fics I read

April 4th 2016 Brightedge City, Undercity, 3:00 PM EDT

Tamlin didn't physically react to my words, no clenching of the teeth or tightening of the jaw, but from one breath to the next the air around is shifted into an almost suffocating pressure. I called on my Primal Force, letting it sing through my veins to blunt the edge of his power, but even I was having a bit of trouble standing up under the weight. The two poor dryad girls were smashed into the ground, whimpering in confusion, as Tamlin's stormy brown eyes bored into me.

"Explain." He said, voice cold. "Or you will not walk from this place." Despite the naked hostility in his voice, I could sense a flicker of something he hadn't been showing since I got here. Interest. I grinned internally. Good old appraisal, always came through for me in a pinch.

I raised both hands, putting on an aggrieved expression (which was really hard with a dragon face) "Peace, my friend. I tell you no lies. I can really offer you this chance. I've long since heard of your name, and heard of your sad circumstances. Losing your woman and your child simply for your humanity. I understand better than you know, you see...I too was once human." I said it dramatically, allowing the news to wash over the man and awaiting his derision.

It came as expected. "A cruel joke, master dragon. I should choose my words carefully when next I spoke, were I in your place." His frozen tone was clipped and clearly on the edge of violence, and the oppressive power seemed to redouble, grinding the dryads deeper into the grass and bending my knees slightly, though not enough to make me drop.

I... might have slightly underestimated the distance between C rank power and D rank, even for someone like me. But hesitation was way more likely to get me murdered than fucking up at this point. I reached quickly into my pouch and slipped out a pair of gems, each one a different kind but obviously mundane, then I merged the damn things instantly right in front of him.

This was an extremely risky thing to do. If I hadn't been worried he might legitimately butcher me, I'd have lied or come up with some kind of excuse for my ability. Sadly I didn't have that much time, but it was a manageable risk. Metas weren't exactly unknown, and the ability to combine things wasn't unique. The Greed System also didn't really produce any obvious tells aside from the actual merge, which was pretty generic, so as long as I was vague he shouldn't be able to suss out what it was, even if he'd heard of it before.

As expected, he pulled up short, his eyes narrowing. "I am not sure how that is supposed to help me regain my family, but I admit it is novel. You may say your piece." The pressure abated, and the two dryads slumped onto their sides, gasping for air completely unnoticed by their lord. As far as I could tell they still couldn't hear us. They had literally just been nearly pulped for no reason they were aware of. I made a mental note not to piss off Tamlin if I could help it.

"Right." I said, regaining my momentum. "Of course. I'm what mortals call a metahuman. I have access to a unique ability to combine objects." I stayed away from the word merge, just in case. "These objects need not be limited to items, but can even include people or animals once certain conditions are met. I know Titania cast you aside for Oberon himself, and from what I heard your mortality may have played a role. With enough time and resources, I could aid you in matching or even surpassing Oberon, becoming a fae yourself, and one even stronger than he."

His eyes were locked to me. "That...is that true?" He glanced away, murmuring to himself. "Could there be hope after all this time?" He shook off his reverie, refocusing on me. "Your claims are certainly outrageous, but I have heard these 'meta-humans' can possess strange and inexplicable powers. Your words lead me to believe you cannot provide such an outcome at this time, but I am...open to giving you time. That said, you have only mentioned the favor you offer, but not the information you seek. To necessitate such a boon, I can only imagine what secrets you must wish to uncover."

That was better than I'd expected honestly. Immortals were patient, and this one was basically broken inside from what had happened to him. Helping him get his woman back was certainly plausible (though who knew if his son was alive anymore, so that wasn't up to me) and he was clearly willing to wait. I just had to hope that offer would keep me alive when I asked this next part, because I NEEDED to know more about my mom.

"I seek information on a potential enemy. An ancient fae long since imprisoned. I have been warned she may pose a danger to me, and seek to prepare for her attack should it come." I swallowed hard, here went nothing. "Her name is Tsaritsa." I braced for a potential attack from the ancient bard, ready to resist lightning or force or fucking plant whips or some shit. To my relief none of it was necessary.

Tamlin certainly didn't seem HAPPY about the question, but with the favor I'd offered and my clarification that she was an enemy he also didn't try to slaughter me right off the bat. His expression was severe as he responded. "The information you seek is forbidden. Do you understand that which you ask? By conveying this knowledge, I endanger not only the world as a whole, but myself specifically should my part in its dissemination come to light. What guarantee have I that any of what you say is true."

I had to resist the urge to smile. I loved that question. In any negotiation, the phrase 'how can I be sure you're telling the truth' or a variation of it, essentially means you've won. Truth can't be ensured, and everyone knows that, especially fae. The only people who ask for evidence of truthfulness are people who want to believe you and are looking for a reason to justify that to themselves.

Tamlin might not TRUST me per se, he wasn't an idiot. But he'd already decided that the possible gain of working with me outweighed the possible consequences. Many people used this feint in negotiations as a way to attempt to extract better conditions, but any decent negotiator recognized it as an empty gesture that weakened their position. Someone as old and as connected the fae as Tamlin had to know it too, and the fact that he STILL chose to give in to the temptation to ask the question meant he'd given up almost all pretense.

Still, it was no trouble to reassure him a bit. "I gain nothing from her return. Tsaritsa is a notorious despot, even other fae are not safe from her wrath. Only a fool would seek to restore her. What benefit would I see from such an action? Gratitude? To trust one such as her would be pure foolishness. I seek only to prepare for a possible assault be herself or her agents. As for my ability you will naturally witness it during our cooperation. "

He stared at me hard for a minute before sighing. "Aye. You are not wrong. Fine. In exchange for a binding oath sworn by your power to do your utmost to grant me what you have promised, I will give you the knowledge you seek. I assume you wish a similar oath from myself? A promise to abide by the terms of our agreement?"

"I do." I responded instantly. "As well as your word to keep our dealings and the information you learn about myself and my abilities a secret. I will be forced to expose many of my hidden assets to aid you, and it is vital that these pieces of information do not spread."

He nodded. "Of course. I do so swear." A pulse of magic exploded out from him, and I mirrored his oath, outlining the terms mentioned. This was perfect. His oath would bind him not to tell anyone about the origin of my power if he found out, or to disclose the Brand, but more than that, it would prevent him from telling anyone my parentage if it was revealed to him, which was another huge potential problem.

With the oaths out of the way, I relaxed slightly. Tamlin had been easier to deal with than expected, mostly because I'd found his weak spot and applied pressure. With the right lever you could move the world. It was a nice reminder that brute force was far from the only way to bring people under control, even if it was more an option for me now than ever.

Tamlin took a minute after the oaths to think over what he wanted to say, but I didn't rush him. I was kind of reeling from my first magical oath. I'd heard of them before of course, magic users relied on them to ensure the validity of transactions. There was even a whole branch of magic dedicated to contracts, which were a more specific and less dangerous form of that same path. Binding your power itself to an oath could have big implications, but it was generally considered a sign of good faith to be willing to make a deal like that.

Of course, I was less in danger than most. I could fix any damage from the backlash with my ability by ranking myself up, and even if my power somehow got destroyed I could just start from the bottom. As long as it didn't kill me I'd be fine, and I had no reason to break the oath anyway.

Eventually Tamlin seemed to decide where to start. "Tsaritsa was...complicated. You must understand that the fae are traditionally an amoral people to begin with. They're kept in check by duty, habit, and in some cases honor, depending on their origin."

His brown eyes flickered over to focus on the far reaches of the glade as he lost himself in memory. "Keep in mind I was not alive for her rise. But my lady spoke on some few occasions of her predecessor. Tsaritsa as I have heard it, initially rose to power by being gifted. Not gifted in such a way that some use that word, a minor talent. Tsaritsa was an artisan in the ways of magic even amongst a people as steeped in its use as the fae."

"To put that in context, several stories of her survive even to this day in some form or another. Mortals even tell them to their children. They refer to them as 'fairy tales'. When you hear a fairy tale about an evil queen or a wicked enchantress, it is most likely about Tsaritsa in some form or other. She had a gift for magic in a way few fae have before or since."

Left unsaid was that fae society tended to naturally select for power. The more amazing my mom had been the more terrible she must have been to be ousted. Fairies were known to be capricious and brutal, especially the ones in charge.

As he went on, repeating the story that Bridger had told me with some extra details, I felt my stomach sink deeper and deeper. I'd come here to prepare, to learn how to be ready, and hearing about her now, I wasn't sure I even could. My mom was the literal evil queen from every scary story parents told their kids to get them to behave. She was a fucking deposed fairy queen from before the current regime. I was going to need to step up my preparations to even have a chance of surviving. My first step to that was getting the Court of Owls under control or at least getting a truce in place. Good thing I had a meeting with them tonight. I had to get this new city in order fast.

April 4th 2016 Brightedge City, Warehouse District, 6:00 PM EDT

I settled things down in the undercity quickly after the oath. I had quite a bit to think about after Tamlin filled me in on more of my mom's story. He'd told me several detailed accounts he'd heard of her performance in the war, not to mention her rise to power, and I'd come to one inescapable conclusion: There was no way that crazy bitch didn't have at least ten plans to get out of wherever she was being held.

Tamlin hadn't known the location of her prison, and probably wouldn't have told me if he did. That information was closely guarded. In the end though, that didn't matter. She had somehow managed to sneak some kind of vessel or simulacra out into the real world as recently as two decades ago at most. There was no way the cunning lunatic that he'd described to me hadn't set up at least fifteen redundant escape plans. This wasn't star wars. I wasn't her only hope. I was probably like...hope thirteen. Tops.

Which put me under serious pressure to get this fucking City under control. Since I didn't own it, even after merge, I should be able to get a fresh infusion of points from taking it. That infusion would be enough to take ten more of my people to D rank. It was an unexpected benefit of the situation. Normally things I merged were already mine, so I got no points for them ranking up and missed out on the benefits.

Merging things that weren't mine was...risky. It only worked on objects, since people needed to be Branded to be merged. I avoided it like the plague for most of the time I had my power because things I merged and lost control of could be used against me, but the system had been clear enough when it initiated. I could merge items to make better items, and I could get points by owning things, but those two functions were entirely distinct from one another.

I let out a long sigh, and Amy raised an eyebrow at me questioningly from where she say in the passenger seat of my car. "You aren't actually worried about this, are you?" She sounded shocked at the idea, and I didn't blame her. The concept of me being SCARED of two bit pissant wannabe gangsters like the Court of Owls was laughable. They were whiny tryhard cowards who hid behind mad science meatshields to feel superior.

Maybe she thought I was taking this seriously because I was masked. Wearing my mask had actually been Barbie's idea. When I originally told her to contact Silver I'd intended to have her name drop me, but she'd talked me out of it. Having a buffer between the identity I was using to deal with the Court and our house was a more important concern than taunting some blonde slut neither of us liked.

It was some extra nonsense to keep straight, but it being enough to worry me was so ludicrous I actually snorted out a laugh, breaking myself out of my funk as I adjusted my mask. "No. Not even a little. Other things on my mind. I'll tell you about them back at the house." I still needed to upgrade it, and I was damn sure going to make sure there were extra privacy features. No way Superman wasn't getting back soon, and I didn't want that nose boyscout fuck poking his nose in my business.

Of course, he wouldn't have much time for that anyway. He and Batman were going to be stepping all over each others dicks trying to suss out territory. It had been one of the more entertaining reasons for my master plan. No better way to distract the two most effective Leaguers than to pit them against each other. Of course, it would never get to open blows or anything, they were far too established and much too familiar with each other, but the tension would be a good smoke screen even after they returned from filming their episode of Space Judge Judy.

Speaking of which, whoever had arranged this whole thing was kind of brilliant. Granted, using the court system against the League was just common sense, but someone had gone through the trouble of searching the whole fucking galaxy to find the most convoluted mess of a court system possible and then arrange for the League to get sucked into THAT red tape nightmare. You had to respect that kind of research and forethought, even if they didn't seem to be doing much with the time they'd bought.

"Alright." I said, checking the time. "The meeting was supposed to start ten minutes ago, so we should be heading in." She shot me a reproachful look, and I shrugged. "What? Those assholes are going to ambush us anyway. Kicking their teeth in isn't enough of a statement. They should be honored my draconic ass is even showing up for this dog and pony show. They're lucky I only made them wait ten minutes. If I wasn't in a hurry I'd have cancelled on them entirely a few times to set the tone."

She snickered softly at that as she got out, adjusting her own mask. It wasn't really anything special as masks went, but she felt that putting one on was thematically appropriate and said it made this feel more like a date. I thought it was cute enough not to bitch too much. Letting the wife do what she wanted wasn't too big a deal when it was just playing dressup, and it might earn me some brownie points when I eventually did something that annoyed her.

Offering her my arm, I led the two of us into the warehouse, strolling casually up to the door and knocking smartly. There was a brief pause, and then the door creaked open dramatically, spilling light from the setting sun into the dim recesses of the warehouse as we stepped over the threshold. Further into the darkness sat a woman in a black wooden chair, legs crossed at the knee and sipping wine elegantly from a gold rimmed wine glass.

The woman wore a long silver sequin dress with no sleeves and a plunging neckline. Her tits were pretty decently sized, DDs probably, and she was about five foot five with a cascade of silver blonde hair. Her blue eyes sat behind a stylized masquerade mask that covered her face from the nose up, revealing a perfect cupids bow mouth that I distinctly remembered stuffing with my cock when we were younger.

Her pretty pink lips sneered as she saw me enter. "Well, it seems the new player in town sees fit to grace us with his presence. You must be Mammon. Charmed, I'm sure." Her voice was laced with the kind if disapproval you normally only hear from mother in laws and ex girlfriends who find out you slept with their moms. "Well, we've delayed long enough, please, do come inside... I insist."

The door slammed behind us with a bang, leaving us in a poorly lit warehouse. We stood in near darkness, the place lit only by the candle sconces on either side of Silver's chair, until slowly the darkness began to fill with pairs of glowing red lenses. I took in the scene critically, waiting until all the Talons had shown themselves, then turned to Amy. "What do you think? Decent ambiance, but the bitchiness takes away from the intimidation. Hard to be scared of someone who probably came up with the tableau while scarfing down pinkberry after a pilates class."

Silver froze, her mouth dropping open in offended shop. "I beg your pardon?" Her teeth were gritted as she leaned forward, flashing me a ton of cleavage in a way that was far too rushed to be intentional and made me knock off another few points for a wasted opportunity.

"Oh don't start begging now." I said wryly. "We won't have anything to work up to. But I was saying this is all a bit contrived. Not that I'm too surprised. I don't know was a expected from illuminati barbie. Seriously Silver, do you actually DO anything for the Court of Owls, or are you just a bouncy pair of tits to take their minds off things during long meetings?"

She stood up in outrage, sliding a hand into the slit in her dress before flicking it right at me. I casually reached up and caught the dagger about a foot from my heart, hand firmly clasped around the hilt. "Huh." I said in surprise. "I...was not expecting that. Seriously. Good for you. I figured you'd let us get ambushed and then wail like helpless bimbo when we turned the tables. I'm legitimately impressed though. That was a dead on throw, and decisive as hell. Gold star."

Silver looked almost apoplectic with rage. "How dare you!" She hissed. Seriously, she hadn't had nearly this much spine last time I saw her. I'd been planning to keep her as a sex toy because...well, why not? But I wasn't opposed to maybe putting her to use for other talents than having fat tits and no gag reflex if she kept this up. Of course, that was assuming she adjusted to the situation when the tables turned.

As expected, she looked up at the Talons and barked out. "Kill them both!" I was surprised she lasted so long through the shit talking. Most of the Court (from what I remembered my dad saying) were whiny adult babies who blue screened in righteous fury when anyone dared to underestimate them or not give them their royal due. To put it more simply, they were the useless product of decades of nepotism and lack of resistance.

I could see perfectly in the low light, of course. so I had no problem tracking the thirty six (wow, I was honored, that would have been overkill for almost anyone else) Talons as the flashed forward at us. I debated doing something really flashy like firebombing them with dragon breath or frying them with lightning, but in the end, I decided less was more. I let the Primal Force roll over my skin enough to light my figure with flickers of electricity, then reached over and gently pushed Amy back.

I could literally FEEL my wife pouting as the Talons closed in, annoyed at me for taking the fun for myself when we were supposed to be on a date in her mind. It didn't matter though. These scrubs might be undead, but they were H rank, with a few older ones touching G. Just past human level strength and speed, with their main powers being training and insane regen.

The first Talon reached me in a blur, and I reached out...and shattered him. It wasn't fancy, or elegant. I didn't use martial arts. I just demolished them as they came. The Talons rushed me en masse, and they broke against me like waves against the cliffs. I tore away limbs, crushed skulls, pulped organs. I snapped bones and ripped out spines, tearing them apart like a kid opening a christmas present in a hurry on christmas morning. I scatted the pieces everywhere, without a care in the world.

Despite the ease with which I did it, I had to give the Court credit. They made solid disposable minions. It took about twice as long to destroy the Talons as it would have a normal person (two seconds per Talon instead of one) and they never stopped coming. When I was done, I stood them among the carnage, the room to either side soaked with blood and viscera like someone had thrown a live chicken into a woodchipper.

Silver just...stared. Her eyes were wide with horror as she watched what she probably considered invincible warriors murdered in succession with no more effort than most people would take wiping off a dry erase board. I stepped forward menacingly, then stopped with a grimace as I felt a squelch. Looking down I saw an eyeball that had been crushed under my feet and I groaned in annoyance.

Scraping off my shoe, I dispensed with the menace since I'd ruined my mood anyway, and turned to Silver. "Now." I said, my voice silky and sweet. "Since we've taken care of all the unpleasantness, why don't we have a nice relaxing chat, Silver. I came here in good faith after all. I have big plans for this city, and the Court has infrastructure that can help with that...that is, if you're interested." Might as well let them do all the work before my hostile takeover. Work smarter not harder, I always say.

April 4th 2016 Brightedge City, Warehouse District, 7:00 PM EDT

Since we didn't want to stand around for an hour while we talked, I had Amy create a pair of amethyst chairs for the two of us. Her constructs were temporary unless she used real amethyst as a base, but even the energy versions could last quite a while if she pumped in enough power. They weren't excessively COMFORTABLE mind you, but they were an improvement of standing or sitting on bloody concrete.

"So." I said easily, leaning back in my chair. "I'm interested in working with the Court to regain control over the city. I assume you have some sort of plan for that? Because the Justice League WILL be coming back soon. If we don't have our hooks in then we're going to have to deal with Superman and Batman both on a regular basis." I didn't mention the Team, I wanted to manage the Court's reaction to them as best I could. Them getting murdered would bring way too much heat, and the Court were exactly the kind of tryhard idiots to pop a few sidekicks thinking they were so superior it wouldn't matter.

Letting the court feel involved would help keep them from going off and doing some dumb shit on their own that would get me killed, so I'd pretend to give a fuck about their plans. Plus if they came up with something useful I could co-opt it for myself.

Silver bit her lip, looking unsure. "I...I suppose if we'll be working together there's no harm in sharing." Translation: 'If I don't tell you you're going to kill me and I don't want to die'. But I didn't mind some rationalizing if I got my information. Despite saying she would tell, it took her a minute or two to actually work up the nerve to speak, but she finally blurted out. "The Court is planning a summit! We want to invite the major players from Metropolis and Gotham to discuss the allocation of power before the newcomers seize too much of it."

That...that wasn't a bad idea. Getting everyone in Brightedge spun up with hometown pride would probably smooth over anyone's path to taking the city. I nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense. Who is going to be attending this summit specifically?" I had a sneaking suspicion it wouldn't be anyone too powerful. The Court were bullies, they would undoubtedly want to put pressure on anyone who showed up, then use the cohesive force they cobbled together that way to roll up more of the local powers until they had everyone under their thumb.

Silver looked a bit reluctant to share, which made me pretty confident my guess was right. "Intergang, the Falcones, the Maronis, and a few smaller organizations from both cities." So normal mobsters and randoms with no real muscle. As expected, the Court liked to pretend to have a big swinging dick while they bullied the small and the weak.

I chuckled. "Well, that's certainly not going to be enough. I can help. I have connections with Tamlin the Falconer, who runs things for the fae in the undercity. Penguin is on my contact list too. Not to mention Lady Shiva. We'll make this a grand event, invite everyone regularly active in the city for a sit down. The Court is right, we can't just let the newcomers pick the flesh from our bones can we?"

Making it sound like their idea would be a sop to their ego, but between me, Tamlin, Penguin, my girls, and Waylon, we should be more than up to keeping a lid on whoever showed up. Getting everyone in one place would make it much easier to seize power too. Of course, that was for me, blowing things up to this extent would functionally invalidate the Court as a viable candidate for leadership, their Talons were tough, but only for normal humans.

Silver knew it too, and I saw her lips twist in displeasure, but she was smart enough not to actually say anything about it. I was more and more impressed with her as the night went on. Finally, she sighed and nodded. "I will of course pass on your comments to the Court. I'm sure they would be ecstatic to work with you, Mr. Mammon." She cast an uneasy glance around at the meat slurry that used to be her undead minions. "You certainly seem...efficient."

"Thank you." I said simply. It wouldn't hurt to remind her what I was capable of. Before we settled the meeting details though, I had to find out more about what they knew. "I am curious though." I carefully chose my words. "Exactly what the Court may have noticed about the new city and the players that have been flooding in. I suspect the major powers are waiting for everything to settle a bit with the locals before moving in, but there must be some inflow."

Obviously more comfortable talking about a more expected topic, Silver relaxed slightly. "Ah, of course. We've been carefully monitoring most of our old channels. Some are now invalid, but at least a few still work. It seems there is something of an influx of low to mid level criminals at the moment. Most are being rolled up into existing gangs as muscle, but there are more than a few independent operators hoping to make a name for themselves in the novel environment."

Which meant they either didn't know about the Team, or didn't think I knew about the Team and didn't want to tip me off. My mask would insulate Mammon and Nick from each other, making it more difficult to connect me to Donna and Cassie when they arrived, but I'd still need to be careful. It wasn't foolproof at only E rank, and this state of affairs was too convenient to pass up. In fact...

"I have an idea." I said casually. "I work with a local businessman. Nick Lord. While the Court is usually Gotham exclusive, he was operating in town for a while before the cities fused. I can't be bothered to spend my time liasing with the lot of you. I propose Nick joins your organization as my representative." The mask would make it impossible for her to connect us as a baseline human, plus she hadn't seen me in years, so I wasn't worried about tipping my hand.

Working this way would let me take over the Court more easily. Internal and external pressure both. Mammon would have to seize it by force, but with the right moves Nick could snatch up the leadership positions in the Court through 'legitimate' means, and none of them would be any the wiser.

Despite my perfect bodily control, I still had to actively try to suppress my laughter at he horrified look on Silver's face. She opened her mouth a few times, clearly fighting with herself about whether to complain to the superpowerful murder machine. Eventually though, she just sighed. "I'll...pass on the message. I'm sure Mr. Lord will be most welcome among our number. He comes from an excellent family who we've done business with on more than a few occasions."

I nodded solemnly, trying not to let my smirk enter my voice. "Very well. I trust we'll have an excellent cooperation Miss. St Cloud." I stood from my chair. "Now, I have another meeting. If you need to get in touch reach out to Miss. Gordon. I met her through Nick, and she seems like a competent and driven young lady. She'll make an excellent point of contact going forward." That would also give an explanation for why the commissioners daughter was working for me. My civilian identity was rich and influential enough that it wouldn't be strange for him to know Barbie.

Sure enough, Silver didn't bat an eye, simply standing and curtsying low enough to show plenty of cleavage. With a flick of her wrist Amy dispersed the chairs and the two of us turned to leave. Once we were outside, she let out an annoyed sigh. "You know, trying to keep all these secret identities straight is annoying. You're plenty strong enough to defend us if some criminal scum want to try to harm any of our people. Why not just show up in your civilian identity?"

I sighed. "I considered it. But I think I got too used to operating with impunity in Gemworld. If I don't get back in the habit of subtlety I'm going to get swatted like a fly." We were both being careful not to say anythign that directly linked Nick and Mammon. Discussing my civilian identity was fine, since everyone with a mask had one, but we weren't saying anything specific enough that an eavesdropper could make the link between them directly. The mask could only do so much. If I just straight up said 'Nick and Mammon are the same person' and someone heard me, they would figure it out.

Amy had a point though. Keeping all the lies and who knew what straight was getting to be a hassle. once I unified the city I was pretty sure it was time to retire Mammon. I'd let Nick take over the Court and use Tamlin to strongarm everyone else into falling in line with them like old times. Actually I might let Silver run things, at least on the surface. Provide a layer of protection in case the Court caught Batman's eye when he got back.

As we headed back for the car, I heard a shift in the air off to one side. Reaching out I snagged Amy by the waist and and pulled her to the side as a pair of arrows thunked into the side of a shipping container, discharging a large amount of electricity into the crackling metal. I rolled my eyes, turning to look at the person who fired the shot. "Rude." I said matter of factly.

While Nightwing had managed to lie in wait where I couldn't detect him, this person was A, not as good, and B actively attacking me. Nightwing had stayed out of range, but trying to shoot someone with an arrow when I was nearby was a fantasy if I didn't want it to happen. The blonde in the tight red outfit glared at me, drawing another arrow. "I'll show you rude!"

With a sigh, the second figure I had already sensed behind the container next to her stepped out, putting a hand on her shoulder. Another, older blonde. A familiar one, despite the green costume. Artemis. "Enough, Arrowette. We aren't here to bring him in. We don't have anything on him even if we were strong enough. Meeting with THOSE people isn't illegal, even if it's in poor taste." She gave me a nod. "Mammon. Good to see you."

It took me a second to remember Artemis knew me in my mask because I had retrieved Roy. Who I actually hadn't seen since I got back. I'd told him he could come back to the Palace while I was gone, but since he hadn't been around I guessed he'd gone his own way. I wasn't that bothered, but I'd have to track the kid down. He was an asset I'd put points into. No use wasting him.

"Artemis." I said casually. "Something I can help you with?" Seemed Nightwing had been serious about trying to get the city under control. Having Artemis contact Mammon was a decent idea. I'd been plenty active last night, so they would know I was around. Thank the gods for my mask, or even an idiot would notice the timelines.

She smiled tightly. "We're here to extend an invitation for a meeting." She raised an eyebrow. "The Team knew you and I had met so they asked me to make contact. " She glanced at Amy. "We expected you to be alone, but we're open to making new friends too. So what do you think? You interested in a face to face with some of the Justice League?" Well now. How the hell could I pass that up.

April 4th 2016 Brightedge City, Warehouse District, 8:00 PM EDT

As we followed behind the two archers, I had to at least ask. "So...Arrowette. You new? Because Artemis I've met before, but last I checked Green Arrow only had the one sidekick." The blonde had serious resting bitch face, even through the mask, and I could tell she had some kind of problem with me. It wasn't a surprise considering I was a criminal, so I didn't take it to heart, but at the very least I could needle her a bit.

Just like I expected, her snapped around and she barked out. "I am NOT a sidekick!" So predictably I almost started laughing. Baby heroes REALLY don't like that word. She stopped, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before opening them again. "And yes. I'm new. Not that it's your business. Artemis is retired, she just got called back out of that retirement to extend an invitation to you for this meeting, considering you two know each other."

Despite her ostensible nonchalance, I could tell the girl was agitated by that. Probably took it as a lack of confidence in her abilities. Artemis, on the other hand, seemed more focused on Amy. "How about you?" She said to my wife. "I don't recognize you, and I think I'd have remembered if Mammon had a blonde girl in leather pants as a partner last time we met."

I smirked at that. "Pay lots of attention to what kind of pants I and my friends wear huh? But yeah. She only got to town recently." I didn't mention Amy being my wife, since I'd be introducing her that way as Nick to anyone who asked. "So, judging by the direction we're walking I take it this meeting is supposed to be at one of the nearby warehouses. You said the Justice League, are they back on earth? Or am I meeting with one of the homebodies left to man the parapets while the big dogs ran off to space."

Arrowette bristled, which probably meant Green Arrow was there. I didn't know him, but considering his dumb ass had basically hand delivered Dinah to me, I was pretty sure it would be amusing to meet him. Especially since he would know that I 'rescued' Roy, but not that I was the teenager who knocked up his girlfriend. Artemis just sighed. "Yes. Green Arrow will be there. As will Captain Atom, Red Tornado, and The Atom. Along with a few other junior members."

That was more honestly than expected. "So...why me? I get that I'm kind of badass, but it seems odd to single me out for cooperation." It seemed like a big coincidence that they would choose the guy responsible for this mess without meaning to, but that kind of thing happened sometimes. The world was a weird a coincidental place, especially for heroes and villains.

Artemis stopped, turning to me with a serious expression. "I don't think you get what kind of good will you bought for yourself by finding Roy. We aren't going to be overlooking active crimes or anything, but most of the League feels we owe you for that. You pissed off some very powerful people, and you did it without hesitation. People remember that. You were the first one to come to mind when we had to reach out, not least of which because you weren't active during the past few months."

Based on her friendly demeanor, I was guessing they hadn't been spying on my meeting with the court. Luckily I'd had an aura of power around me to burn up all the blood when I'd killed all those Talons. The League usually didn't love murder. Though to be fair they were already dead, so did it really count as murder? Anyway it seemed like they had approached from the other direction and hadn't checked in on the meeting.

Presumably Silver arranged some sort of counter surveillance and security. I was pretty sure, for instance, that she'd waited until Supergirl was out of the girl of steel had been working double time trying to clean up natural disasters and shit since the major Leaguers left from what I'd been told. Not to mention with the fae around Gotham, sending a kryptonian with no more magic resistance than a normal person into the city would be stupid. Without Zee, Fate was their only real magic expert, and I knew for a fact he'd warned them off interfering.

She was probably going to scope out the city for a while when she got back. Which made Arrowette shooting at us kind of shitty from her point of view, since she DIDN'T know I had just slaughtered a bunch of corpse ninjas. Sure they were just stun arrows, but still...dick move. We walked for another ten minutes or so, and I didn't say anything else. I was interested to know what this was about. I was pretty sure it would be a benefit to me in my efforts to take over the city, at

the very least.

When we arrived at the place, Artemis knocked on the warehouse door in a lengthy pattern, which made me want to snicker (though I didn't) then we entered. Inside was, sure enough, a small collapsible table and chairs, populated by Green Arrow, Captain Atom, The Atom, Red Tornado, Nightwing,, Kid Flash, and Superboy.

I did a quick once over with appraisal. Captain Atom was D rank like I was, and Kid Flash was F rank. Superboy was E rank, as was Red Tornado, but other than that they were all within human limits at about H. I also got some secret identities out of the scan, though I knew some of them already, like Green Arrow. When they saw us, they all nodded, gesturing me over to sit down in the empty seat that was saved for me. When they noticed Amy, Kid Flash zipped out of sight and came back with another chair, earning a small smirk from Artemis.

Green Arrow, to my amusement, stood up, stepping forward to offer his hand. "Mammon. It's nice to meet you. I heard what you did for Roy, I appreciate it. I can't tell you how grateful we are to have him back, despite his...unhappiness at the situation." He gave a pained smile, trying to seem friendly and approachable.

Despite not being a big fan of the guy, this situation was funny enough to me that I had no problem shaking his hand. The fact that he was thanking the guy who knocked up his ex-girlfriend while they were still together, and who was even now living with her made this whole mask thing almost bearable. Still, as much as I enjoyed silently gloating about cucking the blonde bearded douche, I was pretty curious as to why the fuck I was here.

As he gestured to us to sit, making a show of greeting Amy and apparently trying to be charming, I turned to the others present, namely, Captain Atom, who as far as I knew was in charge, and asked. "So, not to be too direct, but what exactly is this about?" I paused and looked out the door we'd come in from. "Aside from the obvious I guess. Like do you all need me for something?"

The Captain gave a businesslike nod. "That's a fair question. We aren't exactly the kind of people who reach out to those in your line of work. However, you've helped us in the past, and you haven't been committing notable crimes in the past few months at least. In fact, I'm not sure we can firmly link you to any specific misconduct at all. Because of this, you were our first choice for this meeting."

The Atom, who was apparently Ray Palmer of all people, groaned. "Oh for the love of god guys, stop beating around the bush. We're hoping you might be open to working with the League to set up a defensive initiative against the incoming threats. We need someone that can liase with the...seedier, parts of the citizenry. This shift is unprecedented, and if we don't prepare the city will become a blood bath."

"Wow." I said in genuine shock. "That's...pretty progressive for you guys. You aren't normally open to the whole 'lesser of two evils' thing." I paused. "Maybe Batman actually, but barring him, I wouldn't have figured any of you would agree to work with criminals."

The Captain looked annoyed at the comment. "We aren't enthused about it honestly. But given what's coming and how short handed we are, we need all the help we can get. The more...traditional League members are off world, and those of us left thing this is the best way to manage things. Our heaviest hitter is Supergirl, and she's been running herself ragged addressing crises all over the globe. Not to mention there are still reports of rampant magic use in the city. A full kryptonian is too dangerous to have loose here with possible fae mind control in the mix."

That was an angle I hadn't actually considered, and it sent a chill down my spine. Granted, I'd been planning to Brand the kyrptonian as soon as possible, but I hadn't really thought about how easy it would be for someone else to control her. The amount of destructive potential she had versus how hard it would be to enspell her made it hugely profitable to give it a shot. From that point of view kryptonians were almost as dangerous as Luthor ranted about them being.

Making a mental note to become strong enough to protect myself from a kryptonian immediately, and to look into buying some kryptonite from Luthor until then, I refocused on the group in front of me. "Well." I said deliberately. "I'm not...against that." It was basically what I'd already been planning, and if I was doing it 'for' the League, I'd essentially get a free pass to go about my business. Which was of course why I couldn't let them know how willing I was to do it. "But what do I get out of it?"

First rule of being a criminal, always try to get paid. Even heroes knew this, and they absolutely would have been suspicious if I didn't try it. Nightwing scowled. "What did you have in mind? We aren't paying a criminal to get into fights in the streets. We aren't opposed to lending you a hand in more discrete ways, but if you're expecting a paycheck you're going to be disappointed."

Perfect. "Not a paycheck." I said triumphantly. "Discrete is exactly what I was thinking. I have some friends who might be able to help fend off some of the more...bloodthirsty comers. But we need some assurances. We can avoid civilians for the most part of course, but it would be convenient if the League could 'stumble' on some criminal activities from some of the local powers who aren't willing to stand up for their city."

Captain Atom scowled. "That's...I don't know. You would have to give us some assurances civilians wouldn't be harmed. And if we stumble on them committing a crime we aren't turning a blind eye. But if you want us to prioritize certain groups that are especially bad, I don't suppose that's too far beyond the pale."

"Listen." I said flatly. "You called me here to work with you. That implies reciprocity of some kind. I'm not asking you to commit crimes. I'm not even asking you to overlook crimes. I'm just asking that maybe if I slip you a name you pay a bit of extra attention to whether that person comes up on your patrols. These are criminals here, it won't be hard to catch them doing something untoward."

They all looked at each other uneasily, and I could practically hear them thinking they were making a deal with the devil, but eventually, they nodded slowly. Well, most of them. Superboy just kind of glared at me and Kid Flash looked disapproving. Nightwing was the one who held out his hand to me this time. "Alright. We'll take it under advisement. It's nice to be working with you Mammon." I grinned as I shook back. This was going to make my job SO much easier.

April 4th 2016 Brightedge City, Warehouse District, 9:00 PM EDT

Of course, that wasn't the end of things. I spent the next hour hashing out details and making sure our 'cooperation' would go off without a hitch. Sadly, they were pretty firm about not giving me material aid. I'd tried to talk them into sending some supplies (which would have been more useful to me than money anyway) but they were firmly against it. In the end I didn't get much more done than outlining the terms of our agreement in more detail, but that was plenty for now.

With their backing it would be ten times easier to arrange the summit I had planned, and I could point the League at anyone who was resistant or tried to get it the way. As we climbed into the car, I sighed in relief I'd used one of the multiple cars included in the garage at the house that I'd never driven before. I'd make sure to pay attention to that in the next upgrade. Having untraceable burner cars was crazy useful.

"Well." Amy said cheerfully. "That was bracing. I was very excited to meet some of them. I remember Red Tornado being around before I left." She frowned. "Green Arrow too, but I heard some of the terrible things he was saying to Dinah when she left the League. I'm not so much a fan of his. That Captain Atom was strong though. I could feel his power, and he's around the same level we are. I was surprised to find out the League had such an ace up its sleeve."

I nodded. "Yeah, the Captain isn't exactly what comes to people's minds when they think of the heavies. He's measured, calm, and he does minimal property damage. Part of being a trained soldier probably. He isn't as excessive or obviously terrifying as Superman or Supergirl, or as sexy as Wonder Woman, or as flashy as Green Lantern. But he's one of the more dangerous members of the League all the same."

She nodded thoughtfully. "Clearly. Marquis level is nothing to sneeze at. In any case, that seemed to have gone well. I'm just relieved they didn't check in the warehouse we came out of. Do you imagine miss St. Cloud cleaned everything up well enough?"

"Probably." I said without much worry. "I'd be shocked if they didn't have some kind of disposal method for Talons. Regardless, the League can't just bust down the door to a warehouse with no warrant. They're UN affiliates. I'm sure they were curious, but like they said, I haven't been linked to any crimes, and wearing a mask isn't really probable cause for a search. Not to mention fae have been in Gotham for months. If Silver hasn't hired at least one illusionist my opinion of the Court of Owls will hit rock bottom."

She made a noise of agreement. "Fair. Anyway, this was an extremely fun night. I imagine you'll need to fix the house before we can resume our marital activities. Will you be able to do that properly with the Amazon and her charge around?"

"Nope." I said unhesitatingly. "That's why I'm doing it tonight. They aren't showing up til tomorrow remember? Aside from those two, I'm going to have Zee over and have her put on a bit of a magic show. Most people don't know what magic can really do anyway, so they'll have no reason to suspect the changes aren't just her making with the hocus pocus."

Just because we needed to explain things, didn't mean we had to come up with big convoluted reasons for all our abilities, 'cuz magic' worked in basically every fantasy novel and movie, no reason to think it wasn't going to work here. You average layman knew nothing about how magic worked, and if Zee said she could transform a house they'd believe her. Plus I was ninety percent sure she would be thrilled at the possibility of watching me upgrade the place to D rank.

I'd been thinking about what to do with it since it had been damaged. I'd come to the conclusion that despite using an E rank painting as an ingredient, it wasn't really very impressive. With the sole exception of being kind of sturdy and keeping out spys, it didn't do much. I'd learned quite a bit about how to use and apply the greed system since I made the Palace, and I had more than a few thoughts about what to do with that.

As we pulled into the driveway, I sent Amy inside, then slipped out my phone and texted Zee, stopping to ponder while I waited for her. The Palace was G rank, because the house I'd started with had sucked and averaged out with the painting. I still had plenty of room to grow it and over four and a half million GP to burn. I considered exactly what I would need from it. Isolating us from detection was good, but not just spying. I could do better.

I slipped a hand into my pouch and pulled out a G rank item I'd picked up in Gemworld. A small compass. I grabbed an F rank concealment item after that. I put them each down, then withdrew another series of items. The E rank ingredient I would need to make custom. I decided that once I'd arranged for secrecy, defense was probably best, and I merged together a few durable stones and metals to create a strong rocky base material to use.

Finally, as I was finishing work, Zee arrived. She'd teleported over here, so it wasn't a long wait. "Hey." She said as she stepped up next to me. "I'm here. You sure you want me here for this? It seems like kind of a big deal? Also shouldn't we like...get people out of there? Having them inside seems like a bad decision."

I chuckled at that. "Nah. It's fine. The house will change as I will it. If I keep in mind I want them to be ok it won't be an issue." If she understood how my power worked she'd be more worried about me accidentally merging one of them with whatever I was using. But since she didn't I could just get on with it. "Alright. Now, I have my focuses for the transformation. We go smallest to largest." I held up the compass, giving it a quick appraisal.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Wayfinder Compass- G rank. Allows the user to always find their way home from any location. General direction only, does not factor in distance. Only works when sharing a plane of existence.]

The compass was a glass sphere with a single gold ring around it and a gold needle floating horizontally inside. It could point in any direction, and theoretically could help me find the house even on another planet. I grinned and triggered the merge, but rather than stop it, I immediately triggered the next one while the energy was still in flux, something I'd been experimenting with but never done. I added the F rank stealth item next.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Mistflame Candle-F rank. Walk unseen through the world. While inside the candles light, you will be seen only by those to whom you wish to be visible. Dampens scrying attempts, but does not deflect perception past a certain level.]

The candle merged into the still writhing energy of the house, interacting with the compass and changing the nature of the merge to reflect the new combination. Doing it this way would save me the points of merging the two together, as well as having to find replacement items. The candle merged into the house along with the compass, changing the nature of the merge for both items exactly as I hoped. Finally I merged in the E rank stone I'd made.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Darkveil Marble- E rank. A powerful stone that destabilizes the ether, creating a scrambling effect on magical detection and superhuman perception. Larger concentrations enhance the effect, with only the specific few keyed to the stone being immune to its power.]

That one joined the merge, and I finally stopped holding the house in its energy state, allowing the merge to complete even as one million one hundred and ten thousand GP drained out of me. The energy began to converge in the location of the Palace, but in a much different form, and despite staggering under the weight of the strain of holding that merge for so long, I grinned widely as the new shape of my home solidified.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Hall of Nevers- D rank. A castle of black stone in an endless mist. The hall can only be found by those who know where it is, whether told by word of mouth or shown directly. No eye may find the hall unless its masters wish it, either from afar or right beside. A realm that is even as it is not.]

Zee and I both just stood there, staring. The Palace was gone, and in its place stood a massive castle of pitch black stone. The thing speared straight up into the air for what looked at first glance like a quarter mile. The crenelations were jagged and imposing, and the windows had been transformed into taller, thinner tower windows covered with beautiful stained glass showing scenes of my past victories.

Around the base of the castle there was banks of fog, shrouding the entrance, and somehow, when I tried to stare into the fog, the castle itself flickered out of sight, isolated from the world. I grinned. Perfect. The mistflame candle and wayfinder compass had combines into the Palace exactly as I'd hoped. The place was literally hidden from anyone who didn't already know how to find it, and with the combination of the Darveil Marble into the mix, that wasn't just a visual hiding. My castle existed in a state of flux, where it would only be accessible to people I had already allowed in.

I'd been extremely careful about that too. It was imperative to make sure that I was in control of this place, and I'd made sure the compass was keyed to me specifically by blood before the merge. The blood link allowed me complete control over the castle, since I'd been very specific with my wishes for that to happen during the merge. This had been the biggest most involved project I'd ever undertaken with the Greed System but the result was exactly what I'd hoped.

Turning to Zee, I shot her a grin. She was staring up at the castle, eyes wide and fixed and almost...hungry. "Admit it." I said smugly. "You're so fucking turned on right now it's not even funny." I could sense her desires, so I already knew that, but I wanted to remind her. She was so enthralled by the castle she didn't even audible respond, just nodding her head slowly without breaking eye contact.

Unfortunately, others weren't quite so enraptured. There was a loud bang as the front doors of the castle slammed open, and Barbie stalked out, glaring at me darkly. She pointed sharply up at the castle. "What the fuck is this?" She didn't even give me a chance to respond, staling up to poke me in the chest. "Because it LOOKS like you just dissolved a fucking building into ENERGY, while all of us were still inside. Including your unborn children!"

I blinked. Oh. Right. The babies. "Oh. Um. This was perfectly safe. Everyone is fine and no one was in any danger." Despite being pretty sure that was true, I started slowly inching away from the door as more of my girls filed out, most of them looking equally annoyed. The newer and younger ones were confused by what had happened, which was nice, but Dinah and all the E rank girls knew the deal and they didn't look happy. I sighed internally. I do a little work around the house and all I get is bitched at. This was what I got for being all domestic and shit.