-Chapter 3: Axel in a Tree-

The first person I see is Xemnas, silver hair falling over his eyes, complimenting his whole "dark as night, cloak wearing; bad-ass perception."

Not that I find his whole "black cloak thing" hot though…I mean, come on. I'm Axel; I care for no silver haired hotties! I have dignity after all.

No, the person I care about is just emerging from the darkness. She wears the same hooded outfit, she possesses the same dark eyes…she's exactly as I remember her.

"Larxene…" I whisper, from my position on the tree.

We met a while back, when we were all juniors. Shinra; Mr. Wise' arch rival company in business, had just appeared.

The Shinra Company was as large as Gummy, and held tremendous power. It was the electric company you turned to when things got bad, it was the convenience store that you bought all your beer from. It made weapons…it did everything.

It was dangerous too, back then, under the management of a man named Sephiroth. He would charge people horrendously for his company's services, he would cheat and mislead and use every trick in the book to get us to pay him more.

Back then…he was the enemy.

My family had lost a lot to him, but when I met Xemnas; my true hate for Shinra began to grow. Xemnas hated them too…he wanted to bring them down.

So he found others, teenagers who had been scorned by Sephiroth's power. He made them join his little "club" well…club isn't the right word, it's more like an "organization".

Eventually there were twelve of us, twelve angry people who despised Shinra. When Larxene and I met we were inseparable, dating and loving each other…but that was not enough to stop the damage that would follow.

We took action, but even then we didn't know how far it could possibly go. It was just a game before, a little battle between "good" (us) and "evil" (Shinra). It didn't stay that way.

It started innocently…pep rallies, protests…boycotting. It was all simple, but that was when Shinra fought back. They sent spies into the Wise Company, and Gummy exposing all of their dirty little secrets. With this knowledge, they brought Ansem Wise down, as well as Mickey Mouse C.E.O of Gummy incorporated; they drove the two business men to near bankruptcy.

That was when Xemnas got violent. He infiltrated Shinra…and with a single loaded gun, disposed of Sephiroth once and for all. Shinra crumbled.

Mr. Wise got his fame back, as people came crawling back to his company, Mickey Mouse got all of his former customers back as well…that of course, is when the new guy stepped in.

His name was Cloud, and he was Sephiroth's brother. We expected it to get as bad before, for Shinra to come charging back, but it never did. Sure it regained its strength, but it never pursued the Wise family.

Cloud was different, we all knew it.

Well, all but Xemnas. He thought that all of the Strife's were the same, that Cloud was just as bad as Sephiroth: he was unforgiving. He got a new member: Roxas, and with him he sabotaged all of Shinra's shipments, orders, and command centers. Who knew an angry teen could do so much?

But Roxas saw how wrong it was…especially when Xemnas took the life of Aerith, Cloud's…um…lover.

Roxas left the organization…and I followed suit. I asked Larxene to go with me, we were in love. We'd dated since the organization's start after all…shouldn't she leave with me?

But she didn't. She was afraid of what Xemnas could do to her if she ever deserted the group.

I watch her now, blonde hair flicking behind one ear, eyes gazing around. She meets Xemnas in the center of the clearing.

He wraps his arms around her waist, snuggling his stupid little face into her thin, beautiful neck. She smiles slightly at his affection, but behind her eyes I can see fear.

It makes me want to jump from my hiding spot and run to her. I want to wrap my arms around her and whisper that it will be okay…but even I know it won't be.

I watch for a moment as Xemnas and my girl lock lips, my teeth clench with anger, and my eyes water with menace.

I hate him! Stupid Xemnas, I just want to set his head on fire!

At the thought of fire I calm down a bit, I climb down from the tree, tip toeing away before Larxene or Xemnas can notice me.

I want so badly to burn something…

A/N Well, this fic just gets bigger and bigger doesn't it? I bet you were wanting more romance and light humor in this chapter, sorry to disappoint you! Yes it's short, but its only purpose is to introduce Shinra, Cloud, and the reason that Xemnas is so…you know, evil.