"Look's like my body's still a little sluggish.." Itachi thought to himself as the once beautiful and expensive looking area that was the Iceberg Lounge balcony now sat ablaze with fire and smoke flying out the shattered windows. He had hoped he'd recuperated enough to quickly activate a jutsu that would end the fight but Croc proved to be quite nimble for a monster of his size. Especially since neither him nor his prone body were anywhere to be seen. Did the explosion blast him out of the building? The thought was such that Itachi grew a tiny grin. "Kisame would probably have a joke about falling crocodiles."
He turned back to the elevator where Jacob sat curled up against the wall, his mouth agape but shielding his eyes from the smoke that started to surround him.
"What the hell was that?!" He coughed out to his rescuer who shrugged and leaped next to him.
"Our way out." Itachi replied. grabbing his arm leading the very much confused Sasori agent through the flames and to the outside area that, save for the shards of glass from the broken windows, remained unscathed. Outside sat a lit up bright neon helipad and a bruised and dazed Wallace.
"So, you breath fire now?" Wallace asked cradling his head, clearly fighting a significant headache. Itachi wasn't sure if he noticed his nod but it didn't really matter right now. He needed to get these two out of here before continuing any further. He was honestly amazed Wallace had got up from that throw from Croc but chalked it up to his natural size and toughness. Tough or not though, keeping him and Jacob around any longer than needed was pushing fate a bit too far.
Which led to the current quandary, Kakazu had told him he'd have whatever a helicopter was waiting for them up here. So just where was it?
A bloodcurdling cry combined anger with pain and alerted the trio to presence of the singed but still moving Croc.
"That. Hurt." He growled out towards the trio.
"Where'd you even come from?!" Wallace yelled. "He blasted you off the roof!"
Itachi fought back a smile at the confirmation of his thought from earlier. "I can climb too jackass!" Croc yelled charging towards the trio. Deciding that Tsukoyomi would have a more permanent effect, Itachi's began to morph when a new pair of figures appeared over their heads. Croc shielded his face just in time to stop a a barrage of battarangs and two drop kicks from making too much of an impact. The figures flipped back through the air and landed in front of the trio.
"What exactly did you do now?" Batgirl asked annoyed at the red eyed former shinobi.
Itachi shrugged. "My apologies if you were caught up in the flames."
"Nah. We're good. Pretty powerful blast though. Hope you guys are ok." Robin replied out looking over the trio before seeing Itachi. He deactivated his technique just as the young crimefighter made eye contact. "So, you're the guy who can run along walls." Robin tilted his head, seemingly unimpressed but still polite "Cool."
"Hey, I thought Robin was older." Wallace said scratching his head and unknowingly speaking for Jacob who shook his head now throughly decided to roll with it. Robin shifted his stance at the words. "I'm sort of new to this."
Itachi had no clue know why, but for a split second, this "Robin" took on the shape of his long lost innocent kid brother. A Sasuke who hadn't been traumatized to the point of oblivion. It was over just as fast as it began but it pretty much confirmed to Itachi that this was a good kid.
"Focus Robin." Batgirl ordered just as Croc began to regain his sight. Robin nodded and the pair leapt towards the reptilian man and began to battle. Ducking and dodging around his clumsy attacks with the elegance of trained shinobi before combing their attacks in almost perfect unison and never in the exact same place. Robin would strike at Croc's face, Batgirl his legs. Robin his right, Batgirl his left. An excellent teamwork strategy that wielded good results of wearing down the already singed monster.
Before he could think of what to do next, the motorized sounds of what Itachi would come to know as a helicopter appeared and the trio looked up to see a bright red, military grade chopper seemingly appear out of nowhere. A door slid open from the vehicle as the blades above continued to whirl and a strangely armored man with a helmet waved his hands to get aboard. Wallace wasted no time shaking his headache off and grabbing Jacob and putting stepping aboard. When Itachi didn't follow, Wallace looked back, confused.
"Whatcha waiting for? Let's go!" Wallace called out, his voice barely making it through the noise of the spinning blades . Itachi shook his head. Mouthing, "You'll be safe until we meet again." Wallace started to go back out when the door closed in front of him. The noise started to fade as the helicopter rose into the air before vanishing completely. Noise and all. Was that some sort of camouflage technique? Whatever it was it looked useful. His blink after wards quelled his thoughts. He turned back to the crime fighters who now looked to be knocking Croc onto his last legs. With a silent nod of farewell that neither would notice, he dropped off the roof of the Lounge away from the Bat-family and towards the streets below.
Wonder Woman had to admit, Batman could stare at something and ponder it a good deal longer than she could. She wasn't even sure if he was blinking under that cowl of his. Still though it was perplexing enough to warrant his gaze. It was the last footprint of the fugitive Hidan before he disappeared. Covered in drying blood and just sitting there on the cold Atlantean ground.
"So, you think he got his tele-porter working again?" She asked half wondering if Batman could even here her given his fixation on the footprint.
"Obviously." He replied not bothering to look up at her. He knelt down and pulled what looked like a napkin from his belt. "You've dealt with more supernatural specimen than I have. You seen anything like his power before?" He asked wiping up the bloody print, for what would no doubt be a long research session in the bat cave.
Diana shook her head. "Can't say I have." She tilted her head impressed. "This is actually something we haven't seen before."
"And Arthur paid the price for it." Batman grumbled standing back up. He looked away from the Amazon and over to an Atlantean guard who accompanied them. "He going to come out of this ok?"
"Queen Mera says he's bruised but he he should be fine." The guard replied after taking a moment to communicate back with the palace. "I still don't see how a surface dweller could get passed our defenses. Even with magic, it shouldn't be possible without alerting our king."
"We'll have to deal with that later." Batman replied looking back to Diana. "I need to get back to Gotham. Diana I'll drop you off at…."
"We've got to head back to Gotham. You mean." Wonder Woman interrupted folding her arms. "You're not getting rid of me that easily.
"Fine. Let's go." He growled back not feeling in the mood to argue with the Amazon who took it as a rare victory against him. Moments later, the Javelin took off and blasting into the surrounding ocean and up towards the surface.
With a kick that housed more strength than his frame let on, Kakazu flung Bane through the air before leaping up and shoving his elbow into his stomach sending him crashing back down onto a nearby empty car crushing the now worthless Porsche under his massive frame. Picking himself back up with minimal effort he charged yet again at the masked man who returned the gesture, creating a sort of mini shockwave with their collision. The two stood with each's hand caught by the other and now striving to overpower the one who stood across from them.
Kakazu smiled up to his fellow masked warrior knowing he already had the advantage. Bane was an incredibly gifted mercenary. His deadly combination of strength and intelligence alone guaranteed that. Throw in his famous "Venom" serum on top of it, and you have a devastating monster capable of putting even the most well trained heroes six feet in the ground.
Kakazu, or K as he'd been called however, was definitely no hero. And partially due to their previous run-ins, he'd come to learn of a fatal flaw in Bane's character. He was a sore loser and prone to making mistakes when he was angry. Kakazu sighed at the complete one eighty that Bane could go to once he was hit with the stuff.
Self control was perhaps the most vital thing to have in a mercenary's line of work. In that type of job you were guaranteed to come across people you didn't like whether they were targets or partners and losing your cool for whatever reason was a good way for any plan you might've had to go sideways in less than a second. As such, Bane had always prided himself in being hard annoy. He disliked people, sure. Probably more than most people do. But when it came time to do his job, ninety-eight percent of the time, he could drop his personal hatreds or grudges and take care of things efficiently.
Then there was that pesky two percent margin that always came back to bight him. It was a particular group of people that no matter what they did or he did to them, they could always irk him in some way and typically cause his downfall. And amongst that group, K always stood out as being a particular annoyance.
"You've been working out?" Kakazu mocked. "You're putting a bit more energy into it than before." Bane gritted his teeth ignoring the the goad by his opponent and sent a kick of his own towards K's chest. It made contact but K's grip didn't loosen. With Bane now being brought along for the ride, the pair flew across the air and into yet another car that looked to be driving straight towards the pair. Just before the crash, two figures rolled out from the car and away from the jumbled brawl. The car however didn't just stop in it's tracks and K and Bane were chucked away from each other as the now now window-shieldless car smashed into a nearby street lamp.
One of the figures, the female vigilante whom Batgirl had called earlier was the first to stand up after ejecting from the car projecting her annoyance straight at the driver of said car.
"Okay, that could've gone better." Huntress grumbled.
"'C'mon Q, why don't you let me drive?'" Her partner mocked laying in the snow and imitating her voice with an added shiver due to the cold. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"I get it Q!" Huntress yelled out as Question stood back up wiping off his signature blue coat of any lingering snow just in time see one half of the brawling mercenaries fly past them and smash into his car. K grumbled after taking a breath. "Ok, That one wasn't bad." He then looked over to the newly arrived heroes.
"Huntress. Question."
"K?" Huntress asked recognizing the man. "What the hell are you doing out of prison?"
"Shouldn't you be asking him that?" K asked pointing back to the hulking Venom rage induced figure grinning in the distance. "He doesn't seem to like me."
"Really? I never would've guessed." Question replied looking over Bane. He was tired. Too tired to deal any lasting damage as long as they were careful. Just who this "K" was and how he managed to tire out a monster like Bane, well that was another question all together. "Huntress you know this man?"
"He's a mercenary." Huntress replied. "Goes by K. He also makes a pretty kickass drink if you asks him to."
"If you pay me to." K corrected breathing another sigh of relief and relaxing his muscles as if the fight had taken a decent tole on his body. "He got me pretty good. So if you want to help, I'll take it."
"Look, if you're ok, just wait right here. Huntress and I will handle the rest." Q nodded.
"We will?" Huntress asked back with a raised eyebrow. "Bane's no pushover Q."
"Get out of the way, heroes!" Bane ordered towards the pair pointing towards the man still up against Q's car. "He's mine!"
"Just follow my lead." Q ordered prepping for the fight.. "I'll get his attention. You try and knockout his supply." Huntress nodded biting back a witty retort and focusing on the task at hand. The pair took off towards the criminal who roared in annoyance at their interference. K, for his part simply picked himself up from the wreckage. Silently thanked the heroes for their timely involvement and vanished from sight.
Sasori hated being out in the open like this. Even back home, he'd always preferred taking care of business away from prying eyes. Plus, in general he didn't trusted crowds. And that was before he lived in a place where everything was recorded and preserved in a vault somewhere. So you can imagine his anger at the three or four news crews that had settled all around the Lounge, trying their best to get good shots of the brawl Bane and K must've been having. Then there was the whole thing with Itachi and wherever the hell he was.
"Yo." Itachi said walking up behind him with a wave. The red head had to fight back a face palm at the timing. Turns out the saying was true.
"Speak of the devil. Where the hell have you been?" Sasori asked looking at the slightly roughed up Uchiha. His clothes were still held together but they seemed singed and smelled like they had come close to burning. But his fashion didn't bother him so much as the lack of any other person with him. "And where's Jacob?"
"Ran into some trouble on the roof. But got him on a helicopter that Kakazu called. They'll be dropped off whenever and wherever we decide."
"Helicopter?" Sasori asked. "When did that become a part of the plan? He said he was calling us a car."
"Relax red." Kakazu said walking up beside the pair surprising Sasori and Itachi alike. "Car should be here any second."
"Take care of Bane?" Sasori asked. Kakazu shook his head.
"Nope, wasn't being paid to. I just needed to keep him distracted till the heroes showed up. They'll take care of each other and be our distraction till our ride gets here."
Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Why do we even need to wait for a car? Sasori and I walked here from our hideout. Let's just…."
The sound of tires screeching across the cold snowy road just a few feet away from them suddenly reached the trio's ears as a long black limousine plowed through the snow and halted right next to them.
"A limo?" Sasori griped, annoyed by the lack of discretion.
"What? I need a drink." Kakazu replied being the first to enter the car. Itachi followed suit as did Sasori who immediately closed the door behind him and yelled up to the front.
"You know where Beatrice Bowling is?"
"Oh sure hun! I'll get ya there in a jiffy!" A distinctly feminine replied with more energy than you'd expect coming from a limousine driver. The back window to the driver's seat slid down and the driver looked back to the three with a ruby red smile. "So you're K's friends huh? I didn't think he had any." She laughed. Her hair was hid under a driver's cap save for a few strands of blonde that crept out to the side and her eyes gleamed with an unnatural chaos that Itachi had never quite seen before. Sasori on the other hand, had seen that look before. Several times in both prison databases and captured crimes. She was usually garbed in a jester suit and her face covered in theatrical clown make up.
"Kakazu?" Sasori looked over to the mercenary who had just took of the lid of a whisky bottle that had been sitting in the chair next to him and was scoffed at the driver's insult. "Is that…"
"You want to wait around for the Bat Family to find us Quinn?" Kakazu asked up towards the driver's seat ignoring Sasori's question but also giving him the answer he'd been dreading. "Move it. Barba's Bowling."
"Beatrice…" Sasori corrected burying his face into his hands in a display that nearly made Itachi laugh. He wasn't sure what had caused it but the notoriously stoic Sasori seeming so defeated was amusing.
"Whatever." Kakazu replied downing a drink. "There's an extra grand if you get us there in twenty minutes or less."
That was all the motivation the driver needed. With a smile that seemed eerily similar to the infamous clown prince's, Quinn floored the gas and took off down the road. Disappearing into the Gotham night.
It didn't take too long for things to calm back down after that. Question's observations about Bane proved true and soon he and Huntress had him him Venom dry and handcuffed to a fire hydrant. Likewise on what remained of the roof of the lounge, Batgirl and Robin had Croc down and out just as. Justice Leage issued Javelin sat down atop it. "Jeez, took you long enough to get here." Robin sighed looking at his mentor and the Amazon with an annoyed frown. "You know you could've told us if you wanted to relax with your girlfriend."
"Batgirl, what happened here?" Batman asked ignoring Tim's question and looking to the redhead for answers with his usual intimidating bat glare.
"Where do I begin?" Batgirl replied standing up from looking over Croc's unconscious body. "You want to talk about how someone dressed like you got captured, broke out and wrecked Penguin's lounge? Or the fact that it was the same guy I met last night?"
"Or how can breath fire?!" Robin chimed in wondering how Batgirl could forget that little tidbit.
"Who is this person exactly?" Diana asked just as two new figures appeared on the side of the roof via grappling hook.
"Oh good. You two got here just in time." Huntress mocked helping Q up as he clutched his arm. "Could've used your help with Bane."
"Bane was here?" Diana asked clearly surprised but the addition.
"Yeah. Bastard was going after an old friend." Huntress replied before looking at Batman. "By the way, K's out of prison."
Batman's glare somehow managed to narrow even further as Wonder Woman could do little other then ask the obvious. "Um, who's K?"
Neither replied before moving away from the group to continue their conversation. Leaving Wonder Woman alone with Q as Batgirl and Robin followed thier mentor.
"A real asshole, as I've been told. He dissapeared after we took over his fight with Bane. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one responsible for the break up of the nineties boy bands." Question answered, waving at Diana with his good arm. "How you been Diana?"
Wonder Woman smiled at the statement glad to see that Q still had his sense of humor. Despite everthing that had happened with him and Superman, he was still as good hearted as any of them even if perhaps he saw connections where there weren't any. But then again, he was a better detective than she was. So who was she to judge? "Hey Q. Your arm ok?"
"Ah." Question said waving off her concern. "Lucky shot. I'll be fine. You know anything about this K guy?"
"About as much as I know about Batgirl's mystery man."
"What? You mean Batman's not good with sharing secrets?" Question asked with obvious sarcasm.
"About as good as Huntress is I'm sure." Wonder Woman replied.
Question nodded "Point taken. So, where were you and he at anyway?"
"Aquaman called about...some jackass in Atlantis." Wonder Woman explained failing to come up with a better word for the idiot know as Hidan. "Get this, he can apparently teleport and use some magic that makes anything happen to him happen to someone else."
"Like some sort of human voodoo doll?" Question asked. "That's a new one."
"A lot of this isn't starting to seem new." Wonder Woman replied. Question could only nod in agreement.
It was close to four o'clock in the morning when the trio of misplaced shinobi arrived back at Sasori's home via a limousine sliding into the parking lot of Beatrice Bowling. "All right boys! B's bowling on your right. That'll be three grand please."
"Kakazu." Sasori said offering the bounty hunter the opportunity to pay the bill as he exited the car. Kakazu looked annoyed at the red head before looking to Itachi who shook his head and pulled out his empty wallet for proof.
"Cheap bastards." Kakazu replied grabbing a rolled up wad of cash and tossing it up to the driver. "You're bleeding me dry Quinn."
"Hey! You woke me up from a pretty nice nap! You're lucky I even got up to get you guys." The driver replied with a huff. "Besides, a girl's got bills to pay. Thank of it as helping those less fortunate than yourself."
"Yeah. Yeah." Kakazu grumbled getting out of the limo after Sasori. Quinn smiled at the reaction before remembering the third occupant.
"You got something to say handsome?" The driver asked looking back to Itachi. Itachi replied with a simple head bow.
"Just my gratitude ." Itachi replied. "Thank you for helping us miss Quinn."
Apparently, she wasn't quite used to a simple thank you and went silent at the Uchihas words before smiling. " Don't mention it handsome. And I don't have the coat on right now. Just call me Harley." The driver finished with a wink.
Itachi nodded and gave a wave of goodbye as he stepped out of the limo himself and into the wintery car lot. Soon enough, the limo drove off and Itachi found himself back inside Sasori's home. Walking right into a shouting match between his two associates.
"Harley Quinn?!" Sasori yelled.
"Yeah? What about her?" Kakazu replied sitting himself down in a chair. "We needed a driver. So I gave her a call."
"You called the girlfriend of a makeup wearing psychopath?!"
"Ex girlfriend." Kakazu corrected. "Itachi said you were informed. I thought you would've known that. She hasn't been seen with him for months."
"And that changes what exactly?" Sasori asked rubbing his forehead trying to stave off the headache that night night had given him.
"It means she doesn't want to have anything to do with clown these days. And was looking for a job so I set her up as a driver."
"Wow." Itachi said making himself known. "That's generous of you."
"Don't you start Uchiha." Kakazu grumbled. "Now if we can put who I associate with to the side for a second. Can either of you answer a single question for me?" Itachi and Sasori looked to each other wondering if they were gonna hear what they themselves had already asked. "How in the fuck, did we get here?"
A/N: Well I think I'll call it here. As always I hoped you enjoyed it and let me know your thoughts. Check ya later.