A/N: This idea has been rolling around in my skull for quite a while now, but I had planned to do this after I finished On My Doorstep and two other multichapters. However, I just decided to go ahead with it. I really just wanted to finally get it down and post it.

WARNING: This chapter contains gore, language, abuse, slight necrophilia, and some disturbing images.

Thank you so much for clicking here and I do hope you will enjoy the first chapter poppets. And if you could be such dears, please a review. It would be much appreciated. And so I will let you go on and get to the actual tale.

The 25th ALICE

So much pretty red splattered upon the tiles, looking like delicious melted candy oozing against the white. The sound of tall heel clacked through the silent hall, the kings subjects silent as the watched the ruler of hearts slowly dip two fingers into the blood that was still leaking from the headless corpse a few feet away. The king watched the droplets of red trail down his fingers, falling back into the red sea with a small licked away the crimson, pondering the metallic taste. It was not sweet as he had hoped, but the flavor was not a bad one. Cleaning his fingers, the King of Hearts looked over to his ever faithful servant, who still held the cleaver in his gloved hand.

Walking through the spreading puddle of blood, the king bent down, the tail of his black coat sinking into the warm fluid. Extending his hands to touch both cheeks delicately, as if stroking a beautiful flower, the auburn haired king gently picked up the poor girls severed head from the puddle, brilliant red dying light chestnut locks. He brushed away a lock from her forehead, succeeding in smearing blood across her soft pale skin. His kind smile and twisted, spread wider, so impossibly wide that it looked as if his very face might crack in two. A wide pair of light green eyes stared back into his violet, no longer seeing him, an expression of fear permanently etched into her beautiful features.

"Dearest ALICE, they were all fools to send such a belle like you to be slaughtered, veh?" he whispered into the head's ear, lightly placing a kiss on her cheek. Glancing away for a moment, he looked at his calm servant and nodded. The blond servant proceeded to grab the headless body from the floor by the shoulder and dragged it away, opening intricate double doors and both disappearing behind them. When the doors closed, he placed his attention back to the head.

"My dear sweet ALICE," he cooed sweetly, as if he was talking to a living being instead of a silent decapitated head. He brushed his lips over hers, letting his eyes close as he felt the cold against his own. "It has been wonderful playing with you this time. You were far more entertaining than the previous ALICE. Much to boring she was. But you, I am sure all of my people adored you, thought, 'Yes, this ALICE will be the one'."

There was no response from unmoving lips, only the sound of rain beating against the glass of the walls. He gazed outside with a mischievous smile. No longer gently, his hand now gripped her by her wavy locks and she swung by his side as he walked over to the glass door, sliding it open and walking out onto the large balcony. The moon, so full and large that it seemed about ready to crash into the towering skyscraper, illuminated the dark city below. The King, leaned over the balcony railing, down to his city below.

Hundreds of citizens were gathered down beneath, becoming drenched in the icy rain as the prayed and prayed. Prayed that the ALICE had finally saved them, set there people free from the derangement of the King of Hearts. All the hundreds looked up towards the sky, hoping to see their beloved ALICE step out from the hellish tower and into the cold and chilly night, the blood of their hated king on hands. Held breaths turned into gasps of horror as instead the King stepped out into the night, the ominous figured bathed in horrid moonlight. He held up ALICE's head towards the moon, as if to show the very god of the night that no fairytale woman could ever kill him. He could hear the screams and sobs from down below.

"My belle, I am afraid this is where you and I part. The people wish to see you again, and I intend to be so kind as to let them," he said with a sickening sweetness as he held the held over the rail by the hair, letting he smeared blood he left on her face wash away in the icy rain. "Veh, I will be even so kind as to give them the rest of you back when I am done playing. Aren't I such a generous King?"

And then he let go, letting the beautiful head fall down to the sidewalk below into the desperate, sorrowful hands of her followers, whose tears were mixed with the unforgiving rain. Screams and swears filled the air as the crowd wished revenged on the king for the slaughter of another ALICE. The king could only smile, brushing back soaked hair and returning inside, closing the door behind him.

His eyes scanned the room, rereading the story it told, the story he had watched unfold. This ALICE was ever so bold, running straight into his office, demanding him to release the people of his kingdom and brandishing a ridiculously large kitchen knife. It was ever so rare an ALICE made it up this far, for they were usually hunted down by then, tracked down by his soldiers and mutilated, impaled, and eaten, decapitated and raped, burned and hung, just like proper vermin should. But no, this ALICE was smart and avoided harm, even came so close to killing him. He giggled, looking at the spatters of blood on the wall from her delicate neck met the cold metal of his most beloved servant's stained cleaver. Blood pooling out around the flailing girl, he only needed to signal with his eyes to tell the blond what to do, to put yet another victim out of its misery and detach her head from her body. He had sat amused at his throne as he watched the heavy cleaver come down against her neck as she still breathed. Again and again until he could hear the clear and heavenly sound of metal against bone, cleaver against spine. It was a fun game but over all too soon.

Back in the present moment, he was unsure of what to do about the floor and all the spilt blood. It'd be such a waste to simply mop it up. He smiled when an idea hit him and he snapped his fingers in the air. But a moment later, a young girl walked in through the double doors, looking fearful up at her master with wide green eyes. She held her gaze at the floor, not daring to meet her master's violet. He simply smiled at the child and walked over to her, his stiletto boots echoing with each step. He kneeled down to her eye level and had an expression that could have been described as kind. He lightly petted the girls short blond hair, noticing she still wore the ribbons given to her by her late brother. He smiled wide as he looked at the poor girl.

"Veh, little one. Are you thirsty?" he asked her softly, tilting her head up so she could see him. A chill ran down her spine. The little girl quickly shook her head as the feeling of nausea spread through her. "No? That isn't the answer I was looking for."

He tightly squeezed the girls chin between his fingers and kindness turned into a cruel, icy glare. Her whole body shook, but she knew she could not run.

"I will ask again. Are you thirsty?" he asked again, low like a growl. She did not hesitate to nod her head this time, on the verge of tears. His expression did another 180 as he returned to a sweet demeaned and giggled. "Very good. And how nice of me! I gave you so much to drink!" he cheered, standing up and holding the girl's arm. He dragged her over to the blood and gripped her by the head, forcing her down to her knees and inches above the red. She saw her tears create small ripples as they ran down her face and into the blood. She started to sob, but was quickly cut off when her face was slammed against the tile floor, blood smearing on her face, some getting inside of her nose. He held her down as he leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"Now be a dear, and lick all of this up for me, please," he commanded gently. The girl only sobbed harder, blond becoming dyed with red as he pinned her. Violently tightening his hold, he pushed her harder down, growling. "Lap it all up now like a good little kitten laps up all of its milk, okay? And maybe I will keep you in a least one piece."

The child nodded frantically, whimpering and sobbed as she extended out her tiny pink tongue and running it across the floor, through the thick puddle. It taste terrible like a mouthful of pennies, but if she complained, she would meet the same fate as her brother. The King released his hand from her and was pleased as she continued to clean the floor with her tongue. He turned to leave his office, not looking back at the child but leaving her a few parting words.

"If there is even a spec left, you know what will happen," he warned with a light, sing-song tone, closing the doors behind him as he now stood in the hallway. He looked down to see red staining the white carpet, where the body had been dragged. He could only smile. If he followed the trail, it would lead him to ALICE. Skipping through the hall, the walls decorated with paintings he had painted himself, children being eaten by crows or beautiful women swinging in the wind as a noose clung to a tree branch, he hummed a soft little tune as he followed the bloody trail all the way through the hall and to the outside of his bedroom. He could see the smeared trail disappear inside. His most beloved servant stood outside, covered in blood and giving his master a nod. The King smiled wide and hungrily, giving his servant a long hug before opening the doors to his room. In his large bed laid the decapitated corpse of the 24th ALICE, stripped of all of her blood clothes and her legs spread open for him. He was glad that his servant tried so hard to make her so beautiful for him.

Crawling onto the bed beside her, he took her limp hand into his and placed a soft kiss upon the cold digits. Trailing kisses up her wrist, her forearm, her bicep, to her shoulder, his other hand lightly brushed up against her bare breasts. He was certain she would have been a very pleasant bed mate in life as well, but that was not nearly as appealing to him as she was now. From shoulder he kissed he crook of her neck and moved up to where nothing else remained, save for a bit of protruding spine and the jagged edges of flesh where the cleaver had so crudely cut. Kissing the torn flesh, he started giggling.

This is what became of their savior. The savior that they told their children about at night in the form of bedtime fairytales. The one to liberate the people of Wonderland from his rule.

He began to strip himself of his clothes, tossing of his heavy coat and working on the buttons of his shirt. Giggling turned into loud cackling.

His people's beloved ALICE, the young woman summoned from another world to save them. Their 24th failed attempt at trying to save themselves. Pathetic and futile, for as he kissed lower, kissing her collarbone, one hand kneading her cold breast, he knew that no matter how many ALICEs they summoned, he would not, could not, be defeated. And he would rule his beloved Wonderland for eternity and beyond. And the King could no longer stifle his insane and wild laughter.

"Oh dearest me, I was so certain this ALICE would be the one, eh," came a soft whine from the small blond woman sitting on the patched up couch. Her hair was tied up in short pigtails that fell over the fronts of her shoulders and the girl brought her stuffed bear closer to her chest. Another woman, with much longer blond hair, with bushy brows and glasses petted her head gently.

"Then that means the next on if going to be the one," she said with a lack of any real hope in her voice, but the smaller girl only buried her face in the bear's soft white fur. She sighed. She knew she was terrible about comforting people and she knew the girl was rather close with this ALICE. The two went silent until the door to the basement slammed open, revealing another man, short hair and dressed in pink and khaki. His grin was wide and cheerful despite the horrible loss for the city.

"What the bloody hell are you so happy about? Or did you not hear the news?" the bespectacled girl growled, staring up at the man, who proceeded to skip over tp the two. He roughly petted the two on the head, like one would a worried pup.

"Oh, heaven's yes I heard about what happened to our dear little poppet. Rather tragic indeed, but something wonderful has happened," the strawberry blond explained in sing-song. The girl looked up at man, purple eyes filled with hope.

"This better be bloody good."

"The gates have opened and have found us a new ALICE," he explained cheerful, much to the surprise of the other two. The green-eyed girl gripped the other man roughly by the collar. "Oh, please do not resort to violence love."

"You are telling me you plan on summoning another fucking ALICE already?" she yelled, causing the man to flinch. He hated the tone and her vulgarity. He said nothing in his defense though. "We just lost an ALICE. What makes you think another one will make any difference? It'll end up just the same. The King's men will come and end the ALICE's life, just as always." The girl cried at the brutal truth in her words. Out of all 24 ALICEs they had summoned, not a single one had lived, not a single one didn't meet a violent and bloody end.

"Ah, but this one is special," he choked out, finding it hard to speak when dangling an inch off the ground. This only infuriated the long-haired woman further, shaking the other in her grasp. The girl wept harder, but made no attempt to stop them.

"How so, hm? All these fucking humans are the same! All it takes is a little decapitation and they die, too weak to withstand a little fire, can't even breathe in water! There is no hope in them, so why don't we just sto-" The girl was quickly cut off as the pink wearing man clasped his hand over her mouth, his grin large and wide as he drew close to her ear.

"Ah, but this ALICE is not a human," he whispered softly, causing the other's eyes to widen at the information. Confused did not begin to cover it.

"What? Then what the hell is it? Are we going to put our fate into the hands of some bloody animal or something?!" she screeched, bushy brows furrowed in anger and confusion

"This ALICE is a vessel for the strength of hundred of thousands, no even millions of people. This ALICE will surely be strong enough to save us from the king!" he explained, walking away from the woman and now spinning around the room.

"A vessel? How is that possible?" the girl on the couch questioned, rubbing her tears on her stuffed animal.

"On the other side of the mirror, where all the ALICEs hide, the world is divided into countries, just like here in Wonderland. But in the other world, each of these countries have a personification."

"A personi-what?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. Her white bear followed suit, blinking its button eyes in confusion.

"A personification, poppet," he repeated, stroking the bear's nose. "These beings, who look surprisingly human, are the living embodiment of their nations, hold the strength and power of their people inside of them," he explained, divulging his knowledge of the other side to his dearest sisters.

"And one of them is suited to become the next ALICE?" she bear wielding girl asked.

"A country from the other side of the mirror as our ALICE..." the bespectacled girl murmured, pondering over the idea. "Are these nations strong?"

"Oh very much strong indeed, more so than any human!" he sung, thinking of the ALICE he had seen through his mirror. "Not only that, but this nation, our ALICE, is among the strongest of all of them."

"A powerful new ALICE..."

"Surely this ALICE will save us!"

"Yes, another ALICE! We must summon ALICE at once! Oh, please! I can't stand living like this much longer, like a common roach hiding in the shadows, waiting to be squashed under a heavy boot!"

The man only smiled as the two woman clung to him desperately, begging for him to summon the next ALICE. The memories of the previous ALICE, who had been killed not even three hours ago had already left through the shattered cracks of their minds. He kissed the two blonds on the tops of their head.

"Of course, loves. I will make sure you two will be free from the icy hell," he whispered, closing blue and pink eyes as he rested his head in their golden locks. After holding them for quite a long time, he released the two woman, heading back through the door to which he had first emerged. The two looked at him hopefully, to which he smiled wide and reassuring.

"Don't worry loves. Soon, the 25th ALICE shall come and save us from the King."

A/N: Okay, to be completely honest, I do not remember writing half of this, even the first author's note. I know I did this late at night, but I didn't realize how much I did or what it was that I wrote until I checked this morning. I actually like how it is though. Its sad that most of my favorite things come from me being on semiconscious.

I left out the names of everyone for a purpose, but they will all get proper introductions later on. Although I am sure you can tell who some of the characters are. Can you guess all the characters?

Well, I hope you all enjoyed and please leave a review if you can. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside when you do! Well, until next time!