Okay, I'm going to admit, I'm only submitting this one because my own lame pun in the title kills me every time xD

Charries may be a tad ooc (in that the Bloody Twins don't immediately try to slaughter poor Pierce), but I hope everything else is in character. I tried to make it so...

Warning Again: Contains spanking. Hate the subject material? Eh, give it a chance xD

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Kuni no Alice series. If I did, Elliot and Julius would be everywhere and Blood would have a very much reduced role in the manga (seriously, enough books with him as the focus already... I want more Julius v.v)

But enough about that. Today, the loveable dormouse is my chosen victim. Enjoy :D

Hide and Squeak

It was hard being a dormouse – especially one with such a messy job. No one liked him, everyone was mean to him, and a monster stalked him everywhere with a knife and fork in hand. The only one that was ever nice to him, that protected him, was the beautiful Outsider he had found – Alice. She got mad at him, though, when he called her his, even though he had found her fair and square.

The dormouse wandered through the forest, looking for his Alice, keeping his large ears open for any sign of the monster, or the only slightly less horrible Twins. Although Dee and Dum were meant to be on the same team as him, they were always mean to him and chased him with axes… unless Alice was around. She protected him. He wanted to find her today because he knew that today was the day the Twins had off – not that they cared to work even when it wasn't. It was worse when they were officially off – Elliott wouldn't be chasing them down either, so they were free to torment him if the mood took them.

He screamed and ran as a dark shadow descended on him from above. Boris had been lying in ambush up in a tree! The cat gave chase, cackling like mad, knife and fork already in hand. Pierce could barely see where he was going, eyes flooding with tears that ran merrily down his cheeks.

"AAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCCCEEEE!" he wailed, thinking of the only one who could help him.

Even as he was screaming, he crashed into something not that much smaller than himself, and horribly blue. The two of them tumbled together and lay in a bundle. Pierce kept his eyes tightly shut, praying that the awful dark blue of a Bloody Twin would turn into the lovely light blue of his Alice.

"I found him before you did, Brother," the deceptively childish voice came. Pierce squealed and again tried to run, but something stomped hard on his tail.

"I caught him," the second voice came.

"I caught him first!" the first protested. Pierce tried to tug his tail away without looking. If he couldn't see them, they weren't there.

"He caught you," the second retorted.

"No, no. It counts."

"Then how about we go again?"

Pierce slowly opened his eyes to look at the two twins now towering over him, one in front and one behind. The one in front was still small and blue, the one behind was larger… he looked like an adult! A bigger, stronger Bloody Twin? The thought terrified the already quivering dormouse.

"Mousey, mousey, mousey… Run!" the adult Bloody Twin yelled, releasing Pierce's tail. The dormouse obediently scrambled to his feet and raced away.

"Go!" he heard the Twins shouting behind him. His mind seemed to shut down and blind panic took over. He knew he should be running back towards his mousehole, but the Twins were that way. The only other option was to find Alice fast – or even Elliot. Elliot would protect him. Rabbits didn't hate or eat mice.

Shapes merged into dark forms as tears blurred his vision. He tried to blink them away, but they kept coming. The inevitable happened. The branch sprang out of nowhere. Pierce was caught around the middle and flipped head over heels over the stout limb, landing heavily on his back underneath, hat miraculously still on his head. He lay sobbing and panting, unable to get up even as two colourful shapes appeared.

"That wasn't a fun chase," the Blue Bloody pouted, leaping bodily on top of the dormouse. He was in adult form this time, suddenly long hair scraped back in a loose ponytail away from his eyes. Pierce screamed as an axe buried itself inches from his fuzzy ears.

"The chase is never the fun part," the Red Bloody retorted with a wicked grin. He was in his child form now, raising his own axe. Pierce blubbered, unable to struggle up from underneath the blue twin.

"Big Sis is gonna yell at us for making a mess," the Blue Bloody added suddenly, looking down at the dormouse with disinterest.

The Red Bloody hesitated, looking thoughtful.

"Blood'd make us clear up the bodies," he agreed, wrinkling his nose. He enjoyed making messes, not clearing them up!

Pierce went suddenly quiet, trying to become as forgettable as possible. He was close to going free. The Bloody Twins were notorious for their tiny attention spans.

"I saw him kiss Big Sis," the Red Bloody spoke up, morphing into his adult form as he spoke, axe gripped loosely.

"I picked her up! I found her! She's my Alice," Pierce retorted hotly.

The Bloody Twins exchanged glances, malicious smiles spreading across their faces. Pierce began to blubber again, realising he'd just done the opposite of what he had vowed.

"He's lying, Brother," the Blue Bloody stated, slowly standing up, taking his axe with him.

Pierce rolled over to his front, unable to take his eyes off the weapon. He squealed as the second twin grabbed him from behind, hands scrambling at his trousers. He tried to struggle away, but the Blue Bloody leapt sprightly onto his back, facing his brother and keeping the dormouse's hands under control.

Pierce tried to kick out futilely, legs now trapped by his trousers. He could feel warm grass tickling him, and pleasant breeze blowing across exposed skin.

"Big Sis told us there's only one way to treat liars," the Red Bloody added. Pierce was unable to see past the Blue Bloody, even if the tears blurring his vision were to miraculously disappear. The Blue Bloody reached forwards to yank his tail up and out of the way.

"Don't hurt me don't hurt me don't hurt me don't hurt me don't hurt me," he pleaded, voice becoming even more comprehensible as his terrified babbling continued. His struggles got wilder as he bucked and heaved, trying to get free, repeating his mantra, desperate to get away scot free.

The slap echoed across the forest, amplified by the empty wood. Pierce howled, jolting his body, taken by complete surprise. He couldn't see what was happening, but he could feel a sting in his buttock, starting off small but seeming to spread. For a moment, he thought the axe had been buried into his skin, but he realised quickly that the pain and sounds were completely wrong.

"He's stopped crying, Brother. You didn't do it right," the Blue Bloody accused.

"I did, I did. You have to do it lotsa times. Big Sis said," the Red Bloody protested. Pierce could feel him move to sit on his legs, pinning him further.

"Please, please don't hurt me. Please, please, please don't hurt me," he blubbered, tears coming afresh. The second slap echoed around the woods, making him truly wail, tears coming afresh. However, the Red Bloody didn't stop at one this time. Slap after slap came, pain alternating between left and right, pain building quickly despite the dormouse's desperate attempts to flee.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEE!" he screamed helplessly. His Alice would save him, Someone had to save him, His poor bottom was about to fall off!

"He's going really red, Brother," the Blue Bloody noted with approval, ignoring the dormouse's wails. Pierce's struggles were beginning to lessen through exhaustion. If Alice didn't come, he could be there forever… or at least until the Twins got bored… and it was rare for them to get bored of causing pain.

"I told you!" the Red Bloody responded triumphantly, hits getting harder still. Pierce was sure his butt was going to explode.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCEEEEEE!" he screamed again plaintively.

"Big Sis isn't yours," the Red Bloody added, ceasing for a moment and adopting a scolding tone. Pierce continued to wail as if he was being boiled alive. The Red Bloody hit him again, aiming for lower, more sensitive skin.

"Big Sis isn't yours," he repeated fiercely. The dormouse silenced with a hiccup.

"I found her. I picked her up," he mumbled miserably, trying to look round at his attacker but failing yet again.

"This isn't working. Let's play chop the tail off the mousie," the Blue Bloody suggested, bouncing up and down on his back. Pierce blinked, hiccupped again… and then set about into terrified wails once more.

"Dee! Dum! Pierce! What is happening?" a female voice demanded. All three looked up as the Outsider appeared from behind a tree. Alice's eyes were wide.

"Alice! Help me!" Pierce begged, tears still streaming down his face.

"He lied, Big Sis," the Red Bloody added.

"We punished him like you told us," the Blue Bloody agreed proudly.

"He lied. He said you're his, but you're not," the Red Bloody repeated, expression suddenly going dark.

"But you're not his guardian. Only guardians can spank," Alice protested. The Twins looked disappointed.

"Only Blood, huh, Brother?" the Red Bloody murmured, getting up. Pierce tensed, set to bolt.

"I wouldn't wanna be a mousie's guardian," the Blue Bloody agreed with a sneer. He leapt up and bounded over to Alice, catching her in his arms and sweeping her off her feet. "I'll be Big Sis' guardian! Have you been bad, Big Sis?"

"N-No!" Alice cried, flushing bright red. She always found it hard to concentrate when the twins were in their adult forms. They became even harder to handle. She tried to struggle down.

"No fair, Brother, I wanna be her guardian," the Red Bloody protested. He tried to grab Alice. "Come play with us, Big Sis."

"No. Dee, Dum, I will play with you two later. I have work to do. Besides, Elliot was looking for you two."

"Awww, what does that stupid chickie rabbit want?" Dum complained.

"He can't have been too far behind me," Alice added, finally wriggling out of Dee's grasp.

"Urgh. Let's go, Brother. We'll see if Boris wants to play," Dum decided, running off with Dee not far behind him. They changed into their smaller forms as they went.

Alice watched the two bloodthirsty boys run off. She had lied about both work and Elliot – what she wanted to do was find Pierce. The dormouse had shot off the instant Dee had let him go. It wasn't hard to locate him by following his loud sobs.

"Pierce?" she asked, trying not to startle him. The dormouse started, before leaping at her. She blocked his kiss almost automatically, but let him hug her despite his deafening sobs.

"I'm sorry, Pierce. They were interested in torture methods from my world… I didn't want to tell them anything bad, but…"

"They hurt me, Alice," Pierce whimpered, voice almost too choked to be heard. She sighed. He didn't care for explanations, he just wanted comfort. She helped him to his feet.

"Come on, let's get you home."

Alice stayed with Pierce for a while once she had led him back to his mousehole, and tried her very best to calm him down. Eventually the ear-wrenching sobs were reduced to sniffles as his injuries healed. He removed his hat and lay down suddenly, placing his head in her lap, still sniffling and occasionally hiccupping. She allowed him to, gently stroking his soft hair.

It was her fault he had been spanked. She'd told the Twins about it – there was no denying that – but, worse… she'd come across the scene earlier than she had announced…

She bit her lip as she looked down at the dozing young dormouse. This world had corrupted her. Surely… surely, if she had come across that scene in her world, she would have done her very best to stop it sooner. Surely she wouldn't have hidden and watched… Surely she wouldn't have enjoyed it.

Alice hung her head. She didn't want to leave this world, filled with crazy, psychotic denizens that killed without a thought… who were also her only real friends that cared about both her and her opinions. But how long would it be before she could no longer recognise herself? How long would it be before she finally became absorbed into Wonderland?

She smiled regretfully down at Pierce. It seemed she was just going to have to wait and find out.

Heh... May have made Alice a tad sadistic at the end. But oh well. Although Pierce is another charrie in gross need of a manga dedicated to him. He's just so darn adorable, with his little ears and tails and puns and general hyperactivity ^.^