Black Kitten Chara: This chapter is decidated to my good friend, 99Roosters! Without her, I would have never kept going with this story! So, enjoy and review!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Hollow Fields or American McGee's Alice!
Claude smiled as he looked at the floating tea factory; it was black, huge, and shaped almost like a castle with red-tinted windows in a dark green sky that had patches of red and purple. Giant gears were floating around it and wires were holding it in the air. Humongous, teapot-shaped building were floating around the castle-like factory. A huge, curved bullhorn on the platform they were on pointed towards the factory.
"Well, this is my kind of place." Claude said with smirk on his face. If there was anything Claude could feel comfortable around, it was anything that had to do with clockwork machinery.
"You mean our kind of place." Carmen said as she smiled at the tea factory. Simon also was smiling as he sat down and crossed his legs. Any student from Hollow Fields, including these four, were geniuses when it came to clockwork machinery, so this place may be the easiest area they come to.
As the three looked at the factory for a moment, they did not realize they were missing someone. Simon was the first to notice as he said, "Where is Francine?"
Before the other two could answer him, a low and loud sound was heard through the sky as the three teens whipped their heads to see Francine blowing into the curved bullhorn on the platform. "Look! I got us a ride!" Francine yelled with joy.
"What?" Her three friends asked as they looked to see a huge, black teapot-shaped cart rolling down one of the lines that lead to the platform. The cart looked old and rickety as it came to a squeaking stop and opened its door with a small set of stairs falling out behind it.
Simon, Carmen, and Claude looked at the cart curiously as Francine skipped down from where she was and smiled at them. She bounced on her heels as she said, "So, this would probably take us to the factory."
"Good job Francine." Claude said as she stepped into the cart. He realized that it was small but big enough for the four of them. The cart had huge windows that were dirty and there was a small plaque saying Hatter's Industries with a tall top hat on it. He looked at his friends and said with a smirk, "All aboard."
The other three teens walked in as the stairs closed in on them and the door slowly creaked to close on them. "That isn't creepy at all..." Simon mumbled sarcastically as the cart jerked and began taking the teens up towards the factory.
Claude looked out through the huge, top-to-floor windows that the cart provided to see huge, floating gears pass them in the sky. He gave out a long whistle as he turned around to only meet a not-so-furry, somewhat-ally of theirs.
"What are you doing here?" Claude asked the Cheshire Cat.
"As always, to help you." The Cat said with his sadtisic grin.
As the Cat spoke in his elegant British accent, Claude rolled his eyes and looked towards the factory that lie ahead of him and his friends. "So, that is the Hatter's Domain? Not much different than what I expected..."
"Apperances, as you know, can be deceiving. Much has changed from what it used to be, along with Lucy." The Cheshire Cat said.
"I thought change is constructive and different is good. That is what my mother always told me, anyways." Carmen said as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, proving she still had dobuts about the Cat.
"Different denotes neithers bad or good, but it certainly means 'not the same'. You must find the Hatter because he more know about 'different' then you four will ever know." The Cat said as his grin grew wider while a Dodo passed the cart.
Simon cocked his head to the side as he asked, "But does he know the difference between bad and good?" For that question, Carmen smacked him upside the head and Simon rubbed the head as he glared at the girl.
Before the Cat could answer, small bots with dragonfly-like wings appeared in front of the cart. Francine saw them first as she tapped Carmen's shoulder and pointed towards the dragonfly-like bolts. "Um, should we start worrying?" Francine asked right at the same time a Bolterly hit the glass windows.
The Cat turned around to see more Bolterlys hiut the windows, causing cracks to appear. "Making friends, you four? You are as randomly lethal and just as confused as Lucy is."
Claude narrowed his eyes and bared his wolf-like teeth, a sign that he was getting angrier than he usually does. "We managed without you so far, Cat. Return to whatever hole you call home. We'll call when we need you."
The Cat chuckled a little as the Bolterys casued bigger cracks then before. "Predictably rash. It's not a question of if, Claude. It's when. Now, hold on and as they say in your world, shut up." Then he disappeared as the last Bolterly made the final blow.
But even as the cart began to shake and fall towards the factory at an alarming speed, Claude still managed to say "Typical" about the Cat as the cart slammed into the factory.
~0~
"Ugh, my head..." Was the first words Claude heard when he woke up. He opened his eyes a little to see he was still in Wonderland, but he was happy that he saw all of his friends alright with only some bruises.
The Irish teenage pulled himself up and saw the wreckage of the teapot-shaped cart all around them. He saw Carmen rubbed her head as he asked everyone, "Is everyone okay?"
"I'm fine." All three of them said at the same time while rubbing their heads or arms in pain.
Claude ignored the pain in his side and popped his neck as he began looking around. They were in the factory, maybe the lowest part from what he could remember from the crash. And the only way to get higher was to jump on a platform that was twenty feet above them.
"How the hell are we going to get up there?!" Simon complained as he looked up to see the platform and a huge hole in the wall above them.
Claude looked at the platform with great curiousity that he didn't even notice that his Aphla pedant was glowing with the other pedants of his friends. He only noticed it when Francine said, "Um, guys? Why are our pedants glowing?"
Claude looked down intime to see his clothes being replaced with a new, steampunk-themed outfit; He wore a black leather, long-sleeved shirt with a neck-frill like collar, a Waspie waist cincher with a harness attached and leather, buckled fingerless gloves. His boots were knee-high black botos with buckles and his pants were the same black leather material as his shirt.
He looked up to see Simon wearing the same outfit with the same boots as Claude, and Carmen and Francine had similar outfits but made for girls; A black leather dress that weas thigh-long with short-puffy sleeves. It featured a neck-frill like collar, a Waspie waist cincher with a harness attached and leather, buckled fingerless gloves. They wore the same boots as Claude and Simon. The apron was made of leather and features astronomical signs of Saturn and Mercury. The bow was similar to steam-punk "bat" wings which stick out and were fairly torn and worn. A green light was surrounded by a yellow/bronze metal border with the wings of the bow on either side of it.
"Aw, these outfits are cute..." Francine said in a happy tone while Carmen smiled at her new outfit.
Simon sighed as he looked at Claude with confused eyes and said, "Why do girls get so excited over new clothes?" Claude shrugged his shoulders and watched the girls until they calmed down.
After Carmen and Francine got back to reality, Claude looked back up at the platform with great interest. He looked around for any ladders or railings for them to climb, but nothing seem to be in sight for them. He gritted his teeth as he thought of using the Butterfly Dodge to get up higher, but he didn't know how useful that would be.
"Carmen, use that Butterfly Dodge attack to see if you can get up higher." Claude told the sarcastic girl.
Carmen looked definant as she said, "Fine." She walked near the platform and jumped once, causing the butterflies to appear under her feet as she glide upwards. "Just remember to catch me if I fall." She said to the boys below her.
"Got it." Simon called, but shook his head No to Claude and Francine. But Francine slapped him behind the head the same time Carmen's butterflies fell from her feet, making Claude the only one to catch her.
As Claude put Carmen down and she slapped Simon upside the head, the brunette Irish boy looked around for another way out. Besides the only platform and the huge gap made by the cart, there was no way out.
Except for the hidden staircase near the furances that used by a insane man.
"HELLO, DEAR CHILDREN!" A voice boomed behind the four teens, causing them to jump behind Claude as he turned around and let his mouth hang open at the sight of the tall, long-limbed cyborg in front of him.
The Mad Hatter was green-skinned, with a large nose and ears, tiny eyes, and his teeth bearing an overbite. His body was made out of metal and wood, and he had a rusted cog sticking out of his back. His clothes consisted of a loose straightjacket, black trousers, and dress shoes with spats. He also wore a large black-and-white checkerboard top hat, covered in alchemy symbols, holes, and a few drops of blood. He was carrying a long, black cane with a golden round top shaped as a teapot.
The man gave a chilling smile as he skipped around and sang, "I HAVE GUESTS AND MY LOVELY HOME IS A MESS! WHAT TO DO? WHAT TO DO?"
"I say we run. That is what we can do." Simon whispered as he stood behind Carmen and Claude with Francine behind him.
The Mad Hatter went to the four teens and slammed his cane on the ground, causing a long dinner table with teapots and cup to appear along with five seats. "COME AND SIT DOWN! HAVE A SIP OF TEA!"
Claude cringed at the loud voice of the Hatter, but he looked back at his friends and gave them a look to go along with what the Hatter was saying. Despite the glares and gulps, the four teens walked to the table and sat down as the Hatter sat down with them. The Hatter tapped his cane on the table, causing one teapot grew a pair of spider-like legs and began walking around as it poured tea into cups.
The Hatter gestured at the tea as he said, "HOW MUCH DO YOU LIKE TEA?"
"I'm okay with it." Claude said calmly as his friends nodded their heads to agree. The Hatter clapped his hands in happiness, but Claude could hear the sound of wheels creaking in the Hatter's wrists.
The teens looked at their tea with caution as the Hatter got another cup after the other. Claude gave a sideways look at the tea, which was green and bubbling. "Um, we have to ask you something..."
"A QUESTION YOU SAY? I SHALL ANSWER!" The Hatter yelled as Carmen and Simon covered their ears as Claude cleared his throat.
"Well, we want to know where Lucinda Snow is at? She should be here, and I am assuming that you know where she is." Claude said in a serious tone.
The room began silent as the Hatter sat down his cup and looked at Claude with his bulging eyes. He gave a blood-chilling sneer as he grabbed his cane and bang on the ground twice. Claude instantly grabbed for his sword and kept looking at the Hatter, who had a robotic-like coldness to him now.
In an instant, Claude jumped from his seat as soon as Carmen, Simon, and Francine were strapped to theirs by metal wrists restraints. "Um, Claude?" Carmen said in a worried voice as the Hatter stood up, showing that he still towered over the Irish boy even when he was on the table.
Claude looked at the Hatter before drilling his sword into the Hatter's chest. But the cyborg grabbed the handle and swung Claude around before throwing him on the other side of the room. As the brunette landed in a pile of rubble, the Hatter slammed his cane again on the ground as huge, saws appeared behind the other three teens.
"We are going to die...!" Simon wailed again.
"Are you going to keep saying that?" Carmen yelled at him as the saws began moving.
The Hatter threw back his ehad and laughed as he pointed his cane in Claude's direction. "YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP THIS MADNESS? THE LEADER OF THE TRAIN SHALL HAVE HIS NEW DOLL SOON ENOUGH...!"
But as the Hatter laughed evily, he never noticed the the brunette he threw was coming back at high speed. "I don't think so!" Claude yelled as he kicked the cane into the air and stabbed the Hatter through the stomach.
But, instead of being torn in half like a normal creature would be, the Hatter twicthed for a moment as his head exploded into thousand pieces. The cane blew up as well as the restraints disappeared from his friends, giving them enough time to jump on the table as the saws cut through the chairs.
The three teens watched the saws disappear back into the floor and jumped off the table as Claude looked around for an exit. "We have to move fast. There maybe more madmen like him around here."
"What a pleasant thought..." Carmen said sarcastically.
Claude ignored the snappy comment as he looked aorund and saw something that struck his interest; the staircase that the Hatter had used to sneak up on them was still open, but only a tad bit.
The brunette looked at his friends and gestured towards the hidden staircase as he said, "Hopefully, there will be nobody insane on the other side of that staircase."
~0~
It took them a while, but Claude and his friends were able to sqeeuze through the small gap that the staircase had since it was not close all of the way. After Carmen got through, Claude gently pushed the secret door back enough to make it look like it was hidden once again.
"It's dark in here..." Simon pointed out.
"Thanks for the info, Captain Duh." Carmen insulted him. Simon stuck his tounge out at her for the comment as Francine stood between the two in case they decided to fight one another.
Claude sighed as he closed his eyes and touched one of the walls. "This maybe Lucy's world, but I am going to change this..." He thought as bright lights flickered behind his eyelids. Claude opened his eyes to see a row of torches now on the walls.
With light now showing them the way, the teens began walking down the stairs as they stayed close to the right wall. Unlike the rest of the factory, the hidden staircase seem to be made out of bricks instead of steel.
"Where do you think this will take us?" Francine asked Claude as they got to the exit.
Claude gulped as he swung open the door and said, "I think it would lead us straight into trouble."
The teens were now in a huge basement filled with broken down parts, robotic arms carrying junk to a assembly line, and a strange-colored liquid on the floor that Claude was 99% sure was acid. And there, kicking something senselessly, were twins boys in matching white pants, green beanies, and red-and-white striped shirts. Both were large, misshapen, and with pasty white skin with one twin being a lot bigger than the other one.
"God, not them again..." Carmen murmured under her breath as the twins turned to see the four teens at the hidden staircase.
The twins smiled at the teens with horrible grins as the bigger one said, "Look, Dee. Looks like old Whats-her-name from the lunatic's ward actually had some friends."
The four teens slowly went from their weapons as the twins came closer. "Oh, yeah. Scawny, ain't they? But who let them in here? Blame us, for sure." Tweedledee said as they cracked their knuckles.
"Then, let's give them some strong sleeping medicine." Tweedledum said.
"But do they have naything to eat before we give them the medicine?" Tweedledee said as he took off his head and strach his head.
"Doubt it. They don't have any meat on them, but they look like they would make a light snacks." Tweedledum said as he licked his lips with hunger.
As the twins talked about the four teens and what great meals they make, Carmen placed a hand on her hip and growled. "Disgusting, horrible, and smelly oafs." As the words came out of her mouth, the Cheshire Cat appeared beside Claude.
The Cat looked at the brunette and gestures to the twins. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
Claude glared at the Cat as he pulled out his sword and growled in the direction of the twins. "Spare the so-called wise words you give out. Do you have any useful advice?"
The Cat smiled as it slowly began to disappear. "Use their size against them." The Cat finally disappeared all of the way as the twins spinned the propellers on their beanies and flew into the air.
The four teens moved back as the twins began flying over them and landed in the spot the teens were perivously at. Francine and Carmen are on the right side of the room with Tweedledum facing them, and Simon and Claude were on the left side of the room with Tweedledee facing them.
As Tweedledee flew towards the boys, Claude slashed at the smaller twin's feet and the two boys rolled under him in time not to be crushed. Simon slammed his Hobby Horse against Tweedledee's face as the smaller twin turned around. Tweedledee was thrown against the wall and the boys ran before the smaller twin could regain his senses.
On the other side of the room, Carmen and Francine faced Tweedledum with weapons in hand. As the bigger twin came at them, Francine pushed her Teapot Cannon to life and shot a blast at the face of Tweedledum, slowing him down considerable. As the twin slowed down his movements, Carmen pulled out her croquet mallet and slamemd it against the stomach of the bigger twin, causing eletric shocks to go through Tweedledum's body.
As the bigger twin suffered eletric shocks through his body, the two girls moved away from him and met the two boys that escaped Tweedledee in the middle of the room. Carmen looked at Claude and said, "What do we do now?"
Claude thought about it as he watch the twins get over the pain from the attacks they suffered through. He watched them fly back up as they slammed back to the ground and created little clones of themselves. "Okay, here's a plan; Carmen and Francine, deal with the clones. Simon and I will take care of the twins."
As the little clones of the twins came clsoer to the teens, the four geniuses spread out; Simon and Claude ran towards a set of metal stairs to get a better view of the twins while Carmen and Francine stayed on ground floor.
"Come on, Carmy!" Francine called to her best friend as they began shooting at the clones. Francine got to ones that were alone and higher in the air, and Carmen dealt with the ones in groups and were closer to the ground.
As the two girls dealt with the clones, the two boys on the stairs looked for the original twins with their weapons in hand; Simon held his playing cards in hand and Claude held the Demon Dice. "Where are you two?" Claude whispered as he looked for the original twins with great caution.
Then he saw them. They were surrounded by enough clones to hide, but Claude could easily see the over-sized red-and-white striped shirts in mid-air. As quick as lightning, Claude threw his Demon Dice as the golden pentagram appeared on the ground and the two die he threw created a huge, tail-whipping Seprent Demon that was breathing fire. The Serpant Demon attacked Tweedledee and the smaller twin fell out of the ground.
Simon smirked as he threw the playing cards at Tweedledum in a scattered pattern, so the bigger twin did not see each card coming at him as he tried to defend himself from an attack from another card. As all 52 cards attacked Tweedledum, one card slashed through the propeller of the bigger twin's beanie and the horrible twin fell to the ground until he landed on top of his brother.
"What now, morons?!" Simon tauted the twins as the girls down below the stairs got the final clone. Simon looked at Claude and jerked his head towards the fallen twins. "I think you can handle them."
Claude smiled as he placed his feet on the rialing of the stairs and held his sword in his hands. Then, he jumped off the railing and slashed through the twins in one clean strike. Instead of blood or ooze, the twins disappeared into a pile of dust. As Simon ran down the stairs, Claude stood up and saw what the twins were attacking.
It was the Hatter, ot at least the Hatter's head, which was covered with ugly purple bruises and the ears were cut off. His stomach laid a few feet from him, and he was yelling at towards the teens. Claude pushed pass the girls and walked towards the Hatter, saying "Hatter, I recall leaving you with her head gone, but not in pieces."
"Nitwit! That was a robot!" The Hatter called in a normal voice as Claude picked up his head. Then the Hatter looked at the brunette with his golden eyes and said, "Oh, it's you..."
Claude looked at the Hatter and said, "You lost your hat and some parts are missing. What happened?"
"Missing indeed! Though, things being the way they are, I barely miss them. As to what is happening, I can barely tell you as Lucy knows more than I do. It's her place, after all! I know my place!" The Hatter said as Claude walked over to the the straightjacket-covered stomach and attached the Hatter's head back on the metal stick know as the Hatter's neck.
"When did you ever know your place? Now, tell me what is going on." Claude said in a serious tone, but his words died off as a whistle of a train and rummbling was heard over the basement's ceiling.
The Hatter yelled as he looked up and yelled, "AHHH! That is going on. And around, and up, and down, in my ears, through my eyes, and up in my nostrils, down my gullet, and winding in my gut!"
Claude listened to the train whistle as he said, "Father loves trains, but I am not a fan myself."
"Well, you won't like this one at all! Nothing like when Mock Turlte was in charge of the Looking Glass Line. This train's a bloody shambles. The Hatter pointed out. "The light is blinding, the smell is hellish, and-"
But Carmen came up to the Hatter and cut him off. "We get the idea. We have to deal iwth a bad train."
A mechanical hand came down from the ceiling as it picked up the Hatter by the gear poking out of his back and pulled him up towards the ceiling. "The world is upside down. Inmates, like the Hare and Dormouse, run the asylum- no offense to Lucy- and worst of all... I'm left tea-less."
Claude crossed his arms and said, "Tragic. If we help, will you help us in return?"
"Cross my heart, if I had one. Find my limbs and throw them into the chute. The machines will do the rest." The Hatetr said as he jerked his in the right direction. "Dormouse has my arms in that direction..." Then he jerked his head towards the left direction. "And the Hare has my legs in that direction. Best way out is through the Clock Face and remember not to pass the flaming door. Be on your way, kind children."
Claude looked at his friends as they began walking towards the Clock Face. "Carmen and I will deal with the Dormouse. Simon, you take Francine and take care of the March Hare."
"Got it." The other three said as they opened the Clock Face and went outside. But before they slipt up, Claude saw something out of the corner of his eye and stopped dead in his tracks. As his friends stopped and turned around to see why Claude stopped, he was no longer there as he already enetred the Memory Door.
[MEMORY DOOR]
Claude opened his eyes to see that he was back in the library with the photography equipment dangerously close to the fire. And there, putting out the fire with some dirt, was an eleven-year-old Lucy with a black cat near her feet.
He tried to tell her about the horrible fire, but his voice wouldn't work and her ghostly voice cut through his thoughts. "I was the last one in the library of the night of the fire. The log I added to the grate was dead when I went upstairs to bed with Luna. If it wasn't, I may be responsible for my family's deaths!"
[MEMORY DOOR]
Claude exited the flaming door as he thought about the memory he just saw. "Lucy wouldn't have gone to bed without making sure the log was dead. She wouldn't..." Claude thought over and over again.
But he was snapped out of his thoughts as Carmen shook his shoulders and yelled, "Claude!" The brunette looked up to see that Simon and Francine were already gone. Carmen pointed towards the factory that said Smelling and Regurgitating in neon green lights. "We have to get those arms."
~0~
The Dormouse's factory looked like something out of an artwork depicting Hell itself; Lava ran across the lower floors as huge buckets spilled more and more of the red liquid down. The voice of the Dormouse, who sounded high-pitched and mad, was heard throughout the factory as Claude and Carmen walked towards where the Dormouse was.
"How do you think we're going to defeat him?" Carmen asked in a somewhat worried tone.
Claude flashed her a cocky smile and said, "It's a mouse. Mad or not, I'm still going to crush it under my foot."
Since entering the factory, the two teens already dealt with some Slithering and Insidious Ruin, but those creatures were dealt very quickly. But Claude still had the gut feeling that more Ruin that was more dangerous was ahead of them.
As the two teens walked up a set of stairs, still unbothered by anything yet, Carmen heard the faintest sound of spider legs. She ignored it at first until the sound grew closer and closer, up until the point where she tapped Claude's shoulder and they both turned around to see their new enemy.
"Shit..." Claude said under his breath as they looked up on one of the chained chamdeliers and saw another new enemy crawling down.
It was golden-bronze, teapot-like creature that ran on three, spider-like legs and had a red, cat-like eye in the center of its metal body. As it came closer to the diamond chandelier, it jumped off and gave a screeching sound at the teens
"What the hell?" Carmen said before the Eyepot slammed its legs on the ground, which caused the ground to shake and the two teens to fall over. "Ow..."
Claude looked up to see the Eyepot runing at them, so he grabbed Carmen's wrist and pulled her out of the way with him as the Eyepot's legs slamemd against the spot Carmen was in. "Damn it, how are we going to beat it?"
As the teens got up, the Eyepot gave whistling noise and shot boiling tea from its spout. "Watch out!" Claude yelled as he pulled Carmen away from the blast. The boiling tea burned through the metal it struck as Claude watched the creature with great interest. "Carmen, shot your Pepper Grinders at it."
"Got it." Carmen pulled out her Pepper Grinders and began shooting at the cretaure, which caused it to become dizzy. As the Eyepot fell on its legs as Claude pulled out his sword and ran towards it, slicing it in half through its eye in one clean sweep.
The two teens caught their breath as they began walking back on their path towards where the Dormouse was, which was obivous by the sound of his voice since it was getting louder and closer. As the teens walked through an archway, they saw that the Dormouse was speaking in a little pressbox.
He was a small, grey mouse wearing a sleeveles, blue plaid vest and a bell on his head. He resembled a wind-up mouse with wheels replacing his back legs and a wind-up key in his back. His left eye, which sould have been red like his right eye, was forced open with clamps that attached to the bell on his head.
The Dormouse looked at the two teens as they walked in as the Hatter's arms poured lava on the ground. "Your prescene in unwelcome. We have a mission to complete and you are an annoyance. Some like it hot, but nobody likes it this hot! HAHAHA!" The Dormouse laughed as he threw his head back.
Claude watched Carmen as she twirled a finger around her temple then she pointed to a small vent on the other side of the room. She smirked at him like she knew he could do it before she turned to the Dormouse and yelled, "Yo, Dormy. Looks like you had a little too much tea..."
The Dormouse growled as he pulled levers and buckets of lava came flying at the two on their cables. Claude smirked as he ran under the buckets unnoticed and Carmen pulled out her Pepper Grinders.
As the buckets began opening their hatchets to burn Carmen, the dark-skinned girl jumped out of the way and skidded on a platform that began moving up. She pointed her Grinders at each bucket as she shot them down one-by-one.
"I have the arms you need... Well, the Hatter needs them. But it doesn't matter! I'm going to crush you!" The Dormouse yelled as he kept the buckets of lava coming towards Carmen.
The curly-haired girl rolled her eyes as she shot another round at another bucket, causing it to fall and caused the lava to rise even higher. Carmen jumped on another moving platform as the Dormouse kept the buckets coming. She gritted her teeth as she watched a streak of brown hair raced towards the vent she pointed to.
As she shot more buckets down and the lava kept getting higher, Carmen could have sworn she felt colder. "Good job, McGinty." She thought as cold air bursted through the vents over the lava and caused everything to freeze over. Carmen smiled as she jumped down on the frozen lava and stuck her tounge at the Dormouse.
The Dormouse yelled as he pressed a button in the pressbox. "A minor hinderance. I'll just move along." As the platform the Dormouse was on moved up, he snarled at Carmen and Claude, who returned to his friend's side by sliding down the frozen lava. "I'll deal with you later."
As the Dormouse escaped, Carmen was only held back by Claude since she wnated to go after the rodent. "Forget about him. We have the arms." Carmen looked to see the Hatter's arms fell into a chute.
Claude let her go as they walked over to the open chute and Carmen said, "Let's hope Francine and Simon are having as much luck as us."
[Meanwhile]
Simon and Francine had enter the March Hare's factory called Cranking Up and Pressing Down. It was a dark grey factory with Dodos, who were skinned alive and had bolts in their temples, controlling their metal fists that slamemd against the factory's floors by running in hamster wheels. The March Hare sat and watched everything from the comfort of his pressbox as the Hatter's legs ran in the bigger hamster wheel of them all.
But, needless to say, the other two teens were not having as much luck since they were facing a stronger Ruin monster; the Menacing Ruin. It was a huge Ruin with three doll heads on the front and three arms- one large Ruin ar and two smaller doll arms nears it face. Steam pipes clustered together on the right side of its hunched-over back.
"Get away!" Francine yelled as she shot at the Menacing with her Teapot Cannon. But the new Ruin envaded the attack by covering its faces with his doll arms. "Damn it!"
Simon stood behind the monster as he carefully avoided being crushed by the metal fists. As the Menacing got an inch closer to Francine, the blonde boy began running at it and swung his Hobby Horse on its back.
But all it did was made the Menacing Ruin turn around and swipe Simon hard enough that he flew to the wall on the another side. Simon groaned as Francine tried to help him, but she was more worried about the Menacing bringing out fireballs from the steam pipes on its back.
"Come on, Francine. You're smart enough to know how to fight off creeps like this..." Francine thought to herself as a million plans raced through her head. She studied the monster carefully before she finally figured out how to defeat it without attacking head-on.
Frnaicne pulled out her umbrella and opened it as the Menacing Ruin threw the fireball at them. But, instead of hitting the two teens, the fireball hit the umbrella like a rubber band and shot back at the Menacing, causing its arms to break off.
Francine's face broke into a huge smile as she grabbed the Hobby Horse from Simon, who was still uncoscious. As the Menacing Ruin tried to regain its senses, Francine ran at it as she smashed the Hobby Horse into the three faces, each one coming off after the other one. When the last face fell, Francine giggled a little as the voice of the March Hare boomed from even a short distance away.
"Your annoying stubbornness will be rewarded with pain! I told to to crease and decease, but my warning goes unheard. So, wihtout regret, you're about to feel like a lobster in a boiling pot!" Match Hare said in a thick Scottish accent.
Francine turned to looked at the tall, brown-fur hare that wore a sleeveless, red plaid vest with a white button-up shirt and a blue bow-tie. He had gears protruding from his back, a metal frame in his mouth to keep it open, and a monocle that attached to the frame. He had bolts in his ears, his whole left arm was replace with a large blade that resembled a spade, and his legs were replace with springs.
"Annoying jerk..." Francine said as he gave Simon his Hobby Horse back once he recovered. They watched the March Hare pull a lever and the Hatter's legs began going faster to keep up with the speed of the hamster wheel.
Francine jerked her head towards a gear near the pressbox and Simon gained an evil smirk on his face. "I'll deal with the gear. You deal with the fists." Francine said as she disappeared in a cluster of red butterflies to move faster and avoid danger.
Simon held his Hobby Horse close as the metal fists began slamming against the ground faster. He clearly saw a gear on the other side of where he stood, and he knew that gear would cause the wheels on this side to go faster until they broke.
The blonde smiled as he closed his eyes and focused on the metal fists. He knew that running through them, even as a cluster of butterflies, would do him no good. So, let's slow these things down a little." Simon thought as the slamming sound began less noticable.
Simon opened his eyes and smirked as he calmly walked under the slow-moving fists. He began whistling as he heard the March Hare yell in anger, which caused him to laugh a little. The Hare looked at the Hatter's legs and yelled, "That's it! Faster, my fine-fellowed friend. Don't stop now!"
Simon rolled his eyes as he came upon the gear switch that Francine had pointed out when they first arrived in here. He placed his Hobby Horse in its holder as he turned the gear to the right like a bathtub faucet and listened to the wheels squeaking faster and faster. He smiled again as he walked back under the slow-motion fists and once he got to the other side, he returned them to normal speed.
He watched one of the Dodos fell to its knees, dead. He felt bad, but he began laughing as the Hare yelled "Don't you dare stop running!"
Simon turned to see Francine, the smallest girl he ever knew, turned a heavy gear switch all by herself as the wheels began to go into overdrive. The fists began shaking the factory as the Hare yelled to the Hatter's legs, which were also in overdrive. "Stop, that's enough now!. Stop yer running, you diw-witted legs!"
Finally, as Simon held on to a gate to keep him steady from all of the shaking, the Hare pressed a button and yelled to the teens. "You think that can stop our plan? Ha, you make me laugh! I'll be going now." Then he escaped through his pressbox.
As a huge chute opened and the Hatter's legs jumped in, Francine whistled over to Simon and the blonde ran over to her since he did not have to worry about slamming fists now. They looked down through the chute before they jumped in after the legs.
~0~
It took exactly thirty seconds to get from the March Hare's factory back down to the basment of the main factory. Simon and Francine tummbled out as their friends waited for them near their chute. "Good to see you made it just fine." Carmen said as she helped Francine up.
"Yeah, except for the fact I have a knot on my head." Simon said as Claude helped him up.
The four teens turned around and saw the Hatter still in the air without his arms, legs, or hat. But as the stoic-faced Hatter waited, a pair of mechanical arms brought his arms out first and screwed them back on his shoulders. The Hatter looked at his hands like they were a new toy and checked if they were still working.
Then a pair of mechanical arms brought his legs and screwed them back on his plevis. He kicked them a few times before the last mechanical arm brought of his hat, which was much taller than the robot's hat, and placed it on the Hatter's head before patting in. Then, the mechanical arm that was holding the Hatter up by the gear in his back let go as he jumped on the ground.
"I feel like a new man! - or whatever I am. I feel like an unsprung spring; like an uncorroded gear; like an untarnished bit of metal that sticks in your eye!" The Hatter said with utter happiness as he pulled his black cane with a teapot-shaped top from the rubble.
Claude grimaced at the Hatter as he spoke. "We got all of your parts, Hatter. Now tell us about this damn train. And Cheshire metion somehting about new rules in Wonderland? It that because of the train?"
The Hatter slammed his cane in his hands as the looked at the brunette. "The law is just...Just a whisper away... A way home to wonder...Wonder who...Who knows how to measure rules...With a ruler! Cruel rules..."
As the Hatter said a bunch of nosense, Claude shook his head in anger and frustration. "Idiot, we should have left you in pieces. You promise you will help us find that train and all you are doing is saying a bunch of nosense."
But as the Hatter stopped saying nosense and looked at the teens, the next thing he did was far more surprising.
He slammed his cane on the ground and plate-shaped springs appeared under the surprised teens before they were thrown into the air. The Hatter grabbed on to a metal chain and jumped ahead of them, causing a huge hole in the glass ceilings as they passed through it and into the sky.
Francine and Carmen held their dresses down as the four teens used their butterflies to create a safety net under them as they fall slowly form the sky. The Hatter landed on one of the floating platforms and looked at the teens as he pointed towards a factory called Assemblage and Destruction in neon pink letters.
"Come on, now. I'll open the door." The Hatter said as he jumped on each platform ahead of the teens.
Claude saw that their butterflies under him were bringing him closer to the platform, so he looked at his friends and smirked. He jumped again as the butterflies disappeared then reappeared before he fell. "Come on!"
His other three friends looked confuse before they followed what he was doing, jumping as the butterflies disappeared then reappeared. They slowly but surely got closer to the factory as the Hatter pulled apart the door with his cane. Claude smiled as he stepped on the factory's steps and waited for his friends as they came to the factory.
They walked up the steps as the Hatter pulled the doors open and walked into the factory. The teens ran up as they heard a high-pitched whistle and saw the most disturbing train ever; a long, black train with Gothic buildings on it that had spikes on the roof and red-tinited windows. Black steam and red brimstone blew from the front of the train and as it passed by, black Ruin debris spouted from the Gothic-styled wheels.
"We found the source of the shaking. But what are those two up to anyways?" Claude asked.
Then the five could heard the crackle of the Dormouse. "You'll never stop us, silly children and Hatter. You're too late! The train has already left! HAHAHAHAHA!"
The Hatter growled as he said, "The insolence! The arrogance! The inexorable table manners! They are destroyers of Wonderland! Defilers! Diluters! Derangers! Delightful... " He then went on a spree of rammbling once again.
Carmen looked at Claude and asked, "Did they really create this Infernal Train to destroy all of Wonderland?"
"What does that matter? They deserve to die!" The Hatter said before a crane came behind him and picked him up. "Argh! Put me down this instant! I ought to..."
"Enough talk! Battle time!" The March Hare said as the Hatter was pulled away and the ground began to shake.
The four teens stood there ground as a huge black mecha, the size of the Empire State Building at most, came from the lower levels with a heat-up drill on the right hand and a metal fist on the left hand. As Claude looked at the mecha with shock, his friends hid behind him and Simon whispered, "We're right behind you, Claude. Literally."
Then the voices of the Dormouse and March Hare, deep inside the mecha, came to Claude's ears and the brunette remembered how angry he was about ten seconds ago when he figured out that they made a train to destory Lucy's mind.
"Abandon false hope! Forget the past! The damage is done!" The Dormouse yelled.
"Let the madness begin! Resume the folly!" The March Hare yelled.
As the four teens looked at the mecha with shocked or scared eyes, the Hatter freed himself from the crane and grabbed a huge teapot from the ceiling. Claude pulled out his sword, hoping to have some kind of defense, but the Hatter threw the teapot and it slammed itself against the head of the mecha.
"Haha.." Simon said as the mecha jerked and its arms began to fall off. The Dormouse and March Hare were heard screaming before they were shot out of the mecha, having their internal organs ripped out. The Hatter jumped from the ceiling and watched the mecha fall as Claude felt the factory shake.
"Hatter..." Claude said, but the madman cut him off.
"No, no! Me precious domain! And the guests! All I really wnated was another tea party!" The Hatter said as he fell to his knees and grabbed his dead friends.
Francine noticed that the domain was about to collapse on itself as she looked at the Hatter. "Please, you promised to help us Hatter. Where is that train going? What is its purpose? Tell us, now."
The Hatter waved his hand like Francine was a small annoyance and grabbed a tea cup. "There is no time for... whatever you want. It's time for tea!" He pushed the tea cup into the March Hare's mouth. "Drink, drink, drink! We can still be friends, you lot."
"Hatter, we need help." Carmen pleaded.
The Hatter huffed as he snapped, "Go find the Mock Turtle. He was in charge of the Looking Glass Line, so he must a thing or two before he was fired."
"But, Lucy's mind is in shambles. What if the Mock Turtle is gone?" Simon asked in a worried tone.
The Hatter waved the teens off again like they were small, annoying children. "Ask the ones who help what helps themselves. Whatver that means..." Then, as he tired to force tea down the Hare's limp mouth, the entire factory fell on the Hatter as he covered his dead friends.
Claude grimaced as he saw tea began to reach his waist and his friends' waists. "Great. we're going to drown." As the tea began to cover them head-to-toe, Claude could have sworn that the tea felt cold and tasted like salt water.