Chapter 17

The Mad Hatter was oddly motherly in the way that he tried to load Marik up with snacks and drinks for his journey the next day, all of which the blonde declined except for the thermos full of coffee. He'd ended up staying another day to get his emotions and feelings in check, and although he supposed that would make him a day behind finding his master it also ment he wouldn't maul the man when he saw him.

The White Rabbit had come by at some point the previous night and slept over. He was rather nervous around the lion in the morning, which amused Marik greatly. The Mad Hatter assured his pale friend that he was all bark and no bite, but the bruise on his arm told another story. Either way Marik suspected the two wanted some alone time with the way the Mad Hatter was constantly cuddling and nuzzling the smaller rabbit, so he'd chosen to wander the gardens around the two houses for a while as the sun rose. Unfortunately that caused him to bump into the one person who he'd hoped to avoid: The March Hare.

"Hey there." The white haired hare greeted, obviously knowing how Marik felt and he kept his distance just in case when the blodne flashed his claws. "Look, I know you hate me-"

"Damn right I do." Marik growled, baring his teeth slightly.

"-But I've heard something you need to hear." The March Hare said seriously, red eyes boring into Marik's violet ones. "It concerns your darling master."

"What about him?" Marik didn't trust the one before him but if the Ringleader was in trouble he wouldn't hesitate to help.

"I have this, well, friend, the Caterpillar," The March Hare began, fidgeting slightly where he stood, "He supplies pretty much all of Wonderland with shrooms. The Queen of Hearts asked him for sleepy-shrooms, and obviously he paid a load and so Seto didn't ask any questions. But he was right there when the Queen told a solider to ask a barlady to taint the drink your master ordered."

"What?!" Marik nearly roared, jaw dropping in shock. "You're lying. He'd never let his guard down enough to be drugged."

"I'm telling the truth, I swear." The March Hare matched the other's steely glare. "The Queen of Hearts drugged Akefia and took him away. I'm guessing to the palace but Seto didn't stick around long enough to find out. What people do with his shrooms is none of his buisness."

"Fuck!" The lion swore, biting his knuckles enough to bleed. "Fucking bollocks!"

"British swearing doesn't suit you, y'know." The Hare said off-hand, scratching his neck. "Look, if we go see the King we can try and get a ride into the city and try and help free him."

"Why the fuck would I want to go anywhere with you?" Marik snarled, squaring his shoulders and making as if to tackle the pale man in front of him.

"Because right now I'm the only one who can help." The March Hare growled back, gritting his teeth. "You really think Mad Malik in there is as compitant as me? Plus the King of Spades is more likely to listen to me than you. You need me, Marik."

Marik snarled a little longer before his stance became more relaxed, if still a little defensive. "Just because you're coming along doesn't mean I have to bloody like it."

"Quit with the British swearing already." The March Hare groaned, but walked a little closer and laid what he hoped was a comforting hand on the blonde lion's bronzed shoulder. "The quicker we leave the quicker we can save the Ringleader. Seto only told me this early this morning and it happened yesterday, so who knows what Queen Bitch has done to him in the mean time."

Marik didn't even want to think about it. He'd never met this Queen and could only think of the worst, which did nothing to help his anger. The thought of anyone touching his master to cause harm just made him sick. The Ringleader was strong and sadistic and had control over pretty much everything. It was hard to imagine him in a situation where he didn't.

"Oi, come on. We'll tell the Hatter we're leaving." The March Hare pushed him gently in the direction of the purple house and Marik followed with a small protest.

Which is how he ended up walking along the blue path, thermos of coffee in hand and the pale skinned March Hare by his side. They walked in moderate silence, only occassionally speaking when the March Hare had to direct the other where to go or when Marik asked who lived in the houses they passed ("I don't know or care." The Hare had replied on numerous occassions when questioned). They didn't take long to reach the fork in the road that split the path towards Heartland City of the King's mansion.

Marik was slightly impressed when the gates and doors opened on their own for them when the March Hare approached. He'd taken the lead slightly with no indication as to why, but the lion figured if the King of Spades suddenly wanted to attack they'd at least hit the hare in front of him first.

"AKEFIA!" The March Hare yelled once they'd got inside. The cloaked servants that gathered on the foyer quickly scattered at the sight of the red-clad albino hare, and Marik had to fight the urge to chase them and their trailing clothes.

The King looked a little annoyed at being called when he decended the stairs that stood in front of them, and the blonde lion's eyes widened upon the sight of him. The man was a near clone of his own Ringleader, down the to scar over his eye.

"What the hell do you want, bunny?" The white haired man grumbled, walking past the two to go and sit in the lounge.

"Queen Bitch caught Akefia." The March Hare got straight to the point, knowing it would annoy both the King and Marik if he beat around the bush.

"What the fuck?" The King turned sharply, giving the Hare a look that just dared him to make it a joke.

"Akefia. Caught. Drugged. Caterpillar told me." The March Hare explained, simplifying it to get on the tanned man's nerves.

"You better be kidding me, Bakura." The King of Spade's threatened as his pale eyes glared at the shorter man.

"Do I look like I'm kidding? I even have his bloody pet with me." The red-eyed rabbit tugged on Marik's arm, the one that didn't hold the precious coffee.

"So you're Marik." The King mused, giving Marik a look over, which made the lion feel quite uncomfortable. "He told me to look out for you."

"He did? Why?" Marik cocked his head to the side with a small growl directed at the king, but the March Hare shushed him with a threatening squeeze of his arm.

"Seems he was a little worried about where you'd run off to. He went on to Heartland City to find you." The King explained, finally taking a seat in the armchair by the fire.

"That's where he was drugged. In that little market town on the edge of the region." The March Hare carried on, "Bloody Bitch slipped sleepy-shrooms into his drink and captured him."

"Sleepy-shrooms? Those are fun." The King grinned to himself, thinking about the countless times he'd used them on the Cheshire Cat. But his mind was wandering. He focused back on the task before him. "So what exactly do you want me to do about it?"

The March Hare's face was blank for a second. He didn't actually think about what his King could actually do. He'd only thought that he needed his help. "I dunno! Storm the place or something!" He finally said, flailing his arms a little.

"You can't actually do anything, can you?" Marik spoke up at last, snatching his arm out of the March Hare's grasp. The King before him said nothing. "Or do you not want to do anything?"

"I want do something, believe me." The King sat up straighter in his seat, crossing one leg of the other. "But there's not much I can actually do against the Queen of Hearts without getting into serious trouble. My royal immunity only goes so far. Plus, technically, your Ringleader isn't covered by Wonderland law because he's not from this world."

"Oh shit, forgot about that." The March Hare cursed under his breath.

"But, we might have a chance." The white haired man stood and walked over the fireplace, where a letter sat on the mantle. He flung it over to Marik, who caught it easily.

He read it quickly.

Dear his royal Highness, the King of Spades,
You are hereby invited to a croquet tournament at the Queen's request.
The tournament will take place in the palace gardens at tea time sharp two days from now.
Should you not attend, the Queen will take this as an act of hostility and will be forced to put you on trial for treason.
The grand prize, should you attend and win, is an exotic man from a far off land to use as you will.
RSVP via the White Rabbit

"They're using the Ringleader as a fucking PRIZE?!" Marik shouted, outraged at such a suggestion, "He's gotta be fucking kidding. There's no way Akefia would submit so freakin' easily."

"You have no idea how powerful shrooms actually are, Marik." The King told him while the March Hare took the letter to read for himself. "Even a tiny bite has a strong effect. Think about what you're like on catnip."

Marik thought is over and shuddered in disgust. "This is wrong. So damn fucking wrong."

"Well, why don't we compete?" The March Hare suggested, placing the letter down on a nearby table. "It said you can invite two extra people. And there's only two of us."

"I was going to invite the Cheshire Cat but I'm sure he wouldn't step foot in the Queen's palace." The King mused it over before nodding in agreement. "Ok, you two can come. But have you ever even played croquet before, Marik?" The man asked the blonde lion.

"What the hell is that?" Marik looked at both the hare and the king in confusion, who both hit their foreheads with their palms.

"You've gotta be shittin' me." The March Hare grumbled.