Black and Yellow

•8•

(Toon Link's POV)

"What was that?" I asked Lucas, frightened by the screams downstairs.

"I don't know. I guess we'll find out." Lucas replied, exiting the room. He locked the door and jogged down the hallway.

Ness ran out of his room as we were leaving. We nodded at each other and caught up to Lucas.

We sprinted down the stairs, trying to keep our balance. Once I got down there, I noticed that there was a huge crowd gathered around Gate 2. Where I fought my first battle.

"Excuse me. Pardon me. Sorry." I mumbled as I pushed my way through the cluster of competitors. I could barely the whole screen. Lucas' eyes widened as he watched the screen, and Ness gaped. I turned my head to look.

Little Mac was fighting Kirby on Delfino Plaza. Little Mac squeezed Kirby so tight, he had a neck. Little Mac continued to choke him underwater. Kirby couldn't breathe. I saw him struggle for air as he flailed his little hands and feet.

"This isn't competing and playing a match! This is murder!" Ness squealed.

Little Mac let out a maniacal laugh as Kirby struggled for his life. Kirby continued to drown, but no one did anything. I had to do something. To save his life.

"Follow me." I whispered to Lucas and Ness. We pushed our way up to the front of the crowd. A gleaming red button was on the side of the big black door. It read:

"EMERGENCY ENTRANCE ONLY. ALARM WILL SOUND."

This was an emergency. Without thinking too much, I jammed the button. More screams rose up from the crowd as the awfully loud siren caused people to plug their ears.

Our little "trio" ran through the door to realize the pipes were already up on the stage. There was no way to get up.

"How are we going to get up?" I asked as all hope was crushed inside of me.

"There's an emergency staircase over there." Ness said, pointing to a darkly-lit area with another door, leading to a staircase.

I pushed the door open, sprinting up the stairs. My legs felt like jelly. There were at least 20 flights, and Kirby would only last for so long.

I had never felt more determined.

Once we reached the top, a ladder swung underwater, off the side off the stage. I gestured to the ladder and made a climbing motion to Lucas and Ness. They nodded.

I jumped into the water. It was ice cold. I opened my eyes painfully, and started my way up the ladder.

I could see Kirby above me. His naturally pink skin had turned bright purple.

"Ahhhhh!" I gasped for air as I reached the top, Ness and Lucas right under me.

"Here's the plan." I motioned to them. "Ness, you grab Little Mac and hold him back. Lucas, you help me get Kirby out of the water and help him. Once he's out, I'll perform CPR on Kirby. Got it?" I commanded.

"Yep." They both said.

We silently crawled up, trying to avoid making noise.

"GO!" I howled.

Ness grabbed Little Mac, catching him off guard. Ness punched him in the stomach, pushing him down on the opposite side of the stage.

I ran over to the now purple and black Kirby. We lifted him up out of the water. He was unconscious.

"Shit." I mumbled, pushing down on the center of his chest. He spit out portions of water at a time. I titled his head back and plugged his nose. I started to blow into his mouth, tears streaming down my face.