CHAPTER 11: Fire with Fire

Nightshroud: You know, the unfortunate thing is that I actually had almost all of this chapter done a while ago, and I just didn't get around to finishing it up. Sorry about that. Hopefully this chapter will make up for the rather long absence. Enjoy! =)

Axel stood as though carved from stone at the sight of one of his best friends seated at the table of traitorous cohorts. Xion seemed aghast at this surprise unveiling and attempted to hide her face in shame.

"Axel, it's not.." she began, her voice shaking. But Larxene quickly cut across her, eyes flashing.

"Not what he thinks, right? Please. I think it's a little late to be growing a conscience," the blonde said scathingly. She'd warned Axel about Xion, and of course he'd blown her off. Now they were reaping the consequences. Damn her and that infernal redhead.

"I didn't have a choice!" Xion protested, "They were going to write back to my university and give me a bad performance on my internship. It would keep me from graduating!"

"Oh, how tragic for you," Larxene spat venomously, not caring that the others in the room were watching the interaction with something like entertainment. She spun from the room, shoving open the doors savagely as she stomped down the hallway to her office to retrieve her things.

"Axel.." Xion said, tears leaking out of her eyes. Axel's face grew hard before he turned and followed after Larxene, looking hollow. The doors slowly shut, closing off the gloating smiles of the company within.

"Those bastards," Larxene swore, haphazardly snatching out papers and stuffing them into her bag. She sure as hell wasn't about to leave any of her hard work behind her. She'd have to figure out a way of getting her files off the computer later, since the Organization was quite keen to keep them from downloading information off the harddrives.

"Larxene," came a voice from the doorway, and she looked up to see Axel with his coat and bag. She glowered at him before continuing to grab her things.

"Larxene," he said again, more insistently. She slammed her bag down on her desk with a growl of frustration.

"Oh no, it can't be Xion. There's no way she's the one leaking our drunken wedding to the damned old fossil who's trying to get us canned. Sure, Axel!"

"I know.." he said quietly, looking away. Larxene refused to feeling sorry for him. She grabbed her things and stormed out of the office, heading for the elevators.

"You realize this is your fault," she said, punching the button for the elevator with far more force than was necessary. The redhead reached her as the doors opened and she strode in, refusing to look at him.

"I know," he repeated miserably. There was a long, pregnant pause as they stood side by side, contemplating what the next step would be. Larxene glanced at Axel's reflection in the elevator door, and with that one look she knew her resolve couldn't hold against that look on his face that revealed just how crushed he was.

"Come on," she said with a sight, taking his arm as the doors opened into the lobby. He looked at her quizzically, but she refused to answer until they had gotten out into the crisp night air. After she felt they were far enough away from the building, she released his arm and looked at him.

Perhaps she'd been to harsh on him. Of course he hadn't wanted to think one of his best friends could betray him like that. And as much as she'd been right, he had partially right too. She'd never liked Xion much, and Axel's outburst the night of Luxord's party had hit closer to home than she would have liked.

"Let's go back to my place," she said, ignoring his look of surprise. "We'll talk about what to do next."

"What can we do?" he asked, looking defeated. The wiry blonde shook her head and turned toward her car.

"I have a plan."

"Marluxia."

"Axel."

Larxene rolled her eyes at the tense atmosphere that had emerged when Axel had stepped into the house. Marluxia, of course, was less than pleased at Axel's treatment of his closest friend in recent times, and Axel was well aware of that fact.

"Come on. I think my best friend and my husband can put aside their differences and call a truce for the moment," she said sarcastically. Both of them gave looks of surprise, particularly at the use of 'husband,' but grunted and nodded their assentment. Once Marluxia was brought up to speed, he gave a sigh and shook his head.

"What are you going to do then? Go to the police?" he asked, pouring refills of hot tea into their cups. Axel shook his head as he took a sip of the liquid and gagged slightly as it burnt his tongue.

"We can't go to the police, remember? They won. There's nothing we can do," he muttered darkly. But Larxene gave a slight smirk at this.

"Not exactly. We can pull the carpet right out from under their feet if we play our cards right," she said, causing Marluxia and Axel to exchange looks of puzzlement. Larxene hummed to herself as she went to retrieve her phone and a list of contacts from work.

"What are you planning?" Marluxia asked as Larxene started to dial the first number. As the dial tone began, she gave them both a mischievous look.

"We're going to start our own Organization."

Larxene's machinations soon became apparent as people began arriving at the small house. First Luxord, then Demyx, followed by Zexion, Lexaeus, Xaldin, Roxas, and Namine.

"What's this about losing our jobs?" Xaldin demanded as the others began muttering to themselves around the living room. Luxord held up a hand, causing them to falter.

"Please, let Larxene talk," he said, motioning for the blonde to continue. Larxene took a deep breath and began to fill them all in, with interjections from Axel at certain points.

"No way! Can they do that?" Roxas asked, brow furrowed. Zexion sighed moodily, running a hand through his long fringe.

"Seems they can," he murmured, exchanging a dark look with Lexaeus. Demyx was wringing his hands and looking utterly distraught as Axel made an awkward attempt to comfort him some reassuring pats on the back.

"I can't afford to lose my job! My mom can't work because of her back problems, and my little sister is too young. I'm all she has!" he wailed, getting some sympathetic looks from the others. Luxord stroked his goatee as he thought deeply.

"So, what are we going to do then? I assume you had a reason for letting us know other than just a friendly heads-up," he said, looking from Axel to Larxene. Larxene was sure she would have let them all know anyway, just because no one deserved this pulled on them. But she did indeed have other motives at work.

"Well, I think we should start a rival company," she explained. "We can take all of the Organization's clients and run them into the ground. We just need those still at the company to collect as much information as they can before jumping ship."

There was a long pause as everyone stared at Larxene, digesting this information.

"Isn't that unethical?" Lexaeus prompted, earning a slight murmur of agreement from some of the others in the room. Larxene scoffed and leaned forward in her chair.

"As if what Xehanort and the others aren't being unethical. This is payback, and it's going to be a bitch," the blonde growled. Axel smirked and nodded at her, which gave her an unexpectedly pleased feeling. Despite their differences, they were at least united in this.

"I'm in," Luxord said, grinning mischievously. "Two can play at this game, right?"

Zexion gave a small hum of amusement before nodding his approval as well. Lexaeus was quick to follow, as were Xaldin, Roxas, and Namine. Only Demyx remained indecisive, blowing his nose, which had become red from the friction.

"I don't know.." he sighed, avoiding their eyes. Larxene stalked over to him and towered above his cowering form.

"Come on, Demyx! You got your own shoe line for God's sake! You deserve more respect than this!" she declared. Demyx stared down at his garish blue sneakers and nodded his head, seeming to gain resolve.

"Yeah.. Okay, I want in too!" he said, pumping his fist. Larxene basked in the glow of her perfect plan coming together. As the others began to chat animatedly, roused by the idea of not losing their income and exacting revenge on their employers, she moved over to Marluxia and leaned against him with a sigh.

"You're quite the rebel leader, Larxene," he laughed, "I only wish I could see the look on their faces."

Yes, it would be quite the sight to see. And it bothered her that she would be unable to relish in that victory. It wouldn't be quite the same unless Xehanort and his cronies knew exactly how they'd been undermined. It was gutsy, but Larxene was a gutsy kind of girl.

Once they pulled off their move, she was going to make sure she and Axel delivered the news to the Xehanort squad. And there wouldn't be a thing they could do about it.

Nightshroud: Yes, the new Orgs is founded! You know I hadn't intended for it to happen that way, but once I finished the chapter I definitely got the Marluxia-Larxene-Axel rebellion vibe from Chain of Memories going on. Kind of appropriate, I think. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! There's only a few left till the story finishes, so give me that extra oomph I need to keep going with some nice reviews. =D