Hatter and Alice Journey into the Netherworlds
By Ldynwaitin
Chapter Thirty Six – Divide and Conquer
"I don't believe it," Daisy gasped. She was currently standing at the edge of a building whose façade had fallen. The destruction was not what made her stare in disbelief, it was the back of a twenty foot tall Bull-Guard slowly tramping down the street. The guard now stood twice as high as her.
"I'm having a hard time too, Daisy," Rankin admitted.
"How did it get so big?" Sloan whispered, afraid the giant would hear him.
"I'd place my bets on Allric," Jack said. Heading towards where they guessed the Red Phoenix rose, Jack told the battalion to halt several blocks away. They heard loud noises that told them something was happening further on. He took with him Five of the Knights as well as the White Rabbits and Daisy to scout ahead. He wanted to travel quick and light. Standing at the edge of the broken building, they just couldn't believe what they were looking at. Jack felt a hand suddenly press on his mouth, and he was pulled tight against what was left of the buildings walls. Barret hissed in his ear to keep quiet. Looking up he saw the giant head of a fox searching the streets. Holding the broken piece of a street lamp he slammed it against the side of a building. Several people screamed in fear, they scrambled out of the building. There they were met by two normal size Bull-Guards.
Barret had to hold Jack tight as he witness what happened next. The guards brutally attacked the people that tried to escape. Unarmed, they were killed in an instant, then Jack saw something that made his blood boil. The guards took out a knife and cut off locks of hair from each victim. They tied it on a ring that hung on their belt. Once they were finished, they moved on searching for other Wonderlanders.
Sliding on the side of the building, they moved away from the murdering Bull-guards and back to the Battalion.
Jack unashamedly wiped hot tears from his face. "They will pay for that," he angrily spat out. "I will make sure each and everyone pays for killing them with such malice and heartlessness."
"Bull-guards has always been feared for their ferociousness," Daisy whispered, not sure if any others were close by. "Allric has taken the leash off of them, given them full reign. Before this night is over I fear many Overworlders will die."
Heading back to the waiting Battalion Jack pledged, "Not on my watch."
From his perch on the window sill, Pitney searched out into the night, straining to see what was happening, but it was just to dark. He nearly fell off when a large cat head appeared before him.
"I hate when you do that," he hissed. He looked behind and saw the Knights that was left to guard him was sitting on the far side of the room, looking back he whispered, "Why you here?"
"The time has come, Pitney, he needs to know now if he is to save Wonderland."
Pitney shook his head, "I not know how he react," he cried.
"That doesn't matter, it will happen regardless. You've been with him for several days now, how do you say he'd react if he found out this terrible secret you've kept." The Cheshire cat's full body appeared, he lay his head to rest on his paws.
Pitney worriedly rung his paws, "It not how he react that I worry about, he have a good heart, he will do the right thing. I just worried about after, after all this happen, will he be the same?"
The Cheshire cat stood up, he reached out his paws and touched Pitney, "That's not for us to worry about, it's time, Pitney, it's time you fulfill on a promise you made so long ago." Touching the small hedgehog they both disappeared. One of the guards stood up and pointed to the window sill, he saw the hedgehog they were suppose to guard suddenly disappear. With the animal they were guarding gone, they realized they needed to report back to the battalion and let Prince Jack know what happened. They quickly rushed down the stairs, out of the building and into the night.
It had been over an hour since they left the Red Phoenix behind them. In that time Hatter and Alice was able to add nearly fifty animals to their group. Once they found out that Allric was the one that destroyed the Netherworlds, each one, male and female, swore they would help them in their fight.
"Back," Rubetta chirped from above. She flew down to Hatter's shoulder, "I see a giant Bull-guard and Fox coming, must hide, everyone must hide."
Hatter pulled them back into a dark alley. They hid in the shadows as twenty foot giants lumbered by. They waited until they could no longer hear their footsteps. They were about to leave, when they heard a snapping and growling. Suddenly the alley was flooded by rabid Bull-guards. There were only twenty, but they were seasoned fighters. The badgers immediately went to the front to fight. Hatter picked Rubetta up and flung her high, "Rubetta, stay out of harms way," he yelled at her. Seeing Alice ducking a blow from a stun gun, Hatter ran to her, but was immediately blocked by a long sword. "No further, Mon Ami." It was Roussell, the fox he met when he first came to Red Phoenix.
Roussell flourished his blade in front of Hatter, forcing him back. "So, we meet again, eet ees a shame that you do not 'ave a sword yourself. Ah well, I will try to make eet quick and painless as posseeble."
Hatter felt his hat jumping, a pleased grin spread across his face. Slowly he took off his hat, "I think you'll find I may be a bit harder to kill than you think." He quickly pulled Eirian out of his hat. A thin blade flew out of the handle, "At last," he heard her sigh. "A true test of my metal."
Plopping his hat back on Hatter let Eirian take over. As the others fought the Bull-guards, Hatter dueled with the fox. Eirian sung in joy as she faced someone close to her caliber.
Roussell grinned with delight, "At last, I 'ave someone that may be a bit of sport for me." He brought his sword forward, he was surprised to find Hatter anticipating his move so quickly. "You are better than I thought, then I shall not hold back, this will be a battle to the end."
Hatter held Eirian tightly, "To the end," he agreed.
Alice was surprised to see Hatter sword fighting with a fox. She wanted to help him, but she had her hands full with a persistent Bull-guard. It just refused to stay down. She hit him in just about every sensitive spot she could think of, yet the dog just kept getting back up. She saw the other badgers were not doing as well either. They seemed to be more wild than last time they fought.
She had to doge as the Bull-guard managed to get back the stun stick she kicked out of his paws earlier. As she prepared to give him a swift kick she heard Rubetta scream from above, "Giants, giants return!"
Glancing back she saw a Bull-guard and a fox stomping down the end of the alley. They were heading straight to where Hatter was dueling with the fox. Alice could see he was aware of the approaching giants, but had his hands full with the fox.
"Culver," Alice screamed. Seconds later the Bull-guard was on the ground, he was tackled by an enraged bear. "We need to get them out of here," she shouted to him. She knew once the giants arrived, the wave of the battle would be flowing in the bad guys favor. Culver was about to tell the badgers to retreat when Alice saw his eyes twist in pain. He planted his paws over his ears. Searching the alley, Alice saw every animal doing the same.
Once the duel began, Hatter's fight with Roussell was defiantly taking longer than he thought. "Eirian, think we could speed this up?"
"But this is the most fun I've had in centuries," she whined.
"Hate to cut your joy short, but we have company." He could hear Rubetta's warning over the growling and snapping in the alley. He had to end this duel, and end if fast. "Oh very well, if you must," Eirian grumped. Hatter found his arm flourishing the sword so fast he was having a hard time holding onto her. It was all Roussell could do to keep from dropping his sword. Seeing the giant's coming down the ally he chose to postpone this duel. Leaping back, he gave Hatter a low bow of his head, and ran off.
Hatter was about to run to Alice when he saw all the animals in the alley howl or cry out in pain. They held their paws tightly against their ears. Searching the alley Hatter was nearly run over as a hundred Knights ran past him and towards the two giants. He saw two of the knights at the back blowing on something small and silver. Hatter ran to the badgers that joined his group. He and Alice tried to herd them with them, to show the Knights that they were on their side.
With swords drawn, another hundred Knights quickly killed or mortally wounded the twenty Bull-guards. They then joined their brethren in battle against the two giants. The two whistle blowers were joined by another two. They blew on their whistles hard, the giants withered on the ground in pain. Using their blades they tried to find spots on the giants that would mortally wound them. They managed to kill both the Bull-guard and the fox.
Alice couldn't believe her eyes, she saw Jack, Moxie, Daisy, and Charlie running to them. She was even happy to see the three White Rabbits made it safely up. Hatter reached out his hand, he energetically shook Jack's hand. "Have to admit, you make a grand entrance."
"I'm so glad to see you've all made it up sound and well."
"Like the trick with Eric's whistle," he winked at him.
Jack took the knife and threw it to Eric, "This has been a life saver."
Eric proudly caught it, "I'm glad my grandfather had a hand in helping you."
"Well," Jack panted. "Who are they?" He looked behind Hatter. He was surprised to see nearly fifty badgers standing behind him.
"These are survivors," Hatter explained. "I had Rubetta…Oh, hang on!" Hatter searched into the night sky, "Rubetta!" he shouted, worry lacing his tone. He was relieved to see a red streak fly down and land on his shoulder. "Rubetta, are you all right?"
Rubetta energetically jumped on his shoulder. "I'm fine, they can't get me. That was a great fight, Hatter, great. I am so glad no one was hurt, I didn't see anyone hurt."
Hatter rubbed her back with a finger, "Thanks to you, Rubetta."
"I only try my best, try my best," she chirped.
"Thanks to Rubetta, she was able to warn the villagers that Wonderland was coming down, and that they had to go to any open area. Anywhere in Wonderland there was a large drop, you'll find survivors."
Jack's eyes looked down, it was obvious he was thinking hard, "Once we defeat Allric, we'll have to find a new place for them to stay." He took in all the badgers that looked at him with eyes of fear. They wondered if they were going to be forced to live in the darkness again by another Heart. "Don't worry," Jack told the Netherworlders, "I promise that I will not rest until you have a new place to live, not one with a ceiling of steel, but with the sun overhead."
"That's all and good," Dodo sniffed, "But what are you going to do now? There's a giant army out there, and rabid dogs roving all over your city."
"We're going to have to split up," Alice suggested. "Allric has his army all over Wonderland, we'll need to spread out to be able to stop them."
"Agreed," Jack said. "Lieutenant Philbert!" Jack shouted. The Lieutenant was immediately by his side. "Yes, sire!" he saluted him.
"We're going to need to break up the Battalion into four groups, attack the Red Phoenix from four sides. Moxie and I will take one group, the other groups will have as leaders, Hatter and Alice, Barret and Sloan, and Rankin and yourself, Lieutenant. Each group will have someone with them that knows Wonderland." Jack grinned at Culver, "I don't have to ask which group you'll go with." Culver stood steadfast next to Hatter and Alice.
"What about us?" Dodo asked. He stood with Eric. "I've never been much for fighting, other than a bit of verbal sparring."
"Never been much of a fighter," Eric admitted.
Jack knew that Dodo would be useless, his best bet was to find a place for him and the oyster to stay. "I'll have several Knights escort you back to where we first arrived. Pitney is also there, I'm sure you'll be safe." Jack now looked to the Badgers that came with Hatter. "That invitation also extends to you. If you wish to stay out of this battle, you may follow him. If not, we are happy to have you join us."
Blisse moved to stand next to Hatter and Alice. "We gave him our word we'd help, a Badger does not go back on their word."
"Excellent," Jack said. "Then let's go, I'm not sure how much damage those giants have done, but I'm sure we should be seeing some Suits coming to help us also. Tell them that you are following Prince Jack Hearts order to protect the city, and they are welcome to help."
Just before he left Jack said, "And if Lord Corn or Sir Leon refuse to listen to my orders then tell them they have my blessing to attack Allric on their own."
They split up into four groups. Culver, Hatter and Alice took two hundred and fifty Knights towards the west side of the city. Charlie and Reggie also chose to go with them. Jack and Moxie chose the north, while Barret and Sloan, with Daisy, took their Knights to the south. Lieutenant Philbert and Rankin took the farthest location, east. They decided to stay with Barret and Sloan until they reached the southern section of the city, then make their way up.
Each group had at least two whistles with them, Jack's group and Hatter's took an extra pair. As they ran through the streets Culver showed the badgers how to plug up their ears with strips of cloth to block out the pain form the whistle. Their first obstacle came as Hatter led them down a very narrow street. At the end they could see a giant dog standing on all fours, his large paw was digging into a broken store front. They could hear screaming as someone was being dragged out of the store.
"Allric chose his guards well," Alice whispered to Hatter. "They're blood thirsty with no conscious."
"The animals I saw in the future was the same," Hatter told her. "Without the magic, they turn back to what they originally were, animals."
Alice eyed Blisse, "But some handle it better than others."
Hatter had to admit it, the animals that were with him seemed more civilized than Allric's army. He motioned her to be quiet, as they neared the giant dog. Taking out a whistle, he held his hand up, warning the badgers in his group that he was about to blow. Running as close as possible to the dog, he blew hard on the whistle. The dog immediately released the man he was dragging out of the store and howled in pain. As soon as his head moved up the archers let their arrows fly. They landed with a thud in the dogs throat. Falling to the ground it pawed at the arrows. Several Knights, with badgers mixed within, charged towards the downed dog. Killing it in minutes.
"One down," Hatter said with a grin. "Let's hope he didn't make to many of them."
Unfortunately they had no idea just how many giants Allric created. Far ahead he could see the tops of the giant knight, chess pieces. They began to glow in an unearthly red. Allric was up to something. Hatter had to search the area, to make sure he knew where they were. Getting his bearings he took a few steps forward, he then heard a screeching from above. Looking up he saw Allric flying with something large in his claws.
"Oh my god!" Alice pointed above. "It's the mirror, he's got the Wonderland mirror."
Hatter saw its silver side reflecting the stars in the distance. He could also see that Allric was having a hard time flying with the heavy load. "Archers," Hatter shouted. "Try to bring him down, but don't mortally wound him, we can't have the mirror broken."
A row of archers moved up and let their arrows fly into the air. Hearing the twang of bows bellow Allric immediately flew to the left, ducking a volley of arrows. He landed on top of a large building. Placing the mirror safely there, he pulled several objects out of his bag and leaped into the air.
"Over there!" Charlie shouted.
He saw Allric flying towards them. Now that he no longer held the mirror, the arrows flew quicker with an aim to kill. Allric deftly dodged each shot. Flying over a large group of knights he released two of the objects he held. Falling to the ground they broke open, releasing a purple gas.
"Don't breath it in!" Hatter screamed. He had no idea what the gas would do, but knowing Allric it was definitely not going to help them.
Allric pulled out more of the glass spheres, Throwing them into large groups of Knights until the gas covered them. Only Hatter, his companions about twenty Knights and half the animal's that joined him were able to keep away from the gases effects. A strong wind blew the gas away, once it was gone the Knights were gone, there was no sign of them. They all ran up to where they were, Culver grabbed Hatter and pulled him back. He heard something that told him what happened to the Knights. Pointing to the ground, Hatter was shocked to see the gas had shrunk the Knights.
"How nice of you to keep them grouped so tight," Allric shrieked from above. "And how nice of you to end their spell," he told Charlie. "My gas would not have worked over the Queen's spell. Now they are no longer a threat to my army." He flew back up to the building and picked up the mirror.
Straining to flap his wings, he flew the mirror towards Red Phoenix. Once he was gone. Hatter and the other's that were untouched by the gas stared down at the small Knights. Alice wanted to cry, Allric was using Wonderland magic against them. Growing potion, shrinking gas, he was accomplishing exactly what he set out to do, destroy Wonderland and create his own.