Brittany panicked as Alexander taunted the giant, and held her hands to her mouth in dread at the oversized, ogrish, outraged oaf.

“Clumsy? DUMB?!”

The giant reached out with his other hand, and grabbed Alex’ hand by the bracelet between his hands, showing surprising dexterity for a being of his size.

“I will show you, puny human!”

Then, he pulled, easily ripping Alex’ hand off as if it were a plucked flower. It was incredibly painful…But the bracelet slipped right off the fresh stump. As it did, Alex could feel his magic resurge inside him, his Reinforcement Specialty already mending the wound closed by the time the hand had hit the grass below. The giant blinked, surprised at the glinting effect that the magic produced. Alex was now free to transform, and to cast magic.

“Huh? What was that?”

[hr]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/72bEcUi.png[/img][/center]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/K2ssvzh.png[/img][/center]

Lily was the first through the portal, disappearing beyond a window that seemed to lead into a dust storm. Upon arrival, the rest of the Mahou felt Wonderland’s enchantment attempting to take effect: it was faint, but there was a sense of rhythm and music that briefly emerged: an errant tap of the foot, or a little hum of a melody that one recalled from memory. In time, this feeling surely would have grown, urging to let go of one’s sensibilities for the mundane, and express oneself by song and dance. However, thanks to preparations made by the group that  had protected them, evident by the shimmering effect of both the worn earrings as well as Nefer’s device, humming with a reddish glow that rejected the encroaching charm, they were safe. However, the effects seemed to be more resistant to nullification depending on who was affected, with Magical Dream Princess particularly tempted to sing and dance even more than she usually does.

The dust storm cleared, assisted by Rachel creating a series of barriers that parted the winds around them. As it did, the group found themselves standing before an incredibly large, metallic wall, located in a colorful yet deserted valley of red, orange and yellow, striped across the land in unusual patterns. The top of the wall was decorated with searchlights, each of them decorated with a metallic top hat. Some distance from the spot where they were standing, there was a metallic door, with the visage of a sleeping woman embossed upon it in copper. Upon closer inspection at the top of the wall, there seemed to be humongous buildings looming beyond the wall. However, the buildings seemed to be strangely shaped: while some were more traditional rectangular shapes, some were cylinders or pear-shaped. Some had chimneys located at the top, but some also had long, winding chimneys that spewed smoke sideways, or what looked to be a chimney that winds up only to end up inside the building again, like a handle…

[color=bc8dbf]”It looks like the Mad Hatter stays true to form, even when it comes to the architecture,”[/color] 
 Justine mentioned as she arrived through the portal, earrings equipped. She was holding Caroline’s hand, who simply stared at the visage that the group had now realized: the factory complex was shaped like a city-sized, upside-down metal table, complete with four towers at the corners that were tall enough to reach the clouds serving as the legs, with the buildings scattered on top of it taking the role of tableware like pitchers and cups.

[color=fff200]”Wow…With a place this huge, it will take forever to find where the eggs are made!”[/color] Lily yelled out, flabbergasted.

Rachel tapped her foot, not out of the enchantment but out of veiled frustration. “I knew this wouldn’t be easy…Damn…”

However, it didn’t take long before a voice could be heard coming out of the loudspeakers situated periodically along the wall. It didn’t take long to realize [url=https://i.imgur.com/6iUjHMB.png]who[/url] it was.

“My my, it seems the ignorant slaves are finally here. After the Conjuration Eggs, aren’t you? Oh, don’t look so surprised.”

One of the hats popped a miniature helicopter blade from the top of its opened lid, and began to fly up from the searchlight, revealing a leg ending in a television screen showing the Mad Hatter’s smiling face: he was sitting on a chair, holding a steaming cup of hot tea.

“Of course, as her Majesty’s Minister of Research and Development, my brilliant genius deduced that you would attempt a strike at one of our most sophisticated weapons.”
Lily and Justine summoned their weapons as the drone approached them, but the floating top hat drone then stopped, hovering in place once it had reached the group.

“Now, you might be wondering, ‘What is his next move? Why has he not rang the alarms yet, and wiped us all out like a handkerchief on a stain of tea?’ Well, I would be happy to answer that question for you. It wouldn’t be strange to have my automaton defenses deal with you, seeing as how my task is to ensure her Majesty’s royal forces have the armaments they need to serve her cause.” He adjusted his monocle.

“But why would I degrade myself with such base, barbaric brawling? Not only would it be as dull as kicking a leather-bound orb and calling it a competition, by my estimates it would be a bother cleaning up the mess afterwards. Besides, I see you are more than mindless brutes. Misguided, perhaps, but you definitely have the potential to entertain me.”

He took a sip of his tea. “Yes, indeed! Let us engage in a duel of intellectual superiority! After all, brains triumph over mere brawn, and in our civilized society, the most powerful mind wins.”

Lily frowned as she looked at the screen. [color=fff200]How can we trust anything you say? For all we know, you could be lying in an attempt to lead us into a trap!”[/color]

“Oh, but if I were, would I truly have taken my time to talk with you? Besides, as the brightest in all of Wonderland, I have deduced that one among you possesses the ability to infer truth from lies. Does any word of mine detect as a falsehood? Is there even a smidgen of doubt as to my true intentions?”

[color=bc8dbf]”You are talking about Light magic, which more than one of us does possess,”[/color] Justine now spoke up, having crossed her arms.
[color=bc8dbf]”However, that is not always enough. You could be omitting the fact you are stalling for time for your little bowlers and fedoras to line up, or anything else.”[/color]

The Mad Hatter now raised his finger in a mocking way.
“Tut-tut, my lady. I have also predicted you would bring up this argument. Very well then. Allow me to prove my intentions.” With a mad grin, he gestured for someone offscreen. He stepped aside, and a Card Soldier arrived: he was a Diamond engineer, with steampunk-style accessories and a train conductor’s cap. The soldier looked nervous, but stood at attention. 
“Now then, allow me to demonstrate,” the Wonderlander spoke, and placed what looked like a black, stylish top hat decorated with two electrodes poking out of the sides on the soldier. As soon as the hat rested on his scalp, it locked into place like a helmet.
“As you can see, our volunteer is wearing one of my mind blowing inventions: the Game Enforcer. Now, attempt to remove it.” He continued smiling even as the underling made every effort to lift the hat off of his scalp. But the more he tried, the more it seemed to dig into his skull. Suddenly, the electrodes activated, and the engineer was electrocuted, his body falling down to the bottom of the screen, his charred corpse visible the entire time. The Mad Hatter seemed pleased by the macabre results.

“As you can also see, it is impossible to take off by force. There is no keyhole nor interface to tamper with. I have designed it to only unlock under two conditions: either the Game ends…Or a wearer breaks the rules,” the group could see him reach down to where the engineer fell.
“The game’s rules are clear: the participants may only win by solving three challenges consisting of mental trials like puzzles and riddles. All challenges I have given must be able to be solved by logic and the information given by the challenge, meaning they are all solvable. Attempting to use violence or cheat at the challenges, for example by issuing impossible riddles or solving them without a logical answer results in death. Abandoning the game also breaks the rules. The participants may submit answers by either spoken words or written letters, but only thrice per challenge.” He was once again on screen, holding the deadly headwear in his hands. “The Game ends when either you destroy all of the Conjuration Eggs located in this factory and then leave this place, the players spend 24 hours…or all of you fail to answer any challenge with the correct answer three times, or you break the rules. However, if you accept, one of you must don the same hat for our great game: it wouldn’t do if only one side is raising the stakes.”

Lily looked apprehensively at the others, while Justine sighed. Then, the Mad Hatter chuckled, and reached up at his own top hat. “Still doubting me? Well then…”He flicked it off…And with a crazed glee, slammed the hat down on his head. “It’s showtime!” The group now saw him wearing his own invention, laughing madly. “Oh, it’s so exhilarating!” His laughter died down, and the hat continued shimmering, showing it was active. “The Game Changer is active for 24 hours once it is put on. After that, it will unlock on its own. That’s all the rules for the Game. Now then, allow me to offer you the Game Enforcer.” The group saw in the distance how a drone came flying from one of the four towers, holding the same electrode-stabbed hat as the Mad Hatter now wore. It floated down before the group, as if offering the hat.

“We refuse,” Rachel answered. “We do not deal with Wonderland trickery.”
 [color=fff200]”Uhh…”[/color] Lily did not look enthused by the idea. Neither did Justine, who just held Caroline’s hand even tighter when the latter slightly reached out.
[color=bc8dbf]”No, Caroline. Even if he is genuine about this crazy game of his, it’s too dangerous.”[/color]

Then, Nefer stepped up, her hands holding the backpack straps to her Brain Unscrambler.
 “Well then, allow me to be the pawn then.” She took the hat in her hands. “This is way too complicated, and stupid,” she added with emphasis at the floating screen, causing the Mad Hatter to scoff,” of a plan just to get one of us killed. He could have come up with much easier and less convoluted plans if his goal was to murder us. Besides, I’m sure we can beat any stupid puzzles this doofus throws at us. So, how about we give it a shot?”

Meanwhile, the Mad Hatter was quietly singing to himself as he waited for an answer:
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afzmwAKUppU]"Be, my, guest, be my guest, put your wits to the test, a game of cards, a duel of smarts, whoever wins proves they're best..."[/url]