- Location
- Earth U.S.
Broken Adventure
- Thread starter theaceoffire
- Start date
- Crossover
- Status
I've never watched, nor probably will watch these types of movies, but I can just imagine the... exasperation of dealing with an incredibly airheaded Adam with almost no constraints outside of his [HEART]. Speaks of that, who is it? Another variation of... Squishy? She was called Squishy, right? She became Rockette(that was the name, right?!) in Arc 2 and was suspiciously absent for Arc 3. The one he created to manage his power sockets. I assume, being a crystal heart, this is absolutely in Squishy's ballpark to somehow become the crystal waifu, even if she was originally not a rock or crystal...
I'm fairly certain Adam knows every single possible language at this point and just speaks/hears in variations of intent... But couldn't he just... pull a Neo(RWBY) and just use signs(his limbs as lettering I guess)? It'd be a very Adam thing to miss the very obvious simple solution though... I wonder how that living Jedi Temple is doing these days? I bet it started to eat the rest of the planet by now, or somehow FTL-jumped itself outta that place, cause even if it gets endless food/energy from constant orbital bombardment, it's gotta get annoying.
I do find it amusing that they both think they're scamming the other, one for purification and the other for free candy, since both cost basically nothing to themselves. She also knows about Eldritch Gods? Adam absolute qualified for that role... a few arcs ago? Now he's sorta like a living singularity of Improvement, all things considered. Would his Broken soul clones count as priests to himself in some sorta recursive divinity way? Adam is weird, classifying him is confusing and hurts my head.
I'm fairly certain Adam knows every single possible language at this point and just speaks/hears in variations of intent... But couldn't he just... pull a Neo(RWBY) and just use signs(his limbs as lettering I guess)? It'd be a very Adam thing to miss the very obvious simple solution though... I wonder how that living Jedi Temple is doing these days? I bet it started to eat the rest of the planet by now, or somehow FTL-jumped itself outta that place, cause even if it gets endless food/energy from constant orbital bombardment, it's gotta get annoying.
I do find it amusing that they both think they're scamming the other, one for purification and the other for free candy, since both cost basically nothing to themselves. She also knows about Eldritch Gods? Adam absolute qualified for that role... a few arcs ago? Now he's sorta like a living singularity of Improvement, all things considered. Would his Broken soul clones count as priests to himself in some sorta recursive divinity way? Adam is weird, classifying him is confusing and hurts my head.
- Location
- Sol;Terra;EU;D;NRW
Now... I am seriously tempted to search for a fitting song from Fatboy Slim for some reasson, but I will just say this.
As ne of Chris Huelsbeck's bandprojects in the 90's put it... "Save Emplyees, save employees a place in your heart... let's never be apaaaaaaart, saaaave employeeees a plaaaaace... iiiiin... yoooouuuuur.... heaaaaaart!"
...
What you you mean it was "me" ? I do not employ me, thats what employees are for!
As ne of Chris Huelsbeck's bandprojects in the 90's put it... "Save Emplyees, save employees a place in your heart... let's never be apaaaaaaart, saaaave employeeees a plaaaaace... iiiiin... yoooouuuuur.... heaaaaaart!"
...
What you you mean it was "me" ? I do not employ me, thats what employees are for!
- Location
- USA
Hmm, we haven't seen Chihiro or Haku, the two protagonists of Spirited Away. If this is when No-Face is running wild, then Chihiro should have already visited the Boiler Room and met the soot sprites and gotten a job from Yubaba, with Haku being injured by Yubaba's older twin sister Zeniba and falling into the Boiler Room to recover by now.
Is this an AU with neither character around? Anyways, it's been fun reading, I love how Yubaba's magic is useless against Shadow and she's left sorta staring at Shadow's interpretive dance of his name and being conflicted like "It's pretty peaceable and has a very profitable ability, I just have to pay for snacks... but I can't steal its name like this, damn it."
Is this an AU with neither character around? Anyways, it's been fun reading, I love how Yubaba's magic is useless against Shadow and she's left sorta staring at Shadow's interpretive dance of his name and being conflicted like "It's pretty peaceable and has a very profitable ability, I just have to pay for snacks... but I can't steal its name like this, damn it."
Kalibrius
God of reflection
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
Well
Considering that no face is called by his species rather than an actual name, I could imagine this being a second one with others existing as well
And wouldn't be surprised if froggy boy didn't learn his lesson from last time since the last he was seen he was wondering where he was and what happened strongly implying no face may have nommed some of the tadpoles memories as well, probably did that in order to learn to speak and most likely its standard procedure afterall no face has a similar propensity to devour a derive things like adam but only does so with what it ate and can keep in
Though this could be chihiros no face or considering we are in the kingdoms hearts multiverse, its possible that chihiro and kohaku haven't been 'reimplemented' yet thus resulting in no face not having any counterbalance besides Adam in the bathhouse to balance out all the greed
Edit Yep adam is pulling an eraqus and even gathering spirits, now will also pull a hehanort and make a shell for himself as well? Though I wonder what class no face would fall under Bluemage? Actor? Tailor? So many possibilities
Considering that no face is called by his species rather than an actual name, I could imagine this being a second one with others existing as well
And wouldn't be surprised if froggy boy didn't learn his lesson from last time since the last he was seen he was wondering where he was and what happened strongly implying no face may have nommed some of the tadpoles memories as well, probably did that in order to learn to speak and most likely its standard procedure afterall no face has a similar propensity to devour a derive things like adam but only does so with what it ate and can keep in
Though this could be chihiros no face or considering we are in the kingdoms hearts multiverse, its possible that chihiro and kohaku haven't been 'reimplemented' yet thus resulting in no face not having any counterbalance besides Adam in the bathhouse to balance out all the greed
Edit Yep adam is pulling an eraqus and even gathering spirits, now will also pull a hehanort and make a shell for himself as well? Though I wonder what class no face would fall under Bluemage? Actor? Tailor? So many possibilities
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It's entirely possible that either of those events just didn't register as noteworthy to adam, given it took the No-Face Rampage to get him to pay specific attention.
Equally likely, Yubaba having such an entity in that area has made her place protections of some sort to make such disruption of the area much harder to do, preventing either occurrence.
Considering that the chapter specifically states he could have become No-Face, in another time and place, I think the events of the movie are not happening at the same time. Adam's own actions might have accidentally accelerated/set in motion the events to more or less mimic the relevant parts of the movie; Adam knocking out the boilers (twice!) might have changed where customers would be, for example. Not to mention Adam did the purification thing as well, which likely ended up condensing emotions. In fact, I think some of the dialog sort of mentions that, but it's hard to tell if it was like that before Purification got setup. Yubaba would also have been in a different place/be thinking about different things, so her actions would be different.
If I recall correctly, by the time the movie was around No-Face gave gold pretty freely, and was thus a desirable customer for the employees. And the scenes there show that No-Face didn't even realize the value others placed on it until just then.
So most likely it's a combination of factors that ended up causing the blowup much sooner than the movie timeline had it.
If I recall correctly, by the time the movie was around No-Face gave gold pretty freely, and was thus a desirable customer for the employees. And the scenes there show that No-Face didn't even realize the value others placed on it until just then.
So most likely it's a combination of factors that ended up causing the blowup much sooner than the movie timeline had it.
. . . . That would be a neat trick, considering that the thing that could have been No Face, only just started eating people while it was there, and only shortly before Adam ate it. And since the spirits are unlikely to be prone to biological failure issues, would be difficult to bring back to life what technically isn't dead, or not already living prior. What since all that were eaten should still be alive, if not well, within first the creature, then in Adam.
Arc 4: Indirectly consuming your coworkers: Workplace Awkwardness.
- Location
- Here
Lin blinked at her work floor manager. "What are you talking about?"
The man sighed. "We were all eaten by that mask-wearing customer until it was ALSO eaten by… Something. I only woke up a few hours before you did, please don't ask me for more details."
She absently pointed at herself. "I was eaten."
He nodded. "Yes. Twice. Everyone on the bottom seven floors were as well. Only the basement levels and the upper ones managed to escape the situation."
She narrowed her eyes. "I… I feel like I should remember being eaten alive." Although it did potentially explain why everyone had suddenly woken up on the ground floor of the building after a busy work day.
After all, Lin didn't go to crazy parties that caused effects like that EVERY day. Or even every year!
The manager sighed. "Apparently, the thing that consumed the customer that ate us also ate our memories of being eaten." He winced. "I asked to see the magic records of the event."
Tormented eyes burned into her own. "Do NOT ask to see the magical records. Just… Do not ask."
Uh. Alright then. "So… I was eaten." Huh.
He nodded. "Scariest thing I had ever seen in my life. I'm going to have night terrors of pink eyes and sharp pink fangs forever after this."
Hold up! "Pink!?"
The man shaped spirit blinked. "Uh… Yes?"
Oh no. Oh no no no no! "I… I better go see to my duties."
She had to check up on a certain tiny pink-eyed soot sprite NOW!
Please be alright, old man Kamaji!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The multiple limbed spirit blinked at the crowd of soot sprites. "Are… Are there TWO of you now?"
Two tiny pink eyed black fuzzy blobs started shaking their groove thang.
He stared at the itty bitty creatures.
No.
Too early for this.
He pointed to the right one. "You do the water blessings for today." And the other one. "You focus on coal transportation. Alright?"
Two tiny nods.
Well, whatever. "Right, let's get to…"
The back door SLAMMED open! "OLD MAN KAMAJI!"
WHAT!? "I'm not old, I'm just old boned!" Damned whipper snappers. No respect these days. "What's got you in such a fuss, little Lin?"
The fox spirit however seemed locked in place, staring at the soot sprites who were apparently getting into some sort of spontaneous dance off/argument/disco revival movement. "Wha? There are TWO of them now!?"
He blinked. Oh. "Heh, that's what I said! And yeah, caught me off guard too. Then again, something felt odd last night, and the work orders dropped off pretty quick… No idea why."
Plus he had taken advantage of the sudden drop in task load to get a quick nap in, not that he would bring that up. "Anyway, the two little guys seem cheerful enough and are willing to follow orders."
Which was more than some employees did in this place. Harumph!
Little Lin cautiously stepped closer to the small pool of black soot and the two pink eyed oddities within. "Did… Did one of you two eat the customer who was eating everyone?"
Wait, WHAT!? "A customer did WHAT now!?"
Both tiny soot sprites froze in shock… And frantically started pointing at each other.
Lin stared in silence as the twin fuzz butts began devolving from limb pointing and the blame game directly down into the world's saddest, low impact, low stake slap fest ever seen.
The surrounding soot sprites started cheering the duo on!
Kamaji blinked but waved all that off with several hands. "No, seriously girl. Calm down and tell this young and very not old man exactly what is going on here."
Sometimes it was so FRUSTRATING to be down here cut off from the rest of the business.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Shadow glared at Shadow, neither of them happy that the other didn't accept the blame properly.
They could have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for that meddling soot sprite!
He had suffered that long speech about not eating things that eat everything and getting stuck in a building or two and THIS is how he was treated!?
Meanwhile, he had suffered from being stuck down here doing boring stuff while his other self had gotten an all-you-can-eat buffet of Darkness and Pain and Nightmares!?
This meant WAR!
Their tiny limbs had a pretty rough time even making contact with each other, but tiny poofs of soot showed that this was a battle for the ages! Life and death, a spiral of violence from which no survivor could escape! A dire and epic struggle for dominance, where…
Ooh! Candy!
Both Shadow and Shadow split focus to more efficiently gather the tiny sugar stars as quickly as possible, both ignoring Gem giggling in the background.
Wait, what were they doing?
Giant Kamaji loomed overhead. "That's enough of that. You lot move the coal, and you do your blessings! Everyone, get to it!"
Oh, right!
Shadow and Shadow nodded as they went off to get things done and earn their just desserts!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The two spirits watched the dark soot group get to work, the most distant one cracking in half so familiar eels with pink jaws could begin blessing the rapidly heating water.
Lin stared at them. "Well… They certainly don't ACT like eldritch entities that can consume an entire building sized customer."
Kamaji sighed. "You can't judge others by such little things. Some of the most powerful and dangerous spirits and fairies and demons I ever met seemed small minded, or innocent, or harmless."
He narrowed his eyes. "Which is why being polite is so vital when working with others." His sharp gaze turned to her. "If Ms. Yubaba managed to free all of you, what of that customer? Were they dealt with?"
Lin winced. "I… Uh. Well, when I found out that our tiny friend here had eaten everything and everyone up here, I was a bit worried about you." She shuffled her feet a bit awkwardly. "I left to make sure you were alright before I got all the details."
He felt his heart warm as he smiled. "I'm fine, but thank you for worrying." He glanced at the Bath Tokens coming down. "I'll see you after your next shift, let me know what you find out during the work day."
She gave a weak smile back. "Will do, old man Kamaji."
The many limbed spirit snorted. "I tell you, it's my mustache! It's too dignified, makes people think I have more years than I actually do. I'm so young it's almost embarrassing!"
The young lady rolled her eyes but seemed to smile with less fragility. Good.
He waved her off and focused on work… As well as the new pink eyed soot sprite twins.
At least it seemed they had helped out in a time of need… Even if they were a bit off putting.
The one soot sprite blob of Darkness currently licking the boiler could at LEAST reduce the number of eyes and jaws on his eel tentacle tongue! That was just unsettling to watch.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Double bodies mean DOUBLE CANDY!
Both Shadows started to shimmy shammy down with glee! Double candy! Double candy! Double candy! Double…
Gem gently pulsed, pulling their attention over to their other friends.
Their friends with less candy.
Oh.
Both Shadows blinked… And looked down at their candy piles.
Double bodies meant… Less candy over all. Either less for their friends, or less for Shadow.
Absently, Shadow struck off the idea of splitting into a thousand bodies from the agenda.
It wouldn't be hard after all. Bodies like his current one were just spiritual energy soaked into soot, acting as a sort of container for the Heartless.
But it would give less candy to everyone.
That… That wouldn't be right.
With a deep regret, both Shadows turned to each other… And began to play rock paper scissors. Or, as locally termed, rochambeau. There could only be one, after all.
Both soot sprites blinked as they both threw rock.
Or did they both throw paper?
Having stick limbs with no hands made it hard to play this game.
Gem giggled as they kept giving it a shot… Before she nudged the Shadow who was still gnawing on No-Face's emotional Darkness. Tugging for his attention.
That Shadow blinked. Hmm?
She nudged again. And pulled focus towards the much less stressed and quietly sleeping entity that had once been within his Darkness, the lonely one she was keeping safe.
The one entity Shadow had carefully NOT given to Boss Yubaba, despite her annoyed demands and frustrated requests.
Oh. OH! This was just perfect!
And that creature probably wouldn't want candy at all! Or not nearly as much as Shadow would, at least. Right, that… That made sense. A plan! One need a new body, and Shadow had two jobs that needed doing!
It was efficient! Convenient! What a great idea!
Shadow paused as he then… Followed that idea to its logical conclusion.
Oh. It was a great idea. Which meant… He should probably do it.
Unfortunately.
So… So he would have to be the one to leave. Since both of them had No-Face in storage right now, but this particular Shadow had figured Gem's idea out before his other self could.
And while it was trivial to move No-Face from Gem to one area of Darkness or another, he wouldn't push off this responsibility to anyone else… Not even to himself.
The other Shadow showed comradery by gently patting his back. They both understood the sacrifice needed to not stay for all the sweet, sweet candy.
With a slightly slumped spirit, Shadow gently touched the sleeping form of No-Face and fully disconnected the core of Darkness that had infected it. Probably would cause a good bit of confusion and some fuzzy memories of the last week or so, but nothing too bad.
One Shadow carefully moved the other soot sprites back while the other carefully Ḉ̵͍̟̹͎̭̤̠̜͚̖͙̞̹̺̫̲͔̱ŗ̸̢̘̤̖̥̘̱͈̹̗̬́ú̵̪̼̥̙̫̰̰͚̫͢n̷̡̦̟̤̰̯̗̥͔͍͓̭̰͝ç̺̱͔̝̞͇̳̮̜̲͚͕͎̱͟h̡̺̞̖͎̩̲̖͍̫͖̕͠͡e͏̶̢͉̝͇͠d̵̴͖̱̹͖͇̣̱̻̺͙̞̞͈͉͈̬̜͢͟…
.
A flood of memories. Of being alone for so, so long. Of being ignored. Of being lost. Of being hungry. Of eating anything, searching for meaning. Looking for symbology, for connection, for resonance.
Truely, No-Face was something like another path not traveled.
Still… This confusion and loneliness from the infected morsel was also a guide.
Shadow carefully gripped Gem within himself, and…
Shadow Consumed Inwards…
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Shadow Soot watched as his brother swirled inwards and vanished, his former body slumping flat.
Right, that was stage one.
Now for stage two!
Carefully reaching within the Darkness that existed wherever Light shone, he gently pulled at a sleeping child that was old… So old. So terribly, terribly old.
Thankfully, spiritual entities were far more flexible in a way, more malleable, than people and creatures made out of flesh and bone.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
No-Face was confused.
It had… It had dreamed. Had that been possible before?
For a glorious moment, for a short while, everything was alright. Everything was okay.
It had been… A hug? But from all the shadows. From all the Darkness.
And it had many dreams.
Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax… Of cabbages and kings! And why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings…
It had truly been a land of wonder.
And now… What?
Something fuzzy and black with bright pink eyes was attempting to do some sort of waltz.
What?
Where was it?
Where was THIS?
What was happening right now?
A massive shadow covered the world. "Hmm?"
No-Face blinked and looked upwards at… A massive old man with a mustache and sunglasses? Lots of limbs too! WHY!?
The mountain of man blinked. "Why does the coal carrying version of you have a little white mask now? No pink eyes either… No eyes at all, really."
The odd black fluffy thing paused movement.
Pointed at himself, pointed up to the sky, pointed at No-Face, wiggled both arms five times with a counter spin twist, and then…
Began to aggressively samba.
Both No-Face and the building size person watched this frantic activity with…
Well, they were both confused.
Then a whole crowd of black fluffy things came bustling in around the pink eyed one… And a dance extravaganza was exploding on the scene! Tap dancing met ballet and fought whole teams of belly dancers, which was VERY tricky when you were 98% belly in the first place!
No-Face found his new tiny stick limbs confusing.
No-Face found his tiny fluffy body confusing.
No-Face found this hectic crowd of sooty creatures confusing.
But, as No-Face was pulled into a very odd waltz…
No-Face didn't feel so alone.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Shadow blinked.
Uh.
What… What an odd place.
It felt… Shattered. A bit rough. Torn.
And… It wasn't quite magical energy, nor spiritual, but there was Faith here. Belief.
Yes, belief pulsed thick like lava in this land.
Shadow carefully shifted from shade to cover to overhang, examining this new land. Careful not to damage anything further.
Fluid, but also anchored. Not like the Otherworld that the Darkness trapped souls in, not like the bathhouse and it's odd disconnection between the physical world and the spiritual one, this felt more like…
Like a Soul Domain.
Not fully developed, and the user wouldn't be able to casually warp people and objects between this land and their physical world, not easily… But the seeds were here and the water was Faith.
It just… It didn't have enough energy to grow properly. Not enough power.
Gem pulsed with interest as the duo carefully moved from area to area.
Well… There was no candy here.
And rules were a bit loose.
Death and Life were just… Abstract concepts here. Anything could die and be returned with casual indifference, if the Domain's Will desired it so. Gravity, a fact of reality for most, was basically a suggestion here. Same for the need to breathe, or eat, or sleep, or drink, or even move…
Some areas were connected to unrelated locations, like warp zones or folded space. To outsiders, this entire land was twisted and twirled and a confusing mess… But to the Domain itself? It all reflected its own internal Will, needs, and wants.
But… With it being this young, this fragile, and this damaged?
With this land so hungry, so tired, so needing?
Any grip of control was lost.
The guiding hand was cradling a crying child, the sobbing Domain unable to restrain unhealthy coping mechanisms or dangerous thought patterns.
Shadow gently touched a tear in this Domain. Not just a rip in the world, but also a drop of sadness… Things were very meaningful here. They almost had too much significance.
"O̡h͞? And̸ ̸ w̨ha͏t n̕ew Dark̴ne̵s̷s ̷haş ͞m̡a͞n͡a̢g͡ed t͢o̵ ̨f̛in̵d̛ its w̴ày i̶nt͡o̵ ͞o͞u͜r d̸a͟mage̴d Wond͏er̨l̨and?͏"
Shadow blinked. Hmm?
He turned but didn't, and saw but didn't, a very odd Cat with a disturbing Grin.
Oh? A new friend! Hi!
Shadow frantically waved a three fingered black claw at the bemused animal/person/thing.
Slightly blood fangs curled in amusement as the skeletal cat shifted locations without moving. "O͞h? You̵… ̢Y҉ou ar͝e̡ q̷u̡i͞t́e ̷an ͢odd̷ ̀littl͢e th̀ìng͡,́ ar̶en̛'̴t͢ y̢ou̴? A͜n Ou͏tşid͠er i͞n͢ t͠h̷is h̢av͢en, b̶u̢t her͞e lon̷g ́b͠e̡fore͟ ͠a͝ll͟ ͏of̢ ͝u͡s w̶ere̴ ́th̷ou̶g͏ht ơf…̀ A̡ c̡o͏n̷t͢ra̷d͟i̢ctio̴n?"
The creature's head tilted. "Y͏ou͡ ͠w̷o̧u͞l͟d͠ ͘h͝ave̸ ͝fit̀ rig͜ht ̷in, bef͝oŗe ̛t͜he͠ ͢dąm̨a̶g̴e and̨ ̢the ̨pai̧n͝ ͜and͢ ͠ţhe ̧fiŗe."
Right, he had LOTS of practice communicating at this point! He had learned how to jump and jive, and when to wail… Let's do this thing!
Shadow shimmied to the left and did a hop twirl to the right, a dip and pop and lock before a harsh double twirl and… BAM!
The animal blinked. "A H͟e̸ar̷t̛les̛s͠? We'̛ve ne̶ver s̵e̶en su̡cḩ Da͞r̡kne͝ss̨ em̶bo̵d̴i͢e͢d b̨e̴for̀e̕. ͜Fáscìn̨ating t̀o̢ meet ̧y͡o͏u,͡ S͜had͞o͜w ͠O͜fadam… ̛I am t̢he ͡Chȩşh̵i̧r͞e̡ Ca̶t of this Land͝ of W͢on̨dérs."
Shadow froze.
It worked!?
Ha! Well, of COURSE it worked! He had put in a LOT of practice after all! Take that, multilimbed giant people and half giant boss witch women who never bothered to dive into the deeper meaning of True Dance!
His celebration moonwalk was interrupted by an amused but sandpapery chuckle. "Eno̕ug̕h o̕f̴ ̷th̢a̛t now. Wh̵a̵t is̢ y͞o͡u͞r̸ ̡p̴urpo͜se h̢er͠e?"
Huh? Oh right!
Time to break out the hard core moves!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The emaciated feline half faded and vanished as it watched the tiny intruder begin to tell an epic tale… Or something close to one.
The tiny thing easily got distracted, and rambled on about candy and delicious snacks and how important stretching was to do before any conversation no matter how much dance practice you have or how many limbs you currently had attached to your body.
It brought back a thick cloud of nostalgia.
Wonderland used to be overflowing with little ones like this. If one couldn't converse with a plant using colored teacups or argue with a boulder through perfume debate, how would anything get done?
Contradictory impossibilities, random romps of fancy… It brought to mind happier times before the fire. Before the screams and the abuse and the hurt and the tears and little Liddell, little Alice, beginning to lose her grip on her one Land of Wonder.
Before the asylum. Before the orphanage. Before the Dollmaker.
How long has it been? That tiny little girl, who would believe six impossible things before breakfast? Though that also now belonged to the Red Queen, who was damaged now. They all were.
But now, the agony of life tainted this Wonderland. Not forever, but… Little ones like this, so innocent, felt too precious to inflict this land upon.
With hidden reluctance and only a slightly manic grin, Cat interrupted the ranting tiny one with pink eyes, who had begun debating with noone about the proper ratio of coal needed to ensure the best bathing water temperatures when traversing magical pipes through a heavily enchanted building. "N͝o, w̢h̨a͟t i͟s̢ your pu̶r̡po̵s̢e here͟ in ͜t͢his Won͏d̸e͏rl̢a̛n͟d͞, ąt ̀ţhi͝s mo̢mènt͝?"
If experience gave him any advantage here, or at least a group of expectations, then he would have to prompt this little one another few dozen times to eventually get to the point.
The tiny sheepish look as the odd black 'Heartless' rubbed the back of it's black smooth head gave it time to reconsider something. Probably something unrelated, knowing these tiny ones.
Then, with a firm nod, it prepared to get to the point!
It tried to dance four unrelated moves at the same time and fell over.
The Cat grinned as the movements shifted from the attempted storytelling to frustrated complaints about lacking enough limbs and how annoying gravity could be when you didn't have a purely physical body form or a hat. How much easier it would all be if it had just a few more arms and legs and maybe some extra antenna and a few… Eel tentacles?
Then Shadow suddenly paused. Some sort of realization?
Something shifted as it snapped its claws!
The Cheshire Cat blinked at the invader's new modification.
And gave a nod. "Th̶at i͡s̸ a veŗy l͠o̵ve͟l̡y̵ to̵p̷ h̡a͜t͘. Ẃell don̢e̕."
The tiny Heartless puffed up his chest with pride!
Still. Best keep him focused. "I t̶h̸o̧u̕ght̷ you͏ were tryi̕n̷g̡ ͠t͞o̴ ma̵k̵e͠ i͠t͟ ea̶si̡e̸r̀ t͢o̸ d̡a͡ncè tho̢ugh?"
Shadow froze… And slumped, absently touching his very stylish and new haberdashery adornment. Hesitant, for some reason.
It was, in fact, a very dapper top hat. Stylish.
And unlike most of Wonderland, not torn, nor bleeding, nor burned, nor crudely restitched or fused together.
Sigh. The young ones had always been as such. "Y͢o̷u c͟a̵n͘ alway͢s͡ wear yo͜u̕r nȩw ͏hat ̢A̶N̶D ̸atteḿp͡t ͞y̢o͟ur o͞th͏er͘ ̨i̴d̷ea."
Tiny pink eyes looked up at the Cat with wonder!
He didn't even feel the urge to roll his eyes. This just felt… So warm. So familiar.
So many lost friends and playmates and beloved enemies and forgotten dreams. Those more innocent days long since gone and buried.
If Cat's jaws grinned less harshly, no one would dare tell him. "G̛o ̵ on͟. Try͏ ͏sh͏a͠r͢ińg̵ s͠m̕a҉l̷l̴er͢ b̧i̧t̴s a̸t͜ ̶a ͝t̴i̕me̵."
The tiny one gave a firm nod, a thumbs up… And then began twirling and twisting, but only in a few directions instead of thirty at once.
And Cat blinked.
This invader had somehow infiltrated Wonderland… By devouring the pain and torment and twisted desires of a victim who needed help.
After freeing that lost one, this Heartless had given up some grand sacrifice (The loss of 'candy', told in reverent tones as a preacher sharing his faith) allowing the many beloved friends left behind to be blessed by the sugar of stars.
It sort of devolved from there. Got a bit off topic too.
Candy is cool, shaped candy is better, magic is alright but hard to store, it's rude to spit magic back at people even if you like candy better, don't eat people because it can get awkward, you get MORE candy if you are more people, it is really hard for odd non-existent crystals of pink energy to eat candy, and so on and so forth.
Still, buried under arguments about what best proportions candy should have versus body mass and debates about structural integrity of candy planets, Cat had caught himself a fat, interesting point.
He was suddenly MUCH closer to Shadow. "You̵ s͢a̶y ͝yo͜u͠ c̵a̕ǹ c͠on̛sume ̸Darkn̵e͝ss? W̛it̢hout k̶il͡li̧n͞g ͟th҉e͡ ͘s͡o͞ur̸c͞é? Li͞ḱe e̢áti͠ng̀ bad d̷r̵e͠am̀s?"
Or something a lot worse?
Something like that had TRIED to enter Wonderland once, but seemed to lack enough power to do so… And felt malicious and wrong. Not like this little one, who just felt… Peckish. And curious, which was very fitting considering the location.
Then again, anything attracted to horrible emotions, mental damage, or Darkness would feel drawn to a Land like this one.
Cheshire's grin began to grow teeth and fangs far larger than his head. "Te҉l̕l ͞m͢e͝, l͞ittle Heaŕt̡le͏ss... Ar͢e ̢you hu̕n͜ģry f͞or̕ ̸ni̷g͢h̵t te͡r̢r͜or͢s̨ ̡an͠d̕ ḩęa͢rt to̵ŕn a̧gońy ŗig̵ht̛ ̀now̕?"
A pause… And the tiny black creature frantically nodded!
He began shifting himself away towards the land of sadness and dreams and self torment. "T̸hen̴ f̛ollòw ̵me, and̡ b͠e c̷a̸ųt̡i̧ous̵… It͟ can̡ be d̛an̷g͜ér͡ous̵ ̢to͡ ex̶p͝lo͞r̡e͡ ̧o̕n̡e's i̢nne̶r͢ de͠m͡onş, ev͜e̢n̢ íf̡ tho͠se dem̴o̶ns͢ ̢a̢re n̷o͏t y̕o̶ur͟ own."
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
A wide eyed Cat felt his grin grow even stranger as he watched carnage.
Twisted shapes and tormented thoughts, external influences and corrupted mental assaults, all were screaming and attempting to flee and flailing and gasping and dying and falling into despair.
But none could flee. Not from this.
A forest of black ooze, heavily salted with bright pink and happy eyeballs, wriggling a sea of eels with bright pink fangs… And near the center of this black fog, this former abyss of pain and hurt and damage, an endlessly deep maw of sharp teeth that spiraled downwards into pure Darkness.
More and more fanged eels would capture fleeing personal demons and untouched traumas, twisting their torn bodies as each one was flung towards that endless maw of C̬͕̥̖̺͜͡o̧̪̩̬͕͉̰͈͚͕̱̘̲̮̘̗͕̬͉͕͟n̡̗̰͕̣̯̘̖̤͙͙̣̫̗͇̝̱̼̬̮͠s͏̫͙̳̙̗͖̱͉͍̫̤̗̯̫̘̕ͅu͏̶̴̟͉͕̮̭̱̭͈̱̞͔̖͚̭̯̣͉̹m̮̝͖͓̹̗͉̤͖̻̪̻̼̫̼̘̰͝p̢̺̲̩̻͇̜͔̯̘̲͔̪̯͖̟̘̥͙͝͞t͞͏̘̣͇̬͓̪̬͓̯͉̘̝͉ì̷̬͙̗̦̭̭̭͚̩̝͚̠͚̙͘͡ͅo̷̲̱̘͔̩̞͇̭̻̹̬͔̕ṋ̹̮̮̬̟̪̦̯͙͘͜ͅ.
.
The Cat grinned as the M̫a̝̣̠̯ḏ̗͎͇̘̠̪n̜͕̩̜̥e̠̩̙̯͚͔̳s̹̗s continued. "I̕ ̸waś ̢ḿìst͠aken͠...̨ ͘Y̢ou̶ f̡i͞t in p͡erfe͝ctl̴y͜ ̕h̶ere..."
A distant scream suddenly cut off with a C̘̦͇̺̏̊Ȓ̟͇̣̰͖̜̤̣̍̓̆͘͝U̴̝̺̩͓̲͈̠̐̇̔̃͜͡N͒ͯ͏̵͈̯̪͓͙̠̰̖̰C̙͈̥̝̪̣͚̘͐ͯH͉̜͍͓̜̯͇̫̯̓̔.
The grin stretched wide. "Be͡fore͝ ̷oŗ ͡A͡F͟TĘŖ t͏he͝ Ẁon͟der̴ ̶c͡ra̷c̡ked͠.̡"
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Alice Liddell blinked, unmoving from her worn bed in the Houndsditch Home for Wayward Youth.
She wasn't worn. Not tired, not weary, not trembling from her endless slumber of suffering.
What a curious thing.
Instead of the flames and the constant blame and accusations of her burning family and toys and her own ineptitude, her dreams had been very oddly… C͔r͖̞̘ṵ̣̩̫͇n̮̹c̜h̥y͙̜.
Not to mention, she felt… Lighter. Less heavy.
She didn't dare move, couldn't risk losing this odd feeling.
Like… Like the shadows weren't hiding something accusing and evil.
But more like the shade was protecting her from some overly harsh sunlight.
The difference was shocking. Unusual. Not normal.
For the first time in many, many months… Alice smiled.
Words from someone who didn't exist and she shouldn't know floated through her mind.
A memory of an impossible hatter, one who once said… "People see madness in my colorful vibrancy, and fail to see the madness in their boring normality!"
Perhaps… Perhaps not feeling normal wasn't that bad after all.
In the drafty shelter, a young lady who was being firmly taught how to fit in and submit to other powerful authority figures somehow felt that there might be another way.
It was a small start… But an important one.
The man sighed. "We were all eaten by that mask-wearing customer until it was ALSO eaten by… Something. I only woke up a few hours before you did, please don't ask me for more details."
She absently pointed at herself. "I was eaten."
He nodded. "Yes. Twice. Everyone on the bottom seven floors were as well. Only the basement levels and the upper ones managed to escape the situation."
She narrowed her eyes. "I… I feel like I should remember being eaten alive." Although it did potentially explain why everyone had suddenly woken up on the ground floor of the building after a busy work day.
After all, Lin didn't go to crazy parties that caused effects like that EVERY day. Or even every year!
The manager sighed. "Apparently, the thing that consumed the customer that ate us also ate our memories of being eaten." He winced. "I asked to see the magic records of the event."
Tormented eyes burned into her own. "Do NOT ask to see the magical records. Just… Do not ask."
Uh. Alright then. "So… I was eaten." Huh.
He nodded. "Scariest thing I had ever seen in my life. I'm going to have night terrors of pink eyes and sharp pink fangs forever after this."
Hold up! "Pink!?"
The man shaped spirit blinked. "Uh… Yes?"
Oh no. Oh no no no no! "I… I better go see to my duties."
She had to check up on a certain tiny pink-eyed soot sprite NOW!
Please be alright, old man Kamaji!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The multiple limbed spirit blinked at the crowd of soot sprites. "Are… Are there TWO of you now?"
Two tiny pink eyed black fuzzy blobs started shaking their groove thang.
He stared at the itty bitty creatures.
No.
Too early for this.
He pointed to the right one. "You do the water blessings for today." And the other one. "You focus on coal transportation. Alright?"
Two tiny nods.
Well, whatever. "Right, let's get to…"
The back door SLAMMED open! "OLD MAN KAMAJI!"
WHAT!? "I'm not old, I'm just old boned!" Damned whipper snappers. No respect these days. "What's got you in such a fuss, little Lin?"
The fox spirit however seemed locked in place, staring at the soot sprites who were apparently getting into some sort of spontaneous dance off/argument/disco revival movement. "Wha? There are TWO of them now!?"
He blinked. Oh. "Heh, that's what I said! And yeah, caught me off guard too. Then again, something felt odd last night, and the work orders dropped off pretty quick… No idea why."
Plus he had taken advantage of the sudden drop in task load to get a quick nap in, not that he would bring that up. "Anyway, the two little guys seem cheerful enough and are willing to follow orders."
Which was more than some employees did in this place. Harumph!
Little Lin cautiously stepped closer to the small pool of black soot and the two pink eyed oddities within. "Did… Did one of you two eat the customer who was eating everyone?"
Wait, WHAT!? "A customer did WHAT now!?"
Both tiny soot sprites froze in shock… And frantically started pointing at each other.
Lin stared in silence as the twin fuzz butts began devolving from limb pointing and the blame game directly down into the world's saddest, low impact, low stake slap fest ever seen.
The surrounding soot sprites started cheering the duo on!
Kamaji blinked but waved all that off with several hands. "No, seriously girl. Calm down and tell this young and very not old man exactly what is going on here."
Sometimes it was so FRUSTRATING to be down here cut off from the rest of the business.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Shadow glared at Shadow, neither of them happy that the other didn't accept the blame properly.
They could have gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for that meddling soot sprite!
He had suffered that long speech about not eating things that eat everything and getting stuck in a building or two and THIS is how he was treated!?
Meanwhile, he had suffered from being stuck down here doing boring stuff while his other self had gotten an all-you-can-eat buffet of Darkness and Pain and Nightmares!?
This meant WAR!
Their tiny limbs had a pretty rough time even making contact with each other, but tiny poofs of soot showed that this was a battle for the ages! Life and death, a spiral of violence from which no survivor could escape! A dire and epic struggle for dominance, where…
Ooh! Candy!
Both Shadow and Shadow split focus to more efficiently gather the tiny sugar stars as quickly as possible, both ignoring Gem giggling in the background.
Wait, what were they doing?
Giant Kamaji loomed overhead. "That's enough of that. You lot move the coal, and you do your blessings! Everyone, get to it!"
Oh, right!
Shadow and Shadow nodded as they went off to get things done and earn their just desserts!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The two spirits watched the dark soot group get to work, the most distant one cracking in half so familiar eels with pink jaws could begin blessing the rapidly heating water.
Lin stared at them. "Well… They certainly don't ACT like eldritch entities that can consume an entire building sized customer."
Kamaji sighed. "You can't judge others by such little things. Some of the most powerful and dangerous spirits and fairies and demons I ever met seemed small minded, or innocent, or harmless."
He narrowed his eyes. "Which is why being polite is so vital when working with others." His sharp gaze turned to her. "If Ms. Yubaba managed to free all of you, what of that customer? Were they dealt with?"
Lin winced. "I… Uh. Well, when I found out that our tiny friend here had eaten everything and everyone up here, I was a bit worried about you." She shuffled her feet a bit awkwardly. "I left to make sure you were alright before I got all the details."
He felt his heart warm as he smiled. "I'm fine, but thank you for worrying." He glanced at the Bath Tokens coming down. "I'll see you after your next shift, let me know what you find out during the work day."
She gave a weak smile back. "Will do, old man Kamaji."
The many limbed spirit snorted. "I tell you, it's my mustache! It's too dignified, makes people think I have more years than I actually do. I'm so young it's almost embarrassing!"
The young lady rolled her eyes but seemed to smile with less fragility. Good.
He waved her off and focused on work… As well as the new pink eyed soot sprite twins.
At least it seemed they had helped out in a time of need… Even if they were a bit off putting.
The one soot sprite blob of Darkness currently licking the boiler could at LEAST reduce the number of eyes and jaws on his eel tentacle tongue! That was just unsettling to watch.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Double bodies mean DOUBLE CANDY!
Both Shadows started to shimmy shammy down with glee! Double candy! Double candy! Double candy! Double…
Gem gently pulsed, pulling their attention over to their other friends.
Their friends with less candy.
Oh.
Both Shadows blinked… And looked down at their candy piles.
Double bodies meant… Less candy over all. Either less for their friends, or less for Shadow.
Absently, Shadow struck off the idea of splitting into a thousand bodies from the agenda.
It wouldn't be hard after all. Bodies like his current one were just spiritual energy soaked into soot, acting as a sort of container for the Heartless.
But it would give less candy to everyone.
That… That wouldn't be right.
With a deep regret, both Shadows turned to each other… And began to play rock paper scissors. Or, as locally termed, rochambeau. There could only be one, after all.
Both soot sprites blinked as they both threw rock.
Or did they both throw paper?
Having stick limbs with no hands made it hard to play this game.
Gem giggled as they kept giving it a shot… Before she nudged the Shadow who was still gnawing on No-Face's emotional Darkness. Tugging for his attention.
That Shadow blinked. Hmm?
She nudged again. And pulled focus towards the much less stressed and quietly sleeping entity that had once been within his Darkness, the lonely one she was keeping safe.
The one entity Shadow had carefully NOT given to Boss Yubaba, despite her annoyed demands and frustrated requests.
Oh. OH! This was just perfect!
And that creature probably wouldn't want candy at all! Or not nearly as much as Shadow would, at least. Right, that… That made sense. A plan! One need a new body, and Shadow had two jobs that needed doing!
It was efficient! Convenient! What a great idea!
Shadow paused as he then… Followed that idea to its logical conclusion.
Oh. It was a great idea. Which meant… He should probably do it.
Unfortunately.
So… So he would have to be the one to leave. Since both of them had No-Face in storage right now, but this particular Shadow had figured Gem's idea out before his other self could.
And while it was trivial to move No-Face from Gem to one area of Darkness or another, he wouldn't push off this responsibility to anyone else… Not even to himself.
The other Shadow showed comradery by gently patting his back. They both understood the sacrifice needed to not stay for all the sweet, sweet candy.
With a slightly slumped spirit, Shadow gently touched the sleeping form of No-Face and fully disconnected the core of Darkness that had infected it. Probably would cause a good bit of confusion and some fuzzy memories of the last week or so, but nothing too bad.
One Shadow carefully moved the other soot sprites back while the other carefully Ḉ̵͍̟̹͎̭̤̠̜͚̖͙̞̹̺̫̲͔̱ŗ̸̢̘̤̖̥̘̱͈̹̗̬́ú̵̪̼̥̙̫̰̰͚̫͢n̷̡̦̟̤̰̯̗̥͔͍͓̭̰͝ç̺̱͔̝̞͇̳̮̜̲͚͕͎̱͟h̡̺̞̖͎̩̲̖͍̫͖̕͠͡e͏̶̢͉̝͇͠d̵̴͖̱̹͖͇̣̱̻̺͙̞̞͈͉͈̬̜͢͟…
.
A flood of memories. Of being alone for so, so long. Of being ignored. Of being lost. Of being hungry. Of eating anything, searching for meaning. Looking for symbology, for connection, for resonance.
Truely, No-Face was something like another path not traveled.
Still… This confusion and loneliness from the infected morsel was also a guide.
Shadow carefully gripped Gem within himself, and…
Shadow Consumed Inwards…
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Shadow Soot watched as his brother swirled inwards and vanished, his former body slumping flat.
Right, that was stage one.
Now for stage two!
Carefully reaching within the Darkness that existed wherever Light shone, he gently pulled at a sleeping child that was old… So old. So terribly, terribly old.
Thankfully, spiritual entities were far more flexible in a way, more malleable, than people and creatures made out of flesh and bone.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
No-Face was confused.
It had… It had dreamed. Had that been possible before?
For a glorious moment, for a short while, everything was alright. Everything was okay.
It had been… A hug? But from all the shadows. From all the Darkness.
And it had many dreams.
Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax… Of cabbages and kings! And why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings…
It had truly been a land of wonder.
And now… What?
Something fuzzy and black with bright pink eyes was attempting to do some sort of waltz.
What?
Where was it?
Where was THIS?
What was happening right now?
A massive shadow covered the world. "Hmm?"
No-Face blinked and looked upwards at… A massive old man with a mustache and sunglasses? Lots of limbs too! WHY!?
The mountain of man blinked. "Why does the coal carrying version of you have a little white mask now? No pink eyes either… No eyes at all, really."
The odd black fluffy thing paused movement.
Pointed at himself, pointed up to the sky, pointed at No-Face, wiggled both arms five times with a counter spin twist, and then…
Began to aggressively samba.
Both No-Face and the building size person watched this frantic activity with…
Well, they were both confused.
Then a whole crowd of black fluffy things came bustling in around the pink eyed one… And a dance extravaganza was exploding on the scene! Tap dancing met ballet and fought whole teams of belly dancers, which was VERY tricky when you were 98% belly in the first place!
No-Face found his new tiny stick limbs confusing.
No-Face found his tiny fluffy body confusing.
No-Face found this hectic crowd of sooty creatures confusing.
But, as No-Face was pulled into a very odd waltz…
No-Face didn't feel so alone.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Shadow blinked.
Uh.
What… What an odd place.
It felt… Shattered. A bit rough. Torn.
And… It wasn't quite magical energy, nor spiritual, but there was Faith here. Belief.
Yes, belief pulsed thick like lava in this land.
Shadow carefully shifted from shade to cover to overhang, examining this new land. Careful not to damage anything further.
Fluid, but also anchored. Not like the Otherworld that the Darkness trapped souls in, not like the bathhouse and it's odd disconnection between the physical world and the spiritual one, this felt more like…
Like a Soul Domain.
Not fully developed, and the user wouldn't be able to casually warp people and objects between this land and their physical world, not easily… But the seeds were here and the water was Faith.
It just… It didn't have enough energy to grow properly. Not enough power.
Gem pulsed with interest as the duo carefully moved from area to area.
Well… There was no candy here.
And rules were a bit loose.
Death and Life were just… Abstract concepts here. Anything could die and be returned with casual indifference, if the Domain's Will desired it so. Gravity, a fact of reality for most, was basically a suggestion here. Same for the need to breathe, or eat, or sleep, or drink, or even move…
Some areas were connected to unrelated locations, like warp zones or folded space. To outsiders, this entire land was twisted and twirled and a confusing mess… But to the Domain itself? It all reflected its own internal Will, needs, and wants.
But… With it being this young, this fragile, and this damaged?
With this land so hungry, so tired, so needing?
Any grip of control was lost.
The guiding hand was cradling a crying child, the sobbing Domain unable to restrain unhealthy coping mechanisms or dangerous thought patterns.
Shadow gently touched a tear in this Domain. Not just a rip in the world, but also a drop of sadness… Things were very meaningful here. They almost had too much significance.
"O̡h͞? And̸ ̸ w̨ha͏t n̕ew Dark̴ne̵s̷s ̷haş ͞m̡a͞n͡a̢g͡ed t͢o̵ ̨f̛in̵d̛ its w̴ày i̶nt͡o̵ ͞o͞u͜r d̸a͟mage̴d Wond͏er̨l̨and?͏"
Shadow blinked. Hmm?
He turned but didn't, and saw but didn't, a very odd Cat with a disturbing Grin.
Oh? A new friend! Hi!
Shadow frantically waved a three fingered black claw at the bemused animal/person/thing.
Slightly blood fangs curled in amusement as the skeletal cat shifted locations without moving. "O͞h? You̵… ̢Y҉ou ar͝e̡ q̷u̡i͞t́e ̷an ͢odd̷ ̀littl͢e th̀ìng͡,́ ar̶en̛'̴t͢ y̢ou̴? A͜n Ou͏tşid͠er i͞n͢ t͠h̷is h̢av͢en, b̶u̢t her͞e lon̷g ́b͠e̡fore͟ ͠a͝ll͟ ͏of̢ ͝u͡s w̶ere̴ ́th̷ou̶g͏ht ơf…̀ A̡ c̡o͏n̷t͢ra̷d͟i̢ctio̴n?"
The creature's head tilted. "Y͏ou͡ ͠w̷o̧u͞l͟d͠ ͘h͝ave̸ ͝fit̀ rig͜ht ̷in, bef͝oŗe ̛t͜he͠ ͢dąm̨a̶g̴e and̨ ̢the ̨pai̧n͝ ͜and͢ ͠ţhe ̧fiŗe."
Right, he had LOTS of practice communicating at this point! He had learned how to jump and jive, and when to wail… Let's do this thing!
Shadow shimmied to the left and did a hop twirl to the right, a dip and pop and lock before a harsh double twirl and… BAM!
The animal blinked. "A H͟e̸ar̷t̛les̛s͠? We'̛ve ne̶ver s̵e̶en su̡cḩ Da͞r̡kne͝ss̨ em̶bo̵d̴i͢e͢d b̨e̴for̀e̕. ͜Fáscìn̨ating t̀o̢ meet ̧y͡o͏u,͡ S͜had͞o͜w ͠O͜fadam… ̛I am t̢he ͡Chȩşh̵i̧r͞e̡ Ca̶t of this Land͝ of W͢on̨dérs."
Shadow froze.
It worked!?
Ha! Well, of COURSE it worked! He had put in a LOT of practice after all! Take that, multilimbed giant people and half giant boss witch women who never bothered to dive into the deeper meaning of True Dance!
His celebration moonwalk was interrupted by an amused but sandpapery chuckle. "Eno̕ug̕h o̕f̴ ̷th̢a̛t now. Wh̵a̵t is̢ y͞o͡u͞r̸ ̡p̴urpo͜se h̢er͠e?"
Huh? Oh right!
Time to break out the hard core moves!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
The emaciated feline half faded and vanished as it watched the tiny intruder begin to tell an epic tale… Or something close to one.
The tiny thing easily got distracted, and rambled on about candy and delicious snacks and how important stretching was to do before any conversation no matter how much dance practice you have or how many limbs you currently had attached to your body.
It brought back a thick cloud of nostalgia.
Wonderland used to be overflowing with little ones like this. If one couldn't converse with a plant using colored teacups or argue with a boulder through perfume debate, how would anything get done?
Contradictory impossibilities, random romps of fancy… It brought to mind happier times before the fire. Before the screams and the abuse and the hurt and the tears and little Liddell, little Alice, beginning to lose her grip on her one Land of Wonder.
Before the asylum. Before the orphanage. Before the Dollmaker.
How long has it been? That tiny little girl, who would believe six impossible things before breakfast? Though that also now belonged to the Red Queen, who was damaged now. They all were.
But now, the agony of life tainted this Wonderland. Not forever, but… Little ones like this, so innocent, felt too precious to inflict this land upon.
With hidden reluctance and only a slightly manic grin, Cat interrupted the ranting tiny one with pink eyes, who had begun debating with noone about the proper ratio of coal needed to ensure the best bathing water temperatures when traversing magical pipes through a heavily enchanted building. "N͝o, w̢h̨a͟t i͟s̢ your pu̶r̡po̵s̢e here͟ in ͜t͢his Won͏d̸e͏rl̢a̛n͟d͞, ąt ̀ţhi͝s mo̢mènt͝?"
If experience gave him any advantage here, or at least a group of expectations, then he would have to prompt this little one another few dozen times to eventually get to the point.
The tiny sheepish look as the odd black 'Heartless' rubbed the back of it's black smooth head gave it time to reconsider something. Probably something unrelated, knowing these tiny ones.
Then, with a firm nod, it prepared to get to the point!
It tried to dance four unrelated moves at the same time and fell over.
The Cat grinned as the movements shifted from the attempted storytelling to frustrated complaints about lacking enough limbs and how annoying gravity could be when you didn't have a purely physical body form or a hat. How much easier it would all be if it had just a few more arms and legs and maybe some extra antenna and a few… Eel tentacles?
Then Shadow suddenly paused. Some sort of realization?
Something shifted as it snapped its claws!
The Cheshire Cat blinked at the invader's new modification.
And gave a nod. "Th̶at i͡s̸ a veŗy l͠o̵ve͟l̡y̵ to̵p̷ h̡a͜t͘. Ẃell don̢e̕."
The tiny Heartless puffed up his chest with pride!
Still. Best keep him focused. "I t̶h̸o̧u̕ght̷ you͏ were tryi̕n̷g̡ ͠t͞o̴ ma̵k̵e͠ i͠t͟ ea̶si̡e̸r̀ t͢o̸ d̡a͡ncè tho̢ugh?"
Shadow froze… And slumped, absently touching his very stylish and new haberdashery adornment. Hesitant, for some reason.
It was, in fact, a very dapper top hat. Stylish.
And unlike most of Wonderland, not torn, nor bleeding, nor burned, nor crudely restitched or fused together.
Sigh. The young ones had always been as such. "Y͢o̷u c͟a̵n͘ alway͢s͡ wear yo͜u̕r nȩw ͏hat ̢A̶N̶D ̸atteḿp͡t ͞y̢o͟ur o͞th͏er͘ ̨i̴d̷ea."
Tiny pink eyes looked up at the Cat with wonder!
He didn't even feel the urge to roll his eyes. This just felt… So warm. So familiar.
So many lost friends and playmates and beloved enemies and forgotten dreams. Those more innocent days long since gone and buried.
If Cat's jaws grinned less harshly, no one would dare tell him. "G̛o ̵ on͟. Try͏ ͏sh͏a͠r͢ińg̵ s͠m̕a҉l̷l̴er͢ b̧i̧t̴s a̸t͜ ̶a ͝t̴i̕me̵."
The tiny one gave a firm nod, a thumbs up… And then began twirling and twisting, but only in a few directions instead of thirty at once.
And Cat blinked.
This invader had somehow infiltrated Wonderland… By devouring the pain and torment and twisted desires of a victim who needed help.
After freeing that lost one, this Heartless had given up some grand sacrifice (The loss of 'candy', told in reverent tones as a preacher sharing his faith) allowing the many beloved friends left behind to be blessed by the sugar of stars.
It sort of devolved from there. Got a bit off topic too.
Candy is cool, shaped candy is better, magic is alright but hard to store, it's rude to spit magic back at people even if you like candy better, don't eat people because it can get awkward, you get MORE candy if you are more people, it is really hard for odd non-existent crystals of pink energy to eat candy, and so on and so forth.
Still, buried under arguments about what best proportions candy should have versus body mass and debates about structural integrity of candy planets, Cat had caught himself a fat, interesting point.
He was suddenly MUCH closer to Shadow. "You̵ s͢a̶y ͝yo͜u͠ c̵a̕ǹ c͠on̛sume ̸Darkn̵e͝ss? W̛it̢hout k̶il͡li̧n͞g ͟th҉e͡ ͘s͡o͞ur̸c͞é? Li͞ḱe e̢áti͠ng̀ bad d̷r̵e͠am̀s?"
Or something a lot worse?
Something like that had TRIED to enter Wonderland once, but seemed to lack enough power to do so… And felt malicious and wrong. Not like this little one, who just felt… Peckish. And curious, which was very fitting considering the location.
Then again, anything attracted to horrible emotions, mental damage, or Darkness would feel drawn to a Land like this one.
Cheshire's grin began to grow teeth and fangs far larger than his head. "Te҉l̕l ͞m͢e͝, l͞ittle Heaŕt̡le͏ss... Ar͢e ̢you hu̕n͜ģry f͞or̕ ̸ni̷g͢h̵t te͡r̢r͜or͢s̨ ̡an͠d̕ ḩęa͢rt to̵ŕn a̧gońy ŗig̵ht̛ ̀now̕?"
A pause… And the tiny black creature frantically nodded!
He began shifting himself away towards the land of sadness and dreams and self torment. "T̸hen̴ f̛ollòw ̵me, and̡ b͠e c̷a̸ųt̡i̧ous̵… It͟ can̡ be d̛an̷g͜ér͡ous̵ ̢to͡ ex̶p͝lo͞r̡e͡ ̧o̕n̡e's i̢nne̶r͢ de͠m͡onş, ev͜e̢n̢ íf̡ tho͠se dem̴o̶ns͢ ̢a̢re n̷o͏t y̕o̶ur͟ own."
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
A wide eyed Cat felt his grin grow even stranger as he watched carnage.
Twisted shapes and tormented thoughts, external influences and corrupted mental assaults, all were screaming and attempting to flee and flailing and gasping and dying and falling into despair.
But none could flee. Not from this.
A forest of black ooze, heavily salted with bright pink and happy eyeballs, wriggling a sea of eels with bright pink fangs… And near the center of this black fog, this former abyss of pain and hurt and damage, an endlessly deep maw of sharp teeth that spiraled downwards into pure Darkness.
More and more fanged eels would capture fleeing personal demons and untouched traumas, twisting their torn bodies as each one was flung towards that endless maw of C̬͕̥̖̺͜͡o̧̪̩̬͕͉̰͈͚͕̱̘̲̮̘̗͕̬͉͕͟n̡̗̰͕̣̯̘̖̤͙͙̣̫̗͇̝̱̼̬̮͠s͏̫͙̳̙̗͖̱͉͍̫̤̗̯̫̘̕ͅu͏̶̴̟͉͕̮̭̱̭͈̱̞͔̖͚̭̯̣͉̹m̮̝͖͓̹̗͉̤͖̻̪̻̼̫̼̘̰͝p̢̺̲̩̻͇̜͔̯̘̲͔̪̯͖̟̘̥͙͝͞t͞͏̘̣͇̬͓̪̬͓̯͉̘̝͉ì̷̬͙̗̦̭̭̭͚̩̝͚̠͚̙͘͡ͅo̷̲̱̘͔̩̞͇̭̻̹̬͔̕ṋ̹̮̮̬̟̪̦̯͙͘͜ͅ.
.
The Cat grinned as the M̫a̝̣̠̯ḏ̗͎͇̘̠̪n̜͕̩̜̥e̠̩̙̯͚͔̳s̹̗s continued. "I̕ ̸waś ̢ḿìst͠aken͠...̨ ͘Y̢ou̶ f̡i͞t in p͡erfe͝ctl̴y͜ ̕h̶ere..."
A distant scream suddenly cut off with a C̘̦͇̺̏̊Ȓ̟͇̣̰͖̜̤̣̍̓̆͘͝U̴̝̺̩͓̲͈̠̐̇̔̃͜͡N͒ͯ͏̵͈̯̪͓͙̠̰̖̰C̙͈̥̝̪̣͚̘͐ͯH͉̜͍͓̜̯͇̫̯̓̔.
The grin stretched wide. "Be͡fore͝ ̷oŗ ͡A͡F͟TĘŖ t͏he͝ Ẁon͟der̴ ̶c͡ra̷c̡ked͠.̡"
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Alice Liddell blinked, unmoving from her worn bed in the Houndsditch Home for Wayward Youth.
She wasn't worn. Not tired, not weary, not trembling from her endless slumber of suffering.
What a curious thing.
Instead of the flames and the constant blame and accusations of her burning family and toys and her own ineptitude, her dreams had been very oddly… C͔r͖̞̘ṵ̣̩̫͇n̮̹c̜h̥y͙̜.
Not to mention, she felt… Lighter. Less heavy.
She didn't dare move, couldn't risk losing this odd feeling.
Like… Like the shadows weren't hiding something accusing and evil.
But more like the shade was protecting her from some overly harsh sunlight.
The difference was shocking. Unusual. Not normal.
For the first time in many, many months… Alice smiled.
Words from someone who didn't exist and she shouldn't know floated through her mind.
A memory of an impossible hatter, one who once said… "People see madness in my colorful vibrancy, and fail to see the madness in their boring normality!"
Perhaps… Perhaps not feeling normal wasn't that bad after all.
In the drafty shelter, a young lady who was being firmly taught how to fit in and submit to other powerful authority figures somehow felt that there might be another way.
It was a small start… But an important one.
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- Location
- miami
It's been awhile but isn't the plot of the Alice in wonderland warp style pc games about a scum bag attorney keeping her in the nut house so he can manage her inheritance? Oh and ya she is a little crazy and it's never clear if she gains superpowers from being mad or was just mad. And now I want to look up fanfiction for that game because I always felt bad for that kid.
- Location
- Here
It's a bit worse than that.
Don't worry, the setting is fairly interesting.
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The Cat probably just felt like he was given quite literally, a miracle just when it was needed. Especially considering he's the (I'm assuming here)pseudo-manager of Alice's Wonderland/soulscape. Something very foreign and powerful entered the wonderland, right in front of him, and it's staple foods are Despair, Suffering and all other negative things? The more negative, the better it is(for eating and fixing that is!)? Why, I'd say he'd find this whole thing a little bit mad, wouldn't you?
- Location
- Earth U.S.
...Adam is totally going to end up getting the villains from that game caught and much sooner, isn't he? And much earlier/less traumatic for Alice as well. Granted I don't know too much about the plot other than there's some really horrible stuff going on. And well, Alice noticeably improving will end up likely to cause them to attempt other actions.
Judging by the implications this would be pre-Madness Returns, but after the the first game. Ironically, I think that the next part of the story, Otherworld's situation of what Alice does there is kind of similar to what Adam is doing here, for Alice.
Judging by the implications this would be pre-Madness Returns, but after the the first game. Ironically, I think that the next part of the story, Otherworld's situation of what Alice does there is kind of similar to what Adam is doing here, for Alice.
- Location
- Sol;Terra;EU;D;NRW
Now Shadow just needs to share the power of making hats with the cat and then they can really start to turn this narrative around!
Round and round like a record, baby.
Round and round like a record, baby.
- Location
- Planet Earth
Lin stared in silence as the twin fuzz butts began devolving from limb pointing and the blame game directly down into the world's saddest, low impact, low stake slap fest ever seen.
... This was a GREAT chapter.
Curious how much farther the Shadow-of-Adam will go... Before it returns. Stargate and the Ori? The Void in Starcraft with the Xel'Naga? Nightmares and Horror Realities? Maybe eat Freddy Kreuger? Hellsing and the trapped souls in Alucard? Warhammer 40K and the Warp? Dead Space? DOOM? So many possibilities.
... This was a GREAT chapter.
Curious how much farther the Shadow-of-Adam will go... Before it returns. Stargate and the Ori? The Void in Starcraft with the Xel'Naga? Nightmares and Horror Realities? Maybe eat Freddy Kreuger? Hellsing and the trapped souls in Alucard? Warhammer 40K and the Warp? Dead Space? DOOM? So many possibilities.
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- Status