Hatter's Revenge (rewriting - read at own risk)

Ch. 16: A King

Mad blinked in the bright sunlight of the Queen's main garden, nose wrinkling as he was assaulted by the overly sweet scent of too many roses.

They were everywhere. Bushes, hedges, trimming the winding paths that were made of crushed, white quartz. Every last one of them blood red.

Mavros didn't like any other type of flower. Just red roses. Mad looked around at the smooth green lawns, interrupted by rose bushes and white tea tables all around him and frowned.

This couldn't be right. Mad wasn't supposed to be in the garden. He wasn't supposed to be anywhere near Heart Castle.

Was he?

Mad jumped when someone tapped his shoulder. "Aren't you paying attention Maddy?"

Tamsus was there, scowling at him, then raised an eyebrow at Mad's look of confusion. "Well?"

Mad's frown deepened. "Well what?"

Tamsus threw his hands up, sitting cross-legged on one of the pristine tea tables, plates and cups scattered in broken pieces on the grass around it. "Hopeless. You're completely hopeless. We'll never be able to have you out in public."

"What in the hell are you taking about?" Mad asked, his frown turning into a scowl.

"Ah-hah," Tamsus laughed, the sound just a tad condescending. "I get it. Now you're just messing with me."

Mad shook his head. "You're crazy."

Tamsus grinned, delight sparking in his eyes. "Well Madison, truth be told, we're all mad here."

The Ace watched Mad, a challenge on his face. Something clicked into place then and he remembered.

Mad kept running into people who seemingly enjoyed driving him insane with their nonsensical speech and wanted to learn how to do it himself.Tamsus had spent the past hour trying to teach Mad how the people in Wonderland sometimes spoke when they wanted to confuse someone. That's what they'd been doing.

Mad tilted his head. "You couldn't be."

"Oh? How's that?" Tamsus quirked a red eyebrow, apparently intrigued with where Mad had taken the conversation.

"Because... I'm Mad. And, if we're all mad, then... who would I be?" Mad said this, feeling rather foolish.

But Tamsus laughed, his sharp, white teeth glittering in the sunshine. "Perfect Maddy. You keep saying things like that and people will start to mistake you for a real Wonderlander."

Then Tamsus stopped and frowned, narrowing his eyes at Mad. Almost thoughtfully he said, "Except for your eyes. That's all that would give you away."

Mad rubbed at said eyes then and stretched. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't supposed to be here.

Tamsus stood on the table before flipping off of it to land neatly in front of Mad and said, "Can we pretty please do something else now? Say... something that involves a little gunpowder?"

Mad laughed. "Thought you would never ask."

He turned to go, but his attention was arrested by something on one of the far walls.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing.

Tamsus looked over and said, "What? The head?"

Mad just nodded, his stomach plummeting as he saw blonde hair float gently on a summer breeze.

Tamsus shrugged. "Just some Real Worlder who wasn't supposed to be here."