Chapter five:

Dib had lost Zim yet again and had stopped to look around himself.

He hadn't noticed but:

He was in the beautiful garden he had tried to get in earlier.

It was just a pretty as it had seemed through the incredible small door as it did now. Dib walked around in a circle and stopped to gaze at a white rose-bush. It was so pretty as well-!

A tall boy in what looked like a card costume walked over from behide and painted it purple. Dib watched as three other people also came out and painted away the whiteness.

Dib walked over and stared at them work. They were chatting about nonsense to each other, though it probably made perfect sense to them…

"The Queen wants to behead the Mad Hatter again," said the first boy. "What for this time?" asked another.

"'For being a stupid, ugly thingie with no ears.'"

"Is Whitey still alive or is he set for death as well?"

"'For being a white, bunny-rabbit midgit and for being late.'"

"What'cha doing?" Dib asked, and all three looked over. They all continued working and one said, "Painting the roses purple."

"Why?" Dib said.

"For we planted white roses instead of purple ones."

"The Queen's gonna take our heads for it."

"OURS?! Who planted the roses?" said the shortest of the guys with a thick British accent.

They all began arguing with each other and Dib heard an "Irk dangit."

Dib turned around as the three people fell to the ground, bowing to behide him. Dib saw a tall set of people with swords ending in heart-shaped points. They bowed to the side and let through another person.

Dib's jaw literally touched the ground.

"And who are you?" ordered Tak to Dib, pointing her own heart weapon at his neck. Dib looked down at it, then back up, and said, "I'm Dib, Tak. You know that."

"You dare address the Queen as TAK?!" she suddenly shouted angrily. Dib gulped, as she grew red in the face.

"My Royal Highness," said Zim, hopping out from behide the tall people with the swords. "I have made it on-!"

"You!" Tak said, pointing her pointer at his face. "You dare show your face around me-the Queen of Hearts-again?!"

Zim gulped and hopped backwards.

"Off with their head-! And what is this?" Tak said, shoving past Dib and Zim to the three men on the ground. One got up and said, "Somebody painted the roses white!"

Another said, "And we were trying to paint them back!"

"That white looks natural!" Tak said. "Are those white roses in my garden?! WHITE!"

Man, Dib thought: Tak really has some angry issues to settle out.

At that moment, Tak turned back to Dib and said, "Well, stranger, do you know how to play croquet?"

Play WHAT?! Dib thought as Tak snapped her fingers and everyone started off again. Dib decided the smart thing to do would to follow them: And follow them he did.

"You know the rules of the game," Tak said, holding a very still flamingo and hedgehog. For a second, Dib thought that they were fake until he was given his own set and they began moving around like heck.

After a long fight, he finally was ready. Dib had no clue how to play croquet, nor had he even heard of it.

Must be British, he thought and as he looked around the croquet ground, he added, and stupid.

Everyone was hitting their hedgehogs at any moment they could with their tall flamingos. Even the Queen herself was looking much like a fool.

"Hey! Dib," said a voice from behide him, and Dib turned around to see the cat as a cat.

"Hi, Cheshire Kate," Dib said.
"How's the game going along?" she asked.

Dib peeked over his shoulder. "I have no clue since I don't know a crap about the game."

"The Queen must be winning," Cheshire Kate said, and she made a vomiting sound.

Just so happened, Tak walked by and saw her complain.

"What is this?" she shouted, pointing her sword-thingie at Cheshire.

The King of Hearts raced over and said, "It looks like a cat."

"Off with its head!"

Everyone began whispering and murmuring to each other.

Dib sighed as the King said, "But there's no body to cut it from." For Cheshire Kate had made her body disappear. Tak turned red in the face and shouted random Irken into the air.

Dib raced off. He could still hear the angry girl shouting at the top of her lungs.