Jameson couldn't help but shake his little tail feathers like an excited puppy, wonder in his eyes as he admired the beauty of Twilight Town from the top of the clock tower at the central station. The little Dream Walker had been invited by his teacher to this peculiar location alongside his four comrades: Ben, Gray, Ferroth and Roman. He had not specified why, but the five students all accepted to come regardless.
"Look at all this; it's beautiful!" Jameson beamed. "Look! A train's passing!"
Ferroth chuckled at the owlet's enthusiasm. "Roxas and his friends love to come here after a day of work to relax and enjoy the sunset. They always said that it's one of the nicest places in the KH universe to visit."
"Well, I won't tell them otherwise," Ben chuckled as he nodded his head in agreement. The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing was seated against the wall of the clock with one arm wrapped around his shepherd's crook. "This place really is magnificent."
Roman nodded to his friend, the hunter currently resting with his hands behind his head as he was lying in a more relaxed position. "While I enjoy hunting, fighting bad guys and taking part in competitions, it's also nice to slow down and live in the moment every once in a while. Don't you agree, Gray? Gray?" When he didn't get a response, Roman turned his head to see his owl companion playing a game on his Nintendo Switch, clearly too in the game to pay attention. Sighing in annoyance, Roman snatched the console from his wings.
"Hey! Give it back!" Gray complained, trying to recover his console. "I'm about to finish this shrine in Tears of the Kingdom!"
"You'll have plenty of time to play your game tonight and tomorrow; try to live in the moment and just enjoy the sunset," Roman firmly said as he pulled the Switch back in Gray's laptop bag. The owl sighed in defeat before sitting down and watching the huge landscape with his friends.
For many minutes, the five friends just sat down and watched the sunset in comfortable silence, Ferroth even started making a drawing on his Magical Laptop. "I wonder where Logan is; he said he'll be there as well," Ben eventually remarked, breaking the silence.
"Glad you didn't forget about me!" The group turned in time to see their coach arriving at the clock tower's top in his anthropomorphic snowy owl form. He turned back to his human self after landing.
"You sure took your time coming," Roman remarked as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "We were starting to think you had to cancel our meeting for some reason."
"Sorry about that, guys, but I'm certain you wouldn't mind waiting a little longer with a view like this," Logan chuckled, his hands hidden behind his back for some reason. "But, in my defense... If I came earlier, I wouldn't have been able to get you these." He pulled his hands out to reveal a set of wrapped ice pops that each had a different color.
"ICE CREAM!" Ferroth and Jameson beamed together. Logan began distributing the frozen sweets to all of his students, keeping one for himself. "Aww, kiwi! My favorite flavor!" Jameson said whilst happily pulling his ice pop in his beak.
Gray took a few licks of his blueberry pop and chuckled. "This brings back memories: my parents used to get pops like these to my bro and I when we were kids and going to the beach during summer."
"With my job, you can't just consume anything you want... But when the occasion for a treat comes, it's more enjoyable," Roman remarked whilst enjoying his dark chocolate pop.
"What's the occasion, Logan?" Ben questioned.
The Champion of the Magical World shrugged in response. "Why should there be an occasion? Do I need one to be nice to my students?" He unwrapped his strawberry ice pop and then sat down to enjoy it with his five students. For a few minutes, everybody just enjoyed their sweet without saying anything until Logan decided to start a conversation: "So, is there anything special happening in your lives these days?"
"Yes, a lot, actually!" Jameson was the first to speak. "Aunt Rachel and Uncle Poe insisted on me going to live with them, so I'm gonna pack up my stuff from the Dream Realm and move to their residence in a few days. I won't be able to see my Dream Eater friends as much as before, but I'm so glad I'll have an official home now!"
The others chuckled happily at this. "It's really cool that you got reunited with your family, pal," Gray happily said, patting his owl bro on the head. "As for me, there's not that much. Outside our training sessions, I mostly play video games or go visit my parents to help them take care of Gaius."
Jameson let out an amused chuckle as he remembered the Meow Wow he raised and offered Gray's family last Christmas. "How's the little guy doing? Is he happy with your parents?"
"You bet he is! He practically became the third child of the bunch," Gray replied. "Mom and Dad love him really much, and I'm pretty sure it's reciprocal. On a different note, I recently went to see my favorite movie of the year: Across the Spider-Verse!"
"Oh, you've seen it, too?!" Logan asked, suddenly jumping from his spot to approach his owl bro. "I went to see it at the movies, a few weeks ago!"
"Really?!" Gray beamed. "Did you like it? If you don't say that was the best Spider-Man movie ever, we're gonna have a problem, I'm warning you."
Logan simply chuckled. "Of course, I enjoyed it; it was amazing! Well... Would've been better if the kid sitting in front of me was respectful enough to stop talking so loud every five minutes, but I still enjoyed the movie. As for the title of best Spider-Man movie... Sorry, but in my case, that title goes to the first ever film, with Tobey Maguire. It's the first superhero film I've ever seen, so it holds a special place in my heart."
"Bah, I'm not mad; that was a very good film, too," Gray said with a shrug and a nod. "It still has my favorite depiction of Jonah J. Jameson, any media compared. Which Spider-Man was your favorite in the film?"
"That would be Web-Slinger, the cowboy Spider-Man. He was just so cool, shooting webs with his pistols like a cowboy!" Logan beamed.
"It's true that he was pretty cool, but he didn't get that much screen time to get in my top 10," Gray replied. "Oh, and can we talk about Spider-Man 2099 and how amazing of a villain he was-"
Before long, the two friends broke into a full discussion about Spider-Man's movies and world in general, whilst the others watched in silence. "Are they always so passionate about Spider-Man?" Ben questioned with a chuckle.
"You should've seen them during the Christmas holidays; to be accepted as owl bros, Logan insisted on teaching Gray about the intricate lore of Kingdom Hearts. In return, Logan had to sit down and listen to everything there is to know about Spider-Man," Jameson mused. "I had to sit between them as they did so... And I can't remember anything they talked about..."
"... Yeah, I think I'll try to befriend every version of Spider-Man there is in the Magical World," Gray sighed, concluding the long nerd talk. "Gabriel actually met Gwen Stacy and had her design something for one of his friends. Maybe I'll ask him to introduce her to me."
"Good idea." Logan then realized his other students were all staring at them and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, guys; we got carried away... Again... Anyway, what have you done lately, Roman?"
"Not much; been training and protecting Hollywood Studios, as always," the wolf nonchalantly responded. "I was actually thinking about paying a visit to Lucky on his planet, Yautja Prime. Lucky's gonna pass his trial of Spear Master by hunting a Vy'drach to claim its armor soon. Except that, not much."
Jameson hopped to perch himself on the wolf's shoulder. "Have you finally started dating Sunny?"
Roman comically choked on his ice pop before looking at the owlet with his eyes wide open. "W-What the...?! Why are you talking about her?!"
"Come on, Roman, we all know you're totally falling for her," Ben teased his companion. "Just by the way you're looking at her, it's clear as day."
Roman opened and closed his muzzle multiple times before looking down with a blush. "I...haven't boarded the subject of dating with her yet. Between Sunny and I, it's strictly professional for the moment. We sometimes take on missions together and go celebrate in a tavern afterward... But I don't know if she holds any interest for me..."
"Why wouldn't she? You're an amazing guy, Roman!" Ferroth declared to his friend. "I'm sure she has as much admiration for you as you have for her! Plus, you really think she would've invited you to dance at the Hero's Rumble's afterparty if you didn't interest her?"
"... True," Roman admitted, the blush never leaving his face. "I'll...think about it..."
"What have YOU done lately, Ferroth?" Ben interrogated his snake friend.
"You mean beside trying to control my drawings?" Ferroth asked with a chuckle. "Well, I've actually been writing a novel for fun. Underwing, it's called. Except that, I've had many nights where my brain goes into fight/flight mode. I could say I'm restless, but 'restless' doesn't really describe the feeling as accurately. Anxiety, I guess. Like I don't feel exactly 'safe'. Even though I know I'm safe, it's that anxiety that hits me in the sensitive brain…"
"Really? Do you know why that's happening?" Gray inquired.
Ferroth just shrugged. "No idea; it's just something that kind of happens to me once in a while. I'll be all right. I always am in the end. Just might be a little wild tonight in my head."
"Glad to hear it," Logan said before turning to his last student. "And you, Ben? What have you done since becoming the Power of Three Champion?"
"I've actually started taking on duties as a Dream Defender," Ben replied. "Y'know, going around to help people. Two days ago, Bianca and Bernard from the Rescuers asked me to help with a cat problem in Australia. Tomada also asked me to accompany him to the New World from Pocahontas to see if there are any spirits to be found there. Long story short, becoming a Dream Defender made my life busier than before."
"I perfectly understand; Rachel, Silver, Toren, Adam and I also went through that when we officially became the Dream Defenders," Logan chuckled. He remained silent for a few seconds before talking again. "Guys, as your teacher, I want you to know that I'm very, very proud of you all. Ever since asking me to train you after the Hero's Rumble, you have done nothing but give your best and get better with your magic and respective talents every day. You all have yet to reach your full potential, but you're advancing at a great pace, and for that, you have my congratulations."
Receiving such words from their teacher forced a smile on the five students' face. Jameson even ran up to him for a little hug before reaching a fist forward. "Owl bros?"
"Owl Bros!" Logan and Gray responded, touching the owlet's fist with their own.
"You guys know we can't join because we're not owls, right?" Ben asked with a shake of his head. "You're not cool."
Roman chuckled and nudged his fellow wolf's shoulder. "It's just their little thing between owls; let them have it." His ears suddenly perked, his eyes widening as he quickly turned his head in a direction. Logan, Jameson and Ferroth reacted the same way. "You felt that?"
"Yeah, we did," Ferroth replied whilst Jameson nodded.
"What are you talking about? What's happening?" Ben asked, surprised by their sudden change of attitude. It's at this moment that two huge portals of darkness opened in the sky above Twilight Town, with tens of hundreds of dark creatures pouring out. "Are these...Heartless?!"
"Sure seems like it," Roman said, quickly kicking up to his feet.
"Those guys just can't give us a break, can they?" Jameson complained.
"We need to protect the people of Twilight Town! Quick, let's move!" Logan commanded, turning into his anthropomorphic snowy owl form and taking off with Roman and Ferroth on his back, whilst Ben simply glided with his Wind Magic and Jameson and Gray used their owl wings to fly off.
Flying down to the lower areas of the city, the group reached Market Street just as the citizens realized they were getting attacked and started fleeing. Knowing what they had to do, Logan led the charge and began cutting through the Heartless with his Fenrir Keyblade, his students right behind him. The anthropomorphic snowy owl shot a Firaga spell to neutralize a Fluttering who was diving at a citizen.
"Looks like it's time to play some music," Gray remarked, turning some music on his phone in order to tap into his Fantasia: Tempo. He clutched his wings into fists, one of them turning gold and the other silver. Many Red Nocturnes, Blue Rhapsody, Yellow Operas, Green Requiems, Black Ballads and Silver Rocks bounced and floated all around the barn owl, attacking him with their respective element.
Thanks to his training with Logan, Gray learned to move faster, thus being able to dodge all the elemental attacks. Jumping up, he actually managed to touch a Yellow Opera with his silver fist, taking away its potential energy and shattering it to pieces. Immediately after, he smacked a Black Ballad with his gold fist, supercharging it with energy that made it fly back super quick and into a wall before breaking like glass.
"You may be floating melodies, but only Instant Crash can bring the true tempo!" Gray beamed with a smirk as he kept punching all the floating Heartless, either sending them flying off or crashing on the ground.
Ben jumped all around the battlefield, smacking any Heartless he encountered with his shepherd's crook. "Air Bullets!" he exclaimed, pointing his crook at a group of Pumpkin Soldiers and shooting pressurized bullets that sent them back to Kingdom Hearts in one hit.
Whilst protecting the people of Twilight Town, Ben couldn't help but feel some pride at how strong he had become since his participation in the Hero's Rumble. But then, things got a little more difficult as a huge mass of Shadow Heartless appeared from behind a building and came in the wolf's direction.
"A Demon Tower? Seriously?" Ben mumbled in disbelief. "Looks like I need to disappear for the time being. Shepherd's Wool!" Activating his technique, Ben created a field of neutrality around him, causing the swarm of Shadows to simply move out of the way as they lost any interest in attacking him. Taking advantage of this, he once again used his Wind Magic to strike the Heartless one after the other, quickly dispatching of them.
Meanwhile, Jameson was caught between Powerwilds and Bouncywilds, the latter shooting at him with their slingshots while the former swiped at him, forcing the black owl to jump and flip all around to avoid their attacks. "Looks like I need some backup. Ducky Goose! Juggle Pup! Come to me!" he shouted, calling on the belly-mouth duck Spirit and the sea lion creature with a balloon.
Juggle Pup was the first to act, tossing his balloon at the primate Heartless, whilst Ducky Goose opened his mouth and simply swallowed them one by one. Having support from his Dream Eater friends, Jameson was able to keep better control over his enemies with his Balloonga spell, the colorful balloons taking them down like flies.
"RAH!" Roman exclaimed, punching a Darkball to oblivion with his bare fist. He marked a pause to look at the Heartless all around him. "I came here to relax and watch the sunset with my friends, but ended up having to fight a legion of monsters..." A grin formed on his face. "What did I do to deserve such a treat?" Reaching to his back, he pulled out the Predator Axe that had been given to him by Lucky and began cutting through the Heartless.
After cutting down about twenty Heartless, Roman decided to use a special feature unique to his Predator Axe and stretched the handle for a longer range before starting to spin on himself. "Predator Cutting Spin!" After gaining enough speed, Roman was spinning as fast as a Beyblade spinning-top, cutting through all the Heartless in his way. He eventually came to a stop, collapsing on his knees. "Crap... I need more practice with this move... Don't puke, don't puke," he softly groaned.
Whilst he recovered, the Hunter suddenly felt the ground shake and looked up to see a massive, muscular, humanoid Heartless with dark purple skin approaching him. The Dark Follower pushed a loud roar that made the citizens panic...while Roman simply grinned. "My, hello, handsome. Wanna dance?"
The gigantic Heartless pushed a growl and attempted to squash Roman under its fist, only for the wolf to dodge, jump on its arm and then make a run to its head. Not wasting a second, Roman began delivering a barrage of punches straight into the Dark Follower's face with his bare fists and did not stop until the monster collapsed on its back, defeated. Roman took deep breaths as the body of darkness faded into smoke beneath him. He then looked at the surrounding Heartless with an excited smile. "KEEP COMING! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN! I WANT MORE!"
Watching the entire scene, Ben and Gray blinked their eyes. "... Okay, that guy seriously freaks me out sometimes," Ben mumbled, to which Gray nodded in agreement.
Ferroth slithered his way across the battlefield, avoiding the Heartless on his way. He took out his Magic Laptop and began running through his saved drawings. "Time to put my new creations in action!" Using his Drawing Magic, he summoned a black snake-shaped whip that he then used to whip away at Soldiers, also using his own snake tail to make it twice as effective.
Eventually, the anthropomorphic snake ran into a group of Large Bodies well-intended on squashing him down. Understanding a snake whip wouldn't be enough to get him out of this, Ferroth once again grabbed his Magic Laptop and summoned two figures that seemed to be made out of ink: a raven with a rapper sword and a monkey with a boomerang.
Following their creator's command, the two creatures avoided the Large Bodies with their agility and took them out with attacks in the back. Ferroth also helped them by wrapping his serpent body around the big Heartless and then use his ability to slow down vibrations in the air to cover them in ice before shattering them with a good smack of his tail.
Logan took down an Invisible with Fenrir before looking up at the two portals. "We've managed to keep everybody safe so far, but the Heartless just keep coming! When the cheese is it gonna stop?!" He looked at a huge amount of Heartless coming closer. "Alright then, we'll just have to keep fighting; they can't keep coming forever!" He raised Fenrir above his head, ready to strike again-
"Crab Style: Fire Pillar!"
At this moment, a huge pillar of fire was shot from above and consumed all the Heartless before Logan in its flames. The young man raised one arm to protect himself from the intense heat caused by the attack. Upon lowering it, he saw that all the Heartless about to attack him had been blown to ashes and that a figure was standing where they had been, seconds earlier.
"W-Who are you?" Logan asked, trying to get a good look at the newcomer.
"You mean you don't recognize me? Jeez, you'll make me cry, dude!" the mysterious figure said in a teasing tone, turning around to reveal its identity to Logan.
A young and tall man with messy brown hair. One could describe him as a surfer on first sight, not only because of the relaxed, positive energy that emanated from him, but also because of his dressing style. Indeed, he only wore what looked to be red swim trunks held in place by a black belt, the buckle of which had the letters L and J imprinted on it. Besides these trunks, his only other piece of cloth was his black boots; he did not wear any shirt or top, leaving his upper body exposed for all to see. Just the mere sight of his toned, lean body and wide shoulders would be enough to catch the attention of any lady. Two tattoos decorated this man's body: a little orange crab on his left bicep and what looked like a monkey made of fire on his back. A red band decorated his right wrist, whilst a black ring pendant necklace was resting on his chest. His eyes were of a deep brown... The exact same shade as Logan's...
Logan was frozen in place, his face twisted in surprise and his eyes widened to the limit. "... L-Leon...?!"
The others didn't fail to notice the newcomer. "Seems like he has some sort of fire power," Roman remarked.
"But who's this guy? And why's he helping us?" Ben wondered.
Logan just kept staring at the mysterious man in shock...before a huge smile appeared on his face. "LEON!" he beamed, running up to the man named Leon, wrapping his arms around him for a hug that lifted him off the ground. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S REALLY YOU!"
"Wow! You've gotten strong, Logan! Since when can you lift me like this?" Leon chuckled in surprise. "Seriously, soften up; you're about to break my back!"
"Oh, sorry," Logan apologized and quickly pulled Leon back on the ground. "Are you the one who just shot that fire attack?"
"Sure was!" Leon replied with a grin. "I got to see you fight a bit before coming down; you've got Keyblades now?"
"You bet I do!" Logan showed Fenrir to prove his point. "You know how much I love Kingdom Hearts, so it was just a matter of time before I became a Keyblade Wielder." The two men laughed together before noticing the others staring curiously at them.
"Who's this? An acquaintance of yours, Logan?" Ferroth questioned.
"You can say that!" Logan gave a big smile, placing a hand on Leon's shoulder. "Guys, meet Leon Jindrak, my older brother!"
"WHAT?!" all five of them exclaimed in unison.
"Nice to meet you all," Leon said with a smile and a salute to Logan's students. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid this isn't the right time nor place to chat," he added after turning towards the legion of Heartless that kept coming. He looked at his little brother with a smile. "Wanna do some tag team, bro? That'll be a good way to see everything you've learned so far!"
"Nothing would make me happier!" Logan beamed. "Sit back and watch, everybody; you've got first seats to see the Jindrak Brothers teaming up for the first time in the Magical World!"
Standing side by side, Logan assumed his fighting stance with Fenrir whilst Leon started emanating fire from his hands, the two facing the incoming herd of Heartless. A Search Ghost appeared out of thin air behind Logan and attempted to jump on him, only to be swiftly cut down when the young man turned around. Shadows and Soldiers approached the more than ready Leon.
"Crab Style: Roaring Fists!" Setting his two fists on fire, Leon smashed the enemies before him to oblivion. He then found himself having to jump back to avoid Wight Knights who attempted to claw at him. "You guys wanna play with me? Then take that, you bunch of mummies! Crab Style: Fire Bullets!" Holding his fingers like pistols, Leon shot compressed flames at the Wight Knights, burning them down with precision.
Meanwhile, Logan was locked in a sword fight with a group of Pirates. Even if he was more experienced than them, their number was getting a bit tiresome, so he decided to trade Fenrir for Quackpot and then jumped in the air. "Golden Fireball!" His glowing attack exploded in the middle of the Pirate group, turning them all into gold coins for him to collect.
A Pot Spider crawled towards Leon, ready to self-destruct and take the fire magician with it. Thankfully, the young man knew this strategy from playing Kingdom Hearts in the past. "Dragonfly Style: Flame Web!" He launched a web made of fire that caught the Pot Spider and trapped it until it exploded.
The siblings' biggest challenge came when a Defender Heartless appeared and used its giant shield to block their Keyblade strikes and fire attacks. "Looks like it's time to switch to something heavier!" Pulling away Quackpot, Logan instead summoned his Owl Buster sword, using its size to smack the Defender's shield away and then cut it down in one swing.
"Wow! Would you look at that!" Leon exclaimed, surprised by the size of his brother's sword. "Did Cloud give you this?"
"No, it actually comes from... I'm not sure," Logan admitted with sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. The next Heartless he encountered was actually a group of Rare Truffles that were all dressed in black coats. "Oh my gosh! It's the Mushroom XIII! If I can win their mini-games, then I'll be able to get the Winner's Proof Keyblade!"
"Logan, focus! We're here to protect this town; not to win prizes!" Leon called, bringing his younger brother back to reality. Logan hesitantly stared at Mushroom XIII before sighing in resignation and going back to the fight. "He really didn't change after all these years...," Leon mused with a shake of his head. He then saw the Demon Tower Ben had engaged earlier coming his way. "Wow, looks like I have to take out the heavy machinery for this one. Phoenix Style: Phoenix Breath!" He gathered and then released a large quantity of flames from his mouth, burning the wave of Shadows as they came at him.
Logan cut down a few Luna Bandits with his Owl Buster before looking around to see no more Heartless anywhere. "I think that was the last of them. We won!" The ground suddenly shook hard as an Arch Behemoth came down from the sky and crashed with force. "... And I instantly regret saying that..."
"Need help with it?" Jameson asked.
"Nah, don't worry, we got this!" Logan assured, staring at the gigantic Heartless.
The Arch Behemoth pushed a loud roar as it charged an orb that it launched in the sky, making it explode for smaller orbs to fall towards the brothers. Whereas Logan parried the incoming orbs with his Owl Buster, things were different for Leon. "Flash Step!" The older brother began dashing in one direction then another at such a speed that it almost looked like he was teleporting.
Once the orbs ceased to fall, Logan hopped onto the giant's back and began attacking its horn with his Owl Buster sword. After a few strikes, Logan was knocked back by lightning cast by the Heartless, leaving Leon to take the ball. "Crab Style: Crab Claws!" Setting his arms on fire, Leon summoned big crab claws made of fire that he used to smack the Arch Behemoth's horn. However, he, too, eventually was knocked back by a cast of lightning. "Wanna end this together, bro?"
"With the greatest of pleasures!" Logan began by activating his Limit Form and then charged his Bug's Justice Keyblade with black, red-outlined energy. "Bug's Bite!"
"Phoenix Style: Supreme Fireball!" Leon focused fire magic between his hands to create an enormous fireball that he then shot forward.
Logan's jet of energy collided with the Arch Behemoth's horn at the same time as Leon's fireball, creating a gigantic explosion. The beast growled in pain before collapsing on the ground, its body fading away in darkness. At the same time, the two portals above Twilight Town disappeared, ending the invasion. This town was safe. The two brothers stuck a pose together to underline their victory.
"Yup, they're related alright," Ben remarked, amused by the similarity between the teacher and his brother.
"Another successful rescue for me!" Logan beamed, returning to his normal form and pulling his weapons away. He then turned back to his brother with a bright smile. "Man, Leon, your magic powers are too cool! I haven't seen anybody with fire magic like this since Alison!"
"You've also gotten pretty good yourself, bro!" Leon returned the compliment. "You can now turn people into coins and swing a giant sword around! Why did you not tell me about everything you learned in our comments?"
Logan grinned and crossed his arms. "For the same reason you refused to tell me about YOUR skills and magical powers; I wanted to surprise you for our reunion and first time fighting together."
"... Seems fair," Leon admitted, sharing a good laugh with Logan. Once it passed, he looked at his younger brother with a smile. "Man, it's so good to see you again, bro! How long has it been? Four years?"
"Hmm, I think it was actually five," Logan replied with rubbing his beard. Before the conversation could go on, a coughing sound alerted Logan of his five students staring at him. "Oh, sorry, guys; I was so caught up in the moment that I forgot you were here. Wanna go grab something to eat? That would be a good way to introduce everyone to everyone and for Leon and I to catch up on everything we missed."
Nobody objected that idea, so the group decided to go sit at a table outside a pizzeria with three different pizzas and a lot of fries for everyone. The five students just watched in awe. Logan was chewing through his food with enthusiasm nonstop - nothing unusual here... But Leon was also swallowing everything on the table, at the exact same speed and in the same manner.
"Wow! They're brothers, no doubt," Ferroth laughed, something Jameson and Gray also did.
Leon swallowed one last slice of pizza before looking at the others. "Sorry. Didn't get anything to eat since this morning." He wiped his mouth. "So you guys are my little bro's students?"
"Yes, we are," Roman confirmed with a nod. "I'm Roman Volk. This is Benjamin Burton, Jameson De Spell, Grayson Aquila and Ferroth."
"Nice to meetcha all," Leon said. "I hope my brother isn't causing you too much trouble: his heart is in the right place, but he has a thing to attract problems to him."
"I'm right here, dude!" Logan annoyingly pointed out.
"Yeah, it's not always easy, but we're really glad to have him as our teacher," Gray replied, the others nodding in agreement.
"I actually saw your skirmish with the Heartless before coming down," Leon said with a handful of fries in his mouth. "You were very good! But I think you could use a little more practice."
"And you could use more clothes," Roman sarcastically responded, causing everybody around the table, Leon included, to laugh.
Jameson flapped his wings and went to perch himself on Leon's shoulder, careful not to plant his talons into his skin. "So? What's your job in the Magical World, Leon?"
"I'm a Disney Castle agent. I keep the Magical World safe by working directly under some of the most important figures around, like Mickey Mouse himself," Leon explained with pride.
"Really?! Wow, that's impressive!" the owlet exclaimed with his golden eyes wide open. This made Leon chuckle and ruffle Jameson's head feathers.
"That's true. It took me a lot of work getting there, but with good teachers and motivation, I managed to reach this high point. I really enjoy my work because it allows me to spend time with great people like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Most of the time, I team up with Max Goof and Pistol Pete when I have to arrest criminals and with Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable to do reckoning missions." Leon marked a pause to take a sip from his soda cup before turning his attention to his younger brother. "Which reminds me, Logan? Your victory at the Hero's Rumble impressed a lot of people at Disney Castle. Would you like to become an agent too? That way, we could work together every day! Your students can come too, of course."
Logan thought about the offer before scratching the side of his head. "No, thanks. I'm really happy with Gabriel and the Dream Defenders. Plus, I already have to protect Animal Kingdom, remember?"
Leon laughed at this response. "Yeah, I expected you to say that. Didn't cost anything to ask. Those Dream Keepers and Dream Defenders friends of yours must be great people, if they're anything like the way you described them in our notes."
"They are beyond amazing!" Gray beamed. "Gabriel, the founder of our group and original Dream Keeper of the gang, is actually my older brother."
"Really? That's cool," Leon answered the barn owl. "Think you could introduce me to him someday?"
"I'm afraid that would be difficult. He's currently on a dimensional cruise with his girlfriend and won't be back before two months," Gray explained, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.
"Too bad." Leon turned his attention to another one of Logan's students. "You're Ben, right? Logan told me that he's very proud of you because you recently won a competition. Is that true?"
"It is; the Power of Three Tournament!" Ben confirmed with enthusiasm. "Jameson and Roman were also in it. I got to face Gabriel and get a spot on the Dream Defenders, making me the most recent member of the group."
"Congratulations on that, pal. I'm sure you'll become a great magician with a few more years of training," Leon assured the Wolf in Sheep's clothing. He then looked at the black owl still perched on his shoulder. "Logan told me about you, too. When he said you were a kid, I thought it was just a figure of speech, but I can see that's not the case."
"Hey, just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I must be underestimated!" Jameson exclaimed, puffing his feathers out. "I'll let you know that I was the one Ben faced in the finals before winning the tournament. And I pushed him to his limit!"
"That, you did," Ben mumbled with a roll of his eyes.
"But, say, how come we've never seen you before?" Ferroth asked. "You never paid any visit to your little brother? And you never came to help us when the Magical World was in danger, right?"
"I didn't get to visit my brother because the work of Disney Castle agent is very time-consuming - the Magical World depends on us. Plus, I wasn't able to appear sooner for...reasons," Leon explained, giving a look at the fourth wall. "But don't worry; my work schedule for now is supposed to be lighter thanks to the new agents working at the castle. This means you'll get to see more of the Crab and the Owl in the foreseeable future."
"The Crab?" Roman noticed.
"Yeah, you know how people nickname me 'The Owl' because the animal I'm the most associated with is the snowy owl?" Logan explained. "Well, in Leon's case, the animal he's most associated with is the crab. For a number of reasons."
"That's why I got this tattoo," Leon added, designing the crab tattoo on his left bicep. He then wrapped an arm around Logan's shoulders. "We've spent so much time without seeing each other, I think it's about time we start making up for it, don't you think, little bro?"
Logan could not have smiled brighter. "Totally! The Jindrak Brothers are back in action, baby!"
Author's note: A new chapter comes out, and a new character gets introduced: Logan's older brother, Leon! You guys have no idea how excited I was to introduce him to the story! If you go read some of my previous chapters, you'll see that I've actually left a few clues and throwaway lines about Leon's existence.
Obviously, Leon is based on my real-life older brother, though I took some liberties with his design and personality. My RL brother looks cool on his own, but I really wanted to have a character with a surfer's appearance. Just like me, he's into pro wrestling, video games and anime - we grew up watching Naruto together. When it comes to his power, I wouldn't merely call it Fire Magic, as it is a bit more complex than that. However, that chapter was already long enough, and I didn't want to turn it into an endless information dump.
Before any of you point it out, yes, Leon's appearance, fire powers and role as an older brother are inspired by One Piece's Portgas D. Ace. I can't help it; the guy's one of my most favorite anime characters period! However, one major difference is that Leon's powers aren't entirely based on the element of fire, as you saw when he used this Flash Step technique. If you're excited to see more of the Jindrak Brothers together and learn about their history, then don't worry, I have no intention of keeping them apart!
Next time: ... I actually don't know...
