CHAPTER EIGHT

Kirby gathered his sword and his hammer out of his suitcase. He was in his room with his roommates, Bowser and King Dedede. And he was trying very hard not to scream his head off at them. They were having an arm wrestling contest, which Kirby knew was hopeless. If Bowser lost, he would burn the room to ashes. And if the King lost, he would have an extremely royal tantrum. Kirby had to get out of there, and maybe while he was at it, ask if he could just have his own room.

He dashed out of the room and into the wide hall where all the Smashers rooms led off from. The hall was large, open and had multiple story windows lining the dark blue walls in between the doors. The view on one side was the lake and forest, and Kirby could see a blue ship swerving into the large clouds up above. The other wall offered a view of the front lawn and garden, which was huge and stretched for miles. He could see Mario and Peach walking hand in hand to one of the small ponds nestling under a weeping willow.

Kirby started walking to the Weaponry. April, or maybe Chiarina, had mentioned it on the tour she had given them last night. If he remembered correctly, it was located at the back of the lobby and next to the Dining Hall.

He turned into the lobby. Again, it was bright, warm, and open, with tall glass windows letting in ample sunlight. The color scheme was browns, reds and oranges. Soft chairs and couches surrounded a large marble fireplace, which was roaring merrily. Zelda and Link were sitting on a L-shaped couch, reading, talking and drinking something that smelled faintly of berries.

Kirby saw it. The Weaponry door was metal, and had padlocks, eye scanners, fingerprint testers, security galore! But that meant he had no way of getting in. He sighed, and then turned when he heard light footsteps behind him.

It was April, her hair still the same bright pink, but it was in a ponytail today. She had a worried expression on her face, and she looked around the room as if trying to find something.

"Hmhm, April?"

She started slightly when the small, high voice reached her. She looked down, noticing Kirby. "Oh. Sorry. Yes, what is it?"

"I was wondering if you could open the door for me?" He gestured with his head the bolted door.

She looked at the Weaponry, and gave a small giggle. "Sorry, I wish I could. But I don't have any of the means to open that thing. The Weapons Master does, but I'm afraid he is out on some personal business until dinner. That's when we'll have an official storage process."

"Oh."

"Sorry again. But there are some very powerful weapons this year, and we don't want anyone getting into that room. The Weapons Master is very uptight about keeping this room locked, shut and bolted. You can temporally keep your stuff in the storage, or the Garage until after dinner."

"Okay. Um, I have another question…"

"Sure."

"Can I change rooms?"

April looked surprised. Then her face took on a look of understanding. "I shall see what I can do. New roommates might be hard to get, or would you mind having a room to yourself?"

"Either would be preferable."

She smiled. "Sorry about your roommates. I know they are… not agreeable."

Kirby smiled and thanked her. When she was out of the room, he started walking to the Training Area. It was located on the other wing of the castle, and took it all up. It was a large Stadium over a workout room and swimming pool. Lockers and showers were located underneath that, and were accessible through elevators from the Stadium and workout area, and from the hall directly outside it.

Kirby stepped into the elevator and pressed the button that read LockerRoom. The machine gently whirred to life, and started smoothly down.

It opened up onto a large, brightly lit room. Thirty-six metal lockers lined the walls, and were labeled with the Smashers names, in order of their tier placements. Wooden benches lined those, and showers were opposite the wall with elevators. Kirby looked for his locker. Number thirteen. He sighed. A bad number, but relatively well placed. He opened the large lock, and his mouth dropped open. A mini closet opened before his eyes, lined with outfits for every sports activity you could think of, and water bottles, and little accessories for the different colors for team brawls.

"Wow…" Kirby placed his weapons gratefully on the shelf, and looked around. The room was painted in a light pink, and somehow the windows were looking out from all sides.

As he walked out of the locker room, he ran into a girl who favorite color was apparently purple, and April, who had apparently just yelled at the girl. The purple one was stomping off into the kitchen, door slamming. April sighed, closing her eyes and straightening her dress.

"Kirby. I have your new room assignment right here. You are by yourself, and we have already moved your things to it. See you at dinner."

She turned and walked briskly away, following the path the teenage girl had stormed earlier. As she walked past Kirby, she shoved a piece of paper into his hands.

Kirby looked at it. Room thirteen. He sighed. What was with this new favorite number? He would probably fight thirteenth, and eat thirteenth, and win in thirteenth place…

He walked to his new room. As he opened it, he heard a roar and loud squawking from his old room. Kirby smiled to himself. Thank goodness he got out of that.

His new room was small, but open and airy, like all the other rooms in this place. Books and a waterbed lined the green walls. It was perfect.

Maybe thirteen was his luckily number after all...