A u t h 0 r ' s N 0 t e
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This is a sequel to the oneshot Spelling Bee, mainly for my own entertainment. And for yours, of course. I liked the idea and decided to continue it. Lucky for you, I'm including the oneshot in this fanfiction so you won't be bothered with going back and reading it. I'm nice, aren't I?
Kingdom Hearts ain't mine. Nor is Organization XIII (haha, yeah, I 0WN you, Axel).
There may be some very slight Larxel hidden within these chapters. Who knows.

Axel challenges random Organization members to a spelling bee. Harmless, right?

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Spell Check
001 . Technical Difficulties

(xxxxx)

On any ordinary day when there was nothing else better to do, Axel and his chum Roxas would be in the blonde boy's room playing video games. Their latest obsession, in which they channeled all their energy and frustration of being empty and insensitive vessels into, was Super Smash Bros. Melee.

"Pikachu!"

The Pokémon's incessant screams jolted the hallways of Castle Oblivion as Roxas (who always insisted on being the electric rodent) used thunder repetitively on Axel's Samus.

Axel guessed the little mouse fit Roxas well. Its pelt was nearly the same shade as his hair, and the spiky quality it had reminded him of the creature's zigzag tail. Still, though, it was annoying as hell (as Number XIII could sometimes be). Besides, since its element was lightning, one would think that it'd fit Larxene more than Roxas. Not like Larxene ever played the Gamecube, but Axel had his doubts and suspicions, and Roxas had yet to catch the Savage Nymph in the act.

Zexion paused outside the doorway and considered asking them to please, be quiet, as all the racket was causing his brain to bleed profusely, yet decided against it and continued on his way. Trying to shut off those two's game system was like trying to unplug the sun's indefatigable inferno.

"Pikachu!"

"Roxas, will you stop using that attack over and over? It's pitiful."

"But that's how I always win!" The teen exclaimed, jumping up from his bed and leaning towards the screen that glowed incandescently, dancing brightly with colour.

"Pikachu!"

From the basement laboratory, Vexen plugged his ears and succeeded on spilling a concoction from his myriad of bottles on the floor due to his knobby elbows. Damn knobby elbows.

"Really, now, Roxas –"

"Yeeees!" He shifted in front of the television, so all Axel could see was his black cloak and barricading butt. The redhead imagined the metal-coated Samus being thwarted by Pikachu, suspended and tumbling in cycles on the top of the lightning geyser as it always did, and inwardly groaned his defeat.

Tedious moments filled with mechanic explosions and more high-pitched shrieks went by before Axel stiffly got up, draining his opposition of not wanting to be rid of the comforting foot of Roxas's bed and stood over his best friend's shoulder. It wasn't very difficult – he was more than a head taller than the youngest member of the Organization. After watching the frying Samus, he bumped Roxas away with his hip and took place beside him in front of the TV. Roxas didn't seem to mind much; he was fixated on the screen.

"You know, Samus is really a girl." The boy said matter-of-factly, out of the blue.

Axel's emerald eyes blinked once, jabbing his fingers on the controller. "Shut up."

"You're playing a woman –" Ah, so this was how it was going to be? Regardless of whether he was losing or not, when it came close to countdown Roxas began to mock his opponent, trying to break them down with searing and derogative commentary. Well, Axel wouldn't submit to such pettiness.

"You're playing a MOUSE. How is that any better?"

"PIKACHU!"

Oh, dear, the miniature rat was insulted.

"PIPE DOWN OR I'M TELLING THE SUPERIOR!" Saїx's roar resonated from the other side of the corridor, causing the two young males to jump as if Pikachu had somehow channeled its electrical current through the game station and zapped them both. Berserk Saїx was not something they wanted to see at the moment, but in Axel's opinion, he'd probably rather see the deranged elf come crashing through the door than see himself lose to the temperamentally hyperactive blonde haired kid.

Though Saїx was the bravest to speak up, Axel and Roxas were the bravest (or perhaps stupidest) to not abide by the rules. Mutual thoughts passed through their brains: Pah, what could Xemnas do to them? Nyah nyah.

Two pairs of eyes switched back to the screen, eagerly drinking up whatever harmful rays that radiated from its depths. They knew the end was near, they could taste it –

"Three."

"Oh, dammit." Axel's slender fingers began to work more furiously on the controller as the computer began to count down to the end of the battle.

"Two."

"Come on . . ." The redhead's teeth clenched in effort, brows narrowing further down his aquiline forehead. Roxas tensed, body bending at the waist as he held the plastic controller in a death grip, focusing intently on the last remaining second that flashed across the TV monitor.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck."

"One.

"GAME! Winner: 2nd player, Pikachu."

"SCORE!" Roxas dropped his controller and performed a little victory dance around his patterned rug. "I OWNED YOU!" Axel tossed his down with a little more force put into it, collapsing back onto the bed with a growl stuck in his throat.

Roxas lithely picked his controller back up, his "I win"'s fading as he rapidly began to start a new game.

"Okay, Axel, you get to be . . ." Even though he was turned away from him, Axel knew that his friend was smirking. When Axel lost (which was very rare and happened only when he was distracted – either by his pervading associate, or what the boy claimed to be, "Thoughts of Larxene" – in which, whenever this was suggested, he'd get a mouthful of chakram), Roxas picked his character. Axel had argued that this was unfair, as Roxas still always got to be his beloved little pipsqueak even when he lost, but Number XIII's stubbornness eventually caused the older man's protests to cease. Sometimes, he just couldn't say no to Roxas.

". . . Peach." Finished the blue-eyed blonde.

"Peach? Princess Peach?"

"She's no worse than Samus."

"You're going to get it, kid."

"Eep!" Roxas seriously squealed and ducked, semi-dodging the pillow Axel launched at him. Be lucky it wasn't an inferno I hurtled at you, kid.

"Come on, Axel. Pick up your controller . . ."

"Graaah." He half-heartedly reached for it, but it seemed miles away. A snort issued from Roxas, and he snatched it and held it out towards his taller friend. Number VIII reluctantly took it and watched forlornly as a female in a poofy pink dress appeared on the screen.

"Pikachu!"

The battle seemed shorter than the last – for some strange and unexplainable reason, Axel was shoved off a cliff by an invisible pusher at least twenty times before the five minutes were up. Not even Peach's umbrella could save her from the fateful plight.

"I win again."

"Good for you." He thought his apathetic sarcasm would be enough to make the kid take a hint, but abruptly his theory was conquered.

"Play again?"

"How about we do something else?" Axel suggested nonchalantly, though his request went unnoticed by Roxas, who had re-glued his bulbous blue eyes onto the TV screen, until he was done switching to one-player mode.

Now in a zombie-like state, he was hardly responsive. "Like what?"

The wheels in Axel's calculating mind began to churn, working up a whim to accurately reply with. "Like . . . a spelling bee."

A spelling bee. Little short of brilliance, but it would do. The gamer managed to turn his head and cast a dubious glance at his friend who lazed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with a little smirk playing around the corner of his lips and tossing his spiked chakram into the air, haphazardly catching it only when one of its various points would nearly graze his throat. Roxas had to raise a brow at him. They all knew that when Axel was bored, he tended to do potentially dangerous things – anything outrageous to try and revive his idleness. But what harm could a stupid little spelling bee do?

"You know, Roxas, those things you probably had at school when you were Somebody . . ." The redhead tauntingly droned when Roxas' response was to turn back to his video game.

"Yeah, whatever." He snapped, glaring at the TV monitor, and Axel knew he had hit a sore spot. Roxie doesn't like to be reminded of what he doesn't know, He inwardly sniggered. Not like he knew anything about his own past, but he didn't get moody when it was mentioned. If only you knew who your Other was, Roxas. Then I wouldn't be able to keep you any longer, that's for certain.

"Pikachu!"

Dammit. He had to act fast. The voltaic yellow mice were taking over the world.

"Okay, spell 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.'"

"What?" Roxas blurted at an instant, neglecting his game. Thank God for ADD. "Is that Spanish?"

The Pokémon screeched again, but this time it was more so in pain than in triumph.

"You made me die, Axel!" The controller vibrated briefly in Roxas's hearty grasp.

"Pity. I weep tears of lamentation for you." Axel sat up slightly, propping his back on the billowy pillows, and trailed his two index fingers down his face, imitating crying. The tear-shaped tattoos beneath his eyes hardly passed as looking like liquid. Roxas probably wondered why he hadn't just asked that big word.

"Countdown: If you don't get it, you lose and are at my mercy." 'At my mercy'seemed to have an ominous lingering effect.

"Th-that's not fair . . ." Roxas sputtered, torn between trying to gather his thoughts enough to piece together the 30-something letters in that word or trying to win on Super Smash Bros.

"Super . . . S – U – P – E – R . . ."

"Five more parts to go . . ."

"Cali . . . C – A – L – I."

"So the kid knows his basics."

The familiar (and dreaded) echo of the game's booming voice penetrated both of their ears, sending Roxas into a panicked flurry.

"OhmyGod shit . . . F – R – A – G – I –"

"Two."

Was that Axel cackling, or was it just his imagination? His fingertips scrambled over the buttons and knobs on the Gamecube controller.

"LISTIC. Listic, uh. Ell, eye, ess teeeyesee eff eff eff eff –"

"One."

"Cr – ap."

"C – R – A – P, my dear Watson.

"You lose." Axel informed Roxas as his rugged head sunk into his large hands.

"What do I have to do?" He muttered behind his palms, sounding afraid of what Axel had in store for him due to his failure. The older teenager tapped his finger on his chin, looking deviously thoughtful for a moment before his expression brightened as the light bulb switched on. His finger curled, motioning for Roxas to come close as he stood up.

"Follow me."

A u t h 0 r ' s eND N 0 t e
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Heehee. Who can't deny that Super Smash Bros. pwns.
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