To Wonderland - Ch. 2

To Wonderland
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I do not own any of the characters. They belong to DC Comics and Lewis Carroll. "Alice in Wonderland" belongs to Lewis Carroll. This was written purely for fun.
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Chapter Two: A Grin Without a Cat

   Jonathan Crane opened his eyes and was nearly blinded by the sunlight. He brought up a hand to shield his eyes from the harsh light and had a look around. He found himself standing on a low-rising hill on the edge of a forest. The gentle breezes in the air made the grass around him dance, lightly tapping against his boots. In the distance, he could see the grass disappear into a sandy shore with a wide sea beyond. There wasn't a building in sight.

   He most certainly wasn't in Gotham anymore.

   Crane lowered his arm to his side once his eyes had adjusted and took in this new environment. It appeared that he was the only one in this strange new land. He could feel wind brushing across his face and rustling his clothing. The smell of salt carried on the breeze, mixing and mingling with the scent of pine from the forest behind him. The sound of straw rubbing against straw became apparent, making Jonathan's mind halt. He had a look down at himself to find he was in his Scarecrow costume. He raised a hand to his face; he was certain that he could feel the wind against his skin.

   His fingers were met with the rough texture of burlap, but somewhere in his mind he knew he was touching his face. It was a bizarre feeling, one that left him more confused than concerned.

   He lowered his hand again and took another look around.

   "'Your hair wants cutting,'" came a familiar voice from behind him.

   The Scarecrow turned and glanced over his shoulder at Jervis. The Mad Hatter was in his full costume, leaned against a tree with a content grin on his face.

   "Is there a reason why I'm in costume?" Jonathan asked as Jervis approached him from the forest's edge. He decided not to question the Englishman's sudden appearance.

   The Hatter shrugged. "It's best that way. Here, I am the Mad Hatter, and you are the Scarecrow. No sense in speaking true names, eh? That's half the fun of escaping from reality," he said with a bucktoothed grin.

   "Whatever," Jonathan said before beginning to look around again.

   Jervis gazed about for a moment before he reached into a pocket. As he pulled out a ring of at least a dozen keys, he turned on his heel and began walking back toward the forest. "Where would you like to go?" he asked as lazily flipped from one key to the next.

   Crane slowly began to follow the Hatter into the wooded area, his eyes ever on the move. This was all rather difficult to wrap his head around. He had no idea that the mind-control chip would allow everything to feel this real. There were sights and sounds, which were to be expected, but there were also feelings and smells. He hadn't been anticipating all of this to feel so vivid. He felt hypersensitive to everything; everything looked sharper, smelled stronger, felt over exaggerated. All of the colors seemed brighter. It was disorienting.

   "I don't know," he said at long last. "How about we go meet your March Hare?"

   "Not yet," Jervis replied. He turned to give Jonathan a brief smile. "I'm saving the best for last."

   Jonathan gave him a dull look. "Alright then. Where do you suggest we go?"

   "'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,'" came an eerie voice from overhead.

   The Scarecrow glanced up to an overhanging branch of a nearby tree and beheld a cat. The feline was lying across the limb casually, staring down at the two of them with a wide grin on his face. Its tail swayed from side to side casually.

   "Cheshire Puss!" the Hatter greeted him cheerfully. The cat's grin seemed to grow even wider, if that was even possible. Jervis turned to the lanky man beside him and gestured at the cat in the tree with a broad wave of his gloved hand. "Scarecrow, this is the Cheshire Cat."

   'I never would have guessed,' Jonathan mused sarcastically to himself as he continued staring up at the cat grinning down at him. The Cheshire Cat met his stare evenly, not blinking once as Jervis continued the introduction.

   "How are you on this most frabjous day, Cheshire Puss?" the Hatter asked of the freakish feline. "Not causing any trouble, I should hope?"

   The Cheshire Cat's eyes finally left the Scarecrow to return to the Englishman in a fixed stare. "What kind of trouble?" the Cat asked in a mischievous tone.

   "Oh, you know," Jervis contemplated, waving a hand about carelessly, "the kind that could shorten you by a head."

   The Cheshire Cat let out a chuckle. "Ah, that kind of trouble. I'm afraid not, Hatter." The Cat glanced back at Jonathan. "'Do you play croquet with the Queen today?'"

   Before Jonathan could think of a proper response, Jervis clapped his hands together and turned to him. "Croquet! You simply must play croquet!" The Mad Hatter whirled back around to the cat in the tree, an excited grin on his face. "Shall we see you there, then?"

   The feline's grin widened once more and he offered a single nod. "'You'll see me there,'" the Cheshire Cat replied coolly.

   The Hatter returned his attention to his guest. "Let's go!"

   The blond man took off down the dirt path before Jonathan had a chance to say anything. The Scarecrow simply stared after him for a long moment before he glanced back up to where the Cheshire Cat was perched. He was mildly started to see just a toothy grin floating in place where the feline had been. His eyes lingered on the curious sight for a moment longer before he turned to follow Jervis.

   The trees in his peripheral vision seemed to flatten out as he walked, turning the forest into a lengthy hall of painted trees. The effect was dizzying, to be honest, but Jonathan kept walking on the unchanging path. He glanced around himself when the trees dimmed into nothingness. He gave the blank walls a queer look before he peered over his shoulder. The painted walls he had just walked by had vanished; the corridor continued on forever behind him.

   The soft metallic clink-ing of keys made him turn back around. He found the Hatter standing in front of a door that had most certainly not been there before. Jervis pulled open the door and had a peek inside the room beyond the doorway. He huffed in mild irritation and closed the door with a little too much force. "I am not introducing you to Bill," he muttered before he moved on to the next door.

   Jonathan approached the Hatter. The further on he walked, the more doors seemed to spring into existence. It was all very confusing. He was beginning to think it wouldn't have made any difference if the blond man had explained any of this to him. He couldn't make any sense out of anything.

   "Have you ever played croquet before, Scarecrow?" the Mad Hatter asked his guest as he moved on to another door, breaking the lanky man from his thoughts.

   "I can't say I have," Jonathan replied, keeping pace with the Englishman.

   "This shall be quite the experience, then," Jervis replied with a smile.

   He pulled open the door just enough to peek through. A wide grin crossed his face. "Here we are!" he declared cheerfully before he pushed the door open further. A blinding white light instantly engulfed the Hatter and blinded Jonathan.

   "Come, come, Scarecrow!" came the Hatter's voice in the whiteness. Jonathan felt gloved fingers gently wrap around his wrist.

   He was pulled through the threshold.