Chapter 2

"Wonderland Invasion"

While Peter Pan flew as fast as he possibly could to London to hunt for his shadow, the lost boys were following the sounds of loud drumming and war chants. This was unlike anything that they had ever seen before in this part of Neverland. What they came across was a large clearing and inside the clearing were all playing cards armed with spears and shields. However, Slightly had a good idea on who this visitor was.

"What's the Queen of Hearts doing here?" he thought as the chants grew louder and a large woman came forward, focusing her attention on the cards.

"SILENCE!" she shouted and the cards fell silent at her command. This made the lost boys feel uncomfortable, so they decided to back away from the bushes for a second.

But, just as they started to back away, Tootles, the mute lost boy in a skunk skin, came out stamping his foot down on the ground, nearly blowing their cover.

"Tootles, what's wrong with you?" whispered Slightly, put his foot down on Tootles'. "Are you trying to get us captured by these visitors from Wonderland?"

Tootles shrugged his shoulders in embarrassment and the Lost Boys peeked through the bushes again to see what appeared to be strange creatures joining the large meeting. Once everyone was seated, the Queen stepped forward to address all who were present.

"Do you understand why you are here?" she asked, pointing her finger at the large platoon of cards in front of her. "You are here to capture the one who escaped her punishment of losing her head. We could not find her in our beloved kingdom of Wonderland, so we have come here to Neverland to expand our search."

The lost boys then glanced at each other, almost as if they knew what was going on. They did not know of who the Queen was talking about, but soon other inhabitants of Wonderland came forward to voice why they were here.

"That girl got up while we were telling a story," said a pair of brothers with the words "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum" written on their lapels. "We thought she enjoyed our stories, but we were wrong."

"I knew that we shouldn't have done Old Father William," remarked Tweedle Dum, lowering his heads. "It's all probably your fault."

The two brothers then began to jump up and down while bonking one another, but another call of "silence" from the queen stopped them. At that moment, an eccentric looking man and a humanoid hare stepped forward with a yellow teacup containing a small mouse.

"She missed our tea party," said the humanoid hare. "I've always said that creatures who do that are just plan rude."

"Very, very rude indeed," added the sleeping mouse before falling back into the teacup that was in the hare's hands.

"Well, there is much more than just missing stories and rude behavior," remarked the Queen of Hearts. "She embarrassed me in my croquet matchup and called me a tyrant. I am not a tyrant, I am a Queen and I will be treated as such. You must all find her in this land and the first one who finds her, will be rewarded greatly."

The roars of the crowd came up and the card soldiers disbanded with the wonderland inhabitants accompanying them. Seeing what was happening before them made some of the lost boys scared for their own safety.

"What do we do?" whimpered Cubby, turning over towards Slightly. "Do we warn Pan?"

"He is already gone," replied Nibs. "But we must get help to combat these creatures. Do we go to the Indians for help?"

"They'll think that we are only there to cause trouble with them," said Cubby. "Remember the last time we encountered and they nearly burned us at the stake because Tiger Lily was missing?"

"Yeah, they think we kidnapped her when it was really Captain Hook who did it," replied Nibs.
"Perhaps maybe now they will believe us and help us fight these creatures until Pan returns with his shadow."

This made the Lost Boys wonder where Hook and pirates were to begin with, but they didn't have time to think when they saw a group of card soldiers advance towards their hideout.

"They are going to hangman's tree," gasped Nibs. "We have to stop them before they get there. Who's with me?"

All the lost boys raised their hands and with their weapons armed, they made their way towards their home in an effort to keep it from once again being turned upside down. Meanwhile, Peter had returned to London to find his shadow and all of a sudden, he and his fairy companion, Tinker Bell, heard the sounds of an adult male coming from the house where our story begins.

"My decision is final, Alice!" boomed the voice. "Your stories about "Wonderland" have really driven us to the point of anger. This is your last night in the nursery, young lady and there is nothing you can say or do about it!"

Peter then continued to listen in as the girl spoke, almost crying.

"But, I don't want to grow up, father!" she cried as Peter came in to see a young girl in a a light blue knee-length short-sleeved collared dress with a white pinafore apron, frilly white knee-length pantalettes, white stockings, two frilly white petticoats and black Mary Jane shoes, trying to defend her actions. "Why can't you just let me spread my imagination?"

"Because its all nonsense, Alice," replied the father sharply. "And your tears will do you no good, young lady. This was a decision made by me, your mother and your older sister. We are fed up with your constant stories about this place that no one ever hears off. Now, get in your nightclothes and go to sleep. You have another day of schooling tomorrow."

So, the father then slammed the door leaving the girl inside to cry herself to sleep. Poor Peter could see that she needed to enjoy being a kid and that his shadow could have been hiding in there, trying to stay hidden.

But, he would have to wait until the coast was clear and little did Peter know of how much the initial meeting of this girl would change his life forever…