Chapter Ten
STAYNE
That damned Wild Card had officially ruined everything that Stayne had worked so hard for. What had taken him years to get close to the Red Queen took Jack merely days to do, and where he had to manipulate thing to benefit him, all the Wild Card had to do was charm her with a few words and he had her eating out of the palm of his hand. Even the whimpering King was ready to be in his corner.
He hated him.
He loathed him.
He wanted to see him beheaded.
He would. He would see his head roll, one way or another.
Wild Cards were outlawed years ago because of the threats that they caused for Underland. Before King Rubeus's parents died they were in the process of creating a Wild Card so that he would always have a friend or someone to protect him or some garbage parental reason and the whole thing backfired and the Wild Card lashed out and killed his parents on a ship overseas. If he spun the story just right he could blame the death of the King's parents on Jack, only he only recently showed his face and that Wild Card had been arrested and destroyed. He needed to find a way to ensure that Jack was arrested and destroyed.
He stormed through the castle and down the halls and slammed the door behind him once he finally reached his room. So much rage had built up within him and he could feel his position next to the Queen very quickly drifting away. He had to do something really soon to get rid of that Wild Card or his life would spiral down to hell. Surely there was something that he was lacking in that he could pin or even pose something on him to make him out to be a traitor.
"I've got to get rid of him." He growled and slammed his hands on the desk in his room. "I've got to get rid of him!"
In a frustrated fit of anger her grabbed the books, the ink wells, the quills, whatever and anything off his desk and threw it to the floor. Things broke, pages ripped, something clattered and he still wanted to throw more.
Before he could look for something else to throw or smash a knock came at the door. He stomped over to and yanked it open only to be greatly disappointed to see Poitrine standing there waving a fan.
"Well, well, well." She chortled and tried to be seductive as she looked over her fan. "Someone is in quite the mood."
"What the hall do you want?" He growled.
"I came so check up on you." She pushed him aside with her fan as she stepped into his room. "The Queen made quite the show of putting you in a timeout for trying to pick on her new favorites."
"How the hell was I supposed to know the King was wiggling in her good graces?" He snapped as she sashayed into his room.
"You knew, you just haven't been playing your cards right." She snorted as she turned and looked to him. "You and I and all the others know that the King has been trying to get in the Queen's good graces. He's been trying for years, but while he has Auris to help him you've got me to help you."
She smirked all too proudly. She had every reason since she had the second easiest access to the Queen's room because she had seduced a card soldier that was stationed regularly by the Queen's room. With his help she was able to enter the Queen's room and exchange the cards out. In all honesty if he hadn't had her helping him over the years he more than likely wouldn't have gotten so high in the Queen's affections as he has. . .
"Well you didn't really help me today." He snapped
"That's because I helped you last night in my room." She purred and he hated the fact that there was a tightness in his pants. "I can't help it that you wore me out and it took longer to hide all the love bites with make up."
"Well now that things failed this morning the King has somehow managed to get ahead." He snapped. "Not to mention I have the Wild Card practically breathing down my back just waiting for me to stumble and fall and take my spot!"
"Well, whether you believe it or not I'm pretty sure he's not after your job, he's just trying to get rid of you."
"That doesn't help me any." He growled.
"Just relax, darling." She cooed as she walked up to him. "All we have to do is catch him in the act of doing something strange and just twist the story to something that will most definitely offend the Queen's ears; it'll be simple."
"It won't be easy." He hissed in annoyance and ignored her advances. "Especially since Alice is no in Underland and Frabjous Day is fast approaching."
"You shouldn't try worry about it today." She crooned and used the back of her hand to pet his cheek. "The Queen said you have to stay out of her sight today; allow me to remedy your anger in your hiding."
She pressed her chest up against him and though the offer was greatly tempting to get lost in his urges, she was to big of a distraction when his life was practically ending around him. He couldn't afford any distractions or pleasures right now until he brought the Wild Card down.
"As wonderful as that sounds, it wouldn't do either of us any good." He placed his hands on her shoulders and shoved her off. "No one is supposed to see me and your soldier boy will come looking for you as soon as you get off his shift."
"Don't remind me." She groaned and rolled her eye. "He's far too sweet and clingy and doesn't make enough to supply for my lifestyle as a member of the Queen's Court."
"Neither of us can afford or supply or expensive lifestyle as a member of the Queen's Court." He snorted and rolled his eye.
"Yes, but you make up for everything he lacks." She inched her way closer, trying to tempt him again. "Especially in bed. . ."
"I can't afford distractions, Poitrine." He kept his arm out so she couldn't get close again.
"Fine." She huffed and flicked her fan out annoyed. "What do you need me to do this time?"
JACK
It was quite good to see Stayne stomping away to his room like a bratty child, but he slightly regretted returning to the Castle. He went to three different doors trying to coerce them into opening up to the Anti-Realm and none of them would open for him. He found himself being very drawn towards the Castle and was rewarded by putting the stupid Knave in his place and seeing the King finally having a little success with the Queen. However by stopping things and intervening there in Underland, things were very rough as he returned to the Anti-Realm.
Upon emerging from the Wardrobe a terrible burning smell wafted in the air and he thought something went amiss in the Castle. In the months that he had been there he had never once smelled anything burning from the kitchens; and he hadn't even been able to find the kitchens! He knew that something was off, but he ignored it as he rushed off to his room. All he needed to do was grab the jar of Bandy's Saliva Salve and take it bac to Underland so Alice's arm wouldn't fall off. As he reached the West Wing, he did not anticipated to see smoke coming from his room. Tres and MR. V were standing with fire extinguishers sending the white foam everywhere in his room.
"What the hell is going on?" He demanded as he looked from them to his now white engulfed room.
"There was a fire in your room, Master Jack." Tres tried to answer him as he continued to spray.
"Why was there a fire in my room?" He could only look in his room and tried to figure out what could have even remotely caused it. He didn't have any explosives with him, those were all with the Queen of Hearts. . .
"No bombs, gunpowder, or anything that could possibly go boom in your room?" Mr. V asked as he finished spraying the white foam everywhere.
"None." Jack shook his head. "I have more preference to the traditional blades and axes over guns and bullets."
"Did you have any chemicals or gases in there?" Mr. V's nostrils flared as he pointed to the room.
"None." Jack walked around him and went into his room. The doorframe and most of the walls had received the worst damage, but the bed and window on the far side of the room were just barely untouched by the fire. Everything around him was touched black, smoke burned his nose and the white foam dissipated under his feet. On his bed though there was a red rose with a small red heart attached to it, and he new exactly who did this.
He immediately looked to the shelves and saw that his jars of growing cake, shrining potion, and Bandersnatch Salve were missing. Every single jar was missing.
"Did the Queen of Hearts come by today?" Jack's eyes locked onto the rose and his hands slowly balled into fists.
"She was supposed to." Mr. V confirmed as he too entered the room and looked around. "I had quite a few meetings lined up that ran over and by the time I was able to get to the Queen of Hearts I was informed that she left."
"Well, she was definitely here. . ." Jack frowned as he turned and looked to Mr. V. "She already left her calling card. . ."
"You're sure?" Mr. V's brow furrowed and he blinked as he looked around the room.
"Yes." He nodded his head and his eyes skimmed the floor and he could just barely see that the fire wasn't expanded and was in fact rather controlled. He could see a black point of lines going from the door and expanding out towards the rest of the room in the shape of a giant burned heart. "I've been away for too long. . ."
"Do you plan to go see her, after she did this to your room?" Mr. V asked in surprise.
"This is her mad way of summoning me. . ." He winced at his words. "I received a letter from her this morning, and I had planned on visiting her this afternoon, but it is obvious that she has demanded my presence sooner."
"Are you sure?" Mr. V asked carefully. "You don't have to see her if you don't want to. The room will repair itself and it won't cost you anythin' if that's what you're worried about."
"No, it is all right." He heaved a heavy sigh. "I was due for a visit with her sooner or later. . . I better go now before things get worse. . ."
MR. V
As of late all of the Recruits's Villains were popping in to come check up on them or their progress with questions of the aftereffects of the contract and why so many were missing memories. It was both easy and difficult to explain to them since so any of them were terribly impatient and would not wait their proper turn to actually have a personal conference meeting with Mr. V. The Queen of Hearts was no exception of this and had Ms. Scatter running all over the place bringing her tea and tarts and just entertaining her while Maleficent demanded answers. It had been a chaotic morning after breakfast and by the time lunch had rolled around and the Queen of Hearts was finally admitted for her meeting, Ms. Scatter then informed him that she had simply left. He only wished she had truly left and not caused this amount of damage to the castle!
With the Queen of Hearts being his last meeting before lunch, Mr. V merely thought that he would be able to take and early lunch; imagine his surprise when Tres came barging into his office screaming about a fire that he couldn't put out, and in Jacks' room no less. It took about six fire extinguishers to actually douse out the fire billowing from Jack's room. Mr. V was ready to fix everything and set it all back to order when Jack came running down the hall; it was almost as if he knew, but he didn't.
"What the hell is going on?" He demanded as he looked from them to his now white foam engulfed room. It was for a split second, but Mr. V saw the Heart change to a Diamond on his cheek.
"There was a fire in your room, Master Jack." Tres supplied an answer from behind Mr. V as he too looked on to the Recruit.
"Why was there a fire in my room?" The Diamond changed to Spade and his entire tone seemed to be chilling.
Mr. V had been told by the Queen of Hearts that Jack was a nice boy so long as he was happy but could be terribly mean when he wasn't; especially if he ever went into the Club. Mr. V hadn't believed that until something he was actually able to see the changing of suits on his face. It was an odd sort of magic that happened on his face, it didn't flash or fade or morph, it just immediately changed to whatever emotion he was feeling.
"No bombs, gunpowder, or anything that could possibly go boom in your room?" He asked as he finished spraying the white foam from the extinguisher. Now that the red container was empty, he let it drop to the floor as he studied Jack's ever-changing face.
"None." The Diamond was officially a Spade now.
His words were so earnest, but Mr. V wanted to call him a liar. His room couldn't have just lit up as quickly as it had without some sort of gunpowder or explosives in there.
"I have more preference to the traditional blades and axes over guns and bullets." Seeing as Jack was the one the Queen of Hearts relied on to remove people's heads from their bodies that was very believable for Mr. V.
"Did you have any chemicals or gases in there?" Mr. V tried to sniff the air, just in case, but there was no scent except for the terrible scent of burned carpet stinging his nose. Underland was known for having some strange concoctions from time to time, so he would not be surprised if there was an accidental explosion from something that could have potentially leaked.
"None." Jack's tone was cold and rather harsh as he completely walked around Mr. V and entered his room without so much as a glance at Mr. V. He could only stare at Jack's back as he slowly entered his room and looked around.
There wasn't as much damage as he thought, but then again that could have been the Castle trying to repair itself quickly. There were deep scorch marks on the floors to indicate that it was something rather unnatural that had burned into the floors, but what? Mr. V quietly watched as Jack looked around, teeth grit and the Spade wanting to grow sharper on his cheek somehow.
Standing before his bed, Jack's hands curled into fists and he kept his back to Mr. V as he spoke.
"Did the Queen of Hearts come by today?" It was almost a statement rather than a question.
"She was supposed to." Mr. V confirmed and carefully watched Jack as his shoulders tensed up so tight it looked like he was going to release like a spinning top. "I had quite a few meetings lined up that ran over each other and by the time I was able to get to the Queen of Hearts, I was informed that she left."
"Well, she was definitely here. . . " Jack's hands were clenched even tighter and a wave of animosity washed over the room as Jack turned to Mr. V. A blackish green Club sat on Jack's cheek and for the first time Mr. V found himself rather concerned of upsetting Jack further.
"She already left her calling card. . ." Jack's eyes glowered down at the floors and Mr. V watched as they seemed to be connecting some kind of dots that he was not able to.
"You're sure?" Those brown eyes quickly glowered at him as his question seemed to make Jack angrier.
"Yes." His voice was low, almost like a growl, but it wasn't. It was like an angry child that was having to put up with something. "I've been away for too long . . ."
Somewhere in those brown eyes he was twisted up in knots, trying to untangle them all by himself and only growing more frustrated as he grew more tangled. There was also something, a small line of fear that lined his eyes that was buried beneath all the anger.
"Do you plan to go see her, after she did this to your room?" Mr. V asked slowly, trying to piece together what king of relationship Jack had towards the Queen of Hearts. She was rather mad as of late, just a tip more than others on the crazy scale and had been known for being extra malicious too with her mood swings. Mr. V hated to think that this was a rather common occurrence with the Queen of Hearts and would have to start seeing her as soon as she arrives at the Castle and even escort her out if it meant preventing such things from happening in the future.
"This is her mad way of summoning me. . ." He winced at his words and all at once the Club changed to a Heart again but there was no happiness to be seen in his eyes. Fear, a terrible fear of having to go and see the Queen of Hearts as she summoned him. "I received a letter from her this morning, and I had planned on visiting her this afternoon, but it is obvious that she has demanded my presence sooner."
Just what kind of upbringing did he have if this was her way of summoning him to her?
"Are you sure?" Mr. V hoped he could somehow doubt his decision and just convince him to stay here rather than go visit the Queen of Hearts. "You don't have to see her if you don't want to. The room will repair itself and it won't cost you anythin' if that's what you're worried about."
"No, it is all right." He heaved a heavy sigh and almost seemed to age in doing so. "I was due for a visit with her sooner or later . . . I better go now before things get worse. . ."
Worse? Things could get worse than having someone attempt to burn down his room? Sure, the Queen of Hearts was a Villain, but was she truly that heartless? Mr. V could only stare at Jack's back as he left his room.
So many different emotions had flickered on Jack's face, mostly his cheek changing from Heart to Club to Spade to Diamond to Heart again as he spoke to Mr. V. Jack always seemed to be a happy soul, but him standing in the aftermath of the Queen of Hearts's summoning him he could see just how many things he hid under that smile. Ember Hades had come to him recently asking if everything was all right with Jack, mostly because he was taking their nightmares away so they could all sleep. She was worried just how much sleep he himself was getting. What sort of nightmares did he have?
"Tres." Mr. V called and the Card butler shuffled into the room.
"Yes, Mr. V?"
"Is this something that the Queen of Hearts would do regularly?" He gestured to the room while still staring out the door that Jack had left.
"Well, that's an understatement, sir." He nodded. "The Queen of Hearts is very well known for her temper tantrums and impatience, especially when she doesn't get what she wants as soon as she asks or demands for it."
"So, she would just go around and burn his room to get his attention to get to her faster?" Mr. V looked to Tres.
"No, sir, this is a very minor thing she has done, believe it or not." He grimaced as he spoke. "She's taken off people's heads, people Jack tried to get close too; or worse, tearing the cards into pieces."
"Tearing cards into pieces?"
"Yes, Mr. V." He confirmed and nodded his head, his bulldog like cheeks jiggling as he did so. "You see beheading is a much kinder way to go out when you're a Card. When a Card is torn apart it would be something similar to being drawn and quartered for anyone else who isn't a card."
Mr. V's eyes widened, and his hand went to his throat, mostly to keep himself from vomiting. Being killed while you're alive to only die a slow and painful death that should not be wished on anyone, that was the lengths that the Queen of Hearts was willing to go to get Jack's attention?
"So, when he said that things could get worse. . ." He looked around the room then back up to the Card butler.
"Things could inevitably get worse, Mr. V." He nodded his head had a terribly serious look of terror in his eyes. "The Queen of Hearts is always great as a friend, but it also that much more terrifying since she is vicious when she lashes out."
"Oh, come now, what else do you expect from the Bloody Big Head?" A deep voice chuckled as a blue and gray striped cat suddenly vaporated into their present space.
"You!" Tres gasped and took a step back. "What are you doing here?"
"Good to see you alive and well, Tres." The Cat chuckled before turning his big green eyes over to Mr. V. "Valentino, you look a touch distressed, has something happened?"
"That's rather an understatement, Cheshire Cat." Mr. V nodded and took a step back.
"It would appear as though the Queen of Hearts hasn't changed much, even in her old age." He tutted as he looked around the room. "Still demanding she gets what she wants when she wants it."
"Shall we go to my office?" Mr. V gestured to the door and walked towards it without waiting for the cat's response.
"If you insist." He gave a shrug and followed after Mr. V. His purrs and chuckles were rather loud as they left Jack's room in the West Wing to take the elevator to his office.
"This place is much nicer than I remember it." The Cheshire commented as Mr. V pressed the button to the second floor. "Have you been renovating?"
"There has probably been a change in office since your last visit." He snorted as the doors shut.
"Facilier retired?" He smirked as he looked at Mr. V.
"He finally paid his debts out." Mr. V stretched out his hand before curling his fingers back over the top of the cane.
"How dreadful." He chuckled darkly as the elevator doors dinged open. "He had huge debts."
As soon as the doors opened Ms. Scatter was looking down at her clipboard and walking towards them, ready to enter as they were exiting and failed to see the Cheshire Cat in front of her. She was so focused on the documents on her clipboard that she ran into the Cheshire Cat and shrieked as she jumped back.
"Chess!" Papers went flying around and Mr. V pinched the bridge of his nose at the mess before bending down to help her pick it up
"Ashe Scatter." He chuckled as he floated very close to her face. "You seem to be doing well, now that you've got a better job than being a member of the Court."
"I am." She chuckled nervously and pushed her glasses up on her nose. "Being a secretary is much more fun and relaxing than being a member to the Queen of Hearts."
"I can only imagine." He smirked and his big green eyes rolled over to Mr. V. "You were aware that she worked for the Queen of Hearts, right?"
"We have briefly discussed it." He huffed as he handed Ms. Scatter all of her papers back. "But I don't like to make my employees uncomfortable by discussing their past employment."
"Oh, I see." He chuckled and floated past them towards the door. "I'll see myself in."
M. Scatter accepted the papers that Mr. V handed to her and tried to rearrange them on her arm.
"What's he doing here?" She whispered as she shot a glance at the doors.
"He's here to give me a report." Mr. V shrugged as he watched Ms. Scatter. "He's one of my Neutrals, partners that help give me an insight to what is going on in the Story."
"Like the Magic Mirror?" She huffed some hair out of her face and tucked it back behind her ear. "What is he wanting in exchange?"
"That is still to be determined." He sighed. "He doesn't need anything, nor does he want anything but peace in Underland."
"Well I would believe him if I were you." She readjusted the glasses on her face as she looked to the doors that led to Mr. V's office. "Although he can be a bit pesky at times, he alongside Absalom are the ones that knows Underland the best and what is to happen."
"I will keep that in mind." Mr. V nodded and gave her a once over and frowned at the dark circles under her eyes. "Are you all right?"
"What?" She blinked with a furrowed brow. "Yes, I'm fine, why?"
"Just askin'." He gave a shrug and waited to see if she were to yawn. He almost reached out to touch her cheek but gripped the handle of his cane instead. "Have you been sleepin' well?"
"Normally yes, but not last night." She admitted and almost seemed to grow tired under the question. "I stayed up most of the night doing work."
"And yet you always get onto me for it." He snorted and pinched her nose. "Turn in your work for the day and call it a day. Secretaries don't look good with bags under their eyes."
She blew out her cheeks slightly with a pout, more than likely in taking offense to his words, but she quickly blew it out and turned on her heel to leave. He only smirked after her until she got on the elevator before turning on his heel to enter his office and talk with his feline associate.
Tapping his cane as he made his way to his office, the doors opened by themselves to reveal the Cheshire Cat looking out one of the rainy windows.
"Does it always rain here?" He crooned without looking at Mr. V.
"Just about." He nodded. "Want anythin' to drink?"
"A London Fog if you have it." He floated back over to Mr. V's large desk and to his seat accordingly.
"Only the best." He snapped his fingers and skeleton hands appeared out of nowhere and started preparing the Cheshire's choice of tea.
"It's great to know that when I come here that I will actually be offered a cup of tea rather than a cup of fog from London." He chuckled to himself, his tail flicking behind him.
"So, what can I help you with?" He asked as he prepared himself a French press of coffee.
"As we both can only assume it is about Jack, the Wild Card of Underland."
"What do you mean by wild card?" Mr. V's brow furrowed as he went to his seat with his piping hot cup of coffee and sat down.
"Wild Cards don't play by the same rules as everyone else in Underland, they're almost as dangerous as Absalom and myself and there are laws that outlaw the existence of Wild Cards." The Cat explained as the skeleton hands brought down the cup of tea and set it on the desk for him. "As we speak there is a certain Knave who is quite ready to go on a rampage and will do his very best to try to get rid of Jack."
"Sounds like a jealousy thing." Mr. V commented and enjoyed the richness of the coffee as it touched his lips.
"That's putting it lightly, but it is mostly out of fear and cowardice." The Cheshire Cat confirmed. "Our little Jack has been running around doing what he does best by being wild and free and disturbing the natural order of things within the Story. It's quite entertaining to be honest."
"Then are you here to discuss a problem?" Mr. V set his mug down on the desk and looked at the talking cat in front of him.
"On the contrary." He smirked over his teacup before taking a sip. "I'm here to report how well he's been doing. Things are much more entertaining for me and Jack is slowly but surely opening his eyes up to a life that he never knew he wanted."
"How so?"
"It's none other than Alice, of course." He wiggled smugly in seat and sipped his tea again. "She paints a little bit of color in his life whenever he's near her and he is so fascinated by it that he would almost betray the Queen to seek out all the color in the world."
"Sounds promising." There was something he was missing somehow.
"It is, except that it would seem as though all of Underland is nearly ready to get rid of him entirely."
Ah, there's the missing piece.
"The Caterpillar could explain it better than I can, but in summary, Time has a nasty temper when things don't quite flow the way they are supposed to, and Jack interferes with that very flow of time."
"Is Father Time going to get involved?" A streak of worry ran through him. Father Time was irritable at best but was very determined to allow things to run the way they should.
"No, Absalom has been explaining things to him so he's allowing a momentary pause in things." Cheshire Cat slumped over in his chair and lazily stirred his tea. "But he is demanding to know when things will go back to 'normal'."
"Does he not understand that this is essentially a different timeline altogether?"
"Yes, but like most who are stuck in their ways, he is not a fan of change." He sighed and finished off his tea. "Absalom is trying to smooth things over by blowing around as much smoke as he possibly can to give Jack as much time to figure out what he needs to do, but there's only so much that smoke and mirrors can do."
"Tell him he just has to wait for things to run their course and he will just have to wait until the Story has ended." Mr. V tried to use that as an answer, but the Cheshire Cat shook his head.
"We tried that already, but he's not a fan of stopping a person's time clock for too long because of how it messes with the order of things."
"Father Time sounds like a downright headache." Mr. V groaned and rubbed his temple.
"Don't worry too much, Valentino." The Cheshire Cat spoke reassuringly. "We'll handle it like we always do. Just be warned that Jack's days in Underland are numbered."
"What's that supposed to mean?" His eyes snapped up at the Cheshire Cat's big green ones.
"Only time will tell." He chuckled as he evaporated. "Until next time, Valentino."
Author's Note:
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you're enjoying the story so far!
I know this is a little shorter of a chapter than the previous ones and I promise to make up for it with the following chapter, but I felt I had to end this one where I did in order to have a good flow. And yes, I am pulling Father Time from the live action sequel. The Story and I argued on a few things for that matter, but the Story ended up winning that argument so things sill start getting interesting very soon!
Please remember to leave a comment and review and tell me what you think!
Thanks for coming along the journey with me, stay tuned for more!
Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter