"Punch, punch, kick, Combo!" Yuffie cried gleefully. She and Sora were playing a fighting game and she was beating him badly. Sora had never really been good at video games.

"I'm Kickin' yer ass!" she jeered. And then a familiar voice said, "I hope you fare better in today's match." Sora turned around to see Koenma floating before him.

"Hey, Koenma!" He said, jumping to his feet. Yuffie looked from Sora to Koenma and giggled.

"Your coach is a toddler?"

A bulging vein developed on Koenma's forehead.

"Uh, excuse my friend." Sora said with an awkward grin.

"Allright, sign me up!" Yuffie demanded.

"You?" Sora and Koenma asked together.

"Sure!" she said, "I'm every bit as tough as Sora."

"Well I could use some more fighters." Koenma admitted "We can leave as soon as you're ready."

Once again, the arena was filled with spirits. If felt exhilarating to be back and Sora wondered what new challenges Koenma had in store for him. Yuffie took a moment to take in the new surroundings.

"You ready for this?" she asked, nudging him in the side.

"Of course I am." Sora answered. Then Koenma floated in between them and said, "Your opponent will be the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and you'll be fighting together. As soon as it's defeated you'll fight each other." At that moment, a large dragon descended into the ring. It had massive wings, a sharp beak, long horns, and eyes that gleamed like rubies. Almost every inch of its body was covered in a lustrous black carapace.

"That thing is badass looking!" Yuffie exclaimed, and the beast wasted no time attacking. It opened its beak wide and launched a burning ball of flame with black lightning bolts dancing along its surface. Yuffie flipped to the right to dodge it and flung three ninja stars which barely scratched the dragon's beak. Sora charged forward and hurled himself at the dragon, he attempted to stab it in the heart but the Keyblade could not pierce its carapace. Then it whirled around and struck him with its tail, sending him flying back. Yuffie then ran along the length of its back, jumped high into the air and flung her large shuriken and its head, it scraped against the dragon's head and circled back to her. As she landed, she hurled it hard at the dragon's neck but it bent down and the shuriken passed over its head. As the dragon began stomping toward her, Sora flung his Keyblade at its back then summoned it back into his hand, enough to get the dragons attention. The dragon spat several fire balls at Sora but he was ready, he held out his Keyblade and let each fire ball hit it. Now the blade was red-hot, which was just what Sora needed. As the dragon stepped toward him it tried to knock him away with its tail again, but he jumped over it and sprinted toward Yuffie.

"Help me reach its head!"

She held out her arms as Sora approached, she grabbed his free arm, swung him around once and hurled him at the dragon's head as it approached and he thrust the red-hot Keyblade right between the dragon's eyes. It roared in fury and thrashed its head about, with Sora hanging onto the Keyblade still embedded in its skull. "Fire!" he commanded and a mass of flames were shot into the dragon's skull, he let go, dropped to the floor and rolled aside as the dragon collapsed and shattered into a million pieces. Immediately, Sora picked up his Keyblade and ran to meet Yuffie, who smirked and ran to match him. He delivered a few thrusts and slashes which she parried with her shuriken, and then she evaded him with a series of cartwheels and handsprings and hurled her shuriken at him. He knocked it away with his Keyblade then shot an ice crystal at her which she shattered with a roundhouse kick, but her foot instantly became frozen. Sora charged at her for a finishing blow and she countered by knocking him back with her free leg, but this caused her to lose her balance. Seeing his opportunity, Sora swept his leg and knocked her out of the ring.

"How much more are there in this tournament?" Sora panted as he sat on a bench in the locker room. Just then, the miniscule figure of Koenma came to a halt before Sora.

"I hope you're not about to cave in on us, Sora." Koenma began "You're heading to the finals, now."

"Who is it? Another wave of Bandits? Jeez, my back's still killin' me."Sora groaned, remembering a botched sumersault.

"Your next opponent is a swordsman who came from a long travel."Koenma explained. "Best be sharp around him, Sora." With that, Keoman left in a brisk walk, leaving Sora pondering to himself. A swordsman for his last opponent?

Sora stood at his side of the arena, waiting for his opponent to show. Amid the overpowering cheer of the crowd, Sora could hear the clang of steel on stone. Then he saw it. A figure in a thick, brown garb and a wide-brimmed, straw hat walking slowly into the arena, his geta clanging loudly as he came to meet Sora. Coming to a halt, he trew his poncho off to reveal his lanky figure and red robe.

"The final battle!"announced Koenma. "Will be fought between Sora and the mysterious worrior, Mugen!" The ding was deafening. Apparently, this crowd seemed to like this contender. "Now, on my mark."Koenma began, but Mugen already shot for Sora, swinging his odd blade for him.

"Hey! The match hasn't begun, pal!"Sora shouted, drawing the Keyblade.

"I could care-hic-care less, kid!" Mugan spat from under his hat. As the crowd cheered Mugen on, he spun wildly for Sora, who had barely enough time to leap out of the way of the deadly sweep. Mugen's blade sunk into one of the spires marking the arean corners and quickly began jerking at it. Seeing his chance, Sora dove for Mugen, tackling him and sending his hat flying. The two climbed to their feet and looked the other in the face. Sora saw Mugen's wild, untidy hair floating int the breeze and could tell he was severly drunk from the red in his cheeks. Sora hurried for his inebriated foe and swung hard, only to be skillfully countered by the steel bottom of Mugen's sandal. Stunned, Sora took a kick to the face and went spiralling into the middle of the ring. Looking up quickly, he quickly rolled away as Mugen plummeted down for a stab, leaping the next moment as Mugen crashed with such force, he cracked the stone arean. Seeing Sora descending a moment later, Mugen began what looked like a dance routine and finished with a leaping kick for his opponent. Sora had barely enough time to dodge as he landed on his belly.

"C'mon, kid!" Mugen jeered. "Just lemme take you down easy, would ya?"

"No way! I'm not givin' up!" spat Sora. He ran for Mugen, who simply lifted a foot, letting Sora run straight into his heel. Flopping back, Mugan began to step over to Sora's side.

"Well, well, well, kid. HIC! I guess this match wasn't such a biggie after all..." Lifting his blade to deliver the finishing blow, Sora began to shuffle back.

"Wait! You can't kill me!" Sora said theatrically. "Hey, kid." Mugen said with a snicker. "You're my opponent. Let's not forget the number one rule: Accidents happpen. Have a nice day." With that, Mugen swung down with both hands, Sora barely able to counter in time. The force of Mugen's attack was too much. He was beginning to falter. He had to get out of this one. Thinking desperately, he rolled to the side and kicked Mugen hard in the side. Mugen growled and lunged for Sora. The crowd began to laugh loudly as Mugen chased Sora hopelessly around the arena. After about twenty seconds, Sora stopped and looked back to see Mugen catching his breath. Then he remembered one spell Baba taught him that he had not tried yet, the gravity spell. He pointed the keyblade at Mugen and cast the spell, a clear black sphere surrrounded Mugen and his legs began to wobble, then he collapsed into the floor creating a web of cracks. Sora walked over to him and nudged him with his foot and saw that he was knocked out. Then two ogres came in and carried the unconscious Mugen away. "Gotta hand it to ya." said a voice behind Sora, he turned around to see Yuske.

"I didn't think you were gonna win, but you surprised me. You may even get to fight me in the finals."

"When are the finals?"

"In two days."

And with that he turned to leave.

Two days...Sora thought, but can I keep doing this?

"What's wrong, Sora?" Yuffie asked as she approached him.

"Shouldn't I be out looking for Riku and Kairi, instead playing games and stuff?"

Yuffie regarded him for a moment, then grinned.

"If they're out there, you'll find them." she said, slapping her hand on his back. "Trust me, I Know these things!"