Dipper looked at Sam wild-eyed, saw the tightening tendrils, and slowly walked closer to the yellow Lantern, his teke field dimming reflexively from the fear.

They were too tight. He just wasn't sure he'd be fast enough. Even if he lashed out and hit the Lantern, what if he crushed Sam reflexively? Dipper couldn't do it, he didn't have enough faith in his own abilities.

The Lantern brushed his fingers along the line of Dipper's jaw, tilting his head to take in all the fear on his face. Dipper cringed and looked around for something, anything that he could use, but found nothing.

"Sam, what do I do?!"

He wasn't the one who'd done this superheroing thing before, and Sam was young, but Dipper was younger. Right now, it was more obvious than ever how young he was. Instead of the confident hero he'd started to become as a Legionnaire, he sounded like the scared barely-older-than-twelve-year-old that he was, and asked Sam for help the same way Sam's own little sister might've.