Chapter One: Ruthlessness
Axel was glad to be getting a break from Sea Salt Ice cream.
Not that he had anything against Roxas, the kid was a quick learner and good company. But ever since he'd been assigned as Roxas' mentor, he'd been stuck on tame missions the kid could handle.
So here, Saix had him in a top-secret mission. Top secret, both for the Organization and for Saix. The two were usually, but not always, the same thing.
"We know that there are traitors among those sent to Castle Oblivion, Axel," said Saix from his desk. "I want you to find them and hunt them down on the orders of the Superior."
"Oh, really?" asked Axel, surprised. "So uh, why?"
Saix went still, and his stoic features changed. "What do you mean why?"
"Well, Saix, you're planning to take control of the Organization too," said Axel. "And we're gonna need more than just me to do it. Wouldn't it be a good idea to team up with them?"
"No, they are unnecessary," said Saix, shaking his head. "We need to pick the proper time and place for our victory. Removing them from power will buy us the time we need."
"Who says we need time?" asked Axel. "Look, there are only two possible suspects. No 1. is Marluxia, no 2 is Zexion. Larxene is basically Marluxia's attack dog; no way is she gonna be separate from him. And Lexaeus isn't smart enough to pull something like this off. He's not the scheming type, and he only takes orders from Zexion. So if he's in on it, Zexion is pulling his strings.
"Vexen, meanwhile, is no leader and not that great at fighting. He isn't going to care who runs the Organization as long as he gets to keep doing his experiments. Plus, nobody would follow him, so he's a hanger-on or out in the cold."
Saix paused. "What's your point?"
"My point is, there are only two possible traitors. Zexion, and Marluxia," said Axel. "And if one of them is a traitor, it's probably for the same reason as us. We don't think Xemnas is on the level with us, and we want our hearts."
"Get to the point," said Saix, annoyed.
"Well, why do we care if Marluxia is running the show or you?" asked Axel. "This whole Organization is gonna collapse anyway as soon as we get our hearts. So why don't I just find out who betrayed Xemnas, and, if the party is big enough, swear us over to his side?
"You're probably the strongest person in the Organization besides Xemnas. And Marluxia is pretty near you. Larxene is no slouch either. Plus, I'm Roxas' mentor, so he'll join whatever side we take. No way is Demyx going to fight a losing battle for the Superior; that'll be too much work.
"So that just leaves Xaldin, Xigbar, and Luxord backing Xemnas.
"This is probably our best opportunity to win. If we don't use it, we'll annihilate most of the rebellious elements on the Organization."
Saix nodded. "...Very well. Your point is well made.
"You are to covertly make contact with the rebellious elements. Exterminate all the loyalists and then name them the traitors."
"Any fears of Xemnas finding out?" asked Axel.
"Please," said Saix. "You're a wild card. And Xemnas was completely unaware of our connection before we became nobodies."
"Well then, let's not let the other shoe drop until our business here is complete," said Axel with a smile. And he turned to walk out into the other white-walled corridor. The World that Never Was really needed some renovation.
"Oh, and Axel?" said Saix.
"Yes?" asked Axel.
"I expect you to ensure Sora is successfully brought over to our side. A mission success is mandatory if the superior's suspicions are to be allayed," said Saix.
"Loud and clear, Saix," said Axel, saluting.
Only Axel had his own agenda here too. He wasn't sure exactly what would happen if they got Sora on his side. But Axel preferred Sora to Roxas, and the Superior might want the opposite.
He'd get Sora.
But there was no need for Sora to be in usable condition.
A few weeks later, Axel had infiltrated Marluxia's group via Larxene. Of course, Larxene thought she'd recruited him. The blonde was leaning up against a wall as he entered the meeting room. Marluxia, meanwhile, was sitting on a throne with a blade in hand.
"Axel, how kind of you to join us," said Marluxia.
"Well, you know how things are these days," said Axel. "I guess I figured I ought to check-in. How are things going?"
"We've located the keyblade wielder," said Marluxia. "Soon, he will be near enough for us to begin our plans."
Axel nodded. "Excellent, let's head out there, beat him to a pulp, lock him in a memory chamber and brainwash him at our leisure."
Larxene blinked. "...Well, that actually sounds like fun."
"Wait, we don't want to hurt Sora, Axel," said Namine, who was looking up from her usual drawing. "We just want to rewrite his memories."
"Right, but if we rewrite his memories while he has a dangerous weapon, some of us could get hurt," said Axel.
"Axel, that is a needlessly crude approach," said Marluxia. "Our plan is to approach him and give him an incentive to follow us. Once he is led into Castle Oblivion, Namine will begin her work. We'll use cards of his memories to create a series of rooms. The further he goes, the more his memories will be altered.
"Periodically, we will send one of us down to spar with him while playing the role of 'bad guys.'"
"What?" said Axel. That was... possibly the dumbest plan he'd ever heard. If he was planning to kill off Marluxia, he probably could have just let him go ahead with it. The traitors would have disposed of themselves. "But... he's the Keyblade Wielder. He killed Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, and has slaughtered armies of heartless. Are you really sure we should be fighting a series of one on one battles with him?
"Especially since he won't know that we're testing him or whatever."
"It is necessary to form a narrative," said Namine.
"Okay, this is ridiculous Marluxia; why can't we just jump him while he's sleeping and lock him in a memory pod?" asked Larxene, who apparently preferred the idea of needless violence.
"This plan of yours seems really boring."
"Enough," said Marluxia. "We are too late in the game to change our plans.
"I will carry it out myself."
And he walked out.
Larxene and Axel shared a look before following.
Sora, Goofy, and Donald were running along a path, hoping that they would find Riku and the King on the other end of it. Sora wanted nothing more than to be reunited with his friends, but that was going to take a while.
As darkness fell, however, they saw a black-cloaked man appear suddenly. "Ahead is something you need. But to gain it, you must give up something in return."
And he led them off toward a huge castle of twisting spires that looked... well... evil.
Needless to say, nobody followed him immediately. They stopped and formed a circle.
"Gawrsh, what do you think he meant by that?" asked Goofy.
"I don't know, do you think he meant Riku, Kairi, and the King?" asked Sora.
"No way," said Donald, who was usually suspicious about new people.
"Whadda you mean, Donald?" asked Goofy.
"If he had the King, Kairi or Riku, he'd tell us he did," said Donald. "If he was holding them, hostage, he'd threaten them. If he wanted to reunite us with them, he'd tell us they were here."
"Well, what if he just has no social skills?" asked Sora.
"Well, then I'm sure he'll come back," said Donald. "He seemed like he really wanted us to follow him."
"Why?" asked Sora. "What does he get out of it? And isn't he wearing a coat just like that guy with the lightsabers?" That fight had been hell on earth.
"That's right," noted Goofy. "We got attacked in Hollow Bastion by a fella who dressed just like him."
"Well, what if they are holding Riku captive?" asked Sora.
"They didn't say they were holding Riku captive, Sora. They didn't say anything," said Donald.
"That's right," said Goofy. "He just that there was something we needed and to get there we'd have to give up something. But the way I see it, we don't know of anything in that castle over there we need."
"And it might be a trap," noted Donald.
"And we ain't got no good reason to think Riku or Kairi or the King are anywhere around here," said Goofy. "And seeing as that guy wears the same uniform as one of our enemies, we'd be putting ourselves at risk."
"Well yeah, but they could be using Riku or Kairi as bait, couldn't they?" asked Sora.
"Then why not just say they had them?" asked Donald.
"And they could be using Riku, Kairi, or the King as bait without actually having them," noted Goofy. "Just lying and telling you they were here might have gotten you to come running. Actually, keeping our friends hostage could backfire."
"Well, what if they actually have a good reason for all of this?" asked Sora.
"Then I'm sure they can contact us in some other way," said Goofy. "Way I see it, we oughtta do a bit more research fore we do anything else. There's gotta be someone around here that can tell us a bit about this place."
Dead silence.
"...Alright, Axel, now we can beat him to a pulp," said a bloodthirsty female voice.
Sora whirled around as three black-clad figures appeared. One held a very sharp-looking scythe and was writhed in sakura petals. Another was holding kunai between her fingers and shooting electricity. The third held two chakrams that were on fire. All three of them looked like even one could give them a run for their money.
"Wait a minute, three on three?! That doesn't seem like fair odds at all!" said Sora.
Dead silence.
"What are you talking about? This is perfectly fair odds," said the guy with the scythe. "We have an equal number of combatants, and we're going up against you all at once. How is that not fair?"
Sora thought about that. "...I don't outnumber you by two."
"You don't outnumber us, so it's not a fair fight!" said the woman. "Do you even hear yourself right now!"
And then the beatdown began.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy were now unconscious and bloodied on the ground.
Still, physical injuries weren't going to make Sora useless to the Superior. Axel had to make the mission a success but have the spoils be useless later.
"...That worked out well," said Marluxia.
"Yeah, nice job Axel," said Larxene.
Axel looked at Sora and wondered why Roxas looked so different from him. Chances were the kid would be easily brainwashed. All you'd have to do is work at him and corrupt his friends with him. But if he had a real reason to hate the organization...
Xemnas might just scrap him for spare parts. Then Roxas would get a power upgrade and be safe.
Time to make use of the power of friendship.
"Take the keyblade wielder," said Axel, looking to Goofy and Donald. "I'll destroy the livestock."
"All I needed to hear," said Larxene.
Later, after all, loose ends had been accounted for. Even now, Sora rested unconsciously within the memory pod. Namine was looking at him in a pretty good imitation of concern. For such a young nobody, she knew her stuff.
"Well, that was pretty darn easy, all things considered," said Axel.
"Namine, how fast can you change their memories?" asked Marluxia.
"Well, um I..." Namine paused.
"What's the matter?" asked Marluxia.
"You killed Donald and Goofy," said Namine.
"Yeah, why wouldn't we?" asked Larxene. "Seemed a pretty logical way to head off any spanners from the power of friendship.
"Does it matter? Just make him forget them."
"Well, um... memories are a bit complicated, Larxene," said Namine. "You alter one, you alter the others. It could take a while for me to figure things out.
"And well um...
"This isn't really how I imagined it."
"You were really looking forward to him playing knight in shining armor, weren't you?" asked Larxene.
"Well, um..." Namine halted. "I mean, isn't this kind of boring?"
"Yeah," said Axel. "But it worked."
"Now," said Marluxia. "What to do about Zexion and company?"
What was the simple solution to that? Several came to mind.