Note: I was going to make this into one chapter, but I decided to split it up. So, now it's four parts instead of 3. Enjoy. And be sure to read the note on the bottom.

Edit: In case anyone's wondering, yeah, I've been doing some slight editing of the chapters. Nothing big or extraordinary, just a few minor changes here and there. Hope no one minds.

~The Invasion~

Part 3 of 4 (now)

It was night time, about ten o'clock, when everyone in W.D. was asleep or at least inside their dorm rooms with the lights out.

From on his bed, Pinocchio opened his eyes and checked to make sure his roommate, Christopher Robin, was asleep. When he saw that the quiet teenage boy's eyes were closed and his breathing was steady, Pinocchio sighed, relieved. Then he quietly got out of bed, dressed up in a blue t-shirt and navy sweat pants, and headed for the door.

As he opened the door, he looked from side to side, to make sure that no one was in the hallway. When he was sure of himself, Pinocchio started for the library, where he was supposed to meet his friends. He was almost caught by one of Maleficent's crows, but he luckily managed to avoid getting caught all the way to the library.

Once he was in front of the door, it automatically opened and a pair of hands yanked him inside, knocking the wind out of him. Once the door was closed, Pinocchio saw the person who had pulled him in and scowled, annoyed.

"Damn it, Pete can't I just walk in the library normally?" he snapped.

Peter (dressed up in a black and forest green striped shirt and jeans) grinned. "You could have, but I decided to go for the old 'pull them in before anyone catches them' cliché." He smirked. "I've always wanted to do that."

Before Pinocchio could do it, Arthur (dressed in a red and gold hoodie and dark brown sweat pants) walked up and smacked the redhead upside the head, shaking his head. Though it didn't hurt at all, Peter grasped the back of his head and glared at the blonde.

"Hey!"

Arthur blatantly ignored him and smiled apologetically down at Pinocchio. "Sorry Pinoke. Someone had a little too much sugar tonight." He looked pointedly at Peter for emphasis.

Peter scowled back at him. "Oh please, I did not have that much."

Arthur raised an eyebrow critically. "You don't think having those three Snicker bars, those ten Starbursts, five TwixMixes, and that huge cookie isn't a lot of sugar?"

Pinocchio blinked. "All in one night?"

Arthur nodded and stared at Peter, waiting for his rebuttal. Pinocchio joined in, just to make the guy squirm. Peter looked from one boy to the other and glared indignantly at them.

"Oh come on, Halloween was just, like, practically months ago!" He exclaimed. "And we didn't have anything to do during the past two or so months, due to the authoress's laziness—"

Before Peter could complete the sentence, a random large iron pot fell from the ceiling and fell on his head, causing him to crash face first on the floor. (1)

Both of the other boys gaped at the scene slack jawed for a few minutes. Then Pinocchio burst out laughing, grabbing his stomach and pointing at the pained Peter Pan. Arthur covered his mouth and hid some of his laughter with coughs. Then he cleared his throat to calm himself, approaching the boy.

He removed the pot and crouched down to the wounded boy's level. "You okay, Pete?"

"Yeah," was the groaned response. Peter stood up, rubbed the top of his head soothingly, and growled under his breath, "Damn bitch of an authoress."

"Careful," Pinocchio gasped as he got himself under control. "You might anger her again."

At that, Peter's eyes darted fearfully upward, towards the ceiling…

He could've sworn he heard growling from beyond it.

Mowgli (red sweat shirt and black pants) and Alice (blue Sweet Lolita nightgown) poked their heads from an aisle of books and regarded the group impatiently.

"Um, hello?" Alice said, getting their attention.

"Weird girls taking over our school? Main plot of arc? Any of this ringing a bell?" Mowgli added.

Pinocchio's shoulders slumped. "That's right."

"The plot," Peter added, his tone just as downtrodden.

Arthur sighed, already starting to walk towards Alice and Mowgli. "Come on gents," he waved to his two friends. "The faster we get this over with, the faster we can get back to our Lucky Star-esque school days." (2)

The three boys joined Alice and Mowgli. Pinocchio looked around, noticing that someone was missing.

"Where's Shanti?" he asked.

Mowgli pointed his thumb backwards. "In the library's restricted section."

Pinocchio stared. "…Our school library has a restricted section?"

"Yeah, I know."

Alice huffed and folded an arm over her chest. "Totally a Harry Potter rip off."

Arthur scowled and nodded with her, his pride as a Brit showing. "Damn Americans," he muttered.

All the non-British people in the room rolled their eyes in unison. (3)

In a matter of few minutes, Mowgli had led them to the back of the library, which had about ten rows of books that were hidden behind a huge black gate, which was currently unlocked. Inside, if one were to look hard enough, was Shanti (white t-shirt and purple pajama pants) who was looking through a huge, old looking book that had a patch lock on its cover. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration as she flipped from page to page, muttering to herself.

"Now where was that chapter?" she asked herself. "I'm sure it's in here somewhere. I just looked in this last week…"

Arthur walked up to her and looked over her shoulder. "What are you looking for?"

"There's a name for those weird girls who've come to our school," she explained without looking at him. "They are supposed to be beings created by people, but that's all I can remember."

He thought for a moment. "Try the Homunculi section. Maybe there is something there."

Shanti quirked an eyebrow at him. "Why the Homunculi section?"

"Because a homunculus is a manmade, living doll." Arthur shrugged. "The two have to be related somehow."

She hummed and then shrugged, already turning the pages to get to the section on how to make a homunculus. When she got there, Shanti skimmed the page until she got to a sentence that featured a vaguely familiar term.

…"One of the more well known homunculi is the demon of perfection and annoyance known as a Mary Sue…"

Shanti's eyes widened. Mary Sue…

"That's it!"

Everyone blinked at her.

"What's it Shanti?" Mowgli asked.

She turned to look at them. "That's what those girls are—Mary Sues!"

Peter quirked an eyebrow. "Wait, you mean those sins against all literature—both fanfiction and original—that people call characters?"

Shanti nodded solemnly. "Afraid so."

Alice snorted and crossed her arms. "Well, that's not a huge surprise."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Arthur cupped his chin thoughtfully. "Those characters are nothing more than concepts. They shouldn't actually exist in real life."

Mowgli shrugged. "Someone must have found a way to make them real."

"Yes, but who?" Shanti wondered out loud.

Pinocchio narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "And what could they want?"

"Those are both very excellent questions."

The group of teenagers gasped and/or jumped at the new voice. They all turned around to see a certain life size, talking, female mouse who was looking at them all solemnly. Standing next to her was an equally solemn Daisy Duck.

"Ms. Minnie, Daisy," Alice addressed them, somewhat shaky due to the shock.

"What are you two doing down here?" Mowgli asked, voicing everyone else's question.

Minnie smiled wryly. "Oh come on, kids. My husband's your Headmaster. You think I'm not going to know when a student is sneaking off after hours?"

Mowgli scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Good point."

Shanti stepped forward from the forbidden section and bowed her head. "I'm sorry Minnie, it's my fault. I'm the one who told them to meet me down here."

"But it was only so we could find out more about the…'new students'," Pinocchio added in her defense.

"We know," Daisy said.

"And we also know what 'they' are," Minnie added seriously.

Peter's eyes narrowed. "Wait, if you know then why aren't you doing something about it?"

"Right now Mickey, Donald and Goofy are doing something about it," Daisy replied.

"Is that why we haven't seen them lately?" Pinocchio asked.

Minnie nodded, her eyes downcast.

Arthur looked at the two critically. "Ms. Minnie, Ms. Daisy I don't mean to sound rude, but is the situation really that serious?"

Minnie and Daisy shared a glance, and then they nodded at the children.

"Yes, it is."

Mowgli's eyes narrowed. "How serious are we talking here?"

"Serious enough that you students will have to use weapons to defend yourselves when the time is right." Minnie replied. "Magic will not work with these creatures, so you'll have to use physical combat with them."

With that said, she waved her gloved hands back and forth, until six glowing objects were hovering above each student's head. As she gave another gentle wave, all the glowing objects landed in each teenager's hand and stopped glowing.

Pinocchio held up his weapon, looking a little uneasy. "A hatchet?"

"Trench knives." Mowgli grinned as he tried on the brass knuckle-like weapons. "Awesome."

There was a disturbing glint of eagerness in Alice's eyes as she held up her weapon. "A butcher's knife."

"A bat." Arthur held up a steel bat with the word "EXCALIBUR" on it. (4)

"A shovel." Shanti quirked an eyebrow critically at the spade.

"And a switchblade." Peter flicked his weapon to look at the blade.

The teenagers were silent for a good few moments as they stared down at their weapons. Then they stared at each other, their faces blank. They then stared at Minnie and Daisy, who smiled brightly back at them, blinking slowly.

Finally someone decided to break the silence with the sound of one clearing their throat.

"Okay, well since no one else is gonna say it, I might as well be the first." Peter's eyes blazed as he held his knife up. "WHAT. THE. FUCK, man?"

Daisy and Minnie's smiles became strained as beads of sweat broke out on their foreheads.

"You tell us we need weapons, and you give us fucking melee?" He continued to rage. "Couldn't you at least give us something that delivers at least 99+ damage? Such as a Buster Sword, for instance. Maybe even a Gunblade." Peter snorted. "Hell, even a friggin Keyblade would be better than this," he held up the knife with disdain.

Mowgli blinked at him, mildly amused. "I think the Keyblade counts as a melee weapon, Pete."

"Yeah, but it at least has some power, and it can do a lot of damage. This thing, however," he sarcastically swung the small blade by its hilt, "won't even cut off a hand."

Daisy let her strained smile fall and sighed. "Yes, we know that the weapons are…unorthodox."

"But we have a reason," Minnie quipped.

"And that would be…" Alice asked, trailing off.

The female mouse closed her eyes wisely. "These weapons have been especially chosen for each and every one of you, the choices being based on your souls."

There was a pregnant pause after that. The teenagers blinked, looked at each other, and then looked back at Daisy and Minnie again. Their faces were blank and expressionless.

"Bull shit."

Minnie scowled and rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips. "Fine, you children want to know the truth?"

They all nodded.

"We have two words for you," Daisy said dryly. Minnie walked up beside her, her face deadpan.

"Budget cuts."

Crystal Heart was sitting on the school roof when her compact went off. She fished it out of her jacket pocket and flipped it open.

"What is it?"

"There's been a change of plans," the voice replied. "We've been unexpectedly discovered."

Crystal's eyes widened. "How? Who?"

"I believe you've come across them in your infiltration of W.D."

For a few moments of bemusement, she blinked.

And then her icy blue eyes narrowed and she sneered.

"Those preppy losers…" Crystal clenched her free hand into a tight fist.

"Their queen and her advisor have informed them, and have given them weapons."

She snorted. "Mother, I can assure you, those preps are no threat to us and our cause. I can take care of each and every one of them, no problem."

"Including your Chosen?"

"I shall offer him to join me once more." Crystal smirked. "If he refuses, I'll easily dispose of him and move my sights onto another, one more willing and less resistant to my beauty and charm."

Her creator chuckled. "Very good, Crystal. I did well with you."

Crystal bowed her head "humbly", inwardly smirking with pride. Hell yeah, she was the best Mary Sue out there—bad ass skills, beautiful, and with a heartfelt tragic past to top it off. She deserved whatever praise and attention she received, especially from potential love interests (a.k.a. her slaves).

"Thank you, Mother," she replied, playing the part.

"Gather up your best Sues and prepare to dispose of the rebels," Mother commanded. "Be sure to use the new batch, just in case."

The Mary Sue in High Command smirked widely. Finally, her moment to shine as the ultimate Sue has arrived.

"Will do."

Pinocchio groaned and turned his head, feeling something solid hit his head. Though the slight impact was dull, it was enough to coax him wide awake as he sat up, bumping his head once again on a surface, only this time harder.

He winced his eyes closed and grabbed his head. "Ow, Walt damn it!"

When he opened his eyes again, he realized that he had bumped into some kind of…cover of some kind. Pinocchio focused his eyes on his cramped surroundings, and his eyes widened when he slowly realized where he was.

A trunk…I'm in a trunk of some kind.

Pinocchio cupped his forehead and closed his eyes. How did I get in here...and why don't I remember?

He opened his eyes and scowled. However way he got here, none of that mattered anymore. All he knew now was that he had to get out. Pinocchio sat up again, minding his head, and pushed on the lid of the trunk, grunting. When that didn't work, he tried to push on the two walls on either side.

Drip…drip…

Pinocchio's eyes widened as he froze.

Drip…drip…

His gaze followed the source to the sound. It came from the front right corner of the trunk…

A strangled sound escaped his mouth as he saw clear, liquid drops fall from the top of the trunk, down to the bottom of that corner, splashing only faintly as a small puddle started to form.

Something caught on the side caught his eye. It was a small circle shaped window, like the ones seen on ships. Outside were swaying plants, and fish that swam passed the small porthole.

Pinocchio's hands curled back to him as he gathered his knees to his chest. His heart raced and his breathing got harsher, to the point that he was hyperventilating. He couldn't try to get out now. If he did, he would be drowned in all that…all that…

Water…

So, he did the only thing he could do:

"HELP!"

Alice's eyes snapped open as she sat up straight. She exhaled as she held her head and wiped the sheen of cold sweat that had gathered there. She could still hear that faint scream echo inside her head…

Her eyes narrowed. Something was wrong with Pinocchio, she knew it. But what? And how had he gotten in trouble anyway?

Also, Alice mentally added as she took in her surroundings. It seemed like she was sitting on some green, leafy hill under a glass ceiling that revealed that it was still nighttime.

How did I get here?

Last thing she remembered they had all been in the library, receiving "weapons" (damn budget cuts; no, better yet, damn recession) from Minnie and Daisy, and then…

Nothing—Alice's mind was completely blank.

"What a load of bollocks," she grumbled. She made a move to stand up…

Only to fall through the leaves, screaming out in shock and fear.

As she fell, Alice noticed that she was surrounded by tree branches that she'd only seen on National Geographic documentaries on jungles.

She put her hands on her hips, scowling petulantly at her surroundings (yes, as she was falling).

"What the deuce? How the bloody hell did I end up in a jungle?"

Alice blinked thoughtfully, and then her eyes dulled in a bored fashion. "No matter. It's not like this is the weirdest thing that's happened to me."

With that said, she started to flail around as she fell, trying to grab onto something that could stop her fall. Her hand brushed against something solid and she immediately grabbed onto it, halting gravity on her momentarily.

The vine swung Alice forward and snapped apart as a result of the pressure of her fall, and as such, caused her to lose her grip on it. Alice yelped and flailed her hand out some more, grabbing onto another thick vine and holding it tighter than the first one, wounding her legs around it.

She looked back at the first vine and hummed thoughtfully. "That was actually kind of fun…"

Alice turned her head around and her eyes widened when she saw that she was swinging towards a tree at lightning speed. She gasped and instinctively pushed her legs forward, bending them at the knees when her feet landed on the bark. While still holding onto the vine, Alice ran across the tree and jumped away from it, continuing her vine swinging until it suddenly stopped, the vine swinging back and forth.

"Ha-ha!" She turned her head and laughed haughtily at the tree who'd tried to "attack" her. "That's what you get, nature! Not bad for an English girl in a nightgown, eh?"

Then Alice had a sudden thought that froze her smug face: Weren't there branches on that tree I could have landed on?

She frowned, her eyes lidded.

"Damn."

"Hello, there little girl," a smooth voice from above greeted.

Alice blinked and looked up. Hanging a few inches above her head was a boa constrictor that smiled down at her kindly, its eyes swirling hypnotically.

"Trust in me~," it sang in a hissing voice. (5)

She blinked, staring at it.

Then she screamed and flailed one of her hands, hitting the obscene creature on the head.

"Ew! Get away! Get away!"

"Ow, Walt!" The snake glared, baring its fangs. "Oh, fine! Be that way, little bitch."

With that said, he chomped down on the vine, snapping it between his fangs.

Alice's eyes widened as the detached part of the vine she was holding went limp in her hands. She lifted her hand to look at it with a blank expression.

Then she turned her head to look at you (the readers) wryly.

"Well this sucks, doesn't it?"

As soon as that was said, gravity was reactivated and she was soon quickly falling to her death, her high pitched screaming fading as her figure shrunk.

The snake huffed, glaring up at the sky. "Damn it, I never get them."

Meanwhile, Alice was kneeling on the air as she fell, her hands clasped as she looked pleadingly at the ceiling. Her hair was waving above her as a result of the falling, and she had folded her gown between her legs so it wouldn't lift up.

"Please save me Lord Walt," she prayed out loud. "I swear that I won't curse again, I won't throw down annoying girls again (no matter how tempting it might be), and I'll…try not to have improper, possibly slightly dominatrix-like thoughts involving me and Pinocchio, and—"

Suddenly she landed on a pair of arms that carried her bridal style. Alice blinked her eyes up at her savior and grinned.

"Mowgli!"

Mowgli nervously grinned down at her, his face flushed with slight fatigue. "Don't thank me just yet."

Shanti, who was on his back—her arms wrapped around his neck and his legs wrapped around his torso in a piggy back ride—looked over her shoulder, her face panicked.

"Mowgli, they're gaining on us again!"

Alice blinked worriedly. "'They'?"

The sound of about a hundred angry baboons answered her question, making her eyes widen as she swallowed nervously.

Mowgli cursed under his breath, his dark eyes glinting with courage as he jumped onto another longer branch and started to surf down it.

"Hold on tight, ladies. This might get rough."

Peter groaned as he opened his eyes to see that he was in what looked like a prison cell. He tried moving, but found that his wrists were shackled to the wall together, high above his head.

"Whoa." He blinked thoughtfully as an ominous shiver went down his spine. "Talk about déjà vu." (6)

He shook his head and glared around his cell, seeing only walls. There was no means of escape.

"Damn it," he growled under his breath. "Where am I? And how the hell did I get here?"

Pete closed his eyes and tried to remember.

Typically, his mind came up blank. The only thing he could recall were he and his friends in the school library, Minnie Mouse and Daisy had given them all shitty weapons, he had put his said shitty weapon away, and then…

Yeah, I got nothin'.

He groaned and banged the back of his head against the wall. "I hate retrograde amnesia."

"…Pete?"

Peter blinked at the familiar voice. "Arthur?"

Inside the prison next to Peter's, Arthur sighed, relieved. "Thank Walt; I thought I was here alone."

"Great…Where exactly is here anyway?"

Arthur glanced at his own cell, leaning his head up to look out the window that had been conveniently placed inside it. He didn't see much, but he saw enough to know that he and Peter were inside a building of some sort.

After a while of thinking, he said, "I'm guessing a panopticon."

Pete blinked. "Yeah, let's pretend I don't know what that is."

"It's a prison that was created in the late 1700s," Arthur explained. "Basically, it's this circular building with dozens, maybe even hundreds of cells surrounding a lone watchtower in the center, where the guard is supposed to be."

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "The thing that makes the panopticon unique is that the prisoners could never see into the watchtower; they never saw who was watching them. For all they knew, no one was watching them. But no prisoner wanted to take the risk of trying getting caught trying to escape.

"This bred the psychological phenomenon 'panopticism,' thought up by the philosopher Michel Foucault, who basically said that people become their own prisoners due to the fear of an unknown 'guard', like Big Brother from 1984." (7)

Pause.

"So…what you're basically saying is that if we escape we'll probably be just as screwed if we stay in these cells."

"In laymen's terms, yes."

Pregnant pause.

"Wow…Arthur?"

"…Yeah?"

"You are such a nerd."

"…What?"

For at least half an hour, both Shanti and Alice had obeyed Mowgli and put their trust onto him as he slid down the thick, jungle tree branches like a surfer, quickly putting some distance between the three of them and their animal pursuers. He occasionally jumped from branch to branch, making sure to keep his girlfriend and friend safe, though it took a lot of effort that had left him with aching muscles and sweating skin.

Finally, Alice shakily looked over at the family of screeching, furious baboons. "W-what do you suppose they want?"

"I don't know," Shanti whimpered. "The little baby one just sniffed me and squeaked at me for a little bit. I didn't understand him, so I walked away. Then he cried and got his—uh, family to surround me."

Mowgli narrowed his eyes in thought. "I can probably try to talk to them, but it might be a little difficult."

"Why's that?" Alice blinked at him. "Wait a minute—since when can you talk to animals?"

"Well, one: because they sound nothing like the Bandar-log back in India (8); I guess they're speaking in some African dialect." He smirked. "And two: I've always been able to talk to animals."

Shanti grinned proudly. "That's my feral, jungle boyfriend for you."

"You know you love it, babe," Mowgli teased as he looked at her over his shoulder.

"Well, I'd hate to interrupt any further flirting between you two, but…" Alice gestured behind them impatiently.

Mowgli nodded, his face turning serious. "Right."

After making a sharp turn he stopped in his tree surfing and set Alice down on the branch, and then Shanti soon after. He looked at the two of them.

"Stay out of sight until it's safe, okay." Mowgli smiled pointedly at Shanti. "I'll be right back."

"You better be," she said loudly as he jumped out of sight to face the baboons. "Please be careful," she added softly.

Alice gently pulled her friend back. "Come on, there's a hole in the tree that we can hide in."

Shanti quirked an eyebrow. "That's oddly convenient."

"Yeah, I know."

The two girls hid inside the hollow with their knees on their chests, peeking through the hole as Mowgli faced off the animals.

He swallowed nervously, eyeing the bloodthirsty baboons heading toward him. Then Mowgli morphed his face into one of anger and glared at them. When they were getting closer, he held out his hand.

"STOP!"

(cue sound effects of screeching tires!)

Shanti covered her eyes, sniffling. "I can't look."

Alice blinked. "Shanti, you should look."

The girl opened an eye and looked through her fingers. Shanti blinked and saw that the herd of baboons had stopped on a close branch across from Mowgli, huffing and puffing angrily his face. However, Mowgli was undeterred by the animals' fury. Instead he stood his ground and glared straight at, presumably, their leader, which had a brown baby baboon on its shoulder.

The leader screeched and jumped furiously, eyes burning into the jungle boy.

Mowgli scowled and let out some loud screeches of his own, making sure to have his eyes burning with just as much rage, if not more, than the baboon leader. (It was one of the basic laws of Nature after all; either intimidate, or be intimidated.)

Alice and Shanti watched the two of them as they exchanged screeches and growls only they could understand. The baboon would wave its fist in Mowgli's face, while Mowgli would growl and snarl back, baring his teeth with the hostility of a wolf. The "conversation" went on for a good six to ten minutes, when finally both the baboon and Mowgli seemed to gasp and then slowly grin at each other. Then the exchange started to become more amiable, with the human boy laughing, while the animal would lift its arms in an almost mocking manner.

Shanti tilted her head. "Okay…I'm confused."

Alice just nodded in agreement.

Not only were the girls confused, but the heard of baboons as well, including the young one on the leader's shoulder. They all looked at each other, scratching their heads and lifting their haunches in a shrug, and just watched the exchange without a word.

As he chuckled, Mowgli caught Shanti's eye and smiled reassuringly, waving her to come out. The young girl hesitated, but slowly climbed out of the tree hollow and went to his side, making sure not to fall off the branch. She blinked at the lack of reaction from the baboons, but still clung to Mowgli's shoulder, just in case. Alice soon followed. Somehow, the whole situation became safe.

Mowgli looked at the baboon leader, spoke to him for a bit, and then wrapped his arm around Shanti, lightly gesturing to her questioningly.

The baboon looked at her, causing her eyes to widen and a soft "eep" emit from her mouth. As the baboon started to speak, Mowgli squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, while also listening intently to the baboon.

Finally, the boy let out an exasperated sigh. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"What?" Shanti wondered. "What did it say?"

"Apparently, the reason this whole mess started was because his baby wanted your necklace."

Both she and Alice arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

"You can't be serious," Alice said softly.

"Kid likes shiny things." Mowgli shrugged. "What can you do?"

Shanti fingered her necklace subconsciously. "Should I give it to him?"

"I'd recommend it, but it's really up to you."

The baboon leader nodded also, not really understanding the teens based on their language, but their gestures.

For a few minutes she just looked from Mowgli, to the head baboon, and then to the herd of baboons behind their leader. Finally, she sighed.

"Whatever." Shanti quickly removed her necklace. "It's not that nice of a piece of jewelry anyway."

She handed it to the little baboon, which squealed happily as it snatched it out of her hands and hugged the shiny object to its chest.

The baby's parent nodded at her gratefully, which Shanti reluctantly, but politely, returned. Then it hopped off the tree branch and both it and its baby went off into the jungle to continue whatever they were doing. The rest of the baboons soon followed.

Alice sat down on the branch, straddling it, and sighed with relief. Then she looked up at Mowgli.

"What did you talk about anyway?"

"Apparently, the baboon knew King Louie."

Shanti blinked. "The orangutan that you always mention?"

He sighed. "Yep."

"But how would an African baboon know him?"

Mowgli shrugged. "Search me. Orangutans aren't native to Africa—or India, now that I think about it. They are mostly located in Borneo. Louie probably likes to travel a lot to different countries, just for the hell of it."

"Also, what are African baboons doing here in the first place?" Shanti asked.

"This doesn't seem like a jungle, I think it's more like a greenhouse," Alice commented, recalling the glass ceiling she woke up to.

"Correct." Mowgli crouched down and touched the bark of the tree. "Though these trees look like those of African jungles, they are nothing like the real thing. They just don't look the same, since they've been grown on American soil, rather than their native one."

He stood up and listened intently to the forest. He heard the sounds of other animals, animals that were lost, angry, and confused.

"This isn't their home," he said softly. "Someone transported them here."

Shanti swallowed, also hearing the sounds (particularly a growl of a large cat). "W-why though? Why go through all this trouble?"

Alice glared coldly ahead at an unseen enemy. "To trap us, most likely. I don't see any nearby exits here, do you two?" she added at their questioning gaze.

"No, I don't." Mowgli's eyes narrowed. "But I'll find one, trust me."

"I know it'd be stupid of me to ask," Shanti sighed. "But who do you think is behind this?"

"Who else?" Alice laughed humorlessly. "Besides all the obvious suspects (9), I mean."

Mowgli snorted. "Fucking Mary Sues."

"Ah. Now, just answer one more question," Alice quipped.

"Sure. What is it?"

"…Where did you learn to surf like that Mowgli?"

He chuckled and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I learned it from watching this cool guy on television. He did these awesome stunts in the African jungle; he swung from vines and surfed tree branches like they were waves, or a skateboard rink or something. I could only hope that I could one day be as talented as him…"

Mowgli trailed off, his eyes sparkling ambitiously (and fan boyishly). Shanti giggled at his glowing face, while Alice smirked, amused.

"Speaking of which," he quipped brightly, looking at the two girls. "How did I do for my first try?"

Both of the girls looked at each other, blinking with blank faces. They both recalled Mowgli's previous movements, the twists and turns, the defying of gravity as he jumped flawlessly onto branch after branch, repeating his maneuvers…

The girls faces turned green as their cheeks puffed out. Then they leaned their heads down and proceeded to gag off screen.

Mowgli looked anything but amused as he gave a wry side-glance to you (the readers).

"Tch. Everybody's a critic."

1. You: (glare)

Me: (blink) What? You all saw it; he provoked me.

2. Lucky Star, the Queen of all random animes that have no real plot, only humor! It has twice the humor of Azumanga Daioh and School Rumble combined, and is ten times more epic with its dance. Look it up and watch it. Now.

3. Here's how I see their nationalities:

Pinocchio: Italian, because his story was originally an Italian tale.

Mowgli and Shanti: Indian. God, I feel so stupid calling Mowgli black before.

Peter Pan: I'm thinking Scottish, because Barrie was Scottish.

4. Excalibur was the name of the sword King Arthur used in Arthurian legend. I'm not sure if this is the same sword he pulled from the stone, or if it's the one the Lady of the Lake gave to him. I've never really read any Arthurian books. I've only researched on the legend.

5. Dear sweet God, if none of you know who this is, I will give you a cyber smack upside the head.

6. A reference to my other fanfic (which I still have to update; ARGH!) "Nothing Sacred". I wouldn't recommend reading it, at least not unless you don't have a problem with seeing some disturbing images, or reading unnerving themes that involve certain Disney characters.

7. All true facts; at least, they are as true as Wikipedia says they are. If you want, you can double check. The only thing not included is the comparison to 1984. God, I love that book. It scared me a little bit, but my thirteen year old self couldn't help but love it anyway.

8. The Bandar-log is the name for the monkeys in The Jungle Book. In the original, King Louie wasn't a part of them, seeing as orangutans certainly aren't native to India. I put on an explanation for that, since Disney never touched up on it. Then again, would a child really care...? (Hmm...)

9. By "usual suspects" Alice means the Disney villains, of course.

Please review, even if you see something wrong-just please be constructive. (Or if you flame me, at least have the decency to tell me why you hate it so much.)