Nightmare in Arkham
Chapter 14 B: "Breakthrough"-Part 2
-As Mr. Freeze's last sentence broke through Alice's mind, "You don't even know what pain is," something inside her snapped. Harley turned to her and saw that her face was starting to flush red with blood. Her eyes glared at Mr. Freeze and she looked like a wolf ready to pounce on an unsuspecting deer. Alice tied her hair up in a ponytail and Harley knew things were about to get ugly.
-Alice stood up and casually walked toward Mr. Freeze's containment, never taking her eyes off of him, while the inmates all stared at her confusingly. Dr. Leland was doing the same as she watched Alice on the monitor.
-"Alice, what are you doing?" she asked. She soon got her answer.
-The moment Alice reached Mr. Freeze's containment, she grabbed a hold of the temperature gage and set it well above subzero temperatures. Mr. Freeze's entire body felt like it was starting to cook as he screamed in agony.
-"What are you doing?! Stop! Put it back! Put it back!"
-"Why? This is what you wanted, isn't it?" Alice asked angrily. Mr. Freeze began to hyperventilate as he gasped for air in the sweltering oven.
-"Stop it! Please Misses J, don't kill him!" Harley pleaded. Alice turned to Harley with vicious eyes.
-Poison Ivy's eyes went wide.
-"What?" She turned to Harley shocked, "What did you just call her?"
-Ivy turned to Alice, her mouth hanging open in horror. Oh my God! She's already done it. She's manipulated Harley to the point where she's giving her pet names just like…it even sounds like… "You bitch!" She snarled with her eyes burning with anger. She ran at Alice. Dr. Leland sprung into action and pushed the button, setting off an alarm throughout the building.
-Alice quickly reset Mr. Freeze's normal temperature before Ivy was upon her.
-"Get the door!" Ivy shouted to Killer Croc.
-Killer Croc rushed to the door but Bane was already there, bending a steel rod through the handles to ensure no one could get in or out of the room.
-Ivy grabbed Alice by the throat as Alice attempted to hold her back. Poison Ivy pushed her head forward with all her might trying to get her lips to make contact with Alice's so that she could poison her. After a few seconds of struggling, Alice abruptly shot her head forward and slammed it into Ivy's face, causing her to stagger back in agony. As Ivy was clutching her face Alice grabbed her by the arm and threw her against a wall where she fell onto her side.
-Alice turned back to the other inmates and stared them down. Then she threw off her work clothes revealing the exact same outfit as when she saved Harley. She tied her bandana over her left hand and said calmly, "Take your best shot."
-All of the inmates rushed at Alice. The Penguin stepped back and took Harley to the opposite side of the room away from the squabble.
-Killer Croc was the first one to attack Alice but she was able to quickly dodge his jaws, fists, and claws. Alice's blows to his back had no effect but when she landed a hard punch to his soft under-belly the massive reptile fell to his knees in pain. Alice then punched him in the side of his mouth knocking out a large, serrated fang.
-Bane came at her next from behind and launched his massive fist at her. Alice jumped into the air and kicked him square in the face. However, Bane simply smiled at Alice before sweeping her aside with the back of his hand, sending her flying against the wall. As Alice fell to her knees, Bane stood over her with his foot raised ready to squash her.
-"Don't take it personally Miss Johnson. I just can't stand roaches."
-Suddenly, Alice took out her Bug Zapper, set it on the highest setting, and fired it at the bulking brute. Bane's body glowed as the electricity surged through his body, causing him to scream in agony. As Alice was focusing on Bane she saw something out of the corner of her eye. When she turned, the Riddler froze in his tracks with Croc's tooth clutched in his hand. His eyes filled with fear as he looked into Alice's vicious stare and he dropped the tooth and ran away. Alice shut off her Bug Zapper and Bane fell onto his back moaning in pain but still conscious. Alice walked over to the tooth and picked it up. She then turned to a wall and saw Two-Face pressed up against it, his eyes wide with fear. Alice walked over to him.
-She extended her arm and handed the tooth to him.
-"Here", she said, Two-Face did not move. "Well come on, take it!" Alice ordered. Two-Face very slowly reached up and took the tooth.
-"Now do it," she said bluntly. Two-Face was visibly shocked by Alice's words. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she took Two-Face's hand and positioned it so that his hand was holding the pointed tip directly on her throat. "Stick it in me, that's what you want, isn't it?"
-Two-Face tried to speak but was too frightened to form any words.
-"Oh, I see, you need to see if chance wants you to kill me." Alice snatched the coin from Two-Face's hand and flipped it. The result came up tails. "Well, there you have it."
-Two-Face still refused to move and slid down to his knees in submission. Alice abruptly swiped Two-Face's hand and the tooth went flying across the room where it embedded inside the wall just a few feet in front of Harley and Penguin. Harley was horror-stricken.
-Alice stood up on a chair and looked out at the shaken inmates.
-"Listen up," she shouted, "I've had to listen to all of your sob stories and now you're all gonna listen to mine!"
-Alice turned to Mr. Freeze. "You wanna know what pain is Victor? Pain is when you lose someone who made a huge difference in your life. My mother was my whole world to me as a child. She loved me, cared for me, made me smile, she even taught me how to have sweet dreams. But I lost her forever when I was 5 years old. To this day I still miss her."
-Alice turned to the Riddler. "You wanna know what hurt is Edward? Hurt is when the only other parent you have treats you like a piece of shit. After my mom died my dad wasn't there for me. My brother had to play the role as my father figure. My dad yelled at me, belittled me, and called me names because of the way I dressed, the way I cooked, even the way I dreamed."
-Alice turned to Killer Croc. "You wanna know what resentment is Waylon? Resentment is being cast out by your peers for being nothing more than who you are. I spent the majority of my childhood feeling like a freak because that's how I was treated. The closest thing to a friend I had were my own thoughts and feelings. And sometimes not even they were comforting."
-Then Alice got off the chair, closed her eyes, and took a deep breathe before continuing.
-"Do you all want to know what devastation is, because that's the worst one of all"? The inmates didn't respond but they all looked at Alice with undivided attention. "Eventually I did find friends. I found a man who wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I even had a son," Alice took out her picture of Jacob and held it up so the inmates could all get a good look, "I had everything I could ask for. But I lost it all. My brother, my fiancé, my friends. And you know how? They were all murdered by a sadistic, twisted freak. Just like you! And as my son got older, the blame was put on him because he was born with a brain disorder that led people to believe he was messed up in the head. And in the end, he took his own life!" Tears started to fall from Alice's eyes but her tone remained strong and bitterly passionate as she continued. "And after that I took it on myself to rid the world of every disgusting monster that I could. Oh yeah, 30 years ago, I would not be in here trying to help you. I would be hunting you all down in the streets like the monsters that society views you as. And if you wanna talk about getting backstabbed, look at this..."
-Alice took off her jacket and threw off her shirt leaving only a bra to cover herself and she turned her back to the inmates. Her back, shoulders, and biceps were all covered in scars from slashes, stab wounds, burn marks, and much more.
-"I've been getting stabbed in the back long before some of you were even born."
-Having made her point, Alice put her shirt back on. Her anger began to subside and she started to speak more calmly.
-"My anger drove me for quite some time and I almost gave myself a place right here beside all of you. But after I did some time in jail for my attempts at 'being a hero', I actually got to know people on the inside. And I soon realized that a lot of people that society labels as 'evil' or 'psychotic' are really just lost. They all have the same hopes, feelings, and desires as everyone else, but they've come to face an obstacle in their life that's caused them to lose hope and see more of the darkness in the world than the light; just like me. It was at that point I knew I had two choices: stay angry and be miserable and resentful for the rest of my life, or take my tragedy and make it the beginning of my new life."
-Alice sat down in her chair, her anger now completely gone.
-"Life may have been tough on you all, but you're not alone. I don't know if you noticed, but each of you related to a part of each other's story as you were speaking."
-The inmates all looked at each other as they realized Alice was right.
-"Well I can also relate. And since we're all in the same boat, I think we can all help each-other, but the only way this can work is if we all have a mutual trust. So what do ya say, will you let me help you?"
For a moment, the entire room was dead quite. But soon, the Penguin started to clap as he approached Alice. Then slowly, Mr. Freeze, Riddler, Two-Face, even Bane and Croc, began to join in until the room echoed with cheering at applause. The only ones who were not clapping were Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Poison Ivy looked over at Harley, who was still slumped into a corner in the room. She looked terrified.
-The door busted open and Dr. Leland rushed in with a squad of officers but they all stopped in their tracks when they saw all the inmates praising and congratulating Alice. Dr. Leland walked up to her, speechless.
-"Alice wha…what happ-"
-"We've made a breakthrough," Alice replied with a smile.