Heh, been forever since I've updated this...First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who left a comment and/or constructive criticism, I sincerely hope to see more of both. Second of all, I apologize for making you sit through a full of chapter of content that might as well have been ripped from the game, this chapter will offer something new. Also, there's a small bit of foreshadowing that will lead into an important plot development, if you're perceptive enough to catch it.
(For some odd reason, the site isn't letting me make rulers, soo...----------------- Look, a ruler! Certainly not fake!)
"All right, Roxas," Axel whispered, crouching low to the ground, "You asked for it, so lets kick it up a notch!" Before Roxas could even digest the words, Axel was off. A black and red streaked blur as he sprinted towards his stunned opponent. Roxas was caught so off guard he couldn't begin to follow that assault, hell even if he was paying attention he would have been hard pressed to keep up. Axel was behind Roxas before he even realized Axel had moved, and only a faint whisper of "Burn," told Roxas that he was in for some hurt. Sure enough, the Flurry of Dancing Flame's trademark had entered the fight, that trademark of course being fire. Two flaming chakrams gored Roxas' back, ripping at the flesh and cauterizing the wounds just as quickly as Axel spun them round and round against the poorly protected skin. To Roxas, the agony was unbearable, he had never experienced a pain so excruciating. Any normal kid would have been maimed beyond consciousness, and even a large man would definitely be put out of a fight, but Roxas didn't even fall over, possessed with a strength he never knew he had. Instead, Roxas spun right around and smashed the keyblade into the side of Axel's face, missed the second slash as Axel stumbled to the side under the force of that blow, but managed to once again send Axel flying with a powerful third slash to the belly.
Axel spat some blood out of his mouth as he landed, ignoring the paradox of having blood along with no heart that he usually pondered. He was definitely starting to hurt, but he wasn't about to show it. At this point he had half a mind to just summon a massive ring of fire and immolate his old friend in a glorious blaze of flames, but a tug at his supposedly nonexistent heart strings gave him pause. During that pause, Roxas began to rush forward, keyblade held high.
"Now I'm angry," Axel muttered, alighting his chakrams once more, and hurling the both of them out at his charging foe. Roxas didn't stop, batting the first out of his path but not fast enough to deflect the second, which impaled itself into his shoulder. Roxas didn't stop. Axel was too stunned to put up any real resistance as Roxas barreled in, barely gathering his wits enough to throw is arms up as the keyblade came crashing straight down for his head, crushing his arms instead.
That was it, Axel thought to himself. It was time to pull out all the stops, he had gone too easy. "Not bad, Roxas," he congratulated. Then their fight was over.
Another ripple distorted the reality around them, this time accompanied by the puppet master himself.
"So it was you!" Axel screamed out at the red bandaged man. Diz, according to the Organization's intelligence. Here was the real opponent, one that Axel wouldn't have any problems going all out on. He went on the offensive immediately , setting his weapons aflame and whipping them out to strike out at Diz, where they were stopped in mid-air as abruptly as if they had hit a transparent wall, which they in fact had.
"Roxas!" Diz shouted out. "This man speaks nonsense!"
He was trying to trick his best friend! "Roxas," Axel pleaded, "Don't listen to him!"
"Roxas!"
"Roxas!"
On it went, the two of them vying for his attention, and the tired, confused, battered Roxas couldn't take it, quickly slipping into unconsciousness.
"Roxas, no!" Axel was quick to his side, kneeling to make sure his friend was all right.
"He'll survive, you should know that better than anyone," Diz calmly explained.
"Shut up, you!" Axel shouted back. "This is your fault, all of it!"
Diz chuckled. "My fault?" He asked. "My fault for giving him exactly what he, no, what every Nobody desires?"
"No, your fault for stealing my friend away." He muttered back, eyes downcast. He didn't like to admit it, but suddenly Axel almost felt…Guilty. A shake of his head quickly cleared those ridiculous thoughts away, and he quickly scooped his best friend up into his deceptively strong arms. "And I'm taking him back." The venom dripping from his every word made it perfectly clear that he meant it. Axel quickly opened up a portal of darkness to make his escape; at least, he tried to. An infuriating laugh told him that Diz was the reason nothing appeared.
"Did you really think I would let you go that easily, Axel? Roxas is far too valuable for me to give him up without a fight."
Axel gently set Roxas back down. "Oh, you want a fight, you bastard?" Even as he spoke the words, a massive cyclone of fire rose up from the ground, circling the two. "You've got your fight."