When our heroes went to disembark onto the first world they would travel through on their adventure, they all honestly expected they would land in the world proper. However, it was to their surprise that instead of being placed on ground, they simply appeared in mid-air, floating down a mysterious hole. At first, it seemed like it was full of dirt and roots. However, the deeper they floated down, the more the dirt was being replaced with paneled walls. Gravity didn't seem to matter in the slightest either, as they just kept slowly floating downward without fear of simply plummeting to their demise.
But also the deeper they went, the darker it had seemed to get. In the midst of the darkness, Spongebob noticed a lamp on a desk and turned it on as they passed by, illuminating the room. Attached to the wall were more oddities from what they could see. Shelves with pots and vases, mirrors and peculiar portraits, fireplaces, birdcages and wall lamps. Sora even found himself looking into a mirror with his reflection floating upside-down. Jimmy did manage to get a book from a reading desk and decided to read a couple pages to pass the time… but to his disappointment, the book was bereft of any text, so he let it go and just let it float in the air.
They heard the sound of a grandfather clock chiming, and Timmy ended up landing in a rocking chair. He took this chance to relax and lean backward… but he rocked so far back he ended up falling forward out of the chair and went back to floating in the air. Goofy, as they passed by a fireplace with a heated pot, contentedly rubbed his hands in the hot steam before just floating in a relaxed position with his eyes closed. At one point, even Danny found himself floating upside down, looking at an upside-down map of a globe. Donald was trying to flap in the air to right himself.
Of course, all things would come to an end, even their peculiar landing. Soon, they saw the ground slowly approaching them, and what appeared to be a few flowers in planters, a light yellow sofa, and even another lamp there. But as they got closer, they found that these were in fact optical illusions and they were really just flat, as if they were painted on the floor's surface. Donald stumbled on the floor first, managing to stick the landing. Sora landed on his feet as well. With Goddard's help, Jimmy managed to steady himself. Timmy's fairies helped Timmy land easily by poofing a pillow into existence for him to land on. Danny simply just floated down on his boots and Spongebob landed on his feet with a squeak of his shoes.
Goofy… unfortunately didn't pay attention to where he was landing, and ended up turning and falling on his stomach, making all his comrades wince. Jiminy Cricket even popped out of Goofy's hat and looked ruffled from the impact himself. The chronicler started fixing up his hat and his suit while Goofy was barely coming to. But at that very moment…
"Oh, my fur and whiskers! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"
Everyone saw a most peculiar thing pass them by without a look back or even acknowledging their presence. A small and elderly rabbit with a large red nose and short ears. He was wearing spectacles, gray pants with a hole in the back for his tail, and a red over-coat and bow tie which was worn over an orange button-up shirt with a white collar. He did not wear any shoes given the fact his furry feet had comfortable paw pads. As they watched him run, they noticed he held an almost ridiculously large golden pocket watch which had to be at least the size of his head.
"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there." He was panting heavily as he ran in a huff, paying no heed to the stares he was getting. "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! The queen, she'll have my head for sure!"
He then ran the corner ahead of them and out of sight, the sounds of his frantic footsteps starting to grow quieter. At that moment, the group all looked at each other to assess their situation.
"So… everyone else saw that, right?" Danny asked.
"Yeah, pretty sure I did." Sora nodded.
"A white rabbit who's late for something…" Timmy said. "Huh, where have I heard of that before?"
"Well, it's not like we've got any other way but forward." Donald said. "Let's go after him."
All in agreement, the group began making their way after that white rabbit. Passing through the parted red curtains and past the floating armchairs and footstools and peculiar candelabras hanging from the wall. Passing by more ticking clocks and even a crooked shelf with two places, a watering vase, and a wooden table leaning against it. They came towards a door in a wall whiter than the others, and Danny moved forward to pull it open. But when he did, a smaller blue door was behind that one. Then when he opened that one, a smaller brown door was behind that! Giving an annoyed groan, he just phased through the doors, finding even more doors much to his annoyance, and pushed them all open so his friends could have a way through.
"Someone's got an amazing sense of humor, and a good carpenter!" Given Spongebob's love for April Fools' jokes, it should come as no surprise he enjoyed the gag, even causing Danny to refrain from grunting. "May have to try this on Patrick for the next first of April."
They entered the next room, and immediately they found themselves feeling as though they were giants in an overly cramped space. An assortment of pinks and light pinks met their eyes, clashing with the likes of stone paneling and an assortment of rabbit themed aesthetics. Dark pink carrots in the wallpaper, portraits of rabbit heads and even drawings of carrots, a rabbit-themed clock that seemed to be painted into the wall, a green bed with rabbit ears at both ends, a couple books on a high shelf with a rabbit head on them. If anything, it was easier to find things that didn't appear to be rabbit-related, from the odd lion faced mask hanging high on the wall, the large faucet that seemed out of place on the wall, a stone and brick chimney with a stove, two armchairs, a shelf attached to the wall by a chair while a teddy bear sat atop it, and a painting of a beachside that seemed split between day and night. Not to mention the occasional things that seemed to be flattened into the floor and wall.
But as they came in, they saw that white rabbit rushing along towards a small door ahead of them.
"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!" He was rambling again. "No time to say hello, goodbye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"
He quickly opened the door and then went inside, slamming it shut behind him. Curious, Sora walked towards that small door. Dark brown and wooden with gold hinges. The doorknob itself was golden as well, with an escutcheon plate shaped like an elongated trapezoid with a semi-circle bump on the bottom and a curly design on the top. There were also a pair of screws keeping the doorknob in place so it didn't fall off.
"How did he get so small?" The keybearer wondered.
"No, you're simply too big." The doorknob's eyes opened and replied, tiredly.
"Wak!" Donald exclaimed in surprise as everyone stared at the door, not expecting the doorknob to actually be alive. "It talks!"
Now that they saw it, the currently yawning doorknob had features that made it look like a face. The knob being a bulbous nose, close-set, beady yellow eyes and what seemed to be black "eyebrows", though these may actually be engravings on the Doorknob's plate rather than hair, and the keyhole itself was his mouth. He seemed to smack his lips together as his face was just riddled with a desire for a nap.
"Must you be so loud? You woke me up." The Doorknob told them.
"Good mornin'." Goofy greeted cheerily.
"Good night!" The Doorknob clearly didn't feel the same way. "I need a bit more sleep."
"Wait," Sora beckoned the Doorknob before he could doze off, "what do we have to do to grow small?"
"Why don't you try the bottle on the table…" the Doorknob gestured towards the center of the room, "over there?"
"What table?" Wanda asked as they all turned.
And just like that, gaining new dimension as they popped from the ground, a humble chair with pink and light pink square-patterned cushions in the shape of a rabbit's head, and a circular table with two bottles placed upon it appeared.
"I think he means that table." Cosmo said.
"Read the directions," the Doorknob explained as the group went over to the table, "and directly you'll be directed in the right direction."
Paying no mind to the Doorknob's chuckling, our heroes checked out the bottles on the table. Both had a tag hanging around the neck labeled 'Drink Me'. However, the labels around the sidewalls had pictures instead of words. One bottle's label was red with yellow designs, showing a small sapling progressively becoming a large tree. The other bottle's label was blue with yellow designs, showing the tree becoming a mere sapling. Jimmy picked up the bottle with the blue label and checked it over as Sora was looking at the bottle with the red label.
"Hmmm…" the boy genius tapped his chin. "No sign of any warnings or any clues to side effects… Timmy, why don't you test this drink first?"
"Wait, why do I have to be the guinea pig?" Timmy asked, a bit affronted about that as Jimmy handed him the bottle.
"If something goes wrong, we could use an elixir to fix that." Sora tried persuading the ten year old. He pointedly ignored Jimmy's rolled eyes at the use of 'archaic medicine'.
"Just remember, Timmy. Small sips." His fairy godmother told him. "After all, if one drinks much from a bottle marked poison, it's almost certain to disagree with you sooner or later."
Everyone save for Jimmy and Donald looked to the pink-haired fairy at her advice. Even the Doorknob seemed to look perplexed by it, though he seemed like he heard it before. Timmy simply shrugged and decided to take a small sip from that bottle. He smacked his lips a bit, processing the taste.
"So, is it any good?" Spongebob asked.
"It tastes like…" Timmy thought for a moment, "cherry tart…"
Just then, to everyone's surprise, Timmy shrunk a couple feet!
"Mmm…" Timmy took another sip, "custard…?"
Then Timmy shrank again. He had to hold the bottle with two hands at this point.
"Pineapple?" And then again. "Roast turkey? What kind of drink is– woah!"
And with that, Timmy had shrunk down to the point that he was pint-sized on the floor, falling on his back as the 'Drink Me' label covered him. Getting himself up and moving the label off of his person, he looked around himself and saw just how giant everything around him was. Everyone else seemed to gaze at him from high up.
"Hey! What the heck just happened?" Timmy asked with his newfound predicament.
"You almost went out like a candle." The Doorknob chuckled.
"Hah hah, very funny." Timmy didn't find that much amusing.
"...Well," Jimmy said, picking up the bottle, "at least we confirmed it works. Down the hatch, everyone."
So, one by one, everyone else began drinking from the bottle, shrinking down to the point that they all were small just like Timmy was. With them all being the same size, they believed they were free to continue pursuing the white rabbit. They made their way towards the door, and Spongebob went to turn the knob… which resulted in the Doorknob wincing with a shout.
"Oooooh!" The Doorknob cringed, making the sea sponge jump back.
"Oh! Sorry Mr. Doorknob sir!" Spongebob apologized.
Fidgeting with his knob of a nose, the Doorknob replied, "Oh, it's quite alright, but you did give me quite a turn." Immediately smiling, the Doorknob then asked, "Rather good, what? Doorknob? Turn?"
Spongebob couldn't help but join in on the Doorknob chuckling with his own laughter. "Yeah, I get it! Turning a doorknob! Hah! That's a good one."
"Ooh! Ooh! I got one!" Cosmo joined in. "One good turn deserves another, right?"
The three began laughing some more. Sora, Goofy, Jiminy and Gadget couldn't help but chuckle although their friends couldn't help but roll their eyes. Seemed some people didn't really have a sense of humor.
"Ohoho yes, that's a good one…" That said, the Doorknob finished with his little bit of humor and then looked to the group in earnest, "Now, what can I do for you?"
"Well sir, we're lookin' for a white rabbit who just passed through ya," Goofy explained, "so maybe you can let us pass?"
"Really, you're looking for him, too?" the Doorknob asked. "My, my, who knew he'd be so popular, with how often he's late?"
"Okay, so you can let us pass then?" Danny went to turn the knob, but the Doorknob pulled away from his hand.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't." He apologized. "I'm locked. Although, you did get the key, so–"
"Oh, you know about the Keyblade?" Sora asked.
"The key-what now?" The Doorknob blinked.
Deciding to just show him, Sora held out his hand and the Keyblade appeared in his hand. The Doorknob looked impressed by the sight of such a large and unique-looking key. Such a marvel in design, with unique edges and even an interesting chain there. Everyone else remembered that the keyblade could open any lock, so perhaps…
"My goodness, that's certainly quite the key you've got there!" the Doorknob told Sora. "But I'm afraid that's not what I'm talking about. I'm referring to my personal key. You did get it from the table up there, didn't you?"
Everyone blinked, then looked back up towards the table. Sure enough, a less unique, non-weaponized key appeared on the top of it. Everyone seemed to groan at once at this runaround. Danny, being the only one of the group outside of Cosmo and Wanda who could fly, decided to save them the trouble and flew up towards the table to retrieve the key. However, when he was just about to reach for it, he dodged a fireball sent in his direction!
"What the–?!" Danny exclaimed, looking towards where the fire came from. "Heartless?!"
A smooth, conical, red body with a Heartless emblem emblazoned on its chest. The top of its body flared outward and formed a jagged "collar" below the Heartless's spherical, pitch black head. It also wore a conical, yellow hat that had a jagged brim and a thin, curled tip which just seemed taken off a cartoon witch's head. Like many Heartless, it had glowing yellow eyes. Its seemingly useless feet sported three small, thin toes like the stick legs a small bird would have. And worse, it had a couple others of its kind floating around with it.
But even worse than that, with Danny pushed back, a Soldier appeared on the table and grabbed the key before jumping off the table and running off!
"Hey! Get back here!" Danny made to go after it, but he found himself surrounded by more of these new Heartless. "Guys! The Heartless are trying to take the key!"
"Oh, my goodness!" The Doorknob exclaimed as Shadows started to populate the room as well.
"Should've guessed they'd be here too!" Donald prepared his staff.
"After the key!" Spongebob pointed out the Soldier Heartless running away.
The heroes tried pursuing that Soldier all around the room, taking out Shadows, other Soldiers, and these newfound Heartless that Jimmy would dub Red Nocturnes along the way. However, the Heartless were nothing if not persistent with their numbers. The Red Nocturnes were also more agile than both the Shadows and the Soldiers, being able to fly just out of reach to avoid being attacked up close and at long range. This was also to their benefit since they could easily conjure up fireballs and shoot them at the party's direction.
Fortunately, Sora was talented in the art of deflection, swinging his keyblade at the fireballs and returning them to sender as it were. As it turned out, while the Red Nocturnes could send out attacks, being on the receiving end left them stunned and fully capable of being taken down. When they were out of the way, it was but a simple matter of taking out the Shadows and Soldiers. However, while that in itself was no difficult feat, that was not the purpose of their current dilemma. No, there was still the Soldier they were trying to pin down.
The Soldier took full advantage of its brethren to run towards the bed, finding a Shadow just coming out of the ground, and passed the key to the ant-like Heartless before disappearing into the darkness. The Shadow, key in hand, flattened itself to the floor and went under the bed, just getting out of reach. The group only barely made it to the bed only to watch the Heartless get away.
"Tartar sauce! It escaped!" Spongebob snapped his fingers at that. "Now how are we going to get after the white rabbit?"
"Oh dear me. If it's one thing I don't like, it's being robbed." They could hear the Doorknob being disappointed as well. "But, at the very least, it's not too hopeless. Just move the bed into the wall and you should be set to follow it."
"Move the bed into the wall?" Sora asked. "How? We're too small."
"Bark bark!"
Then they realized there was one other member in their party who didn't actually drink the bottle. Goddard was still at his normal size, having been watching them the entire time.
"Of course!" Jimmy was glad to remember his favorite dog didn't drink normal liquids. "Okay boy, see if you can push the bed into the wall! Can you do that?"
Goddard barked in understanding, then his back opened and an extendable arm popped out. Moving to the bed's side, Goddard used that arm to push the bed into the wall, making it part of the wallpaper. In doing so, the group saw that there was another entrance to go forward that the bed was blocking!
"Golly, that is some useful tech your dog has, Jimmy!" Gadget praised Jimmy as the extendable arm retracted back inside Goddard.
"Great job, boy!" Jimmy petted Goddard's leg due to his small size. "Now, let's get moving. We have a white rabbit to find!"
"We'll see about finding your key while we're at it, Mr. Doorknob!" Spongebob said to the Doorknob as they left.
"Take your time." The Doorknob replied with a yawn. "I'll just… take some well needed rest… What a long day…."
As for our heroes, they moved along their way through the new entrance. On the other side, it appeared they were back to their normal size, but at the same time they found themselves in a large hedge maze. However, the sky itself appeared devoid of color. Naught by grays and dark grays as far as they could see. In the distance they could see a castle, white and black like pieces on a chess board.
The group had traveled through this maze, trying to find their way for the next few minutes and finding dead ends quite often. It wasn't like they could split up or all of them could potentially get lost. So, deciding to cheat the maze instead of wasting time, Danny hovered just up above the hedges to guide the others the rest of the way. That at least made going through the maze easier. They even came across splotches of red paint on the ground, and a few uprooted rose gardens that were dripping with more paint. Apparently someone tried painting white roses red despite the fact it would have killed them.
"Hey, do you guys hear something?" Sora asked as they went along.
"Is that… whistling?" Donald couldn't help but hear it too.
"Sounds kind of like a marching tune." Jiminy noted.
"Hey look! There he is!" Spongebob then jumped up and pointed ahead.
And indeed, there was the white rabbit, rushing along through the maze and taking a turn! No one had to say more and they quickly ran after the rabbit, seeing that following him was no doubt the best way out. Eventually, they neared the end, but came across a most peculiar sight. A band of living cards standing in an orderly manner and holding weapons high in their positions. The black cards, spades, held axes. The red cards, hearts, held lances. But the area they were guarding appeared to be a more centralized part of the hedge maze.
If anything, the area resembled some form of courtroom, where a young girl was at the stand. She had long, thick, blond hair in which she tied a black bow and blue eyes. She wore a blue dress with a white pinafore, along with white tights and black Mary Jane shoes. Poor girl actually looked normal in comparison to everything else the group had seen since coming to this world.
And sitting before her in a judge's stand practically towering over her, sitting on a throne, was a woman who looked not the least bit nice. A large woman dressed in regal attire and was seen carrying a small wand with a red heart on the tip, a scepter which looked more like a fan. Her collar was white and very tall, reaching her ears. Her gown had white lining like the border of a playing card with the rest of it being colored red and black. The left half of her dress had a short, black sleeve with a red cuff, a red abdomen, with everything below that being black. The right side was identical, but with inverted colors; a red sleeve, black cuff, black abdomen, and red lower half. She also wore a second dress or skirt with a similar split design, the left side being an alternating thick black line, thin yellow line pattern, while the right side was identical, but with inverted colors. The right side of this second skirt was actually a darker shade of yellow than the left, appearing more gold. The woman also had a round nose, gold earrings, and a small gold crown on her head. Her hair was black and tied into a tight bun on the back of her head with a red ribbon, though a few loose bangs dangled in front of her forehead.
The group saw the white rabbit rushing up to the podium near the judge's stand and making his way up the stairs. He looked out of breath as he made it to the top and pulled out a trumpet. After taking a few quick breaths after running the whole time, he put the trumpet to his mouth and blew an announcing tune. After that, he took the trumpet out of his mouth and took another breath before pulling out a scroll from his coat, unrolling it to read to the whole of the room.
"Court is now in session!" The white rabbit announced. "Your Majesty…"
The queen looked rather impatient, tapping her fingers on her stand.
"Members of the Jury…"
An assortment of odd, anthropomorphic animals in fine suits bowed.
"Loyal subjects…" he continued, before he felt something poke at his side.
He turned to see someone else sitting with the queen, gesturing to himself with a heart on a stick. A man much smaller than the queen wearing a long red robe (though he wore a rather large crown for him). He had orange hair with a darker mustache. He seemed to be nodding expectantly at the white rabbit, who simply sighed and rolled his eyes.
"And the king." He added, not as emotionally as the others.
The small king waved his crown to the crowd, a happy little grin on his face. One person might have even cheered for him. Adorable.
"I'm on trial? But why?" The girl asked, confused by what's going on.
"Her majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!" The rabbit then bowed his head to the Queen herself, who looked pointedly at the girl with no ounce of sympathy.
"This girl is the culprit. There's no doubt about it." The Queen of Hearts stated. "And the reason is… because I say so, that's why!"
"That is so unfair!" The girl responded to that accordingly. The heroes watching this couldn't help but agree. At the same time, the three human boys of the original group started thinking something was very familiar about this whole affair.
"Well, have you anything to say in your defense?" The queen asked, though it was clear that she had already come to a decision in regards to the girl.
"Of course!" The girl, at the very least, stood defiant. "I've done absolutely nothing wrong!"
The white rabbit, the King of Hearts, on top of all the other card guards, looked incredibly fearful as the girl practically refused to bend the knee to their rather tempramental monarch. In fact, the Queen of Hearts was starting to grow angrier and angrier the more the girl continued to speak against her.
"You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so… so mean!" The girl finished.
"SIIIIIILENCE!" The force of the Queen's shout had actually made the girl's hair blow back in the wind while everyone in the court just winced, knowing how what she did was a bad idea. "You DARE defy me?!"
Our heroes, having been watching this practical kangaroo court, were already starting to feel divided about what to do next.
"Hey guys, we should help her out." Sora was all for going in there.
"Yeah! That mean old lady can't do this to that poor girl!" Spongebob agreed. "This is an affront to judicial justice!"
"Yeah, but the–" Donald was going to speak out, but appeared to have a difficult time explaining a rebuttal.
"But what?" Danny asked, noticing that hesitation. "You clearly see what's going on over there! Why do nothing?"
"Sure, but we're outsiders," Goofy explained, "so wouldn't that be muddling?"
"'Meddling'!" The duck corrected him.
"Oh, yeah." The dog recalled. "And that's against the rules."
"What rules?" Timmy asked. "Don't tell me that you have some stupid code where you can't get involved just because it's not the planet you live on."
"That's it exactly!" The court mage rebutted the buck-toothed boy. "Like it or not, it isn't our business to interfere."
"Okay. Fair. Counterpoint." Danny told Donald, "We don't let an innocent young girl die in a medieval kangaroo court."
"No meddlin-" his affronted squawk was ignored as they considered that point.
"Meddling shmeddling, it's the difference between being a 'good' guy and just a 'guy.' You can let an innocent girl lose her head and shrug it off saying, 'no can do, not my world, not my problem.' But Donald. That makes you as guilty as the guy who will swing that ax at her." Danny said as he got up, "I'm going ghost. Anyone who wants to watch her die, sit down."
Everyone but Donald got up.
The silence he felt as everyone got ready for a brawl was deafening.
Jimmy Neutron, all the while, was busy checking the court's surroundings. Living, talking cards, a carpet with red hearts in black boxes, a white rabbit who was late, a girl confused by illogical surroundings, a queen with a red hot temper and an ax to grind like a child given too much power… Indeed, he knew just what was going on.
"The court finds the defendant…" The Queen of Hearts then announced, pointing her wand at the girl, "guilty as charged!"
At that, the girl looked dismayed, and this got the attention of the heroes out of their argument.
"For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart…" She began, catching their attention for certain. "OFFFFFFFFF WITH HER HEAD!"
And with her decree, the card guards all stood ready to apprehend the girl. The girl, not desiring this unjust outcome, pleaded, "No! No! Oh, please!"
"Objection, your honor!"
And with that unexpected cry, the card guards turned in shock as the group charged into the court, though Donald looked a bit more reluctant than the others to do so. The one who made that cry, Spongebob Squarepants, was one of the first to charge in alongside Sora and Danny.
"Who are you?!" The Queen demanded to know. "How DARE you interfere with my court?"
"The name's Spongebob Squarepants, and as long as this sponge is yellow and these pants are square, it is my rightful duty to inform you that your justice system's outdated!" The fry cook told her and puffed up his chest.
"You dare question ME?!" And the queen's roar made the sea karate expert shrink where he stood.
"Oh, well, you see-" Spongebob started fearfully.
"Excuse me." Sora stepped forward. "But we know who the real culprit is!"
"Yeah, what he said!" The cheerful sponge beamed.
"Uh-huh. It's the Heartle–" Goofy was about to say it, but then for some reason, perhaps out of some concern for the 'world order', he covered his own mouth. So, seeing as not even Goofy would help them in this case, those willing to speak up in spite of the code decided they would.
"What our friend is trying to say is that the culprit behind the attempted theft of your heart is none other than the Heartless, and not the accused standing before you today!" The number one fry cook answered, making Donald groan and try signaling him to stop, but Danny made a point of blocking the royal wizard and encouraged Spongebob to continue. "You might know them as those creepy, shadowy creatures with those yellow eyes and that freaky heart-shaped emblem different from your own on their persons!"
"As the people in charge of this kingdom," The average kid whom no one understood pointed out to both the Queen of Hearts and the King, the latter appreciating being acknowledged without having to point himself out, "you're both aware that creatures like that have been causing trouble, right? Well, with them constantly popping out and attacking people, it should be no surprise that they would go after you as well, seeing as you're the Queen of Hearts."
"So, considering all that," the ghost boy added, "the girl here is not the one you're looking for. Think about looking into the real threat going on around here."
"Hmph. That's nonsense." The Queen easily disregarded those arguments. "Have you any proof?"
"Uh…"
That… actually weakened the group's resolve a bit. True, they didn't have proof that it was the Heartless who caused the incident. Not to mention they just barged into the courtroom claiming that the defendant was not the one to do it without any semblance of evidence to back it up. Add that to barging in unannounced to start with, and it was arguable that they might have made things worse. It might have made it likely their own heads would be on the chopping block!
"We don't not have the evidence, your honor."
Finally, Jimmy's voice made itself known, and everyone stared at him. He seemed to have a composed smile on his face as he stepped forward, coming up to the stand and joining the girl's side.
"I'm sorry, what was that you said?" The Queen of Hearts asked with malice in her grin.
"We don't not have the evidence to prove Alice's innocence, your Royal Highness." Jimmy stated, surprising the girl for apparently knowing that name. "We simply did not have none of the time to not bring it forward due to the fact time was murdered a while ago. Do you not recall this?"
His fellow world-travelers, among everyone else in the court, stared at him as he spoke to the queen in such a peculiar way. Where was Jimmy going with this? That being said, Timmy and Danny seemed to realize what was going on once Jimmy mentioned the girl's apparent name. As for everyone else, well, they were confused as to how Jimmy would know her name at all. And did he think this ploy was going to work?
"Why, my dear!" The King seemed to recall as he looked up to his large wife. "The boy's right! Remember that one subject who was killing time?"
"Hmmm… True." The Queen of Hearts rubbed her large chin. "I had called for his head to be off as well for the deed."
"So you see, King and Queen of Hearts," the boy genius recalled, again making the short king feel pleased, "you simply need not to give us none of the time necessary to collect the proof we don't not have and we shall return post-haste. For that is your way, is it not?"
It was the Queen's turn to actually giggle pleasantly, as though her personality took a complete 180 from the ruthless tyrant she was before.
"Indeed, that is quite correct, my dear boy." She answered him. She then spoke up, as though she was declaring a royal decree, "The court shall be in recess and withhold the sentence until the Defense brings its evidence to the courtroom!"
At that, the girl, Alice, let out a breath of relief as she looked at Jimmy with a thankful smile on her face, with the boy genius nodding back to her with a smile of his own. Unfortunately, those smiles were cut short when two guards, a spade and a heart, approached Alice and took her by the arms.
"However," the queen continued her declaration as Alice was taken and imprisoned in a gold cage, "as you retrieve your evidence, as little or as much as you have, Alice will remain here as a prisoner until then! And if you fail…"
She seemed to take in a deep breath, and then shouted with a loud roar that practically blew everyone to the ground by its sheer force.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOFF WITH YOUR HEADS!"
She then giggled sweetly, again making a complete 180 in terms of personality.
"Do I make myself clear, dears~?" She asked the group.
"...Yes ma'am." They all slowly nodded.
Jimmy, Timmy, and Danny's hair were all comically blown back by the force of the shout. Spongebob's face was comically deep inside his spongy body before popping back into place. Donald looked like his feathers were blown back at high-speeds with circles in his eyes. Goofy could feel his ears being stuck pointing backward as his mouth was slack jawed, with Jiminy again having to fix up his suit and hat. Sora's hair was definitely frazzled, but fortunately he had Gadget to fix it right back into place.
"Alright then." Jimmy Neutron had Goddard quickly use his extendable arm to get his hair back to his stylish cowlick. "Gentlemen, time we spoke with our defendant."
As Jimmy walked towards the cage, Danny and Timmy fixed their own hair as well before following suit with the others. Donald, after getting himself back into a neat position of cleanliness, grumbled under his own breath. Talk about a fine mess all these other world-travelers got them into now. First meddling in affairs that weren't their own. Now they were stuck having to collect evidence? What next? Questioning the world order on a moral basis?
"Who are you?" Donald was brought back to attention when he heard the girl ask them.
"I'm Sora." Sora introduced himself.
"I'm Goofy," as did Goofy before gesturing to the duck, "and that there's Donald."
"I'm Jimmy Neutron." Jimmy said. "And these are Danny Phantom, Timmy Turner, and Spongebob Squarepants."
"I'm Alice. Pleased to meet you," she said, "though I do wish it were under better circumstances. I'm sorry you got mixed up in this nonsense."
"Why are you on trial in the first place?" Sora asked.
"I would like to know the very same thing!" Alice asked, feeling a bit indignant. "Apparently I was guilty from the moment I took the stand!"
"That's crazy!" Sora shook his head at that.
"I don't think this place cares much for what is even sane." Danny commented.
"So, where are you from?" Timmy asked.
"Hmm, curious." The girl pondered. "I can't quite remember. You see, I found this mysterious rabbit hole. When I tried to peek inside, I tumbled in head-over-heels… and found myself here."
"So you're from another world!" The keybearer noted.
"That's funny. Maybe you don't need a gummi ship then." Goofy scratched his head at that.
"I don't get it." Donald wasn't sure how that worked himself either.
"What do you mean by 'another world'?" Alice asked.
"It's a long story, Alice." Jimmy told her. "Once we get you free, we'll tell you what we know."
"Wait." Alice looked to him next. "How did you even know my name? Have we met?"
"Well, not until now, but let's just say that word about you got around in this place." The boy genius told her. "Just, pardon the expression, sit tight. We'll get you the evidence to set you free before you can say, 'Lewis Carroll'!"
"Lewis who?" The girl blinked.
"Enough!" The Ace of Spades guard standing by the cage shouted. "The defendant will be silent! And you! Get that evidence or else!"
"Alright, alright, keep your shoes on." Timmy replied to the guard. "We're going."
As most of the group went on to leave the courtroom, Sora stood back for a moment to come close to Alice's cage and put a hand over hers.
"Don't worry, Alice." Sora told her gently. "We'll get you out. I promise."
And with a wave of his hand, Sora went after his friends. Alice could only watch Sora go, feeling her hand as she memorized the feeling of his on her own. Not to mention his deep blue eyes and his comforting smile. His kind words and his promise… Alice couldn't help but blush. Was this what her sister was talking about when it came to boys…?
As for our heroes, they entered into a large wood full of mushrooms and flowers from the Queen's courtroom. There was a large wooden stump to their right, a large tree taking up the center of the wood with a peculiar large nut on a bunch of its branches. The wood was so large that the sky could barely be seen, giving it a look of darkness that would be perfect for battles to come. For that, the group braced themselves… or at least they would be, if Donald didn't immediately get on the four's cases.
"What's the big idea, just barging in like that?!" Donald pointed at them in frustration. "Don't you realize just how close to losing our own heads we were there because you had to interfere?"
"Hey, we already told you." Danny retorted. "It was either we do nothing and that girl gets her head cut off for something she didn't do, or we go in and help her out. The choice was obvious. Besides, it wasn't like we were going to go down without a fight anyhow."
"That's not the point!" The duck, frustration getting stronger, rebutted.
"Then what is?" Timmy asked, feeling pretty annoyed by Donald's apparent refusal to act.
"Actually, there's something more important I'd like to ask." Jiminy Cricket spoke up as he hopped from Goofy's hat and onto Jimmy's shoulder. "Jimmy, just how was it that you knew Alice's name? I know you said word got around to her, but for us, this was the first time we met her."
"Hey, yeah." Sora considered that before looking to the boy genius. "How DID you know her name, Jimmy?"
"Wait, you don't know?" Jimmy figured that Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, Gadget and Spongebob probably didn't know for their own reasons, but he was surprised to hear Sora didn't.
"Well… no. That's why I'm asking." The wielder of the key replied.
"Huh. Must be different with your world as well then." The boy genius decided to explain. "Well, to begin with, in my world, there is a set of books by an author named Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, otherwise known by his pen name Lewis C. Carroll. I'm going to assume this is the same for you, Timmy and Danny?"
"Yeah, that's right." Timmy nodded. Cosmo and Wanda poofed back into their fairy forms. "They're pretty popular books where we're from too. Not that I read them much, though."
"They were practically assigned reading back in my school." Danny added. "Seriously, you'd have to be crazy not to have heard of them."
"So what're they called?" Goofy asked.
"Wait, I think I just got it!" Cosmo said as he sounded like he had an epiphany. "White rabbits, talking doorknobs, royals with temper issues, curious girls… We're in The Wizard of Oz!"
"...No, Cosmo." Wanda corrected him. "This world is entirely based on Alice in Wonderland."
"So, this world is based on a book…?" Sora didn't get it.
"Or perhaps the book was based on the world…?"
At the unfamiliar voice, everyone ended up jumping and looking frantically for where it came from. Then the voice began… singing.
"'Twaaaaaas brillig," the voice sang as the group could barely see a phantasmal figure moving around in the air, "And the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe~"
"Now where is that voice coming from?" Sora asked.
"Lose something~?"
The voice again took them by surprise with how close it was. They looked up to the stump and saw… a wide, toothy grin just floating in the air.
"Well. That's not freaky or anything." Timmy snarked.
"Oh, apologies for that." The grin replied. "One moment, please."
Two eyes suddenly dropped and landed just above the grin with a couple dinging sounds. His teeth weirdly played forward like a harmonica being tested.
"Second chorus~." Then a figure actually began to form from thin air, giving the face a head to belong to. As he repeated his song they heard earlier, they took a good look at his appearance.
A bizarre, rather rotund cat with a perpetual grin. The cat's fur was striped purple and pink, a pattern that stopped abruptly at his wrists and ankles. His mouth, hands, feet and the tip of his tail were all a very light pink color, while the fur on his head was ruffled at the top (obscuring his small ears) a solid red-violet. His eyebrows, which were raised, were black, and his eyes were yellow. His nose was a dark rose color, and below it, were six gray whiskers, three on either side of the cat's upper lip, that were oddly off-center from the follicles. His hands and feet both seemed to have opposable thumbs, along with three other fingers or toes, all tipped with black claws. He was standing on his hind legs, apparently wearing a pair of reading glasses as he read a book entitled…
"'Alice in Wonderland'?" Sora looked at the title.
"Quite a familiar tale, isn't it?" The cat seemed to chuckle as he flipped a page. "Imagine, falling down a rabbit hole out of sheer curiosity, then going on a little trip through a mad, mad world only to end up at the receiving end of a Queen's judgment. Definitely an interesting story~. Now, third chorus. 'Twas brillig–"
"Who are you?!" Donald demanded to know, cutting the Cheshire Cat off.
"Who, indeed?" The cat answered the question with another question, not bothered by the royal wizard's temper interrupting him. "Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!"
"Yeah, we already know that part." Spongebob said. "And we know twice as much that it was the Heartless that did it. But we need to get proof in order to clear her name. And it's not like we can just capture a Heartless, right? So how do we manage it?"
"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers–" the mysterious cat introduced himself and answered at the same time, "but doesn't always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness."
That was when the Cheshire Cat began to vanish into thin air once more, singing his little song all the while. He appeared to ignore Sora's plea for him to wait, and completely disappeared.
"They've already left the forest. I won't tell which exit." The Cheshire Cat's voice answered in the air. "There are four pieces of evidence in all. Three are a cinch to find. The fourth is tricky. Big reward if you find them all."
The group waited a moment to listen if the Cheshire Cat had more to add. All they heard were the sounds of birds chirping above them. The group nodded to each other, knowing full well what it was that they had to do next. Donald, all the while, finally got his breath back from exhausting his temper at the cat earlier. All the same, he had his reservations.
"Should we trust him?" He asked, referring to the cat.
Then, appearing right next to him, the Cheshire Cat said, "To trust, or not to trust? I trust you'll decide!"
After Donald quacked in fright, the Cheshire Cat simply chuckled and disappeared once again.
"...I trust he'll be always talking in riddles." Danny snarked.
"Well guys, there's no time to waste!" Spongebob said to his friends. "Let's find that evidence!"
"Right!"
—-
Ever since he was small, Riku had dreamed of going on adventures into other worlds. Into their teen years, he, Sora and Kairi worked hard on that raft, preparing it for travel onto the sea. Oh, how naive they were. How naive he was. Then came that night when it all changed. He wouldn't fear the darkness. Now, here he was.
In another world. In a room of his own. He sat on a standard bed with a brown blanket, staring at a green tile floor. The room around him had dark gray walls, a blue tile ceiling, two large filled bookcases taking up the lower left corner of his room, a desk with a chair at the upper left corner, and a few brown pipes lining the ceiling's corners. On the desk was an open journal with a pen and quill placed to the side, along with a lamp to give him light.
After arriving on this world, he was taken in by the castle's leading occupant, Maleficent. Now, Riku trusted the dark fairy as much as he could throw her. Her and her posse. However, what else was he to do? Not like he had any way to leave. Nor did he have any of the powers that they got.
"...Is she really someone important…?" Riku ended up hearing someone speak outside his room. Not a voice he recognized either. "She looks like a simple young girl."
"Well, apparently Maleficent disagrees." Another voice, somewhat classier than the other one, replied. "So, what I'll need you to do is send someone to retrieve her. Your assistant should be perfect for the job."
"Of course she is." Riku heard the first voice confirm as he began making his way towards the door to check out the conversation. "That being said, it still seems odd to just send her to kidnap a girl whose significance we barely know anything about."
Riku carefully opened the door and peeked outside. Sure enough, down the hall, he saw two people he didn't recognize talking with each other. One was a peculiar man with pale chalky-white "anemic" skin, was bald, and had red eyes. He wore red lipstick and black eyeliner, had yellow teeth, and an abnormally long pointed nose. He wore a long dark gray jacket with three red buttons on each cuff and a red stripe near the bottom trim of the jacket. He had accessories on his person, including a small black bowler hat with a red stripe, a triangular red earring on his right ear, and black gloves. He was holding a bright red cane-like scepter with a red bat statuette on the top of the staff holding a bright ruby-red crystal ball.
The other man looked much fancier in comparison to his conversation partner. He had white hair tied into a ponytail and a matching goatee. However, he had black eyebrows and a pointed nose. He had midnight blue eyes and his eyes were heavily outlined in black. He wore a black suit with a red handkerchief in his left breast pocket and a matching red bolo tie. The suit had three rows of white buttons, a total of six. He also wore a white undershirt and black pointed shoes.
"Her significance is hardly that important to us." The suited man stated. "Besides, whatever Maleficent's end goal for her is, no doubt Calamitous would easily figure that out. And if you're worried about transportation, please try to recall that we have warp portals that we can easily work with. Now, will she do it?"
The chalk-white man nodded, responding, "Yes, of course, Mr. Masters. She can have it done very easily."
"Good. I expect results by the end of the day then."
"Understood."
With that, the chalk-white man began leaving down the hall, and Riku could see a pair of two red, glowing eyes in the darkness before they too faded. Now, the suited man was by himself, dusting something off of his suit. Was he another one of Maleficent's groupies? He didn't look that extravagant…
"And you must be this Riku I've heard about." Riku was taken by surprise when the man addressed him without turning around. "No need to be shy, boy. You know how to greet someone, do you?"
Seeing his cover was practically blown, Riku exited his room and began walking up to the man. This 'Mr. Masters' turned to face him as well, a smirk adorning his face as his hands were held behind his back. Riku couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved by the way he was checking over him. The same feeling he got from the others he met in this castle.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"Vlad Masters, founder and CEO of VladCo, industrial billionaire, currently the ruler of Amity Park, and one of the founding members of the Syndicate. At your service." Vlad greeted the young man. "You don't need to worry about introducing yourself. Maleficent has already mentioned you being here to us."
"Has she now?" Riku figured that she would of course mention him. Probably had plans for him too. "First time I heard about this 'Syndicate' myself."
"Hardly a surprise." Vlad shrugged. "After all, our groups joining together was a more recent event. That said, we've also been told about what happened to your world. Our sincerest condolences."
Vlad then placed a hand on Riku's shoulder, but Riku immediately stepped back, understandably wary. The man seemed to get the hint and kept his hand up in a more calming gesture.
"Apologies. Of course you'd be wary of strangers." He said. "But it's just that you remind me of someone from my own world. He too is hard to trust, if not rather stubborn. But something about you seems to possess more untapped potential."
"Potential?" Riku's brow rose at that.
"Tell me, Riku," Vlad Masters walked around him, "how much has Maleficent told you about the darkness?"
"Not much, yet." The islander watched the adult carefully. "Why, you're saying you could teach me more about it?"
"Mmm… Not strictly about the darkness, no." The billionaire admitted. "But…"
With that, Vlad's eyes began glowing red and one hand glowed purple with spectral energy.
"Who said that darkness was all you had to learn?"