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In hindsight, taking the newly fixed remote with him into a more personal battle probably hadn't been the best idea. It would have been better if he had given it to Smg4, before running off, but he hadn't been sure he'd have the time to do that, so just ran off on his own to lead Wpnz away. To no ones surprise, it broke again during the whole thing, and predictable, as soon as they'd reconciled and started to check where everyone else was, the stupid thing flashed a timer on his screen and a rift pulled them away and spat them out somewhere else.
Puzzles groaned, sitting up slowly to look around what he knew was his old studio, remote glowing but quiet in his hand. The cobwebs were less numerous then he was used to, and the lights were actually somewhat on. Wpnz sat up beside him in a daze, confused and staring at the opposite wall until he shook himself and looked at him, "Where's that thing send us?" he asked.
Puzzles looked at his past self, silently staring at them in bewildered surprise where he stood behind the old wooden desk, though the blank default smile wouldn't read that way to anyone besides himself, "The past, only this time in a fun new way from before, just go along with this for the moment please." he whispered, standing up carefully to mask the mild pain he still felt from his numerous injuries. Wouldn't do to tip off himself as to something future related, "Hello! When would we be then?" he asked, not explaining himself.
They'd seen time travel plots like this before, Puzzles didn't feel the need to go along with some of the common meeting phrases, and his past self didn't feel the need to ask who he was as so many shows were wont to do. Mr. Puzzles just kept the blank smile and responded back in equally friendly cheer, "I've collected our actors and our first show is to begin shortly." he said, walking out from behind the desk to get closer.
He stopped a few feet away, observing. He wouldn't try to reach out to feel if he were real, Puzzles knew that perfectly well. Aside from his lack of interest in touching anyone, there was also always the trope involved where any contact could be dangerous between two versions of the same person in the same moment of time. Speaking to each other seemed safe at least, the risk of being combined or breaking something wasn't worth trying to touch. No matter how handsome and worth touching his own visage was.
"Oh." Puzzles said, glancing at Wpnz as he slowly rose to stand and stare beside him, "Wonderful, they're... a handful." he offered, somewhat weakly, not willing to say anything more about that. He could change everything at this point, if he wanted to, but it wouldnt fix his own problems. The other version he'd done before was more an 'Anything Goes' sort of thing, but this felt more like the more common 'Branch Reality' and 'See the Future' sort of situation.
Meaning any changes that happened here, would cause a parallel timeline that had events changed, based on any information Puzzles would give this past Mr. Puzzles. It wouldn't benefit Puzzles at all, not that he wanted to erase his guilt and actions after his and Wpnz's 'talk', it'd only prevent this past version from important character development.
"What the fuck." Wpnz muttered beside him, thankfully being quiet about it, as Mr. Puzzles tilted his head briefly to look at him, before returning his attention back to himself.
"We succeed then?" he asked, though it barely sounded like a question, arrogantly believing he'd already won with a future version of him in front of him, and what looked like his own personal arsenal of a bodyguard.
Wpnz looked between them, confused, "I thought your thing was about a theme park?"
Mr. Puzzles's antennae twitched, attention actually on Wpnz now, "I get my theme park as well?" he wondered, genuinely sounding excited and pleased with himself, smile much wider.
Puzzles quickly covered Wpnz' mouth and glared at him, before answering himself, "You know we don't like spoilers, you'll just have to do it yourself and see. Why put in the work if you'll just get the answers from me?" he said. Or from anyone else who didn't get the gravity of the situation. He couldn't explain it to Wpnz in front of himself. He'd have to show him some relevant tv shows and movies, maybe a few plays, to better familiarize himself with the tropes at play later once they were safely back in their own time frame. Perhaps Wpnz would even listen to him explain it himself, before Puzzles asked him to watch all of those with him.
Mr. Puzzles accepted the reminder, nodding as his default smile returned, "True, much more satisfying without anyone trying to change my script, even if that potential someone is a future me. I didn't think that was possible, despite how common a trope it tends to be in some things. That'd probably make a good show for after the run I'm doing."
He let go of Wpnz and stood up, clearing his throat as he gave him a look that he hoped conveyed to him to keep following along, or at least to stay quiet, "Yes, shocking to me too. Not really a great time for it, for me, but again spoilers so can't get too into the hows and whys of course."
"Sure. I look forward to finding out later, after you inevitable make your leave and I continue on my way, having forgotten this very interaction happened for the safety of the timeline, until you eventually return back to your time and have this memory twice over. Do you think us touching might cause some sort of bad thing to happen? Us seeing each other doesn't seem to have." he wondered, returning to the thought he had had before. Maybe thinking theyd be able to connect to each others frequencies and share thoughts.
Not a comforting assumption on Puzzles' part, if they could do that he wouldn't know exactly how to avoid him seeing memories he didn't want the past version to see. Instead of think about that, he smiled nervously and shook his head, "Lets not risk it, we're being very daring currently with just speaking, and I could be sent back at any time."
"Of course, you and your tag-along. Isn't he an interesting fellow, I assume he had a name before you brainwashed him, unless you created him for protection from our adoring fans?" Mr. Puzzles wondered, leaning forward to look at Wpnz more closely, still refraining from getting any closer than the few feet apart they already were to each other.
Wpnx sneered at him, growl drowned out by Puzzles own panicked laughter, "Oh! Another spoiler to avoid probably. You'll learn it all on your own later, that was part of the fun for me the first time, I couldn't deprive you of such a moment for yourself!" he said quickly, half stepping in front of him as his past version straightened.
The expression didnt change but was decidedly more annoyed, "I'm beginning to dislike the spoilers answer. I don't loathe the concept of spoilers, they can be worthwhile and make the journey to what the spoiler is about much more enticing and dramatic! You know this, so what if some minor thing is changed, he won't notice if I am aware of his name before he says it to me." he said with his head turned towards Wpnz, clear contempt in his voice.
"My name is Wpnz, asshole." Wpnz said finally, pushing Puzzles out of his way so he could properly glare at his past self.
Smug look back as he focused on Puzzles, "Weapons, how apt. That wasn't so hard, now was it, aside from the rudeness involved. I'll refrain from asking more of him now, it's only polite to know peoples names so you can refer to them properly."
Mr. Puzzles noticed the remote in Puzzles grasp then, tilting his head as he recognized it, "That brought you here I assume, it's damaged." he said, voice its own unique form of displeased frown, "Something like that is dangerous to have damaged. Fix it, you know where the tools are if they're needed. I need to focus on my entrance." he said, turning away and going back over to sit on the edge of the large desk, crossing his legs with arms folded comfortably in his lap.
"I won't be long." he offered, with a brief delighted cackle as his screen turned to static, head going limp as his body stayed rigidly in its place.
Puzzles let out the breath he'd been holding, "We have about five or so minutes before he's back, and half an hour before the remote will bring us back to that field with everyone else. Now's the time for questions, if you want some of them answered!" he said, laughing nervously.
Wpnz looked at him weird, "Why aren't you replacing him right now? That's what was going on with everybody earlier."
He shrugged, "There's different types of time travel, we did the one that replaces our past selves originally, because I wanted that version. I suppose the remote enjoys this version of time travel?" Puzzles guessed, already pulling out the screwdriver and going over to where he knew his other maintenance tools were stashed. Not useful for the remote, but he was in pain and he'd like to fix some of the damaged parts, in the limited time he knew he had. Probably a few circuits at least, a panel, before he'd have to just live with it until they got back to the present. Easier just to fix himself first and do the remote while his past version is present.
"He thinks I'm brainwashed." Wpnz said expectantly, a little more judgy then Puzzles felt was needed.
Puzzles glanced at him as he connected a few things back together, "Those under my power retain their personality unless I decide to have full control over them, it's generally easier to direct them that way. You haven't attacked him, and in the past I chose not to work with others, so he's assuming some things. Let's let him believe what he does, it'll help avoid unnecessary conflict." he suggested, concerned what would happen if his past version got injured or actually killed, if Wpnz decided not to go along with it for the short time they were there.
"He's a massive prick, more than you are right now." Wpnz said instead of make any agreement, arms crossed as he moved closer to glare at the static screen, "Kinda surprised neither of you had questions for each other, and that you aren't telling him what needs to change so you can get what you want."
Puzzles probably deserved that, considering where they'd last been, but still, "We just got past that, I've moved on! Just doing what you talked about before and holding on to it, instead of make it not happen. Also I think if I did tell him anything, it might make everything much worse for everyone else since he'd just change everything so he'd win completely. Also also! The spoiler thing is true, and there's a great deal of time travel movies I've seen; we just skipped past the most common meeting tropes and problems so your welcome. We should watch some together later, it'd be fun, a lot of them are full of action and violence!" it seemed the type of thing Wpnz would like in his shows. He'd probably enjoy the Fast and Furious franchise, if he wasn't already aware of it.
He winced as he fixed a few wires that had gotten loose, looking over at where Wpnz was still standing rather close to his past version, "Would you like to fix anything you might have damaged, fighting others who weren't myself?" he offered carefully, unsure if he should tell him to not get too close to himself or stay quiet and see what he'd do.
"I'm good. What's he doing?" Wpnz asked, thankfully taking a few steps away from his perch.
Puzzles fixed the panel in place and covered back up, "A Blues Clues parody currently. They've probably finished the Bee Movie with added bonus features by now, or nearly anyway." he said.
Wpnz stared at him in bewilderment, "What the hell man?"
"I take pride in my repertoire of shows and movies and the bonus content that they have!" Puzzles said defensively. "It was the best way to see that they were properly under my control! There was only a minor hiccup before they happily watched the entire thing at triple speed, but that's not important at the moment."
"Why a show for toddlers though?"
"They go to war in the middle of it, Smg4 gets very hyper-realistic, the premise is really just a small test before we moved on to better things. Besides, they're kind of all still idiots, they needed some easing in to things that aren't just memes."
Suddenly Mr. Puzzles stretched as his smug expression took over the static, neck popping as he slid off the desk and looked between the two, "It's going well." he stated simply, eyeing Wpnz and how close he'd gotten from before, "It must be terribly difficult for you to tell the difference between us, but you belong to the one that's over there. He has the very big remote, and has spoiled me on the fact we turn on the rest of our faces at some point. I have no need for you yet, but when I do, I look forward to it." he said, smile curled up his screen.
"He's also less fucking creepy apparently." Wpnz couldn't help but say. "He's more expressive, surprisingly less condescending, I get it." he rolled his eyes.
Mr. Puzzles chuckled, looking towards Puzzles, "Your minion has a bias about his favorite, as well as being rather crass. We do still look handsome in the future don't we? The luxury of fame and recognition I'm sure, to allow us to be able to express as we please!"
Puzzles walked over and touched Wpnz shoulder from behind, carefully pulling him back a few steps, "Lets not focus on my face, as beautiful as it always is." he said with a quick laugh.
Wpnz glanced over his shoulder at him, blue dusting his face, "I wasn't thinking that."
"I always am." Mr. Puzzles purred, hand to his chest and looking happily smug. "We certainly are a devilishly handsome fellow. Oh, if only there wasn't a chance we'd fuse or something breaking if I tried to touch, just for a moment."
Wpnz gave Puzzles a weird look at that, instead of his counterpart, while he did his best to blush instead of mildly freak out about the situation. He was handsome, he wasn't going to ever deny that, but flirting with himself wasn't really something he wanted to do in that moment. He laughed instead, a little unhinged, and pulled Wpnz back another few steps. He wasn't using him as a shield, but he also wasn't entirely sure what he was doing either, besides knowing that holding on to him made him feel a little safer.
He held up the remote, the sparking too quiet to hear from their current distance, "I should get this fixed soon, I was only informing dear Wpnz about where we were, so he got me terribly distracted." He said, wincing at the elbow blow from Wpnz. It hadn't been hard, but he was still sore, so it hurt more anyway.
Mr. Puzzles looked at Wpnz, then scoffed and moved his head like he was doing an eye roll, "They always do need a lot of direction. Better fix the Youtube remote before it does something stupid then." He paused, and Puzzles knew he wanted to know why he had it, the reason he needed it, but he wouldn't get the answer if he did ask. They both knew their stubbornness, "How long until it returns you to your present?" he asked instead.
He checked the timer left on the corner of his vision, "About ten minutes now, then I guess it'll suck us away again."
Mr. Puzzles hummed, "Nearly the same amount of time before my first show is done. Will that be enough to fix it before it takes you?" he wondered, sitting in the chair behind the desk.
Puzzles shrugged, "Shouldn't take longer than a few minutes, it isn't... as damaged as it could be." Luckily for them, otherwise they'd probably have a similar issue here as they did earlier. The damage was superficial purely because Wpnz had been focused on killing him instead of destroying the remote.
They were all silent for the next two minutes, though Wpnz never could be completely silent even while walking around the studio, his own limbs much louder than Puzzles' own with every step. Mr. Puzzles ignored him in favor of watch him fix the remote, so when it did flash and indicate it was fixed again, he spoke up.
His voice was more tentative then it had been the entire time they'd been there, "Anyone besides ourselves make anything new or interesting lately? Shows or movies to look forward to? Plays?" he wondered, curious despite himself.
Puzzles would just have to disappoint himself twice over, "I've been too busy lately to be able to catch up or watch anything new recently." which was really unfortunate, he'd heard of a good few new movies he'd like to watch that had come out while he was in jail, a few old shows getting some brand new seasons as well.
He could tell his past self was sad about it too, though not entirely for the same reasons, "A pity, but success will be worth it. We'll be able to watch what we want whenever, we have no time limit to worry about in the future anyway."
"Hmm." Wpnz grumbled, coming back over to Puzzles' side after his inspection of the room.
It wasn't worth tipping himself off to the fact that wasn't going to be true for him for quite awhile, "Very true! No worries at all, I'll catch up on all the cinema I've been missing out on after, when I have enough time for it between my many excellent shows!" maybe he could even believe that himself, if that massive rift they had left behind could be fixed. He'd almost forgotten about that, but the closer they got to the timer being done, he'd remembered. He held the remote tight in front of him, glaring at it instead of look at his own past.
He'd have much preferred seeing when he was a child again, he could have at least offered that one some support and encouragement. Told him things would be nicer for him later, maybe risked hugging him so he'd know what that felt like before he became an adult. Puzzles cant do anything with this one without it being embarrassing or potentially literally life altering. It's a true tragedy to the average theme of time travel!
He sighed with some aggravation and looked back to his past version, "I have some minor advice, it isn't a spoiler so much as it is frustrating that we forgot this despite what we've watched of these idiots."
Mr. Puzzles tilted his head, Wpnz himself finishing the look for him by raising a questioning eyebrow at him as well, "What is it?"
"You'll want to kill Mario for many valid reasons, but unfortunately it's important to refrain from doing so." He rolled his eyes with a huff, "Wouldn't want to destroy the world, because someone decided his idiotic life was tied to it's existence as some form of cosmic joke."
Wpnz looked alarmed, "I tried to kill that shithead and only didn't because I got trapped, are you telling me I would have imploded the world or something because of that idiot?"
Mr. Puzzles looked at him, and Puzzles facepalmed, side eyeing him, "Yes, congratulations for not doing that."
"How on earth are you able to be trapped, you are a moving weapons rack." Mr. Puzzles wondered, head moving as he looked at his arms and legs, since he lacked any animated eye movements in the non-smiling expression on his face.
Wpnz frowned, crossing his arms, "The trap was electrified. I touched it and couldn't fucking move." he said, more defensive then he would be otherwise, much preferring his own versions more expressive abilities.
"When I find you, I'll be sure to make sure you don't attempt something so foolish then. That wouldn't be too terrible a change to my own life." Mr. Puzzles said, uncaring as he looked away with a shrug, back to the default smile. A heavy dismissal from what Puzzles knew of himself. "I suppose that must have slipped my mind, with how stupid everything else on their show is." he muttered in frustrated annoyance.
Puzzles rolled his eyes in Wpnz's view, which did somewhat relax him, and continued, "Anyway, deal with Mario however is needed without killing him, he's oddly durable so hurting him shouldn't damage anything of actual importance. It'll be a struggle for sure with him, but we do like the world being alive!"
"No one would be able to enjoy any shows, mine or otherwise, if everything was dead. A true shame that would be." Mr. Puzzles agreed.
Wpnz wasn't going to comment on that, but he had a lot of questions he was going to have to ask Puzzles later, after they got back to where they'd been before. That was not the right takeaway to the idea of the world ending because one guy died, and he kind of fucking wanted more context that he knew had to be hidden under the tiny tidbit that, no doubt, had a lot more to it than what Puzzles was saying.
Puzzles pulled him a bit further back, unsure how strong the rift pulling them back soon will really be, and not wanting to get his past version caught in it's grasp. That'd just get messy very fast, quite a large spoiler and plot twist for him to experience with no build up or context as to where he'd end up. He was also just getting annoyed with him now as well, fed up with his own past behavior, even if he didn't remember this specific interaction from the other side yet. It'd probably come back to him like his past version believed when he did go back to the future, that's how things tended to work out, if it was a closed loop sort of time travel.
Barely a minute left on his screen, and he straightened up, moving to be closer to Wpnz to make sure the rift would get them both, looking at his past self, "Hey."
Mr. Puzzles looked at him blankly, clearly more focused inward on the show he was making and uninterested in further conversation.
Puzzles was never going to get another chance to do this again in his life, and he more than deserved this small bit of pettiness. He flipped himself off with both hands, screen switching to a more furious expression as he let himself be angry at himself, "Fuck you!" he shouted.
Wpnz laughed, and he pushed him through the rift as it opened before quickly retreating through it himself, a quick glance at his past version allowing him to see the surprised expression that flashed on his screen before the rift swiftly shut behind them.
Mr. Puzzles stared for a couple seconds at the blank wall across from him, his screen flashing momentarily to static before he shook his head and looked around in confusion, "Why am I out here?" he wondered, concerned about somehow missing a large chunk of his first proper episode. He glanced around the room again suspiciously, then scoffed and focused back on what was important.
He went back to work, head left on the desk as he watched his first show finish and waited, waiting for his five star reviews to come in.