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A/N: [laughs to the tune of the FF victory theme] Hahahaha, ha, ha, ha ha-ha!!!!!! Finally, after four revisions of this same chapter, many frustrating delays, and the same annoying 'starting too fast' problems I had with the last chapter, 'Dancing Mad', my first chapter consisting mostly of some actually impressive one-on-one fighting, IS COMPLETED!!! Uh, might as well mention that the major influence for the fight in this chapter was Monty Oum's "Dead Fantasy", a truly awesome video that matches up characters from Dead or Alive and Final Fantasy and shows them duking it out. Search for it on YouTube, it's totally and epically win! Also, anyone who can tell me which FF game the song whose title I stole for this comes from gets a cookie. Another cookie goes to whoever can tell me what LPer I stole the laughter at the beginning of this AN from. Remember, check out NekoKingdomHeart for the KttK dojinshi, and DRINK HEALTH DRINK!!! (Yes, I'm still on that...)

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Chapter 16: Dancing Mad

He didn’t want to do this.

That was the only thing running through Axel’s mind as he exited the club into a back alley, looking up and down it to make sure it wasn’t already occupied, Neko close behind him for Lord knew what reason.

Of all the things in the universe he’d love to do or be doing--going to the beach, eating ice cream with Roxas--holding this girl hostage was certainly not one of them.

There were two reasons for this.

The first was that taking hostages not only left a bad taste in his mouth, it was boring as heaven and below Axel to have any part in it. It was stuff normally left for grunts, and the only reason Axel was doing it now was because the Organization didn’t trust him.

The other reason was precisely the reason Axel was doing grunt-work: the Organization didn’t trust or like him, nor did he trust or like the Organization. Though it would be a sign of the end of the universe if Nobodies started going around trusting and liking each other, Axel felt the distrust and dislike for Organization XIII more acutely than anything he’d had an inclination of feeling since he had become a Nobody. He’d like nothing better than to clap this girl on the back, direct her on how to summon her Keyblade, teach her to fight, inform her in great detail on each member of the Organization and their specific weaknesses, and then vanish off to somewhere more happening than this hellhole.

And why wasn’t he doing just that? Why did he care? He had no heart. Nothing mattered to him but his own welfare.

Broken glass crunched under his boot. A strong scent of alcohol lingered in the alley--alcohol and more disgusting things. He turned away from Neko, partly to keep an eye on the road visible at the end, partly to hide the expression of insecurity that he knew would show on his face.

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. He was meant to be dead. When he had decided last year--on some random whim--that he was going to betray the organization, he had absolutely certain and completely resigned to his fates: either he would succeed and vanish off somewhere no one would find him, or he would fail and die. There was nothing that could go wrong about that plan, so he had made no alternate plans for if he failed and died and came back.

No lies had been practiced, no excuses could be made. So when his Superior had pulled him aside and warned him, in no uncertain terms, that he was on parole and would be watched with eyes unblinking, he had nothing to say.

Axel knew quite well what would happen if he put so much as a toe out of line. He knew who was only being kept around so they could be dangled in front of him as a hostage.

And the funny thing was that he cared.

He didn’t want the hostage to die.

He wished he didn’t--that way he could single-handedly orchestrate the Organization’s downfall--but he the point was he did.

No more options.

She was right behind him. Could he feign incompetence? Was there a chance that he could pretend to be overcome by her, let himself die so that the hostage would live?

A flash of white moved briefly across the end of an alleyway. Axel’s lip twitched in annoyance. Couldn’t even be bothered to send an Organization spy… just like them.

They were watching. They would know if he held back.

Besides, his instincts of self-preservation made suicide an even more painful process than it would be usually.

Axel could practically feel her breath on his neck. In a moment she’d grab him, put him in some submission hold or something and drain his blood.

Yuck.

A wall of flame shot up between her and him, turned a bright blue from the alcohol spattered on the ground. Neko sprang back, alarmed.

He turned slowly to face her, forcing his face into an expressionless mask. “Little too close for comfort there, sweetheart.”

She stared at him, face set in an expression of complete confusion.

Well, that was a little underwhelming. He sighed. “I suppose some introductions are in order,” he said, banishing the flame wall between them with a sweep of his hand. “Like I said: I’m Axel. A-X-E-L. I’m with Organization XIII, and I’m under orders to hold you hostage. Or, you know, if all else fails, kill you. I control fire--and, from what I heard, vampires and fire--not the bestest of buddies. But hey, I’m not asking you to cooperate, ‘cause how boring would that be, am I right?”

Neko stared silently. “What are you smoking?” she said after a moment.

Axel sighed again. He’d rather have a root canal than deal with this, forget the ice cream, good God. “Okay. I’ll spell it out for you: I am going to kill you, you fuzz bag. Get up and fight or you’re literally going to be toast. Got it memorized?”

Neko leaped to her feet. “Who the hell are you calling a fuzz bag, you girly clown?!” she shouted.

Girly… clown…? She wondered what crack he was smoking, what about her?! He didn’t… look like a… He looked down at his slender waist, thought a moment about his red hair.

s**t!

For the first time in his life, he was lost for words. “I’m going to kill you, you undead excuse for an emo.”

“Come and get me, hedgehog-hair,” she shot back.

“Ever so GLADLY!” Axel roared, now not with so many qualms about killing her now. Fire walls exploded up to block the ends of the alleyway. His own hands caught fire, summoning his weapons--a pair of red chakram.

The vampire took a fighting stance. “I’m gonna snap you like a twig!”

“If you don’t burn like one first!!” he hurled back. The concrete at her feet glowed red and then shot upwards in a flare.

Neko leaped out of the way just in time and charged at him. He jumped over her and whipped around to stab her with one of the spikes on his chakram, but she turned around just as fast and caught stopped his arm with the side of her own. Her other hand slipped forward in a low jab that Axel easily avoided by turning to the side and letting her hand go right by him. (Benefits of having a tiny waist, he thought to himself.)

He twisted his arm around to get it free and hurled the chakram at Neko. She ducked it, jumped, and scissor-kicked at him. Axel dodged that as well and threw the other chakram, but missed. Neko landed again and made a few quick jabs at him, which he blocked without much difficulty. He aimed a spinning kick at her head which she ducked, and then smoothly turned the spin into a leg sweep by dropping down low. She sprung forward over his leg and his head, getting behind him.

He rolled forward and out of the way of her punch, which shattered the concrete. He landed easily onto his feet, spinning to face her and summoning new chakram. She dashed at him again and threw another punch. He spun sideways and out of the way, slashing at her. She evaded it with the same dancer’s grace he had and aimed an uppercut at his chin. Axel tossed his chakram into the air and quickly tumbled backwards into a handstand to dodge the punch. The chakram landed neatly around his feet and Axel spun towards her on his hands, the chakram swinging in dangerous circles. Neko backstepped away from him, looking for an opening.

The circular weapon on his left foot flew off, nearly taking off Neko’s head, and allowing him to get back into an upright position. Unfortunately, this left him with his back to her and in prime position to get clobbered in the back by a brutal kick. He was sent flying and hit the wall of the building and leaving an Axel-shaped dent in it.

He pushed himself up with lightning speed. “That hurt.”

“Want some more?”

“Not before you get some!” Axel shouted. A giant blast of flame shot down the alley, consuming everything in its path.

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Mia collapsed to the muddy ground, sobbing for air. She couldn’t do it anymore. She couldn’t breathe, her stomach had tied itself into knots, drool and sweat ran down her face in equal amounts.

She could feel Halo backtrack to pick her up and keep going, but Mia simply lay there, shaking her head and crying. If she had to run another step, she’d die.

Halo shook her head at the girl. Even for a human, that was pathetic! There was something broken with that girl’s fight or flight response, Halo was certain of it.

But now was not the time to ponder on the failings of this girl. The blue-haired man was just stepping out of the trees in the clearing that Mia had collapsed in. How had he caught up when Halo had never sensed him going much faster than a leisurely stroll?

“Done already?” he said softly. “Too bad.”

Halo rose from her kneeling position next to the collapsed Mia and faced Saïx, glaring quietly. “What do you want of me?”

Saïx stared at her, yellow eyes glowing in the moonlight. “I want your heart. Your heart for mine--is that not a fair trade?”

“No… I think not,” Halo replied, tossing her hair back so it lay smooth.

“Very well. Then you leave me no choice.” His grip on the blue claymore he held tightened. “Sad abomination… Is this truly a champion? Have the spirits of the keyblades truly chosen wisely, picked the ones who will overthrow the Organization once and for all?”

Halo frowned and took a moment to rummage around in Mia’s mind. She closed her eyes, nodded, and lifted her fists in a boxing stance. “Probably not. But we’ll do our best.”