Down The Plot Hole: The Lone Knight
"Galadoon… De Booshe!" Charlie cried again, focusing all his willpower, all his desperate need, on the Red King who sat on the throne before him, still stubbornly dead. Nothing. He mustered up whatever courage and hope he possessed, and tried a seventeenth time.
"Galadoon… De Booshe!"
Still nothing. Not a stir in the breeze, not a creak in the woods.
He closed his eyes; he heard the screams of Just Alice and her Harbinger as they tried to fight off their attackers, while he ran away, blending seamlessly with the sounds of the Knight's last battle.
"GALADOON… DE BOOSHE!"
An almighty wind swept up, neatly knocking him flat on his back and pinning him to the earth. He struggled to his feet again as it died down. The Red King was still in his throne, still dead, still unmoving, but from behind him there was a clattering, clanking noise.
He turned around. It was Sir Roderick- or, more accurately, his skeleton: still clothed in his battle dress and wielding his sword, standing on legs that were made entirely of bone. He gestured soundlessly towards the old road that had once connected the Realm of the Grand Chess Alliance with that of the Kingdom of Hearts. Feeling slightly light-headed, he followed.
They were joined by still more Knights as they walked. Without facial features to go by, he recognized them only by their armor: Sir Hamlin, Madam Jape, Sir Wan, Madam Ume, Madam Kaleen, Sir Devon, Madam Grey…
They came to the place where the road was, in ill repair and hardly ever used, only to find that it was swarming with newly-risen Knights and their equipment, all heading west. There were, if he were to guess, about a thousand of them. He had not bought the entire army back then- that would have numbered closer to nine thousand- but, from all appearances, he had bought back his old brilliancy.
He swallowed, turning to face the Knights.
"I ran," he said, painfully. "I ran when I should have stayed and fought, twice now, which is a dishonor I will never be able to completely remove. But I intended to, at the very least try to set right what I can. Can I stand with you?"
There was another wind, not nearly as fierce as the first but every bit as strange, which carried the reply to his ears: "We will stand with you as long as we are able."
"Thank you," Charlie replied, and together they joined the brilliancy for the march to the Casino. It was a short march, something for which Charlie was profoundly grateful, as they were slowed by the heavy, long-distance bows and the smaller stride of the squires he could see darting about.
They had thought it was a grand adventure the first time they'd gone to fight the Queen of Heart's men, Charlie remembered. He, Jules, and Kara were going to help the White Knight save Wonderland from the Queen and be home in time for tea and biscuits. Chocolate biscuits.
He would have to find some of those to give to Hatter when this was over, as an apology for his cowardice. After all, a hero of Wonderland deserved no less than chocolate biscuits, did he not? That was what the three of them had decided. He'd seen nothing to suggest that the century between then and now had changed things that much…if one overlooked the strange flying devices, which were mere theories in his time. And guns. And Oyster tea. And-
Something was wrong.
Madam Loren was the first he noticed it in: she extended her sword towards the Casino and simply stopped, lifeless and frozen. Her company did the same, some of them losing armaments- and arms- in the process. He stopped in place, and watched, horrified, as the entire brilliancy came to a staggering, final halt facing the Casino. He ran, hoping that there was perhaps some time left.
"Sir Blanch-"
The White Knight- the real White Knight- was gone as well, before he'd even had a chance to apologize.
He stood there, alone, in the middle of a now useless army of the dead.
No, not useless. Not entirely.
He picked up a forgotten helmet and placed in back upon Sir Thom's head, before saluting sharply, before turning to take his place on the battle lines.
"Come out you cowards!" He cried, shaking his fist at the unseen enemies waiting within the walls. "Come and face the wrath of Asclepius!"
The Hearts could not have failed to notice and tremble at their arrival. And he was still armed, with sword and bow and arrow. He wouldn't run this time. He'd show the Queen exactly how a Knight fought.
A/N: Inspiration for this piece has to go to Diabolicael's Ever Wonder fanfic, which is an excellent read if you're looking for one.