(Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X, its storyline, or any of the characters. Only six of the characters in this story are mine. I also do not own the things that I’ve obviously taken from other shows/games.)

Prologue: The Real World

Three friends sit down at their usual table in the lunchroom. "Man, that Trig test killed my grade, I just know it." Vince, a guy of seventeen, with neck length black hair, wearing a GWAR t-shirt, and blue jeans, says worrying.

Dave, a tall guy of seventeen with short blonde hair, wearing a red t-shirt, and blue jeans, sighs and picks up his sandwich. "Chill out, dude. You probably did fine, and if you didn't, oh well."

Vince shakes his head in worry. "Yeah ‘oh well’ I'll go ahead and tell my mom 'oh well' and watch as she hands me my ass before biting my head off."

Dave shakes his head with disapproval and looks over at Steve, a large guy of seventeen, both vertically and horizontally, with short black hair, wearing a Hawaiian button down shirt with red leaves on it, with camouflage khaki pants. Steve's head was facing the other side of the cafeteria, looking at a table full of girls. Mainly one of the girls in the group who is about the same size as Vince, if not smaller. Her black hair flows down to her neck. Her naturally tanned skin glowing in the overhead lights. She wears a black Metallica t-shirt and brown khaki pants. "Come on dude if you’re that interested in Carrie, ask her out."

Steve turns his attention back to Dave and Vince and sighs. "I don't know, I have the feeling that she'd just laugh in my face."

Dave shrugs. "Big whoop. We laugh at your face all the time. Oh, you said 'in your face'. Oops."

Vince looks over at a different table. "Just ask your brother, DJ, he's dating a sophomore, and he's a senior. Dude, why don't you just ask Carrie out. The worse thing she can do is say ‘no.’"

Steve sighs looking down at the table. "That's what I'm afraid of. I guess I'm just scared of rejection. And if there’s people around, God, I'd want to die of embarrassment."

Vince looks at Steve with a smile. "Can I have your Playstation then if you die?" Steve answers with a death glare. "Geez, I was only asking."

Steve looks at Dave. "If I die I want buried with my Playstation."

Dave nods before taking a bite of his lunch. "Noted."

The bell then rings, as the lunchroom begins to empty. "Remember, meet me by my locker after school. We'll walk to my house. You guys are staying the weekend right?" Steve asks. Dave and Vince nod. "Good. We'll just walk home with DJ. Later." They go off separate directions, to finish off the Friday.

After school Steve walks to his locker, getting out the books he needs and putting in the books he doesn't. He pulls out his backpack as he heard Carrie and one of her friends talking down the hall, their voices becoming louder as they came closer. Steve ignores them and continues to pack his bag.

Carrie and her friend’s steps stop behind Steve. "Hey, I'll talk to you later. There’s something I need to do real quick." Steve heard Carrie say from behind him. His heartbeat began to race but he acted normal, continuing to pack his bag. He heard Carrie slightly giggle behind him.

"Good luck. Like you'll need it." Carrie's friend said sarcastically before walking down the hall.

Steve then hears footsteps coming closer to him from behind. "Hey, Steve, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Steve immediately stops packing his bag and silently gulps. He turns around and sees Carrie's smiling face looking at him. Steve couldn’t help but return the smile. "Yeah, sure, what’s up?"

Carrie continues to smile her beautiful smile. Steve’s heart begins to beat faster, and Carrie smiles even more. "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tomorrow? You know, catch a movie, and go get something to eat, that kind of thing."

Steve's eyebrow rises. "Hold on a second. Are you asking me out on a date?" This is weird. It’s like she knows. Steve thinks to himself.

Carrie shrugs, her face serious for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I am. Unless you’re busy, I'd understand."

Steve shakes his head. "No that’s not it, I was just confused there for a second. I'd love to go on a date with you."

Carrie returns to her smile. "Great, pick me up around eight?"

Steve gets a big smile on his face. "Sure, I'll pick you up at eight." Carrie nods and then walks off, to catch up to her friend. Steve finishes packing his bag with a look of great joy on his face.

Vince and Dave then walk up and each pat Steve on the back. "Well, well, well, who was right all this time? Who was right? That’s right, we were. Suck it Steve." Vince says leaning up against the lockers to the left of Steve.

Steve keeps his big smile and sighs. "Like I haven't been wrong before."

Dave just laughs. "Its about damn time you get off your ass and get a girlfriend. Well, you didn't get off your ass, this one just came to you."

"So Steve has a girlfriend, huh?" DJ, Steve's older brother, like Steve is large both vertically and horizontally, short black hair, ICP t-shirt, and black pants, says walking up to them. "About damn time, little bro. Lets get goin’, the school is pretty much empty now. I don’t want to look like one of those losers who stay longer after school."

Vince laughs and gives DJ a half smile. “You don’t need to stay after school longer to look like a loser.”

DJ gives Vince a glare. “Want this loser to kick your ass?”

Dave laughs slightly. “What is it with you and fighting? You always want to get into fights?”

DJ shrugs and heaves his book bag over his shoulder. “I dunno, just like to. There’s a certain thrill to it.”

Steve shakes his head. “Good thing I’m not like that.”

DJ laughs at Steve. “Yeah, you wimp. Probably couldn’t beat up one of the computer nerds. Now come on. Let’s get out of here. I want to start the weekend.”

Steve laughs, nods, and follows DJ, Dave and Vince following behind Steve.

On the walk home they were discussing their weekend plans. "Okay, we'll take you guys to go grab your TVs and Playstations. Grab some movies too, we'll have a movie marathon tomorrow." DJ says as they walked.

Vince chuckles. "Steve can't do it tomorrow. He has a date with Carrie tomorrow night."

DJ smirks and nods. "Alright then, we'll have it Sunday before you guys go home. We want to make sure Steve is all nice and clean for his date tomorrow."

Steve was still smiling. "Oh shut up you guys...seriously your treating me like-" The scream of a girl stops Steve from finishing his sentence. That sounded like…oh no. Steve thought as the realization hit him. “OH SHIT!" Steve yells dropping his book bag and running towards where he heard the screaming.

Steve turns down an alley and sees Carrie surrounded by six big guys in stereotypical street thug clothing. "Hey babe, your cute, why don't you hang out with us?” The leader of the gang says slyly. “We'll show you a good time. Well, you'll make a good time for us, ain't that right boys?" The group starts howling like wolves looking at Carrie with hungry eyes.

Steve runs at them. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" He goes to punch one of the guys, but another one clotheslines him, knocking him to the ground. Three of them begin to kick and stomp at Steve.

The three beating on Steve stop and pick him up, holding him so he couldn't move. "Well, well, well, if it isn't fat ass, I mean Steve, or should we call you 'hero' now?" The guys begin to laugh at the leader’s snide comments. "Well, we'll show you what happens to heroes in the real world." The leader knees Steve in the gut then punches him in the face as Steve doubles over.

Steve closes his left eye and looks over at Carrier. “RUN!”

Carrie tries to run, but the other two hold her still so she can't run. Steve feels blood running down from his nose. He spits the blood at the leader when it reached his lips. "Pick on someone your own size, you pathetic litTLE PRICK!" That comment gets him a huge punch to the gut, making Steve cough up some blood. Steve takes a deep breath and looks up at the leader. “Let her go.”

The leader laughs and nods to the guys holding him. They let Steve go just in time to avoid the roundhouse kick that hit Steve on the side of his head and sent him sprawling to the ground. "Like I said, I'm going to show you what happens to heroes in the real world." He pulls out a switchblade and turns to Carrie. "And you're going to watch." He says as the blade shoots up from the hilt. He then turns back to Steve and walks over to his prone form. He kneels down and holds the switchblade above him, turning it to a stabbing position. Then he brings it down, causing Carrie to scream and turn away.

Steve's hand shoots up at the last second and grabs the leader's wrist. Steve's eyes open, showing unspeakable rage. The leader grunts as he tries to free himself, but Steve's grip is too tight, his hand doesn’t move an inch. Steve gets up, still holding the guy by the wrist and once Steve was on his feet, the leader falls onto his knees. Steve tightens his grip more and more until he heard the crack and snap of the guy's wrist. Steve knocks the knife out of the leader's hand and kicks him in the chest, sending him flying past his friends, who were several feet behind him, and several feet beyond them.

At this time DJ, Dave, and Vince come running around the corner and stop. Being distracted by Steve's kick, the thug’s grip loosens on the Carrie. Carry, seeing DJ, Dave, and Vince, make her break away from her captures and head towards them. They begin to chase her but Steve grabs them by the collars of their shirts and throws them through a garage door. Steve turns and ducks dodging an incoming crowbar from a thug, but catches the second attempted swing. He rips the crowbar from the thug's hands and hits him on the side of the head with it, knocking him out. Steve throws the crowbar away so no one else could use it. Steve then turns and hooks a guy's flying hand under his arm then uses his other arm to forearm him in the face, making him collapse to the ground holding his face. Steve dives forward quickly, planting his hands on the ground and, lifting his lower body from the ground, uppercut kicks a thug coming up from behind him into a telephone pole with enough force to crack the telephone pole as Steve completes the back flip to land on his feet.

Steve then turns and sees the leader with the switchblade in his other hand, his broken wrist tucked under his armpit. "You...freak...you are going to die...you broke my wrist!" Steve's rage filled eyes show a hint of amusement as he holds up the switchblade along with a finger. The guy looks down at his hand and sees that the switchblade and his pinky are gone. "NO WAY! H-HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" He screams, not feeling the pain through the shock of the situation. Steve drops the switchblade and walks over to the leader. The leader throws a punch but Steve easily brushes it aside, then he grabs the leader by the throat and lifts him off the ground with just the strength of his one arm alone.

Steve's grip tightens around the guy’s throat making him gurgle as he tries to gasp for air. Steve just smiles as he chokes the life from the guy. Carrie runs from DJ, Dave, and Vince and runs to Steve. "Steve, its okay now. We're safe. Calm down. Please. Don’t be like them." Steve turns and looks at Carrie. She gasps in surprise as she looks into his faintly glowing red eyes. Steve then looks back up at the guy as some of thugs were getting up.

Steve lowers the leader slightly and tosses him at the thugs effortlessly. "I never want to see you assholes again. If I do, I’ll make this feel like your momma spanking you." Steve says, his voice sounding deeper than normal, more on the demonic side. They nod, scared stiff for a moment. Then, picking up the leader and unconscious thugs, they run from the alley as fast as they could.

Steve's eyes roll up into his head and he falls backwards onto the ground, passed out. Carrie kneels beside him as DJ, Dave, and Vince rush over to them. "He's okay, just passed out." Carrie says relieved, placing Steve's head on her legs.

Vince, shaken, looks down at Steve. "I've never seen him do that before. Never seen him that mad."

DJ sighs in relief. "I've only seen him like that once, with our uncle. He's the reason why we live alone instead of with that dickhead."

Dave looks at DJ in shock. "I thought you said you had an agreement?"

DJ nods. "That’s how we got the agreement. He wanted nothing to do with us, just our inheritance from our parent's deaths. When he said he was taking it and shipping us off to the orphanage, Steve lost it like he did here. Made our uncle beg to live. Steve then set up some rules for him and us."

Carrie looks at them shocked. "That’s crazy. But, then again, if I didn’t see it myself I wouldn’t believe it."

DJ nods. "Crazy, but true. I never wanted to see him like that again. I'm just glad that it happened when we needed it again."

Steve starts to come to. He slowly opens his eyes and looks up at his friends. "W-what happened?"

DJ looks at the others. "He never remembers what happens when he's like that. It's like he completely blacks out."

Steve shakes his head. "I blacked out? Is anyone hurt?"

Carrie sighs a laugh. "Yeah, but only the guys who hurt you and were going to hurt me."

Steve smiles and cringes as he tries to move. "That’s good. At least I didn't turn on you guys."

Vince shakes his head in disbelief. "We could probably have taken you. You weren’t that scary."

Dave laughs. "Yeah right, did you see what I see? I saw those guys, who could probably kick our asses easily, get their asses handed to them by Steve. Then I saw you shaking in fear and a small puddle of piss by your feet. Now that’s a first, you being afraid of Steve."

Steve's eyes widen. "Damn, didn't know I was that scary." Steve says in a grunt as he sits up.

Vince looks back where he was standing. "You dick, that puddle was there before we were, and it’s not piss."

"Maybe you shouldn't move yet. You were getting beat pretty bad." Carrie says seeing Steve's difficulty to just sit.

Steve scoffs and slowly gets to his knees. "I'm fine. Let's walk you home, don't want anymore incidents." Steve, with the help of Carrie and DJ, manages to get to his feet. Steve looks at DJ and smirks. “And you said I can’t fight.” Steve chuckles faintly.

As they turn to leave the alley, an old television set on a trashcan flickers to life, making everyone jump in surprise. The screen shows nothing but snowy static. Vince, the first to recover from the surprise, walks over to it with a sly grin. "Someone probably just turned it on. Let the power of the remote control overwhelm you all." Vince taunts then turns the dial to turn it off, but it stays on. "Damned knob is broken." Vince bends down and leans behind the television to unplug it. He stands up holding the unplugged power cord. He looks at the screen, seeing that it's still on. "Thing was never plugged in. Then how the hell is it on? TV's this old didn't have batteries."

The television begins to clear, but the picture still doesn't resemble anything recognizable. Dave walks up to Vince and taps him on the shoulder. "Dude, look around." Dave says, mystified by the surroundings.

Vince looks around, but doesn't see anything unusual, until he looks up at the top of a power pole and sees a bird completely still in mid-flight. "What the hell?"

Steve looks at the television again, the picture is becoming clearer, and this time he can make out what the picture is showing. A beach. "Why's that beach look familiar?"

Vince gets up and walks back to the others still looking around. "This is some crazy Twilight Zone shit here."

Out of nowhere a voice echoes through the alley. The chosen ones gather. Their journey begins. Will they bring the peace or leave the world in Chaos' hands? The television completely clears up, and the beach appears clear as day. The television then gains a vacuum-like effect, sucking in everything it can. Steve, DJ, Dave, and Vince grab onto the power pole, but Carrie could not get a firm grasp in time. She disappears into the TV.

"No! Carrie!" Steve instinctively lets go and jumps into the television after her.

DJ sees his younger brother go in and lets go, running to the television. "Like I'm going to leave you go alone!" And with that he jumps into the television after them.

Dave lets go and follows them. Vince growls for a moment. "Damn it all! Why do I have to hang around with the stupid ones?" Vince lets go and jumps into the television. After Vince jumps in, the TV shuts off, and the bird frozen in time flies off like it was. Time starts again.

They fall through the sky, falling towards the island that was shown on the television. Steve puts his arms to his side and legs together and starts to close in on Carrie. Once Steve was in front of her, he quickly grabs hold of her and holds her tightly to him. He switches his position so he would be the first to land, protecting her from the fast-approaching ground. Seconds later they hit the beach making small craters where they impacted.

Carrie slowly lifts herself up onto her hands and knees and looks around for the others. Dave, Vince, and DJ were already starting to stir, but there was no sign of Steve. "Steve? Steve! Where are you?" Two hands reach up from the sand and wave around franticly. Carrie jumps to her feet back two feet, screaming in surprise, and then looks at the arms. "Oh my god, Steve!" Carrie rushes back to him and unburies him.

Steve instantly sits up and takes a deep breath then starts breathing heavily. "Couldn't...breath."

DJ, Vince, and Dave walk up to them and help Steve and Carrie to their feet. "Where are we? This place looks familiar, but I can't really place it." Dave says looking around in wonder.

Steve looks around and just shakes his head, trying to rid himself of the confusion. "I think...I don't know, it'll just make me sound stupid. I-" Steve was saying, but Carrie interrupted him with her thoughts.

"Besaid. It looks just like Besaid Island. The dock, the tent, the path into the mountain, this has to be Besaid." Carrie says pointing at the objects as she stated them.

Steve stares all around, not believing his eyes. "I can't believe what I'm was seeing. We just got sucked into my favorite video game. Wow, it sounds really weird saying that. See why I was so hesitant to say it?" Steve says looking around, marveled by the sight.

From the path come two figures dressed in similar weird clothing, running towards them. Vince elbows Steve in the ribs to get his attention and points to them. Everybody looks at the approaching pair. Steve realizes who they are almost instantly. "Wakka and Chappu. Wow, we're way before the storyline.

Dave just chuckles lightly. “Wakka and Chappu. Geez, are you kidding me?” He asks rhetorically.

Wakka and Chappu stop in front of them, and then look at the dock. "I don't see the boat or any other passengers, ya? Did you all come on the boat? What was that screaming?" Wakka asks them curious.

Vince shakes his head and points up. "No, we just fell out of the sky."

Steve elbows Vince and chuckles. "Sorry, my friend is a little sarcastic. We really don't remember how we got here. The last thing I remember is seeing this big whale like creature, and here we are. Excuse us for a moment."

Wakka and Chappu start chatting to themselves. Sin was mentioned in their little conversation while Steve took everyone back a few feet to talk to them. "Look, we're going to look like lunatics explaining how we got here. So there’s no need to explain, lets say we got too close to Sin. The toxin should give us the good excuse. And as long as we're here lets try not to screw up the story line too much. Don't want anything to change, it might mess up the outcome of the game."

DJ nods in agreement. "Lets just try to blend in. We got a rare chance to actually live a video game, how many people can say that?" DJ then looks at Steve. "Lets see if we can stay in the village. Take jobs, do what it takes to try to get out, if we can. We'll do what we have to do to get out, but lets have some fun with it. Think about it, we're in a completely different world right now. We have a clean slate, and we all have a basic knowledge of things that go on here. I think this will be a good experience."

Vince just sighs looking back at Wakka and Chappu, who were still talking to themselves before turning his attention back to the group. "Alright, I don't know about you guys, but since we're in a new world where no one knows us and everyone has a screwed up name, I'm changing my name."

Everybody's eyes widen at thought. Steve just smirks. "Alright. Lets talk to them before they get too suspicious." Steve turns and walks back to Wakka and Chappu. "Sorry, we were trying to think about how we got here so we didn't sound like complete idiots. But, unfortunately we can't remember a thing. Only our names and that big thing that we remember was that whale thing."

Wakka nods in thought. "Well we pretty much figured that out with memory loss, ya? It’s a miracle that you survived. Praise be to Yevon.” Wakka and Chappu do the prayer gesture to them. “So you don't remember where you came from or anything?"

Steve shakes his head. "Nothing, just our names. So we were also talking about staying in the nearest village. Where would that be?" Steve asks, playing dumb about the lay of the land, though he knows it like the back of his hand.

Chappu takes a step foreword and then turns slightly to the island. "You're on Besaid Island. The village is on the other side of the mountain, we'll take you there."

Carrie walks up beside Steve. "Are you sure? We wouldn't want to get in the way with anyone. We'll probably be here for a while until we figure things out."

Wakka raises his hand and shakes it dismissively. "Don't worry about it. We have plenty of room. So what are your names? Mine is Wakka, and this-" He pats Chappu on the shoulder. "-Is my little brother Chappu."

Steve smiles at them in welcome. "Nice to meet you Wakka and Chappu. My name is Evan."

DJ smirks and pats his fist to his chest. "Savailo."

Vince steps up on the other side of Steve. "Ezriel."

Dave walks up beside Steve. "Spaz."

Carrie, in place beside Vince says. "My name is Kyri. Nice to meet you Wakka and Chappu."

Wakka nods with a smile. "It's nice to meet you all. Now follow us, we'll get you proper lodging and food, and if you're going to stay for an extended period of time, we'll have to get you all jobs. So think about what you want to do. We’ll see what we can do when we get to the village."

Wakka and Chappu start walking the way they came. Everyone follows behind thinking of what they want to do for jobs. Only Vince was dead set on what he wanted to do right away. "I'm going to be a Blitzball player. I've always wanted to do that." Vince mutters to group, excitement was evident in his voice.

After a two-hour hike, they enter Besaid Village. It was exactly like the game. Wakka turns to them just inside the village. "Okay, have we made a decision?" He asks the group.

Everyone nods, but Vince spoke out first though. "I want to be part of the village Blitzball team." He glances at Steve then back at Wakka. "If you have one, that is." Vince asks, trying to play along.

Wakka smiles at Vince. "We do have one. We'll see if your Auroch material later."

Carrie looks up at Wakka. "I want to be a temple Priestess. I pretty much know all the teachings of Yevon. I just want to stick with something I know."

Wakka nods at her. "We'll take you there once we find out what the others want to do. High Priest Gerald will most certainly like to meet you."

Dave cracks his neck, looks at Steve, then back at Wakka. "I'll be a Temple Knight."

Wakka nods at him too. "We need plenty of them. Most of the fighters just want to join the Cruisaders. See the world and a lot more action. Lord Tyron will be pleased to meet you."

Dave just smirks. "I don't mind staying in one place. I can’t wait to meet Lord Tyron myself."

Wakka looks at DJ, DJ looks up at the Cruisader's lounge, then back at Wakka. "I wouldn't mind being a Crusader."

Wakka smiles. "The Cruisaders are always welcoming new, determined people into their ranks. I'm sure they'll be glad to have you. Captain Luzzu is a personal friend, I’m sure he’ll take good care of you."

Steve then looks up at Wakka as Wakka looked at him, just now making his decision. "I want to be a blacksmith."

Wakka's eyes brighten and he smiles. "Well, you’re just in luck. Our blacksmith is retiring here soon and he's been looking for a student. Not a lot of people are up to his standards though."

Steve just smirks happily, delighted by the news. "I'll try my hardest."

Wakka turns to Chappu. "Why don't you take Spaz and Kyri up to the temple, talk to High Priest Gerald, he'll give them rooms and food."

Chappu sighs looking at the ground. "You never let me go meet old man Marcus."

Wakka grunts looking at Chappu. "That’s because he always fills your head with nonsense about joining the Cruisaders to fight Sin, ya? Your too young for that Chappu, plus that will almost guarantee you'll get killed. Now take them up to the temple. I don't want to argue about this again."

Chappu sighs in defeat and waves Dave and Carrie forward. "Come on. Lets see what we can do for you."

Wakka turns to Vince and DJ, and then points to a big blue tent near the temple. "That’s the Cruisader's lounge." Then he turns his attention to Vince. "Go wait there for me. We'll see what kind of skill you have with Blitzball as soon as I show Evan here where he'll stay."

Vince and DJ look at the blue tent, nods and runs for it, excited.

Wakka laughs at Vince's enthusiasm. "He's really excited, ya?"

Steve nods looking as Vince disappears into the tent. "Blitzball was something he was always good at."

Wakka nods and turns to Steve, with a serious look on his face. “Master Marcus is a very strict man. He only expects excellence out of anyone. He'll want more out of you since you're going to be his student."

Steve nods again. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

Wakka starts to walk towards a shaggy red tent with Steve following close behind him. Wakka holds the flap open for Steve. Steve nods and walks in followed behind by Wakka.

Sitting on the cot was an old man, somewhere in his sixties, reading a large book. He places a mark in the page and closes the book, looking up at them. "Wakka, this is a surprise. Whose your friend?" He asks, eyeing Evan.

Wakka pats Steve on the back. "This is Evan. He got too close to Sin and can't remember a thing from his past. So he's staying here in the village and he wants to be a blacksmith, so who better than you to teach him, ya?"

Marcus gets up and walks up to Steve looking him over. "I don't know. You seem different from the others who tried to be my student. I have high expectations." Marcus warns sternly.

Steve just smiles at the warning. "And I'll meet and exceed them all."

Marcus smiles and laughs at Steve's proclamation. "That’s what I want to hear." Then his face got serious. "I just hope that you mean the words you speak, boy." Marcus then turns to Wakka. "Thank you Wakka." Wakka bows to Marcus and leaves the tent. Marcus then turns back to Steve. "Well, you better get some sleep, you're going to need it for tomorrow. We get started bright and early." Marcus walks past Evan and clears off several swords from another cot and places the swords on a shelf.

Steve nods and bows. "Thank you, master. I really appreciate this chance." Steve then walks over to the bed and covers up.

The day was long, starting out as a normal Friday. It was hard to believe that Steve's main worry this afternoon was asking Carrie out on a date. But now everything was hard for Steve to believe. He was now living in his favorite game, beginning work that he's always wanted to do. His life has changed forever, hopefully, for better.