"Alex! Alex, get up!"

"Aw, Mom, I don't want to go to school..." Alex mumbled, pulling the blanket over his head.

It was the next morning. Hatter and March Hare (reluctantly) let Alex stay with them for the night, as he didn't have anywhere else to go, and they couldn't just leave their greatest hope out in the cold. However, Hatter was learning the hard way that the blond boy was a heavy sleeper. She glared at him, wondering whether or not she should shoot near his bed to get him up.

(AN: Lol, love this part!) "Let me try." The March Hare said, walking up to the bed. Plastering a fake smile onto his face, he bent over and said in a sing-song voice

"Oh, Aleeeex?" Quickly changing his tune, the Hare grabbed two of Alex's bedposts and started shaking the bed violently, shouting

"WAKE UP, SHITHEAD!" That did the trick. Alex woke up with a start, falling out of bed and landing right on his face.

"Yowch!" Alex pulled himself into a sitting position, glaring up at the hare boy.

"What the hell?!" he asked.

"Good to see you up, Alex." Hatter said, crossing her hands in front of her chest. "Time to begin training."

"What is this, the army?!" Alex demanded. "The sun isn't even up yet!"

"We have to begin training you to hone your powers as early as possible." Hatter said matter-of-factly. "If I'm going to fight the Red King, I'll have to have my secret weapon ready as soon as possible."

"Wait a second, hold on." Alex said, standing up. "You're going to have an actual war?! Against a king?! But you're like, what, sixteen?! And he's a grown man! With a kingdom! And guards! And power!" Alex sighed and shook his head. "You are mad." He started to turn around to go back to bed, but Hatter didn't give him a chance. Grabbing either of his wrists in her hands, she pushed him against the wall, forgetting that March Hare was in the room with them.

"Don't you ever call me mad." she threatened in a low, growling voice. "All I'm trying to do is restore freedom to this land and stop that tyrant, is that really so mad?! I don't know about you, but I don't plan on spending the rest of my life under his rule." The Hatter let Alex go, and he stared in surprise at her angry face.

"Five minutes." she said quietly, before he could say anything. "That's all you have to get dressed and meet me outside." Without another word, she turned and walked out the door. The March Hare only stayed long enough to shoot Alex a quick look, then followed his partner outside. Alex sighed.

"What have I gotten myself into?!"


Somehow, the boy was able to get himself together five minutes later, quickly tossing on some clothes and trudging wearily through the forest, yawning the whole way.

"So, what's with the nature hike?" he yawned.

"Don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves, do we?" The March Hare asked with a smirk.

"Who's gonna hear us, the crickets?!" Alex almost shouted. "The sun isn't even out yet!"

"Hey, keep it down, will ya?!" Alex started.

"Who said that?"

"Down here, blondie!" Alex looked down-and saw a flower looking back up at him. Or, rather, a whole bed of flowers. All of which had faces.

"Wha-ah?! Talking flowers?!"

"Yeah!" a rose said, pointing one of its leaves at Alex. "And we'd appreciate NOT being woken up at four o'clock in the morning!"

You and me both, pal. Alex thought.

"Sorry." Hatter apologized. "Just brought Alex out here for some early-morning training."

"Tch." A violet said, raising a nonexistent eyebrow at the girl. "Another recruit for your resistance, Hatter?"

"This is a fool's errand, Hatter!" a tulip, the oldest-looking of the flowers said. "If you were smart, you'd give up these pipe dreams!" The other flowers started to say similar things, and Alex noticed the Hatter's hands clench into fists and start to shake.

"Let's go, guys." Hatter said firmly. They continued walking forward, but not before Alex caught one of the flowers saying something about the Hatter's hat being too tight for her head. Finally, the threesome made it to a clearing.

"Here we are." Hatter said. "Now, Alex, I want you to concentrate on your powers." Alex closed his eyes obediently and tried to focus. On...what?, he asked himself. He didn't feel anything. He squeezed his eyes shut a bit tighter and tried to focus his energy.

"Stop." Hatter instructed. Alex opened his eyes, breathing heavily. "You're trying too hard."

"How would you know?" Alex asked. "You're not the one with the weird powers." Hatter held up one of her guns, and Alex was suddenly afraid that she was going to shoot him.

"If I told you to fire this gun, would you squeeze it into your whole hand, leaving no space to pull the trigger?"

"Well, no." Alex answered. "That's stupid." The last part he said to himself, and Hatter continued.

"With anything in life, whether it's using a weapon or wielding some special ability, it's never a good idea to push yourself too hard first thing in. You'll get yourself killed that way. You have to be calm. Relax. Let the power flow through you." As she talked, Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He focused on his energy, and was surprised to feel a strange energy growing inside him. It felt just like before, when he was facing Tweedledee and Tweedledum. This time, however, he was able to actually feel the power building up inside him, growing stronger and stronger. Alex opened his eyes with a start. Looking down at his hands, he could briefly see rippling blue energy sparking around them before it faded. Hatter nodded in approval, a small smile crossing her face.

"Not bad for your first try." she said. "Well, I think that's good enough for today." Alex could hardly dare to believe it.

"So, you mean we're done, then?" Hatter's smile faded as quickly as it had appeared.

"You wish." Alex's pupils shrank.


A couple of moments later, Alex learned firsthand what it was like to be a deer running from predators. He screamed bloody murder as he ran through the forest, trying to avoid the bullets the March Hare was shooting at him.

"WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?!" he demanded.

"This is to help increase your speed and dodging ability." Hatter, who was standing on a small hill in front of him, answered.

"But he's SHOOTING AT ME!" Alex protested loudly, pointing at the Hare.

"Aw, quit your whining, little man." the March Hare said. "They're rubber. Rubber bullets can't kill you." He fired a couple more shots at Alex, but he was able to duck just in time, shooting the hare boy a suspicious glare.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?" the March Hare asked, a smirk on his face. The next part of Alex's training involved hand-to-hand combat with the Hatter.

"In any fight, it goes without saying that you'll get your hands dirty." the Hatter said. "So, come on. Show me what you've got."

"What?" Alex said. "But-But I don't want to hit a girl!" For the second time that morning, Alex had said the wrong thing. And for the second time, he was reminded that the Hatter was stronger than she looked, as she grabbed his wrist and tossed him to the ground.

"In battle, the gender of your opponent doesn't matter!" she said angrily. "Male or female, they will kill you, given the chance. You must not give them that chance, Alex. Besides, I'm a fighter. I can take a punch." This last part she said to herself, but Alex heard it anyway. He stood up, and, before he could say anything, Hatter said

"Think fast!" She threw a punch, and Alex was only a second away from getting one in the face before he dodged.

"Hey, I wasn't ready!" Alex protested.

"I said think fast." the Hatter said, aiming a kick at him. This time, however, Alex was able to grab her leg. The Hatter nodded a little in approval.

"Good, Alex. Maybe you're not so hopeless, after all." Alex smirked a little, sure of himself. Suddenly, the Hatter slipped out of her boot and, stooping, drop-kicked him.

"Wha-WHAUGH!" Alex cried out as he fell to the ground.

"Though then again..."

As this was going on, a dormouse watched the group training from a clearing. It stayed there for a few minutes more, watching the team as they continued to train, and then ran off. The mouse scurried away, wandering until it came to the Duchess, who was waiting in a tower. The elegantly-clad woman picked up the mouse and held it to her face.

"So, the boy has started his training, then? That's a problem." She looked back at the mouse. "Inform our spy that we need to keep a close eye on the boy." The mouse squeaked, as though agreeing, before running back off. The Duchess stared ahead, a hardened, serious look on her face.

I won't fail you, my love.