Robin was a bit nervous as he walked through the Yellow Lantern camp. It was nerve wracking. He thought it might be better if Orion and Clark were near him, but he knew he would feel better if he was with Bruce. He could read Bruce. He could anticipate him.

At least, he used to be. Now, Bruce came with a new array of powers and possibly some new attitude. He was rather frightened to think about what happened to one of the only people he still trusted to make him act the way he did towards Aquaman, but then he scolded himself.

They fed off of fear. He wouldn't let them win.

The Yellow Lantern that was guiding them to Bruce's tent, Arkillo, stopped, and then pointed to a small building that Sinestro was in front of. Robin nodded at the large alien, and walked over to Sinestro with Clark and Orion behind him. Sinestro smirked as the young man approached.

"Robin, Superman, Orion. Nice of you to show up."

Clark growled. "Just let us see him, Sinestro."

The Yellow Lantern smiled at the Kryptonian. "Ah, ah, ah, I don't think so. The Bird is the only one allowed in."

Clark glared, and his heat vision started to show itself. "Sinestro, if you don't let us in now, I will..."

"Superman, stop!"

The large man stopped, and looked to the youngest of the group. Robin looked genuinely concerned. He sighed, and Robin gave him a look.

"I'll be fine. Just wait out here, ok?"

Clark grunted, and Orion just glared at Sinestro. The fear leader just opened the tent door, and Robin walked in.

It was dark. He was almost sure that nothing was in here, and was suddenly reminded of a trap. He decided to be ready to defend himself, but quietly called for his mentor.

"Hey, uh, Batman? You in here?"

"Robin."

The young bat started to turn towards the voice, and found a pair of yellow eyes staring at him. That surprised him, but then he started to giggle nervously, and slowly let his guard down.

"Very funny, Bruce. Now could we, uh, have some light in here?"

The eyes narrowed. "No...There's something that I need to tell you."

Robin didn't like the sound of this. He slowly sat down, and looked up at his mentor. "Ok, I'm all ears, Bats."

The eyes moved up, and then turned away from him to look at the tent wall. Robin heard a sigh. "I don't want you here. Things are about to get dangerous. I cannot afford for you to get hurt. I want you to get out of here. Leave."

Well that was...unexpected. Robin scratched the back of his head in surprise. "Uh, Bruce? Don't you think if someone could get hurt, then I should stay? I mean, it's kinda counterproductive if you're a hero that doesn't save people."

He heard a snarl, and it scared him a bit. "This isn't a game, Robin! I will not have you hurt! You are to get out of here!"

"Batman, what is so frightening that you want me to leave!?" Robin usually didn't argue with his mentor, but at the moment he was just being dramatic and ridiculous. "You're the one who always runs into life and death situations for me, so why can't I do this for you?!"

"This isn't life or death." The yellow eyes now glared at Richard. "This is something much worse that I will not have you be a part of!"

The bird stood up. "Why don't you tell me what's going on?!"

That's when he felt something pick him up by his arms. The being in front of him hissed. "I will not argue ABOUT THIS!"

That's when something flashed before him. It was an image. The same image that had haunted him for years.

His parents falling off the trapeze.

Suddenly, he was pushed back into reality as he fell to the ground. He started to panic as the figure that was in front of him stepped back in fear.

"Bruce, what the hell was that?!"

The being started to mutter. "It...It's getting worse. I can't... I didn't...but...I thought I could control...It's getting to me..."

That's when Robin decided he had enough of whatever weird thing his mentor was doing.

"Damn it, Bruce! Show yourself!"

"..."

Robin started to glare at him. "Do it, or I will go get Clark right now! Come on, trust me a little!"

It was silent for a moment, and then the eyes narrowed. "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."

There was suddenly a slight glow to the small room, and what Robin saw was a shock.

There was Bruce, without the suit...

...or, at least, he thought so.

There was a yellow glow in his mentor's normally cobalt blue eyes. His canine teeth were noticeably sharper, and his skin was paler. He seemed to be wearing the bat suit, but there, on the top, was a large yellow bat with a Sinestro Corps sign in the middle. However, despite all of this, the crowning glory of his new look were the large bat wings that looked too real for Dick's liking.

"Are those...uh..."

"Yes."

"...Oh..."

He just continued to stare, and then nervously laughed. "So, what? Is his big plan to turn you into a vampire. I don't really see what that's going to accomplish."

Bruce glared at his protege. "This isn't a game, Robin. He's turning me into what I fear the most. A monster."

Robin simply backed away from his mentor, and he turned around. "So...what are you going to do?"

Bruce looked at him, and sighed. "I...I don't know. He's messing with my mind. I can only block him out for so long, and that's only when I'm resting. During fights, the ring takes over and...well, you saw it. If this keeps up, I might be completely gone by tomorrow. That's why I called you."

Robin kept his back to his mentor, and tried his best to keep the tears in. "No...There has to be a way. Maybe if we destroy the ring, or maybe Sinestro...We could-."

"Robin." The bird turned, and looked at his mentor. The man looked...sad. "I...I want you to know that I...couldn't have asked for a better partner."

That made Robin sniff. "No...Bruce, you'll be fine...We have to..."

Bruce turned away. "Please, just get off this planet. Do it for me."

That's when Robin ran up, and hugged his mentor. A physical show of affection between the two was almost unheard of, but this might be the last time they...

To Robin's surprise, his action was returned. They stayed like that for a moment, and then Bruce pulled away. "Robin...Good luck. Now hurry out there. Clark probably thinks I've eaten you or some other stupid idea that would run through his overly paranoid head."

Robin smiled sadly, knowing that this might be the last sarcastic joke about the Man of Steel that he would ever hear. He walked out the door, and looked at Bruce.

"Don't worry, Bruce. We...We'll figure something out."

He opened the door, but Bruce stopped him.

"One last thing." The man's face hardened. "Do not come back here, regardless of it at my request or not. It might be a trap."

Robin nodded, and glanced sadly at his mentor one more time. The look was returned, and the bird was off. Clark and Orion seemed happy to see him. Sooner than he expected, they entered the camp, and imagine Robin's surprise when he was met with a scene of two panicking archers.

"Uh, guys? Are you ok?"

That's when Roy ran up to him, and hugged him. To say the bat was startled would be an understatement.

"Your alive!"

"...Yeah...kinda."