Tim Fortune

Presents

Soldiers of the Wasteland

Day One
Dawn Over a New World

It began as a regular day at the Castle That Never Was. Members came to and fro, entering and exiting the Castle as they saw fit, each one working towards their ultimate goal or at least the one that Xemnas had told them, to become whole.

While the pale light of Kingdom Hearts, the massive Heart shaped moon that hung in the eternal night sky of the World That Never Was never set and a sun never rose, the day had largely ended for the thirteen Nobodies that lived there and they all gathered for dinner in the main dining hall.

It wasn't to be a lavish meal, just one that would serve the purpose of keeping their bodies alive, of which despite their supposed "non-existence" was very much true.

They all sat in their respective seats around the massive dining room table, even numbers on the right of the head seat, odd numbers to the left. Of course conversations would be flung across the table, but none of the members were stupid enough to say anything that could incriminate them in the eyes of any of the others. The time to plan would come later, after the meal when each member could meet separately and plot whatever their lost Hearts desired.

Xemnas leaned back in his chair looking over the twelve beings he had recruited into his little group. Each one brought something that another lacked and when they all stood together, which was rare, after all each member had an independent personality, they were nigh unstoppable.

Their attributes brought them power that was seemingly only limited by each member's imagination.

Xigbar, known as the Freeshooter, was Number II in the group. Using the attribute of Space, he was constantly moving in patterns that made sense to him. One second he could be standing normally with his two feet on the ground, while the next; he could be hanging upside down on the ceiling. Despite his past as a research scientist, he seemed to rely mostly on instinct to get what he needed done. Acting like this was probably the reason why his face had a few scars, and the fact that he had only one eye, the other mercifully covered by an eye patch. Coupled with his twin guns which he could fuse together to form a single sniper rifle, he was a dangerous and often unpredictable opponent.

Number III was Xaldin, the Whirlwind Lancer, a rather large man with dreadlocks. He controlled Wind and used six lances, three that he held and three that hovered around him, to fight. Few could stand up to him in combat, as he would always send his hovering lances straight towards his foes. As they tried to dodge them, he would move in with his handheld ones to finish the job. Once again, as improbable as it would seem to an outside observer, he too used to be a research scientist. In fact, the first six had all once been students under the former ruler of Radiant Garden, Ansem the Wise, until he tried to put a stop to their experiments and they sent him into the Realm of Nothingness.

Next was Vexen, The Chilly Academic, and the Organization's Number IV. Of the first six, he remained the traits of his scientist past, always experimenting and trying to find new solutions to things. His role was mainly that, as he was slightly limited in combat, at least compared to his fellow members. He used Ice and a massive shield, mostly to smash enemies into the ground, but also to protect himself. He didn't do much fighting, preferring his lab work to anything else, but was still a deadly combatant, as they all were.

Sitting next to Vexen on the right side of Xemnas was Zexion, Number VI, known as the Cloaked Schemer. Of all the members, he really was used in non-combatant roles, as was his preference. He didn't like to get his "hands dirty" so to speak. Instead, he preferred to give orders to others to fulfill, as he sat back and watched. That didn't mean he was entirely useless. With lexicon, a giant book, and his attribute of Illusion, he confused his opponents, striking against them when he could cause the most damage. While not the strongest of the group, he could be considered the most dangerous.

Across from him, the Luna Diviner, Saïx, Number VII and the first recruit to the Organization after the original six. Unlike the others, he didn't use his attribute for combat per se, but instead used it to help him win. He had on his side the power of the Moon and when he called upon it, it sent him into berserker rages that completely destroyed anything in his path. And as he wielded a massive claymore, the destruction was vast and anyone who faced him would be lucky to even barely come out alive.

Every group had a wild card and the Organization was no different. Theirs came in the form of a slender red head named Axel, Number VIII. He was in control of one of the most powerful of all the attributes, that of Fire. Using two chakrums, he lived up to his nickname, the Flurry of Dancing Flames. He liked to keep his fights one on one, surrounding him and his opponent with flames to keep any and all interlopers out. Of course, that provided that he fought someone at all. He was crafty, some would say even more than Zexion. Whenever one looked into his deep green eyes, they could never be sure of what he was thinking.

On the opposite side of the table from Axel was someone who was even more misleading than him. This was Number IX, the Melodious Nocturne, Demyx. Like Axel, his personality was similar to the attribute he controlled, in this case, Water. To everyone, he appeared playful, a rather likable person. Meet him once in a fight, and he would probably just force you to fight clones of himself shaped like Water while he attempted to escape. He would always be complaining about how he wasn't right for out and out confrontational roles and that there was always someone better than him for the task that he was given. But then, he would drop his playful facade and a face as cold as stone, with an expression to match would emerge. Now, you'd have to deal with his water clones all while he shot hard bubbles and massive streams of water would burst from the ground under you. And while you're distracted by all that, he would come seemingly out of nowhere and attempt to smash you with his weapon, a massive Sitar, which he would play to summon his water clones. He appeared weak, but in truth was anything but.

Towards the end of the table sat the Organization's lone female member. Larxene, the Savage Nymph as she was known, was the Organization's Number XII. Much like Demyx, on the surface she seemed sweet and helpful, but something much darker lay underneath it all. But unlike Demyx, she never dropped the cheerful facade. Even while throwing her Kunai and striking enemies with her attribute, that of Electricity, a broad happy smile would be on her face. To onlookers, it looked like she was enjoying the pain and misery that she was causing all those who faced her. And she did. Oh, how she did. Pain and suffering were what she lived for and if she could cause mental scars as well as physical ones, than she believed that she succeeded, especially if she left psychological ones.

There were other members as well. Lexaeus, the Silent Hero and Number V used Earth and a Tomahawk to completely smash his enemies. Luxord, Number X, known as the Gambler of Fate, controlled Time, although he only really used it in his games of chance, which involved cards and dice, his weapons of choice. There was also Marluxia, the Graceful Assassin. The Organization's Number XI, his attribute was the most laughable, it being of Flowers. But, it no longer was laughable when one found themselves lost in a flurry of blossoms, only to find themselves on the wrong end of a rather sinister looking scythe. He didn't become Lord of Castle Oblivion for nothing after all. And finally, there was Roxas, the group's Number XIII. Known as the Key of Destiny, mainly because improbably for a Nobody, he wielded twin Keyblades. Although his attribute was Light, he didn't use it much, instead using his Keyblades for battles.

At the head of this odd group was Xemnas, the Superior and Number I. Long ago, back when he was known as Xehanort, he had worked alongside the original five as a research scientist. With Ansem the Wise, they probed the mysteries of the Heart, in an attempt to learn more about it and hopefully unlock the forgotten memories in his head, as he had shown up as an amnesiac on Ansem's doorstep years earlier.

Soon, he delved deeper and deeper into his craft, dragging the other five along with him. His experiments produced beings known as Heartless, creatures formed from the darkness within one's Heart. Ansem never knew about these experiments, where they captured and tortured innocent people all in the name of science, until it was far too late. Xehanort took Ansem's name as his own and began writing reports on what he found. When the original Ansem tried to put a stop to it, he was cast away into nothingness, leaving Xehanort and the others in charge of everything. Soon, they took the next step. Stepping through a "Door to Darkness" that had appeared in the lab, they became beings called Nobodies, a body that continues to live after it's Heart is lost. Playing on the fears of the others, Xemnas, as he now called himself, declared their goal to be Kingdom Hearts, the collected Hearts of all the beings in all Worlds. While he told them that they would use it to become whole, secretly he plotted to use its power to achieve God-like powers and rule over all the Worlds.

Even without the power he hoped to gain from Kingdom Hearts, he was still a formidable opponent. His attribute was Nothingness, which he used to form shields to protect himself from oncoming attacks and to disorient his enemies. On the offensive end, he used two aerial blades, swords of bright red energy. He was one of, if not the, toughest member of the group. The mere use of his name spread fear to the other members and if one of them should end up on his bad side, well...

He lorded over these twelve individuals with an iron fist. If he himself couldn't keep them in line, well, that was what his second-in-command Saïx was for. With impressive combat skills and an equally keen mind as well, Xemnas proved time again that it wasn't just because he founded the group that he was the leader.

The day had been long and tiring, so a meal to end it all was exactly what was needed. Shouts and jokes flew all across the table. They might all act like they couldn't stand the presence of each other and for the most part, some didn't, but together they formed a very strong group.

But, as they traded joking insults and insulting jokes around, blue energy cackled around nine of them. In a flash of light, six members disappeared.

"What the hell?" Luxord said looking around as both seats next to him were suddenly vacated.

"Okay, did Xemnas have something planned that he didn't tell us about?" said Marluxia, throwing a bit of his pink hair behind his shoulder "Seriously. What the hell?"

"If I know these guys," chuckled Lexaeus "They probably got some prank laid out for us." Getting up from his seat he went over to Roxas. "So tell us kid? What's gonna happen?"

Roxas looked up at him with a confused expression on his face.

"What makes you think I'd know anything about this?"

"Please." Marluxia said waving his hand "You're the mole here. If you're here, but Axel ain't, that means that you're here to make sure that we are completely duped."

"So just because Axel goes somewhere I'm not, that means that I'm in on his plan?" asked Roxas with a sarcastic edge "Oh yeah, cuz it's not like we're joined at the hip or anything."

Marluxia leaned over to whisper something to Luxord.

"Kid's good."

"Well, anyway," Lexaeus said moving away from Roxas and speaking loudly "We're completely fooled here as to what's going on! We're just going to sit here and enjoy the meal. I sure hope nothing happens. Like something...right....NOW!"

He abruptly turned to face the door to the dining room expecting something to burst out of it. When nothing did, he turned around again and spinned back towards it yelling "NOW!" He did it about four more times while Luxord and Marluxia just shook their heads.

"This guy was a scientist?" Marluxia said with his head in his palm.

"I know, right?" Luxord said.

"NOW!" Lexaeus said one more time.

"Oh stop it." Roxas said "If nothing happened the first time, it's gonna be the same the other times."

"Perhaps." The Hero said rubbing his chin "Or maybe that's just what they want you to tell us, right...NOW!...NOW!...NOW!...NOW!"

As Lexaeus kept turning around and facing the door while shouting, the remaining three members looked at each other.

"Despite Lex's bizarre logic," said Luxord "I'm beginning to think that no one planned this."

"Indeed. Any more gems of wisdom you got for us?" Marluxia said throwing a napkin at him.

"Just saying."

Roxas looked away from the others and stared into space.

What had happened to them?

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Xemnas awoke on a bit of dusty ground. He had no idea what had just happened to him. One minute he was just sitting down for a meal with everyone else, and now he had no clue where he was.

He got up off the ground and dusted off his clothes. As he did so, he noticed something was wrong. Looking down, he saw that he was no longer wearing his typical black cloak. Instead, he was wearing some sort of blue overcoat. Rushing over to a hall, he noticed a dust covered mirror hanging there. Wiping away the grime, he got a good look what he was wearing.

There was the blue overcoat, which ended slightly below his waist. On it was a belt that had various pouches. But it was what was on his head that seemed the most out of place. On the top of his head was a dark-gray army helmet.

How did I miss this? he thought as he took it off and held it in his hands.

Things just kept getting stranger. First, he was abducted from his castle with absolutely no warning, and then he was sent to this wooden fort apparently from the looks of things as he looked around to take in his surroundings, and now he was in some sort of military uniform. What was going on?

"Hey Xemnas!" a familiar voice yelled out behind him. The Superior turned around to find himself looking at Xigbar. But like him, his Number II wasn't dressed in his usual Organization clothes. Instead, he wore a light blue shirt with a leather vest over it. On one of his hands, there was a fingerless glove, while the other one remained unclothed. He wore a simple wide brimmed hat and oddly enough, sunglasses, even though the strap for his eye patch could be seen coming out from behind them.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked scratching his head "I just woke up in this garb and..." he paused and finally got a good look at what Xemnas was wearing. "I see you're in the same predicament here."

"It would seem." nodded Xemnas "So, are we the only ones here?"

Xigbar shrugged. "I dunno." he said "Could be. Everything happened so fast and..."

"I hope someone has an explanation for this!" another familiar voice said from the hall. Saïx stepped into the room and he too was in a different outfit. His was simpler than the others, just a blue t-shirt and vest, but he was also wearing a bandolier made of bullets.

"Nice look Saïx." said Xigbar with a smile.

"I don't suppose you know anything about this?" he said menacingly.

"Saïx..." Xemnas said attempting to calm his second-in-command.

"Yes Superior?"

"Neither I nor Number II have any clue as to what happened. So, don't look to us."

"Fine." the Diviner said "It's just that I asked the others and..."

Xemnas raised an eyebrow. "Others?" he said.

"Yes." he replied.

"Who else is here?"

Saïx paused for a moment.

"I think you'd better see for yourself."

He started out of the room with both Xigbar and Xemnas. The hallways were the same as the room they were just in, dusty and wooden, but there were some differences. On the walls, blue signs pointed the ways to either a "control point" or "intelligence." From the way Saïx was leading them, they appeared to be heading in the direction towards "intelligence", whatever that meant. Xemnas was sure that he'd find out pretty soon.

They came to an open area with a single desk in the middle, where a lone blue briefcase sat. There was a window on the far side of the room, but it didn't let a lot of light in. Standing around in various spots in the room, six other people stood, with three of them hidden in the shadows of the room.

"Is this everybody?" Xemnas asked Saïx.

"From what I gathered, yes." he replied "It appears that only us nine were sent here."

"Huh." said Xemnas rubbing his chin. He looked around at the others and took in what they were wearing. Xaldin was wearing a blue jumpsuit with a gray bulletproof vest on, attached to which were grenades of differing sizes. On his forehead, he had pushed up an eye patch that he apparently had been wearing.

Vexen was wearing a white or what was supposed to white considering the dust and grime in the place, lab coat, with a stethoscope and belt as well. On his hands were blue surgical gloves and a pair of glasses rested at the end of his nose.

Demyx looked relatively normal, as all he had was a blue shirt and black baseball cap. He had a pair of dog tags hanging around his neck and his hands were wrapped with gauze, as well as a headset with a microphone hovering over his mouth.

He couldn't make out the other three as they were hidden deep in shadow, so their identities and new outfits.

"Superior," Vexen said going up towards him "Please tell me you have some sort of idea as to what is going on here."

"Unfortunately, I'm just as in the dark as all of you." was his reply.

"Heh, Xal," Xigbar said going up to him "Looks like you and me got the wrong costumes. I already got a patch."

"Yeah Xig." he replied "This is a bit odd."

"Oh, you guys want odd?" a female voice said from the shadows and there was no mistaking who it belonged to "Have you see what I'm wearing?"

From the darkness, Larxene stepped out and indeed she did have one of the strangest outfits of all. Underneath a pair of denim overalls, she wore a blue shirt, while a welding glove was on one hand. On her head, she wore a yellow construction helmet with a pair of goggles pushed up on them.

"Seriously, what the Hell?" she said holding her arms out.

"Well, Lar..." Xigbar said, trying to suppress a laugh "It looks really..." He stopped short as he burst out laughing. "I'm sorry." he said wiping a tear from his good eye, it's just..." he resumed laughing, as a scowl grew on her face.

"Count yourself lucky that's all you got." a slightly muffled voice said. From the shadows, someone wearing a blue jumpsuit, with black gloves and a face concealing gas mask stepped out. "I mean, come on!"

"And you?" Xigbar said going up to him.

"Fuck you Xig. It's me Axel!"

Larxene let out a laugh.

"It looks like I don't have the most ridiculous outfit after all. YES!"

"Indeed." Zexion's voice said from the darkness. With the strange clothing that Larxene and Axel were wearing, what bizarre outfit would Zexion have on?

When he stepped out of the shadows, the outfit he had on wasn't that odd at all. It was just a simple blue suit with a pair of black gloves. Sure, he had a face mask on that covered everything except his mouth and eyes, but overall, it was a relatively normal outfit.

"And what the hell are you supposed to be?" said Xigbar looking at him.

"I have no frigging clue." he replied "But I have an idea as to what you're all supposed to be."

"Oh really?" Axel's muffled voice said "Well, enlighten us!"

"Okay, well, taking a look it seems that Larxene is some sort of engineer, God knows why. Vexen is obviously some sort of doctor or medic."

"You're fucking brilliant Zex you know that?" said Vexen rolling his eyes.

"Shut it." replied Zexion and he continued on his previous topic "Xemnas, you appear to be a soldier of some kind, and as for the rest, I don't have a clue."

Axel slowly clapped his hands.

"Thank you Zex." he said sarcastically.

"At least I'm attempting to do something." he said.

"What is there to do? We're standing around in God knows where, dressed up like its Halloween and for what reason? What could we possibly be doing here?"

Zexion was about to give his rebuttal when all of a sudden, a klaxon went off and the room was filled with blue light.

"What the hell?" Xigbar said jumping back a bit.

"Combat is to begin in 5 minutes." a pleasant female voice said "Protect the briefcase. All players prepare for battle."

"Battle? Whoa, what the?" exclaimed Demyx "We don't have any weapons!"

"Is this true Saïx?" said Xemnas as he turned to him.

"It would seem. We're still able to use our attributes, but as for our weapons..."

He didn't get a chance to finish, as all of a sudden bright blue light shone in their hands and differing weapons appeared in each person's hands.

Xemnas found himself holding a rocket launcher, while Xigbar received a sniper rifle. Xaldin got a grenade launcher and Demyx a scattergun. A wrench appeared in Larxene's hands, while a spray hose with backpack appeared in Vexen's. Axel received a flamethrower and although none could see it, there was the sense that he was smiling underneath his mask. For Zexion, a revolver appeared in one hand, while a butterfly knife appeared in the other. But of all the weapons, it seemed that Saïx had gotten the best. In his hands, a giant Gatling gun appeared.

"What in the world..." he said as his eyes moved up and down the barrel of the gun.

"Well, it looks like we've got weapons now." Xigbar said with a smile as he loaded a bullet into his gun's chambers "And whatever deity or thing or whatever sent us here, it definitely seems that it cast me right. Once again, I'm a fucking sniper."

"Great for you." Larxene said "But what the Hell am I supposed to do with a wrench?"

"Zex said you were an engineer," replied the Freeshooter "So, I guess you're supposed to build something."

"Fucking great." she said.

"Hey, it ain't all bad." said Axel, firing a stream of flame into the air "This thing is great!"

"Wonderful." Zexion said "Our resident pyro gets the flamethrower."

"Hey, like Xig said, someone definitely cast right."

Although earlier the klaxons and light had ended, they picked up again shortly after Axel finished his sentence.

"Combat is to begin! Protect the briefcase!" the same female voice said.

"Protect it from who?" Zexion said throwing his arms out "There doesn't seem to be anyone else..."

He didn't get to finish speaking as he suddenly collapsed as a bunch of blood sprayed across the wall behind him.

"Jesus!" Demyx said jumping back a bit "I'm out of here!"

He began running away from the group and through the hallways of the fort. What was going on? First, they're abducted in the middle of dinner to some decrepit building and then they're dressed up in strange outfits, given weapons and told to fight some unseen enemy while defending a briefcase. And now Zexion was dead. The Nocturne had to run. He found himself surprisingly faster than usual as he did.

He managed to make it out of the base and see where they were situated. There wasn't much, just a wasteland with a half-set sun hanging in the sky. It was unlike any World he had seen before. In the distance, there appeared to be another base of sorts.

It was the last thing he saw before the rocket hit him.

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"Did you guys just see that?" said Xigbar moving away from the window as Demyx suddenly exploded in a bloody, gory mess.

"Holy shit!" replied Larxene "First Zex, and now Dem? What the Hell is going..."

She too didn't get to finish her sentence, as just like Zexion, she fell to the ground, as blood splattered against the wall.

"Who's picking us off?!" Xigbar shouted as he saw her crumpled.

"Right behind you." an accented voice said. Xigbar turned around and saw a man dressed similarly to how Zexion had been, except with a red color scheme. As soon as he turned around, the man pulled out the same butterfly knife that Zex had had and slashed him across the face. Xigbar fell back, trying to straighten his rifle to get a good shot, but it did him no good. The man simply pulled out a revolver and shot the Freeshooter in the face.

As soon as Xigbar fell to the ground, the red suited man walked up to the briefcase in the middle of the room. The surviving members all had their eyes on him as he picked it up.

With a brief bow, he said "Gentlemen." and disappeared into thin air.

"What was that?" Axel asked looking around.

"I'm as lost as you are." replied Vexen.

"Idiots!" shouted Saïx and Axel and Vexen snapped to attention "Sure, we may not have clue as to what we're doing here, but we were told to protect that briefcase for some reason. And now that guy just stole it!"

"He's right!" shouted Xaldin and he rushed out of the room.

The others looked at each other, but soon heard sounds of a struggle, followed by an explosion. It shook the ground that the others were standing on.

"It doesn't sound like Xal succeeded." Axel said "Well, looks like it's up to me! Saïx, I need back-up!"

Saïx nodded and the two of them ran out the door. They didn't get far before Vexen and Xemnas heard machine gun fire and the screams of both Axel and Saïx.

"What is going on here?" Xemnas said "It's just...it's just...I don't know! Members are dropping left and right!"

"Yeah? And you're next!" a voice said behind him in a Brooklyn accent. Xemnas turned to find himself facing someone who was dressed like Demyx had been, but once again his color scheme was red.

"How ya doin'?" he said and he lifted his gun and fired. Xemnas' limp body slide across the room and now only Vexen remained.

"Ah geez." the new comer said "I'm left with just a Medic? Ah, the back stabbing scum bag or that urine collecting freak probably already got the choice targets. Ah well, I still got a Soldier. And what goods a Medic if there's no one to heal right?"

These were the last things Vexen heard before complete blackness.

A/N: Interesting no?

This is a cross-over between Kingdom Hearts and Team Fortress 2, two incredibly great games.

In case it isn't clear, here's who each Organization members is supposed to be:

Xemnas – Soldier
Xigbar – Sniper
Xaldin – Demoman
Vexen – Medic
Zexion – Spy
Saïx – Heavy
Axel – Pyro
Demyx – Scout
Larxene – Engineer

Now, I bet the KH fans who are reading this are wondering where I'm going here if this chapter ends with all the Organization members dead. Well, if any of you are familiar with TF2, then you'll know.

And this is the end result of cosplaying. At Anime Boston this year, I went as Marluxia, while one of my friends went as the Spy. And well, the wheels started turning and…

Stay tuned for more developments.

The Magnificent Tim Fortune (And yes, Tim Fortune is my name while playing TF2) 6/1/09 1:33 AM