Sell you a Bridge chapter 111

Doomhallow Hall October 31st 2010 1:00 AM EDT

I  wanted to run out into the night and track down my loved ones, to round  them all up and bring them here. But we only had the one teleporter and  it would be stupid to drag them through a freshly contained Gotham.  This...was going to get bad. Gotham was already enough of a nightmare  without being stuffed in a snowglobe. I cursed as I stared up at the  glowing green sphere. I couldn't believe I missed this. Circe had played  us. Hell she'd probably been pushing Morgana into this whole thing in  the first place, and if she wasn't directly manipulating Annabel I'd eat  my couch. I could tell Jim knew it too. We'd played right into her  hands.

Looking back it was easy  to see her touch in all of it. She needed to get her grimoire, and not  only did she have me return it to her, she set it up so that we  basically paid for the privilege of making he plans come to fruition. I  spun to Jim, who was looking as annoyed as I felt. I was glad he had a  face on because at least that expression helped me feel a bit better.  "How the hell did she know we would call her? Like manipulating the  court and revealing the secret of the Labyrinth to Morgana I get, in  fact come to think of it it was always suspicious where everyone  suddenly got that supposedly secret information from at the same time,  but how did she know you would involve her?"

He  scowled, staring up the wildsphere with me. "It was an easy enough  thing to guess, but I suspect she took steps to insure it in any case.  If we hadn't reached out she would have most likely contacted me first,  and she probably arranged things so my other options would be  unavailable." He cursed. "Damn it all, anything involving her is always  complicated, even when I think I'm the one doing the involving." He  sighed. "Well in any case I doubt she stranded herself in here, it isn't  her style. She likes to have her flunkies do her work, being stuck in a  rioting hellscape is far too gauche for her. I suppose we only have the  Bana to deal with."

I  snorted. "Oh, joy, we only have to defeat and ARMY of Amazons who hate  men even more than usual while trapped inside a giant indesctructible  bubble with a city full of evil psychos and last I checked a substantial  amount of heroes." I turned to Zee. "Any chance we have any really big  hitters in town? I know Kent and your Dad are here, but Kent doesn't  have the helmet. Batman obviously, and probably most of the justice  bros. Anyone else?" Because we would need help. We weren't just stuck in  Gotham with Amazon man haters, we were stuck in Gotham with Amazon man  haters and a criminal underworld with access to nearly unlimited magical  gear.

Zee  bit her lip, staring worriedly out into the city. "A few people. Black  Canary and Wildcat, though he's retired he just lives here, Green Arrow  and the Atom. Since the dungeon doesn't allow any non humans and bans  outside power interference people like Green Lantern, the Flash, and  Superman were out. If you know this spell though can't you just take it  down? With access to the casting method I'm sure we could figure out so  kind of weakness?" She sounded hopeful that research would let us shut  this down fast before anyone got hurt, but I was forced to disappoint  her.

I sighed  in aggravation. "Sorry baby, I know how to shut down the spell, but  it's divine magic, no loopholes. The catch is that they need an anchor  to keep the spell stable, someone to use as a focus to tie the working  to the city as a workaround to let them tap into the ambient magic. The  bad news is it could be literally any of them because being physically  present would be enough in a place with this much ambient magic. Gotham  magic is pervasive and seeps into you, that energy would be enough of a  connection to link the spell to the curse and probably the Labyrinth by  extension." I looked to Jim in worry. "I...I'm out of my depth here  boss. What do we do?"

Jim  gave me a comforting smile. "It isn't as bad as all that lad, with the  Bana here to draw focus we should have a good few days before the  various forces in Gotham feel emboldened enough to make a move. Plenty  of time to set up our own measures. My suggestion is to get a few more  teleporters placed before we bring everyone over. Your mother is safe  enough with her beau and your Reginald's family are out of the way  enough not to be accosted and poor enough that most wouldn't see the  point, at least from an outside view. For now we should go back inside  and I'll do some scouting so we can make a proper plan."

I  clenched my fists. With all this excitement and action my muscles were  flooded with adrenaline, and I wanted to just run off and start fighting  shit. But Jim was right. We weren't heroes. We were thieves. We planned  things out carefully and we needed to get the lay of the land before we  decided what to do next. I nodded begrudgingly and put an arm around  Zee as we headed back inside. I was tapped for points now anyway, and my  family was safe, so for now our best move was just to wait things out.

Zee  and I left the others to do their thing, Artemis and Reggie exploring  as Jim worked with the map, and headed upstairs to check out more of the  hall. We'd been putting off the full tour until we finished the dungeon  so now seemed as good a time as any. Zee saw me staring into space and  nudged my ribs with her elbow. "Penny for your thoughts? This whole  thing has been pretty scary, I'm here if you need someone to listen."  She put on a light tone but I could see in her aura she was worried.  Unlike my mom, Zee's dad and her Uncle Kent were heroes and would be out  in the thick of this. I suspect if she didn't know running off into a  crowded city with no clue where to go was stupid she would've already  gone to find them.

I  leaned down to give her a slow kiss. "I'm a bit worried but I'm sure  things will be fine, more importantly how are you? Your Uncle Kent and  your Dad are old hands at this stuff. They can handle some pissed off  Amazons. Hell they're probably safer in here away from all the crazy  overpowered metas and immortal beings or whatever. Gotham is pretty tame  compared to the rest of the world in terms of damage potential. Sure  it's also a nightmare factory where peace of mind goes to die, but all  the normal shit would be easy for them to handle. Plus your dad has the  Leaguers with him and he has Shadowcrest. I bet he and your Uncle  teleported their hero pals to your place and are already holed up making  a plan."

She  gave me a bright smile. "You're right that does sound like them. He's  probably in his study with all the other League members, contributing  reasonable ideas as Batman broods menacingly and stares dramatically  into the fire." I snickered because despite having never really  interacted much with the Bat that sounded pretty on brand for him. She  pecked me on the cheek and danced back out of my arms. "I think we both  need to focus on something a little more fun. Lets do some exploring."  Grabbing my hand she hauled me off down the hallway, clearly determined  to see every nook and cranny of our new place.

I  had to admit Doomhollow Hall was gorgeous. With the downgrade in  materials I'd been able to afford an insane amount of repairs, and while  we didn't have any of the crazy workrooms or anything the entire place  was a study in elegance and taste. The rooms were carpeted with thick,  plush carpet, and the hallways were lined with that same beautifully  made aisle rug in black with the white borders. There were dozens of  bedrooms and galleries, two dungeons, one of which we found at the  bottom of a flight of spiral stairs and one in an upstairs hallway (the  latter was more of a funtime dungeon than one for prisoners) and even a  throne room where I could receive guests.

Zee  seemed almost gleeful about this whole thing and I smirked at her. "So,  I have to ask, is this whole dark lord thing getting you worked up?  Because you seem to be geeking out even more than usual and I have to  say it's kind of sexy." My girlfriends aura had been pretty much  simmering with lust and excitement since we found the dungeon, and the  throne room had definitely done it for her too. I was letting her take  the lead in our sex life but that didn't mean I wouldn't express  interest when I had a valid excuse. Zee was positively gleeful about  this whole thing and I fucking loved it. No wonder dark lords seemed so  smug all the time.

She  giggled a bit and pulled away from me. "Hmmm. Tell you what. Let's play  a game. You close your eyes and count to ten and I'll go hide, and if  you can find me within an hour without cheating and using powers or the  map I'll answer your question." The game itself seemed...fine, but more  important to me was the simmering lust in her voice and aura. I would  have done basically anything she asked if she'd asked me like that, so I  just nodded, swallowing hard as I covered my eyes and started to count  down from ten. I had to hand it to her, this was pretty damn  distracting, and I was finding it hard to worry about Gotham as I  counted.

When  I opened my eyes, no surprise, Zee was gone. I resisted the urge to use  my ninja skills to track her because I promised I'd be good and didn't  want to ruin her game, so I did the logical thing and retraced our  steps. I admit I skipped ahead a bit to check the sex dungeon first,  just in case and because I really hoped she was in there but sadly it  wasn't to be. From there I started checking the galleries and rooms  again. I saw signs of passing in some of the rooms, closets disturbed  and stuff like that, but  that didn't help me much so I mostly ignored  it. I checked the throne room but that was empty as well, though I did  stop to admire the absolutely badass black metal throne for a bit before  moving on.

Finally  I came to a room we'd looked at earlier. It was one of the bigger  bedrooms and one that I'd mentioned considering as the master bedroom  because I liked the view from the balcony. I tried to open the door but  the way was blocked. I heard Zee's voice from inside. "I'm going to  remove the block, but I want you to wait for two minutes before you come  in ok?" I smiled a bit at that but agreed loudly and waited outside. I  figured it was going to be worth it. Hell even if we just ended up  cuddling and taking a nap this would have been the most fun I'd had in  ages. Finally though she called for me to come in.

I  opened the door slowly, figuring whatever image she was presenting I'd  want to enjoy, and gods was I right. Zee was almost naked, kneeling on  the soft carpet in only her fishnets, panties, and a pair of heels. She  had on a lacy black thong and the fishnets she was wearing were the kind  with garters, probably conjured or summoned from home. Her gorgeous  breasts hung bare and her glamour was nowhere to be seen as she stared  up at me with adoration and trust. She swallowed almost as hard as I had  when she proposed this game and looked up through her lashes at me. "I  think I'm ready for our first time now."