Sora stared out of the cockpit's window, staring into space. Or was it the space beyond space since they weren't in any worlds? After leaving Traverse Town, Donald and Goofy had explained what their story was. Apparently, their king had presumably left their world and had left them a letter telling them that the stars were disappearing (which apparently meant worlds) and that he was going to check out what was happening. The king had also said for Donald and Goofy to find someone with a key and stick with him, which is why they were now travelling together. It seemed a little irresponsible for a king to just disappear and only leave a letter but who was he to judge how a world filled with talking animals worked? He was also introduced to Jiminy Cricket. A talking cricket who's world was also destroyed and had somehow made it to Donald and Goofy's world. For some reason, he was going to be chronicling everything that would happen on this adventure in his journal. Strange as it was, it at least showed Sora that people that lost their worlds could end up in other worlds other than Traverse town.
As it turned out, Goofy was the captain of the Royal Knights back in his world so he was able to teach Sora a bit of combat training as they travelled in the gummi ship. On top of that, Donald, being a magician, was able to teach Sora some magic as he was now able to cast a fire spell. Now he felt a lot more confident in facing the heartless and he actually felt rather excited about being able to visit another world. He wondered how different they could be to his own world and what kind of people lived there. The thought of it almost made Sora forget about the intergalactic zombie apocalypse that was currently happening. "We're here!" Donald announced. Sora looked up to see the first world he would get to visit outside of traverse town.
It seemed like in the space between worlds, worlds appeared to be like mini planets with things on them that seemed to represent the world like buildings. Compared to Traverse Town, this one looked kind of odd to Sora as the 'planet' itself was pink and looked like a checkerboard with a heart in every square. "Weird..." Sora said to himself as he prepared for landing. The gummi ship flew closer to the world before entering it as the view outside the cockpit changed from a view of the world to...a wall?
"Wak!" Donald yelped as the gummi ship stopped moving, seemingly stuck wherever they were. "Hey, what's the big idea?!"
"Uhh...is something wrong?" Sora asked.
"What do you think?" Donald snarked. "What kinda entry point is this?!" According to Donald and Goofy, each world has its own entry point. A place they'd always arrive at once entering the world and also anyone else would arrive at once entering. Which meant if their friends had ended up in a world, they shouldn't be too far off from its entry point. Though it seemed like the entry point for this world was in an awkward place as it looked like they were in someone's house.
"Uh, I'm gonna go take a look outside." Goofy announced. Sora decided to follow Goofy as he made his way to the gummi ship's exit and took a step outside. "AAAA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!"
Sora then stared in horror as Goofy then fell down into a deep hole. "GOOFY!"
"What happened?!" Sora heard Donald shout before he felt Donald run into him, causing both of them to fall out of the ship.
Both of them screamed for a moment before their falling seemed to slow down? "Huh?" Sora said.
"Hey fellas!" Both of them looked down to see Goofy wasn't too far below them as he was also floating down, having gotten himself into a relaxed position.
Sora looked around at the walls of the hole. For some reason, the hole looked like it was decorated like a house. Nothing about this seemed natural at all. "What kind of world is this?" Sora asked.
"Beats me." Donald answered, appearing to be just as perturbed as Sora was.
Eventually, the three safety landed in what looked like some kind of hallway. Although nothing about it seemed natural. The hallway was shaped more like a cave and everything in it appeared to be painted on. Before the three could gather their thoughts, they noticed a white rabbit, holding a large watch, run past them. "Oh, my fur and whiskers! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" He panted as he continued running. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! The queen, she'll have my head for sure!"
Sora, along with Donald and Goofy, stared in confusion as the rabbit ran out of sight. "Ok..." He turned to Donald and Goofy. "So now what?"
"Guess it can't hurt to take a look around." Goofy remarked.
Donald raised an eyebrow at Goofy. "You think the king would stay in a world like this?"
"I'm not sure but it kinda looks like we'll be staying a while anyway."
Donald glanced up at the hole where the gummi ship was still stuck. Getting out of this world was going to be a nightmare. He grumbled to himself as he followed Sora and Goofy as they walked through the hallway.
At the end of the hallway, the trio came across a door. Sora opened it, only to find another door. "Huh?" He opened the other door, only to find another door. "Seriously?" He opened the third door. Thankfully, there no more doors as the three then entered another room where once again, almost everything appeared to be painted on. As they entered, they saw the white rabbit, somehow now much smaller, enter a small door. Sora approached it. "How did he get so small?"
"No, you're simply to big." The doorknob responded.
"AH!" Sora yelped. He jumped back and summoned his keyblade. He could deal with talking animals but talking doorknobs? "What are you?!"
"What do you think? I'm a doorknob." The doorknob then yawned. "Must you be so loud? You woke me up."
Sora took a step back. "You know, maybe trying to explore this world was a bad idea."
Goofy gave Sora a concerned look. "Gawrsh Sora, I didn't know you were scared of doorknobs."
Sora frowned, feeling his pride take a hit. "I-I'm not scared. It's just...this world feels really unnatural. Are all worlds like this?"
"I hope not." Donald grumbled. Sora could at least take some comfort in knowing that Donald was just as weirded out by this world as he was.
Goofy then spoke to the doorknob. "So uh, what do we do so we can be small?"
"Why don't you try the bottle...over there?" The doorknob suggested.
The trio looked to see the table and chair that were painted into the ground suddenly become real. They also noticed two bottles on the table. One with a blue label and the other with an orange one. "I'm not sure we should be drinking out of random bottles." Sora said cautiously.
"Ahyuck, can't hurt to try!" Goofy said as he picked up the blue bottle.
"It absolutely can hurt to try!" Sora argued as Goofy took a sip from the bottle.
A moment later, Goofy then shrunk down until he was barely taller than Sora's foot. "Well, would you look at that."
"It worked!" Donald exclaimed.
Seeing as there appeared to be no other way out of this room, Sora then grabbed the blue bottle. He sighed. "Well, here goes nothing." He took a sip from a bottle and soon found himself shrunk down. He stared at the giant room in amazement. "Whoa..."
After Donald had done the same, the three approached the doorknob. "So, uh, could you let us in?" Sora asked. The doorknob snored in response as he had gone back to sleep. "Hello?" No response. "HELLO?" Sora shouted. The doorknob appeared to be in a deep sleep as nothing was waking him up. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" He then went over to try and push the door open. The door wouldn't budge. "Oh come on!"
"Hey fellas! Look over there!" Sora and Donald looked over to see where Goofy was pointing. It looked like there was a hole behind the bed.
"But how do we get in there?" Donald asked.
Goofy hummed for a moment before looking towards the two bottles. "Y'know, I bet that other bottle would put us back to normal size."
Sora groaned before heading over the chair. He jumped up and climbed onto it before jumping up to the table to climb onto that. After catching his breath, Sora picked up the other bottle and took a sip from it. As luck would have it, it did exactly as Goofy said as he returned to normal size.
"Whoa!" Unfortunately, Sora was still stood on the table as he grew back to normal which caused him to lose his balance and fall off. "Ow..."
"Are you okay, Sora?" Goofy shouted.
"I'm fine." Sora assured him before getting up and going over to the bed. He grunted as he tried to pull it out though it didn't seem to be budging. He then leaned against it which somehow pushed the bed into the wall and also caused Sora to then fall flat on his face.
"You did it!" Donald exclaimed.
Goofy gave Sora a concerned look. "Sora?" Sora simply groaned as his face was still smushed against the ground.
After Sora shrunk back down, the trio entered the hole to find themselves in some kind of courtyard. It looked like they were outside though looking around, they could tell that the sky was fake and that parts of the hedges were just painted on the walls. Sora wasn't too sure but it looked like a trial was going on. He saw a blonde girl on the podium who appeared to be the most normal looking person he had seen in this world. The judge of this trial appeared to be a queen, wearing a heart themed dress. The room was also filled with what appeared to be sentient cards with the red ones carrying spears and the black ones carrying axes. The three noticed the white rabbit from earlier running up some spiral stairs onto a stand. He panted for a moment before blowing a trumpet. "Court is now in session." The white rabbit announced.
"I'm on trial? But why?" The blonde girl with a British accent asked.
The white rabbit ignored the question. "Her majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!"
The Queen of Hearts looked down at the girl from her raised up throne with a look of disdain. "This girl is the culprit. There's no doubt about it. And the reason is...because I say so, that's why!"
"That is so unfair!" The girl exclaimed.
"Well have you anything to say in your defence?" The Queen of Hearts asked.
"Of course. I've done absolutely nothing wrong!" The girl said confidently. "You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so...so mean!"
"Silence!" The Queen of Hearts shouted. "You dare defy me?" She bellowed, slamming down her fists.
Sora couldn't believe what he was watching. What kind of trial was this? How did this world even work? This felt less like a world and more like a nightmare. Literally. To Sora, this felt like the kind of place you'd dream about. Not an actual place you could visit. How could a world like this exist otherwise? "We should do something." Sora said.
"Yeah, but the..." Donald trailed off.
"We're outsiders, so wouldn't that be muddling?" Goofy asked.
"Meddling!" Donald corrected.
"Oh, yeah. And that's against the rules."
Sora gave them both an annoyed look. "What rules? Nothing about this world makes any sense!"
"You got me there." Donald admitted.
"The court finds the defendant...guilty as charged! For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart..." Sora's eyes widened at the mention of her heart. The Queen of Hearts pointed towards the girl. "Off with her head!"
"No! No! Oh, please!" The girl pleaded.
Sora had had enough of this psycho queen as he decided to intervene. "Hold it right there!"
The Queen glared at Sora as he ran in. "Who are you? How dare you interfere with my court?"
Sora resisted the urge to say something offensive to the Queen. "Look, we know who the real culprit is! It was the heartless that did it!"
"Sora!" Donald exclaimed in annoyance.
"Heartless?" The Queen asked.
"They're basically intergalactic zombies that look like black monsters." Sora explained. Everyone in the court, including the girl, gave Sora an odd look.
"What in the world is a zombie?" The Queen asked.
Sora shook his head. "Forget it. The heartless are monsters that try and steal people's hearts."
"That's nonsense. Have you any proof?"
Sora raised an eyebrow at the Queen. "Well...didn't you see who attacked you?"
The Queen glared at Sora. "Why should that matter?"
Sora glared back. "If you didn't see who attacked you, then how do you know she did it?"
"Because I am the law and whatever I say goes!" The Queen shouted angrily.
At this point, Sora had lost his patience. "What is wrong with you? How did a psycho like you become a queen?"
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT!!" The Queen screamed angrily before pointing towards Sora. "Off with his head!"
The cards all readied their weapons towards Sora. Sora simply got out his keyblade, ready for a fight. He didn't really care any more. This world was awful and darkness be damned, he really felt like taking out his frustration on these cards.
Donald and Goofy then ran inbetween Sora and the cards, blocking them off. "Uh, I think we better skedaddle." Goofy suggested.
Sora then remembered why he had intervened in the first place as he turned to the girl. "Come on, let's get out of here."
The girl nodded and followed after Sora. The cards had blocked the way they came in so they instead took a different exit into some kind of forest with Donald and Goofy following after them. They ran through the forest for a while until it was clear that they had lost the cards. They all took a moment to catch their breaths before Donald yelled at Sora. "What were you thinking?!"
"I had to do something!" Sora countered.
"Um, pardon me but, who are you?" The girl asked politely.
Sora turned to her. "Oh sorry, I'm Sora."
"I'm Goofy, and that there's Donald." Goofy added.
"My name is Alice. Pleased to meet you though I do wish it were under better circumstances. I'm sorry you got mixed up in this nonsense." Alice said apologetically.
"Why were you on trial in the first place?" Sora asked.
Alice frowned. "I should like to know the very same thing! Apparently I was guilty from the moment I took the stand!"
"That's crazy!" Sora explained. "Man, what is up with this world?"
Alice sighed. "I understand how you feel."
Sora gave her a confused look. "Wait, aren't you from here?"
Alice shook her head. "I'm afraid not. 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? Does that mean there's different ways to get to worlds?" Sora asked.
Goofy chuckled. "That's funny. Maybe you don't need a ship, then."
Donald gave Goofy a confused look. "I don't get it."
Alice looked at Sora curiously. "What do you mean 'another world'?
"We're not from this world either." Sora explained. "We also came here from another world."
"Sora!" Donald huffed in annoyance. "We shouldn't be telling her this! We need to protect the world order!"
Sora gave Donald an annoyed look. "What world order? Besides, you're a talking duck. You're already messing with world order."
"But-but-" Donald stammered.
"Besides, who said we can't meddle anyway?"
Goofy hummed. "Well, the king told us that. Back when we first visited another world."
"You guys have been to other worlds before all of this?" Sora asked.
"Not important!" Donald snapped.
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, how did you end up here?" Alice asked.
"Oh, we flew a ship here." Sora answered casually.
Alice gave Sora a confused look. "You...flew a ship?"
Sora then noticed what Alice was wearing. Her outfit looked like something from the middle of the Victorian era, back before planes had been invented. Sora chuckled awkwardly. "Uh, I guess some worlds are less technically advanced than others, huh?"
"And this is why we shouldn't meddle!" Donald ranted.
Alice had a look of wonder in her eyes. "I must admit, I'm ever so curious. Why have you come to a world like this?"
"We're looking for our friends." Sora explained before looking downcast. "I've been trying to find mine ever since my world was destroyed."
Alice gasped. "Destroyed? Your entire world?" Sora nodded. "My goodness, what a terrible predicament! I'm dreadfully sorry."
Sora shook his head. "Don't be. It's not your fault."
Alice looked distraught. "I can't even imagine going through something like that. Goodness, what an awful thought!"
Noticing the depressed look on Sora's face, Goofy put a hand on his shoulder. "Aw, don't worry Sora. I bet that once we find the King, he'll know how to bring all those worlds back." Sora tried to cheer up at this and gave Goofy a simple nod, hoping that was true.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Donald asked.
"Well if it isn't too much trouble, I would like to find a way back home." Alice requested.
"Where are you from?" Sora asked.
"Why, I came from a place called London."
Sora gave her a confused look. He knew in his world that there was a city named London in England but it's obvious that Alice was not from his world. He turned to Donald. "Have you been to any world called London?"
Donald shook his head. "No."
Alice started to get distraught again. "Oh dear. How will I ever find my way home?" She started sniffling.
Sora frowned in thought for a moment before turning to Donald. "We should take her with us."
"What?!" Donald exclaimed. "You can't be serious?"
"We can't just leave her here. It's too dangerous. Besides, it's obvious she doesn't belong in this world anyway."
Donald grumbled to himself for a moment. "Fine. But how are we gonna get outta this world anyway? The ship is stuck."
"How indeed."
Upon hearing the mysterious voice, everyone started looking around. "Who said that?" Sora asked.
They then noticed a cat head bouncing in the trees before it's body appeared on top of it, balancing on it. It then got off its head before putting its head on its body. "It's the Cheshire Cat!" Alice exclaimed.
"Guilty as charged." The Cheshire Cat grinned. "Did your ship sink?"
"Well yeah, our ship got stuck in a big ol' hole." Goofy explained. "Can you help us?"
Alice frowned. "I'm not sure we should be asking for his advice. He's the one that led me to the Queen in the first place."
The Cheshire Cat chuckled. "If you are stuck, perhaps you should consult a walkthrough."
Sora gave the cat a confused look. "A walkthrough?"
"Pardon me?" Alice asked, not understanding what the cat was talking about.
Suddenly, the plants in the forest parted, revealing a path. "A walk through." The Cheshire Cat clarified. "So walk right on through."
The four gave each other unsure glances before deciding to follow the path. To their shock, at the end of the path was the gummi ship, completely fine. "Huh?!" Donald exclaimed.
Goofy looked confused. "Uh, how did get here from all the way back there?"
Sora shook his head. "Who cares. The sooner we're out of here, the better."
Alice gave the gummi ship a curious look. "Oh my. This is a very unusual ship if I've ever seen one."
"THERE THEY ARE!" The group turned around to see the the Queen and her card army had followed the same path to them. "Get them! Off with their heads!"
Sora, Donald and Goody stepped in front of Alice and readied their weapons for battle. It was lucky for them that the cards weren't really able to take a hit as one swing of Sora's keyblade was enough to take them down.
As Alice watched the trio defend her, Alice couldn't help but feel guilty again for getting the three into this mess. "Oh, if only there was some way I could help." She then noticed a mushroom nearby. Remember what the caterpillar told her, she snuck over to it while everyone was distracted. She took two pieces from it, one from each side. "I hope this is the right piece." She said to herself before taking a bite from one of them. A moment later she began to grow in size until she was a giant compared to everyone else, which they all quickly noticed. The Queen gasped while the cards turned their attention to her, attempting to attack her though they didn't have much of an effect on her. "I'm not afraid of you." She stated before kicking the cards, sending them all flying away. "Why, you're nothing but a pack of cards." As the rest of the cards retreated, Alice then turned her attention to the Queen, who was much less and angry and was chuckling nervously. "And as for you, your majesty. 'Your majesty' indeed. Why, you're not a queen! You're just a fat, pompous, bad-tempered old tyrant." The Queen giggled nervously before letting out a scream and making a run for it. Alice folded her arms in response.
Sora blinked in surprise, not quite sure what just happened. "Uh, thanks Alice?"
Alice then ate the other piece of mushroom which caused her to shrink back to normal size. "I should be the one thanking you. I don't know what I would have done without your help."
"Well, looks like it's time to go." Goofy stated as he opened up the ship for everyone to get in.
"Oh brother." Donald muttered to himself as he got into the ship, still feeling unsure about meddling this much.
Once Alice got into the ship, the curious girl quickly started to look around. "Oh my, I've never seen anything like this. Did you say that this ship flies?"
Sora smiled. "Yeah. Just wait until you see this." He then gestured for her to follow him into the cockpit.
Once Donald started the ship up, it floated off of the ground and into the air. Once it started moving, the view outside of the ship changed from Wonderland to the space between worlds. "OH MY GOODNESS!" Alice exclaimed.
Donald sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing." He told Sora.
Sora didn't really care about that right now. He was just happy to have finally left that nightmare of a world. He seriously hoped that the other worlds were nothing like this one.
Though for some reason, he couldn't help but think that he'd forgotten something.
