#made me go ‘ough ho. ha. nice’

[desultory-novice]

hi. uh. i have recently heard that marx, in the original japanese translation, is implied to have just. always had his powers??????????? this is. so so strange to me. bc of. yknow. similarities to Things In RTDLDX. as well as void termina having similar wings ???????? like ????? it makes so much more sense that he wished to rule popstar so nova granted him the powers so he'd have the capabilities to overthrow anybody who stands in his way (except kirby of course) AND NOVA WAS MADE BY THE ANCIENTS !!! SO!! THE SIMILARITIES IN His POWERS MAKE SENSE!!

is this. unfortunately true? :') and.. if so.. where does it say this and how.. and.. why.. ough ough ough ouhg...

(sorry if you're busy, this is just on-par with Magolor's bombshell of "actually im not from halcandra lmfao" and COMPLETELY shattered everything i thought i knew and i dont know how to find anything about this that better explains it!!)

So, I'm probably the biggest "Marx got his powers from Nova" stan in the fandom (?) and I am more than happy to talk about this! (While noting that, even though I believe in it now, and have "evidence" for it, I accept that things change in Kirby. Until it does, ala "I'm not really from Halcandra," I remain staunchly Nova-Wings)

Anyway, since you said the original Japanese, I went ahead and compiled EVERY line of dialogue relating to Marx in Kirby Super Star / Super Star Ultra! All re-translated by yours truly!

Let's see what it says!

--

[Instruction Manual]

"The sun and the moon got in a big fight, and now night and day in Dream Land are all jumbled together. Marx the Magician has told Kirby this can be resolved by linking up the planets in the vicinity of Pop Star and summoning the giant comet. What will Kirby do?"

[Opening Cutscene]

"Hey, hey, hey!" / "You want the sun and moon to make up, right?" /"Then you ought to make a wish on the comet, Nova, located in the furthest reaches of the galaxy!" / "But don't go thinking it'll be as easy as all that!" /"To summon Nova, you need to link up all the nearby planets to gather enough energy!" /"It'll be a long journey, but hey, do your best!" /"After all, everyone's counting on you. Good luck!"

[Cutscene 2]

"READY >" / "I WILL GRANT JUST ONE WISH OF YOURS... >"

"Then... I want Pop Star to be all mine!"

"OK > 3 2 1 GO! >"

"I did it! Just like I hoped!" / "The sun and moon fighting? You going on a journey into space?" / "All of it was my part of my perfect little plan!" / "Anyway, Pop Star's mine now!" / "Now I can play all the tricks I want! Sorry not sorry!" (1) / "Ho ho ho ho ho! O ho ho ho ho ho!"

[Starship - Pause Screen]

"The Starship was created with the power of the stars!! Fly, toward Nova's core. Put a stop to Marx's ambitions (2) then have a good meal and a nice nap."

[Starship - Pause Screen - SDX version]

"The light of the Milky Way (3) has gathered and when it cleared, the Star Ship was there. Destroy Marx's ambitions with this!"

[Marx - Pause Screen - SDX version]

"Marx has revealed his true intentions. In order to protect Pop Star, it's time to Fly! Kirby of the Stars!"

--

I think the issue here is that last part:

"Marx has revealed his true intentions."

Because the bolded text can also interpreted as "true self" and that (plus its usage in other games) has led people to think it is explicitly referring to Marx's exterior. Now, the reason I translated it as "intentions" above is because 正体 can refer to character as well!

Just as an example, when Magolor grabs the Master Crown and reveals his ambitions, you (assuming you were Meta Knight, as he's the only character who would talk like this...) might say to him 「正体を表したな! 」 ("So, you reveal yourself!") even though we know that Magolor's boss form isn't his true form, it's just a transformation.

I'm not here to lecture everyone that this word HAS to specifically be referring to Marx's intentions. The point I want to make is that it is debatable. And it is probably going to remain debatable until Marx makes another appearance and HAL Labs has reason to clarify whether its one way or the other.

(For those who believe Marx's winged form to be his true form, I'd love some theories on why he resembles the Master Crown, Dark Nebula, Void Termina, and other Ancient Artifacts! I really hope we start getting more Marx + Ancients theorizing down the line... Even as a Nova-Wings stan, I'm very interested in this line of thought!)

But, speaking of, I'm such a sap for the Nova-Wings theory I'm going to end this with one more piece of evidence he wasn't born with them...

When you "defeat" Marx, it is visibly only his wings that go haywire. This is another, not often discussed thing that Marx and Magolor have in common. Sure, the fight with Marx doesn't have the cinematic direction that RtDL does, where you can see when using the Ultra Sword that Kirby is striking at the Master Crown, not Magolor, but take that in mind and go backwards. You can assume it is the same with Marx as it was there, because Marx is not yet physically injured, from what we can see.

Ignore the quality. You can watch a non-"upscaled" version for yourself on Youtube and see that his wings start flashing red while lightning arcs across them while he has an expression of shock, not hurt, on his face.

Again, I beg you to remember how the non-cutscene part of the fight ends. Marx stops for just a second mid-air, looking like he's covered in electricity, before his wings cast off stars and start to malfunction, send him rocketing off the screen in the wrong direction. He leaves the surface of the moon (4) while his wings continue to carry him further and further away, out of control until he crashes into Nova.

You, Kirby, didn't technically "defeat" Marx. Like Magolor, who was modeled so closely on him, Marx was yet another victim of an Ancient Artifact going haywire.

And maybe more than we think?!

...But I'll talk about that in another essay I'm working on: "Theme Parks, Mischief, and Corrupted Wishes"

--

(1) Marx says "Please forgive me!" or maybe "Pweeeeaswe forgive me" if we're going by intent. Basically, he says he's sorry, but the tone he takes makes it particularly snide + cutesy.

I chose "tricks" not mischief because Marx is very particularly speaking about teasing pranks and jokes. I feel like mischief could be read to mean more and the fact that Marx has such simple ambitions leads into the topic of my follow-up essay.

(2) I mentioned this in another post, but the text uses さっさとhere which ostensibly means "quickly" but is used to diminish the task in question. Kirby is treating stopping Marx not as a thing that needs to be rushed  because everyone's in great danger but more like because its a nuisance and he needs to get his rest.

(3) They use "Milky Road" in Japanese, which is interesting because the space through Another Dimension is often called "Another Dimension Road." Using Milky Way implies Pop Star is in our universe, but that's what its localized as, so!

(4) Probably it's because of the hearts on his wings, but I've always wondered if Marx's defeat wasn't a subtle reference to Cars' defeat from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. (Is that a MF Jojo's reference?! XD )

[trashbunnysblog]

Moving on with my pride month art thingy...Meet Nikki and Tulip, two OCs tht will be a part of a BATIM+Cuphead au i made some time ago (sadly that will only be post it on DeviantArt for reasons i don’t want to get into)

Nikki lost their twin brother when they were 12 years old, he caught a deadly disease that had no cure whatsoever, moments before he died in the Nurse's office in the orphanage, he gave Nikki his colar that their parents putted on him before leaving, they were lter adoptive by the ex famous actor and self publishing author, Felix the cat. It was a big struggle for them, they felt alone, even with a new parental figure, until Felix toldd them they were going to a adventure with him. It was a simple camp, until Felix told them something about him that no one knew, "Kid, i know what it's like to loose someone close to you, i was born in a family of 5, my parents and my two big brothers, they were the most important people in my life....Until one day, both moved away to pursue their dreams, i felt helpless, without them i though i would be nothing...But i knew that they didn't think that of me and i shouldn't put myself down because of them...They would like to see me happy..so i kept living a day at a time..And i think your brother would like to see you happy as well Nikki". Years later they became a treasure hunter that goes around the Ink Ille looking for many different artifacts for the museon in Ille 2, but they're mostly at the hospital recovering from any injuries they had during their adventures, where they met a beautiful doctor, Tulip. Tulip is the one that takes care of Nikki's injuries and she boths likes and hates it, it's nice to see that Nikki made it in one piece and were alive but not so nice if the injures were made by accidents, but she can't denied that seeing Nikki is always a pleasure. Nikki always felt like they were something more than just what they were born, like something was missing, they would look in the mirror and sometimes feel like they were wearing something tht wasn't right for them, but sometimes it felt right, it confuesed them for a while in their childhood, until Felix told them about old experiences he had, one of them was discovering his sexuality, he said that he never felt right to be refered as someone he felt he wasn't, looking more into it he found what he was more confortable for and came into the conclusion of who he was, he then asked Nikki what they felt was wrong and ho to fix it, "I like to wear some of my clothes..but nly when i feel is the right time and...sometimes i don't like to be referred as...as a girl...I feel like i'm not just that" "well, ho would you like to be referred to?" "....As a boy and....as neither too" "that's fantastic kid, now how abbout we go shopping my buddy? Get yourself some clothes?" "i would love to.....and.." "and?" "......i..could refer to me as a boy? just for a while?" "...Kid, i'll refer to you as anything you want to be referred as and at any time you want, this is your body, and it's your choice" "...thank you dad". As for Tulip, she always felt right that she was a girl and period, nothing else could make her change her mind...Except when she had her own doubts, was she really who she said she was? And the answer is obviously yes, she had a similar talk that Nikki had with her parents, they told her that she was who she felt like it and no one other than her could or would change that. Years later she got the surgery necessary and felt as if she had found a piece of her that was missing, she found her treasure, she found herself. Things got ough during medicl school, mostly because she was a hopeless romantic but she never felt loved by those she has been with, she felt used and one night ent into a bar to get those thoughts out of her head. Then she felt as if someone was looking at her, she turned and saw a tall Labrador looking at her, "hey there, what's your name?" "...Tulip" "Name's Nikki, but you can call me Nik" "nice to meet youNik, what brings you here" "a buddy of mine dragged me here and i saw you were alone, did something happened?" "....Have you ever felt liek you were used?" "....Not in th way you might be referring to" "...I dated some guys during some weeks for th frst 3 months...And all of them left me because i wasn't enough for them or they though they should see other people" "Sheesh, that sucks" "....I think it's because they see me as something else and not as a person" "...Well, then they need to get their eyes checked, you seem like a great peron to have around" "...really?" "yeah! I ordered 2 shots for me and my buddy but he left, would you like to fill in his place?" "...I don't see why not", and thats how Nikki and Tulips first met, they had been good freinds for years and would always tell each other how they felt, even sharing secrets that they never told anyone, in one of those times they found out that they were both Asexuals, and it has been this way for as long as they remember, Nikki isn't sure when they fell for Tulip, but it doesn't matter how or when, what it matters is tht Tulip was the one for them, and they couldn't be happier, or maybe they could if they told her how they felt.

[bearthdaypxrty]

☞ MEET THE MUSE.

RULES: Don’t reblog, repost.

☞  TAGGED BY: stolen borrowed from @cosmosfated (again :3c)

☞  TAGGING: a nice mug of coffee

► NAME ➭ “It’s go-ood old Funtime Freddy!”

► ARE YOU SINGLE? ➭ “Well uh, I don’t wa-anna jump to conclusions, but me and Sayori are ge-etting along.”

► ARE YOU HAPPY? ➭ “Ri-ight now? I guess ye-eah I am.”

► ARE YOU ANGRY?  ➭ “Nah! I go-ot BonBon with me!”

► ARE YOUR PARENTS STILL MARRIED? ➭ “As far as I’m co-oncerned, my creator hasn’t gotte-en married yet. Not that I’d care.”

☞ NINE FACTS!

► ‘BIRTH’ PLACE ➭ “My creator’s time-eline. ... not the pla-ace you should go to for a vacation.”

► HAIR COLOR ➭ “Aw gee, no ha-air for me! I guess white and pu-urple suit counts. Oh, and blu-ue for BonBon of course!”

>►EYE COLOR➭ “Blue fo-or me! Magenta for BonBo-on!”

► BIRTHDAY ➭ “December 9th.”

► MOOD ➭ “I co-ould really go for a game of Ca-ards Against Humanity right no-ow!”

► GENDER ➭ “Male. Both of u-us.”

► SUMMER OR WINTER ➭ “Neither of the-em to their extremes, but if I ha-ad to choose I’d pick Wi-inter!”

► MORNING OR AFTERNOON ➭ “I’m not a pi-icky bear! Hahaha!”

☞ EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE!

► ARE YOU IN LOVE? ➭ “Um well, eheh.. ma-aybe I am.” (BonBon: “He totally is.”)

► DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT? ➭ “As nice as it so-ounds, nope! You can get infatuation and pa-assion at first sight, and ne-either of them are the same thing as love. Love takes ti-ime to be born!”

► WHO ENDED YOUR LAST RELATIONSHIP? ➭ “There hasn’t been su-uch occasion yet, and I hope it ne-ever comes!”

► HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN SOMEONE’S HEART? ➭ “Well, ho-opefully not. I’d never mea-an it! If I ever meant it, then it’d be extre-emely literal, hahahah!!”

► ARE YOU AFRAID OF COMMITMENTS? ➭ “Um. Ju-ust a little bit. Nothing too bi-ig! Sometimes I just get a li-ittle anxious about whether I can keep up to a commi-itment I made or not, you kno-ow?”

► HAVE YOU HUGGED SOMEONE WITHIN THE LAST WEEK? ➭ “Scoopin’ yes! All the-e bear hugs!!”

► HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SECRET ADMIRER? ➭ “How am I su-upposed to know if I have a secre-et admirer? They’re secret!”

► HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN YOUR OWN HEART? ➭ “I ma-ay have gotten ahead of myself and ende-ed up disappointing myself sometimes bu-ut, nothing too big or dra-astic.”

☞ SIX CHOICES!

► LOVE OR LUST ➭ “Love! Who nee-eds lust when you go-ot cuddles! Hahaha!”

► LEMONADE OR ICED TEA ➭ “Kinda po-ointless to ask me that, since I do-on’t eat or drink anything.”

► CATS OR DOGS ➭ “I’m not pi-icky on them, but dogs are fun!”

► A FEW BEST FRIENDS OR MANY REGULAR FRIENDS ➭ “A few be-est friends! Quality ove-er quantity!”

► WILD NIGHT OUT OR ROMANTIC NIGHT IN➭ “Both sound co-ool! But I’d choose wi-ild night out. I’m a wild be-ear! Hahaha!!”

>► DAY OR NIGHT ➭ “Night.”

☞ FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS!

► BEEN CAUGHT SNEAKING OUT ➭ “I think I only snu-uck out once? Didn’t get caught tho-ough!”

► FALLEN DOWN/UP THE STAIRS ➭ “Nope. The sta-airs fell down/up me, hahaha! ... okay seriously though ho-ow does one fall UP?”

► WANTED SOMETHING/SOMEONE SO BADLY IT HURT? ➭ “I gue-ess everybody gets that at some po-oint.”

► WANTED TO DISAPPEAR ➭ “Nope! Disa-appearing is more Goldie’s thing-- just li-ike Batman!”

☞  FIVE PREFERENCES!

► SMILE OR EYES ➭ “Why choose? The-ey’re both valid!”

► FAT OR SKINNY ➭ “Wha-at? Do people really choose ove-er such shallow things??”

► SHORTER OR TALLER ➭ “Again, wha-at’s the point of choosi-ing over such sha-allow things?”

► INTELLIGENCE OR ATTRACTION ➭ “Intelligence, but do-on’t put it as if they we-ere mutually exclusive.”

► HOOK-UP OR RELATIONSHIP ➭ “Relationship!”

☞ FAMILY!

► DO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY GET ALONG ➭ “Of cou-urse! The-ere may have a conflict o-once in a while, but wha-at family has no conflict eve-er?”

► WOULD YOU SAY YOU HAVE A “MESSED UP LIFE” ➭ “Tha-at’s subjective.”

► HAVE YOU EVER RAN AWAY FROM HOME ➭ “Why wou-uld I do that? I’m ha-appy here!”

► HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN KICKED OUT ➭ “Nope!”

☞ FRIENDS!

► DO YOU SECRETLY HATE ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS ➭ “No? I wo-ouldn’t be friends with someone I ha-ate.”

► DO YOU CONSIDER ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS GOOD FRIENDS ➭ “Of co-ourse!!”

► WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND ➭ “There’s obvi-iously Birthday Girl and her family, as well as my bro-other Goldie, but counting them out I’d sa-ay Sayori and Draggy!”

► WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU ➭ “I don’t think anyo-one does? Goldie might be closest to tha-at.”

[lillaxtrigger]

The Ghostly Maid: Crestfallen Coecer

Trevor and Pike were walking down the street one lovely day, each with a ice cream cone in hand. When suddenly, Greg and his goons surrounded them. "Hey Pike." Greg said. "Hey Greg." said Pike with little to know enthusiasm. The bully saw Trevor and said: "So, this your rich boyfriend I keep hearing about?". "Hey uh, Greg is it? Listen, I was nice to see you again. But we have better places to be, so if you don't mind." Trevor said as he started to walk away. But some of his croanies blocked his exit. "Oh ho. So you think you're better then me just you're rich, right? Well guess what? Riches can come and go.". Greg knocks his ice cream out of his hand. "Just like that.". The bully laughs at him. Trevor looks around, seeing that Greg's goons are laughing with him. Pike simply waiting on the sidelines. "You know what. I think I am better than you." Trevor says outload. Greg suddenly stops laughing, while the rest of his crew looks at one another. Pike, being in shock shakes his head back and forth,try to warn his friend. "What was that?". "You heard me. I'm better than you. And you want to know why?". "Greg walked up to Trevor and got in his face, saying: "Why?". "Because I don't need to threathen people to make any friends. I've figured it out. Everyone around us, they're not really you're friends. You just threathen to hurt them unless they hang out with you.". Greg swings at him, but his fist goes straight through him. He reals back his arm, wondering what happened, looking at Trevor as the boy gave a smug grin. Greg tried to punch said grin, but again, his attack just passed thr ough with no satisfying impact. The bully tried one last time and attempted to grab his target, but once more, he felt nothing but swooshing air. Greg then tried touching him slowly, to watch in horror as his hand passed through Trevor's body with little to no resistance, coming out completly clean. He turned to Pike, and tried to slap him, but that same thing happened. His hand passed through his face. The bullies goons began to freak out. Greg slowly began to laugh, then said: "I see what's going on here. These are some kind of fancy holograms, like they used with Micheal Jackson, aren't they. You almost had me fooled. But this just only proves how scared you are." "Hey Greg." Trevor said As soon as the bully turned around, Trevor smacked him across the face. "Did that feel like a hologram to you?". The bully became enraged. Lashing out fruitlessly at Trevor. Each swing passing through like he was punching the air. When an opening came, Trevor punched him in the gut, causing Greg to stagger back. After regaining his balance, Greg charged at Trevor. The boy simply phased through the large boy and kicked him in the back after he past, cauing Greg to fall forward and onto the ground. He tries once more to tackle Trevor, but as soon as he passed through, Trevor grabbed Greg by the shirt collar, jumped 20 feet in the air, and threw him on the ground. As the weakend bully gets up from the pavement, he sees his adversary land on the ground and slowly approach him. Greg immedialty backs up, pleading: "No, please. Stay back you freak!", then soon runs away. Following their leaders departure, the goons around them run as soon as Trevor turns in their direction. Trevor looks at Pike, who begins to laugh, prompting Trevor to laugh as well. Jewely appeared from behind Trevors back and asked: "Well, jeune maître? How was my performance?". "That was perfect Jewely. The way his face turned to one of dumbfounded shock as you turned me intangable the moments he tried to hit me was amazing.". "Thank you, Trevor. I always get a cathartic sense of satisfaction whenever dealing with people like that.". "I've never seen Greg so shaken up before. This plan worked better then I thought.". "Yep, by the time you go to school tomarrow. Greg shouldn't be a problem anymore." Trevor declared. And so the week went by in the blink of an eye. Trevor and Pike were taking a nature walk together out in the forest outside of town. "So you haven't seen him in a week?" Trevor said. "No. I haven't even seen him once since you humiliated him. I asked his former cronies about him, they said that after the fight, they broke off from him. Saying that there wasen't any reason to hang out with him anymore.". "You don't think he's planning to do something drastic?". "You know what. I don't care. For the first time in years, I don't have to worry weather or not I'll survive another day of school. I don't have to fake getting sick, or actually try to get sick to skip days of school. I can finally walk through the hallways without a single hint of fear in the back of my head. For once, a can eat every part of my lunch without it getting knocked out of my hand, getting stolen by somebody, or having it end up somewhere other then my mouth. I tell ya Trevor, after so long of being under Gregs heel, the relief feels so good.". Trevor looked ahead and spotted someone at teetering on the edge of a cliff. The person falls off, Trevor rushes to catch the falling person, but the figure prove to be bigger then he expected, and instead of catching the figure, he simply lands on poor Trevor with a thud. "Hey, are you okay? I-I..." Pike said. He stopped short when he saw that the person who fell was in fact his former bully. When Treover got out from under Greg, he poked him in his face several times before proclaiming: "I think he might be dead.". The bully moaned in despair in his sleep. "No wait. He's just unconscious.". "What was doing up there?" Pike wondered. As Treovr started at the top of the cliff, he wondered: "You don't think he was trying to kill himself, do you?". "I don't know.". "This is bad, like really bad. We can't let him just kill himself like this.". "Well...why not?" Pike asked. Trevor became for a split moment and said: "W-What?". "Why not let him do it?". "Pike, d-do you realize what your saying?". "Yes. I am. I am perfectly aware of what I am saying. And for you ask. No, I will not take a second to think about it. I think this jerk should march right back up that cliff and jump face first into the cold, hard, ground!". "Jeez, Pike. Relax. I've never seen you like this before. Ya know, I have to deal with bullies at my school. And sure, I'd like to give them a swift kick in the nuts most of the time. But I would never want them to die.". "Shut up!" Pike exclaimed, causing Trevor to slightly real back. "The worst you have to deal with is heckling. Meanwhile, this jerk has been physically hurting everyone since grade school. During that time, I've seen him put two kids in the hospital, sent many more home crying. Giving dozen of other's kids, including me, mentel scares, and has hurt more of my peer many time then I can count. And before you go on and say "Why didn't you get an adult to help?", I've already tried that dozen of times. And they all spout the same crap, every single time. "Oh just ignore him and he'll go away.". Guess what? That didn't work. If anything, it made it worse. They just say that because they can't do anything about it because they can't physically step in, else they'll get in trouble themselves. But you know what, people like them say that because they forgotten how much damage that bullies like him can do to people like me. You know my fear of height's. He was the one to give me it. In middle school, he dangled me on the roof of the school and acted like he was throw me off. If there wern't law's preventing me from doing so, I would've taken a jagged rock and beaten this guy's skull in years ago!" Pike ranted as he was violently stomping on Greg's body. When he was done, he was left catching his breathe. Trevor was laying on the floor, left shook over his friend's speech. "Wow, Pike. This, uh...This has building up for a while, hasen't it." he said. "It has.". Trevor rose up and said: "Pike, I see where you're coming from. You had to face the blunt of this guys terror for years. He doesn't deserve any kid of mercy and I'd probably let him jump off that cliff too. But I'm saying that we can't let him because we could get in deep trouble if we did.". As Trevor walked around Greg and to Pikes side, he explained: "If he end up commiting suicide, we could be tried for driving him to do it.". "What!?". "Driving sombody to commit suicide would be indirectly murdering them. We could spend some serious time in jail for it.". Pike said: "God..."as he groaned, then said: "Fine, we'll consult this sack of waste." then kicked Greg. So both of them quite literally dragged Greg to his home, which was looked like a run down shack. "This is where he lives? It's a hole." Trevor commented. They dragged him inside and across the living room, where his mom was watching TV on a chair, not caring that her son who these two boys were or why they were dragging his son across the floor. As they went in the former bully's bedroom, they saw that the only things that were inside were a small bed, a dresser, a closet, and a few broken toys. Both of them laid Greg down on the bed and Trevor asked: "So how do we wake him up?". Pike slapped Greg across the face several times until he awoke. As he got up and saw the two boys in his room, he said: "Oh, it's you two. What do you want?". "Why did you jump off the cliff?" Trevor asked. "Because after our fight, everyone left me. That's when I realized that you were right, I don't have any real friends. That how I came to realize how sad my life is.". "Well maybe you would have real friends if you didn't bully everyone all the time.". "Yeah, just be nice to people." Trevor said. "How do you do that?" Greg asked. "...Seriously?" Pike questioned. "What do mean how do you be nice? Just treat people how you like to be treated. Take say, you're mom for example. Try talking to Pike how your mom talks to you. "Alright...(Clears his throat) Hey! Bring mommy another beer! You little piece of crap!". Trevor and Pike grow silent as shock laid on their face's. "This might be harder than I thought.". They took Greg to the arcade, where they saw several ground of kids all around. "Okay, let try and practice being nice to your peers. Go over to a machine and offer one of them a chance to play a game." Trevor said as he handed Greg a couple quarters. The former bully walked up to one of the machines, where a couple of kids were playing on. They recognize him from school and start to back away. "Greg!? Um-Uh...Uh-We-We were just leaving.". "No wait!" Greg commanded. All of them suddenly stopped and turned, quaking in their shoes, wonder what the giant bully wanted with them. "Here?" He handed one of the kids the quarters. They wondered what he was trying to tell them. "W-why are you giving me this?". "Put one in the machine.". The kid put a quarter in the slot. "What next?". "What are you stupid? Play the game!" Greg shouted. As the kids scrambled away from him, Gregs became depressed. "Whelp, we tried. Come Trevor, let's go back to your place and play some games." Pike quickly said. "No. I'm not giving up so early. I know I can fix him.". "Trevor, you're wasting your time. A bully isn't just going to just change overnight. He's already burnt so many bridges in several years, I doubt anyone around here is gonna even give him the time of day, let alone a chance to redeem himself You can't just fix years of bullying just like that.". "Hmm, you might be right...Maybe we should go to the other side of town. We might have better luck there.". Pike groaned at Trevors idea. All of them went to the park, the sun shining on the wavy cut grass, reflecting on the pond in the distance. People all around were walking, picnicing, playing, walking their dogs, all the kind of stuff you can do at a park. Trevor took a big whiff of the fresh, open air and said: "Ah, the central park. You can't have a more friendly atmostsphere then this. Plus, were so far way from your school district that no one will recognize you here.". "I guess so." Greg said, sounding very down. Trevor looked around and saw a young girl, looking about their age, in the distance. "Hey Greg. Look.". Trevor pointed to the girl and said: "See that pretty girl over there? Do you want to go talk to her?". "Yeah...I do.". "Then go get her!". Greg started to run towards the girl, with Trevor saying: "And remember. Be nice. Compliment her." "Oh, this is going to be good." Pike commented. "You know you could show a little bit more support.". "Yeah, I could. But I'm not going to. Honestly, I'm only tagging along to watch him crash and burn.". Trevor looked back and saw that the young lady slapped Greg on the face and walked off. Greg approached him with the side of his face red. "What happened?" Trevor asked. "I did what you said and complimented her and she just slapped me". "Greg, what exactly did you say to her?" Pike asked. "Well, as I was walking over to her, I was thinking about what to say. Then I remembered what my mom tells the guys she brings home and say that she that her butt looked fine.". Pike laughed at load after he explained himself. Greg gave an intimidating glare at the boy, causing him to quickly quite down. "Maybe we started off on something that's too advanced. Let's try something easier.". Both of them looked around and saw a group of people playing football in a wide open field. "Football. Perfect. That's a great way to practice making friends. You like football don't you?". "Love it." "Good! Go over there and ask if you can play with them.". Greg ran up to the group of football players and after talking to them, began to play with them. Trevor sighed and said: "There he goes. He's on his way to making real friends.". "Yeah. Let's see how long it'll take him to lose them.". "Pike, can you at least have a little faith in him. He's played football before. I'm sure he knows what do.". Pike looks over and says: "You sure about that?". Trevor looked and saw that Greg was violently tackling the other players. As the bully stood above them, one the injured players said: "My leg! I think you broke it!". "You just got wrecked son!" Greg shouted at him, He whooped and hollered as he slammed the football onto the injured players face. Far away from the injured players, all of them sat on a bench. "Okay, maybe football was a little too competative. I think we should move on to something more calming and relaxing, like civil conversation.". "Well what do I say?". "First, you greet by saying "Hello" to them. Then you ask how their day was.". "And then?". Trevor shrugged and said: "I don't know, just take it from there, I guess. Now who should you speak to?". The boy looked around him, through the trees, he saw a very bland and average man sitting on a bench nearby, eating a sandwich. "He's perfect. There's no way you can mess up talking to someone like that. Now go.". Greg walked over and sat next to the man on the bench. "Somehow, he's gonna mess this up. I just know it." Pike commented. "How do he possably mess this up? I found the blandest, most mild mannered looking person in the whole park. There is no way he could.". "Trevor, believe me when I say that Greg is a very brash person. If has something on his mind, he's going to say it to your face. It has happened to me and others many times before.". "Oh come on. He can't be that bad.". Both of them heard incoerent screaming nearby, they turned and saw Greg and the man yelling at eachother. The bully then walked off in a huff. As he approached, Trevor asked: "What happened?". "Nothing happened, okay.". "That didn't look like nothing." Pike commented. "What did you two talk about?" Trevor questioned. "I wanted to give the empression that I was philiscophical and mature, so I just told him about my political view.". Trevor smacked his face in frustration. "I told you that this wouldn't work. It's all just been a waist of time.". "You know, Pike. You haven't been helping a single bit since you tagged along. If you're not gonna help, just go wait for me a the manor.". "Fine by me.". Pike walked off, leaving Trevor to supervise Greg on his own. "So, what now.". "And that's why Trevor is trying to teach Greg how to be nice.". Pike was at the mansion, talking to Jewely as she was making a cup of tea. "Well, I suppose to do some good, then. I just feel kind of bad. I didn't think we would drive him to do something so drastic. I feel so horrible about it.". "You did nothing wrong Jewely. None of us did. What we did is put a long time terrorisizing bully in his place and since that was all he had going for him, he's acting dramatic and thinking that it's the end of the world for him now.". As the ghost maid handed the tea to her guest, she said: "Well. I still think that it's quite noble what jeune maître Trevor is trying to do, regardless of past transgrestions that might have took place.". As Pike looked away and took a sip of his drink, Jewely approached and said: "Believe me Pike when I say that I have been in your shoes before. Back in the days when I worked for Rafortion, his wife would work me like a horse whenever he wasn't around. She would constantly make me do all kinds of asinine tasks, like when she made me pick up a strawberry pafait in the freezing rain from a shop across town. All without an umbrella.". "Well why didn't you speak up?". "I couldn't. Going against her would by extension be going against Rafortion as well.". Both of them heard the sound of a door violently closing. "That's it!" Trevor's voice echoed. The boy of the manor huffed down to the kitchen, where he met up with Pike. "What happened?" Pike asked as Jewely was pouring another cup of tea. "It's Greg! No matter how I try to teach him, he always fails at what I'm trying to teach him. No what I try to get him to do, he always falls back to his bullying ways.". Jewely handed the extra cup of Tea to Trevor, who after taking a drink, calmed down and said: "It's like he just doesn't get the concept of kindness.". "What are we gonna do?". "I don't know. And we can't leave him on his own for very long.". Trevor looked over at Jewely, then said: "But I think I might have an idea.". The moon had risen above the city, the moonlight was shining above Greg's shack. Both Trevor and Pike managed to sneak in by climbing through the bully's bedroom window. When they quitely approached the bully's bed, Trevor whispered: "Okay Pike, knock him out.". "Gotcha." Pike said, then hit Greg on the head as hard as he could, which did not wake Greg. "I mean't with the chloraform I gave you.". "Meh. Potato, potato.". Trevor sighed and said: "Okay Jewely, you can come in now.". The ghost maid fluttered into the room. She hovered over Greg's body and dipped both of her hands into his head. "You know how much I hate doing this, right jeune maître?" she said. "I know Jewely. I wouldn't ask you to do this unless it was nessecary.". "I'm sorry. I'm lost. What's going on?". "Jewely here has the peculiar ability of change someones memories, making them think that they've led completly different lives." Trevor explained. "So she rewiring Greg's head?". "Basically, Yes.". "That is scary.". "Yes. But it will help dear Greg down the road of his life. He'll think that he's had a standard life up until now and think that he's always been a nice guy.". "That's neat and all, but how do we he'll stay like this? Living in such a poor home and his reputaion already so cemented at school, I doubt he'll stay a nice guy for very long.". "Huh. You have a point there.". Trevor looked outside the bedroom and into the living room, where he saw Greg's mom on the couch with three beer bottles in on the end table next to her, the light of the TV exposing her to his gaze. "But I think I might have an idea.". Greg's mom slowly opened her eyes and gets up from her seat. She walks in the kitchen and pours two bowls of cereal. Greg walks in moments later, he rubs the sleep out of his eyes as he says in a gentle voice: "Morning mom.". "Morning sweetie.". Greg walks over to the counter and grabs a chair nearby. His mom sees his sad face as she hand him his cereal. "I know you've done alot of bad things in the past. But ever since we sprang to take you to that phsychatrist, you have improved wonderfully these past few weeks. I know everyone at school doesn't see that, but you really have gotten better.". Greg looks up from his bowl of cereal with a smile and says: "Thanks mom.". "And I'm going to work to improve where we live. This place is a hovel if you ask me.". At school, while Greg was walking through the halls, everyone was giving him looks of suspicion, anger, and ridicule. The former bully looked down on the ground to try and not see them. Until he bumped into some of his former victims. "Uh, hey guys. How are ya doing.". One of them, punched him in the guts, cauing him to topple over in pain. As Greg was doubling over in pain, a bunch of others started to kick him while he was down. After the bell rang everyone most of them dispursed. Pike watched all that had happened and saw his once tormentor struggling to get up. He took a deep breathe and sighed in frustration. The boy approached Greg as he was halfway up. He extended his hand out to him and said: "Come on. I'll take you to the nurses office.". "Pike? Why are you of all people helping me? I held you over the roof back in elementary school.". "Yeah. I do. Honestly, I don't even want to give you the time of day. But if I don't give you a chance, then who will?". Greg smiled and said: "Thanks Pike." as he took his once victims hand. Both of them walked through the empty halls, with Pike leading Greg through. "Ya know. I'm going over to my friends place. You wanna come" Pike said. "Sure thing."