Sell you a Bridge chapter 228 (Patreon)

April 22nd 2016 Doomhallow Hall 4:00 PM EDT

My  talk with my mother had brought home the stakes for this next fight, so  of course I'd consulted with all my mentors and friends about what we  were likely to face when we got to Savage. Which was, luckily, not  Darkseid. Earth was too backwater for him to come in person to deal with  this nonsense. He would send some of his lieutenants at worst, probably  his furies and a few squadrons of parademons. Earth was just one planet  among an endless number, and he had other things going on more  important than a planet The Reach and Green Lantern Corps were already  fighting over.

Still, the god of Tyranny wasn't big on  letting people weasel out of his control, so he was going to send who he  could spare to try to get us under his boot. Dreamer had seen this a  dozen times on other planets, and she had a good idea of what was  coming, which led me to making a decision I probably should be  reconsidering. I made my way down to the Hellfire Oubliette to try and  do something that might have been a big mistake. I was down here to try  to get some help.

Don't get me wrong. Most of the people  in the dungeon were useless or worse when it came to defending earth,  but I still had hope for at least one of them, and having a Superman  level threat at our back was going to be a godsend (no pun intended). So  I was down here to appeal to Black Adam's better nature. Assuming he  wasn't insane now, but I was pretty sure his power would be blunting the  worst of the influence this place had on him.

Adam  genuinely wanted to help his people, he was just convinced that Darkseid  and his ilk weren't something he could overcome. I suspected he was  even hoping The Reach would keep the New Gods from directly interfering  in the world, one more layer of security for Kandaq. With all that in  mind though, it meant Adam didn't want Darkseid in charge or his people  any more than I did. If I could convince him we might actually win I was  pretty sure I could get him on my side for this fight.

I  didn't know specifically what was coming, but I did know it wouldn't  just be something we could bash our way through without some serious  muscle. The Reach, The Light, those had all been some very serious  enemies, but they had also been mortals. We were going against gods  here, real true blue deities, and no one had more experience with gods  on earth than Adam. Dreamer had fought them plenty and she would be a  huge help, but the more help we could get the better our chances here.

I  strode down the hall, stopping to glance through the oculi of the cells  to check on the inhabitants. Ra'as was meditating, Klarion was pretty  much catatonic from the circumstances that landed him here, though I was  pretty sure that was bullshit to try to get me to check on him, which I  definitely didn't do. Lex was in a comfortable furnished room that I'd  had set up for him, and seeing him dressed in a superman onesie complete  with tiny cape and sitting on a racecar bed complete with superman  bedsheets made me grin my ass off.

I'd set the room up to  add insult to injury, because Lex had succeeded in genuinely pissing me  off with his shit talking in a way almost none of my other enemies had  managed. The guy just fucking irked me. So I'd done my best to humiliate  him, just one more thing to pile on top of the awful atmosphere down  here. His face was calm and composed as he sat on the bed with his legs  folded, but I could see his aura churning with rage and humiliation,  which was a nice pick me up as I headed down to the specific cell I  wanted to find.

Of all my prisoner, Adam seemed to be the  one who was the least affected by the battle and subsequent  imprisonment. Even the trip through the corridor, though it had left him  pale and seemingly a bit shaken, hadn't done any real damage to the  powerful warrior. I stopped outside the cell triggering the lid that  covered the oculus and opening it as wide as possible so he could see me  properly. At the grinding noise, Adam, who had his eyes closed turned  his head and slowly opened them to look at me calmly.

I  expected him to say something, but the egomaniac apparently considered  my defeat of him a testament to my power or something because he didn't  taunt or belittle me, or even demand to be released, just say and  patiently waited for me to speak. "The Reach is out of the picture. We  mopped up their century of scarabs. With The Light off the board already  we only have one more thing to deal with. You know who I mean. So, are  you really going to just roll over and let HIM conquer our world? I  mean...I've never been to Apokalips, but I've heard some extremely  unpleasant things about the place."

His placed expression  hardened into a glare. "If you had just stayed out of it The Reach would  have conquered this world and he would have left it alone. The insects  are unpleasant, yes, but their cruelty is impersonal. They step on  others because they see them as an obstacle, not for their own joy. If  HE takes control my people will suffer unending torment. I take it  that's why you are here? To plead with me to help your drive him back?"

I'd  been right. Adam was playing both sides, helping The Light in hopes to  allow The Reach a win. Apokalips was more than capable of dealing with  the bugs, but they had no real reason to bother. He knew as well as I  did that The Light wasn't going to come out from between the two sides  unscathed like they seemed to think. "I'm pleading for your people Adam.  I can just leave. Grim as it is there are other places for me to go,  other worlds, but in the end that's just delaying the inevitable. I'd  have to make a stand sometime. Same for you, or are you planning to run  forever?"

Despite being my best  attempt to piss him off, that was also actually true. You couldn't run  from everything forever. Sometimes you had to make a stand. I didn't  want my sister to grow up on the run to other worlds, and if Darkseid  chased me off now who was to say something else wouldn't do it next  time. Fighting a couple henchmen was my best possible bet here. Adam  seemed to come to the same conclusion, because rather than snap back at  me he furrowed his brow in consternation.

He  looked almost torn, but somewhere deep down I could tell he  just...didn't believe we could win. He was still scared, legendary  courage or not. "I applaud your nerve boy, really I do. I wish I shared  that optimism, but I see no way for us to triumph. Maybe if the League  was on this world, if Superman took the field with us, I could allow  myself to hope...but as it is? You are mighty, but they are legion."

I  glared at the powerful warrior. "Ok enough of this. Enough of your woe  is me bullshit, you're fucking Teth-Adam, rule of Kandaq, one of the  oldest and strongest beings on this planet. You've fought Superman to a  standstill, beat down Captain Marvel, and generally terrorized the whole  fucking planet for more than a thousand years, and now...what? You're  giving up? It's too hard and you don't want to be a badass anymore?  There's a word for people like that Adam. It's coward."

He  flinched as if physically struck when I said it. I knew it wasn't just  the word. Adam had been alive for millennia I was hardly the first  person to call him a coward. No, what hurt him so much was that he  fucking agreed with me. He FELT like a coward. I could use that. I kept  going, my tone still even but firm. "Tell me what you're scared of Adam?  Is it dying? Have you been alive so long you're too afraid to make the  ultimate sacrifice for your people? Because that's the worst outcome  here. You stand and fight and you die or you win. One way sees your  people safe, the other sees them just as damned as if you did nothing.  All you have to lose here is your life."

That  seemed to wake him up. He blinked at me. "You...you are right. I do not  fear death. I never have. I only fear failing my homeland. My wife. My  gods. I do not bow to threats or danger." He shook his head roughly. "I  was a fool. I listened to the lies that Darkseid spewed, allowed him to  twist me to his own ends. Should my courage not have stopped this?  Should my wisdom not have seen?"

I  just sighed. "Darkseid is the god of Tyranny and evil. He's an OG  badass. You courage and wisdom come from other, younger gods. Sure, they  would have made it hard, but to assume he could manipulate them is to  assume the same of you. Besides, he didn't just break your courage and  wisdom, he used them against you. It's kind of his thing. Regardless,  I'll ask you just this once, directly to your face. Will you help me?  Will you stand against the forces that threaten this world? Your world?"

He  gave a sharp nod. "I will. On my honor as the ruler of Kandaq I will  stand." There was firmness in his eyes now, a resolve that hadn't been  there before. I wondered if being down here had softened him up for me  to convince him, chipped away at whatever conditioning Darkseid had  done, because that had been easier than expected. I was a bit worried  about letting him out, but there were defenses on this place, and I had  my torc. Empowered by my demonic magic I could literally beat the  bastard back into submission if I needed to.

I  stepped back and focused on the wall, which faded from existence,  freeing Teth-Adam. I watched him carefully as he stood and walked, head  held high, out of the cell. If anyone else in here had given their word  to have my back I'd have laughed them off until I passed out, but Adam  considered himself an honorable warrior, as dickish and condescending as  he could be at times, so I would give him the benefit of the doubt,  though Morana would be meeting us at the exit just in case.

More  than any of that though, this little encounter scared the shit out of  me. Not because of Adam, but because I had seen his aura when I finally  got through to him. I'd watched it change, and I knew he'd been telling  the truth. He absolutely had been manipulated by Darkseid, but even with  my aura sight I hadn't been able to tell. I hadn't known his mind had  been messed with until I undid it.

Darkseid's  manipulations were so fucking subtle that even in retrospect, and with  perfect memory of his aura before and after, I could BARELY spot the  changes he had made. Barely detect the ways he'd altered Adam to get the  result he wanted, and if I couldn't understand it, I couldn't prevent  it. It shouldn't work on me, not with my mind protection, but the  others? My girls? My daughter? I needed some way to counter that  corruption, that influence, and to detect it. Luckily I had something  for that. I closed my eyes for an instant, staring at the blazing number  forty thousand behind my eyes. Time to pick up a new trick.