Faith ran down a corridor. She was getting close to her weapons; she could feel it. She rounded the corner and skidded to a halt- two automatons guarded them, one of which was the final superautomaton. She froze, and the regular automaton rolled towards her, grabbing at her but she twisted away and dived at the first weapon she could get to- her old knife.
A thrill passed through her as she picked it up, as if she had just been reunited with an old friend, and she threw it, hard at the incoming automaton. It created a sizeable hole and the automaton flew back several feet, but kept coming. The knife reappeared in her hand and she threw it again, this time at the attacking superautomaton. There was a trick to beating that one...
The regular automaton rolled over to her once again, and she turned and grabbed the jacks and shoved them through the hole, and threw the ball at the ground. It started bouncing and the jacks started banging around inside. The automaton started to short-circuit, and she reached behind her, finding the ice wand.
The superautomaton advanced, blades spinning, fire bursting and every conceivable weapon at the ready. She backed up and fired at the spinning joints, freezing them at least temporarily, and grabbed a few more weapons before darting back into the open. She'd grabbed the demon dice, it turned out, and she remembered the other one in her sleeve. She rolled the two, and the lightning-happy demon shot out. It saw the automaton and she could swear that she heard a very annoyed groan. It didn't appear to have forgotten the last time it fought one of these things, and it was NOT a happy camper.
But it did its best and managed to do some good damage before it tired and retreated, but when it did, Faith had the mallet ready. CRAAACK! As she swung, it swung its club, and both fell back under the impact. Then it advanced again. Faith rolled to avoid fire shooting from its jets and then it grabbed her by the waist and threw her, and she crashed against the wall. Her head snapped back, banging against the wall, and she glared up at it, mentally promising to completely destroy it.
It attacked again, but she rolled out of the way, grabbing the stick of the eye scythe. Great, she thought, irritated, and as it advanced she threw it like a javelin. It crashed through the superautomaton's eye, and it started going bonkers. That was the key, she realised. Breaking the eye. She grabbed her knife and threw it at the neck joint, which severed. The head clattered to the floor and the body followed soon after.
Hastily she made sure that nobody was coming, and grabbed the rest of her weapons, strapping them on. How had Rabbit done it? Oh, yeah... over, under, over again, a strange green shell that her jacks and die fit in very nicely, and she slipped the knife into the makeshift belt. Jeremy appeared. "Nice," he said, noticing the bits of automaton lying about.
"Thanks," she said calmly. "I have to find any rebels that may be here."
"Umm," he said. "I don't know where that would be," he confessed. Then he brightened. "But I did find something else. Follow me," and took off. She followed, intrigued. "This is the control room," he announced. "It's how Hatter notices everything." Faith quickly found the area where her weapons had previously been.
"I need to find a way to delete this," she said, gesturing to it. He followed her gaze and nodded. "There are knobs," he said. "You can turn that one back a couple of days and hope that he doesn't notice that it's the wrong date."
"That's probably my best chance," she said, and fiddled with it for a minute. "Here we go," she said, smiling. It had been turned back a week. "That was the last time Hatter went down this corridor."
"Good thinking," he said, grinning. Faith grinned at him, but then saw a screen past him. "Jeremy, where is that being taken from?" she asked. He glanced at it and did a double take.
"I don't know," he said, sounding amazed. "I'll zoom around and see."
He left, and she stared. A gryphon lay on the ground, in chains. "It's the gryphon that Cat was talking about... Jeremy, find him. Find him quick."
"Found him," he said triumphantly. "Follow me - it's kind've a long way." She spun the dial backwards as she ran out.
They ran, avoiding automatons when they could, with her fighting them when she had to. She preferred speed to pulverisation right then, at any rate.
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" she finally asked. "This is familiar, and recent."
"It's not the same, trust me," he grinned. He started walking, but she froze. "What's the matter?"
"That," she said, pointing with her knife. It was a spider, with a china doll face, and she backed up slightly. "Don't get close to it." At that moment it jumped at her and she threw her knife at it, plastering it to the wall.
"We're getting to Hatter's 'mental ward', so to speak," Jeremy explained. "There's tons of those about, one in each room. They keep the mad kids quiet."
"I'll bet," she murmured. "They're horrible." Faith took out the ice wand and they ran down the hall, killing the spiders as they went along. Sometimes they would be lurking behind the archways that were about thirty feet apart, startling the two. Once or twice the blanketing ice hit Jeremy, and it always caused a pang to see it go through him. She eventually took out the knife. It was slower, but far more accurate. He led her up a flight of stairs and vanished as she reached the door and threw it open.
Gryphon winced as the light hit his eyes, which had become quite adjusted to the dark. He squinted, trying to see more than just a blurry silhouette. Soon the outline became clearer, and he saw that it was a diminutive girl with shoulder-length hair and a knife in her left hand. Her stance was that of one who was just returning to the habit of being on constant alert for enemies; still a bit nervous, but prepared, and she walked lightly as she stepped forwards.
"Who are you?" he asked. His voice had a groggy, metallic sound that came from disuse; he hadn't spoken a word since he'd got wind that Faith had left Wonderland.
"I'm Faith. I've come here to help you, and get your help." The voice was soft but strong.
"Faith had long hair... but she was left-handed, as you are."
"My hair was cut in a fight against an automaton. Is there any way I can prove myself?"
"Wait until my eyes have adjusted and show me your palm," he said suspiciously. She stood back. This was not the Faith that the Cheshire Cat had described... afraid to come to Wonderland, weepy, basically a wreck. He mentioned this, and she started.
"I've changed," she said shortly. "What did Cat tell you of me?"
"That you were something of a wreck. But he did mention your getting stronger, provided you are as you say."
"I am as I said," she replied impatiently. "Are your eyes adjusted? I'm in a bit of a hurry."
"If you are as you say, why haven't you untied me?"
"Oh..." she groaned, embarrassed. "Sorry about that, I'm still a bit woozy. I only just got back here some hours ago." He nodded and she walked forward and began cutting his bonds. "Were you losing hope?"
"I'd just about lost it, before you came in," he told her sincerely. She nodded.
"I find that's usually the case. Then it's a bit of work convincing them that I'm not as pathetic as I was. So... when was the last time you spoke to Cat?"
"You had just entered the woods," he remembered. She seemed surprised.
"That was quite a while ago," she said disbelievingly. "Had I fought the Countess yet?" He nodded.
"Then Cheshire couldn't come anymore."
"I'd expect it got too dangerous for him," she said bitterly.
"You don't know what he's been through. For Wonderland, or for you." She sighed.
"That's just the thing, Gryphon. I don't expect that he needs to do half of what he's probably doing. This is my fight, not his. It's my sanity."
He nodded slowly. "This is true," he said. "But Wonderland is everything to him. He couldn't survive sitting around and letting another do everything." He stood. "You must allow him to assist you somehow." Faith stopped, thinking.
"I would," she said slowly. "But there are two problems with that. The first, he won't tell me exactly how he's trying to help me. Secondly, he doesn't know I'm here- only you do. And I think it's safer for me that way."
"How so?"
"If nobody on our side knows, nobody on the Queen's side knows. Therefore, nobody's watching out for me."
"But we know who the traitor is," Gryphon protested. "We know that Hatter betrayed us."
"I'm not talking about Hatter," Faith scoffed. "I'm talking about the one that not even you know about, it seems like."
"Then please, enlighten me," Gryphon snapped.
"I don't know who it is," she glared, then calmed herself. "But how else can you explain how they know where to attack the white pieces?"
"The white pieces have fallen?" Gryphon gasped. Faith shook her head.
"No, but they probably will in ten days unless you listen carefully to me and pass on the information to them."
She proceeded to relate all that Maggot had told Hatter. "So can you help me or not?" she asked. "Because if you won't, I'll have to tell them myself, and I've no idea how to get out of this place."
"I will help," he promised immediately. "How can you beat automatons?"
"Electricity helps," she said. "But just beating them up is equally good."
He nodded. "Excellent. I will rally the rest of the rebels for an offensive on her forces as well."
"Don't press your luck; it's still supposed to be a secret that I'm here," she warned. "Unless the sight of you being back is enough for most of them."
"Perhaps," he shrugged and stretched liberally. "Augh, it's good to be unchained."
"Has it been awhile?" she asked, unsure.
"Almost a year," he said, stretching his hind legs. "Did you expect Hatter to let me out for a brief flight every now and then?"
"You're sounding like Cat," she said disgustedly. "All sarcasm."
"My apologies," he said politely. He didn't offer any excuses, but after two hours extracting one from Cheshire, just that was fine.
"You're forgiven," she smiled.
He nodded. "Come," he said, bowing low. "Get on my back, and I will take you to the next stage."
"But... didn't you need to see my palm?" she asked. He smiled at her.
"No. I believe you." She was very touched by this.
"What am I to do?" she asked, climbing on gingerly, minding the wings.
"You must face Hatter and destroy him," he said calmly. "I will take you to him."
"Erm... what if he destroys me?"
"...That won't happen." He said it quickly, though not a hundred per cent positively.
"I thank you for your conviction," she said wryly, temporarily forgetting her previous efforts to convince herself the same thing, and with similar results.
Oh well... it seemed that she would be facing Hatter soon. She vaguely wondered how hard it would be to face off against her old friend. It would be a difficult fight either way; it seemed to be a general rule that the foes only got harder as she went along. Why couldn't she be surprised with an easy foe every now and then? She imagined what her fight against Maggot would be like. He didn't like getting his hands dirty, but she expected that if push came to shove, he could be a formidable foe. And Samien. That was going to be a tough one. She didn't know how strong he was; but he certainly seemed it.
Gryphon flew down, landing on a bridge, and she found them in front of a huge set of gates barring the way to an arena. She hopped off and tried opening them. "They're locked," she said, frustrated. "It seems I have to take the long way."
"Oh?" Gryphon pantomimed springing over, and she grinned.
"Yeah, that'd be perfect. Only, after I beat him (presuming I do), how am I to get out?" He nodded, thinking. "You're going to be gone, alerting the Pale Royals," she said pointedly. "I need to find a way to get out, and the opposite gates are locked as well."
"You're looking for a fairly large key," he said, inspecting the lock. "Not a typical shape, either. It will be shaped like a gear, or a cog." He gestured to the tower across the bridge. "That tower." She nodded.
"Right," she said, and trotted inside. "You get going." He nodded, and flew off. She felt rather alone suddenly. It was rather isolating to be in a land where only three people know of your coming... even more so when one took into account that one of which only she could see.
A thrill passed through her as she picked it up, as if she had just been reunited with an old friend, and she threw it, hard at the incoming automaton. It created a sizeable hole and the automaton flew back several feet, but kept coming. The knife reappeared in her hand and she threw it again, this time at the attacking superautomaton. There was a trick to beating that one...
The regular automaton rolled over to her once again, and she turned and grabbed the jacks and shoved them through the hole, and threw the ball at the ground. It started bouncing and the jacks started banging around inside. The automaton started to short-circuit, and she reached behind her, finding the ice wand.
The superautomaton advanced, blades spinning, fire bursting and every conceivable weapon at the ready. She backed up and fired at the spinning joints, freezing them at least temporarily, and grabbed a few more weapons before darting back into the open. She'd grabbed the demon dice, it turned out, and she remembered the other one in her sleeve. She rolled the two, and the lightning-happy demon shot out. It saw the automaton and she could swear that she heard a very annoyed groan. It didn't appear to have forgotten the last time it fought one of these things, and it was NOT a happy camper.
But it did its best and managed to do some good damage before it tired and retreated, but when it did, Faith had the mallet ready. CRAAACK! As she swung, it swung its club, and both fell back under the impact. Then it advanced again. Faith rolled to avoid fire shooting from its jets and then it grabbed her by the waist and threw her, and she crashed against the wall. Her head snapped back, banging against the wall, and she glared up at it, mentally promising to completely destroy it.
It attacked again, but she rolled out of the way, grabbing the stick of the eye scythe. Great, she thought, irritated, and as it advanced she threw it like a javelin. It crashed through the superautomaton's eye, and it started going bonkers. That was the key, she realised. Breaking the eye. She grabbed her knife and threw it at the neck joint, which severed. The head clattered to the floor and the body followed soon after.
Hastily she made sure that nobody was coming, and grabbed the rest of her weapons, strapping them on. How had Rabbit done it? Oh, yeah... over, under, over again, a strange green shell that her jacks and die fit in very nicely, and she slipped the knife into the makeshift belt. Jeremy appeared. "Nice," he said, noticing the bits of automaton lying about.
"Thanks," she said calmly. "I have to find any rebels that may be here."
"Umm," he said. "I don't know where that would be," he confessed. Then he brightened. "But I did find something else. Follow me," and took off. She followed, intrigued. "This is the control room," he announced. "It's how Hatter notices everything." Faith quickly found the area where her weapons had previously been.
"I need to find a way to delete this," she said, gesturing to it. He followed her gaze and nodded. "There are knobs," he said. "You can turn that one back a couple of days and hope that he doesn't notice that it's the wrong date."
"That's probably my best chance," she said, and fiddled with it for a minute. "Here we go," she said, smiling. It had been turned back a week. "That was the last time Hatter went down this corridor."
"Good thinking," he said, grinning. Faith grinned at him, but then saw a screen past him. "Jeremy, where is that being taken from?" she asked. He glanced at it and did a double take.
"I don't know," he said, sounding amazed. "I'll zoom around and see."
He left, and she stared. A gryphon lay on the ground, in chains. "It's the gryphon that Cat was talking about... Jeremy, find him. Find him quick."
"Found him," he said triumphantly. "Follow me - it's kind've a long way." She spun the dial backwards as she ran out.
They ran, avoiding automatons when they could, with her fighting them when she had to. She preferred speed to pulverisation right then, at any rate.
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" she finally asked. "This is familiar, and recent."
"It's not the same, trust me," he grinned. He started walking, but she froze. "What's the matter?"
"That," she said, pointing with her knife. It was a spider, with a china doll face, and she backed up slightly. "Don't get close to it." At that moment it jumped at her and she threw her knife at it, plastering it to the wall.
"We're getting to Hatter's 'mental ward', so to speak," Jeremy explained. "There's tons of those about, one in each room. They keep the mad kids quiet."
"I'll bet," she murmured. "They're horrible." Faith took out the ice wand and they ran down the hall, killing the spiders as they went along. Sometimes they would be lurking behind the archways that were about thirty feet apart, startling the two. Once or twice the blanketing ice hit Jeremy, and it always caused a pang to see it go through him. She eventually took out the knife. It was slower, but far more accurate. He led her up a flight of stairs and vanished as she reached the door and threw it open.
Gryphon winced as the light hit his eyes, which had become quite adjusted to the dark. He squinted, trying to see more than just a blurry silhouette. Soon the outline became clearer, and he saw that it was a diminutive girl with shoulder-length hair and a knife in her left hand. Her stance was that of one who was just returning to the habit of being on constant alert for enemies; still a bit nervous, but prepared, and she walked lightly as she stepped forwards.
"Who are you?" he asked. His voice had a groggy, metallic sound that came from disuse; he hadn't spoken a word since he'd got wind that Faith had left Wonderland.
"I'm Faith. I've come here to help you, and get your help." The voice was soft but strong.
"Faith had long hair... but she was left-handed, as you are."
"My hair was cut in a fight against an automaton. Is there any way I can prove myself?"
"Wait until my eyes have adjusted and show me your palm," he said suspiciously. She stood back. This was not the Faith that the Cheshire Cat had described... afraid to come to Wonderland, weepy, basically a wreck. He mentioned this, and she started.
"I've changed," she said shortly. "What did Cat tell you of me?"
"That you were something of a wreck. But he did mention your getting stronger, provided you are as you say."
"I am as I said," she replied impatiently. "Are your eyes adjusted? I'm in a bit of a hurry."
"If you are as you say, why haven't you untied me?"
"Oh..." she groaned, embarrassed. "Sorry about that, I'm still a bit woozy. I only just got back here some hours ago." He nodded and she walked forward and began cutting his bonds. "Were you losing hope?"
"I'd just about lost it, before you came in," he told her sincerely. She nodded.
"I find that's usually the case. Then it's a bit of work convincing them that I'm not as pathetic as I was. So... when was the last time you spoke to Cat?"
"You had just entered the woods," he remembered. She seemed surprised.
"That was quite a while ago," she said disbelievingly. "Had I fought the Countess yet?" He nodded.
"Then Cheshire couldn't come anymore."
"I'd expect it got too dangerous for him," she said bitterly.
"You don't know what he's been through. For Wonderland, or for you." She sighed.
"That's just the thing, Gryphon. I don't expect that he needs to do half of what he's probably doing. This is my fight, not his. It's my sanity."
He nodded slowly. "This is true," he said. "But Wonderland is everything to him. He couldn't survive sitting around and letting another do everything." He stood. "You must allow him to assist you somehow." Faith stopped, thinking.
"I would," she said slowly. "But there are two problems with that. The first, he won't tell me exactly how he's trying to help me. Secondly, he doesn't know I'm here- only you do. And I think it's safer for me that way."
"How so?"
"If nobody on our side knows, nobody on the Queen's side knows. Therefore, nobody's watching out for me."
"But we know who the traitor is," Gryphon protested. "We know that Hatter betrayed us."
"I'm not talking about Hatter," Faith scoffed. "I'm talking about the one that not even you know about, it seems like."
"Then please, enlighten me," Gryphon snapped.
"I don't know who it is," she glared, then calmed herself. "But how else can you explain how they know where to attack the white pieces?"
"The white pieces have fallen?" Gryphon gasped. Faith shook her head.
"No, but they probably will in ten days unless you listen carefully to me and pass on the information to them."
She proceeded to relate all that Maggot had told Hatter. "So can you help me or not?" she asked. "Because if you won't, I'll have to tell them myself, and I've no idea how to get out of this place."
"I will help," he promised immediately. "How can you beat automatons?"
"Electricity helps," she said. "But just beating them up is equally good."
He nodded. "Excellent. I will rally the rest of the rebels for an offensive on her forces as well."
"Don't press your luck; it's still supposed to be a secret that I'm here," she warned. "Unless the sight of you being back is enough for most of them."
"Perhaps," he shrugged and stretched liberally. "Augh, it's good to be unchained."
"Has it been awhile?" she asked, unsure.
"Almost a year," he said, stretching his hind legs. "Did you expect Hatter to let me out for a brief flight every now and then?"
"You're sounding like Cat," she said disgustedly. "All sarcasm."
"My apologies," he said politely. He didn't offer any excuses, but after two hours extracting one from Cheshire, just that was fine.
"You're forgiven," she smiled.
He nodded. "Come," he said, bowing low. "Get on my back, and I will take you to the next stage."
"But... didn't you need to see my palm?" she asked. He smiled at her.
"No. I believe you." She was very touched by this.
"What am I to do?" she asked, climbing on gingerly, minding the wings.
"You must face Hatter and destroy him," he said calmly. "I will take you to him."
"Erm... what if he destroys me?"
"...That won't happen." He said it quickly, though not a hundred per cent positively.
"I thank you for your conviction," she said wryly, temporarily forgetting her previous efforts to convince herself the same thing, and with similar results.
Oh well... it seemed that she would be facing Hatter soon. She vaguely wondered how hard it would be to face off against her old friend. It would be a difficult fight either way; it seemed to be a general rule that the foes only got harder as she went along. Why couldn't she be surprised with an easy foe every now and then? She imagined what her fight against Maggot would be like. He didn't like getting his hands dirty, but she expected that if push came to shove, he could be a formidable foe. And Samien. That was going to be a tough one. She didn't know how strong he was; but he certainly seemed it.
Gryphon flew down, landing on a bridge, and she found them in front of a huge set of gates barring the way to an arena. She hopped off and tried opening them. "They're locked," she said, frustrated. "It seems I have to take the long way."
"Oh?" Gryphon pantomimed springing over, and she grinned.
"Yeah, that'd be perfect. Only, after I beat him (presuming I do), how am I to get out?" He nodded, thinking. "You're going to be gone, alerting the Pale Royals," she said pointedly. "I need to find a way to get out, and the opposite gates are locked as well."
"You're looking for a fairly large key," he said, inspecting the lock. "Not a typical shape, either. It will be shaped like a gear, or a cog." He gestured to the tower across the bridge. "That tower." She nodded.
"Right," she said, and trotted inside. "You get going." He nodded, and flew off. She felt rather alone suddenly. It was rather isolating to be in a land where only three people know of your coming... even more so when one took into account that one of which only she could see.