Not defeated. Not gone. Through her ring, infected her. Through all of you.

No place to run to. I'm already all of you already. You feel it. You can feel the others. Their fears.

The speedster, the criminal. The one who does not belong to this time. The world moves too slow for him. He fears that he does not have enough time. He fears that many will die if he stays here for too long.

Isolation and self-loathing. The male lantern fears he doesn't belong with the rest of you, the corps, his community, his faith. He belongs nowhere. He makes his fears real. All do.

The archer already felt apart. Different, now she fears that everyone sees her sins. She is a monster. She is a victim. So she fears it. That fear affects all those around her. She is a killer.

The boy who is a copy fears that his friends do not trust him. He was a weapon created by an evil man. Breed for the purpose of being used to cause others harm. His closest friend uses him as such.

The Amazon is afraid of her emotions. She fears that they will be what pushes her to the edge and makes her do what she does not wish to. She feared that she was not strong enough to save her friends.

Finally, the Batman. You fear that you have failed everyone time and time again. You believed that you weren't worthy of this mantle that was passed onto you. You feared that you had made a mistake.

Everyone has fears. Deep ones. Ones they hide from themselves. What happens when the ones governed by fear change the world? How protected will this world be then? When I plagued this planet and it's people, they will stand against what is coming to claim you all? Fear leads to hatred, conflict, war. Where are the heroes when they become hunted?
------------
Bart: Jessica?

Jessica: Bart?

Bary: Can you hear me?

Jessica: Not hear. More like I can feel what you're saying. What you're feeling.

Bart:...going on?....that thing we just beat....

Jessica:...didn't. It was in me. Through the ring. We're all connected....got to all of us...can feel the rest of the Leauge....it's horrible, Bart...like a wound for each of us....Bart?.....Bart?
-----------
Gotham.

Conner: I really want to kill you.

You, Conner, and Cassie all sat on the floor of the destroyed batlair as you thought about what had happened.

Y/N: I would let you. I've spent a long time controlling my feelings. My gut. It was one of the ways I became the Batman. None of this is right. This isn't normal.

Cassie: No. These emotions, this fear, isn't something that should be their bad. Something wrong. Seriously wrong.

Y/N: Yeah. Right now I feel like I deserve your anger. Like I want it.

Conner looked over to you as you sighed.

Y/N: Dick left us. He's going to find the other Titans, bring them together, and lead them against us. They're coming for the Justice Leauge, and I have no way to stop them. I have no plan. When Bruce vanished, I took the mantle of Batman because I thought it was the right thing to do. Like I was the only one who could do it. When it came time to give it to Dick, I didn't. It was like I...I felt like I needed to be Batman.

Cassie looked up at you as Conner lowered his head.

Conner: I'm a weapon. It's what I am. But, I'm afraid that one day, I'll finally snap. I was created to be the clone of Superman. I'm not like him. I'm not as strong or as smart. I'm just some kid with powers and a jumbled mind. That's why I was so angry when you just started to dissapear. I felt like you were lying everytime you said you were my friend. I became selfish. I wanted you to be there for me. To be around.

You sighed.

Y/N: I'm sorry. You're right, though. I should be around more. You are my friend, everyone in the Leauge is. I trust you guys with my life but, I fall into being Batman so much, I forgot what it was like to be a normal person.

Cassie: I, kinda noticed that.

You and Conner looked over to her.

Cassie: When we first met, as Y/N al Ghul, you were a huge dork. Then we met after you came back and you were a huge jerk. Eventually, you came back around and became a dork again. But, the moment you became Batman, you changed again. You stepped into this responsibility. You embraced it.

You gave it some thought and leaned against the broken wall behind you.

Y/N: I'm sorry. Maybe, we can go on some goofy adventure sometime.

Conner: Maybe. What I don't understand is, you made me really angry. More than I've ever been. I wanted to tear you apart.

You stared at the wall as you thought about it.

Y/N: Was it me, or something else?
-------
Seattle.

I am just a breath. A thought. A question. What do you fear about yourselves? My infection just touches the surface. It asks you to look deeper into yourselves. What will you find? How together are you? How united?

You aren't. Each of you are alone.

Jessica: Bart?!

Jessica began to reach through the darkness to try and find the missing speedster. Finally, she saw a familiar light.

Bart:...here, I think hard on a single moment....each one an age...hard to be here.

Jessica: Grab my hand! Find it! Focus on that!

Bart reached through the dark mass as he tried to find Jessica. Their fingers brushed against each other's before he finally grabbed her hand.

Bart: Got it!

Jessica: Hold on, Bart, hold on...

Jessica lifted her fist through the mass as her ring began to glow.

Jessica: Hey, you! Thing. Whatever you are, wherever you came from. You're the dark corners of, the hidden ugliness. The parts we don't want to see.

I see fear in you more than the others. Their anger, isolation, self-loathing, and guilt. You want to hide from all of them in case they see your true fears. Your fear of them.

Bart: Jessica, being a Green Lantern isn't about not being afraid. It's about overcoming these fears. We're all afraid of something a load of things. But it can't define us. Show us your light, Jessica. Show everyone!

You can't ever truly send me away. I'm an infection. A cancer that grows inside of all of you. Fear is just the beginning.

Jessica: And the end!

Her ring began to glow brightly before a green light began to consume the darkness. The light grew and grew before the darkness cried out. Then, nothing.

Bart caught Jessica before she could fall over from exhaustion. Bart gently helped her sit down on the ground where he joined her. The stinging feeling was gone.

Bart: You were amazing, Jess. It's going to be okay. Everything is alright now.

Jessica shook her head as she leaned against Bart.

Jessica: No. I can still see them. Feel them. Everyone's fears. That thing didn't make us feel this. It showed us what was already there.

Bart: Yeah but, we're all tight. We're the Justice Leauge. All of us know each other. Me and Cassie were teammates on the Teen Titans. Y/N was with us to. Even after he came back, we were all good. All of us fought together. We're a family.

Jessica: No. No one is the same anymore. I saw it all. I saw everyone take the responsibilities after the heroes vanished. You all left behind your lives for this. Your identities. I saw your laughter turn into worries. I saw your crushes turn into romances. I saw you all, grow up. No one is the same anymore, Bart.

Bart held her as he looked up at the night sky.

Bart: No. I guess we aren't.