"You can't escape me, girly! There's no point in running." A faceless man threateningly shouted as he chased after Alice down the path. The threat only caused Alice to run faster as she entered the forest.

It had been a pretty normal day for Alice. She woke up, got Julius his coffee, scolded him for over working and then left to do some shopping. With the money she earned from helping Julius around the clock tower, Alice bought some coffee beans she was sure he'd like and extra clock parts he'd need in the future. She even ran into Ace who attempted to help her back to the clock tower but ended up getting lost in the forest. Worse of all he and Alice then got separated, leaving the girl to find her way back alone.

Worst of the worst was the faceless man Alice had run into as she tried to find her way out of the forest. He had claimed he would help her but there was something off about the man that made the girl feel uneasy. Even without eyes, or a visible gun, the look on his face was terrifying; it looked like he wanted to eat her. When Alice attempted to kindly decline his help, the faceless man got more persistent and advanced towards her. Fearing for her life, the brunet had dropped the coffee beans and clock parts and broke out in a run.

"Come on now, girly, I promise to be very gentle like!" The man called mockingly, a lustful laugh escaping his lips. Peaking a glance behind her, Alice let out a startled scream as she noticed the man was getting closer to her, his eyeless face twisted in a hungry, lustful expression.

"No, go away! Someone, please help me!" Alice screamed as she ran off path and into the trees. Sad for her no one was around and the man easily dodged into the trees to continue following her.

Why wasn't anyone coming to save her? By this point one of the role holders would appear and kill the person that was threatening Alice's life. Of course she didn't like the fact they'd kill the guy but she sure appreciate some help about now. Blood, Elliot, Ace… even Peter would usually appear around any corner and save her by now. Hell, any role holder would do that. Yet, Alice was alone and the main was gaining up on her.

Tap tap tap tap tap

"Eh?"

Alice was confused as the sounds of her running feet changed. Instead of the light thumps of the grass, and the snap of twigs, her feet now heavily taped if she were running on stone or tile. Not to mention the texture under her feet changed from the softness of the forest ground to something stronger and much more firm.

Forgetting about the man chasing her, Alice stopped running to look down. The forest floor had vanished and instead she was standing on a tile floor. Blinking in confusion, Alice looked up to take in her new surroundings and her confusion became surprise. Toys littered the floor, most of which looked abandoned or broken. There were several floors, all with bared doors on each side. the floor looked dirty and, frankly, the room was dark and cold.

'Is this…. a prison? Why does Wonderland have a prison? I thought murder wasn't a crime here. Does that mean there are crimes you can't get away with?' Alice thought, dumbfounded. Although she didn't get much time to reflect on the thought as she suddenly felt herself being pushed to the ground by the man currently chasing her.

"Hah! I got you now girly. Heh heh….. wait." The faceless man cried out, laughing manically. Alice let out a startled and fearful scream as the man than realized something was wrong.

Instantly the man's attitude changed from a lustful predator to a fearful child. His whole body, which was pinning down Alice's, shook fearfully and his eyeless face paled. He's head jerked in all directions, as if looking for something or if he had heard something. The best Alice could describe it was the same way Pierce looked when Boris was chasing him.

"Get off of me!" Alice suddenly shouted, struggling under the man's weight. The faceless's panicked face shot back towards the girl and his hand instantly shot over her mouth.

"Sh… shut up! He'll hear you!" He cried fearfully as Alice struggled under his grip. Confused and startled by the man's panic, the brunet stopped her squirming and looked up at the man in confusion.

'He? Who's he?' She thought, wondering who could have gotten this man so scared. Alice was sure not even Blood could be this scary so who was he talking about?

Tap tap tap tap tap tap Woosh-Snap!

The heavy tapping of footsteps seemed to echo off the stone walls. A wooshing sound soon followed the footsteps which ended in a loud snap. If it were even possible, the man pinning down Alice grew paler and his body shook like a leaf as the sounds got louder and closer. However, just as the man was getting ready to bolt for his life, something black and leathery shot out and snapped around his neck. Alice couldn't see what was connected to the black thing but, with a sharp tug, the faceless man pulled backwards with a strangled cry.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going, you piece of shit?!" A male voice harshly demanded as the black leather jerked some more. This caused more straggled crying from the man as he tried to pull the leather away from his neck while he was dragged across the ground.

Once the faceless man was pull off of her, Alice quickly sat up to see what was happening. To her utter surprise the black thing around his neck was the end of a whip. Even more shocking was who was holding the other end of that whip. It was a red headed man in a warden uniform. Yet, not just a man, but a man with visible eyes; or eye since the left was hidden under an eye patch. Whoever this man was, he seemed to be a role holder that Alice had never seen until now.

"Pa… pa… pa… please, I d… did…. didn't break an… any ru… rul… rules!" The faceless man began to stutter fearfully, his voice just as shaky as his body. The role holder scoffed as he gave another yank on his whip, chocking the faceless man as he dragged him to the closest cell.

Alice found her body frozen, finding herself unable to stand up from the sight in front of her. Whoever this role holder was he didn't look too friendly. He continued to drag the faceless man by the whip as if it were some inhuman leash, continuingly shouted swears and telling the man to shut up. Eventually the role holder got the faceless to a cell and threw him inside, nearly breaking his neck as the whip unraveled. Alice uncontrollably shivered in fear as thoughts of what this man would do to her entered her mind.

"I'll be back for you later, you piece of shit!" The redheaded role holder snapped, locking the cell with a set of keys that were at his hip. Ignoring the faceless's chocked sobs he turned his head towards the girl and stared at her with his one, uncovered, wine colored eye.

"What the hell are you still sitting on the ground for? Get the fuck up already!" the man snapped rudely, staring her down with his one eye. Alice flinched at the tone of her voice and found herself staring at him in confusion.

He wasn't going to hurt her? Alice was sure he'd attack her with the whip like he used on the crying faceless man. She actually felt sorry for the man, even if he was trying to attack her only moments ago. She didn't like the people who attacked her or her friends but Alice still didn't like the fact that these people had to die over it. When she noticed the redhead man's eye grow cold and his expression grow annoyed, she quickly jumped to her feet, blushing and brushing off any dust that got on her dress.

"Um…. Where am I?" She asked uncomfortably, breaking the silence between them. The redhead's eyebrow rose and he gave Alice a questioning stare.

"Where the hell do you think, idiot? This is Wonderland prison, my fucking territory. I'm the fucking warden." He answered as he whip disappeared in a flash of red light. Not even noticing the disappearance of the whip, Alice could feel her fear slowly turning into annoyance.

"Is it really necessary to swear so much? I mean, really, what did I do to deserve such language?" she demanded with a scolding tone, though the man seemed unaffected. The warden's eye widened in slight surprise yet, before he could open his mouth to make a reply, a humorous laugh interrupted them.

"Ah, I apologize for dear Joker's bad use of language, my dear~ Please don't take it personally; it's just the way he talks." A voice similar to the warden's announced, though in a far kinder, cheerful, tone. Alice's disapproving look disappeared and was soon replaced by confusion as she stared at the man that had a moment ago cursed since appearing.

Where on earth did that new voice come from? It sounded just like the warden but his lips had not moved during the time the voice had spoken. Not to mention that, while the voices sounded identical, this new voice was a lot kinder and friendlier. He, or Joker as the new voice had told Alice, didn't look like the kind of person to pull a joke on her; especially not after what she witnessed him do to that faceless man.

"I apologize that I can't meet you in person, my dear. I am a little swamped at the time. I do hope that we may meet at the upcoming show, though~" the friendly voice said again and this time Alice's eyes traveled down to Joker's hip. Attached to his ring of keys was a small mask and, unless her mind was being played with, that is where the voice was coming from.

"Show? What show?" Alice asked in a clueless tone with an expression that matched. The so called 'Joker' rolled his one eye and responded before the mask could.

"The stinking circus, that's fucking what. My counterpart runs the circus while I run the fucking prison. Got a problem with that?" He demanded, his eye narrowing toward the girl. The brunet's teal colored eyes narrowed in annoyance as she started at the redheaded man.

It wasn't the first time Alice had been around a man that swore. Even she'd swear every now and then if she got mad enough. Although this was the first time Alice had been around someone that swore so much. Normally everyone else only swore if they were mad or annoyed; Ace even corrected himself when he caught himself swearing. Not even the twins swore as much as this man; which Alice was grateful for.

"Of course I don't have a problem with that. I just never heard of the circus before and I didn't know Wonderland even had a prison." She replied angrily, crossing her arms and glaring at the warden. When she wanted to, Alice could be angry enough to frighten a few men -Boris as an example- yet this new role holder was different and he simply scoffed at her attempt to be scary.

"We just arrived in the county not too long ago, dear. I apologize you had to meet the dear warden the way you did…."

"Shut up!" The warden cut in, glaring down at the little mask on his hip. A chuckle came from the mask before the voice went on.

"Don't worry, my dear, we promise we'll explain things when we have the chance of meeting you again. Oh…. excuse me but something just came up. Joker will show you out of the prison." The voice cheerfully said before going silent. Alice started at the mask for a small while and, when the voice didn't return, she looked back at the warden.

Huh, he, whoever that was, didn't even tell Alice his name. The man named Joker had mentioned he was his counterpart but what did that mean? How did that small mask thing even work and what was this circus these men were talking about? What kind of laws, or rules, could be broken that could land a person in Wonderland prison? Alice had so many questions she wanted to ask but she was unsure if she should question the warden. He already looked to be in a bad mood and she really didn't want him swearing at her again.

"Fucking Joker, that asshole." He grumbled under his breath. Alice stared at him thoughtfully until he caught her with a glare.

"Stop fucking staring at me like that, it's damned annoying. Move it, that way." He demanded before shoving her towards the end of the hall. Alice stumbled a little but was caught by the warden, who continued to mumble under his breath.

"Um… thank you, by the way. For saving me from that man, I mean, and showing me the way out." Alice thanked nervously, almost shyly as she realized she never did thank the warden from saving her from that man. Joker's one eye raised slightly as he gazed at the girl coldly.

"Don't be thanking me, idiot. Break a rule and I won't hesitate to throw your ass in a cell." He threatened before kicking open a door. The outside world lay ahead, showing the forest that Alice had entered, trying to escape the faceless man.

"Just fucking go straight and you should get back to the damned clock tower." The warden said, turning his back on Alice and walked further into the prison. The second Alice walked out of the prison, and turned around to thank Joker, all she saw was more forest behind her.

Alright, that was weird. Where did the prison go and where was the circus that other man spoke about? Alice couldn't see either and she was painfully confused. Putting a hand to her head, she decided to do her best not to think about it too much as she walked back towards the clock tower. Perhaps Julius could explain what just happened when she got back. Half way down the path, Alice saw the supplies she had dropped while running from the man. Well, at least the warden was right in his given directions.

~Back in the prison~

"Heh, I'm jealous of you, Joker, getting to meet the outsider before me." The cheerful voice of the man standing next to the warden laughed. He looked as if he and the warden could be twins, with the exception of his jester uniform.

"It's not like I fucking lead her to the prison, Joker. Although I guess the bitch did return my prisoner." He replied, gazing over to the man who had fainted in his cell from fear. The jester laughed and clapped his hands together.

"Hmm, I have a feeling the start of this April Season is going to be really fun. We have a outsider to play with this year." He brightfully cheered. A darker chuckle came from his warden counterpart as a sadistic smile over took his face.

"You bet your ass this'll be fun."


So this is my attempt at a Joker/Alice one shot. How did I do?