Vexen in Wonderland

I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Alice in Wonderland. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square Enix. Alice in Wonderland references are used from both Lewis Carroll and Disney.

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Vexen once again found himself working in his cold basement laboratory. He wasn't working on some electronic gizmo or writing down the properties of a chemical compound… or for that matter, balancing a long, complex chemical equation. To put it quite simply, he was seeking refuge from the twelve idiots upstairs who ignored him as they went on their merry way without giving him a backwards glance or a simple greeting.

Yes, he would much rather stay down in his basement… His sanctuary where he could experiment however he wanted and no one would criticize him for it. However, there was something a little off inside his scientific haven. He could smell something. A noxious vapor that seemed to be coming from the back of his lab.

He hopped off his stool, boots clacking on the white tiled floors as he made his way around counters, unfinished robots that had been collecting dust, bottles of chemicals that could do who knows what, and assorted power tools on the floor. Sure, his wasn't the most organized lab, but he would clean it… eventually.

He traced the smell to a cabinet under a sink. If he knew correctly--and of course he did--there was nothing under that sink, save for cleaning products such as bleach, glass cleaners, etcetera. His knees popped as he squatted down and his black lab apron rustled as he leaned forward to open the cabinet doors.

He saw the problem immediately. The bleach, the glass cleaner, and the disinfectants were tossed carelessly on their sides, various contents leaking out of them onto the bottom of the cabinet and mixing into an iridescent liquid that seemed to be steaming. He frowned as another wave of the odor hit him.

He certainly didn't put his materials back like this. He righted the bottles, getting cleaning fluids on the latex gloves he used. Vexen straightened out, standing up to grab a roll of heavy-duty paper towels off of the shelf, ripping two or three of before squatting back down to attempt to clean up the steaming mess.

He dabbed and rubbed at the spot, but he didn't seem to get the concentrated fumes out from under the sink. His sensitive nose was continually being assaulted by the stench and his head throbbed as he continued to rub at the spot, applying more pressure.

He groaned. His head hurt so much… How long had he been trying to clean up the mess? His vision blurred. He could practically feel his brain throbbing in his skull… How much pain must he endure? He felt a sharp smack on the back of his skull as he closed his eyes. And then… nothing.

-IV-

Vexen woke up with his face covered in his long, blonde hair. He took off his latex gloves before adjusting his locks with a trembling hand. It hurt. Everything hurt. He pulled himself onto his shaky legs, getting a head rush as he felt his blood pulsing in his ears. He inhaled, letting sweet, odorless oxygen rush into his lungs as he massaged his temples.

Not to self: Never mix cleaning formulas. He thought, jaw clenching as the pain rolled through him.

"Ack! I'm late!" Came a startled exclamation.

Great. I'm hearing things now… Vexen inserted a pinky into his ear, attempting to clean it out.

"I'm late! That drag queen's gonna be pissed!"

Vexen's green eyes rolled to the running figure of Larxene. There was something different about her.

Her skin was paler than normal and there was a red tint to her eyes. Her short, blonde hair covered up the ears on the side of her head, but large, white, bunny ears stuck out from the top of her head. She wore a red silk shirt with a black vest and trousers with a white bunny tail sticking out of the rear. A gold pocket watch dangled from her vest by the chain as she ran, her black dress shoes slapping against the tile as she ran. She got close to the back laboratory corner were she pulled out a black umbrella from seemingly nowhere, opening it with her white gloved hands. The umbrella's locking mechanism clicked into place and she jumped right through the wall.

Did Vexen see that correctly? He ran towards the spot in the wall she jumped into to see a large gaping hole about six feet tall and three feet wide that lead into inky blackness. Vexen leaned slightly to look down into the hole, to see any light whatsoever. He craned his neck in farther, peering into the gloom.

He fell in just like that. Vexen plunged headfirst, tumbling into the tunnel, yelling and flailing to get a hold onto anything that could support him. His searching fingers found nothing. Vexen continued falling for about a minute or so, contemplating his pitiful existence, wondering when the bone-shattering crunch would come and end his life.

You've had a good run, old chum. Vexen thought to himself. If only you'd made that pretty girl robot like you've always wanted to and made sweet--

Vexen yelled out an incoherent word as something hit him where the sun don't shine with a very loud "CUCKOO!!"

The dark began to lighten and he saw that he was falling past a large cuckoo clock, the bird door opening to reveal nothing but a comical boxing glove on a spring, still bouncing from impact.

Vexen's mouth puckered and eyes watered as he rolled into the fetal position as he fell, tucking in his legs with his arms.

His wide, tearing green eyes scanned the vertical shaft he was falling down to see clocks tick-tocking and floating around about him, all of them registering different times and several more chiming and cuckooing in unison with such volume, Vexen gritted his teeth.

Vexen landed on something soft. He looked underneath himself to see a floating red plush couch which was tipping dangerously to the side he was sitting on. He grabbed onto the couch's armrest, as it flipped upside down, leaving him dangling over more black oblivion.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!" He wailed as his hands began to slip down the fabric.

Now, he was clinging only by the seams off the couch as the couch continued to rotate until Vexen was straight down with the couch.

Then, his boots touched something solid.

At the same moment, the couch disappeared, leaving an unhappy Vexen to fall on his butt to the floor, hands reaching up to a black painted ceiling. He felt rather foolish as he brushed himself off, standing up on the checker board patterned floor in the circular room. The walls were adorned with random patterns, and when Vexen thought he had one solved, it skipped to another in muddled confusion.

He noticed the gap in the wall leading to a lamp-lit hallway that had a shut, wooden door at the end. Feeling somewhat apprehensive, he walked to the door, putting his bare hand on the cool brass knob. He turned the knob, opening the door.

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First installment, read and review, please!