Axel had been watching the entire fight. "Hmm…she actually gave Sora a fight. No one ever does that," said Zexion, standing by Axel.

"Especially not you," Axel said sourly.
"You're just mad because she could have beaten Sora and didn't- listening to your orders, I might add- and that you couldn't on the first try."

"I let him off easy! And I didn't know she controlled fire."
"It's the strangest fire I've ever seen. Silver. I wonder what it means?"

"Why don't I just tell you?" Laska stood there, realizing that they had seen the fight.

"Well, didn't have time earlier, now's your chance. What was that power you used? And that spell was quite intriguing as well." Laska glanced at the two, her smile fading, eyes overcast with a distant look, with her voice taking on an indistinct tone. "The Spirit Flame. It was created from the souls of those whose lives were taken by fire. They live in eternal pain, for they are not at peace. I suffer because of their pain. The Spirit Flame holds great power, but also great sorrow. It is my greatest weapon, but also the reason I walk the twilight. Otherwise, I would be on the side of light. As far as the spell goes," she said, pausing to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, "I learned it when I was studying the science behind all of the magic that people use. If you have enough power, you can double or even triple the strength of a spell such as Firaga or Aeroga. Any of them can be enhanced. Firaxa is my personal favorite."

"Gee, Zexy, you should know by now that I hate sharing."

"He controls fire too," said Zexion, ignoring Axel's comment.
"I'm not trying to compete with you," said Laska quickly, not wanting to start a rivalry in the group. So far, these two were her only 'friends', and didn't want to be a loner.

"We do need to focus on getting the Keyblade, Axel," said Zexion.
"I know that. It was my idea—sort of—remember?"
"Whatever you say."

Laska soon met the other members in the Organization—Lexaeus, Larxene, Marluxia, and Vexen, among others. She learned the story of the Keyblade and its master, and how badly the Organization wanted it. She noticed one thing that disturbed her slightly: everyone wore black. All of them were on the side of evil. She seemed to be the only person who wandered in the twilight, feeling light and darkness--except for one of Sora's friends.

"Riku?"

"Yeah, he should have been the Keyblade master, but Maleficent got to him first."

"Oh."
"He's not going to get away with it though. Now that Sora's looking for him, as well as Mickey, then if we can find them first, we can make Sora do what we want."
"How would we get those two here?" Axel smiled darkly.

"I'll take care of that. You just keep Sora busy." He teleported away.
"You know, nobody ever gets used to him doing that," said Larxene absentmindedly. Laska turned to face her, an inquisitive look on her face. "So, how did this whole Organization thing get started?"
"It's a long story," said Zexion.
"I've got time."

Sora had since recovered from the fight against Laska. "I haven't lost that bad since…since…ever! I can't believe I didn't do anything!"

"Calm down, Sora. She didn't even give you a chance to attack," said Goofy.
"If I couldn't even win on the first floor, how am I ever going to save Riku?" he asked with a negative tone.
"She just got lucky. You were being nice," squawked Donald. Sora looked away, face downcast.
"Yeah, I guess."

"Don't work yourself up over it. You'll beat her next time."
"You know what? You're right. As long as I remember what I'm fighting for, I'll never lose!"
"That's the spirit!" Donald and Goofy said together.

"Oh, how cute. Remind me to throw up later." The person faded into the hallway.

"What do you want?"
"Nothing right now. Just thought you might want to know that we have your little pal Riku. And that retard mouse, now what was his name?" he said, glancing at the ceiling as if the answer floated above his head. The other three gasped. "King Mickey!"

"Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me. Anyway, if you want them back, just hand over the Keyblade and we'll let them go."
"No way! You'll never get the Keyblade!" shouted Sora defiantly. Axel merely smirked.

"Fine then. More fun for me." He surrounded Sora with a wall of fire. "You'll soon regret your decision, Keyblade master." He hurled a chakram at Sora, who barely dodged it.
"Is that all you've got?"

"I'm sure you'd like that, but no. In fact, I think I'll show you a little trick a friend of mine told me about." Axel summoned his power to a high level, but not necessarily the limit, then shouted, "Firaxa!"

The results were disastrous.

The second he said the spell and tried to attack Sora, he immediately knew he wasn't powerful enough. He tried gathering more energy, but it wouldn't work. And he couldn't stop the magic. As a result, the spell didn't have nearly as much power as it should have, and Sora was only slightly charred, which Donald quickly remedied with a curing spell.

Axel, however, was badly shaken, and collapsed forward on the floor on his knees.

"What the…why wasn't it as powerful as the one Laska used?" he muttered to himself in confusion, arms shaking slightly.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. You'll have to do better than that if you want to even think about getting the Keyblade," said Sora victoriously. Axel could just imagine the cheesy triumphant music in the background.

"This isn't the last time we'll meet, Sora," he snarled viciously before teleporting away as fast as he could. Sora, meanwhile, was wearing the most goofy, heroic smile anyone could ever imagine.