Miss Martian and Kid Flash were chosen to follow the creatures. Miss Martian because she could fly, Kid Flash because he was swift enough to keep up. The others would have to make their way home, which would take time as they no longer had a mode of transport. It would take time for the bio-ship to repair, and tools to fix the Batplane.

Sooner than expected, Miss Martian and Kid Flash nearly went right by the beast who had once been Nightwing. He had perched on a high rocky outcrop, looking over the forest with a severe eye, head jerking left and right as though he expected to see something. He was looking for Robin, he had to be.

He seemed oblivious of their presence, though he had to know that they were there. He had somehow sensed Kid Flash running up behind him before, he probably could now. But he treated them with indifference, as if so unconcerned by their presence that they didn't even exist in his mind.

Suddenly, a whistle of triumph split the air and he took off, flying hard, making a beeline for Gotham.

"Seriously?," Kid Flash moaned "I feel like we've been going in circles all day!,"

The dragon turned in his flight path, sweeping a wide arc over Miss Martian and Kid Flash. He roared in a beckoning manner, then turned back to his path and swam through the air too swiftly for either of them to keep up.

"He wants us to follow him,"

"Ya think?,"

3:45 AM

Gotham

The first creature was waiting for them, perching on Wayne Tower. He greeted the other with an ear-splitting roar which knocked Miss Martian from the sky. The other creature simply kept coming, riding the waves of sound without apparent effort.

The first spread his wings, and reared his head which was once more attached to a serpent's neck. He hissed a curse and flew at his enemy. Their bodies connected in the air and they both began to fall. Tumbling out of control, heedless of the buildings which they careened into. Chunks of brick and mortar were broken loose, glass shattered, and still they fell, end over end, story after story.

The larger creature, Nightwing, hit the ground, the smaller on top of him, raking its sickle claws down his sides and jabbing and snapping its jaws like a beak as the other held it firmly at bay.

The other lay looking up at the snarling, slavering beast atop him, sudden horror in his demonic eyes. Opening his mouth, he breathed flame into the face of his opponent, who yelped and staggered backwards. Miss Martian, looking closely at the smaller creature, realized that it had very nearly healed from the previous encounter. It could be wounded, but not for long.

If killed, would it simply return to life?.

The large beast seemed to struggle to its feet, shaking its head as though there were flies buzzing around it. It roared in a mindless rage. Miss Martian wondered what it had seen to shake it so.

The first had recovered itself, and lashed out with long front claws. The other backed away, rumbling veiled threats which suddenly seemed empty. It looked up to Miss Martian, as though it expected her to do something, but she couldn't for the life of her think what.

The first advanced on the other, striking out madly with its claws. The other gave ground more and more, snarling but without any force to it. Something had changed, and the other was now losing.

Suddenly Kid Flash had entered the fray, racing around the first creature at top speed, attempting to create enough of a vortex to lift it from the ground. The creature's rear claws dug into the pavement, and it flapped its great wings, beating against the air. With a strike of its thick tail, it brought Kid Flash down. He went flying, and struck against the foreleg of the other beast.

The beast knocked him away roughly and he bounced off the wall. The first beast roared and spread its forelimbs, inviting attack. The other roared back, a crest of hair or spines rising around its head. It puffed a cloud of flame at the first, who hopped back and hissed angrily.

They had the same ferocity as before, but it seemed like they were running out of energy. Their movements had slowed, and they did more defending than attacking. They could apparently heal quickly, but their energy was limited, perhaps like Kid Flash?.

Again the dragon looked to Miss Martian as though she should do something. Finally, unable to take it anymore, she lifted the nearest heavy thing she could (a parked car) and threw it at the first creature. The metal object bounced ineffectively off the creature's head. It whirled on her, and opened its mouth with the clear intent of spouting flames.

Miss Martian closed her eyes, preparing for the searing heat. But it never came. When she dared look, she saw that the creature was mere inches from her, but its face had twisted into a mask of horrible pain. Looking past it, she saw that the dragon had wrapped its forelimbs around the first creature's body, digging in with razor claws. Sharp teeth sunk deep into the first creature's neck.

The creature reared back, staggered, and clawed at the other, but couldn't get it off. It stumbled backward, its once powerful roar now a desperate wail as it struggled to remain on its feet. The other just bit deeper, eyes closed, every muscle taut with the effort of holding the first.

Then suddenly it let go, lunging backward. The first creature staggered twice, then seemed to collapse in on itself, sinking bonelessly to the ground. It still wailed as though it were dying, and blood oozed from the wound at its neck.

It was about this time that Batman and the team arrived, having used a nearby boom tube. What they saw brought them up short, clearly baffling them.

The first creature was writhing on the ground, smoke seeming to rise from its agonized body as it twisted in pain and cried out as though seeking relief. The other stood a good ten feet away, mouth open and contorted into a savage snarl, tense and ready to spring again if need be. Its eyes were the only movement, rapidly flitting from one part of the first to another, sometimes looking at Miss Martian or casting a sideways glance at Kid Flash, who still hadn't gotten up.

With a last, desperate squeal, the first creature vanished in a cloud of smoke. The smoke was so thick and spread so far that Miss Martian was blinded. She coughed and blinked, afraid of being attacked even though instinct told her that it was somehow over. Almost as if by magic, it was over.

When the smoke cleared, all that remained was the dragon and Robin. Human Robin, curled into a tight ball, shivering from cold, wearing nothing and with no marks on him save for the wound on his neck, as if the transformation had healed whatever other wounds he had sustained.

"Crash," Kid Flash, who had apparently seen the whole thing but was just now getting up, commented, then repeated it for lack of anything else to say "crash,"