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EXCEPTIONAL ERROR OCCURRED AT PUZZLEMAN.EXE
ATTEMPTING DATA RETRIEVAL…
DATA RETRIEVAL FAILURE…
ATTEMPTING RECONSTRUCTION…
FATAL ERROR! PROGRAM C:\MONSTER\PUZZLEMAN.EXE
UNHANDLED EXCEPTION INSTRUCTION AT 0x6F088344E REFERENCED MEMORY AT
0x000000008. MEMORY COULD NOT BE READ.
ATTEMPTING REBOOT…
REBOOT SUCCESSFUL.
Peace… an aura of peace and prosperity shielded this mostly normal shrub of forestry
from the chaos of civilization.
The birds sang without a care in the world.
Ants went about their work for their colonies.
Forest critters frolicked, ate, and played wherever their heart desired.
The peaceful Peanut forest was an area where one could truly get lost in its serenity.
Young Princess Cereza is such one person who has surrounded herself with such beauty.
The Young Heir sat at the end of a small bay, an area of tranquility untouched by the
usually bustle of her home, the Walnut Kingdom.
And so, the young princess would enjoy some peace away from the regal life, enjoying a
nice picnic, which was until…
“Sigh…” Cereza scoffed.
“It’s been way too long since anything’s happened around here, no bad guys, no quests, not
even a chicken to coral!” the Princess complained as she lazed about the side of
the small lake.
As she was plotting away for something to stave off her plain boredom, a friendly
squirrel came into her view.
Perking up quickly, she flipped back around to face the friendly woodland creature.
“I’m sure your life is great, huh little guy…”
“Oh yes, I’ve got the freedom to adventure and explore all day!” Cereza imitated to
herself.
After chuckling to herself about her silliness she spotted something catching her
eye just beyond the little woodland creature.
As the Squirrel moved on to another place to scavenge it left Cereza with a focus on the
strange glow just beyond the bush…
Not just a glow… a small buzzing sound also broke the silence of the “Peaceful” forest.
Always ready for more adventure, Cereza leaped at the opportunity for something
interesting to do.
‘Maybe it’s one of those old monsters that dad always warning me about!’ Cereza
Squealed happily to herself as she moved through the bush towards the shimmering
sensation
“Ah, it’s probably just some trinket or something,” Cereza reassured herself
as nothing interesting ever happens in the Walnut kingdom, as she clears the last
few branches to find the source of the strange light source and ear-splitting buzz.
As Cereza approached the odd collection of lights and sounds, a strange feeling took over
her.
She felt her breath turn cold and she felt her blood running just as chilly as her whole
body became stiff with, what was it, Fear?
“No, I couldn’t be afraid, nothing scares this princess!” Cereza calmed as she neared the
collection of warping, changing, and moving voxels.
“So, are you a monster or…” She questioned as she stared and the strange mass of
cubes.
Cereza did not have much time to question it for as soon as she had wandered closer, the
mass of strange cuboids started to aggressively gyrate and expand.
“What’s happening, what are you!” Cereza shouted as she tried to move her body away
from the strange amalgamation.
Moving her body seemed to be quite the challenge as the influence of the object seemed
to be dragging her towards it.
The mass then started to pulse and shift as it fired off electric shocks that started to
break open the ground!
Cereza barely jumped out of the way of one of the blasts and found herself in a nearby
bush, making sure to keep her dress tidy.
The Mass continued to shuffle until finally, the collection of voxels burst into a glorious
explosion of Cuboids.
Cereza rose out of her cover to realize that the beloved forest that had
once been a place of pure serenity now had been blown asunder with the resulting crater
being mighty!
She was lucky not to be hurt too bad, regardless of the torn apparel and the scratches on
her arms.
After climbing out of her cover to appraise just how bad the damage was to Peanut Forest,
she noticed something strange had appeared at the bottom of the crater…
Clearing her messy coal-like hair and peering closely, she quickly came to the realization
that someone or something was inside of the crater!
Disregarding her safety, which she often does to the detriment of her father, she
slid down the crater and slowly walked along the soot coated ground to approach the
being that was in the middle.
It was like nothing Cereza had seen ever before!
It was not tall enough to be a regular human adult, more of a child really, it had strange
purple apparel that seemed alien to her, and to wrap it all up, and eerie looking broken up
mask with one spiked horn adorning the top.
“Poor little guy… seems to have had a rough time…” She commented.
As Cereza was examining the strange being she almost forgot to notice that…
“They’re Breathing?!?” She shouted as she quickly tried to scoop up the masked being and
lug their body out of the massive crater that the voxels had left.
“The Lake… maybe water will bring this guy back!” Cereza thought quickly as she carried
the broken body of the masked figure.
At the pool of water, Cereza laid the masked being on her lap as she scooped a handful of
water in her hands and splashed it about the being’s face… or what she thought was it’s
face…
“This mask is really getting in the way, uh, you must be suffocating wearing it!” She
scoffed while looking into the strange masked beings face.
She slowly reached below the creature’s chin to find the border of the mask and try to
pry it off…
However, just as The Princess touched the unmasked face of the creature it quickly
stirred awake!
The being then threw its head up… looking directly up into Cereza’s ebony-colored eyes…
Cereza responded in kind by staring deep into the masked beings’ shadowy holes in their
Mask.
Both locked into a ceaseless staring contest as the two stared at one another’s eyes
amazed at what they were seeing.
Sobering up quickly, however, the masked being threw itself off Cereza’s lap in utter
shock!
Cereza slowly rose to her legs and tried to calm the “creature” down.
“There, there, little guy? Girl? Person? Who might you be, are you ok?” Cereza tried to
calm the creature as the masked being stared at her as if her head were spinning.
“!!!!” The masked creature reacted as they rose to their feet and began to panic!
“Wha- what are you saying?” Cereza shouted as the Masked creature
jumped about in front of Cereza.
The strangeness continued as the masked creature quickly leaned into Cereza’s chest for
a large hug!
Cereza, in turn, responded as anyone would if a strange interdimensional creature created
from voxels started trying to hug you would, with a big SLAP!
The masked creature stumbled back from the slap and fell backward with a loud THUD
After a bit of reeling from the pain of The Princess’s strike the masked creature slowly
turned their head back to Cereza.
Carefully fixing their mask the masked being looked Cereza up and down and tilted their
head.
Cereza quickly thought on her feet for why she struck the being, “I- I- mean you
don’t just hug someone so unexpectedly w-when you don’t even know their name yet…
speaking of which, I felt as though we got off on the wrong foot…” Cereza continued as
she once again approached the masked being.
Sticking a firm hand forward towards the still grounded masked creature she looked at
them reassuringly and said, “My name is Princess Cereza, Heir to the Walnut Kingdom!
What might your name be Masked Being?”
The masked creature looked completely baffled at Cereza’s advancement, as they slowly
reached their gloved hand out to touch Cereza’s.
After helping the creature to its feet Cereza started to wonder aloud, “What kind of
being are you? Do you know where you live? Are you lost!?” Cereza
babbled as the masked creature looked about blankly at the large expanse of the forest.
It had seemed like forever ago that the two heroes who defeated the mighty
Mr. Stitches the sole reason for Evil in the world, or so it would seem, as when the time
came to finally end his madness the true root of it all had finally revealed itself, The
Overseer, Puzzleman…
Masky, a Masked Kid, a clone with an identification number of 745, and just a lowly minion
in Mr. Stitches’ ever-expanding army.
Never to amount to anything but perhaps a “Mini-Boss”, Masky went about their day as any
other minion would, which was until that fateful day when their fate changed forever,
after a split-second decision that led to the death of the hero, a decision that still
shakes them to their very core, they shed their title of Underling and donned the mantle
of a Hero as the Underhero…
But it was not them alone who resisted against the tyrannical Mr. Stitches and “Saved” the
world.
There was also Elizabeth IV, The Magical Sword hilt, Elizabeth Version 1.4,
the sword hilt that chooses its wielder by “fate” to destroy the evil lord time and time
again, and to save the world, but this was just a ruse created by Mr. Stitches’ right-hand
man, the nefarious Dr. T. Bur.
With all of Elizabeth’s powers and abilities being just to T. Bur’s design, him, and his boss,
could watch over, plan, and carry on the so-called hero-cycle, a thing that, according to
Mr. Stitches (told to him by his manipulator Puzzleman) would destroy the world if the
cycle didn’t continue as it was.
And so, it was, until the day that the Underhero, Masky, Masked Child designation 745,
and just one out of a million other soldiers in the Stitched army brought their boss back
from the brink of total insanity and saved their world from the evil Ends Man the real
Villain pulling the strings behind everything.
As they both stood together with their jointed might, cheered on by those who truly
believed it in them, Puzzleman fell and was destroyed, and their world and everyone in it
was saved from universal erasure, as foretold by the Puzzleman.
It was to be their happiest moment together; it should have been a time for celebration
and relaxation after their big adventure, but it was not to be.
As the dimension that they had found themselves in had no straightforward way to return,
the only way to move, the duo thought, was forward.
And with one last, “Good-bye!” from their friends the Underhero, and Elizabeth
continued to move forward through the vastness of the void that now consumed them.
It seemed to them that this place was to be their eternal purgatory, a seemingly
never endless labyrinth with no exit, a maze with no prize.
Much time has passed since then, though it didn’t show, as they looked the same as
the day they first arrived, baring the few mental breaks and hopeless nights, or what
could be called night in the vast whiteness of the void.
Their “freedom”, however, would eventually arrive on one of the many “nights” that found
the two resting and staring up into the ceaseless expanse of the void.
“Man… This view sure has gotten pretty borin’ eh Masky” Ellie commented as they both lay
parallel on the equally white ground.
“How… long has it been… sure seemed like forever since we’ve even seen a voxel or any
shapes at all really!” Ellie continued to laugh to herself, with her voice reaching the ears of
no one and echoing out into the hollow expanse.
“I don’t wanna be a jinx, but I feel we’re on to somethin’ big!” Ellie continued but as her
voice continued to fall on deaf ears, she perked up to look towards the Underhero, Masked
Kid Number 745.
“Hey, Masky, you… alright, you’ve been real quiet these last few days, we can’t have you
having another episode, haha!” Ellie laughed to herself as she approached the still
grounded Masky.
Sniff Sniff
“Ah jeez…” Ellie recoiled as she saw the tears flowing down from Masky’s mask.
“Come on, kid we gotta hold together,” Ellie tried to nudge and reconvene with her friend
before Masky interrupted with a quiet whimper, “mm… Mr. Stitches… Cereza… Bella…”
Ellie had heard several breakdowns from Masky before but this one must have been the
Most melancholic one yet, with her friend drowned in their sorrow on the ground
repeating the names of the friends they might never see again.
Masky quietly sat up to face the equally as sorrow-filled Ellie.
“Look Kid, I feel just as devastated as you, Heck if it weren’t for me, you’d probably
be sippin’ down Mr. Stitches coffee right now, hehe…” Elizabeth joked, trying the lighten
the mood a bit, but by the still pitiful face on her friend, it was obvious that it had little
effect.
“Anyway… we gotta carry on because you know what Mr. Stitches would say if he saw
you like this right?” Ellie said trying to rally her broken friend.
“???” Masky reacted in their usual mute reaction of turning their head.
“That’s right, he would say ‘HOW DARE YOU GIVE UP ON ME SOLDIER, YOU KNOW IM
WORKING JUST AS HARD FOR YOU SO DON’T GIVE UP HAHAHA!’ and we don’t want to
let your boss down right?” Ellie continued as she mimicked Mr. Stitches’ usual loud tone of
voice as Masky rose to their feet and cleaned their tear-soaked mask.
“It may look hopeless, in the face of whatever this void is, but even in our desperation we
still have each other, and nothing can take that away from us.” Ellie confidently expressed.
Masky seems to have been uplifted by the strong temperament of their hilt friend, as
they eventually started to return to their normal self.
As the Masked Kid raised their head to the white nothingness of the void, they
thought of everything, the friends, the places, the danger, and even their boss… not
something they ever thought they would be thinking back on again with a sense of
remembrance, and even a bit of melancholy.
Elizabeth seemed to notice this turn from her companion as she resumed her approach the
nearly 4 times her size Masked Kid.
Coming closer to her stalwart friend Elizabeth continued to comfort the Hero, “There
have been moments when I would just want to break down and cry, to let it all wash over
me as it all crumbles down… But, in this place, where nothing enters and nothing leaves,
where hope comes to die, all we have is each other…
Masky shook at the uncharacteristically somber tone Ellie had… but as they continued to
realize what she had said to them, so long ago, about how she forced the end of so many of
their old colleagues without as much as an objection, and her eventual remorse it, made
Masky slowly tread their gaze towards the magical hilt the one that had been through it
all.
Both friends gazed into each other’s eyes when the depression of staring into the void
had overwhelmed them.
Both sat there for a time staring as the deafening stillness of the void cast a blanket of
existential dread over everything, and with no more words to say both friends leaned into
one another with a warm embrace trying to choke down the inevitable tears…
The hug was long and warm, the two locked together as if it were their last meeting…
Masky’s arms wrapped fully around the small hilt, and Elizabeth welcomed their embraced,
as she sat in the arms of her faithful friend the hilt slowly began to smile...
She wished it could last forever… It was so… Cold…
“Are you okay! Are you, crying!?” Cereza said.
Snapped back to reality Masky shook as they looked down at their gloved hands, then
raising said hands to touch the mask that had donned their face for their entire life…
Damp… a river of salty tears had begun to trail down the mask and fall to the grassy
forest floor below.
As they continued to feel around their face, they noticed a large, very noticeable crack
had formed at the circumference of the mask and it had stretched down the front of the
mask, like a spider with jagged edges for legs.
Cereza noticed the masked figure touching their face and kindly bent down to aid them,
“Hey, are… you alright, do you need some water, or somethin’… there’s a lake right over
there,” she said as she brought attention to the body of water that extended behind the
duo.
Masky nodded their head cautiously and slowly stumbled towards the miniature dock at
the bay of the lake.
After staggering to the edge of the water, they collapsed to the ground and stared into
the reflection that now showed the Masked Kids visage.
Masky’s stomach turned as they saw what had become of themselves, the cracks were worse
then they had felt, crawling up their face it had made the once pristine mask
unrecognizable, to make matters even worse one of their horns was also missing.
Cereza slowly crept up to the panicking masked being and spoke, “I noticed that your
mask was all banged up, and your clothes… not looking too good either…”
Masky sprung up at the response and looked down at their old clothes, it was a mess.
A torn patch here, a loose string there, and worst of all, their hood was unusable!
“!!!” Masky jumped around as they continued to examine their body for injuries.
Looking around their clothes for more areas of damage, the Masked Kid noticed something
that made their heart sink like a stone…
The pocket, the one where they kept… her… it was ripped to shreds, with no Elizabeth in
sight.
Masky’s expression practically melted at the revelation.
“What… did you lose something… are…” Cereza stuttered in confusion as Masky’s one again
slumped down to the floor in hopelessness
Everything the two had been together… all the battles, the adventures, the void, and she
was just gone.
The promise too, the one made in the void… that no matter how terrible things could get,
at least they had each other, and now that promise was nothing more than a passing
memory.
Without her, Masky felt an aura of loneliness and dread set in… trapped once again, alone
just like their time in the Stitched Army before she arrived.
Masky could already feel sorrow fill their lungs and it was as if the world was
physically closing around them…
Cereza acted fast, as it was clear that this wasn’t going to be a passing breakdown.
With tears already forming around the beings mask she picked up her new acquaintance,
and led them away from the dock.
“You need some air…” Cereza said as she sat them down on a nearby stump.
Masky didn’t even attempt to resist, let alone hear what ‘Cereza’ was saying.
As they just sat there staring, totally defeated…
A minute later, Cereza had brought the masked being some water out of a bottle she
kept with the picnic equipment that she had brought.
“You probably need this…” Cereza said somberly as she extended out her arm to give the
bottle to the Masked Kid.
She kept it there for a while, waiting for a response, or simply any action out of the
devastated being.
After what seemed like an eternity, and with her arm about to give out, the Masked being
grabbed the little bottle from her hands.
With a gusto only comparable to the driest of plants, the Kid gulped down the water with
haste.
The masked being then extended their hand out to return the now empty bottle.
“I just want to help; do you know anyone here kid, is there anyone I can take you too?”
Cereza asked as she returned the bottle to a picnic basket.
If only… Masky wasn’t sure if they were the only one in this place who knew of their
existence, and with the… disappearance of Ellie, where they truly alone.
Suddenly, something called out to them… whether it be Fate or their urge to explore
the unknown, Masky was suddenly drawn to enter a small path in the forest.
Slowly rising from the stump seat, the Masked Kid slowly headed towards the center of
the forest.
“HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GOING!” Cereza called out as she turned around from packing up
her laid out equipment.
Masky barely heard her objections as they wiped their still damp Mask, full of cracks and sorrow, and continued to run.
Slowing down eventually and coming to a complete stop Cereza returned to the crater,
where she had first found this strange being that was now giving her the slip!
“Did they just up and leave… hmm, what a strange, oh?” Cereza questioned to herself as
She noticed that she knocked her foot up against something.
“no…” Cereza heard a small voice cracked up with sorrow below her.
“i.., i can’t, not… again… i can’t…” The voice continued as Cereza moved her gaze down to her
feet to see…
A curled-up ball? A curled-up ball of the Masked Being!?
“Wh- what happened!?” Cereza asked as she stared with concern down at the Masked Kid.
As she got a closer look, she noticed that the Kid was clutching something tightly…
It was… a sword?
‘More like a sword hilt, where’s the blade?’ Cereza thought to herself as she stared at the
pool of misery that now was this poor kid.
The sword hilt was very angular in design, and a teal-ish color made up most of its surface
with three strange red-ish engravings on the “Face” of the ancient-looking hilt…
It would seem as though the sword was in a poor state with various technological bits and
pieces spilling from the hilt’s chassis.
Cereza sighed as she slowly moved down to comfort the Kid…
She looked to the Being with nothing but the greatest sense of pity, as they continue to
cry, if only there was some way to help this poor Kid.
Suddenly, images of the strange tech came flashing in her memory, had she seen these
symbols before… YES OF COURSE!
Cereza brighten up quickly as she sat up the still sobbing Kid saying, “Alright, kid,
I might not know much about your sword problem, but I know someone who might!”
Masky slowly came up from their emotional pit… a bit of hope had shown itself to
them, it felt strange after so long.
Cereza could see the Kid perk up a bit, seeing the happiness on their face after so much
suffering warmed her heart, but it was time to keep her promise!
"There’s a buddy I got, real talented engineer, he can fix up that strange artifact
you got, then we can take the hilt to a blacksmith or somethin’ and fix it up to your liking.”
Cereza continued, grabbing the Masked Kid’s hand as she led them back to the lake.
Masky stared at Cereza completely puzzled, wondering why even though this
Cereza didn’t know them in the slightest she would go through so much trouble just to
make them happy.
It made the Kid smile a bit as they were dragged along behind the perky and hopeful
Princess.
Cereza led them back to her Picnic site that had now been packed up into a rather large backpack.
Quickly skimming through the pack, the Princess returned to the Masked Kid with a
small satchel.
“Here for your sword, don’t want you losing an important piece!” Cereza said as Masky
grabbed the satchel and somberly filled the sack with the parts of their broken friend…
Holding it close to their chest Masky turned back to Cereza with a grateful smile.
“Heh… you look happy, now we just need to take the road over to Sprout Town, a large
village near Walnut Castle itself!” Cereza said pridefully.
“???” Masky turned their broken mask in a puzzled manner… what, Walnut Castle?
“Man, you really must not get out much…” Cereza continued to chuckle to herself before
suddenly stopping as she was grabbing her large backpack.
“Wait,” she stumbled as she moved closer to Masky, “You’re a monster, right?” Cereza
questioned, pointing her index finger directly at the Masked Kid.
Masky looked both directions before returning their gaze at Cereza and pointing their
index finger at themselves, “????” they stared as Cereza scoffed and turned around.
“Well I don’t know what you are, but the people at Sprout Town might not like their
princess hanging out with a creepy mask guy, Monster or not!” Cereza exclaimed as
she scavenged through the oversized back.
Masky took a bit of offense by her harsh words but kept it to themselves as they
continued to watch Cereza move about and dig through her overabundance of supplies.
“Oh, why must my Father make me take such junk when I travel… Ah, here we go!” Cereza
said to herself as she finally turned around to unveil…
A large floral Sunhat, along with a matching floral cloak!
“!!!!” Masky staggered backward with their hands on their head.
“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad, it will let us get through anywhere in the Walnut Kingdom
without suspicion, and it would cover those tattered looking clothes,” Cereza explained to a
shocked Masky, “Also it would make you look less evil…” Cereza muttered to herself.
Masky stared at the garb, then back at the Princess, with her continuing to raise the
clothing forward towards them with a slight raise of her eyebrow.
“…” Masky silently stared before they, begrudgingly, swiped the garb from the Princess
and dawned the floral apparel!
Standing a bit sheepishly, the short Masked Kid stood as tall as they could while the
sunhat covered most of their eyesight, with one horn sticking out the front, while the pastel
flowery cloak with its mix of greens and blues covered the normal uniform of the Stitched
Army, while being a bit too big around their ankles.
“See doesn’t that look nice…” Cereza chuckled.
Masky slowly and silently walked with Cereza as she finished packing her large backpack
and with that, the duo began to make their way out of the forest.
While on their walk towards Sprout Town, despite Cereza’s constant questions about
where they were from, how they got here, and are you a boy or a girl Masky ignored them
as they were lost in their thoughts about Elizabeth…
“So… uh I guess I’ll just call you Kid?” Cereza continued to ask the duo neared a small cave
entrance.
“…” This comment made Masky think back to when Elizabeth first called them by that
nickname and what she said about Fate.
The thoughts also made the Masked Kid clutch the satchel with fervor like nothing the kid has ever felt before, they determined to make it home one day, with Elizabeth too!
Back home to their dimension, to the Real Cereza, Back to their apartment, back to all
their friends… and yes even back to Mr. Stitches…
Masky let these thoughts of hope wash over them as the two made their way inside the
small dimly lit cavern with a wooden sign pointing them inside with the words,
“Sprout Town.”