Greater Perspective part 3

The Greater Perspective of Living Large
by Cre8NStuff

DISCLAIMER:  The characters used for this story are owned by Disney and Square Enix.

PART III

         Along Michigan Avenue wandered the unusual entourage of smaller folk, peering in shop windows, laughing at old memories, and wafting the fragrance of fresh hot dogs from a street vender.
“Hot dogs on me?” Axel, at the head of the group, turned around.
The affirmative was unanimous.  Sora, however, opted to pay for his and Kairi’s.
“Seven orders,” Axel began.  And lastly, his own.  “Two with the works.”
The walk continued.
“Two, Axel?” Celeste teased.
“I’ve got a long body to nourish, okay?” He crammed the last bite of the first hot dog in his mouth, shortly starting on the second.
“Thank you, by the way.”
“Yeah,” said Riku, “thanks for lunch, Axel.”
“Lunch?” he said.  “This is a snack.”  After a few stares at him, he said, “I’m just kidding you guys.”  He looked down at Roxas, still working his way through his only hot dog, adorned only with ketchup.
Axel gave him a friendly slap on the back.  “How’s it goin’ there, buddy?”
“Vis ith vreat,” Roxas spoke through a mouthful of bun.  “Thanks.”
“I speak that language often,” Axel joked.  “Drives Xemnas insane.”
“Oh, I dunno, maybe because it’s rude?” Celeste smirked.
“If you ask me, giving orders to take people’s hearts is pretty rude.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Celeste agreed.
“I’d say,” Riku put in, “that goes a tad beyond rude.”
She looked back and pretended to wrinkle her nose in thought.  “I was thinking…heinous.  Will that about do it?”
“It’s a start.”
“Cruel,” said Kairi.
“Appalling,” Celeste said.
“Wicked,” Donald contributed.
“Ooh,” said Celeste, “I’ve always liked the word ‘wicked.’”
“Rotten,” said Sora.
“Depraved,” Riku said.
“Wow, that’s a nerdy word,” Axel laughed.
“Evil,” Mickey said.
Celeste looked over her shoulder again and grinned, “How about heartless?”
Everyone except Axel and Roxas laughed.
“That one’s hittin’ a bit close to home,” Axel said.
“Sorry,” Celeste wrapped both arms around his waist, mid-walk.  “Why are we even talking about this?”
“Talkin’ ‘bout Xemnas.”
“Ugh…can’t help thinking about Uncle Ansem when this stuff comes up.  Knucklehead.”
“It’s not your uncle’s fault,” Mickey put in.
“Yeah, it is.  Or, okay, Xehanort was stubborn, I’ll admit to that; but Uncle…did not handle it well.  Ansem gets a tendency to be dismissive, even with me.  And toward the end there, it causes quite a few squabbles between he and Xehanort specifically.  Ugh, truth be told, my uncle is just as stubborn.  Not only that—I dunno, maybe as a result—he kept me in the dark…er, not literally…for so long that…ugh, I feel like I could have assuaged some things a lot sooner.  I was sixteen when they left…just…I-I don’t know…”  Celeste rubbed her face.
“Hey,” said Axel, with his arm around her, “we’re on vacation, right?  No bad thoughts.  I mean, think of it this way.  If you had been there to stop Xehanort from becoming Xemnas, you and I would never have met.  I would have been somebody else.”
Celeste smiled up.  “I’m glad you’re Nobody else…but Axel.”
Axel laughed and rubbed her arm playfully.
“Xemnas is really different,” Goofy said.
“A woman’s touch,” Celeste pointed to herself.  This elicited a giggle from the group.
“No, really,” Celeste glanced back.  “I mean, it wasn’t overnight, of course.  But, don’t forget—“
“Get it memorized,” Axel inserted.
Celeste shoved him playfully and went on.  “Get it memorized that I grew up around Xehanort and other lab assistants.  Memories hold a lot of emotional weight.  But I guess Xemnas hadn’t counted on that being stronger than the darkness he sought to wield.  But when I showed up at his castle looking for him and he saw that necklace he’d made by hand for a birthday of mine, he could not get over what having that little girl around the lab meant to him.  And he’s been on the mend ever since.  He’s about as close to Xehanort now as I remember, only with a bit dirtier mind.  Kind of like Roxas is more punk than Sora.”
“Hey.  What do you mean?” Roxas looked at her.
“By ‘punk’, of course, I meant hip.”
“And I’m not?” Sora said.
“Well…like Huey Lewis said, ‘It’s hip to be square.’”
“What?” Sora gasped, amidst the laughter going on.
“By square, she means you guys are goodie-goodies,” Axel said.  “Got it memorized?”
“Goodie-goodies?” Sora challenged, smiling.  “So, what does that make you?”
“Uhhhh…”  Her eyes darted; then she thumbed.  “Axel’s girlfriend.”  She shrugged.
Axel ruffled her hair, while everyone laughed.
“I like my men like I like my chicken,” she smirked.  “Dark and tender.”
The laughter evolved right into a unanimous coo.
“So, like,” Riku mused, “did you have that effect on Saix, too, or what?”
“Who, me?” Celeste looked back.  “Oh, well, no, not exactly.  The only reason he was a gentleman to me pre-heart was because I was the Superior’s pet, in a word.  Had my only connection to the Organization been that I was ‘seeing’ Axel…” Celeste shook her head, “we would’ve both been dead, without so much as a footnote.  But if there’s one thing about Saix, it’s that he’s fiercely loyal to Xemnas.  Orders?  Consider them done.  He even delegated to Saix.  I mean, they’re like this,” she crossed her fingers.  “Had Saix raised a claymore to me, even at a radius of twenty feet, he would’ve been a Dusk in a heartbeat…or lack thereof…whatever.  Comes out later, Xemnas gave a similar order about Axel…because Xemnas’s new prerogative was to provide conditions such that I was happy to spend long amounts of time there, so that he could investigate the feelings that these memories were dredging up.
“Now, with a heart, Saix is, uh, nnnot what you would call ‘warm and fuzzy.’  Polite, but reserved.  Very reserved.  He still has a particular fascination with emotional conflict.”
“I’ll attest to that,” Axel grunted.
“Yeah, unfortunately, he likes to test it on Axel, especially if it involves me.  But, here’s the kicker:  he’s not immune to emotional conflict himself.  He has been merciful with me, where he’s pushed me to my limit, and I broke down, and he had to deal with some incurring humility.  Humility is a wonderful thing. As before, he is aware of the characteristics or criteria of compassion—“
Sora chuckled sarcastically.
“And Sora laughs because he’s been a personal victim of it.  But Saix now uses them.  Now, from Axel, you might get a different story, but I’m convinced,” she held up her finger officiously, “that Saix actually does feel what those actions would suggest.  Sometimes you can really tell…something in the eyes.”
“The eyes don’t lie,” Mickey verified.
Celeste began to laugh, “I’m sorry, Kairi’s been so quiet all this time, the curiosity is killing me.  I just want to hear her thoughts on this.”  She turned around.
“My thoughts on Saix?”
“If it’s alright.  I mean, you just looked so beside yourself out on the steps back there, I was just wondering what was going through your mind, after all, being kidnapped and cornered back in the day…”
“Well, not only that,” she replied, “but it was worse seeing him that gargantuan, and so close.  To say I was weak in the knees is an understatement.”
Axel twisted around, hand on his heart.  “I’m sure Saix was just absolutely devastated that you were frightened of him, Kairi.”
“Oh, Axel,” Celeste slapped his arm lightly.
“Do you think so?” Kairi asked Celeste, her tone weighted by surprise and even some genuine concern.
“Uh, well, devastated, no.  Awkward, maybe?  Guilty about the past?  I don’t know.  It’s hard to tell.  He might not have thought anything of it.”  Celeste shrugged.
“Good,” said Axel, “I’ll put him on the spot and ask him.  ‘Hey, Saix, do you feel like a total scumbag now, after what you did to Kairi?’”
Kairi squinted and smiled.  “I forgave you, didn’t I?”
“Ohhhhh!” Sora, Riku, Roxas, and Celeste decresendoed.
But Axel took it in humor.  “Aw, that warms my heart, Kairi.”
Celeste returned on a note of sincerity.  “I’m sure Saix would welcome your trust, Kairi, just as Xemnas did a little bit ago.”
They passed in front of a long window, on the other side of which were various models of television sets, all of which were displaying the same channel.  The sound was coming through a speaker mounted in the upper corner.
Axel stopped.  “Hey.  Anything good on?”  He watched.  “Nah, just the local news.”  Axel was about to walk off again when Celeste caught his elbow.
“Uh…Axel…”  Celeste was glued to the TV.  One of them, at least.
On the screen streamed footage of various areas of the city.  Xemnas and Saix, standing in Michigan Avenue, less than an hour ago; Vexen, Zexion, and Demyx walking along; voiced over by the newscaster.  Then it cut live to the reporter.  “We don’t know where these strange intruders have come from, but as you can see, the situation has the city in uproar.  A group has come forth who says they can offer us some insight unto these giants.”  The camera panned out to include a sprightly blonde girl with short hair that clung to her head and neck, and two long tendrils in the front that looked like antennae.
Axel, Celeste, Roxas, and Riku’s jaws went limp.
“Uh-oh,” Axel’s voice came deeply.
She began, “Greetings, people of Chicago.  Go Bears!  It has come to our attention that several of our former co-workers have enlarged themselves to appalling strength and power.  Don’t get us wrong.  Although my friends and I were once their employees, we saw the error in our evil ways and broke off from them post haste.”
“Oh, bullshit, Larxene,” Axel hissed.
        “Don’t be fooled by their genteel appearance and mannerisms.  These men are sharpened criminals and know how to put on a good face.  They’re here to do nothing but wreck peace and vanquish innocence.  Take it from me,” she said urgently, pouring her puppy-dog gaze into the screen.  “Think about it.  With such physical superiority, what good could they possibly aim to do?  Their size gives them an unfair advantage over all us poor, little, innocent people who have no choice but to acquiesce or run for dear life…”
       “Cry me a river, Larx.”
       “What a nightmare,” the reporter verified.  “Can you offer us any advise on how to subdue them?”
       “Well.  My partners and I have a plan to contain them, to be sure.  A S.W.A.T. team has been deployed for 24-hour look-out until this can be achieved.  Be especially aware of their leader, the one with gray hair. Matches the steely contents of his heart.  And what a chauvinist!  He responds to the name Xemnas.  X, E, M, N, A, S.  Got it memorized?”
      “She took my line,” Axel huffed, incredulously.  “In the name of libel.”
     The footage showed Xemnas chuckling and then saying, “Chicago has to fear our companions.”
    Celeste’s hand leapt to her mouth inadvertently, with a gasp.  “That can’t be right.  Did you see that skip?  And the cadence didn’t match.  It’s so edited!  What could he have possibly been talking about?”
    Larxene was continuing.  “Under his command is another man, who goes by Saix.  S, A, I, X.  Long, blue hair and wild, golden eyes…like a beast.  More animal than human.  He has an uncontrollable tendency to go berserk.  That’s his specialty.  When he gets his dander up, there’s no stopping him.”
    The screen cut to Saix saying, “I don’t have a lot of patience with individuals who don’t concern me.  I don’t have a natural respect for human life.”
    “That, on the other hand,” Axel added, “was a complete sentence.”
    Celeste’s stomach turned.  “Ughh, Saix, I pray to God that was grossly out of context.”
    “Way to go, compadre,” Axel rolled his eyes, his head following the motion.
    “You were saying?” Sora looked at Celeste, rather indicatively.
    Celeste returned his stare and pointed at the screen vehemently.  “I—the—it’s—that’s not what it looks like.  I promise.  You gonna believe them, or me?”
    “We’ve gotta do somethi—“ Roxas began.
    “Wait, there’s more…” Axel cut in.
    “As you can see, he’s a complete brute,” Larxene said.  “No ounce of gentleness.  Just unbridled blood thirst.  Who knows what he could do to the city of Chicago if he were to let loose?  But this, of course, is all Xemnas’s plan.  The first step in thwarting Xemnas needs to be to sedate Saix as soon as possible.”
    Celeste grunted, “And where there’s a Larxene, I bet there’s a Marluxia not far behind.”
    “Ya hit that on the nosey,” Axel said.  "Usually, the other way around."
    “Saix is very controlled,” Celeste said.  “He packs a punch like nobody’s business…no pun intended…but he times it.  You know?”
    “Yeah, Celeste, we know,” Axel placed his hands on her shoulders.  “Calm down, you’re a bit jittery.”
    “We need to get my uncle and get out of here.”
    “I wonder what Marluxia’s got up his sleeve, then?” Riku posited.
    “Did she just say my name?” Axel whipped around to the TV again.
    On the screen were three photographs:  Ansem, Celeste, and Axel.
    Axel jumped in front of the window, splaying against it to block as many screens as he could from casual passersby.
    Larxene said, “We will be posting this ad every half hour.” Axel’s face dropped into both hands.  “Remember, if you see any of these abettors, don’t hesitate to call the police.  They will be harder to catch because they can blend in.  And there’s no telling what they may be doing under our noses to facilitate the motives of these monsters.”
Axel looked up slowly, but his mind was racing.  Across the street, a cop was standing outside the driver’s side of his car, radioing in.  Axel would have been merely paranoid had the cop not been glancing from a piece of paper to them and back again.  He grabbed Roxas and Celeste by the wrists.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“We’ll take care of Ansem,” said Mickey.  “You run to Xemnas.”
“That’s something you don’t hear everyday,” Axel said.  “Alright.  You guys sure?”
“No problem,” Sora said.
Across the street, the siren wailed.  Axel picked up Roxas under one arm, Celeste under the other, and booked, almost instantly from stillness to top speed.  And the entourage tore off like triathlon competitors toward the Art Institute; from stillness to top speed.
The siren began to gain on them, however.  Axel’s eyes darted around the block.  In his periphery, he spotted a Greyhound bus coming alongside them.
“Roxas, Celeste,” he said, “hold on to me.”
“Why?” Roxas inquired.
“Don’t ask, just do it!”
The middle of the bus was even with them now.  Axel gathered a breath, timed his steps, and leapt high into the air.  Onto the top of the bus.  Sora and the others continued down the street.  The bus turned toward the water front.
“Perfect,” Axel smiled.
“That was…wicked,” Celeste smirked, a worshipful twinkle in her eye.
“Like that, huh?” he grinned.  He kissed her forehead.
But the siren sounded again and they wheeled around.  The cop was speeding around the corner after them.
“Ready to do it again, guys?” Axel asked.

Exhausted, Axel, Roxas, and Celeste finally reached the gate to the Navy Pier.
“I can see them!” Celeste gasped for air from running.
But just as safety looked reachable, several men in uniform ambushed them from both sides.
“Dammit,” Celeste spat.
“Not quite the word I was gonna use,” Axel said.  “Go!”
Axel was by far the fastest runner, but the cops took a hold of Roxas and Celeste before they could get far.  Axel turned back and produced his “tools of diplomacy.”  They fray became quick movements, thrown punches, and confusion.  Axel was so spry, it took almost all of them to corner him.  Not that the cops were too much for him, but Axel became increasingly frustrated being barricaded from the two people for whom he was going to this trouble at all.
“XEMNAS!” Axel shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to convince himself that his voice would miraculously carry all the way down the pier.
Roxas broke free.
One of the officers was about to give chase when one of the others said, “Leave him.  We’ve got the culprits.”

The five had congregated at the end of the Navy Pier, next to the theater, where there was not much pedestrian traffic.  Roxas came flying up the pier at full speed, dodging people who had been brave enough to stick around.
“XEMNAS!” Roxas called.  “COME QUICK!”
Demyx looked up, but not because he’d heard Roxas.  “Hey, look.  Is that Roxas?”
They all looked up.
“Roxas?” Xemnas repeated.
“Xemnas!  Help!” Roxas began.  He skidded to a stop in their midst, doubled over to catch his breath.
“What’s this all about?” Xemnas asked.  He picked up his cloak a little and knelt, so he could hear the reply.  But with the force which he was accustomed to as a regular human being, and not accommodating for the relatively thin mass of the pier.
Roxas tripped backward on the quivering ground and fell on his rump.
“Sorry,” Xemnas said.
Roxas wasted no time getting to his feet again.  “Axel, Celeste!” he pointed.  “Police!  They’re talking them away!”
“What?” Xemnas gasped, furiously.
Roxas buckled from the volume.
Xemnas softened his voice.  “Again, pardon.  But whatever for?”
“Larxene was on TV.  She had pictures of them, and Ansem.  And you guys.”
“Larxene?” Vexen barked.
“Where are they?” Xemnas said.  
“Just off the pier.”
“Come.”  He didn’t wait for Roxas to get all the way into his hand before scooping him off the ground.  Then, he stood up.
“Yep,” said Demyx, also on his feet.  “There’s Axel.”
“Oh, Celeste…” Vexen breathed.

Axel was fighting for two.  Celeste was not strong enough to take on the two men by herself who gripped her by the biceps on either side and dragged her toward the car.  Axel managed to keep their hands off him long enough to hurtle a flaming chakram at the back tire of their vehicle.  The rubber punctured, but the heat caused the air to explode.  Meanwhile, the rubber began to melt.  Axel went for the front tire and did the same. The car sagged to one side.  But one cop ran Celeste to the next car, while his partners tried again to subdue Axel.  Axel took a punch to the jaw and knee to the gut.  The sting of a club swelled in his back.  Weakened, he staggered.  Two cops seized his biceps and forced his arms around his back.  Then, they proceed to lug him to the car.
The ground began to shake.  Axel smiled.
For a moment, the officers stopped.  Woe betide anyone targeted by the incomparably seething expression on Xemnas’ face as he and the others stepped over the gate as easily as a garden divider.
The car engine roared into motion.
In a voice hoarse with terror, one of the men said to the other.  “Hurry, hurry.  Open the damn door.”
“She’s in the car, Xemnas!” Axel exclaimed upward.
The officers hastily shoved Axel in the backseat, where Celeste was.  The driver, already set to go at the site of the giants, did not wait for Axel to be seated or belted.  The moment the car engine was on, the officer punched the accelerator to the floor.  The tires screamed, leaving rubber in their place.
Xemnas threw out his hand—the one not holding Roxas—in the palm of which a ball of energy began to form.
Vexen jumped forward and grabbed his wrist.  “Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait!  With all due respect, Superior.”
Xemnas recalled the charge and looked at Vexen.
“Before you, er, blast away, let me see if I can grease the skids, as it were.”
“Well, grease away, there they go!” Zexion pointed.
Vexen gave chase, despite traffic conditions.  Demyx covered his eyes.
The cop car swerved onto North Lake Shore Drive.  Vexen straddled the street, ignoring the highway traffic that went haywire underneath him.  He splayed out his hand.  The pavement began to crystallize.  In moments, the entire city block (just on the road) was a sheet of ice.  
“Hah-ha!” Axel saw through the window.  The back end of the car jerked.  “Whe-whoa!”
The cop gasped as the car fishtailed into a spin.  Axel and Celeste began to hold themselves to keep control of their gag reflexes.  All of a sudden—BAM!  And the sensation of falling.  The car plummeted into the river with a dramatic splash.
Xemnas, Vexen, Saix, Demyx and Zexion gasped.  The car began to submerge.
Demyx took off, as he would on a proportional street, using the ice to slide, like a skateboard.  He threw his hands in the air.  “Dance, water, dance!”
The water around the vehicle bubbled and then rushed up like a geyser.  The car somersaulted through the air.  On its way down to earth, Demyx held out his hands, brought it into his chest, like catching a football.  He pumped his free arm in victory. “Thank you, river.”  With both hands, Demyx tilted the front of the car up and peered through the windshield.  He tapped his finger menacingly at the driver.  “You…What’s the big idea, pal?”
When Demyx saw the backseat door open, he turned the car.  Demyx cupped his hand under it.  Axel dropped down rather limply, collapsing in a heap, too dizzy to stand.  Then Celeste on top of him.
“Hi-ya, guys.  Whew, boy, that almost gave me a heart attack.” Demyx put his face close to the girl for a little nuzzle, which she returned gladly.
“Demyx.  Everything gives you a heart attack,” Celeste smiled.
“Nuh-uh.  Not everything.”
“Could you put the car down?”
“Oh!  Heh.  My bad.”  Demyx squatted to the street and did so.  Then, headed back toward the others.  “Hey, you guys are cute this way.  All pocket-sized and everything.”  The fingers on Demyx’s other hand neared them.  Axel held up a foreboding arm.  “You pet me, you die.” Demyx quickly withdrew his hand.
Axel put his own back over his mouth to keep from throwing up.
Demyx stopped in front of Xemnas, who was the very picture of relief.
“Thank God, you’re alright,” Xemnas breathed.  He hitched his hands in front of Demyx’s, expecting to receive the two.  But Axel and Celeste lay prone as though dead.
Roxas went aboard Demyx.  “Guys?”
“Ugh, sick…” Celeste muttered.  She pulled herself to a sitting position.  With one arm, she beckoned Demyx in.  When Demyx’s face was near enough, she left a kiss on his cheek.
“Aw,” Demyx chuckled.
Celeste flopped back, wrenched around.  As if passing off a baton, she blew a kiss to Vexen.  “Victory kiss for Vex.”
Vexen bowed.  “It was my pleasure.  Celeste?”  By the time he was up again, she’d collapsed again.
But then, Celeste gasped and rolled onto her back so she could speak.  “Ansem!”
“Daw!” Xemnas slapped his forehead.  “Where is he now?”
“Just go to Michigan Avenue,” Celeste batted.

“I say!” Ansem struggled as two policemen dragged the old man out of the building. “Unhand me!  What’s the meaning of this!  I demand to know who’s responsible!  This is not dignified.”
The moment they were on the steps, two boys, a girl, a dog, a duck, and a mouse lunged from all sides.  Each grabbed a hold of either an officer or Ansem and tugged.
“Hey, this guy’s innocent!” Riku shouted.
“Where’d you kids come from?” one of the shocked cops tried to pry him off.  But Riku and Sora were spry and found new places to loosen a grip.
Kairi fell back on the stair.  Sora stopped to help her.
And then, hundreds of people running for their lives southward on Michigan Avenue.  There was an incessant background noise that resembled thunder.  Not long after, the sidewalk began to vibrate.  Vibrate became shudder.  Shudder became quake.  Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey let go of Ansem.
Ansem managed to crane his neck around and look straight up.  “Oh, my.”
Above him, Xemnas, with his arms crossed.  “Ansem the Wise.”
Ansem was replying, but Xemnas couldn’t hear a thing over the commotion.
“I’d ask how the lecture went,” Xemnas said, “but you look a little occupied.  Perhaps I can be of assistance.”  Xemnas swooped down with a reaching hand.  The two cops brandished their hand guns and fired them at it, but the bullets were so small (comparable to a grain of sand to Xemnas) that they didn’t even penetrate the leather.  Xemnas corralled all eight people into two fists and stood up, as if cleaning up pieces of a child’s toy set.  He said, “Now, let’s see.  Which of these do I want to keep?  Vexen, take Ansem.”
Xemnas loosened his grip so the man could reasonably crawl out and into Vexen’s hand, where Celeste waited.  Ansem immediately embraced the girl and she reciprocated.
Xemnas continued to examine the cargo.  “Oh, look, fellas’,” he said to his comrades.  “Law enforcement.”
“Er, Xemnas,” Vexen patted his shoulder.  “I’m not entirely sure that taunting the law enforcement is the best course of action.  However tempting.  We are rather trying to maintain a harmless reputation.”
“A harmless reputation?  Have you forgotten who we are?”
“Hurry it up, Xemnas,” said Saix.
In one hand, Riku, Mickey, and two cops.  In the other, Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy.
“Can somebody hold this?” he twitched the latter.
Saix cupped his hands underneath and Xemnas emptied his hand.  With his free hand, he removed the officers.  They flailed as they dangled above the pavement.  Xemnas looked as though he were in thought.
In his mind, there appeared a miniature image of Xehanort in a bright white coat, sporting a pair of wings, perched at his right shoulder.  On the left, was a miniature of Xehanort’s Heartless, with thick, red horns and a long, spaded tail.
“Now, Xemnas,” the angel wagged his finger, “you know it would hurt those men to be dropped from this height.”
Xemnas replied, “I’m deciding whether I care.”
“Why should you?” the devil on the other shoulder, with a deeper voice, laughed.  “These people hate you.  Show them that you will not be trifled with.  You’re the Superior of Organization XIII.”
“Tempting,” Xemnas nodded.  “I return the sentiment.”
“If you’re that angry, why don’t you just crush them in your fist?  That should feel better.”
“Oh, but what would Celeste think of you?” the angel posited.  “She would want you to think with your heart.  After all, she risked her life to retrieve it.”
Xemnas sighed heavily.  “I still don’t really care for them.  However, the repercussions outweigh the value of the vengeance...”
“Come on, Superior,” the devil prodded.  “Anger and hate makes you powerful.  Now that you have a heart, you can turbo charge them!”
“No,” Xemnas protested.  “No, I’m…I’ve decided to forgo that.”
Xemnas was back in real time.  He looked around for an awkward place to hang the men, but then decided it wasn’t worth the hassle.  He lowered them close enough to the ground and then released his hold.  He saw Mickey, in his other hand, swipe his hand across his forehead in relief.
Demyx looked behind at the sound of whirring above.  “Guys, we got company,” Demyx said.
The other giants turned around.  A small fleet of S.W.A.T helicopters were headed their way.
“Organization, split up,” said Xemnas.  “Head west for the suburbs.  Vexen, you’ve got the most precious cargo, go on ahead.”
Vexen nodded and began to negotiate the confused traffic once again, trying to be light on his feet.
Celeste put a hand on her breast and batted her eyelashes at her uncle.  “He called you ‘precious.’”
“I think he was referring to the both of us collectively,” Ansem said.


* * *


Vexen trotted the best he could through the inner-city grid.  There was nowhere to start a good run, for there was constantly something to step over or electrical lines to dodge.  
Vexen grunted in frustration.  “Gulliver was lucky it was 1699.  This is no way to get out of Lilliput.”
Celeste had her arms laced around his middle finger.  She gave it a squeeze.  “You’re doing just fine, Vex.  I’m sure the city of Chicago appreciates your precaution.”
“Oh, certainly,” he huffed.  “You can tell by the military escort.”
“We have faith in you.  We’ll be out of the woods soon.”
“Greetings,” came a voice from a nearby rooftop.
Vexen stopped and looked around.  Eye level with the top of the building to his right, he gaped in fright.  “Marluxia?”  But when he remembered that Marluxia was only four inches tall, he grinned.  “Marluxia.  You realize I could smash you effortlessly?  And it would be my pleasure, after you literally stabbed me in the back!”
“Who is that?” Ansem asked.
Vexen hissed, “Number 11 in the Organization.  Thinks he’s Number 1, or should be.  He told Axel, at one point, to kill me for…well, it doesn’t matter.  It was petty, nonetheless.”
“Yes,” Marluxia groaned, “and it would have been successful were it not for that meddlesome strumpet there in your hand.”
Vexen sheltered his hand to his chest.
“How sweet.  I didn’t know you had the heart for nurture.  I’m surprised you haven’t made experiments out of the vermin.”
“Vexen, don’t engage his banter—run!” Celeste urged.
“Where will you run to?” Marluxia smiled.   He looked him over patronizingly.  “At that rate, where will you run that you can hide?”
Behind him, a unit of gunmen assembled, poised for rapid fire.
Vexen squinted.  “I think you all should cool down.”
“Huh?”
Ice began to crackle its way up Marluxia’s legs, solidifying him to the spot.  It continued up his torso and stopped at his chest.  Before the unit could move, they, too, found their legs frozen to the roof, their guns iced immovably to their arms.  They looked like plastic toy soldiers molded to there stands.
Vexen made sure to relish a heart-felt chuckle.  “Going to capture Xemnas, are you, Marluxia?  A fool’s errand.  Now you can tell me what you’re up to.”
“Nice try, Vexy,” came a female voice over a megaphone, behind them.
Vexen swung around to see Larxene posing on the opposite rooftop.  Behind her, a troop of gunmen cocked their weapons.
“You, giant!” called one, over a similar megaphone.  “Put down those fugitives and there won’t be any trouble.”
“Never,” Vexen spat.  He hovered his free hand.
“This is your last chance!  You pull out that ice and your hand’s coming off.”
A few of the men gasped as their guns were suddenly knocked out of their hands by an unseen force.  The chakram returned to its owner, who jumped down from out of nowhere.
“Get going!” he shouted.  “I’ll hold ‘em off.”
“Axel!” Vexen and Celeste chorused.
“Don’t worry about me.  I worry about you.”
“Well, well, well,” Larxene said.  “If it isn’t little Axel and his little sweetheart.  How cute!  I tell you, Axel, you’re just a real ladies’ man, aren’t you?  Naminé, Kairi, Celeste…I just feel so left out.”
“Aw, don’t worry, Larxene,” Axel smirked.  “I came over to give you some good ole fashion lovin’.”  He hunched, swung the chakrams at his sides.
Larxene tossed the megaphone and replaced it with two fists full of knives.
Axel sighed at Vexen.  “Don’t stand there and watch us fight, you moron!  You heard the Superior!  And don’t lose her.”
SLASH!  Axel’s cheek stung with the claw marks.  CLA-CHINK!  Larxene found her next blow locked in a chakram.  With the swiftness of a reflex, Axel delivered a boot into Larxene’s chest.  Larxene fell back with a scream.  The gunmen were regrouping.  Axel set the chakrams ablaze, prepared to fight fire…with firearms.

Vexen tried a little harder to make haste this time, looking like a boot camp trainee in an obstacle course.  Pedestrians ran inside for cover, cars slammed on their breaks, but power lines were still troublesome and didn’t always survive the hop.  Vexen’s heart took a frantic leap, almost losing his concentration, when he heard the whirr of a S.W.A.T helicopter overhead.  Vexen slowed to a shuffle in order to get his bearings, eyes darting about the sky.  It was getting nearer rapidly, but he couldn’t seem to find it.  Celeste and Ansem could only see what was in front of him.  A sound of rushing air—a thud—Vexen yipped in pain.  His arm jerked from impact and shock.  Ansem and Celeste went tumbling.  Rolled to the edge of his fingers.  Celeste and Ansem clawed to hold on, but to no avail.  It happened so fast that Vexen had no time to buffer them. Ansem and Celeste hollered at the top of their lungs as the street, over 60 feet below them, came into full view.  Celeste’s tiny hands slipped off the side of his index finger when Ansem’s falling weight pulled her down.  Vexen turned white as a sheet as their forms disappeared.  He could have sworn his heart stopped beating for a full three seconds.  For all it was worth, he dove.  Ansem and Celeste hit—but in Vexen’s other hand.  Vexen shelled his weakened hand over them for good measure.
“I’ve…been…hit…” he was out of breath.
The helicopter hovered over its catch.  The men in the open cargo door, were suddenly distracted at a flash of blue and gold.  The sound of metal impacting metal.  The helicopter hurtled awkwardly across the sky in a swift parabola, like a spinning baseball.  In the distance, it began to plummet.
Saix watched it for a moment, cool as a cucumber.  He eased the claymore down by his side.  Then, he leaned down to the doubled-over Vexen beside him, put his hand on his back.
Down Vexen’s face, tears ran.  He shuddered uncontrollably.  
“Vexen.  Vexen?”
Vexen was still in trauma and didn’t respond.  He rasped as though he couldn’t get a breath.  Saix gently lifted back the man’s top hand.  “They’re alright.”
“Aw, Vex,” Celeste sighed.  She put her arm around his finger again.
His breathing slowed and he responded to her by curling his fingers.  Finally, he managed to speak.  “Oh, I’m terrible at this.”
“Well, you know my answer to that,” Celeste sat up.  “I protest.”
“This isn’t easy for any of us,” Saix agreed.
“Ugh, maybe this whole giant mess is my fault after all.”
“No!” Celeste said.
“You weren’t there to know.”
“I’m sure there was as an easily overlooked technicality,” Ansem supported.
“I can’t feel anything in my right hand…” Vexen said, trying to make a partial fist with it.  “C-can you see what’s back there?” he asked Saix.
Saix did.  “Great Scott, there’s a harpoon in your shoulder.”
Vexen whimpered.  He squealed when Saix tugged on it.
“It’s in there deep.  Can you move your arm?”
“Yes.  Apparently, the tendon wasn’t severed completely.  But, like I said…feeling keeps fading in and out…  I couldn’t…couldn’t hold on to Celeste and Ansem.”
Ansem got to his feet.  “Even—I mean, Vexen—don’t be hard on yourself.  Surely, anyone hit by a sharp projectile with such force has an excuse.  Those blackguards!”
“Sure.  An excuse to the Superior, to Axel, to…well, everyone how it’s not my fault that Ansem and his niece are a smear on the pavement.”
Celeste was on her feet, too.  “But, we’re clearly not.”
“Egad, you do have a heart.”
Celeste punched her uncle in the arm.
“Just an observation,” he defended.  To Vexen, he smiled, “Now.  Let me take a look at that shoulder, my boy.”
“Thank you, Ansem,” Vexen sighed.
“Not here,” said Saix.  “Let’s get out of the city.”
“Nice swing, Saix,” Celeste said.  “You’re a hero.”
“Now that’s something I don’t ever hear,” he replied.  “But you’re welcome.”
Saix put his open palm next to Vexen’s and said to him, “To lighten the burden.”
“Burden?” Ansem huffed.
“Fine.  Cargo, freight…passengers?  Whatever term you prefer.”
“Oh, come on, uncle,” Celeste dragged him by the wrist.  
Saix said to her, “I’m surprised your little hero Axel isn’t with you…”