"Whoa..." Sora gasped as he looked around the gummi ship in amazement. His young mind still couldn't believe he was actually here, on a spaceship, with a magician duck and knight dog. He was going to visit new worlds and turned out to be the chosen wielder of a powerful key sword. Despite only getting a few hours of sleep that night, his excitation was too strong to go to bed. Instead, Donald and Goofy had the kindness to make him visit the ship.
"... And that concludes the visit," Goofy announced after showing the new passenger his room. "How'd you find it?"
"This ship is amazing!" Sora beamed. "Thanks a lot for showing me around!"
"My pleasure."
"How about we get a little somethin' to eat, now? I dunno about you guys, but I'm starving!" Donald said. The trio went to the part of the ship that served both as a kitchen and eating room. It had a circular table, a fridge, a stove and a counter where the cooking equipment was stocked. Everything was painted in red and yellow, just like the outside of the ship.
As Donald was busy preparing food at the stove, taking out ingredients and mixing them in a pan, Sora couldn't help but admire the seemingly endless space by a nearby window. "I never knew the universe was so...huge. It's unbelievable. And those stars, they're so beautiful!"
"And you know the best part? Each one of those stars is a world," Goofy informed.
"You serious? There really are that many worlds out there?" Sora asked, leaning over the table.
"Yup! These worlds are all connected to one another, each on having its rules, people, culture, and more!"
"Goofy and I visited many of them with our friends before!" Donald called from the kitchen while flipping pancakes on plates. "Can you guys get the table ready? Food's almost up!"
Sora helped Goofy set up the utensils and cups on the table, even if he insisted he didn't have to as their special guest. With everything up, the trio enjoyed a nice meal of pancakes with cups of milk, courtesy of the duck. "Awww, that hits the spot," Sora sighed as he patted his stomach after finishing his meal. "That was delicious, Donald. Seems like you're a great magician AND cook."
"You'll make me blush," the magician bashfully chuckled. Suddenly, a loud alarm noise caused the trio to jump, Goofy falling off his chair and Donald jumping so high he bumped his head on the ceiling. "What the quack was that?!"
"It's the alarm! Let's go see!" Goofy said after getting back to his feet. The trio rushed back to the cockpit, the two pilots quickly watching screens and pressing buttons on the command board, while Sora looked at something outside the ship. A world floating in space with high trees and castles.
"What's this? A world?"
"Yes! And there's a dark aura emanating from it, according to our radar!" Goofy said in panic.
"Let's go see what's going on there!" Donald grabbed his staff and pressed on a few buttons before looking at Sora with a smile. "Get ready to visit your first world, Sora!"
Moments later, the gummi ship landed, and the trio made sure everything was in place before stepping out. They had landed in a wide open field with clean, green grass and a clear blue sky stretching beyond the horizon. A castle was standing high in the distance, and some trees were visible here and there. But besides that, not much to see.
Sora looked all around, feeling the wind in his spiky hair, and even removed his shoes to feel the grass beneath his feet. "This place... It's so similar to Destiny Islands... Yet, so different, at the same time..."
"Yet, not quite the tropical atmosphere you must be used to," Donald chuckled. "Alright, now, let's see where this dark aura could be coming from. I bet Heartless must be hiding somewhere..."
Before they could look any further, a small, white bunny dashed past them. He wore a red vest, gold-rimmed glasses and carried a golden pocket watch. "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" he panicked.
"Huh, what's wrong?" Sora tried to ask.
"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date. No time to say 'Hello, Goodbye'!" the rabbit replied and kept running.
The trio exchanged confused gazes and decided to hurry after the panicked creature. A few yards further, they reached some strange tree with a tiny door. The bunny hopped through it, leaving the heroes behind. "A tree with a door? That looks like the secret cave back on Destiny Islands," Sora chuckled.
Donald got down on all four and looked inside the tiny door. "There doesn't seem to be anything in there. Where did this bunny got-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as Goofy suddenly sneezed, causing him to stumble and crash into his two friends, falling down into the tree with them.
They all screamed in the middle of their free fall, hoping the floor wasn't too far below. It took a few seconds before Donald hit the rough surface first, followed by his two companions landing on top of him. "Quack!" he exclaimed after the impact.
"That was close! Good thing there was something to break our fall," Goofy sighed, before realizing the 'something' was his companion. "Oh, sorry, Donald," he sheepishly said, as the duck glared at him.
The heroes had landed in a wide, circular room with pictures decorating the walls. Somehow, the fall had lasted so long they could no longer see the ceiling. What they did see, however, was the panicking bunny running up ahead. "Maybe this guy can help us get out of here. Let's try and catch up!"
As Sora and Goofy ran up ahead, Donald got back up and cracked his back. "I'll need to see a doctor after all of this."
Running down the hallway, the trio reached a door. Not just a door, but a door getting inspected by someone - a young girl. "Huh, hello there?" Sora called.
With a gasp, the young girl turned around, and the trio got a better look at her. She seemed to be slightly younger than Sora, with blue eyes and blonde hair held back by a black ribbon tied in a bow. She wore a cerulean, short-sleeved knee-length skirted dress with a matching collar, and a white pinafore apron on top, with a bow tied in the back of her apron. "W-Who are you?" she asked in a scared tone.
"Now, now, don't be afraid. We won't cause ya trouble," Goofy assured.
"Yeah. Looks like we're in trouble already," Donald said with his fists on his hips.
Somehow, the young girl seemed even more afraid. "A-A talking dog?! And a talking duck? How is that possible? And who are you? I've never seen anybody dressed like this before! Are you from a foreign land?"
"I guess you can say that," Sora replied as he scratched his cheek. "But you don't have to fear anything; these guys are my friends. We just followed a strange rabbit down this hole and fell because of Goofy, here present."
The young girl gasped. "You have seen the rabbit, too? So did I! I never saw a talking bunny before, so I wanted to talk with him." She then bowed respectfully. "I forgot to say, my name is Alice."
"Nice to meet you, Alice. I'm Sora; this is Donald Duck and Goofy Goof." They all waved at her throughout the introductions.
"It is good to meet you all," Alice said with a smile. "Sorry for my reaction."
"It is alright," Goofy assured with a chuckle. "So, Alice, you were going to enter that door?"
"Yes; I tried climbing back where I came from, but it's no use," she sadly replied.
"Don't worry; wherever we go, we'll protect you," Sora assured. "Now, stay close to us, and let's open this!" He stepped past Alice and reached for the doorknob to open the door...only to be met with another door. He opened that one...and was met with another door. Exchanged a glance with his friends, he opened the third door, which, thankfully, turned out to be the last one. The entrance was pretty small, but with some struggle, they managed to get inside.
They seemed to be in a living room of some sorts, with a currently-lit stove, a small table, bed and chair, small leather seats, a bookshelf and a big clock. The group of four struggled to fit in this room all together. "Who's the clown who made this place so small?" Donald complained.
"It is you who is too big, duck." Everybody looked down to see a tiny wooden door with a living doorknob talking to them.
"A-A talking doorknob?" Alice said in shock.
"You don't see that every day," Sora mumbled.
The doorknob yawned loudly before looking at them again. "You young people woke me up. So noisy... I'm going back to sleep now."
"No, wait!" Sora called as the living object started dozing off. "We're trying to get out of here. Can you help us?"
With a sigh of annoyance, and understanding he wouldn't nap anytime soon, the doorknob looked at them. "Why don't you drink from the bottles? Over there?"
The four friends noticed that, indeed, two bottles were lying on the table - a blue one and a red one. Deciding to trust his instincts, Sora grabbed the blue bottle. "Huh, I don't know if that's a good idea, Sora," Donald worryingly said.
"We don't have many options, Donald." Sora took a sip from the bottle...and started feeling weird. Suddenly, he changed size, going from a giant to about the size of an ant. "It worked!"
"Wonderful! Let's join him!" Alice happily said.
One by one, the heroes drank from the blue bottle and joined Sora. The room that once felt claustrophobic to them now looked like a whole world on its own. They approached the doorknob again - seeing it was now fast asleep. "Hey! We're small now! Open up!" Goofy called.
Groaning at getting woken up again, the doorknob sighed. "I would... Only, it seems you have forgotten something. The key..."
"The key? What are you talking about-" Donald started...before turning and spotting a huge key on the table, right next to the bottles. "... How did we miss that?"
"Then, that means we have to go back and turn tall again to grab the key?" Alice realized.
"Oh, no! Listen, you big palooka! We don't have time to do a thousand back-and-forth, so you're gonna-" Donald started complaining, but the doorknob once again fell asleep. "Hey! You listen to me!"
Sharing his friend's impatience, Sora mumbled a: "That's it!" before summoning his Keyblade and smacking the tip of it against the door. This caused the doorknob to widen its eyes and actually open the door.
"... Why didn't I think of that?" Donald groaned as he rubbed his face.
"Let's keep going!" Sora exclaimed with enthusiasm as everyone walked inside.
Stepping next to him, Alice gave a long look at Sora's Keyblade. "I don't think I have ever seen a key like this before."
"Yeah, it's no ordinary key; it's called a Keyblade," Sora explained, showing his weapon. "It's a magical tool that can do plenty of stuff, apparently... Like opening doors."
"I don't understand..."
"Me neither," Sora chuckled. "Actually, that's the reason I've left my home and started journeying with Donald and Goofy. This Keyblade chose me, and now, I'll get to travel everywhere and live all sorts of adventures."
"This sounds fascinating," Alice said with a look of admiration. "Back home, I had to listen to all these boring lectures from my sister. I just wished I could leave all of this and go to a place where everything is nonsense, and all adventures are possible."
"Yeah, I don't really like the lectures my friends and I got, back at school. Adventuring is cooler," Sora nodded his head in agreement.
Before long, the group reached the end of the tunnel and came out into what looked like a forest. Donald cast a spell that created a source of light from his staff and carefully led the group forward. They advanced in silence for many seconds before Goofy noticed something. "Hey, isn't that the rabbit we've seen before?"
Indeed, the little figure was easily distinguishable to the heroes, even from afar. "Wait, mister bunny! We just want to talk!" Alice called as they started running after him.
The group ended up coming out into an open zone of the forest. And they weren't alone anymore; the place was occupied by plenty of animals. "W-What's going on, here?" Goofy asked.
"Hey, everyone, look! There are newcomers!" a Dodo bird exclaimed, getting the attention on them. Birds, owls, crabs and rats rushed to them with happy exclamations. Alice and Sora would have probably freaked out seeing talking animals, had they not met some already. "It is always a pleasure to have new players to share our games with!"
"Wait, players? Games? What are you talking about?" Donald asked, placing his fists on his hips and raising an eyebrow.
"We're about to play the Caucus Race!" the Dodo announced, making the other animals cheer. "Why don't you join us?"
"A...Caucus Race? What is this?" Alice asked.
"It's a race where everybody must run in circle as fast as they can!"
"... And?" Goofy asked.
"That's it! That's the game."
"That sounds nonsensical and chaotic... Let's join them!" Sora exclaimed.
"What?" Donald asked, dumbfounded.
"I agree, we should try to play their game," Alice added, Goofy nodding in agreement.
"Are you all crazy or what?" Donald exclaimed, shaking his head in disagreement. "We don't have time to play games with animals lost in a forest; we came here to fight the darkness, in case you forgot!"
"Come on, Donny; there's no harm in having a little fun along the way," Goofy insisted. "Besides, that would help you with your stress."
"I'm not stressed!" Everybody stared at the duck...who ended up sighing in defeat. "Alright, but just a little, okay?"
The travelers, Alice and the animals all took position on the invisible starting line. "Ready... Set... GO!" the Dodo exclaimed. Immediately, everybody started running in circles in the open space. The avians (minus Donald) all had an unfair advantage thanks to their wings - there was also Goofy, who could run faster thanks to his long legs. Alice lifted her skirt to run properly. She and Sora exchanged a glance and actually started laughing after only two circles. Donald was the slowest of the bunch, running with a grumpy look. However, seeing his friends getting ahead of him, the spirit of competition started kicking in, so he also up the ante. Before long, he was actually trying to outrun everybody.
A few circles later, the birds were the first to fall from dizziness. Sora and his friends also did, collapsing on the forest floor while laughing their hearts out. "Man, that was so much fun!" Sora exclaimed, rubbing his forehead. "I will ask my friends to play this, when I return to Destiny Islands!"
"I got butterflies in my stomach!" Alice giggled.
"It reminds me of the time I got in that merry-go-round with Max!" Goofy chuckled. "Was it as bad as you expected, Donald?"
"Okay, I admit; it was pretty fun," Donald concealed as he pulled his beret back on his head. "But we gotta get going now and quickly find those-"
"Heartless!"
"Yes, those Heartless. No need to finish my lines!"
"No; Heartless!" Goofy exclaimed.
Catching the urgency, Sora and Donald sat up to see Shadows pulling out from the floor. They jumped at the animals, who panicked and fled on sight. "That's not good!" Sora mumbled and kicked up, summoning Kingdom Key and placing Alice behind him. "Stay back, Alice, we're in danger!"
Author's note: Sora, Donald and Goofy have reached their first world together; Wonderland. While there will be different worlds and in a different order from canon, that's not to say that the KH1 worlds will be completely absent. Also, as you can see in this chapter, visits to worlds will be different from the game, as I have never been a fan of the way the stories are basically watered down versions of the movies.
Thanks to his Keyblade, Sora was able to solve the doorknob game much faster (why can't we do that in the actual game?). I've also added the Caucus Race scene from the original book that isn't present in the movie. While planning this story, I made research on Alice in Wonderland as a whole and just thought that it'd be the kind of game Sora would like to partake in.
Except for that, I hope you still enjoy this story so far! Don't hesitate to share your opinion, and let's hope that Sora's team can protect the animals from the Heartless!