Sell you a Bridge chapter 105

Gotham Harbor October 23rd 2010 11:00 PM EDT

Twenty  days. Twenty days of constant training and grinding had led me to this  point. Twenty days and seven levels. We'd carved through level fourteen  of the dungeon in that time, finally reaching fifteen and officially  setting foot on the last level. The final boss room could be considered  as being technically on level fifteen, though you teleported there  through a circle. Regardless we were almost done, which was why I had  decided to do what I was doing today. At my current three hundred sixty  points per day I was making a decent income and I'd managed to cut back  on my spending with my new training method.

After  twenty days of saving at least two hundred fifty of my points per day  I'd ended up with around fifty five hundred points, and tonight I was  getting my lair. Standing next to me, for the first time being shown my  power, were not only Artemis and Zee, but Jim and Reggie too. Reggie had  been with me from the beginning and benefitted from my power anyway and  I trusted him, and Jim, despite being morally bankrupt by some  standards, was pretty loyal to those he cared about and besides he was  weirdly committed to thieving and was strong enough that there was  nothing he couldn't really get himself if he wanted it.

So  here I was, standing at the docks in front a speedboat I'd rented,  having told two of the people I trusted most that I had something  important to show them, and getting ready to take my whole crew (minus  my weirdly jealous and potentially dangerous cousin) out onto the  harbor. The lair base was a huge points sink, at least in terms of  amounts I'd used before, but it also perfectly suited our needs. Kit  might notice we were gone, but we all had places outside the tower to  live and she didn't not to mention she would be going back to living  with my dad once we finished the last level in a week or two. I felt a  bit bad for keeping it from her, but she gave me a weirdly unstable vibe  and I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

I  turned to Zee as we all climbed aboard the boat. "So are you sure Kent  is cool with you coming with us? I figured he would be too worried to  let you out of his sight?" I'd been a bit worried about Zee being able  to come along since Kent had been following her around like a shadow.  Granted in the last week or two he'd eased up a lot as he got more used  to being her guardian and got to know all of us, but this was still a  pretty big step. The island would be basically impossible to find unless  you knew where it was, the magical defenses built for obscurity not  security, though it mentioned something about being able to upgrade it  somehow.

The whole thing seemed  weirdly gamelike, and I kind of assumed they cribbed it from some kind  of video game, not that I was complaining about that. Creepy island  video game base sounded like exactly what we needed. As we set off into  the harbor, Zee snuggled up to me to avoid the cold, her answer muffled  slightly in my chest. "He made Jim give him a binding magical oath he  would protect me. He knows what the old ghost can do so once he was  assured he would give his all to keeping me safe he was willing to allow  it. I think they've known each other a long time actually, so it was  easier to convince him that I expected."

I  nodded and took off my hoodie, draping it around her as she curled up  in my lap. My girlfriend preferred light clothes that let her move  around, and while she was wearing civvies and was rocking her usual  capris instead of fishnets, she wasn't exactly dressed for the cold  winds out over the harbor. If I'd known  about the temperature out here  I'd have told her to wear layers. Once we got far enough out into the  harbor I turned to Reggie and Jim. "So, thank you guys for being  patient. I assume you've noticed over time my odd access to powerful  objects, large amounts of money, weird skills, and irregular power  boosts?" Laying it out like that I almost felt like it was a miracle my  charade lasted this long.

Jim  gave an unimpressed noise of affirmation and even Reggie just nodded  like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I winced, I hadn't  thought I'd done that bad a job. I could only hope that being around Kit  way less would mean she was less likely to have noticed. Moving on from  my embarrassment I cleared my throat. "Well, that makes this easier. I  have a superpower that lets me make spam emails real. We're out here  because I've decided we need a new and more useful base. No offense of  course Jim, but since Zatara and his buddies found out about it I've  been feeling less than safe."

He  tipped his hat in a nod. "Oh none taken dear boy I assure you. I've  been feeling less than secure in our accommodations as well, but given  the presence of the little miss in your lap, I assumed it was better not  to rock the boat, so to speak." I rolled my eyes at the nautical pun.  He continued unashamedly. "That said if you have some sort of method to  acquire new lodgings through your power I'd be more than willing to  change our residence. I take it from my final apprentice's absence we  won't be telling her about this new base of operations?" I'd expected  him to sound judgemental or angry but he just seemed curious.

I  sighed. "No. Kit has...issues with me, and I don't feel safe letting  her in on this secret. It might seem harsh but I can't shake the feeling  she's going to do something drastic if she keeps letting her resentment  build up." And build up it was. My aura sight had been showing growing  levels of dissent and jealousy in my cousin every time I was around, and  she had started actively avoiding me outside of dungeon raids. I knew  this would only drive her further away, but I wasn't willing to take  risks with my safety or the safety of my friends. Separating ourselves  from her was just a way to create some much needed insurance against her  sudden but inevitable betrayal.

To  my surprise everyone there just nodded. I'd expected at least Artemis  or Zee to plead her case, but it seemed like even they had noticed her  erratic behavior. In any case I returned to the matter at hand. "Well,  with that out of the way, I will officially commence the process of  getting our lair." I reached into my pocket, as per usual and pulled out  my phone, scrolling to the lair email and hitting the order button.  Since my power was warping reality I didn't actually need bars to use  it, which was good because we were getting low as the shore shrunk into  the distance. I wondered though, without a door to knock on how would  this email be delivered.

I heard  a screech and looked up, and my hands snapped up reflexively to catch  the steel briefcase the fucking HAWK dropped as it flew over us, my  enhance reflexes saving me a minorly annoying bump to the face. When I  looked up everyone was just staring at me. "What? Normally its delivered  to my door, I've never seen that before anyway." I turned to open the  briefcase, muttering under my breath. "Not my fault my stupid power is a  ridiculous showoff. Delivery by hawk drop? Where did it even come from?  Also can hawks even carry that much weight?" I made a mental not to be  indoors next time I used my power, who knew what weird shit my power  would do next.

Rolling  my eyes though, I opened the briefcase. The inside of it was...odd. It  was a blue orb of crystal that glowed with an unearthly light. It was  lying on a bed of silk, and next to it was a small card with simple  instructions. Drip Blood on Focus. I  shrugged, seemed straightforward enough, so I did. I slashed open my  wrist with one of my sharp ass devil fingernails, imbued with a thread  or shadow to create a proper blade, and dripped it on the orb as the  wound started to knit closed. Fifty vitality wasn't enough to really  regenerate, but a clean slash the depth of a paper cut could start the  healing process pretty quick, and it should be completely gone by  tomorrow.

As drops of my demonic  blood hit the orb the color pulsed and shifted to a deep purple, the red  of my lifeblood mixing with the blue of the magical stone. When that  happened the orb vanished. Despite that I could still feel it, like it  had become a part of me, and as I called it back the energy in the orb  all focused together into a glowing purple arrow inside the crystal,  clearly pointing the way. I looked at the others and shrugged. "Well,  that's our heading I guess, someone else will need to drive since I'm  going to be paying attention to what appears to be instructions for  entering the island once we get there."

Artemis  stepped in to steer, driving a boat apparently one of the many skills  her psycho dad had drilled into her growing up, and I started relaying  directions. At first it was just general instructions with a few helpful  hints, but as we got closer, just like I'd expected, the orb started  taking a more active role. It steered me around reefs and through unseen  dangers I could feel but not name, around defensive wards and past  illusions. The obscuring setup on the island had been included, one of  the reasons I bought it, and the layers were complex as hell and  incredibly intricate. I could see why it had cost five thousand points  now.

As we  got through the concealments we came out onto the beach of an island.  The place was gloomy and covered in trees, but more of a wooded area  than a jungle, like a big European forest, and at the peak of the sole  mountain on the island was a huge fuck off castle. The thing was  crumbling and derelict, made of black stone that glowed subtly in my  aura sight but clearly having seen better days. I winced a bit. That  also somewhat explained the price, I'd mostly been paying for the  obscurement, I'd have to repair the damn thing myself.

I  scowled and headed up onto the island proper, my friends and mentor  behind me. We trekked through the forest, my aura sight letting us avoid  any animals, of which there were more than a few. All in all though the  place was pretty peaceful. The path was overgrown, clearly having been  unused for quite some time despite this island literally not existing  two hours ago. My power and it's normal retcon bullshit. I made a mental  note to explore the island, if it was accurate to its history there  might be some hidden goodies on it. Finally we reached the castle, I  conjured the orb and it appeared in my palm.

The  arrow of energy condensed into a key made of purple light and I willed  it out of the orb, feeling a solid weight of warm material settle into  my palm as the light key floated down onto my other hand. I stepped  forward, placed the key into the lock on the door and turned it with a  clock. Before I could even step inside a window popped up in my vision,  sort of like my stat screen. Welcome Future Lord of Darkness! You have entered your villainous lair, would you like to see your list of available upgrades? I blinked. Then blinked again, trying to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was. Well that was just...neat.