Nothing to Fear

He dropped into an offensive crouch, Keyblade at the ready. He felt more than saw Riku and Kairi taking similar stances. Already, he was going through their attack patterns. They keep high in the air, diving really fast claws-first. Stay down a moment, get their bearings, then fly up again. Not a lot of time to attack, but it was an easy enough pattern to follow. Plus, if he needed to, he could just jump up and attack them when they weren't expecting it.

He was preparing for the dive when the Heartless landed, far out of reach of any attacks. Surprised, he relaxed his stance a bit, standing slightly and releasing his Keyblade with one hand. He was pretty sure he was seeing things when Jason started walking towards the things, hand extended.

Holding his hand out, the Heartless bent its head to sniff at it. Jason's eyes glowed brighter as he spoke. His voice layered, as if there was two of him speaking. "You will listen to me. You will fly myself and these others to the other side of the river. You will not attack us." The bat Heartless' eyes glowed briefly in unison. Jason gave off a satisfied smirk and turned back to the group's surprised faces. "Alright. We can get going now."

Sora took in the dark lines, the yellow eyes, the layered voice, the Heartless, and summed up his thoughts succinctly and eloquently. "Huh?"

"Um, Hood?" Kairi ventured, probably expanding on Sora's thoughts. "What do you mean?" Definitely expanding.

His face twisted in pain briefly before answering. "Yeah, I can't actually hold them for long. I'll explain on the comm.s on the way over." One of the Myotises twisted its shoulder closer to the ground so Jason could climb on. "Let's go people, two per bat."

Dick spent all of a second considering, then shrugged and climbed up behind his brother. Riku followed, claiming one bat for himself. Sora and Kairi climbed on the last one, settling between the head and the wings. Sora kept an eye on his Heartless. If it made a move towards attacking them, he could probably get a hit in first. As long as they were high enough and close enough, he could glide to the other shore. He might even be able to carry Kairi. Riku could take either Dick or Jason, but the other would be left to fall to the water. He really hoped Jason knew what he was doing.

The bats lifted their wings. Dropping their wings, they created a windstorm that made Aeroga seem like still air. The Heartless and their passengers shot high into the air, level with a few of the shorter skyscrapers in Gotham.

Once the Heartless had leveled out their flight, Jason's voice came across the comms. "About the Heartless…"

Sora interrupted. "Yeah! How did you get them to listen to you? Why are your eyes yellow? Will they attack us while we're in midair? If they loop upside down, will we get a warning? Will other Heartless attack us while we're up here?" He could have kept going, but Kairi smacked his shoulder lightly. He glanced back at her peeved expression and gave a quick, embarrassed smile.

"As I was saying," Jason's voice was still doubled, so it seemed like he was twice as annoyed at Sora. "I was talking to my darkness and it said I could do this. These Heartless see me as a stronger Heartless right now. And since Heartless are mostly instinct, and it's pretty suicidal to intentionally piss off a stronger being, they're listening to me for now. But I can't hold this for long. It takes a lot of concentration and kind of hurts a bit, so I would appreciate not being distracted." That last comment was clearly directed at Sora. And probably Dick, who was trying to engage Jason in a game of Stella Ela Ola.

To everyone's great relief, they made it across the river with no problems. The creatures soared further upwards, towards the city, stretching their great wings for lift as darkness trailed behind the group. They flew through the sky and then steadily began to dip down as the Heartless lowered slowly to the ground. Sora saw Jason stiffen suddenly. The wind was too loud for him to pick up the sudden gasp Red Hood made, but Dick heard it and poked his head around his brother's shoulder.

"Uh, Hood, you oka-"

Suddenly their Heartless bucked in mid-air, causing Dick to grab onto his brother's shoulders to avoid being thrown off. As suddenly as it started, it stopped. The creature was once again making a slow decent towards the ground, but Nightwing's heart was hammering a thousand beats a second.

"Not... good." Jason growled.

Dick decided it was best to stay quiet, just as Sora's and Kairi's Heartless gave a sudden sharp turn to the left. Kairi screamed as she slipped from the creature's back as it turned its body sideways, but Sora quickly reached out a hand and caught her wrist at the last second. With some difficulty he pulled her back up as the Heartless settled down and adjusted into the former flight path.

"Hood!" Sora yelled over the howl of the wind. "What gives?!"

Riku also wanted to know what was going on. He had a suspicion that Jason was losing control of the creatures, and clutched the back of his steed tightly to avoid splatting on the hills below.

Jason's whole body was stiff, and his head was bowed in concentration. "We need...to jump."

"What!?" Kairi gasped looking at the good 50 foot drop below. "Are you crazy Red Hood?! We would die!"

As she spoke, her and Sora's Heartless gave another wild buck that made their hearts rise to their throats.

Jason gasped, froze, and then looked back at his friends stiffly. "Gonna… make them dive... Jump off at the last second. Then... fight."

Before anyone could ask for further explanation, the three Myotises lurched forward, and dived. Wind screamed around them and tore at their clothes. They clutched the Heartless as the ground surged forward to meet them. Sora braced himself, and at the last second grabbed Kairi's hand. He pushed off the Heartless's back as best he could, and the two of them went flying through the air, Sora letting go of Kairi's wrist in the process. He had tried to hit the ground in a roll, letting the momentum bring him forward instead of harming him. But they had been moving at such a speed that as soon as he hit the ground he was slammed forward with so much force that he rolled along the grassy earth several times before he came to a stop, unable to breathe from the impact. He laid there for several seconds, blinking stupidly as he stared up into the sky. Then he saw the black shapes of the Heartless circling around above him, preparing to once again dive at their temporary riders. Taking in a small breath, Sora managed to push himself up into a sitting position before breathing in blessed gulps of air. He looked around for his friends, and saw a flash of white. Kairi was a few yards away from him, but sitting up groggily. Before he could spot anyone else, a terrible screech tore his eyes upwards once again to see the three bats diving down, furious.

Instantly he stumbled to hit feet, and summoned his blade in a rush of shimmering light. A gleam to his left told him Kairi was doing the same. Before they could do anything however, one of the bats was upon him. It fluttered down, razor claws bared and mouth snapping as Sora slashed his Keyblade warningly. In an instant Kairi was at his side, and they thought the creature was going to back off. But the next moment, it dropped forward once again, its claw lunging towards Sora's blade. He jumped aside to avoid its grasp, and immediately regretted it. Kairi was now open to attack. But she didn't seem to mind. With a fluid grace, she ducked the monster's other razor claw and twirled forward, bringing her Keyblade up to make a sizable gash along the monster's back. Apparently that wasn't enough to vaporize it, because with a rush of wings the Heartless had turned its back on Sora and was now snapping pointed teeth at Kairi. She jumped back, and Sora saw his opportunity. He ran forward, and thrust his Keyblade into the creature's back. It jerked and turned around to face him, before vanishing into millions of fading beads of darkness.

Kairi laughed in a slight moment of victorious joy and smiled at Sora who returned it with a huge grin of his own. But the next second, Kairi's expression turned to fear as she raised a hand.

"Sora look out!" She cried.

Something hard crashed into him, and in a moment of complete shock, Sora was thrown high into the air before crashing back to earth in a daze. What had just happened? The world seemed far off and fuzzy as spots danced in front of his eyes. And for the second time in five minutes he couldn't breathe. But in moments his vision was clearing, and he was pushing himself shakily off the ground. A Heartless was flying straight towards him. Its yellow eyes were angry and its claws extended. Suddenly, Sora realized the Kingdom Key was no longer in his hand, and felt panic surge through his veins as he willed his weapon back to him. It wouldn't materialize fast enough! The creature was practically on him when something small streaked though the air and hit the creature's head hard, causing it to snap to the side. Whatever happened, it had worked. The Myotis stumbled slightly to the side, and Sora was able to roll out of its way in an act of pure instinct. The creature was not pleased. It swooped in a semi-circle, letting out a blood curdling kind of howl. Sora, still dazed, but now with his Keyblade, prepared to fight. But the next instant, someone streaked past him and plunged their weapon straight into the monsters exposed chin. With a roar of pain, it dissipated into thin air. Sora blinked. "Kairi?"

She turned around a bit shakily. "Y-you all right?"

He nodded a bit dazed. "...Yeah. And you?"

"Oh, you know, just fighting huge bat monsters who want to eat me. Nothing too crazy."

The two were silent for a second, then burst out laughing in one of those weird moments right after something traumatic happens. They both felt giddy with their own success.

"Hey!" Nightwing called. "You guys all right?" He was jogging up to them, one hand clutching an escrima stick white the other held three batarangs.

"We're good Nightwing." Sora said, stepping forward with Kairi to meet up with him.

"Sora took a pretty hard hit." Kairi piped up.

"Yeah." Nightwing said, nodding slowly. "I saw that. And you almost took another one. You sure you're okay?"

"Fine." Sora assured. "How's everyone else?"

Nightwing looked behind his shoulder. "Hood was fine. He took care of the other Heartless. And Riku is passed out over there in the grass. I saw his Heartless twist while he was jumping off. I was gonna check on him, but I needed to make sure the Heartless bothering you guys were gone before anything else."

Looking around for his friend, Sora saw him lying in the grass about 30 feet away, with Jason crouched down beside him. The three jogged over to the two, and leaned over Riku. Sora reached out a hand and shook his friend lightly. To his great relief, Riku snapped open his eyes and then bolted upright, causing those around him to jump back. He took one glance around before spotting Jason, and grabbing the hero's shirt.

"You tried to kill us!" he moaned, albeit jokingly, before releasing his grip and letting himself drop back onto the grassy soil. With a sigh, Sora did the same, and before long, everyone was collapsing down on their backs, looking up at that huge glowing moon and then over at the ominous city, which was very close now. It seemed to emanate evil.

"Guys." Jason said at last. "We're crazy."

"Yup." They all said in unison.

It was good to enjoy the peace while it lasted.

It was briefly interrupted by a few Heartless popping up, but a few bullets, a batarang and a well-placed Fire spell – all without standing up – put them back down again. As signs go, this one pretty clearly said "Get moving, before something worse shows up." So, after another moment of relaxing, the quintet stood up, stretching out their sore muscles.

Sora tilted his head to the side, working out a kink. "So Nightwing, Hood, where do you think the Keyhole is? It's normally somewhere very important to the world." He flexed his fingers, making a small contented noise when they all cracked into place at once.

"Hmmm…" Dick rotated his shoulder, then bent backwards further than any human should be able to. "Probably Wayne Tower. It's the center of all the transit lines, plus most of the jobs in the city are connected to it somehow."

Dropping his ankle from where he had been holding it to stretch his quads, Jason smirked. "Let's get going then." He pulled on his helmet and set off.

Riku, in the middle of realigning his spine, muttered something about impatience. Kairi laughed. "At least we don't have to wait for them." Turning back, she waved at Sora, who was trying to catch up after sitting to stretch his legs and back. "Hurry up slowpoke!"

Riku smiled as Sora ran towards them. Dick and Jason were still walking, but Riku and Kairi stuck around to wait. When he caught up, they all walked forward together.

Right into a cloud of gas.

Riku inhaled in surprise. The gas filled his lungs quickly and his vision blurred. Dimly, he felt Kairi fall to the ground, crying. Sora whipped out his Keyblade a moment later, attacking an unseen enemy. The two Gothamites in front of him gave out shouts of surprise. The last thing Riku heard before his vision went black was fighting.

He opened his eyes to darkness. Carefully standing up, he whirled in circles, looking for a way out. The sound of metal on metal caught his attention. Behind him, a cloaked figure was fighting Sora and Kairi. And winning. Kairi was breathing hard and holding her shoulder. And based on the way Sora flinched when he landed after a combo, his left knee was injured. Riku tried to run towards them, trying to help, but he couldn't move.

The figure danced its way around his friends. Kairi fell first, a sharp jab to her stomach sending her flying. Then Sora was kicked to the ground. The figure raised its blade, point aiming straight for his heart. Riku cried out in distress, trying to reach him in time –

– but his view shifted. His vision was obscured by a very familiar hood, his hands encased in gloves. He felt a smile stretch across his face as his Keyblade – not Way to Dawn, Soul Eater – plunged into Sora's chest. Sora didn't make a sound. His face contorted into an expression of extreme pain, absolute betrayal, before vanishing into darkness.

Unable to stop himself, Riku pulled off the cloak. A brief glance down out of his peripherals didn't show him his usual jeans-and-a-shirt outfit. He was wearing a white waist coat under a longer black jacket. Something he hadn't worn since he had looked like Ansem.

With a growing sense of dread, he stalked towards Kairi. She was shaking in fear and he felt a stirring of joy in him at the sight. Finally, these interfering Light Warriors would get their reward. His white-gloved hand raised Soul Eater one more time and slashed his friend across the chest. The look of betrayal in her eyes mirrored Sora's as she slowly faded away.

And Riku laughed, even as he cried.

I'm sorry. I failed you. I fell to the darkness.

Kairi opened her eyes, surprised to find herself in The World That Never Was again. Just ahead of her, she could hear the sound of fighting, one she was familiar with. Sora's exuberant battle cries along with Riku's more subdued exclamations. She smiled and summoned Destiny's Embrace, determined to help.

She turned a corner and almost tripped on the Neo Shadow right in front of her. She grinned and slashed down on it. She jumped through the resulting cloud of darkness and fought towards her friends.

Once she reached them, she fought by their side, just as she'd dreamed. They fought in harmony, one attack leaving the perfect opening for another. Covering one so that the other could lash out. Heartless dropped faster than they had ever before.

Then something changed. The Heartless kept coming, and their pattern fell out of alignment. Suddenly, Kairi wasn't keeping up. More and more, Sora and Riku had to cover her, sacrificing perfect openings to prevent a claw piercing her chest. She felt fine. She felt like she was at her prime. But it wasn't enough.

A crashing sound would have drawn their attention, if they hadn't been so focused on the fight. As it was, Kairi didn't notice the two Organization members not-so-subtly creeping up behind them. She didn't notice the weaponry pulling back. She didn't notice them plunging towards her, intent on impaling her from behind. But her friends did.

There was a noise, like a rock splitting a coconut, and the world froze. Kairi turned, only to see Sora and Riku standing in front of her, Sora with an Ethereal Blade in his chest, Riku with purple arrows in his. The world shattered and she screamed.

I'm sorry. I was a burden to you. It's my fault you're gone.

Sora sat up and stretched. A sleepy smile lit across his face as he gazed over the familiar water. Intent on going back to his nap, he lay back down.

And shot up not a moment later when he saw the sky. There were dark clouds stretching from horizon to horizon and the wind whipped the trees. He knew this. He had seen this. He had to find his friends.

He raced towards the bridge, going to the Paopu Tree. That had been where he had found Riku the first time, why wouldn't he be in the same place now? Luckily, both of them were there. Unluckily, they were both unconscious, and there was a Darkside stretching its claws towards them. Suddenly furious, Sora raced forward and swatted the claw away with his Kingdom Key. He would protect his friends. This Darkside wouldn't know what hit it.

He attacked with everything he had. Every Firaga, every Ragnarok, every combo he knew. The Darkside didn't feel any of it. The claw continued creeping towards his friends. Desperately, he attacked, but the claw didn't deviate from its course. With a horrible slowness, the Darkside impaled his friends, and their forms shuddered into darkness.

Sora was still for a moment, unbelieving. Then reality crashed down on him and he sank to his knees, screaming.

I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't protect you.

AN: ...

...

Well then.

I love this chapter. Especially the last bit.

Read and enjoy!