Chapter 12

The monster screamed in pain, but the silence was muffled by more petals until it evaporated.

The man smiled. "So, how did everyone miss me?"

Rukia broke into tears, while Ichigo and King Mickey looked confused.

"Nee-chan!" cried Rukia.

"Who's he?" asked King Mickey.

"A friend." said Ichigo. "He's Rukia's brother, one of the Captains of Soul Society, and the head of the Kuchiki clan."

"Yes, indeed," said Byakuya. "I have the pleasure of meeting you here, King Mickey. I heard of you. Congrats on getting to become a Keyblade master."

King Mickey blushed. "Well, I did my best years ago, you know."

"That was years ago," said Ichigo. Everyone ignored him, to his dismay.

"Anyways, I was heading back. Rukia, why were you crying?"

"Because I thought you were dead!" said Rukia.

"What made you think that? I was heading out to check on a shrine in another dimension. I went with Mayuri, the bastard. He's still lurking around here. We had to take samples, and the shrine in question was one that only I could access to. Anyways, it was only-"

"-a few hours?!"

"Wait, what's going on?"

"Well," answered King Mickey, "while you were gone for that "few hours", Soul Society was caught into the hands of the neithermen." He explained all the events, adding, "I knew of this from Chip and Dale. I came here to get Ichigo to help him regain power."

"Those men...did that?" Byakuya felt anger, but held it back. "They held my sister and vice captain under their control?! They will suffer my wrath!"

"Captain!" shouted Renji. Xirjen came too, looking at the captain with shock. "The real captain!"

"Hi, Renji," said Byakuya. "I heard everything. However, is it true that you have not been able to use the power from that place?"

Renji froze. "Yeah," he realized. "Ichigo, Rukia, and I have the blades and the energy, but not the sword abilities. What happened?"

"The soul limiter was hacked," explained King Mickey. "According to the reports from our castle intelligence, that power was taken away. I think that I found a way to help you all become even more powerful, though. Rukia and Renji, you stay with the crew to increase your strength-you felt the power. I will join Byakuya and Ichigo as they venture to Soul Society."

"What?!" cried Rukia. "But I only got to him!"

"Don't worry, Rukia," responded Byakuya. "You will be fine. Kon is with you, as the rest of your friends are. We have to check the area, at least."

"But how will you even access it?"

"There's one way," said King Mickey. "First, though, Ichigo...your feelings are normal. Keep what's treasured to you in your heart, and you will be alright!"

Ichigo gazed around him, looking sad. Rukia stared at him, seeing something for the first time. He had the same energy as Sora, only thinner, as if it was born inside him. "Are you going to be a keyblade wielder?"

"Yes," responded Ichigo. "I have to. That war-the one that the Xheanorts are after-is coming up. If we have to, we need to gain the edge to fight, and I have the ability to do so. Right now, its now or never."

"Be safe, Ichigo," said Xirjen. "Here, take this."

Ichigo looked in surprise as he caught the object. It was a medallion, but his eyes widened as he looked at the picture in front of it. It was his family, smiling at him.

"I found it on the ground near here. You dropped it."

Ichigo thanked him, looking up. "Time to go, eh?"

"Not yet!" Roxas ran to him. "What do we tell everyone else to do? Keep exploring the worlds and stopping evil?"

"If we are right, then it will be a long fight," replied Byakuya. "We need you to give everyone on board this." He gave Roxas a small case. "Give it to each person, and it will increase their spiritual potential greatly. There will be over ten times the amount of worlds that you have visited. Warn everyone of the danger, and prepare for war. We will join you in a world or two."

Roxas nodded slowly. Rukia approached the three. "Now you be careful now," requested Rukia. "Do not die out there, guys."

Ichigo smiled. "Sure. We will save Soul Society and come back in one piece."

Everyone but the three left. King Mickey spoke up. "Time for you, Ichigo, to go there."

Meanwhile, at the ship, Roxas told everyone the news. Toshiro was angry,

"Those fools can't change anything! Soul Society is full of these neithermens! Even if they could fight a couple, they can't fight thousands of them!"

Rukia looked sadly at Toshiro. "The path that faces them both is peculiar. At first, I assumed that they were insane too, until I realized something..."

Everyone tuned in on the conversation. "What could they possibly do?" ask Cloud. "Ok, Ichigo is stronger than Sora and Riku. We discussed this a little while you were gone, and we agreed that he was acting weird. Lately, he seems...off-balanced."

"Makes sense for a soon-to-be keyblade wielder," replied Rukia.

"What?!" gasped Sora. Everyone started to whisper to one another, shocked at what they heard.

"So?" asked Axel, one of the few who was not concerned. "I became a keyblade wielder-"

"It's a shinigami!" interjected Renji. "We have zanpaktous at our side. Why do we need a keyblade?"

"You talked about it," responded Roxas. "Remember? Byakuya sensed that you had trouble activating the powers that you gained before. The soul stuff did limit the powers of everyone in contact with it. Plus, Ichigo is a hero on both sides." He let that sink in to the group. "He is the equivalent of Sora, only with more strength, as Cloud mentioned. That is why both the King and Byakuya trust him."

Everyone stood silent until Hisagi spoke up. "If they recapture Soul Society, we can get back a way to try to stop this war. We have to go with this risk. No one, not even the neithermens, can defeat Ichigo. He didn't even use his bankai yet, and he was able to stop many of them. We can win this fight!"

Everyone was optimistic but Toshiro. He looked away from the situation. Sora took note of it, and looked at Riku. Both knew that there was something else that Toshiro isn't saying out loud, but Riku had his thoughts and hypothesis down.

As Twilight Town disappeared from their view, Sora became determined to become like Ichigo. He put his blade up, only to back out. "What?!" he yelled. Everyone looked at him, and gasped. He was holding a changed blade, but it looked different. There was a soul symbol attached to it, along with a enchanting aura around his blade.

"What is this?!"

"A keyblade with soul powers," answered Riku. "Everyone here was given additional soul powers by Byakuya. If we are this powerful now, then imagine how we can save the other worlds without more conflict."

"Depends," said Hisagi. "We are talking about fighting against powerful beings here, not the same enemies. We need to keep getting stronger, but we cannot expect the easy road."

"So poetic," mumbled Cloud.

"No, I wasn't-"

"Good words, guys," said Sora.

Rangiku looked at the group. "What world should be next? I think that we should go to that Toy Story world."

"Then it is settled," said Toshiro. "Let's go!"