Chapter 16: Mysterious Tower: Heartless and Sorcery

"Be on guard, there's someone at the door already." Toshiro said to the others, hand reaching up for Hyorinmaru's hilt.

"Right." Sora nodded, hand clenched at his side to summon the Keyblade at a moment's notice.

Donald and Goofy seemed to be weaponless, but he remembered them having weapons before. Could they summon those the way Sora summoned his Keyblade? Interesting.

There was a flash of light behind them and as they turned to look they saw the train vanish in specks of light.

"There goes our ride." Sora laughed nervously.

"Then our only option is to move forward." Hitsugaya sighed and started the group moving again.

As they got closer, Toshiro realized it was some kind of animal character as well, though what kind he couldn't tell until he saw his face. His outfit was strange, mostly black with a bit of blue on the belts and red on top. His fur was black, which made the ice Captain wonder if it was a dog. He seemed to be listening in on whatever was happening inside.

They reached the foot of the stairs, unnoticed by the creature at the door.

"What's going on?" Donald asked, hoping it was a friendly unit.

The creature gave an evil laugh and Toshiro had little hope it was friendly.

"I sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this here tower's as big and tough as they say." He replied, not turning to look at them. He was wide open, tempting Toshiro to just attack and get it over with, but he needed information. "Word is, he's a real powerful sorcerer. Which would make him the perfect bodyguard for me." He laughed again. "See, it don't matter how tough he is – once he's a Heartless, he'll do as I say!"

"A Heartless?" Toshiro demanded, noticing the three next to him take a fighting stance. Yes, he was obviously a bad guy.

"That's right. They're those things that come outta the darkness in folk's hearts. Why, with all those Heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent is gonna conquer everything!"

"Who's Maleficent?" Toshiro turned to Sora.

"Not a problem." Sora replied to him with a grin before turning back to the creature, who was going on about repaying some kind of debt by going around to different worlds and gathering powerful Heartless.

"Why am I talkin' to you pipsqueaks anyway?" The creature could have sworn it got colder and Sora glanced at Toshiro. "Go on, scram. I'm behind schedule as it is."

"You should find something nicer to do." Goofy suggested. Sora and Toshiro both gave him an 'are you kidding me?' look.

"Says who?" The creature growled and finally turned, revealing himself to actually be a portly cat of sorts rather than the dog he believed him to be from behind.

Upon seeing them there, the cat's face lit up in shock.

"It's you!" He growled, pointing to Donald and Goofy, who also looked startled.

"Pete?!" They said at once. Toshiro and Sora shared a glance, wondering how they knew this animal.

"What are you two nimrods doing here?!" Pete snarled angrily at them.

"What are you doing here?" Donald replied snappily, stomping one of his webbed feet.

"You know him?" Toshiro questioned the animals.

They nodded.

"We sure do." Goofy answered. "Pete's been causing trouble for ages. His Majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago."

"Then how did he escape?" The ice Captain turned to the fat cat.

"Ha ha!" Pete sneered. "You wanna know how, eh? Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how!"

"I thought you said she wasn't a problem." Toshiro turned once more to Sora.

"Not anymore." Sora shrugged.

Realizing he was being ignored, Pete stomped his feet angrily.

"You just wait until Maleficent gets here, pipsqueaks!"

"She can't." Sora grinned. "She's toast!"

Pete's mouth dropped open in surprise as he absorbed that bit of information, Sora and his companions snickering while Toshiro just sighed. Shouldn't they be heading into the tower to help the sorcerer inside, considering Pete sent Heartless in there?

"You!" Pete pointed accusingly at Sora. "So you're the ones that did it!

"Well…" Sora put his hand behind his head. "We might have had something to do with it."

"I didn't." Toshiro cut in.

Ignoring the white haired child, Pete growled.

"Heartless Squad! Round up!" He shouted out.

Toshiro was the first to draw his weapon, Sora quickly following suit. Small shadows appeared on the ground before rising up to reveal small black forms. They had large, curly antennae and big yellow eyes, much like a Hollow's eyes. They had a similar Spiritual Pressure to one as well.

"Hehe, that blade won't help you, kid." Pete jeered. "If you even know how to use it."

"I assure you, I can use it." Toshiro snapped back. "And it will work."

To prove this, Toshiro darted towards the nearest Heartless and ran his blade through it before swinging upward, killing the tiny creature. It vanished into blue spirit particles just like a Hollow.

However, when he glanced at Sora and saw him destroy a Heartless with his Keyblade, the creature instead dissipated into shadows, a bright pink heart full of pure Spirit Energy lifting from the shadows and vanishing into the sky.

'So what happens to the Heartless I kill?' He wondered, striking down two more.

'We shall have to look into it, but not now. Worry about getting rid of the ones here first.' Hyorinmaru responded.

The small squad was relatively easy to kill with Toshiro's quickness and Sora's experience with the creatures, as well as Donald and Goofy's abilities.

"But, how?" Pete gaped. "That sword shouldn't be able to do nothin' to the Heartless!"

"Instead of looking surprised you should be looking for an escape." Toshiro replied and spun the chain-blade, noticing with some amusement that Pete's shock increased at the sudden change.

Quickly wiping away his surprise, Pete stomped the ground angrily.

"You just wait!" He snarled. "Nobody, and I do mean nobody, messes with the-Ah!"

Though large, Pete was surprisingly quick as he jumped out of the way of the chain-blade thrown at him. He was not, however, very well balanced and fell onto his stomach, scrambling to stand back up. Toshiro pulled the blade back to him.

"You talk too much." He sighed.

"I wonder who lives in this tower." Sora questioned, having left Toshiro to deal with Pete. The white haired Captain glanced angrily at the brunette for being so carefree.

"Oh, ya don't know, eh?" Pete smirked, finally finding something to give him the upper hand. He watched the chain-blade in Toshiro's hand carefully. "Well it's old Yen Sid. 'Course he's probably a Heartless by now!"

"Master Yen Sid lives here?!" Donald exclaimed in surprise, catching their attention.

The white duck quickly turned to the door and ran inside, only stopping to push open the heavy door. Toshiro wondered if anyone on these worlds had common sense. They had an enemy standing before them and they run off to some old wizard? He turned back to Pete.

"Yen Sid is the King's teacher." Goofy said behind him. Now there was something interesting.

"Wow, sounds powerful." Sora exclaimed.

Toshiro heard the two run after Donald behind him and scowled, not believing that they would let an enemy go so easily like that.

'How much harm can this cat do, honestly?' Hyorinmaru suggested. 'He has barely any power to speak of and this wizard may have an answer to getting you home.'

'You seriously expect me to let him go?' Toshiro complained.

'With his master, Maleficent, dead, he probably has no way of doing anything overly destructive. The worst he can do is roll over you.'

'Still…'

'This might be your only chance on finding a way home.'

Sighing audibly, Toshiro turned form his inner conversation to see Pete looking towards the door where Sora and the others had run through, looking forgotten, which he was. Toshiro ran through the doors with Flash Step before Pete turned back.

Mentally cursing the Keybearer and his friends, Pete turned back to the only one still there, only to find the strange white haired child had vanished as well.

"What!? Where did he go!?"

After stepping inside the tower, Toshiro saw Goofy vanish into a bright portal just a little ways up the stairs.

"Well…it is a wizard's tower." He sighed and followed after them.

Upon moving through the portal, Toshiro found himself in a much larger tower with no bottom or top. The stairs he was on curved to the right up to a blue door with a golden star on it. Donald and Goofy were stepping into the room while Sora held the door open. The brunette caught sight of Toshiro, having been waiting for him, and waved the white haired Captain over. With a quick Flash Step he was at the Keybearer's side in seconds.

"Whoa!" Sora said, jumping in surprise. "How did you do that?"

"Flash Step. Most Soul Reapers can use it, some faster than others." Toshiro explained while stepping into the room, Sora closing the door behind them.

"Cool! That would be useful to use."

"I don't think you can learn it."

"What? Why not?"

"No human has ever learned it, it's not possible."

The brunette frowned and looked about to argue back when he was cut off by more Heartless popping up from the ground. It was nearly impossible to sense these things due to how they appeared out of nowhere. Toshiro couldn't sense them until they were right at his feet ready to strike. The group was relatively easy to kill just using basic sword skills. He figured the Heartless got stronger but for now even the lowest Soul Reaper could kill these things.

"Guess we go up." Sora said, turning to the green door with an arrow that pointed up pulsating with light.

"And here I thought we go back down." Toshiro replied while walking towards the door. He kept Hyorinmaru unsheathed, knowing the Heartless could pop up at any time. "I'm sure Pete would like the company."

"I seriously can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not." He heard Sora complain.

"You'll figure it out eventually."

"Somehow I doubt that." Donald grumbled.

The trio followed after their Soul Reaper companion onto a longer, green set of stairs, this one curving up to the left to a green door with a moon on it this time. Once in the small room they were once more ambushed by Heartless.

"How many Heartless did Pete say he sent?" Toshiro questioned to no one in general.

"I don't think he said how many." Goofy replied.

"If he had this many why didn't he send them earlier?"

"Because they're all in here trying to get to Master Yen Sid of course." Donald snapped at the boy.

"I know." Toshiro growled back before killing off three of the Heartless. There was a new kind now, a little more durable. They stood about three foot with an armored helmet and thick red claws, main body dark blue.

After all the shadowy creatures were dead, the trio took a moment to rest while Toshiro went to the door, peeking out for signs of any more Heartless. He was getting tired of the beasts and wanted to see this powerful wizard Donald and Goofy kept mentioning.

"Heartless, Heartless, Heartless!" Donald grumbled. "Things haven't changed one bit!"

"Well it's a good thing we're on the job then." Goofy attempted a grin to lighten the duck's mood.

"So, the worlds aren't at peace after all?" Sora sighed, depressed.

"Did you really expect them to be?" Toshiro snorted. "My world may not have Heartless, but we have our fair share of problems. There is no peace, only rests."

"Yeah…guess so."

"Come on."

Toshiro let the trio take the lead, unsure how to greet the old wizard and deciding to follow Donald and Goofy's example. Whether they saluted or bowed, he'd make sure to keep his manners and follow suit, especially if he wanted to earn information on how to get home. If all went well he might be home before Momo and Rangiku worried about him, and before the latter destroyed the office.

It was while dreading the amount of paperwork he'd have to do that he walked up the straight orange stairs and into the office of Master Yen Sid.

The discussion with Yen Sid come next chapter, hehe, this one was introducing Pete and the Heartless and all that. Yen Sid will explain a few more things about the relation between the Keyblades and the zanpaktou, as well as mention more about this mysterious Soul Reaper who came before and knows Toshiro ;) Enjoy!