or Andy?- had erased his memories, and for no reason at all. Which, made Man-gong angry, and he realized that there was just no way he could make his master- and now, friend, which was the only part of the deal that Man-gong didn't mind- remember on his own.

So- using his precious vacation days, which were few and far between, although Mr. Antfee had been letting up ever since he lost his memory, which wasn't too bad of an outcome either- he set out to Norrisville to find- and steal- the NinjaNomicon, in hopes of learning it's secret.

Fortunately- for the ninja- it hadn't worked. He didn't even see the ninja, much less the Nomicon. Or, for that matter, any students.

Maybe it would have been wiser for him to have paid his little visit on a day other than Saturday.

After that, he took the butt-whoopsman to see a hypnotist, hoping he might be able to help Mr. Antfee recover his lost memories.

Yet, results still failed to emerge. And they had gone to the best hypnotist money could buy.

And Man-gong had been left scratching his head in wonder, still trying to make his boss remember, though his efforts were futile.

Until now. Maybe, just maybe, Mac Antfee was finally on track to reclaiming what was lost.

"Have I ever told you how good of a friend you are?"

Man-gong sighed, as his wishes for the master were dashed away once again. "Yes, Mr. Antfee. You have."

"Oh, I've told you a million times, call me Mac!"

A deafening silence stretched out before the two men.

"I'm going on break," Man-gong finally announced.

"On break?" Mac muttered. "Oh, right, I forgot, I'm paying you to be my friend! Right, right. Have fun on your break!" Mac called out to Man-gong as he left.

It's as if he doesn't want to remember… Man-gong thought frustratedly as he walked down the stairs and into the streets of Pinefield, the town in which Pinefield High, the school at which Mac was scheduled to make an appearance at first thing tomorrow morning, was located. Or maybe…

All of a sudden, Man-gong switched directions and started walking the other way. He needed to do some more research on this 'Norrisville Ninja'.

…

"But Cunningham, just think of all the things we could do! All you have to do is ask the Nomicon! Please?" Howard begged his best friend as they walked out of school that same Wednesday afternoon.

"For the tenth- and last- time, no. It's too risky, I don't want things to get out of hand. Besides," Randy looked around and lowered his voice as he continued, not wanting any unsuspecting passerbys to catch drift of their conversation, "the Nomicon told me only to use my ninja powers for ninja business. Nothing else." Howard opened his mouth to say something else, but Randy cut him off. "NOTHING else, Howard."

Howard groaned. "Please, Cunningham? Just this once?"

"Just this once?! What do you mean, JUST THIS ONCE?! I've abused the ninja suit and everything that goes with it millions of times for our own purposes!"

"What are you talking about? You've never done that!"

"Really, Howard? Really?"

"Come on Cunningham, name one time you've abused the ninja suit for fun."

"Hmm, let's see. There was the time I tried to cut a bulldozer for you, which broke my sword by the way, thanks for that."

"Ok, so maybe there was one time, but it's not like it's happened any other times."

"There was also the time I used it to try to bring a dead plant back to life, I was ORIGINALLY going to use it to get the golden doctor's notes if not for Julian to get stanked, used it to clean the school but accidentally released the Tengu, used it to help the kids in Detention Island despite you guys telling me to stop helping them, but then again I did think I was helping you, so I'm not sure if that counts. I was also going to use it to let everyone know that I'm the real ninja when Bash was mistaken to be the ninja, which was probably the one time I was thankful for a robo-ape bursting through the wall. Not to mention when I used it to beat Jacques on Shoob Tube, accidentally used a ninja spell in a rap battle which turned out to be the summoner of a giant worm, then used it to get Terry to stop signing the contract to McFist, but then again I thought I was doing the right thing at the time again, sorta used it to steal the McHugger shorts during a battle and used it to free the McFreaks so we could show them off, although I don't think that one counts because the Nomicon told me that caging animals are wrong. AND let's not forget the ten thousand times I abused the smokebombs… ah, the smokebombs."

"So, what is that, eleven times?" Howard asked with a mouth full of sandwich.

"Twelve!"

"What's the difference?"

"That's not the point!"

"No need to overreact." Howard swallowed the chewed-up sandwich. "I know when something's eating at ya, buddy."

Randy sighed, his anger at his best friend dimming. "I'm sorry, Howard. I've just been under a lot of pressure lately. It's just that tenth grade is harder than it's cracked up to be, and first semester is almost over. What am I gonna do if I don't pull up my failing grade in Science?"

"Why are you so stressed about this? This isn't like you."

"We're not freshman anymore, Howard. It's not like we can just slack off on our grades. We nearly failed Science last year- heck, you did fail Science. And you are again this year, why don't you care about your grades?"

"I just… don't like homework."

"Yeah, I've noticed. You're failing three classes: Science, Geometry, and English."

"In my defense, my English teacher Ms. Miller hates me. She hates nearly everyone- which you wouldn't know, because you don't have her! No, you had to get switched out because of the school faculty's little 'mistake'," Howard ranted, using air quotes around the word mistake.

"Hey, it's not my fault they accidentally overfilled the class."

"We barely have any classes together this year!" Howard's eyes were filled with sadness. "I miss you, Cunningham."

Randy sighed a sigh of sadness. "I miss you too, buddy. I miss you too." An awkward silence filled the air as the two teenagers walked along the sidewalk, now much farther from the school and any other people. Howard took another bite of his sandwich.

"Hey, where'd you get that sandwich?" Randy asked, pointing to his ginger friend's now half-eaten sandwich.

All of a sudden, Howard got a funny look on his face. "Oh… I, um… found it…"

"That's the sandwich I was saving for later, isn't it?"

"What?! Why would you think that?"

"Because my backpack is surprisingly light, not to mention that sandwich you're holding looks freakishly similar to the one I bought at lunch this morning*, and you ate yours."

"Fine, you got me," Howard admitted, cradling 'his' sandwich protectively. "You know, I thought you'd be madder about this."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I can just eat at the mall when we go Christmas shopping today."

"What?! I thought you were joking when you said that!"

"Howard, we always wait 'til the last minute to get our Christmas shopping done. And during that time, the crowds are always so bad it's not even funny. It's better to get it out of the way, admit it."

"Fine, I'll do it! But only because you made it perfectly clear that we're stopping at the food court, and I love that place with the macaroni and cheese. It's just so… cheesy…" Howard murmured the last part dreamily, stars practically lighting up his eyes. "But we're playing Grave Puncher first!"

"You must be a mind-reader," Randy replied with a grin, as the two chattered happily the rest of the way home, their troubles forgotten.

For now.

…

Man-gong entered the quiet library, standing out with his candy-apple red full-body suit, unlike everyone else fitted in casual attire, which of course attracted many stares as he walked up to the information desk and waited in line behind a middle-aged woman.

"Alright, here's your new library card, ma'am, and have a nice day," the male librarian behind the desk said to the woman as she left. The librarian turned to a computer, and as he typed something in, he began to greet Man-gong, "Now, how may I help you, sir…" he trailed off as he turned away from the computer to face Man-gong and was greeted by his looming figure, who stayed silent and watched as the younger man trembled at Man-gong's size**.

"Wh-what fandom are you cosplaying?" he finally spit out.

Man-gong cocked an eyebrow underneath his mask. Not that the librarian could see it. "Excuse me?"

"Well surely that's not what you wear every day. Right?" The librarian was met with a nearly deafening silence, which he should have been used to by now, yet, even after working at the Pinefield Library for over six months, he still was barely able to cope with it. "I believe we got off on the wrong foot, how may I help you?"

"I need a computer."

"Do you have a library card?"

"I said I need a computer."

"You need a library card to use a computer."

"Then give me a library card."

"What is your name, sir?" Man-gong leaned over and whispered something to the librarian. "Really?" he muttered. "Well ok. Anyway, here's your library card, and have a nice-" the librarian began, but Man-gong never heard the last part of his sentence, since he was too busy rushing to a computer. "Day?"

Man-gong hurriedly sat down in the nearest computer, and went through the necessary rituals to gain access. He double-clicked the Internet Explorer icon and a window opened. Fortunately for him, it was already on the page he wanted. He clicked the search box and typed in four words:

Norrisville Ninja memory loss

*I don't know about most people, but I've always had my school lunches at around 11 am (which is morning).

**You've gotta admit, the guy is HUGE.

Hey guys! So, this is my first time using 3rd person… normally I find 1st person easier to write (but this fanfic would be weird in 1st person). I'm finding it easier than I expected (I used to suck at writing in 3rd person, like, really badly). I like them both… maybe I should write stories in 3rd person more often :) Which one do you guys prefer?

So what do you think so far? Hit the button at the bottom of the screen below the big text box to tell me! Happy end-of-November and I'll see you in the next chapter! :)