I'm Nobody

by free man writer

He didn't have anything when he was born. Just a name and number. But over time, what he had grew. He, with his friends began to understand that there was more to their existence then just their name and number. They will prove that they were meant to be real. To exist. To become something more than just a Nobody. Co-written and created with Jebest4781. Fem Shepard. Now on Ao3.

33. Welcome to the Madhouse

The name of the chapter says it all and the excitement you all had was palpable to say the least.

Yes, it is indeed American McGee's Alice in Wonderland with a few other flares we threw in for good measure to make it our own.

Let's not waste time as is and just jump headfirst into the rabbit hole.

Rate Read and Review and as always Have Nice Day.

I'm Nobody Chapter 33: Welcome to the Madhouse

The World of Wonderland.

Through the memory he had of being Sora's Nobody, it was one of the very first World's he had visited when he first began his journey as the Keyblade Master.

It was a colorful World that was zany and eccentric to say the least.

Yet this place was clearly out of whack.

For the briefest of moments, he thought they wound up on another World entirely. It unfortunately wasn't the case.

This place is Wonderland. Or was.

Or still is…

Honestly, Roxas couldn't really tell.

It was twisted and deformed.

Gone was the bright and colorful palette that made up this World. In its place was a darkened, deformed and twisted dystopian World he didn't recognize.

"Gonna need to compare notes with the wizard king after we come back." Axel commented, jumping down from an oversized, crooked shelf.

"What happened here?" Xion asked, still standing atop the shelf and looking around. "I don't remember Wonderland being like this."

"It must be what Yen Sid was talking about with our galaxies affecting each other." Axel stated.

"So this is cause of the Milky Way?" Roxas gazed ahead at the distorted landscape of Wonderland.

"Whatever it is, it's messed up this World something fierce." No. VIII commented.

"So what do we do then?" Xion looked down to the redhead who was rubbing his chin in thought.

"Well…" Axel hummed aloud in thought. "Yen Sid told us that there's a Keyhole here that we gotta find to reverse the damage done. So we find it."

Roxas jumped down from the tall shelf with Xion joining after him.

"I get that. But where do we even start?" Roxas asked. "I remember through Sora that he found the World's Keyhole here through the sleeping doorknob."

"But that's not likely where it will be this time around." Xion stated with Axel nodding in agreement.

"Then we'd better get going." Axel said, beginning to walk forward. "Would rather not stick around here to find out what the new freaky natives look like."

Roxas and Xion merely nodded in silence as the trio walked together through this… they didn't know if this was a valley of some kind but it did have an assortment of twisted trees, shrubs and other enlarged items of varying degrees.

There were large clocks, futons, dice, dominoes and an assortment of other things.

"Do you think there's a map that we can use to find our way around here?" Axel asked aloud.

"I don't think a map is suitable for a place like Wonderland." Xion answered with a snort.

"Where should we even go then?" Axel looked to Roxas who scratched his head in thought.

"Well… I do remember that weird shifting room that Sora, Donald and Goofy found the World's Keyhole to be. Maybe we should start there. The talking doorknob can give us a hint."

"But where would we even find it?" Xion asked. "This isn't the Wonderland from before."

"Gotta start somewhere." Axel said, looking up as an assortment of unidentifiable talking creatures flew by them.

The trio trekked through this bizarre and twisted World without any idea as to where they were going.

As they went on through the changed landscape, Xion found herself squirming at the sight of it all with a shiver going down her spine.

"Geez, I know this is Wonderland but…"

"Yeah." Roxas chimed in. "I feel it too."

"Feel you say?" Axel remarked with a teasing grin. "Neat little trick you two are pulling off there."

"Knock it off Axel." Xion childishly whined, lightly beating her fists against his chest. "We're serious."

"Yeah, yeah." No. VIII responded good naturedly, ruffling up her hair. "I get it, I know what you mean. This place ain't natural anymore."

"We haven't even run into any of the locals or any Heartless." Roxas pointed out. "That's usually the first thing we always deal with."

"Don't tempt fate like that." Axel stated, flicking the blonds forehead casually. "It tends to respond quite harshly within our line of work."

Roxas only pouted, rubbing the slight red mark that appeared on the spot where he got flicked.

The trio continued onwards as they were passing by now a large series of floating platforms and dominoes.

"What's up with these things?" Axel noted, hand gliding over a large black domino. "There some oversized folks here that plan on using them?"

"Well this place did have sentient card soldiers." Roxas stated. "I remember seeing them from Sora's memories. They made up the Queen of Hearts' army."

"So should we be expecting a run in with this Queen?" Xion asked, turning to Roxas.

Roxas only shrugged. "Possibly. Though I don't know how it may go this time around. There was a Princess of Heart Sora met here when he first got here. Alice."

"So we at least know a friendly face." Axel murmured. "And a whole lot of unknowns and variables."

They were silent for a brief moment until No. VIII spoke again.

"Come on, let's keep going."

His two young friends nodded and they resumed their trek through Wonderland.

As they kept on going, they started to notice that the environment around them began to slowly have patches of grass and other colorful foliage.

Large mushrooms and a stream of blackened water were soon spotted and near the stream was a sign.

"Vale of Tears?" Xion read aloud, looking at her friends. "Is that where we are?"

Axel's shoulders went up and down. "Most likely. Seems to be the case really."

"I don't think this was here before." Roxas murmured with a frown. "I don't recognize it from Sora's memories."

"Should we go into it then?" Xion inquired aloud. "It looks… pleasant for the most part. Way more than what we already walked through."

"Looks can be deceiving." Axel said in a more serious tone this time around. "Who knows if it's as pleasant on the inside as it is on the outside."

"Doesn't seem like we can go anywhere else." No. XIII said with a frown.

The oldest of the group let out a wistful sigh, conjuring one of his Chakrams.

"Might as well have it one standby."

Roxas and Xion shared a look with each other and a moment later, their Keyblades flashed into their hands and they walked forward into the strange forest called the Vale of Tears.

The three Nobodies traversed through this strange and winding forest, going up hills and staircases made of dominoes. They encountered nothing on their journey.

Nothing but the sounds of nature that came from the forest and some sort of… aura… radiating all around them.

This remained the norm until…

"Was that a giant bird with a cow for a head or was I seeing things?" Axel rhetorically asked, the three of them standing idly by as a small flock of cow headed birds flew past them from above.

"Those weren't here last time." Roxas commented.

"Seems like that's gonna be a running trend now." Axel said dryly. "So, Roxas, what's our play then? We've been walking around for a while now and we have encountered nothing."

As Roxas and Axel began to banter, bickering and ponder as to what to do next, Xion found herself distracted by the sound of falling water.

She turned her head over to the sight of another stream that seemingly defied all physics and logic and went uphill.

Tilting her head with curiosity shining in her eyes, she followed the uphill river until she stood atop the hill and looked out upon quite the sight.

"Uh guys?" Xion called out to her friends who didn't hear her as they were still deep in discussion with one another.

Rolling her eyes, she turned to them and said much louder this time.

"HEY GUYS!"

Both jolted upon hearing Xion's loud voice, taking a moment to realize she wasn't next to them anymore.

"What?!"

Xion waved her hand at them. "Come take a look at this."

Exchanging glances with each other, Roxas and Axel soon moved up to where Xion stood and saw quite an astonishing view.

"Whoa." Roxas murmured. "When did we get so high?"

"And how did we not notice floating continents in the sky?"

Continents would be labeling them highly in terms of comparison.

"Floating domino pieces." Axel said flatly. "And dice and… you know, I figured this place would be zany and weird and all…"

"I don't think it's good to dwell on it, Axel." Xion said, patting his arm. "We come from a floating castle, remember?"

"Yeah… god we've got weird lives."

In the distance, the trio could see humpback whales swimming upside down in the sky and maneuvering around the floating "islands".

"Whoa." Roxas pulled out his Omni-tool, snapping a few pictures. "Bet our friends back home would love to see this."

"Home?" Axel smirked. "The Normandy?"

Roxas paused for a moment before hanging his head slightly. "Yeah… home."

Xion was silent with a small frown marrying her face.

"Hey, I ain't judging what you call home these days Roxas."

"Stay back you foul creatures!"

Snapping attention, the trio heard a loud voice down below.

Without hesitating, they all jumped down from where they stood to the ground below.

Landing, they heard a sharp metal ringing sound and turned their heads to see someone being surrounded by strange creatures that seemed to be composed of black ooze.

The person was a girl who vaguely looked like Xion if she were older looking. She had richly dark hair and bore a similar face, but that's where the similarities ended. For she wore a blue dress with a white, blood-stained apron. Around her neck is a necklace with the omega symbol as its charm. And in her hand was a large silver kitchen knife that she was using to fight off these strange monsters around her.

For some reason, she was very familiar to Roxas in some form of fashion.

They then took note of the monsters around the young teen and noticed that they were not Heartless. They seemed similar to them, yet they weren't. These things didn't have the exact look and traits; such as primarily their yellow eyes and their emblem.

The airborne enemies oddly resembled large bulbs, screws and bolts with insectoid wings. The ones on the ground were composed of this foul, oily black substance. A porcelain mask was plastered on their chests with these mechanical pieces sticking out of their backs and arms.

"Let's go, she needs our help." Xion stated and her two friends simply nodded in agreement, rushing over to help the young girl.

The girl in question narrowly avoided being clawed at by one of the black-oozed creatures on the ground. She reared her large knife back, ready to strike, when a fiery disk flew by her from behind and struck the creature.

It let out a shrieking cry of pain before it was disintegrated by the flames that were left in the wake of the fiery disk.

Said disk made an arching motion that swerved around to cut through several more of these black creatures before it returned to its owner.

A moment later, two teens slightly younger than her in black cloaks jumped past her with weapons she recognized and quickly dispatched several of the flying enemies.

One casted a mighty blast of wind to knock many off the ground. Another roasted them with conjured fireballs. The other brought thunder down from the heavens to strike them all. As the enemies were paralyzed and stunned in the air, the trio rapidly swiped and cleaved through them.

The girl was stunned momentarily by it all before a small, rather sinister smirk appeared before she joined back in on the action.

She pounced forward and jabbed her knife into the porcelain mask of one of the black viscous enemies with it falling apart a moment later.

The teen girl was quick to move on to her next set of enemies, taking them out with ruthless effectiveness.

As all that went on, Roxas kept gazing back at her with squinted eyes.

"Does she remind you of anyone?" He asked Xion who was right by him.

"I would say Larxene, given how ruthless she is."

He moved his head left and right in slight agreement. "Well her, but she wasn't what I was thinking of."

Eventually, after several more minutes of fighting off the black creatures, the area around them was cleared and the combatants relaxed their stances.

"Well now." The teen girl spoke in a British accent, dusting off her skirt. "That was enough excitement to last an afternoon."

"You call that excitement?" Axel cheekily asked. "We call that our morning workout warmup."

"So it would seem." the girl said politely enough, gazing upon the three of them. "Still, anybody with a Keyblade is usually worth trusting. I thank you for helping me."

"No problem." Roxas spoke up.

"What were those things that we fought?" Xion abruptly asked. "They looked like Heartless but I know they're not."

The strange girl shook her head. "You would be right in that regard. I believe they are Ruins. Twisted monstrosities born of a darkened Wonderland."

"Ruins." Roxas repeated below his breath.

"Sounds appropriate." Axel said, casually tossing his Chakram up and down. "So, you a local here or something? Seem to know about Keyblades and Heartless and all."

Rather than answering the red head, the strange girl instead had her eyes focused upon Roxas. For the briefest of moments, she narrowed her green eyes. Analyzing him as if trying to remember something.

"Sora?" Asked the older girl.

The trio blinked at the name.

"Uh… no, not exactly." Roxas quickly said until he realized who she compared him to. "Wait a minute, you know Sora?"

She nodded her head vigorously. "Of course I do. And I swear, you look just like him."

"Does he?" Xion looked at Roxas and then back at the girl.

Turning to the dark haired Keybearer, the girl blinked in surprise as well. "And why do you look like Kairi?"

"Wait, you know Kairi too?" Xion was surprised by this.

"As a matter of fact, I do. We were together for a time."

"Hang on a second." Roxas squinted at the girl, trying to place her face. "Wait… Who are you?"

"Who am I? Why, I am Alice Liddell."

This ended up flooring Roxas.

In his mind's eye, he recalled seeing a blue-eyed blonde girl around their height; perhaps shorter by a couple of inches. She was all sweet and innocent, not all… bloodied, dark haired and green eyed.

"Alice?!" No. XIII stated in bewilderment. "Wait, Alice doesn't have dark hair like you."

"Yes, well…" Alice's hand trailed through her darker hair. "Seems like Wonderland isn't the only thing that changed as of late. It's just that when I dreamt in the past, I somehow appeared blonde. I probably have to blame Mister Dodgson with his stories of my fantasies. Making me appear different."

This little string of comments merely confused the two Keyblade wielding Nobodies.

"So you're not blond then?" Roxas asked.

Alice shook her head. "I guess it reflects the drastic change of Wonderland."

"That's putting it mildly." No. XIII said, looking around again. "Last I checked, Wonderland wasn't anything like this."

Alice only nodded her head, a melancholy look appearing on her face.

"I was afraid of this happening having been away for so long." She said in remorse. "I haven't been to Wonderland for a number of years. So much has changed since then. Everything is so… twisted."

"Yeah a lot can happen in tha- wait a minute. Years?" Roxas said in surprise. "Did you just say years?"

Alice nodded, giving him a strange look. "Yes… what of it?"

Roxas' hands moved slightly from side to side to up and down as he tried to make sense of what Alice just said. "But… wait, were you not in Hollow Bastion not too long ago with the other Princesses of Heart? That was you, wasn't it?"

"Of course I was." Alice confirmed.

"But you said you haven't been here in years." Xion said. "Sora, he told us about the other Princesses and when he came for you in Hollow Bastion. That was months ago, close to A year now, not years."

"To me it was." Alice revealed. "In fact it's been nearly a decade since I've seen him or any of-"

"Excuse me… a decade?"

"Well eight to be precise." Alice said. "Being nearly eighteen and all."

"Huh." Axel recalled his chakrams away and crossed his arms. "So not only are we dealing with Wonderland's changes but some time crap as well now."

"I think this is more than we signed up for." Xion couldn't help but say, earning murmurings of agreement from her two close friends.

"Still…" Roxas contemplated for a moment. "We came here with a job to do and we gotta do it."

Xion and Axel nodded at him as they turned back to Alice.

"You mentioned you haven't been here in eight years, right?" Axel asked with Alice nodding in response. "So why come back here after so long?"

She let out a wistful and troubled sigh, taking a second to gaze up upon the overgrown trees of this place. "I seek to undo what has been done here. But I am at a loss as to what led to this World being as it is."

"We're actually here for a similar purpose." Xion said to her with Alice looking at the black haired teen with a surprised expression.

"Truly? You are?"

"Yeah, seeing what this place has become is something we have to undo." Roxas revealed. "We got sent here by a friend of Sora's and ours really to see what can be done."

"Meaning, we're here to help." Axel finished.

It was clear to see that Alice certainly wasn't expecting assistance in Wonderland. "You wish to help me? Why?"

"There's some issues we're dealing with as well and Wonderland appears to be connected to it." Roxas stated. "And also, you're a friend of Sora's who's a friend of ours. Of course we'd help you."

Alice was momentarily thrown off from the offer before a small, pleasant smile wormed its way onto her face.

"Then I thank you." She said earnestly. "Our goals are aligned. I accept your help in this endeavor."

Alice then blinked, realizing she missed something incredibly important.

"Oh, do forgive my rudeness but it appears I haven't even gotten your names."

The trio of Nobodies quickly realized this as well.

"Oh, well I'm Xion. This is Roxas."

"And I'm Axel, got it memorized?"

"Quite. Right then." Alice said with a nod. She then motioned them to follow. "We have much to do and we must move onward."

And with that, the group of four began their journey through this darkened Wonderland together.

They first went through a detour of sorts, Alice guiding them through a series of large cliffs and winding paths, going past a home of some kind with a rather obese and large headed woman. Eventually they were standing before a purple falling liquid of some kind.

Alice simply told them to get under it and absorb its ability to shrink as it would help them get around places they could not reach in their normal size.

With that taken care of, they resumed their journey in the Vale of Tears.

"So Alice, since you know Wonderland better than we do, have any possible idea where we're going?" Xion asked the older girl who quickly nodded.

"Of course I do." She said as a matter of factly.

"Then where are you taking us?" Roxas asked this time.

"To Caterpillar of course." Alice said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Okay… Why?"

"No one is wiser in Wonderland. Only he knows what we must do." Alice said with an assured tone.

"If you say so. But if he misleads us then I'll have some choice words with him." Xion remarked.

"Only if we misinterpret what he says." Alice advised.

"That doesn't inspire confidence." No. VIII countered.

"Ah Alice, I see you've found some new friends."

Alice had a flat look upon her face whilst her new travelling companions jolted at the sudden voice that spoke up seemingly from nowhere.

A moment later, a four legged feline with an oversized head appeared in front of them from thin air.

Upon seeing this creature, Roxas' vision briefly saw a purple/pink furred feline. It was all plump and fluffy with a massive grin which reached ear to ear. He saw it in a multitude of strange poses like balancing on its head.

Yet with a blink, the creature seemed to be the opposite. It still had its signature grin, yet it was more demented and sinister. It's all dark and grey with strange tribal tattoo-like markings being seen across its hairless body. Blood dripped from its claws. A long hoop ring was set in one of its ears. Not to mention it seemed very malnourished given he was merely skin and bones.

"You're the Cheshire Cat?" No. XIII asked in bewilderment.

"One familiar with me as I am with you but not as he seems or appears to be." The wide grinning cat responded. "Agents of the nothingness traverse the realms now, keen on saving Wonderland from forces of the unknown."

"Oh great, he's a riddle maker." Axel said in annoyance.

Cheshire Cat gazed upon the three Nobodies, creepy wide smile remaining in place.

"Agents of the nothingness." Xion repeated below her breath. "You know what we are?"

The Cheshire Cat's grin appeared to almost widen more so then it seemed physically possible.

"Knowledge is a powerful tool, one not to be taken lightly." The Cat responded. "Ignorance can be defined as stupidity of which I am not. Though that remains to be seen to those that stand before me."

"I can burn your fur off for you, if that's what you would like." Axel casually threatened, a small flame emanating from his fingertip.

Not wanting to dilly dally any longer than they should, Alice got straight to the point.

"Do you perhaps know where Caterpillar is exactly? The Mock Turtle told me he was in the Wonderland Woods."

"I wouldn't be exactly sure, Alice. He has been running and hiding for a while now." Said Cheshire. "Perhaps find the White Rabbit. He would definitely know where he is."

"How can you be so sure?" Alice asked.

"Because he's his little errand rabbit."

"Then do you know where he is?" Xion said.

The smiling feline lazily looked at his paw as he spared them a glance. "Perhaps."

"How's about a yes or no, instead?" Axel was getting a bit annoyed now. The fire from his fingertip was now getting larger.

"Have you been with Alice for very long? Because I swear her mannerisms towards me seem infectious." The Cheshire Cat said in good jest.

Roxas frowned at the cat, stepping forward. "Look, in case you're not aware of this but we came here to help fix Wonderland up. So playing coy like that isn't really helpful. Just tell us where he is."

The Cheshire Cat gazed around almost mischievously.

"The White Rabbit is a twitchy fellow, never staying in one place for long." The Cat said enigmatically. "He may be here or he may be there. Errand rabbit or announcer to the queen, the watch he carries be his true master and guide. Follow the ticking sound and you shall have your prize."

"We'll settle for just pointing in any direction right about now." Was Axel's deadpan.

The Cheshire Cat only chuckled at this before he faded away from their sight.

With Cheshire's departure, the group moved onward to the Wonderland Woods.

"Well that was a complete waste of time." Axel stated. "Ticking noise? How are we supposed to hear that? It's coming from a watch."

"Could be an oversized one." Xion pointed out.

"The white rabbit was small last I checked and ran around like crazy." Roxas said, recalling the memories of the small furry anthropomorphic bunny. "And he was always saying-"

"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!"

…

…

…

"Yeah, that."

Instantly the group began looking around to see if they could locate the source of the voice.

They heard a series of thumping that quickly drew closer before it retreated away.

Alice looked above them at a small cliff.

"Up there." She pointed at where she heard the sound of rabbit feet rapidly striking the ground.

Looking at the general direction she pointed towards, the three Nobodies saw a white blur running along the ledge and disappearing to parts unknown.

"We gotta catch up to him." Roxas shouted, the four of them breaking into a run in the direction where they last saw what was undoubtedly the White Rabbit.

But before they were able to go any further, something stopped them in their tracks.

Enemies both new and old quickly surrounded the four who all drew their weapons out.

Heartless of the Neoshadow, Large Body, Red Nocturne, Blue Rhapsody, Yellow Opera and Green Requiem variety were joined by Insidious and Drifting Ruins.

Alice held a particularly intense glare directed at the Heartless, recalling when she had been taken by these blasted creatures along with the other Princesses of Hearts that she considered friends.

"I'm not the defenseless girl you vile monsters took those many years ago anymore." Alice proclaimed, dashing forward with her blade held high as she quickly sliced through a Yellow Opera.

All others present in the area then moved at once.

Roxas and Xion tag teamed a Large Body whilst Axel glided around a Neoshadow and incinerated it.

Alice was surrounded by Ruins and Heartless for a brief moment until Roxas cleaved through several while another was taken out by Xion's Thundara.

She gave them both an appreciative smile, twirling her Vorpal blade into a back handed grip and quickly stabbed it in between the eyes of a Blue Rhapsody.

Axel was slicing through Heartless and Ruins left and right with his chakrams alight with flames. The Red Nocturnes were a bit annoying with their tendency of absorbing his flames as were the Requiems.

So he resorted to some good old fashioned brute force, grabbing some with his hands and slamming them down or dampening his affinity for fire and just slashing through them.

No. VIII's hairs stood at the back of his neck and he deftly dodged a particularly large cluster of lightning bolts sent by some high flying Yellow Operas.

"Axel!"

He turned to see Alice running directly towards her and in an instant, figured out what she wanted him to do.

"Need a lift?"

Alice didn't vocally respond back, only rushing forward as the red haired Nobody lowered his chakrams. Once landing on them, she was thrusted higher into the air so she may cleave through some of the final airborne enemies.

Plummeting towards the ground, she repositioned herself to land safely on her feet. Unfortunately she was coming down a bit too quickly for her taste.

Yet it was fortunate for Roxas to soar right in and ended up catching her, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Dropping in?"

Alice huffed a little in good nature on the poor joke, but thanked him nonetheless. She then noticed something peculiar.

"Since when could you fly?"

"It's actually gliding." He corrected her as they were slowly coming down to earth. "And it's been for a while now."

"And where were you able to acquire this ability?"

"Neverland."

"Neverland…" Mused Alice. "Another world perhaps?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, there's a fairy there that can give you some dust that can make you fly."

"Fairy dust." Alice hummed to herself. "I would very much like to visit this World at one point if possible."

Landing on the ground and setting her down, the blond shrugged in response.

"Hey, since you're aware of other Worlds and all, shouldn't be too much of a hassle." Roxas remarked. "We'll just have to figure out how to get you there first."

The two looked to see that the rest of the Heartless and Ruins were taken care of and that they were in the clear now.

"I see the Heartless are as ghastly a sort as they were when I first encountered them." Alice commented. "Still… I would have thought with what happened after Hollow Bastion, they would have all but disappeared. Shrunken in size at the very least."

"Yeah, things are a bit more complicated than that." Axel stated.

"They'll always be around, no matter how hard you fight." Xion said with a frown.

"I couldn't agree more."

Looking over, the four saw the decrepit Cheshire ever smiling at them.

"It may be an ever-present stalemate, which could lead to a losing battle." Lectured the feline. "Be careful as you continue your travels. For the darkness overflows in the shadows."

Once said, he faded away before their eyes.

"So I take it that the Heartless are still a threat to other Worlds then?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Roxas admitted. "Sora and his friends have been busy for a while now after taking out Ansem. We've got a couple of new enemies who are gonna be keeping us busy for a long time."

Alice nodded as they moved onward.

"Tell me, how is Sora, Donald and Goofy?" She requested.

"They're doing well. Saw them before we came here." Xion said happily. "They told us to give you their regards."

Alice smiled a true smile, nodding her head happily. "That's good to hear. I owe them much for saving myself and the other Princesses."

"We'll be sure to relay the message of your debt to them."

She merely chuckled.

"Come on, let's keep going." Axel spoke up. "Got a rabbit to catch."

They all nodded in agreement and resumed their pursuit of the white rabbit though at a slower and more guarded pace.

After moving through the Vale of Tears for several minutes, they started to notice that the familiar environment was beginning to fade and be replaced with a more barren landscape and plumes of flowing black-viscous ruins.

It was as if they were entering an area where all the plant life and just life overall of the Vale of Tears ended and died.

All around them, trees were collapsing either onto the barren floor or literally falling away into an endless abyss below.

"Ok, how is this Wonderland anymore?" Axel dryly asked. "Cause I Wonder what's so Wondrous about this place. It's becoming a freakshow again."

Whilst Alice remained silent for the most part, Roxas and Xion answered their redhead friend instead.

"Come on Axel, you know why already." Roxas said with a roll of his eyes. "You're complaining about nothing."

"Someone has to be that guy so no one else does."

"What kind of reasoning is that?" Xion asked in bemusement.

"My kind of rea- are those train tracks?"

The four of them looked to see that there were indeed train tracks and an apparent Vale of Tears train stop. And all around it was the black tar of the ruins. Nearby was a derailed and damaged train that fell away to the endless abyss below.

"What's a train station doing here?" Roxas asked.

"Doesn't look like it's functioning." Axel noted, rubbing his chin in thought.

Xion had a conflicted look. "This place gives me the creeps. What happened here?"

Alice, having been silent, had her gaze directed elsewhere.

She squinted for a moment to make sure that what caught her attention wasn't some sort of illusion.

And in the back of her mind, she began hearing something. Chatter of some kind from when she was far younger than before she first ever even came to Wonderland.

"-o you think, Alice? This is your World after all."

"Hmmm? What now?"

She turned to see her new friends looking at her expectantly.

"Did you all say something?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, we were wondering…" Axel drifted off as he now gazed ahead to where Alice was staring at.

Roxas and Xion joined in a moment later and now all four of them were staring at-

"...Why is there a door in the middle of nowhere?"

To Roxas, this reminded him of the Dive to the Heart.

Axel tilted his head slightly. "And why do I see fire on the other side of it?"

Alice however paled considerably, taking a step back in fright.

"Alice?" Xion reached out to her in concern.

The older teen jolted slightly when she felt Xion's gloved hand touch her arm and looked at her in alarm.

"X-Xion?" Alice appeared greatly panicked. "S-Sorry, I… I didn't know-"

"Are you alright Alice?" Xion asked with growing worry.

Before she could even answer, they heard a loud click from the door.

The group all froze as they now stared in anticipation as the frame now began shaking.

A moment later, the door burst open and a blast of light encompassed the four.

Next thing they knew, they were witnessing something rather peculiar.

They wound up in a child's bedroom. All sorts of toys and books littered the space. Jax, dice, blocks, cards, stuffed animals, a chess board with its pieces, children's books of various fantasies and even high leveled learning. And hanging along the walls were a series of photographs of a happy family, despite their stoic facial expressions.

And sleeping in the bed was a young dark haired girl wearing a pale blue nightdress with an old stuffed rabbit tucked under her left arm. She subtly turned in her slumber as she smiled slightly.

"Wake up Dormy, it's time for a Tea Party…" Muttered the little girl.

While the Nobodies held no clue what's happening, Alice merely paled.

As this went on, something odd could be seen in the fabric of reality. In the space above the sleeping girl, the fabric of reality seemed to rip open which brightened up the room slightly. Within the tear was the little girl as she was having fun eating cakes and sandwiches and drinking tea with a brown furred hare, a looney man wearing a top hat with a card labeled "10/6" tucked within the wrapped cloth and sleeping in a teacup was a small dormouse.

"Uh… Why are we seeing this?" Roxas inquired, feeling a bit uncomfortable now.

They soon heard a sound coming from outside of the room. It sounded muffled with a creaking sound mixed in. Before long, the muffling was silenced, yet the creaking continued.

The little girl momentarily woke up from her sleep while the space above her briefly blurred.

The girl looked up slightly and rubbed her eyes a little, soon revealing a peculiar shade of green the Nobodies recognized.

"Alice?" Asked Xion.

The now identified young Alice looked onward as the creaking ended and momentarily jumped in fright moments later. The Nobodies looked over to the girl's line of sight and saw a shadowy figure through the open doorway.

There they saw a large imposing creature. It was hard to make out the finer details, but it seemed to frighten Alice considerably as it was a centaur of all things.

After the creature closed the door once a cat slipped through into the bedroom, Alice tried to fall back asleep as the dream above her head seemed to have refocused.

It was by that point did the Nobodies pick up a familiar smell of something burning in the air. Before long, it became more prominent as a light from the hallway became brighter through the door cracks with smoke coming in through the bottom of the door.

From the dream, the peaceful atmosphere swiftly changed. The occupants of the tea party began to panic.

"Ahh! Fire! Fire! Oh dear oh dear!" Screamed the Hatter.

The brown furred hare quickly looked at the raving man and clutched his arms. "Hatter, you must save Alice!" He cried out as a fire swiftly spread through the dream. "You're the only one who can!"

The fire swiftly roared, both in the dream and in reality. While the sleeping Alice squirmed, the one in the dream was shaking in fright.

"Alice! You must wake up now!" The Hatter exclaimed loudly. "WAKE UP!"

The young Alice indeed woke up, yet quickly shut her eyes as the smoke stung them. She began coughing as she fell out of the comfort of her bed.

She then heard loud banging from the other side of her bedroom door with screams being heard.

"Mummy, daddy?" She uttered as she clenched onto her old stuffed rabbit. "Lizzie?"

"-ice! ALICE!"

"Are you awake?!"

"Mum! Father!" She cried out. "I-I can't see! The smoke!"

"You must get out!"

"Save yourself!" Yelled her father. "Get out of the house!"

Quickly following their orders, Alice whirled around and saw her pet cat pawing against the closed window. She rushed over and opened it up, in which the feline was quick to leap out into the cold air. Alice soon followed yet tumbled across the slanted roof.

As she fell to the snowy earth, she could hear her name being screamed in the air.

"ALICE!"

She gasped aloud with her body violently spasming and her vision cleared.

Alice was on the ground on her back looking up at the panic-stricken faces of her new friends.

"Alice." Xion shakily said in relief, her hands over Liddell's. "Thank goodness. Are you ok?"

"What?" Alice's voice came out as a croak, hands trembling now.

Without hesitating, Xion grasped her hand tightly which Alice returned appreciatively giving the younger teen girl a strained smile.

"What the hell was that?" Axel asked with a disturbed expression present.

Alice didn't respond at first, giving Xion a look which she understood right away. She slowly helped the very much troubled girl back up to her feet with Roxas assisting them as he realized what they were doing.

She had her hands on both their shoulders to keep herself steady due to how wobbly her legs felt right now.

Alice hung her head and took a breath to steady herself.

"My memories…" She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

The three Nobodies exchanged looks of confusion.

"What about your memories?" Roxas asked for clarification.

"You saw… my memories." Alice said more slowly now.

The three Nobodies shared another look before looking back at the knife wielding teenager.

"Mind explaining?" Axel inquired.

Feeling self-conscious, it was hard for her to speak it right away. But after some moments of composure, she finally responded back to their request.

"Remember when I told you I haven't seen Sora and the others in a decade?" She asked. Seeing nods from the others, Alice continued. "You see, after I visited Wonderland all those years ago, an incident occurred at my home."

The echoes of screams rang through her ears again and she shook her head rapidly in an attempt to banish the sounds.

"Easy now." No. VIII advised in a low voice. "Take your time, we're not in any rush."

She gave him a grateful glance before she started from the beginning.

"I had a family once." Alice said, voice laced with sorrow. "A mother and a father who loved me and my older sister Lizzie. My father worked as Dean of the prestigious university of Oxford in London. He loved us all very dearly and always made sure to spend time with us."

"So what was that what we saw then?" Roxas asked.

Her green eyes glistened as she recounted the memory.

"Our lovely library was a fire trap. A conflagration waiting to happen, given how many flammable objects littered the space." She said, "If I wasn't playing outside, I would always be found there reading one of the many books my father and the rest of my family had collected over the past few generations."

The three Nobody's remained silent as they simply listened to Alice talk about her past trauma.

"I was the last one in the library on that night. The log I added to the fireplace was dead when I went upstairs to my bedroom with the family cat, Dynah. Yet... I believe it didn't burn out. Dynah had to have wandered about as I slept and knocked something over in the library. A burnt out lamp with plenty of oil still inside. Because of that, I was responsible for my family's demise. Mother, father, Lizzie..."

"It couldn't have been your fault. It was just an accident." Xion quickly said, throwing her arms around Alice now, hugging her tightly. "You can't blame yourself for something like that."

"You were a kid, Alice." Axel's voice was soft, far more softer than any other time he had ever spoken before. "This isn't something anyone can pin on you."

Alice only shook her head as she shuddered, tears now streaming down her face as she leaned into the embrace with Xion.

"I should have done something then just lay there in bed." Alice wept. "But I tried to blissfully sleep and continue my tea party while they all started to burn and suffocate. Of course it was my fault."

The Nobody's said nothing, simply letting Alice cry for the time being as once again she was tormented by memories of the past.

This went on for several moments until Alice calmed down and gave Xion an appreciative look.

"After the night of the fire, my guardian and family lawyer -Wilton Radcliffe- had me admitted to the Rutledge Asylum. I've been there ever since."

"An insane asylum?" Axel said, clearly disturbed by the notion. "Why the hell would they do that? You were just a kid."

"It is for that very reason that they put me in there. The trauma I experienced was too great for me to handle as a child and I went through a complete mental breakdown." Alice held a rather wry look at the mention of it. "I was committed to an asylum for a number of years afterwards until I was released some years ago."

"How did you get out then?" Roxas softly asked.

"I came back to Wonderland during my time in the Asylum." Alice said. "I went to confront the Red Queen and I defeated her and found eventually, I was at last released from Rutledge."

"But what brought you back this time?" Axel asked.

"You saw what happened in that memory." Alice said quietly. "I guess… I'm still not over my trauma as I had hoped I would be."

Axel couldn't help but snort derisively. "It's trauma, Alice. It's not something that can be overcome so easily. That shit stays with you until the end."

Alice let out a dark laugh.

"They tend not to include that part of their "procedures" when I was there." Liddell stated with a shake of her head.

The Nobodies frowned on what she was implying, not wanting to fully know what had been done to her. So their imaginations practically said it for them.

While it wasn't very prominent for the two Keybearers, Axel thought of something else. Particularly the memories they saw earlier of child Alice.

After his time in Castle Oblivion, exploring the levels which exposed his own memories, and Namine's confession of possible memory tampering; No. VIII had learned a number of things.

As a child, one would perceive something differently if they couldn't comprehend what was being processed. The memory would be distorted, altered in order to fit with a told narrative.

Tell yourself something far from the truth and the fabrication will be the personal truth while it would be perceived as a lie from another person. Ultimately, they would be caught up in the fantasy to not recognize oneself deception.

Yet it would take a lot of work to untangle that mess in order to reveal the legitimate truth.

What he and his two friends had seen from Alice's memory of her family's demise, a lot of it was indeed legitimate. Everything was quite clear and straightforward.

There were only two things that were left unsolved. In which he might need Namine's help in clearing them up.

For one, the noise they heard before the fire. It was hard to make out.

And then there was the shadowy centaur figure in the hallway. It could've been a figment of Alice's imagination or could've been something else that Alice couldn't comprehend at her young age.

But something in Axel's gut told him that "centaur" was the key to solving Alice's issues.

Moving onward, they still kept on their search for the White Rabbit, wherever he may be.

They strained their ears several times, trying to see if they were able to pick up on the ticking of the rabbits' pocket watch that the Cheshire Cat spoke of.

But they were met with only the sound of the Vale and other creatures they couldn't identify.

"Where could that bastard have gone to?" Axel asked aloud in frustration. "Better yet, how can he even get around without getting attacked by the Heartless and other creatures that are around."

"He is fast for starters." Alice stated. "So he'll be a jump ahead of them for the time being."

"Let's just try keeping up." Xion said, pointing to the ground. "Look, here's some footprints. He probably came through here."

"Good eye, Xion." Roxas praised. "Come on, we're on the right track."

The group broke into a run, following the tracks of the White Rabbit, running back to a more colorful section of the Vale of Tears.

Eventually, they heard a startled cry past a large thick bush that obscured the view up ahead.

Axel simply sent a blazing fire ball that quickly burned away the shrubbery and cleared the path for them to see a large conglomerate of enemies.

There were the Heartless and the Ruins but joining them this time around were a new form of adversaries.

They were a bizarre mixture between man and poker cards. The body of a giant card but with the arms, legs and a face of a man; except that they appeared to be dead for the face was nothing more than a rotten decaying skull of bleached bone. The same occurred with the limbs and any other body part that could be seen through the rips of their blood stained uniforms.

All had holes in their centers being in the shape of Diamonds, Spades, Clubs or Hearts.

"What in the world?" Alice said in surprise. "What on earth happened to them?"

"Wait." Roxas narrowed his eyes on them. "Those… those were the card soldiers of the Queen of Hearts right?"

"They are, yes." Alice confirmed.

"What happened to them?" No. XIII asked.

"Sure as hell wasn't what I was expecting." Axel said, summoning his chakrams. "I don't know about you guys, but are those zombies? Card zombies to be exact?"

"I don't know this term for zombies, Axel." Alice noted.

"The undead sums it up."

A number of the enemies had soon taken notice of them. A series of snarls and growls came from the undead card-men who seemed eager to taste the flesh of the living.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAARRRWWW!"

Obviously, such a bizarre sight proved disturbing to even the most weathered fighters. But as a testament to their resolve, they kept any shock that they may be feeling at the moment from showing on their faces and simply whipped out their respective weapons.

All that was left to do was for Axel to give the order. "Take 'em down."

Rushing in close, Axel swiped his chakrams hard against the soldier's necks and decapitated a few heads before roasting a few more.

"If there's one thing I learned from zombie flicks, cleaving the head or destroying the brain does the trick."

The others followed Axel's example after that.

Roxas spun Oathkeeper and struck a Card Soldier with such force it seemingly fell apart.

"Or you could just brute force it." Roxas added.

"Or magic work." Xion spoke up from her end, having set several Card Soldiers on fire.

Keeping her distance, Alice switched to her Pepper Grinder and unloaded a volley of "bullets" at the wretched creatures, riddling their bodies with tiny holes. She even placed a few Clockwork Bombs and let them explode when the enemies came in too close.

She then turned to face several Heartless that ran at her and quickly cut through them before being pursued by some Insidious Ruins.

Axel jumped between her and the Ruins and quickly burnt them away with Alice looking back with a grateful look before she was stopped by Club Soldier Zombie.

Undeterred by the sudden enemy before her, Alice ducked beneath it trying to grab her with its arms and quickly stabbed several points of its body.

It fell to its knees and Alice decapitated it a moment later.

Roxas all the while had switched Oathkeeper out for Pirate's Dream, having gone into its gauntlet form. He grabbed and threw a number of enemies a way before punching them through a tree. He then instantly shifted it into its pole form and began rapidly spinning it all around him, whacking away a number of enemies that charged at him.

Catching Roxas' display out of the corner of her eye, Xion deftly swatted away a Heartless and Insidious ruin to give her some space as she eyed her Keyblade.

Seashell Resonance.

Her own personal Keyblade that came to be during the fight with Lexaeus.

A display that she had broken free of what was expected of her and now she had a Keyblade to call her own.

And that meant forging her own path and identity as a Keyblade Master.

With that thought, she momentarily closed her eyes and concentrated.

Focusing on her Keyblade, she had it shift to something else. Something she had acquired on one of her last adventures with the rest of the Normandy crew.

In a flash of light, Seashell Resonance was switched out into another Keyblade.

It mostly resembled a folded up Barsoomian flier. The metallic body served as the initial blade with the blue solar panel insectoid style wings serving as the Keyblade's teeth. Wrapped around the length was a chain which met at the blade's rectangular guard. And hanging off the pommel was the Thern medallion as it was connected from a sturdy metallic cord.

This was the Desert Firefly.

Xion grinned at the sight of her new Keyblade and instantly spun into a sweeping horizontal slash that struck down enemies that were running at her.

She began to string together a number of strikes that beat back every enemy she struck.

After taking out nearly a dozen more enemies, she felt a shift with her Keyblade.

Taking another swing at a Red Nocturne, her Keyblade let out a brief flash before it appeared to break apart into a multitude of segments.

The guards around her hand became leathery straps that wrapped themselves around her wrist. The rest of her Keyblade broke apart into a multitude of chains with the insectoid wings on every single link.

Xion snapped her hand forward and her newly made Keyblade chain shot forward right at a Large Body.

The end of the chain struck the Large Body's head and it was destroyed in an instant.

She then threw her hand to her side and the trajectory of the whip followed, eliminating several more enemies in its path before stopping when it ensnared a zombified Heart Card Soldier.

Once it was wrapped around its target, Xion tugged on her chain and the Card Soldier went up and over her before being slammed down into the ground in the middle of a cluster of Heartless and Ruins.

The force of the Card Soldier being slammed in between this grouping destroyed some while others flew back from the impact.

This action was then repeated several times over as the Card soldier she had wrapped in the chain was slammed in between multiple clusters of enemies.

Eventually, the zombie Card Soldier simply fell apart making Xion recall her chain whip.

Multiple Heartless, Ruins and Card Guards proceeded to surround and sprint towards her as they saw this from her.

Rather than the chain reshaping or changing, it instead quickly wrapped itself around her entire body.

Just as the enemies drew in within a foot from No. XIV, the tip of the chain struck her chest.

The chains then burst off from her body in an explosion of sorts that sent all enemies around her flying back.

One that was in the air was quickly caught by Xion when she directed the chain to grab hold of it.

She started whirling around in place, using her captured enemy as a budgeting object. It was bashed all over, greatly receiving a number of injuries which increased over time. It disbursed into darkened vapors as it was eventually destroyed.

Shifting from her Pepper Grinder, Alice wielded her Hobby Horse as she started bashing and clubbing her enemies away. She grunted out sounds of rage and frustration with each hit she successfully delivered.

Ending up back to back, the two dark haired girls momentarily glowed as they worked in tandem and assisted each other on their respective kills. Before long, they began spinning around. Their weapons striking the surrounding enemies as if they were like a battle top. In the end of this combined onslaught, the two girls unleashed an explosion filled with a kaleidoscope of colors.

With this final display, the Heartless, Ruins and Zombie Card Soldiers were taken care of and the group took a moments breather.

"Whew." Roxas wiped his forehead from some slight sweat, looking at Xion. "Nice moves there Xion. Since when could ya do that?"

"The way that Keyblade looks…" Axel took a moment to analyze it. "That's a lot like the gliders from Barsoom."

"A special souvenir." Xion said, proudly displaying her brand new Keyblade. "Cool huh?"

"Very." Roxas said with a grin.

"It is incredibly useful." Alice said in approval. "I didn't know your Keyblades could shift forms."

"We didn't know it at first, but they do have their uses."

"Well now, that's one way to save someone." Spoke a rather distinguished if not twitchy voice. "Overblown destruction is effective enough."

With the chaos having been settled down, the group finally turned to meet the White Rabbit. He kept twitching his nose, bore shifty eyes behind his spectacles and carried a rather large pocket watch. That is where the similarities ended with the nervous, fidgety creature from Sora's memories.

Dressed in a red coat and black top hat, this rabbit looked like he was permanently stressed and had never relaxed in a day in his life. The fact that he was checking his pocket watch as he spoke only reinforced that belief.

"You took your sweet time in getting here." Scoffed the White Rabbit. "It took you hours to find me."

"First off, rude? We did save your bushy tailed hide." Said Axel. "You could at least say 'thank you for saving me'."

Alice scowled indignantly. "And what do you mean? I had to search for you after you took off."

"Which you had wasted time. Time which many don't have a luxury for." Rudely said the Rabbit. "Enough talk, Caterpillar is waiting."

The White Rabbit turned and dashed off, leaving them behind.

"Oh come on." Roxas said aloud in annoyance. "You could have given us a moment to rest."

He ran after the Rabbit, Xion and Alice copying his action.

Axel sighed before he followed the others' chase after the impatient creature.

They made their way further into the woods, slashing and killing anything in their way quickly in order to keep up with the hyperactive pale haired hare. To their surprise, he stopped in front of a clearing, looking more nervous than before, which the Nobodies hadn't thought was possible.

"Strange how quiet it is here, now. I don't like it." He muttered, which the others agreed upon.

A forest is never quiet, if it only meant that everything living had vacated the area or was too scared to make a sound… or was outright dead.

"Caterpillar is just beyond the clearing. Let's sacrifice stealth for speed." Suggested the White Rabbit before running off even quicker than before.

However as soon as he did, the ground shook with a loud sound like muted thunder. Then another followed right after.

It was then did Alice and the Nobodies realize the sounds were footsteps, rather large ones at that.

They ran forward in a panic only to see a massive black shoe stomp down from the sky. Alice was almost crushed if it wasn't for Roxas pulling her back at the last moment. The massive being was none the wiser of what happened down below as he kept on moving forward to parts unknown.

Alice was about to give him her thanks for the save when she saw a sight which outright horrified her.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Alice's shrill scream echoed throughout the forest. Her eyes quickly stung with tears freely flowing moments later.

Lying some distance away within the imprint of the giant shoe was the White Rabbit. His body was harshly crushed with blood seeping out.

Alice outright collapsed to her knees with her wails filling the air as her old friend lay dead before her mere feet away.

"Alice…" Roxas said softly, holding onto the girl who was staining his coat with her tears. "I'm sorry…"

"E-Everyone I love dies violently… unnaturally." She choked out through her sobs. "I'm cursed. W-Why do I keep going on? I'll just hurt them…"

Xion knelt down and gave her a sympathetic look. "I get it, we get it… And we're sorry. He was your friend, but we can't stay here any longer."

"She's right." Axel said abruptly. "Despite being rude, he led us here this far and now we gotta get to Caterpillar right away. But I can promise you this, we can make this right one way or another; for your friend's sake."

Alice reluctantly nodded, tears still dripping from her eyes as she clung to Roxas as a lifeline. Eventually she had let go as the group continued on traversing through the Wonderland Woods, determined to make sure her oldest friend's demise was not in vain.

Of the three off-worlders, Roxas and Xion didn't know what it would've been like to lose someone dear to them. No doubt it would greatly hurt them, given how closely connected they were.

There were the close calls back on Virmire and on the Citadel when they were up against Saren and Sovereign. Their teammates made it out alive, but the thoughts did linger and pop up on a number of occasions.

Axel however recalled a time back during his original life, back in his homeworld.

Of his time when he was just hanging out with Isa practically every day.

And the friend they had made… and had lost when their World fell to darkness.

He briefly eyed the three young teens that he was traveling with and internally resolved himself to make sure that he would keep these reckless idiots safe.

No. VIII's gaze lingered particularly on Alice who had dried tears on her cheeks.

It took a bit of time for the fiery Nobody to realize something else.

The fire, the demise of Alice's family, and being sent to Rutledge Asylum; they all broke her in some way. All that grief, guilt and trauma was hurting her and was affecting Wonderland as a result.

Were they somehow all connected?

The group was more or less silent, except for a number of occurrences when they slaughtered more Ruins, Card Soldiers and Heartless on their journey towards Caterpillar's location.

During these encounters, Alice vented her rage and sorrow by savagely killing their enemies. The Nobodies kept a wary-eye on their companion as they clearly saw she was starting to take some sadistic satisfaction, which wasn't normal at all.

If they were seeing this from Wrex, this would've been a whole other thing entirely.

Eventually they finally made it to where Caterpillar resided by a large grouping of mushrooms.

He was a strange, bloated insect with a distorted human face, multiple human-like arms with hands and a large blue serpentine body. He had two large antennas on his head with a red fez between them.

The insect inhaled some concoction from a hookah before blowing out a big puff of colored smoke. His yellow-green eyes bore into the new arrivals as he calmly regarded them.

"Ah, Alice… Roxas… Xion… Axel… you've arrived." Said Caterpillar before holding out his hookah pipe. "Would you like to partake? I often leave my hookahs all over Wonderland so it's residents may find enlightenment if they are willing."

The three Nobodies were swiftly wary and put on edge by this bloated creature. They can understand him knowing Alice as she had been to this world beforehand, but neither former Organization member had met Caterpillar until this very moment.

"Nah, we're good." Said Axel. "We're not here for idle chatter and having odd philosophical talks while getting high and smelling the cosmos for several hours."

Roxas spoke next. "We came here for guidance."

Alice spoke soon after, her voice laced with sorrow. "Rabbit never told us why… And now he's dead."

Caterpillar took a large whiff of his hookah and exhaled languidly. "Why? Wonderland is severely damaged. You four must set things right, that's why."

"But we barely recognize this place." Argued Xion. "How can we set things right, as you say?"

The bloated insect took another puff from his hookah before speaking towards Alice. "Having lost what you loved, you nearly wiped us out. You've started to rebuild after all these years. However, your task and your pain are not yet over."

"Is it because she hasn't fully moved on with her grief?" Asked Axel. "Rabbit's recent death doesn't exactly count, by the way."

"Alice doesn't need to suffer any longer." Roxas said firmly.

"She suffers because her mind is fouled by self-deception. Her fantasies have fragmented into tortured versions of themselves. She is wracked with guilt because she survived her ordeal and dreads the prospect of a life alone. Never having a proper way of moving on from the experience." Caterpillar calmly explained with a touch of sympathy. "Even you three have suffered in your own right. Being betrayed and hunted down by the Organization. On top of that, your worries of a great, ancient threat to countless people throughout reality."

The trio black-clad World travelers jolted upon hearing this having not expected to meet someone who would be aware of their prior affiliations.

Alice gave her companions a sidelong glance, wondering what Caterpillar meant by this. The three Nobodies were clearly startled. She often wonders who was more ambiguous, Caterpillar or Cheshire.

The wielder of the Vorpal Blade shook her head and addressed the hookah addicted insect. "What must we do?"

The bloated being exhaled another puff of smoke before responding back. "The same as before Alice: defeat the Queen of Hearts. Wonderland and your entire world can become whole again. Those you have dearly lost here will return, like the White Rabbit. Yet they will not be the same as before, for returning from death will change them further; for better or for worse."

Alice was happy on hearing her oldest friend perhaps coming back to her. But she was indeed saddened by what may become of him as a result.

"I see. Thank you Caterpillar."

"Grow up Alice and embrace the truth from your memories. And you three, face and confront your troubles."

Before the giant insect could depart, he was halted by the Nobodies.

"About what you said earlier." Roxas said in confusion. "What do you mean about Alice's fantasies affecting Wonderland?"

Caterpillar lazily looked at the trio before he gave the response. "To simply put it, she is this World's master and creator."

"...Giant bug said what now?" Axel said, voicing the confusion shared with Roxas and Xion.

"To begin with, Alice here was gifted with a powerful mind, in more ways than one. If it weren't for the fire, she would have succeeded and breezed through her studies. Slowly revolutionizing a number of things in her everyday life. Sadly such things will greatly be delayed or never occur at all."

"But what of Wonderland?" Xion said, looking around.

"She is a one-of-a-kind occurrence. An anomaly which had never happened in existence until she was conceived and drew her first thoughts upon her birth; which laid the foundations of Wonderland."

"That… hang on, a friend of ours has been here before." Roxas said. "And Alice was taken to a place that wasn't a part of this place that she remembered. And it wasn't a dream. So… what is Wonderland really?"

"Wonderland is what you choose it to be as it does within the realm of Alice's psyche."

"That doesn't make any sense." Was Axel's deadpan response.

The Caterpillar took yet another whiff of his hookah before continuing.

"Wonderland lies in the borders of worlds. Worlds of dream, reality and unreality. Time being more fluid; where past, present and future collides." Caterpillar said in a more enigmatic tone now. "In times long past, these realms were once able to be accessible to those who have the knowledge and foresight to distinguish the three from one another. That era has unfortunately passed."

"But you're saying this place was made by Alice?" Xion said in hopes of getting better clarity. Because by this point, this was all starting to become increasingly confusing.

"Chicken or the egg. Tell me, Xion, which came first?"

"I… I don't know."

"The same case is the same for Alice here." Caterpillar pointed towards Wonderland's "creator". "One may argue what came first: Wonderland or Alice. Was it she who made this world? Or did the world choose her for her gift and -at the time- a Princess of Heart where it evolved beyond its previous state?"

"This feels like we're gonna get nowhere." Roxas said with a grimace and twitchy eye.

"I don't think we're supposed to." Alice admitted, more to herself from how she sounded then to the others.

She had been mostly silent throughout this part of the discussion. She had never expected to hear this from Caterpillar at all. All she could do was now question a number of things about both her life and this world in general.

No doubt this'll keep her up at night… if she didn't venture into Wonderland for a while.

"Getting back on track… How did Wonderland appear like this?" Xion abruptly asked. "We know some influence of it comes from the outside World not of Alice's making. But why is there an emphasis on it revolving around Alice's past trauma?"

Caterpillar didn't respond at first, looking towards the girl who was once a Princess of Heart with a sympathetic gaze.

"It was due to the trauma she experienced which spiraled and broke Wonderland apart, which landed her into the asylum. Instead of recovering properly, she was subjugated to a slew of horrific tortures and abuse from those who were supposed to nurse her back to health. The pain she suffers there almost became the final push which would have plunged her into insanity ending with the destruction of not just this World but her very mind. If she didn't lose her title as one of the Seven Princesses of Heart, she would have recovered far sooner. And, in a sense, she is presently going through a relapse." He then shifted his gaze towards the Nobodies. "But your timely intervention was able to halt this present issue, albeit barely."

"Then what must we do in particular?" Asked Roxas.

"Help Alice in her quest. Through her will you find the Keyhole you seek."

Axel spoke next. "I have a question for you. Why tell us this?"

"It is my duty to give all important information necessary in order to keep this World from spiraling out of control. For if Wonderland falls, I perish alongside every other resident here. Sooner or later, Alice must know the severity if she doesn't settle her issues post haste. Thus I have to make do with what I acquire, use what is useful and get rid of what is not."

With nothing more to say, the Caterpillar took a deep drag on his hookah pipe before spewing out a massive cloud of purple and black smoke. In an instant the group found themselves in another location with the bloated insect nowhere in sight.

After looking around, processing their present whereabouts, Axel broke the silence. "He may be vague on a number of things, but he knows how to make an exit." He commented with a small chuckle.

Roxas and Xion were silent instead directing their gaze at Alice who's expression was difficult to discern.

"You okay?" Roxas asked, gently placing a hand on Alice's shoulder.

"I honestly don't know." She admitted. "Things became more complicated than I never would've imagined before. Everything seemed relatively simple."

"Until we started asking certain questions and Caterpillar decided to not withhold anything."

"Could've been because of the issues we're dealing with now."

"Which reminds me… What was Caterpillar mentioning earlier that startled you three?"

They hesitated momentarily.

"It partially correlates to the reason why we originally came to Wonderland." Was Xion's response.

"That doesn't really help explain things at all." Alice said flatly.

Roxas sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I know it doesn't. But if it makes you feel any better, we can tell ya all about it while we're on our way to our next destination."

"Speaking of, where to, Alice?" Xion said, looking at the former Princess of Heart.

Alice paused and took a moment to look around. "I… don't know."

"Perhaps I may be of some assistance."

Axel sighed as he barely spared the Cheshire Cat a glance, who had appeared behind them.

"Well isn't that convenient." No. VIII couldn't help but say. "So you just listen in on us and pop in whenever you want?"

"Come on Axel, he's one of the few who'll probably help us." Xion said, nudging his side.

The Fiery Nobody appeared unconvinced. "Will he? I bet he'll just laze about like any other feline and let us do all the hard work before he comes in whenever the opportunity suits him."

The demented cat gave a mock sniffle. "Hurtful."

"Spill it Cat." Alice demanded, stepping forward. "What is it you want to say?"

"You have been instructed in seeking out enemies but if you are to confront them alone, the danger is twice fold." Cheshire said. "For you to stand for the future of Wonderland, allies are needed for such an endeavor."

"Obvious rhymes aside, allies." Axel repeated. "There are allies we can find here in Wonderland?"

The Cheshire Cat's ever present grin grew wider again. "When a Darkness takes root within a World, a Light must be snuffed out in return. But in a World of ever present Darkness, the Light in return shall shine brightest."

"A light in the Darkness…" Roxas murmured to himself, feeling a wave of nostalgia wash over him. "Anywhere you suggest we should start looking?"

"The Kingdom of the White Queen that lies within Marmoreal." the Cheshire Cat stated. "There you shall find not a person but a kingdom ready to stand by your side. If you are willing to show them your conviction to fight."

"Conviction?" Xion was very much confused. "We came here to help. How can we lack conviction?"

"Depends on one's view of the term."

Axel rolled his eyes at that.

"And in which general direction is this place?" Roxas asked the cat. "Remember, we have no idea of Wonderland's layout."

As if throwing a bone at them, Cheshire lazily lifted his paw and pointed over yonder towards their left.

"Thanks." He said, just as the smiling cat faded away.

The group was ready to move forward when Roxas stopped in his tracks and saw the long path ahead. "Say Xion."

"Hmmm?"

"That new Keyblade of yours is a lot like one of the flyers back from Barsoom."

Xion's new Keyblade flashed into her hand and gazed upon it for a few moments.

"Yeah…" she said slowly.

"So, do you figure you can…" Roxas left whatever he was going to ask hanging as he saw Xion already figure out what he was trying to ask and insinuate.

The two Keybearers gave a quick nod before Roxas summoned Pirate's Dream into his hand.

Axel and Alice were confused until the former saw Roxas' Keyblade shift into its glider form. And from what his blond friend was implying with Xion's new Keyblade.

"What are you two talking about?" Alice asked in befuddlement.

No. VIII merely had a growing grin in place. "They're suggesting we speed up our travel… in style."

Xion concentrated on her Keyblade and in an instant, it transformed into a modified version of the Barsoomian flier in a more compact version rather than it's more elongated form.

Liking where this is going, especially seeing the two gliders floating in the air, Alice smirked.

"Question is now, who will you ride with Alice?"

Wordlessly, Liddell seated herself behind Xion and hugged her tightly. "I need another shoulder to lean on."

Xion giggled at that. "Happy to be of assistance."

Axel shook his head in amusement and stepped on Roxas' glider, placing his hand upon his friend's shoulder.

"Try not to make too many tricks."

No. XIII chuckled as both he and Xion had their gliders take off into the air.

Who knows how long it'll be before they reach Marmoreal, but at least they'll get there far sooner than by foot.

Flying over the landscape of Wonderland, the three Nobodies filled in Alice with more of their present situation with Organization XIII. It was a rough summary of details, but the former Princess of Heart was able to understand.

As the tale went on, Alice took moments to glance down below and frowned as she started to notice a constant sight every now and then.

Train tracks that were either damaged or surrounded by Ruins.

"They weren't there before." She muttered to herself.

"Huh?" Xion looked back to her, barely hearing what she said. "You say something Alice?"

"Those train tracks." Alice said in a loud tone now, pointing down to the ground below them. "They were never there before. Not in all my time here in Wonderland."

"They probably have been there for a while. You just didn't notice them until now. Remember, you are the one changing this World."

Alice however shook her head. "No, no, I've traveled all over Wonderland and they weren't there before even with the changes. Every time I look at them… they feel… unnatural."

Xion didn't respond at first as she took a moment to gaze down to the ground below and spotted some more of the train tracks.

"Do you wanna check them out?"

Alice shook her head no. "Perhaps later, I'd rather get to Marmoreal post haste and see what will be done from there."

Xion nodded and continued her flight at the same pace as Roxas' glider, the two ships flying side by side with one another.

"So… since we're looking for this White Queen Kingdom place," Axel spoke up. "Where or what exactly are we looking for?"

No. XIII looked to the one who comes from this World.

"Alice?"

Alice took a moment to think it over. "Last I was here, it was called the Pale Realm. For it to have changed the name of its realm…"

"Could be good-"

"Or could be bad." Roxas finished with a grimace.

"Well the Cheshire Cat said that it's a place of Light, right?" Xion asked no one in particular. "So at the very least, it should be friendly."

Alice nodded. "Of that much, I am still certain."

"We'll just have to see it to believe it." Axel murmured, eyes narrowed.

The four companions continued on with their flight across Wonderland unimpeded for the most part.

Sure they had to fly around flocks of Cow birds on occasion but for the most part it was uneventful.

They soon began noticing the change in the environment once again.

Pink, cherry blossom trees began appearing here and there in small bunches that grew in size as they flew deeper into this new realm.

"Whoa!" Xion said aloud in wonder as they saw a large, elaborate structure up ahead. "Look at that."

The sky was shining bright, which reflected well off of a beautiful pearl-white stone castle that was undoubtedly the place known as Marmoreal

It was quite the stark contrast to the bleak and desolate Wonderland Woods.

The large valley before the castle was littered with gardens and small structures and statues that only added to the serene beauty of the land.

"This place is…" Alice whispered, a small tear appearing out of the corner of her eye. "I didn't think there was such a beautiful place in Wonderland left."

"Weren't you here before?" Axel asked rhetorically. "Wasn't it always like this?"

"I have, but this place was far different."

"How different are we talking here?" No. VIII inquired, gazing down at the seemingly endless supply of cherry blossom trees.

"Before… it had a perpetual dark sky, for starters. Everything of the castle and it's grounds were completely devoid of color. And everything else felt too... orderly."

"...Why do I have a feeling the Castle that Never Was held more color and flare in comparison to what you just described."

"I wouldn't exactly know what that place looked like." Said the former Princess of Heart. "But this place… it's expanded. Grown in size, in strength and in life."

"Oh, good. So we at least got a semblance of a fight force then." Axel said in approval.

"It must have gotten like this recently." Alice muttered, frowning now. "Will this… be here when our journey is done?"

"You say as if it'll go away in an instant."

'It very well might.' Alice darkly thought to herself as they began their descent towards the kingdom of the White Queen.

Upon landing in front of the castle, they were greeted by some of the locals. Particularly what must have been the military force.

A number of surprisingly "normal" looking people quickly backed away as the guards of this land came forth.

These people wore black and white armor which was designed very similarly to chess pieces.

There were helms of pawns, rooks, knights and bishops with the first mentioned being the most present and the latter being the rarest of the assemblage of chess soldiers. A sort of clear visual hierarchy.

At least they were better than the monstrous zombified card soldiers.

In an instant, they drew their weapons, spears and swords and pointed them all in the direction of the four newcomers.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Roxas spoke up, waving his hands slightly. "We come in peace, we're not here to fight."

The guards didn't seem to buy it and slowly began advancing towards them.

Axel grunted and threw his hands out with his Chakrams appearing.

"Guess we're in for a fight." He remarked.

"Axel, wait." Alice said, stepping before him. "We came here looking for help, not to start a war."

"Yeah, just let Alice do the talking." Xion encouraged.

The Flurry of Dancing Flames hesitated, eyeing all the chess piece soldiers advancing on them when-

"Alice?"

The voice was soft, melodious even and was heard by all present in the courtyard.

A number of citizens either bowed or curtsied. The soldiers were mixed in either staying in place or standing in attention and awaiting orders from the new arrival.

This person in particular was the ruler of Marmoreal.

The last time Alice saw the White Queen, she was beheaded by the Naive of Hearts. It was only through her actions did she come back to life by bringing a Pawn piece to the very spot of her demise as the rules of Chess dictated.

Instead of being an anthropomorphic chess piece, the ruler of this realm was a legitimate human being. Long stark white hair which matched her beautiful dress. Her skin was like porcelain and the air she exuded was that of a soothing and serene grace. The only visibly bold color on her was her ruby red lips.

There was this look in her dark eyes that she wasn't entirely there, but she tried to cover herself by being active in some manner. Perhaps a lingering fragment of her experiencing death, in which was hard to completely move on from.

Though that mattered not as she gracefully went over to the newly arrived company and stood before Alice with a joyous smile.

"White Queen?" Alice said in surprise and in hopes that she wasn't seeing things. "Is it truly you?"

"Ah~ Alice, it is so good to see you again." The White Queen said, radiating warmth and kindness as she embraced Alice with a kind embrace. "Look at you. Growing into a fine beauty."

"Beauty?" Alice couldn't help but laugh at such a notion. "I feel like a mess. I look no better."

The White Queen merely scoffed and tutted, patting her on the cheek affectionately.

"To me my dear, you shall always be a radiant child."

Alice found herself flushing slightly at the praise, returning the smile the White Queen gave her.

The ruling monarch of the kingdom of Marmoreal then turned to address the trio of Nobody's that arrived with Alice.

"And who might be these fine fellows?"

"These are my friends." Alice said with a fond smile. "This is Roxas, Xion and-"

"Axel, got it memorized, your highness?" The redhead said with a cocky smirk.

The White Queen continued to simply smile as she approached the three of them.

"I see you have made friends with dear Alice and have come with her." The White Queen looked back to Alice. "It's good to see you aren't traveling alone these days. There is such difficulty in being by your lonesome."

"I'm happy to at least be traveling with friends this time around." Liddell stated.

The White Queen giggled, facing the Nobody's once more.

"Well…" She stood before Xion first and pecked the young girl on both cheeks.

No. XIV blushed at the gesture.

"Any friend of Alice…" She did the same for Roxas.

"Is a friend of mine."

"Hey now." Axel smirked broadly. "Don't threaten me with a good time, your highness."

-Scene Cut-

"Huh."

Kaidan Alenko looked over to a frozen and frowning Spectre.

"Something wrong Commander?"

"I felt… a disturbance."

"What kind?"

Shepard thought about it for a moment. "I don't know… I know I shouldn't be miffed but… a good flick on the head for Axel is in order. The next time we see him."

The Alliance marine merely shook his head, wondering where that came from.

-Scene Cut-

The White Queen pulled away from the redhead giggling at his comment whilst his friends rolled their eyes at him.

Stepping back, the monarch of this land gestured for them to follow her.

"Come, come, you must all be exhausted." She said, walking towards the castle with the four of them following after her. "A nice bed with a hot meal is in order, I do believe for our heroes of Wonderland."

The small group went after their host as they were perhaps given a small tour of sorts.

So far, the castle had a number of similarities with Castle Disney in style and architecture. Yet there was some more flare in its simplistic beauty.

"So being heroes of Wonderland-"

"Axel!" Roxas and Xion said at the same time, eliciting a laugh from their older friend.

"Ah knock it off you two, just wanna have some fun." he said, delivering a noogie to them both.

Alice, seeing this while walking beside the White Queen, laughed quietly.

Said Queen looked down at her with her dreamy smile having yet to leave her expression.

"A lively bunch you've brought to my kingdom, my dear." The White Queen said. "It has been rather dreary, drab and boring at times. I thank you for your visit."

"If only it were a more pleasant one." Alice couldn't help but say.

The White Queen tutted her once again. "Now, now, no need for such thoughts. Even in times of strife, moments of tranquilness and levity are in order."

They were soon led into the castle itself and behind them marched a number of the Queen's Chess guards with several others that were handmaidens and servants ready to do their rulers bidding.

Upon turning into the Grand Hall, they were greeted with a magnificent sight.

The space was large with a faint red carpet rolled out from the room's entrance to the throne in which the White Queen sat in order to complete her petitioner's daily requests. High above the walls were stained glass windows which helped brighten up the space even further from its stark white coloring.

The moment they walked some feet into the space, the doors behind them suddenly shut themselves closed ever so loudly.

Everyone was clearly alarmed by the sudden motion and they heard banging on the door a moment later.

It didn't help when a clear hexagonal barrier appeared, overlaying the entrance and any other doorway into the Grand Hall.

No. XIII inhaled sharply as he felt a shiver go down his spine, a sensation shared by Xion and Axel.

"What in the heavens is going on?" The White Queen asked, looking about in bemused confusion.

"Your majesty, stay behind us." Axel spoke up, tone deadly serious.

"Axel, what's going on?" Alice was on guard now, subconsciously pulling out her Vorpal Blade.

She didn't get an answer from her friends as a disembodied voice spoke instead, the large hall echoing from the sound of it.

"Well now, this is a pleasant surprise."

All soon gazed towards the center of the throne room and watched as a Corridor of Darkness sprouted out.

In an instant, Roxas, Axel and Xion leapt forward at the front of the group and immediately conjured their weapons.

The ovular shape of the Corridor receded and dispersed to reveal a man with short Caesar cut platinum-blond hair, pierced ears and striking turquoise eyes.

"Roxas, Axel, Xion." The man's voice held an air of gravitas to them as he addressed each of his former teammates. "A pleasure to see you all once again present circumstances aside.

"I take it he's one of your former companions." Alice stated, quickly drawing out her Vorpal Blade.

Luxord gave Alice and the White Queen a dramatic bow with a smirk on his face. "I am Luxord, the Gambler of Fate. Please spare me a moment of your time, your majesty."

Rather than her usual air headed demeanor, it all but washed away in this instance as the White Queen gazed upon the intruder with a stony gaze.

"I am not one to turn away guests and newcomers, sir." She spoke sharply. "But for those who intrude with the intention to do malice is not one I shall idly standby to allow to happen."

This response however only seemed to amuse and appeared to also impress No. X of the Organization.

"Now tell us, what is your business here?"

Luxord didn't respond at first, humming aloud to himself as he eyed the three traitors before he began pacing about.

"I find this World rather fascinating. One can't be certain what will happen when traversing along its surface. The odd chaotic atmosphere brings so many possibilities and variables." The Gambler then tossed dice that appeared from seemingly nowhere. "Even at this very brightened corner, there's a unique texture. Hiding the chaos under a cleaned up order."

No. X stopped playing with his dice as he analytically looked at both Alice and the White Queen before gaining a little sense of realization.

"Ah, I see." Luxord nodded to himself.

In a sleight of hands, a card appeared in his hand. With a quick throw, the "harmless" object zoomed across the room.

Xion sought to intercept the projectile, yet the card twirled around her and went to a particular person.

A flash of light filled the Grand Hall and once it died down there was a quick realization as to what happened.

"Your Majesty!" Cried out Alice.

Hovering in the air was the card Luxord threw earlier. Plastered on one side was the White Queen, who was frantically banging against the surface.

The wielder of the Vorpal Blade reached out to grab it, but it was flown back into Luxord's grasp.

He held the card aloft and flipped it over to display the captured White Queen trapped within the card.

"Now then."

He flicked the card into his sleeve and it disappeared.

Luxord then threw his hands out and hundreds of cards flew out from his sleeves.

-Insert Kingdom Hearts 3: The 13th Struggle (Luxord)-

"Give her back!" Xion demanded, sprinting towards the Gambler of Fate.

Luxord only smirked and stepped back casually into a large card that appeared behind him and flipped around.

No. XIV cut through it and it shredded itself apart.

She looked around wildly as to where he may have ended up and he was now standing between her and the rest of her friends.

"Now, now, Xion." Luxord chided. "Where's your sense of fun. You wish to free the Queen? Then all I ask is that I would like to play a game."

Luxord flicked both hands and cards appeared in them again.

He then tossed them forward and they grew to full size, floating around him.

Eyeing the cards in the Gambler's hands, Alice spoke. "What, like '52 pick up'?"

No. X shook his head. "No."

In a dramatic display with the cards, they suddenly flew around No. X and rapidly spun.

"More like '52 cut up'!"

An instant later, the volley of cards rocketed towards them, which the group had to hastily dodge. Some weren't left unscathed as they had been nicked by the razor sharp projectiles.

"You thought '52 pick up' was just a simple, juvenile game. But when the deck slices and dices, it's no laughing matter." Luxord lectured, seemingly speaking from all corners of the room.

Axel went on the offensive, his two weapons spinning about in his hands, gathering flames.

He then grinded them against the floor with his fire burning away a number of cards though they were quickly replaced.

No. VIII flung his chakrams at No. X who deftly waved his hand with his Cards spinning about before him in the shape of an octagon.

Just as the two fiery disks flew into the tunnel Card, they seemingly halted in their tracks before they were thrown back to their owners.

Axel caught them with ease and went in for a spinning fiery corkscrew that quickly burned away several cards flying towards him.

A moment later, Roxas was gliding by Axel and went in for a series of slashes.

Luxord began jumping away, throwing up multiple card shields No. XIII cut through.

No. XIV and Alice then joined in and jumped at the Gambler with cards swarming around him.

Just as they brought their weapons down, he was gone from that spot and appeared behind them all.

"You'll have to do better than that." Luxord stated cockily, holding two large, oversized cards that "shinged" aloud, indicating their sharp edges.

He flew at Axel first, both men clashing their weapons with such force they both flew away from each other.

Luxord took it in stride, spinning about to block Xion's Keyblade and shoved her back in time to deflect a dual attack from Roxas and Alice.

The four of them began assaulting No. X together, Luxord going on the defensive.

His large cards kept getting destroyed though they were quickly replaced in a casual manner with some seemingly reforging after being destroyed.

Yet even with all these tricks, Luxord was outnumbered and getting overwhelmed.

Alice ducked underneath a card swipe and delivered a cut to his left hand, making him wince slightly.

Axel burned away another card, allowing for Xion to go in and smash his right hand.

No. X visibly winced in pain as he stumbled back and was unable to throw up any means of defense for when Roxas went in for the final blow.

He cut right through Luxord, the platinum blond haired man gasping in pain with his eyes wide in horror.

"N-no… Not…" No. X then coughed and gazed at them all. "Not as easy as it looks."

It was from this fatal injury did they see something rather unusual from the Gambler. From his wound, it looked like it was made of paper. A moment later, Luxord smirked as his body started to crumble into an assortment of cards.

"He can make card clones?"

"You thought I would've shown all my tricks to you before you defected?" Luxord's voice said from all around them.

They quickly got into a defensive circle with their backs to each other as multiple cards popped up from the ground and they transformed into multiple Luxords surrounding them.

"Come now, the game is just beginning." The Gambler chided, sharpened cards appearing in the hands of all the clones.

They threw the cards at them.

Axel quickly tossed his Chakrams that spun around them, turning the cards to ash whenever they drew near.

The Luxords then summoned large dice and cards with all of them tossing the cubes up and smacking them with the enlarged cards.

The projectiles were deflected and dodged for the most part yet the last few managed to get some solid hits in upon the team.

They all scattered slightly due to the impact of the dice and Luxord made his move.

He appeared before Roxas with cards floating behind him.

No. XIII was back on his feet and already swinging at him.

"A challenge is it?" Luxord chuckled, stepping back in time to avoid the Oathkeeper and four cards floated before him.

"Choose wisely now."

The blond teen disregarded the warning and struck the card second to the left.

With a snap, a ring of cards appeared and rapidly spun around the Keybearer. A second later, they collapsed and exploded, hurtling Roxas away.

"Roxas!" Xion cried out.

"Focus on the game before you." Luxord's voice came from behind and she whirled around with her Keyblade held up defensively.

"Roll for your chance at victory."

Multiple dice appeared all around her, getting closer and closer with every rotation.

Xion gnashed her teeth together and threw her Keyblade up to face the ceiling.

"AEROGA!"

A powerful torrent of wind whipped around the black haired teen, sending the dice clacking down onto the floor.

When they all stopped bouncing about, the number that they all equated to was-

"Drat." No. X murmured. "Lady luck of threes and fours were on your side this round."

The dice then proceeded to fly right towards their owner and clobber him.

Xion gasped upon realizing her advantage and went in for another strike.

Luxord however had already left a card replacement of himself as he moved on to his next victim…

Alice.

The former Princess of Heart clutched her Vorpal blade tightly and was about to attack when she saw the hand of cards that Luxord had brought out.

Alice's eyes widened at the sight of the White Queen's frozen form in the card that she had been captured in and instantly tried cutting No. X.

The Gambler of Fate laughed aloud, making the cards bigger before he threw them face down on the ground.

"Find the lady."

Alice's eyes darted about to keep up with the rapidly moving cards.

She felt a small migraine appear for a moment before making her decision and stabbed a card that was to her right.

It stopped in its frantic motion before flipping around to reveal a red X.

She gasped as her whole world went dark momentarily.

"Enjoy my little trap." Came the Nobody's disembodied voice.

A moment later, she was able to see clearly again but something felt incredibly wrong.

Alice felt an odd sensation around her entire body. She tried to move, but only seemed to fall over. "Why can't I move?!" She exclaimed.

Part of her answer came out when her emerald eyes caught a glimpse of the reflection from a nearby piece of armor lying on the ground. With how bright it was in the room, Alice saw her reflection to see-

"WHY AM I A PIECE OF DICE?!"

Her instincts yelled at her to move as several cards homed in on her at high speeds.

The giant cube with Alice's face was barely able to dodge out of the way as more and more cards went through the air to try and skewer both her and her companions. It was rather exhausting on this task all the while trying to break out of her current binding. But with all her might and strength, she was barely able to break free.

It did come at a cost where she felt quite exhausted from her recent ordeal.

She looked up to see her friends dealing with a number of Luxord card clones with Roxas trying to get to her as he was the closest one.

"Hang on Alice." He gritted out, swatting away several cards. "I'm coming."

The eighteen year old girl barely registered what Roxas said as the real Luxord stood before her now.

"Don't take this personally my dear." No. X said in a gentle manner. "Had you still been a Princess of Heart, no harm would have befallen you. But you took up arms, therefore, your fate has already been decided for you."

Alice's eyes widened in utter fright and horror upon hearing this, realizing what was about to happen.

Then…

From seemingly out of nowhere…

Alice felt something within her.

A sharp feeling that caused her to freeze on the spot.

She heard a high pitched ringing in her ears, eyes shaking in place with what felt like glass shattering within the confines of her mind.

Everything then slowed to a crawl in her perception. The only thing which moved at normal speed was something within a nearby reflection she was seeing.

It was her, yet it wasn't her.

Something about her was… beyond unnatural.

For one, the smile she bore greatly unsettled her.

In a blink, the other Alice wasn't in the reflection anymore. She instead knelt beside her and reached out to touch her forehead.

At that moment, everything changed.

Outside of Alice's mind, a shrill, ear piercing scream quickly filled the air. A horrible sense of dread gnawed at everyone's insides.

The beautiful, colorful surroundings of the Grand Hall shifted and changed. Everything lost its color and all that was left was nothing but shades of black and white.

When looking at Alice, they clearly saw she was different than before. Her colors were just as the rest of the environment for being lost. She was now in only a completely white hue and her eyes were shrouded in a total and unnatural darkness. They look more like two shards of complete nothingness rather than eyes.

Alice also looked as if she was continually crying, for there were trails of crimson blood flowing down her cheeks instead of normal clear tears. In fact, the blood which stained both her face and her clothes were the only other color within the black and white colored space.

The very sight was outright disturbing.

"What the hell…" Axel murmured.

The wielder of the Vorpal Blade screamed once again in her shrill voice leaving them almost deaf. She pounced and disappeared in a puff of black butterflies when Luxord's projectiles homed in on her. Before completely rematerializing herself, she roared as she came diving in to stab Luxord.

No. X barely managed conjuring a deck of cards to hold back the repeatedly powerful stabbings Alice was delivering until she broke through them.

The Gambler of Fate grit his teeth as he felt her simply use her body as a battering ram of sorts that sent him flying back.

He quickly summoned a number of cards that he used as platforms to not hit the ground or wall.

The platinum blond haired Nobody's expression sharpened as he detected a presence right next to him.

It was a split second later did he blur out of existence, just in time as Alice brought her Vorpal Blade down that created a small shockwave upon hitting the ground.

Luxord was now a good distance away from Alice but he wasn't out of the woods just yet.

Xion and Axel had been cleared of their momentary adversaries and now made a beeline towards him.

Throwing his arms up, cards exploded out from the ground around him as a means in which to keep the two at bay.

Axel and Xion fought through them, the former's flames incinerating all the cards with the latter using water and wind to expunge them from around her.

They drew in close and delivered two powerful strikes at the same time that sent him flying.

Two cards formed around him as a makeshift shield though it did little in stopping the butterfly blur that was a crazed Alice who punched through the cards and sent Luxord crashing down into the ground.

"She's fast. Very fast." Luxord grunted out, getting back to his feet.

The girl laughed in a terrifying tone, which gave them chills once more as she turned into butterflies again. She closed the distance between her and Luxord once more. Instead of her brandished knife, it was her Hobby Horse as it came crashing down.

The Gambler evaded the blow as the force behind it crushed the marble floor and left quite the hole in its place. Alice was now shaking, twitching and trembling all over as she withdrew her weapon from the crater she made.

Seeing as she missed her mark, the former Princess of Heart growled as her maddening aura rose higher.

Luxord narrowed his eyes at the changed Alice charging towards him when he grinned with an idea dawning on him.

Just as she was a foot away from him, a blank card sprung up before him and Alice fell into it.

It rapidly spun about and a moment later, Alice -back to her normal self- stumbled out.

"Wh-What?" Alice said in bewilderment, looking at her hands.

She was no longer hysterical, but how?!

"Time is the enemy to all." Luxord said with a broad grin as the environment around them started to return to normal. "No one can ever escape it, no matter how hard one tries."

"Ah shit." Axel gritted out, dashing forward. "Forgot how annoying that can be."

Like all members of the Organization, Luxord held a distinct affinity that he can use to a degree that no other member can.

Whilst there were the simple elemental ones such as water, fire and wind, there were those with the more abstract sort of powers.

Like Space, illusions and of course, Time.

Which was Luxord's affinity.

"That was quite the trick you had up your sleeves." Complimented the Gambler. "I'm quite impressed."

Alice only panted heavily, holding her Vorpal Blade aloft with a tired look.

Her exhaustion was suddenly assuaged as she saw green, ethereal leaves float down around her from above.

Some of the injuries she had sustained vanished.

She was surprised by this and soon turned to the source of that which healed her.

"Thank you Roxas." Alice said appreciatively.

He simply nodded at her as the two faced Luxord with Xion and Axel joining their side a moment later.

"Give up, Luxord." Axel called out to him. "You're outnumbered and outgunned. You'll only end up losing."

"Even a loss is part of the larger game." The Gambler said conversationally. "Every time one loses is another lesson learned. But if you have the spirit to continue with the game, the chances may surely turn in your favor. But the secret to victory lies in the nature of the game."

Cards began spinning around him again and they all went down into the ground.

"Oh no." Axel channeled his fiery powers into his Chakrams. "Not that shit again."

Hovering slightly off the ground, he threw one arm down to the ground with the other to his back slightly above him.

Both his chakrams floated before his hands and spun about rapidly generating flames.

"BURN BABY!"

A plume of fire shot into the ground that spread like a raging inferno, ridding all the Cards in the ground.

Luxord flinched upon seeing this, summoning a card beneath him to levitate him away from the fiery ground.

Roxas and Xion took the initiative to attack, Alice being right behind them.

No. XIII glowed alight with his affinity and changed Oathkeeper into a glowing white saber.

Luxord saw this and hastily began sending cards at the boy who simply cut right through them.

Getting closer to him, No. X was about to evade when Roxas unleashed his pillars of light.

They struck the Gambler, sending him down to the ground.

Before he was able to hit the floor below, Xion jabbed her Keyblade into his stomach, her body spinning rapidly like a twister with wind, water and ice flying off her form.

It coalesced into a spear that exploded and sent Luxord hurtling into a wall.

He groggily looked up in time to see Alice holding up her Vorpal Blade.

Luxord could barely muster up a card to defend himself when she sliced through it.

It was at the last moment did he move to avoid having the knife embedded where his heart would have been and instead got it in the shoulder.

He let out a strangled cry of pain before slumping slightly.

Alice was breathing heavily, taking a step back whilst removing her Vorpal Blade. She couldn't deny a sick twisted pleasure in hearing the man's hiss of agony.

The four of them stood together now over the defeated Organization member who was looking up at them with a dazed expression until it returned to normal.

Once more, his body disintegrated into a number of cards which now littered the floor.

Clapping could be heard from the far side of the room. The source was none other than Luxord.

"That was quite the show. You've done well."

"Oh come on." Roxas rounded on him, glaring at the Gambler of Fate. "How many times do we have to beat you?!"

"Come now." Luxord chided. "That was only the first game."

No. X pulled out a card from his coat and flipped it about to reveal the White Queen.

"And I am a man of honor in my own regards." He said with a slight flourish and bow. "And it was easy to discern the victors of this particular game."

He casually tossed the card forward and in a puff of smoke, the White Queen reappeared before them, completely unharmed if only a little dazed and confused.

"Your majesty." The girls yelled out and the group quickly were at her side.

"Hmm?" The White Queen looked about in confusion. "Oh my, what in the world happened here? Was there rough housing I was unaware of?"

"That would be my fault, my lady." Luxord spoke up, bowing slightly. "Sorry about your throne room."

"It's alright. Things happen." Said the White Queen in a whimsical manner. "This at least gives me the excuse to redecorate."

The Organization member laughed at such a response, eyes glimmering in amusement.

"Then I am happy to have been able to provide you with such an opportunity, your grace."

The White Queen nodded happily before her expression became cold.

"Now." She spoke sharply. "I would like it that you left my domain. Alice and her friends came here for respite not to become more ragged than need be."

"By your leave, your grace." Luxord conjured a Corridor of Darkness behind him when…

"Wait."

No. X turned to see Alice stepping forward with a hard look in her eyes.

"Why come here?" She asked fiercely. "Have you come for my friends?"

Luxord regarded her for a few moments before gazing over to the trio that wore the black coat as he did.

"In a manner of speaking." Was his enigmatic response. "I was sent here to also observe the changes that have occurred in this World and those that will undoubtedly someday make their way over to other Worlds. It appears that there's much to be done."

Luxord began walking back into the Corridor.

"Until next time, old friends, your Majesties." Said the Gambler of Fate as he stepped into the dark ovular dome and vanished.

As soon as the Corridor vanished, the four fighters all slumped in exhaustion.

"Oh dear, oh dear." The White Queen fretted about, the doors to the throne room bursting open with servants and soldiers rushing in.

They were no doubt banging against the doorway for a while now. Yet the barrier Luxord erected strongly held firm.

The Monarch of this kingdom was all over the team that had fought a harrowing battle, worrying like a mother hen over them all.

"I must apologize, my dear Alice." The White Queen's expression was distraught. "You came here for assistance and you only found more pain."

"Nothing I'm not used to, your majesty." Was Alice's humored response.

"None of that." She scoffed. "You will be put in a comfy bed and you will sleep the night away and eat a hearty breakfast and not give me another heart attack while being here."

Alice only gave her a shaky smile as she was helped up to her feet.

Roxas and Xion were panting slightly, leaning on one another for support while Axel stood up straight with his arms crossed and expression deadly serious.

"Should have figured the Organization would be making their move sooner rather than later." No. VIII murmured. "But honestly… didn't think it'd be this soon."

"We were bound to run into them." Roxas stated.

"I'm just worried Luxord might call in the others and have them all here."

"Aren't they also monitoring Sora and the others?" Roxas asked.

Axel scoffed. "They're monitoring all of us, Roxas, in case you forgot. We've been under their surveillance every moment we're not with the old wizard."

"Enough of that." The White Queen spoke up, now standing before them. "Come, let's get you all cleaned up, fed and rested."

"We'll be fine." Xion said politely.

The Queen apparently would have none of that as she spun the black haired girl about and began pushing her out of the hall.

"No, no, no, you will get the best bed possible and the best dishes we have to offer." The White Queen said in a tone that brokered no arguments. "Nothing less than the heroes of Wonderland."

Alice giggled slightly in amusement. "I suggest we comply. We do need a clear head and figure out our next moves now we're in a safe haven… I think."

"Yeah and this whole hero business," Axel said cheekily. "I wouldn't mind getting used to something like that in every place we visit."

"I doubt that." Was Roxas' response, the group following the White Queen again who was still comically pushing Xion forward.

At the very least, they had a chance to catch their breath before moving on to the next leg of their time here in Wonderland.

Their time on the Normandy has taught them to make the most of it.

Desert Firefly Keyblade: Received from Barsoom.

Dragonflyer: Keyblade Form change being that of a Barsoomian solar flier.

Desert Chain: Keyblade Form change resembling a chain whip with shifting lengths. It's finisher -exclusive in this form- unleashes a desert storm with Ninth Ray fireworks going off around the wielder.

Barsoom Raid: Desert Firefly's Shotlock attack which fires off a volley of Ninth Ray energy projectiles. While in the Form changes, they however change. In glider form, they become laser shots. In chain whip form, they become energy arcs.

AN

And there we have it folks, back at it again with another new chapter in the first arc of the second phase of this crossover.

I mean, it should be obvious that this is a three saga story covering a lot of ground in each portion and ME2 combined with KH2 and what we have planned both adapted and original will be gargantuan in scale to say the least.

This arc is a bit of a funny one. It was both planned and improvised at the same time until we planned it out properly.

But first, a quick description as to the whole layout of this arc.

Jebest4781: For those who are fans of American McGee, yes, we are using elements from his game universe. We are adapting and blending what is needed from Alice and Madness Returns with the Tim Burton films. It's a means of setting up a later World visit during ME2 events, in case y'all are wondering about the full on change up of Madness Returns.

FMW: This is more or less the outline of what we have and realized that this would wind up being much larger and stuffed then it should be so we decided to divide it up wherein we'll have maybe several go arounds in this World. Let's just say as we kept discussing and writing this chapter, we realized we had WAY more content to work with than anticipated.

Jeb: No kidding. So many ideas pop up and are connected with the overall themes of the respective series we are using in this story.

FMW: On top of all this, we also got the release of the Spiderman No Way Home trailer and people, Jeb and I grew up watching the OG Raimi Spidey flicks. The first two Spiderman films hold a special place in the hearts of all of us nerds who saw the literal magic of seeing Spiderman in film for the first time. So to see Alfred Molino come back to play Doc Ock… WORDS, WORDS DO NOT DESCRIBE THE HYPE.

Jeb: Marvel's "What If…" has been alright so far, even if the first and third episodes could've been done better like adding 10-15 extra minutes to build the story scenarios better. Second episode with Chadwick Boseman was honestly great and perfect as it was. Yet it made me wanna see more of that particular "What If…" scenario as it drew me too far in with what was done with T'Challa as Starlord.

FMW: Agreed, feels like that the potential of the series is only being half exploited when it could be fully taken advantage of to tell truly new and original stories. The idea of five of the first six Avengers being dead, while ultimately fascinating, needs more screen time to be fully realized. Hearing Boseman's voice as Star-Lord was awesome as it was bittersweet. I still can't believe we lost the King and so soon after leaving such an impression. But at least we got that one last special episode.

Well folks, thanks again for reading and hope you guys have been keeping up with A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts and Infinite Wars. So much to get to, it's crazy to think we're only getting started.

Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.