Chapter 6: Can I Borrow Your Thumbscrews?
“So,” said Riku with the tiniest amount of sarcasm in his voice, “now that we, the killers, have decided that we will be doing no such thing, what exactly is our plan?”
The four of them, all still wearing nothing but their boxers, sat around the kitchen table, half-stuffed with the pancakes Roxas had made. Axel busied himself with his fifth—no, sixth pancake, blissfully ignorant of the questioning stare Roxas was giving him. Sora munched thoughtfully on a slice of fresh mango as he contemplated Riku's question.
“Hm, I dunno,” he mused. “I mean, you Organization guys are obviously lacking in the morals department. I have a feeling that busting in, guns blazing isn't exactly going to end well.”
Riku barely resisted the urge to smack his boyfriend, choosing instead to smack himself in the face. “No shit, Sora,” he said tensely.
Sora only raised an eyebrow at him. “Someone around here has to state the obvious,” he mumbled.
“What about your squad, Sora?” Roxas asked. “Would they be willing to help us out?”
Sora nodded. “Yeah,” he said, “I think so. I planned on talking to Leon about it anyway. Between us four and the rest of Kingdom Hearts, I'm positive we have more than enough fire power to take on your Organization XIII.”
“But we still need a plan of attack,” Axel pointed out after swallowing a hefty amount of pancake. “They've probably already gotten to my apartment, and I doubt it's long before they come check Roxy's. We can't hide forever, but we can't just wander into their territory and hope for the best, either.”
They fell into silence again, Sora munching on mango, Axel gulping down pancakes, Riku sulking petulantly and Roxas impassively observing it all. Finally, Sora jumped in his seat, startling everyone.
“I know! We kidnap someone from the Organization and torture him for information,” Sora said excitedly. “Or we can just torture him and send him back. You know, send a message to Xemnas, fuck with us, and we'll fuck back harder. Or we could just, you know, torture him for fun. If we get bored.” A pensive look crossed his face as he considered the possibilities.
Axel and Riku stared at Sora as if he'd suggested they have a bouquet of flowers delivered to Xemnas' doorstep. “Sora,” said Riku. “What?”
Axel shook his head. “Granted, that sounds like a wonderful plan, given how much I'm sure we all hate Organization XIII right now, but—”
He paused mid-sentence as a loud yet rhythmic series of knocks sounded at the door. The quartet froze and stared at each other, no one daring to move. Silence fell for a few seconds, and then the knocks started up again in the same pattern. Sora caught his brother's eye and stood up quietly, mouthing to him, “I got this.”
Roxas gave a short nod, motioning for Riku and Axel to drop to the ground as Sora stealthily took up a position on the right side of the door, back to the wall. Sora could hear the person shuffling around behind the door as well as the tell-tale clicks of a gun being loaded. He glanced towards Roxas, who was busy handing Axel and Roxas the guns he had hidden in his kitchen cabinets, and gestured for Roxas to head into the den, behind the sofa. Just as Roxas leapt into position, a loud thud sounded at the door, and Sora could clearly see that the frame had cracked as he glanced downwards. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as a booted foot cautiously kicked open the door. Sora edged a few inches to his right and flattened himself against the wall so he wouldn't be seen until it was too late for the intruder to act.
The man entered the apartment gun first, held in his right hand while his left held the door open. Before Sora could even see the man's face, he grabbed onto his right wrist, taking special care to press hard on the man's pressure point. At the same time, he wrapped his left arm around the man's throat, a sharp yell the only thing escaping the man's lips before Sora tightened up enough to cut off his air supply. The gun clattered to the ground, and Sora quickly wrenched the arm up behind the man's back. As he started to pass out from lack of oxygen, the man dropped to his knees, forcing Sora to bend over him in order to maintain his chokehold. Before the man could drag him to the ground completely, Sora firmly placed his foot on the man's shoulder and wrenched as hard as he could, dislocating the joint with a slight pop. Merely seconds later, Sora the body in his arms fall limp, and he lowered him to the ground.
He disarmed the man in moments, methodically searching his body for any weapons other than the single gun he was carrying and an extra magazine. “Well,” he said as he stood up, “that was ridiculously convenient.”
“Define convenient,” grumbled Riku as he and Axel made their way over to the door. Roxas snorted as he vaulted over the couch to join them, his gun still aimed at the inert intruder.
Sora grinned widely and folded his hands behind his head. “Now we have someone to torture! And we didn't even have to go through the trouble of finding him ourselves,” he pointed out gleefully.
Axel's jaw dropped. “Demyx?” he exclaimed, his eyes going wide. “You're going to torture...Demyx?”
As the other three men in the room recognized the man on the floor, each with some kind of muttered curse, the smile slowly began dropping off Sora's face. “You guys know him?” he questioned.
He was met with silence. “Shit,” grumbled Roxas, holding a hand to his forehead.
Sora's face fell. “So he's on our side?” he asked glumly.
Axel and Riku looked to each other. Riku shook his head slowly. “No, he would never do anything to betray Zexion, and he's still very loyal to Xemnas,” he answered.
“He's just a really nice guy,” said Axel, shrugging his shoulders. “He hardly ever goes out on actual assignments. Usually Xemnas uses him to deliver...eh, non-violent messages. People tend not to shoot him, he's kind of unassuming.”
The brunet raised an eyebrow. “You jump down my throat for not wanting to kill everyone on sight, yet you refuse to let me torture someone who just kicked down our front door,” he said carefully.
Riku winced. “It's not that, Sora,” he tried to explain. “It's just...it's Demyx. I can't even remember the last time he actually killed someone.”
“Yeah,” Axel chimed in. “He's a pretty simple kid, but his heart's in the right place.”
“You mean you feel sorry for him,” Sora huffed in irritation. “Bleeding hearts.”
“No! That's not it,” Riku exclaimed. He fidgeted a bit, and then rolled his eyes. “I just don't think...I don't think it'd be fair to torture him. He doesn't deserve it.”
Sora narrowed his eyes in confusion. “So,” he said matter-of-factly, “we're not torturing him because you guys are pussies.”
Riku's and Axel's mouths worked for words. After at least of minute of them sputtering out their indignation, Roxas sighed and stepped into the argument. “Sora, to be pragmatic, torturing Demyx would result in practically nothing,” he argued. “There's only one reason why Xemnas would have sent him to us, and that's to deliver some kind of message. Xemnas might be crazy, but he's not stupid; he wouldn't send one guy to kill the four of us and expect him to come out on top. The chances that Demyx actually has useful information are virtually zero.”
A willful pout graced Sora's lips. “We can't just torture him for fun, then? Please?” he whined, letting a plaintive tone slip into his voice.
Roxas stared hard at his brother for a moment before turning away. “Fine,” he said with a long-suffering air.
Immediately Axel began protesting. “What? You're just gonna let him—!” He purposefully avoided looking at Sora's cheerful dance of victory.
Roxas pinched the bridge of his nose. “In case you haven't noticed, Axel, Riku,” he said pointedly, “he's on the side of the people who are trying to kill us. As in, bury us. As in, erase our existence. I hate to say it, but if you guys don't have a better argument than 'he's a nice guy,' you really kind of are pussies.” He shrugged, and then smirked. “Plus, he's my brother. I like to see him happy.”
Sora grinned and rushed over to hug his brother. “Aw, Rox, I love you too,” he cooed.
Axel's lips tightened into a thin line. “You're a bloodthirsty little shit, aren't you Rox,” he stated, folding his arms over his chest. Roxas only narrowed his eyes.
“They both are,” agreed Riku, a frown playing on his lips. Sora's eyes lit up.
“Oh, come on, ball up,” he said playfully, making a quick grab at his boyfriend's cock. As Riku irritatedly tried to brush him away, Sora only danced around him, standing behind him to wrap his arms around Riku's waist. He pressed a soft kiss to Riku's shoulder.
“Don't be upset,” Sora whispered quietly. “If it means that much to you, I'll take it easy on him.”
Riku begrudgingly nodded his head. “He's a good person,” he mumbled. “He deserves a second chance. He deserves a way out of this.”
Sora nodded his head in agreement. “That's why we're not killing him,” he pointed out cheekily, forcing a light blush to Riku's face. Despite his erratic thought processes, somehow Sora always managed to out-logic him in the end.
Having settled things with Riku, Sora bounced excitedly on his tiptoes, glancing over Riku's shoulder at Roxas. “So,” he asked, “you wouldn't happen to have any thumbscrews handy, would you?” He was practically vibrating with energy.
Roxas raised an eyebrow and shook his head, but Sora wasn't deterred.
“No? How 'bout a whip?” He hazarded a quick glance at Axel. “No offense, but he looks like a real sexual deviant over there.”
Axel had the grace to blush lightly, while Roxas only raised both eyebrows and shook his head again. Sora sighed heavily.
“Seriously? What about a Judas Chair? A Cat's Paw? A fucking taser?” Sora began beating his forehead against Riku's back as Roxas continued to answer negatively.
Riku glanced over his shoulder. “Do you even have a Judas Chair, Sora?” he questioned fearfully.
A slight stirring from Demyx on the ground made Sora peek downwards before answering. “No,” he said petulantly, aiming a mild glare at his brother, “but I do have an iron maiden. And I sure as fuck have a whip.” Riku looked slightly disturbed by the information, but refused to say anything. Axel shifted uncomfortably, and Roxas rolled his eyes.
“Look, do you at least have some goddamn rope?” Sora complained.
A brilliant grin broke out on Roxas' face, and Axel visibly paled. “That, dearest brother,” Roxas answered silkily, “I do.”
