Tiers and Hopes, Book 2

Jagged Edge

Kirby opened his eyes as the morning sun hit him in the face. Slowly, he sat up, wincing at the pain still throbbing along his body. The bruises were still fresh, as was the memory.

What had made Fox snap like that? What made him think it was okay to so viciously attack him? He was getting out of control, and he doubted if Master Hand's discipline could bring him back.

The next thing Kirby did was peel off the bandages from his arms. The cuts had nearly healed. Good. Nobody would notice. He told himself that it was only one time, and that he'd never do that again. He turned up his TV and jumped into a cold shower; after drying himself off, he was surprised to find an envelope slid under his door, addressed to him.

"Poyo?"

He picked up the envelope, opened it, and took out the piece of paper inside, which he unfolded to reveal a letter. His lip curled when he recognized Fox's handwriting. Sitting on his bed, Kirby began to read:

Dear Kirby,

I want to apologize to you for last night. What I did was wrong. Me being top-tier does not excuse my actions. I acted like a total barbarian, and I hope you can forgive me. However, that does not mean you had the right to attack me, which instigated the whole thing. Hitting people is not the answer. I won't hold this incident against you, but next time I hope you can better control your temper. Again, I'm really sorry about what happened, but you need to share some responsibility for this incident, as well.

Your friend,

Fox McCloud

Slowly, Kirby tore the letter into tiny pieces. Only a few sentences of actually apologizing, with most of the letter slinging blame at him and talking to him like a parent admonishing a child! That vulpine didn't deserve his forgiveness! He hoped everyone would give Fox a hard time for this for the rest of his life! Swiping at the tears welling in his eyes, Kirby tossed the pieces of the letter into the trash and puffed toward the cafeteria to eat some breakfast.

...

"Kirby?"

He turned and saw Ness standing there. "Poyo?" he queried.

"The Ice Climbers, Young Link, Pichu and I are playing video games," said Ness. "Wanna join us?"

Kirby beamed. "Poyo!"

He followed Ness to his room, where Pichu, Nana, Popo and Young Link sat around a GameCube. They looked up when Kirby puffed his way inside.

"Kirby!" they exclaimed in unison.

"We heard about what happened," gasped Nana. "Are you all right?"

Kirby shrugged. "Poyo."

"That Fox! Who does he think he is?" Young Link hotly asked.

"Guys," cautioned Ness. "We're trying to make Kirby feel better, not trigger flashbacks."

"Sorry," said YL. "It's just that people beating up those smaller than them leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

Kirby and Ness joined the others around the GameCube.

"Poyo poyo?" asked Kirby.

"Mario Party," said Popo. "Wanna join in?"

"Poy!"

Forgetting everything else, Kirby joined Ness and his friends in playing fun, exciting and oft-frustrating minigames, winning Stars and trying to outwit the other players. In between, Ness passed around donuts and pastries. There were no tiers or invisible boundaries in this room. Only shrieks of laughter, cries of frustration and triumphant crowing as everyone enjoyed a Mario Party.