"Whoa whoa whoa. Bad time, guys?" Axel smirked, knowing damn well that it was a bad time. Sora had to admit that they made quite a tableau of horror. All three teens were covered in Riku's blood. Kairi gaped. Riku was missing some teeth. Sora's hair was sticking up like a porcupine. And the smell- the combined smell of Kairi's hydrogen peroxide, the blood, and Sora's jizz-in-the-pants episode was enough to suffocate anyone. Unfortunately, Axel stood immune.
"Uh. Guys?" Axel scratched behind his ear, waiting for a response.
Perhaps the insanity of the day finally got to her. Perhaps she was so terrified that the fear had swung around and come back as courage. Whatever the reason, Kairi finally snapped. Roaring like a tiger, she lobbed the open bottle of hydrogen peroxide at Axel's face, grabbed the front legs of a nearby chair, and hurled herself at the Nobody, a blur of tacky furniture and wild purple hair. Axel was too surprised to do anything but smack her out of the air. Kairi hit the wall and then the floor, winded but still conscious. He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "crazy bitch."
"Ok, then. Now that's done… Sora, you're comin' with me." Axel extended a hand, as if he was offering a friendly invitation. Sora was really sick of people ordering him to come away with them.
"Oh, am I, now?" With a sharp slash, he summoned his keyblade, and shifted his weight back into a defensive battle position. Using his peripheral vision, he checked up on his friends. Both still conscious and relatively unharmed. He didn't risk making eye contact with Riku. His friend was too weak to pull off a surprise flank maneuver, anyway- better for him not to attract attention to himself.
"I wouldn't do that," Axel warned quietly. He snapped his fingers and conjured a quick ball of flame in one hand, resting the other on his hip. "You try to resist, and I light up this place like a fireworks show." He sniffed and looked around. "Damn shame- it's a nice house. But it's you I'm after, not the real estate. And you. Don't move." His final words were directed at Kairi, who had begun trying to crawl back to Riku. She slumped into the floor, defeated.
Sora lowered his keyblade slightly, tightening his grip. "What if I stop you?"
"You won't. These old beach houses are cute, but they sure go up fast." Sora scoffed, but knew Axel was right. Since wildfires were unheard of on the Destiny Islands, none of the homes had any sort of fire protection built in. When he was a kid, his neighbor's house had burned to the ground after a simple oven malfunction.
"So. If I resist, you murder my bleeding, wounded friends." Sora waited for a sliver of guilt, but then remembered. Nobody. No conscience. "What happens if I come with you?" Kairi gasped from the floor and began to protest, but Sora quieted her with a look.
"I whisk you away to somewhere safe, and we wake up Roxas." Axel said cheerfully, disappearing the fire with a wave of his hand. Sora stared. This guy was completely, certifiably insane.
"You're crazy. Roxas is gone, Axel." Maybe poking the bear wasn't such a good idea, but this was probably the last chance Sora would have to talk some sense into him before he ended up dead or worse.
"No. He's not. He's inside you. And based on what I've heard y'all say about these dreams you've been having, I think he's started kicking." Sora opted to ignore the creepy metaphor.
"You've been eavesdropping on us!?"
"Uh… yeah. I mean, what did you expect? I'm the bad guy, remember?" Sora paused to consider his options. 1. Go quietly to face whatever sick idea Axel has to 'bring Roxas back.' 2. Fight Axel and lose. Kairi and Riku are dead. Be dragged kicking and screaming to face whatever sick idea Axel has to 'bring Roxas back.' 3. Fight Axel and win. Kairi and Riku are dead. He was leaning towards the solution least likely to result in Kairi and Riku being dead.
"We're not letting you go, Sora." Riku spoke for the first time. His breathing was still labored, and he had the air of someone who'd been quietly gathering what little strength he had left in order to defend his best friend slash love-of-his-life from a crazy pyro madman. Sora kicked himself for forgetting his habit of speaking his thoughts out loud. Axel looked at Riku, and a flash of intense hatred passed through his eyes. Of course. Axel would likely know and be just as pissed as Sora, if not more so, that Riku and Roxas had made passionate love in the mud and the rain.
"Riku. Don't provoke him," Sora muttered, not moving his eyes from the Nobody with the fire.
"Don't provoke him? All I'm doing is lying here, bleeding to death." Riku was aiming for sarcasm, but his injuries made him come off as rather pathetic. "You shouldn't be afraid of Axel, Sora. He's just sad 'cause he's got no heart and no boyfriend." The room temperature shot up so quickly that Sora worried Axel was going to forget his deal and fry them all anyway.
"Last time I checked, you don't exactly have a boyfriend, either," Axel spat. "Poor little Riku, all hung up on a kid too dumb to notice his affections." Sora did not like the direction this was going, and desperately wanted the conversation to swing back towards him. Axel was going to hurt Riku. And why did it sound like they'd had this conversation before?
"Doesn't matter," Riku hissed, his weak voice developing a dangerous edge. "You're not taking him without going through me."
"Really. You can't even stand up, yet you're willing to throw yourself down for this guy?" Axel cocked his head. Suddenly something occurred to him. His face split into a wide, cat-like grin. "You know, you overhear a lot of things you shouldn't when you're eavesdropping…" He looked meaningfully at Sora. Sora paled. No. He wouldn't. He couldn't. Was Axel trying to blackmail him?
Riku caught on quickly. "Please. You're trying to blackmail Sora? That's sad, even for you. I've known him since we were in diapers- there's no way he's done anything blackmail worthy." Riku's words were strong, but an unease floated underneath them. He had, after all, suddenly blurted out his feelings for Sora not two days before. Sora bit his lip to keep his mouth shut. You think that he's going to tell you I don't love you back.
So much had happened, Sora hadn't had time to process what had happened between them. He remembered the panic in Riku's eyes. He knew now why Riku had been so worried- Sora's episodes reminded him of Ansem. Sora also knew that Riku had only been able to fight Ansem with King Mickey's help. And that was the heart of it, he realized suddenly. Riku was trying to do that for Sora- to be the barrier between him and what Riku supposed to be his internal darkness. And even afterwards, when Sora had said nothing at all, Riku had shoved his own feelings to the side and done what needed to be done to help him. He hadn't mentioned his confession once. Pure, undiluted, unconditional love. Sora turned to look at Riku, eyes full. But it was too late.
"God, you're slow." Axel yawned. "And this has gone on for forever. Tell you what- I'll give you a hint. Why, exactly, did you think that Sora had that dream in Kairi's house? Not to spoil the fun surprise, but when my boy's outta there, it seems… less than likely that Sora's gonna be drivin' stick anymore." He snapped his fingers, vanishing and reappearing directly behind Sora.
"Hey, kid. We're leaving." Before Sora could react, Axel boxed him in the side of the head, effectively stunning him. He found himself being scooped up, bridal-style. He was too numb to fight. Riku… Riku, please…
The room was silent, except for Kairi's choked sobs. Axel smiled, satisfied. Sora would have laughed if he could. You could wake up from unconscious adventures, but now he was being actually, physically kidnapped, and no one was trying to save him. What a wacky couple of days.
The darkness swirled up around him as he was carried into a portal. Bye, world. Well, he'd wanted to get off of the Destiny Islands, right? Be careful what you wish for.
Sora hovered between wakefulness and not, too tired and sad to wake up but not wanting to give himself up to his dreams. He didn't know where he was going, or if he was there yet. Here, the pain wasn't quite so strong. He could stay this way for a while yet.
Hey. Sora. Why hello, there, Somebody-I-Don't-Know. Apparently he had gone completely bonkers. Well, that was ok. Sanity was tiresome anyway.
Sora, listen to me. You're not crazy. Yeah, whatever, dude.
Sora! Man, when you started hearing voices, did they usually yell at you like this? Bad luck in reality, bad luck in crazy land.
Sora, it's Roxas. Get a fucking grip. Oh, just the being who was created from his hollow shell of a body after he lost his heart. Who he then re-merged with after being trapped asleep in a capsule for a year. Totally normal.
I want to talk to Axel. Axel? What's an Axel?
You're an asshat. I'm putting you to sleep now. Ok, then. Sora let the numbness overtake him, and settled happily into a peaceful, dreamless slumber.
The first sense that came back to Roxas was smell. Axel's smell. The scent was familiar, and pungent. The second was touch. He was being carried, one hand under his shoulders and one under his knees. His head was resting against a coat, which was covering Axel's hard chest. The air was cold, but Axel's unusually high body temperature was keeping them both warm. Third and fourth were taste and hearing- his tongue tasted thick and sweet, and he could hear Axel's footsteps on the ground beneath him. Roxas decided to keep his eyes closed for the time being. The world was too harsh. He found himself wanting to flee to the safety of the back of Sora's mind.
"Axel." Thank God he remembered how to talk. "Axel, where are we?" Silence. "Ax, you can talk to me- Sora's asleep." Axel froze. "And I'm beginning to wonder what the fuck your problem is."
"…Roxas?"
"Yeah. Roxas. You've made enough of an ass of yourself over me, one would think you'd be able to tell the difference." He knew Axel was blushing, but he wasn't ready to open his eyes yet to see for himself. He quickly regretted it though, as it would have prepared him for the sloppy kiss.
"Mmmmph-!" Roxas's eyes shot open in surprise, and then he burst out laughing. Axel's hair was every bit as red and crazy as it had been before, and after the laughter, he now had a red and crazy face to match. Reaching up to grab his lover's hair, Roxas returned the kiss in earnest. After a moment, Axel smiled and put him down. He swayed uneasily for a split second, but the motions of walking are pretty hard to forget, and he was soon solidly resting on his own two feet. He was a lot taller than he remembered being. Apparently Sora had grown in the past two years.
"Rox… that really is you."
"Would I lie to you, Axel?"
"Well… you seemed pretty mad a second ago." Oh, right.
"Yeah! What the fuck is wrong with you, threatening to burn Kairi's house down!?" Axel jumped at the sudden ferocity in his voice.
"Relax, Rox. I wasn't gonna torch anything," he promised, crossing his heart for emphasis. "I just needed to get you," he poked Roxas's chest, as if there was any doubt who he was talking about, "out of there, with as little damage to your body as possible. No way Sora was going to come quietly."
"So the best you could come up with was trying to murder his friends!? Oh, and nice work, spilling his little secret. I think you fucking broke him."
"So sue me," Axel sighed exasperatedly. "Honestly, if that was what's letting me talk to you like this, right now, I'd do it ten more times in a heartbeat." Roxas snorted and looked away. The red-head had a one-track mind.
"I know Sora is just an obstacle to you," Roxas said quietly. "But you know damn well that I only agreed to this stupid scheme of yours on the condition that he wouldn't get hurt."
"And he won't. I told you. We put you in your new body, Sora goes his merry way, happily you-free. I have no desire to hurt anyone. And he is not just an obstacle to me."
"I'd believe you, except that you just tried to burn his best friend's house down."
"I wasn't going to burn the damn house down!" Axel threw his hands in the air. "And you're the one who beat Riku's face in- I don't see you rushing back to apologize!" This conversation was on a fast track to nowhere.
"Fine. I'll believe you." Roxas muttered. "But you still didn't answer my question. Where are we?"
"I'm taking you to where you are."
"Why didn't you just portal there?"
"Didn't want to be followed," Axel said darkly. Roxas rolled his eyes.
"Riku can't open portals anymore, doofus."
"Can't be too sure." A long silence settled between them. Roxas looked Axel up and down. The Nobody really hadn't changed at all. He hadn't aged a day, even after de- and re-corporating. Roxas wondered suddenly how old his new body was. Would he still be 15? Sora was at least 17, now- would he be 17? While he was lost in thought, Roxas began to teeter awkwardly. Axel caught him around the shoulders.
"Whoa, Rox. You ok?"
"I- I don't think I can hold on any longer," Roxas slouched into Axel. The world was spinning.
"Hey. Don't push yourself. It's ok, Rox- just go to sleep." Axel smiled at him gently, and dropped a chaste kiss on his forehead. "I'm not going anywhere. And soon, you'll be yourself again. Promise." Roxas smiled dreamily in agreement, and let himself slip away.
When Sora awoke, his clothes were changed, he was seated on some kind of bench, and he was plagued with a horrible headache. The very worst kind of headache, where the pain comes from inside your head rather than out, as if there's just too much junk in your brain and it's trying to escape. He groaned pitifully and grabbed his hot forehead.
"Shut up. I'm trying to concentrate." Sora glanced up and saw someone he'd most definitely never seen before, but who seemed bizarrely familiar. He tried to remember. Where was Axel?
"Where's Axel?"
"He dumped you on me and ran off to make sure his pet was ok," the strange man snarled. He was filled with animosity, but Sora couldn't tell if it was for him or his red-headed captor.
"Who are you?"
"What?"
"… Who are you?" The man stared, then began muttering to himself.
"Of course. His memories were altered- he wouldn't remember-"
"Could you just tell me who you are, please?" Sora winced as the headache spiked. His brain was in overdrive, for no apparent reason at all.
"Vexen," the man hissed. Vexen. Nope, never heard of him. Wait. Sora dove through his feverish mind to find a memory from not too long before. He had no idea of knowing how long ago it had been since he'd last seen Riku, of course, but he was in too much pain to try to figure it out.
"Didn't you die?" The man turned sharply. "You- Riku told me- Riku told me Axel killed you." Sora shuddered. Now his muscles weren't working, either? "What, is that guy the anti-death or something?"
"Nope. Vexen was just too angry at being betrayed to disappear." Axel entered the room, a big smile on his face. Vexen hissed again, like a cornered, angry cat. Well, that answers that question. Sora moaned and collapsed sideways. Axel rushed over to his fallen body and put the back of his hand against Sora's forehead, reminding the boy of his mother. He giggled. He missed Mom.
"Vexen, he's on fire," Axel frowned. "Gimme some ice."
"Why should I? The problem will be solved as soon as they're separated. Let him suffer." Axel whipped around, conjuring two massive fireballs in the process. Vexen shrank back in fear, then quickly froze the seat Sora was on as well as some of the walls. Sora instantly felt better. The headache was still around, but it was manageable without the heat.
"Hey. It's ok, kid. You just feel sick because you're so close to Roxas's body." Roxas's body!? "What was it you said, Vex?"
"Two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time," the scientist growled.
"Yeah, that's it. You and Roxas aren't supposed to exist in the same body all at once, so your body is acting up," Axel translated. Sora's eyelids drooped. The pain was getting to him. Suddenly, his voice and body jumped into action all their own.
"You never told me fucking Vexen was involved!" he roared. "You want me to entrust both our lives to this freak show!?" Vexen sniffed indignantly. Axel moved to quiet him down.
"Relax, Rox. He knows if he fucks up, I'll kill him. Again." Axel punctuated his threat by shooting a glare at Vexen. Sora resurfaced.
"What- what good does it do if you kill him after he's already damaged me? Er, us?" Sora shivered. The ice was freezing him. This was not a good plan. Not good at all.
"Not gonna happen, Sora."
"You can tell the difference?" Vexen gasped.
"Yeah, asswipe. More work, less faux surprise."
"Number 8, you cannot-!"
"The Organization is gone, Vexy. I know you're lost without your rank, but hey, you can number your machines if it helps." Vexen was so angry, he looked as if he were about to have a heart attack. Too bad he didn't have a heart. God, that had to be frustrating. Like constipation times a million.
"C'mon, So. I want you to meet someone." Axel roughly pulled Sora to his feet, and supported him when it became clear that he wouldn't be able to move on his own. Sora found himself being drag-carried past what he now saw to be Vexen's makeshift lab and into a small side room. A small side room with a table. And on that table was a-
"Roxas?" Sora whispered. Axel nodded. His brain settled down, apparently satisfied that it was where it ought to be. Able to move independently again, Sora took a few steps toward his Nobody's empty body. He had never gotten a good luck at Roxas before, considering that the boy lived in the back of his head. The replica was perfectly proportioned, and looked to be about the same height as Sora himself. His face, so like Sora's, but oddly different. Sora reached out and touched his cheek. It was cold.
"I thought I lost him," Axel whispered suddenly, startling Sora out of his trance. "I was sure he was gone forever. So I died… but when I did, Roxas called out to me. He called me back. That's how I knew he was still alive. Inside you." Axel pulled out a comb and began carefully grooming the sleeping Roxas's hair, something he'd clearly done enough times for it to be routine. "I fought to find a way to speak to him. And then I found Vexen. We met in a bar, do you believe that?" The red-head was speaking to himself more than Sora. Or possibly he was speaking to Roxas. "We fought, of course. Fire and ice and all that. And I did assassinate him before. But then after a while, we talked. He needed a project. And I needed you. So- so we worked something out." Axel put down the comb. He turned to Sora. "I'm sorry, Rox- I should have told you about Vexen. But like you said. I was afraid you wouldn't agree to try if you knew I was counting on him. But really, who else would be able to build a Roxas Replica?"
"Axel…" Sora murmured. Or was it Roxas? It wasn't easy to tell anymore.
"Don't worry. It'll be over soon," Axel promised.
"What will happen to me?" Sora asked. Definitely Sora this time.
"Absolutely nothing. Like I said before, it's not natural for you to be together like this. Roxas was only needed as kind of a glue to hold your memories together while they were being repaired- now that you're whole anyway, transferring Roxas to a different body should be fairly easy. According to Vexen," Axel added sheepishly.
"Does that mean- can Naminé and Kairi be separated as well?"
"Hmm. I don't know, kid." Sora wondered whether Kairi would even want them to be separated- she never spoke of her Nobody at all. Riku would definitely jump at the chance to have the last bits of Ansem pulled out, but not at the cost of giving the beast his own body. Better to contain him, Riku would say. Riku!
"Riku! What did you mean when you said that to Riku!?" Sora suddenly burst out. He had forgotten, with being unconscious and then the headaches. But now he remembered, in the most painful way imaginable. Riku had lain there and allowed him to be kidnapped. He didn't even say anything. Just lay there. Nothing. Sora fought back tears. Axel saw, and apparently felt guilty enough to give Sora an explanation.
"Well… it was actually kinda shit…" he began, then realized this wasn't the best tack to take, and started over. "Roxas is a part of you, but not. His personality is quite a bit different from yours, as I'm sure you know. When I started waking him up… he began affecting you, even before he realized it." Axel paused to allow his words to sink in. "You probably got more irritable, stuff like that. And, also, you saw in some of your dreams, well, Roxas is as gay as a picnic basket. You, on the other hand… when did you start getting into guys?"
Sora thought about it, hard. All signs pointed to less than a year ago. He tried to convince himself that he'd had a crush on Riku when he was younger, but no luck. The tears got stronger, and one escaped and slid down his cheek.
"I thought so. And, Riku," it was hard not to notice the dislike in his voice, "and Roxas had a torrid affair, and Roxas always had the hots for him. Of course he was going to go after him in your body," he finished softly. "Sorry, kid. But hey, now that you've done it with a guy, maybe you will stay gay after…?" Sora was silent. Axel scratched his ear.
"I… guess I'll leave you two alone for a little while, then." Axel left quietly, shutting the lights off on the way. Sora climbed onto the table next to Roxas, curled up in a little ball, and cried himself to sleep.
Sora expected to see a memory. What he got was Roxas. Just Roxas, surrounded by nothingness, sitting cross-legged, looking at him with his head tilted to one side.
"Yo, Sora." Roxas smiled and waved a little.
"Eh- hi? How are we able to talk like this?"
"Please. You're the one that fell asleep all up on me." Sora thought for a moment, then blushed. He had indeed fallen asleep snuggled up to his Nobody. He just wanted to be close to someone, and Roxas's lifeless body was all that was available. The whole situation was kind of creepy, now that he was thinking about it.
"It's ok, I don't mind. Just know, you're cute and all, but screwing my Other is a little too kinky, even for me. So no funny stuff, ok?" Sora snorted.
"Why are you here? Now? Why aren't I just seeing your memories?"
"Huh? Oh- well, I kinda thought you'd, you know, have some questions. Being kidnapped and all. And, for the other one, I'm now happily strong enough to block you from my mind." Sora didn't much like the idea of having another sentient being bouncing around in his head. The sooner Roxas was gone, the better.
"Tell me… this 'project,' will it work?"
"Axel promises me that it will. And I trust him." Sora sighed.
"Axel? The jerk who just tried to kill my two best friends and then kidnapped me? The only memory I had of the two of you, he attacked you with a frickin' lamp!"
"You.. don't know him as well as I do. And I already told him he was an asshole for the whole torching-the-house thing. He was just trying to get you to come without a fight. According to him, that is," Roxas finished, muttering.
"What a douche." Roxas jumped at the strong word coming out of Sora's mouth.
"Wow, Sora! Didn't think you had it in you! I guess I've been a good influence, then."
"Yeah, guess so." Sora hesitated, then decided to ask the question that was burning his tongue. "Roxas… what's going to happen to me and Riku?"
"You and Riku? I didn't realize there was a 'you and Riku.'" Roxas seemed genuinely surprised. "I thought you all were fuck buddies." Tears welled up in Sora's eyes. "Uh, if you're worried about not being attracted to Riku when I'm gone, I don't think that should be a problem… come on, have you seen the guy?" The tears kept coming. "Uh, Sora… why are you sad?"
Sora murmured something unintelligible. "Louder, So. Can't help if I can't hear you."
"He's not going to love me anymore," Sora bit out. And once the words were in the air, he burst into sobs. Roxas smiled. It was all he could do to stop from laughing.
"That's what you're worried about?" Sora looked up, shocked. "That guy would still be in love with you if you killed his cat. I think you might be pleasantly surprised."
"W-what do you mean?" Roxas checked a non-existent watch on his wrist.
"Sorry. We're outta time, Sora. Next time we chat like this, it'll be in real life." Roxas smiled broadly. He was excited, in spite of himself. Sora opened his mouth to protest, and Roxas cut him off.
"No buts, Sora. Time to wake up."
Sora was still curled up next to Roxas, face wet with tears. Axel was leaning against the wall, apparently keeping an eye on them both.
"Nice dream, kiddo?" Sora stiffened.
"Stop calling me kid. I'm the same age as your boyfriend. That's sick."
"Sorry, k- uh, Sora. He just… seems a lot older than you. Maybe it's the drunken pirate thing." Sora once again opened his mouth to protest, and was once again cut off.
"Ah, Axel?" Vexen's voice, high and strained, drifted in from the next room. "We seem to have a visitor, and he says he'd like to speak with you."
