Painting The Roses Red // Ace

[The Queen of Hearts]

With a happy smile playing on her lips, the Queen of Hearts stepped inside 'Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This', her favourite candy shop. The only shop that she trusted to always have her favourite cherry hearts. She loved the candy to absolute bits and out of all the places that she'd visited in her travels, this little shop was the only place that always had the exact ones that she liked. Moxxi was rather particular about her cherry hearts.

The tinkle of the bell attracted the attention of the elderly man behind the counter. He gave her a toothy but warm smile upon seeing her. "Ah, Your Majesty. Come to pick up some more of your regular supply?" he inquired, instantly taking the big glass jar off the shelf and setting about preparing her order, the one that he already knew all too well by now. The Queen of Hearts was a regular, and he loved when she came in.

"Aye, same as usual," she replied with a smile. "You know me too well." They chatted as she watched him pouring the candy hearts into several paper bags. Moxxi loved her visits to the store. Not only because of the delicious treats that she always picked up from here, but also because of the lovely company. She liked chatting to the man about anything and everything. She enjoyed the attention he bestowed upon her and enjoyed hearing his tales and stories.

Paying, she gave the old gentleman a fond smile. He was such a sweet old dear. She'd be sad to see him go. She kind of hoped that he would just continue to live and become one of those super-old humans that you often read about in the Earth newspapers. Giving him a wave, she turned to leave and in doing so almost bumped into a teen girl. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sugar!" she apologised. "I should look where I'm going, instead of day-dreaming!" She gave a soft sultry chuckle. "Heart?" She offered the female the white paper bag full of candy as an apology.

[Ace McShane]

Ace was walking to the shop to get her food for the week and think of a shopping list as she went trying to think of the good meals that she could make.

As she did her nose smelt the sugary delight that came from the sweet shop, Sweet dreams was it call trying to think of the name as she round the corner and enter the store to find where that delightful aroma was coming from.

The smell of sweet cherry got stronger as she enter the store hearing the tikkle of the bell ringing as door opened, her mind filled with all sorts of wonder.

Ace didn't spot the woman that came near and bumped into her jarring her mind back to reality and looked at the person and saw her face and felt a cold dread enter her like a ice.

As Ace saw the face of something she feared and that was a clown and took a few steps back,even when the woman offered some of her sweet Ace felt a little worried.

"Sorry but no thank you" trying to be polite as possible to the woman without blurting out something she would normally would to this sort situation.

[The Queen of Hearts]

Moxxi took a step back when she saw the female's fear. She had to remind herself that most people were definitely not accustomed to her style of dress. Exotic, scandalous, call it what you want - but it was definitely not what humans considered normal. Was that why the girl was scared?

"I promise they're not poisoned or anything," the Queen of Hearts reassured the girl. "At least I hope they're not," she said with a chuckle, turning back to raise an eyebrow at her friend who just shook his head, rolling his eyes at the suggestion.

The man behind the counter looked over at Ace, a kind smile on his face. "That's the Queen of Hearts. Don't be scared, darlin' - she wouldn't hurt a fly!" he told her. Well, yes, she would and they both knew it. Moxxi had told him a bit about her adventures so he knew that she was a good fighter. But he also knew that she'd only fight when she really had to. Other than that, she really wouldn't hurt even a fly. Flirt with it, most probably, but not hurt it.

The brunette gave the girl a kind smile. "Have one, I insist. Best cherry hearts you're gonna get. And trust me, I'd know - in all my travels I haven't managed to come across hearts to even compare with these," she told the female in front of her. She noted that the old man beamed at this compliment and she smiled slightly. "My apology treat for nearly bowling you over."

[Ace McShane]

Ace looked at the bag of sweet and the woman and then the man that tried to reassure her that the odd looking woman intentions were good and that what she was offering was the same. Still Ace felt rather reluctant to partake in the sweet that she was being offered but the aroma fill her mind with wonder and watered her taste buds.

She twitched her tinger feeling them want to take one and her eye darting between the open bad and the odd looking woman, trying to fight both fear and temptation. But her arm and hand decided for her and took one of the sweet and before she could stop the heart shaped sweet was in her mouth.

Instantly a burst of delectable fruit that was just a smell was now an a tirade of juices and taste of cherry,Ace tried to hold back her expression of utter delight as the sweet did it magic. A pleasing the taste buds as well as her senses, to such extent that Ace started to feel a little odd as the blossoming cherry flavor continue to engorged her mouth.

"mmm this taste so good,hmm that ok I forgot what I was doing now oh well may as well go home if that the case." Ace left the shop and walked home still with the delectable sweet in her mouth. Teasing it with in her mouth to knock every last bit of flavor out to savor every drop that was dripping from the cherry hart. But there was something started to feel off as Ace got near to her house and thought the door.

It was if she wasn't feeling so good and took off her jacket and laid down on her bed still feeling weird,as the sweet was dissolving Ace felt as if she was seeing thing as the incense smell of cherry filled her mind even more.Making her even more worried was was she was seeing as it looked like the walls and her surrounding was dripping away as Ace slipped into unconscious,it was like a dream mixed with what would considered a drug trip as Ace found herself seeing colors swirling like a never ending whirlpool.

That only ended as Ace landed on her bottom in a room that was filled with odd yet wonders images "HELLO IS ANYONE THERE !?"

[The Queen of Hearts]

The Queen Of Hearts grinned at the girl's comment about how good the sweets tasted. "Told you they were good. I travel galaxies just to get my paws on these particular ones." Despite knowing that humans as a rule didn't exactly believe in space-and-time travel, Moxxi wasn't one to care about keeping it a secret. It wasn't as if anyone could do anything to her anyway; she had a time machine in case she ever got into a tight spot to escape in.

She popped one of the hearts into her mouth and bit into it. The candy hearts tasted sweeter than she was used to and an involuntary frown creased Moxxi's brow for a second, but it left the moment the delicious taste of cherries filled her mouth. She wasn't used to them tasting exactly this sweet, but they tasted delicious nonetheless. Maybe the maker changed their recipe...? she mused, popping another several into her mouth and chewing on the delicious sweets.

Just as the girl left, Moxxi brought a hand up to her head. She felt really dizzy and nauseous all of a sudden. Leaning against the counter, she frowned as she watched the store begin melting around her. The alarm was evident on the elderly man's face as he rushed out and took her in her arms. "Miss Moxxi, what's wrong?" The Queen shook her head at his words, feeling more ill at the action. "Wh-what's going on?" the woman managed to mumble; the next minute she was out cold, leaning in the man's arms like dead weight.

She was falling. The Queen Of Hearts was falling down a dark hole. It was a strange hole, like an underground tunnel, but vertical instead of horizontal. Clumps of earth and clay broke off at irregular intervals as the female fell, bouncing off her hat and shoulders. And that's when Moxxi realised - it wasn't just any underground hole she was falling down; it was a rabbit hole. A giant rabbit hole, decorated with circular shelves along the walls.

The Queen's stomach twisted from the speed at which she was falling, and a yelp escaped her lips as various things came tumbling off shelves around her. Books, teacups, even a jar of jam. Raspberry, by the looks of it. Faster and faster Moxxi fell; she could see the ground nearing but she wasn't slowing down. In fact upon catching sight of the floor, she seemed to speed up. Covering her head and face with her arms, she gave a shout of pain as she went crashing through the floor and landed with a thump on the floor underneath.

She groaned, standing up and rubbing the dust from her face. The room was empty, save for a single glass table that stood in the very centre. Around the walls were doors, all of various sizes, colours and woods. Circling the room, Moxxi frowned. This was turning out to be too much like a certain children's storybook for her liking. Granted, Moxxi really liked the story (and she'd liked its author even more) but being in Wonderland, a place where she had her very own character named after her, was a very strange feeling. The Queen had to admit though, it would be a really fun adventure. Might as well enjoy it until I figure out how to get back...

She meandered around the room, trying various door handles. All locked. Walking up to the glass table, she picked up the key and studied it. The brass key was absolutely tiny! No of the door locks would fit it. Unless... Picking up the tiny key, she slid it into the lock, smiling when she heard a click. Pushing the door open, she poked her head inside, gasping at the beauty that she saw. The garden beyond the door was breathtakingly beautiful. Exotic trees snaked and bent every which way, giant flowers were swaying in the gentle breeze chatting away softly to each other, and in azure sky dragon-flies and horse-flies were chasing one another, their neighs and roars filling the air.

Moxxi spent a minute ogling the sights before pulling her head back and nibbling on her lip in thought. Suddenly she heard a noise. Someone was yelling! As the yelling continued, Moxxi jumped up and jogged about the room, placing her ear to each door to try and figure out from where whoever it was was calling. At the last door, a majestic oak creation which had seen better days, the Queen Of Hearts stopped and listened closely. This was the door. The yells came from inside there. Jiggling the door handle, she frowned; the door was locked tight. The Time Lady thumped on the wood three times, partly to alert the other person to her presence and partly to let out her frustration. "Whoever you are in there - are you ok?" she called out, pressing her ear to the door again to listen for an answer.

[Ace McShane]

Ace was starting to get worried as she lay there watching the wall melt around her and disappear into nothing as she found herself somewhere unfamiliar and looked around wondering where she was and didn't want to move to far thinking that it could something that want to do harm to her and looked around seeing a what looked like a door and after walking to it and tying the handle she found that it was looked.

"ow naf it locked" and gave it a shove with her shoulder to see if it would budge but still nothing and was about to move on to see if there was anyone that would or could help her,that when Ace heard a voice asking if she was ok. "I'm fine and where am I are you ok ?" think that they could be in danger at any moment going by how unpredictable this place was,"ow if only I had some Nitro 9 on me" a lightly banged her head on the door in anger to her self and tried to think of how to get to this woman whoever she was.

Ace asked "is there anything on your side of the door that could help?" saying that as she looked around herself looking for a clue of a key of some sort,but thinking it could be anything and hidden anywhere,but still had to look to get the door open to free the woman and felt around the door trying to find anything,saying this as Ace continued to consume the sweet that was rolling around in her mouth and on her taste buds.

Feeling the taste of cherry drip down her throat with utter delight,this impaired Ace thought processes as she looked around the odd place that she found herself,but it was hard to resist the taste of such a sweet.

[Game-Master]

It was true that her subjects often humoured her, upon the order of a death sentence the card soldiers would drag the supposed victim off into the distance merely to have the victim be released upon being out of The Queen Of Heart's eyesight. Often times, The King Of Hearts would dismiss all charges quietly, not having the courage to speak up to his queen lest his head be on the line. In this way, The Queen Of Hearts was ignorant. Though she sentenced many to death, not one of them had actually been excecuted. For if they had, she would not have the army of cards that surrounded her upon a passing word.

The Queen Of Hearts had a love of the game she had discovered as 'croquet' though she didn't know many of the rules, she made up her own. No one dared to point out that they made little to no sense at all, as though she never actually had another's head off it was quite a frightening ordiel. The Queen was of a pack of cards, and therefore stood as high as a man but flat as a card. She had the queen's design as a card, though her mouth moved and talked instead of remaining flat like paper. The King Of Hearts was not beside her, therefore no decapitations would be pardoned.

Swinging the flamingo by the legs it's blunt beak struck the live hedgehog without a sound. Spinning she remained oblivious that her strike had missed the hedgehog completely, and the hedgehog sprinted towards the arched cards without a que automatically knowing precisley what to do in this situation. As it happened rather often. The cards moved, hopped and stretch for the hedgehog to steer itself wildly into the openings they had. As the hedgehog lost momentum, it would leap up on it's two legs and then roll itself into a sphere to manage another arch. In this manner the hedgehog managed to score in each of the 52 archs. Coming to a gasping and exhausted stop, it stopped in it's run and collapsed on the other side of the garden.

The garden was The Queen's, as everything was in this area. She didn't allow outsiders or trespassers, especially not after 'Alice'. She looked past all of the red roses still dripping with red paint to see the most strange sight banging agaisnt one of her doors! Plump and circular, and unlike The Queen in every way imaginable was a being that looked much like Alice. That was cause enough, she let loose a loud billow of her favorite phrase.

"Off with her head!!!" Upon her word, the army of 52 cards leapt up and chased towards the plump woman that wasn't flat in the slightest. Carrying spears with heart shape spears they charged without order, piling over one another in their rush to kill the woman that had angered their queen.

[Sponsored content]