Hatter
Completely
I had to find Alice. There were so many possible placed she could be. If she had escaped already that narrowed it down to about 90 possible floors all with at least 10 walled rooms and as many hallways. So it was some extreme kind of luck that I found her on the second floor I searched. She was running, as was expected, towards one of the game rooms. I got in through a utility door to watch her.
I was unsurprised to find that she was caught, arms raised, in front of two suits. I watched them close in for a second, then with a whistle and two swift punches I had both on the ground. I grabbed their guns, one for me and one for Alice. I hoped she knew how to shoot because those were going to some in handy.
The oysters didn't even notice our entrance and the gambling games and dances continued without much interruption, but I knew that more suits were on their way.
"Oh my God." Alice said as she looked over me.
"It's a few cuts and bruises I'm fine-"
"I thought you were dead." She grabbed me into an uncharacteristic hug. A tight hug… a very, very tight hug. Why didn't we do this earlier? I thought.
"Oh that feels good..." Frankly, I would've liked to stay in that particular position for quite awhile, but seeing as we were trying to escape the Heart's Casino alive I decided that wasn't a good idea. "We should save that until we're safe."
"I'm sorry I didn't trust you."
"You trust me now?"
"Completely." Finally! I could've picked her up and twirled her around in my arms, but that wouldn't have gotten us any closer to safety.
"Follow me, I'll get us out of here."
"No!" I stopped.
"No?" What happened to the trust thing? "Completely" yeah, I think that's what she said.
"I have an idea. Do you see any more suits in here?"
"I don't think so… no."
"Let's seal the other exit. Find something to brace the doors."
"Uhh, ok."
"…. Mix the wrong feelings together and you wind up with a complete break down. And Charlie. Charlie said the Queen only wanted to feel the good not the bad remember?"
"So?"
"We're gonna stir up some emotions."
* **** *
Her idea worked, but it didn't last. The suits came charging in and I was glad we had stolen the guns. Then Alice's father came. I silently apologized to Jack, but I would of course never mention it to his face. He still took Alice away from me and got her captured and I would always blame him for it. My heart broke for Alice when the large walrus look-alike killed her father. It wasn't fair, and I hated seeing her so upset.
Once everyone had evacuated we watched the building fall. The way Alice stared at the crumbled building left me with a difficult decision… keep my mouth shut and respect her father's memory or go for some levity.
"I don't suppose I could get the hug now huh?" Eh, not my best decision.
"There! She's there!" I was relieved from owning up to my mistake. The smoke cleared to reveal a Queen of Hearts who looked surprisingly unimportant. I couldn't believe this short little fiery red-head had caused this much trouble. About half the surrounding suits closed in on us, some brave oyster pushed them back.
"Touch the lady and I'll shuffle your deck." Hm, not the best line, and he obviously can't "shuffle" all those suits on his own. I thought. I didn't like the guy much, mainly because protecting Alice was my job and he was stealing it.
"Don't just stand there, arrest her!"
"Take a good look at your Queen first." Alice moved behind the brave "shuffler", leaving herself open to their attack. "Make sure she'd really worth fighting for." The suits obeyed Alice and slowly began to circle the Queen.
"How dare you look at me. She's the one you should be looking at!"
"I am not the problem. You are."
"Off with her head!"
"And it looks like everyone is waking up to that."
"Don't listen to her. She's just an insolent girl."
"Nobody is frightened of you anymore. You're just one of us now."
"This is my kingdom and I'm still Queen."
"Look around, no one is listening. Your power is gone." And just in case the Queen wanted to continue her illusion of power… the final nail in the coffin arrived. Jack Heart, with a girl who was apparently the Duchess riding on his arm.
"Jack! Thank heavens you're here. Get everyone to fall in line."
"Didn't you sentence me to death?" No wonder he joined the resistance. I thought.
"Oh don't be so sensitive. I was just doing my job. Come on now and rally the troops!"
"Mother. It's over." It was amazing to me that he still called her mother. Alice held out a hand, waiting for the ring that would take her back home. It was over for us too…
"The ring."
"Are you mad? I'd sooner have you cut off my finger." Oh, this would be fun. I've always liked playing mind games on people.
"That can be arranged."
"Do you have a knife?" I asked the nearest club, he was about a foot and half taller than me, but I don't think it took away from the intimidation. He handed me a large white switchblade. "Thank you." I didn't break eye contact with the Queen, I wasn't looking forward to actually cutting anyone's finger off, but I was sure she would surrender before we got there. Jack stopped me,
"Make sure it's a clean cut. We don't want any blood on the ring."
"Mhm" I popped open the knife for the added effect. Seeing the glint of the sharp metal broke the Queen's confidence and she grudgingly pulled the ring off her stubby little fingers and handed it over. Alice raised it above her head and the surrounding oysters cheered like they had won a battle. A battle that they hadn't fought. I looked around and couldn't help but smile. I wouldn't have to face an angry pack of Dodo's followers now. Wonderland was safe. And Alice… Alice was going back to where she belonged. Brilliant.
Author's Note: I could've finished tonight… I really really could've. But I didn't *evil Cheshire-esque grin*. For many reasons…. #1: This is a rather dull chapter in general because Hatter doesn't really do much. #2: The next chapter will be number 13 and 13 is a good ending number. #3: I'm getting my lap top tomorrow and I want to save some Hatter writing for it. #4: I don't want it to be over yet! Got it? Good. Then you all can look forward to chapter number 13 and the return of all the Hatter goodness. :)
