Scoffing as she looked down at the group that was gathered at the podium, Vickie still found it to be a bit of a laughable thing that the people gathered before her wanted the trial for AJ to be a trial for her. "I have no clue how you're going to change this around, but since I am a fair and just ruler, I will give into this little whim. Don't be too disappointed if this little game of yours doesn't go as you want it," Vickie said, not moving from her seat.

Huddling together, the group standing below Vickie worked at trying to put together enough of a case for why it is that she should be the one that gets executed.

"We've got more than enough evidence against her about what she's been doing during her reign," Alicia said. "I say we just go on and start laying the truth on her."

"Wait, we can't just jump into our defense like just like that," Zack said. "'Her Majesty' has a way of twisting words around."

Worried, AJ asked "So, what are you guys saying? I'm screwed no matter what it is that we do?"

"No, not quite," John said, reassuringly. "We need to think about this from another angle."

"Not exactly sure how many other possible angles we can try to look at this situation from," Kaitlyn said, leaning up against the barricade surrounding the podium. "Seems like we only have a limited amount of time to our defense against her."

"You know, we could always try to go find the heads of the gardeners that she had executed," Alex suggested, absentmindedly waving her tail around.

Looking over to see AJ looking a little green at that suggestion, Kaitlyn said "I don't think we need to resort to measures that rash. It looks like AJ here might vomit."

"Oops. My bad, AJ," Alex said, apologizing. "I guess I just have a habit of saying stuff before I can really think about what flies out of my mouth."

"Oh, no. It's not a problem at all," AJ said. "It's just, I'm not exactly sure that it'd be the best idea to go on a search for two disembodied heads while we're trying to prove my innocence and sentence the Queen."

Growing impatient, Vickie yelled "This whole thing has gone on long enough! Your time is up for trying to establish your defense! Now, the trial shall commence as it was before."

Sharing a look with everyone, Zack said "Guess we have to just go on what we have."

"Like I said, we've got more than enough evidence to bring the Queen down," Alicia said.

"Hopefully, we can take her out of power as well," Justin said.

Watching as the group gathered at the podium all turned around to face her, Vickie asked "So, what makes you all believe that I'm a horrible ruler and should be stripped of my power?"

Clearing his throat as he walked up to the podium, John said "Well, for one thing, and this is a recent incident, you had two of your royal gardeners executed for not planting the right color of roses in your royal garden."

"They disobeyed my orders," Vickie said. "I specifically asked for red roses, but they disobeyed me and planted white roses instead."

"And what, dare we ask, would've been so wrong with just asking to uproot the roses that were already planted and to just plant red roses in their place?" Alicia asked.

"It would've been too much of an ordeal to do that," Vickie said. "Besides, I didn't want my garden to end up becoming a ruined mess."

Slamming her hand down on the podium, Alicia said "But did you have to kill them for such a small error?! Those men had people that loved and cared about them and now those people weep because you had their loved ones executed!"

Banging her scepter to quiet the two that were arguing with her, Vickie looked down and said "It would be wise of you two not to say anything too out of turn, lest you end up on the chopping block with your friend."

Swallowing nervously around a lump in her throat, Alicia stepped back as John kept his place at the podium. "You see, Your Highness. This is what we're talking about when we make mentions of how it is that you lead us. You never hear us out and when we finally have the opportunity to really tell how your rule has kept us down, you turn blind ears to us."

"I only do what I feel is best for Wonderland and its residents," Vickie said. "I wouldn't expect a group of fools like you and your friends, including your defiant new friend, to understand how it is that I rule things here."

From behind Vickie, Dolph cleared his throat and said "Well, to be perfectly clear, Your Highness, you haven't exactly had the best methods when it comes to dealing with the subjects. After all, when so many of them have come forward to try to tell you their problems, you simply disregard what it is that they have to tell you. And if they continually voice the same problems, you have been a bit too quick to punish them for no reason, be it putting them in the stocks or making public examples of them."

Turning to look back at the King, Vickie said "Oh come now, darling. You know that what I've been doing is for the best of Wonderland. Most of those fools had no clue what it was that they were really asking for anyways."

"But did you really need to make examples of them the way you did?" Dolph asked, sitting up a bit in his seat. "I've seen you do embarrassing, and sometimes cruel, things to innocent people that wanted nothing more than their ruler to hear their opinions on how she was ruling the place they called home. But, I'm guessing that you couldn't quite take hearing what they all had to say and having your precious authority challenged."

Not liking both the tone of the King's voice and how he was telling her off, Vickie banged her scepter and yelled "Guards! Rid me of this treacherous and ignorant fool at once! I no longer wish to have him as my second-in-command!"

Not even resisting as the guards grabbed him roughly by the arms, Dolph calmly let the guards take him from the courtroom, much to the shock of AJ and her Wonderland friends. Before he was gone completely, Dolph turned back to look at Vickie and, in a low voice, said "May your head roll for your crimes against this land and its people" before he was yanked forward out of the courtroom.

After having watched the display, AJ felt her stomach turn. The fact that Vickie just called for the man who was ruling Wonderland alongside her to be removed from the courtroom as forcefully as it happened had AJ suddenly feeling that maybe there was no hope for her defense; after all, she just watched John and Alicia try to argue on her behalf but fail due to Vickie turning a blind ear to what they had to say. She was starting to think that maybe there was nothing that she could do to avoid being executed. AJ almost opened her mouth to tell the others to forget the defense when she suddenly remembered a similar situation happening back in her own world.

…

"What do you mean we have to get put in a feud against the Divas of Destruction?!" Kaitlyn asked when Alex came back from a meeting with Vince and Stephanie about upcoming storylines for the Divas.

"Look, Kait, don't shoot the messenger, alright," Alex said, holding up her hands defensively. "I'm just passing on what they told me when I was at the meeting."

"Can you at least tell me what reasoning Vince and Steph put into coming up with this feud?" Kaitlyn asked, trying and failing to keep the anger out of her voice.

"Well, apparently they really seemed to enjoy the matches that you and AJ had against Beth and Nattie, so they're going to roll with giving the four of you a feud together," Alex said.

"Excuse me for not sounding too excited here, but is there any possible way that we can pull out of having to go through with this?" Kaitlyn asked. "As much as I would love to be on the receiving end of a beating by either one of those two, I would like to live past 30."

"I guess if you wanted, you and AJ could try to go talk to Vince or Steph about getting a different feud and storyline," Alex said. Shrugging, she said "Hell, it's gotten me out of having to feud with a bunch of people in the past."

Leaping up from the bench she was sitting on, Kaitlyn said "Sounds like a good enough plan to me. Come on, AJ. We need to go do some negotiating to save our asses."

Looking up from where she was sitting on the bench, AJ pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and asked "Are you sure we can do this, Alex?"

"Of course I'm sure, AJ," Alex said. "After all, they're our bosses. They've got to hear us out when we don't want to be a part of a storyline or have to follow a certain character role."

Swallowing as she pushed her glasses up on her nose, AJ said "I guess you're right. We won't take long with this."

Leaving the locker room with AJ following her, Kaitlyn headed down the hallway in search of Vince and Stephanie McMahon's office. All while she walked on, Kaitlyn vented all of her frustrations and gripes with having to get put in a feud with two of the Divas that most of the other Divas were genuinely intimidated by. She still couldn't believe that she and AJ were going to have to feud with these two women; sure, Kaitlyn was considered by many to be on par with Beth and Natalya as far as physical strength went, but Kaitlyn was more concerned about what feuding with these two women would do to AJ. While AJ had proven herself to be a strong competitor, there were still moments where she showed that she was just fragile as most of the other Divas were. Reaching the office of the father-daughter McMahons, Kaitlyn raised her hand and knocked before being told from the inside to come in. Opening the door, Kaitlyn and AJ stepped inside just as Rosa Mendes and Layla walked out talking about their own storylines they were given, storylines neither woman seemed all that thrilled about having.

Looking up as Kaitlyn and AJ walked into the room, Vince smiled and said "Celeste, April, good afternoon you two. What can we do for you?"

Taking one of the seats in front of the desk that Vince and Stephanie were sitting behind, Kaitlyn took a breath and said "AJ and I were wondering if there was any possible way that we could get a different storyline, Mr. McMahon."

Blinking, Stephanie asked "But, why? Don't you to want to be in a great feud?"

"You know we do, Steph," Kaitlyn said. "It's just, we want to be in a feud that won't result in vast bodily harm. No offense to Beth and Nattie, but we'd like to be in a feud with another Diva team first before we move up to taking them on."

Taking a breath and letting it out, Stephanie said "I can understand where you're coming from, Celeste, but I'm afraid to say that that's an impossibility. We've already given the other Divas feuds of their own; besides, this will definitely help with giving the Chickbusters more exposure and it'll work with getting you and April over with the fans."

Raising her hand, AJ said "Um, if I can say something to go along with what Celeste said."

Turning to look at AJ, Stephanie asked "Of course, April. What is it?"

Swallowing as she suddenly felt the eyes of Kaitlyn, Vince, and Stephanie on her, AJ coughed and said "Maybe we could at least get a couple of matches against another Diva team before our feud with Beth and Nattie starts."

"Well, April, like I just said, we won't really be able to give you two a feud with another Diva team first, but we plan to have you two compete in tag matches to help lead into your upcoming feud," Stephanie said. "We'll get together with you two before it really starts."

"OK, Stephanie, we understand," AJ said, pushing another strand of hair behind her ear. Looking over to Kaitlyn as she stood up, AJ said "Come on, Celeste. Let's head back to our locker room."

Looking at AJ with bewilderment clear on her face, Kaitlyn almost opened her mouth to argue the decision that Stephanie made but decided against it and instead got up and headed out of the office behind AJ. Once the two were out in the hallway, Kaitlyn looked over at AJ and, not keeping the irritation out of her voice, asked "What the hell was that in there, AJ?!"

Caught offguard by Kaitlyn's sudden outburst, AJ asked "What do you mean, Kait?"

"What I mean is you just sitting back when we were in there and not really speaking up and saying that you don't want to be a part of this feud of ours," Kaitlyn said, running a hand through her hair. "Do you not realize that we're pretty much going up against two of the only other Divas, besides me, that can actually manhandle you and hurt you?"

"I think you might be blowing this a touch out of proportions, Kait," AJ said. "Besides, maybe our feud won't be as interesting as Vince and Steph are hoping it'll be."

Throwing her hands up in frustration, Kaitlyn said "Whatever, AJ" before she turned on her heel and walked off in the direction of her locker room, leaving AJ behind with a dejected look on her face.

…

Her flashback finished, AJ returned her attention back to the argument that was still going on between John and Vickie, which had been a lot more of the same back-and-forth arguing that had been going on since her defense had started. Stepping forward around the others, who all looked on in surprise that AJ was actually walking up to the podium, AJ stopped when she was standing behind John. Tapping John on the shoulder to get his attention, AJ waited until he turned around and looked at her. Once John's attention was on her, AJ said "I'd like to say something, John."

Dunnnah! AJ wants to speak her mind. Looks like her flashback might have been just the thing to help with her finally getting her nerves up to defend herself. Find out what she's got to say in the next chapter. =) Don't forget to R&R please.