Pierce and the twins, who were in their older form, made their way towards the amusement park. All the once bright colors and sweet smells gone, gray, gloomy, abandoned. Dead, nothing like what they had seen while entering. Pierce thought about Nix the whole time and seethed at the thought of what the Beldam had done to her. For the first time, in a long time, he wasn't scared at all. But the twins were scared of him. The mouse looked as if he was going to murder somebody, and that was not something the twins were used to. Yet, they were aware he hated them right now, all because of what they did to the girl. Suddenly, the dormouse caught a familiar scent and rushed towards the source, the twins hot on his heels.
A haunted house, composed by the body of a porcelain doll, disheveled faded pink hair from her head covering her torso. The only entrance being the naked doll's crotch area, the three got in without hesitation. Mirrors, all over, paintings of the different forms young Onyx took, including the doll made by the other mother...and a version where she was in an insane asylum and a dungeon. All had one thing in common, on their necks or hands she held White cardboard with a price as if she was for sale.
They searched everywhere, disturbed by all the sights or fuming in anger. But the didn't seem to find the next room. Until they managed to open a door accidentally, a room in a hexagon form was there, welcoming the three to go in. Six paintings, flanked by candle-wielding mantis, hang from the walls in this chamber, each one different. A smile on each one, the three legends, Onyx Airay, Juliet Alison Monrey, and though the last was the Jabberwocky, under it said: Brianna Yvette Johnson.
The first was a boy dressed in the cast-off clothes of full-grown men and they were in perennial bloom and fluttering with rags. A pair suspenders supported his trousers; the seat of the trousers bagged low and contained nothing, the fringed legs dragged in the dirt when not rolled up. His hair in messy upward curls holding a doll identical to him and chewing wheat with a shy smile. Behind him, a mine, with all the wooden structures waiting for him to leave. Under his name written, Thomas "Tom, Tommy" Brown.
They turned and recognized a young Onyx Airay smiling gracefully, with a picture of her beast form. Behind her, the forest she had moved to, filled with doors and arrows. In her hands a pretty pink rose and her leather pink diary. In her arm a dolly looking just like her with black buttons instead of eyes.
The following canvas, they saw a tall girl with a big hat on her head. Her long black hair in ringlets, let loose. Behind her American Western Frontier. She had a long brown skirt dress with an attached White pinafore apron. In her hands a doll just like her, black buttons again. Under her painting, the name Betsy Sawyer was engraved.
On the next part was the Jabberwocky, back to back, holding a doll between their joined hands. This looking like them except with twin tails and a Victorian dress, a black headdress, and a tiny mask on their face. Instead of holes, there were black buttons. A creature with big teeth and black beady eyes stood behind them. Its red body not covering the circus and prison of each side.
Next, to her painting, a ten-year-old shyly smiling and looking up, hugging a doll just like her. A flower in her brown kinky hair that was tied in braids. Her skin brown, a difference compared to the others. She was pretty, with full cheeks and pouty lips. Her eyes chocolate brown, dressing in a pink dress from the sixties. Long enough to reach her knees, lacey ankle White socks, and a pair of black Mary Jane shoes. Under her painting, her name said: Mary Stubbs.
Next was a happy looking Juliet, behind her a pretty bird with a golden beak. Its feathers were iridescent blue and purple. Eyes wide and sapphire blue, the background being the office where Julius worked in the tower of clover.
"When hinges creak in doorless chambers, and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls. Whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still — that is the time when monsters of legend come practicing their Bloody execution" they heard the Other Mother's voice say, surprising them. "Welcome, foolish role holders, to the game. I am your host, your Dearest Mother. There's no turning back now. Now, you can see, paintings of our guests as they appeared in their corruptible, humanoid, state."
"Shut up!" screamed the twins.
"Show yoogh faze!" yelled angered Pierce.
"Now, now. Beware the Jabberwocky, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!" recited the other mother sweetly. "...And consider this dismaying observation: this chamber has no windows and no doors... which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out! Of course, there's always my way...Lose this little game"
Her laughter echoed through the place, a creepy singing and melody filled the room. It maybe was supposed to be soothing, but it failed. The room seemingly stretched upwards, making everyone present in the room confused at this. The paintings on the walls slowly elongating. It didn't make sense, they hadn't felt the movement. They looked up, a candelabra giving out more light and slowly dimming the place. As the room stretched, the monsters and dolls vanished. Their eyes turning into buttons, the role-holders with corresponding to their eye color, and the humans with black.
"Is it stretching? Are you crazy?"
Tommy was revealed to be standing above burning dynamite. His expression never changing, he looked gleeful instead of a doll he had candy. A screaming female shadow on the left with short hair, and a laughing one with button holes laughing on the right with a match in her thin hand. He was turning translucent blue as the background turned into painted flames.
Onyx kept on smiling gracefully. Behind her, the forest she had moved to, with the doors all open, the buttons of the other Role Holders and the faces of the ghost children peeking through them. In her hands a pretty pink rose and her leather pink diary. The other mother was holding her arm with a menacing grin, her fingers and nails clawing her flesh.
Betsy was sitting on a branch. Under her, a tree branch with hungry bears below. A shadow trying to save her, and the other mother sitting on another branch. Then instead of bears, there was a mauled corpse, no other mother and Betsy on translucent blue, floating above it.
On the next part was the Jabberwocky, back to back, a rope joined their hands. A spotlight on them, there was water instead of a floor. Inside was the Nix and the shadow trying to reach them as they drowned. The other mother stood tall, laughing in her hands she dangled a beautiful golden birdcage. In it, you could see the jester and warden were tied up and gagged. Their eyes replaced with poorly sewn on red buttons.
Mary, who was in a garden, had a picnic basket. She sat on a pretty cloth right next to the other mother as hiding in the plants was the Jabberwocky and Bandersnatch in tiny beast forms. A shadow behind them. Her eyes made in buttons as sDumnger creatures get closer and closer. On the plates, eyes, and organs, her feet cut off. The other mother chocking her throat, as Mary slowly turned translucent blue and the woman chewing on the foot.
Juliet, now holding a rose, was revealed to be sitting atop a tall gravestone, no longer in the office. A female short haired shadow hugging her. At the bottom, there was a gravestone with Lorina Lidell written. Suddenly, the shadow vanished and from under the earth, the other mother had let out her hand grabbing the foot of the bluenette.
At this point, the lights went out and Onyx's scream echoed, as violent sobs and hiccups accompanied it, slowly vanishing. When they came back up, the paintings were gone, and another panel let itself open.
"Dear me, did you like this? You seem speechless, I do hope you still wish to play. All through the cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding, almost as though you sense a disquieting metamorphosis." said the voice sweetly. "Oh, I didn't mean to frighten you prematurely. The real chills come later. Now, as they say, the show must go on, let's continue our little game."
"Fucking woman..." mumbled Dee, feeling his voice come back.
"I know, I can't believe we thought she was Mom!" exclaimed Dum gritting his teeth.
"Zegrhes no time!" said Pierce walking out the entrance under the name of his beloved.
Their path made no sense. Stained glass windows showing their times with Onyx, but suddenly Pierce jumped. He barely managed to not get hit. One of these had to be the way out, once again every entrance closed. Smelling the air, sensing the ambiance Pierce turned to the twins, took away one of their weapons and broke one window. The three passed through, running through the pink fire candle-lit hallway. Suddenly, they stopped. There, on the floor, alone, was a candy wrapper. The shadow of a girl with cat ears inside. It was trembling, sobs inside, dry coughs and hiccups. Immediately the Role Holders rushed towards it.
"...Nix..." they said in unison.
Pierce used his dagger and ripped the thing open, taffy and caramel had her trapped. She turned and looked at them, her bangs covering half of her Bloody face. The three Role Holders shivered in anger. They desperately broke all the hard candy the girl reached out to their faces, feeling along their skin to try and map out their features, as she didn't trust her ears. The three boys swallowed when her bangs lifted. Buttons. Amber caramel buttons where her lovely eyes should've been. Pierce took her in his arms, relieved.
"Dee? Dum? Pierce?! I thought...I wouldn't...be with you again! I'm so sorry...I really didn't-" her sobbing apology was interrupted by the most unexpected thing. Pierce Villers Tweedleected his soft lips with hers. She smiled, tears rolling down her cheeks. Bubblegum, that's what she tasted like. The twins looked on, their eyes glowing and their faces were red in jealousy. They knew they had lost their chance long ago, and now they had to see both of them pull away from a sweet kiss with soft, relieved smiles on their faces.
Nix tugged at Pierce's collar as she tried to stand. He didn't allow it, so she turned into a kitten sitting in his pocket. "We need to leave now! Time is running out!" The boys nodded and left.
Boris was on the other side of the amusement park, where the little cottage his sister had made of candies used to be in Wonderland. No longer sparkling with sugar, it was grey, perhaps bitter, at least his senses said so. Instead of a vanished candy house, it was more like a town. It had many colorful districts. Most of the houses detachable with doors to the unknown. They also had vibrant interiors like dolls, plushies, and wooden blocks.
The domain had huge dolls in several areas that acted as pathways, while dolls on the swings that were covered with protruding nails acting like pendulum blades. There were also a large amount of discarded doll parts found in almost every area. Some of the furniture in random places had the Bandersnatch's diary entries written on them with Blood. Boris didn't want to think it was hers.
"Where could she possibly hide an eye?" Boris wondered to himself as he searched in his sister's realm.
He wasn't disturbed so much by the number of disturbing toys and cute things, he knew his sister had a twisted vision of life. Like glass cages containing different horrific objects, wax figures, meat, nails, screws, and knives. There were huge piles of junk like damaged baby dolls. What did make him unnerved was the many heavily scarring hints about child prostitution and torture. Pictures of eyes on everything, even cribs, statues of babies in perverse sexual positions many naked and bound by rope.
His ears twitched as a gunshot rang through the air, barely allowing him to doge. Then he saw it, another him, a stitched grin on his fake's face. Washed out purple and pink, looking almost sickly. Skin grey as ash and black button eyes. His nails long and sharp, his appearance disheveled and his hair a mess. Every detail was tattered, getting unsown, even the tattoos that had been embroidered under his fake's eyes. His ears seemed to be nailed and poorly sewn in place along with the tail. The boa was missing.
"Hey! Wassup pussy cat!" called his fake with a laugh, sitting on one of the blocks swinging his tattered cloth legs. "Enjoying the sights?"
"Kinda cool, not my style." was Boris' sassy answer.
"True, true...You're boring. Oh well, what brought ya here? Curiosity? That kills pussies!"
"And satisfaction brings them back," said Boris shaking his head as he took out his gun. "Plus, I'm only having an adventure."
"Now, now, put down the gun. You can't beat me!" laughed his fake maniacally. "Hey, girls! Time to play!"
A big army of porcelain dolls started to come out from every door. Each different, some were as tall as the Ferris wheel. Those armed with two halves of a pair of knives. As these dolls, gi-dolls, as Boris decided to call them, sung their weapons screaming and staggering. Some instead had hooks instead of blades, they were smaller in size, actually, they did reach Boris' hight. The last type, Boris baptized as Hell-Doll, was made of two doll parts and a mechanism. Its head had dirty blonde hair in ringlets tied with a teal ribbon, the resemblance to Alice disturbed him. Her four doll legs that acted as propellers. Causing this one to look like a spider flying. All moved like infants giggling hysterically at the sight of Boris.
"You're disgusting!" yelled Boris angrily as he started to shoot at the dolls, skillfully getting away from their attacks.
"Ah, man...you're boring. But your sis sure was fun...well she was fun to the others. I didn't get to be close or anythin' not to that level" babbled the ragged holder, the new name Boris gave him.
Doll Girls clothes started ripping with each attack that weakened them until they fell to pieces. The ones who flew when broken, started to fall, crying in pain. All, now that Boris paid attention, has his sister's voice. He growled angrily, the words of the cloth holder resounding in his head, making him realize, what the hell his sister had gone through. This...this all represented the abuse his sister suffered, the ones she suffered thanks to a circus in the middle of the woods. No doors, no arrows, no windows. Freaks of the circus, who served another purpose being sold as sex toys for pedophiles and fetishists.
Enraged, with his eyes brightening up he hisses, shooting much more, and noticing something particular on the cloth holder. The eye usually hidden by hair, only seen when he moved his head, it was an amber ball. He finished soon, jumping on one of the destroyed enemies and ripping both 'eyes' from his fake self. A scream from the creature echoed as it turned to dust. Boris grinned as he cradled the gem in his hands, grabbing a necklace with a little birdcage exactly the size he needed and put it on.
"Don't worry sis...You're safe..."
"Boris! Pierce already found my body! Find us at the Other mansion!" said Nix's voice, seeming to flow into him from the amber crystal.
"Don't worry Nix...we will save you!" whispered Boris as he clutched the eye tightly in his fist and rushed back to the mansion.