CHAPTER 24

.

She didn´t waste time fighting the Jabberwockys power or the pressure of the flow of time; instead, she went along with the boost and regained her self from when she had created the time portal, she wouldn't be in prime condition, but she didnt want to go back to the monster she became at the end. Not because she feared it, but because she had enjoyed it way too much, and she reprimanded herself harshly about that; feeling a heaviness in her gut she couldnt exactly identify, because she knew that she had the power to stop the Jabberwocky and she had not done so, in favor of allowing herself to get lost into physical sensations running along the engraved channels in her system; prolonging the fight with all the bad consequences for her forces.

She grabbed at the point in time she wanted, just as she had done after the cheerleader thing, and crashed to the floor with a dry sound from the impact; her exhaustion and accumulated damage bigger than anyone had considered, leaved her unconscious and unmoving in the cold floor where the time circle had been.

Armalite ran to her fallen form while Biggs and Wedge stood in the way of the Jabberwocky, but they were obviously no match for the fearsome being; they were tired and had no more ammunition, and despite their courage, strength, and abilities they had gained since meeting their boss, very soon, they were swiped with a flick from the dragons tail. Had the men hit a wall they would have some broken bones and internal damage, however there was no wall there to crash against, for they had been hurled across the portal to Spades that everyone had forgotten about.

Aria was out cold in the ground with Armalite desperately trying to wake her up, shacking her and calling out his pleads, but when the faceless men had disappeared, he knew it was over. He was just a kid, but he still had the throwing knife that she had train him with.

The Jabberwocky deliberately approached with a slow pace. It was satisfied and triumphant; happy that he could sense her heart once more and ready to get it. It roared once more to let everyone hear its victory but got interrupted by a small throwing knife, courtesy of the faceless kid by the side of the fallen girl. Unfortunately, the knife missed.

Tears stroke down from the eyesless face of the boy that clutched to the unconscious female with fear. If he was going to die, unable to do anything to help the one person that had ever cared for him, then at least he wanted to be close to her. He had tried pulling her away after his failed attempt at knive throwing, but she was too heavy to be moved before the Jabberwocky reached them.

Suddenly, a bang sounded in the air and impacted on the Jabberwocky´s hide, making it stop and looking around for the source of the piercing bullet that hit it, and Armalite saw the other foreigner running towards the dragon

The Jabberwocky had made the same mistake for the second time when it enforced the barrier so that faceless could not cross it either; but Alice was no faceless or roleholder, and when the Jabberwocky used the energy from its copies to crush the time portal where Aria had disappeared for interminable seconds, Alice took a chance and crossed the wall. Thanks to those soldier pills, she had regained energy and was somehow keeping up. She may not had any talent for wielding weapons, but she was trusting the gun to aim itself, and it was trusting her to keep shooting and attracting the dragons attention away from Aria, gaining a few precious moments that the kid took to try again to wake up Aria.

.

-Please be ok, lady A... please say something! - He continued to shake her without results. Then, his despair made him slap the unconscious foreigner that reacted letting out a groan, not yet awake but not completely KO´ed anymore. Then he slapped her again.

-Urgghhh...- The foreigner opened her eyes, but they were rolled in their socks and only the white part could be seen.- Que lejos estoy del suelo donde he nacido…. (*how far I am from the soild that birthed me…)- She sang out of tune - - and closed her eyes again.

-WAKE UP PLEASE!- So desperate was the boy that he screamed at her and shaked her more

- For The Axis guys a hundred roses would we pluck, It's hard to pick a favorite, I don't know which one I'd… Tuck into bed, or stay up late with instead, It's a squee world after all… -She sang very loudly and it sounded very dirty and very wrong (AN: the song its from the anime "hetalia", look for it. Trust me, with that song you could find innuendo in the world "innuedo" if it was there )

- WAKE UP ! -Armalite slapped her once more with more strength, not caring that she may get angry at him for the slapping. If they survived she could get even if she wanted.

Her gaze focused on nothing but hazy confusion when she lifted her right hand to point out to nowhere and yell –"Leroy Jenkins stole my sweet roll when I found out the cake was a lie after I tried to catch´em all. I yelled objection, but he did a barrel roll, so now all my base are belong to him… and then I took an arrow to the knee...! "-She was still out of it, but at least she was not comatose.

Outside of the barrier things had gone easier. The draconic shadows disappeared and only the mock afterimages remained, but their waves and attacks dwindled, letting everyone to attack the barrier. However, Nightmare knew that despite it getting better for them, inside of the barrier things werent as easy; he could not read Aria´s though, but he could read the minds of those close, and by reading the kid´s thoughts he (wondered who the heck the axis guys or Leroy Jenkins were) knew that she was regaining consciousness up. Maybe not everything was lost, even if she probably had a concussion.

Aria recovered a bit of sense and found herself in the ground, her body sore and hurting and her cheek stinging, not yet aware of her surroundings. In fact, she almost didn't want to get up, and all the accumulated damage and exhaustion of the strenuous struggle that had been her stay in Wonderland didnt help. She couldn´t see well, but the battle noises told her everyone was still fighting. If she had to be sincere with herself she would have to admit that she felt helpless, sorrowful and utterly devastated; she had wanted to be ripped apart and just let everything end as it should have, but she also knew that she couldn´t do that, it was her choice and she had chosen.

Perhaps if shed been alone she would have succumbed, but she was not and she owed it to everyone, even if it meant to be irrational, and perhaps even rash and naïve. She was not gonna give up, that was not the kind of person "Aria Hadron Sherzi" was, and heck, she liked that name and wanted to keep it.

She heard the noise of the Jabberwocky moving as Alice shoot at it, luring it away from her and the kid that was hugging her among sobs of hope. She was breathing rasply, trying getting up but she couldnt. It was too difficult, if only she had a few moments to gather herself she might be able to.

Seeing her struggle, Armalite did his best to speed his age to young teens to help the weakened female stand up. It wasnt easy, her full armor made her heavy and she was still out of focus, but with his help, she managed to stand up.

She began thinking while Armalite told her what had happened. Turning her head sideways, she saw beyond the Jabberwocky to where Biggs and Wedge had disappeared, and noticed the way to Spades was still open; as the rattle of the combat outside the barrier became more present in her ears, she noticed Alice was barely holding her own.

.

-Lad..- Armalite was about to say something but she interrupted him.

-Go to Alice and bring me that gun. Tell her to go away. I will get the Jabberwocky to attack me. Either I kill it or I get it to cross to spades. As soon as that happens, no matter what Army, close the portal. Thats an order… - Her voice was tired and stoic but held a slight note of affection or at least sad consideration, this was probably their last chance. She handed him the key and prepared to synch in secondary mode once more. When he took the key from her hand he passed her the vial.

-Yes… but... this is yours. - He answered reluctantly. He would have to do exactly as she told, but he was also ready to follow her.

.

Aria hugged him lightly before sending him off and she stood by herself, looking at the vial and putting it away she separated from Armalite.

As Armalite ran towards Alice with reluctance, the second foreigner took a dead ragged breath and secondarily synched with her suit devices one more time. She linked her cardiac status monitor to the speaker on her neck piece so that the Jabberwocky could hear the sound of her heart beating madly and fast, effectively distracting it from Alice and drawing it towards her, luring it with the fast pace of the sound of her heart while she slowly moved step by step to stand in front of the portal to Spades.

.

-Hey foreigner, lady A needs that gun!- Armalite was ready to snatch the pistol from Alices hands if she didnt complied. – She also wants you away from here.

-You again?!- Alice didnt knew what to do, but a bit of trust goes a long way and she ran towards Aria while the Jabberwocky was enchanted to the mystical sound of a foreign heart. –I'll give her it myself!

.

The Jabberwocky, like Aria, was at the end of its strength, having ultimately used all its lives. It saw the foreigner move backwards with difficulty, thinking it be fear and weakness, the dragon slowly approached, savoring the end of this fight and waiting to pounce at the last moment.

Alice reached Aria by running as fast as she could, circling the creature that didnt notice her, entranced as it was by the sound of a beating heart that was madly drumming for it. She came to Aria´s side and helped her stand, her terrible status now obvious to the blue eyed girl.

.

-I told you to get away! – Aria growled to Alice trying to push her away without losing sight of the approaching menace.

-No! Sorry if I wasnt there before, but Im here now!- Alice clutched the arm Aria had used to try and push her away. – Please! We can do this together, give me a change, give yourself and everyone a change. – Alice looked Aria in the eyes with a pleading but stubborn gleam– Isn´t that why wished to leave our world? To get another chance?

.

Aria matched Alice´s gaze with a something between condescending and uncomfortable – Im not here because I wanted to... Sometimes this world does listen to its children Alice. Im here because "they" wished for a foreigner that would not fall in love with someone else. Or… Forget it! This is not the time!

Alice hadnt expected that, but she somehow understood. – Still you´re here. Do you really wish to leave? Or do you like it here enough to wish to stay?- Alice didnt need her to speak to read the answer in her face. She took a hold of Arias hand, putting the winxy pistol between both their hands. – I dont know how this works, or how the Jabberwocky regenerates, but this winxy pistol damages it...

-The Jabberwocky used the lives it has consumed to regenerate, we use our possibilities, every shot you use is something that could have happened.-Aria had kept moving towards the portal with the unsuspecting Alice in row, never loosing eye contact with the dragon, that now was clearly stalking them, playing with is prey. Which was good cause it gave the foreigners more time.-Why are you here Alice?

.

Aria could not comprehend why Alice was here, risking her life and trying to amend things. She had never been one for understanding emotional people, but Alice was just as confused at Arias incapacity to comprehend them.

.

– Im here to do something. I think that together we can defeat it and save everyone.

.

Determination shone in Alice´s eyes and Aria comprehended that it didnt matter why, they both were here, and they were both capable of facing the monster; even defeat it if they worked together. From the corner of the mercenary's mouth, a small side smile threatened to scape. She took Alices hand with hers around the gun, and gave a little reassuring squish. She was willing to do team work.

Both foreigners felt they had reached an understanding. A little warm and nice sensation came from the gun before it got heavy and fell to the floor, transformed into a shoulder mounted rocket launcher.

.

-What is this!?- Alice never seen anything like this. – OH NO! The pistol!

-HELL YEAH!

.

Contrary to what people might believed, Aria was not a weapons expert. However she did have encyclopedic knowledge about many things; and as a hardcore gamer, videogames had taught her, among the things, the general idea of how to use a rocket launcher against the final boss of a game.

This rocket launcher looked heavy and advanced, so shed have to use her synch to turn on whatever was needed; but she could not aim or shoot it at the same time. She quickly knelled in front of Alice, facing the Jabberwocky and tried to lift the weapon- Ill get it need aim and pull the trigger!.

The dragon stared and roared a low grumble before it lunged at the girls, stopping for a few seconds to squirm and hiss because a small knife hit it square in one eye, courtesy of Armalite, who had gotten his knife back and this time didnt miss.

With Alice´s help, Aria put the heavy launcher over her shoulder and synched to operate it. Just like with her mecha, she didnt really knew how use it (heck, she didnt knew how to drive a car either), but by synching with it she could control it as if she was controlling another limb.

Alice accommodated herself behind Aria, and found the trigger while aiming with the help of the big telescopic sight– Aria, its approaching! Tell me when, but it better be fast!

In the glee of the moment Aria figured out another phenomenon. She now knew how items could transform into other ones. The answer was that they didnt, the other item just accommodated in the space between the atomically space between molecules... ( This is not the moment, dammit!) She had almost lost focus and could barely maintain the synch, but the rocket in the tube was active and the trajectory had been calculated. –NOW!

Alice pulled the trigger and the rocket flew from the tube with a cloud of smoke, its trajectory let it directly to the roaring dragon, that tried shooting it aflame but could not gather the fire in its jaws fast enough before the rocket impacted in its inflated chest, effectively blowing up the Jabberwocky into bits of blood and gore that splattered all inside the barrier.

Both outsiders were panting from the toll on their energy. The rocket launcher fell to the floor transforming back into a pistol, while the girls wondered what they had given up for that shoot, knowing that they could not do this again as tired and mauled as they were.

.

-Is (pant) it (pant) over?-Alice asked; she looked at Aria and helped her up while picking up the winxy pistol.

.

Both girls looked around, their hopes crushed when they saw the barrier absorbing the remaining mock after images and directing the energy to a reforming mass of darkness in front of them.

.

-No, its not- Arias words were filled with shadow was already lunging at them even before finish reforming.

.

The barrier was about to disappear and then the wonderlanders would be able to cross, but the Jabberwocky was already there and launching towards the two girls. They would not arrive in time and Aria knew it. She didn´t have more tricks and she was about to collapse for good too, she truthfully couldn't go on any more. In a whim she took a decision, knowing shed have only one chance, maybe she could survive; it was unlikely but shed still try. Going for it with everything she had left was the only thing she could do, even if she had to be a deceivetive ass for it to work. –. I would have liked to give the game a real chance, y´know...

Alice turned to look Aria, and Aria took the change to kiss Alice in the lips, quick and roughly but passionately while the shadow approached at their front. The surprise and confusion stunned Alice, allowing Aria to take the gun from her and kicked the other foreigner aside with was much strength as she could muster.

(Life is funny, ain´t it? You start out with limitless potential, but time is always shaving away the possibilities. Every choice you make is the choice not to do a thousand other things. What's important, when all is said and done, is that you made a difference. Your choices, and everything done, have to mean something. Otherwise, what was the point? I'm lucky, I did what needed to be done and in the end that is what counts.)

.

- ARIA! – Alice was caught off guard. Aria had taken the gun from her and was doing an unnatural effort to shot a couple bullets at the upcoming Jabberwocky, that wasnt but a vague dissolving shape. In the mid of her fall, she fell a pull on her hand and she was send out of the creatures way when Armalite, who had caught up to the foreign girls, used the momentum of Aria´s kick to grab Alice by the hand, pivoting himself in a circle to propel Alice out of danger, despite the girls protest and his own body receiving a stomp when he ended up in the Jabberwock´s path towards Aria.

The barrier finally collapsed as the Jabberwocky used its energy to sustain the pistols damage, unable to restore itself completely any more, finally wasting away into nothingness and ceasing to be. But it didnt plan on stoppin. Its dissolving carcass impacted on the exhausted female and send her towards the portal along its shady remains, its last existence finally wasted, destroyed and dissolving.

Armalite had gotten up despite his wounds and immediately jumped into the portal to close it from the other side, he had been fading into darkness too, his form shifting age with every tick of his clock in a blurry haze, the embattle of the Jabberwocky too strong for him. Probably about to turn into a clock, he had followed her order, jumping into the portal to close it from the other side, preventing it from ever be opened from Diamond again without the key.

When the roleholders reached Alice, she was still on the floor with eyes wide open, extending her hand towards a mural painting of a defrosting lake at the end of winter.

.-

.

If you got more than 3 references of: "Leroy Jenkins stole my sweet roll when I found out the cake was a lie, after I tried to catch´em all. I yelled objection, but he did a barrel roll, so now all my base are belong to him… and then I took an arrow to the knee..." Congrats (?) you are a gamer. XD

Its not the true ending yet, but we are close and next well see what happened if the player didnt got enough love points and got the neutral ending, at least its not as bad as the BAD ENDING, still... well, I cant picture anything worse than the bad ending either.