We're all Mad Here

Summary: Alice: Madness Returns AU – They all thought she was mad, but she knew that what she saw was real. Her Wonderland was being corrupted by malevolent forces and her mind along with it. She knew that in order to preserve what was left of her sanity – she would have to confront her demons and destroy them. Every last one of them.

Parings: Greens(?) and some Blues and Reds if you squint.

Playlist: Silent Hill - Alessa's Harmony

Authors note: Happy Halloween everyone! Stay safe and enjoy this twisted wonderland tale! Alice: Madness Returns plot and idea's do not belong to me, and The Powerpuff Girls do not belong to me and as always, they have human appendages.

The girls do not have their powers in this and the time period is set in the late 19 century – probably late 1880's or something along those lines.

(Also, seeing how this conveniently lines up with Carrie's birthday, I suppose one could say that this is my birthday gift to her. 😉 Happy Birthday Carrie! Hope you have a great one girl! – much love, your faithfull Rose xoxox)

Part 1 out of 5

The Doctor

.

XxX

Tick tock.

Tick tock.

Tick tock.

Tick…

Tock…

Tick…

"Buttercup? Buttercup can you hear me?" The voice was far off and distant. The girl groaned to herself.

Yes. Yes, she did hear the deep, rich voice that sounded like velvet to her ears, but she would rather not have. She was content to stay floating weightlessly in this dark limbo she was presently in for a little while longer.

"Buttercup, it's time to get up… Come back to me… come back to reality..."

Lime green eyes opened with a start, and the girl bolted up-right off of the wide, soft sofa she was laying on, breathing heavily as she tried to slow down her rapidly palpating heart. Her bright green eyes darted around the room frantically as she took in her surroundings.

She was in a dark second-story loft above a library, that currently served as a doctor's office. The curtains on all the window had been tightly shut, blocking out all the sunlight from the outside world. The only light in the dark room aside from a few dimly lit electric lights in the office, were several low-burning candles, placed around the room.

"Easy there pet, how many times have I told you that you have to come out of your hypnotic states gradually? You'll throw yourself into a panic if you force yourself out of them like that."

Buttercup turned slightly to look at the man who was seated beside her in a chair, tapping a pencil against the clipboard he was holding in his lap as he observed her.

Ah yes, she was at her doctor's appointment with her physiatrist.

"Yes, sorry, I got startled." Buttercup apologized as she rubbed her eyes. "Are you alright?" the doctor asked gently. Buttercup nodded as she brushed her long black hair away from her face, breathing heavily as she tried to slow down her palpating heart. "Yes, I'm fine. I was just a little shaken up. Nothing to worry about."

"Well, if you're feeling better, perhaps you wouldn't mind taking a trip back to your Wonderland for me, would you?" the doctor looked hopeful.

Buttercup inwardly groaned. It was times like that that she regretted telling him of the place that she had dreamed of when she was younger. The place that had once acted as a sanctuary for her, had quickly turned into a nightmare as of late.

"I'd really rather not." The dark-haired girl huffed. "It's kinda been ruined for me since the first time I went there…" she shuddered involuntarily as she thought about the last time she had allowed herself to get dragged down into that hellhole. "Things have changed."

"Well that's just your subconscious reflecting your current state of mind." The doctor hummed as he looked at her from over his clipboard. "and it's my job to change that and make your mind whole again. The only way that I can see if I'm making any progress is if you tell me what your Wonderland looks like now, as opposed to the first time when we started seeing each other."

Buttercup allowed herself a closer look at the physiatrist who was in charge of treating her.

He was young – probably mid-twenties at most, and looked to be only a few years older than she was, though he could have been younger for all she knew. He stood well over six feet, effectively towering over lean frame. Jet black hair that stuck up in unruly spikes on top of his head gave him a slightly wild look that wasn't common among his fellow doctors, and rare dark green eyes, that contrasted with her own uncommon lime ones, were all very appealing traits to her. All and all, he was quite handsome.

Too bad that she had been deemed completely mad by the rest of society, and that he had been the one chosen to look after her – otherwise she would have courted him.

But there was no way that he'd want anything to do with her. She was his charge after all. One who couldn't offer him anything – except fame for hopefully being the one able to cure the town's famous insane beauty.

Buttercup looked down at her hands, which were clenched tightly in her lap. She knew she was pretty enough – oh yes. Before everything had gone to shit, she and her sisters had gotten high complements and praise for their extraordinary beauty and intelligence.

But now…

Now her wealth, home and family was gone. The fire had taken everything, leaving her with a broken heart and a damaged mind.

Surely there was no way that he'd want her. Not when he had girls from wealthy familys pining for his attention.

She sighed as she leaned back into the comfortable sofa she had been previously laying on. Nobody wanted her now… nobody except for the whorehouses and the disgusting men who frequented them-

"You seemed troubled my pet. What's wrong?"

Ah, bless him. Her attractive doctor was also an attentive one – he saw straight through her.

"It's nothing doctor, I'm fine." She murmured as she laid back down and lightly closed her eyes. Even though she couldn't see him, Buttercup could feel him frown.

"Is the halfway house I put you in not treating you well? I told them you were my ward there and to treat you with the upmost respect. If that's not the case I'll have them reprehended-"

"The halfway house is treating me fine, thank you doctor." Buttercup murmured softly as she raised a hand to her temple. Cracking open one vibrant green orb she looked up at him. "You didn't have to do that you know. It's kind of you, and I appreciate the gesture, but I have to ask: why?"

"You had nowhere else to go, and I didn't want a lady like you ending up in the brothels. It would do nothing to help your current state of mind." He told her as he ran over the notes on his clipboard, before looking up himself and offering her a weak smile. "I'm trying to help you, not hurt you."

"I can't stay there forever." Buttercup murmured quietly as she shut her eye again – enjoying the peaceful darkness that surrounded her. "I'll have to leave there eventually. I don't want you to continue to pay for me to stay there. It's not fair to you-"

"Until you find another place to live, or a relative that is nearby and willing to house you, you'll stay there under my supervision." The doctor cut her off with a low rumble. "But that doesn't matter right now. Right now, I want you to go to your Wonderland…"

Buttercup sighed. She really didn't want to. She couldn't even get there on her own half the time. The last time she had actually gone to Wonderland was the night of the fire…

All she remembered from that last visit was seeing that her haven had turned into hell almost instentatiously.

The fire that had raged though Wonderland had been just as hot as the one that had taken her father and sisters-

No. No. She wasn't about to have an episode in front of her doctor. That would be disastrous. She wasn't going to think about what had happened to her family here. Not in front of him.

But maybe, she would go to Wonderland just once, for him. After all, he was trying to help her, not hut her… right? He had already done so much for her, the very least she could do was do this for him.

The ebony haired woman gave in with a sigh. "Alright doctor, I'll try. I don't know if I'll even be able to get there, so no promises."

The doctor only chuckled. "That's why we use hypnotism my pet – It'll help you dive deep into your subconscious and reach parts of your mind you weren't aware that you had. Hopefully it will work on you today."

"Maybe." Buttercup yawned as she got comfortable in her spot on the couch. "We'll see what happens- I'm only doing this because you're giving me a place to stay though, so don't think that this will be a common occurrence."

"and for that I think you." Her doctor replied with the hint of a smile in his voice. "Now just close your eyes, lay back, and enter your mind…"

Buttercup felt herself growing sleepy as his voiced lulled her into an almost dream-like state.

"Go to Wonderland Buttercup…"

"Go to Wonderland…"

"…Wonderland…"

She was falling, falling… falling…

..falling…

…

"Welcome home Alice. It's been awhile."