A solid close combat was engaged between Adam and Roman, the cyborg using his robotic enhancements while the wolf used his animal attributes. "So you're one of Logan's new friends, right?" Adam asked as he blocked a knee strike and went for a swing.

"Yeah," Roman confirmed as he ducked the swing. "We met during a case of stolen items in Hollywood Studios and became friends after he asked me to help rescuing Sora from the Virtual World. He told me a bit about you: you're supposed to be an adventurer or something like that?"

"A member of S.E.A., the group of greatest adventurers in the entire Magical World, yes!" Adam beamed. "If you want, I'll show you the things I've discovered in my adventures one of these days!"

Adam went for a punch that Roman blocked and twisted his arm into his back in an attempt to neutralize him. The cyborg, however, activated his robotic arm to release an electric discharge that stunned the wolf long enough for Adam to smack him away. As soon as he was back on his feet, Adam was all over Roman with swings and punches that the wolf struggled to either block or avoid. Eventually, Roman ducked a punch and caught Adam in a arm triangle choke that he quickly released in order to deliver kickboxing attacks until the cyborg was down on the ground.

As the wolf took place on top of him, Adam found himself having to protect his head with his arms as his opponent unleashed a rain of punches upon him. He had no choice but to charge his robot arm and blast the wolf off of him. Good thing this last one had a protection vest.

"You sure know how to fight, for someone who's got almost no magic backup," Adam remarked as he got back on his legs. "Are you one of Logan's wrestling pals?"

"Not really; I'm just a security agent for Hollywood Studios, a hunter and a kickboxer," Roman answered, frowning down at the burn mark on his vest.

Changing tactics, Adam used his hover boots to take off in the air and use his robot arm to shoot laser blasts at his opponent. This last one got down on his four limbs and began running away to avoid the attacks, his gain in speed making it hard for the cyborg to touch him. Eventually, one blast touched the wolf's back, making him groan and roll to a stop. Seeing his chance, Adam charged with his robotic fist, narrowly missing Roman, who rolled out of the way, letting him create a crater in the ground.

Adam used his hover boots to give himself a boost and charged for a punch. However, Roman surprisingly managed to block it with just one paw, shocking everybody looking. "W-What?!" Adam exclaimed.

A smirk forming on his face, Roman glared up at Adam - almost with malice. "Now, that's what I call enjoyment and excitement!" He planted his free hand into Adam's face, knocking him down on his back before taking out his survival knives and clashing them against the Dream Defender's robot arms. Try as he might, Adam could only step back and try to defend himself from the aggressive assault.

At one point, he attempted a electric beam that Roman avoided, jumped on Adam's back, and then planted one of his survival knives into a part of his arm, causing it to lose its power and get lose. Flipping off his back, Roman smacked his two fists into the now defenseless cyborg's stomach with enough strength to knock him out of the fighting zone.

"Adam Jackson has been eliminated!"

"Fighting with you was fun, robot guy. Now, where's that sword girl?" Roman asked and walked away.

Meanwhile, Sora parried the powerful magic attacks thrown at him by a furious Almyra. "HOW DARE YOU ELIMINATE JAMESON LIKE THIS?!" she bellowed before twirling on herself and sending a magic pulse.

"Calm down, I didn't do it on purpose; my target was Poe De Spell!" Sora defended himself as he parried the magic pulse. "Besides, the goal of this match is to eliminate the other participants, so you really shouldn't be that upset!"

"Well, I am! And I need to take it out!" The peahen princess gave firm, serious beats with her hips to create daggers made of magic that she threw at Sora. The Keyblade Hero deflected them all with his Ultima Weapon Keyblade and then sighed.

"Attraction Flow: Mad Tea Cups!" Sora used his Keyblade to summon a huge teacup from Mad Tea Party and began spinning everywhere, striking Almyra multiple times as he did so. In response, the Mystical Dancer performed a few dance moves to create a ribbon made of magic that she wrapped around the teacup, making it come to a stop. She then span on herself whilst still holding the ribbon to spin Sora around and toss him at full peed toward the limit of the fighting zone. Luckily, Sora planted his Keyblade in the ground and managed to stop himself before he could be eliminated. The fight between the Keyblade Hero and Mystical Dancer continued until the countdown ended once more.

('Never Make It Without You' by Steven Hopkins and Kenneth Hickerson Smith)

A figure jumped through the entrance gate, taking off to the skies to perform some aerial maneuvers before landing on the ground wit grace. An anthropomorphic peregrine falcon with nut-brown feathers wearing a jacket that was left open to reveal his solid abdomen, tribal pants and war paint on his face. He had a double-bladed saber and crossbow strapped to his back, a tomahawk on his right hip and a metal mace on his left one.

"Hey! It's Tomada!" Toren exclaimed in surprise.

Stopping before the fighting zone, Tomada held his tomahawk to his chest and asked his ancestors to grant him strength before stepping inside to see the battlefield. He arrived just in time to see Maui knocking Hercules away with his giant hook. "M-Maui?! From the Moana movie?!"

"Aww, I see we've got a Maui fan here!" the Polynesian demigod exclaimed with a proud grin. "I take it you must've heard about my numerous feats and accomplishments?"

"Only in the movie. Do you wanna become one of my spiritual allies; I'm sure we'd make a great team!" the falcon offered.

"Ally? What do you mean?"

"I'm a shaman; I befriend gods, deities, spiritual presences and other form of supernatural beings so that they can help me with any problem I may face in life," Tomada explained. "I didn't get the chance to meet any Polynesian spirits or gods before, so that's why I'd like you to become my friend! What do you say? We could go on all sorts of adventures together!"

Maui chuckled and gave a wave of his hand. "Sorry, kid, but Maui only works for one person, and that's Maui." He nonetheless gave the falcon a look of interest. "So you're one of those shamans I heard so much about, just like Rafiki? Mind showing me what kind of supernatural powers you have? Not that I think they can compare to that of demigod."

Having no problem with that demand, Tomada swiftly grabbed his crossbow and shot a series of bolts at Maui. This last one blocked them with his giant hook before turning into a hawk and taking off to the skies. An aerial duel started between the two avians - a duel that Tomada dominated thanks to his superior speed, using his double-bladed sword to cut at Maui's wings and force him to go back to the ground.

"You're pretty quick on your wings, I'll give you that, kid," Maui complimented. "Now, how about you show me some shaman magic?"

"With pleasure." Focusing, Tomada made his eyes glow lime-green as he summoned a giant bear made of lime-green magic. "This is the spirit of a noble man who was once the leader of my tribe. I actually had to befriend him in order to become an official shaman. It's gonna be a great honor for him to face a demigod, right?"

The spirit bear gave a positive growl before charging and engaging a bear fight with Maui. The Polynesian demigod struggled a bit, but managed to outwrestle his opponent without requiring the use of his hook. He lifted him over his head and slammed him with force on the ground. "No offense to your ancient tribal chief, kid, but I faced much worse."

Tomada sighed and allowed his ally to return to the Astral Plane. "Yeah, regardless of the strength he may have possessed before, I shouldn't have expected a reincarnated spirit like him to win against a demigod. Looks like I'm gonna have to fight strength with numbers." Once again making his eyes glow lime-green, the shaman summoned tens of spirit animals, including the pack of coyotes he used before, but also giraffes, elephants, cheetahs, antelopes, zebras, gazelles, vultures, meerkats, etc.

"Wow, that's a real zoo you just brought there!" Maui said in surprise.

"Believe it or not, but I didn't had that may spirit as my allies not so long ago," Tomada explained. "Lucky for me, Animal Kingdom is one of the most spiritual places in the entire Magical World. Ever since moving in, I got to befriend plenty of spirits living there. Let's see what you can do against them!"

Upon receiving the command, all the spirit animals charged to attack Maui together. The demigod fought hem back as much as he could using his hook and shapeshifting ability. Inevitably, he found himself getting overwhelmed, Tomada seeing the opportunity to catch him off-guard and smack him across the face with his mace.

Following this feat, Tomada allowed all the spirits he summoned to leave and wiped some sweat from his forehead. "What you just did was pretty impressive." He turned to see the one who talked was a certain lion with a red mane.

"K-King Simba?!" the falcon exclaimed in surprise. He quickly gave a respectful bow. "It's an honor to meet you in person, sir."

"You're the shaman falcon who recently joined Animal Kingdom, correct? Rafiki told me about you," Simba explained. "Would you mind testing your shaman powers against me? I am most curious as to what you are capable of."

"It would be an honor, Your Majesty. In fact, I do have a spirit friend that I think you will want to meet." Once again focusing, Tomada summoned an animal spirit. A lime-green lion who looked quite familiar to the King of Pride Lands.

Then, it clicked in Simba's mind. "F-Father?!"

"Hello, my son. It has been a long time," Mufasa said, giving a warm smile to his son.

"But... What are you doing here?"

"I have been summoned by this young shaman," the former King of Pride Lands replied, nodding his head toward Tomada. "He contacted me during his first few weeks in Animal Kingdom. Naturally, I told him that the ancient kings could not grant their service to just anybody, thus making it clear he would have to prove his worth. He did so through time and trials."

"Yup, many trials," Tomada agreed, rubbing the back of his head at the unpleasant memories.

To say that all the animals present in the arena were surprised would be an understanding. "That guy is friends with the former King of the Pride Lands?!" Janja exclaimed in surprise.

"Do you want me to face my son combat, Tomada?" Mufasa asked.

"Only if you want to, Your Majesty. I'm not gonna force you to fight your own son against your will."

"It is fine by me. It's also a good opportunity to see how much you've grown since becoming king, my son."

The two lions engaged in combat by sweeping their claws at each other and trying to tackle their opponent to the ground. At one point, Simba activated his King's Flare ability from Kingdom Hearts 3, which made him grow in size whilst also setting his body on fire. However, it turned out that Mufasa could do the same thing, becoming a giant lion of fire as well. They collided multiple times, creating firewaves that forced Tomada to step back. Eventually, they charged into each other with so much strength that it caused a fire explosion that knocked the two of them back, canceling their King's Flare simultaneously, and forcing Mufasa to return to the Astral Plane.

"That sure was an interesting encounter," Tomada remarked with a nod. He then turned and widened his eyes. "By my ancestors, Logan!" He made a dash to his friend, who was currently fending off vines launched at him by Isabela Madrigal using his Owl Buster sword. The falcon cut off some of the vines with his tomahawk before turning to his friend.

"T-Tomada?!" Logan exclaimed, surprised to see his best friend.

"In the flesh and feathers!" the falcon confirmed with a smile as he hugged Logan. "It's so cool I got to enter before you could get eliminated! Have you been in the match for long?"

"I've been here from the start."

"What?! You serious?!"

"Yeah... And it's starting to get to me; I'm struggling to even stay on my two feet," Logan admitted, wiping sweat from his forehead.

Isabela stepped forward with a glare. "In that case, it's the perfect chance for me to take you out and make you regret ever laying a hand on my baby sister! Now, move out of the way, kid, so that I can finish him off!"

Rubbing his forehead, Tomada sighed in annoyance. "Would you Madrigals knock it off already? Logan's already apologized hundreds of times for his mistake and made his community service for the damage done; just move on!"

The Golden Child of the Madrigal Family summoned large vines and gave a serious glance. "I said move out!"

Far from looking intimidated, Tomada gave a glare of defiance and firmly stood between the plant master and his best friend. "Not happening. Forget about Logan: now, you're facing a shaman!" Tomada connected himself to the Astral Plane once more and summoned another ally in battle. A man clad in black wearing a black mask, cape and hat with a rapier sword tied to his back. "I need your help now, Zorro!"

"Z-Zorro?!" Logan exclaimed in confusion. "But...I don't understand. I thought that guy was a creation of another studio, not Disney."

"Actually, there was a very old show based on me created by Disney in the 50s," the spirit explained. "However, I am not that version; rather, I am a general idea of the myth that is Zorro. Myths like the Yeti and the Loch Ness monster can live in the Astral Plane as well. This is why I can be summoned by shamans like your friend." He turned to Tomada. "What do you need me for, amigo?"

"I need your help to keep that lady's plants away from me and my friends. Think you can manage that?"

Zorro brandished his sword. "Of course. However, know that I refuse to harm a woman in any way." As Isabela sent her vines toward them, Zorro swung his sword around at such an elevated speed that the vines were cut into tiny pieces as they came. Tomada backed his spirit friend up by cutting the vines with his double-bladed sword, completely nullifying Isabela's attack. The countdown came to an end soon after.

('You've Got a Friend in Me' by Randy Newman)

You've got a friend in me

You've got a friend in me

When the road looks rough ahead

And you're miles and miles

From your nice warm bed

Everybody's beloved toy, Woody the Sheriff, entered the arena to an overwhelming positive reception. "Look out, everyone! There's a new toy in town!" The toy waved his hand and cowboy hat to the audience as he entered the fighting zone. By some strange coincidence, the first participant he came across was also the only former villain; Poe De spell. "Hey, I recognize you: you were that evil sorcerer duck from the duck show that Rex likes to watch on Disney+!"

"It is true that I have taken questionable decisions in the past and that I have not always been the nicest person," the sorcerer duck admitted. "However, I have moved away from that path and turned on a new leaf now, so there's no need for hostility between us, Sheriff."

"I'll believe it when I see it! For now, you got a date with justice, sorcerer duck!" Woody took out a 6-bullet pistol (a toy, of course) and began shooting non-lethal bullets that Poe blocked with a shadow shield.

Poe summoned shadows that he sent after Woody, the Sheriff defeating them with his pistol while running all around. Eventually, Woody defeated all the shadows and then took out a lasso that he threw around Poe's arms and then ran all around to tie him up. The duck fell on the ground with the toy proudly standing on top of him.

"No one escapes justice, mate!" Woody boasted with a proud grin.

"Woody!" The Sherriff looked up to see a familiar Keyblade Wielder waving at him.

"Howdy! It's Sora!" Woody beamed. "How are you doing, mate? Still going around saving people from darkness and stuff?"

"Amongst other things, but yeah, it's my current priority," Sora confirmed. "I'm also getting ready for the fourth game in the Kingdom Hearts franchise; it's gonna be lots of fun!"

"Hey! Is Toy Story gonna be part of the next game?" a fan in the audience asked. "Are they gonna bring back Final Fantasy characters? In fact, what world will be in the fourth game?"

Before Sora could give an answer, he was knocked to the side by a fire spell courtesy of a little blue bird who also carried a Keyblade. Woody curiously blinked his eyes. "Okay, Sora, Logan, and now, this guy? How many people around here are using key swords thingy?" He then looked down at the trapped Poe and raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, didn't we team up at the carnival boardwalk once?"

"It's only now that he remembers," Poe mumbled with a frown.

Not too far from there, Rachel groaned as she had to fight not only Hercules but also her fatigue. Relying on her unbreakable will, the Sword Mage dodged the Greek Hero's punches and eventually knocked him away by smacking him with the flat side of Maleficent's Bane. "I don't know if I'll be able to keep going on until the end...," she thought to herself. "No, stay calm, Rachel, you can do this... You can..."

Too focused on maintaining her composure, the young combatant failed to notice Roman staring at her with interest and with his arms crossed. "Your fighting style is quite impressive. And I've never seen a sword like yours before."

Rachel turned to look at him. "Who may you be?"

"Volk. Roman Volk - please call me 'Roman'," the wolf and slowly approached Rachel. "I've been told that you're one of the absolute best when it comes to combat skills in the entire Magical World. Is this true?"

"You got that right," Rachel boasted. "You're a mage, too?"

"Actually, I'm just a security agent, part time hunter, and also a friend of Logan Jindrak," Roman explained.

"Logan? Oh, I see, you must be one of the guys who helped him last summer. I thank you for that," Rachel gratefully said. "What pushed you to come here and take part in this match?"

A confident smirk formed on the wolf's face. "I'm looking to face the ones on top and always push myself further. Do you think you can give me a challenge?"

"I sure can. But I must warn you that I've been fighting nonstop for almost two hours now, so I may not be at the top of my game."

"It's fine by me; just do your best... Cause I also will..."

The two warriors stared at each other in complete silence. Then, Roman grabbed his two survival knives and assumed his fighting stance. "He doesn't actually intend to fight a swordswoman using those tiny knives, does he? Yet...why do I feel like I'm standing in front of a wild beast? I can practically feel a shiver running down my spine..."

Roman made the first move by charging and clashing his survival knives against Rachel's sword, the impact creating a shockwave that even the other participants could feel. In fact, it even caused Rachel to feel some pain in her arms. She attempted to hit a fire blade swing at Roman's upper body, but this last one ducked and delivered an elbow strike into her abdomen, making her spit some saliva and getting knocked to the ground.

"Man, you hit hard! I almost vomited back there!" Rachel exclaimed as she got back to her feet. This time, she was the one to charge and engage Roman in close combat. In spite of her tiredness, the Sword Mage was still the most skilled of the two fighters... Yet, Roman did not seem to be bothered in the slightest. In fact, despite receiving a few hits from Rachel, he was actually smiling. Smirking even!

The encounter ended when Roman delivered a uppercut to Rachel's jaw, sending her flying up and crashing down. "I know you said that you're feeling tired, but no matter the circumstances, in combat, only the last one standing can be called the true winner!"

Fighting through the pain, Rachel stood up once again and gave a serious glance at her opponent. "Who's this guy? I don't know why, but his presence is making me feel...nervous. Am I...afraid? No, impossible! I've been fighting dangerous guys and monsters for ages now; why would I be afraid of some wolf guy with knives?" Shaking the doubts out of her head, Rachel pushed a battle cry and charged to engage Roman once again, fighting all the way to the end of the next countdown.

('Grim Grinning Ghosts remix' by The Haunted Mansion)

When the crypt doors creak

And the tombstones quake

Spooks come out for a singing wake

Happy haunts materialize

And begin to vocalize

Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize

The lights turned spooky, creating a scary atmosphere for everyone. Then, in a whiff of smoke appeared Melanie Jackson (formerly Ravenswood) dressed in her adventurer's outfit. She sang a few foreboding opera notes before floating all the way into the fighting zone.

"Melanie! Good to see you again!" Aline beamed with a smile.

"Same for you, Aline," the lady ghost politely replied. "Has Adam entered yet?"

Aline rubbed the back of her head. "Unfortunately, you narrowly missed him; he entered a long time ago and just got taken out by that wolf guy who's fighting with Rachel at the moment."

"Oh, I see." Melanie looked down in disappointment. However, she then gave a determined smile. "In that case, I will simply win for the two of us! Ready to fight, Aline?"

As soon as she gave a nod, Melanie chased after Aline, trying to take possession of her body. The Cat Girl used glyphs to keep the ghost at bay, though most of her attacks simply went through her.

"No offense, Aline, but I cannot be touched by most attacks, so you should stop wasting your magic energy before running out!" Melanie advised as she charged straight at the Drema Keeper.

"You think?" With a grin on her face, Aline sang a few opera notes to actually reach into the power of Fantasia and materialize a weird goo that she launched on Melanie, forcing her to take a physical form. After this, the Cat Girl simply had to kick her out of the fighting zone.

"Melanie Jackson has been eliminated!"

"But...how?!" the lady ghost asked in confusion.

"Did you forget? Thanks to my training with Gabriel in the Mirrorverse, I can now use Fantasia as well," Aline explained with a smile. "I also remembered Amity and Marcy combining their skills to create a mixture to force you in a physical form, during the Sorcerer Arena's Tournament. Just though it would be the perfect time to use it."

Melanie was pretty disappointed to be eliminated so quickly, but took her defeat with grace and floated away to reunite with Adam. "Very impressive, Lady Aline!" Poe praised her with claps of his hands. "You have come a long way since the day we met in the Sorcerer's Arena. Gabriel made the right decision to choose you as a Dream Keeper alongside Toren, Beth and Double D!"

Aline blushed at this compliment. Unbeknownst to the two of them, Logan also heard it and looked down at the ground in frustration before continuing his fight with Broadway.

Meanwhile, Toren was flying over the battlefield, looking for his next target to pick. Eventually, he caught sight of Ben just standing on the sidelines and doing nothing but play with his shepherd's crook. He decided to land on the ground and go confront him about it. "Hey, what's the thing with you, pal?"

"I don't understand what you mean, Dream Keeper?" the wolf replied, trying to look innocent.

"Don't play innocents with me; I've seen what you did with Rachel and Adam earlier! With didn't they attack you when they had the chance?" Toren asked with an unusually serious tone.

Ben rose his paws in defeat. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you what you wanna know. See, I possess a special magic called 'Shepherd's Wool' that makes me seem unimportant to anybody approaching me. I can be seen, but they'll just lose interest in me and then move on to something else. That's the reason why your friends didn't harm me in any way; they didn't feel the need to. It's the perfect weapon in a competition like this, don't you think?"

"Wow, it sounds quite OP indeed," Toren agreed.

"Yeah; now, you know you're not gonna be able to land a single hit on me," Ben boasted with his arms crossed.

A grin formed on Toren's face. "I wouldn't say that..." Reaching to a calm state, the Jaquin activated his ability to cancel magic and removed the Shepherd's Wool surrounding Ben's body.

"What?! How did you...?!"

"We all got our tricks, buddy. And here's another one!" Calling to the emotion of joy, Toren made the spots in his fur shine like a spotlight, blinding Ben long enough for him to deliver a kick with his back legs, knocking him away.

The young wolf groaned, visibly not used to be inflicted physical wounds. Toren opened his wings and charged forward, ready to claim another elimination. However, at the very last second, Ben ducked the charge, caught the Jaquin by the neck with the tip of his shepherd's crook, and performed a swing to toss him outside the fighting zone.

"Toren has been eliminated!"

"Toren!" Logan and Aline both exclaimed in shock at seeing their friend being taken out.

"Looks like it's the end for the Shifter Trio in this match," Ben said with a grin, resting his crook on his shoulder. "Plus, I also eliminated a Dream Keeper; this is gonna be sure to make my participation remembered..."

While Logan was still too busy with Broadway, Aline decided to avenge her co-Dream Keeper by going after the wolf. At the same time, there was an avian fight going on between Almyra and Blu, the peahen using her Dance of the Mystical Veils to launch spells at the Spix's macaw.

Blu charged at her, once again using the speed-based style that was taught to him by Ventus. Almyra managed to dodge the three strike combo he launched at her with dance moves, also building up her magic in the process. When Blu went for another sweep, Almyra avoided his Keyblade by sucking her stomach in and responded with a spin kick that Blu ducked, performed a cartwheel, and attacked from the side. Once again, the peahen avoided the attack by swinging her hips to the side and then performed a tummy roll to create a magic pulse that knocked Blu away.

"You know how to bust some moves, my friend," Almyra praised her opponent. "If you want, you can come pay me a visit at my boutique in Epcot; I'd be glad to share some of my own dancing moves with you."

"Oh, wow, that's an interesting offer," Blu admitted, rubbing the back of his head with a blush. However, he then heard a coughing noise and saw Jewel giving him a serious glare from the audience. "Huh, I mean, sorry, but I'm already married, plus, I must take care of my duty as a Keyblade Wielder now."

The blue bird used a Fire Dash spell, charging at the peahen with sliding fire that she avoided with a sidestep. However, Blu had expected this response and, using his speed, followed with another swing of his Keyblade. With no time to move, Almyra was forced to perform an impressive backbend to avoid the Keyblade. She transitioned this move into a backflip that saw her landing a kick on top of Blu's head, making him stumble back in pain.

"Cheese and sprinkles! I never knew that dancing could be that useful in a fight," Blu admitted as he rubbed the top of his head.

"True, when mastered, dancing can be just as deadly a weapon as a sword. More particularly, belly dancing is fluid like water and perfect to move around your opponent whilst dodging their moves," Almyra explained as she span and struck a pose. "You can imagine the perfect combination it makes with my Dance of the Mystical Veils."

After launching a few more fire spells, Blu activated his Firestorm command style and began launching an aggressive assault on the Mystical Dancer. Far from being overwhelmed, this last one danced around Blu's attack and eventually used her built up magic energy to create a light explosion that temporarily blinded him. During that time, Almyra danced some more to create a magic snake that went to wrap itself around Blu's body, preventing him from moving.

"Hey! Let me go!" the macaw exclaimed as he struggled and tried in vain to break free.

"Good, keep him in place and make sure he watches my little performance. Hypnotic Dance!" Once again, Almyra held her hands above her head and danced like a snake to hypnotize Blu, just as she did with Amity. Unable to look away, Blu was forced to admire the peahen's seductive moves, slowly losing control over his own mind as he did so. Once the magic effect overwhelmed his mind, Almyra allowed her snake friend to release Blu as she approached him. "Be a good little boy and walk out of here, would you?"

Obeying the irresistible dancer, Blu stepped outside the fighting zone just as Amity did earlier.

"Blu Gunderson has been eliminated!"

"Okay, that girl's moves are pretty overpowered. Someone needs to take her out before she starts eliminating us one by one!" Broadway remarked before resuming his fight with Logan. The countdown ended soon after.

('Hero' by Nickelback)

I am so high, I can hear heaven

I am so high, I can hear heaven

Whoa, but heaven, no, heaven don't hear me

Some spotlights cast lights shaped like the world-famous spider logo on the arena. Then, as the music kicked in, everybody cheered at seeing the hero in red and blue standing on the top wall of the arena, crawling his way down.

And they say that a hero could save us

I'm not gonna stand here and wait

I'll hold on to the wings of the eagles

Watch as we all fly away

Spider-Man clapped in some fans' hands as he made his way down the arena and jumped straight into the fighting zone. "By m ancestors, Spider-Man?!" Tomada exclaimed in surprise. "Wait a minute which version of Spider-Man are you?"

"Well, I'm not a peculiar version of Spider-Man from any movie or TV series. Rather, I'm more like a mix of all the known Spider-Men, a general idea of the character, if you will. But since we're in the Magical World, I think the closest versions I am to are the MCU Spider-Man as well as the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield versions," Spider-Man explained.

"... Huh, interesting," Tomada simply said, trying to process the information. "Now, let's have a little hero's battle!"

Opening his wings, the young shaman took to the skies and attempted to hit Spider-Man with a dive, but New York's hero leapt over it and shot two webs to catch his wings, pull him back, and deliver a devastating kick to the falcon. "No offense, pal, but I'm fighting against a vulture all the time; dealing with a falcon isn't that big of a deal to me."

"Maybe, but I strongly doubt your vulture can do this!" Kicking to his feet, Tomada attacked Spider-Man with his mace. The Spider dodged all his attacks with expertise, eventually shooting webs to trap his opponent and deliver a combo of hits and kicks that sent him to the ground. "Okay, maybe close combat isn't the best option right now," Tomada admitted as he cut the webs with his tomahawk. "In that case, it's time to call a spirit for help!" He summoned an avian-like creature with dragon wings whom he affectionately patted on the head.

"Hey, I know that creature!" Logan exclaimed. "It's Valefor from Final Fantasy X!"

"Exactly; we played that game all the time as kids, so it was only normal I'd get the first Aeon, right?" Tomada asked with a wink. "Come on, Valefor, energy ray!"

With a roar, the dragon creature began shooting energy rays that Spider-Man avoided by jumping and swinging around. Eventually, he shot two web balls into Valefor's face to blind her before grabbing her with two webs that he used as slings to hit a violent dropkick into her stomach. Despite the pain, the Aeon growled and knocked the hero back with a sweep of her wing. This gave Tomada the opportunity to hit him with a few quick strikes, ending with a dive that sent him crashing to the ground.

"Alright, two against one is a more fair fight, I guess," Spider-Man coughed as he got back up.

Poe used his pendant to shoot magic blasts at Hercules, only for them to be blocked by his Aura Guard. "No offense to you, but I survived spells from Hades and other monsters from the Underworld; it's gonna take a lot more to take me down!" The duck changed tactics by summoning shadows that he made jump on Hercules, pinning him down under their combined weight. However, even that was not enough as they were all pushed back and sent flying everywhere by the Greek God.

"Fantastic! That's my son!" Zeus beamed from his stand above all.

Hercules charged head first into Poe to knock him to the ground and immediately followed by charging his Aura Guard to create an explosion. There was no trace of Poe after this move; surely he had been knocked out of the fighting zone, so much it was a strong move. At least, that's what Hercules thought. In reality, Poe had waited to the last second before hiding in the Greek God's shadow, avoiding the attack, and then came out with a grin. Failing to see him, Hercules received a ball in shadow in his back, the strength of which sent him flying out of the fighting zone.

"Hercules has been eliminated!"

"NOOOOO!" Zeus practically yelled, lightning booming above the coliseum due to his anger and disappointment. It took many gods and goddesses to appease him, even though they, too, were disappointed that their champion had been taken out of the competition.

Logan and Broadway, meanwhile, were still having a bare-fisted brawl with each other, refusing to lose against their respective opponent. "I gotta admit, you're pretty strong for just a human, kid," Broadway recognized whilst panting heavily.

"I'm not just a kid!" Logan declared with a glare. "And just you watch; I'm gonna win this whole thing!" With a battle cry, he ran forward and resumed the fight, his pro wrestling style clashing with Broadway's sumo style.

Getting aggressive, Logan gripped Broadway's head, delivering knees to his face and then roundhouse kicks to his chest. Eventually, the gargoyle blocked his leg, lifted him up, then slammed him down hard on the ground. He then pinned the young man under all of his weight and began delivering blows to his face that Logan tried as well as he could to block with his arms. Not about to give up yet, Logan managed to break free and then catch Broadway in a triangle choke, hitting elbows to his heading an attempt to make him pass out.

Fighting through the pain, Broadway manage not only to lift Logan, but also to throw him up in the air and deliver a devastating punch to his stomach, making him spit saliva and land on the ground with a thud. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have a feeling claiming victory here is practically an obsession for you."

With his body covered in sweat and saliva flowing on his chin, Logan forced himself back up. "I must...win...! I have no other choice... Otherwise... I won't deserve to call myself a Dream Defender..."

Broadway ran forward, jumped and crushed Logan under his body. He then grabbed the young man by the arm and began hitting one clothesline after the other. Then, finding more fight within himself, Logan ducked one of these clotheslines and managed to trap the gargoyle in a arm triangle choke, wrestling him to the ground. Despite his desperation and best efforts, Broadway could not fight out of this hold and started losing consciousness. Once he was drained enough, Logan released Broadway, threw him up, and smacked him with the flat side of his Owl Buster. The impact sent the gargoyle out of the fighting zone.

"Broadway has been eliminated!"

Logan took deep breaths, giving a serious glare toward the participant he had just eliminated. "Well-played, Logan." The young man turned around to see Rachel approaching him, Maleficent's Bane in her hand and the other one on her hip.

"You're still in the match, Rachel?"

"What? You didn't actually think I would get eliminated without being amongst the last four, minimum?" the Sword Mage mused. "Listen, Logan, I wanted to congratulate you. Despite starting at the very beginning of the match, you've managed to stand your grounds and make it to the very last entrant - he should get in any moment now."

"Thanks, Rachel... But it will all be for nothing if I don't win," Logan seriously replied.

"True. Nonetheless, it's really good to see how much you've changed. From that little unconfident boy at the Sorcerer's Next Apprentice show who struggled to use his Drawing Magic to being able to keep up with the best combatants of the Magical World, including me." She raised an eyebrow. "So? How you found the answer to the question?"

"Question? What question?" Logan asked with a confused expression.

"Remember; the one I asked you on the rooftop after we went shopping. Do you have what it takes to succeed? Do you have it in you to go the distance and win something for yourself?" Rachel repeated. "What's the answer?"

At this question, Logan stared down at the ground. There was truth to what Rachel said: he did manage to fight against all odds and make it to the very last participant. But... Could he actually...win the competition? Many times before, he gave his best and got close to win something for himself only to find a way to screw things up at the last moment... Sure, he did claim victories before but most of the time, it was because he had friends like Gabriel or Destiny at his side. Winning the Hero's Rumble here and now? The answer was not clear.

Lost in his thoughts, the young man failed to notice that the arena's timer was about to end. At last, it reached zero, announcing the arrival of the 40th and final entrant in the Hero's Rumble... The lights turned darker as everybody eagerly waited to see who it would be...

('Advent: One-Winged Angel' by Nobuo Uematsu)

Almost as soon as the first notes were played, Logan's body tensed up, his eyes widening to the limit. He would recognize that song amongst a thousand... Slowly, his head turned to look at the entrance gate, fearing who was about to come through. "It can't be...?!"

"What's wrong, Logan?" Rachel asked, surprised to see her friend looking so terrified all of a sudden. "You know that song? Who is it?" She also turned toward the entrance of the arena, holding her sword at the ready for whoever was about to join the fight.

Many seconds passed with the intense song still playing, but nobody entered the arena, much to everybody's confusion. Then, Logan took notice of a weird shadow forming on the ground. He looked up to see a figure coming down from the air... A figure with a single wing...?!

"RACHEL! LOOK OUT!"

unfortunately, it was too late: as soon as the figure landed behind her, Rachel felt the strike of a sword in her back and almost lost her breath. "... Congratulations," mumbled a malicious voice as Rachel turned around to face her attacker. "Last time I attacked a woman from above, it took only one hit to take her down. In your case, it's two." Before Rachel could even attempt to defend herself, she received another sword strike that hurt a lot and also knocked her almost into the audience.

"Rachel Goodfey has been eliminated!"

"Lady Rachel!" Poe exclaimed in shock at seeing his girlfriend being eliminated from the match.

Logan turned his attention to the newcomer. A tall man dressed in black with silver-white hair that fell on his back like a waterfall, a single, black wing peeking rom over his shoulder, and a saber almost twice the length of his body. The young man's fears turned out to be true...

"S-Sephiroth?!" Logan and Sora exclaimed at unison.

The man in question ran a hand through his hair, giving an almost sadistic grin. "Hello, everyone. Hope I'm not too late for the party?"

Author's note: All forty participants have officially entered the Hero's Rumble! And, what a twist, the last one to get in is none other than Sephiroth! For those of you who don't know, Sephiroth is not only the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII, but also a secret boss (one of the hardest, may I say) of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. While most of the entrances for the match were randomly selected, I must admit that Sephiroth was always my choice for the final entrance because it's this entrance that needs to have the biggest OH MY GOSH factor, and our One-Winged Angel was the perfect choice.

Tomada got to showcase all the new spirits he befriended during this chapter. Remember how, before the Hero's Rumble, Tomada was excited to make new friends because Animal Kingdom is the most spiritual place in the Magical World? Well, it paid off here. He befriended many spirit animals, most of which are African creatures (y'know, since Animal Kingdom is mostly themed after Africa), and even the former King of the Pride Lands himself, Mufasa! Since Tomada is a shaman who can communicate with the dead and Mufasa is still made a continuous presence though The Lion Guard despite being deceased, I said: 'why not make him one of his spirit allies in the same vein that Simba is one of Sora's summons?' Other spirits include Valefor, the very first Aeon (basically, summons) you get in Final Fantasy X, and Zorro, the mythical masked swordsman (bet you guys didn't even know that Disney made a series based on him!).

The way Aline took out Melanie is a call back to how she was taken out of the Sorcerer's Arena by Marcy and Amity combining their magic skills. Just thought it would be a nice little reference. Some of you might be surprised that Ben eliminated Toren with so much ease, but keep in mind that the Dream Keeper of Animal Kingdom entered in 10th position and fought for a long time; he was probably beyond tired at this point. And the way Sephiroth took Rachel out by surprise was also a call back to one of the most iconic (and shocking) moments in Final Fantasy history...

New entrants:

-36: Tomada

-37: Woody

-38: Melanie Jackson

-39: Spider-Man

-40: Sephiroth

New eliminations:

-Adam Jackson: eliminated by Roman

-Melanie Jackson: eliminated by Aline

-Toren: eliminated by Ben

-Blu: eliminated by Almyra

-Hercules: eliminated by Poe De Spell

-Broadway: eliminated by Logan

-Rachel: eliminated by Sephiroth

Who's gonna win the Hero's Rumble? Logan, Aline, Sora, Almyra, Poe, Roman, Ben, Tomada, Simba, Isabela, Maui, Woody, Spider-Man or Sephiroth? Stay stunned to find out! Also, a merry 2023 to you all!