Sell you a Bridge chapter 264

June 5th 2016 The Nightside 3:00 PM EDT

I  gaped at Taylor as I asked for clarification on our target again. "What  the fuck do you mean, the moon?" I gaped in horrified confusion at the  big detective, because I was absolutely positive he hadn't just said  what I thought he said. He just raised an eyebrow at me. "How the hell  do we rob the moon? I mean, I've stolen from some crazy places in my  time, but none of them have been in space." I paused. "Well...ok,  technically all of them have been in space, because that's where planets  are, but not like...outside of Earth's atmosphere." I hadn't stolen  anything on New Genesis or in the OZ I didn't think, so that at least  should be accurate.

Artemis snickered at that, and I  flipped her off, which she responded to by sticking out her tongue at me  before turning to Jim. "You ever robbed anyone on the moon boss? You  would have an advantage since ghosts don't need to breathe." Her tone  was teasing, and I saw Jim roll his eyes into the back of his currently  visible head. "Seriously though Morgan, what the hell are we supposed to  do when we get there aside from steal the ward scanner? I know you need  power to bring back Zee's mom, but how are you supposed to get it?"

I  just shrugged. "I need stuff that goes boom. Or zap. Pretty much any  violent sound will work. I can absorb the energy from attacks, it's not  always easy to get prepared, but once I am I can absorb anything I've  come across. The amount of power I'll need is substantial though. The  last power source I absorbed from was a channeled strike of energy  containing the concentrated magic of an entire pantheon of gods and I  managed about a tenth of what I'll need for this resurrection." I turned  to Taylor. "You sure he has something that can out put enough energy to  top me up that much?"

Apparently I'd said something  stupid, because he just stared at me like an idiot. "Obviously. The  Collector possesses some of the most powerful artifacts and  technological items in all of history. And not just the history that's  happened so far. There are rumors he originally came from the future.  They're nonsense of course, he was friends with my old man when they  were lads, but he definitely had access to future tech and powerful  magics. If anyone had an item that could output that kind of energy it's  him."

I just shrugged. "You're the expert. If you think  that we can find what we need there I'm in. But that still leaves the  issue of actually getting there. The moon isn't exactly within the  radius of the local cab company. Not even THIS local cab company. Do you  have some sort of secret moon rocket we can use or something? Because  if not I have no clue how we can make it up there." Well, not the  others. I could take the corridors there easily enough, but they would  go crazy and possibly die, so that was out, and a portal that far would  be pushing it even with my recent growth in power.

He just  rolled his eyes at me. "You don't pay much attention do you? Where did  we go last time needed to take a trip? The Doormouse has ways of getting  us to the moon if we can pay for it. Granted, you're footing the bill  this time, because I used up my favor. Luckily the moon shouldn't really  be warded. As long as you can keep up a shield with some air in it we  can just take a regular moon door and walk to The Collectors base. Not  that I know exactly where it is, but I should be safe to use my gift to  find it since the moon is so far away. No chance my enemies will be  looking for me in outer space."

That was a decent point,  plus if they did I could just throw the bastards off into space. The  harrowing might be tough, but I hadn't seen any evidence they could fly  or move around in space. All I had to do was kick them off into the void  and watch them float away if they showed up. "Yeah, a shield that holds  air won't be a problem for me. When did you want to do this?" I turned  to Jim. "And do you need any supplies boss? I know this isn't Griffin  Hall, but I bet this Collector guy has decent wards himself." I was sure  he would have mentioned if we needed a supply run, but I also didn't  relish the idea of going in unprepared to get gear to prepare with in  the first place.

As expected he just shook his head. "No.  At least I don't think so. The Moon should be far enough beyond the  reach of anything fangerous for you to use aura sight right? As long as  we can collaborate on what the wards are and how to take them down it  should be more than possible to bypass them. Especially with you,  Zatanna and I working together." I blinked. I hadn't considered that,  but he was right. The Nightside was far away from the moon, my normal  aura sight should be working fine up there.

With that  settled we all decided to set out for the Doormouse's shop to get an  early start on all this. We caught a carriage to Blaiston Street to  check in with the Doormouse, and as we did, I decided to check in on  Zee. I pulled her close, using my shields to isolate the sound as I  asked her. "So, how are you feeling about all this. It must be a pretty  overwhelming thing to hear. I realize this is a huge part of your life,  and even though hearing it's going to be undone is a good thing it still  has to be jarring to your worldview."

She rested her head  on my shoulder. "It is a big change. Death is...well, death. It's that  thing people compare to taxes when talking about inevitability. I never  thought I'd have a chance to see my mom again, and hearing I can makes  me happy obviously, just...overwhelmed. It doesn't feel real. Even  having seen all the crazy things you can do I can't imagine how it would  even work, and letting myself believe it is hard. It feels like I'm  just setting myself up for disappointment. Like I'm getting my hopes  up." She jerked, her eyes widening as she put up her hands defensively.  "Not that I don't trust you or believe in you, it's just a lot."

I  put my arm around her, pulling her close. "Hey, I can more than  understand being afraid to let yourself hope for something like that. I  won't try to talk you out of feelings, gods know that doesn't work. All I  can say is that even if your heart is worried, make sure your brain  knows that I'll always do whatever I can to make you happy. I'm GOING to  do this for you. The only if about it is whether I can gather the  energy fast enough to do it soon or whether I have to wait it out. One  way or another this is happening. Even at my current rate of accrual I  could manage it in a few years without boosts."

I'd be  unable to spend any points at all during that time, and honestly I  wanted to avoid that, so I was determined to get this done fast. My void  form could handle a ton of energy, and while Black Adam's blast had  straight up knocked my ass out, I was pretty sure as long as I didn't  take all of that at once I could handle more than just that admittedly  massive chunk of power. Void form drained me as I used it, but I was  pretty sure I could offset that partly with my actual power, since it  worked best modifying the powers I got from it. I hadn't done much with  trying to alter my Hole bloodline, considering it was easily my most  difficult and draining power. It was also one of my most effective  though, and it was definitely on my list even before I had this idea.

Zee  listened to me, feeling my sincerity through our bond and the radiant  smile that painted her face at my words still made my heart flutter,  even after a year together. She leaned up and kissed me deeply, trying  her best to show me with actions how much all of this meant to her, and I  could feel it without any need for words. The carriage came to a stop  after a while sadly, and we had to pull apart as we arrived at the  Doormouse's shop. I hopped out, offering her my hand to help her down.

Drea,  who had been giving us some alone time to talk things through, stepped  up on my other side once we were down, and smiled brilliantly at both of  us, giving us each a kiss. "So, the two of you feeling up to this? We  need to be operating at our best if we're going to be robbing your moon.  From what I've gathered in my time here, your people don't have much to  do with your moon, so it's going to be uncharted territory most  likely." Her voice was teasing, clearly not worried about it so much as  poking fun.

We made out way in  to talk to the Doormouse, who as it turned out, DID accept US dollars.  We were able to purchase a door up to the moon, one that led to the sea  of tranquility (apparently the calculations came from data he cribbed  from the first moon landing broadcast) for a substantial price. It cost  two point five million for that damn door, and I was informed the only  reason it was so cheap was because the Doormouse had made it years ago  for his own amusement and no one had ever actually bothered to use it.

He  brought us to where it waited and connected a few cables, telling us he  needed to do some more calibrations to adjust for the change in  position of the moon since the door's creation. Finally he got it booted  up and I raised a shield around us, keeping in the oxygen we needed. I  assured everyone I could keep us safe even if we would have normally run  out, because my power could make small easily missable changes best,  and the simplest way to use that here was just to use it to recycle the  exhalations as perfectly breathable air.

As  we stepped out onto the sea of tranquility, we paused to take in the  sight, and I had to admit, it was breathtaking. The empty white  landscape, the brilliant sky of stars, and up above us, hanging huge  over our heads, the planet Earth gleaming in all its blue and green  majesty. I was floored, and despite the necessity of rushing, I put my  arms around Zee and Drea and stood there just taking it in. The others  did the same, enjoying one of the most beautiful and unique sights in  the history of mankind.

Eventually  we all looked out fill, and I turned to Jim. "Alright boss. We have  Taylor to get us in close se we can find this place, but we need to make  sure they don't see us coming. As the master thief here that means  you're on stealth magic, though Zee and I can help if you want. That  work for you?" My mentor nodded and his cane began to weave through the  air, trailing light and magic as he started his spell construction. I  watched through my aura sight, relieved to have that ability back on the  table, as he continued to cast, and I pulled the girls closer. Stealing  from a powerful enemy. Back to basics I suppose.