Anyways, everyone's favorite pyro shows up right about... now. Hope we all think my Axel is believable- and my RIku too! Sorry sorry if they're not- I tried, and I even had one of my friends read through the whole thing for anything I missed and she said it was good! (Not the best person to be objective, but...)
Love of Fallen Angels Part 2 First Fight
Sora stared at Riku as the silver-haired teens' long hair was blown by the wind.
'He's so distant today- was it something I did?' Sora wondered. Riku had seemed fine when he woke up the other day after sleeping for three days straight, but since the older boy had come out this morning he had hardly spoken two words.
Sora felt sad. He had been extremely happy just that morning, but his mood had sunk when Riku began acting so distant and cold.
Vaguely, Sora heard his brother, Roxas, talking with Kairi and Namine. They didn't seem to notice anything unusual about how Riku was acting.
'But then again, I did know him best.' Sora reasoned. He was just about to stand and walk over to Riku when the silver-haired teen jerked his head up and stood.
"I'll be right back." Riku said, quickly turning and heading in the general direction of the small forest on Destiny Island.
Sora blinked at Riku's retreating back.
"Why'd Riku leave?" he asked himself out loud.
"He probably had to go to the bathroom." Roxas offered, shrugging. Somehow, Sora didn't think that that was it.
"I... I'm going to go find him." Sora said, standing and chasing after Riku.
"What's the rush?" Roxas wondered out loud. Kairi smiled.
"He's probably just worried about Riku. The two are best friends, you know."
"Riku has been a bit distant today- did anyone else notice that?" Namine asked.
"A little." Kairi said.
"What about you, Roxas?" Namine asked.
"Not really." Roxas admitted. "Sora did know him better than we all did though."
Scene Change
Riku narrowed his eyes at the figure standing across from him in the small clearing, blade already in hand.
"Why are you here?" he demanded the cloaked and winged figure. The red-haired man turned casually and smirked at Riku.
"Well, hello to you too Riku. Long time no see and all." Axel said. "I've been given orders to destroy you, but I thought it'd be more fun to have a face-to-face fight."
"Organization XIII doesn't do one-on-one fights. They sneak around to give themselves the advantage before killing their target." Riku said, bringing Way to the Dawn up to a fighting position.
"Well, I decided that it would be an interesting fight- and how often do I actually get to fight something other than Hell's minions?" Axel's smirk widened. "Not backing away from a challenge, now are you Riku?"
Riku's glare turned several degrees colder. Mockingly, Axel shivered as if Riku's cold gaze affected the temperatures around the pyromaniac.
"Whoa- tough crowd." Axel's arms snapped down, fire swirling in his palms. "I don't feel like wasting time talking, so let's skip the boring list of all your sins and skip to the fun part." A circular blade materialized in each of the red-winged beings hands. Riku barely had time to block as Axel attacked, the blade in Axel's left hand shooting forward, gravity seemingly meaningless to the deadly weapon.
Riku brought Way to the Dawn up vertically, blocking the blade and then darting forward at the weapon returned to its master. Riku brought his sword up high, intending to bring it down on the redhead's spikey head, but Axel just twisted out of the way and flapped his wings twice- enough to rise a few feet in the air- and threw both of his weapons at Riku's unprotected back. Riku hissed as he dodged, but still he felt one of them graze his shoulder.
"Come on Riku- if you don't fight me seriously you're going to get hurt." Axel said in a sarcastic tone, though there was a hint of disappointment in it.
'He's at full power and I'm barely at half- doesn't he realize I am taking this seriously?' Riku asked himself, spinning quickly and leaping at the surprised angel. His leap fell short, however, and only the tip of his sword caught Axel's cloak and tore a gash in the black material. Axel spun gracefully, blades returning to his hands, and he slashed at Riku's chest before moving just out of reach of Way to the Dawn. Riku leapt upwards, jumping over the blades and turning over once in the air before landing on one knee facing Axel. Already sweat was beginning to form on his forhead and upper lip, the blood from the cuts he had recieved moments ago flowing even as the cuts began to heal.
'Seems they left me some of my healing abilities.' Riku thought as he stood, eyes warily trained on the flame-winged angle in front of him.
Scene Change
Sora slowed down to a walk as he entered the woods- it was too easy for him to get lost in here, and he had gotten lost several times when he had been a little boy.
"Riku?" he called out, glancing around. He doubted Riku would have stayed so close to the edge of the trees, though- Riku knew this forest like the back of his hand and had always found Sora, no matter where the brunette was. It was almost uncanny how Riku always knew where Sora was- especially when Sora had spent hours trying to find a good place to hide. He never really minded when Riku found him though, because Riku never brought the others with him and would respect Sora's need for silence on occasion. Kairi would just talk about random subjects in feeble attempts to 'cheer him up', and Namine would just smile and draw pictures.
'Now it's my turn to find you, Riku.' Sora thought, traveling deeper into the forest, glancing left, right, and above in case Riku had decided to climb a tree.
'Where is he? He couldn't have gone far...' Sora wondered, deep in thought. Suddenly, a metallic 'clang' reached his ears- the sound of metal on metal, meeting and grating harshly. Sora ran in the direction of the sound, heart in his throat as his mind processed the noise.
'Riku's fighting someone- he might get hurt!' The noise grew louder and louder as Sora drew close to a clearing in the forest. Between the trees, Sora could see something that looked like a mess of silver hair, yellow cloth, red hair, black cloth, and... red feathers?
Sora stopped dead in his tracks at the edge of the clearing, eyes wide as he watched Riku and a man with red wings fight in a graceful dance of death.
Scene Change
"And here I thought you'd be a challenge." Axel said, flexing his fingers around the grips in the center of his blades. At his command, the already deadly edges caught fire. "HnnnYah!" Axel threw the blades forward, the air hissing with the sheer speed of the flaming metal. Riku had no time to dodge or block as the weapons cut deep into his shoulders, the flesh searing and burning at the edges of the cuts. Riku bit his lip, barely grunting at the pain as he used his opportunity to attack Axel. This time he hit, slicing into the red-haired man's bicep. Axel hissed, already calling one of his flaming blades back to his hand as he spun clockwise to catch Riku in a deadly swing. Riku fell to the hard ground, rolling and ignoring the small cut across the side of his neck where the blade had nicked him.
"Aren't you going to fight at full power? Sprout your wings, Riku-" Axel said, flapping his wings rapidly to increase speed as he shot directly at the silver-haired ex-angel. Riku brought his sword up just in time to block the deadly circle-blades that Axel held, arms straining as Axel applied more force. "-or can't you?" Riku glared at Axel, using all his considerable might and shoving Axel backwards. Axel just stood there, surprise on his face.
"Didn't know I was fighting such a high offender."
"My only crime is hearing the truth for what it is." Riku said coldly, raising his blade again, even though he knew it was reckless. Without his wings, Axel was stronger and more mobile than the earthbound Riku.
"The truth? Wasn't aware that that was a crime." Axel said, though curiosity grew in his emerald eyes.
"Knowing the real truth is to some people."
"More than abandoning your charge and giving into darkness? More than nearly killing your assignment?" Axel asked sarcastically.
"My actions were not my own- and I did free myself from Ansem's control and saved my charge's life. Angels have been forgiven for it before."
"Then enlighten me, o great guardian angel, why are you being punished if you were being controlled? Someone's lying and I don't think it's my boss."
"I know the truth- about what we are, how we came to be, and their lies. You can believe me or not." Riku willed away his weapon, exhausted. Wearily he turned and began to walk away from Axel, not noticing the small teenage brunette watching the exchange, seemingly entranced.
"'What we are'?" Axel echoed, anger and amusement both present in his voice. "If not angels, then what are we?"
"Abominations that were never meant to exist." Riku said flatly, not facing the red-haired man. "We may have once been human, but Dr. Hojo did experiments and took bits and pieces of souls to create us. We are the few human souls strong enough to remain undamaged throughout this process, and then we were fed lies and used like pawns." Riku glanced over his shoulder at the shocked red-head. "We can never go back to being human and can never go to our eternal rest. That is the truth and the reason I lost my wings. But-" Riku faced forward again, not allowing his voice to break with the sorrow that remained even after accepting the fact that his wings were gone. "-you can choose not to believe me."
"You're lying!" Axel accused, making as if to attack Riku again when the angel suddenly noticed Sora at the edge of the clearing, staring wide-eyed at Axel and Riku.
"Shit- we'll continue this later, Riku." Axel said, opening a portal. "Without an audience." Axel stepped into the mass of dark energy he summoned, it disappearing behind him without a trace.
A/N: And the appearence of everyone's favorite pyro! I hope he wasn't too OOC- I tried, but I never finished Chain of Memories so any character traits not shown in KH2... I just don't know about them. Hopefully he's acting something like the Axel we all know and love!
Hopefully Riku didn't seem too weak- but remember, he's just been inside Kingdom Hearts, he's depressed, and he's barely at half power. Energy and morale is low with him at the moment- we all know Riku's stronger! He gets quite a bit stronger later on... I mean...