"Wakka!" Tidus burst into the Besaid Aurochs' locker room at the blitzball stadium, followed by Sora and Co. Wakka was laying on a locker room bench, groaning. "Ouch. He doesn't look so good."

Jassu, one of the Aurochs, sighed. "He got hurt in the semifinals. He'll have to stay out of this match." He looked intently at Tidus. "You don't look so good either…I heard you had to duke it out with some machina. Maybe you should sit this one out, too."

"No!" Wakka and Tidus yelled in unison. Wakka shook his head. "No! Tidus is going to help us win! Our goal is victory, yah?"

Tidus nodded. "He's right! I can't back out now! Besides, I'm perfectly fine!" He jogged around the bench, then skidded and fell. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow…"

Jassu shrugged. "See?"

Datto, another Auroch, started pacing. "We only need six guys in the sphere at a time. If we can get one more, we still might be able to win." He looked at Sora, Emma, Donald, and Goofy. "Can any of you blitz?"

All four of them got a flashback of Sora kicking Bunny Jafar into the lava, blitzball-style. Sora raised his hand. "I can play!"

Wakka looked up. "You can? Well, let's see your skills, brudda!"

Jassu threw him a blitzball. Sora jumped into the air, did an impressive spin, and kicked it into the wall. It ricocheted off a lamp, off the ceiling, and towards the door. Sora caught it just in time, and spun the ball on his finger. "Well, 'brudda', do I get some props, or what?"

"Are you kidding?" Wakka laughed heartily. "You're in!" He looked over at Tidus. "Where'd you find this kid? And who're the guys in the doorway?"

"This is Sora," Tidus told him. "The tall one's Goofy, the short one's Donald, and the girl is Emma. They're Yuna's new part-time guardians."

Wakka's jaw dropped. "What? 'Dis bunch is protectin' Yuna? You must've met 'em today, and you're trusting 'em already?"

Tidus put a hand on Wakka's shoulder. "Calm down, man. They're good fighters, and they're not Al Bhed. Aren't those your only requirements?"

"Aw, fine…if Yuna wants 'em, I can't complain. We should jus' focus on the finals now. What's our goal, guys!"

"VICTORY!" The Aurochs cheered. "VIC-TO-RY! VIC-TO-RY! VIC-TO-RY!"

… … …

Bickson, the captain of the Luca Goers, was leading his team towards the blitzball area, a large, water-filled sphere. Sora led the Aurochs in from the other side. When he entered, Bickson stopped at stared. "A teenager is heading the Aurochs?"

"Folks, there's been a change in team positions!" the blitzball announcer called. "Auroch Captain Wakka has been injured in the semifinals, but they've got a temporary replacement! Please welcome Sora, the youngest blitzer in Spira's history!"

Bickson smirked. "We're going to beat the pants off of you losers!"

"But I like my pants!" Bickson just twitched as Sora stepped into the sphere. He looked around frantically. How am I supposed to breathe? Oh! He took out the Pumpkinhead, and cast Aero on his head. I'm sure glad I thought of that…

He swam to the middle of sphere, and treaded water in front of Bickson, who was swimmingly serenely as if he had evolved past the need to breathe. Sora glanced out of the gooey, blue, sphere walls, and into the audience. In a middle row, he saw Emma, Donald, and Goofy holding up a large sign that read, "GO SORA!" He grinned and waved at them.

The game was fairly uneventful until half-time. The Goers were winning, 2-0. As the Aurochs were leaving the sphere to discuss a strategy, a majority of the fans stood up, yelling unintelligibly at the top of their lungs. After a few moments, the announcer boomed, "It appears the crowd is calling for…Wakka!"

Sora wrung the water out of his baggy shorts. "I'll be right back, guys!" He sped out of the room, and down the hallway.

… … …

Wakka and Tidus were still on the bench, thumb-wrestling. Tidus cheered. "I won again!"

"Can we stop now? I'm gettin' a little tired of this."

"Not until I beat you thirty times in a row!"

"You've got endless energy, y'know that, brudda?"

Sora threw open the door. "Wakka, the crowd wants you out there!" He shook his head like a dog, and hundreds of water droplets flew off his drooping spikes. "Are you feeling any better?"

Wakka nodded. "I am, but if I went out there, you'd have to stay outta the game!"

Tidus pointed to a screen on the wall. "Wakka, the team isn't doing so hot. If we're going to lose, we should do it while giving our…no, YOUR fans what they want."

"…all right, brudda." Wakka stood up shakily. "Besides, I was thinking of retiring this year. To protect Yuna full-time, yah? Might as well play the last game myself."

Tidus slapped his back. "Great! If we're going to win this thing, we have to get three goals in five minutes."

Wakka shook his head. "I don't care whether we win this one or not. We got all the way to the finals this time, and our team has the record for the youngest blitzball player ever. That's fame enough, yah? I jus' wanna play…jus' one more time."

… … …

The Aurochs and the Goers filed back into the sphere back in the stadium. "Wait a minute!" the announcer called. "There are only five Aurochs out here! If they can't get one more player, they'll have to forfeit!" The entrance doors swung open. "Well, what do you know, folks! It's Wakka!" There was a wild roar as Wakka ran in, hi-fived his teammates, and entered the sphere. "The fans are going wild!" Tidus and Sora entered behind him, making their way to the stands.

The Aurochs did much better after Wakka returned, getting three goals. However, the Goers got four, and the Aurochs lost. Nevertheless, their fans continued to cheer madly. As the teams started to exit the sphere, a bolt of light shot into the water. Two small, green, piranha-like creatures appeared. "Whoa! We've got to get down there!" Tidus, Sora, Emma, Donald, and Goofy ran down the stairs. Suddenly, Emma stopped. "What's the matter now?" Sora asked.

Emma waved her Rune Mog in his face. "I can't fight underwater with a weapon that only does magic!"

Donald rolled his eyes. "Whiner." He handed her a long, yellow-and-gold hammer. "This is the Grand Mallet. It's a stronger version of the Silver Hammer."

"Thanks." Emma swung the Grand Mallet around. "Let's do this!"

… … …

Tidus hacked apart one of the piranhas with the Brotherhood. Four more appeared in its place. I hate these Sinspawn, Emma thought. I honestly prefer the machina. She and the others waved at Tidus and Wakka. They nodded, and continued to slash at the Sinspawn, except for Wakka, who was angrily throwing blitzballs at them. Finally, the tank was free of enemies.

Outside, things were not quite as successful. Fans were screeching and running for their lives. Several small Heartless were chasing them. "The Heartless have come here, too!" Sora yelled as he, Emma, Donald, Goofy, Tidus, and Wakka left the sphere. The Heartless were clad in what looked like machina armor, and had ten, clawed, metallic limbs. "Hey, who's that?"

One man was standing near the front of the stadium aisles, face-to-face with a mob of Heartless. His red kimono hid one of his arms; the other was wielding a giant, curved sword. "Hyah!" His sunglasses glinted as he jumped forward and destroyed the Heartless in two strokes.

More and more Heartless took their place. Yuna, Lulu, and Kimahri ran over. Kimahri was observing a cloud-like substance by his head. "Kimahri's sensor says that those are called Decaclaw Heartless," Lulu explained. "Do you know what those are?"

"Just think of them as a cross between Sinspawn and machina," Emma told her. A shudder ran through the five Spirans.

Seymour, the blue-haired man, was sitting in a box seat, surveying the damage with intrigue. He held out his hand. "Come, Anima…" he murmured.

A pointed chain fell out of nowhere and got a hold on the floor. Lava spewed out of the crack, and from the lava emerged what could only be described as an enormous, mummified fish with hands. It destroyed legions of the Decaclaw Heartless, while the fans looked on in awe. "That's amazing," Sora commented, without noticing that several Decaclaws were shooting towards him with jetpack-like devices.

Tidus jabbed him with his finger. "Sora, there's more!"

Sora whirled around and stared. He waved the Pumpkinhead around, and a glowing, orange light shot out of it. Sora, Emma, Donald, Goofy, Tidus, Wakka, Yuna, Lulu, and Kimahri disappeared. The Decaclaws halted, and zoomed away in confusion. The nine reappeared soon afterwards. What was that? Emma wondered. She glanced at the orange light. A white sheet materialized around it. Hey! It's Zero! She smiled and patted the head of the deceased dog. "When did you get him, Sora?"

"Jack let us borrow him after you left!" Sora announced. "He's a summon now! And I think it's time to try out our other one now…c'mon!" He tried to ignore the Spirans' stares as Stitch appeared. He laughed maniacally, then attacked some Decaclaws with a gun that shot green ooze. "Well, someone's certainly into this."

Wakka looked like he was going to keel over. "You're…you're a summoner!" he exclaimed. Sora shrugged.

"His Aeons sort of pale in comparison to Yuna's though," Tidus added under his breath.

Wakka got the blonde into a headlock and gave him a noogie, insisting, "Be…nice…to…the…summoner!"

The man from before appeared beside them. "I have to agree with Tidus; those are certainly some odd Aeons."

Tidus broke free. "AURON!" he yelled.

"Sir Auron!" the other Spirans chorused, excluding the mute Kimahri.

Goofy scratched his head. "Gawrsh, who's this Sir Auron feller?"

"He was a bodyguard to Yuna's dad, who died trying to save Spira. He was also Tidus's babysitter."

Yuna did the Prayer. "Sir Auron, these people are my new part-time guardians, Sora, Emma, Donald, and Goofy." They tried to imitate the bow.

"Nice to meet you," Auron replied roughly.

Emma nodded. "Likewise." She looked at her watch. "AW, MAN! I HAVE TO GO!"

Sora sighed. "We'd better be going, too. It was nice meeting you guys! I promise we'll be back soon." He turned to Emma. "Can I just have a few more minutes?"

"Sure. I'll just go ahead and get my backpack."

… … …

Emma was beamed aboard the Valefor. I have a little time before I have to go home…might as well wander around the ship for a little. Last time I tried to see how a Gummi ship worked, I got yelled at by Donald. At least he's not here now! Crunching sounds came from the back room. Huh?

She tiptoed over towards the room. When she was about a foot away from the doorway, a voice said, "Yeesh, what's taking them so long?"

I know that voice! But why would he be here? Emma wondered. I should probably make sure it's him and not an enemy. She walked stealthily into the pitch-black room. "Hello?" Something that smelled distinctly of melted cheese flew by her head. What the…?

"What are you doing here? And who are you?" the voice demanded.

Emma flipped on the light. "I was going to ask you the same thing." Sitting on a cot with a plate of nachos was a tall boy who was most likely in his very late teens or very early twenties. Other than the fact that he seemed to be half dog, he looked relatively normal; however, he had enormous buck teeth that actually jutted out of his mouth, giving him an appearance vaguely reminiscent of Goofy. In fact, he looked exactly like a younger version of Goofy. "Max!"

Max raised an eyebrow. "How do you know my name?" He lowered his hands, which he had balled into fists, when he saw her necklace. "Hey! You're Emma, aren't you?" Emma nodded. "Dad told me about you."

"Did he also tell you that you all live in a game?"

Goofy's son twitched involuntarily. "Yeah, he did. It's really creepy…but it's also really cool," he added quickly. "It's every kid's dream!"

Emma laughed. "You can say that again. Anyway, it's nice to meet you! I've wanted to talk to you since I was, what, five years old?"

Max shook her hand. "Again, that's really creepy and really cool. Nice to meet you, too!"

"Well, I need to go now…seeya!" Emma walked back to the front of the ship to retrieve her backpack. At that moment, Sora, Donald, and Goofy beamed aboard the Valefor. "Hey, guys!"

Sora yawned loudly. "I'm going to go take a nap. Fighting Heartless, Sinspawn, and machina in one day really takes it out of you." Once he got to the back room, he screamed.

"Goofy?" Emma tapped Goofy's back nervously. "Did you remember to tell Sora about Max?"

"Nope, don't think so!"

Emma sighed. "Yeah, well, I think that might've been a good idea." She ran to check on Sora and Max.

In the back, Sora was gaping at Max, who looked utterly confused. "GOOFY SHRUNK!" he cried.

"This is Goofy's son," Emma explained. "His name is Max."

"Hey," Max greeted.

"Son?" Sora cringed. "Who'd Goofy…y'know…?" he whispered to Emma.

"I don't know, and I don't particularly want to," she whispered back.

"Hear, hear. Did you bring him?"

Emma nodded. "I think I did. I briefly considered it yesterday, when I was watching 'An Extremely Goofy Movie', but never really thought about what would happen."

"Goofy has his own movie?"

"Two."

"Lucky…"

Goofy and Donald walked back to join the others. "Aw, you and Maxie are getting' to know each other!"

Sora snorted. "Maxie?" Max made a guillotine-like movement with his finger. "Okay, okay!

Max stalked back up towards the main section of the cockpit. "For future reference, it's a very bad idea to insult your driver."

"Driver?" Emma repeated.

"Yeah, I'm sort of going to be your chauffeur."

"Isn't that a little boring?"

Max lightened up considerably as he put on a wide, insane grin and called over his shoulder, "Are you kidding? I get to blow stuff up!"

Once Max was out of earshot, Sora announced, "Goofy, your kid's nuts."

"I HEARD THAT!"