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Another day, another chapter. Well. Sort of. Another Tuesday/Friday, another chapter? Yeah, that works.

Spoiler: Chapter 9: Downtime

Slumping to the ground, Nightwing slowly lowered Jason down and took a few steadying breaths. That had been a rattling experience. He had felt the entirety of everything Jason was in the last few seconds; who was struggling fiercely to fight away the darkness and who was holding on to Dick’s heart like a lifeline. Dick had felt Jason’s terror and desperation and determination all mixed into one. It was a unique experience, but he felt the cold terror that was in Jason now in him as well. Losing the light in one’s heart was a fate worse than death. Dick shuddered. Jason needed to be whole again.

“I guess, that is to say...” Tim hesitated as he blinked at the unconscious figure on the ground. “He is safe now right? It's not like he is going to jump up and start killing us? The plan worked?”

Dick nodded wearily as Sora said, “He isn't whole yet, we need to give him back his heart. But the darkness in him is gone at least. Right now he's just a shell with no real feelings or emotions.”

He looked over at Jason. “It's sad really, what a Nobody goes through. Having no heart is like being half a person.”

Memories Roxas had shared with Sora come flooding back to him as he spoke, and he felt the weight of what Red Hood was going through. They needed to make him whole and fix this mess.

As if in response to his thoughts, the heavy footfalls of Batman announced the Dark Knight emerging from his home of shadows. He was walking quickly, aware it seemed that returning Jason’s heart needed to be done as soon as possible. As he came closer, everyone marveled at the way he cradled the ball of light so gently in his huge powerful hands. A strange sight, especially when the man was wearing the cowl. Robin trailed about a foot behind Batman, shaky and obviously exhausted, but on his feet all the same. Weak as he was, his footsteps were as silent as if he weren’t even there. Batman stopped slowly, carefully, next to Sora and looked down at his second eldest son. Jason was pale and uncharacteristically fragile looking where he lay on the cold pavement, sleeping. But he was breathing easily and the rage which seemed to have enveloped his face was gone.

Without taking his gaze off of Jason he murmured roughly “What now Sora? How do we make him Jason again?”

Sora cocked his head to the side considering. “His heart should naturally want to go back to his body now that the two are free. Just let his heart go and it will do the rest I think. “

Batman seemed unsure as he clutched the shining orb closer to his chest.

“Are you entirely sure?” He said. “I refuse to participate in any activity that will further endanger the life of Red Hood.”

Sora had to resist the urge to shake his head in exasperation. The man was just being a worried father or mentor or whatever Batman was to Jason. What Sora didn't know was that he was experiencing the family famed-overprotective – sometimes irrational – habits Batman could display so easily if one of his children were threatened. Red Robin and Nightwing just rolled their eyes knowingly.

“He'll be fine.” the boy replied. “Every heart belongs with its person. I guess if worst comes to worst we can just jump up and grab his heart again right?”

Sora smiled reassuringly at Batman, who seemed to falter. He looked at Red Robin and Nightwing then down at Jason’s heart, before slowly holding out his hands and freeing the glowing orb from his care. It floated there silently in the air for a few seconds as if it was contemplating what to do next while everyone held their breaths. Then slowly, it began to move towards Jason. Sparkles of light trailing after it as it floated down. All eyes were fixated on the glowing ball is it approached Jason’s chest. It seemed to stop for a millisecond before touching the unconscious hero and splitting into a million shards of light. As the brilliant brightness from the exposed heart faded, the silence seemed to press in around the group of anxious onlookers. Jason was lying quite still. Nightwing reached out a tentative hand.

With a jolt Jason bolted up into a sitting position and gasped, causing everyone to jump back, alarmed. He sat there for a few seconds simply breathing and shaking, before blinking in confusion and looking around.

“Are you alright Hood?” asked Batman, who was unable to keep the flooding relief he was experiencing out of his voice. “Do you... remember what happened?”

Jason looked up at Batman for a moment, then seemed to deflate and placed a tired hand to his forehead. “God” he whispered. “That was... that was terrifying.”

Sora watched Jason contemplating all that had just happened to him. He could relate to the man; he remembered all too well what being lost in darkness felt like. First and foremost, it was unbearably lonely.

Suddenly Dick seemed unable to contain himself anymore and leapt forward, enveloping Jason in a bear hug.

“Hey!” Jason spluttered in surprise before Tim overcame his slight hesitation and jumped in to hug his brothers too. Jason fell backwards with their combined weight. Sora smiled and jumped on top of everyone, laughing and effectively turning the hug into a kind of dog pile. Next was Robin who gingerly approached with a look of half amusement half disgust and then seemed to give up and leapt onto Sora. By this point, Jason was gasping for air, laughing with the people who were effectively crushing him. Batman stood off to the side awkwardly until Nightwing jumped up and forced him down. Jason couldn't help it. He was grinning from ear to ear. He loved his family, every last stinking one of them! He began the task of trying to stand up which turned into a frenzy of chaos as his brothers attempted to cling onto him. But in the end he broke free and jumped to his feet, the rest of them following happily.

“Alright!” Jason growled feeling better than he had in months, maybe years. “Let's go beat the crap out of that sad excuse for a villain!”

Batman clapped a hand on Jason’s shoulder, preventing him from doing anything reckless, like jumping through the first Dark Corridor he saw. Holding a hand up to his ear, he asked, “Riku. Is Xehanort still in Gotham?”

There was a sound of keys clicking, followed by a loud crash. Riku’s long suffering voice came through everyone’s comm. “Donald, stop letting Goofy fly the ship. To answer your question Batman, no, he’s not. If he was re-gathering his thirteen darknesses, he probably went back to The World That Never Was.”

Dick sighed. “That is such a long name. Can’t we shorten it?”

“Neverland?” came the helpful suggestion from Tim.

Which Sora immediately vetoed. “Nope, that’s the world where you can fly.”

A growl of frustration sounded through the comm. “No shortening, please. The worlds are named that for a reason.” More keys clicking. “Ok, that’s interesting.” A pause, probably so that someone would ask what. Sora obliged, and Riku went on. “It seems Gotham isn’t always linked to the Corridors. It kind of… jumps, on and off of the darkness.”

“Explain.” Even though Riku couldn’t see the infamous Batglare, he could hear it in the man’s tone of voice.

“Alright, so Gotham, based on the journal entry Jiminy had time to make up at some point, is basically a hotbed of insanity, right? The minds there destabilize everything. Even the connection to other worlds. So even though it’s coated in darkness, the minds in it prevent the Dark Corridors from latching on all the time. If we didn’t have the gummi ship and could physically fly to the world, I don’t think we would be able to get here at all.”

Frustrated, Jason snarled. “So how did Xehanort get here then? If he travels by Dark Corridor, right?”

“Actually,” Sora raised his hand cautiously, “Xehanort got here by Heartless ship. We followed him directly.”

Tim rubbed his eyes. “Fantastic. So Riku, when is the next time the Corridors can attach to Gotham? And can Xehanort get here by ship again?”

“Not now that I’m here. If he approaches the world, I’ll Ultima-G him to bits. That’s a good enough final battle for me. As for the Corridors…” he paused, thinking. “I don’t really know. Not for another day at least. When it does happen though, I can let you know.”

His hand still on Jason’s shoulder, Batman nodded. “Please do.” Cutting out the communication, he called the Batmobile and started pulling his wayward son to the closest street. He motioned for the rest of the boys to follow him, which they did.

“Hey!” Struggling against his grip was futile, but Jason still tried. “B, let go!” The Batmobile pulled up, door opening automatically.

Batman tossed Jason gracelessly into the back seat, then jumped in himself. There was a bit of a scuffle as the other three boys realized that there was only five seats. By the time the Batmobile pulled away from the curb, Tim was in the front seat beside Batman, Sora was in the back between Jason and Dick and Damian was scowling on Dick’s lap.

“Why do I have to sit on Grayson’s lap? This is entirely beneath me!”

Grinning wickedly, Jason addressed the ten-year-old. “Because Dami, my lap is off limits, Batman is driving, Sora is our guest and we don’t want to put him through that and you would have killed Red. Seriously, ‘Wing is the only person in this car you can stand.”

Between them, Sora scrunched up his face, thinking. “So Robin’s name is Dami?”

Silence descended on the car. Every pair of eyes turned towards Batman. He glared at each of them in turn. When they didn’t back down, he sighed. “Fine. But if you make me regret this, I will personally ensure that the rest of your lives are miserable.”

Dick was the first one to stick out his hand. Of course. “Hi Sora! My name’s Dick Grayson! It’s great to finally tell someone!” With his free hand, he pulled off his mask.

After Dick was finished with his overly enthusiastic handshake, Jason put his out, the other cradling his face, elbow resting on the window. “Jason Todd. But you probably figured that out from the way these idiots were shouting it left, right and center.”

“Tim Drake,” reaching back, Tim pulled off his mask as well. “Pleased to formally make your acquaintance.” He shook Sora’s hand warmly.

Next was Damian’s turn. He didn’t stick out his hand, but he did pull off his domino mask. “Damian Wayne. Remember it, for I shall be the next ruler of this world.” He gave off an un-ruler-like squawk as Dick grabbed his wrist and extended it, forcing him to shake hands with Sora.

Batman wouldn’t pull off his cowl until they were safely in the Batcave. “Bruce Wayne. A pleasure.” Sora shook his hand timidly. Even without the cowl, Bruce was intimidating.

“So B, what are we doing back in the Cave anyways?” As soon as the Batmobile pulled up, Jason had sauntered over to the lockers, where he kept his spare equipment. He grabbed out a new helmet and domino mask, as well as two new guns (his old ones had vanished somewhere). Batman didn’t approve of him using guns, but as long as he kept his fatalities within the city at zero, he was allowed to keep a stash here.

Alfred chose this moment to walk in, carrying a large silver tray with enough tea and cookies for everyone. Grabbing a cup, Bruce stated simply “Resting. Riku said it would be another 24 hours until Xehanort could come back. We need to be at our best.”

“Does that mean you actually intend to sleep sir?” Alfred drawled as Dick and Tim grabbed their cups gratefully. “Will the miracles never cease?”

Skillfully ignoring his oldest friend, Bruce continued, “I also want to run some tests Jason. Make sure you’re back to normal.” Jason rolled his eyes. Of course.

Alfred offered his heavily laden tray to Sora as the others ran off to change into “civvies” as Dick put it. “Welcome back Master Sora. As I assume you know everyone else’s identities, I would like to reintroduce myself. I am Alfred Pennyworth, caretaker here at Wayne Manor.”

Sora, unable to shake the butler’s hand while he was carrying the tray, eagerly grabbed a cup and a cookie. “What’s Wayne Manor? I thought this place was called the Batcave.” These were seriously the best cookies he had ever had. He grabbed another one.

Alfred smiled a knowing smile. “Follow me young sir. I shall show you to the room you shall be using for the duration of your visit.” Placing the tray on a table, he preceded the Keyblade Wielder up the stairs…

…and out of a grandfather clock, leading into the most luxurious room Sora had ever seen. If Beast’s Castle hadn’t been in ruins, it might have looked a little like this.

“Whoa!” He said looking around at it all.

He was particularly mesmerized by all the antique items being displayed, and by the strange architecture of the house. This place was super cool.

“Shall we go then?” Alfred asked.

Sora nodded and the two made their way out of the study and into a wide open room that had both a large oak front door and a huge staircase leading up to a second story. Alfred turned and took the staircase while Sora followed, his attention flickering from furniture to pictures to architecture. They reached the landing, passed a few doors, turned left, and walked forward a few more paces. Finally, they arrived at what was supposedly the room Sora was to stay in. Alfred opened the door for him courteously and with a quick thank you Sora stepped forward, eager to see what awaited him inside.

The room was spacious, with rich dark wood flooring and a huge four poster bed in the far right corner. Light shone in lazily from two high windows on the far side of the room, and a screen was mounted on the wall facing the bed. A metal and glass desk took up the closest corner, along with a dresser and a comfortable looking arm chair. Two other doors lead into a closet and bathroom on the remaining wall. The overall effect was a very neat and modern feel.

“Dinner shall be ready in about 20 minutes Master Sora.” The butler said as he smiled down at the excited boy marveling at his new surroundings. “If you need anything do feel free to call. I shall be in the kitchen if you need me. Do come down when you are settled. The rest of the Wayne household will be there as well.”

“Okay Alfred, and thanks!” Sora called as the butler walked back down the hall.

After lying on his bed for a few minutes and taking in everything that had happened to him in the past few hours, Sora got bored and began to explore his room. The dresser had more spare clothes, and Sora found a hoodie with a large S symbol that he liked and decided to put on. He discovered that the TV had a lot of interesting things on it, but he got weirded out by a show about talking ponies. He wasn't sure why though. Atlantica was almost as strange. After splashing some cool water on his face, Sora was itching to go down and see the others. The tantalizing aroma of what he assumed was Alfred's cooking was making its way through the huge house and Sora noticed just how hungry he was.

He left his room and began wandering down the hall following the smell before he ran into a problem. He had no clue where the kitchen was. He couldn't just follow his nose because by this time Alfred’s cooking had permeated the entire house. Sora decided it was more likely to be coming from downstairs and headed in that direction. The only problem was when he reached where he thought the stairs should be, they weren’t there. Sora blinked and looked around. If only he had had a map! How could he get lost in a house? He backtracked to where he thought his room was, but couldn't remember which door was his. Didn't matter though. He reasoned he had just come the opposite way when he left originally. He turned right and started walking, but when he came to a hallway where he could turn either left or right he was totally and utterly confused.

“You are so lost.”

Whirling around, Sora saw Damian leaning on a door frame and smirking at the indignant look on his face.

“Am not!” Sora countered before he really thought. “I'm just...exploring is all.”

“Tt, you are an awful liar, spiky head.” Damian drawled. “You really are quite horrible at keeping a straight face.”

Moaning, Sora admitted defeat and walked towards the youngest bat. “Riku and Kairi used to say that all the time.” He muttered.

Damian started and the slightest trace of a grin flashed across his face when Sora turned towards him, but seemed to catch himself and asked “This Kairi must be another friend of yours?”

Sora nodded. “So, um, could you show me where the kitchen is? Alfred said to be there but I have no clue where it is.”

“Such remedial tasks are beneath me.” Damian sighed. “However, I believe father would wish for me to help a guest. Very well, follow me.”

The two boys made their way through a maze of twists and turns before finally reaching the stairs. They appeared on the left side of the staircase, opposite from the side which Sora had originally come with Alfred. He had no clue how he had accomplished getting that lost. They had just made it to the main lobby when a bark broke Sora’s train of thought. He turned just in time to see a huge dog come hurtling towards them. A massive, enormous, slightly terrifying dog! Sora thought the thing was going to run him over – or eat him – but it swept by him and jumped up to lick Damian's face! To Sora's astonishment the boy smiled.

“Okay Titus, get off!” He said pushing the dog away.

It immediately dropped down and wandered over to sniff Sora quickly before replacing its self at Damian's side.

“This is Titus.” The boy said simply, offering no other explanation, before they began to walk again. When they reached the dining room, Bruce, Jason, Dick, and Tim were already there. Dick raised his eyebrows and grinned at them as they walked in. “You’re lucky.” He chuckled. “Another minute and you would have been late. And Alfred does not like it when we’re late.”

The others around the table shifted uncomfortably. Even Bruce, who looked up and caught sight of Sora's hoodie.

When an oh-so-familiar confused expression crossed Sora’s face, Tim leaned in conspiratorially, “Alfred gets rather creative with punishments. It’s not outright, but after making him mad, things start happening and they’re never pleasant. We can’t ever prove it was him either.”

Damian nodded. “When I first arrived, I lopped off the tops of most of the trees outside. For training purposes, of course. Immediately after, most of my katanas and throwing daggers blunted themselves.” For once, he didn’t seem arrogant or pretentious, simply resigned. “I spent four hours resharpening them, and then when I turned my back, they had blunted again.”

Sora paled at the prospect. It seemed like a minor thing, but frightening all the same. As he sat down, he noticed Bruce staring at his sweater with a slightly disturbed look on his face. Suddenly it occurred to him: what if he wasn’t allowed to wear the sweater? It had been in the guest closet, so he had thought it would be ok, but what if it had been a gift for someone or if the last person to stay there had forgotten it? Flustered, he was about to blurt out an apology when Bruce turned his gaze to Dick.

“I thought you had gotten rid of that.” His tone was flat, but almost disapproving.

Dick, so far successfully avoiding his father’s gaze, grinned sheepishly. “Nope. I probably won’t either. It’s too much fun! Besides, it was a gift. It would be rude to throw it away.” He turned to look at Sora, his grin evolving into a warm smile. “Looks good on you Sora. Warm enough?”

So he was allowed to wear the sweater. Ok! “Yup! Is there something wrong with it though? Why would you need to get rid of it?”

“That’s a Superman sweater. Just like how Batman has the Batsymbol on his chest, Superman has that one.” Dick’s tone didn’t convey much, but his eyes glinted mischievously. “It was a gag gift for Bruce a few Christmases ago. Not sure if he’s ever worn it though.”

“Nope, but pretty much everyone else has.” Joining in, Tim’s eyes had the same glint. “It bothers the Big Bad Bat quite a bit.”

Sora was about to ask why, when Alfred walked in, bearing the most delicious smelling things that had ever graced his nose. The dished landed on the table, and everyone helped themselves. Dinner passed mostly in silence, small snippets of conversation about mostly nothing filling the air. After all the plates were clean, Alfred came in again with a pot of tea and a large plate filled with cookies. The group headed to the parlor to enjoy them. The nothing-conversation continued, until a small beeping in Bruce’s pocket interrupted them.

He fished out a small tablet, glaring at the screen. Jason, who had a good idea what it was, glared at Bruce, willing him to react, give him some idea of good news or bad news. Finally, he broke down and asked “Well? Am I good to go or what?”

Jolted out of his thoughts, Bruce glanced up at his son, sometimes ally, sometimes enemy, and said cautiously, “It seems like you’re back to normal. There was some residual substance in your blood samples early in the testing, but they disappeared about half way through. Presumably, the same happened with the substance still in your body.” He paused, Bat paranoia screaming at him. “Just in case, I’d like to take a fresh sample. Knowing what I’m looking for, it won’t take as long this time.”

Sighing, Jason sat back in his seat. He’d had a feeling that was coming. “Fine.” He grabbed the last three cookies off of the plate, glaring at his brother’s small cries of outrage. “Hey, I’m losing a lot of blood here. I need the sugar.”

He was saved from fratricide by Alfred’s once again timely arrival, bringing another pot of tea and a steaming pile of fresh cookies. Jason grabbed another three, then followed Bruce down to the Cave. After a moment of deliberation, Sora grabbed a stack of treats for himself, then followed.

Bam. Chapter. Whaaaat?

New chapter! Those are always fun. I should probably warn you, someone gets stabbed in this chapter. Not like the last stabbing, which was a Keyblade-stabbing. Someone gets sword-stabbed. In the chest. Oh, that's a spoiler. Darn...

Spoiler: Chapter 8: Protecting the Things that Matter

Down in Crime Alley, Xehanort sat waiting behind an abandoned apartment building. The content, patient smile on his face grew to a full blown grin as light gathered in front of him. It took shape first, then details were added. The boy looked mostly the same as he did before, but the white in his hair had spread and the mask that had covered his eyes was gone. No matter. It was inconsequential to the plan.

As soon as he was fully formed, Xehanort strode up to him. “Greetings, my final vessel.” The Nobody simply looked at him blankly. It was too early in his life for him to have more than basic memories and intelligence. Xehanort’s eyes narrowed, and he decided to indulge in a moment of uncharacteristic emotion. “I almost pity you. Empty inside, no heart, no memories, no life. And yet, you live.” He gathered darkness into his hand, retrieving the piece of his heart he had prepared for this moment. “Normally, I would give you a name. However, since you won’t have an identity, a name is useless.” Reaching his hand back, he plunged the dark shard of a heart into the boy’s chest.

The Nobody lurched forward, gasping. The light that most creatures naturally carry within them was suddenly and violently extinguished. Darkness took over his entire being, a sensation not unfamiliar to him, but unwelcome nonetheless. He had been in the dark before. He didn’t want to be there now. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much of a choice.

~*~​

Nightwing blinked the stars from his eyes as they materialized on a rooftop. On Jason’s old apartment’s rooftop. He raced to the edge, the rest of the Bats doing the same to the other sides of the building. Red Robin called softly across the rooftop. North end, on the ground below.

Without hesitation, Nightwing streaked across the building, following his family over the edge. Shooting off his grapple to slow his fall, he was able to watch what was happening below in the seconds it happened.

Xehanort’s hand filling with darkness.

Come on, gravity, work faster!

The hand pulling back.

Terminal velocity clearly isn’t fast enough.

The hand shoving the darkness into his brother’s chest.

No!

Too late, the Bats landed on the ground. They could only watch helplessly as Jason exploded with darkness, teal eyes full of pain. Then, the darkness receded, drawn back into Jason’s body. He blinked, once, twice, and then his eyes turned the same shade of yellow as Xehanort’s.

“How unfortunate. Only a moment too late, but a moment late regardless.” Xehanort’s taunts fell on their ears, but they were too in shock to hear them. Sora landed beside them and summoned his Keyblade. He knew that fighting both Xehanort and Jason would be nearly impossible, but he had to.

A bit of static in Nightwing’s comm. shocked him out of his stupor. “Hello? Testing! Who am I talking to?” Riku’s voice? What was Riku doing on the comm.? A reasonable question, so he asked it. “Oh, I piggybacked onto your signal when you came on the ship. So, tell me who I’m talking to, and then tell me what’s going on.”

“Nightwing. And Xehanort put something dark into Hood’s chest. His eyes are yellow now.” He really hoped that that was fixable and that he could talk to Jason again soon.

Up in the ship, Riku winced. That wasn’t good. “Alright, not as good as we had hoped. If Xehanort hadn’t done that, you could have just given Hood back his heart and that would have been it.”

Crap. Nightwing was still staring warily at Jason. He was standing stock still, which was bad, considering who it was. “So we can’t go with Plan A, what’s Plan B?”

“You fight. Same thing with his Heartless, you fight until you can destroy him.” There was a pause. “I'm not sure what you should do with his heart. If you keep it, he might materialize around it. Or, you might delay his return. I could go ask Yen Sid…”

“Do it. Hood won’t be easy to beat. This’ll take a while.” Silence in his ear. Riku hadn’t even stopped to say goodbye. Quickly, he relayed Riku’s half of the conversation to the other Bats and Sora. They nodded and dropped into ready position.

Across the lot, Xehanort grinned. “Vessel, I have one last thing to prepare. Keep these fools busy.” He disappeared into darkness.

Jason still hadn’t moved. Tension lined every contour of his body, yellow eyes fixed on the ground. Taking a chance, Batman stepped forward, hand stretched out pacifyingly. “Jason…”

Suddenly, he was a whirl of motion. He dived towards them, pulling a gun which didn’t look like his regular guns. The difference was explained a moment later when he squeezed the trigger. The projectiles that came out glowed red and were, based on how many shots he was getting off, unlimited. The Bats and Sora dodged his assault, then prepared for a long battle.

Bullets tore through the air, leaving buildings and pavement cracked and dented. Nightwing was bounding off a variety of objects, performing complex aerial manoeuvres to escape the deadly projectiles. Red Robin had his bo staff out and was dodging what bullets he could while deflecting the rest. He seemed to be trying to shrink into the shadows, retreating into a place where he could collect his thoughts. Each bullet he deflected knocked him a foot back. Their power was incredible. Batman was already retreating. He despised himself for leaving his sons and Sora to whatever monster Jason had been turned into, but he had to keep the small beating light in his hands protected at all costs. This was Jason’s heart, and this time, Batman would protect it like a father should. Meanwhile Sora was also deflecting bullets, waiting for an opening. The darkness emanating off them made him feel sick. He circled Jason, trying to keep the Nobody's attention on him. Robin however, seemed to have abandoned all pretenses of a plan. He was charging forward, almost disregarding his safety. It seemed the little hero was determined to take his enemy face on.

“Todd you coward!” Screamed Damian. “Would you let that man control you this easily? Are you really just giving up without a fight!?”

Nightwing knew that this was Damian’s way of hiding emotions. Robin was so overcome with passionate hidden grief for his brother that he was oblivious to his light footsteps, or the growls of the savage Nobody in front of him, or the bullet that tore into his left shoulder. Robin just sprinted forward, katana raised and ready to attack.

“Robin!! Stop!!” Came Nightwing’s petrified voice from above.

Sora was already on Robin’s heels, as he was closest to the boy at the time. Jason leapt forward towards his attacker, firing his gun almost randomly. Robin ducked and lifted his sword to meet him. Twisting in midair, Jason dodged the blade, and his free hand became surrounded in a cloud of darkness. A shimmering black sword appeared in it, and swirling on one foot, Jason jabbed this new weapon at Robin, who just barely had time to put his own sword behind his head to block as he fell. The resulting clash of metal echoed around the alley way and seemed to bring a new sense of urgency to the atmosphere if that were possible.

Leaping left to doge another bullet, Sora reached Jason's Nobody and swung his Keyblade at his arm, trying to knock away the gun. Jason sidestepped, then ducked and twirled his sword at Sora's legs, who leapt back quickly. Meanwhile Jason was still firing at Nightwing and Red Robin. Robin was up again, and as he charged Red Hood, Sora cast a quick cure charm to fix the kid’s shoulder. As soon as the magic was complete, he bounded forward to stand beside Robin and started to help the younger boy in driving the Nobody back. Jason wasn't losing much ground though. He was catching both his opponents’ swords on different parts of his black blade, and parrying with incredible strength. He seemed completely unperturbed that he was facing two opponents head on. Suddenly he pointed his gun directly at Sora and fired. Sora had to drop to his knees to avoid the surprise attack. In the process, Jason's sword slid off Robin’s, using the force to cut into Sora’s left arm. Jerking back and crying in pain, Sora stumbled to his feet, ready to back off, but it seemed Jason wasn't going to give him that chance. The black sword was glowing wickedly where red blood stained it and was pulsating. Jason slashed at Sora who put his Keyblade in front of him to block. The force of the impact literally lifted him off the ground a few inches and he barely caught his balance as he began blocking more vicious strikes. Robin was trying to attack from behind now, his cape and tunic a blur of colour as he moved. But Jason was matching his movements in reverse. Dodging while all the time attacking Sora and shooting at the others.

Nightwing watched all this proceed with a rising sense of panic. He wanted to wait for a good moment to jump in and attack Jason by surprise, but he would have to leave that to Tim. The situation was deteriorating too fast for his attempts at strategizing to be an option. With a single graceful motion, he soared to a window ledge above the struggling heroes and let himself drop. Landing on Jason’s shoulders he drove his escrima sticks into his brother’s head, gritting his teeth as he did so. Who cared if he wasn't himself, attacking his brother really sucked.

Instead of dropping to the ground like Nightwing expected him to, Jason jerked sideways and threw Nightwing off of him. Landing lightly, Dick turned to see Jason, blood dripping down his face, on all four legs, crouching as if to pounce. An instinctive fury flashed in his brother's feral yellow eyes. Sensing the danger Nightwing back flipped several times. Unfortunately, Robin didn't seem to have anticipated Jason's next attack. He charged forward, taking Hood’s silence to be a sign of weakness, and in that moment Jason pounced. Before Robin really knew what was happening, Jason’s sword was sticking out of his chest.

He stood still for a moment, stunned, his sword held in mid attack. Then with a swift movement Jason lurched back, blood trailing his black sword's tip. Robin didn't make a sound. Just stumbled back a few steps before slumping to the ground. The Nobody raised his gun.

“JASON!”

Like a streak Nightwing rammed himself into Jason, the two flying several feet away. Nightwing blindly punching every part of the Nobody he could.

Sora who had been healing his arm, now ran to Robin, who was barely holding himself up with a shaky arm, blood pouring from his chest. He was gasping and blood ran from his mouth. A bad sign. A really bad sign. “Tt, n-now would be a g-great time to use some of...that healing m-magic Sora.” He choked.

“Right!” Sora said feeling dizzy. “Right, just hold still okay?”

Robin grunted, and Sora lifted up his blade, his voice shaking as he cried, “Courage!”

Robin’s wound began to close as Sora put as much power into the spell as he could. He rarely had to heal such extensive injuries. This was Donald’s expertise. He felt his magic leave him on account of the high level cure with each passing second. Robin’s gurgling breaths were becoming less laboured, more steady. Suddenly a bullet collided with the pavement inches from Robin’s foot. It broke Sora's concentration and the spell ended. It was just as well, he was out of magic. Not a drop left.

Nightwing and Jason were in a desperately fierce battle. Metal and fists moving too fast for Sora to comprehend. All he could tell was that Nightwing was at a severe disadvantage. Jason's sword was glowing such a strong shade of red that it left a trail of faded crimson light as it twisted through the air. But the acrobat was determined. He wasn't letting Jason gain any more ground then was at all possible. Sora knew however, that he had to move Robin out of there now. The kid was too weak to keep on fighting. If truth be told it was a miracle he was alive. And if one stray bullet hit either of them now...

Sora shook his head. No time for gloomy thoughts. The healing was as complete as it could get until Sora could recharge his magic, but at least Robin wasn’t in any danger on that front anymore. Carefully scooping up the boy, he scanned the area, trying to find Batman. If it hadn’t been for Jason’s heart glowing faintly, he knew he wouldn’t have been able to find him. The Bat blended into the shadows better than a Heartless. As it was, he still had difficulty. Robin cradled in his arms, he jumped up and glided over to Batman, figuring it would be quicker and smoother than running. Batman’s eyes narrowed at Sora’s approach, then widened when he saw what he was carrying. “Hey Batman! He’s fine, he just needs some rest.” He landed gently and dropped Robin behind Batman, leaning him against a wall. “I’m going to go help Nightwing!” And with that, he jumped into the fray.

Tim, meanwhile, had been rapidly conferring with Riku, Yen Sid, Mickey and Kairi in a kind of interplanetary conference call. “So you’re saying it’s possible? Because I really don’t think we can beat him.” Red Hood had been a difficult adversary before. Strong, ruthless, incredibly smart, he had been one of their greatest villains. He had calmed down more recently, probably due to him growing a new heart, but he had still been a tough fight. Now though, with him as a Nobody, with Xehanort’s heart beating in his chest, it was almost impossible. If this other way worked…

Yen Sid spoke up. “A method such as this has never before been attempted, but the theory is sound. Kairi’s experiences in Hollow Bastion together with Riku’s knowledge of the four of you during your visit may allow for this course to transpire.” Tim got the sense he was stroking his beard, even though he had never seen the man and didn’t even know if he had a beard.

He nodded. “Alright. Patch into Nightwing’s comm. and explain. I’ll distract Hood.” Hopefully he could hold him off long enough for this to work.

Swinging his bo staff, he managed to catch Jason’s sword before it could connect with Dick’s escrima sticks. “Red Robin, wha- ?” He broke off, probably listening to his comm. Jumping back, with a hand pressed to his ear, he left Red Robin to fight Red Hood.

Tim grunted under the force of Jason’s swing as he shoved the Blade off of his staff. It had gotten a severe power increase when it had stabbed into Damian. Glancing down at where the sword had struck his staff, he was dismayed to see a crack. His staff was solid titanium alloy, to crack it was almost impossible.

He looked back up just in time to see Jason leveling his gun, taking aim. Tim leapt to the side, just as Sora’s Keyblade swept up under the gun and the Nobody fired. The mysteriously glowing projectile slammed into the fifth floor of the building behind them. Sora jumped away, landing next to Red Robin.

“Together then?” He asked.

Red Robin shrugged. “Only way to survive this.” And they launched themselves at Jason.

In the corner of the lot, Batman stood, itching to fight alongside his boys but knowing that he couldn’t. Not with Jason’s heart in his hands. Quite literally. So instead, he gazed at the warm light. So bright. He’d always known that Jason had a good heart. That was a large part of the reason he had taken him in all those years ago. To see it here, bright and shining, only confirmed what he already knew. He knew he couldn’t fail Jason, not again. He went back to watching the battle. He would know if Dick or Tim needed help. If they were in danger, he would jump in, regardless of the danger to himself. He would protect all of his sons.

He watched as Red Robin took over the fight for Nightwing. His eldest flipped back, listening to his comm., then ran back towards Batman. “B, we have a plan.”

Grabbing the necessary items from Batman, Nightwing dashed back towards his brother and new friend. He tossed a set of Batcuffs each to Sora and Tim. Together, they manoeuvered Jason back, dodging him as they lured him to a lamppost. When it was directly behind the Nobody’s back, Sora used what little magic he had recharged.

“STOP!”

Jason froze, unable to move. Red Robin and Sora moved to his sides, clapping the Batcuffs onto his wrists and guiding them quickly behind the pole. They secured the cuffs to the opposite wrists, effectively trapping him there, at least for the moment.

Nightwing, in the meanwhile, was busy concentrating on all the moments he had shared with his brother, the moments he had treasured. Jumping onto a moving train. Talking on rooftops. Movie night, both at the manor and at their respective apartments. Jason’s passion in all things, the way he would take a bullet for those he saw under his protection, the ridiculous way his hair stood up after a good night’s sleep. Every big moment, every small moment, Dick remembered his brother.

Watching carefully, Tim noticed the exact moment when Jason started moving again. “Nightwing, hurry! It’s starting to wear off!” Was it just him, or was Dick glowing a bit? Another moment later, and the spell had worn off. Jason was thrashing against the lamppost. Red Robin could hear the Batcuffs straining against the force, almost ready to pop. Just as the Batcuffs snapped, just as Jason raised his arms to continue the fight, Dick opened his arms and stepped forwards.

Locked in his own mind, Jason was trying to fight his way out. His mind and heart were at war with each other, heart trying to solidify its control, head fiercely trying to remove the invader. He knew he needed a heart, but this one was wrong. He knew what his heart felt like. He had felt its rages, its passion, its longing, its hope, its loss, its joy and despair. This one only felt driven, and driven towards a goal Jason was fairly sure he wanted no part of. At the moment though, he had no choice. The heart was strong, with infinite darkness behind it. Jason believed he walked in the darkness too, but it supported this interloper more than it did Jason. He was just a dead man walking, not worth standing behind. The darkness closed in on him from all sides.

A sudden light burst into existence around Jason. It surrounded him, driving away the darkness, burning into his mind. Memories swamped him, but not his memories. Memories of him living, protecting, memories of standing, not behind, but beside, fighting with him. Joy and laughter. Anger and sadness too, but tinged with hope, hope that the wayward bird would come home once again. Suddenly, he didn’t need the darkness to support him. He had his family. He might always have one foot in the darkness, but he could still walk with his family; in the light.

Sora shielded his eyes. He hadn’t seen this, but Donald and Goofy had told him the story. If this worked, there would be a blinding flash of –

“AGH!” Tim shut his eyes against the sudden assault. As soon as Dick’s arms had closed around Jason, light had exploded around them. A whirlwind of energy erupted, spinning tendrils of light and darkness. They whirled, darkness seeming to gain the upper hand until the light rallied. The darkness faded away, vanishing into nothing. Eventually, the light vanished too, but inwards, towards the brothers rather than away. Finally, all that was left was a battered Nightwing, holding an unconscious Red Hood.

So yeah. Stabbings. Always fun!