"I'm late! I'm late!"

"Excuse me?" Alex asked the creature. //How was this...rabbit...speaking? …and why the hell am I still following it?//

Alex stopped at the wide oak tree. Its arms branched out in all directions, casting a cool shade for the lazy straggler. There, Alex leaned his arm against its base and took several deep breaths while scanning for the white rabbit he had lost. Sighing leaned his whole back against the wide trunk.

//Where was that stupid rabbit?//

His eyes wandered downward, noticing a tiny footprint in the dirt. Alex crouched to the ground and examined the footprint in a fashion his best friend, Liz Parker, would have done. The prints faced inward toward the tree trunk. Perplexed, he leaned in further.

//Nothing//

A far off ring of a bell caught Alex's immediate attention. //The tree!// His eyes squinted, his forehead furrowed, Alex pushed a random section of the trunk. Amazingly, it opened to reveal some sort of dark room.

Swearing softly, Alex took one last breath before plunging into total darkness.

*****

Isabel Evans was falling. Her head was swirling. All around her other objects were falling, or miraculously...floating. She grabbed hold of a rocking chair off to her right side. //Might as well go down in style.// Off to the other side, she noticed a floor length mirror and caught a glimpse of her reflection. //What a tacky dress.// Isabel glanced at the blue old fashioned dress with the plain white apron. Her long blond hair was straightened and held back with a simple black headband.

"Ouch!" Isabel whimpered after the rocking chair had tipped over and thrown her to the ground.

Isabel hesitantly stood up, still rubbing her sore hip, wondering why or how she was in this place. Isabel instantly moved her hands to her head, massaging her temples. Slowly, she came to a conclusion. //I'm insane. Or...maybe I'm drunk. Max had that awful reaction to alcohol. Yeah that’s it.// Shaking her head, Isabel figured she might as well go along with this fantasy. Her life hadn't been exactly looking up lately.

Ahead of Isabel was a large, wooden door. As she approached it, it continually got smaller until...her knees were face to face with it. Isabel slowly knelt down, worrying about making a run in her stockings. Her thin hand reached toward the golden doorknob and with a quick twist of her wrist, Isabel tried to open the tiny door.

Isabel flew backwards, sliding across the polished floor. "What the!?!?" Isabel screeched, pounding into a hard wall.

"Can't you see, you're much too big to enter here. Drink the bottle," a voice said as a mysterious bottle appeared on the floor before Isabel.

"Eh..." Is figured. //Might as well.//

She stood up and took the clear bottle and placed her soft lips tentatively around the small, circular opening. Her head tipped backward and the cool liquid cascaded down her throat.

"Mmm...chocolate cake...hot sauce..."

A second later, Isabel was found on the floor, massaging her already aching rear. //That helped.// Just then, she realized just how much it HAD helped. She was tiny; small enough to now fit through the door.

"You didn't forget the key did you?" the voice taunted.

Isabel gritted her teeth, obviously annoyed. "What key?!" Isabel exclaimed.

"The key to unlock the door, of course. Its on the table."

Isabel looked up at the table she hadn’t realized was there before, eyeing the distance between her and the key. She walked up to the door, peered through the keyhole, and recognized the white rabbit scurrying into the distance. She placed her hand an inch away from the lock wondering why she hadn't thought of it in the first place.

*Click*

*****

Maria DeLuca was confused. She quickly turned around and suddenly saw two familiar faces.

"Ohmygawd...this IS NOT happening," Maria muttered in disbelief.

Standing directly in front of her were two goofy, yet intimidating, figures. Each were dressed in bright, exciting, red pants; crisp, yellow shirt;, and tacky looking bows with matching hats.

"Mom!" Maria yelled, exasperated.

The woman who Maria thought was her mother pointed to her name which was embroidered on the bow. Maria leaned forward and read out loud the inscription. "Tweedle Dee-Luca..." //Tweedle Dee-Luca?// Maria tried to stuff her giggle. //Leave it to mom to come up with something as lame and pitiful as that.//

The second laughable character stepped forward. "Tweedle-Dum." Maria read. "Figures," she mumbled. "Mom! What are you doing…with him?!” Maria said, her teeth clenched. She turned to face Valenti and gave him the evil eye. “And I do say, bright red is definitely your color," Maria chided.

"And I think I’m gonna be sick," Maria added after observing her mother and Valenti begin an odd little dance. She tried to brush past the two, eager to escape this nightmare. However, Dee-Luca and Dum had locked their arms and would not allow her to go.

"You can't leave...not now..." they chorused.

Maria took a side step, but "double D" had somehow managed to beat her, with incredible speed. She broke into a full out sprint...but was again stopped.

Maria sighed and over gestured, "What do you want?!"

"To tell you a story of course," they said matter-of-factly.

"Ohdeargawd," Maria whimpered as she settled down to hear the story.

Valenti began. "This tale is about aliens..."

*****

Max Evans had finally gotten past the most annoying two people he had ever met. His steps were slow, unsure of where to go next. His instincts told him to look up at that moment. Five smoke rings had risen into the air a short distance away.

Max dashed to the mushroom filled area and slowly approached the green figure perched lazily on an extremely large mushroom, smoking a pipe.

"Excuse me?" Max asked, hesitantly.

"Whoooooo are youuuu?" the creature asked, rolling every syllable off its tongue.

//Wish I knew…// "I'm Max Evans. I'm just looking for my friends. Have you seen any of them?" //Alien...human...choose your word...//

The figure did not reply. It took a deep drag of the pipe and spat out a couple more smoke rings.

"Could you at least tell me how to get back to Roswell?" Max finally questioned.

"Whooooo are youuuu?"

Max's jaw dropped as the creature repeated the same, monotonous question. He rubbed his right temple, leaning tiredly into his hand. //This is gonna be a long day.//

"I need to know how to get out of this place!" Max could hardly keep his temper down. There was something odd here. Something weird...and something extremely annoying.

"The lazy crocodile..." the thing began.

Max turned, running out of there as fast as his lean legs could carry him. //Thank god for wrestling.// Max slowed to a halt once he was clear of the mushroom field and began to worry. //Where is everyone?// Max felt like it was his duty to make sure everything was alright. If something happened to anyone, he didn't know how he could deal with it.

Two circular balls of light appeared above a limb of a medium sized tree. Max stared at the sight intently, a confused look marring his otherwise controlled face. He automatically stepped back putting some space between him and the tree.

Max soon realized it was a cat and before he knew what he was doing, Max spoke out loud. "I'm crazy."

"Crazy? You'll find that everyone here is...a little crazy," the Cheshire cat grinned.

"What the he--" Max ended. He had never been the one to curse much. Occasionally he did, like that time that Michael had said he didn't trust anyone. Max smiled at the memory of himself trying to protect Liz's honor. He would do it again, easily.

"Is there anyone here that can help me find my friends?" Max asked.

"The Mad Hatter lives that way," the cat smiled crazily, pointing at a sign.

Max sighed and slowly trudged in that direction indicated by the sign. His only wish was that Liz was already there, safe and sound.

*****

Michael Guerin read the sign in the road, //Mad Hatter// and continued walking in the direction it had specified.

As he opened the white gate surrounding the tiny cottage, a wave of familiarity washed over him. "Maria!?" he called out. Michael gasped for air, slightly afraid of continuing.

"A merry very un-birthday to us, to us! A merry very un-birthday to you!..." Music flooded Michael's ears.

"What the..." Michael said as he saw a tall, dark-haired man prancing about idiotically with what appeared to be a dark, brown colored rabbit. Michael immediately rubbed hi eyes, expecting the hallucinations to have disappeared. Oddly enough, the man wearing the dark trench coat was still there, making an ass of himself.

As soon as Michael had fully entered the yard, the "Mad Hatter" and the stupid rabbit hurried over and ushered Michael to a long table with a million odds and ends scattered on top.

"What's this?" Michael asked, glancing at the man's face. "Nasedo!" Michael gasped suddenly, recognizing the man.

Michael had been waiting for this moment all of his life. Unfortunately, all of his planned words had escaped him and he stood there, stuttering like a child.

"I'm just mad for a cup of Tabasco tea. Care to join us?" Nasedo asked.

"Um...sure..." Michael answered slowly.

With a wave of Nasedo's hand, a tiny blue teacup and saucer poofed before Michael. The rabbit reached over and poured the steaming, reddish brown fluid to the teacup's brim.

The rabbit and Nasedo stood from their chairs and practically shoved Michael several seats over. His untouched tea sat on the table. Michael's mouth watered. Finally, another cup of tea was ready for him.

Michael anxiously took a sip. //Sweet and spicy. Perfect.//

"So...um...you my father?" Michael grunted, finally managing to speak.

"Your father?!" Nasedo looked surprised.

"Yeah." Michael waited for an answer but none came. He stood up from the table, obviously angry. //No one ever wanted me, why would I think my original father would ever want me?//

Michael stalked out of the yard, never looking back.

*****

Liz Parker wandered through a maze of bushed that were at least 8 feet tall. White rose bushes were also scattered about. She walked in awe not noticing the mud puddle she had stepped into. Liz glanced quickly at her shoes; they were black and sort of old fashioned, yet cute. She could pull off wearing them to school…if they ever got clean.

A drop of liquid on Liz's scalp brought her back to reality. She jerked her head back, her straight shoulder length hair lightly swishing against her back. Liz grabbed hold of a chunk of her hair and gasped at the red splotches against… her surprisingly golden blond hair. //I always wanted to know how I'd look as a blond...// Liz continued to scowl and stare at her hair in disgust.

"We're painting the roses red!" a man dressed as the two of clubs went about exclaiming. They were three others with him: the ace, three, and four of clubs.

Being the kind soul that she was, Liz offered to help. She grabbed a bucket of the red paint and a brush and stepped up the short ladder and began humming along with the cards.

The sound of horns and an approaching parade sparked the ace to pull back Liz. She was startled and clumsily fell backwards, spilling globs of red paint all over the front of her blue dress.

"Au--" Liz screeched quietly.

The cards all simultaneously placed their index fingers to their mouths.

"Oh," Liz mouthed.

Liz stood awkwardly before the cards, wondering why they were bowed completely to the ground.

The sounds of a timid voice caused Liz's ears to perk up. She turned and recognized the white rabbit and then...Miss Topolski. Her hair was piled high on her head and an expensive crown sat primly upon it.

Miss Topolski smiled menacingly at Liz, eyeing her up and down.

It took all of Liz's control to keep herself from trembling. She wanted to appear unafraid...innocent...in control.

Miss Topolski spoke. "Curtsey before the queen, it is only polite."

With a brief pause, Liz attempted her best curtsey. The Queen spoke again, but Liz was concentrating too much on keeping still to be able to focus and comprehend.

Liz caught her last few words.

"...Take her away," Topolski gestured.

Liz didn't need to think; she bolted in the opposite direction, hoping her instincts would serve her right while navigating through the monstrous maze. She caught herself swearing softly. //Note to self: If I make it out of this, never paint roses red.//

Liz continued running through the maze. She reached a fork in the maze and had to decide quickly which route to take. She took a step forward, gearing herself for a full out sprint when a strong arm reached out. Before she had a chance to scream, she was pulled forcefully into one of the bushes of the maze.

*****

Liz was about to scream when a chorus of resounding "shhhhs" stopped her. Liz took a giant breath, instantly relieved. "Max," Liz sighed, relaxing into his arms. "You scared the life out of me. How long have you been here?"

“For awhile…” Max began.

Liz didn’t want to seem not understanding but she had to know why Max hadn’t found her first instead of the others. //Don’t think that!// she scolded herself. Max practically read her mind.

Max fingered her blond hair, grinning slightly. “It took awhile for me to recognize you.”

“Oh the hair…” Liz grinned.

Isabel and Alex were not smiling. Confused, Liz turned to watch Michael being dragged away by several card-clad soldiers. The petrified look on Maria's face broke Liz's heart. Tears were streaming steadily down her best friend’s pale, shocked face. Without thinking, Maria leapt forward, screaming "Michael!!!"

Liz instantly reached out to hold Maria back, her fingers slipping against the cool fabric of Maria's dress. "No Maria..." she whispered. Max grabbed hold of Liz, successfully pulling her back. "Its too late," Max whispered as Maria's voice caught the attention of the soldiers. Isabel, Alex, Max, and Liz hurried further down the pathway to avoid being discovered.

Alex winced as his best friend was slapped sharply across the side of her face. Maria thrashed ferociously against her captors, not feeling any pain except the immense one located deep within her heart. She fell to her knees sobbing, nothing left for her to do. A Nine of Clubs grabbed hold of her firmly by her wrists. Maria bit him; bit him with all the pure hatred boiling within her soul. //No one will take Michael away from me.// She lashed out, biting to the cool solid of the bone before the hand was wrenched sharply from her teeth. A tiny amount of blood trickled from her mouth as she stared hatefully at the Nine.

The other soldiers had stopped and were watching the whole ordeal. Michael was completely shocked and amazed at the love Maria had shown for him. She had risked her life to attempt to save him. No one had ever done that for him before. Michael's eyes teared up and he looked away, ashamed. He needed to be strong. //Stonewall…mud mud mud.// He continued on wondering what he had ever done to deserve her. His eyes dried quickly and he stared at Maria. He could read what she was thinking. //No don't cry Maria...I love you and we will get through this...but...violence isn't going to help.// Maria read his eyes; only Michael could have gotten her to end her rampage. Maria stood up coolly, her eyes locked with Michael's, as she was pushed in the direction toward the Queen's palace.

Isabel watched the whole scene. Her eyes widened in fear. She hastily clutched Alex's hand to make sure he was still there...still there with her. Alex brought her shaking shoulders closer to him and tried to ease the cold ache within her. Isabel stared up at him lovingly for the first real time. She had always loved him. Even though Alex had continually reassured her that he would always love her for what was inside of her, she had been frightened and pushed him away. Now in this moment of crisis, she knew that never again would she make that decision.

Something was different about Isabel. Alex brought her in even closer, trying to rub away the pain. For a moment, he just held on and let his cheek rest upon her head. Then his thoughts wandered. //God Maria...// His attention left Isabel and toward his other best friend. Liz wasn't doing too well either.

Liz couldn't stop shaking...at first it was a light trembling and then it was uncontrollable as the parade of soldiers marched further and further into the distance. Soon Liz was sobbing. All Max could do was bring her gently into his arms, his own eyes filled with sorrow. He slowly reached for her delicate chin, and lifted her water-drenched eyes to his.

"Everything is going to be okay," Max whispered, knowing he would do whatever it would take to get Michael and Maria back safely.

"I know," Liz murmured back as confidently as she could. She rested her head against Max's well-toned chest, sniffling quietly and taking in all that had happened.

*****

Everyone took Max's lead as they crept toward the Queen's castle. Max felt something...Michael and Maria would be breaking out of there...and soon. He glanced at Isabel. She nodded back showing she too felt what Michael had planned.

A loud roar of noise erupted into the air. Two thin figures dashed away from the gates of the castle with an angry mob running after them in a huge cloud of dust.

"Oh no," Max, Isabel, and Liz uttered at the same time.

Alex grabbed Isabel's arm and pulled her up. Max did the same to Liz. Together they ran toward Michael and Maria...and unfortunately, closer to the enraged Queen.

"Nice of you to join us," Michael joked as the six friends met up.

Max had to smile. "Come on," he waved.

The six continued speeding throughout the strange wonderland. The various places the six had previously visited flashed by. The grass disappeared and the group seemed to be running through a black void. Maria and Liz gasped for air. They were not used to running so quickly. Isabel grabbed Alex's hand tightly, trying to keep up with him. Michael and Maria ran second, occasionally sharing scared looks.

"I could have helped you!" The queen screamed maniacally. Liz could not help but look back at the approaching herd. The hideous look upon Miss Topolski's face terrified her.

Liz jerked forward, tripping on some unseen object. She plunged headfirst into the black, flipping forward. Max, who had been running side by side with Liz, skidded to a stop several feet away from her. Liz looked back at Topolski again and stumbled trying to get up.

"Liz!" Max shouted.

Liz froze and could only stare back at him, too petrified to know what to do. Her eyes widened and no look could have ever possessed more fear than Liz Parker's doe eyes at that moment.

***** Isabel and Alex reached the door, pulling frantically to get it unlocked. It wouldn't budge. Isabel placed her hand over the lock and it clicked open. Gasping for air and staring into each other’s eyes, they stumbled together to safety.

*****

Max ran back to Liz with a force like no other; he would not lose her, he could not. They had been through too much.

*****

Michael and Maria reached the small door. They paused to kiss briefly before Michael stepped in, pulling Maria behind him.

*****

What seemed like an eternity later, Max reached forward grabbing Liz's wrist. He pulled her up into his arms and set her back down onto the "ground." Max made sure their hands were locked and Liz smiled back at his thoughtfulness, her love shining in her eyes. Hand in hand, they ran for the floating door but the faster they ran, the farther the distance between them grew.

Liz was beginning to wonder if they would ever make it. Max leapt towards the door, flinging his arm to the golden doorknob and barely catching hold. Slowly, Max brought himself through the small door. Max hurriedly began pulling Liz through the doorway after him.

Liz’s eyes shut in pain as the Queen dug her sharp nails into the flesh of her left ankle. Max continued pulling, almost crying to himself to see Liz in such pain. A sudden pop let Liz free from the Queen’s grip. Liz was through the door and Max slammed it shut, gasping air into his lungs.

Together they collapsed into a small heap. Max leaned over to heal her ankle and Liz just stared back, slight passion in her eyes. She cuddled close against Max’s body and sighed happily into his shoulder.

*****

Isabel awoke. She sat up, her feet slightly touching the TV screen in the Evans’ family room. //Strange/./ The TV was playing the end credits to...Alice in Wonderland. Shaking her head, she looked over her shoulder and smiled at Alex. His arm was draped lazily over her leg. Isabel gently shook Alex awake and they began talking quietly.

"I had the weirdest dream," they both began, laughing. Isabel picked up the remote and changed the channel to MTV. A popular band began playing. They continued discussing the weird events of their dreams and when Isabel had finished her “drink me” story, Alex began cracking up hysterically.

Maria moaned softly. “Shut up Alex.” Slowly, bringing her upper body up, she sat up straight and kicked Alex playfully for waking her. Maria almost gasped out when she saw Michael’s arm still wrapped protectively around her waist, but stopped and smiled. Maria leaned down like she was about to kiss Michael’s forehead, but instead she whapped him hard, but playfully, on the shoulder.

“What what?!” Michael was instantly to his feet. “God Maria,” he muttered.

“And good afternoon to you too,” Maria laughed. Maria looked over at Max and Liz still quietly sleeping in a pile and was slightly jealous of them, of their connection. Maria shook her head, and instead looked forward to spending the rest of the day with Michael. They had so much time ahead of them and she was positive that someday she and Michael would share something just as special. “So Isabel, what was so funny that Whitman over there has to start cracking up?” Maria asked.

“Oh, I was telling him about the weirdest dream I had…” Isabel began, only to be interrupted by Michael.

“Yeah, I had a dream that Nasedo was the Mad Hatter,” Michael grinned, laughing at himself.

“You think about him too much,” Maria joked. She playfully hit Michael and he responded by tickling her in her soft spot: her stomach.

Maria couldn’t stop laughing and grabbed a pillow and attempted to whack Michael on the head with it. She accidentally let go and the pillow went tumbling in slow motion in Alex’s direction. He was standing up, giving his guitarist impression of the band playing on MTV. He strummed a loud chord and was hit squarely in the head with the pillow.

Isabel squealed in a fit of laughter. She had hopped up and was using a brush as a microphone, pretending to be the lead singer. Michael couldn’t help but laugh at Isabel letting loose and acting weird for awhile. He grabbed two pencils and began “playing” the drums, thrashing his head up and down for effect. The two humans and two aliens that were awake pranced around, jokingly “singing” various songs that were playing on the TV.

Max and Liz stirred. They woke up at the same moment, staring deeply into each other eyes; their hands still gripping each other’s tightly.

“Hi,” Liz greeted him shyly.

“Hi,” Max answered, grinning widely. He glanced around and Isabel, Alex, Michael, and Maria who were still goofing off. He felt refreshed and a sudden burst of energy jolted through his body from the glances he received from Liz. He too stood up to join the goofing around and extended his arm for Liz. She quietly refused, wanting to sit back and watch.

Liz smiled seductively at him while Max danced around. They had turned the music louder and a crazy Ataris song was playing. Liz finally untangled the mess of pillows and blankets covering most of her head. She stretched out and sat up. Five people froze in their places, staring at her with dropped jaws and widened eyes.