Sell you a Bridge chapter 146

New Genesis December 30th 2010 11:00 PM EDT

The  armored gods in the air looked fucking awesome. Their weapons were  terrifying, blowing holes in the advancing lines of bio-freaks spilling  from the hole like firemen putting out a blaze with a hose. Once that  first one went down Wally got Artemis up and out of there, moving faster  than I'd ever seen him go before. A haze of lightning crackled around  him, not Artemis's lightning either, though as he held her I saw her  purple lightning flicker out and mix with his electricity, seeming to  make him almost vibrate with even greater speed.

Despite  the nearly endless flood of bio-freaks spewing from the cave the armored  guards demolished them with almost no problem. I briefly wondered what  kind of fuel these guys were packing that let them blast that much, but  then I remembered this entire world was populated by literal gods so the  armored suits were probably fueled by the hopes of orphaned children or  something. I could totally see them using something weird like that as a  power source. Or maybe I was projecting because Zee and I had watched  Monsters Inc a few weeks ago.

Regardless I was pretty damn  glad they'd showed up because we had drastically underestimated the  number of these things that were down there. My clones had seen like a  dozen tops, but they must have had like subtunnels or something because  there was ten times that many dead on the ground and they were still  coming. Granted I still had some tricks up my sleeve. Once we were out a  Ghostly Wail probably would have smashed them all like the bugs they  were, but still, it was nice not to have to waste all that energy.

The  Monitors touched down as they finished their slaughter, approaching the  group, but specifically heading over to us. Considering we were the  only humanoid beings not bare ass naked and covered in tattoos it wasn't  exactly tough to spot which of these things was not like the other. The  leader of the Monitors stopped in front of us. "Greetings travelers! We  witnessed your heroic rescue of the captives! It is an honor to have  such brave souls visit our world. May I ask from whence you hail?"

I  was surprised to hear that they knew we weren't from here, but I  figured they either had scanning tech that worked like my aura vision or  our entrance had made some noise. Either that or they could just tell  we weren't from Supertown and used process of elimination since we  obviously weren't natives. I got the feeling visitors from off world  were just more common here. Either way I smiled, offering my hand. "I'm  Random, this is Zee, Neith, and Kid Flash. We just arrived from Earth  and were on our way to Supertown. We were hoping to find the Forever  People?"

We'd agreed to use cape names here, mostly  because Wally's was way more likely to catch the attention of the  Forever People if they heard it, and I preferred not to give out my real  name in any case. Sadly Zee didn't have a cape name, but since she went  by a single letter, it had basically the same effect. I couldn't think  of what possible circumstances would lead to someone hearing "Zee" and  assuming it stood for Zatanna, so she should be pretty safe with the  nickname she already had.

The Monitor's aura brightened  with enthusiasm. Which was painful because literally every fucking  entity on this planet already gave me sunspots just to look at, but I  dealt with it. Still, he clearly recognized the name and they were  obviously well liked. "The Forever People are great travelers and  warriors! If you are friends of theirs it is no wonder you would stop to  aid those in need! We can bring you back to Supertown with us of  course. Last tidings of the Forever People have them off world on their  travels, but you are welcome to wait for their return!"

I  winced but hey, waiting for a ride was better than stranded forever. I  made sure to smile gratefully regardless. "We would really appreciate  that. I'm afraid our methods of transport are a bit unsuited to your  planet's...expansive terrain." Which was the nicest way I knew to say  that their giant nonsense exo-planet was too fucking big to be  reasonable. It didn't seem like a good idea to taunt our hosts though.

I  cleared my throat to draw attention to their suits. "Will you be able  to transport us? I've heard tales of your Whiz Wagons, and I wasn't sure  if you came here in one of those or if you flew with your armor." I  really didn't relish the thought of being princess carried at Mach  twenty. Worst case we could take the paths the natives mentioned, I was  sure our new Monitor friends wouldn't mind taking the scenic route if  they wanted to escort us.

Luckily it wasn't an issue. The  lead Monitor laughed. "Of course! Our armor is suited for short range  engagement. Our transport shuttle floats above us in the cloud cover. As  for Whiz Wagons, they are somewhat out of date among the upper echelon  of New Genesis, though their use is common in some of the lower sections  of the city." He waved to us, gesturing up to the sky and calling down a  giant space ship for us to climb aboard. "Come, we wish to hear of your  adventures. The Forever People are elusive, but their stories are  legendary in the taverns of Supertown!"

We stepped onboard  the shuttle, a large metallic craft with opening on both sides for the  Monitors to board through, and waved goodbye to the natives. Little Naka  waved back from her mother's arms, and I felt my heart fill with  warmth. Maybe Zee and Wally weren't completely wrong about the whole  hero thing. It did feel nice to offset some of my bad karma now and  then. I wasn't planning to give up stealing, I had way too much fucking  fun, but still, maybe doing the occasional good deed wasn't a huge  imposition.

Once we were inside a  barely visible energy film sealed off the sides of the transport and we  rose into the air before shooting off into the distance. Looking out the  carrier as we moved was...jarring. The world was speeding by at such an  insane clip it was hard to track, but there was no wind or noise or  even a shudder in the floor. It felt like we weren't even moving but  looked like we were going mach fifty.

I  didn't look away though, I just stared out the open side of the  carrier, taking in the blurring scenes in amazement. Especially one we  got close enough that I could see Supertown. I knew theoretically how  big the place was, but seeing it get bigger and bigger the closer we got  was mindblowing. I kept expecting it to stop increasing in size as I  got closer, but it never did. Zee walked up next to me, tucking herself  under my arm to watch alongside me as we approached.

It  took maybe an hour to make it there, and based on previous distances I  was almost afraid to ask exactly how fast we had been going just now.  The Monitors had been chatting with Wally about the Forever People,  since he was the only one who had actually met them anyway, and luckily  didn't see the need to bother us while we enjoyed the view. I was pretty  sure they thought it was funny watching the yokels have a conniption  fit over something that they saw pretty much every day.

We  touched down on a sort of landing pad location at the edge of part of  the city and Monitors escorted us off the transport cheerfully. I was  slightly wobbly as I stepped off, and the green armored leader I'd taken  to referring to in my head as Monitor Prime stepped up and slapped me  on the back. "An interesting trip, eh friend? Since none of you have a  place to stay while you wait I can take you to a nearby Inn if you like.  I know the owner of a place nearby where you might find lodging and do  some odd jobs."

I  smiled at him thankfully, we had no money or idea where the hell we  were. Well, I had points to use for getting us things from my power, but  accruing those to the levels we needed would be slow. A bit of income  would probably help speed things up a ton, since all the best money  scams required some kind of investment. Slow starts like my briefcase  winnings when I first got my powers would take a while to bear fruit.  Speaking of fruit, I wanted to look into those divine fruits I'd seen on  my email, so I asked the Monitor as he led us to "Old Stanga's" Inn.

I  told him I'd heard one of the Forever People mention divine fruit and  asked if there was a place near here to get it because it sounded  delicious. His aura flared with annoyance. "No. Divine fruit is rare and  precious. It increases the power of a gods mantle or purifies bloodline  if they're half mortal, but it's almost extinct. We have a problem in  the city with counterfeit fruits being marketed to low level gods as a  miraculous opportunity and despite the Divine Guard cracking down we  haven't managed to stamp it out."

That  was all the confirmation I needed, but something else caught my  attention. "Wait, the Divine Guard? I thought you guys were the guards?  Monitors of New Genesis and all. What's the difference between the two?  If it's not a problem for me to ask." Last thing I wanted was to step on  some inferiority complex and alienate one of the only current links we  had to the people who could get us home.

The  Monitor chuckled. "It is fine. The Monitors guard New Genesis from  Apokolips in time of war, and from the Bug People and Bio-freaks in time  of peace." Which was another odd thing. I'd heard Wally talking to them  earlier and it turned out the bio-freaks had built in armor, but they  weren't the ones who lived in the bug mounds we'd seen. The bug people  were a sentient race that shared the surface with the Primitives, which  was what the residents of Supertown called the natives we met.

He  continued as we made a turn down an oddly quaint cobbled path. "The  Divine Guard serve the Highfather himself, and are the peacekeepers of  the city and the last line of defense in case of invasion. They are  powerful warriors with mighty weapons and armor." He seemed to have  plenty of admiration for the Guard, but before I could ask more about  them we stopped in front of a small metal and wood building. Unlike the  skyscrapers it was made of a copper material, while the mid sized  structures seemed to be forged of silver. He turned to me, gesturing at  the building. "This is Old Stanga's place. He should be out back, I'll  go speak to him about your stay, you head inside and get checked in."

So  we did. I had to admit I was excited to be clean and sleep in a real  bed again. Camping is fun and all, especially with cheating spatial  storage, but I missed the creature comforts of modern society. Hell  maybe their creature comforts were better. I wondered if there was a god  of beds somewhere in town selling S tier mattresses to all the highest  ranking gods so they could sleep like babies.

The  check in passed quickly once we told the girl at the desk a monitor  sent us and she got us registered for a pair of rooms and sent us  upstairs to get settled. I was excited to use their shower, which each  room was equipped with be default, and my hands were almost shaking as I  unlocked the door, pushing it open to reveal...a girl. A very familiar  girl, sitting on the bed with her knees up, she smiled as I walked in.  "There you are, I've been waiting for ages. Come on in, we have a lot to  discuss." Said Del, who could break the laws of reality.