He bored easily, trapped within Sora's mind and heart, and amused himself often by attempting to do little things. Things like, oh, "Let's make Sora scratch his nose", or "Let's see if we can get Sora to say "cock"."
He'd taken over completely quite by accident, and immediately pulled back, apologizing profusely, but remembering, quite clearly, how to do what he had just did. Sora, as per his usual, was accepted any and all apologies, and even offered to let Roxas borrow his body, if he wanted to, as long as Sora wasn't busy doing something.
Roxas remembered that, very, very clearly. One could say he committed it to memory.
He took over one morning, telling Sora he wanted to take a nice walk, and Sora didn't bother to argue, just settled back and enjoyed the 'ride', as it were.
He did have something to say when Roxas opened the Door to the Otherworld, and proceeded to hijack the gummi-ship "Highwind".
//What are you doing he cried, stunned that his other self would even consider doing something so insane. //I don't even pilot this without Donald or Goofy, or Chip and Dale for that matter! This is crazy!//
"Shut up, Roxas muttered, sliding into the pilot's seat, staring at the half-familiar controls. "I know what I'm doing."
//Liar,// Sora pointed out. //You don't even know how to make the ship move.//
"Shut up," Roxas repeated, scowling. "I do too know what I'm doing."
//What are you trying to do, anyway? That's not it, you know. It's the red lever.//
"I knew it was the red lever!" Roxas kicked the console, eyes narrowed. He carefully started flying the ship towards Hercules' world, eyes focused on the distant sphere.
//You're joking. No one knows you here, you'd better let me take over-//
"No," Roxas' voice was flat. "No, Sora, just shut up and let me do this."
//And what is this, huh? Kidnapping me?// Sora sounded sulky- Roxas really couldn't blame him.
"I didn't mean to kidnap you. You're just along for the ride, ok? I need to get to the Underworld." Roxas fell silent, and Sora was silent too, calm, introspective.
//Roxas… even if he is-//
"I don't want to hear it," Roxas hissed, punching down on the throttle, the g-forces pressing him back into his chair. "I don't want to hear it, Sora, I know what I'm doing."
//Roxas… Axel is-//
"Shut up!" Roxas curled a hand to his forehead. Their unspoken rule was neither of them ever spoke Axel's name. In fact, neither of them ever brought up Number Eight, and Sora privately though that Roxas had never dealt with his friend's death.
He was certainly dealing with it now, in probably the worst way possible. But Sora said nothing more, not wanting another violent reaction that could damage the ship- and them- and only offered quiet advice on piloting the ship all the way to the Coliseum.
Roxas was fidgety and impatient the entire way there. He all but crashed the gummi ship onto the world, twitching in his haste.
//We can't fight in the underworld, you know,// Sora told him. //We'll be easy prey for just about anything.//
"Well, if you could stay behind and guard the ship, I'd let you," Roxas snapped, dusting himself off as he rose from his crouch. The cave mouth didn't look like much, but it stank like death, like rot, and the faint sounds emanating from the depths did nothing to make him feel any better.
//I wouldn't just abandon you. You're part of me.// Sora's stubborn streak was back with a vengeance, and Roxas could only shake his head in mild despair.
I swear, that's going to get him killed someday. He very, very slowly, and very carefully, approached the huge doors that served as the gate to the Underworld. "Ok," he said, just to hear a sound other than the odd, whistling wailing that came from behind the doors. "Here we go."
//Roxas, I really don't want you to get hurt.// Sora's voice was calm, but there was definitely a nervous edge to it. //You've never been in there…//
"I have," Roxas said. "As you. Quit complaining, I'm going to do this whether you like it or not. I have to find him. I have to at least… try."
Sora sighed, but didn't argue when Roxas raised a hand and carefully pushed the door open. It swung open far, far too easily, as if it was expecting them. That isn't comforting.
He'd gone too far to turn around now. Taking a deep breath, he stepped through the gate. It swung shut and locked behind him, the sound low and ominous.
The weakness hit him instantly, like a blow to the gut. He dropped to one knee, shuddering briefly, eyes closing. "What-?"
//Be careful, Roxas, please… you can't let your guard down in here, even for a minute…// Sora sounded worried, and Roxas couldn't blame him. He picked himself back up, summoning Oathkeeper and Oblivion both. They were heavy as boulders in his hands, and there was an odd ache in his muscles and joints, a feverish pain, the likes of which he'd only ever felt in Sora's memories; memories of when he'd had the flu for a week, nothing but vomiting and chills and bone aches, so ill his parents nearly hospitalized him. That was what this felt like, he realized, a flu, an illness, sapping ones' strength until they were dizzy and weak.
If you can't run away, you can't fight, you can't leave…
It was an insidious, genius plan. Brilliant in its simplicity.
//Auron!//
He nearly fell over, Sora's unexpected "shout" echoing in his ears. "What?" He snapped out loud, paranoidly looking around to see what he was talking about.
//Auron, someone Donald and Goofy and I met down here! I bet if we find him, he can help us! But… we lost him after fighting Cerberus the first time, then after we fought Hades, he left. We'd have to leave the Underworld… Hey, maybe he has the medallion that'll let us fight in the Underworld, we should go…//
"…Cerberus?"
//Oh… um, a giant, three-headed-//
A growling sound started from the yawning cavern in front of them. "Sora, please tell me it's easy to kill."
//…dog. And no, it's immortal.//
Roxas muttered an extremely complicated oath that he must have learned from Xigbar. "Great. What do I do?"
"When I fought it, I had the Medallion thing that gave you immunity to the Underworld…"
Roxas froze, slowly turning his head to one side. Standing next to him, arms crossed, scratching his head in thought, was Sora. "…Sora…"
"What? Huh? Whoa!" Sora jumped back, looking down at himself. "But- you're- I'm- what's this?"
"I have no idea," Roxas said, shaking his head. "I think-"
Another low, long growl sounded, and this time, the enormous tri-headed dog appeared before them.
"Did you have an easy time defeating it with the medallion?" Roxas moved away from Sora, biting the inside of his cheek as one head's set of blood-red eyes followed him.
"Not really," Sora rubbed his chin. "And I even had Goofy and Auron to help…"
"Shit," Roxas mused, hefting one Keyblade, never taking his eyes off of Cerberus.
"I could unlock the door," Sora offered, the Ultimate Keyblade appearing in his own hand. "We could get out."
Roxas was silent for a long moment. What would Axel say? What would he want me to do? He'd probably say something stupid, like- like I don't even know, make some kind of crude joke about its heads… He swallowed slowly, hands tightening on his Keyblades. He wanted to know what Axel would say.
He had to know.
"I haven't even started yet," he said aloud, his voice hushed. "I can't give up without trying." He fell into an offensive position, eyes narrowed. "I'm not just going to give up, you stupid beast! So unless you want a fight, you'd better back off! I'm going to find my friend!"
"…I don't think he can understand you, Roxas," Sora said helpfully, before yelping and dodging away from the snapping jaws. "You know, if you'd listened to me and gone to the Coliseum first, we could have gotten the medallion."
"Don't start with "I told you so" yet, would you?" Roxas attacked the center head, dodging back away from the snapping jaws of the head on the left. "When we're sitting comfortably, being digested by dog stomach acid, that's when you say it."
"If we're being digested, I won't be able to tell you that, because we'll be dead," Sora pointed out, ducking and rolling to one side, avoiding the snarling jaws. "Therefore, I have to say it now."
"Shut up," Roxas said, without any real venom, jamming one keyblade into the jaws of the head on the right, breaking off a tooth with an audible snap. Cerberus howled, the sound making Sora drop his keyblade, clamping his hands over his ears. Roxas gritted his teeth, and he struck again, bashing the center head across the muzzle. The dog fell back a step, then another as Sora rose again, attacking the head on the left.
They prodded and poked the huge monster further and further down the tunnel, avoiding the snarling jaws and swipes of the huge paw. At one point, Sora got up behind it, beating mercilessly at the center head until it slumped, dragging the other two down with twin startled yelps. Roxas moved in, then, pouring all his strength into attacking the head on the right while it was down, and Sora joined him, attacking the head on the left.
Panting, exhausted already, they stepped back, staring at the twitching, snarling canine, who, despite their best efforts, was still struggling to get to its feet.
"Shit," Roxas said, and Sora merely nodded. "Maybe we should just run past the damn thing while we can."
"That sounds like a plan," Sora said, resting his hands on his knees. "I'll let you know when I can run."
Cerberus was beginning to show signs of coherent movement again, the center head starting to twitch and jerk and wake up. "I think now is good." Roxas grabbed Sora's wrist and sprinted around the monster. The head nearest to them rose, jaws snapping ineffectually inches away, then dropped uselessly.
They stumbled to a halt on the dog's other side, leaning against the wall of the tunnel beyond. "Light," Sora panted. "That was harder than I remember."
"You had that… damned medallion…" Roxas wheezed, doubled over. "You and your… damn loopholes…"
"I told you…" Sora pointed out, jabbing a finger at him. "I told you, you should have listened to me… I knew what I was doing… should have gone to see Phil and Hercules, but noooo, you said… we'll just go right there, you said…"
"Shut up," Roxas sighed, slowly straightening out of his crouch. "We should get moving. It's probably going to take a while to find him."
"Yeah, and I don't think Cerberus is going to be down for much longer…" Sora glanced back over his shoulder in the direction they'd come from. Grunts and howls could still be heard. "…man, I wish Donald and Goofy were here. Or Riku. Or the King. Or anyone."
"Gee, thanks, that makes me feel great." Roxas snorted, pulling away from the wall. "Come on, let's get going. I know I'm not worth much, but I'm going to make something go right for once. I'm not giving up."
"I never said you should," Sora murmured. "We just won't get any help from anyone else. Hercules can't help us, and neither can his friends or parents, you know? We're pretty much on our own."
"I got used to that," Roxas muttered. "Comes with being Nobody."
"You had Axel," Sora murmured, but looked aside. "Come on, let's go, if you're so eager." He dropped his head and started down the tunnel, Roxas at his side.
"You know, it was bad enough when there was only one of you. Now I have double the trouble to deal with."
Sora jerked to a halt, looking up slowly, very reluctantly. Roxas muttered a curse, eyes narrowing at the person he didn't recognize before him. "Who's this creep?"
Sora sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Great," he sighed, staring at the God before them. "It's Hades."