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.

36. Finding Clarity

Such a long hiatus and sorry for it.

Let's get back to it, shall we?

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.

I'm Nobody Chapter 36: Finding Clarity.

"So Alice…"

"Hmm?"

"You were here last time, right?"

"Yes, I was."

"And you fought the Queen before."

"Indeed I did."

"What changed about her? I remember from Sora's memories that she was temperamental and all."

Alice snorted. "Yes, temperamental is one word to describe her. Off with my head. What a proper court system."

"Off with your head?" Xion said with a blanched face. "What in the World did you do to get that kind of verdict?"

"Seems like it was a lack thereof in terms of Alice doing anything." Axel remarked.

"Wah-?"

"It wasn't a fair trial." Roxas said, translating Axel's statement for Xion.

"Ah."

Alice shook her head, recalling that old trial from way back. "The court session held against me was truly unfair. Accusing a crime I never committed, at least to my knowledge back then."

"All because she thought you sicked the Heartless on her." Roxas recounted from Sora's memories.

Alice nodded in remembrance. "It was later when I returned from Hollow Bastion did I learn more of the Queen of Hearts. Details which I found revolting. She had all those who disagreed with her killed. Even those who were innocent, due to her belief everything within her lands -which she thought all of Wonderland- was hers by right and could be done as she pleased."

"Did she ever care for her subjects?" Asked Xion.

The former Princess of Heart scoffed. "I doubt she did. Only using her power and titles to reign them all in line through fear. When I came back here last time… she had become worse. She ruled with complete and utter malice and tyranny. That's when Wonderland began distorting itself and it somehow worsened."

"Huh, and here I thought the rumors of the Citadel Council were bad. Can't wait to see how bad it'll really get in the Terminus Systems." Axel commented with a huff of amusement.

The Nobody's expression then shifted into one of melancholic longing.

Something the others picked up on.

"Axel?" Xion spoke up though her voice appeared not to affect the fiery redhead.

He let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry, just thinkin of the Normandy and the others. Hope they're all doin alright."

Both Roxas and Xion blinked, their expression morphing into one of understanding with the latter placing a hand on his arm.

"We'll see them again before we know it." Xion assured him with a bright smile.

Axel had a frown present on his face when he flicked Xion's hood over her head and tugged it down her face.

"Axel~~" No. XIV whined aloud. "Why do you do that?"

The group laughed at her misfortune.

"Deary me, what a wonderful and familiar sight of friendly faces." Spoke a sudden, cheerful voice off to the side.

The foursome reacted, whirling around to the source.

There before them stood an oddly dressed man standing in front of a table that had tea pots, cups, saucers and an assortment of pastries all strewn out upon it.

The three Nobody's were immediately put on edge as they did not see or even detect the man's sudden appearance.

But for Alice…

It took the former Princess of Heart a moment to gaze upon the strange man but upon seeing his rather extravagantly large hat…

"Hatter?" Alice said in shock but also relief.

"Alice my dear, you look positively radiant my darling." The Mad Hatter said exuberantly with a spin and bow whilst tipping his hat forward. "It is so wonderful to see you back once more in Wonderland. It has been so positively drab without you, my dear."

Liddell, instead of verbally answering her old friend, walked right up to him and pulled him into a hug.

He blinked momentarily before returning the gesture.

"It's good to see the old you again." She whispered, holding him tightly.

Hatter only smiled warmly, patting her back. "And it is wonderful to see you in high spirits, Alice. I had feared the worst when I had become corrupted as I was. What awful things I may have done to you."

As they broke away, No. XIII no doubt observed the new arrival.

"Hatter?" Roxas said in clear confusion, giving the man a once over. "What happened to you? You're… shorter. And not crinkled and wrinkled like last time."

The Tea drinker let out a boisterous laugh. "I have you to thank for that, my boy. Ghastly image, I know. Not at all what I am meant to be. Had it not been for your timely arrival and proper whack across my head, I would have feared the worst for my domain and visage."

Alice only laughed with some tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn't realize how glad she would be in seeing a dear friend of hers return to his usual jovial state after hearing what had happened to him from Roxas.

"Wait, how exactly did you change back to your original self, then?" Xion spoke up inquisitively. "Roxas told us you were all weird and corrupted and stuff."

"It should be natural to surmise that Roxas gave me a proper bonk on the head and managed to expunge the Ruin and Darkness corrupting me." Hatter stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That just sounds lazy." Axel couldn't help but say. "But if it works, who am I to complain?"

Hatter laughed boisterously aloud, spinning about to grab a cup of tea and turning to the four before him.

"A toast then, if you will allow me to have one." He proclaimed. "To Wonderlands heroes and saviors."

"We haven't saved Wonderland yet." Roxas stated.

"You are well on your way in doing so." The Tea connoisseur said exuberantly. "It is only a matter of time."

"We hope we can deliver." Alice said, though she didn't sound too sure of herself.

"Rest assured that you have the might of Wonderland at your beck and call if need be." Hatter stated with a wide grin. "The White Queen's army is presently stationed at the borders. All that's needed is the given signal and we will storm the land."

This certainly surprised the four of them, having not expected to hear that.

Seeing their surprised looks, Hatter gave them a beaming smile.

"With what you have all been doing in fighting the corruption of Wonderland, the White Queen has realized that if ever there was a time in freeing our lands from this evil, now is the time." He proclaimed. "We only wait for your signal as the source of this corruption resides here in the Queensland."

Alice found herself frowning upon hearing this. "Hatter… you intend to join this crusade."

"But of course, my dear." Hatter said with a rather serious expression now. "I had fallen to corruption, I had attempted to bring harm upon this land and its residents and even attacked one of your close friends."

"But you were corrupted." Roxas quickly reminded him.

"And who do you think allowed such corruption?" Hatter shot back with a look of self-disappointment.

"I saw what happened, I was there when those things grabbed hold of you." No. XIII quickly countered.

Hatter however was unperturbed by this. "No, no, those were just the finishing touches to my fall. No… I had long since allowed ruin to come about to my land and myself. What was done to me by your hands should have been done from the beginning."

"Hatter…"

"No matter." The Tea drinker declared. "I must go to inform the queen that our warriors are ready for the final battle. We await your signal."

With a flourish of his hat, he threw the oversized garment into the air and then his expression morphed into one of whimsical dread.

"Ah yes, I forget how annoying the initial pull can be." He idly commented, hanging his head at his own actions.

The four gave the man a bewildered look until he was abruptly tugged away and flying after his thrown hat.

"Goooooood luuuuuuuck!" They heard the man shout as he sailed away.

The group could only stare in bewilderment at the Hatter vanishing in the horizon.

"Huh… that's one way to get around." Axel remarked. "Though not one I would take."

"It looks uncomfortable." Xion commented. "And painful."

"Least we know we have backup now." Roxas said. "We don't have to fight whatever's waiting for us at the end of all this alone."

"Oh come on Roxas." Axel said, rolling his eyes and messing up the blue eyes boys' hair. "You know it likely will come down to that. It always does."

The party resumed their trek through the Queensland shortly thereafter.

The group jumped and maneuvered around and through the pieces of the crumbling bridge to get to the palace of the Queen of Hearts in the center of this domain.

Along the way, they fought some insidious ruins and Heartless as they had popped up on their path.

They had dealt with these foes as they drew closer and closer to the Red Queens palace.

Moving on to a ledge leading to a heart shaped door, which opened by itself, they found themselves in a courtyard.

Making through the other side, they came across a giant King Chess piece who was suspended by dried up tendrils.

It was Alice who approached it and conversed with the being.

"The Red Kingdom's in ruins, but you're no better off." Alice commented.

"Indeed, but this is the price of my ambition." Spoke the entrapped King Chess piece.

"Um… Alice?" Xion spoke up. "Who is this?"

"The White King." Alice said.

"Wait, White King?" Axel repeated for further clarity. "What, like the White Queen? Is he her husband or something?"

"The one in the same." Spoke the oversized, sentient chess piece. "But husband? No, that I am not. She is my pride and joy, my beautiful daughter who succeeded my reign and has given new life to our land. While I fester here and rot."

"But I thought she-"

"Your memories of Wonderland have shifted, Alice; blending one with another and confusing you. One fact becoming another or being warped as a result."

Alice's brows creased in confusion. "Then the Queen back at Marmoreal…"

"Her inheriting memories of her mother, my beloved wife." The King said with a longing sigh and forlorn expression. "One can say she is her rebirth in a fashion, given how Alice revived her years ago."

"Then why are you here trapped in this place instead of counseling your daughter?" Roxas asked with a troubled look. "Did you get trapped here or something?"

The King replied. "When you defeated her, Alice, I tried to reclaim the Red Queen's castle. But I was set upon by her monstrosities. The malevolent royal bitch still reigns."

"Me and my companions are here to petition her or at the very least defeat her." Alice said. "We must get inside and set Wonderland right."

The King nodded solemnly. "The only way in is through me. Sacrifices must be made."

"Those who say so usually mean they should be made by others." Alice stated.

The King replied back. "Cynicism is a disease! It can be cured. Once inside, beware of the outsized killer who patrols her domain. Never confront him; he is invincible. Now, cut me loose; I'll show you the meaning of sacrifice."

This gave a sense of unease in the party.

"Do you mean that figuratively or-" Xion murmured.

"He's being literal in this case." Axel said, cutting her off with a grim countenance.

Xion looked between them and the trapped King. "But that means-"

"As much as I don't want to do it, I have no choice." Alice said with a downtrodden expression.

"There's always a choice, Alice." Xion argued.

"Not so in this case, my young lady." The White King spoke in acceptance of his fate. "What has entrapped me here is the centerpiece in keeping all outsiders to remain as that. You can try as you wish to enter this place but it requires sacrifice. It must be done for you to enter her majesty's domain."

The ravenette appeared to be very much against this. "But-"

"What I have is torture, my dear." The King said in an understanding fashion. "It is better to relieve me of this imposed duty than find the means to free me whilst Wonderland further succumbs to madness."

Roxas, rather than speaking, called forth his Keyblade and pointed it at the King. The Monarch raised a brow and watched as light appeared around the tip of his Keyblade and fired at him.

Yet upon getting a few inches within the King's vicinity, the beam of light was blocked and dispelled by an unseen force.

The others blinked upon seeing this and the White King's expression sagged in acceptance.

"As I have told you all." The former ruler stated. "There is no other way."

"What kind of entrapment is this?" Roxas asked in bewilderment, Keyblade flashing out of his hand. "The Keyblade is supposed to unlock anything."

"This is a different type of entrapment, my young friend." The White King said despondently. "One tied to the roots of this World, this castle and its keeper. So long as she reigns, my binds are absolute. All but one way. And you know what must be done."

There was a moment of silence between them all until Alice stepped forward, hoisting up her Hobby Horse.

"If anyone should do it, it should be me." Alice with resigned confidence.

Roxas reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

She looked back at him, weakly smiling at him before she turned back to the White King who had closed his eyes and awaited his fate.

Alice clutched her large weapon tightly, closing her eyes and exhaled to calm herself.

Once doing so, her eyes snapped open and she went in for a full swing.

The White King shattered upon impact and fell apart.

They were silent as they stepped through the open gateway.

Once through the other side, a hexagonal barrier erupted from behind and closed them off from going back.

"Ok…" Axel dryly said. "Should've seen that coming."

The ground shook as it began breaking apart in several locations. Before long they saw several mounds of dirt form and pile up around the team. At their apex, they all exploded to reveal the zombified Card Soldiers.

And they weren't alone.

From dark vapors, Armored Knight Heartless joined the Card Soldiers with their weapons aimed at the four. Coming from silvery-white wisps were an assortment of Dusk and Creeper Nobodies. And with them were a unique set of their kind.

Like most Nobodies, this one didn't seem to have an actual body and is instead an animated set of clothing. It's upper body consists of a pink coat with very thin, dark salmon-colored bell sleeves. It juggles dice and playing cards decorated with Nobody symbols in various ways through these sleeves.

Either side of its long neck sports a dark salmon colored spike like those on the Nobody logo and it's head bore the same shape. It's lower body is a faded pink gown that widens near the base and is decorated by several small, white logos while it's feet are long, flat and black.

These were the Nobodies working directly under Luxord: the Gamblers.

"Oh joy, these guys." Axel remarked, lightly raising his arms for his fiery chakrams to appear. "A match made in Hell."

"Aptly appropriate given where we are." Alice remarked, holding up her weapon whilst Xion and Roxas summoned their Keyblades.

The group began their assault. Alice unloaded her Pepper Grinder. Axel began scorching a good amount of their number. Xion drenched others while Roxas electrocuted them.

Yet this wasn't enough.

Suffice to say, the battlefield was filled with chaos. Fire, explosions and powers flying everywhere, marrying the ruined landscape even more than what it already was.

Withdrawing her Vorpal Sword, Alice began her rough assault of swordplay at her intended foes. Whilst things were roughly easier towards the Card Soldiers and Armored Knights, like cleaving their heads off their bodies or piercing their torsos, the Gamblers were a harder bunch to take down. For both their upper and lower halves separated, causing the offending blows to miss their intended target.

With their batch, Axel and Roxas were having some form of difficulty with them being overwhelmed by these unique Nobodies.

They wouldn't be having much of a problem if it weren't for their opposing help.

Xion was utilizing a constant stream of water and air magic to keep the nonstop flow of cards and dice around her back.

The Gamblers were a pain to deal with as they fought unconventionally compared to most of the enemies they had encountered. Though that was to be expected considering the difference of strength and abilities Nobody's displayed.

They kept tossing about cards with some managing to cut Alice's shoulder with Xion coming in with a retaliatory gale of Aeroga to send the cards scattering about.

Alice used this advantage to thrust her Vorpal Sword forward and pierce through the Gambler closest to her and destroy it.

With Axel and Roxas, the duo was fighting in tandem with one another as they beat back the Gamblers.

The lesser Nobody's kept their distance, utilizing their items to keep the two greater Nobody's at bay, constantly flicking large and small cards.

Amongst the card throws, several dice were added to the mix.

Batting them away, both No. XIII and VIII had to work through their intended foes.

"I always forget how annoying Luxord's lackeys can be." Axel grunted, swatting away an oversized dice that was thrown right at him.

Roxas had done the same with one sent at him but neither paid attention to the glowing glyphs on the dice.

Upon their landing, the dice landed on an unusual side. The glyph glowed, causing an odd reaction upon the two greater Nobodies.

An odd sensation encompassed them as smoke surrounded the pair. As it began clearing up, their perceptions became wonky.

"Are you kidding me?!" Axel exclaimed in shocked anger.

"This is so weird." Roxas whined out, feeling trapped, literally and figuratively.

Seeing this, Alice gave them her sympathy.

"Now you know how I felt."

What exactly occurred to Axel and Roxas was them being entrapped in a pair of dice.

Exactly what happened to her in the White Queen's kingdom when they first encountered these Nobody's.

Unintentionally taking advantage of the situation, Alice rushed forward with her Hobby Horse and played croquet with the converted dice. The pair screamed as they tumbled across the ground and smacked a number of the enemies.

Upon returning to the former princess of Heart, she eventually switched from croquet to cricket as her entrapped companions. They flew around and began striking down the airborne enemies. And this repeated on for several moments before the dice broke apart and returned the two Nobodies back to normal.

Unfortunately they were now a dizzying mess as they collapsed into the nearby rose bushes.

Seeing them like this made Alice cringe. "Oh… um… oops. Sorry about that."

The two boys groaned as they forcibly stood up since they heard the fight wasn't over since they heard Xion was still fighting.

The black haired Keybearer was fighting back against several Gamblers that harried her with multiple cards and dice.

There were several cuts visible on her frame, one large one on her cheek as the sharp cards managed to get through her defenses several times.

One of the Gamblers clapped its hands together and conjured forth another large dice.

The dice were thrown once more.

Being close to them, Xion was forced to play against them by knocking them high and away with her Keyblade. They ended up twirling around like a top, giving her the opening to fight against the Gambler before the dice made it's landing.

The blows were harsh, especially when Alice joined the fray alongside her fellow female fighter. Their blades carved through them in a series of blows. Even occasionally striking the dice from meeting the ground. At its end, Xion casted Thundaga to help burn them into a crisp.

Just as more cards were sent their way, a stream of fire came from behind the two and burnt the pieces of razor sharp paper from reaching the girls.

A moment later, several pillars of light appeared around some of the Gamblers and struck them down.

The rest of the Gamblers separated themselves and went after the four that fought them off.

Eventually the Gamblers were disposed of, the group took a moment to catch their breath.

"I have forgotten how difficult they can be." Alice said with a pant.

"Nobody's are the shells of those with strong hearts." Axel said, patting her back. "Which means tougher bastards to fight."

"But we haven't encountered them since Marmoreal." Xion said. "Why now?"

"Isn't that the question of the day." No. VIII muttered, eyes shifting about the area.

He stood up straighter, keeping one Chakram in hand as he stepped away from the others for a moment.

"Luxord." Axel called out to the surrounding area, his voice echoing around them. "I know you're watching. Come out."

Roxas and Xion were tense now, looking around warily, hands open in preparation of summoning their Keyblades.

They waited in bated anticipation, ready for anything but it never came.

Axel's eyes narrowed, hesitantly recalling his weapon and looked back to his younger companions.

"Let's not stick around here." He stated. "The Organization is watching our every move as is."

They nodded in agreement and quickly moved to head towards the palace.

Once entering the castle fortress, the group saw the interior's condition was not much better than the exterior.

Most of the place was ransacked; furniture lay broken, valuables lay strewn across the floor, curtains were tattered or ripped at some places and entire tapestries and paintings had fallen from their place and were lying on the ground collecting dust. And even though, in general, many passing rooms were still in one piece, if a bit in need of maintenance, entire corridors and sections of other rooms had sunken down and now hosted deep chasms or pits in their layouts. Not to mention uneven floors as some sections had been lifted or lowered beyond the ground level.

In short, it was going to be hell to traverse this place.

On the far end, they saw a painting of what the Red Queen looks like.

Or at least intended, due to its surface being heavily scratched and torn up around the face.

"This place has seen better days." Axel commented, looking at the deteriorating state of the castle.

"Is that the queen?" Xion asked Liddell, looking at the damaged painting.

Inspecting the ruined piece of art, Alice commented about it.

"Looking at this now, I can't help but recollect something Nan told me in my youth."

"Being what?"

"Every picture tells a story." She quoted. "I wouldn't tolerate a book without pictures back then. Eventually I grew out of it as I desired books with words, making me imagine what was being depicted."

"I believe everyone is like that at some point in their lives." Axel said with a shrug. "Something far more simple to digest really."

"What story do you think this picture tells you, Alice?" Roxas asked, looking back and forth between her and the painting.

"Someone proud of their appearance. Or perhaps on what they used to be. Now they're ashamed of what they've become, making it hard for them to see what lies in the portrait." She murmured.

"I find that hard to believe with the Red Queen." Roxas said with a snort.

"Could it perhaps be a predecessor?" Xion inquired.

"Who's to say?"

Before they could traverse any further, a disemboweled voice was heard and echoed throughout the castle.

"Trespassers are not welcome here! Leave this place now and I shall not allow you to keep your pitiful hides unscathed. Ignore my warnings; however, and continue with your present foolish course, and I shall decorate the walls of my home with your blood, entrails and heads."

"...That was quite the warm and fuzzy welcome, don't you say?" Axel said sarcastically.

"I feel loved already." Alice remarked dryly.

"Sorry, but I and everyone else like everything about us where they belong." Xion called back out to the voice that had just spoken.

"I assume that was the Queen of Hearts?" No. VIII asked, looking at Alice who nodded.

"Most certainly."

Their journey traversing and navigating through the crumbling castle fortress was rather tense. They had to keep constant vigilance at nearly every turn they made in case they were to come across a surprise attack from the enemy.

Which, of course, occurred in just about every other room.

Regardless, it was a pretty depressing sight of a place once pristine before the Queen of Hearts took over years ago.

No. XIV couldn't help but comment on the structural integrity of the palace. "You know, this place looks rather impressive, even with all the damage it suffered."

"Wonder how it all fell apart." No. XIII idly commented.

No. VIII snorted at that and gestured his fiery red hair towards their companion. "Most likely Alice is to blame."

"Excuse me?" Exclaimed Alice.

"Didn't you and the others say you fought here with an army?" Axel rhetorically asked. "You guys perhaps wrecked the place more than intended."

Liddell huffed, looking away with her cheeks puffing out slightly. "Even if that were true, it wouldn't have been my intention."

"Regardless, this place will most certainly need a fixer upper." Roxas said.

"More likely tearing the entire place down and rebuilding from its foundations." The red head of the group remarked.

"Or have Alice here fix it up once Wonderland's restored." Xion suggested.

"Until then, perhaps some necessities." Axel tacked on. "I mean, where's the bearskin rug, mounted animal heads or taxidermic pieces where you need them?"

"Why?" Roxas asked, clearly off put by these suggestions. "You want this place more messed up than intended?"

His taller friend shrugged. "Just something to really spruce things up."

Eventually returning to the area with the Queen's painting, they noticed something was rather amiss upon entering a certain corridor.

They went through to another large area, which resulted in them having to fight more Card Soldiers and Nobodies. With some quick coordination, the four were able to clear up the space.

Yet as the last of them fell, a scythe pierced through a wall and created an opening for a large entity to step on through.

It resembled a Card Soldier, yet the top of his head was masked by a large, red and black striped horned hat and several tentacles were wrapped around the top body, even going through its eye socket. And in its grasp was the large scythe, which began spinning around.

"This must be this outsized killer the White King warned us about."

"The Executioner." Said Alice, quickly whipping out her Teapot Cannon.

She quickly charged her device as her Nobody companions unleashed a volley of attacks at the new arrival from afar. This soon gave Alice the opening she desired as she unloaded her payload onto their enemy.

With a metallic *POP*, a giant blob of steaming black-greenish substance flew through the air and directly hit the Executioner in the face. It yelped and howled in pain and ran around in a frenzy as the steaming hot substance burned his head.

As much as the others wish that would be enough to take it down, it sadly wasn't enough.

All it did was make it even madder.

It swiped it's weapon at them, making them evade at each possible chance.

"I'm an idiot." Alice chastised herself. "Don Quixote had a better chance with his windmills. And without risk of decapitation."

"This guy isn't exactly budging and going down that easily." Xion said warily.

"I really doubt he's invincible." Axel declared, chakrams blazing into his hands. "Only more pain tolerant."

"Regardless, we should find an exit and get the hell out of here!" Roxas said aloud.

The group made a quick exit and fled through a corridor with the Executioner following not far behind.

Making it through to a ruined area, they turned back and saw a pair of large doors. Without saying a thing, they swiftly closed them before the two present Keyblade wielders used their magic to seal it up.

Unfortunately it wouldn't be enough to stop the oversized enemy.

Not wanting to hang around any longer, they ran down the hall. By the time they made it to the far end, the doors burst open and became splinters with the Executioner letting out a mighty roar.

Looking down, they spotted an opening, one small enough for them to traverse through once shrunk down and a way for them to escape their present adversary.

Once through the other side, the group was able to get a breather as they heard the Executioner roaring in momentary defeat and stomping away to find them.

"I don't know about you, but if Marluxia was here, he may want to sue him for copyright infringement. That or see if it's Nobody is a Reaper or not." No. VIII said, starting to get annoyed by their gargantuan pursuer.

"Who knows. He'll just have to take it up with the Queen if he decides to ever come here."

"Besides, does he even have an actual claim to the gimmick?"

Once resting long enough, they moved onward and came across an open area, where some Card themed adversaries awaited for them with some insidious ruins.

After the fight, they heard a roar from high above. The source came from the Executioner, who crashed down with the floor quaking.

"Nope. Not dealing with him already." No. VIII declared with a shake of his head.

A Dark Corridor opened up underneath them -courtesy of Axel- and swallowed them whole.

The next thing they knew, they fell and crashed into a dark location of the castle.

Upon realizing that they had escaped the Executioner again, the black haired Nobody rounded upon their fiery friend with a deep frown.

"That was risky to do with Alice here." Xion chastised No. VIII.

He at least looked a bit guilty at the admonishment. "I know, but it was something I had to take."

Needing a way out, they were soon greeted with a surprise falling down from the ceiling.

"Oh c'mon! You found us already?!" No. XIV complained aloud.

The Executioner roared and began chasing after them with his scythe spinning all around.

The group took off once again with the giant reaper hot on their tail. That was until they reached an archway where some gates fell down from behind. He roared in frustration that he couldn't get to them now.

As the four thought they were safe, some Card Guards, Insidious Ruins and Heartless appeared.

"If it's not gigantor, it's these assholes." Axel said with a grimace, summoning forth his weapons once more.

"At least we can handle these small fry." Alice proclaimed, Vorpal sword in hand.

They began to fight them and during this time the Executioner began lifting the gate and sought to join the fray.

Xion noticed this occurring, casted Blizzaga at the gate. The blast greatly froze part of the giant and halted his lifting progression.

She soon heard the shrill scream nearby as the surroundings became monochromatic. No. XIV didn't need to look to know Alice went into her Hysteria state. It wouldn't be much longer as they defeated the remaining enemies with the exception of the near frozen Executioner.

In this recent fight, the four finally took notice they had broken down one of the walls. And they went through this ruined path, hearing the Executioner's roar far behind them.

After several minutes, they came across many chained platforms littered about. Wanting to speed things along, Axel politely picked up Alice in a bridal carry as he and the Keybearers began leaping to and for them all to progress further.

Near the end of the area, they came across a door with some sort of chess puzzle before it. They figured it was a locking mechanism to get through the other side. And wanting to get through it quickly, Roxas and Xion used their Keyblades to bypass it all.

Getting through the doorway, they made it to another area as the gate closed behind them.

"Seems we can't go back now." Said Axel.

"Though with the Executioner after us, we better keep moving." Alice added in.

As she progressed onward and entered the rose maze, the former Princess of Heart felt a small pain in her head. It would've been something of concern if it wasn't for her hearing her beloved sister's voice.

"A locked room is little more than a cage. A prison by another name. And I despise concealment of any kind."

That bit of memory made her remember more why Lizzie hated closed rooms, even of her own bedroom. It was like a punishment from what she recalled her sister saying. One which developed from her youth to becoming akin to claustrophobia.

And with that, it made her think more of what other cages Alice had lived in her life. The Asylum, her trauma entrapping her inside her own mind and while more truths of the fire are revealed, it may have formed another prison entirely.

It would only be with her comrades may she break through her cage and forever be free.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt end as she felt a sudden quake originating from behind. Looking over, she saw the Executioner make his reappearance.

"Oh my God, can this oversized garden cleaver just fuck off already?!" Axel said with a clear sense of growing annoyance towards their pursuer.

"Axel." Xion admonished with a pout.

"What?" He rebuked. "Not like he isn't annoying you too."

"What's that?" Roxas spoke up, making everyone look ahead to see what appeared to be the center of the maze they were running in.

"Is that a…" Alice squinted her eyes as she saw a table in the middle with something on it. "Is that cake?"

"Cake?" Axel snorted derisively. "Is that a reward for surviving this asshole?"

Rather than verbally answering him, Alice picked up her pace and ran right up to the cake on the table and on it saw the frosted words of "eat me".

"Wha-"

She didn't have any more time to dwell on it as she saw the Executioner getting closer and her friends were getting closer.

Scrunching up her face, she grabbed a piece of the cake and scarfed it down in an instant.

"Alice, what-"

Before anyone was able to ask why she just ate the cake, everyone screeched to a halt as they saw Alice literally go from being shorter than Axel to the size of a small building.

"Whoa!" Roxas and Xion exclaimed, eyes building out slightly at the sight of their now giant friend who was staring at herself in astonishment.

Axel had a hand over his eyes, gazing up at the tall Wonderland native with an astonished grin. "...Huh… Who would've thought."

The Nobody trio jolted slightly at the sound of a clang from behind them and they turned around to see the Executioner staring up at Alice with him having dropped his scythe. And by the looks of it, their pursuer was no doubt scared for his life, given his expression.

Alice saw this reaction as well and smirked victoriously.

Raising her foot, she slammed it down hard upon their enemy and killed him in an instant before he could make a break for it.

The Nobody's stared at the defeated foe, with the redhead guffawing slightly.

"Well shit, that's one way to take care of a problem."

They felt the ground shit about slightly and saw Alice lower herself onto one knee with her enlarged palm outstretched.

"Come on." She said with an excited smile. "With me like this, getting through to the Queen will be a sinch."

Choosing not to argue with her statement, they all hopped atop Alice's palm who stood back up and faced the castle of the Queen of Hearts.

"Onward, mighty steed." Axel proclaimed.

"I can easily toss you." Alice dryly said, beginning to trudge forward, the ground shaking beneath her steps.

"Ah please, I can take a throw." Axel waved off, casually leaning on one of her fingers.

She twitched it lightly, making him nearly trip and fall from her hand.

"With you all in my hand, I can't help but think you are all so delightfully cute and adorable." Alice said, using her other hand to lightly poke at Roxas' head.

"Not helping, Alice." No. XIII dryly said.

Alice smiled as her green eyes landed on Xion. "And you are the sweetest of them all."

Xion laughed as the others playfully shoved her.

About to move onward, they heard the roaring steam engine screeching through the air. The source whooshed passed them and nearly struck Alice across the head if she wasn't careful enough.

"The train!" Roxas exclaimed, eyeing the top of it and spotted what he was looking for.

The strange, winged creature that he saw back at Hatter's Domain, the supposed Herald of Wonderland's doom.

"What is that thing riding on it?" Alice asked, squinting at the train with a glare.

They all eyed the speeding Infernal Train as it went along the invisible tracks along the air. Their gaze followed after it before it disappeared behind the castle.

"I saw that creature back at Hatter's place." Roxas stated. "Alice, do you have any idea what it is?"

Liddell gave a hard look of concentration, wracking her brain to figure out just what the entity that rode atop the train was.

After a few moments of contemplation, she let out a self-disappointed sigh.

"It's… familiar to me. But I can't quite place it." Alice said with a frown.

"Well if it was on top of that train, can't label it as a friendly." Axel stated confidently. "Riding on Wonderland's doom and all."

"Agreed." Was the collective response from the group.

Before they were about to go after the train, Alice paused as the four of them heard a horn of some kind being blown in the distance.

"What was that?" Roxas asked, the group looking around to locate the source of the sound.

A few moments went by when…

"The White Queen's army!" Xion exclaimed, pointing to the far side of the Queensland.

They all turned to see a large contingent of a white marbled army marching directly towards the Red Queen's castle.

"Should we go to them?" Roxas asked, looking at his friends for an answer.

"Well the prospect of having an army as back up isn't one that should be brushed aside." Axel said, crossing his arms as he mused on the idea.

Turning towards the army, Alice waved her unused hand towards them.

As if seeing this, the White Queen's army began their move. Echoes of their march were heard in the air as they began advancing further into enemy territory.

"Think it's best we go meet up with them halfway." Roxas suggested.

"I concur."

Stomping towards the army, the four of them saw that the White Queen herself along with Mad Hatter were leading the army itself.

There were some obstacles in their way, prompting Alice to crash through walls and stomp down a litany of smaller buildings and enemies.

"That's one way to get rid of obstacles." Xion commented on the destruction and clearing of these barriers.

After about a minute or so, the two groups finally came together as the sounds of marching came to a halt.

Alice crouched down to a knee, her friends jumping down from her hand and all four stood before their allied army.

"Deary me Alice, what has happened to you that has garnered such growth?" The White Queen asked whimsically as she sat on her white horse. And instead of her royal garments, she wore one for battle.

"I've begun eating better meals lately." Alice cheekily declared. "That and a delicious piece of cake."

"What I wouldn't give to be that size." Hatter said excitedly. "Think of how much tea I can consume!"

"Wouldn't that just cause more waterworks to flow?" Axel jokingly asked.

Hatter scoffed amusingly, waving the comment off. "A worthy sacrifice if ever there was one."

"Not as much as this one here for the sake of the crowd.'' Said a voice familiar to the sandy-blond Nobody.

Looking amongst the crowd, Roxas spotted a pair of individuals. He smiled as he approached them.

"Good to see you two again."

"Likewise, Roxas." Said the Dormouse as she perched on the March Hare's shoulder. "We are here to fight for our Wonderland's future."

"We all are." The White Queen proclaimed. "And with the four of you leading the charge, our victory is all but assured."

Well there was a ringing endorsement if ever there was one.

"Let's hope we can hold true to that sentiment." Xion said, calling forth her Keyblade Seashell Resonance.

As she said that, they heard the rumbling of the opposing enemy forces gathering to meet the army of Marmoreal.

"Here we go." Roxas said in a grim tone, Oathkeeper in hand as he, his friends and the army at their backs turned to face the oncoming tide of reanimated Card Soldiers, Ruins and Heartless.

The White Queen's army entered into formation with the shield bearers up front and spear and pikemen backing them.

The Nobody Trio had their weapons at the ready whilst Alice merely stood back up to her full giant height and clenched her fists tightly.

"Think we have enough?" Roxas asked Axel who shrugged.

"We got an army." No. VIII remarked. "But frankly it never hurts to have more. Sides, we match their color scheme in a more depressed manner."

With a wave of his hands, the Nobody's under the command of the Flurry of Dancing Flames appeared followed by those of the Key of Destiny.

Assassin's and Samurai's now stood alongside the army of White with most not even batting an eye at them.

They did just hear the two discuss reinforcements and moments later, these beings appeared. Hard not to discern that these were allies.

Xion saw this and frowned.

She looked down at the ground, a feeling of inadequacy welling up within her after seeing her two best friends contribute to the army.

The puppet Nobody wished she could call upon her own Nobody's to help. It's unfair to her friends.

The White Queen nudged her steed to stand by the four, Hatter, Dormouse and March Hare doing the same.

The elegant monarch withdrew her own blade and held it aloft in the air.

The clanging and sharp noises of armor, shields, axes, swords and spears clanged together followed by a quick roar as they faced the oncoming horde of enemies.

Once the army of the Queen of Hearts drew near, the White Queen thrusted her sword forward.

"For Wonderland!" She said as loudly as her usually soft voice was able to muster up.

It was all that was needed as the army heard her loud and clear, roaring aloud at the top of their lungs and they began their charge.

The three Nobody's and giant former Princess of Heart sped ahead of the assembled force and collectively tore a swath through the enemy forces.

Roxas and Xion glowed a matching white aura as the two attacked in tandem, cutting, bashing and swatting away Heartless, Ruins, Card Soldiers and other beasties in the Red Queen's army.

Axel jumped into the air with his Chakram and his own body on fire and began spinning rapidly while falling to the ground. Upon striking the ground, a giant plume that formed into a pillar of fire erupted from where he landed.

Alice simply kicked and swatted away at all in her path, her giant stature being practically impossible to stop.

Behind them, the army of White closed in on the opposing force.

"Forward." White Queen exclaimed and her army charged straight through the openings that were made.

The two armies collided with each other, the army of White having a clear advantage in terms of brute strength and coordination.

Hatter stayed close by the White Queen's side, being her ever faithful "knight" protecting her from any foe that attempted to try to get the jump on her.

Dormouse jumped from foe to foe, using March Hare as a launch pad of sorts as the duo speedily moved through the battlefield.

With the initial attack Roxas, Xion, Axel and Alice had administered in their own charge, the Marmoreal army was cutting rapidly through the Queen of Hearts' army.

They were pushing through the enemy army with a great gusto unmatched by most.

And with such a feeling of overwhelming positivity, the universe tends to keep these sorts of moments in check.

"Getting real tired of playing with these cards in particular." Grunted Axel. "Would rather be playing with the ones back on the Normandy."

"Tell me about it." Xion grimaced, smacking a Card Soldier atop its head. It fell face first into the ground followed by Alice walking by and stomping it flat. "They just keep on coming."

"We gotta keep going." Roxas said with a huff as he spun about horizontally to deliver a slash that sent a number of Heartless and Ruin flying back or dispersing into wisps and black viscous. "They can't last forever."

A large shadow flew over the field, causing a number of people to halt in their fighting to see just what it was that was flying above them.

It was an indescribable beast with a mouth that appeared to be breathing out fire in the most literal sense of the word.

And it was coming down directly onto the battlefield below.

From its maw was a massive torrent of hellfire which many of both armies couldn't evade.

Alice and her Nobody companions watched in horror as many of the White Queen's forces were getting decimated like it was nothing with this new arrival.

Swooping about, the airborne enemy made another pass with another stream of flames, earning a litany of cries and yells from both sides.

"We gotta take it out." Xion yelled.

"Alice, throw me." Roxas shouted, jumping up into the air.

Alice nearly failed in catching the Nobody who landed in her hand. "What?"

"Just do it!" No. XIII sternly ordered, startling the giant teen but she acquiesced and reared her arm back before flinging Roxas as hard as she was able to.

Roxas sailed through the air, his face stretching back slightly from the wind buffeting him though he managed to raise Oathkeeper over his head.

The fire breathing creature was unaware of the blond, black hooded missile being sent right towards it and let out a strangled cry of pure agony upon feeling a sharp pain in its neck.

It fell to the ground, crashing down hard with some unfortunate souls being crushed beneath its large frame.

Alice, Axel and Xion rushed to join by Roxas' side as they confronted the monstrous nightmare that decimated the White Queen's army.

Upon standing back up to face them, they felt the aura the creature emanated.

It was primarily a draconic figure yet it appeared to be more cybernetic with the attachments and enhancements it bore. Yet there were a number of unique features from its fleshy/metallic whisker-like feelers coming off his face. It's eyes were replaced with optic lenses, yet there was this hateful fire behind them.

"How typical… and foolish to think you would seek to overcome your guilt of the fire, Alice."

And that voice…

Despite the cybernetic echo, Alice knew it quite clearly.

"I should've known we would come across you again, Jabberwocky." The former Princess of Heart growled, both in anger and trepidation at a foe she thought to have been long dead.

"That was a rather underwhelming greeting to an old friend, no?" The cybernetically changed adversary of old.

"You never have been a friend of mine."

"Yet you embrace such-"

The Jabberwock was interrupted when his face was met with a blast of fire and light, courtesy of the Nobodies.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Were we interrupting your villainous speech?" Axel lazily asked, picking his ear with his free hand, holding it out a moment later to catch his returning Chakram.

It snarled and lunged towards the interlopers with an attack.

Alice reared her foot back and went for a swinging kick that the Jabberwocky easily flew around only to see Xion flying right towards him.

She bashed him right across the face yet he retaliated in turn with his tail smacking the ravenette down.

Two fiery spheres flew by him, leaving scorching cuts on his arms.

The Jabberwocky hissed aloud, turning his head to see Axel jumping up to him with his arms out as his Chakrams reappeared in his hands.

It didn't get to look at No. VIII for long as a beam of light struck his side and he craned his head back to see Roxas attacking from the other side.

Xion had recovered and had conjured a torrent of wind, water and ice, twirling her Keyblade about as she directed her attack towards their adversary.

The combined attacks of the trio pierced his twisted hide, both natural and unnatural, causing real damage. Roaring in pain, it took to the air to avoid any ground level assaults. The Nobodies fired off their spells, hoping to shoot the Jabberwocky down while Alice waved her giant Vorpal sword around each way the monstrosity went.

Unfortunately they were unsuccessful, no matter their attempts. It was quite agile whilst airborne and did much to avoid most of the attacks as some barely clipped him. He then went on the offensive, diving at them and spewing a torrent of hellfire once more.

The group avoided the flames as much as possible. Roxas and Xion fired off a volley of Blizzard blasts to intercept the enemy attack. Steam was the end result and didn't do all that much to briefly block each stream of hellfire. Even Axel fought to compete whose flames were stronger, having him hold back the Jabberwock's onslaught with some of his own.

Alice visibly winced, feeling the flames burn her legs and arms and she opted to shrink back down to her normal height to avoid receiving any further injuries. As much as she had the previous advantage to quickly take out many enemies, she became more of a bigger target for her old adversary than she would've liked.

Axel was immediately by her side, casting a Cura over her to alleviate some of her pain, his friend smiling up at him in appreciation. He returned the gesture, helping her back to her feet in time for the Jabberwocky to land in front of them.

"Once more, relying on others to lessen the pain and burden of your guilt." Alice's old enemy snarled. "Ah, but you're not really relying on them, are you? No, you're hinging your very existence on them to belay the overwhelming remorse that consumes your very being."

"Dear God, you assholes just love to talk, don't you?" Axel said with a purposefully large roll of his eyes. "Lay off with the guilt trip. She's heard enough and I for one am sick and tired of hearing it."

"Who are you to speak to-"

"FUCK OFF ALREADY!" Axel bellowed, unleashing a plume of fire that spun about into a twister of flames that engulfed the Jabberwocky.

The large beast screeched in pain yet remained standing as it forcibly moved through the endless stream of fire.

Once it got close enough, a large fist was reared back and swung down though Axel grabbed Alice and jumped away to safety.

Taking to the skies once again, the Jabberwocky moved to fly after the two yet was intercepted by Roxas and Xion.

The duo engaged the large creature, their Keyblades clashing with the metallic parts of their foe. They were hard to get through, given they were made of sturdy material.

Both Nobody's were startled by the gust of wind that buffeted them as the Jabberwocky flew upwards and away from them.

Roxas scowled to himself. As long as the Jabberwocky remained in the air, much of their attacks would be useless. He himself could glide, but not essentially fly to keep up with their present foe.

"We need to keep that thing grounded." No. XIII said, eyes fixated on their flying enemy.

"Great suggestion. Got any bright ideas to make it happen?" Asked Xion.

"Clipping its wings obviously." Axel rebuked, holding up his weapons. "We got the weapons for it, don't we?"

"Or holding it down… somehow." Alice murmured.

"Don't even think about it." Axel quickly shot the idea down. "You'll be too big a target for that bastard."

"But we must try something." Liddell argued back. "We can't fail now. Wonderland's counting on us. And I for one refuse to let them down."

"That's the spirit."

Xion furrowed her brows in thought. "Then maybe… maybe it's not you who should grow."

"Huh?" Was the collective response from her friends.

"You were able to make yourself grow 'cause of that cake, right?" No. XIV quickly said. "But your sword was also able to change its size with you. Maybe you can still do it just on your sword."

"Can I do that?" Alice asked, holding up her Vorpal Sword.

Axel shrugged. "Won't hurt to try. We got our abilities as is. Doesn't hurt to experiment."

"Screw it, let's go with it." Roxas declared, running forward. "Alice, be ready for your move."

"I don't even know if I can do it." Alice practically whined yet it was ignored as her friends rushed in to engage the Jabberwocky once more.

"You will never escape. You will fail just like everyone before you!" Roared the cybernetic herald of doom.

"Keep talking asshole." Axel yelled back. "See where it gets ya."

As the Nobody's fought off the Jabberwocky to buy Alice some time, their friend stood stock still as she watched her companions in action.

She glanced down at her Vorpal Sword and clenched it tightly before hefting it up and pointed it at her old foe.

Alice held her sword up horizontally from the ground with her other arm beneath her tricep.

She exhaled shakily, steadying her heart rate and breathing with one eye closed, the other aiming the trajectory of her sword.

All the while, the fighting between the Jabberwocky and the Nobody's ramped up with the former unleashing a steady stream of fire from his mouth.

Roxas and Xion dodged the attack whilst Axel merely jumped through it with the flames harmlessly flowing past his clothes and skin.

No. XIII and XIV shifted their Keyblades to Pirate's Dream and Desert Firefly respectively. The pair continued their fight before being able to change their weapons to their desired forms.

Xion's chain whip zoomed across the air and ensnared Jabberwocky's neck. She then zipped across the distance between them before shifting her Keyblade back to normal and began bashing against the cybernetic enemy's head. As this happened, Roxas was able to get in close with his glider form before shifting it to the gauntlet and pummeled against the herald's back. By the time the manifestation of grief shook them off, the Keybearer pair had to repeat the same actions as before.

Axel, meanwhile, was having to switch between the Jabberwocky and the surrounding enemies on occasion to keep Alice protected. It was a little difficult, given Alice had to both focus on her Vorpal sword and maneuvering away from being harmed, whilst she can't fight at all.

Eventually things began to change as the Herald of Ruin decided to go higher into the air once shaking off his opponents. He planned on taking them down with everything he has whilst coming down at full force.

More or less guessing what was happening, Axel called out to his companions and gave them the warning. After this, No. VIII went to protect Alice with what's to come.

Focusing, Roxas and Xion aimed their Keyblades at the Jabberwocky and prepared their Shotlock attacks. The lights gathered at the weapons' tips before shooting out and aimed at the airborne enemy.

Instead of a single spot on their opponent, it was heavily focused on the Jabberwocky's wings. It sought to avoid them, but the incoming attacks were homed in towards their designated targets. The explosions upon collision caused the cybernetic entity to screech, tumble from the sky and decline towards the earth.

With a roar of pain and rage, the Jabberwocky was forced to land before charging at his adversaries. It swiped and snapped at them, who were quick to avoid the onslaught.

It had some success in landing several hits upon the Nobody's however they bounced back instantly with adrenaline fueling their actions.

Yet now the Jabberwocky was simply thrashing about violently.

It lashed out in all directions, knocking away Axel and pinning down Roxas with his tail before he slammed a fist down on the blond.

"Roxas!" Xion and Alice yelled in panic, watching as the Jabberwocky reared its arm back for another downward punch.

No. XIV ran forward just as the fist was being brought down…

Only for the creature to make a sharp turn and swat Xion away with the back of his hand.

The ravenette let out a pained cry, the Jabberwocky pouncing to deliver yet another attack.

With his arm reared back, the fire breathing monster was ready to take out the Keyblade Wielder and swung down.

…

…

…

Xion, who had landed on her back with her eyes closed from the pain, cracked one eye open to see that the Jabberwocky was struggling to bring his arm down.

He let out several grunts of anger, tugging on what appeared to be his stationary arm that refused to move.

Alice and her Nobody companions soon saw something that had latched itself onto their enemy. More accurately, several things. And they were all holding back the Jabberwocky.

From the Jabberwocky's arm, they saw a long thick piano-like string wrapped around it. This string led back to an entity that appeared roughly the Keybearers' and Alice's height and size. It's color palette was primarily gray and purple with the white Nobody sigil on its blank face. Pieces that were black were located around each and every joint of the body along with the shoulder guards, tattered cloth around it's waist, and the large sharp cross attached to the back.

While the Jabberwocky didn't have a clue what interfered in the fight, the others did as it was a lesser Nobody. Yet this was a type neither had seen before at all.

The Jabberwocky sought to attack again, but with its other arm, but said limb was quickly ensnared when another one of those new Nobodies appeared and wrapped it up with its piano wire. It roared in defiance, trying to free itself, but more of them appeared to restrain the harbinger's movements.

"Wha-What are those things?" Roxas asked, gazing at these new allies in bewilderment.

"It has our symbol." Axel said, squinting his eyes at them. "But… I've never seen this kind before."

The new Nobody drifted over to them and it almost seemed as though it were happy or pretending to remember how to be happy as it went specifically up to the ravenette of the group.

It bobbed up and down around her, a thrumming and humming sensation being heard coming from this Nobody.

"Do you know these guys, Xion?" Roxas asked as yet another of these new lesser Nobody's appeared and they all happily drifted around her.

"I… I don't-"

*GROOOOOOOAAARRR*

The furious roar of the Jabberwocky snapped them out of their momentary distraction of these new Nobodies.

"Right, forgot about him for a second." Axel remarked, spinning his chakrams about. "Let's get to it."

The greater Nobody's with their new lesser subordinates ran forward to re-engage the large beast.

All the while, Alice watched on as her friends valiantly fought on while she simply stood to the side and let them fight what was her own demons come to life.

She would not let them carry such a burden that was hers alone.

Not wanting to waste the presented opportunity, a decision was quickly made. She focused long enough in connecting to her weapon.

"Time to confront what frightened you once more." Alice said to herself.

Seeing his old foe approaching, the embodiment of guilt mustered all his strength to free itself. The lesser Nobodies restraining him fought hard to keep it down but could no longer do so as they were soon flung around.

"I will sunder your bones, Alice!"

The young English woman rushed forward, avoiding some lesser Nobodies thrown her way. Even disbursing into butterflies on her dashes to evade the hellfire blasts.

"Alice!" Her three friends shouted all at once and she inhaled sharply as she felt the familiar power of growth surging into her being. It became more prominent as she came ever closer to the Jabberwocky.

But instead of her entire body, she concentrated it all onto her sword.

And rather than growing proportionally large it elongated itself all the way to stab itself right through the neck of her enemy with the tip coming out the other side.

The Jabberwocky howled in utter pain, thrashing about violently when two fiery spheres pierced through his back legs and had fiery pillars come out that trapped him to the ground.

Two Keyblades were then thrown, going through the beast's hands and it was now pinned to the ground.

It jerked its head about to try and free itself yet that movement proved to be his last, fatal error.

"Off with your head." Alice whispered and with a quick jerk of her arm up, sliced clean through the neck of her old enemy.

The Jabberwocky's expression froze, eyes dimming upon the severing of his head from his body as it fell to the ground.

The rest of the body briefly flailed about but soon collapsed to the earth with a loud thud. The head, meanwhile, tried moving once again, even trying to chomp anyone remotely close with its toothy maw.

Yet Alice came upon it and drove the Vorpal sword right through its synthetic eye and drove it hard into the brain.

Few moments later, it remained motionless.

"Is he dead?" Xion asked, lightly nudging the body with her Keyblade.

"Alice lopped off his head… and stabbed it's brain. I think that's dead enough." Axel stated.

"Remember Saren?" Roxas pointed out.

"Yes, but he had Sovereign to revive and possess his body." Xion countered.

"And this place has black goo." Axel approached the corpse and focused. "Yeah, better to make it thorough than not."

With a snap of his fingers, the body and head of the Jabberwocky was engulfed in a bright, fiery red and white fire that burned the beast down to its skeleton.

"Are you sure it's dead now?" Xion dryly asked, her lip twitching upwards.

"Hang on." Roxas stepped forward, leveling his Keyblade just above the charred skull and flicked it.

A moment later, the bones disintegrated into ash and dust, the wind blowing it away.

"Ok, now he's definitely dead." Roxas said with a satisfied nod.

"Are you sure?" Xion wryly said. "Maybe we should blow up or burn the ground that he perished on. Just to be extra, super-duper, ultra-sure."

"In our line of work, that's not something we should just discard." Axel knowingly stated.

"Oh frabjous day… callooh… callay." Came the jovial cheer of the Mad Hatter, the army of Marmoreal now cheering aloud in victory.

"Oh, looks like we won." Roxas noted. "Kinda forgot we were in the middle of a battlefield for a second."

"Even if the Jabberwocky is dead, hopefully for good this time, there's still the matter of the Queen of Hearts."

Alice nodded in agreement as she eyed the ruined castle of the Queen of Hearts.

"What about these… new Nobodies? What are they?" Xion said, turning their attention back to the lesser Nobody's drifting back towards the Ravenette.

"They're new, that's for sure." Roxas murmured, tilting his head as Samurai and Assassins joined them and began swirling and dancing around each other.

"They seem friendly with our boys." Axel noted, rubbing his chin in thought.

"But who do they belong to? That's the underlying question." No. XIII emphasized.

"Not to mention why they appeared." Xion said though found herself smiling slightly at one of these Nobody's appearing to admonish a Samurai and Assassin for nearly bumping into other Nobodies.

It… kinda reminded her… of…

The black haired Keybearers eyes began to widen as a strange "click" seemingly went off within her.

"They look like Marionettes." Axel pointed out. "Look at those strings around their arms and legs."

"Like puppets." Xion whispered quietly. "Like… me."

Roxas and Axel's eyes grew to the size of saucers upon realizing just what their friend had just said.

Xion stepped forward as one of the newly dubbed Marionettes bobbed up and down in front of her.

"These… These are my Nobody's." No. XIV laughed slightly in disbelief. "They're mine."

It appeared that these new Nobodies were waiting for Xion to declare this with all letting out happy thrumming sounds of approval.

Xion shakily laughed again, a giddiness swelling in her chest as she looked back to her friends with an excited grin.

Axel snorted, going over to their friend and placed a kind hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at him, beaming proudly.

He smirked down at her which turned mischievous as he flicked her hood over her head and pulled it over her face.

"Axel~~" No. XIV childishly whined, trying to free herself as Axel kept a hold on her hood. "Why do you always do this~~"

"Cause I enjoy it."

Suddenly, Axel's arm moved back, but not by his own volition. In mere seconds, he was yanked back and lifted to the air. And from the faint shimmer, one could detect the piano wire attached to his body.

The cause of this was one of the Marionettes.

"Hey!" He squawked.

Xion threw her hood back and huffed with a proud smile.

"That's what you get."

Alice shook her head, a wide smile in place.

"Amusing as this is, let's not forget that we're not finished here." She reminded the group. "There is still the matter of the Queen to deal with."

Axel was promptly dropped to the ground though he jumped right back up without any sign of being bothered by what just happened to him.

"Yeah, still gotta take care of her." He said, smacking his arms to get the dirt off his sleeves.

The Cheshire Cat soon appeared beside them and said. "Dilly dallying any longer and the bitch queen will retaliate in ways beyond your control."

"Is that a fact or a metaphor?"

The smiling cat only chuckled as he disappeared and reappeared elsewhere to converse with some individuals.

"Cat is right. We can't stand around any longer."

The White Queen approached the party, her army having splotches of dirt, mud and some blood yet she still retained her regal air.

"You four go on ahead into the castle." She advised them. "We shall stay here, secure the area and prevent any outside interference that may occur."

"Hopefully, we won't be… oh who am I kidding." Axel grumbled. "Come on, let's go already and get this over with."

With a begrudging determination, the party of four ran towards the Red Queen's castle.

Throughout their trek back to the castle, particularly the inner keep, they had to endure the taunts of the evil disemboweled voice that promised them nothing but pain, suffering and death.

"The perfect guest does not overstay. The perfect guest knows when to leave. But you're neither guest nor visitor; you are nothing but undesired interlopers and your presence here shall not be tolerated."

It was by this point did the group realize whenever the ominous demented voice stops speaking, it mean they were about to be attacked by more and more enemies.

-Scene Cut-

Deep within the central keep of the castle was the throne room of its resident ruler.

The interior was practically bare, except from the big and elaborated throne in the middle of the room suspended over a bottomless pit… all because the room didn't exactly have a floor. All it had from the entrance to the throne was a narrow walkway.

The only other thing to note about the room was what it was made of. Instead of a typical space made of stone, wood and filled with a litany of decorations; the entirety of the vicinity was made of flesh.

More specifically big, long, slimy, thick tentacles and meaty muscles. It was not just coming out from the pit and the ceiling but also the walls and even the throne itself. And said throne was composed of both precious metals and gems along with the headless corpses of those who angered the resident ruler.

Speaking of…

The Red Queen or the Queen of Hearts, appeared partially humanoid with her upper body in the shape of a young woman clothed in a red and black corset dress with golden heart designs etched into the cloth with large, spiked rings on her neck and wrists. From her waist down however was nothing but a group of tentacles similar to an octopus coming out of the bottom of the dress. Her head sported four large horns, two that curved to the side like a goat with two more pointing straight out of the top of her head. At the base of the horns was a large crown made of red cloth and golden metal. Her hands were big and monstrous. A white poofy collar surrounded her head. And her face was hidden by a pristine white mask in the shape of a beautiful woman's face, yet from the dark eye holes could see the sickly bright yellow eyes radiating darkness.

"Your champion has met its end." Spoke a man in a black coat.

The Queen waved off this statement dismissively. "He once was, but not any longer." She said in an echoed, dual voice.

"Yes, because being taken by the Ruin and the one behind the corruption." The man remarked.

"What do you want, Luxord?" The Red Queen asked in annoyance.

"Is it wrong to be a courteous servant of the-"

"You and I both know that is the greatest falsehood to come from your mouth." She rebuked bitterly. "What is there to rule other than rubble and ruin?"

"I can probably think of a number of things, but I doubt you'd want to really consider them." The Gambler of Fate airily said.

"You would be right in that matter." The Red Queen spat out. "So if you do consider yourself a most "loyal subject" then abide by the demands of your queen. Leave her be."

Luxord simply placed a hand over his chest with a bow of his head.

"As my lady commands."

Conjuring a Corridor of Darkness, No. X was surrounded by Darkness, the domed doorway disappearing a moment later with Luxord teleporting away.

Alone, the Queen of Hearts slumped into her throne, form slouching over as her head hung low.

"Just leave me alone." She whispered in a broken tone. "Just leave me alone."

-Scene Cut-

Following through the trail of destruction, they eventually reached the inner castle of the Queen of Hearts.

Only to be disgusted by its interior.

It made them more or less uncomfortable as if they were inside some giant creature.

The walls were made of flesh and organs covered in blood and other fluids that pulsated rhythmically as if they were alive. This whole situation had suddenly become an impromptu hands-on biology lesson for them.

"This place sure is… lovely."

"Are you kidding? I'd rather fire the decorator, quite literally in fact."

"I don't even want to know what I'm stepping on."

"I would ask about how you're reacting like we are Alice. But you most certainly knew this beforehand, didn't you?"

"Indeed. I have been here before in case you forgot."

"Then a little heads up wouldn't have hurt."

"I'll bear that in mind next time."

Roxas meanwhile inspected the place a bit more. His vision flashing to another place entirely, given how similar the present location was with a place his Somebody visited in the past.

If he recalled, Sora, Donald and Goofy were swallowed up by Monstro and had to navigate through his innards to properly venture out of it after saving Pinocchio and returning him to Geppetto.

Once the vision faded, No. XIII stepped further in and not entirely phased with what he's presently in.

Before long the others followed after him.

Despite the inner castle's decorations being rather disturbing, the entire place was fairly abandoned. They didn't find either sight or trace of any adversary that might be waiting to ambush and engage them in battle. It was really odd to see their current enemy's seat of power being devoid of any kind of defense, but they weren't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, thus they just moved on and watched where they stepped.

Soon enough they found a giant slide made out of flesh and some unmentionable liquids as it was the only way to truly enter the vicinity. It was so bizarre to see such a thing in the middle of all this gore and blood.

Given how much bullcrap the group had been through, it was hard to really comprehend more of what else had to be done. Thus they jumped down the slide and carefully maneuvered themselves to the very bottom. Acid and debris occasionally fell down from the ceiling above, making things a bit more dangerous on their descent.

At its end, they had to navigate through the fleshy, meaty maze while dealing with the occasional Ruin, Heartless and Nobody.

Along the way, whenever they walked, their feet would end up making these unsettling squishing noises all due to the slimy meat they were walking across. It was rather nauseating..

"It's amazing how there's all this flesh but it doesn't smell." Xion noted, squirming slightly at the fleshy sounds their footsteps made.

"Still looks disgusting." Roxas muttered, looking away from some protrusion that he couldn't really describe but was thoroughly disgusting to stare at.

"So what happened here?" Axel asked, hands behind his head. "This cause of Alice kicking the Queen Bitch to curb or what?"

"I defeated the queen to save my own psyche."

"And now we're here again to do just that."

"But do we need to exactly fight her this time around? Can't we just talk it out?" Xion tentatively asked.

"A lot of the time that's not really an option." Axel said.

"But sometimes the least violent approach is a verbal one." Said No. XIV. "Like what happened with Saren at the Council Chamber."

"Ok, Buddhist philosophies aside," The redhead Nobody cheekily said, pinching Xions' cheek. "We should at the very least be prepared for a fight. No, definitely be prepared for one. Pretty sure this Queeny will be pretty miffed at seeing Alice again after their last confrontation."

"So what do you think she'll do?" Roxas inquired.

Axel grimaced. "Nothing too pleasant I imagine."

The group continued on through the castle with the occasional enemy encounter here and there that they quickly brushed aside.

Eventually, they reached what appeared to be the throne room of the Queen and found it to be as disgusting a fleshy place as the rest of the castle's interior.

There was a sole path that led straight to the Queen seated in her throne with her eyes bowed down and eyes closed.

"That her?" Axel asked. "Just wanna make sure."

Alice clenched her fists tightly, gaze becoming far more intense now.

"Yes." She breathed out. "That's her."

"Well then…" No. VIII conjured a chakram and casually had it dangle from two of his fingers, slinging his weapon over his shoulder. "Queen's court is in session."

Slowly and cautiously, the group approached the unmoving queen, getting closer to her with every step whilst remaining vigilant for any surprises.

As they drew closer, the party saw the queen open her eyes and…

"Am I crazy or… does she kinda look like Alice?" Xion murmured with a disturbed look.

"Could be a trick because of that mask of hers." Axel guardly stated. "Be ready for anything."

Upon reaching the throne, the Queen of Hearts stares at the group in annoyance.

"Come to finish what you started?" The Queen asked in a warbling tone.

"What's there to finish?" Alice rhetorically asked. "You're nothing more than a remnant of my mind."

"Why are you even here?" Roxas questioned. "Alice beat you last time she was here."

The Queen of Hearts replied in an echoed voice. "You and your friends don't know your own mind."

"I think I know it well enough." Came Alice's reply.

"What you claim not to know, is merely what you've denied. You've recaptured and began coming to terms with your vagrant memories. What are you doing with them?" The Queen sneered at Liddell. "You once rejected my attempts to control our lives, forcefully. But now you've allowed another to succeed in my role."

"Another?" Asked Xion. "Who are you talking about? Is it the outside manipulator?"

"You will address me as "your highness", young lady." Snapped the Red Queen.

"And you need to do a count." Axel said, stepping forward. "You're outnumbered."

She snarled at him though his response at alighting the tips of his chakrams with flames made her remain silent.

"Yeah, thought so." No. VIII sneered, lowering his weapon.

"What do you mean by this other?" Alice demanded. "What would I have gained from allowing you control when it's clear to see it holds so little power."

"That is only due to your thoughtless actions." The Queen of Hearts jabbed an accusatory finger at the former princess. "And now, my domain falls into further ruin and decay."

"I won't miss your tentacles." Alice dryly quipped, seeing said tentacles shift about beneath the throne.

"You'd prefer the hot, stinking breath and unyielding attention of a potent, unreasoning, unfeeling, hellraiser?" The Queen slammed her fist down on her throne. "I don't think so."

Axel replied back. "Can you give me and my friends more than a warning? Caterpillar said you might help."

"I'd need a better reason to respond than what's currently on offer." The Mad Monarch responded petulantly.

"If you don't, we're all doomed." Alice warned the Queen.

The masked woman merely snorted. "Not doomed, forgotten. I may survive here; but with the exception of your friends, you're finished. You and your friends have seen the pattern of destruction. I know you all do. The train is trying to destroy all evidence of your past, especially the fire. Now who would want that? Who benefits from your madness?"

Unbeknownst to the four, several tentacles were slowly arising from the bottomless pit and inched closer to them.

"The destruction of Wonderland is the destruction of me?" Alice said in alarm.

The masked Queen gave a firm nod. "Indeed. And vice versa."

"I've set it in motion. I can derail it with the help of my friends. This is good for me, I'm not insane! I didn't kill my family. I am fine. I'm not mad, I'm innocent… I… I mean not guilty!" Alice stammered, suddenly feeling as though she was short of breath.

"Alice? Alice!" Xion cried out in panic at the sight of their friend beginning to breathe in an arrhythmic fashion.

"I-I-I-I-" Liddell stammered, a choking sensation coming over her.

"What did you do?!" Axel yelled, facing the Red Queen with the temperature in the room rising dramatically.

"I did nothing wrong. Nothing yet."

"Huh? Hey, what the-"

It was at this point did the four feel something snag their legs and yanked them up into the air.

The three Nobodies tried to free themselves yet more tentacles shot up from below and wrapped themselves around all four of them. They were completely immobilized now, suspended in the air.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Xion yelled, struggling to free herself.

"The train must be stopped. But there's more to do. Your view conceals a tragedy Alice. The whole truth you claim to seek with the help from your friends eludes you, because you won't look at what's truly around you! And for that to happen, you must remember!"

It was then that the four started to hallucinate as everything began to blur. It had to be either the tentacles, the power the Red Queen was emitting or Wonderland in general.

"There is no method to this madness!"

Next thing they knew, they saw a fat individual wearing a bloody lab coat and a pair of spectacles, as he was conversing with some others in a hospital setting. While the Nobodies didn't know who this man was, Alice definitely did as this was the man who oversaw her admittance at Rutledge Asylum.

"My professional opinion, madness is often a treatable disease -though perhaps not in this case." Dr. Wilson said to an old, short and fat woman who resembled a bloated ugly frog.

"Perhaps another treatment of getting some air into her head or doing some much needed bloodletting will do wonders for her." Spoke Nurse Cratchet.

Everything faded to black before they heard the Red Queen's voice again. "Authority must be obeyed, or it must be overthrown!"

Before long, the group saw Nurse Witless. "Cruel to be kind. That's my technique, as they say. But she's mad as a hatter, poor dearie."

The drunken blackmailer faded away. In her place was a particular key that was designed in the astrological sign of Venus. And the one swinging it back and forth like a pendulum was Dr. Bumby.

"...worst is over, and over, and over. Forget it, Alice. Forget it!" He said with a smile that held something cruel behind it all.

AN

Ok, been a really long while since we were on this one no?

Yeah, we've been hitting a number of roadblocks in finishing this arc and had we continued on, this chapter would have been far longer than originally intended.

Jebest4781: I agree. In all honesty, this arc was a little difficult to perhaps continue on with but no fret, we're almost there.

FMW: Yeah, we get these sort of narrative blocks but thankfully, we're nearing the end of this arc and soon enough will be able to tackle the next one, an Arc that's gonna be very important in the grand scheme of things. So the Wonderland arc will be concluded in the next chapter.

Jeb: We get introduced to a new type of lesser Nobody which serves directly under Xion. And yes the Marionette name is taken by the Heartless in KH3 on the Toy Box world, but in all honesty we couldn't think of a better name. Not to mention there are way too many Heartless in the series so that one could perhaps not exist in the story or whatever.

FMW: I'll be posting a visual on my DeviantArt account of the Lesser Nobody of Xion but also of Namine cause they came in a pair as well as the artist you can go support who made it named HezuNeutral Art. Spectacularly realized designs.

So other than that, thanks for being oh so patient with us with this one.

Just those writer blocks man, they're a pain to deal with.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.