A MAD TEA PARTY

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?

-Lewis Carol

HIDDEN SAFEHOUSE

"We need allies." Tomura finally spoke. It'd been almost a week after All for One was defeated and arrested at the hands of the symbol of peace, while his apprentice and his allies were forced into hiding. The leader of the League of Villains hadn't spoken a word since that night. Until now.

"Sure, let's just open up the yellow pages." Dabi said sarcastically. "Looking for a good time, call 1-800-EVIL." He chuckled. No one else was laughing. Kurogiri was his usual patient, merely turning his body to give their ever-reliable information broker the floor.

"I'm afraid with your current situation..." Giran started saying. "Nobody is going to want to work with the league at this point. Too big of a risk with your current track record."

"You think we're doomed to failure?" Tomura glared at the info broker.

"Nope. I got the utmost confidence in you." Giran gave him a toothy grin. "However, the rest of the criminal underground. Not so much. No villain out there is going to want to touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole. Especially now that All for One is in Tartarus." There were a few Yakuza groups that might consider it, but no big time villain would think twice joining forces with them. They'd all be too busy trying to break ground in the wake of Allmight's retirement.

"There's…someone who might work with us." Mr. Compress spoke up with a bit of a nervous tone. Not the jovial showman that they were used to. "I've worked for him a few times, before joining this little group. I did a few jobs for his little gang, even got offered to join, but I turned it down for you lot."

"I hope you're not meaning who I think you mean." Giran had a good idea who he was talking about and didn't like it one bit.

"Spit it out already." Tomura snarled at them.

"They call him…The Hatter." Compress told them. "Though the underground refers to him as the Mad Hatter." He explained a bit anxiously. "He's a bit…what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Bat shit insane." Dabi suddenly interrupted.

"Oh, so you've met him." Giran looked at the fire user.

"Met him? No. Heard about him? Yeah. I've heard about that sick freak." Dabi looked away. "Heard about his victims." He shuttered a bit, remembering the rumors that got spread around. "Not just the randos. I heard about the blondes too."

"Is he dangerous?" Kurogiri asked.

"Possibly." Giran answered. "Stain, despite his zealotry, is at least somewhat reasonable. The Mad Hatter on the other hand is very unstable. Even his minions don't always know what he's going to do next."

"Could he be useful?" Tomura questioned. Trying to put everything sensei taught him into practice. "Does he have resources?"

"Yeah, he does. Ever heard of the Teashop?" Giran smirked. "He runs it." Now that had all the villains' attention. The Teashop was a secret drug ring, that produced and distributed illegal substances known on the streets as Snark, Jabberwock, Drink Me and various other stranger named ones. "He doesn't make many waves though. All for One deemed him unimportant."

"Get us a meeting with him." After thinking about it for a bit Tomura decided. "And not with some underlings. I want to speak with the boss."

"Are you sure?" Giran didn't think getting involved with this lunatic was such a good idea.

"Set up a meeting. As soon as possible." Shigaraki demanded.

"That won't be a problem. He loves visitors." The info broker had a feeling he was going to regret this.

THREE DAYS LATER

Deep in the heart of the Teashop. In a private room that no one except for the boss and his two best henchmen were allowed to enter. A little party was being held. A tea party to be exact. Sitting around the long table that was littered with snacks, teapots and cups, all the usual wonderland characters were there. The March Hare, the Dormouse, The Cheshire Cat, The White Rabbit, The Smoking Caterpillar, The Queen of Hearts, The Walrus, The Dodo Bird, The Mock Turtle, The Griffin, and of course The Mad Hatter himself. The host of this tea party, sitting at the very end of the table, close to the March Hare and the Dormouse. Standing behind him were two middle aged men. Identical twins. Both equally fat and muscular. Both dressed in black and white striped long sleeve shirts, with black slacks, red suspenders, and red propeller hats on their bald heads. Mr. Dee and Mr. Dum, as he liked to call them.

The Hatter appeared to be a boy in his mid-teens. With messy, tangled dark green hair, and long bangs that covered almost half his freckled face. Upon his head sat a black top hat, with a size card sticking to the side that read '10/6'. He wore a dark green Victorian long coat, black double-breasted vest over a white buttoned silk shirt, bright red bow tie around his collar, black pin stripe pants, green fancy pointed toe shoes, and white leather gloves. On his lap rested a live brown speckled rabbit, that he occasionally petted.

"My friends. I'm so glad you could join me this evening." The Hatter smiled, taking a sip of his tea while 'The Thieving Magpie', played from the room's speakers. At first glance this looked like a child's fantasy come to life. However, upon closer inspection, this was a living nightmare. His friends as he called them, were random people he had kidnapped and brought to his base of operations. Forced to play dress up and pretend with this deranged teenage boy, while chained to their chairs. Some were pumped full of so many drugs that they had no idea what was going on. They were the lucky ones. Unlike the the Cheshire Cat. He was dressed in a pink and purple fur coat, with purple cat ears attached to his head. The worst was the wires with hooks digging into the sides of his mouth, pulling them into a forced wide grin. His hands were also nailed to the table, rather horrifically. A grisly punishment for stealing a butterknife, sharpening it on the wood of his chair and attempting to stab his psychotic host when he passed by. The large obese man forced to play the Walrus had completely given up hope of rescue, not like he could run with the state of his body, and just sat there dull eyed, sipping his drugged tea with large foam tusks super glued to his cheeks.

"More tea Marchy?" The Hatter poured more into his 'friend's' cup. The man made to play the dormouse suddenly fell face first into his plate of cheeses with a loud bang.

"Silly Dormy. Always falling asleep." The Hatter giggled. Of course, he was falling asleep, the drugs that he was flooded with through the IVs in his arms kept him in a constant state of drowsiness.

"Please." The woman dressed in a white waist coat, with matching rabbit ears in her hair begged. "I can't take this anymore. Just let me go. I promise I won't tell anyone about this." She'd been captured very recently and didn't know all the rules yet.

"Its rude to suddenly leave a party without permission." The Hatter's face dropped into a frown, then sharpened into an angry glare. "Are you being a bad bunny?" He snapped his fingers, and the two muscular fat twins approached her. One pulled an industrial blender from underneath the table and placed it in front of the woman, while the other plugged it into an outlet. "Do you know what happens to bad bunnies?" The Hatter stood and carried the speckled rabbit he'd been keeping on his lap over to her. Callously he tossed the rabbit into the blender.

"Please!" The woman begged again. Ignoring her pleading the villain flipped the switch and reduced the furry creature to a red pulpy mess. The guests who were still awake and coherent gasped in horror and looked away, some started screaming again.

"Will you stop shouting!" Hatter yelled. "Or do I have to remove something, like I did Cheshire." He smirked as they all shut up.

"Don't make him mad again." The woman next to the White Rabbit whispered to her. She was dressed as the queen of hearts. A wealthy and spoiled woman, who kept shouting demands and threats when the drugs wore off. She had a white porcelain mask, because The Hatter threw a pot of boiling hot tea in her face when he got sick of her yelling. "For the love of god, don't make him mad."

"Why don't you all like me?" The Hatter walked around the table. "I freed you from your boring meaningless lives." He stopped at his chair. "Reality is so painful and miserable. Isn't this more fun?" He held his arms out, looking upon his unwilling guests for a response. "Right? RIGHT?!" He fumed, pushing a button on his chair that gave them all a violent electric shock.

"YES!" Most of them shouted in pain and fear. Some even started crying.

"That's better." Hatter grinned. "Now sing with me!" Mr. Dee and Mr. Dum stood behind him in a threatening manner. Leaving it unspoken what would happen to them if they didn't comply.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea tray in the sky!"

The deranged lunatic waved his hand around like a conductor. The ones who were awake and aware sang along with the smiling Mad Hatter, like their lives depended on it. Which it did. His green eye then landed on the empty chair at the opposite end of the table.

"WAIT!" Hatter screamed, interrupting them. "I know what the problem is." He pranced over to the empty chair. "We need a new Alice!" The guests nervously swallowed. Remembering what he did to the last one. "Yes that last one just wasn't buttering the biscuits. Now was she." He pouted childishly. "Mister Dee, Mister Dum. Have you found us a replacement yet?"

"Why yes we have." Mr. Dee pulled out a tablet. "Melissa Shield. Currently visiting her friends at U.A. Our spies are watching her movements and we'll soon be in a position to take her."

"Our info says Melissa doesn't have a quirk so it should be easy." Mr. Dum carried on.

"Who's this…Melissa?" The Hatter asked dangerously.

"Sorry." Dum cleared his throat. "I meant this Alice doesn't have a quirk, so it should be easy. We'll have her by next week."

"Excellent." Hatter smiled brightly clapping his hands together in excitement. "Oh! I just can't wait! Show me her picture Mister Dee!" He skipped over to his henchmen like a child eager to open his Christmas presents. Dee handed him the tablet and the Hatter got even more excited. "OOOOOO! I've never had an Alice with glasses before." He stroked his fingers over the picture, paying extra focus to her blonde hair. "I like what I get, and I get what I like." The party goers felt sorry for whoever this poor girl was. Dee then rattled off some information concerning their drug distribution, supplies running a bit low lately and the growing conflict with the Yakuza and their business. Not that the Mad Hatter was paying attention. These matters would ultimately have to be taken care of by the twins and the base's foremen, Carpenter.

"By the way Hatter sir." Mr. Dum started. "We received an offer to parlay with the League of Villains this morning."

"League of what now?" The young man stopped ogling the picture of Melissa Shield.

"League of Villains." Dee corrected. "They are requesting a meeting. Right now, actually."

"They're right down the street and we are awaiting your orders." Dum finished for his brother.

"Oh, frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! I just love visitors!" He exclaimed. "Let them come. Who knows. They might have some replacements." That made the party guests sweat. Getting replaced was a death sentence at this table. "Maybe one of them will have nice blonde hair."

"Got my tweed pressed, got my best vest, all I need now is the girl!" The Hatter sang delightfully as he fiddled with his outfit. "Got my bow tie, got my hopes high!" He started tapping his feet to the song while his henchmen carried on with the important business.

"Got the time and the place and I got the rhythm! Now all I need is the girl to go with'em!" He started shaking the terrified man forced to play the March Hare while singing his song.

OUTSIDE

Taking another drag from his cigarette, Giran looked nervous as he glanced out the window of the rundown gas station, down the street at the old abandoned western style hotel that loomed over this dilapidated area of the city. Any minute now the boy's henchmen would call and give the okay to approach the entrance to their headquarters. This meeting could go really well or really bad. Giran was an expert gambler, so he put his odds on it all going badly. He just didn't see how these two villain groups could possibly mesh well together. Crazy should never meet insanity in his opinion.

"Why do I have to wear this?" Toga whined, gesturing to the cap and hoodie that covered her hair.

"The Mad Hatter has a thing for blonde girls." Giran warned her. "Trust me, you don't want his eye on you. Best to hide the hair." He paused, taking a deep breath in front of the league. "Now I'm going to go over the rules."

"What rules?" Tomura Shigaraki glared in annoyance. He hated rules.

"Yes rules. There are certain protocols that must be followed when meeting this guy." Giran tried to impress upon them. "Some are his rules, and some are things that people like me have figured out on our own."

"Oh joy." Dabi spoke sarcastically. This seemed needlessly complicated for his tastes.

"Rule number one, do not be rude." Giran listed off. "I cannot stress that enough. Be polite. Do not insult his appearance or outfit. Shake his hand and thank him for his hospitality." The info broker looked at them all nervously. They were not the most cordial bunch, especially Shigaraki and Dabi. Kurogiri, and Compress would behave. Toga was a wild card though. At least Twice, Spinner and Magne were busy elsewhere trying to set up a meeting with the Yakuza. Three less problems to worry about.

"If he offers you tea, accept it with a thank you, but do not, I repeat, do not drink it." Giran warned the villains.

"Why not? What could possibly be wrong with his tea?" Shigaraki asked in confusion.

"He's a drug peddler and quite a brilliant chemist on his best days. Likes to put all sorts of concoctions in the tea." Giran told them.

"If you're lucky the tea will just knock you out and you'll wake up in his little party. Alive at least." Compress told them, having dealt with the Hatter before. "Worst case he'll use you as a lab rat to see what kind of effect his experimental batches do."

"Now this rule is the most important one. Do not ever call him by his real name." Giran told them. "The Hatter, he uh…lives in a sort of fantasy world. He doesn't like to be reminded of anything from his former life, especially his name. He also doesn't appreciate people trying to shatter his fantasy. Only address him as the Hatter, or Mad Hatter, he's fine with either. Just do not ever use his original name or there will be lethal consequences." Shigaraki just rolled his eyes. Not at all phased by the warning. Himiko Toga on the other hand was growing more curious.

"What's his real name?" she asked aloud. Giran hesitated to tell, but he figured it was the best they know now in case someone recognized him.

"Izuku Midoriya. Never speak it in front of him." The info broker warned.

"Wait he's not that Izuku Midoriya?" Dabi started. "The kid from the commercials?"

"That was some years ago, but yes." Giran nodded with a sigh. "That Izuku Midoriya."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Shigaraki demanded with a snarl. "What commercials?"

"Maybe if you didn't spend all your time playing video games you would actually know what goes on in the world." Dabi smirked at him as they started to bicker back and forth like an old married couple.

"Hm." Toga hummed to herself as she pulled out her phone and typed that name into the search engine. She found a video from nearly a decade ago. It was an advertisement for an Allmight product. In the video a woman with a blanket draped over her back was calling for help, the door suddenly burst open and a toddler in an Allmight themed onesie popped up shouting 'I AM HERE!'

"Awe! He's so cute." Toga squealed with delight. The commercial ended with the number one hero himself appearing to promote the merchandise while the little boy comically held on to his bicep, kicking his suspended short little legs in the air. There were tons of these commercials, always for a new Allmight product. The boy seemed to get a bit older in each, going by the thumbnails for the videos.

"At one time the kid was the mascot for Allmight's agency." Giran explained. Tomura stopped arguing with Dabi when he heard that. He'd hated the symbol of peace for years, why had he never heard of this kid?

Toga frowned sadly when she found the article dating back almost three years. Apparently, there was an incident when a villain attacked a hero convention. The reason was because of the panel featuring Allmight himself and his adorable mascot Midoriya. Only the kid showed up for the event, the symbol of peace didn't and Midoriya ended up being seriously injured without the hero there to save him. "It says here he just disappeared after the convention disaster." Giran sighed while the villains looked at him expecting an answer.

"Want me to explain?" Compress inquired while the broker nodded gratefully. "You see my friends, showbusiness is a rather fickle and sometimes nasty minx." He chuckled to himself. "Midoriya got shot in the face and lost an eye during that event."

"Jesus." Dabi snorted. What kind of sicko would shoot a kid?

"After that unfortunate incident, he wasn't so cute anymore and the Allmight agency dropped him as their mascot like a sack of hot potatoes." The magician explained. "His life then rapidly fell apart. He vanished soon after, and then the Hatter made his debut out of the wreckage that was once that boy's life."

'That's so sad.' Toga felt bad for this Izuku guy but kept it to herself.

"Trust me when I say whatever part of him that was Midoriya is long gone now." Giran added, trying his best to impress upon the league just how unhinged this villain is. "There is only the Hatter, and you will please call him as such, or else he'll sick his minions on you. Also don't bring up the convention disaster. In his broken mind it never happened." His warnings only made Tomura more annoyed and Toga even more curious to meet this boy. Giran's phone beeped and looked down at it to see a single word on his messages.

'Approach'

"Well, here we go." The info broker chuckled nervously, finishing his cigarette. "No matter what happens, it was nice knowing you assholes."

"Let's move." Tomura ordered with a scoff, while placing his father's hand back over his face and pulling the hood of his coat up, trying to look as intimidating as possible. Dabi just smirked and followed him. The League of Villains stepped quietly out of the gas station and began the trek down the street to the large, abandoned hotel. The building was old and falling apart, paint mostly gone, almost every single window boarded up, with the most around the top floor penthouse. Shigaraki was up front and reached the main entrance of the hotel first. The doors quickly opened for them. Getting the idea, the league silently stepped inside, allowing the doors to close behind them.

'Weird.' Toga wondered, not spotting any sort of mechanism that allowed for an automatic door system. The villains looked around at the dirty and rundown lobby. They walked up to the front desk that only had a single bell and a sign that read 'Ring for Service', with a crudely drawn smiley face. Shigaraki reached out and hit it. Nothing happened, just a solemn Ding. He hit it again, still nothing.

"Well, we're waiting!" Tomura growled out rather rudely at not seeing anyone to greet them. Giran just silently glared at his disrespect. Now wasn't the time for that considering they just walked into the proverbial belly of the beast.

"A mouth on this one!" A voice laughed. From behind the counter a head of ginger hair popped up, revealing a young man no older than twenty-two. "You're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy." He leaped over the desk gracefully to confront the league. "Leave the attitude at the door." This guy was tall and skinny. Wearing a black long-sleeved shirt rolled up to his elbows, with a thick and dirty apron over the top. His gray baggy cargo pants were full of holes and pockets ending in filthy brown leather boots.

"Carpenter." Giran stepped forward and began a friendly conversation in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "Good to see you."

"Ah Giran. Long time no viddy. How is life treating you?" The man identified as Carpenter smiled pleasantly. His demeanor seemingly chipper and friendly.

"I could be better." The league's info broker shrugged.

"So this is the little motley crew that wants to join up with the Teashop." Carpenter's smirk turned into an arrogant grin.

"We're here to possibly form an alliance." Tomura corrected sounding just as arrogant as him. "If anything, we're here to see if you will work for us, not the other way around."

"You know for the longest time I thought the League of Villains was just a bowling team." He laughed at them. Dabi laughed with him and Shigaraki almost blew a fuse, but decided to keep his cool, for now at least.

"How is he?" Giran stepped closer and tried to get a gage on how the Hatter would be once they met him.

"Hatter's been a bit down lately." Carpenter spoke quietly with him. "Been spending a lot of time upstairs at his little party. Getting him to work on his projects has been like pulling teeth. Someone's teeth not mine."

"What happened?" Giran whispered back.

"Had to get rid of the latest Alice again." The info broker paled as the red head drew a line across his own neck. "He needs a new one soon or he'll start taking it out on the gang." The Carpenter looked at him expectantly.

"I'm not helping you find blondes anymore." Giran answered quickly. "Not after I learned of what became of them." Carpenter just grinned. "I'm just here to introduce and say hello."

"Your choice." He then looked over at the impatient villains behind him. "Alright my little oysters! Welcome to the Teashop! Let's go see the boss!" He announced very theatrically. Walking up the stairs in the lobby Carpenter lead the league through the halls of the abandoned hotel, until they reached the ballroom. "Welcome to our factory floor." The man simply snapped his fingers and the doors opened for him. Inside various vats of chemicals and a few shelves filled with bottles. The people working were wearing rubber gloves, goggles, face masks, protective boots and sandwich boards, painted to look like various playing cards over their normal clothing. The workers went about mixing chemicals together and dividing the finished concoctions into smaller vials. It was such a tiny, lackluster and rather disappointing operation.

"Is this it?" Shigaraki complained. He was honestly expecting more from the Teashop than this. All that build up for nothing.

"We're a small-time business. Besides this is just the kitchen, you should see the garage." Carpenter smiled looking at something behind the villains. "Right Hatter?"

"Indeed!" The members of the league nearly jumped out of their skin at the sound of the voice coming from over their shoulders. Spinning around they came face to face with the gleefully grinning Mad Hatter himself. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance!" He tipped his top hat towards them. "Giran! Mr. Compress, how lovely to see you two again!" The boy seemed over the top sweet and polite. So much so that it was setting them all on edge.

"Charmed." Compress bowed respectfully, deciding to add a compliment. "Stellar hat as always."

"Thanks, you as well." Izuku smile never changed as his remaining eye shifted from villain to villain unnervingly. "Don't you all look lovely. Yes so lovely."

"Stop wasting our time!" Shigaraki was getting annoyed by all the pleasantries and compliments getting thrown around. "Where's the rest of this operation!?" Giran was already glancing around discreetly for an exit strategy.

"If you knew time like I did you wouldn't talk about wasting it." Hatter rectified. "Time is a him and sadly we quarreled very recently." He quickly pushed through them as he stepped into the middle of the room. The lights of the room dimmed, and a single spotlight landed on the boy. "It was at the great concert given by the Queen of Hearts." Dabi glanced around wondering who was operating that. "I was on stage and sung my piece. Twinkle, twinkle little bat! How I wonder what your at!"

"What the actual fuck is going on here?" The flame user leaned over and whispered to Kurogiri.

"Don't interrupt." Carpenter hissed at him.

"I had just reached the second verse of my song when the Queen yells out: He's murdering the time off with his head!" Toga had to suppress a giggle, thoroughly enjoying the boy's antics. "You see Time became quite offended and stopped all together."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Tomura demanded, feeling a headache coming on.

"Absolutely nothing!" Hatter just laughed as the lights turned on. He gestured to a nearby table where a pot of fresh tea and cups were ready and waiting. "Have some wine."

"Where's the wine?" The pale crusty leader of the league was already at his wits end with this lunatic.

"There isn't any!" Izuku just laughed at his annoyed expression. Toga couldn't hide it any longer and startled giggling out loud, which didn't go unnoticed by the Mad Hatter.

"We came here to see what it is you provide to the criminal underworld." Tomura said through gritted teeth, trying so hard to put the lessons on patience that sensei attempted to teach him into practice. "To see if you wanted to join forces. So what…do you have here?" The Hatter stared at him with his smile.

"Well why didn't you just say so?" He said excitedly. "Come let me show you!" Skipping over to the shelves he pulled seemingly random bottles and placed them a specific order. "These are my lovely concoctions. I call this one Jabberwock." He held a vial of purple liquid.

"What does it do?" Shigaraki asked.

"It amplifies a quirk when ingested." Hatter explained.

"So its like Trigger then?" Dabi said out loud.

"Please! Jabberwock is way better than that piddly putrid potion!" Izuku argued. "My drug not only amplifies quirks, but it also puts the user in crazed berserk state until it wears off."

"Why would it need to do that?" Dabi asked.

"Why?" Hatter looked at him as he repeated the question over and over again. "Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?" He repeated mockingly. "Because its fun!" He laughed hysterically. "Snark is one of my favorites. It causes the drinker to achieve an extremely euphoric and pleasurably high."

"Boy does it." Carpenter licked his lips as he stared at the green bottle. He often found himself indulging in a few doses of that stuff in his spare time.

"Don't care. What else." Shigaraki spoke dismissively.

"Drink me is less pleasurable, but highly addictive." Izuku summarized to them. "But thissss!" He held up a bottle filled with a red liquid. "This will be my masterpiece! My ultimate formula!"

"I remember you talking about this one." Compress realized. "The Red King you called it." It seemed the boy made a breakthrough since the last time they met.

"Correct!" Izuku smiled. "Puts people to sleep and then they enter a trance-like state and become highly suggestable to any commands."

"Really?" Now that peaked Shigaraki's interest. He could see many uses for such a drug. He just needed to wrangle it out of this lunatic kid's hands.

"Unfortunately, it only lasts for a few minutes. I want it to be permanent, so it still needs some work." The Mad Hatter explained to them looking down with disappointment. He suddenly perked up and snapped his fingers. "A demonstration! Mr. Dee! Mr. Dum!" He called in a sing song voice. The two fat twins suddenly appeared beside their master, popping right out of the floor through a couple hidden trapdoors, much to the league's surprise.

'Where'd they come from!?' The villains thought. Carpenter just smirked at their looks of shock as he leaned against the wall.

"Hatter sir!" The twins spoke at the same time, emotionlessly.

"Bring me our least productive employee." Izuku ordered his two henchmen. Mr. Dee and Mr. Dum shared a quick look then turned simultaneously towards one of the lowly workers. The man squirmed when they spotted him.

"Seven of diamonds." Mr. Dee stared at him.

"Wait please!" The man in the sandwich board tried to beg. He suddenly took off towards the nearest exit. Carpenter watched him flee with an evil grin on his face. With a single finger twitch a piece of the floor jutted out tripping the man, who ended up falling flat on his face. Dee and Dum stormed over to their fallen prey and roughly pulled him to his feet.

"Demonstration!" Hatter called as he pointed to a nearby worktable. The twins manhandled the incompetent worker on to the table and held him tightly in place. Izuku waltzed over to him and held the bottle over his face. The man clamped his mouth shut refusing to drink. "Okey-doke!" grabbing a rubber tube from the table the Hatter pinched the struggling man's nose, cutting off his ability to breathe. The League of Villains watched on, after a few seconds he had to open his mouth to take a breath and Izuku quickly shoved the tube in, sliding it right down his throat. Hooking a funnel to the other end of the tube, the well-dressed villain poured a small dose of his Red King formula in. "Demonstration!"

'Oh god.' Giran felt sick as he watched from behind the other villains. Once ingested they noted the man's eyes roll into the back of his head as he entered the so-called trance-like state. Pulling the tube out, the Hatter instructed his henchmen to release their unfortunate victim. "Why do you still work for this nutjob?" Giran leaned over and whispered to Carpenter.

"None of this would be possible without the boy's creativity and mania." The man answered. "Besides, it's a pretty sweet gig I got here. Free to use my quirk to my heart's content, more money than I know what to do with, free samples of Snark, plenty of cute blonde girls I can give the in out to when he's done with them. Plus, I find the kid, very entertaining." He grinned with malicious delight.

"Now stand up!" Izuku ordered his now drugged minion. The man did as he was told. "Carpenter dear! Is the elevator working again?!"

"Why yes, it is!" The red head answered gleefully.

"When I snap my fingers, go to the twelfth floor, find a window and fly into the clouds like the little birdy you are." The Mad Hatter snapped his fingers and watched as the man moved like a zombie towards the elevator and ultimately to his death. "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall."

"Humpty Dumpty had a great fall." Dee and Dumb said along with their boss with no emotion in either of their voices.

"All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again." Carpenter joined them in the rhyme.

"Whoa." Was all Dabi had to say.

"I know right!" The Hatter laughed. "He's free now. Free from his miserable little reality." He clapped like a happy child.

"Alright." Shigaraki started as he approached the Hatter. "I'm officially impressed. For a low tier villain that I've never heard of until now, you got something special here." Mr. Dee and Mr. Dum kept a close eye on the hand covered villain. "How would you like to join the League of Villains? We can help distribute your drugs and expand your business. My sensei had a lot of connections that are now mine to use. I know a doctor that might be able to help you get the Red King to the next step." Tomura had only rehearsed this pitch in his head once before coming here. "All we ask is use of your base, any safe houses, lists of your known allies and their quirks, your distribution network, plus a cut of the profits and free access to your drugs for the league's purposes."

"Hmmmm! Let me think." Izuku made a show pretending to consider it. He then pulled out a slide whistle from inside his coat and blew into it. "Nooooo." He announced dramatically. Toga chuckled to herself, having a lot of fun watching the Hatter. "I've got a very good little thing going here. Why would I mess that up allying with a bunch of creepy losers?" Izuku in a rare moment of intelligence and clarity for someone as insane as him, sounded surprisingly reasonable. "I'm also what you might call 'small fry' to the heroes and police. Sure, some people go missing here and there, but as long as I don't make too much ruckus, they leave me alone to host my oh so fun little tea parties." He squealed with delight, thinking about all the fun things he'd get to do with his friends upstairs when this meeting was over.

"Well, that's a shame." Shigaraki looked down at him through the fingers of the hand he wore on his face. "So then what exactly is stopping us from killing you and taking all this for ourselves?" The Hatter's grin never left his face.

"Unfortunately for you all the formulas for my concoctions are all up here in my noggin." Izuku pointed at his top hat covered head. "Even my playing cards don't know what they are mixing together. Isn't that right Carpenter?"

"Right, right!" The red head parroted as he sensed a fight about to happen.

"I'm so glad you threatened me." Izuku skipped over to stand behind his two large henchmen. "I've been wanting some replacements for my tea party."

"End them, but leave the boy alive." Shigaraki ordered his villains. If the Hatter refused to comply then they would have to get rid of his minions till he had no choice but to agree to their demands.

"Step back Giran." Carpenter told him. The info broker agreed and got as far away from the league as possible. The red head just smirked as spikes sprouted from the floor of the ballroom made from boards and metal.

-Name: Carpenter- Quirk: Masonry. He can control the structure, fixtures and foundations of any building he resides in.

"Shit!" Dabi cursed as one of those spikes cut into his arm. In retaliation he shot a fire ball at the red head who effortlessly dodged it.

"Your in my house now!" Carpenter taunted them as he made the room shake uncontrollably. "Leave the black haired one to me!" He had a thing for physically scarred pretty boys and couldn't wait to bend this Dabi guy over a table whether he wanted it or not. The card workers panicked as they tried to leave the room, only to be shut in by the doors closing on the villain's command. The best they could do was hug the wall and hope to not get caught in the crossfire.

The twins got involved next charging forward like large bulls and forcing the villains to separate from each other. With Kurogiri's help Tomura was warped behind Mr. Dee and attempted to decay him. He would have if his brother Mr. Dum hadn't spotted him. Dee received the image and quickly slammed his elbow in the villain's chest knocking the wind out of him and launching him back.

-Names: Mr. Dee & Mr. Dum- Quirk: Mind Meld. The twins can share everything. Thoughts, emotions and even sensations as if they are one individual.

"I'm coming." Toga pulled out a knife, but Mr. Dum got to her first and picked her up by the head with his large hand. The blonde girl managed to cut his arm with her blade causing both the twins to flinch. Dum was forced to release her which incidentally tore off her cap and hood, releasing her long blonde hair. The Hatter saw it, eye widening in shock.

"STOP!" Izuku yelled at the top of his lungs before the battle could seriously escalate. The villains all froze mid fight. Tomura was halfway through Kurogiri's warp gate. Carpenter almost had Dabi by the legs using the buildings old wiring. Everyone turned and stared as the Hatter quickly stepped over to Toga with surprising speed and grabbed her face with both hands. She held her knife against his neck, but he paid no mind of it. Tilting her head left and right Izuku checked her over. "Blonde hair, yellow eyes, very cute, yes." He mumbled out loud.

"You think I'm cute?" Himiko Toga blushed at his assessment of her. The Hatter noticed something in her mouth when she spoke.

"Say ahh." He commanded.

"Ahhh." Toga obeyed and opened her mouth wide. Izuku gently poked her sharp canines with his thumbs, staring at them in wonder.

"Very cute. I've never had an Alice with fangs before." The Hatter smiled sweetly. "I'll tell you what mister hands. I'll give you all the drugs and resources you want in exchange for her."

"What? Just like that?" Shigaraki was so confused but remembered what Giran said about this villain having a thing for blondes. They probably should have tried that angle first. The benefits were too good to pass up. "Let me just push pause for a second. You'll ally with us over a girl?"

"Don't I get an opinion on this?" Toga whined out. Even though she thought Izuku was adorable and funny, she wasn't a prize to just be handed over. Shigaraki roughly grabbed her by the neck with four fingers and pulled her out of the Hatter's greedy obsessive hands.

"I just need to chat with my associates for a second." Tomura waved at Dabi, Compress and Kurogiri to come over.

"This is a pretty good deal young master." The misty bar tender offered. "It be foolish to not take it."

"We're basically getting a lot for almost nothing." Compress added. "In addition to putting someone on the inside."

"Damn I was really hoping to get a fight." The scarred pyromaniac of the group lamented. He glanced over at the one called Carpenter who was back to casually leaning against the wall as if their two groups hadn't just tried to kill each other. The red head smirked at him with a lustful gaze, while making a quick kissy face with his lips.

"Who says I was going to agree with this?" The blonde blood sucker argued.

"Just go along for now. If you can get him to tell you his recipes for the drugs, then cut his throat when he's not looking." Shigaraki whispered back.

"He said I was cute." Toga pouted. She didn't want to kill someone who thought she was cute.

"Then just play his little game at least till we don't need him anymore." The crusty hand covered villain was already making plans to get samples of the drugs to the doctor. Maybe he could analyze them and figure out how to make more. Then they wouldn't have to lower themselves to working for a childish lunatic.

"Well…" Toga weighed her options. On one hand this Hatter guy was clearly crazy. She looked over at him to see Midoriya staring at her practically bouncing with excitement. On the other hand, she'd never met someone who was happy to spend time with her. Also this game seemed interesting. "Alright."

"Good luck." Compress frowned behind his mask. "You're going to need it." He said that last part under his breath. The group separated and faced the deranged Hatter.

"It's a deal then." Shigaraki stepped forward, hand outstretched, pinky finger out so as not to kill him.

"Oh goody!" Izuku ignored his hand, stepped past him and grabbed Toga's hand instead, pulling her away from the other villains. "Carpenter will get you all set up! Mr. Dee and Mr. Dum, let's get Alice ready for the party!" He laughed as he dragged the blonde girl along with him. When they were gone Carpenter stepped forward from his position against the wall.

"Pretty exciting for your first visit in wonderland, innit?" The red head grinned psychotically. "I don't know about you lot, but I'm famished." He patted his flat stomach. "Oysters anybody?"

UPSTAIRS

The elevator stopped just one floor shy of the penthouse. The fat twins escorted Toga off the lift, and Izuku had to reluctantly let go of her hand.

"I'll get the tea party ready." He waved at her happily. "See you soon Alice." The elevator doors closed between them. Dee and Dum guided the blonde to a suite. When they walked in Toga was amazed and excited seeing all the costumes and masks the littered the room.

"There's a changing screen over there." Dee pointed out.

"Take off your clothes. New ones will be provided." Dum continued for him. Toga obeyed for now, stepping behind the screen and removing her schoolgirl outfit before tossing it over. Dum took it and fished out all the knives and blades hidden in the pockets. What they didn't know was that she had one more knife that she planned to keep strapped to her thigh.

"Do you need my size?" Toga asked as she sat at a stool in front of a vanity mirror practically naked.

"We already know your size." Dum said.

"Your not the first." Dee continued as he searched the racks for a proper dress.

Toga turned around and faced the mirror. She noted the used makeup on the table, but what had her attention was the photos taped to the looking glass. The first was of a boy that looked around the same age as Izuku, with ash blonde spikey hair. That was all she could tell because the eyes in picture were crossed out multiple times with a marker. The most interesting was a photo taken of a group of little kids all dressed as Alice in Wonderland characters, posing together on a stage. She recognized the same little Izuku from those early commercials, dressed as the Mad Hatter in the picture here.

'Interesting.' She wondered if that's what he's basing his persona on.

"Put this on." Mr. Dee handed her the blue and white dress, interrupting her thoughts. Toga smiled and happily put it on. She also took the stockings and shoes that were offered next. "Let your hair down too."

"From this moment on you will only be referred to as Alice." Mr. Dum explained to her. "Do not attempt to escape. Do not try to fight. Failure to comply will only make your time here more painful."

"Why would I leave?" Toga grinned as she let her hair down, running her hands through it and using the mirror to make sure it was nice. "This looks like a lot of fun." The large fat twins glanced at each other, both wondering if she was alright in the head. "Finished!" She stepped out from behind the changing wall. "How do I look?" Toga twirled around in her new costume.

"Like a good Alice." Mr. Dee said.

"Continue to be a good Alice and you'll live longer." Mr. Dum

"Contrary wise, be a bad Alice and die quickly." They both said at the same time. Opening the door, they gestured for her to follow. Toga happily skipped down the hall. Making their way to the set of secured double doors that automatically opened upon their arrival. Toga stepped inside first and her eyes were greeted by the sight of the Mad Hatter's imprisoned and tortured victims dressed in cosplay and tied to chairs all around the long tea table. From the room's audio speakers 'The Blue Danube' played softly setting the mood.

"Welcome Alice." Midoriya eagerly waved at her from the head of the table. "Come. We've saved you a seat." He pointed at the only empty chair at the opposite end of the table. Toga approached her seat, passing the scared and anxious victims. She smiled seeing some blood stains on the empty chair, most likely from the previously disobedient Alice. "Have some tea. Enjoy the cookies too." Toga sat down and looked at the freshly poured cup of tea and plate of cookies that had the words 'Eat Me!' written in frosting.

"Don't mind if I do." Toga kept up the cheery attitude. Not that it was fake or anything. Taking a cookie she dipped it into her tea, then took a bite, throwing all caution to the wind and ignoring Giran's warnings. "Its good."

"It should be. Carpenter makes the best treats." Izuku grinned taking a sip of his own tea. "Now how about a riddle? Why is a raven…like a writing desk?"

"Hmmm!" The blonde girl made a show of thinking carefully on it. "Give me a minute. I'll get back to you on that." They sat in almost awkward silence. Most of the unfortunate guests were glancing nervously at both Toga and Izuku. The Mad Hatter just smiled and stared at her while stirring his tea with a spoon. Suddenly he pulled a fob watch from his pocket. The movement was so quick that the guests flinched in fear.

"What day of the month is it?" He asked while carefully examining his watch.

"The fifth." Toga said with certainty.

"Aha! Two days off!" Izuku exclaimed. "I told you not to put butter in the watch Marchy!" He looked over at the man forced to play the March Hare expectantly. When there was no response, he pushed a button on his chair that gave the man a painful electric shock.

"GAH!" The man with his fake rabbit ears screamed and pulled out one his notecards. "B-But it was the b-best b-butter!" He read his lines quickly as if his life depended on it, which it did. He stumbled over his words, struggling to speak with the false buck teeth in his mouth.

"I think some crumbs must have gotten into as well." Izuku pouted as he shook his watch. "I said don't…put butter in the works with the bread knife!" The boy yelled at his victim.

"I-I couldn't put it in with a f-fork!" The March Hare and all the other party guests were shaking in fear. The only one who wasn't scared was Toga. In fact she was quite amused at the little play that was going on in front of her. She didn't even flinch when the Hatter threw the watch across the table.

'I see. So we are just reenacting scenes from Alice in Wonderland.' Toga decided to get more into this little game while Izuku started violently choking the March Hare, picking up cookies and slamming them into his crying face. Glancing at the watch that landed near her she recited what she could remember from the story. "What a funny watch? It tells the day of the of the month, but not the hour."

"Huh?" The Hatter stopped strangling his guest. None of the previous Alices had ever been able to properly say the lines before. At least not without incentive and or painful provocation. "Ahem! I mean. Yes, does your watch tell you what year it is?" Izuku quickly cleared his throat and got back into character.

"No because we stay in the year for so long." Toga smiled, hoping she got it right. Her memories of the story were a bit vague.

"Exactly, so it's the same with mine!" The Hatter just laughed, then took another sip of his tea. "Have you guessed the riddle yet?"

"Nope." The blonde villain munched on another cookie. "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

"I haven't the slightest idea!" Izuku said without missing a beat. They both laughed together.

"I hate to be a bother, but could I get some blood in my tea?" Toga asked sweetly and politely.

"You…want blood…in your tea?" The Hatter questioned. "Curiouser and curiouser." He mumbled to himself. "Help yourself!" He smiled and gestured to his party guests.

"Yay!" Toga squealed and grabbed the man playing the dodo bird's wrist, pulling out the knife she kept hidden she swiftly slit the man's wrist, held the bleeding limb over her cup and let the blood pour in. Mr. Dee and Mr. Dum were shocked. They thought they had taken all her knives. Izuku just sat there fascinated as he morbidly watched her drink the blood and tea.

"A vampire Alice?" He whispered. "Hmmm." He rubbed his chin in thought. "You drink blood all the time?" The Hatter asked her.

"Oh yes!" Toga nodded her head. "The taste is wonderful, but it's the color I think I love the most." She got a dreamy look in her eyes. "Its just so pretty." The tied-up people just stared at her in horror and some in disgust.

"I…I never thought of it like that." Izuku personally didn't like the sight of a bunch of blood. It reminded him of awful things from his former life. Of that horrible day, filled with blood, death and pain.

"So what do you like?" The blonde girl asked as she took another sip of her tea.

"No one's ever asked me that." Izuku cocked his head. "I like tea for starters." He held up his own cup with a smile. "I like my friends." He stood up from his chair and waved his arms toward all his trapped victims. "I like my hat." He tapped the rim of his black top hat. "I really like Alice." His lone eye landed on her next.

"You like me?" Now it was Toga's turn to cock her head like a curious cat.

"Yes, very much so far." The Hatter sat back down and locked his hands together to rest his chin on. "Your much better than that last Alice."

"What was wrong with the last Alice?" Toga wondered.

"Oh it was awful." Izuku frowned, remembering her. "All she did was try to escape. Ungrateful little poppet! After I saved her from her miserable little world!" His voice turned angry. "Life is so painful! Reality is so awful! This is so much better! Who would want to live in the real world anyway!? All they do is hurt and discard you!"

"Or tell you to be normal." Toga added.

"What?" Izuku stopped in his rant.

"Your right. The world is terrible out there. Terrible to people like you and me." Toga explained. "They wanted me to be normal. Who would want to be normal?" Now it was her turn to rant. "I thought the point of quirks was that we were all extraordinary in our own ways. If that's the case, then what is normal?" Izuku just watched her go off. "If not for this world we could be whoever we want to be. Not who they tell us." She then looked at the villain across the table from her. "If you want to be the Mad Hatter, then why not. If I want to be Alice, then I will be Alice. I think this little world you created here is wonderful. No one should take this from you." The room went quiet. The music had stopped, and the only sound was the ticking of the clock on the wall. Toga meant what she said. She had no plans of killing Izuku Midoriya like Shigaraki ordered. Not after how he treated her so kindly. Especially after the raw deal he got in life which led him to this.

"Your…" Hatter paused, shadows hiding his eye. Dee and Dum were about to deal with her but stopped with what he said next. "Your perfect!" He beamed and clapped his hands together. "Finally, a perfect Alice!" He suddenly grabbed the sleeping Dormouse by his hair and roughly tossed him out of his seat. "Come! Sit by me Alice." He waved her over to the now empty chair to his right. Toga smiled and skipped over to him, stepping over the unconscious man's body. "Oh don't mind Dormy. He's been dead since this morning." Some of the guests started hyperventilating, hoping they wouldn't be next.

"Now he can sleep forever." The fanged blonde giggled.

"Yes he can." The Hatter giggled with her. Toga reached for a teapot and was about to pour herself a fresh cup when his hand covered hers. "That one is poisoned." The girl dressed as the white rabbit's eyes widened. She drank a cup from that exact pot. "Here." The Hatter smiled as he reached for a new pot he kept hidden under his chair. "This one is quite normal and quite good!" He smiled and poured some in her cup mixing well with the blood in it. "A bit of the goody good stuff."

"Thank you." Toga grinned showing her fangs.

"Ah. Thank you what?" He clicked his tongue disapprovingly, putting a hand over her cup.

"Thank you…Hatter." Toga corrected.

"You're very welcome…Alice." Izuku smiled back at her, letting her drink the tea.


Guess whose got free time to write because they got really sick! This author!

I've Been sitting on this idea for a long time. This is the first official story of what I'm calling Project Arkham. I went through my favorite rogue's gallery, the Batman villains, and applied the villain Izuku thing to some of them to see which ones I think could work. Basically just using them as the framework and then figuring out how he would turn into this. This one is the Mad Hatter. Very overlooked Batman villain in my opinion. There's also a bit of the villain Baby Doll from the older animated series. A small dash of Clockwork Orange, mostly in Carpenter.

I liked the idea of Izuku being a former actor, still quirkless, whose mind collapsed and is trying to escape into a fantasy world. Its Alice in Wonderland themed because his first ever performance was a school play he was in when he was a child. His mom actually encouraged him to try something else in this universe.

There was a lot more exposition that I cut out, but I feel like I left enough clues in the story to kind of piece together what went wrong in his past.

I've got a Mr. Freeze one that I'm also working on. The official Poison Ivy one, not the silly one I did already. Someone gave me an idea for a Two Face villain Izuku that I'm exploring. There's also a oneshot that I want to do based off a specific Batman villain that I'm keeping secret for now. That one is giving me a lot of trouble, but I really want to do it because of how creepy it is. I'll probably combine them all together into a compilation when I'm done, but I just want to see how they stand alone for now.

Thanks for reading.