Written because I haven't done anything in a while, and I haven't done any roleplaying in about a week. It's horrible, and I'm kinda jonesin' right now. D:

Comments are like crack. Except cheaper. Feed my addiction.

Axel/Roxas
My eyes are burning in my head,
and seeing only red,
and wishing you were dead.
-x-

Axel visits Twilight Town many times, and each visit is more heartbreaking than the last. Thankfully, Axel doesn't have a heart to break, and so it isn't all that heartbreaking really. But it's bothersome, he thinks as he steps out of a dark portal and finds himself standing on the clocktower, tiny chunks of debris falling over the side as a boot plants itself firmly on the ledge. A frown forms on his face as he lets his eyes sweep over the town, because up here, he can see everything. Not as well as he would like, but he can get an idea of where everything is.

The sandlot, the mansion, the alleyway that leads to where Roxas always hangs out with his "friends".

Axel uses quotation marks because these people are not Roxas' friends. He, the Flurry of Dancing Flames, is Roxas' only friend. And even then, the man is frustrated with the boy. At how he simply left; no one approved, and even worse is how Roxas didn't care. Of course he couldn't, Axel thinks pessimistically, because without a heart, one couldn't truly care.

A sigh, and Axel is opening a portal and once more stepping back into it. He can come back later; he always does. An excuse is an excuse is an excuse, and Axel is good at coming up with excuses.

"It's not his fault."

"Just give him another day."

"He'll come around."

Axel uses all of these excuses, and they are recycled each and every time he speaks with the Superior and Xaldin. Another order to destroy the betrayer, and another excuse to not do it. VIII is the executioner, and can usually accomplish this sort of task with both hands tied behind his back. It is easy enough, because he hates every single nonexistent being in this place.

Everyone but Roxas.

And he's gone.

And now Axel has to destroy him.

Only if Roxas doesn't come back, he reminds himself as he walks through a dark alley in The World That Never Was. Axel's optimism died long ago, back when he was a Somebody. Even then, the man had been manipulative, selfish to a fault, and he had hated everyone. If he thinks about his past life long enough, he swears he can feel a surge of something, something akin to how he felt as a Somebody. He knows that this is the mindset Xemnas wishes him to have, wants him to fall back on, because this is what he remembers.

But around Roxas, he is almost a different person—almost. Because even though they were friends, he'd admittedly exploited the boy's innocence for personal gain (and oh, the quiet moaning and hot breath against his ear sent shivers down his spine).

Roxas is gone though, and so Axel returns to being the bitter man he'd been before, lashing out at the other Nobodies, even if they don't deserve it. None of them do, he supposes (except maybe Saïx, who loves to taunt him mercilessly), but he doesn't care.

And so he thinks and thinks and thinks until his head hurts and his blood boils, and he needs to go find some Heartless to take his aggravation out on.

Axel relishes in the way the shadows feebly try to defend themselves, at first trying to attack him, and when the first three are taken out by a mere swing of his chakram, the rest take note of this and turn to flee, hobbling in the other direction as fast as their tiny legs can carry them.

The redhead is merciless though, and a wall of fire appears to trap them, keep them from getting away, because how else is he supposed to make himself feel better (besides having Roxas with him)? A neoshadow, the quickest of the group (and obviously the leader amongst them), is unable to slow down in time due to its momentum, and plunges into the fire, letting out a screech of pain and terror that is like music to Axel's ears, so satisfying, and he needs to hear it again.

A snap of his fingers and another helpless shadow catches fire. A squeal, a hop, and it drops to the ground, rolling and clawing at nothing while its comrades stand and watch with those great yellow eyes, as if transfixed on the flames. Axel uses this to his advantage (even if he loves having moving targets), a single chakram whirring loudly, though quiet in contrast to the loud pop and crack of the wall of fire, and it takes out two more of the heartless, and these ones don't even do anything, just seem to evaporate into the sky, and Axel scowls.

The wall of fire disappears and Axel quickly kills the rest of the shadows, yelling until his voice is hoarse, and he storms away, in the direction of the castle. He knows that he could use a portal; it would be quicker, but he needs to exhaust himself. He wants tire himself out so that he can just sleep and forget until the next day, wherein the Superior would again give him the order to go find XIII, and bring him back.

Or if he is unwilling: destroy him.

This time, Axel accepts the assignment without argument, and if it weren't for the hoods that his seniors had drawn, he imagines that he would see eyebrows raised in surprise. He teleports out of the room and he is back in Twilight Town.

He doesn't bother with formalities when he sees Roxas. He wants to get this over with, wants to know if the boy will agree to come back with him (he knows about DiZ, and some hold the old man seems to have over his friend, and it makes his fists tighten and his jaw clench), or if he needs to follow through with the latter part of the plan.

He wants to be civil, he really does, but Roxas is uncooperative (he never really was to begin with, but it was different when they had been on a different level of acquaintanceship, so Axel could forgive him for it back then, but not now), and so he calls his chakram and sighs, ready to go through with it. Or, he figures as he holds his weapon up, ready to strike, he could just use force, and take Roxas back himself.

It would be a win-win situation: Roxas would be alive and Axel would have his friend back (even if he was in a different mental state).

This is when time stops.

Roxas is gone again.

To the mansion. Axel knows where that is; he's visited DiZ there before, in an attempt to negotiate with the man in bandages. The old fool had been just as stubborn as Axel, merciless and unforgiving. He spoke of revenge, and Axel was shouting at him before he was thrown out of the simulated world.

But now, DiZ isn't trying to throw him out, maybe because he knows the he's won. Axel doesn't want to give him that satisfaction, and he knows where to go for one last confrontation with his ex-best friend.

Right on cue.

Roxas was always punctual, which had been convenient for their secret rendezvous, and it was definitely a convenience now.

There is no look of confusion on the blond's face as he says VIII's name, and Axel feels something stirring in the pit of his stomach.

"You're too late," he hisses through clenched teeth, and he wants to maintain control, really he does, but he's calling his chakram again, and flames are licking at his feet. Axel doesn't even break a sweat. He does, however, look a bit alarmed when Roxas manages to call his keyblades, and he realizes that this is serious. No more Mister Nice Guy (being the good guy was never his style).

The flames grow higher, mirroring Axel's pain and frustration, and Roxas can see it in his eyes.

There's no stopping him though as he attacks his old friend with everything he has, and he is out for blood. Truly a one-track mind, and now Axel wants nothing more than to see Roxas suffer; suffer like he made Axel suffer.

And if Roxas dies, well…

Mission accomplished.