Sell you a Bridge chapter 364

July 15th 2016 ???, 8:00 PM EDT

"So."  I said dryly. "Is this the part where you reveal you fiendish plot and  tell me Barbatos was working for you the whole time and now I'm totally  at your mercy?" My voice was calm and bored, but inside I was anything  but. The Upside Down Man was WAY stronger than Barbatos. I'd expected  them to be equals but he was on a whole different level in terms of raw  strength, if it came to a fight I was sure I could escape given my  nature, but I wasn't sure I could win.

Which  meant I would escape of course. All my people had been sent home to  Gotham, and The Upside Down Man clearly couldn't LEAVE the Dark  Multiverse. I'd bail if I had to.

To  my relief he just kind of giggled. "Now why would I do that? Barbatos  was an idiot. Who WANTS to rule a multiverse? That sounds exhausting. My  main issue with him was that he was so bad at it and I had to pick up  the slack. Now that he's out of the way and you're planning to take this  seriously I can go back to my old relaxing life."

That...was  much less sinister than I had expected from someone like Upside Down  Man. But if that was all he wanted he wouldn't have called me here.  "Ok." I said slowly. "So...what? You wanted to tell me good job? That  doesn't seem like something that requires a meeting."

His  ever present grin widened. "Not at all. I brought you here to bring  your attention to something you may not have realized. You're aware, of  course, that there are seven Endless in the multiverse? Yes?" I actually  hadn't been, I'd only heard of like three, but that was fine, seven  wasn't crazy.

I  saw where he was going with this of course. "And you wanted to tell me  that I need seven Dark Endless to stabilize the Dark Multiverse?"

"Seven?"  He said condescendingly. "Why would you need seven? It's common sense  my boy. Tell me, how many light keyblades were needed to create the  X-blade?"

I  felt a sinking in my stomach as I processed what he meant. "Thirteen? I  need to find THIRTEEN Dark Endless? How the hell do I do that? I assume  that I can't just give the positions to my friends like I did with the  keyblade?" Endless were born, not made, at least I had been, and I  suspected the same about Del and her siblings. If they could make other  people Endless they'd presumably have skipped the whole epic quest and  just given me my full powers.

He  snickered. "If it was that easy I wouldn't be so resistant to being in  charge, now would I? Good luck with that mess. Mostly though, I brought  you here because this is a weak spot between the Dark and Light  Multiverses. I wanted to sit in on the meeting when it happened."

"What  me-" I started to ask, but was cut off by a knock at the door. I  paused. There...wasn't a door here. We were in a fucking cave. I turned  slowly to find a perfectly ordinary wooden door in a freestanding frame  sitting in front of us.

It kind of  reminded me of one of the Doormouses doors, but unlike those, it wasn't a  disruption of anything. Based on my aura sight and perfect memory I'd  MOSTLY worked out the void mechanics of those doors, and could probably  make them myself if needed. They were wounds in the void, sloppily  excavated tunnels between spaces, but this door...my ability to discern  Deception and my Endless sight told me it was just a normal door.

I  stared at it for a second then there was another knock. "Um-" I said  slowly. "Come in?" The door knob turned and a series of figures stepped  through. Three of them, to be exact. Two of them were familiar.  Actually...so was the third, but I was positive I'd never met her  before. My perfect memory would have recalled it, but even before that,  she was one of the most gorgeous women I'd ever seen.

The  absolutely stunning goth girl a bit older than me gave me a friendly  smile, her dimples drawing attention to the curly cue mark under one  eye. The other two with her were Del and Teague, with Barnabus trailing  behind him, though I only noticed him at the last second.

Del  smiled at me. "Hello little brother. Seems like you're finally awake."  Her voice was warm, and I realized that...she was right. I didn't feel  different exactly, I wasn't another person, but I was...MORE. I'd been  going through life as a mindless zombie compared to what I was now.  Past, present, future, all of it at my fingertips. I was mostly ignoring  it at the moment, but I'd need to figure out how to manage that.

"Del."  I said happily. "Good to see you. I take it now that this place is  stable you all can visit? I appreciate the request for entry. I figured  you guys would just show up when you eventually did."

The  pretty goth girl clicked her tongue. "That would be terribly rude. I  wouldn't have heard of it. It was kind of you to invite us into your  Domain. I can't imagine what it must be like to be the only one, Morgan.  We've been together since the first, but you...it must be a tad  overwhelming. You're managing remarkably well."

"Thanks."  I said sincerely. "Not to be rude though, but do I know you? I feel  like we've met somewhere before, and I also know for a fact I'd remember  if we had."

She  giggled. "Of course. I meet everyone in the multiverse at least twice.  Which is kind of what we're here to talk about. While your power will be  plenty to deal with most big problems, the Endless also handle some  natural processes that can't be delayed. I wanted to offer my services  until you find your own version of me." At my confused look she giggled  again. "Apologies, I so rarely get to pull the mysterious act with my  siblings. You can call me Teleute, but most of the people in the  multiverse just know me as Death."

I  honestly would have expected myself to react to that strongly before,  but I'd assumed Death would be an Endless. Being Deception made surprise  at dealing with a force of creation a bit silly. "Nice to meet you." I  said. "Big fan of your work with my enemies. Less enthused about it with  my friends."

She  burst out laughing. "Oh wow. That's actually the first time anyone has  had the nerve to say that to me. I think we'll get along just fine."

"Glad  to hear it." I said with a smile. "But what did you mean about our  version of you. Am I going to have to find one of each of the seven  Endless a counterpart here, plus another five not counting me? Also  thanks for showing up, because I somehow doubt he would have been much  help." I gestured over my shoulder at the Upside Down Man, who had  remained silent since they arrived.

Teague  grinned at the hanging entity. "No, I don't wager he would. But he also  won't be interfering. He isn't the type. Likes to laze about. Which I  can sympathize with. But no, you'll have some other Endless I expect,  someone who serves the same purpose from another angle. Though even here  they may just be a Death. She's a bit special even among us."

I  nodded at that. "Noted. I'm glad to have your support here. I was  expecting to have to do it all on my own." The fact that they were  welcoming me as a sibling was...such a relief. I had no clue how I'd  have learned all this on the fly. "I do have a question though." I  hesitated. "I don't have to...give up my life, right? Abandon my family  and my girls? Because I won't do that. I refuse. But like...Teague has  Barnabus, so we aren't destined to be alone or anything."

Death  gave me a sad smile. "It depends on what you mean by that. You're  Endless, and that means loneliness is inevitable. Never total isolation,  you'll always have us, but someday everyone you love will be gone.  Maybe that day will be eons from now, your limitations in using your  abilities are less...stringent, than ours, since you created your  multiverse and we were created WITH ours. As for the moment, no. You  won't be expected to abandon them."

"But  how does that even work?" I said worriedly. "They're...so much less  than I am now. Not in any way that matters to me, but seeing the world  so differently is bound to make it hard to stay connected." The way I  viewed things now was so ALIEN. I had no clue how Del had even managed  to interact with me like she had. I felt myself becoming less human even  as we spoke.

The  goth girl who represented the end of all life nodded. "You're not  wrong. We all go through that at some point. For the rest of us it was a  bit harder to deal with since we did it all at the same time. We can  give you some tips though. I can teach you to create an avatar, for  instance, an embodiment of yourself that will be mortal and able to  interact in that way. I can even teach you to experience life through  that avatar as part of your consciousness manages your duties."

That  sounded convenient, though I imagined there must be limits since they  didn't all do that all the time. "So..." I said cautiously. "What do I  do now? Even before I knew it my whole life was moving toward this exact  spot. Now I'm here and...what? I'm just done? Retire to do universe  maintenance and look for the others?" Because that did sound as lonely  as Death had predicted, but it didn't sound like something I really  wanted.

As if  she could see my thoughts (which I was PRETTY sure she couldn't) Del  put a hand on my cheek with a smile, stepping up to me to do it. "Now."  She said gently. "You explore. Don't be so eager to take up all that  responsibility. The Dark Multiverse functioned without you to now, you  won't need to micromanage as long as you keep up with a few things." She  raised an eyebrow at the Upside Down Man. "Things like HIM. But  otherwise go out and experience your Domain. Learn about your people.  See the worlds." She winked at me. "Maybe bring along those girls and  that delightful daughter of yours."

The  Upside Down Man, for his part, looked as offended as an eyeless mummy  with an upside down mouth could manage, but just snorted and vanished  into darkness. I guessed the meeting was almost over. Del gave me a hug,  telling me I should visit soon, with Teague saying the same, and both  vanished. Death stayed behind though, presumably to teach me that  incarnation trick.

One  other thing was notable. "Huh." I said curiously. "They left without  using the door. You going to leave it here when you go?"

Death  smiled warmly, something she seemed to do a lot, then reached up and  flicked my forehead. I felt a rush of knowledge as the knowledge of  incarnation shoved itself into my massively expanded brain and I  staggered at the thousands of years of slow discovery and training that  went into the ability.

"They  left it." She said softly. "Because it leads back to your mother's  apartment in Gotham. A present, from your new siblings." She gestured to  the door. "I know you sent all your friends back there during your  battle, I thought you might like to visit." Then she winked. "You can  consider it good practice for using that ability. Gotta get started on  your training." I grinned at her, closing my eyes and focusing before  feeling a shift.

Suddenly  I was...me, again. Just me, mortal me. Powerful sure, but normal, and I  was looking at another version of me standing next to Death. I rashly  stepped forward and gave her a tight hug, and she let out a surprised  squeak and then a hearty laugh before hugging me back. I nodded to the  other me, who nodded back and then turned and made my way toward the  door. Guess it was time to go home.