12. Raining on the Fun

"That's it. I'm done. I can't do it anymore."

Alice and Joker fell into the little red tent, their bodies creating puddles of water on the plastic floor. Exhaustion held them there. Eyes closed, lips parted for steady breaths, the two rolled over to face each other, neither willing to get up.

"We still have a few places to check. The Tower, the Amusement Park…" Black let out a yawn, evidently tired. His body seemed to cling to the ground, his breasts squashed between his torso and the floor.

"It's pointless." Alice whined in defeat, flopping onto her back. "There's too much rain. Too much mud. We'll never make it out of here." She tossed her arm hopelessly over her tired eyes, the rest of her body too weighed down by her dress to move. "We're screwed."

"Isn't that my line?" Black asked, finally making the effort to sit up and change clothes. Metal whirred against metal as the zipper pulled down and back up, a bundle of clothing tossed out into the rain.

"What'd you do that for?" the brunette asked, peeking around her flesh.

"It's going to be soaked tomorrow anyways. Might as well keep the tent clean." Joker explained, crawling on his knees to his duffle bag. Alice sat up as well, untying her apron.

Joker fumbled through his bag in aggravation and sleep deprivation, adorning a safety-pinned pair of boxers and a sports bra before he found long, oversized silky black pajamas to overlap. Alice fumbled through her own on the other side, carefully changing into a black negligee. Joker rose an eyebrow as he pulled his long hair back, watching her bundle her clothes up in a tight ball.

"Toss your dress outside." he ordered, a hair tie between his teeth as he struggled to pull the wine locks back.

"It'll get muddy." The foreigner frowned, her teal orbs running over her favorite blue gown.

"It's going to get muddy anyways." Black insisted, rolling out his sleeping bag. "We'll wash it when we get home. Just toss it out."

Alice hesitated for a moment, but eventually sighed, unzipping the front flap in a quick motion. The storm roared in thunderous rage outside, the wind smacking against the tiny tent with brute force. Her hair flew wildly, tossing in all sorts of directions. Water poured down mercilessly, the droplets feeling far more like tiny bullets than H2O. Alice threw her gown and apron out quickly, losing sight of the soaked cloth rather quickly in the storm.

As her head turned upwards to retreat back into the tent, she stopped, her heart catching in her throat. Through the violence of the rain, between the large, overshadowing trees nearby, a figure stood, swaying back and forth between the bark. She could barely make out its shape, but the glint of a sword was not missed by the quick flash of lightning cracking against the dark blue sky. She gasped, falling backward into the false safety of her tent. The flap zipped close tightly.

"What is it?" Joker asked, settling down inside his sleeping bag.

"I thought I saw something." Alice replied, moving backwards towards her own bed.

"What was it?"

"Well, it was a person." The brunette eyed the door carefully, pulling her sleeping bag up to her chin.

"You're seeing things." Black grumbled, rolling on his side. "Go to sleep."

"But I thought I saw-"

"Go to bed."

"But-"

Her words were cut off by a loud RIIIIIP! from the tent walls. She and Joker let out shrill screams as a sharp sword came swinging through. Alice rolled over quickly, narrowly missing the weapon as it stabbed into her pillow. A blood patched cape flew in with a sudden gust of wind, a very confused brunette underneath it.

"This isn't a bush…" he said, lifting the gray mask from his bright crimson eyes.

"Ace!" Alice shrieked, shivering against the opposite wall beside the prison guard. "What are you doing?!"

"Oh, hey Alice!" Ace flashed his pearly whites, his gloved hand waving kindly.

"Don't 'hey Alice' us!" Black snapped. "What are you doing to our tent?!"

"Your tent? Oooh, that's what it is." Ace looked around curiously, finally taking in his surroundings. "You camping, too? Great! Let me join you!"

"You ripped our tent, asshole! You're getting water everywhere! Get out!" Black snapped.

"Hmm? Oh. I guess I did." The knight laughed. "Sorry."

"Sorry?" Black gritted his teeth now. Alice gently held him back.

"Here, let me set up my tent instead. You can stay in there." The idiot offered, climbing back out into the storm. The tent rocked unevenly in his absence.

"And you can sleep in the mud." Joker growled.

"Just hurry, Ace." Alice sighed, using the jester's sleeping bag as a shield from the rain.

"See, isn't that better?" Ace grinned proudly at his manufacturing of the tent, seeming undisturbed by the closeness to his company.

"It's a little crowded…" Alice thought aloud, feeling squished between the two men- er, women.

"A little? I can barely breathe." Black hissed, his body pushed up against the wall as he struggled to climb into his sleeping bag.

"Doesn't it help with body heat?" Ace suggested. "We could always take our clothes off and sleep in one bag-"

"No!" Came the quick unison of the jester and the foreigner.

"Why not? You already tossed your other clothes in the rain." A sly smile curled up across the knight's lips. He set his gaze on Alice, taking in her reaction as he spoke. "Were you two having a little fun? Ooh, it makes sense now. Alice can't decide on someone because she likes women." He leaned forward on his knees- he didn't have to move much- and pressed his forehead against hers. His fingertips lingered on her hip. "Say, Alice, I'm a woman now. Can we have some fun, too?"

For a moment, Alice was in front of the eager knight, her face as red as the blood splotches on his cloak. In the next, she was pulled back against Black's chest, his arm extended forward, his gun aimed at the knight's head.

"You're going to shoot me? Haha. I'm only joking." Ace laughed, relaxing back into his makeshift bed. "Don't get so hot and bothered. I won't steal your girlfriend." Yet his eyes narrowed at the outsider, suggesting otherwise.

Joker ignored his last comment, moving in front of the young lady. "Switch me beds."

Alice opened her mouth to object, but used her better judgement and decided against it. Joker shuffled around to Alice's sleeping bag, glaring at Ace all the while. Ace simply smiled, his focus on the outsider as she curled up into the black silk.

"Aww, does Joker want to sleep with me?" the knave teased, scooting closer to the jester. Joker wiggled away. "I'm flattered, but I don't think you're my type."

"F*ck off, knight." Black spat.

Ace laughed, hugging his boobs with delight. "Gladly!"

Alice shuddered, pulling the covers over her head. Black and Ace continued their argument through the muffled sounds of the sleeping bag, but the brunette shut her teal eyes gently and bundled herself from head to toe, blocking out the noises. Her mind wandered, the violent storm outside and her friends' bickering drowned out by her thoughts. Curious wondering turned into daydreaming, and finally, sleep.

"-And now I'm just hoping neither of them are touching my body while I'm asleep." Alice finished with a hopeless sigh. The incubus chuckled, his feminine body shaking lightly, disrupting his even floatation.

"You have yourself in quite the predicament." he said, brushing his long bangs from his grey eye.

"Tell me about it." Alice grumbled, her arms crossed firmly in front of her chest. "I just want this stupid game to end already. I think they're becoming worse as women."

"I don't mind it so much." Nightmare assured gently, giving off a little spin. His hair sprawled out in the air around him. "Gray doesn't mind it too much either. He likes the frilly dresses." His face grew paler, the joy draining from his expression. "He's started to use me and Julius as Barbie dolls."

Alice chuckled lightly. "Now you know how I feel."

"It's no fair!" the dream demon whined, waving his fists in the air. "He makes me sit at my desk and work all day while he sews dresses and plays with Nightmare Jr! The tower is covered in flowers and little animals! It smells like a zoo!" Alice giggled. She could only imagine how far the lizard had actually gone in the tower. It was something she imagined Vivaldi would be proud of.

"You ought to be working all day anyways. You're in charge of Clover Tower, aren't you?" the foreigner pointed out. Nightmare pouted, crossing his arms.

"It doesn't mean I want to work all day." he huffed, his cheeks puffed out in frustration.

"I'm trying to end the game already." Alice assured, her expression falling. "It's becoming more difficult to look for the key." She paused, looking down at her lap in guilt. "It's been raining too much. It's going to start flooding soon if we don't hurry."

Nightmare cocked his head to the side, long silvery locks falling to the left. "Why are you still looking for the key?"

Alice's head popped up abruptly. "What do you mean?"

"Alice, I thought you were looking for the box." Nightmare said, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Why would I be looking for that? I don't even have the key yet." Alice stood up slowly, her eyes locked onto him, analyzing him. Her heart beat loudly, her mind racing. Was there something he knew that she didn't?

"Alice, you already have the key." The dream demon spoke slowly, making sure she caught every word. Alice's heart skipped a beat. She didn't understand. Had this search been for nothing? What did he mean? The key was surely long gone by now. Reading her thoughts, Nightmare attempted to clarify. "You really don't know? It's-"

Two hands quickly covered the foreigner's ears as Nightmare's lips moved, muting him. Alice glanced around in confusion, her sense of hearing far below what it should have been. She couldn't hear a thing.

"Now now, we shouldn't lie to the young girl, now should we?" A voice spoke behind her, though she couldn't hear him. His hands fell onto her shoulders, allowing the young lady to turn and catch a glimpse of his wine red hair before her surroundings faded into white. "Come along, Alice. I'm still having fun."

Two more chapters to go. Cheers! So glad to have some progression here. The next story will be the last one in the series, so do look forward to that. In the meantime I'm going to be preparing for today's How I Met Your Mother Monday... Suit up!