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.

37. Clearing Your Conscious

No note needed, just glad I'm back.

Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.

I'm Nobody Chapter 37: Clearing Your Conscious

It was too much.

The voices.

The screaming.

The Fire!

It felt like she was falling with her hand outstretched for anyone, anything to grab onto it.

This went on for what felt like an eternity until she literally felt like she had just been laid down upon a soft floor and wall.

Alice's vision was blurry and blotchy with black spots appearing and disappearing from her sight as she slowly came to.

"-inguish reality from illusion." Spoke a false voice of sympathy. "Remember your last Journey? An elephant never forgets where she left her trunk."

As she began to gain a better grasp of her surroundings, Alice made a startling discovery.

She couldn't move.

It appeared as though she were bound in a… in a…

Alice's vision fully cleared and the reality of where she was began to set in.

'No, not here!' Liddell mentally screamed, desperately struggling against her bonds. 'Anywhere but here!'

She was back in Rutledge.

Her clothing was gone, replaced with a damnable straight jacket and…

What happened to her hair?!

She may not have a mirror but she can feel a cold breeze running over her bald scalp.

"I mean to say… it's… very hot in here… I mean to say… fuzzy."

Alice, dazed and very much terrified, looked over to Dr. Wilson and Nurse Cratchet in her padded cell who only looked at her as if she were a pest.

A nuisance that should have been dealt with years ago.

'Why am I back here?'

She wanted to cry but she found that her face just refused to respond to her emotions.

"Oh no, no help at all." Nurse Cratchet said with open disgust.

Alice didn't even register what they were saying. It came across as muffled echoes in her ears.

Why? Why was this happening again?

Wasn't she fixed?

She was sane, she was sure of it! She's been working so hard to stay on the straight and narrow since her release!

"Humiliation, I say." Dr. Wilson said disapprovingly. "I approve your release and back you come like a bad penny. Reputation in ruins. People talk, Alice."

'They always do.' She bitterly thought.

"I'm an old dog, buried the bone, don't you know?" Wilson went on in self-pity. "Loyalty… you must never run away from home. Stay, Alice. Sit."

This can't be happening again.

She can't be back in the asylum!

Wasn't she just with her friends?

Where was Roxas, Axel and Xion?

She heard Wilson and Cratchet say something else but she paid them no mind. They were only here to bring her down, nothing more.

'No, something else was the matter here. It had to be.'

Knowing a number of people so long made her realize they were corrupt. Only caring for their self-interests instead of others. Then one of them or all could've conspired to put her back here, but why and for what reason?

If that wasn't the case, then what was?

All she could recall last was her confronting the Red Queen and…

"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!"

Those words the Red Queen said rang through her mind.

'Remember? What do I need to remember?'

"...worst is over, and over, and over. Forget it, Alice. Forget it!"

And soon enough she heard Bumby's voice in the air, making her question things more.

'And what did he want me to forget?'

With shaky legs, seeing that Dr. Wilson and Nurse Crachet seemingly disappeared, Alice forced herself to stand on her bare legs.

She walked forward with a slight waddle, her damned straight jacket impeding her movements.

And her right shoulder was cold.

Blasted idiots couldn't even place her straight jacket on straight.

Walking out from her room, Alice stood in an empty and rather decrepit hallway.

Looking around with a glazed look in her eyes, she saw the hallway to her right would lead to a dead end so to the left she went.

Her walk was slowed, her binds forcing her to continually waddle and adjust herself and…

Was that inmate missing his face?

It must be her imagination.

For other inmates she passed on by didn't have faces at all. Like one of those mannequin dolls at clothing shops.

What is going on right now?

This wasn't like last time.

This felt far more… foreboding.

A feeling of dread crept up upon her. She wasn't supposed to be here.

'Roxas.' She thought to herself. 'Axel. Xion. Please… where are you? I need your help.'

Coming across a room with a chair in the center, the space gave out a sudden flash.

Without realizing, she was in the chair, restrained, with two large neanderthal blokes standing beside her. They wore red and white shirts with propeller hats and white pants.

The bigger one was twisting a drill contraption into her shaved head. The smaller one said, "If it isn't "whatshername" from the idiots' ward."

The big brute spoke next. "Yeah. It's Alice! Uncle's prize lunatic."

'Oh God.' Alice thought in horrified realization. 'The Tweedles.'

Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

Two brutal hearts with equally brute like behavior.

She remembered seeing them assault and rape a number of inmates here, just for the hell of it and neither Nurse Cratchet and Dr. Wilson batted an eye for their actions.

Alice squirmed in her seat, slowly feeling the drill pierce her skull.

Looking beyond, she saw the faceless form of Nurse Cratchet walking into the room. "The instruments are gruesome! But a hole in the head gives the troubles more space. Just the thing for your "stone of madness". Good for seizures, too, maybe. You must be sick of those as I hear you whining about 'em!"

In a flash, Alice found herself alone in the room, but there was blood everywhere. Equipment was thrashed about with parts of the space being utterly destroyed. And the odd thing was the giant screws piercing through the walls.

Was this… was this inside her head after what the Tweedles did to her?

And there was now screaming in the background.

Shrieks of pain and agony from her fellow inmates.

'God no.' Alice mentally languished. 'Please, let this be an illusion. There's a way out, there has to be.'

Alice kept on walking down the hall before coming to a double door, which opened by themselves.

An instant later, she found herself strapped onto it as the faceless appearance of Nurse Cratchet was there again. With her were Tweedledee and Tweedledumb who held jars of leeches.

"Some mental conditions are relieved by bloodletting. Doctor thinks it won't be effective against your symptoms, but I'm at the end of my tether, and these leeches need the work."

After Cratchet said her piece, the smaller of the brothers held a leech above Alice's head. "A baker's dozen, nurse. Let me put 'em on her."

The big one shoved the smaller one away. "No, me, me! I can make them hurt."

A flash happened once more as the space was drenched in blood and decay.

Alice pressed on as she sought to find anyone to rely upon.

Getting through a corridor, she came into a room where she saw Tweedledee and Tweedledum once more, but this time in normal attire as orderlies at the asylum.

"I know…"

"Which way is up, and which way is down?"

"I was gonna say…"

"Your prayers?"

"Don't interrupt. If I can't…"

"Go to the lavatory?"

"Maddening…"

Walking past the bickering Neanderthals, Alice couldn't help but comment about it as she left the room. "Yes you are. But what am I?"

Upon entering another room, Alice suddenly found herself sitting on a couch.

To her right, she saw Dr. Bumby who then spoke to her. "Come now, Alice. Am I not to be as much honored and obeyed as the Queen? Is that asking too much? I want what she wanted. Give yourself over to that. Trade the tentacles for the train. It's altogether a better ride. It's that or back to Rutledge."

What did he mean by that?

Things only got stranger and worse really as others appeared, rambling on about her mental deterioration, her "unappreciative" demeanor, how unprepared she was for the dark world outside the walls of the asylum.

Alice turned to her left and saw Nurse Witless sitting there.

"Never a kind word, or reward for services rendered. Don't I deserve a bit of luck? Don't make a mess on what's right and owing to me, I say. Brought you out of the asylum… Now you'll go back on your own accord!"

"Well fuck you too, you old hag." Spat out Alice.

Turning her head around, she jumped in her seat when seeing Bumby being replaced by Nan Sharpe.

"I told your mother, dear. You're a distant and stubborn child, too content in her own world. Young women need to leave their Wonderlands. The real world is not so wonderful. You'll need to grow up. Perhaps some more time in 'care'."

Alice gritted her teeth and looked away, not wanting to respond to her former nanny. Only then did she see Witless being replaced by Radcliffe.

"You look decent enough, but appearances deceive. I know you for an unstable and violent person. I can't say I'm surprised you've been incarcerated in the asylum again. A long stay under supervision would serve you right."

At that instant, Alice got up and bolted out of the room and through the nearby doorway out of there. The halls were pouring down blood with the screams starting to escalate.

She had to get out of here. There has to be a way.

Opening her mouth, her voice came out as a croak, making her cough yet she forced her way through the pain.

"Roxas!" She cried out. "Axel! Xion! Please! Where are you?! I need you! I need your help!"

She didn't receive an answer but she refused to give up.

Her friends were close.

Somewhere, they were close by.

She could feel it in her Heart. Alice knows that they would never abandon her.

Eventually getting out of the asylum, she was soon met with a familiar voice ringing in her ears.

"-lice!"

Alice's head whipped around, looking in all directions.

That voice…

She recognized that voice!

Muffled and distorted as it was, she knew who that voice belonged to.

"-ow did we lose her? We were right-"

"Axel!" She yelled out, knowing who that voice belonged to. "Roxas! Xion! I'm here! Over… I don't know where but please, listen to the sound of my voice."

She strained her ears, hoping for some kind of response.

"-ere is she?" Asked the worried voice of Xion.

"She's gotta be around here somewhere."

That was Roxas!

"My friends!" She cried out in desperation, rushing towards the sounds of their voices. "I'm over here!"

She ran down the bloody highway, ignoring the other inmates before she forcibly shoved her way through the door at the end.

Soon enough, she was no longer in Rutledge and back in London.

Was she sleepwalking again? But how? She had her bedroom locked up so she wouldn't go out again like before.

She was after all in her attire she wore before going to sleep. She hadn't bothered to change into her night clothes before Roxas put her to sleep with his one spell.

Whatever the case may be, she needed to return.

Unfortunately for her, it was too damn foggy. So thick she could only see things relatively close to her.

Looking about, she saw a light in the distance, making her rush towards it as best as possible. Getting close, she saw the light coming from a streetlamp.

At that moment, she saw a trail of blood, making her follow it out of both worry and for curiosity sakes.

At the end, she saw a child sliced in half, crawling away before spotting Alice approaching him.

"Help, Alice. We need your help! Don't desert us… again. Don't ignore us."

Alice knelt down and put her hands to the ground. "Why do you suffer? The Queen's tyranny is just a memory. She has no power over you does she?"

She honestly didn't know why she said this. If she was in Wonderland, that would be the appropriate thing to say. Yet she was in London, wasn't she? Shouldn't she ask and say the right things instead as a response?

The bleeding child replied. "Our enemies come and go. But a new evil reigns. And this fiend's malevolence has eclipsed the conquered Queen's."

Moments later, the child laid down exhausted and died.

Alice stood back up and walked onward, searching for the orphanage or for her friends.

Eventually the fog got thicker and thicker, causing her to no longer see where she was going. Yet there was a light nearby, causing her to head towards it like a moth to a flame.

In her case a butterfly to a flame.

At the source, she didn't realize she was running towards a burning building resembling her childhood home.

She didn't see the three blackened arms reaching out to her from behind and a moment later, grasped onto her tightly and pulled her back.

Alice gasped as her entire vision changed and everything was clear now.

No fog, no fire, no claustrophobic asylum and no dead children.

Just-

"There ya are."

Alice shook her head and looked up to see Roxas, Axel and Xion looking down at her in relief.

"Jeez Alice, don't go and disappear on us like that again." Axel said with a cocky smirk in place.

"Are you ok, Alice?" No. XIV asked in clear concern. "We lost you there for a while."

"Yeah, you're lookin' a bit pale." Roxas remarked, frowning at her slightly ashen face. "What happened?"

Rather than verbally answer them, Alice pounced on the trio and pulled them in for an overly emotional hug whilst shaking like a leaf.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Xion whispered, not denying the hug as she heard the girl sniffle, Alice tightening her hug on them.

"Just… a bad nightmare." Liddell tearfully said, leaning her head against Roxas and Xion, her left hand pulling Axel as close as she was able to in a desperate attempt to make sure they wouldn't disappear.

"Must've been a hell of a nightmare." The fiery Nobody commented, frowning at how she was acting right now.

"You have no idea." Alice whispered as she pulled away and wiped her tears that had fallen down her face.

"Are you sure you're ok, Alice?" Roxas worriedly asked. "You look really rattled."

"I was." Alice admitted, placing her hands on Roxas and Xions shoulders. "But I'm much better now. Promise."

No. VIII crossed his arms, clearly unconvinced though he chose not to dwell on the matter.

He gave the girl a once over and smirked slightly.

"Nice new duds."

Liddell looked down and saw she was now wearing new garments again.

Alice was now wearing a vertical-striped bodice with oversized buttons, reminiscent of a doll's clothing. The left sleeve was torn with stuffing poking out of it. The dress features a pink and black tartan overskirt with decorative stitching along the border over a baby-pink ruffled petticoat. The dress is paired with teal and white striped fingerless gloves. The apron's pockets feature the embroidered astronomical signs of Mars and Ceres. The skull on the pink bow is replaced with a broken doll's head with a button nose, empty eyes and a gaping moth with purplish cheeks.

"Well now, this is somewhat gaudy but it will do." Alice commented.

She then looked up to see where they were standing and blinked at the sight.

Their present location was relatively colorful. A lot of places were enlarged dollhouses with a litany of children's toys -consisting of wooden blocks, figurines, crayons, pencils and plushies- were sprawled about. Yet there was the odd choice on building structures of them occasionally having doll parts attached or making up most of the framework.

"Where are we anyways?" She asked her friends, all of whom shrugged.

"You tell us." Axel said, running his hand through his hair. "Have no clue where in Wonderland we're in."

"Your guess is as good as mine." Xion added.

"Can tell ya one thing, most of the locals ain't nice." Roxas stated.

"What happened to you after… whatever the Red Queen did to us?" Asked Alice.

"Just finding ourselves here, taking care of Ruins and Heartless and whatever demented shit there is here." Axel grumped. "All the while looking for you."

"Like what?"

"Those." He said, pointing ahead.

Looking onward, Alice saw a pair of enemies slowly coming towards them.

The first -named Bitch Baby- looked like two dolls meshed together with a mechanism. It's female doll head with dirty blonde hair has a pair of screws jetting out of its eyes with white goo dripping down its face. The rest of the body has four legs which act as propellers.

The other -called Doll Girl- was twice as large as the foursome. It bore no eyes, an arm was replaced with a giant hook and seemed to eerily giggle as it was coming close to them.

Alice actually recoiled slightly at the sight of them. "What in the World…?"

"Yeah, not pleasant to look at, are they?" Axel snarked, throwing his hands forward as his Chakrams made a fiery spin into his hands.

"Ghastly." Alice aloud before withdrawing her Vorpal Sword.

Roxas and Xion summoned their Keyblades and the group dashed forward to engage in these new foes.

It was rather easy to take out the airborne fighter, given it didn't have much offensive capabilities. The Doll Girl, however, was rather tanky as it took up a lot of abuse.

Despite taking out both her arms, the Doll Girl kept on charging at the group with the intent to kill, shrieking an ungodly scream that sent a shiver down Alice's spine. As the fight went on, the clothing of the Doll Girl started to disintegrate. It was only then when they were bare as they were created when they were truly vulnerable to the onslaught.

When its chest piece was cracked open, the Doll Girl proceeded to breathe fire in retaliation.

Unfortunately for this enemy, the Flurry of Dancing Flames was one of its enemies.

Axel zipped on by, getting right in front of the stream flames from the Dolls mouth, his body taking the fire with absolutely no damage.

"Was that it?" No. VIII mocked. "Color me disappointed."

He clasped his chakrams together, the two weapons rapidly spinning into a fiery disk.

"Here." He said aloud. "Let me show you a real fire show."

Rearing his hand back, Axel flung his weapons at full force at the Doll Girl. The spinning disks slammed into the fiery core of the Doll Girl and it shrieked in pain until the screams died with it, the Chakrams expunging a pillar of fire that burnt the enemy to ashes.

The chakram spun back into his hands, a satisfied grin seen on his face.

"If these are gonna be the enemies we're gonna deal with here, this will be a piece of cake." Axel remarked, spinning a chakram around his finger.

"Are you saying that, just because of the sweets dumped all around here?" Asked Roxas, motioning towards some big pieces of cake over yonder.

Axel gave the younger Nobody a flat look. "No, I'm not. Just a slip of the tongue."

"I could honestly go for some cake." Xion murmured, looking at the oversized sweets longingly.

"I don't think you should be eating them, Xion." Alice commented, giving the giant cakes an unsure expression.

"Well, cakes aside, let's keep movin'." Axel gestured his arm forward. "Let's not stand around her for more assholes to ruin our day as is."

Not really seeing a point in arguing that, the group resumed their trek through this downtrodden, industrial part of Wonderland.

As they walked around the corner to a spacious area with bizarre structures, up ahead was a building named Fort Resistance.

They drew closer to the building and upon standing at the entrance, the doors opened from the oddly labeled Fort. The group took notice of this before they were greeted by some children who looked absolutely horrifying.

Two of them had their brains openly exposed with one of them having sharp wire to keep their mouth shut while the other had a carpenter drill lodged in their head. The smallest of the bunch had a lobotomizing headgear strapped onto them. The last had staples along her head, mouth and eyelids as she held onto a teddy bear. All of them were covered in blood and piss stains while wearing asylum clothing.

"What the hell…" No. VIII quietly said, deeply disturbed by what he was seeing.

Roxas and Xion visibly winced, the latter having to look away for a moment as the grotesque sight was a bit much to look at.

Alice held a more somber, sympathetic and forlorn expression as she walked forward.

The one holding the teddy bear who was the apparent leader soon approached them. "The unstable are more than merely made. They have other parts. The Dollmaker will deprive them of what remains of their deranged souls. They need care."

Xion soon voiced something under her breath. "The Dollmaker?"

Alice soon approached the leader of the little group. "I know their pain. I would assist. But is this sanity required for the job?"

The leader replied, "A limited quantity. You're not mad enough to be rejected, and your friends are not even mad at all." She then looked back to her fellow insane children before gazing back. "Unlike your friends, you're like them… of them, in a way; but not them. I should say not "us". For I'm them, but you are on your way. The way is clearly marked."

Alice gave a response back. "I… believe I know that way. And I'd rather not travel further along it."

There was a shriek in the air, causing the leader to shout. "He's here, you dimwits. Get inside."

The children soon ran back inside and closed the doors.

From the barricade nearby, another Doll Girl appeared. Instead of having a giant hook, it wielded a big scissor which separated into two.

It was rather easy to take care of this enemy, knowing what to expect of it this time around; despite the slight change in its offensive capabilities.

With the little battle over, the group moved along the newly available path labeled "Frog's Way". And in the intended route, the sign pointed towards entering a doorway placed at the *cough* private area *cough* of a gigantic doll.

Neither member of the team wanted to comment about this disturbing bit of design work.

Once traversing through the "private" doorway, they went along the intended path. Before long, the Cheshire Cat appeared.

"I heard self-reliance is a virtue. Now you've earned it."

It was at this point Alice and the Nobodies knew the demented cat meant they need to be self-reliant, yet they needed to help each other when needed it.

"Cheshire." Said Alice, "What has happened since we were gone?"

"The battle has won and the day was saved, yet the war for Wonderland hasn't ended quite yet for there always remains the depraved."

"Catchy rhyme." Axel said, clearly unamused.

"That means we still need to take care of the Infernal Train and whoever controls it." Xion surmised, ignoring her friends' comment.

"Indeed. Once defeating the orchestrator will save Wonderland, thus yourself as well, Alice."

With the grinning cat abruptly leaving as he always does, the group continued on with navigating through this area.

Leaping, jumping, impromptu flying moments were rather occurring as they had to go through the maze-like area. Even pulling the occasional lever, which could've been done without the giant eye moving about. They eventually reached an open spaced area where they were greeted by several Drifting Ruins and Heartless which resembled patchwork stuffed plushies and bouncing toys stylized as animals.

Alice immediately went into Hysteria Mode to swiftly overwhelm their foes. And the two Keybearers had their weapons go into their Form changes.

The trifecta of Nobody's utilized their own limits as the enemies were starting to become more numerous and stronger yet the group pressed on.

They passed along an elongated mirror which had the words "Save Us" written in smeared blood. And when seeing some furniture sprawled about, they couldn't help but notice some doll parts being used for legs, cushions and other contraptions. Even the occasional bed they came across was stained in blood and other foul liquids and smells.

Moving through the territory, there were faint cries of children heard in the air. Yet they seemed to be drowned out to a degree by some upbeat music of Victorian London.

They even came across a disturbing piece of work with a headless doll on a swing with nails and spikes protruding from it, which was swinging to-and-fro like a pendulum. And the occasional portrait or photo which oddly had price tags on them for some apparent reason.

"What kind of demented place is this?" Axel couldn't help but speak up at the increasingly disturbing sights they were encountering.

"The work of this Dollmaker, most likely." Roxas surmised.

"What kind of work is this?" No. XIV questioned.

"A madman." The former Princess of Heart murmured in a deadly quiet voice. "A depraved man."

The Nobody's said nothing yet Axel's expression morphed into one of a more menacing glare, heat briefly going up around him.

Reaching another open area, they had to relieve themselves of the Heartless, Ruins and Doll-like enemies in their wake. Once they were taken care of, more navigation through this confusing area continued on.

Pressing on, more puzzles had to be solved in order to have other dollhouses open up for them. Gauntlets would soon follow. Rinse and repeat as always.

Eventually they came across a platform where a jack-in-a-box was all by itself. Approaching it, they saw the Cheshire Cat appearing beside it.

"Looks like a perfect fit; and I'm a perfect judge. Time to put your new noggin to good use."

With him disappearing, no one didn't really knew what to do next.

Taking a gander, Xion and Alice went to the box and worked together to move the large crank. After several turns, a doll's head sprang out and flew right into the nearby building.

What neither of them knew was the doll head was going through a litany of ball gauntlet games. Going through one obstacle after another, it would be tossed about before reaching the end and hitting a switch.

As a result of this, the four suddenly found themselves in a subterranean location with a large slide positioned nearby.

Going down the slide, the team had to carefully move about. Not falling off the rail-less sides to making contact with the hot steaming tar.

At the ride's end, they wound up in another building where they were soon greeted by their usual foes since coming to this odd location of Wonderland.

Pulling out their weapons, the quartet rushed the enemies with a series of precise dual attacks that laid waste to their adversaries.

They had no time to dwell on these foes.

They were nearing the end of this all.

It could be felt by all of them.

After the present enemies were slain, the group soon entered what appeared to be a bizarre museum of oddities. There were morbid depictions of dolls, glass cages containing different horrific objects, wax figures, meat, nails, screws and knives.

In one corner, there was a large glass jar with three dead mice with dark glasses and canes. Another had a cat skeleton with a large top-hat. Some shelves contained doll heads with alchemical and astrological symbols on their foreheads.

And there was one section which held a handful of toys. One had a doll's head missing an eye with it attached to some sort of metal contraption. There was a fishing pole attached to some doll legs. A duck's head is attached to a doll's body with a spring for a lower half. A giant hand coming out of a jack-in-a-box. Another doll's head, but this time it was attached to a rolling object. A toy frog with wheels for legs. A toy carriage with doll legs instead of wheels.

Going deeper into the area, they started to see dolls being brought to some place. For whatever purpose it was, all they could really think of was this area is where the Ruins are perhaps manufactured.

Only time will tell if there is more to that than they dare to believe.

Yet when she eyed this occurring, Alice heard Dr. Bumby's words echo through her head.

"Damaged people feed on the emotions of others, Alice. Their strengths… and weaknesses."

Alice realized he meant that people can take advantage of others. She glanced over and remembered the tale her companions spoke of with how they defected from Organization XIII as they were a means to an end.

They broke free of such a thing.

Didn't she do the same?

She found herself frowning.

She did, didn't she?

"Alice."

Liddell jolted slightly, turning to see Xion looking at her with slight concern.

"Is everything alright?" The Ravenette asked.

She looked at Xion with a faraway glaze in her eyes which shifted over to Roxas and Axel who were also now looking at her.

"I… I don't know." Alice admitted quietly. "I just feel… really off right now."

"Need a break?" Roxas inquired, clearly worried about her.

"No, no." Alice shook her head. "Just a moment is all. Let's keep moving."

They kept moving through the area. Looking more at the disturbing pieces on display while trying to find a way out or any openings to continue.

It was rather unfortunate that constant exposure to such sights can be desensitizing but they eventually ignored these frightening images.

Wonderland really was being corrupted.

It was strange with how they had already seen the effects firsthand of the change in a world they once knew but this was like a culmination of it all. The final corruption or perhaps the place where it all stemmed from.

Their trek went on, scaling buildings, jumping from platform to platform with the occasional enemy skirmish here and there.

The Cat soon appeared and said, "Threats, promises and good intentions don't amount to action."

The group meant that in a way, action does speak louder than words. More often than not, the Nobodies were quite experienced in such a field.

Other disturbing works were seen by the four. Some were passive as they could be easily avoided in a way while others had to be moved around as they appeared to be obstacles.

During this encounter, Alice soon recalled something her family lawyer once said some time ago. "The undiscovered guilty and the wronged innocent share similar faces. Prisons and chains have many forms."

She realized Radcliffe meant that people can be prisoners of circumstance, like herself with her believing the fire was her fault with others feasting upon that guilt like vultures.

Navigating their way through the spiky maze; consisting of pressure clocks, levers and sealed doors, they came across a doorway that was labeled as "666" for some apparent reason.

Going through, they went down another slide. It was a brief ride, despite them having to avoid hot ruin tar once again. And once more after departing from it did they encounter more enemies.

The Cheshire Cat made a quick appearance once they were all gone and said, "Annihilate what threatens to destroy you." Once done, he disappeared like he usually does.

Eventually re-emerging from the underground areas of the domain, the group found themselves back at Fort Resistance, which had been breached since their absence. It had been deserted, yet there were signs of the previous residents' being here with the blood splattered about. But the Insane Child leader's corpse was visible near the entrance.

"Oh how horrible." Xion whispered, hand going up to her mouth.

"The hell got to her?" Axel questioned, a stern gaze in place.

Taking a closer inspection, they saw she was given a fatal hit and was either dragged for a short distance or crawled away before succumbing to her injuries. Her eyes were gouged out and what seemed out of place was her teddy bear no longer in her possession.

Alice felt remorse when seeing this. Never liking the idea of seeing children dying in various ways. Whether they were rotten or innocent, no child should meet such an untimely end with so much for them to experience.

Hopefully once Wonderland is saved, for her to be saved, everyone that deserved to live would live. This child, the white rabbit, and many others who fell because of this corruption.

Once going through the grievances, they ventured further into the house where they soon met with perhaps the children's' killers.

The former Princess of Heart was rather vicious in slaying her share of the enemies they found; not that any of the Nobodies could blame her. They knew she had a soft spot for children and they figured seeing a dead or harmed one would set her off.

Once cleaning out the Fort, which was relatively a simple task, they entered another area when going through another giant baby doll's "private" doorway.

Honestly, the disturbing theme was getting to them. No doubt once they leave this place, they'll need somewhere sanitary to thoroughly clean themselves of this metaphorical filth.

Though the Nobody's clothing cleans themselves, they still figured a proper shower would be needed after going through Wonderland all things considered.

As they continued their trek through this ever moving and bizarre part of Wonderland, the group soon came across a piano. Not much else around it to depict a way onward for their journey.

Xion looked towards Alice. "Seems we've got another music challenge here."

Axel tilted his head at the musical instrument. "Hopefully it won't be too complicated. I ain't all musically inclined."

They watched as their friend native to this world walked forward towards the piano and placed her fingers upon the keys.

After several verses, Alice muttered aloud. "No melody should soothe this outrage."

The wall of the doll house opened up for them, leading them elsewhere.

They went onwards with a strange feeling of uncomfortableness and dread coming over them.

"What is with this place?" Axel remarked. "Feels like the further we go in-"

"The more wrong everything feels." Xion finished with the redhead nodding in agreement.

As they continued forward, Alice walked past a certain display of a doll somewhat reminiscent of Humpty Dumpty. Most of the children's story characters were reassembled, but not quite right to be completely whole again. Seeing this made her remember something.

"Remaking children. Build them up, tear them down, refashion them; teach them the new; forget the old."

When hearing Bumby's voice ring her head, saying this, something within Alice flared hotly with disgust.

Such a thing should be considered the worst crime to do to a child, making them forget in a forceful manner. Manipulating into being something not of themselves.

"I'm no toy! Bumby wanted me to do things I didn't want to do."

Then she heard Lizzie's voice, a memory she seemed to have forgotten. Something that was really important and significant.

"What was that?" Xion inquired. "Who was that?"

"That other girl…" Roxas frowned in thought. "Who was that?"

"That was my sister." Alice revealed, a hint of anger clear for them to hear. She then blinked in confusion and rounded her head towards the Nobodies. "Wait a tick, you heard that?"

"Sure did."

"But… how?"

"I…"

Alice was at a loss, not knowing how to explain this.

Luckily for her, this issue was avoided when No. VIII spoke up with a distasteful look on his features.

"The hell was she doing with that creep Doctor?" Axel questioned, a strange gut feeling forming from hearing this.

Alice shook her head. "I don't know but… I'm not going to sit around to find out. Let's keep going."

Going down yet another slide and dealing with the usual obstacles along the way til its end. Once leaving it, they met with their enemies once again.

It was a rinse and repeat process for a number of minutes until eventually, they came across something they haven't seen in a while…

"Another door…" Alice muttered, gazing at it with trepidation.

A lone door with fire seen from the glass with nothing else attached to it.

"You ready to see what's on the other side?" Roxas asked, unsure of whether or not going through this was the right course of action.

Alice shook her head. "I'm not very much sure, but I most certainly need to be. I wish to find out the truth of it all."

Opening up the doorway, a bright light encompassed them all.

When the light died out, the four found themselves back within the Liddell residence and saw a number of things play out.

After viewing the Liddell library of what it once was, a vast collection of books, paper and a litany of other objects. It would be here that a fire erupts from some place. Not from the already snuffed out fireplace, but somewhere else entirely. It merely reaches this room, which accelerates it all.

Once this was viewed, something odd occurred in the four's vision. One which would repeat itself accordingly.

A key ring appeared from the darkness with a key falling down into place. It was designed under the sign for Saturn: the symbol of problems, obstacles and growth through adversity.

Alice brought Dinah -the family cat- upstairs and personally tucked her into her little bed before going to bed herself. She soon dreamt of her Wonderland, not knowing of someone breaking into the family home.

Another key fell down from the darkness to join the other, which was designed after the sign of Mercury: the symbol for thought, communication, intelligence, mental clarity and problem-solving.

Alice from back then awoke when she heard something amiss, due to her opened bedroom door. She was clueless back then to what those sounds were, yet her older self and her companions realized they were sounds of sexual assault; which originated from Lizzie's bedroom, all before they were snuffed out. Shortly after, the younger Alice saw the home intruder, who took on the appearance of a Centaur from what light was in the hallway before he noticed her and closed her door.

Another key joined the ring, which bore the sign of Luna as it represented emotions, feelings, secrets and family.

Alice was so scared of the intruder's appearance that she tried to think it was merely the aftereffects of her dreams. Eventually she returned to her Wonderland through her slumber, yet that was when the fire occurred.

The Mad Hatter was the first to notice the fire through Wonderland and did his best to wake up Alice as swiftly as possible. Once that happened, she soon smelled the burning fumes all before hearing her parents banging on her door in hopes of waking her up and telling her to escape.

The young Alice saw Dinah fleeing from her open window, getting her to follow suit. As she climbed out, Alice heard her parents try to reach Lizzie, yet it was all for naught for her bedroom was locked and the young woman inside was slain prior to the fire.

From another perspective, the Centaur broke into the family home, found the key rack and took one before going upstairs. He entered Lizzie's room and had his way with her before slaying her and locking the door behind him. After shutting Alice's room and jamming the door, the Centaur took the hallway lamp and went downstairs before tossing the lit object and letting it shatter. The fire spread and started to accelerate just when the intruder got outside. He could've fled into the snowy night, yet he stayed to witness the "spectacle".

At this point another key appeared, one which looked like the sign of Mars: symbolizing the energy which forces one to confront their deepest, darkest secrets and drive a spike of active understanding in the heart of one's shadows.

From there, the group of four witness the younger Alice having to escape from her window so she would not perish like the rest of her family. She tumbled along the roof and miraculously landed on a big pile of snow with her stuffed rabbit plushie. The scared child held onto her cherished toy for comfort as she soon witnessed what befell upon her family home.

When the younger Alice sought to block the horror from her eyes, she saw the centaur in the shadows. Yet the shadows were obscuring the truth on who the perpetrator was.

The flames intensified from the burning home, revealing more on who the "centaur" really was. And in his possession was the key which belonged to Lizzie's room, who he kept within his coat. It bore the symbol of Venus, representing the sign of love, affection, beauty, harmony… and to Alice, her beloved sister who was her idol.

He stayed to view his work before walking into the darkness and not noticing he had been seen.

As the one behind it all disappeared into the darkness, a light soon encompassed the group once more and returned them to the underground area.

The moment everyone started to recollect themselves, the Nobodies slowly turned to Alice with a number of expressions. Yet they seemed to be overshadowed with the ones the former Princess of Heart presently expressed.

"That… bastard…" Alice said in a low venomous hiss. "THAT BASTARD!"

Without warning, she pulled out her Vorpal sword, hacking and slashing at whatever was nearby whilst she continued to violently curse and spit out one obscenity after the other.

Axel held a deeply disturbed and equally enraged expression though he was far more reserved. However one could easily see the raging fury in his eyes.

Roxas and Xion conveyed confusion but were distraught as they weren't fully grasping at what they had just seen, what was implied. Despite them having known beforehand.

Yet getting the full picture of it all, the full story which was sought to be forgotten made things much worse.

"That was Dr. Bumby with your sister back there." Xion was visibly pale, bordering on looking like she was about to throw up. "Wha-what did he do to her?"

"Something he's gonna pay dearly for." Axel growled, eyes murderous with one hand open and a considerably large flame held in his palm.

Though Roxas didn't fully comprehend what had happened, it was clear enough for him to understand that Dr. Bumby had done something vile to Alice, her sister and her family.

And for that, he will pay.

"He's not far." Alice murmured. "The one behind all this. He's close. I can feel it."

Raising his palm of fire, Axel slammed his fist into it, expunging a small ring of flames from him.

"What are we waiting for? We got a bastard to burn." Axel declared, voice deadly.

The party resumed their journey, entering into a far more disturbing and twisted domain.

Dolls of what looked to be young children hung from banisters, ceilings and rafters. Even seeing them being moved about on either conveyor belts or a moving meat hook rack. As if they were on an assembly line.

"What…" Xion displayed distress at the sight. "What is this place?"

Alice only shook her head. "The domain of a monster. Come on."

Traversing through this place, they had encountered the usual crop of foes though in the times they ran into them, they were disposed of with a greater degree of vitriolic fury.

Soon enough, they scaled up a number of stairs and platforms until reaching what appeared to be the area of this distorted and twisted domain.

"So it was indeed you, the one behind it all." Liddell whispered, body beginning to shake violently.

The one they see before them was a large, twisted reflection of a doctor each of them have known to varying degrees; Alice being most of all. He was gigantic, corpse-like, hunchbacked and somewhat disproportionate compared to his human counterpart. His attire was like his real-life self, yet had several drawers situated within him from his vest. Whatever lower half there was-was obscured and hidden behind the desk he operated behind.

His hollow, eyeless face was littered with cuts and staples, His teeth were sharp and resembled nails. Black Ruin oozes out of his mouth, nostrils, eye sockets and ears with most forming the man's own facial hair. His large, emaciated hands appeared sewn together, covered in stitches, staples and nails with large doll heads embedded on their back.

This was Wonderland's manifestation and incarnation of Dr. Agnus Bumby: the Dollmaker.

Alice hotly glared with utter malice at the person towering over them. Yelling with fury in her voice.

"Am I not the most wretched and selfish of fortune's fool? Oblivious, I live in a training ground for prostitutes; my mentor is an abuser and purveyor; I've been complicit with my sister's rapist and murderer, and the killer of my family, as he corrupted my mind! I sought relief from my pain and you turned me away from the truth!"

The Dollmaker was unconcerned by this, only picking up another child from his desk to work on. "You were almost there, Alice. Almost free from what you fear. You could have been cured, you could have forgotten."

Alice replied back. "Abandon the memory of my family?"

"That's never a good option. You sometimes must learn from mistakes, not forgetting them and repeat the same thing over and over again. It must be done differently." Growled out No. XIV. "Not forcefully."

The Dollmaker merely scoffed. "They are dead… and you should be too." He said, putting his latest work down the hole of his desk for further processing. "All of you."

Roxas merely yelled. "You pathetic, parasitic murderer! You lined your own pockets with those you have hurt. The damage you've done to those children… The abuse! Tainting them with your corruption!"

"You turned your orphanage and wayward home into a training ground for that filth." Axel growled out, the temperature around them heating up around them. "How many lives have you ruined with your human trafficking ring of yours? Dozens? Hundreds?"

Bumby's manifestation gave a response. "I provide a service. In the great and awful metropolis, appetites of all sorts must be gratified." He explained calmly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"My family, my mind, the Infernal Train…" Alice found herself momentarily short of breath.

"The train is your… invention, your defense. I merely set its schedule and itinerary as I see fit. Having hopes of having it derailed and destroyed to finally make you what I desired most. Yet it all eluded me, no matter how hard I tried. I at least conscripted the Jabberwocky to do my bidding, who became my herald to see through the ruin I had wrought." As he was talking, he picked up another child and worked on it as well whilst continuing. "The train is coming with its shining cars. With comfy seats and wheels of stars. So hush my little ones have no fear. The man in the moon is the engineer." Once saying his piece, he dropped the child into a hole.

"We're stopping that train. All of us, if it's the last thing we'll do!" Xion blurted out, having the others nod in agreement.

"You may have corrupted Alice and Wonderland, but you failed to make them forget." Roxas said aloud. "And once we're done here, we're stopping the other you for good."

All the Dollmaker did in return was reach out and swiftly ensnare the four and brought them closer to him. "As you wish… it will be. You are all lost. And where your body is, your mind will follow. Perhaps it's already there."

After saying this he dropped them into the hole of his desk.

They began to fall and fall through the hole before ending up elsewhere. From the darkness they came into the light with a red sky all around.

Plummeting fast, they saw they were falling towards the Infernal Train. They maneuvered around and worked out a landing strategy.

And by that, Axel fired a powerful fireball that had the residual effect of an updraft that allowed them to land safely upon the infernal train.

"What do we do now?" Xion asked, hand slightly raised to call her Keyblade out a moment of danger.

"We keep going." Roxas declared, actually summoning Oathkeeper. "We're in the endgame now. I could feel it."

"Then let's not waste any more time." Axel said, calling forth his Chakrams with Alice pulling out her Vorpal Blade and Xion summoned Seashell Resonance.

Making it into the first passenger car, they found it rather scarce. Venturing further, they oddly saw the Mad Hatter sitting there; who was partaking some tea and tiny sandwiches.

Only it wasn't the cheerful and jovial Hatter that they knew but the deformed, elongated man Roxas had met him the first time around.

"Hatter? What are you doing here?" Roxas asked, slightly guarded by the appearance of the tea drinker.

"Was this what he looked like corrupted?" Asked Xion, who got Roxas to nod for confirmation.

Not wanting to worry about this sudden change, Alice focused on the matter at hand. "We must stop this Infernal Train and the evil force that drives it!"

Hatter gave out his response with a tired voice. "Everything's a nail, is it Miss Hammerhead? First it was a search, freighted with fear and fragmented memories." He took a sip of his tea before continuing. "Now it's the train. Never time for tea! While your brain's on holiday, we're ruined. Now we're all mad here and that's a good excuse for going to hell in a teapot, but not for forgetting what your senses saw." A sense of regret and dread overcome his features. "Forgetting is just forgetting, except when it's not. Then they call it something else. I'd like to forget about what you did. I've tried. But I can't."

Hearing all this made them realize that they needed to be careful with who to trust as the wrong person will ruin them; just like what Bumby did to Alice once she was out of the asylum.

Departing from one train car into the other, they were soon met with the changed Caterpillar. He was presently situated on a large flowerpot as he was situated on an exotic flower, all the while smoking from his hookah.

"I gotta ask, but do we still call you Caterpillar or is it Butterfly now?" Axel said, a hand on his hip as he lazily looked up at the insectoid.

Caterpillar(?) puffed out some smoke before responding. "Either one will do. I've been known by other names throughout my existence as I changed appearances along the years."

"Right…" No. VIII dryly said. "More riddles. Any others you got before the World could end or we could die? No?"

The changed insectoid focused more towards Alice this time as he ignored Axel's comment. "Come to receive your punishment, then?"

This earned some confused looks from the group.

"I know I'm guilty of something, but punishment never suits the victims of the crime."

Caterpillar responded back as he drilled what he said into the head of the former Princess of Heart. "Abuse is a crime the strong visit on the weak. And you're right. Abusers are insufficiently punished for the damage they do."

He soon released a puff of smoke. Instead of disbursing as normal, it seemed to form a scene for the four to view. In it they saw a litany of children with some men surrounding them. Walking through them was Bumby as he smiled upon them. He began slipping number signs around their necks while various people began to barter on purchasing the children for a time. All the while, Alice from the depicted scene stood on the sidelines and did nothing, merely looking on with wide vacant eyes.

"Those who witness abuse without seeking retribution for the harmed pay a penalty. Your own pain mitigates your failure to act earlier, but you may not yet have paid enough to witness the pain of others."

"But it wasn't her fault. Bumby was messing with her head through her sessions. She wouldn't have known a thing at all." Xion argued defensively for her friend. "He was trying to make her his doll. An emotionless one if he was successful."

"Be that as it may, the willingness to fall into such illusions has cost her dearly."

"Not helping." No. XIII groused out. "We need to stop Bumby."

The Nobodies marched past the Butterfly, yet Alice lingered back with a hurtful look on her face. Xion soon noticed her lack of presence and hanged back to await for the former Princess of Heart to catch up.

The young woman slowly walked onward and saw No. XIV waiting for her. She gave an uneven smile to her as the two dark haired girls got out of the train car and went into the next one.

Before long, they found a pleasant, familiar face.

"The White Queen." Axel pointed out, the group seeing the matriarch sitting in one of the train seats with a calm air around her.

"Do you think she's gonna say some confusing stuff?" Xion asked.

"At the very least it will be far more friendlier." Alice stated, the party moving towards the ruler of Marmoreal.

As they drew nearer, the White Queen turned to regard them with a neutral smile.

"Enemies are those who are seen and unseen, standing before you without even realizing it. Be wary of the ones who offer you aid, my dear. One must use your heart to discern right from wrong."

"Well we're Nobody's and don't have hearts." Axel wryly said. "So, what would that make us?"

"Friends." Alice said with a warm smile directed at them. "Of that, I have no doubt."

"Daw~ Alice." Xion couldn't help herself and hugged the girl tightly which she reciprocated.

The White Queen appeared to be in agreement as she smiled kindly at them.

"Yes, truer friends they are, some of which come once in a lifetime. But your external struggles have now taken route internally my dear. You must take back what has been stolen from you, Alice. Not just your virtue, but your credibility. Even if you defeat the Dollmaker, you still need much work to retrieve what was lost."

"How can I do this?"

"Cleaning up the messes and relations while tearing down others. To be sure you properly heal, you may have to leave your home and move elsewhere. Start anew so your consciousness may mend itself."

"Are you saying she needs to forget where she came from?" Axel asked, unsure of this.

The manifestation of the White Queen shook her head. "No. Such things are cemented into her. She will never forget such significant events with her roots. Alice must begin a new chapter of her life while reassuring those -who are truly dear to her- are left behind in a secure manner. She must learn to hold onto the feelings whilst letting go of the memory."

"Do you mean…"

"To simply put it, my dear, is this. Very few find the way to a clear end and most of them don't recognize it when they do and some don't ever want to. Delusions too die hard even with the aid of time. Only the savage regard the endurance of pain as the measure of worth. Forgetting pain is convenient. Remembering it, agonizing. But recovering the truth is always worth the suffering."

Roxas frowned, looking down for a moment. "That wasn't simple at all, your majesty." He said. When he looked up to continue, but when he saw the White Queen was gone.

"Ok, that was some grade-A horseshit." Axel commented, unamused by her sudden disappearance. "Being rude like that."

"Let's move on." Alice said, her and Xion lightly pushing No. VIII from his back.

The monarch's words echoed in their minds. Things become significant over time which may change their existences for better or worse. It all depends on what they did with this piece of knowledge the traumatized white queen imparted them with.

Making it into the next train car, they were soon cautious when they saw hints of the present occupant. The meaty tentacles stretched out into the aisle and even hung over other seats.

Thus they knew they neared the Red Queen.

But something was quite different this time around.

With the pristine mask removed, Alice gasped in shock.

The face behind it all was not the monstrosity she knew years ago but replaced with one she cherished all so dearly.

"Lizzie?" Alice whispered in disbelief.

Her green eyes were replaced with the bright, sickly yellow which held much pain and sorrow.

"Not exactly." Spoke the red monarch, no longer having much of a reverberated voice. "I am merely your other half. The half which separated from your trauma and remained as such when Bumby began his manipulations. A means to preserve what's left of your sanity."

"Not the way we see it."

"Indeed. The darker aspects of the Red Queen took over and overwhelmed me, diverting me from my original intent. Changing my appearance, my representation, as time went on."

"That doesn't explain why you look like her sister instead of her?"

"Like you Nobodies?"

The former Organization members thought back on the response.

Xion didn't have a Somebody in which she derived from, only a project created for the Organization's purposes. Axel remembered what he looked like back before he became a Nobody and he looks just the same; with the exception of him having the inverted teardrop tattoos. With Roxas, he doesn't know why he doesn't look like Sora at all; which made him truly confused on the issue.

"In a manner."

Hearing the comment from the Nobodies, the Red Queen gave her own little explanation.

"Alice saw Elizabeth as her hero, her idol, the person who she wanted to become later in life. The part which separated soon took on a mirrored image before changing with the times. Eventually it formed what Alice sought comfort with; but alas, she only viewed her from one perspective and never the whole."

"You represent her darkness." Axel surmised, eyes narrowing at the Red Queen.

"One which she denied and could never accept as I was originally a part of her." Said the Red Queen. "Being a former Princess of Heart, she's supposedly "pure" light, yet there was always the lingering darkness inside. No matter the person and how righteous they are, they always have a piece of darkness. It's natural for everyone. You can't effectively be rid of it."

"How can that be?" Roxas murmured, glancing over to Alice before back to the monarch. "If you're a Princess of Heart, Light is what defines the Heart, right?"

"Light is what defines it but that is not all there is within the Heart." The Red Queen revealed with a shake of her head. "You must understand that Darkness itself isn't inherently good or evil. It's believing that it's outright evil that you will fall to chaos."

Alice looked conflicted. "Yet bringing up order to a place such as this would be…"

"Maddening, yes. The trick is not losing yourself to it."

Liddell shook her head, eyes closing tightly momentarily until they opened to level a hard gaze at the manifestation before her.

"Back then… Why did you do all this? Making everyone suffer?" She quietly asked.

The Queen didn't answer for a few seconds until she looked directly in Alice's eye.

"To restore what was lost." She revealed without a hint of remorse. "Wonderland wasn't the only thing which shattered. You… we shattered as well. I was trying to restore things as best as possible, even if done forcefully. Yet there were complications."

"...I don't follow. Are you speaking of Bumby or-"

"You thought Bumby was the only one to mess with your mind?" A scoff escaped the lips of the red monarch. "Who else had plenty of time to scramble your head like a morning breakfast before him?"

Alice pondered for several moments, racking her mind before coming to a realization.

"Dr. Wilson." She whispered, seeing the monarch nod.

"Correct. His experiments, his abuse and nearly letting his staff all have their way with you for their sick enjoyment. It was because of your time at Rutledge did the mending process become extremely difficult. This led to us clashing against each other in our own methods of restoration. And it became worse once you agreed to that drunkard of a nurse's suggestion to work at the orphanage with Bumby in charge."

"She had no choice. She was being blackmailed by Witless." Xion argued in defense of her friend.

"So?" Came the dismissive tone of the Red Queen. "She could've gone to Nan Sharpe after leaving the asylum, regardless of her reputation of selling her body for men's pleasures and running a brothel. Yes it may cost her some light in the public eye and left those children at Houndsditch far more to Bumby's abuse. But it would've healed Alice's mind far sooner without any other manipulations. There would always be trade-offs with one route with another on the consequences."

"You do know that she was surrounded by leeches and bastards that were keeping her down, right?" Axel countered. "You just pointed out that other than that bum fuck doctor, there was this Wilson asshole and who knows who else."

Another thought soon came to Alice's mind, which was voiced.

"What of Radcliffe? He may have-"

"Done nothing or hardly lifted a finger." Interrupted Alice's darker side. "He's a greedy, slothful insect who only lines his pockets with what rightfully belongs to others, not caring who he hurts." The Red Queen spat out as if speaking of him was poison on the tongue. "If he did care, he would've given Alice full possession of her inheritance when she came of age. If not then, let it be handed over to someone trustworthy, like Nan Sharpe. She would've been far more reasonable to handle the fortune. I wouldn't be surprised if he was influenced by Bumby to delay handing the inheritance over to its rightful owner."

After that last explanation, the group stood there for a second of silence until Axel coughed into his hand, speaking up.

"Gotta ask, but what's this train's destination?"

"Madness and destruction. You shouldn't ask questions you know the answers to, it's not polite. Make your survival mean something, or we are all doomed!"

Alice and her companions nodded and were about to leave when-

"Before you go, Alice, one last thing must happen."

Alice was silent as she saw the Red Queen hold her monstrous appendage out to her.

"Take my hand." She instructed.

She looked down at the hand and then back at the Red Queen. "Why?"

"Becoming whole again." Her voice now lost any form of its usual hard edge and was now soft and tranquil. "It's time for us, all of us, to start healing from the past."

Alice stared at the hand for a few moments before she reached forward, pausing midway through.

"But would you disappear? Losing yourself, I mean."

"I may or may not. I have accepted this as this has been delayed long enough. Who knows if I'll still be here in the end. At least we'll be healed for what's to come."

Well, that really didn't feel any more reassuring yet… she knew she had to. Not just for her own sake but for Wonderland itself.

Looking to her friends for guidance, they all nodded encouragingly and with that, her decision was made.

Hands grasping with each other, Alice's form glistened with a soft light whilst the Red Queen bore a dark, red light. Moments later, the monarch disbursed into wisps and was absorbed into the former Princess of Heart.

She looked down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them a few times.

"You alright?" Roxas asked, Alice slowly nodded. "How'd it feel?"

"I felt… tingly. Feeling more… together. I don't know how to fully describe it."

"Tingly huh." Axel mused.

"But do you feel better at least?" Xion questioned.

"I guess I'll find out."

"What about the Red Queen?" Axel queried. "Do you think she's conscious in there?"

All Alice could respond with was a simple shrug.

"Refer back to my previous answer." Was what she said. "Now come on. We're near the end."

Departing from the train cars, the group made their way to the conductor's section of the train.

Before making it to the very end, they saw the engine room explode with the boiler split open all around. From the smoke and debris, they saw the looming presence of the Dollmaker.

His appearance became even more monstrous and distorted since they saw him earlier.

His lower half was more or less revealed, being a massive, serpentine column of Ruin. His initial arms disappeared but a smaller pair sprouted out of his shoulder blades, holding puppet strings that controlled his large, disembodied hands. And sprouting out of his mouth was a long, grotesque tongue made of Ruin and doll heads.

"That is one ugly motherfucker." Axel commented, summoning his Chakrams again, the rest of the party calling forth their own weapons.

"Hide in your shell and never come out!" Bellowed the Dollmaker.

"How 'bout we beat you to hell, how's that?" Roxas roared back, the group getting into their battle ready stances as the Dollmaker sent forth one of his puppeted hands.

"Can you defeat me?" The Dollmaker taunted. "The past must be paid for."

"Not by the way you're costing it." Alice yelled defiantly and with that, they charged forward.

The hand ran right back at them with black ooze falling from the back with ruins forming in its wake.

Axel crouches low and goes into a sweeping glide around, flinging his Chakrams into his spinning flame attack to rid the ruins.

Roxas and Xion all the while ran ahead of Alice and fell into slides that went in between the fingers of the hands and whacked the palm with their Keyblades.

The puppeted hand flew forward and with the flourish of her sword, Alice impaled the porcelain doll face on the back of the hand.

The Dollmaker snarled in pain and tried to pull his hand back only for Axel to leap up and cut the strings.

He screeched at being disconnected from one of his puppets and with a combined attack, the four obliterated the disgusting hand.

"Vermin." Dollmaker spat out, the dark viscous oozing from his mouth flying out onto the floor. "Why must you postulate such fleeting resistance? Just forget!"

Oily pools began to arise from the floor. As they grew, strings shot out from the Dollmaker and entered the substance. They were pulled out moments later to reveal enlarged Ruins with Dollgirls that had blackened skinned that was the exact color of the ooze they were pulled from.

"Now, my work must continue."

"Your work will end here you demented bastard." Alice exclaimed, throwing caution to the wind and running straight at one of the Dollgirls who screeched back at her, wielding broken and jagged scissors.

Roxas cast a number of Lightning spells whilst Xion either blew/washed the ruin pools away with water and wind and Axel incinerated the Ruins themselves.

Alice in the meantime fought against her Dollgirl, parrying the scissors before she cut off one of the arms and stabbed her sword through the enemies chest.

Dollmaker simply conjured forth more marionette hands and had them come down open palms, slamming into the ground to create shockwaves that sent the group stumbling back.

One of the hands reached out, grabbing Alice by the arm with the girl struggling to free herself.

"Alice!" Xion cried out, jumping up into the air with water and wind in her wake as she performed her signature Corkscrew attack to sever the strings of the hand, Liddell freeing herself from its clutches.

Dollmaker glared venomously at the ravenette, sending another of his hands forward and slapped her down hard to the ground.

"Oh, you son of a bitch." Axel growled, wisps of fire floating off his entire being. "You shouldn't have done that."

Chakrams now engulfed in flames, his hands basically holding circular fireballs before he threw one only for it to be replaced with another, with his other hand having the same action.

Every disk-like fireball he flung from his hands, another instantly replaced what he had thrown.

The litany of flaming disks barraged the hands and the Dollmaker himself.

It was gratifying for the redhead to see the vile foe in such pain and he wanted to make sure he suffered thoroughly before finishing him off.

However, the Dollmaker proved to be more resilient than he looked.

The vicious snap back and murderous glare through those blackened eyes was enough to show it.

"If you think I'm just going to allow you to undo my work-"

"We're not undoing anything!" Roxas yelled out defiantly. "We're destroying everything you've done."

"Come and try." He taunted.

"There won't be any trying." Axel stated, fire continuously dancing around him. "We're gonna make you burn."

Rather than verbally responding, the Dollmaker hacked up a pool of ruin with more enemies forming from the black liquid in the center of the battlefield.

With the addition of foot soldiers, the Dollmaker began attacking the party of four with his puppeted hands, with chaos reigning.

"Damn bastards are a distraction." Axel grunted, turning a ruin to ash.

"Effective ones all the same." Alice said with a grimace as her sword sliced through a floating foe. "We need to remove them from the field so we can focus on him."

"Agreed on that part."

Hearing the two discuss this, Xion had her eyes darted about the area and quickly counted the amount of enemies that were currently present.

Once the number was counted up, she nodded to herself and looked over to her fellow Keybearer.

"Roxas!" She called out to him, seeing him turn his head towards her. "Shoot 'em down."

No. XIII furrowed his brows for a brief second in thought as to what she meant until realization dawned on the teen.

Getting into the air, both Keybearers focused on their respective Shotlocks. Many present enemies were focused upon before their attacks were unleashed upon them. Each bombardment shook the battlefield, leaving much confusion for the Dollmaker when the dust and debris obscured his vision.

He then began wincing and realized that his hands were being attacked and recalled them while summoning more.

"He just keeps pulling them out of his ass." Axel complained.

"Then we gotta limit his movements."

Xion was momentarily deep in thought until a gleam was seen in her eyes. "Or a taste of his own medicine."

As the dust cleared, the Dollmaker assessed the present situation before summoning more Ruin and this time, Heartless joined the fray. Some were rather intimidating while the rest were for mob use to hopefully tire out his adversaries.

Yet the monstrous representation of Alice's tormenter soon witnessed something rather strange. A set of glowing lines surrounded a number of his summoned creatures before being fastened. Each turned away from their opponents and went either towards him or each other. If that wasn't enough, they began to attack anyone else aside from Alice and the Nobodies.

Some now started attacking his hands and were jumping on them despite his attempts to beat them back.

"STOP! DESIST! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

His bellows were heard by all as he began swatting his creations away, yet they were persistent in continuing the act.

When they were all gone, the Dollmaker sought to summon more once again, yet his hands suddenly froze and wouldn't move at all. An instant later, they floated before his head and began slapping and punching him.

"WHAT MADNESS IS THIS!?" He bellowed out, trying to avoid getting clobbered but there were just too many hands surrounding him, giving him no means of avoiding damage.

From the onlookers, they saw a dozen or so strings glistening in the light, connecting the floating hands to the pillars. Their origin came from a couple of Marionette Nobodies, doing as their mistress commanded.

"You're not the only puppetmaster here, Dollmaker. Time for you to have a taste of your own medicine." Xion triumphantly exclaimed.

The Marionette Nobody's began swinging about wildly now, bringing hammer fists down or strong haymakers that started to crack the face of the Dollmaker.

"Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself." Xion taunted as her Nobody's continued their actions.

Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Alice charged forward with her Vorpal Sword in hand. And she wasn't alone with the three Greater Nobodies moving right behind her.

Having his Classic Tone Keyblade out, Roxas had it appear in its Boom Hammer form as he leapt in the air and began clobbering the Dollmaker's head. Xion, with her Desert Firefly, went into its Desert Chain to begin whipping the monster's chest, opening a litany of drawers.

With these small openings, Axel focused upon them by throwing in many fire blasts into them before Xion closed them up with a crack of her chain whip. The fire exploded in the Dollmaker's chest, literally giving him a worst case of heartburn. Bumby's representation collapsed onto the floor, leaving him wide open by this point.

With him on ground level, Alice activated her Hysteria form as she rushed in and started carving up the Dollmaker's face. When he opened his oily mouth to let loose some cries and grunts, the former Princess swiftly cleaved the blackened tongue with her sword. Before long, she whipped out her Hobbyhorse alongside Roxas' hammer-styled weapon as they began smashing in the monster's mouth in and out.

The Dollmaker sought to get back up, yet he was held down by the Marionette Nobodies. He struggled to free himself as he flailed and screamed for freedom. Unfortunately for him, the assaults continued from all sides as he was being smashed, whipped, sliced and scorched.

With one act, Alice jammed her Vorpal Sword into an eye socket of Bumby's representation as Xion mirrored the same action towards the other with her Keyblade.

"And that's Checkmate, Bumby."

Upon Alice giving the quip, both she and Xion harshly twisted their respective swords before pushing them deeper into Bumby's skull.

The Dollmaker let out an inhumane, almost even anti-monster-like shriek of pure pain and agony as none were able to fully comprehend it.

This monstrous avatar of Dr. Bumby thrashed about violently, body twitching around with it making sharp jerks and angles until it froze in place within its confinement. Alice and Xion flailed about earlier as their weapons were still lodged into the monster's head, yet quickly ripped them out when they had an opportune moment once the movement stopped.

The gigantic monster stayed that way for a few more seconds until its head was thrown back in a violent snap before it fell forward and crashed down hard onto the ground.

A moment later, his skin cracked apart even further and slowly, pieces of him began peeling off and floating into the air. They disintegrated once reaching a certain height and shortly after, the rest of the body followed suit.

The four stood there and watched until nothing was left of the vile tormentor.

"Is… is it over?" Xion asked, turning to Alice for the answer.

As if an answer was given, all of Wonderland began to fade into a white light.

-Scene Cut-

Waking up, Alice found herself back in her bedroom. Her toy rabbit in her arms with a determined force within her green eyes.

Rising up from the mattress, she saw the three Nobodies were sprawled about in odd positions at every other placement available. They groggily woke up.

"Back again here, I see." Axel grumbled, rubbing his eyes as they all got up to their feet.

"Yeup."

"The Dollmaker is defeated and Wonderland is saved." Xion happily declared.

"But it's not over yet." Alice said evenly.

Knowing what was implied, the four soon left the confines of Alice's locked bedroom and made their way straight to Bumby's, only to find him not there at all. And when checking his office, he wasn't there as well.

"Where could he have gone?" Axel asked, all too ready to turn the bastard into a pile of ash.

"We need to find clues, something that may give out his whereabouts." Roxas murmured, looking through the drawers of his main desk.

"Something like this!" Xion suddenly proclaimed, holding a large receipt for a luxury passenger car for a train that was departing from the station nearby all so very soon.

"Well then," Axel grinned dangerously. "Shall we?"

The group stormed out of the orphanage and immediately bolted for the station.

Before making it any further, Axel called out to the others.

"Hold up. We're rushing into this."

"Excuse me?" Alice growled out. "Rushing? You'd want that fiend to get away with this?"

The redhead shook his head at her. "No, we need to plan this all out accordingly and expose him. If we just outright capture him and bring him to the authorities, he'd deny any involvement for his crimes. And with that, you'll be put under a worse light than before."

Upon hearing that, Alice calmed down, becoming more contemplative. "Then how?"

Axel smiled as he soon relayed the small plan that came to mind.

Moments later, Alice ventured deeper into the train station and found Dr. Bumby waiting for his train. He was all prim and proper in the finest suit in his closet with a top hat and a briefcase in hand for him to travel with.

Once close enough, Alice made her presence known, venting out her hate towards him.

"You oozing sore of depravity… children wearing their names around their necks, as if they're livestock!"

Bumby turned around and let loose a small chuckle. "A declaration of their pedigree. You could use one. They're proud to display their provenance."

"You brute!" Alice snarled, nothing short of pure venom lacing her tone. "They can't remember who they are or where they're from. How many minds have you twisted into forgetfulness like what you've done to me!?"

"Not enough!" Bumby shot back with a disgusting sneer. "Yours would have been a triumph. Still you're an insane wreck. My work is done!"

"You used me and abused me, but you will not destroy me."

Dr. Bumby replied back condescendingly. "No? The damage is done. The old Alice and her Wonderland retreat are demolished. You can't even recognize what's happened. And you're powerless to change it or move against me. I'm certain of that."

"You corrupted my memories, but you failed to make me forget." Was her defiant response.

"Apparently so." He said with a more subdued glare. "I don't know how this was possible. Me using every technique in my disposal to bury those memories away. I could've made you into a tasty bit. Clients out the door waiting for a piece from a raving delusional beauty, with no memory of the past, or no sense of the future. But you wouldn't forget; you insisted on holding onto your fantasies. You're mad. Like your sister."

That made her outright furious. "Do not speak of her like you didn't know her!"

"Your sister was a tease." Bumby momentarily sounded demented. "Pretend to despise me. She got what she wanted… in the end." He then held up his watch, which had Lizzie's key connected to it.

Alice knew that was an utter lie. Lizzie turned down his continued advances. Made her parents forbid him to come remotely near her. Yet Bumby didn't like that and wanted what he desired.

"I will see you charged. In prison, some half-wit bruiser will make you his sweetheart… and then you'll hang."

"You really think so? A hysterical woman, former lunatic, roaring outrageous accusations against a respectable social architect and scientist. My goodness, Alice, who would believe you? I scarcely believe it myself."

"You monstrous creature… such evil will be punished."

"By whom? By what? Psychotic, silly girl. Your madness will be punished. Now leave. I'll be off to retrieve your replacement."

"I don't think so."

Bumby blinked in confusion, hearing someone was behind him. The moment he turned around, he was clocked across the face and everything went dark.

"Phew, that was satisfying." Axel remarked, a wide smirk in place.

"I don't think you hit him hard enough." Roxas said, coming out from behind his hiding place. He looked down at the unconscious doctor and felt an inexplicable rage come over him before he violently kicked the man in the arm, a sickening crack being heard.

Bumby let out a startled gasp of pain, waking up only for the heel of Xion's shoe stomping his head down, knocking him out again.

"I think that's enough. Don't want to ruin his torment with what's to come." Axel said, proudly smiling at his two friends whilst Alice shook her head.

"You're a terrible influence, Axel."

"Why thank you. I try, you know." No. VIII then moved to heft the man up onto his shoulder. "Alright then, let's get him arrested."

…

…

…

He groggily woke up and struggled to get back up onto his feet. Bumby squinted his eyes and adjusted his glasses, seeing he was in a clampy room of some kind.

"Hey, Fred, he's up."

Bumby heard someone from outside of the room. He didn't notice the design of the door at first, but if he did, he would've noticed the bars through what window there was.

A few moments later, the door opened up to reveal a pair of officers coming into the space.

"'Ello, Dr. Bumby, had a nice nap?"

When this happened, the spectacled man soon recalled a number of things before he was suddenly knocked unconscious. He soon realized he needed to sway these police officials to his side.

"Officers, good. I am happy to see you. Alice Liddell, you need to arrest her and send her back to Rutledge. She assaulted me and-"

"I don't think that's going to happen." Said Fred, the officer.

The Doctor balked at what he had just heard. "...Excuse me?"

"We know everything, Bumby." Spoke Fred's partner with a vicious sneer directed at him.

"You admitted your crimes to Alice but also a… uh… what's it called again?" The one officer said to his partner.

"They said it was a recording device. Experimental apparently." Came Fred's response. "Way too sophisticated for me to understand."

"Yes, that." The officer turned back to the spectacled man. "And it wasn't just that, but we got a warrant to search your office earlier and found a litany of evidence for your sick crimes."

"You are hereby arrest for rape on several counts, third degree murder, and arson on top of your child prostitution." Officer Fred announced, a hardened glare now being sent in the direction of the criminal doctor.

Before Bumby could fully process what happened, the officers soon left the room, which turned out to be a cell, and shut the door behind them.

The spectacled man rushed forward and started banging at the door, yelling at the top of his lungs that it was all a lie to needing to contact his lawyer.

It wouldn't be until later that day when Bumby was shoved into another room, hands and legs chained to a table.

After some time waiting for someone to show up, for whatever purpose, a familiar face walked into the room.

It was Alice.

"Enjoying your time here, Doctor?" She asked, a falsely sweet smile for him to see. "I so did "enjoy" my time in my own cell. Perhaps you will too."

The doctor or really, soon to be former doctor, could only stare at the former Princess of Heart as if she had seen a ghost.

"You…" Bumby became murderous. He tried to reach out and strangle her, yet the chains held his limbs back from reaching so far. "YOU RUINED ME!"

"You ruined me and my family first!" Alice retorted, her face conveying unrepentant fury. "You were just a frustrated undergraduate therapist who, for years, couldn't accept rejection from someone you loved. And because of your continued actions, my father sought to perhaps expel you if you didn't cease your attempts. You took out your frustrations out on my sister and the rest of us. You violated my sister before slaying her. When that wasn't enough, you kept going at it with your sick plans with all those children."

Bumby couldn't find the words to respond, only breathing heavily whilst looking quite deranged now.

He wanted to lash out at her, to end her life and finish what he started but she was out of reach.

"Yes, that's the look." Alice said bitterly. "The same look I saw in the mirror whenever I was at Rutledge. The look of anger and resentment towards the world. Or really, the resentment towards myself. Only now, this is one of hatred at being caught. Not at all being remorseful of the despicable actions you've caused. Of the lives you've ruined."

Before he was able to form a response of any kind, there was a small snicker to the side of his door.

Glancing over through the bars, Bumby's eyes widened upon seeing a tall man with red hair and black coat casually leaning against the wall next to his cell with his arms crossed.

Wait… he recognized this man!

Yes, he had seen him before with Radcliffe when Alice had come to see him.

"My~ my~ how the tables have turned. What's the word to suit this situational feeling? Cathartic? Yes, that's it."

A moment later, he vanished in a swirl of darkness, stunning the man in the cell as he couldn't comprehend what he had just seen.

"Be glad I didn't commit murder." Alice spoke up, regaining the stunned man's attention. "I didn't want your foul blood on my hands. It would've hurt me far more in my recovery. Besides, I've had enough incarceration. I never want any more."

Alice stood up as she held out Lizzie's key, the only last article of property she had left of her family home. She had retrieved it from Bumby's unconscious body earlier in the day and kept it on her person since.

About to walk out of the cell, Alice spoke up.

"Oh, and one last thing."

Bumby focused back again to the "deranged girl", only to adopt an utter look of shock.

For when she turned around, she was no longer in the attire he had known her to commonly wear, being utterly ragged and ratty. Instead she was in pristine clothing as if it was relatively freshly made, with the exception of the blood splatters here and there to depict her Wonderland clothing.

"Wonderland is indeed real, not just in my head. Ta ta. We will never meet again."

Alice savored the look of mute shock Bumby wore, no doubt he may go insane sooner or later. It would be the last thing she would ever see of him as she shut the door to the interrogation room.

Walking out of the police station, Alice felt like a massive weight was lifted off of her shoulders. She took in a deep breath and felt more alive than ever.

Opening her green eyes, they appeared slightly glazed as she looked around.

Instead of the normal state of London, she saw elements of Wonderland all around her now.

With her state of mind being mended bit by bit now, she started to feel and see things differently now. The corruption of Wonderland, on her, is being cleansed. Soon enough, she'll become a new person.

Another few blinks went about as her vision returned to normal as she saw the slightly dreary London.

Making her way back to Houndsditch, she eventually found the Nobodies awaiting for her at the entrance.

"How'd it go?" Axel asked, arms crossed as he looked at her expectantly.

"It felt… good." She said in a content voice. "I feel lighter, like I'm relieved of a massive weight." She then smiled at No. VIII. "Nice touch with your theatrical exit."

"I have a certain flair for dramatic exits." Axel boasted, flicking the back of his hair.

Xion and Roxas rolled their eyes at their friend whilst Liddell simply laughed.

Alice then pulled out Lizzie's key, tracing her thumb over the old iron surface.

"After so long, my family and I have been avenged and-"

At that instant, the key suddenly glowed.

"What in the world…"

The object in her hand soon floated out of her grasp and hovered a foot above them. At that instant, the Keyblades belonging to Xion and Roxas appeared in their hands.

"Wait," No. XIV gasped, jaw dropping slightly. "Is this…"

"The Keyhole!" Roxas exclaimed.

Out of an odd instinctive reaction, the pair instinctively jumped back and twirled their weapons before aiming them towards the floating key. Light gathered toward the tips before shooting out and connecting with the airborne key.

As both Lizzie's key and the streams of light met, a keyhole outline appeared around the object momentarily. A loud click was then heard as it seemed to reverberate throughout the city. And before long, the light faded away and disappeared as the key fell down and was quickly grasped by Alice.

The former Princess of Heart blinked in confusion at what just occurred before staring at the Nobodies.

"What… What was that?" Alice asked the two who both still had their eyes up in the sky where the large keyhole was just moments ago.

"It must have been the Keyhole that Master Yen Sid spoke of." Roxas stated confidently. "The one we were sent here to find that was causing the outside corruption of Wonderland."

"Wait, another Keyhole?" Alice frowned in thought. "But… didn't Sora seal the Keyhole to this World when he first came here."

"It's… complicated."

"Ya know, I actually forgot about all that." Axel freely admitted. "I was more focused on all the other crazy shit we were having to deal with."

"Yeah, me too." Roxas remarked with a casual shrug.

"Well, at least it was done." Xion happily said, a small jump for added success. "So… what now?"

"Now… Now I need to make closure with a number of other people." Alice said with a determined tone.

The Nobody trio nodded as they soon walked beside her to help her see this through to the end.

AN

Alright, finally got around to the book end of this arc.

Hated how long it took but life can do that to ya sometimes with how you just get pulled away from a story.

But we had other stories that took up our attention on top of life, as always, being quite the interference.

Jeb's taken up Elden Ring and any and all Souls fans know that any game that's made by FromSoftware is a game of commitment lest you want the game to fuck you something raw cause we all know the grind and the struggle.

But really, just glad that we've finally finished the Alice in Wonderland Madness edition arc and can now move on to the next part of the story.

Jebest4781: I admit this arc was difficult as we couldn't exactly do a further blend with the first American McGee game as it went more focused with Madness Returns. Regardless, we're wrapping things up and focusing back on the overall story with what's to come. It'll be a doozy to get back onto Mass Effect and other Kingdom Hearts elements.

FMW: Yeah, been lacking in that aspect of this crossover and it's something we've longed to get back to since this is a Mass Effect/Kingdom Hearts crossover. Feels wrong, in a sense, to be away from one of the universes of this story for so long. So really, just thanks for bein' so patient with us. I know there are times when we have a story that's in a bit of a slow spell but hopefully, with this now done, we can get back on track.

Thanks again for reading.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.