I do not own any of these characters. Merely borrowing them to express my insanity.

Alice was lost. Again. In a forest. Again.

"Welcome back Princess, " purred a dangerously smooth voice, "lost in wonderland again?" as a rough grip snatched her arm and pushed her to the ground. She quickly backed away, from the attacker, who just so happened to be the crimson-eyed knight.

"Ace! Please! Don't you remember me? Alice?" the blonde wailed pathetically, wide eyes the colour of the blue sky that taunted him through the forest foliage, as he wandered around lost - on one too many occasions. How he hated her. Hated her innocent eyes that blinked at him. Hated how she was the embodiment of everything he could never have, not anymore.

"There's only room for four As in this deck Alice! It would be cheating to have more. There's me, Anger, Agony and Abandonment - no space for you. It's only my duty to relieve this world of this anomaly, isn't it?" he smiled, advancing on her cowering form.

The sound of metal against metal was heaven, as he drew his sword - a gleaming slice of metal it was, well-kept despite the amount of blood it drew. This was only ensured by its owner's dedicated shining over and over again throughout the night until not speck of blood remained.

"ACE! STOP! You've gone mad! Don't hurt me!" she whimpered, as he trailed the tip of his sword against the barely healed A he had carved on her arm.

"Mad? You say it like its a bad thing. We're all mad here Alice! Imagine having a clock ticking in your chest, the ticks and tocks resonating through your body, it's enough to drive anyone mad. And that's what we all are! Are you saying you don't like Blood? Elliot? Peter? Vivaldi? Nightmare?" he smirked, cocking his head, shifting his seemingly always immaculate hair out of his face.

Alice open her mouth to retort, probably some weak argument about how they weren't monsters like him. But he silenced her with the cool edge of his sword against her thin, oh-so-easy-to-snap neck. Enough of her screechy voice, acting as if she knows us all.

"You think they aren't like me right? Well, we all deal with our madness differently."

"Some surround themselves with roses."

I drown it out with anger.

"Some try to draw attention away by acting happy."

I silence it with other's screams of agony.

"Some of them fight to remain sane."

I abandoned my sanity long ago, just to stop the ticks and the tocks.

"But we're all mad!"

And you are not. Eyes that untouched by madness. Skin unmarred by anger (other than my own). A heart that beats - a heart that can't be fixed.

There's only space for four As Alice. Either you or me.

But I should introduce you to the other As before we make this choice, shouldn't I?

Let's go with Anger first.

"Alice. Why are you still sitting there? Don't you want to go now? Aren't you scared of me?" Ace said gently, sheathing his sword, and running a calloused finger down her neck, marking out the exact position of her jugular for future reference.

"GET AWAY FROM ME! I HATE YOU!" she yelled, pushing him off and running a distance away before continuing, "I HATE YOU SO MUCH! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" and running away in a flurry of pale knuckles, ripped fabric and blue eyes.

Ahh, Alice. You learn so fast. I can't wait to show you what real anger is.

Anger that tastes like iron and looks like wine.

Anger that can drown out insanity.

Anger that keeps me alive.

Hey! So I realised I haven't been posting in ages (I do realise its been almost a year since i wrote this story), because I had a horrible writer's block and this year has been really crazy, I haven't had time to do as much as I used to. But IT'S THE HOLIDAYS! So I will probably be posting lots of updates and new stories! (stick with me! I had a really great idea plan for this story!). Also because of this long absence, my writing is probably rusty and radically different from my old style. Do tell me if I can improve, because my fingers are itching to write again. :3

This chapter might seem a bit disjointed, because I honestly haven't touched it for almost a year. But I have a new direction, so if it bothers you, treat them separately, but it will make sense in the end, I promise! :)

Thanks for reading! All comments are greatly appreciated! (see I got so motivated by a review to finish this by this week :D)