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Chapter 3: Wonderland and Shadow of Pure Light
The group of six followed the rabbit into a large room with no exits, they saw the rabbit run through a small door. Sora blinked “How did he get so small?
The door opened it’s eyes “No, you’re simply too big,”
Donald exclaimed “It talks?”
Pinkie blinked “Did you know nothing of travelling to other worlds, they have different rules. What’s weird in your might not be elsewhere.” Pinkie winked “When in Rome.” The other five blinked, not knowing what Rome was.
Pinkie then smirked pointing at the table causing it to rise “I think those bottles will shrink us.” After they all took a sip, they shrank down to the size of the rabbit only for Heartless to appear which they quickly cleared out.
They then realised that a bed was blocking the exit, Pinkie drank the other potion to grow large and pushed it into the wall. As she shrunk back down again she saw a few more of those indigo hands but they had long arms attached to them this time.
After they leave the large room they find themselves in what appears to be a courtroom but outside in a hedge garden. They see that rabbit blow trumpet before he announced “Court is now in session?”
They saw a blonde haired girl staring up at the Rabbit “I’m on trial? But why?”
The rabbit ignored her “Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding.” Pinkie, Diane scowled as Laughter frowned. Sora, Donald and Goofy starred forward with concern.
The Queen of Hearts on the highest dais announced “This girl is the culprit. There’s no doubt about it. And the reason is…because I say so, that’s why!”
The girl protests, “That’s so unfair!”
Laughter steps forward “I agree. What she is being charged with.”
The Queen of Hearts shouted “For the crime of assault and attempted theft of my heart.. I declare her guilty as charged!”
Sora charged forward “We know who the real culprit is!”
Diane joined them as she displayed a visual image of a shadowy creature “These creatures are called Heartless and where we come from they steal hearts.”
The Queen of Hearts scowled “You have no evidence of such claims, what reason do I have to…”
Pinkie planted an enormous cake in front of the Queen “A gift. Please allow us time to find clues.”
The Queen smiled at the cake “Very well, find clues while I enjoy my gift.” She then turned to her card guards “Put her in the cage while I eat.” Alice was sealed in a birdcage looking contraption.
Once the group of six leave, Pinkie notices a person that looks exactly like Alice but has the same indigo colour of those hands. Donald frowned at Diane “We are not meant to mention the Heartless.”
Diane frowned “I think most worlds should know about these threats, besides I was vague enough to keep what needed to be hidden, hidden.”
Sora gestured to the exit “We need to find those clues before the Queen changes her mind.”
Once they left they found themselves in a forest where a strange cat appeared out of thin air standing on it’s foot resting on its head before it popped it back on. The cat remarked “Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head, and not guilty of a thing!”
Sora demands “Hey, if you know who the culprit is, tell us!”
The cat maintains a wide grin “The Cheshire Cat had all the answers but doesn’t always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness.” The Cheshire Cat continues“There are four pieces of evidence in all. Three are cinch to find. The fourth is tricky. Big reward if you find them all.”
Goofy asked “Should we trust him?”
Pinkie shook her head “He is a chaotic entity, hard to trust sometimes but it’s the only lead we have. Besides, we are just searching for clues.”
The group of six split up and hunted for clues. Once they collected them all they returned to the Queen and presented their evidence. The Queen demanded they only pick one piece of evidence and after they did she exclaimed “What was that!”
Diane explained as the shadowy image faded “That is a Heartless.”
The Queen roared “Silence! I’m the law here! Article 29: Anyone who defies the Queen is guilty! Seize them at once.” One of the cards lifted Alice’s cage up using a tower with a wheel while the rest of the cards attacked. The group quickly pushed back the cards while destroying the tower.
After it’s destruction the cage fell down revealing that Alice had disappeared, the Queen roared at her card guards “You fools! Find the one who’s behind this! I don’t care how!”
The Alice look alike Pinkie has seen earlier approached as countless indigo arms floated around her “Hello.”
The Queen roared “Seize…”
The Alice look alike pinned the Queen to the wall as well as all of the guard down to the grounds with her indigo arms “I would like to search for Alice alongside you, if you don’t mind?”
Diane glared at her “Who are you?”
Pinkie gave the girl a big hug “This is Alice’s shadow.”
Alice’s Shadow struggled before Pinkie let go, she dusted herself off “Everyone has a shadow as long as they have a hint of light in their hearts. Now most are too dim to do anything but for Pure Hearts filled with only light we can manifest to various degrees. Given that this world is purely born from Alice’s Pure Heart, I can manifest very easily. Without her, this world would eventually crumble.”
Sora looked at the strange girl “Well that’s great but what should we call you?”
Alice’s Shadow did a curtsy “Call me Celia.”
Laughter smiled “Well let's go Celia, let’s find Alice.”
Once they left a rock was ejected by a flower. Then they were soon greeted by the Cheshire Cat, Celia gave a cheeky grin and tapped him with one of her many hands before appearing before him “Boo.”
Goofy asked “Have you seen who took Alice around here?”
The Cat responded “Alice, no. Shadows, yes!”
Donald then shouted “Then tell us where they went!”
The cat continued “This way? That way? Does it matter? Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows! Step deeper into the forest to the deserted garden. You must find shadows in the upside down room!” Using one of the flowers they were able to grow big and move the rock creating a new way upward before eating fruit to shrink back down again.
After that they found some puppies which Pinkie sent back to the Gummi Ship before pressing onward.They soon entered a garden and then a house which led them to enter the same room they shrank in but it was upside down. The Cheshire Cat still grinning told them “They’re hiding somewhere. And the momeraths outgrabe.”
Pinkie and Celia shushed the cat “Too soon!” Everyone else looked at them in confusion as they then fist-bumped.
The cat continued slightly perturbed “Want to find the Shadows. Try turning on the light.” The group went around lighting the various candles in the room. After they did, the Cheshire Cat re-emerged “All the lights are on. You’ll see the shadows too. They’ll arise in this room but somewhere else.”
After they returned to the original version of the room a huge heartless jester appeared. They strike at the creature wearing it down as it shoots fire spells and ignites it’s clubs on the stove. Pinkie’s balloons do massive damage against the creature as did Celia’s hands ripping into it. Celia frowned as she punched the creature “You need to stop babying those three or they will never get to where they need to be.”
Pinkie grimaced “That is fair, maybe if we find a way to go to different worlds instead of together they will not be weakened by our involvement.”
Soon the hulking Heartless fell. Celia looked at the group “I feel the three of you are overshadowing Sora, Donald and Goofy. Diane’s Heartless abilities, the flexibility of Laughter and Pinkie's strange powers. I think the four of us should travel separately so we can go to different worlds only to rejoin if we only have a single world to visit.”
Diane frowned “But we don’t have a way to travel like that.”
Laughter raised an eyebrow. “Well Heartless travel between worlds without ships, maybe we can too.”
Diane and Laughter put their hands together and opened up a black portal. Pinkie waved at Sora, Donald and Goofy “Good luck.”
Sora smiled, “Catch you three later..”
Goofy waved “Thanks for the help.”
Donald just crossed his arms. Sora frowned “I knew them before you and they have been nothing but friendly.” Meanwhile Pinkie, Diane, Laughter and Celia exit through the portal into a strange treehouse.
Author's Note
This chapter was something I had been thinking about for a while, Celia is based on the dark Alice from this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3ny03wibmQ
Pinkie was bouncing through Ponyville, none of the ponies realised her body was on autopilot while she was actually in her own mindscape. A slightly duller pink mare with a flat mane named Diane was frowning at her “Pinkie, Sunset noticed us I’m sure.”
Pinkie giggled “Sunset is not our enemy, she will not reveal our secrets. I’m sure of it.” She then looked towards a metal cage containing a bunch of black goop inside it “She may even get rid of that for us.”
Diane shouted “Pinkie take back control!” Before Pinkie could they slipped through a gap in reality, ending up in a strange looking place. Pinkie and Diane realised they were no longer in the mindscape. Diane and Pinkie saw the black goop disappear, before they could give chase Pinkie caught a blade in her hand. A tall man was trying to pull his blade out of her grip.
The man shouted “Why are you defending a Heartless!”
Pinkie looked over Diane’s shadowy form before scowling at him “Diane is my soul sister and you also let a murderous entity escape. It could literally have gone anywhere by now.”
Diane frowned “Pinkie, let go I’m sure he's reasonable.” Pinkie then dusted off her now bright multi coloured fur with her other hand as she let his sword go. Diane turned to him “Who are you?”
The man put his sword away. “My name is Leon, I was waiting for a few people but you have changed my plans.”
Before either of them they heard an unfamiliar voice “Um, hello. Where am I and who are you?”
They all turn to see an unfamiliar figure that resembles both Pinkie and Diane but with a pale coat colour as well as a strange symbol on her chest. Pinkie jumped at her giving her a big hug “New Friend! I need to throw you a party!”
Diane blinked as a party materialised into existence with a banner that read New friend Party! Diane shook her head “That is new and I am confused about how there is another one of us.”
Leon pondered “Well how a Heartless is formed is that a heart leaves the body by being consumed by darkness becoming a separate entity and it’s possible though some unknown force the body gains separate consciousness from the heart.”
Diane raised an eyebrow “Heart, like the organ in your chest?”
Leon shook his head “Well, more like the metaphorical heart. The source of emotions and feelings.”
Diane frowned “Like a soul.” She then grinned “Come on join in, enjoy a bite of cake.”
Leon shook his head “I can’t, I have work to do.”
Diane rolled her glowing yellow eyes “Pinkie will drag you in if you don’t, I insist. Those you are looking for may join in as well.” Diane proceeded to drag him into the party, Leon watched as Pinkie darted from table to table bringing him more different sweets to sample.
Meanwhile Diane approached the new mare with them “Do you have a name?”
The new mare shook her head “No, I have memories from both of you but they're fuzzy.”
Diane smiled “How about Laughter, I think it fits given who we are.
Laughter smiled “It does sound like a good name.” She then took a bite of the cake “This is great.”
Diane chuckled, “Pinkie is amazing at baking.” She then let out a soft sigh “This is nice, being able to interact with Pinkie like this.”
Laughter And Diane kept to themselves while Pinkie was dragging Leon around. After Leon had sampled everything he shook his head “I am grateful for this little distraction but I must be going.”
Pinkie pouted “But new friend.”
Diane shook her head “Actually could you show me a bit about Heartless? I want to see them.”
Leon crossed his arms “They are dangerous. This is the 1st District which is free of the Heartless, if you want to see them go to the 2nd District. It’s up the two flights to the right, the big wooden door will lead you out.”
Diane moved out first nodding to Leon with Laughter close behind her Pinkie behind then bouncing along “See you later new friend.” Leon shook his head, this was the weirdest thing that he encountered in a while.
Diane, Pinkie and Laughter find the door and as they exit into the 2nd District. Suddenly several Shadow Heartless emerge from the ground and a few knight looking ones materialise. Diane goes on four growing claws as she darts around tearing through her enemies, Laughter still figuring out how to respond uses her flexible body to dodge and weave around their attacks.
Pinkie belly flops across the battlefield sending out massive shockwaves and sending balloons in every direction destroying the Heartless on contact. The trio make their way through District defeating the Heartless along the way. They entered the 3rd District and as they were about to leave they bumped into a spiky haired boy, the boy looked at them “Who are you guys?”
Pinkie bounces over to him “New friend, we need to.”
Diane groans as she walks over putting her hand over Pinkie’s mouth “Pinkie, we need to figure where we are and how to get home. We can’t throw parties for everyone in the town.”
The boy held out his hand “I'm Sora, I’m looking for my friends but I haven’t seen any sign of them.”
Diane shook his hand “Well I haven’t seen anyone except the Heartless.”
Sora raised an eyebrow “Heartless?”
Laughter chimed in “They’re those shadowy things you have probably seen around.”
Sora looked slightly solemn. “Oh, well I guess I should speak to Cid.”
Pinkie bounced up and down “Can we come along, we will make new friends.”
Sora held out his hand “That sounds good.” Pinkie then shook his hand so violently he felt his arm was about to fall off when she was done. The group of four led Sora back to the 1st district. Sora blinked in confusion at one point Pinkie pulled out a banana that shot magical bullets destroying a bunch of Heartless.
They headed into one of the shops in the first District, Sora said to the gruff looking blond haired man behind the desk “I couldn’t find any sign of my friends.”
The blonde haired man standing behind the counter that Pinkie assumed was Cid frowned “Hmm. Maybe you should take another look around town.”
Diane nodded “Maybe Leon will know something, he has been here a while.”
Once they exited the building, Laughter raised an eyebrow “Leon. What are you doing here?”
Leon grimaced “The Heartless will continue to come for him as long as he wields that keyblade. But why would it choose a kid like him?”
Sora challenged “Hey. What’s that supposed to mean?”
Leon shook his head “Never mind.” He then approached “Let’s see that keyblade.”
Sora exclaimed “What? There’s no way you’re getting this!”
Leon lifted his sword “All right, then have it your way.”
Pinkie stepped up “I’ll guide you though the fight, consider this a good learning experience.” Pinkie helped block and dodge Leon’s fire spells as well as counter his strong sword swings after several minutes of combat Sora managed to push back Leon before losing consciousness due to exhaustion.
Leon raised an eyebrow as he steadied himself“Why did you assist him?”
Pinkie smirked, “I think it would help to refine his combat and help him face stronger Heartless in the future.”
Laughter picked him up gently. “Let’s get him some rest, he’s had a rough day.” The group headed to a hotel in the alley connected to the Second District.
Author's Note
This a new story that I hope you enjoy.
If you haven't figured it out
Pinkie is a Dream Eater Spirit variant
Diane is a Heartless Pureblood variant
Laughter is a Nobody
Sora groaned as he woke up only to be knocked over “You’re awake. We met a new friend, I baked a cake and everything!”
Sora opened his eyes to see Pinkie bouncing around the room “What happened?”
Diane frowned “After you lost consciousness from your fight with Leon we brought you here to rest. Pinkie immediately threw a party when she met Yuffie over there which you slept through.”
Laughter giggled “You were quite sleepy, you didn’t even notice the cannon go off.”
Sora saw his keyblade resting against the wall. Laughter looked at the key “The Heartless seem naturally drawn to that key.”
Leon frowned “The Heartless have great fear of the keyblade. As long as you have it they will keep coming after you no matter what.”
Pinkie asked “So why do they attack others?”
Yuffie added “The darkness in people hearts, that’s what attracts them”
Leon then added “There is darkness in every heart?” He then trunks to Diane “Her behaviour is exceptional for a Heartless and I have no explanation for it.”
Diane frowned “Well we must get moving?”
Before another word could be spoken three small armoured heartless materialised in the room. Leon commanded “Yuffie. Go.” Pinkie, Diane jumped out of the window knocking the heartless out of the room alongside Leon while Laughter and Sora headed out of the room.As they arrived together, five shadowy bipeds with claws appeared and started shooting fireballs.
Pinkie’s muscles tensed “Why do those look like Imps?”
Leon gritted his teeth “Those are Shadow Imps but to see five of them in one place. They are far tougher than most Heartless. I can only really take on one.”
Sora eyed one of the other ones, Pinkie nodded “We take one each.” Sora darted around his striking while gaps in it’s defenses opened, Leon clashed with his blow for blow, Diane suplexed hers into the ground, Laughter weaved around the creature disorienting it severely while Pinkie obliterated hers with a banana.
After clearing out the five Shadow Imps, Pinkie frowned “Leon, get your friends out of here. We’ll find our way to the source.”
Leon nodded “Very well.” Sora joined Pinkie, Diane and Laughter and they cleared their way through Heartless. Soon they made their way to the Third District, Diane heard a voice before an explosion and pulled Sora out of the way as a large bipedal dog and shorter bipedal duck landed in front of them.
The two exclaimed “The key!” Before any further discussion a bunch of Heartless attacked, after quickly clearing them out, a huge armoured Heartless fell from the sky at the same time a huge Demonic Heartless that towered even over the armoured Heartless emerged. As it did a golden glow formed over Sora, and the two new additions to their group.
Pinkie glared at the larger Heartless “I’ll handle this one.” The group of five quickly dispatched the armoured Heartless they called the Guard Armour. Pinkie meanwhile pushed against the hulking Heartless, it roared trying to swing at her. It seemed almost angry at her existence. Soon she took the hulking creature down.
The six of them regrouped, Sora asked the two guests “You were looking for me?”
Leon who had joined them “They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the keyblade.”
The taller of the duo added “Why don’t you come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel.”
Sora paused for a moment “I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi.”
The shorter of the duo responded “Of course.”
Leon stepped forward “Sora, Diane, Pinkie and Laughter, you will have a better chance of finding what you are looking for ahead if you go with them.”
Pinkie giggled “Well if we are to be going anywhere, we need to know their names.”
The taller one put his hand forward “Name’s Goofy.”
The smaller one put his hand forward “Donald Duck.”
Sora put his hand in the centre “Sora.”
Pinkie, Diane and Laughter also put their hands as Goofy said “All for One. One for All.” As they threw their hands in the air, they were all smiling with Pinkie’s being the largest.
After they head to the Gummi Garage and board the Gummi Ship, they head off to another world. Diane ruffles Sora’s hair “Now let’s go find your friends, Captain.”
Sora groaned “Stop that.” He then focused “Yes.”
As Sora piloted the ship, Donald frowned at Diane, Pinkie and Laughter “Why should I trust you. How do we know you are not leading Sora down the wrong path?”
Goofy joined them “That’s not fair Donald, they have been nothing but helpful.”
Donald then pointed to Diane “She’s a Heartless, they are our enemies and she’s one of them! Not to mention we have no idea what those other two are!”
Goofy shook his head “We don’t judge someone by what they are but by who they are. Maybe they are an exception to the rule. Come on Donald.”
Soon they arrived at a strange looking world with heart marks on the side of it. The Gummi Ship teleported them into a room where they all floated one and landed on the floor except goofy who hit the floor with a thud. Then a strange looking rabbit in a coat carrying a watch ran by “Oh, my fur and whiskers! I’m late, I’m late, I’m late! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there.”
Pinkie giggled as Diane raised an eyebrow. Sora, Donald and Goofy stared blankly ahead. Laughter interjected “Um is that normal?”
The rabbit continued down the hall shouting “I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” The Queen, she’ll have my head for sure!”
Diane frowned “I don’t know if that’s normal but I don’t like the sound of this Queen already.” As they headed forward through this strange new world, Pinkie saw an indigo hand stretching out from a wall behind them. She then turned forward noting the odd occurrence.
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and some of the additions I made.
The four of them looked around the treehouse. Pinkie bounced around as Diane kept her guard up, Celia was prodding objects with her strange arms while Laughter darted around the higher levels.
Suddenly a leopard leapt at Celia only to be caught by the throat, Celia holding the creature in her hand as she pulled it face closer as it tried to free itself from her surprisingly strong grip “Get lost before I make you into a sweater.” The leopard bolted immediately. A man with a spear then leapt in only to see the tiger running.
The four of them approached the man who said “Sabor, danger.”
Diane frowned “Clearly.”
Pinkie smiled “New friend, we have a new friend.”
The man responded, “New friend.”
Laughter walked over “It seems our new friend isn't very vocal, well maybe he can show us around this place a bit.”
Celia frowned “I think given he lives out here, his vocabulary is limited. “ She then taps herself “Me Celia” she then points to the others in order “That Pinkie, that Diane and that Laughter. We follow you.”
Tarzan taps his chest “Follow.” They followed him outside to see that this cabin was built on the top of a really tall tree. He then leapt downwards into the forest. They followed him downwards, swinging on vines to continue . They eventually made their way into a camp, they entered the main tent. Tarzan said as he entered “Jane”
Jane turned around to stare at three other four who entered into the tent. She turned around “Tarzan.” She looked quizzically at Celia and three anthropomorphic animals “Hello, I see you have brought a fine lady and her animal friends?”
Celia gave a curtsy “I assure you they are not wild animals, they are civilised as the average human. That I can assure you.”
Pinkie pulled out a giant cake out of thin air “Here.”
Jane blinked as Diane sighed “She does this sometimes.”
Laughter giggled “I find it’s easier to go along with the madness, it’s actually quite fun.”
Then they hear a voice “Hmm, some strangers here. They don’t look like they're much help for hunting Gorillas.”
Jane then frowned “My Clayton, we’re studying them, not hunting them. This is research”
Celia raised an eyebrow “Maybe but that’s certainly why he’s here. He is a hunter, here to hunt. I hope you knew that before inviting him.”
Jane rubbed the back of her head as Clayton left the tent “He was the only one who would be willing to come out this far and we do need protection from predators.” She then smiled, “Well then, the more, the merrier.”
They found something strange laying on the floor. Diane frowned “It looks like one of those gummi blocks Sora and the other were collecting. We should hold onto it, it might help them later.”
Jane rubbed the back of her head “Some of these slides we had gone missing, could collect them for us.”
Pinkie smiled “Sure, why not. We might even find something fun.”
Celia nodded “I’ll help.” Laughter shrugged, between the four of them they collected all the slides.
After they had collected the slides, Clayton entered “We have seen no sign of the Gorillas since we have got here. Tarzan has refused to show us where they live.”
Jane protested “Really, Mr Clayton. Tarzan wouldn’t hide--”
Clayton then marched over to Tarzan “Then take us there! Take us to the gorillas. Go-ril-las.”
Celia frowned “Where I come from interfering with animals is a dangerous endeavour. Gorillas will not take kindly to us wandering into their territory.”
Tarzan looked at Jane “Tarzan will see Kerchak.”
Jane looked at him “Tarzan .. are you sure?”
Clayton responded “He must be the leader. Perfect. I’ll go along as an escort.”
Celia shook her head “I will go with him, you are a big burly man with a gun. I have the appearance of a little girl with no weapons, I appear less threatening. You would trigger an immediate attack and I can handle myself, I assure you.”
Clayton follows her and Tarzan outside to protest when Sabor leaps at him only for Celia to catch the leopard by the neck again and toss it “See, I’ll be fine.” Clayton blinks momentarily.
Once arrive at the forest, Celia looked up “You go. I stay here, I trust you.”
Celia after he had not come down, she went up only to see Tarzan alone looking forlorn. Tarzan patted chest “House in tree.”
Celia nodded “Let’s go. The duo headed up to the treehouse, when they arrived they saw Clayton aiming his gun. Celia clicked her finger appearing in front of him and plucked his bullets out of the air. She then dragged Clayton out of the room as Tarzan entered. She dragged him all the way back to the tent.
Everyone looked at him with disdain as Jane shouted “How could you do such a thing!”
Clayton held his hands up “Now, Miss Porter, as I told you, I was not aiming at the Gorilla.”
Jane was having none of it “You are not to go near the Gorillas again!”
Clayton continued “All because of one mishap? Come, now…”
Celia raised an eyebrow “Do you take us for fools? I am insulted that you think that any of us will fall for that.” Clayton left the tent. Celia grumbled “He’s going to do something dumb, we better follow him.” As they were about to leave, they heard a gunshot.
Pinkie’s eyes narrowed “He better not have.”
They leave only to see some monkey Heartless attacking a Gorilla, after clearing them out Diane frowned “Maybe Clayton shot one of those and he might be one now.” He group continued on eliminating Heartless and saving Gorillas. Soon they found Clayton’s pipe in the clearing. They then heard ruckus back from camp. After clearing out some Heartless they find Jane missing.
Tarzan sniffs “Jane near… Near tree house.” The group head up there quickly, they find Jane hiding behind some reeds with a young Gorilla behind some vines. They start attacking the Heartless only to notice they keep coming, after destroying a strange fruit on the tree the Heartless dispersed.
The vines disappeared, Jane frowned. “Clayton came to the tent and that’s the last thing I remember.”
Tarzan responded “Gorillas trapped. Terk ran.”
Celia grimaced “Well let’s help them and stop Clayton.” They soon found Clayton about to shoot a large gorilla and a smaller gorilla. The group jumped on him quickly, overwhelming him, then an invisible heartless burst through the wall which Clayton used as a mount. Despite it’s invisibility it was fairly quick to take out. It then fell on Clayton ending his life.
Celia sighed “Poor fool, too wrapped up in the hunt to see the darkness inside.” As they returned to the camp, they wondered what Sora , Donald and Goofy were up to.
Author's Note
I hope I wrote this chapter well, it was a bit of a tough one.
Donald crossed his arms as they returned to the gummi ship “Good riddance.”
Goofy rubbed the back of his head “Gawrsh Donald, you're acting awful mean. They are our friends aren't they?”
Sora chuckled, “Stop being such a spoilsport Donald, you’d have more fun if you just cooled it.”
Donald shook his head “We have a mission and that is the focus.”
Goofy shook his head “The King wouldn’t want us to be miserable because we spent all our time solely devoted to the mission.”
Donald grumbled to himself before sighing “You right Goofy, can you forgive my foolishness.”
Goofy gave him big hug “Of course, I’m your friend. Do you think a few harsh word words make me abandon ya.”
Sora walked over putting his hand over to them, Donald and Goofy put their hands over him before shouting “Friends forever!” After that they charted a course for their next world,and when they arrived they saw a massive coliseum before them.
Sora looked at the huge place in front of him. “Maybe this will be a good place to grow stronger.”
The figure asked “Good timing. Give me a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there for me. I gotta spruce this place up for the games.”
Sora looked back to the block and then at himself “I think you have confused me for someone else, I can’t push that.”
The guy turned around looking at Sora “You're not Hercules. What are you doing here?” He then hopped off his perch “This here’s the world famous Coliseum-- heroes only! And I got my hands full preparing for the games. So run along pip-squeaks.”
Sora nodded “You are not entirely wrong, I have been travelling with people far stronger than me as I am” remembering Celia’s words he continues “They have been overshadowing me in combat against the enemies I have been facing. Given you have trained someone who can easily push something as heavy as that, I am hoping you could help me grow into a warrior.”
The little guy said “I am busy.”
Donald was about to shout at him when Goofy pulled him back as Sora. “I understand but If I could even get a little bit of training for someone as great as yourself that would be a big help.”
The little guy turned to Sora “I might whip up a bit of quick training for you. There are some barrels in the arena that need breaking. I am Philoctetes but you can call Phil for expedience now go but be quick I don’t have all day.”
After destroying a few sets of barrels across the stage Phil looked over at Sora “You know, you ain’t bad, kid. If your friends are tougher than you, I would like to meet them at some point.”
Sora smiled “Thanks, I’ll see if they want to stop in this world next time we meet. I still have much to learn.”
After a few more rounds of training the group exited the building, a figure with blue flaming hair in a toga appears Donald exclaims “Who are you?”
The figure smirks, “Who I am doesn't matter but I have a gift for you.” He gives them a pass that looks like the Coliseum “Good luck, kid. I’m pulling for ya, little shorty.”
Sora frowned, “I should ask Phil about this.”
Goofy nodded “This is not normal.”
Donald frowned, “That guy was very suspicious.”
Once they entered and showed Phil the pass, Phil frowned “Her how did you get this?”
Sora rubbed the back of his head “Some strange guy gave it to us, we’re not sure as to why.”
Phil sighed “Well this is a pass for the games if you have this I can’t prohibit you from entry but this is serious, I’ll have to up your training before the games. You have a few days while I set things up.”
Donald frowned, “But we have a mission.”
Sora turned to Donald “I have been lagging behind.” He summoned the keyblade “This is a powerful weapon but it can’t be my only source of strength. I have to be stronger than I am now or else one day I might lose and then where we will be.”
Over the next few days Sora did heavier training, lifting heavy boxes and carrying them around. Performing agility trials with heavy weights on his back, after the training Sora was no longer scrawny but had actually built some muscle.
Once they entered the games Sora’s strength increase was clear, the Heartless falling before him like butter. Even a few Imps and a new heartless called a Shadow Knight which reminded Sora of the Heartless Pinkie fought in Traverse Town but smaller.
Phil smirked “You’re not heroes yet but you're not doing bad. Lucky you came to me for coaching.”
Sora smiled, “Maybe one day we will earn that title.”
A strong guy with blond haired man carrying a huge sword and cloak walked past staring at Sora. Sora looked at the man, he was more well built than Sora “He is strong. If we meet in the arena, I want to fight him one on one.”
Donald frowned, “But if you fight him alone, you might lose.”
Sora shook his head “If I lose, then I lose but he is not like the Heartless he is a talented foe who I wish to face one on one. If I can’t beat him alone, how can I save my friends?”
Goofy smiled, “I understand, I know you can do it.”
Once arrived at the final match, Phil declared “This is Cloud, a seasoned Veteran vs Sora, a newbie with a lot of talent. The match starts now!” Cloud drew his sword as Sora summoned his Keyblade.
The two darted around the arena, Sora's keyblade clashing against Cloud’s buster sword. Sora slowly wore him down, landing attacks when Cloud’s guard was down until eventually he overcame Cloud. Sora watched as a huge three headed dog tried to squash Cloud, Sora deflected the beat’s leg with a single strike.
Sora turned to Cloud “You need to get out of here, you’re still hurt from our fight.”
Sora flung an ice spell at one of the heads as he dodged the other, Phil shouted “Get out of there kid, that’s Cerberus. You can’t beat him.”
Goofy and Donald ran over to join him “Together we can!”
Sora nodded “I’ll take the middle head, Donald the right and Goofy the left. Divide and conquer.” Sora slammed into the middle head with his keyblade, Goofy threw his shield at the left head while Donald began shooting fire, blizzard and lightning spells at the right head.
Eventually the humongous creature collapsed, after they returned Phil read them out a piece of paper “Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes and privileges to participate in the games. Further--.”
Donald shouted “Hey! What do you mean “junior heroes.”
Sora shook his head “It means there is much for us to learn.I would like to spend a little more time preparing for future adventures. That Cloud guy would make for a good sparring partner.”
They exit to see Cloud sitting on his own “Are you alright?”
Cloud responded “Yeah.”
Sora frowned “What happened back there anyways?”
Cloud frowned “Hades, the guy with flaming hair tricked me. I was looking for someone and he promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired. I fell into darkness, and couldn’t find the light.”
Sora smiled “Well I'll love to help you find it, besides I could use a good sparring partner. Perhaps we can grow stronger together.”
Cloud held out his hand passing, Sora something “I'll pass.”
Sora smiled, “If you’re sure, I’ll be here for a couple of days if you change your mind.” Sora ,Donald and Goofy returned to the coliseum to continue their training.
Author's Note
I hope I did this world justice. Also Sora's extra training would give him stat wise an extra five base strength.
After their training Sora, Donald and Goofy found themselves travelling to the last world only to find Celia, Pinkie, Diane and Laughter there. Celia grinned “I can already see that you have toughened up without us.”
Sora grinned, “Yeah, we have.”
Diane nodded “We found something that might require your assistance.” They made up the cliff face and found a keyhole. After Sora closed the keyhole, a gummi popped out.
Goofy looked down “It's not the kings.”
Laughter nodded “No but it may give you access to the world the king was sent to or at least get us closer to finding him.”
Pinkie smiled “Well let’s return to Traverse Town and install that gummi.” After they both groups return to Traverse Town they try to find Leon and after the team move from Sora, Donald and Goofy in the alley they find him and his friend Aerith in a secret waterway.
Leon nodded “So you found the keyhole.”
Sora smiled “Thanks to Pinkie, Diane, Celia and Laughter.”
Leon turns to Celia “You’re new.”
Celia curtsied “Yes, I am Alice’s shadow side. I want her to return to Wonderland.”
Leon nodded “Very well, I wish you luck.” He then turned to them “Every world among the stars has a Keyhole and each one leads to the heart of that world. There must be one in this town as well.”
Diane raised an eyebrow “Where did you get this information?”
Aerith added “In Ansem’s report, for those who don’t know he was a wise man who studied hearts.”
Leon frowned “The Heartless enter through the Keyhole and do something to the world’s core.”
Sora frowned “Such as infecting the world’s heart with darkness which leads the world to fall into darkness such as they did in my world. If I seal the keyhole they can’t do that anymore?”
Leon nodded “That is an astute observation, we just thought they disappeared but that makes more sense. Your keyblade is the only tool that can do that.”
Aerith asked “Please lock the keyholes?”
Sora grinned “Will do, let's go guys. We got Keyholes to seal and friends to find!”
Goofy shook his head “Gawrsh, Sora you forgot something?”
Sora turned around “Oh right, yeah. We found this, it's a gummi block but it’s different from the others. Do you know what it does?”
Leon paused for a moment, Aerith smiled “Ask Cid. He should know more.”
Leon hands them a stone. “This might help you in your journey, it has been a good luck charm of mine.”
Sora smiled “Thanks, but we got to go.” The group of seven then headed off.
Aerith turned to Leon “I think He wields the keyblade well.”
Leon nodded “He has certainly exceeded expectations.”
They made their way to Cid's shop in the First District. Cid asked as they approached “What’ve you got there?” Then as they got closer he acknowledged “Hey! Well if it ain't a gummi block.”
Goofy asked, “What’s this one for?”
Cid exclaimed “You’re kiddin’ me! You’re flyin’ a gummi ship and you don’t know nothin’ about navigational gummies?”
Pinkie paused “Does that mean they help the gummi ship go to new worlds?”
Cid nodded “That is correct.” Cid then smirked “I guess, I could lend y’all a hand, then.”
Sora smiled back “Thanks. I can install this onto your ship so you head to new worlds. But I got this I need to deliver first.”
Laughter asked “What is it you need to deliver?”
Cid responded “Just this book. It’s real old. When the guy brought it in, it was practically falling apart. Too beat up to restore it to the way it was. But overall, I did a decent job puttin’ it back together. Anyway, you mind delivering it for me.”\
Sora smiled “Of course, you upgrading our gummi ship is a big favour. We can do this, no problem. Besides, we do need to find this world's keyhole.”
Cid nodded “It’s the old house past the Third District. Look for a big fire sign.”
They then heard a loud bell ringing, Pinkie looked around “Is that a party bell.”
Cid shook his head “No The bell at the Gizmo shop is ringing. Go check it out if you want but deliver that book first. When you’re done, stop by the house in the Third District. I’ll be there.”
The group headed to the Third District, as they cleared through Heartless Pinkie smiled “Hope whoever we meet is fun.”
Laughter smiled back “I hope so too.”
Once they arrived Diane knocked on the door, then tried to push it open. Sora frowned “I have an idea but you want to be away from the door.” He shot a blast of fire magic which caused the door to open. Once they entered they saw a strange looking house in the middle of the lake.
Celia once they all crossed over a bunch of magical stepping stones and raised an eyebrow at the boarded up door “Where’s the entrance.”
The rest of the group heard Goofy call out “Over here.”
They entered through a hole in the wall covered by a green cloth. They entered what appeared to be an empty room only to see Sora stare off into space for a moment, Sora then said “Kairi.”
Diane raised an eyebrow, Celia frowned and Laughter looked confused while Pinkie saw something before nodding. Goofy called out “Sora?”
A man in blue wizard robes and a blue hat with a long white beard entered “Well, well. You’ve arrived sooner than I expected?”
Sora blinked “You knew we were coming?”
The wizard nodded “Of course.”
Diane frowned “He is emitting a lot of magic from his heart, he is a wizard and a very powerful one at that.”
The Wizard smiled “Astute observation, I never expected to see a friendly Heartless in my home. I know it seems a bit bare but I spend much of my time travelling.” He turn to Donald and Goofy “Your king has requested my help.”
Goofy asked “King Mickey?”
The Wizard responded “Yes indeed. Donald, Goofy and who are your friends?”
Sora smiled, “I’m Sora.”
Pinkie popped out of his hat “I’m Pinkie.”
Celia curtsied “I’m Celia, and Diane and Laughter are behind me.”
Merlin smiled, “You have some interesting friends and the key as well.”
Donald asked “What did the king ask you to do?”
The wizard responded “Ah, forgive me. I am Merlin and I will explain in a moment.” Merlin put his bag down and after he waved his arms “Presto.” The bag opened as furniture and other household items flew out of the bag growing larger as the wizard weaved his magic.
Merlin explained “Your king asked me to train you in the art of magic. We can start anytime you like. Let me know why you’re ready to start the training. Oh, and one more thing.”
They watched as a woman materialised near a tiny pumpkin carriage “Hello. I’m the Fairy Godmother. Your king asked me to help, too. I will assist throughout your journey.”
Merlin then added “I do not know how much I can be of help, but do stop by anytime.”
Sora then held out the book “I believe this is yours.”
Merlin looked at it “Oh, so Cid asked you to bring this. Thank you. You wish to know what kind of book it is? I don’t even know, myself. In fact, it’s not mine. Somehow it found its way into my bag one day. It was such a curious book, I asked Cid to repair it for me. Well, I guess I’ll put it here somewhere, for now. This book holds a great secret. The missing pages will unlock it.”
Merlin gestured to an empty table “I will leave the book over there. Do look at it whenever you like. My best regards to Cid for repairing it for me. Oh, and about that stone of yours.. You should ask the Fairy Godmother about that.”
Pinkie dozed off the conversation being too wordy and long winded, Diane was listening alongside Celia while Laughter was following Pinkie into dreamland.
Pinkie was woken up by Diane “Sora is down with the book, only he can enter it so we thought to let you two rest. We have to go.”
Merlin frowned, “I feel my explanation of magic is important.”
Pinkie shrugged “Magic and the complexities are based on how one learns to focus, given most of my magic is passive and the rest of it is strange and often acts more on my whims, which means those lessons don’t help me much.”
Celia curtsied “Thank you for the lessons.”
As they left Donald pointed forward “Back to Cid.” As they left the area, a few Heartless turned up. Only for a taller boy than Sora with silver hair to cut the Heartless apart using a dark blade. The boy smirked “There you are. What’s going on?”
Sora walked over to him in astonishment, “Riku.” He then sticks his finger in his mouth pulling on his face.
Riku rebukes him “Hey, hey. Cut it out.”
Sora looked up and down at him “I’m not dreaming this time, right?”
Riku joked “I hope not. Took forever to find you.”
Sora's eyes lit up “Riku!” Sora then asked as the group followed Riku a bit “Where’s Kairi?”
Riku responded “Isn’t she with you?”
Sora looked down “No.”
Pinkie frowned “We haven’t seen any sign of her, we have been roaming different worlds to him but no sign.”
Riku added “Well, don’t worry. I’m sure she made it off the island, too. We’re finally free. Hey, she might be looking for us now. We’ll all be together again soon. Don't worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this ---”
Riku heard the sound of a Heartless dissolving and turned around to see Sora smiling as he held out his keyblade behind him “Leave it to who?”
Riku asked “Sora, what did you--”
Sora continued “I have been looking for you and Kairi, too, with their help” gesturing to Pinkie, Diane, Laughter and Celia then to Donald and Goofy.
Riku raised an eyebrow “Who are they?”
Sora smiled “That’s Pinkie, Diane, Laughter and new addition to their group Celia. While these are Donald and Goofy, they joined me shortly after Pinkie, Diane and Laughter did.”
Donald announced “I’m a royal mage for King Mickey’s court.”
Goofy added “And I’m a Royal Guard.”
Pinkie grinned, pulling in Diane and Laughter “We are three aspects of a single individual who have all become our own people.”
Celia curtsied “I’m Celia, the Shadow of Alice the Princess of Heart from Wonderland. It's a pleasure.”
Sora smiled “With their help, we’ve travelled looking for any sign of you.”
Riku questioned “Really? Well, what do you know? I never would have guessed.”
Goofy added “Oh, and guess what? Sora’s the keyblade master.”
Sora frowned “I’m not a master, a wielder at best. If anything, I am an apprentice of the keyblade. It is guiding me, helping me grow. Maybe one day I will earn it’s strength and be able to fight without it.”
Riku then comments “So this is called a keyblade.”
Sora's eyes widened in surprise “So you can wield it too!”
Riku nodded with a smirk as he returned it to Sora “Evidently.”
Goofy smiled, “It would be good to have some extra help.” He then gave a look towards Donald.
Donald shouted “I’m not going cause a ruckus Goofy, you can stop giving me that look.”
Riku grinned “Well, it seems you have a fun crew.” He then looked at Sora “You look tougher.”
Sora crossed his arms “After spending some time as a larger group, I realised I was becoming too reliant on them” He gestured to Pinkie’s group “I devoted some time to be strong enough to handle myself. I am no use to you or Kairi, dead or Heartless.”
Once the group no with Riku in tow returned to Cid, Cid asked “Have you guys ever heard of Maleficent? I hear she’s in town.”
Riku commented “Yeah, I have. She was the first person I met, she didn’t seem bad.”
Leon turned to him “She’s the reason this town is full of Heartless, Heartless steal hearts and have been attacking Sora since he got here. Don’t take her lightly.”
Aerith added “She’s been using the Heartless for years, she is also good at manipulation. It would be unwise to trust her words.”
Riku frowned, slightly sceptical. Cid added “You don’t have to believe us, just keep an open eye and an open mind. You’re a smart kid, just keep your eyes open.”
Cid then turned to Sora “So, you delivered that book? That navigation gummi’s installed and ready to go. You find another one, you bring it to me. I threw in a warp gummi for the heck of it. Now you can jump to world’s you’ve been to before. Well, better get back to my real job. If you want to know more about my real job, meet me at the First District.”
Riku frowned “So are we going to get going?”
Sora shook his head “We are going to seal this world's keyhole first, might make less Heartless turn up here. I doubt Kairi would appreciate abandoning everyone here in the world we visit just to save her a bit faster.”
Riku sighed “You’re right, we’ll do this as quickly as we can.”
Aerith then mentioned a legend about the bell in the Second District, Pinkie shrugged “Maybe that’s the keyhole location.”
Riku nodded, “Well let’s do this quick.” The large group made their way to the bell by eliminating the Heartless both around and in Gizmo’s shop. After Sora, Donald and Goofy break a hole in a wall, they find the bell and ring it.after nothing happens and an image on water fountain changes, after a few more bell rings it reveals the keyhole.
As they approached the keyhole Pinkie frowned “Another Guard Armour?”
Sora raised an eyebrow as they attacked “Guard Armour?”
Pinkie shrugged, “It’s in Jiminy’s journal.”
Upon releasing the number of opponents, the Guard Armour instantly reversed becoming Opposite Armour. Despite it’s minor increase in power, it was quickly wiped out, Sora, Donald and Riku gained access to a new spell, Aero. After stealing it they acquired another N-Gummi piece. Sora grinned “These Gummi Pieces help access new worlds, we are more likely to find Kairi if we collect more of these so sealing all the keyholes will help.”
Riku crossed his arms “I see your point, let’s keep going.”
Celia smiled “Well I think it's time for us to split, Riku take care and keep an eye on these guys for me.”
Riku raised an eyebrow at her as she left alongside the Pinkie trio. Meanwhile Maleficent was watching, uncertain when a shadowy object slunk up and took a form similar to Pinkie’s “I believe I may assist you.”
Maleficent inquired “Why should I not just obliterate you on the spot?”
The mare cackled “Because I know a lot about those other three who are bothering you and I have a vested interest in bringing them down.”
Maleficent raised an eyebrow “Who are you?’
The mare gave an evil look “My name is Cupcakes.”
Author's Note
I hope you enjoy this chapter, I do have plans for Cupcakes too.