Hello, and welcome to "Idiots for Heroes." I'm very bad at titles, but I personally thought it fit the story pretty well. This is my first story, so read and review. I hope the beginning isn't too confusing or the like. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to the Fire Emblem series of games. Except copies of the games themselves.

-!-O-!-

A lone white heron stood in the middle of a dark forest. She seemed to be meditating, her lips moved as if she was saying something, though nothing actually comes out of her mouth. Five symbols appear in a circle around her sitting body, and then the circle began to glow white. She began chanting in an ancient, lost language. Then suddenly the white light seemed to explode into several streams of black, red, blue, and yellow lights. These lights hit the heron, and she doubled over in pain. The circle dissapeared, and the heron sighed a sigh of pain.

"I only hope that this man can do better then our Ike will do..." She gets up, face still scrunched in pain, then walked further into the forest, dissapearing in the blackness of the night...

-!-O-!-

"My life sucks." I sighed, rolling over on my stomach. I was lying sprawled out on my bed after another "great" day at school where getting beat up is an initiation to graduate. Appearently I have to graduate several times, or atleast it seemed that way from the amount of beatings I've taken these past two years of high school. I counted four today. It really does suck not being very popular. Or smart. Or athletic. I sighed again. Atleast I can console myself by playing a video game.

I picked myself up and dragged myself over to the gamecube and the TV. Switching the gamecube on, I sat in my chair and loaded my saved game of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.

"Lets see how far I get today..." I had just started playing the game, and was only on chapter 3, but it seemed pretty easy so far. During the intro, I couldn't stop thinking. 'Man, I'd have it so easy being Ike. Having women flock to be in my harem of an army, the men in the army being cool as hell...It'd be pretty awesome.'

All of the sudden, the screen blanked out. I blinked twice, then looked at the gamecube. It was still on. I was seriously confuzzled on what was happening to my TV. I kicked the screen a few times, then tryed resetting the gamecube. Didn't work. Unplugging all the wires? Nope. Cursing wildly while kicked the TV and throwing the gamecube out the window? Probably wouldn't help, and I didn't want to try.

Then the screen started switching colors. Black, Green, Blue, Red, Yellow, too many colors to count. My body started shaking uncontrollablly as I stared into the screen, and from the outside it would probably seem like I was having a seizure. I didn't even have time to think about what was happening, when the world went black. All I could think about was, "Jeez...my life DOES suck..."

-!-O-!-

"Ike...Ike, wake up. Hey, Ike! IKE!" The voice pierced my ears. Groaning, I sat up, holding my head. I felt like a truck just hit me and I survived, only to be hit by a freaking nuke.

After a few seconds, I became vaguely aware of my surroundings. I was in a forest. There was a lake nearby and there was something beside me. As my eyes began to focus once again, I realized I was looking at a familiar face...someone I never really thought was real.

"Ike! About time, took me forever to wake you up. Father wants you to get back to the fort, they need you for a mission! He says we''re really busy and we don't have any time to be lollygaging around!" Mist scolded, wagging her finger at what I could only deduce was me. I looked around once just to make sure. Nobody else.

I got up on my feet and shook my head to combat the grogginess. I walked past Mist to the lake and looked into the reflection. It sure looked like me...except for the blue hair, and the snazzy combat outfit. I definitly looked like Ike, from the game! This realization hit me like a ten ton truck, and I stumbled backwards slightly. I could feel Mist grab my arm to attempt to steady me. "Are you okay brother?!"

"Uh...yeah. Fine." That definitly sounded like me. Well, maybe it was a bit deeper. I took a second to assess my situation. It seemed like I was stuck in this...game? Reality? Dream? Well, whatever it was, I was stuck here. And for the time being, I can't do anything about it. It seems like people here recognize me as Ike. So I guess I'll assume the personality of him...for the time being. "Alright, sis...let's get back to the fort."

"About time!" She grinned and skipped towards the forest path back to the fort. Following closely behind, I could only think about what I had gotten myself into...

-!-O-!-

"This place is alot bigger in person..." The Fort of the Greil Mercenaries. It really was bigger in person. There were several building all in a walled off mass of land with three exits to the south, west, and east. It would be awe-inspiring, if I wasn't still reeling from the fact that I had just been sucked into a video game and am now living out the life of Ike from Fire Emblem 9.

"Come on brother! Everyone's already in the meeting room!" Everybody? I assume that meant the rest of the mercenaries. I had a vague recollection of the first chapters of the game, and had already assumed that they have passed. I walked into the biggest building of the compound with Mist and immedietly face a rather big man whom I could only identify as Greil.

"Ike! About time, if you EVER want to become a good mercenary, you should learn to be ON TIME." He stared at me with intensity, and I just nodded. "Sorry, sir. Won't happen again."

"Better not, after the stunt you guys pulled yesterday! You're lucky we're so short handed, or else I'd have you guys on probation. Oscar, Boyd, Rhys, you're with me." Greil pointed at the respective people and they quickly left the building. An older girl with long, red hair came up to me and the rest of the non-named personel. "Shinon, Gatrie, and you, Ike. You're with me."

'With her' I could only decipher as comming with her. To combat. Then it dawned upon me...I wasn't sure if I could FIGHT. Realizing this, I could only shake in fear as we marched over to Port Talma for the mission.

-!-O-!-

We reached the port in record time. Luckily it wasn't too far. We were quickly greeted by an old geezer who I could only assume was our employer. Titania walked up and started speaking to him. Me, Shinon and Gatrie caught up rather quickly to the horse mounted leader and managed to catch the rest of the conversation.

"So that's the pirate ship in question, correct?" She was pointing to the rather large ship in port. It was the only ship that wasn't half-built and destroyed in the port itself, so I had no clue why she was asking.

"Aye. They sailed into port a few days ago and have been causing trouble ever since. I pray that you and yoru companions can drive them away." The old grandpa looked at us with questionable eyes. I could tell he didn't think we could get the job done.

"I understand. We'll do all we can." Shinon walked up to Titania and shook his head. "Feathering sea scum is like shooting apples off a tree. Let's do the job and get out of here."

"Ho, Deputy Commander! You want standard thunder and lightning maneuvers here?" Gatrie pitched in with some strategy talk. Naturally, I had NO clue whatsoever what he was talking about. "Uh...Thunder and Lightning?"

"Yeah! I crash into 'em like thunder, and Shinon rains arrows down on 'em like Lightning!" I shook my head. Pretty simple, I supposed... Titania agreed. "Sounds good. Let's get this done."

"What should I do?" I wasn't exactly sure on my position here. "Let's hold back and let Shinon and Gatrie soften them up. Once they've whittled down the numbers, we'll all rush the ship and wipe out whatever's left. Are you all ready? Greil Mercenaries, move out!"

"Here we go!" Gatrie rushed head first into a crowd of pirates that had gathered at the base of the ship. Shinon followed closely after.

I hung back like I was told, and I was amazed, Shinon and Gatrie destroyed those pirates. Even with a disadvantage with lance versus axe, the pirates could barely touch Gatrie, let alone pierce his armor. While Gatrie did very little actual killing, Shinon's arrows more then picked up the slack. Each arrow was a killing blow for Shinon. They looked like the perfect team.

Two pirates managed to break off from the fight. One made a bee-line for me, the other to Titania. I unsheated my sword, hoping to god this swordfighting thing wasn't as hard as people said it was. The axe-fighter reached me and immedietly got the advantage of the first strike. He swung in high with his axe. Ducking under the swing, I shoved my sword into the pirates gut. Roaring in pain, he broke off from the fight, only to swing back in a downward strike. I rolled to the side, and stabbed him once again in his side. Still not dead, he began swinging wildly. Blocking the strikes like I've been doing this all my life, I quickly disarmed him of his axe and knocked him down, stabbing him once in the stomach, and then again in the heart for good measure.

I looked to my right and saw the Titana had long since dispatched her opponent, and Shinon and Gatrie had already seized the plank leading up to the ship. I looked at my sword hand. The sword and the hand were both covered in blood. I was amazed. I struck like I've been doing this my entire life, every little moment felt so easy, fluid like water. Looks like this was an advantage when it came to this reality. Well, whatever the case, I had to finish this mission. Gatrie stayed back to cover the plank, and me, Titania, and Shinon ran up to the ship to engage the pirates aboard.

Upon boarding, I found that a pink haired girl had already started fighting the pirates on the ship. She was pretty badly outnumbered, but she had a distinct advantage against the pirates. She rode a Pegasus, and used hit and run tactics. She'd strike at a pirates, then fly up to avoid a counter-attack from the pirates. Titania took some heat off of her and attacked a few of the pirates herself, and I personally finished off two before Titania and Shinon finished off the rest. The pink haired girl flew down and and smiled at us in thanks.

"Thanks! I thought I was gone for sure...Who are you guys?" Titania and Shinon had already begun to engage the pirates surrounding what looked like the boss, and I stayed behind to answer her questions. "We're mercenaries. The villagers hired us to get rid of these pirates. Let us take it from here, you can escape while the pirates are distracted."

"Oh, hey, that would be fantastic! Thanks so much! I don't know what to say." I inwardly smirked, this was a chance for me to attempt an act of coolness. "You don't have to say anything. It's all in a day's work."

"Pshaw! You're helping me out! I should show my gratitude somehow." I smirked outwardly this time. "That's...nice, but I can't think of anything off the top of my head. Just get yourself somewhere safe, please."

"Well then... I'll come talk to you about repaying my debt later. What's your name, handsome?" I blinked. That's a first, I never really thought of myself as handsome. "Um... I'm Ike. I'm with the Greil Mercenaries."

"Ike! Got it! I'm Marcia, a pegasus knight of Begnion. Don't forget me! All right, I'll be seeing you later!" She flew off over the ocean. Looking the way she left, I couldn't help but try and shut out all the "not-safe-for-work" thoughts I had in my mind when she offered to show her gratitude. Shaking my head, I turned around and ran where Titania and Shinon were just finishing off the rest of the pirates.

-!-O-!-

"We've driven off all the pirates. Your people will suffer no more indignities at their hands." I shook my head as Titania procured our reward. I could stop thinking about the good things and bad things that could happen if I didn't find a way home. Well, honestly, I wouldn't mind this life one bit. But I was worried about all the people back home...my friends and family. If I didn't get back, what would happen to them? These thoughts rushed into my mind, but it was all forced out as Titania announced that we were leaving.

"Alright, Sorry, I was daydreaming." She smirked and nodded in acknowledgment, and Gatrie roared in complaint. "Jeez! I'm so hungry I could eat a Wyvern! Let's get back soon!"

I nodded in agreement. I was hungry as hell too. All earlier thoughts of doubt and dispair were soon replaced with thoughts on what dinner was going to be...I wondered what they ate for dinner here, anyways?