Artemis watched the scene with intrigue. Since meeting each other for the first time in over a month, Itachi and Artemis both had similar yet different responses. While they were both silent, their facial expressions were like opposite sides of the same coin. Itachi quickly got over his shock and had a stoic look on his face, making it hard to read. Carson, on the other hand, was pretty transparent. She showed her anger clearly, as she was fighting back tears so she wouldn't look weak in front of him.

So many thoughts were running through her head right now. Why he left, how he left, and how is he standing before her right now like nothing was wrong; it all rubbed her the wrong way. She wanted to scream at him and lay out all of her grievances, but in the end she calmed herself knowing that it would be useless doing that. She wanted answers, not more silence. After taking a minute to collect herself she asked her first question.

"How have you been Itachi?" She asked as sincerely as she could. He didn't reply. It was like when they first met all over again.

"I'm glad to see that you're okay. I missed you…" She was having a tough time since he was so unreadable. Artemis was glaring at Itachi as she witnessed her friends' struggle.

"I...I missed you too." Itachi responded hesitantly. Carson almost smiled but remembered why they were having this conversation in the first place.

"So…a mask shop huh? I never would have pictured it…so are you usually this quiet towards customers?"

"Would you like to purchase a mask?" Itachi responded dismissively. He sounded like he didn't feel any of the awkwardness that Carson and Artemis did. Carson wasn't going to be dismissed so easily though.

"No! I don't want a mask. What I want is an answer to why you left me like that! You really hurt me." She said starting to cry again.

"I left because it was the best thing for both of us. You may not understand now, but you will someday." He answered calmly.

"You're right…I don't understand. Ever since I met you in that alley I haven't understood a thing apparently! You protected me, listened to me, and cared about me…I thought you…I thought you were the one…." She couldn't finish the statement.

"The one for what?" He asked. She looked up to him and gave a sad smile, "The one who finally wouldn't leave me."

Itachi felt guilt for his actions, but he knew that her being by him wouldn't end well. Black Mask taught him that lesson the hard way. He wouldn't let her be harmed because of him ever again.

"Itachi, just tell me why. If you tell me why you left I'll never bother you again. Just tell me why I wasn't good enough."

"I wanted you to be happy, I still do. But that can't happen with someone like me in your life in any capacity, I'm a cancer. There's a reason why when you found me I was all by myself."

"Isn't that my decision to make? You don't get to control how I feel or what I should want, no one ever has. You know what I think, I think you're scared and that's why you left!" She said loudly. Itachi and Artemis were glad that the shop was empty except for the three of them or this would be even more awkward.

Itachi had no idea where she was going with this thought of him being scared. He wondered if she was trying to get a rise out of him by attacking him now.

"You can't admit it, but you do care about me. I don't know what, but something happened that made you scared. Maybe it was Black Mask, or maybe it was how close we were getting but to all of a sudden pull the stunt you did just doesn't add up. It was like I was speaking to a brand new person. That person tried to break our bond, but that's not possible. For once, I think something happened that you didn't plan on and it scared you into pushing people away; pushing me away. Please, don't push me away Itachi. Let me make the choice on whether or not I want you in my life, and I will live with the consequences."

Itachi didn't know how to respond. It was like he was struggling with the same thing all of the time; letting people make their own choices. He had a feeling that trusting people enough to do that would always be his inner turmoil.

"It's best this way. You'll find someone else Carson. We are on different paths and nothing can change that."

'How can it be decided when you're not even letting me have a say,' Carson's face got even more disappointed. It was like he ignored everything she just said. At this point, she was losing hope.

Artemis couldn't believe what she was hearing, 'Who willingly chooses to be alone…someone who's only used to that probably. I bet Itachi has been on his own for so long that he's gotten comfortable with it…'

Carson remembered what her mom told her about holding on once she found someone that was worth it. She shed a tear and looked up at him with a look of determination, "I don't believe that. I can't. I don't care what you say, I trust you. I don't know what happened in the past to make you this way, but it's time you got over it. You'll never be happy until you do."

Itachi stared at her but said nothing. He walked over to the cash register and officially clocked out for the day. He gave one last sad look before issuing his warning, "Don't come back here unless you come to buy a mask. Other than that there is nothing here for you."

"What do I need to buy a mask for when you're wearing one so well? That mask of yours is big enough to hide every secret on Earth. And I won't come back here, not until you take it off and show me how you really feel." Carson left in a frustrated mood. She had a headache and was in need of an escape to what just happened.

Artemis followed Itachi towards the back of the shop when the coast was clear with Carson. When she got there she confronted him, "Dude, what in the world was that?"

"It was none of your concern."

"Hey I'm not on a side. I just want my both of friends to be happy. You have to know that you're better together than apart." She responded as if it were obvious.

"Did you stage that intervention on purpose," She shook her head. "I honestly didn't know that you work here. I don't know if you noticed, but you're not exactly the most forthcoming individual." She joked.

"Why are you still here? Carson already left the store." He stated as they walked back to his room upstairs. That conversation clearly got to him, but he couldn't dwell on it. What's done is done.

"I'm still here because I was told by you-know-who to deliver this to you the next time we met." She then pulled out an envelope that had.

Itachi opened and read it. It clearly came from Batman based on how meticulous it was. He looked up at Artemis who shook her head.

"I don't know what it says. I was just told to deliver it to you. The big guy was pretty specific and clear about that. I think it's a mission for you. Conner overheard him discussing what to do about a handful of bad guys who have all disappeared around the same time; it's worrying them that they haven't heard a peep from them. I thought after that the Team and I would be sent to investigate, but instead I was told to reach out to you and get you this letter. It sucks that they have more faith in you than in all of us…" She ranted.

"Not them, him. This is just Batman's doing. I doubt that the other Leaguers know about it based on the fact that he's not doing this in person and how secretive he's making you be. To be honest, I'd do the same thing if I were in his shoes." It made perfect sense to him. The rest of the League is still pretty skeptical of him. Itachi was too violent for their taste, but not Batman's. Why risk a team of inexperienced heroes when you can send someone like Itachi, who was more than capable and yet still relatively unknown to the criminal circuit. The others would probably be expected which increases the likelihood of them being spotted and compromised. For recon missions like this, the best course of action is to send a single agent to reduce the chances of being caught.

"Thank you for the letter, I'd better get ready." He then got out his tool set and began formulating a plan for this. The only reason he's going along with this it because it's his best shot at getting to Count Vertigo before his drugs kill anyone else.

"Okay, just be careful. She may be upset now but, Carson still cares about you Itachi even if you don't feel the same. Either way please don't hurt her." She pleaded. Itachi didn't give her an answer, having decided to focus on his mission. Artemis took that as her sign to leave.

"I'll head out now and catch up to Carson. I'll try to smooth things over with her. Good luck." She then left out of the room.

Itachi began to mentally map out his plan of attack. After some time had passed, Itachi called out to the presence he felt outside of his door.

"How long were you eavesdropping on us Ms. Yumi?" Itachi asked having felt her presence. The old woman entered the room with a knowing smile that she'd been caught. She came over and read over Itachi's letter.

"Long enough. You're taking missions from the Justice League, how unlike you." She stated curiously.

"It's not from the League, at least not entirely. I'm only doing this because it helps me get to Count Vertigo. He knows that's all I care about at the moment." He replied.

"'He' as in the Batman. I heard that part. I take it that young girl works for the League as well," He nodded without looking up at her, "It seems you don't have to be there until three days from now based on the letter."

"I'll be scouting for the next few days. I'll use my crows to establish an entry and an exit point, along with a backup if complications should arise. Because of my sharingan, all I have to do is be near the meeting and replay my memories of it back to the League when I'm done. If I see him, I'll also be apprehending Count Vertigo too." Itachi never went into a situation blind.

"From the letter I can tell you that you'll be going to a masquerade rave. No need to sneak in because everyone will have masks on; even the targets. For now just worry about distinguishing your targets from civilians and get out of there. He sent you to collect data not fight a full scale battle alone." She uttered wisely.

That helps knowing that he didn't have to sneak in, but a question still popped up in his mind, "How do you know it's a masquerade?"

She chuckled to herself before throwing down a Gotham Now magazine, "I do have interests outside of this shop you know. It's notorious for its anonymity; the one place where any one person can show up and no one knows about it. It's the perfect place where men like Count Vertigo rear their ugly heads out of hiding."

Itachi accepted that answer and went back into his preparation. Ms. Yumi decided to leave him to his work so he'd be as prepared as possible. She was almost out of the door when Itachi spoke to her again.

"You never answered my question." He stated.

"What question would that be?"

"Did you stage that intervention on purpose?" He asked again. She had a shocked look on her face but wound up smiling, 'He really did know I was there from the very beginning, yet he still asked me how long I had been standing there. He catches on fast. The best way to catch someone in a lie is to ask them a question you already know the answer to and see how they answer; tell the truth, tell a lie, answer vaguely, or tell a truth laced with lies.'

"Yes I did. The girl is right Itachi. You need to move on from the past. If you don't, you'll unlock the power that the great Sage bestowed upon you, but more importantly you won't ever find happiness. You should tell the girl how you feel and be honest about your past, it will bring you peace I just know it."

"Why does it matter?" Itachi said finally looking up at her.

"Because you've earned it. You deserve to be happy and she makes you happy, I can tell. Just a thought, you can go back to your mission." She then left the room. Itachi thought about her words and debated in his head on whether or not he deserved to be happy, he is a killer and there is no way to speak that down. Either way he couldn't dwell on conflicts of Itachi because for the next few days the Crow will be on the hunt.

Today was the day of the masquerade rave. Itachi had no problems getting inside like how Ms. Yumi predicted. Since everyone wore a mask, there was no reason to card them since the whole point of this party was being anonymous. Itachi literally walked right in, Crow outfit and all. The few people who bothered to ask thought it was just a cool imitation and made comments on him being too small to be the vigilante. Itachi paid them no mind as he was focusing on finding his targets. This place didn't seem like the type of place to find super-villains in Gotham, but The Stacked Deck didn't either and that's where all of the criminals of Gotham mingle when hiding. It's where Itachi first searched for the Count.

Itachi spent the last three days scouting the area out. The rave was in an affluent area where the prosperous and wealthy mingle; Gotham Heights. It was like night and day when compared to where Itachi usually patrols at nights in the more hostile parts of the city. From scouting Itachi found two possible exit routes; the underground catacombs that ran under this part of Gotham and the Gotham train station. Both were prepped so that they could make for a quick and effective retreat should something go awry, but it shouldn't come to that if everything goes according to plan.

He was to find the targets, spy on them until he got enough information on future plans, and leave; a fight was the last thing Itachi needed with so many people here. The only thing was locating one of the villains since everyone would have masks on. He'd look for the people who were off by themselves since it would look suspicious to be alone while in a room full of jubilant people. It's why Itachi navigated through crowds to ward off any suspicion since he still didn't know what he was looking for.

It didn't take long for the rave to get started and the music to blare. Everyone was dancing and shouting like there was no tomorrow. This place had a DJ on one side and a music stage on the other; there was no expense spared. Itachi figured this was to keep everyone's attention on the music and decrease the chances of anyone getting too curious about what was really going on behind the scenes. Itachi was still on lookout while in the middle of this horde of dancers; he wanted to get this done quickly.

As time went by Itachi got asked to dance by a lot of overzealous women. They'd try to dance and grope on him but he'd refuse and go back on watch since the mission was all he cared about. The last thing he needed was a distraction that caused him to miss his window of opportunity. One woman in particular that asked him was different from the others. She had on a dark green kimono with rips along it and was tied around her waist, its length was just above her knees, and she had on knee-high boots. She had on a mask with red stripes and a wide grin, like a Cheshire Cat.

"Wanna dance, or are you going to make me the sixth girl you say no to?" She asked teasingly while indicating that she had been watching him which Itachi didn't at all. He had noticed it a while back but thought she was just a curious girl; now not so much.

"Why are you following me?"

"It's probably the same reason why you're here in the first place; because someone told me to." She then started dancing with him in a flirtatious way, "You should probably dance before someone thinks you're up to something."

Itachi initially refused, but he thought about how it would make him look to others that might have been watching him and reluctantly went along with her. She smirked behind her mask as Itachi was wishing for this to end. She leaned up to him and whispered seductively, "Admit it, you're enjoying this."

Itachi pulled away from her and started to walk away before she drew a kunai from in her sleeve, "I'd be careful if I were you. Everyone is being watched, even if it doesn't look like it."

"You're not me now let me go." Itachi demanded quietly. The masked woman chuckled to herself as she withdrew her kunai back to her sleeve.

"Funny, I drew a knife on you and you didn't even flinch. You even had the audacity to threaten me. I like that and I like you," She then pointed over to the bar where a masked man was sitting by himself. He looked at his watch and got up to head upstairs where very few people were, "I believe that's who you were looking for. You can call me Cheshire Cat by the way."

"I didn't ask," Itachi replied coldly. She laughed again as she retreated into the crowd and disappeared. Before she left thought Itachi could hear her last words to him, "Good luck…Crow."

Itachi wanted to go after her but the masked man was his main priority. If she left the building, one of his crows would now follow her anyways. He didn't like that exchange at all; not how knowledgeable she was or how flirtatious she was with him either.

Itachi followed the masked man as he headed up to a secluded part of the building. From a distance he noticed that the further the man got, the more he was becoming skeptical of being followed. After walking for a while the man stopped at a door that two guards were watching.

Itachi used his sharingan to scan the room. The room already had six other people in it, all of whom had eerie auras to them. He showed them his hand so that they could identify and allow him passage. He entered the room and the guards locked it behind him, with each of them having a key.

'They both have marks on their hands, and now that I think back on it, that woman had one as well. That must be how they can tell each other apart,' he realized.

Itachi stealthily snuck up on them using the shadows. He figured needed both of their keys to open the door and spy on them. He didn't want them to call for backup so he decided to play it safe with genjutsu. He appeared before one of them and put him to sleep instantly.

"Oh no, it's the-" His partner tried to call for backup but Itachi put under his control before he could finish. He immediately got silent and was waiting for Itachi's instructions.

"Titus, what was that?" He heard come out of the guard's radio. Itachi motioned for him to answer, "It was nothing. I thought I saw something is all."

"Where is Cain?"

"He's inside. The clients wanted to make sure they were protected so they requested that he stay in the room."

"Very well, just remember to check in at the scheduled times. I don't want any more screw-ups out of either of you."

"Yes sir." After that Itachi put him to sleep and used a transformation technique to look exactly like his partner Cain. Using both of their keys, Itachi unlocked the door and walked into the meeting room.

The villains looked up and stopped their discussion once one of the guards entered the room. Batman's suspicions were proven correct. The room was filled with seven of the world's deadliest super-criminals: Wotan, Poison Ivy, Atomic Skull, Ultra-Humanite, Black Adam, the Joker, and Count Vertigo. In his short time in this world he had done research on all types of people and if they were anything like how the rumors and reports say they are, then only catastrophe can come from this.

"What are you doing in here grunt?" Atomic Skull asked.

"My boss wanted to make sure that this room was secure and had me stand guard inside while my partner watches outside." He answered.

"Hahahahahaha! Why do we need to be guarded?! It's not like we're in a room full of psychos and murderers." Joker bellowed.

"Whatever, just as long as your boss doesn't come in I guess. The plants despise him," Poison Ivy said while leering at the transformed Itachi.

"We've wasted enough time on this subject. Let us conclude this meeting so that I may return to Kahndaq." Black Adam muttered now losing his patience with his cohorts.

"Yes, I agree with Black Adam. Let us continue," Vertigo concurred. Joker pouted to himself, "You guys are no fun at all. Just business and not the good kind; you're the horrible 9 to 5 kind of business. Loosen up, by tomorrow we're gonna be rid of the Justice League and then take over the world! Or is it we take over the world and then get rid of the Justice League? Who cares hahahahaha! Just as long as I can skin that pointy-eared bat you all can do what you freaks want with the rest of the super squares!"

"We have to be careful Joker. The only way this works is if we maintain the element of surprise. The League is resourceful, hence why we have all been forced to collaborate on this joint project. Alone the League is too much for us, but together we can conquer all of them…including the bat." Vertigo stated calmly. Itachi figured that he was the leader of this operation.

"What happens after I unleash my plants to attack?" Ivy asked.

"We wait for them to come to us. The sheer number of attacks spread out across the globe will spread the League too thin. We will then make our ransom, they'll refuse, and then they'll send out the b-squad of children they have running around to face us." Humanite answered. He kept eyeing Itachi weirdly, mumbling something about the smell being off.

"After that we fight and apprehend their team of sidekicks, the rest of the League will show up and we use the sidekicks for ransom along with the threat of desolating the Earth. Once they surrender we'll destroy the entire group all at once and begin a new era on Earth. It'll be a world where we rule without opposition and where our will is law." Vertigo declared.

"What if they don't bite for it? What if they choose not to split up and pursue us?" Wotan asked.

Vertigo then pointed to Joker who began to laugh like the madman he was, "Then we let Joker play in his brand new playground. He'll persuade them sooner rather than later after that happens for sure."

"It's all agreed upon then. Tomorrow the Injustice League steps out into the light," Vertigo then motioned that the meeting was finished. Itachi had to deliver this information to Batman and the Justice League immediately before they fell into this organization's trap. He went to leave once he saw that the meeting was over and everyone was leaving through a secret passageway when Ultra-Humanite stopped him, "You forgot something."

"Yes…" Itachi answered thinking his cover was blown, "Make sure to tell your boss he'll get the rest of his deposit wired to his account at midnight."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to let him know." He then left out of the room. Once he felt the coast was clear he transformed back into his Crow attire and started to make his way downstairs. He needed to leave fast and hope that he wouldn't be too late with this new information.

Itachi made his way back downstairs where the rest of the party was being held. He officially finished the second part of the mission. Back when he was the captain of the Anbu Black Ops, Itachi had more than his fair share of infiltration missions. Infiltrating and spying on villages was always the easy part. He found that the hardest part of those missions was always getting out without alerting the enemy of your presence. The music was blaring even louder than ever and everyone was dancing like there was no tomorrow for them. Little did they know if the League is unable to stop the attack tomorrow, it just might end up being their last dance.

Itachi was making his way through the crowd. His first exit route will be through the Gotham Catacombs since the likelihood of opposition being there waiting will be at a minimum. He scanned around for more guards, which he could tell apart now that he knows that they all have marks on their hands. They were acting frantic and searching the congregation, 'Looks like the guards I took out missed their check-in times. They must know they've been infiltrated and are on high alert.'

As he was walking and scanning the room Itachi was bumped by someone. He turned to see that it was a hulking man that was similar to Batman in size and build, only he was in orange and black and had a lot of weapons on him; both guns and swords. The man scanned Itachi before he walked up to him. Itachi already knew who he was before he opened his mouth to address him. He figured this must have been who was in charge with security, none other than the world greatest assassin Deathstroke.

"Deathstroke," Itachi said knowing this was no costume, this was the real deal and he was in trouble. Deathstroke was a walking armory.

"Crow," The assassin responded. Deathstroke knew that the one before him was the real Crow. He had done his homework and knew his description all the way to what type of boots the vigilante wore, "You working tonight?"

"Yeah…" Itachi answered knowing he had been caught and was in for a battle.

"Sounds like you've had a good night so far. You actually slipped past me, you really are good. That must have been you those idiots saw earlier, wasn't it?" He asked already knowing the answer.

"Unfortunately," Itachi answered. He saw all of the guards around them in the crowd start to focus and converge on his location. He then felt a shift in Deathstroke's demeanor, "I'm sorry to hear that Crow, but I have a mission to do."

"So do I," Deathstroke then drew a pistol and shot at Itachi who had summoned a kunai to deflect the bullets. It ended in a stalemate. Itachi reacted first by front kicking Deathstroke to the ground hard. He then threw down smoke bombs for cover as he made his way to the catacombs. There was an entrance to the underground maze in the building; he just had to get to it. Deathstroke was still reeling from the powerful front kick he received, "After Him! I want his mask!"

The men then gave chase to Itachi. Since he was still in the cover of the smoke, which the crowd around him thought was part of the show, he had the jump on all of them. The crowd kept cheering louder and louder which gave Itachi another veil of protection. It wasn't until bodies started hitting the floor did the crowd start to panic and disperse.

As the men came close to him, Itachi would deliver brutal blows to them and progress his way through the crowd; never staying in one spot for too long. He eventually made it to an open area where he was surrounded by about four men. They were prepared for him as they all had covering over their eyes now to avoid being put under genjutsu. Itachi summoned forth shuriken and launched it at all of their hands to disarm them. He rushed two of them and took them about with swift strikes to their heads. Itachi turned and delivered a brutal roundhouse kick to another of them who dared to try and take Itachi's back. He was out cold with a major concussion. The last one drew his gun and fired at Itachi, but his speed was too fast to be hit. He dodged every shot until he was right in front of him.

Itachi heard two more militia men coming around the corner and acted fast. He gripped the forearm of the current man he was grappling with and guided his aim to make him shoot the others as they turned the corner. They were each shot in the hip and shoulder to avoid killing them and also prevent them from continuing their pursuit of him. Once Itachi saw they were out of it he delivered a palm strike to the current gunman's throat and drove his knee to his face to knock him out cold.

He scanned the area again and saw that they had lost visual of him. Using this to his advantage, he summoned a shadow clone of him to act as a diversion and take out as many of them as possible as he continued on to the catacombs. Once he saw the big amount of militia following after his clone, he snuck away and headed towards his destination.

Itachi had made it to the catacombs. His clone was shot and disappeared a while ago so he knew that he had put enough distance between him and the militia. What had him worried though was the fact that his clone hadn't seen Deathstroke before it disappeared, meaning the most skilled killer on Earth (not named Itachi) was unaccounted for, which is a dangerous thought. He was a fourth of the way through the maze when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw the woman in the cat mask that spoke with him earlier. She also had armed men behind her. They were dressed the same as the men upstairs and they also had covers over their eyes. He no longer had the cover of crowds of people and loud music, but that wouldn't matter since they were the darkness now which was a just as good.

"Loose ends?" He asked her.

"Just you." She replied.

"You helped me out earlier just to turn around and hunt me now?" Itachi didn't understand her way of thinking at all.

"Didn't you pay attention earlier handsome? I like you so I saw no harm in giving you a little assistance, not that you needed it." She answered as if it was the most obvious thing on Earth.

"Yeah…" He stayed focused even though she was flirting with him again. He knew she was trying to bait and get a reaction out of him but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

"But now that we've reach this part of our little date, it's time I fulfilled my mission and eliminate you. For what it's worth I enjoyed dancing with you, but I'm kinda interested in this other guy at the moment which means our fun has to end, sayonara." She said now changing her tone from playful to sinister.

Itachi figured her plan out pretty quickly. She wasn't talking to him just for the thrill of it, she was stalling until more of her men arrived. Just as she finished her last sentence two men rounded the corner and began shooting at Itachi with semi-automatic machine guns. He dodged the shots and receded deeper into the catacombs as the militia ran after him. Cheshire stayed behind, thinking that Deathstroke's men should be enough to handle the vigilante by themselves. What she didn't know was Itachi had already figured this into his plans for escape.

While scouting the area in the days prior Itachi made contingency plans for something like this happening. He rigged this entire cavern with paper-bombs that were primed to go off at any point that Itachi needed them too. They weren't powerful enough to cause a cave in, but that didn't mean he couldn't use them to disorientate and flank the enemies. The bombs coupled with the low visibility were more than enough to even the odds against the militia that were hunting him.

As he was retreating Itachi used his Phoenix Flower Jutsu to blast his pursuers away. He kept the attacks miniature so it wouldn't cause any fatal injuries. They saw the fire balls as a deterrent to rushing in blind. Itachi used their hesitation to set off his first wave of bombs. About a dozen men got knocked unconscious from the impact of the explosions. The ones that were left standing were dazed because of the loud resonating sounds from the blasts that echoed throughout the catacombs. Itachi then used the darkness to creep up on them and incapacitate any of the survivors.

He had about two dozen or so men left chasing him. Itachi would have to take them out on his own until he reached the next wave of armed bombs. He also had the cavern filled with fake bombs to confuse the enemy and alter their attack patterns. Because of the first wave of explosions, everyone was more spaced out to avoid being ambush all at once. This allowed Itachi to pick them off easier since they couldn't discern bombs were real and which were fake.

He saw a group of about five men straggling around and decided to ambush them. He grabbed one of them from behind and put him to sleep with a choke hold. The next two were taken out by shuriken that cut through their armor. The last of the group where blasted away with Phoenix Flower technique.

Itachi dropped to a lower level of the catacombs for more cover. He rounded a corner and was face-to-face with a man with a shotgun. Itachi reacted quickly by leg sweeping him to the ground before he could be shot at. Itachi was on top of him and had an angle to see about four more men approaching in this direction, but they couldn't see him because he was on the ground hidden in darkness. He shot fireballs laced with shuriken at them to knock them about before they knew what hit them. Just as he was about to get up he felt a presence behind him. He pushed the downed solider away to prevent him from being accidentally killed and jumped away as rounds were shot at him from his spot on the ground. Itachi landed, kneed him in the sternum, and used the gun the soldier had as a club to crack over the man's head and knock him out. Not forgetting the soldier he swept into the ground, Itachi delivered a hard stomp to the downed man's head to put him out of commission and continue onwards.

Itachi was in the middle of weaving hand signs for the Phoenix Flower technique again when he heard men behind him. In one swift he motion he stopped weaving the hand signs, summoned three shuriken, and turned to launch them at the militia behind him. They were to slow to react and were all incapacitated from the attack. Itachi heard men in the intersecting hallway in front of him and decided to pause for cover.

'This would be a lot easier if I could kill them instead of just knocking them all out. I can't even use genjutsu since they all have visors over their eyes so I can't establish eye contact. I'd just point if it wasn't for the fact that I'd be shot by someone nearby. Deathstroke really did his homework if he deduced that the way to combat my genjutsu is by attacking in waves and reducing my time to initiate it. It's a good thing that hallway has the rest of the bombs in it,' he thought.

Once he finished weaving the hand signs for another volley of fireballs, Itachi saw his opportunity and activated about half of the bombs in the hallway. The men that weren't taken out from the blasts of the bombs got taken out from the blasts of Itachi's fireballs. Itachi saw about four men following after the sounds of the blasted hallways and one coming from the hallway he just came out of. He took out the single soldier first by rushing him and connecting with axe kick that broke the man's collarbone. Itachi finished him off by driving him headfirst into a nearby wall.

'There should be about eight men left. Four here and four up ahead,' he deduced. Wanting to take these guys out fast, Itachi switched up his jutsu. "Water Style! Water Bullet Jutsu!"

Itachi turned the corner and blasted everybody in sight. In less than three seconds, three of the men were incapacitated. As Itachi was weaving hand signs for a follow-up jutsu, a soldier came out of nowhere to rush Itachi. Itachi stopped weaving and shoved him against the wall, removed his visor, and put him under a genjutsu. After bringing all of the unconscious soldiers out of the hallway, Itachi used the rest of the bombs to block that entryway should more men arrive to pursue him.

He was almost out of catacombs and most of the men were taken care of. The last four men came out and surrounded Itachi. He dropped a smoke bomb with a large enough radius to cover the entire area. In the smoke Itachi finished weaving his hand signs from earlier and got his Water Bullet Jutsu ready. Itachi unleashed powerful torrents from within the smoke and took everyone out. Once the smoke cleared Itachi was the only man left standing. He summoned another shadow clone to go back into the catacombs and ward off any stragglers that may have still been in there. The real Itachi kept forging ahead till he reached the end of the catacombs and escaped.

Itachi was now miles away from the masquerade party and was about to exit Gotham Heights. He hadn't seen any of the soldiers in a while and assumed he was in the clear. When Itachi took this mission the last thing he wanted was to get into a prolonged gunfight with assassins. He wanted to get in and out quietly. But now he was on the radar of Deathstroke and this woman calling herself the Cheshire Cat, which wasn't even the worst news of the night. An impending attack tomorrow was top on the list.

'As Itachi I have Carson to deal with, and as the Crow I have assassins and super-criminals to deal with. At this point in time, I think I prefer the assassins and super-criminals.' He thought not wanting to deal with the drama between him and Carson. Not even distancing himself from her could stop the inner conflict she made him feel. It feels like the Itachi she views him as is at war with the Itachi he views himself as, and there needs to be a winner soon for both of their sakes.

As he was deep in his thoughts he heard the sound of a revved up car heading his way. Thinking fast, he leapt out of the way as a car rammed into the row of parked cars he was in front of. Quickly exiting the car was Deathstroke with pistols in each hand and aimed it at Itachi.

"Your night just got worse Crow."

That's it for this chapter. This is part one of the next arc of this story. It will focus on the fight against the Injustice League. I hope you all enjoy reading it. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and told me your opinions, I really enjoy them so keep it up. I hope to get this next chapter done within 1-2 weeks so lookout for it. Thanks again and have a good one peeps!