-Narration-
"Somethin' wrong? Is this little punk bothering you?" Roy asked who heard max, making the reporter become too scared to move. "Not at all. You remember the reporter who i had that staredown with? Here he is." Max says to roy. "Um..i'm not looking for trouble here..." the reporter says nervously. "You? Looking for trouble? Please, you're a little punk who is too curious for his own good." Roy says with a sneer. "Hey! What's going on over there?" They hear bowser say, who noticed what was going on. "Oh, just me encountering the guy who i had that brief staredown with. I'm planning on letting him interview me." Max answers, catching both roy, bowser and the reporter off guard, as well as everyone else.
"Hold on, why the hell would you let him do that?!" Roy asked. "Well, i figured i would have to sooner or later. Better to get it over with now than later." Max answers as bowser walks up and looks down at the reporter, who is starting to become frightened. "Well, well..what a curious surprise. Normally, i wouldn't allow it, but i'll make an exception." Bowser says while crossing his arms. "What about these other bozos?" Roy asked. "No one else but him." Bowser answers, making the reporter feel as if he's just been given a lucky break while the others quietly backed away. They knew better than to say anything.
"Don't get used to this...got it?" Roy says, who practically got close to the reporter's face. "G-got it." He says, before following them in the warehouse. Once they all went inside, max expected to see multitude of items in boxes and even the possibility of treasure! But he instead sees a nine tarps covering something up in the middle of the room.
-Max pov-
Before i realized that it was only the reporter, i had this moment of panic. In that moment, it brought me back to that guy i saw in that place...whoever that hooded guy is, made me feel...uneasy, and...horrified even though there's nothing here that can scare me. Even now, it made me wonder...who, or what, was that guy who i have never seen before? As for this reporter guy? He's lucky i'm even letting him do this, especially since it quickly brought me in a good mood. And the fact that roy got confrontational with this guy? Heh..looks to me that he's showing his protective side. As for the warehouse...i half expected to see a treasure trove, but..this wasn't what i was expecting. Hmm..maybe dad's castle has that?
-Roy pov-
Just like that, huh? Max let this idiot interview him? I guess he's right when he says that they won't stop asking questions. But i'll be keeping my eye on this guy...
-Bowser pov-
I'm surprised that max would even let this happen. They've been hounding me for questions ever since i defeated the dark star and returned to live in koopa kingdom and i have given them nothing. This'll be interesting to see just what this puny little reporter wants to ask max.
-Narration-
"So..um..where can we get this started?" The reporter asked, who is an inch shorter than roy. "On my airship. The clown cars just need to dusted off, and we'll be heading up to it." Bowser replies. "Uh..the what..?" Max looked so confused, which roy chuckles at. "You'll see." Roy says to him before ludwig walks up. "Interesting...i look forward to seeing just what you gotta ask." Ludwig says while giving jasper a brief icy stare while they walk inside the warehouse. "So..got a name?" Max asked the reporter. "Jasper." He replied. "Jasper, huh?" Mike says while walking up to them. "Today's definitely you're lucky day." He says to jasper, but he silently wondered where he heard that name before.
-Mike pov-
That name...where have i heard that name? It sounds so familiar to me. Is it possible that my dad met him? Or...hm..i suppose i'll find out soon enough.
-Jasper pov-
Aside from the fact i stood before the koopa king himself, this is definitely a big break for me. No doubt all the others will likely be jealous about this, but...there's something about max..and his pikachu friend. Being a reporter, it's my job to ask questions, even if it means getting in harm's way. However...the reason why i got this job is because i want to one day find out more information about a certain family...and..it's far more personal to me than the koopalings, and even bowser could imagine. And this pikachu...I feel like i've seen him before...but where?
-Ludwig pov-
Interesting...none of us bother to learn the names of a lowly reporter before. I'm sure max has his reasons. I wonder...is his ability to sense aura picking up on something that we aren't aware of?
-Narration-
While all of this is going on, marx follows closely behind who hasn't been seen for awhile. "Hmm...maybe i can find what i'm looking for at this castle?" Marx mutters, obviously showing signs of frustration. He has been to every part of the koopa kingdom, but he's not been able to find anything. Meanwhile, everyone has got inside of the warehouse, and max sees a couple of containers. "What's in these things..?" Max asked. "Oh, they contain our clown copters. Just hope they haven't rusted." Morton answers. "But..we haven't built one for max though.." lemmy says, sounding disappointed.
"Shit, he's right! What're we gonna do?!" Larry chimes in, about to freak out. "I believe i can help with that." A voice says, revealing themselves to be kamek. "Ah, kamek. Everything prepared at my castle?" Bowser says to him. "Yes, my king. In fact, tyson is awaiting us at the castle." He answers. "Ah, tyson...haven't seen him in awhile." Max comments. "Yes, well..that lucario became a big help for what i plan on giving you. Still...his calm demeanor certainly gives me the chills..." kamek says, showing that even he is unnerved by it.
-Jasper pov-
There's a lucario with them?! It seems like the royal family has friends in high and low places. Although..i can't help but think that they just met the guy.
-Narration-
"AH HAHA! It's still operational!" Says an excited iggy who went to a tarp that was hiding something, which had began to hover. "What the..." Max starts to say, before iggy pulls the tarp off, revealing iggy's clown copter as iggy climbed inside of it, and laughing like a crazy person while throwing his hands in the air. "HAHA!! I MISSED THIS THING!!" He yells.
-Max pov-
So..that's a clown copter...i didn't know they had to have smiling faces on them, but i'm willing to assume that there's a reason for that. And geez..i ain't never seen iggy that excited before.
-Mike pov-
I've seen these things before, but never up close. And yet, i can't help but wonder...were these ultimately lemmy's idea? Not that i'm being judgmental, i'm just curious.
-Jasper pov-
Did these guys get their copters from a air based circus..? Oh, boy...am i glad i'm not saying this verbally. I have heard that they can also fire projectiles and even use..boxing gloves. As weird as I think that is, it must be useful!
-Narration-
"Ok, Ok, calm down iggy!" Bowser says with a sigh. One could swear that they could see a anime sweat drop on the side of his head. "ALRIGHT! LET'S GET OUR COPTERS!" Morton yells, which is loud enough to echo throughout the warehouse while the rest of the koopalings, junior, and bowser got in their copters as they all hover, with bowser's being the biggest. "So...what about the four of us?" Max asked. "Four..?" Jasper asked in confusion. "Let me guess...it's marx?" Mike asked. "That's my name! Don't wear it out!" Marx suddenly says, suddenly appearing right beside Jasper, who yelps in surprise. "Bwa ha ha! Jumpy, aren't we?" Bowser says to jasper, amused at his reaction. "What are YOU doing here?" Wendy asked marx, clearly still peeved over what marx said in the recording.
"Oh! Well..i have been to every part of this kingdom, and seen all the scenery...but i can't seem to find what i'm looking for! I'm thinking...that maybe i should go with you?" Marx explains. "What the hell are you looking for?" Mike asked. "Oh, that's for me to know, but...oh..i sense...so much dread. Coming from you." Marx answers before looking at max.
-Jasper pov-
Ok, what the fuck...i knew that there was talk of a strange teddy bear being randomly seen all around the kingdom, and that it helped take down those guys with the dark hoods...but i wasn't expecting to see them in person!
-Narration-
"Dread? From me..?" Max asked, trying to brush it off while everyone else looked confused. "Oh, my dear friend...you don't seem to realize...the dread you are hiding will more than likely manifest into an encounter that'll open a door leading to something unlike anything any of you can imagine." Marx says to him. "You better not be threatening him." Roy says with a growl. "Far from it pink head. You see...i can tell when something big is about to happen, especially when a change of scenery is involved. BUT, let's not worry about that...we're on a journey to a castle!" Marx went from dead serious, to excited in a instant that befuddled jasper, and confused max.
"What's he taking about..?" Larry mutters, while bowser scoffs. "Whatever you say, tiny." He mutters, while junior looked very highly irritated with marx.
-Junior pov-
Who the hell does this guy think he is?! Showing up out of nowhere and wanting to come with us and expecting us to agree, and trying to scare max...i wish i could just smack him with my paintbrush, which i left on my clown coptor so that i wouldn't misplace it.
-Max pov-
Why..why did marx say that? Was he...in that nightmare with me? No, i would've known if that had been the case. Ugh, i hope to the stars that he's wrong!
-Mike pov-
Marx wasn't lying about sensing dread from max...i can sense it too even though he's trying to brush it off like it's nothing. And if what he's saying comes true, then we need to be ready.
-Narration-
After a few minutes of silence, they began to hear the sounds of whirling blades from outside. "Um, what's that noise?" Lemmy asked. "Ah, it finally arrived." Kamek replies, leaving everyone except bowser and kamek to wonder...what has arrived?