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The Chronicles of the Fifth Alice
So, I'm currently writing a story that is somewhat based on Alice in Wonderland, and I wanted to post the first three chapters here to see what people think about it.
Anyway, please comment on it.

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Chapter 1: The Cheshire Cat

“Ugh... my head hurts…” Alice says as she stands up. She shakes her head and her green and black hair covers her eyes. After she pushes her hair out of her eyes, she looks down and notices that she’s wearing a short-sleeved shirt with puffy sleeves. She’s also wearing a sleeveless black dress over it and a purple ribbon is tied in a bow around her neck. She stands up and says to herself, “Okay, as much as I love these clothes, I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t wearing this earlier.”
She looks around and sees that she’s in a room that’s painted entirely white. There is no furniture in the room, and there isn’t even a door. She starts asking herself, “Where am I? I don’t see a door, so how did I get in here?”
The only thing in the room is a gold frame with a painting of dark green hills and a bright blue sky. On the left side of the painting, there is a red stone path that leads to a forest. On the right side of the painting, there is a brown stone path that leads to an old-looking castle, and there is a group of mountains behind the castle.
“Wow, what a realistic painting. I wish I knew who painted this.” She says as walks toward the painting. Alice, being somewhat of an artist herself, loves to look at other people’s artwork. While she is distracted by the painting, she fails to notice the set of stone stairs that end right in front of the painting and almost gets tripped by them.
“Stairs that end at a painting? How strange,” she walks up the stairs and steps in front of the painting.
She sees a metal plaque that says “a portal into Wonderland” and says, “A portal to Wonderland? Hmm, I wonder what will happen if I touch this ‘portal’.”
She touches the painting and her hand goes through it, and then half of her arm does, too. Within seconds, she is in a completely different place, and she has a completely different problem; her left leg is stuck in the painting.
“Okay, why the hell did I just do that?” she says, absolutely furious. Alice always does things like that; she always gets herself into trouble and can never seem to get herself out of it without somebody else’s help.
She sees a person in a fluffy white rabbit costume and asks them, “Hey, can you please help me? I’m stuck in this painting, and I think that my left leg just went numb on the other side.”
The rabbit person looks at her and says, “I can’t. I’m very late, and you know what the princess does to people who are late.”
They run away and Alice yells, “No, I DON’T know what she does!”
“Can anyone get me out of this damn painting?!” Alice yells to nobody in particular. She’s very upset, because that person was her only hope. She can’t see anybody else at all, and this place looks like it is very far from any village or town.
“Well, it seems that our little Alice has quite a foul mouth.” A strange voice with a British accent replies.
“Where are you?! Show yourself!”
“Oh, and a short temper to match.” The voice continues.
“Don’t make me get myself out of this painting and kick your sorry a**!”
“And she is violent, too. Very well, then; I will allow you to see me.”
There is a puff of smoke, followed by a small pop, and then he appears. He looks like he is a few years older than Alice. He has black cat ears and red and black hair that covers his eyes, and he has an extremely creepy, sharp-toothed smile on his face. He’s wearing a ripped black and white T-shirt with a ripped white and black long-sleeved shirt underneath, and gray cargo pants that are ripped at the bottom of the legs.
“Get me out of this painting already… please?” she asks, kind of nervous, because for all she knew, he could also have claws to go with his ears.
“Just concentrate on passing through the painting, and it will happen.” He says calmly in the same British accent that she heard earlier.
“Fine, I’ll try.” She concentrates, and she steps out of the painting.
“See? It is as simple as that.”
“Thanks, cat dude.”
“‘Dude’? I am not a ‘dude’. My name is Cheshire, and I am a neko.”
“And I call everybody dude, so I’m calling you a dude, too. It’s as simple as that.”
“That logic makes perfect sense. I simply cannot beat an explanation like that,” Cheshire says without a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“Oh, you’re no fun to fight with! Wait… how did you know that my name is Alice?”
“That is a very straightforward question that deserves a straightforward answer: all of the outsiders who come through the painting are called Alice.”
“Even the guys?”
“Yes, even the ‘guys’.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Not necessarily. At least it is easier to remember the person’s name.”
“There must be a lot of Alices, then.”
“Actually, the opposite is true. There have only been five or six Alices, depending on whether or not you count the twins as one.”
“Wait a second. That painting that I went through was called ‘a portal to Wonderland’, and I went through that painting like it was a portal; so that means… I’m in Wonderland?”
“That is correct. In fact, you are the seventh Alice to come to this country, but the first is called the Original Alice and, as I said before, the fifth and sixth were twins; they are also called the fourth Alice. So you are officially the Fifth Alice.”
“The Fifth Alice, eh? I could live with that title.”


Chapter 2: The Alices

“So, you said that the fifth and sixth Alices were twins? That sounds familiar- oh, now I remember! It was in a song that I heard one time. Something about different Alices and the four card suits, I think.”
“Really? That is quite interesting. Do you remember any more of that song?”
Alice thinks for a moment before saying, “Well, there was an Alice of the red Spade, an Alice of the blue Diamond, an Alice of the green Club, and the two Alices of the yellow Heart.”
“I see. Can you tell me any more?”
Well, I might be able to,” Alice says as she takes a few seconds to think, and then says, “Nope, I can’t remember any more of it. Honestly, I’m surprised that I even remember that much. I haven’t listened to that song in so long.”
“That is too bad. I was hoping that you could have told me more about it. From what you have told me, it sounds sort of like the first five Alices, not including the original.”
“ Really? That’s very strange. Anyway, would you mind telling me about the other Alices?”
“Well, I suppose that I should tell you, considering that you are the newest Alice. The Original Alice came to Wonderland over one hundred and fifty years ago. According to the legends, she followed a white rabbit here, though nobody can say that is one hundred percent accurate. Anyway, the Red Queen, also called the Queen of hearts, ruled the people of Wonderland. She was an evil dictator who executed anybody who acted against her, along with people that she only thought were. So, the Original Alice decided to act against her… and she succeeded. The Red Queen was exiled, her much kinder sister, the White Queen, reclaimed her throne, and peace returned to Wonderland. Then, as suddenly as she had appeared, the Original Alice left Wonderland. The Original Alice had changed Wonderland in a positive way, but the First Alice… Well, the people of Wonderland still have not forgotten what she did one hundred and twenty five years ago. You see, her father was a very high-ranked soldier that was very skilled with swords. When the First Alice was old enough, he had decided to teach her how to use swords. When she turned eighteen, she decided to disguise herself as a man and join the royal army. She found her way into Wonderland during a battle and was very confused, so she assumed that she was on her way to an enemy town. When she had reached a nearby town, she attacked everybody in sight. By the time help had arrived, it was too late for the defenseless townspeople. She had killed countless people, and injured many more. When she was finally captured, she was imprisoned in a cave deep in the woods, so that she could not kill any more people.”
“Why wasn’t she killed?! She should’ve been decapitated for what she had done!”
“Well, she was blinded by her violent spirit, and the White Queen refused to have anybody killed, regardless of what they had done.”
“Okay, then. What happened next?”
“Well, the Second Alice came twenty five years later. He was a young man, probably around the age of twenty. His life before he came to Wonderland was a mystery. He was considered an amazing singer. Every day, he would go to the main square in the town and sing for money.”
“So he was kind of like a street performer?”
“Yes, he was. Unfortunately, he had decided to use his singing to control people. Wonderland was a very disturbing place at that time because of him, and there were very few people who could resist his singing.”
“So it was like everybody was under some kind of spell?”
“Exactly. So, the very few people who were not under his spell came together and came up with a plan: they would murder the Second Alice to break the spell. The next day, one of the people in the crowd took out a gun and shot him. He was shot right in the heart and had died with an insane smile on his face, like he had been almost happy that he was going to die. All of the people that he had controlled had returned back to their normal selves, and everything had gone back to the way that it had been before he came. Until…”
“What happened?”
“Well, twenty five years later, the White Queen had become ill, and she was dying. The citizens of Wonderland had to select a new queen, because the White Queen didn’t have an heir to the throne; and that’s when the Third Alice came. She was a beautiful young girl who had wandered into Wonderland while walking in the woods on the way to the neighboring town. Everybody was instantly charmed by her kindness and gracefulness, so when time to chose the new queen…”
“She was the one that they had picked.”
“Yes, she was. After the White Queen had died and the Third Alice ruled in her place, Wonderland was a perfect place to live in. There were no fights and everybody was kind; but unfortunately, nobody can escape death. The citizens of Wonderland were dying of old age, and the queen was afraid of aging, because she didn’t want to die, too. She traded her soul for eternal youth, and continued to rule Wonderland.”
“What happened to her?”
“Well, she was granted eternal youth, but not immortality. She died shortly after her second child was born, but that happened long after the fourth Alice came.”
“The twins?”
“That is correct. They had arrived fifty years after the Third Alice, and they were from the same town that she was. They were exploring the woods one day when they found Wonderland. They didn’t know where they were, so they asked a person who was on the same road as they were. They told the two children that they were on the main road to get to Wonderland. As the person walked away, a yellow envelope fell out of their pocket. One of the twins picked it up and tried to return it, but the person insisted that it didn’t belong to them, and that the twins should keep it. So they opened it and found an ace of hearts inside, along with instructions on how to get to the castle. On the way there, they came across a cave with a person inside of it. There were bars over the entrance to the cave, along with a door with a lock on it. The key to the lock was just out of the person’s reach. She told them that she had all of her belongings stolen from her and was locked in the cave by the thieves. Then, she asked them if they could help her get the key. The sister wanted to help, but the brother wasn’t sure that it was a very good idea. Eventually, his sister convinced him that it was the right thing to do. If only they had known that the person was actually the First Alice; maybe then they would still be alive. She killed one of the twins and escaped into the woods. To this very day, everybody believes that she is still there, waiting for her next victim.”
“Okay, remember what I said about liking the title of the Fifth Alice? I take it back. I don’t want to end up insane, dead, or both.”
Cheshire laughs and says kindly, “The last four Alices met very terrible ends, but do not worry. You are the Fifth Alice, and the cycle has reset itself. You are the Alice destined to kill the Yellow Princess and restore the kingdom to its former glory! You are-”
“Wait. What Yellow Princess?”
“Oh, it seems that I have forgotten to tell you. The Third Alice’s two children are the Yellow Princess, who is sometimes referred to as the Daughter of Evil, and her older sister, the Green Princess. The Green Princess was the ruler of Wonderland until her sister overthrew her and banished her.”
“Just like the Red and White Queens,” Alice says.
“Yes. I believe that you are the only one who can kill the evil princess and save Wonderland. It would also be a good idea to kill the First Alice, too.”
“So, just to be clear, I can kick some a** somewhere along this journey, right?”
“I would be somewhat disappointed if you did not, actually.”
“So that’s a yes, right?”
“Yes.”
“That’s all that I needed to hear.” She laughs as she walks down the path and says, “This is going to be fun!”

Chapter 3: The Hatter
“So, where’s the Yellow Princess’ castle? I feel like kicking some asses!” Alice declares as the two of them walk down the red-stoned path.
“You cannot fight her yet. There are a few people that you must meet first.” Cheshire replies.
“Who are they?”
“They are the Hatter and the Green Princess.”
“I guess that I should meet the Hatter first, and then the Green Princess. Who’s closer?”
“Hatter would be closer to where we are now.”
“So, where does he live?”
“He lives just inside of the haunted forest over there.” Cheshire says as he points to the left of the path.
“A haunted forest? Really? Is he a ghost or a zombie or something like that?”
Cheshire laughs and says, “He isn’t a ghost or a zombie, but I have heard that he cannot be completely trusted.”
“Well if he’s so untrustworthy, then why do I have to meet him?”
“He will be very helpful to have on your side.”
“Oh, I see.” Alice says as she and Cheshire walk into the forest.
After a few minutes of walking, Cheshire says, “His house should be around here.”
Alice looks around and says, “Oh, it’s over there. It looks… haunted. That’s so cool! I wish that I could live in a place like this!”
“You certainly are not like any of the other Alices.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m one of a kind.” Alice says as she walks over to the door. When she sees that Cheshire isn’t following her, she asks, “Aren’t you coming, Cheshire?”
“No, I shall wait out here.”
“Okay, then. Is there anything that you want to tell me before I go inside?”
“Only one thing: just remember, you are not allowed to… quote, ‘Kick his a**’.”
“Okay, but if he throws the first punch, I’m not holding back.” Alice replies before knocking on the door. The door automatically opens and after she steps inside, the door closes.
“That’s pretty cool,” she says as she looks around. She’s in a thin hallway with three doors on each side and one door on each end. The door across from her is open and she hears somebody on the other side say, “Come in!”
When she walks into the room, the first thing that she notices is the striped walls and the black carpet. Then, she notices the white couch and the small black table and matching chairs in the middle of the room. A guy her age is sitting at the table playing solitaire. He is wearing a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a black and white striped vest with a red tie over it; he is also wearing black pants, a black mask, and a black top hat.
He smiles at her and says, “Hello, miss. Would you like to have your fortune told?”
“I might, but I have one question that needs to be answered first: is your name Hatter?”
“Yes it is, but most people call me Joker.”
“Why do they call you that?”
“Well, do you know the five different types of standard playing cards?”
“Well, there’s the spade, the diamond, the club, the heart, and the… joker cards? Yeah, the two joker cards, usually with a star symbol on each of them; am I right?”
“Yes, you are correct. I am called the Joker for many reasons, but one of those reasons is that I just really like cards; and since the actual suits were already taken by the red warrior, the blue king, and the green princess, and the yellow prince and princess, I was given the final one that was available.”
“I see… anyway, I’d love to have my fortune told, Joker.”
“I, too, would like to have my fortune told, but that can’t truly be done. I may not be able to read fortunes, but I am the master of card games.”
“Why did you ask me if I wanted to have my fortune told, then?”
He laughs and says, “I was just curious. Besides, you can tell a lot about a person by how they react to certain questions. Now that I’ve answered that question, I will ask one of my own: Would you like to play a card game?”
“I guess that I could, only if you agree to my conditions.”
“What are your conditions?”
“If I win, then you have to help me out on my quest.”
“Okay, and if I win, I will get your soul; and I will win. I always win.”
“Well, I have never lost this game before, mostly because I have never played this game before, but I will win. I accept.”
“The rules are simple; Pick any of the four aces, or Alice cards, and you win. However, if you pick the fifth card, the Joker card, you lose.”
“That sounds simple enough. With those odds, I’m definitely going to win.”
He laughs and says, “Let’s begin, then…” He places the five cards face-up on the table. The five cards are the ace of spades, the ace of diamonds, the ace of clubs, the ace of hearts and a single joker card. After a few seconds, he picks up the cards and shuffles them. He spreads them out on the table face down and says, “Choose a card.”
“Um… that one,” she says as she points to the center card. He turns the center card over and says, “I’m very sorry to say that you have lost. Now, I shall accept my payment.”
Alice loses consciousness and a small sphere of light floats towards Joker.
“That poor girl never stood a chance against me… the odds may seem to favor the person playing, but this game can be manipulated so that the dealer always wins.” he sighs as four cards fall out of his sleeve and onto the floor; they’re the four aces. He slowly turns each of the cards over on the table; each of the cards is a Joker.
He examines Alice’s soul and says, “That’s strange; this soul isn’t like the others that I’ve collected, but I feel like I recognize it… oh crap! This girl is the Fifth Alice! Why didn’t I notice this sooner? I hope she’ll forgive me…”
He returns her soul to her body and quickly puts the cards away. She wakes up and asks, “What just happened? Did I win?”
“I’m so sorry, miss Alice! I had no idea that you would be coming so soon! I would be pleased to travel with you on your quest.”
“So I did win? I’m confused.”
“Yes, Alice; you technically won.”
“Awesome. Let’s go kick some asses!”
“You love kicking asses, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” she says as she walks down the hall.
“Wow, you aren’t like the other Alices.”
“Yeah, I’ve been hearing that a lot lately,” she says as she opens the door.
When they’re both outside, Alice says, “Hey, Cheshire! Look who’s the new addition to our group,”
He appears and says, “Excellent. We should continue our quest now; there is no time to waste. Even now, the Princess’ soldiers could be looking for us. Besides-”
“Wait,” Hatter says, interrupting Cheshire. “It’s getting dark; it isn’t safe to travel through the forest at night. We should spend the night at my house; it will be a good opportunity to learn more about each other. Right, Alice?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“It’s settled, then. We’ll stay here tonight.”
Once they get inside, Cheshire says, “So, you prefer to be called the Joker, correct?”
“Actually, that name is getting kind of old; I think that I’d prefer to be called Hatter instead.”





Vash_the_Stampede123467
Community Member
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