Saix sighed, basking in the afterglow as Xemnas' brown, strong fingers lightly traced a pattern on his spine. He loved the younger man so much. He was still such an enigma… even though they had been dating for years, Saix really had no idea what he did for a living… but it didn't matter. He knew enough. Xemnas was everything to him.

"Ah, love. Stay here tonight." Saix lifted his head, frowning. That wasn't an uncommon request, but…

"I really should be getting back. Vexen's birthday is tomorrow, all the kids will be coming home." He yawned, and Xemnas chuckled softly, brushing his lips over his shoulderblade. That made Saix shiver in pleasure.

"Tomorrow is soon enough. Just stay with me, please." Saix hesitated a moment, then nodded. Vexen could manage without him tonight. "Thank you." For a long moment they just lay together, and Saix was almost dozing off when Xemnas spoke again.

"Saix, if Vexen was going to hide someone… a son, say… and wanted to be sure they would be safe, where would he send them? A cousin of mine is having some problems." Saix yawned, a bit surprised by that question.

"Mmmm… if it was really serious, the Twisted World. Send 'em to Mongo and Kilsera… the old monsters can take care of anything." Saix said sleepily, and Xemnas pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Thank you, love. That was all I wanted to know." Saix drifted off to sleep, comfortable and warm in his lovers' arms. Xemnas waited until he was deeply asleep before gently disengaging himself from the blue haired man and walking into the next room. He didn't want to wake Saix, as he keyed on a datapad.

Saix didn't realize that his business was as illicit as it was lucrative. He'd been the head of a very large, very profitable crime syndicate for years. And he'd had a feeling this morning that his nephew was going to make trouble. It hadn't been hard to figure out who he'd left the school with… the teachers noted when students didn't arrive in class, and their nets were far from secure. And a quick check of Vexen's estates had revealed all his protections spooled up to max energy. There could only be one reason for that.

"What we need is in the basement, a portal to the Twisted World. When you arrive, look for Mongo and Kilsera. They will have him." He said quietly into the datapad, and nodded at the quick affirmative on the other end. Picking up a hypospray, he went back to Saix's bed. He dropped the spray on the bedstand, before slipping back into bed with his lover.

He really did love Saix, and wanted to enjoy the time with him. It would end all too soon.

"Of all the times for Saix not to come home!" Vexen cursed quietly to himself. He'd tried raising Saix on his datapad but gotten nothing. And the modified blood bond wasn't really strong enough for him to alert the man with nothing but emotions. He really should have had it renewed years ago… that sort of thing faded with time.

So he was doing his best to manage things himself. The chief of police wasn't in, though, and Vexen hadn't wanted to speak to anyone lower in the food chain. He hadn't even managed to find out the name of Sora's uncle yet, although he had Rodrick working on it. His son wasn't in the house yet, but didn't need to be to be useful.

In any case, nothing was likely to happen tonight. Vexen relaxed a little at the thought. After all, children went over to friend's houses all the time. The man would have to be certain Sora wasn't just playing hooky before he-

Vexen's thoughts slid to a cold, messy halt as the house trembled. Preternaturally calm, he flipped open his datapad.

"Rodrick- ah." His datapad was only giving him static. "Impressive." Tossing away the useless piece of equipment, he considered his options and came to an immediate conclusion. The safest place was the Twisted World. But he needed to evacuate the manor.

There were only four servants in the manor… the cook, the butler, the maid and the gardener. They were all blood bound indentured servants, although most of them had finished their contracts long ago. The cook and butler he found easily in the kitchen and sent them on their way with a few quick words. The maid was just as easy… she was checking on the status of the laundry. But then there was a snag.

"Do you know where Jacob is?" The maid shook her head.

"I think he's in the garden." Vexen sighed to himself. That was a logical place for the gardener to be and highly inconvenient. Praying that the force field would last long enough, he tightened his personal protections and went out the back to the garden. Without his datapad, he couldn't be certain how the defenses were coming and someone had to be using military ordinances to jam it. His datapad system was only civilian.

As soon as he opened the door, he knew he'd made a mistake. Swearing, he tried to slam it and dart back but a needler flashed, blowing the door out of his hand and impacting on his personal force field. He quickly ducked into a side room. If he could confuse them, lose them in the house-

But his enemies had other ideas and decided to create their own pathways. Plasma blasts scythed through the walls, and Vexen cursed out loud this time. Someone had gotten hold of more than a bit of military ordinance. He'd managed to do it himself so it was hardly impossible, but if he survived he would have to look into a full investigation of how plasma cannons, of all things, had gotten to the public.

Not that he was going to get the chance, he reflected with surprising calm. A blast lit up his force field, which held, but just barely. He could feel his skin burning under the thermal bloom. It was excruciatingly painful, and he felt Saix rouse with a jolt as the pain assaulted him through the blood bond.

Then the plasma cannon whined a second time and the pain came to an abrupt end.

"Vexen!" Saix was jerked to full consciousness with a blast of agony that wasn't his own. "No!" But even as he lunged out of bed, the agony cut off with a grim finality. Saix reached frantically for the blood bond, but it was gone… vanished with his master. "No…" Saix slumped back onto the bed, tears filling his eyes.

It was odd. He hadn't really been close to Vexen for years… they had been lovers at one time, of course. He'd taken Vexen's virginity, so long ago. But Vexen was simply too cold a person for him, not the kind of man he could love. They had stayed friends, though, and Vexen had been such a permanent part of his life. It seemed inconceivable that his master could be gone and he was surprised by the depth of his pain.

"It's alright, love. It's alright." Xemnas arms slipped around him and Saix sobbed into his shoulder, hugging the other man. It was good to have his lover to-

Ksch.

Saix' eyes opened wide at the flash of pain on his shoulder, followed by a strange, overwhelming weakness. He collapsed against Xemnas like a rag doll, horrified realization flowing through him as Xemnas cradled him like a child, resting his head on his chest.

"Why…?" He managed to say, meeting Xemnas yellow eyes. The younger man smiled sadly at him, and gently touched his cheek with one hand. Saix could hardly feel it.

"I'm sorry, Saix. I do love you very much… but I knew there would be a time you would become a liability to me." Xemnas pressed a kiss against his forehead, and Saix wanted to jerk away but his body was beyond all control. "It would take more time than you have to explain why. I've given you a nanite injection keyed to your genetic code. It will only take a few moments, and it will be painless." The pain of the betrayal was unbearable. Saix closed his eyes, tears slipping down his cheeks. Xemnas brushed them away. "Ah, Saix… don't cry. It will be over soon." Saix opened his eyes, and could hardly see. The darkness was eating away at his vision, and he could feel his breathing slowing, becoming irregular as the nanites paralyzed his nervous system. He could feel himself dying, and Xemnas' arms were no comfort. Vexen… with the last of his strength, he summoned up a picture of the one man he knew loved him. The one man who would never have hurt him.

And as he slid into darkness, Saix took comfort in one last thought… that Xemnas had made a mistake.

Old monster wasn't a term of endearment. It was a description.

Xemnas held the body close for a time, petting Saix' hair and pretending the older man was still alive. But finally, he lowered it to the bedsheets with a sigh and gently closed his eyes. Picking up his datapad, he made a quick call.

"I'll need a cleanup team in my bedroom. Instruct them to dispose of the body with the utmost dignity." That was an unusual request for him, but not unprecedented. It meant he wanted the body buried properly, without a marker but with the location noted so he could visit it in the future if he chose. And he would, for a while. Until the grief faded.

It would eventually. This wasn't the first time he'd needed to remove a loved one, and it wouldn't be the last. In fact, if things went badly, it would be happening again very soon.

Sora could not be allowed to talk.

"Axel." Roxas squirmed slightly, not terribly amused with the way Axel was gently caressing him. "We're not the only ones in here, you know." He could practically feel Sora watching from the other bed in the room, and could imagine his wide eyed look.

"I know." Axel murmured, sucking his earlobe and making Roxas gasp as he let go with a small pop. "It's kind of hot."

"Pervert!" Roxas tried to squirm away, but Axel had him trapped like a fly in amber. Axel grinned, his green eyes glittering with amusement.

"Oh, not really. We get trained to deal with all kinds of kinks, you know, and voyeurism is on the acceptable list as long as it's a private show." The contract stipulated that he didn't have to put on shows for more than one or two people, but if requested he would do that. "So I've had an audience before. Didn't like it at first, but it kind of grows on you… and Sora likes it, don't you?" He raised his voice and grinned as Sora made a muffled "eep!" sound. "Bet he'd like to join in." There was another eep, and Roxas sighed.

"I bet he would." He mumbled to himself. He could have just ordered Axel to get off and leave him alone… but the truth was, he didn't want the redhead to leave him alone. Everything he was doing was an incredible turn on, but he couldn't imagine doing it in front of Sora. "Sora, can you go take a long walk or something?"

"Right away!" Sora practically bolted out of the room, and Axel laughed, low and sexy.

"Someone was a little embarrassed…" Axel slowly lapped at his throat, freeing Roxas pajama bottoms as he went. It was nightfall in the Twisted World… the time was a bit offset from Roxas world. So it was technically time to sleep, but they were not at all tired, which spelled something else to Axel. "I think we should try something a little different." Roxas blinked as Axel turned him over, nipping at his skin and stroking his erection. "Doggy style… if you don't mind."

"Sure." Roxas breathed, going onto his hands and knees as Axel began to slowly open him again. It was easier now than it had been the first night, and soon Axel slid into him with a groan. It was all so delicious, so intense… so Roxas…

They were deep in the throes of their lovemaking when the building suddenly shook and alarms went off with a wail. Axel yanked out of him so abruptly that Roxas cried out in pain as the redhead dove off the bed, yanking on his clothes and trying to put on his armor. It was an uncomfortable and humiliating process, trying to get on leather armor in a state of full arousal.

"Axel!" Roxas half shrieked, his erection aching for release, his body in desperate need. But Axel shook his head as he tried to do up his buckles and ties.

"We're under attack Roxas!" Roxas blinked, then jumped out of bed and began frantically trying to put on his own clothes. He quickly discovered the same problem as Axel, although it wasn't as bad without armor. "Stay right here!" Axel darted out the door as the cold air started settling his difficulties.

The devastation in the front of the building settled it further. The front façade of the building was gone. Fortunately, there was no one at the front desk at night so casualties were minimal. The enemies couldn't say the same. Axel grinned ferally as he saw the building across the way was almost entirely rubble and quickly catching fire. He could guess what had happened… the attackers had had something very high tech and dangerous, and Kilsera had given them a graphic demonstration of how vulnerable such things were to magic.

Unfortunately for them, the attackers had figured out quickly that guns and plasma cannons were worse than useless. Now they were attacking with vibro blades, which were much harder to disrupt. But that put them on an even playing field with the bodyguards who were already spilling out of the building.

The melee was chaotic. Axel's chakram clashed with a sword and he blasted the man with fire. The man fell away with a scream but he wasn't dead, and Axel didn't see what happened to him, countering another strike. He could hear someone scream, and knew instinctively it was an ally but he was too caught up in his own battle to help. The few uninvolved bystanders on the street at this time of night were running for cover. Axel spotted Froggy, fighting with a rapier in her right hand and a magical shield on her left arm. She caught a blade on her shield and gutted her attacker with one smooth move.

Axel thought they were winning, but he was certain of it when he heard a vicious snarl. It gathered strength, rolling over the crowd like soft thunder and was quickly joined by a higher howl. Mongo leapt into the melee, muscles flexing under black skin as he shed his human guise and took his true form.

He looked like a were dire cat. It was the closest thing Axel could come up with to describe him, at least. Long and lean and obscenely fast, he tore through the attackers with a blaze of black skin and orange fur. His face was still disturbingly human, but his jaw and nose were pushed out into a kind of muzzle and he had no compunctions about tearing out throats. Someone panicked and lifted a gun, but Kilsera sang words of magic and the gun exploded in an eruption of flames. An invisible shield protected them, although Axel could feel the heat even from where he was standing… and the shield directed the fires back. Another building exploded into rubble, and Axel suddenly had a very bad feeling. He couldn't pay much attention to it… he was still fighting for his life… but he knew there were rules against this sort of thing. Someone would have to be coming to enforce-

ENOUGH. The voice of an angry god slammed him to the ground, paralyzing him instantly. They were all affected that way… except for Mongo and Kilsera, who hunkered down, then rolled onto their backs, displaying abject submission like a cat. There was a puff of smoke, and a very young asian woman in bright robes appeared before them. Axel managed to look up and saw her expression. Either she was very angry or she was having a very bad attack of constipation.

"WHAT is going on here? Why are you ruining my lovely city?" Axel swallowed hard at the word 'my'. Was this an apprentice of Ya Tashra… or the wizard himself? Ya Tashra was supposed to be a man, but that might not necessarily mean anything. "My master demands an answer!" An apprentice then. Axel felt a surge of relief. Although she would be infused with her master's power to manage her duties. Mongo stayed on his back, but answered.

"My lady wizard, we have been attacked by visitors from the realm 1833. A child came to us for sanctuary and they have tried to take him back by force." The wizard turned her eyes on the surviving attackers.

"Have you anything to say for yourselves?" She asked remotely, and one of the goons finally spoke up.

"We're here to claim back our master's property. The kid is his nephew and he's the guardian. They had no right to take him." Axel snarled at the man but couldn't move, or he'd have tried to beat his head in.

"Hm." The wizard ran a hand up and down her staff thoughtfully. "Your motivations do not matter, in some ways. You have disgraced yourselves and damaged my city. Such brawls are not allowed here and as the visitors, you undoubtedly started this one. However… bring me this child. I would have words with him." Mongo flipped over onto his feet and said something to Kilsera, who nodded and reassumed her human form before running back into the building. Soon, she came out with a trembling Sora. Roxas was holding his hand, and Axel felt a surge of pride in him. Going to find Sora and keeping him out of harms way had been a smart thing for him to do. Sora stared at Mongo wide eyed, but Kilsera said something reassuring and gently urged him forward. Axel smirked as he saw the goons trying to move… but the wizard's apprentice had them firmly in her grip. "What is your name, child?"

"Sora." Sora said, his voice trembling, and she smiled gently at him. Sora seemed to arouse protective instincts in almost everyone.

"Tell me, Sora. Do you want to be here? Or do you want to be with your uncle?" She asked gently, and Sora blinked.

"Oh, I want to be here! I don't want to keep records for my uncle anymore. I hate knowing what he does! He's a terrible man. And this place is so neat, I want to stay here forever." The wizard laughed softly at his enthusiasm and smiled, a touch sadly.

"I doubt you'll do that, Sora. This is a place for passing through." She waved her staff and with brutal casualness, lances of red light shot out and obliterated the men and women she had captured. They were simply… gone. Except for the speaker, whose face was ashen with shock. "You will bring word back to your master. The gateway to your world is closed for the foreseeable future. Ya Tashra shall decide when it will open again… and he will tolerate no interference with this boy. You have been given your only warning. And if you doubt that we can find your master at any time…" She smiled, a baring of teeth that was in no way friendly. "…We shall demonstrate otherwise." Power rippled from her in a wave and a portal formed. Axel caught a brief glimpse of a startled man with dark skin and pale hair, and heard Sora's gasp as the man was tossed through. "Do not come here again!" The portal shut with an abrupt snap, and suddenly the bodyguards could move. Axel pushed himself to his feet and walked over to a pale faced, trembling Sora.

"That was your uncle?" He said softly, and Sora nodded. "Well, don't worry. He won't be a problem anymore." Ya Tashra moved on Ya Tashra time, so it might be decades before the portal was reopened. Although that meant… Axel caught Roxas eye, and saw his grim expression.

They were stranded in the Twisted World.

"What was that? Report!" Xemnas snapped at the luckless man kneeling on his bedroom floor. The foot soldier gasped for a moment before he managed to pull himself together.

"Sir! It was a disaster sir. The plasma cannons exploded and the needlers wouldn't work! Then that… that bitch showed up and she made the others disappear! She said they're closing the portal to our world for the foreseeable future and if we touch Sora someone named Ya Tashra will be after you. I'm sorry sir." Xemnas stared away as he patted the man's shoulder, thinking.

He knew the difference between influence and power. He had influence in many quarters… and direct power at the hands of his minions. But he had briefly seen the woman, and had felt the power radiating from her. She held power cupped in her two hands, and he did not want to cross her. Yet… he couldn't let Sora speak. But…

A small smile crossed his face. If the portal remained closed even for six months, he would have enough time to completely scramble the network. And the foreseeable future sounded like it could be much longer than six months. By the time Sora could return… if he wanted to return at all… his information would be hopelessly outdated. At that point he would cease to be a threat. Now all he had to do was cover his involvement in the attack on Vexen, and he would be safe enough. And he had already begun that process.

It wasn't the perfect solution and he'd have to keep an eye out in case the portal was opened too early. But it would have to do.