Chapter Text
Yumiko was dreading this meeting. As he does for every meeting he has with the Headmage. Although this time around he could at least assume what it would be about, considering there was an important social being hosted by Night Raven at the end of the month.
According to Cater it was called 'Harmony Gala' and was entirely up his alley, since it was all about the ambient magic energy that surrounds music. He supposed it made sense, with the way that he could turn songs from his homeworld into hymnals that work similarly to casting spells.
With a sigh, Yumiko opens the doors to Crowley's office, "Avis Mala? I'm here."
"Yuu dear! Welcome," He flaunts and Yumiko already wishes he was anywhere but here, "As your magnanimous headmaster, I decided that I would grace you with the fantastical job that is to create a performance for the finale of the upcoming Harmony Gala, something that Twisted Wonderland has never experienced before, hm?"
Oh.
Oh. Crowley was giving him free reign. Which usually meant that some higher up pissed him off.
Yumiko gave the headmage a sly grin, "And do I have any sort of restrictions, headmaster?"
The twinkle in the corvid's eyes was telling, "Why, I don't recall receiving any sort of guidelines that you must follow. But I am oh so very busy with my job, that it may have just slipped my mind!"
For all of Crowley's incompetence when it comes to actually running the school, Yumiko acknowledges how seriously he takes campus safety. He's felt the strength of their campus barrier, and the elf doesn't think many others would be very capable of the constant care and maintenance that the man puts in.
"Well, headmage," Yumiko giggled menacingly, "I suppose I will just have to go beyond what anyone expects of me for this performance. How long until the social?"
"Of course, of course!" Crowley chirped, preening at the idea of mischief, "The social itself will take place on the 30th of the month, so you have twenty eight days to pull everything together."
Yumiko nodded, a performance in just four weeks. He can pull something off with a musical from back on Earth. The gramophone in Ramshackle was going to get quite a bit of use soon.
Yumiko crossed off April 3rd from the calendar. He spent the entire day trying to decide which musical to perform and ultimately decided to use one that would cause Crowley to regret giving him free reign.
After all, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals isn't exactly child friendly.
Though, Crowley did imply that he wanted the most amount of chaos possible. He probably assumed that Earth performances were of a similar genre to the Twisted Wonderland performances.
Yumiko thinks of Heathers, Be More Chill, Starkid musicals, Dis-topia, Epic and perhaps even more that he cannot think of at this moment. He assumes that none of them are stories that would be normal in this world.
Which is why Yumiko is going to perform one of them. Specifically the one about an alien apocalypse with a bad ending.
The best part is that he's already figured out exactly who to cast as the characters. And he supposes that they would also be decent at quick costume changes with the use of magic.
[ amaranthcook ]
hey gang i know its four in the morning on april fourth but
it is incredibly important that the people i have added to
this group chat head to ramshackle because avis mala has
given me freedom to horrify society and you are the ones i
have chosen to assist me in terrifying this world because
none of you will be able to stop me.
The elf nodded at that, sending the message and waiting patiently for them to all show up.
Ace and Sebek were the first to arrive, with Riddle, Trey, Cater, Lilia and Silver all in tow behind them. The two freshman looked ready to kill Yumiko.
"Yuujin, I don't want to know what's happening. But also what the fuck." Ace blurts and Yumiko just gives a maniacal grin.
"Okay hang on, Venatio, Formosus, Rex Leonum and Serpens still aren't here." The edge to his voice gives away how much fun he's having with this.
"What the fuck herbivore," Leona grumbled as he walked into Ramshackle with the remaining three, "It's too fucking early for this shit."
Yumiko nods, "While yes, that is true, we have exactly twenty seven days to get you all ready to perform on stage. I hope you are all ready to be terrified by the things that Earth comes up with."
Vil blinks in astonishment, "And what exactly do you have planned?"
"I am so glad you asked," Yumiko snickers as he holds up the script that he managed to pull together. Thankful for the way that he was able to pull on his memories using the leylines.
With a smirk, "So. I'm expecting several problems when you all try to read from the script, I do not care enough and if this performance fails then you will receive the silent treatment from me."
It's silent for a few moments before he pipes up again.
"Also you will find yourself without your left shoes. All of them will be gone."
That got the group of them moving, knowing that Yumiko wasn't joking.
He had done that to Epel once because the Pomefiore freshman had moved something in Ramshackle that Yumiko needed.
Vil had grimaced when he brought the clothes that Yumiko requested. The idea that any of them would be wearing these was not doing the Pomefiore Housewarden any favours.
Unfortunately for him, Yumiko does not care.
This goes the same for Silver and Riddle trying to get him to recast their roles.
It does not work.
"Prefect, please." Riddle pleads, for the seventeenth time since they had received the scripts seven days ago.
"No."
Silver groans, "Why not?"
"Because nothing is funnier than the two of you cussing like sailors in front of a crowd."
Leona had snorted at that as he listened to his backing music from the corner, "The herbivore has a point."
"Kee hee hee~ Yumichan does have a point!" Lilia giggles, being absolutely no help whatsoever to his own son.
"See, the old people get me. You two are going to play Paul and Emma, and you are going to play them well."
The ginger Heartslabyul freshman sighs as he exits the kitchen with a bowl of soup, "Honestly, once Yuujin gets like this, you aren't going to change his mind."
Yumiko nods in agreement, "True. I could've had the first years perform Ride The Cyclone which would have had similar reactions to us putting on this musical."
Sebek faltered from where he was delicately putting together a chair for some reason, "I don't think I want to know what that one is about."
"Good choice," Yumiko snickers, "It's like if you took the song that Mr. Davidson sings after the meteor hits and divided it by six teenagers with no filter."
The sound of Jamil fake gagging brings out a laugh from the entire team.
"I want to know why Lilia is playing the psychotic professor, what were you thinking for that one?" Trey hummed as he, Jamil and Yumiko worked to make dinner on April 15th.
Silver perked up from his seat at the, completely out of place and newly bought, table, "I was wondering that as well. Especially considering you casted me as Emma and I want to know which came first."
"Ah, yeah," Yumiko shrugged at the group, "Honestly Emma and Paul were the easiest to cast. Sam, Ted and Charlotte were also easy simply because those three would be able to pull off acting that weird love story. For Hidgens I just kind of wondered to myself who would have the easiest time playing an old man. Then I realized we have one on campus, Vespertilio. After that I realized how funny Show Stoppin' Number is when you consider that you two are father and son."
Rook chuckled, "C'est tout à votre honneur, Monsieur Trickster!"
Yumiko nodded, "How glorious of me indeed, Rook."
"Oh, yes. I forgot that you speak the language of Fleur City." Vil murmured and Yumiko just simply shrugged at that.
"French, that's what is was called back home, was the second language of the country I lived in. So I can understand the language, but I cannot speak it."
Leona, from his spot on the couch grumbled loudly, "Why do I have to smile so much by the way?"
"Creepy factor. Also think about how terrifying it is to see Savanaclaw's dorm leader grinning like a loon while holding a gun." Yumiko answered simply, a sly grin on his face as he tries to add wine to the meal, only for Jamil to swipe it and plant it on one of the highest shelves using magic.
The elf pouts, "Fine. Anyway I casted Venatio as Mr. Davidson for the reason that.... I genuinely couldn't come up with someone who would be able to sing his song without breaking character, and he's the only person I know that would be capable of saying the sentence 'I want you to choke me while I jerk off' and stay in character on stage."
With a quick glance at Vil to get his attention, he spoke again, "Formosus, you and Serpens are going to have the most costume changes and will technically play multiple characters since I can trust you both to actually manage that responsibility."
Cater yelped at something, bringing the attention to him as he held up the script, "Hey-hey! Did anyone else notice the technical sex scene between Vil and I because... Dunno 'bout you, but I'm not entirely sure I can pull that off..."
"Ah. That," Yumiko paused for a moment, "We can turn that into just making out instead, have the two of you stand behind Rex Leonum instead of center stage so that one of you can block the audiences view and just stare awkwardly into each others eyes while pretending to make out."
A pensive look takes over Vil's face, "Yes actually, that could work better than the original. Especially since people will already be criticizing the fact that it's got a bad ending."
"Well," Jamil chuckles, "It's not technically a bad ending. It's more ambiguous on whether or not the alien species continues to take over the world or if it simply contents itself with infecting the one guy in Hatchetfield that doesn't like musicals. As well as achieving a new host that by all accounts should have had the willpower to resist."
Sebek hums lightly, studying the script intensely, "Speaking of Leona-senpai smiling maniacally, Vil-senpai does the same in their following musical number Join Us And Die, don't they?"
"Yeah, honestly I get to have fun with Vil-senpai and Jamil-senpai after Alice sings her song, speaking of that we should probably start practicing that part, right? It'll take some practice to actually say our lines in sync."
April 21st was Yumiko's favourite day of rehearsals.
Simply because it was the first of three days dedicated to Silver and Riddle practicing their lines.
"I will never be in a..." Riddle muttered the curse under his breath, "musical."
Leona yawned and Lilia cackled, "Oh come now, Petal! This is going to be the simplest line that you could start with!"
Riddle flustered and bristled, "It-! It's unbecoming of someone in my standing!"
"Yeah, yeah, Red. I'm a prince and I curse often. Besides, think about it. The headmage gave Yumiko full creative liberty with this, his mistake and this is the best way to remind him that the herbivore needs guidelines otherwise he'll pull shit like this without blinking whatsoever." Leona shrugged, earning quiet grumbles from the red haired housewarden.
"Fine. I will never be in a fucking musical." Riddle blurted out, almost unintelligible with how fast he said it.
Ace startled, "Holy shit, Housewarden actually did it. We got this!"
April 27th was their first dress rehearsal, in full costume and with Ortho supplying music.
It seemed that the Ignihyde student had been worried and hacked Yumiko's phone to figure out that the group was working on something. Right now they were about to finally attempt Show Stoppin' Number with Lilia in full character.
"Alexa, initiate self-destruct!" Lilia told the small device mournfully, as both Silver and Cater sat in chairs a few feet away, giving the third year weird looks.
"I don't think it can do that Father-- Professor." Silver complained and Yumiko noted that slip down, something that Vil did as well from his spot backstage.
Lilia turned back to look at the device with a disappointed glare, "It is 2018 and it cannot even blow itself up? Fucking piece of shit!" And the ancient war general threw the device with far too much strength.
The group collectively paused as they stared at the new hole in Ramshackle's wall. Admittedly, Yumiko should have hosted this on the stage they were going to perform on but Ramshackle had a perfectly sized room in its basement that they could use before then.
"Okay, so. Vespertilio. Too much strength. Maybe just lightly toss it instead." Yumiko sighed and Lilia giggled, embarrassed as he hopped over to the hole and grabbed the device.
Thankfully, Vil had decided to use a rock instead of the actual device.
"Note to selves, Lilia tone your strength down by a lot. Otherwise things will go wrong."
The evening of April 28th was spent practicing falling. Which meant that Jamil, Yumiko, Ace, Lilia, Ortho, Rook and Sebek got to watch as Leona, Riddle, Silver, Vil, Cater and Trey quite literally spent an hour falling onto a mat until Rook was satisfied by their ability to drop dead at the sound of a gunshot.
Ace snickered as Leona went boneless for the fifth time, earning Rook's ire, "Where's Grim been by the way? I haven't seen him at all during these last few weeks."
"Ligo, Malum and Lupus have been taking care of him whenever Lampyris can't handle Feles Mea anymore."
"Ah that checks out."
April 29th was spent practicing on the stage, with breaks, food supplied by Azul and his tweels. Yumiko met them at the entrance and brought the food in.
The first and second dress rehearsals on the stage were awkward and hesitant, everyone aware of their prefect sitting in the audience with Ortho and three Cater clones.
He claimed it was, "to help get everyone to remember that they would perform this live."
It worked after they had lunch. Silver and Riddle had gotten more confident in their roles, neither of them fumbling with their lines. Vil had gotten his costume changes down to only taking seconds, and somehow he was able to change his makeup as well as his clothes.
Yumiko was thoroughly impressed.
Jamil didn't need to practice using his magic for his costume change, he used his magic to swiftly change his hair style and makeup while he changed outfits. Lilia was having the time of his life playing Professor Hidgens, not to mention he was completely on top of his songs by now.
Leona, Cater and Vil managed to get through their scenes with no problems, except for how they fumbled the make out scene between Charlotte and Ted. During lunch Leona and Vil had dragged the ginger off and when they came back afterwards, Cater was a lot more confident in his performance.
Ace and Trey were surprisingly solid in their performance. Ace's only struggle was speaking in unison with Jamil and Vil.
Rook on the other hand, he took his assignment and got full marks for effort. Yumiko was concerned but did not regret choosing the hunter for his role. Sebek, meanwhile, had heard that Malleus was going to be watching the performance and nearly forgot how to coordinate himself during their first dress rehearsal.
Nonetheless. Yumiko thinks that his friends have got this. Hopefully.
Probably.
It will at least have the desired reaction that he's looking for.
Azul huffed as he made his way to his assigned seat, wondering what exactly the prefect had planned. They didn't even give a single hint during the last four weeks! And Azul had tried to get information from the group that was working on the performance, yet not a single one of them cracked.
He was reluctantly impressed. Reluctantly because he wasn't trying very hard to gain information, mostly just acting to keep the rest of them from burning out while they practiced. It would be terrible if the cast was unable to perform their musical to their fullest because they spent too much energy working on the project.
The octomer quickly found his spot next to Deuce, Malleus already sitting behind them. He blinked at the sight of the two of them without the rest of their dorm group.
"I take it everyone that you two would have sat with are in the performance?" Azul murmured and Malleus nodded.
"Yeah," Deuce grumbled, "I didn't even know that Yuujin was working on anything. But Jack and Epel were in the same boat as me. We just thought that Grim was grounded or that Ramshackle was undergoing more renovations."
"Ah, well, my treasure assured me that I would get an invite to this, since my retainers are all participating. And Shroud has the seat right next to me as a way for him to stay hidden from sight."
"Oh! You guys are here already!" A voice called and Azul blinked at the sight of Kalim Al-Asim on his own.
Actually no, now that Azul looks closer, Grim is on his shoulder and Idia is right behind the boy.
"Yes, we are, I believe that you are seated next to me Kalim." Azul chuckles and the merchant heir nods, taking his seat as Idia practically teleports next to Malleus, at some point the Ignihyde housewarden had gained custody of the small Ramshackle resident.
"Ah knew we were gon' be late. Oi, you can't jus- Grab those! Floyd-senpai!" Epel Felmier scowled, grappling with the giggling eel mer, while Jade and Jack just started handing out drinks and buckets of popcorn for everyone.
Ruggie, in a show of acrobatics that Azul didn't know he had, vaulted over the chairs in front of the group and took his seat on the other side of Malleus.
"So, what do you think we'll see?" Kalim asked, stars already in his eyes.
"Eh," Ruggie shrugged, "Probably something weird, I heard Leona-san complaining about Yumi's sanity earlier this month."
Azul gave a crisp nod, "Quite. When the twins and I delivered them lunch and dinner yesterday, the song that we heard was quite... Strange."
With a giggle, Floyd sat up, "Shrimpy's show is gonna be awesome!"
"Mmm, yes," Jade agreed solemnly, "I do believe it will be something quite unique."
"Hey hey~ Can you guys make sure this camera is recording the whole performance?" Cater asked, looking suspiciously normal.
It took a full three seconds of processing before anyone even responded, "Cater-senpai!?" Deuce yelped, leaning just over Azul to make sure the camera was positioned to capture the whole stage.
"Yup yup, well. Almost! There are two more of me in the crowd also recording because Yuyu-kun wanted different angles of the show! I would hang around here but since you all are here, it makes more sense to just ask you to keep an eye on it!" Cater giggled just as he burst into cards, showing off that he was a clone.
"Azul-senpai, would you mind switching spots with me? It'll be easier to catch any errors with the camera without having to lean over you all the time..."
Azul shook his head, a small smile on his face, "No worries Deuce, I don't mind at all."
"Thanks!"
"Ah," Malleus started, grabbing their attention, "I do believe it is starting now."
As he said that, the lights dimmed and the music started.