A diamond hidden within the gray line

Chapter 99: Mike's realizations and bowser's speech before the encounter.

-Mike pov/ten minutes earlier-

It's not even twelve o'clock in the afternoon and already i wish so badly i could fall asleep...in fact, I know that max is tired too...and yet..despite the fact that that he and kooky were in a shouting match, i couldn't help but notice the reactions of not just king boo...but of baron von ghoul too. "Ok..so..what the hell is this 'carnevil'? I know it's some sort of arcade game, but.." Morton wondered. "It-it's not as scary as what max saw...right?" Lemmy stammers. "Trust me when i say that experiencing it coming to life in a horrifying way is not something you wanna be part of..." I answer while shuddering.

Iggy chuckles nervously when i said that. Or...was he chuckling out of morbid curiosity? Ugh..with him, i hope it's not the latter, because that was something he should be thankful he wasn't part of.

I wasn't, however, aware that king boo had walked up to me giving me quite the stare while in that human like form of his. Um..ok..he doesn't just..float in this form? "Is there..something you wanna say? Don't be shy now.~" King boo asked me creepily. Shit, was i staring at him? Or..did he read my mind somehow? Dammit...i guess it can't be helped now...

-Iggy pov-

OoOoOo...an arcade game that came to life?~ I would love to see that! Just..maybe not in the way max experienced it. Or maybe i do? In fact, he never did explain what that was like...

-Narration-

"I saw how you reacted when max said daimao's name." Mike answered, not wasting a second which caught king boo off guard. "Hmph..is that all?" King boo scoffed. "The fact that you attempted to stop max from saving everyone as you put it...that's what you did...wasn't it? And daimao played a role in it somehow, right?" Mike asked calmly in a way that baron took notice of.

"...You talk too much...you know that?" King boo growled before looking to baron. "You never mentioned him at ALL..."

-King boo pov-

How..how did that little yellow mouse come to that conclusion?! "No. I had not anticipated him coming to that conclusion in the slightest." Baron answered. I could see it in his eyes...he wasn't one to simply lie to me...still, unless mike was there a year before koopa kingdom civil war, he has not a clue as to what he's talking about!

-Narration-

"And you, baron. I saw how you turned away from max. In fact..i can see it your eyes now..." As mike was talking, everyone except for king boo, baron and tyson looked on as if mike was crazy. "Pico was close to you...does that..does that mean he was your.." Mike started to say as looked into baron's gray eyes. His gaze held no ill intent, yet it did hold pain and regret.

"You are much like your father...always coming to conclusions after noticing the details of others based on their past or how they react and use that to try and heal others in any way he could." Baron answered. "Wait..you knew him?" Mike asked. "He and i have crossed paths..." Answers baron, and Mike would have asked for him to elaborate, but a question came to mind. One that he wondered if it had any possible connection.

"Did..did pico had the ability to use aura?" Mike asked, which made baron's expression almost light up in a way that confirmed it, but before an answer was given and before anyone could truly process, max came running down the stairs in a panic with bowser following close behind.

"Max, are you..-" Mike began to ask before max immediately interrupted. "WHERE'S ROY?!" Max demanded which caught everyone, even baron off guard. "Woah, woah! Just relax, he's outside..." Mike answered trying to calm max down which did him no good. "DON'T YOU SMELL THAT?! CANDYMAKER'S OUT THERE!!!" Max yelled in a panic. At this point a combination of fatigue, fear and anxious trepidation had begun to show not just physically, but mentally as well which is the result of months of him taking on the magishadow alone while dealing with candymaker at random times, while also dealing with the letter nate wrote and tried to hide it and finally the encounter with zöhm.

It's a miracle that max hadn't become batshit crazy.

Max began to try to bolt outside, but bowser stopped him with firm yet gentle grip on max's shoulder while everyone present became on edge the moment they smelled the air even though king boo looked confused.

-Kimg boo pov-

Um..'Smell the air'? I'm dead, how can i possibly smell the air?! Just what is this candymaker, and why does this guy cause max to freak out? I cannot help but wonder...

-Larry pov-

Not them again...no..NO..I'm not gonna let this thing scare me anymore! I gotta..i...fuck, i don't know what i'm gonna do!

-Narration-

"Oh no you don't..." Bowser says to max, looking down at max, who looked at him confused. "Look at yourself...you think you're gonna go out there and be all heroic? Fat chance of that happening! You just admitted that you can't do this alone, and yet here you are about to do the same thing..." Bowser wasn't exactly thrilled with max, but he couldn't be angry with him even though he had every right to be. "You have me. You have all of us...i don't know what happened that made you think you had to do it alone long before this reincarnation thing happened, but it doesn't matter now! What matters now, is that we ALL confront candymaker. As your father, i can't stand seeing you like this...and as your king...i DEMAND that we all go out there and put an end to this punk! Got it?!" Bowser's voice at the end was enough to make the koopalings flinch except for roy who is still outside, enough to make mike feel uneasy as well as tyson while king boo simply grinned in amusement even though he still had no idea who or what max was even talking about.

As for max...while he didn't flinch, this was enough to slap him back into reality and his body relaxed a bit. "Got it...that, and i can tell that larry wants to go out there too!" Max says before looking at larry. "H-hey! I just d-don't want that monster freaking me out again!" Larry quickly says before morton playfully nudges him. "Well well! Didn't know you decided to get brave on us!" Morton says with a grin.

-Bowser pov-

I may be a father, but that doesn't mean i'm not the koopa king! Normally, anyone would flinch and even cower before me, but max is on a league of his own! I'm just glad that he's on our side...

-King boo pov-

Well, well...bowser putting his foot down is quite a sight! It's adorable that he think he can order me around though...i'm only going out there to see what this 'candymaker' is out of...curiosity.

-Max pov-

Eh..the fact that i was about to go out there and go at it along again is uh...a sobering slap to the face. I feel like i just made a major change that should've been done a looooonnng time ago.

-Narration-

Max took a brief moment to look around him. He was surrounded by friends and family and it felt rather comforting to him. "Alrighty..let's get 'em." Max says to everyone, and he slowly walks outside with everyone following him one by one Could they all stand a chance against candtmaker? That's a question that can only be answered by whatever happens next!