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duckapus · 1 year ago

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(Finally doing this)

On a streetcorner somewhere in the kingdom of Magnamiel, a crowd forms around a lone figure; a tall, gangly, oddly stiff-limbed cat covered entirely in a red and black jester's outfit, face hidden behind a white Comedy mask painted with a green starburst around one eye slit, a blue teardrop just below the other, and adorned with a bright red clown nose. The only part of their body visible is their tail, long and brown with thick, rough-cut but well-groomed fur. On the ground beside them are two items; a traveler's pack and a wooden sign painted with the same colors as their suit, declaring them to be "The Amazing Pierrot."

And as far as the crowd is concerned, "Amazing" is right. Before their eyes Pierrot puts on a show expertly crafted to dazzle and delight, combining charmingly simple circus tricks like juggling with displays of flexibility and acrobatics that defy both her unusual stiffness and the tenuous grasp physics has on even the most agile of felines.

But most enticing of all is the magic. Simple juggling balls replaced by spheres of flame, an ice skating routine that writes their name on the cobblestone street in midsummer, a bouquet of red and black roses pulled from thin air and presented with a sweeping bow to a blushing young lady in the front row. All this and more without uttering a single lyric or humming the simplest tune. To most of the townsfolk these tricks are just that, the illusions of a stage magician.

But others in the crowd, those truly familiar with the art of spellcasting, it's remarkable for exactly the opposite reason; against all logic, there is no trick. Pierrot truly is performing the impossible feat of using magic without music. A few of these cats, wizened and prideful toms that they are, scoff in denial and derision and take their leave, refusing to see what's happening before their very eyes. Others look on in awe, already dreaming of the possibilities for new understanding that this revelation has laid before them.

And one particular cat, a mage of no small renown herself, waits for the show to end before making her way out of the town and back to Magnamiel's capital with a story for His Majesty.

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King Bolero, Sovreign ruler of Magmnamiel, seventh of his name, strokes his beard thoughtfully, "How fascinating. And you're certain they weren't using an enchanted item of some sort?"

Archimage Peony, Bolero's Royal Magician and most trusted Advisor (and perhaps more behind closed doors, if the rumors are to be believed) nods, "Not during the performance, at least. Their pack had some minor protective charms, but nothing that could have been used as a Focus or enhancer. They were really, truly casting musicless magic."

"Hm..." He ponders for a few moments, steely gaze burning into a vacant corner of the room, before turning back to Peony, "You know, I rather think I'd like to meet this Pierrot character. Yes, I'll have a messenger sent to find them with an invitation to the castle at their earliest convenience. At least, if you believe that would be wise."

"I do sir. Honestly I'm curious about them as well. Both their amazing ability and..."

"Hm?" Bolero rises from his throne and kneels to get somewhere approaching eye level with Peony, "What troubles you, my dear?"

"They seemed...quite young, to my eyes. Closer to adult than kit, but still in that awkward stage where you haven't quite grown into your own fur. But despite that they appeared to be entirely alone. And the spells they used...they cast them with great skill and control, surely, and they did make for the most spectacular displays, but...many of them seemed more suited for combat than carnivals. I worry for what those details together imply."

He gently cups her face in one of his massive paws, and lifts it from where her gaze had drifted to the floor so their eyes meet, "Well then, all the more reason for that messenger to make haste!"

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A few days later, Ar-(Pierrot, the show's still on so you're) Pierrot arrives at the castle gates alongside the messenger who'd been sent to fetch her. The guards, recognizing the messenger, let them through without a fuss, though a couple of them do eye the still-costumed performer with confusion and caution. Understandable, really, given the mask and all. As she's led through the halls to the throne room, she takes in the castle's luxurious interior with awe. (and, deep beneath her layered facades, sizes the place up for her future plans and possible escape routes if something goes wrong)

After a minute or so, they arrive at the large double doors that present the threshold between herself and the king. Her companion steps forward and addresses one of the two guards stationed there, "G'day gentlemen. I've brought a guest who's been granted audience with the king."

He hands the guard the letter he'd first been tasked with bringing to her, and the guard briefly looks it and her over before nodding, "It all seems to be in order. His Majesty's not got other business for a good while, so go in whenever you're ready."

"My thanks, sir." he then turns to her, "Now, don't be too nervous, miss. His Majesty can appear rather imposing when you first see him, but he's one of the kindest souls you'll ever meet."

She nods, content to take his word for now, then with the briefest hesitation adjusts her pack and steps forward, with a brief pause of surprise when the doors act on some sort of enchantment and open on their own.

In the throne across the room sits an absolute giant of a cat, with a thick light-grey beard, shaggy greyish-brown fur, and a joyful gleam in his eyes. Beside him stands a much, much smaller cat with a tortoiseshell coat and crooked tail, one she'd almost mistake for a kitten if she didn't know by now how cats displayed age in this world.

The messenger continues with her for a few steps before stopping to announce her, "Presenting the Amazing Pierrot, traveling performer, to His Majesty King Bolero the Seventh and the Honorable Archimage Peony!"

When she reaches the center of the room, Pierrot dips down in a low, sweeping bow, "I'm hona'd to 'ave been invited 'ere Yer Majesty, M'Lady."

The two seem briefly thrown, either by the fact she'd spoken at all or by her accent (well, she'd needed some way to mask her voice, given how often that fake and her friends came to this universe), but recover so quickly that no one besides her likely noticed, "And we are honored to meet you in person as well, miss Pierrot. Er, is it miss, or..."

"Yessir."

A bit of relief shows in his face. He wouldn't want to offend his guest with an assumption, after all, "Now, I'm sure you're wondering just why I've invited you here."

She nods, "A bit, yes. Ain't sure just what I might'a did ta catch a king's eye."

"Well, Lady Peony here happened to catch one of your shows the other day, and I was absolutely intrigued when she told me about it."

"You certainly live up to your descriptor, miss Pierrot. The performance I saw was truly amazing."

Even with the mask, she's quite visibly embarrassed by the praise, "That's awf'ly kind of you ta say, M'Lady."

"It's only the truth. As a mage myself, I was particularly interested in your magical displays. I've never seen anyone cast magic without music before."

"Ahh, that's just a li'l somethin' me mum and I worked out between ourselves. Me voice ain't much fer carryin' a tune, y'see, but mum were a performer 'erself, an' a right good caster besides, an' I wanted ta grow up t' be like her so we...found a way." She shrugs, "weren't too hard after some trial an' error, really. Magic's more about the rhythm than the sound from what we gathered, an' even if I can't sing I'm a great dancer."

"That's...brilliant! A few scholars have suspected as much, but their theories have never gotten much attention. Miss Pierrot, would you be able to get me in contact with your mother? I would love to compare notes with the two of you."

"Um...I-she- y'see..." the young performer curls in on herself a bit, one paw clutched to her chest and her tail curving forward around one of her legs, "She ain't really...here, anymore."

"Oh, oh I'm so sorry, I didn't think..."

"I-it's alright, M'Lady, ya couldn't 'ave known."

At this point, King Bolero re-enters the conversation, "If you don't mind my asking, miss Pierrot, how long ago did your mother pass away."

"Uh, 'bout two years now, I think. It were a few weeks after I turned fourteen. I started travellin' just a bit after."

Well. It seems Peony's worries are confirmed. If she'd taken up her current nomadic lifestyle that young it was most likely that she didn't have anyone besides her late mother. Still, that solidifies an idea that Bolero had been mulling over while waiting for her to arrive.

"Miss Pierrot, how would you feel about staying here, in my castle?"

"I...what? I couldn't possibly-really!?"

"Well, of course! You seem like a delightful young lady, and I'd think you and Peony would have a great deal to discuss in terms of magic."

"That...that would be amaz- but, but I couldn't just give up performin'...''

"And you wouldn't have to. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but my court just so happens to lack a jester. Never found the right person for the job, you see. But, if your shows are even half as good as Peony described you'll be perfect for it." He sends her a mirthful, lopsided grin, "Besides, you've already got the outfit for it anyway."

"I...I'd be a right fool ta say no ta that!" she lets out a brief, somewhat hysterical giggle and looks up, "Plain ol' me, performin' for royalty. Oh, if mum could see me now..."

Ah, that's certainly enough to bring a tear to an old cat's eye. She'll be a wonderful addition to his court, he's sure, "Well, since that's settled, I'll have some of the servants prepare a room for you. And, ah, I do have one last request, if you wouldn't mind."

"What is it, yer Majesty?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd be willing to show us what you look like behind your mask. Only if you're comfortable with it, of course."

...She doesn't say anything, but after a few moments of thinking it over she reaches up, using one paw to pull back her hood and the other to pull away her mask...revealing a brown-furred cat of indeterminate breed with Doppelganger Arle's red eyes and hairstyle, though with a simple cloth hair tie in place of her usual red-and-gold metal loop.

(Good thing I finally figured out that full-body transformation spell. If they'd found me last week I'd have had to play myself off as shy or something.)

(Some Notes: Bolero is a Norwegian Forest Cat, 'cause those guys are huge and really friendly with big beard-looking fluff and I thought it would be cool to have a gentle giant amongst the generally smol cat people. Meanwhile, Peony is based on Kitty, an actual cat my family had for years. She was tiny and had two kinks in her tail (one as a birth defect, the other from an injury as a kitten) and had absolutely no fear. No idea what breed she actually was.)

#smg4 #smg4 ocs #doppelganger arle #pierrot puyo puyo #archimage peony #king bolero #the question is: will doppel be crazy-obsessed enough to resist the found family?#or is it Teenage Villain Adoption Season in the kingdom of magnamiel?#desire for love and affection vs severe identity issues and overcomplicated revenge schemes; FIGHT!

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douglasanondr · 3 months ago

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Dark Schezo and Schezo's inner thoughts (or how I would add Doppel. Schezo back to main canon)

The following Paragraphs was originally a comic, but it later dawned on me that a comic wouldn't give my thought process justice, also this Paragraph is based on the following ideas:

The Live Manzai during Dark Schezo's reintroduction. (I need to find the livestream, I keep saying it but I never have the vid at the ready)

Puzzle Pop, Specifically the Dream World

The Dream Box

The Doctor Who episode "Amy's Choice" (here's a clip for my reasoning)

Schezo (Mores Specifically from 20th Dongureigaeru)

So with Puzzle Pop as finished as an interesting story with an ending in need for at least 1 more chapter to not feel incomplete can get. I thought to myself about the Dream World, more specifically what would happen if someone in the Dream World were to succumb to their Nightmares in there. Because the Dream World changes to fit what the person dreams about so what would happen if they just had to go thru they're own NIghtmares. So I started thinking, and then I thought about the Dream Box, and how it's currently in Schezo's possesion, and that the quote from 20th says that Schezo constantly suffers from Nightmares. Then I had an Idea.

So the Story Starts as normal, You start as Arle/Amitie/Ringo and are in Primp but just like In Puzzle Pop something feels off. Then they run into Meena but this time they don't actually know why everyone is back in the Dream World. All 4 of them are just all around confused so Meena tries to wake them all up, but when they do, they just end up in a cave, more specifically Schezo's Cave except every time they try to leave they just end up back inside the cave, so imagine a Cave but it just loops forever and Schezo's stuff is there. Then They reappear back at Dream Primp.

Then the story goes on as normal, Arle and Co. go investigating on what's going on, eventually they run into everyone along the way and learn that just like in Puzzle Pop, they can't leave. Except now Meena has no clue why and it's not Sig's fault because he's right there and perfectly fine. More notably is that every so often they switch between Dream Primp and the Endless Cave whenever they meet someone and it always changes, The cave will sometimes have wooden floorboards and windows before finally looking like a combination of the inside of a Cave and a Log Cabin, while in Primp, Some of the Houses start to spread apart, stone walls appear everywhere, foliage beings to creep all over, and Mirrors occasionally appear on the walls. While this is happening the cast from the Madou end comment how familiar the Dream is becoming, Schezo especially comments on feeling uneasy in both areas.

Then after everyone gather's around while inside the Endless Cave and tries to figure out what's going on, that is when Dark Schezo just suddenly appears. When Dark Schezo appears he begins to approach Schezo more notably phasing thru others to get to him. Dark Schezo notably never acknowledges anyone while he talks to Schezo only talking about the others by saying that "this is the first time, I've had a captive audience" and "I can work with this". While Dark Schezo talks to Schezo, he starts mocking him, not in the traditional "calling him a pervert", "Joking about his aloofness" etc. but mocks him with stuff only Schezo would know, stuff that really cuts deep to him.

Example:

Schezo: *Hmph* When did you get all high in mighty qith informarion like that?

D!Schezo: Me? Like you're any better. The sullen eyes, the way you act, the fact you hide all of your acars. I'm more suprised no one's notices how much you look like you want to crawl back into the grave, We know you'll never be able to enter.

After some more mocking, Dark Schezo offers Schezo a challenge, suddenly everyone is teleported back to Dream Primp and Dark Schezo explains that while here, they would all end up at their most vulnerable states and it is up to Schezo to protect them, if he succeeds everyone wakes up, if he fails they'll have to go thru it all over again. Then he disappears.

Soon Nightmares start happening to the other characters. It starts of small like, more Ghosts start appearing from no where and start scaring Ringo, Dogs begin chasing Raffina and Rei, images of Satan and Lemres getting married (Sadly not to each other), etc. But it soon starts to escalate to the extreme, Sig begins to show signs of becoming the Black Sig, Lemres finds himaelf trapped in an arena forced to fight Shadow Mages, Everyone disappears in Ecolo's Eyes to the point where they no longer exist to him, Meena gets weaker and weaker aeeing evrtone go thru their nightmares etc.

All the While Schezo is there, trying to snap people out of there nightmares per the challenge, All the while Dark Schezo is there mocking him every step of the way. It ahould be noted that Dark Schezo never attacks anyone, not even a Puyo battle, he only ever shows up to create a nightmare scenario and mock Schezo more and more woth more increasingly personal info. Like:

*After Saving Ringo*

Dark Schezo: Some of those Ghosts looked familiar didn't they, though I don't expect you to remember every soul that ran into you.

*After saving Sig*

Dark Schezo: Why so glum, hit to close to home? :)

*After saving Raffina/Rulue*

Dark Schezo: Sounds right? I mean it's not like you can hurt them like you can hurt the others.

While all of this is happening there's a sense that Schezo knows what Dark Schezo is but doesn't want to say, or more specifically dosen't want to aknowledge it.

Soon Schezo succeeds and everyone ia freed from there nightmares, Dark Schezo suprisingly is pleased with this outcome. Teleporting eveetone back to the Endless Cave, Dark Schezo begins to one final Nightmare. Soon Hands erupt from the ground forcing Schezo to them, Visions and Faces fill Schezo's mind as a Dark Aura begins to force itself into Schezo, tearing thru him all the way. As this happens everyone wastes no time trying to help him and when they do; Suddenly, they wake up.

Back in the Real World, Everyone is underatandably confused and begins to gather around to find out what happened. Eventually, Schezo speaks up, stating he might have an answer to what happened before bringing out the cause of everything; The Dream Box. Turns out last night, Schezo was experimenting with the Dream Box, before dozing off and activating its effects trapping the whole town in his Dream.

The Dark Schezo they saw was just a part of Schezo's mind, Schezo theorizing that it was made of all the dark parts of Schezo's psyche, lowkey boasting as to why it was so powerful due to coming from the mind of The Dark Mage. When he says that Lemres asks that if Dark Schezo is a part of Schezo's Mind then everything he said would be stuff that Schezo himself believes in. Schezo doesn't answer, only looks away for a bit before walking away, claiming to put the Dream Box away so this doesn't happen again.

In the reflection of the Drema Box's Gem, Dark Schezo smiles.

The End. So what do y'all think?

#puyo puyo #schezo puyo puyo #schezo wegey #long post #first story post here #yay

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