Sell you a Bridge chapter 121

Blackgate Penitentiary November 11th 2010 1:00 PM EDT

Despite  my quick reactions, the fastest person to respond wasn't me, it wasn't  even Robin. Surprisingly at was Arthur who shook of the shock first and  dragged us out of the way. He pulled us over under the bleachers,  further back into the shadows as things started to go south. Robin,  Wally, Kaldur, Superboy, Red Arrow, and I all got dragged into the dark  where we could stay hidden as Arthur informed us in a tense whisper to  be quiet. I was honestly kind of touched, this guy didn't know us at  all, he must really love his daughter if just being younger than  everyone else reminded him of her enough to protect us.

I  made a mental note to ask Jim about Cluemaster and spring the guy as we  left if he wasn't some baby eating psycho. Speaking of my teacher, I  activated my sending stone, making sure to do a full broadcast so  everyone on the team heard. "Jim where the actual fuck did you  go? The Amazons are siegeing down the prison and they blow holes in a  bunch of the walls. We need to get to Ivy and Miss Martian and get the  fuck out of here! Robin thinks they might hit Arkham yet, and I do NOT  want to deal with my Uncle getting loose."

I  mentally thanked the gods that I'd decided to get these damn stones,  they were proving insanely useful. Zee's voice cut into my analysis of  the situation. "Morgan? What's going on? What do you mean a siege? Is everyone ok?" Her  voice was worried but calm, and I smiled at how cool under pressure my  girl was. We'd been through too much for her to crumble because of few  giant flaming boulders falling from the sky, even if she'd been here to  see it. I exhaled slowly, regaining my calm. We had the map, which meant  we weren't nearly as in the dark as everyone else.

I  scanned the yard as best I could from our spot under the darkened  bleachers against the wall, trying to find some markers I could use to  help Zee get a bead on us. "We're fine mostly. Miss M is still  on the women's side of the prison, and considering the Amazon's just  blew a hole over there and most of the people on this side are hardened  male criminals who haven't touched a woman in potentially decades I  don't want to leave her alone over there. Can you give me a heading for  getting to where she is?"

The  justice bros may have been holier than though assholes but they weren't  that bad, especially not Miss M. She was probably the nicest person in  the group, and I wasn't leaving her alone in a prison during a riot.  Jim's voice cut in. "I can meet you there. I apologize for my  absence, I had a matter to discuss with an old associate in the maximum  security wing. It's been dealt with and I'm on the way to Miss Martian  and Poison Ivy's location to wait for the rest of you. Do be cautious  dear boy. This is going to be something of a kerfuffle." I winced at the phrasing, knowing Jim only got extra British when he was worried or upset.

Since  this was going to be such a mess I slipped my costume from my ring and  suited up. I wasn't worried about being connected to my cape identity  since I had this disguise on, and my mask and gear would do a lot to  protect me here. My Armor of Gloom had shit for magic resistance but it  was tougher than titanium and ten times as light, and I never really  felt comfortable without my sword. Arthur and his guys, all in the  shadows nearby gaped as I slipped on my gear. The justice bros seemed  less surprised, probably because they knew I could teleport and didn't  understand the glory of the spacial ring.

I  closed my eyes to check my total, I was sitting at twelve hundred  points right now, which was pretty solid, but I also knew that this  place was heavily protected. Even my non teleportation abilities would  most likely be harder to use and cost more, which was why I'd brought  supplies. Aside from not killing anyone and enraging the justice bros I  was fully willing to unleash my Outer Body trained badassery on these  idiots. Just my physique alone would be plenty for most of these morons,  especially with their powers sea-. I heard a small click and a beep and  looked down. The collar that I'd disabled had still been around my  neck, at least a minute ago.

Now  though, my collar and all the other collars on everyone we could see  had opened and dropped right off. I stared in disbelief, turning to look  at Robin who looked equally stunned. I had no idea what was happening,  but the boy blunder was at least good for something. He frowned, clearly  thinking this through with his big detective brain before responding.  "Oh. Damn. I get it now. That's why the timing lines up so well with our  operation. They used the same move we did. They snuck someone in on  intake day. They must have expected the shield. Should have expected  that. The male inmates would have had a size advantage with the collars  working, but powers even the field."

Which  meant we had to hurry the fuck up and get to Ivy and Miss M. Not only  would it be even harder now, Ivy might be one of their targets to begin  with, and even if she wasn't with her powers restored she could easily  tear a hole in the wall with a beanstalk or some shit and walk out. I  filled the girls in via the sending stone, not needing to tell Jim since  he was here and wearing a collar. Finally Robin and I got the others  moving and got ready to head out. Arthur seemed hesitant to see us go  off on our own though. The ponytailed criminal frowned at us. "I...I  want to come with you."

We  turned to look at him in confusion and he just swallowed and powered  through. "I don't know who you are or why you're here, but you're  obviously kids." He nodded to Robin. "Hell that one looks like he's  about twelve. As a father I can't let a bunch of stupid kids run off  into a terrifying prison riot without at least trying to help them." His  eyes were sharp and I could hear steal in his voice, and I saw in his  aura that he meant it. He was genuinely scared for us and couldn't live  with himself if he didn't come with. I checked with Jim, getting  confirmation that he wasn't a psycho and then nodded. I made a mental  promise to help him get out if I had the chance. To get home to his kid.

He  exhaled heavily when I gave the ok, his body sagging like just making  the decision to come with us had taken all the energy he had. His crew  on the other hand didn't seem so willing to come along. Titus, or Czonk  as he called himself, surprisingly didn't hesitate, but Faceless and all  his other goons wanted no part of this nonsense. I didn't blame them  for staying behind, though I could tell Arthur did, and once we had our  whole team together I got a sit rep from the girls via the map and  started guiding us towards Miss M in the safest, least enemy filled  route possible.

Sadly,  we didn't have the kind of advance warning I'd like. Everyone in this  fucking prison had been a super criminal pretty much, and we didn't know  who was who based on their civilian names. We were flying blind here  for the most part. Still we managed to avoid the throng for the most  part, at least until we got through the nearest hole and into a hallway.  A hallway where we ran face first into a bunch of people we really  didn't have time to deal with. I froze as we came into the hallway and  took in the few people standing together inside.

Well,  people was a bit of a misnomer in some cases. For instance, the giant  fuck off pile of mud and rock that I knew from the news was Clayface. I  cursed as they turned to look at us. With the big pile of muck I could  make out a creepy looking guy with long red dreadlocks who seemed to be  standing in a way that shouldn't really be possible. On close inspection  his knees and elbows seemed to be backwards somehow. Next to him was a  massive man with metallic bronze skin and a long thick mane of red hair  with a huge bristly red beard. Having been briefed by Jim on most of the  villains in Gotham and possessing a perfect memory I knew this must be  Girder, though the weird joint guy was new to me."

The  inmates froze when we did, glaring at us as they tried to figure out  what to do for a minute. The detente was enough time for me to size them  up and put together a basic plan. I spoke over my shoulder quickly.  "Kaldur, your water will be our best bet against Clayface, Kid Flash and  I will help out there. Superboy and Czonk are on Girder. Robin, you and  Red Arrow take Gumby over there. Arthur, let us know if you see anyone  coming, the last thing we need is to get ambushed mid fight." Then I  didn't have time to talk because the wait was over and the bastards  rushed us.

As  expected, Czonk and SB were more than a match for Girder. Surprisingly  they didn't just crush him, the massive metal man was obviously stronger  than I'd expected, but with Superboy to meet him head on he didn't get  very far. The kryptonian boy smashed into the titanic form of Girder at  full speed, nullifying his momentum. Czonk smashed a fist into the man  but howled with pain as it smacked into his metal flash. I winced, but  the big bald man barely took a minute to let the pain fade before he  picked up a piece of rebar from the rubble and started smashing it into  every joint or soft spot he could find.

Robin  and Red Arrow had engaged the twisted man with the dreadlocks, and he  was doing a surprisingly good job of countering them. Aside from being  able to twist and react in unusual ways his body also deformed on impact  rather than being damaged, and the two combatants, expert though they  may be, were having some real issues making any of their attacks stick.  That said they were more than good enough to stop him from hurting them  either, so for the moment it was mainly a stalemate.

Clayface  was the slowest to reach us, though admittedly it was more from mass  than sluggishness, the massive pile of much coming at us like an  avalanche. Kaldur stepped up, his tattoos lighting up as he pulled water  from the spurting pipes in the destroyed walls to bring it smashing  against the big villain. Though it wasn't enough to actually stop the  bastard it was more than enough to slow him down, and Wally used the  time to super speed over and pick up a bunch of rubble, clearly trying  to build some kind of wall to slow him down. I applauded the creativity  but it didn't amount to much here as Clayface planted his feet and  walked right through the wall and water blast both, clearly at least  annoyed but not much more than that.

I snarled at him but realized I needed my magic to manage this. I  reached down for my demonic magic. I couldn't manage any huge spells for  any length of time but I'd done some Outer Body training, instant  effects could be scaled way up for a decent up front cost so I dumped in  a hundred points of my twelve hundred and used a flash freeze spell on  Clayface. The huge villain froze, but his momentum didn't, and his  forward motion overbalanced the ice sculpture as it tumbled forward to  shatter on the ground. I exhaled in relief before noticing the chunks of  Clayface nearby starting to thaw rapidly. As I watched the bits of muck  converge into the form of their main body I cursed. This was going to  be such a waste of time.