Kingdom Hearts: Keys To The Future - Welcome to Wonderland!

[ah2190]

>Group: Somehow get in trouble with the Red Queen somehow.

[Huntress]

>Group: Somehow get in trouble with the Red Queen somehow.

> Without actually doing anything wrong. The Red Queen just doesn't like your faces.

[ah2190]

> Without actually doing anything wrong. The Red Queen just doesn't like your faces.

...which was exactly what I was planning.

[shadowedPhoenix]

Man.

Okay, I think I owe you guys an apology... recently, I've been busy - first actual KH3D got in the way (hello certain inspirations) , and then some other stuff in my life (not bad stuff, just busy making stuff). As such, this thing got put to one side. I should've let you guys know earlier. I didn't. That was not cool of me.

So yeah. Sorry for the unannounced hiatus.

Honestly, I'm still having trouble getting my head sufficiently into gear to write updates... I don't want to let this slide, I don't want to waste the story and the setting! This has been a thing I've worked so much out on and all. But I've been just damn uninspired as far as writing/drawing goes. And it sucks...

Anyway... thanks, everyone, for being patient.
I do want to come back to this. But I don't know how or when or what is going to happen.

[Xindaris]

Eh, don't worry too much about it. Same thing happens to me all the time, in a more general sense. If you love the story, I have confidence you'll make sure it gets told sooner or later. And if your readers are patient they'll be around when that happens.

[shadowedPhoenix]

This is just wonderful. New skies, new sights, new sounds, new-

"Raf. Hey. Raf… what're you doing?"
"Oh! Uh-"

Damn. Caught daydreaming.

You take a last look around. As you do, something catches your eye. Just a glint of something, a trick of the light, but for a second, it feels like you're being looked at. Or - smiled at? Where did that feeling come from?
No matter. You shake it off.

"Coming. … Did you see something weird?"
Marin shrugs. "Not really?"
Pierre's response is rather frank. "Don't know what's with you two. Everything's weird."

You head out through the port. It's obvious that the boys are more used to this setup - Pierre's looking around himself, but it's more of a casual regard, just seeing what's going on. Marin's just breezing through, pointing out the way to go for you all - how many different worlds has he even seen, that something like this is just such not a big deal to him? You can't quite recall if you've ever asked.

Pierre stretches, and smiles, as you emerge from the port onto what looks to be a white marble boulevard. "Right, so where were we going, again?"
"… You had the information. It was your Master who gave it to us."
"… I did?" He blinks, then gives a bit of a laugh. "Of course I did. Right…" It looks like he's faking nonchalance as he checks his coder - "It's the Court we need to check out."
"Okay, so we-"

You're interrupted by a - well. A figure running towards you. Is that a horse-head helmet, or - oh. Their actual head, it seems. Having dealt with Artie for years, sentient animals aren't a big problem for you, but Pierre's caught a little off guard.

"You! You're the new ones here, aren't you? Just got word of a landing…"
Well, word spreads fast, it seems. "The new ones? I guess… we just got here?"
"Wonderful! Come with me! Oh, it's so wonderful that you came…"

You pause a moment, looking at Marin. "Should we?"
"Can't hurt. At least they should be able to tell us what things are like around here...?"
And as you look over, Pierre's already headed off after them. That pretty much answers that. Damn it, Pierre...

Something occurs to you, as your group heads on. "Look, I don't want to be trouble, but… where are we going?"
"Our base! The Army of Hearts are going to love you! Reinforcements from another world… so wonderful of you to drop in!"

You stop in your tracks.
Reinforcements?

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Right, let's get back into action! Again, sorry about the delay, and sorry about the lack of artistic business in this one. Next update may be late again because con weekend. But I'll see what I can do as soon as I can do it, and hopefully I won't be leaving you guys hanging again.
I hope. ^^;

[GG7]

>Ask Questions, specifically about the enemies.

[Superdog]

Better help them! FRIENDSHIP.

[meteorMirror]

>First find out who they are fighting and then why.

[Viimesen_Kerran]

Knowledge is power. In case I wasn't being clear 'who are you(important word) fighting'

[Edrobot]

> Gilgamesh: Time to make your grand entrance!

[shadowedPhoenix]

"…Excuse me?"
"Reinforcements?" Pierre heard them, too. He's stopped, looking skeptical.
"Oh, of course!" your host half-whinnies, casually, not even stopping to check that you're with him.
"Against what? We didn't come down here to-"
"Don't be silly! Of course you did!" Now this is just awkward.
"We don't even know who you're fighting! We don't know anything about this place! We've just come to -"
"Not so loud!" You elbow Marin before he gives everything away. Not that you think that you're being listened to too much here.

Well. You're there, anyway. Their base - you guess. It's an underground bunker. Except-
"Um… why's the table covered in cakes?" Marin asks.
"To eat them, of course! Don't you people know anything?"
"Not about what's going on here!" Pierre throws up his hands. "What's going on? Who are you fighting, anyway?"
"Oh, goodness. You really don't know?"
"No, we don't!"
The three of you at once seems to be enough to stop the - well. The knight in his tracks.
"Well, then! Why didn't you say so?"

You groan. Pierre smacks his hand into his face rather theatrically.

"My word. Have you been troubling our new allies?" Someone else is here; an older lady, in a military uniform decked out in ribbons. At a guess, that's a general's insignia she's wearing, but you're not certain. "Sit down, all of you. Have some tea and a cake. We're civilised people here. Unlike those other ruffians - oh, my, what would we have done if you'd been found by them?"
"Yeah, except for drafting random strangers, you guys are just peachy," Pierre mutters, but it goes unnoticed. He does, at least retrieve a bit of cake. You help yourself in turn, on the general principle that it can't make matters worse at this point.
"So - um, excuse me? Ma'am?" you hazard. "What's going on? Who's the enemy?"

She taps her fingers together. "Why, the Red Dynasty, of course. They've had us under siege here for so long, now…"
"The who?"
"No, the Red-"
"You know what I meant!"
"Please. We're new here. We haven't been told anything."

And with that, the general launches into an explanation. The boys apparently can't appreciate a good story when they hear one… it's nothing you'd have expected to hear, though. Not from a world calling itself 'Wonderland' - wait, did she pronounce it a bit differently? That's definitely not the priority here, though.
Hundreds of years ago, an otherwise unknown Princess found herself taking control of the country of who, at the time, had been the Red Queen. And ever since that point, there's been conflict on and off. Sometimes, an uneasy cold war; sometimes, outright battle. So many fights, so many - well, from the description? So many games.
And it would be just your luck to arrive during outright conflict…

"And oh, those new weapons of theirs, absolutely awful things. No respect for their opponents. Why, when I was your age, soldiers respected each other on the battlefield! Not any of this nonsense…"
Nonsense around here sounds relative. But you perk up a bit, curious. "What sort of weapons do you mean?"
"Oof. Nasty dark things, they are. Monsters."

Now that's suspicious. You share looks with the boys.
"Dark things? And they said there weren't meant to be Heartless here…"
"You think they are?"
"Don't know. But something's going on, right?"

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Keeping moving, keeping moving...
... although sadly, going to have to be a bit delayed again for the next update. I'll be away from home for the next couple of weeks; while I'm expecting to have wifi access, I don't know how often I'll be able to work on a thing. I'll try not to leave you guys hanging again, though, now that we actually have a plot for this world!

[ah2190]

>Heartless? Here?!? But the last time there were Heartless, the worlds were in danger!