'Good luck with this one…' Miles heard the Hatter's voice echoing in his mind, but before the Rabbit, now a horrid amalgamation of fur, gears, and flesh, could move, the system spoke inside Miles' head.
[You have met the requirements for the wielding of the – Harbinger's Scythe]
[Synergy requirements have been met]
[The seed of your Classpect is taking root]
[The madness of Wonderland courses through your veins, God Hunter]
Before Miles could focus on the system meant by all that nonsense, however, the Rabbit brought its enormous paw down on him like a hammer. He evaded the downward strike with unexpected ease, and tried to summon [Cheshire's Gleam], but the weapon did not appear.
"Cheshire, what the hell?" Miles frowned, running and dodging, as the Rabbit kept hammering its furry strikes down.
"I'm sorry, my boy…" Miles felt Cheshire stretching, circling around himself, and melting into a puddle of fur and paws. His voice, though, sounded devoid of any joy or indifference. "One day, you'll understand."
"Damnit!" Miles spat. "I guess I'll have to try the new toy, then…"
As he ran, dark sparks enveloped him, and when they vanished, Miles was dressed like a dark version of the Mad Hatter, carrying the [Harbinger's Scythe] tightly in his hands. The Scythe, however, simply hummed in his hands, seemingly uninterested in his life force, unlike the first time he tried to wield it. On his face, the mask that resembled the wraith's face, although white. However, the glowing red eyes and the glowing red carving of the stitched mouth remained.
"Well… I guess it's time for a test drive, huh?" He grinned, nervously.
The Rabbit's crimson eyes glowed with unrestrained malice as it lunged forward, its grotesque form twisting unnaturally. The gears beneath its patchy fur groaned and whirred, driving its massive frame forward with new, alarming speed.
Miles barely had time to register the movement before the Rabbit's clawed paw slashed across his chest, sending him sprawling into the shattered remnants of the greenhouse wall.
He coughed, tasting blood, but the pain grounded him, feeling strangely less gripping than in any other fight before, although the Rabbit's new size should be enough to give it bone-shattering strength.
"Not bad for a walking clock," Miles muttered, rising to his feet. His grip on the [Harbinger's Scythe] tightened, the weapon's hum resonating faintly in his chest. "Let's see if you can tick!"
The Rabbit let out a guttural snarl, the ticking of its pocket watch intensifying. The air seemed to ripple around, filling Miles with unease as he lunged towards his once companion.
"Tick-tock…" The Rabbit hissed, its voice grating like steel scraping against stone.
Miles didn't respond, his heart racing, but his instincts took over. He spun the scythe in his hands, testing its weight while darting forward. The blade cut through the air with a whisper, its arc aimed at the Rabbit's exposed flank.
The Rabbit moved faster than Miles anticipated. With a mechanical whirr, it leaped into the air, its hind legs kicking off the ground in a blur of motion, leaving a crater where the Rabbit had been.
The scythe's blade met nothing but air, and before Miles could recover, the Rabbit was almost on him.
A massive paw slammed into his side, sending him tumbling across the ground. He rolled to a stop near the center of the greenhouse, shards of glass digging into his palms as he struggled to rise.
"Okay," Miles wheezed, clutching his ribs. "Note to self: Clockwork rabbits are mad fast…"
The Rabbit landed heavily, its claws digging into the dirt. It tilted its head, the pocket watch in its hand spinning faster and faster. The air around them grew thicker, colder, and Miles felt his movements slow as though he were wading through molasses.
"Do you feel it, boy?" the Rabbit crooned, its voice dripping with mockery. "The weight of time? It bends to my will, and you… You are nothing but a fleeting moment."
"Ah, of course… That thing manipulates time…" Miles gritted his teeth, forcing his legs to move despite the oppressive weight pressing down on him. "How could I forget it…?"
He swung the scythe in a wide arc, and to his surprise, the blade emitted a pulse of energy, cutting through the invisible pressure like a knife through butter.
"So, you do have it in you… Let's see if you're worthy of it!" The Rabbit recoiled, its crimson eyes narrowing.
Before Miles could respond, the Rabbit lunged again, this time faster and more erratic. Its claws slashed through the air, leaving glowing trails of distorted time in their wake. Miles ducked, rolled, and countered, his scythe meeting the Rabbit's attacks with sparks and shockwaves that reverberated through the greenhouse.
The fight was chaos. Each clash of the scythe and the Rabbit's claws sent ripples of energy through the space around them, distorting the remnants of the greenhouse further. Miles felt his muscles scream in protest, but the effort felt a lot lesser than in his other battles, and the experience he had gathered in the war against the Card Soldiers helped him wield [Harbinger's Scythe] with an ease that would be impossible if Cheshire had not helped.
"You're only capable of so much because of Cheshire's help. But you're not worthy of the gifts Alice left!" The Rabbit grinned, a horrifyingly human expression that stretched across its malformed face.
Miles tightened his grip on the scythe, his knuckles white.
"You talk too much." He spat, surging forward.
This time, he didn't hold back. The scythe's blade glowed with an eerie, dark light as he swung it in a diagonal slash. The Rabbit dodged, but not quickly enough. The blade grazed its shoulder, and the effect was immediate. The Rabbit let out a screech of pain as dark energy erupted from the wound, spreading across its body like cracks in glass.
Miles frowned at the strange sight, glancing at his scythe.
"You little…" the Rabbit snarled, cutting its arm off as its pocket watch began to spin erratically. Its form shimmered, flickering in and out of focus. "You've done it now."
'Yeah, it really was something…' Miles grinned underneath the mask, assuming an offensive stance, but as soon as he motioned for a strike, the ground beneath him began to tremble.
Miles felt the scythe pulse in his hands, almost as if it were alive, urging him forward. He planted his feet, though, preparing for the Rabbit's next move, but what came next caught him completely off guard.
The Rabbit's body imploded in a cascade of gears and fur, a deafening screech of twisting metal filling the air. For a moment, the room was awash in searing light, forcing Miles to shield his eyes.
When the light dimmed, a towering figure emerged from the cloud of debris, its interlocking gears gleaming like polished gold in the fractured light of the greenhouse as the sun dawned in the horizon. The temperature in the air seemed to drop as its glowing red eyes locked onto him.
Miles took a step back, his breath hitching.
"Oh, boy," Cheshire's voice echoed faintly in his mind. "You made it mad now."
"No kidding…" Miles smiled sheepishly, raising his scythe in a defensive form.
The Rabbit let out a mechanical roar, the sound reverberating like an earthquake. It raised its paw, the pocket watch spinning faster and faster, and charged.
"You're nothing but a thief," the Rabbit snarled, its gears clicking menacingly. "A child pretending to wield a legacy you'll never understand. I will devour you, just as Wonderland devoured her."
The Rabbit's pocket watch emitted a piercing whine, and with a deafening crack, the air around them shattered like glass. Time fractured, distorted, sending jagged slivers of reality spiraling outward. Miles barely had time to react as the Rabbit surged forward, its claws raking through the warped space, aiming for his throat.