Lost In Wonderland

When I had first entered G-block I had to admit that I was impressed. The entire floor system for the Deadmen was converted into a cylinder which was constantly in rotation, as if it were a planet spinning on its axis.

I, a brand new Deadman, strode through the halls of Wonderland as if I owned everything I layed eyes on, because I did. I belonged there I could feel it that place was meant for me, all that was left was to conquer it.

I entered my room, which was surprisingly extravigant, only to find that weasle-faced jack-ass of a lawyer sitting on my bed, his usual smirk painted on his face.

"What the hell do you want, Uncle Tamaki?" I questioned, I had never been fond of my Uncle and my Father had often told me to keep my distance from him, which was a more than difficult to do now that I was trapped in his facility, which, would soon be mine.

"Oh~ just making sure my favorite niece is accomodated well. I can't have you in a less than perfect room now can I?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"You're only sayin' that because you're afraid of Dad, which is stupid. The one you should be afraid of is me." Tamaki sighed.

"All I can say to that is, if it weren't for your special abilities, you would be out of my hair as would my brother."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, the rooms fine."

"Do yourself a favor. Don't let any of the other inmates know you're related to me, things could get... Messy." He grinned, "especially if they found out that you get double their amount of Cast Points each week for doing nothing."

"Keep in mind I never asked for your 'special treatment' you're just tryn'na save you're own skin by doin' as Dad says. So keep your fuckin' threats to yourself, you worthless maggot." Tamaki laughed as he stood from my matress.

"Well at any rate I'd best be off." He said as he approached the door, I stepped infront of him in an attempt at blocking the, much larger, mans path.

"Wait a sec. I gotta ask you a question." I said with a growl, Tamki clapped his hands together.

"Fire at will my dear!"

"Choose you're words more carefully swine. I've herd rumors about a Deadman called 'Mockingbird' they say he's the toughest of the bunch. That true?" Tamaki giggled in that creepy way he always did.

"Oh yes, Mockingbird is quite the treat."

"Where can I find him?"

"Hmm... Hard to say... I have his room number if thats what you mean, however, a home visit might not be such a good idea-"

"Gimme the room number."

"Afraid I can't do that Sweetie, can't have Alice getting killed on her eighth day in Wonderland."

"Don't fuckin' call me Alice! Gimme a nickname like everyone else's!"

"But my dear the only name that would suit your branch of sin is 'Vulture' and you're much too beautiful for such a name."

"Stop quoting my Dad! I'll go by Vulture, not Alice. Now gimme the room number, or I'll beat it out of you!"

"Why do you even want it? Have you fallen in love without having seen the mans apperance? This is no shojo anime you know-"

"I wanna sparrin' partner! He's the toughest. He's who I want." Tamaki clucked his tounge as he looked down at me for a moment.

"Sorry Doll but-"

"It's Vulture damnit!"

"...But, I can't give you that info, not unless I want to end up in a body cast of course. But I can give you the whereabouts of the second toughtest Deadman. Good enough?"

I huffed in frustration, it most certainly was not good enough, but I was getting tired of going in circles with my ass-of an Uncle, so I agree to take that info from him, and silently promised myself that I would go looking for the Mockingbird on my own.

Just before Uncle Tamaki left my room he paused and looked over his shoulder at me.

"I hear you've already made your impression on the other inmates, apparently, they all fear you because of what you did to the gaurds whose only jobs were to escourt you to your room." I glared at him.

"Gotta make a name for myself somehow, right?" He grinned.

"Right," he turned away from me, "I do hope you enjoy your stay in Deadman Wonderland Alice." The door slid shut and I growled, why did my Uncle have to be such a dick?

Not too long after Tamaki left, I went on a search for some guy called Crow. I knew his room number, but apparently he frequented the Rec-Room more often than his own, I would look there first.

As I entered the small equipment room the smell of sweat assaulted my nose, my eyes immediatly went to the only person in the room who was lifting weights, it had to be Crow. I approached him without hesitation or caution.

"Hey." The man didn't give me so much of a grunt, "hey!" He glared at me as I stood over him. "You Crow?"

"Maybe. Depends on what you want."

"Info, where can I find the Mockingbird?" The man immediatly put the weights down and stood.

"Why do you wanna find a guy like him for?" He questioned.

"Sparrin' partner." Crow began to laugh.

"Oh c'mon! You've gotta be new here! That guy doesn't spar! He kills! You ask him for a sparring session you'll end up in tiny chuncks!"

"Really?" I grinned up to him, "sounds interesting." He sighed.

"Aw geeze, don't tell me youre one o' those people who comes in thinkin' they're at the top of the food chain," he bent to my eye level, " 'cause a little thing like you, ain't gotta chance sweet heart."

"It's Vulture!" I cried in frustration, "and I don't think I'm at the top of anything yet. I plan on working my way up so I can take this place and Tamaki down."

"You're Vulture huh? Don't think I've herd of you..." I sighed.

"You might've herd Alice."

"Alice? Oh! Yeah! The crazy bitch that turned those gaurds inside out on her first day!... That you?"

"Yeah, but I go by Vulture now." I said as I placed my hands on my hips, "can I have that room number now?" Crow snickered.

"C'mon kid, I'm no good with numbers, I got no clue where that maniac is." I nearly screamed in agrivation.

"Damnit! Why is this so fuckin' hard! All I need is a mother fuckin' room number!"

"Hey, hey, woah! Cool it Crazy! Look I don't know his room number, but I do know which district he's in."

"District?"

"Ugh, which hallway idiot. But, I'll only give that info to ya, if you agree to spar with me. I'm a way better fighter than Mockingbird."

"If that were true wouldn't you be number one?" A flash of red and his Crow claws were revealed.

"Man, numbers don't mean shit." I sighed but took up a fighting stance, Crow raised an eyebrow, "Hey, c'mon activate your branch of sin."

"Don't need to, i'm gonna beat you without using my virus, no worries though, I'll try my best not to kill you off."

Crow made a horizontal slash at my throat, I leapt up and used his blade as a jumping board, I came diving down and landed a solid kick to the top of his head before distancing myself. He commended me on my agility and acrobatics, as blood ran down his face he began another assault. The sparring session didn't last very long. Within three minutes we were both banged up pretty badly, Crow had the worst of it of course. Though his reflexes were amazing, his size caused him to be slower than expected, his Crow Claw weighed him down all the more. I had sustained various cuts and bruises all over my body, none deep enough to cause serious harm. Two more minutes and we were both spent, Crow wasn't fast and to make up for it he increased him movements which meant more dodging and moving for myself, Crow's blades retracted as large portions of blood oozed to the floor. He took a seat in an attempt to catch his breath.

"Man, you're good. You would've had me beat completely had you not been cocky and actually used your branch of sin." I stood breathless before him, "you've gotta build up your stamina. You tire out too quick."

"Thats only because of your erratic movements!"

"Tsk, you think all Deadman don't move 'erratically'? 'Cause we do. We're not pro's at fighting, we just do it and try to get it over with as quickly as possible. Build up your stamina and you'll be dead center."

"You're not... Professionals... But... I herd about Carnival Corpse... I thought that you all went through some kind of training, or something." Crow let out a hearty laugh.

"Man, kid for someone whose gonna 'take this place down' you're pretty dense!"

"Hey I only just got here a little over a week ago! I was just assumin-"

"Well, just assumin'll get ya killed quick, learn the rules."

"I know the rules I was only-"

"District one."

"Huh?"

"Mockingbird is in hallway D-1, go down this hall, make a right, ya end up in the lounge, from there you wanna go down the west corridore, turn right and you should come to an open passage with D-1, painted in red just above it. Can't miss it with the directions I just gave ya. Now go find Mockingbird."

" 'bout damn time you told me what I needed to know." I said just before I hurried off. As I went trying to remember Crows directions, I could feel my scrapes and bruises healing, one of the perks of my virus.

I ended up in the lounge and thats when my troubles started, did he say the east corridore or the west? I looked back and forth between the two before I gave in and asked a nearby inmate where D-1 was. West corridore, I knew that... Eventually I stood before the corridore D-1, wondering what I was supposed to do now that I'd gotten there, I actually considered just walking down the hall screaming "Mockingbird come out, come out, where ever you are!" But ultimately decided that would be as stupid as Tamaki's haircut. That rooster looking motherfucker.

The hall was long and their were housing unites, while being largely space out, placed directly across from one another. I was the only one standing in the other wise vacant corridore, should I wait for someone to stroll by? Should I just go knocking on doors? All of it seemed very taxing. I sighed in frustration as I leaned against a wall, I took notice of how quickly my wounds had healed before I wondered if I should go back to my room, try and get some more info on the Mockingbird before approaching him. Another sigh escaped me.

"Well you seem awfully down-hearted!" A chipper voice said, I raised my eyes only to find a green haired boy hanging upside down, out of an air vent.

"Eeek!" I cried in surprise, the boy laughed as he flipped down to the floor and stood before me.

"Aw~ what a cute little squeak!"

"Who in the hell are you?!" I growled in embarassed frustration.

"Me? I'm Toto Sakigami, but everyone calls me-"

"Don't care. Go away." I said as I crossed my arms over my chest, the lanky boy tilted his head to one side.

"Now why ya gotta be like that? I'm just trying to make conversation. Whats your name?"

"...Tamaki gave me the name Vulture."

"Never herd of you."

"Uuugh... I used to be called Alice."

"Oh! Really? I still have yet to hear of you. But Alice is so much better than Vulture, you should keep that!"

"No! Vulture's better!"

"So Alice, what're you doing in my neck of the woods?" He questioned childishly, I growled.

"It's none of your..." I trailed off as I contemplated asking his help, "...Well... Actually, i'm looking for someone."

"Is it your lover?" I slapped at him but he easily avoided me.

"No! Why does everyone think that?!"

"Well a pretty girl like you surely has a number of lovers right?"

"What?! No! Thats disgusting!"

"So you don't have a lover?"

"Of fuckin' course not! Damn you're stupid." He giggled in a way that was... Actually... Kinda... Cute-NO! Thinking like that would likely get me killed!

"Well if you don't have a lover, then why are you here? Need help finding your room?" I shook my head.

"I was actually looking for someone called the Mockingbird. Do you know where I could find him?" Toto blinked twice before a mischevious smirk crept onto his face.

"Don't you know he's so scary Deadmen go out of their way to avoid him? Why ever would you want to find such a dangerous guy?" He stepped closer to me so that I was almost looking directly up at him.

"All the more reason for me to ask him to spar with me." Toto bent down to my eye level.

"You're a strange one aren't you? Wanting to walk right into the jaws of danger when you clearly don't know what you're getting into."

"I can only find out what i'm getting into when I get into it. Live and Learn. Also, I'm not strange! You're strange! Go away!" He laughed at me which caused me to glare daggers into him, "anyhow, do you know where I can find him? Or maybe what he looks like?" Toto smirked once again as he took a few steps away from me.

"Sorry, Alice, but nobody knows where Mockingbird is. There are all kinds of rumours, but I wouldn't trust them." I huffed at the mention of that wretched nickname, obviously Toto wasn't going to let it go, and he seemed too friendly to kill right away. I decided to let it slide.

"I see... Well, I'll find him one way or another." I exclaimed as I began to leave the D-1 corridore behind, Toto following close beside me.

"Where are you going?" He inquired.

"My room."

"Why?"

"Sleep."

"Huh?"

Toto stopped as he took my wrist in his hand, causing me to stop as well.

"Why go all the way back to your room, when you can come to mine?" He smiled innocently to me, I narrowed my eyes. No way could he be innocent, he was on death row.

" 'Cause I don't know you, aaaand you're prob cray."

"But it could be like a sleep over!" He pouted.

"No I wo-wait. Why would you wanna have a sleep over with someone you just met? You don't even know my real name!"

"Well then tell me you're real name!"

"Natsumi Sora."

"Na-chan~ lets have a sleep over!"

"That is exactly why I didn't tell you my real name!"

Somehow I ended up being dragged down the hall by a chattery Toto, who seemed overly pleased to have me around. Something was definately off about the boy.

Soon we were in his room which was no where near as extravigant as my own, it surprised me how different the two were. It would be best if I kept people from going in my room until I had spent enough time there to make it believable that I bought it with my CP.

"So, Na-chan, what are you in here for anyway?" He questioned cheerily.

"Uh... Thats a personal thing."

"You won't tell me?" He pouted, I could already tell that he wouldn't leave me alone about it until I told him, so with a sigh I tried to give him the short version.

"It's because of the virus that i'm in here."

"Well thats the case for most people here, it's quite the shock when you suddenly realize you can control your blood."

"No no, I didn't do anything horrible with it or accidentaly kill anyone. When I first discovered it, it freaked me out ya know? So I showed my Dad. Thats when the tests started..."

"Tests?"

"Yeah, like pricked with needles and dissected tests. Eventually my Dad decided to throw me in here. Made me mad as hell. As soon as I get out I'm gonna turn him inside out, just like I did those big mouth gaurds."

"Oh my... So thats your branch of sin? You can turn people inside out?" I smirked at the thought.

"In a manner of speakin'. By the way, i'm not sleepin' here."

"Wha?! Why not?!" He cried.

"Because!"

"That's not an answer Alice!"

"Don't call me that!" I tackled him down, which was a surprise to both of us. "I hate that name! Do not call me that!" Toto chuckled as he grinned up at me.

"You're cute when you're agressive." I was quick to distance myself from him, he remaind sprawled on the ground still holding his grin. "And with those eyes, it's like being attacked by a beautiful demoness." I only scoffed, it wasn't the first time I'd herd comments like that, it was expected what with having the whites of my eyes tattooed black, and the irises icey blue, it was a more than accurate statement.

"I'm outta here." I moved toward the door, Toto sat up quickly.

"No don't go Alice!" I stopped immediatly, I was about to go off on him when I realized I didn't know his handel, I turned to him slowly.

"Toto, whats your nickname?" I questioned, the green haired man blinked once before he smiled sweetly to me.

"Blue-jay." I eye'd him suspicously for a long moment.

"Well then, Blue-jay, I'm leavin' now, and you're stayin' here."

"But why?" He whinned, "don't go" he reached out to me.

"Because you pissed me off! Now stay!" I said as I hurried away. What an annoying little brat that guy was. What was the deal with him being so damn friendly and happy anyway? He was either really psychotic, or really stupid. I stopped when I came to the lounge, I looked at the four corridores which surrounded me, and I realized... I had no idea where my room was. I didn't even know which district... I looked around the vacant lounge, but found no one of course. I stood in the center of the lounge trying my best to remember which way I came from when I first started looking for D-1.

"You okay Alice?"

"Eeeek!" I jumped away from Toto who had been hovering just behind me. "Why do you alway's do that?!" He chuckled briefly before he began to question me.

"I dunno why do you always look so upset?"

"I...Don't..." He approached me openly, spun just behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

"Whats the matter this time Alice?" I could feel my face heat up as I found myself having to swallow my pride after I'd opted to go off on my own.

"I...I'm...I... I don't... Know... Where my cell is..." Toto removed his arms and moved in front of me.

"Huh? You didn't pay attetion to that?" My face became hotter.

"I've never went this far from it okay!"

"Do you know the number at least?"

"...It's... The eighth door on the right... Thats all I know..." Uncontrolable laughter erupted from the Blue-jay, his fit lasted for almost an entire minute.

"You... You're so cute!" He said as he caught his breath.

"Don't call me that! How dare you-"

"Hey! What're you two doing out of your cells?" Two gaurds approached us, weapons at the ready.

"Listen, if you can show me to my room I'll let you guys live." I said as I turned to them.

"You must be Alice... You can't find your room?"

"No worries!" Toto chimed, "I was just about to show her to it!" He said as he looped an arm around me and lead me away from the gaurds.

"What the hell do you think you're-"

"You might not wanna go alone with those guys. They're not as they seem." He whispered.

"Whadda ya mean by that?"

"Your branch of sin won't work on them, you wouldn't stand a chance." He said as the two gaurds faded out of sight.

"Don't underestimate me Blue-jay." He smirked.

In the end Toto got just what he wanted, a sleep over. He told me he would help me find my room the next day, until then I would have to stay with him. What a pain that boy was.