Jackie and Fiore were once again in the waiting room. Jackie had a very strong suspicion it has to do with the Role Holders, considering she was nearly nabbed - and ate sweets while she was out, which was one thing she really didn't want to do. The hazy memory of grabbing Elliot, losing control of herself scared her. She nervously hugged herself, staring to the ground and bouncing her foot. It was only thanks to Fiore that she managed to get out of that situation safely. She trusted Elliot wouldn't have hurt her but, still - it was scary.

"Are you ok, sugar bun?" Fiore asked while nervous himself.

Jackie nervously glanced over to him, keeping quiet before she stood up, walking over to Fiore. He tipped his head up, calmly smiling before she took a seat next to him and kept hugging herself - feeling safer just being in his proximity. He passed his arms over her shoulders and pulled her towards him for a comforting one arm hug. With a brief moment of resistance, she slowly eased into the one armed hug and leaned against him.

"I, c-can't stop thinking, about uh, how I lost control out in public like that," she admitted, gritting her teeth. "Losing control of my body is scary. And that was uh, especially terrifying, to lose control with Elliot right there." She admitted as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and rubbing her face.

Fiore gave a sigh and tightened his hug. "That's why it would be better if you lost control only in private, right?" He tried to joke but seeing her so distressed, he kissed her head. "Besides, I don't think you are ready for a trio, much less with creatures as unstable as the demented red knight and the killing cat."

"They were there?!" Jackie gasped, horrified. "D-did I go grabbing at them? Did they go grabbing at me?!" She asked, suddenly much more horrified. Now that he mentioned it, she could vaguely remember Boris - but had no recollection of Ace suddenly popping up.

"the knave did." Fiore poked her forehead. "They got excited in their murderous ways because the cat sniffed that we've been randy and then they wanted to take advantage of your drugged state."

"D-did they hurt you?" She asked, looking over him before gently touching his leg and arm to see if she could see any bullet holes in him. "You weren't hurt, right?" She asked, looking up into his eyeless face.

Fiore gave a very nervous smile. "I wasn't; somehow." He laughed, looking away. "I'm quite skilled myself."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Good, that's good. Was anyone hurt?" She asked, suspecting civilian casualties at the very least. Honestly, the people here were way too trigger happy.

"No one from the lullaby." Fiore's ears flickered and his tail wagged a bit, cheered up at that though.

"Good, that's good then," she breathed. Jackie dropped her head into her hands with a loud groan. Shit. "And they uh, all know about the drug now? Boris? Ace? E-Elliot too?"

"Yeh, probably all the other holders too by now. The cat is known to be a gossiper and obviously the hare would have share it with the hatter…the knave is more random, so either the clock tower and castle know or not but I would bet they do."

The young woman groaned into her hands, depressed. No doubt Boris and Ace would try something funny to her on purpose - Elliot would probably forget about it and make her eat another sweet treat without thinking about it. She'd have to make sure to keep her mouth shut with him anywhere nearby. With any of them nearby.

" … thank you, Fiore, f-for helping me." She thanked, nervous. "I know, uh, I can be a stubborn pain in the ass sometimes, but, I really do appreciate your help."

"Sure thing, cinnamon roll. I hope you kiss me better tonight as a reward." He loosened his grip and rested his back on the couch. "And you need lessons on how to avoid holders. Desperately so."

She reached up, gently holding his hand over her shoulder to keep his arm around her. Fiore perked up, seeing her ears burning red with a blush. "I-I will."

Fiore grinned and took the chance to give her a kiss on the cheek and then some small butterfly kisses before reaching her mouth. Jackie nervously frowned, pecking him on the lips quickly before looking away. "More than kisses, actually."

"Before you continue with the physical exchanges of affection … you should head inside." Aegis, taking the form of a bat dropped from the ceiling. "You can come in now. She has calmed down enough." Aegis flapped around and behind them, as if to prevent possible escapes.

Jackie heavily sighed as they both stood up and headed inside of the room. The lights were entirely out, leaving the only source of light to be Aria's eyes glowing yellow and a very deep frown on her face.

There was silence for an entire couple minutes as the tension brewed.

Jackie was very quiet and wholly intimidated. Oh yeah, she was pissed off alright. She glanced away, trying to avoid guilty eye contact with the angry woman.

Aria's inhuman digital tone finally cut the silence. "Fiore. Give me your report. I already heard the report from the hidden escorts and from the personnel of the saloon."

"Yes, my lady." Fiore's tail went between his legs and ears flattened down as he began giving his detailed report, including the details of how Jackie got affected by the drugged in very specific ways and how the holders tried tot ake advantage of it.

Jackie's face burned bright, nervously sealing her lips together. That was so damn awkward! She'd have to send Elliot an apology gift later; and give apology gifts to the Lullaby members involved … and keep a squirt bottle on hand for that damn cat if he tried anything funny.

The more Aria heard, the more stiff she became, her eyes turning to a red glow. The Berceuse finally turned towards the third foreigner and she sneered. "You are a fucking idiot and a damn imbecile, you stupid asshole!"

Jackie flinched "yeah, ok, she deserved that. "I, look!" Jackie stammered, trying to defend herself, "I didn't think he'd throw a stupid candy ball into my mouth!"

A cold wind started from nowhere hit Jackie as Aria cut her out. "It's not all about you, idiot. You endangered Fiore and the other lullaby members besides yourself!"

Jackie sucked in a breath to speak but stopped short, holding her tongue for a moment. She really did; there were a few times where she was getting nervous with how Elliot was looking at Fiore and that's not including the members who were probably following them from afar. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to endanger anyone. Really." The woman faltered, feeling very nervous.

Darkness began crawling around Aria and towards Jackie. "Your sheer stupidity endangered MY family! In the contract says clearly that you should NOT endanger what the other values!"

"I-I know, I know! I didn't intentionally put them in danger. I-I thought it would be fine since it was Elliot. It's not like I planned to spend too much time with him or anything - she couldn't really talk her way out of not going.

Darkness rose in front of Jackie and a hand made of shadows slapped her across the face. "Fucking selfish ignorant imbecile! That holder dragged you somewhere against your will, forced you to eat something when you said no, more than once, and then put FIore in a vulnerable position where he would have had to reveal himself and die to get you away from the holders or be killed just because he was with you. Even if the escorts had wanted to help, they would have had to engage with the hatters and wouldn't have been able to arrive to support Fiore in time."

"I was keeping an eye on him. Out of the other Role Holders, Elliot does respect some faceless. I tried to keep the situation calm by going with Elliot because I didn't want to set him off by not going with him since, honestly, I've never said no before for sweets. Plus, I knew he w-wouldn't kill someone I liked." She said, being more hopeful than she was honest with that last one.

Aria slapped Jackie again on the other side. "That a holder is a holder of those holders. He would have immediately killed FIore, and are you forgetting you are a foreigner? They can't interfere with your wishes. Your weakness to say no dragged you into that situation. OH, and did you notice how Elliot treated poor Fiore? He was in mortal peril. All because you couldnt stay still for a couple days and then because you damn couldn't say no to stupid holders. Your stupidity and weakness almost cost me some family members!" For good measure, Aria slapped Jackie again.

"OW! Stop hitting me! Contract!" Jackie shouted, holding her sore face. "No hitting more than once, even when upset - two at max, open palm!" She reminded the woman, protectively holding her face.

"Were it not for the contract I might kill you myself!" Aria growled and barely refrained from slamming Jackie back against a wall or rip her limbs off.

"I know that but the the contract says no! Look, I'm sorry - I am. I won't endanger them again," she promised. Next time she did something stupid like that, she'd make sure to send the Lullaby members away. At least they'd be safe then.

"There shouldn't even be a consideration for a next time!" Aria took a couple steps back ."And then of course there is the matter that there wasnt just 1 fucking holder but 3! including the cat and the stupid unstable knight. And now they know she is affected by a weird drug."

Jackie paused. She got her there. "Uh, yeah, no, I totally lost control at that point." She nervously frowned. She really didn't like the fact they knew about the drug in her system now.

"No shit." Aria huffed. "Now that you aren't a prude, rather than trying to compete about who ends your prudeness, they will just try to outright get it going with you, and you suck at saying no…or they will get you some candy and take advantage."

Jackie was embarrassed and mad - but she messed up, so she kept quiet. "I'm sorry - I really am," Jackie heavily sighed. "I didn't mean for that to happen but even so, I endangered the Lullaby - I'm sorry." She genuinely apologized.

Aria turned to look at Fiore, who had remained quiet and in place. "Fiore, did the holders say anything suspicious?"

Fiore warmly smiled, slightly wagging his tail. He felt terribly useless being unable to avoid the situation with the Role Holders but having Lady A speak to him and be so worried and angry for him and the other notes meant the world to him - he certainly felt beloved. "The cat mentioned he could smell that Jackie has been mingling with someone and they know it's not a holder. The knight also said that he killed Joker - and the way he worded it makes me think it was recently."

Jackie twitched. "W-what? Ace Ace killed Joker?" She questioned, stunned - and not noticing the look of murderous intent on Aria's face.

Aria's eyes narrowed and darkness dropped down to go and concentrate over her to form her whole gear. She turned around and began walking. "Jackie, you own FIore and the notes that were watching your back a big apology."

"Y-yeah. I'll apologize to the Lullaby members who went." Jackie assured Aria, nervous to see such a murderous glare in her eyes.

"Fiore. Continue with your mission and make sure she doesnt do anything stupid. If she tries, call for reinforcements as needed." Aria kept walking and crossed a portal of darkness, disappearing from the room.

Jackie nervously frowned. "I'm uh, very concerned as to what Aria is planning to do." She admitted. That look of murder in her eyes made the young woman think Aria planned to kill someone - which scared her quite a bit.

"Don't worry. If my lady requires assistance she will mobilize as many resources as needed. " Fiore's tail began wagging more as she looked at Jackie. "And now, alfajor…shouldn't you be thinking on your apologies?"

Jackie nervously swallowed, rubbing her head. "Uh, I uh, yeah, I'll sh-show you my apology tonight … s-so, could you tell me what other Lullaby members were there when the incident happened?" She asked, unable to look the man in the eyes.

Fiore's tail tensed before it slowly began to wag, quickly gaining momentum. "Of course." He grinned, gently taking her hand as he guided her out of the room.

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.

Aria's blood burned as she prowled the Circus, searching for White to check on him since it was time he regerated and to confirm if it had been that stupid knave the one who dared kill him. Damn that knight - he not only killed White but he also freed the cat who should be dead right now. Only the damn executioner could have gotten the keys for that cell. Not only that, but there was also a report that he had killed quite a few of her notes at the museum.

As she contemplated on how to kill him, Julius entered the Circus. The mortician was determined to get an audience with Joker - at least one of them - and learn what was going on. He had noticed that with some of the clocks sent to him from Joker's territory, that they were different. These ones held a … different energy in their clocks, and Joker always negotiated for those clocks to be repaired first.

Aria came around from a tent and saw the clockmaker directly across from her. She cussed mentally for not having her detection perimeter on. She stared, her eyes getting the red glow of the combat mode as darkness began gathering around her and boiling up.

Julius paused, looking back as Aria stopped short, glaring at Julius with a deadly gleam in her eyes. The mortician was at a loss for words for a brief moment. "Aria?" He questioned, turning towards her in shock.

Aria raised her hand and black stalactites rose from the ground, startling the man as the cones twisted and turned, attempting to impale Julius. The mortician leapt out of the way, stunned as various shambling fanged mouths came to life from the stalactites, trying to bite him. With quick feet, the mortician dodged the attacking black blobs and attempted to make a run for it - only to be blocked off by a sudden wall of tall black stalagmites.

Aria quickly set to move in range to shoot the intruder, grabbing a couple charms from her bracelet and transforming them into UZI's submachine guns, immediately shooting in auto mode to corner the damn holder and either fill him with lead of push him towards her darkness attacks.

Julius quickly ducked behind a tent and before Aria could follow, the damned knight with the timing of a Mary Sue stepped out from behind the same tent that Julius had ducked behind.

"Wow, it must be destiny! Hello, my lady. I was wondering who was chasing Julius! Now we have reunited the three of us!" The knave came out, using his sword to deflect the barrage.

Aria moved sideways and let darkness take her UZIs and keep shooting while she grabbed more charms. The Barrier that tried to eat Julius moved in front of her to block whatever Ace tried as she tossed some grenades towards them.

Julius sprinted away from the physical manifestation of darkness, trying his best to avoid being consumed. He did not bother to take out his gun - not that it would have much effect on a monstrosity such as this. "Ace, I'll call the elevator!"

Ace wristlet, looking at the very fun encounter but also pulled back to protect the fleeing mortician."Hey, Julius! If I kill her you will forgive me, right? It's on the rules to kill a foreigner infected by the madness, no?"

"Get away from her!" Julius thundered, rushing trying to get the elevator to come up.

Aria jumped back and began mumbling something before she broke into a full out melody of dissonant voices. Darkness from all shadows around began being pulled towards her along any metal contraptions and machines or apparatuses that dissolved into dark masses, covering her figure and reforming over into moving molten darkness full of artificial eyes, fanged jaws and spiked tentacles with hooks and barbs.

Julius staggered back from behind the tent he was hiding behind, horrified as Ace came and stepped between the monster and Julius.

"Wow! She learned a cool trick." Ace made sure to turn one sword into his assault rifle but keep the other blade ready. "Maybe she learned it from the Jabberwock."

The maddened monstrosity began expanding and consuming reality around it. Tossing occasional big boulders towards her prey or smaller spikes as well.

"GODDAMMIT, WOMAN! Don't eat the fucking Circus!" Black's voice thundered as he ran in from out of nowhere, immediately setting himself up in a position to stand between the great monstrosity and the stupid pair. "Fuck off out of here, you damn knight! "He then turned to she shambling darkness. "And you, stop warping my territory!"

Ace saw his chance and kicked the warden forward. The warden stumbled and was immediately caught by a wave of darkness that pulled him towards the main mass and held him among tendrils all carefully and protectively. He fought against the hardly corporeal beast, thrashing about with his whip. "STOP, DAMMIT! You're warping my fucking territory!" Black thundered in a panic, seeing the edges of the neary tents turning hazy. She was beginning to infect the damn circus with madness!

As Julius fumbled over himself, he saw the elevator rise up and open - with White inside of the elevator, smiling and looking as pleased as one could be with a monstrosity so close by. "Oh dear, some fun things have been happening while I was away," White laughed as he trotted out of the elevator and headed over to the monster. "Aria, my dear! Have you missed me?" He asked, making sure to set himself between Aria and the elevator

Ace -grabbed Julius and jumped in the elevator, taking the opportunity to sprint over to escape.

The big monstrosity picked up White to make sure he was ok - and possessively kept hugging Black too. The darkness began stopping its pursuit.

Black tapped the tendrils with his riding crop - light but hard enough to get her attention. "Stop warping my damn territory! It's going to take a fuckton of Time Changes to right the damage you already did!" Black angrily yelled at her.

Aria began letting darkness retreat away from her and then separated from her to create a great dragon, leaving her with her normal attire but with tendrils of darkness still protruding from her and retaining their grip on the Jokers.

"Aria, my dear, I've missed you. I know you'd missed me." White gently spoke as Black had his eyes glued to the damage done to the territory - horrible mangling of their territory from the madness. His shoulders slouched, stunned.

"BITCH! I can't believe you fucking," Black trailed off, holding his head and trying to calm himself down - but he was infuriated. "This is a breach of our fucking friendship! You consumed part of the fucking territory! I told you not to do anything batshit crazy!"

The foreigner's expression was frozen as she breathed hard. She was not relenting this time and madness was clearly affecting her as much as she had been using it to mold the darkness. Without moving her lips, the sound of her voice came from the speakers on her neck. "Aegis! Go deliver my displeasure! Tear and destroy that damn tower!"

"NO!" Black smacked her butt with a firm slap. "Listen to me, you madness-happy bitch! Leave that shit alone and stop fucking warping Wondrland! Do you have any idea what a pain in the fucking ass that is for me?! BITCH! I'm going to have to go rake myself over the fucking coals to try and contain that shit!"

Darkness swirled around her as she hardly reacted the screaming scolding from the warden. It was clear this was the madness about to overwhelm her. The big Aegis dragon flapped his wings once to cause a wind hit, but his owner remained hardly moving.

"Perhaps you can take my user to the prison to help calm her down and smooch her while I go to kill the ones who distressed her and the tower and such? Please? And have a nice evening." Aegis then stretched itself and took off, flying in the direction of the Clock tower's territory.

White's eyes widened at the news of imminent destruction of the Clock Tower and the thousands of clocks and quickly took both of him and Aria into the prison. Aria was clearly distressed and only half there, so White pushed her into his other half. "Have as many hard drinks as you'd like to get comfortable and cuddly. I'll be back soon," he quickly spoke before he rushed out to call the elevator so he can arrive to the Clock Tower.

"Fucking bitch, making me work my ass off - you're a real pain in the ass," Black hissed, holding up his hand and making a bottle of liquor appear - the strongest they had at the Circus. He popped it open, first taking a gulp himself before he gave it to her. She weakly held the bottle and tipped her head back, gulping down a swig herself.

She loudly swallowed and sighed as he pushed it against her chest to make her drink more. "You fucking bitch - you're really trying to kill yourself after all teh shit we've been through? And then you went and ripped my fucking territory apart. Bitch," Black hissed, knowing her mind was all kinds of fucked up right now. He was grateful she was back in her regular body instead of being a terrifying looking abomination.

Aria closed her eyes and drank some more. "Black…I'm sorry..let's just get drunk..really drunk."

"I'm fucking you up the ass exclusive tonight. Warp and make my territory go mad - that's bullshit," he growled, gritting his teeth and took another hard gulp. He was going to get so damn wasted and won't stop screwing this psycho until she she was back to her sanity.

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MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMW

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White tapped his whip against his hand, impatient as the elevator dinged. Once it opened wide enough for him to fit, he sprinted through it and rushed up through the Clock Tower. A fast peek outside revealed a black draconic beast in the distance swiftly approaching as White sprinted into the main workshop - nearly right into the tip of a sword.

Joker lurched back and hit the blade with his whip, deflecting it for a mere moment as he came face to face with the knight.

Ace kept his sword straight. "Mr. Joker wants to die again, mmhh? Are you here for a social visit?"

"Replacing the mortician would be more trouble than it's worth. We best leave now, that includes you." White started before the entire tower shuddered.

Julius leapt up from his desk, gripping the wood before the ceiling of the tower was knocked off. Heavy stone slabs dropped over them all as White dodged the lethal blocks. Ace cut through one just about to hit Julius, looking up at the mighty looking jabberwocky clinging to the side of the building and peering down at the Role Holders. The dragon seemed different, more sleek in design. The knave of hearts kept his sword at the ready, staring at the beast while Julius stayed behind him.

Aegis lifted his head slightly, garbling his words for a brief moment before forming coherent words. "Hello And Good Day, I Come With A Message. I'm Not Sure What The Message Is, But She Is Angry And Wants You Dead." The dragon spoke before digging his claws into the wall and tearing it down, making enough room for his foot to perch himself onto the main floor of the Clock Tower - which somehow managed to stay up.

Julius staggered back, stunned to see the jabberwocky - sentient enough to speak and heading right for the tower.

"Careful, Aegis." White spoke as he quickly stepped between the knight and the draconic creature, keeping his whip unraveled and ready. "You will upset your master if you harm me."

"That may be possible, however some destruction needs to be issued." Aegis answered as his tail swung around and made the tower shudder again - which remained standing despite the damage done closer to the base.

Julius's eyes widened, horrified. "Not the clocks!" Julius was ready to fight as well, shifting his clock into a pistol. (tiny ass pistol lmao)

"You are actually helping fight, Julius?" Ace seemed incredulous for a moment, then he chuckled despite the circumstances. "I don't think that small pistol will be of any use." He didn't even bother changing his sword into a rifle. the sword would do more damage if he managed to hit…and if he didn't get corroded and infected while doing so. "And to think that Joker, of all people, is helping too."

"More so lending my assistance. Destroying so many clocks would be against the rules we adhere to." White spoke, ready to lash out against the beast if he had to.

"If That Is An Inconvenience Before The Destruction, I Can Aid With Such Too." Aegis slammed his tail forward and it detached, melting into a liquid wave of darkness. The wave crashed, flooding the room and parting to make room for the Role Holders. They watched as all of the clocks began to move and shift into the sludge-like substance, flowing out of the tower's injuries. "The Clocks Will Be Placed A Safe Distance From The Tower. My Orders Are To Destroy The Tower, Not The Clocks. They Are Still Needed For Her Other Plans." He spoke, letting the clocks out safely into big piles.

"Let's negotiate." Julius spoke up to the beast - hoping it was just sentient enough. "Clock repairs will move ever slower with the tower destroyed. Impeding the repairs of clocks is against the rules."

"Only Permanent Prevention Methods Are Against The Rules - Not Temporary. Or Those That Damage The Clocks, Since I Took Them Out Then There Is No Problem And I Am Free To Deliver The Message.'' Aegis used its tail to destroy the bridge connecting to one of the side towers, flinging heavy pieces of stone into the nearby houses. "We Are Not Subjected To The Rules In Any Case."

"Injuries to the territory itself will injure the territory. Do you plan to infect the Clock Tower with madness, as you have at the Circus?" Julius questioned as he raced to try and think of a solution to this oddity of a situation.

Aegi's created an extra head from his check and it moved to bite forward when he saw the knave ready to strike. "That Wasn't Me And That Was Your Fault. So The Least You Could Do Would Be To Accept Being Crushed. It Is Your Fault."

"My fault? How is this my fault?" Julius questioned, wracking his brain for any wrongdoing on his part to receive this sort of abuse to his territory.

"Managing a deal with the beast won't prove too useful - take the elevator, Julius." White ordered, keeping himself firmly between the mortician and Aegis at every step.

"Maybe it was one of your plans, Mr. Joker? You clearly know this dragon by name." Ace was ready with both of his hands holding swords, ready to strike down Joker again. However, Julius was too near and that beast clearly had his new head and eyes on him.

"And I know it seeks your heads. Be grateful that him destroying the two of you would only further degrade someone dear to me if I let him have at it." White spoke, still keeping his whip at the ready towards the black monster as he stepped in the way of either draconic head.

"I Can Make More Heads, You Know?" Aegis watched them slowly move, keeping his glare on the mortician in particular - but could not make a lunge without White getting in the way. "Just Let Me Maul Them And Bite Them In Halves. That Will Soothe Her Enough For Their Most Recent Transgression."

"Risk it if you wish." White threatened, fully prepared to throw himself into the jaws of the beast should he try.

"The Clocks May Be Needed, But The Knight And The Clockmaster Are Liabilities. You Know It. And They Saw Her. They Will Hunt Her Down Again." The beast growled, making another head come out.

"Attacking them would be a breach, Aegis, given the alliance between our territories." White threatened as Ace and Julius quickly headed into the elevator, pressing the button to flee from the tower.

"It's A Flimsy Alliance, They Aren't United To Your Territory." The dragon stopped and looked pouty.

"An alliance, nonetheless." Julius assured the beast, looking ready to flee deeper into the tower.

The dragon huffed, childishly even. "The Knave Isn't Part Of It. I Can Still Kill That One, Right?"

Ace hummed, retaining his stance. "But I am the executioner. I am allied to the prison."

"You heard him," White smiled before glancing back at the other Two Role Holders. "Take the elevator and go." He ordered as both Role Holders made haste to the elevator. Aegis growled, dipping his head forward but White positioned himself to be the first one bitten if Aegis tried to attack.

"They Need To Be Removed. They Saw Her And Some Of What She Cna Do. They Will Chase Her, Hunt Her, And Try To Kill Her." Aegis retracted the additional heads. "Can You Make Alliances With Their Replacements? And The Knave Is Double The Danger. He Is Allied To The Castle."

"Creating new alliances and waiting for a new Role Holder to settle into their role will take time - time I don't want to expend needlessly."

They remained in the standstill until the elevator had left, making Aegis shake his head in annoyance.

Once the elevator safely left, Aegis huffed, turning his slightly glare back to the Joker stopping him from completing his objective for the moment. "I Will Be Telling My User That You Stopped Me From Destroying Them."

"First allow me to restore her sanity. She is in dire need of it." White calmly smiled, setting his whip away.

"Yes Indeed." Aegis huffed again,"But I'm Still Destroying The Tower."

"As long as you do not destroy the clocks, you may proceed to your clock's content." White assured the jabberwocky imitation.

"I Don't Have a Clock." The A.I. puffed its chest once more and twitched in place, ready to resume his destructive endeavors.

"Well, regardless, before you finish your destruction, let me out of the tower." White spoke, turning away and heading towards the stairs.

Agis melted into darkness again to carefully grab Joker in a claw and then set him down and outside safe and sound on the ground.

White held onto the beast's claw before he was gently set on the ground. He smiled, righting his outfit before he trotted away, not bothering to look back at the beast ripping and tearing the tower apart.

.

.

White breathed hard as he ran through the forest, heading back to the Circus through as many shortcuts as he knew. He had to get back and help stabilize Aria; there was no time to waste and there was no time to prepare those charts and the business case of putting his connector on her, showing her why it was to her benefit to take their connector.

He shakily breathed. At least she and Black were both with each other at the moment so she should be wasted with Black well on the way. White brilliantly grinned, keeping up the pace. To have such a prize as Aria was enviable - and he wanted to capture her fully and completely.

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.

Fiore was happily wagging his tail thinking about how hilarious it was when he left Jackie apologizing to the other notes. He snorted a laugh, finding it hilarious how most members asked for an 'I owe you' at a later date - the look on Jackie's face was cute.

For the moment, she was safe and sound in his apartment above the Royal Staircase while he came to the amusement park to coordinate and lead an important operation of misdirection. They had a well trained professional actress simulating herself being Jackie going around the park doing small meaningless repairs and check ups here and there to make everyone think that the third foreigner was in this territory. So far it was working perfectly.

The actress was using Jackie' working clothes that held her scent and a cap, besides professional makeup to simulate Jackie's face, including a kind of prosthetic mask to simulate eyes. At a distance and without a long glace it perfectly did it's work and the actress was moving towards 'closed off' rides and areas anyways, keeping away from people but letting herself be seen moving around.

As Fiore monitored the situation from afar, watching the disguised faceless move to the next location, he saw a note approaching from a side ally, unscheduled - meaning something was wrong. Fiore was tense and ready for something to happen, suspiciously flicking his ears around and not smelling anything immediately out of the ordinary.

"Fiore. The March Hare has entered the Park and is looking for the foreigner engineer." The note reported, making Fiore's ears pull back in disapproval. "Just him - no other faceless with him. He's already crossed paths with the Marquis and is still prowling around looking for her." He warned, nervously wetting his lips. "He's still around the Marquis's place, last I looked."

"I don't like that," Fiore frowned. "Warn the others and look for undercover Hatters. I will go run interference with the Role Holder to slow him down." He ordered before he headed off towards the last known location.

Now, what would the March Hare want with Jackie? Maybe to force her to eat more sweets? His ears pulled back, unhappy with the thought as he picked up the pace. The note dipped and weaved through every shortcut he knew, keeping an ear out for whispers around the March Hare and trying to direct himself accordingly.

While heading there, Elliot suddenly landed right beside Fiore, making him jolt while the hare had a beady eye on him. He stood up to his full height, standing over Fiore as he studied the card, flicking his ear. "You're the card who was with Jackie earlier." He noted. The March Hare looked Fiore up and down, studying him. "Do you know where she is? I want to talk to her." He asked, stepping closer.

Fiore tucked his tail between his legs and took a step back, feigning fear for the Role Holder before him. "I-I'm sorry sir." He raised his hands defensively. "The lady foreigner said she was angry and didn't want to talk."

The March Hare sighed, slouching his shoulders. "I don't blame her for that. I'm here to make it up to her."

The maned wolf put a Fiore naive and clueless look, the one of a recently replaced card. "H-How, sir? She was really upset."

Elliot glanced back at Fiore, bothered - Fiore didn't think he'd answer but the hare just heavily sighed. "I want to apologize and I'm here to give her the antidote to the drug she took."

"There's an antidote! May I see it?" Fiore asked with a happy smile and tail wag; then retook his act as if he hadn't been aware of what he was doing. "I'm sorry! B-but I was told to not let anyone on about Miss Jackie. She was upset, but if there was some cure to help," he made it look as if he was incredibly conflicted.

Elliot rolled his eyes, reaching into his jacket. For a brief moment he thought he was about to be shot, but instead, the hare pulled out a vial. "This is the antidote. The drug was potent and," catching himself talking too much, he just sighed and put the vial back into his coat pocket. "Whatever. This is the cure, and I'm trying to find Jackie to give it to her."

Fiore nodded, taking note of the pocket he put the vial in. "Miss Jackie is in the park - somewhere, maybe fixing some rides. Once we returned, she said she needed to cool down and told us to not follow her. I last saw her heading for the ferris wheel that is being replaced." Fiore explained, acting very demure in his disposition.

Elliot's finger twitched towards his pistol - but the hare's hesitation remained before he turned away, deciding not to waste time with the card.

Without a hitch in breath, Fiore used his time skip. He rushed forward and quickly reached into Elliot's jacket pocket, taking the vial before returning behind the hare and standing just as he had been. Once the time skip ended, the hare paused - making Fiore a tad nervous before the Role Holder continued forward and trotted off. The note stayed for a moment longer, as if still scared from the encounter, before calmly walking away as any normal card would do.

Once far enough away, and once he was sure that the sounds would not reach the holder's hypersensible ears, Fiore used his time skip again, just to get more distance on the march hare in case the holder reached down and found the vial gone.

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Fiore took the vial to the Lullaby hideout, heading to the lab portion of the facility in Clover. With the potential cure now in hand, Fiore's tail couldn't stop wagging. If this really was the cure, they wouldn't have to worry about having a repeat of what happened. Once inside, he found one of the scientists who looked up from her work to see Fiore enter.

"Why hello, Fiore," she greeted with a warm smile, turning to the card, "what brings you here to the lab today?"

"Hello, mooncake!" Fiore greeted the woman with a flirty smile. "Of course I come to see your dashing smile and to hear your beautiful voice."

The card laughed a bit in a giggly tone. "Of course you do, but besides that, surely you have something else for us?" She fanned herself. "Did Gowland develop something you managed to steal?"

"More like I managed to take a little vial from the hatters. I would like to confirm the components and the substance first, like always." Fiore hummed, leaning closer.

A dark figure's head popped up taking what form of a hedgehog, eagerly tipping its head. "What components?" Aegis questioned.

"Greetings, Aegis." Fiore widely smiled, thrilled to see the great avatar was there. "The March Hare came to the Amusement Park," Fiore began, earning quite a few sudden turned heads from the nearby notes,making him enjoy the attention and be more dramatic. "He came claiming he had a cure for Jackie's drug and I convinced him to show me this vial." FIore took out the stolen bottle and raised it for everyone to see. "You know, a naive and recently replaced card, act." he laughed a bit. "Then I took the vial from his coat." Fiore triumphantly posed. "But obviously no one is just going to take a holder's word so easily, so I wanted to check the components to verify his honesty." The chief operative for the amusement park gloated a bit before presenting the socalled cure to the midnight avatar.

The hedgehog took a drop of the vial's contents, pausing before looking to another note. "Please bring me a sample of Jackie's(?) infected blood."

A note quickly took a vial from a cabinet and handed it to the hedgehog, watching it struggle to open the top with the insufficient stuffy arms, before the note popped the top off for him. Aegis reached up, taking the blood sample and sucking it into his body for analysis.

Fiore and some other curious faceless watched as the AI computed the elements within the vial, testing it against a sample of Jackie's blood. The hedgehog held completely still through the process, staring off into space while his body continued to go through databases of known substances for matching components, but due to internet centrifugation, the little hedgehog was vibrating.

"You say it was the March Hare who had the cure?" A note asked Fiore, curious.

"Yes," Fiore confirmed, taking the moment to chat while Aegis analyzed the potential antidote.

"Curious that the Hatter Mansion would have a cure for her drug so readily available." She noted as the other notes tipped their heads towards Fiore, curious. "Almost as if they knew the source of where the drug came from, if not are producing it themselves."

"That might be worth looking into. Possibly?" Another note smiled.

Another note crossed her arms. "Given the effects I can imagine various of their uses for this. High quantities are probably a punishment. Smaller quantities could be more tortuous for interrogations and manipulation, in even smaller quantities could be a party drug too."

"Then we should start manufacturing it and the cure. Perhaps if we sell the cure with a preventive component then we can sell it better to the hatter's enemies." The first note nodded and the others agreed.

Fiore's ears perked up as a little bell was heard and Aegis finally moved his head to look at Fiore, his body stopping the shaking. "Analysis complete. It is a viable cure."

Fiore widely grinned, thrilled. "Wonderful! Let us inform Lady A so she may decide when to give it to Jackie," Fiore excitedly praised, wagging his tail in delight - and remembering to take a bit of the cure for himself too. It was rather wretched how he, a chef, couldn't eat anything he cooked.

"You can proceed to head back and give the cure to her now." Aegis spoke, shrugging.

Fiore's tail stopped wagging almost immediately. "Wouldn't Lady A want to experiment with the cure first?" He asked, sounding troubled. "I mean, she probably wants to experiment with it."

"I already have the formula after analyzing that sample. We can now create more and improve the formula of both the drug and the cure. Besides, due to the agreement with the third foreigner, promt aid should be given if possible after other considerations had been taken." The little hedgehog shrugged and stretched. "Not to mention that the state the drug causes is quite inconvenient and opens vulnerabilities for both of you as much as it is for the teams watching over you."

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With a chipper skip to his step, Fiore headed to his apartment. He had the cure for Jackie and Giorgio and Fabio would be coming soon with his little apology gift basket for Jackie to give him. His tail wagged like crazy, greatly looking forward to tonight with his face flushed. Fiore trotted up the stairs of the bakery, happily unlocking the door to his apartment before stepping inside.

Once inside, he set the groceries down and spotted Jackie sitting on the couch and reading - bored to death. She tipped her head back and huffed. "Fiore, I'm dying in here. It's boring. I'm going to be bored to death. Also, I fixed your heater because it was making some noise." She informed him, still huffing.

"Hello, donut." Fiore cheerfully greeted as he took in the bags of groceries and set them on the counter. "I got a lot - I plan on making some empanadas for entry, feijoadafor stew, roasted bananas as side dish… ceviché too, tostadas de ropa vieja, perhaps some asado and maybe even some tamales."

"I don't know what most of those are, but it sounds good." She chuckled. Jackie rolled off the couch and rifled through the bags, pulling out some ingredients - all before sighing. "I wonder how this will mess with me," she frowned, poking the food and hoping not for something sweet again. Or maybe yes, something sweet, so she could get through tonight without dying of embarrassment. "Let me help you cook - and maybe we can make something simple but sweet for dessert?" She suggested.

"That would depend - are you planning on letting the sweets do the apologizing for you tonight?" Fiore teasingly grinned, able to see right through her.

Jackie nervously smiled, caught between what to do before sighing, "yes, ok fine, I was absolutely planning that. I'm not very good at it," she frowned, nervous, "I'm nervous."

"No need to be so nervous. I," Fiore grinned and his tail began wagging happily. He was going to tell her about the cure but he thought of something fun. He'd sneak it in so later when she was hot and bothered, it would be all her, and not the cure. "I like you a lot and I think we know each other quite well by now. So let me prepare you something very delicious tonight." Fiore right off kissed her. She twitched, nervous and pecked him on the lips back. "You can help sort the bags. Once we're full, I leave myself in your hands." He grinned in eagerness.

Jackie nervously smiled, fiddling with the handles of the bags. "Ok," she shyly spoke, glancing away.

While Fiore got to chopping up vegetables, Jackie began putting the groceries away. While in the back, there was a knock on the door. Fiore perked up, listening closely and hearing the familiar patterned knock. With an eager grin he bound over to the door with his tail wagging like crazy upon seeing Giorgio and Fabio on the other side.

"Giorgio! Fabio! Hello. And that basket?" The maned wolf excitedly greeted, taking a peek to see what was in the goody basket.

"Got you some fun stuff." Giorgio grinned as he handed the basket off to the note, watching him admire the contents of the basket.

"We're also here to help if you want us too." Fabio offered with a cool smile. "Lady A told us to be ready to assist you and help teach the foreigner - but, the decision is up to you."

Fiore gasped, excited with his tail wildly wagging at the thought. So much fun to be had! He tipped his head away, though, thinking about it. Tonight was supposed to be entirely her apologizing to him. Would she accept others joining? She's rather shy already; and he didn't want to risk scaring her off and locking herself in the bathroom. He heavily sighed as his shoulders slumped. "I can't. She's not ready yet."

"Ah, too bad." Giorgio shrugged and passed a few bills to Fabio. "Told you."

"I was hopeful she was ready. I guess not," Fabio shrugged, seeming a little disappointed. "If that's so, take this too - I was going to use it if you had let us join." He said, handing off a couple items straight out of a sex-shop's mechanical toys section.

"Ready for what?" Jackie called from the other room in alarm.

"Nothing, sugar drop!" Fiore called before pushing Fabio and Giorgio out with a cheeky grin. "Another time, when she is ready - promise." He said before closing the door. This was going to be suuuch an exciting and fun night.

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In the halls of Ace's noble house, Julius sat at a spare table and rubbed his temples. The clocks were, supposedly, safe, which was a relief - but his work was greatly slowed by his tower's destruction, which would take quite a few Time Changes to recover. He could hardly believe what had happened. Was that the Jabberwocky? Where did it come from? Aria defeated it in Diamond.

"Wow, that was crazy." Ace stretched and got a bottle of wine from somewhere, placing it on the table for them to sat down and crossed his legs, almost immediately moving his foot. He grabbed the bottle and opened, taking a gulp right out from its mouth. He looked bothered. "She has been here since … no idea, but surely maybe since Jackie started showing signs of madness? That was a fun fiasco."

Julius tipped his head back in thought. "It most likely wasn't Jackie all along. Meaning, the one who stole all the territorial relics was probably Aria," Julius muttered with a crease in his brow. "We never even noticed - we forgot about her even after everything, and when she came back, we didn't even notice her."

"She is very sneaky." Ace chuckled with clear appreciation. He then passed the bottle to Julius. "Well, it's not as if we should remember someone that managed to unravel this world, open the lost countries, defeat the Jabberwock, extracted promises from all the roles and won her own game, right? Why would it be important to remember someone like that, right? A foreigner at that."

"And she clearly wants us dead." Julius frowned, thinking about what could have happened with those relics - or at the circus. Either way, it seems that Joker can somehow keep her under some control. Was it enough, though?

"Maybe we were actually important enough for her to get that angry?" Ace suggested with a crooked grin, but his foot kept moving.

Julius was bothered. "She did not hesitate to attack as soon as I called out to her; she was walking around the circus."

"It seems that she and Joker are working together in some association. That dragon thing clearly knew Joker ..and it knows her too, after all he came to deliver a message." Ace took out his sword, checking it. "I'm not sure if I want to kill her or if we must kill her… It would be too fun but she now is targeting you, Julius. But I'm also curious about that trick of the horrible amalgamation of darkness and madness."

"Not only me, but you as well. Perhaps we can parlay with her. The dragon stopped when he heard of their alliance with Joker." Julius noted, crossing his arms.

"Joker kept this a secret. Naughty, naughty. Maybe I should have killed him more for keeping her a secret game." Ace looked calm, meaning completely murderous. "I wouldn't doubt if he manipulated her to not get back to everyone. Perhaps we can try to get in a few words or more deals and alliances and such? "

The clockmaker heavily sighed, appearing rather gloomy. "I doubt she will even speak with us; if she doesn't want to be found, we will never find her. We should have learned that last time." He frowned, downcasting his gaze. "At the very least, I want to apologize."

"Maybe they can steal her away, in any case, Julius you need to speak with Joker about this deal, no?" Ace finished the liquor and from who knows where he took out a new bottle. "Meanwhile you can stay here, Julius. The bed is big enough."

"I suspect the changes in the lands have something to do with her." Julius ignored Ace's comment, rubbing his chin in thought before the sensation of a revived role sparked in their clocks.

Both of them straightened up their spines, feeling the entrance of another Role Holder into Wonderland. Their surprise did not last too long - afterall, having three foreigners in Wonderland, there should be no surprise an old role could and would be revived. The timing of it all, though, was baffling.

"Wow, weird timing." Ace stretched. "I wonder which role will come out to play…or be played with, ha."

Before Julius could answer, both of them suddenly felt Alice's game end - and another, and then another. Julius was up on his feet, as was Ace, looking up and verifying the sensation they had felt.

" … why does it feel like all the games have ended?" Julius questioned, feeling his face drain of color.

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