Call it A Hunch

CHAPTER 5; INTERROGATION

Magnifico looked out at the crowd gathered outside the tube he was floating in.

Oh, great. he thought. Just great. Stuck floating in a tube, in a dimension even i don't know, surrounded by strange weird talking creatures and people. How the mighty have fallen. How am I gonna get out of the predicament I've ended up in?

Suddenly, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

He saw what was a balding black haired yellow- faced man with a capital N on his forehead, wearing scientist clothes, walking up what seemed to be a stepladder on wheels, until the man's face was level to his.

"Ahh." said Cortex. "I see our patient has awoken from his coma."

Magnifico stared out at Cortex. "Are you some sort of pharmacist?" he asked.

"No!" Cortex snapped. "I'm an evil scientist!"

The former king held his hands up in surrender, "Okay, I was just asking." He groaned, feeling another small migraine strike his head. "How long was I in this... 'coma'... you speak of?" he asked Cortex.

Maybe getting answers out of this strange man would give him some clarification on where and when he was. He almost felt like he was in a different time zone, as well as an alternate dimension.

"At this exact moment in this story," Cortex said, "You've been in a coma for a mere 3 days, 5 minutes and 27 and a half seconds; Give or take."

Magnifico put the palms of his hands on the glass tube he was in. He stared at Cortex, a look of anger forming on his face.

"Why have you put me in here?" he snapped. "Haven't I suffered enough from all the hell I've been through lately?!"

"Well, if we wanted you to suffer," said Cortex, "I would've left you out there to die, and/or pushed you into the acid surrounding my castle so you'd die a painful agonizing death, being fried by the acid."

Magnifico almost felt like facepalming. If he hadn't just gave in and collapsed, he would've forced Cortex's minions to leave him to bleed to death, or push him into an acid lake. Then, Magnifico would've died knowing he'd die a free man, not a prisoner in a mirror in a damp, cold, smelly dungeon.

"Well, we could've done that." Cortex stated, "But we didn't. We may be bad guys, but we're not bad guys, per se."

That doesn't even make sense. Magnifico mused.

"We noticed you crashland outside the lab." N. Tropy said. 'You seemed to take some serious injuries in the landing."

Magnifico glanced at the scars on his chest. His once handsome chest, now looking scarred.

"OK," Magnifico said, trying to recollect his thoughts. "So, where am I?"

"If you have to guess," said Cortex, "You're in N. Gin's Lab in a stasis tube. We put you in there whilst your injuries healed."

Magnifico looked at himself, then out at the people and creatures in his tube.

"So, which one of you is N. Gin?" he asked.

"ME!" N. Gin shouted.

"Aaargh!" Magnifico yelled, reeling back. He noticed the missile. "Ooh." he said. "I've never actually met someone with half a contraption in their own head before.

"Enough talk." shouted a voice. It came from what Magnifico saw was a floating wooden mask, it's designs looking like it came from a tropical island. It had an evil aura that Magnifico could sense. 'He's got an item with forbidden magic too?'

"What are you doing here?" the wooden mask shouted. "We want answers!"

Magnifico took some deep breaths to calm down again. Then, he said, "Ok, I'll tell you everything, Mr... ummm..."

"Oh, his name is Uka Uka." Cortex said to him. "He's an ancient mask."

"Right." Magnifico said, still quite unclear about things.

"What's your name?" Cortex asked the man in the tube.

"My name?" Magnifico asked.

"Yes." Cortex said. "That's what I want to know."

"I also want to know where you came from." he added.

Magnifico froze. he felt like his heart skipped a beat. He didn't know how to answer. He couldn't bear himself to tell Cortex about his origins, and where he came from. He knew this could put his former kingdom at risk, even more than usual, but if he denied anything about his origins, and if Cortex and/or his cronies already knew this fact, they would know Magnifico was lying to them.

Eventually, knowing he had no other choice in the matter, he let out a sigh of defeat.

"My name's... Magnifico." he said, finding his voice at last.

"Magnifico?" N. Brio asked his fellow henchmen. "Do you know this guy?"

"Don't think so." N. Gin said. "Is that a Spanish name?"

Magnifico sighed in resignation, slumping against his tube.

"OK." he said, calmly, "I know you're not gonna believe this, but I came from a different universe to yours."

"A different universe?" Cortex asked.

"Yes." Magnifico said. "It's a kingdom where wishes come true. I know that, cause... I built it myself."

"You did?" N. Brio asked.

"Yes, yes i did." said Magnifico. "I was once the ruler of this kingdom... until one day, an ungrateful jerk named Asha sparked a war against me! ALL Because she made a wish on a star, and brought that star into MY kingdom!"

His temper was starting to flare, as his heart began to pound rapidly.

"It's almost laughable!" he chuckled mirthlessly. "I granted everyone's wishes for them! I was the ruler of my world! I gave those people a home! I used to be so adored! I DECIDED WHAT EVERYONE DESERVED!" He yelled. "And do you know how they repaid me?" he asked Cortex and the villains.

Cortex and the villains stared blankly, almost expecting him to answer.

Which he did.

"THEY REVOLTED AGAINST ME!" he roared, the irises of his eyes glowing bright green, as he pounded on the tube with his fist. "THEY STOOD UP TO ME! AND THAT UNGRATEFUL JERK ASHA, SHE GOT EVERYONE, EVEN MY OWN WIFE, TO REBEL AGAINST ME, AND GOT ME TRAPPED IN A MAGIC MIRROR!"

Cortex and the villains recoiled at his outburst. Ripper Roo seemed to duck behind Koala Kong at that outburst.

Magnifico screamed and kicked the tube with his foot, wincing as he felt his toes hurting. Trying to be brave like a kid after falling down, he fought back the sting of tears in his eyes, which now flickered back to blue. He rubbed his toes, which were throbbing.

Cortex and the villains watched as Magnifico slowly began to calm down. He could feel his breaths turning into ragged gasps, and he let out a sob.

Uka Uka stared at Magnifico in awe. 'I can't believe he has dark magic, too." he said.

"I see." Cortex said. "Well," he said to Magnifico, "Thanks for the information." He turned to the others. "Come, let's leave our patient to his rest. We've got some research to do."

With that, Cortex and the villains left the lab, leaving Magnifico alone with his thoughts.