Tim was a strange mix of nervous and excited as he walked through the halls of the Hall of Justice, the League base where a certain artifact was being stored. A set of scales. Not just any scales, but one belonging to The Judges, also called The Bats by some for their mostly nocturnal nature and some of their outfit choices. 

They were entities that used their scales to determine whether their victims would be killed, although some found the killing a mercy, some had most of their bones broken with no chance of recovery, with no escape, death did not take their suffering away. They hunted all over the globe, but their main residence was Tim’s hometown, Gotham. 

He used to follow them (stalk them) when he was younger. He might have even found their human appearances, but he figured poking around his neighbors, especially if they were The Bats, would not do him any favors, so he left it be. He was friendly with them though, he hoped that would do him a little good if they ever found out. He certainly didn’t mention it to the League, even when he joined with a secret identity, he just went by Red or Alvin to them, even to his closer friends. 

But back to the scales, the League had been able to find them. As far as they had been able to tell, the scales were for an unclaimed eleventh Judge that had yet to show up and be claimed by The Bats. 

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A meeting had been called to discuss its handling. The same one he was going to be nearly late for because he wasn’t told until about an hour ago that it had been rescheduled to this afternoon instead of tomorrow morning. 

As soon as Tim moved into the meeting room and took his seat, Wonder Woman started the meeting. 

Constantine and Zatanna shared what they knew about it, nothing except that it was real and that it was dormant. After much debate, the group finally agreed on where to store it for the time being until they found more information. 

Tim, being the closest, grabbed the open box it was in for the moment and stood. That’s the moment everything went to shit. 

The scales started shaking and an all-consuming pressure filled the room. Multiple League members were swearing, none more colorful than Constantine. The box slipped from his hands, but he managed to grab the scales themselves. 

As soon as they were in his hand, the shaking stopped and a wave of energy flowed through his body. The energy felt right, but it didn’t feel like it did what it was supposed to. The scales glowed and whispered things he didn’t understand, but he still understood that they were his. 

The rest of the Justice League was staring at him in shock and horror. 

Well, . . . shit.