Wow, already a new chapter. I am SO on a roll right now. First off, I would like to thank Junana107 for helping me with a whole bunch of ideas, and if you guys have a chance, look on her profile, because she's just started a Kingdom Hearts fanfic of her own. Now, secondly, I read a few of the past chapters, and I realized that Axel was starting to seem like a minor character, so I thought, what am I gonna do. Yet again, thanks to Junana107, I thought of something great for him. So, for all you Axel fans out there, get ready, because this chapter is 100 Axel, baby. Well, that's all I have to banter about. Read, and enjoy.
Chapter 10: Memories Of The Past
"Your mind's made up?" said Axel as he leaned against the wall, staring at the ground. A blonde-haired kid in a black cloak turned to him and replied, "Why did the Keyblade choose me? I have to know." Axel jumped from the wall, turning to the blonde-haired kid, and shouted, "You can't turn on the Organization!"
"Hmm…it seems that he is still holding on to his memories of his time in Organization XIII," said a female voice, "I don't think I'll be able to erase his memories completely." Axel opened his eyes, but everything was blurry. "You don't have to," said another voice, this one male and screechy, "Master Xehanort said we only need to lock his memories away, so we can start Phase 1." Axel could barely make it out, but he believed he saw the other person nod, and then everything blacked out again.
"You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!" continued Axel, shouting at the blonde-haired kid. The blonde-haired kid turned his head, although not looking at Axel, and replied, "No one would miss me." The blonde-haired kid began to walk away as Axel whispered to himself, "That's not true…I would."
Another scene suddenly came into Axel's mind. This time, the leader of the Organization, Xemnas, was standing in front of him. "Axel, your orders are to find the Key of Destiny and bring him back to us," said the Nobody. Axel nodded and the scene quickly faded.
"Your memories are strong, ghost of a Nobody," said the female voice from before, "too strong to destroy. But not strong enough for me to hide away." Axel suddenly heard footsteps, coming closer with each step.
"Memory," said a cold voice, obviously belonging to the person who had just arrived, "state your progress with the prisoner's memories." The women, who Axel assumed was Memory, replied, "I'm 50 percent complete, Venn." Venn sighed and asked, "Are you sure that his memories will not be unlocked?"
Memory laughed and replied, "As I have told you and everyone else, only someone from his past can unlock his memory. And seeing as we are nowhere near close to any of our worlds, there is a very slim chance of that happening."
Venn merely sighed again and replied, "And that slim chance is what I'm afraid of. I just hope you're right, Memory. As you were." Axel heard the footsteps walk away as everything went black again.
The scene before him now was that of the Alternate Twilight Town, watching the blonde-haired kid fight off some Nobody Dusks. Axel noticed that the blonde-haired was no longer wearing an Organization cloak, but some rather stylish duds. As the blonde-haired kid took out the last Dusk, Axel began to clap.
Axel said the blonde-haired kid's name, but for some reason, it was blocked out, as if he couldn't remember it. He then continued, "All right. Fight, fight, fight." He then began to walk over to the blonde-haired kid.
Axel saw the look of confusion on the blonde-haired kid's face, to which he replied, "You really don't remember?" Axel stopped and added, "It's me." He then proceeded to remove his hood before continuing, "You know, Axel."
The blonde-haired kid looked even more confused and replied, "Axel?" Axel sighed and replied, "Talk about blank with a capital "B"" He then continued as if he was talking to himself. "Man oh man, even the Dusks aren't gonna crack this one."
Fire flew from his hands, as he drew his chakrams. The blonde-haired kid then said, "Wait a sec, tell me what's going on!" Axel examined his surroundings as he said, "This town is his creation, right? Which means we don't have time for a Q&A."
"You're coming with me, conscious or not," said Axel, getting into a battle stance, "Then you'll hear the story." Then everything faded once again.
Another scene formed in front of him. This time, he had been ordered that if the Key of Destiny did not come with him, Axel must destroy him. Knowing he could not betray the Organization, Axel followed his orders.
He went back to Alternate Twilight Town, and had two Dusks corner the blonde-haired kid in front of his computer-generated friends' hangout. Axel then walked out of a portal and confronted the blonde-haired kid.
"Look at what it's come to," Axel said to the blonde-haired kid, "I've been given these icky orders to destroy you, if you refuse to come back with me." The blonde-haired kid hesitated before replying, "We're…best friends, right?"
Axel scratched his head as he replied, "Sure…but I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for…" Axel suddenly realized what the blonde-haired kid had just said, and with excitement, replied, "Wait a sec! You remember now!?"
The blonde-haired kid stuttered, "Y…eah." Axel replied, "Great!" He then thought the he had to make sure, and said, "But, you know, gotta make sure and all. So umm…" Axel pondered on what to ask his best friend, when he thought of something.
"What's our boss's name?" he asked, anticipating the blonde-haired kid's answer. To his disappointment, there was none. Axel sighed and said, "Can't believe this…" The scene then faded once again.
"75 percent complete," said Memory, a sound of pride heard in her voice, "Soon, all his memories will be locked away." The scene quickly turned black.
The blonde-haired kid had just finished fighting against several Nobodies, when Axel walked into the room, arms crossed, and giving the blonde-haired kid a compliment. After doing so, the blonde-haired kid said, "Axel." The tone of his voice told Axel that he had finally remembered everything.
"You really do remember me this time?" Axel stated, stopping in front of the blonde-haired kid. Axel turned to him and replied, "I'm SO FLATTERED!" Suddenly, a ring of fire surrounded the two, catching the Key of Destiny by surprise. Axel then shouted, "But you're too late!!!"
But then, to Axel surprise, the blonde-haired kid pulled out two Keyblades, Oathkeeper and Oblivion, to which Axel replied, "Two!?" He shook his surprise off, as fire flew from his hands, and formed his chakrams. He looked to the ground to hide a tear, before looking to the blonde-haired kid with a smile.
The fire continued to swirl around them as Axel taunted, "Come here. I'll make it all stop." He then cried, "Burn, baby!" and changed the floor beneath them into fire, rock, and lava. The blonde-haired kid had already charged towards Axel and slashed down on him.
Axel barely missed the attack, and countered with a slash of his own, hitting the target. The blonde-haired kid quickly recovered, sliced through a cloud of fire, and then slash at Axel again, hitting him across the chest.
The blonde-haired kid then attempted to continue the attack, but Axel quickly dodged the attack and counter with a bolt of fire, sending the Key of Destiny flying. "What's the problem?" said Axel sarcastically as he charged for another attack.
The blonde-haired kid then swiped both the Keyblades, and began to hit Axel with a combo of attacks. To escape this onslaught, Axel quickly recovered and jumped out of the ring of fire. He waited for a while before jumping back in, attempting to catch the blonde-haired kid by surprise.
But the Key of Destiny was able to block the attack, and then began a counterattack. Each combatant thrusted their weapons at each other, attempting to hit one another, but they ended up blocking every attack from the other. While doing this, they began to walk up the wall of fire, continuing to fight each other.
The blonde-haired kid then shoved Axel away, and planted his feet firmly on the wall. He bent his knees a little, before pushing himself on the wall, thrusting himself towards Axel. The blonde-haired kid grabbed Axel in midair, and brought him down hard on the ground, in doing so, had removed the spell cast on the floor.
Axel was starting to become very exhausted, and without thinking, began to rest, only to be caught in another of the Key of Destiny's combos. The blonde-haired kid had managed to get in a lot of hits, before Axel was able to recover, hit the blonde-haired kid with a bolt of fire, and jump back out of the ring of fire.
The blonde-haired kid waited for Axel's next move, but was caught by surprise when he was hit by a trail of fire cast by Axel. Axel then jumped back into the ring of fire, and began to attack the Key of Destiny with a combo of attacks. After taking some damage, the blonde-haired kid finally recovered, block Axel, and then hit him hard with an uppercut using the Keyblade.
This sent Axel sliding across the floor. He quickly got to his feet, only to be meet with battle ending blow from the Key of Destiny. Axel hit the ground hard, but got back up as the wall of fire surrounding them began to die down.
The blonde-haired kid had put away his weapons, and stared at Axel. Axel himself was breathing hard, exhausted from the battle. There was a long silence that seemed like an eternity. Finally, the blonde-haired kid broke the silence, saying, "Axel…"
Axel continued to breath hard, but then looked back at the Key of Destiny and replied, "Let's meet again in the next life." The blonde-haired kid nodded back and replied, "Yeah. I'll be waiting." Then everything went black.
"97 percent complete," proclaimed Memory, "We're almost to the end of his former life." Axel then heard a very deep voice bellow, "Good, but remember, Master Xehanort wants to see him before you lock his memories away." Memory quickly replied, "Don't worry, Roxe, I remember. Just go tell him I'm almost done." Axel heard large footsteps as everything, once again, began to fade away.
"It's no use!" shouted Sora, as he, Donald, and Goofy were surround by hundreds of Dusks. They were in the middle of the realm that lead to The World That Never Was, Organization XIII's stronghold.
"Don't stop moving, or the darkness will overtake you!" shouted Axel before jumping into the fight. He slice through a few Dusks before turning to Sora and shouting, "Get goin'!" Sora quickly asked, "Why?"
Axel shouted back, "Don't ask. Just do it!" Suddenly, he was tackled to the ground by a group of Dusks. Sora quickly ran to his aid, slicing the Dusks on top of Axel. After taking out the Dusks, Sora asked, "You ok?"
Axel pushed himself off the ground, and onto his knees before replying, "I kidnapped Kairi, but she got away from me. After that, Saïx caught her." As Donald and Goofy defended them, Axel continued explaining things to Sora.
"He's a member of Organization XIII," Axel stated, "Saïx. Got it memorized?" He then commanded, "Now go save her!" Suddenly, a portal opened above them, with a Dusk flying out. It charged for Sora and Axel, only to be slashed by Sora's Keyblade.
Axel got to his feet as Sora shouted to the Dusks, "Leave un alone!" Donald and Goofy charged into battle one way, while Sora and Axel fought together, side-by-side. They began taking out Dusks left and right, fighting with expert combos and attacks. But no matter how many they took out, there were still thousands more.
Sora and Axel meet back-to-back, the Dusks beginning to surround them. Axel couldn't help but say, "I think I liked it better when they were on my side." Sora turned to Axel with a smile and asked, "Feeling a little…regret?"
Axel turned to Sora and replied, "Nah…I can handle these punks." He then turned back to face the Dusks and stated, "Watch this!" Axel then jumped into the middle of the swarm of Dusks. They began to surround him as he began to call upon all his power and strength.
"If I use up all me strength," Axel thought to himself, "I might just end up killing myself." He then thought of how Sora was just like his best friend. "It's worth it."
Axel then released a power force of fire and energy, causing a giant white flash. Sora had to cover his due to the flash, but when it disappeared, he opened his eyes to find that all the Dusks had been destroyed. "Whoa!" was all that came out of Sora's mouth.
Sora suddenly remembered Axel, and turned to find him lying on the floor. He ran over to him, and realized Axel was starting to disappear. "You're…fading away…" Sora had said after examining Axel.
As if he didn't mind, Axel replied, "Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack." Axel began to breath deeply, as he continued, "You know what I mean?" He then chuckled, realizing what he just said, and added, "Not that Nobodies actually HAVE beings…right?"
"Anyway," sighed Axel, as he began to fully accept his fate, "I digress. Go, find Kairi." He took a deep breath and then remembered, "Oh, almost forgot…" He sighed and said, "Sorry for what I did to her."
Sora still had hope and replied, "When we find her, you can tell her that yourself." Axel had turned to face Sora, then turned back to stare into the sky, and replied, "Think I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it, you know?" He then added, "Haven't got one."
He lightly chuckled at what he had just said, although he could start to feel himself slipping away. Sora then asked, "Axel, what were you trying to do?" Axel replied, "I wanted to see…" The name again had been blocked out. "He…was the only one I liked…" continued Axel, sorrow heard in his voice. "He made me feel…like I had a heart. It's kind of…funny…"
Axel turned to Sora and replied, "You make me feel…the same…" Axel flinched, starting to feel the pain grow. He continued to stare at Sora and said, "Kairi's in the castle dungeon. Now go."
Axel then raised his hand, using the last of his strength to open a portal for Sora and his friends to enter The World That Never Was. The pain finally stopped as Axel began to fade completely away. He heard Sora cry his name as everything went dark. Before he died, he saw the face of the blonde-haired kid, and finally remembered his name.
"Roxas."
"100 percent complete. His memories are ready to be locked away, Master Xehanort." As Axel opened his eyes again, things finally began to come into focus. When everything became clear, an armored man was standing in front of him. The armored man began to examine Axel, as if looking for anything out of place.
"Listen pal," said Axel, having found his voice, "I like the attention and all, but we haven't even gone out on one date yet. Save the foreplay." Axel heard other voices gasp, and looked around to see six more armored figures surrounding him. The largest one walked up to him and punched him hard in the face."
"Relax, Roxe," said the first armored figure, whom Axel figured out must be this "Master Xehanort" guy. That's when it hit him. "Xehanort?" thought Axel "wasn't that Xemnas's true name?"
Before he had time to think, Master Xehanort turned back to face Axel and said, "Good morning Axel." Axel was about to reply, but thought about, and decided he didn't want another punch in the face.
Master Xehanort waited for Axel's response, but decided to continue, "You may wonder how you are still alive? Well, in reality, you're not." Master Xehanort began to pace the room, while Axel followed him with his eyes.
"You are a ghost now, Axel," continued Master Xehanort, obviously in love with his own voice, "But you must also know, that you are very unique as a ghost. Yemd and myself, for example, we are the souls that were left behind when we lost our hearts to darkness. It was believed that, when that occurs, both the body and the soul combine to make a Nobody, but that is not the case."
Master Xehanort took a deep breath before continuing, "The shell becomes the Nobody, while the soul becomes a ghost. But as for you, and the way you died, caused you to become the ghost of your Nobody. And that, is what makes you unique."
Axel was starting to get bored, so he yawned and asked, "Ok, so what's your point?" The other six armored figures, again, gasped at Axel's rudeness, and he was meet with another fist from Roxe.
Although his helmet was on, Axel could hear Master Xehanort laughing. He then replied, "My dear boy, my point is that you will make a useful tool for us to control." Master Xehanort suddenly stopped laughing, turned to Memory, and replied, "Proceed."
Memory nodded, turned to Axel, and said, "Goodbye, sweet memories." Axel suddenly felt a strong course of pain throughout his body. He felt as if parts of himself were being torn off.
AXEL!
He felt his body trembling, as his thoughts of Roxas began to be torn away.
AXEL!
His memories of the Organization, fading away with great speed.
AXEL!!!
Then Axel woke up.
The end of chapter 10 my friends. You know, originally, this was going to be jus the beginning of the chapter, but I realized it was way too long. And besides, it gave me a chance to focus on Axel. Now I'm starting to feel like he's becoming a major character, just like I wanted him to be. But he's not the only one who I'm gonna work on. Jazz and Tucker are gonna get some major character status, if not the next chapter, then the chapter after that. Anyway, that's pretty much it. Review would be nice people. Until the next chapter, see ya guys later.
