Hey, fellow readers! Back with another, let's see what we got:
Spartastic 4: I'll get it right, just you wait. Mainly because they shared one body in the anime, I'm referring to the games when they are separate. The game is awesome, much better than 5 in almost every aspect. Can't wait for the DLC characters. Thanks for the support.
All right, let's wrap this case up!
Chapter 5: Nightmarish Trial
"So, these Princesses of Light are important?"
Hazama is currently sitting at a table under the stairs of the library, Maleficent standing at the window as she answers his question.
"Yes. Their hearts will be the catalysts to my grand scheme."
"A plan of your own, huh? Mind giving a hint?" Hazama crosses his legs on the table as he said this.
"Of course not. While we may have a alliance, I know not to share everything." Maleficent answered his question before turning around and walking to a giant bookshelf across from her.
"Fair enough. I worked with someone similar, being oh so vague about his motives." He mentioned.
"Having others do your work has its benefits." She admitted before changing the subject, "Now then, tell me more about this Ragna."
"Well, I already told you about him being a world-class criminal, gained from his path of revenge. Granted, it was due to his whole life getting destroyed-" He pauses for a moment to snap his fingers, "just like that."
"Then he must have a sinister darkness in his heart..." She guessed.
"You have no idea..." He thought, a knowing smirk on his face.
Maleficent turned towards him as she spoke, "Perhaps we can use this for our advantage."
"Not just yet, I want to know more of his allies." Hazama suggested. "Which is where I believe that boy will come in handy."
"But of course, he told me that Sora and Kairi are his best friends when I found him." She remembered.
"Well, he just needs to see for himself how "friendly" Sora is with his new friends." Hazama uncrossed his legs and stood up to his feet, "Once he starts doubting, let nature take its course..."
"And it will lead to him assisting us. That boy Sora is too naive to believe he had betrayed him." Maleficent finished.
"However, the other three might talk some sense into him before then." He pointed out before pulling out one of his butterfly knives, "Guess I'll need to get my hands a bit dirty."
Aqua and Ragna arrives near the hole to the court, after traveling through the forest again, in time with Terra and the others entering via a teleport from the Gummi Ship.
"Had to make a pit stop?" Ragna asked.
"Yeah. Sora found some puppies inside a lion's head." The two gave him a confused look, "Not an actual lion."
"Wait, you said puppies?" Aqua asked, which Terra answered with a nod. "Were they dalmatians?"
"Yeah." Sora answered this time, "How did you know?"
"I told Leon that I would help him find them, especially since their parents are so worried..." Aqua remembered.
"Then we better find them all!" Sora exclaimed.
"One thing at a time. Right now, we free Alice." Ragna pointed out by showing the heartless he's holding on to.
The group entered into the court room, going up onto the podium in the center as the Queen called out.
"Have you found your evidence?" She questioned.
"Of course. Here it is." Ragna lifted the heartless into the air for all to see. The sight made them either scream, faint, or even look on in curiosity as the heartless did a little wave with its claw.
"What is that?" The King asked.
"This is your culprit." Terra said, straight to the point.
"That tiny thing? And where is your proof that this is what you claim?" The Queen doubted.
"Simple. This... creature hunts for hearts out of instinct, attacking anything and anyone that has one." Aqua explained.
"And someone being the Queen of Hearts is quite the target." Ragna pointed out.
"If what you say is true, do you have any witnesses to confirm this information?" The King asked.
"Yeah, you can ask the Hatter and the Hare." Goofy answered.
"Very well. First witness!" The Queen hollered.
Two black card guards carried the Hare by the ears as they walked towards the podium. The two tossed the Hare over the group and lands on the wood, casually sitting as he sips on his tea cup.
"What do you know, uh of this unfortunate affair?" The King asked.
"Nothing!" The Hare snapped an answer almost instantly.
"Nothing whatever!?" The Queen shouted.
The Hare shouted back, right in the Queen's face after one swift jump. "Nothing whatever!"
"That's very important!" The Queen exclaimed to the King.
Ragna facepalms at this with his free hand as the Hare hopped away, "What a pain..." The little heartless in his hand copied his movement as the trial continued.
"Next witness, the Doormouse!" The King called out this time.
The same two guards brought a platter with a lid on top, placing it on the wood in front of the Queen before removing said lid. It revealed the golden teapot that the little mouse resided in as she picked it up while removing the lid on the teapot.
"WHAT-"
The Queen was immediately shushed by the guards, which she strangely went along with as she put the teapot back the way it was and whispered instead.
"What have you to say about this?"
Her question had a response as the mouse popped his head out, "Twinkle, twinkle, little bat..."
The Queen brought the teapot's spout up to her ear as she heard, "How I wonder where you're at..."
"That's the most important piece of evidence we heard yet..." She told the King.
"...Huh?" Was Sora's only response to that entire exchange.
"How is that relevant to this?" Aqua questioned, which Terra shrugged at.
"Bring in the last witness!" The Queen exclaimed.
"Not like it's gonna help us..." Donald said offhandedly.
The two guards brought in the Hatter, escorting him down before he stopped to give a bow. The guards were having none of it as they poked his butt with their spears, making him jump onto the podium the same way as the Hare.
"Off with your hat!" The Queen shouted, which the Hatter complied to reveal a teapot with a tea cup stacked under it.
"Oh my..." The Hatter simply said before the King spoke. "Where were you when this horrible crime was committed?"
"I was home drinking tea." The Hatter answered as he filled the cup... by spraying the tea into it? "Today is, you know, my unbirthday."
"Why my dear, today's your unbirthday too." The King mentioned to the Queen.
"It is?" She wondered.
"It is?" The Hatter and the Hare repeated.
"It is?" All the card guards present repeated.
Next thing the group knew, the Hatter and Hare rolled out a tablecloth in front of the Queen as they sung their song from before, with the card guards joining in on the singing. Their only response was a sigh, including Alice. As they sung, Aqua noticed there were no guards currently around Alice's cage, so she discreetly summoned her keyblade and pointed it to the lock. A small beam briefly flew into the lock before disappearing, unlocking the cage.
The others watched as the Queen blew her candles, which made the cake explode and be replaced with a gift box... somehow. She opens it with excitement, pulling out a rather puffy crown with jewels and puts it on her head. Right after she did, the jewels turned into teeth in the form of a certain smile as the Cheshire Cat revealed himself.
"Hey, there's a cat on your head!" Sora called out, pointing up at the Cheshire Cat before he disappears as soon as he appeared.
"Cat!" Next thing they knew, the doormouse popped out of the teapot and ran up the Queen to the banner behind her in panic. The Hatter and the Hare followed suit to catch him, causing mayhem as they yelled something about jam. Goofy was the closest and held the jar as the Hare got the spoon-
"Let me have it!" The Queen demanded...
SPLAT!
Only to get jam splatter across her entire face.
No one knows why, but the sight caught them by surprise enough to make them chuckle a bit. As the Queen tries getting the jam off, the King is chasing the Doormouse to stop them with his hammer. He then goes for a hard swing... only to slam it against the Queen's head. The room went silent as they can feel her rage boiling from underneath the cloth.
"Somebody is gonna lose their head for this!" She growled as she rips the cloth, her eyes glaring at Ragna.
"What?" He was confused until he felt his hands.
Somehow without him noticing, the heartless was replaced by the hammer and the jam jar finding their way to him in the left and right hand respectively. Quickly, he improvised by slamming the hammer down on the wood.
"Not guilty!" He yelled before tossing the jam as a distraction, "Run!"
The group sprinted out of there, the Queen furious as her guards chased them down. They went into the closest hole that lead into the forest to try and lose them, even splitting off into separate groups.
Donald and Goofy ran across the lily pads, Sora and Terra went into the geyser, while Ragna and Aqua just went deeper into the forest.
A group of card guards crossed the lily pads into the tea party garden, which turns out to be empty. They surveyed the area, looking at the chairs and even under the table.
"Where did they go?" One of the guards asked.
Goofy then dropped down onto the pink chair and threw his shield across the table, shattering the teapots to spray the guards with tea before it bounced off the wall back to him. Donald then appears on top of the chair and cast a Thunder spell, shocking the guards out cold.
"All right!" Donald cheered as he and Goofy high-five each other.
Another group of card guards shot out of the painting, looking around to not see Sora and Terra as they searched. As for the two, they are hiding behind a teddy bear that is hanging on the shelf on the wall they're on.
"Only twenty? Ten for you, ten for me." Terra pointed out.
"Gotcha. I'll go left." Sora agreed, which Terra nodded before the two jumped out of cover.
Terra jumped in the middle of his group that alerted the guards, which they attack him at once. He deflected their spears and performs Brutal Blast, performing a spinning slash to make them fly. One by one, they got up and tried to attack him, only to be met with Terra grabbing them and throwing them into each other.
Sora rolls into the fray as the guards surround him, stabbing the keyblade into the ground and spun around on the hilt, using his shoes to his advantage to knock the spears out of their hands. Now unarmed, they tried to grab him, but proved ineffective as Sora was too nimble for them. In no time, he knocks them out cold.
"Not bad, made them fold." Terra complimented.
"Heh, thanks." Sora responded back.
Terra looks around and realizes that only eighteen guards were knocked out, "Wait, we missed two."
Sora sees that too and catches the last two guards running into the lion's head, "In there!"
The pair gives chase as they went into the head.
"Didn't expect you to be so sneaky." Ragna commented after Aqua explained how she freed Alice.
"I just took an opportunity. Though, I didn't think it would go south like this." Aqua said as the two went behind the trees.
Aqua sees that they must have gotten the bulk of the guards, counting up to thirty.
"Any ideas?" Ragna asked.
"Taking them out in one fell swoop?" Aqua suggested.
Ragna nodded at that, his hand on his blade. "Ready."
Aqua took that as her cue, jumping out in front of the group and cast a Blizzaga to freeze them in place. Ragna jumps out and lands behind the group, pulling out his blade as it transformed into scythe form before delivering a horizontal slash. As he placed the scythe on its shoulder, the ice shattered with the guards falling to the ground.
"Out cold." Ragna quipped.
"Must have had a flush." Aqua followed up with a smirk.
Ragna couldn't help but chuckle, "Anyways, we better find the others." He pointed out as he twirled his scythe back into sword form.
Sora and Terra came out of a hole in the chimney, seeing their surroundings to be the ceiling of the room with the potions. Despite this, there were two tables that had a oil lamp on each one, which had the two guards hiding in them.
"Do you think they can see us?" One guard asked.
"Be quiet or they will!" The other guard warned.
Unfortunately for them, the glass was transparent enough for the pair to see them.
"We know you're there!" Sora called out.
Terrified, the guards shot out of the lamps and ran off, leaving a puff of smoke behind. The Cheshire Cat appears soon after, just casually laying down in the air.
"Oh, how frightening." The Cat sarcastically said, shaking his hands a bit as he does.
"You look like you enjoy messing with us." Terra retorted.
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't." The Cat vaguely responded with.
"Just give us a straight answer!" Terra shouted.
The Cat rolled in the air as he spoke, "Light the lamps here to reveal the shadows there." He pointed to the floor above them before disappearing.
The two looked at the lamps and at each other, "You first." Sora said.
Terra shrugged as the two climbed the tables and, thanks to Sora knowing what to do, lit them with a fire spell. When they did, a large shadow heartless appeared on the ceiling, coming out to transform into an entirely different heartless. It completed its form as it fell to the floor above, though they didn't get a good look at it.
"We got to find the others!" Sora said as the two went back into the chimney.
Donald and Goofy returned to the forest at the same time as Aqua and Ragna reached the lily pads, with Sora and Terra popping out of the geyser in such a hurry.
"Coincidence describes this well." Ragna pointed out.
"Guys... we found the boss!" Sora shouted, catching his breath.
"Back at... the potion room!" Terra followed up with.
"Back there? Then we have to pass the court!" Donald warned.
Aqua thought about all the routes they took in the forest, but felt something was off. She then remembered something odd about the tree trunk when she took the fruit off the branch. She looks back up there and sees yet another hole.
"What about up there?" She suggested, getting the others' attention.
"Better than the usual. Now, how to get up there..." Terra agreed as he looks around.
"Here!" The group turn to Ragna who was standing on a tall mushroom, with more taller ones leading up like a staircase onto large leaves.
The group followed suit as they climbed their way onto the branch. Ragna examines the hole and finds that it goes down, "This tree is hollow."
"Shocking." Terra deadpanned, not wanting to think at this point about Wonderland.
"Down we go." Sora said as he went first, jumping in.
The others wasted no time following his lead, falling in a dark void.
They fell for about a minute before seeing light at the bottom. They slowed down to a float as they reached the floor, stepping out of the hole to the potion room.
"Help!" Turning towards the voice, they see Alice getting cornered by the heartless they saw before.
Now a good look at it, it was rather bizarre in terms of appearance. It had spindly legs resembling scissor jacks, arms that appear like folded paper, and a very long head that had several segments to it. It somehow held clubs in the arms and was juggling them so casually as it walked towards her.
"Hey!" Sora called out to distract it.
The heartless turns around to show that it had a pair of eyes and a jagged mouth on each segment, wearing black armor with large red shoulder pads over a thin and small red body, with the legs being similar in color palette that end at flat and curled feet. Along with that, it also sported gold headlights around its body.
It turned around completely as the group got ready to fight, "All right, get Alice to safety! We'll distract it!" Ragna ordered to Sora, Donald and Goofy.
The three agreed and went around the table as the others charged at the heartless, which Ragna remembered it was named Trickmaster. It began as it swung its batons downwards to swat them away, only for its opponents to dodge. Terra swings at the legs to make it crumple while Aqua stuns it with Thundaga, with Ragna climbing onto the table to gain ground.
Trickmaster backed away and raised its free foot to stomp, Terra sliding away to avoid the attack, followed with it throwing one of its batons at Aqua. She blocked it with her barrier, bouncing it back to its hand. Next thing it knew, pain went down its back as Ragna performed Belial Edge across the head and back before landing.
As the battle goes on, Sora and the others was escorting Alice across the edge of the room.
"What is that?" She asked.
"It's a-" Goofy started, only to get interrupted by Donald. "Monster!"
"Oh my!" Alice looked at the battle happening as they neared the fireplace they came out of.
Sora let her go ahead, "Stay here! We'll handle the giant!"
Alice admits they were brave, but knows she can't really do much in this situation. "Please, do be careful."
"Thank ya, miss." Goofy responded with as the three headed into the battle.
They climbed onto the table and sees the Trickmaster slamming its batons on Ragna as he blocked with his sword with Aqua and Terra preparing a team attack at a distance, with the two conjuring a spell of Pearl and Dark Firaga respectively before firing at the torso. It explodes on impact as Goofy launches into the air like a rocket, coming down upon the head like an anvil. In retaliation, the heartless used its head like a catapult to sling Goofy across the room into the wall and performs a overhead swing upon the table, breaking it in half.
Sora and Donald got sent in the air as a result of that, the Trickmaster cartwheeling right between them as Ragna chased it. Terra runs to catch Donald with Aqua going to Sora, the Trickmaster stretching its arms to set the batons on fire from the stove near the fireplace as they recovered. Ragna uses Dead Spike to have the head hold its feet in place as the heartless swung the batons to launch fireballs at the group.
The fireballs were flying around wildly as the group went behind the broken table for cover.
"OK, we're at a disadvantage here." Sora said.
"Then we bring it down to our level." Terra suggested.
Unbeknownst to them, the heartless slammed the batons on the beast head to take it out and bent its legs to launch itself into the air, plummeting down to land upon the table, destroying it and knocking the group off balance. It juggled its batons before spinning them fast enough to fling them like boomerangs, hitting them before they could recover. It catches the batons and prepares another fire-based attack before a familiar shield was sent flying, hitting between the legs to make it crumble to its feet as Donald fired a Blizzaga to put out the batons.
"Sorry for the wait!" Goofy called out, having recovered from hitting the wall earlier.
"Now!" Donald shouted.
Taking the opportunity, Terra covered ground fast with his slide to get close to the Trickmaster, unleashing Geo Impact to slam the ground beneath it to cause a large jagged rock to knock it off its feet. Donald followed it with causing a Graviga spell to hold it down before Ragna jumped into the air, Sora and Aqua running to each side of the head. For the finish, Ragna stabbed it in the torso with Sora and Aqua blitzing the head, defeating the heartless as it disappeared into dust and a heart going free.
Alice walked out of the chimney as the group put away their weapons, now much more curious as to who they are. They then noticed her and walk on over.
"You all right?" Aqua asked.
"Yes, If I may ask, who exactly are you?" Alice answered.
They were a bit hesitant from the question, but Ragna answered it with a shrug. "Let's just say we're not from around here."
"Oh! Did you fall down a hole as well?" She wondered.
The group were kinda caught off guard, "Yeah we did." Sora answered this time.
Before they continued, a yawn interrupted them as the doorknob woke up. "What's with all that racket?"
"How's a doorknob suppose to get any sleep?" He questioned, followed by a big yawn.
As he did, a strange keyhole appeared in his mouth, making the group curious before Sora's keyblade appeared in his hand and in one swift motion, fired a beam towards it to lock whatever it connected to.
"What was that about?" Sora asked.
"You just locked a keyhole to the world." Terra answered.
"The world has a heart?" Ragna questioned.
"Not an actual one, more like its life force. What he just did was strengthen its lifespan." Aqua explained.
"Though, I doubt it would keep the heartless away." Donald said.
"Better than nothing." Ragna said before seeing something odd.
The doorknob still had his mouth open, showing what was behind the door. Ragna walked towards it for a better view as the others followed suit, with Alice still processing what they just conversed about. Though, what they saw baffled them.
Through the hole, they saw Alice sleeping against a tree in a flowery meadow with a cat sleeping in her lap, despite her being here where they are.
"What do you see?" Speaking of her, she wondered what they were staring at as she walked over.
"...You." Terra couldn't really put it in a different way, they were seeing two of them.
"Me? How is that possible?" She was understandably confused by this, moving her way to the hole to see for herself.
"What do you remember before being here?" Aqua questioned.
"Well, I fell into a hole after crawling into a tree that I took a ...nap on." Alice retraced her steps, now coming to the realization the same time as the others.
"...You're dreaming." Ragna was the first to say it.
Upon saying that, everything actually made sense. The insanity of Wonderland couldn't be explained with logic, just pure imagination.
"If that's the case, then why haven't I woken up?" She sounded a bit distraught, which is understandable considering what happened during her stay.
Ragna took a knee in front of her as he tried to answer her question, "Sometimes, dreams can only go away when you reached the end. Might even teach a thing or two to ya along the way."
Alice twiddled her fingers as she slowly spoke, "Maybe you're right. Before I came here, I just wanted to have a world of my own. After I fell in here, I let my curiosity guide me through this place and find myself unable to comprehend... any of it at all, really. By the time I was trapped in that cage, I find myself wishing I did follow my older sister's advice from the beginning. Guess that's what happens when you want a world of nonsense."
Ragna listened to her as she told her story, reminding himself of his world, which wasn't without its share of nonsensical things. But, what he learned during that time helped him grow and mature, becoming stronger because of it. He chuckled to himself a bit before looking Alice in the eye.
"Well, seems that you learned a lot here, and that's a good place to start. If you want my advice, listen to what others have to say. Just be sure it's the good kind." He advised.
"Thank you, Mr.-" Ragna raised an eyebrow at her cutoff, "Thank you, Ragna."
He smirked at that, "You're welcome, Alice." He got back on his feet as he continued, "Better get going, got others waiting for you."
She looked at the hole for a moment before looking at the others, then back at Ragna. "Will I see you again?"
"Time will tell. We'll see." Ragna wasn't exactly sure about that, which Alice picked up on.
It saddened her a bit, but still hoped that their paths crossed again before walking towards the keyhole, fading away as light seeped through until it was bright. The others shielded their eyes for a second until it faded, a strange gummi piece falling out onto the floor. Donald picked it up and examined it.
"What is this?" He wondered.
"We should ask Chip and Dale about it." Goofy suggested.
The two agreed on that, them and the others heading back to the Gummi Ship by teleport. Ragna was the last one to go as he looked back at the door with a sad smile before heading back.
The mysterious figure appeared on the world that the new face arrived on, which was a desert that had a strong wind currently going around them. He looked at the person, though couldn't see everything due to the sand. The newcomer was a male teen with brown hair, pale skin and wore clothes colored mainly in black and red.
However, his examination was interrupted as he sensed a massive change in this timeline.
"How big was the time rift?" The only question he had in his mind before putting the boy over his shoulder and teleported once more.
And DONE! All right, a lot to digest in this chapter so:
1. Vs. Trickmaster - Shrouding Dark Cloud (Awesome boss theme!)
2. I wasn't lying with having more of the movies in the Disney worlds. Though, I'm not sure it's a good balance without it being forced.
3. More info on the newcomer and the effects of the rift, which leads to...
4. Alice is NOT a Princess of Light! Shocking, as this is the biggest change by far, but let me explain:
A. Honestly, in terms of being one, her age doesn't really match up. If the princesses existed a decade ago, then either there was another princess before her or there were only six instead of seven.
B. In terms of being important to the story, she is only there to establish the villain's goal. Other than that, she doesn't do anything in the later games. No, COM and Coded don't count since they're retreads of the first game, which doesn't change the overall story at all.
So, who's the replacement? It's kinda obvious, but I'm not spoiling anything.
Thanks for reading this, and see ya next chapter!