Alice In Blackgate

Chapter 1

Alice Liddell sat down with her friends at a tea party. Her friends were the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, White Rabbit, March Hare, and the Dormouse. They were having a great time until Alice smelled smoke. Then everyone else smelled it and then all of them were in alarm. "Alice, wake up!!!" They screamed. Fire was beginning to burn around the tea party. She woke up and realized that that her home is on fire. "Alice, run! Save yourself!" yelled her parents. With no other choice, she dashed through her bedroom window. Alice suffered from third degree burns as she was rendered unconscious. Paramedics and the firefighters came for search and rescue. They took the unconscious Alice to the hospital to be treated. Regretfully, Mr. and Mrs. Liddell along with Alice's older sister Lizzie were reported dead. During Alice's recovery, she began to show signs of her sanity disappearing slowly. The head psychologist Hugo Strange took her rabbit that managed to survive in the fire. It was nearly burnt and it had only one eye missing, but Alice felt like it was the only thing closest to home. When Strange took it, she screamed. That lasted for a week until finally a kind woman named Doctor Harleen Quinzel managed to give it back. Alice began calling Dr. Quinzel "Duchess" and Strange "Jabberwock." It seemed kind of fitting. Dr. Quinzel began doing psychotherapy seasons with Alice and came to a conclusion. Alice isn't completely insane, just only half. She was still considered dangerous. So Alice was transferred to a cell in Blackgate Prison.

Alice Liddell was now 18 years of age and still in her prison cell. It was now Christmas Eve, and Alice wasn't sure that she was good this year. The prison staff treated her fairly and the warden, Martin Joseph promised her she will soon be released and she'll be a respected citizen in Gotham City. At least it was good news for Alice, since her mental state was beginning to improve greatly. The Gotham City Police Department hadn't caught the criminal who burned her family and her home. A police captain named James Gordon promised Alice that he will find the one responsible for the crime. That wasn't much to go on, since the police commissioner Gillian Loeb forced Gordon to find someone named "the Bat Man." And people say she's crazy. It was now nighttime and Alice was about to finish drawing a picture of the Cheshire Cat until all hell broke loose. Someone was staging a prison breakout and there were inhumane roars echoing across the hallways. The actual Cheshire Cat appeared in front of her cell door. He was skinny and boney, fur was in a darken hue color, dark tattoos, a silver ring on one ear, dark yellow eyes, and had a spiked end on his tail. The Cat smiled maniacally as spoke in a deep voice, "Alice. You've been away for a long time. How have you been since being stuck here in Blackgate Prison?" Alice retorted, "At least I'm going to be released by the kind warden and become a fine citizen in Gotham." The Cat smiled even wider as replied, "Purrfect. When you're not on edge, you're taking up too much space." Alice, wanting to change the subject, asked, "Why are you even here?" The Cat chuckled as he step forward and answered, "Doors have locks, locks need keys, which you don't have. Let's hope the doors are open." Then all of the prison doors opened, including Alice's. She turned to glare at the Cat who added, "Wasn't me." Alice rolled her eyes as walked out of her cell. Then suddenly the White Rabbit appeared and said, "Why are you standing there? We are going to be late!" Then he turned to hop away. The Cat advised, "Let your need guide your behaviour; suppress your instinct to lead; pursue Rabbit." Alice nodded as the Cat disappeared. When she walked down the hall, she thought to herself, Following creatures that are white and furry-looking seems to be a habit of mine. The White Rabbit stopped short and ran away into a nearby trash can. Alice wanted to scold at the White Rabbit and demand him to get out, but couldn't stop staring at a towering figure with a group of men in black skull masks and Commissioner Loeb himself. The towering figure was muscular, had green scales, sharp teeth, and wore black overalls with the straps down and bandages over his wrists. From her perspective, the towering figure looked like a humanoid crocodile. "Killer Croc, let me see her!" commanded one of skull faced men. Killer Croc nodded and roughly escorted Alice to the skull faced man. She looked at him without fear. Unlike the other skull faced men, this one wore a white business suit and appeared to be the leader. He asked, "Do you know who I am?" Alice did, or at least heard of him. He was Roman Sionis, aka the Black Mask, one of the most infamous and feared crime bosses in Gotham City. She couldn't tell what expressions Black Mask was making due to the mask covering his face. "So you must be Alice Liddell, the lucky little insane girl that escaped from getting fried into a kabob," taunted Black Mask. Alice glared at him but made no sudden movements. Then Black Mask turned to Loeb and added, "Funny thing. The warden was going to have you released on Christmas Day, but in reality, Loeb here wanted to have you executed." Alice's glare suddenly turned to shock. She looked at Loeb, who looked at her with no remorse or regret. "Let's go," commanded the crime lord. As she walked with the criminals, she wondered to herself, Did Captain Gordon know anything about this? Maybe, maybe not. What mattered to her now was her mission: Find who knows about the person who killed her family and make them pay. Meanwhile, someone else had their own mission: Find out what Black Mask is up to and stop him.