Sell you a Bridge

by MalcolmTent6730

Have you ever gotten an email telling you you've won a free cruise? Or one for a work out that will get you ripped in ten days? Wouldn't it be crazy if those offers were legit? Well for Morgan O'Malley they can be. Spam becomes real life when his meta powers finally manifest. Hopefully the perks of the super life aren't false advertising.

35. Chapter 35

February 13th 2011 The OZ 9:00 PM EDT

The scene in the mirror was cozy, the woman laying next to her daughter. "Two little princesses dancing row, spinning fast and freely on their little toes, where the night will take you there's only one way to know, two little princesses dancing in a row." The woman had a pleasant voice, nothing impressive or earth shaking but mellow and soothing even without any real attempt at flexing it. She smiled tenderly down at the girl and kissed her softly on the cheek. "My angel, my life, sleep well."

Glitch swallowed hard, looking to DG. "That's you." DG's eyes were glued to the mirror, tears flowing down her cheeks as she watched her mother kiss her goodnight for what might have been the last time in her life. Glitch didn't notice, staring at the screen with a puzzled frown. "I knew you too." He looked so lost it was hard not to feel sorry for the addlebrained man. It must have been awful to have your whole life on the tip of your tongue.

As we watched the scene stayed fixed on little DG after the Queen left. A girl walked in. Regal and arrogant, she looked only a few years younger than me, but her eyes were hard and cold. There wasn't much human in those eyes. She smiled cruelly down at the girl on the bed. "The majestic Queen of the OZ, had two lovely daughters she." The way she strolled forward into the room gave me a bad feeling. That girl was a predator.

Glitch swallowed hard. "That's Azkedelia. Marbles or not, evil like that you don't forget." There was a slight quaver in his voice, and I didn't blame him. The girl's body was moving, but there wasn't a person in that skin. I got the same feeling looking at her that I did looking at my Uncle. She walked and talked, but there was nobody home. There was only darkness behind those eyes.

DG was fixated on the girl. "Azkedelia is my sister." Her tone was confused, but under it was something else. Hurt, loss, the knowledge that she had yet another family member she never got to know, and that the girl in question had become something so horrible. I put a hand on her shoulder, offering her a small smile. With my aura sight, it was easy to see how hard this was hitting her. Zee stepped up on her other side to take her hand and squeeze.

We returned to watching the mirror as the girl approached the bed slowly, like a lion stalking a gazelle. Her creepy monotone voice began reciting again, her voice almost sing song in cadence, though with no emotion in it. "One to darkness, she be drawn, and one to light, she be shone. Double eclipse it is foreseen, light meets dark in the stones between. But only one and one alone, shall hold the Emerald, and take the throne." The cold detachment in here voice was chilling as she repeated part of the last line of her little rhyme and raised her hands.

The roiling darkness that flowed from her palms and into the small body of my friend's past self was somehow...wrong. Sick. It blazed with a disgusting rot to my aura sight, even through the mirror, and more than anything I had ever seen it made me want to vomit. The creeping smog billowed down over little DG's face, and her eyes flew open as she fought for breath, her body convulsing. Present DG gasped in horror as she watched the sister she had only just learned she had smother the life from her childhood self, gripping Zee's hand in terror and confusion. "She...she tried to kill me."

Cain laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, his voice sad. "No. She DID kill you." As we watched, the creepy girl who reminded me of those twins from the shining gave a satisfied smirk at the corpse of her dead sister and turned to stroll casually out of the room without a care in the world. It boggled my mind, the sheer callous...evil, of just executing a small child, your own sister, in pain and fear and the just walking off to go play with a smile. It was almost as sickening as that horrible power she used to do it.

It paled in comparison to the the heartbreak and anguish on the Queens face when she walked back into the room to see her youngest child laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling with lifeless eyes. She gave a heartrending scream and bolted to the bedside, trying to shake her daughter awake. When it didn't work the Queen collapsed, sobbing, on top of DG's body, weeping an apology for not protecting her better. She sat there like that, holding her daughter and crying for a minute or two, before her face hardened and she closed her eyes.

The others probably didn't see much, it wasn't that flashy in terms of magic, but in my aura sight I saw it all, and I was in awe. The Queen's aura flooded into her heart, causing the organ to glow bright white even through the chest. She reach down and tilted DG's head back and then she BREATHED out her life force into the little girls mouth. I would have expected the years to be torn from her, but they flowed out of her, pulling her vitality from her flesh and pushing it from her mouth like she'd squeezed years from that glowing heart as if it were a sponge.

The sobbing Queen slumped down against the pillow as little DG gasped, her hair draining of color and bleaching to blonde as life returned to her gasping daughter. She clutched the little girl against her. "Oh my angel!" She wept in to DG's hair, before pulling back, eyes still wet with tears. "Fear not my child, there is still one thing that can stop her. The Emerald of the Eclipse." Then she leaned down and whispered something into DG's ear, so low even we couldn't pick it up. "The secret to finding it, now lives inside of you. When the time is right, you will return."

A cold voice echoed from behind us. "Mother never could leave well enough alone." I cursed myself for getting so caught up in the drama I forgot to keep an eye out. That was the problem with super ninja detection training, it didn't do shit unless you actually used it. In my defense that had been pretty fucking traumatic for DG, but still missing the evil sorceress walking up behind us could have been bad if she wasn't so Bond villain stupid that she needed the last word. Common sense would have just had her blast the rest of us an question DG after.

Not that I would have died, but still, the monologue was just stupid. The woman stepped forward, her gait that same careful predatory stalk as younger girl she had been. "DG, the little sister I thought I no longer had. I've always wondered what you look like." She grinned down at where DG was clutching at Zee. "And you brought a lover home to meet the family? I admit I pictured you more with this strapping young man over here. " Her eyes flicked to me, her perfect teeth biting into her lower lip. "Though if he's up for grabs I might take him for a spin. I've heard such...chilling things."

I blinked. Honestly...I was a little tempted in a physical sense. Azkedelia was a fox. Milky pale, pouty lips, heaps and heaps of cleavage in that shiny corset dress and some very fetching tattoos over top of her generous and very exposed bust. Sadly she had an aura like rancid sewer water, and I was taken anyway. I gave her a polite smile. "Sorry honey, as sexy as you are, I'm already having trouble balancing the two women I've got on my plate now. Plus, I only barely dodged the whole sticking my dick in crazy thing with my last ex, be a shame to break my streak."

Her eyes flashed and she lashed out with a snarl, an arc of black lightning shattering the air. I rolled my eyes and flicked a finger, opening a void and absorbing the whole I opened a second one and the same bolt came shooting back out at her. She snorted and flicked her fingers, deflecting the bolt into the body of one of her longcoat goons, seemingly unbothered when the man went up in a billow of black flames as he roared with agony. She clicked her tongue, pouting at me. "Well that's no fair. I need to have a heart to heart with my baby sister but you're getting me all hot and bothered."

She ran a long nail across the top of her ample tits and the tattoos began to squirm, clawing their way off her skin and into the real world. She looked to the shapes of what were obviously flying monkeys. "Capture my sister. Don't kill her, I have questions." I was still at about eight thousand points. With a snarl of a flick of my wrist I reached for the void, calling forth five more cornerpups. The spell to get them all at once was exhausting, and took up a few hundred points. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the summoning, giggling delightedly at me. "I love it when boys are considerate. Bringing me a gift? Every girl loves cute puppies."

I snapped at the pups, Patches included. "Guard DG, don't let those shit flinging bird freaks touch her." The pups, small but still powerful shards of the very void itself, yipped courageously, bolting over to join Patches who had beaten his smaller brothers and sisters to protecting the girl. I addressed Zee without looking away. "Baby, take everyone and go with them. I can handle Queenie over there, but I can't have any distractions." That aura of rot and decay was roiling off the woman, and she had a LOT of it. This crazy bitch was leaking power like a sieve.

The worst part is that I couldn't use my void form. Whatever that energy was, it was ALIVE. It hated, loathed everything around it. I couldn' take in living things, and whatever was running through Azkedelia was definitely that, emphasis on the word THING. Zee bolted up to me, kissing me on the cheek. "Fine, but only because I believe you when you say you can handle her. Kick her ass." I gave a distracted smile as she grabbed the others and ran, leaving me alone with Azkedelia.

She gave me a coy smile, running a finger along the top of her exposed cleavage. "What's the matter sweet boy? Don't want your girlfriend or little DG to see you be rough with me?" She leered at me, exposing way too many teeth. "Such a brave boy, protecting his friends. Don't worry sweetie, after your spanking mommy will make all the pain go away." Her eyes flooded with pitch black and she hurled a wave of green flame right at me. Ruby lips peeled back from paper white teeth.

I pulled on my power, forging a half sphere of fused shadow and ghostly ectoplasm, but unlike the last time I did this, I knew what I was doing. I fused the void into the mixture, swirling the two disparate powers into its all consuming darkness to merge them into a black dome in front of me. I couldn't absorb her power into myself with void form but I could still wield the space between worlds.I'd learned a lot from that grimoire already.

I rolled my head in a circle, cracking my neck as my shield nullified her attack and then condensed down to a floating buckler to hang on my arm. "That all you got, bitch? No wonder you wanted me to call you mommy. It must be sad to be slipping in your old age." And with another snarl, it was on.

February 13th 2011 The OZ 10:00 PM EDT

I wasn't sure exactly what Azkedelia had inside her, but it was fucking powerful. Within the first thirty seconds of combat I'd hurled a dozen bolts of ectoplasm and opened just as many Holes to intercept return fire (thank god for my high dexterity) and she managed to deflect or intercept all of them. Her teeth were bared in a manic rictus halfway between a snarl and a smile as she flicked her fingers and another two of her appeared.

I grinned back at her? "That's it?" I manifested two clones of my own without blinking. Granted they could only manage a single blow taken of given but they should be able to dodge pretty easily and keep her own duplicates busy. Despite that the room was getting a bit tight for this fight, so I blew a hole in the wall and zipped outside at top speed to open up some room. I wasn't sure if Azkedelia could fly, but honestly it seemed like a solid bet.

Sure enough Azkedelia mad a series of gestures and a pair of batlike wings tore themselves out of her back. She took to the air, following me through the hole in the wall and out into the frigid air. Even with the wind whipping at our clothes I felt no chill, the cold of the grave keeping me comfortable even in the sub zero temperatures. She let out a booming cackle. "Oh an evening under the stars! How romantic! You take me to the nicest places darling." She shot me a coy look, batting her eyelashes. "Is this where we go all the way?"

I hurled a blacked ball of ectoplasm mixed with void at her, forcing her to dodge with a pout. My own voice was tense as I spat. "Newsflash! You're not cute when I'm angry." I hurled another five or six void bolts, which she dodged, and then returned fire. I growled in frustration. "You know, you're really starting to piss me off. What even are you? Why are you so damn powerful?" My hand slipped to my gun, but part of me hesitated. Something was...wrong, with Azkedelia. Something beyond being a lunatic.

The power she was using was sickening, corrupting, as I got a better look at her I could see whatever was radiating that energy shifting around under her skin. Something was wearing her like a suit, something that had been inside her for a long time. It had made itself so at home in her spirit I hadn't been able to see the seams in her aura until I made her flex a bit. It made this tricky. If that power had been in there since she was a little girl like the vision showed, I didn't feel right about just executing her. Psycho or not she was one of DG's only living relatives, if this wasn't her fault using my fucking epic death gun on her was overkill.

She giggled. "I'm the Queen of course! The Queen and her land are one. The OZ's power is my power." She held her hands up placatingly. "Listen, I think we got off to a rocky start. I admit, I was a bit sore over the what happened to my longcoats, but this doesn't have to be a fight." Her voice took on a sickeningly sweet tone. "I admit I've made mistakes, especially as a child. I was young and stupid and I became obsessed with that prophecy, obsessed with the though of 'only one and one alone'."

Her eyes watered as she put a truly oscar worthy quaver in her voice, averting her gaze in shame. "I...I almost did something unspeakable, did do something unspeakable. But I've had years to live with that shame and pain. I miss my family, miss my baby sister, and I've decided that I want to do this together. Mother is safe, but she never forgave me for what happened to DG. I want us to find the Emerald and rule together, to earn her forgiveness so we can be a family."

She fluttered her lashes at me. "I know you care about my sister. You mentioned a second girlfriend other than the pretty sorceress with the thick rump, is that DG? Have you taken a fancy to my sister? Or are you playing it slow. Waiting to sweep her off her feet to make her yours. We could take her together you know? Imagine those big trusting blue eyes staring up at you, those pouty lips around your cock. If you think I need to be punished I'll take anything you've got. I know I made that mommy comment but if you want we can both call you daddy."

I blinked at her. "Are...are you slow?" She reeled back, anger and shock on her face. "No, serious question. You just changed angles like four times during that little speech. I've seen more subtle attempts to bash a door in. I don't know where you learned to coerce people but whoever taught you sucks at it. You thought what? Just throw random temptations at me wholesale to see what stuck? Manipulation doesn't work if it's obvious."

She snarled at me, he mood shifting rapidly yet again. I was pretty sure her mercurial nature was actually working against her here too. Hard to stick to a single tactic when your mood changes explosively every ten seconds. Her eyes narrowed as she hissed at me. "I have no need of petty games boy, I attempted reason only because of your power and usefulness but I see much like all the others I should have simply crushed you under my heel."

I nodded. "Ah, too much power to bother with subtlety. That one makes sense. Anyway, in case you missed the answer, no. I'm not going to join you. I have two girlfriends, neither of whom are your sister, and honestly sexually keeping up with them is already a full time job since one of them is a sex elf and the other one is a literal goddess. DG is a friend, you're an annoyance, and I wouldn't stick my dick in the psychopath whose minions tortured Cain by killing his family in front of him on repeat for over a decade even if I was single."

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, everyone is so whiny about those iron suits. He was the first you know? The one we made an example of. Though killing his family WOULD have been a good idea. We just tortured them for a while before they escaped. Zero lost a few toes for that actually. The idiot always was obsessed with your friend in the hat. Too stupid to see the bigger picture. Just like you. Very well, I suppose I'll have to show you my true power." With that, she raised her hands dramatically in the air.

I threw a few bolts of power but she summoned a swarm of monkeys to hold them off. I cursed and then got ready to take this hit. I opened a massive void in front of me, ready to take it and throw it all back. Azkedelia raised her hands dramatically and began to rotate green flame between them in a small vortex, as the vortex began to spin she pulled her hands slowly apart, making the flames bigger and bigger creating a huge vortex of emerald flame. Azkedelia grinned mockingly at me. "You pathetic shield won't save you this time boy. Feel my wrath!"

She hurled her hands forward and the vortex exploded into a massive cloud of green eldritch fire. I braced myself for the impact, for the energy absorbtion as I ducked behind my shield. Nothing happened. I blinked, leaning sideways to see...nothing. Empty air in front of me. I was confused for a second. I had no idea what had just happened, one second she was winding up a big punch and then...

My eyes widened and I screamed in frustration. "Are you fucking KIDDING ME? It was a teleport spell?" If I'd been on the ground I'd probably have stomped my foot. I groaned, covering my face. I couldn't believe I fucking fell for that. A huge fake spell wind up to cover a teleport. It was so...stupid. I hadn't even considered it as an option. Which was why it worked. Crazy bitch out dumbed me. I was annoyed, but at least she was gone. I could go check on the others now. I headed back into the palace, tracking them through the bottom floor and around to the front.

I walked back out through the entrance we came through, back through the shattered ice, until I got to the spot where they ended up. When I finally got there I found them all huddled together, the cornerpups circling like protective sharks. When they saw me everyone lit up. Dreamer bolted out to me hurling herself into my arms and I chuckled as I pulled her close. "Whoa, hey, enthusiasm appreciated, but I'm fine. No need to worry about me." Dreamers aura was streaked with pride and happiness as she looked me over.

She leaned up to kiss me. "You were a true hero today, as much as I know you resent the label. What you did was very brave. Thank you for trusting us enough to let us do things on our own." Her smile dimmed. "That said...we may need you to expend slightly more of that trust to us." That sounded...ominous. I looked around at the others and they looked worried. Too worried. I finally found Zee and saw that she was avoiding meeting my gaze, I did not however, see one very specific person.

A person who I had sent away under the protection of Zee and the cornerpups, and who was literally the entire purpose behind this entire farce. Zee swallowed. "Ok. Now don't be mad. DG had a plan. She heard what Azkedelia said to you, about her mom and about Cain's family." I must have looked confused because she rolled her eyes and pointed up. "You were screaming at each other right above us. It wasn't exactly subtle."

I began to have a very bad feeling about this. "Ok, so DG came up with a plan. What kind of plan? Did she decide to follow Azkedelia? Are we supposed to catch up to her later?" I was almost positive that wasn't her plan. However I was also mostly positive I didn't know what her plan WAS because the plan I suspected she came up with was too stupid to be believed. DG was a giant sunshine cannon to the face but she wasn't a moron. She wouldn't do anything really crazy.

A vain hope that was dashed as Zee averted her eyes. "Well. She said that she knew that Azkedelia wasn't going to hurt her before she got the emerald and that we had to find out where Cain's family and her mom were. So she decided it would be a good idea to get grabbed by flying monkeys." She held up her hands when she saw my face turn red. "We didn't know! We thought she was just strategizing when she said it. She slipped by us when we were distracted and turned and ran right into their arms. We didn't even notice it happen because she did it behind our backs and didn't scream. We only saw her in the distance when we turned around to check on her."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "So you're telling me that the wayward princess of this kingdom, who happens to be the only person with knowledge of where to find an ancient powerful mystical item coveted by a woman who just fought me to...almost a standstill, purposefully got herself grabbed by evil flying monkeys? A plan she came up with on her own and executed behind your backs and none of you noticed?" For the second time that day, as I looked at their wincing expressions, I just wanted to scream. Today was not my day.

February 13th 2011 The OZ 11:00 PM EDT

I sighed as I sat next to the fire, rubbing the bridge of my nose. No one was near me, they were all steering clear after they saw how pissed off I was. Which was fair. I was pissed. I'd burned through thousands of points fighting that possessed psychopath so they could get DG away and they'd screwed it up. Now I was down to only five thousand points, not to mention I fell for an obvious and stupid trick when I let Azkedelia slip through my fingers. Part of me blamed me, part of me blamed them, but in general I was just...sad. I'd tried my best to protect DG and I'd fucked it up. So much for the new me.

It wasn't even fair to be mad at Zee. DG had come up with her stupid plan all on her own, I'd told her to protect the girl from enemies, not from herself. It was just...she'd never let me down before. Not really. She was my partner in crime, my badass magic girl, and I was so used to feeling like I could count on her, hell count on everyone on my team, that this was hitting me pretty hard. That wasn't fair, I knew it. I knew she hadn't asked to be put on a pedestal, and that was just one more thing for me to feel guilty about, which sucked worst of all.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Dreamer's musical voice cut through my self pity, and I looked up to see her standing there holding out a plate. I'd pulled the camp stuff out of my spatial ring before I came over here to sulk, so everyone was eating. They had been at the fire for a while, but once the cooking was done they moved and I took up my current spot. I took the food and started shoveling it into my mouth, as Dreamer sat down next to me. "You're mad at them...but you aren't mad at me?Or even Vykin or Serifan or Bear? Why?"

I shrugged. But it was an honest question so I took my time to think about it. "Because...because I didn't have any expectations of you guys. You're not my team." I looked at her quickly to make sure she wasn't offended, but she didn't seem to be. "I want to get to know you, don't get me wrong. I'm also not stupid enough not to notice Zee's aura getting stronger as you two spend time together, so I know she wanted you with us for more than an admittedly fantastic regular booty call."

She smirked. "Well thank you for thinking I'm fantastic, but yes. I've been...communing with Zatanna tantrically, helping her learn to harness and awake her divinity. My own nature is complimentary to hers, and while we don't have your bond, it's been going well. She just didn't want to tell you before we had results. I'm guessing you figured it out before the first time we even had sex? She did say you can be perceptive. Aura sight helps with that I imagine." She raised an eyebrow at me challengingly.

I just chuckled. "I won't deny it gives me a leg up. But to get back to your question, I don't know you as well. As much as I would like to someday, I don't count on you. It's not fair to put that pressure on them, but I still do, in my head." I gritted my teeth. "But that's still just me making excuses. I wanted to change, to be better, and I fucked up and now I'm blaming them so I don't have to accept that I ruined it myself." I kicked a rock into the flames furiously. "I'll apologize to them. Thanks for talking to me."

She burst into laughter. "Morgan. I have not talked to you. I said maybe two sentences and you twisted yourself even further into knots. I would prefer you not give me credit for such a dubious achievement." I winced a bit at that, but a soft smile took the sting out of it. "What I was going to say is that we can all see how you're trying to change. To find direction in life. But what you seem to have missed, most likely because of the frankly baffling nature of your abilities, is that changing yourself is not SUPPOSED to happen with the press of a button."

I leveled a guarded look at her and she put her hands up placatingly. "Peace, no one told me anything. You are less careful with your words around Zatanna, and she and I are often together. Your love for her is...staggering, at times. As much as I believe my beauty is what motivated your acceptance of me into your lives, I believe there is little you would deny her. Though I suppose the same is true in reverse. My point is that you haven't 'fucked it up'. You can't. Changing yourself isn't supposed to happen overnight. It's about making the choices you want to see, day in and day out."

That...that was fair. But it was frustrating. I groaned. "I'm not good at slow. I'm tempted to just take some sort of magic therapy with my power to fix all my problems. But then I'd just be doing the same thing I am now. Wandering aimlessly. I need a goal, and as stupid as it sounds, finding a goal is still a goal." I quirked my lips at her. "You sure Beautiful Dreamer is your real name? Patient Therapist seems to fit better. You're easy to talk to."

She giggled. "No. You are just hopelessly reluctant to expose vulnerability to your friends. They see you as a powerful warrior, and part of you cherishes that sense of trust. You're afraid if you share what you've discovered about yourself they'll be disappointed in you. I'm easy. I'm just your 'admittedly fantastic booty call' so opening up to me is simple." She took my hand. "I don't mind though. In fact, I'm honored. You're a fascinating man, and you sharing like this gives me hope for us to grow closer."

I gave her fingers a grateful squeeze. "You know, it occurs to me that having you in our relationship might be more work than I expected. You're all emotionally mature and shit. I know physically you're around our age, but I also know New Gods age slower. You're going to drag us kicking and screaming into emotional maturity aren't you?" She winked at me and I busted up laughing. I felt...lighter. She was right, I was rushing things. My power had me used to changing instantly and I'd taken that for granted.

I stood up, still holding her hand. "Ok then, I might as well go apologize to my friends. I should also probably get to know yours. I feel like I've been mostly ignoring them. Once that's done we can go ahead and start planning to rescue DG. Somehow I don't think this plan of hers is going nearly as well as she was expecting. Hopefully she isn't so traumatized by it that I can't yell at her for being stupid." We headed over to the large picnic table off to one side, where everyone was sitting and eating in strained silence.

Their auras looked...bad. Despondent and ashamed, and it made me ashamed that I was the reason they ended up this way. When they saw me head over I saw Zee kind of shrink into herself. She was getting it worst, not just blaming herself for failing when she told me she could hang, but losing her friend, who she'd been bonding with over the past fay or two. Zee hadn't had many friends growing up, and she was fiercely protective of the ones she had now. I'd been so caught up in my brooding I'd missed that.

I walked over and sat down next to her, releasing Dreamer's hand so she could take a spot on the other side of our girlfriend. I put my arm around Zee and looked at everyone. "Sorry guys. I was wrong to blame you for what happened. DG made her own call and followed her gut, you guys couldn't have been expected to see that coming, and it was dickish of me to act like you could. I was pissy because I let her get away. She pulled a stupid trick and I fell for it, and I put that anger on you guys."

Zee's aura flared with irritation. "No, you weren't wrong. You asked me to do one thing, and I couldn't even do that right. You're always the one who comes through in the end, who pulls some crazy power out of your ass and saves the day. I was so wrapped up in wanting to prove I could keep up I didn't stop to wonder if I actually could. Now DG is gone and who knows what Azkedelia is doing to her and-" I kissed her, just enough to shut her up, and when I pulled away I smirked a bit at her adorable glare.

Once I was sure she wouldn't interrupt. "I don't think Azkedelia is going to torture her. There's something weird going on with her and I don't know what it is. But aside from that she needs that Emerald. I don't know what the hell it does, aside from being absolutely positive she shouldn't get it, but she's obsessed with it whatever it is. She won't risk hurting the only person who knows where it is. She's shown that when she can't brute force a problem she'll try to get her way through manipulation. The good news is she's laughably bad at it so we probably have some time while she fails at that."

That drew a laugh from my girlfriend. "Honestly, Azkedelia is a problem we don't need to deal with right now. Until we figure out what's going on with her I'd rather just go around her. I'm doubting she's going to come at me straight on unless she gets really desperate anyway, considering how fast she rabbited during our fight. I'm guessing she won't straight up attack again until we get the Emerald, and when she does she'll probably try to set up some kind of trap for me or separate me from you guys."

Of course the Queen didn't know that I would eventually run out of points if she kept whittling me down. Even with my passives I could probably get away if she pushed me, but without a solid reserve I wouldn't be able to dominate her like I had before. Luckily my daily intake was much higher than it had been before, so I should be more than good. Not to mention tantric sessions with Zee and Dreamer could top me up fast. Still, the point remained that as I was right now I had the advantage and she knew it.

I turned to Cain. "So big man. Knowing we have some time to plan, how do we get to DG? Where does Azkdelia hang her hat anyway? Does she live in Central City?" Somehow I doubted it. Despots, from what little I'd read of them, liked to avoid stewing in the consequences of their own tyranny. That city was a dystopian shithole, and I doubted little miss golden corset had any interest in soiling her dainty feet with the filth of the gutters.

Sure enough Cain shook his head. "No. She has a tower out in the countryside. Nasty place from what I hear. There's a big hole in the defenses though. She has so many longcoats it's impossible to keep track of them all. Wearing a uniform can get you right through the front door. As long as we don't get seen by someone who knows me we can slip in with no trouble. We just need to get a uniform for each of us." As he said that I grinned. We didn't need to do that at all. I had more than a few ghost powers, and hadn't used them all yet. I had one in particular that would be perfect for this. Time to try out my possession ability.

February 14th 2011 The OZ 10:00 AM EDT

I had to admit, the Queen's tower was...imposing. It was also ugly. Like a serious eyesore. I turned to Cain. I was trying to distract the man, he'd been taking it hard since we'd realized the mystic man had been taken along with DG, a fact that I personally hadn't even noticed. "Seriously who does her decorating? This place looks like a standing collection of rusty dildos. I've seen literal dumpsters with more aesthetic appeal. Like if you're going to make your palace out of metal at least use stainless steel. Though I can't imagine why you WOULD make it out of metal. Her AC bill during the summer must be horrendous."

Zee snickered a bit at that, but Cain just rolled his eyes. "No clue who built the place. Look, kid, you asked for a spot nearby where you could isolate a few longcoats. That'll be your best bet." He pointed to a series of dirt hills a small ways away from the tower where a longcoat patrol was marching. I nodded to him with a smirk and with an effort of will slipped through the shadows to appear at the base of one of the dunes. When I came through I shifted into my insubstantial state and waited, getting ready to try possession for the first time.

When the next group of soldiers came through I flew at top speed over to the closest one and just...jumped in. It felt weird. Like I was jumping into water that was WAY too hot, and I felt a sort of resistance across my entire spirit. It took most of my concentration but I was able to force my way past it and shove myself into the drivers seat of the body. It felt weird and clumsy, and I stumbled when I took control. The other longcoat with the guy I'd possessed turned to look at me. "Morris what the hell did I tell you about drinking the night before maneuvers? Though kudos for holding up so well until now."

I cleared my throat, shaking my head as if to clear it. "M'fine." I kept my response as short as possible so there was less chance for me to get noticed. Morris's friend rolled his eyes and turned back to marching. I followed behind, getting more acclimated to my temporary flesh as I did. We walked around for a solid hour before finally turning to head into the giant ugly ass tower where DG was undoubtedly being kept. It was a long walk, and the place was basically a maze, but I got ready to knock out my companion and find my friend when I felt a hard smack to the back of my head.

Well. Not MY head. Morris's head. My head was completely insubstantial. It was a weird feeling staring down at my own body as it collapsed in a heap. Even weirder was when I realized that while insubstantial I was NOT invisible when possessing someone, so I ended up just standing there as a ghost in a pile of tangled limbs as I turned to look at my attacker. DGs eyes were wide and terrified as she looked down at the body, then at her hand, then up at me. Then without further ado she hurled herself at me, arms wide open.

I returned to my physical state, taking a second to blast Morris's friend in the face with a light ectosplasmic bolt and knock his ass out before I caught the now sobbing brunette. "Morgan! You're ok! Azkedelia wouldn't tell me what happened to you, I thought she might have hurt you! How is everyone else? Is Zee ok? And Cain, and Glitch, and Dreamer? How is Raw? Patches wasn't hurt was he?" Her babbling sort of ran together as she talked faster than I'd ever heard anyone speak.

I'd been angry, planning to yell at her for her stupidity. But she really was impossible to be mad at. It was like kicking a puppy. I just laughed and gave her a squeeze before stepping back. "They're fine. They're all annoyed that you went rogue, but they aren't hurt." I paused. "Also where the fuck did you get a dog? Because I'm positive you didn't have a yorkie with you when you got captured, and I feel like mental health puppy therapy probably isn't high on Azkedelia's list of dungeon amenities."

She smiled brightly. "He found me in my cell. He was the one who got me out. He knows the way out." She turned to the small dog. "Alright boy, which way is the way out?" The dog barked once in response. He did not, however, look away or turn in any specific direction. Staring seriously into DG's eyes. I rubbed the bridge of my nose as the supremely unhelpful dog barked a second time.

That was pretty much all I could take. "Tell you what, as great as I'm sure your dog is at giving directions, I just walked in here with that guy." I nodded to not-Morris. "I have a perfect memory, so I can lead us back the way I came and out the front door." Of course, we would probably run into some longcoats, but I was in a punching things mood, and I was armored up anyway so I could tank some shots for DG if they decided to try to ventilate her.

Before I could lead us though the dog darted over and nipped my leg. I snarled a bit, but it didn't hurt much given my elastic flesh. Once he had our attention he ran over to a large industrial machine and hopped into a hollow in the metal, barking at us insistently. I glared at the yappy dog. DG, oblivious to my obvious annoyance, bounced excitedly. "I think he wants us to go in there!" Since the dog was smart enough to free her from a cell I decided to just go with it, if we ran into longcoats I could just blast our way out anyway.

We climbed into the machine and followed the inner chamber into a huge pipe, walking along it for quite some time until we came out in a huge empty industrial area behind the tower. The dog led us out back into the dirt hills and I split off a clone to find the rest of our crew and lead them over as I followed the running pooch along the path he was leading us down and into the woods.

My clone was able to steer the others around to meet up with us and as we came out into the woods Zee came barrelling out of the trees to tackle hug DG. The older girl laughed joyfully and pulled my girlfriend close. Dreamer came up and gave me a hug and smile as we watched the two of them gush excitedly at each other. Her voice was teasing as she said. "Another successful mission huh?"

I laughed and gave her a squeeze. It was nice to see Zee so happy to have a friend back. DG was the most normal person any of knew, and she'd grown on all of us. The girl was basically a real life disney princess, and it was impossible not to like her after you got to know her, but Zee had connected with her the most. Cain and Glitch and Raw all ran up to the girls happily grabbing them both in a group hug and I smiled at how happy they were to see DG again. Vykin, Bear, Artemis, Wally, and Serifan came to stand next to us. Vykin nodded to me. "An excellent extraction, my friend."

I smiled at him and was about to respond when I noticed the dog run out into the middle of the clearing. It yipped a few times, drawing the growling ire of Patches and his five new siblings and turned to face us. There was a shifting, sort of twisting warp in the space in front of us, and suddenly the dog was gone, and an older, kind looking dark skinned man with mutton chops and a portly frame was smiling at us. I blinked and looked around. "That guy was a dog right? I'm not the only one who saw a dog there a second ago?"

Even for us a small dog turning into a full sized man was weird. He had smile lines around his eyes and was wearing a ratty looking long brown coat over a shabby suit. He smiled kindly at us. "No. I was indeed in the form of a dog a moment ago. I apologize for the surprise, but I assure you I'm a friend. I knew DG's mother. She sent me to help her find the emerald."

I had to be honest. My weird threshold was pretty much shot by this place. Guy who turns into a dog sent by the princesses long lost mother to help her find the magic emerald to defeat her evil possibly possessed sister? Yeah, sure, why not? But that made me even more curious as to what this emerald actually was. I glanced at DG. "So, I'm hoping your stupid plan had some kind of benefit other than letting me take a quiet tore of Azkedelia's sewer system?"

DG flushed. "Yeah. That machine that we escaped through? The mystic man said that she was going to use that to destroy the OZ." Cain seemed excited by the mention of his old boss, and I realized I hadn't seen the old man since the ice palace. I felt like an absolute bastard for not noticing he was gone, I assumed they hadn't mentioned him being taken because they didn't want to piss me off more. DG teared up a bit at the mention of him. "I...I'm sorry Cain. He got grabbed when I did, and...he didn't make it. She killed him."

She swallowed, forcing herself to move on though I saw her aura flash with guilt and shame at the thought of the man who had died partly because of her plan. "He...he said that she needs the emerald to make the machine work. She still doesn't know where it is really. She tried to get it out of my head, but all she managed to get were the words 'Grey Gale'. Before he died, the mystic man told me that the path to where my mother hid the emerald is in the south."

Cain looked pained at the news of the old mans death, and I walked over to put a hand on the mans shoulder. Before I could day anything though, the dog guy interrupted. "Folks? I suggest we keep moving." His eyes flicked side to side as if waiting to be attacked, and I saw flashes of fear and shame in his aura. The shame was weird, but I'd seen people with reactions like that to their own cowardice before. Besides, if he tried anything I'd kick his ass anyway so it hardly mattered.

Cain cut him off before he could continue. "Sorry pooch, this is where we part company. I admit you helped us out. I'd even thank you for what you did back there if I knew who you were, or what. But with the longcoats trying to use us to find the emerald and those damned flying monkeys up there looking for us, we don't have time to figure out what your angle is in all of this."

The portly man smiled. "I understand your skepticism Mr. Cain." Cain look surprised at the name drop. "Yes, I know who you are. I know who several of you are. Like you Mr. Glitch, the advisor to the Queen herself. Or you Mr. Raw, a viewer of extraordinary skill. And Mr. Cain, you were a Tin Man on the mystic man's protection detail. The three of you are quite famous in the OZ, and quite in demand." He pulled out a sheet of paper with a bunch of pictures on it. "Now I'm not sure who the rest of you are, but the fact that Azkedelia wants you out of play is enough for me. Before you go chasing an old dog off, will you at least hear what I have to say?"

February 14th 2011 The OZ 11:00 AM EDT

We agreed to hear the old man out, and his body seemed to relax. "Thank you. And I'm sorry if I scared you all back there. There's never really a good time for the old beast into man moment. Best to just rip the band-aid off and just...hope for the best." He gave an apologetic shrug. I had to admit he had a point, even I was pretty shocked by the transformation, so it was inevitable that anyone who saw it would freak.

DG frowned slightly. "I don't know. I don't think it's a good idea to let someone we don't know come with us on such a dangerous mission. I mean... you're still a stranger." It was genuinely weird to see DG turning the guy down when I could see in her aura she wanted to welcome him with open arms. She was friendly and trusting to an insane degree and the guy HAD freed her from a dungeon.

He gave her a wry smile. "Am I? Let's just see about that." He reached into his coat and pulled out a doll in a green dress. The doll was old and a bit ratty, but it looked well cared for and pretty high quality. It's aura was thick with care and affection, and I could tell the owner had treasured it.

DG's eyes flew open wide. "Hey! That's mine!" Then she blinked. She clearly hadn't meant to say that, or even been aware it was true. She'd just reacted instinctively to the sight of it. I noted again how much it must suck to be in my friend's shoes, with your whole life trapped in your brain and no way to access it except for random moments of revelation when someone accidentally triggered a memory.

The old guy smile approvingly. "Yours when you were a child." He held the doll out and then released it, leaving it handing in mid air. It sat suspended there for a moment before it began to spin. In my aura sight I could see the magic radiate up from his palm suspending the thing. It wasn't really a shock that the dude who could literally turn into a dog could do magic so I remained unimpressed.

That changed pretty quick when DG held her hand out and the doll floated over to her, her own aura reaching out to pull it across the gap between them. I blinked. "Did...did you guys know she could do that? I didn't know she could do that." DG had magic? I mean sure, magic princess bullshit, but like, normal learnable magic she could train? I looked to Zee who just shrugged, apparently she hadn't known either, though she looked really excited by the prospect of her friend being a magic user.

DG looked just as thrilled. "Am...am I really doing this?" The thing was floating above her hand, spinning like a top, and seeing her aura shift into a magical tendrils was impressive. It was pretty damn strong actually, which I had always just taken for the natural purity she exuded. Princess power, to put an absurdist spin on it. Now though, I could see that she could pack quite a punch. Not as big as Zee, with her monster level magical reserves, but she was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

The older man grinned widely. "Indeed you are. Magic's in your blood." He gave a beatific smile. "Let it shed light on your past, so may better face your future." Which was basically the same fortune cookie crap that Jim liked to spout when he had no idea what was going on to make himself seem wise. I had a brief pang of homesickness when I thought of my ghostly mentor. I hoped he was doing ok without us. Gods knew that old man would get into more trouble than should have been possible without us around.

Zee bounced up to DG, taking her hands and squealing. "Oh this is going to be so much fun! You can be my apprentice! I've never had an apprentice! The closest I've ever come is trying to teach Artemis, but she's a stabby philistine who only uses her magic to beef up her murder stick slinger." Artemis glared at her and Wally tried not to burst out laughing at his girlfriend's indignation.

Said murder stick slinger was being drawn from her back menacingly until Wally tackled her and stopped her from trying to shoot my girlfriend. She stuck her tongue out at Zee instead and they both giggled at their own antics. Despite what they might act like on occasion the two of them were close as sisters. It was nice to see them acting like themselves again. Artemis smiled encouragingly at DG. "She really will be a great teacher though. All jokes aside she explains everything so simply and really cares about her students. That hocus pocus stuff just isn't my bag."

Wally gave his girlfriend a proud look that made Zee and I roll our eyes. Wally wasn't ridiculous enough to deny the existence of magic at this point, but he did still avoid it when possible. It was fine though, Zee and I could be the magical couple and they could be luddites who refused to get with the times. The old man ignored us, smiling at DG who still looked a bit dazed. "Now, try it again. And concentrate DG. You have to concentrate."

She closed her eyes, and I saw her aura shift as she most likely experienced a memory. Her emotions flickered as they were exposed to...whatever the hell she was seeing, and then her eyes flew open. She gazed at the old man with recognition, her lips peeling back into a familiar smile. "Todo! You were our tutor!" Well, that explained why he'd helped her escape at least.

He gave an approving nod. "Before you were sent over to the other side your mother put a spell on all your memories, in case you were taken into the wrong hands." DG looked put out as she indicated she was aware of that fact. Todo (and I was ignoring all this Wizard of Oz related nonsense since it was almost definitely just some kind of conceptual echo because this entire world was in the Dream and was defined by that story) just smiled. "Well she sent me now to help you awaken those memories, and to find the Grey Gale, and the Emerald of the Eclipse."

Her eyes snapped to his face frantically. "Wait, how did you see her if she's in Azkedelia's prison?" It broke my heart to hear how raw her voice was at the idea that her mother might have some way to contact her. I couldn't imagine finding out you never knew your real mother and that your parents were robots. That wasn't even taking into account her evil sister and the weird thing possessing her or any of this other princess bullshit.

Todo looked startled. "She came to me in a dream. But she's getting weaker and weaker. There's no time to waste." That last bit seemed a bit suspicious to me, but again, as long as I was here there was no reason to worry about Azkedelia, and the longer she waited the stronger I got. I was at fifty six hundred points and I'd hit sixty two hundred in an hour. Not to mention the huge boost I could swing from the tantric ritual if we had time. I gave DG a subtle nod. This guy obviously had a way to help with her memories. I could handle it if he tried to backstab us.

DG brought up the mystic mans directions to head south, and Glitch asked Cain if that seemed like a good idea. I knew jack and shit about this place so I deferred to the most experienced regional guide. Cain looked annoyed. "We'll have to go I guess, but that's going to be a problem." He looked right at me. "The only road south leads to the fields of the papay." His voice was grim as he spoke, and I knew why.

I groaned as we all turned and started heading in that direction. "I hate the fields of the papay. What do you think are the chances that giant spike bomb wiped out all of them and the place is now a nice place for a casual stroll?" Everyone just looked at me blankly and I sighed. "Yeah, I know. But just once I wish the weird nonsense that seems to crop up wherever we go was in our favor instead of pitted against us."

Zee came up to me, snuggling up under my arm as Dreamer pushed herself under the other, and gestured to our girlfriend. "Well we ran into a super hot goddess who happens to be perfectly suited to helping me awaken my divinity and is fine with sharing? I'd say we do hit good luck sometimes." I snorted at that, and noted she mentioned her divine abilities, apparently Dreamer had mentioned talking to me and she wasn't keeping it to herself anymore. I pulled her tighter against me and kissed the top of her head, and she gave me a hesitant look until she saw my smile.

I knew what she was thinking, I could see it in her aura. "I'm not mad that you decided Dreamer should join us because she can help you get stronger. I already hinted I knew about it a while ago if you'll recall. You wanted her with us and you know I'd do anything for you." I glanced back over at the bodacious goddess. "Though some sacrifices are less arduous that others." The girls both snorted and Zee elbowed me playfully, but I leaned down and kissed her again. "But honestly I think it worked out. She's been a ton of help to me, and I suspect she's been talking things through with you too."

She flushed. "Well...sometimes talking. Point is, yeah. She's been a real help with things. I've been working with her on meditation to try to learn to manage my bloodline. Not just harnessing it but integrating the godly portions of myself to try to gain better control over my impulses so I don't do rash things like trying to randomly pull pretty goddesses into threesomes." I snickered at that. "I think this is good for me though. I've always kind of bottled any attraction to girls up because of the way my house was." She smiled at Dreamer. "I can't think of a better person to help me learn about myself."

Dreamer beamed at both of us. "I for one thing you're both amazing. I cherish the chance to help you get to know yourselves and each other better. The fact that the sex is better than anything I've ever experienced definitely doesn't hurt, but I would enjoy spending time with both of you even if it wasn't." I pulled them both close to me at that, and we all lapsed into silence comfortably. Dreamer had kind of been shoved on us by Zee's godly nature, but I thought she was starting to fit in just fine.

As we walked I looked over our group. Wally and Artemis were walking cuddled together as my best friend listened to DG gush about her magic powers with a soft smile. Cain, Raw, and Glitch were sticking close to Todo the tutor, while Dreamer's crew were lagging behind, with Vykin and Serifan keeping lookout and Bear playing with the cornerpups. The little devils were trying to confuse him by darting in and out between his legs while Patches rode in his puffy made, staring down at his new siblings imperiously. All in all, it was a good group. I felt...at peace. In a way I never had in Gotham. I still wanted to get home, but I wanted to remember this. To carry it with me when I left. My time Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Much like me, Morgan didn't realize this took place on valentines, though it was on theme anyway. The arc is coming to a close in the advance chapters and then it's back to Gotham,should be the chapter after next expect BIG changes when they get home, and I hope you guys are enjoying this arc as much as I am. pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent

Edit. The last segment was out of order. I've updated the chapter with the proper section. The last section of this chapter is the first section of next chapter now.