Lethal squatted on the corner of the roof, the shadow of the gargoyle next to him covering him. Day would be upon him soon, but Lethal stayed unmoving. A shadow down on the street caught his attention. This time of the night…this part of town. No one would be out. Staring down from the roof, he saw a single blonde haired woman slowly walking down the center of the street.

Looking closer, he realized that he recognized her as the same woman he had saved from being raped nearly a week ago. Quickly jumping down, Lethal flipped and rolled down the side of the building until he swung of the edge of a ledge, landing on his feet. Lethal slowly walked over to the girl wearing a bright blue dress.

"Did what happened the last time not steer you off walking---"

The girl was repeating something over and over again.

"Lethal…Lethal…Lethal…"

Lethal stepped in front of the girl, waving his hand in front of her face. He got no response. He bent down and looked up into at her eyes. They were open, but there was nothing in them. They just stared blankly at the ground. He stood back from the girl as she suddenly stopped, looking up at him. That's when Lethal saw it.

A small little card behind her ear. It wasn't very big, as small as a business card, with "10/6" on it.

"Are you ok?"

The girl stared blankly at him.

"I must ask you to follow me."

Lethal nodded and the girl turned around and started walking again. Lethal stayed behind her, pulling his coat behind him so he could reach a gun quickly if he needed to. The girl walked down the street, turning and slowly making her way into an old rundown city park. Lethal stayed in the shadows as she walked down the lit pathway making her way to the center of the park.

Classical music fluttered through the air as Lethal followed the girl around a corner and came upon an odd scene. A large table was set up in the center of the park. Lamps all around lit the place brightly. Twelve people sat around the table…all of them staring blankly forward.

"Come and join the party, Mr. Lethal! It is quite fun!"

Lethal slowly emerged from the shadows, walking to the table. The girl slowly walked to the end of the table and stood next to a man wearing a top hat, his feet kicked up on the table, sipping from a tea cup.

"I see my Alice found you and brought you safe and sound to our wonderous tea party."

"The Mad Hatter."

The Hatter removed his hand and nodded his head down.

"A pleasure to make your acquatance. And I am to assume you are the man the call Lethal."

Lethal slowly reached up to one of his guns, Hatter raised a finger, shaking it back and forth.

"Tsk…tsk…I must tell you before you do anything rash…I have made some wonderful improvements to my cards. If I die while they wear the cards…they die."

Lethal pulled his hand back down from his gun, pulling a baton out and whipping it to its full length.

"Well then...I'll just beat you until I can take them off."

Hatter slowly shook his head.

"Such a violent attitude. Very well then…"

Hatter took a quick sip from his tea cup.

"…kill him."

The twelve people around the table all stood up, their chairs knocking down behind them. Looking at Lethal the blank expressions turned to anger. Lethal slowly backed up, but a man ran out from the table charging at him. Lethal jumped back, sweeping downward with the baton and knocking the man's legs out from under him. Reaching up, Lethal pulled the card from behind his ear. The man suddenly shook and went unconscious. Checking his pulse, Lethal made sure the man was still alive, then rolled out of the way as a woman swung a chair down at him.

"Come, come…quickly now, people!"

The Hatter continued sipping his tea and laughing as Lethal ducked and dodged out of the way as the group tried to attack him. Rolling backwards and jumping to his feet, Lethal spun around back kicking two people running towards him, knocking their cards loose. A man slammed into Lethal from behind, wrapping his arms around him. Lethal jumped up, kicking out and hitting two other people running at him, then pushed backwards, slamming the man holding him into the trunk of a tree.

Reaching backwards Lethal grabbed the man by his shirt collar and fell forward, throwing the man off his back and into three other people. Grabbing a knife of the table, a woman screamed in rage as she ran at him, slashing back and forth with the knife. Lethal back up, then reached out, grabbing the woman's wrist and spinning her around, pulling the card from her before dropping her unconscious body to the ground. Two more men stood facing Lethal.

"Enough of these hyjinks!"

Hatter pulled two revolvers from his coat and slid them down the table to the two men.

"Finish this!"

The two men lifted the guns and turned to Lethal, firing. Lethal dove the ground and somersaulted behind a tree as bullets impacted around him. Walking to the tree, the two men went to either side both coming around and aiming at…nothing. Lethal suddenly swung down from the tree branch, driving his feet into the back of one of the men, knocking him into the other, the two cards flipping out and into the air. Lethal stepped out from behind the tree, staring at Hatter, who raised an eyebrow.

"Unexpected…"

Lethal moved forward at the Hatter, but standing quickly, the Hatter pulled a long knife out from his sleeve, holding it to Alice's neck. Alice remained as still as a statue, the blade resting gently under her chin. Hatter shook his head at Lethal.

"No…no…no…wouldn't want dear Alice here hurt, now would we?"

Lethal stood still.

"So what is it going to be Lethal? Your life…or hers. You've saved her once already, can you do it again? Or will the innocent finally have to suffer?"

Hatter started to laugh, failing to notice that Lethal had slowly lifted his hand up into his jacket sleeve a little. Hatter shook his head and stared at Lethal.

"C'mon, Lethal…how long must I wait to get some tea?"

Lethal suddenly threw his arm up, the small throwing knife cutting through the air and slicing clean through Hatter's wrist. Hatter screamed in pain, the knife dropping from his hand and clattering to the table. Lethal kicked the table, driving it into Hatter's stomach and knocking him back into his chair so hard he fell backwards landing in a heap on the ground.

"No!!!"

Lethal moved forward as Hatter stood up, clutching the knife that was stuck through his wrist. Hatter quickly turned and ran into the darkness of the park.

"You have harmed innocent people for the last time, little man. Your fairy tale will soon be over."

Walking past Alive, Lethal pulled the card from her ear, and then slowly dropped her down into a chair, leaning her head gently against the table. Moving into the shadows, Lethal disappeared in the dark.

Hatter ran quickly, nearly passing out from the blood loss the knife in his arm was producing. He rested against a tree, looking behind. He saw nothing in the darkness and quickly started running again. A baton suddenly swung out from behind a tree, smashing Hatter in the face. Hatter fell to the ground, clutching his now broken nose. Standing over the quivering Hatter, Lethal stared down at him.

"You're pathetic."

"Ple---"

Hatter was cut off as Lethal swung the baton down again.