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Whoopsies. Day late. Heh. Sorry. I'll just leave this here then...

Spoiler: Chapter 15 - Bat-Style Resting

Slowly drifting back to consciousness, his first sensation was a throbbing pain in his arm, head and back. Not the greatest way to wake up in the morning, but there were worse ways. Cracking his eyes open a slit, the lids slammed shut even before his brain registered the screaming pain the light inflicted on them. Deciding against opening his eyes again, he listened instead.

Dripping, the screeching of bats, the slight hum of many computer screens, the steady beeping of a heart monitor. Most likely the Batcave’s medbay. Throwing his not-injured arm over his eyes, he tried to open them again. A quick scan and yup. Batcave. The motion attracted attention of course. Before he closed his eyes again (it still hurt to open them, even with his arm blocking most of the light), Alfred and Bruce came rushing in. They started with the usual twenty questions, (Are you alright? What hurts?), but Jason ignored them. Instead, he asked his own question, “Bruce? What happened?” Oh good. His voice still worked. With his eyes apparently on the fritz, he wasn’t sure what else was out of whack.

The questions stopped abruptly. With the most worried look Jason had ever seen, Bruce regarded him. “What do you remember?” Always has to get the last question in.

“Bald *******… Xehanort… He was going to stab Tim… ‘S cool though. Saved him. Fuzzy after that.” Fuzzy, but not gone. He remembered little bits of him fighting, snatches of conversation spoken around him, his head pounding.

Bruce smiled, partially relieved. “You did.” He sat by Jason’s bed, Alfred running off to get a pot of tea and some cookies. Proper nourishment for the recovering hero, of course. The bonding time between Bruce and the erstwhile Robin was a bonus. They sat in silence for a few moments, before Bruce finally asked the question that had been bugging him since he had loaded Jason into the plane. “Jason? While saving Tim, you were covered in darkness. But you didn’t let Dick hug you, heal you. Why?” He probably should have asked how Jason had gotten that covered to begin with. Batman would have. But Bruce wanted to know why his son refused treatment, even while unconscious.

Jason shifted, using the motion to buy a moment to think of the proper wording. Finally, he said, “I promised.” Bruce would ask the questions he needed to. Save him some energy.

As predicted, Bruce asked, “Promised what? To whom?”

“My darkness. I promised I wouldn’t drive it out again. I kept control, it gave me power.” He laughed weakly, “I guess in the end I lost control anyways. Didn’t attack family though.” Bruce started a little at the word, so Jason used it again. “Didn’t let myself attack family. Suppose that’s something.”

Even with his eyes closed, Jason could feel Bruce’s uncomfortable shift next to him. “Jason… It’s good of you to keep you promise, but it can’t be healthy for you to stay like this.”

Huh? “Like what?”

“Open your eyes. There’s a mirror here.”

“I can’t. Light’s too bright.” He heard Bruce get up and walk towards the dimmer switch on the wall. Carefully cracking his eyelids again, he was relieved when it didn’t hurt at all. He opened his eyes fully and pulled his arm off his face… Wait, what was that on his arm?

Veins and arteries, black as pitch, standing out like a tattoo. It covered his entire arm, from his fingertips, to the sleeve of his t shirt and probably further. He reached out for the mirror Bruce handed him. The lines continued on his chest, up his neck, even over his face. And his eyes. Yellow. As yellow as the eyes of bastards he had fought tonight. This wasn’t right. He frowned. This wasn’t the deal.

He needed to talk to his darkness.

~*~​

“Yo, darkness! Get out here!” Once again standing on his stained glass tower thing, which was now a solid black tower thing, Jason crossed his arms and frowned. The rat wasn’t getting out of this one. If he had to wait for a week, he would wait.

Finally, after what felt like hours (but was probably closer to thirty minutes), a spot of darker darkness appeared just a bit to his left. It widened, then stretched upwards, shaping itself into the darkness that Jason knew and rather hated right now. You called? Its voice was still off. Kind of… buzzing.

“Yes, I did. Mind telling me what’s going on?” Jason waved out with one of his arms. Injuries didn’t show up here, but the dark markings on his skin did. “This wasn’t part of the deal. Take it off.”

The darkness cocked its head at him. You asked for power. I delivered. Malice dripped off of every word.

“Yeah and now I don’t need it anymore. Take. It. Off!”

I cannot. It is part of you now. I am part of you. I will not leave.

This day just kept getting better and better. “Can you at least make it, I don’t know, less visible? It’s worrying the crap out of my family.” And Jason. He was seriously freaked out. What had he gotten himself into? “Not to mention, my eyes are crazy light sensitive. Is that supposed to happen?”

You are of the darkness now. It is expected. I can reduce the effects. But it will still be there. Jason got the feeling his darkness was smiling. Under your skin.

It raised its arm. The marks faded from his skin, but Jason could feel them burrowing their way into his muscles, his bones. It was a feeling he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. Well… Nah, the Joker probably deserved this. And then a bullet in the head for good measure.

Finally, it stopped. His arms were clear and he had the feeling that if he looked in the mirror, his eyes would be back to their normal shade of teal. His darkness stared at him, glowing yellow eyes boring into his. The deal stands. Do not drive me out. You will regret it.

Before he could respond to the threat, light surrounded Jason and his world shifted.

~*~​

Bruce was looking for a better word to describe Jason passing out after looking in the mirror, but “fainting” was pretty much the only one that came to mind. Which made no sense. Right before he “fainted”, Jason had this look of fury and absolute determination on his face. Passing out after that wasn’t really a “fainting” situation. Maybe “blacking out”…

This was off topic. He was covering his worry about the situation with concern over his word choice. Forcing himself back into the worry, he rushed around, checking Jason’s heart rate and brain patterns. Everything seemed normal. Where had Jason gone?

Suddenly, the marks faded from Jason’s skin. His face, deathly pale a moment ago, regained its colour. Lifting one of his eyelids, Bruce sagged in relief at the familiar teal. He moved back, tucking the blankets more firmly around his son, then sat in the chair next to the bed, waiting for him to wake up.

After a minute or two, Alfred showed up, bearing a fully laden tray. “Oh dear. Has Master Jason gone back to sleep? I had hoped that he would relieve me of these baked goods.” The butler set the tray down on a nearby table, then regarded the teen in the bed. “At least his colour’s better sir.”

Bruce looked up at his longest friend. “Yes Alfred. At this point, it’s more than I had hoped for.” They stood for a moment in silence. “How are the other boys Alfred?”

“Resting sir. Master Dick’s chest has a few new scars on it, Master Tim is limping a bit, Master Damian has been equipped with an additional four blankets and a hot chocolate, and Master Sora is still asleep. All in all, we seem to have escaped relatively unscathed. Especially now that Master Jason is looking better.”

Bruce simply nodded, then started preparing to have Jason moved to his room. He would be much more comfortable there.

~*~​

Jason woke up slowly, blinking his eyes and then rolling his head into the soft something under it to avoid the light. Head throbbing dully, he blinked a few more times and then looked around carefully adjusting his watering eyes to the light. He was in his room, and Bruce, cautious as ever, had still put an IV and heart monitor beside his bed. Then Jason spotted a plate of cookies on his bedside table and instinctively dived for them. The movement brought his attention to his skin, which had very faint lines running across it. With a jolt, he remembered what had happened earlier. Shoving a cookie in his mouth Jason sat up, ignoring the pain lancing though his back and arm. No wonder his eyes were stinging and throbbing in response to the lazy beams of evening light shining through his window. His darkness had told the truth. He could dull the side effects but not stop them.

The next plan of action was obviously sunglasses, because he was not dealing with throbbing, watering eyes everywhere he went. Peeling off the electrodes and pulling out his IV, Jason flicked off the switch to the EKG before someone came running and then stood up shakily. So he definitely wasn't at 100 percent yet. That was to be expected though. Slowly he trudged over to his dresser and pulled open drawers, searching for something that would give his eyes a bit of relief. It had been a while since he had been in this room, and he wasn't really sure where things were anymore. Finally he found a pair of dark shades and slipped them on. The result was instantaneous and he had to sigh with the relief his eyes were experiencing. Looking around, Jason wondered what he should do next. Bruce and Alfred would probably blow their tops if they knew he was out of bed, but that only made Jason smirk. It meant he couldn't get caught is all. Crossing his arms and considering his options, he decided it would be a good idea to go and check on his brothers and Sora. Images of Xehanort standing over Tim, helpless and unconscious, with his blade drawn back to kill, were still reverberating fresh in his head. Going and bugging the others would probably make him feel better.

Crossing over to his closet, Jason grabbed out a sweatshirt and slipped it on before returning to his bed to grab a few cookies. He also took the time to sip some water that was sitting helpfully there as well. Munching contently on his snacks, he crept over to his door and listened.

Nothing.

Grabbing the handle, he ever so slowly prodded his door open, staring out into the hall beyond. There was no one out there, so he took his opportunity and slipped outside. It was now a game of cat and mouse. He would have to use some serious ninja skills to avoid the ever overbearing presence of Bruce and the trained eye of Alfred. Still nibbling a cookie, he made his way past doors on tiptoe, listening to every small sound with devoted attention. It sounded like there were people walking around downstairs, but that was it as far as footsteps went. All in all, the manor was extremely quiet. Jason wondered if Alfred was revelling in the break from chaos his boys seemed to initiate whenever they were all under the same roof.

Finally after many pauses and glances around door frames or corners, Jason made it to Damian’s room. The door was closed, and the kid always insisted people knock before entering, but Jason enjoyed disregarding whatever his little brother said. So he quietly pushed open his brother’s door. To Jason’s surprise, Damian was curled up on his bed wrapped in what seemed like twenty quilts. A laptop was balanced on what was probably his legs, though it was hard to tell due to all the blankets. Jason was mildly surprised. The demon spawn rarely used technology outside of hero work. Damian seemed to be half dozing, watching something on the screen in front of him with fleeting attention. An empty cup of hot chocolate sat on his bedside table. Jason was taken aback by the normalcy of the scene. Honestly he would have been much less surprised if he had found Damian attempting to practice flipping off his walls or else researching the most effective ways to poison someone.

In his drowsy state, and with his headphones in, Damian didn't notice as Jason crept up behind him. This would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Jason was sure he could scare Damian enough to get a jump out of him. But as he approached, the blankets by Damian’s side moved slightly and a head poked out. To be more specific, a large hairy head with to big black eyes and a wet, slobbery tongue.

“Quiet dog.” Jason hissed, but the Great Dane was already wagging its enormous tail and trying to stand up, effectively bringing Damian out of his stupor.

“I told you before Pennyworth, I do not nee-”

He froze when he saw Jason, who in turn was silently cursing the dog. They barely interacted for Pete’s sake! Why did it have to get all happy when it saw him?

Damian stared at Jason for a while frowning. “Should you really be out of bed? It seems extremely unwise. Though I suppose that is why you are doing it.”

Jason raised an eyebrow at his brother. “Aw, Damian, don't tell me you are actually concerned about me.”

“Tt, I could never concern myself with the inconsequential proceedings of a less superior being such as yourself. Do not be mistaken Todd. I was simply wishing to avoid Father’s wrath when he finds out you have decided to ignore his orders to rest.”

Jason shrugged. The kid had a point.

“I wasn't just going to stay in my bed and sleep all day. Rest is for the weak.”

Jason smiled as a muscle twitched in the demon spawn's temple.

“That is completely absurd,” the younger huffed.

Jason turned waving his hand half-heartedly. “If you say so kid. You just stay here and catch up on your sleep. I'm sure you need it. I'm gonna go check up on the others.”

In a moment, Damian and the dog were trotting behind Jason's heels, the kid still wrapped in a heavy blanket.

“Don't you dare imply that I am weaker then you!” Damian hissed.

Jason simply smiled to himself, pleased with his ability to annoy his younger brother, and walked on.

Cracking open the door to Tim’s room, Jason was unsurprised to see him awake and working at his desk, two laptops running simultaneously. Pushing the door back hard and ignoring the crack as it slammed into the wall, he and Damian walked in like they owned the place. In his own personal opinion, Jason, in his shades, looked much cooler doing so than Damian with his quilt. Tim merely raised an eyebrow, eyes not leaving the screen in front of him. “Why are you two in my room? And what’s with the shades?” Tim’s voice was missing its usual confidence. Hmmm…

“Tim, I am hurt! We come to check on you and this is how you greet us?” Jason cried in mock pain. He sniffed, his voice lofty. “And for your information, the shades make me look awesome. Well, more awesome.” Dropping his voice back down to normal, he continued. “No but seriously, just checking on you. Do you know if Dick and Sora are up?” He wanted to get up to some mischief. He just needed a victim.

Rolling his eyes at Jason’s poor attempt at dodging the shades question, Tim replied. “Dick is. Sora was still asleep last time I checked.”

That had some promise. “Hm. Wanna go draw on his face?”

“What?!” Tim turned to Jason, incredulity splashed across his features. Even Damian looked more than a little confused and surprised. “Why would you want to do that?”

Jason shrugged. “No reason really. Boredom?”

“Should you even be up?”

“Should you?”

“Yes actually. I still need to run through the files we got from Riku. There’s a lot on here.” Tim reached for a mug sitting innocently off to the side. Jason grabbed it up first.

Giving the hot steam a quick sniff, he grinned maliciously. “Uh huh. Coffee this strong, when did you sleep last? Before the fight? Wouldn’t Alfred like to know that.” Yes, he did know what he was threatening.

Tim blanched. If Alfred knew he wasn’t getting his rest… “Please don’t. I like my insides where they are.”

“Then come on! A quick break will be good for you anyways!”

Damian scowled. Well, scowled more. “Do we have to bring Drake? I’d prefer if we left him here.”

Jason ruffled his hair, grin widening when the younger boy ducked out from under his hand and swatted at it. “Yes we do. Family activity! Let’s go find Dickiebird.”

Dick wasn’t in his room, or in the library, or in the kitchen. They had split up to search, each moving as stealthily as possible. If Alfred or Bruce caught them out of bed when they should have been resting… Well, they would much prefer to go another round with a horde of Heartless.

Jason finally found him, sitting on top of one of the chandeliers. How it didn’t fall under his weight was anyone’s guess. Although… Maybe after all the times Dick had crashed when he was younger, Alfred had reinforced them with titanium cabling. “Hey, Dickiebird!” He called up, “we’re going to go draw on Sora’s face. Want to come?”

He landed mostly silently beside him. “Should you be out of bed?”

Why did everyone keep asking him this stuff? “No, and neither should you Sir Pin Cushion. Now get down here before I bring you down.”

Wide grin in place on his face, Dick followed Jason back up the stairs, both keeping an ear out for well-meaning butlers and overbearing bats. “So why are we drawing on Sora’s face?”

“Damian and Tim seemed down. A bit of harmless mischief is the best medicine.” Dick did too, but Jason wasn’t going to bring it up until he did. Besides, maybe a marker and a sleeping face would cheer Goldie up too.

They met up with the younger two outside Sora’s guest room. Cautiously cracking opening the door, four sets of eyes peeked in to make sure Sora was sleeping. Seeing that he was, Jason held up four markers in different colours. They crept in and silently started creating art.

Damian started first, drawing green cats and dogs along the jawline. Tim thought for a moment before adding yellow Red Robin and Bat symbols on Sora’s forehead and left cheek. Dick went all out, blue happy faces on each temple, as well as a moustache and a goatee. Jason’s red marker added a very good likeness of his helmet to the right cheek and the words “Jason Todd was here” above one eyebrow.

Finally, all markers capped, the boys took a moment to wonder at Sora. Seriously, the kid slept like a rock. Even if the feeling of people drawing on his face hadn’t woken him, Dick’s not-so-quiet giggles should have.

Peering through his glasses at the others, Jason was glad to see smiles on all their faces. They’d been down about something. Probably the fight. All of them had come so close to dying. At the end of the day, side effects of the darkness and all, Jason didn’t regret a thing.

I hope there's a good reason for the Keyblade transforming like that. I'm really happy it's happening, and am excited to use it in gameplay, I just want them to justify it properly. Also, I really love the expansion on previous worlds. Looks like Olympus Coliseum is going to cover parts of Greece too.

Hooray! Another chapter! And what a day to post it on! KH3 trailer yeah! Super excited for that!

Spoiler: Chapter 14 - Deeper

Time flowed. The claymore was the barest inch from Dick’s head when Jason crashed himself bodily into it. He moved faster than he ever had before, swiping his hand at X-Face’s face. Strange. His arm didn’t hurt anymore. Stunned, X-Face didn’t have any time to block when Jason kicked out with his foot, blasting the ******* across the field and away from his family. He turned towards Xehanort, noting the smug looking grin on the man’s face, and relishing it as it turned into a look of horror.

“What’s wrong baldie?” His voice was strangely layered, as if two of him were talking at once. “Plans not turning out?” He raced across the clearing, All Blades slowly appearing in his grip.

Xehanort acted instantaneously, brandishing his own blade and tearing towards Jason. The first strike – fuelled by hatred on both sides – had so much force behind it that Jason's teeth rattled from the impact. Twisting himself away and pushing Xehanort's weapon back, Jason lifted up his second sword and thrust it at his opponent’s face, who just barely had time to duck in turn. Then something shining caught Jason's eye and he jumped back with cat like reflexes, just avoiding a black knife that was now flying back to its hooded owners outstretched hand. So this fight wouldn't be a fair one after all.

Backing up slightly, Jason glared at the nine figures who, up until now, were merely observing, but were now all brandishing weapons or standing defensively. Instinctively, Jason moved back until he was positioned in front of his family. He would not let these bastards hurt his brothers, which he was sure they were after. Even at the thought of it, rage and hatred boiled up inside him, fuelled by the darkness which was sharing his body. He growled his hatred at his enemies and readied himself, clutching his swords until his knuckles turned white. He spared a single glance back at his brothers and friend. Dick was breathing shallowly and blood was oozing from his chest wounds, Tim was deathly still, and Damian seemed to be semi-conscious, violent shivers wracking his entire body. Sora was also obviously down for the count, his Keyblade lying idly by his side. Jason had to protect them! He refused to let them down. He was their only hope, at least until Batman returned.

Xehanort jerked his head in Red Hood’s direction, apparently too annoyed for words, and at his command three of the nine figures stepped forward with Xehanort. Jason stiffened. He had no idea what these people’s powers were, and finding it out by trial and error would be dangerous. But what other options did he have? He wished they would at least lower their hoods so he could get a look at their faces, maybe read their expressions and learn something. But they remained hidden and secretive.

Pointing his Keyblade towards Jason, Xehanort shot a freezing spell hurtling in his direction. Growling, Jason put up his swords in a crossed formation and sliced clear through the magic, reducing it to a cloud of sparkling vapour. Jason contemplated the four enemies moving ever closer. One of them lifted a gun like object while the other brandished the same knife Jason had dodged moments before. The last one didn't show any intention of attacking, simply walking closer with the others. So, they were trying for long range attacks. They knew that Jason had to stay put while they attacked him from far away, so as to not leave his family unprotected. Grimacing Jason raised his swords yet again. It was a big disadvantage. This fight would be on their terms, not his. But even now he could feel the power and energy of his darkness running through his veins. He had a chance, and that was something.

Suddenly Knife Man and Gun Guy attacked simultaneously, one shooting several bullets while the other threw their glinting weapon directly at him. Time seemed to move slowly as Hood realized that while the knife was hurtling right at his chest, the bullets were heading for Tim and Sora, the closest two to him. Cursing Jason ducked the knife and threw one sword to the right expertly, while dashing to the left and deflecting the bullets there. Miraculously he had managed to stop the attack, but the next second there were more shots and Jason automatically back flipped with amazing speed, landing next to Sora and picking up his limp body with one arm before seeming to fly to Tim's side. It was sheer luck that the two bullets aimed at Tim missed both Jason and the boy. He felt them as they flew by his head and shoulder. Leaning over Tim, Jason grabbed his other sword which was lying deserted next to Tim, and then scooped his brother up under his other arm. He needed to move fast, which was difficult as both Sora and Tim were moderately heavy. But his new strength helped him to jump backwards in response to three more bullets. He was just reveling in his amazing luck so far and the fact that the guy with the knife hadn't attacked again, when it hit him. Literally. Sharp pain lanced through his right shoulder and he staggered, nearly dropping Sora and Tim. He looked backwards quickly and saw the hilt of the small blade sticking out of his back. Idiot! How could he forget this guy could control the knife!? He had seen it happen!

Pushing himself further, Jason stopped by Dick and let his friend and brother drop to the ground lifelessly. It would be much more effective protecting them if they were all in one place. More shots rang through the air and Jason moved without thinking, blocking the bullets with lightning reflexes. He could hear the small projectiles as they were deflected off the strong metal in his swords. Xehanort took that moment to shoot a fire spell at Jason, who again blocked it. But this time he could feel the heat from the flames sear his skin, even as the fire dissipated into the air. His right arm drooped slightly which surprised him. He wasn't feeling any pain from his shoulder other than the initial entry. Could he be in shock or – a cascade of bullets and another fire spell came at him and he worked fast to deflect them – or was he not feeling the pain of his injuries for another reason? His darkness... was it blocking the pain for him? Even as he thought it, Jason knew it was true. He wasn't feeling pain, but that didn't mean his injuries couldn’t still affect him.

Breathing heavily and refusing to take his eyes off of his enemies, Jason knew it was time to go on the offensive. He couldn't just hold out here, these guys would just keep shooting attacks at him until they weakened him enough to approach. But how could Jason take the initiative and bring the fight to them while in doing so protecting his brothers from harm? He was stuck. Stay here and be taken out slowly, or fight offensively and leave his family and friends unprotected. The man with the knife seemed to have more than one weapon, and threw another gleaming streak of dark metal at Jason, who deflected it feeling exhaustion start to creep in around the edges. He would have to leave and take the fight to them. It was the only way any of them would get out of this alive. Jason was just steeling himself to act when the final cloaked figure who stood by Xehanort finally moved. He took something from beneath his cloak, and threw it at Jason in the blink of an eye. Even with his increased speed, he barely got his swords up in time to deflect the object. But to Jason's surprise, he didn't feel it clash against the All Blades. Cautiously lowering his swords, watching as a small disk like object rotated slowly in front of him, seeming to levitate in midair. He only had a second to marvel at it before the object exploded violently. Jason couldn't breathe, couldn't react. He was flung backwards by the vicious explosion, hitting the ground and crying out with pain as the knife drove itself further into his flesh. The world was standing still as Jason tried and tried to catch his breath, but his lungs didn't seem to want to take in air. He couldn't hear anything except a high pitch ringing, though the sound of the blast was fresh in his mind. He blinked through watering eyes, trying to see something other than a blur of colours which was fading in and out, in and out. He couldn't think, he couldn't move. But he had to move. He had to get back up!

Why did he have to get up?

With an enormous effort, Jason rolled himself onto his stomach, and took in the smallest breath of air. It was a start at least. He blinked confusedly several more times before his vision began to refocus. His temporary loss of memories seemed to return with his sight. A cold sensation spread across his back, centered around the knife. Xehanort and the three cloaked figures were walking towards him...no, walking towards Dick, Tim, Damian, and Sora. Their eyes were glowing wickedly and their evil intentions seemed to radiate off of them.

“No” Jason whispered hoarsely as he watched them drawing nearer. He had lost. His family was going to die and it was all because he was too weak to protect them. “G-get away from them... Don't you dare touch them!”

Trembling Jason braced himself and tried to push up into a sitting position, but collapsed seconds later, feeling dizzy and sick with desperation. Panic stricken, he clenched his teeth and tried to pull himself towards his brothers with one hand, but it was no use. He was far too weak.

The four were stopping in front of his family now. Preparing themselves to eliminate some of the only things in the world Jason loved. Stop. This couldn't happen. It couldn't. The world grew cold, and he felt the darkness in his mind begin to overtake him. The darkness!

“Help me!” He yelled desperately, his heart pounding wildly in a fleeting last attempt.

Suddenly Jason found himself in that place again. It was black and quiet, and he was relieved to feel normal. His injuries wouldn't plague him here. A solitary figure – his darkness – stood in front of him, looking at Jason with those intelligent yellow eyes.

You are pushing yourself too far. it said

“I don't care.”

You could die.

“I don't care.”

The darkness blinked slowly, contemplating Jason.

They stood like that in silence for a while.

You should, it said finally.

“Look!” Jason snapped angrily. “My family, and my friend, they're gonna die out there unless I...we do something! I don't like the idea of pushing myself to far either. But the people I love... they’re worth it.”

For some reason, Jason felt fine admitting this – something he would never say normally – to his darkness. The figure in front of him was a part of him, and he knew it could understand what he said in a different way than his family. Admitting that he loved people felt good though, even if it was a bit too soft for his style.

His darkness stayed quite for what seemed like a long time, though time didn't seem to exist in this place.

I understand, it said finally.

Jason nodded solemnly. “So you can help me protect them?”

Yes, was all it said.

Suddenly, a ripple spread through the darkness. Jason’s back burned and darkness descended on the stained glass, covering it again. His darkness spoke once more, but its voice seemed… off. I will help you.

And Jason was thrust back into reality.

His thoughts felt fuzzy. He knew it was dark outside, nothing but moonlight and the far off city to light his way, but everything seemed brighter. No, not brighter, he was just seeing through the darkness better. Everything was yellow, why was everything yellow? He slowly rotated his head, trying to get a better idea of his surroundings. There were people in front of him.

One of them, one not wearing a cloak, was raising a sword above one of the ones on the ground. The sword (bad, will hurt, stay away), was pointing directly at the crossed belts on the other’s chest. There was a heart glowing in the smaller figure. He could see it flutter, wanted to take it for himself. The urge was overwhelming. A sharp pain in his head. A warning. Do not touch that heart. Save it. It was against every instinct he had, but if he didn’t listen, the pain would continue. So he turned his gaze to the one holding the bad-sword. And lunged forward.

~*~​

Blearily, Dick opened his eyes. Why did everything hurt? Well, not everything, but his chest definitely. Oh. There was purple things sticking out of it. Well, that explains that. Now, who was leaning against his leg?

Carefully, trying not to open his wounds further, he raised his head. Sora was against his leg, Tim was laying on the ground a foot away and Damian was just off to his left. None of them were awake and none of them looked too good. Especially Tim, who had Xehanort standing over him, Keyblade plunging down towards his chest. Dick panicked. He knew he would never make it in time, but he still grabbed a escrima stick out, ready to throw it at Xehanort’s head.

Before he got his chance though, a wall of darkness slammed into Xehanort, knocking him far out of the way. Dick was still struggling to focus his eyes, so he couldn’t quite see what it was that had attacked –

Oh no.

Oh no!

It might have been Jason. The build, the features, everything about it looked like Dick’s little brother. Except for the black covering it from head to toe, the yellow eyes burning through the domino mask. Wisps of darkness curled off of his shoulders. He sank into a low battle stance, hands held out threateningly. Protectively?

One of the hooded figures in front of Jason(?) drew a gun, quickly aiming and firing it off at Damian. The bullets never hit their mark. Instead, they landed in the palm of Dark Jason. Slowly, he looked at the small rounds of glowing metal in his hand, then up at the one who had fired them. Faster than Dick could follow, he was behind the hooded guy, hand clear through his shoulder. He removed his arm, the guy falling to the ground, and turned towards the other hooded people.

He couldn’t process this. How could Jason have gone dark so quickly? It had only been an hour, maybe two, since they’d been at the manor. He should have had at least another eight hours until something happened. What had happened since he’d been out? How –

Movement against his leg broke him out of his thoughts. “Sora? Are you awake?”

Sora looked up at Dick, almost as confused as Dick felt, and his eyes widened at the sight of him. “Di- Nightwing! You’re hurt!”

Huh? Oh yeah, the purple things. “Don’t worry about me, Robin and Red Robin needs it more.”

Summoning his Keyblade, Sora gave off a very Damian-like snort. “Don’t be stupid, you need it too. HEAL!” Green light descended on all of them. Dick winced as the purple things extracted themselves from his chest, flesh knitting together as they fell out. Tim’s leg straightened itself, bone snapping into place. Based on the way the light lingered around his chest, he had a few broken ribs too. Steam rose off Damian as the ice melted, his colour slowly returning.

Feeling worlds better, Dick leapt up, eyes searching desperately for Dark Jason. He didn’t really have to look far.

Halfway across the clearing, surrounded by badly injured, but still breathing, cloak-people, he stood, snarling at Xehanort, Ponytail Guy and Blue Hair as they opened a Dark Corridor and left. Once they were gone, he turned and stared at Dick. Just stared.

Sora followed Dick’s gaze and frowned. “Why hasn’t he attacked us yet?”

Starting, Dick looked down at Sora worriedly. “Should he be? I mean, that is still Hood, right? Red Hood would never hurt us.” Except for the time when he had first come back. But that was when Jason didn’t have a heart, and he had a heart now. Right?

Jason stopped looking at Dick, shifting his gaze to Sora. Or, more accurately, to the Keyblade Sora still held defensively. “He never would, but he’s not himself right now.” He shifted the Keyblade in his hand, and Jason flinched.

Suddenly, Jason vanished. Dick whirled, trying to find where his brother had gone, only to find him behind the group, a hand going through a Nobody’s chest. As is dissipated, he vanished again, going back to his original spot. His stance was still very aggressive, despite Xehanort and buddies leaving, despite there being no Heartless or Nobodies left.

“Sora, do me a favour. Put away your Keyblade quick.”

“What?! But if he attacks us-”

“Tt. Then we will hold him off while you resummon it. Obviously.” Finally defrosted, Damian stood up, wiping excess moisture off of his suit.

Sora, after a moment’s thought, complied. The effect was immediate and welcoming. Jason’s posture relaxed, and he sank to the ground in a crouch. The harsh yellow of his eyes softened. Emboldened, Dick started forward. “Hood?” Quieter, he ventured, “Jay?” Slowly, calling out to Jason in a calm voice, as if he was dealing with a wild animal, Dick approached his brother. There was a moment of panic when Jason raised his arm, but he only rested it on his own head, face contorting in brief pain before relaxing again. Finally, Dick was kneeling in front of his brother. Jason seemed content to let him sit there, but when Dick opened his arms, to hug him, to try and make him better, Jason vanished.

“Whoa!” Tim’s startled shout told Dick where Jason had gone. He was crouching, just as before, right next to Tim. Dick tried again, walking quicker this time. Jason allowed him to stand next to him, allowed him to touch him, but the moment Dick went to hug him, he vanished again.

Frustrated, Dick walked up to his brother and grabbed his hand, leading him back to the group. Jason complied. When they got there though, he got a pained expression on his face, and he lifted his free hand to his head again. Then it cleared, leaving Jason with a serene expression and Dick with a worried one.

“Why does he keep doing that?” Dick cried. “Why won’t he let me hug him? What’s going on?” The sound of the Batwing returning prevented Jason from answering. Not that he could have anyways.

Batman was not pleased to say the least, to find his sons covered in blood. When he caught sight of Jason he stiffened dangerously. Dick caught the Bat's eye and glanced quickly over at his younger brother, who was standing idly by Red Robin, almost like he was daydreaming.

“Report!” Batman demanded.

There was silence for a few seconds, as no one was really sure what happened.

Sora decided he better explain as he was the last one conscious, but the thought of talking directly to Batman while he had so much tension emanating off of him was a difficult concept.

“Well, after you left,” he began, glancing over at his new friends, “these guys had already been taken out by the cloaked people. They were probably badly outnumbered.”

Tim and Dick nodded slowly in affirmation while Damian merely crossed his arms and let of a signature “Tt.”

“Ja- I mean, Red Hood was hurt too. His arm was bleeding. But he was still conscious. I jumped in to help him as soon as you left.”

Batman nodded, so Sora continued.

“I started fighting Xehanort, and Hood went for the two cloaked figures fighting, Braig and Isa. Uh, the rest were just standing there watching us fight.”

“Why is that?” Batman inquired.

Sora shrugged. “Dunno, but it was a good thing they didn't step in, or we wouldn't have had a chance. Anyway, I was pretty caught up in my fight with Xehanort, I was winning, his injuries weren’t healed completely of course. A cure spell can only do so much.”

Tim rubbed his head, and Dick his sore chest absentmindedly. Damian gave a small shudder.

“I was just about to disarm him when the other cloaked figures, the ones not doing anything, all attacked me at once. They shot some sort of darkness out of their hands, and... I can't really remember much after that. I guess I passed out. But Hood was still fighting. At least, I'm pretty sure he was.”

Batman was silent, pondering all of this information. He gazed at some of the unconscious cloaked figures on the ground. Gesturing to them with a sweep of his hand he asked, “And how did this happen?”

This time Nightwing spoke. “I woke up first, and Sora, Red Robin, and Robin were all next to me. It was weird, like they were placed there or something.”

“Yeah.” Sora added. “I definitely wasn’t right next to you when I passed out. Closer to Red Robin I think.”

Batman looked thoughtful at this information. “Hmmm, so someone put you there in the time you were unconscious. Hood?”

“Guess so,” Nightwing continued. “But as soon as I woke up, Xehanort was standing over Red Robin with his Keyblade raised, and he was gonna...”

Nightwing paled as Batman nodded his understanding.

“Anyway, Xehanort was just bringing down his sword when Hood crashed into him, except it wasn't the Hood from before. It was this one.”

Nightwing placed a hand on Red Hood’s shoulder and give him a little shake, the latter not responding. “Anyway, Sora healed us, Hood took out the rest of the hooded guys, and here we are.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Tim gasped. “Jason! Guys, look at his back!!”

Everyone glared over at the dark figure, who chose that moment to gaze at Batman and raise his hand slightly before jerking back and holding his hand to his head.

“That's another thing!” Nightwing said quickly. “There's something wrong with his head! He keeps doing that.”

“Guys,” Tim said, half annoyed, half scared. “There's a knife in his back! Look!”

They all moved to see what Tim was talking about as Jason grimaced and shook his head again.

“It is a deep wound.” Damian said, as they glared at the hilt of the knife, half surrounded by dark vapour. “I am surprised he is still standing in this condition. It is admirable.”

Dick frowned. “His arm was shot too. How can he be standing?”

“Red Hood, can you hear me?” Batman said clearly.

They all looked at Jason who didn't as much as twitch.

“Can you heal him Sora?” Asked Tim.

Sora looked doubtful. “Maybe, but I used so much magic healing us I don't know if it will work. If anything, I don't think I could produce a full cure spell.”

“Do as much as you can.” Batman commanded quickly.

Glancing nervously over at Jason, Sora nodded. “Alright, but someone needs to pull the knife out.” Dick immediately stepped up, curling his fingers around the handle. Concentrating as much as he could, Sora lifted his Keyblade. The moment the knife left Jason’s back he cried out, “Heal!”

Beads of light circled around the wound. Jason didn't even blink during the process, merely staring ahead blankly. He held the spell for as long as he could, but before the wound could entirely close, Sora fell to one knee breaking the spell.

“Sora!” Nightwing's and Red Robin's voices rang out.

“Sorry,” the boy said in a small voice lowering his Keyblade. “That's all I can do.”


“You did enough.” Nightwing assured him, as he walked over to Sora and helped him up, despite wincing himself. “If it weren’t for you I don't know how we would've survived that.”

Sora smiled tiredly.

The next moment a strange rushing sound had everyone whirling around to see darkness swallow up the injured villains on the ground, leaving no evidence anyone had been there seconds before. Just as suddenly, without warning, Jason gave a great shudder and dropped lifelessly to the ground, darkness peeling off him as the shouts of surprise and alarm echoed above him.

Nightwing stared down at his brother, frozen in shock for a moment. The moment wore down quickly though, and his shock faded. Maybe now, Jason would let him heal him. Dropping to his knees, he grabbed Jason’s shoulders and lifted him partially off the ground. But the moment he went to put his arms around him, Jason pushed him off. Still unconscious, he fell to the ground. Batman rushed past him, grabbing up his second son and carrying him to the Batwing, arms curled protectively around his shoulders.

Dick reeled, slightly confused, but mostly hurt. Why wouldn’t Jason…? He closed his eyes, ignoring Tim’s hand, trying to drag him to the Batwing. Jason would tell him if he woke up. When he woke up. Nodding, he stood and followed his family to the plane, knife still in his hand.

Ah. I thought you were just talking about recently released games.

No other streaming sites? Although, if you're in America, I guess those would be slightly less legal. I think the station websites have recent episodes on them though. Like CW and TNT and those stations.

Or you could go to the library and grab the first interesting looking series off the shelf and read that.