Note: Here is a short fic of retiring a controversial fan-service doppelganger of Skunk from Skunk Fu used in projects of mine and AU stories that were based off YouTube crossover spoofs featuring him cast as an adult. I'll explain more in the notes below.

I do not own the characters used here, except a couple OCs and a fictionalized version of a certain author.

It was a sad day in the fan-service world, as a funeral was being held for Skunk1, the stand-in for the character Skunk from the Irish cartoon Skunk Fu.

The more mature doppelganger of the skunk originally debuting as a child has starred in independent fan films including crossover remakes of films. He had been murdered by an irate thug who shot him in the chest with five DIP-coated bullets. He was succeeded by his surviving original counterpart, Skunk, as well as his widow Fox1, the doppelganger of Fox from Skunk Fu, and their two children.

The funeral service was held in China in an ancient imperial palace. The attendance was wide though not too wide as Skunk Fu had a niche fandom.

The funeral attendee amount was surprisingly not small though. Famous characters included the canon Skunk Fu cast themselves (including Dragon, Baboon, the Ninja Monkeys (with Eepie, who got a species and sex change to be an actual female skunk/monkey mix before today), Blinky the firefly and his parents), Skunk1's widow Fox1, their red-orange skunk daughter, their black-and-white fox son, Mushu, Cri-Kee, Flower the Skunk, characters from Kung Fu Panda, characters from Chop Socky Chooks, Jake Long, his sister Haley, Fu Dog, Pepe Le Pew, Fifi La Fume, Furrball, a few characters from Sagwa the Siamese Chinese Cat, Aisling, Robyn Goodfellowe, and characters who have worked with Skunk1 in projects by one Michaelsar. There were also some fan-project mourners attending, and various Skunk Fu OCs created by fans online.

The characters who have worked with Skunk1 the most were Winnie the Pooh and his friends, but sadly, they had been banned from China, so they were unable to attend in physical form. Instead, they were granted permission to have the funeral televised in their homes while in exchange they appear via holographic image from a robotic service. Keep in mind that this was a one-day thing due to the censorship being strict.

For those wondering how different Skunk1 is from the canon Skunk, well, imagine Skunk only older, a bit more mature and slightly more muscular, and that was the exact polecat lying in the coffin.

After several mourners had left small tokens in Skunk1's coffin and shared some farewells, Master Panda stepped up to the podium to share his farewell, "Skunk1 was an honorable stand-in for my student and an honorable young man, and I cannot express such words to match how we feel for the loss of him. So that is why I leave my student and his original, Skunk, to give some words of his own."

He stepped aside as Skunk (who, unlike Skunk1, remained in his young form from the original show 16 years after it ended) stepped to the podium.

Taking a deep breath, he began his eulogy, "Skunk1 may have been a copy created on accident and a stand-in for indie projects and rare instances on our original show, but I always considered him my twin brother...my twin brother who underwent a growth spurt and started to age while I permanently stay 10. Still, I couldn't ask for a better sibling..."

"Ahem!" cleared the throats of Rabbit, Frog, Pig, Bird, Ox, Snake, Tiger, and some OCs designed to be sibling figures.

"I mean, apart from you guys," he clarified to them before continuing, "Skunk1 was the version of me I hoped I would eventually evolve into on my own. He was always more outgoing yet rational. I'll never forget how he helped me improve on my writing and artwork, or how I helped him skate on ice properly. And we really made a great team where we truly worked together: on the independent tribute films, swapping places here and there with certain roles, playing the version of our shared character. Not to mention, I'd say he has proven himself to be the best mate for Fox's stand-in, Fox1..."

He glanced at the teary Fox1 in the crowd, sniffing as she wiped the mascara running down her face, with the original canon Fox she was copied from comforted her in support, as did Fox1's kids.

"Yes, even though I will most likely never end up with the Fox I starred with, due to our age difference and remaining in an underage body, I'm glad Skunk1 ended up with his own beautiful vixen and stayed close to her side for these few years and brought two nice kids into the world. And you know what the funny thing is? Neither he nor Fox1 wanted to bother selecting different names for themselves, as if they were fine with just having the names of character models, but it's almost as if they'd rather feel closer to us than apart, and I hardly ever questioned it."

His eyes began to water as he turned to the bigger skunk in the casket and sniffed a bit, "Skunk1, I just want you to know that even though the cartoon we came from wasn't popular or the fan works we were in, I'll always be one to remember them, and I will make sure a fair amount of others acknowledge them; and you have left this world with this skunk feeling a little less embarrassed of what he does. Thanks to you, I will never feel in my mind that I'm a character who 'figuratively'...well, stinks."

He put his black paw on the casket and finished with a sniff, "Thanks for being my second half...in a family way, bro. May the fictional deities allow you entrance in Tiantang. Rest in peace, pal." A tear dropped from his eye beside Skunk1's pillow in the casket as Skunk sat back down beside his co-stars.

A few mourners shed and sniffed some tears, including two certain mourners far in the back, Joe (aka me) and Michaelsar, albeit they were miles far apart from each other due to their strained relationship. They glanced at each other and quickly turned away before once again showing their sad looks for Skunk1.

To send off the fallen Skunk1, Master Monkey then got out the bagpipes and started to play a funeral version of "Reflection" (from Mulan) as one by one, each attendee grabbed a paper lantern and disperse the palace, beginning the funeral parade, with the pall-breakers bringing up the rear and carrying the casket to bring the deceased polecat actor to his destination.

Closing Notes: Now, since 2008, I have kept hold onto the idea of Skunk from Skunk Fu growing up after the series ended and the love for the controversial fan ship between him and Fox, and even wanted to eventually write a believable story where they DO become a thing fitting within the Skunk Fu universe's or the crossover universe's sense without upsetting viewers and making it come off as pedophilia.

But I soon found myself being more invested in other cartoon pairs and less invested in Skunk Fu itself. However, I'm too sentimental on my past headcanon of them being a couple in the '4th wall universe', treating the YouTube recast spoofs and fanmakes like they were independent films cartoons did for enjoyment, and even creating two cute fan children.

I couldn't just have Adult Skunk and Fox divorce because they felt too good a couple to be divorced but I also didn't feel I had use for development of the AU version of Skunk either as I planned to use it on other AU versions of characters. So, I've written him off as a magically created clone who is deceased, while the canon Skunk still lives. Think of him as a stunt double or fanservice double.

It was the only way I could retire the version of Skunk used in fandoms that people wouldn't develop in believable fanfictions as Skunk Fu has a small fandom.

And the personality I had in mind for Skunk is something I'm also planning to use for other small male characters, and I don't think I can hack developing them all while keeping several canonically single characters (especially the ones from Sing) from marrying a certain Saluki, so I'm able to try new pairs with a copy of Fox.