"Incoming on your left!" blared Chip's voice over the speaker. Donald made frantic turns with the controls, and Sora felt the ship swerve in different directions as it barely dodged a small array of ships. At first glance, they looked like ordinary gummi ships, but one look at the Heartless emblems and the beady eyes on the cockpits was enough to let them know these things were a threat. He only wished there was something he could do to help in this situation. The ship shuddered as one Heartless ship managed to ram them!
"Ruby!" shouted Donald into the intercom. "How're the repairs!?"
"I'm going as fast as I can!" shouted Ruby from the engine room. "I'm not used to working with gummi tech!"
"You're doing great, Ruby," replied Dale over the intercom. "Ya just need to carefully—"
"WAAAAAK!" quacked Donald as he dodged another ship. Zwei went flying out of his chair!
"Gotcha, boy!" yelled Sora as he caught the corgi and secured him in his lap. The Keyblade wielder held onto his seat while Goofy did the same. The gummi ship flew into a tunnel of strange, floating rings. Donald had to twist and turn, the edge of the rings scraping against a wing a few times along the way.
"Donald!" shouted Chip's voice. "Enemies straight ahead!"
"Wak!" quacked the duck as a line of Heartless-possessed ships came flying at them from ahead in the tunnel. Donald pressed a trigger on the control wheel, and the ship's cannon fired a stream of light-blue laser bolts. He frantically turned the ship in every which way to hit all the enemy ships, reducing them to space dust. Finally, they came out of the tunnel.
"Yeah!" cheered Sora.
"Way to go, Donald!" shouted Goofy. The duck mage wiped his brow before coughing and puffing out his chest.
"No problem," quacked Donald. He then pressed the intercom button again. "You okay down there, Ruby?"
"Ugh," groaned the girl's voice. "Yeah… Just great. The L-Cell is intact, and I managed to get the auto-repair systems up and running again. Looks like it'll take… an hour for the ship to be back in order."
"That'll be plenty of time," came Chip's high-pitched voice. "I'm not picking up any more Heartless nearby. But the scanners did find another world just ahead. You can check it out while the ship fixes itself."
"Wish I could've been more help," sighed Sora. "I kind of feel left out like this." Zwei whimpered in Sora's lap before licking his chin. "Thanks, Zwei," he chuckled in response.
"Don't worry, Sora," assured Goofy from the backseat. "We'll both get a chance to help once we reach the next world." He then chuckled as he pointed straight ahead. "And there it is!"
Sora turned back toward the front and widened his eyes at the world coming into view. It looked like a castle on top of a red-and-pink, checkerboard egg. Rosebushes were forming a large maze with a heart-shaped gateway. He could also see an unusual house and a forest near the bottom.
"Wow," said Sora. "What do you think they call this place?"
"Who knows?" shrugged Donald. "But if the king's there, we gotta check it out. That castle looks like a good place to start."
"I'm back," said Ruby as she climbed out of the ladder hole and brushed herself off. "So, what'd I miss—?" She paused, widening her eyes at the sight in front of them. "Wait. Is that the new world?"
"Yee-up," replied Goofy with a nod. Ruby tilted her head in confusion.
"Is it a small one, like Destiny Islands?"
"Nah," came Dale's voice. "When you're travelin' by gummi ship, the worlds only show a part of themselves to ya." He then scratched his head. "It's confusing to explain, but you can think of it like an optical illusion."
"So, you guys ready to warp in?" asked Chip.
"Huh?" Team SDRG asked in unison, while Zwei tilted his head in confusion.
"What?" asked Chip as the communication monitor popped out of the controls again, revealing the chipmunk engineers. "You didn't think we'd be protecting the world order by landing a giant ship in each world we go to, did you?"
"Well uh," said Goofy as he scratched his head, "We kinda did that for Traverse Town."
"Eh," shrugged off Dale. "The people there already know about the other worlds. So we didn't bother advising you then."
"Would've been nice to know that before searching all over for the most abandoned part of the Outer Docks," griped Donald. The chipmunks laughed nervously.
"Anyway," said Chip as the monitor turned to Donald. "Just press the green button on your right armrest. The ship will scan for the closest secluded spot. After that you can use the locator beacon in the compartment down there," the monitor pointed itself at said compartment under the controls, "to mark any other safe points for warping while you're down there."
"Easy-peasy," said Dale.
"Alright then," said Goofy. "Let's get to it then."
Ruby nodded as she reached for Array's Fragment's holster. With a flash, her Fire materia materialized out of its slot before she placed it back in her armlet (she'd swapped it earlier to avoid setting anything on fire with her semblance). The red reaper then looked wistfully at the new world. "You think we'll find any of our friends here?"
"Only one way to find out," said Sora.
…
"I can barely see anything!" complained Ruby. After warping into the new, weird-looking world, Team SDRG found themselves in some pitch-black room. The only light source was her materia, which only illuminated her arm.
"Something feels wrong…" rasped Donald, barely visible nearby. Zwei whimpered seemingly in agreement.
"I've found the wall," came Goofy's voice as Ruby heard his glove sliding across something. "Lemme see if I can find a switch."
"No need," said Donald. For a brief moment, Ruby saw a flash as the duck summoned his staff. "We've got magic, remember?" To demonstrate, a flame lit at the tip of his staff.
"Oh, right!" gasped Sora, immediately summoning the Keyblade and lighting the tip with a flame. Ruby followed suit with a flame in her palm. As each fire added to illuminating the area around them, something became frighteningly clear.
"Uh, fellers?" asked Goofy in a nervous tone. "Where's the floor?"
Everyone looked down, and Ruby had to blink a couple of times to make sure she wasn't seeing things. All five party members were standing on thin air over a very long drop. As soon as they all processed the situation, they gasped and screamed in shock! Acting on instinct, Ruby was even somehow able to leap as she shrieked. Suddenly, gravity seemed to kick in, and they all plummeted into the seemingly endless hole.
"WAAAAAAAAK!" quacked Donald, desperately flapping his arms as if they were wings.
"AAARROOOOOH!" yelped Zwei.
"WHOA-OHHHHHH!" screamed a flailing Sora.
"HOOOOOOOWWW!" shrieked Ruby.
"YAAA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!" howled Goofy.
Ruby tumbled through the air, soon seeing a pink light approaching from below. She needed to do something fast. Without the ground in view, she had no idea how many shots she'd need for a safe landing. Maybe she could link hands with the others and stab Crescent Rose's blade into the wall to slow—
FLOOF!
"Whoa—What the!?" shouted Ruby as her skirt suddenly fluffed out like a parachute, and her fall was instantly slowed. "Since when was this a good landing strategy?"
"Huh?" gasped Sora nearby. "We're slowing down too." Sure enough, all five world travelers were slowing their descent.
"For a second there, I actually thought my skirt had become a parachute," nervously giggled the silver-eyed girl. "Like that'd ever work." As if to demonstrate, she pressed down on the front of her skirt, closing it. "W-Whoa!" Suddenly, Ruby tumbled headfirst at a normal speed again.
"WHYYYYYYYY!" cried out the red reaper.
"RUBY!" shouted the others. The girl acted fast, letting her skirt open again to slow her fall.
"Phew!" sighed Ruby in relief. "I'm okay." Ruby looked back and forth between her skirt and the others above her. "But how did—None you are wearing—And we were standing on—WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!?"
"How are we supposed to know!?" shouted Donald, waving his arms and legs angrily. "None of this makes any sense!" Seriously, why did she need a skirt parachute while they didn't? Did gravity affect girls differently than guys in this world?
Ruby was about to say more when she noticed a light coming from below, only to find more confusion when she saw the source: a randomly floating table with an active lamp sitting on it.
"What the heck…?" muttered Ruby in confusion. The others above her didn't seem any less baffled as they slowly fell past more curious objects: some oddly placed shelves with books, a weirdly shaped birdcage, some framed paintings, misshapen furniture, and even a mirror with upside-down reflections.
"This is so weird," commented Sora in awe. "Is this what you meant when you said each world was different, Donald?"
"Um… They're not usually this different," answered the duck mage, who then looked up and back down. "So, how far do you think this goes?"
Zwei looked down at Ruby and whimpered.
"Hey, I'm just as lost as you are, boy," replied the lone female of Team SDRG.
"Whelp," sighed Goofy, maneuvering his body into a relaxed position as if he were in a hammock, "we might as well sit back and relax until we hit the ground."
Sora shook his head as he turned his gaze below. "Just what kind of a crazy world is this?"
[ –Wonderland– ]
The five adventures gently fell in a spiraling formation until a wildly patterned floor came into view, just past a flat, yet still-burning fireplace. Ruby landed on her feet first, followed by Sora, Donald, and Zwei. Unfortunately, Goofy didn't notice in time and landed flat on his chin.
"You okay?" asked Ruby.
"I'll be—" began the knight.
"Oh, my fur and whiskers!" interrupted an unexpected voice, startling Ruby and the others. A white rabbit in a red coat came running madly out of seemingly nowhere. A large pocket watch was in his hand as he scrambled through a disorderly hallway. "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"
"What the? Where'd you come from?" shouted Ruby. Goofy sat up as all five party members watched the little talking rabbit run as if his life depended on it.
"No time to say hello—goodbye," shouted the rabbit, briefly pausing to wave at them. "Oh dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! Oh, the queen, she'll have my head for sure!" With that, he turned a corner in the hall and disappeared.
"Okay…" droned a baffled Sora. "What was that about?"
"Who knows?" shrugged Donald as he pulled out the beacon marker from the ship. The small, remote projected a swirling green circle on the ground until he was done. "There. That should let us skip the fall next time we use the ship."
"Nice," replied Ruby with a thumbs up. Looking around, she noted that they'd landed in what appeared to be a sitting room, except everything on the floor was flat. The couch looked like an image printed on the floor until she tapped her foot on it and found it to be as soft as a real cushion. The same principle could've probably been applied to the nearby lamp and the two flowerbeds. Everything about this room appeared as if she were looking at it through a trick mirror: warped and distorted. "Something tells me I'll get a headache exploring this place."
"Well, we won't know until we look," countered Goofy in an optimistic tone.
"Yeah," agreed Sora. "Let's see where that rabbit was going."
"Guess we don't have anywhere else to go," shrugged Donald as the five adventurers proceeded through the hall. They passed more unusually shaped or placed objects until reaching a green door that the white rabbit must've gone through. "I got this," quacked the duck as he approached and grabbed the knob, pulling it open, only to quack as he found a smaller, blue door behind it.
"Did we warp into a funhouse or something?" questioned Ruby as Donald opened the next door, only to growl as he found an even smaller, brown one behind it. Ruby's guess would've explained a few things. Sora and Goofy shrugged at the suggestion.
"Aha!" rasped Donald after opening the brown door to finally reveal a dimly lit room behind it. After summoning his staff and using some magic flames for a torch again, he led the way as they all navigated some randomly placed furniture.
After getting through another door at the end of the dark room, the adventurers found themselves in a small, pinkish room with old-fashioned furniture.
"There he is—what the?" said Ruby, doing a double-take when she spotted the rabbit, who seemed smaller than before. The tiny rabbit ran through a small door with a strangely shaped knob. As soon as he'd passed through the door somehow closed itself. Zwei barked as he approached.
"How'd he get so small?" questioned Sora as they approached the door, kneeling for a better view.
"No, you're simply too big," answered a new voice as a pair of eyes opened right above the round knob and a mouth spoke where a key would typically go.
"Wak! It talks!" shouted Donald as they all recoiled in surprise.
"What the—?" yelped Ruby, getting a sense of deja vu as the living doorknob yawned.
"Must you be so loud?" complained the doorknob. "You woke me up."
"Good mornin'," greeted Goofy with a friendly wave.
"Good night!" objected the doorknob. "I need a bit more sleep—huh?" He paused when Zwei suddenly got up close, sniffing him intently. "Do you mind? My nose is still sore from the last time someone twisted it."
"Gee, how often does that happen?" muttered Ruby as she pulled her dog away. Seriously, this was giving her major flashbacks of the Klein doors from Weiss's nightmare. Part of her started wondering if all of this was a dream too.
"Thank you," said the doorknob as he started closing his eyes.
"Wait," said Sora as he hunched down on all fours to be level with the knob, "what do we have to do to grow small?"
"Why don't you try the bottle..." replied the doorknob before looking over the Keyblade wielder's shoulder, "over there?" Everyone turned around in surprise when the flat table in the center of the room suddenly sprouted into 3D along with a chair and two bottles. One bottle was red while the other was blue.
As they approached the table, Ruby noted that both bottles had pictures on them. The red one had a little sprout followed by an arrow that pointed to a tree. The blue bottle had the same images but in the reverse order. It wasn't hard to guess which bottle was supposed to do what.
"So, uh..." said Goofy as he scratched his head, "you think we should try it?"
"I dunno..." hummed Ruby as she folded her arms. The idea of drinking suspicious liquids was making her uncomfortable.
"Hm..." hummed Sora as he looked around the room. "I don't see anywhere for us to go without shrinking—huh?" He stopped before approaching the bed, eyeing a small, blocked-off doorway.
"What is it?" asked Donald.
"Maybe if we move this bed, we can send Zwei through there to check it out?"
"But wouldn't we still be stuck here?" questioned Goofy, to which Sora scratched his head and chuckled in embarrassment. Zwei sniffed the bed for a second before growling at it.
"What is it, boy?" asked Ruby.
The corgi responded with another bark, backing away from the bed before hunching down. With a growl, he ran forward and leaped at the mattress frame, ramming his head against it with a loud BAM! To everyone's shock, the bed slid right into the wall, flattening into a 2D image like a bunch of other stuff in the room.
"What!?" asked Sora in shock.
"Huh?" quacked Donald.
"A-hyuck!?" gasped Goofy.
"How'd you know that'd happen?" asked Ruby. The black-and-white corgi walked halfway through the little door before turning to her with a happy bark as his cute, stubby tail wagged.
"I guess we know how he opened those doors back at Traverse Town," chuckled Sora before he turned back to the bottles, grabbing the blue one. "Still, we won't fit through there right now."
"Careful with that," warned Donald as he summoned his staff, its tip glowing light blue. "At least let me get an Esuna ready."
"Gesundheit," replied Ruby.
"He means he's got a spell in case it's poisoned or somethin'," explained Goofy.
"Bottom's up," Sora replied with a nod, downing the bottle's contents. Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared out of nowhere. Ruby felt dizzy as the world around her seemed to get bigger.
"W-what the—!?" shouted the silver-eyed girl. The next thing Ruby knew, she, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were all standing on top of the table in shock.
"Wak!" exclaimed Donald jumping angrily as he pointed at the Keyblade wielder. "What's the big idea? You're the only one who drank anything!"
"Well, at least it saved us time," said Goofy with a shrug.
"This place just gets weirder and weirder!" exclaimed Ruby as she looked all around herself. Everything was so much bigger this way. From what she could tell, the four of them had all been shrunk to the size of action figures.
Wait. Four?
"Hey," asked Sora as he looked around the table. "Where's Zwei?" The boy got his answer when a booming bark came from below, startling everyone. They turned to see Ruby's pet still standing on the floor near the previously blocked doorway.
"Zwei?" asked Ruby as she ran to the edge of the table. "Why didn't you shrink? Actually, why are we on the table anyway?"
"Hm, maybe it's because he was standin' farther away than we were?" suggested Goofy.
"I guess it's a good thing he's already small enough for that door," said Sora as he looked around in awe. "This is actually kinda cool." He then climbed over the table's edge and landed on the ground. The corgi curiously approached Sora and sniffed him. Ruby and the others quickly joined the Keyblade wielder.
"Does this feel as strange for you as it does me?" asked Ruby as she approached her pet. At her current size, her head barely reached his neck. Zwei sniffed her and she could feel his nose blasting in her face until he licked her from bottom to top, drenching the girl in his slobber. "Ew! Zwei! Not when I'm tiny!"
Zwei suddenly stiffened with his ears perked before hunching and growling.
"What's the matter?" asked Goofy.
Almost as if on cue, swirling dark orbs warped into existence, revealing floating, bell-shaped monsters with X-ed-out heart emblems. At the same time, Shadow's spawned from the ground all around Team SDRG.
"Heartless!" shouted everyone. Ruby drew her weapon, transforming it into scythe mode. Sora summoned the Keyblade, slicing away a Shadow and aiming at one of the bell-shaped Heartless.
"See ya!" he shouted as a ball of flame shot out, directly hitting the monster! But to his and Ruby's shock, the Heartless actually seemed to absorb the flames. "Uh-oh."
The red reaper quickly focused on her own fight as a Shadow leaped at her. But the girly expertly spun her scythe to slice it in two mid-air. At the same time, the Heartless that'd absorbed Sora's attack glowed and shot a fireball of its own.
Thankfully, Sora raised the Keyblade to block and managed to send the fire right back, this time, the attack seemed effective, knocking the wind out of the floating monster. While others charged up to shoot, Donald sent a flurry of ice crystals their way, instantly taking them out.
"I'm gonna need more materia," said Ruby as she sliced up a few Shadows and red bell things.
"And I'm gonna need to learn some more spells," agreed Sora as he took out a few more with the Keyblade.
"We'll get to that later," replied Goofy as he bashed a few Heartless into dark mists. Some more Heartless spawned from the side, but Zwei barked and leaped at the lumped monsters, smashing them all in one strike.
"Good boy!" shouted Sora as he took out one more Heartless. Ruby saw another red bell zipping around. It charged up while staring at her. She got ready to zoom around it with her semblance.
"Look out!" shouted Goofy, breaking her concentration and leaping in front of the silver-eyed girl with his shield up. The Heartless shot at them, but the fireball instantly ricochetted off of Goofy's shield and nailed the Heartless, taking it out.
"Um, thanks," said Ruby, not wanting to seem ungrateful. "But uh, I was ready for it."
"Sorry," said Goofy as he rubbed his head bashfully. "Just tryin' to look out for ya."
"Is everyone okay?" asked Donald, though his gaze initially seemed fixed on the girl.
"Yep," said Sora as he dismissed the Keyblade and leaned back with his hands behind his head. "No problem."
Zwei barked in agreement as he approached the shrunken adventurers. Ruby transformed her scythe and stored it away before giving her dog's leg a couple of scratches.
"That's my good boy," cooed the girl. "Whether it's Grimm or Heartless, you're a great hunting dog."
"And it doesn't hurt that he's still normal-sized," agreed Sora as he headed for the doorway by the flattened bed. "Now come on. If the Heartless are here, then we need to find out what they're up to."
"Right," agreed Ruby as she joined her new partner. This world was reminding her of Weiss's nightmare and of the heiress herself. She steeled her resolve, deciding to pick up the pace and see if any of her friends were in this world.
...
After going through the doorway, Sora and the others had a few moments where they questioned keeping Zwei at his normal size. They had to navigate through a vast hedge maze with arches that the Corgi had to lower his head to barely fit through. Fortunately, Zwei was an agile dog, despite his stubby legs. So there were a couple of times when everyone got on his back as he leaped over the walls of the maze.
That said, this world just got weirder and weirder as they explored it. There were several times when he could've sworn they were walking into a wall that was painted to look like an open area, only to walk right through it into an actual open area. The latest oddity was a pair of soldiers standing guard as they finally reached the castle. The weird thing about them? They were both cards.
They both had cartoonish heads on top of their flat, rectangular bodies, with arms on the upper corners and feet on the bottom corners. One was a black 3 of Spades while the other was a red 2 of Hearts. The latter gawked at the giant Corgi, brandishing his spear and raising a hand.
"Halt!" shouted the card soldier in a voice that reminded Sora of a honking horn, which seemed fitting for his big nose. "Royal law states that all persons more than a mile high must not enter the court!"
"Uh, I don't think that applies here," replied Goofy from behind Sora on Zwei's back.
"Yeah, said Ruby, riding up front. "Zwei is way shorter than a mile."
"Oh yeah?" retorted the card. "What about when he's upright?" At the black card's signal, Team SDRG dismounted from the Corgi's back. Ruby then pointed to her pet.
"Zwei, paws high!" shouted the silver-eyed girl. Zwei did as she commanded, rising on his hind legs with his front paws raised in the air. Sora was in awe at just how tall the dog seemed compared to the rest of them.
"There you have it!" declared the red card. "He's not allowed inside the court." Ruby tilted her head before looking at the card with a frown.
"Oh, come on! I'm pretty sure that's still not a mile," said the girl. As he got back on all fours, Zwei released a bark powerful enough to send both soldiers flying before floating gently to the ground like— well like cards. They scrambled back to their feet and glared at the corgi.
"Close enough!" declared the black card.
"Aw…" whined Ruby with slumped shoulders.
"Okay, okay," rasped Donald. "We'll just have to look elsewhere."
"That's fine," stated the red card.
"But you'll miss the big trial," added the black card. "Some blonde girl got on The Queen's bad side."
"What!?" shrieked Ruby, zooming up to the cards in a flurry of fiery rose petals, shocking them with her power. "What's the girl's name?" Both cards shrugged in response, and she looked to the others with desperate eyes. "We have to get in there!"
"Yeah," agreed Sora, nodding urgently. "It could be Yang." He took a single step towards the entryway when a thought occurred to him. "But wait. What about Zwei?" While Sora had seen enough to know that the Corgi could handle himself, this world had been unpredictable so far. For all they knew, something crazy could happen, like gravity suddenly pulling sideways.
"How's about you three go on ahead," suggested Goofy as he approached Ruby's pet. "I can stay here and keep Zwei company while you see if Yang, the King, or anyone else is in there."
"You sure?" asked Ruby.
"It's okay," waved off Goofy as he moved to stand by the (fellow?) canine and pat him on the leg. "We'll be right here if ya need us, right Zwei?"
Zwei happily barked in agreement, blowing the wind through Sora's hair and Ruby's cape as the guards were sent flying.
"Not again!" protested the red card as he and his friend gently floated back to the ground. Sora couldn't help but chuckle at the scene, while Ruby held to her mouth in a vain attempt to hide her giggling.
"Come on, you two," rasped Donald as he waved for the teens to follow him inside. "Goofy, you and Zwei be careful and wait in case we need you."
"Yessir," replied Goofy, standing straight at attention as he gave a salute.
"Catch you later," said Sora with a wave as he and the rest of his teammates moved past the recovered guards, who were now glaring daggers at the 'giant' Corgi.
"Be good while I'm gone, Zwei," ordered Ruby as she joined her partner and the duck mage.
Sora hoped they were right, and the blonde on trial was Ruby's older sister. He was eager to meet her. But on the other hand, if it was her, then they might need to break the 'no meddling' rule in world-traveling to save her. He didn't have to wait long as they ran through a long, straight path through the maze and came out through another giant, heart-shaped arch into a huge clearing that'd been set up like a courtroom.
Rows and rows of card soldiers stood at attention with their weapons atop a huge red rug with a heart pattern. A series of soldiers, each holding his spear to cross with the other's next to him, blocked the three adventurers from going any further down the middle lane. On the left was a jury box with cartoonish, humanoid animals watching the scene unfold. To the right of that was a tall stairway with a tiny stage at the top, followed by a tall stack of books, and a grand, elevated judge's bench with an overweight woman in royal garb sitting with her eyes closed and a deep frown on her face. If Sora had to guess, he'd say that was The Queen.
Sora could make out some blonde hair in the distance, but before he could get a better look, his focus was broken by a frantically blaring trumpet. He followed the sound and spotted the White Rabbit from earlier scrambling onto the scene. As he approached, the guards uncrossed their spears, one by one, granting him passage as he ran up the stairs to the tiny stage. Ruby's face fell along with her shoulders as they got a clear view of the blonde girl at the defendant's stand, and Sora couldn't blame her.
There was no way this could be the red reaper's older sister. She looked even younger than Sora. The blonde wore a poofy, collared, blue dress with an apron tied around her waist in a bow, and a black ribbon sitting atop her head. Before he could dwell on that, the rabbit reached the top of the stairs and stopped to catch his breath before turning to the crowd.
"Your majesty..." called the rabbit, bowing respectfully to the still frowning Queen, "members of the jury..." the people in the respective box all bowed respectfully, "loyal subjects—" He paused as a short, royally dressed guy with a mustache jumped up and down from atop the stack of books besides The Queen's podium. The rabbit rolled his eyes and uncaringly gestured to the little guy, "And The King..." The King lifted his crown and smiled at everybody. It didn't take a genius to tell which ruler was really in charge around here. Sora hadn't even noticed The King until he'd made himself known.
"Court is now in session," declared the rabbit as he unfurled a rolled-up paper, its end trailing back to the ground.
"I'm on trial?" asked the blonde girl at the defendant's stand, fraught with confusion. "But why?"
"Her majesty, The Queen of Hearts, presiding," announced the rabbit, ignoring the question as The Queen opened her eyes and glared daggers at the young blonde.
"This girl is the culprit," contemptuously declared The Queen, waving her staff in anger. "There's no doubt about it. And the reason is..." She then slammed her fist on the podium so hard that Sora felt a tremor in the ground. "BECAUSE I SAY SO, THAT'S WHY!"
"That is so unfair!" protested the girl, leaning against her stand. Sora wasn't sure what was going on, but he had to agree with the younger girl. The Queen didn't seem like a reasonable woman... at all.
"Well, have you anything to say in your defense?" retorted The Queen as if daring the girl to say something.
"I've got plenty to say!" shouted a new voice. Ruby gasped, her eyes widening as she snapped up straight. Sora followed her gaze and saw someone pushing past some card soldiers as if they were nothing. Some even got tossed cartoonishly into the air. "Coming through, Spades!"
Then he saw her. Charging into the scene was a girl close to Ruby's height with orange hair and fair skin. She wore a collared black sleeveless vest over a white tank top with a heart-shaped cutout above her bustline. She also wore a short pink skirt with white-and-pink boots while her arms were clad in white detached sleeves and pink fingerless gloves. As the newcomer turned to face The Queen, Sora noticed a silver-and-pink gun/cannon/thing attached to her back.
"Nora!?" gasped the blonde and Ruby in unison. Though Ruby's voice was too low for the newcomer, Nora, to hear her, the younger girl clasped her hands together in appreciation.
"You?!" shouted The Queen in disbelief. "What is the meaning of this?! Don't think that you can barge into my court just because you saved me earlier!"
The ginger-haired girl, Nora, stood defiantly by the blonde's side as she raised her finger to the sky. "I'm Alice's lawyer!"
"Lawyer!?" shouted The Queen, taken aback in disgust. "That's outrageous!"
The blonde, Alice, whispered something to Nora, who waved it off as she continued, "Oh yeah!? Well, I was there when it happened, and can tell you that Alice here is innocent!"
"WE DON'T NEED ANY LAWYERS!" screamed The Queen, her voice so loud that it blew a powerful wind across the court, her face turning red with anger as she pounded her podium like a child throwing a tantrum. "I SAY SHE DID IT AND ALL WAYS ARE—"
"Y-your ways, Your Majesty," said a nervous Alice, curtseying respectfully.
"Y-yes," said The Queen briefly calming down before excitedly declaring "Now then, ahem—GET OUT OF MY COURT OR—"
"Uh, consider my dear," interrupted The King, tugging his wife's sleeve. "We've called no witnesses. Couldn't we hear, maybe one or two? Maybe? Huh?"
The Queen growled irritably and rolled her eyes.
"Ruby?" whispered Sora. "You know that girl in pink?"
"Yeah," answered his partner. "She's a friend from Beacon. We gotta help her!"
"Okay," agreed Sora, taking a step toward the trial.
"Hold it, you two," warned Donald, grabbing both teens by the wrists and tugging them back. "Remember, we're outsiders. We're not supposed to meddle in another world's business."
"I think it's a little late for that," retorted Ruby, pointing at her classmate. Sora was about to add something when The Queen spoke again.
"Oh..." began a reluctant Queen, "very well—BUT GET ON WITH IT!" In her rage, she knocked The King off her podium and onto the stack of books.
"First witness, first witness!" called The King, gently banging a gavel as he got back up. "Call the first witness."
"Wish me luck," said Nora, winking at Alice as she stretched her arm.
"The March Hare," called the White Rabbit.
"What!?" shrieked Nora as two card soldiers marched in from the left. Between the two of them, being carried by his long ears was a brown Hare in a red jacket with an orange bowtie and brown pants with loafers. Despite his position, the witness seemed perfectly comfortable, sipping a cup of tea before being tossed onto the defendant's stand, between the confused girls.
"What do you know about this unfortunate affair?" asked The King.
"Nothing," responded the Hare as he got ready to take another sip of his surprisingly unspilt tea.
"Nothing whatever?!" angrily questioned The Queen, only to lean back as he rushed over.
"Nothing whatever!" he shouted back in her face.
"That's very important!" screamed The Queen, shoving The March Hare aside and scaring her husband off the stack of books before excitedly turning to her right. "Jury, write that down."
"Of course, he doesn't know!" protested Nora. "He wasn't there!"
"SILENCE!" roared The Queen, blowing wind in the ginger-haired girl's face as she banged The King's gavel on her podium... with The King still attached. "Next witness!"
"The Dormouse," announced the White Rabbit.
"Oh, come on!" shouted Nora as two card soldiers brought a teapot to The Queen's podium.
The Queen ripped off the teapot's lid and shouted inside, "WELL—!" Only to stop as everyone around suddenly shushed her. She then lowered her voice and Sora could barely make out what she was saying. But the teapot's lid popped up to reveal a disoriented little mouse who started babbling something the adventurers couldn't make out.
"Yeesh," whispered Sora to his partner. "Someone's got issues."
"I'll say," agreed Ruby. "And if this keeps up, Nora's gonna go off." She pointed to the orange-haired girl, slowly reaching for the weapon on her back, only for Alice to grab her hand and shake her head quickly.
"WRITE THAT DOWN!" demanded The Queen, after hearing whatever the Dormouse had said. Judging by Nora's facepalm and Alice's shaking head, it hadn't been any more helpful than what the March Hare had said.
"The Mad Hatter," called The White Rabbit. Two guards escorted a short, white-haired man in a green coat with a blue tophat. He took a bow before the guards poked him in the butt with their spears. He then shouted in pain, leaping high into the air before landing on Nora and Alice's stand with a chuckle.
"OFF WITH YOUR HAT!" shouted the Queen, sending hurricane-speed winds at him and the girls again.
"Oh my!" said The Mad Hatter before lifting his hat to reveal a teapot and teacup stacked on top of each other underneath.
"And, where were you when this horrible crime was committed?" asked The King.
"I was at home drinking tea," answered The Mad Hatter as he grabbed the teapot and cup. But instead of pouring tea into his cup, he pressed the teapot's lid, somehow causing the tea to shoot out of its spout like a hose and into his cup.
"Objection!" shouted Nora, slamming her fist on the stand thunderous boom that surprised the Keyblade wielder before pointing an accusing finger at The Queen. "You keep calling witnesses that have nothing to do with this!"
"Are you questioning my ways?" asked The Queen in a threatening tone. Every card soldier in the court held their weapons at ready, but Nora kept her gaze locked on The Queen. While he couldn't see her expression, Sora was fairly sure that Nora was glaring at the irate ruler.
"I was there when it happened," declared Nora. "Heck, I'm the one who saved your sorry butt! I already know who the real culprit is."
"That's nonsense," scoffed The Queen.
"Oh, and putting a random girl on trial isn't?" retorted Nora, pointing at Alice.
"Exactly," declared The Queen with a smug smile. "I say she's the culprit and all ways are my way."
"Look here, Your Majesty," growled Nora, her voice dripping with venom at the end of that sentence as she jabbed her finger at the Queen. "I've had to deal with monsters, terrorists, a storm ripping my home to pieces, waking up in a completely different world without any of my friends, including the one who's always been there for me since I was little, being stuck in a bed waiting for my aura to return and finally heal my injuries, and then following Fuzzy over there..." She pointed at The White Rabbit, "down some crazy hole into this crazy place with all these crazy people!" She waved her arms around frantically before slamming both fists onto the stand with a thunderous clatter. "So if you think I'm just going to sit back and watch you punish the one person who's actually tried helping me, you're dead wrong, sister!"
Sora couldn't help but feel for the orange-haired girl. He glanced at Ruby, who nodded in return. He then looked at Donald, who looked between the human members of Team SDRG and the trial conflictedly.
"I can't sit by either," whispered Ruby. "Nora's my friend—"
"And we've gotta help her," interjected Sora, pumping his fist.
"I'VE HAD IT!" roared The Queen, banging both fists on her podium. "After defying me like this, I now accuse YOU of helping this girl when she tried to steal my heart!
"What!?" shouted Sora, Donald, Ruby, Nora, and Alice in united shock.
"I'm the one who saved your sorry butt!" protested Nora in rage. "Why the heck would I do that if I were trying to help steal it?"
"Clearly, it was to hide your true intentions," insisted The Queen. "And now you've made me lose my temper!" She turned to the jury in rage. "They're guilty! WRITE IT DOWN!" The animals in the jury hurriedly scribbled on their chalkboards. They then revealed the boards for all to see the same verdict: 'Guilty.' At this point, Sora was questioning why there'd been a trial at all. The Queen clearly never had any intention of letting Alice go.
"There you have it," declared The Queen, chuckling as she rubbed her hands in victory. "Ready for your sentence?"
"You cheating, spoiled—!" accused Nora.
"For the crimes of assault," interrupted the Queen in anger, "conspiracy, getting on my nerves, and attempted theft of my heart." Sora steeled his eyes as the situation became clear. Forget what Donald said. No way was he letting these girls fall for the Heartless' crimes. "OFF WITH THEIR—"
"You're insane!" shrieked Ruby just as Sora was about to charge in.
"You got that right, Ruby," agreed Nora, reaching behind her back only to suddenly pause. She then whipped around, widening her eyes in shock. "Wait—Ruby!?"
Everyone in the court suddenly turned to look directly at the silver-eyed girl, who stiffened with so many people staring. "Uh... Heh..." she stammered with an awkward wave. "H-hi..."
"Who are you?" called out The Queen, glaring daggers at Ruby. "How dare you insult me in my court!?"
"Excuse me," called out Sora, redirecting everyone's attention to himself as he stepped in front of his partner, "But we know who the real culprit is." He approached the defendant's stand with Donald and Ruby behind him and pointed at Alice. "She's not the one you're looking for."
"Yeah," agreed Nora, turning back to The Queen. "It was a little monster in a silver helmet and a jumpsuit." She loudly slammed her fist on the stand, pointing at the three newcomers. "How do you like that, Queenie? I've got my own witnesses now! So there!" She finished by sticking her tongue out at the regent.
"Play along, Nora," urged Ruby through gritted teeth as she smiled nervously at the ruler of this land.
The Queen growled, her face turning bright red with rage, before slamming both fists on her podium with almost as loud of a boom as Nora's. "SILENCE IN MY COURT! I accuse you three..." She jabbed her index finger toward Sora, Donald, and Ruby, "of conspiring with them as well!" She then jabbed it at an equally shocked Nora and Alice.
"Wak!?" quacked Donald in shock. "I didn't even say anything!"
"I don't think she cares about that," muttered Ruby as she reached for Crescent Rose.
"Eh. Was never into lawyering anyway," shrugged Nora, before smiling, grabbing the weapon off her back, and tossing it into the air. "Hammer time!" The cannon thing's parts shifted around mid-air, transforming into a huge hammer before landing back in her grip! Sora and Donald summoned their weapons while Ruby transformed Crescent Rose into its scythe form.
"OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" shouted the Queen.
A flurry of card soldiers leaped into the air with their arms spread wide, ready to tackle the two girls on the stand, but Nora swung her hammer in a wide arc, scattering the incoming guards.
"Nice one," commented Sora as he blocked a black guard's axe with the Keyblade. He followed up with a counterattack, knocking him to the ground. Ruby activated her semblance and zoomed around the accused group in a burst of fire, driving the charging cards back in shock. Donald followed up with a barrage of ice crystals, partially freezing any guards they hit. Nora hoisted Alice onto her back and leaped from the stand with her hammer raised high.
"NORRAAAA SMASH!" shouted the orange-haired girl. She landed hammer-first on the ground, creating a small crater as a loud shockwave sent any nearby card soldiers flying. Sora performed a sliding dash, tripping up a couple of guards along the way before reaching Nora's side as the others joined them. "When did you get here, Ruby?" said Nora as she deposited the blonde. "And how'd you do that with the fire?"
"I'll explain later," shouted the silver-eyed girl as she knocked away a red card's lance aside and followed up with a strike from the blunt side of her scythe. "Right now, we gotta get out of here!"
"This way," shouted Donald, heading for the way they'd come from, only to stop in shock. "Wak!" The route was blocked by row after row of card soldiers, who strangely lined up as if sliding sideways.
"We can take 'em," said Sora, taking his fighting stance. Just as a nearby soldier tried to thrust his lance at the boy, Sora leaped and landed on his opponent's weapon, pinning it to the ground. He followed up with a slapshot and a wide strike that knocked the guard into four others. As they all lay on the ground, the boy noticed something. "Three of a kind. Nice."
"Um, pardon me," said Alice as she pointed at the Queen. "Do you think you can 'take' that?" Sora followed Alice's finger and widened his eyes in shock. More and more card soldiers were approaching from the distance. They were coming in various, winding lines, with no end to them in sight.
"Okay," admitted the Keyblade wielder. "That's a problem."
"Get them, you fools!" ranted the Queen while the Mad Hatter and March Hare sat nearby, drinking tea as if nothing were wrong.
"Oh, I've had it with you," growled Nora as she ran to the defendant's stand.
"Hey!" shouted Sora reaching toward her in vain, "What're you—?"
"Hey, Queen Blowhard!" shouted Nora as she used the defendant's stand as a springboard and leaped to the podium with her hammer raised high. The Queen staggered back in fear!
"Nora, don't!" shouted Ruby.
"Trial's OVER!" roared Nora, bringing the hammer down on the Queen's railing as if it were a gavel. The Queen, the Mad Hatter, and the March Hare all fell as the podium collapsed. All the nearby card soldiers stopped and gasped as a dust cloud obscured everything around the Queen's destroyed podium. When it cleared, Sora couldn't help but snicker when he saw the Queen's heart-print-knicker-clad legs kicking out from the top of the pile of smashed wood. It seemed the cards agreed with the Keyblade wielder. They all stopped to chuckle at the sight.
"Not to worry, everybody," declared The Mad Hatter as both he and the March Hare came into view, holding up their cups. "We saved the tea."
"Somebody's head will roll for this," growled the muffled voice of the queen.
"Oooooh!" cooed Nora. The 14-year-old boy turned to see Ruby's friend holding the Queen's crown in her hand as if it were a shiny prize. She immediately placed it on her head and spread her arms wide, singing, "I'm Queen of the Cast-le. I'm Queen of the Cast-le—"
"NORA!" shouted an angry Ruby, "We gotta go!" The ginger-haired girl's happy expression fell as she hunched over with her arms hanging limp.
"Aw..." she groaned, not even caring as the crown fell off her head. "It's not the same when someone else says it."
"Quit screwing around!" shouted an angry Donald as he froze some more card soldiers with his magic. "We gotta get out of here."
"What'd he say?" asked Nora as she rejoined the others.
"Time to go," answered Sora as he knocked back a couple more card soldiers. The top of the wood pile scattered as The Queen finally freed herself. Aside from some dust, her messy hair, and the furious look on her face, she seemed surprisingly no worse for wear.
"Bring me their heads!" she ordered, the card soldiers stopped laughing and scrambled to catch the fugitives, some even running into each other in the panic.
"I've got an idea," said Ruby. She stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled at the top of her lungs. The high-pitched noise rang through the court. A loud bark responded in the distance, followed by rapid, loud foot stomps.
"What's going on?" shouted Nora while whacking a card away with her hammer. Sora had a pretty good idea of what was coming, but the answer revealed itself before he could speak.
"YAAAAAAAAAA-HOOEY!" came Goofy's voice as the gigantic Corgi leaped over the hedge maze walls. The captain of Disney Castle's guard was riding on his back. "INCOMING!" The cards in Zwei's path scattered in his wake. The Queen stumbled back from her collapsed podium, grabbing her husband and holding him up like a shield.
"What in the—!?" shouted The Queen in shock.
"Is that Zwei?" gasped an excited Nora. "Awesome!"
"Hop on, everybody!" shouted Goofy, waving the group over as Zwei hunched down on his front paws. Sora, Donald, Ruby, Nora, and Alice ran for the dog. A few cards tried to get in their way, but Nora leaped forward and batted them aside with her hammer. As Alice started climbing Zwei's fur, Donald blasted more ice at incoming cards and Ruby slammed another away with the blunt side of her scythe. They soon joined atop Zwei's back. Goofy rode up front, followed by Alice, Sora, Ruby, and Donald.
"No!" shouted the Queen, tossing her husband aside. "Don't let them escape!" The army of cards finally arrived, rushing for the escaping group. That's when Sora got an idea.
"Zwei," shouted the Keyblade wielder while pointing at the charging army, "SPEAK!" The giant Corgi complied with a booming bark that blasted hurricane-like winds, sending cards flying. The Queen cried out as she fell back, her legs sticking in the air and distracting the card soldiers once more.
"Ha!" sneered Nora, pointing at the literally fallen Queen. "Nice one—uh... Key-guy!"
"Let's get moving!" shouted Donald from the back.
"Mooing?" asked Nora.
"I SAID MOVING!" yelled Donald.
"Hold on, fellers—and ladies," shouted Goofy as he grabbed onto Zwei's collar. "Ride like the wind, Zwei! YAH!" The giant dog rose up on his hind legs, kicking his front paws as if he were a horse, and burst into a run, jumping over hedge walls with The Queen screaming for her forces to pursue the escaping accused.
"Whoa-oh dear!" cried Alice as she clung tight to Goofy's back.
"Attaboy, Zwei," cried Ruby from behind the Keyblade wielder.
"Am I glad to see you again," said Nora. "We have a loooooooot to catch up on."
"Count on it," replied Ruby. Sora nodded with his partner and gave a quick thumbs up. Their first world since leaving Traverse Town, and they'd already found another one of Ruby's friends. Maybe not any of the teammates that she'd talked about, but he was still happy for the girl. Hopefully, they'd be able to find some of his friends sometime as well.
Author's Notes:
Be honest. How many of you were expecting Weiss to be in Wonderland? I'll admit, back when I was skipping to 'Chain of Memories +', that was going to be the case. However, I want Ruby to spend more time with her new team before reuniting with anyone from her old one. It'll also help me make the eventual reunion more satisfying. The funny thing is that the Ice Queendom reference came naturally to me, and it just worked as a misdirect. Don't worry, Weiss will return for the spotlight in time.
With that in mind, Nora became the obvious choice. Her hyperactive personality lends itself pretty well to Wonderland's comedic tone. Her impulsiveness also allowed me to shake up the story a bit, so Alice isn't in a cage for the duration of our time here.
What surprised me most while I wrote this chapter was when I came up with an idea to incorporate save points. While they don't stay visible as they do in the games, I thought it'd be a fun idea with how we've seen the characters teleport into worlds.
Review Responses:
SuperSaiyanFever: When I saw your review, I felt like laughing. Rest assured that secrets will be revealed before Volume I is over. I'm planning an original story segment that'll dive into this mysterious connection between Ruby's family and Sora. I'm having a hard time stopping myself from teasing what's to come and potentially spoiling it
TalonScythe: Glad you liked the last chapter. The Yang and Tifa stuff might become the focus of an entire chapter. But I'm planning on brief jumps to their POV and back until then.
Fun fact: Terrato was the localized name for the Midgardsormr in FFVI. Other candidates to chase Della and Webby included Bahamut, NORG, and Exdeath. (That last one seemed too big for a Ducktales cameo.)
Mooniecat: It's actually because of Death Battle I've been wanting Yang and Tifa to meet since starting a KH/RWBY crossover.
Theheroneeded: I ultimately chose Twilight Town for Yang because every time I thought of a Disney world, I worried that any world we've seen in other games might've been swallowed by the darkness at this point. As for Disney movies that haven't been used yet, there's the risk that they'll show up in a future game and throw off whatever I can come up with here. So I ultimately settled on a world that we know for sure was still around during the events of KH1 but wasn't actually in the game.
I'd also like to confirm that Team SDRG is not visiting Twilight Town in this volume. Yang will have to find another way to her friends.
Next time: The Cheshire Cat offers a way to get the Queen off our heroes' backs. But can he be trusted?