They stared at the sign intently. 'Complete your task within the time allotted.' Whatever that meant.

The group was standing upon a large square platform with only the sign in the middle. As of yet nothing happened.

"Are we supposed to-?" Sora cut off as he touched the sign, causing it to vanish. In the dust their task was spelled out. Defeat the enemies in two minutes as the floors progressively disappear.

"Easy!" Aladdin held aloft his blade, turning as the first few Heartless approached them.

Still in Shikai, Toshiro simply brought an ice dragon to him and had it take out the competition. The floor beneath them glowed and they slowly fell to the next.

This one had fire-breathers, though, which caused some trouble for the Ice Captain. They caught him off guard and as a result burned his left arm. He bit his lip at the painful sting but didn't let it bother him too badly, Flash Stepping behind one of them and cutting it down quickly. The other was knocked off its feet by Aladdin and swept upwards where Sora launched it off the platform with a hit heavy enough to kill it as it flew. The Keybearer had improved a lot over these last few days.

Donald was about to cast a Cure spell but the floor vanished from underneath him, knocking out his concentration. They could already see more of the Heartless below on the next floor. Thinking ahead, Toshiro looked past the pain in his arm and threw the chain-blade downward, ensnaring the problem Heartless, another fire-breather.

"Way of Destruction Number Eleven, Bound Lightning!" A golden bolt of lightning raced from his hand through the chain and practically vaporized the target.

"Donald!" Sora called out and activated his new form, the magic based one, causing Donald to disappear as he merged with Sora.

He propelled himself all the way down with magic and shot out several magic bolts in quick succession just as the others landed.

With Sora's Wisdom Form, Aladdin's speed and Toshiro's ice, it was fairly easy to defeat all the enemies, finishing on a floor with a golden elephant at each of the four points. Goofy gave the Ice Captain a potion that worked the same as Donald's Cure, healing the burn on his arm.

The trial over, everyone took a moment to relax. Sora reverted out of his form so Donald could join them and Toshiro sealed his zanpaktou, sheathing it for now as they rested.

"Man, this quest has been great." Aladdin laughed a bit. "I miss this kinda action."

"Just wait until Jasmine finds out." Sora teased.

"You wouldn't…"

The Keybearer laughed at the thief's expression.

"This isn't time to play around, we've gotta get that lamp!" Iago snapped, flying around to each of them, excluding Toshiro as the Reaper was ahead of them, glancing at the sign up the stairs.

"We know, jeez." Aladdin huffed, standing back up and walking over to read the same sign Hitsugaya was reading. "'Victor of the trials, you have great strength.' Wasn't much of a challenge, anyway."

"To some it might be." Toshiro shrugged. "I doubt this place expected people like us."

"True."

The door leading further in was locked, proven when Sora and Goofy attempted to push it open. Seeing as that didn't work, Donald copied Sora's earlier move and touched the sign.

Sure enough, the doors opened.

"Well…that's one way." The Keybearer mused.

Iago had a good feeling about this room and dashed inside, the others following at a slower pace to observe and conserve energy. It was completely covered in gold, piles of it around the walls with tons of gems gleaming amid the gold, bright colors among the yellow. It was stunning, for sure, and a decent boon for any pirate willing to fight their way here.

"There." Aladdin pointed to one piece standing alone near the back. "That one should do it."

The chosen prize looked to be a large golden trophy, multiple huge gems attached to it. Well, it was a treasure fit for a sultan, that was for sure. Did they really want to give this to a peddler? Toshiro guessed that, for such a prize, the need for that lamp was big. Jafar must have been seriously evil to drive them so far.

Donald was of course the first to run over. His love for treasure became rather obvious in that moment.

"Oh boy! It's perfect!" The duck nodded appreciatively. "That guy's gonna like this."

"Sure does look valuable." Sora agreed.

He felt sudden movement beside him and looked to see Toshiro glaring back towards the entrance, hand on his sword. That meant trouble. The Reaper's senses were never off.

"Great!" Aladdin replied to Sora's comment, unaware of this silent signal of danger. "Now we need to get the lamp. We have to keep Jafar bottled up or he'll destroy Agrabah." The thief finally noticed how Sora and Toshiro were both tense, Goofy catching on and lifting his shield, searching for enemies. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"We're being watched." Toshiro replied, sword now drawn and Hyorinmaru growling. "Pete found us."

"Curse that Pete." Donald grumbled, brandishing his staff.

They heard the slightest hint of someone snapping their fingers before the room grew dark, only a small circle of light around them. Anything outside of their circle was now invisible to them, completely masked even from the Soul Reaper. From this darkness came multiple Heartless, bell-like magic users and small fiery creatures in great number.

"Why does this always happen?" Donald sighed.

"Just stay focused." Hitsugaya snapped.

Even though they were weaker Heartless, there were a lot of them in a small space, and big attacks could cause problems. Speed and quick reflexes would be their saving grace here, and Goofy's boomerang shield. He used this quickly, spinning in quick circles and cutting through several of the creatures with the sharp edges of his shield. Donald used ice against the fiery Heartless to hopefully get rid of those.

"Let's go, Sora!" Aladdin said to the Keybearer. Sora grinned and they launched forward at the mass of small Heartless with surprising speed. Confused, the Heartless hardly stood a chance.

Either Pete or the Heartless were getting smarter as Toshiro noticed only the fire kind approaching him. They were easy to kill but the numbers were becoming bothersome, and despite his earlier show of talent, he was nearing the last of his energy. With Pete around there was sure to be more trouble so he couldn't waste it on small fry. This world brought him to a severe disadvantage and he was having trouble finding a way to overcome his handicap.

He cut down the last of the Heartless near him while Sora and the others eradicated the rest. They assumed they were done and let their guards down.

Fire slammed into the Ice Captain's back, knocking him away.

"Toshiro!" Sora kneeled down next to the stunned Reaper. Toshiro didn't reply at first, his head screaming at him from the pain of the burns.

How had he not sensed that Heartless? Pushing aside the pain he looked up to see one of the fire-breathers only half out of the darkness, walking all the way in as he watched. So that's how. A back attack from the shadows while he couldn't sense them. These creatures were smarter than he'd first thought. That wasn't all as three more came inside.

The pain subsided as a Cure spell was cast over him, though the fatigue remained, as did the headache. Though fully healed Toshiro was still too dazed from the initial attack to stand and fight. Sora and Aladdin took lead.

"Goofy, knock 'em off balance." Sora ordered, trying to think what Toshiro would do in this situation. They had to keep the Ice Captain away from the fire-breathers.

"Can do!" Working himself up, Goofy spun himself and slammed into the four Heartless.

They fell back and the sword wielders shot forward, jumping over the downed creatures before slicing them heavily across the back, Aladdin doing so several times as he knew his blade couldn't cut as deep as the magic-enhanced Keyblade. That was two down, two to go. The latter were standing back up.

"Blizzara!" Donald used his higher level ice spell to wound one of them, Sora getting in behind to finish it off. It turned partly and his attack didn't penetrate deep enough, allowing the Heartless to toss the boy back into the middle with a few scratches on his arms.

"Man I hate the fat ones." Sora grunted, on his feet again. With Toshiro badly hurt from the burns he couldn't let a few scratches hinder him. Aladdin was in rough shape as well as he backed away from the other Heartless to avoid getting killed.

A chain-blade shot past the Keybearer and latched onto one of the fire-breathers.

"I can't freeze it, I don't have the energy." Toshiro panted as Sora turned to look at him. "Hit it while it's trapped."

"Okay!"

With a burst of speed, Sora found himself behind the creature and hit it in the back as hard as he could. Having seen this, Toshiro's eyes widened somewhat.

'Was that…Flash Step?' He brought the chain-blade back to him and let it vanish. 'It was still slow compared to most…but for a human to be able to Flash Step…his Spirit Energy has increased a lot since Land of Dragons.'

'Being in your presence constantly has most likely helped it rise quicker.' Hyorinmaru noted. 'Donald and Goofy's as well. Their attacks are stronger.'

'I wasn't sure that was possible…I suppose it's a good thing, though. The Heartless won't be as troublesome.' He turned to glare at the final fire-breather. 'Except these damn fire breeds.'

'They're only troublesome because of how weakened you became in the heat. Otherwise we'd have killed them off easily.'

Aladdin skirted around the fist of the Heartless and tripped it up in a familiar move, kicking it into the air as he had before and letting Sora finish it off with two quick strikes. Finally they were done, the darkness vanishing around them. The room became clear once more.

"Pete probably overheard us." Donald grumbled. "He'll go after the lamp!"

"Then we better get there first." Aladdin nodded. "Forget the treasure, if we save the peddler from the guy who brought those Heartless, he'll have to give us the lamp."

"He damn well better." Toshiro growled, standing and heading back towards the stairs.

"Sorry for the trouble…"

"It's not your fault. Pete's presence changed everything, as he usually does, and it's about time I finished him off."

The others shivered at his tone. Sure, Pete was a nuisance, but death seemed a rather harsh punishment. Not to mention he'd just turn into a Heartless, which would only serve to make the Reaper angrier.

It became clear quickly that Toshiro really was out of energy. He was able to cut down a few Shadows that jumped him before one of the magic sphere Heartless knocked him down, forcing Goofy to step out from the rear guard and take them out. Sora knew Toshiro wasn't feeling his best and made sure to keep on alert for anything, fighting the multitude of Heartless with Aladdin and Donald at his side, Goofy guarding the weakened Soul Reaper.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Iago hovered near Toshiro.

"I will be once I get out of this damn cave and out of the heat." Toshiro snapped, mood in a fragile state. The macaw quickly hid on Aladdin's shoulder.

"It should be night now; the desert gets really cold at night." The thief remarked. "If only we had some time to rest, but we gotta get Pete."

"We'll take care of the Heartless, Captain." Sora promised. "You get your energy back."

Toshiro nodded to him and they started off again, the Ice Captain no longer taking lead and lingering at the back with Goofy to help him.

It was indeed night outside as they exited the cave and traversed the desert again. But with Hitsugaya being so tired they couldn't sprint back to the city and were worried about making it there before the sun rose to make it worse. The night breeze was cool and refreshing, though somewhat harsh for the desert dwellers, but it had no power to give to the weakened Soul Reaper. He kept up as well as he could but Toshiro felt he didn't even have the energy to Flash Step.

Sora glanced back, noticing how utterly exhausted Toshiro was, fighting through it by sheer determination that could be seen in his gaze. When Sora had first met the Reaper he'd seemed invincible, a power of untold depths hidden inside a small body. But now it was brought to light that even a warrior of the dead could be killed. Frowning, he faced forward again, keeping Agrabah in his sights. They had to stop Pete and find the key so they could get him home.

They made it to the city entrance and took a moment to get their breath back.

"Man, if only Genie was here." Aladdin sighed, stretching. "Everything would be so much easier."

"We'll just have to get Pete ourselves." Donald said.

Toshiro walked past them and towards the gates. They thought he looked somewhat better now; probably the cold breeze.

In truth, he was ready to drop.

'Damn, I can't give in now.' He inwardly growled, glad his hakama hid the fact that his legs were shaking, barely able to hold him up. 'This should be easy, at least. Just grab the lamp and get rid of Pete. Sealing it will be a problem, though.'

'Be careful, Master.' Hyorinmaru warned in a worried tone.

He put an arm on the wall to hold himself up while the others approached.

"The sun's starting to rise." Aladdin noted, pointing out the yellow peeking over the land and the colors racing through the sky. "We were in that cave all night trying to get to the treasure and back out."

"Not to mention crossing the desert." Sora sighed.

"Hurry up." Toshiro snapped at them. "Pete will have found the peddler by now."

They decided not to argue with him and headed into the town. There were few people moving around, still cautious about the strange creatures from the day before, early birds hoping to complete sales they would normally not be allowed to make. They hid away as the group passed, worried they would be reported, but the warriors were not interested in the Black Market, just a fat cat hoping to release an evil entity.

Once at the peddler's shop they looked to see if he was still there. Just as they'd thought, though, he was already gone, and so was their lamp.

"Crap, now what?" Sora scratched his head. He turned to Toshiro for the prodigy's help, but the Reaper was leaning heavily against the wall.

"Stop your whining and hand it over!" Pete's voice sounded off faintly outside, making them all tense.

"Oh no!" The peddler snapped back. "I'm trading it for treasure! This lamp is going to bring me riches!"

"Found him." Toshiro said.

They were quick to head back outside, just in time to spot the small peddler racing away with the lamp in hand, Pete chasing after him towards the palace. Even in the dull light of morning the pair was easy to notice.

"Let's catch him!" Sora shouted, first to follow after them at a quick run.

In any other situation, Toshiro could have cut them off and had the mission over and done with quickly. Unfortunately fate was against him and so all they could do was chase the pair into the palace courtyard, watching as Pete snagged the lamp only for the tiny peddler to snag it back.

"Lamp hog!" Pete growled.

"Go away!" The peddler shot back, still running.

"Make yourself useful." Toshiro said to Iago.

Thinking along the same lines, the macaw flapped hard and snatched the lamp out of Pete's grip as the cat managed to take it back from the peddler. The cat was confused at first from the lack of weight in his fingers, testing the air before actually turning to his hand to realize it was gone.

"Nice one, Iago!" Sora cheered.

"Don't drop it!" Donald snapped.

Pete and the peddler both ran after Iago in an attempt to reclaim their prize. So much fuss over one lamp. Hitsugaya motioned the bird over while reaching for his sword; exhausted or not, if he put up a good front he could scare them off. The bird rushed forward obediently and dropped the lamp into his hand.

The rage of the spirit inside burned his hand, causing him to grimace, but he held fast, keeping his blade up and causing the approaching chasers to freeze in their tracks, though not literally.

"Heh, don't look too good in the heat, Ice Captain." Pete sneered. The Reaper scowled, he hadn't thought his weakness would be so obvious. Hopefully he could fool the cat into thinking he still had power left to kill him, though Jafar's lamp was draining away the last of it. Sometimes he really hated being dead.

"Hold this." He tossed the lamp up for Iago to catch, the bird currently on his shoulder. They were confused at first until they saw the harsh red burns on his hands.

"Come on now, hand over the lamp." Pete demanded, hand out.

"Like Hell!" Sora snapped, bringing his Keyblade into his hands. The others readied their weapons as well.

The ground suddenly shook around them, causing everyone to glance around nervously.

What in the world was happening now?


Gotta catch Pete! Toshiro's not looking to good, is he? Well, the next chapter will have a certain spirit that will be able to help him! XD Until next time! Enjoy!