Chapter 7
"Alyss has returned!"
"The Queen has returned!"
"Long live the Queen!"
The Queen walked slowly, quietly and proudly as the many Wonderlanders heralded her return to their kingdom – and it was only for a few hours.
"Where's Hatter Madigan? What happened to Hatter Madigan?"
"Today, we have gathered here to mourn the loss of a great Millinery man."
The Queen stood behind a podium as she addressed miserable and forlorn Wonderlanders holding their heads down low in honour and remembrance of the great Hatter Madigan. A Hereafter seed had been planted, creating the image of him in flowers. The centrepiece of the funeral, however, was a huge hologram image of the legend himself, trademark hat in hand, coat blowing rapidly and elegantly.
"Hatter Madigan was more than just a mere man, he was noble, he was brave, he would give his own life for me. We must also pity him for the fact that he suffered massive guilt after he failed to protect the life of my great mother, but he is to be honoured, for if it were not for him, I would not be here before you. For when I was exiled to the real world, when a cruel man mocked the fabric of this very world, when my imagination was stunted, he brought me back to defeat Queen Redd and liberate you all.
"And now he, who once protected me even if his own life was on the line, who dedicated every second to the fate of this world, is dead."
She looked into the crowd with a look of calm anger.
"He was killed."
The inspirational image of Hatter Madigan slowly transformed into something that made the audience gasp in terror. His fabled hat grew larger and became ridden with arcane symbols. His face elongated into the hideous face of a goblin. His Millinery coat, flapping like a sail, shrank into a blood-stained strait jacket. The monstrous visage grew larger and larger, until a fifty-foot giant towered over the attendants of the funeral, growling and grunting under its breath.
"He was killed…by himself.
"Yes, my loyal subjects, our Wonderland is not the only Wonderland. I knew of another Wonderland; it was a hostile hell-hole with screaming demons, fierce ghouls and murderous creatures. It is a grotesque parody of our beautiful kingdom…"
The giant Hatter disappeared and became myriad demons and ghouls; screaming banshees, dancing red devils with pitchforks, green lizards with bulging eyeballs, robots blowing steam in their faces.
"See what they did to Bibwit Harte."
The host of monsters faded away, leaving a small, frail rabbit with a top hat to materialise in front of the crowd. The rabbit was whipped, whacked in the face and strangled by unseen monsters, until his end was met by a giant foot.
The real Bibwit gulped in horror.
"And what of General Doppelganger?"
The dead rabbit became two drooling oafs in beanies, laughing to themselves, playing with rattles, and splitting into miniature clones of themselves.
"And who could have been in charge of such a nightmare?"
'General Doppelganger' faded into nothingness and was replaced with what many in the audience thought was the most nightmarish thing they had ever witnessed.
It looked so much like Alyss…but every feature of her had been twisted into something grim. A solemn, sinister expression on her face, a bloodstained apron with strange symbols and…
That dripping knife.
"She created that world to mock me and everyone that stands here. She cared nothing for us, myself or what we have all been through; she just wanted to make us figures of ridicule and horror. She brought me and Hatter Madigan to that mad world just to shove what she had accomplished in our faces…
"It was too late for Hatter, but I managed to destroy that Alice and that world entirely, except for one thing…"
A final hologram materialised. A huge dragon, breathing fire ferociously and blasting thin purple lasers from its blazing yellow eyes. A furnace roared were a stomach should be, with pipes releasing steam into the audience.
"This creature was born of that Wonderland and is right here, right now, seeking for prey to destroy and devour. Unfortunately, this creature has made itself immortal so defeating it will not be easy. However, I urge all of Wonderland's armies to find a way to capture and contain the creature, so we can put it on display in Wondertropolis as a reminder on what we are fighting for.."
As the visage of the reviled beast faded away, the entire crowd began yelling and screaming with hopes of revenge and retaliation.
General Doppelganger approached the Queen. "You should really take a rest. You let me and the royal army handle this. We will find the monster."
She smiled and left the funeral.
"Oh, those sentimental fools…"
Everybody who came to the funeral left, except Bibwit, who remained in his seat, holding his stomach in disgust.
"Oh…why would they do that to me? Oh…"
The Jabberwock lay in the land of the Volcanic Plains, listening to the flames bursting from rocky fissures, hoping that in some way the sound would soothe him in some way. It did nothing of the sort; it merely served as a constant reminder that he was in Alyss' Wonderland, and the only reason he was there was because a malevolent tyrant wanted to further her plans and two beacons of purity were dead and decaying. No…Alyss still believed in him, Alyss forgave him…Alyss stood before him.
"Your first test is to begin."
The Jabberwock cast a skeptical glare. "What do you mean?"
"The royal Wonderland army is coming to capture you upon orders of the Queen…"
Alyss' words faded into nothingness at that moment.
An image formed right in front of the Jabberwock's eyes. He lay in a large cage, chains clenching his appendages. He was weak, couldn't retaliate, couldn't breathe fire, couldn't shoot optic lasers, and couldn't break free. Wonderlanders crowded around the cage, laughing raucously, throwing rotten wondercrumpets and tarty tarts at the beast. He roared and tried to break free of his chains, but was jolted onto the floor, with the crowd laughing louder.
He wasn't a hero. He wasn't a saviour. He never regained his organic body. He stood before the Wonderlanders as a mere animal, a joke, a game.
All the while, the Queen stood there, smiling.
Then the Jabberwock lost control.
He no longer thought about what he was doing; he did things because he felt like doing them. He darted out of the Volcanic Plains – he ran, didn't fly – and into the Everlasting Forest. Trees howled in agony as they were sliced in half with a single swipe of the beast's claws. He roared and shot purple beams from his eyes…
…which immediately hit a chessman in his stomach, alerting the army of their prey's presence. They saw the mechanical monstrosity towering above dying trees and shrubs. That thing – that was what killed their leading Millinery man, that came from a sick alternate world that openly mocked the glory of theirs.
"To arms, men!" hollered General Doppelganger, before finding himself knocked backwards by the Jabberwock. "Get him, get him! For Hatter!"
An array of razor cards glided through the air, headed towards the Jabberwock… he spread his wings and soared into the air, evading the attacks. Cannonballs mutated into huge black spiders and sprung into the air, exploding so as to distract the beast. He flew back onto the ground, crushing several soldiers underneath his gigantic feet. Chessman an card soldiers flew into the air as they were flung by the dragon, who still roared and snarled furiously.
The army's rage increased, each member randomly firing building bombs in the Jabberwock's direction. He swooped into the air once again, breathing ferocious flames onto his unsuspecting victims.
He cackled in glee as he saw what were supposed to be great soldiers running around like headless chickens, roasting to a crisp, dropping the weapons they had intended for his defeat. The other soldiers tried to retaliate, but he just swiped back the razor cards, the cannonball spiders, even the building bombs, right back at them, before they suffered the beams from his eyes and his fire. He even picked up some of the soldiers and tore them right into two, letting their blood and entrails drip to the ground.
The one survivor was General Doppelganger who scurried back to the kingdom, the bearer of bad news feebly running away cowardly.
The Jabberwock let out a laugh that was sinister and joyful. That was so much fun, watching those poor little souls squeal as I delivered a slow painful death, as he showed himself to be…
Or is this what the Red Queen wanted?
His laughter dried up as he paid more attention to his surroundings. He saw dead and dying men on the ground, who probably had families awaiting them back home with smiles and open arms. He saw thick blood flooding a forest that was supposed to be beautiful. He saw trees, once jolly, talkative fellows, either silent with horror or ripped in two. He had caused all of this. He wasn't a glorious hero. He was what he was always meant to be. A murderer. A monster. A merciless demon that laughs boisterously when a measly creature dies in its hands.
He was a slave. He was a follower. He was a part of the Red Queen.
And what of Alyss? Maybe the test was not to kill the army. Alyss would hate him, treat him like a monster like everyone else did.
No, she said he passed.
Yes, maybe he did good! Yes! Murdering those miserable soldiers was a way to strike fear into his enemy, letting her know he was not a force to be messed with.
Alyss handed him a crystal cube.
She says his next test was to begin.
All went still.