Marx could only come to two logical conclusions here, what with the small pink puffball circling him while radiating pure, unbridled joy and babbling like a little baby. It was as if his friend thought he was the most interesting thing to have ever graced planet Popstar, and the jester could honestly get used to that sort of reverence – plus it was kind of cute, if Marx allowed himself to have that thought.
But psh, perish the thought, right?
So yeah, two conclusions to work with.
One, he had somehow landed himself in the past.
Or two, this was some sort of alternative universe, the goo having apparently decided he had to be flung here like an item ready for shipment.
Marx didn't think it was the first one, because he himself had spent most of his childhood on planet Popstar – or at least as far as he could remember – and he had also visited Dream Land on several occasions in the past. It was necessary back then, to gain the trust of Kirby and have him do his bidding. And gaining that trust had been so easy it wasn't even funny. Almost, at least.
"Poyo, poyo!" Little Kirby squealed, wiggling his small nubby arms in front of Marx – likely in an attempt to gain back his unwavering attention.
Marx blinked. Right, baby Kirby was still here.
"Heh, what to do with you?" He muttered, lifting one foot to reinforce his question.
Kirby swatted at his foot and giggled. Marx's eye twitched.
Not cute, not cute, not-
Kirby then hugged him.
"Gah!" The cosmic jester shouted, and then pushed the little puffball off of him in reflex. "Don't touch me!" He sneered.
He immediately regretted his unfortunate reaction – he never really liked to be touched, but he could tolerate it most of the time. This reaction was purely out of surprise.
But as the small hero stood back up and began babbling like there was no tomorrow, like he was in the middle of admonishing him, Marx could definitely say he regretted pushing him off.
He gave a forced smile. "Hey, hey, hey! Calm down, Kirby. Jeez, you'd think I was trying to kill you or something."
Which didn't really make much sense, seeing as a dead Kirby wouldn't be able to scold him. Plus, Marx wasn't about to kill him – that wasn't really something he had planned for at the moment.
"Poyo, poyo poyo poyo poyo-"
"Okay, I think I get it already." Marx stated, his annoyance rising a bit.
"Yeah, keep quiet, Kirby! And have you finished making my bed yet?!" Someone else shouted, much to a certain jester's confusion.
He looked around to identify this new voice, but when he found no one but himself and Kirby, Marx decided it must have come from outside.
Kirby huffed, but turned quiet nonetheless with a final "Poyo!".
"Who was that?" Marx asked when the commotion died down.
"Poyo?" Kirby titled his head.
Seriously, he was not cute.
The voice from before returned in full force as a small yellow thing zipped in though the open window. It hovered above the two of them with a frown present on its face.
"Hey, I said be quiet!" It chided. "Pinky, you-"
Marx and the yellow bird's eyes met. A brief silence fell over them.
Then "Who the heck are you?"
Marx summoned one of his many balls and jumped onto it. He balanced himself, tap-tapping around the house as he gave a wide smile, showing off his fangs.
"Hey, hey, hey. I'm Marx!" He greeted.
"Marx, Marx!" Kirby exclaimed happily. Marx gave him a sweet smile. He just couldn't help himself.
"A pleasure." The bird said, its voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm Tokkori. I haven't seen you around before. Are you a friend of Kirby's or something?"
"Or something..." Marx replied. He was friends with Kirby, but not this current version of him.
Tokkori then rounded on Kirby again. "Anyway, I let you stay in my house because it's your job to make my bed each morning, so the least you can do is let me enjoy my own company in peace while you work!" The bird huffed. "So stay quiet!"
Marx flung his ball at Tokkori, the projectile exploding with confetti as the bird was flung back outside with a startled shriek. Marx giggled. He had decided then and there that the bird had to go. Not only was he annoying beyond reason, he also had the gall to mess with his friend. Only Marx got to mess with Kirby, and that was final.
"Hehehe!" He cackled as he summoned yet another ball to balance on.
Kirby began scolding him again, but at least this time the cosmic jester had expected it. No matter which version of Kirby he met, the puffball would always stay righteous to a fault. It was almost sickening, but Marx could tolerate it.
After all, if he could get past their horrible start that would eventually end in a shaky friendship, Marx could let by-goners be by-goners.
'But then again...' The purple jester thought. 'Would it really be that hard to get rid of this innocent little Kirby? Taking over Popstar would be a breeze if he wasn't around.'
Marx blinked. Those were some of his more...dangerous thoughts. He shouldn't dabble in them right now, it wasn't time for that.
"Okay, Kirby." He began, turning to face the baby. "I'll go ahead and scout the area, see if I can find a way to return to my own universe...or time, depending on which of my theories are correct. Be a good...baby or whatever, and stay here, okay? Hey, hey, hey, don't look so sad! I'll only be gone for a little while!" Marx chuckled.
Kirby had adopted a sad expression the moment he said he was leaving, but leave he must, no matter how sad a face his puffy friend could muster.
"Poyo, poyo..."
"Nope, I'm leaving. This is me, leaving right now. See ya!"
And with that, Marx went out of the still open door (courtesy of his rough man-handling). Once out in the open again, Marx glanced at the small town – which now appeared to be more like a village instead, given it's size – and tap-tapped away on his ball.
He wondered what sort of people lived there. It wasn't everyday one got to land themselves in an alternative universe, and so he couldn't help but wonder if things would be more interesting now, and if there were any enemies to fight. If not, well, then...Marx would just have to create one himself. The worst kind of villain Popstar would ever be unfortunate enough to face against.
Marx giggled.
The village itself was a peaceful one, with several houses, stores and facilities taking up space below Castle Dedede. Marx spotted a restaurant and a police district along the way, and a few of those yellow people that passed him gave him odd and curious looks, not much unlike a certain pink hero had. Marx ignored them all in favor of his tour, taking his time memorizing the locations for later use. A gas station here, a library there. A clinic, a few stores and a post office. Check, check and double check.
This was definitely not the Dream Land Marx had grown up with and eventually desired.
"My, who might you be?" One of the yellow beings said, stopping the jester mid-bounce. He turned around to see an elderly lady with gray curly hair and a pink foulard stroll toward him. Marx sneered inwardly. He didn't want to speak to this person, let alone nice old ladies like her.
"Are you a tourist, or perhaps a sightseer? We certainly don't get a lot of outside visitors in Pupu Village. Are you here with your parents?" She asked, and then just kept the questions coming.
Marx put on his most innocent and cute face, and then smiled sweetly, making sure his fangs weren't too visible when he answered.
"Yes ma'am, I'm just here to see the sights, yep! But I'm not here with my parents or anything, 'cause I'm old enough to travel alone."
Never mind the fact that he wasn't that old yet. But she didn't need to know that.
The old lady chuckled. "Oh, pardon me then, you just look so very young. How long are you planning on staying? Do you have any friends to turn to? I'm afraid our little village doesn't have an inn yet, but maybe we should add one now that I think about it. I'll have to speak with my husband about that, ho ho!"
Marx nodded, completely uninterested. "Yeah, yeah. You do that."
"But do you have a place to stay?" She inquired once again.
"Err, sure. I'm staying at Kirby's place, yeah."
The old lady looked startled. "My, you're a friend of Kirby's? Are you perhaps also a Star Warrior?"
Marx shrugged with a foot. "Something along those lines."
"Well, I suppose that explains your likeness to Kirby. I must confess I've never met one of your kind before."
Neither had Marx, as weird as that sounded. But that was beside the point. He didn't plan on staying a second longer with this old lady.
"Yep, I'm pretty unique, that's me, Marx!" He cheered. "But I gotta roll. Tourism calls and all, you know? Gotta see everything this village has to offer!"
The lady nodded with a kind smile. Marx wanted to rip it off right then and there.
"Sure, you go ahead and have fun. I hope you'll enjoy your stay in Pupu Village, and know that you can always turn to me or my husband, the Mayor, if you have any questions or problems."
"Gotcha." Marx droned out, taking note of the fact that this lady was married to the Mayor.
He wasted no time in tap-tapping away from the horror of having to speak with an elderly person, and then finished his "sightseeing" in a matter of twenty minutes.
Aside from a better understanding of the village's layout, Marx hadn't really gained anything useful from this venture. He still didn't know how to return home, even if this technically was his home.
A trip to space might be in order at some later point in time.
For now he had one more place to visit before he decided on what to do.
Marx glanced up at King Dedede's castle with a smile on his face. Maybe he could steal some food from his royal pain while he was at it.
Bringing forth his colorful wings, Marx leapt through the air, the ball on the ground popping in a flashy display that startled several of the townsfolk passing by. He giggled as he flew away, the castle his main objective.
Castle Dedede was vastly different from what Marx recalled. It wasn't like he had visited the place a lot in the first place, but this just went to add to the differences between his Dream Land and this one. The place itself was huge, to say the least, the brick walls cold and uncaring as he flew through its dark halls. He had yet to come across anyone other than the many Waddle Dee servants scurrying back and forth, some with trays of food while others with various items and assortments.
Marx quickly snatched some fruits from one of said trays, hurrying along before the Waddle Dee who carried it could notice. He would have loved to see Dedede's expression once the Dee returned with an empty tray, but alas, now was not the time.
As he rounded a corner, Marx immediately went back around to hide behind it. Someone was there, and he could just make out a voice echoing through the halls.
Marx strained to listen, his interest piqued.
"...Huh, that's strange." A young boy said as he looked back at a retreating blue form, sounding confused. Then he began running after the other, shouting "Sir Meta Knight!"
Ah. So that was this world's Meta Knight? How curious. Marx wondered if he was the same silent grouch as the one he knew. He took a bite out of his stolen apple.
"Oh!" The boy stopped running as Meta Knight ceased walking.
"Where's Fumu." The masked knight asked, cold and to the point.
"She went to meet with Kirby. Is it Dedede again?"
There was another brief pause.
"Tell Kirby to hide himself as soon as possible. He is in danger." Was all Meta Knight said, and then he took his leave.
"Da...Danger?!" The boy exclaimed after the knight's retreating form.
As Meta Knight left, Marx decided to go speak with the boy. Finishing the food he had snatched, Marx made his wings vanish in favor of landing on his favorite striped ball. Tap-tapping over to the little yellow boy with the funny haircut, Marx went to introduce himself.
"Hey, hey, hey. What's this all about? Kirby's in danger?"
The boy whirled around like a beast had snuck up on him.
"Wh-who are you?" He asked, looking Marx up and down. "And where did you come from?"
"I'm Marx! And I came from that corner right over there. Old news, you know? How about you answer my question instead, and make it quick?"
"Wha—hey, why should I tell you anything?! For all I know, you could be a Demon Beast too!" The boy accused, pointing a finger at the jester.
Marx smiled. "Hey, hey. Do I look like a demon to you?" He asked innocently.
The boy paused. "...No. Not really."
"There, you see? Now why don't you tell Marx what's going on? I know Kirby, you know. We're great friends!"
The boy startled. "What, you are?! Are you a Star Warrior too? Did you come from space?"
Marx shrugged with a foot while he bounced on his ball. "Yeah, I'm from space. Not sure about this whole Star Warrior thing though."
"Well...Okay." The boy conceded. "I don't really know what's going on either, but Meta Knight said Kirby's in danger. Our King, Dedede, has this computer that downloads Demon Beasts, and he uses them to try to get rid of Kirby!" He said, waving his hands around like he was bragging about his extra limbs. "I bet he's ordered another one again, that rotten King. I have to hurry and tell my sister and Kirby about it!"
"Huh." Marx said, absorbing all of the information he was given. "Dedede sounds like a real jerk here...well, even more so!" He giggled, because that was kind of hilarious.
A rotten king's fate was to be overthrown, right? Maybe Marx would take his position someday, if he played his cards right.
"You're weird." The boy said. "I'm leaving now, okay? This is kind of important!"
The boy proceeded to run, leaving Marx behind. The purple puffball bounced a bit more before leaving as well, his destination still not changed from before.
He decided visiting King Dedede was in order, and then he would observe the chaos this so-called Demon Beast could cause.
One thing was for sure;
Marx had found something worthwhile, and his previous boredom had been swiftly thrown out of the window, never to be missed.