She gets up, after a while, wiping her tears away. "So. What does 'Alice' do?"
His eyes look warm, and if that too-wide smile wasn't forced, his gentle, comforting one would be in its place. "Alice goes through the Mad Party, and chops off the head of the Butterfly King, before going home."
She stares at him. "You want me to chop someone's head off?"
"If you don't mind."
"Adrien, what."
He sighs, looking like he's grasping for the words. "I can't explain everything. If I try, I'll either confuse you more, or the rules will break and I'll…" He looks down, like a sad kitten. "I'm sorry, Alice."
"Adrien, please stop calling me Alice. You know what my name is. You've said it more than enough times, but I guess that was back when you actually cared about me," she pins him with a look of pure steel. "The Adrien I knew would never have left me for a year, and then dragged me into a dangerous forest to chop someone's head off!"
He looks into her eyes, with those cat-eyes that are nice enough but aren't really his, and she wants to flinch away. If she didn't know it was Adrien, she'd be terrified of the inhumanity of the man holding her. "Wouldn't the Adrien you know trade his sanity if he thought he could do some good in the world?"
"In our world, maybe. But why crazy-world?"
"Still people. Still suffering. I… had to help."
And… that sounds like Adrien. Adrien, who, if asked, would be willing to take on all the suffering in the world to help someone. Adrien, who loved stories about heroes, something she always made fun of him for. "Right. Of course, yeah. That makes sense… so where do we go? To fight?"
He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath, something that looks terrifying with that smile… "Get through the Mad Party. The Wonderlandians who've had their magic stripped and corrupted. And then, we'll get to the butterfly."
"And go home?"
"And go home."
…
They come upon the Mad Party soon enough… a balcony, overlooking the forest, in a creaking old house. The mad folk are mostly teenagers, although some adults, and one little girl running around.
None of them look human.
Marinette feels like she's going to be sick as she notices that the little girl isn't a girl- she's a human doll, with disconnected joints, nailed together, and she's bleeding. There's a boy about her age, who seems to be made of paint, and so many others, too horrible to describe.
"Welcome to the Mad Party, Alice," Adrien murmurs. "We're all mad here."
She clings to his arm, cringing as she passes a man with a blank, featureless white face, except for two splashes of black paint that run down his face where his eyes ought to be. The man salutes Adrien, who nods in return.
"Hello, Mr. Mime," he says cordially. "Tell your lovely daughter Horrifenne I send my regards."
The Mime traces where his lips ought to be in a smile, before passing away. Marinette is absolutely certain she's going to be sick.
"Adrien…"
"We have to get past the balcony party if we want to fight the Butterfly King. They'll either help us or fight us, I couldn't recall which." When she glares at him, he puts his hands up. "Traded my sanity in, remember?"
"You are such a damn martyr," she sighs, looking around her. "These are the… the things you're trying to save?"
"Manon Chamack."
She looks up, confused, and he points to the bloody doll-girl. "Eight years old, she could make dolls dance. A fantastic power that she used to make beautiful puppet shows. Otherwise, a normal child. Now, she's what you see. Her power sapped for the sake of the king."
Marinette's eyes widen in horror. "Oh, god…"
"Mylene Haprele," he points out a ten-foot-tall monstrosity. "She could take away fear. Fifteen now, twelve when she was destroyed, became Horrifenne. Ivan Bruel," he gestures to a man of stone. "Strength beyond measure. Seventeen. Yes, these are the people- people, not things- I am trying to save, along with thousands like them."
She looks down. "You're right. This… this is too… too much. We have to destroy the Butterfly King!"
Every head in the room turns to her.
"Oh, now I remember!" Adrien laughs. "It's 'fight us,' isn't it?"
"Damn it, Adrien…"
The first to attack is a girl who appears to be crafted out of lightning, who strikes with an umbrella… and nearly cuts Marinette, before Adrien gets in the way, taking the skewer right through the chest. He pulls the umbrella out, and it falls to bits, leaving the girl to fade out from existence… "Next up! Come one, come all, step right up to fight Alice and the Cheshire Chat!"
"Um, Adrien, I have no idea where you learned how to do that, but I cannot," she murmurs to him.
"I know. Alice isn't destruction, she's creation."
"Huh?"
"Cheshire Chat makes things fall to dust. Ladybug Alice makes flowers from the rust."
She stops to glare at him, just as a vividly-colored boy appears before her, with a wand. "Do you know, certain flesh-eating chemicals make excellent bubbles?"
She gasps, finding herself surrounded.
"Create! Alice, you have to create! Transform the bubbles!" Adrien calls to her, and she closes her eyes, clenching her fists…
Flower petals rain down.
The fights go almost quickly, after that, each member of the Mad Party falling… until only one is left. She sits on a throne in the center, dark curls cascading down her back. "Looks like somebody broke the rules."
"Princess Volpina!" he bows deeply. "A pleasure to see you."
Her soft smile is lovely, although the sharp teeth negate the effect. "I know it is. After all, I'm the reason you wear that grin of yours."
Marinette steps in front of Adrien, eyes wide. "You… you did this to him?"
"He did it to himself, challenging me. Anyway, he knows the rules of Wonderland. The Cheshire Chat can't help Alice understand what to do. He told you outright to start transforming things," Volpina explains, twirling a strand of dark hair. "So of course, he must face the punishment."
She snaps her fingers, and two foxes appear from the ground, grabbing Adrien, and hauling him away, as she cackles, toward the highest part of the balcony… the guillotine stand…
"Off with his head!"