Maggot arrived back at Hatter's, clean and with a fresh pair of shoes. He frowned, seeing the front door cracked open. Hatter wasn't usually that careless. He rolled his eyes, thinking that perhaps his old friend was losing his touch- hence losing his usefulness. Then he glanced at his pocket watch. It was three o' clock AM, on the dot. Hatter's clock, the one he was so excited about, should be gonging. The silence alarmed him.
He walked inside, and around until he saw the doorway to the control room, also open. Oh well, he decided, stepping in. Hatter didn't like it when others went in there, but it was the fastest way to find where he was. The camera for the arena was out. He didn't like that at all. Perhaps Hatter had gone to repair it. No, he was with Gryphon, apparently tormenting him. He sighed and headed that way. Then he saw little bits of machinery strewn around a small alcove with various weaponry stands.
His brow furrowed. Now he was very concerned. He hurried to the room where Hatter was supposed to be, and stopped short when he found it to be empty. No Hatter. No Gryphon. For a moment, the wild thought passed through his head that Hatter had betrayed them and gone off to join the rebels, but he shook that thought out immediately. That was ludicrous.
He sighed and looked around for a bit, when he saw the arena gates slightly open. He remembered the intruder and rushed down, tripping in the middle of the stairs. He ended up in Hatter's mental ward. The nightmare spiders watched him curiously as he staggered up and started hurrying along, his strides growing wider until he was positively running. His hat flew off his head and he halted to retrieve it before running again.
As best he could see, the arena was empty, but then he saw the clock and skidded to a stop. Broken, mangled, not a chance in hell it would be working. It was timed about an hour after he had left, and he darted inside.
There was something at the opposite end of the arena. It was long and thin and not entirely straight, and very still. Nervously, he went forward, something in the back of his mind knowing who it was. As he walked closer, his fear was realised: it was Hatter.
Beaten, bloody and an absolute ruin. Dead.
He approached Hatter slowly, not believing that he was dead. But he saw all the cuts... all the scorches and melted ice, and he looked upwards, venom in his eyes, which were mere slits cutting across his face.
Faith. It had to be; nobody else could use those weapons. But when had she got back? He dismissed the sheet incident, convinced that it was probably nothing more than a stray Boojum or Phantasmagoria with a sense of humour. He remembered the intruder and realised that it had to have been her. She'd probably found Hatter's trophy room and the key... yes.
Finally his rage boiled to the surface and he screamed, furious beyond all means. And again. She was GOING to pay.
Faith and Cheshire reappeared on an outcropping of rock near a high, rocky cliff, and Faith gazed up, shading her eyes against the dying sun. "Cat, what's up there?" she asked, pointing. Jut beyond the edge of the cliff, she could make out a triangle shape that wasn't natural. Cat looked over at it.
"Your former, and current residence. Faith." She turned to look at him, hearing the sudden note of urgency. "Soon you shall experience one of your fiercest fights, one of the worst creatures yet that you will have to face." She frowned, nervous.
"What d'you mean, Cat?"
He glared up at the house. "In there dwells the Jabberwock. The vile creature is a killer, Faith. Even his words have the potential to destroy."
She looked down at him, her heart subtly beginning to beat like a snare drum. "The... the Jabberwock. Are you certain, Cat?"
He looked at her and nodded. "You must find and face him. I will send Gryphon to aid you."
"But... that's too dangerous for him, Cat."
"And not for you? Faith, without his eye, there is no way to defeat the monster."
She hesitated, shaking. "Cat, I just came back, and I s-still don't really remember what I-I've accomplished so far. Am I ready for this? A-and I just had a r-really emotional moment back there. I'm really r-rather vulnerable right now." He looked over at her and nodded.
"Faith... the fact that you got here in the first place proves that you're ready. You don't need all those memories of what you managed here before; against him they're useless."
She put out a hand onto a rock to support herself, and drew it back when the surface proved to be rather hot. She looked around. Fire pits and lava pits abounded, and cliffs rose high above her in almost every direction. They were surrounded by lava on three sides, but for a thin path. Cat pointed to it. "That is your road. Follow wherever it leads you."
She nodded and started walking, really not in the mood to hurry. In fact, she was dreading her upcoming fight, and she tried singing to herself to lessen her fear.
"S-sing us a-a song, you're the p-piano man... oh god, this isn't working," she groaned. "Don't work yourself up, Faith. Don't panic yourself before you've even reached the cliffs."
But even so, she was really rather jumpy. And it was hot, so she took off her sweater, tying it around her waist. Then she saw the Boojum.
"You again?" she asked, beyond annoyed, took out the ice wand, and nailed the bugger before it could get close. It screamed and erupted in flames, and she looked around for any others. She thought she saw something... not quite opaque, but not translucent. Then it rushed at her and she dropped, firing the ice wand up and scrambling up herself, nearly stepping into a lava pit, but she hurled herself away.
The thing grabbed at her and chains shot out of its mouth. Faith recoiled in disgust and fired when the chains missed her by inches. She fired again, and the thing dissolved in purple smoke.
She looked around again, and saw nothing, but kept the ice wand out, just in case.
Eventually she got to the cliffs, and started climbing, jumping when she had to. "I-(jump)-HATE-(grunt)-this." She pulled herself up onto a rather high ledge, but sighed when she saw how much more she had to go. All the while, her house loomed in the distance. Never before had it seemed so menacing, not even when she was nine years old and watching it go up in flames. It seemed... darker, almost evil.
She stopped her progress when she saw the creatures. Two of them, a few ledges up. They had two big feet, a tail, and... god, it looked like their mouths were the entire other half of their bodies. She shuddered and pressed up against the cliff, fixating on the silhouette of eight-inch-long teeth.
She found the jackbomb, cranked it up and tossed it onto the ledge where they were moving around, and she heard their cries as the flames engulfed them. But they weren't dead yet, and they were mad. They started sniffing around for their attacker, and the one closest to her suddenly pounced. She wrenched the jacks out and threw them straight at its mouth, and it collapsed. She had only just got the jacks back when the other pounced at her as well, and she hurled them at it.
It collapsed alongside its companion, and she used the two bodies as a stepladder to the next ledge. Her house looked remarkably close all of a sudden. There were two windows, big and arched, on the second floor, and she stared at them, not moving. They seemed to be something evil, but decidedly seductive, drawing her with the knowledge that they were hers... but repelling her with the knowledge of what was inside.
She was so preoccupied with her thoughts on the house that she almost didn't see the fire snark until its tongue was clasped firmly onto her arm.
Automatically her other hand went for the knife and she swiftly drew it down across the tongue, severing it. She stared at it and grimaced. "More of you?" she groaned, and threw her knife at it. It connected and the little monster shrieked and died.
"Still weak," she said. At least there was some relief to be found in this wretched place.
He walked inside, and around until he saw the doorway to the control room, also open. Oh well, he decided, stepping in. Hatter didn't like it when others went in there, but it was the fastest way to find where he was. The camera for the arena was out. He didn't like that at all. Perhaps Hatter had gone to repair it. No, he was with Gryphon, apparently tormenting him. He sighed and headed that way. Then he saw little bits of machinery strewn around a small alcove with various weaponry stands.
His brow furrowed. Now he was very concerned. He hurried to the room where Hatter was supposed to be, and stopped short when he found it to be empty. No Hatter. No Gryphon. For a moment, the wild thought passed through his head that Hatter had betrayed them and gone off to join the rebels, but he shook that thought out immediately. That was ludicrous.
He sighed and looked around for a bit, when he saw the arena gates slightly open. He remembered the intruder and rushed down, tripping in the middle of the stairs. He ended up in Hatter's mental ward. The nightmare spiders watched him curiously as he staggered up and started hurrying along, his strides growing wider until he was positively running. His hat flew off his head and he halted to retrieve it before running again.
As best he could see, the arena was empty, but then he saw the clock and skidded to a stop. Broken, mangled, not a chance in hell it would be working. It was timed about an hour after he had left, and he darted inside.
There was something at the opposite end of the arena. It was long and thin and not entirely straight, and very still. Nervously, he went forward, something in the back of his mind knowing who it was. As he walked closer, his fear was realised: it was Hatter.
Beaten, bloody and an absolute ruin. Dead.
He approached Hatter slowly, not believing that he was dead. But he saw all the cuts... all the scorches and melted ice, and he looked upwards, venom in his eyes, which were mere slits cutting across his face.
Faith. It had to be; nobody else could use those weapons. But when had she got back? He dismissed the sheet incident, convinced that it was probably nothing more than a stray Boojum or Phantasmagoria with a sense of humour. He remembered the intruder and realised that it had to have been her. She'd probably found Hatter's trophy room and the key... yes.
Finally his rage boiled to the surface and he screamed, furious beyond all means. And again. She was GOING to pay.
Faith and Cheshire reappeared on an outcropping of rock near a high, rocky cliff, and Faith gazed up, shading her eyes against the dying sun. "Cat, what's up there?" she asked, pointing. Jut beyond the edge of the cliff, she could make out a triangle shape that wasn't natural. Cat looked over at it.
"Your former, and current residence. Faith." She turned to look at him, hearing the sudden note of urgency. "Soon you shall experience one of your fiercest fights, one of the worst creatures yet that you will have to face." She frowned, nervous.
"What d'you mean, Cat?"
He glared up at the house. "In there dwells the Jabberwock. The vile creature is a killer, Faith. Even his words have the potential to destroy."
She looked down at him, her heart subtly beginning to beat like a snare drum. "The... the Jabberwock. Are you certain, Cat?"
He looked at her and nodded. "You must find and face him. I will send Gryphon to aid you."
"But... that's too dangerous for him, Cat."
"And not for you? Faith, without his eye, there is no way to defeat the monster."
She hesitated, shaking. "Cat, I just came back, and I s-still don't really remember what I-I've accomplished so far. Am I ready for this? A-and I just had a r-really emotional moment back there. I'm really r-rather vulnerable right now." He looked over at her and nodded.
"Faith... the fact that you got here in the first place proves that you're ready. You don't need all those memories of what you managed here before; against him they're useless."
She put out a hand onto a rock to support herself, and drew it back when the surface proved to be rather hot. She looked around. Fire pits and lava pits abounded, and cliffs rose high above her in almost every direction. They were surrounded by lava on three sides, but for a thin path. Cat pointed to it. "That is your road. Follow wherever it leads you."
She nodded and started walking, really not in the mood to hurry. In fact, she was dreading her upcoming fight, and she tried singing to herself to lessen her fear.
"S-sing us a-a song, you're the p-piano man... oh god, this isn't working," she groaned. "Don't work yourself up, Faith. Don't panic yourself before you've even reached the cliffs."
But even so, she was really rather jumpy. And it was hot, so she took off her sweater, tying it around her waist. Then she saw the Boojum.
"You again?" she asked, beyond annoyed, took out the ice wand, and nailed the bugger before it could get close. It screamed and erupted in flames, and she looked around for any others. She thought she saw something... not quite opaque, but not translucent. Then it rushed at her and she dropped, firing the ice wand up and scrambling up herself, nearly stepping into a lava pit, but she hurled herself away.
The thing grabbed at her and chains shot out of its mouth. Faith recoiled in disgust and fired when the chains missed her by inches. She fired again, and the thing dissolved in purple smoke.
She looked around again, and saw nothing, but kept the ice wand out, just in case.
Eventually she got to the cliffs, and started climbing, jumping when she had to. "I-(jump)-HATE-(grunt)-this." She pulled herself up onto a rather high ledge, but sighed when she saw how much more she had to go. All the while, her house loomed in the distance. Never before had it seemed so menacing, not even when she was nine years old and watching it go up in flames. It seemed... darker, almost evil.
She stopped her progress when she saw the creatures. Two of them, a few ledges up. They had two big feet, a tail, and... god, it looked like their mouths were the entire other half of their bodies. She shuddered and pressed up against the cliff, fixating on the silhouette of eight-inch-long teeth.
She found the jackbomb, cranked it up and tossed it onto the ledge where they were moving around, and she heard their cries as the flames engulfed them. But they weren't dead yet, and they were mad. They started sniffing around for their attacker, and the one closest to her suddenly pounced. She wrenched the jacks out and threw them straight at its mouth, and it collapsed. She had only just got the jacks back when the other pounced at her as well, and she hurled them at it.
It collapsed alongside its companion, and she used the two bodies as a stepladder to the next ledge. Her house looked remarkably close all of a sudden. There were two windows, big and arched, on the second floor, and she stared at them, not moving. They seemed to be something evil, but decidedly seductive, drawing her with the knowledge that they were hers... but repelling her with the knowledge of what was inside.
She was so preoccupied with her thoughts on the house that she almost didn't see the fire snark until its tongue was clasped firmly onto her arm.
Automatically her other hand went for the knife and she swiftly drew it down across the tongue, severing it. She stared at it and grimaced. "More of you?" she groaned, and threw her knife at it. It connected and the little monster shrieked and died.
"Still weak," she said. At least there was some relief to be found in this wretched place.