"Are you insane?!"

Riku's voice boomed and bounced of each wall found in the old mansion. A hint of anger and fear were clearly present in his tone, and his actions. The dining table suffered from too much pressure beneath the palms of his hands. Power emitted from Riku's hands caused for the hard wood to snap. It was crushed, split in two. What remained of the two halves collapsed to the ground in heaps.

The tension in his shoulders subsided somewhat. Sitting back down on the dining chair, Riku sighed and rested his head in his hands. His silver hair fell over his blindfolded face. Kara was sitting across from him, stunned that he broke an oak table with his bare hands, but also concerned that she had done something wrong to worry him.

Insane might have been an understatement, she thought. Kara knew that he'd react in some sort of way to the news of her encounter with the boy named Roxas. The way he felt about it now, she didn't blame him. However, no matter what he did or said, the choice she made was final. But rather than arguing about it, she sat and listened to her friend's expression of concern and frustration.

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into?" Riku asked her, looking up from his gloved hands. "Organization XIII is bad news. You could get hurt if you aren't careful."

"I'm well aware..." Kara replied gently.

"Then, why?" he questioned her seriously.

Kara was silent for a moment. The right words to explain herself were running away from her. Leaning forward, the young Keyblade master pressed her lips to her clasped fingers. Her amber eyes were fixated on the debris at their feet as she considered what to tell Riku.

"Since we want to get to the bottom of their motives, I..." she paused a moment. "Pretending to be an ally seemed like a good idea at first. Roxas is the only one right now who I can get through to."

"But-"

"A double agent to infiltrate the Organization." DiZ entered the dining hall, surprising both Kara and Riku. Their elder stood at the door with his arms neatly tucked behind his back. A frown was upon his face, and his visible eye was searching the room for something they could not determine. To the ears of others, he seemed displeased. However, he smirked slightly and nodded his head. "Their true motives still lie in mystery."

"You can't be serious," Riku gritted his teeth."It's way too dangerous! Let me go."

Roughly three weeks passed since my first meeting with Roxas. The last time he talked, he mentioned something about visiting other worlds to terminate the Heartless in them. Seeing him again in Twilight Town today was more of a chance meeting. His mission here happened to be the same given to me by DiZ.

Shadow globs, similar to the ones from back then- a corrupted Oogie Boogie enveloped in darkness. As Guardian and I flew over town, I spotted several of them popping up along the streets. Some were attached to the buildings and other high places. These globs were peculiar. Shadows were pouring out from them in teams of two and three. Other than that, they were actually harmless things. Well, unless we left them be. Chances were something bad would happen if they were left unchecked.

"Hey!"

"Hah?" I glanced down at the streets. There was Roxas, waving his arms around for me to spot him easily. "Right on time."

Jumping from the top of the building, I glided down to where he was and greeted him with a nod. The situation with the Heartless threat was self-explanatory, so we were able to get right to dealing with it. First was the Heartless in the area. I split away from Roxas and did my best to eliminate them all before moving onto the globs. The mission we cooperated on was a little tedious, but we managed.

Within the hour, all of them were gone and Twilight Town was safe yet again. But doing a fly by over the town once more didn't hurt. There was nothing else demanding our attention. So it was safe to assume that it was okay to relax. Those globs, though. What made them appear like that?

There was nothing I could do to figure it out now. Not yet, anyway. Something like that was just another matter to tell DiZ about, and he would get to the bottom of it if it was something significant. For now, I left the market street to go out and find him. His trail led to an alley, where I witnessed him defeat a group of Heartless.

"Yo, Roxas!" someone called out as I took one step out of the shadows. The unfamiliar voice startled me, and I jumped back behind the corner to conceal myself. Throwing up my hood to remain undetected, I silently wished that no one heard me. Peeking around the brick wall, I saw a tall man with crimson red hair approaching Roxas. He wore the Organization's black coat, but this man was awfully casual. I shivered, getting a bad vibe from him. "How's it hanging?"

"A-A..." Roxas froze.

"What's the matter?" the man asked him. "You like like you've seen a ghost."

"Axel...?" Finally speaking up, Roxas blinked once and let a tear fall from his face. He quickly wiped it a way. "But... I thought you were gone! Castle Oblivion- the whole team was annihilated..."

"Correction: the weaklings were annihilated," this Axel guy raised a finger and grinned. "Not me!"

"You had me worried," Roxas shook his head.

Axel forced a chuckle, "What? Worried? Well, that's a neat trick, considering you haven't got a heart to feel with."

"W-Wait here!" Roxas stuttered, holding up his hands. "I'll go buy us some ice cream!"

He was in a rush to buy ice cream for himself and that peculiar man. Without a second thought, he ran off for the shop to buy what he needed, leaving Axel to stand there and watch. He seemed surprised in the slightest.

I pulled away and pressed my back to the wall. It was too dangerous to walk off now with him there. He'd probably catch me if I were to try and leave. Once he left, I'd go and-

"Lookin' for someone?"

Tension built up in my shoulders when someone whispered into my ear. Wide-eyed, I slowly turned my head to see Axel standing next to me with his arms folded. He was glaring coldly. To think that he could get so close without even being heard. For someone who acted relaxed, he had a sudden change, it appeared. I jumped away from his outstretching hand and clenched my fists. Light Seeker flashed into my hands as fiery chakrams manifested in his.

"Heh, running under a disguise?" he questioned me. "What's someone like you doin' spying on Roxas? And that thing... It's a Keyblade, right? Weird how you got your hands on it."

"Don't run your mouth," I coldly spat back. "None of that's your business anyway."

"I got a big box to share with... you?"

In the midst of our standoff, Roxas returned and witnessed the heated tension between us. I saw him standing there with a white box in his hands through the corner of my eye. Axel looked briefly and silently gritted his teeth.

"What's going on?" Roxas asked after a long moment of awkward silence.

"Roxas, who's the chump?" Axel, ignoring the confused boy's concerned words, glared at me again. He wasn't about to let his guard down.

"Oh... Uh, she's a friend," he answered. "She helped me during today's mission. Why are you guys fighting? Please, stop!"

The sheer innocence he displayed at that moment brought a certain light to the atmosphere around the alley. To think that it'd even have an affect on me, keeping me from swinging the Keyblade at Organization XIII's hothead. Even the man across from me dispelled his weapons. We were going to fight, but it seemed that today was not going to be the day for that.

How Roxas convinced me to join them later that evening, I didn't know. The two walked ahead to the train station with me close behind, and we went all the way up a flight of stairs to a high point on the clock tower. I had to admit, however, that the view of the town from the ledge we stood on was beautiful. Most stunning was the golden sunset. It was unique, rivaling only itself.

I leaned against the cold stone to the far left of the ledge, a good several feet between me and Roxas. Axel was on his other side, sitting on the ledge with him. It was strange how there was a sense of peace in spite of a pair of enemies being right there.

On occasion, I noticed a pair of emerald eyes staring back at me. It was an off and on feeling I got as I leaned back with my ice cream in hand. The salty and sweet taste was hardly enough to distract me from Axel's piercing gaze, though. He was even vocal about his displeasure, whispering rather loudly to Roxas, "You sure this is alright? I mean, we've never seen her around before. Saix never said anything about a new member."

Leave it to Roxas to come to my defense. He failed to keep his voice hushed enough for me not to hear, but I acted as if I hadn't been eavesdropping. Roxas openly expressed his trust in me. "If she was an enemy, then why would she be helping us? I don't know why, but I know we can rely on her. Trust me." It was enough said to keep Axel quiet. At least I could feel more at ease, but I refused to lower my guard around him.

After some time passed, ordinary conversation lightened the mood. If talking about missions was anything ordinary. I had nothing but my ears to contribute.

"Man, I gotta check in with the boss, or else he's gonna let me have it," Axel sighed and took a big chomp out of his ice cream.

"You haven't reported back yet?" Roxas tilted his head to the side.

"Nah..." the redhead shook his head.

"Then why'd you come here?" Roxas asked again.

"I guess I needed some time to sort out my feelings, you know?" Axel said.

Jokingly, Roxas teased Axel about not having the "heart" to actually feel. It was amusing to watch. They laughed like friends would, and I just watched them as they discussed another one of the Organization's members- a girl named Xion. How funny. Roxas and Axel are just like those two... I smiled softly.

But rather than stand there and bask in the moment of reminiscing, I turned to leave for the mansion through the lesser known way than the usual route in the tram common. There was a lot to think about and consider such as my next move for getting close to the Organization. In time, I'd get the results I needed. All I had to do was be patient and keep close to Roxas as much as I could. No doubt about it. He was the key to everything. I just knew that my gut wasn't lying to me.

Change was occurring within Organization XIII, Axel could feel it in the void where his heart would have been. It had him lost in thought during the day, since the incident at Castle Oblivion and since meeting Roxas at Twilight Town. Heck, the worst of it happened during their usual ice cream hangout. That girl. Friend? He found it hard to believe. Although, there was something about her that reminded him of someone he knew rather well. Perhaps it was best to keep it to himself, for now.

"Hm..." Axel breathed out quietly as he gazed out the window of his bedroom. His green eyes were fixated on the moon and its peculiar shape. So much was on his mind, he didn't even know how to reorganize them.

The door opened and heavy steps entered through. No need to turn around to see, for he already knew who it was. He was expecting him to come by to visit. More likely than not, it was solely for official business than a simple visit. That was how it had been for a long time now. Axel got used to it after some self convincing.

"Why didn't you report in?" a blue-haired man questioned Axel. Hearing his voice made Axel turn finally.

"What?" he smirked. "Not even one little word of appreciation?"

"The only thing I've heard is that Namine has gone missing," the other man replied in a monotone voice. His amber eyes burned like flames. "Axel."

"There one minute, gone the next," Axel shrugged. "I don't know how she got out. Sorry, Saix."

It was akin to an interrogation. At least to some degree, he passed Saix's test. He seemed pleased about the news regarding the traitors. Axel was sure he'd be out of trouble now, until Saix stopped at the half-opened door.

Saix frowned deeply and took in a short breath, "Is there... any other information you would like to share? I'm certain you checked in on Roxas yesterday."

"No." Biting back his tongue, Axel regretted answering so quickly. The kid asked him specifically to keep his new friend in the shadows. It was suspicious. But while he could easily rat out the girl, he respected Roxas enough to do it for him. However, if the pest needed to be put down, then he was capable of it. "Look, just give me my punishment already. This is getting boring."

"Very well," Saix narrowed his eyes. "Hmph, consider it a slap on the wrist. Accompany him on his next mission."

"That's a slap on the wrist?" Axel raised a brow. Nothing more was said, nor was there anything that needed to be said between them.

"Could be worse."