Happy New Year! I tend to make a terrible habit of updating this fic way later than I should, don't I? Ah, well. Anyway, I'm pleased to say that in the course of editing this chapter, it ended up twice as long as the rough draft – so hopefully it'll hold you all until the next chapter! And now, presenting the battle with Genie.

Disclaimer: Nothing's changed since the last disclaimer. Move along...

xxxxx

Chapter XI

Grecian Oasis // How to Douse a Firewall

x

"Did you want something?" Axel asked dryly, stepping out of the darkness and sealing it behind him.

The Genie and Aladdin looked up at him, freezing as if they'd been caught in the middle of a jailbreak – which, basically, they had. Axel was satisfied to see that Aladdin was still securely bound and gagged in his cage with the circuit of fire uninterrupted. The Genie had broken several of the cage's metal bars, but he was scorched black from trying to stop the second, internal cage of fire.

"Uh, yes, actually," Genie said amicably as he stood up, turning off his blowtorch (how would that help him turn off a cage of fire, anyway?) and letting it poof into nothingness. "You see, Al here is my buddy, and I kind of need him out of at cage."

Axel nodded thoughtfully. "You don't say," he said, matching Genie's neutrality. Surely, he must have guessed by now that Axel was the reason Aladdin was locked up. Why hadn't Axel been attacked yet?

"And whoever made this magic cage here did it with some really strong fire magic. Even I can't get through it," Genie said.

"Hmm. Tough." They might as well have been talking about the weather, Axel thought, for all the tension in this discussion.

"Sure is. So, I need someone to get through the fire."

"How about that."

Axel watched, amused – at least he thought he would be amused, if Soldier had been in the room – as Genie looked at the fire again. "It seems to be Nobody magic," he said. "Nasty business, those Nobodies." He created a water hose to shoot at the fire cage. No effect. "See, having nearly-phenomenal semi-cosmic powers means that I can do almost everything, right? But Nobodies, they're nothing – and I don't mean that as an insult, but that just means they're the exact opposite of 'everything'."

"I see," Axel said, not pointing out that he already knew most of this. He glanced at Aladdin, who had started struggling against his bonds and staring between Axel and Genie. Oh, if only he could tell Genie what he knew. Axel smirked to himself.

"Which means," Genie continued obliviously, "that if I try to use any big magic against this Nobody magic, then it'd be like combining matter and anti-matter. Have you ever seen what that can do?"

"Can't say as I have," Axel said.

"Well, I have," Genie said. "And so did the dinosaurs, unfortunately." The hose disappeared with a poof of cloud and rainbow sparkles; some of the sparkles hit Axel's fire and turned black. Genie summoned an enormous, reptilian skull and held it up in one hand. "Alas, poor Rexy," he lamented. "I knew him well. A fellow of infinite hunger, of most excellent fangs..."

Axel paid no attention to the monologue. In the few minutes he'd been here, he'd seen Genie with a blowtorch, a hose, and a skull, all of which he'd apparently summoned himself out of nothingness. Mechanicles was right; Genie would be a difficult opponent. And Genie was right as well, that Nobody magic and Genie magic were a very dangerous mix. Otherwise, Genie himself would have simply made the cage of fire vanish. Instead, he was resorting to using his magic to summon magic-free items that might help him, and then using those items against the fire. Axel and Genie wouldn't be able to fight each other directly.

Genie had stopped speaking while Axel thought and was looking at Aladdin, who was still struggling furiously. "What is it?" he said. Aladdin jerked his head towards Axel, eyes wide and muffled sounds coming from behind his gag. Genie frowned, and then eyed Axel suspiciously. "Say," he said slowly. "Can you get through this stuff?"

Axel glanced at Aladdin, who was looking rather frantic, and then smiled slowly. "Well, wouldn't you know it – I can!"

If anything, Aladdin looked even more frantic. He was clearly intelligent; he knew Axel was up to something.

"Oh, that's great!" Genie stood up, shook off the soot coating him, and stretched both arms above his head to get the kinks out of his back.

Axel stood still with arms crossed. He wasn't sure if Genie really was this trusting, or if he was just a good actor. But if it were the latter, why hadn't he attacked yet?

"So, would you get Al out?" Genie asked. "Please?"

Axel pretended to think over the request, and then shrugged. "Nah."

Genie groaned. "Aww. Pretty please?"

"No."

"Oh, fine. Be that way." Genie turned back to the cage, eyed the fire bars, and conjured a giant block of ice.

As he leaned back to chunk the ice at the bars, Axel swung one arm back himself as if to throw something. In mid-swing, one chakram appeared, and he threw it at the ice block like a discus. It shattered the ice, spun back around like a boomerang, and Axel caught it easily. "Ooh, tough luck," he said. "It turns out you're not allowed to do that! Nice try, though."

"Do you have a better idea?" Genie asked, crossing his arms and glaring at Axel. His legs had changed into a tail and he was floating two feet taller than Axel. By now, he was just acting out the part of the trusting fool, Axel could tell that – Genie was ready for a fight. Perhaps he had been all along.

"Yeah, I do," Axel said, and summoned his second chakram. "I think you should get outta here." He ignited the chakrams and leaned back, swinging the chakrams loosely at his sides, prepared to either ignite them for an offense or to hold them defensively, all depending on Genie's next move. This could be a very risky fight; Axel wasn't going to be responsible for, as Genie put it, a matter/anti-matter explosion.

"Oh yeah?" Twenty identical Genies formed. Together they said, "You and what army?" Various weapons appeared in each Genie's hands. Glancing at some of them, Axel figured Genie must have gone off world. He was pretty sure he saw one of the Genie clones holding a gun designed like Xigbar's.

Mechanicles hadn't been kidding when he'd said Genie was powerful; if he attacked with all the items he'd summoned, he wouldn't even need any more magic to win a battle. But if Genie wanted to take an alternative approach to this fight, then Axel could fight fire with Firaga.

Axel bent his knees and shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. He pulled fire from the hot metal of his chakrams into himself, and held it in his chest where his heart should be. He'd saved Sora this way, by sucking the fire into himself, letting it grow, and then, releasing it as hard as possible – sacrificing himself at the same time. But today, Axel had no intent to die.

"Who needs an army?" Axel sneered. "Unless you want your brave troops to go the way of the dinos, I suggest you dismiss them now." He held the fire a moment longer, giving Genie a moment to think, and then slowly pushed it down. Flames spilled from his feet, spreading outward to coat the floor and burst upward along the walls. The false Genies popped like bubbles before the Nobody fire could touch them, while the original leaped into the air, fanning his burned tail.

"Whoa, buddy!" Genie said, shocked – and was he scared? "You could have killed us all with that trick!"

"Wouldn't be the first time I've died," Axel said. "I'd say it's at least the third."

"Oh, so now you think you're the tough anti-hero, do you?" Genie said. "Sorry to tell you this, pal, but we've already our own, and you've got him locked up right here." He crossed his arms. "So now what, wise guy? I can't beat you and you can't beat me, but Al's got plenty of other friends who can beat you just fine. And heck, if they can't, I'll have you know that I happen to be in close association with a certain young man who specializes in taking Nobody yahoos like you down."

Axel's eyes widened. "You mean Sora?" Completely forgetting about Aladdin, Axel took another step towards Genie, pointing a chakram at him threateningly. "That's right, you traveled with him, didn't you? Tell me! Where is he now? Where did Sora go after the Organization fell?"

"Yeah, like I'm gonna tell you," Genie said. "My friend's enemy is my enemy, so if you think you can just—"

"Sora isn't my enemy," Axel said.

Genie frowned. "But you're in..." His eyes moved from Axel's Organization cloak, to his chakrams, to his face. A moment of confusion, and then his eyes popped open. "Sweet Allah in a hammock, you're the guy who saved his life," Genie said. "But I thought you..."

"And that was my second death, yeah," Axel said. "So, if you'd kindly tell me about Sora..."

Genie hesitated a moment, clearly torn, but then glanced at the fiery cage around Aladdin. His face hardened and he shook his head. "No can do, Nobody. I don't know why you saved Sora but I've got a sneaking suspicion that you weren't very buddy-buddy with him before then. Besides, anyone who works with the Greek geek's got to be bad news." He summoned a fire extinguisher and aimed it at Axel. "Gimme a reason to think you aren't pure evil."

Axel scowled. "All right," he growled. "Here's one. I haven't set your precious anti-hero on fire. Yet."

And some anti-hero Aladdin was, Axel thought. He'd gone from street rat to the princess's fiancé, he was the idol of Agrabah, and it seemed the only people he didn't like were the outsiders he once would have sympathized with, outsiders like foreigners and Nobodies. Axel never stopped to consider that there was probably a good reason for Aladdin not to like him personally; envy was one of the few emotions Nobodies retained, and Axel was willing to let it burn in him. Jealousy didn't need a heart.

Genie looked at Aladdin and gasped. "Al!"

Axel's flames had slowly seeped into Aladdin's cage, and were edging closer to him. Aladdin had his arms and legs pulled as far from the flames as he could get, but the chains restricted his movements.

"Scram, Genie," Axel said flatly. He was tired of this act, of pretending have emotions in front of Genie when his heart was too far for him to hear it. "I don't think Aladdin can handle the heat as well as we can."

"You can't set the hostage on fire!" Genie said. "You might be PG-13 but Aladdin's from a G film. Think of the children!"

Axel was beyond the point of even wondering what Genie was talking about. "Then here's a bargain," Axel said. "You buzz off, and I turn the heat down. The longer you stay, the hotter it gets, and I don't think your friend can take much more."

"Hoo boy," Genie said, biting his lip and glancing nervously at Aladdin. He glanced back at Axel, and sighed. "All right, Tall, Dark, and Mysterious. I don't really have a choice. I've got your word that you won't hurt Aladdin?"

"Sure," Axel said, shrugging.

"Well... if you saved Sora..." Genie sighed. "Al? I'd, uh, better come back later. This could get iffy." Genie vanished. Axel waited a moment to make sure he had really left, and then let the fire burn down.

He turned to Aladdin and pointed at his face. "I'm Axel," he said sharply. "This is what my face really looks like, for your information." He didn't care now, but he knew that as soon as he rejoined Mechanicles and Soldier in the computer room and saw how blurry Aladdin's memory of him was, he'd get annoyed all over again. "Strongest Nobody still alive, proud traitor to the fallen Organization XIII, former member of the killed Desiderii Nox, and best friend to Sora's Nobody." He pulled aside reality and slipped into darkness. Aladdin watched carefully as Axel left, studying the portal to darkness, clearly trying to understand it; even when he was locked up like this he was thinking, trying to find a way out.

"I suggest you remember who I am," Axel said, and let reality fall shut.

There were too many people who forgot.

x

Mechanicles glanced up as Axel appeared in the computer room. He'd been watching the exchange through Aladdin's thoughts, but it was so hard to keep track of what was going on. Especially when Aladdin himself was confused, stupid street rat. "Well?"

"Genie's gone." Axel paused long enough for Soldier to run across the room and climb into his arms. "I didn't do any actual damage, but there's no way Genie's getting past that barrier."

"You are sure of this?" Mechanicles grinned widely. "Perfect! At last, I have a flawless defense against Aladdin's stupid Genie! And it's a defense only one person can deactivate, so we won't have to worry about Aladdin's other little friends."

"I'd say that's a flaw." Axel smirked and leaned against one of the computers. "How will you turn it off?"

"Details, details." Mechanicles waved one hand dismissively. "We can work that out later. For now, turn on the main security system. I don't want any interruptions."

"You? Turning on a machine before it's been tested for every problem imaginable?" Axel melodramatically placed one hand to his forehead, and Soldier immediately copied him. "Why didn't anyone tell me the end of the world was so close?"

Axel was right. Before today, Mechanicles honestly couldn't picture himself starting up an invention for the first time without weeks of tests and adjustments. Had he really changed this much in the past three weeks?

"We don't have time for tests," Mechanicles said impatiently – trying to justify his own behavior. "Genie may not be able to reach Aladdin but he can reach the rest of my home. Quickly!"

"Fine, I'm on it," Axel said. Mechanicles saw Axel counting out the keys on the keyboard to find the proper one (he couldn't read Greek, Mechanicles had learned), and press it. The keyboard split in the middle and slid apart a couple of inches. Inside would be a groove Mechanicles had designed to fit Axel's chakram perfectly. Axel summoned a chakram, slid it into the groove, and something beneath the keyboard clicked. The exposed tips of the chakram momentarily glowed with fire, and then went out.

Axel pulled out his chakram and the keyboard slid close again. The fuel had been added to the generators, and with a quick command (the keyboard was still hot from the fire, Mechanicles noted), the security system was on and a solid box of Nobody fire should have encased Mechanicles's home. Between the self-sustaining properties of the magical fuel and the superior design of the security system's generators, Mechanicles should have an indestructible, infinite defense. He was very proud of his fusion of magic and technology.

"Good. Could you check outside to see if the generators are functioning properly?" Mechanicles asked. "I'm going to see what I can find out from Aladdin about the palace's security."

"You do that," Axel said dismissively. Mechanicles glanced up at him, wondering what was wrong, but Axel stepped into the darkness before he could ask.

Their success had put Mechanicles in a good mood, but apparently Axel wasn't as cheered. Then again, it wasn't a success for him. He hadn't found the boy he was looking for.

Still, that meant Axel would be staying in this world for a while longer, and as their security system clearly demonstrated, they made an excellent team. Perhaps Axel would choose to stay after all and help in the inevitable destruction of Agrabah.

Heartened by this, Mechanicles picked up the microphone. "So Aladdin, I hear there are some secret passages within the palace. What would you know about them?"

x

What happened next? Axel wondered. Aladdin didn't know anything about where Roxas had gone, Genie might as well have been a rock for all the information he'd provide, and Mechanicles was expecting Axel to stay until he found his next destination.

He stepped out of the darkness, leaving the portal open, long enough to give the wall of fire a cursory glance from the desert. It seemed to be working well enough. He stepped back into the darkness to return to the computer room.

He'd have to find a new destination soon. Soldier was eager to continue their journey and was starting to get in trouble. Axel was patient enough to wait here and see if Genie followed through with his threat to go to Sora for help, but Soldier was already stirring up trouble with the local Heartless and Nobodies. What if she went out into the desert with a band of Heartless and forgot to come back? How would Axel track her down? What was more important – his heart, or a chance to find his best friend? Axel wasn't a fool.

Besides, he just wasn't satisfied here. That didn't surprise him. A Nobody was never satisfied.

Axel pulled open reality to rejoin Mechanicles, and listen to the Greek's petty questions as he futilely dreamed for the destruction of Agrabah.

x

Iago glared at Abu. Abu glared back, arms crossed.

"No."

Abu's eyes narrowed even more, and he started to growl.

"No! We've only had it a few weeks. There's gotta be a better opportunity to use it."

Abu uncrossed his arms and crouched, ready to jump. Iago shifted on his perch uneasily. They both knew what the result would be if Abu decided to tackle Iago. He wouldn't be able to take off fast enough to avoid Abu, he would be at the monkey's mercy – and Abu had teeth and opposable thumbs. Where was the princess when Iago needed her?

"All right, all right, you win!" Iago squawked. "We'll tell Mechanicles about the thing we found and hope he'll trade Aladdin for more information. It's a long shot but we can try. Happy?"

Abu nodded, chattering cheerfully.

"Okay. We'll go after sunset. Maybe we can catch him when he's sleeping and he won't be able to think straight. We can bring Genie along for protection."

Abu protested loudly.

"What?" Iago shouted. "Who cares if we look aggressive! We don't want to get killed." Iago thought a moment. "Let me rephrase that. I don't want to get killed!" More protests from Abu.

It was impossible to talk reason into that monkey. "Fine! Can we at least bring Carpet?"

"Uh-uh." Abu shook his head.

Iago scowled. "In that case, we waltz up in the middle of the night, unarmed, with only a weak little promise to give Mechanicles info about the location of a machine he might not want, and we nicely ask him to give Aladdin back. That's our plan?" Abu nodded.

Iago sighed and took off. "If you need me, I'll be writing my will," he shouted.

Abu rolled his eyes.

xxxxx

Any reviews, concrit, flames, whatever are welcome, as is any speculation about what's going to happen next – I like hearing everyone's ideas. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter's going to be quite exciting. See you then!