Chapter 14 – The Jiving Jester
Sunset Isle - Orange Ocean
It didn't take us long to get through the burned palm tree path from Ice Cream Island. And soon we were near the waters of Orange Ocean. Unlike the waters back in our world, Orange Ocean looks a lot, and I mean A LOT, cleaner. Clean enough to swim in it. Too bad I don't have my swimsuit.
"So how are we supposed to cross Orange Ocean?" Raffina asked.
"We usually go by Warpstar, but I don't think all of us can fit on that thing." Adeleine said.
"Yeah, that's true." Ribbon said.
"Poyo…" Kirby sounded sad.
"Don't worry, Kirby. I'm sure we'll find a way to get across. Thanks for being helpful, though." I said.
"Poyo!"
"Still, this ocean is really pretty." Ringo said.
"Yeah. And it's crystal clear, too." Arle added. "A lot cleaner than the ocean in our world."
"I was just thinking that." I said.
"Really?" Ribbon asked.
"Yeah, it's true. People keep dumping trash there. So we usually go swimming at a smaller beach that I know of." Raffina said.
"Woah. Our worlds are so different, huh?" Adeleine asked.
"Yeah. But it's fun for us to compare the two. Right, Kirby?"
"Poyo poyo!"
"Hey, hey, hey, Kirby! How's it going?"
"Aw, geez." Adeleine sounded irritated.
We all turned around to see a little purple guy wearing a weird-looking jester's hat, a red bow tie, and some brown shoes. What got my attention is that he was bouncing on a giant purple puyo.
Whoa! How did a puyo grow that big?!
"*sigh* What do want, Marx?" Adeleine asked.
"Whadda you mean? I just wanna know what's up with the Legendary Star Warrior. Is that too much to ask?"
"For someone like you, yes."
"Ouch. You're as moody as ever, Adeleine."
"Uh, Adeleine. You know this guy?" I asked.
"Yeah. We do. This is Marx. He's some kind of jester of sorts."
"A jester?"
"Yeah, but what he's really known for is the fact that he made the sun and moon fight over nothing, then tricked Kirby into releasing a giant wish-granting space clock so he could use its power to take over Dream Land."
…
…
"W-Wow…" Was all the four of us could say.
"Hey! I said I was sorry!" Marx yelled.
"Sorry doesn't fix what you did, Marx!" Adeleine yelled back.
"You guys forgave Magolor! How's he different from me?!"
"Magolor built an amusement park. What did you do, Marx?"
…
…
"I-I'm working on it."
"Right…" it looked like Adeleine didn't believe him at all.
"Anyway, looks like you've got yourselves a problem or two huh, Amitie, Arle, Ringo, and Raffina?"
"WH-WHAT?!" We all shouted.
"H-How do you know our names?!" Ringo asked.
"Well, you know how I said that Marx used the power of giant wish-granting space clock in an attempt to take over Dream Land?"
"Yeah…" We said.
"Well, he still has said power."
"Oh." We said.
"Yep. I basically have the powers of a universal god. I know pretty much everything. Even when you're all going to die. Want me to tell ya?" Marx asked.
"No." I said.
"No thanks." Arle said.
"I'm good." Ringo said.
"I rather go without knowing." Raffina said.
"Suit yourself."
"So are you done bugging us, Marx? Cause we've got somewhere to be." Adeleine said.
"You're trying to get to Dedede Resort, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Do you know a way to get there?" Ribbon asked.
"Mmm. I may…but I'm not gonna just tell ya so easily…"
"You want something, do you?" Adeleine asked. "So typical."
"Hey, hey, hey! No need for name calling! I just want to play a little game!"
"A game?" We all asked.
"Poyo?"
"Yep. This new game of yours called Puyo Puyo sounds like a real boredom-killer. I wanna play a quick round. 1 on 1. If you beat me, I'll help you get over the ocean."
"And if we lose?" Arle asked.
"Then you just swim there. Plain and simple."
"That's not plain or simple!" Adeleine yelled.
"You're only saying that cause you're human."
"Why you little…"
"So, we got a deal?" Marx continued, completely ignoring Adeleine.
I wasn't sure if we should trust this Marx guy. Not only did we just met him a few minutes ago, but after hearing what he did to rule Dream Land, he sounds like a person with intense power. But if he's offering his help in getting across the ocean, then I should at least give him a chance.
Plus, I wanna know how that purple puyo he's jumping on got so big.
"Alright. It's a deal." I said. "And I'll even be your opponent."
"Great! I knew you weren't the boring one, Amitie!"
"Wait, Amitie. Are you sure about this?" Arle asked me.
"Yeah, Arle's right. Marx is a powerful entity." Adeleine added.
"Well, we gotta try, right? It'll be a waste if we didn't."
"Yeah, but…" Raffina said.
"Trust me, guys. I'll be fine. Just have my back on this. Please?"
Everyone looked at me with worried looks. I wasn't sure if they even agree to my idea. But then…
"Poyo! Poyo poyo!"
"Thanks, Kirby! I knew you'd have my back on this one!"
"sigh. Well, if Kirby's okay with it, then so am I." Adeleine said.
"I'm with you too, Ami!" Raffina said.
"Good luck, Amitie!" The other girls cheered.
Bandana-Dee and Gooey gave me their versions of giving me good luck.
"Thanks, you guys." I said. Then I turned to face Marx face to face.
"Alright, Marx. I'm ready. Let's…"
"PUYO BATTLE!" We both shouted as we began our 1 on 1 match with each other.
BOSS: Vs. Marx
Soon a group of puyos rained from the sky and landed in front of us. The starting group was enough to make a 4-chain, while more puyos were in a stack on the side. I grabbed the first pair, being a red puyo and a yellow puyo, and flung it up there with the matching colors. I did this about three or four more times before being satisfied with what I got. While doing this, I remembered seeing that Marx had no arms. I wondered how he was getting the puyos up there. When I eventually looked over to his board, what I saw truly blew my mind.
Marx had suddenly grown these golden yellow-colored bat-like wings, with two sharp fang-like claws on each one and flashing mirror-like, multicolored, hexagon-shaped scales under them. As I looked closer, I noticed that each wing had a red heart on it.
Apparently, Marx was using these monstrosity wings to fling puyo and build a chain that looked way bigger than mine. I was starting to get terrified that such a person could have such a thing, and was starting to believe that I made a grave mistake.
Th-This is not good…
"Get ready, Amitie! I'm about to personally give you a taste of unlimited galactic power!" Marx bragged as his massive chain started going off. Soon he started glowing a purple hue and he flew up in the air with his demonic bat-like wings. He then spawned what looked like a ball from out of nowhere and brought it to his feet.
"BALL KICK!"
Marx then kicked the ball at high speed and it was hurling right towards me. I managed to dodge it, causing a huge explosion near inches from me…but didn't notice that he shot more than one. And at that point, it was raining bomb balls. I ran as fast as I could, trying to dodge all that I could. But some managed to hit me and knocked me down.
"AMITIE!"
I could hear Raffina, Arle, and Ringo shout in fear. But I was so lost in my own, that I could barely hear them. I felt my heart racing like I was having a heart attack. Tears ran down from my eyes as I looked up at Marx. Never in my life have I ever faced such a powerful foe. The experience was starting to get too much for me. I was in fear for my life.
"What's the matter, Amitie? Scarred? Figured so. You may not be the boring one, but you're definitely the WEAKER one! Hahahahahahahah..."
But once Marx said that…that word…that one word that has haunted me throughout my studies. That one word that has constantly blocked me from accomplishing my true dream…all the fear inside me…
…was replaced with rage.
"I…
…am…
…not…
WEAK!"
I felt a new rush of power flowing through my body. I noticed that I was completely dark red and had bloodshot eyes. I was glowing a dark red hue all over, and at some point grew demonic bat-like wings of my own. Only mine were black and the hexagon-shaped scales were only one color: gray.
"WAAAAAAHHHHH! WH-WH-WH-WH-WHAT HAPPENED TO AMITIE?!" I heard Ringo ask while panicking in fear.
"I-I-I-I-I-I DON'T KNOW! I-I-I-I-I-I-I'VE NEVER SEEN HER LIKE THIS!" Raffina shouted, also panicking in fear.
"Yes…YES! Amitie's true power! I finally get to experience the power of the Red Puyo Hat! Now the true battle begins!" Marx shouted with glee.
"W-Wait, WHAT?! Just what are you planning, Marx?!" Adeline shouted at him.
"Hahahahahahahah! You'll see soon enough. Adeleine!"
I flew up to where Marx was and felt the new power going crazy inside me. I looked down at my hand as it started forming a black fire-like energy sphere, and grew a smile as I raised it in the air.
"COMIC FLAME!"
I shot the fire energy sphere at Marx, but he managed to dodge it. Not knowing to him, the sphere turned back around and hit him in the back. Sending him down a bit, but was able to stay afloat.
"Haha! Not bad, Amitie! Just what I expect from someone as powerful as you! But let's see if you dodge THIS!" Marx shouted.
He then curled himself into a ball and began charging up a new attack. Not taking any chances, I started doing the same. And felt even more power flow through me. I had no idea what's going on, or how this happened…
…BUT I FREAKING LOVE IT!
"MEGASPIN RUSH!" Marx shouted, releasing his attack of electrified arrows.
"EXO-FLARE!" I shouted, releasing my own. This one were medium-sized beam-like balls of light that shot really fast out of my hand. They countered all of Marx's arrows, and some even made direct contact with him. Sending him back a lot more than the last time.
Before he even had time to recover, I felt my new power reach its maximum limit, and a giant energy sphere started forming above me. I flew above it and aimed it at where Marx was dazed from the last attack.
"BAYO-NOVA!" I shouted as I kicked the sphere with extreme force and speed. It hit Marx in the face and brought him down to the ground, causing a huge electrified explosion that sent shockwaves through the air.
As I watched the whole thing unfold, I suddenly felt the power draining away as I slowly descended to the ground. Once there, I reverted back to normal and fell unconscious for...
...I don't even know how long.
"AMITIE! AMITIE! AMITIE, PLEASE! PLEASE WAKE UP!"
"Wh-Wha…? Wh-What happened? R-Raffina?"
"AMITIE! I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE OKAY! I THOUGHT YOU WERE A GONER!" Raffina was hugging me tightly while crying her eyes out over my shoulder. Me myself was blushing extensively and extremely confused.
"R-Raffina?! Wh-What's going on?! W-Why are you crying?!"
Raffina then looked at me with puffy red eyes of sadness and fear.
"A-Amitie…d-don't you remember?"
"Huh? Remember what?"
"You were playing Puyo with Marx and then all of a sudden you turned into some kind of dark red version of yourself." Arle said.
"Yeah, and you even had black bat-like wings coming from your back." Ringo added.
"R-Really?"
"Once that happened, it wasn't even Puyo Puyo anymore. More like a fight to the death or something like that." Arle said.
"You seriously don't remember any of that?" Ringo asked.
…
…
"N-No, not really."
"Well, I'm glad it's all over. It was the scariest thing I've ever seen and I didn't know what would happen to you, Amitie." Raffina said while hugging me again. I honestly don't remember what happened or what they saw me as, but seeing Raffina cry like this…it hurts. It really hurts. And I hope I never see it again.
"I'm sorry for scaring you, Raffina." I said as I returned the hug.
"It's okay, Amitie. I'm just glad you're safe."
"Oh, wow! That sure was fun!"
We heard Marx's voice and saw him bouncing on the same giant purple puyo from before.
"Alright, Marx! Just what the hell happened up there?! Why did Ami turn into that thing?!" Raffina shouted.
"And we want EVERY LAST DETAIL!" Adeleine added.
"Poyo!"
"Huh? You mean you still don't know?"
"Know what?" Arle asked.
"The reason why Amitie transformed into that is because of her hat."
"Her hat?" We all sounded confused.
"What do you mean by that?" Ribbon asked.
"Well…it's all too complicated for me to explain in words, but I betcha there's some kind of writing out in uh, what's that place called…? Oh yeah, Another Dimension."
"Another Dimension? How do you know there's stuff related to Amitie's hat in Another Dimension?" Ribbon asked.
"More importantly, how did you GET to Another Dimension?" Adeleine asked.
"Oh, I have my ways…" Marx said in a somewhat suspicious tone.
"Where's Another Dimension?" Raffina asked.
"It's like, WAY out there. Only people who can travel through dimensions can reach there. Like Magolor's ship." Adeleine explained.
"W-Woah. That's deep." Ringo said.
"So, um, Marx. Since you know more about my hat than I do, you think you can take us to Another Dimension?" I asked.
"Well, no. not right now. There's a special spot you have to be in order to get there. I could take you there if you want?"
"Really? Okay sure."
"Oh alright, fine." Adeline said. "But just so you know, Marx. I don't trust you for one minute."
"Yeah, me neither." Raffina added.
"Yeah, yeah. I've heard this stuff before." Marx said.
"So…about the ocean." I said.
"Oh yeah. I can just teleport us there. No prob."
"Really? That's sounds simple."
"Yep. All I need to do is spawn a black hole."
"Okay. Just spawn a…wait what?"
"Ready? Here we go!"
"WAIT! NO!" We all shouted.
But it was too late. Marx had spawned a black hole in front of us and we were all pulled inside. With Marx knowing the secrets of my Red Puyo Hat, it was a no brainer that we had to let him tag along. So now it was the ten of us swarming around in a circle through a dark and loud black hole.
I think I'm going to be sick…
A/N: So we've got a new party member! While Marx isn't really one of my favorite characters, I still like him enough to add him in the story. I read on the wiki that after somehow surviving the events of Kirby Super Star/Ultra, he sensed danger from afar and came to Kirby's aid. Which made me think that HAL's now giving him the Magolor Treatment. Which I thought was funny.
Orange Ocean was suggested by kirbymanx. If you have an area you like to suggest, feel free to leave it as a review. If I can make it work, I'll give you credit for it.
That's all I have to say. Feel free to review, favorite, and/or follow the story. Next chapter coming soon. Thanks for reading.