Chapter 37
"Welcome to TokiToki City!" said Zanzibar.
Sora and the others stared at the city in awe. They saw a city gleaming with white sparkles. The blue sky and the bright sun made the place beautiful and welcoming.
"Wow, what is this?" asked Donald.
"The city of time patrollers," said Delia.
"Umm, what's a time patroller?" asked Goofy.
"Well, we manage time and make sure that the past is safe from harm!" answered Rachel.
"Wait, as in...you guys time travel?" said Sora.
"We used to," said the green man Cezi. "We limited the time travel and we are in the process of eliminating the ability to time travel."
"What?!" Sora exclaimed. "But that sounds so cool!"
"It does," Zanzibar said. "However, some keyblade wielders and other beings are wrecking the universes, and the last thing we need is time travel being our undoing."
"Well, why can't you guys just...you know...time travel and stop everything in the past?" suggested Axel.
"Time traveling like that is not a good thing," said Renzom, the humanoid alien. "Certain events that are cancelled out in the past could have effects on the millions, if not billions, of beings out there."
"What do you mean?" said Cloud.
"If we were to go back in time and, say, eliminate Xheanort, many souls will vanish instantly. His actions, good or not, have affected your lives, and if something happened to change him being gone, then time will be warped and broken."
"Oh." The group became silent until Zanzibar, holding the shinigami captain, said, "Let's go get to Trunks."
The group arrived at a building near a large palace. A man with silver hair approached Sora.
"Oh, you must be the keyblade wielder!" He extended his hand out, and Sora shook it. "I am Trunks. It is nice to meet you."
"Same!"
"Sir, what do we do with the captain?" asked Zanzibar.
"I have a mission for you, Zanzibar. I want you and Cezi to put the captain back to Soul Society."
"I want to go too!" said Rachel.
"And you should go as well, Rachel. But first, does anyone want something to eat?"
The group sat down on a table outside the building, enjoying rice, beef, tofu, and noodles.
"Swo..." Trunks was scarfing his food down fast. "How did you find Zanzibar?"
"Hmmm fwuund wus," Sora spoke while eating as fast as Trunks.
"What is he, a saiyan?" said Rachel. "Only those people eat that fast-!"
Axel and Goofy were eating fast too. "Goofy, show some matters!" yelled Donald.
"Personally, I think that they need this," said Jimminy, laying down next to Donald. "We had a lot of battles, and we didn't even have time to relax that much."
"I see where you come from, duck," said Cezi, who was only drinking water.
"Hey, that's Donald to you!" shouted the angry duck.
Eventually, the food was finished, and the group settled down. Trunks got up, deciding to explain to Sora why he is here.
"Sora, the truth is, we need your help. Some of the worlds, as you have noticed, have been trapped under the white mist, and they change. At the same time, the time patrols are having difficulty fixing time issues within the past. I think that it has to do with the worlds under the white mist."
"What do you mean?" asked Zanzibar, confused.
"Those worlds keep having time issues in the past because under the white mist, certain events change, and those worlds could eventually be turned into minus worlds. This keeps altering the past of such things, and it eventually weakens the balance of time."
"So...if this continues, then it could be bad?" said Sora.
"Hold up, you understood that?" said Axel.
"Well, remember Xheanort?" Sora said. "He was using time travel to bring up the members of Organization XIII. This sounds...similar."
"In the sense, yes," said Trunks. "Anyways, we can't let that happen. Reviving a planet is one thing, as is traveling to different multiverses. However, if this white mist continues to affect different worlds, then they will all perish."
"So, we have to worry about this either way," said Axel, "But is there another thing that you brought us here for?"
"Yes, there is. There is a world nearby that has been enslaved and controlled by several beings. Practically speaking, there is something there that only a keyblade wielder could find useful...a gateway to Castle Oblivion."
Axel stood up, wide-eyed. "How do you know about that?"
"We time patrollers gather intel about the realms and worlds," said Reznom. "Do you think that we wouldn't find out about such a thing?"
Axel sat down, calm and deep in thinking. "Wow, so other people can gather intel, huh..."
"Yeah. Anyways," continued Trunks, "I need you to unlock whatever secret is within that place, and help us restore order to that world."
"Of course I will help!" said Sora.
"There is one problem," said Cloud. "How do we know that the enemies there wouldn't have set up traps?"
"I have a portal to that world. You might have to be wary, but you should be able to make it to that world without issues. So, can you please help us?"
"Sure we can!" said Donald. "Just take us there already!"
Meanwhile, Zanzibar, Rachel, Reznom, and Cezi left and were heading towards Soul Society. Zanzibar was holding the captain, noticing that he was awake.
"Ugghhh..." The captain was groaning. "Where am I?"
"You are going to be in Soul Society soon. Who are you?"
"Can you answer first?"
"Are you brainwashed still?" asked Rachel.
"No, I'm not..." He grumbled. "I'm Rose, captain of the third squad."
"I'm Zanzibar, this is Rachel, Cezi, and Reznom." Zanzibar made the introductions quickly as they entered into the portal leading to Soul Society.
The portal led to a straight path heading towards a bright light. The warriors ran towards it, engulfed by it until they reached near the entrance to Soul Society.
"How..do you know where this place is?" said Rose.
"We time patrollers recruit from a variety of places," said Zanzibar.
"Time patrollers?" asked Rose.
"We'll explain later," said Cezi.
Just as they were about to enter, a man with a cross across his face showed up. He was dressed up in a soul society outfit, staring at Zanzibar with distrust.
"Who are you visitors?" he asked.
"We have come to drop off one of your captains," Cezi said.
"Interesting...time patrollers, huh?" said another man with purple hair. "Is there another purpose to being here?"
"Well...we do have to talk to you about a lot of things," said Zanzibar. "Can we come into this place?"
"Why, yes." Another man, built with muscles and bigger than his comrades, showed up. "Come inside, and hurry. We don't have time, so to speak."
Just then, another presence was sensed. Multiple warriors appeared behind the time patrollers, revealing themselves to be a mix of heartless humanoids and soul reapers.
"Oh great, another wave of these freaks..." said the purple-haired man.
"We can take care of these freaks!" said Rachel.
"No need," said the man with the face scar. "We got this. Take the captain inside Soul Society now."
The warriors hesitated, but the two shinigami smiled, reassuring that they can take care of this. They ran to the big man.
"You think that those guys can take care of them?" said Zanzibar.
"You will be surprised," said the big man. "Just watch."