Alice In Blackgate

Chapter 3

In the Batcave, Bruce Wayne had finished complying on what to do. It seems that Black Mask put a fifty million dollar bounty on his head and eight assassins were in on the bounty. Killer Croc was one of them, but he was already put in custody. The other seven were Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke, Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot, Lady Shiva, Copperhead, Garfield Lynns aka Firefly, Lester Buchinsky aka Electrocutioner, and Bane. Bruce planned to confront the assassins before they could put innocent lives at risk and then face Black Mask to put a stop to this. He decided to begin his search with the Penguin and demand where Black Mask is. Something was also amiss. Surveillance showed that Black Mask left with a female Blackgate prisoner. Every prisoner was accounted for, except for one. Her name was Alice Liddell. She was scheduled to be released on Christmas Day after suffering from a traumatic event that cost her parents and older sister's life. They died in a fire that mysteriously ignited in her home and Alice was the sole survivor. Finding the criminal responsible for causing the fire went cold when Commissioner Loeb ordered Lieutenant Gordon to focus on finding and arresting the Batman. Alice's current whereabouts were unknown and right now, stopping Black Mask is his main priority. Bruce left and entered in the Batwing as a his butler protested, "You do realize it's Christmas Eve, sir?" The Batwing left the Batcave was above the skies of Gotham. Batman got out and dived until he used his cape to parachute him softly. Meanwhile in Wonderland, Alice and the Cheshire Cat met up with the White Rabbit and the Caterpillar. The Caterpillar was big, green, about a foot long, had a human-like face, and often smoked with a hookah. The Caterpillar breathed in his hookah and blew out smoke in Alice's face. She coughed, and then frowned. The Caterpillar always did this since Day 1 when she arrived in Wonderland. He asked her, "Do you know why you are here?" Alice shook her head no. He sighed as asked, "Do you know that the destruction of Wonderland is the destruction of you?" Alice nodded yes. The Caterpillar told her of that when the Queen of Hearts attempted to rule Wonderland and take Alice out of the picture. That involved her friend the Mad Hatter go insane to turn on her other friends the March Hare and the Dormouse tortured to no end. Now since restoring Wonderland after the Queen's defeat, no one in Wonderland has heard from the Mad Hatter. Some say that he's having another tea party with the March Hare and Dormouse who have also disappeared. That happened when she was 17 years old and was deemed sane by Doctor Harleen Quinzel. The Caterpillar explained, "Someone is trying to cover tracks very carefully in Gotham City. That very someone is the one who was involved of the fire." That surprised Alice. "That's impossible. There was no file of who did this." "It was both an inside job and a very personal one at best," continued Caterpillar. "The police commissioner Gillian Loeb had made sure that the case of the fire went cold." Alice spat on the ground when she heard Loeb. "That monstrosity was going to arrange my death the minute I left Blackgate!" exclaimed Alice. "I watched him die inside of a poisonous gas chamber." The Caterpillar, unfazed by her attitude, replied, "The corrupt police commissioner is of no concern now. What should concern you is the matter at hand. Find your answers in Gotham City and recall any forgotten memories here in Wonderland." Alice looked at the Caterpillar curiously. "Forgotten memories?" repeated Alice, confused. "The very criminal who caused the fire in your home may have came to you somehow during your stay at Blackgate," explained the Caterpillar. Alice nodded, understanding what was her mission now. Recall her forgotten memories, find the man responsible for the fire, and make him pay. Summoning herself back to Gotham, she woke up in the same bed that she was sleeping. Leslie came to her with new clothes. Alice thanked her for the new clothes. After being changed into them, Alice asked, "Why are you up this late?" Leslie sighed and smiled, "I can't seem to take a break, especially in the holiday season. With what's going on, I can't say I'm surprised." Alice asked, "What is going on?" Leslie replied, "Let's say that Black Mask gave a really bad gift to Batman for Christmas." Leslie got up and said, "You're free to do whatever, Alice, just be safe." Alice nodded as Leslie left. Sighing, Alice knew she couldn't stay to relax during the holiday season. She got up, burrowed one Leslie's coats, and set out to find her family's killer. Meanwhile, Batman learned from Penguin after dealing with Electrocutioner and Deathstroke there was a murder in Lacey Tower. He came to the crime and analyzed the scene. He knew that he would need full access to the National Criminal Database which was located in the station of the Gotham City Police Department to fully understand what happened. Deep in the shadows, there was someone who was planning something bad. Very bad.