"Prepare yourself, Hatter, this torture will be sweet... for me that is." Magdala taunted once more, as she got ready to throw one of her entrapment spells. She planned on starting somewhat easy before she moved on to her ability of pressure, she love watching the person feel like they were being compressed from all sides, until they exploded, or drove them crazy, depending on how much she did it. Her smile grew menacingly just thinking about it.
Throwing her power toward Hatter, she was surprised when it suddenly stopped mid-air. Magdala stared in disbelief, this shouldn't be possible. There should be no way that Hatter could do something like this, sure he had a powerful defense, but nobody in Wonderland should have this ability. A loud powerful screech filled the air, causing a different screech to join in. What exactly was going on here?
Looking up toward the sky, Magdala saw a large Jabberwocky fill the sky. Something inside her snapped as the control she had over the female Jabberwocky was disconnected. The huge shadow covered over her and Hatter in the field, swooping closer, until it landed on the ground. A young girl descended off the beast and Magdala had only one thought in her mind, this was impossible, how could this be? There was no possible way her sister could still be alive, she couldn't help but say out loud, "Marigold?"
Hatter had a huge smile on his face as he saw Alice arrive on the scene, finally, she was here. There was no time to stand still though, it was time to put their plan into place. Seeing Magdala distracted he made his way toward the female Jabberwocky.
The female had heard the mating call of Jabber and the glaze over her eyes disappeared. Instead, Jabber's voice filled her head informing her of the plan. Suddenly her voice filled Hatter's head and said, "Jabber has told me what we must do, thank you so much for freeing me, come quickly so we can form the bond. You may call me Jacky, I am on my way to meet you."
Meanwhile, Alice was facing off against her ruthless Aunt, the person who had taken her parents away from her, the reason she was sent from this place, to begin with. Magdala was staring at her as if she had seen a ghost when suddenly she spoke again. "No, no you cannot be Marigold, even though you do look exactly like her. She never had any children, unless... was that what she was talking about; right before she died? Oh, that would be just like Marigold, always the clever one. The problem is, I never heard anything about you, and I had spies everywhere in that palace, there were no signs of her being pregnant. That then begs the question, who exactly are you?"
It was as if Magdala was trying to figure things out, and it made Alice gloat with pleasure. "You don't know everything you think you do. Marigold was in fact my mother, she was able to hide her pregnancy and I was taken to another world before you arrived, in order to keep me safe. The prophecy of long ago was not about you, it was meant for me. Everything that you have done will be answered for, and Wonderland will be freed once and for all." Alice informed her firmly, the promise sounding threatening.
"My, my dearie, you think just because your Mother was able to hide you from me all these years, I won't end you as I did her? I will give you one opportunity to go back to wherever you grew up, and leave here Alice. I rarely offer someone this, so take it while you can. On the other hand, I should just kill you now, no need for you to try this pathetic attempt at revenge. Even if you did stop my powers once, doesn't mean you will be able to defeat me. Many people have tried before you and they have all failed, but I haven't had a good fight in ages, so why not?! And who am I kidding, I wasn't about to just let you leave here alive." Magdala waved her hand as if swatting away at a pesky fly, an evil gleam sparking in her eyes.
"I highly doubted you would have let me leave here alive. You saw me fly in on another Jabberwocky, and you have lost control of your other Jabberwocky, which means your Basilisk is in trouble. Oh yes, you didn't think I knew about that, well that is exactly why I brought along Jabber here." Alice stated proudly, looking at the miffed face of Magdala as she gazed at her with a moment of surprise before she tried covering it up.
"Admittedly, you are as clever as your Mother was, yet she was not brilliant enough to stop me from taking her crown. You don't know this world or your powers, I can sense great power in you, but I also sense that you have yet to choose between darkness and light. Join me in the darkness and together we can rule this whole kingdom." Magdala tried to sound convincing, but there would be no way that she was going to share her Kingdom with anybody. "Let me call over my Basilisk and we will see which side you choose."
"By all means, call him over, let him test me and my Jabberwocky, we are bonded after all. Once I have passed, we will finish this battle and finally put this to an end." Alice challenged back, with determination in her eyes.
A slow-growing smirk grew on Magdala's face, this young girl was so eager to prove herself she had no idea what was about to happen. With a whistle, she called forth the Basilisk, and the great black serpent soared into the sky and sped his way over. In no time it landed with a thud, hissing at Jabber, and Jabber roared back a threat of his own. "This is going to be painful, and I am so looking forward to seeing that. I can't wait to make that pretty little head of yours roll, and add it to my trophies." With the wave of her hand, she commanded the Basilisk's attention.
Suddenly it grew cold, and it was like every hair on Alice's body had raised, the moment the Basilisk came closer. Its cold dead black eyes turned their attention onto her and it was as if it was searching her soul, trying to find any darkness, something to attach itself to. Alice knew instinctively that if the Basilisk didn't find anything he would consume her very being. Right before she fell into the deep abyss, she heard Jabber's voice in her head, "Be strong Alice, you can do this, remember I am here with you, prepare yourself."
Darkness filled her completely, no longer did she hear the sounds of battle or feel anything, she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
"Sssssssuch great darknessssssss in you, and I thought the current Queen wassss the most powerful, but ssssshe isssss nothing compared to you." She heard a smooth, yet deep voice, that made her feel chills and an oily sickness, there were no other words to describe it.
The great serpent's eyes suddenly glowed out through the darkness, and his pink tongue slid out with every s and rattled, making each of them last longer than normal. Exactly what she imagined a snake to sound like, she definitely felt a healthy dose of fear. She hoped that she would be up to this new task, everything that she had been working on since she got here had been preparing her for this battle. This right here was going to determine exactly how it would end, Alice just had to remember what she was fighting for.
"Everyone is capable of darkness, but I do not want to rule as she has, I do not want to let the darkness control me. You will not get me to change!" Alice yelled out, despite the terror.
"We ssssshall ssssseeee about that! Look at all the thingsssssss I can do for you, the world could be yourssssss. I can increassssse your powerssssss exponentially!" The Basilisk tempted in his most convincing voice.
Images started flashing before her eyes, she saw all of Wonderland and other worlds bow before her, and Magdala was defeated easily, seemingly with a snap of her finger. He showed the people were in greater fear of her, and no one dared stand against her. The dark maroon powers were continuously radiating out of her and the Basilisk was there whispering in her ear what she should do. The Jabberwocky's heads were ornamented in her throne room and Hatter was nowhere to be seen.
"NO! That isn't true power, where are my friends, where is Hatter? I don't want people to fear me, that isn't any better than what Magdala has done with Wonderland. That isn't the kind of Ruler I wish to be, power is not everything, and I would rather give up everything than have that come to pass. And look at Jabber and Jacky, I would never do that! You think I would want you to control me, that isn't strength, that is you in command." Alice raged out in anger, one question after another spitting out.
"You are thinking to sssssmall, think of everything we could accomplisssssh together! Your friendssssss don't matter, nor any of the ressssssst of what you mentioned. You think people will resssssspect you more if you treat them well, look at your parentssssss." Basilisk responded charmingly, trying to reason with her.
"It wasn't the people that killed my parents, it was Magdala, and she won't stop until she destroys everyone and everything. And I will NEVER end up like her!! You don't care if I rule, the only thing you care about is the power you could have." Alice shouted, reminding him of the truth and not his twisted version of events.
"FINE!!! If temptation doesssssssn't work, then maybe torture will, let'sssss ssssssee which ssssside you choose when all you feel issssss pain!" Basilisk roared out, his eyes glowing a brighter black if that was even possible.
Pain was in every fiber of her being, unlike anything she had felt before. Screaming out in agony, Alice couldn't think, breathe or move, all she could do was feel every moment. It was like a thousand tiny needles were pushing into her slowly, and her skin was being stretched and torn to ribbons at the same time. It felt like it was going on forever, and there was no end in sight. A voice broke out in her mind, "Fight it, Alice, use your powers, use our connection!" Jabber prompted, his voice seemed somewhat quiet, almost drowned out by her screams, yet she heard it anyway.
Alice didn't know if she would be able to do what they had talked about, every fiber in her being was crying out, making it hard to concentrate on anything else. Suddenly an image flashed in her mind, Hatter's face and the ghost of his touch, the feel of his lips on hers. "Come to me, Alice!" Hatter encouraged, as he held out his hand to her, just as she had seen in the vision that Katy had shown. She could clearly see the two options in front of her, take his hand and join him or ignore him and embrace the darkness.
Without hesitation she placed her hand in his, even though it felt like it was happening in slow motion, she took one painful step after another until she finally collapsed in his embrace. The ghost of his arms fleeted away but the more she thought of him the easier it was to ignore the searing torment and slowly it was as if there was never any pain to begin with. Alice felt the glow of her power, and suddenly she transformed completely, she had become what she had seen in the mirror many times.
Red glowing eyes, hair like red fire, and her dress was as if it was made of lava, flowing and spitting. Her hands burst forth in luminosity, and she heard the Basilisk screech at the blinding red light, surprise flashing on his face.
"What? How issss it possssssssssible? You bonded with that Jabberwocky, didn't you? I figured you might have, but I didn't think you would be able to break out of my trap. I have bessssssted more powerful people than you, long ago. People who ussssssed to know how to wheild their powerssssss better than any of you pitiful humansssss of thisssss day and age. Yet, I haven't sssssseen any do what I ssssssee you doing at thisssss moment. You have the power of the lassssssst great Queen of Wonderland!" Basilisk stated in confusion, slight wonder, and was that a trace amount of fear she detected, Alice could hardly believe that?!
"Yes, I have bonded, and I have finally chosen Light, once and for all, as you can see. Now it's time for you to be sent back to Hades, and for me to deal with Magdala, and finally heal Wonderland!" Alice stated fiercely, blasting forth a powerful beam of light, breaking out of his hold and bringing them both back to the battle.
The Basilisk bellowed out in agony, there was a glowing red burn going from part of his face and throat all the way down to his right arm, which still wasn't healing. The two Jabberwockys were upon him before he could fully recover, adding their fire to the already burning skin. The resounding roar shook the earth, he tried fighting back but he was weakened by the blast. He tried spewing his poison but the burn that he sustained had damaged that ability. Basilisk tried spreading out his wings and fighting using his body, but he was quickly beaten down by two Jabberwockys fighting against him.
"My baby!!!! WHAT DID YOU DO????" Magdala demanded angrily as she saw her Basilisk being killed. She turned to Alice to strike her down when Magdala saw her in her true form. "But.... but.... but.... that shouldn't be possible, that power was supposed to be MINE!!" She yelled out furiously.
"You should have learned by now, it's not the crown that makes you Queen, it's what you do with that power. And trust me, Hunny, you sure aren't a Queen!" Alice told Magdala triumphantly, "The time has come, my choice has been made, let's put this battle to an end, this fight is between you and me!" She challenged calmly, with no shred of fear at facing the most powerful evil that Wonderland had ever known.
"How dare you, you think just because you have these powers, I won't be able to defeat you? Think again, little girl! I sold my soul long ago to Hades, in order for me to end up where I am. Do you think my parents died so young, by accident? I have killed my entire family without remorse, and you, dear niece, will be no different! Once I have successfully defeated you, I will gain your powers and be unstoppable. I don't care what some prophecy stated, I didn't let any of that stand in my way before, and I won't let it now!" Magdala venomously spat out, her face growing angrier with every word.
With that, she threw everything she had at Alice, the powers that she had stolen or gained through ill gain. Shadows gathered around her as the ground broke apart, Magdala started throwing huge boulders and sharp pointed icicles and glass in Alice's direction. She tried hitting her from every angle, trying to combine several powers simultaneously.
Seeing the attack, Alice floated off the ground and created a long red glowing whip in both hands. Twirling them both simultaneously at high speeds, she whipped them all around her, breaking up everything Magdala threw her way. Some of them she hit so hard that she sent them back Magdala's way, which caused her to use some of the Earth to build shields to protect herself.
"ENOUGH OF THIS! WONDERLAND IS MINE, and I will not let some little girl steal MY CROWN!" Magdala screamed in fury, waving her hands to get everything settled, "I haven't used this power that I am about to do, in a long time. It had lost its appeal when it destroyed people too easily, I shall relish watching it do the same to you now. Prepare to meet your worst fears!" She remarked with malicious glee.
Magdala started chanting in an ancient tongue that Alice couldn't understand, the shadows that had been gathering quickly shifted focus and raced over to Alice. They swirled around her in a vortex, until she no longer saw anything, until the environment changed completely.
*********
Hatter was a distance away from Alice, and she saw him going up to Magdala and wrapping his arms around her, kissing her neck. "My dear, I can't say how grateful I am to you that you destroyed Alice and made me see reason, I finally understand that you were right all this time! Now we have the rest of our lives to be together and no one to stop us!" He told her pleasantly, with his charming smile.
"What??!!! This isn't real, this must be some sort of hallucination, there is no way Hatter would do that. Hatter?! Hatter, can you hear me?" Alice asked the emptiness around her, her voice echoing in the void as she tried screaming at Hatter, but it was as if they couldn't see or hear her.
"I told you, dearie, I'm not the villain, I only ever wanted what was good for Wonderland. I didn't even kill her, she is in the dungeon, rotting out the rest of her, hopefully, very long, life there. When are Cat, Jack, Katy, and Harrison arriving? I can't wait to tell everyone our good news!" Magdala answered Hatter in a sugary sweet voice, yet it was as if her eyes were holding him in some sort of hypnotic hold. There was evil in those eyes and Alice could see it.
Before she could hear his reply, the scene shifted and she saw herself in the dungeon. The jail cell she was in, was small, to say the least, and so dark it made it hard to see anything. Alice barely recognized herself in the cell, she saw herself rocking back and forth. "No, I must follow the white rabbit... late, very late, to an important date. It's time... time... time is running out, mustn't be... do you know where my cat is? My name is Alice, but not The Alice, just plain Alice, have you seen the rabbit?" Alice heard herself rambling on and on about similar nonsense.
Looking closer she saw that she was wrapped in a straight jacket, and the Alice in the cell had wide eyes, as if she was going mad, and not the good kind. Alice saw her deranged self twitch, her hair glowing bright red for a moment, wildly flying everywhere, changing from the beautiful red she was used to, to a dark Maroon. It fluctuated so rapidly back and forth that it was like she had no control or no idea what she was doing.
"Where is Hatter, my Hatter? Cheshire..., wait her name was Cat, please... somebody, anybody, I am not supposed to be here! Magdala is doing this on purpose, she has you all trapped!" It was as if a moment of clarity had entered the other Alice, and she was trying to get free, but then just as quickly as it had come, it went away. "Twisting, turning, so many paths to choose, do you go right, do you go left? Why is a raven like a writing desk? Want to hear a poem?
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws."
With the final sentence, she fell silent again in her musing, it made Alice look on in shock and horror.
Exactly, what was going on here, this was like some twisted version of what was actually happening. The scene changed once again, Alice saw Cat and Katy together as they were talking about her.
"Can you believe she actually thought she was going to rule Wonderland? I mean come on, how delusional can you be to concoct this whole story, that she was some long-lost princess?!" Cat asked in disbelief and pity.
"Well, can you blame her, she took her mom's death hard, I mean it was really sudden. I never would have thought she was capable of all this though. I think all those books she reads finally got to her though. I mean come on, her a Queen, she doesn't know the first thing about being a Ruler." Katy agreed as she shook her head at the very idea.
Alice was feeling sick, all her doubts were being spoken by her friends, the people she was closest to. Was she actually in an asylum somewhere slowly going crazy, had she made this whole thing up?