Reverse Scale

On our way back across the river we stopped at the hospital roof and left the envelope with money in it in a conveniently placed mail slot that I was told led directly to the accountant's office.

Robin started his way back across the North Finger Bridge and I changed back to an Owl and just enjoyed my flight circling around him.

As I was floating me eyes caught the image of a man pulling a young teenage girl into an alley just about a mile away and I had a cold feeling when I saw his face and the predatory smile.

With no thought whatsoever I tightened my wings and flew as fast as I could, completely forgetting to say anything to Robin.

Once I got to the alley entrance, I changed back to my human form and ran into the alley. Halfway down it I saw a young teen crying laying on her back and a man laying on top of her with no pants on, a knife in one hand pressed against her throat and his other hand trying to force her legs open. He had already torn her dress open and pulled her panties to her ankles, but they were holding her feet together and that was probably the only thing that stopped him from succeeding in his attempt to rape her.

I quickly ran up and grabbed the hand that held the knife and pulled it away from her neck. Doing this pulled him up enough I was able to land a solid kick to his ribs and force him off the teen. He rolled a couple times and came up to his feet in a decent crouch with his knife out.

His reaction spoke of some training, it was possible he was more than just a common street thug.

The teen girl had quickly pulled her underwear up and cried loudly in fright as she tried to use her torn dress to protect her modesty or maybe she just thought of it as a barrier between herself and what had almost happened to her.

"You stupid fuck, I wasn't going to kill her. You could have had her after I was done. I have followed her for weeks and I'm pretty dure she is a virgin. But now I have to kill you and then after I'm done with her ill have to kill her too, so I don't go down for murder." The man said.

"You will have to settle for going down for attempted rape and attempted murder then. Unless the police add you DNA to their record and get hits on unsolved cases, witch I'm sure there will be a few with the way you're acting." I reply as I start walking toward him.

"What can a little boy like you know, you have probably never gotten you little wick wet. Too bad your so set on being a hero now you will die." He lunges for me with his knife leading the way.

I back out of reach of his wild swing and reply, "Well for someone who can only get their rocks off on virgins who are dry from fear I would say you are the one with a little wick issue mister. You know I may have been wrong; they may not get you for other rape's. Maybe after you are done the girls go to the ER thinking they were raped only to hear the nurses tell them their hymen is still intact. Maybe all they will be able to get you on is misdemeanor charges of assault. Can't be a felony unless a weapon is used, and you only threaten with the knife. Can't think of a 2 inch pecker as anything close to a weapon."

Hearing my taunts, he rushed me in rage and I grabbed the wrist that held the knife. I pull the arm over my shoulder but instead of throwing the guy I turn his arm to lock his elbow then I stand straight and pull his wrist towards me, snapping his arm in the processes. The knife falls to the ground, I then spin my waist shoving my elbow into his ribs hoping I broke a few. The man falls to his but crying and holding his broken arm.

"Cowards like you are my reverse scale mister, seeing someone strong terrorize the week for his own enjoyment. That makes me very mad!" Approaching him I change my right foot into the cloven hoof of a goat and stomp down on his balls and crush them both, a little twist of my foot makes sure his pecker will never work as intended again.

Something crashes into my side, and I'm forced away from the would-be rapist, "That's enough, we don't torture people. We stop them!" Robin shouted.

I regain my balance, "No Robin, that wasn't torture. What he was doing to that poor girl was torture, what I did was punishment fitting the crime. His life is in no danger and he will heal from the broken appendages faster than the guys whose joints you tore earlier today. Well, I'm thinking one appendage may have to be cut off, but with a colostomy bag it's not fatal now is it."

"That's not the way it's done in Gotham." Robin said angrily.

"Tell her I was too rough on her attacker Boy Wonder!" I say as I point to the shivering mess of tears huddled against the grungy wall and garbage of the alley.

"Call it in, I will be on the roof until she is in an ambulance. Then we are done for the night." Just as I was about to make the change and go to the roof I her a small "Thank You!" come from the girl. I nod towards here with a soft smile then I change to the Owl shape I was using and fly to the roof to wait.

------------------------------------------

"He was way out of line Matt, totally overboard. He had the guy down and helpless, there was no reason to go further." Dick (Robin) ranted to Matt(Devilbat) who was typing on the Bat computer. The screen wasn't for his benefit, the speakers sent out clicks that were barely noticeable to normal hearing. Matt Wayne's self-created sound visual only he could make out.

"It was so out of the blue as well. We were having a fun night Matt; he was just like an older version of Beast Boy. Lighthearted and easy going, then this happened and he went totally rogue on me. Not even telling me anything, just flying off. He could have used telepathy to tell me what he saw, but I think he knew I wouldn't approve of so much violence." He swung his mask around his finger as he spoke to Devilbat.

"If you read the information I sent you then you know he is a middle-aged man in that body. While I don't doubt that the body's hormones may affect him, he is no teenager. Furthermore, he is a clone of your Teen Titans Beast Boy with additional J'onn J'onzz DNA thrown into the mix, who hasn't had his powers for 2 weeks yet. You have to treat him as an elder despite the body of a teen. He has experiences and traumas we know nothing about, from a world we know nothing about." Devilbat said unemotionally.

"His comment about a reverse scale, do you understand it?" Matt asked

"It was a vulnerability to Dragons, wasn't it?" Dick replied.

"Yes, but more than that, if you touched it that meant you put the Dragons life in jeopardy so he would go ballistic and destroy everything to get to the one that touched it. Even to the point of destroying its own hoard." Matt continued.

"Taking a breath, he probed with a tough question. "If a Circus was in town, say your old one and you went to visit and you saw someone tampering with the ropes for the trapeze act do you think you would act rationally? Even with all your training over the last 6 years are you sure you could see it as just a man cutting a rope?" Matt asked with intensity.

Instantly all the playfulness left Dick's face and all his muscles tensed. He wanted to say yes but his jaw was clenched so hard it wouldn't open.

"Thats what it feels like to have a reverse scale Dick, the first time I saw a man pull his gun on a family in an alleyway I almost killed him. Honestly it was the closest I have come to crossing that line. The only thing that stopped me was the fear on the little boy's face as he watched me pummel the mugger to the ground. The echo from my fist impacting the mugger showed me his tears and I couldn't take a life in front of him. I hadn't even been Devilbat for a month and I was that close to breaking the one rule I swore on my parent's grave to never break." stopping there, Matt returned to his typing.

After about 15 minutes of quiet, they both were lost in their own thoughts.

"He did come up with a good idea for retrieving my birdwing's using magnets tuned to their specific composition though." Robin said

"Thats actually a very good idea. I will have to have someone at Wayne Tech look into the feasibility of this." Matt said, not turning away from the computer.

"You seem distracted Matt, is something wrong?" Robin asked.

"It has been unusually busy lately and there are several cases going at once. But you have been busy with your other teams, so I am working them all."

"Sorry about that, things just kind of snowballed. I will make an effort to be here more for you Matt." Dick said.

"It's not for me, but for Gotham and the mission Robin." Matt said with some bite to his tone.