Fumu knew something was off.

Okay, well, something was almost always off – what with King Dedede insisting on buying those Demon Beasts – but she knew things had taken an even stranger turn due to what Meta Knight had just told her.

The masked knight had appeared before her in his usual quiet way, getting straight to the point by telling her that Marx was nothing but trouble. Apparently, the jester was somehow working for Nightmare, the being currently at war with the whole universe. Fumu didn't know too much about this dangerous man just yet, but she was smart enough to know he was a threat not only to them, but everyone. And if Marx was working for this guy, then her gut feeling had been correct all along. She was able to look past his cute and innocent exterior, piercing through that facade to look at the true threat lurking just beneath. After all, the jester had managed to defeat Kracko all by himself, and in no time at all too. He was dangerous, and a loose card to boot.

Fumu sighed.

"I knew Marx was suspicious, but I never suspected him to be this dangerous..."She fretted, her brows furrowed in worry. "What if he's after Kirby?!"

Meta Knight nodded. "That is a very likely possibility." He said. "It is no secret that Nightmare has sent several Demon Beasts after Kirby, although I suspect he doesn't see him as a true threat quite yet."

The knight was standing with his back to Fumu in the dark halls of the castle, the two of them the only ones present. Fumu wrung her hands together, her eyes searching Meta Knight's form for any more information.

She didn't find any.

"Then..." She began. "What should we do? Marx is already close to Kirby, and everyone has practically accepted his presence here." She slapped her cheeks with her hands. "Ugh, I knew he was strange, I should have just listened to my own intuition! He's creepy too, sometimes, with the way he stares at someone for minutes on end without blinking, or how he always giggles and laughs like someone just told him the funniest joke!"

Meta Knight turned around.

"I regret to inform you that I, too, was lenient in letting him off the hook. I should have taken action when I had the chance back then, but I let my emotions get the better of me." Meta Knight told her in what could be considered a sympathetic tone. "I had heard of his name back when the GSA was at war with Nightmare, however I only chalked it up to a coincidence. The sections destroyed by him was not the ones I was among, so I had no way of knowing his appearance..."

"Yeah...This is really getting out of hand." Fumu said.

"For now, I will come up with a plan to stop Marx while I monitor him carefully. If he shows even the slightest sign of hurting Kirby, I shall intervene. A battle might be in order if it comes to that."

"Will you be okay?" Fumu asked, her eyes meeting Meta Knight's. "We still don't know much about him..."

Meta Knight's gaze seemed piercing. "The future is not set in stone. That is why I will give this time, to observe his movements. It is important to know your enemy."

Fumu noticed he hadn't answered her question. She narrowed her eyes, but didn't push the subject. She would likely gain nothing from doing so anyway.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Meta Knight stayed silent for a while, thinking. Then, after several seconds filled with tension, the knight replied. "You have to stay calm and act like you have always done. Don't let him know you're on to him, but do not act overly friendly either. It is important we don't raise his suspicions." Another brief pause. "...And don't hesitate to inform me of anything we might be able to use against him."

Fumu nodded. "Got it."

They parted ways after that, Fumu heading for the balcony of her home where she could get some fresh air. Her thoughts were a swirling mess, especially after everything that had happened. A few days ago she, along with Bun, Kirby and Professor Curio, had put a stop to the fake excavation scheme before it could even escalate, although it became far easier when it was revealed that one of the stone tablets King Dedede had ordered to be buried for the villagers to find had been completely destroyed. Fumu already had a good idea of who might have had a hand in that, but it only added to her confusion.

Was Marx truly bad? Was everything just an act? For some reason, she doubted it. Beneath all the mischief and insanity the little purple puffball exuded, Fumu had caught sight of someone who genuinely cared about Kirby...It just didn't make any sense.

Meta Knight had told her to stay calm and think rationally. He ensured her that he wouldn't let Marx lay a hand on Kirby, and that they would expose him for the evil villain that he was. Fumu hoped that was the case, because she didn't want to see what would happen if they were too late.

Because despite her conflicted thoughts and emotions, Fumu knew Marx was dangerous.

Once she reached the outside, Fumu caught sight of Lololo and Lalala. Even though the two of them had their backs turned to her, she took notice of how their forms slumped, looking quite down. The two of them were sitting on the edge of one of the castle battlements, and the young girl made her way over to them.

"Hey Lololo. Lalala." She said, greeting them both. "What' wrong? You look sad."

"Ah...Fumu." Lololo said, turning around to face her. Lalala joined her counterpart, both of their expressions looking crestfallen. "It's King Dedede." She said, and then Lololo continued from there. "He threatened to exile us if we don't work separately...He requires us to go our own ways, but we refuse to split up!"

"Yeah!" Lalala nodded. "We've never been apart, and we do everything together!"

"What?!" Fumu shouted, looking shocked. "He said he'd banish you?"

"He'll banish us if we don't work separately..." Lololo confirmed.

"But we're always together." Lalala added.

"That's true." Fumu said, resting her arms and head on the battlement just below the two. "You're both such good friends, aren't you..."

They all let out a collective sigh.

'That mean king!' She thought, internally fuming. 'Just because they refuse to work separately doesn't mean he can just threaten them like that!'

At that moment, Fumu heard her mother shout at Bun to do his homework – and her brother's typical response was to ask their father for help, but to no avail. There was no getting out of their mother's strict discipline, it would seem.

Lololo and Lalala asked about their parents, but the only response they got were fairy tales even Bun didn't believe in. Fumu told them to stop, and in the end they were all rushed out – their mother even told them they could skip homework, something she had been so insistent about only moments earlier.

They were definitely hiding something, and Fumu knew it had to do with Lololo and Lalala.

Marx was standing next to Kirby, who was currently jumping up and down while chanting Lololo and Lalala's real name, Lola. The two of them had been there when the ruckus started with the two Demon Beasts asking for their parents, and somehow the Cabinet Minister and his wife hadn't noticed Marx and Kirby at all.

Then again, they were being very quiet – even more so than usual, so it wasn't all that unexpected. This, however, was an entirely unexpected turn of events, because apparently Lololo and Lalala were originally one single entity. Marx wondered what Lola used to be like, back when the two of them were one. Oh well, it wasn't like he was ever going to find out, and nor did he think they could be useful to him – aside from them wanting revenge against Nightmare, of course.

It was frighteningly easy to manipulate someone hellbent on revenge.

Fumu and Bun's mother fretted next to them. "You two, can you keep quiet about this?"

"Yes, we wouldn't want to hurt them with this information." The Cabinet Minister agreed.

Marx lifted a foot. "Hmm, I dunno..."

"Lola, Lola!" Kirby cheered on.

"What's in it for us?" Marx finished.

The two adults shared a look.

"We'll give you as much candy as you want?" The father said with a hint of hesitation.

"Deal." The purple jester said, smirking. Then he looked over at Kirby. "But this guy might be a problem..."

"Lola, Lola!" Kirby continued. "Lola!"

In the end, the small pink puffball had to have duct-tape taped over his mouth to keep him quiet. Marx didn't know how useful that was going to be, but he got his candy nonetheless. It was quite the sweet deal. Hehehe.

After he finished eating his fair share of candy, Marx left Kirby to go explore the village. He knew Nightmare had ordered him to get rid of Kirby, and was probably expecting him to do so soon, too, but...Marx had no intention of killing Kirby, because first of all; the little puffball was his friend, whether he liked it or not. Second of all, Marx did not take orders from anyone. And third, why kill Kirby when he could use him instead, just like back with Nova? Sure, that plan had crashed and burned – quite literally – but this time was different. Marx would make sure of that.

So instead, the cosmic jester went ahead with his brilliant scheme, which required another player to enter the fray. That was why he was currently wandering through the busy streets of Pupu Village, seizing each and every Cappy he passed with critical eyes.

That one with the uniform? No, he was a cop. That wouldn't work.

The archaeologist? No, too old and wise to fool.

The Mayor or his wife? Nah, they held too much power over this village, although that didn't really matter in the long run.

Marx was looking for someone weak, naive and easy to fool.

Amidst his search, a new Demon Beast cut its way through the crows, holding what appeared to be two rods resembling Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright. Marx watched on as the chaos unfolded, the Beast shouting its name as it cut and rearranged the villagers. In the end, all of them ended up having the bodies of sheep, and Kittari-Hattari even cut King Dedede and Escargoon in half, merging their bodies with that of the other villagers. As for the people? Well, they were currently shouting their distress and running back and forth like lost little sheep.

Marx couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably at that thought.

The abilities of the rods gave him an idea, though.

Eventually, the villagers managed to corner Dedede and ordered him to put them back together, and the penguin reluctantly did so when Escargoon reminded him they were after Kirby and not here to fool around. Marx briefly wondered how he had managed to evade that whole mess, but he guessed his lack of involvement was just pure luck. Either way, that Demon Beast would soon be history.

Marx sneaked up behind Kittari-Hattari while everyone was distracted, and then snatched the rod resembling Mr. Bright – the one being able to merge people back together if they had been split into two separate beings. He giggled, although the metal in his mouth made it hard to do so as he dragged the rod away. Kittari-Hattari and King Dedede both turned around and shouted after him, Dedede even threatening to cut him in half.

Marx ignored them all as he summoned his wings, lifting the rod with his claws and flying off towards the castle, knowing full well the Demon Beast and the penguin – and Escargoon – would follow him.

"Hehehe, now to merge Lololo and Lalala back together! That should be fun."

It didn't take him long to find them, as the two of them were floating before Fumu and Bun. They were all in the middle of a conversation, it would seem, but as soon as he landed behind them they all turned around so fast one would think a huge beast stood behind them.

Fumu's eyes widened, and she took a step back. Then she narrowed her eyes, her gaze never leaving Marx. She studied the rod in his claws, and fear briefly flashed through her eyes.

"Marx? What are you doing here? And what's that?" She asked.

"Whoa, that's one cool-looking rod!" Bun shouted, a smirk forming on his lips. "Where did you get it?!"

"It looks a little...familiar, doesn't it, Lololo?" Lalala asked, staring at the rod in question,

"Yeah, it does..."

Marx swung the rod above his head, ready to strike the two floating Demon Beasts. The resulting panic was immediate.

"What are you doing, Marx?! Stop it, you'll hurt them!"

"What the heck, man?! Stop!"

"Lololo!"

"Lalala!"

It was too late, though, as Marx was not one to wait around while the enemy could gain an opportunity over him, so he brought the rod down and smashed it into Lololo and Lalala, and then he laughed as the two began to merge back together.

All three of them watched on as the now flat Lololo and Lalala fused and became a slightly bigger and round ball-like creature with a spiky tuft of yellow hair. Their fur was purple while their gloves and shoes were white, which went well with their equally white eyes – eyes that now held pupils as small as pinpricks in pure shock and bewilderment.

Fumu and Bun looked speechless while Lola slowly rose from the ground, staring at their own hands like they couldn't believe they were back to normal.

"We're..." They began, but then shook their head. "No...I'm me again. Lololo and Lalala...We're once again one being. I can't believe it...I-I had completely forgotten what happened to us – me..."

"Lololo...Lalala?" Fumu asked, taking a hesitant step towards them. "What happened?"

Lola turned to face the confused siblings. "We're...I'm Lola. I was...Once a Demon Beast sent to King Dedede after having been split in half by another beast known as Kittari-Hattari. Nightmare thought I was weak and useless, and so did Dedede after I was split..." Lola looked down sadly. "Then the king threw us...me off the edge of the castle, and we tumbled down and landed before your parents back when you were a baby, Fumu."

The two siblings gawked.

"I can't believe it..." Fumu said.

"But it's true, sis. It all makes sense!"

"Well, that went well." Marx mused, throwing the rod away and dispelling his wings.

Lola turned their attention on the jester. "You. Marx." They began, floating over to him. "Thank you for merging me back together. How can we repay you?"

Marx smiled. "Well, let's just say you owe me a favor, okay? Hey, hey, hey!"

They nodded. "Right!"

"This is so surprising!" Fumu said, waving her hands around. "It turned out you weren't siblings, or twins, or cousins, just-"

"One being!" Bun finished, jumping up and down.

"Yes!" Lola cheered, doing a small twirl midair. They looked so happy to be one again.

"But this means King Dedede has bought another Demon Beast again, doesn't it?" Bun questioned.

"I'm sure it does...Where's Kirby?"

Just then, Rick and Tokkori can running towards them at full speed, although something seemed quite off about them. Marx giggled at the sight of their heads merged to each others' bodies, the small head of Tokkori looking ridiculous on Rick's large body.

"What's going on, Tokkori? Rick?" Lola asked, floating over to the two mismatched animals.

"I knew Dedede did something!" Bun exclaimed.

"It should be obvious!" Tokkori said, sounding so done with everything.

"You can see what happened." Rick added.

Then the two of them noticed Lola, and they both blinked.

"Who are you?" Tokkori asked.

"We're Lola! Lololo and Lalala combined." Lola informed them. "It turns out I was one being all along, but had been cut in half by Kittari-Hattari! That's the Demon Beast who did this to you, right?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah, it is...I'm surprised you're back to normal now. How did this happen?"

"I just smashed them with Mr. Bright over there." Marx said, pointing at the rod with a foot.

"You managed to steal that thing?!" Tokkori shouted. "You're trouble, I just know it!"

"More than you'd think..." Fumu whispered, although Marx was able to hear it clearly, what with having a keen sense of hearing.

"Anyway, let's hurry and have Kirby beat up the Demon Beast-"

"I want to go back to normal!" Rick interrupted.

"Where's Kirby?!" They both shouted together.

"You know, I could just-" Marx began, but was interrupted by Kirby running over to them from the open gate of the castle – still with that bandage taped to his mouth, but that did not stop the pink hero from looking as happy as ever.

At the same time, Marx could hear the distant sound of a tank approaching with rapid speed. Oh, this spelled trouble, didn't it? Normally the purple jester was all for chaos, but right now he just wanted to get on with his plan. Why couldn't things just go smoothly? Still, it was his decision to take this detour and fuse Lola back together, so he would just have to be a spectator to Kirby's oncoming fight.

"Yo, Kirby! Now a Demon Beast is-"

"Huh? What's with that bandage?" Rick interrupted him once again.

"How's he supposed to inhale?" Tokkori said.

Right after that, Kirby began his battle against Kittari-Hattari once it and the King and his goon arrived, but the pink hero ended up being split in half – just like Lola had been. The two Kirby's were adorably small, one green and the other orange with a pink bow. Male and Female...Marx supposed it split one being into their masculine and feminine parts?

Lola gathered the two sleeping Kirbys just before Kittari-Hattari could finish them off, and then flew away as fast as their body would carry them. Fumu and Bun followed along, running in the direction the others had headed with determination.

After running around like confused little monkeys – back and forth they went – Marx managed to corner Kittari-Hattari.

"I'll make you into scrap metal!" Marx giggled as he advanced on the Demon Beast.

"Oh no ya don't!" King Dedede shouted, and then he drove his tank right into the jester, sending him flying towards Kittari-Hattari's Mr. Shine rod.

Marx closed his eyes and braced for the pain. He attempted to teleport, warping the space around him to escape the oncoming separation, however he didn't quite manage to avoid being split in half by the beast's weapon. His two halves reappeared a few feet away from Dedede and Kittari-Hattari, staring straight into each others' eyes...one blue and the other pink. The two of them blinked.

"Huh..." They both said at the same time.

The pink version of him giggled, and the blue one scowled.

"This is just stupid." He grumbled.

Wasting no more time, the blue Marx jumped up on the tank and proceeded to bite Dedede's arm with his sharp fangs, drawing blood. Dedede roared in pain, swinging the even smaller jester up and down in the air like a bull trying to shake someone off at a rodeo. Once his pink counterpart went for the beast and made it stumble by shadow uppercutting it, blue Marx then let go of Dedede's arm, timing it with the penguin flinging him over to the rod resembling Mr. Bright.

Marx found that he couldn't summon his wings at the moment, so the two smaller parts of himself desperately tried to lift the way too heavy rod with their mouths, but to no avail. Kittari-Hattari was slowly advancing towards them, and Dedede cornered them by blocking off the opposite direction.

"Dededede..." The King snickered. "I'll finally get rid of ya, you little pest! Then Kirby's next!"

Just then, Lola and the two small Kirbys came flying over to them, and Lola placed the two little puffballs next to the equally small jesters. Next, they flung their body at Kittari-Hattari, tackling them to the ground just as Fumu and Bun grabbed the Mr. Bright rod.

"Quick, turn me back to normal!" Marx ordered them, and Fumu hesitated for only a second before she brought the rod down.

Both Marx and Kirby returned to normal with the blink of an eye. The cosmic jester immediately summoned his wings and flew over to the Demon Beast, splitting himself in half with a giggle as the all-consuming black hole sucked the beast in. He showed it absolutely no mercy as it was flung back out as mere scraps of metal, like he had promised it he would.

"AAAAAHHH!" Fumu and Bun shouted as they ran for their lives, desperate not to get sucked into the black hole. Kirby did the same, and King Dedede and Escargoon turned tail and quickly drove away like the devil was chasing them.

Fumu and Bun seemed to at least have the mindset to return Rick and Tokkori back to normal before the rods disappeared along with the Demon Beast, and Marx floated back down, landing softly on the ground.

"Jeez, I should have done that from the beginning!" He complained, dusting himself off with the claws of his wings.

"You-! Marx, what-"

"What was THAT?!" Fumu demanded, trudging over to him with a stern glare. "I didn't know you could-could split yourself in half?!

"Hee hee hee hee!" The jester laughed. "Marx is just full of surprises!"

"So it would appear..." Meta Knight said as he rounded the corner. The knight looked calm, yet his stance told an entirely different story. "You seem almost determined to interfere with Kirby's battles, Marx. Are you trying to make him less of the warrior that he will grow up to be, by taking on all of his foes?" The masked knight accused, drawing closer.

Marx shrugged with a foot. "You're overthinking it, Borb. I'm just along for the ride." His eyes met Meta Knight's. "Besides, Kirby is strong no matter how many enemies of his I defeat. He's known as the Pink Demon for a reason, you know!"

Bun let out a surprise snort. "Borb-" He snickered.

Fumu rounded on him. "And just how do you know so much about Kirby anyway? Who told you all this?"

"Fumu and Meta Knight ask good questions, Marx!" Lola added. "You haven't known Kirby for as long as we have, and even we don't know that much about Kirby..."

"Yeah, and what was with that black hole?! Just how strong are you...and can you teach me how to do that?" Bun said, the last part only a whisper.

Marx felt backed into a corner – literally, as he felt his back press against the cold brick wall of King Dedede's castle. He had half a mind to just get rid of them all then and there, but quickly dismissed the thought. That wouldn't work well with his plan, after all.

Instead, Marx pretended he saw a clock somewhere.

"Whoops, would you look at the time! I gotta go now, see ya!

"Wait-!"

Marx teleported away before further questions could be thrown his way, quickly reappearing back in the village.

After the whole fiasco with Kittari-Hattari, Marx kept a low profile while searching for someone suitable for the next step of his plan. Things seemed to have taken a turn for the worse, what with Fumu, Meta Knight and the rest of the gang now being overly suspicious of him.

Eventually, Marx came across someone he could use.

Honey, the sweet little Cappy Girl always following around Iro and Spikehead. She was the perfect match for what he needed. She was young, naive and probably very innocent.

Marx's smile widened, his fangs glinting in the sunlight. This was perfect – no, genius.

All he had to do was befriend her, and then he could use her to set his plan in motion.

He went over to her, tap-tapping on one of his trusted balls.

"Hey, hey, hey." He greeted her.

She was currently playing hopscotch alone, the two of her other friends nowhere in sight. She looked up from her position, blinking in confusion.

"Yes? H-hi?" She said, looking around nervously. "Is Kirby not here? You're always with him..."

"I am?" Marx asked.

She nodded. "Yeah! You two seem like such great friends."

"Huh..." Marx said, and then he started giggling. "Heh...hehehehehe!"

Marx couldn't help it, it was just so funny.

Imagine what she would say if she knew his less than friendly history with Kirby – sure, the history he spoke of wasn't shared with this universe's pink ball, but still.

"Hehehehe, HAHAHAHA!"

Honey looked at him strangely, her stance becoming wary and her eyes shining with unease.

"Why are you laughing?" She asked, taking a step back from him. "Did-did I say something funny? You're weird..."

Okay, Marx had to reel back his laughter. It wouldn't do to scare her off this early on. Gaining back his control, the jester cleared his throat.

"Hahaha, sorry! I just thought of a funny joke Bun told me the other day."

"Oh..." She said, sounding slightly less creeped out.

Marx nodded. "Yeah! So, I was wondering if you want to become friends with me? I don't really spend much time with anyone else aside from Kirby, and I would like to get to know others too, you know?"

"Huh? You wanna be friends with me?"

"Yeah, duh! I just said that!"

Honey looked down at the ground, thinking. "...Okay. But don't do that again."

"Do what?"

"Laugh like that for no reason. It's kind of freaky..."

"Sorry, can't promise you that." Marx shrugged with his left foot, bouncing back and forth on his ball.

Honey looked at her game of hopscotch. "...Do you wanna play with me? Spikehead and Iro had to do their homework, so I'm all alone right now."

Marx would rather die, to be honest.

"Sure!" He said happily.

Taking over Popstar better be worth it.