Cole looked over at the Item that could very well doom him to a life trapped in a void with no hope of freedom or fighting a literal servant of Death itself as it tries to claim his life. On the other hand, this thing quite literally was the answer to any number of his issues.
The Moon would let him quite literally manipulate reality with a wish. He was not sure how far he could take it considering the description of the thing relied on the DM's tolerance but any aspect of reality manipulation was bonkers. In the same vein, The Fates card would allow him to unravel reality and erase any single event from existence. Which again was crazy.
The deck true to its name also did have middling effects that he could give or take but the big negatives and the big positives really drew attention. Hell, clearly the previous user of this thing had a less fortunate pull.
He did not steal it from anyone after all there was no victim to leave a comment. Which was really telling considering even death would not prevent his victim from knowing what happened to them. Meaning they were in a state of fucking non-existence which was frightening beyond anything he could fathom.
Cole took one last look at the thing and tossed it into his inventory trying not to think about it. Sure, it had answers for him but he was not prepared to face that obstacle just yet. He would first steal the Luck of someone much luckier than him. He was also planning on using the good old fashion drug abuse before drawing.
He stole a lot of things most of them useless and the worlds they connected to were less than ideal but he did get one interesting place. Harry Potter.
The Magic System was an odd mix with frankly baffling abilities, mixed with guys who could be taken out by a single gunshot. It was worth exploring later on but there was one thing that drew his attention.
Felix Felicis, the luck potion would allow him to really push for a positive outcome when he drew from the Deck so that thing was a must-take. Even with the Luck potion Cole was still not sure about using the thing as it could lead to some rather drastic outcomes. So he was planning on waiting for more Luck-Related items to pop up.
Although maybe he did not have to wait too long. He took a long glance at Lisa who was typing away at the computer. She was working but her attention did fall on him every once and a while. Seeing him pay attention to her she gave him a smile even if it was a bit nervous.
She knew she was caught looking but her nature was not one who flushed away from getting caught.
He was not planning on using her as the scapegoat for the Deck as she was too valuable and he could kidnap any goon to give it a try but she was involved with his first choice. Coil certainly had an interesting power and if he used it they might be able to work around the Deck.
He could steal Coil's power for himself and try it but that was not something he wanted to risk himself. Dancing over the line when magic is involved can get really risky so he wanted to make sure it was not his ass on the line when he tried.
This did run into the risk of Coil taking the positive cards and making a run for it. The Moon card alone would save his ass after all but there were ways to take care of that. He just had to have a bit more control over the Dickhead and he certainly had options to get there.
Potions and magic from Harry Potter should get him what he wished and there should be something in JJK that should also work. Finally, we had the brand new juicy territory of D&D. Sure, the juicy stuff was at the very top with adventures that could rival gods and gods themselves showing their metal but even small wonders in D&D were valuable.
He could think of many low-tier spells that could dominate Coil's mind and a budding adventure was a far cry from the god-like beings that ruled that world. Then again if they were talking about low-cost thefts Harry Potter came out on top there.
Something to think about.
He would first have to get his energy levels back up to snuff, which was going to require a bit more effort on his part. With the Undersiders being stolen away it became more and more difficult to steal a character away from their positions.
Well, that is not entirely true. Bad Canary made a prime theft target as whisking her away would be child's play with his Clones and Trickster's power. Getting her out of her bogus charges should bring about some sense of loyalty and she should be worth a good chunk. Her trial has kind of been a national affair so it was not like he needed to track her down.
Doing so was probably going to bring some heat down on his head but since his abilities were so fucking diverse he could hide away from the public eye for the most part.
Again he casted a furtive look at Lisa. This time she seemed a little uncomfortable as she did not know why Cole was paying so much attention to her.
Lisa really did not like not knowing things. Still, she was not going to say anything about it even if she was losing her mind. Cole let out a chuckle at her mood which seemed to only disturb her more.
"Say, You know about Canary right?" Cole asked idly. Lisa paused her work and frowned as she tried to pull together the reasons he was bringing this up. Like he said she really did not like not knowing things.
"Hard not to, the media is in a frenzy over it with the government throwing everything and the kitchen sink at her and the public cowering in fear of a Master who could dominate everybody with a little ditty." Lisa snarked out as she looked over at Cole with her frown still on her face.
Cole blinked at that as he thought that the public would have seen the farce of the trial for what it was and supported the poor girl but that was a mistake on his part.
He really underestimated what a Master meant to the public in general. Sure, the public understood that Legend could glass a city if he wanted and that Leet could theoretically make a fucking nuke but that was an attack in the light. A Master was far more insidious to them.
One only needed to look at Heartbreaker to find out how vile a Master could be when they set up. Couple that with what Ziggy does to people and you found that the public had a very good reason to be wary about Masters.
At first, people were fine with Paige as her power was muted on her recorded songs. Sure, they clearly felt something when listening to her but it was just a mild thing for the most part. Then it came out that she told her ex-boyfriend to go fuck himself and he quite literally did it. Cutting off his dick and sticking it up his own ass.
Suddenly the bright and cheery Canary was far more insidious than they thought. What is stopping her from singing a song that had you killing everyone you ever loved with a bright smile? Nothing, only her good nature was the thing holding back the absolute devastation she was capable of.
It was not like someone's good nature was something that could be relied upon. Sphere was already a lesson that told the public that even the most benevolent of humanity was moments away from breaking under certain stress.
The nine would certainly love to have someone like Paige on their roster. The games they would play with her were a sickening thought that no one wanted to entertain.
It was just safer and easier to put Paige away in a little box and forget about her. Was it right? Honestly, maybe. She really was someone Jack would love to twist into his image but it certainly left a bad taste in the more good-natured people.
Cole gave Lisa a smile that had her twitching. She returned his smile with a strained one of her own but her mind was already spinning trying to piece together what his words meant. A slow dread started to build on her face as she got a handle on what might come.
"Well, I figure our little group would do well with a little bird to sing us songs." Cole let out idly and he watched as Lisa let out a full grimace.
By this point, she saw it coming but that did not mean she was happy about it. She was practical enough to work with whatever tool she could gather but having a Master of Canary's level was going to stress her out for days to come.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? Coil was a dick head but he knew how to recruit. You are going to have to get a handle on every merc here to get control of them. Then there are the Capes under his payroll the Undersiders were not the only team Coil had under him. He had Circus and Trainwreck on his dime so you are going to be pretty busy." She spoke out quickly trying to avoid recruiting the potential bomb that was Canary.
Cole let out a laugh at seeing her struggle but that was not going to help her.
"Well, getting a handle on the Mercs is what I have you for. Going to be honest, I just want Coil's Empire to just have it so you are free to play around with it as you like for the most part. Treat it as an incentive to join up. As for the Capes, get me a meeting with Circus and I'll get a handle on them, Trainwreck can wait a bit as he is undercover in the Merchants right?" Cole asked after a moment of contemplation.
Lisa took in his words and looked like a deer in the headlights for a moment. She was not expecting to get a green light on running the shadow cabal here. Sure, she was going to make a play for it eventually by getting on his good side but having him just toss it at her was shocking.
She bit her lip and muttered something to herself as she cast an odd look at Cole. She seemed like she wanted to say something but something else was holding her back.
"Fine, I'll get you a meeting with Circus but you really are not going to give up on Canary?" She asked even if it was clear she was expecting an answer already.
Cole gave her a measured look as he debated explaining. Canary was an asset but not one he needed desperately for just her powers. It all came down to her value as a target.
After a moment of weighing everything he decided to compromise.
"I don't need her forever, I just need to take her once and my powers will be satisfied. After that, she is free to go but knowing what I know about her it's unlikely she would want to leave. She is valuable but I get the worry about a Master like that being near you. But she is not as bad as you think and you can find that out with your powers when she gets here." Cole spoke out with a small grin trying to ease her worries.
Lisa paused as she did not expect that reply. She honestly thought he was just going to tell her what was going to happen and leave everything else out.
So she just nodded along with a wry look on her face but if you looked closely you would notice a small smile that even she was not aware she had.
(Chapter 28)
Lisa reluctantly gathered information for the planned break out of Bad Canary. Technically it was not really needed as he could just swarm the place with clones and one of them would be able to get out of there with the prize. That was still an option and one that he could take out of his hat whenever he pleased but it was not the optimal route.
Despite his urge to create a flashy heist that would have all eyes drawn on him, he plotted a more proper breakout this time. Stealing away the potential recruit with not a trace leading back to him really was the best route here.
Master's were feared and having Paige associated with him in any capacity would be a hassle later on. Especially since Canary was considered THE Master in the Public Eye. At least for now.
Still, even though a traceless breakout was in his best interests it was going to be difficult. The public was absolutely scared out of their balls at the thought of Paige breaking out. So the security was rather strong for a public trial but it was not the mundane security that bothered him. It was the Cape back up.
In this case Dragon. Ironically Dragon was probably one of the only people in the world who did not want to toss Paige into the Birdcage. Sadly for the A.I she could not defy any orders from government officials. So she was going to defend the trial with everything she had even if she wanted nothing more than to turn a blind eye.
Dragon could monitor the securities feeds with precision beyond a mortal mind and she could react to anything happening in a fraction of a fraction of a second. Sure, she was not completely out of her shackles but even gimped and tied up like a hog she could run circles around most things.
Which meant stealing Paige away from her clutches was going to get complicated. Even if the Combo of Trickster's Power and his Clones made it ridiculously easy. He could swap Paige with one of his clones and then when she was beside him swap their current position with a Clone sitting nice and ready in Brockton.
Really there was nothing Dragon could do against that move even if she was unshackled. Something like that could only be countered by a speedster and only the really strong ones at that. Granted if Dragon was unshackled she could probably track down his location within moments despite the advantage he would have.
The plan to steal her was going to have to go through so much prep work. So he was better off facing things that he could deal with right now.
Like Circus. The…person? Was under Coil's thumb and he wanted to continue that trend. So he arranged that meeting through Lisa as fast as he could. Honestly, he expected a lot when meeting them but this was still a little off.
Lisa had sent off a pair of Mercs who gathered Circus whenever Coil wanted to deal with them. When she sent them out Cole was fucking baffled that she managed to subdue them so quickly but he got it quickly.
Paying for Loyalty only went so far, usually when their client lost they would cut town and head for the next gig but Lisa offered to continue the contract.
Meaning they were going to get paid so there was no need to change the status quo for the most part. There were people who worked for Coil for more than money but cutting worthless meat was also something Lisa was more than familiar with.
She kind of ordered the death of those unruly punks with a sort of cold detachment. It only took one look at one of the bios of the man she ordered dead to figure out she was right.
He should have expected for a man that Coil himself labeled as Creep would be a fucking monster. He was sure that Lisa was imagining the things that Coil let that fucker do to her in an alternate timeline. Cases like that were not rare but the majority of Coil's forces just worked for the money.
Having a den of scum and trash surrounding you was just bad news even if they were really useful to Coil. So Lisa only had to cut out 20% of the forces that Coil employed and she was still debating some of them. She could honestly be rather practical in letting go of grievances as he noticed the duo that recruited her at Gun Point was still within the company.
Then again she might be keeping them to fuck with the fools at a later date.
So Lisa had the goons she oh so desperately wanted and they had already proven their worth as they got Circus very quickly.
Cole watched as they escorted the nervous person with an amused smile at their attire. Circus really did work the clown theme.
A Painted face with a bright red smile and red nose smiling foolishly at the world. They had a golden masquerade mask on to cover the top half of their face. Bright pink hair that was clearly a wig and they were dressed in a skin-tight acrobatic uniform.
Cole kind of had a hard time trying to figure out if they were a girl or a boy. Circus clearly had curves but their chest was mostly flat, with only a slight bump that might not even be anything. Cole was aware that they were Gender Fluid and that what Gender they felt changed at the drop of a dime but he was kind of interested in what equipment they had.
If only for his own state of mind. Cole kind of had a thing for Clown Girls as Harley Quinn did a number on him when he was growing up. He was not really planning on doing anything about the attraction but he was certainly attracted to them. He just wished that the equipment they had was not similar to his own for his own state of mind.
Traps might not be gay in the strictest sense but it was not really a long shot away from it either. Well, apparently Uber dated Circus in the original timeline so it was unlikely that Circus was a guy. Uber struck him as…well the type of Gamer who drank mountain dew and screamed racial slurs when they got pissed off.
Someone like that would not end up in a relationship with a guy, or maybe that just made it better for him? Jesus, christ this is not worth the effort of thinking about. Circus was Circus and that was all he really needed to know even if he wanted to know the truth…..maybe sick Lisa on the case.
No, she would look at him oddly till the end of time itself. He was not going to give her that type of leverage on him even if it only amounted to embarrassing him.
With a sigh, Cole walked into the room that the Circus got dragged into. They were sitting nervously at the visitor's chair clearly knowing that the chair behind the desk was a no-go.
When he entered they looked away from the chair in front of them and watched him like a lemming at the edge of a cliff.
"Nice to meet you, boss man!" They shouted out quickly. Their voice was high but soft which made trying to pinpoint their gender harder. The tone was higher than most but that could just be nerves while the soft part could just mean they were soft spoken.
Cole was tempted to sigh again as the pointless thoughts ran through his mind but that would affect the image in front of Circus. So he walked silently towards the other chair and sat down and stared at the Cape. They were of course unsettled by that but they were supposed to be.
He was mildly surprised that they were not shocked about his current attire. He went for his own costume instead of trying to masquerade himself as Coil. He wanted to show that there was a shift in who was in charge here but Circus did not even blink at the change.
That could mean a number of things to them: they may never have met Coil in the first place or maybe they simply assumed that the change of costume had a purpose. Perhaps he should have done a bit more research on Circus but he did not really think this was going to be a big deal.
Hell, he still did not think it was going to be something to be concerned about.
Cole leaned back in the surprisingly soft chair adding a bit more tension in the room as the silence remained for a moment.
"As you can see, our operation is under new management. That won't be an issue will it?" Cole spoke out softly as well but with a certain edge that promised something terrible if Circus decided to take offense to that.
That caused Circus to freeze, not sure how to handle that curveball. Which told him some other things about them. It was only Cole's cold focused stare at them that broke Circus out of the daze such words put them into.
"Not at all! A rat could be my boss and I would not even blink an eye Boss!" They shouted out clearly trying to flatter him. However, their particular words drew some amusement out of him even if he did not show it.
"I take it to mean you are comparing me to a rat of all things?" Cole questioned smoothly but the threat was still held in his words. He could have let it slide but he needed to have a certain amount of control over Circus.
He could offer the carrot to the Undersiders as the hold he had on them was rather tight. Circus on the other hand just followed Coil for the money and the threat behind his name. If the money was not so good they would have cut and run a long time ago. Coil would have even let it happen as they were really not that valuable.
Well, maybe not. He might have wanted to eliminate them just for the principle but the main point stood. They were not valuable enough to get deep dirt on and the Role they played could be replaced rather easily.
So he had to keep a rather firm hold on Circus for a little bit if he wanted to keep them. Again it was a toss up as he did not really care too much for the clown themed thief but he wanted the energy they represented.
He would say Circus was palling from the words he threw back at them but it was hard to tell with the clown makeup on. He would say that there was a certain shake going through their body.
"Rat, no Boss is more of a mouse. Wait! I mean uh…"Circus scrambled out some sort of response trying to not offend him over their small joke from earlier. "What response get's me not shot boss man?" Circus nervously asked with a small shudder.
Cole took out a gun and placed it on the table between them. As the pistol hit the desk with a heavy thud he could see Circus freezing once more. Their eyes nervously glancing between Cole and the gun, wanting to do something but not daring to even think about it.
They were in a base under his control and they knew that. They might be able to take him out but the only way that ended was with a body bag for them. Not to mention the fear of facing a Cape you know nothing about.
Well probably not nothing. His previous heist was public enough that anyone with their ear to the ground would pick up info about him. Either way what the public knew about him was not enough to give Circus a sense of security in this situation.
Seeing them not making a move for the gun Cole finally cracked a smile at the spiraling clown.
"That one," Cole spoke out with a grin. If they made a move for the gun Cole knew he had to show off a little to get them under control. Thankfully they were pretty reasonable but when you were a small fish in a pond filled with predators you knew when to yield.
Circus smiled nervously back at Cole but he was already done with this conversation. A quick check of his energy pool told him he got what he wanted. It was a frankly pathetic amount in comparison to his latest heist but Circus was not an important player in the story.
Cole could say the same thing about Canary but the waves of her theft should be far more juicy than a simple thief who was already under someone's control.