Background Information (NEW!):

OTHER

Flappy Chocobo: A colossal waste of time, otherwise known as Flappy Bird.

For your reference, here is the list of bands competing in Battle of the Bands:

The Oathkeepers: The band consisting of lead singer Roxas Akiyama, drummer Axel Kiryu, lead guitarist Sora Takeuchi, bassist Riku Kenbishi and keyboard synthesizer Hayner Arundel.

The Advent Children: The band consisting of Zack, Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie.

Crystal Stasis: The band consisting of Snow, Serah, Hope, Vanille and Fang.

The Brotherhood: The band consisting of Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto.

The Organization: The band consisting of Larxene, Demyx, Marluxia, Luxord, Xigbar and Zexion.

The Noize: The band consisting of Neku, Shiki, Joshua, Beat and Rhyme.

SeeD: The band consisting of Squall/Leon, Rinoa, Quistis, Zell and Irvine.

Furaifer: The band consisting of Seifer, Fuujin and Raijin.


PROJECT: TEENAGE WASTELAND
VII | a tasty meatball


In the downtown core of Kingdom Hearts Island Resort sits Arcadia: a four-floor entertainment center complete with numerous movie theatres, countless high-tech attractions and simulations, a vast selection of retro and modern arcade games and consoles, junk food and energy drinks galore, and three indoor amphitheaters that housed and broadcasted the islands' most popular gaming competitions worldwide.

On the second floor of the complex, Hayner, Pence, Kairi, Axel, and Sora stand in line for the first qualifying round of Alliance of the Ancients, the former of the five cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

"Hmm," Hayner hums as he approaches the front of the line. "Do you know what I smell?"

"Aged cheese and desperation?" Sora asks. He's being fully serious.

"No my dear friend. Victory," Hayner whispers dramatically.

In the middle of the gaming center, ten computers face each other in a circular fashion but are currently occupied by only two competitors on opposing sides. Above them, six large screens broadcast the highlights of their current match, each carefully angled so that every gamer could witness the display of skill from a good vantage point. To their side, two teens provide in-depth commentary for the match.

Minutes pass, and soon enough, the game is over. Teens applaud for the victor, a hooded figure with the gamer tag A Tasty Meatball, and the commentators welcome him to the next round of the 1v1 division with high fives and congratulatory whistles.

"Are you going to enter the 5v5 division?" Pence asks as his best friend eagerly moves to the front of the line. "We'll gladly be part of your team."

"Sorry bud, but I'm a lone wolf," Hayner declines. "I can crush every guy I go against with me, myself, and I."

"Hey, who said anything about the competition being just guys?" Kairi asks with an authoritative hand on her hip.

"Yeah, girls are totally capable of being good at video games," Axel says a matter-of-factly.

"Thank you Axel," Kairi says with an appreciative nod.

"It's 'cause they're real good with their hands, if you know what I mean," Axel whispers with a discreet wink. The inappropriate comment goes by unnoticed.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" one of the commentators yells, effectively silencing the crowd. "Look who we have here! If it isn't Hayner Arundel: online alias CuTiePie! You've all heard of him, right?"

Hayner is welcomed to the supposed arena with cheers, whistles, and even some loving sighs. Axel scrunches his nose in confusion at the latter.

"What brings you to the Alliance of the Ancients competition?" asks the spiky-haired commentator.

"Same old, same old man," Hayner replies into the mic. "Just here to show my support and passion for online gaming."

"Seriously?" the commentator asks. Given the attitude that Hayner displayed online, he, alongside many viewers, expected a different answer entirely.

"Nah man," Hayner then admits truthfully. "I'm just here to crush some plebs!"

Deafening cheers sound at Hayner's confession, leaving Axel even more confused.

"So if I'm an asshole in the real world I'm just an asshole, but if you're an asshole in the gaming world you're an admired asshole?" Axel questions. "I'll never understand."

"We're on an island full of teenagers, Axel," Pence reminds. "I don't think we're meant to understand."

Hayner is then welcomed to the digital arena where he would soon meet the poor soul that would fall to his knees in defeat, but before his competitor is even introduced, Hayner crosses paths with A Tasty Meatball. The hooded figure pays him no mind as he passes through, and Hayner feels the air grow cold. Whoever this tasty meatball was, he felt like bad news.

Just some pre-game jitters, Hayner mentally insists. Nothing more.

Hayner's competitor then enters the arena: a long-haired teen with the gamer tag LunaDiviner. The two shake hands.

"Good luck, have fun," LunaDiviner says out of common courtesy. Upon closer examination, Hayner can make out subtle hints of an X-shaped scar on the teen's forehead.

"You too," Hayner returns with a confident smirk. He then makes his way to his assigned computer and sets his backpack down on the gaming chair. He unzips his bag and proudly pulls out the contents: a high end gaming mouse, a chroma coloured wireless keyboard with silenced keys, a gaming headset, an energy drink and a fresh bag of chips. From the sidelines, Hayner catches a few professional cameras (Wakka inclusive) and teenagers recording his very presence on their phones and acknowledges both with a wink and a thumbs up gesture.

The familiar sound of the champion selection screen opening blares through the speakers, earning a few excited chants from the growing crowd, and Hayner cracks his knuckles in anticipation. He selects his character, leans back in his seat with his-now-opened bag of chips, haughtily waits for his opponent to choose his imminent doom, and within seconds, it's game time.

As their rather obnoxious housemate gets right to it, Axel, Pence, Sora and Kairi watch the calculated and intimidating display of skill from the sidelines with awe. It seemed that Hayner had a reason to be cocky after all.

Moments later, the crowd goes wild at Hayner's swift victory, but amidst the flailing arms and whistles, he can feel the piercing gaze of A Tasty Meatball watching him intently. He turns around, and surely enough, he watches as the mysterious hooded figure disappears into the crowd. Hayner raises an eyebrow in confusion, but before he can pursue the gamer, Sora hops over the railings and offers him a congratulatory bro shake.

"Woo! Yeah Hayner!" Sora cheers, but while going in for the shake, he unfortunately trips on a loose cable and falls clumsily into Hayner's arms. The latter immediately shakes him off and clears his throat while the former scratches the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Ten bucks Selphie manipulates this footage into a bromance," Pence calls out. Beside him, Axel already hands him the munny without a trace of doubt.

"You know what?" the lanky redhead starts. "I think I'm gonna get out of here before I get an unwanted love interest."

"Good call," Pence agrees, and the two disperse. While the pyromaniac heads for the snack bar, Pence snaps a few pictures of Hayner interacting with the crowd, and an ashamed Kairi helps Sora out of the arena.

When Axel reaches the back of the lineup at the snack bar, two other teens seated at the other side of the bar just receive their long awaited order.

"What is that?" Xion, still disguised as 'Alice', asks with disgust very evident on her face.

"A classic teen delicacy," Riku answers as he slides the bowl and all its gooey goodness in between them. "Mac and cheese mixed with ketchup."

Xion's lips part slightly in unpleasant surprise. "That sounds so gross. Why would anyone even try this combination?"

Riku raises two fingers in response. "One: because this is likely what's available when you're home alone and there's nothing left in the fridge, and two: our metabolisms are insane at this stage of life. Your body will never burn this monstrosity any faster than right now. You might as well take advantage of it while you can."

Xion reluctantly picks up a fork and pierces the first bit of food. She visibly twitches.

"Don't knock it 'til you try it," Riku insists while pointing at the milestone on the teenage bucket list.

"All right," Xion answers with a defeated sigh. She raises the fork, slowly places the contents into her mouth…

And immediately spits it out the instant her taste buds react to the flavour.


Back at the digital arena, Sora, Kairi, Pence and Hayner exit into the arcade portion of the entertainment complex.

"All right, I've got an hour until the next round," Hayner announces. "What shall we do to kill the time?"

"Well if you ask me it's a no brainer," Kairi answers. Curious, the boys turn to look at her. "We're supposedly in the company of one of the best gamers in the world," Kairi clarifies. Sora smirks. Knowing their competitive nature, he knew exactly what she was getting at.

"Supposedly?" Hayner repeats incredulously. "One of? Are you questioning my skill, Kairi?"

"I'm merely challenging the credibility of your title," she replies.

Hayner punches his right fist into his opened left palm. "Oh it is on, little girl. I'll give both of you fifty munny each if you can beat me in one game on this floor."

Sora and Kairi turn to look at each other and share a mental high five in agreement.

"Wait," Kairi says with a sudden realization. "What's in it for you?"

"The satisfaction of crushing more plebs," Hayner answers with a shrug. "I thought that was obvious."

"All right then," Sora says. "You're on."

They first try their hand at Flappy Chocobo: the simplest game in terms of mechanics.

"You see, Flappy Chocobo is more of a rhythm game," Sora explains as he presses the only button built into the machine. With each hit, the pixelized baby chocobo on the screen bounces upward and squeezes through a space in between two green pipes. "So the better your rhythm, the better your-" Sora eats his words when his chocobo suddenly dies after 6 pipes. "Score…" he finishes weakly. He then clears his throat and presents the machine to Kairi with a flourish.

"Kairi, show him how it's done," he says encouragingly.

"Will do," Kairi acknowledges with a nod. She does slightly better with a fairly impressive score of 30 pipes.

"Combined, Kairi and I have 36 points," Sora calculates. "Think you can beat that, Hayner? And to be fair, since we technically used up two lives, you can have two as well."

The gamer merely takes a swig of his energy drink before handing his backpack to Pence. He positions himself in front of the machine and, while sipping his drink, starts the game. He exceeds 36 points easily enough but refuses to stop despite his victory.

"Okay, you win this one," Kairi admits. Hayner then rests an elbow on the machine and yawns at 60 points.

"All right, we get it!" Sora cries at 75. When he exceeds 100, Sora gets down on his knees. "Please, show mercy!"

At 136 on the dot, Hayner raises both his hands and turns to look at his opponents with a smirk.

"Need I use my second life as well?" he asks haughtily.

Kairi's eyes narrow into slits. "You may have beat us this round… but let's see if you can outmaneuver us."

Kairi's sights then turn to multiplayer Puck-Man, where she and Sora control two out of the four ghosts while Hayner navigates the map as the yellow, puck-shaped protagonist. When Sora and Kairi think they finally have him cornered, Hayner suddenly turns the tables by consuming a power pellet. Once the transformation is complete, Sora immediately releases his grip on his joystick and lets out a high-pitched shriek.

"Sora!" Kairi reprimands. Hayner kills Sora first and Kairi soon follows suit.

"You realize you two have such obvious patterns, right?" Hayner asks. "Seriously, you're easier to read than the CPU." He then glances at his smart watch for the time. "So it's been about ten minutes. Are you ready to call it quits?"

Sora holds Kairi back as she lets out a low growl.

The next half hour is spent on fighting games, shooting games, survival games, rhythm-based games and even driving games, but the outcome always remained the same: Hayner would emerge victorious, and Sora and Kairi were left in the dust. The boy simply could not be beat.

"I have to give it to you guys," Hayner says as he crosses the virtual finish line first. "You're fighters. I would've given up a long time ago."

"What do you say, Sora?" Kairi asks, breathless. "Should we tap out?"

"Never," the brunet answers while scanning the area with determination. "There's gotta be something we can beat him at…"

"But we've pretty much tried every game on this floor," Kairi whines.

Sora's head suddenly stops mid-turn, his lips curving upward into a smirk when his eyes land on what appears to be a shining beacon of hope.

"Not every game…" he says while raising a hand to point at a machine directly behind Kairi. The redhead turns to find a large curved screen at least ten feet tall accompanied by a miniature stage. Multi-coloured spotlights bathe the white stage in an ethereal light, and atop the screen, the words "Dance Party" invite players with its vibrant neon signage.

Kairi turns to look at Sora with a knowing grin. All at once, the victorious smell of munny becomes much more promising, and all the hours wasted playing video games back on Destiny Islands after school become valuable practice over procrastination (which is what it really was).

"We'll do one more," the redhead insists.

"Seriously?" Hayner asks. "Well, it's your digital funeral. Lay it on me."

The dynamic duo points at the Dance Party machine simultaneously, and the look of defeat and sheer terror becomes evident on Hayner's face almost instantly.

"That… That's not a real game," he insists, his voice a few octaves higher than usual.

"I believe the conditions were that you would pay us fifty munny each if we beat you on one game on this floor," Sora reiterates. "If I'm not mistaken, we're still on the second floor, and by definition, Dance Party is a rhythm-based dance game with a scoring system determined by the accuracy of the player's body movements."

"It's disgusting that you actually memorized that," Hayner mumbles. "Pence," he then calls. "You've always been my bet commissioner. Would you consider Dance Party as part of our agreement?"

The photographer places a hand to his chin, feigning deep thought. "Hm. Sora does raise a valid point."

Hayner's face immediately hardens. He purses his lips into a tight line and shakes his head at his best friend ever so slightly.

"It has been decided," Pence decrees. "I allow it."

While Sora and Kairi share a high-five, Hayner just about loses it.

"What?" he shrieks in disbelief. "The 'best friend' title entails that you're supposed to have my back, man! Dance Party is for losers!"

"A good friend will tell you what you want to hear," Pence justifies. "A best friend will give you brutal honesty."

"Wow. Thank you for that cryptic and totally unrelated advice," Hayner growls as his opponents take their rightful places on the stage.

"Besides," Kairi starts while she and Sora calibrate their bodies to the dancers onscreen. "The only loser that'll be playing Dance Party today is you." Then, with a confident smirk, "Hit it, Sora."

At the sound of his name, Sora gladly selects the routine that he and Kairi had mastered over the years and gets straight to work. Suddenly they're back in Sora's basement on Destiny Islands, perfecting their dance score with their homework long forgotten on the coffee table. Their grades (rather, Sora's) would somewhat suffer the following day, but the shared giggles and cheerful high fives had always made it worthwhile.

Back in Arcadia, Hayner's jaw drops at their performance. For three minutes the dynamic duo performs splendidly, their movements hard at first but loosening up as the song progresses, and move in perfect synchronicity with the dancers onscreen. By the end of the routine, the fake applause sounding from the speakers transitions into real ones from the small crowd of teenagers that had presumably formed from their performance. Sora and Kairi bow and wave in gratitude before turning to each other with breathless, but vibrant smiles.

Sora's heart slows at the sight, and in that moment he wants nothing more than to lift her off her feet and spin her around in the cheesiest manner possible, just as he had before. And if he was lucky, she'd get caught up in the moment, wrap her legs around his waist, press her lips to his in a heated kiss, and smile against his lips as he lead them to the couch where they'd—

"Sora."

—probably make out a little and—

"Sora!"

"Wh… Wha?" he asks dazedly. The memory slowly recedes, and he soon finds himself face to face with present day Kairi with her hands on his shoulders, shaking him out of his trance. Her eyes then gesture to something to her right, and Sora finds himself both pleasantly and unpleasantly surprised by two particular people in the audience heading in their very direction.

"Yuna Riel?" Hayner practically yells from the sidelines. He immediately discards his shirt, rudely tosses it over Pence's head and hops onto the stage.

"Can you like, sign my nipple or something?" he boldly asks the pop sensation with a permanent marker in hand. He immediately finds himself being dragged away by his best friend only seconds later.

"I'm so sorry about him," Pence apologizes as he holds back the thrashing gamer, and Yuna just offers them an apologetic and confused wave in return.

"You two have great moves," Yuna then compliments, her praise directed towards both Sora and Kairi.

"Oh," Kairi says, red-faced with her hands behind her back. It wasn't everyday that a pop star like Yuna Riel complimented her dancing. "Thank you so much. We're just good at copying moves is all, but I've seen your performances – you're a phenomenal dancer."

She then elbows Sora to respond, but the latter is too shocked to formulate a proper response.

"Sorry," he apologizes while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Yuna Riel just complimented my dancing. I think my ego is set for life."

"Boner alert," Kairi coughs discreetly in a manner that only she and Sora can understand. Sora then clears his throat and attempts to conceal what appeared to be unstoppable – that is, until Prince Charming makes his entrance.

Behind Yuna, Tidus Clearwater, Sora's unpleasant surprise, addresses the crowd with a few high fives but stops dead in his tracks when he comes face to face with Kairi in particular.

"Hey Kairi," he greets, his charming smile ever-present. "Sora," he then addresses with a nod.

"Tidus," Sora practically growls.

"I'm glad to see that you're back together with Yuna after what happened at the water park," Kairi then says as the pop star in question signs a few autographs.

Tidus looks surprisingly confused. "Oh, Yuna and I? We're not back together." Then, in a hushed whisper, "It's just a publicity thing. Don't want to portray any… bad blood between us."

Somewhat shocked by the news, Kairi offers him a supportive smile. "I'm sorry."

The star player of the Zanarkand Abes timidly glances at his feet before gracing Kairi with a shy smile, but Sora sees right through his pretty boy act.

"I'm not," Tidus suddenly says, catching Kairi slightly off guard. He scurries over to Yuna before she has the chance to respond.

"Wow, he's so dreamy," Hayner points out in a teasing manner. Kairi lightly shoves him off the stage in response.


Back in the Disney Castle, Riku leads a liberated Xion back to her room.

"I still can't believe you made me try that nasty teen delicacy," Xion says while inserting her key card into its slot. "I also can't believe you guys can eat that every day."

"That's what you find so hard to grasp?" Riku questions. "I can hardly believe that idiot kept ramming into us while we were go-karting. How he acquired his driver's license, I'll never understand."

Xion chuckles at the memory and the impending headache that came with it. "Is being a teenager really just about doing stupid things?"

"Hmm," Riku hums contemplatively as they enter her room. "Yes and no."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Xion asks while shutting the door behind them.

"Personally, I think doing stupid things is just the first half of it," Riku voices. "Dealing with the consequences that come afterward? I think that's the true essence of being a teenager. Finding yourself in all sorts of situations… I think that's how you find out who you really are."

After a contemplative silence, Xion offers him a nod in agreement.

"That was a pretty thoughtful diagnosis, Dr. Kenbishi," Xion compliments as she removes her contact lenses by her vanity table.

"Thanks," Riku says as he takes his seat on one of the mushroom beanbag chairs. He watches as Xion begins undoing the clips of her wig. "About two years ago, I discovered that staying in one place could never help me progress as a person. If I exposed myself to all sorts of different experiences, I thought I'd gain a better understanding about what I wanted and didn't want, what I disliked and… liked…"

Riku finds himself drifting off at the sight of Xion undoing the last clip of her wig and pulling it off entirely. Within seconds, she transforms from Alice back to the shorthaired, blue-eyed Xion he knew – only this time, her once pale blue eyes were now vibrant and filled with adventure.

He'd also never noticed how well a smile really suited her. It was only day one, and she'd already made more progress than he'd hoped.

An unexpected knock on the door suddenly distracts them from their… moment (Riku briefly considers if he even could categorize it under that) and causes both teens to scurry out of their seats.

"What do we do?" Riku asks in a panicked but hushed whisper.

"Bed!" Xion suggests in a rush. She notices the slight tint on Riku's cheeks at the mention of the word and rolls her eyes, fully aware of the dirty thoughts that could be generated by a teenage boy's mind.

"Under the bed," she clarifies while throwing her wig in his direction. More hurried knocks sound at the door.

"You want me to wear the wig under the bed?" Riku asks confusedly.

"No!" Xion exclaims. "I need you to hide—"

The door suddenly swings open, and Xion knows that it could be only one of two people: Sora, the other funtertainer with the master key card (though unlikely), or Axel, the only other guest that carried her spare key card (more likely).

As expected, it is the latter that walks in with hasty strides.

"Hey Xi," he greets. He then stops dead in his tracks when he gets a better look at her and squints for good measure.

"What?" she asks nervously. She cranes her head slightly and thankfully finds no trace of Riku from the corner of her eye.

"Are… are you wearing makeup?" Axel then asks.

"Oh…" Xion remembers as she brings a hand to her face and feels the fluttering of her fake eyelashes against the back of her hand. Given that most of her company back home consisted only of two boys, she'd never been one to wear much, particularly in their presence. "Um… yeah. I'm trying to… gussy up for the cameras I guess," she lies.

"I'm not saying it looks bad," Axel assures. "Just… different. A good different."

"Um, thanks?" Xion squeaks.

Axel then clears his throat in hopes to dissipate the awkward air. "A-anyway, I just wanted to ask if you've seen Riku anywhere. He isn't answering his phone, auditions for Battle of the Bands are tomorrow and we have practice in five."

"Riku?" Xion repeats anxiously. Her mind drifts to the boy under the bed. "I… I can't say I've seen him."

"Huh," Axel says. "All right. Keep me posted if you do." Then, on his way out, "Listen, uh… Rox and I were talking and… we're trying to find a way to get you and Naminé out of your rooms for a bit, so… yeah."

"Oh, thank you," Xion says gratefully.

Axel then raises an eyebrow in suspicion. "I figured you'd be a bit more pumped than that."

"I – I am!" Xion stammers. "Seriously, I'm pumped. Thank you, Axel."

Her figurative "older brother" offers her a farewell salute before shutting the door behind him. Once his whistling is out of earshot, Riku stealthily emerges from Xion's teacup-shaped bed with her blue wig secured on his head.

"How do I look?" he asks jokingly. Xion pulls the disguise off his head with a playful eye roll.

"How'd you get under there so quickly?" she then asks, but judging by the tone of her voice, Riku feels as if she already knows the answer.

"Let's just say I've… done this before," Riku answers carefully.

Xion almost shakes her head knowingly. Of course he'd done this before. A guy as handsome as Riku? He'd probably been with hundreds of girls before and had a hundred girls in line. She'd known that going in, but she couldn't help but feel the slightest tingle in the brief moment they'd shared before Axel waltzed into her room unannounced.

She inwardly sighs. She couldn't like Riku. Not like that, at least. Being interested in him romantically would've been like an action packed movie trailer: exciting, but fleeting – like she'd already seen the whole movie, and it didn't look promising.

"Xi?" Riku asks, sensing the disappointment. He'd been well accustomed to it by now, after all.

"Don't worry," she assures. "You don't need to clarify anything. I understand our… agreement."

"Um… thanks," Riku answers awkwardly but with an undertone of gratitude. "This kind of confrontation has never been my forte. I'll, uh… catch you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Xion says as she reclaims her wig from Riku's hands. "Thank you, Riku. Not just for today, but for the teenage bucket list in general. "

"Just doing my job," Riku assures. "See you, Xi."

"See you," is the last thing he hears before shutting the door behind him. He does a brief scan of the hallway before walking towards the elevators – only to collide with Kairi around the corner.

"Kairi. Your room isn't on this floor," he observes.

"Alice?" she asks bluntly. "You really couldn't have thought of a better name?"

Riku crosses his arms with a smirk. She'd always been observant.

"Sora texted me about what Tidus said at Arcadia," Riku fights back. "You're not actually falling for that pretty boy crap are you? It's a shame, really. I thought you knew better, Kairi."

The redhead waves off the accusation with a nonchalant shrug. "It's just harmless flirting. It doesn't mean anything."

"But what happens when it does?" Riku questions. "What will you do then?"

"What happens when this thing with Alice becomes more than what it's supposed to be?" Kairi challenges.

"I'm just saying," Riku says with his hands raised in surrender. "If distance was the only thing stopping you from being with Sora before, what's stopping you now?"

Kairi's eyes narrow into slits. "Why do you always have to be so annoyingly smart?"

"Why do you always have to be so annoyingly vigilant?" Riku returns. The two spend a few moments participating in a glaring contest until the tension wears off and two smiles eventually replace their frowns. Their friendship had always thrived, not waned, on challenging the other.

"We're in some hot water now, aren't we?" Riku asks.

"Yeah," Kairi admits. "But you know I'll be there for you when it gets too deep."

Riku snickers. "I don't know about you, but I'm letting your ass drown."

Kairi releases a laugh before heading back to the elevators. "I'm sure you will."


In the middle of his search for Riku, Axel finds himself waiting for the elevator to arrive on the second floor. When the doors eventually part, he finds Roxas and Naminé inside, wide-eyed and breathless. His eyebrows visibly rise when he finds Naminé adjusting the straps of her dress with a very evident blush on her cheeks. Axel enters the elevator wordlessly, not failing to notice the increase in temperature inside, and asks no questions when the doors begin to close in front of them.

"We're not going to talk about it," Roxas decides when he finally regains his ability to speak.

Axel merely snickers in agreement. "Okay."


The following day, Roxas finds himself pacing nervously behind the stage of the Battle of the Bands auditions. The Oathkeepers (the name had stuck, much to Hayner's dismay) were scheduled to perform next, and their lead singer couldn't help but suffer from pre-performance jitters.

"Hey," Naminé says while placing a shaky but reassuring hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "You're going to be fine, Roxas. If you look at your amount of online subscribers, you've technically performed for a crowd a hundred times larger than the one outside."

"Yeah, but that wasn't live and in person with Yuna Riel judging," he argues nervously.

And there's a lot more at stake, he mentally adds, his thoughts drifting to the girl trapped at the end of the hallway.

He then notices the worried look on his girlfriend's face and sighs guiltily. He pulls her to him by the waist and rests his forehead on her shoulder. He can't visibly see it, but he knows she's blushing madly at the gesture.

"I'm sorry, Nams," he apologizes, his voice muffled against her blouse. "I'm being inconsiderate. Here I am being nervous about some performance while you're at risk being outside the castle walls."

"Don't worry about me," Naminé pleads while running a hand through his familiar blond spikes. "I'll be fine. Besides, Kairi has my emergency panic attack kit in her backpack."

At the very mention of the redhead, Roxas turns his head slightly to find her conversing with what appears to be Riku and Sora, the latter of the two showing off his guitar skills. While Riku shakes his head knowingly, Kairi merely rolls her eyes at his attempt to impress her, but she does so with a smile tugging at her lips.

"You know," Roxas then says while pulling away to caress his girlfriend's cheek. "I probably wouldn't even be here if you didn't secretly post that video of me on MeTube."

"Roxas," Naminé mumbles with embarrassment. He chuckles at her shy nature.

"You've pushed me to become who I wanted to be," he whispers, "so thank you."

"You're welcome," she answers, red-faced and hiding her face in his hands. His heart swells at the adorable sight and, without warning, presses his lips to her forehead where she gasps in pleasant surprise.

"Love you, Nams," he whispers into her hair.

"Love you too," she replies.

Just behind the painfully cute couple, Pence wishes Hayner good luck on his first performance with The Oathkeepers.

"Play nice," Pence warns.

The gamer scoffs. "But you don't get anywhere by playing nice."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that…" Pence warns as his eyes linger onto a familiar female figure headed in their direction.

"Break a leg," Olette cheers.

"Ger, uh, blah," Hayner stammers at her unexpected presence, but thankfully the sound of the band onstage ending their performance followed by cheerful applause covers his embarrassing reply. The curtains lower, and as the backstage coordinators begin calling The Oathkeepers to their places, Hayner gulps and graces Olette with a nervous smile.

"Um, thanks," he manages before scurrying off to his rightful spot onstage.

"Well that was an improvement," Pence points out. Olette only chuckles in agreement.

"Is everyone ready?" Sora asks excitedly. By the keyboards, Hayner plugs a small device into one of the jacks (presumably the synths and sound effects he'd programmed for their performance) and shrugs nonchalantly. Beside him, Riku just finishes tuning his bass, Roxas downs the last of his honey lemon tea for his vocals, but when Sora turns his sights to the drum set, he finds the seat empty.

"Um, where's Axel?" he asks anxiously.

Roxas sighs and releases his grip on the mic. He walks to the closest backstage coordinator, asks where the nearest closet it, and walks a grand total of ten steps before reaching the back door and opening it without warning. Inside, Axel and Larxene, the lead singer of The Organization, are caught in a heated makeout session with the latter pressed against the wall with one leg hooked around the former's waist. Luckily, both are still clothed.

"Seriously?" is the only thing Roxas manages to say. Instead of shying away in embarrassment, Larxene merely snickers and readjusts her skirt as Axel runs after his best friend apologetically.

"For the record, they say sex before a performance helps you perform better," the lanky redhead justifies. "So I'm actually doing the band a favour."

"Uh huh," Roxas says with disbelief. "Just get ready."

"Will do, boss," Axel says with a playful salute. He plops down on his seat, raises his drumsticks, and initiates the song when the curtains rise.


The following day, the guests and employees of the Disney Castle find themselves in the home theatre, eagerly waiting for the results of the Battle of the Bands competition.

"Good morning Kingdom Hearts Island Resort," greets the perky voice of Penelo onscreen, "and welcome to the latest on this summer's Battle of the Bands competition. We're your hosts, Penelo—"

"—and Vaan," the other host finishes. "As you may already know, eight lucky bands out of hundreds were selected in yesterday's auditions judged by Yuna Riel, Rikku Hokkaido and Paine Matsuda. Over the next two months, the eight selected bands will vie for first place in a series of musical challenges, and the lucky winners of the competition will win a recording contract with Gullwing Studios, the studio that signed Yuna Riel herself, and a grand prize of 100,000 munny."

"One band will be eliminated every week," Penelo explains. "And this time, you, the viewers, get to pick who's in and who's out via our voting system on the resort's app. The band with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated."

"Now, without further ado, let's meet the eight lucky bands that managed to impress our judges!" Vaan suggests, and the names of succeeding bands with their corresponding group photos begin appearing onscreen: The Noize, The Advent Children, Crystal Stasis, The Organization

At number five, Roxas begins to grow anxious. Beside him, Xion places a gentle hand overtop his.

"You'll make it," she says supportively. He offers her a weak, but hopeful smile. Naminé notices.

The picture of the seventh band, The Brotherhood, appears onscreen, and everyone in the theatre holds their breath as they await the results of the final band. Silence fills the air when a picture of Roxas, Axel, Sora, Riku and Hayner posing off to the side with his arms crossed is shown with the name The Oathkeepers standing out in bold font. Penelo and Vaan thank all the bands that participated, wish the bands that were able to advance good luck, and sign off. A total of two seconds pass, and everyone in the theatre jumps out of their seats and goes wild.

tbc


Fun fact: I imagined The Oathkeepers to have a fun, summer-y dance/rock funk/pop kind of vibe like DNCE. The song I had in mind for their auditions was Cake by the Ocean. What did you imagine them being like? I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Fun fact #2: My Flappy Bird high score is 225. I'm also a Just Dance monster #nolife

A/N: I'd just like to start off this note by saying thank you to the readers that have managed to stay faithful to my writing despite my sporadic updating over the last five years. I realize I was much better at updating when I was 16, but your patience, very kind words and loyalty mean absolutely the world to me. When you tell me that I fill your days with laughter, or feel like you've grown up with me, or feel as if I've helped you through a tough time in your life, it makes my heart melt and reminds me why I love writing so much in the first place. Thank you, guys.

Much has changed since the last Teenage Wasteland and even the start of this redo. For starters, I graduated from university nearly a year ago and have been working in digital media since then. It's odd knowing that, when I first started writing for the Kingdom Hearts fandom, I was only starting high school. So bizarre! But I'm afraid writing is like my first teenage love: full of laughter, lessons learned, and no matter what I do or where I go, it's always there.

My days in university were admittedly tough, but I'd like to think that I walked in a dreamer and walked out a fighter. If any of you are considering a path in the creative arts or are pursuing anything in general, I'll tell you this: don't let anyone, and I mean anyone, dictate how you feel about your worth. It's a dog eat dog world out there. Some people really do want you to feel bad about yourself–but then again, you will find people that make you feel truly special. My two cents? Surround yourself with those kinds of people. Surround yourself with people who truly believe in you, and I guarantee you that the air around you will become much easier to breathe in.

Life has gotten me down, but it's certainly gotten me higher than what I expected of myself in the last few years. Slowly but surely, I can feel my once passionate self coming back, and I'm glad that this is an experience that I can once again share with you all. I'll be doing my best to balance this "adult life" (it's as gross as you think it is), and once I do, I'll hopefully be able to regulate my updates a little more. Thank you all again for staying by my side all these years.

And of course, thank you to HuaFeiHua, Painted With a Palette, snow x fairy, It's My Lucky Charm, DestinyKeyblader28, Tyjet Ansatsu, skysailz, FromSoraXWithLove, MelodicEnigma and Q-A the Authoressfor reviewing the last chapter! I apologized if I missed or misspelled any pen names.

I hope you all enjoyed the seventh instalment of Project: Teenage Wasteland! Please kindly leave a review to let me know your thoughts and/or feels, I apologize for any grammar errors that I likely missed, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!

xoKyorii