The Uprising

Ta-da! The next chapter of The Uprising is here! I feel that I should explain Luxord's time traveling powers here. I know that no such abilities were used in the series, but it was a must for the story. I also imagined the time travelers taking the place oftheir past selves instead of both versions being there. Please note that I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square-Enix, or these characters, but I do own the storyline so no touchy!

EDIT: Now with a rewritten second chapter!

!_!

Axel groggily opened his eyes to find himself deep within Marluxia's inner chamber at the uppermost floor of Castle Oblivion. He was bound by the Lord of the Castle's signature black thorns that tied his limbs to the arms and base of a white Nobody throne. The vines curled up to Axel's face, wrapping themselves around his pale cheek and disappearing into his spiked hair. Surrounding the captive were an army of Gambler Nobodies, shuffling their cards in and out of their sleeves, accompanied by two Invisibles and a small brigade of Neoshadows.

Axel shook his head intensely to clear away his drowsiness, only to have the thorns dig into his flesh and free a handful of pink petals that were tangled within his fiery mane. The Nobody's startling green eyes followed one of the leaflets as it softly drifted down on the wind currents until it landed gracefully on his exposed leg. The petal immediately caught fire, scorching it into a pile of ashy rubbish. The Flurry of Dancing Flames smirked as his eyes darted around the room before focusing on his powers. His eyes closed in satisfaction as his body heated up until the dark creepers ignited in flame, withering away into cinders that collected on the polished floor.

Before the sentries could react, Axel had already summoned his chakrams and leapt to his feet, slicing through a line of Gamblers that caught fire before fading away. The wild card quickly snapped his fingers, summoning a small group of Assassins that slithered to their master under the platform before melting through the glass and up into flight, combating the lesser Nobodies' discharges of cards and die with their deadly spinning blades. Axel turned to the Neoshadows that had advanced towards him, parrying their swiping claws with his weapons before slicing through a line of them. He held his chakrams out, releasing his grip on them to allow the blades to levitate freely under his control. The metal smoldered before completely flaring up and speeding across the arena, reducing the Neoshadows into piles of gooey darkness.

Gamblers shrieked as the Assassins overcame them, but more seemed to be teleporting in to reinforce the dwindling guard force. Axel did not have time to enjoy his small success however, as an Invisible shot towards the fugitive, swinging his bludgeon powerfully at his back. Axel sensed the attack, spinning around to block it with a fiery chakram. His enemy's twin was flying towards the rogue at a shocking speed as Axel willed his other weapon to float just out of reach of his outstretched arm. He shot a jet of flame through the weapon, amplifying its burning power. The Invisible met the blast with a dark fire of its own shot through the heart-shaped hole in its black chest as Axel continued to parry the swordsman one-handedly.

At last the Invisible gained the upper hand, raising his blade powerfully before driving it through the space Axel occupied. Thinking quickly, the Nobody dropped to the ground as the sword made contact with the fire spurting chakram. The dark power of the blade filled the spiked circle with power, intensifying the blast of flame that overcame the other sentinel, filling its heart-shaped void and spreading its heated infection throughout its body as it screamed and melted into slag.

The remaining assailant's yellow eyes widened as the chakram lost its dark glow and began spinning rapidly under Axel's supervision, shooting off dangerous sparks before spinning around the room and imbedding itself in the Heartless's skull.

Laughing triumphantly, Axel called off his forces while surveying the empty platform around him. His happiness was soon cut short as images of Larxene and Marluxia storming the World That Never Was filled his head: the Castle in ruins, Marluxia reaching towards Kingdom Hearts, and most importantly Roxas standing up to the traitors under some false loyalty to Xemnas.

"Roxas!"

Axel spun on his heel and ran headlong into a Corridor of Darkness.


Namine's options were running low. She now knew that it was not just her life that hung in the balance, but Sora's as well. Even the mighty Keybearer was expendable with other wielders still in existence. Refusing to continue her memory manipulation would get Sora killed. Then she would be assigned to another Keyblade Master that she couldn't bear to hurt. No . . . Defiance was not an option with so much at stake.

Even so, the witch could not sit by idly as the boy she cared for was ripped apart and manipulated into the darkness. Sighing, she added the finishing touches to the memory currently captured in her sketchbook, a depiction of Sora holding hands with a girl resembling Namine, however, contrary to her orders, this drawing was not accurate. The girl's hair was a deep shade of red.


Further down in the Castle, Sora's mind briefly flickered to an image of Namine with dark crimson hair, smiling and waving at him. Dismissing the vision as a distant and blurred memory of the past, he pressed forward, hell-bent on being with his lost love once more. He approached the double doors and paused silently, sadly recalling his argument with Donald and Goofy and wondering when he would see his friends again. His hesitation was quickly dispersed as Namine finished another false altered memory, pushing Sora onward. Calmly, he held out the Destiny Islands card he had acquired from the Riku Replica. The gateway glowed with power and opened slowly, beckoning the Keybearer forward.

A familiar sea breeze hit the boy's tanned face, releasing all of the built up stress he had bottled up. It was not the same as being truly home, but it was extremely close. Sora smiled for the first time in what felt like an eternity as he waved to Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie, three of his islander friends before the attack on the islands. Even Riku was there, appearing as he did before his journey into the darkness. But even this reunion could not free his mind of the plaguing question at hand: Where is Namine?


Axel's vision cleared as his destination, the World That Never Was came into view. The Hall of Empty Melodies looked exponentially smaller from the balcony upon which the man stood. From just behind the bend, Roxas's adolescent voice drifted over the expanse, laughing alongside a more feminine one. He dashed over to them, surprised to see his blonde friend with the fourteenth member, a girl who looked more like a hooded doll than a Nobody. A dark sensation passed over Axel, which he would later identify as envy. He felt betrayed by his friend, already replaced. A wave of unfamiliar emotions raged inside of him, the new surges becoming too much for him to bear.

"What is this…?" He croaked inaudibly as he sunk to the floor out of sight. The wave of feelings hit him like a monsoon as he curled into fetal position, trying to fight through the whirlwind of passion.


Zexion's day had taken quite a sharp turn for the worse. He and his most trusted cohort, Lexaeus were scheming to end the pitiful rebellion of the upper floors once and for all when Larxene and Marluxia arrived unexpectedly, demanding that the two join them on their quest to take over the Organization. After their initial cold refusal, the neophytes revealed that not only was Vexen dead, but Luxord was also a part of their plot. More shockingly than that, Axel, who had apparently been working against the Graceful Assassin the entire time, had been apprehended while trying to free Namine and was to be publicly executed outside of Memory's Skyscraper. With these revelations at hand, stopping the revolt would be nearly impossible. Now Larxene and her feminine companion were standing triumphantly before the loyalists, waiting for their answer.

The gears in Zexion's mind turned quickly as his intellect worked its very own magic, making connections and opening doors to millions of possibilities. His thoughts drifted to the dark knight, Riku, and the power he had potential to wield. With the teenager backing them at last, there was still a chance the uprising could be put down swiftly and silently before things got out of hand. Luckily, the Cloaked Schemer had already made arrangements on the chance that time would need to be stalled in order to keep power out of the reaper's hands.

"Larxene, Marluxia," He began solemnly. "I will admit, you have greatly exceeded my expectations in regards to your pathetic strategy to take over the Organization. Although I must admit I was skeptical at first, you have outdone yourself as the novices you used to be. As shocking as this may be, however, you have made a few lethal errors along the way." He sidestepped, revealing the newly enlightened Riku Replica lurking behind him in the shadows.

"Namely, this one."

The clone summoned his Soul Eater in a powerful surge of darkness and spoke, his words filled with wrath. "You should have never threatened Namine. I'll make you pay for what you've done!" His threat, fueled with false memories coursing through his facsimile heart, seemed to be perfectly backed by his developing skillset. The Replica raised his demonic blade until it was level with Marluxia's chest.

The Organization was not doomed yet.