Title: The Fatal Believer
Author: comeandgetmebabe
Disclaimer: I own the can of soda I'm currently sipping from. Bought it myself.
NOTE: So, I finished my finals and wanna cool down a bit after this rather hellish year, but this story has been neglected for way too long.
Apparently our narrator hates the Chinese. Or maybe he just hates humans. OMG A CLUE!!!11eleven. Or is it? I'm playing with your mind. OR AM I?!
About the Roxas Stuff: I know in Final Mix + there's a lot of back-story for Roxas and the rest of the Organization in general. However, as much as I love canon, I:
a) Don't understand Japanese and therefore can't figure out what they're saying and
b) Am perfectly happy with making it up. It works better with the story.
Enjoy!
/o/O/o/
Oh that Axel. He's unimpressed with the Land of the Dragons for all the wrong reasons.
He and the Trio of Good are standing in the ruins of a once gorgeous village. A village that was filled with laughter and joy and haystacks and gongs and Chinese architecture and vibrant colors. Now in ruins. Oh the pain. Oh the despair. Oh the agony of it all.
"Ugh, look at this place…" Red mutters as he and the Trio of Good walk through the burnt down village.
"It's pretty horrible," agrees Sora. "Shan Yu burned it down—he was taken over by Darkness. But we defeated him!" he adds brightly. "And now the people who lived here can rebuild." Sora smiles at Axel, showing all his teeth. Axel looks down disdainfully at Sora and rolls his eyes.
"Pfft, whatever," says Axel. He gestures at the black skeletons of once ornate buildings. Dick that he is, Axel says, "This was obviously done by amateurs."
See? All the wrong reasons.
Axel goes on for a few minutes about how flawed the technique the Shan Yu used to burn the village down was. He doesn't notice how utterly shocked, confused, and pissed off Sora, Goofy, and Donald look (respectively).
"How can you say that?" gasps Sora. "Aren't you worried about the people who lived here? They could have gotten hurt and you just…you just wish Shan Yu were more effective!"
"I don't wish anything," says Axel. He leans in close to Sora, once again making Blue Eyes very, very uncomfortable. "I'm a Nobody, Sora," Red whispers. "I don't feel like wishing." He smiles at the look on Sora's face. "How 'bout this: I wish Shan Yu had done a better job because…." He thinks for a moment, like he really has to. "Because if these ruins weren't here, then the townspeople wouldn't have to clear them away when they try to rebuild. It would make it easier on them."
Smooth, Axel, real smooth.
Dick.
"Oh…well…uh…" Axel is still entirely too close to Sora. And in the whipping cold up on the mountain, the heat that radiates from Axel feel so good. Part of Sora wants to wrap his arms around Axel so he can feel that heat all through his body.
Fortunately, part of him remains sane.
Donald and Goofy both notice the tension between the two humans. While Donald is getting ready to lay a few well-chosen spells of Axel's conniving ass, Goofy tries to defuse the situation. Because Goofy, unlike most people on Sora's journey, is a good-hearted creature who truly deserves to called a Hero of Light.
"I wonder how everybody's doin'?" he asks. Axel straightens up from Sora (and Sora looks so…conflicted when he does) and raises an arrogant eyebrow at the dog.
"'Everyone'?" asks Axel, because he's a jerk. "Who's 'everyone'? If the people who lived in this town were smart, they would have run away by now."
"He means Mulan!" snaps Donald. Because Axel, who's never been to the Land of the Dragon's before, is supposed to automatically know who that is.
"Oh. Okay," says Axel, now bored again. Sora gives Axel a perplexed look and is so about to say something when Donald cries out: "Hey look!"
All four turn with varying degrees of interest and lookie here. Running up the mountain is a figure cloaked in black—like an Organization member.
"Wait!" yells Sora, and he and Donald and Goofy scamper after the man in black. Axel lazily dawdles behind, still taking in the scenery. Of course, he could easily just teleport himself right on top of the cloaked man and get him on the ground, thus making it easier for all of us, but as I said before, Axel is a total jerk.
"Sora!"
All four of the boys turn around to see a Chinese woman, Mulan, running up the mountain. Ah yes, Mulan. The woman who couldn't fight to save her life when she dressed as a man, but as soon as she turned back into a girl could beat anyone to the ground. She's almost as sickening as Boy Wonder.
Almost. Not quite.
"Mulan, hey," says Sora. "No time to talk. We gotta catch that guy!"
Mulan, who was just hunched over to catch her breath, stands. For a woman in such a hurry, she walks slowly and sedately towards our heroes. "I'm following him too," she says in a mechanical voice. She notices Axel, because Mulan is so damn observant. "Hey…you're wearing black too!"
"So's he," says Axel, jerking his thumb at Sora.
Mulan opens her mouth, then closes it again, like some gaping Chinese goldfish. Axel has that affect on people.
"Do you know—"
"No, I don't know who that is. I'm Axel, got it memorized? Don't you have someone to be chasing?" he drawls at the Sea of Idiots.
"Then let's GO!" squawks Donald, getting entirely too worked up. The four heroes run up to the Ridge, followed by the one villain who is going at a leisurely pace. At the ridge, Sora and Co. and Mulan all look around wildly, searching for the man in black.
"Ahem," coughs Axel, pointing. They all look up and see the man in black running up the mountain.
"Good work, Axel!" Blue Eyes mouths at him, because he wants to keep the element of surprise or something moronic like that. They all run up to the summit. Sans Axel.
Standing at the bottom of the summit. One false move and they could all just topple over the side of the cliff.
"Gwarsh, where's Axel?" asks Goofy, looking around for Red. Thank you for the observation, Goofy. You are truly one of a kind.
Axel takes this moment to teleport right next to Sora. When he pops up, their arms are touching.
Boy Wonder shivers. Not because of the cold.
Idiot.
Mulan sighs, looking around. And by looking around, I mean moving her head from side to side. Mulan is so very vigilant. "Looks like he got away…"
"How come you're after somebody from Organization XIII?" asks Goofy.
"What's that?" asks Mulan.
"It's a group of Nobodies who—" begins Axel, but Sora cuts him off.
"The guy in black."
"One of the bad guys!" cries Donald, crossing his arms. He gives Mulan a Significant Look and nods his head at Axel, as if to say He's a bad guy toooOOOoooo.
"I knew it!" cries Mulan. "There's a rumor in the Imperial City about a spy in black lurking in the mountains. I'd been up here tracking him, but when you arrived, I lost him."
"Ahh…" murmurs Sora, not knowing what to say. Goofy looks sadly at the ground, like he's ashamed. "Sorry!" He sounds like he's going to cry. And after all poor Goofy has gone through to help his king and his friend, he sure has the right to.
Mulan smiles warmly. "Don't apologize, but I do wonder where he went."
And now, ladies and gentlemen, we get to see our heroes in action.
From the cusp of the summit comes a low rumbling, and the sudden appearance of hundreds of Rapid Thruster Heartless trembling at the edge. They come barreling downwards, with their five targets in sight.
"Again?!" squawks Donald.
"What do you mean 'again'?!" yells Axel, looking up at the stampede of Heartless.
"I'll explain later, first things first!" yells Sora, and he and the rest of the Heroes of Light run up the hill. Boy Wonder stops, however, and turns. He sees something. Something that shouldn't be there.
Sora doesn't know how Riku escaped the Realm of Darkness. He doesn't know what he had to do to get out. He doesn't know how Riku hacked and slashed his way through Castle Oblivion, he doesn't know the sacrifices the silver haired boy make in the Dark City, and he has no idea whether the man with the hood covering his face even is Riku.
But Sora has a feeling. That's what separates him from Axel, by the way: his feelings. In case you haven't gotten that yet. Sora feels so strongly that it's gotten him into and out of jams. And when Sora looks at the cloaked figure, he feels what he felt when he looked at Riku—a tightening in his throat, a shiver down his spine, from fear, from longing, from who knows because Sora feels so much he can barely breathe sometimes.
But he sucks all this emotion up and yells "Hey! You! Quit sneaking around!"
The man in black just holds out his hand, which can mean one of two things:
One: I wanna play with you, Sory-Wory or
Two: Come and fight.
And the battle begins.
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
How Sora can't figure out this is Riku is completely beyond me. The same stance, the same grace, the same fluid motion, the same weapon! A sword shaped like a bat wing, sharp and twisted and so obviously Riku. Why can't Blue Eyes see this? Any idiot can.
Including Axel, who has stayed at the bottom of the summit to watch.
His acid eyes are trained on Sora's every move. He's waiting for Boy Wonder to fall, to fail, to cry out for help. With the never ending barrage of Rapid Thrusters and the grueling battle against the man who's obviously Riku, Sora doesn't stand a chance. And Axel knows this. It's all part of his plan.
Sora falls down on one knee. Head whipping around wildly, he spots Axel dawdling at the bottom of the summit. "Axel!" he cries as the man in black approaches and the Rapid Thrusters prepare to swoop down in one final attack. "Axel, HELP!"
Axel does nothing. Red just smiles his serpent smile at Sora and holds up one gloved hand. He shakes his index finger from side to side.
"C'mon, Sora."
"What?! AXEL!" Sora bellows. He tries to climb to his feet but is smashed back down to the ground by one of the Heartless.
"You didn't say the magic word," Axel calls out. He's enjoying himself, the prick.
"AXEL!" yells Sora, as the man in black comes closer. Sora whips his head around and his eyes connect with Red's. Sky blue and poison apple green.
"Please," he whispers.
Axel feels something shift in his stomach. He remembers, because that's the only thing Nobodies can do.
He remembers when those same eyes looked into his. Dull and emotionless, those eyes had stared up and him and those smooth, rose petal lips had whispered…
"Close your eyes," Red yells to Sora. Sora, against his better judgment, does so.
Searing heat rushes around Sora, enveloping him, consuming him. He can hear the Heartless being destroyed; feel their hearts brush past him as they go on to the mysterious Kingdom Hearts. And then he feels lips right next to his ear and warm breath on the side of his face.
"You can open your eyes now," Axel murmurs.
A moment's hesitation and Sora opens his eyes.
All the Rapid Thrusters are gone. The air is filled with smoke—the only thing that remains of the Heartless. Before Redhead and Blue Eye's stand the man in black. His face is still encased in black, an enigma. He and Sora stare at each other for a moment, blue eyes fading into black. If the guy in black is Riku, who knows what he's thinking right now. Looking into the darkness of his hood is like staring into a black hole.
Axel is bent over Sora. He's almost draped on top of the boy, gloved hands still smoking from his attack on the heartless. His face is so very, very close to Sora's; Red can feel the soft, almost invisible hairs on Boy Wonder's cheek pressed gently into his tattoos. His left arm is resting on Sora's back. His ebony coat is almost indistinguishable from Sora's ridiculous pocket/zipper-covered outfit. He's kneeling so close to Sora that if I didn't know any better, I'd think…
I know better. You know better. The-Guy-Who-Is-Probably-Riku doesn't.
He holds up a hand at our hero and not-quite-hero, an unreadable gesture. Then he runs down the mountain like the coward Riku is.
And let me say right here, Riku is a coward. Not only because of the reasons I gave you before: his unwillingness to admit how he feels to Sora, his darkness, his hatred, his jealousy, but also because Riku has spent this whole time running from Sora and not to him. Which is one of the three reasons why Sora is still on his quest. Because he needs Riku, he wants Riku, he feels for Riku and he just can't live without Riku.
Sora's feelings are going to rip him apart one day
Boy Wonder wrenches himself from Axel's grasp and scampers after the man in black, Axel left behind. Red stands upright, waves the smoke from his fingers away and walks lazily behind Sora, following his huge footprints.
Sora's been getting so frustrated lately. Gosh. While he's running after the Guy-Who-Is-Probably-Riku, he murmurs to himself, "That guy…No…Why…would he? Riku?" And he keeps on running.
Sora has been chasing Riku for so very long now. He's spent so many nights lying awake, listening to Donald's monotonous quacks and Goofy's bubbling snores. He's let the dark, secret thoughts in the back of his mind take over; he's closed his eyes and imagined Riku's pale hands running over his body. The Blue Eyed Boy Wonder, Hero of Light dreams about the Anti-Keyblade Master feeling him and touching him and making him moan. Sora's woken up, covered in sweat, his heart clenched with the fear that Donald or Goofy heard him. But they never have. And if they did, he knows he could just say he had a bad dream. He's allowed that.
But Riku…aquamarine eyes, silver hair, perfect pale skin…Sora isn't allowed to have him. Not the way he wants him.
Axel walks lazily behind Sora and finally catches up with him when Blue Eye's has stopped. They both stare out at the path leading back down the mountain for a moment in silence.
"…So," says Axel. "Don't you have something to, you know, say to me?"
"Huh?" says Sora, looking up at Axel. "Oh…right." He gives Axel one of his big toothy grins, even though there isn't much feeling behind it. "Thanks, Axel. I knew you'd be great for the team!"
Axel looks down at Sora for a moment with an unreadable look on his face, then snorts. "Wow, Sora, you're really sincere."
"I was being sincere!"
"'Golly, Axel, you sure did save the day!' C'mon, Sora, Nobodies don't even have feelings and we could put in more emotion than that." Axel grins at Blue Eyes. Like this is some kind of old joke.
Sora glares at Axel and fights the urge to stick his tongue out. That would be too playful, too coy, too much like something he would do with his friends instead of a villain who forced himself into the Trio of Good. So Sora just pouts and looks back down the path, ignoring Axel's sniggers. But finding them kind of…something at the same time. Not cute. Not weirdly charming. Something else he can't quite put his finger on…
It's almost like Axel's laughter is…reminiscent of something.
Donald and Goofy decide now is a good time to show up. They walk up behind the two humans.
"Are you okay, Sora?" asks Donald.
Goofy looks around Sora, searching the horizon. "Didja get 'im?"
"Hmm...Oh—he's gone," says Sora, still looking for The-Guy-Who-Probably-Is-Riku and still not looking at Axel.
"What?! You lost him?!" yells Donald as Mulan shows up. Donald turns on Axel and looks like he's going to explode.
"Hey, hey, don't look at me!" says Axel, holding up his hands as if to say 'stop.' "I actually helped save the day!"
"Yeah…it's okay, Donald." Sora looks over at Mulan and his emotions change like flicking a light switch. "Anyway…what now?"
"I think we better get rid of all the Heartless first," says Goofy. Donald approves of this message.
And here's the rumbling again, another new batch of Rapid Thruster's ready to impale our heroes on their noses. The Heartless' noses. Not the heroes' actual noses.
Crash. Everyone yelps as the summit moves, even Axel. "What was that?!" asks Mulan, glaring around her like a Chinese Fighting Fish.
She turns to Sora. Mulan is In Control. "Come on. We better get off the mountain."
"Okay," Sora agrees. The five of them walk off the mountain, to go back down to the village. Sora, however, stops at the path. He turns around and takes one more long look at the summit.
"Whatcha lookin' at?"
"ACK!" Axel's head is right next to Sora's, his eyes also looking at the perfect snow-covered rock.
"I don't see anything…" murmurs Axel. He stands up, smirking at Sora, who's clutching his heart in shock. "C'mon, Sora. Don't dawdle." And Red saunters down the mountain path, obviously pleased with himself.
Blue Eyes runs down the path to the ridge, where his friends and Axel have been waiting for him. Sora ignores the amused smirk on Red's face and looks down from the ridge, at the Imperial City below. And now the rumbling starts again, making Sora and Co. stumble and shake. They all turn to see a giant dragon burst from the summit, it's body covered in bells and horns and other ridiculous accoutrements. The beast flies off to the Imperial City, its bells clanging as it soars.
Mulan, Master of All the is Obvious, cries "It's heading for the city! We've got to warn Shang!" Because no one else in the Imperial City is going to notice the giant flying monstrosity heading towards it. No one at all.
But the group still makes their way down the mountain, slaying Heartless after Heartless as they go. Axel takes his time walking down the mountain, however. He admires the scenery, goes at his own pace. Because in the end, he can easily teleport to where he has to be. Which is right next to Sora at the Imperial Square.
"ARGH!" yells Sora when Axel pops up next to him in the city. "Axel, please don't do that," he pleads.
"Do what?" asks Axel in a bored tone. He looks up from Sora, and checks out the city. "Hmm. Everything's fine."
"Well, now…" says a voice. Three Chinese men walk to them, a tall thin one, a tall fat one, and a short, barrel-shaped one. The short one looks like he's going to kill the person nearest to him.
"What? Is that a problem?" asks Donald testily.
Or maybe the short one will just kill Donald. But then again, that's the look he has on his face all the time.
Ling, the tall thin man, says "Nah!"
"We're just glad you're not in black cloaks," says Chien-Po, the tall fat man.
"You saw him?" cries Mulan.
"Yeah," says Yao, the man who looks slightly homicidal. "He's in the Palace."
The Trio of Good and Mulan run past the three soldiers. "To the Palace! Hurry!" yells Mulan, and the Trio follows her up to the towering building before them. Axel takes this time to appreciate Chinese architecture. Sometimes you just want to punch him in the face.
Axel keeps his leisurely pace and gets up the palace stairs in time to hear Mulan say, "Over here!" She runs to a pillar that goes high enough to get through an opening in the roof. The Trio of Good immediately catches on, shocking as it may seem, and the boys begin to climb.
Axel admires the gold designs on the locked palace doors.
Mulan, woman that she is, has a hard time climbing up the pillar and nearly falls to either her doom or a concussion. But she grabs onto the slick wood in time and pulls herself back up. Blue Eyes, Hero of the Light and all, he reaches out a hand to help her. But Mulan looks up at him and nods, a look that means, "I don't need any help." And Sora understands this nod. Because he's just incredible.
Boy Wonder looks over his shoulder and yells, exasperated, to Axel, "Are you coming?"
Axel looks up from the gold and says, "In a minute. Don't worry." He smiles at Sora and looks back at the gold. But Axel isn't leaving the front any time soon. Because he knows what's inside those doors.
Organization members have the keen ability to sense other Nobodies. Not feel them, sense them. And Axel has a good idea of what's behind the huge palace doors. And he knows he does not want to fight who he thinks he may have to fight.
Meanwhile, while Axel is being a wuss, the four heroes make it inside the palace through the roof. A black-coated figure stands before the doors leading to the throne room, pondering how to get through them. Sora and Co. jump from the ceiling beam they were standing on and Donald, the bird who should by all accounts be able to fly, stumbles and falls on his face. Fortunately for the team, sans Axel, he rights himself.
"Wait!" shrieks Mulan. The man in black stiffens. He knows he's been caught. Because he can hear. He turns the find our heroes ready to fight. Sora stands up from his stance, however, and walks foreword, slowly.
"…Riku?" he says uncertainly. Donald and Goofy look at each other like Huh?!
And the man in black moves. He reaches up. He grasps the edge of his hood. Sora sucks in a sharp breath. Could this be it? Could he have finally, finally found Riku?
No.
The man removes his hood and reveals himself to have high cheekbones with scars running across his face, an eye patch, and long, long black hair mixed with silver.
This, it seems, is the antithesis of Riku.
"Nope," says the Nobody in a laid back voice. "Never heard of him."
And suddenly the Trio of Good and Mulan are surrounded by Sniper Nobodies, hanging from nothing. Sora glares at the Nobodies, calculating in his head the best way to defeat them, when he notices that the Organization member is no longer standing at the throne room door. He turns to see the man running to the doors leading out of the palace, but before Sora can do anything, the Snipers strike.
Axel is standing at the top of the stairs outside the palace when the Organization member, now known by his name Xigbar, runs out of them.
"Hey," says Axel, arms crossed.
"Huh?" says Xigbar looking up. His eyes widen for a moment. Then he grins a grin that doesn't reach his eyes. "Heeeey, Axel. What's up? I heard a funny rumor."
"Really?" says Axel. He puts his arms at his sides, casual but alert. "Who about?"
Xigbar has his hands at his sides as well, same stance as Red. His one yellows eye is trained on Axel's every move, just as Axel's green ones never even flicker from Number Two. "It was about you, actually."
"Really now," says Axel. He begins to walk around and Xigbar follows in suit. They're moving in a circle now. Almost as if a duel is coming on. "What's rumor say?"
"Rumor has it you've joined up with the Keyblade Master." Xigbar shakes his finger at Axel. "Come on, man. After all you went through with Marluxia in the Castle Oblivion, I'd think you'd have more sense than to do the traitor thing again"
"It's not like that. I don't care what he does. I'm with him for one reason and one reason only."
"Oh really?" asks Xigbar, stopping abruptly. Red stops as well. "And what's that?"
"You know what it is," says Axel. His eyes are narrowed and his fingers are just itching to call up his chakrams.
"Do you really miss Roxas that much?" asks Xigbar in a quiet voice.
"What's it to you?" snarls Axel.
"It's not what it means to me. I'd love to have Roxas back, he was a cool kid. Kinda too serious for my tastes, but you liked him enough. What matters to me," says Xigbar, pulling two huge guns out of the air, "is how your actions affect the Organization."
Axel says nothing. There is a burst of flames and his chakrams are clenched firmly in his hands.
"I don't care about the Organization," he says. "Not anymore."
"You don't care about anything," sneers Xigbar. "You can't care about anything. You're a Nobody, remember? Not matter how human Roxas made you feel, you're still nothing."
The two men glare at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.
Then Xigbar grins his laid back grin and his guns disappear. "But hey, that's you, man. You can do what you want. But you know what's gonna happen when Xemnas finds out what you're doing."
"Xemnas can go to—" Red is about to finish his obscene statement when the ludicrously attired dragon from the mountain swoops in on the two men. Xigbar gives a snort of laughter.
"I wouldn't use the Portals of Darkness if I were you," he calls to Axel. "We'll getcha in there." And with one final grin, Xigbar disappears, leaving Axel to deal with the dragon.
Right now the Trio of Good and Mulan decide this would be a good time to come out of the palace and come face to face with the dragon, who's decided Axel would make an excellent meal.
"You guys wanna take this one?!" yells Axel, teleporting behind Sora just as the dragon snapped its jaws shut at where he was standing.
"Yeah!" yells Sora. The dragon gives a roar and flies back down to the Imperial Square, waiting for its opponents. "Come on!" cries Sora, and the group, once again sans Axel, runs down to the square.
Axel stays behind. He turns and stares at the place where Xigbar had been only moments before. "So this is it, then?" he says quietly. "It's a war now, isn't it."
Axel turns to look back at Sora, who's just jumped up on the dragon's back and is trying to kill it.
"I'll get you back, Roxas," Axel murmurs. "I promise. I don't care who gets in my way, I will get you back."
See? Plan.
Axel watches for a while as Sora and Co. work hard to destroy the monster. Finally, they hit it where it hurts. Mulan stupidly stands underneath the dragon as it falls from the sky. Apparently running the hell away isn't high on her List of Things to Do When Giant Things Fall on Her.
"Mulan!" yells her boyfriend Shang. Axel blinks. He didn't even notice the red caped man run past him. Shang gets to Mulan and holds her, just in time for the dragon to evaporate while its heart rises towards the sky.
"Way to go!" cries Sora, jumping in the air with excitement. Shang helps Mulan up and they smile at each other, holding hands.
Love.
The Trio of Good gives the two lovers impatient and awkward looks. Axel, from his place at the top of the steps, rolls his eyes and tries not to remember standing like that with someone else. He decides this would be a good moment to join the crowd.
"So!" says Axel, popping up entirely too close to Sora and making the boy jump. "Was it Riku?"
"Huh? No," says Sora, getting over the initial shock (which is much easier to deal with the fifth time around) and turning to face Axel. "But there was another guy in black who was definitely Riku! He talked to the emperor and was rude. If that's not Riku, then I don't know who is!"
"Hmph," says Axel, but he smiles at Blue Eyes. Then his green eyes focus on Shang and Mulan. "Hey, you too! Any day now!"
"Axel!" hisses Sora, elbowing him in the side. Axel just grins as Shang and Mulan pull apart, obviously embarrassed.
Out of nowhere, fireworks burst in the sky. The sky turns into a blazing, colorful fantasy. And Sora, once again, can't help notice how close Axel is standing to him. And Boy Wonder can't help but wonder why, why that proximity makes him feel so…lightheaded.
The group goes back to the throne room, where the emperor is waiting for them atop his mighty chair. The five stand before the old king, four of them standing straight as an arrow and one of them (the red haired one) gazing around the room, eyes lingering on the crane statues.
"Once again, you have served China well," says the emperor. "You and your new friend." Axel looks up from the cranes. His eyes now look as they they're trained on the emperor, but he's really admiring the dragon insignia behind his head. Red could have stared at that room for hours, but the emperors' next two sentences brings him back to the world.
"It would please me to reward you. What is it that you wish?"
Donald shakes his hands in the air, jubilant. He could go for anything with monetary value. Goofy's stomach rumbles audibly. And Axel…
Axel's eyes land on Sora. And they're almost hungry with longing.
"Well…" says Sora, rubbing his chin. He looks up at the emperor, ignoring Axel's stare or just not noticing it. "You say a guy in black came to see you. What did he say?"
"That is all you request?" asks the emperor, slightly taken aback.
"Yes," says Sora, and Donald and Goofy look crestfallen. Goofy once again looks like he's going to cry. Guess Sora doesn't feed his dog that often.
Axel just continues to stare at Sora. The serious look on Boy Wonder's face reminds him of…
"Dragons have crossed our land and left a great web of paths," says the emperor. "These dragons wield much power, and they are the source of many gifts to both man and nature. But it would seem someone of evil intent disturbed one of our dragons, and transformed it into what you call a Heartless."
The emperor sits up a bit straighter. "It is my belief that this young man came to warn me of that danger. Then, I could alert and prepare my troops."
"Did you?" asks Sora. Even though the answer is so obvious Donald could figure it out.
The emperor chuckles. "I was about to, but he told me the situation had changed."
Shang suddenly exists and says, "He said four 'wise guys' had arrived and they would take care of things."
The Trio of Good and Axel all look at each other, Goofy and Donald slightly confused but amused, and Sora excited. Axel is just surprised (or as surprised as a Nobody can be) that Riku added him into the group to make it'four.'
"That's gotta be Riku!" cries Sora. He grabs onto Axel's arm and grins up at him, because Axel is the closest person to him. "Hear that!"
"Yeah, I heard. I'm right here," grumbles Axel. But he makes no move to remove Sora's arm. He looks over at Goofy, who's just looked up from staring worriedly at Donald. The dog catches the Nobodies' eye.
"But what's he doin' hangin' out with Organization XIII?" asks Goofy, both to Sora and to Axel, who would know better than Blue Eyes.
Axel shrugs, playing dumb. He knows. We all know he knows. But Axel can't give away what's happening with Sora's one true love. That would take away from Red's plan to get back the one person who made him feel whole.
"No idea," says Sora, ignoring Axel's shrug. "But at least I finally know he's okay." He smiles at his friends. "That's good enough."
Axel's eyes narrow. Goofy wipes his nose and Donald nods. "Yeah! That's good!"
That isn't good though, is it Red? Because there's no way, there's no possible way for Axel's plan to work with Sora still so obsessed with Riku. There's no way for Axel to take Riku out of the picture either. So Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames, he's going to have to fight Sora's affection and replace it. He's going to have to shift the way Sora feels about Riku to himself. So brilliant. So genius. So cruel.
Yes, cruel. Because if you remember, kids, Axel doesn't want Sora. Axel doesn't give a damn about Sora; he doesn't give a damn about anything. The only thing he cares about, the only thing that made him feel remotely whole, is Roxas. Roxas is somewhere inside of Sora, somewhere buried deep. And Axel knows the way that made Sora to turn into a Heartless was self-sacrifice. But Axel doubts that'll happen again, he's smart. So there's only one way to get Sora to turn into a Heartless, to have Roxas be reborn.
And that's to get Sora to give into the Darkness.
And for that, Axel needs Sora to fall in love with him.
And since half of Sora is Roxas, hey, good job Red, you're already halfway there.
See?
Cruel.
/o/
Axel stood on top of the fence in front of the Haunted Mansion of Twilight Town. In his arms he held a small black trench coat, black boots, black pants, and the rest of the Organization outfit, only in a very small size.
"Man, not even Larxene would fit into these…" he murmured. The redhead sighed and looked up at the soft sunset sky. "Where is he?" Axel said aloud.
Suddenly, below him, a black vortex that Axel knew as Nothingness appeared. It grew and grew and grew and twisted and twirled into the shape of a young man, maybe fifteen years old, not even. The boys' naked form landed on the soft grass and he slowly stood. The boy looked around, his head moving sluggishly. He finally turned and saw Axel standing atop the fence.
Axel gazed down at the boy his acid green eyes drowning into the bottomless, emotionless depths of the boys blue eyes. Axel floated down to the ground and stood before the boy.
"Do you know your name?"
The boy said nothing. He stood completely still for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
Axel nodded. "Do you feel anything?"
The boy said nothing. Then, "…What is…feeling?"
"Something you don't have anymore. But do you remember it?"
The boy was silent. "…No."
"Oh," said Axel. Everyone else remembered emotions. Perhaps Xemnas should have been the one to give this boy his name. "Do you want a name?"
"..."
"Do you want meaning in your life?" asked Axel, remembering what he'd been told to say.
The boy said nothing, his blond hair blowing in the soft wind around the mansion. Had he been a normal boy he would be freezing cold without clothes on. But this was not a normal boy.
The boy nodded at what Axel had said. Axel nodded as well and held out his hand.
In the air, in a burst of flame, the letters S-O-R-A formed. "That used to be you," said Axel. The letters meshed together into one huge fireball and rushed around the boys' head. When the reappeared in front of his face, the formed a new word: R-O-X-A-S.
"That's the new you," said Axel, rather awkwardly.
And the boys' dull, emotionless eyes blinked. "Roxas..." he repeated.
"Yeah. You're Roxas. I'm Axel. Got it memorized?"
Roxas looked up at Axel as the flaming letters slowly faded away. "Yes."
"You want some clothes now?" asked Axel, holding up the black bundle.
The newly dubbed Roxas nodded mutely.
"Well…what's the magic word?" asked Axel. This kid had to know something.
Roxas stared up blankly at him.
Axel leaned foreword and whispered, "Say 'please.'"
Roxas looked up at him and Axel couldn't help but noticed how smooth his skin was and how think his eyelashes were. How soft his hair looked and how delicate and plump the boys' lips were.
Those lips moved and whispered in a small, detached voice: "Please…"
Axel handed Roxas the clothes. As he handed them over, Roxas's hand brushed Axel's gloved one.
And for the first time since he's been born from Nothingness, Axel felt a swoop in his stomach; a flame burst in his chest. And for one brief, sweet moment, it was as though he had his heart back.
/o/
"Axel…AXEL!"
"Huh?" says Axel, snapping back into reality. He was gone for a long time there.
"Did you hear?" says Sora happily. "Mulan and Shang are going to work together to protect the emperor! That means they'll get to spend time together!" Boy Wonder grinned.
"Wow. That's uh…that's great," says Axel, still in a daydream filled with naked Roxas's and Twilight Town's and clothes. "Fantastic."
"I know!" says Sora.
"Sora cried a little, how'd you miss it? A-hyuk!" chortled Goofy, smiling up at Axel.
"Yeah…" Red comes to his senses and grins evilly down at Sora. "You cried?"
"Aw, come on! It's cute!" says Sora.
"Yeah, but crying? Come on!"
"Oh, like you can cry!" snaps Donald. The rest of the Trio of Good and Axel go silent.
"Donald…" Goofy says reproachfully.
"No, no, it's okay," says Axel easily. "It's fine. He's right, I can't cry. Really, it's okay. Hey, Goofy, you were hungry before, right?"
"Uh huh," says Goofy. His stomach rumbles in agreement.
"Hmm. How you feel about…" Axel grins devilishly at Donald. "Roast duck?"
Donald quacks and brgins to run for the stairs as a giant fireball forms in Axel's hand. But the redhead just grins and puts the flame out. He smiles at Sora, a warm smile that he reserves only for Roxas and people he's trying to trick. Sora just laughs helplessly. It's kind of funny to see Donald run around like that.
"Sora!" squawks Donald, "He was trying to cook me!"
"He was just having some fun," says Goofy. The dog turns to Axel, looking serious for a moment. "But don't do that again, okay?"
"Okay, okay, just messing with you," says Axel. He shoots a grin at Sora, who just can't help but return it.
Oh Sora.
You're falling right into Axel's trap. Falling into a pretty smile and acid green eyes.
Just like you did before.
/o/O/o/
THIS STORY HAS BEEN IN WRITING LIMBO FOREVER.
That being said, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm gonna be gone for two weeks, so no updates for a while. But I promise I'll be better this summer. At least, I hope I will. I'm going to have a lot of time to write where I'm going, so just know in your hearts that CGMB is sitting somewhere and scribbling out ideas for the next chapter of whatever the hell else I'm writing.
I like how Axel admires architecture. I don't know why. I just do. A little quirk, what the hell.
It is now three fifteen in the morning. I am exhausted. I have work tomorrow. GOOD NIGHT! RAPE BABIES! ETC.!
Reviews would be appreciated, although I also accept cash. Hint hint.