Summary: This is a what-if scenario of Roxas and Axel's battle in Twilight Town. After Roxas's defeat, Axel yearns for things to be the way they were before between them, and spares his life. But he soon learns that it won't be easy to earn Roxas's forgiveness.
A/N: This is an idea that has been in my thoughts for quite some time now. Only after wanting to play through the KH series again, I decided that I wanted to write it for practice, as I usually write in 1st person. (Though I'm actually playing through BBS right now, this akuroku fic is what I end up writing first, haha)
Chapter 1
Staring into those fierce eyes reminded him of those countless times. Those countless fights. Long arguments over truths and lies, only ending in silence with Roxas's stunned confusion. And here once again, in the illusion of Twilight Town, Axel was pitted against his old friend.
It had certainly surprised him when the boy had proven he could wield two keyblades. In the end however, it was futile, for Roxas had already been driven to his physical and mental limits just getting to this room inside the decrepit mansion.
And now, with his chakram placed sharply against the boy's neck, he uttered those decisive words, "Looks like I've won."
Roxas merely gritted his teeth, rolling his head back into the searing earth as if that simple gesture would keep him from death. Axel knew that he was too weary to move. He crouched over him further, following his eyes, and waited expectantly for his answer. Of course with all of the struggle that he put up 'till now, he knew what it would be.
"What are you waiting for? Just finish me off already."
The answer was unexpected to his ears, causing Axel's grin to falter. It was a sign of something unfamiliar that had surfaced. This boy in front of him now was further from the one he knew. Even further from the one he met when he first came to this virtual place. This was not Roxas.
"Heh, and if I don't want to?"
Roxas's silence followed by his nervous laughter made Axel realize he was only trying to quell his own uneasiness. He knew that the Organization had set him out to do this task. Since he had failed in bringing Roxas back peacefully, he had been ordered to kill him, or face being turned into a Dusk.
Now the moment which he thought he had prepared himself for had come, and now he was hesitating.
"Huh, so now you're turning your back on the Organization?" Roxas closed his eyes and tsk'd, as if he had known that this might happen. Axel always did have his own rules to play by.
"Yeah, I guess you can say that."
Roxas's eyes shot open as Axel hoisted him over his shoulder.
"W-what are you doing?! Put me down!"
Axel mused. "You know what," He said. "I think it's high time I left the Organization. Y'know, do what I want for a change."
An uncomfortable tightness formed in Roxas's chest.
"And what do I have to do with all this?" Axel look over his shoulder at him.
"You're part of the plan! Well, you are the plan."
"I refuse."
Axel couldn't help brightening at his stubbornness. There seemed to be the boy he knew.
"Well, not like you really have a choice. Unless you wanna go back to your other half that is."
Roxas's eyes widened. "Other...half?"
Axel didn't answer after that. He merely opened a portal, and they departed through it.
Where they appeared next was all too familiar to Roxas. The boundless prison of walls and buildings. The ever-present rain. This was where he had left it all. It was The World That Never Was.
Axel took him off his back and set him down on the wet ground.
"Here's where you'll have to wait a bit." He said. "Mind if I get your brooch?"
Roxas was silent, lost in reminiscence. Hot breaths on his cheek startled him from his daze, and he realized that Axel was only inches from his face.
"What the-!" He reeled backwards. The x-shaped brooch that tore loose from his shirt was now in Axel's hand.
"Still manage to space out these days, don't you?"
Roxas's face flushed at that comment. He felt his heart flutter. It was almost like before. Almost. He decided he would bring up questions in order to distract himself from the feeling.
"What do you need it for?"
"Part of the plan." He said. It only frustrated Roxas. It was always like this. These answers Axel gave him that never left him satisfied.
"Tell me why you need it!" His rain-soaked back moved further and further from Roxas as he walked away. He would not even give him a glimpse of those eyes that held all the secrets Roxas wanted to know.
A man dressed in a dark, hooded cloak stood before the room where Axel and Roxas had been only a while ago. He thought the boy would have been able to be a match for Axel. He was supposed to have defeated him and come to the room where DiZ was. Where Sora was. He turned behind him to the man that had appeared.
"He's not here."
DiZ nodded. "And neither is Axel. No doubt he has returned to the Organization."
"DiZ, do you really think that he killed Roxas?"
The old man shook his head. "I feel it is too early to come to that conclusion, Riku."
"Hm, you're right." He looked along the gashes of metal in the wall. "Perhaps there was something enough in him to spare his life."
DiZ laughed. "Such nonsense." He said. "Must I remind you that a nobody does not have a heart?"
Riku paused. "Maybe so, but he was Sora's nobody. I think that means something."
DiZ crossed his arms. "Something? It does not mean anything."
Perhaps DiZ was right. But if Roxas was really alive somewhere, he wanted to bring him back so Sora could be whole again.
Axel stood before the court of Nobodies. Always after any kind of mission, there was a report to be made. "There, see?" He said. "I took care of Roxas, just like you wanted, happy?"
Xemnas looked upon Axel with interest. "I do trust you've done your job." Axel nodded, pulling out Roxas's brooch. It was now melted, blackened and charred by his flames. If he was going to fool the Organization into thinking he killed Roxas, he was going to have to be convincing. He held it up in front of the others to see.
"I even brought a souvenir."
Everyone seemed satisfied upon seeing it. Everyone, except Saïx. Axel tried not to pay him any mind. He had gotten Xemnas most of all to believe him, and that was what mattered. Now he could go forward with the next step in his plan.
"Well, after such a grueling mission, I think I deserve a little break, don't you think? I mean, the kid pulled out two keyblades on me!"
"Two?" Saïx's curiosity was peaked. "I'd like to know more about that." Axel mentally cursed himself for the slip. Just when he was about to be let off too.
Xemnas nodded. "I'd like to know more about that as well."
Axel prepared his explanation. "Well, when I went to fight him, he pulled out two keyblades. They're not like the one that he always used before. One was white, and the other was black."
Xigbar whistled. "Oho! I would've killed to see a sight like that!"
"Hmmm, a shame that we won't be able to look into this further now." Saïx's voice was still laced with suspicion. "Well, with Roxas gone now, Sora won't be waking up anytime soon."
"Right." Axel was anxious to get out of there. "Can I take my leave now? You guys can have your nice little chit-chat without me."
Xemnas turned to him again. "You're dismissed."
Axel disappeared into a cloud of smoke, but not off to where everyone thought he was going.
He was on his way to Roxas's room.