Chapter 11
The instant Alice returned to Wonderland she set off the check that the Dollmaker was still in his prison. It would be just like him to escape the second her back was turned, and if he had, she may never find him again until it was too late.
Such thoughts ran rampant in her head on her journey there, and she soon found herself hurrying at top speed to her destination. Any enemy in her path saw a brief flurry of butterflies before it swept past them, leaving the entity to wonder if it had really seen anything at all.
When she reached the Infernal Train wreckage, she leapt all the way to the top and peered in though her window at the top.
Much to her relief the Dollmaker was still there, still trapped and silent.
He looked up at her, as if wondering why she was out of breath and flustered, but she ignored him. She did her usual check to make certain he was still secure, before leaving. Unless she was mistaken, there were several enemies she had passed on her way here that needed to be dealt with.
However, if Alice had stayed and looked again in a more secretive fashion, she would have seen the Dollmaker sit up and remove his now stump arms from their bindings and glance down at his one remaining leg.
Now all that stood between him and his escape was his half eaten left leg. The Time for his escape was nearly at hand. Then, everything will burn.
*A*A*A*
A few weeks after the Summer Solstice party, Jack found himself once again coming out of the rabbit hole outside the Skool.
Upon entering, he found that Alice wasn't there, but with all her alarms and wards around the building she no doubt knew he was there, and would be along shortly. So to pass the time, he made it snow in the Skool's main entrance, and he and the insane children were soon in the throngs of an intense snowball fight.
Jack had just been about to pelt Redhead with a snowball, when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a floating grin of sharp, bloodstained teeth.
Jack put down the snowball and walked over to the grin. He knew from the stories that there was only one Wonderlander that the smile could belong to. He had yet to meet the Cheshire Cat in person, but Alice had assured him that Cat was her most trusted companion in all of Wonderland, despite also being the most cryptic.
Behind him the children paused in their game to see what Jack was doing.
As Jack approached the grin, the rest of the cat faded into existence. Jack was startled to see a skeletal and menacing figure, but given how Wonderland characters rarely looked how they were portrayed, he wasn't too surprised.
"Well, you're definitely nor pink or blue," Jack said in a friendly tone. "But it's nice to finally meet-"
"There is no time for formalities, rude or otherwise," snapped the Cat. While his grin was in place, his posture was stiff, and his eyes were serious. "An old evil of Wonderland has been freed. He comes leaving Ruin in his wake. Alice will not reach here in time. But I will hurry her along all the same."
The Cat vanished, and the Insane Children erupted into screams.
"The Dollmaker's coming!" wailed Corkscrew.
"He'll rip us apart again!" whimpered Muzzle.
"He'll kill us," cried Eyeless.
The other children were all crying similar outbursts of despair.
Jack didn't know who the Dollmaker was, but if he was getting this sort of reaction from the kids, he knew it was nothing good.
Jack slammed his staff to the ground, sending out a shockwave of frost that startled the children into silence.
"This Dollmaker isn't going to get any of you. Not while I'm here," he said firmly. "I want all of you to go to the gym, and hide in the alcoves while I fight him off. Leader, can I count on you to look after them?" he asked the little brunette.
Leader nodded in determination, but Jack could see she was clutching her teddy bear fearfully. "Come on you idiots," she said, leading the way to the gym. "We need to hide. That monster isn't getting us this time."
Once the kids were gone, Jack set out to better protect the place. He iced every door and window to the outside shut with a foot of ice, and then flew around the outside, coating the building in sharp icy spikes. He made the walls taller and coated them in spikes too. He then settled on the top of the bell tower and waited.
He didn't have to wait long. Faster than should have been possible, an enormous hulking figure approached the Skool. It looked like it had once been a marionette of man with brown hair and nice clothing. But the dripping black ooze that drizzled out of his mishapen mouth and empty black eyes ruined that image. The marionette's four arms and both legs looked to be made from a hodge-podge of wood, doll pieces, metal and ooze, that made his grotesque appearance even more so.
The second Jack saw him he shot a beam of ice from his staff in hopes of freezing the monster in its tracks. The ice slowed it for a little bit, but the black ooze the Dollmaker seemed to be made of melted the ice on contact. All Jack attack had done was bring himself to the Dollmaker's attention.
The Dollmaker reached out an impossibly long mangled arm, and made to swat at Jack as though he were a pesky fly.
Jack dodged it, and used his power to create a large icicle spike, which he jammed into the Dollmaker's hand.
The Dollmaker roared in pain, drawing his arm back until the ooze melted the ice. Jack continued to pelt him with icicles, which seemed to do some damage, but not enough. He had just managed to get one in the Dollmaker's eye, when the monster reached out quicker this time, and managed to smack Jack hard enough that Jack was sent flying backwards, and smashed a hole though the Skool's wall(somehow managing to avoid his own spikes).
Jack lay winded where he had landed, trying to force air back into his lungs so he could get up and fight again. As he did so he noticed that his left hand was burned and raw where the ooze had touched it when he had brought it up to block the blow.
Outside, Jack's icy defenses melted away upon contact with the Dollmaker's Ruin drips. The Dollmaker closed in on the Skool, and brought one of his large hands down on the structure, shaking it to it's core.
Jack had stumbled to his feet by then, leaning on his staff for support. He realized immediately what the Dollmaker was planning to do. The monster was going to bring the building down on their heads.
Knowing he had to protect the children rather than keep fighting, Jack shot down to the gym. The Insane Children were cowering in the alcoves as each blow shook the building till it rattled.
"Everyone get close to me!" Jack yelled, as he landed beside the giant hole in the gym's floor. Terrified, the children rushed to him and crowded around.
Above them, they heard the bell tower come down. The building was not going to last much longer.
Knowing this, Jack held his staff above the children's heads, and began to chill the air for his next icy creation. "Everyone get a good grip on either me, or each other, and hold on as tight as you can!" he ordered, and the children scrambled to obey. "When I count to three, we're all going to jump down the hole."
"But-!" Leader tried to protest.
"Trust me," Jack insisted, "I have a plan!"
The children nodded, and tightened their grips.
"One!" said Jack.
The sound of the other side of the building collapsing thundered to their ears.
"Two!"
The ceiling above them cracked and groaned. Dust and splinters rained upon them.
"THREE!"
As one, Jack and the Insane Children dove down the hole. Jack's staff shined a brilliant white, as he used it and the wind to save them from the impending fall.
The ceiling above the gym gave way, and collapsed down, sending debris showering down the hole.
The Dollmaker surveyed his work, and nodded in satisfaction. It was unlikely anyone had survived, and if any did, their grief would only fuel Alice's despair. Pity she hadn't been there to see it in person.
With that happy thought, the Dollmaker turned headed off to his next target.
*A*A*A*
Alice had been on her way to check the Dollmaker again when she got the alarms that Jack had arrived at the Skool again. Since the rabbit hole liked to appear there the most, Alice had changed the alarms so they could tell the difference between Jack, and a more malevolent intruder.
She continued on her way though the Dollhouse, figuring Jack could stand to wait a bit while she finished her errand. The Insane Children were sure to delight in his games, and keep him entertained until she got there.
However, when Alice reached the wreckage she stopped short at the horrible sight that befell her.
The top of the wreckage had been blown off, as though something had burst from it. The ground and wreckage were dripping with Ruin that left a clear path leading away.
Despite knowing that he wouldn't still be there, Alice rushed to the wreckage and peered inside.
What she saw there made her sick to her stomach. It was clear how the Dollmaker had escaped, as she took in the sight of the severed limbs left rotting in Dollmaker's binds.
She stumbled back, trying to get her head together. She had to stop him before he laid waste to Wonderland again.
She heard the familiar sound of the Cat materializing, and she turned to face him.
His grin was the same as ever, but the rest of him was grim, and for once his message was not at all cryptic. "He's going after the children."
The instant that messaged sunk in, Alice was racing off towards the Skool. She practically flew with her butterflies in her haste to make it in time. The alarms that something other than Jack had reached the Skool only pushed her to go faster, as she prayed that Jack could hold off the monster until she got there.
But alas she was too late.
When she got there, the Skool was nothing but a pile of rubble coated in Ruin. She could see melting ice, as evidence of Jack's no doubt valiant efforts to keep the Dollmaker back, but it seemed that it just wasn't enough.
She had failed to protect them again.
Alice desperately made her way though the wreckage, trying to find someone, anyone, who may have survived.
Finding nothing, she collapsed in despair, and tears welled up in her eyes.
But before they could fall, the Cat appeared next to a large hole in the floor, not far away.
Unlike before, the cat seemed calmer, and almost relived in his posture. "When outward appearances seem hopeless, perhaps it is best to look beneath the surface," he said smugly.
Realizing what he meant, Alice felt a flash of hope. She rushed to the edge of the hole and stuck her head down it.
Hanging from the bottom of the floor just beyond the edge of the hole was an enormous hollowed out icicle. And sitting comfortably (if chillily) inside it were all the Insane Children and Jack.
Redhead noticed her first, and pointed her out to the rest. "It's Alice!" she cried, leaning out the window the icicle had to let in air.
"Are you all alright?" Alice called to them. The feeling of relief was overwhelming her.
"We'll be fine," replied Leader, shifting herself next to Redhead. "Jack saved us, but he got a bit of a bump on his head from a falling board. We think he'll be alright once he wakes up."
Alice nodded. "Just wait, I'll get you all out."
She then turned to Cat, who was still perched at the edge of the hole next to her. "Fetch Rabbit," she ordered.
The Cat vanished, and Alice began to search the rubble for something to pull the children out with.
She eventually found the chain that had been used to hold up a chandelier, and swung it down to the children. She then pulled them up one at a time, along with Jack, who had to be tied to the chain.
By the time they were all out, the White Rabbit had arrived.
"Oh, goodness me!" exclaimed the Rabbit when he saw the remains of the Skool.
"Rabbit, there is no time for that," snapped Alice sternly. "I want you to take the Insane Children to the Pale Realm. Have the White Chess Pieces look after them, and keep them safe until this is settled. Then, I want you to go down the rabbit hole to the Warren and tell Bunnymund that Jack has been injured, and Wonderland is no longer safe."
"Y-yes, yes, right away," said the White Rabbit. He quickly led the children away, and Jack began to stir.
The winter spirit sat up and rubbed his head, wincing as he felt the bump on his noggin. Alice took notice of his other injuries, such as the Ruin burn on his hand, and how he was favoring his back.
"Thank you," she said solemnly, gaining his attention. "For protecting the children when I couldn't."
Jack stood up stiffly. "No problem. Sorry I couldn't stop the guy." He then gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay?" he asked. "How are the kids?"
Alice heaved a heavy sigh. "No, I am not alright. The Dollmaker is loose in Wonderland, and I have no idea where he is going or what he could be planning," she snapped.
Jack winced again, this time not from his injuries.
Alice then deflated some. "However, the children are all safe, thanks to you. I've sent them with Rabbit to somewhere they will be protected. At least until the Dollmaker is stopped."
Jack nodded with a relieved smile on his face. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't see which way he went."
Before either of them could say anything else the Cheshire Cat reappeared. "Better get moving," he said. "Time is of the essence." Then he faded away.
"Time?" Alice asked in surprise at the Cat's abruptness. Then understanding dawned on her. "Time! He's going after Time!"
With that confusing statement, Alice took off to where she believed the Dollmaker would strike next.
*A*A*A*
A/N And now the action gets started. Jack could have probably gone for longer when facing the Dollmaker, but he had the kids to think of. He thought it was more important to protect them than continuing the fight.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.