Greed God chapter 184

April 4th 2016 Brightedge City, Warehouse District, 8:00 PM EDT

As  we followed behind the two archer's, I had to at least ask.  "So...Arrowette. You new? Because Artemis I've met before, but last I  checked Green Arrow only had the one sidekick." The blonde had serious  resting bitch face, even through the mask, and I could tell she had some  kind of problem with me. It wasn't a surprise considering I was a  criminal, so I didn't take it to heart, but at the very least I could  needle her a bit.

Just like I expected, her snapped around  and she barked out. "I am NOT a sidekick!" So predictably I almost  started laughing. Baby heroes REALLY don't like that word. She stopped,  closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before opening them again.  "And yes. I'm new. Not that it's your business. Artemis is retired, she  just got called back out of that retirement to extend an invitation to  you for this meeting, considering you two know each other."

Despite  her ostensible nonchalance, I could tell the girl was agitated by that.  Probably took it as a lack of confidence in her abilities. Artemis, on  the other hand, seemed more focused on Amy. "How about you?" She said to  my wife. "I don't recognize you, and I think I'd have remembered if  Mammon had a blonde girl in leather pants as a partner last time we  met."

I smirked at that. "Pay lots of attention to what  kind of pants I and my friends wear huh? But yeah. She only got to town  recently." I didn't mention Amy being my wife, since I'd be introducing  her that way as Nick to anyone who asked. "So, judging by the direction  we're walking I take it this meeting is supposed to be at one of the  nearby warehouses. You said the Justice League, are they back on earth?  Or am I meeting with one of the homebodies left to man the parapets  while the big dogs ran off to space."

Arrowette bristled,  which probably meant Green Arrow was there. I didn't know him, but  considering his dumb ass had basically hand delivered Dinah to me, I was  pretty sure it would be amusing to meet him. Especially since he would  know that I 'rescued' Roy, but not that I was the teenager who knocked  up his girlfriend. Artemis just sighed. "Yes. Green Arrow will be there.  As will Captain Atom, Red Tornado, and The Atom. Along with a few other  junior members."

That was more honestly than expected.  "So...why me? I get that I'm kind of badass, but it seems odd to single  me out for cooperation." It seemed like a big coincidence that they  would choose the guy responsible for this mess without meaning to, but  that kind of thing happened sometimes. The world was a weird a  coincidental place, especially for heroes and villains.

Artemis  stopped, turning to me with a serious expression. "I don't think you  get what kind of good will you bought for yourself by finding Roy. We  aren't going to be overlooking active crimes or anything, but most of  the League feels we owe you for that. You pissed off some very powerful  people, and you did it without hesitation. People remember that. You  were the first one to come to mind when we had to reach out, not least  of which because you weren't active during the past few months."

Based  on her friendly demeanor, I was guessing they hadn't been spying on my  meeting with the court. Luckily I'd had an aura of power around me to  burn up all the blood when I'd killed all those Talons. The League  usually didn't love murder. Though to be fair they were already dead, so  did it really count as murder? Anyway it seemed like they had  approached from the other direction and hadn't checked in on the  meeting.

Presumably Silver arranged some sort of counter  surveillance and security. I was pretty sure, for instance, that she'd  waited until Supergirl was out of the country.The girl of steel had been  working double time trying to clean up natural disasters and shit since  the major Leaguers left from what I'd been told. Not to mention with  the fae around Gotham, sending a kryptonian with no more magic  resistance than a normal person into the city would be stupid. Without  Zee, Fate was their only real magic expert, and I knew for a fact he'd  warned them off interfering.

She was probably going to  scope out the city for a while when she got back. Which made Arrowette  shooting at us kind of shitty from her point of view, since she DIDN'T  know I had just slaughtered a bunch of corpse ninjas. Sure they were  just stun arrows, but still...dick move. We walked for another ten  minutes or so, and I didn't say anything else. I was interested to know  what this was about. I was pretty sure it would be a benefit to me in my  efforts to take over the city, at the very least.

When we  arrived at the place, Artemis knocked on the warehouse door in a  lengthy pattern, which made me want to snicker (though I didn't) then we  entered. Inside was, sure enough, a small collapsible table and chairs,  populated by Green Arrow, Captain Atom, The Atom, Red Tornado,  Nightwing,, Kid Flash, and Superboy.

I did a quick once  over with appraisal. Captain Atom was D rank like I was, and Kid Flash  was F rank. Superboy was E rank, as was Red Tornado, but other than that  they were all within human limits at about H. I also got some secret  identities out of the scan, though I knew some of them already, like  Green Arrow. When they saw us, they all nodded, gesturing me over to sit  down in the empty seat that was saved for me. When they noticed Amy,  Kid Flash zipped out of sight and came back with another chair, earning a  small smirk from Artemis.

Green Arrow, to my amusement,  stood up, stepping forward to offer his hand. "Mammon. It's nice to meet  you. I heard what you did for Roy, I appreciate it. I can't tell you  how grateful we are to have him back, despite his...unhappiness at the  situation." He gave a pained smile, trying to seem friendly and  approachable.

Despite not being a big fan of the guy, this  situation was funny enough to me that I had no problem shaking his  hand. The fact that he was thanking the guy who knocked up his  ex-girlfriend while they were still together, and who was even now  living with her made this whole mask thing almost bearable. Still, as  much as I enjoyed silently gloating about cucking the blonde bearded  douche, I was pretty curious as to why the fuck I was here.

As  he gestured to us to sit, making a show of greeting Amy and apparently  trying to be charming, I turned to the others present, namely, Captain  Atom, who as far as I knew was in charge, and asked. "So, not to be too  direct, but what exactly is this about?" I paused and looked out the  door we'd come in from. "Aside from the obvious I guess. Like do you all  need me for something?"

The Captain gave a businesslike  nod. "That's a fair question. We aren't exactly the kind of people who  reach out to those in your line of work. However, you've helped us in  the past, and you haven't been committing notable crimes in the past few  months at least. In fact, I'm not sure we can firmly link you to any  specific misconduct at all. Because of this, you were our first choice  for this meeting."

The Atom, who was apparently Ray Palmer  of all people, groaned. "Oh for the love of god guys, stop beating  around the bush. We're hoping you might be open to working with the  League to set up a defensive initiative against the incoming threats. We  need someone that can liase with the...seedier, parts of the citizenry.  This shift is unprecedented, and if we don't prepare the city will  become a blood bath."

"Wow." I said in genuine shock.  "That's...pretty progressive for you guys. You aren't normally open to  the whole 'lesser of two evils' thing." I paused. "Maybe Batman  actually, but barring him, I wouldn't have figured any of you would  agree to work with criminals."

The Captain looked annoyed  at the comment. "We aren't enthused about it honestly. But given what's  coming and how short handed we are, we need all the help we can get. The  more...traditional League members are off world, and those of us left  thing this is the best way to manage things. Our heaviest hitter is  Supergirl, and she's been running herself ragged addressing crises all  over the globe. Not to mention there are still reports of rampant magic  use in the city. A full kryptonian is too dangerous to have loose here  with possible fae mind control in the mix."

That  was an angle I hadn't actually considered, and it sent a chill down my  spine. Granted, I'd been planning to Brand the kyrptonian as soon as  possible, but I hadn't really thought about how easy it would be for  someone else to control her. The amount of destructive potential she had  versus how hard it would be to enspell her made it hugely profitable to  give it a shot. From that point of view kryptonians were almost as  dangerous as Luthor ranted about them being.

Making  a mental note to become strong enough to protect myself from a  kryptonian immediately, and to look into buying some kryptonite from  Luthor until then, I refocused on the group in front of me. "Well." I  said deliberately. "I'm not...against that." It was basically what I'd  already been planning, and if I was doing it 'for' the League, I'd  essentially get a free pass to go about my business. Which was of course  why I couldn't let them know how willing I was to do it. "But what do I  get out of it?"

First  rule of being a criminal, always try to get paid. Even heroes knew  this, and they absolutely would have been suspicious if I didn't try it.  Nightwing scowled. "What did you have in mind? We aren't paying a  criminal to get into fights in the streets. We aren't opposed to lending  you a hand in more discrete ways, but if you're expecting a paycheck  you're going to be disappointed."

Perfect.  "Not a paycheck." I said triumphantly. "Discrete is exactly what I was  thinking. I have some friends who might be able to help fend off some of  the more...bloodthirsty comers. But we need some assurances. We can  avoid civilians for the most part of course, but it would be convenient  if the League could 'stumble' on some criminal activities from some of  the local powers who aren't willing to stand up for their city."

Captain  Atom scowled. "That's...I don't know. You would have to give us some  assurances civilians wouldn't be harmed. And if we stumble on them  committing a crime we aren't turning a blind eye. But if you want us to  prioritize certain groups that are especially bad, I don't suppose  that's too far beyond the pale."

"Listen."  I said flatly. "You called me here to work with you. That implies  reciprocity of some kind. I'm not asking you to commit crimes. I'm not  even asking you to overlook crimes. I'm just asking that maybe if I slip  you a name you pay a bit of extra attention to whether that person  comes up on your patrols. These are criminals here, it won't be hard to  catch them doing something untoward."

They  all looked at each other uneasily, and I could practically hear them  thinking they were making a deal with the devil, but eventually, they  nodded slowly. Well, most of them. Superboy just kind of glared at me  and Kid Flash looked disapproving. Nightwing was the one who held out  his hand to me this time. "Alright. We'll take it under advisement. It's  nice to be working with you Mammon." I grinned as I shook back. This  was going to make my job SO much easier.