The sky was just beginning to turn. Thankfully, it wasn't a symptom of Wonderland being torn asunder, but rather from the general air around the Hatter's domain… or what was left of it. It was a bit hard to tell from a distance. From out here, the floating cogs, gears, and pistons that floated around and threatened the train weren't anything out of the ordinary. As the train grew closer, however, Alice could be certain that the world had seen better days. The other passengers could too, evidently, as hushed murmurs began to spread amongst them once the massive complex came into view. The massive teapots and teapot-like structures that had once hovered around the main castle had crashed directly into it. Infinite streams of tea flowed from the spouts that had not been turned into smithereens, and drops of tea came out from the bottom of the mass of brick and metal, like rain.

"And you are going in there?" The Mock Turtle asked.

"I would rather not, but I need a word from the Hatter."

The Mock Turtle looked at Alice, then to the wreck, and then back to Alice with a confused expression. "From there?!"

"Supposedly. Look, even I am not sure that he is still alive! Rather, it is simply my best option."

"For what purpose?!"

"Some-"

Alice was interrupted by the whining grumble of the singularity of steel. Right before the eyes of her's and the rest of the passengers' eyes, one of the teapots broke away from the rest of the cluster, and fell into the bottomlessness below. In its place, another waterfall of tea spewed out, before calming down and taking a more consistent flow.

"Alice, are you sure about this?" The Mock Turtle pulled one of the levers, allowing the train to gradually decelerate. Not too far from where they were, a platform had conveniently jutted out of the nearly destroyed castle, consisting of… what else but gears and scrap metal? The only thing that was really surprising was its construction. It was definitely not a part of the original castle, rather, a recently built addition that was just barely holding itself together with rivets and welds. The train ground to a halt, and as Alice stepped out, the entire structure strained under her weight. The Mock Turtle maintained his concerned expression, justified beyond reasonable doubt.

"Last chance! You could go anywhere else!" he cried out.

"Not this time, conductor!"

He nodded in understanding. Alice could handle this, and he knew it. "Then until we meet again! Stride safe, be safe!" the Mock Turtle responded, before powering full steam ahead.

A tall order, especially at this specific place and time. Oh well. At least the ground inside was stable enough!

The interior of the Hatter's domain had not fared much better than the outside. All of the metallic components had rusted into a shade of brown that was somehow more grimy than the usual color the domain held. From the entrance Alice faced, which was little more than a tear in the brick wall, it also seemed a lot more self-contained inside. There were less holes to the outside that she could see. It was probably something one could have expected, given that there had been so much stuck onto the castle, allowing for rooms to stack and fold in on one another.

Alice took a step in and immediately was taken aback by a splashing sound. It was no surprise she drowned in the stuff the last time she was here, there was so much tea that it had pooled up onto the floor. A centimeter or two deep, give or take. Alice could thank her lucky stars that she would not have to experience the gross feeling of wet socks; her boots were fairly waterproof.

"What a mess!" Alice exclaimed, "I hope the Hatter isn't in the same state as his home! I would be at quite the disappointing dead-end…"

"The Hatter is right where you left him… for the most part." The Cheshire Cat's suave voice came into hearing. Alice looked around for where he could have been, before seeing him perched on a scuffed pile of metal boxes. "I know I was to blame for what happened, Cat. You can quit shaming me for it." Alice grumbled.

"For once, this is not a matter of making you feel ashamed. It's a warning. Though I know very well you are prepared, be prepared." The Cheshire Cat ended their conversation on that frustratingly convoluted note, though Alice would find out shortly exactly what he meant. Her initial stroll wasn't anything out of the ordinary, even with the clutter and self destruction. A jump between multiple gears, then a shrink between cracks in the wall, and a few levers and switches to pull… it was like she had never left. Of course, Alice would have been literally blind to have believed this, and deaf too, once she found out exactly what the Cheshire Cat was hinting at.

Alice was drawn by the telltale nasally grunts of the Madcaps. She stood at the edge of a ledge, and looked down into a clearing. There seemed to be a lot of clearings in Wonderland… as well as madcaps. She could count twenty-one in this clearing alone, with a good portion of them dead in the river of tea that split the room across its diagonal. On either side were teapot houses painted different colors, and madcap soldiers patrolled the entire river. Going up and down its length, staring at each other like two bloodthirsty animals separated by cage bars. They were no strangers to violence, given the bodies. Unfortunately, neither was Alice, and this was the only path through to the center of the castle. Pulling out her trusted Hobby Horse and stepping back to have a running start, Alice descended upon them, hammering one of them into the ground with one heavy landing.

The others seemed to put their differences aside to go fight Alice, even though they were doomed to start. The more things change, the more they stay the same, and Alice's arsenal was more than enough to take them all on. The last time she was there, they only knew of the Vorpal Blade and the Pepper Grinder. Despite seeing one of their own get completely demolished, they still charged forward, shields up. A fool's errand, considering Alice could just blast them with a single shot from the Teapot Cannon. Their shields immediately shattered into pieces, along with their helmets. Who knew that plates and cups of entirely ceramic made for crummy armor? From here, Alice made quick work of them. Targeting the leftmost one with the Vorpal Blade, before gunning down the rest with ease.

"I never knew this lot could create a society of sorts. Since when could they do that?" Alice asked, though nobody responded. Well, somebody did respond, but it wasn't who she wanted to see… or the Cat, for that matter. Bursting through the roof of one of the teapot houses, a sizable machine towered over the building it had once contained. Two arms, two legs, entirely made of scrap metal and wood of all things, and a goggled madcap sat in the giant automaton's chest. "Nyehah!" It called out, raising the arms of the war machine up before immediately lowering them. Whoever this one was, Alice could tell that it was waiting for war to break out, and it would come after her next. Slipping away quickly, Alice walked through a waterfall of tea, before shrinking down into a crevice and passing through. She still had a mission to do, and a particular Hatter to meet.

The massive hangar that had once been occupied by the Infernal Train not too long ago seemed to take the worst of the damage. The ceiling had caved in, scattering cogs everywhere and bending pipes into the flooded bottom, the tea that spilled out being about a half-meter deep. Alice jumped down, and waded through the herbal carnage.

"Thlpthlpthlpthlpthlpthlpthlp!" An obnoxious licking sound came from the other end of the hangar. Sure enough… it was the Hatter. The Cat was right; he was somehow still alive, and not in great shape. His body was crushed and bent, his limbs all torn off with exception for one of his arms, and his formerly white hat and straitjacket were all tinted an orange-ish brown. Stained with tea, although he probably wouldn't have minded. After all, he was practically swimming in the stuff.

"Oh, Alice!" Alice caught his attention before she could even attempt to do so. "Where did you go off to? Our party was only beginning!"

"Calling it a party would have been beyond unfitting, Hatter. Besides, it's a long story, and I need your help with something else!"

"Bloody- everything IS a nail to you!" The Mad Hatter got the self-restraint for once to hoist himself up out of the tea, and onto a pipe. His clothes were still entirely waterlogged. Tealogged, if you will. "This, and that, and this, and that! The train, the memories, and now whatever you have for me today?!"

"All of that is done and over with, you will be pleased to hear. Er… for the most part, I should say. A new place unlike this one has been brought to my attention, and I need to gain access to it in order to be completely finished. I was told to refer to you." Alice politely explained.

"A new place unlike this one… Hmm…." The Mad Hatter put his fingers up to his tiny chin and thought for a moment. He sounded cross and sarcastic with how he ended the sentence, seeming to hold a grudge for Alice in some capacity. "Ah! An idea! I believe the Dormouse and Hare know of such a way! Though they will not tell you." The Hatter fiddled for his cane and pointed it at the two bodies, who were desiccating in tea, tinting the surrounding liquid darker. "They are too invested in spilling tea to spill secrets! Trust me, I have tried."

"Well, you would know then, right?"

"That I do, Alice!"

"Then tell me!"

The Mad Hatter pondered about this for a moment… then let out a dignified and stern…

"No."

"Wh-..." Alice was starting to worry. "Oh, come on, Hatter!"

"Nuh-uh. Absolutely not."

"Please?"

"Negatory!"

"Hatter, don't do this to me. I- I will do anything for it! Otherwise, Wonderland risks running into tr-"

"Anything?" The Hatter piped up.

"That is what I said, yes!"

"Well, then! You are quite excellent at bargaining, Alice. I would applaud you, if I could! The main thing I would like yo-"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Is it another tea party?"

"YES!" The Hatter replied.

Alice sighed. Trying to get anything out of the Hatter was like pulling teeth. The only thing that saved Alice from blowing a fuse was the Hatter's predictable love for tea. A small price to pay.

"Fine… a tea party it is. But I am not going to be swindled a third time! You are going to hold up your end of the bargain first, Hatter." Alice snapped. She had made the same mistake twice before, with the Jabberwocky and Infernal Train respectively, and there was no way in hell Alice was going to make it a third time. At least the Hatter seemed to accept it. "Very well! Their writings are up in their workshop. Or is it down in their workshop? Left? Eh, it doesn't matter. I would help! Truly, I would! But I am a bit…"

"Shredded?"

"I was going to say 'Frazzled', Alice. I am a bit frazzled." The Hatter frowned. Alice had seen firsthand that the madcaps were up to more violence than usual, and while she could take a whole lot of them on at once, it wasn't exactly exciting, like a stroll in Hyde Park or a game of Chess. There had to be some way to make the journey over any easier, anything to make it-

Thud. Thump. Thud…

…

BOOM!

"Hahayah!"

The madcap in the mech burst through the brick wall, probably drawn by the commotion between Alice and the Hatter. Laughing maniacally, the mech's arms split in two, and the ends of each produced a unique weapon. A saw, a claw, a cannon, and a corkscrew. Alice pulled out the teapot cannon, ready to attack, when the Hatter called to the madcap.

"Oh, quit it, you! I command! Otherwise… wait…"

"Awwwh…" The madcap lowered its weaponry, and Alice did the same with reluctance.

"Nonono, friend! Keep those weapons up! Head… er… " The Hatter's head darted around, until he was dead set on a direction, which he pointed to. "...that way! Take our little guest here over to the workshop, and slash through all that stands in your way!" This seemed to please the madcap, who laughed and raised its weapons again, before gesturing Alice to follow him and running forth at ludicrous speed, crashing through another wall.

Alice wished she could run that fast, but was pleased by the help regardless. It was a weird happenstance, but one to be grateful for. One more step towards finally getting all of this over with…