Richard Grayson had his fair share of being kidnapped. It had happened to him as a civilian, as a ward, and now as a spectator. He groaned as soon as he sat up, and was met with a very badly lit, very large cell. There were two dim lights in the room, and with the small amount of vision he had, he noticed that there was no one else in the room.
"Hello?"
"Ahh, your awake…."
Dick looked around the room, and the voice chuckled. "No, no, I'm not actually here at the moment. You can't see me unless I want you to see me."
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"I actually want the same thing as you…" Suddenly, a large, yellow bat dropped down from the ceiling, and it nearly gave Dick a heart attack. The bat chuckled.
"I apologize. I imagine yellow really isn't your favorite color right now."
"What the hell are you?!"
"Oh yes, introductions." The bat flew up close to his face. "I am the healthy manifestation of Bruce's fear."
Richard would've backed away, but he hit stone. He simply glared at the creature. "Get away from me!"
"A simple hello would do," The bat muttered. It then sighed. "Calm down, Richard. I know this seems bad right now, but I truly do have good intentions. I came down here to watch over you and ask you for your help."
"That's it though!" Dick growled. "How do I know you're not going to lead me on a wild goose chase, and make me too late to save Bruce? How do I know you're not working for Sinestro?"
"Bruce is sick."
It was quiet for a moment, and then Robin looked at the bat. "What do you mean by "sick"?"
"He's confused. His mind can't comprehend what his body is doing, and eventually, Bruce won't be able to handle the confusion. Nobody will…."
Dick looked at the creature. "What do you mean?"
"Bruce has certain failsafes in place in his mind that he doesn't know about. His "No-Kill" rule is one of those failsafes. Another one is something very, very dangerous, something that should never be activated. If it is, then we are all in great peril."
Robin thought about this for a moment, and sighed. "Suppose I believe you. What exactly is this failsafe?"
"It is called Zur-En-Arrh." The bat creature said gravely. "We who make up parts of Bruce greatly fear it, but generally it is silent. If this keeps up, though, Zur-En-Arrh will break through, and these lanterns will be a small speck compared to the danger he will present."
"Wait, I don't understand." Dick said, confused. "If Bruce's mind is in a state of fear, why would you want it to stop? Don't you get power from it?"
"You see, Richard, there are two parts to Bruce's fear. I am the part of him that feels fear." It explained. " There is another part of him that gives off fear. Both of us gain power, which is why, since Bruce has a yellow fear ring, it allows me to make myself a manifestation. Both parts of his fear, however, want what is best for Bruce. We both have enough power in the mind of the billionaire as it is, but this is putting us, and Bruce, at risk."
"Where's the other part?"
"The other part of fear is, at the moment, following Bruce and trying to keep Zur-En-Arrh at bay. Both of us figured that I am a more so approachable type of fear. I am basically Bruce's paranoia, the fear of something that could happen but most likely won't. He is much more, well, frightening. Does this make sense?"
"Wait, so-"
"I know you have questions, and I would love to answer them, but Bruce is in trouble at the moment. Will you help me?"
Dick looked back on this week, and on his situation. He sighed, knowing that he most likely couldn't get out of here on his own. This was his best bet to get out of here, even if it seemed a bit sketchy.
"Alright, just get me out of here."
The bat smirked, and its eyes closed. Suddenly, Richard's chains fell off. The Boy Wonder fell to the ground, and looked at the bat.
"Now, let's go get a few of your other friends."