AUTHOR'S INTRO:

Oh hi. After much pressure from certain Mudkips and tweety birds ( 3 ), I decided to repost and, thus, continue to write again. Hopefully. It'll be a slow process cuz i don't get much time to really focus on it, but I'll try. Anyways, this intro post is to give a quick back story on the characters and events of the 'world', as it were, of this story.

Roughly…iunno, maybe five years ago now, my local convention had a fan-run forum. In this forum we had a ton of weird threads, just a ton of randomness before randomness was cool. Anyways, the main forum members started this RP within one of the threads, and it lasted…goodness…for over a year, with continuing storylines and everything. Many of the names you'll see in this story are the names of the forum members, such as Oathkeeper, Chimera, and the like. This particular story I began writing around three years ago, before the demise of the forum and most of the members grew apart from one another. This, and the story I've had brewing in my head which is a continuation of this saga, is something like a tribute to our fun times together, and the people who made it possible.

The basis of the Cupcake Kingdom, revolved around a world with worlds. In the story people have Keyblades, from Kingdom Hearts, make references to characters from said game series, Final Fantasy, and other similar games. The Kingdom itself is set within that universe and is a world like all the others, but is a 'main' world, as it were, where no one is to disrupt the balance between the worlds and no one is to know about their existence. It was once a lush, green, beautiful place ruled by the Cupcake Princess and Prince, now Queen and King in this current story. Among them lived other subject, most of them in command of a select army, like ferrets and squirrels, and each had a certain history with one another. The biggest of these is the conflict between Twitch and Tristan, whom controlled the squirrels and ferret, respectively. These two are one of the main focus points in every story thus far, including the one that's swirling in my head. XD THAT story involves people I know now, but that's for another time. In this story, the Cupcake Kingdom has been reduced to ruins, taking place several years following the original RP. All that remains is the single castle, which will become a centerpiece for he future. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this, and I warn you it can get a bit confusing; I wrote most of this quite some time ago, so my powers of description and character specifics weren't that great then. ^^' Enjoy.

CHAPTER ONE: The Gathering

The air was acrid. The land, once lush, and green with trees, grass, plants, and animals...had now been turned into a wasteland. Buildings were crushed, bridges were trampled into waterless rivers, and dead, rotten trunks were all that was left of the beautiful cherry blossoms that adorned the land.

This was the Cupcake Kingdom.

High atop the tallest mountain in the kingdom, a lone figure stood, cloaked in a ragged, dark green cloak. It was a female, and her long, yet curly reddish-brown hair waved in the stale, hot wind as she looked down at the tarnished land below.

"This was once my home...our home..." she whispered. "How could this happen? We...we were so strong...We..."

"Pink!" A male voice shouted from afar. She turned suddenly to see the King, Chimera, calling her over to the group of four others that were with him, all in a circle. She nodded and sprinted up towards them.

The Queen, Oathkeeper, looked upon her subjects with dire, pained eyes. "My people...this is...wait...where's Twitch?"

Everyone glanced around, seeing if she was late and catching up, or forgot. The caves where they took shelter were empty.

Pink blinked. "That's funny...I swear she was he-"

"Hey! Sorry I'm late!"

Everyone turned towards the lookout point to see Twitch, adorned in a flowing purple skirt, black boots, a crimson see-through top, and black stockings on her arms. Her hair was long, almost to her waist, and it flowed with a powerful, almost devine radiance in the deep, red sun.

Everyone gasped as they saw her walking forward. Not just at what she was wearing, compared to the rather decrepid dress they were adorned with, but also why. She had been the only one to stand up and take a harsh, constituted stand in agreeance to the plan which was now to be discussed and finalized. A plan to take back their home. She was perhaps the most hurt, next to the Cupcake Queen, when "they" arrived, and brought the kingdom into death. Nearly all of her troops were eliminated, and her First Officer, Axel, was presumed dead. They never even found his body.

Oathkeeper admired her war ethic. She held her in perhaps a stronger position than even herself sometimes. Now, especially. "Twitch," she said happily. "I am glad you could make it. Now, we must begin this meeting, for our very world, nay, our lives, depend on what happens tomorrow."

Everyone sat and watched Oathkeeper carefully. "You are the last of our breathren. Souly, Lord of the Pokeballs, Wake, Queen of the Pandacats, Cyber, King of the Robots, Pink, Mistress of the Rose, Twitch, Queen of the Squirrels, and my dear Chimera, King of the Cupcakes." She smiled at each of them, her face warm and sincere.

Pink slowly raised her hand. "What...what about the...the ferrets?"

There was suddenly a grim silence amongst the group. Everyone looked down, in a form of rememberance. "Pink..." Oathkeeper said, her voice soft. "...the ferrets...they perished when the undead rose. You don't remember, because of the memory incident, but...they...he...are gone."

Pink's face dropped, a wave of sadness coming over her. "Oh...I'm...sorry..."

Twitch stared down, her mind wandering towards the days when she and the ferrets were at war. And those rare, peaceful times when they weren't. She quickly shook her head to erase the memories. In the words of Xemnas...she said to herself...some memories are best left forgotten.

"Now..." Oathkeeper said. "This is it, my loyal friends. Tomorrow, at dawn...we MUST fight. TOGETHER. From this day forward...all annimousity, all negativity...it must be vanquished. For our lives...our very existance."

Everyone was stren and focused. Oathkeeper's long, raven hair flowed over her shoulders as she spoke. Her eyes, tired and dark from the pain of the past few months, still shone with a deep, soulful embrace, knowing that if she and her subjects were to fail in the oncoming battle...

"Now...Cyber, are your mechs ready?"

Cyber nodded, his face stern and confident. "They are ready, my Queen. All air and ground forces are prepped and loaded."

Oathkeeper nodded. "Souly, Wake...?"

Souly nodded. "The Pokeballs are set. The explosions should destroy at least a dozen of them in one blast."

"The Ninja Pandacats have reported over 75,000 zombies a-"

"DON'T USE THAT WORD!" Everyone shouted.

Wake stared, shocked. "W...w-what word...?"

"That!" Cyber exhaled. "The...Zed-word!"

Wake blinked. "What..? Zombi-"

"GAH!" Everyone yelled again.

Silence. "Uhm...why not?"

Souly grimaced. "Because its ridiculous!"

Wake was silent for awhile before continuing. "The...Ninjas have scouted at least 35,000 of ...them...in what remains of the Fields of Grace. They seem to also be gathering for some form of offensive as well...and they are armed."

Oathkeeper's face dropped. Everyone else stared in disbelief.

"The...creatures are...armed?" Chimera muttered.

Wake nodded. "Yes. They are shielded, mildly, and are carrying what seems to be Ion Rifles, albeit primitive ones."

Twitch raised her eyebrow. "Wait, wait...HOW can a undead lump of flesh possibly operate such a form of technology? Its perposturous!"

Wake became visibly upset. "Do you doubt my Ninjas? They have NEVER lied about any information! I trust their word!"

Oathkeeper rose her hand to silence them. "My friends...THIS is why I bring you all together, here today. You must NOT allow any negative feelings to influence you. We are a group, we are one."

Twitch and Wake nodded in a silent apology.

"Now...apparent these...creatures are controlled. The way they first attacked us, how they knew our systematic weaknesses, how they...how they knew everything about us..." Oathkeeper's face turned dark as she looked at her subjects.

"Are you saying, whoever controls these monsters, was...one of us?" Cyber asked.

Oathkeeper was silent. "Possibly..."

"But..." Pink muttered. "...who? Whom among our group are...not here?"

"Kearu..." Souly said.

Cyber shook his head. "No...I buried him myself, after..." He looked down, not wanting to rememeber the fate of his friend.

"Domo...?" Chimera asked.

Twitch shook her head. "No...can't be her."

"Why not..? She didn't die...but she sure isn't here!" Cyber retorted.

"Listen." Whispered Twitch.

At first, there was silence...then...

"OOOOHHHHH PHEEEEEEEEEENIX! HOW I LOVED YOU SOOOOOO!"

Then silence again. Everyone kind of stared and blinked.

Chimera nodded. "Alright...But that only leaves..."

Pink frowned. "Tristan..."

There was a sharp cold amongst them. The memories of how he led the ferrets against the undead, in the final days of the Kingdom, so that they may escape and live.

"No." Oathkeeper said, deeply stern. "It could never be him. I saw him when he died. He stood against over 50 of them single-handedly to save me and Chimera."

"But he fell over a cliff! He could have survived!" Cyber said.

"And he DID have these...weird powers. Death was something he laughed at." Wake muttered.

"No!" Twitch yelled suddenly. Everyone was suddenly silent, and staring at her. "He...he could never turn his back on the people who gave him home, peace, and friendship. He LOVED this Kingdom! He would never destroy it!"

Suddenly, a Ninja Pandacat came up to the group. His face was obscured my a black mask, and was cloaked in a deep brown, sandish colored cloak. "Madam Wake..." he chirped. "Our intel has returned from the latest scout."

Oathkeeper kneeled to face the Pandacat. "Please, do tell us."

"My Queen...the undead are, indeed, armed and shielded with close-range, and long-ranged weapons. And they are being controlled by a single entity. We saw him standing amongst them, still, and staring at this very mountaintop."

Oathkeeper looked down, biting her lip. It had become worse, much worse. "My dear...what did he look like?"

"Dressed in black, My Queen. From head to toe. And...he wore sunglasses."

The chill amongst them grew much, much deeper.

"No..." Twitch whispered, being brought to her knees.

"What?" Pink said. "It...couldn't be! You said he died, didn't you?"

Oathkeeper rose, her eyes now watery at this revelation. "Gentlemen...ladies...listen to me." She turned and looked to each one of them. "We are...strong. We must REMAIN strong. Judging by this information, it seems...yes...one of our own has become traitorous."

"But it makes no SENSE!" Twitch screamed, rising to her feet. "Why? Why would he? Why would he give up everything he tried so hard to protect? And what of HIS soldiers? The ferrets? Why use freaking dead things to eliminate us, when the ferrets are more capable of doing such a job?"

Oathkeeper walked up to her and held her arms. "I don't know, my friend. I don't know. But I d know..." She released her and again looked at every subject. "...that we face our strongest oppenent yet. And we MUST stay together, if we are to survive. Twitch...are the squirrels prepared?"

Twitch sniffled once, avoiding Oathkeeper's eyes. "Yes..."

Oathkeeper sighed. She felt deep sympathy for these people...to not only be driven from their home, to watch their beautiful Kingdom destroyed...but to know one of their own had done it, had planned it all. And impossible...but horrible truth. "Then all is set. Rest, my friends, my people, my cherished ones. For it is at dawn...that our lives will either continue in victory...or perish in defeat."

Everyone nodded and turned to return to their respective shelters...all except for Twitch. "My Queen...what of Tristan? How are we to defeat him?" Her voice was cracked, almost struggling to remain composed.

Oathkeeper looked into her hazel eyes, and shared her deep sadness. "I do not fully know...he has cheated death many times, and...we must try, my dear. We must. I know how valued of a friend he was, to you and myself, as to everyone else. But...that person is gone. You must try to accept this truth..."

She put her hand on Twitch's shoulder. "Twitch...I know you can be strong." She smiled, that warm, assuring smile only the Cupcake Queen could.

Twitch nodded, a dim, forced smile forming on her own lips. With that, Oathkeeper left her to be. Twitch looked into the sky, the darkness falling over the once-green hills as the sun fell. She sighed deeply, her mind turning and twisting, pondering why, how, could such a...relatively...kind person, suddenly turn like this. Why...Why...

"Twitch-y?" whispered a small voice next to her.

Twitch jumped slightly, but laughed when she saw it was only Pink. "Oh...hi. How are you?"

Pink looked at her friend, then towards the sunset. "I...can't believe that he would do such a thing..."

Twitch sighed softly. "Neither can I...but...I don't know. I just know that...we gotta try. We must try."

Pink looked at her and nodded, then suddenly grabbed her in a hard hug which surprised Twitch. "H-hey...! What's wrong?" she asked.

"I just...want to thank you, for being such a awesome friend...You've always known how to cheer me up, no matter what's happening, and...I've become a better fighter, and person, because of you...and..." Twitch felt her breathing raggedly, and she began to snuffle. Twitch smiled and hugged her closer, staring up into the darkening sky as the sun finally fell behind the crimson hills.