I was a bit worried about leaving John and Klarion to their own devices, but thankfully, it seemed I'd been worrying over nothing.
"It was a real pain in the ass, but we got it off." John groaned as he fell back onto a couch. "You gotta pay me extra for dealing with that bloody annoying shrimp, though." He raised a hand, mockingly imitating Klarion. "'Cut this rune! Form that sigil!' Gya, gya, gya! For a Lord of Chaos, he's got a real stick up his ass."
"Noted." I snorted as I pulled out my phone and made a quick transfer. "Never let it be said the Goonion doesn't pay for good work."
John whistled as he stared at his phone. "Hah! First time I've been in the green in years." He stood up cheerfully. "I need a bloody drink."
I contemplated telling him to be a little more responsible, but in the end, I held my tongue as I watched him leave. He was bloody John Constantine, after all.
John's irresponsibility aside, I had a conversation that was long overdue.
"How you feeling, Grundy?" I strode over to the giant table.
It was hard to say the giant zombie looked good, but at least I could tell the guy was a bit calmer.
"Grundy… feel… wise." The huge zombie slowly sat up, staring at his hands in wonder. "Grundy no feel bad anymore." He turned toward me and gave a small nod. "Thank you."
Did… did Solomon Grundy just experience post-nut clarity?
Zombies could get post-nut clarity?
"You help Grundy." He scratched his head. "Why?"
"It was just the right thing to do, of course. But…" I pulled out the Familiar Contract. "I was also hoping you'd hear out my offer. If you sign this, you'll become my familiar. Basically, you'll be working as muscle for me. I know that sounds rough, but I'll pay—"
"Grundy accepts."
I blinked. "Really? Uh, are you sure, big guy? This is a pretty big decision. Probably a permanent one, too."
Honestly, I wasn't sure what would happen if Grundy perished and came back again. Would he still be my familiar? Still, if I had to hedge my bets, I'd trust the gacha over some swamp magic any day.
"Grundy knows. Grundy just have one thing he want."
"Anything I can get you." I nodded. Getting a powerhouse like him on my side was worth almost any price. Hell, I wondered how much stronger I could make him with potions—
"Grundy want the feel-good stuff."
I broke out into a fit of coughs.
Oh God, did I just get a zombie addicted to–
You know what? Not gonna think about it.
"Yeah… that's fine, buddy." I shook my head as I pushed the Familiar Contract forward. "Just sign here, and I'll hook you up. Maybe… one can a day?"
Ejaculatte got restocked every eight hours, so that should be feasible.
Grundy simply nodded. It took a minute for him to manage a steady signature, but eventually, he managed to scrawl his name across the contract.
The Familiar Contract lit up with a bright flash before disappearing.
[Feat Achieved! Grave New Employee]
[+1 Gold Gacha Ticket]
"You mind if I test it out?"
Grundy simply nodded. With a thought, the giant zombie disappeared into my familiar space.
Huh. Neat!
Another thought, and he reappeared right in front of me.
"Welcome aboard, Grundy."
Simmy flew over and let out a soft song. Huh, well, I trusted her judgment; if she needed Grundy, she got it.
"Your first job is to help Simmy out with whatever she needs."
"Grundy, help." The big guy nodded before getting up to follow Simmy.
Okay, that was… quite a day.
I leaned back and stared at the two tickets floating in my mind. I'd forgotten to rip the Silver Ticket I got from Diana's fight, so both were still sitting there in my mental palace.
As much as I wanted to rip them, I couldn't help but think back to the whole disaster with Red Hood. I really wished I had some way to gift other people stronger powers. Although, considering everything I already had, that might be a bit greedy.
Hell, I'd even give people some of my tickets if I could…
Wait.
I sat up and stared at my hand. With a metaphorical pull, a Silver Ticket physically appeared in my palm.
Oh…
God, I'm so stupid.
—
Samantha wanted to rip her hair out.
That blasted upstart in his damn tower was ruining everything!
Her recent breakthrough with metahuman Talons had bought her considerable goodwill with the Court. There had been some discontent over the need to ally with the League of Shadows, but that was a small price to pay compared to the potential gains.
The rise of metahumans and powered criminals in the modern age had long been a source of concern for the Court.
Having such an achievement fall under her reign had washed away much of her supposed failures. The coup de grâce would've been their assault on that damned tower. Their first real mission would've cemented her position!
And yet, those damn tools couldn't even report what had happened!
Losing nearly all of their newly enhanced Talons had put her right back at square one. No, perhaps even worse than before. Previously, there had only been a few calling for her removal as Grandmaster. But now, those fools were actually whispering about leaving the Court!
The only saving grace was that none had actually gone through with such idiocy. But her allies and spies had informed her that many were seriously considering it.
Mysterious financial setbacks and accidents had begun befalling the public facades of many Court members. Nothing that could definitively be called sabotage, but whispers that this Jean Valjean was moving against them had left many thoroughly rattled.
She could already see the cracks forming in the Court. If they didn't achieve some sort of success soon, Samantha might find herself with no Court left to rule over at all.
So, as much as it pained her to share her resources, she'd lowered herself to working with these lowlifes. Yet they remained just as incompetent!
"What do you mean you lost him!?" Samantha slammed her fist onto her desk as she glared at the meeting screen.
Talia al Ghul scowled. "You heard me. The ritual was botched."
"Useless fools!" Samantha spoke through gritted teeth. The all-knowing Light? And they couldn't even manage to wrangle a single idiot zombie?
"Watch your tongue before I take it from you," Talia al Ghul replied scathingly. "There are still options for us to succeed. The Venom infusion project is proceeding as planned, and the subject is taking to it well. Intergang's cooperation is—"
"Plans are useless! I need results! You don't share a city with that freak!" Samantha felt her blood boil as she watched Gotham slowly bend to the influence of this damned Goonion. When it should be the Court of Owls that ruled the city instead!
"Perhaps you should consider leaving—"
Samantha slammed her computer shut.
She could fix this… even if her supposed allies were nothing but useless dregs. There were other mercenaries and villains she could contract. That cat thief had supposedly returned to Gotham recently.
Or perhaps she could pursue more governmental methods…
The thought burned, but she knew some of her contacts in the government would love to get their hands on the Talon research notes.
And she'd heard good things about this Amanda Waller.
***
Comments and Thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Likes are like a drug to me and boost my creative juices.
I have advanced chapters on Pa tre on/daisyberry if you wanna read ahead.