Slowly, Lewis opened his eyes. His vision was still a blur, but he could clearly make out there was a table in front of him, where something was laid upon. He raised his hand to rub his eyes. This was when someone else's hand grabbed hold of his throat, raised his body up and held him against the wall. Spooked, and after blinking his eyes a few times, his vision cleared. The table he saw, had Alice lying on it. Plastic wrappings kept her restrained to the table, while duct tape kept her mouth shut. Lewis looked at the hand that held his throat, followed its arm, up to the person to whom it belonged. He didn't recognize the man, but one can assume he was her guard.

"Too soon." a woman's voice spoke.

Lewis turned his head, searching for the woman to whom the voice belonged. From out of the shadows and behind the table, a lady in a white kimono appeared. She made no effort to cover her face or her hands, so Lewis could see the deteriorated state she was in. She didn't look like an old lady that was about to, she looked like a young lady whose body is so far decomposed she shouldn't even be walking.

"Onigen, I presume." Lewis said, trying to sound strong.

The woman, Onigen, smiled: "My reputation precedes me."

Lewis wanted to say something else, but the guard squeezed his throat a little tighter.

"I would love to chat more..." Onigen said, "... but I've been waiting for this for far too long."

She laid her hands on Alice's head, but still had one last thing to say to Lewis: "When this is over, you'll be my new body's first meal."

She kept her hands on the head for a few seconds. Suddenly, as though she were stabbed in the back, Onigen straightened up. This seemed to distract her guard for a second. He kept his eyes fixed on her, only to see her body finally crumbling down, until there was nothing but ash. His eyes were so fixed on what was left of her, he didn't notice until too late that Lewis twisted his arm, forcing him to let go, upon which he got punched in the face. The guard was so infuriated by this, he started to change into his monstrous form. Lewis, not sure of what to do, shifted his head, looking for something. He found a vase, which he picked up and threw at the guard. While transforming, he had little time to react to the vase being thrown at him, so when it hit him, he got disoriented, and his transformation stopped. Since he didn't have his gun, nor could he find anything sharp (the shards from the vase weren't good enough), he had to improvise. He grabbed the guard's head, and started banging it against the wall. After two bangs, it found enough strength to stop Lewis. He punched his stomach, then his face, grabbed his shoulders and threw him to the other side of the room.

What neither one knew, was what has happening inside Alice's head. She found herself in the same village she had been only hours ago, when she was remembering her past. The same castle-like walls, the same wooden carts, the same pole on the same stake, but no people in the near vicinity.

"You remember this, my child?" she heard a voice, turned to see who spoke.

"You remember me?" the woman asked, once Alice found her.

"Onigen?" Alice wasn't sure.

Onigen smiled: "Here you have killed many humans. It was here you also showed how strong you were. You're free to believe me or not, but you made me proud here."

Alice looked disgusted: "What?"

"You're exactly what a mother wants her child to be." Onigen continued, "Strong, independent, and just like her."

"I'll never be just like you!" Alice shouted.

"How can't you be?" Onigen questioned, "You came from me, you are part of me, you..."

"Shut up!" Alice jumped her at that moment.

All it took to stop her was to point her finger at her, which somehow caused a strong wind. Alice tried fighting against it, but to no avail. Onigen moved closer to her, grabbed her hair and pulled her to the pole.

"A child is made with a purpose." she said, "And you're about to fulfill that purpose. You should be proud."

Alice pinched Onigen's arm, which stopped the wind from blowing, giving her an opening to kick Onigen's legs, so she would let go. But Onigen was prepared for this. Her hair suddenly grew longer, twisted and turned itself, wrapping itself around Alice, pulling her to the pole atop the stake, where she got tied to again.

"I hoped you would make this easier." Onigen said, "But if you really want to do this the hard way..."

The stake suddenly lit up and was about to burn Alice. Alice struggled to get free, but unlike her distant past, it wasn't as easy.

"But before you leave..." Onigen hissed, "... I'll let you witness this."

Before them a large rectangle appeared, and much like a in a movie theater, it projected what was going on outside Alice's mind and in the real world.

Lewis tried to get, but it wasn't easy, as being tossed around the room caused him great pain. As he tried, the guard had arrived, and violently picked him up. He raised a fist, ready to strike, just when there was a loud moan. Both Lewis and the guard turned their heads, to see Alice waking up, moaning through the tape on her mouth. The guard snickered, and Lewis didn't understand why. He pushed him away and ran to Alice. He tore the tape off her mouth.

"You alright?" he asked her.

Alice nodded, frightened: "Er... help?"

Lewis shook his head, trying to clear it: "Of course."

He placed his hands on the plastic wrappings, about to start tearing them off, but then he remembered something: Isn't Alice strong enough to help herself? He turned his head to her, questioningly. Alice had this uncharacteristic smile on her face, which was enough for Lewis to realize what was really happening. But he was too late. Alice's arm tore through the wrappings and grabbed Lewis's throat. With all ease, Alice got off the table, the wrappings barely stopping her, pushing Lewis against the wall, while the guard laughed at the sight of it. Alice showed her unusually sharp teeth, as she leaned in closer to Lewis's neck. Lewis thought of reminding her of who she was, but nothing he said would persuade her. He knew, because she told him she didn't know who she was anymore. Can you really persuade someone to change back, if one doesn't know who one was before?

"Well, Wonderland did turn Alice into a monster at the end." Lewis stated, "You've lived up to your name now."

A look of confusion appeared on Alice's face.

Inside her head, however, it was Onigen who made that face. But it was Alice who understood what he was saying. She didn't know who she was, but that statement reminded her of who she didn't want to be. That alone gave her enough strength to break through her hair-ropes, somehow having found the strength to blow the fires of the stake at Onigen. Surprised, Onigen forgot she had the power to put them out at will. It took her a few seconds to realize that, but that was enough for Alice to pick up an axe and slice her up.

Out in the real world, Alice placed her hands on her head, as though trying to force away a headache. In so-doing, she let go of Lewis, who dropped down, having little to no energy left to stand up anymore. After a while, a puff of smoke left Alice's body. As if in battle with itself, it moved about, until it suddenly disappeared. The guard was dumbstruck with this. He said something in his own language, through which he got the attention of Alice, who turned to look at him, menacingly. Seeing her, the guard ran away. Alice snickered, apparently confident she'll find him again, when the need arrives. She then turned to look at Lewis. She noticed how beat up he was, so she started to him. When she was close enough, Lewis could make a coherent sentence.

"Is she gone?" he asked, "Is it over?"

Alice nodded: "Thank you."

Lewis smiled in return. Upon doing so, he passed out. Having had to go through too much stress, and with all the pain of the fights, it became too much for him to stay awake.