Sell you a Bridge chapter 196

March 7th 2016 Doomhallow Hall  8:00 PM EDT

We  made our way back to the island later that night to talk to Jim about  the plan. When I told him about it he just sat there for a minute, and  then burst out laughing. "Work smarter not harder lad! I've never been  so proud. Why do it yourself when you can get others to do it at almost  no cost to yourself. That's how a gentleman thief operates. I can  certainly put the word out once the contracts are drawn up, and I'd be  happy to do so. Why, I may even take up the challenge myself. It sounds  exciting."

Claire rolled her  eyes and looked over at Reggie, who had shown up with Bette at our  request. "I suppose you're planning to run off and try it too then? I  swear you're more his son than mine at this point." Reggie's eyes  widened in horror I was sure was mirrored on Jim's currently invisible  face, and everyone else there just burst out laughing at the stunned  silence from the two normally chatty men.

I  chuckled. "As amusing as all this is, I need some advice on who exactly  would be the best to approach first. Not just people you know who you  can get in touch with mind you, but anyone in the merc community you  think will be willing to help. Apparently Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage, and  Ra'as Al Ghul are all involved with backing The Reach, and as much as I  don't want to admit Nightwing is right about literally anything I'm  pretty sure there are at least some people who won't want to cross the  big dogs."

Jim  sighed. "You aren't wrong. There will be a decent chunk of the  mercenary community that won't accept. The "only looking out for myself"  mentality cuts both ways after all. Pissing off people like Al Ghul and  Savage is just asking for trouble. That said, there will still be  plenty that will be willing to do it anyway. Some because they'll know  and won't care, but most because this secret cabal is keeping their  activities on the down low. The League might know but I doubt the group  want the fact that they're essentially selling out humanity to go  public."

I...hadn't  thought of that. "And we're asking them to go after The Reach  specifically, not after anyone connected in an obvious way to the group  themselves. We can probably get a decent number of takers out of sheer  ignorance. The issue is that big names will probably know, and small fry  will get absolutely face murdered. That shitty green scarab kicked my  ass, and B'arzz says that it's supposedly a scout model. The WARRIOR  model is on Earth right now, and it's a fucking monster. I have a few  ideas about how to beat it, but it'll take me some serious points so it  won't be short term."

My  build wasn't suited to fighting something that strong. I was going to  push my current powers to the limit for sure, but I also had a very  interesting idea about how to combine all my abilities into something  absolutely terrifying. I just needed one more ingredient. Sadly that  ingredient was going to cost me a hundred thousand points. Granted that  was ten days of income for me now so it was feasible, but I'd still need  to wait, and I had some more research to do on void magic before that  time to make my plan work.

Jim's  hat nodded slowly. "I see your point. I can think of a few who might be  willing to engage such a foe. Teth-Adam rarely does as instructed by  anyone, and he has been known to indulge in mercenary work now and then.  He would be more bruiser than thief. My old friend The Shade may be  willing to take a contract. He was impressed by your conduct during your  only meeting, and he is exceptionally hard to kill, as well as being  eminently capable of infiltration."

Both  of those sounded like great options. Which meant I had to start  building up my stockpile of cash to PAY these mercs when we got them on  our side. Which meant it was time to bust out my phone. I slipped it  from my pocket and started scrolling through my spam folder, looking for  something that would give me a big pile of cash without requiring any  kind serious point or resource investment. I scrolled for about fifteen  minutes before I finally stumbled upon something I thought would work. A  thousand points for...the fortune of a deceased crime lord.

According  to the emailer the secret crime boss was one of the richest men on the  planet, his fortune valued at ten billion dollars. The police were  closing in on his hidden assets and all the sender needed to send it  over was a bank account number and the social security number of the  recipient "as insurance". The story was dramatic and gripping and pretty  decent as far as lies go. Which was good for me because the more  specific the lie was the better I could predict how it would be  realized.

I  hit the button. I didn't expect a knock on my door, because I didn't  need one. This money was supposed to untraceably routed into my account  from a dozen anonymous shell companies in a series of transfers designed  to perfectly avoid any attention from any kid of authorities. I was  pretty sure that insane claim was the reason the whole thing had cost so  much compared to other money based wishes, but I wasn't going to  complain.

I  almost giggled in glee at the thought of Nightwing seeing all those  deposits and trying to backtrack the damn things to my "other accounts"  with all the resources at his disposal and failing spectacularly to find  anything ever approaching a clue. I knew he was watching the main  account I had, since he'd mentioned keeping an eye on my finances, and I  was pretty sure he would be exhausted tomorrow from spending all night  trying to find the source of my vast fortune in a sea of data that had  no record of it.

I  pulled up my account on my phone, which apparently was a thing I could  do now. I bought a new phone after I got back because it made my email  much easier to access, and the thing could launch mini programs on it  called apps. My bank had one where I could log in and check my balance  and when I did. I whistled. Reggie walked up behind me, looking over my  shoulder.

His voice sounded slightly  strangled. "Wow...that's a lot of zeroes." I grinned at him, but he  just glared back. "Your power is absolute bullshit. I could steal high  end art and jewelry for a year straight and not come close to that much  money. I was worried about you being able to fund this operation but  that's just...you realize you're only a billion short of being as rich  as Bruce Wayne? Granted Luthor has more than seven times that much money  but still, you got that with the push of a button. I'm seething."

I  just grinned. I was probably the third richest person on the planet  right now. It was going to make Nightwing dissolve into a puddle of  suspicious paranoid goo. It was inexplicable, and since the email said  untraceable even magic shouldn't be able to figure out where it came  from. I loved my power. I was now richer than Maxwell Lord and Oliver  Queen put together. I passed the phone to my mentor. "What do you think?  That going to be enough?"

He  barked out a laugh. "Oh, I believe it shall be plenty. Dear boy, I do  believe that even accounting for inflation, that may be more money than  I've stolen in my entire life." He cocked his head. "Though admittedly I  steal more for amusement and challenge than profit still, I would be  careful about just hand waving that much money into existence. The world  economy will have some serious problems if you keep doing that. I never  worried about it before because you used the financial aspect of your  abilities so infrequently, but I would appreciate it if you make that  last."

I  winced. "Yeah, ten billion dollars out of nowhere would be a problem. I  don't...think, that happened? I paid enough for this little cash influx  for it to be a reality warping sort of deal, and the email DID it came  from an existing guy. I think it handwaved the background as well as the  money so hopefully it doesn't damage the economy since it was  technically always there." I shook my head, trying not to get a migraine  thinking about retroactive accounting. "Anyway, this should be enough  for more than just those two. You have any other contractors in mind you  think will get the job done?"

He  gave a quit hum of contemplation. "A few. Hard to think of any with the  kind of skills you need who can still take care of threats. Dr. Alchemy  probably. The Folded Man can't fight his way out of a paper sack but  his space warping abilities make him night uncatchable. The Silver Fog  is another low end superhuman who is excellent at infiltration despite  ebing fairly weak. I doubt even an alien security system could do much  to impede him." He paused. "He's also highly unpleasant to deal with so  if he does die it's no big loss."

Claire  smacked him in the chest with the back of her hand. "James Craddock!  What kind of nonsense are you spouting in front of my boy." She turned  to Reggie with a glare. "If I find out you're sending people to their  deaths because you don't like them I'll put you over my knee, no matter  what kind of reputation you've got." She turned her glare back on Jim.  "And WE are going to be having a long conversation later tonight about  how to be a good influence. Your apprentices are back now and you need  to watch your mouth. Imagine if Stephanie heard you say that?"

It  took literally everything I had in me not to burst out laughing at  seeing my terrifying master thief mentor being dressed down by his  completely mundane girlfriend, but I managed. "Alright. I'll leave you  guys to it, I'm headed to bed, I have to be up early tomorrow so I can  show up ahead of schedule and watch Nightwing have a nervous breakdown  trying to figure out if my money is stolen or not." Even Claire laughed  at that one, and I turned and headed out of the room.

When  I was out I noticed Artemis waiting for me. I raised an eyebrow. "Huh,  didn't know you were here Arty. What's up? you look tense?" She  seemed...upset. And confused. Like she didn't know what to do. That  wasn't like my friend at all. She smiled tensely at me, clearly trying  to decide what to say.

Finally  she nodded to herself. "I don't know if this is a good idea. We're  trying not to tip off the Shadows and Luthor's cronies about the plan,  but...I need your help. I can't find my mom Morgan, and I'm getting  worried. Jade is missing too, I've been searching all over for them but  they seem to have gone to ground. I need you to help me track them down.  Your detective mode has helped before. Can you please help me look for  them?"

I  blinked. "Well, yeah. Obviously. What are you new here? We help each  other. I'm a master thief ninja ghost, the fuck you say that Luthor's  nerd squad will notice me tracking ANYBODY. We have to find a place to  start from, but yeah, I'll obviously help. I take it you have somewhere  in mind?" She nodded, a relieved smile on her face and I rolled my eyes  and gestured to the direction of the teleported. "Well, go on then.  Sleep is for the weak anyway." Guess I got to spend the night herding  cats.