Title: The Future Freaks Me Out
Genre: A serious FLCL crossover (which means it's not crack!fic). Or, you know, as serious as you can get with these two universes competing for attention.
Disclaimer: Neither Kingdom Hearts nor the mind-fuckery that is FLCL belong to me. Those rights go to Square Enix and Gainax respectively.
Warnings: Necessary screwing with the plot to make this work. Naota!Roxas, slash jokes, and language.
Mind racing fast, I can do no wrong. Guess who's back with a brand-new song? That's right, kids, it's Two For Three. Place your bids, 'cause it's time to sing!
Stupid made-up lyrics aside, a girl named Amagumo deserves a mention for reading this over for me. Alright, let's start the show!
Nothing amazing ever happens here.
Tuesday, August fourteenth. Roxas drew his knees up to his chest on the dusty green couch, letting his right arm drape over them at what appeared to be an awkward angle. He made no attempt to reposition it, however, choosing instead to stare vacantly at the slowly melting ice cream clutched in the hand attached to it. Droplets of blue gathered and fell, gathered and fell, drumming a steady (if slow) beat into the floor.
"Dude, you gonna eat that?"
Enter Sora. His best friend since grade school had a bad habit of intruding on his alone time.
"Just take the stupid thing."
Roxas stood up and, after brushing imaginary dust off his clothing, forced the ice cream into Sora's hands. Last one of the summer, probably, but…all of a sudden, the cloying sweetness was just too much for him. He slipped out the door without another word, leaving the boy behind. Sora shrugged to himself and took Roxas' spot on the overstuffed couch, downing the sea-salt in just a few seconds. After suffering the severe brain-freezing consequences, he stared at the alleyway through which his friend had disappeared.
"Why is Roxas always so weird?"
The tram station clock tower looms over everything, its shadow swiveling as if the hour hand from its face had been stolen, expanded, and set into the ground with the express purpose of marking time. It's…ominous at the best of times.
Wild whistling sounds filled his ears as he perched on the cold stone ledge, barely leaning into the wind. The air that rushed around his features and pushed his hair back at odd angles was only faintly warmer than the iciness beneath him, and twice as violent. How such a coldness could exist amongst the blinding heat of fading summertime in Twilight Town was beyond Roxas, yet he continued to ponder the logic behind it as if it were the world's only riddle.
"What're you doing?" Ugh...that voice. He knew that voice.
"Homework," Roxas lied, refusing to face the girl behind him.
"Then why don't you do it at home?"
"'Cause that's not cool." The girl fell silent, and for a moment Roxas allowed himself to believe she had run off. He relaxed again, staring out at the section of town covered in the clock tower's shadow— only to be interrupted as two arms wrapped around his waist and tugged him backwards, not at all gently. He slid deftly off the wall and fell to the stone ground, his landing cushioned by the girl underneath him.
"That hurt, Roxie," she said, smiling at him coyly. "Apologize."
Her idea of an apology was not something he liked to contemplate. He didn't even bother arguing against her, it was just too tiring.
"Tifa...why do you do this?"
"If I don't do it, I'll overflow." She said it so matter-of-factly, as if it were a completely normal and relevant answer.
"What would happen then?"
"I don't know..."
Annoyed, Roxas wrenched himself loose from her suffocating grasp, rolling a few feet across the ground. He stood up and started off down the path to Station Heights. Loud footsteps bounced off the walls, ringing in his ears as he escaped the girl, her complex, and the oppressive shadow of the clock tower.
Tifa rolled over onto her side to watch him leave.
"...probably something amazing..."
My older brother Leon left for Hollow Bastion last year to be a pro Struggler. Ever since then, his old girlfriend has been pawing me over, looking for a replacement.
There was this postcard the other day... it was a picture of Leon and some brunette named Aerith kissing. Tifa is irritating sometimes, but. She's still a nice girl. I don't have the heart to tell her.
As for the sky? It never changes. Sometimes the warm colors are soothing, others it seems as though a sadist gutted some poor animal and splashed its remains across town.
He wandered haphazardly through Twilight Town's back alleys, trusting his familiarity with the buildings around him to bring him home again later. Crossing his arms behind his head, Roxas traveled on, glaring derisively at the bloody clouds. The gesture was strange to him, and he wasn't quite sure why he did it other than it seemed…comforting (for lack of a better word), and quite possibly nostalgic. Which was completely creepy.
Filing the entire train of thought away for future consideration, he continued on.
"What about this one, Zexy?"
A voice sounded to his left, jumping out of the russet brick wall and not offering a single clue as to its owner. Roxas peered quizzically in its direction, but couldn't see the human attached to it. He chose to ignore it completely, crediting the voice either to delusions or the wind.
"Don't call me that. His scent is certainly one of a worthy candidate. However…in the end, you know the final decision is not mine to make."
This voice was new and quiet and maybe the wall was a hologram or something and the people talking were standing behind it. Yeah, that was it. To prove his own point, Roxas ran headfirst into the bricks, fully expecting to sail right through them. He was sorely disappointed. Three seconds later, after getting back on his feet, he stormed off to nowhere in particular. Unsurprisingly, the voices followed him.
"You stay here and watch the boy. I'm going to go get the boss."
"But I don't want to watch Blondie! He's boring. I wanna go with you..."
"Demyx. Be reasonable."
"Hmff. Fine. You go have fun with that stupid pyro, and I'll just be here. Wasting away."
What was up with these two, anyway? Even if they were both in his head, they were annoying. Roxas clamped his hands over his ears and continued walking.
"Right. I'll be back in a minute. Don't die." He tore open a portal and teleported away.
"Don't die! Sound advice from Bookmaster, master of books. Don't die. Feh." Mashing a pair of clunky headphones around his head, Demyx continued to tail Roxas for a while, but he quickly got bored. He veered off course and set out to explore the town. What harm could come from leaving the runt alone for a few minutes, anyway?
-
-
-
"Yo, Zexy! What's up, man?"
"Don't call me that," Zexion snapped from force of habit. "Sorry. I would just prefer it if you didn't refer to me so diminutively...sir."
"Yeah? Well I'd prefer it if I did. Funny how that works." The man's superior picked absently at a midnight-blue bass-- he couldn't play it, but he didn't have to. One finger slipped to the pull chord attached to the side and Zexion visibly stiffened.
"The- the thing is, sir, that Demyx and I have found what we believe to be a worthy candidate. He's around fifteen--"
"And his N.O. portal?"
He (rather cautiously) held out a small notebook filled with his own neat handwriting. "See for yourself."
The room was silent for a full thirty seconds as his boss, looking rather serious, flipped through the notes.
"Zexion?"
"Yes?"
"Why don't you and Demyx take a few weeks off? Go on a romantic cruise or something; you two really haven't had much time to yourselves lately."
"Sir? What are you-- are you okay?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm great. This is great!"
"Good, because I hasten to remind you that Demyx and I are not now, nor have we ever been--"
"Aw, shut it. Where does this kid live, anyway?"
"It's on the first page, sir. If you don't mind..." Zexion gestured toward the door.
"Sure, sure. See you in a few weeks, man." He stood up as Zexion left, flipping the notebook back to page one. " Twilight Town, hm?"
Axel stuffed the notes in the pocket of his sleeveless red riding jacket. He grabbed his blue guitar in one gloved hand and with one quick motioned summoned a portal with the other. A grin.
"Xemnas, your ass is mine."
-
-
-
Roxas wandered indignantly down one of Twilight Town's many empty roads; everyone was either at work or at school this time of day.
The adults got all excited when the new plant was put in. Medical Mechanica'll bring this town to life, they said, we'll get all kinds of commerce and jobs and visitors...but I don't see how that's possible. No one ever goes in that building, and no one ever comes out. All it ever does as it towers over us all is gush out hazy red steam to cover the sun, intensifying the dusk by a thousand. It's almost scary, sometimes, how concentrated the twilight can get when that steam pours out.
He was, admittedly, a bit bored now that the voices had gone and left him all alone. They were annoying, yes, but at least they were company. Even having Tifa come and test his patience would be--
"I got you a soda, Roxie..." her voice carried softly from behind him, and he felt a skinny aluminum can being pressed into his right hand. Without so much as glancing at it, he could tell what it was. Speak of the devil.
He tapped the bright yellow lemon graphic on its side. "You know I don't like the sour stuff. And you already drank half of it!"
"So?" Tifa continued walking on ahead of him while he just stood there, staring at the brightly colored soft drink. For some reason...
Screw it. She deserves to know, and maybe she'll lay off me if she does.
"You know what?" Roxas tossed the soda aside. It bounced off the ground, spewing lemon soft-drink onto his tennis shoes. "My brother, in Hollow Bastion?"
Tifa froze.
"He sent me a postcard the other day. He's got a new--" The buzzing of a far-away engine distracted him for a moment, and he quickly lost his courage. "...A new...um, struggle bat. It's really cool..."
The buzzing was getting closer, and it suddenly occurred to Roxas that both he and the brunette in front of him were standing almost exactly in the center of the road. He started edging slightly to the right.
"Oh. Does he? I bet he loves it."
"Yeah." Roxas shifted uncomfortably. "It sounded like...sounded like he did."
It didn't sound like a car, or even a motorcycle, and it was gnawing at him that he couldn't figure out what it was. Just for a second, he turned around and squinted...
A brazen red-haired maniac was speeding toward them on a bright yellow vespa, brandishing a blue guitar much like a jouster would his lance. Roxas froze, his eyes going wide as the crazy man let out a karate yell and swung his guitar around above his head--
"HaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAIII-YAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Thud.
He flew back several yards and cracked his head against the pavement. Roxas promptly blacked out.
Nothing amazing ever happens here…
I'm estimating somewhere around seven chapters. Feel free to review (concrit is a l w a y s appreciated), and sorry about the cliffhanger. Amagumo's reading over chapter two right now, so expect it in a few days.
Peace, yo.