Ok, maybe the Joker in Spades is that was confusing, so Ill go with as simple as I can:
Remember that there are supposed to be different versions of the roleholders in different countries? Well, Wonderland needed a Joker in Spades and made the person that would be the Joker we know appear there before its time came in the other countries. Besides, with no foreigner nearby, the Jabberwocky in Spades went dormant,so life went on at least there for a while and the place started to die slowly because it was already sealed.
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CHAPTER 27
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He entered the cats memories, but it didn't feel like an animal's mind; it was too concrete and defined, and he could feel way more from it than he had felt from peoples minds. Or perhaps it had simply been too long since he felt anything and he wanted to give into any sensation and feel something once again, so he embraced all that the kitten lived…
The kitten was the last of the litter and didnt knew where its mother was. He was cold, hungry and scared, and no one notice it, until a human female stopped to look down and pick him up with grace and utmost care.
She was warm and smelled like thunder, and from her chest came a sound different than any other the kitten had ever heard, and she, like the lizard-man that had been with her when she picked him up and unlike all the other humans, had eyes. She took him to some big place saving his life, taking care of him maybe better than its mother did.
Joker was surprised to see another foreigner; he went ahead to look more of the feline´s memories, this was getting interesting, and the way the girl held the kitten felt nice.
The little ball of fluff was in the "Clover tower" place, with the beings that looked human but were not: the lizard, and the whining, one eyed... something; enjoying the visits from the nice eyed female that cared for him and that called him "Bunsen".
(Bunsen? What kind of name is that?) – Joker wondered where the foreigner had stayed if she went only to visit the lizard and the incubus; wherever she had stayed she should have taken the kitten with her, but she hadn't.
Then, one day, when he was being cuddled by "Aria", she was dragged to another tower-place with a human that smelled like metal and death, and another that reeked of blood and danger. She was comfortable with their presence and the kitten considered that they were probably potential mates for her.
From a conversation the foreigner had with the mortician the morning after that, Joker has a moment of raw insight that bothered him greatly for some reason, not only about her, but also at how her past in her world had been and how wrong her stay in Wonderland had turned out:
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-Moderate risk!? Aria! You got drugged, poisoned, kidnapped, beaten, slashed and almost raped! - She recoiled from the surprise of the sudden outburst from the mortician – Don´t you understand how dangerous this world is for you!? – In a more calmly voice he said - You can depend on us too.
-Is it because I´m a foreigner?- The clock master remained silent, his answer an obvious "yes" . She seemed fit top coldly clarify things. - Julius I can´t. I know you all "love" comparing me to Alice, yet no one seems to understand how fundamentally different I am from her, the only difference you seem to notice is in the physical appearance- she looked calm, but her tone was hurting and despective- For what I have find out she has managed to survive only because someone has always been there to help her, she´s a burden that always depends completely on others. NO! DON'T SAY ANYTHING! Let me finish! – She shut up the man before it could respond to the true allegations– Compared to her I am stronger, way more capable and far more resilient and self-sufficient. But compared to her I am also far more vulnerable, I know it perfectly well, no one understand it better than me! I´m far more vulnerable because I don´t have anyone to help me, I have nothing but my own resources. I can´t trust anyone and I doubt anyone can trust me. I can only depend on myself, putting my life and probably even my dead in someone else´s hands is risking whatever I still have left, which isn´t but my death and the life I still carry with me. How can I depend on anyone when all encounters with anyone end with me risking my life! I´m alone in another world, a foreigner to it, and it´s just a break for when I go back to my world to a country that is not mine either, I´m also a foreigner there and have nothing but myself. I know I will never fit anywhere, It had always been that way and I. don´t .care!
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Joker realized there were 2 foreigner in Wonderland at the time! And this second foreigner was breaking every single conception of foreigners, twisting things in unheard of ways, she was an antithesis of the other foreigner and of foreigners in general, or was she? and the roleholders… the fools had been sitting ducks, ignominious shameful to roleholders ever.
The memories continued when she left the kitten in the clock tower, but the long haired man only paid attention to "clocks", thus the kitten had to go out and look for food and for "his" human. After roaming a bit, the cat was picked up by some faceless that, oh surprise!, worked for the foreigner.
Though the kittens adventures, Joker saw how she had deviously moved strings behind the curtains, gave the faceless more power and attention than they deserved, and how she got to know, unravel and understand this world; he also saw and felt all she did to the kitten, including that "focused fake love" ability that resonated in Bunsen´s tiny clock, the echo of the sensation reached the redheaded man from the cat´s memory, and it was like nothing he had ever felt. It was so wonderful and filling… So tender, alluring and beautiful, and for what he saw, no human had gotten such attention from her either. Was that the love of a foreigner? Even if she claimed it to be fake? And then there was the tattoo... it linked the kitten to its owner and drew power to the little beast. It was something outrageous! How could anyone dare make such pacts?... But Wonderland accepted it, so…
Then, the kitten met a faceless child, obviously an escapee from the circus. The little beasts thoughts about giving the boy to his human as a living prey "gift " were so stupid, that Joker ended up with the mouth open when the kid himself accepted such, getting a vow forged by the tattoo master, an unbreakable oath that could seal his own death.
Weird shit definitely followed the kitten and its owner.
At this point, it was obvious that the cat was not normal anymore, its thinking pattern far more complex than any animal´s, maybe because the foreigner had projected a human record of a mind over the little beast. Its loyalty to the female had been unnaturally engraved into its very being as much as the tattoos in its flesh, the same as with that boy; but the kitten also possessed its own degree of ambition as any cat, and had enough courage to search for it.
The remaining part of Joker went further into the kittens memories, and he saw the assault in the territory called "amusement park", and the foreigner Alice appeared, the foreigner he knew. However he had to give "Lady Aria" credit for throwing Alice into the prison and doing all she did.
That night, Wonderland had validated any deal made with the foreigner; unbreakable oaths, pacts and pledges had been made, and she somehow ended up in diamond very hurt and the kitten had left her in search for help and somehow, in doing so it had passed the test wonderland had set up and had become "the lion".
Maybe wonderland was really desperate or maybe it had judged the cat prefect and worthy for such role. It wasnt so strange that an animal gained a role; after all, practically all the animal roles were animals to begin with, like the black bunny that made a deal with the Joker from Diamond. Human or animal, a role was a role, as simple as that. In any case, the kitten gained a role, and the lion was no common role.
Long ago, the lion had won the fight with the unicorn and had used its victory by sacrificing itself to make permanent the role that ruled "the looking glass"; unlike the cowardly unicorn that merely hid into the winxy pistol and the in between of the mirror.
And then there was the dodo. Maybe the kitten didnt have enough power yet, but he had managed to set free the frozen man in order to give "its foreigner" a bigger living prey as present. It would have been funny in any other circumstances, but Joker had also seen the state Diamond was, it looked just like Spades had looked before it started disintegrating and things were getting bad. In any case, the kitten took the dodo and reached the foreigner once again.
By now Joker was strangely used to the foreigner, maybe even attracted to her strange ways and actions; he was naturally curious about her, and the sensations he had felt through the kitten were fascinatingly delicious and refreshing. She was certainly not what a foreigner was supposed to be like, but it wasnt bad. In fact it was daunting, even entailing. He had seen her be brutal and uncaring; a dictatorial bitch, a cruel general, and a capable overlord with her minions; but as a third observer, and though the senses of the cat that loved her more than it had loved its own mother, she had been a caring goddess, tender and loving in a distant and strange way. She was a foreigner even to foreigners. But who was he to say anything in that matter?
When the kitten found her again, he felt her shock when she saw the dodo, spooked as if she had seen a ghost. Joker could not ponder on that for long, because the Jabberwocky appeared and the fight started, sending chills down his spine.
The memory continued, it was surprising seeing another version of himself cheering for her. And for a foreigner to stand and fight such terrible creature as the Dovah…! But at some point during the monumental fight, the kitten saw the portal to Spades and crossed it, and trying to find its way back, he had found the red headed man.
Joker came back to the empty throne room with the dazed kitten still over him. He accommodated his eye patch on place again and a second later he felt something stirring in Spades, more precisely, he felt the Jabberwocky awakening and that something had happened to that lingering ghost of the Bandersnatch, knowing that what lay dormant had awaken. He needed to know what had happened in the fight in Diamond. Had they won? It was unlikely, but...
A loud "thud", followed by a "click" sound, made Joker and Bunsen turn to see the faceless child from the kittens memories appear from a silver screen that hadn't been there. Then, the boy used a small golden key to close the portal, and collapsed to the floor as darkness began escaping his still form.
-Meow! – The kitten jumped out of Jokers chest and ran to the boy that shared his time.
Joker went too. He had recognized the kid thanks to his clothes, and he needed to see the boy´s memories to know what had happened in the fight with the Jabberwocky before the boy died. He moved his eye patch and entered the kids mind. Getting completely struck at what he saw.
There was no end to the foreigners resourceful surprises and ambivalence, he had even see the Joker from the other side of the mirror seeing the memories of the kid too, its life as amazingly altered by her as the kittens. She had wickedly tortured the boy´s clock directly, twisting the boy so much that he was irreversibly broken, but in doing so, she had given him another chance, one that had also being recognized by Wonderland with a pact so strong that not even he could break. But such deal not only with the kid, the black rabbit was a prime example of her wickedness and the power attained by her knowledge. She could be quite obscure, but her darkness was comforting; despite having a heart she seemed heartless; she may seemed calm and collected, but she was feral and primordial, pure instinct and pure reason at the same time but with no feeling whatsoever, and that was as unsettling as it was alluring. She was very interesting, and Joker realized that she had not been playing the game by its rules, she had made hers and had forced wonderland to adapt to her.
He didnt comprehend this foreigner, but she had effectively impressed him in several ways. Somehow, he felt a connection to her, and he simply "knew" she was in Spades too; maybe because she had affiliated herself with Joker, as proven by the definitely not common earrings she was wearing in the kids and cats memories. He smirked. She was undoubly mad, a joker herself, a twister of the rules, a dealer of chances and fates, and quite the wild card too! but everyone in this world was mad anyways, so she fit this world perfectly. She had also done what no one else had, she had battled the Jabberwocky and had actually won despite almost losing.
Joker came back from the memory trip with a bit of hope and satisfaction despite his pessimistic and cynic self or how bad things had turned during his time. But she was here...somewhere in spades... and maybe there truly was some sort of connection with her, at least he wanted to think so, and he could damn as well believe whatever he wanted at this point. The land stirred once again and he looked bellow to the cat at his feet and the unconscious kid, who still held a small golden object in his hand.
These two were connected, between themselves and to her, the tattoo was a physical link, but there was something else too; If the kid died maybe his remaining time would be given to the cat, or maybe both would die? ... However, the cat was already "The lion", and this place needed a ruler, and he was too fed with being "king" of this accursed place, bound to do what was better for it, But before anything he was Joker, one that could turn the tables...
He let out a sight and crossed his arms, knowing that the Jabberwocky on Spades was worse than the one in Diamond. It was too troublesome and he really didnt care anymore, but he still had his pride as a roleholder and had always upkeep his duties, the only thing he had left.
And he saw a good game when it happened. Wonderland had definitely put too much on the table with this unlikely foreigner, the bet was too high and the game was still going on. Joker smirked at the stakes. The chance was probably a million against one (and that "one" chance consisted on a weird, injured and exhausted foreign girl). It was the kind of stakes that always made it into legends, because "A million-to-one chance, succeeds nine out of ten times".
His options were limited, he could give the crown to the kitten to maintain this place as stable as possible for a little longer, or even give one of the old roles to the boy and save him. He looked down at the pair and grinned. They were like witch´s familiars to the mad foreigner. He knew what was needed to be done, and the first he did was to open up the doors of the bastion, be it for someone to enter or for something to leave. This was indeed an exciting gamble and he was glad to go out after setting his bet and throwing the dice to luck.
The insubstantial remaining half of the joker from Spades was going to finally lower the curtain on his own act. At last he could finally vanish if he used his remaining life to use his powers. He had been unable to do so before because there was nothing to use them on, but with this kitten and the kid here, he could. He was going to set the stage for the next play.
He took off his hat and put it against his chest, with his other hand extended he snapped his fingers and released his existence, and then, he bowed to no public with a grin plastered on his face - "The show must go on" - as they say, and luck now depended on the foreigner as she was the main character in the play set in Spades.
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Resting for a long time in this timeless place Aria was peacefully sleeping, lying on her back, unmovingly sprawled over the earth; her body demanded to lay down and be allowed to heal, and the A.I. of her suit, thoughtfully agreeing with that, had made sure that she remained still for as long as possible; receiving the impact of the Jabberwocky's carcass had been a strong hit for someone so exhausted, and had it not been for the armored suit, she´d have broken more than a few bones.
Everything was still when she finally opened her eyes to the darkness of the startles sky of the remains of Spades. She inhaled deeply and strangely enough she felt calm and at easy. Maybe this place had soften her or she was getting existential knowing that the rest of Wonderland was safe, but she could not help but to ask herself questions, and not the practical ones, like "how am I gonna get back" or " What are my resources"; no, she was asking herself things like "How could this be happening?", " Is this real?", or "If I use a laser pointer near Boris, would he chase the red dot?" , something in that last though seemed pretty amusing, if she survived, she would have to test it... And talking about survival, at this point she could take cockroach as a totem patron because she was just as hard to eliminate, it was almost as if luck was on her part... or maybe this world simply wanted her alive yet? But what else was there to it?
Did it matter?
No, it didnt. "An existence without sense was no better than that of a filfty cur", or something like that she had said, and she was proud and content about herself and what she had achieved with her life.
Her purpose in her world ended like she wanted, even here, she had done something useful to for this world too, or so she wanted to believe; however, although Wonderland had given her another chance at living, she felt it as if it had stolen her death from her. An awesome death of epic and poetic proportions that was the perfect closure for a villian like her, and she didnt know how to feel about it, or rather, she could not determine what she was actually feeling about it. She had experienced way more emotions while in this world than in many years in hers, and it scared her enough to recognize it.
She was not afraid of pain and death, those had been her constants back in her world. But finding out more about her own sensations was scary in its own way, and actually caring about something or someone else was even scarier, something that she had avoided all her life since the dead of her pet bunny "Pachoncito" when she was a little girl; something that only Andrick had triggered and that had gone away when he died.
Her pose on her own world and apocalyptic mission were finally over, she had succeeded and she had come to terms with that, and dwelling on it was useless, what happened already happened, and the past is the past. She dare not think of the future, realistically thinking, there was little probability that she had one, but the present... To hell with it! She didnt care, she had done all she have wanted and had lived her life the way she choose without regrets, in this world or hers... and...
And for what? Her world may be out of the equation, but there were so many things and issues in this world, she though remembering everyone during her fight with the Jabberwocky…
The Jabberwocky!
The original one was here somewhere, completely undamaged... and so were Biggs and Wedge!... And Army… She avoided thinking about Armalite as she recognized the not so bothersome child was probably dead already, she had seen him get hit by the Jabberwocky and although she had seen the end of the portal close, she had not determined from which side, in any case he was not here near her to get her energy like last time and if he was at the other side there was nothing she could do and knew no one would do anything. But the Jabberwocky... it was here and she would do something about it. Maybe thats why she was still alive, and there was only one way to find out.
She considered that she had rested enough (not really), and she forced herself to sit up but felt too groggy to get up.
When dizziness settled, she saw around and was astonished. The place was so strange that it looked like a badly designed videogame level with mash ups from other levels. Yet, it had a strangely calming effect on her, sure, it reeked of stillness, but she felt as if this place was something she knew, a place she should be. It called to her, but that was to be expected, she guessed. Her vial had the cap of Spades, so this was indeed the place wonderland had wanted her to be.
Her determination flared as she got up and, erratically and aimlessly, she started walking.
She was tired and hurt, getting a bad vibe as she went on. For a long trail there had been no sounds besides her footsteps, her breathing and her heartbeat. At some other point in her life she would have loved this, a solitary freaky place to be by herself, but now she kept moving on, with a new mission in mind, and didnt stop until she reached the outside of and old crumped building that had been invaded by plants. There, she heard whimper like sounds breaking the still silence of the place. The sound of another living being would have been reassuring, except that whimpers were not exactly a reassuring sound.
As she approached warily, the sound became clearer and strangely familiar. Her heart pounded in her chest cavity as she accelerated her pace till she found herself in a meadow inside the ruins of the old stone structure.
There she saw a figure cowering in floor ahead, and she almost tripped with a glowing sword lying on the ground while reaching for the figure.
The person on the floor, wailing over the soil with a harsher but known voice, was giving her his back; he was clutching his sides with strong clawy hands. As she approached, she found herself somewhat mesmerized when she saw he had long and spiky hair reaching to his mid back in a silvery gradient that started greyish white at the skin but ended in darker, almost metallic, tips; and just like some of the roleholders, he had furry animal ears on top of his head, in these case they looked like wolf ears and made a perfect match with the long fluffy tail that ripped from his pants,
Throwing away her caution Aria went to the figure, quite startled at the strange familiarity she felt; at her next step forward his triangular ears perked. The man tried to stay away from her sight and get away, but she reached him before he could get up and run; trying to force him to turn and look at her made both of them to roll in the floor, with him on his back and her on top forcing herself over him, pressing her hands on his shoulders to keep him in place.
The motion made him turned to her and she saw his face. Her olive green eyes went wide and shallow and her breath went rapid despite her gaping mouth. Her heart stopped for an instant at the shock, but she recognized him immediately without any doubt, and got aghast by an overwhelming sensation she couldn't describe- Biggs!? - Her gaze was met by stunning, electric blue, slitted eyes over a flustered handsome manly face. She was very glad and relieved that he was alive and fine, but at the same time she was worried and uncertain, shock evident in her face.
The man averted his eyes from hers and tried to recoil over himself with shame and embarrassment. His new ears fell flat against his skull and he let out a canine whimper, when he spoke with a deep echo behind his voice he gave her an unwilling sight of his sharp white fangs –Please Boss, dont look at me.
But of course she could not help but to look at him. His structure was basically still the same, tall, muscular and strong but lean; perhaps it was now far more defined and she could almost taste the power that oozed from him with a primal and feral strength, and she could see it very well in his exposed muscular torso. His shirt was completely open and over his firm skin she saw a big claw scar. Taking gently but firmly his jaw in her hand she forced him to look at her as she examined him more. She could hardly believe that the touch was real. –What happened? – She managed to ask him with softness and concern that werent normally in her voice.
He didnt want to meet her scrutiny, but he couldnt avoid it either. Still, he averted his newly acquired eyes -Boss... I... I killed the Bandersnatch with the vorpal sword, it holds the magic you use, but the Bandersnatch…... it was a roleholder and not just a frumius beast, well, it was but... but I...– He closed tightly his eyes and gritted his fangs in a heavy frown- I'm now the Bandersnatch. I didnt want to, but the glow and then the role…, and I was around and... – He felt her remove her weight from his shoulder and lean on him to touch one of his wolfy ears in quite a delicate and nice way while still holding firmly the side of his jaw. He opened his eyes again, her face closer to his. His vision was drawn to her green orbs, and despite his fears, he didnt saw anger or repulse, and the sensation from her soft touch over his velvety ear was nice. – Boss..?
-Its alright Biggs... everything will be alright- Although her expression was the perfect poker face, her eyes glinted and he could hear her heartbeat going fast. She was glad that Biggs was alive, but this was completely unexpected. She knew he was afraid, who except her wouldn't be? She didnt know how to be reassuring, but once she had comforted Pierce about his fear of scary cats/knights/twins/whatever, by petting his ears and head, and that seemed to be a trait shared by the animalistic roleholders. His hair was as soft and velvety as his ears despite the spiky look.
-Boss... I dont want to become what the Bandersnatch became. It... it became this big beast that devoured foreigners hearts... I dont want to end up like that... – His whimper was quite sad and she could feel him cowering bellow her, but her touch never wavered and the curious touch on his ear and hair became a light and comforting petting as he relaxed enough to told her what the old Bandersnatch had told him.
Aria understood his fear, he was afraid to become the big monster that the Bandersnatch had been, and he was afraid that his transformation hasn't ended. She too had been afraid to transform into the technological bioweapon she had ended up being in her world. But at least she could do something for him.
She stopped petting his ear but didn't let go of his jaw, and drew out her vial. – No matter what, you are still Biggs, understand?.
Biggs saw the crystal bottle shimmer under the growing light of the vorpal blade that seemed aware of the closeness of a foreigner. He saw her open the small container with one hand and take one sip small from it, and before he could react, she slammed her lips over his and pushed the liquid on his mouth, moving her hand from his jaw to his throat and forced him to swallow, while sticking his clock and his being with all her directed intent and determination.
The liquid was more swift than sweet and he felt the warm power burning but not hurting, beaming with possibility and expanding along his body from the tattoo on his shoulder. His hand went to grab hers and remove it from his throat, and he knew that she, once again, had given him a chance, saving him from whatever cruel fate would engulf him otherwise.
She had told him and Wedge about what the vial really was and he comprehended what she was doing. She was giving him her possibilities in this world, granting him a slight chance to choose and mold his future.
Her lips lingered over his an extra second before she retreated to look intently at his shocked expression, his hand holding over hers, enticing their fingers, giving a little reassuring squish despite her own uncertainty.
He could feel himself stronger that the overwhelming force of the role he had been given, not because of the potion of hearts, but because he finally got a hold on himself. He was the one in charge, no one could deny a role, but it would be "his" role and not he a slave to it.
Heck, he didnt knew what were this role ´s duties; hours ago he didnt even knew this was a role, and he also knew that he wasnt human anymore, but if the Cheshire cat, the white rabbit, or the hatters blood hound could stay in human like form, he probably could too. His boss was right, no matter what, he was still Biggs, even if h did end up like a big fluffy, scary, monstrous wolfie g´mork.
However, he also didn't want to take her only change to leave this place and go back to the other countries, and her vial was probably the only way for her to do that, so he could not allow her to waste anymore of the precious liquid. He could not let her remain here, and there was still Wedge too… and the Jabberwocky...
He could not let the Jabberwocky get to them here.
He let go of her hand and moved so shed get of him, then he swiftly took the vial from her and put the cap back on it before giving it back. - Boss..- It had been a long while since "Boss" meant more than merely "boss"- Thank you... For everything.- He smiled at her and gave her a sincere kiss in the cheek that stunned her.
A quake shocked the ground. His ears perked at something and he growled before turning to look at her once more. - Please find Wedge and get out of here. – He nuzzled his cheek against her, and before she could stop him, he was gone.
Aria was left there stunned with a sad smile of comprehension and acceptance; a bitter tear trailed from her left eye. It was his choice… but… she decided too. She would find Wedge and then they could go and kick Biggs ass if needed to drag him back with them.
She saw the sword still lying in the floor and took it, it was lighter than a sword should, but it was to be expected that it would feel different than a normal blade. This was the legendary vorpal sword, the weapon that had battled the winxy pistol and other countless foes, a weapon with the potential of harming even the Jabberwocky. She took it with her, feeling its eagerness to serve a purpose, and headed into the direction of the only building apparently still complete, a black bastion that loomed over the rest of the broken landscape.
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Look, look! I can write fluff, and it was fluffy, right? (Ok, I know the pun was lame)
