Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice Goal Oriented: To Survive Wonderland

The music pounded through the large and dimly lit club like a migraine through a brain that had a hangover. Sweaty bodies writhed and moved to the music on the spacious dance floor while other people sat on the stools around the few tables that had long silver poles cemented to them. Mostly men sat at the these tables, but there were a few women as well, and all stared at the young women moving up and down the poles in an erotic fashion most of their clothes discarded or not brought out altogether. Every so often they would come down from their elevated positions on the poles and take some of the bright green offerings handed to them with a wink and a sultry smile. Each bill collected was tucked away in a place that would be considered 'sexy' such as their garter belts on their legs or inside their push up bras.

When the slow and 'romantic' song finally ended one of the girls got off the pole and table slipping the wad of cash out of her black garter belt. A few of the bar patrons groaned or hollered for the woman to come back, but she proceeded to ignore them and went past the people in the crowd to get to a bright red door at the very back of the club. Twisting the metal doorknob she slipped inside the brightly lit hallway and had to blink to get her wheat brown eyes to adjust. When they did she shut the door behind her, sopping most of the noise, and continued down the carpeted hall. This part of the club was mostly abandoned except for a few girls in bathrobes who were going to one room or another. Going to a faded green door she opened it up and was immediately assaulted by a spicy yet sweet smell. "God, Cinnamon, what the hell is up with all the perfume?"

Her plump lips twisted into a frown when she noticed the state of the dressing room. Lacy lingerie was cast all over the brown carpeted floors and a large cupped bra hung from the full length mirror pinned to the other side of the door. A perfume bottle was broken on the small glass table, the cherry red liquid all over the table and a few drops were on the floor, all of it looking more like blood than perfume. There was a few empty beer can lying on the floor as well, next to a pile of crumpled tissues and a girl who was no older than sixteen with hair so blonde it was almost white and an eerily thin figure. The girl sniffled and looked up, her timid blue eyes still leaking tears. "John came by here."

She sighed and went over to the girl, kneeling down on the balls of her feet and wrapping an arm around the busty girl. "And what's wrong with that? You've been going steady with that sack of crap for awhile now."

"He…" The girl too a deep breath almost sounding like a gurgle. "He asked me to marry him!"

The woman's eyes widened but she quickly swallowed it. "Wow, that's pretty good…When's the-"

"But I said no!" The girl burst into tears again making more makeup and snot go down her face, "I said no, Victoria! W-what should I do? I mean I'm a stripper not some girl he caught in school plus he's eighteen!"

"There there." She pat her back. "Just take a deep breath and think about it for a minute. Maybe it's because you're sexy when stripping he wants to marry you? Plus you guys go to the same high school this isn't exactly some forbidden relationship."

The girl looked up. "You think so?"

"Don't get me wrong, I hate John, but he isn't nearly as bad as any other asshole that could be slinking around your school."

Cinnamon blinked for a moment before jumping on Victoria, nuzzling her face in the woman's smaller chest. "Thank you so much Victoria!"

The woman's dark face colored somewhat and she looked away. "Yeah, yeah. Don't think I did it for you, if you leave I get a chance to get more customers."

The girl huffed but didn't make a comeback as she got off Victoria and flounced over to a small metal stand full of makeup and the accompanying brushes. The woman watched her for a moment before she got up and began unbuckling her clear tall platform shoes. She let out a sigh when her small feet hit the floor and she began taking off her costume from her show, putting the things away in a large trunk with various stickers of flowers on the front. Pulling on her normal clothes she turned to look at Cinnamon who was still taking off her makeup. "I'm heading out."

"Alright."

Shrugging she opened up the door and went back into the hall. Walking down the opposite direction of the club door she went to another door that had a glass panel on the top part of the wooden door. Opening it up she was immediately subjected to the warm summer air of the city, the scent of stale hotdogs and old pretzels making a rumble through her stomach. Slipping out of the door and shutting it behind her she went down the gum and trash covered alley, her hands snuggled deep into her denim jeans. Every so often there would be the sound of a glass bottle rolling around the way or a cat brutally mauling a rat that happened across its path. These sounds made her pause and look around, her teeth biting down on her lips making them redder than they were suppose to.

When it happened a third time her nose wrinkled. "Someone needs to call the exterminator."

Shaking her head she continued down the alley until she heard the mechanical roar of an engine. Glancing back her lips twisted into a grimace when she saw the blaring light and the bright red motorcycle speeding towards her. Turning all the way around she crossed her arms and stared the helmeted person down until they punched the breaks, a high pitched screech coming from the bike, and didn't even blink when it nearly hit her. Instead she began smoothing out her black hair, tucking an especially long strand across her forehead to the opposite ear. "The hell are you doing, Kent?"

The person pulled off their black helmet to reveal a young man with artificially dyed hair and smirking grey eyes. "Hey, Sis."

"Don't call me that."

The boy scoffed and leaned forward on the handlebars, his long arms dangling over them. "But we _are _siblings you know, I did manage to snag your sister."

She raised a slim eyebrow. "You knocked her up and my dad forced you to marry her."

"We still tied the knot!"

"Whatever." She began to turn around but was caught around the arm by her brother-in-law. She glanced back at him and let out a gusty sigh. "What?"

"Your dad wanted me to pick you up and bring you to the church."

Her back stiffened and her eyes narrowed, if she had cat ears and a tail the hair would be standing on end. "Why in the hell does he need me around? Can't he manage to get his sermon done without me? I don't want to nor do I have to go with you."

"But your dad-"

"He doesn't need me!" She yanked her arm back, the motion causing her hand to hit the metal and an eruption of pain to go through her body. She grit her teeth and held the hurt appendage to her chest, her eyes once again staring at her brother in law. "Just go away, I don't need you or my father bossing me around!"

The boy stared at her for several seconds before he scoffed and revved his engine back up, the burst of artificial life making Victoria take a few steps back. Re-positioning his body to properly ride the back he looked back at his sister-in-law. "One day you're gonna realize that you're not a one man army and when you do it might be too late."

"When did I start taking wisdom from a drunk?"

He pulled his helmet on. "When your life splinters apart."

With that Victoria moved to the side and allowed him to pass her, a few fliers for a club billowing behind him like some kind of farewell. Shaking her head she continued down her chosen path, completely unaware that the sheets of paper were slowly pulling themselves into their original spots and that the sky was beginning to become brighter thanks to the sun beginning to set again.

* * *

Victoria was never a big fan of mornings. Waking up to feel her eyes encrusted with sleep, her mouth feel like it was filled with cotton, and her hair all rumpled only managed to irritate her. After slamming the snooze button of her screeching alarm clock she sat up and took a look around. Her bedroom wasn't that large, it was mostly filled with metal bookshelves that had a variety of different stained glass lamps set on them as well as a few books and DVDs. There was a tiny wooden table set at the foot board of her bed and filled to the brim with makeup, perfume, makeup brushes, and anti-bacterial. Slipping her legs over the side of the bed she muffled a yawn with the back of her hand as she stood up, nearly tripping on the see-through heels she had worn last night. Kicking one aside she made it to the bathroom, that had a sea turtle theme going on, and promptly began her morning routine.

When she was finally dressed for the day she pulled her long black hair into a bun at the back of her head and completely ignored her makeup. Going to the kitchen she felt a shudder go down her spine when she felt the cold linoleum floor under her bare feet. Hurrying to her white refrigerator she opened it up and scanned the cluttered shelves to grab an apple. Shutting the door she went over to the small sinks and twisted on the cold water and passed her green apple under it. As she stood doing the mundane activity she could hear yelling coming from the neighbors to her left while the ones above her were obviously trying to get their three kids out the door for school.

She couldn't wait for everyone to hurry up and leave so she could keep the quiet apartment complex to herself. That was perhaps the best thing about working during the evening; she got far more quiet time than most people. Turning off the water she exited the small kitchen and went into the living room, flopping straight onto her black leather couch and took a big bite of it. The initial sour taste made her toes curl and helped fuel a giddy feeling in her gut. She quickly began devouring the apple, at the same time her free hand was feeling up the glass coffee table in front of her in an attempt to find the TV remote. "I thought I left it here yesterday."

Turning her body so she could actually look at the table she only found a knocked over candle, some magazines, and a few packs of gum she never finished. Huffing she stood up and went over to the large metal entertainment center and looked around the little nooks that held more lamps, some more books, and her TV. Finding it in front of a long forgotten bible she grabbed the gray remote and turned the TV on, a sunny looking news reporter happily chirping away about whatever her bosses told her to.

Sitting back down, on her knees, she watched the various headlines under the blonde bimbo's face. Most of them were terrible and had something to do with a lack of rain here, stock markets failing there, disease spreading all over. However, when the date passed by, her eyebrows furrowed and she clicked the pause button on her remote. When nothing happened she hauled herself up again and went to the kitchen. Opening up the top most drawer beside the sink she began to shuffle through cooking instructions, a pair of pliers, and plenty of wire for an old art project. Getting to the bottom of the drawer she found a box of batteries.

Grabbing them she set down her remote and began ripping open the back, throwing the cardboard in the trash next to the window, and taking out the old batteries. When she was done she put the new batteries in and went back to the living room, still hitting the pause button. "Come on, work!"

Jamming the button harder she came closer to the TV. When she was only inches away from the TV she huffed and chucked it back to the couch, the plastic hitting the faux leather and sliding off to the white carpet. Leaving the room she went back to her bedroom and grabbed her purse off the bed. Zipping open the main part she shuffled through the gum, some loose cash, and a few coupons.

Her phone was nowhere to be found.

"Dammit!"

Huffing she pushed up her bangs and looked around the room, as if the simple action would make her bright pink I-Phone appear. When it didn't she grabbed her sandals from under her bed and slid them on. Since she didn't have her phone, couldn't keep up with her calendar, and had a broken computer. There was no real way for her to tell the date so she would have to do it the old fashioned way: newspapers.

Leaving out of her room she grabbed her keys from the living room table before heading out the door, locking it when it was shut. Going down the linoleum hall she went to the very end of it and pushed the elevator down button. There was a shrill ding as the doors opened and Victoria made her way inside the cramped space. After several moments the door shut and lurched downward before the entire thing stopped and the door opened again. Going out into the dimly lit main lobby she hurried to a small newspaper machine set up next to a soda and snack machine. Getting some change out of her pocket she pushed it in and jammed the button. Within seconds it spit out a newspaper, the date clearly reading the previous day's in small black print. "How the hell did I manage this!"

There had to be a logical solution. That damn landlord probably didn't manage to switch out all the old newspapers, that was the only reason for this test to fail. Throwing the newspaper in a trash bin she hurried out of the double doors and into the town. It was one of those towns that wanted to become bigger, and was trying, but the people here were obviously country bumpkins and relied on the out of towners for the city mentality.

Hurrying down the newly paved sidewalk she went past the many kids running to school and the free roaming pets to get to a small diner across the street. The place was small but well known for the delicious French toast. Pushing open the door she ducked her head away from the tiny bell that threatened to hit her and hurried to the counter that was being scrubbed by a scrawny girl with artificially died blue hair. "Amy, tell me the date."

The girl looked up, her thin blonde eyebrows furrowing. "Are you serious?"

"If you tell me I'll let you have Patterson tonight."

The girl sighed and threw the blue sponge on the counter. "Patterson only comes on Wednesdays. You know, when his kids are at their mom's."

"I know that but-"

"You ate all that and ain't got money!"

Victoria turned around slightly and noticed a small blonde sitting in an old booth with her blue eyes resolute and staring straight at the ever burly, Claude. "I told you I can wash dishes or clean the floors to make up for my debt."

"That's what I got waitresses for!" He pointed a thick finger in Amy's general direction. "Now get me some cash before I haul your ass to the police."

The girl opened her mouth again but Victoria quickly put a hand over it as soon as she made it over to her table. "I'll take care of it, Claude."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

The burly man glanced at the girl again before scoffing and lumbering back to his kitchen. Sliding into the chair opposite the girl she looked her up and down. She was fairly petite with blue eyes and hair that was actually a mousy shade of brown. She wore a bright blue ribbon in her hair and a frilly blue dress that looked like she belonged in a dollhouse. "Do you know the date?"

The girl blinked in surprise before slowly shaking her head. "No, I'm afraid I do not."

"Oh."

The two remained quiet for several more moments before the girl began talking again. " I should probably for what you've done. That guy probably would have actually called the police and send me to jail for eating here."

"That's Claude for you," Victoria said with a roll of her eyes. "an idiot extremist."

The girl nodded. "Well I know that guy's name but what about yours? My name is Alice."

Victoria scoffed and abruptly pushed herself up. "Just because I saved your ass from the slammer doesn't mean anything, Girly-Girl."

She sidestepped out of the booth, slamming a crumpled twenty on the table, and was about to leave before the girl reached out and grabbed her hand. Her hands were smooth and cold as if she rarely ever did work and was capable of merely being a doll. Twisting around, her bun loosening thanks to the speed, she stared down at the girl. "What."

"Look you've helped me so I want to help you."

"No."

"But you have to!"

The words made Victoria grit her teeth and her eyes narrow. Why did everyone always go around saying that she _had _to do something? She didn't have to do anything, her life was left for her to figure out and map! She moved to push the girl away, but stopped when she saw her face. Her eyes were almost filled with tears, her face was bright red from the effort not to cry, and her bottom lip quivered. Pity welled up in her chest and she took in a deep breath as she looked up at the ceiling. She was going to pretend that this little girl didn't exist and that she could just walk out without any baggage. However one little whimper from Alice made her look down at that sniveling face and before she could stop herself she said. "Fine."

The girl cheered and backed away, her tears disappearing with that smile of her's. Huffing , Victoria wiped her hands off on the back of her jeans and began to walk towards the door. "Come on, let's go back to my place."

"Alright." She followed behind the older woman. "So, what is your name."

"…Victoria Malone."

"Nice to meet you."

"…"

* * *

When Victoria and Alice finally made it to the apartment, the sun was sinking low in the sky. All day they had marched around town trying to find all the newspaper stands and machines they could, just to learn that is really was Tuesday. Tossing her keys on the table Victoria glanced back at Alice who had remained at the front door. "You can come in now, no one's gonna stand around and wait for you to suddenly decide you wanna sit."

The girl walked into the room and went over to the couch, once she was sitting she pulled off her shoes and gave a low moan. "I've never walked so long before."

"Really?" She undid the bun at the back of her head, the dark locks falling against her shoulders. "I thought the place you were before had you walk everywhere."

"It did."

Victoria didn't bother to press the argument. She had talked with Alice most of the day learning that she came from another place entirely and that this place had talking animals and no set times of day. She had immediately concluded that the girl was insane and should really go back to whatever mental hospital that she broke out of. Sitting on the couch next to Alice she moaned and stretched her body a bit before lying down. "I'm so tired."

Alice gasped and smacked her head. "I can't believe I haven't thought of that!"

"Huh?"

"This is a dream!" She stood up, a low laugh emitting from her mouth. "You're just toying with me after I drank from the vial, aren't you, Nightmare?"

The woman raised an eyebrow not sure how to respond to what she was saying. Admitting it was a dream was one thing, but calling for a nightmare was another. "Alice, are you okay?"

She looked at the woman over her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm just going to take a nap."

"…You do that."

Curling up into the cushion she released a heavy sigh before shutting her eyes and began forgetting work, her rent, and even the girl not too far away from her.

* * *

_**There is a serious lack of not innocent Ocs in this fandom. So here it is my second fanfic, not that it means anything, so either leave your two cents in the comment box or click out with a good opinion of this story.**_


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Joker/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice, Humor, Romance