Sell you a Bridge chapter 209

April 13th 2016 Gojo Penthouse 9:00 PM EDT

It  was pretty damn late when we actually started eating. Jambalaya takes  hours to finish cooking when done properly. Since it was also kind of  heavy for kids, mom made sandwiches for the girls and put them to bed at  8:30. She had the spare rooms for Lian and Paula ready and Hana loved  having her friend over so no one minded. Once they went to bed we all  sat down to eat, and since it was family only, the whole thing  invariably came back to what I'd been doing the last month or so.

Reggie  seemed the most excited for the new summon, with Wally close behind.  The two of them were actually getting along pretty well, which I  attributed to no one telling Wally the man was a master thief, but this  was a family dinner so that didn't matter. Still my old friend was  practically salivating for some reason. "So you have another one of  those things coming? I've seen the Knights and that magic user is pretty  cool. What are you gonna do next? Some kind of ninja?"

I  rolled my eyes at his one track mind. "No. The Knights are pure tanks  with some heavy damage. I considered fast dps but that's my role, so  I've been researching a void paladin.  Sort of an elite warrior unity.  Better damage than the Knight but tankier than me, and with some void  magic thrown in though not as strong as the little guy. Sort of a queen  piece kind of thing if you're using chess as a reference. I've been  saving up for the points, but honestly even with my keyblade making them  cheaper this one is a doozy. It's going to take the full fifty thousand  so I'm waiting until I re-up."

The last thing I wanted  was my reserves bottomed out again. The headache wasn't debilitating but  it still fucking sucked. Artemis couldn't have cared less about any of  that though. "What about the dungeon. What kind of place is it? How does  it work? If it can hold Savage and Luthor reliablyit must be pretty  amazing. Despite how weak they are they're both brilliant and Savage is  old as dirt."

That had definitely factored into my upgrade  choice, as had the existence of Klarion the Bitch Boy. I needed  something that could trap a Lord of Chaos, since I was pretty sure he  wouldn't agree to me taking his toys away. From all reports the little  bastard lived for entertainment and had probably joined The Light for  exactly the kind of nonsense that led them to invite hostile aliens to  earth in some sort of weird Machiavellian plot to use them for a  reputation boost.

Honestly I wasn't entirely clear on what  The Light's plan WAS. Like...was it just to get attacked and resist so  that everyone knew how tough humans were? Because that was  like...legendarily stupid. I didn't even think that counted as a plan,  more a series of loosely connected events they were hoping would play  out in a certain order. I had to assume anyone who could beat Superman  consistently for years had the IQ of a field mouse at least, so there  was probably some melodramatic and overcomplicated reveal that would  make it all make sense, but honestly I didn't care enough to bother  letting them tell me even after I tossed them in my superjail.

Speaking  of which. "The jail is a Tier Four prison aspected to hold demons and  spiritual entities called a Hellfire Oubliette. Which is a really stupid  name for a really amazing prison I was only able to afford because  being a devil gave me a fifty percent discount. I didn't even know that  was possible, but apparently the base has certain conditions that can  grant extra perks. The new prison i impressive as hell, no pun intended,  considering I could have upgraded the entire hall to a Tier Four  material for the same cost."

Zee, who was obviously  excited to research a powerful magical prison, made the logical leap.  "You're planning to stuff Klarion in there with them. You said it's Tier  Four, will it even hold him? Klarion is a Chaos Lord, one of the great  primordial powers of disorder. Sure, he's also an irritating brat who  never shuts up, but I don't know if something that low level will even  work."

I could understand that sentiment, but she was  wrong. "You're underestimating the island. I don't knew where the hell  it came from, but the tier system it uses doesn't work additivelly. It's  exponential. It's why the cost for a Tier Two material is ten times the  cost of a Tier One. I tried having Sigfried take a chunk out of the  walls of the Hall, and he couldn't leave more than a slight scratch.  Considering he's strong enough to go blow for blow with a Black Scarab  warrior he has muscle to spare."

She nodded in  understanding. "Combined with the fact that the place is specifically  designed for things like Klarion it should be even more effective. That  might actually work. If that power differential holds up that's a  monstrously effective prison."

Dreamer piped up. "If that  doesn't work we do have other options. We might be able to convince  Highfather to let us put them in the singularity stockade. If anything  would hold a Chaos Lord aside from Morgan's insane power it would be  that place. "You can take them back to New Genesis through your  corridors right?"

That was a bit iffy, but honestly not  impossible. "I mean, they'll probably go insane from exposure to the  primordial darkness, or at least Luthor and Savage will, but that's not  really a deal breaker for me. Them being crazy in an inescapable prison  isn't much different than them being sane. I agreed not to kill the  bastards, not to take it easy on them."

We must have  gotten too into the conversation because my mother finally had enough  and cleared her throat. "That's quite enough of that kind of talk at  dinner thank you very much. Let's switch to a more pleasant topic." She  turned to Dreamer. "Now why don't you tell us a bit more about the  things you've tried since you came to visit dear. I want to make sure my  son has been a proper host."

Dreamer blushed, but looked  pleased. "He's been an absolute gentleman. We went to the carnival  together, and the movies, and to the park once or twice." I'd taken  Dreamer on a few more dates on the rare downtime I allowed myself, they  had been really nice, and it was wonderful to get to know her better.  Her smile when she looked at me was adoring. "I can't think of anyone  better to introduce me to earth than those two." She included Zee in the  expression, and expected mom to react but she mostly didn't.

That  more than anything convinced me my girlfriend was a miracle worker, but  I supposed that came with the territory of being a goddess. I cleared  my throat to show I was changing the subject and turned to Wally. "So I  don't think I've asked, what have you been upto since you got back?" I  hadn't heard much from Wally since our return, aside from him showing up  to these, he'd mostly just been enjoying spending time with his now  civilian girlfriend, as well as her mother and niece, whose father was  actually a friend of his.

There had been plenty of  responses I had expected but the one he gave wasn't one of them. "I've  been going for my PhD in molecular physics." We all turned to stare at  him in shock. Wally had been in high school like the rest of us last I  checked. Speaking of which I made a mental note to get a degree or  something with my power. I was sure there was some kind of quick  certification spam from Harvard or something, and my power would put me  in a position to actually get all those benefits.

Our  shock must have been pretty obvious because Wally laughed. "The Speed  Force doesn't just make me move faster it makes me think faster. I also  haven't been forgetting things. The ability to read and remember whole  libraries made finishing high school a snap and I've been working on my  doctorate." He hesitated a bit. "As much as I loved hero work...I just  haven't felt the same about being Kid Flash since the OZ. I'm taking a  step back to focus on the science. It just feels right."

Artemis  put a supportive hand on his shoulder. "And that's all that matters. I  already told you how proud of you I am. Honestly I get it. I don't think  anyone would begrudge either of us a bit of normal for a while." She  paused, her lips quirking up sardonically. "Or as normal as an eighteen year old trying for a doctorate is anyway. But really, you've always  been brilliant. I just know you're going to do amazing things with all  that knowledge."

My mom raised an eyebrow at me, but  didn't actually ask me when I was going to graduate. I had to hold back a  snicker at the stereotypical vibe of 'what are you doing with your  life' considering I was eighteen and literally one of the ten richest  people on the entire planet, as well as having literal superpowers.  Still, it was almost nice. Having my mom look at me and wonder what I  was going to do in the future. After that mess on New Genesis and then  our time in the OZ I felt like this kind of thing was something I could  have easily missed out on.

It was also a damn good  question. I'd been through so much in the last year, and I was still  pretty damn young. I had years in me still, and so much to learn about  my power and the way the world worked. I'd been trying to work with my  power more between research, and I'd managed some small things. Slightly  changing the flavor of a stick of gum (cinnamon to spearmint) and the  color of my shoes.Even tiny things like that were absolutely exhausting to me, so I had  a long way to go before I could come close to doing the kinds of things  my points could do with an email to funnel themselves through.

But  in the end I didn't need an answer. As pleasant as it was to have that  normal pressure as a sort of token nod to who I might have been, I'd  accomplished plenty. I wasn't done by a long shot, but I didn't feel  that same rush to prove myself that most people my age did. I'd made my  bones, now I was free to just learn and grow. To spend time with my  girls and my family, and to really enjoy my life, without pressure to  steal or fight or protect us from supervillains or evil gods that wanted  to destroy my city.

But  in order to get there I had to handle this one last thing. The Reach  and The Light were a threat that I couldn't ignore. My little sister was  in danger, my PLANET was in danger, and while I might not be a hero, I  was plenty selfish, and I didn't share my things. This was my world, and  if the reach wanted it, they were going to have to pry it from my cold  half dead hands, and I had a pretty tight grip.

I  looked around again, at my friends and family, and captured the moment.  Because this would be the fuel I used. This would be what drove me when  I was back in battle, matching myself again alien conquerors and world  ending supervillains. This was what I was fighting for, and it was worth  it. But hey, I supposed I wasn't that unusual after all, because much  like teenagers throughout history, in only a short while, I was going  off to war.