Chris woke up with one of the worst headaches he ever had in his life. He got out of the hay wagon and started to walk down the street aimlessly. He tried to remember what happened, but he couldn't recall anything. Just when he thought the pain got better, Chris felt his head was being split apart, his vision turning white as he collapsed on the street.

"Chris! Wake up!" a voice called while someone was shaking his shoulder.

"Wha-?" he asked groggily

"Of all the places you picked to nap, you chose the absolute worst," a sassy British voice said that the former Assassin recognized.

"Where am I?" he asked while getting up. He noticed that his attire changed again. This time instead of a white kimono, he wore his usual Assassin attire in black and red.

"Queensland, or whatever is left of it," she answered and Chris took a moment at the destruction around him.

"What happened here?" he asked under his breath

"I happened," Alice replied and Chris looked at her in shock.

As if on cue, the Cheshire Cat appeared. "Back to admire your handiwork? Returning to the scene of the crime?" he said with a false accusatory tone.

Despite that Alice still felt the need to defend herself. "It had to be done Cat, you said so yourself. 'You and this Red Queen cannot both survive. She is a cancer in your body. Excise her or perish'"

"Well, she was the face of evil in the Heart of Darkness."

"She didn't treat you too well the last time, lost your head as I recall,"

'Sadly, not his life' grumble the dark voice inside Chris's head.

The cat shook his head as if reminiscing. "She was completely deranged. You picked up her crown, but now you've put it down. You must speak to her; what's left of her anyway," he said before disappearing.

They reached the entrance gate and Chris felt the familiar pull of the Rondulla Room. He gritted his teeth and tried to move forward.

Alice noticed the stiffness in his posture. "What's wrong?" she asked concerned.

"Nothing…Let's just keep moving," he grunted out and the creator of Wonderland understood that he was resisting the call of the Rondulla Room and felt great pride and happiness.

'Why do you resist?'

'Those things make me lose control, I can't allow that!'

'How are you going to survive this place then?'

'I'll be fine,' Chris responded and froze when he realized something. 'You want to take over my body!'

'I only want what's best for us,' the dark entity defended itself.

'With you at the helm,' Chris replied accusatorily and started to move again so Alice wouldn't notice he froze for a second.

'So what if I take over once in a while? Do you have any idea what is it like to be left in the dark?'

'I do, every time you take over. I thought we were in agreement regarding who controls the body and I'll let you take over in special situations. I'm warning you, if you try to take over, I'll dispose of you.'

Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from his skull, forcing him to his knees. He briefly heard Alice screaming his name.

'Is that so? Did you forget all the times I've helped you, guided you? You need me, you always will need me. Don't piss me off again or you'll regret it!' the dark voice growled and the pain finally ended.

"What happened?" asked Alice, worried out of her mind.

The former Assassin pondered for a moment if he should come clean about everything, but decided that she deserves to know the truth. He trusted her more than himself. "Alice…I have a voice in my head. I've had it for a very long time," he began and Alice listened, eyes wide open. "It looks like it wants to take over my body. Because of it, I hid important information from you, like who is responsible for your current state, it's-" he explained until the pain from before returned.

'I just told you not to piss me off and you do that in a matter of second. Tsk, tsk, tsk.'

'Screw you!'

The pain became so great that Chris screamed in agony. Alice stood over him watching in horror, unable to do anything.

"Stop!" she cried out. "I'll figure it out on my own, you don't have to tell me anything!" she said and the pain Chris felt have gone away.

"Alice…" crooked Chris.

"Shss," she cooed. "Don't talk. You don't have to tell me anything, it's enough that you are here helping me," she told him with a gentle expression.

Chris avoided her gaze out of guilt. He promised himself he'll kill Bumby the second he is back in the real world. The duo entered the ruined castle where they were ambushed by Undead Card Guards. Despite their numbers, they pose little threat. Once they were dealt with Alice and Chris went to speak with the imprisoned White King.

"The Red Kingdom is in ruins, but you're no better off," said Alice

"When you defeated her I tried to reclaim the castle. But I was set by her monstrosities. The malignant royal bitch still reigns," the White King explained bitterly.

"We are here to petition her. We must get inside."

"The only way is through me. Sacrifices must be made," said the King monotonously.

"Those who say so usually mean they should be made by others," replied Alice cynically, but Chris knew she had a point.

"Cynism is a disease. It can be cured. Once inside beware of the oversized monster who patrols her domain. Never confront him, he is invincible. Now cut me loose, I'll show you the meaning of sacrifice," said the trapped king with resolve

"Thank you," replied Alice sincerely before smashing him to bits with her Hobby Horse.

Once that was done, the duo entered the foyer.

"So this is the Red Queen, huh?" asked the former Assassin while looking at a portrait of her.

"Yes," replied the creator of Wonderland, her face not showing any emotion.

"What's your connection with her?"

Alice let out a long sigh. "She was and still is the embodiment of my insanity. In order to save myself and Wonderland from being consumed, I had to kill her, or I thought I killed her."

"Is she going to be a threat?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there."

They walked in silence along the decrepit corridors of the castle. While on the outside he was the picture of calm, on the inside Chris was very tense, ready to attack at the slightest noise. His instincts were telling him that this domain was the most dangerous they have been so far. He only felt like this only a handful of times during his time with the Brotherhood and those times he barely survived.

Without any warning, the Executioner stepped out of a wall in front of them. In that instant, Chris pulled out his pistol and fired at the monster. With an impressive speed, the Executioner deflected all of Chris's bullets with his massive scythe. With a roar he charged at the duo, swinging his scythe to decapitate them both with one attack, fortunately, they both managed to dodge the attack just in time. The Executioner focused his attention on Chris, swinging his massive scythe at the former Assassin. This time the black-haired young man didn't have time to dodge the attack and was slashed heavily on his chest, sending him flying into a wall. Alice didn't waste any time helping her fallen friend. She quickly smashed both of the monster's knees with her Hobby Horse, then jumped into the air to bring down her hammer weapon on the Queen's guardian's head, but he blocked the attack with his weapon. He pushed her further into the air and stabbed her in the gut before throwing her into a wall on the other side of the room.

"We're…idiots," grumbled Alice as she tried to get up. "Don Quixote had better chances with his windmills without risk of decapitation."

"A prudent exit is no less so for being hasty!" said the disembodied head of the Cheshire Cat as the door to Alice opened.

Alice signaled her partner who was dodging the Executioner's attacks to follow her. Finding an opening, Chris dodged under the monster's swing and teleported near Alice and they exited the room, the door closing behind them.

"Are…you alright?" asked Chris feeling out of breath and pain from his wound.

"Yes…" replied Alice before falling to her knees.

The former Assassin pulled her up and wrapped her hand around his shoulder as they limped away. They didn't even make it halfway across the hall when the door behind them busted open, revealing a very angry Executioner. Adrenaline kicked into the maximum inside Chris as he teleported himself and Alice to the other side of the hall. The injured duo managed to enter the keyhole in time to avoid being killed by the Queen's bodyguard. Once they entered the room they both collapsed on the floor.

"Damn! Why won't our wounds heal already?!" asked Chris frustrated.

"Because…we haven't killed the Executioner yet," responded Alice, her voice faint.

"Hang on! We'll find some violets in no time," said Chris reassuringly.

With renewed vigor, he grabbed Alice and exited the room, leaving a trail of blood behind them.

"The Queen's bodyguard rarely leaves his filthy lair, but you're special!" said Cat mockingly.

The duo glared at him. "Just tell us how to kill him," rasped out Chris, his wound paining him.

"He regenerated any attack quickly. If you could do an attack so powerful that would be impossible to regenerate you might kill him. But you're in no condition to fight at the moment. Find some violet lilies and heal yourself," said the cat before he disappears.

Traversing the chasm with the help of the air vents, Alice and Chris were ambushed by more Undead Guard Cards. The former Assassin gently let the young woman, who was barely conscious from the blood loss, rest near the wall despite her weak protests. Feeling the familiar buzz of adrenaline hr summoned his sword, cutting down enemy after enemy, his wound being a minor nuisance. Once he was done a mighty roar pierced the silence that befell the area, making Chris's heart sink. Sure enough, the Executioner jumped in front of him. Chris felt panic take him. There was no way he could defeat this monster on his own and Alice could no longer stand. He almost vomited when he realized that they were going to die here. The Queen's bodyguard swung at him and because he distracted himself he didn't dodge the attack completely, his right leg got slashed. He fell on one knee, the pain from his wounds flares up.

'This is it…' he thought with resignation. 'The least I can do is make this bastard work for it.

'It doesn't have to be the end. I can kill him, just let me out,' the dark voice said.

Before Chris could agree, the Executioner slammed his weapon on the ground, creating a dark portal that sucked Alice and Chris. When the duo fell out of the portal Alice was barely breathing and Chris was fighting to remain conscious.

'My wounds hurt a lot and I have lost a lot of blood. I guess this is it…I'm sorry Mom, Alice…I did my best, but it wasn't enough…'

'Pathetic! Truly pathetic!' were the last words he heard before the darkness took him.