DeltaForce - Angel in Wonderland

2024 Cover

Angel in Wonderland is the first extended timeline Bonus Episode in DeltaForce, taking place after the first season finale and being a crossover episode much like the prologue. The episode pays homage to the Disney cartoon, while also being a mix of other Silly Symphonies as well as a tribute to the PA Community.

Basic Plot

One day in Angel City, Tod, Angel, and Simba were bored with the heat of the Summer Day. Figment calls the trio on Tod's Magic Band and alerts them of a strange anomaly going on nearby them. Suddenly, a strange hole in the ground within the park opens up and the trio head down after seeing a rabbit wearing a waistcoat and carrying a pocketwatch. As they traverse the story, the trio find themselves noticing the world almost felt "scripted," as if everyone had experienced the song and dance before, leading to them realizing a Source was at play here, one which had the power to command everyone in Wonderland to do its bidding. Will they be able to claim the Source as their own before the Queen of Hearts traps them in her game for their heads?

Two sources are introduced in this episode:

1. Alice's Dress - Owned by Angel - Passive Effect: The outfit will always match the body type of the user regardless of how big or small they are.
2. Queen's Scepter - Owned by Queen of Hearts - Able to create stable Time Loops. Anyone caught within its area of effect will obey your every command. (Does not work on cats and lions for some reason)

Notes

• A lot of changes were made to keep the story fresh while retaining a couple of its beats.
• Alice is mentioned but is never actually seen within the episode.
• Alice's Dress, the outfit Angel wears within the episode, is actually considered "The Source of Curiosity." How she obtained it is currently unclear.
• Much like other DeltaForce episodes, the movie referenced is truncated instead of padded out.
• Interestingly, much like in his other attempts to adapt the Alice books, Unknown Tale cut the Advice from a Caterpillar scene. His supposed reasoning was he couldn't find a clever way to censor the smoking in a way that would still make sense to the book, or to lower the time of the episode.
  • However, various forms of censorship were used from the 90's and 2000's, with the Jetlag version having the Caterpillar drinking an orange cocktail, and the Gameboy Color adaptation having the Caterpillar blowing bubbles instead of smoke.
• The Tulgey Wood scene also has been cut, mainly due to Tod already having a "What have I gotten myself into" moment in a previous episode.

Versions

Originally this was going to be uploaded as a serial, but was delayed for various reasons. The final version of Angel in Wonderland will be uploaded to Archive of Our Own.

Tropes Utilized

Make sure to read the chapters before progressing further. A spoiler warning is in effect. Ready? Here we go!

• The Hoop Flaw: Subverted. It's stated right at the start of Chapter 1 that Angel's tail is going through a hole in the dress, which keeps her tail from flattening or the dress from accidentally lifting up.
• Compressed Adaptation: Just like the prologue, this episode tries to shrink down the story into a 44 minute plot. This means you see substitutes for certain things going on due to the Groundhog Day Loop, such as Tod commandeering a boat to get to Wonderland instead of Angel getting stuck in the Hall of Doors and breaking character to cry a sea of tears.
• Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever: Unlike the original where Alice grows four times, Angel ends up growing twice, once in the rabbit's house and once during the trial.
• Adaptational Heroism: The Cheshire Cat is usually a fake friend, but winds up on Angel's side after meeting her, and Simba too due to being a lion.
• Adaptational Villainy: The White Rabbit is usually the one panicking about being late, but he temporarily borrowed the Queen's Scepter to control Tod and Angel into finding his gloves. Simba is able to tell what's going on, but plays along anyway just so he isn't spotted. That later turns into a mistake for a few minutes.
• Groundhog Day Loop: A strong plot point is that Wonderland is stuck in this loop whenever a new Alice arrives. It could be possible this episode is meant to be the first canon loss the Queen faces outside of the Villains' Revenge adventures. Also played straight with the Mad Hatter and March Hare always celebrating their Unbirthday, though it seems they're so used to other groups coming by as they don't make a fuss about their being no room.
• Stable Time Loop: Empowered through the Queen's Scepter.
• Swapped Roles: Simba has to act as the leader temporarily while Tod and Angel are forced into the role of Alice.
• Time Loop Trap: The inhabitants of Wonderland can be this, especially since Simba has to play hero for the most part. Tod and Angel fall victim to it twice in Chapters 3 and 5, once when the trio get stuck in the rabbit's cottage, and the other time to undergo the line for line Croquet sequence, at least up until the Cheshire Cat tries to help them seeing they were serious about wanting to save the other inhabitants.
• Sneeze of Doom: Seems even Angel, Simba, and Tod are not safe from having a reaction from a large cloud of chimney dust. Matter of fact the Dodo goes as far to invoke it on them after Angel does it the first time. Guess he wasn't kidding when he said he'll "smoke them out for real."
• Company Cross-Reference: Tod: "Sure hope Bill doesn't wind up working for a sewer rat after this is over." Angel: "Tod, for goodness sake!"
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Justified as Tod and Angel are forced into the Time Loop Trap set by the Queen of Hearts, so they have no way of getting their Gunblade or Staff out in time to stop the Queen from barking out orders.
• Karmic Thief: As Angel's Trial goes down, Simba and Cheshire go to take the scepter behind the scenes in the hopes of breaking the time loop's effect on Tod and Angel.
• Chekhov's Gun: Angel picks up an Eat Me cookie from the Rabbit's Cottage in the hopes of finding a use for it later, utilizing it as a substitute for the mushroom in Chapter 6.