"Sora! Riku! Alright guys, this isn't funny!" Roxas hollered as he walked down a street of the seemingly endless city his family had just moved to. He had been roped into a game of tag with his twin brother, 'Sora', and Sora's boyfriend; and of course, he was it. After he had caught them and been tagged twice, they had run deeper into the city, leaving him to follow, and now he had completely lost track of them. As twilight set in, a billowing roar filled the air. Roxas groaned as he watched the storm clouds move in. He decided enough was enough, wanting to get home before the rain started. Sora had Riku with him, so he was sure they'd be fine if they hadn't already returned home before him. He spun on his heels and headed back the way he came, but quickly came to the realization that he had no idea where he was. He had been so focused on tracking his brother down, he hadn't really made any mental notes on his location. He stopped at the end of the street and glanced both directions, attempting to retrace his steps. He could hear a couple muffled voices in the distance on his left, but they sounded much too old to be Sora and Riku. "...Still… if they're locals, maybe they can give me directions." The boy cautiously began walking toward the sound. As he approached the halfway point of the block, he began to notice something strange. Rain was pouring at the exact midpoint of the road, like a wall. As Roxas stepped closer, the clouds above him seemed to move more rapidly, and by the time he reached the rain, it was as dark as night. The street-lights were on, casting unnerving shadows all around him. He couldn't help but feel as though he'd just walked into an alternate dimension. Roxas considered turning back, but the voices were so close now. He just needed direction. The teen persisted through the last few steps to the intersection and looked toward the voices. Near a street light he could make out three silhouettes, all wearing pitch black coats with their hoods hiding their faces. Two of them, both of medium build, but one slightly taller than the other, seemed to be in some form of confrontation, while the third, a tall, lean figure, stood off to the side with his arms folded, observing the two. Realizing he had stumbled into something, Roxas ducked back around the corner and out of sight, but his curiosity kept him from fleeing. He carefully peeked around the corner ever-so-slightly in an attempt to listen in on the conversation.
"-know you had this coming. What did you expect to happen when you betrayed the organization?" An emotionless, stiff voice came from the slightly shorter of the two. His no-nonsense tone was uncomfortably cruel and belittling. "What do you have to say for yourself?" The other growled, his voice a tone deeper than the first.
"What do you expect me to say? You fuckers took everything I had! You've got nothing to hold over me now, I'm leaving, and you aren't going to stop me!" The man flexed his forearms and Roxas' eyes widened in surprise as a pair of gold and brown gauntlets with clawed fingers formed on his arms. The man lashed forward at the other, but the shorter didn't so much as flinch. Before he could make contact, the tall figure, who hadn't yet spoken, snapped their fingers. Suddenly, the attacker erupted into flames and Roxas emitted a horrified gasp. He turned and booked it down the street, praying to all heaven that they didn't notice him. His prayers fell short though, as some sort of blue and black blob appeared in front of him and left the shorter of the two remaining figures in its wake. Roxas skidded to a halt and took a step back.
"Sloppy work, VIII. Weren't you supposed to be on lookout?" The man's dull tone sneered. Roxas stared on in confusion until he heard footsteps behind him. He whipped around to see the other figure casually standing a few feet away. In his hands were large, circular and spiked weapons. One he swung casually at his side while the other was lazily draped over his shoulder.
"I was! Kid just snuck up on me. You'd think he was trained to hide in the shadows." A snarky and strangely playful male voice emitted from the man.
"How unfortunate for him. He's seen too much. Eliminate him." Roxas' eyes widened and his heart started pounding.
"Wh-what!? W-wait! I didn't mean to… I was lost, that's all!" He sputtered in a sad attempt to defend himself.
"Aw, c'mon VII, I don't want to kill a kid. What's the worst that'll happen if we let him go? He blabs to a couple adults that some shadowy figures killed another shadowy figure in a place he's unfamiliar with?"
"We have a reputation to upkeep, you know that. Don't make me report you to the superior."
"Alright already." VIII spun his chakrams around in his hands and glanced at Roxas. "Nothing personal kid." He began to run at the blonde, whose knees had buckled, rendering him immobile.
"Wait." The other's tone cut in, causing VIII to skid to a stop mere inches from the fear-stricken teen.
"Make up your mind!" He growled. VII approached Roxas and yanked him around to face him, jolting him out of his trance.
"Let go!" Roxas demanded, trying to jerk away, but VII held him still. He pulled an X-shaped trinket out of his pocket and held it a few inches away from Roxas' chest. Roxas' eyes darted between the trinket and VII nervously. After a moment, the trinket flashed and began to glow. One side of the X turned pure white with a golden glow gently emitting from it; the other a deep blackish blue with a shadowy aura surrounding it, not unlike the strange blob VII had used to warp in front of him earlier. VII and VIII looked at each other, both seemingly intrigued.
"Well, well, well. Isn't that something." VIII chuckled.
"Interesting." VII murmured. "Yes, The Superior will want to see this." He slid his hand down the teen's shoulder to grip his arm as another shadow blob appeared in front of him. Roxas attempted to back away, but VII harshly shoved him forward into the dark. Roxas stumbled through and landed on a white, circular platform with a strange symbol on it. He looked around cautiously, noticing 13 seats of various heights surrounding the platform. On the seat directly in front of him sat another man in a black coat. His hood was down, revealing a tan-skinned man with an angular face and hair whiter than the rest of the room. He was seated comfortably with both arms resting on their respective arm rest. A pair of piercing yellow eyes stared down at the boy, sending chills up and down his spine.
"And just… who are you?" The man's deep and powerful voice reverberated throughout the room. Roxas fumbled with this thoughts, uncertain how to respond. A moment later, VII and VIII emerged from the portal and closed it.
"Yo, boss! We brought you a gift." VIII spoke in his sinisterly-friendly voice. VII held up the trinket so the man could see.
"Superior. I believe we've found what you've been looking for." The man leaned forward to view the trinket and glint of curiosity reached his eyes. He vanished through a portal and reappeared in front of Roxas, pulling him to his feet. Taking the trinket from VII, he looked it over, then at the boy in front of him.
"Fascinating. One who not only holds control over the power of light, but the power of darkness." Roxas' expression contorted into one of confusion the more the man spoke. Nothing the man said made an ounce of sense to him.
"What are you talking about!? I don't have powers! I don't even know what I'm -"
"Where did you find him." The man spoke again, turning his attention to VII and utterly ignoring the blond, further irritating him.
"We just happened upon him in the streets. It seems he was lost." VII explained.
"Yeah, unfortunately he saw a little too much when we were taking out XIII, so we were gonna take care of him too... but Saix here had the brilliant idea of doing a power test first." VIII explained, ruffling Roxas' hair. Roxas swatted his hand away and cast him a glare. "Ooh! Feisty aren't we! I'm the one holding a weapon, kid." The Superior held out a hand to silence VIII, who fell back in line immediately.
"What an uncanny coincidence that someone like him should show up right as we needed to replenish our ranks."
"What?" Roxas couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You want me to replace that guy? For what? What was his job? I don't even know who you guys ARE!" He was getting irritated with all the mumbo-jumbo they were blabbing out. The three exchanged surprised glances.
"Really? You don't know about Organization XIII?" Saix questioned.
"I assume you are new to this town." The Superior remarked.
"He has to be. You see kid, this city… all of it, belongs to us. We hold it in the palm of our hand." VIII gloated. "And it seems that you, lucky little devil, get to take part in it."
"I thought that was the mayor's job." Roxas deadpanned.
"The mayor works for us and was assigned to that position by us." Saix clarified.
"This is a gang-owned town, kid, and we're the elites." Roxas took a step back, beginning to realize the mess he had gotten himself into.
"I… I don't want this. I just want to go home!"
"There is only one way non-members exit this building." A strange, red light formed in the palm of The Superior's hand and energy manifested itself into a beam of light, which he drew up to Roxas' neck. The teen stiffened as he felt an intense heat wafting off the beam onto his neck. "So, what will it be? You can either join us, or join the ranks of the dead." The silence that followed was all the answer Xemnas needed. He paused though, looking curiously at the boy's face. There was something familiar about it. He dismissed his blade, allowing the boy to catch his breath. "Now that we've gotten that sorted out. What is your name?" Roxas hesitated a moment before answering.
"It's… Roxas…" He muttered half-heartedly. Xemnas cocked his head to the side.
"And your last name?" He pressed. Roxas' lips formed a line as his gaze moved up to meet The Superior's, a fire forming in his eyes. Xemnas chuckled and walked past him, patting him on the shoulder. "We'll know soon enough, XIII."
Hey there, you made it through! Thanks for reading! This is just a story idea I'm playing around with for fun. I can't say how frequent updates will be, but I'll upload when I can. I'm open to polite constructive criticism, so please feel free to leave a comment or review. Thanks again!