April 5th 2016 Brightedge City, Bright City Grind, 5:00 PM EDT

I didn't bring Amy with me to meet with Silver about the conclave. She'd seen my wife and I together when I was in my Mammon identity, and even if the mask was able to protect my secrets, there was no reason to push it. Still, just to ensure I didn't have to use my draconic abilities and blow my cover, I arranged a meeting at a public coffee shop. Bright City Grind was a combination of a pair of shops from Gotham and Metro that had already opened back up, even in a crazy magic combo city, people still need their java I guess.

Silver was sitting alone when I arrived, though I doubted she'd come by herself. She probably had Court goons sitting among the rest of the tables waiting for a signal. I wasn't too worried. She was still looking a bit nervous from watching me butcher a bunch of her Talons. Nick worked for Mammon and was her point of contact. Killing me would be a grave insult to...well, me.

Unlike last time I'd seen her, Silver was dressed in a grey tank top and a pair of black yoga pants. Her hair was up and she wasn't wearing much makeup, but despite that she still looked stunning. I smirked as I approached, flipping the chair at the table around to sit in it backwards. "Silver. How nice to see you again. You're looking gorgeous as always. I admit I was surprised when the boss told me we'd be working with you. Then again, you always did have a silver tongue."

Silver's cheek twitched. "Nicholas. Lovely. I was so glad to get your call. I share your surprise. How anyone as competent as Mr. Mammon could work with a hedonistic layabout like you is completely beyond me." Her hand slipped under the table, obviously reaching for a weapon. "I think you'll find me much more difficult to take advantage of now that we're adults."

I shrugged. "I was fourteen too. It's not like I was older. Besides, I doubt I was the first. Nobody can suck like that their first time." I gave her a lecherous wink. "I'd love to give that pretty mouth of yours another test run sometime. But we're not here to indulge your suckslut tendencies. We have business to attend to. I'll thank you to be professional during these negotiations please."

Her eyes narrowed with rage and I could almost see her smothering her desire to lunge across the table, she really was much more controlled than expected. Finally, I sighed, holding up my hands. "Oh calm down, I was joking. Peace. I'm sorry about tricking you when we were younger. It was an awful thing to do." I held out a hand. "Tell you what, if we're going to be working together there's no reason to be at odds. Truce?"

She looked at me suspiciously, as if searching for a trap, then reached out to take my hand. Of course, I used the contact to tweak her desires a bit. Nothing crazy or overt, just a bit of a blowjob fetish and some dirty dreams I queued up for the next few nights. She noticed nothing of course, and once I released her hand I switched to an all business mode. I'd let that sink in for a bit before I did anything else. Might be fun to see how horny I could make someone before she snapped and tried to mount me by force.

"So." I said, getting down to business. "The meeting. We've been in contact with quite a few factions within the city. The fae are willing to attend, and we've got representatives coming from the special ops community as well. Penguin is interested, and we've spoken to a few of our other contacts. We need to hammer out details, however. We need a time and location as well as more information on your own guests."

Seeming to be much more comfortable with the focus of the conversation, Silver nodded. "We've discussed this with our leadership, and the Parliament are willing to work with your employer. The new city represents and unprecedented break in existing power structures. For ill to be sure, at least in some ways, but for good as well. With the combination Metropolis is on the table in a way it never was before. Certain...interests, made it infeasible to expand our reach across the river, and that's something our organization wishes to remedy."

I'd assumed that much. The Court had been basically stuck in Gotham for years, and it had to rankle. Especially given how superior and stuck up they were. I hadn't known there was a "Parliament" but it did fit the theme and sounded pretentious enough for them. Despite that, I didn't see a need to humor her overly formal nonsense. "I assumed, since you showed up here. Do you have a place we can hold the meeting? If not we can look for something. I'm sure your resources had been stretched thin by the fusion of the cities. It probably isn't easy to ensure a venue is secure anymore."

That was a challenge, plain and simple. If she admitted that they couldn't arrange something she'd be giving me the initiative. I'd be the one in charge of the conclave, and the Court would know it. Sure, I'd be in a position of power anyway, but that wasn't the same as just rolling over and letting me make the calls.

Interestingly, they seemed to have expected me to try to push, and Silver had an answer ready. "The Pergrinator's Club will do. It's exclusive enough to be respected, and as far as we can tell survived the combination intact. We were able to regain control of it easily enough, and will of course be happy to provide security." She shot me a cool smile. "Unless for some reason you object to us arranging potential combatants at the conclave?" If I objected I'd look weak, but I had no reason to do so anyway.

I just shrugged. "We're happy to let you handle security, but if anything happens it's on you." I was pretty sure someone would try some bullshit, but probably nothing that they couldn't handle. If they did fuck up though my girls could take care of themselves. I'd just leave things to fall apart and then swoop in to save them. It would give me more leverage when working with them anyway.

That still left an important question though. "What about timing?" I said casually. "We need to give people time to to prepare and get the news, but we need it to be fast because we can't have random assholes popping up before we make the arrangements for the city. Do you have any ideas about when we should do it?"

Silver gave me a smug look. "Of course." She said haughtily. "We've plotted out the optimal timing based on information from dozens of sources, as well as getting our invitees onboard. The conclave will be held in two days. Make sure your invites go out on time. It would be a shame if you embarrassed Mr. Mammon by failing to live up to his expectations." I caught a brief flash of desire, not for me really, but for the power someone like me could give her. Silver was kind of a messed up girl. The idea of ruling over others by force got her a little wet. What a psycho.

Two days was fine, I could arrange that with Tamlin and dad. Getting penguin onboard would be child's play. That greedy little formal pigeon wouldn't miss a chance to get in on the ground floor of something this big. Deciding we'd talked enough business I switched to talking about Silver. "So, how have you been Silver? We haven't talked in years." I held up both hands at her glare. "That was NOT a subtle reminder of the time you sucked my dick. It was a genuine question."

She looked suspicious for a minute but sighed. "Oh what does it matter. I tried to get my vengeance for that incident. I admit, I was mildly impressed by how persuasive you were. I really believed you could deliver on your promise of ceded territory. I suppose that was what made me so angry about it. I felt like an idiot. I never told my father about that of course. He was most displeased when he found out about the assassin I hired."

I chuckled at that. "I was motivated. You were gorgeous, and your tits were huge for a girl our age. I couldn't resist. Still, don't sell yourself short. I can be an excellent liar when I'm in the mood. There's no shame in believing one of my stories. The fact that you're being so cool about it is impressive. Most girls take that kind of thing too seriously. What's a little tonsil tickling between friends. It's only a big deal if you make it one."

She actually smirked at that. "I think you underestimate the impact such a thing has on a girl, but I'll take that in the spirit it was meant. Not that I've forgiven you, mind. I would be inflicting my vengeance on you even now, were our business interests not aligned." She gave me a sweet smile. "Consider yourself lucky."

I just shrugged. "It's fine, I'm not sorry. If I thought I could use this little event to convince you to suck my cock again you'd be on your knees in the alley behind the coffee shop letting me say hi your throat right now." I winked at her. "I'm much bigger now than I was last time. But hey, I'm sure you've had loads more practice. Which do you think is likely to happen first? You blowing me or you getting revenge?"

Instead of anger, this time I got an eye roll. Good. I was planting the idea in her head as an explanation for her upcoming dreams. I could tell she was getting a little hot and bothered though. That blowjob fetish I'd stoked in her was making the casual references to face fucking hit in a very pleasant way. I was getting a lot better at this whole seduction thing over time. Admittedly the power made it way easier, but I liked to think I was refining my use of the technique.

We spent the next twenty minutes or so exchanging barbs and feeling each other out. I wasn't stupid enough to think she liked me, I knew she was just humoring me because she was afraid of 'Mammon' but I didn't mind. All I needed to do was take my time. She was too ambitious to let go of a chance to get in good with someone as powerful as me, and if Mammon was the one asking her to slobber his knob I was pretty sure she'd do it in a second, but if I wanted her as an assistant(and I did, because I wasn't making any of my girls deal with Court bullshit) I needed to be a bit more subtle.

Despite her continued distaste, I could tell that I'd taken the edge off her anger with all my bullshit. Carrying a grudge for years can be pretty toxic, and if I'd just tried to convince her I was a good guy it wouldn't have done anything but make her dig in. By being a charming asshole it reframed the things she didn't like about me into more favorable terms. It would be a bit of a project but I could turn her impression of me around.

It might seem like too much effort for not enough gain, but I wasn't planning to have a resentful employee stewing under me. She'd find out I was Mammon eventually, and if she already liked Nick when it happened she was less likely to be obstinate about it. As I headed back to the house, I made a note to call my dad and Tamlin to set things up, and after that I needed to make some preparations for the conclave. I had a feeling this was going to be a hell of a party.

April 7th 2016 Brightedge City, The Perigrinator's Club, 7:00 AM EDT

The next two days passed in a blur of activity. Well...for Silver and Barbie. I didn't really do much personally, I have people for that. Still, I was at least cognizant of the fact that there was a lot to get done. Once we got everything out of the way I was invited to watch them set up (as Mammon of course) for the big event at the Perigrinator's Club. Despite knowing they wanted to use me as intimidation, I decided to accept, if only to scout the venue.

Which is how I found myself here walking the halls of The Perigrinator's Club, alone, an hour before the event was supposed to start. Despite being a big fancy upper crust gentleman's club (not the kind with tits sadly) this place had a big ass complex of back halls and a basement that extended out much further than the building itself. Since I wasn't a fucking moron who ignored large portions or the venue where I held events, I was checking them all out.

"This is annoying." I said out loud. "Like...more annoying that most stuff." I'd been wandering around for about fifteen minutes now, and I was pretty sure I was lost. Not like...super lost. But I wasn't totally positive where I was. Of course, I could retrace my steps perfectly and find my way out, but if I did that I had no clue if I would manage to check every bit of of this place. It made more sense to keep going until I hit a dead end, since I could backtrack at any time.

Since I was alone though, I decided to check in on an old friend. "Hey, Crassus, you around?" The voice in my head never spoke to me unless I addressed him. It had been quite some time since I'd checked in though. There had been quite a bit going on for a while now.

[Yeah, I'm here as always. Where the hell else would I be. Been a while. I'm surprised you didn't check in earlier.]

He'd been silent so long, I had to wonder. "Do you experience things that happen to me in real time?" It seemed odd to me that he would be silent for weeks and then when I called to him pop up without any complaint.

[Not really. Or not exactly. The dead don't experience time like the living, kid. The time between conversations barely passes for me. A blink between one talk and the next. I know what happens during that time and can address it, but it's not like I just sit around waiting.]

That was interesting. A bit of a relief too. Would have sucked for him if he had to sit around silent for ages between talks. I was about to ask him a question when I heard a slight rustle. I stopped. With deliberate slowness, I turned to look at the spot the sound had come from. Just a corner. Nothing else. I stared at the empty hall. Without taking my eyes away from the corner I slipped out the Eye of Oberon, catching my reflection out of the corner of my gaze.

"Is this you?" Asked my fae fragment. "Because your nonsense with the reflections wasn't funny before, and it's not funny now." I absolutely didn't have time for this shit. I doubted anything down here could actually hurt me, but I was looking for infiltrators. If I left a mysterious thing down in the basement tunnels and it got one of the guests it would fuck up my whole night.

My reflection met my eyes lazily. "No. Once I got in touch I didn't need to do any more of th- wait what the fuck was that?" His eyes jerked off mine, looking behind me. I rolled my own eyes and turned to look behind me. Nothing. I didn't think he'd been fucking with me though. I'd seen a flash of dark movement behind me. My reflection stared hard at the empty space, eyebrows furrowed. "That was...weird. Like, as in I don't know what the fuck I was just looking at."

I growled, letting my eyes bleed to draconic riots of glowing green power as my scales rippled over my skin. "Ok. No. None of this. I am not some fat tittied blonde in a horror movie being stalked by a psycho. Whatever the fuck you are, get your ass out here and fight me like a beast, or I'm going to start going through walls until I find you." I briefly regretted going so hard into combat capability. Some sensory powers beyond the normal would have been nice. I should have been able to pick this asshole up with the sharp senses I already had, but I was getting nothing.

There was a scraping on the ground behind me and a low chuffing laugh as I felt the wind of someone hurling themselves at me. Rolling my eyes, I leaned back, my entire body bending at the knees in a way no normal person would have been able to manage. A dark furry shape sailed over my head, and I wrapped my arms around it, standing up and falling forward to my knees, using all my weight and momentum to smash the thing down on its neck.

The laughing stopped as a strangled cry erupted from the head of the monster I now saw was some kind of hairy man beast with the head of a cougar as its head smashed into the basement floor, denting the ground. I stood up, grabbing the thing's ankle and swung it sideways into the wall with enough force to crack the thick concrete, then I reversed direction and swung it again into the other wall.

Before I could do any more a massive fist crashed into me, and I let go of the furry ankle so I could adjust my positioning in midair and pop into handspring. Wings weren't great for confined spaces. When I came to my feet, I found myself facing not just the cougar man, but another hulking shape. A dark and twisted looking monster covered in shaggy fur so black it looked like moving darkness, with only a pair of pupilless yellow orbs for eyes. It's arms were the length of its whole body, and it leaned forward, the knuckles of its giant fists resting on the ground.

I glanced down at the mirror. "Ok. What the actual fuck is THAT? Hell, what are either of those? Are they fae? Because if so I need to have a long talk with Tamlin about exactly what kind of representatives he's sending to meetings." I'd never seen anything as ugly as these two things.

My reflection rolled his eyes. "I don't fucking know genius, why don't you try appraising them. You know, since you can identify basically anything on sight."

"Hey fuck you." I said defensively. "I was getting to it. I just wanted to explore all my options fist. No such thing as too much information when it comes to combat." That said, I focused on the big long armed beast.

[Appraisal function activated. Fear construct detected. The Hob- D rank. A creature of dark appetites, the hob is an unceasing machine of carnage and hate. A denizen of the darkest shadows, it stalks its prey with a single minded fury, waiting for it's chance to tear them limb from limb and devour them.]

I froze. Not because of the rank, I was pretty much peak D rank and I could take this thing. No, I froze because I saw something in the description I'd never seen before. This thing dsidn't say 'Treasure Detected' like every other person place or thing I'd ever appraised. It said 'Fear Construct'. If there was one thing I knew, it was that anything that could cause the Greed System to change the way it did things was bad news. Swallowing hard and keeping my eyes on the monsters, I decided to double check by appraising the other one.

[Appraisal function activated. Fear construct detected. Jaguaro- E rank. A vile beast-man hybrid who craves the blood and flesh of humans, Jaguaro has been conjured forth from the depths of the human psyche to inflict death on all it surveys.]

That...was that the fucking monster from Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase? It was. It was the same monster with the same name. The use of the word conjured made me a bit suspicious too, and combined with the fear construct thing I was almost positive I knew what was going on. Knew and was NOT happy. I opened my mouth to check with Crassus, but I was cut off by the yowl of Jaguaro as it threw itself at me again. I didn't bother with fancy moves this time, I hauled back and punched the bastard with my full dragon strength.

Or at least, I fucking TRIED to. The Hob reached out with a colossal hand and caught my fist. It's oversized mitt somehow grounding out the force before it began to squeeze down on my hand. My eyes widened as I felt the bones in my fingers fucking CREAK. Oh fuck that shit. I poured Primal Force into my hand, set my feet, and shoved forward, driving my fist deeper into its palm.

Whatever energy grounding bullshit it did before wasn't equipped to deal with a fist driven by the elemental fury of primordial momentum, and the monster was sent staggering back, it's yellow eyes shining with shock and anger. At least until my other fist came across its face in a left cross and sent it staggering into the wall. Rather than follow it up, I turned on the Jaguar man beast and lashed out with a punch, pulping its head with a single blow.

The headslam earlier had been concrete vs E rank monster skull, and concrete had caved. This time I just fucking smashed its head in, and my fist was a LOT tougher than concrete. The Hob yowled with rage and climbed to its feet, hurling itself at me. Not being a fucking idiot I sidestepped the lung, grabbing the monster and guiding it into the wall with a crash. As it began to pull itself free, I hissed aloud. "Crassus, please tell me I'm not fighting what I think I'm fighting!"

[Wish I could kid. But you have a brain, and I'm sure you figured out what was going on based on the oddities in the descriptions. Or at least, I'm guessing you have a good idea. I swear I didn't expect this though. It's too soon. None of them should have been able to find you this quickly. Sure merging the city was a big flashy neon sign, but they aren't informed what the others can do. Same way you didn't know what to expect from them.]

I snarled as the monster lunged again, and I was officially done with this shit. I stepped to the side and pulled deep on my power, flooding my body with Primal Force. As the Hob passed to the side of my I reached out and wrapped an arm around its neck before giving a sharp jerk with my upper body and pouring the power into it's neck in the most concentrated burst possible, snapping the thing's spine.

As I dropped it, I snarled. "Well that didn't keep me from figuring it out, did it? Now one of them is here, and it's obviously trying to fuck things up for me. Since I confirmed that, can you tell me what the fuck I'm dealing with at least. You're not giving anything away that I haven't probably guessed."

[You're not wrong. You're already on the right track anyway. It doesn't hurt anything to confirm. Yes, as you guessed, those were constructs created by another user of a power just like yours. One of the others is here and they're after you. On the upside, it's hardly the worst of the bunch. Still, I don't think anyone in their right mind would relish going up against the host of the Fear System.]

April 7th 2016 Brightedge City, The Perigrinator's Club, 8:00 AM EDT

I've never been one to worry or fret about things. I'm not entirely certain I actually feel fear the way other people do, or at least I've never experienced anything like what I've heard described as terror. I've been nervous, been worried, I've known something could hurt me, but I've never had my logical thought processes compromised by any of those feelings. I suppose I do feel fear after all, but perhaps a muted form of it. It's hard to really grasp dread when you don't have anything to lose, and with the sole exception of my connection with my girls after Branding them (and even that wasn't too extreme) I'd never been attached enough to anything to be scared of losing it.

All of this was to say that I was not a person who overreacted or lost my cool over nothing. Which is why it should tell you something when I lashed out in rage at the wall nearby, smashing my fist through the rock without a hint of hesitation. "FUCK!" I bellowed. "Crassus what the fuck? Can't you sense these assholes or something? You couldn't warn me one of them was nearby?"

Even as I asked it I knew the answer. He'd basically already told me as much with his little speech earlier. Still, I had to ask. I needed someone to blame.

[Obviously not. If I could I would have told you. If you die I die too. You just want to bitch at someone, but save it for somebody else. We don't have time for your panicking. Get your shit together and shove your worry in a box like everyone else does, you can bounce your hips off one of your sluts later to work out your frustration.]

I blinked. Crassus...Crassus didn't really say things like that. Come to think of it he didn't SOUND like that. There was genuine fear in his voice. He was clearly worried and scared. I could relate. While I wasn't feeling any gut wrenching worry about the Fear Host killing me or my girls, I was feeling pretty worried about what the fuck he was doing here.

I'd put a LOT of work into this meeting. I needed it to go smoothly so I could take the city and get the income from that.

Now some random asshole with powers beyond mortal comprehension was here and I was pretty fucking unhappy. I knew what the Greed System was capable of. I was betting the Fear System was broken as fuck too. I forced myself to calm down, taking a deep breath. "Ok. You're right. What can you tell me? You were forbidden from giving me information about the others last I checked, does the other Host being here change that?"

[Yes. But only about this one. The Fear System...as I mentioned, it isn't the strongest, though it is one of the quickest to grow. The Fear System allows the host to manifest the fears of their enemies. Once a fear construct is manifested it continues to generate fear. Fear can be invested into the construct to empower and strengthen it over time, allowing it generate more fear, or used to make more constructs.]

"Wait what? But that's bullshit. It's totally self sustaining. That sounds like it would be way stronger than the Greed System." I had to own shit to get points, but it sounded like the Fear System generated them anytime one of the constructs scared someone. That was so fucking broken.

[Don't be stupid. The Fear System grows quickly but doesn't empower the host directly. The Greed System is the most powerful of the systems because it not only grants you the ability to personally empower yourself, but to create items and empower others. The other systems only do one or two of those things.]

That was a valid point. "Ok, fine. So the host doesn't get stronger. I can work with that. But if there's no way to find the son of a bitch how am I supposed to get rid of him? Also what happens if I kill him? Do I get some kind of benefit from that? Like can I take the Fear System?" I considered the benefits of merging something like that with myself or one of my girls, the Greed System was strong enough, I couldn't imagine what I could do with a second, even if it wasn't as good.

[Not how it works. Getting rid of one just gets rid of one. There are still five more. As for the benefits...not really. The Greed System was made for this purpose. I can't really go into details, but suffice to say that you'll be forced to deal with the others whether you like it or not. Best to get that shit out of the way fast.]

"Fair enough." I grumbled, annoyed at being put to work for free. "But does this mean that he's going to know what I can do? Or at least what the Greed System can do? Also why is Greed the strongest exactly? Like...it's awesome, but that seems a little arbitrary."

[Greed is always the strongest. Not just in terms of the Systems, but even the li-. Ouch. Nope, that's not allowed. It just is. Enjoy the advantage. It's not going to be as much of one as you might think. Fear isn't too much of a threat, but the Rage System is absurdly dangerous in one on one combat. You'll need to be ready when you run into the red one, or they'll crack your chest open and chew out your still beating heart.]

Cheery. "Thanks for that. Anyway, I need to go. The fucking meeting is going to start soon, and knowing there's some kind of super powerful fear monster conjurer around means I have to actually fucking participate in security. Ugh. Fucking Court of Owls are going to think they can put me to work. I better get to dick Silver into a dripping mess tonight. I have a feeling I'll need the stress relief. Or maybe I can just convince her to slobber my knob for old times sake. She seems to be pretty into Mammon."

I was muttering to myself at that last bit, since Crassus wouldn't care, and then turned around to head upstairs. I had a fucking host to find and kill. I just hoped I wouldn't run into another of these bastards anytime soon. I had too much shit to do to be spending all my time worried about this nonsense.

I still had a bit of room to look around, but now I KNEW there was a threat, and the actual meeting was the probable target, so I retraced my steps to make my way back up to the club itself. I debated keeping quiet to avoid trouble and just having my girls fan out , but in the end the Court didn't get to pawn their shit off on me for free. I gestured to Silver, motioning her into one of the side rooms off the main lounge.

"I'm afraid we've run into something of an obstacle." I said impassively. "Specifically I was attacked by a pair of nightmare monsters in the basement, and after an investigation have reason to believe the summoner may be hiding amongst the guests." Hiding from appraisal too apparently. The Systems, according to Crassus, were too high level to be detected themselves. The ones that altered the host could be picked up from that, but the Fear system didn't, which made detecting it almost impossible.

It was also why I couldn't merge it with any of the girls or with myself. It made sense since I couldn't exactly see my own System, but it was annoying all the same. Silver, it seemed, was also unhappy, though probably not for the same reasons. Her pretty face creased in worry and displeasure. "Summoner? Do you know who it is? I could have the Talons pick them up as they enter. They can be subtle when it's called for."

"No clue." I said with a shrug. "The traces I found weren't anything that detailed. I have my own methods of detection. If I had to guess, I'd say they probably have a personal summon guarding them." That would be my first move with that System. Being the weak link would drive me nuts. I'd have some kind of shadow demon or ghost creature with me constantly for protection.

Thankfully I could upgrade myself, which was much better. I wondered what Crassus had been about to mention earlier when he got cut off. His statement about Greed being the strongest. It had sounded important. I made a mental note to look into it. It sounded like he'd been about to say light. Greed light wasn't anything I was familiar with, but if there were others (and I now knew fear and Rage) I could maybe cross reference.

Regardless, now wasn't the time for that. Silver obviously knew it too because she snarled slightly in frustration. "We need to start the meeting. The guests have started arriving and if we force them to wait they'll know something is wrong. Some of these factions were nearly impossible to wrangle, and if this falls apart we might not be able to put together another." The polite fiction that she was concerned for me and my people's ability to rope in the fae again was left unsaid, despite knowing I could do so easily and she was really talking about them.

The Court of Owls were the kings of Gotham, but this wasn't Gotham. Their infrastructure and networking had taken a massive blow when the cities merged. Stirring up the hornets nest made people ask questions about why they should listen to other people, not to mention the physical changes that undoubtedly disturbed stockpiles and caches of weapons. "Just start it." I said with finality. "If something comes up I'll handle it."

She looked relieved and nodded, scurrying off to begin the proceedings. In reality there was a non zero chance some of the guests would die if the Fear Host attacked, but I didn't actually care. My girls were strong enough to keep themselves safe until I could help them, and seeing me flatten something that had just killed some big shot would do nothing but reinforce my own prowess. Not to mention almost all of these people were technically competitors.

Still, at least my allies should be warned. I fired off a text to dad before heading over to talk to Tamlin, who had arrived with his pair of porn star dryads on each arm. Dude knew how to travel in style. "Greetings, Tamlin the Falconer." I was positive nothing as sloppy as my mask would effect a C ranked magic user who regularly interacted with fairy bullshit, and sure enough, Tamlin's eyes flickered with amusement when he saw me. "I was hoping to have a private word."

A flick of his fingers sealed the area around us from sound. Less showy than his verbal command magic in the undercity, but also more practical. I filled him in on the Fear Host (what I was willing to share) and he grimaced. "Summoners are often obnoxious and difficult to deal with. I shall keep watch for suspicious folk. Please alert me should you notice something I do not."

I nodded my agreement and left, looking over the other parties who were in attendance to get a feel for the meeting. I noted a lack of my dad, but within seconds of having the thought I got a text message. I opened it to find a response letting me know he'd sent one of his best agents and that this individual was extremely suited for dealing with monsters. I'd texted him as me, so I told him I'd pass on the message to Mammon, and then turned to watch the entrance as I'd just been informed Checkmate had arrived. I wondered who my dad had sent. Hopefully it was someone cool.

April 7th 2016 Brightedge City, The Perigrinator's Club, 8:30 PM EDT

I'd been expecting someone...scarier. My dad made Checkmate sound like this terrifying organization that had the world in the palm of their hand, and a monster killing expert from there should be some implacable beast of a man. Which is why I found the actual agent underwhelming. Just a tanned, good looking guy with long dark hair and a five o'clock shadow. He looked like he would be more at home wearing an open fronted frilly white shirt and taming tigers than killing monsters...at least until I appraised him.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Sigurdr-D rank Dragonslayer. An immortal warrior who bathed in the blood of the dragon king, Sigurdr, also called Siegfried, eventually died and moved onto his place in Valhalla. Returned to the land of the living as one of the Einherjar, Siegfried retains his near invulnerability as a dragonslayer, as well as being a true immortal who will resurrect on the next sunrise if somehow slain.]

Huh. Ok, I took it back. That was fucking awesome. I would have expected him to be higher than D rank honestly, but if my guess was right most of his power was in his defense. Still, I could see what the old man had meant about him being a specialist. I could also see why he was called a dragonslayer, because literally the second he entered the room, his easy smile froze and his eyes snapped to me. Ok. Note to self. Do NOT meet Siegfried as Nick. Mammon being a dragonkin was fine, but ME being a dragonkin would stretch even the powers of my mask.

Still, he relaxed after a second, strolling over to me casually and offering a hand. "Mr. Mammon, I presume. I have heard much about you." His voice was higher than I'd have expected, though not unusually so, and his Norwegian accent was light and friendly. "I admit, I was not expecting to meet one of the blood in such a place. I'm unfamiliar with your lineage, but it certainly feels potent."

I cocked my head. "I have to say, I wasn't expecting to meet someone like you either, Siegfried. You seem less...adversarial than I would have expected. From your tone it seems you've met quite a few of us, to know our bloodlines so frequently. Can I take from you demeanor that not all of my kinsmen have met with the edge of your blade rather than such a polite introduction?"

That seemed to surprise a laugh out of him. "Hardly. I too can be considered your kinsman. My grudge with Fafnir lie not in his species, but in his character. Having bathed in his blood I possess a trace of that lineage myself. Still, my bloodline, thin as it may be, is royal. Yet I feel a trace of pressure from your own, showing it to be equal if not superior. I am honored to be in the presence of such a distinguished personage."

I worried for a second he might be suspicious about that, but then I realized that Siegfried had been alive in a time when the earth seemed much smaller. He hadn't traveled the world fighting and meeting dragons, he might have traveled, like, the northern half of Europe. It was nothing strange that he'd run into the scion of a dragon he didn't know, not even considering that many dragons were planeshifters. I was kind of looking forward to that ability myself actually. It was one of the more impressive dragon tricks, but I'd have to wait a while, I still had a ways to go.

Clapping him on the shoulder, I gestured him over to the bar. "Well if we're kinsmen then that makes my job as host even more important. Come on, I have something you might like." Cocking an eyebrow in interest, Siegfried followed me over to the bar. Slipping behind it, I ignored the stink eye from the bartender and stole a pair of glasses, setting them down one in front of each of us.

Then I slipped a hand into my pouch and pulled out a familiar bottle I'd picked up in the undercity. Siegfried's eyes widened in shock as he looked at the bottle, clearly familiar. "Odin's beard! That's a bottle of Shaltegrim Brandy!" I popped the cork and the yellow smoke puffed out. Rather than avoid it though, the immortal warrior took a deep sniff. "Three thousand years old or thereabouts. An excellent vintage, not that Shaltegrim ever made a poor one."

I grinned and passed him the glass, putting my own in front of me and pouring out a generous measure of brandy for each of us. Then I capped the bottle, popped it back in my pouch, and lifted the glass. A small effort of will was enough to warp the physical characteristics of the platonic veil slightly, exposing my mouth so I could take a long, slow sip of the dragon brandy.

It was just as amazing as I remembered it. Siegfried took a pull off his own and hummed his approval. "A princely meeting gift, brother. Alas one I will not be able to return." He smiled ruefully, looking down at himself. "Sadly I am but a pauper in this modern world. Have you need of my sword however, simply call. So long as it violates not my current oaths I will answer readily."

That was pretty convenient. Especially since he was unkillable. That favor could be called in plenty of times. "Sounds good. Might need that sooner rather than later though. There's some kind of monster summoner at the meeting. I don't know who he is but I ran into two of his conjurations in the basement. They weren't a problem, but we have reason to believe the ones he's keeping in reserve are even stronger."

Siegfried's eyes snapped around, trying to take in the whole room and pick out any discrepancy. Sadly, much like me, he saw nothing. I'd gotten too dependent on my damn appraisal, despite actively trying to avoid using it for every little thing. Neither of us had time for an extensive but ultimately useless search, because with Siegfried's arrival and a few late trickles in, we'd officially reached out quota.

I heard a clinking of metal on glass and turned to see Silver, smiling pleasantly as she knocked her champagne flute with a fork. "Attention everyone." She said with a tone almost as perky as her sizable melons. "I thank you for your patience. Now that all of our guests have arrived we can begin negotiations." SHe gestured to a large table on one side of the ballroom. "If you please, we have dinner prepared while we discuss. Herb crusted rack of lamb with roasted potatoes and asparagus."

That did sound pretty good, and Siegfried and I headed over to snatch up seats. I was guessing my new buddy also liked to eat after a nice drink. I noted plenty of other faces as I spammed my appraisal. Anthony Gallo, Bobby Gazzo, and Tobias Whale, all Metropolis crime lords. The first two were boilerplate human and Whale was H ranked from sheer physical conditioning, which was pretty uncommon.

Falcone and Maroni were here, as advertised, as was Penguin, and surprisingly Two-Face. Tamlin took his seat across from me as various other powerful Metropolis and Gotham figures showed up. I noted that despite this being their show Silver was the only Court of Owls member in attendance. Apparently they'd decided that the bimbo was a more acceptable risk than any of their august personages, which was fine, since it would make fucking her easier if I had the time.

Once everyone was seated, we were served out meals by a series of suited waiters in owl masks. I smirked slightly as I realized that every single fucking waiter was a Talon. Silver wasn't fucking around with her side of security, which I could respect. To no ones surprise, it was Two-Face who spoke first once everyone had their food, standing to level a finger in my direction. "What exactly are you hoping to accomplish here? Those of us in the know are well aware of the Court of Owls. And I reconbize most of these faces." He gestured at Siegfried and I. "But who are these two? Why do they deserve to be here?"

I saw Penguin smirk slightly, obviously expecting me flatten the ugly mobster. Which I probably would have done, but with a potential monster summoner in the room I had to be a bit more circumspect. So I settled for flash instead of substance."Sit the fuck down." Imbuing my Primal Force into my voice, I let the vibrations carry the waves of power out like a hammer. Not enough to hurt, but enough to knock him on his ass and let everyone here know I was not a man to fuck with.

It wasn't just the power. It was the feeling of domination from the draconic might that layered the air. Primal Force was more than physical when I needed it to be. Force of personality was force too, and I'd imbued the power into my voice on my than just the superficial level. A little trick I'd come up with after seeing Tamlins magic proclamation in the undercity. I could see why he used that ability. It definitely made an impression.

"Now, with that out of the way, perhaps Miss Silver would allow me to take up a bit of her time by introducing myself?" Silver gave a pretty smile and a nod under her half faced owl mask. "I." I said grandiosely. "Am Mammon. Some of you may have heard my name, some of you may know me personally." I nodded to Penguin, who returned the gesture. "But for those of you unaware. I possess quite a bit of territory that I've taken in this city."

"Shit." Said Anthony Gallo. "You're the stiff in the mask who took down Rampage. I heard about you." He sounded impressed, and a little afraid, which I was happy to accept. Granted, I'd fought rampage before she had a chance to really power up, but it still counted. Plus if these guys wanted to assign that kind of rep to me I'd happily take it. "I have no objections to Mammons presence. Since he has territory and is strong enough to hold it I say let him stay."

I nodded my thanks to Gallo. I could theoretically have just told them I was hosting this, but the whole point of this little charade was that the Court would be an easier master to swallow for most of these people. Once I made the bird club my bitches (some more literally than others) everyone else would fall in line. In that way, anything I did for Silver was of benefit to me.

Siegfried, in the meantime, stood and gave a formal salute by crossing his fist over his heart. "I, meanwhile, am Siegfried. I represent the interests of a certain group of powerful individuals some of you may know as Checkmate." The was a collective flinch, which told me the old man was really doing his job, but no one said a word, which caused Siegfried to smile. "I look forward to discussing these matters with all of you, and enjoying a wonderful evening."

That said, he sipped the gold liquid from the glass he'd brought with him to the table, raising the brandy to me slightly with a smile. Which, of course, was when the fucking lights went out. There was an unearthly howl as a the air in the room became incredibly cold, and a form rose up from inside the table. A floating specter in black plate armor, streaming purple flames from its back like a cape, and holding a green flaming sword. It turned its malevolent green eyes at me, raising the sword to level the tip at me as it prepared to strike. Huh, guess the summoner decide to act more quickly than expected.

April 7th 2016 Brightedge City, The Perigrinator's Club, 9:00 PM EDT

On a scale of one to ten, I'd give the ghost rising up through the table a six on my 'what the fuck' meter. Which, honestly, isn't that bad. I've been to magic kingdoms and have a fairy living in part of my soul. I've seen some shit. Still, the effects and everything, while not bad, weren't enough to really impress me. The actual ghost itself was admittedly a bit more of a threat.

[Appraisal function initiated. Fear Construct detected. Fright Knight- D ranked ghostly champion. The bound spirit of a powerful knight, chained in service to his master for all eternity. An implacable foe who tears at the soul.]

Once again, these fucking descriptions got less specific the stronger the enemy. Helpful. Regardless, I could feel the power radiating off this thing. While it WAS D rank like the last one, if was MUCH stronger. D rank was a big divide. I was on the upper end, and The Hob had been near the bottom. This fucker was at last top ten percent, and I suspected given a bit of time he'd break through to C rank. Which, you know, I obviously wasn't going to fucking allow.

Which was why I reached down, picked up a plate, shoved as much raw Primal Force into it as I could manage and hurled it at the son of a bitch like a frisbee before he could actually strike. Everyone froze, and even the specter was caught momentarily off guard as a spinning disk of glowing green magical power and physical energy spun at his face so quickly he barely had time to move. The imbued force turned the plate into a shell from a damn rail gun, and even as he moved out of the way it shattered the sound barrier and flew into the wall behind him, dissolving a huge hole in it as the energy detonated on impact.

Everyone was staring. The fucking GHOST was staring, at the bus sized smoking hole in the wall of the dining room where the random plate I had just tossed had landed. "Damn it." I said in annoyance. "I wasn't done with that." I glanced over at a nearby Talon waiter. "Hey, bring me some more lamb. I should be finished with this by the time it gets here." I wasn't joking, this food looked really good, and I was fucking pissed I had to miss out. If I didn't get some of that lamb I was going to take it out of the summoners ass when I finally found them.

Siegfried barked out a laugh and slammed the rest of his brandy, letting out a roar of excitement and triumph as he rose, drawing a leaf blade sword about the length of my forearm from...somewhere. "Spirit!" He boomed. "You trespass on claimed soil! Remove yourself or face the end of you paler shadow of existence." The swordsman's brown eyes were starting to shine golden, and I was pretty sure his teeth hadn't been that sharp before. Cool. Dragon bros.

Despite not having a mouth or face and being a pair of green eyes floating in an endless black void inside a helmet, the Fright Knight gave the impression of sneering as his deep, resonant voice finally spoke for the first time. "Fool! I come for blood, and come for doom. The time your lives will end is soon. Your paltry blades, their edges weep, and so you find eternal sleep."

"Oh yeah, well...you're a bitch." Everyone looked at me in confusion and I just shrugged. "What? I don't know how to respond to a fucking rhyming ghost." I didn't even bother to put on my formal authoritative tone, this wasn't the time for it. "Also, why are you fucking idiots just sitting there? There's a GHOST coming out of the table. Run and hide, morons!" With that, I grabbed the edge of the dining table and shoved up, flipping the table out of the way and towards the ghost and the hole in the wall, so as not to accidentally smash some of the people I was supposed to be protecting.

I saw Silver make a gesture to the waiters and they all stepped up to pull the guests away to safety (fucking finally) as Siegfried and I started to circle in opposite directions to split the Fright Knight's focus. Sadly, despite being , I was pretty sure Siegfried's power lie mostly in defense. Still, having a dragonslayer on hand was better than nothing by a damn sight.

I jerked my head slightly, and he nodded, getting my point, before lunging at the ghost with another roar, blade flashing. Looking closer at the sword, I could see black lightning flickering across the blade, and as the Fright Knight brought his own glowing green sword to meet it, there was an echoing boom and he was forced back a step. His green eyes widened in surprise at the power of the blow, and I wasn't far behind him. "What sorcery is this?" Snarled the specter. "Your blade clashes with Soulripper and does not falter?"

I was pretty sure I knew why that was, having heard the story of Siegfried, and sure enough when I used appraisal on the weapon, it came back fucking TERRIFYING.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Gram- B ranked demon sword. Reforged in blood and fire. Bane of dragons. Unequaled in might. Wielded only by the chosen.]

Well, that was much more direct then most of them. Also holy fucking shit. That sword was B ranked. Aside from the Sun King and Doctor Fate it was pretty much the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen. I kind of wanted it, but that last line strongly rang of warning. The system didn't warn me lightly. I didn't know what would happen to a not-Siegfried person who tried to use that sword, but I was pretty sure it would be unpleasant, especially with the whole Bane of Dragons tagline on there. Oh well, having a drinking buddy with a magic demon sword was almost as good as having my own. Almost.

I dove in, shifting to my draconic form as I lashed out with wicked claws, imbuing them with my Primal force. The Fright Knight swung an arm up and conjured a black metal shield from the dark flames coming off his arms. My claws sparked off it with a shriek and I grimaced. Whatever that armor was, I was guessing it was its own thing on top of being part of him. It seemed stronger than it should. It didn't matter much though, I had energy to spare, and I'd just keep going.

I rained down slash after slash as Siegfried did the same. The Fright Knight was actually pretty good with a sword, plus his broadsword was way longer than Gram, and he was abusing the shit out of his reach advantage. I wasn't sure how close this asshole was to C rank, but I was pretty sure it was closer than I was, because I didn't think I could have managed this. Of course, he might have just been hyperfocused on physical attack and defense, but I was pretty sure he was just terrifyingly strong.

Sadly, that guess was proven correct a second later as he shouted and a wave of purple flame rolled off him, driving me back as I raised my arms to cover my face. The ghostflame licked at my scales, which were harder now than they had been after drinking more brandy, but only barely. I expected the Fright Knight to follow up, but he was too scared of getting backstabbed, and instead turned to harry my battle partner away with his longer reach, causing the immortal warrior to grit his teeth and retreat. When he did however, I saw his eyes flick to me, and one of them close in a barely visible wink.

As I adjusted my position to take advantage of the lull, Siegfried lashed out with another series of powerful blows. The sword strikes were fast, showing me that he wasn't ONLY for the defense. He wasn't as strong as me, but he didn't need to be. He just needed to be fast and skilled and the fucking sword did the work for him. The Fright Knight was on the back foot, deflecting every blow, and while I was pretty sure he wasn't about to lose, he seemed to be having trouble compensating for the superior weapon now that Sieg had gotten serious.

Which, of course, was the fucking point. Stepping up behind him, I inhaled, stoking the fire inside me as I funneled Primal Force into my lungs, compacting and condensing it all into the tightest possible ball. I aimed it so that any spillover would go through the hole in the wall anyway, but I didn't exactly want to burn this place down while I was inside it. My girls had all backed off with the other guests, smart enough to notice that I didn't ask for help.

Finally, I got enough power compacted into my breath to most likely kill the bastard, again, but before I released it, I had a pretty terrible idea. I'd picked up my glass of brandy before flipping the table out of reflex, since the shit was expensive. I'd seen people breathe fire with liquor before, I kind of wondered what would happen if I tried it was dragon alchemist brandy.

Giving the glass a considering look, I took a swig, pursed my lips, and BLEW me breath out on a spray of brandy. I expected a puff of fire or maybe a slight increase in the radius, but I HADN'T been expecting the fireball to come out fucking green GOLD, shooting forward like a rocket and smashing into the purple flames at the Fright Knight's back. The specter threw back its head and BELLOWED in rage and pain as cracks began to form on the armor.

Green and gold light flickered from the cracking plate as it poured through the face plate of the helmet, and I saw Siegfried's eyes widen in panic as he turned and bolted through the hole in the wall, throwing himself to the side and out of the blast zone. I had the presence of mind to grab ahold of the energy and focus it up as the explosion went off, lucky my Primal Force still obeyed me once it left my body.

There was a thundering boom as a pillar of green gold fire erupted up through the ceiling of the club and split the sky, dying the darkened sky bright gold. I looked down at the glass, then back up at the sky. "Um...oops?" I subtly tossed the glass as far away from me as possible as I stepped to the other side. Note to self, do NOT use brandy with dragon breath without more testing. I didn't know what that pillar of fire was going to do, but the fact that it was lasting so long was concerning. Oh well, at least I'd made an impression.

Turning to the rest of the room, I grinned at them, my face still exposed by my altered mask for eating. I imagined in the flickering of the still blazing column of fire I looked like a nightmare come to life, and I relished the fact that whichever one of these fucks had summoned that ghost was probably wetting themselves right now. Plus based on what I'd been told it took a lot of fear to nurture a construct to that level of power. Between that and The Hob I doubted the bastard could have THAT many more at that level. Faster growth only went so far.

Of course there was no way to know how long he'd had the Fear System, but I liked to be optimistic. In any case I doubted he'd try any more shit tonight. "Now." I said urbanely. "I believe we were about to discuss the allocation of the city. Did anyone have any questions or concerns?" I managed to keep from laughing as the room dropped into a deathly silence...but only barely.

Lots going on, but I'm coming up on some really fun lore I'm excited to explore with the story, original lore, but also some DC stuff that doesn't get enough attention. As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent . Hope you all enjoy.