Sell you a Bridge chapter 333

July 2nd 2016 Traverse Town, 5:00 PM EDT

In  the end, I decided the best way to find clues about the Devastator and  Luxord was to explore the town. Since that was probably going to take a  while, I decided to bring Rana along. I figured we hadn't spent much  time together since this trip started, and I wanted to see how she'd  been doing. She was naturally thrilled to spend time with her old man,  so after telling Zee and Drea where we were going we headed out for a  walk.

"So." I said as we left. "How have things been back  home? We talked a bit when you got to Hollow Bastion, but we haven't  really had time to catch up properly." We headed out toward the Second  District, since that was the last place I'd seen Luxord, though I  doubted he was sloppy enough to show up there again. "During our  vacation on Destiny Island I didn't get a chance to ask how things have  been going for you socially. You make any new friends besides Cassie and  Tina?"

She shrugged a bit self consciously. "I meanb, a  few. Aside from spending time with Grandma and helping out with Hana, I  did spend a bit of time with the Team. They helped with cleaning up  Gotham after the invasion, and I got to know some of them. They're  pretty cool people. Blue beetle is pretty nice. And Impulse. They helped  a ton with the damage from the parademons."

I'd...honestly  kind of forgotten the city was wrecked when we left. We'd left a while  after the invasion, but it had still been in the midst of  reconstruction. I'd actually helped out a bit myself when I'd been  around, but even months later it had been ongoing. I obviously wasn't  going to invest the time to fully repair the city, I wasn't a  contractor.

So Rana filled me in on some of her  adventures, getting to know people, learning about the world. It struck  me how new she was to life, and how little her inherited memories  covered. We'd done out best to educate her ourselves, but we hadn't  exactly had a ton of time. I felt like a bit of a deadbeat realizing how  much we'd left her to figure out on her own.

Despite  that, I didn't regret it exactly. Kit would have died if we hadn't come  to help her most likely, and Rana's experience growing up would NOT have  been improved by being in The Nightside. That place had been a  nightmare factory and I'd sooner raise a kid in a venomous snake pit. It  would be safer in the long run. And there would probably be less  snakes.

Still, I told her about some of our time in The  Nightside. I'd been keeping that stuff under wraps, mostly because when  I'd been there I hadn't wanted to scare her, and after I hadn't really  felt like bringing it up. Now that we were free of the place though, I  saw no reason not to fill her in on an edited version of things. It  would help her learn what to expect from the worst parts of the world.

When  we arrived at the Second District, it was less empty than last time.  I'd fixed the damage from my hellfire explosion, but that had been in an  alley anyway. Now though, there were people crisscrossing the area,  entering some of the shops and cafes and what appeared to be some kind  of toy factory at the end. The factory was particularly interesting  because it seemed like they let you make your own toys.

I  weighed whether Rana was too old, but in the end decided to make her a  stuffed animal. When I told her she rolled her eyes. "Dad. I'm like  fourteen years old biologically. I'm too old for stuffed animals."  Despite that though, I saw her aura light up with delight and smiled  internally as I dragged her to the factory.

"You might be  physically almost my age, but you're still my daughter, and I want to  make you something." I felt a brief pang of sadness I couldn't have made  something like this for her as a kid. I hadn't meant to create her at  all, but sometimes missing her childhood made me pretty sad. I knew we  could do things together and I could still teach her about life, but the  image of what Rana might have been like as a baby or a toddler kind of  haunted me.

Though speaking of babies, I could make one of  these for my sister too. I could even have Rana send it to her through a  corridor. Inanimate objects were perfectly fine to move through the  darkness, and I had a fantastic idea of how to make it more special.  Speaking of my sister though... "How is Patches by the way? You didn't  mention the little guy. I haven't seen him in ages. I know he gets along  great with Hana from what everyone tells me, but I kind of miss the  pup. He saved my bacon once you know."

Rana giggled. "He's  a menace. He never wants to rest or stop playing. If Hana wasn't a  little kid with lots of energy I have no idea how we'd handle him.  Everyone loves him though. Even Tina thinks hes cute, and she's almost  always in a bad mood. I swear a few weeks ago I saw her smile when she  was holding him. He's super protective though, don't worry. Giving him  to Hana was a great idea."

"I'm glad." I chuckled. "Zee  was heartbroken, but he can do more good with her than with us. Plus  puppies should have kids to spend time with. How does he get along with  Gojo? I can't imagine him not loving the pup that protects his precious  baby girl. Plus he seems like a dog person."

That got  another giggle. "They're thick as thieves. Grandpa Gojo is always  sneaking him food when Grandma isn't looking." I smiled at that image,  because I could see my mother complaining endlessly about something like  that and then probably doing the same thing when no one was around to  catch her. We'd never had a dog growing up, we didn't have the space or  money, but she had both now and I was glad to know Patches had a good  home and that my family was protected.

When we arrived at  the factory, we stepped inside and I was blinded by the brightness.  Outside it was permanent evening and the lighting was only gas lamps of  different colors, but in here there was almost too many lightbulbs. The  whole place was chrome and bright colors, somehow managing to add a  childlike atmosphere to an industrial workspace. Small elevators,  conveyor belts, and a dozen other machines meant to be obviously and  easily usable were scattered around.

I'd been worried  since we weren't really kids or obviously older we'd stand out, but  there were plenty of people of all ages in here making stuffed animals.  Probably parents and relatives making stuff for their kids or nieces and  nephews to send them. I was glad to see the virus hadn't completely  hobbled the tourism here. It seemed like most of the place was doing  fine, with the only exception being the places where people were  infected.

It made me wonder why it had been empty last  time I'd been here. I'd assumed everyone had been scared off by the  Devastator, but maybe this part of town just wasn't busy at two or three  in the afternoon. That or Luxord had been playing tricks to get people  out of the way. I wasn't sure of the motivation of that though. Still,  we were here and I pulled Rana over to make a pair of stuffed bears. One  for her and one for Hana.

"Alright." I said. "Pick out  what you want, and what you think Hana will like best." She'd spent more  time than I had with my little sister, I was sad to say, and would have  a better idea of what she enjoyed. "I think the black fur and the plaid  footpads are cool, but that's just me."

She rolled her  eyes, smothering a smile. "Plaid is so old school. It's all about the  paisley." She pointed to a horrendously ugly fabric off to the side of  the machine that looked like it might be mauve. "See, this is silk.  It'll be way softer than the flannel. Hana will love it. I think the  white goes better with the paisley too. Oooh and we can get a little  tiara and a dress! She'll love it."

I glanced in horror at  my excited child as she constructed some sort of hyper cute princess  bear. She caught me looking and stuck out her tongue. "It's not for ME.  It's for Hana. Obviously my own bear will be much more refined." I tried  not to smirk as her faux-haughty tone reminded me so much of Zee, but  it was a tough battle.

For her  own bear, Rana did indeed make something less overtly childish. I didn't  comment on the fact that she picked the same black fur plaid combo I  suggested earlier, not on the joy and contentment in her aura as she  did. Most parents didn't get to see their kid feeling loved in real  time, so I didn't want to spoil the moment. Still, I felt bad for them,  the way Rana's aura lit up in happiness and affection as we made her  bear warmed my heart.

I  was sure she would just put it in her room as a memento to a day out  with her dad, but that was still more mementos then she'd ever had  before. Once we finished the toy I gestured for her to follow me  outside. She raised an eyebrow but did, and I grinned as I set the white  bear down on the pavement. I made sure to clean it off with a burst of  water and dry it with a blast of air, but once that was done I set it  down and drew a circle around it to help my focus.

Once  that was done, I focused on my demonic energy and pushed it into the  bear, moving it with a minor effort of magic. As its arms twitched, I  reached out with my Deception power and poured it into the stuffed  animal. It wasn't as hard as expected. The bear was one big lie. It wore  clothes and a tiara and was made to be a false representation of a  friend. That was all I needed to shift the demonic magic into something  more permanent and alter the spell to suit my needs.

As  I let the energy fade, the bear hopped to its feet, using fuzzy paws to  brush off its dress and gave me a curtsy. Rana's eyes went wide and she  squealed so loud I thought my ears would burst. "Oh my god! That's so  cool! How did you do that?" She swept the bear up and cuddled her  tightly, which the little stuffed animal did nothing to resist.

I  smirked. "Because I'm awesome. Anyway, can you send her to Hana?" I  pulled a spare piece of paper from my jacket and burned a quick note  onto it for my mom before handing it over. "She can travel through  corridors, don't worry. I made sure." I'd put some extra effort into the  bear to ensure the intelligence inside wouldn't be damaged in the trip.  I WAS a Dark Endless in the making. It probably wasn't necessary, the  bear wasn't a person and couldn't go crazy, but since I animated her I  wanted to make sure she would be alright.

Rana  nodded happily and opened the corridor, handing her own bear to the  smaller stuffed animal to drop off in her room at my moms house. With a  cheerful wave the little white bear ran off into the portal, and Rana  waited a minute before letting it close. I grinned and put my arm around  my daughter. "Admit it. That was pretty fun. Now how about you and I go find some nerd cultists to beat up?"