The Red Queen’s temper was reaching a boiling point. What use was there in courting Time if he wouldn’t bend the rules for her? Time was immensely powerful. That was why she’d started dating him in the f?irst place.
Now desperate, Time f?lung open the doors to a cabinet in his sitting room. It held his favorite treasures—things he had accumulated over the millennia.
“My dear,” Time said as he turned back to Iracebeth. “I would happily part with any one of my diversions.”
“But I cannot give you the Chronosphere!” Time exclaimed.
“You would if you loved me,” Iracebeth said sulkily.
“But I do love y—” Time’s voice cut off abruptly as a shiver ran through his body. Looking down at his chest, his eyes f?illed with horror.
“The Grand Clock,” he said. Without sparing a glance for Iracebeth, he raced from the room.
The Red Queen’s eyebrows shot upward in surprise. Nobody ran out on her, not even Time. She clicked her tongue testily and hurried after him. As Alice wavered at the edge of the giant hammers, one of the Minutes caught up to her and leapt ahead to guard the Chronosphere. But the round end of a hammer crashed down, splintering the Minute into Seconds, who sprinkled down between the clock’s gears.
Alice shuddered. Taking a deep breath, she danced forward, relying on her quick ref?lexes and memory of the hammers’ pattern.
One step, wait, two, three, four, leap, leap, pause, seven, eight, jump!
Crack! She could hear the hammers smashing more Minutes into tiny fragments behind her. Alice pivoted through the f?inal hammers and grabbed a piece of metal framework to steady herself.
Squeezed into a small gap between the hammers and the circular frame cradling the Chronosphere, Alice swiftly patted herself over to make sure she was still in one piece. She let out a little sigh of relief, then faced the glowing orb.
Just then, Time rushed into the chamber, Iracebeth trailing him. Taking in the scene, he cried out in alarm and ran toward the Grand Clock.
Alice stretched up toward the shining Chronosphere. As her f?ingers drew near, it sparked and crackled f?iercely. Biting her lip, she plunged her hand forward and clutched the Chronosphere. The small metal orb stopped spinning but continued to glow, its heat nearly burning her hand.
With a quick yank, Alice dislodged the Chronosphere and brought it to her chest. Separated from the Grand Clock, the orb began to cool down.
“No!” Time gasped, collapsing to his knees and clutching his chest.
Iracebeth peered at Time in irritation. “What’s the matter with you?” she asked.
Time lifted a trembling hand, pointing at the Grand Clock, where Alice was making her way back through the clockwork.
“The Chronosphere!” Time said frantically.
“Alice?” Iracebeth exclaimed. Her sister’s pesky champion was the last person Iracebeth expected to see.
Oblivious to the new observers, Alice tucked the Chronosphere into her pocket and scrambled onto a beam. Behind her, the Minutes began to join hands, linking together to form a hulking mechanical beast.
“Cometh the Hour,” Alice predicted as she picked up her speed.
The Hour ground toward her, its footsteps shaking the f?loor. As she glanced over her shoulder, her foot hit a spare part lying on the path. Alice arced through the air, then landed with a thump. At the impact, the Chronosphere rolled out of her pocket and bounced away.
Alice gasped and struggled to her feet while the metal ball began to f?lash and expand. As the Chronosphere spun on its axis, its golden bands grew until the ball was the size of a carriage, with an open space visible between the rotating rings.
Whoosh! The Hour’s massive arm swung through the air. Alice rolled to the side just in time. As she stood, she saw the Hour’s hands reaching for the Chronosphere. Without thinking, she dove through the Chronosphere’s whirling bands.
Inside, there were dials, levers, and several pulleys. Alice glanced around frantically. One of the chains was labeled PULL ME.
What else could she do?
Alice pulled it.
The Chronosphere lurched forward, its momentum pushing Alice against a metal arm.
“Ugh,” Time moaned. “Why did I label that?”
Iracebeth glared at him in disgust as Alice and the Chronosphere careened out the door and into the hallways of the castle. The Hour lumbered after her, and Time and Iracebeth scrambled to catch up.
Once in the vast corridor, the Chronosphere crashed into columns left and right. Alice pulled on different levers and chains, trying to steer it as best she could.
The rings of the Chronosphere twirled faster, slicing through the air with a deafening whir. It was all Alice could do to cling to a handle, her body doubled over as the whole machine began to vibrate, screws threatening to pop off.
Time and Iracebeth rounded the corner to see the Minutes regrouping. But as soon as he saw the Chronosphere pulsing, Time knew it was too late. “No!” he cried out.
Poof! Alice and the Chronosphere disappeared.

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紅皇后簡(jiǎn)直要?dú)庹?。假?ldquo;時(shí)間”不肯為自己通融，又何必去討好他呢？正是因?yàn)?ldquo;時(shí)間”無(wú)比強(qiáng)大，紅皇后起初才開(kāi)始和他約會(huì)。
這時(shí)，“時(shí)間”不顧一切地沖向客廳的櫥柜，打開(kāi)了柜門(mén)。柜子里裝著他摯愛(ài)的寶貝——都是他上千年來(lái)的珍藏。
“寶貝兒，”“時(shí)間”轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身對(duì)伊拉貝斯說(shuō)道，“我很樂(lè)意為你割?lèi)?ài)。”
“但我不能給你時(shí)空傳送儀！”“時(shí)間”大聲說(shuō)道。
“要是你愛(ài)我，就把它給我。”伊拉貝斯不悅地回答。
“但我真的愛(ài)——”話(huà)音未落，“時(shí)間”突然感到全身打了個(gè)寒戰(zhàn)，他低頭看著自己的胸脯，眼里充滿(mǎn)了恐懼。
“是大鐘，”說(shuō)著，“時(shí)間”沖出了客廳，壓根沒(méi)看伊拉貝斯一眼。
紅皇后挑高了雙眉，驚訝萬(wàn)分。沒(méi)有人敢當(dāng)著她的面跑出房間，就算是“時(shí)間”也不行。她不耐煩地咂咂舌頭，急忙跟了出去。此時(shí)愛(ài)麗絲正在巨型錘子的邊緣搖搖晃晃地行走，一只分針趕了上來(lái)，只見(jiàn)它縱身一躍，想要護(hù)住時(shí)空傳送儀。但圓形的錘頭猛地砸下來(lái)，將它粉碎成眾多秒針，散落在大鐘的齒輪間。
愛(ài)麗絲不禁打了個(gè)寒戰(zhàn)。她深吸一口氣，憑借著敏捷的反應(yīng)和對(duì)錘子下落規(guī)律的記憶，向前一躍。
一步，停，兩步，三步，四步，跳，跳，停，七步，八步，起跳！
咔嚓！愛(ài)麗絲聽(tīng)見(jiàn)身后有更多的分針被錘子砸成了小碎片。只剩最后幾把錘子了，愛(ài)麗絲旋轉(zhuǎn)著身體，穿過(guò)了最后的幾把錘子，然后抓住一處金屬支架以保持平衡。
愛(ài)麗絲擠進(jìn)錘子和圓形支架之間狹小的溝槽里，時(shí)空傳送儀就懸在支架上。她敏捷地跳過(guò)溝槽以保護(hù)自己不受傷害。她輕輕地松了口氣，面對(duì)著這顆發(fā)光的球體。
就在這時(shí)，“時(shí)間”沖了進(jìn)來(lái)，伊拉貝斯緊隨其后?？匆?jiàn)眼前的這一幕，“時(shí)間”驚恐地叫了一聲，跑向了大鐘。
愛(ài)麗絲向閃閃發(fā)亮的時(shí)空傳送儀探過(guò)身去。她的手指剛一靠近，時(shí)空傳送儀就猛烈地迸發(fā)出火花和爆裂聲。愛(ài)麗絲咬了一下嘴唇，向前一伸手抓住了時(shí)空傳送儀。這顆小小的金屬球停止了轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)，但仍在發(fā)著光，散發(fā)出的熱量快要把愛(ài)麗絲的手灼傷了。
愛(ài)麗絲快速一拉，就把時(shí)空傳送儀從支架上拉出來(lái)，抱到自己胸前。由于離開(kāi)了大鐘，傳送儀開(kāi)始冷卻下來(lái)。
“不！”“時(shí)間”喘著氣，彎腿癱倒下來(lái)，緊緊揪著自己的胸口。
伊拉貝斯惱火地盯著“時(shí)間”，問(wèn)道：“你發(fā)什么瘋？”
“時(shí)間”顫顫巍巍地舉起一只手，指向大鐘的位置,愛(ài)麗絲正在那兒順著發(fā)條往回走。
“時(shí)空傳送儀！”“時(shí)間”發(fā)瘋似的叫嚷著。
“愛(ài)麗絲？”伊拉貝斯也尖叫起來(lái)。她最不想見(jiàn)到的就是她妹妹這位討厭的擁護(hù)者。
愛(ài)麗絲完全沒(méi)有注意到“時(shí)間”和伊拉貝斯的出現(xiàn)。她將時(shí)空傳送儀收進(jìn)口袋，爬上了一根橫梁。她身后的分針們開(kāi)始拉起手來(lái)，彼此連接，形成一個(gè)龐大而笨重的機(jī)械怪獸。
“時(shí)針要來(lái)了，”愛(ài)麗絲估摸著，加快了速度。
時(shí)針不斷朝愛(ài)麗絲逼近，腳步震動(dòng)著地面。愛(ài)麗絲回頭看時(shí)，被一個(gè)橫在路面上的零件絆了一跤。她向前飛了出去，重重地落在地上。由于巨大的沖擊力，時(shí)空傳送儀從她口袋里滾了出來(lái)，彈開(kāi)了。
愛(ài)麗絲倒吸一口氣，艱難地站起來(lái)，這時(shí)金屬球又開(kāi)始發(fā)光、膨脹。時(shí)空傳送儀自轉(zhuǎn)起來(lái)，金色的球箍不斷擴(kuò)張，直到球體膨脹到一輛馬車(chē)的大小，這時(shí)旋轉(zhuǎn)的圓環(huán)中間出現(xiàn)了一片空間。
呼！時(shí)針在空中揮舞著巨大的手臂。愛(ài)麗絲及時(shí)滾向一邊，剛一站定，就看見(jiàn)時(shí)針的手臂去夠時(shí)空傳送儀了。愛(ài)麗絲來(lái)不及多想，立刻跳進(jìn)時(shí)空傳送儀旋轉(zhuǎn)的球箍中。
球內(nèi)有刻度盤(pán)、控制桿和一些滑輪。愛(ài)麗絲瘋狂地掃視著四周，發(fā)現(xiàn)其中一根鏈條上貼著“拉我”的標(biāo)簽。
她還能怎么辦呢？
愛(ài)麗絲拉動(dòng)了鏈條。
時(shí)空傳送儀向前一傾，隨之產(chǎn)生的沖力將愛(ài)麗絲推向一條金屬臂。
“哎，”“時(shí)間”悲戚地說(shuō)道，“我干嗎要貼那個(gè)??？”
伊拉貝斯怒視著“時(shí)間”，而愛(ài)麗絲和時(shí)空傳送儀已經(jīng)滑出門(mén)外，來(lái)到了城堡的走廊。時(shí)針笨重地跟在后面，“時(shí)間”和伊拉貝斯?fàn)幭嘧汾s過(guò)去。
一進(jìn)入寬敞的過(guò)道，時(shí)空傳送儀便在左右兩側(cè)的柱子間來(lái)回碰撞。愛(ài)麗絲拉扯著不同的控制桿和鏈條，盡力控制球體。
時(shí)空傳送儀外面的圓環(huán)轉(zhuǎn)得更快了，它切割著空氣，發(fā)出震耳欲聾的聲響。整個(gè)機(jī)器開(kāi)始震動(dòng)起來(lái)，螺絲好像要飛出來(lái)似的，愛(ài)麗絲只能蜷曲著身體，死死抓緊把手。
“時(shí)間”和伊拉貝斯在拐角處遇見(jiàn)了分針們，它們正在重新集結(jié)。但一看到一閃一閃的時(shí)空傳送儀，“時(shí)間”就明白一切都晚了。“不！”他大叫一聲。
咻！愛(ài)麗絲和時(shí)空傳送儀一起消失了。