Previously:
Alice (now thoroughly bandaged) and Boris stepped cautiously out of the house, looking around in awe at the sudden change of scenery. "Um Boris I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Alice murmured, chuckling at the confused look on his face. A gurgling cough sounded behind them and they turned to see Peter's shoes sticking out from under the house. Alice gasped and her hands flew to her mouth as her stomach churned. "Hey," she turned around slowly, eyes widening. "G-Gowland?" The redheaded amusement park owner looked confused for a second then smiled. "Oh you've heard of me!" He grinned. "We should celebrate your arrival in Oz, after all you did just defeat the Wicked Witch of the East!" He gently grabbed her hand and kissed it, smiling happily at her. "So what's your name?" Alice resisted the urge to wipe her hand on her dress and returned the smile. "I'm Alice." Gowland smiled and bowed. "As you probably already know, I'm.." He was interrupted by a dark chuckle from behind him. "Ah Mary, you still aren't wearing the dress I sent you." A gloved hand roughly grabbed Alice's chin, forcing her to look up at Blood Dupre for the second time that day. "And who's this?"
Gowland flushed angrily, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly as he stared at Blood. Alice pulled away from the Mafioso with a glare. "How rude young lady. You're supposed to answer when a gentleman asks your name." Alice felt Boris wrap an arm around her waist. "Alice," she replied, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out. Blood smiled. "Would you happen to be the young lady that squished my counterpart with your home?" He was still smiling but his eyes were sharp and icy. He took a step towards her but stopped as Gowland finally got himself together and pulled his gun on Blood. "You…you," He blustered, his face redder than his hair, "you TOLD her!" Suddenly Alice found herself pushed to the ground as bullets cut through the air around her. Gowland was shooting wildly as Blood laughed. "Is that the best you can do Mary?" Okay Wonderland or not these guys are totally the same, Alice thought to herself. Boris was giggling softly next to her and she glanced at him. "Mary-go-round, Mary-go-round…" Alice held back a giggle of her own. Suddenly a mob of short, faceless people appeared, dressed in bright, gaudy yellow clothes. Blood snorted and shot the ones closest to him. "Well Mary, I'd like to stay but I'm missing tea time. Do dress appropriately next time I see you." With that he dissolved into a cloud of black smoke.
"I hate that bastard!" Gowland growled as he glared at the spot Blood had just disappeared from. He turned and spotted Alice and Boris. "Oh right, sorry…" He reached down and pulled her to her feet. Alice brushed off her dress and straightened her apron. "Who was that guy?" Boris asked from behind her. Gowland sighed. "He's the Mad Hatter of the West. He's connected with the mafia here, and he has a fetish for black tea."
Okay. Alice exchanged a look with Boris and glanced around at the faceless still standing there. "Who are they?" She asked. Gowland smiled. "They're the munchkins of course!" He looked at her oddly. "They were ruled by that other guy you squished with your house." He gestured at Peter. "Course they weren't very happy so you shouldn't feel bad or anything." Alice bit her lip and nodded. As much as she didn't like Peter she didn't want him dead. Well this isn't really real anyway. Right? She looked back at Gowland. "So could you tell us how to get home?" Gowland nodded. "Of course!" He walked over to Peter and tugged on the rabbit's shiny black shoes. Once they were off, he turned and offered them to Alice. "Here you go. Put these on then follow this yellow brick road 'til you get to Clover City. Once you get there go see the wizard called Oz. He'll help you get back." Alice took the shoes and put them on. "Uh, Gowland? They don't really fit." He frowned. "Huh." Walking back over to Peter he glanced around for something else to use. Finally he found the rabbit's white gloves laying a few feet away. "Here!" He handed them to Alice. They were still big but not as bad as the shoes. "Now just stay on the yellow brick road and watch out for that damn hatter!" With that Gowland disappeared much like Blood (except in a cloud of glitter instead of smoke). Boris grinned and tugged her towards the shiny yellow stones. "Let's go Alice!"
Her feet hurt. How much longer was this dream going to take? Alice sighed and kept walking, trying to keep up with Boris. " If I only had a brain…" Alice jumped. That sounded familiar. "Ohh if I only had a brain…" Yep she definitely knew that voice. "What is that?" Boris whispered, his handgun already out. Alice grabbed his wrist and tugged him towards the sound. "Elliot!" The hare looked over from where he was tied to a post. "A scarecrow?" Boris asked. Alice nodded and ran over to untie her friend. "Elliot are you okay?" He nodded and she clenched her hands to keep from grabbing his ears. Sooo fuzzy! Elliot looked down at her curiously. "Do I know you?" Alice paused. "Um..sorta. Lets just get you down from here." Between her and Boris, Elliot was quickly freed from the post and he looked around happily. "It's nice being able to move around!" His face turned sad a moment, then brightened. "So where're you headed?"
After explaining their journey to see the wizard, Elliot grabbed Alice's hand excitedly. "Can I come? Please?" Alice nodded, already knowing the scarecrow tagged along in the story and smiled at the hare. "Lets go!" The trio began back down the road.