The Thirteenth Order

Chapter XVIII: It Begins…

(BGM: Persona 3 FES – Interstice of Time)

"…I see you're all here."

The "World's most Important" as Zero called them, had gathered to The World that Never Was on his behest. He had not died in the attack made by the combined might of the Trinity Dragon, for the Gods themselves, the True Gods, had intervened at the last moment, banishing him to a dark corridor mere milliseconds away from being disintegrated.

It was from there that he delivered a message to Fayjan, one which detailed what he wished to be done.

Now, his summons had been answered. From Radiant Garden, formerly known as Hollow Bastion, came Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Tifa, and Cid. He'd sent Fay to track down and drag Cloud and Sephiroth along as well, the latter being overwhelmed by the girl's power to Weave and intrigued by her statement that her 'boss' was even stronger than she was.

From Disney Castle came Donald, Goofy, Daisy, Queen Minnie, and the now recovered King Mickey himself.

From Valhalla came the three Valkyrie; Lenneth, Hrist and Silmeria, along with Freya and Odin himself. Alicia had accompanied them as well, but Freya noted her life force was no longer connected to their world as it once was. Something the former princess resolved to confront her boyfriend about.

From Spira came Tidus, Rikku, Yuna and Paine, the four representing all of their old group.

And finally from Twilight Town came Hayner, Pence and Olette.

Of course, it goes without saying that Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas and Naminé were there was well. In fact it was they who had collected the others in a gigantic Gummy Ship Zero had apparently created called Shiki.

Those who had never seen the Castle before were stunned at its appearance. Those who had, were surprised that the top of the castle now had a second door. The one leading to Kingdom Hearts had a large glowing black symbol over it, one that resembled a Hazard sign. It acted as a barrier, and drew the others' view to the newer, second door. This door, looking like a simple red oak doorway, opened to a gigantic hallway covered in posters of all shapes and sizes…each one confusing and in some cases, scaring the visitors.

Some had images of some of the group, like one involving Cloud's form standing next to his old Buster Sword on a cliff, while slightly transparent images of Zack and Aerith were in the sky behind him. One had an image of Alicia being held from behind by Silmeria, the image Alicia staring ahead in fear while Silmeria steadied her blade arm.

But the one that surprised Sora's group the most, was a giant poster of him and Roxas standing back to back, Riku, Kairi, Naminé, Mickey, Goofy, Donald and DiZ on either sides of the two, while all thirteen members of the order stood behind them.

"What…the hell is this?"

"I see you've made it."

The hallway opened up to a very large room. More posters decorated the walls.

"Zero…what the hell-

"In due time Riku. Please, all of you, by all means take a seat."

The youth gestured to the large array of tables and chairs scattered around the area, the room that could only be called a dining hall. The group did so, warily.

"I'd go through the formality of asking you all what you'd like to drink but…I believe you've been…unnerved by the pictures around you."

"No shit." Cloud stated.

"Then I will cut to the chase. Time is of the essence so I shall make this as brief as possible. All of this…is related to you. All of you."

"Why do you have these pictures of us?! Where did they come from?!" Leon blurted out.

"They came…from my home."

Alicia's eyes widened. The pieces had already begun falling into place. She remained silent, waiting for confirmation.

Sephiroth however was not as patient. "Explain."

"Sephiroth…son of Jenova, space parasite crashing upon the planet of Gaea."

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"

"Cloud…proclaimed failed clone of Sephiroth in the deranged professor Hojo's Jenova Project. The only survivor of a mass attack on both Cloud Strife and Zack Fair; SOLDIER, First Class." Tifa and Aerith both looked at Cloud in shock, realizing this kid knew stuff that'd taken them forever to pry out of the blonde and turned back to the young man, who'd taken to another group.

"Tidus; Son of Jecht; Guardian of Braska; Father of Yuna…you were once the dream of the Fayth brought real to end the cycle of death and rebirth perpetuated by Yu Yevon's summoning and subsequent inability to control the god-like being known as Sin."

Riku slammed his fist on the table, causing many to jump. "DAMMIT! How do you know all this?! Just who the hell are you?!"

Zero bowed his head. "I…am the sole survivor of a world that existed over five universal centuries ago. A world that grew beyond its parameters far sooner than it should have. A world destroyed by the hand of Fate for stepping into the realm of the True Gods. The world…that created all of yours."

"Bullshit." Leon.

"Is it though? By the way Squall…how's Rinoa?" That question made Leon turn pale.

"I thought so. You see, I know all this…because on my world…long ago…you all…were nothing but data."

"…what?"

"You heard me. On my world your lives were played out. Your dreams, your hopes, your adventures, your successes, your failures…all of that was nothing more than a source of entertainment for us. You were nothing but fictional characters thought up by writers then given form by artists who then enlisted the assistance of programmers to bind your stories, your homes, your worlds to little disks which were packaged and shipped to stores around the globe, where people of all ages would purchase and begin your quests, controlling your bodies, commanding your actions. Your lives became entertainment, a story for us to immerse ourselves into, a game to play to take our minds off the stresses of reality. Everything that has happened in your lives was because someone in my world wrote it out and turned it into a book, a game, a movie, or both."

Shocked silence.

"Now, while you're digesting that, here's your dessert. None of you should exist right now. Not. A. Single. One. Yet you do. And you have the Fates to thank for that. You see, it appears that when Clotho destroyed my world for its impudence, she did it in such a way that caused the Fictitious worlds we'd created during our times to come into birth upon the death of mine. As my world was destroyed, all of yours came into existence, your histories being written as was by the writers from when my world prospered."

"Sick bastards…we're nothing but toys for you?!"

"No…that's not it at all…"

Everyone turned to Alicia…who'd never stopped looking at Zero once.

"As we are now…we are who we are. He's saying that on his world…centuries ago, centuries before any of us existed…we existed as fiction. A creation of someone else's dreams and thoughts. For them, our lives were static. They had already been written and would follow pre-set paths depending on the player's actions…right Zero?"

A nod. She continued.

"Therefore what he is saying isn't that our lives are but a game to his people, but that we didn't have lives back then. We didn't exist. What he is saying is that exact replicas of us existed in his world only as static beings that would only do as they were programmed, because they were created for the sole purpose of entertainment. Any blood that was shed was nothing more than code, any emotions that were shown were nothing more than scripts being written and read."

Mickey voiced his confusion. "Then what does that mean for us?"

"It means our lives followed the paths they did because they had already happened but in a different form…right Zero?"

"Yes. From what I can gather, before I awoke, your lives as they were in our Games played out exactly as they were scripted to for the best possible endings attainable. Meaning you acquired the most important and powerful weapons, you defeated most if not all of the optional bosses required for the Best Ending…basically all the events that happened, happened in a way already mapped out by my people, but happened for the most beneficial endings possible. For example, Tidus was written in two ways. One, at the end of Final Fantasy X-2, which is the game that Yuna's sphere hunting group, the Gullwings made their debut, there were two possibilities. Vegnagun would be defeated and in the ending, Yuna would be alone. That was the normal ending. What happened in their lives however, is the 'Good' Ending, which only happened when certain conditions were met. Tidus would return to Yuna, and they would live happily from then on. However…there is something else I noticed…"

"And that would be what?"

"Certain…events…in your lives…seem to have been keyed to how I played."

They all blinked.

"Let me explain. I've played basically all the games each and every single one of you have been involved in. Beaten pretty much most of them with damn good levels and the like if I remember correctly. However…I never got the good ending for Tidus and Yuna, and only know of it because it was considered to be the True Ending. Sora…have you ever been able to defeat the Roxas Data at Radiant Garden?"

Surprised from being put on the spot so suddenly, it took a moment for the teen to answer. "Ahh…no…no I haven't."

"Neither have I. Bloody bastard hits like a fucking truck. Closest I could get is maybe half his health down before he enters god mode, laser spam's and then triggers a reaction to which I instinctively succeed at, only to find myself being surrounded by beams as he flips out and doesn't give me a damn opening. And Larxene's Data, wiped you out in a single cast of Thunder, right?"

He flushed. "Y-yeah."

"That's what happened when I played against her. First fight ZAP Game Over screen, I'm laughing my ass off at how quickly she wiped me out. And cursing. Pleeeenty of Cursing. Alicia, you've been to the Seraphic Gate right?"

"Yes…I…think."

"Took out Iseria Queen?"

"Indeed we did…though I must say…she had me worried for a moment there."

"Ahh, Hrist, you were present for that fight as well?"

"Alicia, Freya and I were fine…Rufus however…"

"Was out like a light right?"

"Yes."

"Yeah, sorry about that. My Rufus was at a rather low level…decent guy and all, but I preferred the Einherjar Archers over him before that because THEY learned Stardust and god DAMN is that move god for gaining crystals. But then I looked up what your heat ratings were and saw that outside of Valkyrie herself, Rufus had the only Soul Crush that would bring the bar back to 100 on a third link for a chain. So I cursed a bit and resigned myself to using him a bit more until I landed Valkyrie, where SHE would be third in the chain because Hrist and the goddamn Gungnir combined with Psychosoma on a Final Link SC Chain would deal over 11k on the last hit. So if I went in the order of Freya, Alicia, Rufus, Hrist, I'd be taking out an eight of Iseria's health in a single chain, more if I time my combos right so Freya's booting her over the head so everyone else can get a clear shot and not be blocked by all that damn armor."

"Yes…I remember that tactic…it saved our lives."

"That and running like a pussy when someone was close to death and you needed time to fish out a friggin item."

"Y-yes…that too."

Aerith piped up. "I don't understand…what does that mean for us now?"

Alicia jumped in. "It means nothing. All he did was tell us our true origins. It doesn't change who we are, or what we've gone through. If anything it tells us why we went through those things."

Kairi piped up herself. "It also explains how he knows everything he knows…about us, about our homes and our lives. He's seen it all."

Zero gave a wry smile and shook his head. "That…and more than I'd like to remember."

Kairi blinked. "What do you mean about that?"

Alicia noted the way his smile shifted. Oh gods he's going to say something messed up isn't he?

"My world created the…disturbingly vast phenomenon known as…Fangirls."

Every man in the room, Sephiroth and Odin included, shuddered as one. Then, they all looked at each other wondering "why did we just do that?"

"It seems that the subconscious fear of that word has been engraved upon your psyche. But there is one thing worse than that. Yaoi fangirls."

That made some of them want to throw up for an inexplicable reason.

"What the HELL is that and why do I want to throw up at the thought of it?!" Cloud demanded.

"Female humans that enjoyed the thought of two male characters joining together in a romantic and or sexual relationship. Generally those in the group mentioned would be somewhere between the age range of around twelve to eighteen, but women older than that were known to become Yaoi Fangirls as well. These creatures would imagine up two characters taken from popular media and pair them together, some did it innocently, the relationship being a slight extension of something that was potentially already there, and others…well…it got a liiiiitle disturbing."

Noting the look on Tidus' face…and remembering how he ignored her before…Yuna got her revenge. "Like how?"

"You want an example?" The men shouted no, but…the girls screamed yes louder.

"Jeez blow out my ears why don't you…fine fine…hmm…"

He gazed to the ceiling in thought. "Well…let's give a simple example by taking Sora and Riku." Their eyes widened while Kairi rubbed her hands together greedily. She wanted blackmail material dammit.

"Unfortunately for them, the writers of Kingdom Hearts happened to give them an apparently LONG history of rivalry and friendship. Yaoi Fangirls gobbled that up and twisted it into the grounds for many, MANY types of varying relationships."

"DETAILS DAMMIT!"

"Sheesh don't get your knickers in a twist Kai, I'm getting to it. Well, actually, rather than torture the rest of the room with the idea, I'll just…"

He glowed for a moment, as Kairi did the same. Through their link he sent her a few…images.

Kairi gasped…then she smiled. A disturbing evil looking smile that sent chills down Riku and Sora's spines.

"And here's one for kicks."

Another image. This time her head whirled around to Roxas.

"Oh shit."

"Yeah, Roxas, your…special conditions of existing had brought out a very…convincing reason why you and Sora should be together…it's quite disturbing."

For every female in the room, he flashed images of his examples, using people they knew as templates. Some of them were disturbed. Others got evil little smiles on their faces much like Kairi.

"Of course…like anything in this universe, there is an opposite. Oddly enough, this one happened to possess a large amount of both men and women at its behest. Yuri, or the romantic and or sexual relationships between females of media."

The smiles immediately vanished from the girls, and appeared on the guys.

"Squall…you never got much time with Rinoa did you?"

"World vanished before we could do much…"

Instantly a few images appeared in his head.

"What the f-…do you have more?"

Zero fell to the ground laughing.

Images began appearing in the guy's heads.

Tidus blurt out. "Damn Rikku I didn't know you could bend that way."

Zero laughed harder at Rikku's indignant screech.

"Rule 34 of the internet: If it exists, there is porn of it. I swear, even before my world discovered magic, it seemed to magically create anything someone thought of. Like if someone imagined Cloud being tied up by the Midgar Zolon while Sephiroth beat off watching Zack slowly forcing Cloud to submission, either someone wrote a piece on that, or an image of it would suddenly generate itself on the web."

Aaaand that killed Cloud's good mood.

"Yaoi Fangirls at work. I've run into so much of that crap over the years that I can pretty much run into anything of that nature and not be disturbed by it."

"If you're done disturbing our guests, we have a bit of a situation."

(BGM: Metroid Prime 2 – Escape Theme)

Loud Klaxons began wailing in the room.

Immediately Zero sobered up. "That time already Fay?" "Yes, I've been keeping tabs on things. It all happened like you predicted. I'm amazed; I didn't expect anything to go as you said it would…"

"How about our other plans, are they in motion?"

"Other than the Big Kahuna, yeah. Everything's happening like you said it would."

"Uhh…Zero…what's going on?"

"Oh nothing, just your worlds being overrun by the Genma."

"Oh ok…WHAT?!"

"Massive readings from Wonderland! The kingdom's warriors are dropping like flies! How the hell did they get so strong?!"

"It's the underlying fundamental rule of the universe, if it can go wrong, it likely will. Pull up a link to Alice."

"Establishing…link engaged, fire away Zee."

"Oi! Kit!"

A faint female voice rang through the hall.

"Wait…is that…Zero?"

"Right in one kit. Having a spot of tea are we?"

"If by tea you mean those bloody wankers from before then yes!"

"Hah, don't get too worked up there Alice. I'm sending reinforcements, but they're gonna look a little weird. Do me a favor and spread the word not to attack anything with a pink cord coming out of it."

"You got it mate! Just hurry up with it! The Dee's aren't able to hold off this many!"

"Fay!"

"On- HOLY SHIT! Is that what I think that is?!"

"Yep."

"When did you-

"Looong time ago."

"But-…these are…you realize the sheer DAMAGE these things can do if left unchecked?!"

"They've got my symbol don't they?"

"I…well…alright. I understand. They're tied to you though, so you have to give the command. I'll unlock the ones you specify."

"Zero what's going on?!"

He gave them all a vindictive smirk. "Oh just the collective destruction of all your worlds."

Immediately Keyblades flashed into the bearers hands…save for Kairi and Naminé.

"What are you doing Zero?"

"The only thing that could be done to end this stupid little game."

"All set!"

"Activate Command: ADR Release! Zero-Two: Designation Searcher, Zero-Three: Designation Pendulum Feet, Zero-Four: Designation Bubbles, Unlock!"

"ADR's two, thee and four released!"

"Target Destination: Planetary Dimension Classified; Wonderland. Method of Transport: Unstable Interdimensional Gateway: Classification, Dark Corridor."

Three holographic screens appeared showing his commands. The observers gazed in confusion as the screens scrolled through images and text that none of them could decipher.

"Destination set, waiting your confirmation."

"Confirm! Activate Program!"

"Program Activated! ETA: Thirty Seconds!"

"Fay, up for a bit of hacking?"

"You know it!"

"First, open a window to Wonderland; I wanna keep an eye on Alice."

The three screens fused into one and moved off to his right. Static was shown for a few moments before the world of Wonderland appeared on it, thousands of Mindless battling Card Soldiers and Waddle Dee's.

"Link us to the Radiant Garden Main Computer."

"Establishing link…Access Denied! It's protected!"

"You know the password."

"It's not working!"

"Squall did you change the damn password?!"

"What? No! It should be the same as it was after Sora left."

"Dammit Tron! Let me in!"

"Not his fault Fay, he's just a program. As far as he knows we're part of the Order trying to destroy his home. Alright, we'll have to go to plan B. Take him offline. We NEED control of the security system!"

"Gladly! Take THIS you little twit! Command Set!"

"Run Program: Disabler."

"Executing Command! Thank the Gods he's out of the way!"

"Run Program: EXECPURGER Aurica Extracting!"

(BGM: Ar Tonelico EXECPAJA/.# Orica extracting)

"Wait WHAT?! How did you-

"I'm Awesome like that."

"You hacked the security system to play a SONG?!"

"Agh NO you dumbass! The song activates a program I buried in the system! Just open a window to the Garden and watch!"

Another screen appeared, this one showing hundreds of Mindless attempting to slaughter anything in their path.

"Activating Program!"

"Wait…this is…holy CRAP!"

On the screen everything seemed to flicker. The once meager security system consisting of containing and then detonating anything captured changed into a group of glowing rifts. From the rifts emerged strange symmetrical creatures…all of which bore the sign of Destruction.

"YOU TOOK OVER THE MUGAN?!"

"Yep. Garden's security sucked, so I made it better."

"You're insane! Those things could wipe out the whole world!"

"Oh come on you know me Fay, you really think I'm gonna leave them to their original specifications?"

"I…you're an even greater Weaver than I am…how is this possible?"

"A trait…one I picked up from a good man by the name of Matsuda Takato. The Biggest Dreamer."

"No wonder…I can see why she's afraid of you…"

"Zero…I'd like an explanation. Now."

He turned to Alicia.

"Sorry. I had to get you all away from your worlds. To explain your origins…well…that simply opened the gateway to your worlds much wider. This let the sealed away Clotho reach in and plant her Genma into your worlds…Fay! Launch the ADR's! Send them to each world being assaulted!"

"On it!"

"See the problem was that she was hidden. She could attack the cores of your worlds even though her power was supposed to be bound. She brought the Genma, known to you as the Mindless, back to this reality. I don't know where my world is in relation to all of yours, so in order to find it I had to let her over extend herself. The Cellars were apparently part of a plan to release her binds…but I accidentally made that plan useless by giving her a better way out…"

"When you freaked out over those spiders…"

"Yeah. By tearing a hole in reality on a world she had access to, I gave her a backdoor. So I realized the only way to combat her would be to go to the source, where she was bound…but I don't know where that is. So, I had to lure her out."

Odin was intrigued. "Therefore by using our homes as bait, you succeeded in drawing the larger threat out…correct?"

"…yeah. I knew there would be a massive loss of life either way, so I took the option that lead to being able to end this stupid war faster. I planted a bunch of links to your worlds, which Fay strengthened over time, while Sora and his group were gathering you all to come here. The ADR's will be able to help in the defense of your worlds, but the damage would already be done, her power would still be on your worlds, which, with a little help, would let me pinpoint her. Fay…it's time."

"Already? Alright. I'll begin the program."

"There's one thing though, that needs to be done. You can come out now."

(BGM: Valkyrie Profile – How Wicked Ruler)

Twelve domes of dark energy appeared behind him. When they vanished…

"O-Organization XIII?! Zero what the hell-

"Relax. They listen to me now. Larxene."

The sole female of the group rose her left hand…upon which glowed the sign of Destruction.

"They have free will, but if that free will goes against what I wish of them, then they will encounter…problems. And if they persist, they will be eliminated from within."

"Failsafes within failsafes…you really do plan for everything…don't you?"

"Some things just can't be planned for. But I try to cover as much ground as I can." He turned to the group. "You know your orders. Get to those worlds, find their cores and plant the Gate Keeper. Once the Gate Keeper has been planted, flare your energy as a signal. We'll do the rest. Wipe out whatever stands in between you and the core, be it Heartless, Nobody, Genma…or civilian."

Demyx blinked. "Wait…you're giving us permission to kill humans?"

"Only if they attempt to impede you. Time is of the essence here, and no stupid mortal is going to stand in between me and my goal. I've worked too damn hard and given up too much to that bitch to waste my time here. If it tries to stop you, it dies, end of story."

"In other words, you kill only what moves against you. If something's off to the side leave it be. But if it tries to impede you, you have his permission to wipe it out."

"Understood." Xemnas spoke. "But…does our presence here not mean that you yourself have been weakened?"

"Considerably. But it's still enough to do what must be done. All you beings did was boost what was already there. It was a massive boost indeed, but still just a boost. What I may now lack in power I can easily make up for in skill."

"Well said."

"Indeed. Very well. You understand your mission. Good Hunting. Dismissed!"

They vanished. Zero tossed a small pink globe to Roxas, who caught it.

"Roxas, take Hayner, Pence and Olette back to Twilight Town. Use the green ship. Drop them off, then head to the mansion. Flare your element and a door should appear. Toss that into the glowing ball and flare your energy again."

"I…what?"

"Just do it ok?"

"Yeah…sure."

"Alicia, take the red ship, bring Odin and your group back. Drop them off and head back here, they can handle the Genma themselves, I need you with me."

"Alright."

"Sora, take Tidus and them in your ship and drop them at Spira. Double back here as fast as you can."

"On it!"

Riku, take the King and his group back to his castle. Stick around for a bit if you have to, to wipe out a few Genma, but get back here once you're done."

"Wait, why are we doing this?"

"To stop those worlds from dying."

Riku blinked. "Oh…right."

"Kairi, think you can pilot?"

"No problem."

"Take Squall and them back to the Garden. The security system there should be enough to hold things off, but it's best to have actual warriors there as well."

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Wh-what about me?"

"You, Naminé, are going to help me design a ship. I'm pretty sure there's gonna be something in between us and getting to Clotho, and you're going to help me and Fay come up with a ship that's fast, maneuverable, and able to take and deal some damage if need be. All my ships tend to lean towards speed and firepower."

"…alright."

"Good. Lets get moving people, we've got worlds to save!"

This chapter is very WTF. I wanted to do a massive reveal of back-story, throwing everyone's origins into their faces…but…to do that I'd need it to be a friggin anime. Which this isn't. So, this is the result of three weeks of planning. Yes, three weeks. The end is coming for this story…I've got almost the entire final chapter written, and I've got a damn good idea for an epilogue which will leave way for a potential sequel or spin-off.

This chapter has been written over the course of three days, and in roughly two hours (It is now 12:40 AM as of this sentence, Eastern US time.) I start my first "day" of my second job.

RCRS: still no idea what to name yourself? Don't think too hard. Play some stuff, something good'll come to mind. Looks like I didn't scrap this idea entirely…

D&S Master: A pissed off Alicia you mean. Valkyrie had nothing to do with what happened in the end. It was all Alicia. Every heart has the capacity for darkness, and within Alicia's heart lay a great deal of it, tempered with her own Light.

It matters not though…because soon…the final battle will begin…