Continuing to race, Luke didn't even hear anyone yelling - the only way he knew that the monstrosity he was running from did anything was from the intense heat that he felt emanating from behind him. This threw all caution to the wind - who cared if he risked hurting his legs, it sure as hell was better than being barbecued.

Almost immediately, a small girl ran past the entire group, leaving Luke in bewilderment. How could she possible move that quickly? Luke had been running for years now, and participated in several marathons, and yet a small girl was easily beating him in a foot race... This reminded Luke that this was obviously a dream, and he really didn't need to take it so seriously. He just ate something spoiled, or was having a fever dream, nothing more.

As the others continued to run alongside him, Luke simply ignored their screams - they were all saying the same things, and he was too busy wondering why the hell this dream felt so real - no other dream in his life had such realistic feelings and sensations. Still, the only thing he especially cared about was waking up as soon as possible, since it had stopped being entertaining once the large man entered the scene.

At a considerably easier pace, Luke began to follow the stranger - something he only did simply because he thought it was his mind telling him how to wake up faster.

Butter Daisy Forest

Even from the distance they were at by this point and afterwards, Adam, Alice, and the White Rabbit could still feel the heat. Alice looked back at the inferno engulfing the area they were originally standing in, noticing the last faint silhouette of one of the boys who failed to adhere to the Rabbit and everyone else' warnings to run, before it faded in the flames and turned to dust. Alice honestly wanted to stop running and just fall to her knees, horrified at what happened; that boy didn't even have time to scream out in pain as he was burned alive, and while this could still just be a dream, a nightmare she wanted to wake up from, there was something in her gut as she viewed the embers behind them, that told her that she needed to run, that her life depended on it... and that this should never be allowed to happen again. Even if these people were just figments of her own imagination, she never wanted to see like this happen again.

Adam was about the same level of "done" that Hector was in the moment that he spotted Guiren consumed by what he could only describe as Hellfire, only continuing to run to ensure that he and anyone else here wasn't going to be fried along with him. The thoughts Hector had on what the Rabbit said to them was the same ones running in his own head as well, that this rabbit summoned them here, despite the now-obvious dangers, and that he was going to make a stew out of this rabbit if it's for anything less than somehow effecting United Kingdom, or the world...and either one seems frankly unlikely.

The White Rabbit took a moment, if only a moment, to look back at the inferno as well. The boy must have thought that this was only a dream, that he had nothing to fear if he stood around and let the flames hit...Not a difficult conclusion for any of them to reach by this point, which is why he had hoped he had a little more time to properly explain the situation to them. Now he has to explain to them that the incinerated boy is never going to wake up from his sleep, not a very easy task to think about when it's clear at least one or two of them are clearly effected by this.

But of course, he would not have had the time to think even about how sad the situation was, or how these people are taking it, had it not been for the ones who arrived to save their collective asses. He could not doubt that at the very least Chase, one of the last of the humans to begin running, would not have escaped in time, were it for the Mad Hatter protecting them. He saw the Dorm Mouse now taking the lead of these people, and the White Rabbit followed suit, as did Alice and Adam because, frankly, what other choice was there at the moment.

"Your timing is impeccable as ever, Dorm." The White Rabbit said to her as they ran. They were farther away from her, but he knew she'd be able to hear him say this. He then heard Hector demanding an explanation, only for the youngest human to tell them to keep it together, despite how difficult it was seeming for him to talk and run at the same time.

"Less pep-talking, more running!" Adam said to Snow, clearly noticing how exhausted he was getting, before turning towards the Rabbit again.

"Oi Rabbit, an ETA would be nice right about now!" Adam said to him.

"What in the world is an ETA?"

"You can't be serious... How long until we're safe to stop!?" Adam asked. The White Rabbit looked around and the further in front of him until he spotted something in the distance.

"...There!" The Rabbit said, pointing forward towards what appeared to be a perfectly circular hole in the ground, just large enough a radius for the rabbit, dorm mouse, and any humans to be able to enter.

"...Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Is this...a rabbit hole!?" Adam said to the rabbit, as they stopped around the hole, clearly perplexed at the implication that they have to drop into a hole in order to get to safety.

"The Hatter won't keep the Black Rabbit at bay for much longer, so hurry and get down there." The Rabbit said to them all.

"But it's a hole underground, how is that any safer than right now?" Adam asked.

"Grrr...Listen, this is a world of dreams; the physics of your world do not apply to this one. The holes we make do not just go 'underground' like I'm sure it does there. Besides, it's either dropping down there, or staying here and continuing to run from that." The White Rabbit said, pointing towards the inferno still lit up like an orange beacon behind them. Without another word, The White Rabbit jumped into the hole. While somewhat hesitant, Adam jumped in after him. Alice looked down the hole, then towards everyone else.

"Well...Let's hope for the best." Alice said to them, trying to put on a smile despite looking somewhat ready to cry before jumping into the hole herself.

------------------------

Hatter's Sanctuary

Last Sanctuary

As soon as they reached the other side, they were no longer falling, but rather were shot upwards out of another Rabbit hole, much akin to how cartoons depict drilling through one side of the earth simply to come out the other.

The moment they would be popped out of this rabbit hole, however, they would be met with an unusual, fantastic sight before them as they land on the ground around the hole they came out of.They were now in what appeared to be a giant botanical garden, laced to the brim with steampunk-like contraption and machinery all around them, some of them fencing out the people from entering more green-filled areas of the garden, while others seemingly were nonsensical, seemingly unpractical, and outright impossible contraptions of a rough design seemingly assisting in someway to the well-being of its plant life. The whole of the area was also surrounded by a beautiful frame of bronze and copper of a Victorian design, walling in the garden like a cage. At the center of this garden laid a large rectangular table of refined, ebony-painted wood a large white sheet over the table top and an assortment of tea pots, tea cups, and plates all neatly organized for every chair around it, the at the far ends of each other having a more artistic, rich design to them, as oppose to the smaller chairs that line up on the table's sides, each one inconsistently designed, and some one could argue aren't really chairs at all, just small tables that are being used as chairs. There were hints of other life around, both natural and unnatural, the chirping of birds echoing through the plant life, merged with the sound of steps and the banging of metal.

"Here we are, you can rest now, humans. There are no shadows here but ones who offer you peace and sanctuary from the wonderland outside." The White Rabbit said as he hopped towards the large table in the center.

"Shadows...?" Alice asked.

"More importantly, where is here? We went down a rabbit hole, just to pop out of another one? are we on the other side of this world?" Adam then asked him.

"I already told you, this world does not function by the physics of your own, ...at least I don't think they do. I've never actually been physically to your world, so it's hard for me to accurately say that for certain." The White Rabbit responded, his back turned from the group as he seemed to be fiddling with something out of the humans' eyesight, before then revealing a golden pocket watch with a lid that he placed on the table...followed by a second one...and then a third one.

"As for where this place is, well it seems some of you are more aware of this world than I originally thought, so surely you would already know. This here is the garden of the Mad Hatter, a Sanctuary for rebel shadows like us. ...Oh dear." The White Rabbit said, the last comment seemingly not directed at the humans as more pocket watches were placed on the table. Interestingly, they were all quite large for someone like him to carry individuals, yet it seems as if he's had a number of these pocket watches on him...despite that they would have clearly been seen earlier by the humans if he had that many large pocket watches on him, but clearly it looked as if he had nothing of the sort when they first met him.

"Dorm, I'm going to need to borrow a few of yours. It seems I've overburdened myself a bit..." he said to the Bowler hat wearing mouse-eared human, who he assumed went down the hole before the other humans, given her orders from the Hatter.

"There's that word again, shadows. ...What are you talking about exactly?" Alice asked him.

"Oh...umm, It's probably for the best I let the Mad Hatter return before I get to explaining things, It may be difficult for you to comprehend where exactly you are and what we are by association." The White Rabbit said to them, his back still turned, which further irritated Adam.

"That's not how this is going to work, Rabbit. You said you were the one who threw us in here, you're the one who brought us into this without warning, and we just saw someone get burned alive, apparently just for being associated with you. We're not going to wait on this any longer, we demand an explanation for thi-" Adam said, although he sounded calm, it was easy to hear the seething venom with every word as he walked towards the White Rabbit and grabbed him, turning him towards the group. But he could not finish his sentence as he saw the Rabbit's front, his eyes widened as he drops him and steps back, tripping and falling accidentally, allowing everyone else to see what he sees.

The "White Rabbit" was now partly deformed in areas of his body, the white fur and parts of his coat now seemingly covered in an inky-black oil-like substance and seemingly began to melt off of him, before crawling back into itself. A part of his face was also like this, specifically the top left portion and the lower part of his ear, his left eye now a small glowing yellow orb as oppose to the blue eye his right one still was.

It was undoubtedly a horrifying look for him, something truly out of a nightmare or some kind of wonderland-inspired horror story, and yet he used his arms, or rather what's left of them, dust off what's left of his red coat as if this was a normal situation he was in, being careful that the black goop doesn't spread out as he did. Needless to say, Adam and Alice were both horrified at what they were seeing.

"Hmph! This was just the kind of reactions I did not wish to be bothered with, but I suppose it was inevitable to happen sooner or later." The rabbit said. While his voice was heard and movement could be seen in the inky goop of his face, his actual face didn't seem to move whatsoever, as if it wasn't real face at all, as if it was a mask despite realistic movements it showed before this happened.

"What...What in the world are you?" Alice asked him.

"Well I'll first state the obvious; I'm not exactly a White Rabbit as I appear to be...It is hard to accurately explain in detail, but to summarize, I am what you would call, a Shadow, as was the Black Rabbit and our allies out there, as are the people you will see here, and everywhere in this world, one that exists in correlation with your own." The White Rabbit said, casually explaining himself as if this was a normal conversation they were having right now, as he tries to reform himself. The black goop seemed to merge and take the shapes of his missing parts before the white fur, blue eye, and red coat reformed itself. The White Rabbit's face, now reformed, started moving again naturally as he opened and closed his jaws and eyes as if testing them out.

"Ah, There we go." The Rabbit then said, seemingly satisfied with his body's reformation.

@rebthewriter @CronicCrystalis @Crimmy @Petulant @Letter Bee @Duoya @Etranger @Avant @Suku @Windstormugly @CriticalHit @EchoicChamber

Snow Cecil was exhausted. He wished he could say he kept himself focused throughout the fatigue. But as it was, all he can hear were the tones of rage, then terror; his eyes had been closed to the White Rabbit's form being revealed to be more unnatural than it was before. I've reached the limits of my knowledge, he thought in terror greater than fear for his life. He fell to his knees, panting, hyperventilating as he opened his eyes. This should be my time. I should be working through every hint and deducing a stable conclusion from the vaguest of hints.

Tears fell. I let a person die on my watch, yet I can't even let his death mean something by deducing why he died.

Wounded pride mingled with fresh grief as Snow shuddered, opening his mouth soundlessly. I can't speak, I can't speak at all! He tried to look at the White Rabbit, and thought: Was this the magic I was thinking of exploiting just a few minutes ago?! If so, why isn't my brain working to do so?! I should be responding to everyone's concerns, I should be thinking up answers and providing them! I should be providing solace! But he could not; all he can do was try and pick himself up. But the moment Snow tried to get up on his right leg, he shuddered again, and sought something to support him.

He couldn't find it. Snow Cecil fell again, this time, he had to catch himself with his hands; looking like he was kneeling on all fours. The weeping continued, and words finally escaped his mouth.

"I am so weak." He wept, wept for the young man who had died while he lived, and wept from the realization that he was limited like everyone else.

@CriticalHit@Windstormugly@Suku@Avant@Etranger@Duoya@Petulant@EchoicChamber@CronicCrystalis@The Jest

Crobalt Nicholas Crystalis - The Sun

Butter Daisy Forest

"...Jump into a hole and risk breaking legs or take my chances at ending up Human Flambé." Cronic said, turning back briefly to glance at the flames, quickly counting that they were now a head short... At least as far as he could tell from those he could see who were in the clearing with him moments prior. Gritting his teeth for a moment, he then turned back to the hole.

"IF THIS HURTS LIKE HELL, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE HELL TO PAY FOR THIS!" Cronic shouted out as he jumped, screaming one word as he did so;

"GERONIMOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

----------

Hatter's Sanctuary

Naturally, Cronic wasn't prepared for when Gravity flipped on him, and ended up landing face down on the ground. The ground stifling a groan, he slowly got back up to his feet and began to dust himself off, gazing around for a moment, all the while listening to the exchange between Adam, Alice and the White Rabbit... And was subsequently caught off guard (and might've thrown up in his mouth a little bit) when the "White Rabbit" was forcibly turned around and looked like some kind of ink monster until it fixed it's features.

"...That is one thing I wish I could Un-see." Cronic said to himself, before noticing Snow's breakdown, and headed over to help him up to his feet, dusting him off too, before softly pulling Snow's head to his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his back, bringing another hand to the back of his head.

"...Yeah. I think we're all in over our heads at the moment. Right now we've all got thousands of questions running through our heads... And we need answers." Cronic said, gazing at the White Rabbit.

"So I'll get straight to the point; Why, of all people, did you bring us here?"

It was an odd sort of world, this one. It wasn’t a dream- no dream was as rich, as intricate, as lifelike as what Gale was living through now- but there was no place in reality for monsters and magic, either. It was more like he and the others had stepped right into a storybook, if said storybook was written by someone with a very twisted sense of humor indeed. That sort of mindset caused him to give little more than a raised eyebrow as members of the group dove into a rabbit’s nest, before he slipped in after them into the safety of the other side.

The transition from burning meadows to peaceful garden was...somewhat jarring, to say the least, and Gale found himself admiring the view for a moment before their Rabbit guide spoke up again. He spoke of “Shadows”, of him and his comrades being one. Gale drank it all in with silent interest. If anyone could give them a well and proper explanation of what was happening, it would be him of all people.

His lips were pressed into a grim, tight line throughout the entire monologue. It was only at the sound of gasping- frantic, pained gasping- that Gale’s face shifted into one of sympathy. It was the boy, the youngest. One of the others had already wrapped him into an embrace, so Gale knelt beside the two, placing a hand on the child’s shoulder. “Hey. Hey. There was nothing that you could have done. Nothing that...any of us could have done, honestly. It’s not your fault. Alright?” He looked up, mouth open to speak again, but was cut off by the sight of the Rabbit’s twisted new form.

A flash of horror darted through Gale’s expression. And then his shoulders straightened, eyes severe.

“It was...it was you that brought us all here, right? To wherever the hell this is?” He didn’t wait for a response before he continued, voice rising an edge, colored with anger and indignation. “Look. I don’t really know what’s going on, or how everything’s that’s been happening has happened, but you better have a damn good explanation as to why you dragged a bunch of innocent people into all this, because someone just died because of you. You know that?”

@Letter Bee@The Jest

Hector only needed to listen to the child that barked at him for all of two seconds before mentally writing him off and listening no longer. The last thing anyone needed right now was a preachy load of nonsense straight from a Japanese cartoon. He wanted answers, and he was going to get them once they escaped this danger. After some time, the rabbit lead them to a fitting hole for them to all crawl into. Or jump, as it were. Given everything that had occurred so far, Hector could care less about the absurdity of jumping into a rabbit hole to safety. Like the rest, he dived right on in, eager to reach safety and here some answers.

Despite the weird and wonderful environment they soon found themselves in, Hector was still squarely focused on getting an explanation. Fortunately for him, it appeared that some of the others were equally focused on the task. They quickly got down to brass tacks and interrogated the rabbit more effectively than he would have expected. While the horrifying visage that the rabbit undertook in reaction was certainly disturbing, Hector was still set on a singular purpose, and having already seen a man burn to death, he wasn't about to cower in fear of whatever this thing was. The rabbit's apparent indignation at being pressed only served to lower him further in Hector's esteem. It was as if he had no insight or appreciation for the circumstances of the people he had brought here. If he expected their co-operation, he was doing a piss poor job of soliciting it.

Nevertheless, the others continued to press for answers, and Hector wanted nothing more than to add his voice to the chorus. "Aye, answers. Oh, but only if you can be bothered with them, right? Wouldn't want to strain you or stress you out or anything." He mockingly mirrored the rabbit's earlier statement. If he insisted on getting shitty with them, then Hector was going to offer nothing but sourness in return.

@The Jest

Nicola Khumalo

Nicky was quite happy to end up somewhere safe....until she discovered, along with the others, that their hosts were not fluffy anthropomorphic animals but instead some kindof horrifying shadowy abominations on the inside. Things were just going from bad to worse. They were in a strange place, monsters were roaming around roasting people to death, and to top it all off their supposed saviors were also creepy monsters in their own right, merely putting on a friendly face for whatever reason. That was the key word in all this; "whatever reason". Nobody had any idea what was going on. Nicky could hear everyone else clamoring to have things explained to them. Nobody understood why this was all happening, or why they had to suffer through it.

But Nicky was of the impression that it really didn't matter, because she had reached a certain limit with all the running and the very much recent death, and now the rabbit was actually a grotty shadow creature or something. Who cared why any of this was happening? There was a much more pressing issue on Nicky's mind. "Um, can I say something?" She raised her voice cautiously. "How about we forget all the explanations and what not, and you just tell us how we can leave? Don't we all want to leave? I for one definitely want to leave." It was clear from how she said it that she was quite desperate. She could care less why any of this had happened or what they wanted from them. What could possibly be worth anybody dying for? She wanted to go home and forget any of this ever happened.

@The Jest

The High Priestess - Meredith Fong

"Oof!"

Meredith Fong's descent into the hole and her subsequent (and a bit painful) landing in the "garden" was accompanied by an utterance of surprise, the short interjection of sound louder than usual as her body was once again planted into the grass. A seemingly-unimpressed groan followed as she pushed herself to her feet, flicking away blades of green that had made their way into the furred collar of her jacket and blowing away any wild strands of hair away from her eyes. It was definitely pretty hard to keep her long black locks tame, especially when outdoors. Nature always wanted to play around and mess up her hair, which was not cool of it at all, and it worked even harder at that whenever she fell over. Which wasn't really that common in her day to day life, so it was first today.

Actually, it really was a day of firsts!

The crimson-eyed girl rose to her feet, gingerly scratching the back of her head as she looked around. It was a very surreal, avant-garde locale, like a fantastic garden straight out of the illustrations of an old children's book. Coupled with the dreamlike, ethereal sheen that overlaid everything, it was really easy to believe that everything was still taking place in her imagination (but that meant she would have to have words with it for showing her that terrible death). It wasn't exactly a dream at all though; she could definitely, without any uncertainty, state that her brain was not in the middle of doing cartwheels, and that the vivid images being fed into her peepers were a-hundred-percent the real, absolute McCoy.

Even if the nature of the world seemed totally different (but why didn't that stop it from trying its best to sabotage her hair?), she decided - her hands stretched out in front of her, fingers linked together as she pondered on the situation - that she would just think of it like her usual day-to-day life for now.

Her day-to-day life didn't have weirdly transforming bunny rabbits though. Meredith wondered if this was what Carroll based all his writing on, but that thought didn't really pan out at all, right? From the very good look she had gotten from that transformation, it sure didn't look like part of that manuscript.

Were they Carroll-based aliens?

"So are you guys actually a bit like aliens?" she asked once the Rabbit had finished speaking, deciding to ask the question that had popped into her brain. She was watching a movie with a shapeshifting alien a few weeks ago, and the radical ability to shift their body around seemed like something that would totally class as alien. "You're not human, you have superpowers, and this is another ... world, right?"

They weren't Martians though. If the explanation was right, it was more like ... that place in myth she heard about ... Annwn. Meredith wondered for a second if she could meet King Arthur somewhere. He was supposed to live in Annwn, right? But maybe if it was another world, he could have lived in another part of the country or world.

"Is it okay if we think of you like that?" continued the young Chinese woman, brows furrowing slightly. "You're the alien natives of this place that's connected to Planet Earth in some way, and you're fighting each other?"

It seemed like it would be easy to remember. She had wanted to say that they had come in peace too, but it didn't seem like time for that. Nor had they purposely come in the first place anyway (she was snoozing off in the realm of REM back then), and it wasn't a peaceful arrival when they had been attacked by those other ones.

Meredith quietly prayed for the safety of that one young man's soul.

That ... just hadn't been right at all.

The intensity of the moment threatened to overwhelm Rhys as he ran with the group away from the pursuing pyromaniac. Though he had not been running for very long, he could feel each breath becoming shorter and his legs crying out in pain. Physical endurance was not something Rhys possessed in the slightest. Much to his delight the White Rabbit pointed out their escape method, a rabbit hole in the ground. How appropriate. We are being chased in Wonderland and the only way out is leaping deeper into the madness. The boy paused at the edge of the gaping black maw for a moment, instincts forbidding him from going any further. Out of breath, Rhys cast his gaze back towards the grove that the group fled.

The wrath of the titan had nigh annihilated the landscape, trees rendered cracked and charred, the grass, blackened and marred. Its blazing scorn still having yet to fully sputter out, as small flames hungrily gnawed at the scattered and splintered wood. It became clear to Rhys that his only choice was to do as the rabbit instructed or risk his life running. Needless to say, continuing to run would be foolish, so he buried his doubts and advanced upon the gaping hole. Taking one last deep breath of hot, somewhat smoky air, Rhys plunged himself into the darkness.

The sudden inversion of gravity caught Rhys off guard, and before he could even attempt to correct his sudden descent, he found himself slammed into the ground and subsequently winded. As the boy sluggishly sat up and rose to his feet, he took in his new surroundings. The strange intermingling of flora and machine into a sort of garden was peculiar at the absolute least. The large table nearest the center caught his attention and gave Rhys an inkling of just where the group had landed, and the White Rabbit thankfully confirmed his suspicion.

The Hatter's Garden... I never in my wildest dreams expected to find myself here.

Rhys looked on as the White Rabbit began pulling ornate gold pocket watches from seemingly nowhere, and as one of the other boys in the group so unceremoniously grappled their guide. What did he do to deserve that? He ju- Just before Rhys could finish his thought, his gaze was met by the demonic deformation of the White Rabbit. Involuntarily, he flinched, and his expression briefly shifted to one of shock. Where there was once white fur, a black abyss stared back at him. Worse yet, one of the White Rabbit's formerly blue eyes had become a shade of yellow that was quite reminiscent of the Black Rabbit's eyes. The whole image was outright disturbing at the very least. Apparently, he and the Black Rabbit were both 'Shadows', a name that quite befit the White Rabbit's current appearance. Even stranger was the White Rabbit quite literally molding himself back to his previous form, as if his entire body was fluid.

We're all mad here after all...

As Rhys attempted to bury his doubts and comprehend just what had occurred, he couldn't help but overhear some of the group's words with the reformed White Rabbit. The way they were acting? Absolute rubbish. One of them even had the gall to mock the one who had just saved their lives! Granted, the Rabbit was the cause of them being brought here against their will, other than that though, the White Rabbit had done nothing to deserve this. Composing himself, he addressed the mimic and the one who had gotten aggressive with the Rabbit earlier.

"Is it possible for you two to show even a shred of tact? Respect perhaps? He just saved our lives and this is how you treat him? Petty mockery and violence? Quit acting like children." a tone of annoyance ringing out as he shot the pair an icy glare.

With that said, Rhys turned his attention to someone he didn't recall from the clearing escape, he'd been consoling the blonde boy who tried to play the part of leader. Perhaps Rhys had just not seen him after the groups landing? Carrying as much persuasive poise as he could muster, Rhys walked over to the unfamiliar gentleman and spoke.

"I agree wholeheartedly, save for him being guilty of the boy's... death. Pray tell, why would he bother saving the rest of us? Isn't he the one responsible for bringing us here? Now if he wanted us dead, he could've left us to be immolated. Yet here we are, untouched for the most part. Thus I believe the giant from earlier is truly the one with his blood on his hands."

He turned to face the White Rabbit as he finished. "Nevertheless... I believe you stated earlier that we'd be told whatever information you could provide once we were safe, we seem to be quite safe in this sanctuary. Now would be as good a time as any for an explanation if you would be so kind."

@The Jest@Avant@EchoicChamber@CronicCrystalis@Crimmy@Petulant@Letter Bee@Duoya@rebthewriter@Etranger@Suku@Windstormugly

As he continued to run, the rabbit retained it's position in the front - eventually gesturing towards a medium size hole in the ground and saying something about getting inside. As those in front of him jumped inside, Luke simply questioned how hiding in the dirt would solve any sort of problem they were facing. After all, someone willing to chase them so much would surely not care about digging a little, or even simply lighting a fire in the entrance and choking the group to death. Which only opened up more issues - like how the hell everyone fits in there? It had to lead somewhere, but he (like most sane human beings) didn't feel to well in such small and enclosed spaces, especially under the ground. He had a pretty wide build, so it seemed like a bad idea...

The sounds of the conflict a small distance away slowly coming closer made Luke stop caring as much, and he began to lower himself into the hole in the ground. Unlike the others, he chose to carefully lower himself, clinging to the sides in order to climb down - unfortunately, loose dirt failed as a foothold very quickly, and Luke dropped into the hole only a few feet lower than the entrance.

Falling for an extended period of time, followed by the screams of some of his companions, Luke was filled with instinctual fear, as the lizard part of his brain temporarily forgot that he had to be in a dream and thought he was actually going to die. Before he had time to reason that the falling may just be him simply falling out of bed, he was already pooping out of the ground somewhere entirely different, like a god damn cartoon character.

---

Landing on his legs, Luke immediately fell to the ground and breathed heavily. He had not given the run his all, but he was tired from the day and his legs were burning horribly. Now that he didn't need to run, he could afford to rest for a bit without risking the chance of burning to a crisp. Seeing the other people standing around, Luke noticed the completely new environment they were in - the hole was still present, but the area they were in was more akin to n actual civilized location, with technology and a Victorian and older design. Looking at it calmed Luke slightly, as it reminded him of his own home, albeit only in spirit.

His manor lacked the clear focus on agriculture that this one seemed to posses...

And almost immediately, everyone began to talk and question each other at the same time, usually repeating the same questions in a progressively annoying manner. Was his dream trying to make him interested in the annoying BS, or just taking up time till he woke up. Luke immediately walked over to the large table in the middle, before taking a seat. The tea was tempting considering his horribly parched throat, but he wasn't sure on the calories it had - he was on a cut at the moment, and had to stay below his caloric deficit. This thinking was so ingrained in Luke's mind, that he didn't even realize that, since this was a dream, he could eat as much as he wanted. The rabbit like creature continued to speak, eventually dissolving into a black, jelly looking substance. Despite appearing fairly intimidating, Luke couldn't care less - it was a lot less intimidating than the man, and Luke was very confident that he could kick the small creatures ass.

As everyone continued to bicker and question, some even saying something about a guy that died, Luke simply chose to keep his trap shut - They already asked all the questions that could be asked, and he really didn't care about the 'where' or 'why' he care about the 'how the hell do we get out of here.' Besides, no sense in trying to question his subconscious - he was already bad at the symbolic crap that psychologists say dreams represent, and he just wanted to get some actual rest. Laying on the bench, Luke kept his mouth shut, progressively getting more annoyed as the others whined and questioned each other. He would have felt bad that the rabbit was being so intensely questioned, had the damn rat not been so unclear on it's explanations. He kind of deserved the barrage of questions he was receiving, in that respect.

Maria Kusonoki

It was official she was definitely losing sanity points. She could feel her sanity slipping away as she watched the white rabbit mock reform itself and she barely could help but bat an eye. "Definitely losing sanity points its the only explanation." She muttered out loud not really caring about what others were saying. To focused on her own debatable sanity which was a reasonable reason she assumed she heard about those who ended up at the madhouse the men in white taking people away for their safety as well as others. A lot can go on behind locked doors and she was definitely not wanting to find out what. "Don't you see were all mad in wonderland your mad and so am I." She muttered out loud once more it wasn't a comforting thought would it be off with her head for not painting the roses red? With that final thought, she prayed the queen of hearts wasn't as unhinged as the one in the actual book. Oh god, that would be a whole other can of worms if that was the case.

It'd been a while since she'd awoken here, and yet Tylissa Cannon was still wandering around the Butter Daisy Forest aimlessly, trying to get a feel for the netherworld that she'd unwittingly found herself falling into. Tylissa didn't remember much about the dream she had prior to finding herself here, but she did remember seeing a reflection of herself in her pajamas, wrapping a certain stuffed toucan tightly in her arms like she always had. She also remembered her fingers going straight through the glass object that had presented this reflection as she touched it, and her hand being trapped inside said glass object no matter how much effort she invested into wresting it free... and then her whole body was sucked in. Upon that epiphany, Tylissa immediately flexed her right hand's fingers to guage how much feeling it had, as that was the hand she remembered using when she reached out towards this glass.

"Oh, thank god..." Tylissa sighed as she said this, relieved that her hand hadn't undergone paralysis after all, only to feel the tension in her whole right arm as she tried to move it, 'Seriously, how the hell was it not ripped off back then?'

She'd also noticed her pajamas were gone, and in their place were the same black shorts and the same pink sweater as she'd changed into from her school uniform that afternoon. She couldn't help but wonder if someone had dressed her in her sleep, and shuddered at the thought that someone would be perverted enough to do so, but decided she'd best not dwell on it. After all, there were more important answers that Tylissa needed right now, like... how she got here. Where she was meant to go. What troubles lay ahead for her. And more importantly, whether there was anyone out there that who'd go out of their way to guide her.

...

Eventually, after spending a few more seconds taking in the sights of this netherworld, Tylissa bravely ventured forward. Here, she finally found some other figures; a black, rabbit-like creature and who looked to be an elderly man with a tall top hat. However, both of these figures were pre-occupied with each other, firing a myriad of spells one after another; almost as if they were doing combat. Needless to say, Tylissa was entranced by the spectacle of spells bring "traded" between the two figures, but thankfully she had enough common sense to stay back. After all, they could easily catch her in the crossfire and kill her, whether they'd meant to or otherwise.

On top of that, Tylissa didn't even know who the good guy was meant to be. She was sure that she could figure that out if the two combatants were to exchange any of the cliche battle quotes, like "you'll never get away with this" or "with this power of mine you won't stand a chance" or things such as that. However, that would mean sticking around for longer than would be wise...

Yeah, this place looked a little too familiar to the media of Alice in Wonderland. It was weird, what the heck was even happening? Why was it happening? Hitomi found herself panting after they had entered the Alice in Wonderland esque area. She was surprised so many people have gathered along with her, but it was sad, what happened back there earlier. That poor kid...

She swallowed the lump in her throat that had come up at her throat at the thought of being at the receiving end of that attack for real. Was that what they were going to have to deal with in this world? That was scary but they all had to have gotten send here for a reason.

The White Rabbit told them to relax and Hitomi dusted herself off, sighing, trying to find the right questions to ask. She had so many of them, so many of them. It was driving her crazy.

"How do the Physics work? How come we were sent here in the first place?" Hitomi wondered, "We're just a couple of normal group of people and..." She was cut off by the transforming of the White Rabbit, causing her to be shocked at the transformation, watching a boy fall over. Hitomi kept her ground this time but was shocked. However, she knew the White Rabbit wasn't going to hurt any of them.

"We should calm down, he won't hurt us. He saved us, after all." Would be pretty weird if he did try to kill them, " She took a step foreward, trying to show the others maybe not to be afraid of the White Rabbit that just transformed, "I don't mean to bombard you with questions, White Rabbit, sir. Forgive me for asking another question, I just want anwsers as everyone else here. How is this world exist with our own?" She didn't want to come off as rude but she was being polite as she could

Arthur did what he does usually, getting piss drunk at some pub in town with a couple of his friends. Throughout the night He had four of his favourite drink, the Irish Cider, after the fourth one the bartender noticed that Arthur was intoxicated and refused to serve him any more alcohol for the rest of the night. Arthur was furious and started to yell at the bartender "W-WHAT GIVES Y-YOU THE RIGHT TO STOP T-THE BOOZE" He bellowed.

The Bartender called over two security guards to kick Arthur out of the bar. Arthur tried to fight the guards but due to the amount of alcohol that he had ingested, he didn't stand a chance. The guards pushed him outside and closed the door, the worst part of this is that none of his "Friends" went outside with him.

"F-FINE I D-DONT NEED ANY OF YOU B-BASTARDS ANYWAYS" He yelled at the bar door. Arthur wasn't too far away from his uncle's place so he walked back to his uncle's place. It was about 11:00PM so it was very dark but surprisingly Arthur didn't get mugged and made it back to his uncle's place.

Luckily for Arthur, his uncle was asleep, which was great since his uncle would yell at him for getting this drunk. Arthur went to his room and closed his door as softly as possible for a drunken man. As soon as Arthur got in his room, he fell down and passed out.

---

Arthur opened his eyes to see the clear open sky. He could feel the cold wind hitting his face and he could also feel the stone path that he was laying on. Arthur sat up just to be stunned by what he saw, it was his parent's house in Ireland but it looked all broken down. He got back on his feet and started to walk down that cold stone path to his parent's house. The wind was very similar to the wind in the day he left.

As Arthur got closer he noticed that the front door was wide open, swaying back and forth due to the wind. He walks in the house with his face covered to protect him from the wind. As the wind gets faster the door swings more frantically, Arthur quickly closes the door. Arthur puts his back to the door and looks into the living room and was disgusted from what he saw, there was piles of cash all around the room as well as some lit candles on the floor.

In the middle of the room, there was a full body mirror. This caught Arthur's curiosity, so Arthur slowly approached the mirror. Arthur was about a foot away from the mirror when the smell of burning and a very bright light came from behind him. He turned around to see that one of the candles have tipped, setting the money ablaze. The front door was consumed in the fire, leaving no way to get out this sent Arthur into a panic but even in that panicked state he felt compelled to go to the mirror.

Arthur looks into the mirror to only see himself standing there looking back. All of a sudden everything around him fades to black, he also fades from the mirror and an image of what seems to be a forest appears in the mirror. Arthur leans forward to get a closer look at the picture in the mirror when out of nowhere he was pushed into the mirror. Arthur lets out one last scream before falling into the mirror.
"SHIIIIIIIIIIT"

---

Arthur screams as he falls down to the ground, hitting multiple tree branches on the way down. This slowed his fall making the impact with the ground a lot less devastating. He lands in a bush and lets out a slight groan. Luckily for Arthur, he didn't break any bones or hurt any major parts of his body. It took Arthur a few minutes to recover and get back on his feet, once he got out of the bush he leaned against a tree to regain his energy.

Arthur had a few cuts and bruises but he was fine. He looks around him to see if he could get an idea of where he is, he couldn't see any type of building or monument around. After looking around he saw two... things throwing what seemed to be spells, he also spotted a little girl walking in the forest. Thank god I'm not the only human out here. Maybe she will know where we are?

Arthur walks towards the little girl while trying to avoid attracting the attention of the two... things fighting. He comes up to her and slouches down to her height and asks "Hey, do you know where we are? and if you do can you point me to the nearest exit please"

@AdmrlStalfos19@The Jest

He was running through a forest in a dream, escaping from the destructive actions of some black "rabbit", now occupied by a man in a hat. He was following a girl with mouse features, along with various other people, running ahead of him in varying degrees of panic. And now he could see them jumping down a big hole in the ground. Indeed, this had to be his mind telling him to be less affected by the students and his colleagues. Most of the dream-people either jumped down or more thrust themselves down the hole, but one of them actually acted sensibly and lowered himself down it. And the fact that everyone dissapeared within even though such a feat defied common sense, well it was a dream after all. As everyone was gone down the hole Jeremy took a moment to look around him, taking in the surroundings, the atmosphere. Forest, something felt off about that, he was sure he could see movement far away. Well, as his mind refused to wake up there wasn't anything to do but follow the others down the hole, which he sat down and lowevered himself into with his hands still firmly on the ridge of the opening.

Apparently dream-physics did not do well with doing things carefully, he could feel his feet and legs start pulling him wierdly as he lowered himself into the hole, and he lost his grip. A strange feeling of vertigo engulfed him as he was almost pushed, not down, but rather up out of what he first thought was the opening, but proved to be an end to the tunnel as it were. And of course all the other people were there. He managed to come out of this hole in something of a shoulder-roll, standing up to brush off any dust and dirt from his suit. The dream didn't dissapoint in becoming even wierder. The room, rather the hall, was big, strangely decored, with a long table a bit off from the hole. The kids and few less young people were mostly having something of an argument with the white rabbit, who as Jeremy entered did not so much look as a rabbit as a victim of severe melting. The first thought into Jeremy's head that someone had poured oil over the rabbit was quickly replaced with horrid fascination as the thing changed, melting in front of their eyes. Turning around and back the rabbit was himself again it seemed.

The others demanded answers from the rabbit, why were they here, why had he brought them here, what were shadows, and more. Walking around the scene Jeremy was once more impressed by his own dream, these people almost seemed like actual individuals. Some of them even made allusions to this not being the real world, did characters in dreams have that kind of fourth-wall breaking tendencies. Maybe it was time to test it and actually interact with the denizens of this ever continuing dream. One problem however, they were all talking in the mouth of eachother.

As it was Jeremy continued circling the group, coming around the table, at which one of them had apparently decided that it was better to rest than to join the chaos. Still looking at the group Jeremy came to a stop by the bench.

Butter Daisy Forest

While Tylissa was focused on the Mad Hatter and Black Rabbit's fight, and Arthur appeared to ask her questions while also keeping tabs on the fight, yet another human, Tyler Blackmore, approached them from behind, and tapped lightly on both of their shoulders before Tylissa had a chance to answer Arthur. Should they turn to see him, he would immediately place his finger in front of his mouth in a shushing motion before taking a quick glance at the two still fighting, ensuring they didn't notice them, tilting his head behind himself, and taking a few steps back, so as to signal the two other humans to follow him away from what was going on.

Upon running far enough away from the battle at hand, Tyler stopped with Tylissa and Arthur supposedly at his side.

"...We should be safe for now, but not for very long. There's a lot more monsters in these woods than just those two. ...I'm guessing you two were also dropped into this world; through a mirror while you were dreaming, right?" Tyler asked them.

@AdmrlStalfos19 @Godlikeblade

--------------------------

Hatter's Sanctuary

It seems everyone was reacting about as...well, as the White Rabbit expected them to. He wasn't meant to show him what he really was, but alas, it was probably better this way. Rather they figure it out and let out their expressions of shock, fear, and...the rather intense sorrow the child seemed to be feeling. ...Was he that terrifying? The thought was slightly disheartening as he looked down at the grass, but only for a second. There was no time to show it, as one of the humans decided to get cute with the "subtle" disgust in his words towards the rabbit.

"Well, yes. If my strain was even nearly as terrible as your attempt at Sarcasm, that would be a problem, I suppose." The White Rabbit said to Hector. Unnecessary? Most likely. But he has a sense of pride to keep in tact, and if someone, human or otherwise, decided to challenge him, he could not just back down from it.

Alice and Adam were quick to notice the boy's breakdown into tears after seeing the Rabbit's hideous insides. Adam thought it odd how this boy was trying to lead them one minute, only to break down into completely in the next. But it was easy to think about and comprehend; Adam has seen his type before back in the Orphanage. He was a child with an inflated ego who thinks he knows best for whatever reason, only for a reality, be it disciplinary measure, other kids' action, or something as unfortunate as this, to crash it down to earth. Best thing to do in this case is to let someone else comfort him, like Cronic apparently did until he calms down. Alice, on the other hand, turned to Snow, dropping down to also comfort the boy.

"There, there...It'll all be fine." She said to him, in as gentle a voice as she could muster. She then looked at the others as they press the Rabbit for answers, noticing someone from the back who reached the front to ask him about it as well...someone she didn't realize was there while they were being chased.

"Now where in the world did you come from? You weren't with the others that were summoned here...and that form..." The White Rabbit said, looking at Gale, his eyes scanning him from top to bottom to top again. Before he could go any further with this man however, another girl decided to jump into the conversation, asking for a way to get back.

Honestly, she had a good point; it was somewhat surprising that no one bothered to ask that question before her. Everyone else seems to be focused on why they came here as oppose to how they can get back. Focused more on what they're here for, rather than running to escape. Is it because they still believe this is a dream they can wake up from even after what's happened to that other human, or could it be that they actually have a sense of immediate duty buried somewhere in their subconscious?

What an interesting race, these humans...

"I'm sorry my dear, but for now, leaving is not a possibility. The Looking Glass is a one-way door to this realm from your dreams, at least for humans like yourselves. The ones responsible for all of this made sure that only Shadows are allowed to access the Looking Glass both ways. " The White Rabbit said.

"By which you mean you made sure only you...'shadows', are allowed to go both ways." Adam quickly stated.

"Such a rude implication. I'll have you know, I would not have wasted time and effort to bring you all here if there was anything else we could have done."

"But you did bring us here, as you just admitted." Adam then said, a cocky smirk on his face as he did so. The White Rabbit sighed as he looked directly at Hector and Adam both, seemingly pinching the area between his eyes.

"Hatter help me, this is going to be more painful than I thought... Yes, I was the one who brought you all here to Wonderland, whether I wanted to or not. Regardless of that, however, no matter if it was myself, Hatter, or even the Black Rabbit out there, the point would still remain: Once you are brought into this world, you cannot leave. ...When you dream, your consciousness enters a state isolated from the body as you enter the ethereal realm shaped from your mind. The Looking Glass locked onto you, and thrown your consciousness from your dreams to here. But contrary to what you think, we did not choose all of you specifically. We detected multiple humans with the potential, regardless of who they are, and we sent a looking glass to bring you all here." The White Rabbit explained, muttering the first sentence under his breath before returning to a normal tone of voice, and a normal posture to explain the rest.

"...What? Are you saying we basically got chosen at random!?" Adam asked, annoyed and frustrated at the idea that this is happening just because of some sort of bad luck they all apparently have. Not helping matters was Rhys having the gall to essentially try and discipline him and Hector for getting justifiably frustrated at this...thing. Not helped was Hitomi's utter display of Naivete. The fact the Rabbit saved their lives doesn't negate what he just admitted, that he was the one who threw them all into this mess in the first place, and by the sound of things, for no good reason. That said, the White Rabbit looked at Rhys and Hitomi in relief; seems some of these humans were more sensible than the others.

"Good to see at least some of you can think rationally." The White Rabbit said after Rhys and Hitomi made their statements.

Meanwhile the chinese girl, Meredith, asked her question, making him raise an eyebrow in utter bewilderment.

"...Alien? What the devil is an alien? ...Well, Odd terminology aside, that is a proper summary yes. We are native here, this is a world connected to your own, and indeed as you already saw, we are currently at war with other shadows like the Black Rabbit." The White Rabbit responded to Meredith's question. Next up was Hitomi's questions.

"It's hard to explain the physics of this world. I can only say, that they are the same as in your world... until they're not. As for the other part of your questions...That is easier to explain, but I don't know if you will be able to...understand it. To put it simply, this world is connected to the hearts and minds of all living things in your world; a realm that exists in an immaterial way to your world with only a rare number of known ways to connect them. The Looking Glass entering your dreams, is one of those ways, albeit to a lesser extent since it does not reach your world directly." The White Rabbit explained. Alice, who was trying to calm Adam down while the White Rabbit was answering questions, looked to the ground after the Rabbit finished. Something about the Rabbit's explanation just now striking her as odd...Though she could not, for the life of her, put her finger on why. Deciding that it was not important for the moment, she shook away the thought, and decided to toss her own hat (no pun intended) into the ring.

"...Hey Rabbit, I know this is sort of an obvious question, but can't we just will ourselves to wake up? Regardless of how real it feels, this should just be a dream, right?" Alice asked the Rabbit after trying to calm Adam down.

"...Haven't some of you already try that yet? ...The short answer is no. Your consciousness was brought out of your mind through the looking glass, and made its way to Wonderland. Meaning it your consciousness is separated from your mind and body at this very moment. I believe you humans call it, a comatose. Surely you've dealt with this phenomenon while you were in the real world by now." The White Rabbit said, sighting after he asked his question, then taking a deep breath before speaking again.

"We're....We're all in comas?" Alice asked.

"Quite right... You are still attached to your five senses because your consciousness has taken physical shape in this world."

"You're not making any sense..." Adam said to him, getting more and more bitter by the second. That word, "Phenomenon" was something of a trigger, gave him a terrible feeling, and it didn't take long for him to figure out why.

"In this world, emotions, thoughts, egos and whole consciousnesses like yourselves manifests a physical form and can interact as if in your own world as a result. We shadows can take the shapes you see before you now because of this very reason, and likewise, there can be some with enough...idealism, to shape themselves how they see themselves. ...For example..." The White Rabbit then said. Before he could finish his sentence, he grabbed what appeared to be a gun from the pocket of his little red coat, a olden-styled flintlock pistol more specifically, and fired it, just above Gale's head, just grazing the skin of his forehead. But instead of blood, out instead came some sort of glowing white substance in its place.

"Hiding your true self does you no good here." He said to Gale. Adam staying silent as to try and comprehend what just happened and why.

"...You hurt him." Alice said, as if asking the Rabbit if he comprehended what he just did.

"But not killed him, important difference. He'll likely experience some pain in that area, but he'll be fine. Unfortunately that other boy back there...I'm truly sorry for that, it should never have happened." The White Rabbit said, rather solemnly.

"Sorry...? You don't mean..." Alice said.

"...Yes, if you die in this realm, your consciousness loses its shape and returns to the sea of souls, the collective unconsciousness that all life is connected to. ...It may be difficult for you humans to properly understand what that is and what it means for you. Therefore, I'll be frank with you and say this as simply as I can: Die in this world, and your physical body, in your own world...will never wake again." The White Rabbit then said. Alice looked with shock at this revelation, remembering all too well what that Black Rabbit did to Guiren.

"...So you're telling us, that you randomly selected us, and threw us into a death trap we can't escape from? ...Why? You still haven't answered that. Why bring us into this? What did we come here for!?" Adam asked, his patience now razor thin at this point.

"To help us. We know what's been happening in your world, we know why it's happening, we know about the Lost Children, and we need your help to rescue them." The White Rabbit said.

"The lost children...?" Alice asked. Adam clenched his fists as if to ventilate the anger rushing through him. It was just as he thought when the Rabbit similar phenomenons, now essentially confirmed.

"P3 Syndrome. ...You're basically saying, we all got hit with it, and that the other kids are here too?" Adam asked. The White Rabbit simply nodded.

"The Children entrapped by the melody of the Pied Piper, the Lost Children, were taken to this world and were immediately captured as soon as they arrived. Like us with you, it was no accident. They were drawn from their own dreams to Wonderland, then were captured like they were sent here to be." The White Rabbit said.

"Captured by who? Alice asked.

"...The Queen." The White Rabbit simply said. Alice looked to the ground the instant he said that, putting her hand to her chin in contemplation.

"The Queen? ...Why does that...sound familiar?" She thought. Adam, on the other hand, scoffed at this notion. This world is clearly inspired by the Lewis Carroll novels, so of course there's a queen at the center of the conflict.

"Which queen? White Queen, Red Queen, ...Queen of Hearts?" Adam asked the Rabbit.

"If I had to define her, I would have to say all of them, and yet none of them. She is simply the queen, and the only one. She rules over Wonderland, and is responsible for the situation that currently plagues your world, the children being kidnapped from their dreams ultimately being by her orders, and are currently held captive in her castle as we speak. That is why I summoned the Looking Glass and brought as many humans here as I could, by which I mean all of you. We need your help in rescuing the lost children and bringing them back to your world." The White Rabbit explained.

"We?" Adam asked, an eyebrow raised.

"The Queen has all of Wonderland under the unrelenting grip of her rule, but not all of us shadows are in support of that rule, or in support of her. This garden is a Sanctuary created kindly by our leader, the Mad Hatter, hide those among us shadows who wish to resist and rebel against the Queen's dominion. I, The Dorm Mouse, Bandersnatch out there, and every other resident of this garden have gathered into a rebellion against the queen and her army of loyalists. We do not agree with the Queen's ambitions, nor with her use of the children to further complete them. Likewise, once the Black Rabbit informs her of your arrival, she will surely send her soldiers after you. Whether you like it or not, we are on the same boat. If you can assist us in this war, I am certain we will be able to get you, and the children, back into your world. So...I would like to ask you all to help us fight the Queen." The White Rabbit explained.

@rebthewriter @CronicCrystalis @Crimmy @Petulant @Letter Bee @Duoya @Etranger @Avant @Suku @Windstormugly @CriticalHit @EchoicChamber

It seemed that the group was truly well and divided. There were others, like Gale himself, who had taken to demanding answers from their apparent host, and others still who seemed almost defensive of the Rabbit. While there were still some who seemed more bewildered than anything, or simply chose not to speak at all, the gaps within their little party. Regardless of all that was being thrown around, however, the Rabbit seemed rather calm.

And then his attention turned to Gale for the first time.

Gale paused. Blinked, disbelief slowly crawling into his face, knitting the brow and pursing the lips. “I got dragged in here with everyone else. Thrown into the forest. You...seriously weren’t keeping track of who ended up here?” It seemed irresponsible, really. A mistake that could have quite easily led to disaster if things had run differently. Still, Gale kept the rest of this commentary to himself as he listened, the Rabbit regaling them with tales of magic mirrors. The disconnect between mind and body. The fact that their very presence here was based upon mere luck of the draw, and that there was no way of them to leave on their own.

He opened his mouth to speak- to bring to light a fresh set of concerns, perhaps- but no words came. Whatever sound that had managed to escape him had been stolen, drowned out by the sound of the gunshot. A warm, pale glow spilled from the thin cut on his head.

What happened next almost held a sort of deliberate slowness. The light in Gale’s eyes seemed to fade. From the tiny, tiny wound on his head, his skin seemed to...crack. There was no blood in it, even as the lines ran over his eyeballs and through his lips. It was like his face was a mask, and behind it, a miniature star. The cracks didn’t stop at his skin, however- they went on, forming little spiderwebs along his coat and jacket despite all improbability.

After a few more moments, Gale’s body was almost entirely covered in cracks.

And then he broke.

There was a flash of light as his body seemed to fall apart, folding into itself, like a deck of cards being tipped over from the center. It seemed as if Gale would disappear entirely, what was left carried off into the wind, but, after all had been done, there was still something left behind.

A boy.

While his older incarnation was carefully sophisticated, the child now in his place seemed incredibly young. Small, even for someone his age. The curls that had been nearly maintained now sprung free, lazy and loose.

His coat and bow- which seemed at least three sizes too big for him- took away any semblance of maturity that he might have kept still.

This younger Gale blinked, gazing around with eyes as big as saucers. He lifted his hands, watching the fingers curl in and out, even as the Rabbit continues to drone on. After fully assessing his new form, he attempted to take a few steps forward- only to stumble a little to the side, like a baby deer.

After catching himself, he looked up at the Rabbit, and frowned.

“That was rather uncalled for, wouldn’t you say?” His voice matched his body, being much more high and sweet than before. ”Where I come from, it’s usually bad manners to shoot someone just after meeting them.”

He idly reached into his pocket, unwrapped the lollipop found there, and corked it securely into his mouth.

“I had been enjoying having that shape, too.” Gale sighed. @The Jest

Finally, the why of it all laid at their feet. Why it had taken them so long to arrive at this point was beyond Hector, but at least they had their answer. He was less concerned about all the technical details and sudden revelations than he was about the reason this was happening. Whether they were all actually in a coma or had ended up in hell was irrelevant so long as they had no direction. As briefly curious as it was that one of their number was revealed to be many times shorter than they really were, Hector was unconcerned with them so long as they appeared to be no threat, and certainly their "saviors" appeared largely unconcerned with his presence. It was good to hear the rabbit express some remorse for the prior death. It didn't make up for it happening, but it was better than the arrogant bastard attitude he had been maintaining this whole time. As he told it, his motives for involving them in all this was almost noble sounding. So noble that Hector didn't fully buy it. While he had decided to take this as the truth for now, he wasn't so sure there wasn't a more selfish reason behind it all. The rabbit here didn't strike him as the purely altruistic type. Selfish or not, Hector had to admit that wanting to overthrow a mad despot with vaguely megalomaniacal ambitions was an entirely reasonable endeavour, and even if he wouldn't forget the fact that this had just cost someone's life, it was certainly a cause he could get behind.

"Right, I for one will step up." He spoke up, standing forward. He still didn't like the rabbit creature, but he wouldn't let that hold him back. "But I think there's a crucial piece of information you've neglected to tell us. How, exactly, are we going to help? I doubt we could fight that creature back there even as a group, let alone an army of them." Hector suspected they already had a plan for them, but given how difficult it had been to wrangle a meaningful answer out of this rabbit so far, he felt the question needed to be asked.

@The Jest

Snow smiled as Nick consoled him, offering friendship freely. But he knew, more than ever, that he needed to find more solutions before the group collapsed under the sheer weight of egoes (including his own), anger, and negative emotions. And so he patted Nick's arm, as if to reassure him that he was all right now. "Thanks for the help," he said mildly. "I won't forget this."

Alice's attempt to console the boy also came as a surprise, and Snow said to her as the tears faded, "Thank you as well."

Turning to Gale, the boy would say, still warmly but less so, "Who are you? I haven't seen you in the intitial gathering." He then looked at Nick again, then back at Gale. "Either way, thanks to the both of you for trying to help."

"But now..." He listened to Rhys' words, silently approving. "It is time to listen to the White Rabbit's explanations; I wish I had a notebook and pencil." But despite his words, Snow was left with a new appreciation of his vulnerabilities; he had lost face for very good reasons.

As he listened further, Snow interjected, "The Potential? What do you mean, Mr. Rabbit? This mix of people seems electic; varied. There are only a few common factors among them - wait, so you did bring us here? That makes any defense of you and your actions much harder, doesn't it?"

Snow bit his tounge at that, aware that his pompousness was returning.

Basically, we're in another world connected to the human mind - no, the collective unconciousness of all human minds. Like the Warp from Warhammer 40k, but less over-the-top, believe it or not. Those were his thoughts a split-second before he said, "Are you trying to imply that you are born from Humanity's dreams and thoughts, which in turn means that you can't truly be destroyed without destroying Humanity?"

Then the White Rabbit would shoot Gale, destroying the simulacrum that hid the young man's true form; a boy of his own age group. Loping over to Gale, Snow would examine his fellow adolescent closely, before pulling at his ears and hair.

"Amazing!" Snow didn't notice Alice's indignation at what the White Rabbit did, and kept saying, "It seems that you are just as real as I am; what's your name? Mine is Snow Cecil."

The talk about the dead member of their group brought Snow back to the discussion at hand; same for Adam and Alice asking the needed questions before the boy himself could. But it seems that one of his earlier speculations were right; this was the place where the 'P3 Syndrome Children' were whisked away to. Or their minds, at least. Snow would then speak, "So, you're looking for people with the mystic potential to fight alongside you."

Facing the White Rabbit directly, the boy would then say, "But you guys made a big mistake; by selecting such a large number of people at random, you've made it inevitable that the ranks of your desired 'allies' are divided into factions of their own. Correct me if I'm wrong, but our divisions, worsened by the death of one of us, as well as the fact that we're all annoying one another - even I am doing that right now - that does not make us the best candidates for a cohesive group, right?"

@CriticalHit@Windstormugly@Suku@Avant@Etranger@Duoya@Petulant@EchoicChamber@CronicCrystalis@The Jest@rebthewriter@Crimmy

Butter Daisy Forest

"It was the only thing I could think of to do. I can't claim to understand the mind of someone I've only just met. So I could only offer a shoulder for support and an arm for comfort, to let you get over it in your own time." Crobalt said, before returning his attention to the discussion around him, listening to every key point and making a mental note of it in the event he needed to recall it later on.

"So we were dragged here into a world that could outright kill us if we're not careful, because we have some kind of potential. Can he be any more vague?" Cronic thought to himself, before returning his attention to Snow, and how the fact that they weren't having any form of unit cohesion. Of course, he already knew that trying to get a band of strangers to band together in common cause was far easier said than done.

"Plus, you've essentially enlisted a bunch of random strangers to fight and, god forbid, die for you in a completely foreign land. You didn't get our consent, you didn't ask first. You just dragged us here without even bothering to check whether or not we were okay with it." Cronic said to the White Rabbit, a look of disgust crossing his face as he recalled the one who, whether by disbelief or fear preventing them from fleeing, was consumed by the behemoth of a man's inferno.

"It's like the saying; Oil and Water don't mix. And right now, that's exactly what's happening."