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Description

Along a neighboring cliffside of the Shepherd’s camp, marched but one soldier on a self imposed mission: Severa. This was the result of yet another quarrel she had with the group’s tactician, Robin. She was disgusted by just how defensively he played, making any progress on surveying the lands around them, put lightly, agonizingly slow. With each step onto new territory she took, she grumbled aloud just a little bit more.

“Grr...I already told him that scoping out ahead every last menial step is a stupid waste of time! We could just send a few of our best men to trail through this but noooo, it's Robin's way or the highway!”

Severa punted a rock by her ironclad boots, but immediately tensed up just a little. She openly complained as freely as she did under the belief that she was alone in this territory. Severa quickly drowned out her complaining when she suspected a presence in the vicinity. Something approaching her path from the sides. Perking out of the bushes as if they were there the entire time, a jester of all things crawled out of the shrubbery and dusted off his suit.

He had a reversed symmetrical design of faded red and pine green stripes, tied together with a white base. Pointed, elf-like shoes, along with a once again inconsistent mixmatch of red and green gloves, both fastened to the hand with the alternate arm’s color. The jester wasn’t brimming with a rambunctious overflow of kookiness, yet by the disoriented yet disgusted glare Severa leered at him upon his entrance, a sense of suave coolness was an impossibility. He casually glanced back at the knight and shrugged.

“It appears you seem quite dissatisfied with those bands of Shepherds…Perhaps a more...whimsical opportunity would be in your best interests?”

Severa didn’t retreat in the slightest. With no explanation to the ridiculously dressed man before her, she knew this was either an insult or a challenge: neither of which being things she’d respond rather pleasantly to.

“You think I'm some kind of clown, is that it?! Go away! Don't you have some kind of crying kid's birthday party to go to?”

“I mean, I typically do funerals…”

Not humoring the humorer, Severa sharply cut him off: “Well as you can see, I am still alive and kicking! No service needed! Thank you! Goodbye!!”

The jester shrugged once more and slightly paced around, as if preparing to tell her bad news. “Well you see...that would be where my problem comes in. My name? Ventrilquo! I got a bounty for a Shepherd and I can tell by the way they were talking to me that they weren’t exactly talking about a sheep herder. I was making my way down the neighborhood and I couldn’t help but notice a lone knight–unaccompanied–who just so happened to drop the "R" name they seemed so enraged to utter: ‘Robin?’”

If Severa didn’t have the patience for safe navigation through unknown territory, she certainly didn’t have any restraint for some silly buffoon openly threatening her in broad daylight. She didn’t even think to use one of her formal weapons: her only priority was soaring her fist directly into the figure’s face. Soar it did, as the clean shot to the face disoriented Ventrilquo, leaving the jester to readjust his cap before being tackled to the ground. Severa drew her bow to aim directly at the tip of his neck, taking advantage of her stance over him.

“Show’s over, pal!”

“Au contraire…the show has just begun!”

With the little reach he had, he exploited a slight of hand to produce a lone pink balloon between his fingertips, stretching to connect it to the point of the arrow locked in position to skewer his neck with the slightest twitch of her finger. Whether of misplaced mercy or of pure bafflement, Severa failed to strike in time for the balloon to burst. The prop, designed as any other balloon in almost every way perceivable, gave a much different reaction to being popped. An average rubber balloon would create a harsh sound and little else as the remains of plastic would scatter to the floor. The one designed by Ventrilquo as the puncture finally touched released an extreme sound and burst of light to rival a modern day’s stun grenade. Severa flinched, guarding to brace herself from the sheer impact of it all, but she was too bewildered. The figure walloped her stomach, sweeping her straight to the ground. By the time she could recollect her senses, the tables were turned.

“I got you on the ropes, don’t I?”

As Severa struggled to get back up on her feet, Ventrilquo took the advantageous turnout to retrieve a strange purple leaf from underneath his left handed glove. He crumpled it and slathered the residue between his hands like a fine sanitizer. The knight was now back on her feet, but it was too late for her.

“But now… it's time to get the ropes on you!”

The jester dramatically stepped one pace ahead and clapped with the full reach of his arms as if he were crashing symbols together. A large gust of magic smoke enveloped her in an instant.
Severa’s transformation was as sudden as if Ventrilquo was replacing his assistant with a wooden decoy. This, however, was no fake: Severa was just as tall a wooden puppet as she was a human just moments before. As if she were slain, the marionette clattered to the ground, with the alarmed knight voicing exclamations through a muffled face headfirst in the grass. Ventrilquo grabbed her oversized crossbar the size and length of two whole blades merged in the middle and spun the air with his other hand, twiddling his finger like a tornado as the bar began to rise, until Severa was back on her feet, her legs barely scraping the ground.

“What the?! What IS THIS?!”

Ventrilquo answered her in the way he best saw fit: by spinning around and striking a jazz-handed pose.

“Your new life! See what I was doing, with the whole offer I led with and all this? Yeah, this was a set up. Bounty with your head, I actually did lie earlier, I do have a birthday to cater to, cross off a few things off my list at once. Bada bam, presto, knight’s defeat and a little girl’s birthday saved, all at once. Efficiency!”

“I SWEAR on the goddesses almighty, when I get my hands on you!!!!”

Ventrilquo swiftly turned around and pretended to be taunted, as if his very dignity as a performer was being challenged.

“Oh, oh! You want to fight? Well put 'em up then, lady!”

Ventrilquo hopped from foot to foot ducking around, as Severa only moved through the slow, telegraphed punches the spell above her made her perform. As she clunkily threw left jab, right jab, left jab, right jab, Ventrilquo found new ways to evade pain: turning around, playing a fake game of peek-a-boo, and even limboing past her final swing.

“My turn!!”

He snapped his fingers, and Severa’s limp arm immediately lunged to clock her own forehead. Her legs began moving on their own, fantastically reaching as far as they could go in front of her until her crossbar flailed around to make her trip, forcefully seating her on the ground. Ventrilquo clapped, struck a pose on a pointed toe, and immediately Severa shot back up on her feet, resuming and repeating the kick themed song and dance until Ventrilquo had his fun.

“Well, it’s nigh time we showed you to these higher ups of ours, hmm?”

Severa was utterly enraged, but there was nothing she could do. She could almost feel her arms start to motion how she’d expect, but then they would disobey wildly. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t punch or kick or draw her bow by her own wishes anymore, and she couldn’t throttle the man responsible for this even when he was in an arm’s grasp of reach.

“Y-you won’t get away with this! YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS!!!!”

Over the horizon of the Shepherd’s camp, two gentlemen heard the faint scream in the distance. It was certainly faint, but it certainly belonged to Severa. The ears of Chrom and Robin picked up on it instantaneously, and readied them for immediate action.

Robin readjusted his cloak and guiltily fidgeted with his hands as the two picked up the pace.

“Oh no…she didn’t storm off after our talk, did she?”

He’d continue to ponder it further had it not been for the confident slap on the back shoulder Chrom gave him, signaling “Act now, think later”. The two ran as fast as they could toward the mountainside where her voice echoed past the valley…

"Well, that was easy!" The jester shrugged with a spring in his step. With the red haired knight nothing more than a loose jointed effigy, he prepared to make his leave with Severa in tow. Just as his pointed rubbery shoe made the first step post success, Chrom and Robin were both close behind, stepping to the scene. Ventrilquo turned to notice his two newest opponents and threw a snap across his body.

"Doh, I shoulda kept my mouth shut. Then again, I'll leave that much to the mimes!"

Chrom was so engrossed at the threat before him, he didn’t take the time to fully evaluate the situation.

“What did you do to Sever-!!”

Chrom was almost startled to see what Robin was pointing to: their colleague, robbed of flesh and blood in favor of wood, made to shake like a tassel in the wind through the strings suspending her, held by a magical wooden rod whimsically dancing in the air. He unsheathed his blade and was quick to point it right at the direction of the mysterious fool, giving no sign of backing down, despite the strange circumstances. Swift, to the point: “Release her!”.

Chrom hoped that, although no stranger to violence, this encounter could at least be entertained as one that could be settled rationally. To his and Robin’s surprise, the marionette’s captor displayed a visible yet exaggerated expression of consideration.

"Well...because she was so simple to best in battle…” Ventrilquo jokingly winced, pausing his monologue to wait for Severa to stop shouting exclamations in retaliation. He flicked his hand, and her crossbar magically jerked in compliance. The yanking of Severa’s strings startled her enough to silence her speaking.

“This bounty on any old Shepherd may as well have been Monopoly money! I'm telling you, whoever wants you gone clearly doesn't want you gone enough! If I let her go, it'd only take a few shows overtime to make up the deficit. I've had my fun...but I'm always down for more. How about…hm…hmm…”

Ventrilquo expressively put his hand over his forehead and pretended to “zoom in” to the weapons wielded before him: the legendary Falchion in one knight’s hand, and a book of potent spells in another’s. After analyzing them, the jester clapped.

“A battle! A plain ol’ duel…and the winner keeps the carney! That’s not too unreasonable, izzit?”

Chrom immediately turned to Robin on his analysis, forfeiting his opinion on the duel. He trusted Robin to scope out the situation before them to see if they were no less puppets than Severa was in the opponent’s twisted game.

Robin confidently prepared a question, as if submitting a solution to a riddle. “Any caveats?”.

The clown put his gloved hands outright and passionately gave an honest answer “Well...if I win, I'll expect or at least hope you'll gift me with a gratuity for this double-or-nothing...three Bullion? You know, the medium ones. Not too big, not too small?”

The tactician could almost smell a deceitful undertone that the fool refused to provide, and grew both a little more angry and anxious.

“Three Bullion? No other…I take it, more sinister intention behind us reimbursing you?”

The jester, hearing the mage’s exploration of possibilities, prepared the cruelest face and mannerisms he could feign.

“Oh, aaaaaaand…you two will also be cast in my grueling, most tortuous marionette show…for all of eternity!!!!!!! HAH-hahahaha—-”

Like a light switch being flipped, the jester snapped to his regular demeanor. Observing Robin and Chrom’s slight stance backwards and Severa’s bewilderment, he resumed a more simple laughter.

“Or, I would say something tacky like that, if...you didn’t have the three Bullion. Not to insult your wooden friend here, but she’s worth much more than three Bullion to you, right? I mean if she wasn’t, I’d run off with her for her own good! You make at least that every week or so…right?”

Robin peered to Chrom, who gave a light granting of permission. He prepared his metaphorical chips to push in by retrieving the items from his inventory and placing them in the magician's hand, who proceeded to walk to the side of the sentient puppet. Ventrilquo extended his fist and raised his front finger, having Severa's strings orchestrate her into preparing to hold the bounty, as she grimaced with belittlement.

"So I'm just some… some accessory to your little bet?!"

Ventrilquo turned to his new sharp-tongued show-stopper and pouted, hands to his hips as he cocked his head to a slight side, a sound jingling with every movement.

"Well, there has to be some reason to accept your knights-in-shining-armor's duel. I could say "”Mwah- hah- hah, your little friend's my puppet and there's nothing you can do about it"”, but that's just plain unsportsmanlike, and, dare I say… boring. If I'm to challenge these gentlemen and end up winning, that's time I could've spent on a commission...Poof! Departo! I mean I get what my backers were implying for, underpaying me in exchange for keeping a new attraction...!".

Ventrilquo approached Severa and lightly flicked the tip of her wooden nose, not commenting on the slight pain he felt of its unexpected jaggedness.

“But I doubt the Anna in charge of the produce stands take puppet shows as a fair currency. Now then! You two fine, fine contestants. I trust you'll keep this a fair match, just as I will? I'm violating enough rules of Clown Code as is, but I don't want any confusion between a chaotic match and an unfair match. No low blows, no cheap shots, nothing that'll sully the good name of entertainment or war! Now, do we have a challenge?”.

A silent, determined stare from the two Shepherds was all he needed. He bowed his head out of honor, the bells atop his hat rustling with unharmonized chimes.

"Splendid. On your mark, gentlemen!"

Robin and Chrom were quick to respond with their initial attacks, but it proved a fruitless endeavor. Ventrilquo was playing defensively, performing handstanding flips away from the brisk slashes of the Falchion, and backflipping over each jolt of electricity Robin cast his way as if they were acrobatic hurdles. With a grandiose concluding bow, Severa's hands began to clank together, simulating a puppeteered applause.

The two knew they had to brace themselves, as the clown was much too nimble to repeatedly attack with not even a touch landed upon him so far. Out of reach of melee attacks, Ventrilquo pulled something from an imaginary shirt pocket that was invisible to the blind eye: a lone rose. He wielded it like a pointer, visibly choosing who to target in an overacted manner, then tossed it into the air, and striking a pose leading in its direction. With a puff of smoke, the flower had vanished entirely, in its place, a bowling pin falling to the jester. He caught it, twirled on a tiptoe, and lobbed it straight at Chrom's forehead.

Ventrilquo took two more pins from his deceivingly small pockets, one from each side, and met Robin’'s eyes. The magician smiled and gave them an underhanded toss by the mage’s feet. In an instant, both seemingly anticlimactic wooden pegs erupted into violently gashing pillars of flames. To minimize the damage, Robin slashed his hands outward with the spell of Forseti brimming at his fingertips, but the flames already took their initial toll: all the jester expected them to take. All the while, Ventrilquo prepared his next scheme by whipping out a long cloth, a multicolored banner meant to resemble a handkerchief much too long for practical use. He cracked it like a lash, then twirled it like a lasso, tossing the loop around Chrom’s neck like a ring toss game. Ventrilquo yanked the cord to collide Chrom’s face to the side of his elbow, then swung the suffocated swordsman before twistering the knight in Robin’s direction. Robin leaped over his adversary and blitzed toward the jester, as Chrom was swept away by the vortex of his own momentum. The jester took no falter from his position, only whisking away two balloons before him as Robin rapidly approached. Levin Sword in hand, Ventrilquo was in perfect position to be ruthlessly slashed by the electrifying blades tip, only one stroke across his face would be all it took to–

“DON’T LET THOSE POP!!!”

It was Severa’s voice. Startled, Robin gridded to a halt, trying to barely lift the sword not even inches away from one so much as graze the rubbery surface of the stun grenade in disguise. Robin turned to Severa as she continued to sway in stilted movements, furiously desperate for him to not repeat similar blunders.

“Severa, how do you advise I strike him, then?”

“I don’t know, Mr. I’m-so-smart-I’ll-shoot-down-Severa’s-ideas-for-no-reason, FIGURE IT OUT!”

Severa panted with a rage-ravished breath. She glared at Robin with a begrudging need of help. She was much too uncomposed in this state to articulate her discouragement, but Robin knew this was a now or never situation to sort out.

“Severa…is this about earlier?”

Severa’s wooden arms erratically swung above her head as she retorted exasperatedly. “Yes! Of course it is, you fool! You do all this smart talking at the meetings, and you snipe down any drafts that don’t match your vision!”

Robin resheathed his blade, diverted by guilt, and turned his full attention to his strung ally.

“Listen, I know that with the trust Chrom entrusts me with, I can appear…more privileged than the rest of the group. I meticulously plan these things so nobody gets wrapped up in fiascos that can be prevented. So that people like you don’t get hurt…”

Severa’s whole body shook with a lightly weighted lag, as she couldn’t freely cross her arms in her whittled state.

“Tch…”

Robin’s head tilted just a little to the side, not fully reading Severa’s expression. Until, that is, Severa continued:

“Y-you’re right. Just finish it already…”

Just from the side of their peripheral vision, as if being called out of reading a book or watching a show, Ventrilquo lightly shook his head in unsuspecting confusion.

“Huh–’It’? What is “it”—--”

The silent plan worked wonders, as Robin quickly cut his argument with Severa short to slash Ventrilquo while his guard was down, distracted by their stemming conversation from Severa’s seething remarks.

“Ow! H-hey! Ex-CUSE me for not interrupting you two’s moment!”

Ventrilquo managed to retreat back once more, but it was clear that Robin had seized a great opportunity: instead of pirouetting past each attack, the jester quickly shuffled gracelessly to a safer vantage point, clutching his slashed side. Chrom finally approached by Robin’s side, and whether through an unseen magic or extreme trust, they both have hatched a final gambit.

Robin gained distance from Chrom, then lunged at him with his arms out, clasping Chrom’s hands as he began to willingly spin once more. Chrom was preparing to throw his adversary like an Olympic hammer, and right when enough acceleration was gained, he released his hands. Robin careened straight at Ventrilquo, preparing the catapulted kick with the force of a cannonball.

WHAM!

The sheer impact knocked the clown right off his feet, comically walloped backwards as if hurled like a pile of cloth. Ventrilquo was down and out: evidenced by Severa’s pantomimed movements now slumped in a hunched state. On the rough terrain was the jester, all sprawled out on the grass speckled dirt in defeat. Before anything else, Chrom held the side of his head out of dizziness.

“Ergh… I don’t think I’ll be using an attack like that again anytime soon…Are you alright, Robin?”

Robin’s demeanor was nowhere near as ruffled as his cloak and hair, wrinkled from the unconventional cannoning. Instead, he signaled a positive sign to his comrade before looming over Ventrilquo as he sputtered his withdrawal.

“My, am I...entertained… Truly a...ridiculous...attack…”

His words were hurtful in a vacuum, but thoroughly genuine as the jester fought through a coughing fit to utter them. Robin, still stanced over him, was ready to coerce any information of the comic assailant he could, but in between even one slight moment of distraction, Ventrilquo had vanished from his defeated position he was crumpled in not even a second before. Appearing before Severa for a glimmer of a second, he clapped his hands with a sudden billowing of smoke.

"Nobody truly makes a fool of me, Sheperds! I'll be back! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoooooo!"

The ghastly smokescreen dissipated, with Ventrilquo nowhere to be seen. The only thing remaining past the faded mists was Severa, perfectly capable as a human once again.

Free of her hex, she instinctively dropped the three bars of gold onto the ground where she stood. Severa grumbled as she reached to pick them up. She was silently relieved to not hear the sound of wood bending as she retrieved them, but kept the comments to a minimum. Finally, she begrudgingly handed them to her heroes. She met both Chrom and Robin square in the eyes and gritted through her teeth.

"Not...a word. Capisce?!"

Only one word rose to the two, responding between weathered sighs in unison.

"...Capisce."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Really long request, finally paid off! Tried to incorporate a bit of Robin and Severa's C support in there.

Severa Marionette Puppet Transformation (SFW)

Description

Along a neighboring cliffside of the Shepherd’s camp, marched but one soldier on a self imposed mission: Severa. This was the result of yet another quarrel she had with the group’s tactician, Robin. She was disgusted by just how defensively he played, making any progress on surveying the lands around them, put lightly, agonizingly slow. With each step onto new territory she took, she grumbled aloud just a little bit more.

“Grr...I already told him that scoping out ahead every last menial step is a stupid waste of time! We could just send a few of our best men to trail through this but noooo, it's Robin's way or the highway!”

Severa punted a rock by her ironclad boots, but immediately tensed up just a little. She openly complained as freely as she did under the belief that she was alone in this territory. Severa quickly drowned out her complaining when she suspected a presence in the vicinity. Something approaching her path from the sides. Perking out of the bushes as if they were there the entire time, a jester of all things crawled out of the shrubbery and dusted off his suit.

He had a reversed symmetrical design of faded red and pine green stripes, tied together with a white base. Pointed, elf-like shoes, along with a once again inconsistent mixmatch of red and green gloves, both fastened to the hand with the alternate arm’s color. The jester wasn’t brimming with a rambunctious overflow of kookiness, yet by the disoriented yet disgusted glare Severa leered at him upon his entrance, a sense of suave coolness was an impossibility. He casually glanced back at the knight and shrugged.

“It appears you seem quite dissatisfied with those bands of Shepherds…Perhaps a more...whimsical opportunity would be in your best interests?”

Severa didn’t retreat in the slightest. With no explanation to the ridiculously dressed man before her, she knew this was either an insult or a challenge: neither of which being things she’d respond rather pleasantly to.

“You think I'm some kind of clown, is that it?! Go away! Don't you have some kind of crying kid's birthday party to go to?”

“I mean, I typically do funerals…”

Not humoring the humorer, Severa sharply cut him off: “Well as you can see, I am still alive and kicking! No service needed! Thank you! Goodbye!!”

The jester shrugged once more and slightly paced around, as if preparing to tell her bad news. “Well you see...that would be where my problem comes in. My name? Ventrilquo! I got a bounty for a Shepherd and I can tell by the way they were talking to me that they weren’t exactly talking about a sheep herder. I was making my way down the neighborhood and I couldn’t help but notice a lone knight–unaccompanied–who just so happened to drop the "R" name they seemed so enraged to utter: ‘Robin?’”

If Severa didn’t have the patience for safe navigation through unknown territory, she certainly didn’t have any restraint for some silly buffoon openly threatening her in broad daylight. She didn’t even think to use one of her formal weapons: her only priority was soaring her fist directly into the figure’s face. Soar it did, as the clean shot to the face disoriented Ventrilquo, leaving the jester to readjust his cap before being tackled to the ground. Severa drew her bow to aim directly at the tip of his neck, taking advantage of her stance over him.

“Show’s over, pal!”

“Au contraire…the show has just begun!”

With the little reach he had, he exploited a slight of hand to produce a lone pink balloon between his fingertips, stretching to connect it to the point of the arrow locked in position to skewer his neck with the slightest twitch of her finger. Whether of misplaced mercy or of pure bafflement, Severa failed to strike in time for the balloon to burst. The prop, designed as any other balloon in almost every way perceivable, gave a much different reaction to being popped. An average rubber balloon would create a harsh sound and little else as the remains of plastic would scatter to the floor. The one designed by Ventrilquo as the puncture finally touched released an extreme sound and burst of light to rival a modern day’s stun grenade. Severa flinched, guarding to brace herself from the sheer impact of it all, but she was too bewildered. The figure walloped her stomach, sweeping her straight to the ground. By the time she could recollect her senses, the tables were turned.

“I got you on the ropes, don’t I?”

As Severa struggled to get back up on her feet, Ventrilquo took the advantageous turnout to retrieve a strange purple leaf from underneath his left handed glove. He crumpled it and slathered the residue between his hands like a fine sanitizer. The knight was now back on her feet, but it was too late for her.

“But now… it's time to get the ropes on you!”

The jester dramatically stepped one pace ahead and clapped with the full reach of his arms as if he were crashing symbols together. A large gust of magic smoke enveloped her in an instant.
Severa’s transformation was as sudden as if Ventrilquo was replacing his assistant with a wooden decoy. This, however, was no fake: Severa was just as tall a wooden puppet as she was a human just moments before. As if she were slain, the marionette clattered to the ground, with the alarmed knight voicing exclamations through a muffled face headfirst in the grass. Ventrilquo grabbed her oversized crossbar the size and length of two whole blades merged in the middle and spun the air with his other hand, twiddling his finger like a tornado as the bar began to rise, until Severa was back on her feet, her legs barely scraping the ground.

“What the?! What IS THIS?!”

Ventrilquo answered her in the way he best saw fit: by spinning around and striking a jazz-handed pose.

“Your new life! See what I was doing, with the whole offer I led with and all this? Yeah, this was a set up. Bounty with your head, I actually did lie earlier, I do have a birthday to cater to, cross off a few things off my list at once. Bada bam, presto, knight’s defeat and a little girl’s birthday saved, all at once. Efficiency!”

“I SWEAR on the goddesses almighty, when I get my hands on you!!!!”

Ventrilquo swiftly turned around and pretended to be taunted, as if his very dignity as a performer was being challenged.

“Oh, oh! You want to fight? Well put 'em up then, lady!”

Ventrilquo hopped from foot to foot ducking around, as Severa only moved through the slow, telegraphed punches the spell above her made her perform. As she clunkily threw left jab, right jab, left jab, right jab, Ventrilquo found new ways to evade pain: turning around, playing a fake game of peek-a-boo, and even limboing past her final swing.

“My turn!!”

He snapped his fingers, and Severa’s limp arm immediately lunged to clock her own forehead. Her legs began moving on their own, fantastically reaching as far as they could go in front of her until her crossbar flailed around to make her trip, forcefully seating her on the ground. Ventrilquo clapped, struck a pose on a pointed toe, and immediately Severa shot back up on her feet, resuming and repeating the kick themed song and dance until Ventrilquo had his fun.

“Well, it’s nigh time we showed you to these higher ups of ours, hmm?”

Severa was utterly enraged, but there was nothing she could do. She could almost feel her arms start to motion how she’d expect, but then they would disobey wildly. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t punch or kick or draw her bow by her own wishes anymore, and she couldn’t throttle the man responsible for this even when he was in an arm’s grasp of reach.

“Y-you won’t get away with this! YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS!!!!”

Over the horizon of the Shepherd’s camp, two gentlemen heard the faint scream in the distance. It was certainly faint, but it certainly belonged to Severa. The ears of Chrom and Robin picked up on it instantaneously, and readied them for immediate action.

Robin readjusted his cloak and guiltily fidgeted with his hands as the two picked up the pace.

“Oh no…she didn’t storm off after our talk, did she?”

He’d continue to ponder it further had it not been for the confident slap on the back shoulder Chrom gave him, signaling “Act now, think later”. The two ran as fast as they could toward the mountainside where her voice echoed past the valley…

"Well, that was easy!" The jester shrugged with a spring in his step. With the red haired knight nothing more than a loose jointed effigy, he prepared to make his leave with Severa in tow. Just as his pointed rubbery shoe made the first step post success, Chrom and Robin were both close behind, stepping to the scene. Ventrilquo turned to notice his two newest opponents and threw a snap across his body.

"Doh, I shoulda kept my mouth shut. Then again, I'll leave that much to the mimes!"

Chrom was so engrossed at the threat before him, he didn’t take the time to fully evaluate the situation.

“What did you do to Sever-!!”

Chrom was almost startled to see what Robin was pointing to: their colleague, robbed of flesh and blood in favor of wood, made to shake like a tassel in the wind through the strings suspending her, held by a magical wooden rod whimsically dancing in the air. He unsheathed his blade and was quick to point it right at the direction of the mysterious fool, giving no sign of backing down, despite the strange circumstances. Swift, to the point: “Release her!”.

Chrom hoped that, although no stranger to violence, this encounter could at least be entertained as one that could be settled rationally. To his and Robin’s surprise, the marionette’s captor displayed a visible yet exaggerated expression of consideration.

"Well...because she was so simple to best in battle…” Ventrilquo jokingly winced, pausing his monologue to wait for Severa to stop shouting exclamations in retaliation. He flicked his hand, and her crossbar magically jerked in compliance. The yanking of Severa’s strings startled her enough to silence her speaking.

“This bounty on any old Shepherd may as well have been Monopoly money! I'm telling you, whoever wants you gone clearly doesn't want you gone enough! If I let her go, it'd only take a few shows overtime to make up the deficit. I've had my fun...but I'm always down for more. How about…hm…hmm…”

Ventrilquo expressively put his hand over his forehead and pretended to “zoom in” to the weapons wielded before him: the legendary Falchion in one knight’s hand, and a book of potent spells in another’s. After analyzing them, the jester clapped.

“A battle! A plain ol’ duel…and the winner keeps the carney! That’s not too unreasonable, izzit?”

Chrom immediately turned to Robin on his analysis, forfeiting his opinion on the duel. He trusted Robin to scope out the situation before them to see if they were no less puppets than Severa was in the opponent’s twisted game.

Robin confidently prepared a question, as if submitting a solution to a riddle. “Any caveats?”.

The clown put his gloved hands outright and passionately gave an honest answer “Well...if I win, I'll expect or at least hope you'll gift me with a gratuity for this double-or-nothing...three Bullion? You know, the medium ones. Not too big, not too small?”

The tactician could almost smell a deceitful undertone that the fool refused to provide, and grew both a little more angry and anxious.

“Three Bullion? No other…I take it, more sinister intention behind us reimbursing you?”

The jester, hearing the mage’s exploration of possibilities, prepared the cruelest face and mannerisms he could feign.

“Oh, aaaaaaand…you two will also be cast in my grueling, most tortuous marionette show…for all of eternity!!!!!!! HAH-hahahaha—-”

Like a light switch being flipped, the jester snapped to his regular demeanor. Observing Robin and Chrom’s slight stance backwards and Severa’s bewilderment, he resumed a more simple laughter.

“Or, I would say something tacky like that, if...you didn’t have the three Bullion. Not to insult your wooden friend here, but she’s worth much more than three Bullion to you, right? I mean if she wasn’t, I’d run off with her for her own good! You make at least that every week or so…right?”

Robin peered to Chrom, who gave a light granting of permission. He prepared his metaphorical chips to push in by retrieving the items from his inventory and placing them in the magician's hand, who proceeded to walk to the side of the sentient puppet. Ventrilquo extended his fist and raised his front finger, having Severa's strings orchestrate her into preparing to hold the bounty, as she grimaced with belittlement.

"So I'm just some… some accessory to your little bet?!"

Ventrilquo turned to his new sharp-tongued show-stopper and pouted, hands to his hips as he cocked his head to a slight side, a sound jingling with every movement.

"Well, there has to be some reason to accept your knights-in-shining-armor's duel. I could say "”Mwah- hah- hah, your little friend's my puppet and there's nothing you can do about it"”, but that's just plain unsportsmanlike, and, dare I say… boring. If I'm to challenge these gentlemen and end up winning, that's time I could've spent on a commission...Poof! Departo! I mean I get what my backers were implying for, underpaying me in exchange for keeping a new attraction...!".

Ventrilquo approached Severa and lightly flicked the tip of her wooden nose, not commenting on the slight pain he felt of its unexpected jaggedness.

“But I doubt the Anna in charge of the produce stands take puppet shows as a fair currency. Now then! You two fine, fine contestants. I trust you'll keep this a fair match, just as I will? I'm violating enough rules of Clown Code as is, but I don't want any confusion between a chaotic match and an unfair match. No low blows, no cheap shots, nothing that'll sully the good name of entertainment or war! Now, do we have a challenge?”.

A silent, determined stare from the two Shepherds was all he needed. He bowed his head out of honor, the bells atop his hat rustling with unharmonized chimes.

"Splendid. On your mark, gentlemen!"

Robin and Chrom were quick to respond with their initial attacks, but it proved a fruitless endeavor. Ventrilquo was playing defensively, performing handstanding flips away from the brisk slashes of the Falchion, and backflipping over each jolt of electricity Robin cast his way as if they were acrobatic hurdles. With a grandiose concluding bow, Severa's hands began to clank together, simulating a puppeteered applause.

The two knew they had to brace themselves, as the clown was much too nimble to repeatedly attack with not even a touch landed upon him so far. Out of reach of melee attacks, Ventrilquo pulled something from an imaginary shirt pocket that was invisible to the blind eye: a lone rose. He wielded it like a pointer, visibly choosing who to target in an overacted manner, then tossed it into the air, and striking a pose leading in its direction. With a puff of smoke, the flower had vanished entirely, in its place, a bowling pin falling to the jester. He caught it, twirled on a tiptoe, and lobbed it straight at Chrom's forehead.

Ventrilquo took two more pins from his deceivingly small pockets, one from each side, and met Robin’'s eyes. The magician smiled and gave them an underhanded toss by the mage’s feet. In an instant, both seemingly anticlimactic wooden pegs erupted into violently gashing pillars of flames. To minimize the damage, Robin slashed his hands outward with the spell of Forseti brimming at his fingertips, but the flames already took their initial toll: all the jester expected them to take. All the while, Ventrilquo prepared his next scheme by whipping out a long cloth, a multicolored banner meant to resemble a handkerchief much too long for practical use. He cracked it like a lash, then twirled it like a lasso, tossing the loop around Chrom’s neck like a ring toss game. Ventrilquo yanked the cord to collide Chrom’s face to the side of his elbow, then swung the suffocated swordsman before twistering the knight in Robin’s direction. Robin leaped over his adversary and blitzed toward the jester, as Chrom was swept away by the vortex of his own momentum. The jester took no falter from his position, only whisking away two balloons before him as Robin rapidly approached. Levin Sword in hand, Ventrilquo was in perfect position to be ruthlessly slashed by the electrifying blades tip, only one stroke across his face would be all it took to–

“DON’T LET THOSE POP!!!”

It was Severa’s voice. Startled, Robin gridded to a halt, trying to barely lift the sword not even inches away from one so much as graze the rubbery surface of the stun grenade in disguise. Robin turned to Severa as she continued to sway in stilted movements, furiously desperate for him to not repeat similar blunders.

“Severa, how do you advise I strike him, then?”

“I don’t know, Mr. I’m-so-smart-I’ll-shoot-down-Severa’s-ideas-for-no-reason, FIGURE IT OUT!”

Severa panted with a rage-ravished breath. She glared at Robin with a begrudging need of help. She was much too uncomposed in this state to articulate her discouragement, but Robin knew this was a now or never situation to sort out.

“Severa…is this about earlier?”

Severa’s wooden arms erratically swung above her head as she retorted exasperatedly. “Yes! Of course it is, you fool! You do all this smart talking at the meetings, and you snipe down any drafts that don’t match your vision!”

Robin resheathed his blade, diverted by guilt, and turned his full attention to his strung ally.

“Listen, I know that with the trust Chrom entrusts me with, I can appear…more privileged than the rest of the group. I meticulously plan these things so nobody gets wrapped up in fiascos that can be prevented. So that people like you don’t get hurt…”

Severa’s whole body shook with a lightly weighted lag, as she couldn’t freely cross her arms in her whittled state.

“Tch…”

Robin’s head tilted just a little to the side, not fully reading Severa’s expression. Until, that is, Severa continued:

“Y-you’re right. Just finish it already…”

Just from the side of their peripheral vision, as if being called out of reading a book or watching a show, Ventrilquo lightly shook his head in unsuspecting confusion.

“Huh–’It’? What is “it”—--”

The silent plan worked wonders, as Robin quickly cut his argument with Severa short to slash Ventrilquo while his guard was down, distracted by their stemming conversation from Severa’s seething remarks.

“Ow! H-hey! Ex-CUSE me for not interrupting you two’s moment!”

Ventrilquo managed to retreat back once more, but it was clear that Robin had seized a great opportunity: instead of pirouetting past each attack, the jester quickly shuffled gracelessly to a safer vantage point, clutching his slashed side. Chrom finally approached by Robin’s side, and whether through an unseen magic or extreme trust, they both have hatched a final gambit.

Robin gained distance from Chrom, then lunged at him with his arms out, clasping Chrom’s hands as he began to willingly spin once more. Chrom was preparing to throw his adversary like an Olympic hammer, and right when enough acceleration was gained, he released his hands. Robin careened straight at Ventrilquo, preparing the catapulted kick with the force of a cannonball.

WHAM!

The sheer impact knocked the clown right off his feet, comically walloped backwards as if hurled like a pile of cloth. Ventrilquo was down and out: evidenced by Severa’s pantomimed movements now slumped in a hunched state. On the rough terrain was the jester, all sprawled out on the grass speckled dirt in defeat. Before anything else, Chrom held the side of his head out of dizziness.

“Ergh… I don’t think I’ll be using an attack like that again anytime soon…Are you alright, Robin?”

Robin’s demeanor was nowhere near as ruffled as his cloak and hair, wrinkled from the unconventional cannoning. Instead, he signaled a positive sign to his comrade before looming over Ventrilquo as he sputtered his withdrawal.

“My, am I...entertained… Truly a...ridiculous...attack…”

His words were hurtful in a vacuum, but thoroughly genuine as the jester fought through a coughing fit to utter them. Robin, still stanced over him, was ready to coerce any information of the comic assailant he could, but in between even one slight moment of distraction, Ventrilquo had vanished from his defeated position he was crumpled in not even a second before. Appearing before Severa for a glimmer of a second, he clapped his hands with a sudden billowing of smoke.

"Nobody truly makes a fool of me, Sheperds! I'll be back! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoooooo!"

The ghastly smokescreen dissipated, with Ventrilquo nowhere to be seen. The only thing remaining past the faded mists was Severa, perfectly capable as a human once again.

Free of her hex, she instinctively dropped the three bars of gold onto the ground where she stood. Severa grumbled as she reached to pick them up. She was silently relieved to not hear the sound of wood bending as she retrieved them, but kept the comments to a minimum. Finally, she begrudgingly handed them to her heroes. She met both Chrom and Robin square in the eyes and gritted through her teeth.

"Not...a word. Capisce?!"

Only one word rose to the two, responding between weathered sighs in unison.

"...Capisce."

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Really long request, finally paid off! Tried to incorporate a bit of Robin and Severa's C support in there.

Severa Marionette Puppet Transformation (SFW)