章 39: How can I save this world that you love…?
The Bandersnatch rasped in Alice's ear.
"Something's coming." "Something's coming." "Something's coming."
"What is it?" "What is it?" "What is it?"
"I don't know."
"Danger, danger."
"Evade." "Evade." "Evade."
All at once, the myriad of fluctuations shifted the direction of their power. In a flash, Alice's body was sent flying backwards without any preliminary movement. The Bandersnatch stretched like rubber and attached itself to the tree trunk behind her, expanding and contracting at once. Alice looked ahead with bright red eyes, but then her eyes widened.
A sickening sound of flesh ripping resounded. Without comprehending what was happening, Alice shrieked as a violent pain shot through her right leg. The Bandersnatch slowed down and slammed straight into the ground, rolling around in a rumble.
"What…?"
Muttering in a surpressed voice, Alice brought her gaze to a halt, aghast, at her leg. Her right leg was shredded from the knee and was gone. Blood was gushing out at a tremendous rate.
"Ah… ah…"
She let out a shuddering voice and opened her eyes to find her leg tumbling to the ground in shreds. What had been inflicted on her? She had absolutely no notion.
It hurt, it hurt, it hurt. The acute pain was dominating her head, and she couldn't figure out what was going on. Just what did they do?
With distorted vision, she glanced at the Twins, only to find them in the same place as before, in the same position, grinning and staring at Alice. Tweedledum raised his right hand again and snapped his fingers. Alice's ears were buzzing from the intense pain, and the Bandersnatch warning voices echoed in her head. This time, she experienced a severe pain in her left shoulder. With no emotion whatsoever, she screamed and flailed around on the ground.
In her hazy vision, she could see her left arm lying on the ground, severed from the shoulder, with the wound torn open as if it had exploded. What was… that, what was that? Nothing made sense.
There, the Twins rose to their feet and slowly advanced on Alice, who was immobilized by the pain. They halted in front of Alice and exchanged glances with each other while grinning.
"What shall I do, Tweedledee?"
"What shall I do, Tweedledum?"
Desperately drawing her attention to the Nightmare before her, Alice attempted to send her consciousness to the Bandersnatch… and with a snap of the fingers, her right shoulder was blown off this time, causing her to let out a murky scream. The pain was too horrendous to even consider fighting. Once again, the sound of fingers resounded, and her remaining left leg exploded from her thigh, tearing it to shreds.
"Ah… ah… ah…"
Her teeth chattered. Blood began to flow from her overly-bitten lips and from her nose. The Twins clapped their hands amusingly, and they began to circle around Alice, who had been made into a daruma.
"Let's see. Now, let's bring you to my friends, where we will slowly, leisurely torture you to death in a manner so heinous that you will regret being alive." Tweedledee said smoothly as if it was a simple matter.
Tweedledum followed suit. "But first, can I have some enjoyment that will make you regret being born a woman? I wonder?"
The Twins laughed as they delivered the fear-inducing line. Alice breathed raggedly, feeling the taste of blood in her mouth as her body convulsed with extreme pain.
She tried to utter a word, but couldn't manage to say anything except for a strange sound. With a sickening smile on their faces, the Twins looked at Alice.
"Oh, yes, I forgot, Tweedledum. Come to think of it, we have a promise to honor."
As Tweedledee said this, Tweedledum, who was reaching to grab the chest of Alice's dress, turned and shrugged.
"You're being earnest, Tweedledee. Hurry up or she'll be dead."
"A promise is a promise. I have to stick to them." One of the ugly Twins moved closer to Alice, lifted her foot unceremoniously, and stomped on her head. "You wanted to know the truth, didn't you? You have my word, I'll tell you."
"…"
Turning her bloodshot eyes on him, Alice clenched her trembling teeth.
"I'll let you 'watch'. Let me interfere with your mind and reveal to you the truth that lies within you." Tweedledee brought his finger in front of her and clicked it. "Before you die, you may know the whole truth. Whether you wish for it or not."
There was a noisy chill in Alice's head. She let out a scream and jerked her body around. A bizarre sensation penetrated her as if her brain was being shaken. In the midst of the discomfort of going insane, Alice's consciousness was cast into the darkness.
◇
"Oh, Happy Day…"
A small song could be heard. Within the darkness, a tall, young man in a shirt and jeans was singing.
His voice sounded sad; he was operating something, muttering his feelings of hopelessness to the song. His face was covered with a mosaic. There was no way to see his expression.
"Alice…" He said, pulling himself away from the machine he was tinkering with. "The Labyrinth System has gone rotten…"
The mosaic-headed young man continued in a pained tone, "There will be no more happy days. This place is no longer the paradise you wished for. Soon the demise of Apocrypha will be upon us. And when it does, this world shall self-destruct."
-Raffi…?
While watching the scene from some remote location, Alice muttered in her mind. She didn't know why, but the man seemed to be Raffi, the black cat.
"I have to disappear, too. Along with your will. The system will no longer tolerate external modifications. There's nothing I can do about it…"
The mosaic young man leaned against the machine, pressing his head down.
"Tell me, Alice… What am I supposed to do with all these bugs that have run amok? How can I save this world that you love…?"
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