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

[GG7]

>"Who stopped him?"

[Superdog]

I recently skimmed your art. THOSE BLADES. AW YESH.

>Pierre: NOPE. NO QUESTIONS.
>Rafale: Wonder if your Master knows about this. Also, "What happened? Obviously, he failed to an extent..."

[Arby]

>"Who stopped him?"

Master:> flashback

[shadowedPhoenix]

>Pierre: NOPE. NO QUESTIONS.

Your head's spinning from the information overload.

"Uh. Nope. I can't think of anything..."

Master gives you a slightly doubting look. Sure, you've got a few. But they're along the lines of Seriously? All that? Really? and you doubt that'll impress her much. Ah, well.



On the other hand...

>Rafale: Ask what happened.

This is incredible. You've never imagined that something like this could have been out there all this time. You've got so much you want to ask about the events Pierre's master's describing: heck, did Artie even know about all of this? This is just amazing to find out...

You'll restrict yourself for the moment, though, even if you want to spill everything out.

Well, barely restrict yourself.

"Who stopped him? What happened? Obviously, he failed to an extent..."



The Master sighs. "Again, a lot of the details have been purged. But what we do know...

A group of keybearers chose to take him on, masters and apprentices alike. From all different worlds, different backgrounds. Even some who'd chosen the path of darkness: it was better than the path of nothingness he promised.

They stood together. Fought together. Against everything he threw at them.



He was defeated in the end. Presumably, killed, given there's no evidence of his activity after that point. Possibly his heart was just locked and he settled into a normal life. It's unlikely, though, from stories I've heard.
After that... Masters had worlds to reform and restore, and their apprentices had a lot to learn about the new state of affairs they'd found themselves in. It was what you'd call a rather intense learning experience, after all."

"..."

You just blink for a moment.

"Wow."

She gives a dry, wry look. "That's one way to put it. Anything else, either of you, before we start to make plans?"

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Backstory season continues... after a longer delay than I'd have liked. Sheesh, a simple sequence like this and I get stuck like a stuck thing...

Hee, Pierre. I love having an excuse to do silly expressions, sometimes. It's a thing I need practice on. One of the things I like about this, it's making me do different poses and settings than I normally do; I'm horrible for 'character standing there' art.

And thanks for the props on the 'blades, Superdog! Key design is kind of a Thing of mine, although I've done less of it recently than I have in the past.

[Superdog]

>Pierre: "Let's get GOING!"
>Rafale: Want to ask more, but agree it's time to move.

And you're very welcome! Maybe some ideas based off of those designs can scoot on this way...? :P

[shadowedPhoenix]

>Pierre: "Let's get GOING!"

Okay. Head's back together, now. You think you've got it all - trying very hard not to think 'for the moment', anyway.

"What are we waiting for? Let's do this!"
Rafale pauses a moment, and she nods. "Whatever we need to do, I'm ready."

"Let's go."

Master Katya makes a hand motion - dispelling the anti-surveillance spell, you'd guess - and stands up, leading the way. You move off.



"I'm going to try and make contact with other Masters, see if they know anything. Who's yours, ah, I'm sorry-"
"My name's Rafale? And it's Artie - Arthur."
"Well, now. If I don't see the old rat first, tell him Katya sends her regards." Rat? She continues- "While I'm at it, I'd best give you my contact details - and ah, here's a useful number, you might want to get in touch with her sometime..."A blip from your Coder indicates she's sent you something. "As for what I want you two to do? Investigate anything going on in this world that might be suspicious. Might lead to a clue."
"Does the ship dropping out of the void onto us count as suspicious?" you remark.
"Possibly. Though I don't want you two getting too close again."

Master's quiet for a moment. "Because there's one last thing I want to ask of the pair of you."
"Yeah?"
"What is it?"

She pulls you into a hug. This is so embarrassing - well, it would be if anyone else could see you, it's bad enough that you hardly know Rafale and you're being pulled into this with her...



"Be safe."

With that, she's gone. You sigh, watching her for a moment in silence, and then picking up pace yourself.

As you make it outside, the scene's changed. The authorities have moved in while you've been gone; medics are around the place, ready for crash survivors - well, apart from the one struggling with someone trying to jump the barrier around the plaza and the wreck.

"Let me go!" he's yelling, as the medic tries to calm him down. Guy's in a bit of a mess, it seems like.



Well. Someone needs to calm down. While you've got a mission to be getting on with...

You turn to Rafale.

"So. Any ideas?"

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Keybearers are go! The mission's underway...

Also, hehe, who knows? I'll probably be providing more 'bonus content' at some point...

[Superdog]

==>Talk to redtext guy. What's his problem?

[GG7]

I just realized that Color outlines = important

>Red guy: Recognize Dynamic Duo from fight and Attack them with questions.


I like saying Dynamic Duo

[forkinyoureye]

I like saying Dynamic Duo

You must browse TVTropes a lot then.

>Red guy: What a coincidence! You're a keybearer too!

[Andorxor]

>That was probable his ship.Go and say sorry for demolishing it.

[shadowedPhoenix]

I just realized that Color outlines = important

Heh, yeah. They're kind of the visual equivalent of when adventures put things in CAPITAL LETTERS in the text for EXTRA EMPHASIS - though, of course, they're just a hint. Heck, the Chocobos got them, too. So while important means coloured outline, coloured outline doesn't always mean critically important. Think of it this way: if you saw a Disney/Square-Enix character, you'd know they were a thing in the story. Coloured outlines may mean as much as Cloud or Maleficent, or as little as Tidus or Wakka.
In this case, though, yeah...

Though on that point, I'm a little concerned; I'm worrying that I'm possibly railroading/pushing the plot a bit too much here? I'd appreciate a bit of feedback on that, if anyone'd mind dropping some... I really don't know if the pacing or the - command-free-will-ability is right here.

And to make up for this not being an update, have some pixel art I've been messing with.



... I saved Pierre, went to save Rafale, realised I'd forgotten Pierre's goggles, groaned.

[Superdog]

Well, at this point, we don't have to talk to red text. Just like we didn't have to listen to exposition. Heck, in fact, why not suggest...
==>Rafale: make out with Pierre! Just to tick off red text, your ex boyfriend!

We can type anything, you get to pick what we use. I don't consider that railroading at all, especially with what we're given.

[mysticCharlatan]

I don't see any problems with railroading yet. Keep up with how you're doing things now and I'll be content.

Oh, and for suggestions:

==>Rafale: make out with Pierre! Just to tick off red text, your ex boyfriend!

I am so seconding this, just to see if you'll do it. Maybe a little out of character, but something along these lines would just be funny!

[Arby]

red> pull out keyblade

[shadowedPhoenix]

Well, at this point, we don't have to talk to red text. Just like we didn't have to listen to exposition. ...

We can type anything, you get to pick what we use. I don't consider that railroading at all, especially with what we're given.

I don't see any problems with railroading yet. Keep up with how you're doing things now and I'll be content.

Haha, thanks, guys. That's a worry off my mind. I'm pretty darn paranoid about 'oh, am I doing things right?' at times, so I'm glad to hear it. Will try not to bug you about it again.

Now to ponder how to use this li'l idea in context...

[shadowedPhoenix]

>Talk to redtext guy. What's his problem?

You glance over in the direction of the guy being restrained by the medic.

"Guess we should go see what his problem is…"

Rafale's stopped in her tracks, though, a surprised grin creeping across her face.
"Pierre, I know him!"
"… wait, what?"
"That's Marin. He's a friend - well, a - we kind of had a thing when he was on this world about a year ago, went out for a bit, then it was more a long distance thing, then …it didn't work out. Thing is, he travels around because… oh." She pauses. "He lives on a freighter with his mom. They take cargo between worlds. I never saw the ship…"
You look over towards the wreck. "Think we just did."
She swallows as it dawns on her. "Yeah."

You head on over.
"Marin? Are you doing okay?"
"Uh, we're sorry about the ship."

He turns, and bursts out into a happy grin. (The medic holding onto him seems awfully relieved, and backs away.)



"Raf! Whoa! How long has it been? This is - I wasn't expecting to see you - well, I wasn't expecting to be here, was I? - It's been mayhem, the ship got grabbed by something, or something was on it, I don't know, I was busy at the time, I tried to do something about it but couldn't do anything, and then we crashed, that wasn't fun, and there was darkness everywhere, but then I heard a fight? Did you hear anything about the fight? Do you know what happened? Then there were medics and fire fighters who got me out of there, but I can't stay here, I've got to go see if mom's alright, and Cid, and everyone else - is everyone else okay? This is awful! Except the part where you're here, but if everything else is going wrong I'm worried now, I mean… and what do you mean you're sorry about the ship? It wasn't your fault, unless I'm missing something, unless that's 'sorry for what happened'…"

He's just about exploding. Is he usually like this, you wonder? Rafale looks at him, then you, and -



The heck?

"What was that for?"
"Raf-?"
"Snapped you out of it, didn't it?" She stops and rests an arm around his shoulder, while he's still looking baffled. "Seriously, though. Missed you. And I'm really sorry about what's happened. But …I think we'll have to do questions one at a time, is that okay?"



Better had be, you think.

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Whee, bananas. This one was a bit of a 'go go go!' job on my end: I wanted to get the update with the kissy scene out on Valentines' after all. And then that panel needed redoing as Marin's pose was just ... wrong. Sorry it's not exactly the sloppiest of makeouts.

Anyway, we have our final member of the classic keybearer trio! I was actually blithering about his name until the last moment: I'd always wanted to use 'Rafale' as a keybearer name, 'Pierre' was a natural fit leading on from there, but I couldn't decide on a water name until pretty late on and until after abusing the French button on Google Translate.
... If anyone's going to mention Link's Awakening, well, we have precedent for guys using names girls have previously had. Cough, Terra, cough.

I am also fairly sure Marin's hair-tufts are going to join Pierre's goggles in the big list of Things I Keep Forgetting. They are my personal Aradia-horns.

[AProcrastinatingWriter]

>Author: Draw Marin's hair backwards sometimes.

[Superdog]

And the joke command gets used. All according to plan... /eyebrows

==> Trio: Investigate ship!

[Viimesen_Kerran]

> Rafale: Ask medic to inquire about other survivors
> Pierre: Flaunt credentials to get in there yourself; it's faster.

[GG7]

>Pierre: Ask about ship.


haha, ship. I read Marin's whole paragraph as the break-up for fun. It crashed, he was in darkness, etc.

[Iyestorm]

>Audience: Begin to ship.

[AProcrastinatingWriter]

>Audience: Begin to ship.

You are far, far too late.

They were shipping these characters before they were introduced. Not publicly, of course. But they were. I guarantee it.

[mysticCharlatan]

You are far, far too late.

They were shipping these characters before they were introduced. Not publicly, of course. But they were. I guarantee it.

Looks like I've been found out! Now I must flee!

Oh, and Pierre: Be dumbfounded by Rafale's displays of affection.

[shadowedPhoenix]

Welp. Kingdom Hearts plus Homestuck shenanigans. I kind of walked into shipper magnet central, didn't I? XD

[Viimesen_Kerran]

Just be glad we haven't dipped into 'Y' territory yet, honestly two major male characters have been present for two whole updates and not one slip. You've beat the spread.