Mable: Here's chapter eleven! I don't own 9, Enjoy!

The Sanest in the Asylum

Chapter Eleven: Fever Dreams

Six slid around a hedge corner and sprinted down the endless halls of greenery and tried to figure out a way back out. This hiding place had failed the second that Eight had seen him and even now he could hear the heavy footsteps thumping from behind him. Surprisingly the Guard was quicker than the striped one could ever expect and every time he looked back he could see him right behind him. Worse still, the hedge maze was just as stated; a maze. Six had no idea which way led where and was suspecting that he was just running deeper and deeper into the center of the maze.

He was starting to slow down as he grew tired and knew that he needed to get somewhere quick. Then, just like his wishes were answered, he stumbled into the opening in the center of the maze. In the middle was a tall tree filled with red fruits. Six recognized them from the twins having collected some items with their impressions on them; they were apples. Some sort of apple, of course, but what caught his interest the most was what was on the bark. At first it looked like mere scratches in the tree, but as he came closer he noticed they spelled out to words.

"Eat me?" Six had already started to understand that 'eat me' and 'drink me' were both keys that whenever said object was eaten or drunk that something would happen. This caused Six to perk and he ran forward. If he got bigger he could walk over the hedge and if he got smaller he would crawl under, and if he started crying again then he would figure out how to use that. Plucking an apple from the tree he bit down into it and began to chew as fast as he could. A few bites in and the fruit was suddenly knocked out of his hands.

It was Eight and Six went to grab for another one before he was pulled back, "Would you stop that?!" Eight demanded only to be answered by having Six's mouth on his arm, "And stop biting me!" However, before he could do anything more, he released Six to the ground. The Artist wasn't sure why until he noticed the other was backing away. The Artist blinked before he noticed his vision was slightly fuzzy and his body was changing. The world started to move, but the feeling was familiar and so he didn't close his optics as he started to rise.

Taller that Eight, taller than the hedge wall, and soon standing at full height as no longer a Stitchpunk, but a human. Six felt all fear disappear and stared down at Eight who just stared upwards with the same look of horror as before. For the first time in his life the Artist felt an actual smirk rise across his face. Now size didn't matter once again and he merely stepped around the Guard who didn't even make an attempt to stop him. He stepped over the hedges and started to walk straight through the courtyard. Now it was just a matter of where he needed to go.

He had to rescue the others by getting inside, but he was now too big to get inside. However, he also knew that being bigger allowed him the chance to actually pull the castle's roof up, like a dollhouse, and this seemed like a great idea. Unfortunately, there was a problem with this plan, "I need to get bigger." Six thought to himself, but considering the fact that he had gotten this far already he was sure that he could find something to assist him. For some reason he seemed to not want to eat the apples again and the mere thought of eating them made his head feel dizzy.

Instead he had to look for something else and slipped between the wall and the castle to get to the front barracks. He felt invincible; the card guards had weapons and would rush at him, but he would merely kick them away. It was such a high to be so powerful, to be a human, to feel something pulse through his arms and into his core. It became like a game to knock and kick them back as he knew that as long as he distracted them they couldn't very well kill Five or Seven. They couldn't do anything.

Eight was strangely absent from all of this and Six decided to merely accept that the Guard knew better than to approach him in this state and continued to circle around. "I need to make sure the gate's opened." He tasked himself with and approached the front gate which had been closed tightly at some time, almost as to keep something out. Six planted his foot on the gates and pressed all his weight until he managed to shove them open. Now if he got the others then they could escape because the walls were still a bit too tall to climb over.

That's when the human noticed something behind him. When he spun around he realized that the guards had all retreated, and before him rested a single chest on the ground. He blinked in confusion and leaned down to read the words on the top. "Eat this?" He repeated. That was strange, it wasn't the normal 'eat me' that he was so familiar with, and upon opening the chest in his hands he found a plethora of small cakes. Flaky and fluffy, topped with a white powder that smelled sweet, and marked with a cross of red icing.

Six was perplexed; He had come accustomed to things just appearing out of nowhere, but this seemed oddly out of the blue. Still, if he got bigger he would be strong enough to pry the roof off, and decided to eat one of the cakes. He popped one in his mouth and reveled at the taste. It was delicious, was better than anything else labelled under the 'eat me' title. He dropped another one in his mouth, it wasn't as though he was afraid of becoming too tall, and then suddenly his body shook. A squeaking noise came from his mouth and he covered it with his hands.

It was a hiccup, uncommon in Stitchpunks, and he blinked a bit. "Maybe that's too much." He thought as he looked at the spilled over chest. Then he noticed something strange, that the chest looked bigger. He hiccupped once again and suddenly the chest grew, and he shrunk slightly, and he realized that the cakes were making him shrink. Then he realized that this was some sort of trap and as he looked over he could see Eight was clearly nearby in one of the barrack's doorways. He had to get back to the apple tree and struggled to get his body to cooperate.

As he stumbled forward he continued to feel the hiccups bursting through and with each one he dropped another inch, another foot, until he was starting to become significantly smaller. By time he got to the back of the castle he actually looked to his hands to see that they were still human, but were beginning to morph turning into firm metal and beginning to shrink with the rest of his body. Then all at once there was one last hiccup and he suddenly dropped, suddenly shrunk into his normal form, and horror overtook.

He was right back to where he was in the beginning, in the courtyard and shrunk, but this time he realized he had an open way into the castle and hurried inside the back entrance. The marble floor echoed underneath his footsteps as he tried to find a way towards the front of the castle. It seemed as though most of the guards were in the castle and he had to hide more than once to let them pass. Apparently they realized he was no longer a threat and were now seeking him out to entrap him once again.

Unfortunately he didn't hear the footsteps until they were upon him and the strong arms were wrapped around his middle, yanking him back into a small hallway. It was Eight and Six thrashed, "No!" He begged, "No don't! Don't please!" Six didn't want to die and that was the only solution if he was captured. The Guard merely slung him back a bit before getting a grip on his shoulder, "Would you just stop for a second?!" The command startled Six whose response was another hiccup, though he didn't shrink anymore.

"Alright, listen," The Guard began, "getting my hands on you wasn't easy, you drug me all over Wonderland for no reason, and I should turn you back in to the King." Six caught the wording and blinked, "You're not going to?" Eight glanced back down the hall, "No. I'm not." Then he felt the need to explain, because he didn't simply want Six to think he was just letting him go, "The boss isn't one to give much leniency. If you do something wrong he'll 'have your head', but not, you know, really have your head loped off."

He looked back to Six, "Him wanting you dead was weird. Weirder than you. It doesn't make sense. He's never had someone killed like this… Why'd you tell him he wasn't the king?" Six didn't know why this was important, but answered, "He isn't. He looks like the king, but he isn't… Why are you…?" Eight interrupted, "That's what made him fly off the handle, and between that and how weird he's been something's going on." Then he grew firm, "And the only reason I'm trusting you is because I know I'd see through anything you'd lie about."

He was right about that, Six was an awful liar and thus seldom did so, and Six also realized something else. "The 'eat this' was you." He flatly pointed out, now realizing that he fell for such a simple trap. The Guard defend himself, "You were running around all over the place kicking my men, what was I supposed to do?" Six couldn't argue with logic and instead asked, "You'll help me?" A moment passed where the Guard refused to respond. He just stared off into space without an answer and Six patiently waited. After all, he was asking Eight to go against the King.

Back in his own world, Six never heard of Eight going against his Leader. Using the magnet when One clearly didn't like it was his own act of rebellion and even that was hidden from the Leader's knowledge. This went against everything that Eight was made for, to loyally protect his Leader at all costs, but even he knew that something was amiss with the king. He just didn't have the same feeling that Six had. "Yeah." Eight caved, "I will. Where's you group?"

At that second, Six caught a glimpse at the end of the hall and the scene that unfolded. Nine, Five, Seven, and Child suddenly zoomed around the corner, stopped at the sight of Eight, apparently they hadn't seen Six, and all four scrambled around the corner once again. Six didn't know what to make of the scene except for staring after them silently. Eight looked back as well, he had to have been deaf to not hear the bizarre footsteps. The March Hare was the one who eventually peeked around the corner before clearly announcing, "It's Six!"

Then they appeared again and starting dashing down the hall towards the two, Six felt slightly embarrassed, and got to his side. "Are you okay?" Hatter Five asked in alarm, looking Six over as the Artist nodded. Out of the corner of his eye his watched as Seven suddenly slammed into Eight and quickly realized that the two were in some sort of brawl. Or, better yet, Seven was trying to stab Eight with her spear and he continued to keep knocking it out of the way as though it was nothing.

"Wait, Seven, he's okay!" Six called out to her, "He knows something's wrong with One. He's going to help us." The White Queen was clearly not wanting to trust the Guard and didn't lower her weapon. "Did he say why?" She asked and Six quickly explained the entire situation at hand. Now that they were all caught up with each other came the next part of the plan, "So where do we go now?" Seven asked of the others and Five was the one to answer, "We have to find Two, before the King decides to… To do anything."

The Artist turned upon the Guard, "Do you know where he is?" of course Eight did, but from the look on his face he clearly didn't want to contribute too much, but did anyway. "He's up in the north tower. The boss has been keeping him in there." This caused the Hatter to perk, "So he's alive! We have to hurry!" He immediately started running in the direction that Six and Eight had come from, which was accurately the way towards the stairs. Right as the others began to follow about five or six card guards seemed to just appear and began to come forward threateningly.

Eight casually stepped forward, "I've got this under control," he announced to the group before commanding, "Stand down." The card guards didn't flinch and didn't lower their weapons. Eight announce again, "I've got this, stand down." From behind him the group was clearly disturbed and Nine spoke, "Something's wrong. They aren't listening." But that wasn't the half of it when suddenly one of the guards pulled out some sort of harpoon. It almost looked like Five's, but more rustic and made of dark metal, and it was aimed towards the group.

"What are you-?" Eight was about to demand before the card guard fired. Six only had a second to jump to the side as the sharp harpoon spear by him, so sharp and close that it tore through the edge of his apron. He immediately gasped in alarm before jumping behind Eight, who was the only one covered in thick armor, while the others began to pull out their weapons, even Eight. "What's wrong with you?!" He bellowed out while the card guards suddenly came forward with spears and swords.

Seven went forward and began to assault the closest guard as she had with Eight, waiting until it impaled forward before dodging and bringing her own weapon forward, impaling into the opening in its armor. Five also began to fire a few needles from the back, aiming them towards the others' limbs to slow them from using their weapons. Eight and Child both used their blades, Child calling out unknown words to fuel the Vorpal Sword while Eight seemed to only have to push the guards back with his strength.

This left Nine and Six in the back, watching unarmed, and they watched the battle until the card guards were all taken down. Six didn't want to watch them killing the card guards, but couldn't look away, especially when Seven put her spear into one of the guards' throats. It immediately killed it, but at the same time revealed something shocking. Seven watched as a pool of black liquid began to spill out underneath. She kneeled down and addressed the helmet while Eight finished off the last card guard.

As the helmet was pulled free Seven gasped. Instead of a Stitchpunk underneath the metal armor, there was a mere lump of sludge that resembled a Stitchpunk. It began to melt away after the armor was pulled free and Seven spoke, "These aren't card guards at all!" That's when Nine realized what it was, "It looks like… Like some sort of Boojum! The card guards are Boojums!" That's when Eight spoke, "The guards ain't Boojums. This… These aren't my guards. I sent my men out to watch the wall when Stripes started raising cain out back."

There was no denying the facts, though, these were definitely Boojums, and they were merely disguised as card guards. "Did the king send them after us?" Silence overtook the hall before Child spoke, bending down beside the body of the revealed Boojum that was slowly melting away. "I have lived alongside the Snarks and Boojums for quite some time, I've studied them and watched them, but never once have I see one willing to take any orders from a Stitchpunk. They prey on dolls, serving the Red King is absolutely baffling, and completely impossible."

"I told you!" Six suddenly broke out, "It's not him! He's not the King!" The evidence was undeniable, or convincing enough, and Eight spoke, "Then who is he, because One wouldn't have just replaced himself with his psycho twin brother." Everyone was confused and unsure, but Five brought attention to their problem once again, "We need to find Two. Maybe he knows what's happening." This was readily agreed and soon the Stitchpunks were heading towards the stairs.

If it wasn't for Eight they would probably become very lost quickly as upon getting to the correct floor Six was confused to see that the walls were lined with mirrors and it was nearly impossible to see their way through the mess. Eight even walked into a few walls once or twice. It was certainly embarrassing, but Eight didn't seem to care too much. The sound of more guards could be heard and, worse still, the sound of their voices were not of normal guards.

"Do you hear that?" Nine asked the others. They had stopped at a door that Eight instructed on them to open. Apparently Five knew how to work with locks and was trying to work it open by trying to jam a couple of hats pins into the lock and twisting it around. Nine pulled his hat off, letting it fall to his back and having his soft ears perk and listen carefully. Child glanced to Nine in interest, "What is it?" The zippered male leaned forward against the mirrored corner and peered around, soft ear leaning out to listen.

"I can hear them, the guards." He pointed out, "They're talking, but… But it's not normal. They're voices are distorted and sound like-Ah!" He jumped up, recognized the sharp feeling, and looked back at Child with an annoyed look while the other merely tried to hide a smug look. "We're in a castle full of Boojums and you're still doing it! What's your obsession with flicking it?!" He whispered harshly before reaching back to touch the soft fur of his tail, "I think you tangled it." Child now exhaled in mock annoyance, to hide real amusement.

"Fine then. Turn around and I will straighten it." Nine actually scoffed, "I'm not going to fall for that again." Then paused, putting a hand up to signal the other to wait, "There's… They're nearby… And they're clearly talking about us. Their voices are just strange. Two toned…" They were alerted to door clicking open and Five swung it open before rushing inside to a small winding stairwell. "Two?" He asked softly before starting to climb upwards. Six began to follow along as well, Nine behind him, while the other three waited in the hall.

The walkway was narrow and torches lined the walls to the top were a heavy, wooden door remained. He immediately knocked on the door, "Two?" There was a sudden gasp from inside before footsteps, "Five?" Five was thrilled, "Two! You're okay!" That's when he noticed the ring of keys hanging on a nail beside the door, "Hold on, Two! We're going to get you out!" He jammed the first key into the keyhole and tested it before trying the next, then the next, over and over until one finally clicked and the door was swung open.

There stood the White Rabbit, Two, completely alright and beaming. "What are you all doing here?" He asked before his smile suddenly dropped, "Does- Does he know that you're here?" This took them off guard, so Five asked, "The King of Hearts? He… He probably knows we're here somewhere. Did he hurt you?" Two seemed clearly uneasy about the entire situation as he answered, "No… No he- There are none of the guards nearby?" All of them shook their heads and Six chimed in, "Eight, the leading Guard helped us, because the King isn't the King."

There was a small pause where Two just stared at Six before he asked, "How did you find out?" Both the Hatter and the Hare were clearly confused and Six explained, "I feel it. He's not One, but someone else, someone wrong, someone who wants to hurt us." The Inventor was solemn as he answered, "You're very correct…" Then turned to his apprentice, "We must make haste to the King's private chambers. I doubt he's in there now; he never goes in there." It was clear that Two was under the same impression as Six, "I will explain everything once we get there."

Then he headed down the stairs into the hall with the others. The March Hare quickly telling everyone where they were going. The White Rabbit briefly acknowledged Six, putting a hand on his shoulder and speaking, "I am terribly sorry that I have drug you into this all, my Friend." He was clearly apologetic and continued, "I had no one else to turn to, but I can see that I put my message into the right hands." Six was almost surprised that Eight or someone didn't make a remark about his sharp fingered hands.

Instead, Two added in, "And I like the new clothes. Blue is an excellent color on you." He smiled a bit and the striped one smiled as well. It was all alright. Or it was for a few seconds until they were running along towards the King's chambers. Six didn't exactly know why they were trying to get to the King's chambers when the King, or what was acting as the King, was searching for them so diligently. They continued onwards through the halls. Nine reassured the others that he couldn't hear any of the guards nearby.

They managed to eventually get to the large, regal doors that revealed One's bedroom. Two opened them cautiously and entered inside, looking around the dark entranceway and beckoning the others to follow him inside. It didn't exactly look like a bedroom, more like another foyer that looked just like the one in the entranceway, but they trusted Two, and Eight didn't argue so they had to be going in the right direction. It was eerily dark inside and Two led them across the carpet to a series of doors, opening the middle one and peering in.

He had a solemn look as he turned to the other, "He's in here… You must see him." Then he disappeared into the room. Six was closest and entered first into the room, clutching his key tightly before watching as Two lit a lamp on a nearby table. In the center of the room was a large bed with a sheer canopy wrapped around it, both were died in red, and Six could see a figure laying inside the bed. He already knew before Two pulled back the curtains who it was.

There lying unconscious and weak in the center of the bed was the King of Hearts, One, and Six knew it was the right one.

The others were very confused and Eight spoke, "What happened to him? He was fine back in the throne room." Then his face suddenly looked alarmed and he seemed to already realize what the others hadn't. Two explained as he reached out to feel the other's forehead for fever. "The King of Hearts was born with a very strange defect, as was your father," He directed this to Seven, "They are visionaries in the most dangerous sense; they can create dreams that can then become physical manifestation. They can dream of places, of things, of people, and for the duration of their slumber they will exist."

The White Queen was in disbelief; her father had never mentioned having this. "But… I don't understand…" The White Rabbit reached into his vest, into his front, and pulled a pocket watch free before checking it, taking the other's wrist in his hand, feeling the resonating pulse of his soul. "Still weak…" He murmured, then explained, "Unfortunately, if they dream the wrong thing, such as a nightmare, it can harm their body. When One began his current dream he was in the throes of illness, of a fever, and still is."

By now Six knew what Two was trying to say, but let him finish. "That doll on the throne is not One, it is merely a manifestation of One's feverish dreams… Unfortunately it seems to have taken a mind of its own and is becoming more and more aggressive. It has begun making its own guards in the basement to replace the card guards and it has kept me from nursing One back to health, which would erase it from existence once again. It is fueled by confusion and delirium and wants to keep him in this state to feed itself."

The prospect was horrifying, but made complete sense, and the White Queen looked away, "Did my father dream of something that would harm him?" The White Rabbit looked to her sadly, "We could never tell, but he was in poor health at the time and it was certainly possible. We cannot let One face the same fate… Less the nightmare grow too strong and… And decide that it no longer needs One to survive." Now the threat was high again and Six broke out, "How do we wake him? Is there a way?"

The White Rabbit nodded, "There is. I just… My supplies were confiscated when I was captured again. If I could get ahold of them then I can bring the fever down." He was clearly anxious so the Jabberwock spoke, "We will retrieve them. We have already spent enough time wandering aimlessly around the castle, it is about time we actually had something productive to accomplish." Two smiled at this and Eight spoke, "They were probably taken down to the storage room in the basement. It's unlocked, the door to its right underneath the stairs."

"You're not coming?" Six asked meekly and Eight hesitated, "Can't. I need to stay here, with my King, and make sure that thing doesn't get ahold of him." This was reluctantly agreed with. Six didn't want Eight to wait behind, he was one of the only Stitchpunks who he felt safe with, but there was nothing he could do. Two also spoke, "It's best I stay here with One and watch his condition. Nine, I set my lance right there, feel free to take it with you." The March Hare nodded and took the weapon in his grasp.

That's when Five spoke, "We should hurry." Then headed out the door, Child in tow, before promptly letting out a cry. This was promptly followed by Child's comment of, "Creator! Of course, we should have expected this!" Seven dashed out next, followed by Nine, but Six was afraid to. He looked to the nervous Two and the determined Guard before heading out of the door as well. There, standing before the group, was a slew of Boojum card guards, and behind them was the King himself. Or, as they knew now, the Fever Nightmare. The Nightmare smirked, "And, pray tell, where would you be heading off to so quickly?"

Seven was the one to speak, "How dare you…" Her voice was low and dark, but she said nothing more as she wasn't sure if it was even sentient enough to understand her rage. "Unfortunately it seems that you have well worn out your welcome. Instead of taking you freedom as a gift and leaving you came back. A foolish mistake, but I will not allow this to occur again." With that he lifted his staff, Six was disturbed to see that the end of the staff held a blade like a scythe, "Gentlemen, show our guests what happens when they tempt fate."

The card guards rushed forward and the Stitchpunks braced themselves with weapons raised; a fight was at hand.

Mable: So One really wasn't the evil mastermind! He's merely been dreaming… Dreaming the world and inhabitants in his own mind… Ah, anyway, the next chapter will be posted soon! I hope everyone enjoyed!