The smell of oil was thick in Axel's nostrils as he threw aside the can. His black hood was pulled up, and only his mouth and nose were showing. He crouched down and grasped the neck of the prostrate body lying before him, pulling the man into a sitting position.
"I'll give you one more chance. What did you tell them?" he rasped, releasing his grip so the man could speak.
"I—I don't know what you're talking about! Please…!" Tears were coursing down the man's panicked face as he stared up at Axel's cloaked form.
Axel stood and backed away. Reaching into a pocket of his long black coat, he pulled out a box of matches. The man on the ground saw the flame when the match was struck and panicked even more, his pleading escalating. Axel slammed him into the ground with a well-placed foot in the center of the chest. The burning match lit up the part of his face that was visible from under the hood. One corner of his mouth turned up in a wicked smirk.
"Liar, liar, pants on fire," he whispered, his voice quiet, deadly.
The match fell.
The punch would have broken his nose if he hadn't blocked it. Xigbar was always bitching that enemies didn't pull their punches, so neither would he. The blond boy sparring with him had felt his knuckles many times, and wasn't anxious to be reacquainted with them any time soon.
Xigbar jabbed at the blond boy's ribs, was deflected, and turned to land a roundhouse kick to the side of his opponent's head, sending the boy halfway across the room. The blond curled up as he hit the wall with a thud, arms coming up to protect his head.
"Brat, ya forgot to watch my feet!" Xigbar bellowed. "What if I had really been tryin' ta hurt ya?" He strode over to the boy and offered him a hand.
The blond picked himself up, holding his head with a moan. "You mean you weren't?" he groaned, touching the tender skin of his cheek and spitting out a mouthful of blood. "You almost knocked my teeth out, old man!"
Xigbar was preparing a heated reply when they both heard someone clapping.
"Roxas, all right! Fight, fight, fight. Looks like you got your ass kicked good this time." The blond boy whipped his aching head around, glaring.
"Shut up, Axel," he grumbled as he caught sight of the tall figure. Axel pushed back his hood, revealing a sharp, angular face with acid-green eyes, framed by long, spiked red hair. Black teardrops were tattooed under his eyes and his grin was fox-like and mocking.
"Aw, is that any way to greet your best friend, Roxy?" Axel whined, his grin never slipping. Roxas scowled.
"Get away from me, creep. And don't call me Roxy." Despite the harsh words, a small smile tilted Roxas' lips. "How was your job?"
Axel's face lit up. "I got to burn things," he said, deliriously happy. "God, Rox, you should've seen the flames. It was amazing."
Roxas laughed. "You really like it when people don't cooperate, don't you?" he said mildly.
"Well, of course. Otherwise it's no fun."
Roxas laughed again. "Well, come on. I'm hungry and my face hurts."
Xigbar scowled. "Hold it. We ain't done, brat! You've still got ten minutes left on the clock!"
"Can it, old man," Axel shot over his shoulder as he threw an arm around his friend. "Take it out of my pay or something."
"WHY DOES EVERYONE CALL ME OLD?" Xigbar fumed after them. "This is premature gray hair, bastards! Premature, I tell you!"
Axel and Roxas grinned at each other. "Whatever you say, Gramps!" they yelled in unison, sprinting out of the room and down the hall. Xigbar's curses followed them as they ran to Roxas' room, bolting the door behind them.
"Ah, he's pissed," Axel got out, laughing so hard tears were running down his face. Roxas was in a similar situation.
"Oh my God, he's gonna kill me tomorrow," the blond giggled, collapsing on the bed in a fit of laughter. Axel calmed himself down and leaned against the wall.
"Wanna go see what's for dinner?" he asked finally. Roxas raised his eyebrow.
"Should we let him cool off first?"
"Naw, then we'll be late and Xemnas'll have our asses. It'd be a shame to lose such a specimen," Axel replied, turning to display his backside and looking in the mirror intently. "Don't you think?"
They entered the dining room, fervently avoiding Xigbar and the daggers he looked at them, and parted to sit in their assigned chairs.
"Good evening." Xemnas greeted everyone from his place at the head of the table. "Axel, report." Obediently, Axel got to his feet.
"The target refused to tell me anything—nothing about the conspiracy, not even if he was involved or not. So I burned him." He sat down.
"Thank you, Axel. As you all can see, we're having no luck with this. The client is displeased. I want leads, and I want them now. Xaldin, you do some digging on the company. Find out if there are any deep dark secrets we need to know about. Axel, Roxas, when he finds information, I'm putting you two on assassination duty. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Xemnas," everybody chorused.
"Good. Now, let's eat."
A/N: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. This disclaimer applies to the whole story.