Dark Storm Dawn
By Lord Akiyama
The follow-up to "Fantasia Crisis"
Chapter Nine
"I must say, Captain Hook," Jack slurred as he squeezed the water out of the cloth hanging from his clothes. "In all my years of piracy, I had never had tha pleasure of meeting a pirate who was perhaps the single worst swimmer this side of the Caribbean. It's ever a wonder yer a Captain at all, mate."
"You can blame that blasted Peter Pan fer it," Hook sneered, squeezing the water out of his hair with his only hand. "As you can see, this hook is a result of his cutting me hand off and feeding it to the crocodile."
"I bet he woulda made a fine pirate," Jack pointed out.
"Doubtful," Barbossa said, not caring about the water that covered him from head to toe. "The boy is not'in more than that, Jack. He runs about under tha misguided fantasy of being a child all thru eternity."
"Even when he grows older?" Jack asked.
"It's because of that he'd make a terrible pirate," Barbossa spitted. "No comprehension of true value."
"I wouldn't know about that, mate," Jack said. "Tha went red wit blush while I was tying him up and mentioned somet'in about the pleasures of woman warmth."
"Did he?" Barbossa smirked. "Guess he's not a boy after all."
"Apparently the boy is growing up," Hook laughed. "Perhaps I should press him for details before we spill his blood. Speaking of which, where is the blasted brat?"
"Just down 'ere, me mates," Jack slurred as he staggered down a pathway. "Strange set up, really. Having ta swim underneath the rocks ta find yer bloody treasure and all, Barbossa."
"Stranger things have happened when the world merging took place," Hook sneered as they followed. "Although I must say that I am not the least bit surprised your two islands merged with Neverland."
Before any further remark could be made, the three entered a huge room. Gaps and holes upon the ceilings revealed moonlight the shined upon piles of gold and treasure resting upon the walls. And in the middle with a large moonlight on top was a particular treasure chest. Filled with Aztec gold.
Hook's smile widened as he saw seated before the moonlight tied up in knots was Peter Pan. "I must say, Jack Sparrow," Hook began to say as he danced toward the constrained prisoner. "You are quite tha pirate captain."
"And one wit many surprises up his sleeve," Barbossa remarked. "I thought I had ya figured. Turns out yer a hard man ta read." He chuckled as he began to make his way toward the treasure.
"Well, well, Peter Pan," Hook chuckled as he came within inches of the prisoner. "In due time, I shall finally be able to extract my ravenous revenge upon you."
"What, you can't do it now?" Peter mocked. "You can't strike me down with you 'ravenous revenge' so you can finally be at peace with killing the boy who haunted your waking dreams moment by moment?"
"I would if I could," Hook said as he leaned in close so Peter could see the sneer. "If you hadn't laid yer hands on that bloody treasure, I'd be slitting yer throat right about now."
They stared at one another for a moment before Peter formed a grin on his face. "Who said I was cursed?" Peter said. Quite suddenly, his right fist came across hard against Hook's face. Hook staggered and groaned in reaction before turning to see the supposedly tied rope fall loosely off of Peter's body. The pirate barely got his sword unsheathed and in defense stance when the flying boy charged with his own sword in hand.
Barbossa turned upon hearing the sound of clashing swords. Seconds later, a sword was sticking through his chest. He looked down and stared at it for a moment before rolling his eyes and pulled it out from the back. He held the hilt of the sword and turned to face his attacker, Jack Sparrow. Who bore his sword under the moonlight in decomposition.
"I couldn't resist mate..." Jack grinned. Barbossa snorted before the two engaged in their own sword fight.
Tarzan took a chance and peeked over the rocks upon the ceiling of the room. He crept slowly through the shadows as he watched the two sword fights take place. Peter mixing basic sword fighting with his flying abilities to dodge all of Hook's attacks, who was using both his sword and his hook. Jack and Barbossa sword fighting just for the hell of it as they danced through the moonlight as a reminder of the curse they carry. Tarzan continued to sneak through, keeping an eye on the scared, decomposed form of Wendy crouched behind the chest and awaiting to do her part.
The fight raged on before Peter decided to make his move. He swung his sword down upon the defensive hold of both sword and hook before hovering over the pirate and landing behind him. He ducked Hook's sword swing and rammed his free arm hard against Hook's to keep him spinning as seconds later, he drove his sword into the pirate's back, through the heart, and out his chest.
Hook dropped to his knees and looked down at the blood soaked blade sticking out of his chest. He then tried to laugh. "And to think..." he managed to mutter. "All this time... I thought it would be... the crocodile... who'd get me." He slowly turned his head to face Peter in the eye. "Heh... blast you... Peter... Pan..." His eyes rolled upward and he fell forward upon the ground. Captain Hook was dead.
Jack and Barbossa continued to fight, paying no heed to what had happened. Moments later, a knife appeared in Barbossa's right shoulder. The pirate groaned, not watching as Jack stepped out of the moonlight, cut his hand while holding the coin so that it would be soaked in blood, and tossed it toward Tarzan as he dropped before the chest. Barbossa looked up at his foe and was hit with a left fist, causing him to stagger back. Seconds later, watched as Jack pointed a gun at his heart and fired.
"Ten years you carried that pistol and now you waste yer shot?" Barbossa scoffed.
"He didn't waste it," an unfamiliar male voice said.
Barbossa turned toward the chest. He saw three figures standing behind it. Peter Pan stood in the moonlight, his body not in a state of decay. He saw a barely clothed man holding a blood soaked Aztec coin. And a woman, whose decomposed state slowly began to revert back to normal under the moonlight, holding another blood soaked Aztec coin. A small cut on the palm of her hand. The coins were dropped into the chest with the rest of the coins.
Barbossa turned back to Jack, who was now standing under the moonlight and still holding the smoking pistol in hand. He then looked down and watched blood began to form and soak his shirt. He looked back up at his murderer and tried to smirk before falling backward. Captain Barbossa was dead.
There was nothing but silence for a moment before Wendy ran up to Peter and wrapped her arms tight around his waist. They embraced in relief as the curse that was upon her was lifted. Tarzan sighed before turning to Jack, whose eyes remained upon the corpse of Barbossa. "Let's check on Sprite," he said.
"They're called Pain and Panic for a reason," Hercules said. "But I've never seen Hades this unstable before."
"Do you think it was a good idea to come now?" Mulan asked with a raised brow. "Perhaps we should return later."
"I'm not willing to spend another minute waiting," Hercules replied. "I want answers and I'm sure he's got them." Mulan shrugged as she followed the other further into Hades' domain. The two imps screamed as they ran about trying unsuccessfully to avoid whatever fireballs came at their way. It was then that the Lord of the Underworld noticed his nephew and groaned.
"No, no, NO!" Hades yelled, the fire on his head turning red with frustrated anger. "Herc, babe, this is not the best time in the world to pick a fight with me, alright? It's that time of the century and your father, being the brilliant God that he is, didn't see fit to advise me that there was going to be an increase in traffic of departing souls because one of his bolts accidentally fried an entire wedding party!"
"You seem to find enough time to scorch your two servants," Hercules noted.
"I always have time to scorch them," his uncle replied. "That's the point of them serving me. But that's not the point, alright? So please do yourself a favor and leave me alone! Being tortured horrendously by one being is enough. Add two more, and you're pushing for me to create a whole new volcano in the middle of Greece."
"What is he talking about?" Mulan asked curiously.
"I wouldn't have a clue," Hercules replied.
"You shouldn't keep the soul bunched up together," an unfamiliar female voice spoke. "It makes them feel uncomfortable." Hercules and Mulan looked around until they noticed someone kneeling by the river Styx with a black umbrella in hand. This person had short black hair, pale white skin, a silver ankh that hung around her neck and a very cheery smile upon her face. Hades began to burst fire out of his head from frustration. Hercules and Mulan was more confused than ever before.
"I can't be taking care of the well being of the dead every single second," Hades said. "Otherwise, I can't get all my other responsibilities done! And I have plans for next April! I may be a God, but I'm not an Endless like you! I can only do so much with so little!"
"Okay, I'm so lost here," Mulan said.
"That's okay," the girl said as she turned her smiling attention to the other two. "It's not anything important for you to know. I'm just making sure Hades is doing his job alright."
"And you are?" Hercules asked.
"You don't remember me, do you Hercules?" the girl said as she stood up and twirled her umbrella. "At the very second you laid your hand on Megara's, thus saving her life and completing your journey to become a God. I was right there watching you." Hercules raised a brow in confusion and shook his head. The girl giggled. "Well, you can't always be expected to remember seeing me when you haven't died. Not unless you're one of the lucky few to meet me during any of my centennial breaks from the job. Any way, my name is Death."
Mulan and Hercules spent a moment's silence looking at her with utter bewilderment. They then glanced at each other before looking back at the smiling girl. "You're Death?" Mulan said.
"What, were you expecting a bony dude with a cool black cloak and a blade the size of the Moon?" Hades mocked. "Yes, she's Death. And believe me, her ideologies and philosophies about how life is grand and all that jazz will make you wish it was some skeleton guy who sounds like Christopher Lee as Death rather than her."
"Christopher who?" Hercules asked in confusion.
"He exits long after you were born, Hercules," Death giggled. "If we had time, I would have told you more about him. But I believe you two are hear to ask your uncle for something."
Hades' eyes shot wide open the second he heard those words. "Oh no," he said. "No! Don't even think about it, Herc. I've already got enough problems dealing with her! I don't need the added pressure of having to give you information!"
"Why not?" Death asked. "Because you cannot think of anything you want in return at the present moment in time and wished they had waited like Mulan suggested so that you could have cooked up something?"
Hades' jaw dropped to the floor upon hearing Death recite every word he was thinking in his head. He sighed and rolled his eyes, really wishing his dear caring brother didn't give him this gig in the first place. "Have I mentioned how much I really hate you sometimes?" he said.
"You've thought about it more times than you care to mention," Death said happily.
"Good," Hades muttered before turning his attention to Hercules and Mulan. "Fine, I'll give you a freebie and let you in on a little something." He then glanced back at Death. "Happy?"
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" Death replied with an even bigger smile.
"John! Michael! Oh thank goodness, you're alright," Wendy cried.
Moments ago, The Spring Sprite had brought the transformed Lost Boys aboard the ship and released them on the unsuspecting pirates. After the creatures had ripped apart the undead victims and sent them on their way off the ship. Some jumped off onto land where as the others ended up floating to the bottom of the waters below. She made sure to keep an eye on them until there was any sort of sign that their mission was a success.
The Sprite watched with as smile as Wendy embraced her two younger brothers, who were slowly regaining consciousness after their sudden transformation from murderous beasts back to normal human children. She turned to watch Peter explain to his groggy Lost Boys about his missing eye while Tarzan curiously watched Jack examine the barrels, unsuccessful in his search for rum.
Moments later, Peter felt content about telling his boys as much as he could and walked over to Jack. "Well, I guess this is thanks for all your help," he said. "So how soon do you plan to set sail."
"Set sail?" Jack glared, looking up from the empty barrel. "Lad... the agreement was that I helped you in return fer getting back me ship. And if I'm not mistaken... this is NOT the Black Pearl."
"Can't you just take this one?" Peter asked with a raised brow. "You are a pirate, after all."
"I may be a pirate, mate," Jack said with a slur. "But even I know that you don't steal another pirate's ship. I don't care if poor Barbossa is dead, even if you are a pirate it's bad luck stealing another pirate's ship." Quite suddenly, the helm of the ship exploded. "See?" Realization finally came over him and he turned to the burning remains of the helm.
Tarzan was the only one who heard creaking wood and turned to see an all too familiar figure loading his gun. "Clayton!" Tarzan cried.
"Blast!" Clayton cursed before quickly pointing his rifle and firing. Tarzan dodged out of the way just in time and leaped forward and connected both feet against the hunter's chest.
A second gun fire was heard and the Sprite dropped to her knees screaming. Her left shoulder began to react violently as she looked on in horror. She looked over her shoulder to see a hat wearing gunman reload and prepare to fire again. Quite suddenly with no control, her body began to exert a blaze of energy. Everyone who was about were instantly knocked to the ground, though Clayton found himself being knocked into the waters below. The hat wearing gunman rolled to one side and fired at the Sprite's back, instantly knocking her to the ground unconscious.
Tarzan slowly shook off the effects when he watched the gunman make a run for the Sprite, grab her, and leap off to the other side of the ship. He quickly leaped to his feet and followed, looking up to see another ship beginning to depart.
"That's my bloody ship!" Jack yelled in recognition. He pulled out a dagger and threw it at the sight of the first body on board. The blade pierce through the gunman's hat and slammed again a door.
The gunman looked over at his hat and snorted. "Toss it, Gaston," he called over to a third gunman who appeared on deck.
"What about Clayton?" Gaston asked as he lit the fuse connected to a pair of dynamite.
"Forget Clayton, just toss the damn thing," the other said. "You know the boss wanted us to bring her back immediately the second we took her down, regardless of whether or not we had any of the others."
Gaston made no further reply as he tossed the dynamite onto the opposing ship. Tarzan immediately spotted this and quickly made a dash toward the others. "Go, now!" he cried. The others didn't bother to argue as they ran with him toward the end of the ship nearest to land.
Tinkerbell immediately dropped pixie dust upon the Lost Boys and zoomed off while Peter grabbed Wendy and her brothers and leaped into flight. Tarzan and Jack, on the other hand, took the hard approached and leaped off the ship and onto the hand land below. Tarzan landed on his feet, Jack landed on his back. Tarzan quickly picked up the immobile Jack and made a dash as far as he could from the ship before it began to explode.
Clayton dove under to avoid getting hit by any of the incoming debris. He watched from below the water's surface as fire and smoke began to appear. He was about to make his swim toward land when he heard something strange. Tick, tock, tick, tock. It sounded like a ticking clock. But underwater? He turned in the direction of the sound and widened his eyes in horror. A huge crocodile with a hungry grin swam toward him at full speed. Clayton turned and tried to swim as fast as he could, but it was too late. He barely let out a scream when the jaws slammed upon him.
Alice cut down the last of the guards, throwing a playing card to behead him. The three then found themselves within walking distance of the heart-shaped door that no doubt lead to the throne of The Queen of Hearts. Alice took a deep breath before unsheathing her butcher's knife.
"Shall we knock?" Helga smirked as she leveled her gun in front of her.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Alice grinned in return.
Suddenly, the doors opened and in a flash tentacles shot out. Two grabbed hold of Simba and pulled him just as he roared in sudden reaction. A third wrapped around Helga's arms and upper body before pulling her in. And a forth seemed to have grabbed empty air until it forced the Cheshire Cat to reveal himself, growling as it tightened around his neck and pulled him in. Alice brought her blade up in defense only to watch one of the doors slam.
The three did all they could to muscle out of their containments, but the tentacles only tightened with each struggle. They soon found themselves being held before the Queen herself. She was very much different than even Cheshire remembered. A sense of haunting beauty painted her slim frame and pale red skin. There were no irises upon her glowing red eyes, yet her luscious red lips curled in a smirk.
Helga growled as she fought to free her arm at least, but the thing was holding on too tight. She fired a couple shots hoping she didn't knick herself with a bullet in the process.
"Waste your pathetic bullets all you want," the Queen laughed. Her voice just as different as her appearance. "It will do no such harm to me. Only weapons of a specific make can so much as scratch me now. And even then, I shall not be destroyed."
"Yeah, heard that one before," Helga sneered as she tried to kick the thing with her boot. "No one is as invincible as they think they are."
"True as those words may be, it will not help you in relinquishing my claim upon this land," the Queen said. Moments later, a clear orb appeared near Helga and Simba. The tentacles released them into the orb before it began to travel to the Queen's side. "Your capture is now complete. And when I have dealt with Alice, the Guild will receive you handsomely in return for my complete dominance of Wonderland."
"No!" Helga shouted as she threw herself against the outer edge of the sphere, but it was like a solid wall. Determination still written across her features, she lashed out at it with punches and kicks.
Simba was about to do the same, though his attention was caught upon the fact that the Cheshire Cat was still alive. "You've struck down any soul that tried to rise up against you," he said. "Why haven't you killed him?"
"Believe me, I want nothing more than to be off with his head," the Queen laughed. "But then through hidden observation something interesting. Though quite hidden on the outside, he shares a... special bond... with Alice." As the words were spoken, it caused Cheshire to lash out as best as he could. The Queen laughed harder at the sight.
Then came the slam of a door. Everyone turned their attention and watched as Alice slowly stepped into the throne room, butcher's knife in hand and determination painted across her face. "Hello, Queen," she said. "My name is Alice. You killed my friends. Prepare to die."
"Uh oh, I don't think she looks too happy there," Helga lowered her eyelids gently in the Queen's direction, a touch of a grin on her lips. "I'd say you might want to make your apologies now and get out of this gracefully while you still can."
"Is that so?" the Queen scoffed. "My, you certainly have changed since our last meeting Alice. You've gone from an annoying teenage girl to murderous young lady in a single swoop. And it is all because of a little fire that resulted in the deaths of your precious family."
Alice took a deep breath and exhaled, keeping her emotions in check as she started hard into the eyes of the Queen. "My name is Alice," she repeated, her tone slightly altered to a more aggressive manner. "You killed my friends. Prepare to die."
"Stand back," Helga muttered to Simba. "This might backfire on us," she added as she took aim at the invisible wall.
"I think its better if we just put our trust in Alice to get us out of this," Simba said as he crouched down.
"You expect me to just stand here and do nothing?" Helga looked at him incredulously.
"Wonderland will no longer be the imagination of a girl who cannot accept the harsh reality she is supposed to live in," the Queen said, her voice altering as well. Sounding as though there were three other voices speaking in unison with her. "With your death, I shall free this land of suffering from your mind. For you see, this land sits upon the edge of destruction because of your mental state. In essence, it is your fault that Wonderland is what you see."
Alice closed her eyes, taking an even deeper breath and exhaling longer. "My name is Alice," she repeated, the tone becoming more aggressive than ever. "You killed my friends. Prepare to die."
Helga pounded her fist again in frustration against the wall. "There has to be something we can do," she muttered more to herself than anyone else.
"Just have faith in her, Helga," Simba said, watching the events unfolding before them. "That's all we can do now."
The thought of Alexandra crying and waiting for her to come back flashed through Helga's mind as she let her fist fall quietly one last time. "You had better be right," she whispered.
"Strong will in such a woman," the Queen laughed, continuing to talk down upon Alice. "My, you really have changed. Accepting the obvious flirtations of a cat, willingly risking your life and sanity for the sake of beings who are nothing more than the figment of your imagination. And even able to retain sanity and a sense of hope after losing your parents from a fire burning with purpose."
Alice stopped shaking and slowly opened her eyes in realization. "Yes," the Queen continued. "It is time you knew the truth. For you see, that fire was no accident. To fulfill the needs of the Guild, we drove you mad. Mad with guilt, mad with lack of reason, mad with no hope. And yet you strive. But it no longer matters. It is you who will parish. And it will be I who rule over Wonderland." The Queen began to laugh and then her face began to roll back as though it were a mechanical device. In place was a complete duplicate of Alice's face. Laughing at Alice herself.
Alice took one glance at the struggling Cheshire Cat before looking back at the Queen. "My name is Alice," she said in a whisper. "You killed my family." The tip of the butcher's knife began to shine as she reared it back. "Prepare to die, you bitch!" With all her strength, she threw the knife and watched it rip through her duplicated face.
The Queen screamed with rage as she rolled out another face. This one was more demonic. Her form began to change as well as she began to grow and the tentacles increased in number. The room itself disappeared and placed everyone within dark purple mist that flashed green lightning. Alice rolled and began to run along one of the giant tentacles while trying to dodge everything the Queen threw at her.
Alice whipped out her Jabberwock Eye Staff and began to fire the beam at the Queen. A sound was made, though it appeared it wasn't quite the normal sound for moaning of pain. Then again, Queen wasn't exactly normal any more. Alice continued to fire the beam at the Queen, though it was beginning to take longer to killer her than it did for the Jabberwock.
A tentacle swiped at Alice. She ducked just in time, but could do nothing as it successfully knocked the staff out of her hands. She rolled forward and looked up to see Cheshire struggling right above her. She looked carefully at his face. His eyes moved in a particular direction, as if telling her where to go. She turned and noticed something at the far end of the tentacle. A weapon that looked like a musket.
With all her strength and speed, Alice charged toward the weapon while trying successfully to avoid getting hit. She was connected many times on the back, but she pressed on. She rolled once more and grabbed the weapon and pointed it directly at the Queen's chest. She fired. The projectile was very strange. Alice determined that it was whatever the eye of the watcher wanted it to look. For her, it was the souls of all who suffered the Queen's wrath. And they struck hard against her black heart.
The Queen screamed as her body began to explode. The tentacles wailed in pain before dissolving into nothingness. The Cheshire Cat disappeared as he was dropping and then reappeared by Alice's side. The sphere that imprisoned Helga and Simba began to fade. The Queen's scream raged on as she began to shrink down to normal size before collapsing upon the ground. Moments later, they were all standing in the middle of blackness.
Alice walked up to the dying Queen, whose appearance began to morph into a decaying state. Alice removed another butcher's knife from underneath her skirt. The Queen looked up, her eyes beginning to fade into nothingness. Alice showed no signs of regret or remorse as she raised the blade high into the air and stuck down across the demon's neck. The head rolled for a moment before coming to a stop. Seconds later, the body melted into green grass that began to spread. And slowly but surely, sanity and order was beginning to be restored in Wonderland.
"Looks like you didn't really need our help after all," Helga mussed, digging her heel into the grass just in case that woman could still feel anything. "Unfortunately, we still don't know anymore about this 'Guild' everyone is talking about."
"No, you were quite helpful," Alice said with a small smile. "You two kept me sane when I stood upon the edge of madness. Especially you, lion. Your words helped me overcome my guilt."
"Always glad to help," Simba said.
"As for knowing any more about this Guild," Alice said as she walked over and picked up the Queen's head. "We can always dig out whatever information she had."
"You've got to be joking," Helga sneered.
"Allow me, my dear Alice," Cheshire said before disappearing. Moments later, the eyes of the Queen shot wide open. Only the eyeballs were actually Cheshire's. And soon the luscious red lips became his all too recognizable grin. "How do I look?" he said, retaining his voice as his eyes turned to the others.
"Ok, this is too eerie even for me," Helga muttered taking a step back.
"You can say that again," Simba said, swallowing hard.
"You're too kind," Cheshire said. "Here's what I've recovered." He rolled his eyes and soon his voice began to change to go along with those who actually spoke.
"I have devised chemicals that will perform the deed of driving Alice insane," an elder woman's voice sounded. "Just as I have devised the chemicals you shall use to take over this land. One of our hired hands will make sure the unfortunate young lady suffers greatly."
"What assurances do I have that this is not a ploy, Yzma?" the Queen's voice asked.
"Your assurances will be met in due time, Queen of Hearts," the woman called Yzma replied. "For now, be content with what we have supplied for you. If you shall excuse me, I must put the finishing touches to the weapons that will take down the master of masters. The kind only the dead would know about, that I am sure of."
The eyes rolled once more before closing and the grin disappeared into the luscious red lips. Moments later, the Cheshire Cat reappeared before them. "That is all I could recover," he said.
"Weapons only the dead would know about?" Helga looked a Simba questioningly.
"Beats me," Simba said after thinking about it. "Guess maybe we'll have to ask Hercules' cousin after all."
"Right, because he's so cooperative," Helga rolled her eyes.
"Whatever you plan to do, I'm coming along," Alice said. "This 'Guild' is responsible for the murder of my parents and for the madness that consumed Wonderland. I wish to repay them in spades."
Helga shot Simba a brief look. Her first instinct was to not put anymore people than they had to in danger, but then, she also knew if she were in Alice's place, that danger meant very little. "Do you think it's safe?" she asked. "After all, if you're the only one holding this place together, what happens to it if you come with us?"
"Wonderland exists through my dear Alice's imagination," the Cheshire Cat says. "But it does not always have to function from her mind."
"It's not like I have to be here at all times, any way," Alice smirked with a hint of laughter. "Besides, I think everyone here has had enough of my mind influencing things for a while. They'll be okay"
Simba sighed and thought about it for a moment before looking to Helga. "Well," he began to say. "I say we can accept whatever help we can get."
"I don't suppose it would hurt to have insurance in case they take down the rest of us, either," Helga added grimly. "If you're really that determined to be put through a hundred more fights like that one, then I won't say no, but it's a risk you'll have to decide for yourself you want to take."
"I'm just getting warmed up," Alice grinned. "So what do we do now?" Just then, a very familiar voice to Simba and Helga began to sound.
"Asante sahna squash banana webe wu a webe wu..."
"Oh, not the monkey," Helga muttered as she let her head fall into her hand.
"Would you have wanted the wizard instead?" Simba chuckled before turning to the mage. "Alice is gonna be joining us, Rafiki. As you can see, we've cleared up the plague here in Wonderland."
"Curing land of disease always a good thing," Rafiki said with a nod. "Accepting help from others even better. Return swiftly we must as the mystery continues to be revealed, yet a high price we have paid." Moments later, they all vanished from Wonderland.
Even the Cheshire Cat.
to be continued...
Thanks to GoblinQueeen, who provided the dialogue and some action for Helga.
Author's Note: The happy-go-lucky goth chick whose favorite movie is "Mary Poppins" appearing in this chapter is Death. She was created by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean and is the property of DC Comics. She has been used for entertainment purposes and not for profit. So please don't sue, but rather go out and buy one of her books.
Peachy keen!
