Jackie let out a heavy sigh as she headed towards the Mansion, hoping to catch up to Alice. Jackie's head was a mess; what in the world was Aria talking about with being able to leave Wonderland without completing the game? And why wasn't anyone answering her questions? She just couldn't understand why everyone refused to answer her questions. With a faint glimmer of hope, Jackie headed toward the Mansion gates, seeing the twins on guard duty. She wondered if Alice could help her figure out what was going on. But more importantly, how in the world was she supposed to find Aria to give her Joker's letter?

"Hey, Dee, Dum!" Jackie called, figuring calling them out would be better than to walk up to them. The two of them turned towards her, smiling excitedly before pointing their axes at her. Jackie stopped short, staying where she was.

"Hey big sis." Dee said with a grin, pointing his axe at Jackie. "We are sorry, but we cant let you in." He shrugged.

"What? What do you mean I'm not allowed in?" Jackie asked, confused. "Blood said I was free to come here whenever I wanted. And I have to talk to Alice; it's important." Jackie said, staring at the startlingly aggressive twins. But more so than aggression, they looked a little worried despite their half attempted smiles.

"For now you simply can't." Dum added.

Jackie stared at them, trying to think of a way to get passed them. "Hey, if I buy you vanilla and green tea cake, will you let me in then?" She asked with a friendly grin.

"Mmhhh… maybe a quick visit?" Dum began lowering his ax, but then Dee smacked the weapon up.

"But we are really going to get our pay cut if we let her in" Dee groaned, looking at Jackie with sorry eyes. "Sorry sis, but we really, really can't."

"Fine, fine." Jackie heavily sighed, turning away from the gate and heading back into the town. The twins were acting weird; weirder than usual. Buy why? She couldn't understand why they were acting so weird and it was bugging her as to what was bothering them. Whatever, the twins were always a little odd. But never odd enough to not let me into the Mansion.

Jackie continued walking around town, trying to figure out a good way to find Aria. The only times Aria had ever appeared were when she was totally alone. Did that mean Aria could be following her right now? A shiver ran up her spine as she turned around, looking around before spotting a nearby alley. Maybe she would be there. Jackie frowned, not liking the looks of the dark alley but she had no choice. She wanted to talk to Aria; the more they talked the more she could figure out what's going on here.

With a disgruntled huff Jackie walked down into the alley, looking around for anyone there. "Aria, you here?" Jackie called out, looking up towards the building tops for some reason, "Aria, I have to talk to you." Jackie said, pausing and waiting for a response.

"Hello Jackie. Is your imaginary friend around?" Ace step behind her from out of nowhere and he was wearing his ragged old clock and a mask; his executioner's attire.

Jackie nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise, whipping around and spotting Ace. Jackie let out a shaky breath, covering her heart. "Jeez Ace, you scared me! Don't sneak up on me like that." Jackie said, trying to recover as she looked up at the knight. She stared at his attire, a little confused. "Ace, what are you wearing?"

"I was wondering, Jackie … does your imaginary friend tells you to do things?" He asked, ignoring her other question.

"Imaginary friend?" Jackie asked, confused, "what are you talking about, Ace?" She asked, unsure of what he was asking her. However, she felt a sinking sensation when she looked into his eyes; his cold and very much so lifeless red eyes. "And seriously, Ace, why aren't you wearing your uniform? Did you lose them in the woods?" She asked with a frown. He either lost his clothes or an animal took them. All he was wearing was a tattered cape with a hood and some eye mask, under it some black uniform of sorts. On the edges of the well worn clothing was blood, making her more apprehensive.

"Well, it's just that if your imaginary friend told you to do things, like, steal something valuable from the clock tower I'll have to kill you. You see, I'm the executioner." He pointed at his mask, before moving aside his cloak to show a black uniform that reminded Jackie of Joker's warden uniform. "And something that upsets Julius so much is a serious crime. So … you better give it back."

"Steal? I didn't steal anything. And what do you mean, you're an executioner? You're the Knight of Hearts, aren't you?" Jackie asked, feeling uneasy about how serious Ace was acting at the moment.

Ace chuckled darkly. "So? I'm also the executioner. Foreigners are so naive, refusing to see the reality of this world that isn't so wonderful. Whoops, that wasn't very knightly … ," he took a step forward, his smile quite murderous. " ... but I'm not the knight at the moment, am I?"

"I didn't know a Role Holder could be more than one role." Jackie said, surprised. "Since when was that a thing? I thought every Role Holder could only have one role." She asked, feeling uneasy about Ace's approach.

"What you think is irrelevant for this world as long as you play the game, but it's not your turn yet, so it doesn't matter I guess." Ace took out his sword. "Now, about your imaginary friend and that item … ," he said, grinning.

"W-What about them?" Jackie asked, staring Ace in the eyes while unnerved by his sword. "And why are you taking your sword out? You don't need it." She pointed out. Ace had always been a little screwy in the head; he had even strangled Jackie recently. She could still feel his fingers around her throat from that time.

"But if I'm going to execute you I need it" He laughed. "Just tell me where that item is and I'll make it fast." he twisted his sword so the glow of the light reflected in its blade

"W-Why would you execute me? And what item are you talking about?" Jackie asked, feeling an uneasy shiver crawl down her spine. "Tell me what it is and I'll help you find it."

"You play funny Jackie, but I don't believe you … maybe you are maddened already. In any case I decided that your presence here isn't good for Julius. Maybe it's because it isn't your game, but your naivety isn't cute." He took another step and raised his sword.

"Ace, Ace stop, you're freaking me out." Jackie shouted, backing away from the knight with a wide eyed gaze.

Suddenly an object hit the ground by their side exploded into a cloud of thick smoke. A second later Jackie was grabbed by the wrist and pulled back before the shimmer of a sword's edge cut where she had been.

Jackie let out a sharp scream, holding her arms up for a last second defense. Not a moment later Jackie felt herself being kicked against a wall and then pulled behind the corner of the alley and into the next. Behind her, a loud cracking sound of an explosion that created a white flash occurred.

"Ouch, too tight!" Jackie shouted, startled as she was pulled free of the smoke cloud and spotted a heavily cladded person in front of her, nearly ripping her arm from her socket as she struggled to keep up.

Two blocks later the figure hit some bricks on the a brick wall and the wall moved to reveal a hidden corridor. A kick in the rear end made Jackie stumbled in with a small scream before the figure entered from behind, shutting the wall. Jackie whipped around in the darkness, backing away in fright as she searched the darkness for any sign of life. "W-Who are you?" She asked, backing up against a brick wall as she struggled to make out anything from the dark room.

"The one who just saved your life." The figure stepped forward and removed the hood and face mask to reveal Aria herself. "Now calm down. We are going to be here for a while." She then walked past Jackie. "Ace is a psycho and now he'll be roaming around for a couple time changes, after that some other holders will come to examine the scene. So we will stay hidden for at least 24-48 hrs."

"W-Wait, I still can't see anything. Aria? Is that you?" Jackie asked, trying to feel around in the darkness for her.

Aria's eyes lit in the dark with a green color as she walked even further away and flipped a switch, turning on the lights and passing through a metal door that looked reinforced.

Jackie covered her eyes from the sudden bright exposure, slowly adjusting her sight as she spotted Aria. Jackie let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Aria. But how did you know where I was?" She asked, following after her, "and where are we going? And what was Ace talking about something being stolen?"

"Secrets of the trade, and we aren't going anywhere for awhile. This is a safe den or secured camp. And whatever Ace was talking about … well, don't you think it's more important the fact that he was about to slice you in tiny pieces?" Aria's voice came from beyond the door.

"Safe den? But why do we need to hide?" Jackie asked in confusion, hurrying after the woman inside of the door. "And why was Ace trying to kill me? He said I stole something from the Clock Tower but I didn't take anything."

"Well, if you want to get killed so fast then I can kill you myself, because no way am I going to expose my existence and one of my safe spots by getting out right now." Aria said from inside the place, which was a very tiny apartment like facility, with a small kitchenette and living room, and 2 rooms, one was a bedroom with a mini bathroom and the other was a mini storage full of supplies.

"Y-Yeah … okay. But, Aria, why were you in the area? I mean it's a good thing you were but it's too much of a coincidence to believe you were just passing by." Jackie curiously asked, figuring she wouldn't get any answers so she might as well just chat with her for now.

"I am everywhere and nowhere." Aria shrugged before tilting her head to crack her neck.

Jackie stared at her with a frown, not exactly liking that answer. "Well, that's creepy." Jackie admitted, glancing away nervously. "Oh, hey, Aria, um … how are you with Joker?" Jackie asked, curious as she thought about the letter he gave her to give to Aria.

"He used to be my best friend." Aria said without complete conviction, then she tilted her head at the other side to crack her neck again, not even blinking but the light of her eyes changing to a yellow digital tone.

"Really?" Jackie asked, surprised. "It's hard to imagine Joker with any friends at all to be honest. From what I know the other Role Holders hate him." Jackie noted, curious to hear more. She was somewhat friends with them, working wise but she never saw them as friends really, especially since the moment her game started they would turn on her like rabid wolves.

"I didn't say friend. I said best friend." Aria moved to the storage to get some beers and placed them in the fridge. "And yes, everyone hates the damn bastard,but everyone hates holders in general and with good reason." Aria huffed slightly. "Joker and I … we are different, I suppose, since when we met."

"Why do you hate Role Holders?" Jackie asked, curious ... although thinking on what she knew, it was a stupid question. "And what part are you playing in Alice's game? I'm an intruder but what are you? An intruder too?"

"They aren't worth my time or effort in hating." Aria grabbed a bottle of some liquor and went to a small couch. She took a sip directly from the bottle and then placed it aside to lift her arm and press some settings in her forearm's screen. "And Alice's game." She laughed somewhat. "Is that what they told you?"

"But you say everyone hates Role Holders which I'm assuming you do too, right?" Jackie asked, taking a seat on the opposite couch to stare at her. However, something came back to her mind and maybe with this the conversation could flow better. "R-Right, well, um, here. Joker told me to give you this." Jackie said pulling out a letter and holding it out to her. "He told me to deliver this to you. I'm just glad it was so soon." Jackie smiled, hoping this letter would make her happy.

"What!? A letter?" Aria's eyes widened for a second before narrowing. "What did he say?"

"Yeah, I went to see him and he gave me a letter for you." She said. "He just said to give it to you as soon as I could."

"Be specific. No one in this world remembers me. He could have tried to sue you to deliver some explosive letter or one that disperses a poison cloud or...or how do I know this letter is really form him? More so to me."

"Oh … really?" Jackie said, surprised. "He seemed pretty sure about giving it to you." She said, blinking. "W-would he really do that?" She asked, her face paling.

"It's Joker. He can do far worse and far more" Aria pointed out, taking a couple steps behind.

"A-And? He doesn't seem like the type to kill a foreigner. Just torture them." Jackie said, seeming very uneasy as she leaned back from her in alarm.

"Open it." Aria said, grabbing her facemask and putting it on, clearly ready for some gas attack.

"W-Why?! Why would I open it after telling me all those horrible things that could be inside it?!" Jackie asked, mortified as she trembled, scares to move the letter at all in fear of setting something off. "No way! O-Open it some other way!"

"Open it or I kick you out." Aria motioned to the hall that led to the hidden door. "Do you want Ace to kill you? For what it seems even Julius would try to kill you."

"Julius of all people wouldn't kill me." Jackie huffed. "He values life unlike the others. And fine, I'll open it. There's no way Joker would hand me something so dangerous." Jackie said, staring at the letter and very quickly doubting herself.

"The fucking mortician is just another serial murderer as any damn holder. He tried to kill me too. You think he wouldn't try to kill you? He is probably still taken with his precious Alice. He still has her room exactly as it was before Alice left the tower." Aria growled. "Don't delude yourself. He is a mental psycho as much as any other."

"Fine, fine! I'm opening it. Julius is not a monster - he's the nicest of the bunch although rude." Jackie huffed as she slowly began opening the letter.

"Ha!" Aria mocked while her face focused on the opened eyes shining to a blue hue. "They deluded you … and here I thought you weren't as stupid. Do you want to know what they think about you? How they plan to kill you if you don't fall in their plans?"

"K-Kill me?" Jackie asked, startled. "When the hell did this happen?" Jackie asked, opening the letter and very, very slowly pulling the paper out, letting Aria see everything she was doing.

Didn't you know they even held a meeting?" The mercenary moved to the table where there was a small radio that had been adapted to receive transmission. She then raised her left arm to search something in her screen while with her right hand she began scrolling on, and then she pressed the play button to let Jackie hear most of what the role holders had said during their 'secret' meeting about the maddened foreigner that they thought Jackie was. "I'll leave the recording on."

Jackie pulled the letter out, listening to the meeting before looking down at the words and reading the short letter before her face twisted in confusion.

"What does that letter says? Is it some threat? I bet he is trying to send whomever read it into some trap, right?" Her voice was almost robotic, with no inflection. And it came out from her neck speakers, not from her mouth.

"Hey, Aria, you said that no one remembers you, right? Well, it sounds like Joker remembers you." Jackie said, reading through all the crossed out lines. Jackie snickered, holding in a laugh. "Wow … that uh, that's actually kinda cute, what Black wrote." Jackie laughed with a genuine smile.

"The heck!?" Aria ripped the letter out of Jackie's hands and began reading herself.

To A.H.S. - Mercenary extraordinaire.

I remember you

A**tard where the f*** have you been? Weren't you dead? What the f*** happened to you? Why haven't you come to me yet? It's been sometime since you tossed your a** out of reach and I was and where the heck were you! I was w F***doll get your a** to the Jail or I swear to Wonderland I'll gut you and drag your sorry carcass here myself.

Love and best regards.

Joker

"That f***ing a**hole remembers me?!" Aria's eyes were wide and blurry, flickering in many shades.

"Um, yes?" Jackie said, baffled by her emotional reaction, all while also being distracted by voices of the holder's meeting.

"J-Joker… remembers me?"

"Yeah … he said to give it to you. Is something wrong?" Jackie asked. (have Jackie here think on all things said about Joker and foreigners but also Joker mentioning the friendship and such)

Not waiting more, Aria turned around and ran away. Opening the door to the dangerous outside and dashing out even though she previously had said she wouldn't dare to. Jackie could almost picturing her with her arms in the air in noodley fashion while screaming 'J-O-K-E-R' in her excitement.

Jackie deeply frowned, having no idea what that letter was about before heavily sighing. She perked up, however, listening as the recording Aria left continued to play, disclosing all the horrible stuff they had said.

After about 20 minutes of listening Jackie picked up the device, twisting it around and trying to figure out how to turn it off before she shut off the recording, staring at it. Madness? This was all crazy! She wasn't going crazy at all. Jackie frowned, glancing out the door. She needed to talk to them and prove she wasn't crazy.

Jackie got up and headed out, keeping a sharp eye out for Ace before she quickly headed for Clock Tower. Julius was the most sensible of all the Role Holders and she needed him to convince Ace she was innocent. Jackie reached the clock tower and entered, heading up the stairs to his office. She stopped by the door and knocked. "Hey, Julius. I need to talk to you, it's important." Jackie said, waiting for a response.

"I'm busy." Julius said through the door, refusing to unlock it.

"Julius, don't ignore me. It's very important. Ace tried to kill me and he was accusing me of stealing some kind of thing? I want to talk to you. I'd rather not get his sword through my gut." She said, knocking some more. "So let me come in." She said, refusing to leave.

"If you insist." Julius spoke as Jackie listened to him walk over to the door before he opened it, letting her inside. Jackie walked inside, heading over to the couch before flopping down onto it, exhausted.

"Julius, I didn't steal anything from you. Do you believe me when I say that?" Jackie asked with a frown, staring at him as he headed back to his desk to work.

"How did you … what did Ace tell you?" Julius asked with a frown.

" … and I don't have this madness or whatever you call it." Jackie said, watching for his reaction.

Julius's eyes widened as he jumped up to his feet, looking to Jackie in shock.

"Julius, can you tell me what the madness is and why everyone in Wonderland thinks I have it?" She asked, feeling uneasy about his reaction. "You're the most sensible one, Julius, so let's talk this out. I need answers on why everyone thinks I'm going crazy or whatever." She said.

Julius's eyes flashed before he was suddenly over her, making her jolt at the speed he used. Her eyes widened, startled before he pushed her shoulders down against the couch and laid over her to keep her still. She blinked, startled as she looked up at him. "What do you mean?" He asked with a frown.

"I-I heard it. That 'imaginary friend' I keep talking about it real." She said with a frown. "She recorded it and showed it to me. What in the hell makes you think I'm going crazy, Julius?" Jackie frowned, not fighting back against him.

Julius frowned, displeased. No one could overhear them in the dream realm except for one Role Holder; the Jabborwocky imposter. This must be the 'it' she was referring to. "Do you mean the Jabborwocky?"

"The who?" Jackie asked, blinking. "No, Julius, the one I've been talking to … well, isn't a Role Holder. I … well, 'it' told me not to tell you about uh, 'it'. So I can't because I made a promise about it, but I'm really not crazy." Jackie explained. "And I didn't steal any relics like Ace thinks I did. I have no idea what a relic is."

"It?" Julius's eyes focused on her. This confirmed that the creature, the mock jabberwocky was using her, and if she wasn't mad before she was surely getting the madness sooner than expected. "That ... 'it' isn't human."

"It isn't?" Jackie asked, seeming confused. She couldn't tell him it was a foreigner, but maybe if she alluded to it? No, Aria wouldn't like that, and she was scary too. "Hey, Julius … is it possible for a Role Holder to forget about a foreigner?" Jackie suddenly asked.

"Don't change the topic, Jackie. This is very serious." Julius kept his grip on her firm.

" … Julius, can you please explain to me what the madness and the relics are? I can't help you if I don't know what they are." Jackie asked with a frown. "If you explain then I'll try to answer your questions"

"... mmhh…." Julius pondered it, and at this point… " … very well."

.

MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMMWMWM.

.

"There you go, just concentrate on balancing. I want this act to be perfect." White sweetly smiled as his faceless partner took a deep breath, lightly placing her foot against the tightrope high above the ground. She took a few steps out which White perfectly mirrored, both of them bowing towards one another before dancing and swinging around one another in perfect harmony to the song playing. Joker wanted this to be perfect for his lovely mercenary coming to see him. It could be a few time changes to almost a dozen depending on when she wanted to show herself to Jackie again but until then, he would practice and perform for her when she desired it. To make that woman smile was something he certainly took pleasure in considering how hard it was to entertain that stone faced foreigner.

After keeping an eye on the circus grounds for a while, Aria finally approached to examine the situation better. Seeing all of the stuff set up for a show but no tickets were sold in the past 3 dozen time changes was baffling if not looking strange at the very least. With a furrowed brow she sneaked in and noticed how everything was being performed almost perfectly, as if a show was going to be done soon. Once she entered the main tent, She spotted Joker, the Jester, practicing diligently and she almost smiled at the sight of the redhead man but contained it. For all she knew this could be a trap. He was Joker after all and he had a duty, so this was more likely a trap.

"Let's test him." Aria pulled a couple small knives from her leg straps and grabbed the shadows from the surroundings to coat the blades. Then and almost without aiming she threw them towards the Jester to call his attention, the darkness directing the way of the knives in a precise trajectory.

White's eye flashed as he wrapped his arm around the faceless and leaned back, dodging the shadow daggers with amazing grace before bringing out his whip and redirecting the blades while very cheerfully smiling, his clock warmed by the knowledge of her presence being close by. He loudly whistled, making all of the faceless stop their performance. "That is enough for today! Go rest until the show tomorrow evening." White called out, setting his whip away and trotting off the tightrope to the ladder.

Aria crawled around the darkness making her way to White's room. "Time for a lil' old ambush." She knew White's room well and knew where to hide, plus few would dare step into Joker's very personal space.

The Jester trotted quite quickly to his room, his smile tugging up his lips while his steps were fast yet light, cautious but loud so anyone could hear his approach. On his way to his tent he removed his whip, dropping his only weapon to the ground and continuing his steady pace. His clock was ticking hard, aching in happiness as he stopped in front of his room, taking a deep breath to brace himself.

From up a presence fell behind White and with a professional grip ripped the Jester into the room, tripping him and then rolling in a way to pin White to the ground with a blade at his neck. The dark armored attacker didn't cut his neck however but merely kept him in place while Joker laid without struggling.

"Ah … my dear Aria. It has been far too long." White smiled with a deep blush on his face, lifting up his head and pressing the blade harder against his neck to his own accord, relishing in the hot blood being released by the slicing sensation. It was nearly impossible for him to believe that the mercenary was here now before him. And that enthralled him, making him want to thank Wonderland for being so strange and odd.

"You damn masochist, you are supposed to remain still, not hurt yourself more." A monotone digitally distorted voice came from the neck of the mercenary through inbuilt speakers.

"Ah~ that voice still sends shivers down my spine, my dear. I do not think asking how you arrived here is important enough to ask so I will instead ask this; did you enjoy your short time away?" He asked with a smile, "I wish you would have visited more if possible, which for you it would be."

She pressed the knife harder on his neck. "What do you remember, Joker?" The voice revealed nothing but a light growl added to the sound.

"I remember you, of course. While the others of Wonderland forget, I, Joker, do not ever forget a single less my best friend." White smiled deeply. "I remember you, Aria Hadron Scherzi, and would love to invite you to a performance just for you." He smiled happily.

"Yeah, sure." Although the voice was monotone it held disbelief. "What do you really remember of me? Anything personal enough to give me reasons to believe you?"

"You have a scar right above your butt to the right … or you like acidic stuff and in your language you said its called 'agridulce', you also switch when hit a bit to the left while we're having s**, your personal fetish is uniforms of certain historical periods of your world that resemble slightly my warden's uniform, etc." He smiled. "I can continue until you are convinced."

"Do so."

After a few more very personal details and memories, the mercenary let go and the blade retreated into her forearm. With a moment of silent hesitation as prelude, she then dropped her weight over him and hugged him tight, barely muttering his name in a whisper. "Joker… I received your note."

White smiled and happily returned the hug, inhaling deeply and burying his face into the crook of her neck to make sure her scent out of everything else about her did not chance, "you seem to be quite the same, love. Are you alright?" He asked, rubbing her back and sitting up to hug her more appropriately.

The shadows pulled back from her head and dissolved the face mask to show her face and her olive green watery eyes. So filled with emotion as he had hardly seen."You really do remember."

"How lovely it is to see your face once more, Aria." White smiled, cupping her cheek in hand. "You haven't changed a bit, have you?"

Although Aria was practically trembling, she ended the hug and moved back, placing her hand over her chest and looking at White with slight wariness mixed with many other emotions. "Are you going to kill me, Joker?"

"Now why would I do that?" White asked, smiling still as he kept his movements slow and submissive. "Perish the thought, Aria. I would not do that to you."

"So Joker doesn't know what really happened?" her shadows recede more to expose her neck, making it a perfect target for a swift strike as much as an expression of trust. "Or do you want to interrogate me first? Is that why you wanted to see me here?"

"Of course I know. I also know that you have your own reasons. I am simply honored you've come to meet me face to face so quickly, my dear. I hardly gave that letter to Jackie a few time Changes ago. Although … ," he trailed off in a teasing manner, "I would like to ask where you have been and why you have not been here. I've missed you."

Aria looked away and then timidly back over him. She tensed her jaw before she step up to him and grabbed his jaw before she removed his eyepatch and made him look in her eyes if only for a second that showed merely a very small part of what happened to her.

Joker remained rather calm as he watched her body become mangled and broken, raped by the jabberwocky and bandersnatch of her own accord, along with her revival and the horrors of her world repeated countless times again and again in the Nightmare realm, all within a split second. His eye shimmered and shock, absorbing like a sponge her most deepest sensations while he kept a cool expression on his face. "Oh, my dear … I'm honored you show me this." He said, reaching up and cupping her cheek.

"Now Joker … are you going or kill me or not? ... or not yet?" Aria looked at him with accepting calm "You know what madness does to a foreigner, I may have survived it, but obviously not intact and I have a deep sensation that I might still decide I want to destroy this world."

"I would take you no matter what state you were in, my dear. You are a beautiful woman, not just a doll." He smiled, leaning in and kissing her opposite cheek delicately.

Aria blinked and touch her cheek where he had kissed her, she looked at her hand, then at him, and then she grabbed him by the tie to pull him towards her and kiss him hard on the lips.

White happily returned the gesture, hugging the woman tightly against him securely in his arms which made Aria tighten her hug.

"Hey b****, the f*** have you been?" Black growled, walking out of the mirror in the corner of White's room to find his counterpart making out with the foreigner. "Answer me, b***. You've got a lot of guts suddenly showing up out of nowhere like this."

Aria let go of White and then tackled Black with a bone crushing hug so hard that they ended up in the floor. "White can show you later what I showed him, now hug me back you f***ing grump." Her eyes brightened as her lip quivered carefully waiting for the warden's reaction.

Black remained still, studying her unstable and weak state before sighing through his nose. She was never this vulnerable but there were reasons for it. She wasn't weak, but she was trusting him in her current messed up state. He grabbed her as well and then kissed her, holding her close.

Aria closed her eyes and let her actions speak how much she had missed him, how out of everyone else in this world Joker was the person she trusted. Her lips spoke without words what her normally cold heart wanted to say as her hands held onto her best friend with desperate need and want.

"It's alright, Aria. Deep breaths." White smiled, kissing her temple in a comforting manner.

"I didn't think you remembered me … I was going to rip the roles of power to create portals to destabilize this world." Aria buried her face in his chest and nuzzled him while her hug trembled.

"Then it's a good thing you received our letter." White smiled, kissing her forehead and holding her tightly against him, knowing that she could actually do that… then he stopped for a moment, thinking that she could actually do just that.

"Hey, b****, we have some business to sort out," Black stated, sounding stern and annoyed, but surprisingly not angry. "What did you do with those relics you took?"

"What relics?" Aria mumbled, stopping short and taking a step back, looking away. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"You aren't getting any a** until you answer us." Black snapped his fingers and then appeared besides her, pulling her up and grabbing her to make her stand before making her do a small spin so she found herself inside of Black's bedroom down in the jail. "I'm going to be in real trouble if you don't come clean. Now where did you put the relics?" He asked, narrowing his eye in annoyance.

"Mmhh … you mean my grappling hook gun?" Aria took a step forward towards Black, however, it was noticeably hesitating.

"I will slap fire from your a**, you trouble making b****. Honestly, why are you making my job so much harder?" He asked with a firm frown, crossing his arms to shut her out for the moment. "Now tell me where those d*** relics are! Not your toys, I mean the know that the territories are going to be crumbling up soon and you know d*** well I'm running my a** all over Wonderland trying to keep the piece of s*** together while you're going around f***ing with everything that makes Wonderland work. I'm f***ing pissed you aren't even taking my job into consideration when going around doing stupid s*** like this. Are you trying to intentionally piss me the f*** off? Because you're succeeding, b****!" Black shouted, starting to get angrier as he spoke and yell louder.

"But Black … ," Aria looked up with big shiny and slightly watery eyes.

"Go get those relics right now and give them to me so I can at least attempt to pull a miracle out of my a** and put them back where they belong!"

"But I don't want to … ," Aria looked away and pulled herself of, taking a couple steps back. "You … you only care about those, do you?"

"I don't give a s*** if you don't want to! I am demanding you return those fucking hunks of rock back to me immediately. And don't you dare give me that s*** of not caring about you at all; if I didn't care about you I'd have you strapped to a torture board and whipping the s*** out of you with a barbed whip! So don't even try to pull that s*** on me right now!" He shouted at her.

"You care?" Her eyes brightened but she hesitated. "Or is it just your role duty?"

"I will not be manipulated right now. Go get those f***ing relics. NOW!" Black thundered angrily.

"You want me to manipulate you later on?" Aria huffed and crossed her arms. "I don't want to get those. I'm using them. And it wasn't easy getting them anyways. I had to use that other girl as a distraction from everyone so I could sneak in to get them!"

"You selfish, stupid b****! Did you even stop to consider how much shit you've been ruining for me lately?! I've been running my a** around like it was on fire to try and clean up the stupid s*** you've been doing, you annoying f***ing c***!" He nearly shrieked at her, his face turning red from how angry he was.

"Oh yeah, a******?! Well, you're not the one who had to fight a f***ing dragon and then fix the entire system of a stupid broken world that abducted you! Neither did you have to fight all your worst battles again and again in the nightmare realm or come back to realize that all you did was s*** nothing and everyone forgot about you!" She screamed back.

"And even after all that s*** you've been through to save me, now you're trying to doom me?! The f*** is that about?!" He angrily shouted.

"I'm dooming everything. Not just you, don't think yourself so special. I'm destroying everything. Its omnicide! Even myself, otherwise this world won't f***ing let me die that easily!"

"You selfish c***! Why can't you just play the damn game and get along with everyone?! Why be so bent on destroying everything?!"

"I already played the f***ing game. Twice! The stupid dragon made my game reset! You've been playing my game all along, and what you all f***ing holders do? Sent me to die, that's it!"

"Play it f***ing right!" Black shouted at her. "And stop being so hung up on that, we all almost die everyday, dying is nothing special, you stupid f***!"

"You have other foreigners to annoy for that!" She hissed. "Just f***ing let me end it already! Permanent death. That is nice you d*** replaceable clock!" She screamed, a few tears already streaking down her cheeks.

"You nihilistic b****! Stop trying to die! I don't want you to die, you dumba** c***!" He screamed, "you have no idea what I've been through trying to keep your sorry a** alive! Stop making it more difficult than it has to be!"

"You haven't tried anything! I've been struggling to keep myself alive so I can f***ing die properly this time! If you have a problem then shoot me now! Oh, but then you won't find those relics, would you?" She twisted around to give him her back. "So decide. Shoot me now or let me die later."

"B****!" Black exploded angrily, grabbing her shoulders and whipping her around, tightly gripping her shoulders. "The only f***ing friend I have is a complete mental, psychotic stupid b**** who keeps wanting to die! How the f*** do you think that makes me feel?! I don't want you to die, you moron! If you've run out of reasons to live, then live for me, Joker, d***it!" He screamed at her. "I'll never forgive you if you leave me alone again!"

"Joker … ," She looked at him with wide surprised crying eyes. "You … you really mean that, don't you?"

"Of course we do, sweetheart." White spoke, gently hugging her from behind after materializing into the jail, "but we also have a very important job to do that you are making impossible for us to do it." White said, playfully squishing her cheeks while steadily holding her tighter to show his own annoyance.

"But Joker … if I destabilize all territories and use the power I can maybe create a portal back to my world and annulate my contract with Wonderland or at least allow me to jump to the other side of the mirror … Of course some would die … but I don't really care."

"And you would have successfully f***ed with everything we have done, which pisses me off the most!" Black shouted, beginning to get red in the face in anger, "no more hugging, no more kissing!" Black shouted, separating White and Aria before turning to Aria with a glare, "bring me those d*** relics or you won't be getting a lick of attention from me!"

"But if you bring them back now, I would happily lick every part of you to show how much we appreciate your cooperation, my dearest friend." White smiled, leaning in for a kiss before Black caught his face and threw the jester back in annoyance. Black then turned to Aria, gritting his teeth.

"Get those relics. Right. Now." Black hissed through clenched teeth, glaring at her with so much hatred a vein in his eye looked like it was about to pop.

Aria puffed. "I feel manipulated … ," and with that she went away.

Not too long after, a door opened right into the prison and Aria stepped in with a big bag over her shoulder, which she tossed Black.

"There." She huffed, looking away.

Black opened the bag, checking the contents, startled to see more cogs than expected from the irritating woman. The only cogs she was missing was the ones from Heart Castle and from the Circus and Prison.

"Finally. Now if you f***ing excuse me, I need to go put these back. So go sit in the office." Black sorely growled before stomping off into the elevator.

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"Those relics hold together the countries and allow them to move. Without them, a country might start to disappear." Julius, still holding Jackie down, looked very serious. "Now that you that I explained it's your turn Jackie."

"Y-Yeah." Jackie said, glancing away. "Sorry, it uh, it's a lot to process." She admitted, taking a few moments for it all to sink in before looking up. "Now, can you get off of me please your weight is hurting me." She frowned

"Oh … yes." Julius realized he had been keeping her pinned down all this time, and he was about to let her go when the door slammed open and Ace came in.

"Hey Julius, I lost the maddened foreigner, have you….oh? You found her!" The deranged nice smiled, dragging out his sword.

"ACK! No, Ace, put the sword away! We're just talking!" Jackie said, trying to shuffle underneath Julius as he laid over on top of her, putting his hands on her head to protect her from Ace's sword.

"Ace, put that down. We're having a discussion right now." Julius said with a frown.

"Did she already told you where she out it?" Ace smiled. He didn't put his sword away but he stopped advancing. "That means I can kill her fast for being so cooperative instead of killing her slowly to tell it."

"A-Ace, I didn't steal that relic thing! Think about it, if I stole it why the hell would I come here at all?!" Jackie snapped at him from the safety of being under Julius's body.

"Because you aren't a very smart thief or maybe because you are mad." Ace of course smiled, but neither did he put his sword away or advanced. "Julius, if you move out I can get a clean cut."

"Ace, we're speaking here. I want to better understand what is happening as well. Losing a foreigner like this is a waste." Julius said, preventing Ace from getting a clean shot.

Again, Julius was about to say something when he was interrupted. This time by the 'ding' of the elevator that could connect territories. He looked at the elevator's doors, and even before they opened he could hear the voice of the warden cussing out string after string of profanities.

"D***." Julius frowned in annoyance before the door was kicked open, revealing a very pissed off Black. He opened the bag, pulling out the Clock Tower's relic. "Here's the relic. F*** off." He said, tossing the relic before Ace caught it. Black turned around the leave, grumbling in annoyance.

"Oh, it seems like I dont have to kill Jackie now. " The psychopathic knave twisted his lips in apparent disappointment before smiling again in a very sadistic way.. "But I can get messy with the thief..if Mr. Joker has yet to be done with that thief."

"What." Black hissed, poking his head back in. "The f***! Why the f*** were you planning on killing that b****? Are you an idiot!?" Black snapped at Ace angrily as he stomped into the room, pausing as he saw Julius laying weirdly over the couch. Black blinked, seeing Jackie peeking out from underneath him. " … the f***?" Black said, blinking before his eye widened. If she stayed here they might get information on Aria if they hadn't already.

"Have you already caught the responsible for stealing the relic?" Julius asked the warden with a frown.

"That is my own f***ing business, not yours." He hissed at them.

" … W-WAIT!" Jackie shouted, startled as she sat up and looked over to Black. "D-Does this mean it was-!"

Black's eye widened as he dashed forward, practically dropping the bag of relics in the floor in order to put his gloved hand over Jackie's mouth.

Julius's eyes widened, seeing most of the relics in the bag. His jaw dropped, stunned. "W-Whoever was stealing them got so many?" He asked, mortified.

Ace whistled. "Now this is quite a lot, ha, ha." he finally put his sword away. "Even maddened I don't think Jackie has enough skill to even steal half of these."

"N-NOW you believe me?!" Jackie snapped at Ace in annoyance. "Don't skewer someone with evidence! Real evidence!" She shouted before Black grabbed her, startling her as he hoisted her onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Don't touch the relics!" Black barked at the other holders and then took Jackie to the closest room, which happened to be Alice's old room. He unceremoniously tossed Jackie on the bed and then walked closed to her, pointing his finger right at her nose. "Don't say anything to anyone about her. NOTHING!"

"B-But how am I supposed to prove I'm not insane to them? Ace is one comment away from murdering me!" Jackie snapped back at him, grabbing his arm to prevent him from leaving. "A-And if it was Aria stealing those relics … d-does that mean she set me up to look crazy?!" Jackie gasped, putting the pieces together.

"You stupid b****, stop talking about her." He growled in annoyance before grabbing her wrist.

"H-Hey, let me go! Did Aria really try to set me up?!" Jackie demanded, smacking Black's back.

"Don't say her name aloud, idiot!" Black rose his hand, almost slapping Jackie on the cheek but barely managing to stop himself. "Don't mention anything about her. Much less when near those idiots."

"Do you know where she is? I need to talk to her." Jackie growled, kicking her feet. Aria had to be at the Circus and Jackie was going to give her a piece of her mind.

"F***ing d***it. I can't leave you here," Black twisted his lips and then grabbed her wrist quite forcefully. "You are coming with me to return those relics." He said, walking fast back to get the bag of items that was being grabbed by Ace.

"Oh? Just in time. I was about to go and return the goodies." Ace smiled as Black's jaw dropped, horrified before he dashed to slam his whip over Ace's hand but of course, the knight parried.

"I told you to not touch them." Black growled grabbing the back and then retrieving Jackie's wrist to drag her around.

"Was the culprit found?" Julius asked with a serious expression.

"Yes." Jackie answered before Black tripped her and tossed her into the elevator before hopping in with her, quickly clicking the button repeatedly before the door shut, lifting up to take them to the next territory.

Black kicked the buttons, shifting through the bag as it rose up through the levels, arriving at The amusement park and revealing a surprise Gowland.

Black tossed him the appropriate relic. "Here's the relic, f*** off." He said before tapping the buttons again, very soon arriving to the Hatter's mansion where he was met with many guns aimed at him. He pulled out the cog, tossing it to the Hatter. "Here's the relic, f*** off." Black stated before continuing on his way to return the rest of the relics to their rightful places.

"Black, did you know it was Aria stealing the relics. Or better yet, did you think that I was stealing them?" She asked, annoyed.

"Shut the hell up. Do you know how bothersome this is, d***it?" Black rubbed his temples, annoyed at her constant questioning.

"About as bothersome as you all plotting to kill me in that stupid little meeting of yours." Jackie snapped back in annoyance.

Black stared at her, studying her before looking away in thought. That explains why Aria approached Jackie; to use her as bait to cause chaos by making everyone think she was going mad while Aria, behind the scenes, stole the relics. And while everyone was focusing on Jackie, Aria was able to get done what she wanted to… again. " … G** f***ing c*** sucking b****." Black hissed in annoyance. Aria almost had them kill a foreigner by thinking she was going mad and then she would have just destroyed Wonderland. That stupid c***, making my job so much harder!

"Ugh." Jackie growled in annoyance. "So am I right or not?"

"Idiot!" Black growled. "She used you as a distraction to move around during the chaos to get those relics."

Jackie looked at him in stunned disbelief. She could hardly believe another foreigner would do something so malicious to her. They were all in the same boat not being from their world so she imagined they'd all be somewhat nice to each other. But, clearly that wasn't the case.

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to the prison where Jackie considered Aria was at. "Alright Aria, where the hell are you?!" Jackie shouted, stomping off the elevator before freezing as she spotted White was tied up naked on the bed with Aria riding him, equally naked, as they kissed deeply, Aria also using one hand to choke him while he did his best to move his hips.

Aria barely moved her head away from the kiss to look at Black with overly big, hopeful and completely wager happy eyes, ignoring the other foreigner all together. "Black! Come." She mewled. "I missed you"

"Aria you c*** sucking f***ing c***!" Black shouted at her before he marched over to her with his whip in hand.

Jackie looked away, startled before she quickly ran to the door but found it locked, freaking her out. "A-Aria, once you're done we're having a serious talk!" Jackie shouted as she pulled out her mini lock picking kit and began to furiously try to unlock the doors but she was so flustered she couldn't get the lock right fast enough.

"Aria, bend over you f***ing b****!" Black demanded, shoving Aria forward before whipping her across the butt, making her cry out in a loud moan.

"Just undress and join, Black." Aria groaned back leaning forward on White.

Jackie mentally screamed and tried to hurry up and unlock the door before she got it, quickly diving out of the room and slamming it shut again as she covered her brightly flushing face in embarrassment as Jackie quickly hurried down the hall. Well … that was embarrassing. Now she'd just uh, wait until Aria was done before talking to her about what she did.

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Almost three hours later Black finally emerged, fully dressed and ready for work. He headed down the hallway, spotting Jackie sitting against the wall and waiting before he smirked, suddenly in a much better mood.

"Hey, if you want to talk to that psychotic b**** do it now while they're taking a break." He snorted a chuckle, walking past Jackie and off to work with a big satisfied smirk and actually happy on his face.

Jackie stared after him, lightly flushing before she got up and headed over to the room before she knocked. "Hey, Aria, I'm coming in." She said before she opened the door, a little scared of what she'd see but she found both Aria and White under the covers, cuddling and holding each other in their arms. Jackie walked over to them, glaring at Aria's back. "Aria, we need to talk." Jackie said, trying to get her attention.

"Hm~ can it wait, dear?" White asked with a smile, looking over at Jackie with a light flush on his cheeks while he held Aria against his bare chest.

"No, it can't. I'm pretty pissed." Jackie huffed in annoyance, keeping her eye on Aria. "Aria, come on, we need to talk and I'm not waiting another three freaking hours." Jackie growled.

"What?" Aria yawned, leaning her face on White's chest to use the jester as a pillow.

"Why did you set me up to make me look like I had the madness while you went around collecting the relics?" Jackie angrily growled, folding her arms together in annoyance. "I thought you were trying to help me but you were trying to get me killed? What kind of friend are you?" Jackie demanded.

"I didn't do anything of that. Those f***ing holders were the ones ready to kill you. They alone and by themselves made up the madness assumption. I merely did some sidequesting while helping you get those books."

"Aria, come on. You had to have known what was going to happen to me. We're friends, d***it. Friends don't do that to each other." She growled.

"I didn't plan that. It was merely an externality. I was going to let this world fall out of sync and be destroyed though." Aria stretched in place, a satisfied hum leaving her mouth. "You were using me to get real information. So we are even. Our relation is only utilitarian."

"W-wait, you were going to destroy Wonderland?!" Jackie shouted, mortified. "W-Why? Why the hell would you do that?" Jackie asked, feeling her heart ache. She really did think that she can Aria were becoming friends. Jackie didn't really have friends at all so Aria was literally the closest thing to a friend she really had in Wonderland so far. Everyone else was just obsessed with Alice.

"To be able to die myself, of course." Aria lost all tone in that moment, her voice becoming a serious and inhuman digitized sound. "This world finds me too useful to let me end. So I'd merely required to end it in return to end myself."

"But we're past that for now; at least until her next attempt, but I would much prefer to have you in my arms than have you off destroying Wonderland." White smiled, kissing her forehead while hugging her.

"Y-You're serious." Jackie said, stunned. "Why would you want to die? Don't you want to get out of here and back to our world?"

"If you had gotten all those books and read them you would understand." Aria yawned again.

"Well I have some of them." Jackie said with a deep frown. "A-Anyway, um, don't die." Jackie said with a frown, staring at Aria.

"So … why are you still here? If you want more of my help … well, the last book is in the castle, I hid it in the King's library probably. Do you need me for something more?"

"Aria, please don't die." Jackie said, nervously glancing off to the side in slight embarrassment.

"Yes, don't die dear." White added to this, grabbing her hand and kissing it.

"Why? I already told you the info you need." Aria looked at Joker, shifting her shoulders and cuddling some more.

Jackie frowned, folding her arms in annoyance. "You're the closest thing I have to a real friend here so I'd be hurt if you died." Jackie admitted. "So, don't die."

"That is sad and irrational. Now, do you have any more business with me at the moment?" The mercenary eyed the mechanic, her eyes shifting color hue a couple times.

Jackie stared at Aria, realizing that she really had no emotions akin to friendship with Aria. At least not on her end. "Well, uh, th-that's fine, then." Jackie said, looking away and biting her lip, looking like she was about to cry. Jackie turned around, stiffly leaving the room and fleeing the situation.

Aria buried her face on White's chest and hummed, cuddling and ready to take a nap.

"Awe … that wasn't very nice, Aria." White teased with an amused laugh, gently tilting Aria's face up and pecking her on the lips.

"Wha…?" Aria blinked at White. "We'll use all the machine's in 'that' dungeon later White. I know I'm tired and maybe a bit cautious … but … "

"No, not that. Your performance was wonderful and I very much await til we rest." He kissed her again. " I meant about Jackie. It's obvious that your unique personality has made a new friend! I'm so happy for you." White smiled, kissing her forehead and hugging her tightly. "I'm so excited that you've made another friend, really I am! Although you hurt her feelings, so you should apologize later to her." White chuckled, kissing her chin happily.

"Eh?" Aria's eyes lit in a blue hue. "What are you speaking about?"

"Didn't you notice, dear? That little mechanic's feelings were hurt when you did not acknowledge her asking you to be her friend. Although it was in a bit of a roundabout way so I do not blame you for not noticing. But I'm so proud of you for making a new friend!" White delightfully cheered. "We should celebrate this wonderful occasion." White said, moving over on top of her before gently laying on her and cradling her head. "Once we have some more fun you should go accept her invitation to be friends with you. Having a female friend here in Wonderland will be good for you, I think." White chuckled, kissing the tip of her nose.

"Eh? Friend? You mean she was for real?" Aria rose her arms over her head and arched her back, letting White take whatever position he wanted.

"Of course! A simple headed girl like that is very genuine. So very easy to read," he chuckled. "I'm so happy for you, Aria." He smiled, kissing her more deeply before he moved against her, gently rubbing her waist.

"But I don't want other friends." She moaned.

"Of course, you have us." White chuckled, gently beginning to further reaffirm their friendship. "But having a female friend would be quite lovely for you. Take it into consideration, dear, and go speak with her later. I think Jackie would prove to be a fine female friend for you." He smiled. "Not to mention very useful. She was quite useful to us while you were gone." He chuckled.

"I'll at least speak with her later … make sure she doesn't tell anything about me." Moaning, she agreed to at least that.

"I do hope you have fun." White smiled, kissing her. "I think you would both make very good friends for each other."

"I'll consider it only because you are suggesting it, Joker. I don't trust anyone or anything else from this world." She moved against him, gripping his back tightly.

"And the great thing is that she's not even from this world." He chuckled. "And yes, I know you trust me." Joker smiled, leaning down and continuing to make love to her.

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FINALLY ANOTHER CHAPTER IS OUT XD enjoy! 5 REVIEWS for the next one 3

Chaos: yep, this isnt dead.