New Divide Part 2: Down the Rabbit Hole

In another second, they were both laying side by side in a desert of blood-colored sand, it was night-time, or so it seemed. Brandon slowly arose, dusting the red sand off his clothes. Alice also sat up, shaking her head to rid herself of the sand. She looked surprised as she saw a third person beside of Brandon, unconscious. He was a similar version of Brandon, sharing every physical feature as he. However, he wore a red and black three piece suit and where skunk should have been, there was madness material. "Hello Alice." He said with a grin, his voice occupying a higher, lower, and regular pitch.

Alice turned to face the normal Brandon. "Well that proves it." she said. "You look dead sexy in a suit."

"Oh, thanks." Brandon said, looking back and forth between Alice and his madness self. "Would you mind getting back inside my head please?"

"Hell no! This place is amazing!" The madness replied, as giddy as a school girl. At that moment, it began to rain. Blood.

"Welcome to the Bloody Desert." Alice said, standing.

"Ah, this place keeps getting better and better!" The madness exclaimed, spinning and skipping in the rain. Alice just looked at him like he was crazy.

But then again, he WAS crazy.

Alice sighed, watching the personification of Brandon's madness dancing in the rain/blood. "You need a name."

"How about Marty?" The madness offered, thinking up a name.

"Nah," Alice said. "That doesn't really fit you much and is kind of a turn-off. What about Cameron? That's a cute-slash-sexy name."

"I like it." He said, agreeing to it. Brandon just stared at what was occurring in front of him in disbelief.

Alice turned to face Brandon. "What?"

"Your seriously hitting on him...huh." Brandon said, not able to process what was happening.

"Well, he's you, so technically I was hitting on you."

"That's what's confusing me." Brandon said, rubbing his temples to alleviate the oncoming headache.

"Forget him, Alice. He's a pussy." Cameron said, grinning at her.

"Threesome?" Alice asked with a lewd grin.

"Hmm?" The two males asked, lewd grins growing on their faces simultaneously.

"Not now, wait 'till we get to a bed." Alice chuckled.

"Damn it." Brandon sighed, beginning to walk to Death City.

"You got us both worked up." Cameron groaned, following Brandon.

"C'mon, hurry up," she said breaking into a jog. "I want you guys to meet My Lord!"

"Wait 'till we reach a bed. I'll show you your Lord then." Cameron said, another lewd grin on his lips as he followed Alice.

"Good one." Brandon said, high-fiving Cameron while jogging. Alice's whole face turned bright red.

"You think I'm bad? You ain't seen nothing yet." Brandon said with a chuckle, both him and Cameron seeing her face turn colors.

Alice turned away from them and decided to change the subject. "D-Do either of you know Alchemy?"

"I'm familiar with the topic, but never done it before." Brandon said, Cameron jogging in silence.

"Me and My Lord are trying to learn it," Alice said. "Would you like to assist us?"

"Sure, why not." Brandon said with a shrug.

"And what'll we get in return?" Cameron asked, the lewd grin on his face again.

"You'll be more powerful for one thing." Alice replied, still blushing.

Cameron snorted. "I have more power than anything you could think of. I don't want power. I want something else." He said, his grin growing wider.

"C'mon dude, back off." Brandon warned, trying to calm Cameron down. Alice blushed even brighter, becoming slightly uncomfortable and fidgeting a bit. "Dude, seriously." Brandon warned, his voice becoming sterner.

"C'mon, you know you want it, too." Cameron shot back, gesturing towards Alice.

"Brandon, you won't be able to access your madness here, since he's left your body." Alice said. "C-Can we please just d-drop it?"

Brandon sighed. "Fine." He said, drooping his head in defeat. Cameron simply smirked smugly at Brandon. "I can still beat your ass." Brandon threatened, and Cameron backed off a bit.

Alice sighed. "Men." she huffed.

"It only gets worse." Brandon assured, Cameron chuckling behind him. Alice just shook her head, the blush never leaving her face.

Cameron then jogged up next to Alice and whispered to her. "You're into me, aren't you?" He asked, knowing the answer but just wanting confirmation.

"Um... yeah?" Alice replied, not exactly sure what to say.

"Good." He said with a grin, falling back behind again.

Alice blinked. 'What was that about?' she thought.

Brandon then jogged up next to Cameron. "You asked her, didn't you?" He whispered, knowing the answer.

"Why should I waste my breathe when you already know?" Cameron replied, seeming lax.

"Stay away from her. I don't want you turning her into something like me." Brandon warned, his voice stern and harsh.

"Ok, ok. I won't make a move." Cameron said in mock surrender, crossing his fingers behind his back.

"Good." Brandon said, falling behind him once more. A few seconds later, they arrived at the looming building they assumed was Gallows Manor.

Only, it didn't look like Gallows Manor. Instead it was an eight-story Victorian-era house surrounded by cobblestone. It was a majestic house, colored in dark, yet soothing, hues.

"Interesting place." Brandon commented, following Alice through the front gate.

Cameron stood there a second, admiring the building. "I like it." He said finally, grinning as he followed the duo.

"Yeah. It's a lot bigger inside, he's using magic to make it look different." Alice replied, opening the door. She walked in freely, but when Brandon and Cameron tried coming in, they were pushed back by a soft cushion of air inside the doorway that wouldn't let them in.

"Um, a little help, Alice?" Brandon asked, repeatedly getting pushed out by the gust of wind.

"Oh, I forgot." Alice said, turning. "Brandon, Cameron, I invite you in." Brandon walked in slowly, apprehensive in case another wind gust tried to push him out. Cameron, however, walked freely, as if he owned the house. "Now, before you try to make yourselves at home, you have some ground rules to follow, actually, only one. Kidd gets kinda' touchy about this one, doesn't like it when people disobey it." Alice said.

"And that is?" Brandon asked, grabbing Cameron by the collar so that he didn't wander too far away.

Alice grinned. "Don't follow any rules!"

Cameron grinned sadistically, breaking free of Brandon's grip. "I think I'm gonna love your Kidd." He said, walking off to explore the house.

"Very interesting rule." Brandon said, following Alice.

"You guys are gonna' love him." Alice smiled. "I know I made him seem kind of like an ass, but he's actually really sweet."

"Eh, I'll try to be unbiased." Brandon said, following Alice to wherever she was going. She led him a few floors up, leading him into a very messy, dimly lit study. There were books upon books piled everywhere, bookshelves about to burst. There several tables, once again, covered with books and laboratory things. There was an abacus on one of them. Among them was a person, a person who was very hard to spot against the clutter. He was wearing old, wirey, Benjamin-Franklin-style reading glasses, reading a book that was probably a thousand years old, at least. He closed it with no regard for the fragile pages and tossed it behind him, taking the reading glasses off, folding them and putting them in his coat pocket.

Now that Brandon had a good look at him, he could see the person had a childish face, tired yellow eyes, and black hair. The white Lines of Zanzu were complete around his hair, and he was wearing an all-black uniform. He was tall, very tall, almost seven feet and had to bend over to shake Brandon's hand. "Hello, good sir. I am Lord Death, who are you?"

"I am Brandon Pazzo. It's nice to finally meet you." Brandon said, surprised at the chivalry Lord Death was showing.

"'Hi, Alice, how've you been?' 'Oh, good thanks, Kidd.'" Alice mocked sarcastically to the air, a bit annoyed at being ignored.

"Oh, sorry, Alice." Kidd said. Brandon backed off so that they could speak. "So, Alice, you didn't get hurt or anything while you were there, right?" Kidd asked, looking over her arm. "Nothing happened, right?"

Alice chuckled. "I'm fine." she grinned.

"Hey, where's Cameron?" Brandon wondered aloud, looking for his madness self.

"Who?" Kidd asked. "I don't think I've met this Cameron, yet..." he trailed off. "Who are you?"

"I didn't tell you?" Brandon asked, unsure if his memory was right or not. "I'm Brandon Pazzo."

Kidd looked confused and dazed. "Oh, yes. That's right..."

"Sorry," Alice whispered. "He's been a little... off since he became Lord Death."

"Heh, welcome to the 'Shit Memory' club." Brandon said with a chuckle.

Kidd raised an eyebrow in confusion. "..."

"We should look for Cameron." Alice said.

"Who?"

"He's kind of...ah, I'm just going to have to explain everything to you." Brandon said, taking a deep breath. "I was born with insanity in my soul, which allows me to achieve great power. This, however, erodes away my sanity. The madness can also manifest itself in a human form and leave my body, hence Cameron." Brandon explained, taking a deep breath. "Oh, Cameron was her idea, by the way." Brandon added, pointing to Alice.

Kidd was about to open his mouth, but Alice cut him off. "Don't even THINK about using them to destroy Russia. I know we're dealing with resources issues, but that isn't the answer!"

"Awwwwwwwwwwww!"

"If you destroyed Russia, where would we get vodka from?" Brandon asked, making a stereotypical joke.

Kidd looked horrified, taking the joke seriously. "Oh my god, you're right!"

"Judging by your expression, I assume you're a drinker?" Brandon asked, noting Kidd's reaction.

"Yes," both Kidd and Alice replied simultaneously.

"Good to know." Brandon said, guessing that Cameron was looking for the booze. "If you enjoy your alcohol, you might want to find Cameron. He's probably already looting your liquor cabinet."

Before anyone knew what was happening, Kidd had run to the kitchen in the blink of an eye. Alice chuckled good-naturedly. "Follow me."

"A heavy drinker as well." Brandon chuckled, following Alice.

"Eh, we both are." Alice said, leading him down to the marble kitchen where they saw Kidd and Cameron were already getting along well, each with a very expensive bottle of wine.

Brandon just chuckled to himself, soaking in the absurdity of his situation. "Funny how things work out." He muttered to himself, seating himself at the table.

"Yeah," Alice chuckled.

"You sir, have an excellent taste in alcohol." Cameron said, toasting his fourth glass with Kidd's before downing half the glass.

Kidd chuckled before noticing Alice and Brandon. "Oh, you guys were fast~!" he noted. "Cameron here was just asking if he can share a room with you, Alice."

"What'd you tell him."

"I said he could." Kidd said. Brandon's face stayed impartial, though inside he was cursing Cameron with everything he knew.

"If that's ok with you." Cameron said, flashing a grin at Brandon, who flipped him off in reply.

"Oh well," Alice said. "You're the Landlord."

"Oh, Alice?" Kidd asked.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me if he tries anything. I'll kick him out if he does."

Alice smiled. "Thanks, Kidd." Cameron's face then went to one of shock, and Brandon grinned at him.

"Oh, shut up." Cameron said, flipping Brandon the bird.

"Well, anything without your permission, that is." Kidd added.

"OK." Alice replied. Cameron again flashed a grin at Brandon, but Brandon ignored it.

"While on the topic of housing, where will I be staying?" Brandon asked, attempting to change the topic.

"Oh, you'll be staying in one of the rooms near the attic." Kidd said.

"That's where I sleep," Alice explained. "In the attic."

"Interesting choice." Brandon said, shrugging a bit. "Cameron, lay off the booze."

"Fuck you."

"You gonna make me beat your ass?" Brandon inquired, watching Cameron down the rest of the wine. Alice chuckled, and, somehow, Kidd was too drunk to care.

Even though he only drank half the bottle.

"Who are you, my mom? It does jack shit to me!" Cameron shot back, his temper flaring.

"I don't give two fucks about you! It's that you already drank two of his bottles!" Brandon yelled, gesturing to the two empty bottles rolling around on the floor.

Kidd yawned. "I'll have the maids escort you to your rooms." he said sleepily, before turning towards the staircase and yelling. "ELIZABETA! DIANA!"

Soon two maids, both with silver hair and light blue eyes, came into the kitchen. Elizabeta had long hair and an hourglass figure, while Diana's curled around her shoulders and had more of a pear shape. "Yes, My Lord?" they asked in unison.

Kidd gestured towards Cameron. "Escort Alice and him to her room, please, Elizabeta." He gestured toward Brandon. "Escort him to the foot of the Attic, Diana."

"Yes, My Lord." they both replied in unison. The trio then followed the maids to their respectable room, where at the entrance to the attic the group split. Alice and Cameron went into the attic, and Brandon followed the maid to his room.

"Nice room." Cameron said, walking into Alice's bedroom.

The walls were a plain tan and there was a collection of knives on the wall opposite the bed. The bed itself was covered with a silk black sheet and blanket. Above hung the German and Prussian flags. There was a dresser on one side covered with old foreign artifacts and a single porcelain doll with black hair and blue eyes. "Really?" Alice asked. "It looks rather plain to me."

"Soundproof?" Cameron asked, surveying the room.

"Uh, yeah," Alice replied. "Why?"

"Why do you think?" Cameron asked, flashing a lewd grin.

Alice's face turned bright red. "W-Well, it's soundproof to humans. If I scream, Kidd'll hear."

"Who says you'll be screaming?" Cameron asked, grinning a little wider.

"I'm sure you wouldn't want to be kicked out on your first day here." Alice said, taking a step away from him.

Cameron took her signal and decided to back off. "I guess not." He said with a shrug, the grin instantly vanishing from his face. "Also, I know you have a secret stash of booze up here, so would you mind?"

"Are you trying to get me drunk so you can have sex with me?" she asked.

"No, I just like to drink, in case you couldn't tell." He replied, telling the truth. "However, if that happened, I wouldn't mind." Alice narrowed her eyes before pulling open a small door in the wall. Behind the door was a keypad, and Alice entered something in it, not letting Cameron see the pass code, and the wall opened into a closet filled to the brim with beer, wine and champagne. "Thank you." Cameron said, taking a heavy beer. Alice took a bottle of champagne, closed the wall and sat on the bed. She easily opened the lid and took a few sips of the alcoholic substance. "Cheers." Cameron said, offering his beer for a toast. Alice bumped her champagne bottle lightly to his beer bottle and drank. Cameron drank as well, downing half the bottle.

Meanwhile, Branfon sat in his room, staring at the ceiling, cringing at the thoughts of what the two could possibly be doing. "Fuck this, I need a drink." He said, standing up and making his way down stairs. When he came to the kitchen, he found Kidd on the floor, his wine finished, presumably passed out. Brandon walked over to the passed out corpse, and knelt down by it. "Hey, Kidd? You ok?" He asked, shaking the reaper's shoulder.

Kidd hissed in response and batted his hand away. "Get out and lemme sleep." He sounded more tired and drunk than angry and drunk.

"Whatever." Brandon said, standing up. He then searched the cupboards until he found a large mixing bowl. He then placed it next to Kidd's head. "In case you puke." Was all Brandon said before going to the refrigerator.

"Shut up," Kidd replied before one of the maids, once again with silver hair and blue eyes, and sighed. She walked in and practically dragged Kidd to the living room, plopping his almost-weightless body on the couch. She walked back in and began sweeping.

"Please excuse the Young Master," she said.

"It's ok. I've dealt with drunks before." Brandon said, grinning in a friendly manner. He then returned to searching the fridge. "There's seriously nothing to drink here, except for booze." He said with a sigh, closing the door.

"I believe Alice might have something to drink in her room." The maid replied.

"Thank you." Brandon replied before walking briskly to the attic. Before entering, Brandon decided to knock on the door, confused by the utter silence on the other side of the door. "Alice? Are you there?" He heard an 'eep' from the other side, seeing a little bit of red liquid flowing under the door way.

If only he knew it was champagne.

"Alice?!" He exclaimed, kicking the door down. "What the fuck did you-oh." He stopped, seeing that it was only Alice's spilled champagne.

"Hah, you're such a drama queen." Cameron said, relaxing back into Alice's bed.

"Fuck you." Brandon growled.

"Want something to drink?" Alice said, a slight German accent to her voice, proving she was a little drunk.

"Actually, yeah. The maid said you might've had something that wasn't alcoholic." Brandon said, evoking a chuckle from Cameron.

"Oh, just drink the booze, you pussy." Cameron said, chuckling harder.

"Screw off!"

Alice giggled a drunk little giggle. "Nope, sorry." she chuckled.

"Fine. I don't trust Cameron enough to go out and get a drink from a store." Brandon said with a sigh, earning the middle finger from Cameron. "Got any whiskey?"

"Uh, I think so." Alice said, once again addressing the alcohol-closet and pulling out a flask. She tossed it at Brandon. "Here ya' go~!" she giggled.

"Thanks." He said, catching it. He then looked it over, intrigued by the odd wood inlay. He then opened it up, and took a deep swig. "Ah, much better." He said, a savory burn sliding down his throat.

"Ay, look who finally grew a pair!" Cameron exclaimed, getting a Brooklyn salute in return. Alice burst out laughing before grabbing herself a beer.

Brandon took another swig, surprised at the flask being suddenly empty. "What the hell?" He asked, looking into it.

"You drank it all." Alice giggled, opening her next drink and getting Brandon some more whiskey.

"Thanks." He said, taking a swig. An idea then popped into his head. He then walked out of the room and down the stairs, to where Kidd was beginning to regain consciousness. "Hey Kidd, mind if I use your lab real quick?" Brandon asked, taking another swig from the flask.

"The basement's off-limits," he groaned. "You can use Alice's though."

"Ok. Where's that?" Brandon asked, preparing his mind to memorize the route.

"Go ask." Kidd replied, covering his head with a pillow. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get out!" he snapped when Brandon paused.

Brandon walked out briskly, slightly intimidated by the reaper. "Well, someone's cranky." He said to himself when he was half way to the attic. He then entered Alice's room, closing the door behind him. "Hey Alice, do you mind if I use your lab quick?" He asked, glancing at Cameron down another beer.

Alice sighed. "Kidd yelled at you when you asked, didn't he?"

"Yeah." Brandon replied, taking a final swig from his flask.

"Yeah, one of the unwritten laws of the universe is never interrupt Kidd while he's trying to sleep or wake him up when he is." Alice replied, slurring a bit and tossing her beer bottle to the side, yawning. "I'll show you where it is."

"Thanks." Brandon said, stumbling a little, knowing that his motor skills were worsened by the booze.

"Easy there, big man." Cameron mused, a small mound of bottles by his feet.

"Quit taunting him." Alice replied in her ever-thickening accent.

"Or what?" Cameron replied, most likely the most sober of the trio.

"I dunno." Alice giggled, almost tripping down the steps.

"Careful, there." Brandon said, attempting to steady her. However, by moving too quickly, Brandon fell into Alice, causing the two to end up in a pile at the base of the steps, with Brandon taking most of the impact. "Sorry." He said, Alice lying across his chest.

Alice giggled. "Everything is so sparkly~!"

"Oh god..." Brandon said, struggling to gain the strength required to stand. "You're completely blitzed." Alice laughed, trying to stand but falling back on top of Brandon. "Alright, guess I'm just gonna have to carry you back to your room." Brandon said, standing up and lifting Alice so that she could ride piggyback on him.

"Ich liebe dich!" she giggled, snuggling into his back.

Brandon blushed a little, knowing enough German to translate it. "Ist, dass Sie sprechen, oder der Alkohol?" He replied, pretty sure that was the right way of saying it.

"Mich," she replied, yawning. "Ich denke..."

Brandon chuckled. "Warten Sie, bis morgens Ihre Entscheidung treffen zu können." He replied, smiling to himself.

"OK, Mein liebe." She yawned.

"Seien Sie sich bewusst, dass Cameron können Sie vergewaltigen" Brandon said, noticing Alice's weakened state.

"Ich werde in Ordnung sein."

Brandon then remembered something from earlier that day, and a lewd grin grew upon his lips. "Still up for that threesome?" He asked, his grin growing a bit bigger.

Alice yawned, snuggling into Brandon. "Huh?"

"Nothing." Brandon said, his grin quickly becoming a warm smile.

"Maybe tomorrow." she yawned, snuggling into Brandon's back a little more.

Brandon then carried Alice back up the stairs, wobbling a bit but retaining his balance, and brought her into her room. Cameron looked up at Brandon with a lewd smile, but a shake of the head quickly dismissed it. "Why not?" Cameron asked, disappointed and aggravated.

"Because she's so drunk she'll probably bite your dick off." Brandon shot back, lying her down in her bed.

Alice giggled. "Lass mich in Ruhe, Cameron."

Cameron growled, his testosterone level not falling. Brandon quickly noticed this, and decided to take action. "Get out." Brandon said, pointing towards the door.

"What?" Cameron asked, blinking in disbelief.

"I said, get out. You're gonna try to make a move tonight, and I'm not gonna let that happen. Now, Get. Out." Brandon explained, pointing towards the door again.

"Where am I supposed to sleep then?" Cameron asked, still in shock.

"In my room. Now shoo." Brandon said, glaring at the madness. Cameron then got up with a scowl and left the room, heading into Brandon's room.

Alice yawned. "Danke, Brandon."