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-"Dialogue"-
("Inner thinking")
This is a time skip: MWMWMWMWMWWMWMWMWMWMMWMWMW
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KNICK KNACK
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Aria Hadron Scherzi, mercenary foreigner and mental mess, looked at the mirror and beyond it. With every new note the outsider sang she focused all her attention in what she remembered of the country of Spades and with every new sound the reflective surface of the mirror reverberated on it's structure and on reality.
Images of vast amounts of nothingness, collapsed spaces and pieces of lands and buildings floating and crumbling. In the distance, the only place standing whole in that dead country came to the front of her mind, the bastion. Yes, that was the place, the sole remaining territory of Spades, a dark bastion where she meet the darkest and oldest of creatures with a purpose in this world… if it could even be considered a creature before she made a deal with it and gave it true form.
The drug spread through her body and she closed her eyes and remembered him, inadvertently licking her lips. The role that was so old it held no holder. Oh, did she remember him and the taste of the frumious beasts, their touch and their existence upon her very flesh. There was something blocking her mind now of course but beyond the memories she knew him, vaguely; darkness more powerful than her own, shadows thicker than what she had learned to control and she wanted him now. She didn't care about controlling it, him, oh no, she just wanted destruction for the sake of it, to feel that sympathetic darkness once more. Maybe it was the madness, maybe it was that she knew that death was preferable to other outcomes, maybe her own death was what she really wanted, it didn't matter. She would put all her life and will into bringing him here to end this, all her desires and decisions into each note that hit the gigantic mirror in front of her.
The chant of the foreigner became ominous and the mirror's surface began to glow softly and gaining the texture of liquid metal. The faceless at the ground stood firm behind their barricades and prepared their weapons, all observing intently the mirror but unlike the frumious wolven creature they expected, what started appearing was only a well dressed black haired man with handsome angular features and glowing green slitted eyes that, very casually, came through the mirror. He walked with his hands inside the pockets of his elegant black suit whose fabric seemed to be made of darkness.
Silence formed around at the unsuspected man, letting everyone hear that he was whistling the same tune the foreigner was singing. The man tilted his head at the female voice and looked around for the source of the melody, ignoring completely the people aside aiming their guns at him.
"HEY! Who the hell are you?"
One of the men surrounding the mirror's front ventured, but the newcomer didn't deem to look at the faceless.
From her spot up in the hill above, Aria saw the newcomer and stopped her singing. Then she laughed darkly. This was more than what she'd expected, this young man looked more or less around her age, perhaps looking a bit younger, but she knew that in a way, he was way older than anyone. She opened her mouth again, but before she could call out to him, she was grabbed by her braid and pulled around by the man that had drugged her.
"WHAT IS THIS, FOREIGNER!?" - The faceless demanded, hiding his uneasiness with anger. -" We told you to call the frumious beast."
The green eyed foreigner smiled- "It's ExACtly WhAt YOu WaNTed."- She twisted her head to look at the faceless but she didn't comment further, instead, the sound of her voice echoed through reality, chilling the clocks of those faceless who heard her began reciting loud and clear.
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'TWAS bRiLLiG, AnD the slIthY ToVEs
diD gYRe ANd GIMbLE in The waBE;
all MImsy were the boROgoveS,
aNd THE MOmE rAtHs ouTGRAbE.
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"BEWaRE tHe Jabberwock,!
The jaWs thAt biTe, the ClAws THAt caTch!
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SLAP!
The foreigner's voice was cut short when she was slapped so hard across her face that she tumbled onto the ground. Then the faceless man gave a kick to the woman's side.- "Don't play with us foreigner!" -He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her hard. - "Where's the Bandersnatch?"
Bellow at the hill's base, the black haired newcomer looked up to where the foreigner was, and his swamp green and slitted eyes widened for a moment before his angular face contorted into a snarl.
"Hey you! We asked you a question." - Gun ready, a faceless approached the black haired guy.
The young man let out guttural growl and, impossibly fast, shot his hand towards the approaching faceless neck, getting a grip and crushing it as easy as one would crush a tinfoil soda can. The man's snarl deepened and his swamp green eyes seemed to glow. An instant later, the corpse was engulfed in a greenish fire, remaining standing for a moment while it's killer fastly pulled his hand back to rip of the corpse's throat, leaving the burning body to fall to the floor in plain view, and without delay, the fight started. Lead was shoot his way but he moved fast, getting to the closest enemies and slashing at them, the fighting changing to a close combat as the green eyed man was attacked from all sides, he easily dodged or grabbed the attackers to use them as human shields, but their numbers were increasing as all the faceless around approached his position.
Up in the hill Aria saw this and giggled childishly, mocking her captor.- "Bandy ISn't the OnlY frumious beAst."- She sang.- "AnD i dIdN't SummONed HIm. I jUst OPEned THE WAY anD CalleD, buT HE…"- She looked at the black haired man. -" He Is tHE One whO ANSWEReD And came tO TakE a Peek ThiS side OF tHE MIRRoR"- Her mind was out of her own scope already, but looking at this man made her feel as if she knew well far more than she remembered; however, that feeling promptly disappeared when she received a new kick in the stomach, upon which various protocols activated automatically and new instructions began appearing on her vision, her senses just turning analytic. Despair filled her meditations and Wonderland's grip on her existence thinned. Her time was catching up to her fast, but still, in a glint of lucidness she continued reciting.
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aND, AS iN ufFiSH ThouGHt He sTooD,
tHE jABbERwOck, wIth eyes Of fLAMe,
CAMe WhifFling THROuGH thE TulGEy wOoD,
AnD bUrbled As It Came!
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"Stop babbling around!"- The man hit Aria again with a new kick to the stomach.
She endured the hit while her systems in automatic made her grab his foot and roll around, making him fall while she stood up, groggy, confused, maddened, unarmed and dizzy but ready to try and defend herself even if it was only a programed reaction. Her eyes flickered with a red light, her optics already showing the results of an initialized combat mode, and for a second, her time and existence flickered, making her closer to what she had ended up being in her world before coming into Wonderland.
Meanwhile in the fight below, the green eyed man seemed exasperated. He hadn't been hurt at all, not even one scratch, however, he kept looking up at where the foreigner was until he let out a curse in Spanish, then he crouched down and the shadow under him melted into a raising liquid form that moved up over him and combined with his cloths, seeping over his flesh and forming scales as the man increased in size and revealed its real form. A draconic form of nightmarish horror. The Jabberwocky towered terrible, the dark scales were as sharp as obsidian and as hard as stone. The mere physical appearance of the wyvernish dova was enough to give the average person life lasting nightmares; his presence here immediately caused panic as the dragon hissed a violent roar, his wings extended and his chest expanded in a display of size and power.
"I-IT'S THE JABBERWOCK!"
Some panicked faceless screamed while letting out all their bullets on the nightmarish creature, but the bullets didn't even scratched the scales. Simple weapons from this world were not enough against an ancient horror.
"Everyone attack! We are ready for the Bandersnatch, this is no different!"
Someone else screamed but a fireball spat by the dragon hit the person and others that were around, consuming their bodies with those green flames.
"Toss him back through the mirror!"
"If we don't defeat it all is lost!"
The black dragon grunted dangerously, and lowered his head for another attack, ready to tear every person but one apart, gathering greenish fire that dripped from the reptilian jaws, the dova was ready to spat another fireball, but instead, it looked up again to the hill where the foreigner was and batted its monstrous wings a couple times to lift himself of the ground and fly towards its real target.
The female foreigner saw the dragon curl his tail in preparation for a hit. Without delay she ducked to the ground while the faceless mas attacking her idiotically turned around to see what was behind him and as a result was tossed onto the air away from the foreigner and off the cliff. If the man would have hit the floor, he would have died from getting smashed against the ground below, but instead, as he was falling through the air a cone of angry green fire melt his flesh and burned his bones way before the charred remains hit the floor.
Up at the edge of the hill, the existence of the foreigner flickered as much as the light of her optic implants. She didn't see the calcined remains of her attacker finally hitting the ground or the people gathering to use all their weaponry against the Jabberwocky. Her mind was a confused processor passing information that she couldn't decipher due to her drugged state. She could not focus. Where was her integrated gyroscope? It was costing her to stand off.
The black dragon batted his wings and approached the cliff's edge, and once he was upon it his body morphed again, bones cracked and flesh molded until it transformed back into a handsome young man with black hair and swampy green eyes. He leaned towards Aria and made a slight bow without breaking eye contact. Then an ancient, deep voice addressed the mercenary. -"Lady Aria….it's Been A Very Long Time, Hasn't It?"
Flickering olive green eyes turned to examine the dova, yet her system did not enter combat mode. She didn't panic, jump back or had any signs of fear. Curiosity was not shown either. Perhaps it was the drugs, or perhaps it was something else, but with a tilt of her head and a valiant step forward she addressed the frumious beast and the oldest of Roles in Wonderland. Staring right back at the intelligent greenish eyes of the beast she voiced her suspicions.- " YOu… i kNOw you, dOn't I?"
An almost imperceptible nod came with certain reverie from the Jabberwocky as the dragon eyed the foreigner and quietly raged at her state. She looked beaten but not that hurt; however, the scents on her were driving him crazy. Not only did she reek of madness, but the faint smell of more than one male was on her, it wasn't that recent but it was there and it irked him like nothing else. He approached and his hand caressed her cheek while the shadow below her crepitated like a small fire. -"it Was A Mistake To Hide You Into The Nightmare Realm, But That's A Mistake I'm Going To Correct." - Of that he was sure. If needed he would tear apart this side of the mirror and bring her back to spades.
"I DoN't rEMeMBeR. i Have no MeMORIES to ReMeMbeR, JUST KnOWLeDgE, BUt.."- She looked down and exhaled an apologetic sigh. -"... But i Don'T haVE mY DaTABasE COMPONEntS WITh ME, SO I CAN'T RESEaRCh YOu aT THe mOMeNt. SoRRY."
"It's Alright."- Very softly, the black haired man placed his hands over her shoulders and helped her steady herself. - "Could You Please Recharge The Portal So We Can Leave This Place Behind? I'll Tell You All Once We're In Spades." - He looked down at her shadow and felt her madness resonating with his being. Aria hummed and he felt a small shudder travel along his spine. It was obvious his presence was exciting her madness. Suppressing a snort, he focused on his own shadow that was also hers, combined and united by the sacrifice of his own connector to it. It was incomplete but still provided certain protection against the madness. He was not allowing that. A moment later, he then began dispersing the madness and it's effects on the environment. He was Wedge Jabberwocky, madness and nightmares were his rightful domain.
The effects were not what he expected, yet they amused him nonetheless (AN: I sugegts you check the vireo 'BATTLEFIELD 1/ WW1 SONG - Pawns Of War' or seek the trailers for the game 'battlefield 1' just to check some visuals... or look for photos of world war 1 trenches). This madness was a physical manifestation of power and brought the reminiscence of the foreign world or some episode of it along with the despair and meaninglessness of his own world. Black mist began spreading and transforming the area and the ambient. Trees were joined by charred ghosts of themselves, and smoke-like mist covered the scorching muddy ground that broke apart and opened long, narrow ditches that dug trenches into the earth and that were half covered with wet wooden plaques. At the edges of these pits, sand bag walls stretched or formed parapets that suddenly broke down to non existence. Distances away from the gullies, pieces of barbed wire fences appeared randomly and without order, not even protecting the surging field guns or machinery that happened to be summoned in aleatory locations around the surging battlefield and the confused people scattered in the vicinity, affected by the madness as well.
The Jabberwocky whistled in amusement and surprise. This madness was not only hers nor was it only from this world. He could feel it, it was a strain of her world, an invisible chain that lingered on foreigners, and not just her, this probably linked to the other foreigner too, for the appearance and shape the madness was creating here was something strong enough to link both foreigners. War. A great war and it's own madness. The dragon remembered Lady Aria mentioning great wars in her world but he didn't care about them; he cared for her existence and wanted it more than anything; this just showed him more on what his duties were or could be. He was the Jabberwock; he could swing madness around and create a little needed chaos, that was fine and fun, and by doing that he could make sure madness didn't drown out her mind; well, just a bit, enough for her to come back to Spades with him.
"ThE MoThER Of alL BAttLeS? no… un Eco? a wHispEr?" - The foreigner squinted her eyes before tilting her head to the other side and grabbed his hand, returning his attention to her.
"Nothing That Matters To Us. Let The Madness Flock Around."- He smiled gently and then pointed at the mirror. - "now, Open The Way To Spades, Lady Aria. Let The Madness Is Devour The Order." - Wedge took a few steps back and transformed into his real form. His scaly snout nuzzled her cheek and she half caressed it back.- "sing For Me Please. I've Longed To Hear Your Voice For Too Long, Aria."
The outsider could not distinguish her own will if she had any left. Her voice was dull and her Spanish accent deep- "cERtAiNLY. iNpUt conFiRMeD. thE ProCeSs shaLL BE lento tHoUgH"- The portal was not closed it simply needed energy, and for that, the only fuel she could use was her time in this world along with what her life could still be in this world, all burning away to leave only the chances of the Jabberwock for her.
Black wings expanded in a protective embrace over Aria as barrages of bullets started to be unleashed onto the dragon's scales for all sides below the cliff. The faceless alliance, despairing and desperate were spending all their ammunition, and it was only a matter of time until they managed to get the summoned field guns working. But for now, the distance to their target was to far to even leave dents in the dark scales of the dova, which made the Jabberwock laugh in a tremoring thundering sound. Nothing from this world could truly end him; halt him maybe, but not kill him truly, and by the time they reached whatever weaponry the madness had summoned, he and the foreigner would be gone to Spades. Or so he thought, but suddenly, a bullet hit his back and it stung. The crazy faceless had managed to use one of the field guns faster than he thought. He half opened his jaws and
"Kill the woman! She summoned the Jabberwock, if we kill her we can get rid of it!" - Was the scream heard from the crowd.
The Jabberwocky roared and made his body coil around her, withstanding the next shots while she sang to focus energy into the portal; he was unable and unwilling to leave her side and leave her an easy target, instead, he began shooting fireballs in the directions of where the bullets came from, but if the distance was an advantage against their earlier bullets, now it was a detriment for his fire.
Olive green eyes brightened with a digital glow as her files showed her what she needed to do to power the frumious one up. She didn't want the big gecko to feel bad. He needed power, mana, but the mana she could give wasn't love, it was intent, she wanted him to end all the threats and she knew he would gladly do so, or maybe she just wanted something to happen.
Her song, an almost childish tune (AN: Imagine the song 'Jet' from Hetalia. ANY version) elevated louder than before followed by a fearsome hissing roar from the jabberwocky, who began gathering flames in his jaws, taking longer to create his flames, already expecting to have some fun with this target practice; of course, he couldn't stop shielding Aria but he didn't need to. He just needed adjust his flames to burn like napalm, a chemical Aria herself had told him about. Next he needed to aim and … shoot!
A group of attackers were targeted. The ones who did not evade were calcined, while the other were rolling on the floor, trying to get rid of the fire. That made the dragon smirk. He loved his fire and he loved his power. Not too long ago he was a mere faceless called, but then he had met her, the mercenary foreigner, and he and his best pal had ended up becoming the Berceuse's top lieutenants, Aria's right and left hand. They had fought alongside her till the end and into Spades where their beloved boss had done the impossible to save their existence by mixing and reforming the frumious roles with what was left of themselves. Now they were far more powerful and fit than any role, and he, Wedge Jabberwock, was going take his beloved boss back to Spades and win her game.
In the middle of this, Aria kept on singing, barely aware of what was going on.
Although every person continued firing, people began scattering around; many trying to get into the mountain to climb the hill and get into a better position, this made things harder for the Jabberwocky, he'd have to incinerate part of the forest and risk Aria getting burned.
The dragon has barely shoot another ball of fire when noise was heard in the distance, approaching as fast followed by a cloud of dust.
An array of motorcycles, light transport trucks and attack vehicles appeared on the horizon in an orderly formation that spread like a fan along the terrain to reach more ground into the battle. The alliance of faceless trying to fight the Jabberwocky and kill the foreigner rejoiced, thinking that reinforcements were coming. But as soon as the vehicles were in range they began shooting towards the faceless, and it became obvious that what had arrived were new enemies.
Quickly attacking the more open foes, the lullaby soldiers crashed through the enemy lines and jumped or evaded the trenches while dispersing among the mist that covered the no-man's-land terrain, expertly rearranging in squads formations and engaging in direct combat with the maddened faceless had taken upon this devastated war landscape.
Out of all the motorcycles, one carried an extra passenger that was not part of the Lullaby but instead was the one man that had caused this mobilization. In the back seat of the bike, Julius Monrey was clinging to the woman driving the vehicle. He had been led by Aegis to the office where the new projects for the territory were being developed and there, he found the woman that had negotiated with him all the changes for his territory. He only remembered her name was Cosima and that she, along with everyone else there was a part of Aria's faithful (albeit entirely fanatical) faction. As soon as he encountered them and before he could even say anything, Aegis had transmitted some codes and the whole personnel had gotten on the move; while Aegis explained stuff to Cosima. Julius had obviously been grumpy and urging to say the least, but he had been allowed to get some ammunition for his own weapon from their stashes along with anything else. The only thing he had managed to grab besides bullets, before the hidden force of the Lullaby had gotten on the move had been some flash grenades.
"Round them up!" - Cosima ordered and stopped the motorcycle to let Julius get down, which did not happened gracefully for the mortician.
"It's the mortician! The mortician is commanding them!"
Someone from the allied factions screamed nearby and soon received a bullet by Cosima's gun.-"Like hell we are! We follow the Berceuse!" -The lullaby's operative declared at the top of her lungs. Then she looked around and recharged her weapon. -"...Looks like the battlefield is set"
Julius ignored the faceless woman, his eyes setting on the dragon atop the hill, coiling around Aria. He could barely hear her erratic voice despite the battle's noises, but he could clearly sense her time clashing upon itself. Aria's time from her world was trying to get her while her time here was stopped, causing her existence despair, which spilled onto the madness and onto whatever was happening around. Worse even, her game was unstable and whatever was happening with her, it was giving the jabberwocky the pleasure of absorbing the power she was generating. Ignoring the battle around, Julius took out his trusty wrench and turned it into a gun, then, in an unusual rapture of fury, he began shooting directly at the dragon. -"Jabberwocky!" -Julius shouted, demanding for it's attention in hopes of having its attention taken off of Aria.
The Jabberwocky turned to look at the time master and smirked wickedly before throwing a casual fireball at the mortician. Julius responded by slowing time and moving aside to evade the fire. If he had to use all the abilities of his role he would, no matter the consequences that would have.
"I Hate To Disappoint You, But I Ain't Gonna Attack Any Music Notes Unless They Attack Me, Or Just Piss Me Off With Stupidity." -The Frumious Beast snarked before he flailed his wings for everyone to see his shiny obsidian scales, careful to keep his tail coiled around the foreigner.
"This is a General order. Don't attack the dova! I repeat. Do NOT attack the dragon!" - Cosima said through her intercom to all the forces, twisting the handle of the motorcycle almost ready to sprint away and join the main battle.
Julius looked bewildered towards the faceless card, pointing at the frumious beast.- "What!? It has Aria. Aren't you gonna do anything!?"
The Lullaby note briefly looked at the mortician before speaking with a calm voice. -"Our lady has deem the Jabberwock worthy of her, it seems."
"What do you mean?"- Julius demanded.
Cosima signaled to the musical key tattoo engraved on the dragon's shoulder.- "I haven't seen that tattoo since Lady A's disappearance towards Diamond. "- She pulled down the collar of her blouse slightly to show she had a normal music key tattoo over her sternum. - "That kind of tattoo belonged to someone special; she wouldn't have awarded it to just anyone. Plus, the frumious one is not attacking us; it's only killing those attacking him, and those attacking him are the one who placed our lady in danger."
"Are you fucking crazy?!"- A new should came from behind a tree accompanied by a burst of lead. Julius easily evaded, but the woman got hit on the shoulder and chest. The only reason why she was able to survive was because Aria had taught her cards the importance of bulletproof vests, still, her arm was incapacitated and she was rendered unable to ride the bike any longer, opting instead for taking cover behind it.
"We need to kill the foreigner. She's powering the dragon and all the madness around. It's a fucking frumious beast, for Wonderland's sake! Do you know what the Jabberwocky is, you lunatic?! What it'll cause?! She was supposed to summon the Bander..."
The voice was silenced by a shoot from Julius's pistol.
"Dammit!" - Cosima grabbed her gun with her other hand and turned towards the battle, briefly looking over her shoulder towards Julius before making her way through the woods. - "For the record, mortician. She choose you too."
Julius didn't retort. He moved towards the hill, but after merely a few steps, a fireball aimed at him that he evaded reminded Julius to keep on the move and reach Aria fast. He looked at the abandoned motorcycle and cursed. He didn't know how to ride one of those things, and thus, he proceeded to run towards the hill.
Deciding to end this quickly, Julius focused on the Jabberwocky and tried to stop the time of the creature, but to the time master's surprise, the dragon shock it off and threw a set of smaller but faster embers at him. Julius barely had time to hide behind a tree although hi trench coat did caught some flames that Aegis covered and extinguished.
The dragon laughed.- "Don't You Know That I Am Darkness And Darkness Is Timeless?" - Slitted green eyes looked around for the other role holder but did not see him, yet knowing he had gotten close.- "your Role Is Useless Against Me."
With his back against a tree and waiting for a chance, Julius silently cursed. Time was meaningless against that creature. Not only that, Julius was fully aware that normal weapons could never cause any real damage to the Jabberwocky. This however didn't make Julius despair. After living with Aria he at least had learned to fake calm and think on other possibilities. That was his answer; although time didn't affect the beast it could surely affect the surroundings.
"My user's position is confirmed." -Aegis, in the form of a small pine marten, informed the Clockmaker.
Julius immediately went to work, creating a time bubble that allowed him to speak with the A.I. -"She is with him. Can you contact her?" - He hopefully asked while spotting a new ranged attacked from the Jabberwocky. Frozen in time and thus easy to evade. -"Why is she not resisting?"
The Dragon shook the time effect and shoot a new fireball, only for Julius to once more try to stop time in a small bubble to speak with the A.I. and to evade the scorching attack..
The AI responded with ashamed tone. "Negative. I do not have enough components or energy of my own to create a stabilized link. I don't know what is my user's exact status, but I detect that the Jabberwocky is absorbing some of Aria's mana as we speak and the rest is being focused on the mirror portal." - The little creature looked intently with its beady unreal eyes to the clock master. -"You can't win with force here."
Julius cursed under his breath, so much for trying to get in contact with the troublesome mercenary. A new attack headed his way, and once again, time seemed to be slowing down almost completely as the clockmaker ran towards the hill, evading fireballs sent in his general direction and hiding behind a new set of trees before the dragon shock of the time effects, this time more easily, meaning that Julius couldn't use that trick anymore to get closer. However, this was not the first time he had faced the Jabberwocky although last time it was merely an avatar of it. Julius fished in his pocket and pulled out a flash grenade. He waited a couple secs for the time bubble to burst upon the next attack, and when that happened he ran forward towards the dragon, tossing the grenade in front of him and towards the dragon, and sliding behind a new tree to avoid the worst of the flash's effects, managing to block the view of his position while the dragon roared and and hissed at the sudden painful brightness.
In the form of a falcon Aegis flew past the Role Holder at a blinding speed between the foliage as to try and get to close to Aria while Julius finally managed to approach.
"Aria! Wake up!" -The mortician screamed, jumping over the dragon and discharging his pistol's magazine on the dragon's back, but the foreigner didn't react, her hazy gaze kept lost and the Jabberwocky uncoiled, hitting Julius with its powerful tail, tossing the clock-master out of the cliff.
"I'll Burn You To A Crisp!"- Hissing, the dova dived off the cliff after the mortician while a shadow creep over the confused foreigner and formed a gauntlet over her arm.
Julius slowed down the time of his own fall, landing on a slope platform at the side of the cliff, an area that was thankfully too small for the Jabberwocky's massive draconic frame to squeeze in and give the Role Holder a proper fight. And to Julius's luck, on this slope the madness had summon a fixed mounted gun.
Both Julius and the dragon saw the gun but before Julius could jump towards it, the Jabberwocky, being the maliciously intelligent creature that he was, dove for the platform and changed form in the air, landing a kick on Julius's chest and sending the mortician crashing back and away from the weapon.
"Knick Knack, I'll Rip You Apart."- The young black haired man smirked ferally as he approached slowly, his movements quite a predatory stalking.
Julius stood up, watching with slightly wide cobalt-colored eyes the handsome young man that had attacked him time ago in the border between the dreams and nightmares realms; roughly of his same height as Julius, he brandishing two large silver guns in each gloved hand. -"The Role of the Jabberwocky...it's now different than from what I knew." -Julius muttered under his breath. The Jabberwocky's ears twitched slightly, yet the words he heard still had the same effect: a shit-eating smile that was growing bigger by the minute under those swamp green eyes that focused on the clock-master.
"You Are Correct! After Much Research And Countless Experiments To Benefit This World, Throughout Her Adventure, Lady Aria Was Able To Reform The Frumious Beasts And Their Initial, Broken Programming. Of Course, That Includes Myself And Dear Ol' Bandy! And She Is Here Right Now To Witness My Glorious Return To This Side Of The Mirror!" -He then shrugged.- "Still, Knowing How Busy Things Have Gotten, I'll Of Course Take Her Back To Spades To Finish Off The Preparations For That Land. I'm The Rightful Starter And Ender Of Her Game After All." - His sadistic smile became terrifying, if not more inhuman as Julius could practically feel the gleeful malice emitting from the Frumious Beast. -"I've Been Waiting For This. This Rotten World Shall Be Reformed, And Be Reborn To A Glorious New State! Of Course, I Will Be There To Support Her Every Desire, So Different And More Fundamental Than The Hypocrisy And Destructive Desires That Role Holders Are Only Capable Of Feeling! Furthermore..." -The Jabberwocky ran a forked tongue across his dry mouth.- "I Will Be Responsible For Devouring All Of Those Bad Emotions Inside Her. I'lL fEAsT oN AlL hER tRoublES UNtIl ONlY HeR HEARt iS ONlY FULL ON intEnT FOR ME. iT'S gOIng To Be GLORIOUs, Oh I Can'T wait! Ha ha Ha Ha HA hA! i'll claim heR BaCk fOr US FruMIOUS BeAStS!"- He then regained some composure as he aimed his guns at Julius although his words changed to be addressed to himself. -"I Don't Care If Bandy Thinks It's Too Soon To Bring Her Back. That Country May Not Be Restored, But Lady Aria Is Strong Enough To Sustain It."
Meanwhile, Aria remained impassive; not even noticing the dragon wasn't around her anymore. She was busy holding a black kitten- "KiTty"
"Aria…" -Aegis's pawed at her. His thick russian accented voice made her blink.-"I don't have enough components at the moment to provide appropriate automated support, but I'll keep transmitting location data"
Aria's eyes flickered in shade, but she didn't reacted even when bullets sizzled dangerously too close to her.
Down on the cliff, Julius winced as he felt his ribs throb in pain from the blows he just received from the powered-up Jabberwocky. Even in his human form he retained his monstrous strength and Julius, despite accelerating his own time and movements hadn't been able to evade all the blows, but at the very least, he had been able to connect some of his own.
"I'm Getting Tired And My Lady Awaits."- Aware that he had spent more than enough time playing with the Role Holder, the Frumious Beast decided to move on and just burn the cliff to ground to ensure the extermination of this pesky vermin. After all, nothing says permanent more than being burnt to a crisp, right? Better yet, it would be obvious to all the fighting public bellow. Not even time could stand against the Jabberwock! With a grin, he performed a backflip and landed over the mount gun to show Julius he couldn't get to it, and with a wick smile he jumped up right where he was and transformed back to his real form. His great wings batted to keep his suspended in the air above the gun while he gathered an inferno on his lungs all along his throat and up to his jaws.
"HI HO, JABBERWOCKY!"
Appeared from the uphill woods an annoying voice loudly screamed and passed right besides Aria. The gallant frame of a tall knight, clad in a black shadowy armor and wielding a large blade pointed onwards. He was rearing a black mechanized war unicorn and charging forward, winking at the foreigner as a large assortment of feathers danced in the air above his helmet. When he got to the edge of the cliff, he and the steed jumped off, right over the dragon below. The unicorn used landed over the dragon and kicked it's head , forcing it to unleash his flames in the air while the steed used bounced back to land on the cliff by the mortician's side, where he could see how the knave struck his sword on the beast's back.
Up in the hill Olive green eyes blinked. That has been so unexpected she just stopped to concentrate and approached the edge of the cliff to look down. She froze, stunned at the appearance of the black knight, but more so, concentrating on the messy assortment of bright feathers on top of the knight's head.
The kitten on her arms received the transmission from his other part and looked up at his user with an ashamed expression. -"I was forced to compromise. We agreed to have no cape but he insisted on the feathered helmet."
Ace slashed at the dark scales, his own blade coated in darkness that did manage to injure the frumious one. The dragon did a barrel roll and Ace leapt off, landing on the cliff with his sword already prepared.- "It's not nice to take a damsel from her knight."
Julius tried to stand up firm, but even doing that put a considerable amount of strain on his body after receiving such a beating from the Jabberwock and from having used his role's abilities so much, but he had no choice but to keep doing it. He created a small time bubble around Ace, the unicorn and himself, then pulled out another flash grenade, tossing it towards the dragon while being protected by the time freeze. Flicking his wrist for a split second, he reversed his time again to undo the damage that he took.
"That is convenient" - At the mortician's side, the unicorn became a mountain goat whose eyes shined brightly and unnaturally as it looked up the hill where Aria's gaze was still looking down fixated on Ace's helmet before the protection layer in her optic and cochlear implants activated to protect her senses from the grenade. - "Time master, Accelerate the time inside my next shape when I reach Aria and activate the cube-room relic."- The AI commanded before it leapt on the hill's wall towards Aria. - "Remember that things from the other world can harm the frumious ones!"
"Wait!"-Julius' eyes widened as he tried to stop Aegis with an outstretched palm, but it was too late; the goat already stood in front of Aria's unmoving body and transformed into a big black cube that completely encased the foreigner. As Julius watched the scene unfold before his eyes, he suddenly reached an epiphany and remembered the cube relic where Aria and Ace had ended up while being trapped into that dream while he facing the Jabberwocky's avatar in the border of the Nightmare realm. Julius commented the clockless creature and proceeded to do as the A.I. has asked. By accelerating the time within the black cube, he could make it the domain of time to activate the relic, and thereby cutting a space in time for a single time change in Wonderland, allowing Aria to be taken in a pocket dimension of sorts to recover. Then the time bubble burst just as the cube of darkness became smaller as the relic activated and Aria disappeared from time and space. The Jabberwock roared irritated, and Ace jumped by Julius side to tackle Julius and get him out of the way of the dragon's tail strike.
A low whistle left Ace. -"Wow, that definitely saves time! Nice move Julius" - The knave held his sword in front of him with both hands.- "Now let's take care of this lizard"
Julius nodded in agreement.
"You Think You Stand A Chance? You Think You Deserve One?" -The Jabberwock hissed.- "i Restarted This Game And I'm It's Winner. Aria Was Drugged, Abused And Her Mind Was Getting Out Of Control, Consumed By Her Own Madness And Bad Memories. I'm Devouring That From Her And I'll Take Her Away From Which Troubles Her. She mAdE ME StRoNG, shE's MAKInG mE sTroNg. tHerEfoRE She cHosE mE As WinnER. yoU aRe ONlY paraSiTes!"
"We'll just make her feel good again."- Ace spat back and charged, his sword getting covered with shadows that came from the now thinner black armor he wore. He cut through a fireball as he jumped in the air to land a blow forward toward a black talon. It was like hitting stone, but oddly the shadow blade managed to hurt the beast somehow.
Julius, uncharacteristically, smirked as he accelerated his time in order to reach the mounted gun. -"Fortunately for us, once Aria comes out of that relic, she will have perfect control over herself. There won't be any bad energy for the Jabberwocky to suck on."
"SHe chOSE me From tHe STarT, sPaDEs cALleD hER tO ThIS WORlD aNd to me. i am heR guiDe In ThiS wORLD." -The Jabberwock did a barrel roll on the air to deal a wing slash on the platform.
Julius ducked down and examined the weapon. It was fully charged. Meanwhile Ace jumped, twisting in the air and slashing at the wing of the creature.
"Aria doesn't needs a guide in this world. She is the one guiding" - Ace felt himself accelerating, and he ran towards the Jabberwock, managing to deal a strike before it shock of the effects of the hasted time Julius had given to the knave. Ace prepared for the counterattack but before the dragon could attack him, Julius shoot the heavy gun, but since it was too close, the angle only managed to scrape the dragon, but unlike normal bullets, this one left scrapes took of some of the beast's scales.
The Jabberwock flapped its huge wings to propeled on the platform and twisted in the air to strike the clock master with this tail, sending Julius crashing into the wall with a sickening crack and a leg turning at an odd angle, causing the mortician to scream.
"JULIUS!"
The dragon laughed mockingly, but time reversed on the mortician's wounds and these disappeared. Ace transformed his sword into a rifle and he fired at the Jabberwocky, hitting him inside the mouth and making it shut up. -"Julius, cover me."- Ace grinned and Julius accelerated Ace's time and that of the rifle's bullets, making their penetration force far more destructive, this time, managing to land some impacts on the scales of the beast who roared and soared back, making the battle take on a longer range. A big mistake, because Julius ran back towards the mounted gun and began shooting bursts at the creature, who was getting hit by Ace's speeded bullets while avoiding the heavy support artillery provided by Julius.
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MWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWM
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Meanwhile inside the time bubble, Aegis used it's own spectrogram sensors to detect the difference in pattern regarding the chemicals in his user's system, and compared it with it's database to identify the drug used on her and it's quantity. It was way too close to an overdose.
Without wasting time, the A.I. used the energy caused by all her bad emotions, along with the shadows to destroy the drug's existence in his user's body. Since the drug was still something from Wonderland, it was eliminated without causing any harm to the outsider's body; and with the drug destroyed, its effects started diminishing fast as time went on faster inside the cut-off space.
Aria stirred and blinked before getting on her knees while Aegis transformed into a jaguar like creature to press his nose against Aria's. Their eyes looked into one another's and flickered with digital lights as they exchanged connection pings to establish and test their full connectivity.
"Connection resumed. "- Aegis leaned on her and olive green orbs opened wide, followed by a loud gasp as Aria regained some self consciousness and fell forward hung onto the creature's neck for support while breathing hard; she was still out of it, emotionally drained and cumulatively exhausted, a perfect fit of shell shock. Lectures of energy caused by negative emotions were high. To do it's duty, protect at all costs the program known as Aria Hadron Scherzi, his owner and user, Aegis let his form disperse, most of it going over it's user body to reform her normal suit, while the rest transformed into a fox that danced in front of the foreigner. -"Aria.. the battle is still going on. Please come back."
Aria blinked and looked at the small fox.
"Do you remember these?"- Now that he had her attention, Aegis pushed a small clock and a locket towards the mercenary while Andrick's dogtags dangled from his mouth. He sent electric impulses to Aria's brain to reconnect her neural paths and temporarily halt the invading madness.
Aria grabbed the locked and opened it. Two photos flashed across her eyes, accessing the memory banks in her program. Julius Monrey, resident mortician of Wonderland and a bastard, and Ace no-last-name-known, Knave of Hearts, an even bigger asshole. She felt some warmth in her chest at the same time that certain anxiousness appeared. Clutching the locked to her chest and not noticing that the clock pointed it's hand with her own face towards 'worried', she looked at Aegis. -"...Are TheY AlrIgHT? dId the plAn to cHAngED THEM BACk SUcCEEDeD?"
"Their transformation was as successful as circumstances allowed it. However, the situation partaking outside this relic requires your full intervention" - Without waiting for orders, Aegis transmitted the scene of what has been going on directly to her optic lenses.
Aria fell forward and remained motionless for a few moments before she sat. She sucked on her lips and looked at the other items Aegis presented- "ThE momenT you STop the eleCTrIc FlOw oN ME, THe MAdness WilL resume TryiNG TO OvErWhelm my MInd, ANd It Can'T bE DISPErSEd witHOuT A STable cONNeCTIon with thiS WoRLD WhIch i DON'T hAVe. nOT TO MeNTIOn TIMe FRoM OUR WOrld iS TRyING TO claiM ME too, I feel mYSELF enHANCED By mOst OF The imprOVeMeNtS dOnE to me In Our OLd WOrLd."
"Projections for possible outcomes are negative in prospect. You can't avoid the madness anymore."- The A.I. sounded worried.- "This world is crashing with your world's time, but madness is holding and pulling that time on you."
"IT's iNEVITABlE Without GeTtING somE deePer rOot in ThiS DIMENSIon".- She sighed, not knowing what to do -"If tHe maDneSS is Not sTOppeD i'Ll lOsE mYSElF AGain." -She calmed herself and examined the problem's inputs. -"maDneSS wILl InEviTablY INVADE mY nEURAL CHannElS. sINCE I CAn'T dO anYthing aBOuT the madnESs, TheN i couLD dO somEThIng To my neuRAl CHANNelS INSTEAD"- A glint of resolution flickered in her eyes as she picked up the locket and carefully placed it inside a compartment in her suit. Next she looked at the clock Julius had given her, the one that pointed at emotions and that could change the time of the day. It indicated she could change time 2 times, meaning her hand had managed to move so much during this time with her boyfriends that it had accumulated another full cycle besides the original one for the land change. She began formulating a plan; after all, the cube was not the only relic she had -"Aegis… i'M gonNA SAVE ThEM, ANd I'M goiNG To fiX THis."- She looked at the grappling hook gun that her suit had on, the other relic.- " As Soon as We Get Out of HERE And beFore mADNESS STArtS FILlInG mE, i wANt yOU tO COmMENce FRAGMENTInG MY mINd aT leaSt arOUnd 75%. wiTh MY MInD in shArds, MaDnESs WOn'T Be AblE to GeT aNY GroUnd on Me"
"But they won't be able to fix you! " -The A.I. jumped on her arms as it had seen the holders turned foxes do previously.
"i knOW, aNd i GueSs tHIs acTIOn Is akIn TO A loVe respOnse In It'S shArE BolD STupIdITY aND REcKlEsSness."- Aria hugged her loyal companion. -"It'S AlsO my ONLy iDea. you KNOW THe PROjeCTIONs sHOw tHE bigger SUCcesS rAte oN This Plan thAN in THe OTheRs"
"But how do you plan to recover after this."- Aegis nuzzled her.
Aria pet the shadow fox before holding it in front of herself to look it in the eyes.- "I DoN't PLAn To, buT I TRust tHERe'll be a way. i cAn't do aNYthinG ELSe, So I NEeD To TRUst yOU ANd TruSt tHem."
The critter dissolved in her arms and became inky myst that crawled over her to complete her armor.- "I'm not sure we have enough components for this fight or for your plan"
"thAt'S IS noT A prObLem. we'lL Get theM." - Aria prepared to turn the time in the clock Julius gave her. - "LeT's bRing MIdNIGhT anD sEnT JaBby bAcK to SpaDes"
Once the time was changed inside the relic, it's effects ended and the space that held the foreigner began to appear back on top of the hill, making Aria's silhouette visible, although no one noticed her at first, giving her the advantage to survey the situation and look at the ensuing battle. Aegis quickly caught the transmissions of the Lullaby forces, and via augmented reality, showed a mapped position distribution over her vision. There were still many foes, more than Lullaby cards around and the enemy had gotten the advantage of sizing the terrain first, not to mention that the Jabberwock was still furiously attacking certain knave and clock master. She bit her lip and then presses the microphone of her suit to transmit her orders. - "To ALL Lullaby INTONERS. Start MADRIGAL tactic IMMEDIATELY."
Cheers could be heard from the Lullaby faceless, their morale restored upon hearing their leader's voice. Immediately as ordered, many female operatives took shelter in whatever way they could and activated small speakers along with their microphones installed in their communicators while their nearby peers covered them against incoming attacks. Quickly all Lullaby members on the field regrouped in cells around the area that adopted defensive positions and maneuvers. Without warnings, these 'intoners' began to sing a polyphonic composition with a different tune coming from each woman, yet all combining into a melody that pierced the air and clashed with the sheer noise of the battle, and soon enough, they were joined by one more voice.
"Hey, there's Ary!" -Ace pointed out with a grin.
As the notes of multiple songs filled the air, the Jabberwocky looked up and spotted Aria, who had started to sing along while looking over the battlefield.
"Aria, stop stinging!" -Julius cried, trying to rush over to her but Ace stopped him.
Aria's brow furrowed as she ignored them. She focused her attention on all singing operatives, including herself. Her eyes changed color lens to see the mana in the sound waves reaching from person to person to create an area network on the battlefield, which as soon as it was established, allowed her to start the next phase of her plan. This was all or nothing and she was giving it everything. Using the remaining charge in the emotion's clock to change the time again, this time in the area, she made day change into night.
The Jabberwocky flapped trying to elevate his position and reached Aria, but Julius saw the change and discharged the heavy weapon upon the dragon once more. The Jabberwock heard it and evaded those, but Ace sniped his leathery wings with the bullets that travelled several times faster than possible and which penetrated the scales and skin, which affected the dragon's flight, causing the beast to roar, but instead of flying away like before, it endured the shoots in order to throw some more fireballs towards the slope, this time in rapid succession over the same area. Julius was caught surprised; but before the fireballs hit his position, Ace grabbed him with one arm by the waist and leapt back to a safety spot.
The knave's boots were burnt from the splash of flames, but Julius remained safe thanks to the human shield, however Ace's black armor cracked on various parts. - "We'll ogle Aria later in private, Julius" - Ace moved to aim again at the dragon, but he didn't have any more rifle bullets, and looking at he mounted gun, it was red hot and steaming, probably wouldn't work anymore.-"Well, damn. This is not very knightly."- He looked up to Aria. -"But it looks like Ary has some plan of her own."
At the edge of the upper slope Aria pulled out the graphing hook gun and aimed it at the top part of the giant mirror's frame that stood in front of the hill. How it was still mostly intact was surprising, but she didn' waste time pondering it. She ran off the edge and jumped while pulling the trigger; the hook flew the distance and struck right in the center of the upper part of the frame. The merc held onto the hook gun with both hands and tensed her muscles before activating the gun's retraction to pull herself, balancing like a pendulum towards the mirror's face. Once she was a couple seconds before impacting, she used the key of the way and the energy she had been directing while drugged to connect the mirror to the sole place that she could reach without problem, the mausoleum, or more specifically, the big underground cave which held the pool of mana. The portal opened on the roof of the cave, and she trespassed vertically through the portal; in the few seconds she was there approaching the liquid mana, Aegis transformed as it could into tubes or tentacles to strike the pool and suck as much of the precious substance as it could before Aria was pulled back out of the mirror by the inertia of the metal rope. Like a pendulum she swung back and forward again, but this time, instead of opening a portal she prepared for the impact with her legs extended and both feet firm, Aegis covering every single exposed part of her body to protect her.
She crashed through the mirror like a demolition ball, and the moment she did that crystal shards flew around, her eyes flickered and the whole night was pulled from the sky towards her like a vortex, and as it did so, all the mirror shards were integrated into the shadows as new components by Aegis's acquired assimilation capacities powered by the song's power.
The dragon saw the mercenary that had conquered him in every way swing through the rope towards his way, as just as she was reaching the ending curve of her swing, the hook gun released its grip from the mirror's frame and she flew in a controlled arc towards him. His eyes widened. All the darkness from the night and the broken mirror that had been pulled towards her became giant butterfly wings on her back to slow her fall, but that made little difference to the Jabberwock, he flapped his own wings faster to intercept her trajectory in the air and delicately caught her. He then closed his wings to encase her while falling down, and rolled in the air to land on his backs o that she'd be safe and on top, causing a small cloud of dust and dirt to be lifted in the air while the butterfly wings remained up and extended in the air.
Meanwhile, Julius and Ace were stuck on the hill's slope, but Ace was already jumping down or rolling on the hill to climb down and Julius was following suit.
Still under the foreigner, the Jabberwocky's form began turning smaller until it adopted his human guise. Swamp green eyes locked with olive gems as the foreigner straddled the male under her body. He blushed, worried, anxious and relieved.- "Boss…Let's go back to Spades."- He pulled her in a hug.
Aria's expression softened and became quite gentle, her hand went to caress his cheek and her face lowered over his' to kiss his lips before pulling apart. -"I cAn't."- She pressed her forehead over his and returned the hug. -"I nEed to care for all of Wonderland, not JUST Spades. It's not evEn ready to be cared fOr, is it?"
Wedge grabbed her waist harshly and was about to say something but she pressed a finger to his lips. -"It'll be Alright. We'll make it alright. From whErever we are."
Before anything else happened, Aria projected the mana she had gathered from her territory onto the butterfly wings and activated the key of the way again. The wings became a fabric like material that phased over and through her; and like a magician's act when something disappears under a blanket, the Jabberwocky was gently transported to spades by the blanket of mirror shards and darkness that had served as a portal.
With that done, Aria could feel her mind fragmenting into unconnected parts, and behind that, the madness trying to find a way that was being destroyed before it could reach her core mind. With complete calm, knowing that she had done what she could and that there was nothing else she could even attempt, the foreigner stood up and awaited; in her vision, Julius and Ace were approaching, Ace way closer, but her mind was already scattering. -"Aegis...". - She didn't finish.
"I'll do what I can. I promise."- The A.I.'s russian accented voice answered with a sad sigh.
Not but a minute later, Ace arrived to see Aria remain unmoving as she stood up firm, her eyes white with static. - "Ary!" - The knight grinned as he reached her, noticing her unresponsive nature.- "Ary … wake up" - Ace gently spoke as he used the hilt of his sword to give a small playful tap on her head.
The static on Ari's eyes blurred and disappeared. Her eyes turn up to look and focus on the feathery helmet. Ace, all gallantly, took his headpiece off and ceremoniously offered it to her. The foreigner grabbed it as if it somehow was something important; that had made her feel honored by it. A smile formed on her lips while her eyes closed as she fell asleep exhausted right there. The knave gently caught her in her fall.- "Hmmm~ you seem tired, Aria. Take a nap, we'll have fun when you wake up." - Ace said with a light smile, holding her close against his chest.
"A-Aria, how is she-?!" -Julius arrived, rushing over to them before looking over her peaceful face.
"Sleeping."- Ace simply said as he picked her up bridal style, careful not to jostle her.
On the ground, the discarded feathery helmet dissolved into darkness and was absorbed by the blanket of darkness. -"Further status description will have to wait. I highly recommend that my user is taken back to rest." - The blanket rose from the floor and reformed into a creature that resembled a wyvern, smaller than the draconic height of the Jabberwock but uncannily resembling it. This form looked much more deadlier than the unicorn form it had adopted earlier. -"Resulting effects will become visible later on"- Aegis warned.
With no idea what the A.I. had meant, Julius instead focused on finishing this ordeal. - "We should take her home to rest."- He turned to the A.I., which seemed uncharacteristically eager to get in action. -" Aegis, can you handle this mess?"
"I only follow my user's commands. Only Aria can call or order me, but once I'm called. I can act upon my programming." - The drake looked at his master for a second as if he wanted to do or say something but ultimately decided against it. - "I'll make sure there are some survivors left to interrogate."- Aegis jumped into the air, flapping it' wings, and launched itself into the air to join the fight and help out the lullaby. With Aria gone the madness subsided and so it's effects on the terrain, making the allied faction lose it's advantage while the Lullaby now had a wyvern on their side, which uncharacteristically for the A.I. it went on destroying many of the opposite faction in horrible and gruesome ways, all while Ace and Julius carried Aria back to the clock tower for a well needed rest.
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I hope you could visualize the battle and enjoy it. I seriously hope you imagined the horrible trenches of ww1 (minus the millions of corpses) and I still recomment the video in youtube 'BATTLEFIELD 1/ WW1 SONG - Pawns Of War', because thats how horible Aria's madness is (and an excuse to get Julius to use a mounted gun XD) And what you think of the Jabberwock? I'd say he is as twisted as Aria. Even Aegis at the end was a bit murderous, but if you remember what he is and came to be it would be understandable ;)
Do you have any comments? We're almost about to reach the end of the story, so if you have any questions that need answering or comments to be addressed, this is the right moment for it.