Kirby Run Part one and Two

Part Two Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter 31: Poor Little Spider

Taranza woke up after being what felt like someone flicking him on the head. He immediately got up in response to the sensation and looked around. No one was there beside him, he was all alone.

Confusion filled Taranza's mind as he glanced around his surroundings, trying to figure out what was going on. He soon realized he was still holding something in his hand, and held it up. It was the flower that resembled a Pop Flower, the one Marx had shown him.

Marx...

Taranza let out a groan as he recalled the events that had led up to this and realized what had happened. That brash and inconsiderate trickster had fooled him into sniffing something that put him to sleep. For what purpose though? Was that naughty little grape of a jester trying to pull a sick joke on him?

It was hardly the time to do such a thing however, if Marx had been honest- which was a slim possibility- then Kirby and the others were looking for him too. Did Marx not want the others to find him?

That probably wasn't the case, Taranza assumed. If it was, then that mischief causing jester would have placed him somewhere else, since he woke up in the same place it was somewhat safe to assume that wasn't what happened.

Unless Marx was leading the others away from where he was..

Come to think of it, where was Marx? How long did he let him sleep before waking him up?

Wait, was Marx even the one who had woken him up?

The sensation that had woken up Taranza felt like someone flicking him on the head, but Marx doesn't have hands, so how could he have flicked him?

Taranza dropped the flowers he had been holding and felt his head, perhaps he had been wrong in assuming he had gotten flicked on the head and instead one of those aggressive hummingbirds pecked at him again, the fact that whatever had woken him up had immediately zoomed away added to that being a possibility.

However, the thing that had woken him up- even though he had felt it very briefly- had felt like a hand. A very crispy hand.

Taranza studied his surroundings some more, maybe Marx left behind a clue or something for him? Or at the very least a sign that he was coming back for the spider.

He looked at his flower piles, which were a little disheveled due to how he had tried to scoop up a majority of them into his pockets, otherwise nothing noticeable there. Then he looked at the rock next to the flower piles.

There was nothing on the rock.

With a sigh, Taranza turned away from the rock and tried calling out for Marx. He didn't believe it would be an effective alternative, but sometimes when the mischievous jester was pulling a trick and hiding, calling out his name would result in him mischievously giggling and from there he could be tracked down.

"Marx!!" Taranza called out, holding out four of his hands close to his mouth to call out while using the remaining two hands to inspect nearby bushes "Marx! What are you up to? That wasn't funny just now when you put me to sleep!"

No response, to the surprise of no one. Sighing, Taranza put his hands on his hips and contemplated on what to do next.

(Hmm, on the one hand,) Taranza thought as he held out his top left hand (It might be a good idea to sit here and wait, on the off chance that that naughty clown just went out to go get help, which would make sense since he'd have a hard time picking me up, and I am DEFINITELY glad he didn't try to carry me in his mouth.)

Taranza sighed and held up his top right hand. (But on the other hand, this is Marx I'm thinking about. He's probably doing what I assume he's doing and leading the others away from me... But why would he do that?)