Alice gave a cold smirk as she eyed each of the 7 carefully. She gave Sora a calculating smile, eyeing her up and down before she spoke.

"Welcome, welcome all to my wonderful home, Wonderland! Congratulations to the 7 of you for being the next particants of The Alice Game!"

"You have got to be kid--"

"Hush, Chen dear. The Alice Game is a very fun game indeed. It tests your strength, emotionally and physically. It tests your loyalties. But most importantly, it tests your desperation. Now how to play this wonderful game. There are pearls hidden everywhere within the confines of this park. What you must do? Find the black pearl. There is only one black pearl within this park."

"A black pearl? That's all? We just have to find the black pearl. I think we can do that, sounds simple enough." Lu Han concluded as he looked all around him, his eyes already searching for the black pearl.

"It is quite simple! Simple, simple, simple indeed. Find the black pearl and head straight for the throne! After that, the rest is up to you! You see, there can only be one winner, or possibly, no winner. The throne will only appear if and only if 1 person is left breathing in this park, if there is only one heart beating. Do you know what that means, my lovelies? Only one of you will be left alive by the end of this game. Good luck." The screen faded, returning to its original white and slid back down into the grassy earth.

Each of them were quiet as the information started to digest. They looked at each other carefully, wondering who might be the last one standing.

"We can't let her get to us. Besides, she can't have her game if we don't kill each other, right? Just stick together. She'll probably get so annoyed, she'll let us go! Or we can just find an exit ourselves. I still don't believe we're in another world," Sora reasoned with the boys and the boys nodded their heads at her plan. 

"Let's go," and on that note, they decided to head towards the large Ferris wheel when 7 figures stepped out of the shadows. Each of the 7 figures had on a dark cloak with the hood pulled over, masking their faces. The participants started to group together, getting into a defensive stance, as the 7 mysterious figures approach them.

"We're not here to harm you," one said.

"We're here to prepare you," another spoke.

"Prepare us?" Lay asked, puzzled.

"The Game may not seem as hard as you think but trust us, it will be the hardest thing you'll ever have to do. You may think that you're little plan might work but it won't. You don't have to believe us now but you will eventually." The 7 boys let down their hoods to reveal the faces of young handsome men.

They lined up and stated their names.

"Cha—Alice—is currently resting right now. There are 4 more of us but they will not reveal themselves until Alice says to do so," Sunggyu stated.

"There's 4 more of you creeps?" Sora spat out. Her eyes narrowed even further at the one who stared at her without a word, L. He had a gaze deeper, more penetrating than that of Tao's and it made Sora feel quite uncomfortable. "Stop staring at me!" The stranger did not comply.

"We are nothing more than mere shadows, Kim Sora." L had finally spoken. At the mention of her name, she lunged at the figure.

She was almost an inch away from the man's face when she was pulled back by strong arms. She struggled for a few seconds, then thought it useless. She slumped into the arms and looked up. She gave Tao a blank mask then pulled out of his arms. She just stood by herself, away from everyone else and she started to grab at her hair and shake her head. The boys gave her a look of pity, but in their expression was a slight look of contempt. 

So weak.

The man with the smoldering stare looked at the emotional Sora, and he smirked slightly. 

Kris turned back to the strangers. "So what is it you want with us?"

"To prepare you, what did I just say?" Sunggyu said with a hint of annoyance lacing his voice.

"Each of you will need to come with one of us. Alice is still resting so she's not watching over you guys at the moment, but we don't have much time. Don't worry, after we're done talking to you, you guys can group up and do whatever the hell you want," Woohyun voiced.

"Let's just get this over with." Xuimin stepped up and walked over to a stoic Sungyeol, to which he nodded to. The pair walked away.

Kris paired with Sunggyu, much to Kris' discomfort.

Chen paired with Woohyun.

Luhan with Sungjong.

Lay and Hoya.

Tao and Dongwoo.

The only two left were Sora and L. The others had walked off to talk in a private spot, meaning that Sora and L didn't have to leave since no one else was in their presence. L started to approach a shaking Sora, who glared at him fiercely through her tears. Sora took a step back as L took a step forward. She was unknowingly approaching the Ferris wheel that stood behind her.

L quickened his steps and Sora back away even more but was surprised when L just walked right past her into the waiting passenger car of the ride. Sora gave him a questioning look.

"Let's talk in here, Kim Sora." He gave his hand for Sora to grab onto, but Sora shook her head indignantly. 

"No! I don't want to go on the ferris wheel."

"Come on, Sora." L spoke calmly and patiently, not being affected by Sora's hectic emotions. He took a step out of the car and grabbed Sora's forearm, hulling her onto the ride and closing the door. The Ferris wheel started to rotate.

"No! Get me off! Let me go! Get me off of this ride! I'm afraid of heights!" Sora all but shrieked as she struggled to get out of L's grasp.

"No you're not. You're not afraid of heights." L tightened his grip on her arm and used his other hand to grab Sora's chin. He stared into her eyes and smirked when he saw what he wanted to see. Sora shook his arm off and sat down on one of the benches while L leaned against the window. L's smirk widened.

"So tell me, Sora, how good are you at chess?"

"Excuse me," Sora didn't know if she should be offended or not, with such an off-handed question. "What the does that have anything to this?"

"Just answer the damn question," L replied exasperately. He gave Sora a dead-panned look and she whimpered in response.

"I dunno, pretty good I guess."

"That's good. Very good. Now tell me..." He leaned forward and quietly whispered a question that made Sora burn with anger and annoyance. 

She was insulted with his words.

"Screw you! If you haven't noticed, I've been kidnapped, and thrown into a game where I have to kill people. You can't ask me a ing question like that!" Sora yelled as tears started to build up in her eyes once again. Sora's bottom lip quivered as she glared vehemently at L. He tsked slightly, and Sora looked down as her figure once again started to shake. To Sora's surprise, L started to chuckle.

"But Sora... I want to know!"

The ride continued to go on and on, its revolution taking effect. L could only smile sarcastically at the shaking Sora.