Sell you a Bridge chapter 59

The Clock Tower July 24th 2010 10:00 PM EDT

Zee  had headed home quick after the odd mental message and I headed back to  the clock tower to meat with Jim and the others. I figured they would  have a handle on the situation and know what was going on, but their  response didn't thrill me. I glared at my mentor "What the hell do you  mean we can't seal the Labyrinth. We can't just let hordes of idiots  flock into the depths to get wiped out and feed her."

Jim  gave a helpless shrug "Agreed. Which is why we tried to close any  entrance we managed to get close to. The problem is that the Labyrinth  doesn't exist in this plane. It both is and isn't currently part of the  catacombs below the city. Since we can't access the space itself we can  only seal the entrances. But every time we try the damn thing opens a  new one and they move constantly. People are probably finding their way  into the depths as we speak." He sounded frustrated, which weirdly made  me happy. At least it wasn't just me.

Reggie  raised a hand "Am I the only one worried about where these supposed  treasures are coming from? I didn't exactly study Greek myths in my  spare time like Arty but even I know the Labyrinth wasn't a fucking  dungeon. Or was this something else the old stories got wrong?" Reggie  made a good point. I'd been more concerned with the fallout than the how  of things but if the Labyrinth could do that it would have been nice to  know. Had Madame Xanadu been holding out on us or was this new.

Unfortunately  it seemed like the latter, the ancient sorceress looked as disturbed as  we did, which unlike Jim's consternation was NOT comforting. She shook  her head ruefully "You aren't. I've been studying the magic emanating  from the Labyrinth and it seems to have been altered. Most people have  seen the maze glyph on the floors of the courthouse in Crete. What they  don't know is that Minos used that as a template for the Labyrinth. The  actual structure Deadalus made was less...concrete than most think." She  hesitated as if trying to figure out how to explain something.

The  words came slowly, like she was finding her way. "The Labyrinths  structure exists mainly in higher dimensions humans can't see. Deadalus  was a once in a lifetime genius and he utilized magical principles even I  would find it difficult to mimic. The three observable dimensions the  Labyrinth is constructed of aren't fixed and it's form and execution are  substantially different this time around. The template the observable  portions of the construct are based on is different and the power is  allocated differently."

Artemis  chimed in "But how does a new template equal treasure. I could see  maybe a new layout or even some new monsters, but treasure? How does  that fit into the structure of the Labyrinth?" She was right, it didn't.  This thing was a converter made to focus all the magical power to one  spot and create a god. It made zero sense for it to waste power on  random bullshit like magic items. Sure it would lure people in but what  if people took the stuff out without dying? That would be a huge loss.

Madame  Xanadu grimaced "That one I have managed to puzzle out. The new  template works in a tiered structure instead of from the outside in. The  power gets pushed downward to the lowest level, which serves the same  purpose as the center of the maze did before. But because the original  template was an uninterrupted circuit that led to the center and the new  one has actual physical barriers the objects and creatures absorb some  of the energy as it descends. The deeper you go the higher the  concentration of energy and the more powerful the monsters and items  will appear."

I  was beginning to have a very bad feeling about this. It reminded me of  something Annabel and I had done together on our days off, and if my  suspicions were right the city was about to get real fucking  complicated. I stood up abrubtly. "Alright we need to go take a look at  one of these entrances. I think I might know what template she used, and  if I'm right we're going to need help. Lots of help. Because people  will be flooding in from all over to try their luck and the Labyrinth  will get stronger very very quickly. If we really can't stop people from  getting in we're going to have to do our best to get to her fast."

Jim  nodded "That won't be a problem. From what we can tell, the weakest  monsters and items are at the top. We looked inside but felt like  actually entering and putting ourselves inside the construct was a  mistake without learning more. If you have insight we welcome it lad."  He gestured for me to follow him and led all of us outside. He rapped  his cane three times on the street and a white fog rose up, coalescing  into a glowing white version of his Silver Ghost. I had to admit, that  was pretty damn cool.

We  climbed in and he drove us down a few side streets before stopping at  an old run down house. The door was ajar, hanging at an angle and the  inside was full of dust and cobwebs. Reggie whistled loudly "Wow, this  place is a dump. If these kinds of places are connecting the Labyrinth  this is going to get a bit crazy. Desperate people live in places like  this. Them getting random magic items is a bad thing." We followed Jim  into the house and down a set of rickety old steps into the basement.

The  basement was empty of most things, a few boxes, a mattress some more  cobwebs, but one thing stood out. A white marble mausoleum with a steel  gate on it. I recognized it and it gave me a really bad feeling. I  desperately hoped Annabel hadn't used the template I thought she had. I  turned to the others "I need to go in. I have to check something. Good  and bad news though. Good news is that if she did what I think she did  she isn't going to ascend anytime soon. Bad news is that the power from  this thing is going to spread all over the place."

I  walked up to the mausoleum and opened the grate descending a set of  steps to come out...inside a tomb. Fuck. It was a huge sprawling maze of  corridors and stone floors. It looked like some kind of city of the  dead. I saw a white marble coffin with a bronze lid in front of me and  stepped forward, sure to be in my ready state in case I was attacked. I  pushed open the coffin and a shape popped up from behind it. A skeleton  wielding a crude wooden club with nails in it. I swung an arm and  knocked the bones apart and the thing collapsed under the blow.

I  stared at the bones to make sure they wouldn't move and then sorted  through them. I found a few pieces of gold and beat up looking short  sword. I stared down at it. [Short Sword: Damage 1-6, Durability 24, Requirements Strength 18.] The  list of attributes appeared in my brain when I looked down at it just  like the voice had earlier and I winced. I turned around and decisively  walked back up the stairs and out into the basement. "Well, do you guys  want the good news or the bad news?"

Jim  seemed to have picked up the fear and uncertainty in my voice he just  shrugged and left it up to me. I decided to start with the good news.  "The good news is I know what template she used. Annabel and I dated for  a month, aside from parties and politics Annabel's one vice was old  school video games. A particular favorite of hers was a dungeon delving  game called Diablo. The game consisted of sixteen levels of a dungeon  that randomly generated a layout when you entered. You fought your way  to the bottom to get to hell and fight Diablo."

Reggie's  eyes widened. "No fucking way!" He bolted down the steps, coming back  after a few minutes with a dazed look on his face. "That was the fucking  Cathedral! Like the real thing. I saw a pile of bones, did you kill a  skeleton? What did it drop?" He seemed excited as hell, which I could  understand, Diablo was a fun game. Annabel had made me play it a few  times and I'd gotten hooked. It was still pretty popular even decades  after it came out despite having terrible graphics, because the  mechanics were a blast.

The  issue was that Diablo was infamous for its gear system. It dropped  items that could increase stats and abilities as well as potions and  powerful scrolls. I could not imagine what kind of damage a large group  of people with access to that kind of gear would be able to do,  especially people from a place like Gotham. I turned to Madame Xanadu  "What are the consequences of the curse on Gotham for the Labyrinth,  will the power flow into it?" If the magic in the city could just leak  in we were looking at a crazy god in a much shorter time frame.

Luckily  she shook her head "Not directly. It's a converter not a gathering  spell. The magic will be carried in on anyone who enters, but with it  being spread to every monster and item in the place she won't ascend  quickly. The problem is that based on the format you described more and  more powerful beings will enter the Labyrinth to try to get the stronger  artifacts. The more powerful the beings that enter and shed blood or  burn power the stronger the Labyrinth will become. In some ways doing  this is madness, but in some it's even more brilliant. Long term gain  for short term loss. Accruing the needed power with a steady trickle of  sacrifices would have been stable but slowed down towards the end. This  will be the opposite."

She  was right. The more people who went in and came out with powerful gear  the more of them would try their luck. Most of them would probably die  within a few levels and be absorbed completely, the lucky few that got  stronger would serve as an advertisement for those who hadn't tried it.  Annabel had always been good at manipulating people. It was something I  noticed even when I was just getting to know her, and this showed that  she might be crazy but she wasn't stupid. She'd thought out every step  of this plan.

I  sighed and turned away "We can go. The levels aren't something anyone  will be able to get through quickly. We need to prepare and plan. The  layout details change but the overall themes are consistent. If they're  the same as the game we can make some contingency plans." I also needed  to save up some points and pick up some new powers if I could afford  them. This was going to be complicated and time consuming. On the upside  I could bring Zee with me, Diablo didn't control the upper layers, not  directly, so neither would Annabel.

I  had a bad feeling this was going to be a big mess, but I had to admit I  was a bit excited. This could be an interesting development for me and  my friends even if it could also be a mess for Gotham. What I needed  most was to come up with a way to leverage my powers to get better gear  for my team, I had a feeling we would need it in the days to come. on  the upside I was pretty sure I could focus on skills and abilities, I  would be good on items for a while. I was also pretty excited to see if I  could learn magic. Maybe my points could be used for mana. This could  be fun.