King Dedede was grinning like a stereotypical villain by the time Marx found him, rubbing his hands together in absolute glee while snickering his own name.
"Dedededede." So he snickered.
It hadn't been hard to find him, seeing as he was staying in the room the jester had passed when he went to speak with that yellow boy.
The King was sitting on a hovering, movable throne chair, a weird snail person standing by his side. Marx had never seen that guy before, but he was sure he would make a good side dish. What was the name of that famous snail dish again? Escargot? Eh, sounded tasty enough.
In any case, Marx immediately took notice of how this Dedede was extremely overweight, as if he hadn't moved a single muscle in years. Did that guy only eat and let Kirby have his own adventures, unlike the King from his own dimension? Oh man, that was just sad. Marx couldn't help but giggle, the sound carrying over to the two other occupants in the room from his current hiding place.
King Dedede and the snail turned their heads in the direction of the sound, but since his laughter had an echoing quality to it, it reverberated throughout the room and thus made his hiding place impossible for the two idiots to find.
"Wh-what was that?! Who's there?!" The heavyset King shouted, his head whipping back and forth with a speed that was almost impressive.
"Your Majesty, do you think it's the Demon Beast you just ordered?" The snail guy asked, wringing his hands together in apparent fear.
"Pah, it better show itself to its master if that's the case!" Dedede bellowed. "Come out, you beast! Show yourself so I can order you to get rid of that blasted Kirby!"
Oh, this was just hilarious. Marx giggled again, reveling in their scared expressions. The purple jester hadn't expected them to be so fun to mess with, but it was clearly apparent these two were nothing but morons, unlike Dedede's slightly less incompetent counterpart.
Should Marx play along and pretend to be this "Demon Beast" they kept talking about? Or should he just go with his original plan?
Decisions, decisions.
"It's gotten quiet again...Do you think it's still here?"
Dedede slammed his fist into the snail's head, causing said snail to cry out in pain.
"It better be." The King sneered. "Hurry up and get out here! That Customer Service guy wouldn't show me how you looked, so I better get to see you now!"
Oh well, this guy was practically asking for it.
With that in mind, Marx trotted out from behind a pillar. He wasn't balancing on his ball at the moment, so he made his way over to his royal painfulness by foot instead.
The two idiots immediately locked their eyes onto him.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Marx greeted them cheerfully. "I'm Marx, and the pleasure is all yours, hee hee hee!"
Dedede glared at him, his gaze showing nothing but pure contempt. "Marx? What kind of name is that? You look weak! Can you really destroy Kirby?"
"Yeah, you're puny!" The snail guy added, snickering.
"Hey, hey, what kind of remark is that? Are you really so stupid as to underestimate an enemy purely on their size? Haha, I bet you guys get beat up regularly!" Marx giggled.
"What was that?!" Dedede shouted, his eyes narrowing in agitation. "You little..."
"Your Majesty, he's being insolent! Shall we have him removed?" The snail asked with an overly eager tone.
Dedede held up a hand, which he promptly used to smack the snail person with.
"Now wait just a second. I didn't pay for a useless shrimp like you! Either show me your worth or get out of my sight! I'll just complain to that Customer Service guy, because his service is clearly lacking."
Marx put on an innocent face. "Oh, oh, but you'd be missing out, King. I'm more than capable of killing Kirby, and you too, you see! It would be easy, easy peasy! Easy as pie!"
And then the cosmic jester proceeded to will forth his wings, warping out of sight and appearing just behind the two with a giggle. He was tempted to summon his black hole, but that might have been kind of overkill, so instead he just tackled the snail guy, spun him around in the air and then flung him away with the force of a bullet, the poor scoundrel crashing face-first into the brick wall.
"De-" The King said, making a face as he jumped out of his seat. "Y-you'd better not lay a finger on me! I paid a lot to get you here, so show some respect and follow my orders! G-go take care of Kirby, right now!"
"Ugh..." The snail whimpered. "Your Majesty, I'm seeing stars...why is there two of you now? I can't handle two King!"
Marx laughed like a maniac.
"Okay!" He chirped. "But only because you asked so nicely. I won't be killing Kirby, though, because I'm not this useless "Demon Beast" you keep yapping about. Haha, you should see your own faces right now! It was a good prank, right? Right?"
"What?! Why you- Then who are you, and what are you doing in my castle?! Get out! Out!"
"Hee hee hee hee! You poor idiots, you have no chance against Kirby, you know that? Have fun playing this cat and mouse chase you seem to be doing! See ya!"
Marx summoned a ball, kicked it at Dedede and then summoned another one to jump on, bouncing away like nothing had just taken place.
And as he left, he could clearly hear the distressed shout of Dedede as his ball exploded.
It was raining by the time Marx left Castle Dedede. The wind was a howling mess and the sky had been completely overtaken by dark and stormy clouds, the displeasing sound of thunder and lightning reverberating in the distance. In fact, if he strained his hearing, Marx could make out several startled shouts and cries penetrating the air like a sword beam, thus also being a great indicator of where Kirby and this Fumu person were located.
Kicking off from his ball and into the air, the purple puffball spun around and summoned his wings, taking to the skies as he set his sights on the commotion just ahead. Marx had a pretty good feeling about who this Demon Beast was, and if his assumption was correct, then this would be a literal breeze for Kirby. The pink hero had taken on far worse beings than Kracko, so doing it again should be no problem. Heck, Marx probably didn't even have to lift a metaphorical finger. He didn't have any fingers, of course, but the point still stood.
As he neared, Marx spotted a certain pink figure running for his life, several deadly lightning bolts hitting the ground just as Kirby dodged them.
One lightning bolt. Two lightning bolts. Three lightning bolts. Back and forth they went.
The display was honestly kind of amusing, if it weren't for the fact one of those bolts aimed for him when he had gotten close enough.
"Rude..." Marx chided, frowning at the concealed Kracko. "If you do that again, I'll come up there and finish you off before Kirby even has a chance."
Kracko seemed to care not for any of his words.
Along his flight, the cosmic jester spotted a couple sitting in a completely vaporized car, the two of them smoking from head to toe due to a nasty blast of lightning. Marx laughed at their misery, loving the sight of their suffering expressions.
This was turning out to be a real treat.
As he flew through the village, Marx spotted several others having been unfortunate enough to get hit by Kracko's lightning, all of said people smoking and sitting in utter bewilderment, as if they couldn't believe what had just happened.
One shout after another was literal music to his ears, but he had somehow lost sight of Kirby while he amused himself by the sight of the townsfolk's misery.
"Drat. I gotta stay more focused than this." He mumbled to himself as he passed several more smoking buildings. Along the way, he heard two distinct voices, one of them being slightly familiar.
"Sis, where's Kirby?" The boy from before asked a slightly taller girl as he ran to her.
The girl looked at him with a distraught face.
"I lost him. He's definitely under that cloud somewhere."
Just then, King Dedede and that snail guy ran past them in a freaking tank, of all things. Marx whistled. His Dedede never owned such a thing, at least not to his knowledge. The two children quickly jumped out of the way, following the retreating tank with their eyes.
A few minutes passed when the tank returned full force, the two passengers being chased by Kracko's unrelenting lightning.
'Oh, that must mean Kirby's somewhere in that tank.' Marx thought with amusement.
Fumu and her brother had been walking by the time Dedede passed them again, making them halt in their venture.
Marx decided to go greet them, but not before landing safely and retracting his wings. He didn't want to scare them off this early on, after all.
"Hey, you two. Looking for Kirby?" He questioned while he reluctantly looked up at them. Marx wasn't much bigger than Kirby himself, and these two kids were definitely taller than him. But again, this only gave him an advantage against people who underestimated him because of his height and cute looks.
"Oh, it's you again!" The boy shouted, pointing at him.
"Yep, it's me, Marx, your good pal!" He cheered with a sweet smile.
"Marx?" The girl – Fumu – asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "I've never seen you before. Where did you come from?" She asked, but then shook her head. "Wait, no, we don't have time for questions, even if your sudden appearance is slightly weird!" She stated. "Bun, we have to find Kirby! He's probably still being chased by that Demon Beast!"
"I'll come too!" Marx announced as the two began to run, following just behind them.
Fumu looked over her shoulder to give him a quizzical look, but quickly left it at that when she deemed Kirby to be more important than her sudden suspicion.
As they ran, two other beings joined them – Lololo and Lalala. Marx paid them no mind even when they tried to greet him, staying focused on finding his friend to see how he would deal with Kracko.
"Kirby!" Fumu shouted. "Kirby!"
The others joined in on shouting the pink puffball's name, but to no avail.
They eventually slowed down to walk instead, and once they reached a small hill, the two siblings stopped walking completely. Marx stood behind them, waiting to see what they'd do or say.
"Kirby! Kirby!"
"Answer us!"
"It couldn't have gotten him..."
Marx giggled, and the two turned around to look at him strangely.
"What? What?" Marx giggled. "It's just, what you said is so funny! Kirby wouldn't get defeated by Kracko, of all things!"
Fumu's eyes widened. "Kracko? How do you know the Demon Beast's name?" Her eyes narrowed even further. "And for that matter, how do you know Kirby?"
She shook her head. "Lololo and Lalala, split up and search for him."
Lololo nodded while Lalala spoke. "He's probably hiding behind the rocks somewhere. We're sure to find him!"
As they passed Marx, they gave him an inquisitive look. Marx just gave them a smile in return, his huge purple eyes unblinking.
Fumu and her brother, whom Marx had learned was named Bun, turned back to look at him.
"You better answer my questions after we find Kirby and stop this Demon Beast, Marx. I don't know what's up with you, but I plan to find out."
"Jeez, lighten up!" Marx said, inwardly taking note of how this girl could, perhaps, see past his cute exterior. He didn't see her as a threat at all, but it was worth to stay cautious, at the very least.
They took off again, running in the opposite direction of Lololo and Lalala. Marx decided that, instead of following those two, he went to trail after the two floating beings, summoning his ball again and tap-tapping along.
As the two flying balls passed a small bridge, Marx caught a glimpse of something pink.
Bingo.
Bouncing over to Kirby, Marx greeted his friend.
"Hey, hey, hey. Kirby, what are you doing here, shivering like a leaf?" Marx asked as the puffball turned with a startle. "You should be up there by now, fighting that lame Kracko, right?"
"Poyo..." Kirby said, his eyes sad and downcast.
"Oh...right. I completely forgot you're a baby right now." Marx chuckled nervously.
How young was this version of Kirby, exactly, to be this scared of an enemy?
"What." Marx then said, hopping off his ball and walking closer to his shivering friend. "Do you want me to take care of it then? I could easily destroy that stupid cloud for you."
It wasn't everyday Marx offered to help someone, but Kirby was a special case.
Said pink hero stopped shivering and narrowed his eyes determinedly, like a switch had suddenly been pressed.
"Poyo poyo!" He stated resolutely, pointing at the dark clouds circling them.
"You wanna take care of it yourself? Hey, hey, I'm up for that! It's more like you to be brave, you know?" Marx shrugged with his left foot. "But I could still help, just saying."
"Poyo!" Kirby cheered, waddling over to give him another hug. Marx let him this time, even though he still couldn't stand physical touch. He stood there awkwardly, and then broke the hug off before his friend was probably ready to let go.
"Yeah, yeah, that's great and all, but Kracko is still up there, and it's still after your hide."
Kirby let out another determined "Poyo!", and then ran out from under the bridge like a warrior ready to face his toughest challenge yet.
Just as he did, the voice of Bun could be heard shouting.
"Don't do it, Kirby!"
Marx followed after his pink friend, briefly glancing up at the yellow boy on the bridge.
"Give him more credit, will you?" He said, unimpressed by this child downright babying a so-called Star Warrior.
"Marx?!" Bun cried out.
"Yep! And unlike you, I'm here to be helpful!" He jeered while giggling.
Kirby had by then almost been blasted by several lightning strikes, running as fast as his little feet could take him. He then found shelter in a small hole, once again hiding away from his enemy.
Marx watched this with slight pity clouding his vision. Back on the Popstar he was familiar with, Kirby was actually slightly older than Marx, but here it seemed to be reversed. He didn't recall ever signing up for babysitting.
"Kirby, can't you inhale that cloud?" Bun asked.
"That's right, instead of running away, why not try?" Lalala added.
Kirby looked down, his expression sad and lost.
"It's all right!" Bun exclaimed. "You can do it."
Oh, this was so very pitiful.
Marx trudged over to the pink puffball and positioned himself right in front of him. If he had been born with arms, Marx would have crossed them right at that moment.
"Kirby, don't try that stupid idea." He began, sparing Bun a look. "You can't inhale the clouds from this distance, much less Kracko! There are just some enemies you can't inhale. You should know that, hey, hey!"
"At least it's better than doing nothing!" Bun shouted.
"Yeah, but it'll also be completely pointless. Plus Kirby would be at Kracko's mercy, and what good would a roasted Kirby be?"
"You don't know that!"
Kirby watched their immature argument with his eyes. Back and forth, back and forth. Eventually, the little puffball decided for himself, going with Bun's idea. Marx supposed it made sense, seeing as he had nothing else he could do, and Kirby wasn't one to stand still for long (unless he was napping, of course). That, and Marx was still a stranger to the hero, even if said hero did seem fond of him.
Pushing past the jester and his friend Bun, the young Star Warrior began to utilize his inhale ability in and attempt to suck up the clouds and revealing his enemy.
Marx sighed and watched as Kirby was almost struck by lightning again, running away while Dedede and the snail guy chased him.
God, this was taking too long.
Marx jumped up and brought forth his wings, heading into the clouds to confront Kracko himself. The spiky cloud with its one eye stared blankly at him, and Marx giggled while he neared his enemy. Once he had gotten close enough, Marx split himself in two symmetrical halves, the two parts of his body parting in opposite ways to form a gaping, all-consuming black hole that sucked in anything within its vicinity.
Needless to say, Kracko took extensive damage, and after dodging a few lightning bolts thrown his way, Marx finished it off with an uppercut, his wings cutting Kracko in half and causing it to explode in a fancy display of lightning.
And with it, the dark and foreboding clouds also dispersed, making way for Dream Land's sunny rays to once again grace Pupupu Land.
Kirby neared him on his Warp Star, looking beyond confused.
Marx stared back.
"What? You were taking too long."
"poyo?"
"You can have the next one, okay? No need to sulk."
"Poyo poyo!"
Okay, Kirby was definitely sulking.
As they lowered themselves to the ground, Fumu, Bun, Lololo, Lalala and Meta Knight neared them.
The latter seemed mighty bemused, despite his usual mask covering any expressions he could have worn.
"You." The Knight said. "State your name and business here in Pupupu Land."
"I'm Marx!" He smiled, his fangs visible for everyone to see.
"And I'm here to visit Kirby, my best friend."