Notes:
Sorry, I mentioned Arthur would return in this chapter but I couldn’t quite work him in as this one got a little too dark. Anyway sorry for delay, I’ve been busy with work :)

Watching the children run about the fairground was making Alfred feel like a little kid again, and he was doing everything in his power not to join in with them. All the rides were working including the Ferris wheel, and every single child looked like they were having a blast. They ran around with balloons and sweets, watched the entertainers in awe, and screamed in delight as they rode the attractions. Alfred himself was thanked by the teachers and the parents, and even the children ran up to him and begged him to carry him. They had heard of his legendary strength and soon Alfred had four children dangling off each of his arms. The Diamond court also made an appearance, with Erika getting surrounded by young children who were keen to see her and Basch watched over her to make certain she wouldn’t get overwhelmed. Francis was, as usual, surrounded by people who couldn’t resist his charms, and even some children commented on how pretty he was, making Alfred a little jealous.

Yao had chosen to remain inside as he couldn’t handle the screaming children, plus he wanted to go over the plans for when the other Kings and their courts arrived. Alfred thought it was for the best as Yao could get quite scary around children. In fact Basch himself was starting to glare viciously at some kids who were tugging too hard at Erika’s dress, his overprotective nature was both adorable and intimidating. Erika just looked like she was having fun as she spoke with children and walked around with them, although she did protest when they tried to drag her on a roller coaster. Alfred couldn’t resist laughing as Basch had to rescue her and aided by distracting the kids with some ice cream.

The whole fair was going great and the smiles he saw was enough to let Alfred know he did a good job. He took a quick break by sitting down whilst eating a toffee apple, waving to some of the children who waved over at him and he smiled as he watched the children continue to scream and run a mock without a care in the world. With a sigh Alfred couldn’t help but wonder what if Arthur had managed to come. Would he tell the children stories? Go on the rides with them? Eat some of the treats? Alfred wished he could’ve come but no matter how he pleaded Arthur insisted that he couldn’t, he could only promise that one day he’d visit. When would “one day” come?

“I have to say this is one of the best fairs I’ve ever visited outside my Kingdom,” laughed Francis, approaching Alfred with a glass of lemonade in his hand. “The ones we hold cater to both children and adults, but even an adult can enjoy this one.”

“What can I say,” boasted Alfred, “I know how to party.”

“There’s no denying that. Every party or function you ever hosted has always left me impressed, which is why I’m eager for the annual dinner party.”

“Trust me, it will.”

The loud cries of children from the Ferris wheel caught their attention and Francis smirked. “I heard you got trapped up on that Ferris wheel yesterday,” he chuckled, “that would’ve made my day seeing you stuck up there.”

Alfred rolled his eyes, figuring that Yao must’ve told him that. “I had to test it to make sure the kids would be safe.”

“And not for your own amusement?”

“...a little.”

“I swear you’re just a child with an adult body.”

Alfred bit into his treat as Francis continued to tease him. After swallowing it down he noticed a group of children were standing nearby and staring at him with eager eyes. They seemed nervous and were debating amongst themselves wether to approach or not, some of them pushing others to get closer. Alfred smirked and ushered them over.

“C’mon kids, what are you after? Another ride on my arms? Want to see me bench press the Diamond King here?” That made Francis gulp.

The children sheepishly approached and one of them stepped out of the group. “M-mister King sir? Um... We was wondering... we... um...” The child shuffled where he stood.

“C’mon kid, you can talk to me,” insisted Alfred with a gentle smile, “what’s the matter?”

The child looked up, back at his friends, and then back at Alfred. “We learned at school that you can summon a Joker.” Alfred raised a brow and his smile slowly vanished when he realised where this was going. “The teacher says they can do all sorts of magic tricks. C-can you call one?” asked the child. The other children joined in and pleaded with Alfred to summon a Joker.

“N-now kids,” began Alfred as he stood up and put on his serious persona, “Jokers are no joke.”

“Pleeeeease,” begged the children.

Alfred cringed as he had a weakness for puppy dog eyes and looked to Francis for support. “I would advise against it,” he said bluntly. “Jokers are unpredictable and it wouldn’t look good if you let one loose with children around.”

“Sorry kids but it’s a no,” proclaimed Alfred, “now who wants to ride the Ferris wheel?”

The children looked disappointed and didn’t budge from where they stood. Alfred hated disappointing people, especially kids but he couldn’t call a Joker with them around. Yao would be furious and he doubted the children's parents would be thrilled to learn their King unleashed one in their very presence. That and he didn’t want them to experience what he went through the last time he summoned one.

One girl stuck her hand up. “How do you call one?”

“Oh, it’s easy,” insisted Alfred, “but only the members of the four courts can do it.”

“How?” asked the girl again. “What do you have to do?”

“Simple, I place my hand over my insignia, like so,” explained Alfred as he placed his hand upon his chest, not realising that Francis was looking alarmed, “and then I say; knock, knock.”

“Who’s there?”

The children suddenly gasped with delight and Francis groaned in dismay. Alfred froze when he realised what he was duped into, what he fell for like a stupid idiot. How the hell did he fall for such a trick? Was it even a trick or did he just do something really, really stupid? He wasn’t even thinking when he performed the summon. He suddenly felt a weight upon his shoulders, as if someone was standing right on top of him. He slowly peered upwards to find a pair of bright blue eyes staring down at him with a mischievous grin.

“C’mon now yer majesty, it ain’t polite to keep me waitin’ y’know.”

Alfred blinked and said, “The King is Spades?”

A small body hopped off his shoulders and flipped in the air, landing before the group of awestruck children.

“Be amazed you lot for it is I, Peter the Joker! Now praise me and tell me how great I am!” The children began to cheer and clap whilst the Joker bowed and soaked in their praise.

Alfred could only stare in horror at what he had accidentally unleashed, though he had to admit that this Joker was a lot shorter compared to Gilbert and didn’t appear that intimidating. This one looked like a child and even bore the innocent face of one, but as a King he could sense the power of the Joker radiating from his small build. His clothes were almost similar to the previous Joker but he wore shorts so he could openly display his insignia which was below his left knee.

“Alfred!” hissed Francis, who quickly dashed over to his side, “what did you do?”

“They tricked me!” Alfred hissed back. “I wasn’t thinking! I didn’t realise what I was going until I did it!”

“Stop making excuses and get rid of him before he causes trouble! This one is a real troublemaker!”

“He’s just a kid.”

“He may look like a child but he’s not so innocent. He’s a troublemaker, plain and simple. The last time he was in my Kingdom he turned my dining room into a barnyard. Do you have any idea how long it took to get rid of the stench!?”

Alfred groaned and noticed that the Joker’s appearance was attracting more children and the attention of some adults. “Ok kids you met a Joker, now it’s time to send him away.”

The kids all moaned in unison and the Joker glared up at him and pouted. “I only just got here,” he huffed, “I don’t like it when bratty Kings waste my time.”

That struck a nerve with Alfred. “Who are you calling a brat!?”

The Joker cackled. “Aw c’mon Alfy, how about one quick game?”

“No, no games!”

The children moaned again and the Joker used it to fuel Alfred’s fear of disappointing them. “Some host you are,” he scoffed, “I just wanted to play a quick game, it’s not every day I get to play with kids my age.”

Francis sneered at the Joker. “You’re older than all of these children put together, and you’re still so very short.”

Apparently this Joker was sensitive about his age and his height and he suddenly brandished a paint gun, firing a single shot at Francis’ silk shirt. Francis shrieked at his ruined shirt whilst the children erupted into laughter. Even Alfred was trying to hold back a snort of laughter, unable to deny that was actually funny.

“Alfred, get rid of him now,” snapped Francis, desperately wiping away the paint stain. “He loves to do this kind of thing, he’s a little menace!”

“Yes Alfy, listen to the giant frog,” giggled Peter.

“You shut your mouth, you brat!” barked Francis.

“You can’t make me.”

“I can damn well try!”

As Peter and Francis argued back and forth, the children began to laugh uncontrollably at the scene that unfolded and Alfred felt really uncomfortable. Already adults were looking concerned and he noticed Brasch looking really agitated and was already marching over with Erika following close behind. Alfred decided to end this fast as the last thing he wanted was to upset the Diamond court and start a major political mess.

“Ok, Peter was it? That’s enough, now apologise to Francis here and get going.”

The Joker held up his hands. “Hold up there Alfy, I know I can be a bit of a pain and make a little mess from time to time, but all I want is to play a game with these here kids. They came for fun and fun I can provide.”

Alfred didn’t really want to risk it. “Sorry but-...”

“Wait, wait, wait,” pleaded Peter, rushing over to grab Alfred round the waist. “If you let me I can tell you something about your missing Queen.”

Upon hearing that Alfred froze up. It was like he was offered a silver platter but it was being given to him by a hungry wolf. “You Jokers never give answers that easily.”

“Aw come on,” whined Peter, “I promise that not a single child here will come to any harm. It’s just one game and you can play too. I’m nothing like Gilbert, he likes to terrorise whilst I just wanna have fun.”

“Oh please,” sneered Francis, “What could you possibly tell us that we don’t already know?”

The Joker rolled his eyes and sighed. “How about this then? I’ll give you two pieces of information; one now and one later. Since I’m such a good sport I’ll give you one right now.” Before Alfred could even utter a single word, the young Joker pulled out a single card with the mark of the Spade Kingdom and threw it over to Alfred. Upon grabbing it Peter suddenly hopped up and whispered into Alfred’s ear.

“There was a cover up regarding the Spade Queen, and let’s just say my pal Gilbert was involved.”

Alfred eyes widened and he looked back at the Joker. “What?”

“Now, now, if you want to know more then let’s play a game, the kids are waiting and so am I.”

Alfred looked back at the card, then back at the Joker, and then over at Francis. He held up a finger and said, “one sec,” before he dashed over and pulled the Diamond King into a private conversation.

“You can’t actually consider this,” hissed Francis, “Jokers are not things I’d want around children, imagine how he would influence them.”

“Yeah, I know,” agreed Alfred in a low voice, “but he said that there was a cover up involving the Queen.”

“We know that already.”

“Yeah but that the other Joker was involved.”

That caught Francis’ full attention. “Gilbert? That... that can’t be right. Jokers can’t just get rid of a member of the court like that. Yes they cause a little chaos around us but getting rid of us is like getting rid of their purpose in life.”

“Well he seemed pretty ecstatic when he showed me how the last Queen died, maybe he was showing off his handiwork?”

“Jokers don’t kill Alfred.”

“Then how could he be involved?”

The obvious solution was to summon Gilbert and ask him directly, but getting an answer out of him was hard work, that and they already have another Joker on the field. If he was indeed involved then what did he do? Was he the reason the Spade Kingdom lacked a Queen? There was only one way to find out and that was to go along with Peter the Joker’s little game. If he was willing to give him some vital information regarding the mystery of the Queen then he knew he had to take it, but at the risk of the children? Joker’s weren’t allowed to harm anyone, they just enjoy creating mischief for the sake of it so it wouldn’t hurt, right?

“Your majesty,” came the stern voice of the Diamond Jack, “Why has the Spade King summoned this Joker?”

Basch was on high alert and Erika stood protectively close to the children, who were all eager to play the Joker’s game and waiting for their King’s response. Albert looked at all of them and then back at the Joker, who smiled innocently.

Before Francis could even say something, Alfred butted in. “I invited him to play a game with the kids!”

“What!?”

Francis, Erika and Basch all looked shocked as the children cheered and Peter looked smug with Alfred’s choice. Alfred himself was starting to wonder if he should regret what he did but it was too late now.

Francis leaned in to whisper in Alfred’s ear. “Alfred are you certain about this? Is it really worth it to expose these children to a Joker like him?”

Alfred understood Francis’ concerns and tried to reassure him. “Like you said; Jokers don’t kill and he said he wouldn’t harm them. They can’t lie and besides it’s just one game. If it gets out of hand I’ll send him away.” Francis still looked concern but it wasn’t his call, and Alfred returned his attention to the Joker. “So what is this game of yours, Joker?”

Peter smiled and clapped his hands. Upon doing so all the children found themselves wearing rabbit ear hand bands and the card Alfred was holding turned into an axe. “We’re going to play Hunter!”

The children squealed with delight but Alfred was horrified. “I can't use this!”

“Why not?” asked Peter.

“Why not!? It’s a real axe you pipsqueak!”

“Whoops,” chuckled Peter, changing the axe into a toy one with minimal effort. “Now you all know the rules but in case you don’t I’ll remind you. You lot are the rabbits and the King here is the Hunter! If he catches you, you’re dead!” He looked over at Alfred and winked. “Not literally. Anyway he only has two minutes to get as many rabbits as he can and then someone else gets to be the hunter.”

As the children continued to chatter and squeal with excitement, Alfred was starting to think that maybe this wasn’t such a great idea. He played this game when he was little, one person played the role as a hunter and the others would be the rabbits, chasing and hitting them with a toy axe. After a set amount of time the roles would swap around until everyone played as the hunter, and the one who caught the most rabbits won. There was another catch to this; the hunter had to be blind and it was this reason that Alfred was starting to reconsider this idea.

“Alright, lets get this game started!” The Joker pulled a blindfold and dangled it around Alfred’s face. “You know the rules Alfy, you’re not allowed to see.”

With a roll of his eyes, Alfred removes his glasses and allowed the Joker to blind him. “Francis, let me know if he tries anything,” he called out as his world went dark.

“Oh I will, believe me,” replied Francis.

“Ok kids! The one who kills the most rabbits wins a special prize!” That got the children riled up and even Alfred couldn’t deny his competitive nature was starting to kick in.

As he started to carefully wander about, listening out for the shouts and giggles of the children, Alfred carefully swung the toy axe about as he didn’t want to send a child flying across the fairground. It may be a toy axe but his strength alone could seriously hurt someone if he wasn’t careful. The children laughed and teased him when he missed, and when he managed to tap one of them he’d hear a whine of disappointment. In his blind state he could even hear Francis and Erika chortle discreetly, and he was almost certain he heard someone mentioning about wishing they had a camera on them.

“You’ve only caught three little rabbits Alfy,” laughed Peter, “time is almost up.”

Putting a little more effort into it Alfred listened out carefully until he was certain that a child was standing right next to him. With a smirk he reached out to gently hit the child with the axe.

“Gotcha,” he said.

However what came next wasn’t the playful cheer of the children, nor Francis congratulating him or the Joker teasing him.

What came next was complete and utter silence.

“Hello?”

No one responded.

“Francis? Kids? Peter?”

He couldn’t hear them. In fact he couldn’t hear the sounds of the fair, he couldn’t even hear the music, he couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t have gone deaf. It was like he had been transported away from the fair. Had he gone back to the garden?

“...Arthur?”

There was still no response. If he was in the garden he should be hearing the sound of the birds or even the rustle of the flowers.

“What’s going on?”

Had the Joker played a practical joke on him? With a huff he ripped off his blindfold to see what had happened.

He wished he hadn’t.

Before him was a sight that made his face turn ghost white. He wasn’t at the colourful fair, he was in a place that he did not recognise, a place he wasn’t even certain he could describe but it was dark and almost nightmarish. There was no one else there but something did catch his eyes. Directly in front of him upon the ground were four small children laying deathly still within pools of what could only be described as blood. Their silent faces were as pale as the moon, their empty eyes staring straight up at him, and upon their tiny bodies were large gashes and cuts where the blood freely flowed from.

With a horrified gasp he took a step back and heard a splash, his foot felt wet and warm in a disturbing way. He looked down and was mortified to find he was standing in a large pool of blood, formed from the rivers of red from the children’s bodies. Looking at his hands he was further horrified to find them completely soaked in it and the axe he had been holding was also stained, dripping as if it was fresh. Out of sheer terror he dropped the axe, watching as it splashed into the pool of red and vanished. He looked desperately for an exit, he was too scared to even wonder how he got here.

“We’ll never forgive you.”

Alfred flinched and jumped round. It was if someone had spoken directly into his ear.

“Who said that!? Who are you!? Where am I!?” Every word he uttered was frantic and laced with fear.

“We’ll never forgive you.”

The voices echoed all around him. They continued repeating the same sentence over and over, getting louder and louder every single time. Where were they coming from? Alfred almost shrieked when he realised the voices were coming from the supposedly dead children. Their dead eyes were still on him as they repeated over and over, “we’ll never forgive you.”

Their hands slowly began to rise, reaching out for him. They were rotted and full of filth and the stench was horrendous. Alfred was frozen with fear and he could only watch in horror as those hands came closer and closer to reaching him. He could feel his heart thumping so hard against his chest he was certain his ribs were going to crack. He couldn’t breath, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t even process what to do. It wasn’t until he felt those hands clutch on to his face that he finally reacted.

With a gasp he fell over onto his back and before he could even try to crawl back he felt a weight on his chest. Looking up he almost stopped breathing when he saw one of those children sitting on his chest, staring down at him with those dead eyes. It reached out towards him and Alfred nearly screamed when it’s disgusting hands clasped onto his face.

“Times up Alfy,” it said.

“W-What?”

Alfred felt like something was removed from his face and he looked up to see Peter the Joker staring down at him with a massive grin whilst swinging around a blindfold.

“I said, times up Alfy.”

Alfred sat up and looked around, finding himself surrounded by giggling children with the sun glaring down at him.

“And with that, King Alfy has scored four rabbits! Not a bad score but who am I to judge?” laughed Peter. The children cheered and clapped. “Now, who’s the next hunter?”

As the children jumped up and down to get picked to be the next hunter, Alfred stood up and looked around frantically. It was like he had never left, and he was still here in this wonderful cheerful environment. What had just happened? Where did he go? Who were those children? There was no way that was an illusion. He could still smell the stench of rotten flesh and the sensation of the warm blood upon his feet. He felt sick, he wanted to go and vomit and his mind was a mess of panic and horror.

“What’s wrong Alfred?” Francis had come over after noticing the pale complexion upon Alfred’s face.

Alfred couldn’t even answer him. He tried to sort out the mess that was his mind until he finally came to a conclusion as to what happened to him. He glared over at the Joker who had just selected another child to be the hunter. With a fierce scowl he put his glasses back on and marched over to Peter and glared down at him, the Joker staring up at him innocently.

“What’s the matter Alfy? I haven’t forgotten your ears.” With the flick of his fingers a rabbit ear headband appeared upon Alfred’s head. “See, you get to be a cute little rabbit now!”

Alfred wasn’t in the mood for games and he grabbed Peter by the ear and dragged him away from the playing children, the young Joker repeatedly yelping, “ow, ow, ow!” He forced him to sit upon an empty bench and tried not to raise his voice as he spoke with him. “What did you do to me!?” he hissed.

Peter tilted his head with confusion. “What are you on about?”

“Don’t play games with me now,” snapped Alfred, peering over his shoulder to make certain the children were still safe and playing their game. “You showed me that horrible... place with those dead kids and the blood and-...”

Peter raised his hand and shook his head. “That wasn’t me!”

At first Alfred was going to accuse him of lying, but he noticed something with what the Joker said. He knew what he saw, he was aware of what he went through whilst blindfolded. “If it wasn’t you, then who was it!?”

Peter huffed and slouched on the bench. “I ended your turn when I realised what she was doing. I couldn’t have you waving your toy axe around like a maniac in front of the kids. Think of the traumas you’ll give them.”

“Who?” demanded Alfred.

“Oh come on Alfy, you already know the answer,” giggled Peter, “the one who sends you to the garden.”

Alfred was stunned for a moment. The little mystery girl? She was the one who showed him that ghastly imaginary? Why? He thought she was somewhat nice and sincere to him, even if she never gave a straight answer. Then again she showed him that nightmarish door, maybe the whole innocent charm was just a cover up for her wicked intentions.

“Anyway Alfy, I’ll give you that second piece of information now and I’ll be on my way,” said Peter with a yawn, “I’m getting tired now.”

“Who is that girl?” Alfred needed answers and he was tired of not getting any.

“Oh you know who she is,” huffed Peter, “anyway, here is the second piece of delicious info!” He stood up upon the bench and whispered into his ear, “it’s not a door, it’s not a chest, it’s not a casket and it’s not a box. It’s always been here and it’s getting weaker and weaker, waiting for the King to stop the chaos it’s holding back.”

Alfred blinked and pulled away to glare at the Joker. “That’s not information, that’s a damn riddle!”

Peter shrugged. “Come on Alfy, try and be smart for a change. Not everything is as it seems, you’re just being shown things in a way your simple mind can understand. If you want to stop the impending doom then you need to do what needs to be done.”

“What is it that needs to be done!?”

Peter then bore a look that was almost alien to his usual innocent face. “You need to pay for what you’ve done.”

Alfred almost jumped back out of fright, the tone of voice and the way he looked at him was like something out of a nightmare. Before he could even ask Peter what he meant by that, the little Joker dashed back over to the children. “Sorry kids but I gotta go!” His announcement made the poor children groan in disappointment. “But the way I see it is you’re all winners! So here’s your prize!”

With a clap of his hands sweets and treats began to fall from the sky, and the excited children ran around trying to catch them. Francis cried out in misery as a toffee apple hit him on the head and was now stuck to his hair whilst Basch made a makeshift umbrella to protect Erika and himself. Peter cackled as he dashed back over to Alfred and smiled up at him.

“Time for me to go Alfy, if you see Arthur again why don’t you suggest to go out for a bit? Leave his garden? Have a date?”

Alfred sighed and he gave Peter permission to leave, fed up with how these Joker’s gave him nothing but headaches. As if he was never there, Peter vanished from sight with his laughter echoing and all that was left were the children running around trying to catch the raining candy.