Wren Rewrites: 'The Cage'

If the Cage was Alice in Wonderland

The first thought that went through her mind was Where am I? The girl with blond hair neatly pinned underneath a ponytail holder slowly sat up. The landscape wasn't recognizable. There was no one around.
What's going on?
Her eyes drifted towards the water. Salty air kissed her cheeks. She frowned. She hadn't been near water in a long time. She slowly scooched away, soggy sand staining her outfit.
Cora looked down at her ensemble. Not something she would typically wear. A thin tank. An odd pair of uncomfortable pants.
She squirmed before rising to her feet.
A flash of red in the current caught her eye. She turned her attention to that. "Hey," she called out to the person. "Hey, where are we? Who are you? I'm Cora. Who are you?" She slowly apporached the floater, water lapping at her ankles. "Hey..." she said slowly. "Hey!"
That's when she realized what the crimson was.
She shrieked in alarm, darting back.
"Get away from the water," a gruff masculine voice said from behind her. She whirled around, baring her teeth in anger.
"What?" she hissed, nails out and prepared to kill.
The male donning a silky blue shirt stared at her. As if she was the weirdo.
"What are you trying to do?" he asked, stretching his arms above his head. The shirt lifted a few inches, exposing a toned stomach. Cora blushed, looking away. He yawned softly.
"Where am I?" Cora demanded.
"Where else?" the male replied.
"Who are you?"
"I am a person."
"Where are my old clothes?"
"Where would they be?"
She growled in frustration, and the person smirked at her.
"I'm Lucky, nice to meet you, Alice," he finally introduced.
"Alice?" Cora exclaimed. "My name is not Alice, dimwit. It's Cora."
"Ah, Alice, you're always lost." Lucky shook his head, tsking at her. "The Hatter's waiting for you, though. Better hurry, little pretty." He gestured at the wooded area behind him. "He doesn't like lateness."
Cora shuffled out of the surf, but she paused. "What about...her?" she asked tentatively, gesturing at the floating body behind her. Lucky just shrugged. "A minor detail. Now, scooch!" He waved a tan hand at her and stepped back into the shadows.
Cora growled in annoyance before steeling her resolve and heading into the woods.

"S-She's co-coming," a meek voice said.
"Why, she's always late," another replied.
"She's always late. Off with her head!" one shrieked.
"My my, Queeny, do calm down."
Cora pushed her way through the leafy greens and emerged into a clearing. She froze, seeing the eclectic mix of people before her. An imposing man in a top hat sat at the head of the table. Discards cups and treats were strewn about across the table. A shy-looking male was nibbling on a wafer. A girl with angry eyes was standing, and a male to her side was patting his hair. Another girl clad in white smirked at Cora.
"Look who has finally arrived," the girl in white said sarcastically.
"And it's nice to see you again," the male next to the angry girl added.
The top hat man smiled kindly.
"How nice of you to join us," he said. "Alice."
Cora gritted her teeth. "I'm not Alice," she cried in annoyance. "Stop saying that. It's getting on my nerves."
"Oh? Is it?" the angry girl said. She strode towards Cora, gripping the other girl's chin. "You don't look special. Are you special?" Cora spluttered in confusion at the sudden question, but the other girl had sat down and was sipping something from a cracked teacup before she could answer.
The top hat man gestured at an empty seat. "Come. Sit. We have some rules to discuss. And people to introduce."
Cora glanced at the ratty chair before strutting over and sitting down. She grasped the chair's arms tightly.
"Oof. Not so tight," a voice said from underneath her bottom. Cora shrieked and jumped out of her seat. A serene face stared at her from the seat cushion.
"Do sit, Alice," the chair said. "We're waiting."
The top hat man cleared his throat.
"Introductions!" he declared, clapping his hands together.
The angry girl stood up. "Mali.."
The male next to her smirked. "Leon."
The shy boy slowly waved hello. "Rolf."
The one who wore white smirked even more. "Nok."
The top hat man nodded curtly. "I'm your Caretaker. Welcome to the Cage."
Cora frowned. "What? What Cage? Where am I?" she demanded, leaning forwards.
"The Cage," the top hat man said, waving one hand. "It's the Cage. Did no one tell you?" He sighed, rubbing his temples. "Lucky Lucky Lucky! Where are you? Little rascal he is. I'll say!"
"Coming, asshole," a disembodied voice replied. A face appeared in the edge of Cora's vision, and she stiffened. It was that boy from the beach. She gritted her teeth.
"Am I supposed to know more?" she hissed.
"Of course," the Caretaker said. "Always. Sometimes. Maybe?"
"Just tell her," Mali hissed, tossing her crimson locks back.
"Calm down, Queeny," Nok replied, petting a baby pig's snout. "It's not you we're here for. It's Alice."
"Again, not Alice. Cora," Cora corrected.
"Same thing," Nok sniffed.
Lucky sat down on the edge of the table, picking up a rotting scone. "Mmm. Delicious," he said, popping it into his mouth. Bile rose in Cora's throat. "That's sick," she grumbled. Lucky shrugged before jumping off the table and wandering around the others.
"Now, time to tell you the rules," the Caretaker said.
"Is no one going to explain?" Cora cried, looking exasperated.
The Caretaker tsked at her, shaking his head. "Hush, Alice." He grinned at the others. "There are three rules you have to follow. Only three. Lucky you! One. Solve the puzzles. And eat cake! Because cake is good. But that's not the second rule. Two is to be healthy! Eat and seek pleasure! And rule three," he said, taking a pause. "Pro...cre...ate!"
"What?" Cora cried in alarm.
The Caretaker beamed at her.
Cora scowled, resisting the urge to flip the bird at him.
Nok started to stare at Rolf, and Leon ran a hand through his messy hair, his armor clanking.
"Well," the Caretaker said. He grabbed the edges of the table cloth and yanked it from underneath the dishes. The silverware clattered to the floor; the plates broke and spewed porcelain all over.
Cora shrieked in alarm.
"And here is your bed," the Caretaker said. "Enjoy." He winked before placing a hand on his hip and fading out of existence. Cora stared at where the Caretaker had been. Where had he gone?
Lucky cleared his throat, snapping Cora back into reality. Rolf and Nok were shedding clothes. Nok looked unabashed; Rolf looked woozy and was swaying. Leon had taken off his battle armor, and Mali was messing with her crown.
"Well," Lucky said, "get one with it." He gestured at her skimy clothes. Cora threw an arm over her chest. "What are you implying we do?" she hissed. Lucky smiled, a dimple taunting her. "Procreation," he replied calmly. "Rule three."
Cora's eyes widened, and she turned away from the spectacle. "I am, in no way, having sex with any of you. So bugger off!" She stomped off into the woods, leaving the now-naked Nok and Rolf to enjoy their third rule.

Thank you for reading another installment of Wren Rewrites. In case you didn't get the who's who, I'll give you the list.

Cassian/Caretaker: Mad Hatter (Because why not?)
Cora: Alice
Leon: The Knave of Hearts (Fighter)
Rolf: The White Rabbit (Timid and shy. And twitchy.)
Nok: The Duchess (Changing personality)
Lucky: The Caterpillar (Guiding her and being with her. Her being Alice.)
Mali: The Red Queen (Crazy!!!)

I kinda rushed this one so yeah. Also, I wrote this idea when I finished The Cage. I wrote this fan fic after I finished it. So my mind was a bit fuzzy.
Thanks for reading, though!

Review: 'The Wonderland Effect' by Robert Arrington

The Wonderland Effect
Robert Arrington

Amazon / Goodreads

Alice Littleton, gifted with the powers of Wonderland, draws a catastrophe down on herself when she tries to use them in aid of a kidnapped child. Now, she and her father are being pursued by a relentless paranormal intent on recruiting other supers- or eliminating potential competition. She finds her way to Prometheus Academy, a new school with a truly empowered student body. When the school comes under attack, Alice must decide whether to run again, or take a stand against the forces threatening her and her new friends. 

Note: I got this as a Read-For-Review from the author. 

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Here Be the Players

With so many characters, it's hard to mention all of them. I'll focus on the one character who was constantly repeated.
Alice was an okay character. She had a lot of different powers under her belt. She had the gliding power. The shrinking and growing power. She had many things. And she was kind. She did kind things for strangers. Helping out Billy for example. She didn't have to do it, but it did it anyways. She risked her life for this little kid. What did he do for her? Nothing really. Alice was loyal. She would do anything for her friends. She wanted to risk her life to help her family, even her mother who hated her powers and shunned her family. She was a good person. Not the most interesting character. Not the deepest one either. She was just so-so.

The Adventure Begins (And Ends)

The plot was quite interesting. It started off a bit boring and a bit confusing. It had two sides. The Prometheus Academy. Alice. Two sides. The fighting powered. And Alice surviving and fighting on her own. (Which is an amazing feat.) There was a bit of action, but enough of the beginning is mostly people just fooling around. Not a lot of happening.
The middle was pretty cool. It was filled with action. It had a lot of interesting twists. The Oglethorpe twist? The Boojum? It was interesting. And Alice going to the school? Cool. And she met so many interesting people. Min Ki. Sarah. Scott. Things happened in the middle. We meet people and determine if they're friend or foe. We find out secrets. Secrets about people that can cause damage. The plot seems a bit long. We don't need the dances and whatnot. (Seriously? Was that just to let Sarah show her power off?)

The Swoon-Gasp-Swoon Factor

N/A

Ka-Pow Power

The action was great. The scenes with fighting were cool. Action-y. Fast-paced. They were interesting. The powers called for different moves. Different ways to attack. And with the wide range of powers, anything could happen. The action surprised me with how interesting it was.
I wanted more of this action. You had many good fight scenes. People used martial arts. Levitation. Telekinesis. Lighting. Fire. They used these powers to fight others, and it was fascinating.

Kiss Kiss Fall in Love

The romance was uncalled for, though. It didn't have much of a purpose. It didn't carry the story along. The relationships could have just been friendships, and the story would be the same. Alice was loyal to her friends and loved ones. She would have worried about Scott and Sarah just because of their strong bond to her. The romance didn't help anyone. Not Min Ki. Not Miranda.
And it seemed like people were pairing off. Kasie and Regis. Alice and Scott. People met and kissed and fell in love. Blegh. It was uncalled for. These people didn't need to be paired off. Almost all the main characters had a person to date. Or someone they would date. Even the side characters. It was annoying since the romance didn't enhance the story.

Special Effects

The powers are awesome to say the least. Scott's awesome sound power? The power to copy abilities? The telekinesis? Teleportation? That was cool. Really cool. They were unique. The power to change how people perceive you was different. I don't think I've ever read a power like that before. And the I'm-super-lucky power was strange. I felt like that was just crazy luck. Unbelievably crazy good luck. It was an oddball. (Then again, all these characters are oddballs.) Alice's powers were odd too. The Wonderland creatures was one thing. The talking to animals was another. Gliding power. And more. Alice had a backpack full of powers to her disposal. The others had one or two things. Esme had one. Julio had one. Andrew had one. Alice had many. Oglethorpe had many. (And you don't have a limit? You're a power sucker not a copier.) I think Alice had too much power. A bit of a goddess really.

The End

The ending suited the story. It was happy and satisfying. It seemed a bit rushed, though. Just...bam. Few weeks later. What happened? Lots but the story didn't think it was important to add in cool world-jumping scenes. I would have loved that. Maybe a short story can carry it on.
The ending didn't raise any questions. Except for one. Where is Elaine? That's all I wanted to know when I finished. I may never know, and I'm okay with that. I didn't care for Elaine anyways. She wasn't the best villain after all.
It was simply that. The ending. Nothing else. It was good and gave the characters closure.

Rating:

4/5