Sell you a Bridge chapter 123 (Patreon)

Blackgate Penitentiary November 11th 2010 3:00 PM EDT

Just  like Zee and the other said the trip to the cell block where Miss  Martian was stationed was smooth sailing once we bounced those losers  out of our way. I secretly thanked the gods for having the foresight to  buy that map because it was basically the perfect tool for a thief,  especially combined with the sending stones. Zee and Artemis were able  to walk use around all the obstructions that would normally have held us  up, so we made pretty good time getting there. Once we got closer to  our goal however we had to slow down because the whole block was  surrounded by Amazons.

I got in touch with my team via my sending stones before we got too close. "Hey  Jim, you here? If you haven't made contact we can meet up and go in  together. Speaking of contact, Zee how am I looking in terms of the  encirclement, any chance of us slipping through it? I'd rather not have  to fight the Amazons yet if I can avoid it." I was pretty  confident in my ability to take an Amazon warrior in single combat, but I  was also pretty confident that wouldn't be the kind of combat I was  going to end up engaged in. The rest of my current team might not fare  as well, and if I got swarmed I'd end up having to blast my way out of  here.

Jim responded before I could think too much into it however. "I  have made contact with Miss Martian yes, though only via telepathy. I  may have a method to enter without arousing the ire of the Amazonian  forces however." He sent me a mental image of a room nearby and I grinned. His voice was wry as he commented on the entrance. "I  admit the old enter through the vents gambit is a tad trite, but  classics are classics for a reason. With the current ruckus there is  little chance they notice us before we make our entry, and Miss Martian  is on standby waiting for us. Though I've been asked to warn you there  are...other factors at play."

I  winced. That meant Ivy wasn't alone I was guessing. I glanced at Robin,  I really didn't want to fight more prisoners, but if we just agreed to  take them with us the justice bros would flip. I'd have to see exactly  who was with Ivy and see if they were even willing to exchange passage  for safety. I glanced back at Arthur, I already planned to take at least  one criminal we hadn't planned for with us, and from what I could tell  that would be a deal breaker for the sidekicks. I mentally sent a  message to Zee and Artemis. "I'm thinking we might be at the end  of our little alliance here in a few minutes. Our easiest way out is to  bring a few extra people with us, having some favors in the bank might  come in handy provided none of the people we bust out are too nuts."

Artemis answered. "Does  that mean leaving my boyfriend behind? Because I'm not cool with him  being left to rot in a women's prison. It seems like a bad idea to leave  them twisting and burn those bridges. Also there's no way they won't  see this coming. Like, expecting thieves to double cross you is pretty  much hero 101." That was a good point, if anything it might be  more unexpected if we did keep to our side of the deal. I just couldn't  see a scenario where we got out of this without them turning on us after  the job. Once our partnership was over they would definitely try to  bring us in.

I sighed internally. "You're  not wrong. But I can't see how we could have it both ways. We need to  deliver Ivy to the Shadows, mostly because from what I've heard she  needs to be kept on a tight leash. But I don't trust Robin not to try  something stupid once we aren't useful. Ivy is necessary for the  survival of the civilian populace but we aren't. Hell I wouldn't put it  past him to have Batman and company waiting for us when we get back to  land. They might be planning to use Ivy themselves. Wish we could  consult Jim but he's right next to Miss M so this is going to be on us."

Luckily  Miss Martian wouldn't be able to read my mind. However I still didn't  know who was with Poison Ivy or if they were viable to be sprung from  this place. I wouldn't want to let loose someone like the Joker. Luckily  this was Blackgate and most of the really heinous assholes were in  Arkham, so my chances of running into people I could actually work with  were much higher. I decided the best bet here was to play it by ear, so I  explained the part of the plan I was sharing with the rest of the team  and we moved into position in the vent room with Jim.

My  mentor nodded to us, but didn't speak aloud. This room was just on the  edge of the encirclement of the Amazons and we didn't want to be  noticed, so we had already arranged our course of action beforehand. I  was curious though, why the encircling Amazons hadn't actually moved in  to try to recruit the female inmates. According to Zee they were all  sitting outside the room not moving at all. We made our way up into the  vent, luckily the thing was actually pretty roomy for an air  conditioning system, so we were able to climb through it easily. I  honestly didn't know who designed this place, between this and that  stupid room for storing villain gear it couldn't be more poorly thought  out if they tried.

We  made short work of the trip to the room that Miss M was in with Zee  guiding us through the vents and when we finally got there I volunteered  to go first in shadow form because it would be easier and faster for me  to get out and harder for me to be noticed. I shifted my form and  slipped down the wall into a shadowy corner and resumed my human shape,  making sure to use my ninja skills to hide my presence. I was just lucky  my shadow form and my teleportation were from different skills, it  would have been much harder to get past the prying eyes around this  place if I couldn't turn into a shadow.

Once  again I decided to listen in before revealing myself, hoping to find a  good opening. Miss Martian was nearby, disguised as a brunette olive  skinned version of her normal self that looked maybe a few years older.  She was looking around nervously. I finally saw why the Amazons were  stalled outside, Ivy had used her powers to block the doors with massive  tree roots, and the walls were covered in interwoven knots of rootwork.  Miss Martian swallowed hard. "Um, Miss Ivy ma'am, should we really be  staying here like this? Shouldn't we...like...go? What if the guards  regain control of the prison, won't we be stuck here?"

The  smoky voice of the extremely busty emerald green woman with the bright  red hair was slow and lazy as she responded, as if she couldn't be less  worried about the prison riot currently coinciding with an invasion by  super powerful Amazon warriors. "Della, darling, you worry too much.  We're safe enough in here while we wait to see if the situation settles  down one way or another. If we break out before we're sure we can leave  we might just get caught again, and then we'll be right back here in an  even worse position. Besides, this is the kind of opportunity my  employers won't pass up. I doubt they'll just leave me in here with  everything going on. Don't worry dear heart, I'll protect you."

Poison  Ivy shot Miss Martian a wink and the martian girl blushed heavily. Part  of our research for the infiltration had been figuring out Ivy's type  and having Miss M try to match it, we figured it would make her more  likely to take a shine to the shapeshifter. Apparently it had worked  because it was easy to see Ivy eyeing the girl as they waited. It made  me smile internally that they secretly had so much in common, both being  green, and Ivy wasn't even aware of it. I wondered if the redhead would  still be interested once she saw the martian in her true form.

That  was mostly irrelevant though, because Ivy's bragging gave me the  perfect excuse to manifest, though I stayed in my humanoid shadow form  just in case as I took in the women Ivy had gathered to back her play.  They all swiveled to stare at me as I manifested and I recognized most  of them. Killer Frost, Roxy Rocket, and white Rabbit. Jim informed me  the last was Wanderer, a member of the Council of Spiders whose touch  could kill, but none of them were particularly horrible or murderous  that I was aware of, which made things much easier for me.

They  didn't immediately try to murder me, which was a good sign, though I  did see them ready to attack so I held up my hands. "Whoa there, don't  shoot. Like the lady said I'm with her employers." I nodded to Ivy.  "We're here for a pickup, they were hoping your powers might be of  assistance with the food shortage. You ready to go?" I was hoping  whatever hold the Shadows had on her would prevent her from telling me  to just fuck off. Poison Ivy notoriously hated men, and while I was  young enough that I might not count, with my mask on and in shadow form  she couldn't see that.

Luckily  it seemed like Talia's method of controlling her was viable, because  other than shooting me a cold look she didn't behave with hostility. She  stood and turned her back on me, speaking to Miss Martian soothingly  and basically ignoring my presence. "See Della? I told you we would be  fine. My employers sent us an escort after all, so there's no reason to  worry." Her voice became frosty as she glanced over her shoulder at me.  "Of course, I'm not going anywhere without my friends here. I trust that  isn't a problem?" Her tone made it clear that if it was a problem it  would be my problem and not hers but it really wasn't, this was a viable  reason to try to force a compromise with the justice bros so it worked  for me.

However,  before I could confirm that there was a loud screeching from one wall,  and we all turned to see the root coverage holding the door shut  collapse inward, falling alongside the door itself as it was literally  cut from the wall along with a decent chunk of the frame around it.  There was a loud thump as the door hit the ground and a small woman with  raven black hair hopped strode into the room through the dust and  debris. She stepped casually over the ruined door and looked around  until she spotted Ivy and company and gave them a pleasant smile. Her  teeth were white is paper and her eyes were calm as she stepped into the  room.

The  woman was tiny. Her black hair was held back in a ponytail and her brown  eyes were cold and remote as she took in the assembled group. Below her  left eye was a small tattoo of an omega symbol, and her walk was  confident enough that I doubted it was something as benign as body art.  More importantly though her aura was...monstrous. The sheer amount of  blood and death that had seeped into her presence rivaled the Warlord on  his best day. Her voice as she addressed the room was soft and casual.  "Ah, wonderful, I see my arrival was timely. Greetings sisters, I've  come to speak to you of the glories of our tribe. Please, just give me a  moment to dispatch this man and we can speak." As she drew her sword,  even more Amazons flooded in behind her and I winced. Shit. I had a  feeling I wasn't getting out of this one as easily as before.