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From what I've heard about Supernatural, that's really accurate.

Ah. That makes sense. Doctor Who is such a great friendship builder. I'm not sure about Supernatural. Don't watch that one...

Phases are the best things.

Doctor Who or Supernatural? Your theme suggests Supernatural, but I've talked Doctor Who theories with you too many times for my brain to not bias that.

Ok, so this next chapter is violent. Dream world violence is still violence. Like, highly violent. This is probably the most violent chapter in the entire story. I'm not kidding, this is minimum PG13, but should probably be Older Teen. You have been warned.

Spoiler: Chapter 22 - From the Darkness...

Dick didn’t think that Gotham could get any darker, but somehow, it was. The streetlamps, the windows, normally lit at nighttime hours, were all dark. The only illumination came from the moon, full and at least four times the size it normally was, and the Batsignal glowing on the clouds. The buildings themselves were black, not the usual grey stone, and a dark mist hovered at ground level.

He was standing next to Jason at the top of Wayne Tower. Somehow, they were in their crime fighting clothes, all of their gear present except for their masks. Dick looked around impatiently. Normally, he wouldn’t be looking for a fight, but he wanted this thing gone and out of his brother. “Where is it?” Hm. His voice was a little distorted here.

Another moment passed, both sets of eyes flicking across the rooftops. Finally, Jason’s arm crossed Dick’s view, pointing at the moon. “There.” A large bat was silhouetted against the moon, flying straight for them. It crashed its wings into them as it passed, knocking them off the building. Before Dick could grab his grapple, he landed, but not as hard as he had thought.

“You alright Jason?” Giving himself a quick check, he was mildly surprised to find himself uninjured. This was technically a dream; did that mean physics didn’t apply?

“Just fine. Weird.”

A flapping behind them turned both of their heads towards the noise, dropping into ready position. The bat landed, wings folded to its sides. Its voice, when it spoke, was Jason’s, buzzing and soft. You are breaking your promise. I had thought you were better than that. I see that I was wrong.

Jason snarled. “Nice try, but I didn’t promise you, I promised my darkness. And the last time I gave you control, you tried to kill my family. Repeatedly.” Startled, Dick glanced at Jason. Why hadn’t he told him this…? “I wanted to protect them and you went for their hearts. *******.”

The bat took a step, but it was a booted, human foot that came forward. The dark shape of a man, of Jason, walked towards them, the bat-shape disintegrating behind it. Its skin was black, with yellow lines running across it. You may believe what you like. The one of which you speak is no more. I am your darkness now. What you promised to it is now mine. I am all that is left. And I will be taking my due.

Stepping in front of Jason protectively, Dick growled at the thing. “You will be taking nothing. Jason owes you squat and if you have an issue with that, you’ll be going through me.”

The not-Jason cocked its head to the side, regarding him. Very well. It drew a dark All Blade and attacked. Pulling an escrima stick, Dick blocked it, leaving Jason open to draw his own Blade and stab at it. Knocking the Blade away with a gun pulled from its thigh holster, not-Jason jumped back, firing at Dick, who flipped back to avoid them. He completed the flip, then pushed himself forward, easily breaching the distance between him and the not-Jason. He was about to jab the electric end of his stick into its stomach when it raised its hand and...

He was in an old rundown apartment. It was empty, except for an old mattress lying in the corner and a few dirty dishes. The front door banged open and a child, no older than ten ran in. For some reason, Dick couldn’t make out his face. The kid didn’t even acknowledge Dick’s presence, racing instead to the bathroom and pounding on the door. His mouth was moving, but no sound came out. Finally, he succeeded in opening the door. A woman was lying on the floor, surrounded by syringes. Dropping to the floor next to her, the boy started shaking her, crying. Dick clutched at his chest. It felt like his heart was breaking. Tears slid down his face, but they didn’t feel like his tears. He felt despair, anger, at her for doing this, at himself for allowing it to get this far, hopelessness.

The room started fading, as the child’s face became clearer. Jason…?

Dick was back where he was before, his escrima stick still aimed at the thing’s stomach. It, however, had a gun pointed at his head, finger on the trigger. Jason tackled Dick midair as the not-Jason squeezed the trigger. The two boys crashed into the roof, but were back on their feet in seconds. “What the hell Dick? You had him! Why did you freeze like that?”

Dick was still reeling. “It hit me with something. A vision, a memory, something.”

His gun pointed at the thing, Jason froze. Slowly, he looked at Dick. “What memory…?” He asked reluctantly, dreading the answer.

“I think it was when you found Catherine.” The tone Dick used made it obvious of what he was talking about.

His face contorting in rage, Jason shot at the thing. “How dare you? How dare you use my memories as a weapon against my own brother?! Those are mine.” The sky, pitch black a moment ago, flared red. “And while you’re at it, you can stop looking like me, sounding like me. You don’t get to do that!”

As Jason leapt at the not-Jason, Dick noticed with dread that his shoulder was bleeding. He had taken the bullet meant for Dick. Grabbing his other escrima stick from its compartment, he threw himself back into the fray.

At first, it had seemed like Jason had the upper hand. Rage fueled his attacks, making them land faster and harder than the other’s. But the hole in his shoulder was weakening him, sapping his energy every time he leveled his gun. A dark All Blade swung at his neck, too fast for him to dodge.

An escrima stick shot itself between Jason’s neck and the Blade, deflecting it. “Focus Jason. If you fly off the handle, you’ll be an easier target.” Dick smiled at him, one of the smiles that said “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Jason snorted. Yeah right. But he calmed himself down and together with Dick, continued his attack. They ran the darkness ragged, but just as they were about to get the upper hand, it raised its arm and…

Jason and Dick stood in a startlingly familiar apartment. In front of them stood another Jason, this one with half a domino mask, with his arm curled around the Joker’s neck and pointing a gun at Batman. Batman held a gun by the barrel in one hand. His voice was strained as he spoke, “Stop this.”

Masked-Jason simply tightened his grip on the Joker. “It’s him or me. You have to decide.”

Jason could only watch, thunderstruck as the scene played out in front of him. Anger built in him, the same fury that had consumed him back then. How could Batman have done this? How could he have let him live? He was jostled out of his thoughts by Dick’s sudden hand on his shoulder. Turning to his brother, he could see that Dick felt the same anger as he did now, as he did back then. He was about to speak, when the other-him started counting.

Faster than Dick could follow, Batman lashed out with a batarang. It bounced off of the wall behind Jason, stabbing him in the neck. Dick lunged forward, wanting to grab his brother, to stop the bleeding. So much blood. But Jason, his Jason grabbed his arm. Turning, Dick was shocked to see him looking resigned. But he understood. This had already happened. As much as he wanted to, Dick couldn’t change it. The scene ended as Joker pulled the trigger and the apartment exploded.

Not-Jason’s boot collided with Dick’s chest, launching him back a few feet. Shaking his head to clear it, he felt phantom pains across his body, as if he really had been in an explosion. Something tickled his neck. Pressing his hand to the spot, it came back to him red. He was bleeding. He was bleeding in the same spot that masked-Jason had been in the memory. Whipping his head around, he tried to catch a glimpse of Jason’s neck as he fought Xehanort’s darkness. Damn. He was bleeding there too.

It was shallow, not bleeding as heavily as it had been in the memory, so Dick stood up. He couldn’t keep letting Jason fight this thing by himself. Jason fired three rounds off at the darkness, forcing it to jump back while Jason retreated to Dick’s side. “So Dickie, what’s the plan?”

“We keep pressing it. Don’t give it a chance to put us into another memory.” Quickly, Dick grabbed two adhesive bandages from a compartment and slapped one onto his neck. He pressed the other one to Jason’s neck, slightly gentler than he had done with his own. “I’m not sure we can afford the injuries we get from those. And… I’m sorry, but I feel what you’re feeling in the memory. That in and of itself is…” He broke off, not quite knowing what to say.

“Really distracting and energy draining. Yeah. I know.” Jason wasn’t happy that his brother was feeling what he had felt. He had been in a bad place when this had been happening. A somewhat justifiable place, but a bad one nonetheless. Even now, Jason still wanted the Joker dead. But he knew that it wass never going to happen, not by Batman’s hand.

Moving quickly, he shot his gun forward, not firing it off, but aiming the barrel at the darkness’s head. It hit with a resounding crack and while it was still reeling, he stabbed it in the arm with his Blade. Dick moved in, a batarang shoving its way into the other arm. The darkness growled. It spoke, continuing to block the vigilantes’ attacks as it went. Enough of this. How dare this interloper intrude?

“Like you’re one to talk!” Jason shot out, both figuratively and literally. Xehanort’s darkness dodged the rain of bullets, skidding to a stop a few meters away.

It faced Dick, and time seemed to slow. It didn’t raise its hand, it couldn’t with gaping wounds in both arms, but…

Suddenly, he was in a warehouse.

~*~​

“NO!” Jason raced over to his brother, catching him as he fell. Addressing Xehanort’s darkness, he screamed, “You *******, where did you send him?!”

You will find out. It will take time. This memory is longer than the others.

Jason dragged Dick to the fence surrounding the rooftop. Hopefully, that would keep him out of the way of the fight. He rested a hand on his forehead, then pulled his gun. Stalking slowly towards the ******* that did this to Dick, he aimed and fired.

~*~​

The air was hot and dry. There was sunlight streaming through the windows, far too intense to be anywhere near Gotham. Dick tried to look around, find a window or something, but he couldn’t move. His entire being was fixed in place, looking at the door. After a long moment, a long, boring moment, the door opened and a blonde woman walked in. Followed by…

The uniform was unmistakable. The confident way he carried himself and cocky little grin even more so. The breath whooshed out of his lungs. Jason. Jason, dressed as Robin, following the woman Dick knew to be his mother. They were talking, but no sound carried. Not in this memory.

The woman, Catherine, and Jason spent a moment chatting happily. Then the door slammed shut. Catherine’s mouth moved in an unmistakable “I’m sorry” as the Joker strode forward. Before Jason could react, the crowbar had smashed across his face. Two of Joker’s goons pointed their guns at Catherine, keeping her from moving. The Joker started laughing, the first noise that Dick had heard since getting stuck in the memory.

Struggling frantically, to release himself from whatever was keeping him in place, Dick tried. He really and truly tried to run to Jason, to throw himself in between his brother and the crowbar beating down mercilessly. It didn’t help that Dick could feel Jason’s emotions. With every swing of the crowbar, he was scared, sure, but he was also hopeful. Jason knew Batman would come. Despite having covered his tracks to get here, he knew Batman was too good of a detective to not find him. So Jason was hopeful, scared that his mom would get hurt, worried that if Batman didn’t get here soon, the recovery he was getting from this beating would keep him off the streets for ever. Pride when he managed to spit blood on the Joker’s face. All of this, to the soundtrack of Joker’s mad giggles.

Finally, the Joker seemed to lose interest. The psycho tied Catherine’s hands to a support beam and left, his henches following. Jason – despite the broken leg, the crushed rib cage, the arms broken in six places, the dislocated shoulder and hip, and the million other injuries – stood up, shuffling his way towards his mother. He untied her and she pulled his arm over her shoulder. They shuffled their way to the door, but when she tried the knob, it didn’t open. Carefully leaning Jason against a nearby crate, Catherine started pounding on the door, trying to get it open, to attract attention. A beeping started, and in the distance, the faint whine of an engine.

The engine noise came closer as the beeping became more insistent. The bomb, sitting in the corner reached 00:01 and several things happened. Brakes screeched, a car door slamming open, Jason threw himself in between Catherine and the bomb. And then the world burned.

~*~​

“They’ve been in there a long time Master.” Sora sat in his chair, his eyes not leaving the two figures slumped against the wall. “Are you sure there isn’t anything we can do?”

Yen Sid sighed at the young Wielder’s impatience. “There is not. Trying to assist at this point will only agitate the darkness. They have a better chance if we leave them.”

Riku, leaning against the desk, understood Sora’s frustration. Both of them were people of action. Dick and Jason were too. Waiting around while someone else fought a battle of life and death wasn’t in them. Especially when…

Dick twitched. Ok, that either meant he was waking up or… and it was the second option. Dick’s arteries and veins filled with darkness, spilling out into his skin, flaking off and evaporating. Sooner than any one of the room’s occupants were comfortable with, Dick was covered in darkness, it coming off of him in puffs of smoke.

Sora immediately dropped to his knees beside his friend. “Master Yen Sid, what happened?! Is there anything we can do?”

In a moment of incredible rarity, Yen Sid stood up and walked out from behind his desk. He knelt down next to Sora and grabbed Dick’s hand. “He fell. But the battle is not yet over. If Jason survives his trial, he will save both himself, and his brother.”

~*~​

For the second time in the past five minutes, Jason was sent flying back. His darkness knew all of his tricks, which meant that Xehanort’s darkness knew them too, and it had a bunch of extra power behind its hits. He crashed into the fence and sank to the ground a few feet away from Dick. Seriously Dick, wake up any time now. Could use a hand.

As if reading his mind, Dick’s eyes flashed open and he gasped for breath. Injuries started appearing on his body, flash burns and bruises and large ugly gashes. Jason knew those injuries. He’d felt all of those injuries.

“DICK!” Jason scrambled over to him, checking his injuries and pulse and vitals and… Still alive. And luckily, it seemed the memory-injuries weren’t as powerful as the real deal had been. A broken bone became a fracture. Third degree burns were dropped down to second degree.

Unfocused, Dick’s eyes landed on Jason. “Hey Jay. Don’ worry bro, ‘m ok. ‘m jus glad you’re alive.” He gave a weak cough and his eyes fluttered closed.

The ******* had put Dick into that memory. How. Dare. He?! Pulling off his jacket, he folded it and put it under Dick’s head. Gun in one hand and All Blade in the other, he turned towards the darkness.

“You're dead.” He choked, emotions showing in a rare moment of desperation and anger. “You just put Dick through a living hell, and now I'm going to do the same to you...”

The dark form in front of him stared with evil yellow eyes, but Jason's gaze, though not glowing, was filled with so much hatred and fury that the darkness flinched slightly.

It is just you and me now, it said. The intruder shall no longer interfere.

Slowly, Jason began to walk forward. “You'll regret what you did to him.” he said quietly. Then his anger and hurt seemed to snap and he leapt forward, sword shimmering. “I'll kill you!”

Not-Jason moved fast, seeming to dissolve into dust and reappearing to the right of Jason, whose blade swung down into empty air. He moved quickly, shifting his weight on one foot to swerve around and face it as the darkness swung its blade in a vicious semicircle. Jason ducked, narrowly missing the slash. He could feel it tear at the wind above his head. Instead of attacking with a weapon next, Jason launched himself forward from a crouch, dropping the All Blade to the ground with a clatter, effectively tackling the darkness and sending them both hurtling downwards.

The creature hissed as Jason pinned its arm with the gun while he raised his other hand to strike. But as he brought down his fist, a memory flashed in front of his eyes. He was sitting on a couch, falling asleep next to Bruce, while they watched a movie. Jason shook his head and blinked, then brought his fist smashing into the *******'s face. It was trying to confuse him, dull down his blind rage, but that wasn't going to work. Jason refused to let this thing corrupt any more of his past. He brought his fist down again, revelling at the sound of flesh against flesh. But as he raised his fist for a third time, the darkness seemed to rally and jerked to its right, effectively throwing Jason off.

Rolling away and using the momentum to bound back to his feet, Jason spotted his All Blade and dived for it, discharging his gun in the process. Xehanort’s darkness easily dodged the bullets, but had to flip backwards to avoid them, putting some room between the two. Growling, Jason reloaded his gun while running forward. Taking aim, his enemy discharged his own gun, and Jason's ears rang with the resounding bangs as he leapt from side to side, slowly advancing while dodging the deadly aim of his foe. His darkness stopped shooting and looked quickly back. It had come to the end of the roof, and the next building was a good fifteen yards away. It turned its head to see Jason flinging himself forward, sword pointing at its chest. With lightning quick reflexes, not-Jason raised its own Blade, and let the weapon take the full impact of Jason's attack. The force of the blow was too strong however, and it stumbled backwards, losing its footing. Jason had just come to a stop at the buildings ledge when the darkness's hand reached out and clutched at his shirt. Taken by surprise, Jason was pulled forward in a split second and found himself plunging straight down with Xehanort’s darkness towards the mist covered ground.

The free fall didn't seem to faze the darkness. It flipped around in midair and expertly fired three shots in Jason's direction, the recoil from the gun leaving it spinning through the air. Jason could only watch as the bullets rushed up at him. He fought against gravity and the howling wind, tearing at his face and clothes, but only managed in deflecting two of the three bullets with the All Blade. Any other time then this, the feat would have made him proud. But as the third bullet tore itself into Jason's side, the following wave of pain left his mind too shocked and numb to celebrate.

The world seemed to dim for an instant before the reality of the quickly approaching ground brought Jason out of his confusion. With an enormous effort, he reached inside his belt and brought out his grappling gun, firing a line to a nearby building. The line grew taught and Jason clenched his teeth as his shoulder was jarred by the speed of his free fall coming to an abrupt stop. Cutting the line, Jason swung down to a nearby fire escape, then began jumping from one metal railing to another. He wanted to check out his wound, but he had to keep all his senses on full alert for the darkness. It seemed to have disappeared when he blacked out.

Reaching the ground, Jason raised his gun and turned quickly around to inspect all his surroundings. It had become far too quiet, the only sound Jason could here being his rapidly beating heart and unsteady breathing. “Come on out,” he breathed.

Movement to his right had him firing several shots towards a dingy alleyway. He was savagely delighted to hear a hiss of pain. Suddenly, a shadow burst out from the direction of his shots, and Jason backed up several paces as Xehanort’s darkness came charging at him. It raised its sword and Jason raised his own in defence at the thing's sneak attack. The two blades clashed with a sickening metallic ring. Jason stumbled backwards, but launched himself forward again instantly, refusing to show weakness or give his darkness time to regroup. As the darkness dodged his forward attack, he spotted a shimmer of crimson on its shoulder and smirked. So he had hit it.

Jason turned to keep up with his enemy and had to fall backwards to avoid a bullet to the face. He landed on his back roughly and rolled to the side, dodging the dark All Blade which stabbed into the pavement where his chest had been seconds ago. Springing to his feet he aimed a few shots at the darkness’s feet, thinking that this might slow it down. The creature merely jumped forward, performing an aerial flip as Jason leapt out of its way. He positioned himself behind it so that as it landed he could plunge his sword forward, confident he had it trapped. But no, nearly too fast for the eyes to see, it had turned itself in midair and was slicing upwards with its sword. Jason lurched back and simultaneously fired a bullet at the darkness’s head, which it expertly dodged. He felt its sword clip his chin, but ignored the small hit and fired off several bullets forcing not-Jason to duck and then roll away.

He was breathing heavily now, and a quick look down told him his side was drenched with blood. In fact, his neck and shoulder were still bleeding freely as well. But he had to ignore all of that. Jason had learned early on that dwelling on one’s weaknesses in a fight was a weakness in itself. But he felt the exhaustion start to slow him down. Gritting his teeth Jason quickly reloaded his gun before sprinting forward. He would just have to fight through the pain just as he was fighting the darkness. For himself and for Dick.

Surprisingly, the black form in front of Jason seemed tired too. But it was fighting for its life as well, and wasn't about to give up control so easily. Seeing Jason approach, it took a defensive stance, crouching low to the ground, almost like a wild cat. It held its sword in a ready position and lifted its gun. But Jason had a strategy as well. As his enemy fired bullets infused with darkness in his direction, he lunged forward and then dropped low, somersaulting forward twice before using the momentum from his last roll to spring forward and throw his sword at the darkness. It wasn't expecting that, and stopped shooting as it concentrated on blocking the spinning sword aimed for its neck. In that time, Jason shot at the darkness’s head while forming the other All Blade in his now empty hand. The darkness succeeded in blocking the first All Blade, and even managed to fall backwards to dodge the bullets flying at its head. But those two maneuvers in quick succession put it off balance. Jason smirked as he gathered himself and jumped into the air, plunging his sword straight towards the *******’s heart. But it surprised him. As it had lost balance and was falling backwards, its sword still flying down from the recoil of the last strike it had made, the darkness dropped its gun and brought its other hand forward and caught Jason's sword. Jason couldn't help but grimace as the sharp blade sliced deep into the creature’s yellow-lined hand, dark misty blood dripping from the gold metal. But the action had succeeded in saving its life. And with a jolt of fear, Jason realized that he was the one wide open now, in midair and with his sword caught in his enemy’s bleeding hand.

Desperately Jason kicked out at the other’s chest as it raised its sword. He felt his feet connect and pushed off of Xehanort’s darkness with all his strength as its dark sword was slashed forward. His own sword slipped free and he flew backwards, but not before an excruciating pain across his chest told him he hadn't managed to dodge the blade entirely. With a shudder he found his feet and stumbled back, nearly collapsing as he saw his own blood flying through the air as the darkness swung the now pulsating red All Blade back to its side. Jason clutched at his chest, feeling the deep wound, and struggled to catch his breath while the darkness glared at him. He could taste the coppery tinge of blood in his mouth as his enemy’s glowing sword rose. Forcing himself to ignore the temptation to drop to his knees, Jason straightened up and looked at the darkness, who was now pacing slowly forward.

Admit it Jason, it said in a sickeningly soft, buzzing voice. You have lost.

“Go to hell!” He growled, putting as much malice into his voice as possible. “I'm just getting started.”

The creature tilted its head, raising its sword as it closed in on Jason. You are stubborn. It said. I never liked that.

Jason laughed humorlessly, fighting the sudden urge to cough. “I could say the same for you.”

The darkness suddenly sprang forward, its sword raised to kill, Jason sidestepped it with an agility he didn't know he still had, and thrust his sword out, effectively slashing his enemy’s side as it landed. The darkness seemed surprised to see Jason move so fast despite his condition, and even more surprised to see the gaping wound on its side. Its eyes narrowed as it took in Jason, who was now stumbling backwards until he came to a wall he could lean against. His vision was swimming and he coughed weakly into his fist, not surprised to see blood on the back of his hand. He was fading fast and he knew it. They were both injured, but the darkness was still in a condition to fight while he wasn't.

Fighting off the dark mist pushing in around his vision, Jason watched the darkness wearily stride towards him. It was dripping with blood but its eyes clearly said its next strike was meant to kill. In a mad moment of pain and desperation, an idea struck Jason which both made him sick and gave him a flicker of hope. He smiled as he clutched at his chest with his free hand, his gun long discarded on the pavement. Blood slowly dripped down his chin as his darkness came closer and closer. Yup, he was crazy. Absolutely insane. He watched, standing as still as he could as the darkness stopped a few feet in front of him and raised its sword.

Good bye Jason Todd.

It all happened a lot slower than Jason would have liked. His eyes followed the Blade as it streaked towards his heart. He waited, watching it come closer and closer. Its razor edge glinting evilly in the twilight. Closer...

Now!

With all the strength he could, Jason lunged to his left just enough that the sword missed its target by a mere inch. But that was good enough. He cried out in pain through clenched teeth as he felt the cold steel dig deep into his flesh. His stomach lurched with the addition of the awful pain, and he knew he had to move now while he still had a fraction of strength left.

Jason looked up, and for a second glared into the darkness’s intelligent yellow eyes, before he gathered his last strands of energy and raised his sword with both hands, plunging it deep into his enemy’s heart.

“Good bye.”

Instantly the darkness let go of its own Blade and staggered backwards, clutching at the sword in its chest instead. Jason felt the hilt slip from his hands as he slumped to the ground. But he had to stay awake. He didn't know why, but that was extremely important. Stay awake. He told himself thought the pain. Don't pass out. Stay awake.

The darkness was now falling to its knees, its eyes wide with shock. But Jason didn't see any pain in its distorted features. Can it even feel pain? he wondered as it raised its head and let out a blood curdling scream.

Fighting desperately to stay conscious, Jason watched as the darkness gave him one more hate filled glare, before its entire frame seemed to shudder. The top layer of its skin dissolved into dust, which was swept into the night sky. It left behind his darkness, just as it had been when he had first met it. It was just as well because Jason felt the remnants of his strength drain away into nothing.

He could just barely make out his darkness walking slowly towards him. He could have sworn he heard its voice, smooth and uncorrupted, as his consciousness melted away.

Thank you Jason, it said slowly.

He wanted to reply, wanted to get up and make sure it was really over at last, but he had no strength left. He fell to his side, the world becoming dark and cold.

Told you it was violent.

Hurricane Mom swept through my house.

It's ridiculously clean now.

I'm traumatized.

66 posts left people.

I apologize. Mostly.

Nope. Not sorry. Never mind.

*poke*

OH GOD I KILLED IT AGAIN

WHY DO I KEEP DOING THIS

I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON

I'M SORRY!!!!!!

Cool. If we could do this on the weekend, of weekdays after 2 pm Mountain, that would be awesome.

Isn't there normally a post spam that happens once we get really close? Posts flying every four seconds, people desperately hitting "Post Reply" until the timer hits zero, lots of nonsense replies. I've never been in one. I want to.

Short chapter! Yay! No warnings for this one, but next chapter will be really violent. Really violent. Yup. But not this one!

Spoiler: Chapter 21 - Meeting the Master

Sora woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon, potatoes, and toast. Slowly, he opened his eyes, surprised to find himself covered with a blanket. He vaguely remembered sitting with Riku, Dick, Chip, and Dale last night, and the hot chocolate making him really, really sleepy. What he didn’t remember was getting a blanket. Quickly looking around the room, he saw that Riku had a blanket. Dick did too, and a pillow. Actually, there was two pillows laying on the floor, and an extra blanket tossed against the wall. And the smells and sounds of cooking bacon coming from the kitchen.

Carefully removing his blanket, he grabbed Chip off of his shoulder and gently placed him on the still warm covering. Lifting Dale, he put him next to his brother. Then he nudged Riku. And again, harder this time. He kept poking at Riku’s side until he swatted his hands away, a rather annoyed expression on his face.

“Cut it out Sora. Seriously, one of these days – hey, is that bacon?” Threat left unuttered, Riku stood up. He waited while Sora shook Dick awake, then the chipmunks, then the five of them went to investigate.

The table was piled high with food. Bacon, eggs, three different types of hashbrowns, a small mountain of cut fruit, toast, pancakes, waffles, a pot each of tea and coffee, and four large jugs of orange, apple, berry, and mango juices. As they watched, another pancake was flipped onto the pile by Jason, who was supervising all four burners on the stove and probably whatever was in the oven as well.

After a moment of them standing in the doorway, Jason noticed their presence. His eyes were covered in their usual shades, and the lines on his skin were worryingly darker than they had been before Pride Lands. Not a black kind of darker, but noticeable. “Oh hey guys. Seriously, how much sleep do you people need? Lazy asses.” Well, at least that hadn’t changed.

Dick recovered first. A smile overtook his face, the likes of which Sora had never seen before. So bright as to almost be blinding, it wiped away every trace of stress that had been building up for the past few days, and was infectious enough to put smiles on everyone else’s face as well. “Jason, you made breakfast?” He dove at the table, grabbing a plate and loading it high.

He couldn’t see his eyes, but with the face Jason was making, Sora guess he was rolling them. “Well, yeah. I don’t see anyone else doing it. Can any of you even make anything edible?”

“Can you?” Riku asked cautiously, poking at a pancake with a fork. Sora understood the concern. As delicious as all this looked, Jason didn’t seem the type to know how to cook.

“Mmfd mf mfrfrfed,” Dick said around a mouth full of waffles. Swallowing, he tried again. “You’d be surprised. Jason doesn’t cook often, but when he does, it’s on par with Alfred’s. And he can make waffles.” And with that, he stuffed another strip of bacon in his mouth, making small sounds of infinite pleasure.

That was good enough for Sora. He started loading up his plate, pouring generous amounts of maple syrup over everything. “Wait, so Alfred can’t make waffles?”

Jason forked a few pieces of fruit onto Dick’s plate. “Nope, those are the one thing he can’t make.” He shuddered. “Like paste.” Sitting down in his own spot, he filled his plate and grabbed a glass of mango juice.

They spent a good long while in each other’s company, long stretches of silence punctuated by forks scraping on ceramic plates and compliments to the chef. Finally, the mountain of food miraculously cleared, Dick asked, “So Riku, how long to Yen Sid’s Tower?”

Riku checked the clock on the wall. “Any minute actually. We should probably get ready for landing. Um,” looking down at the mess of plates, glasses and cutlery, he added, “You can just leave everything here. Merlin spelled everything to clean itself when the room is empty.”

Jason raised his eyebrows at the comment. “That’s convenient. Wish I could get that for Roy’s room.” They left, heading to the control room. They picked up the blankets on the floor and returned them to the rooms, then strapped in for landing.

This Yen Sid person lived in a very strange place. Or at least, that was what Jason thought as he walked up the tower to get to the rumoured man the others were putting so much stock into. The building itself seemed disproportionate, and there were funny dark corridors leading to unknown rooms filled with who knew what. The four were traveling up a long winding staircase in the dimly lit building. With each story they travelled Jason felt himself becoming more and more nervous. That in turn made him scowl. Why should he be nervous? If the others were right, this whole mess would be said and done in no time at all. But despite this thought, Jason felt fear steadily build up in the back of his head. It was when they were standing in front of the huge oak doors at the top of the tower that Jason noticed the fear he was feeling was Xehanort's darkness. In fact, its presence had been gnawing at him increasingly throughout the long walk up the stairs. Good, thought Jason. Let it be afraid. He decided with a sense of finality that it was definitely the darkness that was scared and not him.

With a creak, Riku pushed the old wood doors open and they all stepped into a large dark room. Jason gazed around at the high bookshelves and funny pictures and mirrors lining the walls. The whole place was darkly lit, making the yellow tinge of the room look tan. Jason held back a shudder. If all be told the place gave him the creeps. Then his eyes came to rest on the old man sitting in the middle of the room, staring right at him. He stared right back, taking in the eccentric look of the guy. His face seemed learned and stern, while his long beard and robes clearly said he was a magician. Jason almost smiled; it was like something out of a Harry Potter book.
nudged his leg, and he looked down to find the other three kneeling and bowing to the old man. Startled he dropped down too. Apparently this guy must be pretty important if they were supposed to bow. Jason wouldn't have bothered but all those long discussions and lessons about manners with Alfred were still drilled firmly into his brain. Why hadn't Riku and Sora warned him this guy was so well respected?

After a few seconds Yen Sid waved his hand, allowing the four to stand again, Jason a bit stiffly because if truth be told he was still rather sore. Sora stepped forward humbly. “Thank you for meeting with us Master Yen Sid. We really need your help.”

The old man nodded. “This I know.” He said in a deep wise voice. “I have been awaiting your arrival for quite some time now. Sora, Riku, it is good to see you are both well. Dick, Jason, I have heard quite a lot about you from our mutual friends.” He glanced at Sora and Riku then back at the other two. “It seems you have gotten yourselves mixed into the fight between light and dark.”

“It's an honor, sir.” Dick – forever the charmer – said, taking another half bow. “And yes we have. My brother here needs some help. And we had been told that you could be one of the only people who might be able to.” He gave Jason a half glance before continuing. “See it's a long story, but-”

Yen Sid put up his hand, stopping Dick in midsentence. “I am aware of young Jason’s predicament,” he said. “Riku has already thoroughly described it to me. And from the markings on your skin Jason, it seems time is of the essence.”

“He collapsed on the way here Sid.” Riku said. “I didn't know, but I brought him to a place that triggered some old memories of his, which made him vulnerable. Xehanort's darkness took over, and we had to remove it by force… It… it wasn't pretty.”

That was news to Jason. Dickhead told them about Ethiopia!? Not surprising he supposed.

The old man nodded. “If we do not permanently remove the intruding darkness now, this process will likely need to be repeated. That is why it is vital we are pre-emptive.”

Jason fidgeted uncomfortably while Dick looked worried. “What do we have to do then? I'll help with whatever you tell me to, to get this thing away from my brother!”

“Ah,” Yen Sid sighed. “That is good, for your skills will likely be necessary.”

This confused Jason. He thought getting rid of Xehanort’s darkness would be a task only he and his own darkness could face, maybe with some of the old guy's advice, yet Dick was nodding as though he had been planning on being included from the beginning.

Yen Sid rested his hands in his lap and contemplated the two crime fighters carefully. “The darkness inside of you is fighting for dominance of your heart. Therefore, in order to win control of your heart like before, you must face and defeat the darkness in battle.”

That came as an abrupt surprise. “What!” Jason spluttered. “But, how?”

“There are two ways to face an intruding darkness. The first is to fight it alone in one’s heart. But this way would not be advisable seeing as Xehanort’s darkness already has such a strong control over you physically.”

Jason nodded. He could feel the darkness steadily growing. Tackling it head on would probably not be wise. The thought had occurred to him to go to that strange place he and his darkness met, and just punch the thing, maybe knock Xehanort’s darkness off of it or something. It was his contingency plan actually. But he knew that if he was thinking that, so was the darkness. It would be prepared for him, and since that seemed to be the place it had planted itself, the chances of him succeeding didn't seem so good.

“The second, is to enter a dream world, and face this creature and all of the darkness in your heart, with the help of your brother.”

“The dream worlds!” Sora exclaimed excitedly. “I hadn't even thought of that!”

“Me either.” Riku admitted.

Dream world? What the heck? But before he found that out, Jason had another question he had to ask. “Why only Dick? Why can't Sora and Riku come and help me kill this thing as well?”

Dick seemed confused about this too. As far as he was concerned, the more people helping to defeat this thing, the better.

“Riku and Sora are not connected to your heart in the same way your brother is. Only half of this battle will be physical. One cannot help you defeat what plagues your heart without understanding it.”

“Uh huh.” Jason said raising an eyebrow skeptically in the process. “And how do you know that Dick understands me that well?”

The old man almost smiled. Almost. “The connection between families creates special bonds that bind the heart in unique ways. Your brother will not entirely understand that which haunts you Jason, but he will be able to assist.”

Catching a glimpse of Dick’s grin made Jason scowl even more. Crossing his arms, he felt the darkness push aggressively on his consciousness as his vision flashed a deep yellow, and decided to bite back a few retorts. “Fine, whatever. Let's just get it over with then.”

Riku hissed at Jason's disrespectful tone, but Yen Sid stood up suddenly. “Let this be a warning to you both, that if you are unable to defeat the darkness in the dream world, it will take over you at the time of your defeat, and drive itself into your vulnerable hearts. You will be lost to the darkness forever. There shall be no return.”

Yen Sid's voice was stern, and the two couldn't help but shudder at his warning, but they nodded their understanding.

“One question before we go in.” Jason shifted, hand straying unconsciously to his chest. “My darkness, the one that was there before Xehanort popped in. What’ll happen to it?”

The old master frowned. “By this point, it has been taken over completely by Xehanort’s darkness. Defeating it will release both you and your darkness. After that, it is entirely up to you. I would recommend eradicating it as well. Darkness begets only darkness. However,” he held up a hand to stem Jason’s angry protest, “it seems as if your darkness only has your best interests at heart, so to speak. If you believe you can coexist, it may just be prudent to allow it to.”

“Right then.” The magician said lifting his hand. “There isn't much time, and we need to act quickly. Are you prepared?”

Dick flexed his shoulders and nodded while Jason let out a long breath before grunting his consent.

“Good luck then,” the man said, before a bright flash plunged them into darkness.

Just post. Someone will notice eventually.

You can win. You just can't win by locking it.

Rules for the end of an LPTP as of this round are if you didn't post in the first 4800 messages, you can't win it. I think... Something like that. Either way, I don't think a random steal will happen.

Ahahahaha, late. Yup. I'm sorry. Between school and work, I had zero time. It sucked. Technically, I should be sleeping right now. But anyways. I'm not sure if I should rate this chapter for violence... Maybe? There's this horrifying bit right near the beginning, but it's not really violent? Just watch out.

Spoiler: Chapter 20 - Fallout

Warning for potential violence

When the sun started setting on the world, a green circle appeared on the Savannah with them. Riku smiled. The ship was done cooling down. “Ok guys, should be good to go!” He and Sora had spent the last hour alternating between sparring with each other and discussing the relative merits of palm wood versus driftwood in raft making. Neither Dick nor Jason had asked to join the fight, preferring to sit under a tree. Which was strange. Jason seemed like he would always be up for a spar and Dick had mentioned earlier that he wanted to go a round with one of them later.

Head shooting up, Dick nodded and stood gracefully. He reached back to grab Jason’s hand, pulling him to his feet. Setting both hands on his shoulders, Dick looked Jason in the eye and smiled. When they started forward, Riku turned away, following Sora to the Point.

It happened fast. One moment, the Gothamites were following Riku and Sora to the Point. The next, there was a thud, and Dick’s shocked cry filled the quiet evening. Both Keyblade Wielders rushed back to the other two, Jason laying face-first on the ground, Dick kneeling next to him.

“Don’t touch him just yet. What happened?” Riku asked, grabbing Jason to flip him over.

Dick, clearly worried he might make Jason worse accidentally, hovered his hands over his brother, wanting to touch him but unable to. “I don’t know! He just fell over and – ” Dick froze midsentence as Riku finally pulled Jason onto his back.

The lines, which not even a minute ago had been almost invisible, were back, thicker than before. Most of Jason’s skin was pitch black now, little bits of pale peeking out like stars. He was sweating, felt much too warm to be healthy and his eyes, visible since the sunglasses had fallen off, were yellow. Shocked, Riku took a step back. “Uh oh.”

Dick was still in shock, so it was Sora who ended up asking, “Riku? What happened to him?”

“Xehanort’s darkness. It’s reasserting itself. Trying to take over again. But it shouldn’t be able to do that. It shouldn’t have been able to find a mental hold over him…” Riku shook his head. None of this made sense. When he had had his own battle against the darkness, as long as he kept his emotions in check, he could control it. As long as he had a clear, focused goal, he had been fine. And Jason seemed like the most in control guy he knew. Sure, there had been a lot for him to take in recently, but he had been handling it.

Something in Riku’s previous statement seemed to jolt Dick. Grabbing his shoulder, he shook Riku, shouting worriedly, “What made you choose this world? Why the Savannah?”

Startled, he answered immediately, “Nothing really. It was closest. Why? Why is the Savannah important?” He had never seen Dick like this, and based on his friend's face, neither had Sora.

Dropping his hand, Dick stared down at his brother, “It looks really similar to Ethiopia, this place on Earth. Where Jason died.”

Understanding crashed on Riku like a tidal wave. Oh, was all he could think. Now it made perfect sense. No way would Jason be mentally or emotionally stable when reminded of his own death. While Jason had been sleeping, Dick had told them a brief history of the guy, hoping that the more information they had, the better they, and Yen Sid, would be able to help. He just hadn’t mentioned the location.

Coming to a snap decision, he grabbed one of Jason’s arms, slinging it over his shoulder. Motioning to Sora to get the other one, they managed to haul him up and start dragging him towards the Point. Dick followed, and they were absorbed by the light.

As soon as they made it to the ship, Sora and Riku gently set Jason down. Riku immediately started issuing orders. “Chip, Dale, we need to get to Yen Sid’s as fast as possible. Start us up. Sora, prepare your magic. We’re going to need a Stop pretty soon. Dick, you need to hug him.”

Sora looked up, startled. If Dick did that then…

Apparently, Dick was thinking the exact same thing. “I can’t! It’ll hurt him!”

Clearly too upset to be nice, Riku grabbed Dick by the shirt collar. “And if you don’t you’ll lose him!” They glared at each other for a moment before Dick nodded. Riku continued, “Sora can Stop him so he doesn’t thrash too much, but we can’t stop him from screaming. I know it’ll be hard, but you need to keep holding on until I say so. I’ll be watching the darkness. As soon as it’s back down to safe levels, I’ll let you know and you can let go.” Leaning over Jason, still laying on the floor, Riku lifted his eyelids. “Jason’s darkness, I know you’re in there. You need to fight. Try and loosen the other’s hold. It’s the only chance for both of you.”

They hoisted Jason into a sitting position, and Sora cast Stop. Dick’s arms clamped around Jason’s now-stiff torso and the light started building. Darkness started lifting off of his skin and screams poured out from his mouth. It was the worst thing Sora had ever heard. Long and drawn out, never seeming to stop for breath, and filled with so much pain. He wished he could cover his ears, but he had to hold the spell. As his magic drained, his eyes wandered back to Riku, who was staring intently at Jason. Suddenly, despite the Stop, Jason moved. His arms bent at the elbow and they grabbed at Dick’s hands, trying to pull them off. Sora pushed more magic into it, recasting it as Stopra. Please, let this be over soon.

After an eternity, Riku finally shouted, “Let go!” It was barely audible over Jason, but Dick still heard and practically leapt off his brother. The screams died down, Sora released his spell, and Jason slumped to the ground.

He laid there, twitching as his body slowly realized no more pain was registering. Dick automatically bent down beside his brother, who was now letting out a soft agonized groan. He felt sick at what he had just done. He didn't think he could even look at Jason right now, let alone touch him. But he had to. Dick needed to make sure he was okay. Well, in relative terms at least.

-Jay.” He said shakily, putting his hand on the other’s shoulder as gently as possible. “Jay, are you awake?”

No response. Well, not unless one counted his unsteady breathing. Panic building, Dick tried again.

“Jason, bro, you gotta get up.”

This time Jason, stirred. His left arm twitched slightly; not a convulsion, this was deliberate. Then ever so slowly, Dick saw his brother open his eyes before shutting them quickly and grimacing in pain. Frantically, Dick began looking around for his brother’s sunglasses before Sora came up beside him and placed them in his hand.

“He dropped them when he fell.” The boy said simply.

Nodding his thanks, Dick pressed the sunglasses onto Jason’s face and waited, but Jason seemed to have blacked out again. Biting his lip, Dick reached out and ever so gently shook his brother.

“Come on Jay. This is important. Wake up. Please.”

That seemed to do the trick. Letting out a shuddering breath, Jason's mind finally cleared itself and he opened his eyes and took in the scene around him. He was in pain first and foremost. Every inch of his body was screaming in protest even from the minute movements of his head. He could taste bile and possibly blood in his mouth, and he felt yet again light headed. Why did these things keep happening to him? At least he wasn't dead... Again.

Jason had half a mind to punch Dick hard in the stomach for what he had just experienced. But he was having trouble breathing at the moment, so maybe it wasn't a good idea. And as he looked up and saw his brother’s worried face, he finalized his decision against it. Dick was looking hysterical.

All Jason wanted to do was curl up in a little ball until the pain receded and fall sleep, but he ignored his body’s protests and pushed himself slowly forward into a sitting potion, working very hard to avoid conveying how much pain he was in. Upsetting Dick further at this point would really be counterproductive. But it was impossible to hide the violent tremors that ran down his entire body.

“Calm down Dick. I'm here,” he said, slurring his words just a bit.

The room then fell into a deep silence as Jason looked at Dick, working to make his expression as reassuring and calm as possible. Riku was standing further back, leaning seemingly unperturbed against the control panel, and only Sora could tell that he was tense. The other Keyblade Wielder stood a few paces behind Dick, concern written all over his face.

The silence pressed on for another few seconds before Dick finally found his voice again. “Jason, I-I'm so sorry.” He choked.

Holding up his hand, Jason slowly shook his head. “Don't be an idiot. You shattered that thing’s control... I was there Dick. I could see what was happening when it took over. It was like I was trapped in my own body. Sure your hug of death hurt like a *****, but it's a whole lot better than letting something evil take total control of you. It was all I could do to keep it from attacking you guys.” Jason paused then and looked into his brother’s eyes. “It was out for blood Dick.”

“We're on a direct course to Yen Sid.” Riku said quickly. “It shouldn't be more than a couple of hours Jason.”

“Good. Because in all honesty I feel like I just got run over by a train. I would love for this to all be over.”

Dick suddenly stood up and put a hand over his face. “Oh god Jay. That was awful. I just...” He let his hand drop to his side and stared down at his brother. “Jason.” He said slowly. “That... that's not going to happen again is it? I mean, Xehanort’s darkness isn't gonna be able to take over again right?”

Everyone in the room stiffened, but no one as much as Jason. Because the prospect of going through what he just had again was terrifying.

Riku walked over to the two, looking thoughtful. “It...shouldn't.” He said at last. “I know you're not feeling at the top of your game right now Jason, but if you can manage to keep focused, and in control of your emotions, his darkness logically shouldn't have another chance to take over. Not with your darkness fighting it.”

Simply nodding, Jason seemed to consider this for a while before looking up at Dick with an unhappy expression. “I really don't want to say this. I mean really don't... But, um, mind helping me to my room? I'm a bit sore, and I wanna sleep it off.”

Bending down immediately, Dick threw one of Jason's arms around his shoulder before hauling his brother to his feet. Jason took in a sharp breath, but aside from that made no protests.

“Well, at least you are learning to ask for help when you need it,” he said, smiling slightly.

“Screw you! It was your hug that got me here in the first place.” He didn't even regret it. And if he was feeling uncharitable, he also felt like he was on fire. So there.

Dick flinched slightly at that before looking over at Riku. “So, no long term effects right?”

The boy nodded. “Shouldn't be. Nothing dangerous anyway. But he'll be feeling that for a while.”

“Oh goodie.” Jason groaned.

With that the two started for Jason’s bedroom in the back. Sympathy and guilt flickered in Dick's conscience as he felt his brother trembling against him. Progress was slow, as Jason was obviously extremely sore, not to mention exhausted. Eventually however, they made it to the small room in the back and Dick set his brother on his bed gently. It was strange treating him with such carefulness and caution. Usually the guy wouldn't let anyone touch him, let alone help him walk. It was so unlike the Jason he knew. Suddenly Dick felt a passionate rage rear up inside him against this dark monster. It was responsible for all the terrible things that had been happening to his brother. In a moment of blind and abrupt anger, he vowed then and there that he would see to it that the darkness was dead and gone as soon as humanly possible. He would have the old Jason back with all his anger and stubborn pride and thoughtfulness in no time. That was a promise he made to himself, and to Jason.

Looking over at his brother, Dick wasn't surprised to see that Jason was already sound asleep. He had always been good at sleeping after all. Dick walked over and spread some blankets over his younger brother, relived that while Jay was asleep, he wouldn't feel any of the effects from their little stunt.

Satisfied that Jason was as comfortable as he was going to get, and not wanted to wake him up, Dick crept out of the room silently, as only a Bat could, flicking off the lights on his way out. As he closed the door and turned around to meet with Sora and Riku, he desperately hoped that Jason would stay sleeping peacefully like he was until they reached their destination. He didn't think he could handle hurting his brother like that ever again.

Moving almost automatically towards the kitchen, he started grabbing things out of the cupboard, not even stopping to see what they were. It wasn’t until he had a pot going that he noticed the cocoa powder, sugar and other things needed to make hot chocolate. Alfred’s hot chocolate. The only thing besides omelettes, soup and cereal he could make half decently. He smiled, measuring the ingredients into the water. If there was ever a time he needed some of Alfred’s cooking, this was it.

Of course, Alfred had often added “a little extra” to Bruce’s hot chocolate to make sure he got enough sleep. Sometimes Tim’s too. Only on the days when he knew they could both afford to get the extra few hours but were too stubborn to close the case files. Thinking back to the haunted expressions on the two teens’ faces, they could probably use a bit extra as well.

He carefully poured the drink into five mugs (two significantly smaller than the others) and walked back to the cockpit. As he had guessed, Sora still looked a bit shell-shocked, still horrified at what they had had to do. Riku looked the same as ever, but Dick had spent most of his childhood with a man who showed less emotion than a brick wall. The slight tensing of his posture, the tightening of the skin around his eyes and mouth, the way he wasn’t looking at anything in particular, yeah, Riku wasn’t doing so great either. The chipmunks were sitting on the control panel, Dale visibly crying and Chip trying to comfort him. Silently, Dick distributed the hot chocolate, scientifically proven to make any situation seem less stupidly horrible, and then sat down on the floor, cradling his own cup.

It was a few long minutes before anyone spoke. Tentatively, Sora ventured, “Is he…?”

“Yeah,” Dick replied. “He should be fine now. Just sleeping.” Sora nodded and the cabin descended into silence again.

~*~​

Jason bolted awake. His chest, still aching from earlier, heaved. A nightmare, one of his usual ones, plaguing him since he had been resurrected. Crowbars and fire and laughter. They had receded around the time when he had reconciled with Bruce. It was probably Baldie’s darkness, trying to destabilize him again. Holding a hand to his chest, he felt his own darkness, waging war. Grabbing his blanket off of his bed, he moved for the door. With a tiny smile, he noted that most of the pain from earlier was gone. Just a few aches and pains here and there.

The ship was dark and quiet. The only lights came from small bulbs lining the floor, and from the control room ahead. Pausing in the doorway, Jason had to smile. It looked like the occupants had had a bit of a powwow while he had been out.

Riku and Sora sat slumped against the wall, shoulder to shoulder and very asleep. There was a squirrel on each of their shoulders, no more awake than the other two. Dick was adjacent, but had slid down so that he was on his side, back pressed to the wall, arm under his head. Mugs littered the floor. Grabbing the one closest to Dick, he gave it a quick sniff. Hot chocolate and… Was that some of Alfred’s special sedative? The stuff he used on Batman? Huh. Some of the older stuff – Alfred had long since tweaked the formula so it didn’t have a smell – but no less effective for it. If Dick had felt the need to drug them…

Retreating back to the rooms, Jason grabbed the blankets from Sora, Riku and Dick’s beds, as well as both of his own pillows. Returning to the cockpit, he tossed Sora and Riku’s blankets over their respective forms, then turned to consider Dick. Grabbing Dick’s ankles, he pulled him away from the wall, shoving a pillow under his head and tossing the blanket over him. Dick, always a heavy sleeper, simply murmured sleepily and turned over. Jason tossed another pillow unceremoniously next to Dick’s, then stretched out on the floor, blanket wrapped around him. With his brother a warm presence at his back, he fell into dreamless sleep.

Oh! After this chapter, I'm going to start posting new chapters in the second post. The first post is... getting full. Yeah.

I'm just surprised we have this many posts. It's been a long time of stagnation...