A/N: Wow! Fast update! Oh, and I'm talkin' on the phone while typing this. So talented. lol Just kidding, but still. I'm happy. Don't know why, but that don't matter. On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I own Kupo and Gizmo.

Chapter 12.

Trickmaster

Sora and Kupo gaped at the empty cage before them, neither knowing what had happened. They barely heard the cards shouting at each other, all fearing the queen's wrath.

"She must've gotten kidnapped while we were fighting," Donald offered, glancing up at the two who were slowly recovering.

"You fools!" The queen shouted from the throne. Her face began to turn red from rage. "Find the one who's behind this! I don't care how!"

For the first time since they met her, Sora and Kupo jumped at the sound of her loud voice. Donald and Goofy quickly ushered them back out to the Lotus forest where they found the Cheshire Cat on the stump again.

"Have you seen Alice?" Donald asked.

"Alice, no. Shadow, yes!" He said quickly.

"Where'd they go?" Goofy questioned further.

"This way? That way? Does it matter? Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows!" The cat watched each of their faces twist into confused looks. "Step deeper into the forest to the deserted garden. You might find shadows in the upside-down room!"

"Not the upside-down room!" Kupo shuddered as the cat disappeared and the rest of the group started off in that direction. "Don't you start feeling sick in that room too?"

"Not really," Sora tossed over his shoulder. "It's just you pretty much."

"Now not exactly," Goofy tried to comfort her. "I feel a little sick myself sometimes in there."

Kupo smiled at his semi-comforting words, but she didn't really need to be cheered up. Except for where Kairi and Riku were concerned. The girl pushed the thought from her head as she hurried to catch up with her friends.

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"They're hiding somewhere," the Cheshire Cat said once they entered the upside-down room. "And the momeraths outgrabe. Want to find the shadows? Try turning on the light." He quickly faded away, but this time Sora wasn't confused about what to do.

The boy summoned his Keyblade and aimed it at an upside-down light and -- suddenly it was lit. He slumped and looked at Kupo who obviously wasn't confused either. She laughed as the cat reappeared.

"It's too dim," the cat said as he studied the light. "Make it brighter."

"So my light's not bright enough?" Kupo glared at the cat as Sora shot another fire spell at yet another light.

"All the lights are on," the Cheshire Cat eased away from the girl. "You'll see the shadows soon. They'll arise in this room, but somewhere else. The shadows might go after that doorknob, too."

At the sound of the doorknob, the group knew what was about to happen next.

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"I wouldn't talk to her if I were you..." Blue Light warned the blonde haired girl as they peered around the tall bushes at the queen.

"But she could help us!" Stephanie protested as she looked back to her Heartless friend. "I know sometimes people look mean, but they aren't always."

"Suit yourself," the Heartless sighed as the girl stepped out from behind the bushes. Almost immediately two cards were in front her.

"State your name and business," one card ordered.

Suddenly, the girl didn't feel so brave. She glanced around in hopes of spotting Blue Light, but he was nowhere to be seen. The girl opened her mouth to speak, but the queen spoke first.

"Is that Alice?" She questioned fiercely. The cards stepped aside to reveal the girl.

"No, I'm not Alice," Stephanie said quickly.

"That is Alice!" The queen shouted. "Throw her in the cage and don't let her out!"

The cards surrounded the girl and some grabbed her arms. She was dragged to an object that looked like a bird's cage. Before she knew it, she was thrown in it with the door shut quickly behind her. The cage shot up to the top of the bushes and jerked to a halt. The girl grabbed a metal pole in each hand and pulled herself up.

"I'm not Alice!" The girl screamed.

"Your hair is the same color!" The queen objected. "But Alice or not, we need someone in that cage. You'll do fine."

Stephanie screamed to herself and sat down on the floor of the cage.

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Sora, Kupo, Donald, Goofy, and Gizmo climbed up onto the giant table where the Cheshire Cat was waiting. He looked back and said, "The shadows should be here soon. Are you prepared for the worst? If not, too bad!"

The cat disappeared before they could ask him anything else, but their attention quickly focused on a large black and red Heartless. It was much taller than them and almost as thin as a pole.

"Look at the size of that thing!" Kupo shouted as Donald and Goofy climbed off the table.

"Come on!" Sora urged as he followed his friends.

The girl watched him climb off the table and set Gizmo down. "Wait here, ok?"

The moogle nodded as Kupo jumped off the table, Spikeblade drawn. He hurried to the edge of the table and peered off.

"I wish there was something I could do!" He said helplessly.

Kupo stabbed the Heartless with the pointed end of her weapon and Sora rushed in for a few good hits. Donald shot ice beams from afar and Goofy battered it with his shield. The Heartless pulled out some sticks and blew fire onto them. It quickly began swatting at its tormentors with the lit sticks. Sora narrowly missed getting hit with the fire, but Goofy blocked it with his shield before it could attempt another hit.

The boy looked up to see Kupo standing on the chair. As soon as the Heartless was below her, she jumped off and sliced its back in half. The Heartless wailed in pain and swatted aimlessly behind itself. Kupo, with her never-ending bravery, swatted back with the sharp point of the Spikeblade.

Sora leapt to his feet and scrambled to help his friend, but suddenly the Heartless was gone. In its place was a huge Gizmo. The moogle sat there with a grin on his face as he looked around at his new friends.

"Gizmo, you squished it!" Kupo exclaimed as she let out a laugh.

"He sure did!" Goofy watched as the moogle stood up. The Heartless was gone.

"I sure showed him!" Gizmo said proudly. "I'm glad I could help."

"What a racket!" The doorknob cried from behind the group. "How's a doorknob to get any sleep?" He yawned loudly and suddenly a beam of light from the Keyblade shot into his mouth. But he didn't seem to notice.

"What was that?" Donald asked as they heard a clanking sound. He looked up at Sora.

"You hear that?" Kupo asked, making sure she wasn't the only one.

"Sounded like something closing," Sora said as he watched the doorknob for a moment longer.

Something fell to the floor and Goofy picked it up. He flipped it over in his hand before saying, "This gummi ain't like the others. No, sir."

"I'll hold onto it," Donald took it from his friend and shoved it into his pocket as the Cheshire Cat appeared.

"Splendid. You're quite the heroes," he said, no sarcasm in his voice. It was almost as if he meant it. "If you're looking for Alice, she's not here. She's gone! Off with the shadows, into the darkness." The cat quickly disappeared before he had to deliver any more bad news.

"No..." Sora muttered, unbelieving that they would have to search for her along with Riku and Kairi.

"So we get to look for some one else..." Kupo said with a sigh as she put her gloved hands behind her head.

"Let's go back to our gummi ship," Donald suggested, trying his best to be helpful. "We might find her in another world."

"Yeah, maybe," Sora said hopefully.

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Stephanie had been in her prison for what seemed like ages. Nothing more had gone on than the queen deciding the date for the girl's beheading. It was set for the next morning because of all the commotion that had gone on that day. This was not any news the girl wanted to hear. She was scared and she wanted out desperately. But the problem was that Blue Light hadn't come to save her like she thought he would.

Can't trust him as far as I can throw him... She thought angrily as dusk began to come to the empty courtyard. The queen and her cards had left hours ago.

The girl screamed from frustration at the fact that she couldn't get out and that she had come so close to finding her friends. Now they were probably two or three worlds away. She hadn't even got a glimpse of them. She wanted to know how they were and if they were all together.

Sora, Riku, Kupo, and Kairi... A silent tear fell down her cheek. It had just hit her that not all of them might have made it off the island like she did. She was lucky. Well, she had been up until she got captured.

The girl heard a sound and looked up. She screamed at the glowing yellow eyes of a Shadow. It was in the cage with her!

"What do you want?" She screamed and quickly slid to the edge of the cage.

"Not so loud!" It said. "Blue Light sent me to help you."

"Blue Light?" She questioned, almost disbelieving. "Why didn't he come for me himself?"

"He said it would have been too risky to get you out on broad daylight," the Shadow explained. "Now do you want out or not?"

"Yes, please!" She said excitedly. The girl watched the Shadow sink into the floor of her cage and that's when she lost sight of it. But after a few seconds, she heard a lock click. "Why aren't you trying to hurt me?"

"You're the one he wrote about," the Shadow reappeared out of the floor.

"Who wrote about me?" She asked suspiciously.

"Here," the Heartless held out a tattered sheet of paper and the girl hesitantly took it. She tried to read it, but it was too dark. The girl looked back up, but the Shadow was gone.

"Where-" she began, but was cut off by a familiar voice.

"Ready to go?" Blue Light asked. He was outside her cage.

Stephanie grinned, forgetting how mad she was at him. She quickly folded the paper and shoved it into her pocket. The girl hurriedly climbed onto his back and soon felt the wind on her face.

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Kupo felt the warm sea breeze on her face and felt the tilted coconut tree under her. The ocean water lapped lazily against the side of the island and the girl smiled. She watched Riku swing his wooden sword at Sora, but the boy dodged the blow. Sora attempted to hit Riku, but he was too fast and had the younger boy down quickly.

"You're gettin' good, Sora," Riku said with a smirk as he helped his friend up. "But you're not good enough."

"Give me a break!" Sora joked. "I just got back from vacation yesterday."

"Yeah, but that's not much of an excuse," Riku joked back.

"You guys are crazy," Kairi laughed as she walked across the wooden plank that led from the large island to the smaller one her friends were on. "It's not like you're ever going to need those skills in the real world."

"You never know!" Sora teased her.

"Yeah, Sora, you, Riku, and I will probably never need to know how to sword fight when we grow up," Kupo jumped off the leaning tree and walked over to the sweaty boys.

"We might need to know how whenever we get off this island," Riku reminded her.

"Maybe," she allowed.

"You guys are crazy!" Kairi repeated as she let out another laugh. "Well, if I ever need some one to protect me, I'll know where to look."

Kupo opened her eyes and, much to her disappointment, saw the ceiling of the gummi ship, not the blue water and beautiful sky. Or Riku or Kairi. She sighed and sat up in the bed Donald had provided her. How could she get to sleep after a dream like that?

The girl slowly stood up and opened the door to her tiny bedroom. She stepped out and shut it, careful not to wake up Gizmo who shared the room with her. She turned to see Sora sitting at one of the windows. The girl crossed the room and took her place beside him. Sora didn't look up, but Kupo knew he sensed her presence.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asked after a moment.

"I dreamed about them..." Kupo replied, watching the stars slowly float by in an endless sea of black.

Sora nodded. "You think... You think we'll ever find them?"

Kupo continued looking out the window and saw a shooting star. She closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened them, she had a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I think we'll find them."

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A/N: Awesome chapter! At least I think it is. I loved writing this last part here with Stephanie escaping and Kupo dreaming. It was great, really. lol Well, I hope you liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review!