A/N

Somewhat of a disturbing chapter…but you probably already guessed that after seeing how angry Hatter was. If it's any warning as to what's to come, let's just say I feel bad for Tweedledee :/

Gaz did not know what to think. Should she be relieved that Hatter was here to save her—she knew that he would let nothing happen to his bride-to-be—or should she be just as afraid of him for he was just as evil as Tweedledee, if not more.

Whatever the feeling, she knew just how Tweedledee felt by one simple look at him. The bottle of paralyzing liquid he was just seconds away from giving her slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor. His eyes stared up, horrified, as the beast lingered in the doorway. She could see the sweat on his forehead glistening. And was it his heart or her own that she heard thumping in her ears?

Hatter stared for the longest time, utter hatred and rage burning in his eyes. Gaz was the first to speak and even then, it immediately fell silent right afterwards.

"H-Hatter…" she said, her voice cracking.

He did not look at her. Down on the floor next to him, Cheshire lay, watching precariously. His tail flicked nervously. His face hid between his paws and he glanced up at Gaz.

"Sorry, Alice," he muttered.

And then Hatter attacked. His PAK legs hammered the ground and in an instant, he was across the room, gripping Tweedledee by the neck. Bladed teeth clenched together, he relished the feeling of having his victim quiver and shake in his hold. Tweedledee hung limply, hands digging at the claws clutching his throat, legs kicking out in a failed attempt to rid himself of this fear. Hatter threw him at the rack of knives and blades hanging from the wall. They clashed heavily atop of the body resting on the floor.

"Cheshire," Hatter grunted, "release her."

As the Irken returned to finish his work, Cheshire scrambled over. He took off the mask from her face, the one that had the metal pole pushed between her teeth to keep her mouth open, and began opening the restraints around her arms and legs.

Gaz was still in shock from the torture she had endured. Cheshire called her name over and over, yet her eyes stared over his shoulder as she watched the Mad Hatter beat Tweedledee over and over again with any weapon he could find, which was not difficult considering the room was full of pain.

"Tweedledum, why aren't you helping me?" Tweedledee wondered. He shielded his face as a weapon smashed his jaw. "I tried to save you. Why aren't you saving me?"

"He still thinks his brother is here, doesn't he?" Gaz said. She asked Cheshire again. "Doesn't he?"

Cheshire's voice was distant in her ears—it was like she could not even hear him—but he continued calling her name until she slowly came to.

"Hatter. What is he doing here?" Gaz asked. Still stuck to the table, she struggled to get away. The fear was overwhelming. "H-How did he find out?"

"It was me, Alice," Cheshire explained. He wrestled with the rusted cuffs. "I didn't tell him why you were here or even what happened to poor Tweedledee's mind. I just told him that you were in danger and that was all it took." Finally, the shackles came undone. "We must get you out of here."

"Wait! Tweedledee!"

"The fool tried to torture you to death and yet you still wish to save him?"

"H…He's…He's my…" She bit her bottom lip.

Cheshire shook his head. "No, Alice. That is not your brother. He is not who you think he is. Your brother is in another world. Tweedledee is in this world." He lured her to the door and nearly had her out in the hallway when Tweedledee howled in unspeakable pain.

Gaz turned and found him lying on the floor, bloodied and broken. Her eyes widened at the realization of what was occurring. A film of blood covered his right eye while the other was swollen shut. His legs had been smashed and were bent in ways they should not go. The skin on his face had been rubbed raw until it split. Grooves were etched in the floor where she knew he had been clawing to get away, yet had failed. Blood leaked from the corners of his mouth as he opened it to utter hoarsely, "Alice…Help…"

She gazed up at Hatter, horrified.

Hatter glared back. He faced Tweedledee once more and threw him to the ground. His body plunged to the floor with a disturbing thud. Metallic cords held his wrists down along with his legs to kill the idea of escape or flight. He ignored the struggling, pleading form wriggling beneath him and brought the daggered tip of a PAK leg up high in the air before grinding it into Tweedledee's stomach and slicing down. An incision split and blood spurted up onto both Tweedledee and Hatter's face. Tweedledee screamed; Hatter licked the fluid from his face hungrily.

Gaz staggered back, unable to move, unable to think. She could not run. She could not look away. Fear froze her in her tracks and forced her to watch as Hatter leaned down and began feasting within the open wound. From behind a broken rack and table, she could not see his face, but she could see Tweedledee's legs thrashing and kicking, fighting to get away. His shrieks rang in her ears, in her head. She uttered a strangled scream, yet it did not go unheard by Hatter. He lifted his face, organs streaming from his teeth and dangling from his claws.

Cheshire did the best he could and arrived just in time to catch Gaz as the shock, the fright overcame her. She passed out, lying limp across Cheshire's back. The feline stared up at Hatter to see if he knew what he had caused. The Irken was emotionless. His eyes were empty, distant, and soulless. A growl rattled his throat. He truly was a monster. He was a serial killer. Yet the part that caused Cheshire to hate him even more was the smile that curled his lips back.

As his master returned to his feeding, Cheshire placed Gaz in the corner where she would be safe and rose. He began crossing the room when something in the doorway caught his eye. Someone.

"Master?" he gasped, though he was not referring to the Hatter.

Zim peered through the darkness, pulling back his masquerade mask, and immediately saw Gaz leaned heavily against the wall. Her dress was tangled around her legs and her veil was lying on the floor in a tattered heap. Blood was dried to her body from the scars leftover by Tweedledee's torture. Eyes closed, she did not move. His first thought was that she was dead.

Zim waited until he was sure that Hatter could not see him, joined her side, and knelt to his knees. He ran a hand across her forehead, pushing back her hair to reveal the wounds scraping across her face. Her heartbeat. He felt for her heartbeat and cradled her close when he found just that. The panic had caused her body to run cold and what he held in his arms more suited the resemblance of a limp corpse.

"Die."

Zim faced Cheshire abruptly. He squinted hard, unsure. The feline quivered with an endless fire of rage and hatred that boiled over.

"He must die," he hissed, facing his master, "and by our hands. You created him just as much as I did. You may have created us characters of Wonderland, but I was the one who allowed him to wallow in the absence of his thought-to-be true love." He scowled at Zim. "It ends tonight."

Zim placed Gaz on the ground and PAK legs peeked from his back. "I couldn't agree more."

Cheshire left Zim to bid Gaz one last goodbye before departing for the final battle. He kissed unresponsive lips and vowed, "I'll make it right. I swear."

"Fool!" Cheshire howled. He stood on top of the table Gaz had been chained to moments earlier, the distance between him and the Hatter nearly nonexistent. Hatter pried himself from the lifeless body of Tweedledee to face his servant. Cheshire sneered. "For long I have wished that this was nothing more than a nightmare but just like Alice, I discovered that you made these dreams all too real." His claws crawled out and a maddening grin took over his face. "It's time to wake, master."

"You defy me?" Hatter challenged.

Cheshire leapt gracefully down, his tail swishing through the air. "I simply stand by my true master; the very one I thought you were."

Zim stepped up behind the cat-like creature. At first, Hatter was surprised to see the small Irken, though it quickly faded and he began to laugh.

"Who is the fool now, Chesh? If you think you, along with this copy, can defeat me," he stood, towering over the pair, "think again."

The metal cords entangled through Tweedledee's carcass whipped out, blood dripping from the daggered tips. Zim gazed at the fresh mound of organs swelling from the Hatter's mouth. The monster's smirk grew.

"Zim," Cheshire called.

Zim faced him, expecting more than what he saw, and what he saw was a tired laborer wishing to rest. His eyes were dark and overwhelmed with a hazy sadness that read the agony burdening his soul. His mouth had fallen from its previous grin into an arched grimace.

"You're last chapter has come," he said. "Whether or not you die here and now, well," he glanced back at Hatter and pounced after saying, "that's up to you."

A/N

You know, one thing I like about this chapter is that you really get to see just how evil the Hatter can be when he really gets upset. In the other chapters, you think that maybe he has a good side to him but then in this one, you are slightly freaked out by what he just did to Tweedledee.

Either the next chapter or the one after that will be the last chapter. Finally! This story has almost been 40 chapters long -.- But it has been "interesting". Lol I can't quite say fun when one of my main characters is an organ-eating mutated Irken XD

Until the next chapter…