1Author's notes: Mwhahaha! I have finished my essay just in time for school. Meaning: I can devote the next three days to writing this fic! HAHAHA! That is, if I have enough writing power in me to make it through. I kinda wasted it all. Also, w00t! Comic relief!

Day three: Oh. My. God. (which is Axel) I got to play Kingdom Hearts II for the first time in like a couple of months? (My playstation broke.) Now, I'm all energized to write! "Let's go!"

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or the characters, but I do own the city they live in.

WARNING: The usual stuff: swearing, violence, and umm...a dirty shower?

Reviewers, reviewers! You make me so happy I could sing! (For some reason, it won't let me add a ruler. I hope you enjoy my little x's.)

xXxXx

Chapter Six: The Violence

Axel, I wish I could show you this. It's gorgeous.

Have you ever felt warm grains on your bare back, tangled in your hair? Have you seen the endless azure sky? Have you tasted the salty air? Have you heard the calming waves? Do I have to describe more? I love the beach and having my afterlife here is the best thing you could ever give me.

Thank you.

"Roxas!" Male voice: deep, cool, and calm. "Roxas!" This is a voice from my childhood, I think. "Roxas!" I know this voice. It's a voice that didn't love me. But I loved this voice enough to call him my-

"Dad?"

"Over here!" I sat up, but squinted my eyes to the blaring sun. A shirtless man, his toned body still visible from my distance. I didn't need to see him clearly to know what he looked like: blue eyes, like my own but milk chocolate, shoulder-length hair, that opposed my own, blowing in multiple directions due to the wind.

Despite his impatience for mom, he waited for me to walk over to him. His long hair was covering his eyes, but he didn't bother to push it aside when I spoke to him. "Dad, what are you doing here?" No answer, just staring at me with a slight grin on his face. I didn't like it, but hey, it was my father that left me when I was just a child. "Did you die after you left mom?" Again, no answer. "Why won't you say anything?" It's then I realized he wasn't my dad. That smile wasn't his. He rarely smiled, and when he did, it was much warmer than that. I stepped back, "who are you?"

"Great, now I'm going to have a ghost living in my garage." That wasn't dad's voice. It sounded more like a beach-junkie's voice.

The ground moved violently and I fell backward, away from the imposter, head first into stone, not sand. "Shit," a voice echoed though out the beach. I recognized this voice, too. But who was it?

"Why get worked up? It's just a corpse."

"Yeah, but it's Roxas!" Axel? The beach and my father disappeared and I found myself surrounded in darkness and voices. I couldn't help but feel some-sort of fetter wrapped around my ankles.

"Ooooh," the other voice became sarcastic and began to mock Axel, "boy-crush?" My eyes jerked open, subduing the darkness, replacing it with painful florescent lights. A man with graying black hair was holding my feet but instantly dropped them when he made eye-contact with me. "ZOMBIE!"

My heels slamming against the floor sent a shock up my legs, making me wince. "That hurts, 'ya know," I groaned, not even attempting to get up.

"Roxas!" A red mass of hair bounced by my side, quivering hands cupped my face and tilted it so I was looking into Axel's cyan eyes. "Are-are you real?"

"I think. What happened?"

"I guess God decided to spare you!"

"Like you ever believed in that psychobabble. But seriously, how'd you manage to fuck this up, 'Axe-hole?'" I could see 'Xig' out of the corner of my eyes take the keys out of his truck.

Axel's eyes never left mine, "I did just as you told me: turn on the car and lock 'em in."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

He sighed and slammed the truck door. "You know there was no gas in there, right?"

Axel rolled his eyes at 'Xig' and let go of me, placing me gently onto the floor, "well no shit, Xigbar, I left it on for the whole night. It would be a miracle if there happened to be gas left in there." Xigbar let out a frustrated sigh.

Even I could see how stupid Axel was acting. "What ever happened to no more screw ups?" Axel slightly blushed and turned away from me.

"Sorry, mistakes happen…I guess."

Xigbar narrowed his eyes, or eye, at Axel. "I thought you knew you needed a full tank of gas for it to work."

"I did, but I didn't know the thing was empty." He stared at the ground. Something didn't seem right.

"Idiot," His fury was building, "we were using the damned thing the whole day, what do you think it was? Full? What you gave him last night was no different than a glass of warm milk!" Before he could get any angrier, Xigbar closed his eyes and counted to what seemed like twenty. "Whatever. Maybe this was for the best. Just, get the kid home and come back. I don't care." He turned away fiercely and rummaged thought the back of his truck, probably looking for something to get his vehicle running again.

Axel stood up and hoisted me to my feet. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah…but barely. I'm really tired." Axel smiled and kneeled on the floor with his back facing me.

"Here, get on. I'll carry you."

"What!"

"Don't ask questions, let's go." It was embarrassing but I hopped on. I thought I might have snapped Axel's thin body in half but he was a lot stronger than he looked. "Duck." I leaned over as he slightly bent his knees to avoid the door way. He shut the door with his foot as he exited.

"So, you hungry?"

"No," I replied, but my growling stomach said otherwise.

"I'll take that as a yes," he chuckled as he headed for the nearest fast food restaurant.

Everything felt so weird. I was so close to dying but Axel's here being cheerful. Not his questionable psychotic happiness but a calm, mellow attitude. Like nothing ever happened. Or something happened that shouldn't have, but in a good way.

Why do I feel like a fly trapped in a spider's web?

xXxXx

"Here," a faded green towel landed smack-dab in my face as Axel walked out the door. "I gotta go. Xig's going to yell at me. Make yourself at home; if you need new clothes, I'm sure Demyx's will fit you better than mine." He closed the door behind him and broke into a run down the hallway, skipping steps as he went down the stairs. Yeah, he was that noisy.

My hand hovered over the door knob, about to turn it until a knock stopped me. "Hey, Roxas, it's me, Demyx. Axel's gone, wanna hang?" I opened the door to find him standing there with an ear-to-ear grin.

"Shopping?"

"No, I know it's boring for you. I was just thinking my place. You know, hanging out." He waved his finger looking for the words but he came out sounding like a moron. But I could tell he was just lonely. Demyx didn't have a very secure job, so he probably spent a lot of his time here, alone. The least I could do was keep him company before I 'go.'

"Sure. Let me take a shower first."

Demyx glared at me. "You're kidding, right?"

He struck me dumbfounded. "It's just a shower."

"Roxas, I don't think you understand." He walked in and led me to the bathroom. He stopped in front of the shower with a navy blue curtain draped around it. "Stand back." He pushed me back with his arm, shielding me. "Be on your guard." Demyx jerked the curtain to one side revealing the most uncared for shower I have ever seen. There was a mysterious black substance that coated the floor of the shower, yellowish spots along the walls, and I'm pretty sure there was something growing in the drain.

"Sick! Close that thing!" Demyx brought the curtain back.

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Doesn't matter, I was just going to see it before I took a shower." I turned away and walked out the bathroom. "How can you just let something get that dirty?"

"Dirt? I was more worried about you taking a shower in the place where Axel jacks off."

I shoved my fingers in my ears, dropping my towel, and began yelling at the top of my lungs, "that's more disgusting than watching Luxord-" I shut my mouth and took my fingers out. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's cool." He smiled and picked up the fallen towel. "Why don't you take a shower at my place? I promise you it's sperm-free," he winked and the disgust flooded my mind again.

"Shut up! We will not talk about this anymore!"

Demyx shrugged, "fine, Mr. No-fun."

"What'd you call me?"

"Mr. No F-U-N."

"That is so not true. Take it back!"

"Mr. No-fun, Mr. No-fun," Demyx sang as he left the apartment.

"Shut up," I yelled, but he continued to sing and tease.

It was weird. I thought I was 'invisible.' Not naked to the human eye, but unwanted. Therefore, unseen. Yet, here I was with this guy, playing around like friends. Why do they, Axel and Demyx, not ignore me like the others? But it's not just those two, their friends see me, why? Do they want me? Is that why they choose to see me? Or, are they 'invisible,' too?

xXxXx

"Damn. These jeans are tight."

"Or maybe, your ass is just too big." I glared at the blonde mullet-boy rolling off the couch, as he stumbled over to me, shaking with laughter. "'Lemme see something." He took two fingers and dug them into my pants. When he pulled out his fingers, they were a light shade of purple. "No, your ass is fine. You just don't wear pants like these do you?"

I looked down. The female-sized jeans looked like they would rip at the slightest movement of my legs. It was a frightening thought of what would happen if I tried to walk. "How do you wear these?"

"I dunno," he shrugged, "I just put them on one leg at the time and go about normal activities." Demyx plopped onto the couch with a sitar in his arms. He began to play random notes. "Take a seat; they'll loosen up after a while." I attempted to walk, but instead made movements like Frankenstein to the couch, where I sat down next to him. "So, I don't get it," he started, "Axel said you were 'taken care of.' What happened?"

I shook my head, "didn't work. The truck didn't have enough gas."

I half-expected Demyx to laugh at our failure but instead he questioned it, "that's weird. Axel doesn't make stupid mistakes like that. He's always really careful. Maybe it was his mood."

"What does his mood have to do with it?"

"You've probably noticed but Axel has 'issues.' You know, like yesterday with the fire?"

"The laughing?"

"Yeah."

"I've been wondering what the fuck is wrong with him. It's really annoying to talk to him. Sometimes we'll be talking about death and he just starts laughing like a maniac."

"He has a manic depressive disorder." Life had disappeared from Demyx's voice and was substituted by seriousness.

"What?" By now, I had forgotten about the taut material wrapped around my legs.

"He's bipolar. You know, really moody. He's been like that for, like, a whole year. I've kinda gotten used to it; kinda funny at times. Like, one minute he'll be all happy and the other minute he'll be all-"

"Pissed off." I stared ahead at the wall. It was shocking how a few deaths could trigger a person to go insane. I knew he wasn't right in the head, but how can they just do nothing about it? "Did you guys go to a doctor?"

"Yeah, I brought him once when the money was really good. He even had some pretty expensive medicine."

"And he didn't take it?" So predictable.

"Actually, he was really into the pills." Or not. "I had to take them away. I was scared he would take an overdose. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, right? Those things were like candy to him. He said he felt so," Demyx trailed off and searched his brain for the word, "real."

"What do you mean?"

"His disorder made him feel so…err…not him. Like, he couldn't control himself. He couldn't feel the way he wanted to. The pills let him be…him."

"And how do you know this?"

"He begged for them back as soon as he found they were missing. I hated seeing him so pitiful, but I had no choice. Also, I'm his best friend. Nothing gets unsaid between us." Demyx set down his sitar and was now looking at it, admiringly.

Maybe a change in subject was for the best, "so, where'd you get your sitar?"

"My sister, she gave it to me before I left home."

"Where'd you come from?"

"Believe it or not, I used to live in Haven Heights."

"Oh, rich boy?"

"You bet 'cha!" He gave me an enthusiastic smile that looked like you'd only see in a cheesy commercial. Seeing Demyx do it made it look even dorkier.

"Why'd you leave?"

He leaned back and relaxed, legs propped up on his magazine cluttered coffee table, "parents. They actually kicked me out. But I probably would have left on my own."

"Again, why didn't you?"

"My sister, she's awesome."

"What's her name?"

"Naminé. Here, let me find a picture." He arched his back to grab his wallet in his back pocket. He handed me a small, worn-down photo of a girl that looked around my age, maybe younger. She had brilliant blonde hair, brighter than mine. Her eyes were bright blue, kinda like mine. But why am I comparing her to myself? She's Demyx's sister. I looked back up at him. They looked similar but the colors were different. "Pretty isn't she?"

"Yeah," I handed the picture back to him and he returned it to its respectful place. "How old is she?"

"Fifteen? I think so."

"She looks much-"

Bang!

"What the hell?" Demyx and I both jumped at the loud crack of what sounded like a gun shot from next door. We peered our heads out the door to see a sandy brown-haired teen hunched over, gasping for air. He had a mischievous grin on his face that told us he did something bad. A husky boy walked out of the door behind him and shoved the thinner one.

"Hayner, what the hell? That scared the shit out of me!"

"Sorry, but I couldn't resist."

"What happened here," asked Demyx, walking out into the hall.

"Sorry man," Hayner answered, "we have some extra fireworks and we were just playin' with them."

"That's unsafe. Go to the roof or something." The two teens ignored him and walked back inside, the fat one, laughing loudly. "Stupid fools."

"What are you getting so mad about," I asked when they closed the door.

"They're always doing shit like this. It pisses me off! Just last week they were drunk, playing old Britney Spears as loud as they could. I'm glad Axel was here to give them a piece of his mind."

"Why don't you stop them?"

He smirked as he retreated back to his own apartment, "getting yelled at by a 'mullet-fag' isn't as frightening as getting yelled at by a bipolar bitch."

I laughed along, "I couldn't agree more."

xXxXx

Our day went pretty smoothly from there. Small talk, a few laughs, and the occasional scares from the boys next door. They were just two trouble-maker-drop-outs that didn't have anywhere to go. Demyx often wished he could 'aid them in their death.'

"Hey you hear that?"

I looked up from my drink, which happened to be a beer. "What?" Within the few hours we spent together, Demyx convinced me to drink. 'Stop being a wuss. You get only one chance, live it the best damn way you can,' he said. And you know what? It wasn't that bad.

"Axel's home!" Demyx jumped up like a dog to his master, but stopped at the door before opening it. "And…he's drunk."

I put down my alcoholic beverage and placed my ear against the door, "how can you tell?"

"Sorry, best friend thing." He opened the door and I pulled away, and just as he said: Axel was drunk. But what he failed to mention was that he was mad.

"What the hell you guys lookin' at?" A large can of beer, what seemed to have the height of two cans placed on top of each other, swung from his lowered hand. By the sound it made when Axel staggered, it was almost empty.

"Hey, pal, what's wrong?" 'Mullet-boy' hurried over to Axel's side as he attempted to open the door with his drunken hands. "I can tell that's not your first one." Demyx pushed open the door and led him inside. I walked in but stayed behind at the door, afraid I might get lashed at.

"Leave me alone." He lifted his arms to shove off his friend but ended up falling over into his chair. "Nothing happened, go away."

"Come on, you can tell me." Demyx leaned in closer and draped an arm over Axel. The red-head didn't take too well to this and made direct contact to Demyx's face with his fist.

"I said, 'leave me alone!'"

Demyx retreated over to me from where I was leaning against the door. "Ok, your turn," he said, his voice nasally from holding his battered nose.

"What," I hissed at him, not wanting Axel to hear us scheming behind him, "he's your best friend!" Was that jealously in my voice just now?

"Yeah, but he likes you!" I could feel my cheeks burning.

"Touché."

I approached Axel, carefully, and took a seat across. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just drop it you guys." He pulled out a ring of keys from his uniform pocket and threw them on his shelf. I've seen those keys before.

"Where'd you get those?"

"Nowhere," he replied in an irritated voice, getting up to grab a beer from his fridge to replace his depleted one.

I looked over at Demyx who stood there, watching, having more faith in me than himself. He nodded at me and I knew what he wanted me to do: "Did you have to help someone today?" Pry.

The emotional male took a large drink from his beer, not looking at me, "Yeah."

I'm getting somewhere.

"Who?"

I'm sure behind that beer Axel was smiling. "Xigbar."

"How?"

"He decided to go the same way we attempted to last night."

"With his truck?"

Axel spun on his heel and faced me. "Heh, he didn't do it too long ago. He still might be alive right now."

Demyx, are you sure taking the pills away was a smart thing?

The door opened as quickly as it was slammed. Demyx's foot steps could be heard running back to his apartment. Axel may have lost his sense of humanity but Demyx still had his.

"Actually, he wouldn't, but that was good enough to get rid of mullet-boy. Let's get to work."

Here he goes again, "how?"

Axel walked to his shelf and pulled off a black object. He flipped out a five-inch blade from it. "Gimmie your wrist."

I jumped out of my chair and backed away, "no!"

He held out a shaking hand, beckoning me over. "Come on, Roxy, it won't be that bad."

"Axel, I'm sure there's a better way. Besides, it's really messy."

He advanced toward me with his hand still out, "it's ok, I don't mind. I'll just bring your body to my shower and let the blood go down the drain." I would have made a joke about that if I wasn't fending for my life.

"Axel, please stop." My legs backed me up until they bumped into a bed. Axel was getting closer and I had nowhere to go.

"Roxas, trust me." His smile was a welcoming one, but with him, who could tell what facial expressions meant?

"Stay back!" I jumped onto the bed, but that didn't add much distance between us.

"Please, Roxas, I just want to help you." He stopped at the bed and lowered the knife. His sweet smile made his outstretched hand more tempting. "Please." I stupidly fell for the bait.

"Don't make it hurt." Why was I being so afraid? I asked Axel to help me but I was repeatedly rejecting it. It's time I stop being a wuss.

"Don't worry; come over here." He led me to the bathroom and positioned my upturned wrist over the sink.

"You get only one chance…"

"You ready?"

"You always ask me this," I swallowed a hard lump in my throat, "just do it." I shut my eyes and promised myself not to open them.

"Ok." I felt the cold edge of the blade pressed against my wrist. The way I was tensing up my arm probably made it more of an easy target. Axel hesitated, why does he have to make it so suspenseful?

"…live it the best damn way you can."

Sorry, Demyx. This is the best way. Axel's ready, I'm ready, let's get it over with. It was fun. I hope when it's your turn to 'go,' I'll see you wherever I go.

A depressed sigh escaped my executioner's lips.

You too, Axel.

I felt my wrist lowered gently into the sink. Funny, I didn't feel that at all. I broke the promise to myself and slowly opened my eyes. Nothing. No blood, no mess, no cut. "What's going on? Why are you stopping?"

Axel snapped back the knife and shoved it into his pocket. "This isn't what you want," he stated, angrily.

I was pretty mad too, "what do you mean? Why does this always happen, when we're so close to the goal something happens to screw it all up!"

He gazed at the floor while he reached around his back pocket for his cigarettes. He put the pack to his mouth and drew a white stick with his teeth. I impulsively grabbed the package from him and took my own. Politely, Axel lit a match and brought it to my cigarette before his. "Dumb ass, this is no different than murder." He exited the bathroom and headed to the door. "And personally, I don't want to be held responsible when I go to hell."

"Where are you going," I asked as I followed him.

"I'm going to the store. Running low on booze."

"Do you need more? I bet you had like three before you came home."

"Yes and for the record: I had five." He lifted his hand to show how many he'd had but his lack of sobriety gave me the middle finger.

"Thanks," I replied sarcastically. Shutting the door behind him, I stood there with my ear against it, listening to him trudge down the hall in a drunken daze.

xXxXx

Wow. Finally! I like pushed myself to write that. I had a lot of fun; screwed up a drawing in the process.

Sorry it took me so long to update. School started for me and I want to die. Like they say, junior year's the hardest. But don't expect me to just drop this story. I like it too much. :)

Also, about cliffhangers: I was going to end the story right before Roxas was going to get cut, but I think people would have hit me over the head with a shovel and been like, "Oh. Em. Geee! Quit giving us fucking cliffhangers!" Well there. It wasn't exactly a cliffhanger.

Well, it might take me a while to get Chapter Seven.

-Lady of the Cards-