Chapter Seven: Objection!


Alfred groaned as he dropped his head on the control panel.

"Quit your moaning," Arthur said. "My piloting is fine." Alfred waved off the ship's pilot. He went far too slow for Alfred's liking. "Well, if you don't want to see the world we've arrived at then-" In a second, the boy shot up out of his seat and looked out the window. Before him stood a planet-like sphere. Its land was like a pink checkerboard, and it was decorated with hedges and spiral towers.

"What world is this?" Alfred asked excitedly. Arthur spun around to face the monitor. He groaned loudly with displeasure.

"Wonderland." Both Alfred and Antonio looked at him with curiosity.

"You don't sound too happy, Arthur," said Antonio.

"I hate Wonderland." Alfred exchanged a look from Antonio. His only answer was a shrug.


Arthur pressed a few buttons on the control panel as the Gummi Ship made its descent. He pressed a button and opened the hatch. The three gathered around it. Alfred looked down and paled.

"Dudes, I think we should find another way into the world." Arthur groaned and walked out of the ship.

"And why on earth should we-" Arthur's sentence transformed into a scream. Antonio and Alfred watched as the Brit tumbled down the rabbit hole in front of the Gummi Ship. The pair exchanged glances.

"You first?" said Alfred nervously. Antonio shrugged.

"See you down at the bottom," he said before taking a step back and jumping in after Arthur. Alfred stared down at the hole. This wasn't the craziest thing he'd ever done. Alfred closed his eyes before stepping over the edge.

The boy yelled out as he fell. Alfred's shouts soon ceased about halfway through the fall when his descent slowed. He came to a soft landing in a hallway in front of Arthur and Antonio.

"You could have warned me," Arthur snapped.

"I tried to." Alfred looked around.

"Let's just get going before-"

"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" a white ball of fluff yelled in panic as it raced past the three. "The Queen will have my head for sure!" The three stared at the hallway the rabbit darted down.

"Come on, let's follow it," said Alfred before racing down the hallway after the rabbit.

"Alfred!" shouted Arthur. Alfred didn't listen. Antonio and Arthur chased after Keyblade Wielder. It wasn't a long run- They came to a stop in a small room.

"Where did that rabbit go?" Alfred said impatiently. Arthur gave Alfred's ear a sharp tug, causing the boy wince.

"Alfred, what do you think you're doing?" said Arthur. Alfred didn't answer. He just pried Arthur's fingers off of him and pushed him away.

"I saw the rabbit and I followed it," Alfred finally answered after a minute. He looked around. The rabbit wasn't in sight. "Now it's gone."

"You can't just run off like that. Otherwise you could get seriously-" Arthur was cut off when Antonio backed into him, causing him to lose his balance for a second. Arthur whipped around to face him. "What do you think you're-"

"Something ran across my foot," said Antonio.

"Oh, like I'd believe that."

"Arthur," said Alfred. Arthur looked over at him just in time to see a tinier version of the White Rabbit dash across the floor. The rabbit flung open a small door and dashed inside. Alfred crouched down in front of the door as it slammed shut.

"How the heck did he get so small?" he asked no one in particular.

"No, you're simply too big." Alfred jumped back several feet into Arthur when the door spoke. Arthur pushed Alfred off of him.

"Grow up." Alfred stared at Arthur for a second before turning back towards the door, which yawned.

"Must you be so loud?" it complained. "You woke me up."

"Well then," said Antonio as he knelt down. "Good morning!"

"Good night. I need a bit more sleep." The doorknob yawned.

"Wait!" Alfred shouted, getting down lower. "What do we need to do to get small?"

"Over there…" The doorknob gestured to a table nearby. On top of it where three bottles. Alfred walked over and picked one up. He pulled off the lid.

"Alfred, what do you think your doing?" Arthur said. Alfred looked over at him. He grabbed the other two bottles and tossed them to his companions.

"You heard the doorknob," said the teen. "We drink and we get little. Easy." Antonio popped to lid off of his. He cringed.

"It smells like rotten eggs," he said with disappointment.

"I hate you admit it, but you're right," Arthur said, pulling off his own lid. "Hopefully it won't taste as bad."

"Bottom's up!" said Alfred. In unison, the three drank down the contents of the bottles. They disappeared as the three shrunk down to smaller size. They were now big enough to fit through the door. Alfred walked up to it and tried to open it. He frowned.

"Hey! It's locked!" Antonio started walking around the room, running a hand along the walls.

"Antonio, what are you doing?" Arthur asked. Antonio stopped and smiled.

"I'm guessing that there's another way in somewhere," he explained before continuing. "A secret passage or something."

"Well, I can't see one," Alfred remarked as he walked along the right side of the wall and under the nearby bed. There was a thud. "... Found it."


The group of three traveled down a long tunnel. The tunnel lead out to a hedge maze opening. In the center, was what looked like a courtroom. The bunch peeked around the corner, hoping not to get caught. A trumpet sounded. Careful as not to get caught, the three walked out into the court. In the judge's chair was the Queen the rabbit had mentioned, with coarse black hair and red-black dress. She reminded Alfred of a witch more than a queen.

On the defendant stand stood a young girl around the age of ten. She had long, thick, blond hair in which she tied a black bow and blue eyes. She wore a blue dress with a white apron, along with white tights and black Mary Jane shoes.

The white rabbit ran onto a podium next to the Queen, a trumpet in his hand. He blew into it.

"Court is now in session!" shouted the White Rabbit.

"I'm on trial?!" said the girl in shock. "But why?"

"Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts presiding!" The Rabbit continued, ignoring the girl.

"She is the culprit. There is no doubt about it. And the reason is…" said the Queen. "Because I say so, that's why!"

"That's unfair!"

"Well, have you anything to say in your defense?"

"I've done nothing absolutely wrong! You may be queen, but that doesn't give you the right to be so… so mean!"

"Silence!" the Queen snapped. The girl jumped back a little. "You dare defy me?!" It was at this point Alfred by stay silent.

"Guys, maybe we should help out," Alfred said in a harsh whisper from where the trio hid.

"Yes but-" Arthur began to say before he was cut off.

"We would be meddling, which is what we were told not to do," Antonio whispered back. "Right?" Arthur nodded.

"Right."

"The court finds the defendant…" the Queen said in suspense. "Guilty as charged! For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart…" It was here that the boys gave out a little gasp. "OFF WITH HER HEAD!" The card knights around the defendant marched forward.

Unable to take it anymore, Alfred grabbed his companions' hands and bounded forward- revealing their hiding place in the process.

"Stop it right there!" the boy ordered. The court froze in there place.

"Who are you? the Queen asked. "How dare you interfere with my court!"

"Hey, listen lady," Alfred said, crossing his arms over his chest. "We know who the real culprit is. You have no reason to go and blame an innocent person like her!"

"It was the Heart-" Antonio added before Arthur covered his mouth before he could give away the truth. Alfred sighed.

"Anyway, we know really did it. I can tell you that they are not the ones you're looking for."

"That's nonsense," snapped the Queen. "Have you any proof?" Alfred paled.

"Uh…" Suddenly, the guards grabbed the girl, tossing her into a cage nearby. They sealed the door shut with a heavy thud.

"Bring me the evidence of their innocence," the Queen ordered. "Fail and it's off with your heads!"

"Yes ma'am!" Antonio said in a rush. The three walked over to the captured girl before they began their search.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

"I'm Alfred," Alfred said.

"And I'm Antonio, and this is Arthur," Antonio added. Arthur gave a small nod.

"Pleased to meet you. My name's Alice," said the girl. "Though I do wish it were under better circumstances. I'm sorry you got mixed up in this nonsense."

"It's not a big deal," said Alfred. "Why are you on trial in the first place?"

"I should like to know the very same thing! Apparently I was guilty from the moment I took the stand!"

"That's crazy. So, where are you from?"

"Hmm, curious. I can't quite remember. You see, I found this mysterious rabbit hole. When I tried to peek inside, I tumbled in head over heels… And I found myself here."

"So you're from another world!"

"That's funny," Antonio said with a laugh. "Maybe you don't need a ship, then."

"What do you mean 'another world'?" asked Alice out of confusion.

"Ignore that," said Arthur. "You have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah!" Alfred added. "We'll catch the culprit!"

"I would try checking the woods over yonder," suggested Alice. "There dwells the Cheshire Cat. Do seek and ask him where the proof is at." Before the boys could ask Alice what she meant, a Card Soldier stood between them. A curtain blocked the two from view and the cage was raised above the ground.

"I guess we better get going. C'mon guys!" The trio marched off into the direction Alice had mentioned. And boy, were they going to regret it.

"This is one weird forest," Antonio remarked as they entered. He was right. The forest was filled with giant trees, mushrooms and flowers. Then again, that could have been due to their size.


The trio walked on a bit before Alfred let out a yelp. Antonio and Arthur turned to the scared Keyblade Wielder.

"What is it, Alfred?" asked Arthur.

"Cat head!" Alfred shouted. The two stared at the him before turning and kept on walking. "Wait up!"

"Stop telling lies, Alfred. They'll get us nowhere."

"I'm afraid you're friend isn't lying." The trio stopped as something appeared on a nearby tree stump. The strange was that the cat was pink with dark purple stripes.

"I'm guessing that this is the Cheshire Cat?" asked Antonio. Arthur nodded.

"Poor Alice. Soon to lose her heads, and she's not guilty of a thing!" said the Cheshire Cat.

"We know," said Antonio. "Can you help us?"

"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers- but doesn't always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness." The cat then faded away.

"Hey!" shouted Alfred. "Wait!" He sighed. "Now wha-"

"Ow!" shouted Arthur. Something dropped onto his head and into his arms. "What the bloody-"

"That must be the evidence Alice was talking about!" said Antonio. "Now we can take it to the Queen and free Alice!" Alfred nodded.

"Let's go before the Queen cut off her head." Alfred and Antonio darted off towards the forest's exit. Arthur, however, remained behind, staring at the box.

"While the evidence may free your friends," the Wizard heard the cat's voice say. "It will not save yourself. Take this power with you."

"What power?" Arthur breathed out. Something hit him in the chest. It was cold, like a snowball. It merged with the man. Arthur felt a wave of cold rush over his body. He blinked his jade eyes. "What the hell…?

"Arthur!" Arthur looked over at the direction of Alfred's voice. "You coming?!"

"Yes!" he called back before running to catch up with the other two. What his didn't notice was that puffs of frosty, cold mist was expelling from his mouth.


The trio returned to the courtroom with their evidence in hand.

"Yo Queen!" Alfred called. "We're back!"

"Step up to the podium and present your evidence," said one of the card knights. The three exchanged look. Arthur looked down at the box in his hand. He calmly walked up on the podium.

"Your Majesty," the Wizard said. "My friends…" He glanced over at Alfred and Antonio. "No, my colleagues and I collected this piece of evidence from the forest." He placed the box on the podium and opened it. Antonio's, Alfred and Arthur's eyes all widened when a Soldier Heartless arose from the box. "Alfred!"

"On it!" Alfred quickly summoned his Keyblade and stabbed the Heartless, sending it back to darkness. He returned it back to a keychain and stowed it away.

"What in the world was that?!" snapped the Queen.

"That was your evidence," Arthur explained. He slammed a hand down on the podium and pointed at the Queen. "Now I demand that you release Alice at once! By the order of the Head Wizard of the Court of-!"

"Silence!" The confidence the trio had faded when the Queen snapped. "Article 29: Anyone who defies the Queen is guilty!"

"That's ridiculous!" Arthur turned to his partners. "Antonio! Alfred! Get Alice!" Without a second thought, the pair did as they were told. They ran over to a nearby crank and lowered it. The cage dropped to the ground and the curtain slowly opened. There was a collective gasp throughout the court.

The cage was empty.

"No!" shouted Alfred. They were too late.

"Please calm down, Alfred," Antonio said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Yelling isn't going to solve anything."

"You fools!" the Queen of Hearts snapped, sending the trio jumping. "Find the one who's behind this! I don't care how! Fail and it's off with your heads!"

"Yes ma'am!" the trio said before running out of the courtroom.

"I don't want to lose my head!" Alfred said.

"Just keep running," Arthur told him. "If we get far enough away, I could use my magic to take us back to the Gummi Ship!"

"But what about Alice?" asked Antonio.

"She couldn't have gotten far. She's most likely in another world. We'll look for her."

"Alright."


The trio sprinted into the room from which they arrived. The three slid down against the wall, tired and panting.

"I. Loathe. Wonderland…" Arthur muttered.

"You and me both…" added Antonio.

"Can we turn on the lights?" asked Alfred. "It's dark in here and it's cold." Arthur sighed and stood up.

"Fine," said Arthur as he pulled out his wand. Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Unlike you, I actually try to learn something useful that isn't seeing how much I can eat in an hour."

"That was valuable information!" Arthur rolled his eyes and pointed his wand at the two lamps on the ceiling.

"Incendio!" he shouted. Two small balls of fire shot out from the wand's tip and hit the lamps, lighting them.

"At least we can see now," said Antonio as he stood up. There was silence. "I feel like something bad it about to happe-" Suddenly, a shadow dropped from the ceiling. The shadow unfolded into a giant of a Heartless.

The Heartless had spindly legs resembling scissor jacks, arms that appeared and sounded like they were made of paper, and a head that was made of several segments balanced on top of each other. Each of the segments sported its own face—though all of the faces had the same glowing yellow eyes and jagged mouths—and they alternated in color from red to black. Its arms were black and juggled clubs with zig-zagging, purple and lavender stripes on them. It wore black armor with large, red shoulder pads, a black codpiece, and had a very thin and small red body. The upper halves of its legs were red, while their lower halves were black. Its feet were black, flat, and curled at the tips.

The group quickly drew their weapons, getting ready for a battle.

"Let's see if we can stop this thing."

"How?" asked Antonio. "It's fifty feet taller than us."

"Magic!" Arthur pointed his wand at the creature. "Incendio!" The fireball zipped out at the Heartless. While it did little damage, it also set the Heartless's clubs on fire.

"Now you've done it!" shouted Alfred. Arthur glared at the boy, but couldn't do anything else as the Heartless swung its clubs down at the boys. They all managed to roll out of the way. The Heartless swung again, this time hitting Antonio. Luckily, the soldier managed to get his shield up in time.

"Arthur, be careful where you aim!" said Antonio.

"I'm doing the best I can. It's hard to aim properly when I'm this small!" snapped Arthur. "I don't know a spell that would help us!" The duo ducked another swing from the Heartless. Alfred ran up and slashed at its legs with the Keyblade.

"Just do something, cold breath!" Arthur raised an eyebrow. The Heartless swung at Antonio, who held out his shield in front of him. It held off the attack long enough.

"Alfred, what did you call me?" Alfred looked back for a second before continuing to attack.

"Cold breath!"

"Why?!"

"Ever since we got out of the forest, we've been able to see your breath," Antonio explained before throwing his shield at the Heartless, hoping to do some damage. Instead, the Heartless set the shield on fire with its clubs. As long as it was blazing, the shield was useless.

Arthur's mind flashed to what had happened to him in the forest. The memory combined with Alfred's words gave him a solution to the problem at hand.

"I have to freeze the enemy…" Arthur repeated. Have looked over at Antonio. "Antonio! When I say so, grab your shield and throw it at Alfred!"

"What are you planning, Arthur?" The soldier asked as he maneuvered out of the way of an attack.

"Just do it!" Antonio did what he was told, racing forward. Arthur pointed his wand at blazing shield. "Glacius!" A snowball-like magic orb shot out of the wand's tip and hit Antonio's weapon. The fire sizzled out just as he grabbed it. Antonio smiled.

"Thanks, Arthur! I didn't know you could do that!"

"It wasn't that hard." A plan clicked in Arthur's mind. "Alfred! When I say so, hit the Heartless! Don't do anything before then!"

"Why should I listen to you?" asked Alfred. "It's impossible! I won't be able to reach!"

"Leave that to me," said Antonio. Alfred nodded and jumped backwards. Arthur pointed his wand at the Heartless. "Glacius!" The snowball shot out of the wand, striking the Heartless in the chest. Ice began to form on the Heartless, freezing it solid.

"Now!" Arthur shouted. Antonio flung his shield in Alfred's direction. Alfred raced forward with Keyblade in hand. He jumped up high enough to be able to launch himself off of the shield. He swung, slicing the Heartless in the chest. The creature shattered and the ice pieces faded into the darkness before they hit the ground. A heart flew out of it and into the air. Alfred grinned as the party regrouped.

"What a racket." They turned to see the doorknob from before waking up. "How's a doorknob supposed to get any sleep?" It yawned again, revealing the outline of a keyhole in it's mouth. The three stared at the keyhole as it shimmered. Alfred's Keyblade shook in its master's hands. As if on it's own will, the tip of the blade began to shine brightly. Alfred stuck out his arm, pointing the key at the keyhole. A beam of light shot out of the blade's tip and straight into the keyhole. The boys heard a distinctive click before the Keyblade returned to normal.

"What was that?" asked Arthur. Alfred shrugged,

"I don't know, but did you hear that noise? It was like a lock." A small green object falls to the ground in front of them, shining brightly in the light. Antonio slung his shield across his back and picked it up.

"This gummi block isn't like the others," he observed, handing it to Arthur.

"That's a gummi block?" asked Alfred. He expected it to be much bigger.

"I believe it is," said Arthur. "I'll hold on to it," He stashed it away into his pocket.

"Splendid~ You're quite the heroes." The trio turned to see the Cheshire Cat behind them. Alfred smiled at the compliment. "If you're still looking for Alice, they're not here. They're gone! Off with the shadows into darkness."

"No!" Alfred's keyblade turned back into a keychain. "We were so close!"

"Let's get back to the Gummi Ship," said Arthur. "We might find them on another world."

"But how?" Antonio asked as his shield shrunk down. "The ship's all the way up there, and we're down here! Not to mention we're still small."

"My magic can fix that. Let's get going." Arthur held out his wand and teleported them all back to the ship.