Fed up with his refusal to give them one chance, Sora stomped off. Jaune was right beside him and equally upset as the others kept up. "I can't believe this. Treating us like we're kids!" Sora said in annoyance. Annoyance that Jaune mirrored as he angrily exclaimed with a kick of the dust, "What's that old goat's problem?!"

"Well, I don't think your little temper tantrums helped with making your case." Weiss muttered, more in disbelief toward the immaturity of Jaune and Sora. Pyrrha on the other hand attempted to bring up their spirits.

"Eh, rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say? Turning down young challengers like yourselves?"

Everyone turned to the source of the voice and were astounded at what they saw. It was a very tall man in black toga and matching robe held by a skull pin at one of his pectorals with dark blue skin, yellow eyes, protruding fingers and fang shaped teeth in his unsettling grin. The most abnormal thing had to be the blue flames coming right out his head.

"Um... is anybody else seeing that?" Ruby said when leaning back and pointing to the man's flaming head. Weiss and Pyrrha nodded in agreement as their eyes narrowed suspiciously. Something about this guy just felt...wrong. Donald was equally suspicious as he crossed his arms and asked, "Who are you?"

"Whoa, whoa. Hold up there fuzzboy," the stranger interrupted with an oddly hearty demeanor as he approached the wary group. "Now, let me guess. You boys want to enter the games, right?" he asked Sora and Jaune as he lay his hands on their shoulders. They both flinched at the rather unsettling face of the strange fellow so close to their own. "I can see it. You boys have the eyes of true heroes. So then hey? Get a load of this..."

He moved to the front of them and almost with a sleight of hand, materialized a thin strip of paper in a puff of blue smoke. Sora took hold of it as Jaune read what was written on it. "The owner of this slip is hereby permitted entry to the Olympus Coliseum tournament games and may bring any number of allies to join him/her."

Sora realized what this was as Jaune's excitement mounted while reading the text. Both of them looked to their fire headed benefactor in surprise. "A pass?" Sora asked in awe. Phil mentioned something about a pass before he kicked them out. So if they had it, that meant the should be able to compete. "We can really have this?" Jaune asked, feeling his excitement return.

"It's all yours," the strange man nodded, grinning in that persistently suspicious manner as he walked away. "Good luck kid. I'm pulling for ya, little shorty."

This all seemed too good to be true. Why would he just give them a pass to the games just like that? Donald, Goofy, and the girls weren't sure what to think of their pass providing benefactor, apart from just feeling...wrong looking at him. Though Sora and Jaune certainly didn't have complaints. Now they had a pass so Phil HAD to let them into the games! "Come on, guys! Let's go check out these games!" Sora said marching back toward the coliseum beside Jaune.

"Yeah, come on, Pyrrha! I've been waiting to see what these are all about ever since we came here!" Jaune urged excitedly.

Despite her suspicion and her worry, Pyrrha just...didn't have it in her to rain on Jaune's parade. "Uhm...okay, Jaune. I'll be sure to...cheer you on." She just hoped the boys would be okay.

Donald couldn't believe what he was hearing and witnessing. The sheer lack of awareness or suspicion from the two boys. More and more Donald found himself wondering how the Keyblade EVER got it in its mind to choose someone like HIM. And for a supposed leader of a team, Jaune was almost as much of a doofus as Goofy.

Speaking of Goofy, he decided to be the eternal optimist and say, "Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine. And hey, we'll be there to support em!" he said, walking after them as the rest of the group minus Ruby, looked at the optimistic guard captain with expressions that read, 'Are you for real?'

"Well, guess we're checking out what this world has to offer after all. Come on, guys. Let's go." Ruby said encouragingly, deciding not to focus on negative possibilities.

It was clear that they weren't going to be able to convince them. Donald, Weiss, and Pyrrha unleashed a mutual sigh before finally going to join their friends, hoping this endeavor wouldn't end poorly.

When they came back into the vestibule and showed Phil the pass, the satyr was astounded and looked over it carefully. "Where did you get this?!" he said in disbelief.

"So we can enter the games now, right?" Sora said a little smugly as he crossed his arms. Donald, Goofy and Jaune were there beside him as Phil made one last check to see if it was genuine. And by then, he realized by all rights, they had permission to enter the games despite his earlier denial. So with a sigh, he finally acquiesced. "Well alright. I guess so. We can start with the preliminaries. Just so you know, some real weirdos signed up for the games. Better watch yourself." With that final warning, Phil walked into the arena, leaving the youths one last chance to back out while his back was turned.

"YES!" Jaune and Sora however weren't going to let this opportunity pass them by, much to the chagrin of Weiss and Donald, and the worry of Ruby and Pyrrha. None of them had the heart to burst their bubbles. Or in the case of Weiss and Donald, to bemoan this seeming waste of time. "This is gonna be great! The new champions of the Olympus Coliseum! Team JDGS!" Jaune proclaimed dramatically, striking a valiant pose with his hands on his hips.

"Team-" "Judges?" Sora and Goofy repeated, wondering if they'd heard that right. Sora wasn't sure what this whole team naming practice from Ruby's world was about, but then again he didn't know a LOT of things. "I feel like I'm going to regret asking, but why Judges?" Donald asked. "Because WE...are the judges for the opponents we fight! And their jury! And if necessary?...Their EXECUTIONERS!" The last one, Jaune forced his voice into a dark, 'cool' voice one would expect from some kind of cheesy avenging superhero character. And a repeat of that dramatic pose to go along with it. His reception was...mixed. Donald and Weiss both groaned out of embarrassment, Ruby looked bemused, Pyrrha seemed to be forcing a smile, Goofy scratched his chin as if still not getting it, but Sora? "Whoa! That's so cool and creative!" His simpleminded appreciation of the name drew a facepalm from both Weiss and Donald.

There was no way this was going to end well.

As they stepped out into the arena, Sora, Jaune, Donald, and Goofy were greeted with an empty ring and seemingly no opponent in sight. Ruby, Pyrrha, and Weiss all sat in the stands with Phil, their eyes firmly fixed upon the four competitors.

"Alright everybody, welcome our last-minute entry into the prelims! Our first round will feature Team...JDGS?" Phil's voice briefly shifted into an inaudible grumble, likely criticizing the name under his breath. But he got back to his duty calling out, "Uh, Team JDGS versus Team Shadow Scout!"

Suddenly, the four competitors jumped in shock as they were now facing a group of four Soldier Heartless along with three of the Heartless that looked like the Red Nocturnes, but colored blue, instead of red.

"Heartless?! Here?!" Ruby exclaimed as she stood from her seat. Weiss shot up from her seat, recognizing the creatures immediately. "What are they even doing here?!" she exclaimed, reaching to draw her rapier.

"Hey, hey, ladies! Ladies! Cool down. Part of the charm of the games is watchin' heroes fight monsters. Two of such heroes bein' trained by me, of course." Phil interjected, hopping in front of the huntresses.

"What are you talking about? Those things are dangerous!" Ruby protested, reaching for Crescent Rose, only to stop when Phil roughly yanked her by the arm.

"Hey! Just cool it and listen, will ya!?" Phil exclaimed, drawing their attention again. "Ya don't need to worry about them. If things get too dicey, the big Z upstairs gives the referee, that's me, permission to get competitors that are in danger of getting deep sixed out of harms way. And the monsters get themselves locked up til another match pops up, or a competitor wants to take another crack at em. It's one of the ways we make sure that even the most dangerous of monsters don't end up killin' everyone."

The two huntresses looked at each other then at the fat satyr, still quite confused. Then again, the only fighting tournament they'd ever experienced was the Vytal Tournament.

Pyrhha however did not seem worried at all as she hadn't even shifted from her seat. "Don't worry, girls. They're alright." she interjected calmly, watching the boys take the Heartless down one after the other. A smile touched her face as she watched Jaune deal the final blow to the soldier.

"Now THAT'S more like it!" Jaune cheered as he, Donald, Goofy, and Sora celebrated their victory. Jaune's attempt at celebration of course involved throwing his sword up...only to fumble, trying to catch it.

Seeing this, Ruby and Weiss relaxed a little and sat back down just in time to behold their friends' victory. They'd been so focused on Phil's explanation, they'd missed the action. "Way to go guys!" Ruby cheered out, waving her hands from the stands.

"Yeah, woohoo and all of that grand stuff." Weiss was less enthusiastic realizing that in cheering them on, she was also cheering Jaune on. Something that the blonde in question was taking a little...TOO well.

The moment he heard the (not-tall-cheery) words coming from the girl he admired, Jaune lit up with beaming eyes and a comically large grin. "Thank you Weiss! Now I can't possibly lose this with YOU cheering me on! I'll make you proud!" he said before trying to be debonair. "And perhaps you'll see something so stunning you can't help but swoon." He even ended his sentence with a purr through his teething grin.

Ruby and even Pyrrha were a little taken aback by the attempted 'bad boy' act from Jaune. Weiss, looked astonished for all the wrong reasons and turned her head away while holding her mouth to not barf, like it seemed she almost did.

Once the match was over, Phil met with the victors at the edge of the arena and spoke proudly, mostly for himself as he stroked his beard. "You're not heroes yet, but you ain't doing too bad. Lucky you came to me for coaching."

Before Phil could toot his own horn any further, everyone's attention was stolen by someone walking by. It was a tall, fairly muscular young man with blonde hair that was so spiky it seemed to defy gravity. His green-blue eyes carried a stoic air as they almost seemed to glow. He wore a black t-shirt tucked in dark blue pants held by a thick brown belt. The leggings tucked in his black boots and on his left shoulder was a pauldron with edged protrusions pointing outward. In the respective hand was a golden clawed gauntlet and the lower portion of his face was covered by tattered cloth that was part of his long red cape. What stood out the most was in his right hand he carried an absolutely massive sword that looked about as big as he was.

He walked by the four competitors, locking eyes with Sora as the young man felt unnerved. No words were shared between them as he walked away. "Whoa. Did you see the weapon that guy was carrying with just ONE hand?" Jaune whispered, both impressed and intimidated. "Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat," Phil said, crossing his arms with a wary tone. "Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing him."

Pyrrha had an uneasy feeling about that man. One that Weiss shared as her eyes narrowed at the seeming passer-by. Ruby however...

"Whoa...that sword looked so cool!" she squealed to herself, shaking giddily in her seat. The fact he was able to carry something so massive like it was nothing was a testament to how much he cared for his weapon and how deeply he mastered it. Being a weapon-maniac, she could tell that much just by a glance. Her giddiness drew a sigh from Weiss and a rapid blink from Pyrrha.

Suffice it to say, Jaune could feel just by looking at him that that caped man was no pushover. But he couldn't let himself look weak or afraid. Not in front of Pyrrha and or Weiss.

But of course, the games were continuing on as Phil announced the next round for Team JDGS. "Alright everyone, here we go! For round two of the Olympus Preliminaries, we have Team JDGS, versus the Sinisters!"

Jaune, Donald, Goofy, and Sora were met with a group of ten Shadows and three Heartless that looked similar to the Red Nocturnes, except they were blue. These Heartless were known as Blue Rhapsody.

The meaning of this difference in color was revealed as soon as the match started. For as the Shadows lurched toward the group, the Blue Rhapsodies reared back and suddenly began to shudder and glow with frigid magics, before unleashing them in a triple flurry of Blizzard magic. Just like the Red Nocturnes were fire, the Blue Rhapsodies revealed themselves to be ice.

Jaune saw the large particles of ice heading towards him and raised his shield to block it. Goofy did the same with his before yelling "Charge!" and knocked many of the Heartless in front of him aside. In that moment, Jaune took the opportunity to slash down at them one at a time. Two were taken out but the third managed to get up and scurry away.

Donald let out a Fire spell and made one of the Blue Rhapsody's and made it vanish right away. He smiled and nodded proudly until a Shadow clawed at him. "Hey, ya big palooka!" he shouted angrily before smacking it across the head with his staff used like a baseball bat. It was knocked in the air and Sora jumped to slash at it, making it vanish.

Jaune was having a bit of trouble hitting one of the other Blue Rhapsody's as it hopped back or around to avoid his strikes. "Hold still!"

"Hang on, Jaune!" Sora said as he ran to him. Before he realized what he was doing, Sora suddenly placed the tip of his Keyblade on the ground and reeled his lower half back before lunging it forward. As he touched the ground, his body leaned to the side and back but kept his face forward, making him skid quickly. The moment he came to the Heartless' back, Sora rushed right through it when slashing his Keyblade in front of himself and making it vanish. He stopped and looked back at the distance he gained.

"Was that some sort of... sliding dash?" Ruby asked, her silver eyes widening in amazement at that sudden new move by Sora.. "I've seen Sora fight well enough but he's never done something so coordinated. That's certainly a step up from his heaving and flailing." Weiss said with a mildly impressed tone.

A contemplative look touched Pyrrha's face as she looked at Sora. If this was, as her friends said, the first time Sora had done something like that, perhaps it was something similar to how she knew Jaune had much aura within. While uncertain whether or not he had the ability like all of them, she was sure that Sora had some hidden potential. Was it the Keyblade itself? Sora's own skills improving? Or both? Even Ruby in the midst of her updates and explanations to Pyrrha was uncertain which it was. Either way, having never seen such a weapon, she had no idea what to think of it. The Keyblade was an absolute wildcard.

But it was one that was working in their favor as with it, Sora cut a swath through the last pairs of Shadows.

"Oh yeah!" Sora cheered confidently, leaning his upper body back with his arms out as if flexing, before thrusting his hand victoriously into the air.

And immediately, Weiss remembered why she wasn't enjoying the show nearly as much as Ruby and Pyrrha who cheered them on more enthusiastically than her. Not only was Sora emotionally similar to Ruby, but it seemed he was mentally similar to Jaune of all people. Fortunately, she wouldn't have to worry about him growing a ridiculous infatuation with her.

But on to the next round Team JDGS went.

"Alright, everybody! Round three of the prelims! Team JDGS vs Heat and Freeze!"

This team consisted of five Red Nocturnes floating above five Blue Rhapsodies in a rather impressive linear formation. As Jaune, Donald, Goofy, and Sora readied themselves, the magic wielders deemed immediately that fire and ice were out of the question right off the bat. However because of that...Sora got an idea. One that Donald seemed to share as he looked at the Keyblade's chosen. Perhaps it was time to put that spell that Phil provided to good use.

"Thunder!"

Several bolts of lightning struck the arena from the sky, zapping the eight enemies with a powerful shock. As they were vulnerable, Sora fired a several fire Spells at the Blue Rhapsody's, incinerating them one after another as Jaune and Goofy physically disposed of a several Red Nocturne's. The remaining magic Heartless were hardly a problem as together, the team beat all of them like the rest.

"Not bad, huh?" Goofy cheered in delight at their victory as he threw his shield up, rolling it from one arm to his shoulders then to the other arm before it was caught in his respective hand.

"Alright, so far so good! Round four is Shadow Platoon!"

The group Phil announced consisted of three Red Nocturnes, three Blue Rhapsody's, two Soldiers, and two Shadows. One of the Soldiers almost heel-kicked Jaune right off the bat, but the young huntsman managed to retaliate with a parry of his shield, followed by impaling it where the emblem on its chest was, killing it right away.

There were still a few more left and Sora thought this wouldn't end any time soon if they picked them off one by one. "Thunder!"

He used the same spell Phil helped him learn and managed to make the Shadows go away. The fire and ice using Heartless were still around, likely because they had a slight resistance to magic given they could use some form of it. "Here!"

Again, the Thunder spell was used. Now the other Soldier was taken care of. Right as Goofy bashed a Blue Rhapsody out of existence and Donald put a Red Nocturne on ice, Sora figured one more should do it. "Thunder!"

The remaining Heartless were gone... or so he thought when his back was shot from a fireball. One last Red Nocturne remained. "Alright, that's it. Thunder!"

Nothing happened that time and it confused Sora as he looked to his weapon and tapped the blade. "What's wrong with this thing?"

"Sora, look out!" Goofy shouted when hurrying over to him and blocking him from the only Heartless remaining. Suddenly Sora felt himself getting tackled out of the way by a blur of white and blue. "You used too much magic! It's not unlimited!" The voice and duck bill in his face immediately told him it was Donald who saved him.

As the Goofy intercepted the Red Nocturne's attempted follow-up attack with his shield, he heaved his shield-arm back and struck it with an uppercut, sending it flying up into the air. A moment later, it came back down and burst upon impact with the ground. With that, this round was won just like the last two.

"YAAAHOOHOOHOOO!" Goofy cheered, performing some sort of silly disco dance pose with his index finger and thumb on both hands extended, with one hand at his hip and the other above his head.

The Huntresses cheered, or at least Ruby cheered for their victory. Weiss however could not believe the blunder that Sora made. And after she just started thinking he was improving from the short time she'd known him. Pyrrha however found herself fixated upon Sora's abilities. Particularly his use of magic. While she and Jaune had both learned that magic indeed existed in this world, and supposedly others around them if Sora and Donald were any indication, she found herself both intrigued by how Sora used it, yet also worried about what might happen should the Keyblade get into the wrong hands. Just like...no, she couldn't think about that now.

Goofy's victory dance drew bemused looks from Sora and Jaune, and a roll of the eyes from Donald, who immediately turned back to Sora. "You can't just use magic willy nilly, Sora. If you do, you'll run out of it like you did now." the duck lectured, drawing a frown to Sora's face.

"The duck's right kid." Phil interjected, just as Sora was about to protest. "Look, I'm glad you're usin' what I taught ya, but if ya keep flailin' like that, ya won't be any use to your team, let alone closer to becomin' a hero."

Though frustrated at all the lecturing, Sora knew he couldn't argue. Even if he didn't know, he did leave himself more than a little vulnerable at a crucial moment. "Yeah, okay. I'll be more careful." he said with a sigh.

Phil smiled encouragingly and gave the boy a pat on the back. "Hey, Rule number 18: Learn from your mistakes." Sora gave a small smile of appreciation to Phil. Even if he seemed like a bit of a hard case, he was a good guy...goat...person deep down, it seemed. With that bit of encouragement out of the way, Phil immediately went back to his duties, leaving Sora with renewed vigor and determination to prove himself a hero.