Chapter 4, The Struggle

Members of Organization XIII are of a unique breed. Their very existence—or nonexistence—defies reality. They shouldn't be but are. On top of this, they are some of most skilled beings in the universe, their powers ranging from strength to intellect to agility.

These skills don't seem to matter when confronted with a tyrannosaurus rex.

"It's no use!" Larxene panted alongside Vexen, Demyx, and the Love Monkey. "We can't outrun it."

"Well, we can't fight it!" Vexen argued.

"Watch me." Larxene combat rolled backwards, did a rather impressive flip into the air, and kicked the T-rex in the eye. Once landing on the ground, she began to stab the dinosaur in the leg repeatedly. "Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die. Die. Die. Die. Die…die…die…" She looked up and much to her horror, found that the T-rex was unfazed by her efforts.

The T-rex slapped Larxene out of the way.

"Holy crap!" Demyx cried, running to where Larxene fell. The T-rex, in a world more favorable to Vexen, would have pursued Demyx and Larxene. However, this is not that world.

"Stand back, you fiend!" Vexen took out his shield. "Prepare to feel my wrath! Huahh!" He flicked his wrist, attempting a barrage of icicles to attack the reptile. Nothing happened. "Damn this heat! Demyx!"

"No dice on my end!" Demyx yelled back as he helped Larxene back to her feet. "It's too hot for any of my magic. And Larxene's injured!"

"Dammmit, dammit!" Vexen stepped back slowly, bracing himself for death. He had a number of regrets. Conducting this experiment on the gummi, finding the gummi, losing his presenting pen—all of them flashed before his eyes when suddenly…

"Love Monkey, don't!" But Demyx was too late, as the Love Monkey climbed onto the T-rex's back, digging his tiny lemur fingers into its ear holes. The dinosaur swayed left, then right, the Love Monkey riding the creature like a bucking bronco.

"What is that rodent doing?" Larxene asked, stunned by what she witnessed.

"I can't believe it but…he seems to be controlling the T-rex's mind!" Vexen explained, awe-struck. "He's reaching into the dinosaur's skull and manipulating its nervous system, making it answer its every beck and call!"

Silence.

"Does that make sense?" Demyx asked.

But it was too late for an explanation! The Love Monkey conquered the mighty T-Rex, striking a brilliant silhouette in the red sunset. The beast was tamed!

"I think we found our ride," Demyx concluded. "Let's go!"

"Ride that animal? Are you mad?" Vexen protested.

"It's our only option," Larxene agreed with Demyx, much to everyone's surprise. "God knows how much time we wasted with those shenanigans."

As Demyx and Larxene mounted the mighty beast, Vexen sighed. This truly was a land before reason. He climbed up on the T-rex. Behind him was Demyx and Larxene, and in front of him, a lemur on a mission.

"I'm the Love Monkey!"

"That you are!" Vexen encouraged the animal. "To the nest! Now!"

The lemur rode the T-rex to cliffside, where a treacherous climb and even more treacherous beasts were awaiting them.

"So…this is where the magic happens?"

Axel followed Zexion into the lab, unimpressed by his bland surroundings.

"Yes," Zexion replied, closing the door behind them. "It's not much but it would be better if more of the budget was allocated…"

"…to the research division. I know. You guys bring it up at every meeting. We get it. Woe is you."

Zexion glared at Axel. "You realize I'm only tolerating you because we can both be incriminated for murder. This alliance is only temporary." He approached the vault at the end of the room and began to enter a four-digit code onto a keypad.

"I'm with you, bookworm," Axel agreed, stretching his arms, sarcastically adding, "Believe it or not, life with you is too exciting. I don't know how you manage."

The vault clicked open. "I cope." The duo entered the passage, where a cold gust of wind swept by.

"Geez!" Axel shivered. "Is the cold for a science reason or just personal preference?"

"A little bit of both," Zexion replied. "Helps preserve our replicas while keeping nosy folks like you out. Let's see. They should be somewhere…aha!" He stopped at a bin labelled No. 4. "The other two should be further down the freezer. Get them out. Quickly!"

"Whatever you say, 'boss.'"

In due time, three bins were dragged out of the vault. "Now, these aren't exactly perfect." Zexion explained as he closed the vault's steel door. "If you guys were patient enough during yesterday's demonstration, you'd see we have the looks down. But the mental side? Could use a little bit of work."

"Eh." Axel shrugged. "That pins down most of us."

"The reason I'm bringing this up is I don't know how long this scheme will last." Zexion opened the bin labelled No. 4 and dragged out a replica of Vexen. "We only programmed three phrases into each of these. Ideally, they'll learn more in the field when they ingest a greater vocabulary but for now, it's just three."

"Oh? Let's hear them."

"Alright," Zexion turned to Vexen's limp lookalike. "Vexen, activate."

Nothing happened.

"Activate, Vexen."

Again, nothing.

"You sure you're doing it right?" Axel asked.

"I know I'm doing it right," Zexion snapped. "Vexen, activate."

Nothing. Curiously, Axel flicked the replica on the head.

"FREEZE!"

"Argh!" Axel and Zexion cried in shock. The replica was alive!

"Magic touch," Axel congratulated himself.

"So 'freeze' is his battle speak," Zexion clarified. "He also says, 'Hello.' Say hello, Axel."

"Um…hello."

"HELLO."

"Huh. That's pretty cool."

"And finally," Zexion concluded, "You have the default dialogue." He faced the replica. "How are you doing, Vexen?"

"DAMN IT ALL!"

"Pretty convincing," Axel gave credit where credit was due. "This could work." The two smirked at each other, proud of their scheming.

"C'mon. Let's get Replexen dressed up and ready to go," Zexion moved toward the lab's closet containing the Organization's signature coats. "Before Lexaeus and the others notice something's up."

Transportation via T-rex was a surprisingly efficient way of getting around. The cliffside that hosted the nest wasn't too far off in the distance now.

Considering the group was silent for some time, and Demyx never really cared for silence, the sitarist spoke up. "So…Vexen. If you weren't trying to find Marluxia's missing roses…why did you experiment on that gummi?"

"Science." Vexen answered curtly. "Science for science's sake."

"Really? Is that it?"

"Yes, that's it!"

"I'm the Love Monkey!" The Love Monkey sang, perched on the skull of the tyrannosaurus rex.

Larxene wagged her finger. "The rodent has a point. That's not the reason."

"Oh, you don't know what the Love Monkey is saying, Larxene!" Vexen scoffed. "Don't pretend."

"I'm the Love Monkey!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Regardless," Larxene continued, "That's not why you did this. You just felt emasculated after everyone called your nonsense out yesterday and you had to tinker with a magic moonrock to make yourself feel useful."

"That's not what this is!"

"I detect a mid-life-crisis," Larxene teased in sing-song fashion.

"What else will you have me do?" Vexen snapped, crossing his arms and pouting. "Stare at a wall for two weeks until my suspension was up?"

"Considering we wouldn't be here riding the back of T-rex before the prehistoric apocalypse if you did…" Larxene paused to think. "Yeah. I think I'd prefer the wall-staring."

Demyx scratched his temple, trying to figure this out. "So you did this because you were embarrassed."

"If it will please the court, yes!" Vexen admitted. "I was embarrassed. What a surprise that a failed pitch meeting is made worse when you have over half-a-dozen of your peers staring down at you from their silly highchairs."

"My chair isn't that high…" Demyx said sheepishly.

"IT'S HIGH ENOUGH!"

"Ohhhhhh," Larxene nodded, as if getting the full picture. "I see. This is an inferiority complex. You feel like no one respects you."

"People respect me plenty."

"If they did, they would have accepted your idea, like, a year ago."

Vexen opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out. He merely scoffed and turned the other way.

Demyx patted the academic on the back. "It's alright, Vexen. No one respects me either and I'm fine."

"Yeah, Vexen," Larxene chirped in. "You, a man well into your 40s, should follow the example of this derpy teenager. The dividends will surely pay off."

"I'm serious," Demyx said, readjusting himself on the T-rex's spine. "Everybody assumes I won't do any work and that hurts."

"But you don't do any work!"

"Because people keep assuming I don't! It's called negative reinforcement!" Demyx said, pointing to his head. "Remember it."

"That's…that's Axel's thing."

"What?"

"'Remember it.' That's Axel's thing, but reskinned and bootlegged. You even pointed to your head like a dingus."

"I don't know what you're talking about. My brand is my brand."

"Your…what?!"

"QUIET! BOTH OF YOU!" Vexen exploded, red in the face as he turned to face his backseat drivers. "IF I HEAR ONE MORE PEEP OUT OF ANY OF YOU, I WILL STOP THIS DINOSAUR RIGHT NOW AND WE'LL BE AT THE MERCY OF THE MOST CATASTROPHIC BOLIDE IN HISTORY, AFTER WHICH NO ONE WILL SAY A THING! EVER!" He panted, exhausted by his own outrage, before hissing, "Do I make myself clear?"

The two youths sat, dumbstruck by Vexen's wrath. Even the T-rex turned slightly for a moment to discover what this ruckus was about.

"I'm the Love Monkey!"

"Thank you!" Vexen thanked the Love Monkey, and the group was quiet for the rest of the ride.

Zexion and Axel had dressed Replexen in the proper Organization cloak, propping him up against a hallway wall.

"Alright. He's ready," Zexion assessed, dusting some lint off Replexen's shoulder. "We just need to show him to Lexaeus and we're good. For today, at least."

"Whatever gets him off our backs," Axel replied. "I could tolerate most of you creeps but that guy…he just doesn't talk. And when he does, it's all intimidating and shit. Like he can squeeze the life out of us with just a clench of his fist. Doesn't that just…terrify you?"

"Everyday but I reasoned a long time ago that we were rooming with psychopaths and weirdos. You included."

"Understandable."

"OK, here we go." Zexion whispered to Replexen, "Knock him out, tiger." With a push, Replexen was propelled in the direction of Lexaeus's room. New to walking, he admittedly had a gauntly step, throwing himself from wall to wall with no clear sense of direction.

"That's OK," Axel reasoned. "We can just say he drowned his sorrows. That's a likely…"

"It's a likely story, yeah." Zexion clarified, his voice laden with remorse.

Replexen eventually got to Lexaeus's door, greeting, "HELLO."

Lexaeus was on his bed, staring at the wall, as he usually did this time of day. "Ah. Vexen. I was looking for you."

"DAMN IT ALL!"

"I know. You're a hard man to catch, and I don't dare disturb you in your lab." Lexaeus nodded. "Well, I just wanted to make sure you hadn't disobeyed orders. Xemnas instructed me to keep a close eye on you and I can't afford to let him down. Neither can you."

Replexen stared blankly into the void.

"Well…have a good day." Lexaeus turned to leave when Replexen had another thing to add to the conversation.

"FREEZE!"

Lexaeus turned, curious as to what more Replexen had to say. Around the corner, Zexion and Axel held their breath, confident the gig was up.

"Yes, Vexen?" Lexaeus said expectedly.

Replexen was quiet. "DAMN IT ALL!"

"Ah. Forgot what you have to say," Lexaeus nodded. "I know the feeling." He waited for Replexen to leave. "Goodbye now." Replexen remained still. Lexaeus, having no patience for this, closed the door in Replexen's face ever so slightly. Little did Lexaeus know that slight movement brushed Replexen just enough, pushing him back on his heels and onto his back, crashing on the floor.

Zexion and Axel hurried to Replexen's side, scared that their own Replexen was down and out.

"Vexen! Come on! Say something! Anything!" Zexion begged, cradling Replexen's head.

A thick silence, before Replexen finally spoke. "ARGH! MY SKULL!"

"Huh," Zexion said, mildly surprised. "Guess he had four phrases."

"This is great!" Axel cheered, helping Replexen to his feet. "Now we just need to boot up the others and our cover is set!"

"Yeah!" Zexion agreed, before realizing, "Hey, didn't you have three missions in Agrabah today?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Eh. They can wait. Everything's probably alright."

MEANWHILE, IN THE DESERT CITY OF AGRABAH

A blazing inferno, teeming with darkness! Heartless warriors pillage the slums and burn the estates! Gargantuan beasts never before seen in the realm of light torment the citizens of Agrabah! EVERYTHING IS RUINED!

Axel thought for a second more. "Yeah, it's good. C'mon!"

Zexion and Axel hurried back to the lab where the other replicas were waiting, Replexen walking zanily behind them.

At last, the T-rex had made it to the cliffside. Vexen and the gang dismounted the beast, and observed their final task, the giant dinosaur running into the sunset.

"Alright. The nest is up there." Vexen nodded in anticipation. "Well?! Woman! Climb that wall!"

"What?!" Larxene shouted, repulsed. "Why me?"

"You're the ninja or nymph or whatever you are! It should be no problem for you!"

"I got slapped by a tyrannosaurus rex not even twenty minutes ago! I'm hurt!"

"So am I! Unless you happened to forget, I was dropped by a pterodactyl from a hundred feet in the air, at least!"

"Guys, we can resolve this," Demyx played the mediator. "I'll go."

"I'm not trusting you to not get eaten," Larxene snapped.

"Alright," Demyx understood. "What about you, Love Monkey?"

"I'm the Love Monkey!"

"What do you mean you're afraid of heights?" Demyx inquired, offended. "What kind of lemur are you?"

"LOOK! The bolide!" Vexen cried. "It's coming!" The trio looked up, to see a bright spec in the sky, slowly becoming larger and larger. "We must hurry!" He turned to Demyx. "As in you, boy!"

"No!"

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Larxene asked incredulously. "You were volunteering five seconds ago!"

"I can't do it now with the bovine right there! I always fail when people expect things out of me!"

Vexen grabbed Demyx by the shoulder and shook him like a rag doll. "I expect nothing, Demyx! I expect nothing out of you! You want to know why?"

"Why?" Demyx feebly whimpered. He was breathing heavily, fighting back…tears? Or maybe some pathetic facsimile? Perhaps somethings and nothings feared oblivion. So when perched on that brink of despair, a primal fear embedded in all beings awakens, whether they have emotions or not.

"Because…" Vexen grabbed the collar of Demyx's coat. "WE'RE PROBABLY GOING TO DIE ANYWAY!"

Larxene scoffed. "Oh, that'll help, Vexen. That'll really, really help."

Vexen ignored her. "We're going to die, Demyx! Whether it's the bolide, or the dinosaurs, or your low-self-esteem, you will die! But let me tell you a death when you try your damnedest to survive is the only death worth dying! DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT, DEMYX! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"W-where did you hear that?" Demyx panted. "Did you come up with that?"

"I…I don't know where it came from, Demyx!" Vexen clutched Demyx's coat tighter. "I don't know! I just know it's the truth! Can you do it?"

Demyx was quiet for some time. "Yes. I can do it."

Vexen sighed and let go of Demyx's coat. "Good luck."

Demyx nodded, the Love Monkey clutching his shoulder tightly. "Don't worry, Love Monkey. You don't have to go with me if you're scared." He tossed the animal to Larxene. "Take care of him, will you, Larxene?"

"Um…sure, sport," Larxene caught the Love Monkey, who quickly took shelter in her shoulder.

With that, Demyx began his ascent, leaving Larxene and Vexen on the ground below.

"So…" Larxene asked Vexen, curious. "Did you have that speech rehearsed orrrrrr…"

"I'm not sure," Vexen admitted. "It didn't even feel like it was me talking. I was taken over! Perhaps by a sudden will to live I've never possessed in all my years when I was alive. When I had taken life for granted. Maybe, at the heart of all of us, even us being those who do not possess hearts, we all want to live. Yes. I want to live!" Vexen threw his hands in the air. "I WANT TO LIV…"

A pterodactyl snatched Vexen from the air, prompting him to shriek just as he did before.

"Holy shit!" Larxene cried in surprise. Looking the at the Love Monkey, she reasoned, "So it's just us, huh?"

The Love Monkey stared blankly back at her.

"Welp," Larxene sighed. "If there's any way to go, this is it. Holding a stinking animal while a meteor demolishes you. I'm a lucky gal."

"Let me go, damn you! Let me go!" Vexen begged the monster. The pterodactyl reared its head towards its prey, screeching. "It is you!" Vexen recognized the animal at once. With a fierce passion, Vexen began to strike the dinosaur. "I. Want. My. GUMMI BLOCK!"

The pterodactyl dropped Vexen in the nest with a painful thud. "Argh…my…skull." Vexen sat up, groaning, only to find himself surround by eggs! "I'm here!" He shook his fist at the flying ingrate. "Ha! You fool! You saved me!" Vexen proceeded to dig through the nest, desperately searching for the gummi block, until finally…

"Aha! There you are!" Vexen held the gummi close to his chest. "The boy was right! She did mistake it for an egg!" Wanting to enjoy his victory, he shouted up at the dinosaur. "Pity you won't survive to see evolution, you whore!" Vexen laughed maniacally in the face of this prehistoric death.

Unfortunately, as all joys for Vexen were, his celebration was cut short. For behind him he heard a slight crack! Then another one! And another one! Vexen didn't want to turn around but he knew he had to eventually. So he turned, slowly, only to find three baby pterodactyls staring right back at him.

"Oh." Vexen feebly spoke up. "Funny timing, you have. You see, the world as you know it, however b-briefly, is ending. So you're just entering this world…to die. That's kind of, er, unfortunate. S-so why don't you go back to your eggs and close your eyes, hm? Then we can forget this everDEVIL CURSE ME!"

The baby pterodactyls were very hungry for their first feeding as they lunged at Vexen, gnawing at his every limb.

Larxene waited anxiously for something to happen. Demyx still had a little less than halfway to go before reaching the top of the cliff, and the bolide was becoming more and more visible. Here she stood, powerless to do anything…

"REEEEEEEEEEE!" The mother pterodactyl flew at breakneck speed in pursuit of Larxene. She dodged the animal well enough, rolling to the side.

"I can't stop a giant meteor from killing me," Larxene spoke, the Love Monkey perched on her shoulder. "But an oversized bird like you? I can manage!" She charged the animal with a primal scream, throwing thunderbolt after thunderbolt at the creature.

For Larxene, too, would not go gentle into that good night.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" Vexen demanded, punching and kicking at the infant monsters.

"HEY!"

Vexen and his assailants turned to find Demyx, standing on the nest's brim, sitar in hand.

"Get off my friend!" Demyx charged the animals, swinging his instrument like a truncheon, knocking the babies out, one after the other.

Vexen sat in awe, impressed by his rescuer's efforts. "Impressive work, Demyx."

"It's no problem," Demyx panted, exhausted. "How…how did you get up here?"

"That's a long and painful story." Vexen shrugged the question off. "The point is, I have the gummi. Now we just need to get Larxene…"

"Yes?"

Vexen and Demyx turned to find Larxene riding the pterodactyl, with none other than the Love Monkey piloting it.

"Well, I'll be…" Vexen said in awe. "But how…"

"I subdued the animal, the rodent piloted it. Simple as that."

"Whoa," Demyx approached his new lemur friend. "Love Monkey, I thought you were afraid of heights."

"I'm the Love Monkey!"

"Wow!" Demyx cheered, happy for his companion. "Good for you!"

"So what's the plan now?" Larxene asked, confidently mounted on her pterodactyl.

"We need to expose this gummi to direct heat," Vexen explained. "It's a miracle this climate hasn't activated its censors already, so we can't wait for that to take effect."

"What if we start a fire right now?" Demyx suggested.

"No! That'll take too long!"

"Then what, professor?!" Larxene demanded to know.

Vexen looked up at the incoming bolide. "We fly into the eye of the storm."

"Huh?" Demyx asked.

"On the pterodactyl! Now!" Vexen lifted Demyx and put him on the back of the flying beast. Vexen followed and planted himself between Larxene and their rodent pilot. "Fly towards the bolide!"

"What?!" Larxene cried, horrified. "You'll kill us!"

"That's the strongest heat source there is! It's that or nothing!" Vexen signaled towards the bolide. "Mush!"

"I'M THE LOVE MONKEY!"

And with that, the group flew higher and higher into the heavens. The Love Monkey was keen on accomplishing his task, a driven and dedicated pilot; Vexen held the gummi block high above all of them as if it were some sacred amulet, praying the censor would activate; Larxene held her head in her hands, ready to face imminent death; Demyx played a rocking tune on his sitar, either meant to be a triumphant song or their final ballad.

The group flew into the fiery inferno and into a flash of radiant light.