Lizzie's heart hurt. It felt wounded in there, barely pumping, as wilted and colorless as the beautiful plants of her Grove.

And that made Lizzie Hearts, who was already quite mad, even madder.

She stormed through the heart-shaped door with you, Maddie, Kitty, and Cedar on her heels. You were not greeted with bottom-of-the-well decor, restless furnishings, or shouting greeting cards, but with a simple white room with one normalish door and one dark purple carpeted opening that was door-sized. The normalish door bore a sign scribbled in orange crayon: JABBERWOCK NOT THROUGH HERE.

Lizzie: That is not a trustworthy scrawl. Someone may be trying to trick us into not taking the correct door.

Kitty: Or someone may be trying to trick us into thinking they are tricking us, making us choose the trick door by saying it isn’t what it is.

Y/N: Stop saying ‘trick!’ I’m tired of that word!

The shouting hadn’t cured your knee-tremble and belly-twistiness as she’d hoped. Lizzie gripped the sword hilt harder. That Jabberwock would pay for what it did to her Grove.

You turned back to the “trick” door (sorry, Ozzie), only to discover it missing, replaced with an empty wall.

Y/N: Did one of you steal the door?

Lizzie: Nay.

Maddie: Not me.

Kitty: Me neither.

The three girls looked at Cedar expectantly.

Cedar: Um… no? I didn’t even know stealing doors was an option.

Y/N: It shouldn't be, but look at everything else happening.

And then the wall sort of blinked and the door you had come through was also gone.

Lizzie: Aha! Unless one of you is lying, Cedar, the school itself is stealing doors.

Maddie: The school must want us to go that way.

Lizzie: Forward! Into the purple fur hole! So there!

Because shouting did make her fluttery-tummy and noodley-knees feel a tiny bit stronger.

Tendrils of long purple carpet tickled Lizzie’s face and whispered against her arms as she scampered through the opening. But despite the grape-ish furriness, the tunnel felt welcoming, exhaling a cool, fresh breeze.

Y/N: It’s too easy.

Cedar looked around nervously.

Cedar: It’s also quiet, maybe too quiet. You think something is waiting to surprise us, or eat us, or something?

Lizzie: I hope so.

Lizzie started patting the sword. She tightened her lips and lifted her chin to look braver.

The purple-carpeted tunnel ended, spilling them onto the polished wooden planks of the Grimmnasium. At the far end of the huge room sprawled the lumpy, scaled shape of a beast. The school had brought them directly to the Jabberwock.

Maddie: Thanks, Ever After High.

Maddie whispered, petting the wall.

The Jabberwock was using its clawed, three-toed paws to attach something to its head, but the Narrator couldn’t bear to describe it.

Lizzie: It’s Maddie’s dad! The thing is tying the Mad Hatter to its head with vines and sealing wax! It’s making the Mad Hatter into a hat...a Wonder-powered hat at that.

Maddie felt trembly.

Maddie: We need to save him.

The Jabberwock made a jerky movement, and you all pressed yourselves back into the shag-carpeted walls. Lizzie hid the vorpal sword behind her back.

Lizzie: Just as soon as I cut off its head.

She was certainly mad enough to do it, but just how did one go about slaying a beast that big?

The creature began to wiggle its hindquarters back and forth, patting its head as if showing off its Mad Hatter hat to an imaginary crowd of admirers.

Y/N; We have to save Maddie’s dad first!

The beast picked something long and stringy from between its two enormous front teeth.

Lizzie: This is my destiny. This foul beast is of Wonderland. Wonderland out of order. And my story is a story of order. I will march right up to the beast and sever its wretched head from its shoulders with one swift swing of the vorpal sword! Maybe two.

Maddie: What if you miss? What if your swing is off or if the Jabberwock moves? What if you hit my dad?

Lizzie: I won’t miss.

Maddie’s gaze dropped. Cedar looked nervous. Kitty was trembling so hard she looked a little blurry. Hardly the enthusiasm she’d expect in the middle of her rousing battle speech.

Y/N: Imagine something. Imagine that’s your dad up there.

Lizzie imagined. Her wonderlandiful dad. A tiny man in a huge crown and an impractical grin. Stuck on a monster’s head. And someone else swinging a sword about. And Lizzie understood.

Beware Empathy! Empathy forces you to

Understand how others are feeling and to Care!

Danger! Danger!

But it was too late. Lizzie had Imagined. Lizzie had Empathized. And now Lizzie Cared.

Lizzie: Of course we’ll free him first. By the jack of spades we will. After all, we are the Wonder Worms.

Maddie smiled at her. Lizzie smiled back and wondered if empathy wasn’t quite as bad as her mother believed.

Lizzie: Let's go with the dad-saving, then, so I can slay this beast.

Cedar: Wait. What happens when the Jabberwock dies?

Maddie: Its magic will be undone. Hopefully.

Cedar: All its magic?

Y/N: Hopefully.

Cedar pressed a hand to her chest and felt that violent beating of her heart that meant she was scared. But also alive.

Wait, Cedar wanted to say again, but she knew they couldn’t wait. She could still save herself, outrun the Jabberwock and its magic and the changing-back, go home, and stay real forever after.…

Kitty: I’m guessing we’ve got about twenty seconds before the Jabberwock notices us.

She stood the farthest back of all of them, pressed into the purple shag.

Kitty: If you can manage to get all your fretting and questioning out before then…

Cedar took a deep breath, air filling her up. She was no longer “cursed” with kindness. So this is who Cedar really was. The kind of girl who did not run away. Who faced the monster. Who said, “How dare you hurt my friends? Prepare to feel the wrath of the puppet.”

A hand squeezed hers, and Cedar squeezed back. There was a lot of comfort in knowing that you were on her side.

The Narrator, meanwhile, was avoiding describing the Jabberwock and the sad parody of a hat upon its brow. The Narrator did not comment on how this made her feel, as that is not something Narrators do. But Maddie put a hand over her trembling chin and tried very hard not to fall apart.

The Jabberwock was sniffing the rosebush that used to be Briar. The roses bent and tugged by its inhale, and the entire bush began to quiver. The Jabberwock opened its huge maw as if to take a bite.

Y/N: No.

Lizzie: Beast!

Lizzie ran into the Grimmnasium.

Lizzie: Step away from the irritating bush! You’ve destroyed enough plants today!

The Jabberwock swung its head around, its white-blind eyes fiery now, looking right at you.

Kitty went semitransparent.

Jabberwock: Thoughtful.....

Lizzie: Yes, I am. Now, remove your hat and present your neck for chopping, or it will go badly for you.

The Jabberwock dropped to its stomach and used its legs to slide itself forward, and continued.

Jabberwock: To trawl me up a Wonderling three-batch for squeezing.

Its voice was low and raspy, and shrieked into your ears the way fingernails scratching chalkboards do. Surely it hadn’t yet recognized the sword in Lizzie’s hands, as it seemed unworried, playful, spinning itself around on its stomach.

Kitty: Why is it doing that creepy walk?

Kitty whispered from the purple tunnel.

Kitty: I don’t like it, I don’t like it.…

The Mad Hatter had slumped over on its head, visibly breathing but limp with exhaustion, and the Jabberwock pulsed with a pale sickly light.

Strengthened and fearless, it was leaching the Hatter’s Wonder.

Lizzie: Kitty, transport yourself onto it, untie Maddie’s dad, and then vanish yourselves away.

Kitty turned fully invisible.

Kitty: I’m not good with knots.

Jabberwock: Wee-wee meaty food-legs, food-legs, food-legs.

The Jabberwock sang, slithering closer. It was nearly upon them.

Y/N: Kitty…

Kitty: I can’t I can’t I can’t…

Kitty whispered from the air.

Y/N: Fine.

The Narrator suddenly realized that she had not been paying attention to you. You slipped off your ring and tossed it to her, your heart beat speeding up and your mind racing with a thousand thoughts all at once. It was as if they had been building nonstop since the last time you allowed them any kind of freedom.

Maddie: Ozzie...

Y/N: Whatever happens now, I'm deeply sorry. But you will need to slay this thing. I'll buy you time.

Cedar: H-How?

You reached out your hand. A bright green flame surrounded your fist before it sprouted upwards into a sharp blade. The skin on your hand where your ring once was began to change as well.

Lizzie: Y/N?

Jabberwock: Oh lolo. Ozzian.

Y/N: I said your neck, slivy creature!

Jaberwock: Neck? All is inside out. Upside down. Leftways right. Frontwards back. Here is my neck.

Kitty: That’s just too disturbing.

The Jabberwock poked you in the belly with the tip of its tail. You swung the sword and missed. Its tail continued to poke, pat your head, slap your cheek, nudge you in the ribs.

Y/N: Stop it!

The beast began chittering like a giant chorus of drowning crickets.

Kitty: Go. Now’s your chance. I’ll…er… keep a lookout.

Cedar crept forward, achingly aware that she was no longer made of nice, safe, painless wood.

The frightened and confused thoughts spilling out of Cedar helped distract the Narrator from what was truly terrifying: her father, strapped to a monster’s head. The Narrator had to stay focused. If she stopped narrating, the story would stop, and her father would never escape.

Maddie: Please help him.

You swung the sword recklessly at the tail in your face and managed to snip off an inch.

The creature roared. It spun around with startling speed. Cedar scrabbled out of its way. But you just stood and stared at a small opening in the air the sword had left behind, as if the air was just fabric. Your eyes widened, peering through the slice till it snapped shut.

The Jabberwock turned around completely and slammed down a taloned paw. You only just managed to dodge it, rolling across the floor with the force and slamming into Cedar.

The monster began to do a cheeky dance, making that horrible, fingernails-on-chalkboard kind of raspy chuckle.

Cedar: I don’t know how to save Maddie’s dad.

Cedar was splayed on the floor beside you.

However, you did not give her words of advice or encouragement. You didn't say anything. You just started to laugh. Your laughter grew before you rose to you feet, holding your stomach.

Y/N: Hehehe....hehehehehe......hahaha haha!

Cedar: Y/N?

Y/N: HAHAHA! Come here, my pretty!

You reached your hand out to the side. Another bright flame appeared, this time creating a broom. You threw it forward and quickly leaped onto it like you had done 100 times before.

You rode the broom up into the air and towards the Jabberwock. You created another sword which only served to make the Narrator more nervous. She did not know what was happening.

A toddler-sized furball in a fetching white jacket burst through the double doors at the opposite end of the Grimmnasium.

Daring: <Grra-ha!>

Daring-beastie announced. It charged the Jabberwock and was swatted unceremoniously aside by the beast’s tail.

Cedar and Maddie helped Daring-beastie to his feet. Earl Grey popped out of Maddie’s hat and squeaked emphatically, pointing at the Jabberwock with a hat pin. Earl Grey was a mouse, but he had no problem imagining himself as a hero.

Daring-beastie searched around frantically.

Daring: <Groooard>

From across the room Lizzie threw something that clanged to the floor at Daring-beastie’s feet. It was an ornate butter knife with a beautifully engraved heart on the handle.

Daring-beastie brandished the butter knife.

Earl Grey: Squeak?

Daring: Squeak!

Daring pointed at Maddie’s dad.

The two animals charged forward as you flew around the large creature. A trail of green smoke followed you which gave the Narrator a strange sense of familiarity. Your hood was also now up, giving the impression of a witch's hat.

Lizzie: What is he doing? How is he doing that?

Cedar: I thought he was the son of the Wizard of Oz. Why is he acting like the Wicked Witch?

The Narrator gasped. How had she never noticed this before.

The girls watched as you flew around faster than they had ever seen anyone move. Your blades pierced the creature's skin, but it's wounds continued to heal.

You flew straight up but allowed yourself to fall off of the broom. Your crackling echoed through the Grimmnasium as you flipped your blades around and began to spin. Green smoke once again surrounded you as you dashed straight down the Jabberwock's body.

Before you could reach the floor, your broom caught you and brought you back up.

Y/N: I’ll chop you up like salad! Like a really big, nasty salad no one wants to eat! Not even vegetarians! Or...especially not vegetarians! Ah-ha!

Jaberwock: A walking joke is thee, me wee heartspawn.

The Jabberwock hissed, breathing magic on the area so powerful Lizzie's crown melted into golden icicles.

Jaberwock: Hee-hee-saw.

Lizzie: My crown! I had hoped to spare my little friends this, but you deserve it.

She raised her sword.

Lizzie: Hedgehogs! To your princess!

A chittering roink heralded the sound of a hedgehog moving at an incredible speed. It darted across the Grimmnasium floor and stopped solidly in front of Lizzie.

Lizzie held the sword like a croquet mallet and swung, striking the hedgehog hard with the flat of the sword. The hedgehog flew, straight and true, directly into the snout of the approaching beast, quills burying themselves in its soft nose. The Jabberwock froze as if stunned.

You maneuvered around the flying animals while still attacking the creature.

Cedar took advantage of the Jabberwock’s momentary stillness and boosted Daring-beastie up, climbing after him and Earl Grey.

She was expecting skin like a snake’s or a lizard’s, but the Jabberwock’s hide was slick as jelly and left pads of stickiness on her fingertips.

Thunk!

A hedgehog struck the Jabberwock’s shoulder and stuck. The little beast smiled at Cedar as she tiptoed up the monster’s ridged back.

From her art tools pouch in her pocket, she pulled her pencil-sharpening knife. It was the very one that had sliced her newly real fingertip. Did that only happen a few hours ago? It felt like years. She joined Earl Grey and Daring-beastie, slicing at the vines.

Finally free, the Mad Hatter slumped into her arms, snoring softly. He was sometimes a small man, but it looked like he’d been playing with the grow potions again and was tall and thin. Cedar could barely hold him. How to get down?

Kitty: I got him.

A mouth began expanding into all of Kitty Cheshire. She took the Mad Hatter in her shaking arms and quickly disappeared with the unconscious man, reappearing to lay him down near Maddie and the purple tunnel. Daring-beastie and Earl Grey leaped away.

Lizzie: Maneuver C!

She broke a golden icicle from her melted crown and tossed it on the floor.

Shuffle, the last hedgehog left in Lizzie’s armory, picked up the icicle with her tiny pink hands, nodded, and curled up into a ball. Swift and strong, Lizzie slapped the hedgehog with the flat of the blade, and the little beast stuck right between the Jabberwock’s eyes.

Shuffle poked it in the eye with the icicle, the Jabberwock roared, and Cedar was violently bucked off.

However, you caught her. Her eyes shot open but they grew wide when she saw what little she could of your face. Green skin seemed to expand from your left eye which was still white. This was noticeably odd since your right eye was completely bloodshot.

Y/N: Going down?

Your voice, it was horrible. It sounded dry and higher pitch than usual. It actually rang through her ears, making her shiver in fear rather than comfort.

You got lower to the ground, but you still tossed her to the floor like she was still made of wood.

Ouch. There was pain but not as much as she’d feared. She sat up and realized why. Daring-beastie had leaped to her rescue, attempting to catch her but mostly just breaking her fall. He gave her a fuzzy thumbs-up.

Cedar had only just gotten to her knees when the Jabberwock noticed her.

Its head swung around on a giant snakelike neck, fiery eyes inches from her face. Its huge nose snuffled her. If not for the cheerful icicle-waving hedgehog affixed between the creature’s eyes, Cedar was sure she would have started crying, or screaming, or both.

The enormous mouth opened and exhaled over her. Its breath was hot and cold at once and stunk of wet dog and burned turnips. The breath magic was so strong it rustled Cedar’s clothes and changed them into paper, her dress now made of stitched-together pages ripped out of a book about Pinocchio.

Jaberwock: The game’s score is Wonderling naught. Why does the bitsy playsqueal not change?

Daring-beastie was punching the Jabberwock in the neck, but the Jabberwock didn’t budge.

Jabberwoc: Why? Wordspew! Tell my greatness why you normal stay and change not!

Lie, Cedar thought. She could say she was magic, beyond its power, poisonous to eat, destined to slay a Jabberwock, anything to scare it and make it leave her alone.

But Cedar chose to tell the truth.

Cedar: I am changed.

You had flown down and grabbed Lizzie with what little understanding and dropped her down onto the beast. Lizzie had crept up to its neck, and now she swung. The vorpal sword went snickersnack.

Hearing for the first time the telltale noise of the vorpal sword, the Jabberwock jerked away just before the sword reached its neck. It reared its head, knocking Lizzie. The sword flew out of her hands, and she landed several feet away.

Lizzie: Where is the sword?

The Jabberwock was staring at the shimmering trail the sword had cut in the air.

Jabberwock: Vorpal! Vor paaaal!

Daring: Grrrr… ha!

Daring-beastie growled, reaching the sword first. He lifted it up, struggling with the weight.

All sassiness and patience melted from the Jabberwock. It charged Daring-beastie, who suddenly vanished. The Jabberwock skidded to a halt, sniffing the air, smelling the lemony trail of Kitty’s disappearance. Several feet away, the Daring-beastie reappeared, the sword floating beside him as if it had a life of its own. And then the sword vanished.

Jabberwock: Vorpal!

A snickersnack sounded from the far end of the Grimmnasium. Kitty was perched atop the basketball standard.

Kitty: So much moving around. It’s really draining to carry oth....

Whatever Kitty was going to say was lost as she stared at the hole in the air her swing had cut. She smiled, baring each of her Cheshire teeth.

Kitty: Guys!

Her voice actually bubbly.

Kitty: This sword can get us home! That’s Wonderland in there.

She pointed at the hole as it snapped shut.

Kitty: Who cares if it’s infected or something. So is Ever After currently. Let’s just....

The Jabberwock clawed a wooden board from the floor and threw it across the length of the basketball court, impaling the backboard and sending the whole standard crashing to the floor.

Cedar: Kitty!

The Jabberwock galloped to the mess, screaming.

Jabberwock: Vorpaaaal!

Kittu: We could… ugh… use that beast on the Ever After High basketball team.

Kitty whispered from behind Cedar.

Cedar whirled.

Cedar: You’re okay!

Kitty coughed.

Kitty: Relatively.

Her eyes were half-lidded and her ear was bleeding a little. She then looked up to see you flying off once again. You had managed to catch her and take her away before the Jabberwock could hurt her.

Kitty: Vanishing, moving, vanishing… it takes a lot out of you. Especially when you carry stuff.

The Jabberwock was picking through the broken standard bits with its claws and mouth, searching.

Jaberwock: Swoooord!

Kitty: You do the honors, princess. Forget this monster. Use the sword to open a door home.

Cedar: No! What about Ever After? You can’t just leave the Jabberwock here!

Lizzie: I could go home. Raise an army, come back, take over....

Cedar: What? Like the Evil Queen, but in reverse?

Lizzie’s eyes cleared from whatever daydream she was in.

Lizzie: Of course not.

The creature in question had given up searching the rubble for the sword.

Cedar heard its claws clicking on the hardwood, coming back toward them.

Lizzie: Give me the sword, Kitty. Quick!

Kitty: Only if you promise to take us home.

Jabberwock: Cat Thing!

With great flaps of its bat wings, the Jabberwock leaped and descended upon them in a crash. Everyone went flying, but especially Kitty. Cedar saw her spinning almost to the ceiling. The sword flew out of her hand, singeing the air with a narrow rip.

The sword struck the wall, careened back, and began to descend into the tear it had made. Midair, Kitty reached for it.

They would both plunge back into Wonderland. It was over, Cedar thought. The sword would be gone.

Y/N: Not so fast, Kit-Kat!

You popped out of thin air, dropping the vorpal sword at Lizzie’s feet.

Cedar: He caught it. Before it fell into Wonderland.

Maddie: And came back to us before she did.

Kitty: Off with its head, Your Highness!

She curled into a ball.

Kitty: Just going to take a little catnap…

Lizzie patted Kitty’s head and picked up the sword. Her beautiful crown hung in broken golden icicles. The painted heart around her left eye was smeared. Her skirt was ripped; her tights bore ragged holes in the knees. But her eyes were clear and her mouth was set.

However, you suddenly fell from the air and landed in front of her. Lizzie watched as you began to shake and shiver on the floor, rolling around in pain. Most of your body was green now, but you were still laughing.

Y/N: AHAHA...HELP......HEHEHEHE....THE.......HEHEHEHAHAHAHA....RING....HAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHAHA!

Maddie pulled out your ring and tossed it across the Grimmnasium. Lizzie caught it and kneeled down. She slipped the ring onto your finger, immediately putting a stop to your shivering. You gasped for air before the green on your skin began to travel back into the ring and your eye.

Y/N: Finish....this....Princess.....

She raised the sword.

Lizzie: Now, Shuffle!

The Jabberwock opened its mouth as if to eat Lizzie, but Lizzie’s pet, still stuck between the monster’s eyes, tossed the golden icicle into the creature’s throat.

Jabberwock: Hurrg!

Cedar" I’m glad you’re on our side, Princess of Hearts.

Lizzie: Callooh callay! It’s about to become a frabjous day.

Lizzie swung the sword, missing wildly. A huge scaly paw swatted her for the trouble, and she went skidding to the ground.

She leaped up, irritated. It was not supposed to be like this. It was her destiny to bring Wonderland to heel, but her Grove was destroyed and everyone was hurt. Lizzie probed her swollen lip.

She was hurt, for queen’s sake! The only one hurt was supposed to be the Jabberwock, and apart from the smiling hedgehog wedged between its eyes, the beast was suffering from nothing more than a golden icicle stuck in its gullet.

Jabberwock: Hork!

The icicle gagged the Jabberwock, holding up a claw to Lizzie as if it were in the middle of a speech and just needed her to wait a moment.

Maddie: Get him, Lizzie!

Maddie sounded like she was almost back to her usual happy self.

Lizzie: Is your dad okay, then?

Empathy filled her, but instead of causing indigestion, she actually felt amazing. Maybe her mother was wrong about a few things. What a terrifying thought! Lizzie ordered it to the back of her head to inspect later.

Lizzie: Never mind. He’s off the head, so I’m killing it now!

Lizzie charged the Jabberwock and swung, just managing to take off the tip of a horn before being kicked away. Oh, spades take it. Maybe all this empathy was throwing off her aim.

Or was it worry for you? Her eyes traveled to you as you struggled to get to your feet, Daring-beastie trying to help you.

Maddie took off her shoe.

Maddie: Hatworm is go!

She threw it at the Jabberwock.

Lizzie: I don’t need any help! I’m trying to fulfill my destiny, and you’re messing me up!

Jabberwock: Hurglaaa!

The Jabberwock finally coughed out the icicle, the force expelling it straight at Lizzie. Fast.

Shrunk was the sound that Lizzie heard as the golden icicle struck her.

How curious, Lizzie thought, even as the pain blossomed, that the sound of a coughed-up golden icicle glancing across one’s forehead would sound like an actual word that has nothing to do with icicles, gold, or foreheads. Her legs weakened, and she dropped to one knee. I shall have to tell Maddie about it. Also, apologize for being so curt.

Y/N: Lizzie!

Maddie: Lizzie!

Maddie was leaning over her. Lizzie couldn’t think of the last time anyone had been so close to her. Besides her hedgehog, Shuffle, of course. But she didn’t really count as an anyone because of all the spiky fur.

Lizzie preferred pets that weren’t too soft. But, you were soft. And you were there, holding her, gently. Like she would break should you do something wrong. She hated it. She hated that you were so kind to her. She didn't deserve it. Not when you fought your own darkness deep inside yourself.

But she couldn't help but wonder what this feeling was everytime she saw you. Everything you spoke. It hurt, it felt weird, but she loved it.

Lizzie: I wanted to tell you…something.

Maddie: I know, I already narrated it.

Lizzie: Oh, no.

Jabberwock: Rrraaaagggh!

It had Cedar trapped against a wall. A torrent of its transforming breath blasted her. The pages of Cedar’s paper dress yellowed and curled at the edges.

Jabberwock: If the playsqueal meat will not tweak into something yummier, ’twill be simpler just to eat as is!

Lizzie: Absolutely not! That girl is under the protection of the Court of Wonderland. Any action against her will be considered high treason!

She got back to her feet with the help of you and Maddie. She pulled away, once again holding her sword high.

The Jabberwock lifted one feathery eyebrow.

Jabberwock: Hee! I see no Wonderland! We stand on Else. My Else. The Heartspawn is a ruler of nothing.

Lizzie: Wherever I am, there is Wonderland. A queen carries her kingdom always.

The fiend chuckled, flapping its claws around in a gesture meant to take in everything.

Jabberwock: The Wonder here was wrought by Jabberwock. Seemings that where ere I am, there is the Land of Wonder.

Lizzie: This is not Wonderland! This is an abomination. A corruption. A poison. Your eyes are no longer fiery, which means you used up all the energy you stole from the Mad Hatter. You are getting weaker, and I wield the vorpal sword.

Jabberwock: The sword sings strong, but a shoddy conductor are thee. You swipeswipeswipe and murder only air. Little missmissmiss could nary hope to sever this greatness of neck. And alas and alack, as the poem smacks, ’tis the only way to defeat me. But to finish off tiny girlings, my Wonder-less paws are terror enough.

It launched itself at Lizzie, clawed paws out.

Lizzie, with muscles hardened by years of swinging flamingos and hurling hedgehogs, swung the sword with all the might, rage, and sovereign right she could muster, and parted the Jabberwock from an entire paw. A ripple in the air opened, and the paw dropped through. The hole snapped closed.

The great beast roared, and Lizzie smiled. Now it was hurt. It skittered away, pulling its wounded arm close.

Lizzie pulled on the hilt, but her colossal blow had buried the tip of the sword several inches into the floor.

Maddie and you rushed forward to help Lizzie free the sword. The Jabberwock whirled, still cradling its arm, but a tiny pink replacement paw was already sprouting from the wound.

Cedar: Hey, Jabberwocky!

She raced around, picking up odd balls and loose floorboards, throwing them at the beast, trying to distract it from Lizzie and Maddie.

Cedar: That sword opens doors to Wonderland. Don’t you want to go home, where there are real, tasty bandersnatches?

A bit of longing passed through the Jabberwock’s eyes. But it lowered its wet gray eyelids and scowled.

Jabberwock: In Wonderland I am endgame of the Galumphing Hunt. It is destiny rhyme-declared. But here the election is mine. Here I will be king! Once vorpal is mine.

The Jabberwock glared at the three of you, who were tugging desperately on the sword. It pulled its tail back for a mighty blow.

Maddie: Hold on.

Lkzzie: I will.

Lizzie kicked Maddie and you away from the tail whipping toward you.

Lizzie: Keep telling the sto....

And then, pain. Lizzie didn’t think she had ever felt so ouchy. The impact lifted her off her feet even as it knocked the sword free from the floor.

She was sliding sideways and half upside down, spinning past the Jabberwock, but she managed to keep hold of the hilt. The sword trailed dark lines through the air. She saw her fingers loosen on the grip and commanded them to stop, to tighten, to hold firm, to keep tearing an opening in the air. It would have to be enough.

At last the sword fell from her numb fingers and dropped into the hole it had made.

Lizzie struck the far wall and slid to the floor, the breath knocked out of her. The doorway the sword had torn was huge, tracing the entire path from where Lizzie had been struck to where she landed.

Your eyes grew wide and you screamed.

Y/N: LIZZIE!

A scaly paw dipped into the divide and caught the sword.

Jabberwock: There, then, and now. My paws belong around such as this.

The hutling crashed into the Grimmnasium, front door/mouth open, coughing its student contents out. A raven dropped an apple on the monster’s head, caught it, and flew away.

The Jabberwock stumbled back, its rear paws slipping on a golden lock and a brass egg. It attempted to steady itself with the clawed hand that did not hold the sword, and managed to cut that paw on an ax held up by a tree.

The Jabberwock roared as it tripped and tipped into the shrinking portal to Wonderland. Lizzie was certain the opening would snap shut on the beast and banish its top half back to its home world.

But the Jabberwock brought the sword up, the flat of the blade sparking against the edge of the opening, forcing it slowly back open. The monster wasn’t falling. The hole wasn’t closing. The rip was like an open wound between worlds, the Jabberwock the infection keeping it from healing.

Lizzie: You can’t stay here! Ever After is home to the kind, and the friendly, and the brave, and you are none of those things!

Jabberwock: Are you?

It wrapped its tail around her ankle, and its eyes began to pulse a bright unsettling white. Lizzie felt energy sap out of her with each pulse, the Wonder draining from her bones.

Shuffle, the last hedgehog remaining affixed to the Jabberwock, dropped off the creature and scuttled to Lizzie’s side, nuzzling her with her spikes.

Then, it suddenly let go.

Lizzie's eyes shot open to find you standing there, your bright green flame returning to a blade. You were breathing hard before you dropped to a knee. The sword vanished and the Jabberwock regret it's tail.

Y/N: You won't hurt them. I won't let you. I'm not losing anyone else ever again.

The Jabberwock began to laugh.

Jabberwock: This world is mine!

You slowly looked up and grinned, blood staining your teeth.

Y/N: Hatworm is go.…

You then fell over besides Lizzie.

Okay, Ozzie. Okay. I will finish this. Somehow.

The Jabberwock had the sword. You and Lizzie were lying, hurt, on the floor. The Narrator was new at this, but she was certain an Ever After story should not end with the monster victorious. But she’d taken an oath to never, ever, ever interfere. It was an impossible thing.

Then again, she wasn’t only the Narrator. She was also Madeline Hatter.

And Maddie imagined six impossible things before breakfast.

Maddie: You should go home.

The Jabberwock still held the rip between two worlds open with the sword, as if deciding which one to conquer first.

Jabberwock: Pardon beg?

Maddie: There’s no pardon for what you’ve done here. The best I can do is send you home.

Jabberwock: You, send me home? Are you a girl-prince? Nay. A sword-swinger? Nay. Hatted thing stands around, letting other meatlings play while you watch. You are a sillypants of terrible degree.

Maddie: Thank you.

She could see ripples of color and light through the tear. Wonderland was sick, but it was still beautiful. Scents rolled out—the sparkling zest of Tumtum trees, the cool crackle of broken water, the sharp oyster tang of the air.

Maddie: You should be fizz-bobbled and glee-sprinkled to go to Wonderland. I would be.

The Jabberwock began its horrible, chittering laugh. Laugh? At Wonderland? Maddie clenched her teeth and decided to break some rules.

Maddie: The Jabberwock pushed against the edge of the tear, and it widened.

And it happened, just as she’d narrated.

The Jabberwock goggled the widening tear.

Jabberwock: What magic is this?

Maddie: Storytelling.

The Jabberwock gnashed its teeth.

Jabberwock: No puppet am I. Especially of a Tiny. Hatted. Girl.

Maddie: Hey! I count a puppet as a heart-twinned friend. You should be so lucky.

It pulled out the sword and advanced on Maddie.

The tear began to close behind it.

Maddie: Until it didn’t. Until the tear between worlds stopped closing, waiting for one more important thing to pass through.

At her words, the closing of the tear did slow down, but it did not stop completely.

The Jabberwock’s eyes pulsed white.

Jabberwock: The Nothing in you echoes. I will claim your leftover Wonder. The Hat Girl is an empty shell.

Maddie sagged. She did feel empty and tired.

The Jabberwock towered over Maddie, the stink of its breath ruffling her hair.

Jabberwock: Whatever telling-story spark you have stolen is not enough. My will is strongest. My power law. You serve me now.

Maddie: That’s it. I made an oath to serve the story and the reader and no other, be it king or queen or baker or candlestick maker. Or Jabberwock.

Jabberwock: Mufflewords.

The Jabberwock rumbled above her, saliva dripping from its lips.

Jabberwock: Clearspeak now. Loudly.

Maddie straightened.

Maddie: You’re right. My power is not enough. But their power is.

The Jabberwock snaked its head around, scanning the destruction it had wrought in the Grimmnasium, and found nothing it considered a threat.

Jabberwock: Whose power?

Maddie: Theirs.

Maddie was pointing at you. Yes, you. The ones reading this story.

Maddie: I’m only half the storyteller. The Readers are the other half. After all, they take the words and make the pictures in their minds...make the story real. Isn’t that right, Readers?

Feel free to nod, say yes or darn tootin’ or absotively, or whatever feels just right.

The Jabberwock took a step back.

Jabberwock: Brainfraught babbletalk! You are mad!

Maddie smiled.

Maddie: Why, yes, I believe I am! And you want to know a secret, little Wocking Jay?

Her voice dropped to a hush, and she leaned closer to the monster.

Maddie: Madness is life.

Okay, Readers, help me. Think the words aloud. Or say them aloud.

Narrate it to be true.

Maddie: Go home, Jabberwock.

Go home, Jabberwock. A chorus of unseen voices repeated her words from across time, space, and the wiggly bits in between.

Three times more, Readers!

Go home.

Go home!

GO HOME!

The great fiend that is the Jabberwock, terror of two worlds and bane of bandersnatches, stumbled backward, pushed by voices it heard suddenly, powerfully, shouting in its own mind.

Jabberwock: NO!

The tear widened, a monstrous mouth tall and wide, shimmering around the edges, brilliant with the light of Wonderland. The Jabberwock thrashed, but its head dipped into the hole.

Maddie: Yes!

Jabberwock: Impossible!

Maddie laughed.

Maddie: Nothing is impossible, silly beastie!

The Jabberwock, now completely in Wonderland, twitched and struggled, its muscles bunching and contracting as it fought against the inevitable.

Maddie’s smile dropped and her eyes narrowed.

Maddie: No one hurts my dad.

The tear between worlds closed.

PUDDING MAKES A TERRIBLE HAT! SNOOF PIDDLE DEE-HEllo?

Hello, testing, testing. Am I speaking reasonable words? No nonsense, no “crunchy lunches” and “utmost roast beef”? Yes! I am making sense again!

The Narrator is back and doing a victory dance! Look out! Check my moves...I found them and I’m going to keep them.

Oh yeah, doot doot doot—

Maddie: Narrator, you’re back! Yippee-potomus!

Yes! I’m back, Maddie! That was horrible. I could think, but my words were nonsense and I was helpless to do anything but watch the chaos and…wait, I’m the Narrator. And I’m a professional. So no more victory dancing.

Back to work.

The End Is Just The Beginning....