Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl or any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
Constantine groaned as he got up and looked around before he realized where he was. Half-ruined buildings and flames soaring to the sky, with ashes snowing from above and he groaned. "Oh, bollocks. Not again."
Constantine was walking down the streets as he entered a nightclub, where was a dark-haired Afro-American woman pouring drinks before she smirked at Constantine. "What do we have here? John Constantine. Here in Hell on a permanent visit?"
"I need to see your boss, Maze. Where is he?" Constantine asked.
"What? Looking for a golden ticked out of here again?" Maze joked. "If I were you, I'd get used to the heat. No 'get out of jail free' cards for you this time, John." Constantine shot her a look. "What makes you think you can get out of here?"
"We both know I'll find a way to weasel out of here, luv." Constantine smirked. "And besides, you owe me."
Maze rolled her eyes and groaned. "You're never gonna let me live it down, are you?"
"I just need five minutes with Luci, then we're square." Constantine said.
"Fine." Maze grumbled as she accompanied Constantine to the office door and knocked on it and a moment later, a handsome man in a suit opened the door and smiled.
The man smiled as Constantine chuckled. "Always a pleasure to see you, Luci."
"Johnny!" Lucifer Morningstar patted Constantine on the shoulder. "You sly rascal! What a pleasure to see you in my domain, what brings you here?"
"Exactly that. Stuck inside this bloody hole of yours." Constantine said.
Lucifer chuckled as he leaned back towards the windowsill. "Now, what makes you think I can get you out of here?"
"Because I need my way out of here, so I can reverse what Darkseid had done." Constantine said and Lucifer's eyes narrowed.
"The god of evil, you say?" Lucifer asked before laughing. "Why didn't you say so? I've always disliked that chap. So rude, challenging every god there is, even dear old Capital G himself, daddy dearest."
"Yeah. Now, are you going to help me or not?" Constantine asked impatiently.
Lucifer stared, considering and for a moment, it seemed he would decline before smiling. "Well, why don't you follow me, Johnny?"
Constantine followed Lucifer down some kind of a dungeon area as Lucifer opened the door to one of the cells. "You know the rules, Johnny. Find your way out, you win. You lose, and you'll be trapped in your worst nightmare here in Hell forever."
Constantine entered the cell…
…and he ended up in an abandoned nightclub in Newcastle, where were his friends, former lovers Anne Marie Flynn and Zatanna Zatara, Constantine's loyal partner Chas Chandler, fellow exorcist Gary Lester, clairvoyant Jasper Winters, occultist Ritchie Simpson and Judith, one of fellow sorcerers and saw a young Afro-American girl, who was at the bar.
"Astra…" Constantine whispered, realizing what this was.
They heard some music going on as Judith turned to Ritchie. "Ritchie, kill that bloody row, will you?"
Constantine, Zatanna and Anne Marie approached Astra. "Hey, there."
Astra turned to them, slightly frightened. "Who are you? Wh-what do you want?"
"Take it easy, sweetheart. Don't be frightened." Zatanna held Astra's shoulder gently.
"We're here to help you." Anne Marie smiled but Astra pulled away, terrified.
"Don't touch me! I won't do it anymore, I don't like it!" Astra screamed.
"Hey. Hey." Constantine raised his hands in a soothing manner. "It's alright, luv. It's alright." He turned to Anne Marie and whispered into her ear. "Settle her down as best as you can. I'm gonna try to hypnotize her." Anne Marie held Astra down gently as Constantine pulled out an amulet on a line, swinging it as Astra's eyes were focused on the amulet. "Now, Astra, luv—I want you to feel all warm and cozy, like when you were snuggled in bed. Breathe in and out." Astra took deep breaths and exhaled, under trance. "Now tell me, what happened?"
"Daddy always yells at me and made me do things like, my mummy used to, before she had the accident." Astra said hurtfully. "And he makes me go down to a cellar, too, while his friends and girls from the club get drunk, take stuff and get bare." Constantine shuddered, reliving this was just as disturbing as the first time. "And he makes me watch as they all touch each other. Then I have to touch them—" She swallowed in disgust. "And they're all noisy and smelly and sometimes he'd take pictures of me and his friends—" She breathed out. "I told him to stop. I told him I didn't like it… I got scared… and angry… he hurt me and one of the girls…" She sniffed as Constantine and his colleagues looked disturbed. "Then I got angry and then a bogeyman took them. They screamed and screamed and there was jelly inside the bones and…"
"Shhhh…" Zatanna held Astra's shoulder gently as she assured the girl. "It's alright. It's alright. I'll make the bogeyman go away. Now sleep."
Astra closed her eyes and slumped to the floor as Constantine and Zatanna got up.
"Demon." Constantine said.
"Demon." Zatanna nodded.
"Definitely a demon." Ritchie nodded.
"I think I'm gonna vomit." Chas groaned in disgust. "We should blow the crap out of it and torch it."
"Are you bloody daft?" Constantine whirled on him. "This is no bloody gangster but a terror demon. There's only one way we can stop it. Even if I don't like it." He swore never to go through this again but he knew the rules of Hell. Trapped in their own worst nightmare and greatest failure forever until they felt like if they did not deserve to be punished for it.
Ritchie picked a piece of chalk and drew a circle with a pentagram on the floor and placed candles on each tip of the star.
"John, what if something goes wrong?" Zatanna asked.
"I'm willing to pay the price for it." Constantine then turned to his lover. "If things get ugly, let that thing take me."
"What? No!" Zatanna protested, holding his hand.
"You're gonna conjure a demon from Hell?" Astra asked. "Are you sure about this?"
Back then, Constantine was sure he knew what he was doing but he had learnt his lesson already as he took a breath and sighed. "Honestly, I don't see any other way."
Ritchie and Chas brought the ingredients needed for the ritual. The Rod of the Art, made from hazelwood, cut at the our of mercury, a parchment flayed from a virgin child, Knife of the Art, forged from new steel on the day of Jupiter. Constantine cut himself in the palm of his hand with the knife, pouring drops of blood into a bowl, while he drew some symbols onto the parchment.
"Helon… taul… varf… heon… homonorium… clemiach… serucleach… agla… tetrammaton… casoly… osurmy… demursan…" Constantine said the incantation in an unknown language. "By this talisman and this naming character, inscribed in blood with the Pen of the Art – I wake you, Sagatana. Sagatana, by the power of the art here wrought by you—by the names of your lords, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Belial, attend upon me!" He raised his wounded hand into the air.
They wanted for a moment… but nothing happened as Ritchie looked confused. "I don't understand. We did everything as instructed."
Constantine suddenly had a dreadful Déjà vu. "Wait for it, Ritchie…"
Suddenly, from the pentagram in the floor emerged a wolf-like giant beast as it literally entered Astra's mouth. "No!" Zatanna exclaimed.
Not hesitating this time, Constantine muttered another spell as the beast diverted its direction to Constantine and he felt agonizing pain like never before as he felt the demon entering him.
Next thing Constantine knew, he crashed onto the floor in some nightclub as Lucifer was sitting across him. "Well, well, I'm impressed." Lucifer smirked as he clapped his hands in sarcasm. "Selflessly sacrificing yourself instead of letting the demon take the girl, bravo, Johnny!"
"You think this is my first dance in Hell, Luci?" Constantine cracked, groaning as he got up to his feet.
Lucifer shrugged as he got up from his seat, readjusting his jacket. "The Devil always sees through his deal, John. But remember, one day, you'll end up here permanently. Mark my words."
"Keep waiting, Lucifer." Constantine smirked.
"Until we meet again, John." Lucifer said and with a gesture of his hand, Constantine faded in a glow of light.
Hope you've enjoyed Lucifer Morningstar's cameo. I just couldn't resist, since I recently finished binging Lucifer on Netflix and I've enjoyed the series and am looking forward to the first half of Season 5 that is released in late Summer, and I remembered Lucifer's cameo in Crisis on Infinite Earths. As much as the crossover was horrible, Lucifer was awesome, even if he was there for two minutes. I understand why some people might not like the show for religious reasons, so I'm not gonna try to force anyone into watching it if they don't want to, since I have similar issues with Merlin TV series. Despite that I like Merlin, I have some slight reservations towards it due to how a lot of the storylines in the show don't follow the lore of King Arthur, but it is still enjoyable, if you don't take it too seriously.
I think that failing to save Astra Logue and letting her be killed by a demon is Constantine's greatest failure and it would be fitting for Constantine to go through his test in Hell itself and him selflessly sacrificing himself to save Astra seemed like a fitting way to make up for his failure, since Constantine can most of the time be selfish reckless bastard that doesn't think about the consequences until it's too late but he's not without redeeming qualities. This part is inspired by Constantine TV series and older Hellblazer comic books featuring Constantine.
Now Clark and Diana next and I think I have an idea on what I'm going to put them both through, thank you to Aragorn II Elessar for the help.
So, what do you guys think about it?
Please review and let me know if you are enjoying this so far and want for me to continue.
