Aria quietly walked down the street besides Jackie, taking her time and taking into accord the white rabbit's extremely well planned out day to day business. In exactly 15 minutes the White Rabbit will be stepping out of the flower store, buying a bouquet of Alice's favorite flowers. And in that time Aria will plant some torn clothing of Alice's taken from Julius's tower and place it on Jackie. The white rabbit will smell the scent of his oh so beloved Alice and simply see Jackie talking to no one at all while carrying a torn piece of Alice's clothes. Whatever happened after that … well, Aria didn't care. Aria smirked, walking closer to the crowd to hide herself from Elliot March's spying eyes. So interesting that Elliot was spying on Jackie. And of course, with how he is positioned, all he can see is Jackie talking to herself. Making Jackie appear mad is all too easy.
"So uh, Aria, what's the next store you want to go to?" Jackie asked, carrying a bag of her own bought items. She was enjoying being out with Aria. She was interesting to talk to and Jackie was obsessed with the amazing technology of the future.
"Well, I wanted to get some flowers. There are some edible species that have interesting properties and I want to dry them out before I examine them. Curiously they are normal bouquet flowers. Apparently different flowers in a bouquet here represent different things." Aria shrugged, taking note of all reports and instructions her A.i. was transmitting directly to her cochlear implant, allowing her to slow down or move out of sight without much effort.
"Oh, cool. What kind of flowers are your favorite?" Jackie asked with a smile, walking along with her strange pace.
"Dhalias and gardenias I suppose, but they don't seem to exist in this world." The merc shrugged. "Dhalias have interesting medical properties and are edible too. For the gardenias I just like the scent. And you? Please don't say roses. Everyone here seems to be obsessed with those."
"Well no, roses are pretty but by favorites are carnations." Jackie smiled. "I love the ruffled textures of the petals. They're beautiful." She explained briefly. "And there are some gardenias here; Gowland grows them in the Amusement Park in a private room where he's trying to combine the nice smell of the flowers into a concentrated mix that he can turn into some kind of perfume for a ride he's trying to make." Jackie chuckled, "he just barely convinced me to let him give this new ride of his a shot. I thought it would be harmless enough that it won't hurt any customers."
"Mmhh? Well, that's interesting. I wonder where those come from." Aria pondered, almost tempted to steal a sample of that in the near future. However, they reached their destination and she activated her sensors, detecting the prime minister about to leave the store. Casually, she stepped sideways to watch the flowers at the side greenhouse just in time to avoid the Prime Minister. Jackie, however, almost stumbled right over the white rabbit.
Jackie jolted, catching Peter's deadly eyes as she immediately backed up. "S-Sorry." Jackie said, as she glanced to either side, seeing that Aria had thankfully gotten away. Who knows what the Prime Minister would have done to her if he heard her heartbeat. Now that she ran into him she doubted he'd let her go so easily.
"Filthy vermin." Peter growled with a sneer down in Jackie's direction.
"Y-Yup, filthy, absolutely filthy." Jackie said, nervously laughing as she backed away from him.
"Tell me, vermin. Have you seen Alice?" He asked, sniffing the air slightly.
"N-No, I haven't seen her. I'm sure she's at the Mansion like usual." Jackie said, surprised Peter was actually talking to her.
"Liar." He spat out, aiming his gun at her.
Jackie's eyes widened in alarm before she frowned, staring up at Peter. "A-Alice would be very upset if you hurt me, Peter." Jackie said, knowing that was the very reason she wasn't already dead.
"One less vermin on the streets wouldn't hurt, much less when its better for Alice's good." Peter glared at her with disgust.
Jackie stared at Peter, nervous before she gaze shifted to the side, looking behind him before she forced herself to smile in relief. "O-Oh, Alice! Just in time." Jackie sighed.
"Alice?!" Peter asked, whipping around and scanning the crowds for his precious Alice.
Jackie immediately took off running in the opposite direction, planning to book it. Usually Peter didn't bother chasing her since it would put him off his extremely precious schedule. Without warning a foot shot out from the crowd, making Jackie trip over the foot and smack her head against the sidewalk. Before she could get up she heard the click of a gun.
"Stop your steps! I'll end you first and then I'll see my precious Alice!" Peter chased.
A shot fired off as Jackie jolted, prepared to have her life ended before she heard a series of other shots. She whipped around, spotting Elliot as he stood by her and shot at the white rabbit. Taking her very obvious cue she took off running, only to be tripped again and this time she smacked her head into one of the street lights. Jackie tumbled onto the ground, gripping her head in pain.
"Filthy, all of you! Get out of my way, street rat!" Peter angrily shouted at Elliot.
"Better a street rat than a prepped bunny!" Elliot bitingly shouted back at Peter before letting loose another couple of shots, leaping around the street.
The faceless very quickly fled, leaving Jackie to be the only one on the sidewalk with Aria nowhere to be seen. Jackie tightly gripped her head, taking off running down one of the alleyways and quickly heading back towards the Amusement Park. Jackie breathed fast and hard, hoping that Aria got out fast enough which it looked like she did. As Jackie turned the corner she heard feet tapping against the ground quickly catching up to her. She slowed down, stopping and waiting for Elliot to catch up. She knew it had to be Elliot; Peter wouldn't bother running after her.
Elliot rounded the corner, slowing down to a quick trot before coming to a stop in front of her. "D*** it, Jackie. You know better than to run into that lunatic so what the hell were you doing?" Elliot huffed in annoyance, leaning forward and checking out the scarpe on her forehead and the large forming bump as well.
"I know, I know. I got distracted." Jackie sighed.
"By what, exactly?" Elliot asked, pulling out a handkerchief and dabbing the blood off her forehead.
"By … well, the flowers." Jackie said, lowering her head slightly. "I noticed they had some carnations out front and got distracted." She admitted, glancing away with a slight flush of embarrassment on her face. "I had no idea Peter was going to be there."
" … Hey, Jackie," Elliot said, his voice slightly trembling. Jackie looked up to Elliot's troubled expression, seeing him hesitating. "A-Are you really going crazy?" He asked, crouching down and searching her eyes. "I saw you talking to no one."
"Oh." Jackie said, blinking in surprise. How in the world did he not see Aria? She was right there in the open. "Well, yeah, sometimes I do that anyway but it's no big deal, really." Jackie said, trying to wave off his concern.
"Jackie." Elliot said, grabbing her shoulders before standing up. "You seriously need to be careful, alright? You can't go around talking to yourself like that, it's not safe!" Elliot harshly scolded her, tightening his grip on her shoulders. "You were also going on around and shopping and parading while talking aloud to no one."
"A-Alright, I'll be more careful." Jackie said with a nervous nod. "Now let go, you're hurting me." Jackie said as Elliot tensed up and pulled his hands away, deeply frowning.
"Go back to the Amusement Park and don't leave until this mess is sorted out. It's not safe for you out here." Elliot said, taking her by the hand. "Come on, I'll take you back to the Amusement Park." He said, guiding her down the allies.
" … what is it you can't decide, Elliot? That I'm mad or not?" Jackie harshy asked as Elliot stopped short, turning around and looking at her with wide eyes. "Elliot." Jackie sighed. "I'm not crazy or going mad." She said, folding her arms in annoyance. "These … circumstances just make me look like I'm going crazy." Jackie said, looking off to the side.
"S-Say it again." Elliot said, making her look up. "Tell me you're not going mad." Elliot asked, looking almost desperate.
"I'm not going mad, Elliot." Jackie said with a soft smile, patting his arm. "I'm really not. And, yeah, it's probably safer just to stay in the Amusement Park for a while." Jackie admitted. "But once this whole 'mad' thing blows over, come and let me know, alright?" Jackie asked with a grin.
Elliot stared down at Jackie, sealing his lips up tightly before he suddenly hugged her. "Just be careful, and no more talking out loud to yourself." He said before pulling back, looking concerned. "And no going to the mansion either. Even if I believe you, there is the tiniest possibility the madness could be affecting you and could be contagious. It's why the twins wouldn't let you in on Blood's orders." Elliot said, lowering his ears. "So no going near the twins either, got it?"
"Yeah, sure." Jackie nodded with a nervous frown. Jeez, everyone really was convinced she had this madness or whatever. She really did need to be more careful.
"Jackie." Elliot said, making her pay attention. "This is really serious stuff. Don't leave the Amusement Park under any circumstances, alright?" He said, worriedly twitching his ears. "For me, at the very lease, don't leave the Amusement Park." He said, frowning deeply.
"Okay, Elliot." Jackie sighed. "For your sake I won't leave the Amusement Park. And I'll stop talking to myself." Jackie smiled.
"Good." Elliot sighed in relief. "Now, let's get you back to the Amusement Park." He grinned, taking her hand and leading her through the alleyways.
Aria frowned while she watched the scene from her perch and listened through the bug she had put on Jackie. It had been so convenient until the stupid hare showed up. Now she needed a way to get Jackie out of the Amusement Park. The more stressed out Jackie got the more possibility there was that madness would really infect her, but she was so d*** oblivious … way worse than even herself.
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Jackie quietly worked on the tea cup ride, stretching and deeply satisfied with her work so far. Now the speed has been increased another 10% and the tea cups were now correctly modified to have sturdier bases so they wouldn't fly off again. She grinned, moving on to the panel to check on the wires.
Aria observed the engineer from afar and once she was sure Jackie was alone she began approaching with her new secret weapon. A bag of delicious chocolates that had just the slightest touch of cinnamon that hid perfectly well any detectable traces of the drugs that were in them and that would give Jackie just the tiniest hallucinations while her paranoia was increased.
"Hello Jackie." She dropped from above right behind the engineer, making her jump. She was fully clad in all her gear, except for her face that could be seen under a black hooded gabardine.
Jackie jolted, startled as she whipped around and spotted Aria. "Aria!" Jackie shouted, reaching out for her and holding her shoulders while looking the woman over. "Are you alright? Did you get away alright yesterday?" Jackie asked, worried for Aria's health. "Peter didn't see you, did he?"
"Huh? Mmhh ... yes I am?" Aria stopped, curious. She had expected Jackie to lash at her for abandoning her then although she had warned the her that in case of holders or danger she would run away.
"That's good." Jackie heavily sighed. "I didn't mean to try to run away or abandon you or anything. It uh, it was just instinct to try and run away from that psychopathic rabbit." Jackie huffed before grinning. "I'm just happy you got away. I promise to make up for it later, alright? My treat … going to a restaurant that I can afford since I have a feeling you have expensive tastes." Jackie sheepishly laughed. "So what's up?" Jackie asked, feeling such a relief that Aria was safe.
Aria rose an eyebrow. The situation turned out weird so she merely extended her hand and offered a small bag. "I got this … we lost kinda the time to go and get a snack, so here. They are extremely high quality. Eat them … in fact … let's go somewhere to sit and talk. You can eat them while I drink my beer."
"Sorry, but I'm pretty busy right now. Feel free to get comfy while I work on these things." Jackie said, taking a seat and working on the wires inside the control panel for the tea cup ride.
"I won't have time later. I have a lot of things that I need to check so I might disappear for some time."
"Yikes, really? Well, alright, I guess." Jackie smiled, taking the chocolates from her before setting them aside and turning towards her. "So uh, where did you go after Peter attacked? Did I distract him long enough for you to escape?" Jackie asked with a curious smile.
"I searched for you but it seemed you went right back to the Amusement Park." Aria said, which wasn't exactly a lie.
"Oh, well, I didn't have much of a choice. Elliot saved me and then took me right back to here. I'm not allowed to leave for who knows how long." Jackie heavily sighed, opening up the bag and examining the chocolates. They really did look like high quality stuff. "I really can't believe that everyone thinks I'm talking to myself. I'm starting to wonder if you're just invisible most of the time and only I can see you." Jackie huffed.
"They can't stop you if you want to go around. It's in the rules … they can however kill you, and they would." Aria smiled and then laughed. "Well, maybe you are so desperate that you really are imagining me. I was right there in the middle of the street all the time." She chuckled. "I would have been impossible to miss through the entire day."
"Hence why I'm going to stay here for the time being since everyone is starting to think I'm going crazy. I've got a lot of work to do anyway." Jackie sighed. "But, I know I'm not imagining you." Jackie grinned. "And Joker is proof of that." She pointed out as she dug around inside the little baggy to look over the selection of chocolate.
"Sure, because Joker is the only person that wouldn't mess with your mind." Aria smiled, chuckling again. "Well, we have a better proof right now. Just eat those chocolates. They are of the soft truffle type, so you want to eat them right now that they are fresh and soft."
"It's not my game so he has no business messing with my head." Jackie grinned. "Are any of them chocolate peanut butter?" Jackie asked, pulling a few of them out to get a better look at them all.
"Yeah … unless he's bored … and … what? Peanut butter?" Aria gave Jackie the most weirded out expression.
"Yeah. Chocolate and peanut butter is a combination that can't be beat." She grinned.
"Jacqueline … those are not cheap crappy chocolates. They can have some creamy interior but … peanut butter?" Aria suddenly understood how cheap and … cheap was Jacqueline Peske.
"Yeah." Jackie innocently smiled. "Have you never tried peanut butter with chocolate? It's amazing!" Jackie said with a grin.
"You have never tried real chocolate … have you?" Aria considered, that if Jackie survived after all she had planned for her, she would give Jackie some real chocolates.
"Well if you mean the really expensive kind then not really. Like I said before I never had much money so I never got the expensive kinds." Jackie shrugged in a carefree manner.
"Not necessarily the expensive kind, but the not crappy commercial crap that imitates real chocolate and added a bunch of other ingredients to lower the costs." Aria responded. "There came laws about that type of crap eventually, you know … well, no you wouldn't know. But there were. Now eat those now and learn what good chocolate is."
"Hm, oh well, then I'll just pick one at random." Jackie smiled, tossing the chocolates into a bag and shaking them up a bit.
Jackie as Jackie was about to open the bag and grab a chocolate a gunshot rang out, ripping the bag from Jackie's fingers. Jackie jolted back, startled before whipping her head around to see Gowland standing a few meters away with his eyes on Aria.
"G-Gowland?!" Jackie barely had time to utter before Aria grabbed Jackie's arm and got behind her, using her as a human shield with a gun to her head.
Shadows rose around Aria, her face was now covered in a thick black tactical mask as she jumped to get on a fighting stance. She had not detected Gowland, but how?! She examined around, spotting a tunnel entrance not far from where Gowland was standing. F***! She had forgotten about the service tunnels that had elevators around this area!
"Jackie, what is that thing?" Gowland asked, not lowering his weapon.
"I-I," Jackie stammered out, unsure of how to answer him.
Grabbed Jackie and placed her in form of her, a blade forming out over her forearm as she used Jackie as a host and human shield.
Gowland glared at her, gritting his teeth angrily. "Let go of my darlin' engineer and you can go free."
"You think I'd believe you?" A digitalized and completely inhuman voice came from the shadows that seemed to form the person that Aria was.
"I care about her life more than I want yours … whatever you are." Gowland said with a glare towards her.
"You are planning to use her to get Alice then? Pathetic. A holder doesn't care for anyone but the star of the game."
"That girl there is my darlin' engineer for my Amusement Park, and I'm her boss. Let her go and I won't kill you." Gowland growled.
"A commodity then? Not even valuing her as anything but for what she does? Ha." Aria said, taken a steps sideways while holding Jackie to gauge his reaction.
Both of them glared at one another neither of them backing down. Jackie's eyes darted from Gowland back to Aria, suddenly very nervous about a shootout occuring while she was literally in between them. "A-Aria." Jackie whispered, turning her head slightly towards her. "Head for the mirror house. You can lose him in there. The swinging mirrors are randomized but I know their patterns - Gowland doesn't." Jackie whispered, having a bit of a hard time breathing with the woman's tight grip around her neck.
Aria knew she had no choice. The mirror house was right behind them, and although she had ammunition and maybe could face Gowland, it would take no time for all the park personnel and even other holders to arrive, and if she tossed Jackie aside, then she'd open herself to fire. Maybe she could sustain some of it, but d*** Gowland's main weapon was a freaking shotgun, that could still cause some damage and blocking that would drain her energy.
"Be ready, Jackie. I need you to guide me in that place." she murmured while, at the same time, giving orders to her AI.
Jackie nodded and closed her eyes. "P-Please don't hurt Gowland." She asked, nervously tensing up.
Aria growled and took a step back, concentrating. She had taken control of the park once and she could do so again. She synced, extending her control of components to the panels nearby, sending signal to activate actuators and motor, making the carrousel behind Gowland turn on, causing the holder to get distracted, giving her the chance to jump back with Jackie and stumble into the mirror house. Closing the door in time to block the shoots.
"This way." Jackie said, smacking the button and turning on the ride before Jackie grabbed Aria's hand and began running through the moving mess of mirrors. Jackie hurried into a clear spot, watching the mirrors move around them quickly as Jackie counted the number of mirrors going around in a single rotation. "Let's go to the basement, you can escape out the tunnel." Jackie said, hurrying over to a staircase while keeping a firm grip on Aria's hand. "Stay close to me so you're not hit by a mirror." Jackie instructed as she hurried over to a maitancene door and pried it open, leading Aria down into the dark basement.
"D***it!" Aria growled, following Jackie. "Now I'll have to burn damn the place to kill that f***ing holder!"
"Wha-no! No killing!" Jackie said, continuing down the stairs at a quick pace.
"He was ready to kill me. You think he'll stop? He is going to go on my search to kill me.
I need to kill him before before he does that. It's kill or be killed." The merc hissed.
"N-No, Aria you don't need to! Gowland isn't the type to hunt people down like that. B-Besides, he probably didn't see your face." Jackie said, reaching the bottom floor before turning back and looking at Aria's crazed expression. Her eyes were wide and pupils tiny, heavily breathing while not looking at anything in particular. "A-Aria?" Jackie stammered, nervous.
"He is. He already did! And it doesn't matter if he didn't see my face. He saw me!" Aria stood firm looking back, there was a sort of layer of inky mist over her armor. She raised her arm and pushed some buttons. "Let's go. This place is going to blow up in some minutes, hopefully it'll catch the damn bastard in."
"B-Blow up?!" Jackie shouted, startled. "W-Why are you going to blow this place up? Aria, this is where I work!" Jackie reminded her in a panic.
"Because he is surely coming in after me to get you and to kill me." Let's go. Aria dragged Jackie besides her and though the entrance of the tunnels, starting to run.
"ARIA!" Jackie shouted, barely stumbling after her. "Aria, you can't blow up where I work, it's in the contract!" Jackie shouted, now thankful for Joker's absurd suggestions. "Don't mess with each other's work places." Jackie cried, getting dragged along with Aria.
"I'll give you ice-cream, besides you'll be working for me, so it's fine. My survival is far more important. Or do you want the f***ing holders to kill me?" Aria's voice.. It didn't have any tone or inflexion.
Jackie opened her mouth to retort but a loud boom shook the ground, making Jackie's footsteps waver before she fell onto the ground, looking back where they just came from. "W-What was that?!" Jackie asked, frightened.
"A bomb. " Aria answered dryly.
"Aria, how could you blow up my workspace?! V-Violation, that's a violation of the contract!" Jackie shouted at her as she stumbled back onto her feet, continuing to get pulled along by Aria.
Aria suddenly stopped and slammed he handover Jackie's neck, pressing her against the wall. "Shut the f*** up! They are trying to kill me. Survival takes precedence in your f***ing contract."
"A-Aria," Jackie stammered, holding her wrist with not enough pressure to try and push her off. "Aria, who in the world is trying to hunt you? Didn't you say before that no one remembers you? If no one remembers you then why do you think they're hunting you?" She asked, shakily breathing.
"Are we stupid on purpose or just willfully ignorant?" Aria tightened grip. "Gowland saw me. My cover has been blown off and he will search for me to kill me only because he saw me near you. And he'll probably tell the other f***ing holders. And as soon as they know thy will hunt me too so I don't get close to their stupid precious Alice. As soon as they suspected you they blocked you from the mansion. The minimal suspicion almost had you lose your head to Ace. Don't you f***ing get it!?"
"Aria, there's no way to know for sure if they saw your face. Th-The important thing right now is to keep c-calm and think things through before doing anything irrational." She said, honestly scared of her expression. She looked literally insane.
"It doesn't matter if they saw my face. They saw my form and armor!" Aria kept her grip.
"S-So? They could think you're an, I-I don't know, some kind of deformed afterimage." Jackie tried to unhelpfully suggest.
"More reason for them to hunt me down." Aria hissed. "Now I wonder … what is it to you?" She said with suspicion. "Your little contract becomes invalid the moment you try something against my life … curious, no? Your existence isn't serving my survival if you get on their side."
"Aria, I'm not on anyone's side! I'm on my side, and my side is being friends with you and working at the Amusement Park. It's not that complicated!" Jackie heavily panted.
"So am I on my side." Aria let go of her grip and turned around. "Stay in your room or they'll suspect you even more." She then began walking away, leaving Jackie there. Jackie hesitated, looking back down the path back home before clenching her teeth, turning back to Aria. She couldn't leave Aria when she had such terrifying crazy eyes!
"W-Wait, Aria!" Jackie called, running to catch up to her. "You're in extreme distress, a-and as part of the contract I have to help comfort you!" Jackie called, beginning to get tired of running, but Aria has already ran away, leaving her behind and disappearing from view.
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Jackie laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling in boredom. Ever since Aria ran away Gowland, after almost dying when the mirror house blew up, had put Jackie under strict lockdown inside her room. With a bored roll she rolled onto her belly, pulling out the hidden letter Aria had given her to use for emergencies only. Would this count as an emergency? With Aria being so frantic? Jackie was worried sick over what she might do to Gowland since he saw her. She had heard the other explosions and when Boris visited her he told her about the poisoned water supplies, the sudden fires and some weird but precise attacks to certain attractions or to their power central. It had been all well coordinated but something was somehow off and Jackie wondered if that was ll Aria, her allies, some other group, or if she would try to blow up more of the park? Jackie heavily groaned, rolling around some more. Whatever Aria would do, it was just going to make more work for Jackie… unless it removed her job completely, but that couldn't happen, right?
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Meanwhile, In another part of Wonderland, more precisely in the Clock Tower's only meeting room, most every role holder was complaining about how dusty and unkept the room, previously used as storage, was.
"Remind me again why are we meeting in this unsightly place?" Peter snered with his handkerchief over his nose as he avoided touching anything.
"Animals do have bad memories indeed Sir Peter, but it seems it's my knightly duty to remind you of what happened during the last meeting in the dream realm." Ace flashed a dashing smile. "Isn't it fun to have a meeting in a different place?
"It could have been anywhere else. If you don't like it then you can go away and leave me alone. I have too much work" Julius, clearly annoyed, answered.
"We are having this meeting because there's somethin' tryin' to corrupt my precious engineer!" Gowland spat out. "I had no idea what it was, but I have a bad feelin' it's from the other side of the mirror." Gowland stated with an unusually serious expression.
"From the other side of the mirror? Maybe you are just delusional, Mary" Blood, although smiling, clearly was somewhat disturbed enough to have come. "Maybe your engineers madness is rubbing on you."
"She is not mad! I saw it with my own eyes. I saw a dark shadowy figure beside her, speaking to her before trying to give her this." Gowland said, tossing the bag into the center of the table. "It was made with some kind of drug in it to give my darlin' hallucinations." He growled angrily.
"Is it?" Joker spoke up, "If it's a drug then maybe you should ask the hatter. After all, anything that can get rid of another foreigner that he even barely suspects of having the madness would be his best interest to keep the state of his own prize."
"There's no need to attempt to put me on the chopping block, here. You, Joker, are the one who has access to crazier drugs than I do." Blood chuckled, unfazed.
"But she isn't the start of the game, thus I have no interest in her." Joker responded with a happy smile "Although, who else adores chocolates here and would be interested in getting rid of a foreigner who is not amusing? And avoids certain territories." Joker asked with a smile, turning to Vivaldi.
"You dare try to incriminate us!? Your head will roll" The queen said, but besides her the king remained as silent as always but with a more serious expression than normal.
"Enough of this bickering." Nightmare sighed. "Gowland, what did this thing look like?"
"It was an awful tall thing, no idea what it was barely humanoid looking and it was covered in black shadows that moved and leaked around; it seemed to be gettin' friendly with Jackie. I have no idea if or how it's manipulating her, but she has better sense than to talk to a shadow looking creature like that." Gowland nodded with a deep frown, sounding absolutely sure in his description.
"And what could it be for you to even think it's related to the other side of the mirror. Anything at the other side has been lost and locked for a long time." Julius asked, crossing his arms and wondering.
"The shadows were movin'. They looked alive. It was definitely not an afterimage and was nothin' I've ever seen before." Gowland deeply frowned.
"So?" Elliot added, his ears flickering a bit.
"Could this be related to the stealing of the relics?" Julius looked at Joker.
Joker suddenly began laughing, making the other Role Holders glance over to him, some confused and others annoyed. "Sorry for my rudeness, it was just so funny how so many of you lost something so vital to the conservation of Wonderland and so important for your roles." White chuckled in amusement as Black snickered.
"We find no amusement at the carelessness of all these fools." Vivaldi snapped at Joker, pointing her staff at both redheads.
"You would have lost your castle if not for me." Joker smiled in amusement before it turned into a smirk. "Every last one of you would have lost your heads if not for me. Shouldn't you be more grateful?"
"I shall be done with you!" Vivaldi stood up, both Peter and Ace standing up to and grabbing their weapons, although Peter still kept one hand over his nose and Ace looked around without much care while the king tried to calm down Vivaldi.
"Do remember, Vivaldi, that this terrible place is still a neutral territory. If you attack you'll give me an excuse to lock you up." Joker smiled.
"Hey all, no fightin'! I'm not done." Gowland huffed. "This creature was able to physically damage my park and kill employees as well. This thing is tangible and unstable." Gowland bitingly growled, worried. "And it is smart, I think, to use Jackie as a shield to escape."
"Well, this is all fun and interesting but has anyone else seen this mysterious creature? Or have evidence of its existence?" Joker asked in amusement.
"We don't need more evidence. I can see it perfectly in Gowland's mind." Nightmare frowned, displeased at the imagery of Gowland's overactive reimagining of what happened. "This creature does exist. But now begs the question, what is it?"
"It hasn't approached anyone important, so why bother?" Ace was back in his seats, his arms crossed behind his head.
"Watch your trap, Ace! That's my precious engineer you're talkin' about!" Gowland snapped at the knight in annoyance.
"But she isn't the star of the game yet, so she doesnt matter." Ace chuckled, his smile quite nasty.
"Such small minded thinking, Ace. If you keep thinking that, then you'll all lose your chance at the next game to be played." Joker's smile deepened. Which they already have when they threw away his Aria."Or maybe you all are too afraid to lose again."
"Well, if we care so much, then perhaps I'll try taking the next foreigner as well considering how easy it was to obtain Alice." Blood smirked in amusement.
"Don't be so cocky, Hatter." Boris laughed, flicking his tail back and forth. "I could easily swipe Alice out from under your nose. Any of us can, really." Boris smirked. "After all, her game isn't completed yet until she accepts a connector."
"Just a small technicality, isn't it?" Blood smirked in a mysterious way, tipping his hat.
"And why wouldn't you not finish it, I wonder?" White smiled at his counterpart, whom continued
"It would be funny to see all your faces when that happens, losers." Black smirked.
"Regardless, we Role Holders need to keep an eye out for this … thing. And figure out what it is." Nightmare said.
"Well, there ain't nothing much we can do if we don't know what this creature is." Boris spoke, his tail swinging from side to side behind him.
"Have you ever considered it might be a corrupted faceless afterimage?" Joker asked with a smile.
"A corrupted faceless? An after image? What do you talking about?" Peter asked aloud.
"An after image of a faceless whose clock has been destroyed completely might be corrupted over time and turn into a monster .. ," Julius answered. "Did you forgot why is a crime to destroy clocks or what can happen because of that?"
"Of course I know that." Peter hissed. "I just want to know if that thing will pose a threat to my dear Alice."
"And how do we kill a corrupted faceless?" Gray asked with a frown.
"They cant be killed because they aren't alive and they have no time to end or start. You cant kill shadows" NIghtmare said, frowning before glancing at the Cheshire cat through the corner of his eye. "Only the frumious beasts were said to be able to devour them."
"But there ain't no frumious beasts this side of the mirror." Boris huffed, looking away.
"Exactly. Which is why we must think of another way to get rid of it." Nightmare frowned.
"We can maybe trap it somehow" Julius's tone was insecure.
"Maybe?" Gowland asked with some worry. "Don't you know how to deal with something like that?"
"It's not in my jurisdiction." The mortician answered, his lip twisting.
"Well, why don't you let us handle it?" Joker chuckled. "After all, it's our job to keep anomalies in check. Or perhaps if one of you decides to be useful you can find a light box-like relic which would trap the intangible corrupted faceless and render them immobile?" He suggested, knowing it wouldn't affect a foreigner in the remote case they actually found it.
"Then it's settled. Deal with it." Vivaldi stood up once more and began walking away, followed by the rest of the holders from her territory.
"I shouldn't waste more time either, the star of the game awaits my return eagerly, possibly on my bed." Blood stood up next and left too.
"Well, if that's it then I'll go back to the Amusement Park to check on my engineer." Gowland stood up, waved goodbye to Julius and left alongside Boris.
"Joker." Nightmare said with a glare. "Get rid of that thing as soon as possible before it upsets the balance of the game."
"Of course. I, Joker, have an interest in keeping Wonderland together. That is my role." He smiled before glancing over at Julius. "And aren't you going to leave too?" Joker asked to the mortician.
"I live here." Julius narrowed his eyes and waited for the Clover tower members to disappear. Now that they were all gone he could ask. "Does it really has no relation to the relic thief? If this is Jackie's imaginary friend then…"
"Don't worry mortician. I have it under control" Joker smiled, and then too he left.
Once Joker was away from everyone in the forest of doors and sure that no one was around to see, he stopped and turned around so that his shadow was in front of his warden half.
"Stop freeloading and get the hell out." Black huffed, crossing his arms in annoyance. "You're lucky I let you stay that long. I don't like having something hiding in my shadow."
A form began emerging from Black's shadow and took the form of a black fish that looked around before it fully emerged, it's fins turning into legs that were vaguely feline. "Next time I can perhaps try to provide some stimulation?"
"Oh? In what regard?" White asked with a happy smiled.
"Knock it off." Black snapped at White in annoyance, knowing exactly what he was thinking.
"I shall provide some gift in the near future as thanks for your aid and cooperation. I assume chocolates would do well. I am aware of your liking regarding acid and/or sweet flavors. "The fish waved up and down its tail that looked like a dolphin's. "It indeed was easier to spy and record the reunion from your shadow than by infiltrating around and hiding under the table. My user will appreciate the attention being directed away from her and all clues regarding her real identity eroded, however her disposition and opinion regarding all holders will also be reinforced."
"Their reaction was only natural." White shrugged. "But, do as you please. And instead of chocolates, tell Aria to come thank us herself. I would be pleased to take her in our bed and have her express her thanks to us personally." White smiled affectionately.
"I'll certainly inform her of such, however it might take some time before she deems it safe enough to come to the surface and visit you." The form of the fish changed again to form a head more akin to a seal's. "Is there any other message you'd like to coveney?"
"No, nothing much other than for her to get her a** over here." Black huffed, grabbing White and dragging him with him. "Now go back to your master or whatever."
"Before I go… may I ask if your eagerness to see my user is part of the mating instincts caused by the game?" The form of the creature changed and now became a sort of gazelle with long floppy ears, scaled legs, and a lion's tail.
"It is caused by the fact she is my best friend." Joker kindly smiled.
"Oh, very well. I shall deliver your message." The creature began galloping and jumping away into the forest in the city's direction.
.
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Jackie sat working on some rides before some workers walked up to her and began chatting with her about all the recent ruckus and extra work, slowly approaching her while still happily conversing.
Without warning someone grabbed her from behind and the guy in front forces her mouth open before popping a large round thing into her mouth, forcing her mouth shut before she accidentally swallowed it. They stuck her with a needle, making her falter as she elbowed the faceless in the gut and bit the other one's hand, trying to stumble away before they grabbed her again.
A gunshot went off as one of the faceless faltered, making the other one attempt to leave but Elliot tackled the faceless over and grabbed his neck, viciously grinning with a gun to his head. "Leaving already?" Elliot asked with a pissed off grin.
"It seems were were casually passing by at the right moment." Blood walked over to Jackie all suave, "how have you been?" He asked in amusement as Jackie stumbled against him, feeling very dizzy.
"Jackie?" Elliot called in alarm, looking back as the faceless under him began gargling, making Elliot whip back around to find him dead with foam in his mouth from taking a poison. "Tch, worthless f***." He hissed.
Gowland came in fast after hearing the struggle, right in time to see his precious worker on the ground before he immediately shot madly at Blood and Elliot, chasing them out of the park while workers come and get Jackie, taking her to a medical tent.
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Jackie woke up, all groggy and sit up, touching her head before feeling something feathery and soft. She twitched, startled as she saw a wing attached to her arm before she screamed, wildly flailing before looking herself over. She had long feathery wings and scaly cracked legs.
Gowland came barging in with his gun ready before he froze, looking startled. "Jackie?" He asked, blinking in confusion as she looks over her arms and legs, seeing her legs were covered in a scale-like pattern with large bird feet.
"G-Gowland, what the hell is this?!" Jackie cried before tripping over her large claws, falling onto the ground and flailing around in a panic before pushing herself up, slipping on her feathers and falling back onto the ground as she wildly flailed.
"N-Now calm down sweetheart, struggling like that will get ya hurt." Gowland said, putting his gun away before helping her stand back up. He blinked, surprised before holding her up into the air with relative ease. "It looks like ya lost a lot of weight with this transformation." He noted, bouncing her a little bit to make sure before setting her on her feet while she trembled in terror.
"B-But what is this?!" She cried, stretching out and retracting her wings to test them out.
"Hmm … what did they give ya?" He asked, tilting his head in thought.
"A-A big round ball of some sort." Jackie said, looking at her feathers. From the looks of it she looked like a blue jay? Jackie frowned, pissed. How much of a coincidence was it that he was a blue jay and her brother's name was Jay? Talk about a slap in the face with this thing.
"Hmmmm … I'm surprised that they got a hold of those." Gowland said with a puzzled expression. "Hold out her arms, sweetheart." He said, gently pulling on a wing as Jackie spread her wings out for him to get a good look at them before he examined her feet and sharp claws. "Yeah, that's one of my experiments alright. An old one too." He grinned, looking quite proud of himself. "I developed that one in my young days when I wanted to transform my customers into birds for a certain ride. Just imagine it, darlin'! Spreadin' your wings and feelin' the air ruffle your feathers before you make a death defyin' dive to the ground, only to pull up at the last second! It would have been such a great ride too if I could have perfected the transformations but I could only get it half right. So it ended up bein' a failure." He sighed and shrugged.
"A-A-And when does this wear off?" Jackie asked, shaking.
"Oh, it doesn't. Ya need the cure for that but those papers are under a massive amount of other failed experiments." He sighed.
"W-WHAT?!" Jackie shrieked, shaking angrily.
"Well no need to panic, darlin'! Just enjoy it while I get some workers to sort through the paperwork." He laughed in a carefree way before tried grabbing his neck and strangling him with her hands but instead barely whispered her wings over his neck, making him laugh at the ticklish sensation. "Come on, sweetheart! It's not so bad. You'll be fine." He laughed before Jackie jumped up, grabbing his neck with her new long legs and very long talons, making him jolt as she tightly gripped it neck.
"I know how you can put off projects, Gowland! I want that cure as soon as possible, I don't want to be a bird! How the hell can I work when I can't use my hands?!" Jackie screamed at him as he gripped her talons, trying to pry them off while nervously laughing.
"Ahhh darlin', be gentle, the neck is super sensitive and uh, your talons are real sharp." He said, stiffly laughing before Jackie heavily sighed, letting his neck go and stumbling back onto her feet.
"Please hurry, Gowland." She said as he looked down at her.
"Of course-," he startled, stopping short before looking away and covering his eyes, "and uh, stay in here, sweetheart. I'll uh, get some clothes that fit." He said before quickly leaving, making her freeze before she looked down at her tank top, seeing it stretched out with her practically popping out of it before she squeaked and quickly covered herself up in embarrassment with her large fluffy wings.
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Now wearing a backless loose shirt and a modified sports bra, Gowland helped sneak her into his office 'indiscreetly' with a large dark poncho that covered up her wings and very large shoes to cover up her legs. She could barely walk with such large feet, having incredible difficulty with Gowland having to catch her every now and then before they finally get to the room.
"And here is where all the failures go." Gowland grinned, opening up the door to reveal a massive room with a large pitfall covered in who knows how many meters of papers since the shelves were all full. Jackie's jaw dropped.
"Y-You're telling me the cure is somewhere in here?!" Jackie shrieked, covering her mouth with horror.
"Yes … well, more or less. The papers about that pill are here somewhere. I never got to the part of creating a cure, but with the original papers I'll probably be able to create one! I have an awful lot of failures." Gowland bashfully laughed. "But, it's alright, sweetheart! I'll get some workers on it pronto." He grinned before he left, leaving Jackie to stare at the horrible mess.
There was no way a few workers would be able to go through all of this. Absolutely no way. Jackie blinked, suddenly thinking of Aria. Would … would she know a way to help her out of this faster than the 80 time changes it was going to take people to get through this paperwork?
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Jackie nervously walked into town, barely managing to squish her giant claws into smaller work boots but each step she took hurt her feet. She needed to go see Aria as fast as possible. She walked into the alley of a bakery called the Royal Staircase, knocking on the back door and getting someone's attention.
The door opened up, revealing a puzzled worker who looked out to her.
"H-Here." Jackie said, very carefully holding the letter with her 'hands' beneath her poncho, handing her the letter Aria told her to give to the workers of the Royal staircase if she absolutely needed to see her in person as quickly as possible.
The worker's eyes bugged out of his head in shock before he bowed, telling her to wait a moment. After a few minutes of waiting they let her inside and shuffled her into a back room, letting her sit and get comfortable but she refused to sit, knowing it would mess up her tail feathers even more that she had somehow managed to fit into her pants.
After about 10 minutes of waiting a man walked in with a smile, handing her a sack to put onto his head. Jackie went ahead and put it on, being made to follow the people down some stairs.
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After about an hour of taking various transporting systems, the people directing her made her hold still before taking off the hood, making her blink in surprise before she saw a door in front of her.
"Lady Aria will see you now." One of the faceless smiled before fading back into the darkness, making her face pale. This was a very, very creepy place.
"A-Aria? Can I come in?" Jackie asked, gently rapping on the door with her wing.
"What's the password?" Some digitally distorted voice called out from all the shadows around.
"Password? Aria, you didn't give me a password you just gave me a letter to give to people behind the Royal Staircase, you know, the bakery? They put a bag over my head and took me here." Jackie explained with a huff.
"Can you prove you are really Jackeline Penske? And that Aria indeed is the one whom gave you that letter?" The voice continued.
Jackie heavily sighed, smacking her head with a wing. "They already took my letter and left … wait, is that not you, Aria?" Jackie asked, surprised. Who else could do that digital voice?
"I shall ask some questions. First respond. What is on page 612 section 890 in the friendship agreement?"
"Wha-?! How the hell am I supposed to know that by heart?! I don't have a copy with me. Look, I have to see Aria, it's an emergency! Aria, is that you or not?!" Jackie shouted, banging on the door. "I-I'm calling a-a Spearow fish on this!" Jackie shouted.
"And in which section is that?" The voice asked
"If I don't have a copy on me how am I supposed to know it when I just told you I don't have the whole thing memorized? I know it's somewhere near the back." Jackie said, getting nervous. Would she really be turned away like this?!
"That is certainly true … ," there was a moment of silence before the voice spoke again. "Why is it that your body seems to have been modified? Your body pattern seems to be out of registries."
"B-Because I ate something weird and I need Aria's help to reverse it since Gowland doesn't have the cure." Jackie explained, now getting very worried.
"Oh well, just come in." The voice said.
Jackie went to open the door, freezing before finding that it was a round door knob, something that impossible for her to grip with her wings and feet as they were. "Um … Aria or whoever you are, can you open the door?" Jackie asked, knocking some more while nervously looking down the dark and creepy hallways.
A distorted voice came from further back apparently. "Why can't you?"
"Because I literally don't have hands right now." Jackie answered as there was silence on the other side.
The same voice but closer, spoke. "Indeed there seems to be some distortion to her shape and mass."
"YES! So please help me, I can't even work with how I am right now!" Jackie pleaded, struggling to open the door but only managed to jiggle it with her feathers.
The door knob turned open as Aria looked up at Jackie, blinking as she saw Jackie and the large bulk under the poncho she was wearing. Shadows jumped at Aria's shoulders and formed a cute fluffy kitty that rubbed his head on Aria's head.
"What's up with your awful clothes?" Was the first thing Aria asked.
"She is hiding the changes under them. Still, they are indeed awful and far too suspicious. I guess the only reason she was not revised more deeply was due to the letter. That might be worth revising in the protocols." Aria's voice came from the cat.
"Um." Jackie said, staring at the at in confusion. Well, this was the second talking cat she's ever seen in Wonderland. "Who are you?" Jackie asked, confused.
"My name is Aegis." He stated, trotting over to her and peeking under her poncho. "I am an artificial AI assigned to Aria Hadron sherzi." He explained.
"A-An AI?" Jackie asked, stunned. "They have AI's from where you're from?" Jackie asked, turning to Aria in amazement.
Aegis tilted his head. "I'm from your world … or rather, 'our' world. I am the A.I. Asignet in my user's systems."
"Whoa." Jackie said, her fingers twitching as she wanted to take this A.I. apart and check it out. The pain in her feet, however, was much greater than her curiosity. Jackie shifted uncomfortably, stepping inside before Aria shut the door, walking over to the table and sitting down with tea and treats prepared for her. Jackie let out a pained groan, leaning against the wall as she kicked off onto of the boots, stretching her her long claws before kicking off the other one, pausing before looking up to Aria staring at her feet. Before Aria could speak, Jackie began. "A-Aria, I'm in big trouble." She said, shuffling her wings up and pushing off the poncho before spreading her wings a bit, helping her balance as Aria's eyes widened slightly, looking over her large wings.
"Are you? Well, you are undoubtedly too vulnerable and even weaker than before." Aria commented very calmly. "And don't mind Aegis. He is still learning about holding conversations."
"HOW ARE YOU SO CALM?!" Jackie shouted with a loud terrified chirp. "Look at me, I'm a freaking bird!" She cried in horror, holding her face in worry as the soft feathers were the only good thing about any of this. "With wings! And, and look at my freaking legs, they're bird legs!" She shouted, trembling in fright.
"To be precise, you seem to be a … ," Aria's eyes lit with a green glow for a moment. " ... a Cyanocitta cristata, commonly known as 'blue jay'."
"I know I'm a blue jay, the irony is not lost with me!" Jackie chirped, fluffing up her wings in alarm.
"Irony?" Aria tilted her head.
"Yes, you know, blue jay, like my brother Jay, who's nickname was blue Jay." Jackie growled, nervously shaking while looking very freaked out as she looked over her ruffled feathers.
"Mmhh … brother?" Aria's eyes didn't narrowed or anything, but her gaze seemed somehow different.
"Yes, yes, my twin brother we were identical twins." Jackie said, lightly smacking her locket with her wing but was unable to open it, "we were the spitting image of each other aside from gender and that's what's in my locket if you want to look." Jackie said, continuing to try and undo the locket with growing frustration.
"You were? Past tense? You'll have to tell me about it later." Aria kept her cool while Aegis became shadow tendrils that opened up Jackie's locket to show the photos.
"Gemelos? Mellizos?" I understand the genetical difference between those, but how do you tell them apart?" Aegis became some fluffy bat that perched over Arias' head.
"H-How did he do that?!" Jackie asked, startled as she nervously tapped the locket with her wings and tried to close it back up again to keep the pictures nice and safe.
Ignoring Jackie, Aria gently tapped the bat's head. "I can give an explanation later on recognition techniques. For now let's focus on harpy here."
"L-Look, whatever, let's focus on the fact I'm a freaking blue jay!" Jackie shouted, tripping and letting out a small scream as she stumbled over her large clawed feet, leaving large scratches in the ground as she hysterically breathed, trying to get up but her soft feathers kept slipping on the ground. Jackie gave up, smacking against the ground and softly letting out a pathetic cry of despair.
"Don't scratch my wood floors. And how did you end up like that? If you wanted to test transformations into various species you should have told me so I could take notes for research."
"No, that's not what I want, I want to know WHY AM I A F***ING BIRD?!" Jackie screamed, infuriated and frightened. "I mean, I mean I know why and how but I don't know how to reverse it and neither does stupid Gowland. I need help, Aria, please!" Jackie cried.
"Well, if you first explain how it happened, it would be a good start." Aria went to sit on her coach and pointed at a little stool near because it was obvious she wouldn't be able to sit on anything with a back.
"Some jerks ambushed me but Blood and Elliot helped. They made me ate a weird pill that they apparently stole from one of Gowland's many failed experiments and made me eat it!" She cried, getting more and more hysterical. "A-A-And Gowland doesn't have the cure and it will take him and his workers at least 80 time changes just to find the original paperwork."
"Gowland actually made something that works?" Aria was mildly surprised, which in her stone cold attitude it was clear shock.
"Can I examine her?" Aegis asked, flying over Jackie and landing on her head.
"Yes, examine her deeply." Aria waved her hand. "Jackie, while Aegis examines you tell me more about this experiment of Gowland. Did he planned to use it as a weapon on Blood?"
"He didn't! He meant to turn people completely into birds but deemed this a failure since it only turned people into half birds, which is what I am now!" Jackie said, walking over to her. "I-I can't wait over 80 time changes as he digs through all his failed experiments, I have to work and I can't work without any hands!" Jackie cried, wildly flapping her wings in aggravation.
"Explain about this other failures. Does he keep them somewhere? Why would it take 80 time changes?"
"Yeah, Gowland has a massive room filled with meters thick of paper and research about all his failed experiments. He is always looking for something new and fun to use in the park but most of them either don't work or I deny letting him use it for his stupid ideas." She huffed. "He's a madman, and somewhere buried under all that paperwork is a cure for me but it will take him and whatever workers have spare time ages to dig through it all." Jackie explained with a worried chirp. "The room itself is labeled 'failures or not suitable for attractions." Jackie huffed in annoyance.
"Is that so?" Aria mumbled, thinking about how much research Gowland had that could be very useful for her if she got her hands on it.
Aegis turned itself into a small flying squirrel that began poking jackie everywhere and transmitting data to its owner.
"Eep!" Jackie jolted, holding up her wing and watching Aegis crawling around through her feathers, gently tugging on some of them to test their strength. "S-Stop, that tickles." Jackie laughed, shuddering her wing and watching the AI crawl around in her feathers. It actually felt kind of funny to have it crawl around in her feathers like that.
"Your transformation seems very thoughtful. It even seems your mass and bone density has lowered." Aria tapped her chin, remembering that the lullaby had made some experiments regarding some aerial force, but the volunteers were too heavy to actually fly and instead only glided … well, the females could fly short distances...like chickens. "I need to assess the changes. So now undress and let me see." Aria took out her digital camera.
"I-I don't want to." Jackie frowned, pointing to herself with almost tears in her eyes. "I look like a feathery mess and I'm freaked out enough as it is. I don't even want to look at myself very closely." Jackie admitted, with a frown.
Aria starts recording nonetheless and poking her all along before she sees a bulk at the back of Jackie's shorts. Aria pulled them down slightly to release a feathery tail, from which Aria plucked a feather.
"OW! Aria, I'm serious. Don't treat me like some kind of experiment." Jackie angrily chirped, backing away from Aria in alarm.
Aria suppressed a chuckle. "And how do you expect me to change you back if I don't experiment?" Aria then looks at the feather and goes to leave it on her desk before coming back to Jackie. She grabbed Jackie's waist, picking Jackie up into the air and weighed her. "Your weight is actually very low. It seems it's actually as little as to allow for real flight. Your evergature isn't extreme, but it seems to be in the right extension too." She set Jackie down before she suddenly pulled Jackie's top up to see the wings attaching to the body.
"Gah! Stop!" Jackie shouted, struggling against her but her feathery wings were useless in trying to push Aria's prying hands away.
"Ok, still human breasts and torso … same in size though." Aria said, touching them before ruffling the feathers and feeling how soft and light they were.
"Aria, stop that right now-!" Jackie started before a loud and audible pop sounded. Jackie suddenly screamed, reaching down and pressing the wrists of her feathered wings between her legs, a bright and shocked blush snapping across her face. Jackie suddenly shrieked in a bird-like call in alarm before running away into the bathroom with her legs clamped together and kicking the door shut quickly. "Don't come in!" Jackie cried.
"If you tell me what just happened I won't barge it forcefully." Aria asked with calmness, thinking Jackie was overreacting to the touching. "Don't be so overly dramatic. You have seen me naked. So that should have built … what's called when you don't care once you know a person?" She rambled.
"S-Something came out!" Jackie cried in alarm. "AGGGHHH THERE'S ANOTHER!" She shrieked before chirping sharply at the end and silencing herself.
Aria grabbed the camera again and opened the bathroom door, which Jackie hadn't even locked as she heard Jackie screech, and it sounded like a bird's cry. She opened the door to her bathroom and immediately pointed the camera, catching Jackie holding three blue speckled eggs in her wings and her face being a bright red in embarrassment. Not being able to contain her amusement any longer, Aria started laughing loudly.
"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Jackie shouted, hobbling aside with her legs a little wide from the soreness with the eggs hugged to her chest before she gently set them down in the sink. She tried pulling her pants back on but with her feathery wings she couldn't get a grip on the fabric. "H-Help me put my pants back on! Aria, why the hell are eggs coming out of me?!"
Aria was still laughing hard. "You popped out eggs!" The berceuse kept taking a video and pictures until finally she approached Jackie. Instead of helping her pull up her pants, she grabbed her leg and lifted it up to look down below.
"GYAAAHHHHHH! Let go!" Jackie shouted, gasping and staggering back before falling onto the floor, her legs spread so the berceuse got a good look at her.
"Well, at least you still have a vagina and an anus instead of a cloaca. The eggs are the size of emu eggs, they are big but not much." Aria took even more pictures and close ups for a brief minute before Jackie tried to wrestle her pants back on. "Can you fly? What else can you do or don't?" Aria asked before picking her up, finding her to be at least half her original weight and very funny to wiggle around.
"N-No I can't fly! I mean, probably no, I have no idea. I came straight here after seeing the horrors of Gowland's failed experiment room!" Jackie shouted, "it was hard enough just getting through the town and trying to appear 'normal' with these things." She said, opening up her large wingspan as though to prove her point.
"Then let's go out and check if you can fly since you are certainly light enough to do so. From the top of the mausoleum." Aria said with glowing eyes.
"Absolutely not!" Jackie squaked, gasping before covering her mouth at the weird sound she just made.
"Absolutely YES. You are now under research." Aria happily proclaimed and grabbed Jackie's wing to check it out and then pulling on it to help Jackie steady herself. "You are way lighter, so I think actively flying would be a possibility. At least in this world."
"S-Seriously?" Jackie asked, curious if she could, "w-well instead of throwing me off a building why don't I just uh, try in here?" Jackie said, spreading out her wings and flapping them a few times, feeling the strain before she stopped, not wanting to knock anything over.
"In my office? Let's go to my gym."
"I mean it's not like I'd be able to get very high anyway." Jackie frowned as he looked at the ceiling. "Probably."
"But what if you can?"
"Then I'd just hit my head." She said, shrugging her shoulders.
"And what if your skull is less dense, birdie? Hits could be more dangerous." Aria crossed her arms before she went to the bathroom to grab the eggs; they were the size of two fists together. "This came out so easily. I claim research right to all the eggs you lay as your friend." She placed a towel on the sink and put the eggs there, "now let's go to test flying."
"What?! W-Wait, will it hatch into a baby?" Jackie asked, panicking and looking it over. For some reason she wanted to gently sit on it and keep it warm. "No, wait it can't, right?"
"Then I claim all poultry. I doubt it's fertilized anyway, you prude." Aria grabbed the egg again and held it against a light, letting Jackie see through it. "See? Nothing inside. We can even make an omelet out of this, it's almost emu sized."
"Ew! Aria, that was inside of me!" Jackie shouted, mortified by the suggestion.
"So? It's still an egg, all eggs are edible. But let's leave the omelette idea for later, this one goes straight to research. But if you really wanna have little chicki Jackies, and I wouldn't object, there are a couple animal guys in my ranks that are birds … or we can use the basic structure of your current state and put it in on some guy you want." Aria walked up to a little statue of an atom and accommodated it in a particular way, then a secret door opened. "And I obviously have my own private ways to move around."
"Wait, what? You can't just go selling me out like s-some kind of incubator!" Jackie snapped at her.
"I'm not selling you out, I'm promising a nice male of whatever bird species you want, if you want." Aria chuckled again. "You don't even need to incubate, I'll get a mechanical incubator for that. If you can actually fly then I could use an air force."
"Airforce?! What are you trying to do, take over Wonderland?! Absolutely not! Never!" Jackie shouted, repulsed by the idea.
"Silly, if I wanted to take over I could have done so already." Aria darkly chuckled. They get to Aria's private gym, which was a medium sized room but it had a high ceiling with platforms all around to try parkour courses, along with some cushions to land in on the higher jumps.
"Exactly, so why do you want an army?" Jackie demanded, having trouble waddling behind her with her large feet and found it was easier to jump along than actually walk.
"I already have an army, if you haven't noticed. But an air force would be cool, don't you think? Messengers, scouts, bombers … plus harpy's look cool, well that's what you look like at the moment, a harpy." Aria walks up some steps, "now start flapping and see if you can fly."
"This is not funny." Jackie grumbled as she spread out her wings rather awkwardly, "and how the hell am I supposed to fly? What motion would I use?" She asked, giving her arms a few hard flaps before feeling stupid about the weird movement. She felt like she looked absolutely ridiculous!
"Try jumping to this platform while flapping."
"No, I did not. I didn't want to be a bird at all!" Jackie snapped at her with a deep frown.
"But you are at the moment and until I find this cure. Ok, now jump towards that platform there." Aria pointed to a platform farther away the berceuse jumped towards it, landing barely on the edge.
Jackie flapped her wings rather hard, barely managing to stay in the air for a few seconds before she stopped and landed folding her wings in, "ugh, I look ridiculous!"
"You aren't even one of the most colorful birds, and in case you didn't notice, you managed to reach here. Normally you wouldn't have made it half ways. Now jump back and again here until you get the hang of it."
They continue to practice until it became actually easy for Jackie, at which point Aria pointed to an upper platform that the merc had to climb towards to.
With as much concentration as she could muster Jackie managed to land on the platform, wobbling a bit before getting the hang of it.
"You'll thank me later." Aria, casually and quite cold heartedly pushed Jackie of the edge in one hard shove. "Now flap!"
"AAAAAHHHHH!" Jackie shieked, wildly flapping her wings and struggling to keep herself in the air. After a few moments of panic her movement became smoother, allowing her to levitate but not without her arms aching.
"Oh, it seems you can indeed fly despite the lack of aerodynamics." Aria's bright eyes shone with her lenses filming as her processors analized it. "I shall perform most capabilities tests." She informed, thinking how useful this or whatever she got from this could be as an addition to her faction's arsenal.
"Th-That was mean, Aria!" Jackie shouted, a little out of breath in her startelement and being pushed off.
"That was effective." Aria grinned. "You are flying now and we have tested you indeed can fly. Not too gracefully but you can do so."
"And what if I couldn't?! I'd have broken so many bones!" Jackie retorted.
"You are so light that damage would have been minimal. A hard slap but no broken bones, plus, I have means to catch you if needed, and it was not needed." Aria smiled, thinking more and more what she could do with some aerial force. "We'll test you a bit more here and then I'll take some more samples. I need to know what the heck they gave you to be able to recreate and counteract that potion."
"Gowland has some copies of it and everything else that's a failure. He has a huge room of it." Jackie reminded her. "It'll take some searching but it's there with the rest of his failures."
Aria stopped her machinations for a moment at that juicy piece of information. Gowland, in spite the fact that he was a holder, was what closest Wonderland had to a mad scientist besides herself … well, not scientist really, he had no methods, so maybe a crazy inventor, and his inventions, although generally incomplete and a mess, could be used as basic research to acquire interesting stuff without investing that much into I+D. "So … Jackie? Where is this room full of failed experiments exactly? I doubt Gowland will be able to check it all before you nest out or something." Aria half joked. She didn't remember a room like that given that last time she had been hired to devise the entire renewal of th electric systems and the undergrounds corridors, not to mess with failed experiments that Gowland most likely had forgotten about.
"It's the room attaching to Gowland's room." Jackie answered, leaning to the side and managing to fly around a little bit while getting a much better hang of it with her flight pattern slowly becoming more smooth.
"Is that so?" Aria huffed a bit, knowing she'd have to keep attacking some other places to keep Gowland away long enough for her forces to raid the place clean. "You seem to be getting the hang of it already." She commented to Jackie.
Jackie leaned towards Aria before suddenly pulling up, flapping her wings hard before managing to land a little messily by Aria. Jackie let out a relieved breath before looking over to her. "So, Aria, could you help me find the cure to this?" Jackie asked, hopeful.
"Let's make a deal. I'll help you out, but I'll research your condition and you must cooperate under all my terms." Aria said, thinking about how nice Jackie was for giving her such an amazing 'weapon' transform into a bird and fly and the cure as well, if it was in his research papers. "I'll have to get those failures from Gowland to check it."
"Thank you, Aria." Jackie smiled, relieved for the help.
"I think some more experiments are needed … and I wonder if those eggs can hatch. Well, obviously you'd need to get intercourse but I meant artificially. Anyways, it's curious that you can lay them so easily." Aria scratched her chin thinking about it. "We could perhaps see what can trigger your egg production, but first we need to finish assessing your flying capacities. Why don't you try flying around and then see how much weight you can carry with those birdy legs?" The Berceuse proposed, already sending a list of possible tests to her A.I.
" … you'll have nothing to do with my eggs o-or try to do anything creepy like fertilize them artificially. A-a-and the second you get a cure you have to give it to me as soon as possible." Jackie said, nervously staring down Aria. "I don't want you keeping me like a bird for your own amusement or studying, o-or making little chicks that I'm not aware of." Jackie said, worried about what kind of loophole Aria will try to find.
"I already claimed all your eggs. And yes, I won't try to fertilize whatever you lay. It wouldn't work anyways. And yes, the moment I get a cure I'll change you back. Obviously you will stay in my facilities and you'll have to give some lectures on mechanical stuff or something to earn your keep."
"Y-Yeah that's fine, I can do that." Jackie said. "B-But no doing weird stuff to me like trying to add more wings onto me. I don't want you advancing my condition or something weird. So no weird stuff. Please." Jackie said, nervously frowning.
"Adding more wings would be detrimental to your ability to fly." Aria then grabbed Jackie's wing and shook it.
"O-Okay fine, Aria." Jackie said, biting her lip nervously before she opened up her wings. "Give me a hug. I need emotional support, please." Jackie asked, slightly trembling in fright.
"Mmhh… well, it's in the contract, so I suppose so?" Aria opened her arms and remained stiff while Jackie flew to her arms for that hug.
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10 REVIEWS for the next chapter :D this is so much fun x3
Chaos-Dark-Lord: Yes, another chapter, now we are getting closer to how they really become friends and eventually reaching the other fic in this timeline.