"Okay guys, we need to address the elephant in the room," Rachel said. She had gathered the Dream Defenders as well as the Co-Dream Keepers for a special meeting.

Silver blushed as he patted Dumbo on the head. "Sorry about that. I promised to take care of the little guy while the circus is under renovations."

"No Silver, I mean we need to talk about our leader," Rachel sighed. "I'm sure that I haven't been the only one to notice that Gabriel has been acting very… neurotic lately."

"I heard that his family is coming to visit, so that might be part of it," Logan explained. "Destiny told me about it when she got lunch with Jasiri."

"Oh boy, I can't wait to meet Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel!" Toren cheered.

"I'm pretty sure Gabriel is his first name," Adam chuckled. "Then again, have we ever learned the Dream Keeper's last name before? Curious."

"Either way, Gabriel has been so stressed that us Co-Dream Keepers have had to do a lot more work keeping the Magical World safe," Aline stated. "If only there was some way we could help Gabriel out…"

Double D then got a lightbulb idea- and an actual lightbulb appeared over his head, seeing as Toren has holding it there. "Wait, the reason Gabriel is so stressed is because he wants to make a good impression for his family this Christmas, right? So then, why don't we all pitch in to make this the best Dream Keeper Christmas ever!"

"I like the sound of that," Beth smiled. "So then, how do we do it?"

Rachel went over to a whiteboard in the room and wrote 'Dream Keeper Christmas' on it. "First, we'll have the other members of Team Dream Keeper distract Gabriel while we set this up. Second, we need to get gifts for each of his family members."

"Gabriel has a mom, dad, and a younger brother," Logan said.

Rachel nodded, making three buckets for each family member. "Alight, after that we just need to decorate a room for them to have their family Christmas party in."

"How about the House of Mouse? I'm sure Mickey would let us host a special Dream Keeper party for the holidays there," Adam suggested.

"That sounds good," Rachel replied. "Okay then, Adam and I will go get the venue set up. Silver and Aline, you can get Gabriel's mom's gift, Double D and Toren can get his dad's gift, and Logan, that leaves you with getting his brother's gift. Everyone got the plan?" The others nodded. "Okay then… Oh, and I'll send Poe to talk to Jasiri about what each of Gabriel's family members would like."

"Operation: Dream Keeper Christmas is a go then!" Logan cheered, the others cheering as well.

[***]

With everyone splitting off to go find the perfect gift for Gabriel's family, Logan decided to head to Epcot to find one for Gabriel's brother, Grayson (or just "Gray" to his friends). The young man was a bit nervous about being back in Epcot after a certain incident that saw Logan making a fool of himself in front of everyone, but luckily the holiday spirit seemed to make everyone forgive him for those actions.

"Okay then, what would Gray like?" Logan wondered, looking at his phone. "According to what information Poe gathered, he's into anime and video games." He smiled. "Heh, this'll be easy, then! All I have to do is find some sick Kingdom Hearts merchandise and we'll be golden!"

"Logan!" called a voice, the young man turning around to see Jameson coming towards hm.

"Jameson! Good to see you outside the Dream Realm," Logan said, giving the little owl a big hug. "What brings you here?"

"Just enjoying all the different foods in Epcot," Jameson explained. "Sure you can get any kind of food you want in the Dream Realm, but eating real food is more satisfying if that makes sense."

"I get it," Logan nodded. "Say, I'm currently trying to help out Gabriel by getting a gift for his brother. I was about to head over to the Japan Pavilion, so why don't you come with me?"

"Sure!" Jameson replied.

The two owls made their way to the Japan Pavilion, a place of shrines, gates, pagodas, and cherry blossoms. The winter season also meant that everyone was bundled up warm as snow fell on the ground. Logan knew exactly which store they should go to here in Japan to get Gray's gift.

"There's a store here that sells all kinds of anime merch, so I'm sure that we can find something Kingdom Hearts related here," Logan said.

Jameson gave a hum of thought. "Do you think that'll be the right thing to get, though? I mean, even though you like Kingdom Hearts and I raise Spirit Dream Eaters, I also know that not everyone likes the series as much as us."

"But if Gabriel likes Kingdom Hearts, then surely his brother will as well," Logan said.

As the two continued to walk through the area, they were suddenly jumped by odd-looking ninjas holding daggers. On instinct Logan summoned his Keyblade, while Jameson took out his baseball bat.

"What the heck are these guys?" Jameson exclaimed.

"They look like guys out of a Sentai show, which I guess makes sense seeing as we're in Japan, but what Disney show has these kinds of designs?" Logan questioned, watching as the ninjas jumped all around them. He blocked an attack with Reflect before going back-to-back with Jameson. "Man, this is really messing with my head. Why don't these guys slow down? Jameson, I think a Spirit might be a big help right now!"

"Sorry, but all my Dream Eaters are resting right now," the owl shook his head. "On top of that, they aren't as powerful during the day. Dreams are where they really get their power."

"Then it looks like I'll just have to slow these guys down myself," Logan said. He held out his Keyblade before shouting, "Blizzard Form!" which summoned a whirlwind of snow to surround himself. Once it faded, Logan had transformed into his anthro snowy owl form, his Keyblade shining with ice energy. "Let's see if we can't slow then down with this. Freeze!" Fenrir shot ice from its tip, which did encase some of the ninjas in ice, but not enough to actually matter.

"Aw man, why are there so many of them!?" Jameson shouted, batting one ninja away with his baseball bat.

As the two battled the ninjas, someone else was whistling a tune nearby. Hearing the commotion, he looked over to see Logan and Jameson in the middle of their fight. With a smirk, the newcomer rushed forward, pulling back his fist before a silver and gold energy encased it, giving his attack extra power as it launched one of the ninjas into the sky. "Aw yeah, this is what I needed today!" he said with excitement. "Gabriel never told me that there would be Kelzaks here."

"Who the heck are you?" Jameson asked.

The newcomer looked to the little owl with a grin. He was a barn owl with bright brown eyes, head feathers that were long but well combed. He was wearing a red hoodie with the Spider-Man emblem on it, along with black jeans and a laptop bag slung on his back. "I'm just a guy that saw you two fighting these Kelzaks here."

"Kelzaks? Is that what they are?" Logan asked.

The newcomer nodded. "Yeah, they were the main grunts in Power Rangers Ninja Storm. Don't know why they're here, though, considering that Disney doesn't own Powers Rangers anymore."

"Either way, we appreciate the help," Jameson nodded.

"The name is Grayson, by the way, but call me Gray," the barn owl said. He held out his fists, with one turning gold while the other turned silver. "Now then, let's take out these Kelzaks, and I'll show you the power of Instant Crash!"

Suddenly a fast-paced drumbeat started up, with gold and silver energy emanating off of Gray. "No way…" Jameson gasped.

"He's got Fantasia too!?" Logan exclaimed, just as the song stated up and Gray rushed forward to punch another Kelzak.

There's no time to be naive

The days of lies are over and done

When Gray struck one of the grunts with his silver first, time seemed to slow down to a crawl for the Kelzak. "When I use my silver hand, it takes away the potential energy of an object, making them slow and heavy."

Tug on all the strings of faith

Oh wait and see, the game has just begun

He punched with his golden fist, when suddenly sent another Kelzak flying uncontrollably down the street like it was slipping on ice. "And with my other hand, I can supercharge the kinetic energy of an object, making them light and fast."

Even if I'm surrounded by

Trap and hate, I'll dodge 'em all

"That power is so cool!" Jameson cheered, whacking one of the sped-up Kelzaks to turn the grunt into a living pinball that bounced off its comrades.

OK (OK) All right (All right)

No one can stop my survival days

Logan ducked under an attack by a Kelzak before using his Keyblade to knock it into the air. Gray then used his silver fist on the airborne enemy, making it crash into the ground on top of one of the other grunts.

Get away from (STONE OCEAN)

I don't wanna say (There's no chance)

"How about we team up to wipe out the last of these guys?" Gray suggested.

Let's get started, count (1-2-3)

Take me faraway (Fly! Stone Free!)

"We'll follow your lead!" Jameson said, Logan nodding in agreement.

As long as I am being real to myself…

(Got to be tough)

"Then I'll show you my ultimate attack," Gray replied, pounding his fists together as his body glowed in both colors. "Instant Crash, Double Team!"

Break out! (Hey) I'm wide awake (Ho)

Not gonna turn back to whom I was before

Silver energy was sent out, trapping all of the Kelzaks in place. "Now, wail on these guys with all you have!" Gray commanded.

Break out! (Hey) Won't escape (Ho)

Light up the skills I'll be stronger even more

Logan and Jameson unleashed their strongest spells on the group. "Blizzaza/ Red Phoenix Blast!" they shouted, fire and ice blasting into their enemies.

Limits are bye-bye, my heart's on standby

Until the fate is on my side

Gray nodded, before turning both his fist gold and rushing at the Kelzaks. He unleashed a flurry of blows on then, shouting all the way before ending with a mighty "ORA!" and delivering an uppercut as his powers took effect, sending the Kelzaks up so high that they faded into a twinkling star in the sky.

I don't stop beatin', don't stop beatin'

Don't stop beating 'em up!

Grey let out a sigh, gathering himself before dissipating his power. The barn owl smirked, before turning to Logan and Jameson and striking an anime pose. "So, what did you think? We beat those guys so bad that we probably sent them all the way back to Hasbro."

"That was so cool!" Jameson gushed. "You we like some crazy fighter out of an anime! And that song you played with Fantasia was so invigorating as well!"

"Those are some big words for a kid that looks so young," Gray chuckled, ruffling Jameson's head feathers. "But yeah, I based my power off of my favorite anime of all time. Unfortunately I had to change a bit of how I wanted it to work, seeing as Disney doesn't own the show, but that's life for you." Gray started doing some stretches to loosen out his joints. "Other than that, though, I don't know what that Fantasia stuff you guys are talking about is. Everyone knows that all good anime battles have awesome music."

"Either way, it was definitely cool," Logan nodded, shaking Gray's hand. "Say, what did you think about our fighting styles."

"They were good as well, and you handled that Keyblade thing pretty good," Gray said. "Although I'm not a big fan of Kingdom Hearts, it was cool seeing one in real life."

Logan felt like his heart shattered at the statement. "What? You don't like Kingdom Hearts?"

"The story is too all over the place for me, so I don't bother," Gray shrugged. "I just let Gabriel tell me what goes on in those games so I don't have to play them. Speaking of which, I was out trying to find a gift for my brother. Nice meeting you guys!"

As Gray ran off, Logan comically fell over into a snowdrift. "I can't believe that Gabriel's brother doesn't like Kingdom Hearts. Now what am I going to get him?"

"Aren't there other anime Disney shows or games?" Jameson asked.

Logan sighed, rolling over to look up into the sky. "I mean, sure, but none of them are as good as Kingdom Hearts. The Stitch anime isn't very good, and Twisted Wonderland is basically just all the Disney Villains but as anime pretty boys. I think there was an Avengers anime, and those Star Wars Visions shorts that Lop is from, but other than that, I'm drawing a blank…"

Jameson suddenly let out a gasp. "Wait, I think I know what we can get! Did you see what kind of hoodie Gray was wearing?"

"I was a Spider-Man hoodie, what about it?" Logan raised an eyebrow.

"In my time wandering through people's dreams, I once saw a certain Spider-Man that I think Gray would like a lot," Jameson said with a grin, pulling Logan out of the snow. "Come on, let's go see if we can find it!"

Author's Note

Looks like the Dream Defenders are off to find the perfect gifts for each of Gabriel's family members! First up is Gray, based on my real-life brother who is really into anime. His power, Instant Crash, is based on the Stand abilities seen in the anime "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" which is my brother's favorite show. If you didn't know most Stand powers are named after songs or music albums, with Instant Crash coming from the Daft Punk song "Instant Crush", just with the name altered as an homage to how the English Dub of JoJo's always changes the Stand names for copyright reasons.

Speaking of JoJo's, the song the Gray's Fantasia brings out is the main theme of Part 6 "Stone Ocean" which is a really kick-butt song that reminds me of Splatoon.

The Kelzaks are the grunt enemies from Power Rangers Ninja Storm, which was the first season of Power Rangers fully produced by Disney when they had the rights. This will probably be the only time Power Rangers appears in the Magical World, but I wanted to give a tribute to its history with Disney here, especially after the recent and tragic passing of Jason David Frank, aka the Green Mighty Morphin' Ranger. The Disney Era of Power Rangers is when I started watching the series alongside my brother, so I hope you enjoyed the cameo!

Also yes, my brother in real life also isn't a fan of Kingdom Hearts, which is funny considering that some of anime he watches has a much more convoluted plot than KH does.

Next Time: Double D and Toren search of the prefect gift for Gabriel's dad!