ProxyShroom

TurtleShroom X, also called ProxyShroom, TSX, and TurtleShroom’s Proxy, is TurtleShroom’s official proxy, steward, delegate, and his X-Antibody. When the Dictator is incapacitated, away, or busy, TSX steps in and governs both in his name and in his place. TSX has absolute power of attorney in TSP’s name, and all actions he performs are to be treated as if it came from that very penguin. In fact, if TurtleShroom was to be rendered incapacitated, ProxyShroom would technically have the ability to reign as TurtleShroom, with all his power. Only a special sequence in his coding prevents ProxyShroom from deviating from his principle’s commands. He carries around a powerful staff to communicate with his counterpart, if such communication is possible.

In a strange twist of behavior, ProxyShroom was actually created in a laboratory, synthetically, by Zone. While Zone refuses to actually explain his reasoning, it may stem from the fact that he felt an urge to help TurtleShroom after the penguin was kidnapped by members of Holy Wikia shortly after it began to lose the right to the “holy” in its name.

Background
The existence of ProxyShroom is as interesting as it is strange. He quite literally appeared when TurtleShroom disappeared… -and it wasn’t until leaks from Wikia showed up that his origins truly came to light.

TurtleShroom’s kidnapping
One night, late in October, right around Halloween, TurtleShroom was kidnapped from his palace and taken to parts unknown by humans- yes, ‘’humans’’ -in full hazmat suits that apparently came from ropes that draped down from a glaring white hole torn in the sky. Yes, one did read that correctly.

At leas four witness accounts confirm, all of them CPW editors.

"I was editing late at night when I decided to investigate this "TurtleShroom" fellow. I never really hear much about him from my comrades, so I thought I’d wake him up and say hello. A few of my friends and I went through the Leenk and entered his large page, his place right in front of us. As we started closer, we were stopped by a brilliant in the sky. It was shaped like a classic cartoon explosion shape, a zigzag sort of circle, a gleaming white against the blackness, lined behind by the summer sun at its lowest.

We watched in awe as we watched thin lines of shadow- like ropes –slip down from the light in all sorts of places. Black figures, shaped like no penguin I’d ever seen, glided down these ropes and onto the building’s roof. While one ripped off the Turtlenator flag, several others jumped into chimneys or scaled down the wall, all busting into the third floor.

All was quiet for a bit, and then we heard TurtleShroom’s unmistakable screaming. We could make out the silhouette of a penguin and could also see the distinct shimmer reflecting off of that crown of his. No doubt, these ‘’things’’ were capturing him!

We simply watched as the shadows slithered back up their ropes with TurtleShroom in tow. As soon as it opened, the rip in the sky shut. When our eyes re-adjusted, everything was dark again. We quickly went to the nearest People’s Office to report it, but the employees there said the Weekee government already found out. TurtleShroom had been kidnapped!"

- A witness

Proxy comes to call
A few days passed, and TurtleShroom still hadn’t returned. His family became scared, thinking he went the way of their uncle. Being the penguins they were, they threw their hometown into an uproar, and Mattress Village was once again in panic alert, expecting a storm to return any day now.

Zone, meanwhile, just shook his head when he heard the news. The grape vine travels fast in Antarctica; Zone had overheard several lowly minions discussing it. Recalling how instrumental TurtleShroom was to the Antarctican establishment, and realizing that his plans for domination could be hampered by his absence (though only a little), he decided to take it upon himself to fix it. He always loved a challenge, regardless of what side of the law it was on.

Zone decided that since the real TurtleShroom was gone to a place even he was unaware of- and such a place was rare –he decided to try a more creative approach.

Easily entering the TurtleShroom palace, Zone made quick work of stealing one of the ex-dictator’s jackets, and scooped an old molted feather off it, undoubtedly TurtleShroom’s.

Flying over Antarctica, he returned to an unlikely place: the very place he came to be. Terrifying and scattering the scientists, Zone made quick work in whipping up a new batch of X-Virus. Dropping the feather in, he quickly made himself an X-Antibody of TurtleShroom! He made a few assorted tweaks and alterations to the being before dumping the black soup onto the ground, where it quickly morphed into a much darker looking version of TurtleShroom (as was the X-Virus’ custom). ‘’With hair.’’ He also had a sort of staff, much different from the Deletion Rod, which seemed to have some sort of special power in it.

This Gothic-esque TurtleShroom was carried back to the palace and briefed of his purpose by Zone.

Zone explained that he was to be a proxy for TurtleShroom. He was to obey his whims and act on his behalf. He was to be a good character- he winced when saying this –and was to act on TurtleShroom’s will, even if it conflicted with his. The X-Antibody’s coding had him obey. Zone flew off, leaving the stunned public to find the penguin the next morning.

The X-Creature convened the Weekee in a rare public announcement. Everyone immediately realized that this being wasn’t TurtleShroom Jones: he was never the type to change his outfit, and the thought of such an old penguin going all Goth on everyone was too unreal.

Hat Pop- one of the last and most loyal Turtlenators on the database –demanded the creature to explain where the real TurtleShroom went to. The creature confirmed he wasn’t TurtleShroom, but rather, his proxy. He explained further that he was able to make distant contact with TurtleShroom and could express his will every now and then. The real TurtleShroom couldn’t contact his proxy easily, he said, but he would act his every word when he did.

The people believed him, considering his acts, and judging by appearance, he could have been TSP’s Halloween costume, for all they cared. Hat Pop dubbed the creature “ProxyShroom”, a name the X-Antibody was happy to accept.

It wasn’t a threat to their site, since TurtleShroom had been Dictator Emeritus for years now, and wielded only some ceremonial authorities. Most didn’t even know him.

However, to say that Holyberden, the Inquisition, and his family were frightened is a dramatic understatement. Having recently thwarted a plan to strike the CPW, the Joneses were still on edge about the world around them, and their paranoia was already bad enough. Add to the fact that TurtleShroom now had another brother that looked like he was from some weird Halloween tale, and that the real TurtleShroom was kidnapped by what were likely aliens, and all chaos broke loose.

Mattress Village was put under lockdown. TurtleShroom’s palace was closed to the public. All Puff Flags theme parks were shut down, and even the Inquisition slowed. Black helicopters stopped patrolling so much, and the Un-CP goons got a much-anticipated break in their constant cat-and-mouse game with the moral guardians, leading to increased productivity, much to the Joneses’ woe.

ProxyShroom proved, though, to be a great leader. He stepped up to the plate and acted in his brother’s behalf, ordering the Inquisition to step up the pace and even tried new tactics on the Un-CP that were never used prior. ProxyShroom led the affairs of his clone ‘’better than his clone’’. ProxyShroom’s schemes were like TurtleShroom’s after he took a good long hiatus. They were fresh and original, and seemed less like the rut that TSP had fallen in. A break in routine was much needed, and ProxyShroom gave it to them. The real TurtleShroom commended his new brother on the skills he had, and said he was sort of glad he had time off.

ProxyShroom continued to govern in TurtleShroom’s absence, and folks grew accustomed to him, even if he did look sort of spooky.

Involvement
ProxyShroom can only wield his tremendous sealed power if TurtleShroom (penguin) is incapacitated, or if TurtleShroom has permitted him to act on his behalf somewhere. Naturally, he is a separate being that TurtleShroom, and may have different intentions than his clone, and may turn out to be a better or worse ruler than the real thing. He has all the powers of TurtleShroom when TurtleShroom is not present.

To prevent being overshadowed and from TurtleShroom’s commands being changed, ProxyShroom feels obligated to obey TurtleShroom’s every command, never deviating, and this was intentionally put into him. After all, a representative of another can easily deviate from his master’s orders, if the master isn’t around to check his power.

ProxyShroom uses his staff to communicate with TurtleShroom, wherever TurtleShroom happens to be. When TurtleShroom was kidnapped, the signals were rare, leaving ProxyShroom to his own devices. ProxyShroom was far more passive than TurtleShroom, and the editors and goons alike rejoiced at their new wiggle room. However, when ProxyShroom acted, he really acted. Goons noticed the efficiency of the Inquisition, which made up for their fewer appearances by capturing more Un-CP editors per raid.

When TurtleShroom returned, he kept in constant touch with his proxy. The two now go about together. When TurtleShroom has other matters to attend, he will send ProxyShroom on his behalf to speak for them. This has been great for TurtleShroom, but not as much for ProxyShroom. ProxyShroom naturally ended up getting the jobs his brother didn’t want, and while he was thanked at the end of the day, he was sort of jealous. His coding prevented revolt (for now), but he still didn’t hesitate to voice his opinion.

When not acting as proxy, TSX’s positions are similar to that of TurtleShroom's family. He has high standing and even higher votes in all Jones-related affairs, and his opinion is worth considerable weight. (Corporate policies were quickly adopted to prevent TurtleShroom from using ProxyShroom to vote twice. Corrupt as that may be, he might have done it, so the paranoid Joneses enacted it just in case.)

Personality
ProxyShroom isn’t intentionally Gothic. The reason he dresses and looks as he does is mainly because of Zone’s abundant sense of humor. Using a proxy is sort of out-of-character for TurtleShroom, after all, so Zone rolled with that when he made ProxyShroom. What better way to celebrate Halloween than make this proxy look the part?

Still, it shows. ProxyShroom sometimes exhibits more Goth-like behaviors, like tending to remain alone, or quiet, or have bad tastes in music. ProxyShroom is much less conformist than TurtleShroom and honestly doesn’t seem to enjoy the whole “corporate leadership” thing, a job TurtleShroom lives for. ProxyShroom, while exhibiting many of TurtleShroom’s traits, including incorruptibility, seems to express them differently.

In fact, the whole Goth act may be because of his clone’s incorruptibility. To ProxyShroom, conforming to “THE MAN” might be seen as corruption of self. The acts ProxyShroom uses to distance his own self from society and “corporate greed”- and appear Gothic in doing so –seem to be a deformed expression of the purity TurtleShroom so embodied… -but twisted. It’s not a stretch to say that Zone intended for this, because it amused him. Gothicism is always funny.

ProxyShroom seems to get along fantastically with Zone- something the real deal never got that well at doing –and the two have been seen together, chatting and discussing things the real TurtleShroom doesn’t think about that much. This friendship with Zone might be a part of his coding, or some small advancement in Zone’s agenda. After all, Zone never does something ‘’completely’’ out of the good of his heart!

Anti-corporate stance
ProxyShroom does his duties faithfully, but he really hates when he has to work in Holyberden. Acting on behalf of its founder and leader, he heads one of the most profitable businesses in Antarctica… -and hates it.

He seems to have a problem with greed and making a lot of money, and despises the “commercialization of society” that he claims is so widespread on the continent. ProxyShroom distances himself from Holyberden even when tasked with Holyberden, in that he usually has the corporate board of directors do business. While TurtleShroom isn’t a fan of that, he seems to respect ProxyShroom’s wishes enough as to let the board run it.

Is ProxyShroom Gothic?
This is debatable, but it can probably be said that TSX isn’t truly Gothic. While he does exhibit trademark Goth traits- namely in dark clothes and strong nonconformist ideals –he is certainly not apathetic or disrespectful, either to his authorities or friends.

Society dictates that there are two forms of Gothic adherents. There are the “hard cored” Goths, and there are the “soft cored” Goths. The former dresses the part and acts the whole nine yards, apathy and all, and the latter dresses the part for their own entertainment. ProxyShroom certainly hates corporate practices, and he does dress the part, but he’s far too nice to meet the high standards of true Gothicism. He couldn’t be called a poser, either, considering the coding that made him included his dress and actions.

Trivia

 * Yes, ProxyShroom has used the phrase “stick it to THE MAN”… -and oh, does his family wish he didn’t.
 * The rest of the TurtleShroom family doesn’t have any problem with getting obscenely wealthy, corporatism, or conforming. (In fact, conforming is exactly what Mattress Village is known for: ever noticed that ALL of the villagers are like TurtleShroom? ALL OF THEM?)
 * Of course, this can easily be explained because the Joneses, collectively, are THE MAN! They are “the establishment”, they ARE “the system”! …-and what doofus would stick it to themselves?
 * Zone is never a completely benevolent being. Many theories abound as to why Zone helped a group of penguins he really doesn’t like. One may be power. Having close ties with a family member of TurtleShroom- and a brother with all TS’ power to boot –always leads to success for the one that can dupe the relative.
 * He carries several traits of his brother and family- especially incorruptibility –and all in all, the Joneses have begun to consider ProxyShroom as one of their own.
 * ProxyShroom’s behaviors, demeanor, nonconformist ideas, and “STICKING IT TO THE MAN” are all based on the somewhat dubious nature of the real Zone’s assistance to the real-world TurtleShroom and the proxy system that was set up to circumvent a corrupt IP block by the real Wikia.
 * That, and Gothics are highly entertaining and lovable stereotypes.