Play Testers Wanted Pt. 11

"Shit is about to go sideways and..." the third man began, and they all fell silent when they noticed me standing nearby. "Can I help you?"

"You look like you could use an extra hand." I said offering my help. I looked each of them in the eye and then I laughed. "Oh my god, that is too funny!" I laughed remembering the three cars out front and then running into these three iconic characters sitting around this table. "I get it now, three Fords!!" I chuckled as I was invited to sit down at the table with Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Rick Deckard. "Forgive me, how can I be of help?"

'Ding' My HUD chimed. 'You have three side quests to choose from.'

I pulled down my HUD and sure enough there was one quest from each of them. Solo: Steal from a heavily guarded safe in a penthouse apartment. Jones: Recover a stolen relic from a black-market dealer. Deckard: Hunt down a Nexus 8 replicant posing as a stripper in the seedier side of New Gotham.

I'd save the stripper for last as a reward for a job well done. I'd just do them order. I accepted all three and headed outside to look around for quest markers. The Solo quest wasn't far and was north and east of my current position. I looked at my gear and as I suspected only a third of it was available in the Crossover Zone. I slipped into the shadows changed into my Vibranium armor, activated my shoulder cannon, tactical mask, and Shatterpoint dagger. I switched on my active camouflage and teleported to the roof of the tallest building in my line of sight. From here I had a clear view of my first target.

"No fucking way," I curse when I saw that it was the headquarters for Lexcorp here in New Gotham. "This will prove interesting."

I let my paranoia fuel my preparations. If I was Lex Luthor and I wanted to protect my prized possessions how far would I go? To the absolute limit, I thought. I needed to do some reconnaissance and spy out my target. Not trusting to physically explore the airspace around the top of the building I would settle on an astral investigation. I didn't want to leave my body vulnerable so, I would summon a watch dog. I tapped into the Shadow Dimension and out popped a grinning demon-kin named Ted.

"Master." Ted said as he prostrated himself. "How's it hanging?" He asked with a flash of razor-sharp teeth.

"I need to take a looky-loo over at that tower there." I said. "I need you to make sure no one mucks about with my body while I'm on the Astral Plane."

"You got it Tiger," Ted giggled maniacally in his low gravelly voice. "Leave it to me."

He might be a three-foot-tall sociopath, but he was my three-foot-tall sociopath. I settled into cross legged position, closed my eyes, and slipped free of my body. The astral here had a cold feeling to it. It truly felt like outer space. I flew free and crossed the distance between my body and Lexcorp. The top of the building lit up like a Christmas tree. On the bad side the security was intense. However, on the good side most of it was technological in nature. I wanted to challenge myself and sneak in and not be discovered until after I was long gone. Trying to take on both tech and magic was foolhardy. Ted of all beings gave me the idea on how to take on this little challenge.

I returned to my body with an attack plan. I opened my eyes and Ted was feasting on a pigeon that had flown too close. He had bitten off its head and was chewing loudly. I winced when I heard the crunch as he mashed the skull between his teeth.

"MMMMM crunchy!!" Ted laughed. "That was quick," he commented. "What's the plan?"

"This." I said as I opened a massive portal to the Plane of Shadow above the building. I nudged it slowly downward until it had enveloped the top three floors. I fashioned an illusion so that no one looked out their windows and saw the top of Lexcorp missing. "Time to get to work." I shifted to the pocket dimension and as I hoped the top three floors had fallen dark as their connection to the city's power supply had been cut off. On the other hand, the mystical traps were stronger because of the very nature of the realm of shadows. Its mystical power surged the wards to their fullest capacity. If I messed up, I wouldn't feel it when the traps activated. I'd be dead. Ted was right behind me and I ordered him to patrol the perimeter while I went in.

I cast the revelation spell and attacked the wards slowly. I was confident of my skills after training with Penumbra. When I removed the first ward I felt of rush of excitement. If I could remove the two wards adjacent to this one, I'd have a large enough hole to pass into the building unhindered. I blinked the sweat from my eyes as I worked on the second ward. A sudden flash of light within the top floor nearly caused me to fumble. I halted my progress and looked away from my work. It was a flashlight. Damn, someone was in the damn building when I shifted this part of it. I returned to my work and with a gasp of relief I removed the second ward. I felt the field collapse completely in the same way an electrical current would if enough of it were interrupted. Score one for me.

I took on the aspect of shadows and slid up to the roof and into the air conditioning duct. I followed my nose and soon was looking down through a grate at a darkened hallway. I was about to ooze through the grating when the beam of the flashlight appeared. A tall muscular man in a silk bath robe walked down the hall.

'Lex-fucking-Luthor!' I thought as the bald head passed directly beneath me. I passed through the grating with ease and attached myself to his shadow. Let him do all the work. He was cursing like a sailor as he tried to puzzle out what had happened.

"No power. No backup generator. Nothing outside. What the fuck is going on?" He rumbled unhappy at his current circumstances. "Got to check the vault. Superman... no, he'd never do anything like this. Darkseid... no we signed that nonaggression pact. Brainiac... no, he'd just take the whole damn city. Shade? This kind of darkness fits him well enough. Did he find out that I had it?" Lex Luthor raced down the maze-like hallways and reached the center of the penthouse. He let out a gasp of relief. He opened a panel and behind it a mechanical lever marked manual override. He pumped the level and a larger portion of the wall opened revealing the vault. The gleaming steel door must have weighed tons. Set just above the door a chunk of green kryptonite obviously to keep Superman at bay or weaken him if he tried breaking into the vault.

"Thoom!" A sound I felt more than heard crashed into Lex sending him flying.

I slipped out of his shadow and slithered up the wall so I could watch the confrontation. Lex got to his feet. A female figure floated into view as she passed through the walls and into the area illuminated weakly by the flickering kryptonite. She was an alien wearing a charcoal grey body suit with an odd geometrical design on it. She reminded me of the Teen Titan Starfire with her mane of blonde hair running to the back of her knees. Was she a Tamaranean?

"Who are you?" The woman asked of Lex as she raised her right hand and wisps of dark shadowy energy formed off it and took on the shape of a giant black gauntlet which grabbed Lex and gripped his entire body.

"Lex Luthor, why did you do this?" He fired back and she squeezed her hand tighter. Lex let out a scream of pain.

"You! You are the one that invaded my domain Lex Luthor!" She snapped. "I see. Someone else is responsible for you intruding upon my realm."

"Lovely lady," Lex went on the attack using his good looks and charm now. "I am sure we can work together on this problem."

"Hmmph, I am Sharrand'r of the Shadow Corps and you are my guest for the moment." She replied releasing her grip and dispelling the construct she had created.

"Shadow Corps... is that anything like the Green Lantern Corps?" Lex asked his voice dripping with disdain.

"You've heard of them have you," Sharrand'r stated unhappily. "We are not as well-known as them or our sister corps the Yellow Lanterns."

"They represent fear. What do you manifest sweet Sharrand'r?" Lex asked oozing sensuality.

"Despair, dear sweet Lex," she growled as the floor beneath the supervillain changed to darkness and he slowly began to sink. I'll give him this he mastered his fear fast enough. "As I suspected, you don't feel despair. You are no fun." She pouted and yet he continued to sink. "I have no need for you however, what is inside of here I wonder?"

"Back off bitch," Lex snarled.

"Ha, you show your true face Lex Luthor," she chuckled. "Let's see what you are hiding."

She leveled her power ring at the door to the vault and fired off a bolt of shadow energy. The bolt reflected off the surface of the metal and burnt through one of the other walls leaving a smoking hole. Not to be deterred she fired off energy grapples to try and rip the door from its massive hinges but again the energy could not find a grip and failed. Enraged she took aim at Lex, but he just smiled as he slowly sank into the pool of darkness.

"Open it!" She screamed.

"No. Now who is feeling despair?" Lex laughed.

"Fah let you die I will," She said changing her tactics.

"You won't. Your threats are empty when I'm the only one that can open the safe." He said and I heard the mental ding in my head.

"We aren't alone sweet Lex," Sharrand'r purred. "Something is watching us from the shadows. Come out." She ordered so I did. I crawled down the wall and the movement was enough for her to spot me. I slid along the floor towards Lex's exposed head. I didn't manifest until I was right next to him. I borrowed the shape of the little shadow demon I had summoned earlier. I made a production of it and stuck my clawed hands out first, made as if I was ripping the darkness apart before I thrust my body through the gap.

"Tada!!" I said in the best deep and gravelly voice I could muster. I smiled revealing the brilliant razor-sharp teeth for added pizzazz.

"See Lex you only rate a paltry third-rate shadow demon," Sharrand'r laughed as I ran my hand over his bald head. "What is your name?"

"You can call me ZZZZZZed sweet cheeks," I replied as I stuck out a foot-long tongue and wiggled it for her. She in turn fired a blast from her ring which I easily dodge. "Missed me."

"I forgot how annoying your kind can be," she snapped. "Now... about you opening the vault."

"Not happening," Lex said continuing to defy her. I sat and placed a hand in the swirling dark vortex that held the supervillain trapped. I used my newfound Negamage skills and slowly tapped into it and changed its nature and destination. Instead of leading into an abyss it was a portal to the floor just below us. I'll give it to Lex. He never gave the game away.

"Can I eat his eyes at least?" I asked playing up the annoying demon role. "I could pop one out easy as... I can see by your expression that the answer is no."

"Go away, you are annoying me." She snapped.

"Fine..." I snarled as I leapt to my feet, jumped into the air, and 'accidently' landed on Lex's head and pushed him the rest of the way through the portal. I prepared to dodge her attacks as she snapped and went after me.

I dove into the nearest shadow and the real fun began. I taunted the hell out of her as I teleported from one spot to another. Since I was in the shadow dimension it cost me no stamina or mana to do so. I had her utterly enraged by the time Lex showed up sporting his custom power armor. The real battle commenced now. Sharrand'r and Lex went toe to toe and energy blasts were everywhere. As Lex triggered his boot jets to follow her, I opened a portal back to New Gotham and in a tick had the vault all to myself. I took the sweat I had gotten from Lex's scalp and used it to mimic his form perfectly. I placed my hand on the vault door and a scanner manifested and confirmed my biometrics were in fact those of Lex Luthor. With a hiss of massive pistons, the door slowly opened, and I stared at Lex's most prized possessions. Of course, he had a complete set of the different types of kryptonite. There was enough raw wealth he could run off and live like a king for the rest of his days. My quest marker locked onto a large plain wooden box. I touched it to claim it. It went straight to my inventory and the quest was ready for completion. All I had to do was deliver the box to Han. I cleaned out the vault and closed it. I reverted to my shadow demon form and returned to the real world.

Sharrand'r and Lex were still at it. I reversed the large portal returning the top of the building to New Gotham. I teleported to the rooftop where I had summoned Ted the shadow demon only to find the Dark Knight himself watching the battle between Lex and Sharrand'r.

"HMM," Batman harrumphed. "Is this your doing?" He asked me without even looking directly at me.

"Maybe." I admitted. "Her name is Sharrand'r and she is a member of the Shadow Corps. Green Lantern may want to know she exists."

"Yeah. He might." Batman grumbled as I eyed one of his batarangs for a trophy. No guts no glory I thought as I shifted to shadow form and slid into his shadow. I felt his intense awareness focused all around him. If I wanted to pull this off, I needed to distract him.

'Ted. You still around?' I sent silently.

'Yeah boss, you never dismissed me. What do you want?' He replied.

'Is there a fancy black car parked nearby?' I asked failing to hide the humor in my voice.

'Yeah. Boy is she a beauty! You want me to mess with it?' Ted the shadow demon asked with an equally mischievous tone in his voice.

'Do it!' I ordered. 'Then run like hell.'

'Got it boss!' Ted gleefully replied. Soon the air was filled with the sound of claxons and an automated voice warning anyone nearby to desist in their activity.

"What the hell?!" Batman cursed as his attention was focused on his precious car. He never felt me lift my prize from his utility belt. MINE! I joyfully thought as I teleported back to the alley near the coffee house. I reverted to human form and walked in so that I could deliver the first of the three quest items. I set the box down in front of Han and he opened it for all of us to see. A burnished gold statue that looked remarkably like the Maltese Falcon was within.

"What is that Han?" Rick Deckard asked.

"The stuff that dreams are made of," Han replied doing his best Humphrey Bogart. "It is a statue of pure Nth metal. The artist calls it the... wait for it... the Millennium Falcon." We all groaned. One down two to go. "Hold on, I didn't want the statue I wanted what is inside of it." Han said his voice trembling as his eyes welled up with tears. He jabbed his thumb into the left eye of the statue. An opening appeared in the back. Han tipped the statue backward and a honey colored stone tumbled out. It was plain and uncut, but the Force aura around it was potent.

"Lightsaber crystal?" I asked and he nodded as he tenderly picked it up and clutched it to his chest. I felt a rush of power and looked behind him. I saw Leia's force ghost standing behind him with her hand on his shoulder.

"I can almost feel her," Han said his voice cracking.

"She is here Han," I stated, and his head swung up.

"Tell him how much I love him," Leia whispered.

"I know." He said before I could tell him.

"God, I hate it when he does that." Leia said with a smile. She stood there a moment longer before fading away.

"She's gone." I said and Han wiped his eyes and thanked me. With one hand he clutched the crystal and with the other he pushed the statue in my direction. I took it and placed it in my inventory. I decided to take on Dr. Jones' quest next. I turned to leave and came face to face with Batman. If I was to judge his mood by the way his jaw was clenched, he wasn't happy with me.

"Hello detective," I greeted him, and his response was to extend his hand.

"Tracking chip," he grumbled as I handed over the batarang. He squeezed the center and I heard a click and he opened the hinged portion of it. He extracted the chip and closed it up again. "Here. You've earned it. Your little friend didn't do any real damage, but he did run me ragged. Ha. What a great workout that was."

"Thanks." I replied.

The Dark Knight turned and left. He jumped into the batmobile and drove off. I checked my HUD and locked onto the next quest location just as an announcement hit it.

'Trophy Earned: Bested the Bat. Trophy Earned: Falcon in Flight.'

I left the coffee house and headed south towards what Indiana had described as a black-market collector. That was a particularly vague description. New Gotham was in fact three interconnected islands, the northern most island was Uptown, the middle which held the coffee house was Midtown, and the southern island where I was headed was Downtown. I activated my web shooters and was soon swinging from building to building. I reached one of the bridges that crossed the Finger River and entered the Diamond District. A prominent sign welcomed me to Old Gotham. My quest marker hung spinning in the air as if it had malfunctioned.

"What the hell?" I cursed as I tried to figure it out. To the right and beyond the whirling icon was the bright blue W of Wayne Tower. To the left was the clock tower for Old Gotham. I got to higher ground by climbing to the top of office building I was clinging to. I sat on the corner facing the icon and looked down. The icon hung over a private park for the wealthy occupants of this district.

"You too eh?" A sultry female voice purred behind me. "I like the view." She continued as I turned my head and saw the infamous Catwoman, Selena Kyle. Damn how she filled out her costume.

"I like the view too." I replied and she smiled. "Sit?" I patted the spot next to me. I was genuinely surprised when she joined me. "What can you tell me about the park?"

"The Old Gotham Park? If you like ghost stories, rumors abound about it being haunted. The stories go back to the founding. I do love a good ghost story, don't you?"

"Absolutely," I replied. A peregrine falcon that was nesting near the top of this building took flight. I guessed that it was hunting for food for its chicks. It winged its way directly towards the park and then suddenly banked to the right for no apparent reason. "Did you see that?"

"Yeah, that was weird." Catwoman agreed.

"I wonder." I mused. "Could there be something hidden?" I thought aloud and gestured. I invoked several spells until I attacked the invisibility curtain itself. I siphoned off its magic and bled it off as fireworks.

"Ooh! Ahh!" Selena purred placing her hand on my leg. "Pretty!! What the hell is that?!"

"A wizard's tower I believe." I said. "There is the source for all of your ghost stories."

"Ooh, think of all pretties in there!" She growled her hand moving more daring now. "I get all hot and bothered when I think about it. So, how do we get in?" She asked. "I don't see any obvious openings."

"We?" I chuckled as she gave my erection a gentle squeeze. "Fine. We teleport in of course. Have you ever done that before?"

"No, but when we get out of there, I'll show you what I have done before." Selena promised.

"That is what they call incentive," I growled. "Okay, let's go. Listen, we are going to be dealing with magic. If I say to do or don't do something listen to me for your own sake."

"Okay... I don't even know what to call you." She purred in my ear.

"Ghost believe it or not." I said. "I know you by your reputation, Catwoman."

We got to our feet and I attempted to use far sight to pierce the exterior of the tower. I ran into a resisting force. It wasn't a ward, it was a living mind, the mind of the owner of that tower. I pushed to discover his identity.

"Fe... Felix..." I gasped as I wrestled with him. "His name is Felix... Fa... Fau... Faust! Ha! Felix Faust owns yonder tower. Ever hear of him?"