Kingdom Eds: Rise of Darkness
Chapter 4: Fatal Surprise
As Sora, Donald, Goofy, Nazz and the Eds had entered through the doorway, they had noticed something completely different from what they were used to. First of all they noticed that they were in a forest just outside of a castle, but what was more strange was the fact that everything didn't seem real, in fact it looked like something you would find out of a playhouse or something. The group had pondered on their situation, wondering what to do next before making any sort of advancement.
"Hmm, I wonder what, or who could be in that castle..." Double D muttered. Eddy had looked at him funny, as did the rest of the group.
"And why do you say that sockhead?" Eddy asked.
"Well Eddy, we don't know what or who could be in there, we could go in the castle and find ourselves being confronted by a monster, or the inhabitants could be more or less friendly. I am not risking our chances of finding Alex by acting on impulse." Double D answered. Eddy had just growled, not seeing much sense in talking to his sock wearing friend.
"Oh yeah!? Ed, what do you think?" Eddy asked. Everyone had looked had Ed expecting an answer, although this made him feel more uncomfortable.
"I dunno." Ed replied.
"What do ya mean you dunno!?" Eddy shouted.
"Honest Eddy I dunno!" Ed exclaimed.
"That's enough guys! We aren't making any progress at all, I say we go with what Eddy says and go in the castle." Sora said. Everyone except Double D had nodded, who just grumbled under his breath.
The gang were nearing the castle now, noticing that they hadn't faced any kind of heartless yet at all. This began to worry the group slightly, in fear of a trap but they decided to not get distracted by their feeling and decided to keep on moving. On the way, Donald and Goofy were having a conversation between themselves.
"Donald, are you sure you don't know who that black gummi belongs to?" Goofy asked.
"No, I'm sure of it. Why?" Donald asked. Goofy had sighed slightly.
"Well, it looked kinda out of place and was a spooky sight Donald, there are no designs of gummi ships like that anywhere, and it had the heartless insignia on it as well!" Goofy said loudly.
"What!? Why didn't you tell me it had the heartless insignia on it Goofy!?" Donald asked.
"Well, I thought you would be mad!" Goofy answered nervously.
"I'm not mad Goofy, I'm furious!" Donald shouted as he began to quack and squawk violently. The rest of the group had looked behind them with alarmed looks on their faces, wondering what the two were chattering on about.
"What's up dudes?" Nazz asked.
"We figured that someone who is related to the heartless maybe on this world!" Donald answered.
"No fooling?" Eddy asked.
"No fooling." Donald replied. The group had slightly shuddered, but they had then immediately dismissed it and had continued on their way to the castle.
xxx
They had finally reached the castle and were looking at what seemed to be a trail going on. They saw a rather large woman wearing a crown and royal clothing, a rabbit wearing posh clothing and guards in the shape of playing cards. They also saw a girl wear a blue dress. From where they were standing, it seemed that the queen was the judge and the girl was the defendant.
" Are you guilty of trying to steal my heart young girl?" The queen asked.
" No, I certainly am not!" The girl replied.
" Do you have any proof, girl?" The queen asked with wry smile.
" Uh... Well no, I don't... But just because you're queen doesn't mean you have to be so... so mean!" The girl answered back. The queen had screamed in anger, her face literally turning beet red.
" OFF! OFF WITH HER HEAD!" The queen shouted. Sora and Ed had immediately decided to take off, rushing towards the court at a high speed. Everyone tried to catch the two but they were too fast for them.
" Wait, you can't do that!" Sora shouted.
" Yeah, you need a very sharp axe!" Ed exclaimed. Sora had looked at Ed.
" That's not what I meant Ed." Sora explained.
" Silence! Off with your head, in fact, off with all of your heads!" The queen shouted with a mighty fury. Now everyone had intervened, trying to attempt to save their friend's heads being butchered.
" What if we help you find the dude who tried to steal your heart, your majesty?" Nazz asked. The queen had scoffed, and proceeded to laugh at Nazz with a nasty cackle afterwords. This caused the cards to laugh nervously too.
" Ha, flattery will get you nowhere dear!" The queen replied.
" What if we find clues leading to the suspect, and if we fail then you can chop off all of our heads?" Goofy insisted. Everyone, even Ed, had gasped.
" Okay then, but one hour, and I mean ONE HOUR!" The queen bellowed greatly. The group had marched out to another nearby forest, setting out to complete the task at hand with some fear in their hearts...
xxx
" This is all your fault you big lummox!" Donald had screamed, strangling Goofy's neck with a vice grip. The group could then hear laughing, looking at the source of it. The found what appeared to be a cat's head on a large tree stump, this confused them greatly, as they wondered why a cat could laugh if it only had a head and no body. Their questions were quickly answered as the cat's body had magically reappeared once again, with the cat letting out a small chuckle.
" Don't let trickery or mimicry fool you, and to your heart you must stay true." The cat riddled. Everyone except Double D were confused.
" You mean don't be fooled by illusions, and always trust yourself!" Double D answered. The cat had raised an eyebrow at him, before letting out his large, Cheshire cat smile.
" You catch on quickly, you're very bright but are you ready for a surprising sight?" The Cheshire cat asked. Eddy had growled slightly, as did Donald. They were tired of playing games, and decided to get answers to the questions they wanted to ask.
" Hey, tell us where we can find the clues!" Eddy and Donald demanded simultaneously. The Cheshire cat had just smiled once again, before deciding to answer.
" Just follow the path, that I am sure, then you will find what you are looking for." After the cat said his cryptic message to the two, he disappeared slowly while chuckling lowly. Eddy and Donald were annoyed, while the rest were puzzled.
" Well, that didn't really amount to anything..." Double D said. Ed had stared at the ground, searching for something.
" You know, this place is starting to bug me, what do you think Ed? Ed?... Ed!?" Eddy shouted. He saw Ed looking at the ground and began to gear up to slap him, but before he could Ed had dropped to the ground the get a closer look.
" Do ya see that guys?" Ed asked, pointing at the ground. Eddy, Double D, Nazz, Sora, Donald and Goofy had looked to where Ed was looking, trying to look for what Ed was looking for.
" Look, a boot mark!" Ed had pointed at. The group had huddled around each other and stared into the ground, and had noticed the foot print. It looked slightly smaller that Ed's foot size, but bigger than Eddy or Double D's.
" Do ya know what this means?" Eddy asked. Ed had nodded dumbly.
" Yep, it was a foot." Ed replied. Eddy had slapped Ed hard on the head.
" No you idiot, I mean this could lead us to the culprit!" Eddy exclaimed.
" My word, Eddy is right! Let's follow the trail while it's still hot!" Double D shouted. As soon as he did that however, he was confronted by a few heartless. Two he had seen before but one looked quite peculiar, it seemed to be a very large creature, wearing a tin hat on its head and wearing patched up clothing and to finish it off, it had a large heartless insignia on its belly. Ed had rushed at the beast and smashed the monster in the stomach, but the force of his attack caused him the be propelled backwards.
" Whoa! Mushy belly!" Ed shouted. Sora and Eddy had taken care of one heartless on the left, while Double D, Goofy and Donald had taken care of the heartless on the right. Nazz was left to face the large heartless, quivering at the sheer sight of the beast. It looked at her hungrily with small yellow eyes, until Ed had jumped in front of it.
" Stop, beastly belly monster!" Ed shouted, getting into a defensive stance. It was just Ed and the monster, facing each other. The two had rushed at each other, but when the two met, Ed was flung back a few feet as he landed on his back. Nazz had dug her sword into the monster's back however, looking at it with an angry look.
" That was not nice dude!" Nazz shouted. The beast had glowed with a purple aura as it had shaken Nazz off like a leaf. She landed on her backside while rubbing her head.
" Ouch!" Nazz screamed. She tried to fix her messed hair, failing as she did so.
" You ruined my hair, no one ruins my hair and gets away with it!" Nazz shouted. She began to glow a radiant white, gritting her teeth as she looked at the monster. It glowed a purple aura still, manifested by rage. The others had just looked on, surprised by Nazz's show of power. The monster had rushed at Nazz, but this proved fatal as Nazz had hit the monstrous being with an invisible energy attack. The beast was sent back a few yards, screeching in pain all the while. Nazz had then rushed at the monster at a very high speed, before miraculously slashing the monster's belly open. Darkness had just flowed out, before the monster just dissipated. Nazz had then fell on the ground on her bottom, panting heavily. The others were more enthusiastic.
" Whoo hoo! Yeah, Nazz!" Ed had shouted.
" Bravo Nazz, excellent show of power if I do say so myself!" Double D said. They kept on cheering Nazz, until they had decided to carry on their objective.
xxx
The footprints had led to a flower, with the group looking at it with confusion.
" We were led to a flower? A stinkin' flower!?" Eddy asked.
" Give me a potion and I will make you taller!" A voice said. Eddy looked at Ed, assuming he said it.
" Stop messing with me lumpy!" Eddy growled.
" Honest Eddy, it wasn't me!" Ed shouted.
" He is right, it was I, the flower!" Eddy turned to the flower.
" You?" Eddy asked.
" Yes, who else could it be?" The flower asked. Eddy had just growled while the rest had laughed at him.
" Did you see anyone else here?" Double D asked.
" Did they have long, silver hair?" Sora asked.
" And are they a jerk?" Eddy asked, apparently talking about Alex. The kids from the cul-de-sac had slapped him one, before allowing the flower to answer.
" No silver haired person, but there was someone wearing black, very young, about your age." The flower answered. Everyone nodded and waisted no time giving the flower a potion. Double D was made larger, showing signs of surprise on his face.
" How's the weather up there sockhead?" Eddy asked mockingly. Double D had then stepped on the stup, before eating to plum to make himself smaller. He then followed everyone else as they were keen on finding the path to Alex. They were near a place full of chairs and a table, but it looked deserted. They almost walked out before Ed sat on a chair.
" Cool!" Ed said. Everyone shrugged, what could possibly happen? They all sat on the chairs, one by one before the chairs had fell backwards and kicked them off their seats. When this happened there was a loud thud.
" Ed you idiot!" Eddy exclaimed. However Eddy was soon to look like an idiot, as rare items like elixirs, mega potions and mega ethers had dropped from the ceiling like sky. Double D had picked them all up and put them in his pouch.
"Let's carry on fellows, if we want to find more clues." Double D said. Everyone had left the area and began to backtrack. They began going up the branches of the trees and onto higher ground. It seemed that the world they were in gave them increased abilities. They went through a small hole through the wall, as it seemed that they were in a familiar place.
" Hey, weren't we just here guys?" Goofy asked.
" We were, it seems that the physics of this world has made it so that we think are placed in a different location. Intriguing!" Double D said.
" Intriguing!" Eddy mimicked.
" I say we find all those clues fast!" Eddy exclaimed. Everyone had nodded. The cat had once again appeared before them.
" To find what you're looking for, you must restore light." The cat said. He then disappeared, leaving the group. Double D had gotten out his keyblade and casted fire spells at the candles, lighting them. Suddenly, a footprint had lead to a certain path, back to the court.
" Alright fellows, it seems that we have found all of the clues, let's go!" Double D said. Everyone nodded as they had jumped down the hole
xxx
As the group had landed in front of the queen, they saw a cloaked figure about the same size as the Eds talking to the queen.
" And do you know who tried to steal my heart?" The queen asked.
" Yeah..." The figure replied. 'Hey, that guy sounds familiar' Eddy thought to himself.
" And who, may I ask committed this dastardly deed?" The queen asked. The cloaked figure removed his hood, revealing to be a friend of the kids of the cul-de-sac...
" Alex?!" The kids shouted. He looked behind him to see his friends, Nazz, Double D, Ed and Eddy. And some others he didn't know, like Donald, Goofy and Sora.
" Guys!?" Alex asked surprised. The cul-de-sac kids reunited in a group hug.
" Well answer me!" The queen shouted. Alex had stared at the queen.
" It was the heartless!" Alex shouted. The queen had tutted while shaking her head.
" Such lies! I shall have all of your heads!" The queen bellowed as she locked Alice's prison. A massive construct with levers had appeared out of the ground and the queen's guards had began attacking.
" Lets get ready to rumble!" Eddy shouted as he got out his keyblade. Everyone else got out their weapons, including Alex. Instead of it being like Riku's weapon, Alex's was a black longsword with a black handle. He held it in two hands, and was in a fighting stance.
" Whoa, where did you get that?" Double D asked. Alex smirked towards his sock-hatted friend.
" Let's just say I, "acquired it"." Alex replied. The battle had then begun as the party got into position. Alex slashed a few of the cards with his sword, each strike containing tremendous power. Ed wasn't far off either. He knocked a few of them down himself. Eddy and Double D had decided that they would double team the guards as Edd would knock them in the air and Eddy would knock them back down. Donald would blast them with magic, Goofy would bash them with his shield and Nazz and Sora kept some of the guards at bay. However no matter how many guards were brought down, more would keep coming.
" What does that structure do?" Double asked. He hit the lever with his keyblade, unlocking one of the locks on Alice's cage.
" Everyone, focus your attacks on this structure!" Double D commanded. Everyone followed his order as the brought their weapons against it, while Alex would fend off the guards. When the structure was completely destroyed, the guards had halted their advancement as they suddenly realised that Alice had gone. The queen was distracted by this, as she was red in the face, clearly angry at this outcome. Taking this chance, the group had escaped back into the place they first started in.
xxx
They were pooped out, literally as they were all either sitting or lying on the floor, exhausted from their battle. Finally, after a moment of silence, Eddy had decided to speak.
" So Alex, how exactly did you get here anyway?" Eddy asked. Alex had looked at Eddy, before smirking.
" By Gummi Ship, of course." Alex replied. Donald and Goofy had glanced at Alex suscpiciously.
" Was it black?" Donald asked. Alex nodded, slowly though as he noticed that Donald and Goofy were starting to get nervous.
" And did it have the heartless emblem?" Goofy asked. Alex hung his head and had then nodded afterwards. Everyone gasped, although Alex raised his arms in defence.
" Hey! I just found that thing lying around!" Alex exclaimed.
" Oh, so you just happened to steal it? You must be in league with the heartless." Donald retorted. Alex had frowned at the duck, before staring at his friends.
" Guys, you don't honestly believe I am a heartless... Right?" Alex asked. The fellow kids of the cul-de-sac had to think for a moment, they couldn't believe that their friend would be in league with the heartless, but at this point they weren't surprised by anything.
" Come on! I'm your friend!" Alex shouted.
" I believe you Alex." Everyone looked at Ed, who made the comment. He sat next to Alex and put an arm around his neck.
" He is our friend, he doesn't need to lie to us." Ed said. Everyone was surprised, including Alex. It was deep, even for Ed.
" Okay, fine... We won't believe you're a heartless for now, but if you double cross us..." Donald finished off making a gesture towards Alex. He just nodded.
" So Alex, have you seen the others?" Double D asked.
" Yeah, have you seen Kevin, Rolf, Jonny, Sarah and Jimmy?" Nazz asked.
" I'm afraid not guys, but we may find them in the next place..." Alex replied. They looked at him oddly.
" The next place?" Eddy asked. Alex nodded.
" Yeah, there are other worlds as well." Alex answered. " I saw this place called the Olympic Coliseum while in that gummi ship, and it said it would be the best place to go to after wonderland."
" Really?" Double D asked.
" Yeah, I also saw this other place that looked like a jungle but we could go there after the Coliseum." Alex replied. The group nodded. There was a short silence, before Alex begun to strike up another conversation.
" So Nazz, where did you get that weapon from anyway?" Alex asked. She got out her white sword before inspecting it closely.
" I got it from this guy called Leon, why?" Nazz questioned. Alex had opened his mouth to answer her question, but decided to give her another answer.
" Just asking." Alex replied. The group just began to talk with each other, until Eddy decided to get out of Wonderland. So the party had jumped onto the table, only to find the Cheshire cat.
" Huh? What do you want now?" Eddy asked. The cat just smiled.
" This is where the culprit is, are you ready?" The cat asked. Suddenly it disappeared and a massive heartless came. It looked harmless but with its matchsticks it could be a fearsome foe.
" Attack!" Sora shouted. And the battle commenced, with Sora running towards the heartless. He jumped up in the air to strike it in the face but it counter-attacked by swatting him away with its matchsticks. Sora was stunned but wasn't hurt too badly. It was Ed's turn now, as he did the same as Sora. However he didn't want to hit it on the head, in fact he landed on it, bashing its skull with his keyblade.
" Go on Ed! Give him the old one two!" Eddy shouted. The heartless was trying hard to hit Ed, but was failing. Nazz then jumped in the air and slashed its face, before landing on the ground next to Sora. But then, Double D had cast some fire magic. Remember those matchsticks? Well it seems that when you cast fire the matchsticks get on fire, and it began to whack those on the table. Alex, Eddy, Donald and Goofy were able to dodge the attack but Double D wasn't as lucky. He was scorched by the attack and was sent flying.
" Eddy, Donald and Goofy, go tend to Double D!" Alex shouted " Ed, keep wailing on him, Nazz and Sora, hit its legs!" They all nodded knowing what to do. ' I hope this works...' Alex thought as he looked like he was powering up. He put his longsword on his holster as he cupped his hands together. A dark energy was building up in his hands, it looked like fire but darkened. When Alex had finally gathered enough energy, he had let loose with the attack.
" Darkness... Fire!" Alex shouted as a beam of darkness had fired out of Alex's hand and into the face of the heartless. This knocked the heartless flat on its back, stunning it. For the finishing blow, Alex got out his longsword and jumped high in the air, landing on the heartless with his sword piercing its face. It then exploded into a ray of light, leaving nothing behind. Alex stood up and put the sword on his back, and had done a victory jig. Meanwhile, everyone else looked at Alex with a surprised look.
" Cool! How did ya do that!?" Ed asked, his eyes as wide as dinner plates. Alex had smiled, a cocky grin on his face.
" Well, I used the power of darkness and kicked that monster's butt!" Alex replied. Donald then ran up to Alex.
" The power of darkness!? But only heartless and really evil people use that!" Donald bellowed, pointing an accusing finger at Alex. He just crossed his arms.
" So? I saved you guys from getting killed using the power of darkness, does that make me a heartless or really evil?" Alex asked rhetorically, eye to eye with Donald.
" He's got a point Donald." Goofy said. Donald just grumbled.
"Yeah yeah..." Donald muttered. "Sorry, I just got carried away." Alex just smirked at him.
"No problem, I'd probably do the same thing too." Alex replied. Suddenly, Sora's keyblade had appeared and pointed at the sleeping door's keyhole. A small beam of light had came out of Sora's keyblade, before a little click was heard.
" What was that?" Alex asked. Sora then looked at him.
" I think I locked it." Sora answered. Suddenly an item shot out of it as Eddy picked it up.
" I'll keep it for later." Eddy said. And with that, the guys and one girl had drank the growing potion and returned to the gummi ship, where they would head to their next destination... The Olympic Coliseum, meanwhile...
xxx
" Hey, it seems that kid has weaselled his way into their group!" A voice shrouded in darkness shouted, before laughing hoarsely.
" Hmm, it seems that there are more keyblade wielders than we thought..." Another muttered.
" Hey, I've got an idea, how about we turn them into heartless?" A female, shrill voice laughed out.
" And our scapegoat, oops, I mean Riku?" A voice asked. " Will he reveal our plan and that they have a mole in the ranks?"
" We'll see if they will fight the darkness and conquer it, or if it will swallow them." Maleficent's voice said, before all of the villains started cackling evilly.
(author's note: Sorry for taking so long, I was becoming too busy with homework and also had writers block, hope I didn't cause any inconveniece)