Shadows of White

[Akuseru]

(Akuseru)

Up and Down the hills, the blur of white hurried along; clutching most deeply its quarry- in response to its master’s orders.

Life and Limb it had risked to obtain such an artifact, and although the object was simple in value- the world it had been taken from would suffer greatly with its loss.

Like some sort of bizarre fish, the ghost of a heartless raced on in swarms. There was no emotion, no glee, just simple accord to complete their mission.

But that was the life of a Nobody, an awkward creature born without a heart. It has no feelings no real purpose of existence, especially one such as this that wasn’t even blessed enough to possess a human form in it’s inverse essence.

Only a straight-jacket of odd proportioning. No eyes, but a vast opening of eternal nothingness composed of zippers in place for its mouth. Adorned with the upside-down shadow of a heartless’ emblem on it’s head. It’s anorexic limbs pumping rhythmically as it swam along headfirst to wherever it was needed.
Where one went, every other followed. Thus were the creature called the Dusk.
________________________________________________

Tap-Tap-Tap…. Tap-Tap-Tap

Deep in the tower of the Organization’s lair, No. 8 with a bored sigh; continuously rapped his fingers against his hardened white chair- much to the annoyance of another

“Ohh would you cut out that belligerent tapping?!”

“You don’t like it you can leave” Axel sneered, tapping louder to fluster his mate; who eventually left in a huff.

“It’s not like us Nobodies can feel anyway” he frowned in disappointment; now what was there to do?

After his return from his last mission, nothing seemed to matter to Axel anymore.
Sure, he couldn’t really feel any emotion for it to begin with; but a while back he could have at least fooled himself into thinking he did. Only one person had been able to really seem alive; not like the others. Axel would purposely tick them off just to get a decent reaction, but It had been No.13 who…..

Axel slapped himself for going back to those memories
“Back to this AGAIN; man, I must really be loosing it.”
Those last few nights, Axel had only been plagued by memories of that one member's dissapearance. Now it seemed they were seeping even into his conciousness of the day!

Axel sauntered down the hallway, his lowered hood always bouncing with each step beneath his inferno of spiked red hair. Outside the window clouds of white swarmed against the glass; all competing for his attention.
He barely turned to see the Nobodies out of his eye; but he didn’t pay them much mind. At times like this it was almost creepy to think that the closest other being to himself were his servants the Dusk.
“Go bother someone else” he waved at them dismissively. Even if the Dusk followed his orders, it didn’t mean he actually had to give them any- more of that they just knew his will; what his missing heart would need most.

But still- how many “Rocks” had they brought him by now; as well as anything with the letter X in it, or his old teammates belongings?! Axel had given up on their help a long time ago.

Much to their urgency he ignored them, failing to notice just how many were coating the side of that building, or what vast numbers marched through the town of eternal darkness's streets; like Stars disobeying to stay in the sky.
He even failed to notice the commotion of all of their efforts: a photograph plastered against the window of a boy with spike blond hair; simply titled "Roxas"

OOC: I wasn't sure if I was supposed to post this as a reply to you Riku, or just as a new thread; so just tell me if you want this deleted or not and I'll move it.
I left out the name of just what character Axel had annoyed and also any other Organization members because I wasn't sure what grounds you felt for CCing here. I generally don't do it; but when I read Roxas's intro he was able to write as everyone- still that was all in Roxas's mind so in a way he did technically control all of those characters (hehe he is the GOD of Twilight town!... Even if he is being manipulated by DiZ)
If you didn't catch what just happen I just had the Dusk steal their first photo; I know it's important Roxas sees this, because it means the word is gone; So should I post another thread in Twilight town? Sorry for all the questions ^^;

[Akuseru]

(Drea)

Riku slowly brought himself out of bed, but once his feet touched the cold floor pain shot through his head. A brief groan of pain escaped his lips as his sweating palm covered his cold forehead.

"This better not be a rough day..." He mumbled incoherently as he finally lifted himself off the bed.

He snarled lowly as a crisp breeze cut straight into his bare chest. Clumsily, he grabbed his shirt and pulled it on without any grace what so ever. Today, was a day he just wanted to stay in bed, to enjoy the warmth of the blankets covering him. But no. He had to get up, go ruin someones life, go see Sora, do this, do that.

His legs walked him to the door subconsciously, while his hand grabbed the long black trench coat that adorned his outside appearance. The raven like cloak slid onto him casually as his fingers fumbled with the zippers. Quickly he pulled his hood up and pushed the silver locks back so his features were hidden from site.

"Really hope I don't get any shit today either..." Riku mumbled with a slightly exasperated tone as he practically ripped the door open.

While casually fixing himself up, Riku walked into the hall after closing his door quietly. Just standing there... he could hear the constant bickering of two other organization members, while his ears picked up foot steps and a voice.

“Go bother someone else”

'hmm... I see Axel is awake...' Riku thought, without further contemplation. Slowly, yet surely Riku made his way down the hall with his arms at his sides and shoes hitting the ground with a soft 'thud'. He could hear more of the organization members joining into the almost yelling match for something probably useless. The cerulean blue eyes looked over to Axel.

"Missing your team mate again, Axel?" Riku taunted a little bit.
He always did this for his own pleasure, after taking a pure hatred toward the old member of the organization XIII. Namely... Roxas. He didn't just hate him... he loathed Roxas.

Riku had been confused, when Roxas first joined. He had 2 keyblades but it couldn't be possible since both of them... were Sora's. He remembered fighting Roxas and remembered losing...

-Flashback-

Riku jumped forward while locking his blade against Roxas's. 'The oathkeeper...' Riku mumbled in his thoughts. This knocked him off guard and he stumbled backward before falling to wet ground.

"Why!?... Why do you have the keyblade?!" He almost yelled it out, anger in his voice.

"Shut up!" Roxas yelled, slashing his keyblade through the air and charging.

Riku lifted his blade and attacked right back once their blades clashed together; soon enough, Roxas was gone and he lost the fight...

-End Flashback-

"damn little snot..." he mumbled at the memories, he knew that Axel heard. He could feel the anger emitting from that flame by the window.

(ooc: sorry it's not that long. I was running out of Ideas and wrote it about 12 am. You got everything right Akuseru ^^

[Akuseru]

(Akuseru)

Yup, that'll do juuust fine XP

IC:
Axel’s face contorted unpleasantly; hearing insults muttered behind his back-
‘Riku’

"Ohh, so good to see you up bright and early Number....
Hmm?… Ohh THAT'S right… YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE ONE!" Axel finally faced the boy, a smirk playing off his lips.

It was true. Even if they were OrganizationXIII, the name only applied to the certain first 13 members. In fact, even though a great number were now "deceased"; Axel having a hand in quite a few of them, the newer, lesser known members of the group did not inherit the missing positions; nor did any of the others change their own. Although Axel had to admit, he was in quite a cozy spot of power from this.

Axel’s grin intensified, feeling good to blow off so much steam;
“By the way, that’s quite a new look you have there. Have a sudden growth spirt?” he remarked more teasingly at Riku’s sudden change in height.

He paced around, almost gleefully
“Just as tall as the Superior; heh, are you really so much of a suck up that you would copy his appearance?” he snarled sarcastically, gazing closer at the boy.
Of course he saw nothing. Riku’s face stayed concealed within the darkness of his hood; Axel didn’t know how right he was.

The Dusk were piling up by the window even more now; occasionally thunking as they pressed their brothers against the window, squirming more and more like a pack of vermin

Axel’s smile faded. His rage beginning to subside.
“In any case, YOU lost to Roxas.” He turned back away “You haven’t the right to say anything about him”

[Akuseru]

(Drea)

A low chuckle seemed to flow through the lips of 'Riku' from under the darkness of the hood.

"Axel...Axel...Axel...." The voice seemed to be deeper, more dark. "Learn to RESPECT your elders" he sneered as his head moved up. Golden eyes glared at the younger member.

'What am I saying? I'm not an elder...' Riku's voice just rang through the head of Xemnas. His body was going against his will as arms slowly lifted themselfs up and hands grasped the edge's of the hood. Carefully, he pulled off the hood. Before Axel stood Xemnas, tall, eyes narrowed, fists clenched.

"I, didn't loose Roxas. YOU were the one who had to keep him out of trouble if I may recall." he snarled lowly, stalking toward Axel.

Xemnas lifted his hand a bit, dark antenna's slowly came from a small pool of dark goo. His hand shot up and the dark creature rose up fully. Eyes glowing yellow, little fang's sparkled in the dim lit area. "To me... your just a pathetic little kid, who doesn't know his place in the world yet" he spoke with a menacing tone. He turned around so his back was facing Axel, with a small flick of his hand the creature shot at Axel with a quick pace.

"Either learn your place... or fight for it." Now his voice was back to Riku's, but the appearance stayed the same. Without another word, he started his way down the hall once again; from where Riku had left off.

'What the hell!? I want out of here now!!' Riku yelled in his mind, suddenly it was just as if he was knocked out. He couldn't talk in his mind, he couldn't make his lips move to the words he wanted to say, he couldn't do anything...

[Akuseru]

(Akuseru)

"W-wha..." he hadn't known what Riku’s exact reaction might have been- but Axel certainly hadn’t expected THIS

"Xem..." No.8's throat suddenly felt much tighter. He couldn't speak, his body was in too much shock. All he could do was step back with each of advancement the Superior made.
His mind was racing. What just happened? Hadn't this been Riku?!
'No, no! This is all wrong!' Axel may have been picking a fight; but on what cause did the leader of the Organization have to side with the opponent?! The capital L of Nobodies?!!
Axel could handle a few lower members, sure, he was even able to manipulate a few of them as he had proved in Castle Oblivion…
But no man was fool enough to take on the Head.

Axel's eyes followed Xemnas's hand right to when it had sent the monster upon him
"Either learn your place... or fight for it." In a flash it took off!
'fight for it ehh?' Feeling some strength return to him in the heat of the moment, Axel's hands fell to his side, conjuring up his precious chakrum; which spun like insane pinwheels as fire roared about them more and more.

Well the Organization did have to keep it's members on their toes; as long as this his only punishment, Axel figured he could deal.

What was there to fear about a little Darkness?
With all the intensity of the flames that burned around him; Axel shot one of his blades directly at the Heartless- if this one didn't hit he could send the other in a follow-up attack!

[Akuseru]

(Drea)

Xemnas looked back after stopping for a minute. His arm shot up and a dark pool formed under Axel's feet as small pools of goo formed all over. Neo-shadows slowly rose from the ground all making a low pitched noise that sounded almost like a way of communication.

A low rumbled laugh spilled through his lips as the heartless charged at Axel, ready for a full on assault. These heartless were faster then then the first one he sent off, more intelligent at that.

Once again, he turned and started down the hall leaving Axel to fend for himself against the onslaught. Suddenly, the leader crumpled to the floor; the sterling hair sprawled out a bit around him. But his figure changed, and his hair as well. Riku was back to normal and his body just lied there while his back moved from breathing.
He groaned quietly and started to push himself up, his hair covering his features, his now Cerulean eyes looked over to Axel. Riku pushed himself up and held his arm out a bit. A small light formed around his hand and The way to dawn appeared in his readied palm. He charged the heartless and just slashed through them, but his attacks really lagged.

Riku slashed the final one and fell to his knees with his hands on the ground. His breathing seemed to be heavy and his eyes were trying to stay open. Slowly, his body tipped over with a 'thump' on the floor.

[Akuseru]

(Akuseru)

“Got it!!“ Axel's smirk beared his fangs as the flames obliterated his target; but it wasn’t over.
Before he knew it something had grabbed hold of his leg, and the blazing red-head found himself sinking further and further-
It seemed the Superior wasn’t done just yet!

Axel struggled hopelessly while more larger and grotesque Heartless seemed to aim his way. Due to his fighting stance, he had leaned his arm right into the goo; and now it seemed as stuck as the rest of him!
‘Darn you Xemnas- what do you want from me?!’ he clenched his teeth while his other Chakrum just floated by itself in the air; unable to aid it’s master.
He conjured up more flames, but it seemed to do nothing to the impenetrable vortex forming at his legs

Well…how bad could the Heartless hurt HIM? He didn’t even have a heart to be stolen….

SHING-!
Axel looked up unexpectedly as his enemy was sliced clean through- and not by the Superior; but from Riku’s doing!

The Darkness seemed to dissipate as fast as the boy’s consciousness- Down he fell! Axel just watched.
“Well that was…. interesting...” He mused over at the fallen form of Riku.
‘Okay, so now what? Hmmm choices, choices…’ He could just leave him there; afterall it’s not like any harm would come to him, and it would be an amusing spectacle to the rest of the Organization.
On the other hand, seeing as how simply taunting the fellow member had landed him in this predicament; perhaps he’d better play it safe. Axel had had enough hair-raising situations for the moment.
Then there was also that whole “being saved thing” to consider.

Axel leant down and brought the man up, supporting him by slinging his arm over his shoulder.
“Fine, fine!” He complained to no one in particular.

Riku’s room should be right down the hall anyway…

[Akuseru]

(Drea)

Riku groaned a little in this unconsious state. He could feel someone lift him up and start to partially walk him somewhere. His eyes just wouldn't open though, they seemed to be locked shut.

Slowly, his mind was coming back from the dark and he was coming back to the real world.

"wha...wha happened...?" he mumbled while rubbing his head. "i'm so...drained..".

He couldn't walk, let alone stand for more then a few seconds. Riku looked up at Axel, "why.. are you helping me.." he spoke quietly while looking back to the ground. His walk was now slow due to the lack of energy that was taken from him.

Riku let his head drop completely, so his hair slipped off his shoulders and hung low while hiding his features. Just feeling like this reminded him of when he was young. A usless child, weak, knowing nothing better. As a matter of fact... just feeling like this reminded him of how Sora must have felt during their play fights. He shook his head, 'I shouldn't be thinking about that... ' he spoke almost silently in his head.
'I don't get it, why would Axel want to help me. Though I give him so much shit...?' Riku sighed and let his feet drag across the floor.

[Akuseru]

(Akuseru)

Axel's dark eyes swerved over as the unconcious man started to babble

"Why am I helping you?" He fake gasped, "Gee, I just donno!..." Axel smirked as he temporarely scratched his head with his once SUPPORTING arm, letting Riku start to fall forward sliding off his shoulder. Axel caught him just in time-
"uhh THAT'S Why!"
He frowned slightly at Riku's lack of vocals
"Hey!" he bumped him slightly "Are you awake or asleep? Make up your mind!" He turned back ahead to face the direction he was going
"and about this..." he muttered quietly "Don't think this means anything. If Xemnas was pissed off about me just yelling at you; I don't even want to think about his mood if I had just left you there!" His voice was softer, even if his words remained harsh.... Riku really did feel quite weak.
"Geeze, use your brain- you do have one don't you? Now Shut up and tell me which way to your room"

[Akuseru]

(Drea)

Riku's breathing had gotten a bit heavier and his weight started to fail against him. He was starting to loose consiousness again.

"Geeze, use your brain- you do have one don't you?"

His eyes turned gold again and a low snarl came from Riku's lips, but then they changed right back to cerulean.

"Now Shut up and tell me which way to your room" Axel snapped at him.

He started coughing harshly, his body going into small spazms. "What...the...hell...?" his voice was raspy, and quiet between coughs. Once they stopped, his breathing seemed to be shaky and his body felt heavy, like weights had been attached to his arms and legs.

"d-down..the hall... on the left.... the large double doors..." he spoke with a shakey, low tone.

'so much for a non-troubled day...' thoughts shot through his head, while trying to recall what just happened with everything that happened in the past few minutes. Nothing, he could recall those heartless appearing. He didn't even get what Axel was talking about.

'Xemnas... being pissed off...about Axel yelling at me... what?' Riku sighed slightly

[Akuseru]

(Korky)

“Ah, maaaan. This. Sucks. BALLS.” A mysterious air had always existed behind the walls of their humble abode, its secrets untold to the very bitter end. While scientific minds like Zexion and Vexen would relish in unlocking the cryptic puzzles awaiting them at every turn, others like Xigbar found it all to be rather: “BORING!” The freeshooter hung upside down in the hallway, heavy boots stomping down on random light bulbs situated in the path he decided to travel.

The annoyed man stuck his hands down into the mandatory Organization cloak, one corner of his lip curled in clear disgust. What he needed right now was not a nonchalant stroll through the castle, but more excitement, more CHAOS, more bloodshed itself! He wished to hear the screams of the tormented innocent, dying in the dank streets of whatever place they called home, a single arrow piercing the soft flesh of their broken bodies. Where was the challenge in cutting the heads off of prey that simply stood there, staring at him like they possessed no mind of their own? He wanted the humans, or whatever creature crossed him, to disperse, running with a sense of madness settling over their frightened minds and hearts.

“Hehe.” An audible chuckle escaped him as he imagined such utter pandemonium breaking out in an otherwise calm world, new interest filling the seemingly dull, listless iris of his golden eye.

“Patience is a virtue.” He snorted at the lame saying, waving a hand, “As IF. What if I don’t want to be virtuous?”

Passing overhead, he noticed a horde of their Nobody servants pressed up against the glass of the large picture window, waving frantically in his direction, “…..” His nose scrunched up, a look of disdain crossing over the rough features of his face, “…uh, ew. You dogs wanna have an orgy, go somewhere more private!” Their movements were already horribly awkward, the way they were positioned now only appeared like they WERE having a bit too much fun… one could say. Useless cretins.

[Akuseru]

(Akuseru)

Blotting out whatever light could have been given by the window...although, being it was a world of impending Darkness there couldn't have been much; the Dusk flailed all the more eagerly- intent to get the attention of the newcomer.
Their struggling increased further, now signalled by a final hope for their triumph: the jiggling of an unstable windowpane......

Elsewhere "Down the Hall"
Large broad doors creaked noisily, spilling light into the darkness infested room.
Two figures slumped in, casting shadows on the very light they themselves had brought in. One, grunting as he dragged his teammate and fought with the door, the other leaning upon him for balance.
'The door just had to be a “pull-to-open” rather than making it easy, didn’t it?!'

Kicking to finally keep the door fully open, Axel hobbled over to the bed, now fully dragging his companion

"Alright, Down ya go-" Axel groaned in slight discomfort as he carefully released the load off his shoulder onto the bed. Riku didn’t look in too good of shape at the moment, Axel could have sworn he heard him coughing a moment ago- along with a noise he’d rather like to forget he heard. Saix was the one with the “Lunar bond” problems; there was no reason someone like Riku needed to start snarling!

Well, whatever, as long as he kept those moments to himself....
'Now that that's over with-'
CRSHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
A loud shattering of glass hinted to Axel that he might be needed elsewhere-
__________________________________________________

Just moments before, the misery of the round glass object finally came to an end, as the window imploded upon itself sending trillions of shards of glass as well as confused servants spilling into the main hallway.
Confused and bewildered, the billowing white "mosh-pit" dissipated in all different directions; some even vanishing from the realm completely as if they somehow understood the consequences of what just happened

In the scene of the chaos, the lone Dusk that had started this whole mess crawled with what was left of it's crushed, trampled limbs... it's efforts in vain while it discovered it's priceless treasure gone.

A single photograph now resting by the edge of Xigbar's boot.

[Akuseru]

(Korky)

Dusks were half-retarded. Nobodies were supposed to possess mental capabilities that the heartless creatures lacked. Yet watching one writhing body after enough press against the pane of glass in a futile attempt to move THROUGH the solid object made it difficult to believe that the two beings born of darkness were in fact separate entities. Embarrassing display. Especially when the balcony, where they could EASILY filter into the maze-like halls of their castle, was a mere hop, skip and a jump away.

This was no kinky, yet mind-numbingly gross, orgy. Something propelled the creatures to desperately sink their lanky claws into the smooth surface, clawing and batting at it in large numbers. The skinny, disproportional bodies of the Organization lackeys had no physical strength whatsoever, making their uses scarce and far between. Most didn’t DARE approach him for fear of being used as target practice; but now, their sloppy actions depicted excitement, even if his presence. For what reason? Contrary to how he wanted to react to this situation, a pang of curiosity did creep up within the man.

“’Kay, you have my attention.” Xigbar jumped from the ceiling, hands moving to rest against his hips, “My time is precious, this better be good. And get away from there, you’re going to---” TOO LATE. “---hooooshit!“ With a nasty groan, shards of jagged glass exploded outward, spraying across the halls as far as the eye could see. Bodies tumbled through the newly formed opening, twisting into every angle as they realized the wrong they had committed. Many jumped back out into the dark streets of the World That Never Was ready to face the hordes of heartless versus the wrath of an angry archer, while others dashed as quickly as their oddly shaped legs would carry them. Only one brave soul lingered behind, left to wonder what had become of its efforts.

“I’m not gonna be blamed for this one, oooh no, forget it.” Where was a sheet of paper when you needed it? He would just scribble out an IOU note with Axel’s name etched out across the bottom, pinning it against the glass that managed to escape the onslaught. Right in plain view where the Superior would be able to see it. “Hehehe.”

A gaze cast downward revealed just what he had been searching for: paper propped up against the toe of his boot, “Lady Luck loves me tonight, can’t blame ‘er.” An eyebrow arched upward when he grasped the glossy sheet, holding it up toward the light. What a sweet discovery. Perhaps those damn things weren’t ENTIRELY worthless after all. “WHOA! HAH! It’s little BRO!” Standing with some old hag in a location he didn’t quite recognize right away. Something was off about the photo, something that caused that sadistic smirk to fade into a heavy frown. He looked strange. Not in a bad way, per say, but…not exactly the way he remembered. The kid almost appeared…amused. Relaxed and happy, something Xigbar had never witnessed out of the former comrade who wore a permanent scowl much of the time, at least… around HIM, he did. The man’s voice dangerously lowered in intonation, one icy cold eye peering at the one who successfully captured the important artifact, “Where did you get this?”

The Dusk began to move with ridiculous gestures, speaking in the only way it knew how.

‘Wonderful.’ Xigbar thought silently to himself, ‘I need someone who speaks dumbass.’

[Akuseru]

(Drea)

Riku let out a small grunt as he hit bed, his body shaking from the approaching coughs. He started gaging and coughing harshly, almost like a bad cold with a stuffed up head. He clenched his fists around the blankets and he started to push himself up but his body collapsed.

A shaky hand covered his mouth as he rolled onto his back. He started coughing harder as his face twisted in a little pain.

"negh... whats wrong with me..." he mumbled. Riku's eyes slowly drift shut while trying to get his energy to return. He felt so useless, pathetic actually.

"Well you are..." A voice seemed to come out of nowhere in the room, a dark voice.

Riku's eyes shot open at the voice and they shot around widely. 'I'm fucking halucinating...I know it...' he thought while trying to move.

"oh stop kidding yourself boy!" now the voice boomed. "get out of the room Axel, and go... do something". The voice was now starting to sound like Xemnas, a sharp, yet mysterious tone.

Riku's breathing became more rough, as he growled while pushing himself to get up. With the rest of his strength, he was able to stand on his feet yet his body remained slouched over. His power was weak, but if her could just summon up enough to open a portal he would get out of this talk, or whatever it's going to turn out to be. He knew he could do this, "I...wont... give up...". Riku held his hand out and a swirl of black appeared in the hair, then slowly opened up into a purple/ebony vortex. With one last glance at Axel, and the room, Riku walked through the dark portal and it disappeared as quickly as it showed up.

"That insolent... little..." the voice now seemed angry...

[Akuseru]

(Akuseru)

Axel stopped for one momentary pause, as he was half-through the doorway. A sudden rumbling deep tone began to utter on. At first it was just a whisper; a voice he couldn’t quite place, then it gradually shaped taking on a more sinister, familiar tone.
"get out of the room Axel, and go... do something"

As much as his curiosity begged him to stay; his logic clearly begged to differ

“Aye, aye Sir” He waved without even looking back “I was never even here”

Walking slowly enough just to steal a few more moments until he noticed his teammate's disappearance, Axel shut the door….
However, the scene that was there to greet him was just as ridiculous

His Boot crunched loudly as it trounced upon a stray shard of glass. At a closer glance he wondered how he could have missed it when it seemed to coat the flooring just a few feet down!

He scratched his head
“Geeze! Who’s responsible for this me-”

Axel’s face fell as a couple of Dusk wormed over to his way-
‘Ohhh, Don’t tell me!…’ With a wave of his hand he dismissed them away, their disproportionate bodies folding into themselves until the vanished to whatever realm they called home. This day was not getting better…

“Well, what do we have here?”
Axel stared flatly while he watched Xigbar just stare at the half-crumpled form of a Dusk while it flapped around every which-way. He leaned against the wall in amusement
“Is it a new game?” he smirked knowing only too-well his Trigger-happy fellow would only take interest in something that amused him. Something was up here....

[Akuseru]

(Korky)

Why he continued to watch, taking note of the exaggerated body gestures and every miniscule twitch the ‘tard made, was a paradox in and of itself. Normally, he would be laughing his ass off at this point, wondering in the depths of his mind how the hell the two of them were related. Once he obtained the vital information he needed, this THING was going to find itself on the sharp end of an arrow.

Just when he was about to give up and proceed to slay the monster, the ‘dumbass’ translator approached from behind, taking his position against the wall to the left of where he currently stood, “GOOD timing, hot-head!”

Lady Luck showered him with love today! The man practically skipped over to face Axel, mockingly waving the photograph above his head, “I got a SUUURPRISE for you! You can have it, if you clean up this mess.” He wiggled a brow, then fell silent, that sadistic smirk once again taking its rightful place across his face, “Oh, right, what am I doing? I’m the superior here. I don‘t need to use bribes to get you to do something. Clean up this mess. And make it snappy, we got some crap to discuss.”

[Akuseru]

(Akuseru)

‘heh, hot-head huh?’ Normally Axel didn’t tolerate much abuse, but after everything he’d just been through today, a brawl with Xigbar just wasn’t on his top-priority list.

“I got a SUUURPRISE for you!"
Axel blinked, this was DEFINITELY not the normal Xigbar- He was downright giddy!
Sure tall, ceiling-walking eye-patch wearing men weren’t entirely normal by themselves- but something was definitely not right.

Axel’s eye twitched slightly. He wondered if for a moment some of that glass had fallen on the pony-tailed man a little too hard. What did Xigbar of all people have that could possibly interest him?!
Then he caught sight of the paper- the materialization of it…. It wasn’t normal! Axel looked back at his Dusk- just what had they been out doing?!….

“Oh, right, what am I doing? I’m the superior here. I don‘t need to use bribes to get you to do something. Clean up this mess. And make it snappy, we got some crap to discuss.”
Well, the mess didn’t matter. The Organization’s leaders were originally scientists after all; there’s no way they’d create an entire castle that was so defenseless when so many explosions had likely occurred in the past! By tomorrow the window would likely have replaced itself.

Axel snapped his fingers, and in the blink of an eye every shard of glass began to burn into nothingness.

Even if glass was a little harder to burn, it was quite easy to do so. When you can turn the ground molten with just a little extra effort, it was no trouble to burn simple objects. Especially being that they, like the rest of this castle, like Axel’s own very being “did not exist.”
That was the power of ethereal flames; they could reach anywhere and yet also “touch” nothing. Had he wanted them to, he could burn the surface of the glass to “appear” it was gone; yet leave it unscathed once the flames were removed…. But then, that wouldn’t have been much of a clean up.
Still, not even ashes remained for the melting shards of glass; with a wave of Axel’s hand the flames went out; revealing the shining tiled floor. Not a single mark left behind.

"Now,"
Axel’s eyes locked with comrades- taking on a rather serious glare; he was through with playing around at this point

“Get talking”

[Akuseru]

(Korky)

Technology created by the original six apprentices of the wise Ansem could perform miracles, but when it came down to daily chores, they had to rely on traditional means just like any normal household. Those shards of glass laying scattered across the floor wouldn’t CLEAN themselves, now would they! Being an upper echelon HAD its perks. If he had no desire to lift a finger, he didn‘t have to, nor would the task be forced upon him. That’s what the lower, less important members were for: like Axel! Aside from the fact that he preferred to avoid dirty work of this degree, he rather enjoyed watching people do his bidding.

Xigbar leaned back against the wall beside the wild, red-head, biding his own time by picking at the wax in his ear with the sharp end of an arrow. Nice. Starting a fire in the middle of the hallway to melt the jagged remains of the large window. Meh, whatever worked was fine with him, as long as it got done before HIS Superior saw.

“OH! Missed a spot in the corner there.” he motioned, ignoring the blatant display of irritation. The revelation did not come until every last speck had vanished from sight. “Good boy! That wasn’t so hard, was it?” He mocked, his tongue lashing out across his dry lips. “Chill, will ya? GEEZ. This is something yer gonna like. Actually, you know, it’s something we ALL will benefit from. WAH-LAH!” Finally, after minutes of stalling, he flipped the important side of the photo up for Number eight to see. “Found our BOY, fire-breath! Only, I have no idea where the dusks recovered it. Recognize the scenery at all?” He WOULD have asked the creature to show him the way, but frankly, he was scared where it would take him. They were all dumb as hell…

[Akuseru]

(Akuseru)

Standing timidly beside some aging hag, stood a modest boy in ragtag attire. His curly, yet spiky blonde locks continued their gravity-defying manner even as he was unwillingly yanked forward into the shot. Although his unflattering, half-attempted grin was an unusual sight for his features, one thing was always the same; those deep eyes of azure. Even when they were staring right at you; they still seemed to be looking away. Like a reflection of the seas. And no matter how relaxed their glance could get…. Something had always been…cold about them.

Something was different, that was for certain; but deep down, even with the heart he didn’t have, Axel knew this was the one he’d been looking for

“Roxas!” he gasped, almost as if he were yelling back to the boy inside the photo.

Even for Axel’s careful planning; this was beyond the scope of expectations!

‘So THIS is what the Dusk had been after!’ Axel mentally cursed at himself. Of course the one time something important actually happened, he had only pushed the Dusk aside. And now this precious information was in the hands of Xigbar… and likely the Superior would eventually know as well…

Axel wanted so desperately to snatch the photo from Xigbar right then and there; but something still gave him the upper hand.

“Found our BOY, fire-breath! Only, I have no idea where the Dusks recovered it. Recognize the scenery at all?”

He studied the photo for a moment, something clicked; the pavement of the ground, the shape of the trees… yes, he’d seen it not too long ago in the remembrances of Castle Oblivion! Although Sora had never been to such a land, he had been conned into stumbling upon the memories of Roxas; all through No.4’s foolish meddling. Axel hadn’t understood at first why Twilight Town of all places should appear….but this photo was starting to patch things up nicely
‘Perhaps that “experiment” of yours wasn’t such a failure…You have my thanks Vexen ’ Axel smirked on the inside. That man’s mistake might have proved useful after all.

Each member of the Organization was attributed to their own “flunkies” of Nobody legions to command as their power; for Axel he controlled the Dusk. Even if they seemed the “weakest” at fighting, their teleportation skills were unrivaled among their kin. As their “master,” Axel knew he could eventually con them into telling him the source of the photo… but he’d have to play his cards carefully

“I can hazard a few guesses… why don’t we take a look?” Axel was torn on how to go about such a decision. On one hand he could just take off then and there- but how much trouble would that get him into to act without authority? On the other hand, he needed to figure out whether this was a good thing to report or not to the higher ups…. ‘Wait-’ that gave Axel an idea

“Well…as you said before, YOU’RE the one with the higher ranking here. I’ll just get to work on finding out about where this photo might have been taken.“ he faked a sigh “As sorry as I am that you discovered this first, you do have the photo, so I guess you’ll get the glory of reporting this yourself.”
“So?”
His gloved hand reached out to rip open a new portal. Within seconds a swirling haze of blacks of purples through which Organization members had used to travel often appeared.

“Is that an order?” He grinned with his teeth, ablaze with excitement. Now he at least shared the blame.

Xigbar could follow if he wished, though Axel didn’t really fancy him to. At least this way he could avoid confrontation with Xemnas, since he wasn’t sure he could really approach the man right now. Being no.2, Xigbar’s status was probably high enough to actually give permission to go about such a venture anyway- but Axel just couldn’t take the chance of not being allowed to.

[Akuseru]

(Korky)

Don’t think he missed that subtle glow of excitement glisten in those deep emerald pools when Number Eight was finally granted permission to glance at the artifact held in his Superiors hand. The reaction was nothing short of expected, but that didn’t mean it lost its amusing appeal. Axel tried so hard to hide the sensations the photograph stirred from a part of him that had long since been lost, only to fail… MISERABLY.

The relationship between the Flurry of Dancing Flames and the Key of Destiny was the most difficult thing to interpret and the simplest both at the same time. The unbreakable bond forged between the two was quite blatant to all those with the pleasure of witnessing their encounters. The entire time they existed together as a complete Organization of thirteen members, Roxas had spoken perhaps two words to him at best, of course, that could have had something to do with the fact that he was constantly picking on the poor kid; the others having no better luck with the youngest recruit.

Somehow, it was different with Axel. Perhaps he felt more comfortable around a man who acted as immature as a child at times, pushing his responsibilities to the side to goof off and act like a nimrod. Why did he find it so easy to open up to the red-head... that was something he would probably never know for certain. It was that reason alone why Xigbar pursued Axel now. If they were ever to convince the young blonde renegade to rejoin their ranks, to assist them in regaining their lost hearts, then they would have to have his best friend along to persuade him.

When it came down to Kingdom Hearts, Xigbar was nothing BUT serious. The Organization had reached a critical point; it was imperative that they used their talents to make sure things continued to pull in their favor... at least, until they had the upper hand. DiZ... OLD Ansem the Wise, if he accomplished his goal and managed to lead the young boy back to Sora, not only would the danger for them increase, but the time it took to send the hearts their Kingdom required would double as well. That was not a welcome thought for those that yearned to be complete. To successfully accomplish the goal set before them, they needed both Sora and Roxas’ cooperation, however unwilling it was.

“Tch, quit being a friggen Melvin, who said boss man NEEDS to know? He likes the full spectrum when it comes to reports, so it’s best that I investigate this myself first before interrupting him. And what can I say---” The man shrugged his shoulders, his voice dripping with malice, “---I’m just so… THRILLED at the prospect of seeing our Rox again. Lead the way, hot stuff.”