Chapter 13: We can't let him die!

Kevin laid out his plan as he practically charged his way out of Rolf's home, with his friend in tow.

"Nazz hasn't come back yet, which means that teacher of ours still has her in detention. We're gonna take her out of there, and then figure out what's happening." He nearly tripped when another quake rocked the street. Somewhere off into the distance, he heard the sound of something toppling over onto the ground. Just after, all the lights in the neighborhood went out.

"Kevin, seek shelter," the foreign boy screamed out. "The mother gods are angry at the son of a Sheppard for…"

Kevin ignored whatever it was that next came out of his friend's mouth. He kept trying to piece together everything that had happened so far. He remembered the grisly scene from earlier, and that giant black bird. It couldn't have been the Eds. But, if it wasn't them, then who?

"Are you going out again?" Kevin looked back to see Jimmy, with Sarah in one hand, and a bucket filled to the brim with ice in the other. Jonny trailed behind, timidly carrying Plank, who was wrapped in both of the boy's arms. "We're going too," he mumbled out before another tremor came. This one was powerful enough to knock everyone off their feet. Somewhere, a car alarm went off.

There wasn't any time to waste. Kevin wasn't going to object to the other three tagging along. Of course, that didn't mean that he was going to go out of his way to protect them. He vocalized this point, and Jimmy and Jonny silently nodded. Sarah let out an annoyed grumble.

"Let's move out."

None of the adults seemed to notice the 5 children making their way down the road. The lights had gone out, so they were probably more concerned with that. Clearly, the news about the massacre down at the construction site hadn't reached them yet.

Kevin really had to squeegee that image out of his brain. He practically winced every time his mind glazed over that event.

Out in the horizon, they all saw a trail of smoke rising upwards. A fire had broken somewhere out in town. As much as he wanted to see check it out, he wanted to find Nazz and the Eds first. They could all just go there later.

Kevin had gone over the possibility that it was the end of the world more than a few times now. It added up, he presumed. Weren't earthquakes part of the last chapter of the bible, or something? And was that bird thing a demon? Kevin had never really paid attention to the sermons during church, but he was pretty sure those had something to do with the end of the world.

No, he had to push that stuff out of his head. Nazz. Eds. At school. He mentally chanted those lines as they continued onward.

They had traveled far enough now that they were passing through the empty stretch of road and plains that separated the Cul-de-sac from the school. Nothing could be seen to the left or right of them for miles, sans a forest of trees lining the horizon to their right. It seemed almost surreal to Kevin. Usually, when they walked to school, they'd take the roundabout road through the woods.

The next tremor was odd. Right after the ground stopped shaking, another pulse of something mind bogglingly sinister rocked through his bones. That was the only way he could describe it. His heart stopped for the brief moment the pulse passed through his being. Sarah, Jonny, and Jimmy's screams soon followed. Rolf, oddly, didn't seem fazed.

As quickly as it had appeared, the malice attributed with the pulse went away. Kevin hadn't realized that he had fallen onto his knees. Behind him, Jimmy's screams of panic filled the air. The jock didn't blame the boy. If he was just a tad less brave, he'd probably start crying from fear too.

He ignored his still racing heart as he got back onto his feet. "Guys, we're getting closer. Let's keep move…"

He stopped when something in the corner of his vision popped out of nowhere. Charging straight towards them from the rolling hills to their right came a group of spindly humanoid things. Each of them wore tan armor that covered them from head to toe. Their heads, Kevin realized, were abnormally skinny, around the same size and shape of a rolled up newspaper or map. The rest of their bodies were equally skinny. Their arms and legs probably weren't any thicker than one or two of his fingers. There were 5 of them, and each of them wielded oversized lances and held them as if they were being dragged around by the them. Whatever those things were, they weren't human.

"Guys, stand back!" Kevin brought out his wrench and charged forward. One of the Lancers, as he had decided to call them, jumped high into the air. The tip of its lance was pointed at him, and the thing was falling towards him at an almost unnatural angle. So he was right, he thought as he jumped back to avoid getting skewered by the weapon. That lance those things held had minds of their own.

The lance had embedded itself into the concrete when it landed, and the skinny thing that wielded it was struggling to pull it out. This was Kevin's chance. He lunged forward, slamming the head of his wrench right into the creature's side. Truthfully, Kevin had aimed wrong, so his strike wasn't as powerful as he intended. The thing still broke in half before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Those things weren't that strong then, he concluded.

He looked to his left just in time to see Rolf twirling around a Sheppard's cane. Rolf seemed to be an expert at the weapon, as he spun it around every which way around him to parry the monster's attacks. One more twirl of the cane, this time from his foot, of all things, and the two's skinny arms fell off. Rolf kicked the weapon back into his hands and delivered a swing at both of the things' heads. Rolf's weapon had collided with both monsters so fast, it looked like their heads had simply been wiped off instead of knocked away.

"Heeeeeellllllllppppppp!" Jimmy's cries brought his attention to his left.

The boy was being chased by another one of the Lancers. Kevin made a beeline for the boy, but stopped when he saw the sly look on the boy's face.

Jimmy had stopped running and stood perfectly still. He held his ice bucket in one hand, and had his back turned to the monster that was still running towards him. Just as the monster thrust its lance forward, Jimmy made a swing with his improvised weapon. The lance flew out of the monster's hand, into the air. The boy made another swing, this time at a point between the Lancer's legs. Clearly, Jimmy had wanted a different reaction from the thing, but smiled anyway when the monster disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Sarah finally jumped into his view, holding the last Lancer's weapon in her hands. The weapon was squirming, and was clearly trying get out of her grip, and it took both of her arms, which were squeezed white, to keep the thing from flying away. Still, she charged forward, stabbing the last monster in the eye with the weapon. Kevin could tell she was a little disappointed when her stolen weapon disappeared with the monster.

But where was Jonny?

His question was answered a moment later. The boy jumped out from a bush, with a basket marked with a red cross in his grasp. "Medical check," he exclaimed as he inspected everyone for injuries.

Huh, Kevin never would've thought that the big headed kid was interested in caring for peoples' injuries.

"Plank and I are pacifists," he said, putting a dab of some herbal ointment on a small cut on Jimmy's hand and covering it with a Band-Aid. "So just let us take care of the damage you take!"

And to think Kevin had been worried about any of these guys. They'd be able to… to…

That sinister pulse shook through the area again. It was more powerful this time. It felt like the gravity had gotten at least a hundred times stronger than before. Kevin fell flat on his face. He tasted his blood in his mouth as the enormous pressure threatened to crush his skull.

"I… can't move," he heard Sarah struggle out.

In the corner of his eye, he saw Rolf lying flat on the ground. Even he was having difficulty overcoming the presence now.

"World… end… world world world world door door door door door door door door."

What the hell?

The enormous pressure weakened enough for him to raise his head off of the ground. On the opposite side of the road was a cloaked figure. Slender and vaguely feminine in shape. Whoever she was, her hood covered her head completely. Kevin wasn't going to concern himself on the discolored afterimages she left as she dizzily walked towards them, he was more worried about something else that was more apparent.

He was sure that the pulse was coming from her.

"Witch!" Rolf had gotten back onto his feet, though he had to hold onto his cane for support. "Is this your doing?!"

The cloaked woman put a sleeve to her head, which cocked itself to the side.

Kevin could've sworn he heard a laugh from her.

"She's gone. Gone gone gone gone gone gone gone… To get stronger. I sent her there." The woman pointed to a seemingly random spot in the sky. "And then she's going to help me. Me me me me me me… and she's going to kill you. You you you you you. And she's going to wind up killing everyone. You." She pointed to them with an insane laugh. "Me," she let out another mad laugh as she pointed to her skull. "And everything and everyone you know, all for her own selfish goals! And then the darkness will eat away at her and… and…" The woman's voice escalated. Clearly, she was excited about whatever little story she was telling.

If she really was the cause of that weird pulse, than it was starting to show. She was so preoccupied with telling them everything, that the gravity began weakening. Kevin and the others got back onto their feet, and brought out their respective weapons.

"Yeah, that's a nice info dump you just gave us, but…" Kevin was cut off by Rolf, who slammed his cane on the ground.

"Answer the question! Are you the cause of these tremors?"

Although Kevin couldn't see the woman's face, he could've sworn she had smiled.

"I had to go easy on the ones before me, but not on you guys. Not on you guys not on you guys not on you. I can use everything I have to-"

Rolf had charged forward. He whipped his cane right at the woman's head and, to Kevin's surprise, knocked her head right off. The body fell to its knees, then onto the floor without another motion. It wasn't a trick, Kevin realized, the part of Rolf's cane that made contact with the woman had blood splattered all over it.

Was it… over already?

The headless body jumped back up. A moment later, a head reappeared, hood and all, right out of thin air. The woman let out a chuckle as she patted around where her neck would have been, as if checking to see if it had been placed correctly.

Kevin gulped. His eyes practically dragged themselves to where the head had flown to before. Sure enough, it was still there, right on the sidewalk. Nothing was making sense. Everything was happening too fast. Had that woman grown a completely new head?

"Copy Ability From Any Series the Author Has Read, Skill!"

For a second, it seemed like electrical currents were coursing through the cloaked woman's body. A second later, she disappeared.

"Godspeed!"

Kevin could pinpoint what had happened. In an instant, he saw the woman practically teleport in front of Rolf. A split second later, the foreign boy was sent flying up into the air. His clothes had been burned, somehow.

"Sword!" The cloaked woman shouted. Just like that, a katana appeared in her grasp, like it had always been there. "Cut Organs Without Cutting Flesh, Skill! Deal Lightning and Fire Damage, Skill! Be Faster than the Speed of Light, Skill! Completely Destroy Enemies Much Weaker than I, Skill! Stop Time, Skill!"

Kevin wasn't sure how she was speaking as fast as she was, or how he had even registered what she had said. Nevertheless, a moment later Rolf was on the ground, bleeding from his eyes and mouth.

He was horrified now. Kevin dropped his wrench as he ran in the opposite direction. He wanted to tell the others to run away too, but it was like his body wasn't cooperating with his brain. He was too scared to even process what was going on.

Another sinister pulse overtook his body. For a moment, the entire world had gone gray, from his perspective. His heart dropped when he heard the woman's voice echo inside his brain.

"Spear Abilities! Completely Shatter Opponent's Heart, Skill! Temporarily Turn Opponent's Brain to Jelly, Skill. Kill Opponent and Instantly Bring Them Back, Skill! Deal Near Fatal Damage to His Ego, Skill! Have Opponent Stay Conscious Until the Fight Ends, Skill!"

And just like that, everything Kevin had held dear. Everything he cared about. Everything he hated. His love, his fears, his likes and dislikes. All of it began to fall from his grasp. He couldn't feel anything anymore. He didn't even mind that he saw a puddle of blood coming from where he lay.

Less than a moment later, Sarah, Jimmy and Jonny fell over onto the ground.

"Make Meteors Fall From the Sky and only Target one Person, Skill! Make Opponent Feel the Weight of the World When my Weapon Touches Them, Skill! Fill Opponent's Lungs with Boiling Water, Skill! Momentarily Blind Opponent As I Launch the Finishing Blow, Skill!"

"Completely Strip Away all Defense the Opponent Has, Skill! Make Opponent's Heart Ache a Billion Times, Skill! Momentarily Strip Away All Zest for Life Opponent Has, Skill! Completely Earth Shattering Punch, Skill!"

" Make Opponent's Nerves More Sensitive, Skill! Make Opponent Feel Like Acid is Coating Their Skin, Skill! Land a Combo and Do Extra Damage, Skill! Finish Off Fight With One Grand Strike, Skill!"

How was anyone supposed to beat someone like that?

Those were the last conscious thoughts Kevin had before the black portal started swallowing him up and blotting him from existence.

"Kevin!"

He heard Rolf's voice call from somewhere. He didn't know anything now. He was stuck in a black void and had no more desire to move or worry about anything. He just wanted to wallow…

And rot…

"Sarah-girl, Jimmy-boy, Jonny and Plank! Hold on to Rolf! Don't let go!" He heard Rolf's voice echo throughout the void.

Kevin just wanted to… die…

"So this place is called Wonderland?"

Nazz let out a gasp as she, Sora, Donald and Goofy made their way across an almost extraterrestrial forest. This place was amazing, she thought. The streams here were an odd shade of green, and practically sparkled though the thin sunlight that made their way through the trees, and the flowers here giggled and shifted when she went to smell them. Yes, she was clearly in a brand new world, far away from either her home or Traverse Town.

Just two days earlier, Nazz had decided to leave Traverse Town with Sora, Donald and Goofy. Leon was in support of the idea, of course, and he had even given her new gear to travel in. Her arms will still out of commission, they were completely wrapped up in bandages, and, truthfully, it still hurt a little bit just clenching her fists. She had a brand new pair of leather, metal-tipped boots. They were heavier than her old ratty sneakers, but now she'd be better and fighting with her feet. Force was equal to mass x acceleration, her father had taught her. She'd like to see a Heartless take a kick from her now.

Nazz remembered the trip to the new world. Donald and Goofy had a weird, multi-colored ship, called a Gummi Ship, that they used to travel between worlds. She didn't remember much about that ship, she was sleeping the entire time, after all, but she'd try to remember every last detail about it on the return trip for Ed. If he couldn't tag along with them now, she'd just explain everything to him. Truthfully, that was the only reason she had decided to go with Sora.

"Hey, look, a castle!" The spiky-haired boy pointed forward as he laughed. Nazz let out a smile. She had forgotten that this was the first time he had been to a new world too. He was probably even more excited than she was. He charged forward, putting a hand over his brow to block out the sun. "What's going on over there?"

They were on a giant hill, as it turned out. As the ground gently sloped downward, Nazz could see the castle and its grounds. A crowd of people, er… were they people? They all looked impossibly flat, and they all had different motifs printed on their bodies. Some had spades, others had clovers, or clubs, a few had hearts, and the last few had diamond shapes. All of them were either black or red. Cards. They all looked like cards with arms, legs, and heads.

It boggled her mind that there was really a world where beings like that existed.

Goofy squatted down next to her, using a pair of binoculars. "Uh… it's a trail, I think. They have two kids on trial." He took the binoculars off and handed them to Nazz.

She quickly found the two kids who were being questioned. She dropped the thing she was holding when she spotted one of them.

Eddy.

Eddy was there. He was in handcuffs. As was a small blonde girl behind him. They were both shouting something, though she couldn't make out what.

"Off with their heads!" That voice was loud enough that they could all hear it, even from where they were standing.

What? They were going to kill Eddy?

Nazz gritted her teeth. She tightened the bandages around her arms and head as she stood back up. Yeah, not on her watch.

"Guys, my friend's down there. We can't let them kill him. Whatever we do, we can't let him die!"

Author's Note: And the Wonderland Rescue Arc is officially underway! Expect the popularity contest bonus chapter to get uploaded sometime tomorrow. This is your last chance to vote. Go on my profile, open the poll on the top of the page, and vote who you think should be the winner of Popularity Contest #1. Is your favorite character not on the list? All you have to do is nominate them when you post a review. Hopefully you'll leave some feedback too, I always love that.