The True Master bent over her garden, surveying it quietly. She did not look up as her student approached.

"I'm surprised to see you came back." She said softly, as Dick Grayson came to a stop just outside her house. "I have nothing left to teach you."

Robin bowed his head to her. "I have to get stronger." He said.

The True Master laid the watering can down and turned to face him. She stared at him intently.

"This is about Bruce Wayne… Batman. Isn't it?"

Robin said nothing as she came closer to him.

"I knew you were his student the moment I saw you." She said. "I could see, you know… your anger and frustration that anyone could defeat you in combat. Your sense of justice was twisted and warped, like his was."

"I-"

She raised his hand to him.

"I am not criticizing you." She said. "When you came to me, I knew that you were already on your way to becoming your own man. In a way, even then, you already had a much stronger moral compass than he did."

"But you didn't say anything to me about this."

She smiled at him.

"You never asked." She said. Robin had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "You were here to learn, and learn you did. Your relationship with your mentor… with the man you think of as your father… it was your burden to bear. All I could do was show you the way."

"Master." Robin said. He kneeled before her and bent his head. "I ask of you… I beg of you…. If there's anything you can do to help me beat him… Please. Teach me."

She considered him thoughtfully.

"I have taught you everything I know as a warrior." She said finally. "My days of mentoring you are long gone."

Robin looked up at her.

"But as a friend…" She continued. "Perhaps I could give you some friendly advice over tea."

In the end, perhaps that was all he needed.

…

"What can you tell me about Batman?"

Hugo Strange looked up at him in surprise.

"I would thought you would know better than anyone."

Robin nodded, his expression grim.

"I know him too well." He said. "I lack perspective… I see him almost as a god."

"Yes…" Strange said, giving him an odd look. "You, more than most others, have been a victim of his. He taught you, trained you, to think of him as an almighty pillar of justice. For you, for Gotham, the World… the idea that Batman could be an Evil person is… unthinkable. After all, he has done so much for us. Without him, things would be so much worse."

"I became complacent." Robin said. "Even when I left… when I told him I had enough… I couldn't see the bigger picture."

He clenched his fist.

"I'm the reason all of these people are dead."

"You mustn't blame yourself." Strange advised, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps we can instruct each other."

Robin gave him a look.

"I understand Batman. His tactics. His behavior. But I don't know… I can't know… what exactly goes through his mind. What drives him to do these terrible things."

He guided Robin to a chair and set him down.

"Perhaps… you could enlighten me?"

Robin stared up at the ceiling, and began to speak.

…

"You found me." Poison Ivy sat on a giant flower throne, considering him with something that looked very much like contempt. "Now what?"

"Tell me how to defeat Batman." Robin said.

She stared at him. "A fascinating question. But one that I clearly do not know the answer to."

"You have to have some idea." Robin pressed. "Something… a weakness. Something you noticed."

"Batman is not a man." Ivy said dryly. "He is a monster." She stroked the flower lovingly with her finger. "No, I mean it." She said. "It is so easy to ensnare any man that I choose… but I have never been able to charm Batman."

"Because he knows you." Robin said.

"It is more than that." Ivy said. "It is like… he is destined to win. By some higher power. No matter what happens, no matter what I do… he will always be the one to foil my plans."

"Your powers had some effect on him." Robin insisted. "He told me."

"He hasn't been entirely truthful with you in the past, has he?" Ivy asked. "Would you have fought for him if he had been clear as to what he intended to do?"

…

"The King believes only I can defeat Batman."

Wonder Woman took a sip of her tea as she surveyed the boy in front of her.

"He is not wrong." She said. "It is the natural order of things for the Master to surpass the student…"

"How would you beat him?" Robin asked.

"I?" Diana swirled the tea in her grip thoughtfully. "Overpower him, mostly likely. A war of attrition, I think, would benefit me… I understand his resources and his methods. I would sabotage his allies and destroy his resources. Without his money he is nothing."

"They say he is now more than a man." Robin told her.

"I have heard." She said gravely. "But men who ascend into gods do not lose their human weaknesses. He is no different now than when he was a mortal man, I assure you. You must remember that he is only a man."

"If he were a woman would you be more frightened of him?" Robin asked disparagingly.

"That is not what I meant." Diana clarified. "All enemies should be feared. You must understand the dangers of going into battle and the risks you place upon yourself. But you must not refuse to take action." She glanced at him. "But by the look of you… I daresay you are preparing to fight already."

"I will beat him." Robin said firmly. "By any means necessary."

Diana's eyes drifted past him and Robin turned around. Some distance away Levi Ackermann was standing leaning against the pillar. He turned back around to find Diana smiling at him.

"I promise you will not be alone." She said. "Whatever happens your friends and allies will be fighting alongside you to protect this island until the end. Only death can prevent us from fighting our enemies and protecting those we love."

…

Annie let out a cry of ecstasy and threw her head back. Beads of sweat ran down her face as she looked up at him.

"He can't be that tough." She said. "What are you so scared of?"

She let out another moan of pleasure and tilted her head to the side.

"I mean, you're spending time with m-e-e-…." She cried out again. She gasped, adjusted herself, and then continued speaking like nothing happened. "Instead of training. You can't be that worried."

Robin shook his head and adjusted himself so that he was lying beside her. "I am worried." He said. "If I lose everyone on the island will die."

She rolled over and straddled him.

"Some people would be happy to hear that." She said. "People have died to see it happen."

Robin shook his head.

"It's not the end of the world if you lose." Annie said flatly. "If the Island gets destroyed and Batman takes over the world… so what? Every Empire collapses. The Eldian Empire did."

"That's not what I want." Robin said coldly. "The people here deserve to live."

Annie gave him a surprisingly blank look, and then broke down into giggles.

"I can't believe you consider me one of them." She said. "After everything I've…"

She trailed off. She was usually quite calm and collected, but something about being in bed with him brought about a more exuberant side of her personality.

"Eren trusts you a lot." Robin said quietly. "You are one of them. Even if you weren't raised on this island."

"Ha." She tilted her head to the side. "You don't know how much I hate to be reminded of that."

Robin gave her a look.

"I was like you." She said. "I was trained from a young age to infiltrate and destroy this island. I never really cared…. I didn't think about what I was doing was right or wrong. I just… did it."

She fell silent. Robin probed her.

"What changed?"

"I felt more at home here than I ever did on the outside." Annie said quietly. "It was… appalling."

She fell silent. Clearly her post orgasm high was wearing off. She slid off of him and rolled over, her back facing him. Robin stared at her. He didn't speak, but he kept rubbing her back with his hand, thinking his own thoughts.

…

"I had his child." Talia Al Ghul told him flatly. The two of them were sitting in a café on the Island. She was dressed rather like a British tourist. A wide, brimmed hat and a veil covered her eyes and face.

"I didn't know."

"The baby was killed when I was forced to flee the League of Shadows." Talia said, her voice grim. "By sacrificing his firstborn, he was able to bring Trigon back into the world."

Robin gripped the table with his fist. Talia bowed her head to him.

"Tell me." She said. "Do you know of the Rumbling?"

"The what?"

"It is the greatest weapon of the Eldian People." Talia said. "Word of it reached my father before he died, and his last request for me was to utilize it to eliminate humanity. It is necessary, you see, to prevent this planet from being enslaved by Trigon. It would be a mercy."

"I have never heard of it." Robin said. "Have you spoken to Eren Jaeger about it?"

"To speak of it is taboo." She said quietly. "I do not know what he intends to do, but I fear for the future. His faith in you is misplaced, I think. You cannot defeat my husband."

Robin stood up. He glared at her.

"You believe so?"

She did not budge. "I do." She said heavily. "He is the man that my father handpicked to succeed him as the head of the league of shadows… he is what Nietzsche described as the Ubermensh. The ideal man, whose values could reshape the entire world in his image…" Her voice was bitter. "None could defeat such a man. They would follow him, or risk becoming enslaved. Look at you. The very idea of merely defying him was impossible for you."

He slammed his hands on the table and leaned in closer to her.

"If it was impossible I wouldn't be standing here now." He said coldly. "Tell me how you would beat him."

Talia sighed, shaking her head. "Oh, sweet child…" She said. "This is not a battle that can be won or lost. This world will wither and decay regardless of whether you triumph over him or not. Neither of you have the conviction to carry out my Father's will into the modern era. Without his strong hand guiding the future of the world… this planet has no future."

"Your father overestimated his own importance." Robin said coldly. "If he was so great, this planet would have been saved a long time ago."

Talia looked at him.

"Can the same not be said of you?" She asked. "What do you hope to accomplish, by defeating my husband? You are a hero trying to save a world that does not wish to be saved."

"It's not my problem what happens after I win." Robin said, as he turned away from her. "But at the very least I am going to make sure that I stop Trigon again."

"…Again?" Talia repeated, confused. Robin turned back to look at her, and grinned.

"He's not the one I'm concerned about." He said. "The one who will deal with him is already well prepared."

Talia felt her breath fall short as the young man made his way out onto the street.