A/N: I sometimes get the feeling that the Heartless trash fights may be a little lackluster, because there is never much to say about them, unlike boss battles, where I can be a bit more creative with how the four of them interact during the fight.
The team stepped into the forest clearing from the gardens where their troubles had begun. The lush forest was just as majestic as the gardens, with large trees and golden leaves littering the area, a small pond with lily pads off to the side amidst a collection of yellow and red daffodil-like flowers, as well as a large tree stump, perfect for relaxing on. Yet, none of them felt any opportunity to relax, given they needed to figure out how to capture a Heartless as quickly as possible, lest they allow Alice to lose her head.
"This is why we don't meddle with other worlds," Donald complained as he took a seat on the stump, "Talking doorknobs, walking cards, a girl on trial for doing nothing! What's next? A cat without a head?"
Akira cocked her head to the side, at a loss for words. She was always told to be careful what she wished for, though she never imagined they meant it quite literally. "Um… yes?" she said nervously, pointing to the unusual thing that had appeared behind him.
Donald gave a loud quack and jumped out of his seat when he caught sight of what was behind him. Sure enough, just as he predicted, a purple cat with alternating stripes danced behind the frightened duck, balancing his body perfectly on his disconnected grinning head.
"Who are you?" Donald yelled in fright.
The cat maintained his grin. "Who, indeed? Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head and she's not guilty of a thing!"
Sora intervened. "If you know how to prove her innocence, tell 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 instantly disappeared, leaving the group more confused than they were before. "That wasn't helpful..." Donald grumbled, crossing his arms.
"They've already left the forest," they heard the cat's voice say, "I won't tell which exit. There are four pieces of evidence in all. Three are a cinch to find. The fourth is tricky."
Sora shrugged his shoulders. "Should we even trust him?"
They got their answer as soon as the cat reappeared in front of the still frightened duck, causing him to fall back in shock.
"To trust or not to trust? I trust you'll decide!"
And for the final time, the cat vanished into thin air, leaving the group in a state of confusion they never imagined they'd be able to recover from.
"Is this what he meant by tricky?" Akira asked uncomfortably as she showed the tip of her staff to the rest of her group.
They had just finished defeating a group of Heartless and, during the fight, an antenna from one of the common varieties had lodged itself into the hollowed heart shape tip of her staff. It ripped off the Heartless' head when it was defeated and remained stuck on her staff when the creature disappeared.
Donald made a nauseated face as he pulled the severed antenna off her weapon. "Is this the last one?" he asked, keeping the antenna as far away as possible.
"Well," Goofy said, examining the treasures they had gathered so far from their enemies, "We have a bottle of stench, some claw marks, and a set of footprints!"
"Well, look what you've found! Nice going!"
The group gasped in unison as the Cheshire Cat appeared between them, balancing his body on his head as before.
"Do you have to do that?" Akira asked as she exasperatedly placed her hand on her face.
"Is this enough? Can we save Alice?" Sora asked.
The Cheshire Cat shook his head while maintaining his grin. "Don't be so sure. She may be innocent, but what about you?"
He suddenly disappeared, leaving a confusing riddle in his wake. Goofy secured their evidence in his pocket. "Welp, nothing left to do but to try!" he said enthusiastically.
His optimism was infectious, but they still felt fear in their hearts at the thought of even confronting the perpetually angry Queen of Hearts again.
Once they had returned to the courtyard, Sora fearlessly approached the bench where the queen resided, evidence in hand. The queen looked disinterested as she lazily tapped her fingers on the table.
"Now, show me what you have found," she ordered.
Sora placed the evidence in a box the soldier guarding Alice's cage had brought him. He placed it in front of the queen and scurried back to his post beside the cage.
The queen yawned, not bothering to even glance at the evidence. "I'm still not impressed."
She waved her hand and four more identical boxes appeared before the group. They watched angrily as she shuffled the boxes and placed them in a row in front of Sora.
"After all the trouble we went through to gather them?" Donald quacked angrily.
"Checking all five would be a waste of time. You!" she barked, pointing at Sora, "Choose the one you wish to present. I'll decide who's guilty based on the evidence within."
Sora gritted his teeth. "You can't be serious!"
"You dare object? Then you will lose your head! Now choose one box!"
He sighed as he arbitrarily picked the centre box. They had four pieces of evidence and there were five boxes; what were the odds he'd choose the wrong one? Yet, as the queen opened the box he had chosen, he was surprised to find out that those odds were pretty high. An image of Donald and Goofy flashed before them when she opened the box, and the group felt an immediate sense of dread.
"What? Impossible!" Donald gasped.
"Oh no!" Goofy cried, covering his mouth with his hands.
"Silence! I am the law here!" the queen barked at them, as several of her soldiers jumped on Donald and Goofy, cuffing them.
"That's not fair!" Akira cried, pointing her finger at the queen, "You tricked us!"
The queen's face grew red with anger at the accusation. "Article 29: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty! Seize them at once!"
The cards who had stuffed Donald and Goofy into a cramped cage quickly grabbed their spears and prepared to attack the two remaining teens. Donald pulled at the iron bars of his prison but to no avail; he and Goofy were completely trapped.
"Soldiers! If they touch the tower, you will all lose your heads!"
"The tower?" Sora muttered curiously. Sure enough, a small tower had appeared in the centre of the courtyard, with four cranks lining its walls. A card soldier was turning one of the cranks, which forced Alice's cage, as well as Donald and Goofy's, to rise higher and higher in the air.
Sora had an idea. "Akira, we have to hit these cranks to get their cages back down and free them!"
Akira nodded as she summoned her blade, agreeing with his plan. Thankfully, the cranks were made of flimsy wood, and broke off completely in only a few hits. The cages that held their friends slowly descended with each hit they made to the cranks, with Sora bashing away at the tower while Akira attempted to hold the cards away from him. She made use of that helpful fire spell Donald had taught her and was even able to cast it now without the recoil knocking her off her feet. She practiced swinging her staff between spellcasting, using its weight to her advantage.
When Sora landed the final blow to the last crank, the tower shattered and sent both cages crashing to the ground. Akira ran to the side to free Donald and Goofy while Sora approached Alice's cage, only to find hers empty.
"What? How could this be?" the queen barked as Sora stared in shock at the empty cage.
"Was she kidnapped while we were fighting?" Akira asked as she helped their friends out of their prison.
"You fools!" the Queen of Hearts shrieked as she banged her fists on the table, "Find out who's behind this! I don't care how!"
Every card soldier in the courtyard began to panic, running in various directions in search of Alice, while their queen had a meltdown at her podium.
"Maybe we should get out of here while they're all distracted," Sora suggested, gazing at the utter chaos that unfolded before them.
The group followed his instructions and quietly slinked towards the forest amidst the commotion, disappearing from view behind the massive leaves of the trees as the queen and her court descended into complete pandemonium.
"Phew, that was quite something," Akira sighed as she wiped her brow.
The forest was much quieter than the courtyard despite the echoes of the mayhem that could still be faintly heard, and it didn't seem as if any of the queen's loyal soldiers had followed them. At least now they were able to search for Alice in peace.
"Something? Something good? Or something bad?"
The Cheshire Cat had decided to make another appearance, no doubt with more cryptic messages to share. Thankfully this time he decided to keep his head on his neck where it belonged.
"You again?" Donald fumed.
Sora ignored him and got straight to the point. "Have you seen Alice?"
"Alice, no. Shadows, yes!"
"Gawrsh, which way did they go?" Goofy asked.
"This way? That way? Does it matter? Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows! Step deeper into the forest; you might find shadows in the upside-down room!"
"That's so helpful," Donald said sarcastically as the cat disappeared once more.
"I think he might be onto something!" Goofy said.
Akira nodded. "He keeps talking about the shadows but, shadows don't belong here, right? Maybe we should find them and get rid of them."
"So, he's saying the Heartless are the ones who took Alice!" Sora deduced.
Goody nodded quickly. "Yup! I was just thinking the same thing!"
The group began walking further and further into the lush forest, keeping their eyes open for anything that resembled what the Cheshire Cat had instructed them to search for. The Heartless were the key to solving this mystery, and to finding Alice. All they could do was hope that they hadn't devoured her heart yet.
"This had better not be a wild goose chase!" Donald said as he crossed his arms, following closely behind the others.