AXLE

He seems to talk to Mel differently now. Maybe he is finally getting used to her. As this thought came to my mind the ship shook violently. I flew back against the wall and Mel flew off the bad and slammed into Riku's chest, but he didn't even budge.

He's more solid then me….. no wonder the chicks love him. No fair! I've gotta start workin' out.

Mel lifted her head and Riku looked down at her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Y-yes…. I'm fine."

Even though she is good at acting strong and proud, she's not all that great at hiding her feelings, at least, not from me. Sora's voice came over the intercom, breaking up the lovely moment.

"Hey, Mel. Sorry to disturb you so early, but the Heartless have attacked…"

The ship rocked again and Donald squabbled in the background.

"….But the Heartless have attacked earlier than anticipated. From now on it looks like it's going to be a bumpy ride. If you want, and of course Riku and Axle can help too…."

Once again Sora's voice was interrupted by a loud crash.

"Sorry… but you all can help shoot down the Heartless ships…."

We all glanced at each other and then scrambled out of the room and up the stairs.

"Good! I knew that would get your attention." Sora began, "Mel there's a door on your right, behind it is stairs to a bigger room in the top of the ship. That is where the Comet, the Ultima, and the Orachilum lies. Riku, below us in the hall, there is a small hatch in the floor on the left. Axel… the same but on the right for you. Go to the far corners of the hall, passed the rooms. Riku will control the Gravira and the Masume, Axel has control of the giant Saw. Alright! Hurry and be careful!"

MEL

I wondered why I was given most of the weapons. I would have been happy with the Saw…. But captain's orders I suppose. Nonetheless I opened the door and ran up the stairs. It was a large room but to the left was a small opening to a small cockpit, like to a jet. There were handles on both sides of the gun. Two buttons were on the left handle, one was yellow the other was red. On the dashboard was a blue button. I carefully sat down in the black leather chair.

"Alright everyone, buckle up. From now on this is battle stations. For now there's not many Heartless ships, but once we start to fire they will be everywhere, so be on your guard. It's easy once you get the hang of it. Put on your headphone communicator things and let's play battleships." Sora said over the intercom.

I put on the headphones/microphone thing and decided to fool around.

"This is Peaches and I'm clockin' in." I said in a hick voice.

I heard laughter come through the headphones.

"Nice Mel….. real nice." Axel said.

Even Donald and Goofy were laughing.

"Alright Peaches…" Sora said laughing.

"Hey! Only Riku can get away with calling her that." Axel said.

I heard Riku clear his throat.

"Um… I see some ships….. Twelve o'clock high."

"Those are yours, Mel." Axel said.

I pulled the gun towards me and looked through the scope.

"Twelve o'clock high…." I murmured.

The scope automatically targeted the ship closest to the crossfire. I pushed one of the buttons, the yellow one to be exact, and two rockets launched and flew right into the ship, blowing up.

"Whoo-hoo!" Sora cried, "Way to go Mel! Now… get ready… the fun begins."

The crossfire immediately and automatically locked on to the next closest ship. I pushed the red button and a laser shot out attacking the ship. The last flew below my view.

"Axel, the last one is yours." I said.

I heard the whine of metal and then a small explosion.

"Got 'im."

"Alright guys…. Here comes the flood. Get what you can in your view. If you get injured announce it, then come back up here. Good luck!" Then Sora checked out.

I could see twelve coming at us, then they split up in three groups of four. One group went to the low left, the other went to the low right. The last came to play with me.

"Alright…. Let's teach them a lesson." I said cheerfully.

I looked through the scope and the crossfire locked on. I sent out the comets to find it, then I locked onto another ship then shot out the Ultima.

"This is way better than the games!"

"That's because this is real life." Axel said gleefully.

Suddenly I felt our ship dive down. My stomach leaped into my throat.

"Whoa, Sora! What's up?" I asked.

"Sorry…. It's the Heartless. They're trying to dive-bomb us."

"Kamikaze…" I grumbled, "Wonderful…"

"Kam-a-what?" Axel asked.

"In our world, we have many wars. One of them that have passed was my country against a….hold on one second…"

I shot out a comet, as the crossfire locked on two ships at once. They both blew up.

"Our world isn't exactly the friendliest of places. We are prejudice against our own selves. That's another reason why I always wanted to leave. But my country called the United States of America, was in a war against many places at once; Germany, Russia, and Japan. So far we are fine now… but we were at a war with some other country before Earth disappeared. I used to the think the United States as the smelly armpit of the world…. But that was just my opinion and I never spoke it out loud. Anyway, the Japanese would use kids like Sora's age as suicide bombers. They would crash their own airplanes into our boats and ships. It's hard to explain since it's the history of a world your not quite familiar with…. But they were called Kamikazes."

Five more showed up, I pushed the blue button to see what it did, I saw a blade swing up and down, slicing one of the ships in half.

"Whoa…" Whispered.

I launched out a few comets and then an Ultima. That took care of them.

"How's everyone doing?" I asked.

"Great!" Sora replied.

"I'm okay." Riku said.

"Brilliant! Just peachy! I can't get my Saw to work…. It's jammed." Axel cried.

"Someone go help him…. Who knows mechanics?" Sora asked.

"My dad's a mechanic…. I know quite a few things… but I don't know about a gummi ship…. It's different than the vehicles and other machinery in my world…" I said.

"it's all machines though. Don't they all need the same functions to work, right?" Sora asked.

"I suppose…"

"Then I'm sure you can figure it out. Donald, take Mel's position. Mel, you go help out Axel."

"Okay."

I unbuckled and jumped down the stairs, almost crushing Donald along the way.

"I'm sorry…." I said in a sharp breath.

I burst through the door and ran down the spiral stairs, almost making me dizzy, Axel had left open the hatch and was waiting for me.

"Come on…"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" I said with some annoyance.

I jumped down into the small door and went down some more stairs with Axel behind me.

"What do you use to work it?" I asked quickly.

"That lever on your left."

I tried to pull it but it was jammed tight.

"Hmm…."

I looked at the wires and made sure they hadn't shorted out, but they had not. The chains were fine along with the gears. They even looked recently oiled.

"What seems to be the problem?" Sora called over.

I bent over Axel's chair and moved hi microphone towards my lips.

"I'm not sure… everything seems to be functional…. But I think I can get it to work….. hold on."

I found a monkey wrench hanging up on the wall nearby.

"What are you going to do?" Axel asked.

I raised the monkey wrench and began beating the crap out of the contraption.

"Mel! Mel!! I don't think that's going to.."

Suddenly the wheels began to turn and steam rose from the gears as they began to turn. I reached over and pulled the lever. Instantly, I heard the saw whine and shriek overhead. I turned around and grinned at Axel.

"Cool!" Sora said.

I took over Axel's microphone again.

"Sometimes all it takes is a little beating to put things in line…" I winked.

Axel smiled as he crossed in front of me and sat in his chair.

"Ask if anyone needs anything else. Also ask if Riku's okay…. He hasn't said much."

Axel smiled as he brought the microphone towards his lips, then he covered it with his hand.

"Checking up on someone you care about? Hmm??" He teased

"No," I growled, " I'm making sure he is alright just as you both did for me…"

"What are you talking about?"

"I know that's the main reason you and Riku showed up at my door," I said as I flashed a smile, "You were making sure I was okay. You were both looking out for a friend, as am I. I'm looking after my friends."

Then I turned around to walk up the small amount of stairs when I heard Axel's voice.

"Mel wants to know if everything is in alignment before she heads up again. Sora? You alright up there?"

"Yeah, we're great up here. Donald you can go ahead and come down now."

"Ah Phooey…" Came Donald's reply.

"What about you, Riku?" Axel continued, " How are you hangin'?"

"Actually…. I'm pretty bored… but I'm fine. Tell Peaches I said 'Thanks'."

"Will do."

Axel turned around and held the microphone in his hand.

"I'm sorry Mel. I was just teasing. I know he's your friend…. You just seem a little over protective that's all. I know what it's like to be falling for someone and I just want to let you know that if you ever need to talk about it, I'm here."

"Thanks, but I'm protective over all my friends. I love them all. I would give them everything, even you. I don't know what I would do if I lost any of you. I know I haven't actually known you all for very long, but my heart has. Our hearts know each other and for that reason I will do all I can to protect everyone I care about."

"Wow…. Nice speech…" Axel smiled. "Now go to your 'Battle Station' before the 'Boss' kicks your tail."

I smiled as I walked up the stairs.

"Hey Axel?"

"What?"

"Do you want me to leave the door open?"

"Yes, Please!"

I left it open then I ran up the spiral stairs.

"Good job, Mel. Soon the Heartless should clear up… then you can get in your rest."

"Hey…. I know this sounds weird… but can I just bring a pillow and blanket up here… I really don't like being alone. I've gotten so used to having…"

"Friends around. I understand, completely. Sure, it's fine with me. I'll bring out a recliner from the wall for you or something."

"Thanks, Sora. You're the best."

He closed his eyes and grinned.

"Thanks Mel. "

I walked up the stairs and jumped into my seat. Then I put on my mike and checked in again.

"Alright. Let's take out the rest of these guys…" Sora said.

"With pleasure…" Riku laughed.

Three showed up in front of me and as soon as the crossfire locked onto the middle ship, I fired the comet and the Ultima, hitting all three of them. After a few minutes Donald said, 'it's all clear… for now.'

"Alright kids. Playtime is over. You can do what you want. Mel, I will get everything ready for you in a jiffy."

"Thanks Sora."

Then I took off the headphones and draped them over the back of the chair. I pushed an overly large green button on the wall to turn off the lights to save energy. I opened the door and walked down the stairs. As soon as I opened the door, Donald and Goofy appeared in front of me. Donald held a pillow and Goofy held a folded blanket, both were the purest of white.

"Oh, thank you… but you know you didn't have to…"

"We wanted to." Donald said with a smile.

Sora brushed off the chair and looked up at me with a smiled.

"Wow…. What is all this for? I feel like royalty…"

"The King said that you.." Goofy began but Donald elbowed him.

"To an extent you are royalty… beside the King told them to take extra good care of you. The reason why… even I am not sure of…" Sora explained.

Riku and Axel come in talking in low whispers as I sat in the chair. I curled up and leaned the chair back. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and laid my head on the pillow.

"Are you comfortable? Axel said with an amused smile.

"Yes… I am actually."