Chapter 9
"You've kept me waiting, Jabberwock. Have you never heard that punctuality's a virtue?"
She stood in the ballroom, still in the guise of this Wonderland's queen. A cold smile of anticipation lit her face.
Just looking at her made him feel that he was being somewhat hasty about this. After acquiring the staff from the Looking Glass Maze and obtaining his organic body, he just went straight after her; he didn't practice my new found abilities at all.
But she, that despicable little wretch, must perish.
And the Heart Crystal, yes, the Heart Crystal, that should give him the necessary strength.
"How delightful. You've got a weapon that'll help destroy me, and you've undone the magick Alice cast on you."
He snarled. "Yes. I have freed myself from your bonds." His fists clenched tighter. "Now I am free to destroy you."
The Queen smirked wider. "Why are you doing this?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Are you going to destroy me to save this Wonderland? So you can be just like that pretty little Alyss? Is it so you can absolve your sin; that you forced Alyss to fight for your sake, and she and her loyal bodyguard died horribly?" She let out a hysterical laugh, as if the fight was a joke to her. "You selfish, misbegotten and unnatural child! You fight for no-one but yourself. I'm not a tyrant. Destroying me won't improve this Wonderland in any way, shape or form. It will only serve to satisfy your bloodlust. The Looking Glass Maze is meant to be a way to defeat anger, not a way to increase it, you know."
"Quiet…"
"What was that?"
"I SAID SHUT UP AND FIGHT ME!"
Diving quickly, the Jabberwock struck the Queen onto the ground with his claw and watched her fall face first to the ground.
She slowly lifted herself off the floor and scowled at him. "Off with his head."
Axes materialized in the air and cartwheeled towards the Jabberwock rapidly. He dove out of the way but one of the weapons ended up cutting him in the arm.
Oh precious blood.
"My turn."
He attempted to use his new imaginative powers for the first time, as he caused tentacles to rise from the ground and engulf the Queen; oh yes, how bitterly ironic, destroyed by what was one of your great weapons, no wait, she broke out DAMN DAMN DAMN.
"You really should have taken a few minutes to learn. Your imagination is still in its infacy. I'll even get you a tutor."
Bibwit Harte materialized into the ballroom. After seeing the beings the ballroom contained, his eyes rolled to the front of his head and he fell to the ground.
"It's all a joke to you, isn't it?"
The Queen got rid of Bibwit Harte and replaced him with another army, which begged the question of why she needed to take over the army this Wonderland had. The soldiers held weapons, yet they just stood still. They didn't attack, they didn't charge, they didn't contribute at all to the Queen's victory.
What?
"Don't you like seeing millions die right in front of your very eyes? Won't it be fun to murder all these soldiers, like you intend to murder me?"
The Jabberwock stared at her, then stared back at the faux army. "Who cares for you?" He brung them down with a single swipe of my claw. "You're nothing but a pack of cards." They were. They collapsed like men made of paper.
"I'm sick and tired of playing mind games with you. Are you are going to fight me or not?"
His long fingers tightened around her neck. Yes, yes! Suffer! As he slugged her in the face, he savored every moment, licking my lips in delight…
Then she shot roses into his eye.
IT HURTS.
She dropped gently to the ground like an umbrella.
"YOU…I'LL KILL YOU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
"Calm yourself. I have the most powerful imagination in this world, and have combined it with the powers I have originally owned. Not to mention my working knowledge of what makes you tick. It'll take more than brute force to…"
"SHUT UP AND DIE!"
She raised her hands and more roses sprouted rapidly from them, wrapping around her opponent's arms like chains, the thorns digging deep into his skin…
"You got your wish, Jabberwock. You can feel pain. You're mortal. This is what you want, isn't it?"
Shuddering in fear, the Jabberwock howled in pain as the roses bit hard.
"Isn't it?"
He fell to the floor, doing nothing as the roses and their thorned vines squeezed tighter around his body, his bleeding body, and as more tears ran slowly down his eyes.
"I'm…going…to…kill…"
She raised her hands again, blasting a beam of white light in his face.
"I'll…kill…you…"
"Samuel!"
Isabelle looked down upon her frightened husband, crawling in the ripples of his bedsheet.
"What's wrong? Can I help you?"
He sighed. "I…I had a nightmare, where I was a monster and I was…"
She looked at him with undying attention. "Yes?"
He sighed. "No."
"Please tell me what's wrong. I want to help."
"You're not…you're not real! I know what you're doing!"
"Samuel! Calm down!"
"Why are you doing this? Why can't you just fight me?"
He regained his wings, his tail, everything that made him what he was.
"Fight me!"
Oh, she's become that bloated red monster again.
What's wrong? I was actually giving you what you wanted.
"You…"
He didn't retaliate or retort. He wanted to go back. To have a beautiful wife, to go back to that world, to live a normal life…
You didn't have the power to imagine it yourself, so I did it for you. It's Alice's fault you are unable to live a normal life, not mine. Alice is dead and it was through you she died, so you have no fight.
Forgetting the utopia, the Jabberwock dove at her and let his claws dig into her gelatinous body. Feel pain, damn you. Each chunk of flesh he ripped from her felt beautiful.
Stop this.
Coming from the hole where he tore off her flesh – a rotting corpse, no several of them, several reaching out towards their prey, screaming, touching, knocking him backwards against a wall.
The corpses escaped from their opening and came towards the Jabberwock, moving quickly for creatures that were supposed to be dead. The dragon immediately felt like he would vomit from the harsh stench of rotting flesh, and the sight of the zombies' exposed muscle and bone.
Closing his eyes tightly, the Jabberwock tried to imagine something, something to destroy the corpses. A weapon, another creature, something, something but no, the corpses even seemed to multiply…
The Heart Crystal.
Heart Crystal, you'll keep me safe…
Won't you?
The Jabberwock soared away from the corpses and towards the Heart Crystal, touching it gently with his claws, feeling the rough crystal edges.
"Please."
The Queen burst out of the ground, tentacles raised to the heavens.
Why do you persist? Maybe I should leave you alone for a while, then you can come back when you have mastered your abilities.
"This…ends...now."
But I thought that you trusted me. That you looked upon me as an idol.
"I was foolish…Alyss…"
Alyss? I'm greater than Alyss. She only won over Queen Redd merely because of luck. I am wiser and far more experienced than her. I'm not trying to be a tyrant, I'm trying to help this Wonderland.
He brought his hand closer to the Heart Crystal. "You're not Alyss."
I've had enough of you. I've promised you everything, yet you are still eager to betray me.
"You betrayed me."
Power.
The Heart Crystal brought him power. He had become the conduit, the vehicle designed to unleash the great energy that flowed from the crystal.
Wonderland's saviour.
She tried to gain some for herself, her slimy tentacle wrapping around the treasured crystal.
You fear the truth. You live in shadows.
"I'm the one that deserves the power…"
The Red Queen smirked. Why?