001 ☆ video

[assembles]

[When the video feed starts up, it shows a man seated at a desk in a rather nondescript room. Not much can be seen behind him beyond a bed and closet. Much more noteworthy is his face, which has a few bruises and a line of stitches extending outward from the corner of his mouth.

Despite that, he has a bright, open look on his face, though the fact that he's sitting up straight and looking head-on at his phone's camera makes it clear that he means business.]

So... had a few days to take everything in, read what information I could find. It's been helpful, it really has. [A lot of the work and investigation had already been done for him, though that hasn't prevented Steve from doing his own exploration.]

Just a few questions, if anyone can help. [And so far, most everyone has been helpful.] I can only assume there's some escape effort that's been put together here. A group of like-minded people, working together to get everyone home. I'd like to be a part of that. [It might seem overly transparent to ask about something like that over a network like this, but Steve has no interest in secrecy, especially not after everything that he's been through.]

Secondly, I've heard a lot about people being from different worlds. I'm trying to get an idea of how many we're dealing with. [He knows about Asgard and has heard vaguely of the Nine Realms, but beyond that he's clueless. He needs to determine the scope of this operation.]

Oh, and the name's Steve Rogers. I'll do whatever I can to get us all out of here. [It's meant mainly as a test to see if anyone here is going to recognize him, or if he actually has some manner of anonymity in this place.

With that said, he offers a small smile and then ends the feed.]

Comments

[assembles]

So... I'm guessing that whatever you did the first time to leave Wonderland doesn't work here, or you'd be long gone by now.

[Unless Alice likes it here, but Steve finds that kind of hard to believe. The closets are handy, but there are enough downsides that he doubts anyone has decided to call this home.

Well, unless it's only death waiting for them if they get sent back, in which case he can understand that this is better than nothing.]

[digophelia]

[Sadly, she prefers it over to the real world, so in a sense, yes, she does like it here. She won't outright say it to him quite yet, so Alice merely nods.]

Yes, in a matter of speaking. But if memory serves right, regardless of the situation, Wonderland has been notoriously difficult to leave. Although this time around, it seems to be ten times more difficult.

[assembles]

Ten times more difficult... great.

[Steve winces his eyes closed and rubs at them. It's sinking in more and more that he's going to be stuck in this place for a while. He's got at least one familiar face here, at least.]

So what did you do the first time around?

[digophelia]

I was seven years old. The way was never easy, hardly to be found. Up was down and left was right. All I can do was travel through each realm and hold my own against the queens and her court. In the end, it was my sister who woke me up and took me home. I would not get your hopes up in my tales, sir.

[assembles]

Woke you up? So you were caught in some kind of dream, then.

[Whereas in this case, Steve's guess is that they're physically here. Time supposedly stops back home, so it's like they've been shoved into some kind of holding pattern.]

Hope won't get us anywhere, I know that. We have to act.

[digophelia]

If I were back in London, others including you would think I'm simply mad, especially when I would tell you that it would be like any other child's mind. It may not be the same, but it has its few similarities. Sometimes that is an advantage.

[Alice wants to be here; she prefers it, in a childish way that she preferred the false world she made compared to that harsh reality.]

If that's the case, I very much hope that none of you attempt to find a way out the way you came in.

[assembles]

[Steve has to admit, if someone started going on about being kidnapped to a version of Wonderland, he might consider the possibility of them not being all there.

But now he's learned plenty about other worlds, and he'd think twice about that kind of thing.]

Well, now we're all going to be considered crazy, so I wouldn't worry too much.

[That comment of hers is pretty cryptic, though...]

What do you mean?

[digophelia]

[She has the tendency to be that way, at times, a bad habit picked up from the Cheshire cat or vice versa. But oh, no, if there's one thing that Alice won't hear of, it's the insinuation of being "crazy".]

All of us? If you truly believe that, then you're in for a rude awakening of what madness really is.

[What? It's true. This is nothing like the asylum, no matter how bizarre it is.]

I am simply referring to a man - or at least I think he was a man - who attempted to swim out to the ocean to return where he came from. Naturally, that didn't work. That is what I mean.

[assembles]

Maybe some worlds would be a little more accepting of it than others, but where I'm from? Yeah, saying you were whisked away to a fairytale world isn't gonna go over so well.

[Although with Asgard and the Chitauri and everything else, there's a chance that they could at least convince a few people here and there.

It's not something Steve needs to worry about for now, though. From what he's heard, they won't even remember any of this when they head home. Which rubs him the wrong way, but that's an issue to tackle later.

At Alice's clarification, he nods.] Yeah, that's what I heard. Still kind of curious to see what the edges of this place are like, exactly. Or if we can even find them.

[digophelia]

I highly doubt it.

[Then again, Alice is a very cynical girl, without any hope that something could be out there, somewhere. Alice rubs the back of her head.]

The currents out in the ocean weren't friendly and I feared that the man could have drowned.

[assembles]

[The currents may be strong, but so is Steve. He's not going to let on that he may be considering trying it out for himself, though. There's no reason to worry Alice.]

Well, thanks for the warning. I'll definitely keep it in mind. If we can't leave the same way we came in, then we've just got to figure out another way.

[He makes it sound simple, but Steve's aware of how much the odds are stacked against them.]

[digophelia]

[With cannibals and zombies, Alice is starting to wonder.]

So as long as you don't do anything rash.

[assembles]

[Steve will most definitely end up doing something rash along the way, but he doesn't need to share that with her.]

I'll see what I can do.