A/N Well, here we are, at part 1 of the three part climax of this story. We've been through so much…and I just… sniffs thanks for sticking with me guys!

-Chapter 17: Shatter pt 1 Entrance-

"Axel…" Larxene whispered, here eyes glowing in the almost-dark. Rain was pelting her hair, pouring down her cloak. A small puddle was forming at her feet…and all I could do was watch her with my lustful eyes…my lips were quivering in desire…

"Yes?" I asked.

"I love you…I've always loved you. You've just been too stupid to notice," Larxene laughed impishly, spinning into my arms.

"I-I love you too…and yeah…I was a bit dim."

She giggled, as my arms wrap around her. "You know, my parents used to tell me something, before they died. It was like a lullaby, a mantra even," she smiled at the far off memory; "They used to tell me I was never alone, that God was always with me. Do you know what they said?"

"Huh?"

She raises her head, seductively, and whispers into my ear; "God is in the rain…"

I close my eyes, feeling the water as it dripped and trickled down my body and my face. "Christ is in the fire…my dad used to tell me that. He's a bit of a pyromaniac."

"Hmm…" Larxene murmured as she placed her hands on my face and wipes away two "sky-tears" as she called them. "That's a nice saying; it goes well with mine…we're like a puzzle; we fit together."

"I love you, got it memorized?" I asked, in a flirty kind of voice.

She giggled, kissing me.

"Axel," she whispered, pulling away to lean against my chest.

"Don't let me go…" and the memory changed. "If you let go, I'll—"

---

"Axel!" someone says in the distance, shaking me roughly. "Axel! Wake up!"

"Hmm…what is it…?" I murmur, lazily. My eyes open and the darkness becomes alive with soft colors of ebony wood and black stripes.

"We've been captured!" the girl who woke me says—Namine, I realize. "The Organization members attacked us! And Roxas might die…a-and…"

"Namine!" I jump up, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. "Pull yourself together woman! We can't panic! WE CAN'T PANIC! P-A-N-I-C GOT IT MEMORIZED? IF WE PANIC WE COULD DIE! OF COURSE WE PROBABLY SHOULD PANIC BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA DIE BECAUSE XEMNAS IS GONNA KILL US WHEN HE'S DONE WITH CLOUD AND…OH MY GOD I'M PANICKING!!!"

I run around in a circle, yelling; "Oh god, oh god, oh god!"

"AXEL!" Namine trips me, I fall to the ground, and then she helps me up. "Follow your own advice you idiot!" she slaps me in the face.

There's a couple of seconds of awkward silence until…"Thanks Namine. I needed that."

"You're welcome," she says indignantly, crossing her arms.

"SOOOOOO," I look around the room, it's made of entirely black wood, with white stripes cascading from the ceiling…or rising from the floor…one of those, boxes are all around us; "Where the hell are we?"

"I think we're in Xemnas' mansion."

"Figures…how're we going to get out of here?"

"I don't know," Namine taps her chin, looking around. She suddenly grabs a nearby cardboard box, and drags it to one end of the room. She grabs another, and stacks it on top of the first. She repeats this process with at least five others. Then she starts again, with one at the base of her "box tower" she then stacks four more. She places another box under the shorter "box tower" and starts repeating the process, except this time with three more boxes. She does this until there are five box tours, and then a single box at the very bottom.

"What're you doing?" I ask.

Her only answer is a pointing gesture. I follow her hand and look to where she's pointing. A small window is at the very top of the room (we must be in the basement or something). She begins to use the boxes as stairs. First stepping on the one box "box tower" then the two box one; the three box one; the four box one; the five box one; and finally, the six box one. As she readies herself to crawl through the window, the boxes begin to shudder. She looks down fearfully, as the boxes tumble beneath her.

Namine yelps as she falls to the ground, boxes dive bombing around her. I run towards her and catch her in my arms. She sighs in relief as the boxes fall all around us.

"Hey Namine?" I drag out the word "hey".

"Yeah?"

"I'm feelin' reeeaaaallly horny right now." She gasps and starts squirming around, to the point where I accidentally drop her.

She gazes at me with wide eyes, she starts to blush feverishly.

"Relax, it was a joke. So…how are we getting out of here again?"

-Sora-

There we all are; me, Riku, Sakura and Kairi. The four of us are all crouched in the grass. Watching as complete and utter madness takes the Shinra building.

It's a really smart plan, actually. First the "Organization" parked all their shiny cars around the base. A little while later, the fire alarm sounded, and fire works were used to make it look like the building was on fire. As the workers left the Organization members entered, ten of them, for one was missing besides Roxas or Axel.

"So…this is it?" I ask, looking at the others, all around me.

Kairi nods. "We'll sneak in and warn Mr. Cloud before they get to him, easy peasy lemon squeezy."

"What?" Sakura asks with a bewildered expression.

Kairi shifts uneasily; "Saw it in a movie once."

Sakura rolls her eyes as Riku interrupts them; "Look, let's just get in and out, okay? There's only…ten of them. If we're careful we can SO beat them to Mr. Cloud. All we have to do is get to that tower," he points to the building I the center of all the others, it rises like a sky scraper and is built like an old fashioned castle.

"That's a long way to go," Sakura notes dryly. "If anyone wants to turn back, they better do it now. Because once we go in that building, there's no going back."

"I'm in," I say automatically.

"I go anywhere you go," Riku says, looking at Sakura with soft eyes.

"Let's go," Kairi says, standing up.

We follow her lead, running down towards the Shinra building, choosing to enter from the North building instead of the south building, unlike the Organization members.

"Let's fight," Sakura says, with a half smile, as we proceed through the dark hallway.

-Namine-

I look around, searching for any kind of exit from this room. But there is none. The boxes will just topple over under my weight again if I try that window…the door's locked…god…we're trapped in here.

"GAW!" I moan, falling onto my butt; "It's hopeless, there's no way out," I say quietly.

"Don't give up," Axel says with a sigh, even though he doesn't sound too hopeful himself. "There's got to be a way out of here. Or mine name isn't Shirley Temple."

"But your name isn't—"

"Hello?" someone says from behind the door. "Axel? Namine? You two there?" the voice sounds vaguely familiar.

"Who's asking?" Axel asks.

The door unlocks with a click and a pink haired man in the standard "black cloaked" Organization uniform makes his entrance.

"MARLUXIA?!" Both Axel and I exclaim at the exact same time.

"Yeah, yeah," the girly-guy says, grabbing the pyromaniac and me by the arm. "C'mon, there's not much time. Xemnas is attacking the Shinra building. And you've got to be there. It's going to be so fun!"

"Why are you helping us?" Axel asks, shrugging Marluxia off of him.

"Oh, no reason. I just want you to see the show," the pink haired teen winks. "Believe me, something VERY surprising is going to happen."

-Sakura-

I feel the darkness all around me, for the Shinra building's power has been cut (yet another one of Xemnas' brilliant plans). I walk, with Riku by my side. He grabs my hand suddenly, making me hesitate for a quick second, before squeezing his palm and continuing on.

"How close are we?" I ask Kairi. She has a flash light and is using it to read "The Shinra Map".

"We're close…just a few more turns…"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Riku and Sakura," someone says in front of us. We all look up, to see Demyx and Xigbar.

"Oh no, not you two again," Riku says, exasperated.

"You bet your bottom dollar, dude," Xigbar says, raising twin guns at us.

-Axel-

Marluxia left a while ago, to follow the other Organization members through the North entrance, Namine and I, however are taking the west passage. Well, at least, I am.

"You're not coming, Namine, and that's final," I yell at her.

"Oh, don't give me that," she says in her quiet voice, "I'm going; and I'm going now." She walks past me and my gaping mouth. I remember when she used to do everything that I said…but then, she was only seven or so…

"C'mon Axel!" she motions to me from halfway down the corridor. "It's dark; I don't think I can find the tower without help."

"What if I refuse? And I just make you stay outside while I go beat Xemnas' ass?"
"Then you'll have Roxas to deal with for leaving me out in the cold."

"Right."

I touch her shoulder and lead her into the darkness. "But wait, won't he get madder if I lead you into danger and you die?"

"Uh…heheh…no?"

-Riku-

Sakura leaps into action, she dives headfirst, sliding over the floor and crashing into Xigbar's legs. The sharp shooter falls to the ground, bringing Demyx down with him. Sakura stands and presses her finger to first Xigbar's then Demyx' pressure points. The two fall unconscious almost instantly.

"Well, that was easy," she says, getting up.

"Was it?" A voice asks, she turns, to a gun barrel pointed at her head. "Hello, I don't think we've met, I'm Saix."

A/N I met for there to be more action in this chapter, but that plan kind of…fell through. Don't worry though; I'll try to keep the next chapter action packed!

Oh, and I've also changed my mind about pre-writing. I just can't do it. When I have a chapter done I just want to show the world. So, you'll see the next chapters the moment after they've been edited.

So, I know a couple people said that Sora was a little OOC in the last chapter, with punching Riku and all that. Well, my question to you is, what would you have done in that situation; any of you? What if YOUR best friend had stolen YOUR girlfriend without meaning too? What if that same best friend already had a gorgeous girlfriend that you had no hope of getting? Then throw in the fact that your cousin could die (all though, that was resolved in the last chapter) and you've got a story. Sure, Sora's usually pretty level headed…but in a situation like this what is he supposed to do?

Exactly…even people like Sora can flip out, even guys like Roxas can be selfish, and even mellow dudes like Axel can panic the hell out of something! And yes, during his dream sequence I MEANT to put everything in past tense.

See you next chapter!