Wallace liked to think he could roll with the punches pretty well. He'd plan things out sure, but when and if those plans went haywire or something else came up, he always prided himself as being a good adapter. Itachi, though. He really had no clue on how to adapt to him.

"So, any particular reason you're saving Jacob here?" He asked as the three rode the elevator up.

"My associate is his contact." Itachi explained. "He would like to remain in the shadows."

"Ok but couldn't you have just killed him if you wanted to keep that a secret?" Wallace pointed out.

"I could have, yes." Itachi replied simply. "But I don't enjoy it and if there's a way around it I usually take it if I can. And since my associate didn't specify if he wanted him dead, he's not dead."

"I'm still right here, you know." Jacob sighed. Still hoping he could make it out of here somehow. An awkward silence grew before Wallace spoke again.

"So, uh….how much money does this associate actually pay?" Wallace asked scratching the back of his head nervously. " After this, I'm gonna need a new job."

"Plenty. Plus he's always looking for more people. I'll put in a good word for you." Itachi said. "And once we're back at the hideout, we'll go find Paul, Janice, and Frank. I'm sure he can get them some work work."

Wallace's eyes went wide for a split second before returning to normal. He couldn't hold back a smile. "Wow, thanks man."

Itachi's only reply came in the form of a nod before a light came up inside the elevator followed by a slight beep.

"Ok we're here." Wallace started as the doors began to slide open.. "The helipad's just above us on the ro…."

He is words were cut off by a massive scaled hand tearing through the elevator door grabbing and grabbing by the neck. Itachi's hands immediately shot to his kunai pouch as second massive hand grabbed him by his skull slowing the movement considerably.

"So, here I am, wondering why the power went out and here comes three suspicious looking assholes right out of Cobblepot's private elevator." Croc growled out lifting the two men off the ground before throwing them out of the elevator and into the Lounge's sky room. A large room walled off with crystal clear glass windows that peered down at Gotham. While Wallace flew through the air and splashed right onto an empty steel table. Itachi twisted himself around and landed right on his feet. Inwardly cursing his lack of foresight for extra security.

"Well now, look at you all graceful and shit. What are you some sort of ballerina?" Croc laughed at Itachi. He looked down to his arm where a pair of kunai had imbedded themselves. He chuckled as he pulled out the knives and slid his tongue across the blades. "Hmm. A little spicy but that's not gonna do much against me ballerina." The knifes fell to the ground and a sick grin stretched across Croc's face. He turned around to the only other person in the elevator. "Take one step out of that elevator, and Brutus will be lucky to get you're bones."

Needless to say, Jacob didn't move a muscle.

With that settled, Croc turned back to Itachi who had taken the time to size up his foe. He was fast for his height and expectedly strong. Seemingly immune to poison, and tough skinned since the Kunai didn't seem to do much more than give him a cut. This was gonna be simple.

Itachi stashed his remaining kunai in his pouch and straightened himself up as Croc charged to finish the job. Quicker than Croc's eyes could see, he went through several hand-signs.

"Katon..." He began right as Croc made contact.

Hidan had to admit. The blonde bastard hit just like Kakazu did. Fast and with a whole lot of force. He was pretty sure he had bruised a cheek bone now from it but he didn't really care. He was used to that type of pain by now.

Contrary to public opinion, Hidan wasn't an idiot….well at least, not all the time. Sure he had a tendency to get caught up in the moment and not think things through. But that didn't make him an idiot. Right? He could think things through if he wanted to. Make plans, strategize. He could do it, he just didn't like it. It wasn't fun. Now, just losing it in a blood rage and coming back as you stand alone amongst a field of bloodied bodies. That was fun. And that's what he knew he'd be doing for all eternity. If not in life, then in Jashin's realm. That was the deal after all. That was the exchange he had been offered by the Jashin's followers. A life time of death and sacrifices in exchange for immortality. And he accepted it immediately.

But as his body lied buried at the bottom of a deep hole, blasted to pieces by that Nara bastard. For the first time in his life, he wasn't sure that's what was going to happen. He had no way of knowing how much time had passed in that darkness but at some point, choking on dirt and rock, his faith began to waiver. Jashin had promised him an eternity of carnage but now he was here. Broken, and powerless to get out of this situation. He couldn't move, he couldn't scream, he couldn't curse, he couldn't breath, he couldn't kill. He couldn't die. And that….that terrified him.

And so time passed. Days, weeks, months, years, he had no way of knowing. All he did know was that with each passing moment he could feel his body deteriorating more and more despite none of it being attached to him. The worst were the worms that began to crawl through his head. Eating every piece of him, slowly. Inching their way through his skull. And that tore it. His mental anguish finally took it's toll and he cursed Jashin. Kakazu had been right all along. And he had been too blind to see it. So now he was doomed to rot below the ground for all eternity until nothing of him remained, he cursed anything and everything throughout the world. Jashin, Konoha, Suna, Ame, the cyclops, the Nara, the smoker, the akatsuki. None were spared. And only after he thought of everyone in his life and cursed them, did something finally happen.

All the pressure, all the rock and dirt that had covered and choked him were gone. Vanished in an instant. And he could suddenly feel again. His neck, his arms, his legs, his feet, toes, torso, heart, fingers. All of them were attached again and each ached with a ferocity he had never felt before. His breaths were the worst. Each one felt like a hot iron ramming through his chest. But with his lungs once again attached and working, he couldn't help himself. He struggled through every inch of that pain until it finally began to subside and he could try to peace together where he was. The worm infested dirt and rubble that had sat below him was gone, replaced with what felt like cold marble that felt almost heavenly.

Was this it? Did the immortal, finally die? He needed to know for sure. He strained to open his eyes and was thankful by the lack of light he saw. The darkness was thick but not all encompassing. He could make out pillars and columns illuminated but a few strategically placed torches that illuminated wherever he was. Biting down on his tongue till it bled to try and block out the pain and to appreciate the sweet sweet taste of his own blood, he willed himself up to a sitting position.

"So, heaven or hell?" He thought to himself as he scanned the area around him. His hearing picked up a several heavy noises that came from close by. Looking off in that direction, he squinted to see a blur of figures moving towards him. Footsteps, armored footsteps. One of the figures apparently caugh sight of him and yelled out something that sounded like "Over here." The blur began to separate now as the number of the figure became plain, a few dozen maybe. They surrounded him now, their faces carefully hidden in the darkness despite the torches they carried.

Then one of them spoke up." It's a surface dweller!"

Surface dweller. So he was still underground then. Hidan opened his mouth to reply before a sudden realization hit him. There was a reason the marble had felt so cold. He was naked. No clothes, no sycthe, no necklace. "Hell. This definitely hell then." He grumbled.

"Explain yourself! Now!" The same voice ordered.

Hidan's legendary quick temper kicked in with that sentence and the ensuing rage took over his body. Phasing out the aching pain and giving him enough strength to leap to his feet and plant a punch square across the jaw of the man who had gave the order.

What followed was a good old fashioned fight. Hidan worked through the stiffness in his bones with every punch and kick he threw at the guards sending each crumbling to the ground or flying several feet away. He had just started to miss his scythe when one particularly weak gripped staff flew into his hands. With a smirk, he head butted the guard it belonged to and yanked it from his hands. Once he had fallen, he caught a glimpse of light that signaled it as the exit.

Plowing through everything that stood in his way, Hidan took off running towards that exit. Once there and his eyes adjusted to the sight of the strangest city he had ever seen, did he realize his guess might be off.

"Hell, my ass." He growled.

But it wasn't too long after that did his strength begin to fade. More guards came and as did the blonde bastard and soon enough, he found himself in his current predicament. Trapped inside a transparent cell, his hands chained to the floor, and a single pair of pants that had been slipped on him while he was out.

He was still weak. It was frustrating but he knew that without his old strength he couldn't fight through all the bastards that stood outside. So he made a plan. The guards had cleared out when the blonde bastard fought him and they opened his cell on his order so that gave an impression that he was in charge. So when his fist shot to Hidan's face, he took extra care to Knick the skin around it with his teeth.

And now, with the taste of iron in his mouth once again, he willed himself to sit up just he did earlier. His chakra was still low, too low for anything elaborate but luckily his technique didn't require too much chakra. Just a little blood.

He looked out towards his cell and saw that the blonde bastard and his guards were listening intently to the black wearing bastard and his bright bitch friend. That worked just fine. With a sigh and a deep breath, he took the chain that trapped his hands and stretched it across his feet. It was a cold steel slightly serrated to discourage attempts at breakouts. Which only gave him a smile. Then as he the group outside stood ignoring him, he began to swipe his feet across it. Light and fast. Burning at first, and then finally opening the skin.

"Batman?" Diana asked as he hung up.

"Something's going down in Gotham, I need to get back." Batman replied cold but with a hint of urgency.

"I'll come with….." Diana started

"No, I can handle it on my own." Batman cut her off. "Stay here with Aquaman and make sure he keeps him in one peace." Aquaman grumbled at his words but he contiuned. " Use you're lasso, if he doesn't start cooperating. Somehow he teleported himself into Atlantis and we need to figure out how and why…" Batman's voice came to a screeching halt as he glanced back to the prison cell. Diana noticed the pause as did Arthur and both turned to look back at the prisoners as did the guards who had taken there eyes off him for what couldn't have been more than a minute. What they saw stunned all of them.

"God damn, that hurts…" Hidan groaned behind gritted teeth pulling himself to his bruised and bloody feet with the now crimson colored chain. He looked out to all their stunned gazes and smiled at the sight. Looks like these assholes didn't know what to make of the blood gushing out of his feet or that he would do that to himself. Worked just fine but he needed to act fast. He quickly took to drawing his signature symbol on the ground.

"What is he doing?" Wonder Woman asked slightly disgusted at the sight.

"Whatever it is, I don't like it." Aquaman said moving towards the door.

"You don't have to like it, he'll bleed out if that keeps up." Batman pointed out moving with the ruler of Atlantis. "Open it, now!"

As the rather shoddily drawn triangle came to fruition inside a similarly poor circle, Hidan could feel his technique start to take hold. He swallowed the blood that lingered in his mouth and shot them a demonic grin as the door slid open. Within a second, his normal if scared body began to darken and white marking appeared across his face and spread to his torso and arms.

"Uh, uh." He said with a shake of the head towards the trio before smashing his head and nose into the clamp that held his hands. Before the three could take another step, Aquaman's hands flew to his face and he let out a loud gasp of pain. Diana and Bruce's looks of confusion gave him enough time to repeat the action a good five more times.

With the pain increased fivefold, Aquaman collapsed to his knees, blood now leaking from his nose and mouth.

"Arthur!" Diana rushed over to see if she could do a anything to stop it as Batman stood in place. Hidan let out a cruel laugh at the display.

"Ah, not so high and mighty now. Right bastard?!" Hidan called out giving himself another hit against the steel. Wonder Woman's eyes narrowed and temper got the better of her and she flew towards Hidan raising her hands over her head.

"Wonder Woman! Stop!" Batman yelled out just in time. Hidan hadn't moved in the slightest and smiled a crimson set of teeth up at her. As her hands sat clamped together ready to pound him into oblivion. "Think about what you just saw. Anything that happens to him happens to Arthur."

Wonder Woman's hands shook with rage as Hidan's smile seemed to pierce into her soul and Batman's words took hold. Her feet touched back on the ground in front of Hidan.

"Well the dark bastard's a smart one." Hidan said, spitting some blood onto Wonder Woman's cheek.

"Let him go." Wonder Woman ordered quietly, wiping the blood away with a still shaking hand.

"Let me go, bitch." Came Hidan's reply. Wonder Woman looked back to Batman who looked over to the guards who came rushing to their king's aide.

"Let you're prisoner go."

"The King gave orders…" One guard started.

"What was that?" Hidan asked putting his eyes up against the chain. That shut the guard up right there.

"Ah, see. Condom's on the other dick now isn't it?" Hidan chuckled as his own blood trickled down his face. "Now, hurry the fuck up!" He called out.

The clamp that held his hands together fell to the ground moments later. Hidan flexed his fingers, making sure everything was still moving as it should be before facing the rest of them.

Now, here's where things got tricky. That bitch could fly so that's a going to be a pain to get through and he didn't no what to expect out of the dark bastard so that was wild card. On his side though, was their stupidity. They didn't know how his technique stopped working after he stepped out the circle. So as long as he could funnel his chakra into keeping his skin this shade of black and white, he might just make it out of here. He looked down to the now unconscious body of Aquaman. He'd love to just kill the bastard, but he needed to leave more than anything else. Yet keeping his

"Now, I'm getting the fuck out of here. Anyone stops me, and it'll hurt blondie there a lot more than me." Hidan said taking a step out of the circle. He walked right past the heroes, flipping them and every guard in the cell and surrounding room in the process. Each stood there begging to move the second they saw Hidan's skin turn back to normal. Once he found a door that led upwards. He vanished behind it.

The reaction was almost instant. Wonder Woman and Batman shot off towards the door and took off after him.

"Jesus….." Tim whispered to himself too stunned to really process what he saw. Here, at the basement of the Iceberg Lounge, lying amongst several hundred thousand dollar of automatic weapons were about fourth of Penguin's henchmen. Each as frozen as any victim of Mr. Freeze had ever been. Save for blinking. That they did a lot of. He peered over the body of one of men and saw a single knife stuck in his right bicep. Ok, painful sure but wouldn't do that on it's own. Poison? A paralyzing agent? That would explain the lack of movement. "Ambulances are on the way right?" He asked over to Batgirl. She gave an affirmative nod in his direction as she scanned for any signs of movement. She caught one, skulking around in the corner.

"God damned elevators…Where the hell is Bane?" Penguin grumbled futilely pushing the button. Carefully holding his swollen hand and shaking in pain, he caught sight of Batgirl about the same time as she did him. He panicked and immediately moved for a peace of the grounded hardware. That plan stopped short when Batgirl's boot smashed into his cheek. Sending him back with a authority.

Tim clutched his head thinking about how much that hurt as Batgirl was immediately back on him. She placed that same boot over Cobblepot's hand careful not to put any pressure on it.

"What's going on, Cobblepot?"She asked. "I don't think all these hardware was part of you're plea deal."

"Listen to me you stupid bitch….." Penguin started, more out of fore of habit then taunting. He was rewarded with Barbra's boot slamming into his hand. Once again, Tim flinched at the impact and the yell Penguin cried out.

"OK! OK!" He begged. She took her foot of and motioned for him to continue. "This wasn't my fault! Honest! I was here trying to have a nice quiet night! That's all damn it!"

"And Bane was what? Hired muscle?" Robin asked walking up next to her.

"No! Well…yeah, sort of. Where is he?"

"Fighting the same buy who brought you Batman?" Batgirl answered. "Speaking of which…." Her foot drifted dangerously over Cobblepot's hand. "Where is he?" Her eyes drifted over to the shark tank and it returned to Penguin a bit more fearsome.

"That wasn't Batman!" Penguin cried defending himself. "It was some kind of ninja. One of those League of Shadows bastards, maybe…."

"Dressed as Batman?" Robin asked. Penguin shook his head.

"No, it was one of those ninja tricks. He exploded in a puff of smoke, broke my freakin' hand and then did this to my boys!" Penguin explained.

"A puff of smoke?" Tim chuckled. "Sounds more like magic."

"I don't care what it is!" Penguin howled. "Point is, that red eyed bastard's gone so just….."

Batgirl's eyes widened as did Tim's. They never saw Itachi leave the casino. Batgirl pulled Penguin back to his feet. "This guy, did he look Asian? Long hair?"

"It was hard to tell." Penguin explained with a growl. "Just saw the eyes before the lights went out."

"Damn it." Batgirl sighed clenching her fist. That raised a whole bunch of new questions. Why did Itachi change into Batman? What happened to the redhead with him? Did he know the man outside with Bane?" Again, speaking of which.

"This is Batgirl. Huntress? Canary? Either of you nearby?"

"This is Huntress. What's up?" Came the familiar vigilante's voice.

"We've got Bane and an unknown squaring off just outside the lounge. Can you help out?"

"That's the question. Isn't it?" A new, male voice replied.

"Oh, hey Q." Barbra said surprised to hear from the notoriously people shy detective.

"Batgirl." He replied in his typical greeting tone. Within moments, Huntress' voice came back.

"On our way. Something big going down there or something?" She asked. As if Bane fighting wasn't that big of a deal.

"I'm not sure yet. Will let you know." Batgirl replied before cutting out. She turned back over to Penguin who now sat tied up and out cold. She raised an eyebrow to Tim who stood there whistling.

"What? Batman doesn't like lose ends." He replied. Barbara couldn't hide a smile at the young heroes attitude. Still though, they needed to find Itachi and figure out what he was doing here. Problem was that the Lounge was a huge building and finding one person in it was going to be an incredible pain in the ass. Especially since Itachi seemed to be far more subtle and planning then the usual people she dealt with.

"Hey uh Batgirl?" Tim's voice called out to her. She turned over to him and saw him listening to a nearby radio that somehow escaped the damage.

"It's complete chaos out here outside the Iceberg Lounge." Snapper Car's voice came ringing out. "Known super criminal Bane appears to be engaged with another masked man. Completely decimating the street outside. Meanwhile, news of a fire seems to have broken out from the balcony and…"

The radio cut off and a particularly powerful force surged through the entire Iceberg Lounge right at that moment. Most likely emanating from the top down.

"Rooftop?" Robin asked.

"Rooftop." Batgirl agreed.

Hidan's body thankfully had healed somewhat from when he first awoke. As such his body moved similar to the speed had back before he was in the hole. And with a greater speed and agility than his pursuers thought possible of a man who had mutilated himself, he stayed ahead of them. But unfortunately they could still follow him. The blood he had spilled continue to take it's toll. With each step he took, blood fell to the ground. Giving them a good and easy trail to follow.

Now, just outside the palace and ducking away in a corner, nestled behind some sort Atlantean statue. He struggled to come up with an idea for what to do next. Getting a better view of the city on his exit, from the palace. He finally noticed that it sat not under ground. But on the sea floor. He was surrounded water on every angle. And he hated swimming while bleeding. Attracted too many damn fish. Still though, that might be his only way out. And he knew that. But then that begged the question of where to go from there? Up? Sure but what after that. He needed to get his bearing and quick other wise he was going right back into that cell. He breifly thought about praying to Jashin but his anger at his lack of intervention still ached his soul so that was out.

A strange noise came from behind him. A sort of squishing pair of footsteps that he'd never heard before. He turned and readied for a fight.

"All right. You motherfucker. Let's go!"

His yells vanished in an instant. As did he. Leaving nothing but a bloody footprint where he once stood.

A/N:Tada! I know. I know. Kind of a cop out ending, but trust me. It'll make sense further down the line. Anyway, what you guys think? Good? Bad? Let me know you're thoughts, either way.

See ya later