"I can't believe this. I just had to let my curiosity entice me into following Punk. Oh, who am I kidding? That probably wasn't even Punk. He was probably just another familiar stranger, just like Ted and Cody, the Tweedles, or Justin and Tyson, the Caterpillars. Why do I always do these things? At first, it was me actually mistaking Darren Young for John Cena, and now I'm in some crazy place, going around and running into people that look just like my friends. Maybe this is all a sign that I need to turn back. But if I do that, then I'll never find out where Bunny Punk was headed. OK, this is a proclamation I'm making right now: I will not turn back just because things are looking bleak. I will find out where he went and I will make him tell me about him," AJ said, as she stopped in her tracks on the path she was taking. "The only question is how in the name of everything sweet do I find him?"
Walking along, she looked down and saw a trail of footprints leading away from her, going in the direction she was headed. Taking this as a clue, she decided to follow the trail until she came to a tree at the center of four different paths that branched off in different directions. After seeing that the footprints had disappeared, AJ took a look up at the tree and saw that there were different planks of wood nailed into the tree.
"What a weird looking tree. And look at all of these things nailed into it. Are these the names of more people that make 'Wonderland' their home?" AJ asked.
While she had spent time taking a look at each sign, all around her leaves in the trees started to rustle around her and, as AJ paid attention to what was happening around her, she slowly started to make out what had sounded like two unknown, yet familiar, voices.
"Look at all of the pretty flowers."
"It'd be a shame if they were to fall in a petal-filled shower."
"But then, that'd be a beautiful thing to see. After all, you're always complaining about how you never get to see anything that has beauty anymore."
"Indeed it would be, but then again, after it ended, then things would slowly start to become a bore."
"Oh, it's just so hard to please you. Why can't everything ever seem to make you happy?"
"Because you know that I've got a low tolerance for the overly sweet and sappy."
Trying to find the source of the voices while looking up in the trees above her, AJ was a bit caught off guard when, out of nowhere, she heard a voice to her right say "Looking for something?", causing AJ to turn around only to see no one there.
"Such a wicked tease, you are. Up here," the other voice said.
Looking up in the tree, AJ saw that instead of two bodies there, she saw just two smiles floating in space.
"Wow, this is a bit strange," AJ said, cocking her head to the side.
"Oops! Terribly sorry. Just a moment," the voices said together, as slowly the two bodies started to materialize on the tree limb that AJ was staring at. As AJ saw these two beings start to reveal themselves, she saw that they looked just like her best friends, Alex and Kaitlyn, however, just like everyone else she had seen there, they didn't quite look like themselves-both of them had pairs of purple-and-pink cat ears on, a pink-and-purple tail, and purple-and-pink arm warmers, in addition to their own outfits: Alex was wearing a ribbon choker necklace, a purple-and-black striped turtleneck muscle shirt, a pair of short black shorts, pink-purple-and-black mid-thigh socks, and a pair of mid-calf pink-and-purple converses; Kaitlyn was wearing a pink-and-black striped sleeveless top, a black knee-length skirt, a pair of pink-and-black striped tights, and a pair of fuzzy pink-and-purple boots.
AJ was about to call out to the two by calling them by the names of her friends, but to avoid making mistakes like she had earlier, she instead said "You're both cat girls."
"Cheshire cat girls to be exact," Alex said.
"But we have our own names to avoid being mixed up by others," Kaitlyn said.
"Then what are your names? I'm curious to know," AJ said.
"Certainly. My name is Ches," Kaitlyn said.
"And my name is Shire," Alex said.
"Ches and Shire, eh? Not exactly the most original names, but I guess it makes since, seeing as how you both are Cheshire cat girls after all," AJ said laughing.
"Well, if our names are not very original, then what's your name?" Alex asked, jabbing her tail at AJ.
"My name's April, but my friends and my family all call me AJ," AJ said.
"AJ? That's pretty original for a girl to have as a name. Makes you sound so badass," Kaitlyn said.
Blushing, AJ looked down at the ground and kicked at the dirt, while saying "It's not even really like that. I mean, I like that everyone gave me such a unique nickname, but then again there are times where it makes me feel so out of place and not normal."
"Nothing wrong with not being normal. In fact, people that aren't normal are some of the most fun and happy people to be friends with," Alex said.
"So I've heard. And yet, I think I'm one of the most normal people back where I'm from," AJ said.
"You can't be all that normal with a name like AJ. No matter how much people deny it, there's something in everyone that's a bit strange about them," Kaitlyn said.
"You two don't quite seem to get it though," AJ said.
"And what exactly is it that we aren't getting? Do you want to talk about it?" Alex asked, as she hung from the tree by her tail.
"You see, I'm pretty much a not-so extraordinary person back where I come from," AJ said.
"By whose standards exactly?" Kaitlyn asked.
"Well, just about nearly everyone's, I guess. But not my friends. I never really have to do anything out there or crazy for my friends. I just have to be myself and they'll have no problems at all with me," AJ said.
"Then it sounds to me like you are in need of telling your naysayers that you are better than them. After all, life's too short when you're constantly worrying about what it is that others think or say about you," Alex said.
"Ha. You two make it sound like it's the easiest thing in the world to do," AJ said. Turning away from the two cat girls, she mumbled "Something was telling me not to try to find those voices. I've probably lost Punk to the words by now and here I am, talking to demented cats!"
"Oh, by the way. If you'd really like to know something crucial, he went that way," Alex said, pointing to her left.
Hearing this, AJ snapped her head up to look up at the Cheshire cats and said "Really? He did?"
"He did what?" Kaitlyn asked.
"Went that way, to the left," AJ said, pointing.
"Who did?" Alex asked.
"The black bunny!" AJ shouted, stomping her foot.
"What bunny?" the two said.
"But, wait, you just said-Gahh! Damnit!" AJ said.
"Another helpful bit of info. If I was looking for a bunny of any kind, I'd go ask the Mad Hatter in that direction," Kaitlyn said, pointing to the right.
"Thanks a lot for that-" "But just so you know, he's silly," Kaitlyn said, cutting AJ off.
"Or, she could always go ask the March Hare, who's in that direction," Alex said, pointing to the right, as well.
"That's a bit of a help-" "Of course, he's as silly as the Mad Hatter is," Alex said, cutting AJ off again.
"Then there are the Dormice with those two, but they're just as silly as the Hatter and the Hare," Kaitlyn said.
"Well, they won't be much help to me at all, now will they? I can't keep affording to go around silly people and crazy people," AJ said, stomping the ground again.
"Oh, my dear sweet AJ, you can't seem to help that. Most everyone here is either crazy or silly," Kaitlyn said.
"Or as some might call us, mad," Alex said, before bursting into a fit of laughter that Kaitlyn joined into.
After the two were over their laughing fit, Alex looked down and said "Not that you've noticed or anything, but we're not really there ourselves," as the two started to slowly disappear while they began to laugh again.
Once the duo of cat girls had disappeared, AJ said "In the words of the immortal Ron Simmons, DAMN! If people here are as crazy as those two, I guess I'd better watch what it is I say around them. Not like it'll help."