Two men sat drinking at a dimly lit Japanese bar in the late hours of the night. After some silent drinking, one of them spoke.
"Y'know Mr Matsuga, for all the work you've put in to find me, you're lookin t'be disappointed with your line of questioning. Not for the reasons you think either. Let me give you some advice. The portal between realms you've got sitting in the middle of your country was made by a being of the divine persuasion, and let me tell you, the magical power is not of the nice type. If you're not properly prepared, anything can happen, and usually that 'anything' ends up being interdimensional demons or beings from the great beyond"
The speaker drank a swig of some whiskey and took a deep breath before continuing.
"So if you want me to work for you further, I'm going to need a bit more reassurance. And when I say a bit, I mean a lot. Anything that can bridge multi universal distances with that kind of malicious magic is not someone or something I want to be playing around with unprepared" Came the smooth but also at the same time rough voice of a blonde Englishman who wore a beige overcoat and white dress shirt with a slightly worn red tie. Along with his top, he had black slacks held tightly by a black belt with a silver clasp that looked like a crescent moon.
He brought a bottle of whiskey up to his lips and took a long deep swig.
The two sat at a quiet bar in a high end Japanese restaurant. The only other person in the dimly lit room was the bartender who was minding his own business and cleaning a cup with a white cloth.
The Japanese man, Taro Matsuga who was the Japanese Minister of Defense had spent quite a good fortune on finding and and meeting the Englishman next to him, the elusive John Constantine who had only made himself known to the Minister for his own personal gain.
Taro sat quietly milling over what the Englishman said to him. Ever since the gate had opened, Japan had spent massive amounts of resources to find any and everyone they could that had special abilities and powers. In turn, that led them down a long and convoluted series of oddities and magical stories directly to John Constantine. It was clear that he had intentionally left those clues and hints as he had confirmed earlier when he was first found.
It was odd. He was odd. Through a series of investigations, there was absolutely zero information on him. No fingerprints. No citizenships. No birth certificate. Nothing at all. It was as if he had simply popped into the world twenty six years ago from thin air.
While some of that was to be expected when dealing with the occult and special humans, he wasn't an agent from any country. Who he was and what he wanted were complete unknowns, and while he was somewhat willing to work with Japan, he hadn't shared any more than he wanted to, and any attempt at manipulating the man had ended in abject failure.
In fact, the agents sent to follow the man and gather intel on him all ended up with their memories wiped completely and their bosses ended up with extremely unlucky situations. One of the men commanding a monitoring team found his wife hanging from the roof of their home with all the bones in her body broken. Another found her two daughters physically mutated and braindead.
After dozens of these situations, John Constantine was eventually given free reign, as any attempt at kidnapping, arrest, or capture ended very poorly for the operatives and law enforcement involved.
"What would you have me do?" Taro asked eventually, looking to John who just smiled and too out a cigarette from a pack he had in his breast pocket.
"You have a light?" He asked. Even though this was a no smoking restaurant, he didn't care and Taro didn't dare utter a complaint.
Taro, who knew John was a smoker took out a silver lighter from his pocket that he had brought solely for this reason and lit John's cigarette.
Sucking in a pull, John then exhaled, holding his cigarette in his fingers before speaking again.
"That's the thing. You don't do anything. This is beyond you and likely the world. I've been through this planet and have seen everyone this Earth has to offer and you're woefully outmatched. Sure, your tech is better than that of the other world from what I've seen" John said matter of factly, then his voice became serious and he narrowed his eyes.
"But" He said, before taking another pull.
"You've got nothing on the gods of that world, Believe me, I've seen them. I've felt them. That's where you're outmatched and outgunned. Luckily for you mate, they don't take action. A little forewarning is a powerful asset. So be careful" John finished, leaning back in his chair.
"I see. Thank you" Taro thanked John for the warning.
"Gather the items on this list, and next time I see you I'll take some time to work with you. Until then, Goodnight minister" John said, before fading out of existence. A paper lay at the bar where he sat.
Taro picked up the paper and read it's contents with a grimace. Some of these items would be hard to get, but he knew John wasn't talking out of his ass.
Taking his cell phone from his pocket, he dialed an old friend. Even at this hour, he would answer.
"Hello, Mr Kishida, I spoke with John. We have work to do" He spoke to the man who answered.