This whole situation was worrisome.
As Meta Knight stared into those large purple eyes and saw that cruel smile, he knew that he had to intervene eventually, before the threat that was Marx became too much to handle. Meta Knight didn't doubt his own abilities, but he knew that – when the time came – the jester would be a formidable foe. He could practically feel the evil rolling off of this small creature, a hidden darkness that could – and would – bite down hard and never let go.
The fact that he had ties with Nightmare just made this whole situation worse.
Meta Knight held his sword high, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Marx's cruel smile turned smug. The jester knew that now was not the time to fight, and as much as he loathed to, Meta knight lowered his sword and let him go.
As Marx's giggles eventually faded from the cell he and the others were in, Meta Knight wrapped his cape tightly around himself. Fumu, who had been fussing over the King's injuries, looked over to where the knight stood and slowly made her way over.
"What should we do, Meta Knight?" The girl asked.
Meta Knight was silent for a few seconds. "For now, I plan on training Kirby and teach him how to fight. Since Marx seems to interfere with all of his battles, I fear that Kirby may be unable to take on more fierce foes in the future. He needs to be ready when the time comes."
He had planned on training Kirby regardless of the current situation, so he didn't see any harm in it.
Fumu, however, decided to take the role of a protective mother.
"What? But Kirby's just a baby! You remember the last time you fought him, don't you? It's too dangerous!"
Meta Knight's piercing gaze fell upon her. "Would you rather he be slain by an enemy because he came unprepared?" Fumu fell silent. "This matter is not up for discussion."
"Alright…" Fumu sighed. "But I'm coming with you when you train!"
Meta Knight nodded. He supposed there was no harm in that, as long as she didn't interfere.
Fumu still looked worried. "But what about Marx? We can't just leave him alone…"
Meta Knight's eyes shimmered green.
"I have a feeling I will be fighting him soon." So said the knight.
Marx was bored. Spending time with Honey was such a snore, but unfortunately, Kirby and his friends had become very suspicious of him. Well, maybe not Kirby, he was his good friend after all. That, and the little pink puffball was way too young to even comprehend Marx's more...dark side.
Anyway, the cosmic jester had decided to ditch the small Cappy girl in favor of visiting Kirby, who was probably playing with Fumu, Bun and Lola.
As he made his way through Pupu Village, he heard some of the adults speaking about what each of them did on New Year's Eve, and that made the jester stop. Ah, so it was that time of year already? When all of them had piped in on what they did in their respective regions, Marx spoke up.
"Well, where I come from we celebrate by hosting a death battle, and then we eat the losers!"
…
That was a lie, of course, but the shocked expressions of the villagers had Marx giggling like a madman. That was when he noticed Fumu, Bun and Kirby.
The daughter of the Cabinet Minister jumped down from the log she was sitting on, marching right up to where Marx stood. Her expression was fierce.
"You! What is wrong with you?!" She shouted, pointing a finger at him.
"What? It's just a joke, bro." Marx said casually.
Fumu's eye twitched. "I don't know what you're planning this time, but I won't let you get away with it!"
"Yeah!" Bun agreed.
"Poyo!" Kirby ran up to where Marx stood on his striped ball and pawed at it. "Poyo poyo!"
Marx took the hint and jumped down from his ball, only for Kirby to embrace him with the sweetest smile imaginable.
"Ack! Kirby, not again!"
"Poyo, h-hiiii, Marx poyo!"
Seriously, why was his friend so cute?
"Oi, Kirby, get away from that nut job!" Tokkori, who Marx hadn't seen at all, shouted.
Marx completely ignored the bird, and so did Kirby – much to his satisfaction.
"Hey, hey, Kirby, wanna go find some food together? I'm starving!"
"Poyo!" Kirby cheered.
Marx pushed the pink puffball off of him with his foot, and then took several steps back.
"No way, Kirby's not coming with you!" Fumu stepped in. "We have a festival to prepare, and besides, I don't trust you to take care of him after what you did to Dedede!"
"Yeah!" Bun continued. "You're lucky his injuries weren't too bad, or you would have been in real trouble!" He paused for a second. "...I still think you are, though. King Dedede is one to hold grudges."
The silence after that statement was only broken by the whispers of the adults. Well, until Marx decided to laugh.
"I'm not scared of some fat penguin's grudge! I'd say it'll be more fun with the challenge, if he's even capable of posing one." Marx shrugged with his foot. "Anyway, I'm gonna take my leave now. Food calls and all that."
But before he left, the jester threw a ball at Tokkori, who shrieked when he was sent flying into the tree behind him as the ball exploded with confetti raining down on the unfortunate bird.
"Why?!" Tokkori screeched.
"Tokkori!"
Marx summoned his wings and took off just as Dedede and Escargoon made their presence known.
Sweet, the king was out of his castle. That meant the jester could raid his kitchen without getting interrupted. Sure, there were many – and he meant many – Waddle Dees there, but they were all too intimidated by him to stop him.
What was it with this kitchen and sweets? Don't get him wrong, Marx loved sweets, but even he would like to eat something other than the sugary stuff. Maybe King Dedede of this dimension had a sweet tooth? Or maybe it was for Meta Knight?
Back in his own dimension, Marx had caught the masked knight eating his fair share of sweets, and Kirby even told him Meta Knight kept various candies in his room on the Halberd.
In any case, the cosmic jester had finished stuffing himself with as much food as he could get, and so now he was roaming the darkened halls of Castle Dedede. Speaking of the knight, Marx wondered what he looked like under that mask. He had never gotten the chance to find out, despite his many attempts to do so. It just seemed that – however much he tried – Meta Knight was always one step ahead.
Well, maybe it was because all of his tries had been harmless thus far, so perhaps he should try to find out through a fight? It seemed like the grumpy knight was itching for a battle against him as well, so what harm could it do?
A lot, but that was all part of the fun.
It was decided; tomorrow he would initiate a fight against the proud Meta Knight, and he would utterly crush him. That, and expose his face to whoever was watching their fight. Why not today, one might ask? Well, Marx had just heard a loud explosion coming from the village, and he was rather curious about that…
As he flew out of the window, Marx saw that it was the police station that had been blown up, and just a bit beyond that, he could spot Kirby, Fumu, Bun and two of those Cappy children that the jester hadn't bothered learning the names of. He turned his path in that direction and landed smoothly next to a soaked Kirby.
"Marx?!" Fumu shouted, surprised to see him again so soon. "Ugh, just go away! I have to explain to Kirby how dangerous gunpowder can be!" She then turned to Kirby. "It was wrong of us to not explain it to you."
"Gunpowder IS dangerous." Bun added.
Marx summoned a ball and jumped onto it, balancing with one foot as he smiled cutely.
"Hey, hey! What happened? Let your pal Marx in on it!"
They all gave him a skeptical look.
"Kirby ran into the police station with a lit sparkler while the adults were handling massive amounts of gunpowder." Bun eventually said.
"Ah." Marx giggled at that.
"Thanks to Kirby, the kids aren't allowed to make fireworks." The Cappy boy with the straw hat said.
"I want to make fireworks!" The other one with spiky hair uttered.
"It's okay! Before long, the adults will come to get advice!"
Marx's smile turned mischievous. "I'm gonna make my own fireworks."
Fumu sighed. "Didn't you hear what Spikehead just said?"
Oh, so that was his name.
Regardless of whether or not he was allowed to, Marx was going to make a spectacular fireworks float, with a hidden surprise that would surely liven up the party. He would have to be discreet about it, though, as it wouldn't be a surprise if people knew what he was gonna do. He was about to leave them be and prepare to work, but before he got very far, Fumu shouted after him.
"Hey, wait!" She said. "...Are you really a demon? I mean, with those powers of yours… It's completely unnatural! I bet you have many other hidden abilities, don't you? What are you hiding, Marx?"
She honestly expected him to answer her now?
"I can be your best friend, or your worst nightmare." He said cryptically for the heck of it.
Then he left before she could utter another word.
Marx had designed his fireworks float to resemble Galactic Nova, of all things. Sure, he had both good and bad memories regarding the giant comet, but in the end it would serve its purpose for the upcoming festival. It had taken almost all day to complete it, and he had had to find a place to create it in secret – after he had stolen more gunpowder than he knew what to do with. It was easy – the villagers weren't very smart, really. Well, aside from Fumu, Meta Knight and himself, of course.
The surprise that he had promised to make was hidden within Nova's body, just waiting to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting crowd, but first he had to wait for everyone to finish and the festivities to start.
It didn't take long before everything had been set up, and with the setting of the sun – to be replaced by a night lit only by the moon and festive lights in various colors – Marx mingled himself with the huge crowd of the entire Pupu village. Laughter and chatter filled the place with excitement, and friends and family came together in this joyous occasion. The Cappies enjoyed a drink or two while watching the beautiful lights or catching up with each other, and Marx fetched himself some snacks from a few stands here and there. He spotted Kirby playing with Lola and smiled just a bit. Sure, he may be an evil being hellbent on conquering the universe, but seeing his friend happy made him feel content. It was weird having a friend, a feeling he probably wouldn't get used to.
At the front of the crowd stood the Mayor, ready to speak through a megaphone.
"With that reason, there isn't much time left before a new year." He announced. "So for the new year, I wish everyone the best, and we will start the New Year Fireworks Festival!"
Everyone cheered and threw their hats and confetti up in the air. Marx refused to join them – he liked having his hat on top of his head at all times, thank you very much.
As the crowd continued to cheer on, every single light that lit the area dimmed before going out, and then the display began.
First came the Mayor's float, which was a pretty well-made display of sheep surrounding a waving Mayor, bright fireworks spilling from the horns of the sheep. It made its way through the gathering of cheering villagers before another one came forward. Kawasaki's float consisted of Kawasaki himself rolling down food that looked admittedly delicious, and the cook exclaimed that tomorrow everything would be half-price.
Ha. As if Marx would pay for the food he ate.
Next came Professor Curio's float, which was designed to represent Pupupuland one hundred million years ago. It showcased a green dinosaur with Curio sitting on top of it, garbed in a prehistoric cloak. Pretty straightforward, really. The crowd was going wild, and next on the list was the police officer's. This one was even simpler; a bad guy tied to a heavy ball with rope, and with this float the Chief explained that bad guys end up like this one.
Next was Cabinet Minister Parm's float. It depicted husband and wife, the outline of a pink heart between them, and they were standing in the middle of flowers and hearts.
Marx thought it was sickening, but the crowd seemed to like it.
And finally, it was time for his float.
"Everyone!" He cheered, gaining the attention of the entire village. "Take a look at my amazing display! You'll turn blue with surprise, hehehe!"
In came Nova, and everyone turned quiet. Whispers of amazement and confusion arose as Nova lit up, its eyes moving occasionally – as if it was alive – and out from several of its parts came bright fireworks that made the silence give way to yet more cheers as everyone momentarily forgot who had created it. Marx felt proud of his creation, but the main part had yet to be revealed.
After everyone followed the moving floats up to a lake, Marx thought it appropriate to unleash his surprise.
"And now… It's showtime!" The jester announced, and with that Galactic Nova unleashed what was within it – hundreds of small rockets suddenly flew up in the air, startling many of the on-lookers, and their surprise soon turned to dread as the many hundred rockets rocketed towards them all.
With several loud bangs and screams came a huge cloud of blue that surrounded the entire area, making it impossible to see anything. When it eventually dissipated, everyone had turned blue (including himself, but that was a price he was willing to pay).
"Hahahahahahaha!" Marx laughed uncontrollably. "You should see yourselves!"
Everyone was stunned.
"Hahahaha, what's the matter? Feeling a little blue?" The jester continued.
"Marx!" He heard someone shout, and he had a pretty good idea as to who it was.
Before anything else could be said and done, the sky lit up with various lights and fireworks, from blue to green to yellow, on it went as everyone – still very blue – turned their attention skywards.
It seemed Dedede's show was starting. Too bad, Marx was just starting to have fun.
Then, up from the lake came a bright castle with the sun and moon by its sides, three lit sparklers at the top of each turret and a gate leading to a green double door that opened to welcome King Dedede's own float. It depicted Dedede himself, holding his iconic hammer. Next came one of Escargoon, and they both looked much better than the villagers'. Not Marx's, though. No one could beat his.
Things escalated pretty quickly from there on. As the villagers tried to keep up with the king and his sidekick, Dedede's float suddenly started attacking the other floats, and everyone tried to vacate as more fireworks flew towards them, completely obliterating their creations – including Marx's.
Dedede's float then began to fling several Kirby-like bombs at the poor puffball, who was blown away by the force. He eventually managed to inhale some of the fireworks and gained the fire copy ability. Meta Knight made his presence here, seeming very uncomfortable looking at a blue Kirby. Still, he spoke his part.
While Kirby was facing off against Dedede's float, Marx took it upon himself to crush it. He summoned his wings, flew towards it and puffed out his cheeks while charging a beam from deep within himself. Then he let it go, and a giant white beam lit up the entire area and completely demolished the float and whoever was within it. After that, Marx teleported away, only to reappear next to a confused Kirby.
Everything fell quiet.
…
"SASUKE!" King Dedede screamed.
Oh, had he killed someone? Marx giggled.
"Uh, Happy New Year, everyone?"