Hello all! I have returned for yet another exciting chapter! I received a wonderful review last chapter and I must say, I'm truly honored that my writing and story telling is so captivating, I promise to keep up this story 'till the very end. I hope to not disappoint, and I hope you all keep up with me. I love you all! Anyways, hope you enjoy this next chapter, you'll be seeing a major shift in Jenkins's and Alice's relationship ;) Also have an epic battle scene. Enjoy!

CRASH! The third pillar was destroyed, the knights were progressively getting closer, and there was nowhere else to hide. Jenkins and I looked at each other for a brief moment longer, and finally he whispered, "So what's your master plan?"

I made him peek out of our hiding spot just enough for him to look at the knights's helmets, "You see those cracks on the back of their necks?" I asked, pointing discreetly at them. He squinted trying to get a closer look, and finally nodded slowly in realization.

"I see. But... how are we going to reach them? They're much too tall. I don't think your Pepper Grinder will be able to reach that far up."

"That's where we'll put our dodging skills to the test. Upon sight, those knights will draw their massive swords towards us, on just the right moment you teleport out of the way before it can strike you. They're too strong for their own good, so their swords will dig into the ground and they'll take some time to pull them out." I explained, he was listening attentively. I tried to explain my plan as quickly as I could as the knights were still in pursuit, I had only a limited amount of time before they found us...

"When their swords are stuck to the ground, you climb onto them and onto their shoulders and around their necks!"

"And I use my arrow sword to slay them!" he finished with a gleeful exclamation of realization, and a slight twinkle in his eye.

"Exactly!" I nodded. He nodded back in confirmation.

"Very well! Now, when exactly do we reveal ourselves to them?"

"You take that side, I'll take the other." I said pointing to the opposite sides of the pillar we hid in.

"I take that knight, you take the other?" he asked in reassurance.

"Keeping them apart and distracted from each other will be our best bet. I almost managed to kill one of them if it wasn't for its companion who almost caught me in its grasp... That's why I realized I couldn't do this by myself.."

CRASH! One more pillar, two more to go.

"I see... well then," he put a pale hand on my shoulder, "it looks like you'll be needing my assistance after all my mistress." he smirked.

"Yes yes whatever..." I sighed trying to brush off the arrogance he rubbed on my shoulder with his hand and his beguiling smirk of self confidence. He smiled warmly then, feeling more important now than ever. However that warm peaceful smile shifted to a serious stern look, as the knights were inches away from squashing us under their feet, Jenkins squeezed my shoulder gently and nodded as a sign of reassurance. I nodded back looking into his eyes with the same look. I watched sprint off the other direction, straight under the knights's noses, and around the corner of the throne room. It was my turn to make a run for it, and before the other knight could demolish the last pillar, butterflies all around me drifted me away from its crushing reaches.

CRASH! The knights peered closer upon the ruins of the last pillar in utter confusion, as if they expected us to be there for sure, but much to their doom and disappointment, their targets had other plans.

"OY! YOU BLOODY SAC 'O ROCKS I'M OVER 'ERE!" Jenkins yelled out to them, his vulgar Welsh-British accent flaring up. He began to sprint away as one of the knights was drawn to his screaming.

"HEY! MORONIC ALABASTER MOLD OF SQUABBLE I'M DOWN HERE!" I called out with my more refined Estuary accent. The knight peered down at me, and if the behemoth had eyes, I'm sure they would be flaring with fury. It gripped its sword with more might, and closing in on me, I took a few steps back to seem powerless. Upon the raise of its sword, I readied myself to dodge one more time.

CRASH!

...

The knight was solely focused on Jenkins's every move, there was no way a puny intruder of the castle would get away from the knight's mighty sword of retribution. Jenkins behaved cocky for most of his fights, but this one he was sure he would trip over his own feet, for his ability to teleport wasn't fully mastered just yet. One false move and he would be gunk under the foot of a stone guardian in no time flat. No pun intended. All he could do at the moment was run for his dear life as the knight ever so vigilant kept its eyes on the poor fool. Finally, sick and tired of the scurrying of this little mouse, the great and powerful Goliath raised its powerful sword into the air, the air around them seemed to grow still, time slowed down but for a moment.

Jenkins closed his eyes, he breathed in deep, and began to feel everything around him.

The wavering clothing on his body,

the trickles of sweat on his brow,

the energy flowing around him, crimson and powerful...

Then he payed attention to every sound... The grinding of stone of the armor of the knight as it moved its colossal arms, the odd fluttering of butterfly wings, his own heavy panting, and suddenly...

he was gone...

CRASH!

"..." The knight's sword drove into the checkerboard floor, hitting no trace of what was left of his target, he was gone! Looking around every direction it could without letting go of its sword, which was a very limited range of vision, it began to pull fiercely, trying to pry its sword free from the ground.

Jenkins squinted his eyes at his target objective. Without missing a beat, he beat his legs and feet on the ground with every step of his sprint towards the knight's sword, and finally, focusing his energy once again, mounted the beast's sword with one burst of teleporting energy. The knight just kept tugging more desperately the higher Jenkins ran up its blade, then his arm, and finally around its shoulder. Still in tune to his surroundings, Jenkins gracefully unsheathed his arrow sword from his holster on his belt and focusing on the tempting red pulsating flesh, he began to deliciously slash through every fiber of tissue he could come in contact with. This was the rush of adrenaline Alice felt when facing an enemy, this was what every experienced, every mastered killer had the great gift of performing. A clean precise cut, stab, and stroke every time.

How maddeningly delightful.

...

As I slashed once again through the soft red flesh of the knight, I peered over at Jenkins and found with great satisfaction that he too managed to come in contact with the target. I admit it threw me off focus for a few seconds, but I managed to brush it off and continued to attack. Every flinch of pain in the knight's shoulders grew more and more vigorous. Just a few more slashes, just a few more strokes, and we would be free...

ROAAAAAAAAAR!

The cry of the beast filled the air around our small battleground as the great knight finally gave in to the unbearable pain. Its whole body quaked as it began to crumble to the ground. I ceased my slicing and turned around to escape the fall by jumping off the knight's shoulders. With a colossal impact, it fell to its knees, and finally with a final escaped breath, the knight collapsed face-down on the ground, making the entire room around us shake violently. I floated gracefully onto the ground, and turned to face the other knight still struggling to pull its sword out of the ground as Jenkins tortured it one slash after the other. I watched, hypnotized by his clean and precise movements as his ripped through every fiber link of muscle, every splashing pool of blood, every pulsating blow, the man didn't miss a beat...

...how was he able to perform such a powerful attack?... has he ever fought with a sword before in his life?...

Perhaps.. there was more to Jenkins than I ever came to realize, more than I ever bothered to discover.

Jenkins sliced through the monster's weakness so rapidly he finished it off in one attempt. The knight roared into the ceiling just as the first and collapsed on its knees just like its companion. Jenkins managed to teleport away from danger and onto safe ground. As the room quaked once more with the fall of its protector, Jenkins ran towards me after landing on the ground.

We did it...

He ran towards me beaming with pride and exhilarance. I watched him with an impressed look on my face, a proud smile to his. By the time he reached me the room grew still and quiet, with the exception of still falling pebbles and small stones from the calamity we caused. We were both panting heavily, still driven to the edge.

"We... We did it Alice!" he panted, wiping sweat and dirt off his face. I did the same with a handkerchief I had tucked away in the pocket of my apron.

"Yes... we did.." I replied, offering a grateful smile at him. He received it with a kind grin.

Looking around we found that hidden doors that led out the throne room have been revealed. Almost like lines sketched with coal or chalk, the outlines that manifested on the wall over yonder transformed into another set of doors as a passage through a checkpoint. Jenkins and I looked at each other and nodded. After our weary fight with the stone knights, we were in need of a serious recess before we could slay another enemy blocking our way from the truth.

...

As they passed the secret doors, Jenkins and Alice found a vast field of crumbling ruin of what once was. Staircases that sunk to the abyss of the castle, cracked ground and split passageways, gusts of wind howling their ghostly wail around the dead atmosphere, surely the cleanliness of the hallway they walked in before couldn't have been the only one... right?...

Jenkins hoped it wouldn't. Walking in and out of that palatial environment was like getting his dreams and aspirations opened then crushed right before his eyes. How he missed his tidy manor back home in London... erm.. Alice's manor..

"Where to now?" he asked her, looking around with sorrowful eyes at the disappearance of his ideal decorum.

"We can either follow the straight but rather jugged trail to the next checkpoint, or we could go down this key hole and see what's on the other side." she replied. He furrowed his brow for a moment and thought about his options. He wasn't too fond of forked roads.

"Let's see what's on the other side of this key-hole. It might lead to a clue about what's been happening to this place." he decided.

"Or possibly a memory of your past." she interjected. He nodded contemplatively at that last remark. They made their way to it and shrunk down, Jenkins only taking about five seconds for his shrinking abilities to kick in. They made their way down the key hole into what seemed to be a small, cozy, but decaying lounge room. They grew back to normal size once reaching the inside of the room.

*cough* *cough* *cough* clouds of dust coated the air, cobwebs adorned the corners of the walls, and only a small but bright candle illuminated the space around them.

"Why is it that every time we camp somewhere it has to be in such an unsanitary location?!" he whined, covering his nose and mouth with his jacket. "There's nowhere else Jenkins! We either rest here or keep moving." she scolded him. He rolled his eyes at her and tip-toed around to see if there was at least one lounge chair that wasn't blanketed in dust and mold. One seemed to be the least rotten out of the rest, and with the sweep of his sword, he got most of it off, and sat down.

"Well... I suppose this will have to do for the moment." he sighed. Alice, on the other hand, with no apparent care for external hygiene, plopped down on the closest cushioned bench she could find, regardless if the fabric was growing mushrooms.

"Oh for c... Alice get off that unsightly bench this instant you'll ruin your armor..." he chastised waving his hands in the air vertically, shooing Alice off the chair.

"Why? I'm tired. And there's nowhere else to sit.." she replied. After a few seconds Jenkins's eyes widened in realization, and he looked down at his seat and found that it was just big enough for two.

"Alice... why don't... why don't you just sit beside me? After all it is cleaner than the rest..." he offered. She frowned at his strange request but shrugged and stood from her seat of decay and plopped down beside him. They were inches apart from each other.

The air that was once thick with dust was now thick with silence. Finally after a few minutes of settling in, the two relaxed and leaned back on their seats, breathing steadier and staring at the ceiling. They both had their hands on their laps. The room was so peaceful they could've easily fallen asleep, if Wonderland allowed of course. But the questions and apologies they harbored in their throats were much too strenuous to hold back... now was the perfect time...

"Alice..." he began.

"Yes?..."

"...I...I apologize.." he croaked.

"...For...for what?..."

"For all that's happened recently... for the things I said... for being so difficult for you to handle... I realize just how hypocritical and selfish I really am... I should have never called you all those terrible things outside the castle... no man should ever talk to a lady like that regardless of what she's done..." he said, his voice deep with regret. Alice turned her head to look at him, he still faced the ceiling.

"I am also sorry for not trusting you... You know so much more than me in things like this... it was rude and uncouth of me to underestimate a woman of your strength and knowledge..."

"Jenkins..."

"And I just want to say... you... are a magnificent person. Not just a mere mistress or an employment... but an overall outstanding woman... I know that underneath that tough exterior you're truly a kind soul needing of companionship." he said, later jolting at his last remark.

"Friendship I mean!... friendship..." he corrected, blushing profusely. She stared at him with those big unreadable eyes of hers. Her gaze was too compelling for him to not look back at her. She blinked her large eyes a couple times, letting all his words sink in. The effects of his almost narcotic words caused her tense shoulders to relax.

"...Th...Thank you... and... I accept your apology..." she stammered.

"I too must say sorry... the way I handled you... I'm truly frightening..." she said in a grim and solemn tone.

"A bit..." he commented. "but... that means you're not one to be messed with. I admire your great strength Alice." he complemented to make up for his earlier remark. She looked back at him and smiled a little.

"I wish I was as a strong and skilled fighter as you.. maybe then I could always defend you." he muttered. She sat up in surprise.

"No at all! Jenkins the way you handled that brute statue back there was utterly impressive! I had no idea you were so skilled with a sword..." she said in astonishment.

"I...I did?... I was?..." he stammered nervously in disbelief.

"Indeed! Where did you learn to fight like that?" she beckoned.

"Well... my... younger brother and I would often spar in the hills not far from our old home. We used long wooden sticks we found near the forest as rapiers. To this day I never knew where and who taught him how to fight like that but he taught me a thing or two himself... and well... it became sort of a bonding moment between us... the only one." he said, reminiscing to his childhood.

"Most of the time we would argue and fight over the silliest things children often fight over. Toys, food, animals... mother always did favor him more for his physical advantages..." he trailed off. Alice stared, hooked to his brief recall of his past.

"My sister and I barely ever argued. She was older than me by eleven years. She was the most loving and wonderful person I've ever known in my life, we shared our deepest secrets with each other, and though she was much too old to play with a young child like me at the time, she always tried to keep me company... I loved her dearly... and I always will..." Alice muttered, reminiscing as well. Listening attentively, Jenkins leaned a bit closer to her.

"Alice..."

"Yes?..." she replied, a bit surprised by his proximity.

"We... are compellingly dissimilar..." he said, his voice gently dropping to almost a whisper. Her large green eyes glistening in the light.

"Perhaps..." she whispered back.

After a few moments caught in the trance of each other's gazes, finally they broke away from their enchantment and shook their heads away from the hazy attraction they felt. Such an awkward apology and a brief blast from the past couldn't have possibly caused such an emotional uproar. They instantly faced the opposite ways, their bodies leaned back to their respective places, their minds desperately focused on something else to brush off whatever lingered between them for those small but eternal seconds, and their hearts, without them even knowing it, were undoubtedly inching closer to each other than ever before.

I fussed greatly over how I was going to word this chapter, it was rather difficult but I'm pretty satisfied with the way it turned out, I hope you guys did too. Anyway I myself am getting excited over the growing bond Alice and Jenkins are experiencing! I can't wait to write more and reveal more scandalous truths! Alice: Madness Returns belongs to American McGee and Spicy Horse, this fanfic is for entertainment purposes only. Thank you all who took the time to read this new chapter, and please please PLEASE don't forget to leave behind a review about your thoughts or suggestions. See you all again soon!