Author's Note: Well here it is the second chap, it is finished already because I had to cut my advances in several parts. I realized that with all I have written thus far, I would not be able to put it in just one chapter. So I had to separated in several, it would seem I have enough material to upload almost 4 chapters. Nice isn't it.
By the way I've already made up my mind; the endless will appear in this story. Not as main characters of course, but they will make appearances and have a word or two with Alice and Shepard and even some other members of his crew. Had to come up with the idea of an entire new back-story just for them; nothing that will take too long. Just something that allows me to integrate them in the story without trouble and give a reason for their appearance. It also allows me to make cameos of other entities. Oh! so much ideas, so much work ahead of me.
I've spent the entire past week writing the new scene that will feature Dream in this story, I already have the draft. Still, I have to do some corrections and check the grammar and stuff. But my direction is clear. Anyway let's go on with the story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all intellectual property belongs to EA and Bioware has the copyrights of Mass Effect.
Madness Effect
Chapter 1: New faces around wonderland
Subject Zero was having a very strange dream. What the fuck? Was not enough to describe her uncertainty; it was not normal for her to dream while being in isolated containment –a.k.a, getting her ass frozen stiff- certainly being roughly tied in a restraining bed and tossed inside a cryogenic machine to forcefully put her to sleep, was not a recipe for sweet dreams. Purgatory was by far not a resort place.
Despite all that, Subject Zero could not help but fell an inkling of pride swelling inside of her. Knowing that not even the infamous prison ship, legendary for its gruesomeness, its savagery -from both inmates and guards- and its highly extreme security was not enough to stand against her sheer brutality; hence the need to put her to sleep against her will. Oh yes, she was the most bad-ass bitch in the entire universe; at least that was Jack thought about herself. It was enough to make her smile.
Still… She never expected to have this kind of dream, well? Never. All this colors and prettiness, and other weird things; It was enough to make her sick. Now that she thought about, it is indeed really weird for her to be here in the first place since all she could remember since she put into an unwilling coma has been nothing but dull, boring and endless blackness. No sights, no lights, no sounds, no anything; Just the unchanging darkness of the void.
And now suddenly she is starting to have dreams? This being by far the most bizarre she has ever had. She suspected those bastards blue suns had put some strange drug in her bloodstream as sedative when they had moved her.
But that wasn't what was pissing her off. No, what was pissing her of was the fact that if this was her dream; then why in the hell she is dreaming about big fucking gigantic and freaking bright colorful FLOWERS? And that was not the only thing wrong in this place.
Not only her surroundings were to colorful for her comfort. But there were also the most unlikely things floating in the sky: Teapots and other silverware, domino chips, even great chunks of earth the size of a mountain with all and trees included, and… Was that a giant snail floating upside down?
She had found other people here, not that they proved to be of much help either. Some were your average everyday people, others looked battle-hardened soldiers, and some even looked exactly like some of those historical figures she had seen in the vids sometimes. Which, now that she thought about it many of these people looked as if they had come from different time periods.
Some even carried weapons akin to the era they looked of having come from. Swords –who uses a fucking sword nowadays- bows, spears, ancient pistols, muskets, assault rifles and other automatic weapons form before the discovery of element zero. Goddamn! It made her feel as if she was in some kind of museum display. She could see that they were not faring better than her, all of them with the same look of confusion and unfamiliarity when looking at their surroundings.
It would seem that talking to any of them will be of no help, not that she would get close to any of them even if it did. Some looked deranged and obviously crazy. Just like some inmates in purgatory; she knows pretty well how to identify the looneys.
Jack leaved all of those freaks – as she had dubbed them- behind. Knowing that there was nothing she would gain from them. She would have to find her own way out of this place alone, as always.
She walked for the best part of an hour, trying to find an exit from the strange forest. The place freaked her out with its strange creatures and unbelievable sights. There were fireflies with a body made of pudding, with leafs as wings and smoking heads and flies that looked nothing more than just flying bolts with wings; too weird.
Eventually, Jack realized that she was not getting anywhere and that she had got lost. Frustrated, she tried to release a violent outburst of biotic energy into a nearby tree only to discover that she could not use her biotics.
"WHAT THE FUCK?" She shouted.
She tried again to use her powers and again and again and again, until finally giving up due to the uselessness of all of it. Her own dream and she can't even use her powers; she couldn't believe it. How fucked up her imagination was?
Releasing a tired sigh -odd that she could feel weariness in a dream- Jack heard some voices arguing somewhere nearby. Not having anything else better to do, she decided to look for the source of all that ruckus.
Meanwhile; not too far from there. Alice was not pleased in the slightest for the inconvenience of returning to wonderland at such unsuitable time and she was letting it known to Cheshire.
"Why did you bring me back to wonderland, cat? This is hardly the most appropriate moment for me to visit. Especially when I'm in such terrible danger of being captured" she said in a demanding tone.
Back with Jack, she was able to listen some of the ranting. She discerned some words despite the distance, wonderland among them. She didn't know why but that name sounded familiar to her. If only she could remember where had she heard it?
Before she could continue in that trend of thought another voice was heard certainly answering to the first one. This new voice was cultivated and had a soothing tone, but it had a ring to it that gave her suspicions.
"You were not in the best conditions to continue with your escape Alice; I doubt that your legs had the strength to carry you further. Awake or in wonderland would not change that fact. Rest seemed a practical choice; besides, didn't you manage to elude all of those blue bottles? It would be prudent to wait for them to give on their efforts"
"But what if they find me?" asked back Alice with urgency "I will not be able to resist them should they discover my sleeping figure while I'm here listening to your cryptic nonsense"
Cheshire was unfazed however and waited for the girl to finish venting her frustration "There might be a slight chance for that occurrence to happen. Only possible if they are very thorough with their search. I doubt those coppers posses the drive to carry on such task. Shadows and darkness are resulting your greatest allies right now Alice, they will not make it easy for you to be found. Unless of course, you do something to draw their attention... you don't snore do you?"
"It is hardly polite to ask such things to a lady!" sputtered the girl very flustered at the cat's impertinence"But... fine, I suppose there's nothing I could do right now to correct the situation" she relented "Say cat, do you know why there is suddenly a lot of new faces around here? I stumbled with many people I was unfamiliar with when I arrived. I don't remember dreaming about them before and I doubt they are some hallucination of mine. Some of them look to- normal to be inhabitants of my wonderland"
"That is because they are not delusions of yours" Cheshire brought a claw into his smiling mouth in thought before adding "I guess some of them could? In any case the point of the matter is, it is not your imagination creating new characters rather it's you who is attracting new characters inside your imagination"
Alice crossed her arms in irritation "What is that supposed to mean? Speak clearly cat"
"Remember Alice" said the cat starting to get tired of the young woman's attitude "You can draw others inside wonderland to share with them your dreams. You late sister knew about us, same for those children you are so fond of at the orphanage. Lately i'm afraid you've not been much mindful in the application of your talents. Sometimes unexpected visitors tend to filter inside your head"
"You mean; I've been dragging others inside my wonderland? But how?" she questioned in disbelief "I have always been in control of who comes inside with me" her eyes flickered at many directions while her mind tried to cope with this new information, her jaw tensed "will this bring trouble? Wonderland is still weak from the dollmaker's infection. I don't think I like much the idea of having strange people wreaking havoc inside my head"
"Yes..." answered the cat nonchalantly "Sadly, you've been, indeed, dragging others inside here with us. Wether without your knowledge or their consent. But could you truly not have predicted the ocurrence of such an issue? Your power -for a lack of a better term- has being increasing significantly since your confrontation with Bumby. The creation of Londerland should have been an obvious testimony of that. You my dear girl were able to break the barrier between your world and wonderland and managed to make a blend of both. That should not have been possible, yet you did it. Utterly Amazing!" he exclaimed jovially. "Not surprising then that you find yourself unable to control the new increment of your abilities. As for the matter of having others meddling with your head; I wouldn't worry much if I were you. Wonderland is your creation, not theirs. Unlike your previous experiences with the doctor; this time however, it is you who is in charge of the situation. They in fact are just visitors; unable of changing or influencing over what you have created in here. Although the other way around may not be entirely true"
"You're saying wonderland could change them?" the girl inquired.
"Indeed, that is a high possibility." Replied the cat with a shrug "As you know, wonderland is like no other place. It has its own beauty and dangers that are not found anywhere else. If these unexpected visitors wander into places they are not supposed to; I doubt they would be able to leave unscathed. That is of course (chuckles) if they can even leave at all"
Alice was alarmed by that revelation, it had never been her intention for this to happen "That's not good cat! I don't want people getting hurt because of me, intentionally or not. I've never wanted for my wonderland to bring harm unto innocent people"
Cheshire laughed at the word innocent, Alice who didn't understand what was so funny, glared at him "Now that is an interesting label, innocent. Pray tell me" The cat said mockingly "How do you know that all who have entered in here are absolved of sin? Have you even looked at them? A few of them seem as perverted as the late doctor Bumby. Like that fellow with his body filled with tally marks, it looked as if he had carved them into his flesh himself. With the way he behaves I can only suspect what the significance of those marks entails. None of them much pleasant in any respect, i'm afraid"
"I... I know who you mean. I stumbled with him on my way here. He gave me a bad feeling the moment I lay eyes on him and I was correct in my suspicions. He tried to attack me with not so much as a greeting, can you believe the nerve for such rudeness. I had to send him flying away with my hobby horse" Alice huffed indignated.
"So you see? Good! I think we would be doing society a favor -Not that it would deserve it- if some of them were to suffer a little mishap while traversing through our lands. I doubt they would be missed"
"I don't care cat, it's not correct. I cannot go around bringing judgment down on people. I'm not the Red Queen"
The cat tilted his head in confusion, so much it almost seemed as if his head was upside down "But Alice? You ARE the Red Queen. Remember, you became the bearer of her position when you overthrew her and lay waste to her kingdom"
Alice rolled her eyes and facepalmed in irritation "I know that cat, is just... ugh. That's not what I meant. I mean- I may be the new red queen, but I'm not in anything like my predecessor. I don't have a penchant for torturing people unlike her who would certainly not miss the opportunity to make some heads roll, you know how she is"
"Yes..." Cheshire deadpanned " Sadly, I know".
"At any rate, I would not wish to impose over the life of others. Besides not all of them look like criminals many have very unique looks, they look quite exotic. Like that clown, you know? the one with green hair and red lips. Dressed in a purple suit. Had a smile that rivaled yours. He spoke to me, he was polite enough and told me many curious things. I kind off liked him" Alice said bringing a finger to her chin in thought.
"Why! Yes, you are correct Alice, many look quite the bunch of lively fellows. They would indeed fit perfectly in this place".
Finally, Jack had managed to find the owners of the voices, only to be stunned by their appearances. One was a young woman barely out of her teens, with dark -almost raven- brown hair and green eyes. She wore a blue dress with an apron and a necklace with the symbol of Omega and a key were hanging from her neck. Not much of an impression there.
But the other? It was a goddamn giant cat with a big fucking head and... It spoke? She didn't feel much comfortable by his looks either. He was thin and lanky, extremely so. She could see his bones through hanging pelt. He had a manic grin, too physically impossible in length; fill with long yellow sharp teeth. For some reason the corner of his mouth had a crimson substance in it; she didn't wanted to know what that substance was, not if it was what she suspected. His body was covered in strange tribal tattoos -well she could appreciate those, being as how she was fond of tattoos herself- He had a long hoop ring in one of his ears and 2 brilliant golden eyes with a wicked shine to them.
It would seem that these 2 were not aware of her presence; but Jack being as conspicuous as she is -not to mention the fact that she was mildly nervous- couldn't helpe but scream.
"THE FUCK'S GOING ON HERE?"
Alice was caught of balance by the sudden intrusion. Looking at the source of it, she could not avoid from feeling stunned by the newcomer appearance. It was a woman, at least she thought -more like hoped- she was one. The lack of hair made that difficult to tell. She was completely bald, not one single hair arise form her scalp. Her body was totally covered in tattoos -it's not like that was something new to her; Cheshire had tattoos too. But this woman took the cake- She had a very dark and strong make-up that gave her an intimidating look and... Had she no shame? She was strutting around without a shirt; only a strap of cloth covered her privates. Alice felt herself blush.
"Eeek!" She squealed "Dear Lord! Whoever you are please have the modesty to cover yourself. Don't you have any decency?" she said while turning around covering her eyes.
The bald woman however, cared not for her discomfort.
"Whatever Princess! Look I need to know where the hell am I? And it looks to me that you may posses the answers that I seek. So how about your answer my questions and I don't have to beat the crap out of you?"
Alice forgot for a moment her discomfort for the woman's nakedness. Instead she now found herself shocked at the newcomer's blunt and rude mannerisms. Looking at cat, it seemed as if he was as confused like her. Thought that did little to diminish his grin, in fact it looked as if he was enjoying this new development.
"What kind of introduction is that? Is that the way you normally greet at people? Even more important; Why are you wearing no clothes at all? Cat! Is this another one of those visitors you've mentioned?"
Cheshire assessed the newcomer intently and when he spoke it leaved Jack incredulous "She could certainly be it; although this one I had not seen before. She might as well seem at home here in wonderland due to the uniqueness of her appearance. Maybe she's a new invention of your mind Alice"
"What? Inconceivable!" Alice rebuked "I would never imagine someone in such state of undress. Unlike her, I known the meaning of the word decency"
-Great! - Jack thought -a prude- Jack hated prudes. She didn't want to deal with this right now; but she desperately needed some answers. So she had to suck it up much to her dismay.
"Look princess! I don't give a damn what you think. I just want you to tell me; What in the name of a fucking god is this place?"
Alice was left Aghast with her mouth hanging open. She had never heard someone speak in such a foul and dirty manner before. Cat on the other hand seemed to like the newcomer attitude; he chuckled in amusement.
Jack by simply looking at Alice, knew that she wasn't going to get anywhere. Normally she would have been pissed by now and started rushing on the warpath already; but without her biotics that didn't look like a viable option. Not that she needed her biotics to deal with a teenager. But that cat gave her a bad feeling and she wasn't stupid to try to test his reactions. Seeing that her current trend of inquiry wasn't working, she decided to change her approach.
Sighing deeply she spoke again "Listen missie! I'm lost without knowing where I am. I don't know who you are? And I certainly don't know why the hell the cat is speaking. So I would appreciate if you would not dwell in the way I dress and lend me a hand." by now she had difficulty to keep her temper in check, speaking through gritting teeth "Is that agreeable for you, Princess?"
Alice was still weary of the newcomer, but it seemed she was in need of her help -Although her manners to ask for it were sorely lacking- Well it wasn't as if this stranger could hurt her inside her own wonderland and she did had said she didn't wanted to cause injury to those who were dragged here against their will. Making up her mind, she relaxed and took a deep breath.
"Very well" She performed a curtsey as she had been taught as the proper way when greeting people "My name is Alice Liddell, it is a pleasure to make her acquaintance"
Jack was confused by that greeting, never had she been greet in such a polite manner before. It made her feel oddly inside; her confusion was so evident on her face that made Alice feel mildly embarrassed. The biotic woman quickly recomposed herself and gave her name.
"The name's Jack" she said in a flippant tone.
Again Alice was left stunned once more and it was not because of the tattooed woman lack of manners. This newcomer was getting even more and stranger by the minute. Even cat looked as if he was unable to cope with all this awkwardness and he loved every minute of it.
"Is that not a man's name?" asked Alice after recovering for her impression.
"So?"
"!"
"... But? Aren't you a woman?" she pressed
"And? I liked the way it ringed so I pick it. What's the problem with that?"
"Um?... (Shrug) I guess nothing" certainly Alice had seen and imagined very strange and bizarre things in her short life. A woman who has the name of a man is a very small fish compared to that.
"So what are you doing here in wonderland- Jack?" Alice asked changing subject.
"That's the problem; I don't know why I'm here. Hell, I don't even know how I got here in the first place. Much less i know what this wonderland is. Thought the name sounds familiar to me for some reason" replied the bald woman trying hard to remember were she had heard the name before, without much success.
"...mmm..." Alice murmured in thought and looked at Cheshire "She really must be one of those travelers; isn't it? What do you think Ches?"
"Possibly, if the fact that she doesn't recognize her surroundings is proof enough. A true denizen of wonderland would not question his right to dwell in here. We have always know were our heart is, can't said the same about our heads though" the cat turned and tilted his head at Jack "I must saiy I'm curious at how do you seem to recognize the name of this location?"
Jack shrugged clueless "I dunno; I just know it for some reason. I think I heard it somewhere before"
Alice thought about it for a minute and spoke back to cat "Cat; do you think she might had stumbled with one of the children of the orphanage? Maybe he did a mention of my wonderland and she overheard it? Though I found it odd that I had not heard any mention of someone like Jack before. I'm quite sure if someone with such a particular way of dressing would had arrived into town it would had caused quite the stir"
"You bet you ass on it. I love to cause mayhem wherever I go" stated Jack with pride.
"Yes, I don't doubt that for a second. You do look as if you would feel particularly comfortable among chaos. Not surprising then that you're taking our oddness with such frivolity" mention the cat wiggling his tail from one side to another.
Jack shrugged unconcerned "I figure that this must be a dream of sorts. There's no way this is real. Specially since there's a whole world of difference between this place and the place were I was before waking here."
"Ah!" exclaimed Chesire in fake surprise. He tilted his head again. His eyes shone intently "Well then if that's the case Jack. Pray tell us, from what place do you hail from?" he asked.
"Purgatory"
Alice was shocked of what she heard. Purgatory, the mountain where the souls of the dead must climb in order to be cleansed of their sins and reach the earthly paradise. This new information made cat grin even more, excitement beaming from him.
"I must say Jack. That is a very interesting piece of information" he looked at Alice "My dear Alice. Clearly you must be flourishing into something truly marvelous, if you been pulling the souls of the deceased away from the terraces of penitence"
"What the hell are you talking about?" blurted Jack in annoyed confusion "What terraces of penitence? Deceased? You think I'm dead? You don't even know what I am talking about, do you?"
"Perhaps it would be best if you gave us a more elaborate description Jack. We seem to have misunderstood the place you spoke of" offered Alice in an effort to placate the violent woman.
"Yeah, no shit" she replied annoying Alice again with her foul language "Purgatory. The place I'm speaking of; is the most heavily hard-ass guarded and infamous prison ship in the entire universe with a reputation that would scare you shitless. That's the place were the worst scum of the galaxy is thrown into. That's where they keep us locked-up and away from more civilized worlds" explained jack making invisible quotes with her fingers at the word civilized.
"Galaxy? Worlds?" murmured Alice dumbfounded to Chesire, who only shrugged in response.
"So you say you've came form a prison ship. Does that make you a criminal?" Asked the dark haired brunette; Her suspicions of Jack flaring up again.
"I'm not just any common criminal. I'm the most crazy and dangerous bitch in the entire universe. Not even purgatory was able to handle me. That's why they frozen me"
"Frozen you?" retorted Alice not believing what she just heard. "As if encased in ice? What kind of prison does that to its inmates?"
"There's a reason as to why Purgatory is known as the most fearsome and hardcore prison in the whole galaxy. It's designed to hold the worst kind of people in tight shity little cells. Of course that having so many rapist, murderers and wackos in such close space is -obviously- going to cause trouble. But the people who run it don't care. It used to be a ship to move cattle once. Now is a madhouse were everybody is out to get you; even the guards. They are of no help at all; they're just bullies who give you shit if you dare to even look at them. They like to enter in your cell in the middle of the night and beat the crap out of you. Interrogation they call it, even though there's nothing they don't know already before hand. Not with all their eyes and ears everywhere watching you all the time. I was the most savage and wild inmate they had ever dealt with. I was too much for them to handle -bunch of pussies. She said under her breath- that's why they frozen me. Normally they just kill anybody who gives them too much trouble, but I'm far too much valuable to them as merchandise for them to get rid of me"
Jack's description of her particular branch of purgatory made Alice recoil in disgust. Such horrid place; it made her remember the Asylum and the last part struck her as highly irregular "Merchandise? What do you mean by that?" she inquired not liking the implications of it.
"The Blue Suns –that's the name of the sick fucks who run the place- have the tendency to sell the most notorious of the inmates to people who's willing to pay for some alone time with a bound and restrained criminal that cannot fight back; The fucking cowards. Normally the most famous or hated of us are the first ones to go"
"My God! You're telling me they sell people? How barbaric!" Exclaimed Alice in shock at such uncivilized practices.
"Yes the world is fucked up place, welcome to it" Jack mocked her "Anyway, yeah the blue suns have the reputation of being some goddamn slavers. I have a score to settle with them. They're idiots if they think I will simply let them sold me without a fight. The moment they open my cell to deliver me to some random asshole I will make my escape and I'll kill anything that dares stand in my way. The suns, the motherfucker who buys me and anyone else stupid enough to face me; whatever, they all will die the same"
"You don't seem much worried about the fact of killing all those people?" mentioned Alice "Not that I care about them or anything. For what I heard your captors deserve anything you may do to them. Is just, well? It seems so much effort to me of time and energy to confront them when you could focus more on planning your escape"
"Now were would be the fun in that?" questioned the bald woman "I prefer taking my enemies head on. All that thinking and planning is not my style, besides other people dying simply means that my chance of surviving increase" Jack started to drift in thought remembering the days of her childhood "That's something I learned from a young age"
"A useful lesson to remember by, certainly" mentioned Cheshire "Survival is indeed a gruesome business at most times. Keep in mind though, that not always the direct confrontation is the most effective of solutions. If you wish to crush your enemies with your hide still intact. It pays to wait for the precise moment were you can inflict maximum damage in exchange of minimal effort. It's more effective that way"
"...!... Yeah? Well, whatever then" replied Jack not really knowing how to respond to the cat. She was having enough of the conversation and she still need it her questions answered ,so she addressed back at Alice "I have enough of playing 20 questions with you two. Now tell me, what's this wonderland place you been talking about" she pointed at Cheshire "The cat said it is a dream of yours, but I don't understand how is that I got here. Not that I'm complaining; it's much better than staring at a big black expanse of nothingness. Still I'm curious, what's the deal with this place?"
"You may be right in some respects Jack" answered the cat, cackling for some reason "Wonderland is certainly a realm that resides and thrives in imagination. A dream, indeed it was at some point; many things have their conception as one. Now it is much more than it once was; Great changes transpired recently and leaved wonderland reeling at the border of collapse. With is current recovery, something significant has started to build inside of wonderland, soon to be unraveled. Beware! Jack, you may think yourself above harm by believing that all of this is no more than a dream. But I assure you, this place is quite real and we who dwell in this land can cause a bit of an impression to strangers and outsiders. Curious! Is the fact that we are even far more stranger ourselves" he mused making both women to lose the thread of the conversation
"What?" asked jack starting to have enough of all this weirdness.
"Oh! Don't mind about that, it was just an observation of mine. Regardless, do take caution my dear Jack; otherwise you may end up finding yourself a permanent residence in this place."
"What are you saying" pressed the biotic woman "Am I to become trapped here forever. Why do I have the impression of that sounding like a threat" said Jack her stance turning aggressive.
"Not a threat at all Jack. Just a piece of advice that you should mind were you stepping into."
"I don't believe you?" she barked back in defiance.
"That is hardly my fault, is it not?" countered the feline "I can't do much to give you the answers you're looking for when you take offense at the way I deliver them to you. Not always do the answers we receive are the answers we seek. Losing your temper would do little to change that fact however. It would not make the truth go away" he said in a better-than-thou tone.
Jack did not trust that cat, she was sure he knew more than what he was saying. He was dangerous, her gut was telling her. But without her biotics she could not risk a confrontation. She would make sure to get that cat later once her powers returned.
"tch.. Fine, why does this place is so dangerous then?"She said finally backing down.
"It's because wonderland is a place of Alice own creation, bound it is to her swings in mood. A reflection of her current state of mind, it represents. Happiness and joy makes of wonderland a bright and shining place; But pain and suffering turns it grim and dangerous. The balance of this land is quite the fragile thing, you see; so little effort is required to tip said balance off and plunge wonderland into an abyss of madness and despair. On the other hand it's so much of a hassle to correct the damage. Sometimes is not possible to repair it completely and echoes tend to linger behind. Only Alice is the only one that can truly restore the land, being as how she is the architect of this place after all. She can mold it in whatever way she deems fit. Only possible because they share a deep connection, interlaced they are in ways I'm not fully able to describe myself and any change inflicted in one will affect the other in turn. They are one and the same, two sides of the same coin. Alice and her wonderland" he finished chuckling to himself and stretching his smile as far as he could.
Seeing him like that made Jack to finally remember were had she heard the name wonderland before; Reckoning in shock. It was a name she hadn't heard since her childhood, before Cerberus had abducted her.
"NO FUCKING WAY" she screamed.
Alice was still not pleased at jack swearing and foul language. But she did took notice of the bald woman sudden alarm.
"What's the matter Jack? What are you so giddy about?" she asked.
"YOU..." Jack screamed pointing at Alice, who pointed at herself in confusion " Yes you... you're not supposed to be real. You're supposed to be a character from a child-book's story" she exclaimed.
"Child-book's story?" Alice was certainly caught by surprise at that answer, not knowing how to react to that she sought Cheshire help "Cat, do you know what she's talking about?"
"I'm afraid I'm as clueless as you regarding jack's sudden outburst, my dear Alice" replied Cheshire.
Jack kept prancing about in her realization
"Now I really know this can't be nothing more but a stupid dream – a very bizarre one- but a dream nevertheless. You two are fiction characters. You are Alice! A sissy little girl that one day fell into a shitty hole and ended in a weird place called wonderland where she met and played with lots of stupid characters. Like the white rabbit, the Caterpillar, the mad hatter, the Cheshire cat..."
"That is my name without a doubt, although I find the notion of being called stupid particularly uncouth" said the cat unamused.
Jack wasn't paying him attention too focused was she in her rant, that she hadn't ears for nothing else.
"...And the Queen of Hearts. Fucking shit! You people cannot be real is just not possible"
"But I am real" replied Alice with conviction "I have never doubt of my existence. I was born and grew in England, been living there for all my life; except for the ocassional trip to wonderland that is" she then motioned towards Cheshire "Cat? Well, he is real enough for me. I say you are the one who is not real; after all it is you who is inside my head.
"What! Fuck no! I'm the one who is real and this is nothing that some hallucination that I'm having becuse of an acid trip or something. Why the hell am I discussing this with you in the first place? You're a child-book's character for fuck's sake"
Cheshire was curious about that book; it sounded awfully familiar to him "You know Alice, The only book that I know of that speaks about us, is the one that old foggy Dodgson wrote. It seems it has being moving around for what I notice. I ignored the fact that you have become quite the figure my dear girl; well besides of your ocassional appereance in the local papers from time to time"
"Is it true? Is mister dodgson the author of the book" Asked Alice to Jack; ignoring Cheshire's remarks.
"Fuck! I don't know… I just know some stupid fuck wrote it? It was so long ago. I don't remember the author. Doesn't matter, I'm stuck here anyway. (sigh) well i guess i'll have to deal with it, at least this is much better than standing all by myself alone in the dark. Guess i'll be stucked with you guys" said the tattoed woman in resignation.
"you're not frazzled anymore?" inquired the british girl surprised at the quickness of jack's change of heart "weren't you just upset about of how bizarre it was to be around people you believe to be characters from a book?"
Jack shrugged not really caring anymore "Well it doesn't seem as if i have many options, isn't it princess? At least this way i can fin a way out of this fucking forest"
Alice didn't know what to think, on one hand she didn't trust Jack much, she was rude and foul-mouthed, not to mention her way of dressing leaved much to be desired (and not much to the imagination too). But on the other hand she was petitioning her for help, with not much finesse she may add. But, It was more than obvious that she was lost and confused and... Grudgegingly, Alice remembered once more how she had said that she didn't wanted to cause trouble to other people because of her wonderland. Alice knew the importance of backing her own words, it's what would difrerentiate her from hypocrites like Bumby. Besides she accepted that if there was something good that could be said about Jack that would be her honesty. Jack didn't seem to her as the lying type, she was very vocal about the way she thought or felt (sometimes way to much) but she prefered that than dealing with liars and fake people.
"Fine! I suppose you could join me in my trip; is not often that i find a partner which to explore wonderland alongside with. Cheshire comes and goes as he pleases, so he is not much of a reliable source for companionship. Although, he does answers everytime when called and stands by your side when it really matters"
"It pleases me to know that you finally recognize the importance of my aid, Alice. Having to constantly put up with your wits tends to become really tiresome after a while" said Chesire. Earning a glare from Alice before vanishing from sight completely.
"Cool! So? Where are we going?" asked the bald woman.
Cool? What a strange word to use in a moment like this. Alice decided not to bother of correcting her new companion way of speaking. She assumed it would be an exercise in futility. So she just contented with answering her question.
"Well I need to know if there is a way to deal with this issue of people appearing randomly through my wonderland. So I guess a visit to Caterpillar is in order for us, i'm certain he would know how to solve this situation. C'mon then Jack let us be off"
And so Alice took off in the search for Caterpillar with a new companion in tow.
Commander John Shepard took cover the best he could at the entrance to a hallway. Bullets bounced from the edge closed to him. Grabbing his M-96 Mattock tightly, he emerged from his cover and took aim. Quickly without hesitation, he gunned down 2 blue suns mercenaries that were reloading their own weapons. His bullets depleting their Kinetic Barriers and punching through their armor.
He managed to take out the shields of a 3rd mercenary before running out of ammo himself; that same mercenary was sent flying into a wall before he had a chance to shoot at Shepard thanks to a biotic attack made by operative Lawson.
Another mercenary apperead at the end of the hallway but before he could raise his own rifle, he was quickly dispatched by a shot to the head from Garrus M-92 sniper rifle.
Shepard and his team had arrived inside the infamous prision ship, Purgatory in order to pick up the convict known as subject zero. Whose release was previously bought by Cerberus so he could recruit said prisioner for his mission against the collectors. Unfortunately they hadn't counted on Warden Kuril's greed, who betrayed Shepard and his team and was now trying to capture them to sell them into slavery; saying how he could make a good profit from their hides.
Obviously, Shepard would not let that happen. He and his team were forced to run throught the narrow hallways and corridors of the prision ship. Fighting wave after wave of blue suns mercenaries and Fenris mechs at each step of the way.
"Garrus prepare to give us covering fire. Miranda get ready to breach that door"
Taking position at the sides of the airlock to the next section of the ship, The Commander and Miranda were about to open it withGarrus at the back keeping an eye for any trouble through the scope of his rifle.
The former Spectre pushed the button and the airlock opened with a hiss. Blue suns were already waiting at the other side and were greeted by Garrus putting a bullet through the helmet lens of one of the mercenaries, forcing the rest to take cover.
A Fenris mech rushed at the Normandy's ground team but Miranda stop it cold with an overload and used her M-4 Shuriken to put the mech out of comission.
The commander being pumped by a rush of adrenaline assulted, all in his own a group of mercenaries taking cover behind some desks and terminals. Feeling as if the world was moving in slow motion, he immediately killed 3 mercenaries in a row. He kept moving fowards, his kinetic barriers dwingling under the constant fire. The clip of his rifle had runned out again, so he used the butt of his weapon instead to beat the lights out of the 4th and last merc and took their former cover as his own.
More mercenaries bursted into the room and engaged the ground team but even with these new reinforcements, the blue suns were unable to change the tide of the battle. Only able to delay the inevitable.
Garrus sniping made quick work of anyone who dared peek out of their cover or stupid enough to not be behind one. Miranda's biotics wreaked havoc among their lines, sometimes even forcing them out of cover and making them easy targets for the ground team. And finally with Shepard's leadership and fighting skills they were able to push the enemies back in retreat.
"We don't have much time! We must reach Jack before the blue suns seal the station" Shouted Miranda over the cacophony of battle.
"C'mon people! Keep pushing foward. The blue suns will not beat us to the punch" exclaimed the commander with certainty.
With that said the Normandy's ground team continued to engage the blue suns in a desperate effort to reach subject zero.
Note: there you have it chapter 2, now to work on the transcript of chapter 3. Why does it take me so long to make the transcripts? I mean i've been cheking my time and it takes almost an hour to pass just one page to the computer. Well it's just drafts after all. I have to check no spelling errors and make sure that the compositions of the sentences are good. I mean i have to make sure that the dialogs sound as something that the characters would say, otherwise it just doesn't work. But still i feel it takes to long and i get desperate, it's gonna take me months before i will be able to completely post what i consider the first part of this story. Whatever then.
Changing the subject, Deus Ex Human Evolution is finally to be released next Tuesday. I'm so going to buy that game. Already have ordered for my pre-order. All i have to do is pick it up the day of the realease. Just 2 more days.
Well, read ya' next chapter and don't forget to feed the review monster if you want for this story to continue. Goodbye for now.
Made another re-upload of this chapter. Wasn't quite satissfied with the way some dialogs were. Cheshire is such a complex character and his way of speaking is particularly unique. Hope you like it this way. If Shepard seemed a little overpowered, well don't tell me you've not done something like that while playing Mass Effect 2. i Know i did it, maybe not so much in higher difficulties but still... the insane difficulty is certanly non-canon and sometimes i get lazy when writting this action scenes. I mean we all know that Shepard is gonna beat the crap out of any merc. Is hard to write this kind of scenes sometimes, anyway I'll try if i can improve them.
