(Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SQUARE ENIX, KINGDOM HEARTS, OR DISNEY NOR DO I CLAIM 2! it's called fanfiction for a reason, people!)

Song to listen to while reading: Avril Lavigne-Alice

Chapter 3 The Wonders of Wonderland

"Wow! Space looks so cool!" I shouted, gazing at the stars outside the window, ignoring Riku rolling his eyes. Only astronauts got to see the stars and explore the great beyond, so a young girl with no astronaut capabilities seeing space was a dream come true. 'But, then again, so was traveling in the world of Kingdom Hearts.' I thought. Riku was maintaining the controls to the Gummi Ship as an approaching world began to appear in the distance. It looked like a giant checkered board with a heart-shaped hedge and a castle that seemed to be made out of brooks from a chessboard. "Aproaching Wonderland in 20 seconds and counting..." said the automatic voice system of the ship. Riku suddenly unbuckled his seatbelt and left his chair as the ship cruised closer to the world.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" I screamed in horror, seeing Riku folding his arms.

"Preparing for landing, what's it look like?" he said, making it sound like it was a stupid question.

"Look's like your preparing to CRASH to me! You just left the freakin' driver's seat!" I shouted in terror. 'Was this guy stupid or something?'

"I don't need to be in the driver's seat to land. The ship has autopilot. Plus, it's not like it's actually going to land the ship, due to the unfortunate transportation system."

"What do you mean-?" I began.

"In 3...2...1...now." he said counting, rolling his eyes. We were both suddenly flashed before I saw myself flying down a rabbit hole.

"OH MY GOD!" I squeaked, trying to push my skirt down while Riku just yawned and layed on his back with his hands behind his head. Pieces of furniture floated past us as we continued to float down. It was like gravity but...not zero gravity. I ended up doing a bunch of out of control barrel rolls and flips before Riku landed on both of his feet. I landed with an "OOMPH!" as my stomach made contact with the twisted floor.

"Well that hurt." I said spitefully as a white blur ran past me. It seemed to look like a white rabbit with red overcoat and a...pocket watch!

"Oh my fur and whiskers! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" shouted the White Rabbit.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I am here, I should be there!" he huffed. We bothed stared at the running rabbit.

"I'm late I'm late I'm late! The queen, she'll have my head for sure!" he said in panic, turning the corner.

"Alright we get it! You're late already." I said impatiently. We both paused in silence for a bit, not really knowing what to do next.

"Soooo, do you wanna follow that guy and see what he's late for?" asked Riku.

"God, yes!" I said relieved. We both ran through odds and ends of doors, some having 3 doors in one, before we saw the white rabbit again, somewhat smaller and ran through the door.

"How did he get so small?" asked Riku.

"I don't know. Maybe Issac Newton is taking a breather today." I shrugged.

"No, your simply to big." answered the door.

"OMIGOD, A TALKING DOOR!" I said, shrieking back in horror.

"Must you be so loud? You woke me up." yawned the door.

"Oh sorry! Temporarly forgot I was in Wonderland. I'll try to expect the impossible next time."

"You mean impassible?" said Riku.

"Riiiiiiiight." I said. I just love Wonderland philosophy!

"If you two are done here, I'm going back to sleep." said the irritated door.

"Wait! Do you know how we can fit through the door?" asked Riku.

"My guess there is a bottle." I said knowingly.

"Correct. Try one on the table." said the door. Riku began to walk towards the table that appeared out of knowhere and grabbed the blue vile.

"WAIT!" I shouted, Riku pausing. My Wonderland memories were kicking in. "If my guess is correct, there's a key up there too. Grab that first and place it on the ground and THEN drink the bottle."

Riku was surprised to see that there actually was a key and set it on the ground. Then he drank the bottle and handed it to me, both of us shrinking very, very small.

"How did you know that there was a key up there?" he asked.

"Uhhh, let's just say a person I knew experienced this before." I replied as we walked through the door.

"Finally, I can get some sleep." mumbled the closing door.

A drum roll admitted as we walked through the hedged path. We saw a couple of cards with spears standing in a royal checkered court with a young blonde girl in a blue dress, standing before a large lady with a crown on top of her black hair and wore a red and black dress with a heart sceptor. A blur in a blue collar ran up the spiral staircase next to the judge seat a blew a horn.

"Hey! The white rabbit!" I pointed out quietly.

"Court is now in session!" he shouted out of breath.

"I'm on trial? But why?" asked the young girl.

"Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding." continued the rabbit. 'Uh oh.' The queen stared at the girl before sneering in disgust.

"This girl is the culprit. There's no doubt about it. And the reason is...BECAUSE I SAY SO THAT'S WHY!" said the Queen.

"That is so unfair!" complained the blonde girl.

"Well, have you anything to say in your defense?" asked the Queen crossly, pointing her sceptor at the girl.

"Of course. I've done absolutely nothing wrong." she said, crossing her arms in triumph. "You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so...so mean!" The rabbit looked as every bit of terrified as the Queen looked cross.

"SILENCE!" shouted the Queen, her fury actually blowing back the girl's hair. "YOU DARE DEFY ME!" she said, slamming her hands down on the podium. "The court finds the defendant guilty as charged. For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart...OFF WITH HER HEAD!" the Queen shouted, pointing at the girl.

"No no! Please!" cried the girl.

"Hold it right there!" I shouted, pushing through the deck of cards. Riku gave me a surprised look as I stood bravely before the court.

"And who are you? How DARE you interfere with my court!" shouted the Queen, leaning forward.

"Well SOMEBODY had to. You're arresting the wrong girl." I said with my hands on my hips.

"Nonsense. Have you any proof?" asked the Queen.

"Uhhhh..." I said dumbly.

"OFF WITH HER HEAD!" she shouted, pointing her sceptor at me now.

"WHAT!" I shrieked as two cards pointed their spade staffs at my neck. "Sharp, very sharp pointy spears!" I said, looking wide-eyed horrified at the two spears gesturing towards my throat.

"Wait! We know who the REAL culprit is." Riku said, stepping in as I sighed with relief. 'Thank god. He'll fix this.' I thought. "But hey, if you wanna chop off an innocent girl's head and not even have killed the captor, fine by me. Do what you want." Riku shrugged off, turning away. 'Wait, WHAT! YOU JERK! When I get my hands on you, there's going to be hell to pay!' I shouted mentally inside my head, my face puffing out in anger. 'I can't believe he is that willing to risk my life even though he is supposed to follow me around!' 'In 3...2...1' Riku thought.

"Wait!" the Queen shouted as Riku smiled out of view. "If you have proof of Alice's innocense, I will let her go. But if not, it will be off with your heads!" The Queen said as the cards slammed a caged door shut on Alice and raised her, dangling almost two stories up.

"Y-Yes ma'am." We both gulped. "But, can you call off your guard dogs?" I said nervously, the 2 spade spears still pointing at my throat. The Queen of Hearts dismissed the 2 cards. "Be careful where you point that boys. Someone could lose an eye." I said scoldingly, wagging my finger at them. I decided to book it after the Queen gave me a long cold stare as Riku and I took off through the hedges.

"You owe me BIG time for saving your neck back there! The Queen of Hearts is absolutely ruthless; she could've killed you! And now, I'm dragged into this whole mess!" Riku whispered viciously.

"Well I couldn't just let Alice take the heat like that. Plus, I didn't ask you to save me!" I spat back.

"Hmph! Well, I guess I won't save you next time!" huffed Riku.

"Good! It looked like you were going to send me to the slaughter house instead of saving me. I can't believe you would gamble my life away on something like this." I growled as a floating maroon smiling cat head popped out in front of me.

"BAH!" I shrieked in surprise, waving my arms furiously. The cat stood headless on top of his head before he decided to pick it up and drop it back on its body.

"Am I interrupting a lover's spat?" questioned the cat, curling up on a tree branch.

"NO!" we both shout in unison, the cat seeming more amused as his smile grew, taking up more of his face, if that was possible.

"We're looking for some proof for Alice." I said, stepping forward.

"You seek the truth? The Cheshire Cat knows all truths and finds yet no contradiction nor chaos." the cat replied.

"Who are you?" asked Riku in curiousity.

"Who indeed." replies the cat.

"A cat." I say in disbelief.

"A Cheshire Cat, to be precise." he said, lifting his ears off his head with his tail. "You wish to prove Alice's innocense? Here you go." he finishes, tossing a blue box down to us. "Within this box might lay the truth you seek...or perhaps maybe not. To trust or not to trust. I'll trust you'll decide." he said dissapearing. 'Such an engimatic cat...' I thought.

"What is this, Shakespeare?" I question.

"Maybe..." says the cat popping up behind me.

"BAH!...How do you do that!" I shout at the grinning cat.

"Ah, tis another mystery, best left for tomorrow or maybe yesterday." he said quizically, fading into nothingness with a swish of his tail.

"Must he speak in rhymes?" I ask, my head hurting from the cat leaving more confused than I already was.

"Remember, this is Wonderland. Nonsense makes sense in this world." said Riku knowingly.

"Whatever, I just wish this world wouldn't give me such a headache." I said, rubbing my temples.

"So what do you think is in the box?" asked Riku.

"Only one way to find out." I said, lifting the box cover. A black blur flashed out of the box, as familar clattering rang out.

"An armored Heartless!" shouted Riku as the figure dashed out of the room.

"Wait!" I called out as the figure dashed through the hedges, both of us soon tracking its path.

The Queen of Hearts was glancing at her staff as she waited for the two children to come back. Oh she very did hate to wait. It was one of the reasons the white rabbit would get death threats if he was ever late. And waiting for excruciating long periods of time made her very irritable. 'Will they hurry up! I have croquet game in half an hour and I must practice with my new hedgehog ball and flamingo putter.' she thought, rapping her fingers on the judge stand when suddenly she heard a loud clattering.

"Watch out!" I shouted as the armored Heartless lunged at the Queen of Hearts. She cringed as I managed to swipe the keyblade just in time to kill the attacking Heartless. She stood shocked, seeming at a loss for words. "Still, think Alice is the one who attacked you? There's your proof!" I said triumphantly, my hands folded, Riku also looking a bit proud. The Queen's expression began to unfreeze to a look of vile hatred as she grudgingly called the guards to lower the cage. "Alice, you're free now!" I said looking into an empty cloaked cage. "Alice?"

"She's gone." said a surprised Riku. "But how? She was locked in cage 2 stories up!"

"WHAT! That wench! Attention men! The defendant has escaped custody! I am ordering an open bounty on her recapture immediately! I don't care if you have to pull out every rosebush in the kingdom, JUST FIND HER OR ITS OFF WITH YOUR HEADS!" the Queen shouted. 'Jeez, we're going.' I thought as we ran without a second thought as we dashed to the exit. We wandered through the maze of hedges, cutting down a bunch of heartless from time to time, before a familiar grinning cat appeared before my face, dangling in on a tree branch by his tail. "EEEEEEK!...Will you STOP DOING THAT!" I shouted angrily.

"No, thank you. I prefer your amusing company, so I decided to grace yourself with my presence." he said, curling up on top of my head.

"Hey, I'm starting to like this cat." Riku said smirking. He was rather amused at Alli's look of annoyance.

"Oh, shut up!" I said rolling my eyes, glaring at him.

"Alas, having the evidence you once sought, you are now seek the defendant you lost? Poor Alice..." said the cat, swishing his tail on the back of my head.

"Uh...yeah, have you seen Alice?" I ask looking up at the top of my head.

"Negative." said the cat, rolling onto his back leisurely. "The cat, the culprit, and the answer do all in darkness lie..." he continued.

"Stop speaking in tongues, cat, and tell me what you mean." I said, irritably.

"Fine. I shall show what shadows lurk in heart of the world." said the Cheshire cat, fading from the top of my head, his invisible body making visible paw prints in the ground below. We followed his trail until we ended up in the upside down room once more.

"This place again? But why?" asked Riku as the cat appeared on top of the glass table next to us.

"Haven't you heard? Where there are the brightest of flames, there is the darkest of shadows." the cat said as a tall lean heartless with a giant stacked head rose up from behind him, unraveling his long paper-like zig-zag limbs to be juggling purple pins: The Trickmaster.

"You've prepared for the worst. If not, too bad!" yawned the cat as the Trickmaster began to juggle flaming pins lit by the stove nearby. "Okay, if I remember correctly, we got to beat this guy by knocking off all of his heads. Try to keep him from the stove because the pins on fire do double the damage."

"Since when are you such the battle expert?" asked Riku as he lunged at the approaching Heartless.

"Since I read Wikipedia for battle strategies, now go!" I shout as the Trickmaster began to swat us with the pins on fire before we could defend ourselves and were flung to the edge of the table.

"You lied to us!" shouted Riku as he dodged another attack by jumping and swatting at the Trickmaster's head with a fire attack.

"You idiot! You can't use fire attacks, even if they are effective! You're only setting his pins on fire!" I shout as the Trickmaster attempts to hit Riku before I block for him, knocking me back instead.

"I lie, you say? Nay, I need not. The Cheshire Cat takes heart in aiding those in need..." the cat spoke as Riku knocked off one of the heads but only setting the pins a-blaze once more.

"HOT HOT HOT! OMIGOD, IT BURNS!" I shout, trying to douse the flames on my clothes by drop and rolling. Riku would've burst out laughing if he wasn't already trying not to catch on fire as he climbed up the table to knock off the 2nd head.

"...and it seems you are rather in need of assistance." sweat dropped the cat, looking at the pathetic duo.

"Oh really, ya think!" I said, my voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Rather a miracle you've made it this far. It is, but a gesture, but I will grant you the strength that you lack." the cat said, snapping his fingers. I suddenly felt a rise in power within my keyblade as the steel suddenly felt icy cold in my hand. Riku also made the same gesture as he stared at his Soulstealer. The Trickmaster lunged at me, jumping with his gangly legs. I shriek, swiping my keyblade with my eyes closed, only to hear an intense whistling sound as an icy blizzard attack admits from my Roseblade, freezing the Heartless in a block of ice. "What...but...but how? How did I just do that?" I stuttered dumbfounded.

"You are the one they call 'The new bearer of the key' do they not? It'd be a pity if you didn't know how to use magic, wouldn't it?" said the cat, laying on his back.

"Magic?" I said, looking in wonder of my keyblade. 'Was that what I just performed?'

"Alli, watch out!" shouted Riku as the Trickmaster broke out of the icy shell.

"Riku, change of plans. You keep knocking off the heads with your fire attack and I'll cool down the flames at its legs with my blizzard attack." I said, jumping off the table with a swipe. Riku grunted as he began to unleash an inferno the like of which no one has ever seen, knocking off heads 3 and 4. 'He must have gotten a power boost like I did.' I thought as I froze the creatures legs. I then, crashed my keyblade into the ice to knock the creature over as Riku finished off the last head. The creature began to wobble and squat, folding down before falling on its back, feet in the air as its lifeless limbs floated down to its side. A purple and white flash admitted from the creature's chest before an escaping heart flew off into the sky, the creature dissolving with it. Riku jumped down from the table next to me.

"You okay?" he asked.

"A little overdone but good." I said, looking at the blackened part of my skirt and shirt.

"Ugh, what a racket..." moaned the door. "How's a doornob supposed to get any sleep with all this noise?" the door yawned, revealing a silver outlined keyhole that began to flash white. The end of my keyblade began to respond as a beam of light shot inside the doornob's mouth, hearing a click like a lock. "Whoa, what was that!" I shouted, looking in surprise. Riku looked over, seeing a turquoise stone dropped at the foot of the door. "A Gummi block. But this one is different than the ones that the ship runs on. We better take it back to Traverse Town." he said, examining the stone in his hand.

"Splendid preformance, girl. That was a brilliant display of talent. Hone that power of yours a little longer and your growing rosebud could florish into a gorgeous flower, if I do say so myself." said the Cheshire cat.

"Which side are you on!" I shouted angrily.

"...That is neither here nor there. Unfortunately, neither is Alice. She has passed onto another world for which I cannot speak. A world borne off of shadows, she has fallen into the darkness of obscurity. But please, come back anytime! I would love to sit on your head again." said the cat before he vanished once again.

"That wretched cat!" hissed Ursula, the council huddled around the circular runes.

"He's got a loose tongue, he has..." Hades cursed.

"Or maybe he has a soft spot for the lass..." stated Captain Hook.

"ARGH! We should have disposed of him when we had the chance!" shouted Hades.

"'Bit too late for that, Boss Man." sighed Ogie-Boogie.

"We shouldn't concern ourselves with these trivial matters. What is greater of importance is the progress of the infidel child. She has come across this keyhole much sooner than anticipated. Time is of the essence..." said Jafar.

"Worry not, friends...there are many more keyholes to discover with much more difficulty. It will take her ages to discover them all before our plan comes to action." said Maleficent. "Speaking of which..." she continued, looking over at her shoulder to see a frightened blonde girl in a powder blue dress.