Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

Author's Note - Longest chapter to date.

Donald pulled Riku's arm up behind his back, but Riku wasn't as easily immobilized as Axel. Not that Axel was a push over...but Riku wasn't laughing. He managed to throw his back up against a wall, squishing the duck in between him and it. Donald's eyes turned into swirly circles and he fell limply to the ground.

Goofy bowled Riku over from the side. Donald recovered from his dazed state with a shake of his head and moved to join in. A rock fell in between him and his goal, forcing him to stop. They couldn't keep this up for long with the cave rapidly falling apart around them.

"We gotta get outta here!" Donald called. "Pull him along!"

Riku tried pushing Goofy off of him to no avail. Goofy saved him the trouble, giving Riku a final shove to make sure he'd be stunned enough to not get up himself, and then standing, grabbing one of Riku's wrists on his way up. Donald grabbed the other. And then they started pulling him.

Riku kicked his legs out and tried yanking his wrists back. He would be damned if he let them take him, and besides, they were going too slow. He could walk faster than this. The image of Sora's throat about to be slit stuck out in his mind. Sora needed help now. It might already be too late...he struggled harder.

"That's it!" Donald grabbed Goofy's shield from him, which he had picked up once Riku dropped it. The wizard wasn't exactly proficient with fighting with a shield, or any other weapon besides a wand for that matter, but he had a general idea of how to use it. Metal made contact with Riku's head with a satisfying 'twang'. Riku became limp. He was much easier to drag after that.

They made it outside without a problem. They needn't of hurried. A loud crash came from the inner cave as it collapsed, but the entrance itself remained intact. The old gray spider looked out at them curiously, causing Donald to gasp. He didn't know it had been there...it could've attacked them at any moment!

Goofy, on the other hand, wasn't looking back at the cave. "Uh, Donald," he said, "where is everybody?"

"Wha?" Donald turned around. From the dirt surrounding the cave, to the cliff, to the desert stretching on for miles, there wasn't a trace of life. There was nobody there but them.

Sora disappeared.

The chakram pierced the sand. Roxas, Axel, and Namine all stared at the spot dumbly. Roxas was the first to piece it together.

"That son of a..."

"Ruffians! Vagabonds! Children of wooden popsicle sticks! This fair princess shall not suffer hurt by ye!"

Axel and Namine shared a look, understanding passing between them.

Red Cloak had taken Sora.

"That guy's in for a world of trouble," Axel said, putting a hand behind his head.

"Red haired monstrosity! Ye, you, and thou shalt suffer first!"

"Monstrosity," Axel scoffed, "The name's Axel. A-X-E-L, got it-" and then he disappeared.

Roxas was seething mad. He was stalking back and forth like a caged tiger, ready to leap on Red Cloak and rip him apart at the first sign of his location. The disappointment of not getting to kill that...that...brat! was eating at him already. Once again, Sora had slipped through his fingers. And Inviso-Glitter-Freak would suffer for it. Roxas stilled his pace, letting his ears do the searching. But this time, Red Cloak wasn't only invisible, but his voice was coming from every direction. A psycotic laugh erupted all around him.

"You send them back!" he demanded lamely. It was the only thing he could think of. 'Undisappear my friend, and the guy I was about to kill' was the other phrase rolling around in his angry mind, and he chose not to use that one.

"Foul garbage boy!"

Roxas recognized the name. Red Cloak had used it on him earlier. He ducked and rolled to the side. A small bit of sand where he had just stood was disturbed, like a dart had hit it, or a small pebble. Namine screamed. Roxas turned to her, but she was already gone.

He was alone now.

Well, almost alone. Footprints in the sand to his left moved carefully around out of Roxas's line of sight. He smiled, preparing the chakram.

"This is none of your business," he tried, "Send them back and I won't have to hurt you."

The laughter he was expecting didn't come. Instead, an audible sigh escaped Red Cloak. A sigh that didn't come from every direction, and was much closer than Roxas had expected. He felt a prick on the back of his neck and the world began spinning. He dropped to a knee.

Red Cloak appeared in front of him, his image never in focus for Roxas, swaying and twisting as his vision got darker. "Alas, you are noble," Red Cloak said, patting him on the head, a feeling Roxas hardly registered, "but...you spilled mustard all over my shirt. See?" He parted his cloak and flattened out a piece of his shirt, which was, by the by, completely devoid of any mustard stains, although it did have a large super man sign in the middle. Roxas never got to see it, though, which I'm sure he's thankful for. His world had gone black.

Riku woke up to the sound of singing. Bad singing. He clenched his eyes shut even tighter and groaned, moving his head to the side and pressing one ear into the ground to block out the noise. But the Genious who created him had the nerve to give him two ears. It didn't help at all.

"Oh, he's awake."

Riku opened his eyes, but a thick fog clouded his vision. The singer, he noted, was some distance away, and probably cooking by what he could tell. A strange sizzling noise was the only constant sound coming from that direction. The rest of it was that God aweful song. The singer hit an especially annoying key and then abruptly dropped his voice down low. Was that the Barney song? It sure was a twisted version. Not that he ever watched Barney as a kid, or anything...

"Am I in hell?" Riku asked.

A humorless laugh. "I wouldn't doubt it."

Riku rolled onto his back. His hands were tied, he noticed, and the fog was clearing. He sat up as best he could, and took in the sight around him. He was on damp ground. A smell of smoke was in the air, but mostly it was just steam. It clung to his hair and eyelashes, and made his clothes damp. It also kept him from seeing far. But what he could see was...

"Axel?"

Axel offered a casual wave. "Long time no see," and then, because he couldn't help himself, "I hear you murdered somebody."

Well that was a conversation starter. "I...where's Sora?"

"Sure, change the subject."

Riku looked off to the side. Silence reigned for a few moments. Riku noticed his leg had stopped trobbing. It had been bandaged, along with his other various wounds. Did Axel do that? He looked over at the red head, a question in his eyes. Axel was looking away himself now, facing the singing with a grimace on his face. "I wish he'd just shut up," he muttered under his breath.

"You're chained," Riku said. He had just caught sight of it. A long thick chain was attatched to Axel's leg. The other end of it was connected to the ground.

"Really?" Axel said, sarcastically, looking at the chain in mock surprise, "Oh, would you look at that. I didn't notice."

"Bite me," was Riku's response.

Soft laughter came from the fog a short distance from Axel. Riku squinted his eyes. He couldn't see anyone there.

"Ah, stuff it, Roxas."

"Roxas?"

The blond came into view then, the fog parting to make him visible, as if it understood what they were talking about. He was chained to the rock he was sitting upon, viewable from the side only. The chain attatched to his ankle was considerably shorter than Axel's, and Riku doubted he could walk a foot in any direction, but both of his hands were free. And he was holding a chakram.

Roxas looked at his enemy from the corner of his eye. "Riku," he said. It was the only greeting he had ever given him. The only time they had ever talked, ever, had been in the heat of battle, exchanging the customary battle-talk taunts. Both hated fighting the other. There was never any conclusion. It was always broken off somehow. Riku could more than hold his own, but the difference in their abilities was unmistakable.

Roxas had a keyblade, Riku didn't. They both knew that if they were ever to duke it out without interuption, Roxas would win. Which is probably why Riku always found a way to back out of it, all the while keeping Sora safe. It was the biggest obsticle Roxas had to deal with in his mission to defeat Sora. And the most annoying.

Riku's thoughts ran much along the same line, with one addition. Roxas had been about to cut Sora's throat the last time he had seen him. Had Sora...? The thought was too painful. Sora was his best friend. Sora had saved him from a fate far worse than death. Somebody like Sora couldn't be killed by somebody like Roxas. The universe was not so badly designed. Still, a part of him wanted to attack the blond right then and there, end it all.

Roxas smiled, guessing Riku's intent. The silver haired boy hesitated, and Roxas could guess why. He flipped the chakram over in his hands, light from somewhere briefly reflected off of it and the dampness from the fog-like mist created droplets on the metal, dripping off as he turned it. Like blood.

The unspoken message wasn't lost on Riku. It was never a good idea to attack an armed enemy when you didn't have a weapon...and your hands were tied behind your back. Roxas, with his hands free and a weapon that could easilly be used as a projectile, was in the possition of power now.

A high pitched 'la' destroyed the mood. Axel, who had been leaning forward in his eagerness to view this reuinion, sat back, disappointed. The 'la' didn't end, and the clanking of pots being beat together joined in. All three of them grimaced at the racket being made.

"I'd pay real money if he'd shut up," Axel said.

"Is he the one who-" Riku began.

"Yeah," Roxas said, not waiting for him to finish, "he put us here."

Riku tugged at his bonds, "Who is he, anyway?" He wanted to ask where Sora was again, but now that he knew Roxas was around, he thought better of it.

"He's a fruit," Axel replied, "completely off his rocker. A native, or something. Can disappear. Really weird."

Riiight. Riku stood up. His hands were tied behind his back, but he wasn't chained like the other two. He walked off.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you."

Axel's warning came too late. Riku was thrown back by an invisible force. He landed on his back in front of Axel, dazed. Axel gave his version of the 'I told you so' comment, and Riku glared at him.

Riku pushed himself into a sitting position once again. "Is there any way out of here?" he said, mostly to himself.

"Not that I could find."

Riku decided to risk it, "And you don't know where Sora is?"

"Nope."

Good. That means Roxas didn't kill him. Roxas shot a glare at Axel, which the red head missed. Riku continued his little interrogation. "And Goofy?"

"No idea."

"...Donald?"

Axel didn't miss the unusual tone in Riku's voice. "Don't know."

"Well you're no help."

Axel shrugged.

The three of them were silent for a long time. An hour might've gone by, maybe a ten minutes, it was hard to tell. Riku, being the only one able to walk freely, checked every area of their cage that he could. There was no exit to it. The force that had thrown him back was present in a complete circle around them. They had maybe ten feet to walk, and that was it. There was nothing in the circle but the fog, the rock Roxas had been chained to, and the damp rock-like floor.

After being thrown back for the thousandth time, Riku gave up. He picked a place that allowed him a view of both Axel and Roxas, and sat down. He changed position often, trying to get comfortable, but the feeling fled from him. The singing was a constant. He felt that if he didn't do something, anything, he would go insane. Axel and Roxas had both, apparantly, found their inner happy place and zoned the noise out. Riku had no such luck. It wasn't long before he was up and pacing back and forth.

Finally, Riku turned to Roxas. Why him and not Axel, Riku couldn't tell. "Roxas," the blond looked over at him, "I need conversation, or I'll go insane."

Roxas gave Riku a 'Do I look like I give a shit?' look.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way to start it. He tried again, "Do you know anything about all of this?" Roxas remained silent. "Anything?"

Roxas hesitated. He really didn't want to describe what he knew of Red Cloak, and he didn't much care if Riku was ignorant of the entire situation or not. Hell, he'd be doing him a favor by not describing their captor. He, for one, would have nightmares of that red cloaked, purple glasses freak for the rest of his life.

"I know as much as you do," he said.

Riku sighed in frustraition and plopped down on the ground once again.

"He might be cooking the duck," Axel offered, randomly. Riku gave him a strange look. "Hey, you wanted conversation."

"That's not the smell of duck."

"How would you know?"

"Because, I-" Riku stopped. How did he know? Wait a minute, why was he even having this conversation?

"See, you don't know."

"Axel, you're sophmoric."

Roxas couldn't keep the chuckle from escaping him. Riku pretended to not notice. The group began to fall silent once again.

"So, I hear the duck's been hunting you," Axel said. Unlike Roxas, Axel actually had a history with Riku that went beyond battle. They weren't exactly friends, but they didn't always try to kill each other every time they met. They had had a decent conversation about the usefulness of dark portals once...

"Donald," Riku absently corrected. "Yeah. He's been after me for years. Goofy, too, though he's not as obsessed about it."

"You murdered somebody," Axel prodded.

"...Yeah. Sort of...but no." Riku thought he was uncomfortable before. He had a sudden urge to end this conversation.

Axel would have none of that. "Who?"

"I kind of, well, mis-stepped, and, uh..."

"Who?!"

"Never mind. I don't want to talk anymore."

"You'll tell me," Axel said.

"Um. No I won't."

It went on this way for some time. Finally, Axel pulled out his Ace. His voice joined in on the singing.

Now Riku really was going insane. Even Roxas was pissed off. He threw the chakram at Axel, aiming to kill, but no one knew those weapons better than he did, and he caught it like it was nothing. Riku and Roxas both covered their ears. It didn't help much.

"It was Jiminy Cricket, alright!" Riku screamed. Axel fell silent. "We were fighting Sephiroth, he was whispering something in Sora's ear, then he jumped off. Sora was about to be decapitated, I had to push him out of the way, I wasn't looking where I stepped. ALRIGHT?"

Axel gaped like a fish at Riku. Riku shifted uncomfortably on the ground.

Roxas knew what was coming. He put a hand to his head and muttered, "Oh, God."

And then Axel errupted. He just couldn't keep from laughing. Riku was less than amused, and let Axel know that.

"But you stepped...you STEPPED," and here another burst of laughter stopped him from completing his sentence.

Riku would've thrown his hands up if they hadn't been tied behind his back. "It was an accident, alright!"

"That's what makes it so funny!"

"Axel," Roxas cut in, "...shut the hell up."

But of course, he didn't.

Author's Note - There. See? It was an accident. Riku's not evil. Not in this story. I do feel kind of bad for offing Jiminy, though.

Roxas, on the other hand, makes a great bad guy.