8D yay, it's up! Sorry for the delay, THIS STORY IS NOT DEAD... School's end is five days away, plus I have getting plots and first chapters done for *NEW* fanfics. So enjoy!

Chapter 8 Part 2

At last

The castle of Night was swarmed with white chess-looking soldiers within minutes, The Mad Hatter at the lead. Surprise was on their side, and some of the Black soldiers retreated on sight. The rest attacked. Hatter had quite an easy time fighting despite the fact he hadn't fought since Frabjous day. He didn't seem to notice Stayne watching the fighting from a dark corner of the castle hall. Stayne gripped his sword, but didn't attack. The Queen had told him not to fight, but to him, she was just a puppet. So to him, he could do whatever he liked.

"Red Queen? I thought she was banished along with-" Alice stopped. "Stayne… I should have known something was strange when I saw him…" The Duchess stared at Alice.

"Stayne saw you?" she asked. Alice nodded slowly and the Duchess leaned in as if someone would hear her talking normally. "Did he tell you to leave?" she asked. Alice again nodded.

"I don't know why he told me to though."

"He wanted you out of the way! It's very obvious what he's trying to do. First, he gets you out of the way without any suspicion. Second, he gets rid of your friends so no one can bring you back!" Alice was taken aback by how much she knew. If someone knew this much, it couldn't be for good purposes.

"How do you know all of this?" Alice asked.

"Because I used to work for Stayne."

Stayne still stood in the shadows of the room, waiting like a snake to attack. While he waited, Hatter was taking out more of the guards and soldiers than most of the White soldiers did. Something, maybe the thought of seeing Alice again, drove him.

A few of the black guards rushed at Hatter, but out of some strange fear, they backed off. One of the guards challenged Hatter, which ended badly. Hatter didn't kill anyone, though he could of, but just making them back down and run off was just as good. Just as Hatter was thinking the battle would be won and he could find out what happened to Alice, a black figure with a heart-shaped eye patch stepped into the battle. With his sword raised, Stayne rushed at Hatter, but didn't catch him off guard. The mad man seemed to have his senses when it came to fighting. A metallic clang sounded when the two swords collided, not interrupting the battle, but at least getting a few on-looking soldiers.

"I should have killed you the first time." Stayne muttered. The two swords clashed again, this time Hatter's inching closer to Stayne.

"Same here, ya bloody knave." Hatter shot back. The two clashed swords a third and fourth time, both aiming to strike a mortal wound.

"That was before the Red Queen took power, however." Alice sat silently in a state of shock. "When things began to change, I tried to lead a rebellion. She ordered me to be executed at once." Still, Alice said nothing. "I managed to escape the night before I was supposed to have my head taken; I slipped out through a back door in the wall. Despite the guards surrounding the wall… Well, let's just say I made it out alive, and that's what counts." The Duchess stood back up.

"So what do I do now…?" Alice asked. "I feel like I know where I am, yet I can't find the Black Castle, or any place else for that matter… What must I do?" The Duchess looked down at the ground for a moment, then back up at Alice.

"Listen, Alice… I have lived here long enough to know my way around these woods. All we need now are horses…" The thought of riding a horse made Alice wine a bit. Even if she had ridden plenty of horses back in her world, she would rather have her Bandersnatch. The Duchess could see clearly that riding a horse wasn't a very good idea. "Well, I wasn't suggesting that you rode one… I'm sure a bandersnatch will have to do." Alice seemed to perk up as she spoke.

"Again… What?" The Duchess smiled and showed Alice outside. She was shocked to see how different her surrounding had become. Instead of a dark forest, a flat land surrounded the house. Off in the distance stood the old Red castle. Alice took a few steps forward, almost expecting to see the Jabberwocky appear. Instead, it was her bandersnatch who greeted her. Alice simply stroked the beast; her focus was more on the castle than the bandersnatch.

"Alice?" the Duchess broke her concentration. Alice looked back at her.

"Yes?"

"I do believe you have somewhere to be. The fighting has begun, and there is little time to waist." Alice sighed quickly and mounted her Bandersnatch. "You go ahead. I'll be right behind you." The bandersnatch rode off as fast as it could, leaving the Duchess to her own plans.

o*o*o*o*o*o

It was clear that a fight had happened when Alice reached the castle. Blood stained the grass and outer walls, and a few mangled bodies lay toward the doors of the castle. Alice cringed a bit; she could almost hear the Red Queen screaming 'Off with her head!'. Something else caught her attention, though. It seemed like the fight was over, but a clang of metal rang out, shattering the deathly silence. A few calls rang out, both very familiar to Alice.

"You'll die here along with all of your bloody army." One voice said.

"You couldn't kill me before. How can you now?" another voice cackled back. Alice slowly walked toward the two, trying not to make a sound. The moment she stepped into the castle, her blood seemed to freeze. Standing up towards the throne was Hatter and Stayne, swords and eyes locked.

"You'll pay for what happened to Alice." Hatter spat. Alice couldn't think. She couldn't move. And most importantly, she couldn't be seen. When sanity took over her mind once more, Alice stepped behind a large column. She heard the two swords clash again, with a sickening sound Alice couldn't seem to understand at first. Following that was a crash, like a body falling to the ground. When no more metallic clangs rang out, Alice slowly stepped from behind the column. Off to the right stood Hatter. Below him lay a bleeding body with a heart-shaped eye patch. Even though her lip quivered, Alice found that she could speak.

"Hatter…?" She whispered slowly. The Mad Hatter turned around slowly. When he laid his orange eyes on Alice, the long sword fell to the ground. "Hatter, are you alright?" Alice knew she should have something better to say, but that's all she could think about.

The next thing Alice could really confirm was that Hatter had his arms around her and he wasn't going to let go.

"I knew you weren't dead…" Alice had to smile slightly at this.

"I'm not going anywhere." It was the only reply she could think of. Alice felt Hatters arms loosen and he looked her in the eyes. They had changed back to green, which, to Alice, seemed to fit him better. Without giving her next move any real thought, Alice leaned in and brushed her lips with The Mad Hatter's. They broke apart and Alice flung her arms around Hatters neck.

"At last…"

Alice: :3

Hatter: :3

Wolfcrystal: :3 muhahaha... I wrote the kiss scene! YES! I hope this pleases all my waiting readers. yes..

I MADE THIS FOR YOU!

don't get the joke? go on to Youtube and look up a skit called 'Hot Kool-aid' Just for the record, I'm not getting paid to advertise the video, I just want people to get mai joke.

Well, until next time~

Wolfcrystal

PS... The Red Queen's castle DOES mean something. It has something to do with the Duchess and a bunch of crap later on...