A/N: The one thing I never understood in the film was how the Bloody Red Queen had a creature like the Jabberwocky fighting under her banner. The Jabberwocky is, after all, to Wonderland what Godzilla is to Japan, nigh unkillable but for one single weapon. This is simply my interpretation on how the deal was struck with the devil. And no, I'm not talking about the Jabberwocky.
DISCLAIMER: I OWN WHAT IS MY OWN.
"Under the Pale Moonlight"
By Corvus no Genmu
The cave was dark and dank, water dripping from the stalactites that hung like grisly fangs from the ceiling. A faint wind blew through the cave in a strange pattern, as though the cave itself was snoring. A rock tumbled down from the ceiling and crashed to the floor. Another crash and a startled roar echoed from the depths of the cave before a deep grumbling as a massive something fell to the ground. The pattern of windy gusts resumed.
"Twas brillig and the slithey toves!"
A snort turned into an angry hiss, deep purple scales scraping along the cave floor.
"Did gyre and gimble in the wabe!"
A hiss turned into a snarl, bat like wings spreading and crashing into the walls of the cave, sending stalactites falling like stone spears.
"All mimsy were the borogoves! And the mome raths outgrabe!"
"ENOUGH!" Blazing eyes of flame lit up the darkness as a massive form slithered forward, massive talons gouging the rocky floor. For a creature so massive, he moved like a river flood, overflowing with rage and sparks dancing in his fanged jaws. In mere moments, he was at the cave's entrance, standing tall with wings serving as second legs and pronged tail lashing. "Who dares to recite that on my lands?! Who dares?!"
Eyes of infernal flame fell down to the ground below, and a condescending smirk fell on scaly lips. He visibly relaxed, a condescending smirk spreading on scaly lips, saber-like fangs glistening in the twilight. Here he had come expecting a full contingent to challenge him when in reality it was the loneliest number. "Well, well, well… I heard tale of your swelled head but I must confess to never hearing word of your ego. To what do I owe the displeasure of your company?"
His smirk grew at the rage flaring in her eyes, the brow of her massive forehead crinkling but, for once, she kept her temper before the beast. "I have come to strike a bargain with you." She called up to him. "One I'm sure is well to your liking."
"A bargain?" He shook his head, whiskery tendrils flapping in the wind. "I have no want for material gain nor do I find pleasure in company, human or otherwise, so pray, what could you have to offer me?"
"Protection."
The air suddenly became heavy and she found it suddenly difficult to breathe as the beast's glowing eyes shined brighter, dark sparks falling from his jaws. She expected him to roar in a terrible rage, to scream for her head when something amazing happened. Something so amazing it was beyond awe but drenched completely in horrible shock for how utterly mind-boggling the idea was to even be conceived let alone seen by one's very eyes.
The mightiest of the Three Shunned Ones, Ruler of the Infernal Storm, Underland's one and only true immortal… was laughing.
"Protection?! YOU? HA! I am the Jabberwocky! I kill what I wish! My flesh is stronger than ten-fold shields! My teeth are like swords, my claws; spears! The shock of my tail…" The serpentine appendage raised itself up and came crashing down with earth-shaking force. "A thunderbolt! My wings… a hurricane!" What few trees that decorated the abysmal landscape were torn from their roots as the Jabberwocky's massive wings beat fast and hard, sending forth gale force winds until, at last, he stopped.
His head lowered down, electricity dancing in his jaws. "And my breath… DEATH!" Infernal lightning erupted from the Jabberwocky's jaws, flying just above his visitor's large head and striking a cluster of boulders. A massive explosion and a cloud of dust fell upon his visitor, who frowned distastefully and picked at an errant pebble that landed on her shoulder. She seemed almost unimpressed but her eyes told him differently. Oh to be sure there was fear in her eyes, what fool wouldn't be afraid in her shoes, but there was something else glittering in those maddened orbs.
Excitement.
He rose tall, staring down at her like the royalty he imagined himself to be. "Well? WELL? What do you think that I would need protection from?!"
"Vorpal."
One word, whispered, nay barely spoken at all, but the force of it, the essence alone was enough to bring the dread beast down on from his imperious stance, his head lowered so that burning eyes met cold ones in a sudden stare down. A serpentine tongue hissed from scaly lips, tasting the truth in her scent and in it, he recognized the stench of his Old Friend.
"Estranged I might be, but fool I am not." He hissed, his crest billowing outwards, a clear sign of his rising ire. "I know you do not have him. You are forsaken. Pushed aside for the proper heir to the throne of Underland." He smiled maliciously at the sudden redness in her face, almost desiring for her to try and reproach him, to give him a reason to end her existence in an explosion of lightning.
"My sister…" She bit the word out despite the foul taste it left in her mouth. "Does indeed possess the Vorpal Sword, but she has chosen a poor bearer."
"There is no such thing." He denied with a derisive snort. "In the end, it all comes down to him. Who wields him is of no consequence." His massive tail thumped against the ground, cracking the bedrock and knowing she was losing his patience, she hurried on.
"This bearer is a false one!"
He stilled at that, his frill shut and loose on his neck, whiskers still despite the harsh winds of his lands. "A false one…" He repeated, daring to imagine it. To be a bearer of the Vorpal One meant to be the body to the weapon's soul, the one and only weapon capable of harming, nay even killing Underland's true immortal.
The Jabberwocky.
To be a bearer meant giving the Vorpal One a body, and together bearer and sword became almost as one, what one felt so did the other and therein lied Vorpal's one true weakness. So long as he killed the body, the sword could not, would not, be capable of slaying him. However… to be a false one… meant that this symbiosis only worked in one way. Vorpal would still feel its bearer's pain, the agony of flesh and life, but the bearer would be entirely incapable of hearing the words of the Vorpal Sword… and be like the lamb to the slaughter against the power of the Jabberwocky.
Burning eyes narrowed into thin, glowing slits, glowing charcoals beneath hardened flesh. "Where is he?"
"Ah, ah! That would be telling! I came all this way not just to talk civil with you."
He growled, crest spread wide once more. "Do you presume to strike a deal with me? Do you think yourself capable of holding my favor in the years to come?"
No hesitation. "Of course."
The Jabberwocky's infernal eyes of flame narrowed, the blaze dying down to faint embers, his serpentine orbs now like smoldering charcoals. He knew what she would gain if the people of Underland saw him, the supposed neutral party, allying himself with her. She would have a lot to gain with him under her flag but so too would he, if he played the cards right.
"You think to strike a bargain with me do you?" He rose to his towering height once again, his tail sliding back and forth lazily behind him. "On three conditions will I break my neutrality and bow my head to you."
Thoughtful silence. Then, "They are?"
"First, you keep him under lock and key unless I say otherwise. Second, you keep the Jubjub Bird and the Bandersnatch within the palace walls as permanent residents of Salazen Grum; I will make my home wherever I wish. Third… I will serve as your executioner three times and three times alone. No more, no less. Then, I will be free of this mediocrity of servitude to you."
She did not too pleased by his terms and so spoke her own. "The Jubjub Bird and Bandersnatch will have to earn their keep! It will not do for them to be lying about after all." The Jabberwocky growled at that but he did not deny her words. What would the point be in them living lavishly if they forgot who and what they were in the circles of Underland? "Fine then, are we in agreement?" She held out her hand, palm up to the massive dragon.
The Jabberwocky bowed his head in mock courtesy. "We are in agreement."
"Then go! Go to Witzend! There you will find the White Knight with Vorpal Sword in hand waiting for you! Kill him and the Hightopp Clan together! Make sure that no one in all of Underland shall have hope in standing against my ruling!"
The Jabberwocky could not hold back a ferocious grin. 'Fool of a human… your swelled head will be your undoing.' In not choosing her words more carefully, the traitorous sister had used up two of her three callings on the Jabberwocky. She would only be able to call on him once more to kill whoever stood in her way and then… He roared maliciously as he soared upwards into the sky, ash falling from his skin like black snow.
He would be free to end the Bloody Red Queen of Salazen Grum himself.
Fin