~{Madly In Love~Mad Hatter}~

9~The Final Confrontation-Sielish Day

Walking through the corridors of the twisted mansion was tedious, to say the least. Every turn would either lead them back to where they started or to a dead end. And throughout all of this, there was no trace of Alaric anywhere. Evie was practically a sword-wielding maniac, keeping it raised to her chest and pointing straight out at all times. Alice was unknowingly shaking ever so slightly. Hatter seemed to have noticed because he grabbed her hand. He didn't once glance over to her but Alice could feel him saying "Everything will be alright". Iracebeth was seething with fury just thinking about that traitor's disgustingly sinister face.

"Where the hell is he?" Evie was growing quite impatient. All she wanted to do was rid Underland of this pest and have everything go back to normal. Everyone and everything still in its place as it should be. But, this is a world without logic and sense. "I'd check right behind you, imbeciles." Came the chilling voice right behind them. All four whipped around, the Vorpal Sword extended further outwards in Evie's hands. "It's over Alaric. Give up and surrender." Evie said. She figured she could try to reason with him first since she wasn't too keen on the idea of homicide. She'd give him one chance to redeem himself and turn himself in but, as expected he just scoffed at the idea. "Or;" Evie went on. "I'll have no choice but to fight you. And the last thing I want is to harm a living creature. Drop the sword, Alaric." She said calmly. He stopped. Was he contemplating whether to surrender or not? Was he thinking of the best strategy to either escape or kill them all? Who could say, really?

"Or how about I annihilate you all?" He said. "Guards!" He yelled and about twenty burly men stormed in behind him. "Okay fair game, I suppose. But there's no space in here. Can we move this outside?" Evie said nonchalantly. They met up outside where there was nothing but empty land for miles. A complete dead wasteland, as Salazen Grum was of course. "Now don't think you're getting out of this one, Loughty. Each side needs a champion, so bring forth yours." Iracebeth demanded. All he did was smirk and raised his right arm. As if by magic, a ferocious, twelve-foot beast galumphed towards the battlefield. The monster came to Alaric's side and bellowed out in a most unpleasant experience for Alaric's rivals due to its frumious breath. Evie subtly turned and asked of Hatter, "What is that thing?" He turned back to her and replied, "Tis th' nekmunnit, ah a'maist forgot th' eejit tamed th' beast 'n' uses it tae his advantage." Evie stared at the creature once more. No doubt this Nekmunnit was far worse than any Bandersnatch or even Jabberwocky for that matter. It was enormously burly and the ugliest thing Evie had yet to see in her whole lifetime. Its matted and bushy coat was a muddy brown with a long, spiked tail. It had two horns and a third eye. Its bottom incisors protruded outwards well above its top lip. She turned to Tarrant once again. "Why does every evil person's champion have to be some gigantic, blood-thirsty monstrosity in this world?" She said, a hint of defeat lingering on her words. "Dinnae ken, bit ye micht wanna hae th' vorpal sword oan haun. Hings aren't keekin tae bonny." He said with his Scottish accent fading in. Not once taking his eyes off of his rival, Tarrant drew his own sword and got into position.

Alaric stopped and stroked his jet-black beard. " What a shame. I was hoping my little Mirana would show up. What I wouldn't do to get my hands on her again." He said suggestively. The comment was mostly targeted towards Iracebeth, most likely an attempt to piss her off or just taunt her. "To fool around with her or attempt her murder again?" Mally spoke up sarcastically. Thackery snickered as Absolem surprisingly flew into view and scoffed, but not at Mally's comment, but at the sad truth behind it. He showed up but Evie doubted Absolem would do anything but stay and watch. Iracebeth stepped forward, head becoming redder by the minute. "In you're wildest dreams. You lost everything the day you tried to kill her! You don't deserve her, you never even cared about her! The next time you'll ever see my sister is at your own beheading!" Iracebeth was tearing up with anger, frustration, and pure hatred. But it was quite clear Alaric just didn't give a damn about all the lives he's hurt. "Harsh. I don't care though. Now then, where's your champion, bloody big head?" Evie stepped forward fearlessly. "Right here." She announced. Alaric laughed with amusement but before he could say anything, Alice stepped forward as well. "She means us." Then Tarrant stepped up. "Plus me." Alaric showed an expression of visible confusion. "Wait just one bloody moment! You can't just have three champions! It's uneven." He sputtered. Alice crossed her arms. "Why not? That...thing...is equal to three champions. And then some!" She said. "Besides it's completely fair, Alaric. I'm the true champion. And as far as I'm concerned, the rules don't state that the champion can't have backup. Right Absolem?" Evie said. Absolem flew down to about her eye level. "You're correct but do me a favor and leave me out of this, stupid girl." Evie chose to ignore that last insult.