Chapter 40: Marx

At first glance, today appeared to be just an average day in Dreamland, but if someone were to look at their calendar for the day, they would quickly realize that their day would be more than likely filled with nothing but terror. That was because today was the first of April, better known as April Fool's Day, a day eagerly awaited by a certain ball-riding purple jester. This was Marx, a prank-loving citizen of Dreamland who prepares for this particular holiday every year. You see, he has a tradition of trying to prank everyone in Dreamland and he makes big plans every year to see it through. However, there was always one person who never seemed to be affected by his pranks on this day.

"What am I gonna do for Kirby today…?" He mumbled as he hopped on his ball.

For some reason, Kirby, whether on purpose or accidentally, had always been able to avoid getting pranked today. Marx thought and thought, the gears in his head turning as fast they could. The other problem with pranking Kirby was that he couldn't go too far with it. He would torment any other poor soul, but doing anything to hurt Kirby was off-limits for three reasons. First reason, Kirby would make him pay for it. Reason two, the entirety of Dreamland would be out for him if he dared to. Reason three, something he would never openly tell anyone: He genuinely liked Kirby in spite of himself.

"Dumb kid is too nice for his own good." He uttered under his breath.

But even though he did consider Kirby a friend, he was still going to try his best to prank the kid. The problem is what would be a good prank that would not end with the pink puff being hurt?

"Hm… maybe I could put butter in his shoes." He uttered aloud.

Wait a minute? Does Kirby even wear shoes? One could assume the red on his feet are his shoes, but no one has ever seen the puff without them, and he seems perfectly content to sleep or even go swimming in them! Would that mean he doesn't even wear any shoes? Well, if he didn't, then that plan would be a bust.

"Maybe I could put a bunch of hot sauce in his food."

That was Marx's next idea. He could already imagine the look on Kirby's face as he bit into the hottest food he would have ever had in his life and breathed out fire like he had taken on a Copy Ability. However, the moment he thought of that, he quickly saw the problem with it. Kirby tends to eat just about anything. Something spicy would more than likely not affect him at all. Even worse, he more than likely would have to use a dangerous amount of hot sauce to actually get a reaction out of the puff, which would more than likely hurt him, which was something he didn't want.

"He might not even get too hurt by it, but I don't want to take that chance." Marx gave a reluctant sigh, but then that led him to another idea. "Oh, I can put a bunch of caterpillars in his house!"

Despite being a hero who fought god-like beings beyond most mortal's comprehension, the only thing Kirby didn't like- no, was AFRAID of, was caterpillars. No one knew the reason why, but it was more than likely that no one even bothered to ask. Regardless, there was no doubt that THIS would work! But after a moment, Marx gave some thought and frowned.

"…that's way too easy. Like sickeningly easy. Like 'am I even trying?' easy."

To Marx, best pranks were the ones that had effort put into them, especially when it came to April Fool's Day. If he did a prank like that, would he even deserve to call himself the greatest prankster in Dreamland? There was no way. Frowning, he hopped on his ball and began to roll it down the pathway, trying to rack his brain for more ideas.

After briefly stopping to pull a prank on a group of passing by Bronto Burts, Marx came up with another idea.

"How about if I dress up like Meta Knight and make him do something stupid!"

He grinned as he thought about this perfect plan. Kirby is the most gullible person he knew and he held a lot of respect for his mentor to the point where he would do anything for him! As strange as it sounds considering Meta Knight apparently tried to kill him at least once, but that was neither here nor there. But then came the question of how to sell the idea that he really WAS Meta Knight? He could easily just say that he wasn't feeling well and that was why his voice was different, but then came the idea of dressing up as the knight. The thing was that it would have to be one that could easily pass off as the real Meta Knight.

"That guy's gullible and naïve, but he's not stupid…" Marx sighed as if he was saying something that he hated to admit. This meant that he had to make a convincing mask and cape if he was going to fool Kirby. So how could he do that?

"Eh, I can steal it from him."

He then quickly realized that it was easier said than done. He hopped off his ball in front of a lake and kicked a nearby stone, making it skip across the water. It was with this simple action that he came up with something.

"Alright, here's the thing. I'll infiltrate his island base, take out the guards with my ball, grab a mask and cape, tell Kirby to paint graffiti on Dedede's castle, and then wait at Chef Kawasaki's restaurant for everything to blow over!"

"You're going to Chef Kawasaki's!?"

"WAUGH!"

Marx suddenly heard a voice from behind him and fell straight into the lake. Thankfully, it wasn't that deep, and he was able to resurface quickly to see that Kirby of all people was standing behind him!

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?!" The child asked, already reaching out a hand to help Marx out.

"Peachy." That was all Marx said. Yeah, maybe that plan wasn't going to work either. Probably for the better since it would more than likely end with the knight himself hearing about it and the jester didn't want to imagine what kind of horrifying scenarios that would lead to.

"So you mentioned you were going to Chef Kawasaki's, weren't you? Can I come?" Kirby excitedly asked. Admittedly, Marx was about to say no and tell him to get lost, but then he suddenly came up with a brilliant new idea.

"Oh, sure thing!"

"Yay! Let's go now!"

Just before Kirby could rush off to the restaurant, Marx quickly stopped him in his tracks.

"BUT you have to follow me there!"

The puff tilted his head in confusion.

"Why do I have to do that? I know where Chef Kawasaki's is!"

Of course he did. He was the chef's biggest customer.

"W-well, you see, I made reservations for lunch there, so they'll need to make sure that it is me!"

There was a moment of pause as Marx internally hoped that Kirby couldn't think of a counter to that statement. However, it was at least clear that there were gears turning inside the child's head in response. The puff then tilted his head the other way and gave a smile.

"Well, if you say so, then lead the way!"

Marx nodded and began leading the way for the puff. However, the jester had a sinister grin plastered on his face.

Soon, the duo arrived in town. The town appeared to be the same as any other town, but that was because it was the same as any other town. However, there was something about it that confused Kirby.

"Marx, are you sure you're going the right way? I don't think we're in the right area of town…"

"Oh, this is a special shortcut!"

"It is?"

Kirby looked around. While this WAS the town that was not too far from Chef Kawasaki's restaurant, he was pretty sure that they were going in the wrong direction. You see, Chef Kawasaki had his restaurant in a nice, sweet spot that was not too far from the town and not too far in the country. He was a big fan of the peace and tranquility it gave him and his customers as they had their meals. The fact that it seemed like they were going into town rather than out of it was what confused the child. But if Marx said this was a shortcut…

"Well, if you say so."

Marx had to suppress a laugh. Everything was going far too smoothly! They turned down an alleyway and walked until they stood in front of what appeared to be the back door to a building.

"Okay, now we have to go through this door!"

Kirby looked at the door and then looked at Marx. A feeling of doubt was clear in his eyes.

"Uh… Marx… I don't think…"

"Do it for the food!"

The immediate mention of food caused the child to perk up.

"Ok!"

The child barreled through the door, falling flat on his face on the other side. As Kirby began to get up and brush himself off, he felt like he was being watched. Lo and behold, he noticed that he was being watched by what appeared to be a well-dressed Waddle Dee and a blue Birdon sitting in a chair with some kind of poncho around it.

"Yo, Frank, I got you a new customer!"

Marx shouted, starting to snicker as Kirby looked around in confusion.

"…where am I?" Kirby asked, clearly confused about where his current location was. The Waddle Dee then turned to the now broken door and then looked back at the puff and jester in annoyance.

"If you wanted an appointment at my barber shop so badly, you could've just come through the front door…"

"Barber shop?"

Marx was no longer trying to suppress his laughter at this point.

"April Fools! You totally fell for it! I wasn't taking you to Kawasaki's restaurant! I was taking you to a barber!"

As the jester cackled, Kirby continued to stare, only silently blinking as if he was processing what had just happened. Then, as if his mind had finally caught up to what had just happened, he looked a bit disappointed for a moment, but then he also began to laugh. While yes, he was looking forward to having a meal at Chef Kawasaki's, he couldn't deny that this was also extremely funny!

Suddenly, their laugh was broken up by the barber loudly clearing their throat.

"Yeah, very funny, you guys. Now which of you is going to pay for my broken door?"

They pointed to the back door that Kirby had broken through. Breaking out in a sweat, Marx instantly started to spin his ball and ran back out the door, leaving Kirby in his dust. The puffball scratched his head.

"Well… um… I guess I have to be the one to do it."

Sorry for taking so long to update! I'd been dealing with personal stuff and a major bout of writer's block in the past year ever since I uploaded the last chapter of GranEssex Chronicles!

So, if the chapter this time is a bit shorter than usual, I'm sorry for that!

Omake (Bonus)

Marx: So then I took him to the barber shop instead of Chef Kawasaki's!

Magolor: WHY DID YOU TAKE HIM TO THE BARBER! HE DOESN'T HAVE HAIR! You should've taken him to the nail salon, instead!