Sora sped in the Gummiship he was borrowing toward the center of the galaxy where the biggest and most populated worlds were found. After how badly his Mark of Mastery test ended, he was determined to get stronger in any way that he could. Xehanort already had twelve Seekers of Darkness (himself included) while the realm of light only had five Keyblade wielders to defend it and Sora wasn't convinced that Kairi had what it took, not that he would dare to admit this to her.

He hoped that he was wrong, but he needed to be strong enough to protect himself and her if he wasn't, especially since all but one of the Guardians of Light would have two Seekers of Darkness to deal with. Sora had a lot of improving to do before he was ready to take on Xehanort (in any incarnation) again, so he would start by improving upon his best asset…his magic. He was already slightly ahead of Riku and Goku, who were more adept with Keyblade techniques. He was on par with Krillin in the area of offensive magic, but his defensive and support magic needed some work.

Thankfully, King Kai knew the perfect place for him to practice; it was a world called Earthland, and according to King Kai: it was positively alive with magical energy and home to many powerful magic-users. As he approached Radiant Garden, he was tempted to go and see how Lea was doing, but he remembered King Kai telling him that Goku was seeing to his training and decided it was best that he not interrupt. The ship's computer identified one of Radiant Garden's neighboring worlds as Earthland. It was a little bigger than Radiant Garden, was almost completely covered in ocean save for a single massive continent with a few smaller land masses very close to it. He made his descent through Earthland's atmosphere and approached the main continent's western peninsula. He spotted a high summit and landed on it, confident that no one would find it up here.

My piloting skills definitely don't need improving. he thought smugly as he hopped out of the ship.

As he made his way down the summit, he could feel the magical energy tingling his skin. The sun was setting, so he made a few daring leaps down the mountain path and landed gracefully in the valley well before it got dark. The city before him was wide and filled mainly with houses and small establishments, but two large structures stood out. In the center was a white palace similar to the organization's castle, but far more ornate and nowhere near as foreboding. At the far west end of the city, sitting atop a small mountain-like formation was a massive gray coliseum (nowhere near as massive as the one in Spirit World, but still quite impressive) with four colossal statues of staff wielding mages positioned above the stands.

His head was now swimming with ideas; Maybe tomorrow, he would find some formidable magic-wielders and challenge them. Or maybe he'd shop around for items that could improve his magic (assuming such items even existed here). He really wanted to do something now, but he couldn't help it if it was evening on this world. He made his way toward one of the city's many large public gardens near the palace and heard a high-pitched shriek coming from it. He rushed into the garden and saw a diminutive man in a pumpkin mask surrounded by Neoshadows. He summoned his Kingdom Key, swung it in a clockwise motion and cast Stopza; every living thing in the garden was now frozen in time, everything but Sora, who stabbed each Neoshadow in the head. When time was back in motion, each Neoshadow burst into harmless black vapor and the masked man looked around in bewilderment at what his young rescuer had done.

"Oh, boy!" the man said in a high, mousy voice. "You saved my life, Kabo! What kind of magic was that?"

"Just a time spell." said Sora. "I didn't want to hit you by accident, so I used it to keep them from moving."

"I thought we'd seen the last of those creatures." the masked man sighed. "After what happened last time they appeared…" he let his words trail off, thinking Sora would know what he was getting at. Sora guessed he was talking about this world (like so many others) being taken by the darkness over a decade ago.

"Well…Fiore's wizards are a lot stronger since then, so maybe there's nothing to worry about." the man said. "So tell me, son, are you here for the games?"

"Games?" Sora questioned.

"The Grand Magic Games, son!" the masked man clarified. "The king announced the idea about a year ago. Four of the strongest guilds come together and compete in Domus Flau, the colosseum."

"To…decide which is the strongest guild?" Sora inquired.

"Well, mostly to celebrate our world being free from the darkness, but yep…that too!" said the masked man.

"How long will the games last?"

"Four days, why?"

"I'd love to compete…" said Sora. "But I can't join a guild just for that. I wasn't planning on staying here long anyway, so what's the point, right?"

"Well, technically there's no rule saying independent wizards can't compete," said the masked man. "although that may change over time. What's your name, son?"

"Sora."

"Alright, Sora. Wait here."

Sora obeyed and the masked man hurried to the palace. After a few minutes, he returned with five men who Sora presumed to be wizards, all clad in white and cyan robes.

"Sora," he said "if you can beat five Rune Knights in under five minutes, you can compete. What do you say?"

"Is that all?" Sora asked smugly, earning some really annoyed looks from the knights.

"Heh, heh…you're right." the masked man chuckled. "Do it without using your time spell. Do you want to back down?"

"No way," said Sora, summoning the Kingdom Key and attaching the Sleeping Lionkeychain. "I'm ready! Let's go!"

It was morning in Crocus and Natsu was totally pumped…or rather fired up.

"Man, I hope I get to go up against Lyon, or Bacchus, or maybe even Jura!" he said to his companions, Erza and Happy. "Let's face it, no one in Blue Pegasus is gonna be much of a challenge."

"That's not a nice thing to say, Natsu…" said Erza, her tone slightly less condescending than usual. "however true it may be."

"Well, Ichiya's kinda tough." said Happy in his usual cheeky tone. "But also kind of a doofus…so yeah, they're all goin' down."

"Did ya hear?" some old guy muttered as they passed by a cafe. "Some kid with a magical key-sword beat up five Rune Knights last night…an' he's gonna be competin' in the games today."

"You're pullin' my prosthetic leg." said the old guy's companion. "If this kid attacked the Rune Knights, why ain't he in jail, huh?"

"Aw, man!" said Happy nervously. "This kid sounds like a real meanie! An' I thought Erza was scary!"

"Am not." Erza grumbled.

"Heh, whatever…" Natsu snickered. "If I get into the ring with this kid, he's toast."

They made it all the way to Domus Flau where the rest of the Fairy Tail guild and its competitors were gathering. Once everyone was inside the colosseum, all competing wizards hurried to the board while their guildmates made their way casually to the stands. The list of competing wizards was as follows:

Fairy Tail

Erza Scarlet

Natsu Dragneel

Gray Fullbuster

Lucy Heartfilia

Lamia Scale

Jura Neekis

Lyon Vastia

Sherry Blendy

Yuka Suzuki

Blue Pegasus

Ichiya Kotobuki

Hibiki Lates

Ren Akatsuki

Eve Tearm

Quatro Cerberus

Bacchus Groh

Rocker

Jager

Warcry

and at the very bottom…

Independent

Sora

"Independent?!" Sherry piped. "They're letting some rookie compete in the biggest event of the year?!"

"Apparently, this boy proved himself against the Rune Knights to compete." said Jura. "So we probably shouldn't take him lightly."

As the competing wizards went to join their guildmates and the spectators started pouring in, Sora stood waiting in one of the colosseum's corridors next to Doranbolt, one of the Rune Knights he beat to get into the games. Doranbolt was a young man probably around Leon or Cloud's age with short black hair, a stern, but otherwise unreadable face, and several scars on his face.

"Remember," said Doranbolt. "if you lose even one match, you're out of the games for good, so don't hold anything back. And you'll be in the presence of the King of Fiore and the few surviving members of the magic counsel, so try not to do anything stupid while you're here."

"You worry too much, Doranbolt." said Sora, lightheartedly.

Some time passed and once everyone was seated and settled, the announcer spoke.

"The first annual Grand Magic Games begins now!" he paused to allow a few moments of cheers from the masses of spectators and added "For our first match today, Ichiya Kotobuki of Blue Pegasus will face our independent participant, Sora the Keyblade Wielder!"

"Wish me luck." said Sora as he strode out into the arena.

"You probably won't need it, but good luck." said Doranbolt.

The Fairy Tail wizards watched as Ichiya of Blue Pegasus and Sora the Keyblade Wielder were called into the arena. Sora was the first to stroll out and everyone was able to get a good look at him on the floating lacrima screen. He was an average-sized boy in his mid teens with spiky caramel-brown hair, radiant sky-blue eyes, and a look of child-like innocence and wonder on his lean face. He was clad mostly in black, silver, and navy blue with a little burgundy and yellow here and there.

"Keyblade…" Levy mused as Ichiya marched into the arena. "I think I remember reading about that."

"Apparently, it's an otherworldly weapon that chooses its own wielder and wards off darkness." Erza stated.

"And according to legend, it chooses a youth from an unknown world to bring all worlds out of darkness." Master Makarov added. "I never gave the story much thought until now. But then, I can't imagine many who would."

"So that boy may not even be from this world?" Lucy wondered. "And suppose the story is true…does that mean he's the one we have to thank for bringing us all back?"

"Who knows?" said Master Makarov, folding his arms. "If we get the chance, maybe we could try asking him."

The gong sounded and Ichiya made the first move by whiffing two whole bottles magical perfume and growing into a hulking giant.

"Mua ha ha ha ha! Are you scared yet, little man?!" he roared hubristically.

Sora said nothing, but raised his right hand and in a flash of white light, a silver key-shaped sword with a broad, flat blade and what appeared to be a gun barrel embedded just above the hilt appeared. Sora pointed the strange weapon at Ichiya and fired a searing ball of crimson flame as he advanced on him. The fireball hit Ichiya's outstretched hand and he drew it back and started blowing on it.

"Pfft, I could make a bigger fireball than that in my sleep!" Natsu remarked.

"Yeah, and if you see a roasted kitty when you wake up, it'll be me." Happy jested.

Ichiya raised his other hand to smash Sora, but he stepped to the right to avoid the blow and Ichiya's fist met only ground, producing a shower of sand. Sora then ran up Ichiya's arm, flipped over his head, and pelted it with ice crystals. Ichiya staggered for a bit and fell to his knees, rubbing his head.

"Fire and ice magic?" Lucy observed. "Now I'm impressed!"

"Yeah, well, just cuz he knows different types of magic, doesn't mean he's mastered em' all, now does it?" Natsu pointed out.

"Natsu that's gotta be the dumbest…well, actually…that's the single smartest thing I've ever heard you say." Gray remarked.

Sora's Keyblade suddenly became coated in a thin layer of ice and he flung it at the back of Ichiya's head. Ichiya's whole head became encased in a shell of glistening bluish ice and he fell face-first into the sand. After a few moments passed and he didn't get up, Sora was declared the winner. Almost every spectator in the stands began cheering at the new underdog while nearly every competing wizard was silent.

"Ichiya always did fancy himself more of a lover than a fighter." Erza stated. "Disappointing, really."

"Yeah, right." Gray said smugly as paramedics strolled casually in and carried the unconscious Ichiya away. "You're just disappointed that you won't get to wail on him."

"Nonsense." Erza replied, folding her arms. "As long as Ichiya remembers the restraining order, I have no malice toward him whatsoever."

Sora stood in the shade of the entryway as Warcry of Quatro Cerberus went up against Eve Tearm of Blue Pegasus. Eve was a petite prettyboy, about Sora's age with blond hair, a short-sleeved white collared shirt, a white tie with blue stripes, and plain blue slacks. Warcry was an older man with a square jaw dressed in blue breeches and a cloak resembling a dog's pelt.

Eve waved his hand and sent a thick spray of snow over Warcry and much of the arena. Warcry really seemed to hate the cold, because he was now sniffling and in tears. For a moment, Sora wondered how such a wuss got into a wizard guild, until he let out an unearthly cry and charged at Eve. Before Eve could make a move to defend himself, he was knocked out cold by a single punch from Warcry.

The next fight played out even more strangely; it was Ren Akatsuki of Blue Pegasus against Sherry Blendy of Lamia Scale. Ren was a young man with dark jaw-length hair, very tan skin, and dressed in a midnight blue suit. Sherry was a young woman with rich, wavy magenta hair. She wore a very revealing black and white top, a lavender cloth-band clasped around her upper torso, a black and white mini-skirt, and a headband with black cat ears attached.

Sherry used her magic to create a massive golem out of the sand, which Ren leapt and rolled away from. He then used a powerful gust of air magic to lift the golem off its feet. Sherry fell off, hit the sand, and her golem fell apart into a shower of useless sand. As soon as she got to her feet however, Ren surprised her and everyone watching by throwing his arms around her and trapping her in a passionate kiss. Sherry struggled for a moment or two before giving in and when Ren released her, she fell to the ground with a slightly intoxicated look on her face.

"And Ren wins by a…kiss-out?!" the announcer cried in disbelief.

The fourth and final match of the day was between Fairy Tail's Gray Fullbuster; a lean, yet muscular boy with fair skin, oily black hair, black slacks, and no shirt…and Lamia Scale's Yuka Suzuki; a young man with blue hair in a braided pony tail and a green sleeveless tunic over puffy gray pants.

Gray made the first move; he put his hands together and sent three large lances of solid ice at Yuka, who protected himself with a pale blue magic sphere. The announcer identified this as "wave magic" which nullified whatever magic came in contact with it. Yuka began firing his wave magic in the form of projectiles, but Gray either dodged them or blocked them with an ice sword (which quickly evaporated). It wasn't long before he was within striking distance of Yuka. Yuka fired one last projectile at Gray, which hit him dead-center, disabling his magic. But Gray didn't seem to need magic at that range, for when Yuka tried to kick him, he grabbed Yuka's ankle, flipped him backward, and kicked him in midair, sending him flying into the wall. Yells of praise and amazement erupted from the stands and Gray headed back to his cheering companions, with a satisfied smirk on his face.

That evening, Sora paced the suite Doranbolt got him, bored out of his mind. He already got a bite to eat at a café, exercise bored him and he really didn't need it, and they didn't have television on this world, though there was a movie lacrima, which–based on its description–was pretty close. He felt like finding another wizard to challenge, since Ichiya didn't give him much of a workout, but decided that since he was a guest here, he should really be on his best behavior. He looked out his window and spotted Doranbolt walking by, so he hopped down from his balcony to join him.

"What's up?" Doranbolt asked.

"I'm bored." said Sora. "Is there anything fun to do here?"

"Well, you could go drinking at Bar Sun." Doranbolt proposed. "That's probably where the other wizards are."

"Nah, I'm not really a drinker." said Sora. "Besides, I don't want anyone asking questions about me and the Keyblade just yet."

"Better get a good night's sleep, then." Doranbolt advised. "You'll probably have a much tougher opponent tomorrow."

Having said that, Doranbolt strode off and Sora hopped back up to his suite's balcony. He was too restless to sleep right now, but he could watch a movie or two on his lacrima.