A - HA - HA !!!

  Well then, we was certainly going to get far more entertainment with a very angry little girl marching up to yell at him. Sure, it’s not exactly as if she treated her own machines any better, but this abuse to them was uncalled for ! At least if she had bashed them up, it was for legitimate reason.

  “ EXCUSE ME !!! ” she shouted, upon approaching and watching one of the last remaining Moto Bugs meeting an ill-timed fate from a some dolting clown. What a waste of good machinery.. She sighed bitterly as the little animals powering them scampered off. The maniacal inventors arms cross to express her frustrations. At least she could make more, but… “ What authority do you have to bust up my machines !? Those took TIME, you know ! A lot of it ! ” Her voice obviously raising, it certain didn’t take her long to get boiled.

                  “ ... Eh? ” Marx turns, glancing over at the little girl shouting at him, expression going from purely maniacal to something akin to noncommittal, one last vine crushing a ladybug-bot ( ladybot? ) to pieces before it goes limp, and then seems to vanish altogether.  He stares at the girl dismissively, briefly quirking an eyebrow before rolling his eyes.

   “Oh no, how horrid a thing to do!” A hand goes over their mouth in pretend shock. They’re faking it. Even so, the gleam of interest in their dual-colored eyes was genuine. But that single word, ‘dead’, is what sparked most of the jewel’s interest ( don’t let it get out of hand, now ). “What a horrid creature this Kirby must have been to do something like that!”

   But, putting two and two together.. Marx wasn’t a hero at all, Kirby was no awful villain, and Marx was indeed a living creature - one that somehow is neither really alive or dead. But Phos did not know the extend of the other’s strengths and powers, and they could not put anyone at risk until they knew more. So, they would play along until then.

   “But… how come even death can’t keep you down? Is it some special force, or are you just that powerful, oh great lord Marx?”

       The other’s enthusiastic response only eggs him on further, and, despite the fact that he’s a head with feet, his ‘chest’ almost seemed to be puffed up with every word the other is saying.

  “What’s… a ‘lord’?” Even if Phos didn’t know, it wasn’t hard to tell Marx was in no way telling the truth. Not only was that vulgar behaviour from before a big enough clue, but also how childlike he acted. Still, the jewel supposed it wouldn’t hurt to play along for now - even giving that familiar ( fraudulent ) smile Lapis used to give. Any information is information, after all - information to perhaps persuade either Adamant or Aechmea.

      “But even if I don’t know that or of you, mayhaps your exploits may be worth telling, oh Marx the hero~ I am but stuck on this lonely isle, after all.”

    Wow, they actually seemed to buy it. It occurs to Marx, briefly, that maybe the Gem is bullshitting him right back, but his ego overpowers his logic and instinct and he simply grins widely. “ A ‘lord’ is someone with a ton o’ power, gemmy! Can I call you gemmy? I’m gonna call you gemmy. ”

  Golem? That’s certainly a new one - along with many other words that Marx used to make his vocabulary a bit more..colorful. Phos didn’t really understand them, but it wasn’t hard to figure out they were quite vulgar. Yeah, leaving Marx with Adamant would not have been the best idea.

    “I, yeah? I’m a Gem, that’s what happens when we get hurt. I do have to get fixed later on, though.” Phos sits up then, a tilt of their head given when looking up at Marx. “What’s a ‘golem’? Never heard of that one before.”

     A Gem? That’s certainly different-- unless you counted something like Wham Bam Jewel, and Marx is 99.9% sure that does not count. Whatever this person is, it’s new, and Marx feels a swell of satisfaction at knowing something that no one else knows. Probably.

     “ Yeah, maybe. Maybe I should change, golly gee! I’ve been a real big ol’ bag o’ beans, huh? ” He does what is possibly the most exaggerated pout known to puffkind, faking watery eyes and he sniffles.

       ...

Wow, Marx must’ve really liked that hammer-beating he got earlier, because he’s getting another one so soon! It’s hard to grin when your entire face is caved in from blunt-force trauma.

“Just because I should be dead by now doesn’t mean I can’t still kick your tail outta my castle.”

       “ You should be dead? I am dead! To be honest, I think neither of us should be here right now! ” Feet kick as he speaks, shutting his eyes and sort of... floating... backwards... away from the king.

“And you’re just a dumb failure with no hands! You don’t have anything on the villains threatening Popstar these days!” he spits back, clearly agitated at the mention of his age. He knows he shouldn’t just be senile – he should be dead by now.

Y i k e s.

“You couldn’t hide an evil plan if your life depended on it! You look WAY too shady for that!”

     Okay, now he’s getting a little heated. He shakes his head. “  I’m not the only one who got their ass beat by Kirby, y’know-- and, as far as I know, I only got my ass beat once! ” He’s grinning madly, now, but it’s twitching a little-- he’s clearly getting kind of angry.

Menacing.

“I could stop you easy. There’s a reason I’ve been king for 25 years! You weren’t the first threat to the kingdom and you won’t be the last.” Oops, he heard most of that. Most of it.

“Kirby’s, uh, not all the way here right now. What’s it to you? You trying to make sure he can’t stop you this time or something? Huh? Huh?”

      “ Even so, that just means yer an old geezer! Ya must be goin’ senile or somethin’! ” He sticks his tongue out after going off, making a ‘blehhh’ noise as he did so. What a little brat.

“You know Kirby tells me about everyone he fights. In case anyone decides to come back and attack the kingdom in retaliation. He’s smart.” A bit of a pause before he speaks again. “As long as you don’t pull any more garbage, you’re fine here. If you try takin’ over Popstar or Dreamland or what-have-you I will personally end you myself.”

Please don’t threaten someone you barely know, Dedede.

           So! That tack isn’t going to work. Marx’s expression goes flat, a bit frustrated, but mostly flat nonetheless. When he speaks again, his voice is a dull grumble.

“DON’T STARTLE ME THEN, YOU–!” He puts the hammer down, but he still looks unnerved. Man, you really startled him, Marx. “YOU…! WHOEVER YOU ARE! … Didn’t Kirby fight and kill you or something? How come everyone Kirby killed is just suddenly coming back all of the sudden?!”

Man, the king is just really not in a good mood today, is he?

       Marx’s first response is confusion. It seems as if the kind knows of Marx, but in a very obfuscated sort of way. It’s a bit of a blessing, really. He pops into the air, waving his wings wildly as he speaks.