HatterXReader(SyFy Alice):Part 8

The frightening man clad in black was running down the long hallway of the library towards you. You tried every button and knob you could think of but nothing you were doing was making the bus budge. You looked back towards the hallway with dread to watch as Dodo was about halfway to you now. You watched him approach helplessly trapped like a rat when suddenly a lightning quick smaller figure came dashing up from behind him and tackled Dodo to the ground. It was Hatter! He was alive! Hatter pinned the now flailing Dodo to the ground. He looked up and your eyes met as he called out to you, "Hit the blue button!" After some frantic searching your fingers found the button in question hidden off to the side, but you stopped, hesitating. You looked back at Hatter now battling with Dodo on the red carpeted library floor. You couldn't just press the button and leave him there, he'd be killed!

The fight was escalating now, Dodo had managed to get up off of the floor and he and Hatter were now brutally pushing each other into the unforgiving marbled columns. "Go! Hurry up and push the blue button!" Hatter exclaimed while grabbing a hold of the front of Dodo's long coat. He reached back his right fist and with a force you weren't sure was entirely human he aimed for Dodo's head. Dodo dodged at the right time and Hatter's fist hit so hard into the marble it actually dented it and caused the column to shake and crack. The force was enough to send some small pieces of the column flying in a puff of white dust. You could see now why Owl had called it a sledgehammer before because the impact done was about the same as a real one would have made. "Lucky." you heard Hatter quip, but it was no time for jokes as his fist was now momentarily stuck in the column. It was all the time Dodo needed. He kneed Hatter once in the gut and as he was bent over in pain he then proceeded to knee him in the face. The blows caused Hatter to collapse on his back towards the ground. Wasting no time Dodo climbed on top of him and gave him another cruel sock to the face. As Dodo continued his relentless assault on Hatter's face you couldn't bare to watch anymore. Without thinking you ran off the bus to Hatter's defense. Fortunately Dodo was so focused on punching Hatter that he didn't realize your sudden approach until it was too late. Without hesitating you ran up in front of him and as soon as you spotted an opening you kicked Dodo in the face with all your might. You had a split second of satisfaction as the heel of your boot hit him square in his pompous chin. He fell back in a howl of injury and rage. Not allowing him to get back up you kicked him again while he was down. You grabbed Hatter by the shoulders as Dodo rolled on his back from the waves of pain ."Come on Hatter!" you cried as he got to his knees. He wasn't moving that well, but he still decided to take up precious time by grabbing his fallen top hat in his hands and pushing it atop his disheveled and beaten head as you both ran together towards the open doors of the elevator bus.

You crashed through the doorway together as you lunged to move and press the blue button. The doors closed behind you both instantly and the clunking elevator like bus began to loudly creak and shake. Dodo's infuriated bellow resounded down the hallway but began to diminish as the bus was pulled upwards through the various levels of the building. Your tiredness combined with the force of gravity slammed you on your knees to the bus floor where Hatter was laying with his back leaning against the bottom of the first seat and with his legs sprawled out in front of him across the aisle way. He was breathing heavy with his head lolled back and the memory of him being shot flashed across your mind. You began tearing at his shirt frantically looking for an entry wound, your only thought was to stop the bleeding before he bled out. You pulled down the front of his paisley dress shirt only to have it reveal a black kevlar bullet proof vest. There embedded just below his left collarbone was the bullet from Dodo's gun. "Body armor..." You remarked aloud while your eyes scanned him for a few seconds of blank confusion until your mind finally was able to push back the panic and piece together the current information. Hatter was fine. The shot didn't even break his skin. "You're not even wounded..."

The anxiety and fear of the past five minutes were receding quickly now and your anger at Hatter exploded."You lied to me!" you screeched as you smacked him in his chest right in the vicinity where he had been shot. He instantly cried out in pain. The bullet may not have punctured his skin but he would have a nasty bruise there for awhile. You pushed yourself back onto your feet away from him and grabbing onto the steel pole you stared down at the seemingly beleaguered Hatter. "I was trying to help ya!" he defended himself breathlessly while clutching one hand to his chest. "By selling my ring?" you shot back incredulously. "I didn't know it was the Stone Of Wonderland now did I?", he bit back still panting while bringing one arm up to rub his reddened throat. "Well you could have asked me before bringing me here!" you shouted back at him. Hatter let out a strained gasp, still clutching onto his neck in obvious discomfort as he replied simply, "You wouldn't have come." Terrified, angry, and confused you pointed down at Hatter and exploded, "You're darn right I wouldn't! He almost killed me!" Hatter looked up at you insolently and held his paisley shirt open even more, pointing and drawing attention to his bullet proof vest with the still lodged bullet inside. "Yeah well he actually shot me so," but you didn't let him finish. With a hard stomp of your boot you interrupted him, refusing to allow him the chance to weasel or charm his way out of anything anymore. "Tell me the truth, what is the Stone of Wonderland?" You locked eyes with him, letting your expression tell him you meant business. Hatter let out a small grunt of pain as he gazed up at you from the bus floor. His voice was strained as he said, "It's a big deal! It was mined by the ancient knights to power the Looking Glass," he had to stop several times in between words for breath, "the door that connects your world to ours." A slight glossy sheen of sweat began to break out across Hatter's pale face. He really had taken a beating from Dodo earlier, but you wouldn't let your heart give him any sympathy. This man had bought you from Ratty for drugs, taken you to some kind of underground kingpin, tried to sell the ring Alice gave you without permission, and had almost gotten the both of you killed. You were done with being taken in by his handsome looks and deceptive aloofness. "Knights?" you asked, trying to stay on topic. Hatter closed his eyes and waved one hand as he explained, "They were wiped out a long time ago by the Queen. She took the Looking Glass and of course," he paused, obviously trying to suppress the pain he was in, "the Stone."

Hatter let out a muffled growl of agony, before asking you faintly, "How did Alice get hold of it?" Truthfully it was a question you had been asking yourself. She had said it had been in her family for ages, but there seemed to be a much more complex story behind it all. What had your friend gotten into? Alice, lovely, strange, and curious Alice surely couldn't have known about all of this until just recently. You lived with her and spent almost all your time together with her. There was no way she could have been involved with this messed up world and the even more messed up people that lived in it. Surely her natural thirst for adventure had somehow made her stumble into this world and upon this ring. You were positive you both were just innocent bystanders caught in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong ring. You brought your left hand up a little ways away from your face to inspect the thing which seemed to be causing so much chaos. It was just as gaudy as before, with the round sapphire in the middle surrounded by the coiled band of emerald snakes placed atop the thick silver band that held the combination numbers. It sparkled a bit in the places the light hit it as you turned your hand back and forth. So much fuss over something so small. You didn't know what power or importance exactly this ring had, but Alice had entrusted it to you and you weren't going to let it out of your sight no matter what happened.      


To be continued…

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Author’s Notes: Happy New Year! I really was very remiss in updating this series last year so I want to make it up to you guys and be more faithful in updating this one too. So here is the first update in a long time, I'm just polishing up a few more of the next chapters as we speak so don't think you will be waiting half a year for the next one lol. Here is to a new year! I pray it will be the best one yet for all of us!  Anyways be sure to check back soon for the next chapter for more Wonderland goodness. If you are interested you can find the full DVD on Barnes & Noble’s website.
Until next time guys!