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.

51. Chapter 51

June 3rd 2016 Prospero and Michael Scott Memorial Library, The Nightside 4:00 PM EDT

I was impressed with Sinner. Despite being visually fairly underwhelming he was as stone cold as you would expect someone who had literally been to hell and come out unscathed to be. Despite having an obvious iron nerve, he was a polite and well mannered kind of guy, though his lady (who looked so much like Zee and Drea I was beginning to wonder if she was part heavenly punishment elf) didn't seem thrilled to meet us at all. Still, I smiled at his question. "Yes, actually. You can help us, we're looking for someone. It's a bit of a long story, mind if we sit down?"

Pretty Poison scowled at us, but Sinner gave us a pleasant smile and gestured to the table. "By all means, it's a public library. I must confess I don't get many visitors here, and this makes two sets in only a few days. I wasn't aware I'd become so popular." He said that last like it was a joke, and the humor was so dad-like I actually smiled a bit, as did the others. We all took a seat at the table, making sure to leave plenty of room between us and the scowling succubus as we took our seats across from the man.

Figuring it was best to jump right into things, I cleared my throat. "Thank you. We're actually here about the other visitors you had. I'm looking for my cousin, her name is Kitrina. We heard she came to see you recently and we wanted to ask about what she wanted to know. Also, why does your lady friend look so much like my girlfriends? Especially considering one of them is a member of a pretty much unique species." His face remained pleasant, not even twitching at the comment, and I winced internally at the knowledge that he probably wasn't going to just take our word for it and tell us what we wanted to know, assuming he hadn't had a confrontation with them.

Wally cut in at that. "What? No she doesn't. She looks like Artemis. Maybe a little...erm...more well endowed, but they could be sisters." Artemis looked annoyed at the comment, but luckily for the redhead her annoyance was clearly tempered by confusion. His statement gave me a clue to what was going on though, or at least a direction to guess in, and I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one.

Sinner smiled. "As your red haired friend has noticed, you will all see something different when gazing upon my lady love. As a former denizen of the pit she doesn't exactly have a mortal form. Her appearance is simply a reflection of your deepest desires. I must admit, it's a bit inspiring to me that both of you see your significant others. Not many people's hearts desire is the lover they already have." He smile at all three girls. "You're very lucky to be with gentlemen who clearly care for you so much."

I smiled internally as he directed their attention at the sweet portion of the comments, saving Wally from getting chewed out about the bustier nature of his fantasy. I was glad, Artemis looked all starry eyed and sappy, just like Zee and Drea, which meant her feelings weren't hurt. I was pretty sure Wally hadn't meant it to be offensive anyway, since he had no idea what was going on.

The older man continued. "As for the rest...I normally wouldn't simply trust you. However, you do know the young lady's name, and you keep exalted company." He turned his eyes to Taylor. "I've heard many things about you, John Taylor, but never that you would seek to aid those who would harm a child. No offense meant, ladies and gentlemen, but nineteen IS a child to me. I believe Mr. Taylor feels the same way. So, do you vouch for the good intentions of there people?"

His face was solemn, and I could tell from the emphasis he put on the question that he was serious. He clearly wanted to make sure we weren't planning to hurt Kit. Despite a momentary inconvenience I felt a swell of gratitude to the older scholar. Kit needed people who would look out for her in this place. I was glad she'd come to see these people. It seemed like they had really done right by her.

Taylor nodded. "Yes. I haven't known them long, but I can tell they're good kids. They keep decent company, and I haven't lost enough of my edge that I can't tell when I'm being lied to." I saw his eyes cloud slightly, and I got another flash of intuition that Taylor had lied just then, though not to himself. It was only a small lie, but I got a slight image of a pretty older blonde woman, and a feeling of hurt and grief. Taylor did believe us, but he had been lied to by the woman, and he hadn't been able to tell.

Still, that seemed to be good enough for Sinner, who nodded stoicly. "Very well then. I shall trust that they have her interests at heart, though mostly because I can't actually tell any of you where she and her gentleman friend went. I don't see how sharing what they're searching for could harm them, since you can't possibly be worse than the being they're already on the hunt for, and he knows they're coming without a doubt." He turned to his demonic lady love. "Perhaps this next part would be better explained by you, love. You know him better than I."

She grimaced, though not in a way that said she was angry so much as disgusted to have to talk about this subject. She sighed. "Fine. Only for you Sydney. I already mentioned him to the little devil girl anyway, he's hardly going to get more upset that I brought him up twice." She turned to us. "Your cousin and her boyfriend came here because he apparently made a deal with a devil. It's where his powers came from, and they were trying to find that devil to get out of the arrangement."

That sounded less than ideal. Pretty Poison wasn't exactly a weakling from what I'd seen and heard. Taylor had talked about her like a truly dangerous person, if she was this afraid of whoever Kit was looking for it didn't bode well. For my cousin or for my group. "Who is this devil they're looking for? Can you tell me about him? I came to make sure she's safe, if she's not I want to help, even if I have to get mixed up with someone dangerous." I wasn't going to abandon Kit. The things she'd done in the dungeon had been inspired by fear and hurt, but she'd been there to help when everyone needed her.

Pretty Poison sneered. "You say that now. But fine, I'll tell you about him. Your cousin's boyfriend made a deal for his abilities with a greater demon, or devil, named Neron. More accurately he's a fallen angel. A particularly dangerous and cunning member of the demonic nobility. He's the current ruler of hell, since Lucifer went on walkabout a few millennia ago, and has a fondness for the souls of fallen heroes. I told your cousin this as well. If her boyfriend has a deal with Neron, there's no saving him. But I have a soft spot for hopeless love." She gave Sinner a sweet smile. "So I told her what I knew about him, since I could tell she wasn't giving up."

I felt a queasy sensation in my stomach. That was bad. This guy sounded like a serious customer, and Kit had a head start. What I didn't understand was what had inspired this trip? Had his debt come due? "Do you know why they're searching for Neron now? Is her boyfriends soul due for collection? It just seems like strange timing." Granted maybe it was a ten year deal, but that meant he'd sold his soul at like, nine years old. The fact that this happened when we finall got back from the Sphere of the Gods was suspicious to me. It smelled of intention.

Pretty Poison noticed my suspicion and tapped her nose. "Ah, you got the point. That's why I mentioned saving him. Neron put the word out that he might be willing to forgive the debt if they plead their case in person. They came running at the mention, despite the fact that he didn't actually contact them or give them a location. In my experience, demons rarely 'put the word out' when they intend on dealing. Not that any deal with someone like Neron would be in good faith. But this reeks of trap by any definition of the word. I told the girl that, but she refused to listen."

I groaned. That was worse than bad. We needed to figure out where the hell Neron was and get to him before Kit threw her soul away out of sheer stupidity. More than anyone I understood doing something unspeakably dumb because you loved someone and wanted them to be safe. Some of the stuff I'd done for Zee had been pretty questionable in terms of intelligence, but I didn't regret it. If this guy was the same boyfriend who helped her rescue the League, and I had no reason to think otherwise, then I couldn't just stand by and let her go to bat for him alone.

I exhaled slowly. "Alright. Do you know where I can find this...Neron?" Confronting someone like this was pure fucking stupidity, but I could stake out wherever he was and wait for Kit if she wasn't there yet. I wasn't going to actually pick a fight unless I had no choice. I was also going to make damn sure to pick up that life saving ability or item before we left for wherever this guy was. I wasn't risking any of my friends in a fight with some uber demon if things devolved into a conflict.

To my shock though, Pretty Poison just shrugged. "Nope." We all stared at her. "What? Neron isn't local. It's not like he has a penthouse in the city. He's the fucking king of hell. I have no clue where he would go, and I'm sure as hell not asking around about it for you or the kid. I warned her about the trap, and that was already a flash of sentimentality that would normally be beyond me. If you want any more find it your own damn selves. You're traveling with one of the most celebrated detectives in the city, after all. I'm not attracting attention from someone like that for anything."

There wasn't much I could say to that. It was frustrating as hell to hear, but I couldn't very well make her. The only upside was that since she didn't give Kit a location either we could find them before they got to this demon guy. I sighed and stood up. "I see. Thank you. For the help you did give us. We have a direction at least, which is better than we had to go on before."

I nodded at the pair, the older form of Sinner giving me a consoling smile, and turned to leave. I was afraid of what my cousin had found in this place, but in the end, knowing their end goal would help us narrow things down. I had to trust that Kit, powerful as she was, could keep herself safe until I found her. Zee and Drea each took a hand as we made our way back out of the library, everyone unusually quiet after the somber news. I turned to look at Taylor. "I'm sure we can look into various demon worshippers later, but for now, I think we could all use a break. Do you have a place we could go to think?" I needed somewhere safe to check my email.

June 3rd 2016 Advent Manor, The Nightside 6:00 PM EDT

We went back to Julian's. It was our only real option for long term habitation, and it was looking like we might be here for a while. I'd been hoping this would be a quick trip, but given the stall in our search it might be a week or two at least. I'd be going crazy the whole time, but it could be worse. At least we had a safe place to stay. Plus I was happy for Jim, I knew he would be happy to spend more time with his old friend.

When we made it back I slipped off on my own, and pulled out my phone. This entire experience had made it clear I needed to take this place more seriously. My friends and loved ones were in danger here, and I needed to do something to prevent that danger from being fatal. I wasn't planning to make us all immortal or some stupid shit like that, not that I could afford it, I was strong enough to protect them as long as nothing came along and one shotted them before I had a chance to do anything about it.

In the spirit of that necessity, I started scrolling through my phone, looking for anything I could use. I was up to a hundred and twenty five thousand points, which was pretty damn decent in terms of spending money, and being able to use my power directly to substitute points was a game changer in terms of saving up, but there was still plenty of things I didn't have enough for. I could probably cheat a bit with my ability there too, but even if I did it wouldn't be too much, and my head would be soup after.

I scrolled through emails, looking for anything decent I could try. Defensive artifacts, miracle healing drugs, protective amulets, there were dozens of potential avenues I could take, but despite the usefulness of them, nothing seemed like what I needed. A single use item wouldn't do it, I would need something more...repeatable. This place was far too dangerous for me to count a single item to protect anyone no matter how useful or powerful (and some of them were both, the fucking golden fleece was actually listed on here, though I couldn't afford it) so I needed to find something more.

There were plenty of possibilities, but I found myself unwilling to commit to anything that wasn't perfect here. I knew it was petty, but if I didn't get exactly the right ability I was putting everyone at risk, and I knew if that happened I would hate myself for rushing it. It was worth taking my time to identify just the right ability to get, and I had settled on an ability. Finally though, I found something perfect. A do it yourself kit that would teach me a skill and give me the materials to get started on the project.

The kit purported to teach the user how to make 'Voo-don't dolls', a term I was positive was both made up and probably offensive. The basic concept was a sort of reverse thaumaturgical link the bound the doll to you backwards. When something should happen to the person, it would happen to the doll instead, creating a substitute for a dangerous or life threatening attack or a dangerous spell effect. The doll would be destroyed from most any dangerous attack, but it would provide a single use shield that would keep the subject of the doll safe against mostly anything.

Making the dolls was complicated and required a shit ton of magic and a piece of hair or skin from the subject, but you could make multiple dolls at once, allowing me to protect everyone I was here with, and not just one person. It was exactly what I was looking for, and when I clicked the button I was happy to see the hundred and ten thousand points vanish as I bought it, along with ten thousand dollars from my bank account that I knew I wouldn't miss. I was still one of the richest people in the world, and money was pretty much literally no object to me.

As expected there was a knock on the door, and when I opened it, a box sat outside in the hall. The knock had been quiet enough that the others hadn't heard it, so I pulled the box into the room and shut the door, not wanting to explain anything to anyone who didn't know. I picked the box up easily (with my strength I could have lifted it if it had been made of lead as easily as wood) and carried it over to set it on the bed so I could open the thing up and look inside at what I was working with.

The box was unique, as most of them were. A worn but pretty wooden trunk with a leather handle and a series of stickers all over the outside. The stickers were beat up and faded but mostly in the shapes of odd things I didn't recognize, symbols and logos that belonged to strange places and groups, though most of them involved death from what I could tell. I didn't know where this had come from, but wherever that was, it had seen plenty of use there.

I flipped a pair of brass latches next to the handle and opened to big trunk with a creak, staring inside to see what the kit looked like. I was somewhat underwhelmed with what I found. The inside of the trunk was faded yellow plaid, sectioned off into small boxes with various materials. Cloth thread, a few vials of odd dust and several nails that looked old and brutal. The big iron kind you see in objects from the early twenties sometimes.

There were no dolls, not premade ones, which made sense, because the book that came with the thing was pretty clear that you needed to make them from scratch for them to work. They were complicated magical foci, and honestly without my perfect memory and my sky high dexterity I would have been worried about being able to remember and sew in all the complex patterns needed to create one. Lots of tiny symbols and formuli that needed to be woven into the doll itself during creation, an amount that almost anyone but me would have probably needed literally months to fashion.

With the combined talent for deft motions and the memory I was pretty sure I could do one in a few hours, but the sewing wasn't the only step. I would probably be better served asking Zee for a hand with the first few, just to make sure I didn't miss any details. If I learned it right I could make them even without the kit, but that required understanding the directions, not just following them, and I wasn't a tithe on Zee in terms of magical knowledge.

Luckily calling her up here was easy enough, all I needed to do was reach out through our bond internally, and she headed right up. She knocked on the door perfunctorily but opened the thing without waiting for an answer, which drew a smile from me. Rather than simply come over to help though, she walked up to my, yanked me down into a hard kiss, then smacked the back of my head and told me. "You're an idiot."

I grinned and chuckled at her, rubbing my head as if it was sore despite both of us knowing she was incapable of hurting me like that. "Yes dear. What specifically did I do this time to prove my idiocy? Just so I can avoid repeating myself in the future. Finding new ways to prove how stupid I am is what keeps our relationship fresh." I felt her love for me through the bond, so I knew she wasn't really angry, just making a point. Despite her scowl though, I also felt a surge of affection at my comment, even though she rolled her eyes on the outside.

She kept her disapproving expression pasted on her face despite knowing I could feel her emotions. "Because this isn't your problem. Or at least, not only your problem. You think we haven't felt you up here lambasting yourself about not finding Kit yet and worrying about how to protect us? Hell, Artemis knew what you were thinking even without being able to read your heart like we can. Drea figured since you needed my help you would be more willing to listen while I tore a strip out of your hide for being a presumptuous moron."

I was surprised to hear her talking to me like that. Not because of the emotions, I could feel those, but because Zee wasn't the type to get genuinely mad. She twisted the two of us around her finger and left us tied in knots when she was mad, and mostly we barely noticed it happening. She didn't really do berating. I was about to respond, but I figured if she was saying it like this I'd better listen, and I put my hands up in surrender.

She gave a satisfied nod. "Good. Now I felt like I should nip this in the bud, because you've been getting more and more in you own head again lately. Once again you're acting like everything is up to you and on your shoulders, which means you aren't letting us help. Don't think I haven't noticed the neat new magic you have here by the way, but it isn't as important to me as you are. We are a family. You, Drea, me, Morana, we are bound, forever and always. You know that. So stop acting like you're protecting a bunch of helpless idiots and start acting like someone who knows we love him and want him to be safe as bad as he wants the same for us."

Her violet eyes blazed with righteous fury as she glared up at me, and I smiled at her softly as I leaned down to kiss her again, pulling back afterward enough to make sure I could look her in the eye still as I rested my forehead on hers. "Yes love. I'm sorry. I can be a bit slow, but you two always manage to pull my head out of my ass when I get back to my old tricks." I gave her a sly look. "Now, having been taken to task, how about you help me put together these dolls to protect everyone. Since, you know, I was asking for help in the first place."

She snorted. "Using me for cheap manual labor isn't asking for help. Just because I have big tits doesn't make me an airhead, Morgan O'Malley." She bumped me aside playfully with her hip. "In fact, I'll be taking charge of this project, as punishment for your presumption." She stuck her nose in the air with a sense of feigned dignity, despite both of us knowing she really just wanted to be the first to play with the new magic. I didn't mind though. She was right, I wasn't in this alone. As long as everyone could be kept safe letting her take charge wasn't a problem.

She leaned down with a solemn expression, picking up the booklet and flipping through it cooly. Each page that passed left her looking more and more intrigued, until she finally dropped the pretense completely. She looked up at me eagerly with big starry eyes. "This is fascinating baby! I've never seen anything like this. I've used thaumaturgy before of course, but nothing like this." She continued babbling about the magic as she took stock of the resources in the kit, figuring out how we could make more dolls when they ran out and how many we had enough for. I just smiled at her fondly and put my arms around her waist, letting her lose herself in the project as I committed the details to memory.

June 3rd 2016 Advent Manor, The Nightside 7:00 PM EDT

The dolls were hellish to make. Zee had ended up forcing me to do the sewing. Aside from a hundred points of dexterity, I also had lots of practice with void magic, and the stitching on those damned dolls required that I sew through at least five dimensions. Even Zee, who spent about half her free time forcing herself to slowly decode that absurd void grimoire that I had mostly stopped messing with after Morana was born, wasn't my equal with the void, and between that and my own powers I managed to get to put them together in a relatively short period of time.

Of course, it didn't help that she kept tweaking the process to do experiments so she could figure out more about the process, I was lucky ghost flesh regenerated, because I blew one of my fucking hands off at one point, and it took ten minutes to grow back. Even Zee, research mad as she was, was horrified to see me literally maimed in the process of her experiments, and decided she'd gotten enough info to work out a safer method of repeat production, allowing me to go back to the detailed instructions.

Once all that was done, she gave me a long kiss and told me she was going to check on Artemis, before leaving me alone with my thoughts. I approved of the idea, I should have considered checking on her myself, but I'd been busy with my pity party. I'd snapped out of that whole funk when Zee pointed it out...mostly, but the fact remained that it was still a good idea to be as powerful as I could get for what was to come. Letting my friends help didn't change that. I did need to improve, so I decided to seek out the one person I knew of in the house who could probably help with that.

Tommy was sitting in an overstuffed armchair in front of a fire in one of the multiple studies Julian seemed to have in this place. He was swirling a flute of champagne, sipping it gingerly before sighing in contentment as he stared into the roaring flames. When I came in he turned to grin cheerily at me. "Ah, Morgan, lovely to see you. I was hoping you might seek me out. What can I do for you?"

He knew the answer to that of course, we both did, but I was happy to play along. I sat down in a second chair across from his. "I'm here about your ability. It's something like mine, and I'd very much like to learn more about it. I know you got it in a poker game, assuming that wasn't just a joke, but I'd like to hear more about how it works. Can you tell me a bit more about? And do you know why it seems so similar to mine? Did it come from the same place?" I wondered if his power had to do with Del, but decided asking would serve no purpose. If he did he'd tell me anyway most likely, and if not he wouldn't know the name.

He chuckled a bit. "No, it wasn't a joke. I did win my power in a poker game." He shot me a grin. "I was bluffing at the time too. My brother was there, he still bemoans losing to me with a pair of threes. He did manage to get a rather useful magic wand in the next hand though. Regardless, you're right that our abilities have things in common, though I wouldn't say they're from the same source. More that they're...thematically similar. There are only so many abilities in the world, and Nightside tends to host an abnormal amount of them."

That was a reasonable answer, but not a satisfying or convincing one. "That's just so...random though. Isn't it a bit weird to assume that we just happened to run into each other? Sure there might be lots of powers here, but what are the chances that we would run into each other like this?" I wasn't a big believer in coincidence, especially not when it came to things like my ability, where the concept could be pretty murky. If Tommy had said he sought me out or was sent I'd believe it, but coincidence was hard to swallow.

I was surprised by the shrug he gave in response. "It does happen. Especially here. The Nightside is meant to be the one place where even heaven and hell can't interfere, but that opens the door for lots of mucking about with time and fate you can't do elsewhere, the combination of all the various powers here tampering with reality can cause instability and odd circumstances. Strange things happen that seem like coincidence all the time, most of which are just consequences to actions we never saw or got to be a part of."

If anything 'destiny soup' was more unsatisfying than coincidence as an explanation, but I wasn't going to get hung up on it. "Fine, so our meeting might have been random, but I still think you could help me. Our abilities are similar enough I bet you could teach me plenty. You're willing, right?" I was pretty sure he followed us for that reason, so i didn't think I was being presumptuous asking.

He nodded lazily. "Sure. I can teach you a bit. I mean, we don't have the same ability so anything you pick up might not apply the same, but I should be able to at least help." He gestured to the room at large. "Here, do...something with your powers. Doesn't have to be anything specific, I just need to see how they work." I was having Gojo flashbacks here, but Tommy wasn't exactly the same. I couldn't see him beating the shit out of my for training even if he was capable of it. Though I did brace myself for an attack just in case. Fool me once and all that.

He didn't attack me, just allowed me to make a small change to the world around me. I picked up a small figuring on a nearby shelf, one of a series of multicolored statuettes, and then another. I showed them both to Tommy and then closed my hands, using a brief exertion of will to swap the hands they were in showing him the figures to illustrate that the colors of them had switched. I'd just switched the colors, not the figures, because it required less power. At least I was pretty sure it had.

He rolled his eyes, which was fair, it hadn't exactly been tough, but he hadn't asked me to strain myself. "That'll do. Now, why did you choose to do that? Specifically out of every possible use of your powers why THAT one?" I opened my mouth to respond and he held up a hand. "Stop. You're answering too fast. You're going to give an answer that makes sense, but you don't need to. I'll get what you mean if you're honest, so don't try to frame it in a way that might make sense to normal people."

I nodded at his comment. He was right. I'd been about to do that. I often reframed unintuitive parts of my powers in a more understandable way for the normal people around me. It actually took me a second to figure out why I'd done it in a way that would make sense to me rather than something more palatable for others. "It was a smaller lie. Convincing the figures they were in the wrong hands would have been harder, or lying to you so you thought they had been swapped. The color wasn't important, so it was easier to change."

The existential detective grinned in satisfaction. "Exactly. Your ability is powerful, but you don't know how to apply it. You tell the world a lie, and then scream it in the world's face over and over until you badger it into believing. That's contrary t0 the nature of your ability. Lies are delicate, they're subtle and easy to miss. Big obvious lies are pointless and rarely work without a great deal of effort. You need to tell more efficient lies. Subtler, more complex lies that are more convincing with less effort spent."

I growled in frustration as I stood up and started to pace, setting the altered figures back on their shelf. "How does that help me? The lies I tell are the ones I need. I need my powers to do certain things. Telling me 'want less strenuous stuff' isn't teaching me anything. You might as well tell me that using my power less will cost less effort. It's obvious and not at all helpful to my situation."

I was starting to get angry. I knew that wasn't really fair, but he'd gotten my hopes up that he could help me take another step, and then he'd let me down. I expected anger in response, but he just snorted at me. "You're hearing things I'm not saying. I said you need subtler lies, not that you need to lie about subtler things. The end point isn't the issue here, it's how you're getting there. It's like killing someone with a round from a gun. Shooting them is the obvious way to do it, but you're insisting on beating their heads in with a sock full of bullets. It still works, but it's wildly inefficient."

There was something about that description that just...made sense to me. "That might be accurate." I admitted. "But how am I supposed to do it different? I want a result so I make that result happen, sure it sucks, but I can't really see how I would do it differently. I could try to make something else happen, something easier, but I can't make it happen a different way. I don't know how the hell my power works in the first place, so how am I supposed to know how things are happening as it is? I just think about the result I want and sort of...force the world to accept. Are you saying I should try being less insistent? Take longer maybe?"

In the past I had used logic like that with my points to make a portal easier, so that might work, but I didn't know how useful it would be in combat. To my surprise though, Tommy just gave a frustrated growl and threw up his hands. "Damn it boy, stop thinking about this so logically. I'm trying to describe music and you're doing math." He made a pained noise. "Fine, maybe a different tactic. Rather than focusing on what is supposed to happen, trying focusing on WHY. Not the mechanics, but the reason. Come up with an excuse the world can use to justify the change."

Something in the back of my head twinged a bit when he said that, and I felt like it made a lot of sense. I'd been brute forcing the small changes I could make, or the changes to my power (which could be somewhat larger thankfully), but I hadn't really considered it from that angle. I reached out and picked up one of the figurines. I stared at it intently. I wanted to to change it, maybe make it into some other material. I could force that to happen, but it would basically black me out to do it.

Instead I decided to focus on what Tommy said. I wanted this to be gold, I decided, but I wasn't going to turn it into gold. It had always been gold. It was just covered in some other material. I felt my power flare, but it was more like the ache of a good workout than the flashing pain I'd felt in my head before. It felt good. Right. I reached up and scraped a nail across the figurine, and a layer flaked off, revealing a gleaming gold exterior. I grinned widely up at Tommy. "Well now. Isn't that interesting." I knew my limits with my power, and this would have been close to beyond them, but right now I felt fine. I could work with this.

June 4th 2016 Advent Manor, The Nightside 10:00 AM EDT

I spent the rest of the night training. Even with my newfound understanding, I ended up going to sleep absolutely exhausted after repeatedly taxing myself using my ability over and over again. One the upside I got MUCH more done in terms of practice than I had in...well, ever. This was going to be a game changer for improving my grasp on my powers, and hopefully would let me operate in combat more effectively. Constant headaches during fights weren't really a viable way to conduct battle, and anything I could do to blunt the pain was useful.

Still, a nice rest had left me pleasantly refreshed and ready to take on the world, so to speak. When I came out to breakfast again, everyone was sitting around the table eating what looked like homemade blueberry muffins with butter. We ate them all pretty quickly, and once we'd finished the food we said goodbye to Julian again (though at this point we had pretty much confirmed we were staying here for a while) and asked him to keep an eye out for news of Kit while we tried to find a lead on Neron.

Instead of catching another carriage we headed off from Julian's place at a brisk walk, Taylor leading us in a direction of his choosing. I drew even with him as we walked. "So, you're telling me there are no leads on someone who might have made a deal with some greater demon or other? If Pretty Poison doesn't know exactly who maybe someone else will. You don't have any ideas?"

John was actually the one who answered, snorting derisively from the other side of his mentor. "Mate, the issue is that there are far too many. Like the boss said before, demon deals are a dime a dozen in the Nightside. Sure talking about greater demons makes that much more difficult to accomplish, but there are plenty of powerful beings in the Nightside who fit the bill still. If we approach the wrong one we effectively made an enemy for no reason, and these aren't the kind of people you arse about with."

Artemis cut in, seeming annoyed. "Ok, well we still need to do SOMETHING. I get we can't rush things, but I for one have no desire to sit around twiddling my thumbs while my friend is in danger. You have to have some kind of idea about where we could look. We won't go off half cooked and offend a bunch of people, but we still need to at least try. Isn't there some place where the biggest and baddest gather that we could check out?" Her voice had an almost pleading edge to it.

I knew that Artemis blamed herself for Kit abandoning us as much as I did. She may not have been the reason behind it, but she had known about my cousins pain and had left her hanging. She hadn't known how to help her friend and had ignored the problem and I didn't think she'd ever forgiven herself for that. I knew there were far too many parallels between Jade leaving Artemis behind and Artemis abandoning Kit for my friend's comfort. Of course I also knew her self loathing was stupid and presumptuous, but saying that wouldn't fix anything at all.

Taylor looked at her serious expression and sighed. "You lot are going to get me killed. You're lucky I like you all. Fine. There's a place. The Londinium Club. It's where all the movers and shakers go to unwind. If we're looking for someone with real power, and Neron sounds like that, the other big boys should know something about him. We can ask around there to see if anyone can point us in the right direction. If we do that though, I need you all to swear to keep things civil and listen to me. The people here have way more power than even I'm comfortable messing about with, and I'd rather not see you all dead. Despite my better judgement I actually like you."

Though he addressed all of us, I saw him glance at Zee and sighed. I got the distinct impression that Sindella and Taylor had been a bit more than just good buddies, or at the very least he had wanted them to be. I wondered how things had fallen apart between them, how Sindella had ended up with Giovanni. Obviously as someone who loved Zee I was glad it had worked out that way, but still, Giovanni wasn't a great guy. Taylor seemed much more spirited and much stronger mentally. Whatever excuses Zee made for him Giovanni Zatara was not a strong man. He was far too controlled by his losses. Not that I was exactly a bastion of inner fortitude, but the old magician gave a new meaning to weak minded. Hence the whole selling his soul to a tin can thing.

I exhaled loudly. "We agree." Everyone looked at me in surprise and I chuckled. "What? I'm not stupid. We can't punch everything in town. Taylor is our guide, and hes proven to have big brass ones. If he thinks these people are scary enough to warrant caution then I'd be stupid not to listen to him. What would be the point of finding a guide if we aren't going to listen to him." I shot him a grin. "Besides, I still have faith he can help us track down Kit with enough time. We just need to let him work. Rush a miracle worker and you get lousy miracles."

Jim's chuckle was delighted. "Well said my boy. We should trust our expert. Otherwise why bring him at all. I must say. This Londinium Club sounds like quite a lovely place. But clubs such as that usually have a strict entry criteria. Do you have the capability to gain us entry Mr. Taylor? If not perhaps Julian could help. If I know my old friend he's most certainly a member of such an establishment."

That got a snort from the big detective. "I can get us in. My reputation in this town hasn't fallen that from from what it once was. People still try not to get in my way." He smirked cockily, strolling casually ahead as he spoke, before freezing in place after a few more steps. I was curious what had shocked him, but as I followed his gaze ahead of us I saw someone step out of the shadows ahead of us. I wasn't sure exactly who she was, but judging by Taylor's pale face and fixed eyes, she wasn't good news.

John, who had been looking ahead of as as his mentor did, stopped on a dime and swore loudly. "Oh Christ, it's her. Run." He said it like it was reflex, like knocking on wood when you said something that might jinx you, not like he expected us to actually listen. Still, I saw his body shift slightly like he was about to bolt. Despite that, he stayed where he was, obviously fighting himself. Considering John hadn't even been this scared of the Harrowing (though Taylor had) I expected that she must be someone very scary.

Taylor looked...strange. Not afraid, as much as worried. His face was pale, but his brow was furrowed, and I got the impression he wasn't as scared of the woman as he was disturbed by her presence here. His voice came out firm when he spoke, no shaking or uncertainty. "Suzie. I thought you were busy with a job. I haven't heard from you in a few days. What exactly are you doing here?"

The tall, gorgeous blonde in the black leathers looked calm. She was strapped with several guns, and a pair of bandoleers crossed her generous chest. She looked at John first, smirking at him maliciously. "Well if it isn't little JJ. Finally came crawling back Junior? I always told him he was better off without you, but he's much too soft, is my John. Still, I don't have any business with you." Her eyes flicked to me. "You though. You I have a contract for. I don't suppose you'll come quietly? I hope not, that's never any fun."

Taylor stepped in front of me. I was surprised by the motion, as was Suzie, and in fact, even Taylor looked a bit shocked. Still he stood in front of me defensively. "No. I don't know what you were told Suzie, but Morgan is a decent kid. He's also...a friend." He looked back at Zee. Clearly thinking about her mother, and unwilling to make her watch me get hurt. Oddly, that wasn't a bad sign. If he was trying to reason with the woman, then clearly she COULD be reasoned with. He'd even defended my character, which meant she actually cared about things like that.

Suzie scowled at him. "What? The kid is half demon John, I have it from some very reliable sources. No pit spawn are decent, even if they play the part. They don't have souls. You know this." Taylor looked surprised, but he didn't back down. Suzie softened a bit, though not much. "Look, if it helps I'm not being paid to end him. Someone wants to talk to the kid. I don't usually do retrieval missions, but when I found out some demonspawn whelp was worming his way into your life, well..." She glared at John. "You don't have the best taste in sidekicks."

I put my hands up. "Whoa lady. I don't know where you heard that, but I not half demon. I'm half devil, but not the kind you're thinking of, and I wasn't born that way. It was a change I went through later in life, and most of the people here knew me both before and after. I'm not some demonic offspring with a hard on for world domination. I just came here to find my cousin, and John told us his old boss could help. It was Taylor's decision to help us out, and I'm grateful for it, but we aren't manipulating him."

She rolled her eyes. "Kid, I wouldn't believe a hellspawn if they told me water was wet. Not to mention the company you keep. Seriously, John? Elves? I thought you had better sense. Vicious little sociopaths the lot of them. Although..." She squinted at Zee. "You look oddly familiar for some reason. Not the elf parts, but the nose, and the mouth a little bit." Her eyes narrowed. "You kind of remind me of this prissy little know it all I used to hate." She turned her glare on Taylor. "Really John? Sindy? And she went and got herself knocked up by an elf apparently. Always knew she had bad taste."

Taylor looked genuinely angry at the statement, as did Zee, and Drea had to literally step up and put her hand over out girlfriends mouth to stop her from going off on the obviously very dangerous woman. Taylor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Listen, can we please go somewhere and talk this over? I promise you we can answer your questions, despite how things were framed these are good kids. I admit I have a few new things to ask myself, but they helped me out against the Harrowing, and that buys a bit of good will from me."

Her eyes went wide at that, clearly aware of who the Harrowing were, and she shot us a respectful look. She glared for a bit, before sighing and giving a nod. Taylor let out a sigh of relief. Before she could make a move though, there was a gunshot. Suzie jerked in place with a grimace, hand going to her side and them coming up wet with blood. I expected her to slump or at least waver, but she just glared into the shadows on the other side of the street. Another woman stepped from the darkness, tall and dark haired and pale, with a wide predatory smile. "You really shouldn't get so distracted Suzie. It'll be the death of you."

Suzie snarled at the other woman as Taylor stepped forward to come to her aid, but she put up a hand. "Hello Belle, you irritating bitch." Suzie reached into a pouch on her belt, her other hand hovering over one of her guns, and pulled out a syringe. She jammed the blunt plastic tip into the wound and pressed the plunger, and a strange blue foam filled up the injury. A series of bright green sparks poured out of the foam for a second and then it turned grey and started to smoke.

Suzie grimaced. "That antidote was expensive, you whore. So, I assume those bastards double booked me? I hate when clients double book me." Then she drew the gun in a blur and shot the dark haired woman in the head. The sound of the gunshot rang loudly in the air as the woman's head rocked back, and we all just kind of stared at her. Hadn't been expecting that.

June 4th 2016 The Nightside 11:00 AM EDT

Suzie, it appeared, did not fuck around. She popped that Belle woman in the skull so fast a normal person couldn't have even seen it. She was something a little more than human I suspected, or she was cheating. Still, we were all pretty shell shocked at the speed at which that whole incident had gone sour. Despite having capped that bitch, however, Suzie didn't lower her gun, just staring at Belle, who stood motionless, head snapped back from being shot but still not falling over. "Oh stop playing up, you melodramatic slag."

Belle stood there for another few seconds, then her head tipped forward, and she made a hocking noise and spat, letting a bullet clink to the ground from her mouth. A neat hole between her eyes was closing as we watched, and her pretty face was screwed up in annoyance. "Barbarian." She said in thick french accent, completely ignoring the fact that she had shot Suzie first. The tall blonde just glared at the other woman, and Belle rolled her eyes. "Yes, fine, they double booked you. But to be fair, you have a reputation for letting our dear John talk you out of proper business. I'm just...insurance."

The glare on the blonde's face intensified. "He's not YOUR John anymore, you insufferable arsehole. And I don't get talked out of anything I don't want to. I have reason to believe I was given bad information, and only a sap does a job when they're lied to. But that isn't a problem for you is it Belle? In order for someone to to violate your standards you'd need to actually have any. What exactly did you do to yourself this time? To get such a convenient healing factor." Suzie sniffed a few times. "Wait, no, don't tell me. I smell wet dog. You hunted yourself a werewolf didn't you?"

The french...bounty hunter I guessed? Glared at the blonde. "Perceptive little psycho aren't you. But it doesn't matter. I have more than one trick up my sleeve. I even have ways to deal with him." She chucked her chin at me. "So why don't we all just keep things nice and friendly, and I'll take the demonspawn boy to my clients. No need for anyone to get hurt. If you make a fuss though..." She trailed off threateningly. "Well, let's just say that even your cute little magic tricks won't be enough to stop the measure I have in place."

Everyone was looking at me now, clearly curious as to what I would do. Zee looked terrified, Dreamer looked worried, and Artemis looked pissed off. But I just smiled at her casually. "Really?" I wasn't afraid of her little tricks. First off I had the dolls to stop and instant kills even if she could get past me. But I didn't need them anyway. Belle had appeared out of nowhere earlier, even I hadn't noticed her. If one person can sneak up on you than so can others, so I had quietly manifested a few clones in an invisible intangible state and sent them out to check the surroundings.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...well the fifteen or twenty times people had fooled me had finally started to sink in. I'd decided to do everything in my power to keep my friends safe, and that included making sure to use my assets properly. My clones were perfect for recon, and when used that way, they could be insanely effective even if they weren't as powerful or combat capable as I was. Belle gave me a nasty smile. "Oh, the pretty boy thinks he's impressive does he? Maybe I should give you a demonstration that I'm serious." She raised a hand and snapped her fingers.

Nothing happened. She frowned. She snapped again, then a a third time. Like her signal might have been missed and she needed to get it through her people's heads. I made a noise of sympathy. "You seem frustrated. Were you expecting something just then?" She glared at me, and I couldn't help but return the expression with my own nasty grin. "For instance, did you maybe think one of the multiple snipers you have posted up on rooftops casually dotting this street would put a bullet in one of my friends?"

Her eyes went wide, the blood draining from her face at the statement. I waved a hand and a series of corridors dropped the men my clones had subdued on the street in front of us. Their expressions were vacant and afraid, and they were drooling as the slumped limply on the ground, staring off into nothingness. Corridors of darkness weren't safe for normal people to move through. Not safe at all. Neither, as it happened, was pointing GUNS at my friends, and especially not at my girls.

I stared coldly down at the men on the ground. They weren't dead, they were making low keening noises in the backs of their throats, but they were going to be in bad shape for a while. I was not, however, under the mistaken impression that they couldn't possibly survive or get better. The Nightside had lots of things other places didn't. If anyone could treat them, it would be someone here. My eyes flicked up to Belle. "I think I broke your snipers. My bad." My icy tone made it absolutely clear that it was NOT my bad, but she was a bit busy panicking to question that anyway.

She forced her face into a calm expression, sneering at me. "You think those were all I brought boy? I have scores of men stationed around here. Don't think you're safe because you found one of my teams. You can't do anything to me. If you raise your hand to me I'll have you all mowed down where you stand. Contract or not, I don't play games with my life." Her tone was arrogant and full of certainty...it was also a lie.

I knew lies. Knew them better every day, and trying to bluff me was just pure stupidity. But it didn't matter. I just smiled at her. "Oh, I'm not going to hurt you. I know you don't have any backup, but unfortunately, while you threatened my loved ones, you didn't actually shoot me. I can't really justify taking your fate away from someone who deserves it more than me. I'm going to let Suzie be the one to handle you." I shot a grin at the blonde bounty hunter. "Consider it a thank you for being willing to hear us out."

Even I shivered slightly at the sheer glee on Suzie's face when she turned to Belle. "Well now, I like you already. I'll be sure to take good care of our friend here." She was almost cooing when she said that, and I made a note to never piss off Suzie if I could help it. She lowered a hand to a second gun, not even wincing at the movement despite the bullet would she'd just plugged up.

Belle looked ice cold, but the lie was simple for me to see. She was terrified. Her sneer deepened. "Well, if you want to leave me with an easy target I suppose I should thank you for it. Suzie has never been up to my standa-" She yelped and dove sideways so fast I imagine most of the people here couldn't follow it. The bullet Suzie fired hit the building behind her and gouged a line in the cement column. I noted a gleam of bright metal from inside the column and smirked. Silver bullets didn't deform as easily as lead, it was pretty simple to tell what this one was.

Belle could tell it too obviously because her eyes widened with fear. She spun to Taylor. "John. Sweetheart. You know how I get. I was just excited. There's no reason to kill me over it. We cared about each other once. Can't you let me go just this one time?" She dodged again, using some kind of magic shield to deflect the bullet this time because she wasn't fast enough to clear the line of fire.

Taylor looked...uncomfortable. I was pretty sure he wanted to let her go. I was also pretty sure that he knew that wasn't going to fly with any of the people here except maybe Wally. The redhead had actually been oddly quiet, I'd expected him to try to intervene, but aside from taking the whole 'law of the land' thing seriously, especially after the OZ, I saw him staring in rage at the downed snipers piled up off to one side. He knew what they were there for, and the thought of them hurting any of us, especially him or Artemis, was hitting him hard I was pretty sure.

The big detective just shook his head, looking away. He was telling himself he didn't care, and that she deserved it, but I could hear the lie even without him speaking it. Taylor didn't care too much about conventional morality, though he did have lines he wouldn't cross. His biggest virtue though was personal loyalty. He protected his people. He'd protected us even though we'd only met him a few days ago. Belle had been someone to him once, and having to ignore it as she died hurt him in a way I don't think he was comfortable admitting.

If I'd known him better or been a better friend to him I'd have stopped it because of that. But I wasn't. I was angry. I wasn't going to let some french bounty hunter get away with trying to use my girls or my friends against me. No one fucked with my loved ones. Suzie grinned viciously as she moved in to get close to Belle. I personally thought she should have stayed back, Belle clearly had some kind of superhuman power thing going on, but Suzie walked calmly towards the woman, obviously intent on violence.

Belle realized she didn't have an out and jerked up a gun I hadn't seen. Suzie, who had holstered the original weapon she used for the headshot and slipped a hand into a pocket, pulled it out and gave a light puff us she opened it. Belle inhaled the shimmering dust, and started hacking and coughing, hands going to her throat. Suzie holstered the other gun, pulled out a bandana, wrapped it around her mouth and then slipped on a pair of very shiny knuckle dusters, one on each of her hands.

The next several minutes were...disturbing. Suzie beat Belle so thoroughly that I wasn't entirely sure the woman could have been injured in any more places. She broke every joint, smashed her knee caps, caved her face in, and just generally worked her over until Belle was a whimpering pile of meat on the ground, then she spit on her and kicked her a few times for good measure. I expected her to execute the bounty hunter, but she gave Taylor a soft look and then turned away coldly, clearly planning to let her live for his sake. Taylor didn't see it since he was looking away, and I think that was on purpose too.

Artemis was staring at the woman in absolute awe. "I want to be her when I grow up." We all turned to look at her. With her fathers career I'd have thought this would have been too brutal for her and she shrugged. "That bit was going to have either me or one of my loved ones shot just to prove a point. As far as I'm concerned leaving her alive is all the mercy she deserves. That was awesome." She chased after Suzie, catching upto the taller blonde as she stared at her with wide eyes. "How did you do that? What was that stuff you blew at her?"

Suzie was untying the bandana, and she shot Artemis another bloodthirsty smile. "Diamond dust and silver particles. Even a werewolf doesn't want to breathe that." I winced at her proclamation, but followed after her as she headed off to a nearby building where I suppose she wanted to talk this out. I didn't think it would take very long. We'd won some points with how we handled this. I looked over at Taylor, who was staring at Belle with a bit of sadness, though no pity. Maybe he and Suzie had some discussions of their own to have. Hopefully he would wait until after we made it to the Londinium club.

I'm having a blast blending these two worlds, and I hope everyone is enjoying reading about them. We have some more Nightside characters coming up soon, as well as some interesting backstory involving higher up DC characters. As usual pat-reon has the advance chaptera at that site/malcolmtent I hope everyone enjoys and let me know what you think.