Chapter One: Possession

The Fortress of Solitude was cold: frigid and inhospitable. How could the Man of Steel find solace in his house of glass: devoid of warmth and away from the world? Granted, Nightwing lacked super-hearing; maybe he couldn't understand what a million voices sounded like in the head of a 9 to 5 Daily Planet journalist. But maybe he didn't need to. Maybe they didn't bring him here get away from that world. With shackles and chains of blue energy still pinning him down, maybe they wanted to keep that world away from him…

Nightwing had many questions but was patient to ask. He knew Superman always had good reasons for his actions. Unless, of course, he was under the influence of some magic spell or alien technology. All signs pointed towards his sanity, so Nightwing trusted him as always. The more Superman and Saint Walker pestered him with questions, the more his curiosity piqued for answers.

"How did you get it?" Superman asked as he held Nightwing's orange power ring to his face.

"I didn't get it, it came to me." replied Nightwing.

"You don't say?" Superman said sarcastically, knowing full well how most lantern rings work.

"Excuse me, Superman." said Walker. "The orange ring doesn't function like the others. It doesn't seek those who embody greed particularly. It-'"

"Greed?!" shouted Nightwing in disbelief.

"Yes, Mr. Grayson. Greed." said Walker.

What the hell?! Dick thought he was one of, if not the, most genuine people in the universe. He always gave himself, made sacrifices, for the good of others. Thinking for himself only once couldn't possibly be enough to attract the attention of one of the universe's most powerful weapons. Could it?!

"In your fight with Bruce," Superman said, beginning to think critically. "What were you fighting about? What were you saying? What were you feeling?"

"Well, he wanted me to stay "dead"." said Nightwing. "He wanted me go undercover; be a mole inside Spyral. He says they're building a database with all our identities."

"And you refused, Why?"

"Because I'm not Robin anymore. He can't, or shouldn't, expect me to "bend the knee" just because he's Batman. I died, Clark. The last thing I want to do with this second chance at life is to go back in time."

Nightwing's last sentiment caught Walker's attention. He could feel a spark of greedy energy radiating between that orange ring and it's bearer. Although intrigued, he remained silent.

"What if Oliver Queen asked you to do the same?" Superman proposed. "Would you refuse as well?"

"Absolutely," Nightwing answered sternly. "I'm not Speedy and neither is Roy."

"Arsenal has his own demons," Superman rebutted "I'd expect this sort of thing from him, but not from you."

"Ugh here we go again," Nightwing groaned. "It's like I'm locked up in Arkham for once in my life thinking for myself."

He was becoming visibly agitated. First Batman, now Superman was giving him the business. Under normal circumstances, the two iconic heroes contrasted each other. Whenever Batman's "doom and gloom" demeanor brought Nightwing down, Superman's optimism always brought him back up. Since Dick became Nightwing, Superman always felt more like a colleague than Batman, who still at times felt like his boss. The fact the two of them echoed each other on this frustrated Nightwing. And frustration was not what he wanted.

"Excuse me, Superman," Walker butted in. "If I may…"

"Absolutely." Superman said as he walked further into the fortress, scavenging his archives like a mad scientist.

Saint Walker studied Nightwing like a doctoral student in their residency. He checked a few vital signs, felt his temperature, all the standard tests for a medical examination. Nightwing may have passed out while flying, but he felt fine now. He wondered what the Blue Lantern could possibly be looking for.

"As I was saying, Mr. Grayson," continued Walker, "the orange ring is parasitic. It doesn't seek a bearer who embodies greed, but more or less one that it could easily turn. Of course, Larfleeze wasn't a saint when it chose him, far from it actually. But you…your case is quite strange."

"Why?" asked Dick, confused. "You said it yourself. I don't need to be filled with greed to be selected…because quite frankly, I'm not."

"Not in the material sense." replied Walker, "But other forms of greed plague you; your wants, dreams, and desires specifically. You feel as if the life you lead has robbed you of them, and your lust for them grew stronger in your fight with Batman. At the same time, you embody hope, so much hope that you almost qualify for a blue ring.But these burdens you bear seem to hold you back in all aspects of life. Now, I'm afraid, the orange ring could be pulling you."

"I doubt it." said Dick. "I mean, not for nothing, but I've never felt so powerful, so in control, in my whole life. If anything, being an orange lantern seems to be moving me forward."

"We're banking on it."

All three men turned to the voice that remark came from. Superman's face remained stoic while Walkers soured.

"Well, at least I am." said Guy Gardner. His jacket glowed with a scarlet hue.