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Part 13 of Madrigal Misadventures
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Published:
2023-04-01
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2,223
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Pranking Prophet

Summary:

Today is one of Bruno's favorite holidays and Chepe's least favorite. The dairy farmer is subject to escalating pranks as he tries to go through his usual routine. All of it ending in something Chepe could scarcely believe. This has to be one of if not his worst nightmare.

This just can't be real!

Right?!

Notes:

Added in a little scene that may or may not make my biggest reader flip out. 😏

Post-Lightning Rod Incident
Post-Adoption
Post-Eclipse

April 1st, 1952
5:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

POV: Chepe-centric
TW: False awakening, pranks, and just pure chaos

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Chepe woke up to the sound of someone laughing loudly outside his window. He looked out to see Camilo laughing at the expense of Osvaldo who couldn't pull his hand free from his jar of sweets. The farmer wondered why the young Madrigal was up so early. The fact that Camilo is the last to get up is a well-known fact in the Encanto.

He was just making his way to the bathroom with that question on his mind when the answer stared him straight in the face.

The small calendar that read el primero de abril.

"April first?!" Chepe nearly screeched before grabbing the calendar, "April Fools Day is one of that brujo's favorite holidays!"

 

💚🖤🐮⏳🃏⏳🐮🖤💚

 

The Sanchez sons were all getting ready to go to the farm when they see his father rushing in with a pack of ice on his head and... Nailing wooden planks on the windows?!

"Uhh, ¿papá?" Alberto questioned, "¿Estás bien?"

"Mijos, we can't go to the farm today!" Chepe declared fearfully, "I've caught something terrible!"

"Well, you don't have a fever." Carlos commented after checking his head.

"What didja catch?" Bernando asked.

"I've caught sight of the calendar!" Chepe admitted while showing them his calendar.

"April first?" Diego raised a brow, "What's so bad about that?"

"It's one of that bruj-" he corrected himself under their glares, "Bruno's favorite holidays and I'm his favorite target!"

"Oh gee, I wonder why..." Carlos muttered.

"Well, you can't really hide in the house from him." Alberto shrugged.

"Why?" Chepe nearly demanded.

"Ever since he was hit by that lightning he's nearly impossible to hide from when he wants to find you." Carlos pointed out.

"Yeah, it's like the lightning did something to his Gift." Diego remarked.

"Or woke something up." Carlos added.

"Not to mention what happened during the Emerald War." Bernando pointed out.

Chepe shuddered at the memory of that.

"Or what happened when that couple tried to hurt Kate." Diego added

"And the Eclipse incident not even a week ago." Alberto recalled

"Yeah, it's things like that that make me SO glad he's on our side." Carlos agreed.

"Alright, I get it!" Chepe snarled before taking a breath, "I'll just keep an eye out for him."

"Yeah, good luck with—" Carlos began before seeing something green pop into existence.

"Consider me in luck, Carlos." Chepe grinned, "That walking twig is NOT gonna make a fool out of me."

"Uh... Pá..." Alberto tried as said walking twig poured salt into Chepe's coffee.

"I'm on top of my game today!" Chepe crowed, "Got my eyes peeled for even the slightest hint of his blasted ruana!"

"Pá..." Diego tried as well when Bruno started quietly fiddling with the sink.

"Ears wide open for even the quietest squeak of those rats of his!" Chepe smirked.

"Pá..." Bernando also tried as said rats devoured Chepe's breakfast. 

"Nobody's gonna get the drop on this dairy farmer!" Chepe grinned as he picked up his coffee.

His sons only looked increasingly apprehensive as Bruno quietly gathered his rats and blinked out of existence.

Chepe only shrugged at their nervous expressions before taking a big drink of his coffee. The sudden salty taste made him spit out his coffee and try to wash his mouth out using the sink. But, the sink only sprayed water right in his face and it took Chepe quite a bit to get it to stop. It was there when Chepe noticed that his plate of arepas was reduced to crumbs.

"Why didn't any of you say anything?!" Chepe demanded.

"We tried..." Alberto defended, "You were too busy preening to listen!"

Chepe sighed and wiped his face, "This is gonna be one of those days..."

 

💚🖤🐮⏳🃏⏳🐮🖤💚

 

Chepe was trying to milk his cows only to find that they'd already been milked. He asked all of his sons if they already got the cows and they all told him the various other things they were doing.

Alberto was bucking the hay.

Bernando was feeding the farm cats.

Carlos was bathing the dog.

Deigo was fixing the fence.

"Then who milked the—" Chepe demanded before opening the door to the dairy barn caused a whole pail of milk to spill on him.

"When I get my hands on—" Chepe snarled before opening the door to the donkey stable caused another pail of milk to topple on top of him.

"If you think this is funny, it—" Chepe growled before opening the door to the shed made yet another pail splatter him with fresh milk.

For the next hour, every door Chepe opened led to him getting covered in another layer of milk and his sons could only shrug whenever their father glared in their direction.

 

💚🖤🐮⏳🃏⏳🐮🖤💚

 

Chepe just finished re-shoeing his donkey when the old girl decided it would be the height of hilarity to kick him when he was bending over to pick up his toolbox. The kick sent the dairy farmer sailing into a mud puddle. It was all his sons could do to keep from laughing at him. Chepe just glowered at them before heading home to get a shower.

Showering was a hell and a half for the farmer though because his shampoo bottles were glued shut and all of his soap was coated in nail polish. He had no choice, but to use the soap that brujo gave him as a "gift" yesterday that smelled like all sorts of flowers. Also, most of his shirts seemed to have vanished except for the blue ones which forced him to wear them.

Is it really any wonder why he suddenly became a magnet for bees?

They chased him up and down the streets and kept stinging him whenever he swung at them. The bees also tended to block his sight which led to him crashing into everything. He was in desperate need of Julieta's food by the time he got back to the farm.

 

💚🖤🐮⏳🃏⏳🐮🖤💚

 

To his credit, Chepe managed to finish the farm chores in record time despite all the... Setbacks.

He went to Julieta's stand to get some arepas to treat all of the injuries he collected throughout the day. He did a double-take when he saw Bruno at the stand... Wearing Julieta's dress?! Even more stunning was that nobody seemed to notice!

"Bruj—" everyone's glares made him correct himself, "Bruno... What are you doing here? Where's Julieta?"

Bruno looked confused before answering, "I am Julieta."

Chepe just rolled his eyes, "Very funny, Bruno."

"Are you okay, Chepe?" Bruno asked, "Do you need some soup?"

He sighed and just went with it, "An arepa would be fine."

"I should give you at least two." 'Julieta' replied while looking him over, "Some of those injuries look pretty bad."

Chepe had to give the man credit as much as it pained him. He does a pretty convincing Julieta. No wonder people often say his real Gift is acting.

"Sure, I'll take two." Chepe shrugged before he was given two arepas.

Chepe took a bite and didn't expect them to even work since Bruno was the one who made them. But, his injuries began to heal to his complete and utter shock. He looked back and saw Bruno in Julieta's dress giving someone with a broken arm a buñuelo he just made. The arm immediately mended with just one bite much to the shock of the dairy farmer.

"Wh-what..." Chepe gaped before shaking himself, "Okay, Chepe... It's okay... You just got that brujo on the brain... A few polas should help.."

He saw Bruno help another Bruno hold a ladder still.

"Take..." he gasped.

There were three Brunos in dresses gossiping with one another.

"The edge..." he whimpered.

A whole crowd of Brunos watched another Bruno acting on stage.

"Off..." Chepe squeaked.

"Uh... You okay there?" A random Bruno dressed like Osvaldo inquired nervously.

Chepe screamed and ran away.

"What's with him?" A Bruno dressed like Manuel asked.

The Bruno dressed like Osvaldo could only shrug.

 

💚🖤🐮⏳🃏⏳🐮🖤💚

 

Chepe ran until he was at the outskirts of the village and close to the crack in the mountain. The poor dairy farmer was struggling to calm himself after seeing that torrent of Brunos. He saw what looked like Rico walking by and immediately ran up to him.

"Rico!" Chepe cried, "You have to help me! I think I'm finally cracking up! Everybody's turning into Bruno!"

Rico turned around only to see Bruno in Rico's uniform which made Chepe gasp in horror.

"Are you feeling alright, Chepe?" He inquired.

The stricken dairy farmer could only scream and run until he reached his house.

"Bruno... Bruno... Brunos everywhere..." Chepe whimpered while shaking like a leaf, "Everybody's Bruno..."

"Get a hold of yourself, Chepe..." he muttered while approaching his bathroom mirror, "You aren't Bruno."

He slowly looked only to see Bruno staring back at him which made him scream long and loud.

 

💚🖤🐮⏳🃏⏳🐮🖤💚

 

Chepe practically leaped out of bed screaming like a banshee. Once he got his breath, he stared at his large hands that were definitely not Bruno's. He sprinted for the bathroom and looked in the mirror only to see himself. He sighed with relief for a moment before someone knocked on the bathroom door. The terrified farmer let out a shout and nearly knocked everything off the bathroom sink.

"Is everything alright in there, pá?" the voice that could only belong to Alberto asked.

"Y-yeah..." Chepe breathed, "Y-you just startled me... That's all."

"Oh." the voice answered, "Are you okay to go to the farm today? You sound a bit... Off."

"I-it's fine..." Chepe insisted weakly, "Just a bad dream."

"Okay." he could hear the voice smile, "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Chepe sighed before opening the door, "I'm com—"

He saw Bruno in Alberto's clothes looking back at him with an amused smirk. Chepe let out a horrified scream before he collapsed on the floor in a dead faint. Alberto removed the mask from his face and stared at his unconscious father.

"What's gotten into him?" Carlos asked worriedly.

Alberto could only shrug.

"That must've been some nightmare." Diego commented.

The sons nodded in agreement before they moved their father to the couch in the hopes that he eventually woke up and explains why he reacted like that. 

 

💚🖤🐮⏳🃏⏳🐮🖤💚

 

"Okay, just remember to say those affirmations I taught you and you should start to feel better." Kate smiled.

"O-okay..." Jorge nodded slowly.

Kate frowned at the lingering guilt and doubt emanating from her newest patient. Well, it has only been five days since he's been saved from that terrible situation. She nodded to herself and resolved to help diminish any remaining guilt to nothing before the year is out.

Hopefully.

Kate noticed Jorge making the face he always does when a scent catches his attention.

"What is it, Jorge?"

"Someone..." He shook his head, "No... Th-three people are coming. One of them smells... R-really scared and the- and the other two seem... Worried."

There was a knock on the door which made Jorge yelp a bit. Kate immediately tuned her Gift to whoever was at the door. It seems Jorge's nose was correct. Three people were at her door with two worried and one of them was practically catatonic from fear. 

"Seems your nose was right." Kate shrugged before getting up, "Let's see who could be at the door."

"Th-they must be... Pretty d-desperate for them t-to ignore your sign like that."

Kate only nodded as she answered the door. The nurse-turned-doctor was surprised to see Alberto and Diego holding onto what could only be Chepe. But, the dairy farmer seems to be petrified from fear and muttering something over and over.

"Bruno... Brunos everywhere... Everywhere..." he whimpered.

"Ugh, not again..." Kate thought to herself.

"I know you're in the middle of an appointment." Alberto explained, "But, it's our padre. He's... Well... Look at him."

"We're really sorry." Diego apologized, "But, we're really worried about our—"

"It's okay." Kate placated them, "I was just finishing up with Jorge anyway."

"Jorge?" Alberto asked before realizing, "Y-you mean the—"

"Yes, and you better remember that he's a person, not a thing." Kate scowled.

"O-of course!" Alberto nodded nervously, "I didn't mean—"

"I-is he okay?" Jorge asked timidly.

All three of them yelped at the sight of Jorge which made him practically yowl and leap onto the rafters. 

"Can we NOT terrify my patients?!" Kate demanded while coaxing Jorge down.

"S-sorry!" both sons apologized as she was getting him to match her breathing. 

"It's fine..." Kate sighed after she finished breathing with him, "You didn't expect to see him and his appearance is a bit... Shocking."

The two nodded in agreement.

"But, please try to not startle him next time." Kate told them, "He's way more terrified of you than all of you are of him."

"Okay." Diego sighed.

Alberto just nodded regretfully. 

Kate cleared her throat before turning to Jorge, "Same time next week?"

Jorge nodded nervously.

"Good, see you then, gatito." she smiled.

Jorge nodded with a little smile before pulling his hood up and taking his leave as quickly as possible.

Kate turned to the Sanchezs with a smile that was a bit forced.

"Now, let's see if I can't help him out of this... State."

"Again..." she thought while making a mental note to have a few strong words with her adoptive father once she finished helping Chepe.

Notes:

(Caught leaving breadcrumbs again.) Uhh... Bye! (Runs for it.)

Spanish Translations:

El primero de abril - The first of April
Brujo - Witch/Warlock/Sorcerer
Mijos - My sons
Papá - Dad
¿Estás bien? - Are you okay?
Pá - Dad
Arepa - Cornbread
Buñuelo - Cheese fritter
Polas - Beers
Padre - Father
Gatito - Kitten

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