Dudes, when I counted up the votes… I just gotta say. A majority of you are sadists! And I respect that to a huge degree XD

Ideas in here presented by Aoi Liddell and CandyXdaXneko!

-.-.-.-

The Chase is on

"Have you seen her yet!?" Dee and Dum questioned Boris as they met up with him.

Boris scratched his head, "No… I was hoping one of you did…"

All three of them heaved a sigh when suddenly someone brushed against Boris' shoulder roughly. The Cheshire Cat turned his head in irritation to look at Pierce who instantly backed away and said his apologies frantically.

"Useless rat…" He deadpanned before he found himself growing irritated, "Why haven't you found Alice yet!?" He roared out making Pierce flinch away, "I'm sorry! I haven't seen her! I've been looking! I swear!"

"I doubt he's lying…" Dum stated, "Even if he was it was expected…" Dee agreed simply.

Boris grabbed the dormouse by the collar stopping the mouse's feeble attempts to run away from the trio, "I don't think so… I mean, for once the rat may be useful." This made Dee and Dum raise eyebrows his way while Boris nodded and returned his attention to the squeaking male in his grasp, "Listen, Alice is afraid of us already—"

"I can see why!" Pierce cried making Boris twitch though he simply gritted his teeth to hide his growing frustration, "Anyways, she shouldn't be afraid of you. We need you to convince her to come back with us… Can you at least try to do that?"

Pierce shut his eyes tightly, "B-but! I was already going to do that!" He proclaimed making Boris' expression darken.

"Well, good because now you have extra motivation added to the mix. Basically, if you fail, you die." The Cat ominously hissed easily making all the color wash away from the dormouse's face instantly.

"W-wah!?"

Alice walked by the four of them along with the crowd unaware of their presence, "There she is! Go get her, you rat!" Boris growled before pushing the dormouse ahead and Pierce could only whimper but comply.

"Remember, if you mess this up, we'll kill you." Dee and Dum reminded him eerily, causing his already nervous composure shake even more.

Pierce slowly approached the girl who was receiving an ice cream cone from the faceless happily. "H-hi…" Pierce stiffly greeted the girl who sat on the bench licking her ice cream obliviously.

Alice blinked her eyes up at Pierce as she took a lick of her ice cream, "No fair! I'm on time out! This doesn't count!" She stuck her tongue out at him with a pout. Pierce felt a shiver execute his spine as the twins and Boris leered into his back darkly. Still afraid, he quickly took a seat next to the little girl, "I'm Pierce Villiers…" He introduced himself. Alice stared at him waiting for him to continue. Pierce sweated still slightly blue as he remembered the twins threats making him gulp.

"S-so Alice—" The little girl stood to her feet immediately cutting him off, "I'm not going anywhere!" Alice shouted at him instantly making him shrink away in his seat with narrowed eyes the girl continued eating her ice cream. The dormouse got up and looked at her desperately,

"Please, Alice! You have to come back with us! You have to!"He cried before throwing his hands around her neck and resting his face on her shoulders, Alice unprepared for this sudden motion was thrown on her back to the floor with Pierce on top of her. "Ah!" She yelped out as they hit the ground.

Pierce's teary eyes gazed down at hers as his hat fell to the floor, Alice at first looked into his eyes surprised at the tears before her teal eyes slowly began wandering upward. "Please, Alice…" He whimpered softly.

"E-e-ears…" Alice whined out softly watching Pierce's brown bear-like ears twitch slightly. Pierce looked down at her confused when suddenly with unbelievable strength; Alice managed to push him off of her body before shoving him down on the floor to where she was sitting on his chest.

"A-alice…?" He questioned confused, Alice ignored him still looking at his ears.

"I wanna touch them…" She said dreamily with sparkly eyes. "So cute!" Alice finally exclaimed before grabbing onto them roughly.

"AHHH! OW! OW! OW!" Alice continued tugging onto them while Pierce kept crying out in pain. "They're so cute! Ahhh~ I love them! I love them!" She went on cheerfully.

"Big brother when this game is over… We should play again!" Alice jubilantly stated finally getting off of the dormouse that lay on the floor with dizzy eyes and throbbing ears. "Bye, bye! I still have to win this game!" She smiled before dashing off.

"W-what happened…?" Pierce moaned in pain as he slowly opened his eyes. Boris, Dee, and Dum stood looking down at him sinisterly.

Boris' lips pulled into a sneer, "Where is she?"

Pierce's eyes got wide, "T-that's—"

"Don't tell us you let her escape..." Dee hissed while his brother cracked his neck to the side, "Because if you do…" Dum sneered. All three brought out their guns with a menacing aura making Pierce cry out in terror.

-.-

Alice sat down watching faceless play the game curiously. Propping her head on her hands, she observed as the female faceless teen was given a teddy bear by another boy her age. She pouted as she looked at how cute the bear was and sighed when she realized she wouldn't be able to play the game. Sometimes she wished she was older… If she was their age, maybe she'd be able to play and win one of the bears.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, "You look pretty lonely out here. Bored already, Ali?"

Upon hearing the teasing tone and nickname to the sentence, Alice felt her world light up as she turned around to embrace who she figured was behind her, "White-kun!" She exclaimed happily hugging the man behind her. The instant she did she pulled back with a scowl already knowing otherwise.

"I'd say you got the wrong person, but it looks like you know that already." Blood smirked down at her.

Alice's face curled up in disgust, "Eh… Sorry… I thought you were someone else…" She stated before turning around again to look at the game sadly.

Blood took a seat next to her and though he half-expected her to run when he did, he wasn't too surprised when she stayed put.

The look on her face was so innocently childish; truly her mind was set back so many years as evident from how her eyes looked.

After a few seconds she let out a sigh, "Can you try to not catch me right now, big brother? I'm still on time out…" The brunette tiredly stated, her eyes not wavering from the game ahead of her.

Blood's eyes observed her line of a sight knowingly. It didn't take much effort to put two and two together.

"Do you want the bear?" He questioned her curiously.

Alice blinked her eyes meeting his eyes now shyly while she scratched her cheek, "Eh… Maybe a little…" She admitted with a timid smile before returning her gaze to her lap, "I think I'm too young to play though…"

Without another word, Blood stood to his feet and approached the vacant game station. After paying the appropriate fee, he picked up one of the guns that were set down on the countertop before he effortlessly began shooting the targets that were all set up on each of the bulleyes.

In amazement, the foreigner found herself a spot beside the still shooting man, "Ah! You're really good at this!" Alice acknowledged with her eyes growing wide in admiration at his talent.

When he shot the final one she clasped her hands together, "So cool!"

The vender questioned the man on which prize he wanted and when Alice saw him take the same one that she had been eyeing she felt her heart begin to race, "You're really going to give it to me!?" She innocently inquired with a point together her chest.

Blood held the bear out in offering to her pleasantly, "Of course. I played the game for you after all."

Alice found her cheeks flushing before a smile flashed its way across her face and she extended her arms outward to accept the bear warmly. She grinned happily, "Thank you, thank you!" She hugged it closely, "You're so nice~"

The Hatter gave her a smile before he bowed down to her level slightly, "You think I'm nice?"

When she nodded her head rapidly with a beam, he couldn't help but smirk in triumph before he cleared his throat, "Well, how about you come with me to my mansion? I promise you, you can play better games than the one you're currently playing." He offered her lightly.

Alice tilted her head to the side, "But your hat…" She stared intensely at his hat making Blood stare back blankly.

A moment of silence filtered over them.

"What about it…?" Blood questioned slowly when it became apparent that she wasn't going to speak up again.

Alice pushed out her bottom lip and handed him the bear, "Byeeee, big brother! I have to win my game now! Hopefully we can see each other again!" She waved before sprinting off leaving Blood blankly standing in her dust with her teddy bear still in hand, "What about my hat…?" He voiced again looking up at his hat irritated at not understanding.

-.-

"Now where would I go if I were five…?" Gray mumbled to himself thoughtfully. He had long lost track of the little brunette when he left the circus tent and was now having his yellow eyes scan over the crowds for her thoroughly.

Suddenly he felt himself pushed to the side as Alice ran through the crowd right past him.

Overcoming his surprise, Gray locked his eyes on moving brunette steadily as he pushed and weaved through the huge crowd of faceless. "Alice! Wait!" He called to her.

Alice turned her head back with a scowl, "No way!" Her reply immediately caused her to lose her current speed enabling the bluenette to catch her shoulder and stop her motion.

"Phew… You sure run faster than I thought you would…" He released a breath lightly, "Now how about we just get back with the others—"

He stopped his sentence as he gazed down at the girl's heartbroken face. The image itself was as though he stepped on a million puppies, her now quivering body only added to his pain, "W-Why…?" She managed out as tears came to her eyes, "I don't want to leave Black-chan and White-kun…" She continued sadly.

"Uh… Please don't cry! It's alright!" He reassured her before letting go and waving his hands in front of his body, "There's nothing for you to cry for!" He said while going in his pocket and getting a handkerchief for her.

Alice wiped her eyes while the lizard smiled nervously. "But why…? You're mean…" She sniffed out sullenly.

"Alice… I promise you I'm not mean okay?" Gray smiled down gently at her.

Her teal eyes got wide at this, "You're not…?" She questioned cautiously,

The ex-assassin nodded, "I promise, now come on." He took hold of her hand with a small smile, "Let's go meet up with the others. I promise that I'm not taking you away." He then began leading her ahead in the direction the two had ran from.

"Big brother…" Alice finally voiced after a long silence between the two.

Gray looked back at her curiously, "My name's Gray, you don't need to use formalities with me, Alice." He informed her with a warm smile as Alice kept her gaze on her shoes, "Gray… Why do all of you want to take me away from here…? I don't want to leave…" She sadly mumbled out.

"Please don't cry!" Gray gripped her shoulders as Alice looked up at him teary eyes again.

Gray winced, "It hurts to look at you when you do…" He stated while moving his gaze away.

Alice sniffled while the bluenette sighed, "I have a question for you Alice… Why do you want to stay?" Gray curiously asked the little girl who blinked.

"I love my White-kun and Black-chan is why!" She determinedly answered,

Slightly exasperated, he ran a hand through his hair, "I can see that… But why…?"

This question stumped the little girl, making her blink up in thought, "Eh… Why I love them…?" She murmured with a hand to her mouth thoughtfully.

"Because…" She finally decided smiling up at Gray deciding on an answer, "Both of them are such good people." She smiled simply. The response was enough to make the ex-assassin loosen his grip on her as he blinked trying to decipher if what he heard was correct or not.

The little girl then began to weave her hand out his light grip before sticking her tongue out at him, "And no one will take me away from them!" She rushed out as she turned around and sped away leaving Gray in her dust with a surprised expression planted on his face. Fanning away the dust from her trail the bluenette coughed, "Not again…" He groaned before he began running in the direction she went to despite not seeing the long brown hair wavering as before.

"She's so fast!" Gray grumbled, "Not to mention, she couldn't be any farther from the truth!" He face palmed himself as he began remembering her words. The simple thought of Black Joker slamming her in a cell and torturing her flashed to mind unsettling his stomach far more than it already was.

-.-

"Honestly, how hard can it be to catch one five year old girl?" Boris grumbled with folded arms.

"Apparently, it's very hard." The twins sighed though they continued walking.

So far they had gotten nothing. Not even a sight of her since the encounter with Pierce from before and they all couldn't help but think using him had been a waste of a chance they had.

"So… I take it you guys had no luck?" Elliot scowled as he approached the three. All of them nodded solemnly and Elliot let out a slightly relieved breath, "Well, that makes me feel a bit better about my own failure."

"But even if we do see her…" Dee began with a cringe, "What are we going to do?" Dum finished with a scowl, "The dumb rat wasn't any help at all." They blankly remarked in unison making Boris shrugged, "I figured we'd wing it."

Elliot suddenly stopped his footsteps catching the three men off guard.

"What is it?" Boris began as the Hare shushed him, "Time to wing it." The mafia right hand mumbled,

"Because she's right there…" Elliot whispered as he pushed Boris and the twins behind a random stall.

The twins glared at the stand owner who ran away in fear. All of them peeked their heads over the counter to look at the little girl who sat on a bench unaware of them.

"Alright, now who's going for her this time?" The Cheshire Cat questioned while looking at the Hatter mafia who all shook their heads frantically.

"No thanks." Dee dryly stated. "Pass." Dum agreed.

They all turned to Elliot who sighed heavily, "Do you all really want to send me? The person who she thinks wants to kill her to convince her we're not bad?"

"He's right…" They all let loose a breath.

"You germs are all so dense." Peter stated as he looked down at them with a glare from outside the stand.

"What about you? You supposedly love Alice but as far as I've seen, you've done nothing to try and get her!" Elliot snarled with a glare in return.

"Yeah… What he said!" Boris narrowed his eye while he looked up at the White Rabbit.

White rabbit ears bounced and Peter turned to give all of them a full glower, "Because I'm not as thickheaded as all of you. I love Alice and therefore I know her better than anyone. If any of you were the least bit intelligent, you'd try to hit her in the heart that's the most sensitive."

"What…?" The twins blinked in confusion right before Peter walked away from the stall and towards the brunette who was still sitting down on the bench oblivious.

"Oh, hey guys… Think you all can help me? I was trying to find Alice by following Mr. Peter, but I lost sight of him and her…" Ace sheepishly questioned while walking in front of the four men's view of Peter and Alice from outside the stall.

"Get out the way, you moron!" Elliot snarled lowly.

"He'll get us caught!" The twins hissed before they rose up and both helped pull the confused knight over the stall counter.

"So… What are we doing? Hiding from Alice? I thought we were looking for her." The Knight of Hearts blinked confused. Boris rolled his eyes as he took Ace's chin and directed his head to the White Rabbit. Red eyes blinked knowingly and observed with the other set of irises.

The foreigner looked up at the sky with a heavy sigh, "These meanies are too much… But I want that prize! I won't lose!" She said determined as she watched the clouds scroll through the sky.

"Alice."

Hearing her name under normal circumstances she would have ran because of the people after her, but the voice this time was audibly different all the times her name was called before. Curious she looked down from the sky and ahead.

Peter stood in his bunny form watching Alice with glistening red eyes and the brunette blinked as she watched him silently.

"This won't work…" Elliot grumbled,

"Yeah, our ears didn't affect her the last time." Boris stated with a nod.

"But the rat…" The twins mumbled out unsure.

"Hm… Have you guys ever considered knocking her out and dragging her back with us?" Ace suggested lightly.

All four of them looked at him with a cynical expression not taking him seriously before turning their attention back.

Alice suddenly stood to her feet as hearts replaced her eyes, "You're so cute!" Alice sang out before she launched herself at Peter and hugged him. "Ah! So soft! And cute!" She squealed happily as she rubbed their cheeks together.

"I… can't believe that worked…" Boris, Elliot and the twins all blinked in amazement.

Ace tilted his head to the side, "Wait for it…" He mumbled quietly with a smirk.

"Ahh! I love you, Bunny-chan!" Alice chirped out.

"I love you too, Alice." Peter managed out over her exclamations.

Alice grinned, "I love you more!" She proclaimed happily, "Bunny-chan~ Bunny-chan~" She repeatedly sang out in-between giggles.

"Alice… Do you want to come with me? I live at a Castle." Peter attempted to persuade the girl. Alice's eyes lit up like a million stars, "A castle!? Really!?"

Peter nodded making her squeal, "AH! Ali would love that Bunny-chan!"

The White Rabbit smiled at her as the girl prepared to walk forward before she stopped promptly, "But… if Ali leaves… She won't win the game with White-kun…" She sadly stated with a pout. Peter tilted his head to the side, "You could always come back sometime…"

"I… Don't know…" She thoughtfully said making Peter bite his tongue.

"We're losing her!" Boris groaned.

"Damn it!" Elliot cursed out.

"We're so close!" The twins clenched their fists.

Ace chuckled, "There it is."

Glassy red eyes blinked up into Alice's teal ones as Peter pushed out his bottom lip into a pout, "Please…?"

Alice blushed, "Bunny-chan… I…"

-.-.-.-

dun Dun DUN! Cliff hanger 'o' doom! XD

The votes are still up if you haven't voted yet. I suggest you use this opportunity…

Also! Kick ass art of Ali-chan and Black-chan from a scene in chapter 2. LINK ON MY PROFILE!