Let's meet two more teams today, alright? We still have 6 SLOTS left for entries, so don't be shy- come join in the fun!

"Okay, I didn't want to say anything before, but I feel like we're being watched by someone," Jasiri said.

"Yeah, I've got that feeling as well," Brooklyn nodded. "Lena, can you sense anything."

The duck held up her hands, glowing blue with magic that scanned around the area. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and pointed above them. "I think there's something in the vents."

Upon that notice, the vent above them opened up, and a topaz-colored creature landed right on top of Gabriel. Sitting back up, the raven saw that it was a little Jaquin, a cross between a macaw and jaguar, with topaz fur and turquoise spots and feathers.

"Oh, hello Gabriel!" the Jaquin said with a grin on his muzzle. "Sorry to drop in on you, but I was feline like it would be nice to see you again."

"Were those puns just now?" Lena asked.

"Good to see you as well, Soren," Gabriel said, ruffling the cat-bird's fur. "Or are you Terra right now?"

The Jaquin shook his head. "We did some training with Dr. Banner, and now I'm both Terra and Soren 24/7. Instead of pranks, I'm going for jokes instead!"

"At least that will be easier to manage than the last time we met," Jasiri said with a relived sigh. "Sometimes I still find traces of green paint in my fur."

"So Soren, if you're here now, that must mean that you have a team, right?" Kairi asked.

The jaquin nodded, then gave a whistle to call on his teammates. Coming around the corner of the hallway was a group of animals, some of which Gabriel's team recognized. Those in the group included Skylar, a fellow Jaquin like Soren; Makuu, leader of the crocodile float in the Pride Lands; Steelbeak, member of FOWL and villain to the Duck family; and Buddy the basketball-playing dog.

"Makuu!" Jasiri greeted. "How's the float going?"

"Doing as well as we can, and keeping the Circle of Life in mind, of course," Makuu replied.

Lena and Steelbeak eyed each other up, with Lena floating with her magic threateningly while Steelbeak smirked.

"What is he doing here?" Lena said darkly.

"I was invited by the runt here," Steelbeak said, picking up Soren from Gabriel. "I'm not some dumb-dumb anymore, so expect us to be winning this tournament."

As they walked off, Skylar gave an apologetic look to the Dream Keepers. "Sorry about that. I'll make sure that Soren is in good company. Buddy will help with that as well."

After they left, Brooklyn shook his head in confusion. "Was that dog wearing a sports jersey and sneakers?"

"He's a dog that plays basketball with humans," Gabriel said. "It makes sense in context. Kind of. Honestly I've only seen the Air Buddies movies."

"That Steelbeak guy is nothing but trouble, though," Lena warned. "We must be careful."
"I trust Makuu and Skylar to keep Soren safe," Jasiri said.

Kairi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's trust our friends to do the right thing."

[***]

Going back to the lounge, Gabriel felt a chill in the air as they entered. The lights flickered as the cabinets shuttered. Brooklyn pulled out his swords, ready for a fight, while Lena powered up her magic, with Gabriel and Jasiri doing the same. A blue glow passed over them, and suddenly their magic failed, with Brooklyn swaying before collapsing to the ground.

"Oh no… That's not good…" the gargoyle groaned, looking at his hand as he turned to stone.

"Brooklyn!" Gabriel gasped, looking down at his friend.

A hand tapped on the raven's shoulder, and he slowly turned around to see a ghastly face staring back at him. "BOO!"

Screaming, Gabriel reflexively slapped the figure, sending them flying into the wall and making the lights go back to normal. Breathing heavily, the raven reached out and found his magic again, wrapping it around the newcomer and scowling.

"Don't. Ever. Scare. Me. Like. That," Gabriel said, punctuating every word.

"Okay, okay, that was in bad taste," the person said. They were a glowing man with dark hair wearing a blue robe and a necklace, floating as the ghost that he was. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Phantasm, resident ghost and participant for the tournament."

"Wow Gabriel, I didn't realize that you were scared so easily," Lena chuckled.

"I have a very severe reaction to being scared," the raven said.

"But you do fine in the haunted mansion?" Jasiri noted.

"That's because they're Happy Haunts. I know that they're not going to hurt me," Gabriel explained. "Either way, Mr. Phantasm, what did you do to Brooklyn."

"That would be my amulet," Phantasm explained. "It can cancel out magic, so your gargoyle friend must have been using it to stay active during the day."

"Oh yeah, he did mention that once," Gabriel said in realization. "Lena, I think you can change Brooklyn back."

The duck nodded, sending out magic and turning Brooklyn back to flesh. The gargoyle rolled his shoulders and picked himself off the ground, giving a look to Phantasm before crossing his arms and turning away.

"So, if you're going to be in the tournament, Phantasm, what's your team like?" Kairi asked.

"I'll tell you, once you let me go," Phantasm said, eyeing the chains that still bound him. Gabriel released his magical grip on the ghost, who brushed off his cloak before using magic to summon a portal. "My team, the MonStars, are out scouting the competition." Images of a black cat, a grey and red monster, a skeleton man, and a Chibi cat creature appeared. "Those on the team are Thackery Binx, Sora, Jack Skellington, and Plagg."

"Sora looks different than I remember," Kairi noted.

"That's because he's using his monster form to fit in with the theme we have going on," Phantasm explained.

"You know, it kind of sucks that Binx has to be stuck as a cat in order to have a mortal body," Gabriel said.

"That's how life can be sometimes," Phantasm said. "Either way, I'll take my leave for now. Good luck in the tournament, Dream Keeper. You're one of the few people I respect here."

Once the Phantasm left, Gabriel let out a sigh and grabbed a glass of water from the bar. "I really need a moment to recover now," the raven said, Jasiri hopping into her boyfriend's lap to comfort him.

Author's Note

Only two entries this time, but two very interesting teams all the same.

Soren is from AvalorianJaquin, and a familiar face from "Living in the Magical World" as well. He was more of a prankster previously, but now training with Bruce Banner has let him mellow out and merge the two sides of his personality. His team also has some ties to Gabriel's team, with Jasiri and Makuu being on good terms, while Lena and Steelbeak have a rivalry of sorts. Hopefully Skylar can keep Soren safe from the villain's corruptive influence.

As for Phantasm, he's from ThisIsHalloween, and has a spooky theme going on. Gabriel's initial reaction to him is based on myself, as I have a big aversion to scary things as my first reaction is to lash out at the thing that scared me rather than run away. Basically, don't take me to a haunted house, or else I'll be the one scaring people instead!

If you want your chance to enter, below is the information I'll need to admit your team to the tournament. There are SIX SLOTS left for the tournament, so it's first come, first serve for who gets in.

Team Name

Team Leader (your original character):

Name

Gender and Species (you don't have to be human)

Character Description (clothes, eye/hair color, etc.)

Personality (character traits, likes/dislikes, etc.)

Powers (magic, superpower, etc.)

Weapon (you don't need one if you don't want one)

Team Members (Disney characters, four in total):

Name

Series (where the character comes from)

Version (if there's multiple versions of a character, please specify)

Restrictions on Team Members:

They must be from a Disney property (Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Fox, etc.), or at least a property Disney currently has the distributing rights for. Pro tip: if the character is from a movie/show that's on either Disney+, Disney Channel, or Disney XD, you should be good.

Each team member must be from a different series. So you can't have a full team of characters from Frozen, for example.

Each character must be named/ be an actual character and not a background character. I need them to have some material for me to work with.

If you have any questions, send me a PM so we can discuss. I look forward to all the competitors in the Sorcerer's Arena!