Marx wasn't sure when to strike.
Throughout the week, it became painfully obvious that Kirby would be busy running around the village, helping the Cappies with their various problems and whatnot. First it was the police officer – he and Bun almost fell into a volcano, and Marx felt slightly bad to admit that he would have liked to see that happen.
Then it was that terrible cook, Kawasaki. Marx shook with laughter just thinking about how Kirby was almost eaten, only for Dedede to eat the friend Demon Beast instead. It could have been a grand meal big enough to feed the entire village, if only the penguin had shared, but of course the greedy king didn't.
That didn't stop Marx from sneaking in a few bites. With how Kirby had cooked the thing with the cooking ability, the beast was absolutely delicious.
Of course, without the cooking ability, Kirby was quickly thrown out of the castle, and life soon returned back to normal.
What had Marx been doing while all of this happened? Why, play with Honey, of course. The little Cappy girl was full of adventure and spirit, even if she was slightly shy and hesitant. The jester had her follow along with his various pranks and schemes, and in return he played her games as well – such as jumping rope and playing with a ball. Both activities didn't require arms or hands (as long as he wasn't the one swinging the rope), so Marx was okay with this. Just barely, though.
Lola joined the too sometimes. The newly merged Demon Beast had been well received by the village, and they proved to be quite good at cleaning. Marx heard them tell Meta Knight that they had been assigned to cleaning duties back when they worked for Nightmare, which made sense. If Marx was their master, he likely wouldn't have used them for anything else either.
Actually, maybe he would have made them gather Intel for him, now that he thought about it. Lola was smart, small and nimble, and they could fly and talk. Those qualities seemed perfect for a little spy.
In any case, Marx quickly realized that Lola's returning memories of when they worked for Nightmare Enterprise could be used for his own gain. They would definitely be valuable, just like the jester had predicted.
To no one's surprise, Fumu had been trailing him whenever she had the time, watching him like a hawk ready to devour him. Marx had expected this, so he went out of his way to stay away from the main gang for a while, spending his spare time in the library whenever he wasn't with Honey. It was tedious and a major pain, but there wasn't much else he could do if he wanted to avoid being interrogated.
Well, there were a few other things he could do, but again, he had to stay patient.
Marx knew Meta Knight was lurking around too, just waiting for him to slip up and do something truly evil.
Of course, with the way things were going, Meta Knight would probably have to wait for a while.
Right now, though, Marx had other things to think about.
He had been playing with Honey for a while now, but he still wasn't sure if the time was right to execute his plan. As frustrating as it was, Marx had learned that next to nothing could harm Nightmare, and Kirby certainly wasn't ready for an all-out battle just yet.
Patience, Marx. Patience.
The cosmic jester was currently raiding Dedede's kitchens for any and every type of food he could find. Even after eating half of the king's stash, Marx still wasn't satisfied.
It was enough, though. For now.
"Hmm..." He muttered to himself as he roamed the darkened halls. "It's gotten way too quiet around here."
Just then, a scream pierced through the night air and made Marx startle slightly. He wobbled on his ball, regaining his balance just as King Dedede came running towards him at full speed. Marx quickly jumped out of the way, barely avoiding being run over by the heavyset penguin.
"Hey, what gives?!" The jester shouted, but by then the screaming king was already far ahead of him, banging his hammer on what he presumed to be that Snail – Escargoon's – door.
Trailing behind Dedede at a slower pace, Marx's eyes widened the sight of a genuine ghost floating where Dedede had just come from. The ectoplasmic being stopped briefly before him, giving a quick nod of its head before it disappeared.
"Oh..." Marx said as he realized what was happening. Then he giggled. "Hee hee hee hee, Dedede sure has managed to land himself in trouble, the poor fool!"
This was simply too good to miss out on.
After waiting for the shouting to stop, Dedede came back out of the room dragging a very unwilling Escargoon out, and the two of them stopped just outside of the room the Snail had been in. They hadn't seen Marx yet, as he was silently observing them from behind, and his cute smile and large round eyes turned mischievous as he thought of something.
He had to stop himself from giggling, but he didn't quite do a good enough job as it reverberated throughout the darkened halls.
Whatever King Dedede and Escargoon had been talking about immediately stopped as the two of them straightened their backs and stood completely still.
He heard Dedede whisper "There's no such thing as ghosts, there's no such thing as ghosts, there's no-"
"Y-Your Majesty, I think it's right behind us..." Escargoon whimpered.
Marx's smile widened. He crept up behind the two, slowly, but surely, like a predator about to pounce on its prey. Then he giggled again, which elicited a very unmanly squeak from Dedede and his follower.
"Boo!" He shouted, and off the King and Snail went, screaming their lungs out as they dashed away from him and his high-pitched laughter.
"Oh man!" Marx wished he could wipe the tears of mirth out of his eyes. "They sure are a riot, and so very fun to mess with! Hee hee hee hee!"
Just as the purple jester was about to turn around and roll away on his ball, he caught a glimpse of two additional ghosts, but – no, those weren't ghosts, it was plain obvious that it was just someone with white sheets draped over their bodies. Marx smirked. He was pretty sure he knew what was going on by then. Call him crazy, but he would bet his hat and ball and everything he owned that Kirby was among those two floating "ghosts". With a shrug of his foot, Marx rounded the nearest corner to wait for Dedede – just like the two ghosts were.
Before Dedede reappeared, though, Escargoon walked back the way he had come from, far more calm than before, and he was even snickering. Marx bounced on his ball, wondering what that was all about, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that this was some kind of prank, and the Snail was somehow in on it. Escargoon rounded another corner, and not a second later did a terrified Dedede come running down the hall, screaming something about Escargoon being kidnapped by the ghost.
He stopped abruptly when he noticed the two floating "ghosts", his pupils shrinking into mere dots as let out a startled sound. The king was sweating bullets by the time the two floating apparitions neared him, and Marx could appreciate a prank well done. After all, the king was once again fleeing for his life, terror oozing off of him in waves that pleased Marx to no extend.
"Someone please help me!" Dedede shouted, but to no avail. The two "ghosts" followed close behind him.
What a great way to spend his night. Marx was glad he had decided to raid Dedede's kitchen at this hour, or he might have missed out on all the fun.
Dedede's scream pierced the calm night air.
"Music to my ears!" Marx chirped.
He then followed the retreating Kirby and whom he presumed to be Lola over to another corner where Bun jumped out, a smile present on his youthful face. The young Cappy boy unveiled a puffed up Kirby, and Lola took off their own sheet, giggling.
"Did you see his face?" Bun laughed.
Marx joined them not a second later.
"Hey, hey, hey!" He cheered, and the three of them turned around to look at him.
"Oh, it's you..." Bun said, his smile dropping. Kirby blew out the air he had sucked in and ran up to Marx, giving him a hug.
"Marx poyo!" The little puffball cheered. "Poyo, poyo!"
The jester stood there awkwardly for a split second before he pushed Kirby off with his foot. He regretted jumping off his ball now.
"Yes, hello to you too, Kirby." He said, and then gave the pink Star Warrior an evil smirk. "Heh, what's this I see? Up to no good here, Kirby?" He said, looking at his friend. "Lola?" He redirected his gaze up at the fully merged Demon Beast. "And Bun?"
Bun scoffed. "Well, yeah!" He said, puffing up his chest. "Escargoon wanted revenge against King Dedede, and he kind of bribed us with candy, so who are we to say no? Plus this prank is too fun to pass up!"
"Yeah!" Lola nodded. "Escargoon told us that Dedede pranks him all the time, scaring him and such, so he wanted us to help."
"Poyo, candy poyo!"
Marx nodded sagely. "Hm, hm. Then there's only one thing for me to say." He giggled. "Let me in on the fun too! And the candy, we wouldn't want to forget that now, would we?"
Bun looked thoughtful, but then shrugged. "Eh, okay. My sis and Meta Knight don't trust you, and they have several questions for you – or at least my sis does – but you seem like a cool dude. Not at all like the evil villain they're sure you are."
Marx feigned mock-hurt. "Who me? A villain? I've never heard anything more funny!" He laughed. He seemed to do that a lot, now that he thought about it.
"Anyways, we were just about to knock Dedede out and bring him into one of the empty cells. From there all the fun is gonna start!" Bun exclaimed excitedly.
"Poyo!" Kirby cheered, and Lola floated down to pat him on the head.
"I've never felt so alive after being merged! This is too much fun!" They exclaimed.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Marx said.
They nodded to each other, and then rushed off – right before Fumu, Meta Knight, Parm and Memu made their way to where they had just been.
Securing Dedede to the stone table in the wine cellar with cold and uncaring chains had been no problem for Bun, Lola and Kirby (here Marx had to sit back and watch), and once that was done and over with, the four of them hurried to hide so that the king appeared all alone for when he awoke.
Once he did wake up, he immediately began screaming, distraught and confused.
Marx had to stifle another laugh on top of the fake brick walls next to Kirby, and soon enough Bun – from atop the wall opposite them – gave a thumbs up, to which the pink puffball cheered and proceeded to activate the giant blade that swung back and forth overhead the horrified Penguin. Each time the blade got near the king, Dedede let out a scream.
It stayed like that for a while, and just before Lola was about to push one of the fake brick walls onto the screaming king – as a side note here, Kirby had deactivated the blade – Marx summoned his wings and teleported straight to the king, hovering above him with one of the cruelest looks he had ever managed to give someone.
When he was sure he had King Dedede's entire attention focused on him, the cosmic jester's eyes turned pitch-black, and then they fell out of his sockets like he was crying – literally. The black eyeballs kept falling out as his smile widened when they landed on Dedede and knocked him out cold – though not before letting Marx hear some sickeningly sweet screams come from the penguin.
And, now that he listened closely, from Bun and Lola as well. Huh? Why were they screaming too? It wasn't like he was hurting them.
He turned his black eyes on them as the last two eyeballs fell out of his sockets before they returned to his normal white and purple shade.
"Wh-wh-what was that?!" Bun all but screamed, just like Dedede had. Lola gasped at the sight, and Kirby merely looked confused, as if he wanted to make sure Marx was okay.
"Marx crying poyo?"
"Nevermind that Kirby, he's a literal demon!" Bun continued, looking beyond horrified.
When Marx went to join them up on the wall, everyone but Kirby took a step back.
"S-stay away, Marx! You're...some kind of freak, aren't you?!"
"You hurt Dedede!" Lola added.
"Hey, hey, hey. What's this now? I only scared the poor fool half to death is all. No harm done. Nope!" Marx said, shrugging with his foot.
"You liar!" Bun accused.
"What is going on here?!" Another voice called suddenly, making everyone (minus Dedede) turn their heads.
The lights turned on, and in came Fumu, Memu, Parm and Meta Knight. At the sight of them, a shivering Escargoon crawled out of his hiding place as well, eyeing Marx like he was the devil himself. Meta Knight took one good look at the injured King Dedede and walked over to his Liege, slicing through the metal chains with little to no effort. The masked knight looked around the room until his eyes landed on Marx.
The purple puffball stuck out his tongue, and Marx thought he saw Meta Knight's eyes narrow.
"Bun? Lola?" Fumu said, looking at their scared expressions.
Kirby?" Memu added, and her husband noted the appearance of Escargoon as well.
"I'll ask again; what is going on here?" Meta Knight stated, his voice calmer now. "And why is King Dedede injured?"
"Why don't you explain?" Parm added in a stern tone.
Marx suddenly found this all very boring.
"Marx did it!" Bun exclaimed suddenly. "He's a demon!"
"Am not!" Marx shouted in mock-hurt.
Fumu took a step forward. "So, am I correct in assuming Marx is the one responsible for all of this? What did you do, Marx?" She looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Hey!" Marx said. "I only made Dedede faint! The rest-" He pointed a foot at Bun, Lola, Kirby and Escargoon. "is all on them!"
Meta Knight also stepped forward. "And by making King Dedede faint, you hurt him until he became unconscious? That is a serious offense I cannot take lightly." He placed his hand on his sword.
"I'm sorry, everyone!" Escargoon suddenly exclaimed, putting a stop to what might as well have been the beginning of a fight. "This...this was my revenge."
"Revenge?" Fumu asked, confused.
Escargoon proceeded to tell them how King Dedede had pranked and scared him so many times that he didn't even dare go to the bathroom at night, and that he had to retaliate for all he had done to him. After his sob story was over, he then pointed at Marx.
"I might have bribed Bun, Lola, Kirby and several others to help me with this prank, but I didn't ask him for help. He just decided to tag along, and look at what he's done! That was the scariest thing I have ever seen!"
"Seen? What did you see, Escargoon?" Fumu asked, now very interested in the story.
"His eyeballs turned black and rolled out of his sockets! That's what hurt Dedede!" Bun finished the story with a light shake.
"First that black hole, and now this..." Fumu said, her eyes wide. "What kind of creature are you, Marx?!"
Marx would have shrugged if he could, but instead he just yawned and went to leave. He was immediately stopped by Meta Knight drawing his sword and blocking his way, to which the jester let out a frustrated sigh.
"Can we not do this right now? I'm kind of tired and bored..."
"I don't think so." Meta Knight stated.
Just then, Dedede let out a groan of pain, and the entire party turned their heads to look at the dazed penguin.
"Wh-what hit me…?" Dedede mumbled.
This was perfect. Marx could sneak out while they were all busy fretting over the hurt king, and that's exactly what he did – or, he would have, if it wasn't for Meta Knight. His piercing yellow eyes bore into him like he wanted to slice him in half, and to this gaze Marx only smiled smugly.
Bring it on, Borb.
Finally, after what seemed like minutes (but was most likely only seconds), Meta Knight lowered his sword and let the jester go. For now.
"This isn't over." The knight stated calmly.
Marx didn't dream on it.