Chapter 231: No Dream Can Replace Reality

The Mad Hatter, right before "Alice's" eyes, drew his revolver, his fingers stroking the gleaming metal barrel as if seeking that cold touch to confirm whether he was in the real world.

Alice made no response, merely continuing to watch that perennial drug-addled madman babble on.

"After drinking the tea, recalling those happy memories makes one feel as if present there, so sweet, so real."

As he spoke, the Mad Hatter's gaze shifted to the cake and glass bottles; he recalled the cake and drinks he had eaten that day—they were all sweet.

"Imagine, it is a dream one can live within; you can run, jump, and pass through it."

His gaze slid toward the room of the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat, yet it failed to focus, appearing somewhat vacant; phantom images of a boy and a girl ran and jumped, leaping over the trampoline in that room.

"Imagine, there, you are a knight clad in armor, tall and strong, seated upon a white horse. The entire world exists only for you, revolving around you, every detail of those times perfect."

He looked toward the dessert stall.

"The taste of sugar melts upon your tongue."

He looked toward the shimmering Tears Pool.

"Golden sunlight flickers upon the water's surface."

He looked at Alice beside him; the girl's voice seemed to echo once more in his ears.

"You know, Jervis, before I wasn't sure if I could have fun, but I am very glad we came together today."

At that time, the soft touch of the girl's five fingers tightened in his palm.

"What a perfect day that was; you would never wish it to end."

He murmured the happiness of that time, like the delirious ramblings of a dreamer, like self-talk. Though his eyes looked at Alice beside him, his gaze seemed to pierce through her, looking into a deeper void.

"And then?"

"And then... the fairy tale ended."

"Alice, do you want, uh, do you want to go to the ball with me?"

"Oh." Alice Dee looked at Jervis, who was a full head shorter than herself, and smiled at him: "I think we will all go, a group of friends together, you understand? We will have a great time."

"Oh, good."

"Jervis, the doctor advises against you taking this medicine; he says the side effects are severe, your mental stability will be compromised, aggression will increase, pathological obsession, paranoia, psychopathy... child, these are not good words."

"But I want to grow taller; father, everyone at school is taller than me; I am becoming more and more like a child."

"But..."

Ultimately, at the junior high graduation ball, Jervis, who had failed to grow taller, walked to Alice Dee's side; she wore a beautiful green long dress tonight and had become even more beautiful.

Jervis saw her chatting and laughing with several friends, so he walked over and, like last time, took her hand, wishing to invite her to dance.

However, this time the girl's hand did not tighten its grip but instead shook him off.

"I am very sorry, Jervis." Although she spoke polite words, her face seemed to hold little apology, instead bearing a hint of disdain and mocking smile: "I like you, truly, but not that kind of like."

If her expression could have been a bit more sincere, if her apology could have been a bit more genuine, would he still have taken that medicine?

Jervis did not know.

"The fairy tale ended, Alice grew up, and she left me there." The Mad Hatter looked at the "Alice" beside him and said to her: "But the real Alice would never leave me there; she would never mind my height."

"Yes." The blonde Alice replied: "I would not mind your—"

"Shut up!"

Hearing this "Alice's" response, the Mad Hatter suddenly erupted in a roar of rage: "You are not my Alice! You are not as beautiful, gentle, kind, generous, or radiant as she is; you are merely imitating her!"

He raised the gun in his hand, aiming the muzzle at the Alice before him; the more she resembled that person, the angrier the Mad Hatter became; every second she stood before him reminded him of that former Alice, those former memories, and every second also reminded him that in the real world before him there was only this theater, only this fake Alice.

The real Alice could never return; she was by his own hand

He did not wish to be dragged back to the real world, for what had made him addicted for so long was not the drugs, but the fairy-tale-like dream.

"Kill her! Kill all of these people! Replace them with a new batch!"

He screamed hysterically, his twisted face becoming even more vicious and ugly; he aimed the muzzle at the Alice before him, then pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The gunshot rang out, yet no one fell.

"You are truly a pitiful wretch."

Alice's voice suddenly shed its gentleness and innocence, becoming composed and calm; her expression carried a hint of mockery, her demeanor shifting toward maturity, as if in an instant she had grown from a girl into an adult.

"You will never find your Alice in this life, Mad Hatter; even if your Alice truly repented and came to find you, she would only see an ugly, short madman."

A mutated, hardened vine shot out rapidly before the woman, blocking the bullet for her; immediately, more vines erupted from the woman, tearing the Alice gown she wore to reveal soft armor woven from plants.

"I went to the trouble of dyeing my hair blonde and applying makeup just to deal with such a pitiful madman; this is utterly unnecessary—I might as well have sent a potted plant in directly."

"Poison Ivy, how dare you, how dare you impersonate her to deceive me! How dare you speak such words to me in Alice's identity!"

The Mad Hatter clenched his fists tightly, his wide, bulging eyes filled with blood vessels, almost seeming to be squeezed out of his sockets by rage; he gritted his teeth, shoved a tea bag directly into his mouth, and raised his gun at Poison Ivy once more.

"I want you dead!"

"Face reality, Mad Hatter." Poison Ivy sneered as she peeled the mask from her face: "Your Alice will never return, and a person like you, even if you become a super-criminal, remains the most lowly of the lot."

The Mad Hatter's eyes nearly burst; he pulled the trigger repeatedly, emptying all the bullets from the chamber, yet they were all blocked by the barrier formed of vines.

"Kill her! Kill her!"

His angry voice echoed through the theater hall; logically, at this moment, everyone should have rushed forward, drowning Poison Ivy in a sea of people, yet at this time, the theater fell into an eerie silence.

The actors on stage, the backstage scenery, the lights, the prop masters, the patrolling Hat Guards, even the gangster gunmen outside the door all ceased their movements simultaneously.

"Do not expect it, Mad Hatter." Poison Ivy responded coldly to his roar.

"You are checkmated."

(End of this chapter)