"Once Upon a Time..."
In London of Victorian England, in the past, In what seemed to be a garden where a table set with toys had been overgrown with weeds. Suddenly a blast from the ground occurred. Out climbs a young Arisu Arima in a little blue dress appeared from the whole
"Home." She began to run back to her house. "Father! Father! Father!" Arisu arrived on her house doorstep. "Father! She reached her front door and tried the doorknob but it was locked. So she knocked vigorously. "Father! Father, it's me. Come on, father." The door suddenly opened. A man appeared. It was Kishio Arima. "You're never going to believe where I've been."
"Arisu?'
"It all began with this white rabbit." Arisu gushed. "And he wanted to take my hat and then I-"
"Arisu...Is that really you?"
Her brow furrowed. "Who else would I be?"
"You were gone...a very long time." Arima said softly, painfully. "We thought you were..."
"You thought I was, what?"
"Dead." Arima said hollowly.
Xxx
Inside the house, Arisu peeked through a keyhole to spy on her father and a doctor discussing what she said previously.
"...hookah smoking centipedes, giant mushrooms." Dr Kano continued.
"What do you think I am?" Arima said angrily. "A fool. Why would she lie?"
"Your child, she's delusional." Dr Kano affirmed stoically. "She's delusional."
"She's making it up?" Arima gasped.
Dr Kano folded his arms. "I can cure her of this."
"She isn't a liar." Arima said firmly.
"She is a liar." Dr Kano pressed.
Arisu, listening, whispered To herself. "I'm not a liar. It was real. And I'm going to prove it."
Xxx
In the present, in a faraway town, it was night as a mysterious man walked casually down the main street of the town during a storm. He dodged a passing car. He headed to the diner as the owner was locking up the building.
"Looks like you closed down the joint again," The owner said to her customer sharply. "You're really gunning for that customer of the week plaque."
"It's win-win," he said. "You get my mug on the wall, I finally get some-" The man walked past the two, bumping into the owner, and secretly swiped the diner key from her. "Whoa. Sorry, brother. Closing time."
The owner turned To the man. "Yeah, looks like a storm's coming. You better find a place to keep dry." She and the customer walked away.
"I'll get right on that." The man swung the diner's key in his hand. He unlocked the diner and poured himself some coffee. He left money on the counter, but changed his mind and took it back.
Suddenly, the diner began to shake and the floor exploded as a rabbit hole opens. The smoke cleared to reveal the Rabbit peering out.
"There you are." She said.
"Damn!" The man cried. "What are you doing here?"
"I'll tell you on the way." She gestured to the hole. "We're late."
"I'm not interested in your important dates, Rabbit." The man rolled his eyes. "Or your unimportant dates, for that matter."
"No, no, no, no." The Rabbit said crazily. "We're not late for something. We're late for someone."
"Who?"
"Arisu," The rabbit said. "She needs help. You're the Knave of Hearts, Hide. She needs you."
Xxx
In London, England, still in the Present day, was Bethleham Asylum. Arisu, lead by two attendants, walked down a long hall with patients. In a room, she was interrogated by three doctors.
"Answer the question, please." Dr Kano urged, but She didn't respond. "Arisu! Arisu..."
"I don't remember." She said flatly.
"Oh, I think you do." Dr Kano pressed. "It's been a year now and you have been quite clear in your statements. An invisible cat with perfect hearing, a hookah smoking centipede, food and drink capable of altering your physical form. A murderous Red One Eyed Queen. And you encountered all these things by literally falling down a rabbit hole. Hearing it out loud, it all sounds quite preposterous, wouldn't you agree, Arisu..."
"Yes." Arisu answered coldly.
"Good." Dr Kano continued. "Just a few more questions and maybe this time we can send you home. Now when your father finally brought you to us, he was at his wits end. It wasn't just your multiple disappearances that had taken a toll, it was your ludicrous explanation. That you had been searching for proof of this place. This Wonderland. Where you had miraculous, strange and terrifying adventures. Do you still believe that to be true?"
Xxx
In Wonderland, in the Past, Arisu hid under a mushroom as a centipede smoked above her. She pulled off a bit of mushroom and then ran off.
"Hey, that's mine!" Yamori the centipede said. "Give it back."
"Halt!" A soldier cried. "She's heading into the maze! By order of the Queen, stop! Don't let her get away! She is going to the Queen's garden! After her!"
As Arisu headed into the maze, she stopped to bite into the mushroom and placed the rest in her bag. While running, she shrank into miniature form.
"Where's the girl?" The soldier cried. "Has anyone seen her? I thought she went this way." Arisu was tossed to the side as the soldiers ran past her.
Xxx
Back Bethlehem Asylum, The doctors continued asking Arisu questions.
"Arisu?" Dr Kano said, trying to get her attention as she was lost in memories. "Arisu. Arisu!"
"No. It wasn't true." Arisu insisted. "I never left England."
"So you just made it all up." Dr Kano nodded. "Why? For attention? Well, you certainly got it, didn't you? The question we have to answer today is, which is the real performance? A little girl with tales of tea parties and barbaric queens. Or the young lady who says it was just her imagination."
"That little girl was a fool." Arisu said softly.
"And the lady?"
"She knows what really happened."
Xxx
In the Wonderland Maze. Arisu picked herself up from the ground and decided to hide in a bottle that lay by the side of the path.
"What are you doing in my bottle?!" The owner turned on a lantern.
"Turn me in and I get big!" She took a red liquid in a bottle from her satchel. "Right here, right now I'll burst your house into a million shiny pieces."
"We wouldn't want that now, would we?" The owner said. "A good bottle is so hard to find these days. My name is Kaneki. My home is your home."