Alice froze as she looked into the cell. Was that...? No, it couldn't be! Why would her SISTER be in there?

A loud roar interrupted her thoughts and she jerked her head up. She looked back at the cell in front of her, but gasped when she saw Joker standing in front of her.

"You need to get out of here. Now." She would almost say he sounded worried. If it wasn't for the fact she was convinced that this sick fuck was the one who locked her sister in this god forsaken place!

"Not without my sister!"

"Who ever you see isn't really here, you dumb shit! You have to go before the Duke gets to this part of the prison!"

A loud rumble broke off Alice's retort. Bits of stone fell off the ceiling, hitting her head. She suddenly whimpered out of fear.

Joker snarled in annoyance and grabbed her, "Look, I don't want you to, but for your safety and mine, fucking forget about this place! At least until the Duke leaves!"

Alice stared into his wine-colored eye and whimpered, "I-I don't... I-I can't... M-My sister..."

He tossed her to the ground, "Yes, you fucking can, you've done it before, now-"

The rest of his words were drowned out by another roar. This one louder than before. Now she could hear what it was saying. It was calling her name. She covered her ears and closed her eyes, begging herself to forget. If that was the only way to get out of here, she was going to try. Suddenly someone grabbed her up, and she heard Joker snap something. She peered open her eyes, met by the familiar pattern of Peter White's waistcoat.

"If she can't forget in a snap, there's only one way to stop the Duke, Joker, you know that!"

"And how the hell do you plan to make him hit his head hard enough to bring the Duchess back out?!"

She felt Peter make a motion and heard Joker's defeated sigh, "Fine! Asshole..."

Alice looked back at Joker, confused. What the hell was going on? Who was this 'Duke'? Who was the 'Duchess'? Why the hell were Peter and Joker even somewhat cooperating on hitting the damn thing's head?

Suddenly, she was moving. It felt like falling into WonderLand in Peter's arms all over again. She saw the prison flying by her before she looked up at Peter.

"What are you doing? Where are we going?"

"Forgive me, sweet Alice. I want to do this even less." He skidded to a stop at a dead end.

Alice wailed, "We're trapped!"

"..." Peter was silent, staring back towards where they had come from. She reluctantly turned to look as well, the rumble getting worse.

Then, the Duke rounded the corner. A gigantic hound came barreling down the way, howling her name. His shoulders reached the third set of railings in the huge prison. Suddenly, Peter crouched and she realized his plan.

"Can you even jump that high?!" She looked at him. His face was creased with concentration, and he didn't answer. The Duke's gaping maw opened wide, and Peter's legs, like well-oiled machines, launched them into the air. Alice squealed and held tight to Peter. She didn't see it, but she heard the massive animal hit the wall with a yelp. Peter came to a stop on one of the railings, looking back at the Duke. He set Alice on her feet, though she immediately slid into a sitting position, whimpering. She heard Peter and Joker talking, but the edges of her vision went black, and the next thing she knew, she fainted.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Alice blinked her eyes open slowly, groaning. Wait, was she... Back at the Heart Castle...? But wasn't she-

She jerked, sitting up straight. That's right! That huge dog! And Peter! She threw the blanket off and jumped off the bed, only to trip. She yelped and landed straight on her face. She groaned, but sat up when she heard a tiny yip. She looked down at her feet to discover that she'd tripped over a puppy! It yipped again and bounded over to her on too-big paws, large ears flopping as it put it's paws on her chest to lick at her face. She giggled and scratched it's ears, which had little ring piercings in them.

"Awww! Aren't you adorable!" She moved to pick up the puppy, making a 'hm?' sound as she felt a collar. She looked at the tag, "Duchess?"

"That's me~!" The puppy barked out, then jumped out of her lap. In a puff of smoke, a woman was standing there. She had big, round, chocolate eyes. She wore what looked like a military uniform-not unlike the rude side of Joker-and she looked like she'd recently come from a hike. The bottoms of her pants were streaked with mud-stains, and her short hair was a frazzled mess. She bounced in place, "It's nice to meet-chya!" Honestly, the more Alice looked, she looked like she couldn't be any older than her! She still had her floppy puppy ears, and her long tail was thumping against a nearby chair as she wagged it.

Honestly, Duchess reminded her of Boris. But bouncier. "You. Are. Adorable." She blinked.

Duchess giggled, "I know~! Ohhh! Will you unlock the door now? I wanna go chase the bunny some more!" She bounced hopefully on the balls of her feet.

"The... bunny? You mean Peter?"

"Yeah! The bunny!" She hesitated for just a moment, "You know, I think he used to be a black bunny. I'm glad he's white now! Much easier to see at night! Oh! Oh, oh, oh, what about the kitty? Is he still around? He's fun to chase, too!"

Alice blinked once again. Wow. This new girl was going to add a whole new dynamic to her life, wasn't she? And right now, she wasn't very happy with Peter having used her as bait.

"Yes. I'll let you out, so you can chase Peter." An evil look spread over her face. Duchess either didn't notice, or didn't care. She went and stood by the door, bouncing still. Alice got up and opened the door to let her out.

Duchess was out like a bat outta hell.

Alice just smirked and shut the door back slowly. She spotted a piece of paper on her bedside table as she heard Peter scream. She hummed to herself as she walked over to it. Yep. As she suspected. A letter telling her not to let Duchess out. From Peter. Though, it also explained that Duchess had practically attached herself to Alice the moment she appeared. Not surprising. All roleholders seemed attracted to her. Though, as she remembered the Duke, not all of them were attracted in pleasant ways. She shrugged and slowly crumpled the letter as she walked to her closet. She leisurely tossed it into the waste bin before changing out of her nightgown, listening to Peter run as Duchess laughed and chased him. She continued humming to herself as she stepped out of the room. Time to see the extent of Duchess's puppy traits, and the extent of her attachment.

She whistled. Duchess stopped in her tracks and came bounding over from barking at Peter, who she'd chased up a statue.

"Alright, Duchess, I think you've scared Peter quite enough." She patted her head.

Duchess whined, her tail slowing it's endless wagging for the moment, "But, I'm having fun...!"

"Yes, but I have to have a talk with him, okay? Then I have to work... and probably clean up all the messes you two just made."

Duchess pouted, but nodded slowly. Alice suddenly felt bad for making something so cute suddenly so sad.

"We can go see the kitty after I finish, though." She grinned, and Duchess's tail sped up again.

"Yay~!" Duchess threw her hands up.

"But only if you leave Peter alone and behave."

She nodded, her teeth making a comical chattering noise.

Peter slowly climbed down grumbling. He started to speak, but Alice cut him off with a glare.

Oh, dear.