Sell you a Bridge chapter 36

??? Gotham City July 10th 2010 8:00 PM EDT

I  admit to being a bit disappointed when Jim pulled up on a street corner  and we all got out of the Silver Ghost. I looked at my mentor dryly  "Wow. This is a nice street corner. I can't wait to tell all my friends.  They don't have clandestine meetings on street corners this nice. I  have to say I wasn't sure this place would live up to all the hype but  you sure proved me wrong. Look at the quality of the paint on this  curb." Despite not having a face, the tilt of his hat made it clear Jim  was glaring at me. Somehow. No clue how he managed that.

Of  course I could have just checked my aura sight, but I had the sneaking  suspicion looking at an uber powerful ghost in the spiritual spectrum  would not be great for my mental health. My suspicions about his  annoyance were luckily confirmed by the deadpan tone he responded in.  "Quite. If you're entirely finished being an arse might we move this  along. I have other affairs to be about tonight and I'm not willing to  delay my important matters so you can practice your amateur comedy  routine."

Without another word  Jim swept away from the car, swirling his half cape and spinning his  cane jauntily between his fingers as he walked towards a building right  next to where he'd parked the car. I studied the place with a skeptical  eye, it didn't look like much so I couldn't help but question all the  things Jim had told us. I was still surprised however when Jim walked  right past it and into a dark alley. I gave Artemis and Reggie a  quizzical look, which they returned, but in the end all we could really  do was follow our mentor.

He  didn't seem even remotely perturbed by the muck in the alley. Seeming  unaffected by the world as he strolled down the dark corridor between  the buildings, lighting the air around him with otherworldly glow of his  magnificent white suit. Of course, I'd had to stifle a snicker at  noticing his shoes floating a few inches off the ground. The almighty  Gentleman Ghost was clearly worried about scuffing his white shoes with  all the alley muck. Sadly for Artemis and Reggie they couldn't float,  but I used my water walking to stride across the surface of all the  scummy puddles and remain clean as a whistle.

We  finally made it to a set of cement stairs that descended down to a  dingy black iron door. Despite the extremely beat up appearance of the  thing a quick look with my aura sight showed magic symbols and runes  criss crossing the metal in spiraling patterns of intricate spell work.  Jim descended the steps and stopped in front of the door. At his abrupt  halt I finally noticed that the iron door was missing something pretty  important. A knob. There appeared to be no way to open the thing, just a  flat expanse of dark iron studded with rivets and bolts.

Jim  didn't seem to mind though, he just tossed his cane lightly up into the  air, catching it near the tip and using the pommel to rap smartly on  the iron. Five beats, then two. I rolled my eyes as my mentor tapped out  shave and a hair cut on the magic door. As soon as the cane struck the  metal for the seventh time the runes hidden from plain view in the iron  began to glow in a way I knew even Reggie and Artemis could see before  the door swung silently inward. My fellow apprentices were clearly  surprised but a month with Jim had taught us to just roll with  surprises.

The  room on the other side didn't really...fit...with the outside of the  building. Actually based on the dimensions it wouldn't fit IN the  outside of the building. I could see off to one side where the hard wood  floors extended to the right of the door past where the alley should  have interrupted. Seeing the empty space and then the solid cement on  just past the edge of the door frame was vaguely disturbing to look at.  The place was big but still intimate, with tables and booths each having  oil lamps sitting on their surface and the walls baffled with dark red  velvet curtains.

I  wasn't the only one caught off guard, even the carefully cultivated air  of indifference Jim had drilled into us over the last month crumbled  and Artemis and Reggie were sitting there gaping right along with me.  Jim cackled like a banshee "Look at your faces! I'm so glad I didn't  tell you more about this. Now get inside we shouldn't leave the door  open too long." We stepped an and Jim threw out an arm, encompassing the  whole place in his gesture "And now, my dear apprentices, may I  officially welcome you to your first true milestone as seekers of the  realms of magic. The Oblivion Bar."

The  people sitting at the tables seemed pretty used to the drama, because  none of them looked up from their drinks or conversations at my mentor's  flamboyant announcement. He walked us up to the bar and sat down at a  stool, gesturing for us to do the same. Then his monocle turned to  regard the bartender. "Barkeep, a cabernet for me, and your finest  organic cola for my esteemed students." He turned to look at our dour  expressions "No? Perhaps a root beer? Or a shirley temple?"

I  cleared my throat "First of all, we're not children. We can order our  own drinks." I coughed once "But, yes, I'd like a shirley temple."  Artemis and Reggie both glared at me and I shrugged "What? I'm not a big  drinker, and I love shirley temples. Maraschino cherries are amazing.  Though to be fair I'd also love to try the house root beer, a place like  this definitely makes their own..." I trailed off without finishing my  thought as I took in their disappointed expressions. "Whatever, order  your drinks. Asses."

Artemis  snickered "Unlike you I do enjoy drinking, though I'm guessing we  shouldn't get blitzed. I'll have a dirty martini, two olives. Anyway  boss man, who are we supposed to be meeting here? Also how did I not  know about a place like this in Gotham." Artemis's dad was Sportsmaster,  and despite them not being close he'd been training her most of her  life. If a place like this existed in the city her not hearing about it  was pretty strange. The people in here didn't seem like your average  schmucks.

Jim  chuckled, sipping his wine as Reggie ordered a root beer. "The Oblivion  Bar isn't IN Gotham. At least no more than it's anywhere else. This  place is a pocket dimension accessible from all around the world, and  from what I'm told from other worlds too. Aside from that it's a magic  user bar. The Shadowpact uses it as their main meeting place. We're here  to seek their intervention. They normally wouldn't get involved in  matters like this, but Acheron, one of their sometime members, is an old  acquaintance of mine. Considering Morgan La Fay's presence in the city  they'll want to keep an eye on things anyway."

I  didn't know who the Shadowpact was, but they sounded pretty impressive,  and if Jim thought they could help I was all for it. As if reading my  mind Jim chuckled "Ah, I should explain. The Shadowpact are a team of  do-gooders who combat mystic threats. As for our meeting, it's already  begun. Our good Barkeep here is actually their leader. Isn't that right  James?" His eyes flicked to the bartender who was watching with  amusement. I was curious what his game was here, superheroes in town  didn't seem ideal, but if they only worked with magical threats I could  understand why he might at least ask. They probably wouldn't mess with  Gotham's ecosystem long term.

Jim  looked up at the bartender, James "Acheron said you were the final  arbiter here." He went on to explain our situation, explaining how the  Court had blackmailed us and then how I'd been framed for murdering one  of their own. He even told James about the brewing gang war. He gestured  to the three of us "As you can see, these kids aren't ready to swim in  waters as deep as these, and even I'd have trouble handing whatever is  going on." He lowered his voice and leaned in "Not to mention I've heard  rumors of Morgana working with the Court. I can't speak to their  veracity but it's a concerning thing to think about."

James  nodded pensively as he cleaned a glass with a rag, in the fashion of  every bartender when thinking since the beginning of time. "It's  certainly not a welcome development. Nimue's presence in the city puts  an even darker spin on things. The sisters famously don't get along but  they try to avoid each other if possible. Morgana has always been just  about equal in power to her sister and Nimue has always been just a bit  more talented. Their clashes never go well for her but Nimue can't bring  herself to put an end to her sister once and for all."

He  sounded pensive as he spoke as if he was just working through the issue  out loud "I can't commit too many of our agents to Gotham at the  moment. I'll send Warlock's Daughter, Acheron, and Nightshade to assist  you. Warlock's Daughter is a Gotham native in any case and I know she  would prefer to avoid an all out gang war in her home town. She and  Acheron are a bit unruly but Nightshade should be able to keep them  under control." His tone was casual, but firm, he was clearly stating  there would be no negotiations about more support.

When  Jim responded though he didn't sound like he would push for more, he  sounded suspicious "Why?" James raised an eyebrow "Not to look a gift  horse in the mouth Nightmaster, but this was a long shot at best. I have  a meeting with Strega set up for tomorrow night because I assumed you  would shoot me down. I'm certainly pleased to be wrong but this isn't  exactly your usual method of doing business. Warlock's Daughter aside,  what's in this for you?" Aside from suspicion Jim's voice was cold and  ethereal in way I'd never heard before, almost spooky.

James,  or Nightmaster as Jim called him, sighed. "There have been...disturbing  ripples surrounding Gotham lately." He must have sensed the  interruption coming because he held up a hand to cut off Jim who was  obviously about to butt in "More than the usual I mean. Something bad is  coming to Gotham. Something old and twisted. We don't know what, or  when, but if Morgana is in town she might be involved and we can't have  this spinning out of control. If she's working with the Court of Owls  that makes them our enemies." His voice was intense as he spoke, clearly  meaning every word.

Jim  gave a clipped nod "Fair enough I suppose. I'm not entirely pleased  about the information obviously, but one thing at a time. Do we wait for  Acheron, Warlock's Daughter and Nightshade here or meet them back in  Gotham?" I had no clue who any of those people were but it was clear Jim  considered them impressive, and having seen what he could do I wasn't  counting out anyone Jim thought was scary. These people would be able to  help us somehow I was sure, I just wasn't sure it would be in time.  After that dire prediction from the bartender the gang war seemed like  the most likely time for a horrible thing to reveal itself.

James  chuckled "They'll meet you. Leave your number I'll have them contact you when they're free. Nightshade is busy tonight and Warlock's Daughter is never in  this early. Acheron comes and goes as he pleases, but I'll let him know to get in touch, just keep us apprised of any changes to the situation  before they arrive or anything they miss." Jim just nodded and drained  his wine, gesturing for us to do the same. I drank my shirley temple in a  few pulls, munched the cherries and then followed the others back out  into the Gotham night. Guess we would be having guests soon.