Hearing John shouting, Alicia looked over to her friend and asked "Do you mean to make things seem more grim for AJ than they already are?"

"No, not at all," John said, trying to reassure the more alert of the two Dormice. "It's just, I think I may have found a way for AJ to defeat the Jabracore."

And now, my lovelies, we pick up where we left off last chapter. Enjoy. =)

"Well, don't just leave us all in the dark," Alicia said, her full attention on John. "Do tell us your plan!"

With Zack, Justin, and Tyson now focused on him, John decided to tell the four what his plan was. While those four were in the middle of talking about John's plan, AJ continued to run around and dodge the Jabracore as it continued its seemingly endless cycle of diving down, charging at her, and flying back up into the sky. Panting as she looked up the beast as it stayed aloft with the power of its massive wings, AJ thought 'There's just no way. I can't beat this thing if all I do is run from it. What am I going to do?'

From her tower, Vickie cackled as she watched the chaos that was taking place before her eyes. "Don't you see, child?! There's no hope for you to defeat my pet! Just admit defeat and I will be lenient with your judgement."

"Never!" AJ shouted up at the Queen, dodging out of the way just as the Jabracore charged at her again before flying back up in the air.

"Very well then," Vickie said, settling into her throne. "Enjoy your battle then."

Panting heavily, AJ couldn't do anything but dodge the Jabracore. 'This is hopeless. How I do I beat something this massive?' AJ thought. She had been so set in her cycle of dodging out of the way that she didn't count on the Jabracore clawing at her as it swooped down the next time. Not being able to dodge out of the way of the beast's claws quick enough, AJ found herself getting pulled up into the air as she tried in vain to struggle out of the Jabracore's grip.

Seeing what had just happened, Punk couldn't bring himself to stand idly by anymore. Nodding at both Alex and Kaitlyn, which was a sign for them to set his plan in motion, Punk ran from his spot on the sidelines of the battlefield as he charged towards one of the guards near the door that blocked of the Jabracore. Tackling the hooded guard, Punk rained down punches on the guard until the guard couldn't defend himself anymore and went limp under Punk. Grabbing the swords that he had, Punk ran back to where he had left Alex and Kaitlyn. Panting as he reached the catgirls, Punk held out both of the swords and said "Ches, Shire, remember what I told you two."

"Understood," Kaitlyn said, taking hold of one of the swords.

"You're going to be waiting to carry out the other part of your plan once the Jabracore comes back down, right?" Alex asked, taking hold of the other sword.

"Of course," Punk said. "Once that damned hellspawn comes back down, we are going to ground it and give AJ a fighting chance."

Hearing the determination in Punk's voice, the two girls smiled widely and Kaitlyn said "You truly are mad for even suggesting this idea."

"And we love every bit of it," Alex said, as she and Kaitlyn phased away.

Once the girls were gone, Punk thought 'This should work. It has to work.'

While still airborne, AJ punched, kicked, screamed, and squirmed around in the Jabracore's grip in the hopes of being released but was having no such luck. 'Is this really how my trip to Wonderland ends? With me getting turned into this thing's dinner? It can't end this way. It just can't!' AJ thought as frightened tears rolled down her face. 'Someone. Anyone. Please help.' AJ had been bracing for the worst to happen when, all of a sudden, the Jabracore let out a vicious screech as it dropped a bit in altitude. Confused at what was happening, AJ looked to see what looked like a sword sticking out of one of the Jabracore's hind legs. 'A sword? When did that get there? Better yet, how did that get there?' AJ thought, her thoughts going a mile a minute. It wasn't until the Jabracore let out another ear-splitting screech that AJ saw what was causing the Jabracore's pain: Alex and Kaitlyn were driving a sword into the Jabracore's other hind leg. A wide smile crossed her face as AJ momentarily basked in the joy she was feeling that two of her friends were coming to her aid. These feelings didn't last long as she suddenly felt herself falling. Looking around herself, AJ saw that she had been released and was now plummeting many feet down to the checkerboard that was waiting below on the ground. 'I get out of the Jabracore's grip just to end up going splat and dying that way? At least I'm going out in something in the way of a blaze of glory,' AJ thought, closing her eyes at her pending crash into the ground. But, to her surprise, AJ felt a pair of arms wrap around her as she felt herself stop falling. Opening her eyes, AJ saw that she was in Punk's arms as the two were then placed on the ground by Alex and Kaitlyn in a cloud of purple and pink smoke. Looking around at her friends, AJ asked "You guys saved me?"

"Of course we did," Kaitlyn said. "We weren't going to just let you fight that thing on your own any longer."

"It's not like Her Highness gave you anything to defend yourself with, so we decided to take matters into our own hands and step in to help you out," Punk said, his hold on AJ not loosening.

"We're your friends, AJ," Alex said. "And more than anything, we want to see you defeat the Jabracore."

Unable to say anything due to the swell of joy she was feeling, AJ felt fresh tears well up in her eyes. The sounds of more screeching ripped AJ out of her joy as she saw John and Zack drive what she was guessing were the same swords into the Jabracore's wings. AJ then watched as the Jabracore tried to take flight but struggled to stay aloft before landing back on the ground as pained screeches tumbled out of the beast's mouth.

"And we felt the best way to do that would be to put you and the Jabracore on even playing fields," Alicia said as she piggybacked a still sleeping Layla on her back and walked over to where the three were standing with Justin and Tyson fluttering on both sides of her.

"You guys," AJ said, a grateful smile crossing her face. However, before AJ and the others could bask in the glory of what they felt was a successful plan, the Jabracore let out a vicious growl as it swung its tail around in a circle, knocking John and Zack away as they were sent flying backwards a few feet.

Having seen all of the chaos and mayhem that had taken place below her, Vickie coldly said "I don't know how it is that you all were able to take away my pet's flight, but I can assure you that that was a mistake. One that you will all regret making."

Taking in the grim looks on her Wonderland friends', minus Layla's, faces, AJ asked "Uh, guys. I don't like the sound of that. Why did that not sound like a good thing?"

Before anyone could think to answer AJ's question, the Jabracore let out a vicious growl as it let out a stream of purplish-black flames into the sky.

Feeling her eyes widen, AJ thought 'It breathes fire too?! How in the hell are we supposed to defeat it now?'

...

"Are you sure we'll even be able to find him down here?" Cody asked nervously as he and Ted made their way through the dungeon beneath the Queen's castle.

"Yes, I'm sure, Dum," Ted said, following the trail of lanterns that were set in the walls. "I sincerely doubt that the Queen would kill off the King while she was dealing with AJ's trial. My guess is that she sent him down here to be held until after she could cast a final verdict on AJ."

"I just think it's wrong that any of this is happening," Cody said. "Wonderland used to be such a happy place. Then that all had to go and change when she came into power."

"That's why I feel AJ was so empassioned when she was speaking out in her own defense," Ted said. "Even though she is a stranger to our world, she still wants to do everything she can to make things better for us all."

"I suppose you're right," Cody said. "I just hope she'll be able to carry that wish of hers out."

The two walked on in relative silence until they moved to walk along the wall in the hopes of trying to hide themselves. Walking along like this, the Tweedles reached the end of the corridor, which branched off in three different paths; one branch going to the left, one going to the right, and the other continuing straight ahead.

"Well, old friend of mine. Which path do you think we should take?" Ted asked, uncertainty settling over him like a dark cloud.

Looks like the planning that Punk and John were doing came to fruition in the end as they were able to succeed in grounding the Jabracore. The major problem this has presented for AJ and the group now is that the Jabracore seems to have gotten even more dangerous now that its grounded as seen with how quickly it swatted away John and Zack and the flaming roar it let out. Switching to our dear Tweedles, they appear to have a plan of their own that involves dungeon crawling. Their first major obstacle: The dreaded three hallway split (God, I swear I'd always hate this dilemma in a bunch of older video games I've played. Pick the wrong path or trail and you either get faced with an unexpected fight or...death.). Will the Tweedles pick the right path and carry out their mission? What will AJ and the others do now that the Jabracore's trying to burn them with hellfire? Stay tuned to find out. Until next time, don't forget to R&R please. =)