Wonderland?
"What kind of worlds do you think are out there?"
Izuku was snapped out of his thoughts and looked up.
"Huh?" He glanced over to Sora. "I'm sorry, what?"
"What kind of worlds do you think are out there?" He asked again. "Like, are some the same as our own worlds? Or are they completely different?"
Izuku leaned back and hummed, thinking over different worlds his Master told him about. Fighting a large dragon in one world, getting shrunk down to help a mouse get a key to his friend, fighting a magic mirror. Each one seemed to be a far cry from the last. Granted some of them were similar in a way.
"Hmm...well from what I know each one is pretty different from the last. Maybe some share similarities, but are all different in their own way. I guess it depends on your frame of reference like if we went to a world that had a big city it would be somewhere I'd be more familiar with."
Sora looked up at that. "You lived in a city?"
Izuku nodded. "Yeah...what about you?" He asked.
Sora grinned. "I lived on an island, we called it The Destiny Islands. Kairi, Riku, and I would go over to the smaller one to play and hang out. It was where we kept our raft for when we were going to go sailing to other worlds. We had just finished it too when...well yeah." He shrugged. "But now I can actually go to other worlds, and when we find them, we can go exploring. Who knows what's out there."
"But first we gotta fix the Heartless problem." Donald chimed in.
"And find the King," Goofy added.
"Yeah, you guys are looking for someone too…" Sora hummed. "A king huh?"
"If you don't mind me asking," Izuku spoke up, "what's your world like?"
Both Donald and Goofy perked up at the question.
"We're from Disney Castle," Goofy answered. "We actually serve under the King. I'm the Cap'n of the Royal Knights!"
"And I'm the Royal Magician!" Donald looked over. "We keep the castle and everyone in it safe."
"A-hyuck and sometimes we would go with the King on an adventure."
"Woah, that sounds pretty cool! What kind of adventures did you guys have?" Sora asked in awe.
The two sighed.
"A lot, you'd be surprised how many times we'd end up getting turned around just to get to one place." Donald rolled his eyes.
Goofy laughed. "You got so angry, you nearly tore up the map."
"The map kept changing! You should have tried to read you, and not get upset." He huffed.
"I woulda, but ya wouldn't give us the map."
Donald grumbled something under his breath and looked back to the lane in front of him. It had been a somewhat smooth ride so far. They have come across a few Heartless on their way, and Donald had taken care of them until they were in the clear.
"So what was your world like Izuku?" Sora asked. "You said you lived in a city right?"
Izuku nodded. "Yeah, I did. My world is pretty big, but I only really know the area I'm from. I'm from a place called Mustafu, in Japan."
"Oh, that sounds cool. What's it like?"
"Well...it's busy and pretty crowded, especially when you're walking to school. Before I went to UA I'd be almost late to class. I got distracted pretty easily when I saw there was a villain fight, that was as close to heroes as you could get. It was pretty cool to see what they could do, especially when a new hero debuted."
Izuku hugged his bag, he felt the urge to pull out his notebooks. He almost did, until he noticed the silence in the ship. He looked up awkwardly to see all three looking at him.
"W-What..?"
"You have heroes and villains in your world?" Sora asked with stars in his eyes.
"How does that even work?" Donald asked as he turned to look ahead again.
"Oh...well, everyone in my world has superpowers. We call them Quirks. Villains use their Quirks to commit crimes, while heroes stop them and protect citizens." He answered.
"Your world has superpowers?" Sora beamed. "What's that like?"
That's right, every world is special in its own right...I guess Quirks must sound amazing to someone not from there.
"It's pretty cool, almost everyone has a Quirk. There are so many different ways someone can use their Quirk, but everybody usually has the same dream. They want to be heroes." Izuku hugged his bag. "Before everything went down...I was actually in a hero school."
"There are hero schools?"
"Yeah!" Izuku nodded. "I went to UA, it's the top hero school. It was my first step to becoming a hero."
Sora continued to stare at him in awe while Izuku kept his head down. He smiled to himself, despite the pang of sadness that ran through him. He missed his home...he missed his mom, his friends, his Master. But he'd make things right, he had to…
"Wait a second." Sora stopped for a moment. "Earlier when Eri asked you to do your funny face, she called it the All Might face right?" He asked.
Izuku felt his face flush and put his head down to hide in the bag.
"U-Uh...y-yeah she did…" Izuku mumbled, his voice was slightly muffled.
"Is All Might supposed to be a hero?" Donald asked.
"Yeah, he is." Izuku looked up. "He's the number one hero!"
"Number one?" Goofy looked over.
"Yeah, there are hero rankings, and he's been the top hero for years! And with good reason, I mean whenever he's around the crime rate drops, and he has a high rescue rate too! He always finds a way to minimize collateral damage, which is impressive considering how strong he is." He smiled to himself. "When I was little, I had wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be someone everyone felt safe around, and wouldn't have to worry, because I was there."
"Ya really look up to him don't ya?" Goofy asked.
Izuku nodded. "Yeah, but my Master is the one who really got me where I am now." He tightened his grip on his bag. "I had no control over my magic when she found me, I was an absolute mess."
"How long were you with your Master?" Sora asked.
"She took me on as her student almost a year ago. She helped me get a hold of my magic and prepared me for the entrance exams...I owe everything to her."
Donald and Goofy shared a glance with each other.
"Hey wait, so you said everyone has a Quirk right?" Sora asked. "Where do you get one?"
"Oh, you're uh...you usually get yours when you're four. Your Quirk is based on what your parents' Quirks are. It's genetics." Izuku scratched at his face. "Though there are times that a kid's Quirk can mutate and be nothing like the parents."
"Oh?" Sora tilted his head. "So, what do you have?"
Izuku's breath caught in his throat.
"Uh…"
"Sorry kid it's never gonna happen."
He had no Quirk, he had a Keyblade and that was magic. Could he tell them he was Quirkless? They wouldn't treat him any differently right? They didn't know anything about Quirks until now. Was it a risk he was willing to take? Should he?
"Uh...I uh...m-my Keyblade is technically my Quirk. T-Though on paper it's called Energy Conversion since my magic manifested first and I needed a name for it so yeah." He averted his eyes. "I didn't get to change my forms to accommodate the appearance of my Keyblade before what happened."
Donald made a face before looking over. "But a Keyblade is magic, I don't think it can be a Quirk, can it?"
Izuku froze before looking up to see the others glancing at him.
"Uh...well…" He scratched at his face. "You see in my world, magic isn't really a thing. It's just easier to say that the Keyblade is my Quirk you know? If I said I had magic then I'd probably be called crazy, in my world, everything has some kind of scientific explanation. Logic and Quirks are kinda the backbones of explaining a lot of stuff nowadays."
Goofy leaned back in his chair as he looked at the ceiling. "Ya think someone could have a Quirk and magic?" He asked.
Izuku shrugged. "I honestly have no idea, it might be possible but I'm not sure."
Probably not...I'm Quirkless but magic seemed to fill that void.
Izuku shifted in his seat and kept his gaze focused on the window. He could already feel the questions, the speculations. The different assumptions.
Izuku swallowed hard before looking back into his back, checking on all the supplies. Counting the potions and ethers, making sure his notebooks were there.
Donald was the one who broke the silence.
"So if you have magic, does that mean you don't have a Quirk?"
Izuku felt his blood freeze.
"Uh...well…" He coughed and looked away, keeping his gaze on the window. His mind screeched to a halt as he tried to find some way to talk his way out of this. He stiffened up as he caught sight of something in the distance. "Hey uh, what's that?" He quickly pointed to what he had seen.
"What's what?" Sora got out of his seat to get a better look at what Izuku had seen. He gasped in awe as they slowly approached a world that was entirely new. From afar it looked like a mostly pink world with a castle on one side while the other had what seemed like a cottage of sorts.
"That's a new world!" Goofy answered. "They can look kinda weird from afar."
Donald nodded. "Hopefully we can find the King here."
"My friends too," Sora added.
"Mine too." Izuku sighed.
Sora was practically vibrating in excitement as he pressed his face to the window. Until Donald yelled at him.
"Sora, sit down! We're still flying!"
"Aw come on, I'm just looking," Sora said before turning to look at Izuku. "What do you think this world is like?" He asked.
Izuku hummed and leaned over to look again, seeing the world getting closer and closer. "Well, I can see a castle, so there's probably some kind of kingdom there. I have to wonder how they might be doing against the Heartless."
Sora was about to respond when the ship came to a screeching halt. He stumbled and was about to fall over and Izuku reached out and grabbed his jacket to keep him upright. Sora sighed in relief as he regained his footing and looked over at Donald.
"Hey what was that for?"
"I told you to sit down, didn't I?" Donald scolded him. "Before we go there are two things you need to know." He pressed a few buttons before looking at the two.
"Oh, are we gonna tell them about the World Sorter?"
"Order." Donald corrected him.
"World Order?" Sora raised an eyebrow.
Izuku nodded, remembering what his Master had said about it.
"Basically we can't let one world know that other worlds exist," Donald explained.
Goofy nodded. "Yup, they're supposed to be a secret."
"So if someone were to ask where we're from, we just make something up?" Izuku asked.
"Within reason." Donald nodded. "But that also leads me to the other point. Mainly our outfits. When going to other worlds we need to blend in so we don't raise suspicion. My magic can help disguise us, so your outfits may change."
"Wait, your magic can change our clothes?" Sora asked.
"Just to disguise us!"
Sora nodded, that seemed within reason. Then again he didn't know too much about magic in general.
Donald nodded and opened the door to the Gummi Ship. Izuku and Sora looked over his shoulder to see a dark space beneath them. There was no end to it, no ground to land on, no idea what was waiting for them at the bottom, or there even was a bottom.
"Well? Come on." Donald said.
"You want us to just...jump down there?" Izuku asked. "Is that even safe?"
"Donald wouldn't have landed us here if he didn't think it was safe." Goofy walked over. "We just gotta jump in." He gave them a smile before jumping down. "See ya at the bottom!"
Sora and Izuku glanced at each other before shrugging and hopping out of the Gummi Ship, hearing Donald come down behind them.
Much to their surprise, they weren't rocketing down into the tunnel, it was a slow fall. It wasn't long before they caught up to Goofy and were making their way down together. Goofy was leaning back in a relaxed position and humming to himself.
Izuku looked down below to see a soft light from below, steadily glowing brighter and making its way towards them.
That must be the ground!
"So you two remember the rule?" Donald asked.
"Yeah, keep the World Order." Izuku nodded. "Any other rules you have for us?"
"Don't go off on your own," Goofy said. "We gotta stick together, and if you're alone we can't help each other."
"Don't try to pick a fight with the world's residents," Donald added.
"I kinda thought that was a given."
"And remember, stay on task. We're looking for the King!"
"And the reports." Goofy nodded.
"And our friends." Sora looked at Izuku who nodded in agreement.
"By the way, do you know what this world is or what it's called?" Izuku looked at Donald.
"The map said this place is called Wonderland."
With that they finally touched down on the ground, Goofy being the only one to fall over. Once they were on the ground a bright glow surrounded them, startling the Keyblade Wielders for a moment until it died down.
When the light was gone they all looked at each other, finding their outfits had changed.
Izuku looked down to see he was dressed in a green, sleeveless tailcoat with a dark red dress shirt rolled up to his sleeves. His shoes were still the bright red he was used to. His black tie was bunched up, exactly the way he'd usually tie it. In the middle of it, he saw a red spade. He realized he was wearing a top hat with green rabbit ears sticking out of it. His yellow backpack had been turned into a yellow satchel.
He looked over to see Donald squawking in indignation as he realized he was dressed in a blue jester's outfit. Meanwhile Goofy stood beside him in a suit of armor trying to calm him down.
Sora was looking over himself in awe, like Goofy he was wearing light armor. He had a heart symbol on his chest just below where his necklace hung. The armor around his arms and legs were alternating patterns of yellow and red, whereas Goofy's was green and yellow.
"Woah, this is so cool." Sora marveled. "So this is supposed to help us blend in. I have to wonder what everyone else in this world might look like."
"Well...probably similar to us." Izuku shrugged. "I'm going to guess this must be casual wear for pretty much everyone, it's kind of exciting to see what a new world is going to look like, you know?"
Sora nodded enthusiastically. "I can only imagine what Riku and Kairi would think of this world. They'd probably have a blast!"
Donald turned around grumbling as he looked up at the two. "Come on, let's go look around. With any luck, we'll find the King here." He started to walk towards the corridor until a white rabbit came out of nowhere and shoved past him.
"Oh, my fur and whiskers! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! Oh, the Queen will have my head!" He ran past them and down the hall, panting furiously as he glanced at his watch. "Oh, dear! I'm here, I should be there! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"
"Uh." Izuku looked at the others. "What...what just happened?"
"I think he's late to be somewhere. He was talking pretty fast." Goofy answered
"Well, we're not gonna find out anything if we just stand here, come on!" Sora ran ahead to follow the rabbit, grinning ear to ear. The others followed after him, making twists and turns through the hallway. They passed different portraits that were twisted into weird shapes, it was hard to make out who they were portraits of though.
They kept running up and down the winding hallway until they came to a large wooden door, taller than Goofy. Once they had come up to it the door swung open to reveal another door, then another, and another. Each one was a little smaller than the previous one, it kept going until the door was at Donald's height.
The four peered inside to see another dark corridor with another large door at the far end of it.
"Well? Let's go." Donald went in first and marched forward, having no issue with the low height. Sora kneeled and followed after him, Izuku followed after him similarly, then Goofy followed him, managing to make it into the tight squeeze.
The further they went into the tunnel the higher the ceiling got. Slowly it grew higher and allowed the other three to come back up to their full heights. As they walked small lights came from the darkness in vibrant colors, flickering in and out with their footsteps.
Sora experimentally stomped a foot on the ground and watched the hall light up even more with bursts of pinks and yellows. He grinned to himself and was about to try it again when Donald scolded him.
"Sora quit messing around and let's go!" Donald pointed at the door before pushing it open.
The boy sighed and rolled his eyes as he followed the duck and passed through the huge pink door. Izuku was about to follow him until he figured he'd try as well. He stomped a foot down and saw the hall light up with greens and blues.
"A'hyuck it's kinda fun in't it?" Goofy asked.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Izuku agreed.
"Come on you two!" Donald shouted.
They followed without complaint and came into a pink room with pink and brown tile lining the floor. The first thing that caught Izuku's eye was the white rabbit from earlier, much smaller than he remembered, was running across the floor and into a small door.
The second thing he noticed was the strange furniture of the room. Below them where he had seen the rabbit was a white circle with a pink and blue smudge on it. Though he couldn't help but feel like something was wrong with it, it didn't feel right. Everything in the room felt a little too small for them, the chair, the bed in the corner, even the stove.
Sora walked over curiously to the door the rabbit had gone into, crouching down to look at it.
"How did he get so small?"
"No, no, you're simply too big." The Doorknob looked up at him.
They all looked at him in shock.
"It talks!"
"A talking doorknob?"
"Must you be so loud? You woke me up." He frowned at them.
Goofy smiled and waved at him. "Good morning."
"Good night! I need a bit more sleep."
"Wait, hold on!" Sora stopped him. "What do we have to do to grow small? Like the rabbit?"
The Doorknob yawned again. "Why don't you try the bottle..."
"What bottle?" Izuku asked.
"The one over there."
They all looked behind them to see the circular shape on the ground suddenly pop up out of the ground to reveal a table with two bottles and a chair.
Goofy tilted his head as he looked at the table. "Did it just come out of the ground?"
"It looks like it." Izuku went over to it and picked up one of the bottles. He raised an eyebrow at the label that just said 'Drink Me.' Below it in large letters, it said Grow. He took the other bottle and saw that it said the same thing, except the last word on the blue bottle was in small print and said Shrink.
Sora was on the other side of the table, experimentally pushing down on the table to see if it could fold back down into the ground. Much to his surprise, it wouldn't budge.
"Is that the one?" Donald asked.
"Yeah, it looks like it." Izuku sighed and glanced at the small door. "Well, bottoms up I guess." He opened the bottle and took a drink. Much to his surprise, the liquid had no taste, he had been ready for something bitter or gross.
He put the bottle down and looked at himself, seeing no change.
"Nothing's happening." He muttered. "I drank the right one didn't I?"
Goofy looked at the bottle and nodded. "Yup, ya did. Maybe ya need to drink the whole thing?"
"Then how are you supposed to drink-Woah!" A large puff of smoke surrounded Izuku, and before he knew it the world grew bigger, or rather Izuku began to grow smaller. When the smoke cleared he took a moment to make sure he was alright.
"Woah!" Sora knelt down to look at him. "You're so small now!"
"Yeah, I am!" Izuku nodded. "I guess we know it works now."
"I guess I'll give it try." Donald huffed and grabbed the bottle, looking it over before taking a sip. While the others took turns drinking out of the bottle Izuku let himself look around. Everything seemed to tower over him now but not in an intimidating way. He figured he could easily climb the chair to get to the top of the table. Even the brown chairs against the wall didn't seem that high.
"Maybe we were too big for the room, or maybe the room was too small?" Izuku walked towards the stove, finding he could fit inside the chimney easily. "Or maybe the room was made for someone smaller than us. In that case...who?"
Izuku hummed to himself and pulled his phone out of his pocket, pleased to find it hadn't been changed as his backpack had. He really hoped Donald would turn it back, he really liked that backpack. He opened the camera and took a picture of the room, something to show to Eri when he got back. No doubt she'd find it interesting.
"Maybe I should write some of this down…"
He was about to reach for his bag when the ground suddenly shook and he heard a loud thud. He looked up to see a still normal Goofy had fallen over and was leaning against the wall.
"Goofy, what are you doing?" Donald yelled up at him.
"Sorry fellas, I was just leanin' against somethin' when it suddenly disappeared!" He looked down at the others.
"Great, more reappearing and disappearing furniture." Donald rolled his eyes. "Just what we need. Hurry up so we can get going!"
"Right, on it." When he got up he revealed a large hole in the wall about as large as the door in the center of the room. He looked behind him and frowned. "Uh oh...did I do that?"
"Maybe it was already there?" Sora shouted up. "The bed is gone, so maybe it was hiding?"
"Why would they be hiding a random hole in the wall?" Donald raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe the person who lives here didn't want to fix it?"
"It looks a little too neat to just be some random hole in the wall." Izuku shook his head. "Maybe somebody made it?"
"Why would they do that when they've got a fine door right here?" He gestured to the wooden door.
The two shrugged as Goofy walked over, having shrunken down like the rest of them.
"Alrighty, I guess we're all ready now right?" Goofy asked.
"Finally…" Donald went up to the wooden door and knocked on it. "Hey wake up, we're small now. Can you let us through?"
He got no response, only more snores from the Doorknob.
"Hey, can you hear us? Let us through!" He shouted again.
"Hey, can you wake up?" Sora tried. "We have to go through!"
They all perked up as the Doorknob shifted a bit and yawned, lazily opened his eyes before shutting them again.
"Five more minutes…"
"What? Just let us through now!"
The Doorknob ignored them and slumbered on without a care in the world.
"Now, now Donald there's no need to get so riled up." Goofy shook his head. "Maybe there's another way around."
"Hmm...I'm guessing that's why the hole in the wall was made. I guess this isn't the first time something like this has happened." Izuku mumbled.
Sora started walking over to the other entrance and peered inside. "It's a little dark in there, but you think it'll get us to the same place?"
"Probably." Izuku nodded. "If this is an alternate route then it has to go to the same place. Maybe with a few extra turns or something?"
"Well, we may as well check it out." The duck walked up to them and looked into the tunnel as well.
Before they could walk inside they all spotted somewhere from afar, a faint light seemingly at the end.
"What the heck is that supposed to be?" Donald squinted, watching it grow bigger and brighter.
"Maybe it's sunlight?"
"No that doesn't look like-"
"Get down!" Goofy shouted, putting up his shield to deflect the fireball that had come rushing towards them.
Not a second later red and yellow Heartless came flying out of the tunnel as small Shadow and Soldier Heartless manifested around them.
"There's a lot of them…" Sora muttered.
"Let's get 'em!" Donald smacked a Shadow Heartless away as it jumped towards him.
Sora and Izuku nodded at each other before rushing forward. Izuku took on the flying Heartless while Sora ran at the Shadows.
Izuku ducked and dodged at the red Heartless threw fireballs at him, one after another. All of them hitting the ground where he was moments ago before and leaving burns on the floor. Where the barrage was over Izuku was quick to retaliate, turning around and firing off a Thunder spell.
Before the Thunder could reach the red ones, the spell redirected itself and was swallowed up. The cap of the Heartless sat back on its head before it began shaking violently, electricity zapping and sparking around it before it disappeared.
Izuku looked up and saw a small mall of yellow energy before jumping to the side to dodge the Thunder spell. He took the chance to run forward and was about to strike the still Heartless before getting blasted with another bolt of lightning he hadn't seen in time.
He cried out in pain and backed away, looking around to see the large group of flying Heartless that wielded fire and lightning gathering around him.
I can't use Fire or Thunder spells...alright then.
Before any of them had the chance Izuku pointed his Keyblade at the group of red Heartless and felt the air around him chill.
Just stay calm, they're still Heartless. It's all about finding their weaknesses!
"Water!" He sent a stream of water at them and watched most of them get swept away but Izuku didn't let up. "Blizzard!" He watched the ice spell slam into the Heartless that had recovered, freezing them and slowing them down. He took the opportunity to cut through them, watching them poof away with small hearts escaping into the air.
Some of the remaining Heartless circled around him, readying their own spells until a large chunk of ice was sent their way, splitting up at the last second and piercing into them. Izuku finished off the stunned ones as Donald stood by Izuku and glared at the Heartless.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
They nodded at each other before continuing the fight.
Meanwhile Sora and Goofy were focusing on the Shadows and Soldiers. Goofy bashed the Soldiers with his shield and knocked them to the ground, giving Sora the chance to finish them off before moving on.
Sora grit his teeth and cut through a few of the Shadows, then frowned as more appeared in their stead. It's like there was no end to them!
Sora ducked down to dodge a kick before whirling around and knocking the Soldier down. He was about to hit it again when a Shadow came from behind and pounced on his back, making him stumble forward. He cringed at the feeling of it raking its claws against his back and neck before throwing it off of him and finishing it.
"You okay there Sora?" Goofy asked as he blocked a swipe.
"Y-Yeah! But these things just keep coming."
"There aren't as many as before, we can take them!" Donald shouted. Quacking loudly as he narrowly dodged a fireball.
Izuku smacked one of the flying Heartless out of the air. "Yeah, it seems like they're dying down now."
As they fought on they noticed some of the Heartless began making their way towards the Doorknob, who was still sleeping despite the chaos.
"Hey, look out!" Sora shouted.
"He won't wake up Sora!" Donald aimed pointed his staff at them but Izuku beat him to the punch. Sending a wave of fire towards the group of Heartless.
The shadows hissed as the fire burned them, falling to the ground and turning into dark mist.
"The Doorknob can't defend himself." Izuku huffed. "It looks like the Heartless are trying to attack whatever they can."
Sora took off at the sprint and sliced through more or the Heartless on the way until he skidded to a stop and whirled around, staring down the Heartless that were coming his way. Goofy ran over to join him and used his shield to knock the Shadows and Soldiers away.
Izuku and Donald had taken out the last of the flying Heartless and went to go help them. Izuku had gotten there first and fired off a few blasts of Thunder, scattering some of them and making them disappear.
Sora watched him and grinned. Now was a perfect time to test out the new spell Donald gave him. He pointed his Keyblade at the group of Heartless in front of him and concentrated like how he was taught. Tap into the magic he could harness and shape it in the only way he knew how.
A flame appeared at the tip of his Keyblade, he looked up and smiled in excitement. Only to feel the grip he had on it slip and accidentally fired it off too early.
"Woah! Oh no...Donald duck!"
The duck looked up in confusion and saw a fireball heading straight for him. He yelled in alarm and hit the ground, the fireball passing over him and eventually crashing into the wall.
"Watch where you're aiming!" He scolded Sora and smacked away a Shadow, then paused as he smelled something burning. He looked behind him to see his tail feathers had caught on fire.
Donald squawked and began to run around, knocking down some of the Heartless as he ran around.
Sora yelled out apologies as he finished off the last few Heartless.
"Donald calm down!"
Izuku stumbled back as Donald ran past him. He bumped into Sora who fired off another fire spell by accident, taking out the last Shadow.
Izuku watched Donald run around in panic before sending a small stream of water towards him. Cutting off his shouts and washing him away. Izuku cringed as the water died down and Donald laid there for a moment, unresponsive before slowly sitting up and glaring at the two teens.
"Well uh...the Heartless are gone now." Sora looked away, as Izuku nodded. The room actually looked a lot brighter now that the Heartless were gone. As if all the shadows had been cast away.
Donald was silently glaring at them and tapping his foot, making the two look away nervously.
"So uh...should we...start heading out?" Izuku pointed at the alternate exit.
"You need to watch where you're aiming!" Donald yelled at Sora. "What if it had been worse? You coulda hurt somebody!"
Sora ducked his head sheepishly. "Sorry! I kinda lost my grip on it and...yeah...but I least I warned you."
"What did I teach you about aiming?"
"You didn't? You just taught me how to make fire."
Donald frowned before he huffed and marched off. "Whatever, let's go!"
Goofy sighed and pat their shoulders. "Now don't you worry about Donald, he'll cool down in a little bit." He motioned for them to follow him, promising to be right behind them. The two ran to catch up to Donald and slowly went towards the tunnel.
As they walked forward Sora sighed and leaned towards Izuku.
"Magic's a little harder to use than I thought." He laughed.
"Yeah, that's normal. My magic went out of control in the beginning too." Izuku nodded, holding out a hand and showing off a small flame. "But you'll get it with time. It can be easy to lose your grip on your magic when you get excited or upset."
"Is that what happened to you?"
Izuku nodded.
"It takes a minute to get it down, but you'll get it." Izuku put his hands together and snuffed out the flame. "My Master said it's normal to lose control at first before you get a solid grip on magic."
Donald looked over his shoulder to raise an eyebrow. "No, it isn't."
"A-hyuck yes it is!" Goofy laughed. "Remember way back then Donald, ya kept making a mess all over the place until ya finally got it under control?"
"Magic is a finicky power." Donald walked through the end of the tunnel and towards a bright light. All of them shielded their eyes before looking around. They were surrounded by large green hedges with heart-shaped arches high above them. The leafy walls around dipped and rose in random tandem like someone couldn't decide whether they wanted the hedge to be high or low.
"What the…" Sora walked over to one of the flowers on the hedge, leaning in to get a good look at it. The rose was...dripping. Dripping some red stuff.
He touched the rose and brought his fingers away, seeing a shade of white from where he wiped away red paint.
"Are those roses painted?" Izuku looked over his shoulder.
"I think so." Sora wiped the paint off on the leaves. "Why would somebody paint roses?"
"Maybe they wanted to change the color of them?"
"Then why not get colored roses?" Donald looked up at Goofy.
"For all, we know painting roses might be normal here. What if roses can't grow in different colors?" Izuku theorized.
"Is that even possible?"
"Well, some worlds operate differently than others." Donald shrugged. "It's could happen."
Before they could ponder on it anymore the group was suddenly aware of a humming come the other side of the hedge. They all glanced at each other before moving onward, hoping to find the source.
They walked forward and quickly spotted a parting of the hedges and walked through. They peeked around the edge to see someone standing in an open area with a brush and paint can dripping red paint.
The person had turned to reveal four black clubs on his front, the man was a card!
"Woah…"
"That's so cool!"
They ducked their heads when they saw the card man look their way in confusion. He was quiet for a moment before humming again and going back to painting the roses.
"So he's the one painting the roses."
"Looks like it." Izuku nodded.
"Maybe we can ask him why, and ask how to get around here since it seems like a maze."
"You don't know that." Donald looked at Sora.
"Considering what we've seen so far, this place being a space warping hedge maze wouldn't really surprise me." Izuku shook his head. "If we ask for directions then maybe we won't run the risk of getting lost."
"It might not be a good idea to bother them," Donald argued. "We don't know if they friendly or not."
"Oh my! What are you all doing here?"
They jumped and whirled around to see a card-man with five clubs down his front. He was as pale as a ghost at the sight of them.
"O-Oh uh..." Sora looked to the others for help.
"We're uh, just lookin' around," Goofy said. "The roses here are really pretty."
"Oh, you think so?" The asked. "Thank you, we've been working hard to paint them red since we accidentally planted the whites ones instead! And should the Queen find out," he gulped, "she'll have our heads!"
"Will she really get that mad over white roses?" Sora tilted his head.
"Oh, she will! She will, she will! Oh goodness, what am I talking about? That isn't the point! Why are you here? Are you here to see the trial?"
"The trial?" They all asked incredulously.
"Yes of course! Didn't you know?"
"Uh...no…" Donald glared up at him.
"The Queen has found the ones guilty of attempting to steal her heart. The ones responsible for causing so much trouble!"
All four of them froze and glanced at each other. A trial...for the Heartless?
That doesn't seem like a good idea, what if someone got hurt? What if the Heartless attacked the Queen? Could they even sit still long enough for a trial?
"Uh, is it okay if we watch the trial?" Izuku asked. "Is that allowed?"
"Hmm, I believe so, I'm don't think it's started yet. If you hurry you can get there just in time." The card shrugged and turned back to the rose bushes.
"Can ya at least give us some directions?" Goofy asked.
"I'm sorry, but I must get back to work! I have to finish painting these roses red, or else she'll have my head! Besides, it can't be too hard to find, all ways are the Queen's ways!"
With that the card took his paint can and ran off into the maze.
"Hold on, what does that mean?" Sora asked, but the card was already gone.
"All ways are the Queen's ways?" Goofy repeated it.
Izuku glanced around the area, finding a new path into the maze wherever he looked. Heart-shaped arched over every new path.
"Maybe it doesn't matter. All ways are the Queen's ways, so maybe that means whatever path we choose it'll inevitably lead us to the Queen." Izuku muttered. "If that's the case then let's just choose one and go, before someone gets hurt!"
Donald nodded before looking around and pointing at one of the paths. "Then let's go!"
They all headed towards the path Donald pointed out and began to make their way towards the Queen. The path began to wind around after the first couple of turns, merging into other paths before splitting off again into loops and even more random turns.
At some point, the path began to go uphill and got steeper as they went, so much so it practically felt like they were running up a wall. Eventually, the terrain had evened out again, letting the group take a small break before they got going again.
"Are we sure...all ways are the Queen's ways?" Sora panted.
"I mean I could be wrong." Izuku shrugged. "Or maybe we took a weird path?"
"That card feller said it shouldn't take us that long to get to the Queen. But I gotta say, it sure feels like it's taking forever." Goofy sighed.
"There's gotta be some kind of shortcut or something." Donald looked around.
"Does there?" A voice around them echoed.
They all jumped in surprise and looked around to see who was speaking to them, only to find no one was around. Not even the cards. Which was surprising, considering the roses around them were still white.
"Who said that?" Donald held up his wand as the disembodied voice laughed.
"Perhaps a friend, or an acquaintance. I can be one or the other, or neither." The voice giggled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora frowned.
"Why whatever you want it to!"
Izuku felt something poke the back of his head and whirled around in panic, only to see a set of eyes below a toothy frown and a pink and purple tail.
He gasped his surprise and back away, about to summon his Keyblade before a paw appeared as if to stop him. The strange creature giggled and wagged its finger at him.
"Now now, no need for that. Certainly don't want to draw the shadows near here now do we?"
Izuku gulped and put his hand down, backing away as the others turned to see the strange thing in front of them.
"What is that supposed to be?" Sora whispered.
"No idea." Izuku shook his head.
"What did you mean does there?" Donald asked. "We were looking for a shortcut."
"Ah yes, but how sure are you there is one?"
"Are you saying there's no shortcut to get to the Queen's Castle?" Goofy asked.
"I'm not saying there isn't."
"So there is!"
"Perhaps."
"So there isn't?"
"Perhaps!"
"Is there or is there not a shortcut to the Queen's Castle?" Donald asked. "We need to go there before it's too late."
The creature giggled before disappearing, the laughter echoing around them. The eyes and mouth reappeared a moment later, humming playfully as it made its way away from them, down the path before stopping abruptly.
"Now, why would you want a shortcut," it emphasized the T at the end, "to somewhere when you're already there?"
"Huh?" Sora raised an eyebrow and looked around. "What do you mean? This doesn't look like the Queen's Palace."
"Perhaps." A form appeared around the eyes and mouth, taking the shape of a pink and purple cat that stood upside down. "Then again, I suppose it's a matter of perspective now isn't it?" He grinned and pointed upwards.
They exchanged confused glances before looking to where the cat was pointing and was met with the sight of the maze far below them. There were large heart-shaped arches that led towards a wide garden where more people were gathered. From afar most of them looked red and stood off to the side.
"What the…" Izuku muttered.
"I suppose you took a wrong turn somewhere along the way." The cat chuckled. "I wonder if you'd be able to land on your feet." The simple chuckles evolved into laughter as he slowly disappeared, allowing his eyes and mouth to linger for a moment.
As soon as he left the group felt something shift, their feet suddenly left the ground as they began plummeting downwards.
"We took the wrong path!" Donald shouted.
"Obviously!" Sora shouted over the roaring wind. "Uh...can we land on our feet?"
"No, I think that'd kill us!" Izuku argued.
"Then what are we supposed to?"
"Uh…" Izuku looked around before summoning his Keyblade, his mind whirring for a solution. After a moment he felt something click into place and pointed the Keyblade downwards.
I really hope this works…
"Aerora!"
A gust of wind blew towards them, slightly slowing their fall but it wasn't enough. They were still falling at fast rate.
Izuku tried again, pouring more of his magic into the spell. This time he focused on maintaining the spell and keeping them from crashing to the ground too hard. He grit his teeth and pushed more of his magic until he was met with emptiness.
Oh crap!
The wind eventually stopped and they started falling faster again. Izuku didn't get the chance to look down before hitting the ground with a hard thud. He heard another loud thud from somewhere behind him. He groaned and managed to sit up in time to see Donald still falling, but slow down just before his feet touched the ground, looking as shaken as the rest of them.
"Is that why the cat said to land on our feet?" Sora asked.
"Maybe." Izuku muttered.
"Look out below!" Goofy shouted from above, prompting them to look up. Izuku scrambled to get out of the way before Goofy crashed down where he was a moment ago.
"Woah, are you okay?"
"Yup, I'm fine. How 'bout yerselves? Are ya okay?"
"More or less." Sora rubbed his arm. "Izuku?"
"I burned through my magic, but I'm okay." He nodded.
"Be sure to take an Ether." Donald pointed at his bag. "If there are Heartless…"
"Then they might start attacking when they see us." Izuku dug around in his bag before a white blur zoomed right past him.
"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" The white rabbit ran past them and towards the castle.
"Hold on, that's the white rabbit!" Sora helped Izuku to his feet. "He got a head start on us, how'd we get here at the same time?"
"It doesn't matter, let's go." Donald pointed down the path before the sound of a trumpet blared out.
"He's right, we gotta go." Izuku moved to follow him as he bit down on an Ether.
They all ran towards the castle and saw a stand in the middle of the field facing a podium. There sat a large woman with a scowl on her face and a crown on her head.
All four of them froze in their tracks to get a look at the ones standing at the defendants' table. Instead of the Heartless, they saw two people. Izuku froze at the sight.
"No way…"
"We're on trial? But why?" The girl in the blue dress asked.
"Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!" The White Rabbit ignored her and gestured to the Queen.
"Oh, it's normal people." Donald sighed. "Looks like the Heartless aren't on trial."
"But...they're being accused of stealing the Queen's Heart, and causing trouble," Sora argued. "They shouldn't get in trouble for that. They didn't do it."
"It's not our job to get involved with other worlds' affairs."
"So we just let this happen?" Izuku looked at him. "What if one of them doesn't even belong to this world?"
"What makes you say that?" Goofy asked.
The woman was silent, looking between the boy and the girl before pointing down at them. "Off with their heads!"
"What?" The boy shouted. "You're sentencing us to death, but we don't even know what we're being accused of! You haven't even presented any evidence against us, let alone allowed us to defend ourselves!"
"This is my court, therefore my rules!" She bellowed. "Guards, off with his head!"
Before he could protest two spades came up and grabbed him.
"No!" Izuku shouted and pushed through the guards and ran towards them.
"Izuku!" Donald scolded him as Sora chased after him. "Sora! Get back here you two!"
"Hold it right there!" Sora yelled, making the entire room pause.
The Queen stared at them in shock before growling. "Who are you? How dare you interfere with my court!"
"Midoriya?" Tenya looked stunned.
"Iida!"
Izuku was about to run towards him when Donald grabbed the back of his coat, making him stumble back.
"Excuse me, but we know who the real culprit is." Sora stepped forward.
Goofy nodded. "Uh-huh, it's the Hear-" He stopped when Donald smacked his leg with his staff.
"Anyway, those two aren't the ones you're looking for."
The Queen sneered down at them. "That's nonsense. Have you any proof?"
"Uh…"
"Iida wouldn't do something like that! I may not know the other defendant, but she doesn't seem like the kind of person to try and wrong you." Izuku protested. "They're good people, and what would they have to gain for trying to steal your heart? They wouldn't even know how to do that!"
"Oh, so you know at least one of the defendants, would it be safe to assume you're an accomplice?"
"W-What? No, I-"
"Midoriya!" Tenya grabbed Izuku's attention. "Don't, I don't think there's any reasoning with her."
"But…" Izuku looked between the Queen and Iida. After a moment he sighed and backed away.
The Queen looked smug as she raised her hand, about to give the order until a very short man with a crown ran up the stairs to her podium. Everyone looked on in confusion as he tugged on her dress and motioned for her to lean down.
The Queen stared at him before obliging and listened to him speak. The court was silent as they whispered to each other. Izuku had half the mind to grab Iida and the girl and make a run for it. He would have if it wasn't for Donald still had a hold on him, and the fact they were surrounded.
After a while the Queen sat up again and huffed, glaring down at who was assumed to be the King before looking down at the defendants and intruders.
"Guards, lock them up!"
"Wait, what?"
"What? What for?"
The Queen waved her hand and the card soldiers grabbed the two and dragged them to large bird cages on either side of her podium. Iida struggled for a moment before getting thrown in and having the door slammed shut.
The girl looked over in concern before she was thrown in the other cage.
"I'll allow you to look for evidence to prove their innocence if any exists at all. Should you fail to do so, it'll be off with all your heads!"
"What?" The girl shook her head. "That is awful!"
"Silence!" the Queen roared.
"Alright, we'll gather that evidence. We'll prove they're innocent." Sora nodded. "Don't worry you guys, we'll get you out of there."
Izuku stepped forward as Donald finally let him go. He ignored the confused looks from Sora and the others as he ran forward towards the cage Iida was in. Izuku ignored the scathing glare from the Queen and the guards as he approached the cage.
"Iida, you're alright!" Izuku smiled. "Well...sort of I guess…"
"It's good to see you too Midoriya but...what is going on? What in the world are you wearing? Never mind that, have you seen the others?"
Izuku let him rattle off his questions before sighing. "It's...a lot. A lot is happening right now and I'll explain later I promise. Eri is okay, but other than her you're the only person I've found so far."
"What? Do you know where the others are?"
Izuku shook his head. "No...but I'm looking. I'm working on it. I'm gonna fix things, I promise. But first, we gotta get you and that girl out of here first."
"Her name is Alice," Iida said. "We ran into each other a while ago, she had been fleeing from those monsters. Shortly after we got away those card soldiers came and arrested us."
Izuku looked down. "The Heartless were chasing you...where were you guys?"
"In a forest, I think? I'm not sure, this place is nothing but nonsense, Midoriya."
"Yeah...it kinda is. But we're going to figure this is out. Just hold tight."
"Not much else we can do."
"I know."
Before Izuku could say anything else the Queen snapped her fingers and the card soldiers pointed their lances at Izuku.
"That is enough." The Queen huffed. "You are no longer allowed to speak to the criminals. Off with you!"
Izuku backed away as the soldiers stepped forward to send him away. He gave Iida one last look before making his way back to the others.
"Who was that supposed to be?" Donald asked.
"That's Iida, he's a friend from my world." He answered.
"Wait, that guy is from your world?" Sora asked. "Hold on, if he's here do you think Kairi or Riku could be here too?"
"I have no idea…"
Sora paused for a moment before looking at one of the paths leading away from the court. Dark and a little thorny, it was where Alice had said they'd come from when he talked to her.
"Well, we have to look and we have to find that evidence for Alice and...his name is Iida right?"
He nodded.
"We need to find the evidence for them." He pointed at the new path. "Alice said they came from there."
"Then we should check there first." Goofy pat his shoulder. "Let's get going."