Months have passed since Eri's injury at the hands of All for One and Joker. Izuku had visited her every single day since she went to Recovery Girl's care in the Batcave medical bay. Kyoka would bring her food every time they would have a meal and sit with her for hours, taking care of her like her mother did for her. Eri was not going to be cleared for duty for a few weeks still as some of her wounds still needed time to heal. Recovery Girl would have just kissed her and made her better but Eri's energy has been down so much since her encounter with All for One that she had to naturally heal. Her once crushed hand had nearly healed and surgery had to be done to remove bone fragments. Bruised ribs and cuts healed very quickly but her right arm was still kept in a cast and sling for now. The injuries weren't just physical though, the mental scars had already formed. The sheer terror she felt when the whole building collapsed on her and being destroyed by All for One had sent her into a bit of an emotional spiral. To make matters worse, All for One wasn't even trying. He said himself that the only reason the fight ended was because he was bored.

While Eri rested and recovered, Batman continued his crusade trying even harder to track down Joker and All for One. The task was proving more difficult than expected with everything else each night threw at him. At the moment though, he stood perched atop a tower, overlooking the city and listening in for any crime or leads when he heard some interesting chatter or the police frequency.

"Any available officers, reports of suspicious activity in a parking garage west of Aldera Middle School. Suspect is wearing full black and is short in stature." The dispatch officer announced. As if a switch was flipped, Batman immediately became focused on the suspect.

"Hmm, could be Penguin or one of his dealers at least. They frequent the area and make deals with Black Mask and All for One. He'll know where to find one of them at least and then their asses are mine!"

Batman soon arrived at he scene where the initial activity occurred. There was no sign of the person in question so he would have to pick up a trail. He turned on his environment scanner and suddenly he picked up the grip of a shoe in the gravel. Fresh, it would lead him to his prey. The shoe type was unmistakable and Batman knew he was on the right trail.

"Timbs." He concluded as he set off about his patrol to catch the person and question them. 

A few blocks over, we find Denki Kaminari and Eraserhead doing a night patrol. Kaminari took the opportunity to try and improve himself and see how different things are at night. He knew Izuku was out every night keeping the city safe but he still thought it would be good to see how different it really is. Not too long after they started patrol though, the rain decided to come down harshly and thunder and lightning followed suite.

"Kaminari, part of a night patrol means we remain vigilant and more aware of our surroundings than normal. Some villains are afraid to come out in daytime and prefer to commit crime at night meaning it is more work for underground and night time heroes. However, since Batman has appeared, crime at night has steadily declined but with the return of All for One and the Joker being a constant threat, things have escalated. So be prepared for anything." Aizawa commented as dryly as usual. Kaminari simply nodded in response, his eyes shifting everywhere. His eyes eventually landed on a man dressed suspiciously in black, except for his shoes.

"Mr Aizawa?" Denki asked, gaining the Pro's attention as his eyes were drawn to the same place. "Bad guy right?".

"Yep. Now, let's try reasonably approaching him first. After all, the only crime he's committed at this point is jaywalking. Want to try?" Kaminari nods in response and begins to announce himself and get the criminal's attention.

"Excuse me, sir!" The suspect froze in his tracks and turned around. He immediately saw the heroes and became nervous as hell. Just as Kaminari and Aizawa approached, the villain began to run off as fast as he could while firing some ice shards from his hand.

"Next lesson, when they run we chase." Aizawa said as they both gave chase.

"Yeah I kinda figured that out Mr Aizawa. But his quirk is making this a bit more difficult, can't you just erase it and capture him?" Kaminari asked as the three ran through an alley. Aizawa jumped over a dumpster and Kaminari had to slide under some more ice shards. The fast paced chase and dark atmosphere prevented Aizawa from using his quirk too much. Fortunately, they were running towards a dead end where the criminal was cornered and Aizawa could finally use his quirk and erase the villain's ice quirk.

"Nowhere left to run villain." Kaminari declared but was immediately caught off guard.

"Who said anything about running hero?" They replied as they turned around and threw some ninja stars into both arms of our heroes. The pair dropped to their knees in agony, the attack was too quick to react to and gave the villain the opening he needed. A secret hidden wrist blade extended from his sleeve as he approached  Kaminari  to slit his throat but was stopped when he felt a wire wrap around his neck as he was violently pulled backwards and kicked harshly in the spine. The two heroes looked up only to see the villain being beaten up by Batman. Bones were broken, bricks were cracked, blades clashed with gauntlets and blood spilled. The villain tried shooting ice shards but was shocked when Batman caught one and jammed it into his shoulder. Pain shot through his arm and chest as the icicle was deep into the tissue and the cold only made the pain worse.

"Tell me where your boss is. Now." Batman demanded, holding the man by the neck with one hand and holding the icicle with another.

"You will never find the Demon's Head Bat. He will reign forever and you will not stop him." In response, Batman started twisting the icicle. The League member hissed in pain and attempted to punch Izuku in the face but his hand was grabbed. Slowly he began crushing his hand, hearing multiple sickening crunches.

"I'll only ask once more. Where is Ra's Al Ghul?!"

"Ok, ok! He is in New York, meeting with some associates. I swear that's all I know!"

"And here I was thinking the League of Assassins was more hesitant to reveal information than others." Batman stated but immediately after, an arrow was shot through the League member's skull. All three heroes looked to the point of origin only to see a cloud of smoke envelope the ninja as they made their escape.

Paramedics showed up at the scene as well as police to assess the injured hero and student. Aizawa was wondering who the assailant was and who they worked for. While Kaminari was being checked over, Shota walked over to an alley and leaned against the wall.

"So, wanna explain what all this is about then?" He asked quietly to the individual around the corner.

"The guy I was chasing was an associate of Penguin and Black Mask. A League of Assassins member being here though troubles me. If Cobblepot knew that there was an undercover ninja from a global assassin organisation amongst his ranks he would have killed every one of his men till he got him. The fact that Ra's is working with All for One and Black Mask means this is all getting more complicated and dangerous. The streets and city are about to play host to a shadow war." Batman replied, leaning against the other side of the corner, out of view of the Authorities.

"What do you mean a shadow war?" Aizawa asked, curious and concerned for the well being of the citizens and his students.

"Not a whispered word is said. For if you try to cross them, the talon strikes you dead."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means I need to go to New York and capture the ones behind all this. Sionis, Joker, All for One, Ra's. Anyone I can take in will bring down their operation in some way and prevent a war that they've been preparing for. The only problem is if I do that, the others will seize the opportunity and fill the power gap."

"Others?" But after his last question, Aizawa received no response and realised Batman was gone. He decided to return his attention back to Kaminari and get an update on anything.

In the Batwing over the Pacific Ocean:

"How is she doing?" Izuku asked, sat in a chair on video call to Kyoka as the Batwing soared over the dark blue wonder that is the Pacific Ocean, passing over cruise ships and small unnamed islands.

"She's recovering slowly but Recovery Girl is doing all she can. Without the stamina or even being conscious for that matter, it is harder for her and will take more time." Kyoka replied, a tear rolling down her eye. "Look Izuku, I know what you think about the whole situation concerning her health but you can't blame yourself for it."

"I rushed off and left her there with that psychopath. He manipulated her into stepping into that cell somehow and All for One showed up. I don't see how it isn't my fault."

"It isn't. Joker clearly got into her head and made that happen. It isn't on you."

"Maybe without Batman then half of these problems wouldn't exist." Then a voice spoke up to address both of our protagonists.

"Without Batman I wouldn't have a new family." Kyoka spun around on her heels and the sight of Eri sitting up in her bed overwhelmed her as she ran up to her soon to be daughter though, she already was in her eyes. 

"Oh my god, Eri! You're alright!" She sobbed, her voice breaking as Eri hugged Kyoka back as the purple haired girl fell to her knees and Izuku breathed a sigh of relief and let himself release a tear or two.

"Thank god you're alright Eri. We can't tell you how much we missed you and how worried we were." Izuku stated to the young hero.

"It's ok mom and dad, I'm fine. I'm back with you now. But we will have some catching up to do." Eri replied, hugging Kyoka even tighter who was kissing her on the forehead repeatedly.

"We will but first we make sure you are healed properly ok princess?"

"Ok mom. I love you and I love you too dad."

New York, 02:17 am:

A ninja ran through the streets, holding on tightly to a sword as several others were following suite. However, each was getting more and more worried as almost every time they got close to escaping, he just appeared right next to them. The five jumped to a rooftop with their pursuer not far behind. One stopped to buy the others some time to escape and shot an arrow at their assailant but it was in vein as the arrow was caught, jammed into their spine and a fist punched down their throat and pulled their stomach out of their body. Blood and stomach acid gushed out of the body and sickening crunches and squelching noises came from the collapsing body. The pursuer did not relent and kept going after the rest. Two others tried to throw shurikens at them with one finding it's way into the assailant's arm. This act was rewarded with the shuriken being pulled out from their arm and thrown back with such force that the ninja's skull shattered on impact. Frozen with fear, the second ninja was taken off guard, grabbed by the throat, set ablaze and thrown to the streets like alley trash.

The remaining three ninja regrouped in an alley where they drew their swords and formed a defensive triangle. They readied for combat and remembered that they were some of the most elite in the League of Assassins. Nothing could stop them. As a small sweat began to build, they heard the sound of chains rattling, iron groaning and wood creaking. As the fear began to set in more with each passing second, some metallic objects subtly snaked towards one of the trio and waiting patiently by their foot. After a brief moment, one ninja's entire lower body became ensnared by the metallic snake, only it wasn't a snake. It was a barbed chain that lifted the assassin up high and began to dig into his flesh. The others turned to try and free their comrade but a thick red cloak emerged from the darkness and wrapped around their head and violently snapped their neck. The only ninja not harmed yet became spooked and horrified, seeing only darkness and a piercing pair of green glowing eyes staring into his soul. And then without warning, the chains wrapping around and through his comrade completely shredded his flesh, removing it all from his body. All that was left was a bloody victim crying out in pain, suffering and the dark guardian approached slowly. Instead of putting the assassin out of his misery quickly, the figure proceeded to snap off the fingers from their right hand and shoved them down their throat and completely tore of their left arm, leaving them to suffocate on their own bloody fingers.

The final assassin was reduced to a quivering, sobbing mess as their angel of death approached.

"Wh... wha... what are y...you?!" The ninja managed to whimper out between sobs as he was grabbed by the throat and raise off of the ground with ease. And a chilling voice replied simply:

"Your worst fucking nightmare!" As they went for the kill with their gun pointed straight to their head, the figure was stopped by a familiar voice he had not heard for a year.

"Spawn! That's enough!" The voice demanded and Spawn turned around and faced his old friend.

"Well, well, well. I guess I'm not the only dark creature haunting the shadows of New York tonight. Isn't that right Batman?