Part XIII: Fallin' Again

And it's paw and uncle, too, Hiro thought, laughing bitterly. He had lost the X-Ball, the reason he had been kicked out of Japan in the first place. Now, here he was, where everyone finds themselves when they've sunk as low as they can go: trying to climb out of their hole. In Hiro's case, it was a hole made out of animals, but the point remained the same.

The top of the whirlpool was close at hand when it started to shake. Daring to look below, he saw a small speck which could have been his boat. There was a large crack, and Hiro could see that the speck had broken in half, then it disappeared.

The dolphin whirlpool began to shake faster now, still spinning, and Hiro knew he had to get to the top quickly. Pulling himself hand over hand, he began to reach the top, when one of the dolphins turned to look at him.

The mammal looked quizically at Hiro's face and squeaked happily. It's back half was still stuck in the whirlpool, but its whole face was pointed towards Hiro.

The dolphin looked at Hiro. Hiro looked at the dolphin. The wind whipped through Hiro's hair, and for some reason he said, "Draw, Pardner."

The dolphin squeaked one more time, and started tickling Hiro. Not just nudging him, but grabbing his sides with its mouth and tickling him.

Hiro tried to move away, to put some distance between him and the dolphin, but everywhere he turned, there was the tickling nose. To his left, to his right, the dolphin was everywhere. Finally, Hiro couldn't take it anymore. He burst out laughing.

Hiro was still laughing, half from the tickling, half from sheer exhaustion as his left hand slipped from its hold. He laughed as his right hand also slipped free, and he once again found himself falling into a strange hole, the darkness below him beckoning as if it was death himself*...

*Death only occasionally takes the form of a giant fish mouth, but when he does... Dude.


NEXT WEEK: The Belly of the Beast


THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF X-BALL:
PART I       PART II       PART III       PART IV

PART V      PART VI      PART VII      PART VIII

PART IX      PART X      PART XI      PART XII

PART XIII