Master Plans and Monologues

They ducked through the opening, tensed and prepared for sneak attacks and traps. The next room over was dark (not that any of the Bats would have difficulty with this). The only source of light was coming from the skylight, a single beam reaching down towards Xehanort, standing in the exact center of the room.

"Finally, we have come to the hour of my victory!"Xehanort's hands moved dramatically, his voice echoing in the empty chamber. "You have arrived, my thirteenth darkness, my final vessel. The last Nobody." His face stretched into a mad smile, and he stared.

Directly at Red Hood.

Hood in response grabbed his gun out of its holster and pointed it directly at Xehanort. At the mad man's words, something inside him shuddered. "What the hell are you talking about?"

He looked over at Batman and Nightwing, whose faces resembled equal amounts of confusion, then he caught a glimpse of Sora. The boy was shocked, frozen in place and staring at Xehanort like the man had just said something horrible. Slowly, Sora's grip on his Keyblade tightened and he took a step forward staring at Xehanort with a fierce intensity. "There's no way," he said quietly, then louder, "There's no way you're making Red Hood into another one of your puppets."

This statement seemed to break the villain from his gleeful trance and he stared right back at the young hero. "Puppet?" he asked in that gritty evil voice. "But my dear boy, haven't you realized by now that it is natural for everyone to have darkness in their hearts? This young man will make the decision to join me of his own accord. All he needs is a small push in the right direction."

Red Hood seemed to be somewhat catching on, and took a few steps forward to stand at the side of Sora. "I might not see eye to eye with all the goody two shoes superheroes out there, but there is no way I would ever reduce myself to the likes of scum like you. These Heartless you release, they are killing innocent people. If you think I would ever be a part of that you are dead wrong. It's sick!"

Sora gave a quick nod, and with a subtle flap of fabric and a slight breeze, both Nightwing and Batman were standing there too, silently supporting him. Hood was inexplicably touched by the action, but quickly blinked and looked back at his enemy. His trigger finger tightened slightly.

Xehanort began to laugh quietly. He put his hands behind his back and shook his head slowly. "You are fighting a losing battle my friend." he said to the room at large. "You are only trying to cover up your true nature... but if you won't join me that easily, then..."

The tension in the room spiked, and Sora held his breath involuntary. Batman clenched his fists and glared at the man, frowning deeply as he did so. Xehanort disturbed him, possibly as much as some of the villains in Gotham. Even Nightwing was still, suppressing the urge to jump nervously on the balls of his feet. Jason was clenching his teeth. Who was this man that he thought he knew so much about him? The silence stretched on.

Ever so slowly, more laughter vibrated softly around the room. But this sound was different then the humourless sound they had just heard from Xehanort moments ago. This was authentic, new, scary. Sora felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and swallowed hard. He looked around at his companions. Even under the cowl, the Batman's face had twisted into something dark and inhuman. Nightwing had turned pale and was staring around the room with wide eyes. It was Red Hood however, that caught Sora's attention immediately. His entire body went stiff, his teeth were clenched, and he seemed to be breathing harder than before. He was trembling, and Sora realized that is wasn't because of fear, but pure rage.

Xehanort flashed Red Hood a vicious grin. "I think you will come around to my way of thinking. It shouldn't take long."

Batman was the first to move, his hand drawing a batarang and already taking a step forward.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

A third voice, deeper and more gravely then the rest. Batman's eyes were reduced to slits and he once again froze, analyzing a quickly deteriorating situation.

"Oh no, not him too." Nightwing breathed from beside Sora.

Stepping out from the shadows draping the back of the room in darkness, Joker and Two Face emerged, surrounded by a wave of Megashadows.

Sora leaned over to Nightwing. "Who are they?" he whispered.

His eyes never leaving the villains in front of them, he replied "Joker and Two Face. A couple of our regular villains."

"Well, well. All of my favourite people, right here in front of me!" The Joker's voice caused Sora to shudder involuntarily. Somehow, he didn't think being a 'favourite' of this guy was a good thing. The clown's eyes flicked to Sora once, briefly, then focused back on Batman and Red Hood. "And one extra, but I think I can let you two bozos take care of him."

Two Face flipped a coin into the air, catching it on his palm and slapping it onto the back of his other hand. A quick glance and, "Sorry. Looks like I'm out of this fight."

"Aw, come on now Harv, best two out of three."

He mulled over the idea. He did like twos. Flipping the coin again and again, the undamaged portion of his face stretched into a smile almost as wide as Joker's. "Looks like I'm in after all." He stored his coin, pulling out two pistols, firing at Batman the moment he had a shot.

Batman had already moved, swirling in close to the former-D.A., his fist catching him on the good half of his face. The moment he had moved however, the room started filling with Heartless. No Nobodies this time, for whatever reason. These were Emblem Heartless. The patterns were different from the Pureblood Heartless the Bats had been facing so far, but Sora knew them. Keyblade in hand, he started swinging.

Jason tried to go after Joker, but Nightwing held him back. He started fighting, mind beyond reason as he lunged towards the man who had killed him. Dick had to grab both of his arms, leaning his head close to his brother's ear, "Hood, listen to me! Hood! Jay! Jay, you can't go after the Joker. Just let me take care of him. I promise, he won't hurt you again. Jay!" Eventually, Dick's whisperings calmed him down. He could tell that Jay was still angry, but not in a way that could send him off the deep end. He looked past the domino masks adorning both of their eyes and an understanding passed between them.

Nightwing nodded, then released Hood and flipped into the Joker's path. The clown had been racing off to the side, probably to set a bomb or sneak attack them or something, but suddenly lurched back as Nightwing caught him in a roundhouse kick. This was one enemy he didn't feel like holding back on. He wouldn't kill the madman, but a broken bone or two wouldn't be too bad.

Jason was watching Sora fight while he was trying to calm down, and noted that Xehanort was just standing there, watching him. It would probably be a bad idea to fight him up close. Clearly, the villain had a plan and Jason fit in there somehow, despite having never met the guy before. So he darted towards Sora, pulling him out of the way of a fatass Heartless wearing a purple shirt. He shot the thing in the back, smiling slightly as it dissolved. "I got this. Can you take care of baldie over there?"

The kid gave him the most indignant look. "Of course I can!"

"Then get gone!" Shoving him with one hand, Jason shot at a flying yellow thing that shot lightning, knocking off its hat with the first shot, the second one going between its eyes.

Sora cautiously approached Xehanort. The villain, his enemy since the beginning of all of this, hadn't interfered in the fight yet, preferring to watch the chaos. Or maybe he was just watching Red Hood. Glancing back at his friend (currently leaping over a Large Body so he could reach an Air Soldier with his All Blade), he felt a rare surge of anger. Xehanort, this terrible excuse for a person, had caused so much pain and sadness to his friends. Riku, Kairi, even the ones he hadn't met yet, but that Mickey had told him about, Terra, Aqua, and Ven. And now he wanted to add Red Hood to the list. Red Hood, who acted like he didn't care but had gotten himself stabbed multiple times to protect Sora. Who had the worst mouth but toned it down when Batman asked him too. Tough, brave, and kind. Sora refused to let Xehanort hurt him.

"Your fight is with me!" He growled, holding his Keyblade before him.

The man's gaze came back to rest on Sora. He sighed, shaking his head, but other than that, ignoring Sora as if he were little more than a slight irritation.

"Why do you always feel the need to get in my way?" he questioned. "You know your power could never compare to mine, not when I am once again whole. But yet you are here, blindly challenging a master who could destroy you."

As Xehanort ranted, dark waves began to slither up from the ground, slowly encircling him. Sora leapt forward and swung down with his blade, which clashed against Xehanort's own darkness-covered Key. He was thrown back by the force of the parry, but caught his feet quickly and launched himself back at the man, righteous anger guiding him. Xehanort too ran forward, and once again their Keyblades met with a shower of black and white sparks. Sora spun to the left, landed and turned to stop his opponent's weapon by inches. He griped his Key with both hands now, putting his body into pushing his weapon against Xehanort's blade which was now coming at him in multiple furious strikes. Feeling his feet begin to slip, Sora ducked the next swing, and swept his Keyblade in a low arc trying to knock the man off his feet. Xehanort merely stepped on Sora's Keyblade while swinging his own at the boy's face. Letting go of his weapon and falling back, Sora could feel the air following the strike as he summoned his blade back into his hand. He flipped back luckily avoiding another blow.

Xehanort sent Sora a chilling gaze while the younger panted, regaining his breath. How could an old man such as Xehanort have so much stamina? Chancing a glance around, Sora saw Nightwing flip past him, the clown following in close pursuit, knife in hand. He didn't see Batman or Red Hood however. Instead his attention snapped back to Xehanort who was striding menacingly forward. Sora raised his Keyblade.

"Fire!"

Balls of flame shot forward, and were met with shards of ice and snow from his opponent. The two continued to shoot spells, every once in a while trying to get a lucky hit in with their blades. They were circling each other, jumping this way and that, trying to best the other. Sora found that though he was much smaller than Xehanort, he was also faster. He focused less on strength and more on the timing and precision of his attacks. Xehanort was the first to get a hit, striking Sora's left shoulder. He stumbled back, but didn't miss a beat, sidestepping the next attack and rolling to position himself behind the man. He jumped up, slicing with his Keyblade, and he was so close to hitting the man. But his attack missed as Xehanort leapt heavily back. Sora wasn't going to give him time to regroup however. He sprinted forward, striking at the man again and again. It was draining work, but finally Sora saw an opening and instinctively took it. He thrust the tip of the Kingdom Key forward, feeling exhilaration rush through him as the blade made contact with Xehanort's right side. The man grunted in pain and took another retreating step back. Sora took one forward. He could do this! He could defeat Xehanort... well maybe not defeat him, but hold him off until the others were free to help. He attacked again and again. He was panting with the effort, but refused to give his enemy any sign of weakness. Xehanort's blade flew by his left ear, and he jerked to his right, then jumped, his Key already beginning to summon the magic.

"Lightning!"

Because he put up his blade to counter, Sora got a second to look at Xehanort's face closely. He was starting to get tired! Though it was nothing to his own exhaustion it was a start! Thrilled Sora leapt forward for what had to be the hundredth time. Xehanort raised his free hand to grab Sora but the boy was ready. He kicked himself off of the man's chest before he could grab his throat. Both went stumbling backwards, again giving Sora a much needed chance to catch his breath. This time however, Xehanort needed the reprieve as well. His face was a mask of anger.

"It seems you have learned much in your years of traveling." He said. "Your skills have improved a great deal. You know how to play your advantages."

Sora's blue eyes were fixed on the merciless yellow ones in front of him. He was ready for whatever move the man would make.

Suddenly that evil scowl turned into a smile. "However, I know how to play my advantages much better then you, my young hero."

He was lifting his blade, Sora was preparing for what was sure to be a powerfully dangerous attack. The man pointed his Keyblade to a place behind Sora and shot a beam of pure darkness from its tip. Sora was moving before he could even comprehend the danger. The attack was heading for Red Hood, who was completely unaware of the threat. But could he make it? Sora gathered himself and shot forward in front of the attack. He tried to lift the Keyblade but it was too late. He felt the full impact the beam smash into him, and flew back into an unsuspecting Jason. The two smashed into the floor, sliding to a halt a few feet from one another.

It took Hood a moment to realize what was going on, but as the scene unfolded in front of him, he scrambled to his feet and ran over to the young boy lying on the ground.

"Sora!"

He shook his friend frantically, and Sora's eyes fluttered open.

"N-not fun," he moaned.

Jason watched helplessly as the kid passed out. After taking a hit like that though, he really couldn't blame him. His masked eyes swept the room. Almost all of the Heartless were gone, but two squeezes of the trigger took care of those few remaining. He grabbed Sora and jumped out of the way as Xehanort's Keyblade crashed down on the spot the two had occupied a moment before.

He set Sora down just outside the room. A quick peek through the hole in the wall showed Robin and Red Robin laying on the floor, totally exhausted, but with the room clear of all creatures. After making sure their injuries weren't too bad (Red Robin had a scratch on his chest but it was already clotting. Robin didn't look injured), he turned back to face the cause of all of this.

Sure, Jason was tired from fighting three different hordes of Heartless in less than a day. Sure, he had nearly exhausted his bullets and a Heartless wearing a turban (seriously?) had slashed his second favourite rocket launcher in half. And sure, maybe he had twisted his ankle a little in that last cartwheel. But with how much anger he had at this man, Red Hood knew he could take him down, no problem.

Launching himself, All Blades flashing, he came in low. As the geezer swung his blade down to block, Jason stabbed one of the Blades into the ground, changing his trajectory enough to deliver a nasty gash on baldie's leg. Xehanort merely gritted his teeth, and grabbed Hood's wrist with his free hand, holding the All Blade in his leg, but also preventing Hood from dodging the next blow. The Keyblade swung upwards and Hood twisted his neck, just barely moving his head out of the way as the Keyblade sliced through his cheekbone. A dead feeling started traveling up his arm. With a shock, he realized that the wrist Xehanort was holding was freezing, and the ice was spreading. Faster than most people believed possible, his other Blade came up and stabbed Xehanort through the forearm. The old man cried out, releasing his grip. Red Hood jumped back a few paces.

Baldie would take a moment recovering from both of his wounds. Both were deep and (Jason knew from experience) painful. Taking a moment, he gazed around the room, noting Batman still in combat with Two Face (who looked like Three Face with how his jaw was turning purple) and Nightwing chasing after Joker, who was laughing like it was a simple game of Chase Me. He turned his eyes back to Xehanort –

– who was covered in green light, his wounds closing up as Jason watched. Seriously, this guy knew healing magic too? Fuuuuu…

He burned with rage, but he had learned to control it. To work past the rage so he could still fight without losing control. He stood back this time, letting the villain come to him. As geezer-face sped towards him, Hood jumped and flipped over his bald head. Landing behind the villain, Hood jabbed one of the All Blades into his shoulder, the other into the back of his knee. The old man turned, slower now that his knee was ruined. Hood rained down a flurry of blows on his enemy, not giving him any time to cast another spell. Baldie held his Keyblade up, blocking as best he could, but with a gaping hole in his shoulder, his blocks were getting weaker and weaker. Finally, Hood smacked the Keyblade away. In a split second, he considered just running the old man through his twisted excuse for a heart. With a snarl, Jason instead smacked him on the head with the hilts of his swords, dropping the old man where he stood.

He stood back, assessing the damage. Massive scratch on his cheek, not bad. Seemed like Sora had been right about the stress thing though. Both of his shoulders were bleeding, as was his side. The more dangerous injury on his sternum seemed fine though. He looked across the battlefield and was rewarded with Batman and Nightwing tying up Two Face and the Joker. Was the Joker's leg broken? That angle didn't seem natural. They both looked over to him and he smiled at them. Nightwing smiled back and Batman scowled less deeply. A rustle by the hole in the wall drew Jason's gaze. Sora stood there, looking dazed, but awake and smiling. A half second later, all of their smiling expressions turned to alarm and horror. Jason turned just in time to see Xehanort, who should have been unconscious for another half a day, rushing towards him, Keyblade pointed –

– nope. Plunging. Keyblade plunging straight through Jason's heart.

AN: Well, that's unfortunate. It's at this point that I should probably confess: both Arrow and myself love making our characters suffer. Particularly Jason. It's just a lot of fun. We're horrible, we know.

Anyways, another day, another chapter. As always, read and enjoy you readers. Seriously, have a great day. Hopefully, a better day than Jason is having right now.